cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Protein Biomarkers for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Advances in breast cancer control will be greatly aided by early detection so as to diagnose and treat breast cancer in its preinvasive state prior to metastasis. For breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the United States, early detection does allow for increased treatment options, including surgical resection, with a corresponding better patient response. Unfortunately, however, many patients' tumors are diagnosed following metastasis, thus making it more difficult to successfully treat the malignancy. There are, at present, no existing validated plasma/serum biomarkers for breast cancer. Only a few biomarkers (such as HER-2/neu, estrogen receptor, and progesterone receptor) have utility for diagnosis and prognosis. Thus, there is a great need for new biomarkers for breast cancer. This paper will focus on the identification of new serum protein biomarkers with utility for the early detection of breast cancer.
The beta spectrum of carrier-free Ni63☆

Abstract A method is given for the preparation of appreciable quantities of practically carrier-free Ni63 from pile irradiations of copper via the Cu63(n,p) reaction, which has an effective cross-section of 3 millibarns for the neutron spectrum encountered in a typical LITR irradiation. The beta spectrum was studied in a large gas proportional counter with carrier-free Ni63 mounted on a saturation thickness of platinum foil placed as a platform inside the sensitive volume. The allowed Fermi-Kurie plot appears to be linear to 7·5 keV, which suggests that the decay probably belongs to the class of allowed transitions with exceptionally long half-lives, interpreted to be “l-forbidden.” The endpoint of the beta-spectrum occurs at 67·0 ± 0·5 keV. The irradiation of spectroscopically-pure copper oxide powder produced appreciable amounts of Co60 and Zn65 corresponding to 0·6 p.p.m. cobalt and 1–2 p.p.m. zinc as subspectroscopic impurities in the target material.
Effects of an Individualized Narrative Intervention on Children's Storytelling and Comprehension Skills.

Narrative skills that are important for preschoolers include retelling stories, telling personal stories, and answering questions about stories. Narrative abilities form the foundation of reading c...
Problem‐Solving Training as Prevention with College Students

Problem-solving processes play an important role within remedial and human effectiveness models of development. This article discusses the use of preventive problem-solving training with college students.
Putting the chemistry back into analytical chemistry

Abstract Aspects of the current status of and research in analytical chemistry are briefly discussed and the need for cost effective analytical procedures is emphasized. The present and future of a number of aspects of flow-injection analysis are considered. These include the basic theory, the kinetic features, the control features, time-based methodology, and the coupling of sample pretreatment with instrumentation. Several aspects of this latter topic are considered with particular reference to the flow-injection atomic spectrometry combination. Problems of kinetic mismatch between chemistry, manifold residence, and instrument operation are discussed and some possible solutions proposed including the use of closed loop manifolds.
RAG knockouts deliver a one/two punch.

The ability of mammals to protect themselves from invasion by foreign cells or pathogens is controlled primarily by the lymphoid immune system. This system is composed of B cells, which produce antibodies, and T cells, which direct cell-mediated immune responses, Collectively, mature B and T cells have the ability to initiate immune responses against an enormous number of foreign antigens. Recognition of antigens by B cells is mediated through the variable region of their cell surface immunoglobulin receptor (sIg). T-cell antigen recogni tion is mediated by the variable domain of the T-cell receptor (TCR). The genes that encode the sIg and TCR molecules are assembled during B and T cell development, respectively, from individual members of variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) gene segment families in a process known as V(D)J recombination. Although V(D)J recombination creates only a single type of TCR or sIg in each individual B or T cell, the combinatorial diversity of the recombination process generates B and T cells ,with > 10s distinct antigenic speciiicities. Subsequent selection processes during Band T-cell development serve to remove or inactivate cells with receptors that react against self-antigens,
Stability of MX-type strengthening nanoprecipitates in ferritic steels under thermal aging, stress and ion irradiation

Abstract The stability of MX-type precipitates is critical to retain mechanical properties of both reduced activation ferritic–martensitic (RAFM) and conventional FM steels at elevated temperatures above ∼500 °C. The stability of TaC, TaN and VN nanoprecipitates under thermal aging (600 and 700 °C), creep (600 °C) and ion irradiation (Fe ion, 500 °C) conditions was systematically studied in this work. The statistical particle evolution in density and size was characterized using transmission electron microscopy. Nanoprecipitate stability under the studied conditions manifested differently through either dissolution, reprecipitation, growth or fragmentation, with TaC exhibiting the greatest stability followed by VN and TaN in sequence. Nanoprecipitate evolution phenomena and mechanisms and the apparent disagreement of this interpretation with published literature on the subject are discussed. These findings not only help understanding the degradation mechanisms of RAFM and conventional FM steels at elevated temperatures and under stress and irradiation, but should also prove beneficial to the development of advanced RAFM steels.
Prenatal healthcare providers' Gaucher disease carrier screening practices

Gaucher disease carrier screening is controversial in the medical community. The goal of this study was to explore current Gaucher disease carrier screening practices of prenatal healthcare providers. Prenatal healthcare providers were invited by email to complete an electronic-based survey. A total of 1,454 prenatal healthcare providers, including 209 genetic counselors, 450 midwives, and 795 physicians, completed the study. The majority of genetic counselors (n = 208/209, >99%), physicians (n = 415/450, 92%), and midwives (n = 634/795, 80%) currently offer Jewish ancestry disease carrier screening to couples in whom one or both partners are Jewish. Of providers who offer Jewish ancestry disease screening, the majority of genetic counselors (n = 199/208, 96%) and physicians (n = 352/415, 85%) always or sometimes offer Gaucher disease screening whereas the majority of midwives (n = 357/634, 56%) never offer Gaucher disease screening. This study presents the first report of Gaucher disease carrier screening practices of the prenatal healthcare providers in North America. Our results indicate that Gaucher disease carrier screening is being offered at a high rate within the scope of Jewish ancestry-based carrier screening. This may highlight a need to move away from the debate as to whether Gaucher disease carrier screening should be offered and, instead, focus on how best to provide Gaucher disease carrier screening services. Genet Med 2012:14(10):844–851
Histologic grading of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands

Seventy-nine patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma arising in salivary glands were studied to determine whether a correlation existed between the morphologic features of the tumor and the prognosis. Three histologic grades were established: Grade I, tumors with tubular and cribriform areas but without solid components; Grade II, cribriform tumors that were either pure or mixed with less than 30% of solid areas; and Grade III, tumors with a predominantly solid pattern. Cumulative survival rates at 15 years were 39%, 26%, and 5%, for Grades I, II, and III, respectively. Grade III tumors were larger, recurred frequently, and killed the patients within 4 years. Grade I lesions were smaller, were amenable to complete surgical excision, and had a protracted clinical course. Grade II tumors lay between the other two forms both clinically and pathologically. Other important prognostic features of the adenoid cystic carcinoma were its primary site, its presence or absence at surgical margins, and the anatomic structures it involved.
The effect of inherited contamination on egg and larval winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus

Abstract The exposure of adult winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus , to contaminated estuarine environments and a possible impact of this exposure on their progeny was investigated. Polluted study areas included Gaspee Point in upper Narragansett Bay, RI, New Bedford Harbor in Buzzards Bay, MA, noted for its PCB contamination, and Apponagansett Bay, MA, a less contaminated site near New Bedford. Fox Island, a relatively clean area in lower Narragansett Bay, served as a reference area. Although adult winter flounder disperse offshore during the summer, a tag and recapture study verified their yearly residence and exposure to contaminants at Gaspee Point during the spawning season. A similar migratory pattern was assumed for Buzzards Bay fish. Growth, survival and contaminant residues were measured in the progeny of fish collected from the study areas. Eggs from New Bedford Harbor flounder contained significantly higher levels of PCB (39·6 μm −1 dry weight), and larvae which hatched from these eggs, under clean laboratory conditions, were significantly smaller in length (2·96 mm) and weight (0·018 mm) than those from Fox Island fish (1·08 μm PCBg −1 dry weight, 3·22 mm, 0·022 mg). Linear regression analysis indicated a significant inverse relationship between PCB content of the eggs and length or weight at hatch. The adverse ecological consequence of small size at hatch is discussed.
Murder, Denunciation and Criminal Policing in Weimar Berlin

The pre-history of the ‘culture of denunciation’ or, more accurately, ‘mutual surveillance’ of the nazi period can be found in the institutions and practices developed by the criminal police of the Weimar period. Excluding criminal policing from the realm of denunciation creates an analytically and historically false distinction that misses the interconnection between the public surveillance of criminal, political and sexual activity in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. Focusing on the criminal police in Berlin, and in particular the work of the homicide squad, the article demonstrates how the efforts of police to cultivate a partnership with its citizens in the war on crime, through public relations campaigns and a close but problematic relationship with the press, helped to produce a set of ‘accusatory practices’ that both served and undermined the interests of the state. A case study of a 1931 murder investigation that lasted five years illustrates the similarities between citizens’ behaviour in criminal...
The Quantity Flexibility Contract and Supplier-Customer Incentives

Consider a supply chain consisting of two independent agents, a supplier e.g., a manufacturer and its customer e.g., a retailer, the latter in turn serving an uncertain market demand. To reconcile manufacturing/procurement time lags with a need for timely response to the market, such supply chains often must commit resources to production quantities based on forecasted rather than realized demand. The customer typically provides a planning forecast of its intended purchase, which does not entail commitment. Benefiting from overproduction while not bearing the immediate costs, the customer has incentive to initially overforecast before eventually purchasing a lesser quantity. The supplier must in turn anticipate such behavior in its production quantity decision. This individually rational behavior results in an inefficient supply chain. This paper models the incentives of the two parties, identifying causes of inefficiency and suggesting remedies. Particular attention is given to the Quantity Flexibility QF contract, which couples the customer's commitment to purchase no less than a certain percentage below the forecast with the supplier's guarantee to deliver up to a certain percentage above. Under certain conditions, this method can allocate the costs of market demand uncertainty so as to lead the individually motivated supplier and customer to the systemwide optimal outcome. We characterize the implications of QF contracts for the behavior and performance of both parties, and the supply chain as a whole.
Strengths and Limitations of Genetic Mouse Models of Parkinson’s Disease

Genetic mouse models based on alpha-synuclein overexpression are particularly compelling because abnormal accumulation of alpha-synuclein occurs in sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD). Our laboratory has characterized a mouse overexpressing wild-type human alpha-synuclein under the Thy1 promoter, which confers broad expression of the transgene in neurons. These mice show progressive sensorimotor anomalies starting at 2 months of age, as well as olfactory and digestive deficits similar to those observed in patients at early stages of PD. Patterns of gene expression examined in nigrostriatal neurons isolated by single-cell laser capture microdissection in these mice at 6 months of age show an upregulation of defence mechanisms including increased levels of genes involved in proteasome and mitochondrial function, as well as cholesterol biosynthesis. At the same time, numerous alterations in genes encoding ion channels suggest that changes in the cellular function of these neurons occur independently of cell death. These data provide information on the early effects--in a mammalian brain--of a mutation known to cause PD, and they identify a number of useful end points for evaluating potential neuroprotective therapies that could interfere with the pathophysiological mechanisms of PD upstream of neuronal cell death.
Spatio-Temporal Querying of Video Content Using SQL for Quantizable Video Databases

Multimedia database modeling and representation play an important role for efficient storage and retrieval of multimedia. Modeling of semantic video content that enables spatiotemporal queries is one of the challenging tasks. A video is called as "quantizable" if the instants of a video are enough for a person to imagine the missing scenes properly. A semantic query for quantizable videos can be defined in a more flexible way using spatio-temporal instants. In this paper, we provide a semantic modeling and retrieval system, termed as G-SMART. Firstly, the videos are quantized according to semantic events. Then semantic instants and events of the video that include objects, events, and locations are provided as a grammar-based string. This linear string representation enables both the spatial and temporal retrieval of the video using Structured Query Language (SQL). The redundancy in this linear representation is reduced by using data reduction properties such as removal of implied information. Various types of queries such as event-object-location, event-location, object-location, event- object, current-next event, projection and semantic event are supported by G-SMART. A graphical user interface is designed to build queries and view the query results. G- SMART enables multimodal presentation by displaying the query results in the form images and videos. We show our results on a tennis video database. Index Terms-Video databases, semantic modeling, multimodal information retrieval, spatiotemporal queries
Impact of chemotherapy for HIV-1 related lymphoma on residual viremia and cellular HIV-1 DNA in patients on suppressive antiretroviral therapy.

The first cure of HIV-1 infection was achieved through complex, multimodal therapy including myeloablative chemotherapy, total body irradiation, anti-thymocyte globulin, and allogeneic stem cell transplantation with a CCR5 delta32 homozygous donor. The contributions of each component of this therapy to HIV-1 eradication are unclear. To assess the impact of cytotoxic chemotherapy alone on HIV-1 persistence, we longitudinally evaluated low-level plasma viremia and HIV-1 DNA in PBMC from patients in the ACTG A5001/ALLRT cohort on suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) who underwent chemotherapy for HIV-1 related lymphoma without interrupting ART. Plasma HIV-1 RNA, total HIV-1 DNA and 2-LTR circles (2-LTRs) in PBMC were measured using sensitive qPCR assays. In the 9 patients who received moderately intensive chemotherapy for HIV-1 related lymphoma with uninterrupted ART, low-level plasma HIV-1 RNA did not change significantly with chemotherapy: median HIV-1 RNA was 1 copy/mL (interquartile range: 1.0 to 20) pre-chemotherapy versus 4 copies/mL (interquartile range: 1.0 to 7.0) post-chemotherapy. HIV-1 DNA levels also did not change significantly, with median pre-chemotherapy HIV-1 DNA of 355 copies/106 CD4+ cells versus 228 copies/106 CD4+ cells post-chemotherapy. 2-LTRs were detectable in 2 of 9 patients pre-chemotherapy and in 3 of 9 patients post-chemotherapy. In summary, moderately intensive chemotherapy for HIV-1 related lymphoma in the context of continuous ART did not have a prolonged impact on HIV-1 persistence.
Application of selective leaching in fabrication of thin film YBCO devices

Ethylenediamine solutions have been shown to turn bulk YBCO into insulating materials. The effect of these solutions on thin YBCO films is studied. In both unpatterned and patterned films, a smooth decrease in critical currents, a transition to normal state, and a subsequent gradual increase in resistance are observed as a function of exposure time to the solution. It is noted that these characteristics might make this process desirable for weak-link and on-film resistor fabrication. >
Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia at Time of Relapse Commonly Demonstrates Cytogenetic Evidence of Clonal Evolution and Variability in Blast Immunophenotypic Features

Despite the success of the current therapy for patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), relapse occurs in up to 30% of patients. The characteristics of relapsed APL are not well described. We evaluated a group of APL cases at relapse and compared the clinicopathologic, immunophenotypic, molecular, and cytogenetic findings with those at initial diagnosis. From a group of 207 patients with APL, in 38 patients morphologic evidence of relapse developed. In 30 patients relapse was isolated to bone marrow, and 8 had extramedullary disease. Blasts were morphologically stable in 37 patients. Changes in the immunophenotypic profile were common, the most frequent being gain of CD34, HLA-DR, or CD33 and attenuation or loss of CD13. Cytogenetic changes were common at relapse. The size of the PML-RARα fusion transcript was invariable. We conclude that changes in the immunophenotype and cytogenetic evidence of clonal evolution are common in APL at the time of relapse. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) accounts for 10% to 15% of all cases of acute myeloid leukemia, with some reports registering a higher percentage in pediatric and Latino patient populations. 1,2 APL is genetically characterized by fusion of the promyelocytic leukemia (PML) and retinoic acid receptor α (RARα) genes as a result of t(15;17)(q22;q12), leading to expression of a novel PML-RARα protein. PMLRARα is a unifying signature of APL; however, other features can be variable. 3-5 In particular, there are 2 morphologic variants of APL, macrogranular (M3) and microgranular (M3v), with some differences in their immunophenotype. 6 Although APL is remarkably responsive to current therapeutic protocols, with a complete response rate of 90%, up to 30% of patients have a relapse. 7-13 The approach for establishing the diagnosis of relapse in patients with APL relies on the presumption that recurrent disease will be similar to the neoplasm before therapy. However, the characteristics of APL at the time of relapse are not well described in the literature. In this study, we evaluated the morphologic, immunophenotypic, cytogenetic, and molecular features of APL at the time of relapse and compared the findings with those of the original, pretherapy neoplasm. The results show that although the blast morphologic features are stable, immunophenotypic and cytogenetic changes are common.
The effect of deformation history on the morphology and properties of blends of polycarbonate and a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer

The effect of deformation history on the morphology and properties of liquid crystalline polymers (LCP) blended with polycarbonate resin was assessed. The addition of an immiscible LCP phase was found to improve the melt processability of the host thermoplastic polymer. In addition, by employing a suitable deformation history, the LCP phase may be elongated and oriented such that a microfibrillar morphology can be retained in the solid state.
Efficacy of eight commercial disinfectants against Microsporum canis and Trichophyton spp. infective spores on an experimentally contaminated textile surface.

Background An important part of treatment of dermatophytosis is the removal of infective material and decontamination of the environment. It is recognized that the role of disinfectants is to kill infective material not removed during the mechanical removal of debris and gross cleaning steps. A widely used disinfectant in the home is a dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite. Hypothesis/Objectives To determine whether over-the-counter products, particularly ready-to-use formulations, with label claim as fungicidal are effective against Microsporum or Trichophyton spores isolated from cat hair. Methods Eight commercial disinfectants were tested in vitro for fungicidal efficacy using three different trials and a 10 min contact time, as follows: a standard 1:10 spore dilution suspension test; 1 and 5 mL of disinfectant solution applied to contaminated gauze fabric; and, to simulate home use, one and five sprays of disinfectant applied to contaminated gauze. Good efficacy was defined as a product that completely inhibited growth. Results All products completely inhibited growth in the suspension test. Four of eight products showed complete inhibition of growth of both pathogens on the textile test after 1 mL or one spray; however, all eight products showed complete inhibition of pathogen growth after 5 mL or five sprays. Conclusions and clinical importance Aggressive removal of contaminated material followed by thorough application of commercial ready-to-use disinfectants labelled as fungicidal against Trichophyton mentagrophytes are alternatives to dilute sodium hypochlorite.
Conjugated Polymer-Based Flexible Photovoltaic Cells with Controlled Nanostructures

We demonstrate that conjugated polymers (CPs)-based flexible solar cells with well-defined interdigitated donor-acceptor interfaces enhance charge separation and transport. The welldefined straight donor-acceptor interfaces are achieved successful application of nanoimprinting technology to rationally designed energy harvesting and hole transporting conjugated polymers. Nanoimprinting enables the precise and direct nano-scale control of the shape of the donoracceptor interface on both rigid and flexible substrates. Comparison between the performances of the solar cells having imprinted different feature sizes revealed that the short circuit current can be systematically increased by the interfacial area of the heterojunction without affecting the open circuit voltage. The results also showed that the vertically oriented heterojunction facilitate charge transport and allow synergistically improved fill factor, open circuit current, and ensuing energy conversion efficiency beyond the gain of the interfacial area of the heterojunction.
Deterministic clock gating to eliminate wasteful activity due to wrong-path instructions in out-of-order superscalar processors

In this paper we present deterministic clock gating schemes for various micro architectural blocks of a modern out-of-order superscalar processor. We propose to make use of 1) idle stages of the pipelined function units (FUs) and 2) wrong-path instruction execution during branch mis-prediction, in order to clock gate various stages of FUs. The baseline Pipelined Functional unit Clock Gating (PFCG), presented for evaluation purpose only, disables the clock on idle stages and thus results in 13.93% chip-wide energy saving. Wrong-path instruction Clock Gating (WPCG) detects wrong-path instructions in the event of branch mis-prediction and prevents them from being issued to the FUs, and subsequently, disables the clock of these FUs along with reducing the stress on register file and cache. Simulations demonstrate that more than 92% of all wrong-path instructions can be detected and stopped from being executed. The WPCG architecture results in 16.26% chip-wide energy savings which is 2.33% more than that of the baseline PFCG scheme.
Processing and Properties of Nanostructured Alloy Coatings in the Binary Ni-Cr System

Using a scalable electrodeposition process, nanocrystalline Ni-Cr alloy coatings have been produced on copper and steel substrates, and the roles of various processing variables on the resulting coating structure and properties have been investigated. The possibility of producing composite coatings of wear resistant nanostructured Ni-Cr alloys containing graphite or MoS2 particles has also been studied; the co-deposition of solid lubricant particles improved the tribological performance of the coatings in ball-on-disk testing. The combination of a hard material such as nanocrystalline Ni-Cr alloy with a solid lubricant has a great potential for new surface modification developments.
Splenosis: A Rare Etiology for Bowel Obstruction—A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Splenosis is a historically uncommon etiology for bowel obstruction. Autotransplanted splenic tissues following surgery or trauma of the spleen are known to occur in multiple locations of the abdominal cavity and pelvis. The small bowel mesentery is a blood vessel-rich environment for growth of splenic fragments. We present a case of a 36-year-old male patient who sustained a gunshot wound to his left abdomen requiring a splenectomy and bowel resection fifteen years prior to his presentation with small bowel obstruction requiring exploration, adhesiolysis, and resection of the mesenteric splenic deposit. Our aim in this report is to provide awareness of splenosis as an etiology for bowel obstruction, especially with increased incidence and survival following abdominal traumas requiring splenectomies. We also stress on the importance of history and physical examination to include splenosis on the list of differential diagnoses for bowel obstruction.
How Insect Herbivores Drive the Evolution of Plants

The most common biological interaction among species on Earth is that between plants and the insects that feed on them ( 1 ). Insect herbivores are thought to impose natural selection, which favors resistant plant genotypes and drives the evolutionary diversification of plant species. Two reports in this issue—by Zust et al. on page 116 ( 2 ) and Agrawal et al. on page 113 ( 3 )—independently provide strong empirical evidence for the rapid evolution of plant traits that confer resistance to herbivores when herbivores are present but for the evolution of traits that confer increased competitive ability when herbivores are absent.
Exploring the relationship between global terrorist ideology and attack methodology

Two-step cluster analysis was used to test the hypothesis that a visual model could be developed to identify patterns in the last 45 years of global terrorism. The six-factor cluster analysis model was statistically significant with a fair silhouette estimate of cohesion and separation. Terrorist attack methodologies of assassinations, armed assaults and bombings figured prominently in most of the segments, but national culture and ideology were also present as factors in some clusters. The majority of lethal deaths, injuries and properties damaged by terrorists were in India, Columbia, Iraq, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Logistic regression was then applied to test the hypothesis that combinations of terrorist attack methodology and ideology could estimate the risk of a terrorist strike being successful. The odds ratio was statistically significant but the results were theoretically weak in supporting the hypothesis. Hijacking was 1.131 times more likely to be successful as compared with other types of global terrorist methodologies, and the relative risk of a terrorist strike being committed by foreign immigrants was 1.013 higher as compared with domestic terrorists. The implications were generalized to risk management decision makers and social policy planners.
Molecular Mechanisms of Insulin Resistance

Initial attempts to unravel the molecular mechanism of insulin resistance have strongly suggested that a defect responsible for insulin resistance in the majority of patients lies at the post-receptor level of insulin signaling. Subsequent studies in insulin-resistant animal models and humans have consistently demonstrated a reduced strength of insulin signaling via the IRS-1–PI 3-kinase pathway, resulting in diminished glucose uptake and utilization in insulin target tissues. However, the nature of the triggering event(s) remains largely enigmatic. Two separate, but likely complementary, mechanisms have recently emerged as a potential explanation. First, it became apparent that serine phosphorylation of IRS proteins can reduce their ability to attract PI 3-kinase, thereby minimizing its activation. A number of serine kinases that phosphorylate serine residues of IRS-1 and weaken insulin signal transduction have been identified. Additionally, mitochondrial dysfunction has been suggested to trigger activation of several serine kinases, leading to a serine phosphorylation of IRS-1. Second, a distinct mechanism involving increased expression of p85α(alpha) has also been found to play an important role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. Conceivably, a combination of both increased expression of p85α(alpha) and increased serine phosphorylation of IRS-1is needed to induce clinically apparent insulin resistance.
Accuracy of UTE-MRI-based patient setup for brain cancer radiation therapy

Purpose: Radiation therapy simulations solely based on MRI have advantages compared to CT-based approaches. One feature readily available from computed tomography (CT) that would need to be reproduced with MR is the ability to compute digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) for comparison against on-board radiographs commonly used for patient positioning. In this study, the authors generate MR-based bone images using a single ultrashort echo time (UTE) pulse sequence and quantify their 3D and 2D image registration accuracy to CT and radiographic images for treatments in the cranium. Methods: Seven brain cancer patients were scanned at 1.5 T using a radial UTE sequence. The sequence acquired two images at two different echo times. The two images were processed using an in-house software to generate the UTE bone images. The resultant bone images were rigidly registered to simulation CT data and the registration error was determined using manually annotated landmarks as references. DRRs were created based on UTE-MRI and registered to simulated on-board images (OBIs) and actual clinical 2D oblique images from ExacTrac™. Results: UTE-MRI resulted in well visualized cranial, facial, and vertebral bones that quantitatively matched the bones in the CT images with geometric measurement errors of less than 1 mm. The registration error between DRRs generated from 3D UTE-MRI and the simulated 2D OBIs or the clinical oblique x-ray images was also less than 1 mm for all patients. Conclusions: UTE-MRI-based DRRs appear to be promising for daily patient setup of brain cancer radiotherapy with kV on-board imaging.
Moment closures based on minimizing the residual of the PN angular expansion in radiation transport

In this work we present two new closures for the spherical harmonics ( P N ) method in slab geometry transport problems. Our approach begins with an analysis of the squared-residual of the transport equation where we show that the standard truncation and diffusive closures do not minimize the residual of the P N expansion. Based on this analysis we derive two models, a moment-limited diffusive ( ML D N ) closure and a transient P N ( TP N ) closure that attempt to address shortcomings of common closures. The form of these closures is similar to flux-limiters for diffusion with the addition of a time-derivative in the definition of the closure. Numerical results on a pulsed plane source problem, the Gordian knot of slab-geometry transport problems, indicate that our new closure outperforms existing linear closures. Additionally, on a deep penetration problem we demonstrate that the TP N closure does not suffer from the artificial shocks that can arise in the M N entropy-based closure. Finally, results for Reed's problem demonstrate that the TP N solution is as accurate as the P N + 3 solution. We further extend the T P N closure to 2D Cartesian geometry. The line source test problem demonstrates the model effectively damps oscillations and negative densities.
Feasibility and Duality

This chapter provides a concrete introduction to several advanced topics in optimization theory. Specifying an interior feasible point is the first issue that must be faced in applying a barrier method. Given an exterior point, Dykstra’s algorithm [21, 70, 79] finds the closest point in the intersection \(\cap _{i=0}^{r-1}C_{i}\) of a finite number of closed convex sets. If C i is defined by the convex constraint \(h_{i}(\boldsymbol{x}) \leq 0\), then one obvious tactic for finding an interior point is to replace C i by the set \(C_{i}(\epsilon ) =\{ \boldsymbol{x} : h_{j}(\boldsymbol{x}) \leq -\epsilon \}\) for some small e > 0. Projecting onto the intersection of the C i (e) then produces an interior point.
On Representations of F n -Algebras and Invertibility Symbols

We study algebras generated by n flips all but two of which pairwise commute or anticommute, as well as other F n -algebras. Irreducible representations or *-representations of such algebras are found. By using representation theory, we show that they are F n -algebras (for some n). We also study the Invertibility Symbol for these algebras.
An Operational Real-Time Ocean Sensor Network in the Gulf of Maine

The Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS) was established in the summer of 2001 as a prototype real-time observing system that now includes eleven solar-powered buoys with physical and optical sensors, four shore-based long-range HF radar surface current systems, circulation and wave models, satellite observations, and hourly web delivery of data. The Gulf of Maine is a harsh operational environment. Its winter storms pose severe challenges including the build up of sea ice on buoy sensors, superstructure, and solar panels, and in summer its productive waters present severe biofouling problems that can affect the optical sensors. The periods of most difficult operations often coincide with periods of greatest data value in terms of marine safety, search and rescue, and monitoring biological productivity. GoMOOS scientists and engineers continue to refine system designs and operational procedures to moderate the environmental stresses on the sensors and systems.
Avian use of habitat configurations created by forest cutting in Southeastern Wyoming

Timber harvest in western forests initially interrupts large expanses of oldgrowth forest with smaller clearcuts. Although the vegetation within the remaining oldgrowth is still present and intact, there is an increase in forest edges and a reduction in the continuity of the original forest. We compared avian species composition and abundance in four pairs of sites, each pair having an uncut site and one fragmented by small clearcuts in southeastern Wyoming. Fragmented stands were interrupted with strip or patch clearcuts. The abundance of species was also compared among the habitat configurations present on these sites such as forest interiors, meadow edges and clearcuts. Of 16 bird species, Brown Creepers (Certhia americana) and Hermit Thrushes (Catharus guttatus) were the most negatively influenced by fragmentation; Pine Siskins (Carduelis pinus) were the most positively influenced by fragmentation. The distribution of birds among forest interiors and edges suggested the responses to fragmentation were not generally mirrored by preferences or avoidance of forest edges and interiors. The effect of fragmentation may result from the loss of resources from clearcutting or preferences for the type of habitat adjacent to the forest stand (meadows or clearcuts).
Exploring the Cost and Clinical Outcomes of Integrating the Registered Nurse–Certified Diabetes Educator Into the Patient-Centered Medical Home

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to implement and evaluate a care delivery model integrating the registered nurse–certified diabetes educator into the patient-centered medical home to assist in...
Enzymatic conversion of salicylate to salicylurate.

The pathway of salicylate conversion to salicylurate has been demonstrated for the first time in vitro . A crude preparation of protein from beef liver "mitochondria" catalyzes the following reaction sequence: Salicylate + ATP + CoA [unknown] salicyl-CoA + PP i (1) Salicyl-CoA + glycine → salicylurate + CoA (2) In the over-all pathway, salicylurate formation was dependent on the presence of ATP, MgCl 2 , coenzyme A, glycine, and active enzyme. The crude enzyme catalyzed the conversion of salicylate to a compound identified as salicyl-CoA in a reaction dependent on ATP, MgCl 2 , and CoA. Salicylurate was also produced enzymatically from glycine and either chemically or enzymatically synthesized salicyl-CoA. The thioester linkages of both chemically and enzymatically synthesized salicyl-CoA were quite stable to alkaline hydrolysis, with half-lives averaging 44 min in 0.25 N KOH at 38°. The first or activating step was rate-limiting in salicylurate biosynthesis from salicylate when both activating and acylating reactions were assayed under approximately optimal conditions. Acyl-CoA:glycine N -acyltransferase activity (EC 2.3.1.13) was purified from the crude "mitochondrial" preparation into four protein fractions, each of which could utilize both salicyl-CoA and benzoyl-CoA as substrates.
Fabricational noise in elephant dentitions

A marked retardation of dental ontogeny characterizes the family Elephantidae. As a consequence of this retardation, elephant teeth are subject to the forces of mastication, eruption, and progression while still in a developing and pliant stage. As specimens described here illustrate, the mechanical forces are often sufficient to deform the gross morphology of dentitions. Morphological variation in elephant teeth can be regarded as “fabricational noise”—revealing information about the dynamic context in which the teeth develop. Accordingly, dental variation is less species-specific in elephants than in other mammals. The fossil record may comprise fewer species of elephants than is generally believed, and trends inferred to reflect rapid evolution within this family may in fact reflect phenotypic plasticity.
Some Uses of Postformal Thought in Humanistic Psychology

The challenge articulated and accepted by the “third wave” of psychology, which includes humanistic, existential, and transpersonal psychology, is to make psychology whole again by putting meaning back into studies of human experience and by combining mind, heart, and spirit. Postformal thought seems to be one way that humans think about complex ideas such as the meaning of their existence, the split between mind, body, and emotion, the role of humankind in a universal or cosmic consciousness, and body-mind connections. It even seems necessary that we have postformal logic before we can both conceptualize the spiritually oriented subfield of humanistic psychology called transpersonal psychology and remain adaptively in touch with the “local” other-than-spiritual realities of our everyday existence.
Enhancing U.S. Retirement Security through Coordinated Reform of Social Security Disability and Retirement Insurance Programs

Many Social Security reform proposals have emphasized the role of savings over insurance, focusing on security in retirement. In contrast, disability in prime working age is harder to save for and thus is arguably better considered an insurable event. However, unlike determination processes for many other catastrophes, disability determination often appears inherently relative and somewhat subjective. For these reasons, most social insurance reform proposals have advocated treating the reform of disability insurance separately, subsequent to any reform of the retirement system. This article focuses on disability insurance but makes the case for considering reforms made in tandem—that is, both developing disability program reforms that accommodate plausible retirement program reforms while properly aligning incentives to support work and savings and providing a financially secure, vital safety net for disabled Americans.
Our Foreign Policy Choices: Rethinking America's Global Role

The end of the Cold War ushered in a unipolar world, cementing U.S. dominance over a generally liberal international order. Yet where once it seemed that U.S. foreign policy would be simpler and easier to manage as a result, the events of the past 15 years — the 9/11 attacks, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Arab Spring, and Russia’s invasions of Georgia and Ukraine — strongly suggest otherwise. The world today is certainly safer for Americans than it was under the existential threat posed by the Soviet Union. But the world is undoubtedly more complex, as nonstate actors, shifting alliances, and diverse domestic political factors complicate U.S. foreign policy formation and implementation. A robust debate on America’s foreign policy choices is urgently needed.
Context learning for threat detection

It is hypothesised that threatening stimuli are detected better due to their salience or physical properties. However, these stimuli are typically embedded in a rich context, motivating the question whether threat detection is facilitated via learning of contexts in which threat stimuli appear. To address this question, we presented threatening face targets in new or old spatial configurations consisting of schematic faces and found that detection of threatening targets was faster in old configurations. This indicates that individuals are able to learn regularities within visual contexts and use this contextual information to guide detection of threatening targets. Next, we presented threatening and non-threatening face targets embedded in new or old spatial configurations. Detection of threatening targets was facilitated in old configurations, and this effect was reversed for non-threatening targets. Present findings show that detection of threatening targets is driven not only by stimulus properties as theorised traditionally but also by learning of contexts in which threatening stimuli appear. Further, results show that context learning for threatening targets obstructs context learning for non-threatening targets. Overall, in addition to typically emphasised bottom-up factors, our findings highlight the importance of top-down factors such as context and learning in detection of salient, threatening stimuli.
Investigation of dimensional and heat source effects in Lock-In Thermography applications in semiconductor packages

Abstract Lock-In Thermography (LIT) is a powerful non-contact and non-destructive investigating technique that has recently emerged in the semiconductor industry. The current LIT applications interpret LIT data using the semi-infinite models. However, semiconductor package has finite geometry with convective heat transfer on surface. This paper studies the accuracy of the interpretation of LIT data based on the commonly used semi-infinite models. The effects of finite dimensions, heat source configuration, convective heat transfer coefficient, thickness of material, thermal diffusivity of material, and lock-in frequency are examined. Furthermore, the effects of heat source’s shape and location, as well as the problems involving non-homogeneous materials are also investigated. It has been found that the errors in phase shift estimate using semi-infinite models may occur at lower lock-in frequency with high diffusivity material and thinner specimen. When multiple materials are involved with various scenarios of heat source locations, the phase shift may decrease with the lock-in frequency, as observed in experiment. Finite element transient heat conduction analysis is a useful tool to derive the actual z-depth of heat source based on the phase shift data from experiment.
Computer vision experiments in crowdsourced astronomy

Structure-from-motion (SfM) is a computer vision method that enables the recreation of a 3D object by combining images of that object from many different angles. We apply SfM techniques to images of Jupiter crowdsourced from the amateur astronomy website AstroBin. Simple SfM techniques are able to successfully recreate the 3D structure of Jupiter, despite noisy and messy data. This method shows potential promise for combining arbitrary amateur data from the internet in making astronomical observations.
The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program: 30 Years of Public Diplomacy in Practice

Although it was established 30 years ago and has generated more than 60,000 alumni worldwide, the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program is rarely studied as an international exchange effort. Employing original survey data, this chapter considers the JET Program in the context of the literature of international exchanges. Focused specifically on American alumni of the program, the work presented here suggests that by recruiting young college graduates to live in Japan for periods of a year or more, the JET Program is well designed to promote lifelong affinity toward Japan on the part of participants long after they have returned home.