cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae by Strand Displacement Amplification and Relevance of the Amplification Control for Use with Vaginal Swab Specimens

Vaginal swab specimens may be preferable to cervical swab or urine specimens for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae because of the ease of specimen collection and transport. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether vaginal swab specimens are equivalent to cervical swab specimens for the detection of N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis by the Becton Dickinson strand displacement amplification assay (SDA) with the BDProbeTec ET instrument and then to evaluate the use of the amplification control in a clinical research setting. In the first phase, vaginal and cervical swab specimens were obtained from 455 symptomatic women aged 18 to 40 attending primary health care and sexually transmitted disease clinics. Thirty-nine specimens (8.6%) had true-positive results for N. gonorrhoeae and 37 specimens (8.1%) had true-positive results for C. trachomatis. The sensitivity of SDA was superior to that of culture for the detection of N. gonorrhoeae with vaginal swab specimens and equivalent to that of the Roche PCR for the detection of C. trachomatis with cervical swab specimens. In the second phase of the study, 1,411 consecutively collected vaginal swab specimens were evaluated, with 357 (25.3%) specimens giving indeterminate readings on the basis of the result for the amplification control. The prevalences of sexually transmitted pathogens in vaginal swab specimens with and without use of the amplification control were 6.0 and 5.8%, respectively, for C. trachomatis and 3.1 and 3.0%, respectively, for N. gonorrhoeae. Although, vaginal swab specimens were equivalent to cervical swab specimens for the detection of N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis by SDA with respect to sensitivity, one in four vaginal swab specimens yielded an indeterminate result when the amplification control was used. The amplification control has limited value for use with vaginal swab specimens.
Effect of the history term on the transient energy equation for a sphere

Abstract This paper addresses the importance of the history term on the transient energy equation of particles. The physical origin of this term is the diffusion of the transient temperature gradients around the sphere. The history term accounts for the effect of all the previous temperature changes of the sphere to the current temperature change. The derivation and analysis of the transient energy equation of rigid particles are presented. In order to solve numerically the transient energy equation, three different fluid temperature fields (step, ramp and sinusoidal) are applied and the temperature of the sphere is computed with and without the history term. The evaluation of the maximum deviation between these two computations allows us to determine for each case the effect of the history term and, especially, when the history term may be neglected. The final results of these computations allow several conclusions and recommendations on the appearance, importance and significance of the history term.
Object knowledge environment for manufacturing systems layout design

This article proposes an object knowledge environment to support manufacturing systems layout design, as an alternative to classical functional softwares. It justifies this transition to an object-oriented paradigm by the advantages in openness of the system, as well as increased flexibility and modularity, and higher potential for abstraction and hierarchical structure formation. the implemented environment uses the SMALLTALK-80 language. It supports hierarchical classes of objects such as cell, aisle set, facilities structure, flow, set, relationship set, flow networks, independent objects, evaluators, and optimizers. the layout designer can interact directly with all defined objects through the use of individual model-view-controller triads.
The Influence of Heat Treatments on the Injury and Cytogenetic Effects of X-Rays on Barley.

N favorable material, effects of ionizing radiations may be measured in I terms of injury symptoms, cytological aberrations, and mutations. Usually these effects are associated with dosage, and increase or decrease together, i.e., they are correlated. However, in earlier experiments in which it was shown that a heat treatment either before or after X-radiation modified the results of the irradiation, there was a suggestion that these criteria were not necessarily correlated. The present investigatioii was designed to test whether or not it is a fact that under certain conditions the injury, chromosomal aberrations, and inutations resulting from x-radiation may not be correlated. The data reported herein show conclusively that injury symptoms can be iiiore or less divorced from genetic changes when X-rayed barley seeds are treated with heat either before or after the irradiation. Further, they show that a positive correlation does not necessarily exist between the mutation frequency and the frequency of chroinosodal aberrations. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Various factors have been shown to modify the biological effects of Xradiation. This review deals only with reports on the influence of heat. The influerice of this agency when applied before, during, and after X-radiation is discussed in that order. Studies on lower organisms are considered first, then animals, and lastly plants, whenever data on all three types of organisms have been found in the literature.
Optimal processor assignment for a class of pipelined computations

The availability of large-scale multitasked parallel architectures introduces the following processor assignment problem. We are given a long sequence of data sets, each of which is to undergo processing by a collection of tasks whose intertask data dependencies form a series-parallel partial order. Each individual task is potentially parallelizable, with a known experimentally determined execution signature. Recognizing that data sets can be pipelined through the task structure, the problem is to find a "good" assignment of processors to tasks. Two objectives interest us: minimal response time per data set, given a throughput requirement, and maximal throughput, given a response time requirement. Our approach is to decompose a series-parallel task system into its essential "serial" and "parallel" components; our problem admits the independent solution and recomposition of each such component. We provide algorithms for the series analysis, and use an algorithm due to Krishnamurti and Ma for the parallel analysis. For a p processor system and a series-parallel precedence graph with n constituent tasks, we give a O(np/sup 2/) algorithm that finds the optimal assignment (over a broad class of assignments) for the response time optimization problem; we find the assignment optimizing the constrained throughput in O(np/sup 2/ log p) time. These techniques are applied to a task system in computer vision. >
SPONTANEOUS AND EXPERIMENTAL LEUKEMIA OF THE FOWL

1. The spontaneous occurrence of myeloid leukemia of the fowl is confirmed 2. Myeloid leukemia of the fowl is transmissible by intravenous or intraperitoneal injection of an organic emulsion. The latter is in confirmation of the work of Ellermann and Bang (6, 7), who first successfully transmitted the disease. They were followed by Hirschfeld and Jacoby (13)) whose successful transmissions, however, seem to be limited to a strain which had its origin in a fowl presented to them by Ellermann and Bang. Burckhardt (14, 15) likewise transmitted the disease, but here again the stock animal came from Hirschfeld and Jacoby and therefore indirectly from Ellermann and Bang. The transmission reported above is of special interest, because it originated in an animal absolutely unrelated to that of the previous investigators
Two-dimensional bifurcation phenomena in thermal convection in horizontal, concentric annuli containing saturated porous media

A saturated porous medium confined between two horizontal cylinders is considered. As a result of a temperature difference between the cylinders, thermal convection is induced in the medium. The flow structure is investigated in a parameter space (R, Ra) where R is the radii ratio and Ra is the Darcy-Rayleigh number. In particular, the cases of R = 2, 2½, 21/4 and 2½ are considered. The fluid motion is described by the two-dimensional Darcy-Oberbeck-Boussinesq's (DOB) equations, which we solve using regular perturbation expansion. Terms up to O(Ra60) are calculated to obtain a series presentation for the Nusselt number Nu in the form \[ Nu(Ra^2) = \sum_{s=0}^{30} N_sRa^{2s}. \] This series has a limited range of utility due to singularities of the function Nu(Ra). The singularities lie both on and off the real axis in the complex Ra plane. For R = 2, the nearest singularity lies off the real axis, has no physical significance, and unnecessarily limits the range of utility of the aforementioned series. For R = 2½, 2¼ and 21/8, the singularity nearest to the origin is real and indicates that the function Nu(Ra) is no longer unique beyond the singular point.Depending on the radii ratio, the loss of uniqueness may occur as a result of either (perfect) bifurcations or the appearance of isolated solutions (imperfect bifurcations). The structure of the multiple solutions is investigated by solving the DOB equations numerically. The nonlinear partial differential equations are converted into a truncated set of ordinary differential equations via projection. The steady-state problem is solved using Newton's technique. At each step the determinant of the Jacobian is evaluated. Bifurcation points are identified with singularities of the Jacobian. Linear stability analysis is used to determine the stability of various solution branches. The results we obtained from solving the DOB equations using perturbation expansion are compared with those we obtained from solving the nonlinear partial differential equations numerically and are found to agree well.
Attentional and neurocognitive characteristics of high-risk offspring of parents with schizophrenia compared with DSM-IV attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children.

Offspring of individuals with schizophrenia are at increased baseline risk for a range of early mental disorders. Studies investigating the premorbid characteristics of individuals with schizophrenia indicate that they suffer from social, behavioral, attentional and neurocognitive impairments, often resembling attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this study, we compared the executive functioning and general intelligence among three groups: (i) children and adolescents with DSM-IV ADHD (n=41), (ii) “high-risk” (HR) offspring of parents with DSM-IV schizophrenia, and (iii) normal comparison subjects (n=35). Our results indicated that both HR and ADHD groups had lower Verbal IQ scores. ADHD cases had significantly lower percent correct and total errors in Wisconsin Cart Sorting Test when compared with normal comparison subjects. The HR cases also had lower Performance IQ scores as well as worse abstraction–flexibility and comprehension performance. The HR group was further stratified with (HR-A) and without (HR-NA) comorbid ADHD, and HR-A subjects were significantly noted to be more impaired on most tests. The overall worse performance of HR offspring was attributable to significantly lower performance among the HR-A youth. Further, our results suggested that the most profoundly impaired HR subjects were in fact children and adolescents who also met criteria for ADHD. Future studies with broader neuropsychological test batteries are necessary to investigate the differences and similarities between ADHD and the HR-A subgroup.
Photosensitized H2 generation from “one-pot” and “two-pot” assemblies of a zinc-porphyrin/platinum nanoparticle/protein scaffold

We report photosensitized H2 generation using a protein scaffold that nucleates formation of platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) and contains “built-in” photosensitizers. The photosensitizers, zinc-protoporphyrin IX or zinc-mesoporphyrin IX (ZnP) were incorporated in place of the naturally occurring heme in the 24-subunit iron storage protein bacterioferritin (Bfr) when the ZnPs were added to the E. coli expression medium. We engineered a stable dimeric Bfr variant with two protein subunits sandwiching a ZnP. Ten glycines were also substituted in place of residues surrounding the vinyl side of the porphyrin in order increase access of solvent and/or redox agents. An optimized “one-pot” reaction of this glycine-substituted ZnMP-Bfr dimer with a Pt(IV) salt and borohydride resulted in a ∼50 : 50 mixture of protein in the form of Pt-free glycine-substituted ZnP-Bfr dimers and re-assembled 24-mers surrounding Pt NPs formed in situ. H2 production occurred upon visible light irradiation of this “one-pot” product when combined with triethanolamine as sacrificial electron donor and methyl viologen as electron relay. An analogous “two-pot” system containing mixtures of separately prepared Pt-free glycine-substituted ZnP-Bfr dimer and porphyrin-free Pt NP@Bfr 24-mer also showed robust photosensitized H2 generation. The glycine-substituted-ZnP-Bfr dimer thus served as photosensitizer for catalytic reduction of methyl viologen by triethanolamine, and the reduced methyl viologen was able to transfer electrons across the Bfr 24-mer protein shell to generate H2 at the enclosed Pt NP in a “dark” reaction. Our results demonstrate that Bfr is a readily manipulatable and versatile scaffold for photosensitized redox chemistry.
Volatility around the clock: Bayesian modeling and forecasting of intraday volatility in the nancial crisis

High frequency data provides a rich source of information for understanding nan- cial markets and time series properties of returns. This paper estimates models of high frequency index futures returns using 'around the clock' 5-minute returns that incorporate the following key features: multiple persistent stochastic volatility factors, jumps in prices and volatilities, seasonal components capturing time of the day pat- terns, correlations between return and volatility shocks, and announcement eects. We develop an integrated MCMC approach to estimate interday and intraday parameters and states using high-frequency data without resorting to various aggregation measures like realized volatility. We provide a case study using nancial crisis data from 2007 to 2009, and use particle lters to construct likelihood functions for model comparison and out-of-sample forecasting from 2009 to 2012. We show that our approach improves realized volatility forecasts by up to 50% over existing benchmarks.
Palliative Care Research: Issues and Opportunities

Supportive and palliative care has been recognized as an important component of quality care for all cancer patients and particularly for those with advanced or incurable disease ([1][1], [2][2]). Given an estimated 1,334,100 new patients diagnosed with cancer in the United States in 2003 (excluding
Using Petroleum and Biomass-Derived Fuels in Duel-fuel Diesel Engines

There is worldwide interest in developing renewable energy sources in a sustainable manner. Syngas and biogas offer significant potential in this context, as these fuels offer great flexibility with regard to their production and utilization. This chapter provides an overview of research dealing with the combustion and emission characteristics of these fuels, both as stand-alone fuels or by blending with petroleum fuels. Conversion methods for producing these fuels from different biomass sources are also briefly reviewed. While the syngas composition can vary widely, it generally has lower heating value, lower density, higher mass diffusivity, higher flame speeds, and wider flammability limits compared to hydrocarbon fuels. Moreover, its combustion leads to almost zero soot emission, although NO x emission may be a concern depending upon its composition and operating temperatures. Similarly, biogas has lower heating value compared to hydrocarbon fuels, and its ignition and combustion characteristics can vary noticeably depending upon its composition. While there have been few studies focusing directly on biogas combustion, there is extensive literature on methane combustion, including ignition, extinction, flammability limits, flame speeds, cellular instabilities, and emissions. Fundamental combustion aspects requiring further research include cellular instabilities, flame stabilization and blowout behavior, turbulent flames, and emission characteristics. Such efforts would lead to the development of optimized systems for producing these fuels and provide guidelines for optimizing their composition for a given set of operating conditions. The use of syngas and biogas in dual-fuel diesel engines has been a subject of numerous experimental and computational studies. A general observation is that the engine performance and emission characteristics are significantly modified by the presence of gaseous fuel. While the heat release in a diesel engine generally occurs through a hybrid combustion mode, involving rich premixed combustion and diffusion combustion, that in a dual-fuel engine also involves a lean combustion mode with a propagating flame. The dual-fuel operation at high-load conditions can provide significant reduction in soot and CO soot emissions, while maintaining the engine efficiency, provided the injection characteristics including the amount of pilot fuel can be optimized. However, the NO x emission may increase, requiring a suitable strategy for lowering the temperatures. The dual-fuel strategy may be less effective at low load, resulting in lower thermal efficiency and higher UHC and CO emissions. Future work should be directed at optimizing the various parameters, such as injection timing, amount of pilot fuel injected, EGR, and multiple injections.
Involving students in experimental design: three approaches.

Many faculty want to involve students more actively in laboratories and in experimental design. However, just "turning them loose in the lab" is time-consuming and can be frustrating for both stude...
Characterization of SlyA in Shigella flexneri Identifies a Novel Role in Virulence.

The SlyA transcriptional regulator has important roles in the virulence and pathogenesis of several members of the Enterobacteriaceae family, including Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Escherichia coli. Despite the identification of the slyA gene in Shigella flexneri nearly 2 decades ago, as well as the significant conservation of SlyA among enteric bacteria, the role of SlyA in Shigella remains unknown. The genes regulated by SlyA in closely related organisms often are absent from or mutated in S. flexneri, and consequently many described SlyA-dependent phenotypes are not present. By characterizing the expression of slyA and determining its ultimate effect in this highly virulent organism, we postulated that novel SlyA-regulated virulence phenotypes would be identified. In this study, we report the first analysis of SlyA in Shigella and show that (i) the slyA gene is transcribed and ultimately translated into protein, (ii) slyA promoter activity is maximal during stationary phase and is negatively autoregulated and positively regulated by the PhoP response regulator, (iii) the exogenous expression of slyA rescues transcription and virulence-associated deficiencies during virulence-repressed conditions, and (iv) the absence of slyA significantly decreases acid resistance, demonstrating a novel and important role in Shigella virulence. Cumulatively, our study illustrates unexpected parallels between the less conserved S. flexneri and S. Typhimurium slyA promoters as well as a unique role for SlyA in Shigella virulence that has not been described previously in any closely related organism.
Laser ablation sample transfer for localized LC-MS/MS proteomic analysis of tissue

We have developed a mid-infrared laser ablation sampling technique for nano-flow liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry proteomic profiling of discrete regions from biological samples. Laser ablation performed in transmission geometry was used to transfer material from 50-µm thick tissue sections mounted on a glass microscope slide to a capturing solvent. Captured samples were processed using filter-aided sample preparation and enzymatically digested to produce tryptic peptides for data-dependent analysis with an ion trap mass spectrometer. Comparison with ultraviolet laser capture microdissection from neighboring regions on the same tissue section revealed that infrared laser ablation transfer has higher reproducibility between samples from different consecutive sections. Both techniques allowed for proteomics investigation of different organelles without the addition of surfactants.
Annealing studies of photoluminescences spectra from multiple Er 3+ centers in Er-implanted GaN

A study of selectively excited photoluminescence (PL) at ∼ 6K in Er-im planted GaN as a function of annealing temperature (400–1000°C) has detected nine different Er3+ centers with distinct ∼ 1540 nm 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 Er3+ PL spectra and different activation temperatures. However, most of the optically active implanted Er atoms are incorporated at annealing temperatures as low as 400°C on a single type of center for which PL can only be excited efficiently by direct intra-4f shell absorption and is not strongly pumped by either above-gap or broad-band below-gap absorption. This strongly suggests that this high-concentration Er3+ center is an isolated, isoelectronic center consistent with Er3+ substituted on a Ga site. In contrast, a very small fraction of the Er atoms that form a variety of Er-defect/impurity complexes dominate the Er3+ emission spectra excited by above-gap and broad-band below-gap absorption because of their larger cross sections for both carrier capture and optical absorption.
William Alston's epistemology of religious experience. A reformed' reformed epistemology?

Le dernier livre de William Alston represente l'expose le plus systematique de l'experience religieuse mise au service de la rationalite de certaines croyances religieuses. Le point essentiel de l'ouvrage reside dans le fait qu'une experience de Dieu peut etre non sensorielle; il l'appelle perception mystique. Dans une premiere partie, l'A. rappelle une ambivalence relevee par Mavrodes dans l'epistemologie Reformee entre l'apologetique positive et negative, puis il analyse le rapport d'Alston a l'apologetique positive, enfin il soutient que malgre les apparences, les arguments d'Alston ne refletent pas ce que son discours laissait entendre a propos de verites largement partagees
Burnout as a Mediator Between Work–School Conflict and Work Outcomes:

Conflict occurring between the roles of work and family has been heavily researched. Recently, however, research has been branching out to study roles beyond work and family. For example, a few researchers have investigated conflict that occurs between the roles of work and school. However, these studies have focused mainly on school and personal outcomes. As such, the present study seeks to contribute to the literature on work–school conflict in two main ways. First, we investigate the relationship between work–school conflict and job outcome variables. Next, we seek to understand the mediating mechanism through which work–school conflict affects job outcomes. Participants in this study were 304 students who completed a survey regarding their attitudes toward work and school. Results were largely supportive of the hypotheses predicting that work–school conflict predicted work outcomes and that burnout mediated these outcomes. Implications for organizations and universities are discussed.
The Counsellors of the Seneschal of Beaucaire and Nîmes, 1250-1350

LITTLE is known about the actual governance of France during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Some of the chief ministers of the king have been identified, but there have been few studies of royal government at the local level. The local officials were, however, most responsible for the maintenance of royal authority and determined by their conduct in office the image of the monarchy for the vast majority of the population.' Despite our lack of knowledge about these royal officers (or possibly because of it), they have been pictured since the 1820's as fanatical servants of the crown, who subordinated every private or regional interest to the authority of an increasingly autocratic central government. In the words of Robert Fawtier, from the lowliest sergeant to the most prestigious judge, the officers were "more royalist than the king."2 The following examination of administrative practices in the important senechaussee of Beaucaire and Nimes indicates, however, that the actual situation in the provinces was more complex than the traditional interpretation would admit. The seneschal did, perhaps, extend royal authority at the expense of the church and of certain of the great barons, but he also consistently sought the counsel of members of the local ruling classes, and frequently rewarded their assistance by appointment to the highest offices at his disposal. One of the great southern provinces, the senechaussee of Nimes was also the home of the University of Montpellier, at which Guillaume de Nogaret and several other of the most notorious advisers of Philip the Fair received their legal training.3 During the reign of Saint Louis and of his grandson, the provincial
Distance-Dependent Fluorescence Quenching of Conjugated Polymers on Au/Ag Striped Nanorods

To understand the effect of metal surface−polymer separation on fluorescent signal intensity, we describe here our initial investigation on the fluorescent behavior of conjugated polymers near metal nanorods by attenuating the thickness of SiO2 coatings as the spacer. Our preliminary results show that the amount of fluorescence of conjugated polymers quenched by Au/Ag striped nanorods exponentially decays away from the surface in the range of 0−20 nm. This distance-dependent fluorescence quenching phenomenon is consistent with that of small organic dye molecules with a similar fluorescent profile near a metal surface. Furthermore, the results confirm that it is a valid assumption that the previously proposed superquenching model for conjugated polymers in solution is applicable to the polymers attached to a solid surface. The absolute size of polymers is irrelevant in quenching studies. Similar distance-dependent quenching trends are observed for conjugated polymers placed near metal surfaces of different...
Fine grain Cross-VM Attacks on Xen and VMware are possible!

This work exposes further vulnerabilities in virtualized cloud servers by mounting Cross-VM cache attacks in Xen and VMware VMs targeting AES running in the victim VM. Even though there exists a rich literature on cache attacks on AES, so far only a single work, demonstrating a working attack on an ARM platform running a L4Re virtualization layer has been published. Here we show that AES in a number popular cryptographic libraries including OpenSSL, PolarSSL and Libgcrypt are vulnerable to Bernstein’s correlation attack when run in Xen and VMware (bare metal version) VMs, the most popular VMs used by cloud service providers (CSP) such as Amazon and Rackspace. We also show that the vulnerability persists even if the VMs are placed on different cores in the same machine. The results of this study shows that there is a great security risk to AES and (data encrypted under AES) on popular cloud services.
Case report: complete response of metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder with chemotherapy alone.

Abstract Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder has remained to date basically a surgical disease with the addition of preoperative radiation therapy to increase survival. Chemotherapy for bladder cancer is administered either in an adjuvant setting or in patients with metastatic disease, most of whom have been treated already with cystectomy and/or radiation. We report a complete response at 54 months in a patient with clinical stage D2 and pathologic stage Dl carcinoma using cisplatin, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide. The patient was treated with urinary diversion and chemotherapy alone, and no attempt was made to remove the primary lesion.
Nanotechnology in food science: Functionality, applicability, and safety assessment

Rapid development of nanotechnology is expected to transform many areas of food science and food industry with increasing investment and market share. In this article, current applications of nanotechnology in food systems are briefly reviewed. Functionality and applicability of food-related nanotechnology are highlighted in order to provide a comprehensive view on the development and safety assessment of nanotechnology in the food industry. While food nanotechnology offers great potential benefits, there are emerging concerns arising from its novel physicochemical properties. Therefore, the safety concerns and regulatory policies on its manufacturing, processing, packaging, and consumption are briefly addressed. At the end of this article, the perspectives of nanotechnology in active and intelligent packaging applications are highlighted.
Modifying interpretation biases in body dysmorphic disorder: Evaluation of a brief computerized treatment.

Individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD; N = 40) were enrolled in a randomized, four-session trial comparing interpretation bias modification (IBM) training designed to target social evaluation- and appearance-related interpretation biases with a placebo control training condition (PC). Sessions took place over the course of two weeks (two sessions per week). Analyses indicated that, relative to the PC condition, IBM led to a significant increase in benign biases and reduction in threat biases at post-treatment. IBM also led to greater reductions in BDD symptoms compared to PC, though this effect was present at high but not low levels of pre-treatment BDD symptoms. Additionally, compared to PC, IBM led to lower urge to check and lower fear in response to an in vivo appearance-related stressor (having their picture taken from different angles), though the latter effect was present only among those reporting elevated fear at pre-treatment. The effects of treatment on interpretation biases and BDD symptoms were largely maintained at a one-month follow-up assessment. Moderated-mediation analyses showed that change in threat bias mediated the effect of condition on post-treatment symptoms for individuals high in pre-treatment BDD symptoms. The current study provides preliminary support for the efficacy of IBM for BDD.
Choice Drivers in e-Services: Insights from e-Financial Services Industry

Given the rapid increase of web-based sales despite the collapse of many dot-com firms, e-services (both online-only & hybrid "clicks & mortar" firms) are faced with a difficult challenge: what value-added features should they offer to effectively gain market share & profits while realistically considering operational and financial constraints? This paper explores the above questions by exploring similarities and differences in preferences between different customer segments for a widely used online service sector (e-financial services) in the United States. Through a national online discrete choice experiment of approx 1500 customers, we demonstrate that the utilities assigned by customers to various features of an online service (e.g. such as availability of traditional features, online features, price, access to brick-and-mortar backup, and access to the online service via the online medium) differ between different market segments. These results have both managerial & research implications for design and operations strategy formulation for e-services.
The flip side of Natural American Spirit: corporate social responsibility advertising

The flip side of Natural American Spirit cigarette packs now align the brand with ‘Respect for the Earth’, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign. It champions a ‘100% zero-waste-to-landfill’ manufacturing facility, ‘earth-friendly tobacco’, easier pack recycling, and ‘U.S.-grown tobacco’ (figure 1). Such marketing appeals to biospheric values, with emphasis on the intrinsic value of the ecosystem, implying a moral imperative to act pro-environmentally.1–3 Biospheric values inspire consumers to pay a premium for products perceived as eco-friendly, such as energy-efficient appliances and organic foods.3 Notably, the market share for premium-priced Natural American Spirit increased by more than 400% since 2002,4 even as the number of cigarette smokers in the USA declined to a record low.5 Figure 1 Front and back of four types of Natural American Spirit cigarette packs with ‘Respect for the Earth’ campaign. In reality, biospheric values are entirely incompatible with smoking cigarettes of …
Revisiones del ideario romántico en El artista barquero o los cuatro cinco de junio de Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda

Este articulo analiza las alteraciones a las masculinidades y feminidades romanticas tradicionales que Gomez de Avellaneda elabora en su ultima novela, El artista barquero o los cuatro cinco de junio . A traves de un marco teorico de ideologias sobre genero, se conceptualiza el conjunto de variaciones y alteraciones que se llevan a cabo de las masculinidades y feminidades romanticas hegemonicas. La revision, alteracion y subversion de los imaginarios de comportamiento sociosexuales se desarrolla por medio de la incorporacion y adaptacion de ciertas propuestas ideologicas ilustradas. Esta amalgama ideologica es la estrategia con la que se crea una comunidad afectiva imaginada que comparte unos mismos valores eticos y sentimentales. Con ello, Gomez de Avellaneda da forma creativa a la ideologia artistica que venia elaborando desde finales de la decada de los cincuenta, a la vez que crea un texto donde hombres y mujeres se igualan intelectual y afectivamente.
Electrical resistance changes of melt infiltrated SiC/SiC loaded in tension at room temperature

Abstract Melt infiltrated SiC/SiC CMCs were tensile loaded to the ultimate stress. Electrical resistance of both the contoured gage section and the total sample were monitored throughout the test. The electrical resistance changes were more than 400% at the break point. The data also proved to be very repeatable for various samples within a panel. The electrical resistance changes of the gage section were used to predict the resistance of the total sample, subject to both monotonic and cyclic loading. The model indicated that the electrical resistance change of a cracked sample with varying geometry can be predicted by knowing the response of a uniform geometry sample.
The Law and the Innocent

“Child Molestation,” the first subsection, draws on Shaw’s non-dramatic writings and the subject’s social context and background. It focuses on the theme’s complexities, which include incest and its social causes; the ignorant view, common before and after Victorian times, that sexual intercourse with a virgin may cure venereal diseases; and Shaw’s proposal of solutions to legal issues. “Victims of the Law,” the second subsection, focuses on laws aiming to punish criminals, which also punish the innocent. These include bigamy, the involvement of a crime’s victims with the law after a thief is apprehended, and what may happen to people in a dance hall when the police arrive to put down, as brutally as they believe the situation warrants, rowdy behavior by drunken students.
Effects of Doxorubicin on the Liquid-Liquid Phase Change Properties of Elastin-Like Polypeptides.

Abstract The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the thermo-responsive engineered elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) biopolymer is being exploited for the thermal targeted delivery of doxorubicin (Dox) to solid tumors. We examine the impact of Dox labeling on the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic behavior of an ELP drug carrier and how Dox influences the liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). Turbidity, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and differential scanning calorimetry measurements show that ELP undergoes a cooperative liquid-liquid phase separation from a soluble to insoluble coacervated state that is enhanced by Dox labeling. Circular dichroism measurements show that below the LCST ELP consists of both random coils and temperature-dependent β-turn structures. Labeling with Dox further enhances β-turn formation. DLS measurements reveal a significant increase in the hydrodynamic radius of ELP below the LCST consistent with weak self-association. Dox-labeled SynB1-ELP1 (Dox-ELP) has a significant increase in the hydrodynamic radius by DLS measurements that is consistent with stable oligomers and, at high Dox-ELP concentrations, micelle structures. Enhanced association by Dox-ELP is confirmed by sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation measurements. Both ELP self-association and the ELP inverse phase transition are entropically driven with positive changes in enthalpy and entropy. We show by turbidity and DLS that the ELP phase transition is monophasic, whereas mixtures of ELP and Dox-ELP are biphasic, with Dox-labeled ELP phase changing first and unlabeled ELP partitioning into the coacervate as the temperature is raised. DLS reveals a complex growth in droplet sizes consistent with coalescence and fusion of liquid droplets. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements show a −11 kcal/mol change in enthalpy for Dox-ELP coacervation relative to the unlabeled ELP, consistent with droplet formation being stabilized by favorable enthalpic interactions. We propose that the ELP phase change is initiated by ELP self-association, enhanced by increased Dox-ELP oligomer and micelle formation and stabilized by favorable enthalpic interactions in the liquid droplets.
Super-resolution stimulated emission depletion microscopy of director structures in liquid crystals: publisher's note.

This publisher’s note corrects errors in the body text of Opt. Lett.43, 5158 (2018)OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.43.005158.
FDA’s Office of Orphan Products Development: providing incentives to promote the development of products for rare diseases

There are nearly 30 million Americans that suffer from at least one of the more than 7000 rare diseases identified to date. Therapies for treating, preventing, or diagnosing rare diseases have been limited due to various reasons. Incentives are provided to sponsors in an effort to promote the development of therapies for rare diseases and to encourage the availability of therapeutically superior drugs or biologics. This paper will discuss the mission of the Office of Orphan Products Development within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the specific programs within the office and the relation to incentives provided, achievements of the programs, and continued challenges in rare disease product development.
Abstract 5157: Comparison of exosomes shed by breast cancer cell lines with varying metastatic potential

Exosomes are endosomal secreted vesicles containing a variety of genetic and non-genetic material that can be transferred between cells (DNA, RNA, protein, lipid, etc.). Cancer derived exosomes have been implicated in a wide range of cancer mechanisms such as promotion of tumor growth, tumor angiogenesis, immune evasion, drug resistance, and metastasis. In addition to functional significance, cancer exosomes may possess novel biomarkers with potential uses for non-invasive liquid biopsies for cancer detection and monitoring of disease progression. Here we examined differences that may exist in extracellular vesicles or exosomes (EVs) shed by cancer cell lines with various metastatic potential (MDA-MB-231, highly metastatic; MCF-7, weakly metastatic; MCF-10a, normal breast epithelial cells). Morphological analysis of EVs was performed using fluorescent Nanosight Tracking Analysis and revealed decreased mean diameter of EVs derived from MCF-7 cells compared to the other two cell lines, there was also increased exosome particle yield in this cell line. Small RNAs from EVs cargo were also analyzed via sequencing (exoRNA-Seq). The majority of sequenced RNA aligned to coding regions of the human genome (~60%) across all cell lines. Non-coding RNA classification also showed little variability across cell lines examined regardless of metastatic potential, with ~38% of RNA reads corresponding to non-coding RNAs. Pairwise comparison of these cell lines demonstrated that each line packaged unique cargos into their shed exosomes. The non-coding regions corresponded to a variety of small RNAs (miRNA, snoRNA, snRNA, miscRNA, rRNA) but included other RNA features such as pseudogenes and antisense RNAs. We found 304 genes significantly up-regulated and 150 genes significantly down-regulated when comparing metastatic cancer exosomes (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) to normal, non-tumorigenic exosomes (MCF-10A). Among examined microRNAs we found several miRNAs associated with metastatic behavior that have previously been implicated in cancer biology, which will be prioritized for validation. Also, 21 RNAs were upregulated at high levels in exosomes shed by metastatic cells, and their expression level was directly proportional with the metastatic character, suggesting that these RNAs may be tested for their potential as biomarkers. Future research will expand upon these newly identified genetic signatures of metastatic exosomal cargo and further validate their influence in driving metastasis. This study received funding from DOD grant BC151687. This work was conducted under the auspices of the USDOE by LLNL (DE-AC52-07NA27344). IM number: LLNL-POST-758941 Citation Format: Kelly A. Martin, Nicholas R. Hum, Aimy Sebastian, Gabriela G. Loots. Comparison of exosomes shed by breast cancer cell lines with varying metastatic potential [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5157.
Oncogenic enhancer of zeste homolog 2 is an actionable target in patients with non‐small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND The aims of this study were to investigate the link between enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) in preclinical studies and in human lung cancer tissue microarrays. METHODS Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 and HDAC1 mRNA expression in two lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) datasets (MDACC and TCGA) were correlated with patient outcomes. We evaluated the association of EZH2 and HDAC1 expression with response to the HDAC1 inhibitor, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA). The response to SAHA was assessed at baseline and after alteration of EZH2 or HDAC mRNA expression in LUAD cell lines. RESULTS Direct correlation was found between EZH2 and HDAC1 expression (P < 0.0001). When EZH2 expression was knocked down- or upregulated, there was a corresponding decrease or increase in expression of HDAC expression, respectively. Cell lines with high EZH2 expression responded to SAHA treatment with a mean inhibition rate of 73.1% compared to 43.2% in cell lines with low EZH2 expression (P < 0.0001). This correlation was confirmed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) specimens from MDACC (Spearman's correlation r = 0.416; P < 0.0001) and TCGA datasets (r = 0.221; P < 0.0001). Patients with high EZH2 and high HDAC1 expression in stage I NSCLC specimens of both datasets had the lowest survival compared to the patients with low expression of either or both markers. CONCLUSION Our findings show that overexpression of EZH2 is a negative prognostic indicator. Increased EZH2 expression predicts for response to HDAC inhibitors and thus could serve as a biomarker for selecting NSCLC patients for treatment with HDAC inhibitors.
SIIM Announces New Awards

The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) has created six new awards to be inaugurated at the 2020 Annual Meeting. These include the Gold Medal of the Society, The Joe Gitlin Award, the Dr. Ruth Dayhoff Award for the Advancement of Women in Medical Imaging Informatics, the Imaging Informatics Innovator Award, the Early Career Achievement Award, and the Educator Award. The award criteria, nomination, and selection processes are outlined in this paper with the goal of encouraging nominations (including self-nominations) for these prestigious awards recognizing contributions to imaging informatics in medicine.
Oxidative Stress and Cancer: Chemopreventive and Therapeutic Role of Triphala

Oxidative stress, caused by the overproduction of free radicals, leads to the development of many chronic diseases including cancer. Free radicals are known to damage cellular biomolecules like lipids, proteins, and DNA that results in activation of multiple signaling pathways, growth factors, transcription factors, kinases, inflammatory and cell cycle regulatory molecules. Antioxidants, which are classified as exogenous and endogenous, are responsible for the removal of free radicals and consequently the reduction in oxidative stress-mediated diseases. Diet and medicinal herbs are the major source of antioxidants. Triphala, which is a traditional Ayurvedic formulation that has been used for centuries, has been shown to have immense potential to boost antioxidant activity. It scavenges free radicals, restores antioxidant enzymes and non-enzyme levels, and decreases lipid peroxidation. In addition, Triphala is revered as a chemopreventive, chemotherapeutic, immunomodulatory, and radioprotective agent. Accumulated evidence has revealed that Triphala modulates multiple cell signaling pathways including, ERK, MAPK, NF-κB, Akt, c-Myc, VEGFR, mTOR, tubulin, p53, cyclin D1, anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic proteins. The present review focuses on the comprehensive appraisal of Triphala in oxidative stress and cancer.
Differential expression of immune related genes in high-grade ovarian serous carcinoma.

Abstract Objective To identify novel immunologic targets and biomarkers associated with overall survival (OS) in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC). Methods In this retrospective study, microarray data from 51 HGSC specimens were analyzed (Affymetrix HG-U133A). A panel of 183 immune/inflammatory response related genes linked to 279 probe sets was constructed a priori and screened. Associations between gene expression and OS were assessed using logrank tests. Multiple testing was addressed within the False Discovery Rate (FDR) framework. For external validation, TCGA Ovarian dataset and five GSE publicly available HGSC datasets were evaluated. Results In Duke data, 110 probe sets linked to 83 immunologic/inflammatory-related genes were differentially expressed in tumors from long versus short-term HGSC survivors (adjusted p Conclusions Evaluation of IL6R expression may be warranted based on higher expression in long-term survivors and association with improved survival in advanced HGSC. The other candidate genes may also be of worthy of further exploration to enhance immuno-oncology drug discovery.
Driving Force for the Complexation of Charged Polypeptides

The phase separation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes in solution is of current interest. In this work, we study the driving force for polyelectrolyte complexation using molecular dynamics simulations. We calculate the potential of mean force between poly(lysine) and poly(glutamate) oligomers using three different force fields, an atomistic force field and two coarse-grained force fields. There is qualitative agreement between all force fields, i.e., the sign and magnitude of the free energy and the nature of the driving force are similar, which suggests that the molecular nature of water does not play a significant role. For fully charged peptides, we find that the driving force for association is entropic in all cases when small ions either neutralize the poly ions, or are in excess. The removal of all counterions switches the driving force, making complexation energetic. This suggests that the entropy of complexation is dominated by the counterions. When only 6 residues of a 11-mer are charged, however, the driving force is energetic in the abscence of excess salt. The simulations shed insight into the mechanism of complex coacervation and the importance of realistic models for the polyions.