cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Green tea and skin cancer: photoimmunology, angiogenesis and DNA repair

Human skin is constantly exposed to numerous noxious physical, chemical and environmental agents. Some of these agents directly or indirectly adversely affect the skin. Cutaneous overexposure to environmental solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation (290-400 nm) has a variety of adverse effects on human health, including the development of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Therefore, there is a need to develop measures or strategies, and nutritional components are increasingly being explored for this purpose. The polyphenols present in green tea (Camellia sinensis) have been shown to have numerous health benefits, including protection from UV carcinogenesis. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major and most photoprotective polyphenolic component of green tea. In this review article, we have discussed the most recent investigations and mechanistic studies that define and support the photoprotective efficacy of green tea polyphenols (GTPs) against UV carcinogenesis. The oral administration of GTPs in drinking water or the topical application of EGCG prevents UVB-induced skin tumor development in mice, and this prevention is mediated through: (a) the induction of immunoregulatory cytokine interleukin (IL) 12; (b) IL-12-dependent DNA repair following nucleotide excision repair mechanism; (c) the inhibition of UV-induced immunosuppression through IL-12-dependent DNA repair; (d) the inhibition of angiogenic factors; and (e) the stimulation of cytotoxic T cells in a tumor microenvironment. New mechanistic information strongly supports and explains the chemopreventive activity of GTPs against photocarcinogenesis.
The amperometric titration of bismuth with 8-hydroxyquinoline and its application to compounds of medicinal importance.

A graphical amperometric end point using the dropping mercury electrode was applied to the direct titrimetric precipitation of dilute solutions of bismuth with a standard 8-hydroxyquinoline titrant in an acidic acetate buffer solution. The titration can be completed in forty-five to seventy-five minutes, and the accuracy is ≠ 0.3 to ≠ 0.8 per cent for bismuth concentrations between 0.001 and 0.01 M. A developed method was applied to various representative bismuth preparations and compared with the official gravimetric procedure.
Simulated neutron diagnostics of imploding ICF targets for the Neutron Imaging System at the national ignition facility

The Neutron Imaging System (NIS), currently under development at Los Alamos National Laboratory, will be a phase 2 diagnostic for the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It is designed to provide neutron fluence images of imploded ICF capsule targets with neutron yields above 10^12, with a spatial resolution of 15–20 microns. These images are time-integrated through the period of TN burn.
TSG-6 activity as a novel biomarker of progression in knee osteoarthritis.

Summary Objective To establish whether there is an association between TSG-6 activity and osteoarthritis progression. Design TSG-6 activity was determined in 132 synovial fluids from patients with OA of the knee, using a novel quantitative TSG-6 activity assay. The association between TSG-6 activities at baseline and four distinct disease progression states, determined at 3-year follow-up, was analyzed using logistic regression. Results There was a statistically significant relationship between TSG-6 activity at baseline and all OA progression states over a 3-year period. Patient knees with TSG-6 activities in the top tenth percentile, compared to the median activity, had an odds ratio (OR) of at least 7.86 (confidence interval (CI) [3.2, 20.5]) for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) within 3 years, and of at least 5.20 (CI [1.8, 13.9]) after adjustment for confounding factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for knee arthroplasty yielded a cut-off point of 13.3 TSG-6 activity units/ml with the following parameters: area under the curve 0.90 (CI [0.804, 0.996]), sensitivity 0.91 (CI [0.59, 0.99]), specificity 0.82 (CI [0.74, 0.88]) and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 0.99 (CI [0.934, 0.994]). Conclusion The TSG-6 activity is a promising independent biomarker for OA progression. Given the high NPV, this assay may be particularly suitable for identifying patients at low risk of rapid disease progression and to assist in the timing of arthroplasty.
The cost effectiveness of health insurance.

Background Although studies have examined both the adverse consequences of lacking health insurance and the costs of insuring the uninsured, there are no estimates of the value of providing health insurance to those currently uninsured. Objective To examine the value associated with providing insurance to those currently uninsured through an incremental cost-effectiveness analysis. Methods People aged 25 to 64 in both the National Health Interview Survey (with 2-year mortality follow-up) and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey were examined to estimate the contribution of sociodemographic, health, and health behavior characteristics on insured persons' quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and healthcare costs. Parameter estimates from these regression models were used to predict QALYs and costs associated with insuring the uninsured, given their characteristics for 1996. Markov decision-analysis modeling was then employed to calculate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. Results The incremental cost-effectiveness of insurance for the average 25-year-old adult (through age 64) is approximately $35,000 per QALY gained (range $21,000 to $48,000). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio becomes more favorable as people approach age 65. Conclusions The additional health care purchased with health insurance provides gains in quality-adjusted life at costs that compare favorably to those of other programs and medical interventions society now chooses to fund.
Bounty Hunters and Multiagent Task Allocation

We propose a system for multiagent task allocation inspired by the model used by bounty hunters and bail bondsmen. A bondsman posts tasks for agents to complete, along with bounties to be collected by an agent on completion. Multiple agents, taking the role of the bounty hunters, compete to finish tasks and collect their bounties. While a task remains uncompleted, its bounty gradually rises, making it more and more desirable to pursue. Unlike auctions, this model does not assume rationality in agents' bids (as there are none), and since tasks are not exclusive to given agents, the system is robust to highly noisy environments. We examine how agents may locally develop rational task valuations in such an environment, gradually adapting to dividing tasks according to the agents best suited to them. We compare different methods for building these valuations against approaches which are more "auction-like" in that they permit exclusivity, and we do so under both static environments and ones in which agents, and task details, change dynamically.
Design of Efficiently-Encodable Generalized LDPC Codes

We propose two classes of efficiently-encodable GLDPC (EE-GLDPC) codes by generalizing the ideas of IRA and EERC codes. These GLDPC codes have performance as good as ordinary GLDPC codes. Moreover, another advantage of these EE-GLDPC codes is that they are naturally suitable for puncturing. Simulation shows that, at code length around 600, the punctured EE-GLDPC codes can outperform optimized irregular LDPC codes by 0.4-0.5 dB at BER=10^(-6), making them good candidates when designing error correcting codes at short-to-medium code lengths.
NanoBioMaterials - From BioLEDs to Tissue Engineering

The next frontier in electronic and photonic devices is the use of biomaterials, either naturally occurring or artificially produced based on biological methods. Biomaterials with unusual properties not easily replicated in conventional organic or inorganic materials can provide another degree of freedom in terms of device design and produce enhancements in device performance. Furthermore, natural biomaterials are a replenishable resource and are inherently biodegradable. The emerging field of nanobiotechnology combines chemistry, biology and electronics to generate novel materials, devices and applications.
A random-walk interpretation of the incompressible navier-stokes equations

We introduce a stochastic process that roughly corresponds to a random walk of a single molecule in an incompressible fluid, and we consider the force (per unit volume) exerted by such a “molecule” on the rest of the fluid. Averaging this force over an ensemble of such molecules and taking an appropriate limit, we obtain the Navier-Stokes equations. The origin of time-irreversibility in these equations is discussed in terms of the model.
Pan-cancer analyses of the nuclear receptor superfamily.

Nuclear receptors (NR) act as an integrated conduit for environmental and hormonal signals to govern genomic responses, which relate to cell fate decisions. We review how their integrated actions with each other, shared co-factors and other transcription factors are disrupted in cancer. Steroid hormone nuclear receptors are oncogenic drivers in breast and prostate cancer and blockade of signaling is a major therapeutic goal. By contrast to blockade of receptors, in other cancers enhanced receptor function is attractive, as illustrated initially with targeting of retinoic acid receptors in leukemia. In the post-genomic era large consortia, such as The Cancer Genome Atlas, have developed a remarkable volume of genomic data with which to examine multiple aspects of nuclear receptor status in a pan-cancer manner. Therefore to extend the review of NR function we have also undertaken bioinformatics analyses of NR expression in over 3000 tumors, spread across six different tumor types (bladder, breast, colon, head and neck, liver and prostate). Specifically, to ask how the NR expression was distorted (altered expression, mutation and CNV) we have applied bootstrapping approaches to simulate data for comparison, and also compared these NR findings to 12 other transcription factor families. Nuclear receptors were uniquely and uniformly downregulated across all six tumor types, more than predicted by chance. These approaches also revealed that each tumor type had a specific NR expression profile but these were most similar between breast and prostate cancer. Some NRs were down-regulated in at least five tumor types (e.g., NR3C2/MR and NR5A2/LRH-1)) whereas others were uniquely down-regulated in one tumor (e.g., NR1B3/RARG). The downregulation was not driven by copy number variation or mutation and epigenetic mechanisms maybe responsible for the altered nuclear receptor expression.
Growth promotion in rats by crude concentrates of the bifidus factor.

SummaryHuman colostrum, charcoal eluates prepared from human milk, and hog mucin, promoted growth in rats receiving a dilute cow's milk formula as basal diet. Supplements of known vitamins or of glucose, glucuronolactone, galacturonic acid, and pectin were ineffective. Rats receiving an alipotropic ration, containing peanut-meal and casein as source of protein, have shown better weight gain after supplementation with small daily doses of hog mucin than the unsupplemented controls. The question was raised and discussed whether these beneficial effects may be related to the Bifidus Factor activity of the supplements used.
Workspace and Reachability Analysis of a Robotic Arm for Sample Cache Retrieval from a Mars Rover

The return of Martian samples to earth could require extraction of a sample cache from the proposed Mars 2020 mission rover by a follow-up mission that would include a retrieval rover and robotic arm. Several major parameters that govern the design required to accomplish this goal include the length, mounting height, and degrees of freedom (DoF) of the robotic arm, the size of the rover it is mounted to, and the sample cache stowage location on the Mars 2020 mission rover. To assess the feasibility of this objective and begin understanding the architectural trade-space, a set of analyses was developed that explores the impact of these variables on cache accessibility. A software tool was developed that uses kinematics and collision detection to determine cache accessibility in the area around Mars 2020 through variation in the aforementioned parameters, as well as the robustness in retrieval rover approach angle at these locations. The results demonstrate that the minimum size arm needed to retrieve the cache from all possible locations and mounting heights is approximately two meters in length. A comparison of single versus double elbow arm configurations reveals that having a double elbow results in up to 30% improvement in reachable space.
A state vector augmentation technique for incorporating indirect velocity information into the likelihood function of the sir video target tracking filter

We consider the problem of tracking moving targets in heavily cluttered video sequences and introduce a new state vector augmentation technique to incorporate indirect velocity information into the likelihood function of the SIR particle filter. While the importance of motion information in video tracking has been well recognized, the standard SIR filter typically weights particles using a likelihood function that considers the appearance model only. Our goal is to prevent particles with poor velocity estimates from receiving large weights. The key modifications involve saving the previous values of the state variables in the state update equation and reformulating the measurement model to deliver both the current and previous observations. This leads to a straightforward calculation of likelihood across pairs of temporally adjacent frames. Our preliminary experimental results show that the proposed method is effective for avoiding track losses due to the filter locking onto structured clutter.
Stress equilibrium factor and the cylinder wound angle of the filament-wound case

The definition of stress equilibrium factor for the filament-wound case is discussed.A method determining the stress equilibrium factor is given when the closure and the cylinder strength are equal.The relationship of the stress equilibrium factor ks and the cylinder wound angle α Is obtained.The results show that the stress equilibrium factor will be decreased when the cylinder wound angle is decreased.The mass of the cylinder is increased as long as stress equilibrium factor ks1.Therefore,the appropriate increase of the cylinder wound angle will strengthen the closure and reduce the mass increment of the cylinder.
Monitoring respiratory mechanics

Emphasis is on the mechanical properties of the spontaneously breathing patient. The occasional reference to mechanically ventilated patients is used to clarify and provide additional insight to the topic of spontaneously breathing individuals. Reference to the basic principles of mechanics are to establish the foundation for an integrated description of lung mechanics. Finally, a brief review of the "state of the art" respiratory monitoring parameters shown to have direct clinical applications.
Heterozygous cystinuria and calcium oxalate urolithiasis.

AbstractMany variables are known to be associated with the formation of calcium oxalate urolithiasis but none is essential for the initiation or growth of stones. It is likely that the predisposition to stone formation is related to multiple factors. We herein describe still another metabolic state that seems to predispose to calcium oxalate stone disease, namely heterozygosity for cystinuria. Cystine screening tests were done on 24-hour urine specimens obtained from 126 patients in whom recurrent calcium oxalate stones form and 84 controls and quantitative amino acid determinations were done on all positive specimens. Of those studied 17 of 126 stone patients and 1 of 84 controls were heterozygous cystinurics. A test of the differences between the relative frequencies of cystinuria heterozygotes in the 2 groups with Fisher’s exact test revealed them to be highly significant (p <0.001). Our study indicates that carrier status for 1 of the cystinuria genes predisposes to calcium oxalate stone formation but...
A comprehensive wafer oriented test evaluation (WOTE) scheme for the IDDQ testing of deep sub-micron technologies

As device dimensions approach 0.1 /spl mu/m, analog effects will play an even larger role in digital circuits. IDDQ measurements can be significantly affected by the observed wafer to wafer (and even die to die) variations in electrical parameters. In this presentation we make a case for a Wafer Oriented Test Evaluation (WOTE) strategy where acceptable IDDQ thresholds are set based on the IDDQ measurements observed for the neighbouring die. Such an approach will minimize yield loss due to IDDQ testing while identifying defective die with abnormal IDDQ in comparison with their neighbours.
The Biomechanics Behind Extreme Osteophagy in Tyrannosaurus rex

Most carnivorous mammals can pulverize skeletal elements by generating tooth pressures between occluding teeth that exceed cortical bone shear strength, thereby permitting access to marrow and phosphatic salts. Conversely, carnivorous reptiles have non-occluding dentitions that engender negligible bone damage during feeding. As a result, most reptilian predators can only consume bones in their entirety. Nevertheless, North American tyrannosaurids, including the giant (13 metres [m]) theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex stand out for habitually biting deeply into bones, pulverizing and digesting them. How this mammal-like capacity was possible, absent dental occlusion, is unknown. Here we analyzed T. rex feeding behaviour from trace evidence, estimated bite forces and tooth pressures, and studied tooth-bone contacts to provide the answer. We show that bone pulverization was made possible through a combination of: (1) prodigious bite forces (8,526–34,522 newtons [N]) and tooth pressures (718–2,974 megapascals [MPa]) promoting crack propagation in bones, (2) tooth form and dental arcade configurations that concentrated shear stresses, and (3) repetitive, localized biting. Collectively, these capacities and behaviors allowed T. rex to finely fragment bones and more fully exploit large dinosaur carcasses for sustenance relative to competing carnivores.
Activated CD4+ T cells as radiosensitizer: enhancement of irradiation-induced cytotoxicity by pretreatment of tumor cell with activated CD4+ T cells

3116 Background: Radiotherapy is one of the standard modalities for the treatment of cancer. Irradiation causes not only tumor cell death, but also can up-regulate tumor antigen and MHC class I molecule expression, thereby promoting the accumulation and activation of immune cells in tumor tissue. We hypothesize that activated CD4+ T cells (aCD4) can presensitize tumor cells and enhance gamma-irradiation -induced cytotoxicity. The rationale is that aCD4 release multiple cytokines, which may regulate gene-expression in tumor cells, thereby affecting their proliferation and apoptosis. Methods: Human cervical carcinoma cell line Hela was used as our initial tumor model. Hela cells were irradiated with 4 Gy after presensitization with aCD4 for 48 hours. The cells were cultured for 2 or 5 more days for apoptosis and cell proliferation assays, respectively. Transwell system was used to determine whether cell contact, soluble factors released by aCD4, or both were essential in this model. Several cytokines including IFN- γ were used to replace aCD4 to determine the contribution of each cytokine. Other cancer cell lines used to validate the strategy included cervical carcinoma cell line Caski, glioma cell lines LN229 and U373, and prostate carcinoma cell line DU145. Results: For Hela cells, growth inhibition was 25.8 ±3.3% in group treated with irradiation alone, 31.5±11.3% in group treated with aCD4 alone, and 60.5±1.3% in the combination group; while the percentage of apoptotic cells as determined by flow cytometry assay using Annexin V was 7.15±0.6%, 9.25±0.4% and 15.65±4.6%, respectively. Similar results were also obtained with other cancer cell lines. For example, for DU145, cell growth inhibition was 35.4±4.0 % in group treated with irradiation alone, 32.65±2.7% in group treated with aCD4 alone, and 70.3±0.14% in the combination group. This effect was aCD4 and irradiation dose dependent. Transwell experiments showed that soluble factors secreted by aCD4 were responsible for the observed activity. Of the cytokines tested, IFN-γ was found to play major role in our model. Growth inhibition was 10.15±1.0% in group treated with IFN- γ alone and 57.03±1.9% in the IFN- γ and gamma-irradiation combination group. Conclusion: We have demonstrated that aCD4 can act as a radiosensitizer to enhance the cytotoxic effect of gamma irradiation in multiple cancer cell lines. Soluble factors released by aCD4 were essential in this effect. IFN- γ was found to play a major role. We are currently working on the mechanism underlying the observed activity. In a separate project, we have also demonstrated great synergism when chemotherapy was given after tumor cells had been presensitized with activated immune cells.
Lost in Hope

The music plays over images of missing persons posters. Posters layered over more posters of forgotten faces. Pictures of young girls, boys, and assumed run-aways flash across the screen. Worn and torn posters peeled from wooden poles, as weathered as the rusty nails which once secured them in place.
An Evolutionary Multi-player Game Model for Two-Hop Routing in Delay Tolerant Networks

Delay-tolerant networks (DTN) are sparse mobile ad hoc networks where contemporaneous end-to-end path is typically not available. Therefore, nodes act as relays for each other to enable data delivery. The cooperation among mobile nodes however can be hindered by selfish users. Incentive schemes are inevitably introduced to regulate the behavior of DTN users. The motivation of this paper is to seek conditions under which cooperators can survive, and even prevail in DTN without incentives. We study the formation of cooperation in DTN routing following an Evolutionary Game Theory (EGT) approach. In particular, the two-hop routing protocol is assumed to be adopted which applies to a large class of DTN routing schemes. We first formulate the two-hop DTN routing as a multi-player game. Using the concept of Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS), we show that defection always dominates cooperation when the population is infinite and well-mixed. Recent developments in evolutionary biology reveal that in finite and structured populations such as graphs, cooperation is nevertheless promoted. We derive a sufficient condition for cooperators to be favored over defectors on K-regular graph. Simulation results validate our theoretical finding, and prove that cooperation indeed can prevail in DTN routing games without incentives.
Evaluation of Validity Evidence for Personality, Emotional Intelligence, and Situational Judgment Tests to Identify Successful Residents.

Importance The ability to identify candidates who will thrive and successfully complete their residency is especially critical for general surgery programs. Objective To assess the extent to which 3 screening tools used extensively in industrial selection settings—emotional intelligence (EQ), personality profiles, and situational judgment tests (SJTs)—could identify successful surgery residents. Design, Setting, and Participants In this analysis, personality profiles, EQ assessments, and SJTs were administered from July through August 2015 to 51 postgraduate year 1 through 5 general surgery residents in a large general surgery residency program. Associations between these variables and residency performance were investigated through correlation and hierarchical regression analyses. Interventions Completion of EQ, personality profiles, and SJT assessments. Main Outcomes and Measures Performance in residency as measured by a comprehensive performance metric. A score of zero represented a resident whose performance was consistent with that of their respective cohort’s performance; below zero, worse performance; and greater than zero, better performance. Results Of the 61 eligible residents, 51 (84%) chose to participate and 22 (43%) were women. US Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 (USMLE1), but not USMLE2, emerged as a significant factor (t2,49 = 1.98; β = 0.30;P = .03) associated with overall performance. Neither EQ facets nor overall EQ offered significant incremental validity over USMLE1 scores. Inclusion of the personality factors did not significantly alter the test statistic and did not explain any additional portion of the variance. By contrast, inclusion of SJT scores accounted for 15% more of the variance than USMLE1 scores alone, resulting in a total of 25% of the variance explained by both USMLE1 and SJT scores (F2,57 = 7.47;P = .002). Both USMLE1 (t = 2.21;P = .03) and SJT scores (t = 2.97;P = .005) were significantly associated with overall resident performance. Conclusions and Relevance This study found little support for the use of EQ assessment and only weak support for some distinct personality factors (ie, agreeableness, extraversion, and independence) in surgery resident selection. Performance on the SJT was associated with overall resident performance more than traditional cognitive measures (ie, USMLE scores). These data support further exploration of these 2 screening assessments on a larger scale across specialties and institutions.
Polysubstance Use Among First-Year NCAA College Student-Athletes

The purpose of this article is to investigate polysubstance use among college student-athletes and determine whether use is independent of gender, race, season status, and athletic division. College student-athletes responded to questions related to their past-30-day use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Findings suggest that polysubstance use differs significantly by gender, race, season status, and athletic division. Although a majority of college student-athletes do not engage in polysubstance use, it is reported more frequently for alcohol and tobacco, and alcohol and marijuana. Due to serious consequences associated with polysubstance use, practitioners should consider expanding prevention and treatment efforts to address polysubstance use.
Primary Dissociated Vertical Deviation

Primary DVD is a bilateral, usually asymmetrical condition with a variable clinical appearance. In an attempt to better understand this entity 23 patients with primary DVD were evaluated. From this...
The Influence of High Schools on Developing Public Service Motivation

ABSTRACT: Despite the theoretical importance of public service motivation (PSM) for the public sector, little is known about the malleability and causal determinants of PSM. Formal schooling is one...
Forced Differential Equations: Problems to Impact Intuition

How should our students think about external forcing in differential equations setting, and how can we help them gain intuition? To address this question, we share a variety of problems and project...
Do primary care providers who prescribe more opioids have higher patient panel satisfaction scores

Objectives:Opioid prescribing in the United States has tripled since 1999. At the same time, there has been increasing attention to patient satisfaction. It has been suggested that providers concer...
Chapter 11 – Nanotechnology Safety in the Electronics and Telecommunications Industries

Abstract Nanotechnology is one of the emerging areas of science, mathematics, technology, and engineering in the 21st century. It has been instrumental in the manufacture of a variety of new products. These products are a result of our exploitation of the unique properties of matter that can emerge in scales of 1 to 100 nanometers. Although the great advantages of nanotechnology and its related products can be exploited, there is still much that can be done in exploring related safety issues, especially as they relate to the electronics and telecommunications industries, which is the subject of this chapter. These safety concerns relate to the potential detrimental effects of nanotechnology materials and devices on humans and the environment. The safety issues must be addressed to protect life and the environment while enhancing innovation, public confidence, and societal benefits that nanotechnology can offer as it is applied to the electronics and telecommunications industries.
MYOCARDIAL FLOW HETEROGENEITY AND DIFFUSIONAL SHUNTING

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the study of the myocardial flow heterogeneity and diffusional shunting. As flow through mammalian myocardium is normally heterogeneous and as there have been subtle indications that there may be arteriovenous shunting of oxygen in the heart, an exploration of the possible relationship between these has some merit. The most direct link of flow heterogeneity to shunting might occur at the capillary level. In the study, it was found that if neighboring capillaries had different velocities of flow, had starting or ending points that were offset from each other, or had flows in opposite directions, then there would be an opportunity for O2 or other diffusible substances to move from the inflow end of one capillary to the outflow end of another while bypassing the tissue that is supposed to serve. In the study, it was observed at low coronary blood flows that tritiated water and 131I-iodoantipyrine dilution curves obtained from the coronary sinus after injection of both tracers simultaneously into the coronary inflow differed, while at high flows they were superimposed on each other. The difference at low flows was that the water curves showed higher concentrations on the upslope and around the peak of the dilution curves.
Deterministic elastic-plastic modelling of rough surface contact including spectral interpolation and comparison to theoretical models

Abstract Measured surfaces are populated with an intermediate resolution by a novel method called spectral interpolation. The spectral interpolation method allows for sharp peaks and intermediate points to be smoothed by adding additional nodes while keeping the original surface and spectrum constant. Then, the effects of different resolutions on the area-load relationship are studied by finite element simulation and the results are compared to theoretical models. We find that the slope of the area-load relationship becomes lower as the geometry of the rough surface was smoothed by the spectral interpolation. Additionally, the effects of the tangent modulus and different detection methods in the finite element method are also studied.
Comparative virulence of diverse Coxiella burnetii strains

Coxiella burnetii is an intracellular, gram-negative bacterium that causes the zoonosis Q fever. This disease typically presents as an acute flu-like illness with persistent, focalized infections o...
Targets for Precision Measurements

Abstract The general properties needed in targets (sources) for high precision, high accuracy measurements are reviewed. The application of these principles to the problem of developing targets for the Fission TPC is described. Longer term issues, such as the availability of actinide materials, improved knowledge of energy losses and straggling and the stability of targets during irradiation are also discussed.
Pretreatment of corn stover ash to improve its effectiveness as a supplementary cementitious material in concrete

Abstract This paper investigates the feasibility of using corn stover ash (CSA) as supplementary cementitious material to replace cement in concrete. Three types of CSA -- water-washed, acid-washed, and untreated burned corn stover -- were produced, and the influence of the pretreatment regimens on the physical and chemical properties of the produced ashes are evaluated. Moreover, the influence of CSA on the hydration kinetics of cement pastes, and compressive strength and bulk electrical resistivity of concrete specimens is discussed. The results of this study show that pretreating the corn stover before combustion increases the SiO2 content of the ash, and reduces the Cl and K2O contents, the loss on ignition, and the median particle size. The results also show that the pretreated CSA is more reactive and can accelerate the cement hydration process. Both acid- and water-washed CSA increase the strength and bulk electrical resistivity of concrete at later ages. Incorporating untreated CSA in the concrete mixture, on the other hand, reduces the compressive strength and bulk electrical resistivity of the concrete, due to the negative impacts of deleterious agents (such as high ash alkali contents) on the cement hydration process. While further work is needed, pretreated CSA could potentially be used as a novel supplementary cementitious material in concrete.
A Fault Detection and Isolation Design for a Dual Pitot Tube Air Data System

We design a fault detection and isolation algorithm using the integrated navigation system approach for detecting and potentially isolating a single Pitot tube failure in the safety-critical air data system used in Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). The design requires two Pitot tubes, one Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and a GNSS receiver. The algorithm utilizes two identical synthetic air data systems (SADS) as the bases for estimation. Each SADS works independently with a Pitot tube while sharing the IMU and the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver. The detection capability is achieved using residual thresholding techniques, and the isolation functionality is obtained via simple decision logic. This air data fault detection algorithm is designed to meet the integrity and continuity requirements. Both innovation-based and residual-based test statistics using various sliding window sizes are compared to see their effectiveness. A mathematical derivation is presented to show the relationship between the residual-based test and the observability matrix. A new Minimal Detectable Error (MDE) of the airspeed V a is developed, and protection level calculations for the angle-of-attack a and sideslip s are derived. A simulation is presented to showcase the air data fault detection and isolation algorithm. Specifically, the impact of the external disturbance, the motion of the dynamics and the airspeed fault on a and s state errors, and the detection capability are discussed. Furthermore, the protection levels of a and s are illustrated.
Abstract LB-335: Loss of function of the BRCA1-PALB2-BRCA2 axis accelerates p53-associated tumorigenesis

The BRCA1-PALB2-BRCA2 axis plays essential roles in the DNA damage response, thereby suppressing genome instability and cancer development. It is widely held that p53 loss promotes BRCA/PALB2-associated tumorigenesis. Here, through parallel conditional knockout of Brca1, Palb2 and Brca2 along with one allele of Trp53 in mice, and by studying mice with a mutation that disengages the PALB2-BRCA1 interaction in different Trp53 backgrounds, we present evidence that support an alternative view, that is, functional loss of the BRCA1-PALB2-BRCA2 axis accelerates p53-associated tumorigenesis. Our results also demonstrate a functional equivalence of BRCA1, PALB2 and BRCA2 in their basic tumor suppressive activity, an epistasis between PALB2 and BRCA2 in tumor suppression, and likely complementary roles of BRCA1 and the PALB2/BRCA2 complex in maintaining cell fitness. These findings may significantly advance the current understanding of the genetic mechanisms that underlie the development of BRCA/PALB2- and p53-associated cancers. Citation Format: Yanying Huo, Amar Mahdi, Pier Selenica, Jorge S S. Reis-Filho, Britta Weigelt, Bing Xia. Loss of function of the BRCA1-PALB2-BRCA2 axis accelerates p53-associated tumorigenesis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-335.
Analyzing the Reductions in U.S. Air Pollution Emissions: 1970 to 1990

Findings of inverted-U relationships between income and certain types of pollution have generated considerable controversy, yet relatively little is known about the factors underlying these relationships. U.S. emissions of several major air pollutants have begun to decline, mirroring the trajectories found using data across countries and across time. This paper examines U.S. emissions of six air pollutants between 1970 and 1990, decomposing the observed changes into scale, composition, energy efficiency, energy mix, and other technique effects. Our results provide a case study of the relative importance of these effects for a country on the downward-sloping portions of its emissions trajectories for the pollutants we examine.
The intensity and connectivity of spontaneous brain activity in a language network relate to aging and language

Abstract Neuroimaging studies often either look at functional activation in response to an explicit task, or functional connectivity (i.e., interregional correlations) during resting-state. Few studies have looked at the intensity of brain activity or its relationship with age, behavior, and language. The current study investigated both intensity (i.e., the Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations, ALFF) and the functional connectivity of spontaneous brain activity during rest and their relationship with age and language. A life-span sample of individuals (N = 152) completed a battery of neuropsychological tests to assess basic cognitive functions and resting-state functional MRI data to assess spontaneous brain activity. Focusing on an extend language network, the mean ALFF and total degree were calculated for this network. We found that increased age was associated with more intense activity (i.e., higher ALFF) but lower within-network connectivity. Additionally, these increases in activity within the language network during resting-state were related to worse language ability, particularly in younger adults, supporting a dedifferentiation account of cognition. Our results support the utility of using resting-state data as an indicator of cognition and support the role of ALFF as a potential biomarker in characterizing the relationships between resting-state brain activity, age, and cognition.
Smoking exposure in pack-years predicts cutaneous manifestations and damage in systemic lupus erythematosus:

ObjectiveTo examine the impact of cumulative smoking in pack-years on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cutaneous manifestations and damage.MethodsOur cohort study included 632 adult SLE patients ...
On Efficient Training, Controllability and Compositional Generalization of Insertion-based Language Generators.

Auto-regressive language models with the left-to-right generation order have been a predominant paradigm for language generation. Recently, out-of-order text generation beyond the traditional left-to-right paradigm has attracted extensive attention, with a notable variation of insertion-based generation, where a model is used to gradually extend the context into a complete sentence purely with insertion operations. However, since insertion operations disturb the position information of each token, it is often believed that each step of the insertion-based likelihood estimation requires a bi-directional \textit{re-encoding} of the whole generated sequence. This computational overhead prohibits the model from scaling up to generate long, diverse texts such as stories, news articles, and reports. To address this issue, we propose InsNet, an insertion-based sequence model that can be trained as efficiently as traditional transformer decoders while maintaining the same performance as that with a bi-directional context encoder. We evaluate InsNet on story generation and CleVR-CoGENT captioning, showing the advantages of InsNet in several dimensions, including computational costs, generation quality, the ability to perfectly incorporate lexical controls, and better compositional generalization.
Efficient generation of dopaminergic induced neuronal cells with midbrain characteristics.

Summary The differentiation of pluripotent stem cells can be accomplished by sequential activation of signaling pathways or through transcription factor programming. Multistep differentiation imitates embryonic development to obtain authentic cell types, but it suffers from asynchronous differentiation with variable efficiency. Transcription factor programming induces synchronous and efficient differentiation with higher reproducibility but may not always yield authentic cell types. We systematically explored the generation of dopaminergic induced neuronal cells from mouse and human pluripotent stem cells. We found that the proneural factor Ascl1 in combination with mesencephalic factors Lmx1a and Nurr1 induce peripheral dopaminergic neurons. Co-delivery of additional midbrain transcription factors En1, FoxA2, and Pitx3 resulted in facile and robust generation of functional dopaminergic neurons of midbrain character. Our results suggest that more complex combinations of transcription factors may be needed for proper regional specification of induced neuronal cells generated by direct lineage induction.
Influence of visual and motion cues on manual lateral stabilization.

The ability of humans to detect and control their own lateral acceleration was measured by means of a closed-loop nulling task. Wide-field moving visual cues enhanced the operator's performance in nulling self-motion, especially at lower frequencies. Even visual cues, fixed relative to the operator, resulted in performance improvement relative to self-motion nulling in the dark. Describing function (frequency response) data was obtained for random acceleration conditions consisting of the visual field fixed relative to the laboratory, fixed relative to the subject, moving at constant velocity relative to the subject, and in the dark. The describing function data was corrected for the dynamics of operator manual control strategy. The resulting frequency responses were used to develop a linear model of self-motion detection which required a lead term of 1.5 rad/s to be added to the existing model in order to match the higher sensitivity at higher frequencies.
On Medieval Interpretation and Mythology

Vituperation against apostasy, such as these words from Jeremiah, has been regarded as a repudiation of momentary lapses into fertility cults in Ancient Israel. Yet such criticism is also, Biblical scholars have shown, an expression of the distinguishing feature of Hebrew thinking: it is fundamentally opposed to mythological religions of immanentism. Because of the nature of this opposition, early Hebrew writing is not another mythology, but according to W. F. Albright, may be described as archaic demythologizing.1 Following the thrust of this claim, H. N. Schneidau has argued the provocative thesis that later Biblical periods, too, carry out just as forcefully this opposition to myth and, furthermore, that Western tradition broadly may be distinguished by a characteristic demythologizing inherited from the Bible.2 The impact is immediately obvious, for example, in the first century with St. Paul’s admonition, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales,” or again much later when scholars of the Reformation demythologized the past and their own culture in the letter and spirit of Jeremiah and St. Paul.
Cocaine-induced locomotor sensitization persists in rats that escalate cocaine self-administration in a short-access procedure (848.6)

The role of sensitization in cocaine addiction remains debatable. In rats, non-contingent cocaine-induced locomotor sensitization is well documented. However, the relationship between this measure and measures of cocaine self-administration is less clear. For example, repeated non-contingent cocaine pre-exposure enhances acquisition of self-administration and increases break points (BPs) for cocaine. Following escalation of intake or BPs, however, some studies report tolerance to cocaine’s locomotor-stimulating effects. Importantly, sensitization is often assessed after long self-administration histories or high levels of cocaine exposure. We have recently developed a method for assessing escalation early in self-administration. Using this method, here we report on the relationship between cocaine-induced locomotor sensitization and escalation early in the drug-taking process. Cocaine-induced (10 mg/kg, i.p.) locomotor activity was assessed on 3 occasions: 1) in a drug-naive state, 2) after 5 days of non-...
Layers of narratives, images, and analysis

Purpose – In this paper, the authors offer a methodological discussion and examples of visual analysis processes. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate a data analysis method that the authors named layered textural analysis, which brought together images and texts in ways that changed existing and decontextualized understandings. The authors used layered textural analysis to interpret photo-narratives from a photo elicitation study about the development of intercultural sensitivity in US study abroad students. Design/methodology/approach – Layered textural analysis, as carried out in this study, consisted of structural analysis of narratives present in interview text, visual analysis of the photos, and guiding questions related to the content and relationship of the photos and narratives. Findings – Individual experiences, images, and texts reflect complex connections between matter and thought. The multilayered analysis led to complex understandings and representations of participants’ learning and ...
Impact of maternal euglycemia on fetal outcome in diabetic pregnancy.

Abstract We examined the relationship between maternal euglycemia and fetal outcome in 81 cases of gestational, diet-controlled (GD) diabetes and 32 cases of insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD). The perinatal mortality rate was reduced from 2.3% to zero in an 18 month period ending in December 1977. Perinatal morbidity in GD and IDD was comparable and independent of age, parity, and severity of diabetes. Fasting maternal glucose concentrations correlated positively with the incidence of fetal macrosomia (p = all diabetic patients. On the other hand, neonatal morbidity can be expected to be higher in women with gestational diabetes identified late in pregnancy. Likewise, congenital malformations in this group may represent the influence of uncontrolled glucose metabolism in the early months of gestation which remained undetected due to late registration for prenatal care.
Productivity and performance: improving consumability of hardware transactional memory through a real-world case study

Hardware transactional memory (HTM) is a promising technology to improve the productivity of parallel programming. However, a general agreement has not been reached on the consumability of HTM. User experiences indicate that HTM interface is not straightforward to be adopted by programmers to parallelize existing commercial applications, because of the internal limitation of HTM and the difficulties to identify shared variables hidden in the code. In this paper we demonstrate that, with well-designed encapsulation, HTM can deliver good consumability. Based on the study of a typical commercial application in supply chain simulations - GBSE, we develop a general scheduling engine that encapsulates the HTM interface. With the engine, we can convert the sequential program to multi-threaded model without changing any source code for the simulation logic. The time spent on parallelization is reduced from two months to one week, and the performance is close to the manually tuned counterpart with fine-grained locks.