cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Conceptualizing the Critical Path Linked by Teacher Commitment.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a critical path through which school leadership travels to students by highlighting the importance of teacher commitment. Design/methodology/approach – Using both meta-analytic and narrative review methods, this paper systematically reviews the evidence in the past 20 years about the conceptualizations and measurements of teacher commitment and its relationships with principal leadership and student learning. Findings – This paper presents: first, the four dimensions of teacher commitment and the ten constituents involved in the conceptualization of teacher commitment; and second, the five measures used in empirical studies for measuring teacher commitment. It concludes that: teacher commitment is significantly related to student learning; the extent to which school leadership influences teacher commitment is large and is aligned with the value systems of both leaders and teachers; and teacher commitment mediates leadership impacts on student learning in t...
Delaying Aging with Mitochondrial Micronutrients and Antioxidants.

MITOCHONDRIAL DECAY IN AGING. Mitochondria decay with age due to the oxidation of mtDNA, proteins, and lipids. Some of this decay can be reversed in old rats by feeding them normal mitochondrial metabolites at high levels. Aging appears to be in good part due to the oxidants produced as by-products of normal metabolism by mitochondria [1-5]. In old rats mitochondrial membrane potential, cardiolipin levels, respiratory control ratio, and overall cellular O2 consumption are lower than in young rats and the level of oxidants (per unit O2) and mutagenic aldehydes from lipid peroxidation is higher [3]. Ambulatory activity declines markedly in old rats. Spatial memory as measured by the Morris water maze, also declines with age. Feeding old rats the normal mitochondrial metabolites acetyl carnitine and lipoic acid for a few weeks, restores mitochondrial function, lowers oxidants to the level of a young rat, and increases ambulatory activity and spatial memory [6-11]. Thus, these two metabolites can be considered necessary for health in old age and are therefore “conditional micronutrients”. This restoration suggests a plausible mechanism [11]: with age increased oxidative damage to proteins, such as acyl carnitine transferase (whose activity declines with age), and lipid membranes, particularly in mitochondria, causes a deformation of structure of key enzymes, with a consequent lessening of affinity (Km) for the enzyme substrate; an increased level of the substrate restores the velocity of the reaction, and thus restores function. Hepatocytes were isolated from young (3-5 months) and old (24-28 months) rats and incubated with various concentrations of tert-butylhydroperoxide (t-BuOOH) [10]. The t-BuOOH concentration that killed 50% of cells (LC50) in 2 hr declined nearly two-fold from 721 ± 32 µM in cells from young rats to 391 ± 31 µM in cells from old rats. This increased sensitivity of hepatocytes from old rats may be due, in part, to changes in glutathione (GSH) levels, because total cellular and mitochondrial GSH were 37.7% and 58.3% lower, respectively, compared to cells from young rats. Cells from old animals were incubated with either (R)- or (S)-lipoic acid (100 µM) for 30 min prior to the addition of 300 µM t-BuOOH. The physiologically relevant (R)-form, a coenzyme in mitochondria, as opposed to the (S)-form significantly protected hepatocytes against t-BuOOH toxicity. Dietary supplementation of (R)-lipoic acid [0.5% (wt/wt)] for 2 weeks also completely reversed the age-related decline in hepatocellular GSH levels and the increased vulnerability to t-BuOOH as well. An identical supplemental diet fed to young rats did not enhance the resistance to t-BuOOH, indicating that antioxidant protection was already optimal in young rats. Thus, this study shows that cells from old animals are more susceptible to oxidant insult and (R)-lipoic acid, after reduction to an antioxidant in the mitochondria, effectively reverses this age-related increase in oxidant vulnerability.
Initiating and undergraduate program in software engineering

With the action by ABET to accredit undergraduate programs in software engineering, it is expected that many engineering schools in the U.S. will soon initiate such programs. The job market in computing continues to grow and there is much evidence of a demand for graduates who understand how to how to "engineer" software systems and products. From an international perspective, the U.S. is lagging behind many other Western and Pacific Rim countries in software engineering education. The action by ABET should help the U.S. "catch up."
Dynamic brightness induction causes flicker adaptation, but only along the edges: Evidence against the neural filling-in of brightness

Is brightness represented in a point-for-point neural map that is filled in from the response of small, contrast-sensitive edge detector cells? We tested for the presence of this filled-in map by adapting to illusory flicker caused by a dynamic brightness-induction stimulus. Thereafter flicker sensitivity was reduced when our test region was the same size as the induced region, but not for smaller, inset regions. This suggests induced brightness is represented by either small edge-selective cells with no filling-in stage, or by contrast-sensitive spatial filters at many different scales, but not by a population of filled-in neurons arranged in a point-for-point map.
Resurgence and Persistence of Dorymyrmex flavus After Reduction of Solenopsis invicta Buren with a Broadcast Bait

The effects of bait treatment(s) on population dynamics of Solenopsis invicta and Dorymyrmex flavus were studied, and various factors underlying the resurgence and persistence of D. flavus to reinvasion by S. invicta were studied in more detail. Pitfall traps, bait vials, transect sampling, and direct inspections were used to monitor densities of these two species, and inspections of D. flavus midden contents, video monitoring of D. flavus colonies, and studies of the fate of marked S. invicta were used to further clarify interactions of these two species, D. flavus abundance increased after the reduction of S. invicta with baits. D. flavus was also observed to sustain higher densities for an extended period (2 yr) after cessation of bait treatment and to exhibit antagonistic behaviors toward S. invicta, showing an ability to resist reinvasion of the treated area by S. invicta. Given these findings, D. flavus may retard domination of the ant assemblage by S. invicta. Additional studies are justified regarding how to enhance the role of this species in affected ecosystems.
Expression and processing of prohormones in nonendocrine cells

Pancreatic polypeptide (PP) and gastrin are initially synthesized as larger precursors that require posttranslational processing to produce the biologically active peptides. These steps include tryptic cleavage at paired basic residues, their subsequent removal by carboxypeptidase H, and formation of a carboxy-terminal amide moiety via the action of peptidyl-glycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM). Although these posttranslational processing reactions are presumed to occur primarily in the secretory granule of endocrine cells, nonendocrine cells that do not possess these structures nevertheless are able to posttranslationally process a wide variety of proteins destined for export. In these studies we sought to determine whether the mechanisms for prohormone processing are present in nonendocrine cell lines. We examined two fibroblast cell lines (psi-2, BHK) a hepatocyte cell line (Hepa), and an exocrine pancreatic cell line (AR42J). We used the pZIPneo(SVX) retroviral vector to express cDNA clones encoding human PP and gastrin in the nonendocrine cells. Transfected psi-2, BHK, and Hepa cells produced a precursor of PP that appeared to be secreted constitutively, with little remaining in intracellular stores. Almost no posttranslational processing of the PP precursor was evident in these cells. By contrast, AR42J cells were capable of expressing and storing fully processed and carboxy-terminally amidated PP and gastrin. These data support the notion that the sorting mechanisms in endocrine and exocrine cells are similar and that the posttranslational processing of peptide hormone precursors requires storage in secretory granules.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Fabrication of ALF3-Based Glass Fibers

Several glass systems based on AIF3 have been synthesized and fabricated into preforms by controlled melting and rotational casting. High optical quality preforms have been drawn into fibers using a specially modified drawing facility. The drawing tower is enclosed with a vertical glove box in which the levels of both moisture and oxygen are kept below 1 ppm during the drawing. The AIF3 -based fibers have shown dramatically superior chemical durability relative to the ZrF4 -based glass fibers. Selected optical, mechanical and thermal properties of these fibers will be presented. AIF3 -based glass fibers offer interesting opportunities for short range applications in the 2–4 micron region of the infrared such as sensing, remote spectroscopy and laser power delivery.
Continuous Processing of Sheet-Like Materials by Microwave Energy

Initial results for the continuous microwave processing of wide webs using a new microwave applicator are presented. The results show that acceptable uniformity can be obtained using this system and that with the appropriate controls, a very tight process window can be maintained to produce preimpregnated glass cloth (prepreg) for use in circuit board manufacture.
Impairment of Growth and Myelinization in Regenerating Nerve Fibers Subject to Constriction.

SummaryNerve fibers regenerating in a nerve with localized constriction are greatly reduced in caliber and delayed in myelinization at all levels distal to the constriction. Scar tissue, therefore, presents not only a local impediment to the outgrowth of regenerating fibers, but a continued hazard to their maturation.
The Impact of Switching Stores on State Dependence in Brand Choice

This paper demonstrates that brand-level state dependence is affected by the store at which a consumer shops. The classic structural state dependence literature models inertia in brand choice by assuming that consumers experience an extra boost in utility from consuming the products they last purchased. We demonstrate that the level of inertia depends on the context in which the purchase was made, which suggests that a richer decision process is driving the state dependence. Specifically, we find that consumers exhibit more state dependence if they shop at the same store that they previously patronized as compared to if they switch to a different store. This result replicates across 14 diverse consumer packaged goods (CPG) supermarket categories, and on-average across categories, the level of state dependence when the customer switches stores is about two-thirds of the level of state dependence when the customer patronizes the same store. This difference in same vs. different store state dependence translates into an additional willingness-to-pay for a product equal to 8% of the product’s price. When consumers switch back to a store they previously visited, both the brand purchased on the last shopping occasion (at the different store) and the brand purchased the last time the consumer was at the store they are currently patronizing influence the consumer’s decisions, but the consumer is more influenced by the last purchase they made at the particular store they are currently patronizing. We conclude by discussing possible theories behind the results.
Content determination of chloramphenical combined with dexamethasone sodium phosphate in compound dexamethasone ointment by RP-HPLC

Objective: To establish a method for the simultomeous determination of chloramphenicol combind with dexamethasone sodium phosphate in compound dexamethasone ointment by RP-HPLC. Methods: RP-HPLC was used, the mobile phase was methanol-0.34% sodium dihydrogen phosphate (45:55); the flow rate was 1.0 ml/min. The detecting wavelength was at 240 nm. Results: Both components had good liner relationship. The average recovery and relative standard deviation of chloramphenicol and dexamethasone sodium phosphate was 99.97% and 99.87%, 0.17% and 0.17%, respectively. Conclusions: This methed is rapid, simple and accurate, which is suitable for the quality of this preparation.
Transcriptional profiling of mitochondria associated genes in prefrontal cortex of subjects with major depressive disorder.

AbstractObjectives: Recent evidences suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction maybe involved in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD); however, the role of mitochondrial genes in this disorder has not been studied systematically. In the present study, we profiled expression of mitochondrial genes in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) of MDD and non-psychiatric control subjects.Methods: Human mitochondrial RT2 profile PCR array plates were used to examine differentially expressed genes in dlPFC of 11 MDD and 11 control subjects. Differentially expressed genes were validated independently by qRT-PCR. Biological relevance of differentially expressed genes was analysed by gene ontology (GO) and ingenuity pathways analysis (IPA).Results: We found that 16 genes were differentially expressed in the MDD group compared with control group. Among them, three genes were downregulated and 13 genes upregulated. None of these genes were affected by confounding variables, such as age, post-mortem inter...
Phorbol ester inhibits arginine vasopressin activation of phospholipase C and promotes contraction of, and prostaglandin production by, cultured mesangial cells.

We have previously shown that arginine vasopressin (AVP) causes a rapid (5-10 min) contractile response in cultured mesangial cells plated onto slippery substrata such as poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-coated dishes. This contraction is associated with an increase in the levels of inositol trisphosphate (InsP3), diacylglycerol and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). We now report that agents which are known to activate protein kinase C, i.e. phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and oleolylacetylglycerol (OAG), also contract mesangial cells; however, the contractile response is slow to develop (15-30 min). The inactive phorbol ester, 4 alpha -phorbol 12,13-didecanoate, did not elicit contraction. PMA and OAG did not increase InsP3 release in mesangial cells. However, pretreatment of mesangial cells with PMA inhibited the formation of InsP3. This inhibition could not be explained by a reduction in AVP binding since PMA treatment did not influence the number or affinity of [3H]AVP binding sites in intact cells. PMA alone stimulated PGE2 production in mesangial cells to a degree similar to AVP. Contrary to what was seen with InsP3, pretreatment of cells with PMA before AVP had an additive effect on arachidonic acid release and PGE2 production. Thus, there is an apparent dissociation of phospholipase C activity from that of phospholipase A2.
Values, Choices, and Epistemic Stances

Naturalized epistemology, as advanced by Willard Van Orman Quine, appears to make epistemology merely descriptive in form, rather than normative. In striking contrast with the tradition, it appears to leave no place for value judgment in rational formation and change of opinion or belief. Some more recent forms of naturalism in epistemology are more liberal in this respect, but still mainly focus on instrumental value alone. The role of value judgment as it appears in epistemic and doxastic tasks faced in science, as well as in more common practical pursuits, will here be re-examined with a focus on philosophical positions characterized as stances rather than dogmas. The difference between “first-person” expression of value judgments and “third-person” attribution is crucial to the characterization of tasks involved in our epistemic and doxastic life. The conclusion advanced is that such tasks, at every level, involve value judgment, and that epistemology cannot escape involvement with the normative going beyond instrumental value.
Course-based Civic Engagement: Understanding Student Perspectives and Outcomes

Student reflections on course-based civic engagement provide insights into their experiences and can be a useful foundation for crafting assignments to meet student needs. Rich student narratives emerged from of an immersive semester-long community-based project in a public advocacy course. Although a number of interesting findings, including insights about student learning, personal growth, and empowerment, are embedded in the reflections, this paper focuses on how students described civic engagement, both their experiences and general conclusions about the nature of productive community involvement. Students identified five factors—research, collaboration, effort, passion, and responsibility—as useful and imperative for civic engagement.
Effect of baseline chronic conditions on screening adherence among older African American men

B59 Purpose/Goals of Project: We examined the effect of baseline comorbidities on screening adherence in a sample of 703 older (ages 55+ years) African American (AA) men enrolled in a case management intervention in a longitudinal cancer screening trial. Methodology: The 703 men were randomly assigned to a case management retention trial intervention group (IG, n=352) or a case management control group (CG, n=351). The case managers referred intervention group participants to community agencies that provided services requested by participants. Results: Regardless of group assignment, participants with comorbidities were not less likely to adhere to trial screening than participants without comorbidities. Exceptions were current smokers, participants with bronchitis, and those with arthritis. IG participants who were current smokers were marginally less likely (56.0%) than others to adhere to the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test for prostate cancer screening (p=0.052). IG participants who reported having chronic bronchitis had a much lower chest x-ray screening (for lung cancer) adherence rate (28.6%) than participants in the other three groups (p=0.045). CG participants who reported having arthritis had the lowest adherence rate to flexible sigmoidoscopy for colorectal cancer screening, 40.5%, compared to the other three groups (p=0.022). Implications: In general, older African American men with comorbidities appear to be excellent candidates for participation in longitudinal cancer screening trials, although smokers have lower adherence rates. Sustainability: Future studies could examine the relationship between baseline health history and adherence to other types of cancer screening among older African American men and among other population groups.
Generating Long and Diverse Responses with Neural Conversation Models

Building general-purpose conversation agents is a very challenging task, but necessary on the road toward intelligent agents that can interact with humans in natural language. Neural conversation models -- purely data-driven systems trained end-to-end on dialogue corpora -- have shown great promise recently, yet they often produce short and generic responses. This work presents new training and decoding methods that improve the quality, coherence, and diversity of long responses generated using sequence-to-sequence models. Our approach adds self-attention to the decoder to maintain coherence in longer responses, and we propose a practical approach, called the glimpse-model, for scaling to large datasets. We introduce a stochastic beam-search algorithm with segment-by-segment reranking which lets us inject diversity earlier in the generation process. We trained on a combined data set of over 2.3B conversation messages mined from the web. In human evaluation studies, our method produces longer responses overall, with a higher proportion rated as acceptable and excellent as length increases, compared to baseline sequence-to-sequence models with explicit length-promotion. A back-off strategy produces better responses overall, in the full spectrum of lengths.
Ligand effects on the heats of protonation of metal-metal bonds in organometallic complexes

vii GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Dissertation Organization 1 PROTONATION OF METAL-METAL BONDS IN BIMETALLIC ORGANOMETALLIC COMPLEXES 2 Introduction 2 Protonation of Metal-Metal Bonds 2 References 19 CYCLOPENTADffiNYL LIGAND EFFECTS ON ENTHALPIES OF PROTONATION OF THE Ru-Ru BOND IN Cp'.RUoCCO)^ COMPLEXES 23 Abstract 23 Introduction 24 Experimental Section 26 Results 32 Discussion 35 Conclusions 41 Acknowledgments 43 References 4323 Introduction 24 Experimental Section 26 Results 32 Discussion 35 Conclusions 41 Acknowledgments 43 References 43
Bioactive growth hormone in older men and women: It's relationship to immune markers and healthspan.

Abstract Objective The consequences of age-related decline in the somatotropic axis of humans are complex and remain largely unresolved. We tested the hypothesis that hGH measurements of plasma by bioassay vs immunoassay from samples obtained from free-living, elderly individuals would reveal a dichotomy in GH activities that are correlated with the functional status of the donors, i.e. their healthspan. Design Forty-one men and women of advanced age (men: N = 16, age, 80.5 ± 6.5 years; height, 173.1 ± 6.9 cm; body mass, 81.8 ± 13.0 kg) and (women: N = 25, age, 80.7 ± 7.2 years; height, 157.7 ± 6.0 cm; body mass, 68.8 ± 17 kg), were recruited for a cross-sectional study. Participants filled out PROMIS (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services) scales, undertook physical performance tests and had fasted blood samples obtained at rest for measurement of hormonal and immunology biomarkers. Results When measured by the well-established rat tibial line GH bioassay, one half of the plasma samples (n = 20) contained bioassayable GH (bGH), but the other half (n = 21) failed to mount increases in tibial plate width above saline injected controls. This difference did not correlate with the age, sex or physical functionality of the plasma donor. It also did not correlate with hGH concentrations measured by immunoassay. In those cases in which bGH was detected, various hierarchical regression models predicted that GHRH, c-peptide, VEGF, NPY, IL-4 and T-regulatory lymphocytes were associated with the difference and predicted bGH. Conclusion Results from this study suggest that the actions of bGH at the cellular level may be modified by other factors and that this may explain the lack of correlations observed in this study.
Immunotherapy for Breast Cancer: What Are We Missing?

The recent demonstration of modest single-agent activity of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) antibodies in patients with breast cancer has generated hope that breast cancer can be made amenable to immunotherapy. Depending on the subtype of breast cancer, it is now clear in both primary and metastatic disease that the extent of tumor-infiltrating T cells is not only prognostic for survival but predictive of response to nonimmune, standard therapies. Despite these findings, immune cytolytic activity in spontaneous breast tumors, the burden of nonsynonymous tumor mutations, and the predicted load of neoepitopes-factors linked to response to checkpoint blockade in other malignancies-are all relatively modest in breast cancer compared with melanoma or lung cancer. Thus, in breast cancer, combinations of immune agents with nonredundant mechanisms of action are high-priority strategies. For most breast cancers that exhibit relatively modest T-cell infiltration, major challenges include immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment as well as failed or suboptimal T-cell priming. Agents that trigger de novo T-cell responses may be critical for the successful development of cancer immunotherapy and immune prevention in breast cancer. Success may also require reaching beyond nonsynonymous mutations as the T-cell epitopes to target, especially as numerous unmutated proteins were validated as breast cancer-associated antigens in the pre-checkpoint era. A deeper understanding of the immunobiology of breast cancer will be critical for immunotherapy to become broadly relevant in this disease. Clin Cancer Res; 23(11); 2640-6. ©2017 AACRSee all articles in this CCR Focus section, "Breast Cancer Research: From Base Pairs to Populations."
Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension in Interstitial Lung Disease

The interstitial lung diseases (ILD) are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by diffuse pulmonary parenchymal infiltrates. The prognosis of ILD varies among the specific etiologies, but frequently results in substantial morbidity and mortality. For example, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the commonest form of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, has a median survival of only 2.5–5 years [1, 2]. The pharmacologic therapy of ILD varies with the underlying cause, but generally focuses on attenuating inflammation and resultant fibrosis through the use of corticosteroids, alternative immunosuppressant agents, and antifibrotics for IPF. Although frequently prescribed, the data supporting the utility of pharmacologic therapy in ILD is limited. Recent landmark trials of pirfenidone and nintedanib in IPF, while representing a major advance in the treatment of IPF, illustrate this point [3, 4]. The mean change in forced vital capacity (FVC) over 52 weeks was −235 mL for pirfenidone versus −428 mL for placebo while the adjusted annual rate of change with nintedanib was −114.7 mL versus −239.9 mL for placebo [3, 4]. It appears that even with the availability of these agents, the relentless downhill course of IPF will continue, as will the search for further therapeutic targets.
Regulatory cells and cytokines involved in primary B lymphocyte production.

Considerable progress has recently been made in defining cells and molecules that regulate the production of B lymphocytes in the bone marrow. Acquisition of this information is a direct result of advances in molecular biology and the development of cellular systems that permit the process of primary B cell differentiation to be duplicated in culture. As a result, it is possible now to present a working model of B cell development which identifies distinct proliferative and differentiative factors and the developmental stages on which they act.
Cardiovascular outcomes in diabetic kidney disease: insights from recent clinical trials

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is catalyzing a pandemic in kidney disease, with ensuing cardiovascular complications. The effort to identify antidiabetic agents capable of promoting benefits that go beyond the bounds of glucose control has produced remarkable outcomes in recent cardiovascular outcomes trials in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, many of whom have diabetic kidney disease. Two novel antidiabetic drug classes, sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), improve cardiovascular outcomes in different ways, with SGLT2is reducing the risk of heart failure and cardiovascular death and GLP-1 RAs being associated with reduced risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular death. Further mechanistic studies and additional cardiovascular outcome trials are ongoing and are expected to determine whether these benefits are a result of class effect, as well as to delineate optimum timing for intervention and population target.
Joint acquisition of word order and word referent in a memory-limited and incremental learner

Word learning in ambiguous contexts is a challenging task which is intertwined with the process of understanding the referential intentions of the speaker. It has been suggested that infant word learning occurs across learning situations and is bootstrapped by syntactic regularities such as word order. Simulation results from ideal learners suggest that it is possible to jointly acquire word order and meanings and that learning is improved as each language capability bootstraps the other. We study the utility of joint acquisition of simple versions of word order and word meaning in early stages of acquisition in a memory-limited incremental model. Comparing learning results in the presence and absence of joint acquisition of word order, word order regularities can quickly converge on real world statistics even using small datasets, relying on imperfect learned interpretations of word meanings, and even given wrong prior biases. Improvement in word learning results in the presence of joint acquisition of word order, however, were limited and only pronounced in the presence of high referential ambiguity and delayed syntactic bootstrapping where word order acquisition was slowed down through the use of priors.
Family Therapy with Low-Income Blacks: A Tool or Turn-Off?:

The low-income black family has needs that are not being met by traditional family therapy approaches. This article examines the literature on the effectiveness of typical treatment methods, presen...
Molecular assessment of circulating exosomes toward liquid biopsy diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma family of tumors

Ewing sarcoma was first described in 1921 in the Proceedings of the New York Pathological Society by an eminent American pathologist from Cornell named James R. Ewing as a "diffuse endothelioma of bone." Since this initial description, more has been discovered regarding Ewing sarcoma and in the 1980's both Ewing sarcoma and peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors due to their similar features and shared identical genetic abnormality were grouped into a class of cancers entitled Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFTs). Ewing sarcoma is the second most common pediatric osseous malignancy followed by osteosarcoma, with highest incidence among 10-20 years old. Ewing sarcoma is consistently associated with chromosomal translocation and functional fusion of the EWSR1 gene to any of several structurally related transcription factor genes of the E26 transformation-specific family. These tumor-specific molecular rearrangements are useful for primary diagnosis, may provide prognostic information, and present potential therapeutic targets. Therefore, ways to rapidly and efficiently detect these defining genomic alterations are of clinical relevance. Within the past decade, liquid biopsies including extracellular vesicles (EVs), have emerged as a promising alternative and/or complimentary approach to standard tumor biopsies. It was recently reported that fusion mRNAs from tumor-specific chromosome translocations can be detected in Ewing sarcoma cell-derived exosomes. Within this review, we overview the current advances in Ewing sarcoma and the opportunities and challenges in exploiting circulating exosomes, primarily small bioactive EVs (30-180 nm), as developing sources of biomarkers for diagnosis and therapeutic response monitoring in children and young adult patients with ESFT.
Pedagogy of the Immigrant/Conclusions

How might we follow a hope-filled vision that will impact the daily-lived realities of immigrant children, youth and adults?
Resilience in Gene-Environment Transactions

Resilient children are not simply “born that way,” nor are they “made from scratch” by their experiences. Genetic and environmental factors loom large as protectors against a variety of risks to healthy development, ranging from resistance to bacteria and viruses to resistance to maltreatment and rejection. However, the old view that genes and environments compete for control of human development has been replaced by the view that genetic and environmental influences operate together to produce individual differences in development. The question is no longer whether and to what degree genes or environments matter, but how genes and environments work together to produce resilient children and adults.
Vitamin E and Lipid Metabolism

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the relationship of vitamin E to lipid and other metabolisms. The identification of vitamin E as a fat-soluble vitamin, its occurrence in vegetable oils, its storage in association with body lipids, and its possible function as a biological antioxidant suggest that a close relationship exists between vitamin E and various phases of lipid metabolism. The observation that atheromatous lesions contain relatively high concentrations of organic peroxides, and cholesterol, and the fact that vitamin E protects essential fatty acids from being oxidized to organic peroxides implicate vitamin E as possible inhibitor in atherogenesis. A significant amount of evidence indicates that the primary, if not the sole, function of vitamin E in metabolism is of an in vivo lipid antioxidant. Probably the most direct evidence to substantiate this theory is that lipoperoxides have been found in the tissues of vitamin E-deficient animals. It is assumed that vitamin E acts as an in vivo lipid antioxidant, protecting unsaturated fatty acids in tissue lipids against peroxidation.
Fatalism and Timeless Truth

One of Professor Richard Taylor’s greatest contributions in philosophy is his work on fatalism. He has repeatedly attempted to make the strongest possible case for fatalism,1 sometimes hoping to vindicate and other times to refute it once and for all. We might find his arguments compelling if we were not so certain that fatalism must be false. It is much easier, however, to see that something must be wrong with them than it is to say what is wrong with them. Yet we are obliged to refute each one or else admit that our denial of fatalism is unjustified. The purpose of this paper is to refute the argument which seems to underlie Taylor’s most recent defense of fatalism in the second edition of Metaphysics.2
Ad-Seq, a genome-wide DNA-adduct profiling assay

Carcinogens form adducts with the DNA which, when not properly repaired, can lead to mutations and drive oncogenesis. The identity, sequence specificity and mutagenicity of most DNA-adducts is however poorly understood and current molecular assays are limited in their scope and scalability. We present a novel genome-wide DNA adduct sequencing (Ad-Seq) assay to map the location of DNA-adducts at single-nucleotide resolution. Ad-Seq enriches for DNA fragments containing nuclease digestion resistant DNA-adducts. The genomic location of the resulting reads is aggregated in a quantitative profile showing the DNA-adduct sequence context. Ad-Seq is quantitative and confirms known specificity of damages from Ultra-Violet light (di-pyrimidine) and cisplatin (AG and GG di-purines). Furthermore, in cells, Ad-Seq profile can be compared to chromatin segments to show that cisplatin associated adducts are depleted in open and active chromatin regions. The Ad-Seq assay can therefore generate a broad DNA signature of DNA damage and, by comparing to mutagen exposure or downstream mutational profile and signatures, be used to improve our understanding of cancer molecular etiology.
Treatment for Rotator Cuff Tear Is Influenced by Demographics and Characteristics of the Area Where Patients Live

Background Atraumatic rotator cuff tear is a common orthopaedic complaint for people >60 years of age. Lack of evidence or consensus on appropriate treatment for this type of injury creates the potential for substantial discretion in treatment decisions. To our knowledge, no study has assessed the implications of this discretion on treatment patterns across the United States. Methods All Medicare beneficiaries in the United States with a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-confirmed atraumatic rotator cuff tear were identified with use of 2010 to 2012 Medicare administrative data and were categorized according to initial treatment (surgery, physical therapy, or watchful waiting). Treatment was modeled as a function of the clinical and demographic characteristics of each patient. Variation in treatment rates across hospital referral regions and the presence of area treatment signatures, representing the extent that treatment rates varied across hospital referral regions after controlling for patient characteristics, were assessed. Correlations between measures of area treatment signatures and measures of physician access in hospital referral regions were examined. Results Among patients who were identified as having a new, symptomatic, MRI-confirmed atraumatic rotator cuff tear (n = 32,203), 19.8% were managed with initial surgery; 41.3%, with initial physical therapy; and 38.8%, with watchful waiting. Patients who were older, had more comorbidity, or were female, of non-white race, or dual-eligible for Medicaid were less likely to receive surgery (p < 0.0001). Black, dual-eligible females had 0.42-times (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.34 to 0.50) lower odds of surgery and 2.36-times (95% CI, 2.02 to 2.70) greater odds of watchful waiting. Covariate-adjusted odds of surgery varied dramatically across hospital referral regions; unadjusted surgery and physical therapy rates varied from 0% to 73% and from 6% to 74%, respectively. On average, patients in high-surgery areas were 62% more likely to receive surgery than the average patient with identical measured characteristics, and patients in low-surgery areas were half as likely to receive surgery than the average comparable patient. The supply of orthopaedic surgeons and the supply of physical therapists were associated with greater use of initial surgery and physical therapy, respectively. Conclusions Patient characteristics had a significant influence on treatment for atraumatic rotator cuff tear but did not explain the wide-ranging variation in treatment rates across areas. Local-area physician supply and specialty mix were correlated with treatment, independent of the patient's measured characteristics.
Magnet-Free Non-Reciprocal Photonic Platform Based on Time-Modulated Graphene

We propose a novel paradigm to achieve giant photonic non-reciprocity based on time-modulated graphene capacitors coupled to photonic waveguides, without reliance on any magneto-optic effects. The resulting hybrid graphene-dielectric platform is low-loss, silicon-compatible, robust against graphene's imperfections, scalable from terahertz to near infrared frequencies, and it exhibits very large nonreciprocal responses using realistic biasing schemes. Analytical frameworks based on solving the eigenstates of the modulated structure and on spatial coupled mode theory have been developed to unveil the underlying physics that dominate the proposed platform and to quickly design and analyze various isolators. Results, validated through harmonic balance full-wave simulations, confirm the flexibility of our low-loss (<3dB) platform to engineer a wide variety of responses and even to extend the isolation bandwidth. We envision that this technology will pave the wave to magnetic-free, fully-integrated, and CMOS-compatible nonreciprocal components with wide applications in sensing, communication systems, and optical networks.
Performing an Independent Medical Examination: From Initial Contact to Report Preparation

In our last chapter of the introductory section to this text, we broach the topic of the examination that we are ultimately responsible for as the forensic expert. So far, we have covered basic concepts and considerations needed for the mental health professional to grasp in order to fulfill the duties expected. Here, we explore the independent medical examination in very practical terms, with examples of an outlined approach that the expert must take throughout the process. The value of a strong and ethically sound method for conducting an examination as a forensic mental health expert cannot be overstated. It is all too common that the impartiality that must be upheld is compromised, and the expert opinions rendered fall short of the scientific precision aimed to minimize bias. In cases where the expert witness’ integrity is in doubt, a “hired gun” reputation can assuredly ruin credibility and thus careers. On first contact with the attorney interested in hiring and finding our expert opinion, we need a solid and regimented protocol by which to proceed. It is our goal in this chapter to provide an overview of what the process, including the report, may look like, which as we have hopefully demonstrated in the preceding chapters includes medical and legal documentation. This unique blend of professional duties that makes for the art of our field takes into account the formulation of medical psychiatric evaluations and legal principles and standards. Once complete, our report may be the deciding factor in a court decision and speaks again to the magnitude of importance and weight each step in our fact-finding process and report generation carries. After these concepts have been outlined in further detail, we will begin to turn our attention to specific cases that are routinely encountered by the forensic mental health professional.
Arousal, valence, and volume: how the influence of online review characteristics differs with respect to utilitarian and hedonic products

Online reviews influence consumers’ purchase decisions. Product type – specifically, whether a product is utilitarian or hedonic – can help explain how consumers react to reviews. Characteristics o...
Larval Food Limitation in a Speyeria Butterfly (Nymphalidae): How Many Butterflies Can Be Supported?

For herbivorous insects the importance of larval food plants is obvious, yet the role of host abundance and density in conservation are relatively understudied. Populations of Speyeria butterflies across North America have declined and Speyeria adiaste is an imperiled species endemic to the southern California Coast Ranges. In this paper, we study the link between the food plant Viola purpurea quercetorum and abundance of its herbivore Speyeria adiaste clemencei to better understand the butterfly’s decline and aid in restoration of this and other Speyeria species. To assess the degree to which the larval food plant limits adult abundance of S. a. clemencei in 2013, we compared adult population counts to population size predicted from a Monte Carlo simulation using data for number of V. pur. quercetorum plants, number of leaves per plant, and leaf area per plant, with lab estimates of leaf area consumed to reach pupal stage on the non-native host V. papilionacea. Results indicated an average estimate of 765 pupae (median = 478), with 77% of the distribution being <1000 pupae. However, this was heavily dependent on plant distribution, and accounting for the number of transect segments with sufficient host to support a pupa predicted 371 pupae. The adult population empirical estimate was 227 individuals (95% CI is 146 to 392), which lies near the first quartile of the simulated distribution. These results indicate that the amount of host available to larvae was more closely linked to adult abundance than the amount of host present, especially when considering assumptions of the analyses. The data also indicate that robust populations require host density well in excess of what is eaten by larvae, in combination with appropriate spacing, to mitigate factors such as competition, starvation from leaving host patches, or unrelated to food plant, such as mortality from drought, predators, parasites, or disease.
Classification scheme for ductal morphology in cyanotic patients with ductal dependent pulmonary blood flow and association with outcomes of patent ductus arteriosus stenting.

Objectives To devise a classification scheme for ductal morphology in patients with ductal dependent pulmonary blood flow (PBF) that can be used to assess outcomes. Background The impact of ductal morphology on outcomes following patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) stenting is not well defined. Methods Patients Results One hundred and five patients underwent PDA stenting. TI was Type I in 58, Type II in 24, and Type III in 23 PDAs, respectively. There was a significant association between ductal origin and vascular access site (p 1 stent did not differ based on TI. Greater TI was associated with pulmonary artery (PA) jailing (p = 0.003). Twelve (11.4%) patients underwent unplanned reintervention, more commonly with greater TI (p = 0.022) and PA jailing (p Conclusions The proposed qualitative and quantitative PDA morphology classification scheme may be helpful in anticipating outcomes in patients with ductal dependent PBF undergoing PDA stenting.
The effect of alloy grain size on the transient oxidation behavior of an alumina-forming alloy

In the early stages of alloy oxidation, diffusion of solute through the metal to the surface is important in determining the composition of the oxide scale that forms during the transient stage. Rapid solute diffusion to the interface will promote the formation of a protective scale, thereby suppressing the formation of base-metal oxide. The effect of alloy grain size on the formation of the transient oxide scale has been studied using a very fine grained NiCrAlY alloy produced by plasma spraying. The long-term oxidation behavior of this alloy was found to be independent of the grain size of the underlying alloy. However, the short-term, transient oxidation rate was found to decrease with decreasing alloy grain size. This is attributed to the rapid grain boundary transport of Al and Cr to the oxide/metal interface which promoted the formation of Cr2O3 and Al2O3.
Ethics Through Earthquakes: Using University Administration as a Resource for Simulation Exercises

Simulation pedagogies, while offering powerful potential benefits to students, often have difficulty in combining two desirable outcomes: experiencing the consequential stakes associated with true ...
Distribution of laser shot-noise energy delivered to a levitated nanoparticle

This paper quantifies the rate at which laser shot-noise energy is delivered to a nanoparticle for the various scenarios commonly encountered in levitated optomechanics. Although previous articles have the same form and dependencies, the proportionality constants often differ in the literature. This paper resolves these discrepancies. The rate at which energy is delivered to an optically trapped particle's respective degrees of freedom depends on the radiation pattern of scattered light as well as the direction of laser propagation. For a traveling plane wave with linearly polarized light in the Rayleigh regime, this leads the translational shot-noise heating rate to be proportional to 1/10 of the total rate in the laser polarization direction, 7/10 in the laser propagation direction, and 2/10 in the direction perpendicular to both. Analytical expressions for the shot-noise heating rate are provided in the Rayleigh limit as well as numerical calculations for particles in the Mie regime for silica and diamond. For completeness, numerical calculations of the shot-noise heating for silica Mie particles at the focus of a strongly focused laser beam are calculated for varying numerical aperture and common laser wavelengths. Both numerical calculations show that the Rayleigh expression generally gives an overestimate of the shot-noise heating especially for larger radii but is still a good approximation even for incident focal fields. The exception to the relative decrease is when a Mie resonance is reached which was found for diamond. Lastly, Rayleigh expressions for the rotational shot-noise heating for a symmetric toplike particle for linear, elliptically, and unpolarized light are also provided.
Targeting the Trafficking of Kidney Water Channels for Therapeutic Benefit.

The ability to regulate water movement is vital for the survival of cells and organisms. In addition to passively crossing lipid bilayers by diffusion, water transport is also driven across cell me...