cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Collection and identification of marine yeasts

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses methods of isolation and collection of marine yeasts using traditional techniques, and identification of species and strains with molecular methods. Traditional grabs, gravity, sterile bag samplers, and piston cores, or submersibles are used for collection of yeast from deep-water sediments. Traditional methods of yeast isolation and cultivation are employed for obtaining large numbers of isolates. Classical techniques for the identification of species of yeasts require morphological, physiological, and biochemical tests. Species can be identified by sequence analysis of purified isolates or via species-specific primers and hybridization probes from purified isolates or from field samples of mixed species. Differentiation of strains within a species plays a significant role in ecological population analyses. The intergenic spacer region (IGS) is studied for population and strain level differences among a wide range of eukaryotes, including plants, invertebrates, and yeasts. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection technique is useful for identification of small numbers of species; however, when several species need to be identified, the PCR matrix is difficult to handle. Therefore, techniques that are more appropriate will include hybridization probes with macro- and microarrays designed to identify large numbers of species.
PIV measurements of a microchannel flow

A particle image velocimetry (PIV) system has been developed to measure velocity fields with order 1-μm spatial resolution. The technique uses 200 nm diameter flow-tracing particles, a pulsed Nd:YAG laser, an inverted epi-fluorescent microscope, and a cooled interline-transfer CCD camera to record high-resolution particle-image fields. The spatial resolution of the PIV technique is limited primarily by the diffraction-limited resolution of the recording optics. The accuracy of the PIV system was demonstrated by measuring the known flow field in a 30 μm×300 μm (nominal dimension) microchannel. The resulting velocity fields have a spatial resolution, defined by the size of the first window of the interrogation spot and out of plane resolution of 13.6 μm× 0.9 μm×1.8 μm, in the streamwise, wall-normal, and out of plane directions, respectively. By overlapping the interrogation spots by 50% to satisfy the Nyquist sampling criterion, a velocity-vector spacing of 450 nm in the wall-normal direction is achieved. These measurements are accurate to within 2% full-scale resolution, and are the highest spatially resolved PIV measurements published to date.
Quantizing and characterizing the variance of hand postures in a novel transformation task

This paper presents a numerical approach using principal component analysis (PCA) to quantize and characterize the variance of hand postures in a novel posture transformation task. Five subjects were tested in two tasks in which a cursor can be moved by varying the hand posture. This was accomplished by weighted linear combination of 14 sensors of a data glove. The first task was to move a cursor on computer screen in one dimension horizontally, by posing various hand postures. To increase the complexity of control, in the second task, subjects were asked to move a cursor on computer screen in two dimensions. Joint angles were measured during the experiment by the data glove. In both tasks subjects participated in multiple trials until they achieved smooth cursor movement trajectories. PCA was performed over the postures obtained during the multiple trials of the two tasks. Across the trials, in both the tasks a gradual decrease in the number of principal components was observed. This implies that the variance in the postures decreases with learning. Additionally this might indicate that through learning, subjects adapted postural synergies (or eigen postures) in this novel geometrical environment. Postural synergies when visualized revealed task specific synergies.
High performance networking and the modular communication machine (MCM) approach

The authors introduce an approach to designing high-performance communication systems, which includes the modular communication machine (MCM) concept. Despite the high bandwidth of optical links and the high throughput obtainable from a myriad of media access control techniques, the end users of current communication networks have hardly any better network capacity than before, because the bottleneck has moved to the soft parts of the systems. In the design of high-performance communication systems numerous architectural and implementation issues are encountered. After a brief discussion of these issues and some of the approaches currently proposed to tackle them, the MCM concept, which is based on a modular and generic structure, is presented. >
Thermal Vaporization-Supersonic Jet Fluorometry of Some Anthracenes

Abstract A compact supersonic jet fluorometer using a xenon arc lamp has been applied as the detection system for evolved gas analysis (EGA). The fluorescence intensities of anthracene, 9-methylanthracene, 9,10-dimethylanthracene, and their mixture were detected as a function of the vaporization temperature. The limit of detection was of the order of 10 μg for each compound. Selective detection of anthracene and 9-methylanthracene in the mixture of three compounds was possible.
GODDeS: Globally ∈-Optimal Routing Via Distributed Decision-theoretic Self-organization

This paper introduces GODDeS: a fully distributed self-organizing decision-theoretic routing algorithm designed to effectively exploit high quality paths in lossy ad-hoc wireless environments, typically with a large number of nodes. The routing problem is modeled as an optimal control problem for a decentralized Markov Decision Process, with links characterized by locally known packet drop probabilities that either remain constant on average or change slowly. The equivalence of this optimization problem to that of performance maximization of an explicitly constructed probabilistic automata allows us to effectively apply the theory of quantitative measures of probabilistic regular languages, and design a distributed highly efficient solution approach that attempts to minimize source-to-sink drop probabilities across the network. Theoretical results provide rigorous guarantees on global performance, showing that the algorithm achieves near-global optimality, in polynomial time. It is also argued that GODDeS is significantly congestion-aware, and exploits multi-path routes optimally. Theoretical development is supported by high-fidelity network simulations.
Venous Interventions for Thrombo-occlusive Disease

Venous intervention is a broad term covering a number of procedures used to treat a variety of disorders. In order to review venous interventions in an organized fashion the procedures will be separated into four groups: iliofemoral thrombosis, subclavian thrombosis, central venous obstruction, and vena cava filters.
The advocate as gatekeeper: The limits of politeness in protective order interviews with Latina survivors of domestic abuse

Within institutions that provide assistance to victims of domestic violence, professionals and volunteers work as advocates for their clients at the same time that they act as gatekeepers for their agencies. While the labor of advocacy consists of empowering clients and validating their concerns and feelings, the task of gatekeeping entails making judgments about them in order to dole out goods and services. Thirty protective order interviews and their resulting affidavits form the data for this study. These interviews take place in a district attorney's office and in a pro bono law clinic. This micro-level analysis of the verbal interaction between protective order application interviewers (both paid and volunteer) and their Latina clients investigates what positive politeness strategies can reveal about how interviewers construct the conflicting discursive identities of advocate and gatekeeper. I examine what interviewers say to clients as well as how interviewers allow clients to give their accounts of abuse. The study points to specific linguistic techniques that may leave victims feeling unaccompanied in the sociolegal system. I suggest that one consequence of the gatekeeping required of interviewers is that victim-survivors may perceive a ‘second assault’ by the institutions meant to serve them. Linguistic phenomena particular to Latina women in the United States are also brought to light.
Moisture effects on carbon and nitrogen emission from burning of wildland biomass

Abstract. Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) released from biomass burning have multiple effects on the Earth's biogeochemical cycle, climate change, and ecosystem. These effects depend on the relative abundances of C and N species emitted, which vary with fuel type and combustion conditions. This study systematically investigates the emission characteristics of biomass burning under different fuel moisture contents, through controlled burning experiments with biomass and soil samples collected from a typical alpine forest in North America. Fuel moisture in general lowers combustion efficiency, shortens flaming phase, and introduces prolonged smoldering before ignition. It increases emission factors of incompletely oxidized C and N species, such as carbon monoxide (CO) and ammonia (NH3). Substantial particulate carbon and nitrogen (up to 4 times C in CO and 75% of N in NH3) were also generated from high-moisture fuels, maily associated with the pre-flame smoldering. This smoldering process emits particles that are larger and contain lower elemental carbon fractions than soot agglomerates commonly observed in flaming smoke. Hydrogen (H)/C ratio and optical properties of particulate matter from the high-moisture fuels show their resemblance to plant cellulous and brown carbon, respectively. These findings have implications for modeling biomass burning emissions and impacts.
Changing Social Security in the US: Rising Insecurity?

Although poverty rates among the elderly in the US are at an all-time low, many face rising fiscal insecurity. The US welfare state is being remodeled in market-friendly ways that maximise individual choice, risk, and responsibility, rather than family friendly ways that maximise shared risk and responsibility and reduce insecurity. This article analyses how each of the main sources of income for the aged are being either frozen or shrunk in ways that are likely to increase inequality and insecurity in the years ahead among the elderly, particularly those who are female, black and/or Hispanic, and unmarried. The article assesses various policy changes for their capacity to either increase or decrease financial insecurity and inequality, particularly for those with a life time of lower earnings, more labour force disruptions and greater responsibility for providing unpaid care work for the young, disabled or frail elderly.
The case for the precision timed (PRET) machine

Patterson and Ditzel [12] did not invent reduced instruction set computers (RISC) in 1980. Earlier computers all had reduced instruction sets. Instead, they argued that trends in computer architecture had gotten off the sweet spot, and that by dropping back a few years and forking a new version of architectures, leveraging what had been learned, they could get better computers by employing simpler instruction sets.
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Personality Associations With Self-Report, Performance, and Awareness of Functional Difficulties

Self-reports of the ability to engage in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) among older adults are known to be related to personality traits. However, self-reports are sometimes discrepant with performance-based IADL assessments, and little is known about personality associations with objective functionality or with poor insight about functional deficits . This study examined the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised profiles associated with (a) self-report of functional problems, (b) functional errors evidenced on performance-based IADL assessment, and (c) discrepancies between self-report and performance. Participants were 65 community-dwelling indi viduals ranging in age from 60 to 87 years. The results showed that self-report of IADL problems are associated with higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness, actual IADL difficulties with higher neuroticism and lower agreeableness and openness to experience, underreporting of problems with higher conscientiousness, and overreporting of problems with higher extraversion and neuroticism. These relationships were partly mediated by age, education, and cognitive status. When unique personality associations with self-report and performance were examined, neuroticism and agreeableness, respectively, emerged as the strongest predictors.
SoftBound: highly compatible and complete spatial memory safety for c

The serious bugs and security vulnerabilities facilitated by C/C++'s lack of bounds checking are well known, yet C and C++ remain in widespread use. Unfortunately, C's arbitrary pointer arithmetic, conflation of pointers and arrays, and programmer-visible memory layout make retrofitting C/C++ with spatial safety guarantees extremely challenging. Existing approaches suffer from incompleteness, have high runtime overhead, or require non-trivial changes to the C source code. Thus far, these deficiencies have prevented widespread adoption of such techniques.This paper proposes SoftBound, a compile-time transformation for enforcing spatial safety of C. Inspired by HardBound, a previously proposed hardware-assisted approach, SoftBound similarly records base and bound information for every pointer as disjoint metadata. This decoupling enables SoftBound to provide spatial safety without requiring changes to C source code. Unlike HardBound, SoftBound is a software-only approach and performs metadata manipulation only when loading or storing pointer values. A formal proof shows that this is sufficient to provide spatial safety even in the presence of arbitrary casts. SoftBound's full checking mode provides complete spatial violation detection with 67% runtime overhead on average. To further reduce overheads, SoftBound has a store-only checking mode that successfully detects all the security vulnerabilities in a test suite at the cost of only 22% runtime overhead on average.
Plasma Glutathione and Cystathionine Concentrations Are Elevated but Cysteine Flux Is Unchanged by Dietary Vitamin B-6 Restriction in Young Men and Women

Cysteine synthesis from homocysteine is catalyzed by two pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzymes. This suggests that vitamin B-6 status might affect cysteine and glutathione homeostasis, but it is unclear whether this occurs in humans. We assessed the effects of vitamin B-6 status on static and kinetic parameters of cysteine and glutathione metabolism in healthy female (n=5) and male (n=4) volunteers (20-30 y) before and after 4 wk of dietary vitamin B-6 restriction (<0.5 mg vitamin B-6/d). Rates of reactions related to cysteine metabolism were measured from blood sampled during primed, constant infusions of [(13)C(5)]methionine, [3-(13)C]serine, and [(2)H(2)]cysteine that were conducted after an overnight fast at baseline and after the dietary protocol. Vitamin B-6 restriction reduced the concentration of PLP (55.1+/- 8.3 vs. 22.6+/-1.3 nmol/L; P=0.004) and increased concentrations of cystathionine (124%; P<0.001) and total glutathione (38%; P<0.008) in plasma. Concentrations of plasma homocysteine, cysteine, cysteinylglycine, and C-reactive protein (an indicator of systemic inflammation) were not affected by dietary vitamin B-6 restriction. The rate of cysteine synthesis via transsulfuration was below detection limits in this protocol. Neither the fractional synthesis rate of cystathionine nor whole-body cysteine flux was affected by vitamin B-6 restriction. These data indicate that glutathione homeostasis is altered by dietary vitamin B-6 deficiency and appears to be unrelated to cysteine flux under conditions of minimal amino acid intake as evaluated in this study.
Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ Coactivator 1 Coactivators, Energy Homeostasis, and Metabolism

Many biological programs are regulated at the transcriptional level. This is generally achieved by the concerted actions of several transcription factors. Recent findings have shown that, in many cases, transcriptional coactivators coordinate the overall regulation of the biological programs. One of the best-studied examples of coactivator control of metabolic pathways is the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1 (PGC-1) family. These proteins are strong activators of mitochondrial function and are thus dominant regulators of oxidative metabolism in a variety of tissues. The PGC-1 coactivators themselves are subject to powerful regulation at the transcriptional and posttranslational levels. Recent studies have elucidated the function of the PGC-1 coactivators in different tissues and have highlighted the implications of PGC-1 dysregulation in diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiomyopathy, or neurodegeneration.
Effective Practice Utilization Using Performance Prediction Software

A successful capital facility project requires effective usage of practices to satisfy the expected high level of project objectives. To provide an effective practice usage plan, the impacts of implementing practices need to be quantified and better methods or tools for practice usage plan and control are also required. Despite a number of efforts at quantifying the impact of practice usage, little interest has been shown in developing the tools and techniques for improved implementation of practice use. This paper develops performance prediction models for project cost and schedule performance using predictive discriminant function analysis (DFA). The models are integrated into an automated and practical software program named the DFA program that helps deliver effective and dynamic project planning. The DFA program has a user-friendly interface that project managers or field engineers can easily apply to their projects to predict cost and schedule performance and to allow for improvement where possible. An overall project performance improvement process using the DFA program application is provided.
Accurate internal camera calibration using rotation, with analysis of sources of error

Describes a simple and accurate method for internal camera calibration based on tracking image features through a sequence of images while the camera undergoes pure rotation. A special calibration object is not required and the method can therefore be used both for laboratory calibration and for self calibration in autonomous robots. Experimental results with real images show that focal length and aspect ratio can be found to within 0.15 percent, and lens distortion error can be reduced to a fraction of a pixel. The location of the principal point and the location of the center of radial distortion can each be found to within a few pixels. We perform a simple analysis to show to what extent the various technical details affect the accuracy of the results. We show that having pure rotation is important if the features are derived from objects close to the camera. In the basic method accurate angle measurement is important. The need to accurately measure the angles can be eliminated by rotating the camera through a complete circle while taking an overlapping sequence of images and using the constraint that the sum of the angles must equal 960 degrees. >
Bit-induced asphyxia in the racehorse as a cause of sudden death

Summary The prevention of sudden death requires removal of its cause and this is unknown. The author's hypothesis is that bit-induced asphyxia, partial or complete, is a cause of sudden death. Antemortem data on bit-induced asphyxia were compared with post mortem data on sudden deaths to explore a possible cause-and-effect relationship. Causal categories from sudden death necropsy data were reclassified. Those causing a horse to fall (cardiopulmonary failures) were considered primary effects and those resulting from a fall (CNS trauma and haemorrhagic shock) secondary effects. Cardiac failure from negative pressure pulmonary oedema caused by bit-induced obstruction of the nasopharynx was consistent with the hypothesis. In 1988, asphyxia from recurrent laryngeal neuropathy was posited as a cause of exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH). It is now suggested that the bit is another cause of asphyxia; EIPH is a sign of negative pressure pulmonary oedema which, in turn, causes cardiac failure and sudden death. By breaking the airtight lip-seal at exercise, a bit dissipates negative pressure in the oral compartments, destabilises the soft palate and obstructs the nasopharynx. Bitted rein pressure, kinking the airway and rendering parts of it flaccid, is a further cause of asphyxia. The data comparison supports a unifying hypothesis on 4 problems currently considered idiopathic; that the bit is an ultimate cause of palatal instability, dynamic collapse of the upper respiratory tract, EIPH and sudden death. Bitless training and racing trials are recommended as a means of demonstrating that bitless racing is possible, preferable and predicted to reduce the prevalence of all 4 problems.
THE ARCHAIC WALL OF ATHENS: REALITY OR MYTH?

This paper reviews the philological and archaeological evidence for an Archaic, pre-Persian, city wall of Athens, and concludes that there was no Archaic enceinte separate from the fortifications of the Acropolis and Pelargikon. The extant testimonia, primarily Thucydides and Herodotos, can be interpreted in different ways, but there is nothing in these sources to suggest categorically fortifications other than those of the Acropolis/Pelargikon. Previous arguments put forward for the existence of such a putative wall do not stand up to closer scrutiny and, despite extensive excavations in those areas where the wall has been claimed, there is to date no archaeological evidence for an Archaic wall. The wall that the Persians breached in their sack of Athens in 480/79 B.C. was the Mycenaean circuit wall surrounding the Acropolis and Pelargikon; together these walls, built in the Mycenaean period, continued to serve through the Archaic period until 479 B.C. when work was begun on the Themistoklean Wall.
The role of theory in the evaluation and interpretation of cross-section data

Experimental physics is concerned primarily with providing data through which we can improve our understanding of the universe around us. However, the measurements by themselves do not provide that understanding. It is necessary to have a conceptual framework to interpret those measurements. As an example, an experimentalist collects data on the absorption spectrum of saturated hydrocarbons, which allows him or her to state the next member of the series will likely behave in a manner similar to the previous members. This is a prediction based on empirical evidence, but it is not an explanation of the underlying (microscopic) mechanism that produces the common spectral features. For that it is necessary to make a hypothesis concerning the reasons for the similarities in the spectral features and to try to verify the hypothesis by further experimentation. In the physical sciences this usually entails the development of a mathematical model based on existing theory that explains the experiments. In unusual circumstances, such as those that prevailed at the turn of the century, it became impossible to explain the results of a number of experiments in terms of known theoretical constructs and radically new ideas (i.e., the quantum theory) had to be formulated inmore » order to make progress. In the more usual scenario, it is possible to use existing theory to provide the needed framework to unify the experimental facts. In the example under consideration, molecular orbital theory provides the required framework. At that point the experimentalist not only has a theoretical model to interpret the data, but more important, a model to predict the outcome of future experiments on similar systems. Once this has been achieved and the results of the measurements have become routine and explicable by existing theory, they are no longer interesting scientifically. 100 refs., 6 figs.« less
Effect of Water on Ethanol Conversion over ZnO

This work focuses on understanding the role of water on ethanol conversion over zinc oxide (ZnO). It was found that a competitive adsorption between ethanol and water occurs on ZnO, which leads to the blockage of the strong Lewis acid site by water on ZnO. As a result, both dehydration and dehydrogenation reactions are inhibited. However, the extent of inhibition for dehydration is orders of magnitude higher than that for dehydrogenation, leading to the shift of reaction pathway from ethanol dehydration to dehydrogenation. In the secondary reactions for acetaldehyde conversion, water inhibits the acetaldehyde aldol-condensation to crotonaldehyde, favoring the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetic acid, and then to acetone via ketonization at high temperature (i.e., 400 °C).
Bottom-up coarse-grained models that accurately describe the structure, pressure, and compressibility of molecular liquids

The present work investigates the capability of bottom-up coarse-graining (CG) methods for accurately modeling both structural and thermodynamic properties of all-atom (AA) models for molecular liquids. In particular, we consider 1, 2, and 3-site CG models for heptane, as well as 1 and 3-site CG models for toluene. For each model, we employ the multiscale coarse-graining method to determine interaction potentials that optimally approximate the configuration dependence of the many-body potential of mean force (PMF). We employ a previously developed "pressure-matching" variational principle to determine a volume-dependent contribution to the potential, UV(V), that approximates the volume-dependence of the PMF. We demonstrate that the resulting CG models describe AA density fluctuations with qualitative, but not quantitative, accuracy. Accordingly, we develop a self-consistent approach for further optimizing UV, such that the CG models accurately reproduce the equilibrium density, compressibility, and average pressure of the AA models, although the CG models still significantly underestimate the atomic pressure fluctuations. Additionally, by comparing this array of models that accurately describe the structure and thermodynamic pressure of heptane and toluene at a range of different resolutions, we investigate the impact of bottom-up coarse-graining upon thermodynamic properties. In particular, we demonstrate that UV accounts for the reduced cohesion in the CG models. Finally, we observe that bottom-up coarse-graining introduces subtle correlations between the resolution, the cohesive energy density, and the "simplicity" of the model.
The Expert in U.S. and German Patent Litigation

The expert often plays a crucial role in patent litigation in both Germany and the United States. Determination of facts and application of law to facts frequently require a technical understanding that only an expert can provide. Despite the similarity of the problem of conveying information to the decision-maker, the role of the expert in the two systems and the manner in which the problem of providing technical knowledge necessary for the decision is solved are so very different, that German jurists who transfer their German experiences and expectations over to US procedures, are in danger of experiencing great disappointment if not disaster. American practices relating to the selection and preparation of expert witnesses are so different from European practices, that their explanation to European jurists is said to cause "amazement... bordering on disbelief. " Knowledge of American practices can both ease involvement in an American patent lawsuit, whether as party or as expert, and contribute to a better understanding of the risks and costs of patent lawsuits in the United States.
Cost-effectiveness analysis of sentinel lymph node biopsy in the treatment of early-stage vulvar cancer

Objective The objective of this study was to determine the costs and outcomes of inguinal-femoral lymph node dissection (IF-LND) versus sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for the management of early-stage vulvar cancer. Methods A cost-effectiveness model compared 2 different strategies for the management of early-stage vulvar cancer: (1) vulvectomy and SLNB and (2) vulvectomy and IF-LND. Probabilities of inguinal-femoral node metastases and recurrence rates associated with each strategy were estimated from published data. Actual payer costs of surgery and radiation therapy were obtained using 2012 CPT codes and Medicare payment information. Rates and costs of postoperative complications including lymphedema, lymphocyst formation, and infection were estimated and included in a separate model. Cost-effectiveness ratios were determined for each strategy. Sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate pertinent uncertainties in the models. Results For the estimated 3000 women diagnosed annually with early-stage vulvar cancer in the United States, the annual cost of the SLNB strategy is $65.2 million compared with $76.8 million for the IF-LND strategy. Three-year inguinal-femoral recurrence-free survival was similar between groups (96.9% vs 97.3%). This translates into a lower cost-effectiveness ratio for the SLNB strategy ($22,416), compared with the IF-LND strategy ($26,344). When adding complication costs to the model, cost-effectiveness ratios further favor the SLNB strategy ($23,711 vs $31,198). Sensitivity analysis revealed that the SLNB strategy remained cost-effective until the recurrence rate after a negative sentinel lymph node approaches 9%. Conclusions Sentinel lymph node biopsy is the most cost-effective strategy for the management of patients with early-stage vulvar cancer due to lower treatment costs and lower costs due to complications.
Deep segmentation networks using “simple” multi-layered graphical models

This paper provides a new perspective on a number of traditional unsupervised segmentation methods, and a number of more recent segmentation methods, in terms of multi-layered graphical models and supervised learning. This perspective suggests a family of segmentation methods, which we call deep segmentation networks that are different, but complementary, to the typical deep network used for classification. One of the biggest differences in DSNs is the pooling layer. Deep classification networks typically use pre-specified fixed pooling regions, while deep segmentation networks use data adaptive pooling regions. We investigate some of the architectural choices with these new architectures in experiments with benchmark data and suggest directions for future work.
siRNA targeting the κ light chain constant region: preclinical testing of an approach to nonfibrillar and fibrillar light chain deposition diseases

Treatment of light chain (LC) deposition diseases both nonfibrillar and fibrillar is aimed at eliminating LC production but success is limited. We report on the testing of an small interfering RNA pool targeting the κ LC constant region mRNA (si[IGKC]) designed for use against all κ plasma cell clones. To test for changes in κ LC message and protein production we used real-time PCR, immunoblot, intracellular mean fluorescence intensity and κ LC secretion by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In vitro we employed 4 human cell lines that make κ LCs and 20 specimens of CD138-selected marrow plasma cells from patients with κ plasma cell diseases. In vivo, we used a murine flank plasmacytoma xenograft model. In vitro and in vivo, there were significant reductions in message and protein production by all modalities in all cell types despite diversity in variable region sequence. In addition, in clones producing intact immunoglobulin, caspase 3/7 activity with si[IGKC] was significantly increased compared with clones producing κ LC only, consistent with the triggering of a terminal unfolded protein response by excess unpaired heavy chains. In conclusion, si[IGKC] can significantly reduce κ LC production by κ plasma cells. Further preclinical development is needed to optimize delivery.
Delayed Infusion Reactions to Enzyme Replacement Therapies.

Background: There are currently ten intravenous enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) products available for the treatment of eight different lysosomal diseases (LD) in the USA. Additional ERT products are in clinical trials. The most common ERT adverse events are infusion reactions (IR). While IR are often defined as hypersensitivity or anaphylactoid reactions occurring concurrently with (i.e., during) infusion administration (CIR), there exists the potential for delayed infusion reactions (DIR), which present after completion of infusion administration.
Nazism, neoliberalism, and the Trumpist challenge to democracy:

Trumpism demands that scholars rethink the categories commonly used to critique authoritarian and pro-market regimes. We seek here to contribute to this rethinking with a series of reflections on h...
Clinical outcomes following stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for non-resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma

The purpose of this study was to report on progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and related toxicities following stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for non-resectable pancreatic cancer (PCa). The RSSearch® Patient Registry was screened for PCa patients treated with SBRT. The relationship between PFS, OS, and potential prognostic factors were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and continuous log-rank analysis, and the correlation between treatment planning and toxicity incidence was examined by logistic regression. Sixty patients met inclusion criteria. Twenty-three patients (38.33%) had received adjuvant gemcitabine. Following SBRT, median PFS was 6.07 months (range: 2.33 - 34.4 months) and median OS was 8.55 months (range: 2.66 - 78.53 months). Single-fraction SBRT trended towards poorer median PFS (5.13 vs. 6.76 months; p = 0.0122) with no significant difference in median OS (10.3 vs. 7.17 months; p = 0.8896). PCas located in the head had a significantly higher median OS (9.58 months) as compared to those in the body (5.66 months; p = 0.0376). Adjuvant gemcitabine did not result in superior PFS (5.12 vs. 6.35 months; p = 0.52) or OS (8.67 vs. 7.07 months; p = 0.6010). Eight (13.3%) and six (10%) patients reported acute and late toxicities, respectively, that were all Grade 1 or 2. Single-fraction SBRT was associated with an increased risk of toxicity incidence (5/9 patients vs. 3/51 patients; p = 0.001). SBRT was well-tolerated by PCa patients with fractionated SBRT trending towards superior PFS and less toxicity as compared to single-fraction SBRT.
Explaining recent mortality trends among younger and middle-aged White Americans.

Background Recent research has suggested that increases in mortality among middle-aged US Whites are being driven by suicides and poisonings from alcohol and drug use. Increases in these 'despair' deaths have been argued to reflect a cohort-based epidemic of pain and distress among middle-aged US Whites. Methods We examine trends in all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates among younger and middle-aged US White men and women between 1980 and 2014, using official US mortality data. We estimate trends in cause-specific mortality from suicides, alcohol-related deaths, drug-related deaths, 'metabolic diseases' (i.e. deaths from heart diseases, diabetes, obesity and/or hypertension), and residual deaths from extrinsic causes (i.e. causes external to the body). We examine variation in mortality trends by gender, age and cause of death, and decompose trends into period- and cohort-based variation. Results Trends in middle-aged US White mortality vary considerably by cause and gender. The relative contribution to overall mortality rates from drug-related deaths has increased dramatically since the early 1990s, but the contributions from suicide and alcohol-related deaths have remained stable. Rising mortality from drug-related deaths exhibit strong period-based patterns. Declines in deaths from metabolic diseases have slowed for middle-aged White men and have stalled for middle-aged White women, and exhibit strong cohort-based patterns. Conclusions We find little empirical support for the pain- and distress-based explanations for rising mortality in the US White population. Instead, recent mortality increases among younger and middle-aged US White men and women have likely been shaped by the US opiate epidemic and an expanding obesogenic environment.
Towards a Theory of Knowledge Acquisition for Black Children

The purpose of this paper is twofold. Initially , the paper describes the impact of educational research and theory on the policies and practices implemented in elementary schools , and the potentially devastating effects such practices can have on the student clientele. It is argued that the perceptions of Black children as portrayed in educational theory have been misguided , based on the assumptions , theories , and research studies that have questionable historical premises. As a result of these theoretical misconceptions , schooling practices are inappropriate and stifle the intellectual growth and development of these children. The focus then shifts to the main thesis which describes the early and advanced psycho-motor development of Black children and the need for a socially interactive knowledge acquisition pattern compatible with their learning needs. The social interactive learning style in elementary curriculum theory formation is an important but relatively unexplored aspect of social science research.
Using mean frequency estimation algorithms for unambiguous identification and visualization of an acoustically active catheter

Minimally invasive procedures using ultrasound are becoming prominent, especially in applications like biopsy, catheter guidance, and surgeries. In our previous work a catheter tip is fitted with a miniature omnidirectional piezoelectric crystal; the ultrasonic field from the imaging array and the piezoelectric crystal interact resulting in a symmetric Doppler shift. Previously, a frequency domain algorithm was used to identify pixels having the symmetric Doppler shift. The identified pixels can then be visualized on B-mode and color map with a unique color thus representing the location of the catheter tip. However, frequency domain algorithms are computationally expensive and require changes to data workflow. Using mean frequency estimators with symmetric Doppler shift results in the catheter tip being displayed as zero mean noise making it hard to distinguish from color Doppler noise. To overcome this limitation, complex demodulation can be used. Modulating the time domain signal with sine and cosine by the piezoelectric excitation frequency and summing them up results in cancellation of one of the symmetric Doppler components. With only one frequency component remaining mean frequency estimators can be used to identify the location of the catheter. The presented algorithm has lower computational complexity and requires minimal change in software design.
Fixed-Point High-Speed Parallel Multipliers in VLSI

The paper presents techniques to increase the speed of fixed-point parallel multipliers and reduce the multiplier chip size for VLSI realizations. It is shown that a higher order (octal) version of the Booth’s Algorithm will lead to significant improvements in speed, coupled with a decrease of chip area and power consumption, as compared to the modified (quaternary) version of the Booth’s Algorithm presently used in or proposed for monolithic multipliers. In addition, further speed improvements can be obtained by using Wallace trees or optimal Dadda types of realizations.
Case 30: Traumatic Enucleation

A 41-year-old woman presented with a Zone III open globe injury of the right eye with no light perception vision and concurrent traumatic enucleation of the left eye due to assault. She underwent bilateral globe exploration with repair of the ruptured right globe and placement of an orbital implant on the left. She experienced persistent eye pain and no light perception vision on the right and subsequently underwent enucleation of the right eye with placement of an orbital implant 1 week later. Traumatic enucleations are rare, often caused by manual gouging injuries in instances of assault or self-induced. Bilateral severe eye injuries, such as this, are also rare, but are particularly devastating to the patient and family. These cases must be managed appropriately, both surgically as well as psychologically.
Developing a long-duration Zn K- α source for x-ray scattering experiments.

We are developing a long-duration K-α x-ray source at the Omega laser facility. Such sources are important for x-ray scattering measurements at small scattering angles where high spectral resolution is required. To date, He-α x-ray sources are the most common probes in scattering experiments, using ns-class lasers to heat foils to keV temperatures, resulting in K-shell emission from He-like charge states. The He-α spectrum can be broadened by emission from multiple charge states and lines (e.g., He-like, Li-like, Be-like). Here, we combine the long duration of He-α sources with the narrow spectral bandwidth of cold K-α emission. A Ge foil is irradiated by the Omega laser, producing principally Ge He-α emission, which pumps Zn K-α emission at 8.6 keV from a nearby Zn layer. Using this technique, we demonstrate a long-duration Zn K-α source suitable for scattering measurements. Our experimental results show a 60% reduction in spectral bandwidth compared to a standard Zn He-α source, significantly improving the measurement precision of scattering experiments with small inelastic shifts.
Homologs of the STYLISH gene family control nectary development in Aquilegia.

Floral nectaries are an interesting example of a convergent trait in flowering plants, and are associated with the diversification of numerous angiosperm lineages, including the adaptive radiation of the New World Aquilegia species. However, we know very little as to what genes contribute to nectary development and evolution, particularly in noncore eudicot taxa. We analyzed expression patterns and used RNAi-based methods to investigate the functions of homologs from the STYLISH (STY) family in nectar spur development in Aquilegia coerulea. We found that AqSTY1 exhibits concentrated expression in the presumptive nectary of the growing spur tip, and triple gene silencing of the three STY-like genes revealed that they function in style and nectary development. Strong expression of STY homologs was also detected in the nectary-bearing petals of Delphinium and Epimedium. Our results suggest that the novel recruitment of STY homologs to control nectary development is likely to have occurred before the diversification of the Ranunculaceae and Berberidaceae. To date, the STY homologs of the Ranunculales are the only alternative loci for the control of nectary development in flowering plants, providing a critical data point in understanding the evolutionary origin and developmental basis of nectaries.
Demand Response in Data Centers: Integration of Server Provisioning and Power Procurement

Data centers are among the fastest growing industries in the United States economy in terms of IT service and usage of data. However, data centers consume an excessive amount of energy that contributes to huge energy costs and CO2 emissions; thus, they face challenges in energy cost savings and making a positive impact on the environment. Therefore, data centers have been striving to: 1) improve energy efficiency in server operations by applying server provisioning techniques, and 2) utilize renewable energy and energy storage for power procurement. Although data centers have obtained financial and environmental benefits from the aforementioned efforts, there still exists significant room for improvement by facilitating demand response based on the co-optimization of server operations and power procurement, which has not been well implemented in the current practice. The main objective of this paper is a new holistic approach that considers server operations and power procurement simultaneously for implementing demand response. Also, this paper develops a decision-making model based on two-stage stochastic programming to successfully address the inherent stochastic nature and demonstrate the impact of the proposed model via numerical experiments. The proposed model is designed to support practitioners’ strategic and operational decision-making for demand response in data centers.
Embedding Decision Diagrams into Generative Adversarial Networks

Many real-world decision-making problems do not possess a clearly defined objective function, but instead aim to find solutions that capture implicit user preferences. This makes it challenging to directly apply classical optimization technology such as integer programming or constraint programming. Machine learning provides an alternative by learning the agents’ decision-making implicitly via neural networks. However, solutions generated by neural networks often fail to satisfy physical or operational constraints. We propose a hybrid approach, DDGan, that embeds a Decision Diagram (DD) into a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN). In DDGan, the solutions generated from the neural network are filtered through a decision diagram module to ensure feasibility. DDGan thus combines the benefits of machine learning and constraint reasoning. When applied to the problem of schedule generation, we demonstrate that DDGan generates schedules that reflect the agents’ implicit preferences, and better satisfy operational constraints.
Clinical implication of PET/CT and skeletal bone survey in evaluation of multiple myeloma and related monoclonal disorders.

e18574 Background: Whole body skeletal x-ray is considered a gold standard for detecting bone lesions in patients with plasma cell disorders. PET/CT has been increasingly used but its role is yet t...