cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of nutrient loading and extreme rainfall events on coastal tallgrass prairies: invasion intensity, vegetation responses, and carbon and nitrogen distribution

Soil fertility and precipitation are major factors regulating transitions from grasslands to forests. Biotic regulation may influence the effects of these abiotic drivers. In this study, we examined the effects of extreme rainfall events, anthropogenic nutrient loading and insect herbivory on the ability of Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum) to invade coastal prairie to determine how these factors may influence woody invasion of a grassland. We manipulated soil fertility (NPK addition) and simulated variation in frequency of extreme rainfall events in a three growing season, full factorial field experiment. Adding water to or pumping water out of plots simulated increased and decreased rainfall frequencies. We added Sapium seeds and seedlings to each plot and manipulated insect herbivory on transplanted Sapium seedlings with insecticide. We measured soil moisture, Sapium performance, vegetation mass, and carbon and nitrogen in vegetation and soils (0‐10cm deep, 10‐20cm deep). Fertilization increased Sapium invasion intensity by increasing seedling survival, height growth and biomass. Insect damage was low and insect suppression had little effect in all conditions. Recruitment of Sapium from seed was very low and independent of treatments. Vegetation mass was increased by fertilization in both rainfall treatments but not in the ambient moisture treatment. The amount of carbon and nitrogen in plants was increased by fertilization, especially in modified moisture plots. Soil carbon and nitrogen were independent of all treatments. These results suggest that coastal tallgrass prairies are more likely to be impacted by nutrient loading, in terms of invasion severity and nutrient cycling, than by changes in the frequency of extreme rainfall events.
Japanese Americans, pluralism, and the model minority myth

To provide a better understanding of Japanese Americans, a historical and contemporary overview of three generations of Japanese Americans is presented. This is followed by a recommendation for a more general approach to pluralistic education. It is hoped that such information will be useful to educators in their planning and implementation of educational strategies which will assist students of all ethnic backgrounds to live harmonious and productive lives.
Realism in the Desert and in the Jungle: Reply to French, Ghins, and Psillos

A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism: Knowing the Unobservable has two primary aims. The first is to extract the most promising refinements of the idea of scientific realism to emerge in recent decades and assemble them into a maximally defensible realist position, semirealism. The second is to demonstrate that, contra antirealist scepticism to the contrary, key concepts typically invoked by realists in expounding their views can be given a coherent and unified explication. These concepts include notions of causation, laws of nature, scientific kinds, and approximate truth, and consequently, the demonstration undertaken includes a metaphysical study of ideas more commonly employed unreflectively in epistemological assessments of the sciences. In this paper, I answer searching critiques of this project by Steven French, Michel Ghins, and Stathis Psillos.
Detection and analysis of the cyanobacterial peptide hepatotoxins microcystin and nodularin using SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOFMS) was used to develop a new and useful method for determination and identification of the cyanobacterial (blue-green algae) toxins: microcystin and nodularin. The technique, combining chromatography and MS, enables microcystin/nodularin capture, purification, analysis, and processing from complex biological mixtures directly onto a hydrophobic chip. Factors affecting ion intensities, including matrix concentration and laser intensity, were investigated to optimize sensitivity of the method. Microcystins and nodularin were analyzed for femtomolar sensitivity (about 2.5 pg microcystin-LR in 2 ml water). Samples of blood sera and liver tissue were spiked with microcystin-LR and analyzed. The detection limit was 1 ng in 2 ml blood sera solution. Reactions of microcystins by compounds containing mercaptan groups, such as dithiothreitol, aminoethanethiol and protein phosphatase 1, were examined on the chip by mass spectrometry. Formation of the microcystin‐dithiothreitol conjugate was used to confirm the target compounds. The MS/MS data obtained showed the presence of the microcystin conjugate. The reaction position of the toxin with target compound was confirmed by a series of MS/MS fragment ions. The protein profile of microcystins reacting with protein phosphatase 1 was also obtained from the SELDI-TOF mass spectra. q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A Combined ONIOM Quantum Chemical−Molecular Dynamics Study of Zinc−Uracil Bond Breaking in Yeast Cytosine Deaminase

A QM/MM method that combines ONIOM quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics is developed and applied to a step in the deamination of cytosine to uracil in yeast cytosine deaminase (yCD). A two-layer ONIOM calculation is used for the reaction complex, with an inner part treated at a high level for the chemical reaction (bond breaking) and a middle part treated at a lower level for relevant protein residues that are frozen in the quantum optimization. An outer layer (protein and solvent) is treated using MD. Configurations for the entire system are generated using MD and optimized with ONIOM. The method permits the use of high-level quantum calculations along with sufficient configurational sampling to approximate the potential of mean force for certain bond-breaking reactions. A previously proposed reaction mechanism for deamination (Sklenak, S.; Yao, L. S.; Cukier, R. I.; Yan, H. G. J. Am. Chem. Soc.2004, 126, 14879) requires breaking the bond between a catalytic zinc and the O4 of uracil in order to permit product release. Using an ONIOM approach, direct bond cleavage was found to be energetically unfavorable. In the work presented here, the combined ONIOM MD method is used to show that the barrier for bond cleavage is small, 3 kcal/mol, and, consequently, should not be the rate-limiting step in the reaction.
Databasing molecular neuroimaging studies

Positron emission tomography analysis in molecular neuroimaging can either be “voxel-based” or “region-based”. Voxel-based studies are usually reported with reference to the Talairach stereotaxic system and appear with tables listing “hot spot” foci indicating the centers of areas with significant difference between two groups of scans. The voxel-based approach is widely used in the cognitive functional neuroimaging literature. Databasing such studies has been advanced with the BrainMap database (Research Imaging Center, San Antonio, TX). The newest version of this database contains data from over 800 studies with an interface allowing for preprogrammed access to the data. To gain a more flexible access to such studies we have constructed the Brede database which presently records data from 185 studies. Apart from cognitive studies the Brede database also contains data from molecular neuroimaging studies. The experiments in the Brede database are associated with items in an taxonomy. The taxonomy contains items for, e.g., cognitive functions and neuroreceptors. Some of the items are linked with corresponding MeSH terms, items from SenseLab and other biomedical databases. The items are organized in a directed acyclic graph with the most general concepts (e.g., “neuroreceptor”) at the roots of the graph, while more specialized concepts (e.g., the 5-HT2A receptor) are at the leafs. The representation of the hot spots centers in standardized coordinate space together with the taxonomy enables the statistical modeling of the distribution of the Talairach coordinates conditioned on, e.g., function and neuroreceptor type. So far we have implemented a line of multivariate analysis methods as well as volume-based similarity metrics that work on these distributions. Relatively few molecular imaging studies are analyzed and reported with respect to the voxelbased Talairach system, and many studies are region-based where specific variables, such as the “binding potential”, are reported for a series of brain regions. The regions for which variables are reported will typically vary between studies. To handle this variability we have constructed a second taxonomy for brain regions. When results from region-based studies are entered they are annotated with items from this taxonomy. Specially tailored information retrieval and multivariate analysis method such as missing data hierarchical K-means clustering allow us perform data mining on this data set. Based on their differential response in brain regions studies can be clustered, or the brain regions can be clustered based on the their different load over studies. The published database is available as XML files in the Brain Neuroinformatics Toolbox and on the Internet on the address http://hendrix.imm.dtu.dk/services/jerne/brede/. The Internet edition also features results from automated web-page generation and search facilities.
Identification of a novel dexamethasone-sensitive RNA-destabilizing region on rat monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 mRNA.

Glucocorticoids are potent anti-inflammatory agents widely used in the treatment of human disease. We have previously shown that the inflammatory cytokine monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) is regulated posttranscriptionally by glucocorticoids in arterial smooth muscle cells (SMC). To elucidate the mechanism mediating this effect, in vitro-transcribed radiolabeled MCP-1 mRNA was incubated with cytoplasmic extracts from SMC and analyzed by gel electrophoresis. Extracts from SMC treated with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) did not degrade the transcripts for up to 3 h. In contrast, extracts from cells treated with 1 μM dexamethasone (Dex) alone or in combination with PDGF degraded the probe with a half-life of ≈15 min. Dex had maximal effect at concentrations above 0.01 μM and was effective on both rat and human MCP-1 transcripts. By deletion analysis, the Dex-sensitive region of the MCP-1 mRNA was localized to the initial 224 nucleotides (nt) at the 5′ end and did not involve an AU-rich sequence in the 3′ untranslated end. The 224-nt region conferred Dex sensitivity to heterologous mRNA. These studies provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the effect of glucocorticoids on gene expression.
Frequency reuse underwater: capacity of an acoustic cellular network

Spatial frequency reuse is considered for large area coverage in bandwidth-limited underwater acoustic networks. The acoustic propagation laws -- namely, the dependence of the path loss on both the distance and the frequency -- lead to a set of constraints that the frequency reuse number N and the cell radius R must satisfy in order to constitute a valid solution for the network topology. For a required signal-to-interference ratio SIR0, and per-user bandwidth W0, the region of admissible solutions (R,N) depends on the desired user density ρ and the available bandwidth B. User capacity is defined as the maximal density ρmax that can be supported within a given bandwidth, and it is derived analytically. Numerical results illustrate the fact that capacity-achieving architectures are characterized by N that grows with ρmax. In a practical system, the bandwidth may be traded off for a smaller reuse number. The capacity is also shown to increase as the operational bandwidth is moved to higher frequencies. Although higher frequencies demand greater transmission power to span the same distance, they also imply a reduction in the cell size, which in turn provides an overall reduction in the transmission power. While complex relationships are involved in system optimization, the analysis presented offers a relatively simple tool for the design of autonomous underwater systems based on cellular network architectures.
Age at menarche, at first intercourse, and at first pregnancy.

Data from an urban sample of American women of reproductive ages demonstrate that age at menarche is correlated with age at first intercourse, that age at first intercourse is correlated with age at first pregnancy, and that age at menarche is therefore correlated with age at first pregnancy. This applies to both blacks and whites when examined for the early years of the reproductive cycle. Girls with early menarche, compared to those with late menarche, are more than twice as likely to have had intercourse by age 16, and almost twice as likely to have given birth or had a pregnancy terminated by age 18. It is therefore useful to think of the timing of meanarche as an indicator of the probability of early intercourse and early childbearing.
Ubiquitous drums: a tangible, wearable musical interface

Drummers and non-drummers alike can often be seen making percussive gestures on their chests, knees and feet. Ubiquitous Drums enhances this experience by providing musical feedback for these and other gestures. This paper describes the implementation and evolution of this tangible, wearable musical instrument.
Preconditioning Stem Cells for Cardiovascular Disease An Important Step Forward

See related article, pages 545–555 The promise of stem cell therapies to regenerate new myocardium and/or to enhance intrinsic repair processes has generated enthusiasm in the scientific and clinical communities, as well as among the public and its state and national representatives. This enthusiasm is based primarily on the limited inherent cardiac regeneration capability, the increased worldwide incidence of cardiovascular disease because of the aging of the population in the developed world and adverse consequences of lifestyle changes associated with industrialization and urbanization in developing countries, the fact that left ventricular dysfunction is the final common pathway for most forms of cardiovascular disease, and the fact that despite advances in medical and device therapies, mortality, repeated hospitalization rates, and quality of life limitations in patients with left ventricular dysfunction remain at unacceptable levels. The cell type studied most extensively in the clinical setting of chronic left ventricular dysfunction is the skeletal myoblast (SkM). Advantages of this approach include demonstrated improved cardiac performance in animal models and relatively easy accessibility to large numbers of autologous stem cells in patient populations. However, the largest and most recent placebo-controlled, randomized trial (Myoblast Autologous Grafting in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy (MAGIC) Trial)1 did not demonstrate sustained efficacy as defined by the primary end point, global ejection fraction, although secondary end points of changes in left ventricular volumes were significantly improved in the high-dose (800 million cells) group. Efficacy for any cell product is certainly dependent on delivery to the intended region, an issue largely addressed with direct injection protocols, and then successful retention at that site. Retention is one of the most significant identified issues limiting efficacy in most studied models, with some estimating a greater than 90% cell loss2 because of necrosis or apoptosis within 24 hours of …
Segmentation of edge preserving gradient vector flow: an approach toward automatically initializing and splitting of snakes

Active contours or snakes have been extensively utilized in handling image segmentation and classification problems. In traditional active contour models, snake initialization is performed manually by users, and topological changes, such as splitting of the snake, can not be automatically handled. In this paper, we introduce a new method to solve the snake initialization and splitting problem, based on an area segmentation approach: the external force field is segmented first, and then the snake initialization and splitting can be automatically performed by using the segmented external force field. Such initialization and splitting produces multiple snakes, each of which is within the capture range associated to an object and evolved to the object boundary. The external force used in this paper is a gradient vector flow with an edge-preserving property (EPGVF), which can prevent the snakes from passing over weak boundaries. To segment the external force field, we represent it with a graph, and a graph-theory approach can be taken to determine the membership of each pixel. Experimental results establish the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Improvements to a Flow Sensor for Liquid Bismuth-Fed Hall Thrusters

Recently, there has been significant interest in using bismuth metal as a propellant in Hall Thrusters [1, 2]. Bismuth offers some considerable cost, weight, and space savings over the traditional propellant--xenon. Quantifying the performance of liquid metal-fed Hall thrusters requires a very precise measure of the low propellant flow rates [1, 2]. The low flow rates (~10 mg/sec) and the temperature at which free flowing liquid bismuth exists (above 300 C) preclude the use of off-the-shelf flow sensing equipment [3]. Therefore a new type of sensor is required. The hotspot bismuth flow sensor, described in Refs. [1-5] is designed to perform a flow rate measurement by measuring the velocity at which a thermal feature moves through a flow chamber. The mass flow rate can be determined from the time of flight of the thermal peak, [4, 5]. Previous research and testing has been concerned mainly with the generation of the thermal peak and it's subsequent detection. In this paper, we present design improvements to the sensor concept; and the results of testing conducted to verify the functionality of these improvements. A ceramic material is required for the sensor body (see Fig. 1), which must allow for active heating of the bismuth flow channel to keep the propellant in a liquid state. The material must be compatible with bismuth and must be bonded to conductive elements to allow for conduction of current into the liquid metal and measurement of the temperature in the flow. The new sensor requires fabrication techniques that will allow for a very small diameter flow chamber, which is required to produce useful measurements. Testing of various materials has revealed several that are potentially compatible with liquid bismuth. Of primary concern in the fabrication and testing of a robust, working prototype, is the compatibility of the selected materials with one another. Specifically, the thermal expansion rates of the materials relative to the ceramic body cannot expand so much as to cause cracks in the body or cause the bond between parts to delaminate. Those parts that will carry the current pulse must be electrically conductive while the sensor body must be an electrical insulator. Generally, the material choices as well as the sensor design must aid to preserve the integrity of the thermal feature to obtain accurate measurements. The present aim is to also incorporate, into the sensor body, an active heating arrangement based on ceramic heater technology similar to that used in semiconductor manufacturing.
Arterial Dissections Complicating Cerebral Angiography and Cerebrovascular Interventions

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Iatrogenic dissections are an uncommon complication of cerebral angiography. We retrospectively reviewed 12 cases of arterial dissections complicating cerebral angiography and cerebrovascular interventions to evaluate the clinical course of these dissections. METHODS: Cases from a large tertiary center performing a large number of neurovascular procedures were collected retrospectively. The patients’ medical records and imaging studies were reviewed, with particular attention given to the cause of the dissection, the development of ischemic events resulting from the dissection, and the treatment used. RESULTS: Each of nine dissections affected a vertebral artery, each of two affected an internal carotid artery, and one affected a common carotid artery. The prevalence of iatrogenic dissections was 0.4%. Seven of the dissections were noted at the time of contrast material injection for the filming of cerebral angiograms. The other five dissections occurred during catheter or wire manipulations for interventional neuroradiologic procedures. Five of the patients in our series were treated with IV administered heparin for 24 to 48 hours. The other seven patients had recently suffered acute intracranial hemorrhage or undergone neurosurgery and could not undergo anticoagulant therapy. None of the patients developed symptoms of ischemia, but one was later found to have an asymptomatic infarct in the territory supplied by the dissected artery. CONCLUSION: Arterial dissections are an uncommon complication of cerebral angiography and cerebrovascular interventions and usually have a benign clinical course. Because cerebral angiography involves the placement of catheters and guidewires into the carotid and vertebral arteries, there is an inherent risk of arterial dissection. The carotid and vertebral arteries provide blood to the brain, and injury to them poses a risk of ischemic injury to the brain. Arterial dissections can cause ischemic symptoms by limiting flow secondary to severe stenosis or occlusion or by acting as a source of thromboembolism. We report a retrospective review of patients suffering iatrogenic carotid and vertebral artery dissections during cerebral angiography and cerebrovascular interventions. We evaluated the specific circumstances surrounding the occurrence of each dissection and the subsequent clinical course in each case.
Associations Between Anomalies of Temperature and Precipitation in the United States and Western Northern Hemisphere 700 mb Height Profiles.

Abstract The relationship between anomalous seasonal surface temperature and precipitation in the contiguous United States and concomitant fluctuations of western Northern Hemisphere 700 mb height as a function of latitude are examined. Findings are consistent with other studies dealing with the spatial patterns of midtropospheric teleconnections and their surface manifestations. A strong inverse relationship between temperature in the eastern United States and heights in the western Northern Hemisphere polar regions is present during winter and spring, especially in winter. In summer the association is positive and is most evident in the southern tier of states. Fewer significant correlations are found between seasonal precipitation and midtropospheric height, with the strongest ones occurring in winter and summer. It is shown that in winter, during the period 1948–81. the frequency of below-average 700 mb heights has increased in the temperate latitudes of the western Northern Hemisphere. At the same ti...
The gastrointestinal immune system: Implications for the surgical patient

There are immunologic benefits gained when nutrients are delivered via the gut that do not occur when nutrients are delivered parenterally. Clinically, these differences are noted when the 2 routes are studied in appropriate patient populations who are at risk of nutrition-related complications. The critical difference appears to be the lack of enteral stimulation and gut starvation upon the GI immune system during PN. Immunological changes are evident throughout the multiple layers of mucosal defenses employed to protect the host from intestinal microorganisms and environmental toxins. The changes to these layers range from mucosal atrophy and increased epithelial permeability to the loss of physical and chemical secretions that protect the epithelial surface and modulate the intestinal microbiome community. Breakdown in these intestinal layers of defense renders the host susceptible to subsequent infectious and inflammatory complications.
Vegetable and Fruit Consumption in Relation to Prostate Cancer Risk in Hawaii: A Reevaluation of the Effect of Dietary Beta-Carotene

This is a further analysis of a case-control study of 452 prostate cancer cases and 899 population controls that was conducted in 1970-1983 among the multiethnic population of Hawaii. Because a previous analysis had shown a positive association with intake of beta-carotene, a nutrient presently being tested for chemoprevention, the authors reexamined the data for consistency among the main food sources of beta-carotene. Vegetables and fruits containing other phytochemicals suspected to be cancer inhibitors were also examined. With the exception of papaya, which was positively associated with risk among men aged 70 years and older, consumption of other yellow-orange fruits and vegetables, tomatoes, dark green vegetables, and cruciferous vegetables was not associated with prostate cancer risk. These results suggest that: 1) the positive association with beta-carotene intake among older men that the authors previously reported was essentially due to the greater papaya consumption of cases compared with controls; and 2) intake of beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, indoles, phenols, or other phytochemicals is not associated with prostate cancer risk.
Dual-Function Radar-Communications: Information Embedding Using Sidelobe Control and Waveform Diversity

We develop a new technique for a dual-function system with joint radar and communication platforms. Sidelobe control of the transmit beamforming in tandem with waveform diversity enables communication links using the same pulse radar spectrum. Multiple simultaneously transmitted orthogonal waveforms are used for embedding a sequence of LB bits during each radar pulse. Two weight vectors are designed to achieve two transmit spatial power distribution patterns, which have the same main radar beam, but differ in sidelobe levels towards the intended communication receivers. The receiver interpretation of the bit is based on its radiated beam. The proposed technique allows information delivery to single or multiple communication directions outside the mainlobe of the radar. It is shown that the communication process is inherently secure against intercept from directions other than the pre-assigned communication directions. The employed waveform diversity scheme supports a multiple-input multiple-output radar operation mode. The performance of the proposed technique is investigated in terms of the bit error rate.
Racialized political shock: Arab American racial formation and the impact of political events

ABSTRACTThis article explores significant factors influencing the process of Arab American racial formation. I bring into conversation theories of racial formation and ‘political shock’ in social movement scholarship to develop the notion of ‘racialized political shock’ as an important factor in how racial and ethnic groups mobilize and organize. Many moments of political shock are highly racialized and have the potential to reorder the racial and ethnic landscape in ways that can open opportunities or introduce constraints to mobilizations around racial formation. Drawing on existing studies of Arab Americans, this paper highlights how Arab American racial formation has been galvanized during moments of racialized political shock. In the Arab American case, these moments have led to a call for recognition outside the category of white. I conclude by outlining ways forward in the study of Arab Americans, who have been overlooked in studies of race and ethnicity in the US.
A Multicore Database is not a Distributed System.

Database concurrency control is evolving to parallelize well on machines with many cores. Some researchers advocate viewing a multicore machine as a shared-nothing distributed system, where data is exclusively partitioned between cores [8]. This approach breaks down for changing workloads or workloads that do not partition well. In the meantime, other systems have shown that concurrency control need not be too expensive. We advocate scheduling transactions according to workload characteristics in order to address the problems that arise with true data contention. In a shared-nothing main-memory database, transactions use a single-threaded execution model [4]. This technique eliminates the need for synchronization protocols like locking or validating for all transactions which only touch data on a single partition. Many systems use this approach on multicore machines, with a partition per core [6–8]. This technique is effective when a workload partitions perfectly, potentially providing 30% gains over a database which uses concurrency control [10]. Unfortunately, this strategy suffers from many serious drawbacks with more general workloads: Load imbalances. If a single core becomes overloaded, overall throughput suffers. Solutions have been suggested that re-partition data on the fly, but this can be expensive if it must happen often. Data like popular stocks, news articles, and frequently used search terms are constantly changing with time. The monitoring and data movement associated with workloads that change frequently can be very costly. Badly partitioning workloads. Many important workloads on the Web do not partition well. Facebook and Twitter store data based on a two-way follows relationship, and Google’s ad serving framework requires keeping track of ad campaigns by customer and by keyword, which is also a many-to-many relationship. These types of applications will have a significant number of multipartition transactions given any partitioning, requiring a protocol like two-phase commit or timestamp ordering [1, 9]. Two-phase commit is expensive due to the required rounds of communication and stalls on cores. Timestamp ordering can cause stalls when a transaction has to wait for a slower one assigned earlier in the timestamp ordering. Even in workloads that mostly partition, the cost of executing multi-partition transactions can be so high that it overwhelms the cost of executing single partition transactions [2]. A soft partitioning approach using shared memory provides more flexibility. Instead of exclusive access to partitions, each core has “preferred” data partitions, and uses concurrency control. Transactions on a single soft partition are mostly sent to the same core, reducing the potential for conflicts. However, any core is able to correctly handle any transaction since all use concurrency control. Sys-
Interposition of a modified aortic homograft conduit as main pulmonary trunk in anatomic correction of transposition of the great arteries. Report of two cases and technical considerations.

Anatomic correction of transposition of the great arteries and ventricular septal defect has been performed successfully in two patients. The technique employed differed in several aspects from the so-called Jatene procedure: (1) Both great arteries were transected at low level; (2) the switch of the coronary arteries was carried out after transection of both great arteries; (3) a modified aortic homograft conduit was used to bridge the gap between the proximal aortic root and the distal main pulmonary artery; (4) the “new” main pulmonary arterial trunk was positioned on the right side of the ascending aorta; and (5) the ascending aorta was enlarged in order to match the dilated proximal pulmonary stump. The advantages of these modifications over other techniques reported in the literature are discussed.
Intercostal nerve cryoablation versus thoracic epidural catheters for postoperative analgesia following pectus excavatum repair: Preliminary outcomes in twenty-six cryoablation patients

Abstract Background Multimodal pain management strategies are used for analgesia following pectus excavatum repair. However, the optimal regimen has not been identified. We describe our early experience with intercostal cryoablation for pain management in children undergoing the Nuss procedure and compare early cryoablation outcomes to our prior outcomes using thoracic epidural analgesia. Methods A multi-institutional, retrospective review of fifty-two patients undergoing Nuss bar placement with either intercostal cryoablation ( n =26) or thoracic epidural analgesia ( n =26) from March 2013 to January 2016 was conducted. The primary outcome was hospital length of stay. Secondary outcomes included telemetry unit monitoring time, total intravenous narcotic use, duration of intravenous narcotic use, and postoperative complications. Results Patients who underwent intercostal cryoablation had a significant reduction in the mean hospital length of stay, time in a monitored telemetry bed, total use of intravenous narcotics, and the duration of intravenous narcotic administration when compared to thoracic epidural patients. Cryoablation patients had a slightly higher rate of postoperative complications. Conclusion Intercostal cryoablation is a promising technique for postoperative pain management in children undergoing repair of pectus excavatum. This therapy results in reduced time to hospital discharge, decreased intravenous narcotic utilization, and has eliminated epidurals from our practice. Level of evidence Retrospective study – level III.
Supply Chain Information Signaling and Capital Market

Empirical and anecdotal evidence shows that public firms may take into account capital market reaction when making their operational decisions. The conventional operations literature has mainly focused on maximizing firms profits. However, when investors do not have complete information, their valuation may deviate from the firms true profitability. This chapter discusses how the presence of asymmetric information and the managers market value interest may influence their operational decisions. It is shown that operational distortions may arise in equilibrium that can hurt the firms true performance. Then, a supply chain mechanism is presented that can effectively signal the internal information to the investors and alleviate the market friction. The chapter also discusses several related studies that enrich the literature in the operations and finance interface.
Stability, Control, and Constraint Enforcement of Piston Motion in a Hydraulic Free-Piston Engine

A free-piston engine (FPE) requires stabilizing feedback control to manage piston motion and ensure safe operation. A high-fidelity model, which simulates the FPE behavior by combining dynamic, thermodynamic, and hydraulic submodels, is exploited as an engine surrogate for control development. A control-oriented model implicitly describes the FPE piston turnaround position using energy balance principles for an idealized Otto cycle. Local eigenvalues of the control-oriented model suggest that the FPE system is open-loop unstable. The control system relies on dynamic inversion and state feedback to stabilize the plant and track a target piston turnaround position. A robust reference governor is introduced to manage load changes, such that the piston position does not violate constraints, even in the presence of parameter uncertainty. In high-fidelity simulations, the reference governor constrains piston turnaround position to ±0.5 mm of the target during a load change.
Intermediate Phases in Binary Systems of Certain Transition Elements

Thirty binary systems of vanadium and chromium group transition elements with second and third long period transition elements were explored in regard to the intermediate phases formed. It was found that the phases predominating in these systems are o-, A3B type with ordered β-tungsten or CS structure, close-packed-hexagonal with small unit cell dimensions and, finally, phases isomorphous with a-manganese.
Effectiveness of differing levels of support for family meals on obesity prevention among head start preschoolers: the simply dinner study

Despite slight decreases in obesity prevalence in children, nearly 25% of preschool-aged children are overweight or obese. Most interventions focused on promoting family meals as an obesity-prevention strategy target meal planning skills, knowledge and modeling of healthy eating without addressing the practical resources that enable implementation of family meals. There is a striking lack of evidence about what level of resources low-income parents need to implement family meals. This study will identify resources most effective in promoting family meals and, subsequently, test associations among the frequency of family meals, dietary quality and children’s adiposity indices among children enrolled in Head Start. The Multiphase Optimization Strategy, employed in this study, is a cutting-edge approach to maximizing resources in behavioral interventions by identifying the most effective intervention components. We are currently testing the main, additive and interactive effects of 6 intervention components, thought to support family meals, on family meal frequency and dietary quality (Primary Outcomes) as compared to Usual Head Start Exposure in a Screening Phase (N = 512 low-income families). Components yielding the most robust effects will be bundled and evaluated in a two-group randomized controlled trial (intervention and Usual Head Start Exposure) in the Confirming Phase (N = 250), testing the effects of the bundled intervention on children’s adiposity indices (Primary Outcomes; body mass index and skinfolds). The current intervention components include: (1) home delivery of pre-made healthy family meals; (2) home delivery of healthy meal ingredients; (3) community kitchens in which parents make healthy meals to cook at home; (4) healthy eating classes; (5) cooking demonstrations; and (6) cookware/flatware delivery. Secondary outcomes include cooking self-efficacy and family mealtime barriers. Moderators of the intervention include family functioning and food security. Process evaluation data includes fidelity, attendance/use of supports, and satisfaction. Results will advance fundamental science and translational research by generating new knowledge of effective intervention components more rapidly and efficiently than the standard randomized controlled trial approach evaluating a bundled intervention alone. Study results will have implications for funding decisions within public programs to implement and disseminate effective interventions to prevent obesity in children. Clincaltrials.gov Identifier NCT02487251 ; Registered June 26, 2015.
A Randomized Comparison of Induction Therapy for Untreated Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in Patients < 60 Years Using P-Glycoprotein (Pgp) Modulation with Valspodar (PSC833): Preliminary Results of Cancer and Leukemia Group B Study 19808.

In order to assess whether Pgp modulation with PSC833 improves disease-free (DFS) and overall (OS) survival in untreated patients (pts) with AML 2 by CIV daily for 7 days. In ADE, D 90 mg/m 2 and E 100 mg/m 2 were each given daily by short IV infusion on days 1–3; the corresponding doses in ADEP were D 40 mg/m 2 and E 40 mg/m 2 . PSC833 10 mg/m 2 was given by CIV over 72 hrs after a loading dose of 2.8 mg/kg IV over 2 hrs. These doses were based on findings from parallel phase I trials that showed comparable efficacy and toxicity for the 2 regimens (JCO2004; 22:4290). Pts in complete remission (CR) received consolidation therapy according to cytogenetic risk (ASH2001, 688a) and were then randomized to a phase 3 immunotherapy sequence comparing interleukin-2 with observation. The Pgp modulation portion of the trial ended when PSC833 became unavailable after 302 of a planned 600 pts had been randomized. Prior myelodysplasia or therapy-related AML were exclusion criteria. The median age was 45 years; the arms were comparable with respect to cytogenetic risk groups (Core-Binding Factor (CBF) leukemia vs. others). Response by intent-to-treat on the part of 296 evaluable pts and toxicity data are tabulated below. The median follow-up is 2.2 years. None of the differences in CR rate, OS, or DFS are statistically significant. The high dose daunorubicin regimen was given safely, without excess induction mortality or cardiotoxicity. Hepatotoxicity due to ADEP consisted of generally reversible hyperbilirubinemia. PSC833 did not cause significant neurotoxicity. Compared with the induction regimen used in the previous group study in this pt population in which 474 pts received D 45 mg/m 2 x 3 days and A 200 mg/m 2 x 7 days without E or PSC833, (CALGB 9222, Blood2005; 105:3420), the CR rates in this study were higher (78% vs 72%), the number of pts achieving CR with 1 induction higher (89% vs. 77%), and the induction mortality comparable (7% vs 9%). These preliminary findings suggest that similar outcomes occur following an induction regimen using 2.25-fold higher D and 2.5-fold higher E doses (ADE) relative to a regimen employing a Pgp modulator (ADEP). PSC833 is known to delay the hepatic clearance of D and E. These data cannot distinguish between the possibilities that PSC833 augments the anti-leukemia activity of the lower dose ADE regimen or whether there is, in fact, no clinically meaningful dose-response relationship with D and E within the evaluated dose ranges. The findings of this trial to date suggest that Pgp-mediated drug efflux may not be the major or sole mechanism of drug resistance in AML or that PSC833 is an inadequate inhibitor of Pgp activity or both.
Evolution of internal strain in austenite phase during thermally induced martensitic phase transformation in NiTi shape memory alloys

Abstract New insight into the temperature dependent evolution of internal strain in the austenite phase during the martensitic phase transformation in NiTi shape memory alloys is provided via classical molecular dynamics simulations that employ well-established interatomic potentials for NiTi. It is shown, for the first time, that the developed strain tensor in the austenite phase is tetragonal in nature, with exponential temperature-dependence. Equally importantly, it is found that the developed internal strain (parallel to the habit plane) in the austenite varies linearly with the evolving martensite phase fraction. Interestingly, the Richard’s equation is found to describe the temperature dependence of the martensite phase fraction as well as the internal strain components parallel to the habit plane in the austenite phase. An analysis of the temperature dependent phonon dispersion of strained austenite revealed the competition between phonon softening of the TA2 branch and internal strain that leads to stabilization of the austenite phase in the two phase regime.
Risk aversion and risk seeking in multicriteria forest management: a Markov decision process approach

Markov decision process models were extended to reflect some consequences of the risk attitude of forestry decision makers. One approach consisted of maximizing the expected value of a criterion subject to an upper bound on the variance or, symmetrically, minimizing the variance subject to a lower bound on the expected value. The other method used the certainty equivalent criterion, a weighted average of the expected value and variance. The two approaches were applied to data for mixed softwood–hardwood forests in the southern United States with multiple financial and ecological criteria. Compared with risk neutrality or risk seeking, financial risk aversion reduced expected annual financial returns and production and led to shorter cutting cycles that lowered the expected diversity of tree species and size, stand basal area, stored CO2e, and old-growth area.
Private avowal, public front: reading Williams’ Kora in Hell

ABSTRACTKora in Hell: Improvisations is one of Williams Carlos Williams’ oddest texts, not only because it fits uneasily among his other works but also because it is an insistently private book that Williams took care to circulate publicly. In this essay, I read Kora in Hell’s public performance of privacy as one that invites – indeed requires – an equally and oddly ‘personal’ performance by readers and critics. In the improvisations, I argue, Williams was articulating a poetics of personality at the same moment T.S. Eliot was formulating his influential poetics of impersonality, and I find previously unnoticed points of comparison – and ultimately, contrast – between the two writers. Williams’ poetics of personality also allows us to revisit John Stuart Mill’s famous thoughts on lyric poetry’s privacy and to complicate Michael Warner’s and Virginia Jackson’s recent theorisations of lyric reading and print culture. In the midst of the modernist moment that these theorists might see as the consolidation of...
Abstract 3340: Identification of CARM1/PRMT4 as a novel therapeutic target for AML

Chromatin modifying enzymes, and specifically the protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) have emerged as important targets in cancer. PRMT4, also known as CARM1, is overexpressed in a number of cancers, including breast, prostate, pancreatic, and lung cancer. Our lab reported the overexpression of PRMT4 in the context of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), showing that more than 70% of cytogenetically normal AML patients have up-regulation of PRMT4. Here, we investigated the role of PRMT4 in normal hematopoiesis and leukemia development. In order to study the role of PRMT4 in normal hematopoiesis, Prmt4-floxed mice were crossed with Vav1-cre mice purchased from the Jackson Laboratory. Inducible Prmt4 conditional KO mice were generated by crossing Prmt4-floxed mice with Mx1-Cre mice and Prmt4 gene excision was induced by poly(I:C). Using this hematopoietic specific knockout system, we show that loss of PRMT4 has little effect on normal hematopoiesis, but promotes the differentiation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Next we evaluated the role of PRMT4 in leukemia development using leukemia transplantation models driven by fusion oncoproteins. Strikingly, the knockout of PRMT4 completely abrogates leukemia initiation in fetal liver transplantation models driven by the AML1-ETO or MLL-AF9 fusion proteins. We further characterized the mechanism for the leukemia-specific dependence on PRMT4 using leukemia cell lines and found that knockdown of PRMT4 impairs cell cycle progression, decreases proliferation, and induces rapid apoptosis. To examine PRMT4 dependent changes in gene expression in a leukemia system, we used lentiviral vectors that express RFP and shRNAs directed against PRMT4. We knocked down PRMT4 in four leukemia cell lines or normal human cord-blood derived CD34+ cells. Gene set enrichment analysis showed that all four leukemia cell lines with knockdown of PRMT4 significantly down-regulated E2F target genes compared to the scrambled control. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis (ChIP) confirmed the presence of PRMT4 and H3R17 dimethylation at the promoter regions of E2F1 targets. The PRMT4 conditional knockout mice and PRMT4 knockdown experiments both suggest that the loss of PRMT4 protein has a selective effect on leukemia cells compared to normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Collectively, this work suggests that targeting PRMT4 through chemical inhibition may be an effective therapeutic strategy for AML and other cancers with up-regulation of PRMT4. Citation Format: Sarah M. Greenblatt, Pierre-Jacques J. Hamard, Takashi Asai, Na Man, Concepcion Martinez-Caja, Fan Liu, Stephen Nimer. Identification of CARM1/PRMT4 as a novel therapeutic target for AML [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3340. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-3340