cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
RNA Interference of Human Papillomavirus Type 18 E6 and E7 Induces Senescence in HeLa Cells

The human papillomavirus oncoproteins E6 and E7 promote cell proliferation and contribute to carcinogenesis by interfering with the activities of cellular tumor suppressors. We used a small interfering RNA molecule targeting the E7 region of the bicistronic E6 and E7 mRNA to induce RNA interference, thereby reducing expression of E6 and E7 in HeLa cells. RNA interference of E6 and E7 also inhibited cellular DNA synthesis and induced morphological and biochemical changes characteristic of cellular senescence. These results demonstrate that reducing E6 and E7 expression is sufficient to cause HeLa cells to become senescent.
Hypervelocity jacketed penetrators

The use of steel jackets was found to significantly improve the penetration efficiency of tungsten alloy rods. Experiments and analyses were conducted with L/D=10 projectiles of constant exterior dimensions at a nominal impact velocity of 2.2 km/s. The fraction of jacket material was varied to see which geometry would have the best performance. For a core-to-jacket diameter ratio (tt) of 0.6, the experiments showed the penetration efficiency (P/KE n/3) increased by 21% relative to an all-tungsten baseline rod of the same exterior dimensions. Experiments and AUTODYN simulations showed the same penetration efficiency trends. The simulations, however, did not show that the tungsten core outran the jacket, contrary to what was observed in the experiments. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. BACKGROUND
[3.3.0] Pyrazolodinones: An efficient synthesis of a new class of synthetic antibacterial agents.

Abstract A novel synthesis of [3.3.0] fused pyrazolidinones is described. The methodology relies on selective stepwise functionalization of the ring nitrogens of a known pyrazolidinone monocycle. Intramolecular Wadsworth-Horner-Emmons condensation gives rise to the desired bicyclic structure. The compounds prepared from this route have demonstrated potent antibacterial activity in vitro .
Resolved Snowball Earth Clouds

AbstractRecent general circulation model (GCM) simulations have challenged the idea that a snowball Earth would be nearly entirely cloudless. This is important because clouds would provide a strong warming to a high-albedo snowball Earth. GCM results suggest that clouds could lower the threshold CO2 needed to deglaciate a snowball by a factor of 10–100, enough to allow consistency with geochemical data. Here a cloud-resolving model is used to investigate cloud and convection behavior in a snowball Earth climate. The model produces convection that extends vertically to a similar temperature as modern tropical convection. This convection produces clouds that resemble stratocumulus clouds under an inversion on modern Earth, which slowly dissipate by sedimentation of cloud ice. There is enough cloud ice for the clouds to be optically thick in the longwave, and the resulting cloud radiative forcing is similar to that produced in GCMs run in snowball conditions. This result is robust to large changes in the clo...
The PEER program: Creating a pre-College computer and semiconductor curriculum in the rocky mountain region

The Partnership for Engineering Education in the Rockies (PEER) has developed an electrical and computer engineering curriculum for high school students in the Northern Colorado region. PEER brings together representatives from the semiconductor industry and educational institutions, led by Colorado State University, who are dedicated to improving and expanding the pool of local engineering candidates. The program focuses on recruiting high school students and displaced or unemployed individuals who are interested in pursuing careers in ECE or mask design. PEER offers multiple courses at a local high school during the school year and a summer camp for students to learn the fundamentals of computer and semiconductor technology. The PEER program also trains and supports high school teachers interested in the curriculum. Over the past three years, the PEER program has reached over 100 students throughout the country. The PEER program has been successful at recruiting students into the ECE and semiconductor field, and the effects of the program on the local workforce are just now starting to be felt.
Strategy for Tuning the Photophysical Properties of Photosensitizers for Use in Photodynamic Therapy

A novel approach for tuning spectral properties, as well as minimizing aggregation, in zinc porphyrin and zinc phthalocyanine-based compounds is presented. Particular emphasis is placed on use of these compounds as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy (PDT). To accomplish this aim, a bulky hydrophobic cation, trihexyltetradecylphosphonium, is paired with anionic porphyrin and phthalocyanine dyes to produce a group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS) that absorb at longer wavelengths with high molar absorptivity and high photostability. Nanoparticles derived from these GUMBOS possess positively charged surfaces with high zeta potential values, which are highly desirable for PDT. Upon irradiation at longer wavelengths, these GUMBOS produced singlet oxygen with greater efficiency as compared to the respective parent dyes.
Reconstruction of viral population structure from next-generation sequencing data using multicommodity flows

Highly mutable RNA viruses exist in infected hosts as heterogeneous populations of genetically close variants known as quasispecies. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) allows for analysing a large number of viral sequences from infected patients, presenting a novel opportunity for studying the structure of a viral population and understanding virus evolution, drug resistance and immune escape. Accurate reconstruction of genetic composition of intra-host viral populations involves assembling the NGS short reads into whole-genome sequences and estimating frequencies of individual viral variants. Although a few approaches were developed for this task, accurate reconstruction of quasispecies populations remains greatly unresolved. Two new methods, AmpMCF and ShotMCF, for reconstruction of the whole-genome intra-host viral variants and estimation of their frequencies were developed, based on Multicommodity Flows (MCFs). AmpMCF was designed for NGS reads obtained from individual PCR amplicons and ShotMCF for NGS shotgun reads. While AmpMCF, based on covering formulation, identifies a minimal set of quasispecies explaining all observed reads, ShotMCS, based on packing formulation, engages the maximal number of reads to generate the most probable set of quasispecies. Both methods were evaluated on simulated data in comparison to Maximum Bandwidth and ViSpA, previously developed state-of-the-art algorithms for estimating quasispecies spectra from the NGS amplicon and shotgun reads, respectively. Both algorithms were accurate in estimation of quasispecies frequencies, especially from large datasets. The problem of viral population reconstruction from amplicon or shotgun NGS reads was solved using the MCF formulation. The two methods, ShotMCF and AmpMCF, developed here afford accurate reconstruction of the structure of intra-host viral population from NGS reads. The implementations of the algorithms are available at http://alan.cs.gsu.edu/vira.html (AmpMCF) and http://alan.cs.gsu.edu/NGS/?q=content/shotmcf (ShotMCF).
Job Management Requirements for NAS Parallel Systems and Clusters

A job management system is a critical component of a production supercomputing environment, permitting oversubscribed resources to be shared fairly and efficiently. Job management systems that were originally designed for traditional vector supercomputers are not appropriate for the distributed-memory parallel supercomputers that are becoming increasingly important in the high performance computing industry. Newer job management systems offer new functionality but do not solve fundamental problems. We address some of the main issues in resource allocation and job scheduling we have encountered on two parallel computers — a 160- node IBM SP2 and a cluster of 20 high performance workstations located at the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation facility. We describe the requirements for resource allocation and job management that are necessary to provide a production supercomputing environment on these machines, prioritizing according to difficulty and importance, and advocating a return to fundamental issues.
The dependence of the microwave radar cross section on ocean surface variables during the FASINEX experiment

A measurement program is in progress to develop more precise relationships between the microwave (Ku-band) radar cross section and the ocean surface variables that affect the roughness and reflectivity. An extensive data set was obtained during the Frontal Air-Sea Interaction Experiment during the winter of 1986 in the Atlantic south of Bermuda. The author focuses on the airborne scatterometer measurements that were coincident with surface wind speed and stress measurements from aircraft and ships, and the directional surface-wave spectrum. >
Influences of Trees on Savanna Productivity: Tests of Shade, Nutrients, and Tree-Grass Competition

To determine why herbaceous productivity in tropical and subtropical savannas is often significantly higher under crowns of isolated trees than in adjacent grass—lands, experimental plots were established in three concentric zones, crown, tree—root, and grassland, surrounding isolated trees of Acacia tortilis in low—rainfall and high—rainfall savannas in Tsavo National Park, Kenya. Plots were fertilized (to determine the importance of nutrient enrichment by trees), shaded (to determine the importance of crown shade), fertilized and shaded (to identify fertilizer x shade interactions), or trenched (tree roots entering plots were severed to determine the importance of belowground competition between overstory trees and understory herbaceous plants). In addition, vertical root distributions of trees and herbaceous species were determined, and root systems of A. tortilis saplings were excavated. At both sites fertilization significantly increased herbaceous productivity in tree—root and grassland zones, but not in canopy zones; artificial shade had no effect on productivity at the low—rainfall site but increased productivity in the tree—root zone at the high—rainfall site; and severing tree roots had no effect on herbaceous productivity at the low—rainfall site, but increased productivity in the crown and tree—root zones at the high—rainfall site. Roots of herbaceous and woody species co—occurred within the same soil horizons, but tree roots extended farther into grasslands at the low—rainfall site than at the high—rainfall site. These studies suggest that savanna trees completed more intensely with understory plants at wetters sites, where their roots terminated in or near crown zones, than at drier sites, where their roots extended farther into open grassland. Nutrients added by trees to crown zones in the form of tree litter and animal droppings increased understory productivity by fertilizing nutrient—limited soils. Shade contributed more to regrowth after severe defoliation than to growth under more normal conditions.
Prospects for the internet of things

The future of the Internet of Things may rely on our ability to tackle issues of safety, security, and privacy, while creating standardized systems that are easy to use and configure.
Theobiology: An Analysis of Spirituality, Cardiovascular Responses, Stress, Mood, and Physical Health

The relationships of spirituality and religion to acute cardiovascular responses, physical symptoms of illness, stress and psychological mood were assessed in a community sample of adults. Nineteen men and 61 women participated in a betrayal interview, while their blood pressure and heart rate were monitored. Religious affiliation, frequency of attendance at worship and religiousness were associated with resting diastolic and mean arterial pressure. Spirituality, especially as assessed by the existential scale of the Spiritual Well-being Scale, was related to symptoms of illness, medication use, stress and negative mood states. Spirituality and involvement in organized religion may represent a means to increase the sense of purpose and meaning in life, which is related to greater resiliency and resistance to stress-related illness.
Towards Rapid Multi-robot Learning from Demonstration at the RoboCup Competition

We describe our previous and current efforts towards achieving an unusual personal RoboCup goal: to train a full team of robots directly through demonstration, on the field of play at the RoboCup venue, how to collaboratively play soccer, and then use this trained team in the competition itself. Using our method, HiTAB, we can train teams of collaborative agents via demonstration to perform nontrivial joint behaviors in the form of hierarchical finite-state automata. We discuss HiTAB, our previous efforts in using it in RoboCup 2011 and 2012, recent experimental work, and our current efforts for 2014, then suggest a new RoboCup Technical Challenge problem in learning from demonstration.
Accommodation to Increased Accuracy Demands by the Right and Left Hands

This study was designed to identify the phase of rapid aimed movements responsible for hand differences in motor skill, and to evaluate potential differences between the hands in accommodating to greater accuracy demands. In both experiments, an accelerometer mounted on a stylus allowed key changes in acceleration to be used to partition the movement into phases. In Experiment 1, slower left hand movement times were attributable primarily to a terminal homing-in phase, especially as target size decreased. Since error rates varied as a function of hand and target size, speed-accuracy trade-offs may have occurred. Experiment 2 rigidly controlled error rate and confirmed the major hand difference to occur in the latter phase of the movement where error correction is presumed. Although less pronounced, adjustments were made in the earlier movement phases as well. Accommodation to greater accuracy demands involved moving the stylus closer to the target before decelerating to engage in error correction. This adjustment to gain enhanced precision was more pronounced in the left hand.
A Comparison of Meningeal and other Strains of H. Influenzae

According to various authors, meningeal strains of H. influenzae do not exhibit the extreme antigenic diversity characteristic of respiratory strains, and differ from them in other important respects.1,2,3,4,5 The results of morphological, biochemical, and serological studies of influenza bacilli of meningeal, respiratory, and other origins, form the basis of this report. These observations, though differing in some details from those of other workers, tend to confirm the belief that meningeal strains are quite different from most strains from other sources.
The Great Blank Space Beyond the Wall: Eastern Europe in Modern Intellectual History

Written seven years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as the shockwaves of the Yugoslav wars still reverberated through the continent, Ugresic’s essays spoke to a period of European history in which the West's lack of familiarity with the East was particularly marked. In part owing to this Western incomprehension, the period of the 1990s were a rich one for theoretical discussions within the field of Eastern European Studies, as scholars sharing Ugresic’s concerns turned their attention to the ways in which Eastern Europe had come to be imagined as that great blank space beyond the wall.
Comparative Corporate Governance

This entry for the Palgrave dictionary looks at the recent literature on comparative corporate governance. I examine reasons for the upswing in interest in comparative corporate governance, what the principal national differences seem to be, how different nations pursue different purposes through their corporate governance systems, and what we might learn (and already have learned) about structure, political differences, and convergence in corporate governance systems. I conclude by mentioning some potential pitfalls in comparative scholarship, such as selection bias, inattention to complementarities, and ad hoc comparisons, and I briefly suggest a research agenda.
Quantifying the Energy Landscape of Ribosome Function

The vast amount of structural and kinetic data available for the ribosome makes it the ideal system for investigating the physical-chemical properties that enable biological dynamics. Through the use of simplified models and explicit-solvent simulations, we are probing the balance between structural flexibility and energetics during large-scale conformational transitions. Explicit-solvent simulations (200ns - 1.3 microseconds) are used to obtain diffusion coefficients, which help provide a quantitative relationship between tRNA movement, large-scale rotary motions and the energetic barriers encountered during function. To complement explicit-solvent calculations, all-atom simulations that employ simplified energetic descriptions allow us to determine the relative contributions of configurational entropy and sterics. Together, these calculations provide a theoretical foundation that quantitatively bridges experimental kinetics, single-molecule measurements, structural/mutational data and theoretical calculations.
Scaling patterns and processes across landscapes

In cartography scale represents the level of reduction of the real dimensions of the earth, and may be absolute or relative. In ecology scale is a fundamental concept, as organisms interact with the environment using an inherent perception of their surroundings (Powell 1989, Steele 1989). Most ecological phenomena show a scale dependence of measurement and Horne and Schneider (1995) recently reviewed the role of spatial variance in ecology.
Rapid design and manufacturing of task-specific autonomous paragliders using 3D printing

This paper explores a paraglider unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) concept, using rapid design and payload manufacturing techniques to achieve task specific functions. Autonomous fixed wing, multi-rotor and mono-rotor vehicles require prolonged durations of design, manufacturing and tuning to obtain reliable UAVs. Using 3D printing on the meter-scale, we are able to rapidly integrate sensors and alternative payloads into the suspended fuselage of the paraglider. Additive manufacturing has allowed complex designs to be created which provide greater strength and versatility at lower costs compared to the traditional machining method. This manufacturing type has allowed us to produce weekly prototypes for testing. The latest parafoils have yielded higher airspeeds and stable collapse recovery behavior making them interesting for UAV use beyond dirigeable parachutes. The pendulum nature of the platform is self-stabilizing and allows the discrete proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller to adapt based on mass alteration of the suspended body. We describe modular designs, stabilization algorithms and applications in the imaging of cultural heritage sites for conservation.
Immigration and Conflict in Europe: Immigrant–Native Conflict in Two London Boroughs

This chapter compares two London boroughs: Tower Hamlets, located in the East End, and Ealing, located on the western edge of the capital city. Only fourteen miles apart, the two boroughs' South Asian communities have fared very differently over the past several decades. While white residents in both areas reacted to nonwhite immigration with hostility and violence in the initial decades of settlement, Ealing turned itself around in the 1980s and now serves as a model of good community relations. Immigrant–native confrontations in Tower Hamlets, by contrast, only escalated over the same time period. Moreover, in Tower Hamlets interethnic conflict spread unevenly throughout the borough; by the late 1980s, the incidence of violent racism and the success of fiercely anti-immigrant parties concentrated in particular areas of the borough. What accounts for these strikingly different developments? This chapter argues that the ways in which local economies collide with electoral contests are key to understanding intergroup relations. The starting points in both boroughs were very similar: Immigration coincided with chronic, preexisting housing shortages and immigrant demands for accommodation could not be easily sidelined by the local political leadership, for the dominant ethnic minorities in both boroughs have had considerable local electoral clout. In the context of highly competitive electoral environments, the local Labour parties were compelled, albeit reluctantly, to address the concerns of this new constituency.
Use of an Absorbable Urethral Stent for the Management of a Urethral Stricture in a Stallion.

Objective To describe the successful management of a urethral stricture with an absorbable stent in a stallion. Study Design Clinical report. Animals Stallion with a urethral stricture. Results A 12-year-old Thoroughbred breeding stallion was evaluated for acute onset of colic. Uroperitoneum because of presumptive urinary bladder rupture, with urethral obstruction by a urethrolith, was diagnosed. The uroperitoneum was treated conservatively. The urethrolith was removed through a perineal urethrotomy. Approximately 15 weeks after urethrolith removal, the stallion presented with a urethral stricture. The stricture was unsuccessfully treated with an indwelling urinary catheter and 4 attempts at balloon dilation. Eight weeks after diagnosis of stricture, an absorbable polydioxanone (20 mm × 80 mm) urethral stent was implanted under percutaneous, ultrasound guidance. Urethroscopy was performed at 70, 155, and 230 days after stent placement and the endoscope passed through the affected site without complication. Urethroscopy at 155 days showed the stent had been reabsorbed. Follow-up 20 months after stent placement reports the stallion was able to void a normal urine stream. Conclusions Absorbable urethral stent placement was a feasible treatment for urethral stricture in this stallion.
BRAAHMS: A Novel Adaptive Musical Interface Based on Users' Cognitive State

We present a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) integrated with a musical instrument that adapts implicitly (with no extra effort from user) to users' changing cognitive state during musical improvisation. Most previous musical BCI systems use either a mapping of brainwaves to create audio signals or use explicit brain signals to control some aspect of the music. Such systems do not take advantage of higher level semantically meaningful brain data which could be used in adaptive systems or without detracting from the attention of the user. We present a new type of real-time BCI that assists users in musical improvisation by adapting to users' measured cognitive workload implicitly. Our system advances the state of the art in this area in three ways: 1) We demonstrate that cognitive workload can be classified in real-time while users play the piano using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. 2) We build a real-time, implicit system using this brain signal that musically adapts to what users are playing. 3) We demonstrate that users prefer this novel musical instrument over other conditions and report that they feel more creative.
Abstract A34: Understanding the Predictors of Smoking Cessation in a Culturally Tailored Smoking Cession Program Created for American Indians

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of the All Nations Breath of Life program (ANBL); a 12-week culturally-tailored smoking cessation program designed for use in a heterogeneous urban and suburban American Indian (AI) population. Through this process we looked at the secondary outcome: predictors of successful smoking cessation. ANBL was developed, implemented, and tested using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach in which AI community members were involved in all phases of the research. Participants in ANBL (N=312) self-selected into the study. Participants self-identified as AI (tribal enrollment was not required). Additional inclusion criteria included being 18 years of age or older, cotinine verified current cigarette smoker, self-expressed interest in quitting smoking in the 30 days following the informed consent process. The vast majority of ANBL group sessions were located primarily in the Heartland/Midwest and surrounding areas. ANBL has five primary components, as follows: Group Support Sessions, Individual Telephone Counseling, Educational Curriculum, Pharmacotherapy, and Participant Incentives. The primary endpoint was salivary cotinine verified continuous abstinence at 6-months. Participants were asked to self-report smoking status, “Since your quit date in ANBL, have you ever smoked at least part of a cigarette?” Those participants answering “no” to this question were asked to provide saliva for cotinine verification. At program completion, 53.3% of program completers remained abstinent; using an intent-to-treat analysis labeling those lost to follow-up as smokers resulted in a 41.4% quit rate. At 6 months post-baseline, 31.1% of retained participants quit smoking (p Citation Format: Joseph A. Pacheco, Jordyn Gunville, Nazir Niaman, T. Edward Smith, Sean M. Daley, Won S. Choi, Christine M. Daley. Understanding the Predictors of Smoking Cessation in a Culturally Tailored Smoking Cession Program Created for American Indians. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A34.
The Chances of a Drafted Baseball Player Making the Major Leagues: A Quantitative Study

This is a quantitative study to determine a drafted player’s chances of making the major leagues based upon round drafted, when drafted (high school or college), and position (pitcher or position player). Historical data was collected from Baseball-Reference.com and The Baseball Cube on all players drafted through the 20th round from 1996-2011 and entered into a master spreadsheet; categorized by high school pitcher, high school position player, college pitcher, and college position player. The study's key findings: (1) Compared against the results of a previous study on the draft from 1965-95, a higher percentage of drafted players in all rounds signed from 1996-2011 than from 1965-95; (2) In each of rounds 1-5, more college players signed in proportion to high school players; (3) In the first five rounds, a greater percentage of college players in proportion to high school players played in the major leagues and played more than three years, with the greatest percentage difference in rounds 1 and 2; and (4) College pitchers were the most drafted players in rounds 1-5 combined, however, a higher percentage of college position players played in the major leagues and played more than three years.
Computational simulations of contractile dielectric elastomer composites (Conference Presentation)

Soft electro-elastic materials are an emergent class of materials with electromechanical coupling: electric field induced actuation, strain or pressure sensing, and mechanical energy harvesting. Anisotropic electro-elastic materials consist of an isotropic matrix embedded with oriented fibers or particles that are either electro-passive or active. Here, a new soft electroactive polymer composite consisting of contractile dielectric elastomer fibers is proposed. A series of computational simulations that capture the coupled electromechanical response and account for finite deformations is conducted. The simulations explore the feasibility of enabling novel deformation modes currently unattainable by their isotropic counterparts. In previous work, we proposed a constitutive formulation for isotropic dielectric elastomers under hyperelastic conditions. The model has been shown to be robust under generalized 3D loading, finite deformations, and large electric fields. More recently, constitutive models have been developed for isotropic dielectric elastomers assuming viscoelastic behavior. In this paper, the active fiber network is treated as viscoelastic, and a new anisotropic constitutive model is proposed based on current models of physiological muscle. The model is implemented into the commercial finite element code by employing a user-defined subroutine. The FEM formulation is verified by comparing analytical solutions for uniaxial, biaxial, and simple shear tests. In the new composite, we consider the effect of spatially distributed electric fields and for the first time investigate multi-dimensional electric field activation. Distributed activation via spatially distributed fibers in a pressure-loaded membrane configured for pump-like actuation is demonstrated. We utilize our computational capability to design and optimize complex dielectric elastomer actuator composites configured for electro-hydrostatic coupling.
A Scalable Data Integration and Analysis Architecture for Sensor Data of Pediatric Asthma

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in the United States there are 6.8 million children living with asthma. Despite the importance of the disease, the available prognostic tools are not sufficient for biomedical researchers to thoroughly investigate the potential risks of the disease at scale. To overcome these challenges we present a big data integration and analysis infrastructure developed by our Data and Software Coordination and Integration Center (DSCIC) of the NIBIB-funded Pediatric Research using Integrated Sensor Monitoring Systems (PRISMS) program. Our goal is to help biomedical researchers to efficiently predict and prevent asthma attacks. The PRISMS-DSCIC is responsible for collecting, integrating, storing, and analyzing realtime environmental, physiological and behavioral data obtained from heterogeneous sensor and traditional data sources. Our architecture is based on the Apache Kafka, Spark and Hadoop frameworks and PostgreSQL DBMS. A main contribution of this work is extending the Spark framework with a mediation layer, based on logical schema mappings and query rewriting, to facilitate data analysis over a consistent harmonized schema. The system provides both batch and stream analytic capabilities over the massive data generated by wearable and fixed sensors. Demo Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ntm4C29L-I.
Politically Predictive Potential of Social Networks: Twitter and the Indian General Election 2014

The Indian General Election 2014 witnessed the casting of 540 million votes, making it the largest democratic exercise in human history. The center-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) single-handedly won a majority of seats in the lower house of the parliament, a feat emulated after 30 years in India's vibrant multiparty democracy where coalition governments have long been the norm. A new prime minister, Narendra Modi, swept into office with 31% of the vote riding on an extensive social media campaign -- a significant first in Indian polity. Some commentators have even gone as far as calling it a Twitter election[2]. We investigate these claims by analyzing the Twitter network in India in the months leading up to and including the election. We study the use of social media by different political actors using an augmented contagion model of information dissemination. We look closely at both the direct role of the actors as well as their catalyzing role and influence in the network. Sentiment analysis based clustering is used to gauge the public opinion. Drawing on these sources, we compare the efficacy of the social media strategies of important political actors. We find that the BJP and its coalition partners pursued a more rigorous and effective social media strategy than those of other political actors. Furthermore, they were able to not only establish but also maintain a robust network of supporters that eventually translated into a significant electoral victory.
Longitudinal Associations of Metabolic Syndrome Severity Between Childhood and Young Adulthood: The Bogalusa Heart Study.

Abstract Background: Childhood metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with insulin resistance and increased risk for later development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). I...
Economic Causes of War and Peace

At the most basic level, warlike behavior can be understood in terms of the fundamental economic problem of scarcity. A historical overview of war and peace through differing modes of production, from hunter–gatherer economies through agricultural economies to capitalist economies, reveals the evolution of differing economic returns to war and peace. Economic theories of war and peace are surveyed. When supplemented with insights drawn from evolutionary biology, the deep socioeconomic dynamics of our vulnerability to warlike behavior are revealed. Especially critical to this understanding is the enhanced group cohesion and loyalty to leaders provoked by external threats.
An evaluation of an inter-disciplinary training programme for professionals to support children and their families who have been sexually abused online

The psychological consequences of child sexual abuse on children’s mental health and emotional well-being are well documented, and the importance of safeguarding training for professionals working with children and young people unequivocal. Effective support for children who have been sexually abused online is essential to enable them to progress towards recovery. Yet many professionals feel they lack knowledge and understanding of how best to work with children who have been sexually abused online. This study therefore evaluates the outcomes of a short inter-professional training course designed to develop professionals’ competence and confidence when responding to the needs of children and their families after online sexual abuse. Participants (n = 114) were recruited on a voluntary basis from a range of professional backgrounds, including some teaching and social work students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The questionnaire collected both quantitative and qualitative data. There were consistent, statistically significant improvements in the professionals’ views on their knowledge of the subject, their ability to assess online risk and their confidence levels after completing the training course. The feedback from the participants suggested that the learning tools adopted in the training were highly appropriate and that the inter-professional delivery was a key aspect to the positive learning experience. This study suggests that multidisciplinary training, combined with real-life case studies, can be highly effective in improving knowledge and understanding of online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA), thereby improving professionals’ confidence in supporting children, young people and their families. The need for and the importance of inter-professional training are highlighted.
Abstract WP405: Minimizing Delayed Length of Stay by Utilizing Stroke Transitions of Care Coordination Program

Introduction: Delay in discharge of acute stroke patients considered medically ready for discharge increases costs and exposure to nosocomial infections, and is frustrating for patients. We evaluat...
Phages trump bacteria in immune interactions

Bacteriophages modulate mouse cancer and colitis models through unexpected immune interactions.
The 1999 Kosovo Intervention

This chapter details the circumstances leading to the 1999 intervention in Kosovo. The military and political outcomes of Operation Deliberate Force during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia set a precedent for the 1999 Kosovo intervention, which is divided into three phases in this chapter. The pre-war phase began with the Drenica massacres in February and March 1998. The conflict phase captures the period from March 24, 1999, to June 10, 1999, which were the dates of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Operation Allied Force (OAF). Finally, I analyze the post-conflict phase, including the stabilization and reconstruction effort known as Kosovo Force (KFOR). The United States pursued NATO participation in Kosovo for political, military, and legal reasons. As OAF operations progressed, policymakers used American leadership in Kosovo to pressure the allies to improve their military capabilities and alliance contributions. Because the UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution authorizing a direct intervention, the United States and its European allies sought legitimization through alternative channels, including NATO. Executing the operation through the NATO alliance conferred retrospective legitimacy on the intervention—in the years following, Kosovo operations were deemed by much of the international community to be “illegal but legitimate.”
A new way to see RNAs.

Producing reliable atomic- or close-to-atomic-resolution structures of RNA-only molecules has been a formidable task. Ribosolve can solve sub-nanometer-resolution cryo-EM structures of unbound RNA molecules with unprecedented accuracy and speed.
Understanding speech and swallowing difficulties in individuals with Huntington disease: Validation of the HDQLIFE Speech Difficulties and Swallowing Difficulties Item Banks

As Huntington disease (HD) progresses, speech and swallowing difficulties become more profound. These difficulties have an adverse effect on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), thus psychometrically robust measures of speech and swallowing are needed to better understand the impact of these domains across the course of the disease. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to establish the clinical utility of two new patient-reported outcome measures (PROs), HDQLIFE Speech Difficulties and HDQLIFE Swallowing Difficulties. Thirty-one participants with premanifest or manifest HD, and 31 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants were recruited for this study. Participants completed several PROs [HDQLIFE Speech Difficulties, HDQLIFE Swallowing Difficulties, Communication Participation Item Bank (CPIB)], as well as several clinician-rated assessments of speech and functioning. A computational algorithm designed to detect features of spoken discourse was also examined. Analyses were focused on establishing the reliability and validity of these new measures. Internal consistency was good for Swallowing (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89) and excellent for Speech and the CPIB (both Cronbach’s alpha ≥ 0.94), and convergent/discriminant validity was supported. Known groups validity for the PROs was supported by significant group differences among control participants and persons with different stages of HD (all p < 0.0001). All PROs were able to distinguish those with and without clinician-rated dysarthria (likelihood ratios far exceeded the threshold for clinical decision making [all ≥ 3.28]). Findings support the clinical utility of the HDQLIFE Speech and Swallowing PROs and the CPIB for use across the HD disease spectrum. These PROs also have the potential to be clinically useful in other populations.
The State of Interpretation in Academia

This research reports on how future heritage interpreters are being trained in academic institutions in North America. Faculty and instructors from 130 colleges and universities were asked about th...
Sophistication and preference inconsistency in a menu utility representation

Abstract We provide an additive utility representation for any complete and transitive preference over menus of alternatives. The representation makes it seem as if a sophisticated individual takes into account the state dependent payoffs of two individuals that have to consume the same alternative from the menu but may have inconsistent preferences in some of the subjective states. We also consider special cases including when only one state is needed. Furthermore, we find upper bounds on the minimal number of subjective states needed for the representation.
Relationship between free and total cortisol concentrations in the serum of newborn infants

Background: Newborn infants have low serum cortisol concentrations due to immature Hypothalamic-Pituitary- Adrenal axis. Cortisol is highly protein bound. Hypoproteinemia, often present in sick newborns, can alter the measured total serum cortisol (TC) without affecting free cortisol (FC) concentrations. Objective: Evaluate the relationship between baseline FC and TC in sick newborn infants with refractory hypotension. Methods: Simultaneous baseline FC and TC were measured in neonates with refractory hypotension. TC was measured using radioimmunoassay and FC by LC/MS/MS. The correlation between the concentration pairs was determined using regression. Results: Thirty five of 36 pairs with patients serum cortisol concentrations were included. One pair was removed due to being a strong outlier. The mean ± SD gestational age and birth weight were 29.3 ± 5.7 weeks and 1.52 ± 1.28 kg, respectively. FC (0.02 to 42.5 mcg/dL) and TC (0.7−33.2 mcg/dL) varied widely. The overall correlation between FC and TC was r = 0.48 (p = 0.003). When analyzed based on TC ≤ or > 10 mcg/dL the correlation weakened (r = 0.38 and r = 0.21, respectively). For infants ≤34 and >34 weeks correlation were similar (r = 0.48 and 0.45, respectively). Conclusions: In sick newborns, correlation between FC and TC is weak. TC measured routinely may not reflect the extent of adrenal insufficiency.
Coordinate System for Learning in the Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements of Monkeys

Learning was induced in smooth pursuit eye movements by repeated presentation of targets that moved at one speed for 100 msec and then changed to a second, higher or lower, speed. The learned changes, measured as eye acceleration for the first 100 msec of pursuit, were largest in a “late” interval from 50 to 80 msec after the onset of pursuit and were smaller and less consistent in the earliest 30 msec of pursuit. In each experiment, target motion in one direction consisted of learning trials, whereas target motion in the opposite (control) direction consisted of trials in which targets moved at a constant speed for the entire duration of the trial. Under these conditions, the learning did not generalize to the control direction. For target motion in the learning direction, the changes in pursuit generalized to responses evoked by targets moving at speeds ranging from 15 to 45°/sec as well as to targets of different colors and sizes. Although learning was induced at the initiation of pursuit, it generalized to the response to image motion in the learning direction when it was presented during pursuit in the learning direction. However, learning did not generalize to the response to image motion in the learning direction when it was presented during pursuit in the control direction. The results suggest that the learning does not occur in purely sensory or motor coordinates but in an intermediate reference frame at least partly defined by the direction of eye movement. The selectivity of learning provides new evidence for a previously hypothesized neural “switch” that gates visual information on the basis of movement direction. This selectivity also suggests that the locus of pursuit learning is in pathways related to the operation of the switch.
High-Level Area and Current Estimation

Reducing the ever-growing leakage current is critical to high performance and power efficient designs. We present an in-depth study of high-level leakage modeling and reduction in the context of a full custom design environment. We propose a methodology to estimate the circuit area, minimum and maximum leakage current, and maximum power-up current, introduced by leakage reduction using sleep transistor insertion, for any given logic function. We build novel estimation metrics based on logic synthesis and gate level analysis using only a small number of typical circuits, but no further logic synthesis and gate level analysis are needed during our estimation. Compared to time-consuming logic synthesis and gate level analysis, the average errors for circuits from a leading industrial design project are 23.59% for area, 21.44% for maximum power-up current. In contrast, estimation based on quick synthesis leads to 11x area difference in gate count for an 8bit adder.
PTHrP/PTHR1 and TGF-β Levels Are Inversely Associated in Liver Regeneration

Background. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β provides growth control in liver regeneration. We have recently demonstrated that TGF-β induced parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) expression and secretion, and PTHrP mediated TGF-β-induced apoptosis in liver cells. However, whether PTHrP signaling pathway is altered during liver regeneration is unknown. Therefore we used a murine hepatectomy model in this study and tested the hypothesis that both PTHrP and TGF-β signaling pathways are upregulated during liver regeneration. Methods. Swiss Webster mice received 70% hepatectomy or sham operation and euthanized at different time points post-surgery for analyses. Liver regeneration was determined by liver/body weight and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining. mRNA levels of TGF-β1, TGF-β receptors, PTHrP, and PTHrP receptor 1 (PTHR1) were measured by real-time quantitative PCR. Protein levels of TGF-β1 were measured by ELISA and PTHrP and PTHR1 were measured by Western blotting. Results. After 70% hepatectomy, the liver regeneration began at 24 hours and was restored to 82% of original liver mass at day 7. TGF-β1 and its receptor levels increased at 24 and 48 hours after hepatectomy, while PTHrP levels decreased at 12 hours and PTHR1 levels decreased at 12, 24 and 48 hours after hepatectomy. The levels of these molecules returned to similar levels as that in sham animals thereafter. Conclusion . We demonstrated that an upregulation of the TGF-β and its receptors were associated with a down-regulation of PTHrP/PTHR1 expression during liver regeneration, which may contribute to hepatocyte proliferation and regeneration after hepatectomy.
The Influence of Point Source Aerosol Emissions on Atmospheric Convective Activity in the Vicinity of Power Plants in Georgia, USA

Although advances have been made regarding the influence of aerosols on precipitation processes, the ability of power plant aerosol emissions to alter cloud microphysics and enhance atmospheric convection is not yet fully understood. By analyzing the relationship between proximity to coal power plants and lightning flash density in Georgia from 1992–2003, we find that lightning strike frequency is not substantially enhanced near power plants in the long-term warm season climatology. If existent, any signal was likely masked by the more dominant mechanisms of the sea breeze circulation, Sandhills-Fall Line convection, and Atlanta urban environment. Despite the lack of a definitive signal in the climatology, several cases of potential lightning amplification were identified for Plant Scherer. Therefore, power plant lightning enhancement may potentially occur in isolated events, but it is difficult to link such events conclusively to power plant aerosol emissions without a more detailed analysis of the causa...