cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A NEW RECORD AND ERADICATION OF THE NORTHERN ATLANTIC ALGA ASCOPHYLLUM NODOSUM (PHAEOPHYCEAE) FROM SAN FRANCISCO BAY, CALIFORNIA, USA†

A new record of the Northern Atlantic fucoid Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jolis (Knotted wrack) was discovered on a shoreline in San Francisco Bay, California during a survey of intertidal habitats in 2001–2002. The alga showed no signs of deterioration 2.5 months after its initial detection. The healthy condition, presence of receptacles with developing oogonia, potential for asexual reproduction, and ability to withstand environmental conditions, both inside the Bay and on the outer Pacific coast, prompted a multiagency eradication effort. Given the relatively small area of shoreline inhabited by the alga, in combination with its absence in 125 other surveyed locations, we decided that manual removal of the seaweed would be the most environmentally sensitive yet effective eradication approach. No A. nodosum has been detected at the site since December 2002, and the species is thought to have been locally eradicated. The site continues to be monitored to assess the success of the eradication efforts.
Decision-Making Style as a Predictor of Career Decision-Making Status and Treatment Gains.

This study investigated the predictability of rational decision- making style on career decision-making status and treatment gains based on a computer-based career intervention. Decision-making style, in relation to pretreatment career status as well as its efficacy in predicting intervention outcomes, was also examined. Seventy-four undecided university students participated in the study. Results show that employing decision-making strategies based on an individual's preference significantly increased students' career decidedness and decreased career indecision, choice anxiety, and reason complexity. Rational decision-making style is positively associated with career decidedness and negatively associated with the exploration stage of decision making; it is not, however, predictive of treatment gains.
A framework for using the workspace medial axis in PRM planners

Probabilistic roadmap (PRM) planners have been very successful in path planning for a wide variety of problems, especially applications involving robots with many degrees of freedom. These planners randomly sample the configuration space, building up a roadmap that connects the samples. A major problem is finding valid configurations in tight areas, and many methods have been proposed to more effectively sample these regions. By constructing a skeleton-like subset of the free regions of the workspace, these heuristics can be strengthened. The skeleton provides a concise description of the workspace topology and an efficient means of finding points with maximal clearance from the obstacles. We examine the medial axis as a skeleton, including a method to compute an approximation to it. The medial axis is a two-equidistant surface in the workspace. We form a heuristic for finding difficult configurations using the medial axis, and demonstrate its effectiveness in a planner for rigid objects in a 3D workspace.
Performance of Polyethylene Parting Strips in PCC Pavements

There are two techniques for constructing longitudinal joints allowed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WISDOT): (1) sawing; and (2) insertion of polyethylene parting strips during construction. Secondary cracks parallel to the longitudinal joint and concrete spalling have been observed in several portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement projects constructed using parting strips. To evaluate the performance of parting strips in the formation of longitudinal joints in PCC pavements, an extensive database was developed. This database involved visual observation and laboratory analysis of cores taken from distressed and nondistressed areas. Visual observation involves collecting data regarding traffic condition and the distress type and severity. Laboratory analysis involves the collection of cores and their analysis to determine the possible causes of distress. An investigation of 60 core samples taken from 20 sites, a positive statistical correlation was found between the amount of spalling and...
The Na+-K+-ATPase α2-subunit isoform modulates contractility in the perinatal mouse diaphragm

This study uses genetically altered mice to examine the contribution of the Na+-K+-ATPase α2 catalytic subunit to resting potential, excitability, and contractility of the perinatal diaphragm. The ...
Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition: Modeling and control

This paper focuses on modeling and control of a single-wafer parallel electrode plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process with showerhead arrangement used to deposit a 500 A amorphous silicon thin film on an 8 cm wafer. Initially, a two-dimensional unsteady-state model is developed for the process that accounts for diffusive and convective mass transfer, bulk and deposition reactions, and nonuniform fluid flow and plasma electron density profiles. The model is solved using finite-difference techniques and the radial nonuniformity of the final film thickness is computed to be almost 19%. Then, a feedback control system is designed and implemented on the process to reduce the film thickness nonuniformity. The control system consists of three spatially distributed proportional integral controllers that use measurements of the deposition rate at several locations across the wafer, to manipulate the inlet concentration of silane in the showerhead and achieve a uniform deposition rate across the wafer. The implementation of the proposed control system is shown to reduce the film thickness radial nonuniformity to 3.8%.
Cadmium effects on Ichthyophthirius: evidence for metal-sequestration in fish tissues following administration of recombinant vaccines.

We are developing Tetrahymena thermophila as a delivery system for recombinant vaccines against parasitic protozoa, including the common fish parasite, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. T. thermophila cell lines expressing I. multifiliis genes under the control of a cadmium-inducible metallothionein gene promoter conferred strong protection against a lethal parasite challenge when administered parenterally to naive fish. Nevertheless, given that heavy metals can be toxic to parasites, a question arose as to whether protection resulted from Cd residues carried over with the vaccine, rather than acquired immunity per se. To address this issue, we examined the sensitivity of I. multifiliis to Cd in vitro and determined Cd concentrations in different host tissues following i.p. injection of juvenile channel catfish with the recombinant vaccine. We found that CdCl2 at concentrations > or = 50 ppb were lethal to I. multifiliis theronts in vitro. Furthermore, Cd concentrations were clearly elevated in fish tissues and reached levels equivalent to 74 ng/g wet weight (74 ppb) in the skin within 14 days of injection with recombinant T. thermophila. Nevertheless, fish injected with non-transformed Tetrahymena grown in the presence or absence of CdCl2 showed no significant difference in either relative survival or parasite load following direct challenge with I. multifiliis.
Advanced technology on the megawatt modulator for the Ground Test Accelerator

The new concept of accelerator technology developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory, AT-Division, is presented. The modulator is driven on/off by RF switching power supply to achieve 1-MW RF accelerator energy from the klystron and klystrode at 850 MHz. The advantages are: (1) system cost savings up to 70%, (2) operating cost savings up to 60%, (3) weight reduction from 24000 lbs to 700 lbs, (4) size reduction from 512 to 12 ft/sup 3/ and (5) efficiency improved from 75% to 97%. >
Trust requirements and performance of a fast subtransport-level protocol for secure communication

A secure network protocol called the authenticated datagram protocol (ADP) that optimizes the performance of global networks by establishing host-to-host secure channels and building agent-to-agent channels on top of host-to-host channels is presented. The performance advantages of ADP come with an accompanying set of trust requirements that are stringent for a network spanning mutually distrustful organizations. The cause for this stringency is shown to be propagation of trust relationships in ADP. Methods of breaking their propagation and thereby accomplishing a significant reduction in ADP's trust requirements are presented. ADP, being a protocol for establishing host-to-host channels, can be handled at the subtransport level of the protocol hierarchy. A prototype of ADP implemented on Sun workstations connected by an Ethernet is described. Experimental measurements confirm that both the average latency of messages and the maximum throughput are substantially better than other secure protocols. >
High‐grade astrocytoma in very young children

Background High-grade astrocytomas are rare in young children, but have been reported to have a better prognosis than similar tumors in older patients. Procedure We retrospectively reviewed the clinical characteristics, survival, and long-term sequelae for patients younger than 3 years old with high-grade astrocytoma, treated at a single institution between 1984 and 2005. Results Sixteen patients were included. Histology included anaplastic astrocytoma (n = 9), glioblastoma multiforme (n = 5), and malignant glioma (n = 2). All patients underwent biopsy or resection, followed by chemotherapy. Six patients received scheduled irradiation and six were irradiated at the time of disease progression. Ten patients are alive at a median follow-up of 11.6 years (range, 1.7–21.6 years). 5-year overall survival (OS) was 66.3% (SE 12.2%), and 5-year event-free survival (EFS) was 28.6% (SE 12.1%). Age at diagnosis was a significant predictor of the hazard of death in a Cox model (HR 2.871, 95%CI 1.015–8.123). Gender and histology did not predict OS or EFS. Trends toward improved OS were detected for patients with hemispheric tumors and those undergoing complete resection. All evaluable survivors (n = 9) had some neurocognitive impairment, with estimated overall cognitive ability ranging from significantly delayed to average; all survivors attending school (n = 5) performed below grade level on achievement testing. Seven of nine evaluable survivors had endocrine dysfunction. Conclusions Young children with high-grade astrocytoma have better long-term overall survival than older patients, but recurrence is common, and most children require irradiation. Long-term complications are frequent and often severe. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007;49:888–893. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
History and Early Development of INCAP

Nevin Scrimshaw was the founding Director of the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), serving as Director from 1949 to 1961. In this article, he reviews the history of the founding of INCAP, including the role of the Rockefeller and Kellogg Foundations, the Central American governments, and the Pan American Health Organization. The objectives pursued by INCAP in its early years were to assess the nutrition and related health problems of Central America, to carry out research to find practical solutions to these problems, and to provide technical assistance to its member countries to implement solutions. INCAP pursued a strategy of selecting promising Central Americans for advanced education and training in the US who assumed positions of leadership on their return. After this early phase, talented non-Central Americans of diverse origins were brought to INCAP, as well as additional researchers from the region. Growth of INCAP, as reflected in its annual budget and in the physical plant, was rapid and this was accompanied by high scientific productivity. Several field studies were launched that contributed impetus and design elements for the Oriente Longitudinal Study, which is the focus of this supplement.
Multidimensional versioning for object-oriented databases

Many database applications require the storage and manipulation of different versions of data objects. However, current database systems do not support versioning well. Each application area treats versions in its own way, and these ways are usually incompatible with each other. We show how this incompatibility can be resolved by separating the physical, conceptual, and logical levels of versioning. We develop a version specification language at the conceptual level, and a multidimensional specification language at the logical level. By encoding the logical versioning semantics of an application into orthogonal dimensions, we generalize the ideas of historical and temporal databases to arbitrary object-oriented databases. The result is a unified, application-independent treatment of versioning.
Wing Flapping and Other Moving Topics: A Developmental Perspective

G. E. Coghill (1929) attempted to describe the sequence of steps involved in the differentiation of the central nervous system of ambystoma following his careful observations upon the development of their walking and swimming behaviors. The central premise of his work was that the development and elaboration of behavior patterns was the manifestation of an orderly sequence of steps of differentiation in the embryonic nervous system (Hamburger, 1963).
Combining probabilistic planning and logic programming on mobile robots

Key challenges to widespread deployment of mobile robots to interact with humans in real-world domains include the ability to: (a) robustly represent and revise domain knowledge; (b) autonomously adapt sensing and processing to the task at hand; and (c) learn from unreliable high-level human feedback. Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) have been used to plan sensing and navigation in different application domains. It is however a challenge to include common sense knowledge obtained from sensory or human inputs in POMDPs. In addition, information extracted from sensory and human inputs may have varying levels of relevance to current and future tasks. On the other hand, although a non-monotonic logic programming paradigm such as Answer Set Programming (ASP) is wellsuited for common sense reasoning, it is unable to model the uncertainty in real-world sensing and navigation (Gelfond 2008). This paper presents a hybrid framework that integrates ASP, hierarchical POMDPs (Zhang and Sridharan 2012) and psychophysics principles to address the challenges stated above. Experimental results in simulation and on mobile robots deployed in indoor domains show that the framework results in reliable and efficient operation.
Bouted and non-bouted moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with health-related quality of life

Examine the association between bouted (10 + minutes in duration) and non-bouted (< 10 minutes in duration) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Data from the 2003–2006 NHANES were used (20 + years; N = 5530). Participants wore an ActiGraph 7164 accelerometer over a period of up to 7 days to assess accumulation in bouted and non-bouted MVPA. From 4 self-reported items, HRQOL was assessed using the CDC HRQOL-4 questionnaire, with a higher HRQOL-4 score indicating worse HRQOL. In a single multivariable ordinal regression analysis, both non-bout (βadjusted = − 0.01; 95% CI: − 0.01 to − 0.003; P = 0.006) and bouted (βadjusted = − 0.08; 95% CI: − 0.15 to − 0.01; P = 0.01) MVPA were associated with HRQOL. Greater accumulation in both bouted and non-bouted MVPA was associated with better perceived HRQOL.
Stabilization of carbon dioxide (CO2) bubbles in micrometer-diameter aqueous droplets and the formation of hollow microparticles

We report an approach to stabilize carbon dioxide (CO2) gas bubbles encapsulated in micrometer-diameter aqueous drops when water in the aqueous drops is evaporated. CO2-in-water-in-oil double emulsion drops are generated using microfluidic approaches and evaporation is conducted in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and/or graphene oxide (GO) particles dispersed in the aqueous phase of the double emulsion drops. We examine the roles of the bubble-to-drop size ratio, PVA and GO concentration in the stabilization of CO2 bubbles upon water evaporation and show that thin-shell particles with encapsulated CO2 bubbles can be obtained under optimized conditions. The developed approach offers a new strategy to study CO2 dissolution and stability on the microscale and the synthesis of novel gas-core microparticles.
Influence of Body Mass Index and Albumin on Perioperative Morbidity and Clinical Outcomes in Resected Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.

Obesity is a known risk factor for PDA and recent reports suggest obesity has a negative impact on clinical outcomes in patients with PDA. Pretreatment body mass index (BMI) and serum albumin (SA) have been shown to be associated with worse overall survival in patients with advanced and metastatic PDA. However, minimal data exists on the impact of BMI and SA on perioperative and long-term clinical outcomes in patients with early-stage resected PDA. Herein, we report on the impact of these variables on perioperative clinical outcomes, overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) in patients with resected PDA. With IRB approval, we evaluated 1,545 patients with PDA treated at a single institution from 2007–2013 and identified 106 patients who underwent upfront resection with curative intent. BMI and SA were calculated preoperatively and at the time of last clinical evaluation. Influence of preoperative BMI, SA, change in either variable, and influence of other clinical and pathologic variables on perioperative morbidity and mortality was assessed. The impact of these variables on DFS and OS was assessed with cox regression modeling and ANOVA. Actuarial estimates for DFS and OS were calculated using Kaplan-Meier methods. Median follow up time was 16 months (3–89). Mean age was 68 years. Median survival was 14 months (3–65) and median time to recurrence was 11 months (1–79). Length of hospital stay was associated with BMI (p = .023), change in BMI (p = .003) and SA (p = .004). Post-operative transfusion rate was associated with SA (p = .021). There was a strong correlation between BMI change and positive margin (p = .04) and lymph node status (p = .01). On multivariate analysis, change in SA (p = .03) and node positivity (p = .008) were associated with decreased DFS. Additionally, preoperative SA (p = .023), node positivity (p = .026) and poor differentiation (p = .045) were associated with worse OS on multivariate analysis. Low preoperative SA was associated with worse DFS and OS in patients with resected PDA. Lower BMI and SA were associated with longer post-operative hospital stay. Our study is one of the first to describe how pre-operative BMI and SA and post-operative changes in these variables impact clinical and perioperative outcomes. This data supports nutritional status and weight loss as predictors of outcome in resected pancreatic cancer patients and warrants further prospective investigation.
Shutting Out the Evil: Nativism and Narcotics Control in the United States

The general public in the United States has been inundated during the 1980s and early 1990s with information about narcotics abuse, trafficking, and control. From journalists, politicians, law enforcement officials, and the medical community, the American populace ascertained that illicit drug use and trading have recently become among the nation's most intractable problems. Repeatedly, those sources reported that the consumption of cocaine, especially “crack”, had reached epidemic proportions, that drug-related violence overran the country's major cities, that youths should (according to First Lady Nancy Reagan) “just say no” to the purveyors of addictive substances, and that Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush had declared war on drugs. Americans learned too that only partial gains had been made against narcotics abuse and trafficking. Such a realization proved difficult for them to fathom following the 1988 presidential election campaign with its antidrug rhetoric, after the enactment by Congress of the Omnibus Drug Act of 1988 (which created a cabinet level “drug czar”—the director of the office of National Drug Control Policy in the Executive Office of the President), and given the stormy two-year tenure of William Bennett in that post. Of greater concern by 1991, evaluations of the nation's antinarcotics endeavors by the press, government authorities, and other informed observers indicated that the fundamental strategy of drug control was in dispute. Notwithstanding compelling arguments which insisted that the narcotics problem would continue until the domestic demand for drugs ended, federal government efforts have generally sought to eliminate foreign narcotics production and the smuggling of those substances into the United States.
Conducting Small-Scale Community Assessments

A community assessment is a systematic process of understanding a health problem for the purpose of priority setting or developing an action plan. Small-scale community assessments allow agencies t...
Challenges of Big Data in History

This book makes the case for expanding the worldwide historical archive now under development through the Collaborative for Historical Information and Analysis (CHIA). The opening chapter emphasizes that the time has come for using available technology to create a coherent record of human social change in recent centuries, so as to link patterns of past change to the great policy decisions our society faces. The chapter underscores the fundamentally collaborative nature of CHIA’s expanding worldwide project, comparing it to existing projects in climate modeling and genetic databases. It describes the five major levels of the archive — tied together by the three missions for developing them — and the global analysis that will emerge from the fifth level. It introduces the succeeding chapters on the construction of the global historical archive and its intended use by researchers and the general public.
The impact of head repositioning accuracy and proprioception on cervical stabilization exercise in healthy adults

Objective: Cervical stabilization exercises are frequently to improve strength and endurance of cervical muscles. The purpose of this study was to identify changes in head repositioning accuracy (HRA) and neck proprioception through cervical stabilization exercises in healthy adults. Design: One group pretest-posttest design. Methods: Thirteen participants with no previous history of neck pain or injury to the cervical spine were recruited. HRA was measured by equipment including laser pointer, helmet, eye patch and marking pens. The distance between the spot where the beam had stopped and the center of the graph paper was measured three times with the averaged value used as the head repositioning accuracy. Neck proprioception was measured by a cervical range of motion device (CROM). Subjects wore the CROM tester and were to look straight ahead while bending his/her neck. Subjects were instructed to perform extension, lateral flexion and rotation, and the values were then measured and recorded. The measurements were performed pre-intervention, and after cervical stabilization exercise. Results: There was no significant difference on HRA after intervention. In addition, there was no significant difference on neck proprioception compared with pre-intervention. Conclusions: The present study did not identify any effect on HRA and neck proprioception of cervical stabilization exercise. Further investigations are required to elucidate this in old aged participants and patients with neck pain.
Public Opinion, Communication Processes, and Voting Decisions

(1982). Public Opinion, Communication Processes, and Voting Decisions. Annals of the International Communication Association: Vol. 6, Communication Yearbook 6, pp. 759-774.
A microRNA/Runx1/Runx2 network regulates prostate tumor progression from onset to adenocarcinoma in TRAMP mice

While decades of research have identified molecular pathways inducing and promoting stages of prostate cancer malignancy, studies addressing dynamic changes of cancer-related regulatory factors in a prostate tumor progression model are limited. Using the TRAMP mouse model of human prostate cancer, we address mechanisms of deregulation for the cancer-associated transcription factors, Runx1 and Runx2 by identifying microRNAs with reciprocal expression changes at six time points during 33 weeks of tumorigenesis. We molecularly define transition stages from PIN lesions to hyperplasia/neoplasia and progression to adenocarcinoma by temporal changes in expression of human prostate cancer markers, including the androgen receptor and tumor suppressors, Nkx3.1 and PTEN. Concomitant activation of PTEN, AR, and Runx factors occurs at early stages. At late stages, PTEN and AR are downregulated, while Runx1 and Runx2 remain elevated. Loss of Runx-targeting microRNAs, miR-23b-5p, miR-139-5p, miR-205-5p, miR-221-3p, miR-375-3p, miR-382-5p, and miR-384-5p, contribute to aberrant Runx expression in prostate tumors. Our studies reveal a Runx/miRNA interaction axis centered on PTEN-PI3K-AKT signaling. This regulatory network translates to mechanistic understanding of prostate tumorigenesis that can be developed for diagnosis and directed therapy.
Significance and Recovery Room Management of Postanesthesia Hypothermia and Shivering

Summary Hypothermia is very common after anesthesia and surgery. Re-warming increases O2 consumption often dramatically. Shivering after anesthesia is partially related to hypothermia and partially to spinal reflexes unopposed by a still anesthetized brain. Whatever the etiology of the shivering, it is very costly in terms of O2 consumption and cardiac output. Hypothermia should be prevented in the operating room. In the recovery room, hypothermia and shivering must be treated aggressively to avoid the adverse hemodynamic and metabolic consequences. The two most effective treatment modalities are intravenous meperedine and radiant heat. Supplemental O2 is required until shivering stops and body temperature is normal. Seriously hypothermic patients should remain intubated and paralyzed until they are warm to decrease the metabolic and cardiorespiratory costs of rewarming.
The moment of microaggression: The experience of acts of oppression, dehumanization, and exploitation

ABSTRACTAfter a brief introduction and review of recent literature on microaggressions, a theoretical typology of three sources of social injustice (oppression, dehumanization, and exploitation) contributes to the theorization of the sources of microaggressions. A selected compendium of words and affective phrases generated in classroom exercises illustrates the nature of the experience of the moment of microaggression. Future research on microaggressions as well as evaluation of practice should examine the experience of microaggression, including being subjected to microaggression, initiating such acts, and observing such acts.
Surficial glaciology of Jakobshavns Isbræ, West Greenland: Part I. Surface morphology

Jakobshavns Isbrae is a large, fast-moving ice stream/outlet glacier in West Greenland which ends at a floating, calving front. It drains about 6.5% of the area of the Greenland ice sheet. Studies of its surface morphology are described in this paper. The surface is relatively steep (0.01–0.03) and the thickness is large (up to 2600 m along the center line (Clarke and Echelmeyer, 1989)), indicating very high driving stresses (200–300 kPa). The ice stream is about 6 km wide and 85–90 km long, all of which is in an area of surface melting. The base of the ice stream, and of much of the drainage area, is below sea level. Marginal crevasse zones have a width on the order of the width of the ice stream itself. Unique surficial features are ice blisters and lakes; the latter have a sequence of ogive-like features on their floating ice cover which can be used to determine velocity. There is a pinning point near the terminus which may act as a stabilizing influence, possibly playing a role in halting, at least temporarily, a recent retreat of the terminus. Ice-thickness estimates at the terminus lead to a flux which is less than previously assumed by others (e.g. Bindschadler, 1984; Pelto and others, 1989) when estimating Jakobshavns Isbrae’s drainage basin to be nearly in balance. The driving stresses on Jakobshavns Isbrae are an order of magnitude higher than those of the ice streams of West Antarctica. Its crevasse patterns are much less localized. Its relatively unconfined terminus is more comparable to that of relatively unbuttressed ice streams such as Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers than it is to other West Antarctic ice streams which terminate in large, confined ice shelves.
An Epistemology of Revelation

Rene Girard was not a philosopher; nor did he ever claim (or want) to be one. Consequently, he never thoroughly worked out an epistemological theory or framework. Nor did he identify himself as a Catholic theologian, preferring to be known as a researcher in the social sciences, with a particular interest in the anthropology of religion. So it may seem odd to consider the question of an epistemology of revelation in his thought, given that he rarely wrote specifically on epistemological themes (and never in an extended fashion), and did not develop a comprehensive theology of revelation (although he frequently discussed the Bible). Nevertheless, despite the relative absence of an extended and specific treatment of these topics in his writings, Girard’s work has profound implications with regard to our understanding of revelation in the Bible and the consequences of this revelation for human knowing.
Effects of Sarcophine-diol on cell proliferation and apoptosis in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells

4976 Sarcophine-diol (SD), one of the structural modifications of sarcophine, has shown chemopreventive effects on skin tumor developments in mice in our laboratory. Tumorigenesis is associated with cell uncontrolled growth and loss of apoptotic death of cells. The objective of this study was to determine effects of SD on cell proliferation and apoptosis in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells to elucidate possible mechanism of action. BrdU incorporation assay was used for cell proliferation, fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis of Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) stained cells was used for apoptosis and Western blot was used for determining caspase 3 level. The results showed that SD treatment at concentration of 100μM-400μM resulted in concentration- and a time-dependent decrease in cell proliferation in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells. SD treatment at concentration of 50μM-400μM induced a strong apoptosis in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells. SD treatment at 400μM can significantly (p These results suggest that SD could be effective as chemopreventive agent for skin cancer by decreasing cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis though caspase dependent pathway. (Supported by Juhnke Funds from the SDSU Foundation and ASPET Individual Summer Fellowship and Joseph Nelson Undergraduate Mentorship.)
A global checklist of the 932 fruit fly species in the tribe Dacini (Diptera, Tephritidae)

The correct application of the scientific names of species is neither easy nor trivial. Mistakes can lead to the wrong interpretation of research results or, when pest species are involved, inappropriate regulations and limits on trade, and possibly quarantine failures that permit the invasion of new pest species. Names are particularly challenging to manage when groups of organisms encompass a large number of species, when different workers employ different philosophical views, or when species are in a state of taxonomic flux. The fruit fly tribe Dacini is a species-rich taxon within Tephritidae and contains around a fifth of all known species in the family. About 10% of the 932 currently recognized species are pests of commercial fruits and vegetables, precipitating quarantines and trade embargos. Authoritative species lists consist largely of scattered regional treatments and outdated online resources. The checklist presented here is the first global overview of valid species names for the Dacini in almost two decades, and includes new lure records. By publishing this list both in paper and digitally, we aim to provide a resource for those studying fruit flies as well as researchers studying components of their impact on agriculture. The list is largely a consolidation of previous works, but following the results from recent phylogenetic work, we transfer one subgenus and eight species to different genera: members of the Bactrocera subgenus Javadacus Hardy, considered to belong to the Zeugodacus group of subgenera, are transferred to genus Zeugodacus; Bactrocera pseudocucurbitae White, 1999, stat. rev., is transferred back to Bactrocera from Zeugodacus; Zeugodacus arisanicus Shiraki, 1933, stat. rev., is transferred back to Zeugodacus from Bactrocera; and Z. brevipunctatus (David & Hancock, 2017), comb. n.; Z. javanensis (Perkins, 1938), comb. n.; Z. montanus (Hardy, 1983), comb. n.; Z. papuaensis (Malloch, 1939), comb. n.; Z. scutellarius (Bezzi, 1916), comb. n.; Z. semisurstyli (Drew & Romig, 2013), comb. n.; and Z. trilineatus (Hardy, 1955), comb. n. are transferred from Bactrocera to Zeugodacus.
A Call to Criminal Courts: Record Rules for Batson

Batson intended to eliminate the influence of race on jury selection, but a growing collection of empirical studies have documented its failure. The United States Supreme Court seems fully aware of Batson’s shortcomings, and has attempted to strengthen it by clarifying the evidentiary framework. In particular, the Court has clarified that statistical analyses of the pattern and practice of discrimination in a given jurisdiction are relevant to assessing the strength of a Batson claim. Doing so requires a clear record of jury selection that includes basic demographic information about potential jurors. Yet getting the basic information necessary to make such claims is often incredibly difficult, and often occurs only through discovery motions, persistence, and luck. We therefore offer a modest but fundamental proposal to expand the standard trial court record to include jury selection data. This simple reform would impose little cost, and would allow parties making Batson claims to make full use of the evidence the Court has deemed relevant to an inquiry designed to make the jury selection process as fair and race-neutral as possible.
Leadership Development, Part 1: Churches Don't Have to Go it Alone:

Leadership development remains a critical need for our churches, despite all that has been written, conferences that have been attended, and our best efforts. Over claims of either relevancy or exp...
Nitrogen goes around.

Variation in nutrient availability is a common challenge facing living organisms. Analysis of metabolomic and fluxomic responses in cyanobacteria to changes in nitrogen availability has led to the discovery of an ornithine–ammonia cycle.
A Quantitative, Clonal Assay for Carcinogen-Induced Alterations of Respiratory Epithelial Cells in Culture

The identification of environmental carcinogens and the assessment of the potential risks of these substances to humans require experimental systems to measure quantitatively the activity of carcinogens and promoters. Cell culture systems are potentially very useful experimental models for such studies. Short-term, inexpensive cell culture assays for carcinogens are available. These assays have a high predictive ability for the detection of known carcinogens with few false positive results (Barrett et al., 1980). The end point measured, preneoplastic or neoplastic transformation of the test cells, is relevant to the carcinogenic process and is not predicated on a theoretical correlation. These systems can also be used for mechanistic studies on the cellular and molecular basis of neoplastic development. The results with cells and tissues of different species (including human) can be compared and contrasted under similar experimental conditions.
Automated Assessment Systems in School and Clinical Psychology: Present Status and Future Directions

This article discusses the history and present status of interactional computerized assessment systems. Such systems administer, score, and interpret psychological tests through computers. A review...
Failure of Polymer-Based Sandwich Composites Under Shock Loading

In recent times, studies of structural response to air blast and underwater shock have gained significant importance. The current chapter focuses on the experimental observations of resistance of different composite material systems of naval importance to air blast loadings. These material systems include traditional two dimensional (2D) woven laminated composites, layered composites and sandwich composite materials. A controlled blast loading of pre-defined pressure magnitude and rise time was obtained using a shock tube apparatus. Rectangular plate elements representing various material systems were subjected to such a controlled blast loading, and the effect of the blast loading on these elements was studied using optical and residual strength measurements. A high-speed imaging technique was utilized to study the damage modes and mechanisms in real time. It was observed that layering a conventional composite material with a soft visco-elastic polymer provided better blast resistance; sandwiching the polymer greatly enhanced its survivability under extreme air blast conditions. In addition, three dimensional (3D) woven skin and core reinforcements were introduced in the conventional sandwich composites and their effects on the blast resistance were studied experimentally. These reinforcements were also observed to enhance the blast resistance of conventional sandwich composites by changing the mechanism of failure initiation and propagation in these sandwich structures.
m.8993T>G-Associated Leigh Syndrome with Hypocitrullinemia on Newborn Screening

Citrulline is among the metabolites measured by expanded newborn screening (NBS). While hypocitrullinemia can be a marker for deficiency of proximal urea cycle enzymes such as ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), only a handful of state newborn screening programs in the United States officially report a low citrulline value for further work-up due to low positive predictive value. We report a case of a male infant who was found to have hypocitrullinemia on NBS. After excluding proximal urea cycle disorders by DNA sequencing, his NBS result was felt to be a false positive. At 4 months of age, he developed poor feeding, failure to thrive, apnea and infantile spasms with a progression to intractable seizures, as well as persistent hypocitrullinemia. He was diagnosed with Leigh syndrome due to a maternally inherited homoplasmic m.8993T>G mutation in the ATPase 6 gene. His mother, who had previously been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, was concurrently diagnosed with neuropathy, ataxia, and retinitis pigmentosa (NARP) due to heteroplasmy of the same mutation. She had progressive muscle weakness, ataxia, and speech dyspraxia. The m.8993T>G mutation causes mitochondrial ATP synthase deficiency and it is hypothesized to undermine the synthesis of citrulline by CPS1. In addition to proximal urea cycle disorders, the evaluation of an infant with persistent hypocitrullinemia should include testing for the m.8993T>G mutation and other disorders that cause mitochondrial dysfunction.
Influence of environmental and operational variables in commercial fishery landings: The case of pair trawlers in southeastern Brazil

Abstract Faced with the overexploitation reality of many of the world fish stocks and climate change, understanding the relationships between catches, fishing strategies and environmental conditions becomes crucial. In this context, this study aimed to describe the correlations between operational and environmental variables in landings of the main fish categories by pair trawl fisheries off the coast of southeastern Brazil. Catch composition varied greatly between 2003 and 2011. This change was mainly related to the shift of the fishing area to greater latitudes and variations in sea surface temperature and chlorophyll concentrations. The physical characteristics of the vessels and fishing gear did not change during the study period. Environmental variables most likely influence stock catchability, primarily by changing their distribution pattern, indicating a shift in ocean characteristics that will influence this dynamic. This draws attention to the need to maintain monitoring programs to apply adequate management measures for the protection of fish populations, consequently ensuring fishing activities in the area.
Using a multi-disciplinary process-mapping approach for care plan program design.

e18203Background: The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has challenged oncology practices to engage in practice transformation activities through participation in the Oncology Care Model ...
Implications of Palliative Care Consultation Timing among a Cohort of Hospice Decedents.

Background: Earlier palliative care consultation is associated with less intensive medical care and improved quality outcomes for patients with cancer. However, there are limited data about how the timing of palliative care affects utilization among noncancer patients exposed to palliative care consultation. Objective: Comparison of health care utilization for hospice decedents who received early versus late palliative care. Design: A retrospective cohort study utilizing hospital and hospice administrative databases. Setting/Subjects: Patients with cancer and noncancer diagnoses who received specialty palliative care consultation before dying at a local hospice. Measurements: Comparing early (>90 days before death) versus late (<90 days before death) palliative care, outcome measures included intensive care unit (ICU) utilization and hospice length of stay (LOS). Results: Of 233 hospice decedents in 2014 who had palliative care referrals, 36 (15.4%) had early and 197 (84.5%) had late referrals. Nearly half of the patients had a noncancer hospice diagnosis. Only 6% of the early group used the ICU in the last month of life, whereas 56% of the late group did. Patients receiving early palliative care had a longer median hospice LOS than those with late palliative care (138 days vs. 8 days). Conclusions: Early palliative care appears to reduce intensive medical care and increase hospice LOS for patients with a variety of end-stage diseases.
Distinctive requirement of PKCε in the control of Rho GTPases in epithelial and mesenchymally transformed lung cancer cells.

Diacylglycerol (DAG)/phorbol ester-regulated protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes have been widely linked to tumor promotion and the development of a metastatic phenotype. PKCe, an oncogenic member of the PKC family, is abnormally overexpressed in lung cancer and other cancer types. This kinase plays significant roles in proliferation, survival, and migration; however, its role in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been scarcely studied. Silencing experiments in non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) cells revealed that PKCe or other DAG-regulated PKCs (PKCα and PKCδ) were dispensable for the acquisition of a mesenchymal phenotype induced by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β). Unexpectedly, we found a nearly complete down-regulation of PKCe expression in TGF-β-mesenchymally transformed NSCLC cells. PMA and AJH-836 (a DAG-mimetic that preferentially activates PKCe) promote ruffle formation in NSCLC cells via Rac1, however they fail to induce these morphological changes in TGF-β-mesenchymally transformed cells despite their elevated Rac1 activity. Several Rac guanine nucleotide exchange-factors (Rac-GEFs) were also up-regulated in TGF-β-treated NSCLC cells, including Trio and Tiam2, which were required for cell motility. Lastly, we found that silencing or inhibiting PKCe enhances RhoA activity and stress fiber formation, a phenotype also observed in TGF-β-transformed cells. Our studies established a distinctive involvement of PKCe in epithelial and mesenchymal NSCLC cells, and identified a complex interplay between PKCe and small GTPases that contributes to regulation of NSCLC cell morphology and motile activity.
Malay-Muslim women machineries: PAS Dewan Muslimat and UMNO Wanita in GE14

This article investigates the self-positioning and capacity for action of female members of UMNO and PAS, contributing to a deeper understanding of women’s political activism in Malaysia in the 201...
Urban biodiversity management using evolutionary tools.

Cities are fully functioning ecosystems and are home to no-analogue communities of species that interact with each other and which are subject to novel urban stressors. As such, biodiversity can evolve in response to these new urban conditions, making urban species a moving target for conservation and management efforts. An evolving urban biodiversity necessitates integrating evolutionary insights into management for these efforts to be successful in a dynamic urban milieu. Here we present a framework for categorizing urban biodiversity from a management perspective. We then discuss a suite of example management tools and their potential evolutionary implications—both their opportunities for and potential consequence to management. Urban ecosystems are proliferating but, far from being ecological lost causes, they may provide unique insights and opportunities for biodiversity conservation. Determining how to achieve urban biodiversity priorities while managing pest species requires evolutionary thinking. Urbanization can cause rapid evolutionary responses among city-dwelling species but evolution is rarely accounted for in urban conservation efforts. Here, the authors outline a framework for integrating evolutionary principles into the management of urban biodiversity.
Variation in xylem characteristics of botanical races of Persea americana and their potential influence on susceptibility to the pathogen Raffaelea lauricola

Avocado (Persea americana), an important fruit crop, is under threat from an invasive disease, laurel wilt. The pathogen, Raffaelea lauricola, spreads rapidly in the xylem of infected trees and causes a lethal vascular wilt. A previous study showed that variation in susceptibility to the disease exists among different races of avocado, with the West Indian race being most susceptible. To help elucidate potential explanations for differences in susceptibility, xylem characteristics were examined for fourteen avocado cultivars from the Guatemalan, Mexican, and West Indian botanical races. Samples of each cultivar were assessed for vessel size, vessel density, vessel aggregation, and xylem-specific potential hydraulic conductivity. The West Indian race had significantly greater mean vessel diameters, mean maximum vessel diameters, and xylem-specific potential hydraulic conductivities than the Guatemalan and Mexican races (p 0.05). There were no significant differences among the races for vessel aggregation or vessel density. Cultivars of the Mexican and Guatemalan races generally had smaller mean vessel diameters, mean maximum vessel diameters, and mean xylem-specific potential hydraulic conductivities than the West Indian race; however, there was considerable variation among cultivars of the Mexican race. Statistically significant differences in vessel grouping indices and vessel solitary fractions were evident among some cultivars but to lesser extents than were found for vessel size. This study indicates that larger vessel diameters and greater potential hydraulic conductivities exist in the West Indian, compared with the Guatemalan and Mexican races. We suggest that these attributes may be contributing factors in the greater susceptibility to laurel wilt that is evident in the West Indian race.