cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Value of P63 and CK5/6 in distinguishing squamous cell carcinoma from adenocarcinoma in lung fine-needle aspiration specimens

The current FDA-approved standard of care for nonsmall cell lung cancer is Carboplastin/Taxol/Avastin based upon an impressive survival benefit; however, patients with squamous carcinoma (SQCC) cannot receive Avastin because of a 30% mortality rate due to fatal hemoptysis. In this study we evaluated the role of cytomorphology and immunohistochemistry in differentiating SQCC from adenocarcinoma (ADC) in lung FNA specimens. The case cohort included 53 FNA cases of nonsmall cell lung carcinoma with surgical pathology follow-up. All FNA specimens were reviewed independently by a panel of cytopathologists to differentiate between SQCC and ADC. The cell block material was available in 23 cases (11 ADC and 12 SQCC) to perform immunohistochemical stains for TTF-1, CK7, CK20, P63, and CK5/6. On surgical resection, 35/53 (66%) cases were diagnosed as ADC and 18/53 (34%) as SQCC. The number of cases classified correctly on the basis of cytomorphology was 66% for ADC and 53% for SQCC (combined accuracy 60%). By immunohistochemical staining, 14/23 (61%) cases expressed TTF-1. Nine cases were TTF-1 negative; eight of the TTF-1 negative cases (89%) were SQCC. Twenty-three cases expressed CK7 (87%); one ADC case (4%) showed focal CK20 positivity. Both P63 and CK5/6 expression was seen in 9/12 (75%) SQCC cases; none of the ADC cases showed this dual expression. Cytomorphology alone may not be able to stratify all cases of nonsmall cell lung carcinoma into ADC and SQCC in FNA specimens. The immune-panel of TTF-1, CK7, CK20, P63, and CK5/6 is useful in differentiating SQCC from ADC.
Women Are More Likely Than Men to Use Tentative Language, Aren’t They? A Meta-Analysis Testing for Gender Differences and Moderators

Robin Lakoff proposed that women are more likely than men to use tentative speech forms (e.g., hedges, qualifiers/disclaimers, tag questions, intensifiers). Based on conflicting results from research testing Lakoff’s claims, a meta-analysis of studies testing gender differences in tentative language was conducted. The sample included 29 studies with 39 independent samples and a combined total sample of 3,502 participants. Results revealed a statistically significant but small effect size (d = .23), indicating that women were somewhat more likely than men to use tentative speech. In addition, methodological moderators (operational definition, observation length, recording method, author gender, and year of study) and contextual moderators (gender composition, familiarity, student status, group size, conversational activity, and physical setting) were tested. Effect sizes were significantly larger in studies that (a) observed longer (vs. shorter) conversations, (b) sampled undergraduates (vs. other adults),...
Vaccinia viruses: vaccines against smallpox and vectors against infectious diseases and tumors

Less than 200 years after its introduction, widespread use of vaccinia virus (VACV) as a smallpox vaccine has eradicated variola virus. Along with the remarkable success of the vaccination program, frequent and sometimes severe adverse reactions to VACV were encountered. After eradication, VACV has been reserved for select populations who might be at significant risk for orthopoxvirus infections. Events over the past decade have renewed concerns over the potential use of variola virus as a biological weapon. Accordingly, interest in VACV and attenuated derivatives has increased, both as vaccines against smallpox and as vectors for other vaccines. This article will focus on new developments in the field of orthopoxvirus immunization and will highlight recent advances in the use of vaccinia viruses as vectors for infectious diseases and malignancies.
Cutting edge: Recombinant adenoviruses induce CD8 T cell responses to an inserted protein whose expression is limited to nonimmune cells

CD8 T cells (T(CD8+)) play a crucial role in immunity to viruses. Current understanding of activation of naive T cells entails Ag presentation by professional APCs (pAPCs). What happens, however, when viruses evolve to avoid infecting pAPCs? We have studied the consequences of this strategy by generating recombinant adenoviruses that express influenza A virus nucleoprotein under the control of tissue-specific promoters. We show that the immunogenicity of such viruses requires their delivery to organs capable of expressing nucleoprotein. This indicates that infection of pAPCs is not required for adenoviruses to elicit a T(CD8+) response, probably due to a cross-priming via pAPCs. While this bodes well for recombinant adenoviruses as vaccines, it dims their prospects as gene therapy vectors.
Ginseng and the Royal Society.

FROM 1666 to 1788 there is direct evidence of the Royal Society’s interest in the medicinal plant ginseng. The Society’s records, correspondence and publications illustrate a preoccupation with the herb by three Presidents, numerous Fellows and several colonial or foreign members. This study presents the evidence and attempts to assess its signihcance. Ginseng has an ancient history and is hrst mentioned about 2650 B.c. in the Chinese Red Emperor Shen-nung’s herbal, the It is probably the most famous medicinal plant in the Far East. As far as the Royal Society is concerned, there are five main periods, with a peak in the middle, when attention was focused on ginseng in the 122 years spanning 1666 to 1788: 1666-1692, 1711-1724, 1736-1743, 1750-1764, and 1783-1788.
Electric field centering of double-emulsion droplets suspended in a density gradient

Highly concentric double-emulsion droplets can be formed in a suspending fluid by application of a uniform, AC electric field. A dipole/dipole interaction acting on the inner droplet achieves this centering effect. The dielectric constant of the outer liquid shell must be higher than the dielectric constant of the suspending liquid; the electric field frequency must overcome electrostatic shielding due to the electrical conductivity of the liquid forming the outer shell; and the liquid densities must be matched within ∼0.1%. Early experiments using a thin glass plate to hold the droplet between the electrodes demonstrated centering in ∼60 seconds with an electric field of magnitude >104 VRMS m−1, but the plate caused a systematic ∼10% vertical offset between the centers of the inner and outer surfaces. Suspending the double-emulsion droplet in a density gradient reduces the centering error to less than ±5% and eliminates high-spatial-frequency distortion. Furthermore, the electric field and the density gradient effects upon droplet distortion tend to counteract each other.
Role of non-receptor and receptor tyrosine kinases (TKs) in the antitumor action of α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) in breast cancer cells

We have shown that administration of α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the first and rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine (PA) biosynthesis, reduces the invasive and metastatic properties of MDA-MB−435 breast cancer cells while activating multiple signal transduction pathways, including MAPK, Stat3, Stat1, and JNK. Since the activity of these signaling mechanisms is frequently regulated by upstream tyrosine kinases (TKs), we tested whether non-receptor and receptor TKs may be involved in the signaling and biological effects of DFMO in MDA-MB−435 cells. Treatment with DFMO (1 mM for 48 h) did not affect Src phosphorylation (Tyr 416). Administration of the Src-family members inhibitor PP-1 (1 μM), blocked Src phosphorylation in the absence and in the presence of DFMO, but did not block the signaling effects of DFMO (increased phosphorylation of Stat3, Stat1, ERK and JNK). PP-1 treatment, on the other hand, inhibited the invasiveness of MDA-MB−435 cells in matrigel and potentiated the anti-invasive effect of DFMO. Next, we focused on the role of receptor TK. Western analysis of cell lysates from MDA-MB−435 cells failed to show the presence of EGF-R and HER-2neu but demonstrated the expression of c-Met, the receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). Therefore, we tested the effect of DFMO on the HGF/c-Met pathway which is strongly implicated in the progression of human breast cancer. We found that DFMO treatment blocked HGF-induced c-Met phosphorylation in MDA-MB−435 cells, suggesting that its anti-invasion action may be mediated, at least in part, by blocking c-Met signaling. Next, we showed that 1 mM DFMO suppressed HGF induced invasiveness of MDA-MB−435 cells in matrigel. Combination administration of DFMO with suboptimal doses of PHA-665752, a specific c-Met inhibitor, reduced invasiveness to an even greater extent than the individual treatment. These findings indicate that Src-family members, while not involved in DFMO action, promote invasiveness of breast cancer cells and their inhibition may enhance the antitumor effect of PA depletion. Our data also point to inhibition of HGF/c-Met pathway as a possible novel approach to enhancing the antitumor action of DFMO.
Investigating the relationship between strategic alignment and IT business value: the discovery of a paradox

Although business executives remain skeptical about the extent of payoffs from investment in information technology (IT), strategic alignment or the alignment of information systems strategy with business strategy continues to be ranked as one of the most important issues facing corporations. In this paper, we report on the results of a process-level study to investigate the relationship between strategic alignment and IT payoffs. An analysis of survey data from 63 firms finds a positive and significant relationship between strategic alignment and IT payoffs, a relationship that holds for all firms, irrespective of their strategic intent or goals for IT. However, in exploring minor differences in strategic alignment between firms with different goals for IT, we uncovered evidence of an alignment paradox. This paradox shows that while strategic alignment can lead to increased payoffs from IT, this relationship is only valid up to a certainpoint beyond which, paradoxically, further increases in strategic alignment appear to lead to lower IT payoffs. Finally, we offer some suggestions for why this paradox might exist, specifically around issues of environmental uncertainty, industry clock-speed, and the need for organizational flexibility.
Anticipating the Digital University

The University of the Digital Society is based on interactions that facilitate learning in a new pragmatic context. Catalysts involved in the learning process replace the traditional professor. Students dynamically constitute classes of shared interest, which cease to exist once learning goals are achieved or prove unattainable. Learning, procedural in nature, takes place in the interaction, eventually embodied in a project. The digital infrastructure of the widely distributed, new virtual learning environment must be specified in terms of educational goals. Extremely rich data and many different computations will have to be seamlessly integrated. Modeling and access to data, corresponding to intuitive forms of interaction, will exceed all other forms of computation—a major challenge to everyone involved in conceiving methods appropriate to the new education. Learning driven by anticipation--proactive acquisition and dissemination of knowledge instead of training in reaction to the problems we face--is the basis of the new education.
Recognizing conic shape: a nonlinear iterative approach

An algorithm for fitting a conic shape to a set of given data is described. By a modified medial axis transform, described in the paper, the algorithm first determines the orientation of the shape such that the shape could be rotated to align its axis with the X-axis. The standard nonlinear equations of the conic, both closed and open, are then fitted using a linearized least square approach. Some experimental results are provided indicating the convergence and good performance of the algorithm. >
Hepatitis B and Liver Transplantation

Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with liver failure secondary to chronic hepatitis B. However, liver transplantation is complicated by the risk of recurrent hepatitis B virus infection, which significantly impairs graft and patient survival. The main risk factor for the development of recurrent hepatitis B virus infection is the virus load at the time of transplantation. The development of antiviral medications, such as lamivudine and adefovir, and the implementation of effective prophylactic regimens using hepatitis B immune globulin have significantly improved the outcomes of hepatitis B after liver transplantation. However, current approaches continue to be hampered by the extremely high cost of treatment and the emergence of drug-resistant viral mutations. Ongoing studies are necessary to establish the most cost-effective approaches to prevent recurrent hepatitis B virus infection after liver transplantation.
Chemical and mechanical adhesion mechanisms of sputter-deposited metal on epoxy dielectric for high density interconnect printed circuit boards

Strong chemical reactions between metal and polymer substrates significantly enhance adhesion of the metal to the polymer. This study investigated the adhesion of three types of thin film metals, including Cu, NiCr, and Cr, to a fully epoxy-based polymer. Before depositing these thin film metals, the epoxy surface was treated with either an Ar or O/sub 2/ plasma etch. It was found that NiCr and Cr produced higher peel strengths than Cu, but NiCr and Cr did not produce different peel strengths than each other. It was also found that O/sub 2/ plasma etch produced significantly higher peel strengths than Ar plasma etch for Cu and Cr, but not for NiCr. An XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) study was performed to investigate the reactivities and possible chemical adhesion mechanisms of the metal thin films with the epoxy. It was determined that Cr reacted more strongly than Ni in forming metal oxide at the metal-epoxy interface. Cu was not seen to react strongly in forming oxide with the epoxy. Thermodynamic information supported the relative amounts of oxides found by XPS. Thermodynamic information also suggested that O/sub 2/ plasma etch did not produce significantly higher adhesion than Ar plasma etch on the NiCr samples due to the large Ni component of the NiCr thin film. An AFM (atomic force microscopy) study was performed to investigate possible mechanical adhesion mechanisms. Implications of the AFM results were that the main adhesion mechanism for all samples was chemical and that the Cu oxide that was available on the Cu samples was beyond the detection limits of the XPS equipment.
Isometric endurance, body and skin temperature and limb and skin blood flow during the menstrual cycle.

Background Limb blood flow and skin and deep tissue temperature change during the menstrual cycle. However, the impact of these changes on isometric exercise performance has not been investigated. Material/methods Isometric endurance was assessed at contraction tensions of 20, 40 and 60% of the maximal voluntary contraction strength (MVC) of the handgrip muscles in 8 women every other day throughout their menstrual cycles (MC). For any MC, contractions were only accomplished at one of the three tensions. For contractions at 40% MVC, an additional two MC were studied during which the circulation to the forearm was occluded during the contractions in one cycle and muscle temperature stabilized and occluded in another cycle. Results The results of these experiments showed a small variation in endurance during the MC for contractions at 60% MVC. This effect increased at 40% and was greatest for contractions at 20% MVC. When circulation was occluded, the response was changed in both magnitude and timing during the MC showing that there was variation in muscle performance due to the menstrual cycle not due to changes in blood flow. Further, when muscle temperature was stabilized and flow occluded, there was still lower endurance at the end of the Follicular phase showing an effect of the menstrual cycle on endurance absent changes in muscle temperature and blood flow. Conclusions The results show that the MC alters isometric endurance due to 1) a cyclic variation in muscle temperature, 2) direct effects of the menstrual cycle on circulation and 3) Direct effects of the MC on muscle.
MOLECULAR PROPAGATION THROUGH SMALL AVOIDED CROSSINGS OF ELECTRON ENERGY LEVELS

This is the second of two papers on the propagation of molecular wave packets through avoided crossings of electronic energy levels in a limit where the gap between the levels shrinks as the nuclear masses are increased. An earlier paper deals with the simplest two types of generic, minimal multiplicity avoided crossings, in which the levels essentially depend on only one of the nuclear configuration parameters. The present paper deals with propagation through the remaining four types of generic, minimal multiplicity avoided crossings, in which the levels depend on more than one nuclear configuration parameter.
Nanoparticle diffusion on desorbing solids: The role of elementary excitations in buffer-layer-assisted growth

Physical vapor deposition onto rare gas buffer layers leads to the spontaneous formation of clusters. During the thermal desorption of the buffer, these clusters diffuse and aggregate into larger structures, a process known as buffer-layer-assisted growth and desorption assisted coalescence. We studied the effect of buffer thickness and the rate of buffer desorption on the extent of this aggregation for Ag, Au, Cu, Pd, Co, and Ni particles on a solid Xe surface. On the basis of these experiments, results from Monte Carlo simulations and the existing theoretical models for cluster‐cluster aggregation, we report for the first time the Arrhenius parameters for nanoparticle slip-diffusion. The effective activation energies range from 0.12 for small Ag clusters (few hundred atoms) to 0.60 eV for ramified Ni islands(millions of atoms), and the giant pre-exponential factors were found to differ by many orders of magnitude. Significantly, the pre-exponential factors follow a Meyer‐Neldeltype dependence on the corresponding effective activation energy, with a characteristic Meyer‐Neldel energy of 6.9 meV. This energy is associated with the phononic excitations in solid Xe that are responsible for nanostructure mobility. This dependence should be a characteristic feature of nanoparticle diffusion.
Silencing Political Opinions An Assessment of the Influence of Geopolitical Contexts in Colombia

One of the most understudied aspects of the spiral of silence theory is the influence on opinion expression of different social structures anchored in geopolitical units, such as cities or states. This study evaluates political opinion expression after an election by relying on national survey data collected in Colombia (Latin America) and using multilevel analytic techniques to assess geopolitical and individual contexts of influence. Results provide evidence that a disagreeable national context—an election outcome contrary to one’s preference—matters in explaining citizens’ political expression. In addition, individual-level variables in the form of self-censorship were studied. Rather than an individual’s level of self-censorship contributing to expression inhibition, it appears that aggregate city levels of self-censorship affect the likelihood of an individual expressing his or her opinion after a presidential election.
Wind Shear and Reflectivity Gradient Effects on Doppler Radar Spectra

Abstract Other investigators have discussed the effects of wind and reflectivity gradients across the radar beam on Doppler measurements, but have either estimated their magnitude from a simple approximation or set them aside as negligible. This paper deals with the component of the shear vector along the beam. Exact solutions and simple approximations for both the mean and variance of the Doppler spectrum are derived for two types of reflectivity gradients combined with a linear velocity, gradient. In the case of an exponential reflectivity, gradient it is found that the “effective” beam (i.e., the reflectivity-weighed two-way illumination pattern) remains Gaussian with identical beamwidth to the real beam, but its mean is shifted to an angle ϕm on the high-reflectivity side of the actual beam. With a linear velocity profile in the ϕ direction, the approximate solution shows that the mean Doppler velocity, is then shifted to the scatterer velocity found at ϕm. This approximation is shown to be valid for ...
Wireless data harvesting using the AUV Sentry and WHOI optical modem

The optical communications group at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has demonstrated wireless optical transmission of data from a seafloor node to the Sentry AUV. This effort is based on the latest version of the optical modem under continual development at WHOI, and it builds on fieldwork conducted in 2012 and 2013 during which we successfully transferred data from seafloor-deployed optical modem systems using a wire-lowered optical modem from a ship. While our previous work used a high-bandwidth optical modem for the data uplink and an acoustic modem “backlink” to control the file transfer, the optical modem described in this paper supports fully bidirectional optical communication—essentially subsea WiFi. A subordinate objective of our work was to literally map the operational space for an AUV-bottom node optical link. Armed with this spatial map, we can plan for future “connected” AUV operations in support of data mule, inspection, manipulation, and other underwater semi-autonomous tasks.
Naturalness and rapport in a pitch adaptive learning companion

Observed frequently in human-human interactions, entrainment is a social phenomenon in which speakers become more like each other over the course of a conversation. Acoustic-prosodic entrainment occurs when individuals adapt their acoustic-prosodic speech features, such as pitch and intensity. Correlated with communicative success, naturalness, and conversational flow as well as social variables such as rapport, a dialogue system which automatically entrains has the potential to improve verbal interactions by increasing rapport, naturalness, and conversational flow. In an application like the learning companion, such a socially responsive dialogue system may improve learning and motivation. However, it is not clear how to produce entrainment in an automatic dialogue system in ways that produce the effects seen in human-human dialogue. In this paper, we take the first steps towards implementing a spoken dialogue system which can entrain. We propose three methods of pitch adaptation based on analysis of human entrainment, and design and implement a system which can manipulate the pitch of text-to-speech output adaptively. We find a clear relationship between perceptions of rapport and different forms of pitch adaptations. Certain adaptations are perceived as significantly more natural and rapport-like. Ultimately, adapting by shifting the pitch contour of the text-to-speech output by the mean pitch of the user results in the highest reported measures of rapport and naturalness.
Encouraging Work in Citizen Science: Experiments in Goal Setting and Anchoring

This paper describes the results of an online field exper-iment where we designed and analyzed the effects of a goal-setting tracker in an online citizen science project -Floating Forest. The design of our tracker was influenced by psychology theories of anchoring and goal-setting. Our results of our experiment revealed: (1) setting goals increases annotations in a session; (2) numeric anchors influence goals; and (3) participants in the treatment who saw a prompt but did not set a goal, contributed more an-notations than the participants in the control group. Our research shows how goal-setting and anchoring combine to increase work in online communities.
Seasonal Acclimatization of Thermoregulation in the Black-Capped Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadees (Parus atricapillus) show behavioral adaptations (food caching, cavity roosting) and can undergo regulated bouts of nocturnal hypothermia, both of which reduce costs associated with wintering in temperate latitudes. These adjustments could reduce the need for the seasonal metabolic adjustments found in other small passerines that must deal with severe winter cold. We have examined this possibility by determining the extent of seasonal variation evident in chickadees concerning standard metabolic rate, metabolic response to temperature, cold resistance, and maximal thermogenic capacity (Vo2sum). Regression equations relating metabolism to air temperature below thermoneutrality did not differ significantly in either slope or Y-intercept between summer and winter, and neither did minimum thermal conductance for normothermic birds vary seasonally. Seasonal constancy in these parameters demonstrates the minor role that seasonal changes in insulation play in acclimatization in chickadees. However, winter birds tolerated cold stress far better than summer birds. This improved cold tolerance was associated with a significant increase in Vo2sum (36%) in winter relative to summer. Standard metabolic rates (SMR) were also significantly increased in winter birds compared to summer birds. Thus, Black-capped Chickadees show seasonal metabolic acclimatization similar to, or greater than, other temperate wintering passerines in addition to behavioral adaptations and nocturnal hypothermia.
Commentary: Old Perceptions Were Too Limited

As one grows with the child and as the trip of life is unfolded, the special features become part of a collection of goodness and personal-ness that are your new child. When you reflect you can identify that that 47th chromosome has indeed made a difference but in the sum this difference has made an extraordinary human and someone for whom you could not have realized or anticipated the happiness and strengths that will be seen and felt. Parents tell me again and again how they have been unexpectedly rewarded and blessed by seeing with new vision. These babies have an unparalleled set of personal features that take us with them, open our eyes and fill our hearts. Perhaps one of the most profound experiences of a special parenthood is coming to realize that your old perceptions were too limited and that there is much waiting to be embraced. That extra chromosome becomes a ticket to some new warmth and features that change lives and change them well. Allen C. Crocker 12/25/25-10/23/11 (Schermerhorn, 2004)
Evolution of ramucirumab in the treatment of cancer – A review of literature

Ramucirumab is a recombinant human monoclonal antibody and is used in the treatment of advanced malignancies. Its mechanism of action is by inhibiting angiogenesis in tumor cells by targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2. United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it initially in 2014 for the treatment of advanced gastric or gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma and metastatic non-small cell lung carcinoma. It was approved by FDA in 2015 for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer. This manuscript consolidates pre-clinical trials to phase I, II, and III trial data indicating the effects of ramucirumab on different cancer types, which led to its approval. By comparing these clinical trials alongside each other, we can more easily examine the studies that have already been completed, along with currently ongoing studies and potential further areas of interest for this newly approved treatment. This approach makes it convenient to compare dosages, overall survival,...
Early warning score: An indicator of adverse outcomes in postoperative patients on a gynecologic oncology service.

Abstract Objective In 2014, our hospital implemented an early warning score (EWS) to identify inpatients at risk for clinical deterioration. EWS≥8 is associated with ≥10% mortality in medical admissions. Since postoperative hemodynamic changes may alter EWS, we evaluated EWS in post-laparotomy patients. Methods Gynecologic oncology patients admitted for laparotomy from 9/1/2014 to 7/31/2015 were categorized by highest EWS during admission: Results 411 patients were included: 217 (52.8%) with EWS Conclusions EWS≥5 after laparotomy is associated with adverse outcomes. Future studies should evaluate the ability of EWS to predict and prevent these outcomes.
Real-time theoretical compartmental model of blood-brain barrier drug delivery

This study developed upon the Mahar Doan and Boje simulations to create a novel pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic real-time compartmental model in Simulink. The model allowed for varying combinations of oral and intravenous drug dosing under steady and nonsteady-state endogenous transport inhibition methods. A joint pharmacodynamic model simulated an extracellular receptor binding process and an intracellular enzymatic process as drug effect sites. Initial simulations were compared with the Mahar Doan and Boje data. Further simulation demonstrated the freedom and broadened understanding of drug kinetics and dynamics the implemented real-time model provided.
Sevoflurane: The Best Volatile Anesthetic Ever Developed

Although sevoflurane was developed in the late 1960s, it took many years for clinicians to recognize it true value. Its history is detailed along with its many advantages which make it the best volatile anesthetic ever developed.
Are males and females with autism spectrum disorder more similar than we thought

Differences in behavioral and cognitive profiles have been suggested to potentially impact the presentation of social and communication symptoms in females with autism spectrum disorder. This study...
Transfer hydrogenation of aromatic and linear aldehydes catalyzed using Cp*Ir(pyridinesulfonamide)Cl complexes under base-free conditions

Abstract Cp*Ir(pyridinesulfonamide)Cl (Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) precatalysts 1–7 are active for the transfer hydrogenation of aryl, alkyl, and heterocyclic aldehydes. Catalysis is conducted under base-free conditions in air without dried or degassed substrates and solvents. These reductions occur rapidly in moderate to high conversion (39–100%). Benzaldehyde derivatives are reduced to alcohols within 30 min at 85 °C using 1 mol% iridium precatalyst; reduction also occurs at lower temperatures and loadings (60 °C, 0.50 mol% precatalyst). Benzaldehyde derivatives that possess electron-rich and electron-poor substituents in the para position, including base-sensitive 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, are readily reduced. Aryl aldehydes containing electron-poor groups are reduced faster than substrates possessing electron-rich moieties. Reduction of the positional isomers of methoxybenzaldehyde and isopropylbenzaldehyde shows highest reduction for the ortho isomer, followed by the meta isomer. Heterocyclic substrates, including biomass derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 2-furfural, were reduced selectively to the alcohol. Decyl aldehyde was reduced to the linear alcohol; importantly self-condensation was not observed. Competition studies demonstrated selective reduction of aldehydes over ketones and a mercury poisoning experiment supports a homogeneous catalyzed pathway.
Stimulus Control by Relevant, Irrelevant, and Redundant Components of Complex Stimuli as Assessed by Two Testing Methods

Six pigeons learned a successive discrimination where S+ was a vertical line on a green background, and S− was either (a) a green background, (b) a red background, or (c) a vertical line on a red background. Generataon of responding to the angular orientation of line on green, dark, and red backgrounds was evaluated. Also, a component stimulus test was conducted in which green, line on green, red, line on red, dark, and line on dark, appeared separately. Steep generalization gradients were obtained from all Ss when angular orientation was varied on the green background, and similar gradients were obtained from all but one S when the background was dark. These results indicated stimulus control by line for Ss in all groups. However, results of the component stimulus test indicated clear stimulus control by line only in the case of the two Ss trained under condition (a) above, and one of the Ss in condition (b). Component stimulus tests for the other three Ss produced no clear evidence of stimulus control by line. Of the two testing methods used to determine stimulus control, stimulus generalization testing appeared to be the most sensitive and easiest to interpret.
Market concentration in the international drug trade

Abstract This paper investigates the industrial organization of the international drug trade. From the mid 1970s through the early 2000s, a few large-scale and hierarchically organized cartels dominated the market. Since 2006, dozens of smaller and more-specialized units have emerged. We notice that the prohibition efforts of federal governments (primarily Mexico and the U.S.) imposed costs asymmetrically across differently sized drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). Under president Calderon (office held from 2006–2012), efforts were arranged as “kingpin” or “decapitation” strategies and were primarily focused on arresting key leaders of the largest and most infamous operations. This asymmetric enforcement structure evoked unique strategic responses from differently sized DTOs. Larger DTOs splintered into smaller units. Smaller outfits remained small and sought more specialized roles in the more decentralized and competitive supply chain. Furthermore, we argue that subsequent changes in operating costs amidst this less concentrated environment, tended to exaggerate the asymmetric cost structure across differently sized DTOs. Larger DTOs in a more competitive illicit market cannot exploit economies of scale to maintain internal coordination and loyalty as easily as they once could with fewer rival DTOs. In result, the seemingly persistent industrial organization of the international drug trade has remained less concentrated than in previous decades.
Evaluation of new generation loop recorders placed during surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation.

Background Current postsurgical atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation guidelines encourage serial rhythm evaluation; however, traditional Holter monitoring may be cumbersome for patients and yield limited data. An implantable loop recorder (LR) may provide increased data on the incidence of postablation arrhythmias. We sought to evaluate the use of a new generation LR implanted during surgical AF ablation. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on adult patients undergoing surgical AF ablation. All patients had subcutaneous placement of a LR. Data were collected on patient demographics, concomitant surgical procedures, complications, loop recorder extraction, and additional arrhythmia interventions. Results Thirty-one patients underwent surgical AF ablation with intraoperative placement of a LR during the study period. The median age was 71 and the majority had long-standing persistent AF. Mitral and aortic valve pathology was the most common reason for concomitant operations. Four devices were explanted prior to the completion of follow-up due to high AF burdens detected by the LR requiring catheter ablation or pacemaker placement. A 100% correlation between in-clinic rhythm detected by the LR and electrocardiogram was observed. No infectious complications, device malfunctions, or deaths occurred. Conclusions LRs placed intraoperatively during surgical ablation of AF are feasible and with nominal, if any, complications. More comprehensive rhythm analysis may aid with determination of operative success and the need for additional intervention or cessation of antiarrhythmic or anticoagulant medications.
Dietary fat stimulates pancreatic cancer growth and promotes fibrosis of the tumor microenvironment through the cholecystokinin receptor

Diets high in long-chain saturated fats promote growth of pancreatic cancer independent of obesity. The mechanism through which dietary fat promotes cancer is mediated through the cholecystokinin (...
Polynomial memory pre distortion for 5G wireless systems with multiple power amplifiers

This paper presents a novel technique, based on digital signal processing, for nonlinear modeling and pre-distortion of multiple parallel power amplifiers in a beam-forming transmitter. By jointly estimating a mutual pre-distortion function that effectively compensates for the distortions experienced in the entire transmission system, the proposed method optimizes performance for a single digital pre-distortion system. This method exhibits superior performance of up to 5dB in EVM and PSD in transmitter KPI compared to the standard method, where the multiple PAs are pre-distorted using digital pre-distortion derived from a single arbitrary PA.
Greek Heroes, Jewish Nomads, and Hindu Pilgrims: Ulysses, Abraham and Uddhava at the Cross-Cultural-Roads

This chapter engages in a bit of cross-cultural dialogue pertaining to the putatively imperious nature of the transcendental subject. It specifically addresses the role of what I call “ethnotropes” in contemporary comparative philosophy of religion. I align the Greek Hero, Ulysses, with the transcendental subject associated with Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology and Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics (the latter an extension of the former). Likewise, the Jewish Nomad is associated with the subjectivity of Franco-American postmodernism, that is, the work of Jacques Derrida, John D. Caputo, and Mark C. Taylor. The Greek Hero is the subject who encounters only himself in what is other. The Hero travels out to the other (i.e., transcendental intention) but soon realizes that whatever of the other is worthwhile is either something the Hero easily assimilates into his base or is something there along in the Hero himself. Heroes – like transcendental egos – never truly leave home. The Nomad, to the contrary, is the one who apparently never returns home. This subject roams aimlessly through the desert without ever returning home, a position rightly associated with political and ethical indifference. The Pilgrim – Mehta’s unique contribution to contemporary thought – strikes a certain balance between the Hero’s conservatism and the Nomad’s transcendental prodigality. The Pilgrim is the one who travels out to another, knowing that return to home/self is inevitable (thereby maintaining the hermeneutic centripetality). However, whereas the Hero returns (the Nomad does not), the Pilgrim’s return is not one of triumph and glory but rather one of disruption and incompletion. Insofar as the Nomad never returns, and thus cannot allow the other’s alterity to displace him or her, the Pilgrim’s return is precisely the moment of allowing the other’s alterity to remain other. The Pilgrim is the postcolonial subject freed of metaphysical pretense, a pretense equally applicable to both the ontotheological traditions’ commitment to presence and the deconstructive traditions’ commitment to the other to come. Deconstruction’s messianic – i.e., a philosophy of the other to come (to presence) – is offset by Mehta’s “negative messianic” – i.e., the other withdraws. The dynamics of Mehta’s Pilgrim truly complete the ethical criticism of Husserl’s transcendental subjectivity begun – but left incomplete – by deconstruction.
Relationship between the Enhanced Oxidative Metabolism and the Enhanced Microbicidal Activity of Activated Macrophages

Macrophages harvested from animals recently infected by intracellular parasites such as mycobacteria exhibit an increase in size and spreading and other manifestations of a state of activation.1,2 Macrophages elicited by injection of inflammatory agents, e.g., lipopolysaccharide (LPS), exhibit most of these properties. Of most direct importance to host defense, infection-activated macrophages have been reported to have an increased capacity to kill certain bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. The interrelationships between macrophage activation, phagocytosis-associated oxidative metabolism, and microbicidal activity have been reviewed recently.3 Certain aspects of these interrelationships will be described in this and the accompanying report.4
Swords into Plowshares

Every day scores of men and women, by means of physical force or persuasive behavior, cause others the outrage of undeserved suffering. Many of these acts are violations of criminal statutes; still others are more appropriate to define as immoral. Nevertheless, all are evil in that they have in common treating other people with a lack of respect and consideration for the victim’s humanity.
Interconnect Challenges and Opportunities in the Memory Space

Interconnect requirements of logic and memory share the same categories of mechanical, metallurgical and electrical principles. The details of thermal budget, on-pitch features and aspect ratio have motivated an increase in the number of different approaches. Specific cases will be reviewed that span chemistry, materials, methods and related topics to support the nature of unique challenges within the scope of memory technology scaling.
Radiation dose enhancement associated with contemporary dental materials.

Abstract Statement of problem Electron backscatter radiation from dental materials can contribute to soft tissue injury in patients undergoing head and neck radiation therapy. Purpose The dose enhancement from the materials used for prosthodontic restoration of the dentition has not been well quantified. This study reports the magnitude of backscatter dose from the contemporary dental materials lithium disilicate and zirconia as compared with high-noble alloy and investigates the role of a spacer material in mitigating this effect. Material and methods Three flat slabs of dental materials high-noble alloy, lithium disilicate, and zirconia with thicknesses of 1.5 and 3 mm were irradiated with 6-MV photons from a clinical linear accelerator. Measurements were made using a thin-window parallel-plate ionization chamber placed at 0, 1, 3, and 5 mm from the material. One millimeter of poly(methyl methacrylate) or thermoplastic material was used to cover the dental material and measure the effect on the adjacent dose enhancement. Results Dose enhancements between 8% and 50% were recorded adjacent to the dental restoration materials. The largest enhancements occurred for the material of the highest density, the high-noble alloy. Dose enhancement was substantially lower for lithium disilicate (8%) and zirconia (30%). The thickness of the restoration material did not significantly affect dose enhancement. The dose enhancement decreased with distance from the material, dropping to Conclusions Contemporary dental restorations enhance the backscatter dose. The presence of dental restorations may warrant the use of a stent to create separation from these materials as this can mitigate the effect.
Micronutrients in Atopic Dermatitis: A Systematic Review.

Abstract Objective: The pathophysiology of atopic dermatitis (AD) involves a complex interplay between immune system dysfunction, genetics, and environmental factors. It is well known that nutritio...
Activation of Water by Thorium Cation: A Guided Ion Beam and Quantum Chemical Study.

The reaction of atomic thorium cations with deuterated water as a function of kinetic energy from thermal to 10 eV was studied using guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometry. At thermal energies, both ThO+ + D2 and DThO+ + D are formed in barrierless exothermic processes and reproduce results in the literature obtained using ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. As the energy is increased, the branching ratio between these two channels changes such that the dominant product changes from ThO+ to DThO+ and back to ThO+, until ThD+ + OD is energetically available and is the dominant product channel. To help understand these experimental results, a variety of theoretical approaches were tried and used to establish a potential energy surface, which compares well with previous theoretical studies. Utilizing the theoretical results, the kinetic energy dependent branching ratio between the ThO+ + D2 and DThO+ + D channels was calculated using both RRKM and phase space theory (PST). The results indicate that consideration of angular momentum conservation (as in PST) and spin-orbit corrected energies are needed to reproduce experimental results quantitatively. The PST modeling also provides relative energies for the two competing transition states that lead to the primary products, for which theory provides reasonable agreement.
Spontaneous nasalization after glottal consonants in Thai

Abstract Spontaneous nasalization is the emergence of distinctive nasalization in contexts lacking an historical etymological nasal. In Thai, low and mid-low vowels nasalize after /h/ and to a lesser degree after /ʔ/. It has been reasoned that nasalization after /h/ may occur because breathiness and nasalization are acoustically similar; both introduce higher energy at low frequencies and increase spectral tilt. Glottal consonants may generally facilitate nasalization because aerodynamically they do not require velopharyngeal closure. We investigated velopharyngeal opening (VPO) during vowels after /h/ and/ ʔ/ and measured spectral tilt (H1–H2). We measured VPO by processing oblique ultra-fast magnetic resonance images of the velopharyngeal port. Four Thai speakers exhibited a complex system of VPO that varied based on vowel height and preceding consonant. Low vowels after /h/ manifested more physiological nasalization than low vowels after /ʔ/, while the former were often produced with higher spectral tilt, which may be indicative of either increased breathiness or nasalization. While VPO is likely responsible for impressions of greater nasalization after /h/, our findings suggest that breathiness and VPO may interact in the spontaneously nasalized vowels of Thai.
¿Ahora qué?: Cultural Adaptation of a Cancer Survivorship Intervention for Latino/a Cancer Survivors

Objective With a steadily increasing number of Latino/a cancer survivors, there is a need for supportive care programs for this underserved survivor subgroup. Methods In this study, the authors culturally adapted an evidence-based survivorship program, Cancer Transitions: Moving Beyond Treatment (CT) for this population. Guided by Barrera and Castro's heuristic model for cultural adaptation of interventions, we conducted five focus groups (FG) among Latino/a cancer survivors (n = 54) in several US sites to inform the preliminary adaptation of program materials. We conducted four additional FGs (n = 38) to obtain feedback on adapted materials. Results Common themes from initial FGs were related to program delivery and logistics, and general recommendations for CT modification. Program adaptations addressed information needs, including health care system navigation, employment concerns, and sexuality. Other adaptations included an emphasis on family, spirituality, culturally appropriate translation and features, and role plays. Participants in the second round of FGs confirmed adaptations incorporated earlier findings and suggested additional refinements. Conclusion This project helps guide the cultural adaptation of survivorship programs for Latino/a cancer survivors.