cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chloroplasts and Photosynthesis

Life is a fragile, unstable thing, maintained only through the ceaseless operation of hundreds of reactions that continually build and maintain the living system. These reactions require energy. Energy—its utilization, transformation, and transportation—is a major activity of the cell. Many of the chemical constituents of the cell are devoted to energy conversion reactions; two cell organelles—the plastids and the mitochondria—are primarily concerned with energy conversion.
Ethical and Legal Issues Addressing the Use of Mobile Health (mHealth) as an Adjunct to Psychotherapy

mHealth refers to the rapidly evolving use of mobile devices for health care treatment purposes, particularly the use of apps and texting as adjuncts to psychotherapy. Although there is currently an extensive literature on issues related to telehealth, to date little guidance has been developed to help professionals function ethically in the rapidly emerging area of mHealth. This article identifies the major ethical considerations that need attention and proposes several recommendations to address mHealth use as an adjunct to psychotherapy, including the pressing need for relevant American Psychological Association practice guidelines to assist mental health providers in the ethical implementation of mHealth.
Behavior and respiration of the salt marsh periwinkle, Littorina irrorata (Say), during winter

The response of the salt marsh periwinkle (Littorina irrorata) to changing environmental conditions was studied in the field and under controlled laboratory conditions. Similar results were obtained in both studies and showed that maximum daily air temperature was the single most important factor controlling snail activity. With declining (23°C to 13°C) temperatures, snail movement was significantly reduced from more than 40% of the sample at temperatures >15°C to 12% at 14°C. Under an increasing regime (0°C to 18°C) dormancy was broken near 11°C in some trials and at 14°C in others. Oxygen consumption rates of warm‐adapted (23°C) and cold‐adapted (0°C) snails were tested at 6, 16 and 26°C. At 6°C, cold‐adapted snails consumed less oxygen than did warm‐adapted snails, but the reverse was true at 26°C. These results suggest that temperature plays a major role in the activity and dormancy of L. irrorata and that the observed dormancy can be classified as true hibernation. In the temperate extension of L. ir...
Mathematics for Physics: Differential calculus on manifolds

In this section we will apply what we have learned about vectors and tensors in linear algebra to vector and tensor fields in a general curvilinear coordinate system. Our aim is to introduce the reader to the modern language of advanced calculus, and in particular to the calculus of differential forms on surfaces and manifolds. Vector and covector fields Vector fields – electric, magnetic, velocity fields, and so on – appear everywhere in physics. After perhaps struggling with it in introductory courses, we rather take the field concept for granted. There remain subtleties, however. Consider an electric field. It makes sense to add two field vectors at a single point, but there is no physical meaning to the sum of field vectors E ( x 1 ) and E ( x 2 ) at two distinct points. We should therefore regard all possible electric fields at a single point as living in a vector space, but each different point in space comes with its own field-vector space. This view seems even more reasonable when we consider velocity vectors describing motion on a curved surface. A velocity vector lives in the tangent space to the surface at each point, and each of these spaces is a differently oriented subspace of the higherdimensional ambient space (see Figure 11.1). Mathematicians call such a collection of vector spaces – one for each of the points in a surface – a vector bundle over the surface. Thus, the tangent bundle over a surface is the totality of all vector spaces tangent to the surface. Why a bundle ? This word is used because the individual tangent spaces are not completely independent, but are tied together in a rather non-obvious way.
Common Operational Picture COP Requirements for Floating Drilling in Pack Ice

Abstract A Common Operational Picture (COP) can generally be described as a system of hardware and software that produces a shared display of information to facilitate situational awareness and dec ...
Accuracy of Point-of-care Ultrasonography for Diagnosing Acute Appendicitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Introduction The use of ultrasonography to diagnose appendicitis has become increasingly common over recent years and is well-established. More recently, point of care ultrasonography (POCUS) has also been studied for the diagnosis of appendicitis, which may also prove a valuable diagnostic tool. The purpose of this study is through systematic review and meta-analysis to identify the test characteristics of POCUS, specifically ultrasonography performed by a non-radiologist physician, in accurately diagnosing acute appendicitis in patients of any age. Methods We conducted a thorough and systematic literature search of English language articles published on point of care, physician-performed transabdominal ultrasonography used for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis from 1980 to May, 2015 using OVID® Medline, In-Process, and Other Non-indexed Citations; and SCOPUS. Studies were selected and subsequently independently abstracted by 2 trained reviewers. A random effects pooled analysis was used to construct a hierarchical summary receiver-operator characteristic curve, and a meta-regression was performed. Quality of studies was assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool. Results Our search yielded 5,792 unique studies and we included 21 of these in our final review. Prevalence of disease in this study was 29.8%, (range, 6.4%-75.4%). The sensitivity and specificity for POCUS in diagnosing appendicitis was 91% (95%CI, 83%-96%) and 97% (95%CI, 91%-99%), respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 91% and 94%, respectively. Studies performed by emergency physicians had slightly lower test charcteristics (sensitivity=80%, specificity=92%). There was significant heterogeneity between studies (I2=99%, 95%CI, 99-100%) and the quality of the reported studies was moderate, mostly due to unclear reporting of blinding of physicians and timing of scanning and patient enrollment. Several of the studies were performed by a single operator, and the education and training of the operators was variably reported. Conclusion POCUS has a relatively high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing acute appendicitis, though the data presented is limited by the quality of the original studies and large confidence intervals. In the hands of an experienced operator, POCUS is an appropriate initial imaging modality for diagnosing appendicitis. Based on our results, it is premature to utilize POCUS as a standalone test or to rule out appendicitis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
A Deep Learning Approach to Identifying Shock Locations in Turbulent Combustion Tensor Fields

We introduce a deep learning approach for the identification of shock locations in large scale tensor field datasets. Such datasets are typically generated by turbulent combustion simulations. In this proof of concept approach, we use deep learning to learn mappings from strain tensors to Schlieren images which serve as labels. The use of neural networks allows for the Schlieren values to be approximated more efficiently than calculating the values from the density gradient. In addition, we show that this approach can be used to predict the Schlieren values for both two-dimensional and three-dimensional tensor fields, potentially allowing for anomaly detection in tensor flows. Results on two shock example datasets show that this approach can assist in the extraction of features from reacting flow tensor fields.
Using an Ever–English Learner Framework to Examine Disproportionality in Special Education:

Whereas most existing research has examined the prevalence of current English learners (ELs) in special education, we propose and test the use of the ever-EL framework, which holds the subgroup of ...
A meta-analysis of associations between obesity and insomnia diagnosis and symptoms.

Summary Recent research suggests that sleep plays an important role in obesity (OB). No systematic reviews have investigated the association between OB and insomnia specifically. The present study reviewed the past 10 y of findings on the association between insomnia diagnosis (IND) and insomnia symptoms (INS) with OB. A total of 67 studies were included in the meta-analyses. Multilevel random effects models showed that the odds of having OB among those who had IND was not significantly greater than the odds of having OB among those who did not have IND (odds ratio (OR) = .80, p = .61). A small, significant cross-sectional correlation ( r = .06, p = .03) was found between INS and body mass index. Longitudinal data were limited. Based on three studies, the odds of developing future INS among those who had OB were not significantly greater than those who were normal-weight (NW) (OR = 1.07, p = .40). Longitudinal data on the association between INS and future incidence of OB are inconclusive. We found no indication of systematic publication biases and high heterogeneity in the effect sizes across studies. Meta-regressions showed that some of the heterogeneity was explained by the types of measures of insomnia symptoms, publication year, and regions where a study was conducted.
In-Hospital Delays Result in Worse Patient Outcomes and Higher Cost After Cardiac Surgery.

Background Contemporary reimbursement systems allow hospitals to maintain profitability by offering procedural services. However, increasing procedural volume can be met with structural inefficiencies that in turn cause delays, worse patient outcomes, and increased cost. Methods A multidisciplinary team assessed operations and outcomes at the Heart and Vascular Center at Yale New Haven Hospital, a tertiary academic medical center. Data were analyzed retrospectively to assess delays in transferring patients between care environments, patient outcomes, and cost. An intervention was implemented over 90 days, with follow-up analysis. Interventions were based off principles of dynamic work design—an emerging management science framework promoting human-centered work design. Results Before intervention, delay in patient transfer from operating rooms to the intensive care unit (ICU) was associated with statistically significantly longer ICU length of stay (13% increase) and higher blood loss (16% increase). Also increased were the 30-day readmission rate (10%) and 30-day mortality rate (34%). Delays imposed an additional cost of $3,509,621. A tipping point of weekly surgical volume was identified above which delays occurred. After implementing operational changes, 16% fewer patients were delayed, and ICU length of stay decreased by 19%. No significant change occurred in surgical volume, 30-day mortality, 30-day readmission, or readmission to the operating room or ICU. However, costs decreased by 19%. Conclusions Operational assessment and dynamic work design can be used to help staff manage increasing case volume by improving efficiency while maintaining quality of care at reduced cost to the system.
The "Jay-Dar" Phenomenon: Individuals Discriminate Cannabis Users from Nonusers Based Upon a Photograph.

ABSTRACTObjective: With increasing legalization of medicinal and recreational cannabis, use is on the rise. Research suggests individuals may be able to guess cannabis user status based upon appear...
Off-Flavor in the Channel Catfish (Ictalurus Punctatus) Due to 2-Methylisoborneol and its Dehydration Products

Off-flavor in channel catfish is a serious problem in the commercial culture industry affecting 50-80% of growout ponds during the warmer months of the year. A microwave distillation technique has been developed to isolate volatile compounds from affected material. 2-Methylisoborneol (MIB) is the predominant compound isolated from off-flavored catfish during the growing season (April-October) in west Mississippi and is responsible for a musty type of flavor. Geosmin and other as yet unidentified compounds are also important causes of an earthy type off-flavor. 2-Methylenebornane and 2-methyl-2-bornene, dehydration products of MIB, were shown to contribute to the off-flavor problem. The absorption (2 hours) and depuration (48 hours) of MIB in catfish fingerlings were determined. MIB and its dehydration products are concentrated primarily in subepidermal and abdominal fat. Lesser concentration occurs in the liver and muscle tissue of off-flavored fish. Removing fish to clean, flowing water to purge MIB and geosmin could provide a partial means for off-flavor abatement.
Long-Term Services and Supports Use Among Older Medicare Beneficiaries in Rural and Urban Areas:

State and federal policies have shifted long-term services and support (LTSS) priorities from nursing home care to home and community-based services (HCBS). It is not clear whether the rural LTSS system reflects this system transformation. Using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, we examined nursing home use among rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older. Study findings indicate that even after controlling for known predictors of nursing home use, rural Medicare beneficiaries exhibited greater odds of nursing home residence and that the higher odds of rural nursing home residence are, in part, associated with higher rural nursing home bed supplies. A complex interplay of policy, LTSS infrastructure, and social, cultural, and other factors may be influencing the observed differences. Federal and state efforts to build rural HCBS capacity may be necessary to mitigate stubbornly persistent rural-urban differences in the patterns of institutional and community-based LTSS use.
BANN: A Framework for Aspect-Level Opinion Mining

Identifying and extracting opinions on social media has become very important in today's information-rich environment, since we need fast and concise information, diverse experiences, and knowledge from others to make decisions. Aspect-level opinion mining aims to find and aggregate opinions on opinion targets. Previous work has demonstrated that precise modeling of opinion targets within the surrounding context can improve performances. However, how to effectively and efficiently learn hidden word semantics and better represent targets and the context still needs to be further studied. In this paper, we propose bi-directional attention neural networks (BANN) for aspect-level opinion mining. This framework employs two bi-directional long short-term memory (LSTM) to learn opinion targets and the context respectively, followed by an attention mechanism that integrates hidden states learned from both the targets and context. We compare our model with six state-of-the-art baselines on two SemEval 2014 datasets. Experiment results reveal that our model outperforms the baseline methods on both datasets, which indicates the effectiveness of the model. Our work contributes to the improvement of state-of-the-art aspect-level opinion mining methods and offers a new approach to support people during the decision-making process based on opinion mining results.
Distinguishing Environmental Impacts of Household Food-Spending Patterns Among U.S. Demographic Groups

Abstract The food–energy–water (FEW) nexus is a focal point in research due to its impacts on ecosystem services that sustain human life. Despite this, FEW studies have not produced enough policy-r...
The Spending Clause

This article discusses and analyzes Article I, Section 8, clause I of the U.S. Constitution, popularly known as the Spending Clause. It discusses and analyzes the opposing views of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison; traces and examines the history of the Spending Clause; and discusses modern interpretations and applications of the Spending Clause
Mixed messages from a nova outburst

Multi-technique analyses of a stardust grain from a CO nova outburst show that carbon- and oxygen-rich phases co-condensed in the stellar ejecta, confirming previous spectroscopy observations.
Intuitive symbolic magnitude judgments and decision making under risk in adults.

Abstract Performance on an intuitive symbolic number skills task—namely the number line estimation task—has previously been found to predict value function curvature in decision making under risk, using a cumulative prospect theory (CPT) model. However there has been no evidence of a similar relationship with the probability weighting function. This is surprising given that both number line estimation and probability weighting can be construed as involving proportion judgment, that is, involving estimating a number on a bounded scale based on its proportional relationship to the whole. In the present work, we re-evaluated the relationship between number line estimation and probability weighting through the lens of proportion judgment. Using a CPT model with a two-parameter probability weighting function, we found a double dissociation: number line estimation bias predicted probability weighting curvature while performance on a different number skills task, number comparison, predicted probability weighting elevation. Interestingly, while degree of bias was correlated across tasks, the direction of bias was not. The findings provide support for proportion judgment as a plausible account of the shape of the probability weighting function, and suggest directions for future work.
P416 Longitudinal relationship and sexual health outcomes for adolescent and young adults with pelvic inflammatory disease

Background Many adolescent and young women (AYA) remain in relationships with their sexual partners at 3-months post-PID, but little is known about how those relationships continue to evolve and integrate risk reduction behaviors. The purpose of this study is to examine 12-month longitudinal sexual and reproductive health behaviors post-PID. Methods Participants in the Technology Enhanced Community Health Nursing Study (N=286), a large randomized controlled trial of an intervention to improve PID outcomes were enrolled in quarterly post-trial telephone follow-up interviews. This analysis presents data from participants who completed 12 months of follow-up (N=72). Participants were queried about interim symptoms, sexual and reproductive behaviors, and clinical outcomes such as recurrent STI, pregnancy, chronic abdominal pain) and relationship status. Data were analyzed using descriptive and logistic regression analyses. Results Of 72 participants who completed the 12-month post-trial follow-up, 33 were in the intervention group, and 39 were in the control group, and 42 (58%) reported new partners in the last 12 months. Participants with new partners were not more likely to report having an STI than women without new partners (estimated odds ratio 1.6, 95%CI 0.5, 4.6, p = 0.470) or to have used contraceptives in the past 12 months (OR = 4.5 95% CI 0.3, 244.5, p = 0.301), but are more likely to have had lower abdominal pain (OR 5.6 95% CI 1.8, 18.9, p=0.001). Most women (86%) reported condom use in the prior 12 months, but there were no differences in condom use over the last year based on new partner status. Conclusion Most AYA who experience PID acquire new partners during the year post-PID, but are not more likely to use condoms at 12 months. Given the increased association with lower abdominal pain, booster STI risk reduction strategies may be indicated to prevent associated sequelae among affected patients. Disclosure No significant relationships.
Respiratory effects of road pollution in recreational cyclists: a pilot study.

We sought to measure bicyclists’ roadway exposures to particulate matter and assess whether those exposures are associated with reduced pulmonary function. Thirty-one (31) volunteer participants ri...
Informal employment and the earnings of home-based home care workers in the United States

Informal employment continues to exist in parallel with formal employment among the US home‐based home care workers and undermines the workers' economic security. This study examines the extent to which the earnings of the US home‐based home care workers are affected by informal employment arrangements and state labour policies designed to benefit low‐wage home care workers. Using a sample of 1,318 home‐based home care workers from the 2017 and 2018 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey, this study found that (i) informally employed home‐based home care workers had a 9% reduction in annual earnings and that (ii) their earnings were not improved by generous state minimum wages and Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights while the earnings of agency employees were. The findings highlight the importance of strong enforcement of labour standards for informally employed home care workers in the United States.
Case Report: Suprasellar Pituitary Adenoma Presenting With Temporal Lobe Seizures.

Seizures in patients with pituitary pathology are uncommon and typically secondary to electrolyte disturbances. Rarely, seizures have been described from mass effect related to large prolactinomas undergoing medical treatment. We describe a 54 year-old male who presented with a first-time generalized seizure, secondary to a pituitary macroadenoma compressing the left temporal lobe. His seizures abated after endoscopic endonasal debulking of the tumor. This report highlights isolated seizures as a potential sole presenting symptom of pituitary macroadenomas without visual or endocrine dysfunction. Prompt surgical debulking to relieve mass effect on the temporal lobe may effectively prevent further seizure activity.
The Impact of Pediatric Basal Ganglia Stroke on Mental Health in Children: Report of 2 Cases.

Background:The impact of basal ganglia stroke on mental health is better described in adults than in children. We report 2 children with significant mental health issues after basal ganglia stroke....
Second Primary Malignancies

Approximately 50,000 patients undergo hematopoietic cell transplantation worldwide each year. As survival continues to improve, we recognize the increased occurrence of late effects after transplant in survivors. One of the most impactful of these is second primary malignancies, the incidence of which increases with time posttransplant, and it is unlikely that a plateau is reached when compared to the general age- and sex-matched population. Incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of these second primary malignancies are discussed in this chapte. We also stress the importance of screening and preventive practices (including lifestyle modifications) that should be instituted to ensure early recognition, and appropriate treatment of these malignancies.
Temperature dependent spectral line shifts in crystalline and polycrystalline materials

The temperature dependence of optical window materials remains an important issue for the windows and domes community. Concerning the refractive index, current models are empirically based polynomial fits for the Sellmeier model strength and mode location parameters making it impossible to accurately extrapolate beyond the measured temperature range. Thus, the development of a theoretical model for spectral line shifts as a function of temperature is an important goal. Such a model will allow extrapolation as long as the physical mechanisms don’t change. For vibrational modes, a thermal average of the anharmonically shifted energy levels will be investigated and compared to experimental data. The first anharmonic term can be estimated using the Morse potential based multiphonon absorption model. Experimentally the modes red shift which is consistent with what the proposed model should predict.
Cytomegalovirus events in high-risk allogeneic hematopoietic-cell transplantation patients who received letermovir prophylaxis.

Letermovir is approved for the prevention of cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation and clinical disease in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic-cell transplantation (HCT). However, there is uncertainty about letermovir's ability to prevent clinical events during the period of prophylaxis as well as after the discontinuation of prophylaxis in the post-transplant setting. We performed a retrospective cohort study in CMV-seropositive allogeneic HCT recipients at high risk of CMV events, who received letermovir for primary prophylaxis from November 2017 through December 2019. We analyzed CMV outcomes for these patients during and after prophylaxis was discontinued. Patient outcomes were followed through June 2020. Sixty patients received letermovir for a median of 13 weeks (range, 1-72 weeks). Thirteen (22%) patients had quantifiable CMV DNAemia (reactivation) during letermovir prophylaxis a median of 9 days (range, 1-59 days) after starting letermovir. Five (8%) of these patients discontinued prophylaxis and received preemptive therapy (PET) with valganciclovir; eight (13%) continued letermovir as prophylaxis and CMV DNAemia resolved without PET. Thirteen patients (22%) had post-prophylaxis CMV reactivation a median of 33 days (range, 14-109 days) after letermovir discontinuation. In four (7%) of these patients, CMV DNAemia resolved without PET, and nine (15%) received PET. No patient developed CMV disease. Patients who developed CMV reactivation during prophylaxis did so shortly after initiation of letermovir, and most patients who developed CMV reactivation post-prophylaxis did so within 60 days after discontinuation of letermovir. Letermovir prophylaxis has changed the presentation of CMV infection in high-risk HCT patients.
Informed Trading in the Stock Market and CEO Turnover

The decision to replace a CEO may be the most important decision that a board of directors makes. We study the interaction between the CEO replacement decision and the informativeness of stock prices. We show that there is a fundamental tension between informed trading in a firm's stock and the use of that information for CEO replacement decisions. In reaction to the stock price change, the board may replace the CEO, improving the firm's future cash flows, but reducing expected profit that informed traders can derive from their private information. To the extent that the information in the stock price is used for disciplining the CEO by the board of directors, the informed trader has a reduced incentive to produce the information in the first place. Producing and trading on private information is most profitable in the stock of firms with poor corporate governance - precisely because it will not be acted upon - while less profitable at firms with better corporate governance. We test our model of this tension using the probability of informed trading (PIN) and the probability of forced CEO turnover in a simultaneous-equation system. The empirical results support the model predictions.
Second-Year Respiratory Therapy Students Increase Knowledge in a Tele-ICU Clinical Rotation

Background: Clinical rotations are foundational to student learning in respiratory therapy (RT) school. Telemedicine emerged as a means for managing critical care patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that a clinical rotation at a tele-ICU would increase student knowledge of mechanical ventilation, telemedicine, and COVID-19. Methods: Students from two universities completed clinical rotations in a tele-ICU as a part of an IRB-approved observational study. Two, four-hour shifts were spent with an RT preceptor. RTs rounded on 320 ICU beds at 5 hospitals. Patient assessments were completed at the request of RTs in the ICUs and clinical emergencies were addressed in real time via remote monitoring. Students completed a pre-rotation survey assessing their confidence evaluating and managing mechanical ventilation, experience with telemedicine and technology, ARDS and COVID-19 patients. At the end of the rotation, students completed a second survey assessing knowledge of the same concepts. Wilcoxon signed ranks was applied to compare pre- and post-clinical rotation self-confidence surveys (Likert scale 1 – 10). Data are reported as median (IQR). P Results: Thirty-three out of 37 students (89%) completed surveys pre- and post-clinical rotations. Of those, 67% (n = 22) were female. Fifty-five percent of students reported prior knowledge of telemedicine, while 52% had observed interactions with the tele-ICU in previous clinical rotations. Mean self-confidence in mechanical ventilation, assessing waveforms, and knowledge of ARDS increased after the clinical rotation (pre-rotation 7.0–8.0 [5.0–9.0], post-rotation 8.7–9.5 [8.0–10]; P = 0.001). Similarly, reported knowledge related to spontaneous breathing protocols, lung protective ventilation, patient care planning, and use of data collection tools increased from the beginning to the end of the clinical rotation (pre-rotation 6.5– 8.3 [5–9.5], post-rotation 8.8–9.9 [7.5–10]; P = 0.001– 0.009). Student confidence in interprofessional communication increased from 8.5 [6.9–9.8] to 9.5 [7.8–10] (P = 0.03). Overall, the largest change was students’ ability to assess COVID-19 patients (pre-rotation 5 [1.2–6.8], post-rotation 8 [5.9–10]; P = 0.001). Conclusions: Students’ knowledge and skills in assessing patients via remote monitoring increased in a tele-ICU clinical rotation. Knowledge related to COVID-19 also increased statistically significantly.
Origin of a washboard moraine of the Des Moines Lobe inferred from sediment properties

Abstract Geometric characteristics of the washboard moraines of the Des Moines Lobe (DML) of the Laurentide ice sheet agree with their proposed origin as crevasse-squeeze ridges, but study of their sediments is required to help further test this hypothesis. A 70-m-long, 3–5 m high section through a moraine ridge in central Iowa revealed till with irregular, isolated lenses of silt, sand, and gravel that dip to varying extents upglacier. The texture and density of the till are like those of the basal till of the DML studied elsewhere in Iowa, and preconsolidation pressures determined from tests on till and silt of the ridge indicate that it developed subglacially rather than at the glacier margin. Preconsolidation pressures additionally demonstrate that pore-water pressures in the bed supported most of the glacier's weight, which would have contributed to till mobility. Fabrics based on the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility of 3125 intact till specimens collected at 125 locations in the section indicate two end-member states of strain that varied with location in the ridge and caused sediment mounding: simple shear that was directed downglacier along shear planes inclined upglacier, together with pure shear where an overlying crevasse allowed the sediment bed to extend upward and laterally. Meltwater that likely flowed along the crevasse deposited sorted sediments that were incorporated in till, deformed, and rotated. This positive test of the crevasse-squeeze hypothesis indicates that the DML was in longitudinal extension near its margin, reinforcing previous arguments that the lobe surged. The predominance of fabrics caused by simple shear demonstrates that crevasse filling was underway before the surge had fully halted. This study should prompt caution in using similar transverse ridges, such as those geophysically imaged in some submarine glacier forefields, as indicators of retreat rates.
Abstract 2092: FOXO1/Sprouty2 pathway regulates vascular tumor growth

Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA Vascular tumors are endothelial cell neoplasms with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations, ranging from benign infantile hemangiomas in children to low-grade malignant hemangioendotheliomas and highly aggressive angiosarcomas in adults. To date, the molecular basis of vascular tumor pathogenesis is poorly understood and standard therapy for these tumors have limited clinical efficacy. Forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) is a transcription factor with tumor suppressor function and is dysregulated in human cancer. In this study, we showed that FOXO1 suppressed vascular tumor growth, and mechanistically, the inhibitory effects of FOXO1 were mediated by Sprouty2. FOXO1 expression was reduced in a variety of human vascular tumors examined (infantile hemangioma, hemangioendothelioma and angiosarcoma) as compared with normal blood vessels as determined by western blotting and immunohistochemical stains. Knockdown of FOXO1 gene expression with short hairpin RNA resulted in increased vascular tumor cell migration and proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Conversely, over-expression of constitutively active FOXO1 in these cells suppressed cell growth. We observed that FOXO1 interacted with Sprouty2 promoter in situ in chromatin immunoprecipitation assay and increased Sprouty2 gene expression in tumor cells. Similar to FOXO1, Sprouty2 expression was reduced in vascular tumors. Over-expression of Sprouty2 decreased tumor cell growth and migration. Conversely, knockdown of Sprouty2 increased tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown of Sprouty2 in cells with over-expression of constitutively active FOXO1 resulted in reduced tumor growth and “rescued” the FOXO1 phenotype, indicating that Sprouty2 is an important mediator of the biological effects of FOXO1. Microarray gene expression profiling of human angiosarcoma cells with Sprouty2 knockdown together with network data integration using bioinformatics analysis and validated by quantitative PCR revealed important Sprouty2-regulated genes that are involved in angiogenesis, apoptosis and growth signal transduction pathways, including the collagen gene family, Notch signaling pathway and the GTPase IMAP family members. In summary, these findings demonstrate important growth regulatory role of the FOXO1/Sprouty2 pathway in vascular tumors and highlight the potential roles of novel pathways downstream of Sprouty2 in these tumors. Citation Format: Sriram Ayyaswamy, Wa Du, Christopher Anderson, Thuy L. Phung. FOXO1/Sprouty2 pathway regulates vascular tumor growth. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2092. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2092
Adoptive T-Cell Transfer as a Clinical Antitumor Strategy for Hematologic Malignancies

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation remains the only widely accepted and effective form of T-cell immunotherapy for blood cancers including lymphoma, myeloma, and leukemia. However this therapy carries substantial risks and is available to only a minority of patients who have suitable donors. The goal of harnessing autologous (patient derived) T-cells to treat blood cancers has been elusive. Nonetheless, new insights into T-cell biology and advances in vaccine and T-cell culture technology have provided a foundation for the development and clinical application of autologous T-cell immunotherapy. Two major but intersecting strategies have been used to stimulate antitumor immunity in patients: therapeutic or “active” immunization using putative cancer-based vaccines and “passive” immunization chiefly referring to the transfer of autologous (or allogeneic) T-cells into tumor-bearing hosts. This chapter briefly reviews the early studies that formed the basis for adoptive T-cell immunotherapy and then focuses on the growing clinical experience of using adoptive T-cell transfer therapy for immune reconstitution and treatment of hematological malignancies. Historically, most of this experience involves the transfer of cultured, poly-specific T-cells obtained from tumor-bearing tissues or peripheral blood. However, advances in the efficiency and safety of gene-transfer technology are driving efforts to generate T-cells with predetermined specificity for known tumor antigens and enhanced functional properties as well. Recent clinical success using adoptive transfer of genetically altered T-cells in the setting of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia, although limited to a small number of patients, has generated increasing interest and has validated the therapeutic potential inherent in T-cell transfer strategies.
Observation of anomalous diffusion and Lévy flights

Chaotic transport is studied experimentally in two-dimensional flow in a rapidly rotating annular tank. The flow consists of a chain of vortices sandwiched between two azimuthal jets. Automated image processing techniques are used to track the motions of neutrally buoyant tracer particles suspended in the flow. If the flow has periodic time dependence, the tracers typically follow chaotic trajectories, alternately sticking in vortices and flying for long distances in the jets. Probability distribution functions (PDFs) are measured for sticking and flight times. The flight PDFs are power laws, indicating in some cases that the particle motion can be characterized as Levy flights (with a divergent second moment for flight times). The variance of an ensemble of particles is found to vary in time as σ2 ∼ tγ, with γ > 1 (superdiffusion). The dependence of the variance exponent γ on the flight and sticking PDFs is studied and found to be consistent with calculations relating Levy flights and anomalous diffusion (γ ≄ 1). In a turbulent flow, Levy flights no longer are present and the mixing appears to be normally diffusive (γ = 1). A review of previous experiments on anomalous diffusion is included.
Probiotics, prebiotics & synbiotics in small intestinal bacterial overgrowth: opening up a new therapeutic horizon!

The human intestinal microbiota is a complex community comprised a myriad of bacterial species. Disruption of homeostasis in the small intestinal microbial community can lead to significant clinical consequences, most notably small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO); a situation where bacteria are present, not only in greater numbers, but also in a distribution more commonly associated with the colon. Classically, SIBO was recognized as an important cause of maldigestion and malabsorption; more recently, SIBO has been implicated in a variety of clinical scenarios ranging from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to unexplained diarrhoea and the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Traditionally, SIBO was clinically defined on the basis of quantitative cultures of jejunal aspirates with the presence of more than 105 colony forming unit (cfu)/ml of proximal jejunal aspirate being regarded as diagnostic1. This approach, due to its invasive nature and resultant costs has fallen into abeyance and, in clinical practice, has been replaced either by cultures of duodenal aspirates obtained via an endoscope or, more commonly, by hydrogen breath tests (HBTs) performed using substrates such as lactulose or glucose. Despite their ease of performance and acceptability to patients, HBTs have been criticized on the basis of considerable variability in sensitivity and specificity, as well as their inability to detect bacterial overgrowth in the more distant reaches of the small intestine and their failure to detect overgrowth by non-H2-producing bacteria2,3. Currently, there is a lack of consensus on how to define an abnormal breath test with no agreement on either the optimal duration of sampling or the best cut-off level to define a positive test3. The lack of an accepted “gold standard” for the clinical definition of SIBO, especially, in a non-classical clinical scenario, represents a major challenge for the clinician.
Learning about being a scientist from the vitamin B12 structure collaboration.

This historical note reviews the work that resulted in the publication of the structure of Vitamin B12. The collaborations and resulting friendships that developed during this time made a strong impression on the author and encouraged her to pursue a scientific career. 2014 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 42(6):507–509, 2014.
Probabilistic measures for assessing appropriateness of robust design optimization solutions

Robust design optimization (RDO) is a popular framework for addressing uncertainties in the design of engineering systems by considering different statistical measures, typically the mean and standard deviation of the system response. RDO can lead to a wide range of different candidate designs, establishing a different compromise between these competing objectives. This work introduces a new robustness measure, termed probability of dominance, for assessing the appropriateness of each candidate design. This measure is defined as the likelihood that a particular design will outperform the rival designs within a candidate set. Furthermore, a multi-stage implementation is introduced to facilitate increased versatility/confidence in the decision-making process by considering the comparison among smaller subsets within the initial larger set of candidate designs. For enhancing the robustness in these comparisons the impact of prediction errors, introduced to address potential differences between the real (i.e. as built) system and the numerical model adopted for it, is also addressed. This extends to proper modeling of the influence of the prediction error, including selection of its probability model, as well as evaluation of its impact on the probability of dominance and on the RDO formulation itself. Two illustrative examples are presented, the first considering the design of a tuned mass damper (TMD) for vibration mitigation of harmonic excitations and the second a topology optimization problem for minimum compliance. Extensive comparisons are presented in these two examples and the discussions demonstrate the power of the proposed approach for assessing the designs' robustness.
Use of a computer simulation model to evaluate a plant disease biocontrol agent

Abstract A computer simulation model (INHIBSIM) was developed to predict population dynamics of a bacterial biological control agent ( Pseudomonas fluorescens ) on the foliage of red pine ( Pinus resinosa ) seedlings, and subsequent effects on conidial germination of a fungal plant pathogen ( Gremmeniella abietina ). The model was tested under controlled-environment and field conditions. Recoverable populations of bacteria were extremely sensitive to leaf wetness but relatively insensitive to temperature. Germination of conidia was insensitive to small variations in bacterial concentration. Successful biological control of foliar plant pathogens using bacterial antagonists will require identification of agents that do not require dense concentrations to be effective and development of techniques (formulation, environmental manipulation) to enhance their survival. Predictive population models can identify and quantify these requirements, and reduce the costs of evaluating and developing potential biocontrol agents.
Elastic stress relaxation: A mechanism for opposite sense of secondary faulting with respect to a major fault

Abstract The motion along a major fault perturbs the local stress field and produces numerous secondary fractures. Among these, the secondary fractures that have the opposite sense of motion with respect to the main fault are particularly intriguing. For example, the right-lateral/reverse motion of the Ms 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake of 18 October 1989 produced a series of left-lateral/normal fractures, located in a narrow zone about 1 km in widt subparallel to the trace of the San Andreas fault. Through a rigorous inversion of geodetic data associated with the earthquake that allowed the slip to vary on the rupture surface, we studied the origin of the left-lateral/normal fractures by comparing the location, orientation and slip sense of the observed fractures with the perturbed elastic stress field calculated from the estimated slip distribution of the earthquake. The perturbed state of stress at the Earth's surface is complex, and the greatest principal stress changes from horizontal to vertical. The area of left-lateral/tensile state of stress coincides with that of the observed left-lateral/normal fractures. The magnitudes of the induced fault-normal tensile stresses of 60–120 bars and left-lateral fault-parallel shear stresses of 0–4 bars in the area are large enough to produce the ground failures. Thus, the observed left-lateral/normal fractures adjacent to the San Andreas fault are interpreted to be related to coseismic elastic stress relaxation. The same mechanism can also be used to explain the normal faulting in the upthrown blocks of the thrust faults which produced the 1980 El Asnam, Algeria and the 1968 Tokachi-Oki, Japan earthquakes.
Pirimiphos-methyl: Gradient of Effective Doses on Hard Winter Wheat Against Attack of Four Species of Adult Insects

Pirimiphos-methyl was applied to cleaned hard winter wheat as a water emulsion at gradient doses from 1–10 ppm AI. Then the relative effectiveness of residues in samples withdrawn at intenals during a 12-mo storage period was determined against adults of 4 common species of stored-grain insects. The order of tolerance was: confused flour beetles, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin duVal, > lesser grain borers, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.), > red flour beetles, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), > rice weevils, Sitophilus oryzae (L.).
Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging of Epitaxial Nanostructures Using Focused Hard X‐ray Ptychography

We present a data collection approach for nanofocused Bragg coherent x‐ray diffraction imaging (CXDI), a technique that can extend the resolution of x‐ray nanoprobes and isolate individual nanostructures for study. Nanofocused Bragg CXDI uses hard x‐rays focused to <100 nm to measure volumetric diffraction peaks with curved phase illumination. Here, we discuss the experimental challenges associated with this measurement and present the first coherent Bragg volumes measured from an individual β‐Bi2O3 epitaxial nanocrystal.
Time-frequency approximation methods for driven systems

A method aimed at approximating the solution to differential equations with driving terms and whose solutions are non-stationary signals is described. The author has previously examined, using the approach of Galleani and Cohen the validity of the approximation method in phase space using the Wigner-distribution. He applied the method to second order differential equations and used for driving terms a variety of forcing functions that have smoothed and monotonically increasing phase functions. By examining the results, insight is gained into the nature of the solution and the associated dynamics of the system. This paper examines the approximation methods when the spectrogram is used, the spectrogram being the most widely used time-frequency distribution. The results show that the approximation scheme works very well for the spectrogram and in many cases works better than for the Wigner distribution.
Low-coherence Doppler lidar technique for satellite remote wind sensing

A clear need exists for improved soundings of the atmospheric state for purposes of weather prediction. In particular, lidar offers the promise of making detailed profile measurements from space of temperature, water vapor, and perhaps most importantly, wind speed and direction. In order to make satellite Doppler lidar wind measurements both feasible and practical in the troposphere and lower stratosphere, Doppler measurements using both aerosol and molecular scattered signals will be required. This suggests a lidar system operating in the visible or near ultraviolet to exploit the strong molecular scattering at these wavelengths. Additionally, the hardware constraints imposed by spaceborne large aperture optics make the use of a non- diffraction limited receiving telescope or telescopes very attractive. This effectively discourages the possibility of making this type of measurement from a satellite platform by coherent detection means. A technique for making Doppler wind measurements using low-coherence Doppler lidar will be described and ground-based measurements demonstrating the capability will be shown. The technique utilizes high spectral resolution Fabry-Perot interferometry to measure the small Doppler shift and is equally applicable to aerosol or molecular scattering. In particular, the scalability of this type of lidar system to full spaceborne use will be discussed.