cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differential expression and tumorigenic function of neurotensin receptor 1 in neuroendocrine tumor cells

// Ji Tae Kim 1 , Jing Li 1, 2 , Jun Song 1, 2 , Eun Y. Lee 1, 3 , Heidi L. Weiss 1 , Courtney M. Townsend, Jr. 4 , B. Mark Evers 1, 2 1 Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA 2 Department of Surgery, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA 3 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA 4 Department of Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA Correspondence to: B. Mark Evers, e-mail: mark.evers@uky.edu Keywords: neuroendocrine tumor, neurotensin receptor 1, promoter methylation, cell growth, cell migration Received: April 20, 2015 Accepted: July 15, 2015 Published: July 27, 2015 ABSTRACT Neurotensin (NTS), localized predominantly to the small bowel, stimulates the growth of a variety of cancers, including neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), mainly through its interaction with the high-affinity NTS receptor 1 (NTSR1). Here, we observed increased expression of NTSR1 in almost all tested clinical NET samples, but not in normal tissues. Through RT-PCR analysis, we found that the expression of NTSR1 and NTSR2 was either variable (NTSR1) or absent (NTSR2) in human NET cell lines. In contrast, NTSR3 and NTS were expressed in all NET cells. Treatment with 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, a demethylating agent, increased levels of NTSR1 and NTSR2 suggesting that DNA methylation contributes to NTSR1/2 expression patterns, which was confirmed by methylation analyses. In addition, we found that knockdown of NTSR1 decreased proliferation, expression levels of growth-related proteins, and anchorage-independent growth of BON human carcinoid cells. Moreover, stable silencing of NTSR1 suppressed BON cell growth, adhesion, migration and invasion. Our results show that high expression of NTSR1 is found in clinical NETs and that promoter methylation is an important mechanism controlling the differential expression of NTSR1 and silencing of NTSR2 in NET cells. Furthermore, knockdown of NTSR1 in BON cells suppressed oncogenic functions suggesting that NTSR1 contributes to NET tumorigenesis.
Joint Scheduling and Resource Allocation in OFDMA Downlink Systems Via ACK/NAK Feedback

In this paper, we consider the problem of joint scheduling and resource allocation in the orthogonal-frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) downlink, with the goal of maximizing an expected long-term goodput-based utility subject to an instantaneous sum-power constraint, and where the feedback to the base station consists only of acknowledgements/negative acknowledgements (ACK/NAKs) from recently scheduled users. We first establish that the optimal solution is a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP), which is impractical to implement. In response, we propose a greedy approach to joint scheduling and resource allocation that maintains a posterior channel distribution for every user, and has only polynomial complexity. For frequency-selective channels with Markov time-variation, we then outline a recursive method to update the channel posteriors, based on the ACK/NAK feedback, that is made computationally efficient through the use of particle filtering. To gauge the performance of our greedy approach relative to that of the optimal POMDP, we derive a POMDP performance upper-bound. Numerical experiments show that, for slowly fading channels, the performance of our greedy scheme is relatively close to the upper bound, and much better than fixed-power random user scheduling (FP-RUS), despite its relatively low complexity.
AN EXCESS OF DESCRIPTION: Ethnography, Race, and Visual Technologies

AbstractThis essay provides an overview of recent anthropological work on the relationship between racial thought and the visual technologies of photography and film. I argue that anthropologists have moved away from a concern with representation per se in favor of the more complex discursive and political landscapes opened up by the concepts of media and the archive. My review of this work focuses on the affective register of suspicion that has surrounded both visual methods and the idea of race in anthropology. Whereas this suspicion has led some to dismiss visual technologies as inherently racializing or objectifying, I argue that it is possible to reclaim suspicion as a productive site for rethinking the particular forms of presence, uncertainty, and contingency that characterize both ethnographic and visual accounts of the world. I begin by discussing recent work on the photographic archive, early fieldwork photography, and the subsequent move in the 1960s and 1970s from still photography to film and...
Mercury Lighting for Television Studios

This paper includes a brief history of the use of water-cooled Mazda H lamps, a light that is cooler than noon sunlight, for television studio lighting, with a detailed description of an installation of remote-controlled floodlights in the General Electric Television Broadcasting Studio WRGB at Schenectady, New York. Results are shown by photographs of the line-monitor tube picture when the illumination of the set is provided by mercury lamps. Lamp performance is discussed and data on light maintenance presented.
From Beaker Chemistry to Programmable Microfluidics

Solution handling is one of the most frequently performed laboratory tasks. In an analytical laboratory, it is also the most exacting and laborious one, as solutions have to be precisely metered, well-mixed, incubated, heated or separated, and finally monitored in a reproducible way, using spectroscopy, electrochemistry or other means for quantification of target analytes. This review with 65 references follows the development of solution handling techniques from manual to mechanized, and into a microfluidic format. It documents the superior versatility of programmable flow, as it is applied to a wide variety of instrumental assays ranging from biochemical to trace analysis of elements. All types of flow injection analysis (FIA) are reviewed, including flow injection (FI), sequential injection (SI), bead injection (BI), and sequential injection chromatography (SIC).
Performances of the Data Vortex switch architecture under nonuniform and bursty traffic

The Data Vortex switch architecture has been proposed as a scalable low-latency interconnection fabric for optical packet switches. This self-routed hierarchical architecture employs synchronous timing and distributed traffic-control signaling to eliminate optical buffering and to reduce the required routing logic, greatly facilitating a photonic implementation. In previous work, we have shown the efficient scalability of the architecture under uniform and random traffic conditions while maintaining high throughput and low-latency performance. This paper reports on the performance of the Data Vortex architecture under nonuniform and bursty traffic conditions. The results show that the switch architecture performs well under modest nonuniform traffic, but an excessive degree of nonuniformity will severely limit the scalability. As long as a modest degree of asymmetry between the number of input and output ports is provided, the Data Vortex switch is shown to handle very bursty traffic with little performance degradation.
Online thermal-aware scheduling for multiple clock domain CMPs

In this paper, we propose a feedback based temperature aware scheduling technique to control and balance the temperature in multiple clock domain chip multi-processors (CMP). The sensor temperatures and the length of task queues are used as feedbacks to guide the scheduler. The voltage and frequency settings of the cores are adjusted in order to control the power and temperature. The experimental results show that the scheduler is able to efficiently control the temperature.
A framework for design and evaluation of admission control algorithms in multi-service mobile networks

Supporting quality of service (QoS) guarantees in wireless networks requires that admission control algorithms incorporate user mobility, and limit the probability that sufficient resources are unavailable when a user must handoff. We develop a framework for designing admission control algorithms in wireless networks that support guaranteed QoS. First, we devise a taxonomy to explore the mathematical structure and practical design tradeoffs encountered in developing admission control algorithms. We next introduce the perfect knowledge admission control algorithm, which, while unrealizable in practice, serves as a benchmark for evaluating admission control algorithms by using future knowledge of handoff events to exactly control the admissible region. Finally, we perform an extensive set of simulations (including trace-driven simulations) and, applying the perfect knowledge algorithm, we study several admission control algorithm from the literature, identify a number of key system parameters for algorithm design, and quantify the fundamental tradeoffs in complexity and accuracy as revealed by the taxonomy.
Explaining the Incidence and Timing of Congressional Responses to the U.S. Supreme Court

Sparked by interest in game-theoretic representations of the separation of powers, empirical work examining congressional overrides of Supreme Court statutory decisions has burgeoned in recent years. Much of this work has been hampered, however, by the relative rarity of such events; as has long been noted, congressional attention to the Court is limited, and most Court decisions represent the last word on statutory interpretation. With this fact foremost in our minds, we examine empirically a number of theories regarding such reversals. By adopting an approach that allows us to separate the factors that lead to the event itself (that is, the presence or absence of an override in a particular case) from those that influence the timing of the event, we find that case-specific factors are an important influence in the incidence of overrides, whereas Congress- and Court-specific political influences dominate the timing at which those overrides occur. By separating the incidence and timing of overrides, our study yields a more accurate and nuanced understanding of this aspect of the separation-of-powers system.
Quantum Dot-Based Biosensor for Detection of Human Cardiac Troponin I Using a Liquid-Core Waveguide

Human cardiac Troponin I is one of three subunits of the cardiac Troponin complex that are released into the bloodstream upon injury to cardiac muscle, particularly myocardial infarction, where it is absent under normal conditions. Rapid, sensitive detection of blood borne Troponin I is extremely important for early detection of myocardial infarction. An optical biosensor has been proposed as a versatile, adaptable, and effective method for detection of Troponin I. The biosensor architecture utilizes fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), a distance-dependent chemical signal transduction method that occurs between two fluorescent molecules, termed the donor and acceptor. In order to launch FRET, a donor-labeled protein A molecule is bound to an acceptor-labeled capture antibody. When exposed to the Troponin I antigen, the antibody-antigen binding event initiates a conformational change within the structure of the antibody. As this morphological change in the antibody takes place, the distance between the donor and acceptor changes, resulting in a measurable shift in energy transfer. In this study, quantum dots were utilized as the FRET donors to further increase the efficiency of the biosensor system and organic dyes were utilized as the acceptors. This sensing mechanism was then interfaced in a liquid-core waveguide (LCW) platform that was able to capture the resulting fluorescence to achieve highly sensitive and accurate measurements. The biosensor demonstrated an ample sensitivity to the analyte, achieving a lower limit of detection of approximately 32 nM in phosphate buffered saline and 55 nM in human plasma. A high degree of specificity was also observed when the response to cardiac Troponin I is compared with that of a nonspecific protein. Response time of the biosensor was determined to be less than 1 min; an expeditious time compared with other Troponin diagnostic assays.
Archaeological deposits from the Aztec new fire ceremony

The New Fire Ceremony is one of the few Aztec rituals documented in both the archaeological and historical records. The Spanish chroniclers described the New Fire Ceremony as an imperial celebration of the renewal of cosmic time that was observed on the local level by the renewal of household goods. George C. Vaillant first proposed the identification of artifact dumps at Aztec sites with descriptions of these local celebrations. We describe unpublished artifact dumps excavated by Vaillant at Chiconautla and Nonoalco in the Basin of Mexico and by Smith at Cuexcomate in Morelos and show that their context and content support Vaillant’s hypothesis. Our data suggest that the New Fire Ceremony was an ancient and widespread ritual in Postclassic central Mexico that was appropriated by the Aztec empire as part of its program of ideological legitimization and control.
Multifractal and white noise evolutionary dynamics in Jurassic–Cretaceous Ammonoidea

For more than a decade there has been interdisciplinary debate on whether fossil origination and extinction time series show evidence of self-organized criticality (SOC) or some other, more complex hierarchical structure. Analyses of a new data set of Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonoid genera demonstrate that these taxonomic subgroups do not reproduce the patterns seen in larger data sets that pool disparate taxa. Rather, originations and extinctions in these ammonoids show no evidence of SOC, limited evidence for a hierarchical multifractal pattern, and, at least within the suborder Ammonitina, evidence consistent with a white noise signal. Although a white noise pattern has been identified previously in an ammonoid family diversity time series, the significance of such a result for ammonoid genus originations and extinctions is discussed here for the first time. This white noise pattern indicates that processes acting on short time scales (less than a few million years) dominate the Ammonitina origination and extinction records, producing a nonhierarchical diversity dynamic. Because origination events in one interval do not appear to trigger originations in subsequent intervals, ammonite evolutionary radiations were likely to be extremely rapid and driven by physical rather than biological opportunities for diversification.
Managing temptation in obesity treatment: A neurobehavioral model of intervention strategies

Weight loss outcomes in lifestyle interventions for obesity are primarily a function of sustained adherence to a reduced-energy diet, and most lapses in diet adherence are precipitated by temptation from palatable food. The high nonresponse and relapse rates of lifestyle interventions suggest that current temptation management approaches may be insufficient for most participants. In this conceptual review, we discuss three neurobehavioral processes (attentional bias, temporal discounting, and the cold-hot empathy gap) that emerge during temptation and contribute to lapses in diet adherence. Characterizing the neurobehavioral profile of temptation highlights an important distinction between temptation resistance strategies aimed at overcoming temptation while it is experienced, and temptation prevention strategies that seek to avoid or minimize exposure to tempting stimuli. Many temptation resistance and temptation prevention strategies heavily rely on executive functions mediated by prefrontal systems that are prone to disruption by common occurrences such as stress, insufficient sleep, and even exposure to tempting stimuli. In contrast, commitment strategies are a set of devices that enable individuals to manage temptation by constraining their future choices, without placing heavy demands on executive functions. These concepts are synthesized in a conceptual model that categorizes temptation management approaches based on their intended effects on reward processing and degree of reliance on executive functions. We conclude by discussing the implications of our model for strengthening temptation management approaches in future lifestyle interventions, tailoring these approaches based on key individual difference variables, and suggesting high-priority topics for future research.
SeeDB: efficient data-driven visualization recommendations to support visual analytics

Data analysts often build visualizations as the first step in their analytical workflow. However, when working with high-dimensional datasets, identifying visualizations that show relevant or desired trends in data can be laborious. We propose SeeDB, a visualization recommendation engine to facilitate fast visual analysis: given a subset of data to be studied, SeeDB intelligently explores the space of visualizations, evaluates promising visualizations for trends, and recommends those it deems most "useful" or "interesting". The two major obstacles in recommending interesting visualizations are (a) scale: evaluating a large number of candidate visualizations while responding within interactive time scales, and (b) utility: identifying an appropriate metric for assessing interestingness of visualizations. For the former, SeeDB introduces pruning optimizations to quickly identify high-utility visualizations and sharing optimizations to maximize sharing of computation across visualizations. For the latter, as a first step, we adopt a deviation-based metric for visualization utility, while indicating how we may be able to generalize it to other factors influencing utility. We implement SeeDB as a middleware layer that can run on top of any DBMS. Our experiments show that our framework can identify interesting visualizations with high accuracy. Our optimizations lead to multiple orders of magnitude speedup on relational row and column stores and provide recommendations at interactive time scales. Finally, we demonstrate via a user study the effectiveness of our deviation-based utility metric and the value of recommendations in supporting visual analytics.
The Relationships of the Lyrebirds

Sibley, C. G. 1973. The relationships of the lyrebirds. Emu 74: 65–79.From the time of the discovery of Menura superba in 1798 until about 1853 the lyrebirds were usually thought to be allied eithe...
Distribution of Metastases in the Brown-Pearce Tumor. I. In Standard Breeds of Rabbits.∗

During studies on the transplantation of the Brown-Pearce tumor into the testicle of the rabbit, certain variations were noted between standard breeds of rabbits.1 These variations included (a) the incidence and volume of the primary tumors, (b) the incidence, volume, and number of the metastases, and (c) the longevity and mortality of the animals after inoculation. All the animals were males, all received the same dosage into the testicle, all were in apparent good health, there was no significant variation in age between the breeds, and the diet and housing were uniform. The variations, moreover, wrere consistent and were most significant among breed samples inoculated at the same time. It was not possible, therefore, to explain the variations on the basis of sex, site of inoculation, physical condition, age, diet and housing, or season.The results, extending (from a susceptibility of about 15% to a susceptibility of about 95%, seemed to be due to the inherent constitution of the pure breed strains used...
Present and Future Life

It is a curious feature of the present time that a boom in secular interest in the idea of a life after death seems to be matched by a recession in high-level theological interest in that possibility. There is today a wave of popular non-religious concern about death and about a post-mortem existence, expressed in parapsychology, occultism, thanatology, and talk of mediumship, reincarnation, out-of-the-body experiences and the reports of those who have been revived after having been clinically dead. And yet at the same time some of the best Christian thinking today is inclined to de-emphasise the idea of the life to come, even to the point of virtually abandoning it as an element in the Christian message. It is true that there is much talk of the future (sometimes with a capital F), and of Christian hope and of the radically eschatological character of the Gospel. For example, Jurgen Moltmann has said that ‘From first to last, and not merely in the epilogue, Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward looking and forward moving ….’1 But when we read on we find that the hope of which he speaks is, in so far as it has any content, a this-worldly hope and that ‘the life everlasting’ has been reduced to a penumbra of mythic imagery.
Bullet Extraction from the Sacroiliac Joint with an Arthroscopically Assisted Dual Guidewire Technique: A Case Report.

Patients with intra-articular gunshot wounds (GSWs) are presenting with increasing frequency at many trauma centers. These injuries necessitate a specific treatment regimen that includes a thorough irrigation and debridement as well as surgical exploration of the joint, typically through an open approach. The bullet must be removed from the joint because retained bullets and clothing material in joints can cause several complications, including mechanical symptoms, damage to the articular cartilage1, posttraumatic arthritis2, and, rarely, lead poisoning3. Access to the sacroiliac (SI) joint can be challenging given its location and proximity to surrounding vital structures. An open anterior ilioinguinal approach with use of the lateral window technique can increase blood loss and morbidity. The posterior approach to the SI joint allows for limited intra-articular access and has increased rates of wound complications4. Open approaches carry a theoretical increased risk of wound complications (e.g., infection, hematoma, and dehiscence) and can also be very time-consuming. The exposure and closure in cases where the SI joint needs to be exposed are extensive. Although arthroscopic surgery can be more costly, it affords the patient the advantage of a smaller wound, decreased morbidity at the surgical site, and potentially a decreased length of hospital stay5. For these reasons, percutaneous approaches are gaining favor over open approaches. In 2008, Lee et al. were the first to describe the arthroscopic approach to the SI joint utilizing solely a bullet track6. This technique used one guidewire that was drilled through the bullet for extraction. In our case report, we describe the surgical technique that was used to perform an arthroscopically assisted bulletectomy from the SI joint with use of a dual guidewire technique via the bullet track with arthroscopic as well as fluoroscopic guidance. The patient and …
Normal Liver Anatomy and Introduction to Liver Histology

The liver starts developing in the human embryo between the 3rd and the 4th week of life, and it is the main site of haematopoiesis in the intrauterine period. It is the largest internal organ and its classical anatomy is composed of two main lobes, right and left, and two smaller and centrally located lobes, the caudate and the quadrate. The VIII segment division, based on the distribution of the vasculature and the ramification of the bile duct system is a more useful subdivision in clinical practice. The vasculature of the liver is composed of the portal vein and hepatic artery, which bring nutrient-rich and oxygenated blood into the hepatic sinusoids, from where the blood is drained by the hepatic venous system. The bile ducts transport the bile secreted by the hepatocytes to the duodenum. The hepatocytes are responsible for the main metabolic functions of the organ, and they are arranged in plates, radiating towards the hepatic venule. The portal tracts contain a ramification of the portal vein and the hepatic artery and a tributary to the common hepatic duct along with nerve twigs and lymphatics. The innervation of the liver comes from the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and its lymphatics drain into the inferior vena cava lymph nodes or the hepatic nodes. Knowledge of the liver macro and microanatomy is paramount to the understanding of pathological conditions and their clinical manifestations.
Design of a general motion controller based on DSP and FPGA

The central of controller is DSP,FPGA is used for extending and managing peripheral interfaces.The in-out signals have different ways;serial communication can be setting different modes.Therefore,the controller has great universality.The controller has merits of DSP and FPGA.Consequently,it is integration,flexibility,universal,high speed and high precision.The controller satisfied different situation.
Epidemic Situation of Notifiable Infectious Diseases in Hebi City in 2009

[Objective]To understand the epidemic distribution and epidemic characteristics of notifiable infectious diseases in Hebi City,and provide scientific evidence for developing and adjusting infection control strategies and measures.[Methods]The descriptive epidemiological method was used to statistically analyze the notifiable infectious diseases reported by the" Report and Management System of Disease Surveillance Information" in 2009.[Results]Totally 9 267 cases of 17 kinds infectious diseases were reported in 2009,without category A infectious disease.4 774 cases of 12 kinds of category B and 4 493 cases of 5 kinds of category C infectious diseases were reported with the incidence of 673.99/100 000,which increased by 45.87% over 2008.6 death cases were reported with the mortality rate of 0.41/100 000,and the fatality rate of 0.14%.The mortality rate decreased by 40.38% and the fatality rate decreased by 59.15%.[Conclusion]Virus hepatitis and hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD) are the main diseases that threaten the health of residents in Hebi City.The scattered-living children,farmers,students and the preschool children are high-risk groups of these diseases.Strengthening the key disease's prevention and control and high-risk group's protection is the focus of controlling the epidemic situation of infectious diseases.
Surgery for Intractable Temporal Lobe Epilepsy in Young Children

The results of temporal resection for medically intractable epilepsy in 20 children less than age 5 years with at least 2 years follow-up are reported from Miami Children's Hospital, Florida.
Achieving Reversible H2/H+ Interconversion at Room Temperature with Enzyme-Inspired Molecular Complexes: A Mechanistic Study

Inspired by the contribution of the protein scaffold to the efficiency with which enzymes function, we used outer coordination sphere features to develop a molecular electrocatalyst for the reversible production/oxidation of H2 at 25 °C: [Ni(PCy2NPhe2)2]2+ (CyPhe; PR2NR′2 = 1,5-diaza-3,7-diphosphacyclooctane, Cy = cyclohexyl, Phe = phenylalanine). Electrocatalytic reversibility is observed in aqueous, acidic methanol. The aromatic rings in the peripheral phenylalanine groups appear to be essential to achieving reversibility based on the observation that reversibility for arginine (CyArg) or glycine (CyGly) complexes is only achieved with elevated temperature (>50 °C) in 100% water. A complex with a hydroxyl group in the para-position of the aromatic ring, R′ = tyrosine (CyTyr), shows similar reversible behavior. NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics studies suggest that interactions between the aromatic groups as well as between the carboxylic acid groups limit conformational flexibility, contributing t...
A Case Study: Growing Community through Gardens in Chicago’s Southwest Side

There is now considerable scholarly interest in the relationship between urban food production and the environment, food access and health in U.S. cities. A discourse on “sustainability” pervades this growing urban agriculture literature but often with a utilitarian ideal, as if planting food in urban spaces is indeed a viable and sustainable route to economically feed the masses with healthy food, while protecting and improving the natural environment. These are, of course, research questions that are far from answered, especially given an increasingly urban/suburban country where corporations remain in control of the vast majority of food produced and distributed to cities. As scholars begin to explore the question of what “sustainable urban food systems” really mean in diverse geographic spaces, race and class disparities become central. Many if not most large U.S. cities are socially divided by race and/or class and the two often intersect in stark ways. Chicago is particularly segregated by race and class and this case study suggests that those interested in whether local production can become a sustainable way of provisioning cities must consider diverse voices of resilient populations living in economically distressed contexts. What do these populations think about growing food for themselves? What are their barriers to growing food in such settings? If resources are in place, why would or wouldn’t they produce food? As a product of our ethnographic research, we suggest that those engaged in food systems development in cities consider how social, cultural and economic influences in diverse cultural settings define both possibilities for, and challenges of, expanding food production across urban spaces.
Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of YĹŤkai

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Michael Dylan Foster Year: 2008 Pages: 312 Publisher: University of California Press ISBN: 978-0-520-25361-2 (hard cover). Prices: 978-0-520-25362-9(hard cover).
Circulating tumour cells as biomarkers of prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer.

Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have been studied as biomarkers of a number of urological cancers, although the data are strongest in prostate cancer. CTCs have potential clinical applications in early cancer detection, disease staging, monitoring for recurrence, prognostication, and therapy selection, and might help identify which patients are most likely to respond to androgen-pathway targeted therapies for prostate cancer. In this Review, Gorin and colleagues consider the evidence for a role of CTCs in prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer, and discuss their potential clinical applications. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have been studied as biomarkers of a number of solid malignancies. Potential clinical applications for CTC analysis include early cancer detection, disease staging, monitoring for recurrence, prognostication, and to aid in the selection of therapy. In the field of urologic oncology, CTCs have been most widely studied as prognostic biomarkers of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Additionally, emerging data support a role for CTCs to help identify which patients are most likely to respond to novel androgen-pathway targeted therapies, such as abiraterone and enzalutamide. CTCs have also been studied as predictive biomarkers of bladder cancer, in particular as a means to identify patients whose disease has been clinically understaged. Less is known regarding CTCs in kidney cancer; this has been attributed to the fact that a minority of renal tumours express EpCAM, the epithelial cell surface protein commonly used by CTC assays for positive cell selection. However, alternative approaches using markers specific for kidney cancer are being explored.
Identifying top listers in Alphabay using Latent Dirichlet Allocation

This poster analyzes the Alphabay underground marketplace - an anonymous trading grounds for illicit goods and services. Listing data was collected and interpreted using Latent-Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), to determine common topics in the listings. Results found offer insight to the types of goods being sold and who is selling them.
PDE4B Activity Controls Glucorticoid and Rapamycin Effects in DLBCL.

Abstract Cyclic AMP (cAMP) potentiates glucocorticoid (GC) induced apoptosis in lymphoid cells but the mechanisms associated with these effects are unclear. We previously showed that cAMP inhibits PI3K/AKT activity and that in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) overexpression of the phosphodiesterase 4B (PDE4B) blocks these effects. Recently, high AKT/mTOR activity was implicated in the GC resistance found in acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and rapamycin shown to modulate these effects. Therefore, we hypothesized that cAMP enhances GC responses by down-modulating the AKT/mTOR pathway and that PDE4B, by blunting these inhibitory effects, is at the center of GC resistance (and rapamycin activity) in DLBCL. If this notion is accurate, PDE4B expression may impinge on the same genes and pathways that control GC response in malignant lymphocytes. To test this idea, we used gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and found a marked association between gene sets of DLBCLs defined by high or low PDE4B expression and ALLs classified by their resistance or sensitivity to GC-induced apoptosis(p and FDR =.014). To further our investigation, we created PDE4B gain or loss of function models in DLBCL cell lines. We reconstituted PDE4B expression (wild-type [WT] or phosphodiesterase inactive [PI] mutant) in the PDE4B-null DHL6 cell line and constitutively expressed a PDE4B-specific RNAi, which decreased this gene expression 14-fold, in the PDE4B-high cell line Ly3 (Ly3Ri). The functional consequences of these changes were confirmed by measuring the intra-cellular levels of cAMP and further validated in cell proliferation assays. DHL6-PDE4B-WT cells became ∼ 50% more resistant to the inhibitory effects of cAMP (forskolin - 10μM) than their PI counterpart (p
Robotics Focused Capstone Senior Design Course

This work describes the educational experiences gained teaching the Senior Design I & II courses, a senior level, two-semester sequence in the Electrical Engineering (EE) program at Georgia Southern University (GSU). In particular, the authors present their experiences in using robotics as the main area to develop the capstone senior design, with focus in interdisciplinary interactions and teamwork for the design and implementation of autonomous mobile robots. Other main purpose of the capstone design course sequence is for the students to experience working in an engineering application project researching and analyzing the sustainability, ethical and social impact issues related to their projects. The students work for two semesters as a team to design, test and build a mobile robot project for a particular application. Some of these projects have been fabricated to participate in different robotic competitions, including the IEEE sponsored hardware competition, the lawn mower competition, and the robot waiter competition.
A Novel Oral Fluid Assay (LC-QTOF-MS) for the Detection of Fentanyl and Clandestine Opioids in Oral Fluid After Reported Heroin Overdose.

The adulteration of heroin with non-pharmaceutical fentanyl and other high-potency opioids is one of the factors contributing to striking increases in overdose deaths. To fully understand the magnitude of this problem, accurate detection methods for fentanyl and other novel opioid adulterant exposures are urgently required. The objective of this work was to compare the detection of fentanyl in oral fluid and urine specimens using liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) in a population of heroin users presenting to the Emergency Department after overdose. This was a prospective observational study of adult Emergency Department patients who presented after a reported heroin overdose requiring naloxone administration. Participants provided paired oral fluid and urine specimens, which were prepared, extracted, and analyzed using a dual LC-QTOF-MS workflow for the identification of traditional and emerging drugs of abuse. Analytical instrumentation included SCIEX TripleTOF® 5600+ and Waters Xevo® G2-S QTOF systems. Thirty participants (N = 30) were enrolled during the study period. Twenty-nine participants had fentanyl detected in their urine, while 27 had fentanyl identified in their oral fluid (overall agreement 93.3%, positive percent agreement 93.1%). Cohen’s Kappa (k) was calculated and demonstrated moderately, significant agreement (k = 0.47; p value 0.002) in fentanyl detection between oral fluid and urine using this LC-QTOF-MS methodology. Additional novel opioids and metabolites, including norfentanyl, acetylfentanyl, and U-47700, were detected during this study. In this study of individuals presenting to the ED after reported heroin overdose, a strikingly high proportion had a detectable fentanyl exposure. Using LC-QTOF-MS, the agreement between paired oral fluid and urine testing for fentanyl detection indicates a role for oral fluid testing in surveillance for nonpharmaceutical fentanyl. Additionally, the use of LC-QTOF-MS allowed for the detection of other clandestine opioids (acetylfentanyl and U-47700) in oral fluid.
Introduction – Changing Conditions in the Mississippi Delta from 1700 to 2100 and Beyond: Avoiding Folly

The Mississippi River delta developed over the past several 1000 years after sea level stabilized at the end of the last glaciation. Native Americans lived in the delta during this time but had almost no impact on its functioning. This all changed with the arrival of European colonialists at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Over the ensuing two centuries, human impact multiplied. This included levee construction, closing of distributaries, and reclamation. But it was not until the twentieth century that human intervention had a major impact, culminating in the loss of about a quarter of the wetlands of the Mississippi delta by the end of the twentieth century. Recent studies have documented how profoundly the delta has changed and what the future portends if nothing is done. Currently there is an ambitious plan to restore the sustainability of the Mississippi delta. This book contributes to this effort to define sustainable pathways for the restoration of the delta. The book grew out of two efforts. One is an earlier volume in the Estuaries of the World Series entitled Perspectives on the Restoration of the Mississippi delta. This effort was supported by environmental organizations to provide independent advice to the philanthropic community and non-governmental organizations on how best to support the restoration of one of North America’s premier ecological assets, the Mississippi delta. The second effort, called Changing Course, was a design competition that sought to bring teams of some of the world’s best delta engineers, scientists, and planners to address the question of the future of the Lower Mississippi River Delta and its dependent resources and communities. This Initiative specifically sought to understand how the Mississippi River’s water and sediment can be used to maximize rebuilding the delta wetlands while meeting or even enhancing the needs of navigation, flood protection, industries and coastal communities. In the current book, we investigate possible future pathways for sustainable management of the Mississippi delta. We consider current conditions as well as future trajectories of climate and energy and resource scarcity. We conclude that without profound changes of how humans live in and manage the delta, sustainability of the delta will be profoundly compromised.
Working memory capacity and the spacing effect in cued recall.

ABSTRACTSpacing repetitions typically improves memory (the spacing effect). In three cued recall experiments, we explored the relationship between working memory capacity and the spacing effect. People with higher working memory capacity are more accurate on memory tasks that require retrieval relative to people with lower working memory capacity. The experiments used different retention intervals and lags between repetitions, but were otherwise similar. Working memory capacity and spacing of repetitions both improved memory in most of conditions, but they did not interact, suggesting additive effects. The results are consistent with the ACT-R model’s predictions, and with a study-phase recognition process underpinning the spacing effect in cued recall.
Axillary reverse mapping with indocyanine green or isosulfan blue demonstrate similar crossover rates to radiotracer identified sentinel nodes.

Background Sentinel lymph node (SLN) resection is imperative for breast cancer staging. Axillary reverse mapping (ARM) can preserve arm draining nodes and lymphatics during surgery. ARM is generally performed with isosulfan blue (ISB), restricting its use for concurrent SLN biopsy. Indocyanine green (ICG) could serve as an alternative to ISB for ARM procedures. Methods SLN mapping and biopsy was performed via periareolar injection of 99 technetium-sulfur colloid (99m TcSc, TSC). ISB and ICG were injected in the upper arm. Blue-stained lymphatics or nodes were visualized in the axilla; ICG was identified using the SPY Elite® system. Results Twenty-three patients underwent SLN biopsy with or without axillary node dissection and ARM procedures. Twenty of these patients had at least one hot node; 12 patients had SLNs that were only hot, 6 hot/blue/fluorescent, and 2 hot/fluorescent. Overall, crossover of ARM agents with SLNs occurred in 8 cases. Inspection of the axillary cavity after SLN biopsy revealed fluorescent lymphatics and nodes remaining in 14 and 7 patients, respectively. Blue lymphatics and blue nodes were detected in fewer cases. Conclusion Nearly one-third of patients showed crossover between breast and arm draining nodes, which provides insight as to why some patients develop lymphedema symptoms after SLN biopsy. ICG and ISB identify similar numbers of SLNs. As such ICG could substitute for ISB in ARM procedures.
Amino Acid Composition Determines Peptide Activity Spectrum and Hot-Spot-Based Design of Merecidin

There is a great interest in developing the only human cathelicidin into therapeutic molecules. The major antimicrobial region of human LL-37 corresponds to residues 17-32. The resultant peptide GF-17 shows a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and negative bacteria. By reducing the hydrophobic content, we previously succeeded in converting the broad-spectrum GF-17 to two narrow-spectrum peptides (GF-17d3 and KR-12) with activity against Gram-negative bacteria. This study demonstrates that substitution of multiple basic amino acids by hydrophobic alanines makes a broad-spectrum peptide 17BIPHE2 (designed based on GF-17d3) active against Staphylococcal pathogens but not other bacteria tested. Taken together, our results reveal distinct charge and hydrophobic requirements for peptides to kill Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria. This finding is in line with the bioinformatics analysis of the peptides in the Antimicrobial Peptide Database (http://aps.unmc.edu/AP). In addition, a hot spot arginine is identified and used to design merecidin with reduced toxicity to human cells. Merecidin protects wax moth larvae (Galleria mellonella) from the infection of methicillin-resistant S. aureus USA300. These new selective peptides constitute interesting candidates for future development.
Single-Phase Soft-Switched AC–AC Matrix Converter With Power Controller for Bidirectional Inductive Power Transfer Systems

A direct soft-switched single-phase ac–ac matrix converter (MC) for bidirectional inductive power transfer (IPT) systems is proposed. Quantum energy injection/regeneration principle is used to design a simplified digital power controller that enables the converter to establish bidirectional power transfer between the IPT system and single-phase ac mains at a desired power level. The simplified controller can be implemented using basic logic circuit components, without the need for digital signal processor/field programmable gate array platforms, thereby reducing the complexity and the implementation cost. The converter benefits from resonance frequency tracking capability for the synchronization of switching operations of the converter with the resonant current, which makes it ideal for dynamic IPT systems. Also, it benefits from soft-switching operations to achieve an enhanced efficiency and low electromagnetic interference. The converter is specifically suitable for establishing grid-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-grid connections through inductive electric vehicle charging/discharging systems. The proposed converter is analyzed theoretically, is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink, and finally is verified experimentally at low power on a case study IPT system. The results show that the proposed MC can effectively establish bidirectional power transfer at different power levels with soft-switching operation and resonance frequency tracking capability.
HI IN THE INNER GALAXY

I consider several aspects of the Galactic HI distribution, kinematics, and morphology at R < R 0, in particular; the rotation curve of the inner few kpc; the variation of HI across the inner disks of the Milky Way and other galaxies; the amount of HI inferred in the disk (with implications for the CO-H2 conversion factor); and lastly, the physical disposition of neutral atomic gas and some consequences of the required structure of HI ‘clouds’ for optical and uv absorption-line profile analysis.
Astrocyte-produced carbon monoxide and the carbon monoxide donor CORM-A1 protect against cerebrovascular dysfunction caused by prolonged neonatal asphyxia

Asphyxia in newborn infants may lead to lifelong neurological disabilities. Using the model of prolonged asphyxia in newborn piglets, we propose novel antioxidant therapy based on systemic administ...
Optimization of wind farms for communities

Energy supplies are moving away from environmentally damaging, finite, and expensive fossil fuels to renewable energy resources through technological innovations. Wind energy is one of the most advanced renewable energy resources due to the extensive research that has been ongoing over the last decades to optimize aerodynamic performance of wind turbines, structural design of wind turbines, control strategies, site selection, and the layout of wind farms. This chapter outlines fundamental elements of wind-farm-layout optimization including optimization parameters, objective functions, wake loss models, and search methods. Optimization parameters include base location, number, rotor diameter, hub height, rotational direction, and yaw angle of wind turbines, as well as shape of wind farm area. In the wake loss models section, all existing wake-loss models including large eddy simulation, nonlinear and linearized Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes models, stochastic models, kinematic models, and empirical models are discussed. In addition, different search methods, from simple greedy search algorithms to advanced genetic algorithms (GAs), are briefly reviewed and compared.
Cause of End-Stage Renal Disease Is Not a Risk Factor for Cytomegalovirus Infection After Kidney Transplant.

Abstract Background Cytomegalovirus infection (CMV) after kidney transplantation leads to increased morbidity and mortality. Whether the cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) influences the risk of CMV infection post-transplant is not known. Methods We analyzed data from 2741 adult kidney transplant recipients from January 1993 through December 2014. The causes of ESRD included diabetes mellitus (n = 947), hypertension (n = 442), polycystic kidney disease (n = 549), and glomerulonephritis (GN) (n = 803). The primary outcome was incidence of CMV infection, defined as the first episode of detectable CMV DNA in the blood following transplant. Results Three hundred and thirty patients developed a CMV infection over a median follow-up of 4.5 years. Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) as the cause of ESRD had a higher incidence of CMV infection post-transplant compared to patients with GN (2.37 vs 1.58/100 person-years, P Conclusions Our study demonstrates that the cause of ESRD is not a significant risk factor for CMV infection in kidney transplant recipients once adjusted for age. Future studies are needed to identify risk factors for CMV infection to define patient-centered monitoring and prevention.
A prospective open-label trial of long-acting liquid methylphenidate for the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in intellectually capable adults with autism spectrum disorder.

Objectives: This treatment trial is aimed at assessing the short-term tolerability and efficacy of liquid-formulation extended-release methylphenidate (MPH-ER) for the treatment of attention defici...