cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Approximate longitudinal space charge impedances of a round beam with longitudinal density modulations between parallel plates and inside a rectangular chamber

This paper presents the approximate analytical solutions to the longitudinal space charge (LSC) impedances of a round beam with uniform transverse distribution and sinusoidal line density modulations under two boundary conditions: (a) between parallel plates (b) inside a rectangular chamber, respectively. When the ratios of beam diameter to chamber height are small, the image charge fields of the round beam can be approximated by those of a line charge, the approximate analytical LSC impedances can be obtained by image method. The derived theoretical LSC impedances are valid at any perturbation wavelength and are consistent well with the numerical simulation results in a large range of ratios of beam diameters to chamber heights.
Government Procurement Policies: An Invisible Barrier to US Exports in the 1980’s

The multilateral trade negotiations and agreements on government procurement policies and practices which was made by the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff in 1979 to be applied beginning January 1981 represents a big step forward in the effort to reduce invisible barriers to world trade. However, it is important to realize that the policing and enforcement of such agreements between signatory countries remains an important issue which needs to be resolved in the 1980s. With the grim world economic outlook ahead, it is not surprising that violation of the government procurement agreement might occur in some countries. In order to promote export and compete effectively in world markets, the US manufacturers should try to take advantage of the new opportunities offered to them with the opening of some government procurement business overseas and the US Government should try to monitor constantly overseas markets to prevent violations settle disputes and help US exporters with more information on government procurement offers for bids.
Network analysis of transcriptomics expands regulatory landscapes in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002

Cyanobacterial regulation of gene expression must contend with a genome organization that lacks apparent functional context, as the majority of cellular processes and metabolic pathways are encoded by genes found at disparate locations across the genome and relatively few transcription factors exist. In this study, global transcript abundance data from the model cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 grown under 42 different conditions was analyzed using Context-Likelihood of Relatedness (CLR). The resulting network, organized into 11 modules, provided insight into transcriptional network topology as well as grouping genes by function and linking their response to specific environmental variables. When used in conjunction with genome sequences, the network allowed identification and expansion of novel potential targets of both DNA binding proteins and sRNA regulators. These results offer a new perspective into the multi-level regulation that governs cellular adaptations of the fast-growing physiologically robust cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 to changing environmental variables. It also provides a methodological high-throughput approach to studying multi-scale regulatory mechanisms that operate in cyanobacteria. Finally, it provides valuable context for integrating systems-level data to enhance gene grouping based on annotated function, especially in organisms where traditional context analyses cannot be implemented due to lack of operon-based functional organization.
Aerosol Optical Depth Distribution in Extratropical Cyclones over the Northern Hemisphere Oceans

Using MODIS and an extratropical cyclone database, the climatological distribution of aerosol optical depth (AOD) in extratropical cyclones is explored based solely on observations. Cyclone-centered composites of aerosol optical depth are constructed for the northern hemisphere midlatitude ocean regions, and their seasonal variations are examined. These composites are found to be qualitatively stable when the impact of clouds and surface insolation or brightness is tested. The larger AODs occur in spring and summer and are preferentially found in the warm frontal and in the post-cold frontal regions in all seasons. The fine mode aerosols dominate the cold sector AODs, but the coarse mode aerosols display large AODs in the warm sector. These differences between the aerosol modes are related to the varying source regions of the aerosols, and could potentially have different impacts on cloud and precipitation within the cyclones.
Analysis of thickness and quality factor of a double paddle oscillator at room temperature

In this paper, we evaluate the quality (Q) factor and the resonance frequency of a double paddle oscillator (DPO) with different thickness using analytical, computational and experimental methods. The study is carried out for the 2nd anti-symmetric resonance mode that provides extremely high experimental Q factors on the order of 105. The results show that both the Q factor and the resonance frequency of a DPO increase with the thickness at room temperature.
Excommunicatum : the mono-episcopate, the third-century church, and Origen

Origen's departure from Alexandria is a well-known event in the history of the early church. According to Eusebius, who provides the most thorough account of Origen's life, this move had everything to do with Origen's rocky personal relationship with the bishop of Alexandria, Demetrius. Origen's relocation to Caesarea, however, is best understood within the framework of the structure and evolution of the third-century church, especially the emergence of ecclesiastical authority and communal organisation. Rather than a centralised church under the authority of the bishop, Christian communities at this time were more decentralised, with presbyters and house churches holding considerable autonomy. The fact of this communal structure raises questions about the nature of excommunication: while it is possible that all the Alexandrian churches chose not to receive Origen, it is unlikely that all the churches would have reached this consensus. It is more probable that Origen chose not to return to Alexandria after he left.
The RNA-binding complex ESCRT-II in Xenopus laevis eggs recognizes purine-rich sequences through its subunit Vps25

RNA-binding proteins (RBP) are critical regulators of gene expression. Recent studies have uncovered hundreds of mRNA-binding proteins that do not contain annotated RNA-binding domains and have well-established roles in other cellular processes. Investigation of these nonconventional RBPs is critical for revealing novel RNA-binding domains and may disclose connections between RNA regulation and other aspects of cell biology. The endosomal sorting complex required for transport II (ESCRT-II) is a nonconventional RNA-binding complex that has a canonical role in multivesicular body formation. ESCRT-II was identified previously as an RNA-binding complex in Drosophila oocytes, but whether its RNA-binding properties extend beyond Drosophila is unknown. In this study, we found that the RNA-binding properties of ESCRT-II are conserved in Xenopus eggs, where ESCRT-II interacted with hundreds of mRNAs. Using a UV cross-linking approach, we demonstrated that ESCRT-II binds directly to RNA through its subunit, Vps25. UV cross-linking and immunoprecipitation (CLIP)-Seq revealed that Vps25 specifically recognizes a polypurine (i.e. GA-rich) motif in RNA. Using purified components, we could reconstitute the selective Vps25-mediated binding of the polypurine motif in vitro. Our results provide insight into the mechanism by which ESCRT-II selectively binds to mRNA and also suggest an unexpected link between endosome biology and RNA regulation.
Embryogenic Tissue Initiation in Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda L.)

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) technology has the potential to be the lowest-cost method to rapidly produce large numbers of high-value seedlings with desired characteristics for plantation forestry. SE is expected to play an important role in the future to increase forest productivity, sustainability and uniformity. SE technology has the advantages of: (1) shortening time to produce desired Planting stock, (2) allowing control of genetic variation, (3) permitting commercial hybrids, and (4) facilitating genetic engineering efforts for desirable traits. Conifer SE proceeds through four steps: initiation, multiplication, maturation and germination and cryopreservation when storage of cultures is desired. This report will focus on the initiation step. When research began, initiation rates for loblolly pine were often below 1%. Early improvements occurred through combinations of optimal embryo stages, half-strength P6 salts, ovule osmotic profile research, modeling activated carbon (AC) uptate of 2,4-D and research to understand the effect of pH and AC on mineral availability. Many improvements in loblolly pine initiation over the past 30 years have resulted from careful study of the developing seed and embryo. Medium supplements and environmental conditions are available to improve imitiation and somatic embryo development that have resulted from analytical studies of seed tissues, the seed environment and gene experssion in the megagametophyte, zygotic embryos and somatic embryos.
The use of vitamin D3 to improve beef tenderness.

An experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that short-term oral administration of dietary vitamin D3 to beef cattle before slaughter would increase beef tenderness through greater calcium-activated calpain activity in postmortem aged skeletal muscle. Thirty continental crossbred steers were allotted randomly to three treatment groups housed in one pen. One group served as a control; two other groups were administered boluses with either 5 x 10(6) or 7.5 x 10(6) IU of vitamin D3 daily for 9 d. Cattle were slaughtered 1 d later. The longissimus lumborum was excised from each carcass 72 h postmortem and steaks removed at 3, 7, 14, and 21 d postmortem. The semimembranosus muscle (top round) was excised from each carcass 72 h postmortem and steaks removed at 7, 14, and 21 d postmortem. Blood plasma calcium concentration of cattle treated with 5 or 7.5 x 10(6) IU of vitamin D3 was higher (P < .05) than that of controls. Strip loin and top loin steaks from cattle fed supplemental doses of vitamin D3 had lower (P < .05) Warner-Bratzler (W-B) shear values at 14 d postmortem but were not significantly different from controls at 3, 7, or 21 d (strip loins) or 7 or 21 d (top rounds). No significant difference in strip loin steak tenderness was observed by sensory panel at 14 d postmortem (P < .17) between steaks from control and vitamin D3-treated steers. At 14 d postmortem, strip loin and top round steaks from cattle fed 5 x 10(6) IU of vitamin D3, but not from those given 7.5 x 10(6) IU, showed more proteolysis (P < .05) than did steaks from control cattle, based on Western blotting analysis. Therefore, the use of supplemental dietary vitamin D3 given daily for 9 d before slaughter did improve tenderness (lower W-B shear values) of 14-d postmortem aged beef. Increased proteolysis seems to be the mechanism of tenderization.
Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Based Systems: Origins, Methods and Opportunities for NDE

The title of my paper covers a lot of territory, so my remarks will tend to be broad rather than deep. Some of the topics I will cover are: What is AI? A brief history of AI. What is Knowledge Engineering? What are Expert Systems? Why should you care? Examples of Expert Systems. Opportunities for NDE. Selecting appropriate problems. Criticisms of Expert Systems. Looking ahead.
SEQUENTIAL MONTE CARLO METHODS FOR PERMUTATION TESTS ON TRUNCATED DATA

The permutation test is one of the oldest techniques for making statis- tical inferences. Monte Carlo methods and asymptotic formulas have been used to approximate the associated p-values. When data are truncated, however, the permutation null distribution is difficult to handle. We describe here an efficient se- quential importance sampling strategy for generating permutations with restricted positions, which provides accurate p-value approximations in all examples we have tested. The algorithm also provides good estimates of permanents of zero-one matri- ces, which by itself is a challenging problem. The key to our strategy is a connection between allowable permutations and zero-one tables with structural zeros.
The Analysis of the Telecommunications Industry in Thailand

Telecommunications has been considered a critical infrastructure for any nation. National competitiveness increasingly depends upon the telecommunications infrastructure because telecommunications and information technology have become a critical driving factor for social and economic development. However, the telecommunications infrastructure in Thailand is considered below the world average despite its importance to national competitiveness. Thailand is still among a few developing countries that do not have a 3G network. Broadband Internet is uncommon. The telecommunications industry has been influenced by a concession system that creates unfair competition and that lacks freedom. There has been an increase in public dissatisfaction with certain telecommunication services. This paper investigates the various issues in the telecommunications industry in Thailand. The information in the study was acquired through analysis of secondary sources, observation, and focus groups. The results of this study can be used as “lessons learned” for the development of the telecommunications industry in any developing country.
Physical Analyses of Urinaey Calculi

Charged particle activation has been used to examine the elemental distribution of urinary calculi1 and the full technique has been presented in detail elsewhere2. Autoradiographs of carbon, phosphorus and calcium Fig. 1 were obtained by activation analysis of an oxalate calculus (Ref. L) supplied by University College, London.
Chemical Denaturation and Protein Precipitation Approach for Discovery and Quantitation of Protein-Drug Interactions.

Described here is a mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach for the large-scale analysis of protein–drug interactions. The approach involves the evaluation of ligand-induced protein folding free energy changes (ΔΔGf) using chemical denaturation and protein precipitation (CPP) to identify the protein targets of drugs and to quantify protein–drug binding affinities. This is accomplished in a chemical denaturant-induced unfolding experiment where the folded and unfolded protein fractions in each denaturant containing buffer are quantified by the amount of soluble or precipitated protein (respectively) that forms upon abrupt dilution of the chemical denaturant and subsequent centrifugation of the sample. In the proof-of-principle studies performed here, the CPP technique was able to identify the well-known protein targets of cyclosporin A and geldanamycin in a yeast. The technique was also used to identify protein targets of sinefungin, a broad-based methyltransferase inhibitor, in a human MCF-7 cell lysa...
Pathology of the Kidney in Diabetes

In a classical paper published in 1936, Kimmelstiel and Wilson for the first time described mesangial expansion and nodular glomerulosclerosis in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). We have since learned much more about DKD lesions, although natural history of progression of these lesions is better known in type 1 diabetes, while majority of patients with DKD suffer from type 2 diabetes, calling for further studies in the latter population. The pathology of DKD is also more homogeneous in type 1 diabetes, and there is some controversy if all kidney lesions observed in type 2 are attributable to diabetes or they may be related to concurrent conditions such as aging, hypertension, and atherosclerosis which are commonly present in type 2 diabetic patients. For these reasons, we will initially discuss pathology of DKD in type 1 diabetic patients and then provide comparisons with type 2 diabetes. Then, we move to the natural history of DKD progression and relationships between structural changes, renal dysfunction, and diabetes duration. Finally, reversal of DKD lesions following long-term normoglycemia after pancreas transplantation and animal models of DKD are discussed.
Human-in-the-loop Control of Distributed Multi-Agent Systems: A Relative Input-Output Approach

The paper considers distributed control of human-in-the-loop multi-agent systems (MASs) using only relative input-output measurements. A human supervises the team through broadcasting a command signal to only one agent, called the leader, in response to any changes. To impose the human control signal, the leader needs to be a non-autonomous agent. All followers autonomously synchronize to the leader by locally interacting with each other over a communication graph and using only the relative input-output information. To decrease the communication burden, a novel distributed observer is presented for leader-follower MASs with non-autonomous leaders to approximate the relative state information of the agents. To obviate the requirement of knowing an upper bound on the human input, each agent adaptively estimates the human force by communicating its estimation with its neighbors. It is shown that the gain margin of the proposed distributed observer is infinity. The provided simulation results show effectiveness of the proposed method.
Estimating Joint Torques of a Robotic Arm Based on Kinematics Using Neural Networks

This paper presents a methodology to determine robot joint torques based on kinematic quantities by utilizing artificial neural networks (ANN). Due to time series nature of kinematic quantities, a physics-based measure for kinematic quantities has been formulated and implemented to train the neural network. In addition, the effect of the different number of hidden layers in the neural network was compared as well as the effect of different training methods in determining the joint torques. Experimental results confirmed the validity of the proposed method to determine the joint torques with high accuracy.
Examining How Students with Visual Impairments Navigate Accessible Documents

Introduction:This exploratory study examined how students with visual impairments navigate accessible Word and PDF documents.Methods:Using a combination of video observations and semi-structured in...
Phase II study of pazopanib with oral topotecan in patients with metastatic and non-resectable soft tissue and bone sarcomas.

Background Pazopanib is active in refractory soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) and significantly prolongs PFS. Prior studies of combinations of metronomic topotecan with pazopanib have indicated preclinical evidence of response in patients with sarcoma. Methods This prospective, single arm, phase II study evaluated the efficacy of the combination of pazopanib with topotecan in patients with metastatic or unresectable non-adipocytic STS. Furthermore, it incorporated exploratory arms for osteosarcoma and liposarcoma. The primary endpoint was progression-free rate at 12 weeks in the non-adipocytic STS cohort. Results 57.5% of patients in the non-adipocytic STS cohort were progression free at 12 weeks, which did not meet the primary endpoint of the study (66%). The exploratory osteosarcoma cohort exceeded previously established phase II trial comparator data benchmark of 12% with a PFR at 12 weeks of 69.55%. Treatment with the combination of pazopanib and topotecan was accompanied by a grade 3 or 4 toxicities in most patients. Conclusions In this prospective trial in refractory metastatic or unresectable STS and osteosarcoma, the combination of pazopanib with topotecan did not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free rate at 12 weeks. The combination of pazopanib with topotecan was associated with a high degree of toxicity.
Mind the App: Information Design and Consumer Behavior

In a randomized field experiment, I test if the way in which information is presented influences consumer behavior. Users of an online account aggregation app received a personalized index representing their net worth as a lifetime monthly cash flow. The presentation of the index varied in the framing used to describe the index and in the salience of the comparison between the index and the user's historical spending. Consumers that received a consumption frame (promoting a mental reflection about the affordability of future consumption) and a salient comparison with historical spending decreased their discretionary spending by 15% relative to other treatments throughout the eight months of the experiment. The effect persisted for an additional eight months after the removal of the experiment content from the app. The sensitivity of consumers' spending to information design presents opportunities for policies aimed at influencing saving rates.
Representation justice as a research agenda for socio-hydrology and water governance

We propose representation justice as a theoretical lens for socio-hydrology and water governance studies. An exploratory survey of 496 water sector employees in the United States revealed that self...
Theoretical Nabladot Analysis of Amdahl's Law for Agent-Based Simulations

Amdahl's Law states that execution speedup S is nonlinearly proportional to the percentage of parallelizable code P and the number N of processors. Additional terms must be added to Amdahl's Law when applied to agent-based simulations, depending on how synchronization is implemented. Since P is continuous but N is discrete, traditional multivariate operators based on nabla or del i¾? are applicable only for P, not for N, regardless of synchronization architecture linear, logarithmic, constant, among other. Moreover, relatively low values of N bound by Miller's number 7 ±2 are common in some cases. Here I apply a novel and exact operator, called "nabladot" and denoted by the symbol "nabladot", that is defined for hybrid function such as Amdahl's Law. The main results show how exact solutions using nabladot differ from traditional approximations, particularly in the logarithmic case that is characteristic of hierarchical synchronization. Improvements in precision are inversely proportional to P and N, converging to 0.8 as Ni¾?2.
Making strides and meeting challenges in pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation clinical trials in the United States: Past, present and future

Abstract Over the past 20 years, the field of pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation has made ground-breaking strides in the successful treatment of patients with both malignant and non-malignant diseases. As the field advances, so does the need for high-quality studies including randomized controlled trials, aimed at answering clinically important questions about optimizing care and outcomes of children undergoing alloHCT. In an effort to actively address emerging clinical questions, three main cooperative groups in the U.S. have joined forces to develop and implement multiple clinical trials for pediatric alloHCT patients. These groups include the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network, the Children's Oncology Group and the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium. Though the field of stem cell transplantation continues to advance, conducting clinical trials in the pediatric population is a unique challenge and as a result, optimal outcomes have yet to be reached in this population. Because of the limited number of pediatric transplant patients at each institution in the U.S., trials aimed at answering important clinical questions still struggle to accrue acceptable numbers of patients in an appropriate amount of time and thus gathering statistically useful data has posed a challenge for the field. In an effort to mitigate some of the challenges associated with obtaining statistically and clinically meaningful information about pediatric alloHCT, the implementation of new cooperative group trials is active and ongoing.
The Flexible Constitution

Chapter 1: Wittgenstein, Law and Originalism Part I: Interpreting the Constitution Chapter 2: Obeying Flexible Commands Chapter 3: Is There a Fixed Meaning? Chapter 4: Public Meaning v. Meaning as Use Chapter 5: The Flexible Constitution Chapter 6: Structuralism and Polysemy Chapter 7: Law as Connoisseur Judgment Part II: Understanding Originalism Chapter 8: The Philosophy of Framers' Intent Chapter 9: Why Framers' Intent is Flawed Chapter 10: The New Originalism Chapter 11: The Constitution as Old Society Chapter 12: Cultural Construction Chapter 13: What Originalism Really Is Appendix: The Philosophical Investigation
How capitalism was built : the transformation of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia

Introduction: a world transformed 1. Communism and its demise 2. Radical reform versus gradualism 3. Output: from slump to recovery and boom 4. Liberalization: the creation of a market economy 5. From hyperinflation to financial stability 6. Privatization: the establishment of private property rights 7. The social system 8. The politics of transition 9. From crime toward law 10. The importance of the European Union 11. The global financial crisis, 2007-12 Conclusions: a world transformed.
Effects of UV Radiation on Photosynthesis of Natural Populations of Phytoplankton

The effect of ultraviolet radiation on the gross primary productivity of natural populations of phytoplankton was studied via the oxygen light and dark bottle method. Levels of UV less than present day amounts reaching sea level had variable effects on the photosynthetic rate. It appeared that phytoplankton are able to utilize UV-B and/or UV-A in a beneficial way up to a threshold level. UV-B radiation less than the incident ambient level caused a decrease in productivity in phytoplankton taken from the upper 0.1 m.
Models for Precession Electron Diffraction

Precession Electron Diffraction has become an increasingly popular method of obtaining crystallographic data, and may well replace older methods such as selected area diffraction or microdiffraction. While a full model has to involve a dynamical calculation, some approximations give some indication how the results vary as a function of thickness and precession angle. This note reviews some of the basic models, their advantages and failures as well as some of the open issues.
Neopatrimonial impunity in post-war Liberia and the regional resonance

Neopatrimonial politics has become one of the key subjects amongst political scientists due to the ubiquity of cases that fit this phenomenon. In essence, the concept refers to the confusion observable in many developing countries across the globe between the public and private spheres or public office and the office holder in a given state. In its general sense and with reference to African politics the theory argues that the African governing elite use public bureaucratic institutions as a facade. In reality, political authority for the day-to-day running of the state lies primarily with a small oligarchy controlled by a ruling "strongman". This article uses Liberia as a case study to elucidate this concept. Other cases from Africa are cited to illustrate the points discussed with reference to Liberia. The conclusion is that President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has unwittingly joined other African leaders who use public office to consolidate their power.
High affinity juvenile hormone binding protein of the haemolymph of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella: Characteristics and relation to diapause

Abstract The juvenile hormone (JH) binding activity of the plasma of pre-diapausing and diapausing larvae of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella , was examined. The source of the high affinity JH binding protein was investigated, and the protein was purified and partially characterized. The total JH binding activity for JH-I and JH-III increased in the plasma of pre-diapausing larvae, reached a plateau at the beginning of diapause, and remained relatively high throughout diapause. Neither the total JH binding activity nor the activity of the high affinity JH binding protein appeared to be related to the JH titre present in the plasma. The fat body of pre-diapausing, early diapausing, and mid-diapausing larvae was found to release a high affinity JH binding protein when it was incubated in vitro in Grace's medium. The maintenance of the relatively high levels of high affinity JH binding protein in the plasma of diapausing larvae may, therefore, depend upon the continued synthesis and release of the protein from the fat body. The high affinity JH binding protein present in the plasma of diapausing larvae was purified using gel filtration, ion exchange chromatography, isoelectric focusing and electrophoresis. The purified protein was subjected to denaturing electrophoresis and found to consist of a single polypeptide chain with an apparent molecular weight of about 30,000, and to exhibit a dissociation constant of 4.6 × 10 −7 M at 4°C for JH-I.
More results on the complexity of knowledge base refinement: belief networks

The refinement of knowledge bases is an important activity in the expert system lifecycle. Belief networks have been proposed and studied as an alternative to rules in expert system knowledge bases. The problems of synthesis and refinement of belief networks arising from the development of a large belief-network-based knowledge-based system, are presented and formally analyzed. We prove that, for very simple Dempster-Shafer networks (trees), defining parameter values (synthesis) is NP-Complete. Additional results that are given without proof include the computational intractability of refining expert- estimated values (refinement), even when we settle for approximate values or demand agreement on only a certain percentage of cases. The potential impact of these results on the practice of expert system construction is discussed.
A proof of Hirschman Uncertainty invariance to the order of Rényi entropy for Picket Fence signals, and its relevance in a simplistic recognition experiment

In [1] we developed a new uncertainty measure which incorporates Renyi entropy instead of Shannon entropy. This new uncertainty measure was conjectured to be invariant to the Renyi order α > 0 for the case of the optimizer signals of Hirschman Uncertainty (Picket Fence functions whose lengths are a perfect square). In this paper, we prove this invariance, and test whether this invariance is predictive in the problem of a simple texture classification for digital images. In the preliminary results, we find that it certainly influences the recognizer performance. Specifically, we find that the recognition performance does not depend significantly on the Renyi parameter α. We hope that these results will be extended to other problems where Renyi entropy is used.
Safety and immunologic correlates of Melanoma GVAX, a GM-CSF secreting allogeneic melanoma cell vaccine administered in the adjuvant setting.

Limited adjuvant treatment options exist for patients with high-risk surgically resected melanoma. This first-in-human study investigated the safety, tolerability and immunologic correlates of Melanoma GVAX, a lethally irradiated granulocyte–macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-secreting allogeneic whole-cell melanoma vaccine, administered in the adjuvant setting. Patients with stage IIB-IV melanoma were enrolled following complete surgical resection. Melanoma GVAX was administered intradermally once every 28 days for four cycles, at 5E7 cells/cycle (n = 3), 2E8 cells/cycle (n = 9), or 2E8 cells/cycle preceded by cyclophosphamide 200 mg/m2 to deplete T regulatory cells (Tregs; n = 8). Blood was collected before each vaccination and at 4 and 6 months after treatment initiation for immunologic studies. Vaccine injection site biopsies and additional blood samples were obtained 2 days after the 1st and 4th vaccines. Among 20 treated patients, 18 completed 4 vaccinations. Minimal treatment-related toxicity was observed. One patient developed vitiligo and patches of white hair during the treatment and follow-up period. Vaccine site biopsies demonstrated complex inflammatory infiltrates, including significant increases in eosinophils and PD-1+ lymphocytes from cycle 1 to cycle 4 (P < 0.05). Serum GM-CSF concentrations increased significantly in a dose-dependent manner 48 h after vaccination (P = 0.0086), accompanied by increased numbers of activated circulating monocytes (P < 0.0001) and decreased percentages of myeloid-derived suppressor cells among monocytes (CD14+ , CD11b+ , HLA-DR low or negative; P = 0.002). Cyclophosphamide did not affect numbers of circulating Tregs. No significant changes in anti-melanoma immunity were observed in peripheral T cells by interferon-gamma ELIPSOT, or immunoglobulins by serum Western blotting. Melanoma GVAX was safe and tolerable in the adjuvant setting. Pharmacodynamic testing revealed complex vaccine site immune infiltrates and an immune-reactive profile in circulating monocytic cell subsets. These findings support the optimization of Melanoma GVAX with additional monocyte and dendritic cell activators, and the potential development of combinatorial treatment regimens with synergistic agents. Trial registration: NCT01435499
Painful stimuli evoke potentials recorded over the human anterior cingulate gyrus.

F. A. Lenz, M. Rios, A. Zirh, D. Chau, G. Krauss, and R. P. Lesser. Painful stimuli evoke potentials recorded over the human anterior cingulate gyrus. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 2231–2234, 1998. Clinical...
Central Integration of Peripheral Signals in Regulation of Energy Homeostasis

The growing epidemic of obesity, a disease state emerging from an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure (EE), has recently attracted the attention of many researchers, leading to efforts to investigate and characterize the mechanisms underlying energy homeostasis. As a result, there has been an explosion of research in the area and the discovery of an ever-increasing number of molecules, that play an active role in normal physiology and pathophysiology.
Evaluation of elastic properties in 2-D non-homogeneous solids

This paper is concerned with inverse evaluation of the material property in two-dimensional non-homogeneous elastic solids. It seeks to recover variable subsurface Lame's coefficients which are functions of depth. The method considers a temporal interval for which time dependent measurements are provided. It formulates an optimal estimation problem which seeks to minimize the error difference between the given data and the response from the system. The method leads to an iterative algorithm which, at every iteration, requires the solution to a two-point boundary value problem. Numerical results indicate that a close estimate of the unknown functions can be obtained based on the boundary measurements only.
Growth factor regulation of chondrocyte integrins: Differential effects of insulin-like growth factor 1 and transforming growth factor β on α1β1 integrin expression and chondrocyte adhesion to type VI collagen

OBJECTIVE The ability of growth factors to modulate integrin expression may be important with regard to processes involved in tissue repair and remodeling. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) on chondrocyte beta 1 integrin expression and integrin-mediated adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins. METHODS Chondrocytes obtained from normal bovine articular cartilage were cultured in the presence or absence of 10% fetal bovine serum, 100 pM IGF-1, or 100 pM TGF beta. Integrin expression and function were measured by protein blotting of immunoprecipitated integrins, Northern blot analysis, and cell adhesion assays. RESULTS Immunoprecipitation with an anti-beta 1 integrin antibody coprecipitated the alpha 1 integrin subunit and a band representing alpha 3 and alpha 5, as previously reported. Compared with serum-free cultures, the use of serum resulted in an average 10-fold increase in the alpha 1 band and a 12-fold increase in the alpha 3/alpha 5 band. IGF-1 increased alpha 1 and alpha 3/alpha 5 by an average of 3-fold and 4-fold, respectively. TGF beta also increased alpha 3/alpha 5 by > 5-fold but decreased alpha 1 to an average of 24% of that found in serum-free controls. Northern blot analysis revealed that TGF beta significantly increased alpha 5 integrin subunit RNA levels. IGF-1 did not have a significant effect on alpha 5 or alpha 1 integrin subunit RNA levels, suggesting that its effects on integrins are posttranscriptional. In cell adhesion assays, TGF beta treatment resulted in a 50% decrease in the adhesion of chondrocytes to type VI collagen, while adhesion to type II collagen and fibronectin was stimulated. IGF-1 stimulated adhesion to all 3 proteins. An alpha 1 integrin blocking antibody inhibited up to 75% of the adhesion of human chondrocytes to type VI collagen. CONCLUSION Both IGF-1 and TGF beta stimulate chondrocyte cell surface expression of the alpha 3/alpha 5 integrin subunit band and stimulate adhesion of chondrocytes to fibronectin and type II collagen. The 2 growth factors have opposite effects on expression of alpha 1 beta 1, with IGF-1 increasing and TGF beta decreasing cell surface levels of this integrin. TGF beta-treated cells also have decreased adhesion to type VI collagen. The opposing effects of IGF-1 and TGF beta on chondrocyte expression of alpha 1 beta 1 and on adhesion to type VI collagen suggest that alpha 1 beta 1 mediates chondrocyte adhesion to type VI collagen. This was confirmed by using an antibody to the alpha 1 integrin subunit to block adhesion of chondrocytes to type VI collagen.
Inferring collusion from pricing behavior

In a recent article in this journal, ["Inferring Collusion From Pricing Behavior; The American Tobacco Case Reexamined," Atlantic Economic Journal, September 1988] T.P. Potiousky, W.J. Smith, and M.B. Vaughan (hereafter PSV) correctly pointed out that with conditions of variable elasticity it is possible for a profit maximizing monopolist to raise price in the face of decreasing demand and falling marginal costs. This behavior, in the eyes of a 1946 Supreme Court decision on American Tobacco Co. [American Tobacco Co. vs. United States, 328 U. S. 781 (1946)] was evidence of collusion among the firms in the industry. What these authors failed to demonstrate, however, is that this is an unstable case and is likely to occur when the market structure is changing from competition conditions to collusion. Totally differentiating the well-known relationship (1 l/r/) P(q,a) = MC used by PSV and solving for the price effect we obtain the following,
Digitizing Electronics for the EMI Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers

A complete system of electronics for digitizing pulses from a large array of multi-wire proportional counters is described. The system is based on the method of coupling the chamber pulses onto delay lines developed by Perez-Mendez. All three wire planes of each chamber are digitized, giving positional information for each avalanche in the chamber on three coordinates, x, y and a redundant coordinate. The system will be used with an array of 30 ch-iambers each one meter square, which will serve as an External Muon Identifier (EMI) for the 15-foot diameter bubble chamber in the neutrino beam line at NAL. Up to 16 events can be digitized in a 60 us beam spill.
Performing the synthesis of a complex molecule on sequentially linked columns: toward the development of a "synthesis machine".

We describe the diastereoselective synthesis of a pharmaceutically active drug candidate via a column-based system. This methodology is complementary to classical solid-phase synthesis; individual columns are packed with resin-bound reagents and then linked in sequence and/or in parallel. In contrast to the traditional solid-phase approach, substrates are introduced in the mobile phase where they build up chemical complexity by percolating through the linked columns, ultimately eluting as the desired product.
High efficiency orange‐red phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes based on a Pt(II)‐pyridyltriazolate complex from a structure optimized for charge balance and reduced efficiency roll‐off

We report a high power efficiency (PE) of 44.7 ± 0.5 lm/W, high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 19.7 ± 0.1% at 500 Cd/m2, and efficiency roll-off of only 4% of the peak value at a useful brightness of 1000 Cd/m2 from orange-red emitting, organic light emitting diodes featuring 1,1-bis[(di-4-tolylamino)phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC) as the hole transport layer/electron blocking layer, an emissive layer consisting of 65% bis[3,5-bis(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazolato]platinum(II) (Pt(ptp)2) doped into 4,4′-bis(carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine (CBP), and 1,3,5-tris(phenyl-2-benzimidazolyl)-benzene (TPBI) as the electron transport layer (ETL). Based on a comparison of these structures with devices that did not incorporate an electron/exciton blocker and devices featuring N,N′-dicarbazolyl-3,5-benzene (mCP) as the electron/exciton blocking layer, we ascribe the high efficiency and low efficiency roll-off to better charge balance, and enhanced confinement of excitons and the recombination zone to the emissive layer.
Receptor changes in metachronous breast tumors--our experience of 10 years.

Abstract Introduction Patients with primary breast cancer (PBC) are at 2 to 6 times higher risk for developing synchronous and metachronous breast cancer (MBC). The pathology and behavior of MBC still remains unclear. Methods We reviewed the charts of 108 women with MBC at our hospital over the past 10 years. Profile patterns of the estrogen receptor (ER), the progesterone receptor (PR), and Her2/neu receptors were explored. Results Of 33 patients with ER + /PR + in the primary tumor, 23 (70%) retained the status in MBC. Forty-five (92%) of 49 patients with ER − /PR − in the primary tumor remained the same in MBC. Most Her2 − tumors (22/31, 71%) remained negative, but 50% (8/16) of Her2 + tumors became negative. Conclusions Most MBC retained the ER/PR expression patterns irrespective of the treatment for the primary tumor, thus suggesting a common origin. Because MBCs tend to be triple negative and thus more aggressive, early detection and close surveillance techniques must be devised.
Designing a Collaborative Filtering Recommender on the Single Chip Cloud Computer

Fast response requirements for big-data applications on cloud infrastructures continues to grow. At the same time, many cores on-chip have now become a reality. These developments are set to redefine infrastructure nodes of cloud data centers in the future. For this to happen, parallel programming runtimes need to be designed for many-cores on chip as the target architecture. In this paper, we show that the commonly used MapReduce programming paradigm can be adapted to run on Intel's experimental single chip cloud computer (SCC) with 48-cores on chip. We demonstrate this using a Collaborative Filtering (CF) recommender system as an application. This is a widely used technique for information filtering to predict user's preference towards an unknown item from their past ratings. These systems are typically deployed in distributed clusters and operate on large apriori datasets. We address scalability with data partitioning, combining and sorting algorithms, maximize data locality to minimize communication cost within the SCC cores. We demonstrate ~2x speedup, ~94% lower energy consumption for benchmark workloads as compared to a distributed cluster of single and multi-processor nodes.
Seven Years of Tracking Electronic Publishing: The ARL "Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters and Academic Discussion Lists".

The ARL Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters, and Academic Discussion Lists covers an important period in the development of Internet publishing. Since 1991, each of the seven annual editions of the ARL Directory has offered a snapshot of the state of Internet publishing at that time. ARL researchers examine the characteristics of an e‐journal as they search for and profile new titles. Trends in format, distribution, and content are explored by reviewing the kinds of e‐serials that make up each edition of the ARL Directory.
Why are complementary DNA strands symmetric

Motivation: Over sufficiently long windows, complementary strands of DNA tend to have the same base composition. A few reports have indicated that this first-order parity rule extends at higher orders to oligonucleotide composition, at least in some organisms or taxa. However, the scientific literature falls short of providing a comprehensive study of reverse-complement symmetry at multiple orders and across the kingdom of life. It also lacks a characterization of this symmetry and a convincing explanation or clarification of its origin. Results: We develop methods to measure and characterize symmetry at multiple orders, and analyze a wide set of genomes, encompassing single- and double-stranded RNA and DNA viruses, bacteria, archae, mitochondria, and eukaryota. We quantify symmetry at orders 1 to 9 for contiguous sequences and pools of coding and non-coding upstream regions, compare the observed symmetry levels to those predicted by simple statistical models, and factor out the effect of lower-order distributions. We establish the universality and variability range of first-order strand symmetry, as well as of its higher-order extensions, and demonstrate the existence of genuine high-order symmetric constraints. We show that ubiquitous reverse-complement symmetry does not result from a single cause, such as point mutation or recombination, but rather emerges from the combined effects of a wide spectrum of mechanisms operating at multiple orders and length scales.
Preexposure pointing frequency effects on adaptation to prismatic viewing

The effect of frequency of preexposure pointing was studied to delermine its effect on subsequent adaptation to a prismatic exposure. Results showed that when Ss pointed equally to each target in a preexposure pointing task, adaptation was found to be greatest for the target on S’s prismatically shifted visual field periphery. However, when Ss pointed more frequently in the preexposure condition to a more central targe:, adaptation was geatest for this target.
Regioirregular Propene Insertion in Polypropenes Synthesized with Unbridged Bis(2-aryl)indenyl Zirconium Dichloride Catalysts: Implications on Activity

Catalysts of the type bis(2-(3,5-R 2 C 6 H 3 )indenyl)zirconium dichloride/MAO (2, R = H; 3, R = CF 3 ) were investigated for regioregularity of monomer insertion in bulk propene polymerization and compared to the isospecific catalyst rac-(ethene)bis(indenyl)zirconium dichloride/MAO (1). The amount of regioirregular propene insertions were in the range of 0.1-0.5 mol % and followed the trend 2 < 3 < 1. Comparison of polymerizations in the presence and absence of hydrogen revealed a 4-10-fold increase in productivity for catalysts 2 and 3 in the presence of hydrogen but only a slight increase in productivity with 1. For catalysts 2 and 3, only 2,1-erythro internal regioerrors were observed, whereas 1 produced both 2,1-erythro and 2,1-threo misinsertions. Evidence for ethene insertion following a 2,1-regioerror was obtained by copolymerization of 13 C 2 H 4 with propene using catalyst 3. The correlation between number of 2,1-misinsertions and catalyst activity is discussed.