cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Short-term efficacy of etanercept plus methotrexate vs combinations of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs with methotrexate in established rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives The aims of this study were to investigate the short-term benefit of etanercept (ETN) + MTX vs conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs; HCQ, LEF or SSZ) + MTX in subjects with established RA. The effect of disease duration (≤2 years vs >2 years) and severity (moderate vs severe) on treatment outcomes was also assessed. Methods. Data from Asian and Latin American subjects with inadequate response to MTX were pooled from the APPEAL (ETN 25 mg biweekly + MTX or csDMARD + MTX; NCT00422227) and Latin RA (ETN 50 mg/week + MTX or csDMARD + MTX; NCT00848354) studies. Endpoints included the 28-joint DAS with ESR (DAS28-ESR) low disease activity (LDA; ≤3.2), DAS28 remission ( Results Four hundred seventy-eight subjects received ETN + MTX, 245 subjects received csDMARD + MTX [HCQ + MTX (n = 81), LEF + MTX (n = 69), SSZ + MTX (n = 95)]. At week 16, significantly more subjects receiving ETN + MTX vs subjects on csDMARDs + MTX achieved DAS28-ESR LDA (39% vs 18%, P 2 years disease duration and with moderate vs severe disease activity. Conclusion Overall, ETN + MTX was more effective in treating subjects with established RA than csDMARDs + MTX at 16 weeks. More subjects with shorter disease duration and moderate disease activity achieved optimal response regardless of treatment regimen. Trial registration clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00422227 and NCT00848354.
Multi-step prediction of nonlinear Gaussian Process dynamics models with adaptive Gaussian mixtures

This paper presents an adaptive Gaussian Mixture Model aGMM formulation for performing multiple-step probabilistic state predictions using a nonparametric Gaussian Process GP regression model. The presented prediction algorithm is applicable to any dynamic system that is challenging to model parametrically, but where data is available. Gaussian mixture elements are propagated through the GP by analytically evaluating expectation integrals for the moments of the output distribution. Two metrics are presented and compared for adaptively splitting the initial state distribution into a sum of Gaussians to reduce the effect of nonlinearities on prediction accuracy: 1 an analytical evaluation of the excess kurtosis which measures the non-Gaussianity of the output distribution, and 2 a weighted least-squares regression model which evaluates the local nonlinearity of the GP mapping with respect to the input distribution. In addition, an on-the-fly data selection method is presented to reduce the computational complexity associated with analytically evaluating the higher-order moments of the GP output distribution. The proposed adaptive GP-aGMM formulation is applied to the case of anticipating driver behavior at road intersections using a GP driver behavior model in combination with a parametric vehicle model. Prediction performance for this scenario is evaluated using driving data collected from three human subjects navigating a standard four-way intersection. Results demonstrate that the presented prediction algorithm is capable of accurately capturing multimodal behavior in the GP training data.
Effect of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection on Plasma Bactericidal Activity against Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium

Individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have increased susceptibility to invasive disease caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Studies from Africa have suggested that this susceptibility is related in part to the development of a high level of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-specific IgG that is able to inhibit the killing of S. Typhimurium by bactericidal antibodies in healthy individuals. To explore this issue further, we examined the bactericidal activity against S. Typhimurium using serum and plasma samples from healthy controls and various clinical subgroups of HIV-infected adults in the United States. We found that the bactericidal activity in the samples from HIV-positive elite controllers was comparable to that from healthy individuals, whereas it was significantly reduced in HIV-positive viremic controllers and untreated chronic progressors. As demonstrated previously for healthy controls, the bactericidal activity of the plasma from the elite controllers was inhibited by preincubation with S. Typhimurium LPS, suggesting that it was mediated by anti-LPS antibodies. S. Typhimurium LPS-specific IgG was significantly reduced in all subgroups of HIV-infected individuals. Interestingly, and in contrast to the healthy controls, plasma from all HIV-positive subgroups inhibited in vitro killing of S. Typhimurium by plasma from a healthy individual. Our results, together with the findings from Africa, suggest that multiple mechanisms may be involved in the HIV-induced dysregulation of humoral immunity to S. Typhimurium.
A global and efficient multi-objective auto-calibration and uncertainty estimation method for water quality catchment models

Catchment water quality models have many parameters, several output variables and a complex structure leading to multiple minima in the objective function. General uncertainty/optimization methods based on random sampling (e.g. GLUE) or local methods (e.g. PEST) are often not applicable for theoretical or practical reasons. This paper presents “ParaSol”, a method that performs optimization and uncertainty analysis for complex models such as distributed water quality models. Optimization is done by adapting the Shuffled Complex Evolution algorithm (SCE-UA) to account for multi-objective problems and for large numbers of parameters. The simulations performed by the SCE-UA are used further for uncertainty analysis and thereby focus the uncertainty analysis on solutions near the optimum/optima. Two methods have been developed that select “good” results out of these simulations based on an objective threshold. The first method is based on χ 2 statistics to delineate the confidence regions around the optimum/optima and the second method uses Bayesian statistics to define high probability regions. The ParaSol method was applied to a simple bucket model and to a Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model of Honey Creek, OH, USA. The bucket model case showed the success of the method in finding the minimum and the applicability of the statistics under importance sampling. Both cases showed that the confidence regions are very small when the χ 2 statistics are used and even smaller when using the Bayesian statistics. By comparing the ParaSol uncertainty results to those derived from 500,000 Monte Carlo simulations it was shown that the SCE-UA sampling used for ParaSol was more effective and efficient, as none of the Monte Carlo samples were close to the minimum or even within the confidence region defined by ParaSol.
Thermodynamics of energy conversion via first order phase transformation in low hysteresis magnetic materials

We investigate the thermodynamics of first order non-ferromagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transformation in low thermal hysteresis alloys with compositions near Ni44Co6Mn40Sn10 as a basis for the study of multiferroic energy conversion. We develop a Gibbs free energy function based on magnetic and calorimetric measurements that accounts for the magnetic behavior and martensitic phase transformation. The model predicts temperature and field induced phase transformations in agreement with experiments. The model is used to analyze a newly discovered method for the direct conversion of heat to electricity [Srivastava et al., Adv. Energy Mater., 2011, 1, 97], which is suited for the small temperature difference regime, about 10–100 K. Using the model, we explore the efficiency of energy conversion thermodynamic cycles based on this method. We also explore the implications of these predictions for future alloy development. Finally, we relate our simple free energy to more sophisticated theories that account for magnetic domains, demagnetization effects, the crystallography of martensitic phase transformations and twinning.
Genetic variation among mainland and island populations of a native perennial grass used in restoration

Genetic marker studies can assist restoration practice through selection of seed sources that conserve historical levels of gene diversity and population genetic differentiation. We examined genetic variation and structure within and among mainland and island populations of Elymus glaucus, a perennial bunchgrass species native to western North American grasslands that is targeted for grassland restoration. Island populations of E. glaucus represent sensitive sites and potentially distinctive seed sources for reintroduction, and little is known of their genetic composition. Genetic diversity and structure were estimated using amplified fragment length polymorphism markers for 21 populations and 416 individuals distributed across two coastal California mainland locations and three California Channel Islands. Eight primer combinations resulted in 166 markers, of which 165 (99.4 %) were polymorphic. The number of polymorphic bands was significantly greater among mainland populations relative to island sites, and locally common alleles were present for each sampled island and mainland location. Population structure was high (62.9 %), with most variation (55.8 %) distributed among populations, 7.1 % between mainland and island locations, and the remainder (37.1 %) within populations. Isolation by distance was only apparent among islands. Using marker data to recommend appropriate seed sources for restoration, E. glaucus seeds are best derived within islands with collections representing a large number of individuals from matching environments. Given the limited gene flow and prior evidence of adaptive divergence among populations of this species, regional collections are recommended in all cases to maintain diversity and to avoid long-distance introductions of highly differentiated plant material.
Z Diakoptics - Torn Subdivisions Radially Attached

The Piecewise Method of solution, better known as Diakoptics, is a procedure for solving large-scale system problems by tearing or decomposing. The problems to be analyzed seem to grow at a very rapid pace. Neither the increased computer speeds nor the computer core storages seem to keep up with the size and complexity of the problems to be solved. Diakoptics appears to be a good tool with which to supplement the computer, or computers, to solve large-scale system problems.
Bar None: Extending Affirmative Action to Higher Education in Prison

Recognizing the intent of Affirmative Action to include historically marginalized citizens into institutions of higher learning, we stretch the limits of Affirmative Action to consider the role of higher education in prison. We present empirical findings of a 4-year, qualitative and quantitative participatory action research study of the impact of college in prison. Evidence is drawn from participant observations; individual and focus group interviews with participants of the college program, former inmates, prison administrators, corrections officers, and children of inmates; faculty surveys; and a quantitative analysis of recidivism rates. We address the psychological, academic, and crime-related impacts of higher education on women in prison, and document the benefits of broad-based access for inmates, prison environments, children of prisoners, and society-at-large.
FPGA implementation of a 64-Bit BID-based decimal floating-point adder/subtractor

Demand for Decimal Floating-point (DFP) arithmetic is growing. Yet most processors do not include hardware DFP support, and must instead use slow software DFP libraries. FPGAs are a potential solution to add hardware-based high-performance, parallel DFP engines to existing compute clusters without completely replacing those systems. This paper describes the FPGA implementation of a 64-bit DFP adder using Binary Integer Decimal (BID) encoding. We present a variety of design tradeoffs possible for different modules of the DFP adder, and compare these for implementation on a Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA. Choosing the best options, we improve the frequency of the DFP adder from the baseline hardware design's 68 MHz to over 163 MHz and decrease total latency by up to 2.4x. The optimized design requires only a small increase in resources. This is the first presentation of a BID-based DFP adder for FPGAs.
RateGuard: A Robust Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Defense System

One of the major threats to cyber security is the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. In this paper, we focus on three kinds of sophisticated DDoS attacks that seriously cripple the current DDoS defense systems and have not been solved yet. In Fast Adaptive Attacks (FAAs), attackers adaptively generate attacking traffic based on the feedback from a victim in Round Trip Time (RTT). Almost all proposed rules-based filtering schemes cannot effectively defend against FAAs, since they need a relatively long time (compared to RTT) to update filtering rules. In Adaptive Attacks with statistical filtering rules Scanning (AAS), attackers circumvent the defense system by discovering the statistical filtering rules of the defense system and then generating flooding traffic to mimic nominal traffic. In Low-Rate TCP Attacks (LRAs), attackers send periodic attack pulses to overflow a router's buffer and force the legitimate TCP flow to a low throughput while staying under the radar with a very low average rate. In this paper, we propose a Leaky-Bucket (LB) based highly robust DDoS defense system, called RateGuard. It can react to FAAs and LRAs by rate-limiting excessive traffic in real-time according to the victim's nominal traffic profile. Moreover, by associating an LB with each joint attribute value, the huge space required for possible joint attribute values makes it almost impossible for attackers to scan the victim's nominal traffic profiles and, thus, makes it highly robust to cope with AAS and other sophisticated attacks.
Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor in Combination With Cognitive Training in Older Adults

To determine if donepezil, an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor, improved the assimilation of cognitive training by older adults with memory complaints, we gave 168 nondemented, community-dwelling volunteers with memory complaints either 5 mg of donepezil (Aricept) or placebo daily for 6 weeks in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The dosage rose to 10 mg daily for another 6 weeks before a 2-week course of cognitive training and was maintained for the remainder of a year. Cognitive training improved performance; donepezil was well tolerated. However, there were no significant benefits of donepezil compared with placebo. An additional dose-ranging study with a starting dose of 5 mg a day suggests that the high dose was not the reason. Physiological tolerance may occur with chronic donepezil treatment and may increase AChE levels; this may be why short-term studies have shown the benefit of AChE inhibitor use in nondemented participants whereas chronic use has failed to enhance cognition.
Sex pheromones in mate assessment: analysis of nutrient cost of sex pheromone production by females of the moth Heliothis virescens

It has been postulated that sex pheromones, in addition to their role in mate recognition and/or finding, may also serve a role in assessment of mate quality. For this, a sex pheromone must give honest information about a signaler's quality, with honesty ensured by a direct metabolic or indirect fitness cost to the signaler. Using a stable isotope tracer–tracee method, we characterized the nutrient pools that fuel sex pheromone production in females of the moth Heliothis virescens , as well as the relative importance of larval- and adult-acquired nutrients to this process. Females used three pools for de novo biosynthesis of sex pheromone, hemolymph trehalose, glycogen (via trehalose) and fat, and produced ca. 25% of pheromone directly from stored (previously synthesized) precursor fatty acids. Pheromone was produced roughly equally from carbohydrate and fat. Adult feeding was very important for pheromone biosynthesis, with a maximum of 65% of de novo biosynthesized pheromone produced from a single adult feed (carbohydrate). Although these nutrient pools are shared with other reproductive physiologies, notably oocyte production, it is unlikely that pheromone production imposes a significant metabolic cost on females, because (i) the amount of nutrients used for pheromone production is negligible compared with that available, (ii) the hemolymph trehalose pool is readily replaceable throughout the adult life, and (iii) in mated females, carbohydrate shortages result in reduced allocation to pheromone.
Analysis of Heterogeneity and Sodium-Void Effects in a 2700-Liter Uranium Carbide Fast Core, ZPR-6 Assembly 5

The heterogeneity and sodium void effects in ZPR-6 Assembly 5, a 2700-liter UC core, were analyzed using ENDF/B data. The cross-section sets used were generated for the homogeneous composition of t...
Between the brows: searching for the placement of Marie Corelli's popular fiction

Historically, Marie Corelli‘s popular 1890s fiction has been considered lowbrow. Contemporary scholarship has attempted to recuperate her work by aligning her texts with high art movements of the nineteenth-century. The two Corelli novels that this thesis examines, The Sorrows of Satan (1895) and Wormwood (1890), construct idealized gender representations through a combination of low and high art stylistics and subject matter. These novels critique modes of consumption that cause characters to deviate from the ideal behavior represented within the text. These characters‘ deviations from idealized conceptions of masculinity and femininity endanger national identity. This thesis considers the utility of the term middlebrow as a way to reconfigure the divide between low and high art. Furthermore, it argues that Corelli‘s construction of a gendered national identity reflects the dominant conception of Englishness, providing Victorian studies with a more nuanced distinction between popular nineteenth-century texts. Middlebrow fiction reflects and solidifies national identity, thus offering a lens through which to view Corelli‘s project.
Medication Desensitization: Characterization of Outcomes and Risk Factors for Reactions

Background: Although its mechanisms are poorly understood, desensitization has been used to induce a temporary state of immune unresponsiveness in patients who have IgE-, non-IgE-, or pharmacologically mediated reactions when a drug has no alternatives. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to characterize the outcomes and identify risk factors for reactions during drug desensitization. Methods: A retrospective review of electronic medical records of adult patients undergoing drug desensitization from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2013, was conducted in 2 intensive care units at a tertiary medical center. We used multivariate analysis to determine if specified risk factors were associated with reacting during the desensitization. Reactions were classified according to the pretest probability prior to desensitization, and then, reactions during desensitization were classified based on the occurrence of cutaneous reactions as follows: successful with no reaction, mild reaction, moderate reaction, or ...
Visible-light-enhanced interactions of hydrogen sulfide with composites of zinc (oxy)hydroxide with graphite oxide and graphene.

Composites of zinc(oxy)hydroxide–graphite oxide and of zinc(oxy)hydroxide–graphene were used as adsorbents of hydrogen sulfide under ambient conditions. The initial and exhausted samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, potentiometric titration, EDX, thermal analysis, and nitrogen adsorption. An increase in the amount of H2S adsorbed/oxidized on their surfaces in comparison with that of pure Zn(OH)2 is linked to the structure of the composite, the relative number of terminal hydroxyls, and the kind of graphene-based phase used. Although terminal groups are activated by a photochemical process, the graphite oxide component owing to the chemical bonds with the zinc(oxy)hydroxide phase and conductive properties helps in electron transfer, leading to more efficient oxygen activation via the formation of superoxide ions. Elemental sulfur, zinc sulfide, sulfite, and sulfate are formed on the surface. The formation of sulfur compounds on the surface of zinc(oxy)hydroxide during the course of the breakthrough exp...
Toll-like receptor polymorphisms are associated with increased neurosyphilis risk.

Background Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Toll-like receptors (TLR) 1, 2, and 6 impair cell signaling in response to spirochetal lipoproteins. We investigated whether common SNPs in TLR1, 2, or 6 were associated with laboratory- or clinically-defined neurosyphilis.
Depression remission, receipt of problem-solving therapy, and self-care behavior frequency among low-income, predominantly Hispanic diabetes patients.

Abstract Objective This study explored whether depression remission and problem-solving therapy (PST) receipt are associated with more frequent self-care behaviors via cross-sectional and prospective analyses. Method We analyzed data from a randomized clinical trial (N=387) that tested collaborative depression care among predominantly Hispanic patients with diabetes in safety-net clinics. Data at 12-month follow-up, measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Hopkins Symptom Checklist-20, were used to define depression remission. PST was provided by a bilingual social worker. Multivariate regression analysis was used to examine associations between predictors and frequency change of each self-care behavior (healthy diet, exercise, self-blood glucose monitoring, and foot care between baseline and 12-month ( N =281), 18-month ( N =249), and 24-month ( N =235) follow-up surveys. Results Inconsistent relationships were observed depending on the instrument to identify depression remission, type of self-care behaviors, and time when self-care behavior was measured. Significant associations were more likely to be observed in cross-sectional analyses. PST receipt was not associated with self-care behaviors. Conclusions Depression remission or the receipt of PST may not be a reliable antecedent for more frequent self-care behaviors among this group. A few recommendations for studies were offered to enhance existing depression care for diabetes patients.
Practical and theoretical advances in inference for partially identified models

This paper surveys some of the recent literature on inference in partially identified models. After reviewing some basic concepts, including the definition of a partially identified model and the identified set, we turn our attention to the construction of confidence regions in partially identified settings. In our discussion, we emphasize the importance of requiring confidence regions to be uniformly consistent in level over relevant classes of distributions. Due to space limitations, our survey is mainly limited to the class of partially identified models in which the identified set is characterized by a finite number of moment inequalities or the closely related class of partially identified models in which the identified set is a function of a such a set. The latter class of models most commonly arise when interest focuses on a subvector of a vector valued parameter, whose values are limited by a finite number of moment inequalities. We then rapidly review some important parts of the broader literature on inference in partially identified models and conclude by providing some thoughts on fruitful directions for future research.
Installing and Configuring the ISA Firewall Software

This chapter focuses on installing and configuring the ISA Firewall Software. The routing table on the ISA firewall machine should be configured before you install the ISA firewall software. The routing table should include routes to all networks that are not local to the ISA firewall's network interfaces. The split-Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure provides transparent access to resources for users, regardless of their location. Users can move between the corporate network and remote locations, and use the same name to reach the same corporate resources. Requirements for the split-DNS infrastructure include a DNS server authoritative for the domain that resolves names for resources for that domain to the internal addresses used to access those resources. The ISA firewall software can be installed on a machine with a single network interface card. To correctly configure the network interfaces on the ISA firewall it is required to assign IP addresses to the internal and external network interfaces. It is observed that when internal network computers are on the same network ID as the internal interface of the ISA firewall, the default gateway of the internal network computers is set as the internal IP address on the ISA firewall machine.
Angiopoietin-2: marker or mediator of angiogenesis in continuous-flow left ventricular assist device patients?

Recent advances in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) technology have revolutionized care of patients with end-stage heart failure (HF) both as bridge-to-transplantation and as destination therapy (1,2). Over the last decade, older generation pulsatile-flow LVADs (PF-LVADs) were replaced with new generation continuous-flow LVADs (CF-LVADs) due to their ease of implantation, improved durability, and vastly superior outcomes demonstrated in clinical trials.
Induction of Soluble Mediators During Coxsackievirus B3 Replication In Vitro and In Vivo

Intraperitoneal (i. p.) inoculation of several strains of mice with myocarditic strains of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) induces focal lesions in the myocardium [7, 9, 18, 41–43]. Within hours of virus inoculation, virus appears in the blood [24] and remains in the plasma phase over the next 2–3 days [1, 8]. Virus is also associated with circulating leukocytes [6, 13]. During this period, virus enters the myocardium and replicates in unidentified cells. Histologic examination of heart tissues during this prelesion period reveals single and multiple foci of necrotic myocytes [17]. Beginning on day 4 postinoculation (p. i.), lesion formation is detected in the myocardium of CVB3-inoculated CD-1 mice [11]. The initial cells detected in the nascent lesion were macrophages, T suppressor/cytotoxic lymphocytes, and natural killer cells. T helper lymphocytes were detected 1 day later. At no time during the 4–10 day (p. i.) period were cells producing viral antigens [11] or viral RNA (N. M. Chapman, S. M. Tracy, and C. J. Gauntt, unpublished data) detected in nascent or developing lesions. The data suggest that virus infection of a cell (or cells) in the myocardium initiates a series of events that induce a focal inflammatory response.
Going flat: examining heterogeneity in the soda-obesity relationship by subgroup and place of birth among Asian Americans

Objective To determine if the association between soda consumption and obesity is uniform among Asian-American population subgroups. Design We conducted multivariate logistic regression analyses on odds of being obese among seven Asian subgroups and by place of birth using data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey. Setting An omnibus population-based health survey. Subjects Non-institutionalized adults, aged 18 years or over, residing in California (n 36 271). Results Despite low levels of soda consumption in several Asian-American ethnic groups, soda consumption increased the odds of being obese among Chinese, Koreans and Other Asians but not for Whites. Obesity risk varied across Asian subgroups and by place of birth within these subgroups. Conclusions More public health efforts addressing soda consumption in Asian-American communities are needed as a strategy for not only preventing chronic diseases but also disparities, considering the varying levels of soda intake across subgroups. Results support the growing body of literature critiquing acculturation theory in immigrant health research by documenting inconsistent findings by place of birth. Future research should take into account the heterogeneity among Asian Americans to advance our understanding of health outcomes and disparities.
Towards Equal Opportunities in MOOCs: Affirmation Reduces Gender & Social-Class Achievement Gaps in China

The presence of achievement gaps in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) implies that not everyone who can gain access to a course shares the same opportunities to succeed. This study advances research on a social psychological barrier to achievement that exists alongside important structural barriers (e.g., Internet access, insufficient prior knowledge). Learners who experience social identity threat (SIT) - a fear of being judged negatively in light of a social group they identify with - are at risk of underperforming. An initial survey identified lower-class men as an at-risk group in an English language learning MOOC for Chinese learners (N = 1,664). In a subsequent randomized experiment, an interdependent value relevance affirmation intervention raised grades, persistence, and completion rates exclusively among lower-class men - the lowest performing group in the course (N = 1,990). Efforts to establish equal opportunities in online learning should go beyond initiatives that increase access through technology to incorporate strategies that lower psychological barriers to create safe and inclusive learning environments.
CRITERIA FOR MARKET SEGMENTATION FOR THE MARKET IN THE EU

The primary goal of market segmentation is to target attractive market segments. The purpose for segmenting a market is to allow marketing program to focus on the subset of prospects that are "most likely" to purchase offering. Market segmentation can stimulate marketing and transform business to new levels of success. There are numerous ways to carry out a market segmentation for the fruit and vegetables market in the EU. These include dividing the market by geographic, demographic, or behavioural variables. Each has a strong influence on the consumption patterns of fruit and vegetables. They are not separate entities but overlap. Some main characteristics within each are described below.
Generation Z Goes to College: An Opportunity to Reflect on Contemporary Traditional College Students

AbstractGenerational analyses and discussions have become a common topic among many professionals, especially those who work with college students. Generation Z Goes to College adds to this research literature by focusing on a cohort born between 1995 and 2010, which is succeeding the Millennial/Generation Y cohort. The authors report group personality characteristics from their own relatively small-scale research, as well as information from an analysis of numerous other sources that examined Generation Z. The authors discuss their findings, which indicate the significant influence of technology on students, in particular, through the constant access to information, their peers, and the broader world, noting both advantages and challenges that have emerged in recent years. The authors offer suggestions for higher education institutions adapting to these traditional-aged students, as well. For practitioners in the field, the book creates a beneficial opportunity to reflect on working with today’s students.
HDAC8 regulates long-term hematopoietic stem-cell maintenance under stress by modulating p53 activity

The maintenance and functional integrity of long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs) is critical for lifelong hematopoietic regeneration. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) modulate acetylation of lysine residues, a protein modification important for regulation of numerous biological processes. Here, we show that Hdac8 is most highly expressed in the phenotypic LT-HSC population within the adult hematopoietic hierarchy. Using an Hdac8-floxed allele and a dual-fluorescence Cre reporter allele, largely normal hematopoietic differentiation capacity of Hdac8-deficient cells was observed. However, the frequency of phenotypic LT-HSC population was significantly higher shortly after Hdac8 deletion, and the expansion had shifted to the phenotypic multipotent progenitor population by 1 year. We show that Hdac8-deficient hematopoietic progenitors are compromised in colony-forming cell serial replating in vitro and long-term serial repopulating activity in vivo. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that the HDAC8 protein interacts with the p53 protein and modulates p53 activity via deacetylation. Hdac8-deficient LT-HSCs displayed hyperactivation of p53 and increased apoptosis under genotoxic and hematopoietic stress. Genetic inactivation of p53 reversed the increased apoptosis and elevated expression of proapoptotic targets Noxa and Puma seen in Hdac8-deleted LT-HSCs. Dramatically compromised hematopoietic recovery and increased lethality were seen in Hdac8-deficient mice challenged with serial 5-fluorouracil treatment. This hypersensitivity to hematopoietic ablation was completely rescued by inactivation of p53. Altogether, these results indicate that HDAC8 functions to modulate p53 activity to ensure LT-HSC maintenance and cell survival under stress.
Relationships between lymphocyte counts and treatment-related toxicities and clinical responses in patients with solid tumors treated with PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors.

The relationships between absolute lymphocyte counts (ALC), drug- related toxicities, and clinical responses remain unclear in cancer patients treated with PD-1 (programmed cell death 1) inhibitors. We performed a retrospective review of 167 adult solid tumor patients treated with nivolumab or pembrolizumab at a single institution between January 2015 and November 2016. Patients with an ALC >2000 at baseline had an increased risk of irAE (OR 1.996, p 1000 at 3 months (HR 2.76, p<0.05). Prior radiation therapy was the characteristic most strongly associated with lymphopenia at 3 months (OR 2.24, p<0.001). These data suggest that patients with higher baseline lymphocyte counts have a greater risk for irAE, whereas patients with lymphopenia at baseline and persistent lymphopenia while on therapy have a shorter time to progression on these agents. These associations require further validation in additional patient cohorts.
Review of heavy charged particle transport in MCNP6.2

Abstract The release of version 6.2 of the MCNP6 radiation transport code is imminent. To complement the newest release, a summary of the heavy charged particle physics models used in the 1 MeV to 1 GeV energy regime is presented. Several changes have been introduced into the charged particle physics models since the merger of the MCNP5 and MCNPX codes into MCNP6. This paper discusses the default models used in MCNP6 for continuous energy loss, energy straggling, and angular scattering of heavy charged particles. Explanations of the physics models’ theories are included as well.
Preoperative therapy for gastric adenocarcinoma in relation to oncologic outcomes in patients with complications after gastrectomy.

107Background: Postoperative complications (POC) are associated with poor oncologic outcomes in gastric cancer, however, it is unknown if preoperative therapy has any impact on this association. We...
Audience-aware credibility: From understanding audience to establishing credible blogs

This study examines how bloggers establish and enhance the credibility of their blogs through a series of blogging practices. Based on an analysis of interviews with 22 independent bloggers who blog on a range of topics, we present audience-aware credibility as a theoretical construct. Audience-aware credibility is defined as how bloggers signal their credibility based on who they think their audience is and how they provide value to that perceived audience. The analysis of bloggers’ credibility constructs, conceptualizations of audience, and perceived blog value identified four types of bloggers who constructed audience-aware credibility in distinctive ways: Community Builder, Expertise Provider, Topic Synthesizer, and Information Filterer. We then report on these bloggers’ blogging practices for establishing credibility and strategies for interacting with their audience to enhance credibility. The contributions of this study are to expand credibility constructs for social media research and to demonstrate the role of credibility perceptions in content contributors’ online activities. The findings reveal that a multi-dimensional construct of audience-aware credibility serves as a driving factor influencing and shaping blogging practices of all four types of bloggers. Copyright © 2014, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intell igence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved.
The Princess de Clèves: The Euphoric Dysphoric Heroine

Prefacing The Heroine's Text, her study of the French and English novel 1722-1782, with an explanation of its binary structure, Nancy Miller explains that in the first section, "The Euphoric Text," the inscription of female destiny is a positive one, ending with the heroine's integration into society; in the second section, "The Dysphoric Text," this inscription is negative, culminating in the heroine's premature death. Marriage, the law of the father, decides the ladies' lot and to accept the paternally designated husband is to live happily ever after...[Miller] concludes that the eighteenth-century heroine's text is "a masculine representation of female desire produced ultimately for an audience not of women readers, but of men." In short, it appears that men who inscribe feminine desire within and for the patriarchal system necessarily and irreconcilably dichotomize this inscription.
The Trinity of Affinity: Personality, Consciousness, and Psychotherapeutics

One could say that three of the most dreaded plagues in the history of scientific psychology have been conceptions of personality, models of the unconscious, and systems of psychotherapy. They have proven more than a mere inconvenience; they have encroached so much into the domain of the orderly, the logical, and the rational that to the experimentalist they have come to represent a veritable disease. Worse, all three converge in what has come to be referred to as dynamic theories of personality. If the experimentalists actually believe that such concepts even refer to anything real, which most of them do not, the history of such theories has been the perpetual bane of scientific psychology because they represent domains of human experience that are not readily amenable to precise measurement, prediction, and control.
Basic Concepts of Causation

Causation has been discussed and debated for centuries. It has been a focus in philosophy, metaphysics, religion, biology, and the behavioral sciences. The earliest documented integrative thesis on causation was by Aristotle (384–322 b.c.), who critiqued the ideas of causality of philosophers who had preceded him To Aristotle, ultimate knowledge was the knowledge of causation, the “explanation” of things. Particularly important was knowledge of the “final cause” of something—the ultimate purpose or effect of an event.1
Ergodic Schrödinger Operators

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews some recent developments in the theory of Schrodinger operators with ergodic potentials. These potentials include random and quasi-periodic potentials as special cases. There are two general approaches to studying solutions of ergodic Schrodingrer equations. The first approach is by hard analysis in the form of a multi-scale expansion that deals directly with the small denominators as they appear in the perturbaton theory. This is technically rather complicated but usually yields detailed information. The second approach is via soft analysis. It is typically more general but is restricted to one dimension. Ultimately, these two approaches should merge for a better understanding of these equations.
Faculty Advising and Mentoring

So who becomes a mentor and why? Once a mentor, who does one mentor, e.g., does a biologist mentor a chemistry student? Or as is particularly relevant to the topic of this book, does a nonminority mentor minority students? And, if that is the case, how does one do it effectively and successfully? The answer to all of these questions is that the key to good mentoring (and yes there is bad mentoring!) is individualization. No two students are the same regardless of whether or not they have the same major, are the same gender, the same ethnicity, or even from the same family. Recognizing the differences and addressing them is what a good mentor does. And, although there is training for mentors, many mentors learn from their own experiences and that is why we tend to think of mentoring as a process by an “older” individual for a “younger one,” which is not always the case. Moreover, to address the minority/nonminority issue, it is critical for nonminority mentors to be sensitive to, familiar with and understanding of the issues that may not be in their experiences but are paramount for minorities.
Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status, Their Discrepancy, and Health: Evidence from East Asia

Socioeconomic status (SES) is largely understood to be a fundamental determinant of health. Recently, subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) has emerged as a potentially important predictor of health above and beyond traditional (i.e., objective) SES indicators (OSS). The current study adds to this emerging body of research by examining the potentially important role of status discrepancies for health outcomes. We used nationally representative data from three East Asian countries (China, Japan, and South Korea) (2010 East Asian Social Survey) and a non-linear statistical technique (i.e., diagonal mobility model) to simultaneously model the independent contributions of OSS and SSS and their discrepancy for three health outcomes. Findings showed that SSS does, in fact, explain additional variation in health net of OSS in most cases, and status discrepancy is not associated with any of the three health outcomes. While status discrepancy was not found to be a driving factor in determining the predictive power of SSS net of OSS (at least in East Asia), the present study adds robustness to the accumulating evidence that challenges the social inequality hypothesis and provides a basis from which future research can build and contribute further to the understanding surrounding socioeconomic status and health outcomes.
Increased environmental temperature normalizes energy metabolism outputs between normal and Ames dwarf mice.

Ames dwarf (Prop1df) mice possess a loss-of-function mutation that results in deficiency of growth hormone, prolactin, and thyroid-stimulating hormone, as well as exceptional longevity. Work in other laboratories suggests that increased respiration and lipid utilization are important for maximizing mammalian longevity. Interestingly, these phenotypes are observed in Ames dwarf mice. We recently demonstrated that Ames dwarf mice have hyperactive brown adipose tissue (BAT), and hypothesized that this may in part be due to their increased surface to mass ratio leading to increased heat loss and an increased demand for thermogenesis. Here, we used increased environmental temperature (eT) to interrogate this hypothesis. We found that increased eT diminished BAT activity in Ames dwarf mice, and led to the normalization of both VO2 and respiratory quotient between dwarf and normal mice, as well as partial normalization (i.e. impairment) of glucose homeostasis in Ames dwarf mice housed at an increased eT. Together, these data suggest that an increased demand for thermogenesis is partially responsible for the improved energy metabolism and glucose homeostasis which are observed in Ames dwarf mice.
Power transmission metrics and applications in the design of quiet structures

Connected structures subject to applied dynamic loads transfer vibrational energy through their connecting junctions. Identifying the dominant paths of transmission and characterizing the power flow through those paths is important for designing a quiet structure. When the connection type is known, one way of characterizing the transmitted power flow is to identify which degrees of freedom (i.e., translational and rotational) is most responsible for transmission through the junction. Another way could identify vibrational modes that dominate the transmission. This research presents several examples that characterize power flow between structures in physical and modal space. The structures examined here may be connected through springs, point impedances, or a generalized impedance matrix. Key questions considered are how changes to the system affect transmitted power, and how the results can be used to design quieter structures.
Discussion by P.J. Bickel and Y. Ritov

Professor Feigelson has given a very lucid survey of the current use of survival analysis methods in the astronomical literature, as well as pointing to a number of interesting areas for potential methodological research.
Dynamics of the Collision Free Unimolecular Fragmentation of Primary Alkyl Epoxides

Virtually all reactive energetic processes begin with the elementary chemical step of unimolecular decomposition. The early kinetics of even complex detonation reactions depend critically on the nature of initiating and propogating dissociative events.1 It follows that the construction of accurate rate models for chemically evolving energetic systems with widely and rapidly varying conditions of local temperature and pressure, demands a thorough theoretical understanding of key dissociative steps.
Correlation among agonist dose, rate of import, and transcriptional activity of liganded progesterone receptor B isoform in living cells.

Purpose. To determine the correlation among progesterone dose, rate of import of progesterone-occupied progesterone receptor (PR) complexes into the nucleus of cells, and transcriptional activity of progesterone-PR complexes.
Multiphysics Dynamic Model Validation Methodology for Laser-Driven Microrobots

In this paper we discuss a comprehensive multiphysics modeling and simulation approach with experimental validation, aimed at understanding the behavior of laser-driven microrobot locomotion on two-dimensional (2D) substrates. The ChevBot is a novel class of light actuated sub-millimetric microrobots that can perform tasks equivalent to mobile robots in future microfactories for nano-bio-technology. The robot dynamics is driven by a complex Opto-Thermo-Mechanical conversion mechanism and stick-and-slip locomotion, which are difficult to simulate. Therefore, 1D and 2D reduced order models are proposed to approximate the microrobot dynamics. Models are then validated using a combination of Finite Element Analysis simulations and direct experimentation. The framework presented here automates the process of collecting motion tracking data from microrobots and uses it to validate dynamic models. In the future, our models can be used in subsequent closed-loop control and design optimization studies.