cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthesis and Electroluminescence Study of a Novel Copolymer:Poly(Phenylene Vinylene-Co-Quinoline Vinylene)

High-efficiency polymer light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are often fabricated using multilayered structures with separate carrier transport and light emission layers. Recently, we reported on the synthesis and electroluminescence (EL) characteristics of poly(2,6-quinoline vinylene) (PQV) and its potential for use as an electron transport layer in poly(phenylene vinylene) (PPV) LEDs. To take advantage of the high emission efficiency of PPV and electron accepting ability of PQV, a copolymer of PPV and PQV, poly(phenylene vinylene-co-quinoline vinylene) (PPVQV) was synthesized via the precursor polymer route and converted to the conjugated form by thermal elimination. When used as the emissive layer with Indium-Tin Oxide (ITO) and aluminum as positive and negative electrodes respectively, PPVQV emitted blue light at an onset electric field of 1.05x 10 6 V/cm and emission efficiency of 0.08%. Improved efficiencies of the order of 0.15% were obtained when blends of copolymer with PPV were used in conjunction with PPV in a multi-layered structure. Along with copolymer chemical characterization data, results from EL studies on single and multi-layered devices are discussed. We also report on a simple and costeffective chemical deposition of silver for the negative electrode in polymer LEDs.
NUMERICAL STUDY OF AN INTER-TURBINE BURNER (ITB) CONCEPT WITH CURVED RADIAL VANE

The demand for significantly higher performance gas turbine engines has led to the exploration and identification of “Out of the Box” innovative engine design concepts. These demands include increased thrust-to-weight ratio goals that can primarily be met by substantial engine performance increases such as specific thrust, engine weight and size reductions, and repackaging of engine components to create compact engines. Concepts of an Ultra-Compact-Combustor (UCC) for use as a main combustor, or as an Inter-Turbine Burner (ITB) to boost engine work output, reduce pollutant emissions and engine weight are being explored. The available experimental results and observations indicate that UCC/ITB can operate at 95-99% combustion efficiency over a wide range of operating conditions and short flame lengths can result which are 50% shorter than those of conventional combustors. In the present study the radial curved vane ITB design concept has been modeled using three-dimensional CFD. The objectives are to predict flow field and combustion characteristics of the ITB, guide the ITB experiments, identify the key design parameters for best performance, and optimize the ITB design configurations. The CFD results demonstrated that intense burning in a high-g loaded cavity occurred which resulted in high combustion efficiency. The obtained results for the radial vane cavity are compared with the earlier results available for a straight vane cavity. This study indicates improved exit profile characteristics when compared to the earlier baseline.
Agglutination studies of clostridium botulinum

The literature reveals little information about agglutination of anaerobes in general and practically none as regards CI botulinum. The confusion existing with reference to the identity of the different organisms, due to indefinite descriptions and differences in nomenclature, makes it difficult to interpret the findings of the various workers ; especially is this true as regards the employment of the test with any particular organism.
Biological security preliminary assessment of a new type anti-tumor composite EPI-PBCA-NP

[Objective] To evaluate biological security preliminary assessment of a new type anti-tumor composite EPI-PBCA-NP. [Methods] SD rats were used for chronic toxicity test, and we checked the general state, hematology, the creatase of cardiac, liver and renal function, and the pathematology of some important organ and reversibility observation, etc. [Results] Low dose EPI-PBCA-NP was safe, but the midst and high dose groups showed toxicity and had a dose-effect relationship. [Conclusion] EPI-PBCA-NP needs more research to analyze toxicity to ensure clinical and applied security.
An acquired inhibitor of fibrin stabilization associated with isoniazid therapy: clinical and biochemical observations.

A patient who bled seriously while taking isoniazid was found to have an inhibitor of fibrin stabilization. The bleeding appeared to cease soon after the isoniazid was discontinued, although the plasma still contained potent inhibitor activity. This activity gradually disappeared over several weeks. The inhibitor was precipitated at 50% saturation with ammonium sulfate, migrated in the beta area on zone electrophoresis, and was found in the second peak on Sephadex G-200 gel filtration. Inhibitor activity persisted after heating to 90°C. Fibrinogen isolated from the patient’s plasma lacked factor XIII activity but did not contain measurable inhibitor activity. When the rate of incorporation of 14 C-putrescine into casein was utilized to study the kinetics of the inhibitor, it was shown that the inhibitor acted reversibly and that it competed with the amine donor, 14 C-putrescine. The mechanism whereby isoniazid led to the development of the inhibitor is unknown.
Optimizing Immunization Strategies for the Induction of Antigen-Specific CD4 and CD8 T Cell Responses for Protection against Intracellular Parasites

ABSTRACT Immunization strategies that generate either CD4 or CD8 T cell responses are relatively well described, but less is known with regard to optimizing regimens to induce both CD4 and CD8 memory T cells. Considering the importance of both CD4 and CD8 T cells in the control of intracellular pathogens such as Leishmania donovani, we wanted to identify vaccines that could raise both CD4 and CD8 T cell responses and determine how to configure immunization strategies to generate the best combined protective T cell response. We examined responses generated against the Leishmania vaccine antigen F3 following its administration in either recombinant form with the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) agonist-containing adjuvant formulation GLA-SE (F3+GLA-SE) or as a gene product delivered in an adenoviral vector (Ad5-F3). Homologous immunization strategies using only F3+GLA-SE or Ad5-F3 preferentially generated either CD4 or CD8 T cells, respectively. In contrast, heterologous strategies generated both antigen-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells. Administration of F3+GLA-SE before Ad5-F3 generated the greatest combined CD4 and CD8 responses. Cytotoxic CD8 T cell responses were highest when Th1 cells were generated prior to their induction by Ad5-F3. Finally, a single immunization with a combination of F3+GLA-SE mixed with Ad5-F3 was found to be sufficient to provide protection against experimental L. donovani infection. Taken together, our data delineate immunization regimens that induce antigen-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell memory responses, and identify a single immunization strategy that could be used to rapidly provide protection against intracellular pathogens in regions where access to health care is limited or sporadic.
Sleep Health: Reciprocal Regulation of Sleep and Innate Immunity

Sleep disturbances including insomnia independently contribute to risk of inflammatory disorders and major depressive disorder. This review and overview provides an integrated understanding of the reciprocal relationships between sleep and the innate immune system and considers the role of sleep in the nocturnal regulation of the inflammatory biology dynamics; the impact of insomnia complaints, extremes of sleep duration, and experimental sleep deprivation on genomic, cellular, and systemic markers of inflammation; and the influence of sleep complaints and insomnia on inflammaging and molecular processes of cellular aging. Clinical implications of this research include discussion of the contribution of sleep disturbance to depression and especially inflammation-related depressive symptoms. Reciprocal action of inflammatory mediators on the homeostatic regulation of sleep continuity and sleep macrostructure, and the potential of interventions that target insomnia to reverse inflammation, are also reviewed. Together, interactions between sleep and inflammatory biology mechanisms underscore the implications of sleep disturbance for inflammatory disease risk, and provide a map to guide the development of treatments that modulate inflammation, improve sleep, and promote sleep health.
Calorimetry and Biology

Professor Braibanti has suggested that it might be useful to give some attention at the start of this School to the historical aspects of the application of thermochemistry to biology. Although I guess it is safe to assume that I have been interested in this general area for a longer period that anyone else in this School, such longevity certainly does not qualify me as as historian, and I have found this to be a difficult assignment.
On Associative Stigma: Implicit and Explicit Evaluations of a Mother of a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Individuals with psychiatric problems are subjected to highly damaging stigma. Some research suggests that this stigma may extend to associates (e.g., family, friends), who themselves report being devalued, avoided, and rejected. The research literature on associative stigma is largely qualitative, and extant quantitative research has utilized only explicit measures which are notably weakened by self-presentational motives. In the current study, 95 undergraduates were randomized to hear one of two audio recorded vignettes pertaining to a fictional mother of a child with either autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or severe asthma. Participants then completed an Implicit Association Test capturing implicit evaluations of the fictional mother and two separate measures of explicit stigma. No group differences for either explicit measure emerged. However, the predicted group difference in implicit stigma emerged, such that the mother of the child with ASD was evaluated less positively than the mother of the child with severe asthma. Implicit-explicit correlations were not statistically significant but in the small to medium range according to effect size conventions. This study offers evidence of implicit associative stigma in the psychiatric domain. It also points to a variety of interesting avenues for further illumination of this potentially important phenomenon.
273. Genome Editing Using CRISPR-Cas9 to Increase the Therapeutic Index of Antigen-Specific Immunotherapy in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Antigen-specific immunotherapy using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells or bispecific T cell engaging (BITE) antibodies directed against CD19 leads to elimination of malignant and normal B cells. These approaches have a broad therapeutic index in acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) due to a combination of high anti-tumor activity and tolerability of prolonged B cell depletion. In contrast, in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) the absence of surface antigens specific to leukemia implies that potent myeloid-directed immunotherapy will eradicate normal as well as malignant cells, leading to protracted myeloablation and bone marrow failure, as has been shown in several preclinical studies of CD33 or CD123 directed CART cell therapy. We developed a novel approach to circumvent this problem by genetically modifying normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) so that they do not express the antigen recognized by CART cells, thus generating normal myeloid progeny that is resistant to CART cell therapy.CD33 is expressed on the majority of AML as well on normal myeloid progenitors and its function is poorly characterized. We hypothesized that CD33 knockout HSCs and their myeloid progeny would develop normally yet be resistant to treatment with anti-CD33 CART cells (CART33). Electroporation of human CD34+ cells with Cas9 protein and in-vitro transcribed sgRNA generated deleterious mutations in the CD33 gene with 70-80% efficacy as measured by flow cytometry and DNA sequencing. Addition of a single-stranded oligonucleotide template with a short insertional mutation at the sgRNA cut site increased the knockout efficacy up to 90%. In vitro cytotoxicity assays showed CD33 KO HSC progeny are resistant to killing by CART33 compared to wild-type HSC controls (% live cells after CART33 co-culture: 60% vs. 18%, p=0.005). CD33 KO HSC progeny showed a similar growth and differentiation profile in Methocult semi-solid media compared to control cells that were electroporated with an unrelated sgRNA. The differentiated cells had normal neutrophil and macrophage morphology and immunophenotype. We also found that phagocytosis and cytokine secretion capabilities of the CD33 KO progeny were identical to WT control. NOD-SCID-g-/- (NSG) mice injected with CD33 KO HSCs showed normal engraftment with differentiation of both myeloid and lymphoid lineages. As expected, the percentage of CD33+ myeloid cells was lower in CD33 KO recipients than WT control (24% vs 63%, p<0.0001), yet the percentage of CD14+CD11b+ monocytes (45% vs 47%, p=0.77) and CD14-CD11b+ neutrophils (34% vs. 33%, p=0.87) were unaltered.This approach yields a potential strategy to treat AML with potent CD33-specific immunotherapy, followed by infusion of gene-modified CD33 KO HSCs, which will allow persistent antigen-specific immune attack along with reconstitution of effective hematopoiesis.
Limb Salvage in Malignant Pelvic Tumors

Malignant tumors involving the pelvis continue to present a challenging problem. Pelvic limb salvage procedures are becoming more popular and are justified when compared with hemipelvectomy and its resultant disability. These extensive procedures, however, are associated with significant morbidity and a high incidence of complications. The high infection rate (21%) supports the current trend to a delayed reconstruction after an extensive periacetabular resection. Moreover, the risk of recurrence is notably high (26%), particularly so with iliosacral lesions (40%). This suggests the need for more aggressive adjuvant treatment. Also, when preoperative assessment suggests that a satisfactory margin cannot be achieved by resection, amputation should be considered if it is more oncologically sound. The functional results vary with the type of resection performed. The best functional results occur after resection in which pelvic continuity is maintained or restored. A solid arthrodesis was achieved in 55% of the patients with periacetabular reconstruction. This percentage suggests the need for improved internal fixation and reconstructive techniques. However, pseudarthrosis after an unsuccessful arthrodesis still gives a satisfactory result that is superior to having a flail extremity.
Providing consistent patient education across the continuum of cancer care.

187Background: The need for consistent patient education across Cancer Care Services was identified while planning for the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. Work began in November 2015 to validate if education provided by multiple providers in various settings was consistent and delivered a clear message to patients. A plan was developed to provide consistent education across the care continuum with the goal of enhancing patient experience, improving staff workflow and defining expectations for patient education. Methods: A survey to assess the current state of education was conducted. Participants in the survey included multidisciplinary team members from inpatient and ambulatory care settings. Five questions were asked about education consistency. Comments about the current and future state of education were encouraged. An audit of educational materials was completed and outdated resources eliminated. Results: 456 surveys were sent with 154 surveys completed (34% return rate). Five major themes eme...
Supporting Shared Decision-making for Children’s Complex Behavioral Problems: Development and User Testing of an Option Grid™ Decision Aid

There is a lack of research to guide collaborative treatment decision-making for children who have complex behavioral problems, despite the extensive use of mental health services in this population. We developed and pilot-tested a one-page Option Grid™ patient decision aid to facilitate shared decision-making for these situations. An editorial team of parents, child psychiatrists, researchers, and other stakeholders developed the scope and structure of the decision aid. Researchers included information about a carefully chosen number of psychosocial and pharmacological treatment options, using descriptions based on the best available evidence. Using semi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 18), we conducted user testing with four parents and four clinical prescribers and field testing with four parents, four clinical prescribers, and two clinic administrators. The researchers coded and synthesized the interview responses using mixed inductive and deductive methods. Parents, clinicians, and administrators felt the Option Grid had significant value, although they reported that additional training and other support would be required in order to successfully implement the Option Grid and achieve shared decision-making in clinical practice.
“The Third Wall of Fire”: Scientology and the Study of Religious Secrecy

This article examines the role of secrecy in the Church of Scientology, focusing on one of the most confidential and least studied aspects of the Church’s advanced auditing levels—Operating Thetan VIII. I use this example as a way of highlighting the complex ethical and epistemological problems in the study of secrecy in new religions. Here, I suggest an alternative approach to the study of secrecy by shifting our gaze away from the attempt to uncover the content of the secret and instead focusing on the more visible forms and strategies through which secrets are maintained, transmitted, revealed and concealed. I trace the “history of a secret” by examining five periods and five key strategies in the Operating Thetan materials from the late 1960s to the present: the advertisement of the secret; secrecy as an adorning possession; the litigation of the secret; the liability of the secret; and the irrelevance of the secret. Finally, I conclude with reflections on the comparative implications of this example for the study of new religions more broadly.
Looking in the Right Places: Minority-Serving Institutions as Sources of Diverse Earth Science Learners

ABSTRACT Despite gains over the last decade, the geoscience student population in the United States today continues to lag other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines in terms of diversity. Minority-serving institutions (MSIs) can play an important role in efforts to broaden underrepresented student engagement with Earth Science content, especially in collaborations with other institutions and organizations that allow MSIs to share their expertise. Knowing which MSIs have Earth-related degree programs can help facilitate such collaboration. This commentary describes an effort to find and raise the visibility of these programs. In 2013, the abundance of geoscience departments at MSIs was roughly half that seen in U.S. higher-education institutions. Yet we found that nearly a third of MSIs offered one or more Earth-related degree programs. In addition, more than half of the academic units offering Earth-related degrees were interdisciplinary rather than traditional geoscience departm...
A robust deep convolutional neural network for the classification of abnormal cardiac rhythm using single lead electrocardiograms of variable length

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major cause of hospitalization and death in the United States. Moreover, as the average age of individuals increases around the world, early detection and diagnosis of AF become even more pressing. In this paper, we introduce a novel deep learning architecture for the detection of normal sinus rhythm, AF, other abnormal rhythms, and noise. Approach: We have demonstrated through a systematic approach many hyperparameters, input sets, and optimization methods that yielded influence in both training time and performance accuracy. We have focused on these properties to identify an optimal 13-layer convolutional neural network (CNN) model which was trained on 8528 short single-lead ECG recordings and evaluated on a test dataset of 3658 recordings. Main results: The proposed CNN architecture achieved a state-of-the-art performance in identifying normal, AF and other rhythms with an average F 1-score of 0.83. Significance: We have presented a robust deep learning-based architecture that can identify abnormal cardiac rhythms using short single-lead ECG recordings. The proposed architecture is computationally fast and can also be used in real-time cardiac arrhythmia detection applications.
Fusion, Phospholipase C, and Myogenesis

Our experiments with phospholipase C (PLC) have focused on several aspects of terminal skeletal muscle differentiation: how does fusion occur and how is fusion related to other events of terminal differentiation. Elsewhere (Leung et al., 1973; Leung et al., 1975) we have reported that PLC releases a number of proteins from the surfaces of myogenic cells and we have suggested that at least one of these proteins is involved in the fusion process. Since the theme of this meeting is the relationship of cell division to cell differentiation, I shall briefly describe several experiments which suggest that (1) mononucleated myogenic cells withdraw from the cell cycle prior to fusing and (2) there exists, prior to and separable from the fusion event, a recognition step in which mononucleated cells line-up and remain in close association with one another.
Depression in Pediatric Chronic Illness: A Diathesis-Stress Model

Depression in pediatric chronic illness has been receiving increasing attention in recent years. Studies to date have typically focused on characteristics of illness as the major determinants of the development of depression, but characteristics of the child have received less attention. This review suggests that a diathesis-stress model can be a fruitful heuristic that would incorporate illness characteristics and attributes of the child and environmental effects in an overall framework to guide future research and treatment.
Drawing the Holy in the Ordinary: Ade Bethune, the Catholic Worker, and the Liturgical Movement

This article explores the integration of the classical liturgical movement’s focus on social regeneration and the production of Catholic art by examining the work of artist Ade Bethune (1914–2002) during the first decades of the liturgical movement in the United States. Bethune’s work was distinctive because her depictions of the saints stripped holy women and men of the other-worldliness which nineteenth-century devotional grammar had imposed upon them: Mary, Mother of God was “Our Lady of Home Work”; St. Therese of Lisieux bent over a washtub; St. Joseph was “St. Joseph the Worker.” Beginning with her involvement in the Catholic Worker movement and through her continued advocacy for the involvement of lay faithful in the creation of liturgical art, Bethune sought to draw the holy in the ordinary, uniting an ordinary life of work and vocation with an extraordinary life of love for Christ. Through her craft, advocacy, writing, and teaching, her work gave visual and tactile realization to the deepest desires of the liturgical movement in the United States: promoting full and active participation on the part of the people, and connecting their worship with their work in their world, allowing the liturgy to be a true font of social regeneration.
Responding to national security letters : a practical guide for legal counsel

The book provides a guide to the law relevant to receiving, reviewing, and responding to national security letters issued by agencies of the United States government. Recent legislative amendments, adopted in response to federal court decisions holding portions of earlier statutes unconstitutional, now permit recipients of national security letters to consult with lawyers. However, experience among lawyers with national security letters has not been extensive. This book provides guidance on the process of handling such letters. It is designed for use by practitioners and in classrooms, but also would assist individuals interested in privacy and civil liberties issues. The book explains what national security letters are, and leads legal counsel through the stages of receiving, reviewing, and responding to such letters. The book analyzes issues that arise when information the government seeks may be located in foreign countries. It also explains the parameters of the safe harbors that are available to recipients of national security letters, and assesses the scope of the government's statutory authority to request information using national security letters as well as the risks of responding beyond the scope of a particular request, including and potential liability to customers whose personal information is shared. Finally, the book suggests ways to monitor and stay current on judicial, legislative, and executive branch actions concerning national security letters. The book also contains annexes that include excerpts from the relevant statutes, descriptions of holdings in leading cases, a detailed sample policy for potential recipients of national security letters to consider in evaluating their own internal policies and procedures, and an extensive bibliography.
Roles of the cGAS-STING Pathway in Cancer Immunosurveillance and Immunotherapy

Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is a cytosolic DNA sensor that initiates innate immune responses. DNA-bound cGAS produces cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP), which activates stimulator of interferon genes (STIN...
In Vivo MRI and MRS of Cerebrovascular Function Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability resulting in reduced quality of life for the patients and a significant economic burden to the society. Advances in magnetic resonance imaging techniques are enabling researchers to obtain critical insights into the pathophysiology of the TBI sequelae and also aiding clinicians in predicting long term outcome of TBI patients of all severities. Advanced MRI techniques are able to detect subtle changes in structural integrity of neural tissue as well as changes in functional neural networks. Multi-parametric approaches, including diffusion tensor imaging, functional MRI, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and arterial spin labeling to non-invasively measure brain perfusion, show promise in detecting trauma-induced biophysical, biochemical and cerebrovascular alterations respectively. Together these techniques are bound to provide us with a better understanding of the sequelae of TBI non-invasively that may lead to better management of TBI patients.
In Situ Visualization and Analysis to Design Large Scale Experiments in Computational Fluid Dynamics

Nek5000 is a massively-parallel computational fluid dynamics code, which is widely used and researched, including as part of a co-design center of the Exascale Computing Project (ECP). As computation capacity reaches exascale, storage bandwidth remains stable leading to a larger percentage of time spent performing I/O. In situ analysis overcomes this issue by processing the data before it is written to disk. One method for accomplishing in situ analysis is through SENSEI, a generic in situ interface that enables the use of many existing in situ infrastructures with little modification to the simulation. In this work, we present the instrumentation of Nek5000 with SENSEI and evaluate its ability to accelerate the development of large scale simulation campaigns.
Probing the Metal-Insulator Transition in BaTiO 3 by Electrostatic Doping

The metal-to-insulator transition in BaTiO_{3} is investigated using electrostatic doping, which avoids effects from disorder and strain that would accompany chemical doping. SmTiO_{3}/BaTiO_{3}/SrTiO_{3} heterostructures are doped with a constant sheet carrier density of 3×10^{14} cm^{-2} that is introduced via the polar SmTiO_{3}/BaTiO_{3} interface. Below a critical BaTiO_{3} thickness, the structures exhibit metallic behavior with high carrier mobilities at low temperatures, similar to SmTiO_{3}/SrTiO_{3} interfaces. Above this thickness, data indicate that the BaTiO_{3} layer becomes ferroelectric. The BaTiO_{3} lattice parameters increase to a value consistent with a strained, tetragonal unit cell, the structures are insulating below ∼125 K, and the mobility drops by more than an order of magnitude, indicating self-trapping of carriers. The results shed light on the interplay between charge carriers and ferroelectricity.
Large transition state stabilization from a weak hydrogen bond

A series of molecular rotors was designed to study and measure the rate accelerating effects of an intramolecular hydrogen bond. The rotors form a weak neutral O-H⋯O[double bond, length as m-dash]C hydrogen bond in the planar transition state (TS) of the bond rotation process. The rotational barrier of the hydrogen bonding rotors was dramatically lower (9.9 kcal mol-1) than control rotors which could not form hydrogen bonds. The magnitude of the stabilization was significantly larger than predicted based on the independently measured strength of a similar O-H⋯O[double bond, length as m-dash]C hydrogen bond (1.5 kcal mol-1). The origins of the large transition state stabilization were studied via experimental substituent effect and computational perturbation analyses. Energy decomposition analysis of the hydrogen bonding interaction revealed a significant reduction in the repulsive component of the hydrogen bonding interaction. The rigid framework of the molecular rotors positions and preorganizes the interacting groups in the transition state. This study demonstrates that with proper design a single hydrogen bond can lead to a TS stabilization that is greater than the intrinsic interaction energy, which has applications in catalyst design and in the study of enzyme mechanisms.
Gender Classification Using Facial Images and Basis Pursuit

In many social interactions, it is important to correctly recognize the gender. Researches have addressed this issue based on facial images, ear images and gait. In this paper, we present an approach for gender classification using facial images based upon sparse representation and Basis Pursuit. In sparse representation, the training data is used to develop a dictionary based on extracted features. Classification is achieved by representing the extracted features of the test data using the dictionary. For this purpose, basis pursuit is used to find the best representation by minimizing the l 1 norm. In this work, Gabor filters are used for feature extraction. Experimental results are conducted on the FERET data set and obtained results are compared with other works in this area. The results show improvement in gender classification over existing methods.
Precursor Reaction Method With High Ga Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se) $_{2}$ to Achieve Increased Open-Circuit Voltage

The precursor reaction process for the fabrication of Cu(In,Ga)Se $_{2}$ solar cells potentially allows for low-cost fabrication and scalable processing for manufacturing. Additionally, this process has yielded record efficiencies in lab-scale experiments. Thus far, research on the precursor reaction method has been restricted to relatively low Ga compositions with Ga/(In+Ga) $\approx$ 25%. By increasing the ratio of Ga, it is possible to increase the bandgap, and thus, increase the open-circuit voltage. This work develops and characterizes the precursor reaction process for use with Ga/(In+Ga) $\approx$ 50%, with the goal of improving the open-circuit voltage and efficiency. It is shown that with an increased Ga ratio, increased ${V}_{\rm oc}$ is achieved, but the rate of conversion from the precursor to absorber phases is decreased. Additionally, increased Ga improves the film adhesion at increased selenization temperatures as well as improving the film morphology.
WE‐E‐201B‐01: GPU‐Based Fast Cone Beam CT Reconstruction from Undersampled and Noisy Projection Data Via Total Variation

Purpose: Cone‐beam CT(CBCT) plays an important role in image guided radiation therapy(IGRT). However, the large radiationdose from serial CBCT scans in most IGRT procedures raises a clinical concern. This excessive imagingdose can be reduced by reducing the number of x‐ray projections and/or lowering mAs levels per projection. It is the goal of this work to develop a fast GPU‐based algorithm to reconstruct high quality CBCT from undersampled and noisy projection data so as to lower the imagingdose.Method and Materials: The CBCT is reconstructed by minimizing an energy functional consisting of a data fidelity term and a total variation regularization term. We developed a GPU‐friendly version of the forward‐backward splitting algorithm to solve this model. Multi‐grid technique is also employed. Results: It is found that 20∼40 x‐ray projections are sufficient to reconstructimages with satisfactory quality for IGRT. The reconstruction time ranges from 77 to 130 sec on an NVIDIA Tesla C1060 GPU card, depending on the number of projections used, which is estimated ∼100 times faster than similar iterative reconstruction approaches. Phantom studies indicate that our algorithm enables the CBCT to be reconstructed under as low as 0.1 mAs/projection level. Comparing with currently widely used full‐fan head‐and‐neck scanning protocol of ∼360 projections with 0.4 mAs/projection, it is estimated that an overall 36∼72 times dose reduction has been achieved. Our algorithm can also be used in CBCTreconstructions in limited field of view scanning protocols for further reducing dose and in limited angle scanning protocols for shortening scanning time. Conclusion: The developed GPU‐based CBCTreconstruction algorithm is capable of lowering imagingdose considerably. The high computational efficiency makes this iterative CBCTreconstruction approach applicable in real clinical environments for the first time.
Concentration-dependent dual effect of thrombin on impaired growth/apoptosis or mitogenesis in tumor cells: Presented at the 40th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, Miami, FL, December 1998.

Abstract Because thrombin-treated tumor cell-induced metastasis increases tumor nodule volume12 greater than nodule number, we studied the effect of thrombin on tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo (murine B16F10 melanoma, human HCT8 colon carcinoma, DU145 prostate carcinoma). Tumor cell growth was measured after 3 to 7 days in 1% fetal calf serum (FCS) + RPMI 1640. We found that, whereas relatively low concentrations of thrombin, 0.1 to 0.5 U/mL (1-5 nmol/L) enhance tumor cell growth in vitro approximately 2- to 3-fold, higher concentrations, 0.5 to 1 U/mL (5-10 nmol/L) impaired cell growth approximately 2- to 4-fold. Impaired cell growth was associated with cell cycle arrest at G2M and increased pre-GoDNA, as well as apoptosis, measured by tumor cell binding to Annexin V and propidium iodide. Apoptosis was reversed with the general caspase inhibitor, FK-011. The enhancing and inhibiting effects were specific for thrombin (reversed with inactive diisopropyl-fluorophosphate [DFP]-thrombin) and mediated via the protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR-1). PAR-1 activation was demonstrated by (1) use of a cell line, B16F10, devoid of the 3 other thrombin receptors, PAR-3, PAR-4, and GPIb; and (2) greater sensitivity of PAR-1 transfected B16F10 and HCT8 cells to impaired cell growth/apoptosis, 3- and 14-fold, respectively. Thus, thrombin has a bimodal effect on PAR-1 in tumor cells: enhanced growth at low concentration, impaired growth/apoptosis at higher concentration.
Macromolecular crowding effects on the kinetics of opposing reactions catalyzed by alcohol dehydrogenase.

Abstract In order to better understand how the complex, densely packed, heterogeneous milieu of a cell influences enzyme kinetics, we exposed opposing reactions catalyzed by yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH) to both synthetic and protein crowders ranging from 10 to 550 kDa. The results reveal that the effects from macromolecular crowding depend on the direction of the reaction. The presence of the synthetic polymers, Ficoll and dextran, decrease Vmax and Km for ethanol oxidation. In contrast, these crowders have little effect or even increase these kinetic parameters for acetaldehyde reduction. This increase in Vmax is likely due to excluded volume effects, which are partially counteracted by viscosity hindering release of the NAD+ product. Macromolecular crowding is further complicated by the presence of a depletion layer in solutions of dextran larger than YADH, which diminishes the hindrance from viscosity. The disparate effects from 25 g/L dextran or glucose compared to 25 g/L Ficoll or sucrose reveals that soft interactions must also be considered. Data from binary mixtures of glucose, dextran, and Ficoll support this “tuning” of opposing factors. While macromolecular crowding was originally proposed to influence proteins mainly through excluded volume effects, this work compliments the growing body of evidence revealing that other factors, such as preferential hydration, chemical interactions, and the presence of a depletion layer also contribute to the overall effect of crowding.
Triggering Economic Growth:Trade Liberalization as the Prominent Factor in Less-developed Countries

Numerous theoretical and empirical studies have investigated the role of financial development, human capital accumulation, and trade liberalization on economic growth. Their findings, however, have been inconclusive as to which of these factors’ implementation should policy makers prioritize. We construct a panel of more than 160 `developed’, `developing’ and `less-developed’ countries between 1965 and 2017 to address this issue. We use non-stationary dynamic panel estimations to argue that quantitative effects of these factors depend on national income levels. Even though developed countries benefit the most from investing in their human capital and developing countries gain more by improving their financial institutions, our results show that both financial development and human capital are relatively ineffective in less developed countries. Nonetheless, trade liberalization has a stronger impact on GDP growth in these economies than in developing and developed countries.
Identifying Fetal Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Infection from Amniotic and Allantoic Fluid

Control of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) relies on accurate identification of persistently infected (PI) animals. A persistent infection can develop when a fetus is exposed to virus in utero, prior to 125 days gestation. While effective tests exist to identify PI calves and cattle, none of them determine the BVDV status of a pregnant cow's fetus. Thus, a pregnant, non-infected cow may still introduce BVDV to a herd by delivering a PI calf. This study evaluated different virological tests on amniotic and allantoic fluid from bovine fetuses for detection of BVDV.
SNR: Squeezing Numerical Range Defuses Bit Error Vulnerability Surface in Deep Neural Networks

As deep learning algorithms are widely adopted, an increasing number of them are positioned in embedded application domains with strict reliability constraints. The expenditure of significant resources to satisfy performance requirements in deep neural network accelerators has thinned out the margins for delivering safety in embedded deep learning applications, thus precluding the adoption of conventional fault tolerance methods. The potential of exploiting the inherent resilience characteristics of deep neural networks remains though unexplored, offering a promising low-cost path towards safety in embedded deep learning applications. This work demonstrates the possibility of such exploitation by juxtaposing the reduction of the vulnerability surface through the proper design of the quantization schemes with shaping the parameter distributions at each layer through the guidance offered by appropriate training methods, thus delivering deep neural networks of high resilience merely through algorithmic modifications. Unequaled error resilience characteristics can be thus injected into safety-critical deep learning applications to tolerate bit error rates of up to at absolutely zero hardware, energy, and performance costs while improving the error-free model accuracy even further.
Validation of an algorithm to identify antiretroviral-naïve status at time of entry into a large, observational cohort of HIV-infected patients

Author(s): Gandhi, Neel R; Tate, Janet P; Rodriguez-Barradas, Maria C; Rimland, David; Goetz, Matthew Bidwell; Gibert, Cynthia; Brown, Sheldon T; Mattocks, Kristin; Justice, Amy C | Abstract: PurposeLarge, observational HIV cohorts play an important role in answering questions which are difficult to study in randomized trials; however, they often lack detailed information regarding previous antiretroviral treatment (ART). Knowledge of ART treatment history is important when ascertaining the long-term impact of medications, co-morbidities, or adverse reactions on HIV outcomes.MethodsWe performed a retrospective study to validate a prediction algorithm for identifying ART-naive patients using the Veterans Aging Cohort Study's Virtual Cohort-an observational cohort of 40 594 HIV-infected veterans nationwide. Medical records for 3070 HIV-infected patients were reviewed to determine history of combination ART treatment. An algorithm using Virtual Cohort laboratory data was used to predict ART treatment status and compared to medical record review.ResultsAmong 3070 patients' medical records reviewed, 1223 were eligible for analysis. Of these, 990 (81%) were ART naive at cohort entry based on medical record review. The prediction algorithm's sensitivity was 86%, specificity 47%, positive predictive value (PPV) 87%, and negative predictive value 45%, using a viral load threshold of l400 copies/ml. Sensitivity analysis revealed that PPV would be maximized by increasing the viral load threshold, whereas sensitivity would be maximized by lowering the viral load threshold.ConclusionsA prediction algorithm using available laboratory data can be used to accurately identify ART-naive patients in large, observational HIV cohorts. Use of this algorithm will allow investigators to accurately limit analyses to ART-naive patients when studying the contribution of ART to outcomes and adverse events.
Intragenic enhancers and suppressors of phytoene desaturase mutations in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Photosynthetic organisms synthesize carotenoids for harvesting light energy, photoprotection, and maintaining the structure and function of photosynthetic membranes. A light-sensitive, phytoene-accumulating mutant, pds1-1, was isolated in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and found to be genetically linked to the phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene. PDS catalyzes the second step in carotenoid biosynthesis—the conversion of phytoene to ζ-carotene. Decreased accumulation of downstream colored carotenoids suggested that the pds1-1 mutant is leaky for PDS activity. A screen for enhancers of the pds1-1 mutation yielded the pds1-2 allele, which completely lacks PDS activity. A second independent null mutant (pds1-3) was identified using DNA insertional mutagenesis. Both null mutants accumulate only phytoene and no other carotenoids. All three phytoene-accumulating mutants exhibited slower growth rates and reduced plating efficiency compared to wild-type cells and white phytoene synthase mutants. Insight into amino acid residues important for PDS activity was obtained through the characterization of intragenic suppressors of pds1-2. The suppressor mutants fell into three classes: revertants of the pds1-1 point mutation, mutations that changed PDS amino acid residue Pro64 to Phe, and mutations that converted PDS residue Lys90 to Met. Characterization of pds1-2 intragenic suppressors coupled with computational structure prediction of PDS suggest that amino acids at positions 90 and 143 are in close contact in the active PDS enzyme and have important roles in its structural stability and/or activity.
Hypersensitivity to inhaled TOBI® following reaction to gentamicin

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common autosomal-recessive disease in Caucasians. Colonization with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) of the CF airways causes deterioration of pulmonary status. TOBI (Tobramycin solution for inhalation) is an inhaled antibiotic that can improve the pulmonary disease. We report on a 9-year old boy with CF who developed a rash following a course of IV gentamicin. The rash resolved after its discontinuation. However, the rash returned all over his body, with the start of inhalation of TOBI therapy. We desensitized the patient using escalating doses of inhaled TOBI. He tolerated the procedure well, and continues to be on TOBI 9 months after desensitization on a once-a-day regimen.
The role of lipid raft aggregation in the infection of type II pneumocytes by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Dynamic, cholesterol-dense regions of the plasma membrane, known as lipid rafts (LR), have been observed to develop during and may be directly involved in infection of host cells by various pathogens. This study focuses on LR aggregation induced in alveolar epithelial cells during infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacilli. We report dose- and time-dependent increases in LR aggregation after infection with three different strains at multiplicities of infection of 1, 10 and 100 from 2–24 hr post infection (hpi). Specific strain-dependent variations were noted among H37Rv, HN878 and CDC1551 with H37Rv producing the most significant increase from 15 aggregates per cell (APC) to 27 APC at MOI 100 during the 24 hour infection period. Treatment of epithelial cells with Culture Filtrate Protein, Total Lipids and gamma-irradiated whole cells from each strain failed to induce the level of LR aggregation observed during infection with any of the live strains. However, filtered supernatants from infected epithelial cells did produce comparable LR aggregation, suggesting a secreted mycobacterial product produced during infection of host cells is responsible for LR aggregation. Disruption of lipid raft formation prior to infection indicates that Mtb bacilli utilize LR aggregates for internalization and survival in epithelial cells. Treatment of host cells with the LR-disruption agent Filipin III produced a nearly 22% reduction in viable bacteria for strains H37Rv and HN878, and a 7% reduction for strain CDC1551 after 6 hpi. This study provides evidence for significant mycobacterial-induced changes in the plasma membrane of alveolar epithelial cells and that Mtb strains vary in their ability to facilitate aggregation and utilization of LR.
Photoluminescence Studies Of Coupled Quantum Well Structures In The AlGaAs/GaAs System

The interaction between two closely spaced quantum well (QW) structures has been studied by observing the change in photoluminescence (PL) energy as a function of the barrier thickness between the wells. Theoretical model and experimental results agree to within a few meV for these structures. The strongest coupling is for the narrowest wells and the thinnest barrier. Only the symmetric symmetric transition between the n=1 states of the confined electron and heavy hole states was observed.
A system of nomenclature for band patterns of mouse chromosomes.

Mouse chromosomes banded by quinacrine mustard staining, by the ASG technique, or by Giemsa staining following trypsinization or chymotrypsinization are described in detail. Three hundred and twelve regions within the mouse karyotype can be distinguished and a simple system of nomenclature is proposed for naming these regions. This nomenclature is applied to discussion of the locations of the breakpoints of twenty translocations and of many specific gene loci.