cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 3099: Longitudinal genomic and transcriptomic analysis of mantle cell lymphoma in a targeted combination trial of a selective CDK4/6 inhibitor

We used whole exome (WES) and whole transcriptome sequencing (WTS) to study progression of Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) in the context of a clinical trial of targeted combination therapy of a CDK4 inhibitor PD0332991 (palbociclib) and a proteasome inhibitor bortezomib. Our longitudinal study design coupled with an integrative analysis approach enabled detailed molecular characterization of each subject9s disease. This includes multiple time points for three therapy Responders (Rs) and two Non-Responders (NRs); a primary goal was to understand genetic reasons for differential response. To that end, we identified copy number variants (CNVs) and single nucleotide variants (SNVs) specific to NRs that are supported by both WES and WTS data and implicate pathways relevant to mechanisms of drug action. CNVs were identified using multiple orthogonal methods that use read depth and genome-wide allele frequencies. These revealed a 29Mb chr9 hemizygous deletion unique to NRs. This region includes 15 interferon genes of the type 1 interferon signaling pathway (enrichment: p Other CNVs differentiating Rs and NRs are a 24Mb chr8 deletion found only in Rs and a 4Mb chr17 deletion found only in NRs, which includes p53 in a subject who also has a p53 mutation, resulting in 100% expression of the mutant allele. The described CNVs result in detectable shifts in expression of a large proportion of affected genes. Coupled with SNV data, where we identified 21 SNVs shared by NRs and absent in Rs, these results offer molecular clues to mechanisms of resistance in NRs, which we are currently pursuing with functional studies. Overall, we performed a thorough genomic and transcriptomic analysis of a longitudinal investigation of MCL patients during a targeted combination therapy phase I clinical trial and identified potential biomarkers of response spanning CNVs, SNVs, and differentially expressed genes. Citation Format: Priyanka Vijay, Pedro Blecua, Maurizio Di Liberto, David Chiron, Xiangao Huang, Olivier Elemento, Peter Martin, John P. Leonard, Christopher E. Mason, Selina Chen-Kiang. Longitudinal genomic and transcriptomic analysis of mantle cell lymphoma in a targeted combination trial of a selective CDK4/6 inhibitor. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3099. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3099
Comparative effectiveness of screening strategies for colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND Screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) has been successful in decreasing the incidence and mortality from CRC. Although new screening tests have become available, their relative impact on CRC outcomes remains unexplored. This study compares the outcomes of various screening strategies on CRC outcomes. METHODS A Markov model representing the natural history of CRC was built and validated against empiric data from screening trials as well as the Microstimulation Screening Analysis (MISCAN) model. Thirteen screening strategies based on colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, computed tomographic colonography, as well as fecal immunochemical, occult blood, and stool DNA testing were compared with no screening. A simulated sample of the US general population ages 50 to 75 years with an average risk of CRC was followed for up to 35 years or until death. Effectiveness was measured by discounted life years gained and the number of CRCs prevented. Discounted costs and cost-effectiveness ratios were calculated. A discount rate of 3% was used in calculations. The study took a societal perspective. RESULTS Colonoscopy emerged as the most effective screening strategy with the highest life years gained (0.022 life years) and CRCs prevented (n = 1068) and the lowest total costs ($2861). These values were 0.012 life years gained, 574 CRCs prevented, and a total cost of $3164, respectively, for FOBT; and 0.011 life years gained, 647 CRCs prevented, and a total cost of $4296, respectively, for DNA testing. Improved sensitivity or specificity of a screening test for CRC detection was not sufficient to close the outcomes gap compared with colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS Improvement in CRC-detection performance is not sufficient to improve screening outcomes. Special attention must be directed to detecting precancerous adenomas. Cancer 2017;123:1516–1527. © 2017 American Cancer Society.
Outcome of Adults with Precursor B-Cell and Mature B-Cell (Burkitt-Cell) ALL/Lymphoma in a Large Inner City Hospital.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common acute leukemia in children, but accounts for only about 20% of adult acute leukemias. In children overall survival at 5 years is about 70% as a result of intensive treatment regimens. Application of such treatment regimens to adults has improved the 5 year survival to about 30–35% in large studies. We report here a retrospective analysis of all 18 cases which presented to our hospital during the last 2 1/2 years. All patients were treated with intensive chemotherapy regimens (primarily Hyper CVAD alternating with MTX/AraC) including maintenance therapy for patients with precursor B-cell ALL. The mean age of all patients was 39.6 ± 15.2 years., 11 patients were male and 7 female. Thirteen patients presented with precursor B-cell ALL (8 male/5 female); the mean age of these patients was 36.3 ± 16.1 years. Five patients presented with Burkitt-cell leukemia (3 male/2 female), the mean age of these patients was 48 ± 8.9 years; 4 patients were HIV positive. Overall, 7 of 18 patients are alive, 5 are in remission, 1 did not achieve remission and is being evaluated for stem cell transplant, and 1 is completing the first cycle of chemotherapy. The 7 surviving patients include 5 with precursor B-cell ALL (4 male/1 female) and 2 Burkitt-cell patients (both female, both HIV+, both with CD4 count > 400). An analysis of high risk features in pre B-cell ALL patients showed only one patient older than 60, 1 with adverse cytogenetics (9:22 translocation), one with WBC count >50,000/ml at presentation, and 2 who required more than 1 course to achieve CR. Positivity for CD20 has been reported by some to be an adverse prognostic factor in pre B ALL. In our study 8 of 13 pre B ALL patients were CD20 positive, 3 of these patients survive as compared to 2 of 5 CD20 negative patients. Women with pre B ALL had significantly poorer outcomes than men with only 1 of 5 surviving; all women with CD20 positive disease succumbed. Among the Burkitt-cell patients, the 2 survivors were HIV positive women with the highest CD4 counts. Three of 18 patients (16.6%) died during induction; 1 presented to our hospital in first relapse 3 years after first CR, 1 developed overwhelming fungal infection, and 1 suffered probable anaphylactic reaction. More than 75% of patients with pre B ALL were Hispanic, and while 3 are still living, only one has completed induction and consolidation and is still in remission. The reasons behind the poor survival of the Hispanic subgroup are not clear, however, it should be noted that all patients who were CD20 positive in this group have either died or failed to achieve remission. In this series 27% of patients had mature B-cell disease, which is much higher than the 5% estimated incidence in adults overall. Despite the preponderance of HIV positive patients, the survival of these patients compares favorably with that reported in the literature.
“A Love Story Pure and Simple”: Harper Lee and Atticus Finch

The article explores the evolution of the character Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, to the recently released Go Set a Watchman. The enduring pop...
The role of occupational therapy in promoting playfulness, parent competence, and social participation in early childhood playgroups: A pretest posttest design

ABSTRACTThis study examined the effects of an inclusive, community-based playgroup intervention on parent and child outcomes. The role of occupational therapy as part of a team of providers in early childhood was also explored. Caregiver-child dyads (n = 36) were enrolled in one of three playgroup conditions (control, occupational therapy support, and occupational therapy led) across four community locations. Outcomes at pre-post 6-week playgroup determined child playfulness, play participation, parent competence, and social participation. Participation in playgroup increased child playfulness (p = 0.029, n2 = 0.140) across all conditions. The main effect comparing the three types of playgroup intervention was also significant (p = .023, n2 = .255), suggesting further research to determine specific factors that can enhance playgroup effectiveness. There were no significant effects on parent competence, play participation, or social participation of the groups. The occupational therapy provider can develop...
Mesenchymal stem cell therapies for skin repair and regeneration

In the clinic partial to full thickness skin defects are generally treated through debridement and patching with autologous skin grafts Autologous skin grafts are in severely limited supply especially for ill patients lacking healthy tissue to donate to themselves Stem cells have come into interest as a novel viable way to heal skin wounds Mesenchymal stem cells MSCs are of particular interest due to its common mesoderm germ layer origins as skin tissue Mesenchymal stem cells are primarily derived from bone marrow adipose tissue and umbilical cord Bone marrow MSCs have been widely applied to chronic wounds in non diabetic and diabetic subjects with positive results for wound healing and closure Adipose derived stem cells ASCs are a more recent application to skin healing It has been found that ASCs secrete growth factors positive for augmenting wound healing such as TGF beta ASCs are also a more attractive cell source for clinical use due their great abundance and ease of procurement from discarded tissues from cosmetic surgery procedures Most recently umbilical cord MSCs have been tested for its effects on wound healing showing that the cells rsquo paracrine effects can accelerate skin wound healing Overall mesenchymal stem cells show great promise to progress skin wound treatments especially for chronic wounds However more clinical research is needed prior to patient application
Sirtuins regulate proteomic responses near thermal tolerance limits in the blue mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis and Mytilus trossulus

The blue mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis and M. trossulus are competing species with biogeographical ranges set in part by environmental exposure to heat and hyposalinity. The underlying cellular mechanisms influencing interspecific differences in stress tolerance are unknown, but are believed to be under regulation by sirtuins, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent deacylases that play a critical role in the cellular stress response. A comparison of the proteomic responses of M. galloprovincialis and M. trossulus to an acute heat shock in the presence and absence of the sirtuin inhibitor suramin (SIRT1, 2 and 5) showed that sirtuins affected molecular chaperones, oxidative stress proteins, metabolic enzymes, cytoskeletal and signaling proteins more in the heat-sensitive M. trossulus than in the heat-tolerant M. galloprovincialis Interactions between sirtuin inhibition and changes in the abundance of proteins of β-oxidation and oxidative stress in M. trossulus suggest a greater role of sirtuins in shifting metabolism to reduce the production of reactive oxygen species near thermal limits. Furthermore, RNA-binding proteins initiating and inhibiting translation were affected by suramin in M. galloprovincialis and M. trossulus, respectively. Western blot analysis showed that the levels of mitochondrial sirtuin 5 (SIRT5) were generally three times higher and increased with acute heat stress in response to sirtuin inhibition in M. trossulus but not in M. galloprovincialis, suggesting a possible feedback response in the former species and a greater reliance on SIRT5 for its stress response. Our findings suggest that SIRT5 plays an important role in setting interspecific differences in stress tolerance in Mytilus by affecting the stress proteome.
Cytokine and Lipid Mediator Regulation of Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells(ILC2s) in Human Allergic Airway Disease

The recent discovery of group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) has caused a paradigm shift in the understanding of allergic airway disease pathogenesis. Prior to the discovery of ILC2s, Th2 cells were largely thought to be the primary source of type 2 cytokines; however, activated ILC2s have since been shown to contribute significantly, and in some cases, dominantly to type 2 cytokine production. Since the discovery of ILC2s in 2010, many mediators have been shown to regulate their effector functions. Initial studies identified the epithelial derived cytokines IL-25, IL-33, and TSLP as activators of ILC2s, and recent studies have identified many additional cytokine and lipid mediators that are involved in ILC2 regulation. ILC2s and their mediators represent novel therapeutic targets for allergic airway diseases and intensive investigation is underway to better understand ILC2 biology and upstream and downstream pathways that lead to ILC2-driven airway pathology. In this review, we will focus on the cytokine and lipid mediators that regulate ILC2s in human allergic airway disease, as well as highlight newly discovered mediators of mouse ILC2s that may eventually translate to humans.
Bilateral Internuclear Ophthalmoplegia in Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (P02.257)

OBJECTIVE: This case serves to demonstrate a neuro-anatomical rationale for the presence of internuclear ophthalmoplegia in Neuromyelitis Optica and Neuromyelitis Optica spectrum disorders. BACKGROUND: Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) and NMO spectrum disorders are increasingly recognized clinical entities. Outside of typical cases, the physician must use clinical clues to determine whether it is appropriate to evaluate for NMO. Recent studies show that some NMO brain lesions tend to be located in the hypothalamus and around the third and fourth ventricles. This distinctive localization provides an opportunity to assist in the diagnosis of NMO, as is seen in the case we present here. DESIGN/METHODS: A 36 year old female with a history of cervical transverse myelitis presented with several days of horizontal binocular diplopia. Examination revealed bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia. Initial serum studies were unremarkable. CSF examination showed 13 leukocytes (97% lymphocytes), 660 erythrocytes, normal glucose and protein, and greater than 5 oligoclonal bands. MRI brain showed gadolinium enhancement and T2 signal hyperintensity in the hypothalamus and along the floor of the fourth ventricle. RESULTS: She received methylprednisolone 1000mg IV daily for 5 days, followed by plasma exchange. Towards the end of her course of plasma exchange her internuclear ophthalmoplegia improved. Serum NMO antibody testing was positive. CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral INO has been described infrequently in NMO. Yet, the high density of aquaporin channel expression near the floor of the fourth ventricle, adjacent to the medial longitudinal fasciculus, provides a neuro-anatomic rationale for bilateral INO in NMO spectrum disorders. NMO, in addition to multiple sclerosis, should be considered in cases of bilateral INO. Supported by: 1. Shinoda K, Matsushita T, Furuta K, et al. Wall-eyed bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia syndrome in a patient with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and anti-aquaporin 4 antibody. Multiple Sclerosis Journal 2011;17(7):885-887. 2. Pittock SJ, Weinshenker BG, Lucchinetti CF, et al. Neuromyelitis Optica brain lesions localized at sites of high aquaporin 4 expression. Arch Neurol 2006;63:964-968. Disclosure: Dr. Gratton has nothing to disclose. Dr. Osborne has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec and Teva Neuroscience. Dr. Amjad has received personal compensation for activities with Teva Pharmaceuticals, Merz Pharmaceuticals, UCB, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, and Lundbeck as a consultant. Dr. Amjad has participated in research trials sponsored by Merz Pharmaceuticals, Abbott, UCB, and Allergan.
Simple Linear Regression

(1971). Simple Linear Regression. Journal of Quality Technology: Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 138-143.
Field sensitivity of flow predictions to rheological parameters

Abstract A formulation is developed, based on the adjoint governing equations, for efficiently computing the spatially dependent sensitivity of a quantity of interest in a flow to the parameters of a rheological model for the fluid. It is demonstrated for the viscous resistance of a sphere moving within a fluid-filled round tube, both for a Carreau model for Carbopol and a four-parameter Moore model for a generic thixotropic fluid. The field sensitivity information provided is valuable for quantifying the relative importance of different underlying physical mechanisms of the fluid and their respective roles in different regions of the flow, for directing rheological characterization to improve fidelity for a particular prediction, for inferring rheological properties from indirect measurements, and in aiding the design of fluids to meet objectives.
Test-Retest Reliability and the Effects of Exercise on the King-Devick Test.

OBJECTIVE To determine the test-retest reliability and the influence of exercise on King-Devick (K-D) test performance. DESIGN Crossover study design. SETTING Controlled laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Participants consisted of 63 (39 women and 24 men) healthy, recreationally active college students who were 21.0 + 1.5 years of age. INDEPENDENT VARIABLES Participants completed the K-D test using a 2-week, test-retest interval. The K-D test was administered before and after a counterbalanced exercise or rest intervention. Reliability was assessed using testing visits (visit 1 and visit 2) as the independent variables. Exercise or rest and time (baseline, postintervention) were used as independent variables to examine the influence of exercise. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Intraclass correlation (ICC) coefficients with 95% confidence intervals were calculated between visits to assess reliability of K-D test completion time. A repeated-measure 2 x 2 analysis of variance (intervention × time) with post hoc paired t tests was used to assess the influence of exercise on K-D test performance. RESULTS The K-D test was observed to have strong test-retest reliability [ICC2,1 = 0.90 (0.71, 0.96)] over time. No significant intervention-by-time interaction (P = 0.55) or intervention main effects (P = 0.68) on K-D time were observed. Mean differences of -1.5 and -1.7 seconds (P < 0.001) were observed between baseline and rest and exercise interventions for K-D test performance, respectively. Up to 32% (20/63) of participants were observed to have a false-positive K-D test performance before and after each intervention. CONCLUSIONS Although strong test-retest reliability coefficients were observed using clinically relevant time points, a high false-positive rate warrants caution when interpreting the K-D test.
No Jokes About Dope: Morse v. Frederick's Educational Rationale

This piece begins with a "protective" reading of Morse v. Frederick, showing how this rationale provides a good starting point in understanding Morse but is ultimately incomplete. Indeed, Justice Stevens’ dissent is largely an argument that the protective rationale falls short here. I then re-examine Morse from the perspective of the educational rationale and conclude that the underlying, largely unstated premise of the Morse majority is that schools — as part of teaching students about the gravity of drug use — should be able to convey disapproval of messages suggesting that drug use is a joking or trivial matter. This helps to explain why Justice Stevens’ argument — that Frederick’s message was "stupid" and that he was just seeking attention — was wholly unconvincing to the majority, which was disturbed by those very aspects of Frederick’s speech. It also helps to explain Justice Alito’s concurrence, in which he distinguished between Frederick’s speech and any speech that could "plausibly be interpreted as commenting on any political or social issue." What harmed Frederick was that his speech minimized the seriousness of drug use while lacking the redeeming value of conveying a genuine message. In Justice Alito’s eyes, a thoughtful argument for legalizing marijuana would deserve more protection than Frederick’s banner, regardless of whether the former might actually have greater potential to persuade at least some students to experiment with it. I conclude with some reflections about why the Court left Morse’s educational rationale in the subtext, rather than explicitly articulating it, and what this suggests for how the Supreme Court is approaching student speech cases.
X-ray crystal structure of the 1:1 dimethylpicric acid–acenaphthene complex

The dimethylpicric acid–acenaphthene complex is orthorhombic, space group P212121; at 24° a = 7.3685(1), b = 15.4159(1), c = 16.1296(3) A, D x = 1.491(2) g cm−3, V = 1832.19(4) A3, Z = 4. The phenolic OH group in the dimethylpicric acid is intramolecularly hydrogen bonded to one of the ortho nitro groups with an O⋯O distance of 2.500(2) A. This nitro group is twisted out of the plane of the benzene ring by 8.2°; the twist angles of the other nitro groups are 52.6 and 83.5°. The acenaphthene molecule deviates slightly from planarity as a consequence of the torsion angle at CH 2-CH 2 being 1.8 rather then 0°. The molecules pack in stacks of alternating picric acid and acenaphthene molecules. Each stack is surrounded by a close-packed arrangement of six other stacks. The acenaphthene molecules are 2.7° away from being parallel to the benzene ring in the picric acid. The distances from the benzene ring to the acenaphthene carbon atoms range from 3.26 to 3.49 A on one side of the ring and from 3.30 to 3.54 A on the other.
The Moral Economists: R.H. Tawney, Karl Polanyi, E.P. Thompson, and the Critique of Capitalism, by Tim Rogan

By the end of the nineteenth century, leaders of many industrializing countries became increasingly concerned about social stability as radical insurgencies arose to replace laissez-faire instituti...
Intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate and its effect on horses with trigeminal-mediated headshaking.

Author(s): Sheldon, Shara A; Aleman, Monica; Costa, Lais Rosa R; Santoyo, Ana C; Howey, Quinn; Madigan, John E | Abstract: BackgroundTrigeminal-mediated headshaking results from low-threshold firing of the trigeminal nerve resulting in apparent facial pain. Magnesium may have neuroprotective effects on nerve firing that potentially dampen signs of neuropathic pain. This hypothesis has not been investigated in horses with trigeminal-mediated headshaking.ObjectiveTo investigate head-shaking behavior in affected horses after IV magnesium sulfate infusion.AnimalsSix geldings with trigeminal-mediated headshaking.MethodsProspective randomized crossover study. Horses were controlled for diet and infused IV with 5% dextrose solution (DS; control solution at 2 mL/kg body weight [BW]) and MgSO4 50% solution (MSS at 40 mg/kg BW). Head-shaking behavior was recorded at times T0 (baseline, before infusion) and T15, T30, T60, and T120 minutes post-infusion. Venous blood variables such as pH, HCO3 - , standard base excess (SBE), Na+ , Cl- , K+ , Ca2+ , Mg2+ , total magnesium (tMg), glucose, and lactate were measured; strong ion difference (SID) and anion gap (AG) were calculated for each time point.ResultsBlood variables including pH, Na+ , Cl- , K+ , SID, AG, lactate, Ca2+ , tMg, and Mg2+ had significant changes with MSS as compared to DS treatment. Glucose, SBE, and HCO3 - did not have significant changes. A 29% reduction in head-shaking rate occurred after MSS treatment but no change occurred after DS treatment.Conclusions and clinical importanceAdministration of MSS IV increased plasma total and ionized magnesium concentrations and significantly decreased head-shaking behavior in horses with trigeminal-mediated headshaking.
Where and When Police Use Deadly Force: a County-Level Longitudinal Analysis of Fatalities Involving Interaction with Law Enforcement

In the past few years, there have been numerous high-profile shootings by police, with wide-spread speculation many may have been either racially motivated or the result of an abuse of power by police. While past researchers have used community-level data to test theories of “racial or economic threat”—that police target violence at minorities or the poor to prevent redistributive criminal activity and maintain the existing order—or “reactive hypotheses” of policing focused on the use of force to prevent violence against officers and other citizens, the majority of these studies are dated, rely on incomplete government data on justifiable police killings, and fail to consider predictors of police killings such as non-murder violent offense rates, property crime rates, or violence against police. However, recently, many internet archives have collected more complete data on police killings, and this study utilizes one such source to create a county-level longitudinal dataset of police-related fatalities from 2000 to 2014 to estimate the causal relationship between changes in county characteristics and police-related fatalities. In addition to finding police-related fatalities are strongly correlated with murder rates, findings show substantial evidence that police-related fatalities are also strongly correlated with rates of property crime and assaults on officers, factors not previously considered. Contrary to previous research, this study finds little to no evidence in favor of the “racial or economic threat hypotheses” when examining police-related fatalities within county over time.
Frequency Domain Multi-channel Acoustic Modeling for Distant Speech Recognition

Conventional far-field automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems typically employ microphone array techniques for speech enhancement in order to improve robustness against noise or reverberation. However, such speech enhancement techniques do not always yield ASR accuracy improvement because the optimization criterion for speech enhancement is not directly relevant to the ASR objective. In this work, we develop new acoustic modeling techniques that optimize spatial filtering and long short-term memory (LSTM) layers from multi-channel (MC) input based on an ASR criterion directly. In contrast to conventional methods, we incorporate array processing knowledge into the acoustic model. Moreover, we initialize the network with beamformers’ coefficients. We investigate effects of such MC neural networks through ASR experiments on the real-world far-field data where users are interacting with an ASR system in uncontrolled acoustic environments. We show that our MC acoustic model can reduce a word error rate (WER) by 16.5% compared to a single channel ASR system with the traditional log-mel filter bank energy (LFBE) feature on average. Our result also shows that our network with the spatial filtering layer on two-channel input achieves a relative WER reduction of 9.5% compared to conventional beamforming with seven microphones.
Applying Pick's Theorem to Randomized Areas.

Elementary school students enjoy working with different shapes. The appeal of these activities is not surprising considering students' familiarity with Cuisenaire rods, attribute blocks, geoboards, and other manipulatives that promote concept development. A variety of such activities has proved to be highly successful in developing geometric concepts with children. Commonalities among the most successful activities include the
Nanoacoustics Comes Quietly [Guest Editorial]

In this special issue, four articles were gathered to report and review recent developments in nanoacoustics. Specifically, Li et al. present the development of a new low-cost and portable nanophotonic sensor to measure mechanical or environmental quantities, such as acoustic, bending, stretching, or temperature changes, suggesting the potential of nanoacoustics for wearable, portable electronics for applications in the Internet of Things.
Creating a continuum of STEM models: Exploring how K-12 science teachers conceptualize STEM education

ABSTRACTAs more and more science teachers in the United States are now expected to implement STEM education in their classrooms, it is important to understand how teachers conceptualise STEM educat...
Short selling and market anomalies

Abstract We assess the importance of well-known market anomalies for shorting strategies and how it changes over the 1988–2014 period. We find that anomalies contribute to both relative short interest (RSI) and RSI's negative information content about future earnings surprises and analyst actions. Anomalies explain more than half of the RSI-return relation. These results neither attenuate over time nor vary with market sentiment. RSI on least-shorted firms contains unique return-predictive information, which becomes increasingly important over time while RSI on most-shorted firms does not. Our findings suggest that a significant portion of short sellers' informational advantage comes from exploiting market anomalies.
Nanoscale Spatially Resolved Mapping of Uranium Enrichment.

Spatially resolved analysis of uranium (U) isotopes in small volumes of actinide-bearing materials is critical for a variety of technical disciplines, including earth and planetary sciences, environmental monitoring, bioremediation, and the nuclear fuel cycle. However, achieving subnanometer-scale spatial resolution for such isotopic analysis is currently a challenge. By using atom probe tomography—a three-dimensional nanoscale characterisation technique—we demonstrate unprecedented nanoscale mapping of U isotopic enrichment with high sensitivity across various microstructural interfaces within small volumes (~100 nm3) of depleted and low-enriched U alloyed with 10 wt% molybdenum that has different nominal enrichments of 0.20 and 19.75% 235U, respectively. We map enrichment in various morphologies of a U carbide phase, the adjacent γ-UMo matrix, and across interfaces (e.g., carbide/matrix, grain boundary). Results indicate the U carbides were formed during casting, rather than retained from either highly enriched or depleted U feedstock materials. The approach presented here can be applied to study nanoscale variations of isotopic abundances in the broad class of actinide-bearing materials, providing unique insights into their origins and thermomechanical processing routes.
Polish Manhood in Transition: Anxieties of Neoliberal Masculinity in Robert Gliński's Cześć Tereska

Robert Glinski’s post-communist film Cześc Tereska generated extensive controversy as a story of Polish teenagers disconnected from traditional morality in an anonymous apartment block. Its central...
Challenges for leveraging citizen science to support statistically robust monitoring programs

Abstract Large samples and long time series are often needed for effective broad-scale monitoring of status and trends in wild populations. Obtaining those sample sizes can be more feasible when volunteers contribute to the dataset, but volunteer-selected sites are not always representative of a population. Previous work to account for biased site selection has relied on knowledge of covariates to explain differences between site types, but such knowledge is often unavailable. For cases where relevant covariates have not been defined, we used a simulation study to identify the consequences of including non-probabilistically selected sites (NP sites) in addition to sites selected from a probability-based design (P sites), test modeling frameworks that might correct for biases, and evaluate whether those frameworks could allow NP sites to reduce the sampling requirement for P sites and potentially reduce costs of monitoring. We informed the simulation with pilot data from surveys of monarch butterflies and their obligate larval host plant, milkweed. We found strong biases in NP sites versus P sites in density and trends of monarchs and milkweed. Modeling frameworks that accounted for site type with a group effect or that strongly downweighted NP sites successfully produced unbiased estimates. However, sampling more NP sites typically did not improve accuracy or precision, and adding NP sites sometimes required also adding P sites to prevent biases. Further work on novel modeling frameworks would be useful to allow citizen-science data to contribute useful information to conservation.
NaGaS2: An Elusive Layered Compound with Dynamic Water Absorption and Wide‐Ranging Ion‐Exchange Properties

Most ternary sulfides belonging to the MGaS2 structure-type have been known for many years and are well-characterized. Surprisingly, there have been no reports of the NaGaS2 composition, which contains Na, a monovalent cation slightly larger in size than Li, found in LiGaS2 , a compound known for its non-linear optical properties. Now it is demonstrated for the first time that the unique reversible water absorption in NaGaS2 has resulted in its absence from previous reports owing to difficulties encountered when characterizing this compound by SC XRD. The layered structure of this compound coupled with uniquely easy migration of water molecules between the layers allows for ion exchange with 3d and 5f metal cations. Some cations, for example, Ni2+ , facilitate exfoliation of the layers, providing a facile synthetic route to a new class of 2D chalcogenide materials and furthermore demonstrating that NaGaS2 can readily uptake uranyl species from aqueous solutions.
Effects of Thermal Boundary Resistance on the Thermal Performance of GaN HEMT on Diamond

GaN high power devices experience substantial self-heating that drives operation temperatures beyond a safe and reliable limit, which has led to the consideration of high conductivity substrates. This study presents a coupled experimental and numerical investigation of the effectiveness of CVD-Diamond as a substrate for GaN HEMTs. The study uses a novel that optimizes a thermal model using an experimentally observed thermal response. The model is then used to assess the effect of the GaN-Di interface on the thermal response of GaN-Di HEMTs, which would serve as a guideline for future developments in GaN and Di growth.
Adaptive Complementary Filtering Algorithm for IMU Based on MEMS

Aiming at the inaccuracy of the attitude angle estimation caused by low measurement accuracy of MEMS sensors, this paper proposed an adaptive sparse interpolation lossless complementary filter (ASICF) based on quaternion and complementary filtering. Data fusion of the MEMS accelerometer and the MEMS gyroscope is performed in ASICF to calculate roll and pitch. By down sampling frequency down-conversion operation, the sampled data is adaptively preprocessed. ASICF is verified by the MAV dataset, the self-driving car dataset and the human pose dataset, and it is proven that the algorithm has high accuracy under the condition of large disturbance of acceleration or dramatic attitude change.
Injecting Law Student Drama Into the Classroom: Transforming an E-Discovery Class (or Any Law School Class) with a Complex, Student-Generated Simulation

Gem Finch, Boone Radley, and Pickle Harris are just three of the characters who play a dramatic – and key – role in my e-discovery focused pre-trial litigation class. I did not originally invite them into the class for the drama. I was interested in their email. In 2009, I was planning a pre-trial litigation class that would include e-discovery issues. But I could not find a pre-packaged case that included ESI – the electronically stored information that is the mainstay of e-discovery practice. The case materials included in most pre-trial litigation books involved car accidents and simple contract disputes. I knew that I needed ESI to make the course work. So with ESI in mind, I developed a two-semester simulation. In the fall semester, I offer a group of law students a single hour of course credit (as an independent study) to email one another, following a loose script, to create a business dispute among their assigned characters. Their dispute becomes the lawsuit in my pre-trial litigation class the following semester. In that course, independent study students play the clients and the witnesses (“student-characters”), and the pre-trial litigation students are their lawyers (“student-lawyers”). While the initial goal of the simulation was ESI, the result was (and is) a complex, realistic drama that enhances every aspect of the course. Developing a theory of the case requires more than reading a two-page summary of facts, as might be required in a typical pre-trial litigation class. The student-lawyers have to review thousands of documents, interview witnesses, and stay in constant contact with their clients. Their clients are passionate and opinionated. The witnesses have allegiances and their own motives. To meet the demands of their clients, the student-lawyers must learn e-discovery doctrine and develop the skills needed to litigate the case and address the ethical dilemmas they encounter. In the process, the student-characters gain knowledge and skills they will take to practice, too. In short, the simulation does more than generate the data for e-discovery. It makes the course into something akin to the practice of law. In this article, I explain the transformative power of a complex, student-generated simulation.
An Overview of Optimization, Characterization, Recovery and Application of Polyhydroxyalkanoates Synthesized by Microorganisms

As we step towards a sustainable future, the biggest hindrance is challenging the efficiency and economic application of plastics in most industries. In this effect, the bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) appear to be a suitable candidate to replace non-degradable plastics, and confront the environmental pollution caused by its accumulation over the decades. PHA are energy reserves produced by microbial cells that can be utilized during nutrient deficient conditions, and show properties similar to non-degradable plastics used extensively by common people for decades. In addition, they are biodegradable and biocompatible. Hence, in order to replace the existing plastics, PHA accumulating micro-organisms are gaining considerable interest of researchers and environmentalists. The properties of PHAs depend on several physicochemical parameters, and factors like microbial strain, and its growth and nutritional conditions. Hence studying different optimization parameters for PHA accumulation in bacterial cells and its characterization is extremely important, even if produced by same species isolated from different environment. Using biotechnology and interdisciplinary approaches, the PHAs have extensive scope not only in the field of marketing but also in areas of medicine, due to its degradable nature. This monograph gives an overview of the techniques reported in literature to screen PHA accumulators, optimize its accumulation and characterize these polymers using analytical instruments. Besides, various applications of PHAs in diverse fields are also discussed.
Culture Ordering for Patients with New-onset Fever: A Survey of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Clinician Practices.

Introduction Accurate assessment of infection in critically ill patients is vital to their care. Both indiscretion and under-utilization of diagnostic microbiology testing can contribute to inappropriate antibiotic administration or delays in diagnosis. However, indiscretion in diagnostic microbiology cultures may also lead to unnecessary tests that, if false-positive, would incur additional costs and unhelpful evaluations. This quality improvement project objective was to assess pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) clinicians' attitudes and practices around the microbiology work-up for patients with new-onset fever. Methods We developed and conducted a self-administered electronic survey of PICU clinicians at a single institution. The survey included 7 common clinical vignettes of PICU patients with new-onset fever and asked participants whether they would obtain central line blood cultures, peripheral blood cultures, respiratory aspirate cultures, cerebrospinal fluid cultures, urine cultures, and/or urinalyses. Results Forty-seven of 54 clinicians (87%) completed the survey. Diagnostic specimen ordering practices were notably heterogeneous. Respondents unanimously favored a decision-support algorithm to guide culture specimen ordering practices for PICU patients with fever (100%, N = 47). A majority (91.5%, N = 43) indicated that a decision-support algorithm would be a means to align PICU and consulting care teams when ordering culture specimens for patients with fever. Conclusion This survey revealed variability of diagnostic specimen ordering practices for patients with new fever, supporting an opportunity to standardize practices. Clinicians favored a decision-support tool and thought that it would help align patient management between clinical team members. The results will be used to inform future diagnostic stewardship efforts.
Measuring the Consequences of a Binding Interest Rate Cap on Small-Dollar Installment Loans

Regulated small-dollar installment lenders do not operate within Arkansas, but they do in all six bordering states. We can measure the effects of Arkansas' 17 percent interest rate cap because Arkansas residents obtain installment loans only from out-state lenders. On average, Arkansas residents borrow \$1,051 at an APR of 93 percent, when incorporating travel costs. Perimeter county residents hold 96.8 percent of out-state supplied small-dollar installment loans and interior county residents hold 3.2 percent. Robustness checks show that nonprime borrowers in the interior counties have less access to all sources of credit than do prime borrowers in the perimeter counties.
Scandal of Colonial Rule: Power and Subversion in the British Atlantic during the Age of Revolution

In 1806 General Thomas Picton, Britain's first governor of Trinidad, was brought to trial for the torture of a free mulatto named Louisa Calderon and for overseeing a regime of terror over the island's slave population. James Epstein offers a fascinating account of the unfolding of this colonial drama. He shows the ways in which the trial and its investigation brought empire 'home' and exposed the disjuncture between a national self-image of humane governance and the brutal realities of colonial rule. He uses the trial to open up a range of issues, including colonial violence and norms of justice, the status of the British subject, imperial careering, visions of development after slavery, slave conspiracy and the colonial archive. He reveals how Britain's imperial regime became more authoritarian, hierarchical and militarised but also how unease about abuses of power and of the rights of colonial subjects began to grow.
Realizability of Force and Displacement Systems

Motivated by optimization problems in which it is sometimes convenient to neglect constitutive equations and work with force systems that only satisfy equilibrium, the additional constraints imposed by the use of constitutive equations are considered in this paper. It is shown that the question of the existence of structures that reproduce a given equilibrium system can be posed as a problem of linear systems and that Farkas' Lemma is central to its solution. The effect of pressure is also considered.
Detection of Elementary Particles Using Superconducting Transition-Edge Phonon Sensors on Silicon Crystals

Our group at Stanford, is developing a phonon-mediated radiation detector based on the collection of ballistic phonons generated by particle interactions within a silicon crystal. The phonons are sensed using titanium superconducting thin films on opposite sides of the crystal. The titanium films are 40 nm thick and have a transition temperature of about 400 mK. They are patterned into a 2 μm wide meander. The detector is operated at a temperature slightly below Tc and at a bias current of about 75 nA. Self-extinguishing voltage pulses of several microsecond duration are observed from alpha particle and x-ray interactions in the silicon substrate.
Epigenetic Mechanisms in the Regulation of the Maize Suppressor—Mutator Transposon

Transcription and transposition of the maize Suppressor-mutator (Spm) transposon are epigenetically controlled. Methylation of specific element sequences prevents transcription and transposition in a heritable manner. Reactivation and demethylation occur in the presence of an active element, implying the existence of an element-encoded epigenetic activator. The methylation target sequences are the 0.2 kb promoter and an 0.35 kb GC-rich downstream sequence. Two Spm-encoded proteins, TnpA and TnpD, participate in transposition. In addition, TnpA has positive and negative regulatory activities. TnpA represses and activates the unmethylated and methylated Spm promoters, respectively, and it participates in the transient and heritable demethylation of the promoter and GC-rich region. There is evidence that TnpA-mediated repressor and epigenetic activator functions occur by different molecular mechanisms.
Atypical pit craters on Mars: New insights from THEMIS, CTX, and HiRISE observations

More than 100 pit craters in the Tharsis region of Mars exhibit morphologies, diameters, and thermal behaviors that diverge from the much larger bowl-shaped pit craters that occur in most regions across Mars. These Atypical Pit Craters (APCs) generally have sharp and distinct rims, vertical or overhanging walls that extend down to their floors, surface diameters of ~50–350 m, and high depth to diameter (d/D) ratios that are usually greater than 0.3 (which is an upper range value for impacts and bowl-shaped pit craters) and can exceed values of 1.8. Observations by the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) show that APC floor temperatures are warmer at night and fluctuate with much lower diurnal amplitudes than nearby surfaces or adjacent bowl-shaped pit craters. Kīlauea volcano, Hawai'i, hosts pit craters that formed through subsurface collapse into active volcanic dikes, resulting in pits that can appear morphologically analogous to either APCs or bowl-shaped pit craters. Partially drained dikes are sometimes exposed within the lower walls and floors of these terrestrial APC analogs and can form extensive cave systems with unique microclimates. Similar caves in Martian pit craters are of great interest for astrobiology. This study uses new observations by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and Context Camera to refine previous work where seven APCs were described from lower resolution THEMIS visible wavelength observations. Here we identify locations of 115 APCs, map their distribution across the Tharsis region, characterize their internal morphologies with high-resolution observations, and discuss possible formation mechanisms.