cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Expert System for Handling Dangerous Goods

There exist several computer data bases containing information on dangerous goods. As a rule they contain a description of the most of substances which can appear as a part of any consignment transported onboard ship, road vehicle or stored in a warehouse. Highest priority problems which may arise when handling dangerous substances are those related to the environment pollution. Strict, well defined, precautionary measures are to be observed when loading, stowing or storing any dangerous goods. In this field there are also some examples of the computer advisory systems.
From Grain to Floodplain: Evaluating heterogeneity of floodplain hydrostatigraphy using sedimentology, geophysics, and remote sensing

Author(s): Malenda, HF; Sutfin, NA; Guryan, G; Stauffer, S; Rowland, JC; Williams, KH; Singha, K | Abstract: Stratigraphy is a fundamental component of floodplain heterogeneity and hydraulic conductivity and connectivity of alluvial aquifers, which affect hydrologic processes such as groundwater flow and hyporheic exchange. Watershed-scale hydrological models commonly simplify the sedimentology and stratigraphy of floodplains, neglecting natural floodplain heterogeneity and anisotropy. This study, conducted in the upper reach of the East River in the East River Basin, Colorado, USA, combines point-, meander-, and floodplain-scale data to determine key features of alluvial aquifers important for estimating hydrologic processes. We compare stratigraphy of two meanders with disparate geometries to explore floodplain heterogeneity and connectivity controls on flow and transport. Meander shape, orientation, and internal stratigraphy affected residence time estimates of laterally exchanged hyporheic water. Although the two meanders share a sediment source, vegetation, and climate, their divergent river migration histories resulted in contrasting meander hydrofacies. In turn, the extent and orientation of these elements controlled the effective hydraulic conductivity and, ultimately, estimates of groundwater transport and hyporheic residence times. Additionally, the meanders’ orientation relative to the valley gradient impacted the hydraulic gradient across the meanders—a key control of groundwater velocity. Lastly, we combine our field data with remotely sensed data and introduce a potential approach to estimate key hydrostratigraphic packages across floodplains. Prospective applications include contaminant transport studies, hyporheic models, and watershed models. © 2019 John Wiley a Sons, Ltd.
Automation of routine elements for spot-scanning proton patient-specific quality assurance

Purpose At our institution, all proton patient plans undergo patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) prior to treatment delivery. For intensity-modulated proton beam therapy, quality assurance is complex and time consuming, and it may involve multiple measurements per field. We reviewed our PSQA workflow and identified the steps that could be automated and developed solutions to improve efficiency. Methods We used the treatment planning system's (TPS) capability to support C# scripts to develop an Eclipse scripting application programming interface (ESAPI) script and automate the preparation of the verification phantom plan for measurements. A local area network (LAN) connection between our measurement equipment and shared database was established to facilitate equipment control, measurement data transfer, and storage. To improve the analysis of the measurement data, a Python script was developed to automatically perform a 2D-3D γ-index analysis comparing measurements in the plane of a two-dimensional detector array with TPS predictions in a water phantom for each acquired measurement. Results Device connection via LAN granted immediate access to the plan and measurement information for downstream analysis using an online software suite. Automated scripts applied to verification plans reduced time from preparation steps by at least 50%; time reduction from automating γ-index analysis was even more pronounced, dropping by a factor of 10. On average, we observed an overall time savings of 55% in completion of the PSQA per patient plan. Conclusions The automation of the routine tasks in the PSQA workflow significantly reduced the time required per patient, reduced user fatigue, and frees up system users from routine and repetitive workflow steps allowing increased focus on evaluating key quality metrics.
Microbial formation of stable soil carbon is more efficient from belowground than aboveground input

The relative contributions of aboveground versus belowground plant carbon inputs to the stable soil organic carbon pool are the subject of much debate—with direct implications for how the carbon cycle is modelled and managed. The belowground rhizosphere pathway (that is, carbon exiting the living root) is theorized to form stable soil carbon more efficiently than the aboveground pathway. However, while several mechanisms have been invoked to explain this efficiency, few have been empirically tested or quantified. Here, we use soil microcosms with standardized carbon inputs to investigate three posited mechanisms that differentiate aboveground from belowground input pathways of dissolved organic carbon—through the microbial biomass—to the mineral-stabilized soil organic carbon pool: (1) the physical distance travelled, (2) the microbial abundance in the region in which a carbon compound enters (that is, rhizosphere versus bulk soil) and (3) the frequency and volume of carbon delivery (that is, infrequent ‘pulse’ versus frequent ‘drip’). We demonstrate that through the microbial formation pathway, belowground inputs form mineral-stabilized soil carbon more efficiently than aboveground inputs, partly due to the greater efficiency of formation by the rhizosphere microbial community relative to the bulk soil community. However, we show that because the bulk soil has greater capacity to form mineral-stabilized soil carbon due to its greater overall volume, the relative contributions of aboveground versus belowground carbon inputs depend strongly on the ratio of rhizosphere to bulk soil. Belowground carbon inputs form stable soil carbon more efficiently through microbial formation than carbon addition aboveground, according to soil microcosm experiments that quantitatively compare soil carbon formation efficiencies from different mechanistic pathways.
Utility of MRI neurography in neurofibromatosis type I: Case example and review of MRI neurography literature

Background Neurofibromatosis is an autosomal dominant disorder of the nerves, resulting in cafe-au-lait spots, axillary freckling, macules, and neurofibromas throughout the nervous system. Diagnosis of this condition has in the past been mainly clinical, but the usage of magnetic resonance imaging neurography (MRN) is a new diagnostic modality. Here, we report on a case of neurofibromatosis type I (NF-1) that was diagnosed using MRN after a protracted clinical course. Case Description A 23-year-old female presented with several months of worsening right upper and lower quadrant abdominal pain. The patient underwent computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen and pelvis demonstrating multiple neurofibromas involving the psoas muscle and mesentery of the lower abdomen. Subsequent total neuronal axis magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using the neurography protocol (MRN) showed multiple neurofibromas in both the right brachial plexus and lumbar plexus. Conclusion We present a case of NF-1 that was diagnosed using MRN following a protracted clinical course. MRN is a diagnostic modality for NF-1 and other peripheral nerve disorders.
UTILITY OF CARDIOPULMONARY EXERCISE TESTING IN PATIENTS WITH ASYMPTOMATIC SEVERE AORTIC STENOSIS

Indications for aortic valve replacement (AVR) in patients with asymptomatic severe AS (ASAS) are currently not well defined ObjectiveTo investigate the potential role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) for identifying candidates for AVR in ASAS We reviewed CPX tests from November 2007-April
Tai Chi for heart attack survivors: qualitative insights.

Objectives Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programmes are standard of care for patients following a coronary event. While such exercise-based secondary prevention programme do offer benefits, they are used by less than 30% of eligible patients and attrition within these programmes is high. This project is a nested qualitative assessment of a pilot programme considering Tai Chi (TC) as an alternative to CR. We hypothesised that TC may overcome several key barriers to CR. Methods A semistructured focus group agenda was used to assess three key domains of feasibility: (1) patients’ experiences, (2) reasons/barriers for not having attended CR and (3) any improvements in physical activity and other secondary outcomes (quality of life, weight, sleep). A thematic analysis was used to better understand the key concepts. Results This high-risk group of patients reported that they enjoyed TC exercise, and felt confident and safe doing it. TC practice was reported to support other types of physical activity allowing for a generalisation of positive effects. Discussion This analysis is consistent with published reports of TC practice improving mood and psychological well-being. Qualitative methods allowed us to find emergent experiential reports of behaviour change factors found in established behaviour change theories.
Insights into the Signal Transduction Pathways of Mouse Lung Type II Cells Revealed by Transcription Factor Profiling in the Transcriptome

Alveolar type II cells constitute a small fraction of the total lung cell mass. However, they play an important role in many cellular processes including trans-differentiation into type I cells as well as repair of lung injury in response to toxic chemicals and respiratory pathogens. Transcription factors are the regulatory proteins dynamically modulating DNA structure and gene expression. Transcription factor profiling in microarray datasets revealed that several members of AP1, ATF, NF-kB, and C/EBP families involved in diverse responses were expressed in mouse lung type II cells. A transcriptional factor signature consisting of Cebpa, Srebf1, Stat3, Klf5, and Elf3 was identified in lung type II cells, Sox9+ pluripotent lung stem cells as well as in mouse lung development. Identification of the transcription factor profile in mouse lung type II cells will serve as a useful resource and facilitate the integrated analysis of signal transduction pathways and specific gene targets in a variety of physiological conditions.
The Priest and the Prophetess: Abbé Ouvière, Romaine Rivière, and the revolutionary Atlantic world

Who were the Haitian revolutionaries, and what motivated them? This question has long provoked debate, as the answer also raises questions regarding the nature of slave rebellions, Black Atlantic p...
Declined care and discrimination during the childbirth hospitalization

Many studies have documented poorer patient-provider interactions among people of color compared to Whites, including lower-quality patient-provider communication, less involvement in decision making, and higher chances of perceived discrimination in healthcare encounters. In maternity care, where overuse of medical interventions such as cesarean delivery is a concern, women may try to exert agency by declining procedures. However, declining procedures may brand these women as uncooperative or non-compliant patients. The potential consequences of this are likely worse for women of color, who already expend more effort to manage their image during healthcare encounters in order to avoid stereotypes (e.g. the "angry Black woman"). Using a national sample of women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals in 2011-2012, we examined the relationship between declining procedures and discrimination during the childbirth hospitalization. We found that women who reported having declined care for themselves or their infant during the childbirth hospitalization were more likely to report "poor treatment" based on race and ethnicity, insurance status or having a difference of opinion with a healthcare provider. Moreover, the increase in odds of perceived discrimination due to a difference of opinion with a healthcare provider was significantly larger in magnitude for Black women compared to White women. These results suggest that in the context of childbirth care, women pay a penalty for exhibiting behavior that may be perceived as uncooperative, and this penalty may be greater for Black women.
The Response of the Ozone Layer to Quadrupled CO2 Concentrations: Implications for Climate

AbstractThe quantification of the climate impacts exerted by stratospheric ozone changes in abrupt 4 × CO2 forcing experiments is an important step in assessing the role of the ozone layer in the c...
Curation and Annotation of Planarian Gene Expression Patterns With Segmented Reference Morphologies

Motivation Morphological and genetic spatial data from functional experiments based on genetic, surgical and pharmacological perturbations are being produced at an extraordinary pace in developmental and regenerative biology. However, our ability to extract knowledge from these large datasets are hindered due to the lack of formalization methods and tools able to unambiguously describe, centralize and interpret them. Formalizing spatial phenotypes and gene expression patterns is especially challenging in organisms with highly variable morphologies such as planarian worms, which due to their extraordinary regenerative capability can experimentally result in phenotypes with almost any combination of body regions or parts. Results Here, we present a computational methodology and mathematical formalism to encode and curate the morphological outcomes and gene expression patterns in planaria. Worm morphologies are encoded with mathematical graphs based on anatomical ontology terms to automatically generate reference morphologies. Gene expression patterns are registered to these standard reference morphologies, which can then be annotated automatically with anatomical ontology terms by analyzing the spatial expression patterns and their textual descriptions. This methodology enables the curation and annotation of complex experimental morphologies together with their gene expression patterns in a centralized standardized dataset, paving the way for the extraction of knowledge and reverse-engineering of the much sought-after mechanistic models in planaria and other regenerative organisms. Availability and implementation We implemented this methodology in a user-friendly graphical software tool, PlanGexQ, freely available together with the data in the manuscript at https://lobolab.umbc.edu/plangexq. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Postcolonialism, Racial Political Fields, and Panethnicity: A Comparison of Early “Asian American” and “Hispanic” Movements:

Recent work has called for sociologists to incorporate postcolonial theory into their toolkits to better understand the mechanics of race in the United States. The authors answer this call by showi...
A River of Bones: Wildebeest Skeletons Leave a Legacy of Mass Mortality in the Mara River, Kenya

Animal carcasses can provide important resources for a suite of consumers, and bones may provide a largely overlooked component of this resource, as they contain a large proportion of the phosphorus (P) in a carcass and they can persist for decades to millennia. We synthesized several datasets from our research in the Mara River, in which annual mass drownings of wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) contribute 2.2×105 kg of bones per year, to examine the ecological role that bone could play in this river ecosystem and to prioritize research questions on the role of bones in aquatic ecosystems in general. We measured bone stoichiometry and used in-stream litterbags to measure bone decomposition rate, both of which varied by bone type. Decomposition occurs as a two-stage process, with 15% of the mass being relatively labile and decomposing in 80-120 days and the remaining recalcitrant portion decomposing over >80 years, leading to an estimated standing stock of 5.1×106 kg bones in the river. We used mesocosm experiments to measure leaching rates from bones. Leachate from fresh bones was an order of magnitude higher in inorganic nitrogen (N) than P; however, aged bones from the river leached much more P than N, which stimulated primary production. Biofilms growing on bones had five times greater chlorophyll a and 2 times greater organic matter than those growing on rocks, although algal composition was not significantly different between the two substrates. Biofilms growing on bones also differed from biofilms on rocks in carbon (C) and N stable isotope signature. Mixing models suggest that biofilms on bones account for 19% of macroinvertebrate and 24% of fish tissues in the Mara River, even months after carcasses were present. In combination, these findings suggest that bones may influence nutrient cycling, ecosystem function, and food webs in the Mara River, potentially on decadal time scales. Bones may also be important in other aquatic ecosystems, and mass extirpations of large land mammals may have led to a loss of this resource. Large animal bones may play a unique role in ecosystems via their slow release of limiting nutrients.
Biosynthesis of the Iron-Molybdenum Cofactor of Nitrogenase

The iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMo-co) of nitrogenase is a unique molybdenum-containing prosthetic group that has been proposed to form an integral part of the active site of dinitrogenase. In Klebsiella pneumoniae, at least six nif (nitrogen fixation) gene products are required for the biosynthesis of FeMo-co, including NIFB, NIFNE, NIFH, NIFQ, and NIFV. An in vitro system for the synthesis of FeMo-co, which requires MgATP, molybdate, homocitrate, and at least the products of nifN, E, B, and H, has provided an enzymatic assay for the purification of many of the gene products required for FeMo-co biosynthesis. Although the structure of the cofactor has been solved recently, much about the biosynthetic pathway remains unknown. This article reviews what is known about the various components required for FeMo-co biosynthesis.
Left Atrial Appendage Anatomy: Implications for Endocardial Catheter-based Device Closure

This clinical review focuses on both current devices approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration and investigational devices available for left atrial appendage (LAA) closure. Specifically, the article describes the anatomical considerations that are particularly relevant from a procedural standpoint. In addition, we have also focused on the technical aspects of the procedure.
Altered Pallidocortical Low-Beta Oscillations During Self-Initiated Movements in Parkinson Disease

Background Parkinson disease (PD) patients have difficulty with self-initiated (SI) movements, presumably related to basal ganglia thalamocortical (BGTC) circuit dysfunction, while showing less impairment with externally cued (EC) movements. Objectives We investigate the role of BGTC in movement initiation and the neural underpinning of impaired SI compared to EC movements in PD using multifocal intracranial recordings and correlating signals with symptom severity. Methods We compared time-resolved neural activities within and between globus pallidus internus (GPi) and motor cortex during between SI and EC movements recorded invasively in 13 PD patients undergoing deep brain stimulation implantation. We compared cortical (but not subcortical) dynamics with those recorded in 10 essential tremor (ET) patients, who do not have impairments in movement initiation. Results SI movements in PD are associated with greater low-beta (13-20 Hz) power suppression during pre-movement period in GPi and motor cortex compared to EC movements in PD and compared to SI movements in ET (motor cortex only). SI movements in PD are uniquely associated with significant low-beta pallidocortical coherence suppression during movement execution that correlates with bradykinesia severity. In ET, motor cortex neural dynamics during EC movements do not significantly differ from that observed in PD and do not significantly differ between SI and EC movements. Conclusion These findings implicate low beta BGTC oscillations in impaired SI movements in PD. These results provide a physiological basis for the strategy of using EC movements in PD, circumventing diseased neural circuits associated with SI movements and instead engaging circuits that function similarly to those without PD.
“The Beckoning Fair One”: Oliver Onions and the Muse of Eros

“Few writers in the field” of supernatural fiction declares Mike Ashley in his essay “The Man on the Edge,” can come close to Oliver Onions “in evoking that unsettling feeling of isolation, alienat...
Trajectory Tracking Control of an Autonomous Car

Development in the field of autonomous vehicles has been rising over the past decade. Most autonomous driving systems must be able to perform a wide variety of tasks, such as driving across an intersection, following another car, or negotiating complicated city streets.
Laparoscopic partial hepatectomy is cost-effective when performed in high volume centers: A five state analysis

Abstract Background Prior studies comparing the efficacy of laparoscopic (LHR) and open hepatic resection (OHR) have not evaluated inpatient costs. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases to identify patients undergoing hepatic resection between 2010 and 2014. Results 10,239 patients underwent hepatic resection. 865 (8%) underwent LHR and 9374 (92%) underwent OHR. On adjusting for hospital volume, patients undergoing LHR had a lower risk of respiratory (OR 0.64, 95% CI [0.52, 0.78]), wound (OR 0.48; 95% CI [0.29, 0.79]) and hematologic (OR 0.57; 95% CI [0.44, 0.73]) complication as well as a lower risk of being in the highest quartile of cost (0.58; 95% CI [0.43, 0.77]) than those undergoing OHR. Patients undergoing LHR in very high volume (>314 hepatectomies/year) centers had lower risk-adjusted 90-day aggregate costs of care than those undergoing OHR (-$8022; 95% CI [-$11,732, -$4311). Discussion Laparoscopic partial hepatectomy is associated with lower risk of postoperative complication than OHR. This translates to lower aggregate costs in very high-volume centers.
Effects of mangrove cover on coastal erosion during a hurricane in Texas, USA

We tested the hypothesis that mangroves provide better coastal protection than salt marsh vegetation using ten 1,008 m2 plots in which we manipulated mangrove cover from 0 to 100 percent. Hurricane Harvey passed over the plots in 2017. Data from erosion stakes indicated up to 26 cm of vertical and 970 cm of horizontal erosion over 70 months in the plot with 0 percent mangrove cover, but relatively little erosion in other plots. The hurricane did not increase erosion, and erosion decreased after the hurricane passed. Data from drone images indicated 196 m2 of erosion in the 0 % mangrove plot, relatively little erosion in other plots, and little ongoing erosion after the hurricane. Transects through the plots indicated that the levee (near the front of the plot) and the bank (the front edge of the plot) retreated up to 9 m as a continuous function of decreasing mangrove cover. Soil strength was greater in areas vegetated with mangroves than in areas vegetated by marsh plants, or nonvegetated areas, and increased as a function of plot-level mangrove cover. Mangroves prevented erosion better than marsh plants did, but this service was non-linear, with low mangrove cover providing most of the benefits.
Self-Reported Reasons for the Non-Use of Hearing Aids Among Hispanic Adults With Hearing Loss

Purpose To examine the self-reported reasons for the non-use of hearing aids among Mexican-American Hispanic adults who have hearing loss. Method A total of 122 Hispanic adults with hearing loss, who did not currently or previously use a hearing aid, participated in this study. Participants completed a comprehensive hearing health questionnaire and the Hearing Handicap Inventory Screening Questionnaire to examine the possible reasons for the non-use of hearing aids. Results Self-reported hearing loss, hearing handicap score, and health insurance status were the best predictors of an individual's willingness to use hearing aids to treat their hearing loss. The primary reasons cited for the non-use of hearing aids among Hispanics with hearing loss was the belief that their hearing impairment was not severe enough to warrant using a hearing aid and that hearing aids were unaffordable. Conclusions Greater public health education regarding the deleterious effects of untreated hearing loss and the positive impact of amplification on cognitive, social, and psychological health may be warranted to improve the usage rates of hearing aids in Hispanic adults.
Can histologic features predict neoadjuvant therapy response in rectal adenocarcinoma

Current standard therapy for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) is neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgical resection; however, treatment response is variable among patients. This study aimed to identify histologic features that predict tumor response. This retrospective study included 105 patients with LARC, all of whom underwent biopsy followed by neoadjuvant therapy and subsequent surgical resection. Each patient's initial biopsy was evaluated for tumor grade, tumor budding, intraepithelial lymphocytes, intraepithelial neutrophils, desmoplasia, apoptosis, adjacent stromal lymphocytes, signet ring cells, mucinous features, tumoral Paneth cells, dirty necrosis, microscopic ulceration, and prominent lymphoid aggregates. These histologic features, along with patient age at diagnosis and tumor microsatellite status, were compared to tumor regression grades from the respective resection specimens. No histologic factors in tumor biopsies predictive of treatment response in post-therapy resection specimens were identified. Histologic features in pre-therapy biopsy samples of LARC do not predict subsequent response to neoadjuvant therapy. Effective and reliable methods to predict response to neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer remain elusive.
Endogenous Cardiac Glycosides

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses endogenous cardiac glycosides. The cardiac glycosides comprise a class of organic compounds derived largely from plant sources that have been used for millennia as therapeutic agents. Other clinically relevant cardiac glycosides are derived from the leaves of Digitalis lanata from which digitoxin and digoxin are derived, and from the seeds of Strophanthus gratus that contain gastrophanthin (ouabain). The molecular motif characteristic of the cardiac glycosides—a steroid nucleus containing an α,β-unsaturated lactone ring at the C 17 position—are found in a large number of plants and a few toad species, usually acting as a venom or poison serving to alter the future behavior of predators. The chapter examines evidence purporting to support the existence of endogenous ligands for the cardiac glycoside binding site.
Exploiting IP multicast in content-based publish-subscribe systems

Publish-subscribe systems are evolving toward using content-based subscription rather than subject-based subscription. A key problem in implementing such systems is that a straightforward mapping from matching sets to multicast groups produces a number of groups that rapidly grows beyond practical limits. This paper proposes a set of alternative algorithms for solving this problem, by: (1) using a smaller set of overbroad multicast groups, judiciously chosen to minimize imprecision; (2) issuing multiple multicasts to appropriately chosen clusters; or (3) sending an event over multiple hops each involving a multicast to a set of neighbors. We evaluate these algorithms on a simulated wide-area network. We find that (1) a simple flooding algorithm is viable over an extensive range of conditions; and (2) under conditions of high selectivity and high regionalism of subscriptions, the other approaches mentioned above perform significantly better; however, the specific algorithm to use depends upon the economics of deployment.
The performance of social security contributory and tax-financed pensions in Central America, and the effects of the global crisis: Social security pensions in Central America

Over the last 30 years, Latin America has pioneered structural pension reforms. This article focuses on a representative regional sample of seven Central American countries with diverse levels of development (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) studying contributory and tax-financed pensions as well as recent pension reforms. It comparatively assesses system performance regarding five social security principles: unity; universal coverage; adequacy of benefits; equal treatment, solidarity and gender equality; and financial sustainability. It also evaluates the impact of the world crisis on these pension systems, highlighting the differences between public and private pensions, and extracts lessons and suggests policies for the future.
Repair Replication of HeLa Cell Deoxyribonucleic Acid in Cells Infected with Newcastle Disease Virus or Mengovirus or Treated with Puromycin

We examined repair replication of HeLa cell deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in cells infected with mengovirus or Newcastle disease virus or treated with puromycin. Cellular DNA was damaged by ultraviolet light and then pulse-labeled with (3)H-thymidine. Autoradiographic analysis of non-S-phase DNA synthesis (repair replication) showed that there was no inhibition of this process at a time when overall cellular DNA synthesis was severely inhibited by either virus infection or puromycin treatment.
Abstract 3029: MKP1-mediated survival of HER2 positive breast cancer stem cells

The overall cure rate of primary tumors has been significantly improved in the last three decades; however, metastatic and recurrent tumors with aggressive growth and therapy-resistance remain as the major factors shortening breast cancer patients’ survival. MKP1, a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphatase, was shown to be linked with chemoresistance in breast cancer cells and was over-expressed in radio-resistant breast cancer cells that survived long-term fractionated irradiation. Herein, we showed that MKP1 is expressed exclusively in HER2 positive clinical breast tumors compared to HER2 negative tumors. Comparison of normal and tumor breast tissue samples from same patients revealed that MKP1 expression is induced in breast tumors along with HER2 expression in patients, who showed low/no expression of MKP1 and HER2 in their normal breast tissue. Most importantly, we have shown that HER2 positive breast cancer cells rely heavily on MKP1 for survival as knocking down MKP1 resulted in a massive cell death. MKP1 was found to translocate into the mitochondria in breast cancer cells upon radiation and mitochondrial MKP1 levels were significantly enhanced in HER2 over-expressing and radio-resistant breast cancer cells, suggesting a survival mechanism where increased MKP1 translocation into the mitochondria functions to attenuate pro-apoptotic signals initiated from mitochondria-localized MAPK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Consistent with this, increased mitochondrial MKP1 levels were correlated with the reduced levels of phosphorylated active JNK in the mitochondria of irradiated cells. Such mitochondrial MKP1-mediated dephosphorylation of JNK was predominantly enhanced in the radio-resistant breast cancer cells that can be sensitized by siRNA-mediated inhibition of MKP1. The identification of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in all human tumors and their involvement in tumor radioresistance encouraged the studies investigating whether MKP1-mediated survival mechanism is present in radio-resistant breast cancer stem cells. Here, we showed that MKP1 is overexpressed in irradiated HER2-positive breast CSCs (HER2+/CD44+/CD24-/low) and knocking down MKP1 in these cells significantly reduced their survival, which was further reduced with radiation treatment. These data provide critical insights on the aggressive phenotype of breast tumors and offer MKP1 as a novel diagnostic and therapeutic target to re-sensitize resistant breast cancer stem cells. Identification of the mechanism of MKP1-mediated survival in these cells may provide additional druggable targets to control breast cancer and its recurrence. Citation Format: Demet Candas, Chung-Ling Lu, Ming Fan, Frank Chuang, Colleen Sweeney, Alexander Borowsky, Jian Jian Li. MKP1-mediated survival of HER2 positive breast cancer stem cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3029. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3029
The Integration Problem for Complex Lie Algebroids

A complex Lie algebroid is a complex vector bundle over a smooth (real) manifold M with a bracket on sections and an anchor to the complexified tangent bundle of M which satisfy the usual Lie algebroid axioms. A proposal is made here to integrate analytic complex Lie algebroids by using analytic continuation to a complexification of M and integration to a holomorphic groupoid. A collection of diverse examples reveal that the holomorphic stacks presented by these groupoids tend to coincide with known objects associated to structures in complex geometry. This suggests that the object integrating a complex Lie algebroid should be a holomorphic stack.
El Nino's tropical climate and teleconnections as a blueprint for pre-Ice Age climates

[1] At ∼2.7 million years ago the warm equable climates of early and “middle” Pliocene time (used here to mean from ∼5 to ∼2.7 Ma) were replaced by recurring ice ages. Most attempts to explain the change appeal either to changes in CO2 in the atmosphere or reduced heat transport by the Atlantic Ocean. The sources of the strongest teleconnections in the current climate, however, lie in the tropics, and such connections occur by transport of heat and moisture by the atmosphere. The most prominent of these teleconnections link aberrations in sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variations, with warm and dry or cool and wet anomalies in extratropical climates. We show that in most cases early and middle Pliocene climate both in equatorial regions and in the extratropics differ from present-day climates with the same spatial pattern as that associated with ENSO. For instance, not only was Canada warmer during early Pliocene time than at present, as it is during El Nino, but the region surrounding the Gulf of Mexico appears to have been cooler and a bit wetter, as it commonly is during El Nino. A virtually permanent El Nino-like state appears to have characterized pre-Ice Age climates, suggesting that transport of heat by the atmosphere was the principal mechanism that maintained extratropical warmth. Accordingly, cooling and the growth of recurring ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere resulted from the development of a strong Walker circulation and a weakening of the Hadley circulation.
Tracer Studies on Radiation Damaged Graphite

The distribution of displaced carbon atoms in irradiated graphite has been studied with a radioactive tracer technique. Radiation-damaged graphite containing radioactive displaced carbon (C11) atom...
Why do public sector IT projects fail

Adoption of Information Technology (IT) can make a valuable contribution to development of public sector organisation. A reasonable size of budget is allocated every year to IT projects in public sector in both developed and developing countries. However, at present, the majority of public sector IT projects fails either totally or partially. The percentage of failure is even more in developing countries. A number of research studies have been conducted to identify the reasons of failures of IT projects in private and public sector in developed countries. However, very little work of similar type has been done in developing countries. In Pakistan also no such research work has been published. Based on case study of three projects, this paper studies the reasons leading to failure of IT projects initiatives in public sector of Pakistan.
“You Really Have to Play With the Hand You’re Dealt”: How Traditional-Aged College Seniors Understand Class Mobility

This grounded theory study explores how 55 college seniors understand class mobility. Respondents identified family of origin, motivation, and educational attainment as key factors in shaping class mobility. The respondents’ use of narrative story-telling in response to prompts led the research team to develop a grounded theory of class mobility as parallel to playing a hand of poker. Implications for working with college students to increase their understanding of poverty and social mobility are shared.
Remotely sensed heat anomalies linked with Amazonian forest biomass declines

The occurrence of two major Amazonian droughts in 2005 and 2010 underscores the need for improved understanding of how drought affects tropical forest. During both droughts, MODIS land surface temperature data detected anomalously high daytime and nighttime canopy temperatures throughout drought-affected regions. Daytime thermal anomalies explained 38.6% of the variability in the reduction of aboveground living biomass (p < 0.01; n = 17) in drought-affected forest sites. Multivariate linear models of heat and moisture stress explained a greater proportion of the variability, at 65.1% (p < 0.01; n = 17), providing substantively greater explanatory power than precipitation-only models. Our results suggest that heat stress played an important role in the two droughts and that models should incorporate both heat and moisture stress to predict drought effects on tropical forests.
The Impact of Steam Innovations on Ship Design: An Abbreviated History of Marine Engineering

The adaptation of steam engines for marine propulsion caused a dramatic shift in naval and commericial ship design during the 19th Century. The transition from sail to steam hastened the demise of several classes of ships and altered shippings routes from the trade winds to great circle routing. The conduct of naval warfare was always influenced by the limits of available propulsion technology. Throughout maritime history, innovative naval commanders sought ways to overrun, outmaneuver, and outlast their opponents. Coincident developments in armaments and armor, facilitated by this “new” propulsion technology, rendered the world’s sailing navies largely obsolete within a relatively brief period of the 19th Century. This presentation highlights the major technological advances in steam propulsion from the early combination of low-speed single-acting reciprocating engines driving paddle wheels through high-speed turbines and reduction gears driving multiple-blade variable-pitch propellers; and, boilers heated by hand-fed wood and coal through nuclear fission.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Structure and support of water-resources management and decision-making

Abstract The thesis of this paper is that it is necessary to look beyond the usual role of decision-support systems (DSS) as analytical tools for assisting operational management of water-resources systems. In particular, there is a need to include components capable of supporting the political, organizational and social dimensions of the decision-making process. With the help of a case study in water-resources allocation for the Colorado River, it is shown that decision-making is not as ill-structured as first appears and this should be exploited in the design of the DSS. In the case of the Colorado River, the overall approach has been decomposed into six aspects or ‘layers’, each of which requires its own set of information-management tools. Classical decision-making perspectives are then used to explain the role of these layers and their significance for the development of a water-resources DSS.
Solar coronal studies using normal-incidence X-ray optics

The progress which has been made in constructing a new type of X-ray telescope, which operates at normal incidence in the soft X-ray region by the use of multilayer coatings is described. The principles involved in state-of-the-art multilayer technology and some high-resolution imaging results are discussed. A rocket payload incorporating a multilayer X-ray mirror is presently being constructed. It is of Ritchey-Chretien design and the expected spatial resolution is 1/4 arcsec. The scientific program for solar-coronal studies and future instrumental developments are also discussed.
An unusual oligomerization/oxidation reaction of a 3-boron-substituted 1-phenylbuta-1,3-diene produces 6,9,16,19-tetraphenyl-5,15-distyryl-3,13,25,26-tetraoxa-2,12-diborapentacyclo[16.2.2.28,11.12,5.112,15]hexacosa-1(20),7,10,17-tetraene

The unusual title macrocyclic structure, C60H54B2O4, has been isolated from exposure of 3-BF3-1-phenyl­buta-1,3-diene to both air and moisture in an attempt to obtain crystals of the starting butadiene compound. Formation of the macrocycle from six mol­ecules of the starting butadiene material is rationalized and its structural features are compared with those of other B(OR)2-substituted cyclo­hexane and benzene ring containing structures. Mol­ecules reside on crystallographic centers of inversion and there are no inter­molecular inter­actions of note in the crystal structure.
Fluidic Overspeed Sensor for a Power Turbine

The engineering development of a fluidic overspeed sensor for application to a small demonstrator turboshaft engine is described. The control function provided is protection against power turbine overspeed which might otherwise occur in the event of failure of the prime electrical governor. The design problem is presented, the fluidic circuitry to mechanize a design solution is defined, and the breadboard and prototype bench development is reported. Development emphasis is placed upon the objective of attaining acceptable levels of reliability and maintainability in field operations.Copyright © 1969 by ASME
Carbon nanotube radio.

Here we report experimental results for a carbon nanotube (CNT) based amplitude-modulated (AM) demodulator for modulation frequencies up to 100 kHz. Further, the CNT based demodulator was successfully demonstrated in an actual AM radio receiver operating at a carrier frequency of 1 GHz and capable of demodulating high-fidelity audio. The demodulation originates from the nonlinear current−voltage (IDS vs VDS) characteristic of the CNT, which induces rectification of a portion of the applied RF signal. By properly biasing the CNT such that the operating point is centered on the maximum nonlinear portion of the I−V curve, one can maximize the demodulation effect. This represents a simple application of carbon nanotubes and nanotechnology to the wireless realm.
Measuring vapor-liquid equilibrium for aqueous-organic systems: Review and a new technique

The vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) of aqueous–organic mixtures is important in understanding the physical chemistry behind the contamination and remediation of contaminated surface water, ground water and unsaturated soils. The state of the science is assessed, and available VLE and solubility data are reviewed comprehensively for several organic compounds. Benzene, toluene, o-, m-, p-xylene, ethylbenzene, chloroform, 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA), and trichloroethylene (TCE) were included in this study. Correlations are provided for estimation of VLE as a function of temperature. A new VLE apparatus was developed to extend experimental techniques found in the literature. Partitioning data for several aqueous–organic systems were measured. The collected data compared very favorably to data available in the literature. The new procedure is capable of providing high-quality data over a wide range of liquid concentrations and temperatures.
Light-dependent trans to cis isomerization of the retinal in halorhodopsin

Flash-induced absorption changes in the near UV were determined for bacteriorhodopsin and halorhodopsin on a millisecond time scale. The difference spectrum obtained for bacteriorhodopsin was comparable to model difference spectra of tyrosine (aromatic OH deprotonated vs protonated), as found by others. The flash-induced difference spectrum for halorhodopsin, in contrast, resembled a model spectrum opbtained for trans to 13-cis isomerization of retinal in bacteriorhodopsin. A model for chloride translocation by halorhodopsin is presented, in which the retinal isomerization moves positive charges, which in turn modulate the affinity of a site to chloride.
[3H]Ro 15-1788 binding to benzodiazepine receptors in mouse brain in vivo: marked enhancement by GABA agonists and other CNS drugs

Administration of the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, [3H]Ro 15-1788, to mice intravenously was found to label these receptors in brain. Binding of [3H]Ro 15-1788 in vivo was strongly blocked by pretreating mice with clonazepam or diazepam. Marked enhancement of [3H]Ro 15-1788 binding in vivo was induced by progabide or sodium valproate. This effect was greater than a similar enhancement of [3H]flunitrazepam binding. The increased membrane-bound [3H]Ro 15-1788 elicited by progabide was completely dissociated on subsequent incubation with Ro 15-1788, diazepam or clobazam, indicating that the enhanced binding occurred at benzodiazepine receptors. Compounds that exert diazepam-like actions and/or indirect GABAergic activity (cartazolate, pentobarbital, methaqualone, levonantradol, phenytoin) elicited enhancement of [3H]Ro 15-1788 in vivo. Other CNS agents (atypical neuroleptics, GABA antagonists, baclofen, some 5-HT1 agonists) also induced elevation of [3H]Ro 15-1788 binding in vivo, as did drugs exerting vasodilatatory effects (papaverine, nimodipine, verapamil, prazosin, N6-cyclohexyladenosine). Possible explanations for enhancement of [3H]Ro 15-1788 binding in vivo include increase in the number of benzodiazepine receptors induced by GABA or GABAergic drugs or effects of binding enhancers that elevate brain levels of [3H]Ro 15-1788, such as accelerating cerebral blood flow, competing for radioligand binding sites in plasma or increasing metabolic stability of the radioligand.
Obliterative Bronchitis and Bronchiolitis with Bronchiectasis

1. The relative frequency of obliterative bronchitis and bronchiolitis in association with bronchiectasis is pointed out. 2. With obliteration of bronchial conduits, there is initiation of collateral ventilation of the parenchyma surrounding the obliterated bronchi. Emphysematous changes follow prolonged collateral ventilation. 3. Radiographic hyperlucence, with airtrapping in the parenchyma surrounding ectatic bronchi, suggests the association of obliterative bronchitis with the bronchiectasis. 4. When the associated conditions involve an entire lung, the radiographic appearance is that of the so-called “idiopathic unilateral hyperlucent lung.
Sex Radical Communities and the Future of Sexual Ethics

SUMMARY Many urban-based gay male, lesbian, and mixed-gender sexually radical communities (such as leather and/or S/M groups) portray their interests in sexuality in terms of arousal and pleasure. The writings of many gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and queers involved in such communities suggest that sexual pleasure is based on individual preference, and that all sexual activities need only the consent of participating individuals to render those activities moral and good. Thus, as long as people consent, a wide variety of practices can be authorized in this system, such as non-monogamy, group sex, anonymous sex, domination, etc. In this paper, I will suggest that something much more radical is happening in these communities, that “individual preference” and “consent”-although present -are perhaps not the most interesting way to describe what is happening here. Rather, I will explore the possibility that these sex groups are in the process of providing for us a new kind of ethic based not on individuality, bu...