cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Time-Limited Counseling, Invisible Rationing, and Informed Consent

A journal special section comprising three related articles recently appeared in the professional mental health literature. This tripartite special section maintains that when managed care companies reduce the cost of mental health services by substituting time-limited counseling for longer term treatment, a condition identified as "invisible rationing" results. The articles offer ethical, legal, and practice implications for marriage andfamily counselors operating within a managed care context.
Tumor formation via loss of a molecular motor protein.

Summary Aneuploidy has long been suggested to be causal in tumor formation. Direct testing of this hypothesis has been difficult because of the absence of methods to specifically induce aneuploidy. The chromosome-associated kinesin motor KIF4 plays multiple roles in mitosis, and its loss leads to multiple mitotic defects including aneuploidy [1–5]. Here, we have taken advantage of the direct formation of aneuploidy in the absence of KIF4 to determine whether loss of a molecular motor and generation of aneuploidy during mitosis can trigger tumorigenesis. We find that embryonic stem cells genetically depleted of KIF4 support anchorage-independent growth and form tumors in nude mice. In cells lacking KIF4, mitotic spindle checkpoints and DNA-damage response pathways are activated. Down regulation or loss of KIF4 is physiologically relevant because reduced KIF4 levels are present in 35% of human cancers from several tissues. Our results support the notion that loss of a molecular motor leads to tumor formation and that aneuploidy can act as a primary trigger of tumorigenesis.
Reduction of p/sup +/-n/sup +/ junction tunneling current for base current improvement in Si/SiGe/Si heterojunction bipolar transistors

The authors report a three-order-of-magnitude reduction in parasitic tunneling current at heavily doped p/sup +/-n/sup +/ Si/Si and SiGe/Si junctions grown by rapid thermal epitaxial chemical vapor deposition (CVD) compared with previously reported results in Si junctions fabricated by ion implantation. These results demonstrate the high quality of the epitaxial interface. The low tunneling currents allow higher limits to transistor base and emitter doping levels, yielding higher gains, reduced bias resistances, and higher Early voltages for scaled bipolar devices as well as Si/SiGe/Si heterojunction bipolar transistors. >
Using server-to-server communication in parallel file systems to simplify consistency and improve performance

The trend in parallel computing toward clusters running thousands of cooperating processes per application has led to an I/O bottleneck that has only gotten more severe as the CPU density of clusters has increased. Current parallel file systems provide large amounts of aggregate I/O bandwidth; however, they do not achieve the high degrees of metadata scalability required to manage files distributed across hundreds or thousands of storage nodes. In this paper we examine the use of collective communication between the storage servers to improve the scalability of file metadata operations. In particular, we apply server-to-server communication to simplify consistency checking and improve the performance of file creation, file removal, and file stat. Our results indicate that collective communication is an effective scheme for simplifying consistency checks and significantly improving the performance for several real metadata intensive workloads.
Brief report: parents of children undergoing bone marrow transplantation: documenting stress and piloting a psychological intervention program.

Objective: To document levels of stress in parents of children undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT) over the course of hospitalization and to pilot a psychological intervention program designed to teach parents techniques for managing stress associated with their child’s illness and hospitalization. Methods: Twenty-two mothers of children (ages 2–16) undergoing BMT were followed prospectively from preadmission to three weeks posttransplant. Eleven mothers, randomly assigned to participate in a pilot intervention program, were compared with 11 control mothers receiving standard care preparation of their child’s BMT. Results: Repeated measures ANOVAs detected significant changes in stress over time, with most stress reported preadmission. Mothers in the intervention condition reported using more stress management techniques than mothers in the standard care condition, though the majority of analyses revealed no significant differences in stress between groups. Conclusions: Increased levels of parenting distress may occur pretransplant, suggesting the need for additional psychological intervention at that time.
The TInMANN VLSI chip

A massively parallel, all-digital, stochastic architecture-TInMANN-that acts as a Kohonen self-organizing feature map is described. A VLSI design is shown for a TInMANN neuron which fits within a small, inexpensive MOSIS TinyChip frame, yet which can be configured to build networks of arbitrary size. The neuron operates at a speed of 15 MHz, making it capable of processing 195000 three-dimensional training examples per second. Three man-months were required to synthesize the neuron and its associated level-sensitive scan logic using the OASIS silicon compiler. The ease of synthesis allowed many performance trade-offs to be examined, while the automatic testability features of the compiler helped the designers achieve 100% fault coverage of the chip. These factors served served to create a fast, dense, and reliable neural chip. >
Building an Arabic Multiword Expressions Repository

We introduce a list of Arabic multiword expressions (MWE) collected from various dictionaries. The MWEs are grouped based on their syntactic type. Every constituent word in the expressions is manually annotated with its full context-sensitive morphological analysis. Some of the expressions contain semantic variables as place holders for words that play the same semantic role. In addition, we have automatically annotated a large corpus of Arabic text using a pattern-matching algorithm that considers some morphosyntactic features as expressed by a highly inflected language, such as Arabic. A sample part of the corpus is manually evaluated and the results are reported in this paper.
The Escherichia coli O157: H7 cattle immunoproteome includes outer membrane protein A (OmpA), a modulator of adherence to bovine rectoanal junction squamous epithelial (RSE) cells

Building on previous studies, we defined the repertoire of proteins comprising the immunoproteome (IP) of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (O157) cultured in DMEM supplemented with norepinephrine (O157 IP), a β-adrenergic hormone that regulates E. coli O157 gene expression in the gastrointestinal tract, using a variation of a novel proteomics-based platform proteome mining tool for antigen discovery, called "proteomics-based expression library screening" (PELS; Kudva et al., 2006). The E. coli O157 IP (O157-IP) comprised 91 proteins, and included those identified previously using proteomics-based expression library screening, and also proteins comprising DMEM and bovine rumen fluid proteomes. Outer membrane protein A (OmpA), a common component of the above proteomes, and reportedly a contributor to E. coli O157 adherence to cultured HEp-2 epithelial cells, was interestingly found to be a modulator rather than a contributor to E. coli O157 adherence to bovine rectoanal junction squamous epithelial cells. Our results point to a role for yet to be identified members of the O157-IP in E. coli O157 adherence to rectoanal junction squamous epithelial cells, and additionally implicate a possible role for the outer membrane protein A regulator, TdcA, in the expression of such adhesins. Our observations have implications for the development of efficacious vaccines for preventing E. coli O157 colonization of the bovine gastrointestinal tract.
Regulation of the RNA-dependent protein kinase by triple helix formation

The RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) is an interferon-induced, RNA-activated enzyme that phosphorylates the α-subunit of the translation initiation factor eIF-2, inhibiting its function. PKR is activated in vitro by binding to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules of ~30 bp or longer. Here we show that triple helix forming oligonucleotides (TFOs) inhibit dsRNA binding to the isolated RNA binding domain of PKR. The inhibition is specific to the targeted RNA and dependent on TFO length. Binding to a 30 bp duplex is inhibited by a 28 nt TFO and a 20 nt TFO with an IC50 of 35 ± 2 and 210 ± 22 nM, respectively. An 18 nt TFO partially inhibits binding. The activation of the kinase domain of PKR by a 30 bp RNA duplex is also inhibited by a 28 nt TFO. Inhibition of binding is most effective when the triple helix is formed prior to addition of the protein. These results indicate that triplex formation can be used to prevent the binding of an RNA binding protein with dsRNA-binding motifs.
Stereopsis by a Neural Network Which Learns the Constraints

This paper presents a neural network (NN) approach to the problem of stereopsis. The correspondence problem (finding the correct matches between the pixels of the epipolar lines of the stereo pair from amongst all the possible matches) is posed as a non-iterative many-to-one mapping. A two-layer feed forward NN architecture is developed to learn and code this nonlinear and complex mapping using the back-propagation learning rule and a training set. The important aspect of this technique is that none of the typical constraints such as uniqueness and continuity are explicitly imposed. All the applicable constraints are learned and internally coded by the NN enabling it to be more flexible and more accurate than the existing methods. The approach is successfully tested on several random-dot stereograms. It is shown that the net can generalize its learned mapping to cases outside its training set. Advantages over the Marr-Poggio Algorithm are discussed and it is shown that the NN performance is superior.
Abstract 3651: Foxp3 expression correlates with survival in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Introduction and Objective The transcription factor Forkhead box p3 (Foxp3), originally described during the development of CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells, has recently been implicated in divergent roles in human prostate, breast, pancreatic cancer, and melanoma. Here, we investigate the inducibility of Foxp3 in bladder cancer models and assess the prognostic role of Foxp3 in patients with bladder cancer. Methods Foxp3 expression in the human bladder cancer cell line SW780 was examined in in vitro cultures by flow cytometry and in in vivo subcutaneous implanted tumor models in NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ (NSG) mice by immunohistochemistry. Proliferation and invasion of SW780 cells in the absence of Foxp3 was performed by transfection of siRNA in vitro. Correlation of Foxp3 expression to urothelial carcinoma grade, stage, recurrence-free survival, and overall survival was examined in a human tumor microarray from a cohort of 280 patients by Cox proportional hazards regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results Foxp3 expression correlates to higher cellular proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown of Foxp3 in SW780 cells resulted in decreased proliferation as well as invasion in vitro. Foxp3 expression increases with higher T stage, but not grade, as expression in adjacent normal bladder, Tis, Ta-1, T2-4, and lymph node metastasis was 1.2%, 3.8%, 15.2%, 26.5%, and 23.4% respectively, suggesting higher expression in muscle invasive and lymph node metastatic disease, but not carcinoma in situ. Using a cutoff of 10%, Foxp3 expression negatively correlates with survival following radical cystectomy with a median survival of 9.3 vs 2.8 years and a 10-year survival probability of 47% vs 27%. Conclusions This work implicates Foxp3 as novel transcription factor driving proliferation and tumor invasion in urothelial carcinoma. Expression of Foxp3 correlates with T stage and is a novel predictor of overall survival following radical cystectomy. Future studies will need to understand the mechanistic regulation of Foxp3 expression, as well examine Foxp3-mediated gene expression in urothelial carcinoma. Foxp3 expression may improve selection of patients to therapy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3651. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3651
Negative affect and risk for human immunodeficiency virus: one size may not fit all.

Abstract Purpose. Research examining the relationship between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related risk behavior and negative affective states has netted mixed findings. The present study examined the potential moderating role of gender and sexual orientation on negative affect and HIV-related risk behavior. Design. Measures of depression, anxiety, and HIV-related risk behavior were collected from participants at the time of pretest counseling. Analysis of variance was used to examine HIV-related risk behavior as a function of negative affect levels and gender and behavioral sexual orientation. Setting. The study was conducted through a community-based, anonymous HIV counseling and testing site. Subjects. Participants included 185 consecutively recruited men and women presenting for HIV testing. Measures. Participants completed a structured interview regarding HIV-related risk behavior, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depressed Mood Scale, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Results. Greater HIV-...
The Effect of the SEC’s Accelerated Filing Deadline on Earnings Timeliness

I examine whether the accelerated 10-K filing deadline affects earnings timeliness. The SEC’s acceleration of the filing deadline of Form 10-K took effect in 2003. In proposing a new rule, the SEC asserted that the usefulness of the 10-K would increase because of the improved timeliness of the report. On the other hand, opponents claimed that the quality and accuracy of the report could be impaired. I compare timeliness of pre-acceleration period to that of post-acceleration period. Overall, my findings provide little support for the SEC’s claim that the accelerated deadline would improve timeliness of periodic reports.
Marked cutaneous "freckling" and cardiac changes

45-year-old man originally presented in 1995 with a 3-year history of palmar/plantar psoriasis. At that time,examination revealed diffuse lentiginosis of his trunk and limbs associated with larger caf? au lait–like lentigines. He also had a previous myocardial infarction complicated by ventricular tachycardia, which required defibrillation and a permanent pacemaker. His father has a similar “freckling” pattern and also “cardiomyopathy.” His paternal uncles also have multiple freckles. Recent examination disclosed diffuse lentigines associated with large (10 X 50 mm) caf? au lait–type pigmented macules (Figure 1 and 2), with sparing of the axilla, palms, soles, and mucous membranes, including ocular and oral mucosa. In addition, skin tags and lipomata were present. Slight “winging” of the scapula was noted.
PROBABLE PALEOPERIGLACIAL MORPHOSEQUENCES IN THE NORTHERN BLUE RIDGE

Isolated occurrences of different types of bouldery deposits and diamictons in the Central Appalachians have been documented in the literature and attributed to accelerated freeze-thaw during Pleistocene cold intervals. These features have never before been examined together as a suite of genetically related landforms in a regional context. This paper documents the character and distribution of major paleoperiglacial landforms and deposits in the Northern Blue Ridge, including block streams, block-covered slopes, tors, and scarps. The distribution of these features was found to be governed by rock structure and thickness of outcrops; other variables, such as elevation, aspect, and proximity to the glacial border, were of less importance. These features are now stable, in decay, and therefore relict. [Key words: scarps, tors, diamictons, block streams, paleoperiglacial, Northern Blue Ridge, Central Appalachians.]
Rape and Sexual Violence: Questionable Inevitability and Moral Responsibility in Armed Conflict

Wartime sexual violence is a critical human rights issue that usurps the autonomy of its victims as well as their physical and psychological safety. It occurs in both ethnic and non-ethnic wars, across geographic regions, against both men and women, and regardless of the “official” position of commanders, states, and armed groups on the use of rape as tactic of war. This problem is current, pervasive, and global in spite of the status of wartime sexual violence perpetration as a crime against humanity and the capacity of the international criminal court to indict offenders. Though some scholars have argued that wartime rape is inevitable given a global patriarchal culture and the violent context of war, this argument upholds a problematic view of opportunistic sexual violence as an inevitable, anticipated side-effect of violent conflict. In order to counteract such harmful claims, this research examines two cases in which armed militant groups engaged in civil wars have limited the use of rape as a tactic of war. The examination of the cases of Sri Lanka and El Salvador may challenge the narrative of wartime rape inevitability and reinforce a framework through which perpetrators may be held accountable for sexual and gender-based war crimes. Further, this examination engages with the current body of sexual violence literature exploring not only the use of rape in armed conflict, but also the unique cases in which wartime rape is rare.
Predictive Factors for Differentiating Between Septic Arthritis and Lyme Disease of the Knee in Children.

Background: Differentiating between septic arthritis and Lyme disease of the knee in endemic areas can be challenging and has major implications for patient management. The purpose of this study was to identify a prediction rule to differentiate septic arthritis from Lyme disease in children presenting with knee pain and effusion. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients younger than 18 years of age with knee effusions who underwent arthrocentesis at our institution from 2005 to 2013. Patients with either septic arthritis (positive joint fluid culture or synovial white blood-cell count of >60,000 white blood cells/mm3 with negative Lyme titer) or Lyme disease (positive Lyme immunoglobulin G on Western blot analysis) were included. To avoid misclassification bias, undiagnosed knee effusions and joints with both a positive culture and positive Lyme titers were excluded. Historical, clinical, and laboratory data were compared between groups to identify variables for comparison. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictive variables. Results: One hundred and eighty-nine patients were studied: 23 with culture-positive septic arthritis, 26 with culture-negative septic arthritis, and 140 with Lyme disease. Multivariate binary logistic regression identified pain with short arc motion, history of fever reported by the patient or a family member, C-reactive protein of >4 mg/L, and age younger than 2 years as independent predictive factors for septic arthritis. A simpler model was developed that showed that the risk of septic arthritis with none of these factors was 2%, with 1 of these factors was 18%, with 2 of these factors was 45%, with 3 of these factors was 84%, or with all 4 of these factors was 100%. Conclusions: Although septic arthritis of the knee and Lyme monoarthritis share common features that can make them difficult to distinguish clinically, the presence of pain with short arc motion, C-reactive protein of >4.0 mg/L, patient-reported history of fever, and age younger than 2 years were independent predictive factors of septic arthritis in pediatric patients. The more factors that are present, the higher the risk of having septic arthritis. Level of Evidence: Diagnostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Crowdsourcing Legal Research: The Opportunities and Challenges

Crowdsourcing legal research has the potential to change how legal information is accessed and shared by providing free and value-added resources to the legal community. This Article explores legal crowdsourcing attempts, focusing on Casetext and Mootus. Although the ideal crowdsourcing legal research site has yet to be realized, crowdsourcing has a future because it embodies the concept of social justice and the next generations of attorneys will likely be open to collaboration.
Multi-System Fusion of Extended Context Prosodic and Cepstral Features for Paralinguistic Speaker Trait Classification.

As automatic speech processing has matured, research attention has expanded to paralinguistic speech problems that aim to detect beyond-the-words information. This paper focuses on the identification of seven speaker trait categories from the Interspeech Speaker Trait Challenge: likeability, intelligibility, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Our approach combines multiple features including prosodic, cepstral, shifted-delta cepstral, and a reduced set of the OpenSMILE features. Our classification approaches included GMM-UBM, eigenchannel, support vector machines, and distance based classifiers. Optimized feature reduction and logistic regression-based score calibration and fusion led to results that perform competitively against the challenge baseline in all categories.
Treatment of the Immune-Related Adverse Effects of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Review.

Importance The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) has significantly improved the treatment of a variety of cancers and led to US Food and Drug Administration approvals for patients with a variety of malignant neoplasms. Immune checkpoint inhibitors enhance antitumor immunity by blocking negative regulators of T-cell function that exist both on immune cells and on tumor cells. Although these agents can lead to remarkable responses, their use can also be associated with unique immune-related adverse effects (irAEs). Observations In general, use of PD-1 inhibitors such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab has a lower incidence of irAEs compared with those that block CTLA-4 such as ipilimumab. The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab has a higher rate of irAEs than either approach as monotherapy. Consensus guidelines regarding the treatment of the most common irAEs including rash, colitis, hepatitis, endocrinopathies, and pneumonitis have been established. The mainstay of irAE treatment consists of immunosuppression with corticosteroids or other immunosuppressant agents such as infliximab; most irAEs will resolve with appropriate management. Conclusions and Relevance The clinical use of immune checkpoint inhibitors is expanding rapidly. Oncology practitioners will therefore be required to recognize and manage irAEs in a growing patient population. Early recognition and treatment are essential to prevent patient morbidity and mortality, and adherence to established algorithms is recommended.
Landau-Kleffner Syndrome: IV g-Globulin Response

An 8-year-old girl with Landau-Kleffner syndrome failed to respond to antiepileptic drugs and steroids but showed clinical and EEG improvement after intravenous g-globulin therapies at the American University of Beirut School of Medicine, Lebanon.
Oxygen‐Sensing Difluoroboron Thienyl Phenyl β‐Diketonate Polylactides

Difluoroboron β-diketonate-polylactides are versatile oxygen-sensing materials. These materials have both fluorescence (F) and oxygen-sensitive, room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP). The fluorescence, being insensitive to oxygen, can act as an internal standard to the changing phosphorescence, and ratiometric sensing of oxygen can be achieved with these simple, single-component materials. To expand the range of colors for this family of fluorophores, a series of thienyl-phenyl-substituted dyes were synthesized with initiator sites for the ring-opening polymerization of lactide. Heavy atoms (Br and I) were added to the dye to modulate the phosphorescence intensity. These halide-substituted thiophene dyes readily aggregated in the poly(lactic acid) (PLA) matrix, generating two fluorescence peaks in air, one for monomer emission and another for aggregate emission. When the dye was dilute in PLA, as a blend, the iodo-thienyl derivative showed impressive singlet–triplet splitting, with blue fluorescence (440 nm) and orange phosphorescence (585 nm), the largest gap recorded for a boron β-diketonate dye. Nanoparticles fabricated from a mixture of PLA and dye–PLA conjugated polymer benefited from the large singlet–triplet splitting to yield oxygen sensitivity at levels between 0 and 21 %, which can be utilized in biological oxygen-sensing applications.
Lifting the haze off the cloud: a consumer-centric market for database computation in the cloud

The availability of public computing resources in the cloud has revolutionized data analysis, but requesting cloud resources often involves complex decisions for consumers. Estimating the completion time and cost of a computation and requesting the appropriate cloud resources are challenging tasks even for an expert user. We propose a new market-based framework for pricing computational tasks in the cloud. Our framework introduces an agent between consumers and cloud providers. The agent takes data and computational tasks from users, estimates time and cost for evaluating the tasks, and returns to consumers contracts that specify the price and completion time. Our framework can be applied directly to existing cloud markets without altering the way cloud providers offer and price services. In addition, it simplifies cloud use for consumers by allowing them to compare contracts, rather than choose resources directly. We present design, analytical, and algorithmic contributions focusing on pricing computation contracts, analyzing their properties, and optimizing them in complex workflows. We conduct an experimental evaluation of our market framework over a real-world cloud service and demonstrate empirically that our market ensures three key properties: (a) that consumers benefit from using the market due to competitiveness among agents, (b) that agents have an incentive to price contracts fairly, and (c) that inaccuracies in estimates do not pose a significant risk to agents' profits. Finally, we present a fine-grained pricing mechanism for complex workflows and show that it can increase agent profits by more than an order of magnitude in some cases.
Anti-authoritarian metrics: recursivity as a strategy for post-capitalism

This essay proposes that those seeking to build counter-power institutions and communities learn to think in terms of what I call “recursivity.” Recursivity is an anti-authoritarian metric that helps bring about a sensitivity to feedback loops at multiple levels of organization. I begin by describing how technological systems and the socio-economic order co-constitute one-another around efficiency metrics. I then go on to define recursivity as social conditions that contain within them all of the parts and practices for their maturation and expansion, and show how organizations that demonstrate recursivity, like the historical English commons, have been marginalized or destroyed all together. Finally, I show how the ownership of property is inherently antithetical to the closed loops of recursivity. All of this is bookended by a study of urban planning’s recursive beginnings.
Increased reactive oxygen species levels cause ER stress and cytotoxicity in andrographolide treated colon cancer cells

// Aditi Banerjee 1 , Vivekjyoti Banerjee 1 , Steven Czinn 1 , Thomas Blanchard 1 1 Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A Correspondence to: Aditi Banerjee, email: abanerjee@peds.umaryland.edu Keywords: andrographolide, chemotherapy, reactive oxygen species, endoplasmic reticulum stress, unfolded protein response Received: August 15, 2016 Accepted: January 30, 2017 Published: February 16, 2017 ABSTRACT Chemotherapy continues to play an essential role in the management of many cancers including colon cancer, the third leading cause of death due to cancer in the United States. Many naturally occurring plant compounds have been demonstrated to possess anti-cancer cell activity and have the potential to supplement existing chemotherapy strategies. The plant metabolite andrographolide induces cell death in cancer cells and apoptosis is dependent upon the induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) leading to the unfolded protein response (UPR). The goal of the present study was to determine the mechanism by which andrographolide induces ER stress and to further evaluate its role in promoting cell death pathways. The T84 and COLO 205 cancer cell lines were used to demonstrate that andrographolide induces increased ROS levels, corresponding anti-oxidant response molecules, and reduced mitochondrial membrane potential. No increases in ROS levels were detected in control colon fibroblast cells. Andrographolide-induced cell death, UPR signaling, and CHOP, Bax, and caspase 3 apoptosis elements were all inhibited in the presence of the ROS scavenger NAC. Additionally, andrographolide-induced suppression of cyclins B1 and D1 were also reversed in the presence of NAC. Finally, Akt phosphorylation and phospho-mTOR levels that are normally suppressed by andrographolide were also expressed at normal levels in the absence of ROS. These data demonstrate that andrographolide induces ER stress leading to apoptosis through the induction of ROS and that elevated ROS also play an important role in down-regulating cell cycle progression and cell survival pathways as well.
Thermal Decomposition, Ignition and Kinetic Evaluation of Magnesium and Aluminium Fuelled Pyrotechnic Compositions

This paper describes the thermal, kinetic and ignition behaviour of three pyrotechnic mixtures comprising Al + Ba(NO3)2, Mg + NH4ClO4, and Mg + KMnO4. Aluminium (Al) and magnesium (Mg) are metal fuels whereas barium nitrate, potassium permanganate and ammonium perchlorate are oxidants. The main objective of the paper is to assess the safety and relative reactivity of these pyrotechnic combinations. The experimental results indicate that aluminium powder reacts exothermically with the decomposition products of barium nitrate near 601 °C. A similar kind of exothermic reaction takes place between magnesium powder and ammonium perchlorate at 338 °C. Heat flow data obtained from multiple heating rate experiments were used to calculate the kinetic parameters, such as activation energy, reaction rate constant and frequency factor, using the Kissinger method. Critical ignition temperatures of all three compositions have been estimated in order to evaluate their thermal stability. The results show that all of these compositions are thermally stable and their relative reactivity decreases in the following order: Mg + NH4ClO4 > Mg + KMnO4 > Al + Ba(NO3)2
Representative Elementary Volume (REV) in spatio-temporal domain: A method to find REV for dynamic pores

One of the potential risks associated with subsurface storage of CO2 is the seepage of CO2 through existing faults and fractures. There have been a number of studies devoted to this topic. Some of these studies show that geochemistry, especially mineralization, plays an important role in rendering the faults as conduits for CO2 movement while others show that mineralization due to CO2 injection can result in seep migration and flow diversion. Therefore, understanding the changes in reservoir properties due to pore alterations is important to ensure safe long term CO2 storage in the subsurface. We study the changes in the Representative Elementary Volume (REV) of a rock due to reactive kinetics over a time, using a statistical approach and pore-scale CO2-rock interactiondata. The goal of this study is to obtain the REV of a rock property that accounts for pore-scale changes over time due to reactive kinetics, and we call this as spatiotemporal REV. Scale-up results suggest that the REV changes with time when CO2-rock interaction is considered. It is hypothesized that the alteration in pore structure introduces more heterogeneity in the rock, and because of this the magnitude of REV increases. It is possible that these noticeable changes in REV at pore-scale may have an impact when analyzed at the reservoir scale.
Interpretation and Application of the New York Convention by National Courts

This General Report provides an analytical overview of critical issues concerning the interpretation and application—in forty-four jurisdictions—of the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, commonly known as the New York Convention. The Chapter surveys and synthesizes national responses to a sample of questions on major Convention topics: implementation of the Convention, enforcement of agreements to arbitrate, grounds for refusal of recognition and enforcement under the Convention, and procedural issues in recognizing and enforcing foreign awards. This report concludes with an assessment of experience in the implementation of the Convention across jurisdictions.
On Misconceptions and the Limited Usefulness of Ordinal Alpha

This article discusses the theoretical and practical contributions of Zumbo, Gadermann, and Zeisser’s family of ordinal reliability statistics. Implications, interpretation, recommendations, and practical applications regarding their ordinal measures, particularly ordinal alpha, are discussed. General misconceptions relating to this family of ordinal reliability statistics are highlighted, and arguments for interpreting ordinal alpha as a measure of hypothetical reliability, as opposed to observed reliability, are presented. It is concluded that ordinal alpha should not be used in routine reliability analyses and reports, and instead should be understood as hypothetical tool, similar to the Spearman–Brown prophecy formula, for theoretically increasing the number of ordinal categorical response options in future applied testing applications.
Resilience and Strengths of Rural Communities

Rural communities have an unwritten but lived protocol of self-sufficiency, independence, and autonomy. Historically, residents of rural communities have always demonstrated resilience and strength through economic downturns, natural disasters, and demographic shifts. This chapter reviews the characteristics of rural communities: its people, values and beliefs, and “rural code” of behavior. The intent is to discuss the positive aspects of rural culture and value from a strength-based approach, as well as the concerns of the social conditions of resilience.
Hubbell trading post: trade, tourism, and the Navajo Southwest

Erica Cottam has done those wishing to study or visit Hubbell Trading Post (now a National Historic Site) an invaluable service. In her book, Cottam has more than given scholars and the public a ke...
Demandingness, Indebtedness, and Charity: Kant on Imperfect Duties to Others

This chapter focuses on imperfect duties to others. It offers an analysis of two subtly different arguments that Kant gives for our duty of assistance toward others – one emphasizing the moral imperative to universalize our desire for happiness, the other emphasizing our neediness as human beings. Moran further considers Kant’s suggestion that we have an obligation not to depend on others, and attempts to resolve the seeming tension between a demanding duty of assistance and the duty of self-sufficiency.
Perspectives from 30 Years of Training Behavior Analysts.

This commentary describes my perspective on training behavior analysts based on over 30 years of experience. The two important activities involved in training behavior analysts are teaching and mentoring. In this paper, I describe my perspectives on each.
Restless Legs Syndrome Negatively Impacts Worker Health and Safety

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a highly prevalent sleep disorder contributing to worker absenteeism, decline in productivity, and employer costs. Identification of workers at risk for RLS can contribute to improved worker sleep, safety, and quality of life.
NEUROPEPTIDES AND OTHER DOPAMINE MODULATORS IN THE EXTRAPYRAMIDAL SYSTEM

Evidence is presented comparing the efficacy of two monoamine oxidase inhibitors, deprenyl and harmaline, in two animal models of parkinsonism. Harmaline is shown to more strongly potentiate dopamine mechanisms, whereas deprenyl is shown to more potently affect brain phenylethy1 ami ne. Moreover, phenylethyiamine is shown to reverse reserpine-induced parkinsonism in rats after pretreatment with the catecholamine depleter α-methyl-para-tyrosine, thus suggesting a direct role for phenylethylamine in the striatum. Furthermore, we show that an opiate antagonist, naloxone, and two opiate agonists have differential effects in producing rotation in rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the substantia nigra. This evidence suggests dual sites of action for enkephalins in the nigro-striatal pathway. We also report that other brain neuropeptides may modulate dopamine function in the extrapyramidal system.
Evolving the Future: Sketching a Science of Intentional Change

Many branches of intellectual thought acknowledge the importance of evolution for other species, our physical bodies, and a few basic instincts such as the urge to eat and have sex, but treat our rich behavioral and cultural diversity as somehow outside the orbit of evolution. This essay describes an alternative paradigm that has been developing over a period of decades, in which learning and culture are both products of genetic evolution and evolutionary processes in their own right. Far from denying the human capacity for change over short time scales, evolutionary science provides an essential toolkit for managing change.
Making Engagement Work: University Outreach and Welfare Reform in West Virginia

Much attention has been given to the concept of the “engaged university” that seeks to reaffirm the role of higher education in serving society through outreach, teaching, and research. Higher educ...
Adsorption behavior of silver from ammoniacal solutions on activated carbon

The adsorption behavior of silver in ammoniacal solutions on activated carbon was studied. In addition to the concentration of ammonia, the parameters that affect adsorption include temperature, degree of agitation and anion and cation concentrations. In the study, it was found that the adsorption of silver from ammoniacal solutions is dependent on the initial silver concentration in the solution. It was also found that the recovery of silver from ammoniacal solutions is not as effective as gold. The adsorption rate was relatively slow overall, despite a rapid initial adsorption. The apparent activation energy for the adsorption was measured at 30.2 kJ/mol. It was believed that the kinetics of the silver adsorption on activated carbon was limited by a mixed control mechanism.
BURDEN AND FINDING MEANING IN AFRICAN AMERICAN CAREGIVERS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA

AbstractPrevious research suggests cultural variations in caregivers’ perceptions of caring for people with dementia. The purpose of this study was to describe the caregiving experience in a subset of African Americans from a previous study (N=14). Measures included the Zarit Burden Interview and Finding Meaning through Caregiving (FMCG). Content analysis was performed on narrative comments. Caregivers were primarily female (64%), provided care for people with dementia for > 60 months (64%) and had a mean age of 74.6 years. Caregivers reported low burden (M= 31.6) and scored high on the FMCG scale (Mean=177.4). Findings from FMCG subscales of Provisional Meaning, Ultimate Meaning, and Loss/Powerlessness have potential to elucidate cultural variations in African American’s response to caregiving. Narrative comments were categorized into unmet needs, benefits, and challenges.
Gravity measurements are key in addressing the habitability of a subsurface ocean in Jupiter's Moon Europa

Abstract The habitability of Europa's subsurface ocean increases greatly if there is volcanism occurring at the underlying rock-water interface. The potential for volcanic activity is lowered, however, if Europa's silicate interior only has radiogenic nuclides as a heat source; depths to silicate solidus temperatures would be hundreds of kilometers deep. The addition of tidal heating in the silicate interior increases the chances of volcanism, with its implications for life. Thus, constraining the heat flow from the silicate interior can be used as a proxy for habitability. Here, we show that the structure of the silicate interior's near surface dominates the Bouguer gravity anomalies (measured surface gravity minus the gravity resulting from the ice surface) for global to regional horizontal scales greater than ~200 km. We next use the finite element method to predict the compensation state of topography on the silicate interior, derived from the Moon and assuming the likely possibility of a basaltic crust over a peridotitic mantle. These compensation models are tied to the heat flow from the silicate interior. We then calculate the gravity coming from the silicate interior as a function of heat flow, finding that the magnitude of the anomalies can discriminate heat flow regimes. Gravity anomalies only exceed ~250 mGal for the case of solely radiogenic heating. We then discuss the implications for future missions to Europa, including the discrete gravity sampling of the proposed Europa Clipper mission, and conclude that gravity and topography measurements should be given very high priority in mission planning.
Toward an Integrated Situational Awareness Measuring Function for Electronic Health Records

Although Situational Awareness (SA) has been an active area of research for decades, the integration of SA system frameworks specifically within the healthcare industry is a fairly new topic of interest. Recent, rapid advances in technology, especially in the field of biomedical informatics, have introduced many SA challenges; proven links between SA and patient safety warrants further studies as to identify and address the issues associated with these newly available tools. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are one of the most adopted tools in the U.S. healthcare system that perform various functions, capturing many kinds of medical data. One subset of patients that makes use of EHRs are insomnia patients. Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder among the general population; approximately 10% to 15% of adults in America suffer from chronic insomnia [1]. Although many researchers have tackled issues associated with EHRs including the information chaos that negatively impacts SA, none of them have measured or analyzed actual SA Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs). Developing SA MOEs for impact of EHRs on SA effectiveness for the clinician decision-making process may yield improved quality of treatment for insomnia patients.
Expanding the Computational Anatomy Gateway from clinical imaging to basic neuroscience research

The Computational Anatomy Gateway, powered largely by the Comet (San Diego Super-computer Center) and Stampede (Texas Advanced Computing Center) clusters through XSEDE, provides software as a service tools for atlas based analysis of human brain magnetic resonance images. This includes deformable registration, automatic labeling of tissue types, and morphometric analysis. Our goal is to extend these services to the broader neuroscience community, accommodating multiple model organisms and imaging modalities, as well as low quality or missing data. We developed a new approach to multimodality registration: by predicting one modality from another, we can replace ad hoc image similarity metrics (such as mutual information or normalized cross correlation) with a log likelihood under a noise model. This statistical approach enables us to account for missing data using the Expectation Maximization algorithm. For portability and scalability we have implemented this algorithm in tensorflow. For accessibility we have compiled and many working examples for multiple model organisms, imaging systems, and missing tissue or image anomaly situations. These examples are made easily usable in the form of Jupyter notebooks, and made publicly available through github. This framework will significantly reduce the barrier to entry for basic neuroscientists, enabling the community to benefit from atlas based computational image analysis techniques.
Adaptive beamformers using 2D-novel ULA for cellular communication

This paper presents the use of a novel two dimensional (2D) uniform linear array for adaptive beamforming algorithms. We used this novel antenna configuration to study the popular adaptive beamforming algorithms, namely, least mean square algorithm (LMS) and least normalized mean square algorithm (NLMS) and also proposed a variable step-size NLMS (VSSNLMS) algorithm. These beamformers are named as 2D-LMS, 2D-NLMS and 2D-VSSNLMS algorithms respectively. These algorithms not only improve the convergence rate but also mitigates the effect of interference by producing deep nulls in the interference directions. These algorithms are suitable for low-power, low-cost, anti-interference MIMO-WLAN, WiMAX, 4G LTE and other advanced communication systems.
Control of Impaired Aircraft with Unanticipated Elevator Jam to a Stable Level Flight

Elevator jam is a challenging control problem since the feasible safe trim and dynamics of the impaired aircraft are heavily dependent on the elevator jam position, which is unknown until the event has occurred. Once it occurs, the window of time to react usually is small and the crisis may deepen quickly as time goes by. A simple effective approach is proposed to mitigate the crisis immediately after the jam to control the impaired aircraft to a safe stable level flight without wasting time–at the most critical crisis moment–on identifying the safe trim, the plant model, or even the elevator jam position, which actually are unnecessary.
Characterizing fog at the Sandia Fog Facility (Conference Presentation)

Degraded visual environments are a cause of problems for surveillance systems and other sensors due to the reduction in contrast, range, and signal. Fog is a concern because of the frequency of its formation along our coastlines; disrupting border security and surveillance. Sandia has created a Fog Facility for the characterization and testing of optical and other systems. We will present a comparison of our generated fogs to the measured naturally occurring fogs reported in the literature and an overview of Sandia’s work using this facility to investigate ways to enhance perception through degraded visual environments.
An Intraocular Camera for Retinal Prostheses

Blindness due to degenerative retinal diseases such as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) afflict millions of people worldwide. Recent advances in retinal implants that bypass damaged photoreceptor cells and electrically stimulate the remaining healthy retinal neurons show promise for restoring functional vision to the blind [1]. Current intraocular retinal prostheses driven by an external camera mounted on the subject’s head require slow and unnatural head movements. To allow for normal foveation and expanded depth of field, a novel intraocular camera (IOC) has been designed to work in conjunction with an epiretinal microstimulator array, as shown schematically in Fig. 1.Copyright © 2007 by ASME