cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Unexamined Life: White Male Racial Ignorance and the Agony of Education for Students of Color1

ABSTRACTThis article critically analyzes the narratives of 62 White male undergraduates at a single institution about their views on race and experiences with racism. It is framed by Mills' (1997) conception of Whiteness that is founded upon an inverted epistemology or an epistemology of ignorance. Therefore, this analysis centers the ways in which White male undergraduates concurrently downplay the contemporary significance of White privilege while examining the role college experiences have at reinforcing this structured ignorance. The themes from their interviews included: (1) White ignorance and White identity as meaningless; (2) Evasive White racial ignorance; and (3) Racial arrested development and racial regression. These findings emphasize the need to creatively challenge White males to develop their racial selves, especially because their ignorance fuels the linguistic and physical violence Students of Color regularly experience.
Strategic business development and client prospecting in the third-party apartment management industry

Intensifying competition and increasing market demands are forcing many third-party apartment management firms to re-evaluate their approach to business development and client prospecting. In some ...
The Two Selves in My Friend Addict

My friend Addict has two selves: good and bad. The bad self preys on the good self. Their interactions give rise to Addict’s periodic feeling of conflict. I find that, to diminish the bad self, we cannot simply try to harass the bad self or favor the good self; we must begin by diminishing the good self. This remedy works like the scorched-earth tactic in a battle. Only by starving the bad self will we succeed in preserving the good self.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Triad: Psoriasis, Cardiovascular Disease, and Depression:

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) plays an intricate role in immune defense mechanisms. Over the past decades, studies have demonstrated that inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and interleukin-6, may play an important role in the pathophysiology of psoriasis and depression. More recently, studies suggested an additional association of TNF-α with cardiovascular disease, which has attracted much attention. People with psoriasis, cardiovascular disease (i.e., heart failure or myocardial infarction [MI]), and depression have been found to have higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines, especially TNF-α. This article reviews the roles of TNF-α in psoriasis, cardiovascular disease, and depression.
Gait Stability Has Phase-Dependent Dual-Task Costs in Parkinson’s Disease

Dual-task (DT) paradigms have been used in gait research to assess the automaticity of locomotion, particularly in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). In people with PD, reliance on cortical control during walking leads to greater interference between cognitive and locomotor tasks. Yet, recent studies have suggested that even healthy gait requires cognitive control, and that these cognitive contributions occur at specific phases of the gait cycle. Here, we examined whether changes in gait stability, elicited by simultaneous cognitive DTs, were specific to certain phases of the gait cycle in people with PD. Phase-dependent local dynamic stability (LDS) was calculated for 95 subjects with PD and 50 healthy control subjects during both single task and DT gait at phases corresponding to (1) heel contact-weight transfer, (2) toe-off-early swing, and (3) single-support-mid swing. PD-related DT interference was evident only for the duration of late swing and LDS during the heel contact-weight transfer phase of gait. No PD-related DT costs were found in other traditional spatiotemporal gait parameters. These results suggest that PD-related DT interference occurs only during times where cortical activity is needed for planning and postural adjustments. These results challenge our understanding of DT costs while walking, particularly in people with PD, and encourage researchers to re-evaluate traditional concepts of DT interference.
Physical and Materials Applications of Pincer Complexes

Pincer complexes have been shown to be widely useful and versatile in organic synthesis and catalysis, but they have also been employed in a wide range of intriguing physical and materials applications. The capacity for selective and directional metal–ligand coordination offers a tool for construction and function. Pincer complexes have been successfully used as a means for templating macrocycles, assembling metallodendrimers, functionalizing surfaces, and functionalizing polymer chains. Furthermore, pincer complexes have proven to be useful mechanistic probes of polymer physical processes, linear polymers, networks, cross-linked brushes, films, and gels. Recently, the activity of pincer complexes has extended into the realm of mechanochemistry, with applications in fundamental mechanistic studies as well as mechanocatalysis. This chapter explores the use of pincer metal–ligand coordination events in these various physical and materials contexts.
Empirische Studie am Beispiel der Siemens AG

Die entwickelten Forschungshypothesen, die erklaren, wann Unternehmen mit Universitaten in F&E kooperieren sollten und werden, und wie zum einen die Performance in Forschungskooperationen mit Universitaten bestimmt und zum anderen beeinflusst wird, sollen in einer empirischen Studie wissenschaftlich uberpruft werden. Dazu wurden entsprechend der Abgrenzung dieser Arbeit Forschungsprojekte aus dem Bereich der Grundlagenforschung (vgl. zusammenfassend Kapitel 2.1.3) der Siemens AG, welche zu den bedeutendsten Technologieunternehmen der deutschen Industriegeschichte zahlt, retrospektiv analysiert. Die hierbei untersuchten Forschungsprojekte wurden in den Fiskaljahren34 2008 bis 2011 durchgefuhrt und abgeschlossen. Sie entstammen der Zentraleinheit fur grundlegende Technologieentwicklung, Corporate Technology, die sich konzernubergreifend der Suche nach bzw. der grundlegenden Entwicklung neuer, innovativer Zukunftstechnologien widmet. Die Corporate Technology beschaftigt hierzu ca. 6500 Mitarbeiter, verfugt uber ein Gesamtbudget von 14 Prozent der gesamten F&E Ausgaben der Siemens AG per annum und ist ein zentraler Treiber fur die Entwicklung neuer Patente der Siemens AG, die bezogen auf das Unternehmen ca. 4300 Patente pro Jahr neu anmeldet und damit zu den innovativsten Technologieunternehmen Europas bzw. der Welt zahlt (Siemens AG 2011a, S. 4). Im Bereich der Corporate Technology bestehen umfassende Kooperationen mit Universitaten (Ebenda, S. 5), weshalb sich diese Einheit mit ihren Forschungsprojekten besonders fur die wissenschaftliche Uberprufung der zuvor aufgestellten Forschungshypothesen zum UI KTT eignet.
Bien común y vulnerabilidad

Resumen: El texto discuta algunas preguntas sobre el bien comun: (1) ?Como se relacionan la situacion personal y la situacion de la comunidad, el bien personal y el bien comun? O dicho de otra manera: ?Por que el bien comun? (2) ?Que sucede con la construccion del bien comun en un contexto especifico para el entorno respectivo? O dicho de otra manera: ?Que bien? (3) ?De acuerdo a que normas eticas puede armonizarse la relacion entre los deberes basicos de la comunidad y las obligaciones del bien comun? O dicho de otra manera: ?El bien de quien? Las tres preguntas cinducen a tres indicios: El motivo del bien comun puede basarse en el concepto de vulnerabilidad (I1); una parte fundamental de la respuesta a la pregunta “?que bien?” se puede encontrar en el concepto de confianza (I2); la pregunta “?el bien de quien?” conduce al concepto de reconocimiento (I3). Una respuesta interesante a la pregunta “?por que el bien comun?” se encuentra en la Doctrina Social de la Iglesia Catolica, que ve el “bien comun” como un valor que esta subordinado a otro valor, la perfeccion.
Hierarchical control of a catoptric surface: work-in-progress

The control of a catoptric (mirror-based) surface is decomposed hierarchically. The positioning control of individual mirrors is handled by low-level controllers for each drive motor, and the overall control decisions are guided by a Markov decision process.
Extracting Inter-Sentence Relations for Associating Biological Context with Events in Biomedical Texts

We present an analysis of the problem of identifying biological context and associating it with biochemical events described in biomedical texts. This constitutes a non-trivial, inter-sentential relation extraction task. We focus on biological context as descriptions of the species, tissue type, and cell type that are associated with biochemical events. We present a new corpus of open access biomedical texts that have been annotated by biology subject matter experts to highlight context-event relations. Using this corpus, we evaluate several classifiers for context-event association along with a detailed analysis of the impact of a variety of linguistic features on classifier performance. We find that gradient tree boosting performs by far the best, achieving an F1 of 0.865 in a cross-validation study.
Teacher Leadership and Communication Among Diverse Colleagues: Why Cultural Competence Counts:

This article explores contextual factors that influenced teacher leadership behavior during the evolution of a dual language education program for elementary English-language learners. Teachers’ na...
Development of the Parent Forum: An in-person approach to supporting caregivers of youth with spinal cord injury.

Context/Objective: Describe development, implementation, review, and redesign of a hospital-based, in-person psychoeducational intervention for caregivers of youth with spinal cord injury (SCI) age...
The Formation of the First Stars

The first stars formed in the very early Universe at times in the range 108–109 years after the Big Bang. Conditions then were very different from those in the Galaxy at the present time. (1) Only insignificant amounts of elements heavier than H and He were present; (2) dust grains were not present, so opacities and optical depths were quite different from those in present-day protostars; (3) heating and cooling mechanisms in prestellar clouds and protostars were also quite different, leading to altered conditions of temperature and density; (4) dark matter, the exact nature of which is still unknown, played an important role in the formation process; (5) magnetic fields were probably not present, or at most were very weak compared to present-day interstellar values. The first stars are known as Population III and have not been directly observed. They may be divided into two sub-classes: Pop. III.1 and Pop III.2. The former refers to the true first generation of stars, where the composition is that produced in the Big Bang and there has been no prior star formation. The latter refers to the second generation, in which the composition is still primordial, but star formation is influenced by the kinetic energy and radiation deposited into the interstellar medium by the first generation. In contrast, the oldest observed stars have iron abundances between 10 − 3 solar and less than 10 − 5 solar [471, 174, 114]; they are known as Population II and clearly belong to a still later generation of stars but still very old, ≈ 13 Gyr. The carbon and oxygen abundances in these stars are less depleted relative to solar than is the iron. The details of the abundance patterns in these objects give important clues regarding the nature of the earliest generations of stars whose supernovae produced these elements. This chapter concentrates primarily on Population III.1.
Higher Dimensional Spectral Factorization with Applications to Digital Filtering

A key tool in the theory of digital filtering in one dimension is a certain general spectral factorization. The lack of such factorization has been a major impediment in the development of a digital filtering theory in higher dimensions. We give here a general method for such factorization in any number of dimensions.
AccessMap Website Demonstration: Individualized, Accessible Pedestrian Trip Planning at Scale

Despite significant heterogeneity in pedestrian mobility, maps and trip planning services have traditionally treated pedestrians as a monolithic, limited extension to street traffic-centric approaches. Here, we present a demonstration of the AccessMap website, an open source, city-scale, interactive web map based on open data that provides individualized pedestrian infrastructure information and automatic trip planning services. Via the AccessMap website, customizable settings instigate real-time visual feedback of infrastructure accessibility and are used to automatically generate bespoke trip plans via an open API.
Medical therapy in type B aortic intramural hematoma is associated with a high failure rate.

Abstract Objective Intramural hematoma (IMH) is on the spectrum of acute aortic syndrome, but optimal management is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate outcomes of patients with type B IMH (TBIMH) after best medical therapy (BMT) and to assess for risk factors associated with failure of BMT. Methods This is a single-institution retrospective chart review of all patients with TBIMH between January 2008 and December 2017. Failure of BMT was defined as any of the following end points: aortic rupture, aorta-related death, aortic enlargement to at least 55 mm or growth of >10 mm within 12 months, or need for surgical aortic intervention for failed BMT. Results We identified 92 patients, of whom 25 received emergent thoracic endovascular aortic repair; 67 patients were initially managed with BMT, and of these, 32 underwent thoracic endovascular aortic repair within 14 days for early BMT failure. Two additional patients had early BMT failure; one died of aortic rupture due to retrograde type A dissection, and one patient was advised to undergo repair but did not comply and was lost to follow-up. Fourteen patients (20.9%) received endovascular therapy for late failure of BMT after the initial hospitalization. Medical management was successful in 19 patients (28.4%), although 5 patients had aortic enlargement but below the threshold for elective repair (maximal aortic diameter of 55 mm). On univariate analysis, presenting IMH thickness and growth of IMH thickness were risk factors for BMT failure. On multivariate analysis, presenting IMH thickness was the sole predictive risk factor for medical therapy failure (odds ratio, 1.083; 95% confidence interval, 1.021-1.149; P = .008), with an odds ratio of 6.810 (95% confidence interval, 1.921-24.146; P = .002) with a presenting IMH thickness of ≥8.0 mm, which was the calculated IMH thickness cutoff value with highest sensitivity and specificity to predict failure of BMT (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.795; P = .001; J = 0.62). Conclusions BMT for TBIMH is associated with a high failure rate and need for interventions. IMH thickness on admission is the most reliable factor to predict failure of BMT.
We Are Family: Chosen and Created Families as a Protective Factor Against Racialized Trauma and Anti-LGBTQ Oppression Among African American Sexual and Gender Minority Youth

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) youth are at an increased risk for social isolation and family rejection. This is particularly true in African American communities where ther...
Chapter 31 – Enforcement

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the theoretical underpinnings of behavior change and how enforcement fits within larger theories; how enforcement has effectively targeted safety belt nonuse, impaired driving, and speeding, and challenges to enforcement's effectiveness. Enforcement, in general, has been effective at reducing risk behaviors, injuries, and fatalities on the roadways. It has theoretical support from criminology (deterrence) and psychology (learning) theories. The enforcement system begins with legislation. The law dictates conditions under which a behavior is in violation and the fines that are allowed to be assessed. In traffic settings, the strength of the law has been particularly important. Laws are also critical for the enforcement of impaired driving, as a second example. Blood alcohol content (BAC) limits are significantly related to fatal crashes. The second component of the system is the enforcement of the law on the roadways. The third component is the judicial system. Laws are enforced by officers writing tickets or making arrests, which then are upheld or not by courts. Of the three components, the judicial system is the least covered or focused on by traffic psychology. The chapter also reviews the debate regarding automated enforcement. Automated enforcement is effective in reducing risk behaviors, but this alone does not convince the public of its fairness or safety potential. In fact, the perception of enforcement in general is important. Enforcement must be consistent enough to encourage people's perceptions that they will be caught if driving illegally, but it also must be fair enough for those same people to understand and agree they are in violation.
Prenatal vestibular stimulation as dance (VES-D) program: A mixed methods feasibility study

Abstract This study used a mixed-methods design to examine the acceptability of a dance program for pregnant women, the feasibility of conducting home-based assessments of newborn infants using a non-invasive attention task, and the suitability of the outcome measure. Prenatal vestibular-stimulation-as-dance (VES-D) was informed by Laban movement theories, modern dance technique, and pregnant hunter-gatherer’s activity patterns. Five pregnant women completed the VES-D program and participated in semi-structured interviews that explored their attitudes, expectations, and cultural beliefs before and during the dance program. Between nine and 11 days post-birth, the adult participants’ five newborn infants completed a home-based visual attention task that measured looking time and eye shifts using direct and averted gaze face stimuli. Adult participants reported the dance program was relaxing, enjoyable, and beneficial for both themselves and for their fetus. All infants showed habituation of the non-face stimulus and reorientation to the face stimulus for a mean time of 36 s, establishing looking time as a suitable outcome measure. Gaze preference based on infants’ pupil shifts was not determined to be a suitable outcome measure of attention. Administration of a home infant lab enhanced the ecological validity of the study design.
In Pursuit of Designing Multicellular Engineered Living Systems: A Fluid Mechanical Perspective

From intracellular protein signaling to embryonic symmetry-breaking, fluid transport ubiquitously drives biological events in living systems. We provide an overview of the fundamental fluid mechani...
Effect of systemic treatment with N-[2-(5-hydroxy-1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]-2-oxopiperidine-3- carboxamide (HIOC) or tauroursodeoxycholic Acid (TUDCA) on retinal ganglion cell death following optic nerve crush

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of systemically administered N-[2-(5-hydroxy-1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]-2-oxopiperidine-3-carboxamide (HIOC) or tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) in an optic nerve crush (ONC) mouse model. HIOC (50 mg/kg) or TUDCA (500mg/kg) were intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected into adult C57BL/6 mice three times per week. Two weeks after treatment (6 injections), unilateral optic nerve crush was conducted followed by treatment at the same day. The treatment was continued until 1 week or 2 weeks after ONC. A control cohort was identically treated with drug vehicle (phosphate-buffered saline; PBS). Retinas were harvested for whole mount immunofluorescence staining with RGC markers and imaged by fluorescent confocal microscopy at 40x magnification. Fluorescing cells were counted by computer-assisted automated identification and counting software (CellProfiler). Cohort sampling sizes were N=4 and statistical tesing was by the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test. Significant loss (80%’85%) occurred in the PBS-injected group 1 and 2 weeks after ONC. This loss was partially but significantly prevented in drug-treated cohorts (P
On the Other Side of the World, an Even More Dysfunctional Election: America Has a Huge Stake in Afghanistan’s Future

Late last month, Afghanistan finally held its long-overdue parliamentary election, sort of. Defying Taliban threats and assaults, approximately 4 million brave Afghans cast their ballots in the hope of institutionalizing democracy in Afghanistan. Crucially, the parliamentary election was a test run for a more consequential spectacle: the upcoming presidential race in April. However, as the parliamentary polls dust — or sandstorm — begins to settle, the prospects for a fair and transparent presidential election look bleak. Unfortunately, the chaotic election, electoral authorities’ questionable conduct, and government interference have stoked fears about a repeat of the fraud-riddled fiasco that marred the 2014 presidential race. It would be a tragic irony if the ostensible guardians of Afghanistan’s electoral system end up strangling the fledgling democracy from within — a job the Taliban has failed to do. The international community, including the United States, has a crucial role in averting yet another major crisis, while it might still be possible.
The Effects of Financial Heterogeneity on the Bank-Lending Channel of Monetary Policy in a Monetary Union

In this study, I investigate the impact of heterogeneity in financial frictions across the Eurozone on credit supply dynamics and the effectiveness of bank-lending channel of monetary policy, by integrating empirical and quantitative analysis. Using country-level bank balance sheet data, I estimate financial frictions in the credit supply curve in a two-country, monetary union New Keynesian model with banks. The results indicate that financial frictions in core countries are significantly smaller than peripheral countries. Given this financial heterogeneity, my model predicts that firstly, financial shocks cause more severe recessions in peripheral countries than in core countries. Secondly, the bank-lending channel has a weaker stimulus effect in peripheral countries under the single interest rates policy. Moreover, I find that asset purchase policies, particularly region-specific asset purchases, can curtail the differences in transmission of the bank-lending channel inside a region.
Asthma, Hay Fever, Pollen, and Climate Change

Climate change, if present, is associated with atmospheric warming—so-called global warming—as well as volatility in weather patterns, leading to more severe winters at a given latitude (since cold air typically further north in latitude is pushed south) and hotter summer months (when the earth is closer to the sun). Hot weather generates more pollen from plants. Cold weather is associated with asthma emergency room visits in New York City. More pollen causes more disease, not only allergically induced, but also non-allergic, since, ragweed, for example, produces more reactive oxygen species (ROS), so it may produce inflammation, leading to upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms, even in those persons without allergic asthma, rhinitis, or conjunctivitis. Clean Air Act enforcement may reduce sources of anthropogenic heat.
Surface Pore Formation in Helium Implanted Fine-Grain Tungsten and Tungsten Needles as Engineered First Wall and Divertor Plate Materials

AbstractSurface morphology changes of sub-micron tipped tungsten needles (W.N.) and an engineered fine-grain tungsten (FGW) were studied after implantation with He ions at reactor relevant conditio...
TU‐EF‐204‐01: Accurate Prediction of CT Tube Current Modulation: Estimating Tube Current Modulation Schemes for Voxelized Patient Models Used in Monte Carlo Simulations

Author(s): McMillan, K; Bostani, M; McCollough, C; McNitt-Gray, M | Abstract: PURPOSE: Most patient models used in Monte Carlo-based estimates of CT dose, including computational phantoms, do not have tube current modulation (TCM) data associated with them. While not a problem for fixed tube current simulations, this is a limitation when modeling the effects of TCM. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to develop and validate methods to estimate TCM schemes for any voxelized patient model. METHODS: For 10 patients who received clinically-indicated chest (n=5) and abdomen/pelvis (n=5) scans on a Siemens CT scanner, both CT localizer radiograph ("topogram") and image data were collected. Methods were devised to estimate the complete x-y-z TCM scheme using patient attenuation data: (a) available in the Siemens CT localizer radiograph/topogram itself ("actual-topo") and (b) from a simulated topogram ("sim-topo") derived from a projection of the image data. For comparison, the actual TCM scheme was extracted from the projection data of each patient. For validation, Monte Carlo simulations were performed using each TCM scheme to estimate dose to the lungs (chest scans) and liver (abdomen/pelvis scans). Organ doses from simulations using the actual TCM were compared to those using each of the estimated TCM methods ("actual-topo" and "sim-topo"). RESULTS: For chest scans, the average differences between doses estimated using actual TCM schemes and estimated TCM schemes ("actual-topo" and "sim-topo") were 3.70% and 4.98%, respectively. For abdomen/pelvis scans, the average differences were 5.55% and 6.97%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Strong agreement between doses estimated using actual and estimated TCM schemes validates the methods for simulating Siemens topograms and converting attenuation data into TCM schemes. This indicates that the methods developed in this work can be used to accurately estimate TCM schemes for any patient model or computational phantom, whether a CT localizer radiograph is available or not. Funding Support: NIH Grant R01-EB017095; Disclosures - Michael McNitt-Gray: Institutional Research Agreement, Siemens AG; Research Support, Siemens AG; Consultant, Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso PLLC; Consultant, Fulbright and Jaworski; Disclosures - Cynthia McCollough: Research Grant, Siemens Healthcare.
Storytelling Agents with Personality and Adaptivity

We explore the expression of personality and adaptivity through the gestures of virtual agents in a storytelling task. We conduct two experiments using four different dialogic stories. We manipulate agent personality on the extraversion scale, whether the agents adapt to one another in their gestural performance and agent gender. Our results show that subjects are able to perceive the intended variation in extraversion between different virtual agents, independently of the story they are telling and the gender of the agent. A second study shows that subjects also prefer adaptive to nonadaptive virtual agents.
Biochemistry of covalently bound flavins.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the survey of the occurrence, chemical structure, properties, biosynthesis, and catabolism of covalently bound flavins. The existence of covalently bound flavins in several other enzymes was established several years before the structure of 8 α-histidyl-flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) was determined. In each case, the peptide chain is substituted in the 8α-position of the flavin, although both the substituent amino acid and the nature of the linkage to the flavin vary from enzyme to enzyme. The presence of FAD in covalently bound form in mitochondrial monoamine oxidase was reported. The history of the research that led to the elucidation of the structure of the 8α-histidyl-FAD component of succinate dehydrogenase may be conveniently divided into three phases. It is observed that purified preparations of sarcosine dehydrogenase from rat liver mitochondria contained both acid-extractable and covalently bound flavin. The intense fluorescence increase on performic acid oxidation of the tryptic-chymotryptic peptide is not seen in the amino acyl flavin and is thus the result of an interaction between amino acyl residues in the peptide with the flavin.
A high performance general purpose multi-point signal router

New algorithms are proposed to route multiple points for VLSI layout synthesis in the presence of irregular rectilinear obstacles. The proposed routing algorithms are to be used when layout is nearly complete, such that routing needs to be done by using very limited space between existing layout cells or by routing directly over the cells. A point-to-point routing algorithm is proposed. Which allows more general conditions, including point-to-path routing, over-the-cell routing, multi-layer routing and user guided routing. Then, the point-to-point routing algorithm is generalized to perform multi-point routing. Through benchmarks, we have found that the results of the router either match or outperform those generated by existing algorithms, using significantly fewer search lines. >
Abstract 3987: Evaluation of anti–malarial compounds as inhibitors of ezrin in osteosarcoma cells

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA Ezrin is a member of the ERM (Ezrin, Radixin, Moesin) family of proteins that functions as a cross-linker between the plasma membrane and actin cytoskeleton, thus allowing the cell to regulate cytoskeletal dynamics in response to external stimuli. Ezrin plays important roles in cell motility, membrane trafficking, morphogenesis, adhesion, survival and apoptosis. Ezrin also participates in crucial signal transduction pathways. Overexpression of ezrin contributes to the aggressive cancer behavior in various tumor types especially by enhancing the metastatic phenotype. Thus, ezrin represents a promising molecular target for cancer therapy. In our earlier studies, we have established that NSC305787 can directly bind to ezrin and inhibit its activity, which results in reduced metastasis. Since NSC305787 shares significant structural similarities with some anti-malarial drugs, we tested 400 anti-malarial compounds including 200 drug-like compounds and 200 probe-like compounds for their potential to directly bind to ezrin protein. We used surface plasmon resonance technology (Biacore) to screen direct binding. In this initial screen, 12 compounds demonstrated binding to ezrin over background values and selected as primary hits. Detailed SPR analysis of primary hits resulted in 7 compounds with comparable KD values to that obtained with our lead compound NSC305787. Primary hits were also evaluated for inhibition of the cell motility of murine osteosarcoma (OS) cells K7M2 and K12 that express high and low levels of ezrin, respectively. Cell motility and chemotaxis assays were conducted in parallel with viability assays to rule out general toxicity. Selected anti-malarial compounds were effective in inhibiting the motility of OS cells with high ezrin compared to cells with low ezrin. In conclusion, several anti-malarial drugs may have new indications in cancer therapy by inhibiting ezrin. Citation Format: Haydar Celik, Abraham Kallarakal, Daisy Colon-Lopez, Jeffrey Toretsky, Jurgen Bosch, Aykut Uren. Evaluation of anti–malarial compounds as inhibitors of ezrin in osteosarcoma 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 3987. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3987
A Weighted Enumeration of Maximal Chains in the Bruhat Order

Given a finite Weyl group i>W with root system Φ, assign the weight α ∈ Φ to each covering pair in the Bruhat order related by the reflection corresponding to α. Extending this multiplicatively to chains, we prove that the sum of the weights of all maximal chains in the Bruhat order has an explicit product formula, and prove a similar result for a weighted sum over maximal chains in the Bruhat ordering of any parabolic quotient of i>W. Several variations and open problems are discussed.
Mapping protein modifications with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and the SALSA algorithm.

Publisher Summary The chapter focuses on the application of liquid chromatography (LC) tandem mass spectrometry (MS) (LC-MS-MS)-based approaches to identifying protein targets of modifications and mapping the modifications at the level of amino acid sequence. This chapter describes (1) the tandem MS (MS-MS) analysis of modified peptides and the impact of different adduct chemistries on peptide ion fragmentation, (2) a new MS-MS data analysis tool called scoring algorithm for spectral analysis (SALSA), (3) the application of SALSA to sequence-specific mapping of modifications to proteins, and (4) the complementary relationship of SALSA to other data analysis algorithms for MS-MS data. The integration of sequest and SALSA provides a powerful approach to proteome characterization by LC-MS-MS. The different peptide modifications confer three types of characteristics on MS-MS spectra: (1) product ions derived from adduct moieties, (2) neutral or charged losses arising from adduct-specific fragmentations, and (3) shifts in b- or y-ion signals along the m/z axis. SALSA evaluates MS-MS spectra for specific user-defined features, including product ions at specific m/z values, neutral or charged losses from singly or doubly charged precursors, and ion pairs or series. The ability of SALSA to identify unanticipated variants is a distinct advantage over other data analysis tools. Sequest and related programs can correlate the MS-MS data of modified peptides with database sequences if the user specifies the nature of the modification and the amino acid modified.
Abstract W P102: Emboli Detection Within the Posterior Circulation

Objective: To describe the frequency and clinical significance of microembolic signals in the posterior circulation following acute stroke. Background: Although transcranial Doppler (TCD) is frequently used in the anterior circulation following ischemic stroke, TCD use for microembolic signal detection (MES) in the posterior circulation has not been validated. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients who had a TCD performed for a posterior circulation ischemic stroke between 2009-2012. Either the basilar, vertebral or posterior cerebral artery was monitored by TCD for 30 minutes. Characteristics of vessels affected, patient demographics, and occurrence of MES was recorded. Good outcome was defined as discharge home or to an acute rehabilitation facility. Results: Of the 80 patients (age 61± 15 years, 65% male) who underwent TCD monitoring of the posterior circulation, 22 (27.5%) had MES. The mean number of emboli detected was 1.6 per 30 minutes. Average length of time between symptom onset and TCD was 27 days (outpatient 101.5 days; inpatient 7.3 days). Medical comorbidities were similar in those with and without MES. Vertebral or basilar stenosis >50% was found in 32 patients (40%). Moderate (50-70%) or severe (>70%) stenosis was associated with presence of MES (p=0.002), although the number of MES was similar in those with moderate vs. severe stenosis (p=0.50). Patients with MES were more likely to have experienced a TIA (36.3% vs 12.0%, p=0.01), but not stroke (27.3% vs 29.8%, p= 0.75), prior to the index event. The presence of MES was not associated with time from event to TCD (<7 vs. ≥7 days, p=0.48), length of hospital stay (7 vs. 11 days, p=0.14), recurrent neurologic events while hospitalized (6.7% vs. 12.5%, p=.47) or discharge disposition (15.4% vs. 28.9% with good outcome, p=0.276). Conclusions: Presence of MES in the posterior circulation is associated with large vessel intracranial stenosis >50% and TIA prior to index event, but does not correlate with a worse clinical outcome. Further studies are needed to establish the utility of TCD monitoring for MES after posterior circulation stroke.
Is the World Truly 'Flat'? Empirical Evidence from Online Labor Markets

Visionaries have conjectured that the world is becoming a level playing field due to the Internet that allows people to connect from anywhere around the globe. We examine this “flat world” conjecture in the context of online labor markets by theoretically proposing and empirically quantifying the economic effects of a set of common global differences (language, time zone, cultural, and economic development differences across countries) on both employers’ hiring decisions and service providers’ pricing decisions. The empirical study integrates a unique dataset formed by a sample of 261,060 bids for 25,839 IT projects (software development) from a global online labor market matched with five archival sources on language, time zone, culture, economic development, and exchange rates. We quantify the role of global differences (“frictions”) in terms of the employers’ price elasticity and the service providers’ level of sensitivity to these differences. The econometric identification hinges on the exogenous variation of the exchange rate fluctuations of global currencies against the US dollar, as a “cost-shifter” type Instrumental Variable (IV). The results show that employers are negatively affected by global differences; notably, on average, a different language reduces an employer’s utility by about 5%; each hour time difference decreases the employer’s utility by about 0.71%; while a different culture reduces the employer’s utility. Contrary to the literature and industry expectations, controlling for compensation, employers prefer service providers from countries with higher economic development. On the other hand, when submitting their bids, providers are sensitive to language and time zone differences, but not to cultural differences. The strong economic effects of the proposed global differences imply that online labor markets are not a truly level (“flat”) playing field, particularly for service providers from poor, non-English speaking countries with traditional (religious versus secular) cultural values and a large time zone difference from employers’ geographical locations (predominantly North America and Europe). We discuss the study’s theoretical and managerial implications for reducing the “frictions” from these global differences and designing “flatter” online labor markets.
Parameterized surface fitting via MAP estimation for binocular stereo

We present a novel method for reconstructing three dimensional surfaces from stereo intensity data. We employ a set of competing surface hypotheses based on parameterized models. We use maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation and demonstrate a connection to the Hough transform. Experimental results are given showing the effectiveness of the algorithm.
Shape-energy evolutionary reconstruction algorithm for electrical capacitance tomography in a high-aspect-ratio domain

Abstract Capacitance tomography is performed on a ∼1 mm thick planar domain. A square array of electrodes is used on one side (bottom) and a single large electrode on the opposing side (top). Dielectric anomalies of interest are empty pockets (voids) in a dielectric material filling the domain. Capacitance is measured between neighboring electrodes on the bottom side, as well as between bottom electrodes and the top electrode. Because regions of sensitivity are highly localized, information regarding the 3D structure of a void must be ascertained from relatively few measurements involving the electrodes near the void. Solutions that are strictly binary are desired for the reconstructed image without incurring excessive computational expense. A new image-reconstruction algorithm is developed that is tailored to capacitance tomography of sparsely characterized domains, entitled the shape-energy evolutionary reconstruction (SEER) algorithm. The algorithm creates binary images by sequentially composing a list of occupied voxels, guided by a knowledge of the spatial sensitivity of each measurement and a voxel-to-voxel energy regularization which prefers adjoining groups of occupied voxels. Detection and reconstruction of void structures in a 1.27 mm layer of thermal gap filler material is demonstrated experimentally. Basic three-dimensional characteristics of voids are distinguished. The reconstructed images provide a means of visualizing and interpreting void characteristics, such as their volume or proximity to a substrate wall.
Using GIS to Evaluate an Enigmatic Diamicton in the Spring Mountains, Southern Nevada

Abstract The Spring Mountains are located in southern Nevada and lie along the western margin of the Las Vegas Valley. A diamicton located approximately 2,590 m (8,500 ft) above sea level in the Spring Mountains contains numerous striated limestone clasts ranging in size from 0.5 cm to 1.0 m. There are a variety of physical processes that can produce diamictons, and glacial geologists are often faced with the task of deciding what process controlled the formation of enigmatic diamictons. One characteristic distinctive to glacially derived diamictons is the presence of parallel surface striations on transported clasts. This study presents a GIS-based methodology used to evaluate surface striations on limestone clasts sampled from the Spring Mountain diamicton in southern Nevada. Using a combination of graphical software, ArcView GIS, and Avenue scripting, we streamlined the process of measuring and analyzing orientation values from individual surface striations. The results demonstrate a well-developed pre...
Retropharyngeal edema: an unusual manifestation of Kawasaki disease.

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute multisystem vasculitis of unknown etiology that typically affects young children. KD presenting as a retropharyngeal inflammatory process is very rare. Objectives: To report a case of KD initially presenting as a retropharyngeal edema mimicking a deep neck infection, and to review previously published reports in the literature. Case Report: We report a case of KD in a previously healthy 3-year-old child who presented with acute onset of fever and cervical adenitis, along with computed tomography scan findings of retropharyngeal edema and inflammation. KD was suspected due to persistent fever and no improvement in the patient's condition despite appropriate antibiotic therapy; and other classic findings of KD eventually developed. An echocardiogram obtained on the 10th day of illness revealed pericardial effusion but no coronary ectasia or aneurysm. Treatment with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin resulted in dramatic clinical improvement. Follow-up echocardiograms obtained 2 and 8 weeks after discharge revealed a small left coronary artery aneurysm (CAA). Nine months later, the CAA had resolved and the patient was well with no sequelae. Conclusions: Although unusual, physicians should be aware of retropharyngeal edema as an atypical presentation of KD.
Broadband Noise in Orthorhombic TaS3

We report experimental results on the broadband noise in sliding charge density wave conductor orthorhombic TaS3. We propose that the noise has its origin in the interaction of a deformable condensate with random impurities. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with a phenomenological model based on fluctuations in threshold field due to deformations of the sliding condensate. The amplitude of the noise is directly related to the dynamic coherence volume of these fuctuations.
Using eye movements to evaluate effects of driver age on risk perception in a driving simulator.

Novice drivers (16-year-olds with ≤6 months' driving experience) have the highest crash involvement rates per 100 million vehicle miles (161 million vehicle km). In the past, this was attributed to greater risk taking or poorly developed psychomotor skills. More recently, however, their high crash involvement rate has been hypothesized to be attributable largely to their relative inability to acquire and assess information in inherently risky situations. The current study seeks to evaluate this hypothesis by recording eye movements while 72 participants (24 novice drivers, 24 younger drivers, and 24 older drivers) drove through 16 risky scenarios in an advanced driving simulator. There were significant age-related differences in driver scanning behavior, consistent with the hypothesis that novice drivers' scanning patterns reflect their failure to acquire information about potential risks and their consequent failure to deal with these risks. Actual or potential applications of this research include modif...
Low risk of myocardial ischemia in the elderly visiting moderate altitude

Objective: Ascent to high altitude may be associated with changes in heart rate and systolic blood pressure, resulting in greater cardiac work. In elderly individuals with coronary artery disease, these changes may lead to myocardial ischemia. We studied an elderly population to assess the incidence of myocardial ischemia and the effect on the electrocardiogram (ECG) during a visit to moderate altitude. Design: Inception cohort study. Setting: Vail, Colorado (2500 m). Participants: Members and spouses of the Tenth Mountain Division reunion. Interventions: Resting 12-lead ECGs and blood pressures were obtained daily for 4 days. Results: Ninety-seven subjects participated (77 men and 20 women) with a mean age of 69.8 ± 4.4 years. Twenty-one percent of our subjects had some manifestation of coronary artery disease. On arrival, 59 (61%) of the ECGs were normal, 1 (1%) borderline, and 37 (38%) abnormal. No new ST-T-wave abnormalities clearly indicative of myocardial ischemia during the altitude stay were found. When compared to baseline ECGs recorded previously in 56 of our subjects, 8 (14%) had P-wave vector changes probably related to pulmonary hypertension. Cardiac work as estimated by the heart rate-blood pressure double product was increased by 13% at rest. Conclusions: Despite an increase in cardiac work, no new ST-T-wave abnormalities clearly indicative of myocardial ischemia were present on arrival or during the next 4 days at altitude. Despite a high prevalence of ECG abnormalities and probable coronary artery disease in these elderly subjects, ascent to moderate altitude did not appear to precipitate myocardial ischemia in subjects with asymptomatic coronary artery disease (New York Heart Association Class I).
Comparison of point estimates and average thicknesses of retinal layers measured using manual optical coherence tomography segmentation for quantification of retinal neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis.

Purpose: The advent of macular optical coherence tomography (OCT) segmentation has enabled the in vivo quantitative assessment of retinal axonal and neuronal subpopulations. Recent studies employing OCT in multiple sclerosis (MS) have utilized various manual macular segmentation approaches to quantify retinal layer thicknesses. We investigated whether measurements of retinal layers solely at the points of maximal macular thickness (point estimates) within the central macular B-scan are representative of the corresponding average layer thicknesses for the ganglion cell + inner plexiform (GCIP) layers, inner nuclear layer (INL), outer plexiform layer (OPL) and outer nuclear layer (ONL) in MS and healthy controls. Additionally, we examined the correlation of manual segmentation-derived measures of composite layers with average thickness measures derived from automated 3-D segmentation of the macular cube.Materials and Methods: Spectral-domain OCT central macular B-scans of 52 MS patients and 30 healthy contr...