cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Endothelial and Epithelial Cells Do Not Respond to Complexes of Peptidoglycan with Soluble CD14 but Are Activated Indirectly by Peptidoglycan-Induced Tumor Necrosis Factor-a and Interleukin-1 from Monocytes

Peptidoglycan (PGN) activates macrophages through membrane CD14 (an endotoxin receptor) and binds to both soluble and membrane CD14. Since soluble CD14-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) complexes activate CD14-negative endothelial and epithelial cells, this study tested whether soluble CD14-PGN complexes activate human umbilical vein endothelial cells and epithelial-like U373 cells to secrete interleukin (IL)-6, express vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1, and translocate nuclear factor-kappaB. In contrast to LPS, endothelial, epithelial, and other cells of non-hemopoietic origin were unresponsive to PGN through soluble or membrane-bound CD14, whereas cells of hemopoietic origin were responsive to both PGN and LPS. PGN, similarly to LPS, activated endothelial and epithelial cells indirectly in the presence of 2%-4% blood, by inducing secretion of both tumor necrosis factor-alpha and IL-1 from monocytes. These results reveal different mechanisms of CD14 function and cell activation for LPS and PGN and also demonstrate strong indirect activation of endothelial and epithelial cells by both PGN and LPS.
Dobrushin uniqueness techniques and the decay of correlations in continuum statistical mechanics

Uniqueness of Gibbs states and decay properties of averaged, two point correlation functions are proved for many-body potentials in continuum statistical mechanical models via Dobrushin uniqueness techniques.
Effects of particle‐phase turbulence in gas‐solid flows

Numerous experimental investigations on the vertical transport of dense gas–solid suspensions indicate that particles tend to segregate toward the tube wall. Although models based on the kinetic theory analogy can predict such patterns for perfectly elastic particle-particle collisions, the predictive ability of these models breaks down for inelastic collisions. In the present effort, a mathematical model is developed that incorporates two mechanisms that give rise to the lateral segregation of solids: interactions associated with individual particles based on a kinetic theory treatment and interactions associated with collections of particles based on an analogy with single-phase turbulent flows. Although these two mechanisms have been treated independently by previous workers, their combined contributions to the overall flow behavior have not been thoroughly investigated. The effect of such a treatment on the sensitivity of the model predictions to the inelasticity of particle–particle collisions is explored. A key element in eliminating the undue sensitivity appears to be a consideration of the effects associated with the collective motion of particles on the kinetic theory expressions. The resulting model can predict the expected segregation patterns for systems characterized by inelastic collisions, as well as many of the other salient features of vertical gas–solid flows.
SPV: secure path vector routing for securing BGP

As our economy and critical infrastructure increasingly relies on the Internet, the insecurity of the underlying border gateway routing protocol (BGP) stands out as the Achilles heel. Recent misconfigurations and attacks have demonstrated the brittleness of BGP. Securing BGP has become a priority.In this paper, we focus on a viable deployment path to secure BGP. We analyze security requirements, and consider tradeoffs of mechanisms that achieve the requirements. In particular, we study how to secure BGP update messages against attacks. We design an efficient cryptographic mechanism that relies only on symmetric cryptographic primitives to guard an ASPATH from alteration, and propose the Secure Path Vector (SPV) protocol. In contrast to the previously proposed S-BGP protocol, SPV is around 22 times faster. With the current effort to secure BGP, we anticipate that SPV will contribute several alternative mechanisms to secure BGP, especially for the case of incremental deployments.
National spherical torus experiment (NSTX) Center Stack Upgrade

The purpose of the NSTX Center Stack Upgrade project is to expand the NSTX operational space and thereby the physics basis for next-step ST facilities. The plasma aspect ratio (ratio of plasma major to minor radius) of the upgrade is increased to 1.5 from the original value of 1.26, which increases the cross sectional area of the center stack by a factor of ∼ 3 and makes possible higher levels of performance and pulse duration.
The Portuguese Slave Trade From Angola in the Eighteenth Century

Recently the Atlantic slave trade has received scholarly attention through the work of European and American historians. Account books of European merchants engaged in the slave trade, studies of the exports of given continental ports, and analyses of special trade routes have all led to a greater understanding of the dynamics of the trade. Also, the important work of Philip Curtin on the volume and direction of the entire Atlantic slave trade has finally provided us with the rough parameters of the trade in terms of total numbers.
Armillaria mellea: Growth and distribution of rhizomorphs in the forest soils of Newfoundland1

The growth and distribution of rhizomorphs as shown by their amount and length, amount and type of branching, and depth of soil up to which they can grow, depend on the type of site and soil conditions, and host species.
System prototype design for a 16-K bps adaptive vector quantization waveform coder

The system design of an adaptive vector quantizer (AVQ) for waveform coding is presented. The goal of this effort is the development of a 16-kb/s AVQ coder prototype system which can be used as an alternative to 32-kb/s adaptive delta pulse code modulation (ADPCM). The major components of the board are an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) AVQ chip, a 1 M*8 RAM, 64 kbit/s pulse-code modulation (PCM) codec, a 16 kb/s USART, and clock circuitry. The system level computer-aided design (CAD) tools are presented for an Apollo/Mentor Graphics platform. The integration of ASIC chip design with system hardware/software description is discussed. Both chip- and board-level simulation, routing, library functionality, and fabrication turnaround are presented. A demonstration of the CAD tools is shown. >
Simulated Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy via scattering on a dense, randomly-oriented, array of nanostructures

As a verification of our Monte Carlo algorithm, we have validated our results against the results presented in [3], for scattering on a distribution of ellipsoidal scatterers in free space. As a demonstration of preliminary results from our periodic code we present the following figures. They illustrates the absolute value of the z component of the Poynting vector sampled in both the near- and far-field (∽ 25nm and ∽ 20µm, respectively) above a ∽ (695nm)3 unit cell containing N s = 512 prolate spheroidal scatters with equation, ‖r ic ‖ = 75nm, and ‖r ia ‖ = 25nm. The exciting field is a normally incident plane wave with ⋋=600nm. Periodicity of the fields in the x and y directions is distinctly observable.
Demonstration of pilot‐scale pervaporation systems for volatile organic compound removal from a surfactant enhanced aquifer remediation fluid II. Hollow fiber membrane modules

Pilot-scale demonstration of pervaporation-based removal of volatile organic compounds from a surfactant enhanced aquifer remediation (SEAR) fluid has been conducted at U.S. EPA's Test & Evaluation Facility using hollow fiber membrane modules. The membranes consisted of microporous hydrophobic polypropylene fibers having a thin plasmapolymerized silicone layer on the outside surface. The SEAR fluid was allowed to flow through the fiber bores at 35–45° C, while vacuum was pulled on the shell side. The SEAR fluid was obtained from a pilot-scale demonstration at Hill Air Force Base, Layton, Utah, and contained trichloroethylene (TCE) at 3,000 mg/L, 1, 1, 1-trichloroethane (TCA) at 450 mg/L and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at 400 mg/L along with 2.5 wt % anionic surfactant, 1.5 wt % isopropyl alcohol, 1 wt % salt and a small amount of nonvolatile oil/grease. The hollow fiber modules were run at flow rates of 0.25-1 gpm for a period of 8-10 hours every day for a total of six weeks along with a continuous 40-hour run using the SEAR fluid. The modules were never washed with any fluid. The performance of the hollow fiber modules was stable and satisfactory vis-a-vis VOC removal and pressure drop considerations.
Error Detection and Correction Codes

This article presents an elementary introduction to the encoding methods used for error detection and correction in communication processes. These methods have been developed following the pioneering work of Claude Shannon in the 1940s that founded Information Theory. Information theory studies in mathematical terms how to transmit messages in a reliable way using communication channels that necessarily introduce “noise” or errors in the messages. The key point for the implementation of error-free communication is the encoding of the information to be transmitted in such a way that: (a) some extent of redundancy is included in the encoded data, and (b) a method for efficient decoding at the receiver is available. These two requirements together usually imply that the data to be transmitted need to be mathematically organized, often following principles borrowed from discrete group theory. In this article a review of encoding methods so far developed for this end is given. Just as it is clear that error-correcting coding methods represent a key feature for the development of successful practical communication technologies, it is also becoming ever more clear that living organisms need to resort to analogous strategies for optimizing the flux and integrity of biological information. In addition to the general theoretical constraints which every communication system needs to obey, the possible role of such error detection and correction codes in biological (genetic and neural) systems is briefly discussed here, and a new possibility for implementing error detection and correction based on generic properties of nonlinear dynamical systems and their associated symbolic dynamics is presented.
Forest Pattern, Fire, and Climatic Change in the Sierra Nevada

In the Sierra Nevada, distributions of forest tree species are largely controlled by the soil-moisture balance. Changes in temperature or precipitation as a result of increased greenhouse gas concentrations could lead to changes in species distributions. In addition, climatic change could increase the frequency and severity of wildfires. We used a forest gap model developed for Sierra Nevada forests to investigate the potential sensitivity of these forests to climatic change, including a changing fire regime. Fuel moisture influences the fire regime and couples fire to climate. Fires are also affected by fuel loads, which accumulate according to forest structure and composition. These model features were used to investigate the complex interactions between climate, fire, and forest dynamics. Eight hypothetical climate-change scenarios were simulated, including two general circulation model (GCM) predictions of a2 3CO2 world. The response of forest structure, species composition, and the fire regime to these changes in the climate were examined at four sites across an elevation gradient. Impacts on woody biomass and species composition as a result of climatic change were site specific and depended on the environmental constraints of a site and the environmental tolerances of the tree species simulated. Climatic change altered the fire regime both directly and indirectly. Fire frequency responded directly to climate’s influence on fuel moisture, whereas fire extent was affected by changes that occurred in either woody biomass or species composition. The influence of species composition on fuel-bed bulk density was particularly important. Future fires in the Sierra Nevada could be both more frequent and of greater spatial extent if GCM predictions prove true.
Genomic Approaches to the Study of Transcription Factors

Transcription factors (TFs) are responsible for regulating the temporal and tissue specific expression of the genome. Identifying the complete battery of genes that are targeted by individual TFs, how these target genes interact within a cellular network, and the role these networks play in various disease states is essential to pharmacology and toxicology research. Genomic tools have been and are being developed to address these issues on a global scale. The most widely used tool among them is the microarray. cDNA and oligonucleotide arrays have become standard tools to study TFs and identify regulatory networks. Understanding microarray data requires careful attention to experimental design, platforms, model systems and data analysis. Microarray data analysis has also become increasingly complex with the use of various error models and clustering algorithms. Finally, new in silico approaches have been utilized to further characterize TF signaling networks. These approaches utilize computer based modeling, chromatin immunoprecipitation and microarray experiments. The application of these approaches and some concerns with the various approaches and their application to TF research are discussed.
The Split Population Logit (SPopLogit): Modeling Measurement Bias in Binary Data

Researchers frequently face applied situations where their measurement of a binary outcome suffers from bias. Social desirability bias in survey work is the most widely appreciated circumstance, but the strategic incentives of human beings similarly induce bias in many measures outside of survey research (e.g., whether the absence of an armed attack indicates a country’s satisfaction with the status quo or a calculation that the likely costs of war outweigh the likely benefits). In these circumstances the data we are able to observe do not reflect the distribution we wish to observe. This study introduces a statistical model that permits researchers to model the process that produces the bias, the split population logit (SPopLogit) model. It further presents a Monte Carlo simulation that demonstrates the ffectiveness of SPopLogit, and then reanalyzes a study of sexual infidelity to illustrate the richness of the quantities of (empirical and theoretical) interest that can be estimated with the model. Stata ado files that can be used to invoke SPopLogit, as well as batch files illustrating how to simulate commonly reported quantities of interest, are available for download from the WWW. The authors close by briefly identifying just a few of the many types of research projects that will benefit from abandoning logit and probit models in favor of SPopLogit.
Food Insecurity and Eating Behavior Relationships Among Congregate Meal Participants in Georgia

This study explored relationships of food insecurity with cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating behaviors among congregate meal participants in northeast Georgia [n = 118 years, age 60 years and older, mean (SD) age = 75 ( 8 ) years, 75% female, 43% Black, 53% obese (Body Mass Index ≥ 30)]. Food insecurity was assessed with a 6-item questionnaire. Scores ranged from 0 to 6 and were defined as high or marginal food security, FS, 0-1 (70%); low food security, LFS, 2-4 (20%); very low food security, VLFS, 5-6 (10%); and low and very low food security, LVLFS, 2-6 (30%). Eating behavior was assessed with an 18-item Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire R-18. In bivariate analyses food insecurity was consistently associated with cognitive restraint scores above the median split and to a lesser extent with uncontrolled eating scores (p ≤ 0.05). No association was found between emotional eating and food insecurity. In multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses, food insecurity was consistently associated with cognitive restraint (p ≤ 0.05) even when controlled for potential confounders (demographics, Body Mass Index, and chronic diseases). Food insecurity was also associated with uncontrolled eating (p ≤ 0.05), but the relationship was attenuated when controlled for potential confounding variables. Although cognitive restraint is defined as the conscious restriction of food intake to control body weight or promote weight loss, these findings suggest there may be other dimensions of cognitive restraint to consider in nutritional assessment and interventions among food-insecure older adults.
Neuropathologic comorbidity and cognitive impairment in the Nun and Honolulu-Asia Aging Studies

Objective: To examine frequencies and relationships of 5 common neuropathologic abnormalities identified at autopsy with late-life cognitive impairment and dementia in 2 different autopsy panels. Methods: The Nun Study (NS) and the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS) are population-based investigations of brain aging that included repeated cognitive assessments and comprehensive brain autopsies. The neuropathologic abnormalities assessed were Alzheimer disease (AD) neuropathologic changes, neocortical Lewy bodies (LBs), hippocampal sclerosis, microinfarcts, and low brain weight. Associations with screening tests for cognitive impairment were examined. Results: Neuropathologic abnormalities occurred at levels ranging from 9.7% to 43%, and were independently associated with cognitive impairment in both studies. Neocortical LBs and AD changes were more frequent among the predominantly Caucasian NS women, while microinfarcts were more common in the Japanese American HAAS men. Comorbidity was usual and very strongly associated with cognitive impairment. Apparent cognitive resilience (no cognitive impairment despite Braak stage V) was strongly associated with minimal or no comorbid abnormalities, with fewer neocortical AD lesions, and weakly with longer interval between final testing and autopsy. Conclusions: Total burden of comorbid neuropathologic abnormalities, rather than any single lesion type, was the most relevant determinant of cognitive impairment in both cohorts, often despite clinical diagnosis of only AD. These findings emphasize challenges to dementia pathogenesis and intervention research and to accurate diagnoses during life.
Fertility of Male and Female Broiler Breeders Following Exposure to Elevated Ambient Temperatures

Abstract Because elevated ambient temperatures decrease fertility, this study was designed to segregate the male and female contribution to heat stress infertility in broiler breeders. Eighty hens and 16 roosters at 21 wk of age were divided equally among two heat stress (S) and two control (C) temperature chambers. For a 10-wk pretreatment period, all birds were maintained at an ambient temperature of 21.1 C and 40% relative humidity. Following the pretreatment period, birds in the S chambers were acclimated for 1 wk at a constant temperature of 29.4 C after which the temperature in the S chambers was increased to 32.2 C for 8 wk. The temperature in the two C chambers was maintained at 21.1 C. Hens in each chamber were artificially inseminated on a weekly basis with 5 × 107 sperm per 50 μL from either C or S males. Egg production, semen volume, spermatocrit, and percentage dead sperm were similar during the acclimation period, even though body temperature was significantly elevated in S birds (41.8 vs 41.3 C). Sperm penetration of the perivitelline layer overlying the germinal disc (GD) was decreased in eggs from hens inseminated with semen from S males compared to eggs from hens inseminated with semen from C males (9.5 vs 23.4 sperm per GD). Following the acclimation period, body temperature remained elevated in the S birds compared to the C birds (42.2 vs 41.3 C). Also, egg production was depressed in the S vs C hens (55.8 vs 82.9%). Semen volume, spermatocrit, and percentage dead sperm were not affected by S treatment. However, when hens were inseminated with semen from S males, sperm penetration of the perivitelline layer overlying the GD and egg fertility were decreased compared to hens inseminated with semen from C males (5.4 vs 14.9 sperm per GD, 45.5 vs 73.8% fertility). In conclusion, the male bird appears to contribute more to heat stress infertility than the female.
Tensile Mechanics of α-Helical Polypeptides

We have developed a statistical mechanical model of the force–extension behavior of α-helical polypeptides, by coupling a random-coil polypeptide elastic model of an inhomogeneous partially freely rotating chain, with the latest version of the helix–coil transition model AGADIR. The model is capable of making quantitatively accurate predictions of force–extension behavior of a given polypeptide sequence including its dependence on pH, temperature and ionic strength. This makes the model a valuable tool for single-molecule protein unfolding experimental studies. Our model predicts the highly reversible unraveling of α-helical structures at small forces of about 20 pN, in good agreement with recent experimental studies.
Abstract ED05-01: Diet, physical activity and the prevention of obesity-related breast cancer: Lessons learned from transdisciplinary research

Randomized clinical trials, observational epidemiologic studies, behavioral intervention studies, and basic animal and cellular/molecular research have complementary and synergistic roles in advancing knowledge on food, nutrition, physical activity and cancer prevention. In most cases, a single study (of any type) is unlikely to provide sufficient evidence of causal associations, and the entire available body of data from various perspectives and disciplines is necessary to provide the best evidence for the relationship between a dietary factor and cancer risk. One way to accelerate research progress in this area is to form transdisciplinary teams to approach a research problem on a multilevel basis. As but one example, the convergence of evidence supporting obesity and obesity-related biomarkers as risk factors for cancer, based on both human and animal studies, supports the recommendations from multiple agencies that persons “be as lean as possible, within the normal range of body weight”. However, with nearly 7 in 10 US adults currently at an unhealthy weight, and given the established associations between excess weight and many cancers s well as the difficulty many have in losing weight, new evidence-based targets and strategies are necessary to break obesity-cancer links. This presentation will discuss lessons learned from a transdiciplinary approach that bridges animal model and mechanistic studies with randomized breast cancer prevention trials. Citation Format: Stephen D. Hursting. Diet, physical activity, and the prevention of obesity-related breast cancer: Lessons learned from transdisciplinary research. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2012 Oct 16-19; Anaheim, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Prev Res 2012;5(11 Suppl):Abstract nr ED05-01.
The Social Intelligence of Acting Students

ABSTRACT American acting students were asked to predict the ratings made by the general population of undergraduate psychology students on an adjective checklist dealing with several professions, one of which was acting. The same task was set for two benchmark comparison groups (psychology graduate students and a sample from the general population of students). Chi-square comparisons of the ratings of the undergraduate psychology students and their predicted ratings by the acting students revealed that the acting students achieved a 70% correct prediction rate. Chi-square analyses of the performance of the psychology graduate students and the general student sample showed that the acting students' predictions were inferior to those of the psychology graduate students but no different from those of the general undergraduate student sample. The acting students were more accurate in predicting the endorsement of negative adjectives (100%) than positive adjectives (55%). The acting students tended to distrust...
Automated creation of a custom VCL cloud infrastructure

This paper describes an inter-institutional, collaborative project to automate the entire process of creating a robust enterprise network with an integrated VCL cloud. The audience is individuals seeking to establish a VCL site in environments having little or no enterprise IT infrastructure. The starting point is one or more computers with no software installed. Connection to the internet is not required. A modular approach allows the option to not create some infrastructure elements. The solution is completely open source. A secondary benefit and use of the process is the establishment of a virtualisation platform for IT infrastructure, with the attendant advantage of capital and operating cost savings.
Psychometric Properties of the Shipley Block Design Task: A Study With Jamaican Young Adults:

We examined the structure of the new Block Patterns (BP) test from the Shipley Institute of Living Scale–Second Edition in a sample of Jamaican young adults. To date, very little has been published on the properties of this subtest’s items and scores. The BP test is similar in design to the Block Design subtest found in many cognitive ability assessments but uses a matching format that minimizes the need for excess materials and time. We analyzed the BP items using item response theory (IRT) methods. Although designed to measure a single construct, the analyses from this study found that the BP subtest is likely measuring more than a single construct, which confounds the interpretation of the instrument’s scores. Before the subtest is used clinically, more research should be done to purposefully investigate the effects of ancillary variables on its scores.
An Analysis of Internal Knowledge Transfer Process Mechanism in R&D Teams

Effective knowledge transfer is the key to enhance the level of knowledge innovation in RD teams.Combining the theories of knowledge management and organizational learning theories,the paper reveals the general process of knowledge transfer within the RD team,and presents the mechanistic model of the process of knowledge transfer in RD team.At the same time,the paper gives a brief analysis of factors that affect the knowledge transfer process of RD team.
Surgical treatment of pseudomyxoma peritonei

The surgical treatment of cancer is dictated by the anatomic location of the tumor and its histologic grade of malignancy. In lesions of low-grade mali­gnancy such as mucinous adenocarcinoma which may appear in the colon or appendix, resection including minimal margins (less than 1 mm) of healthy tis­sue has resulted in cure. Unfortunately, when the primary tumor extends through peritoneal cavity. The resulting clinical entry is commonly referred to as cystadenocarcinoma, malignant pseudomyxoma peritonei or mucinous peri­toneal carcinomatosis. In the past, it was considered impossible to render patients, who had peritoneal carcinomatosis, clinically free of tumor.
Multinational Enterprises as Agencies for Economic Development

During the 1950s and 1960s the large multinational enterprise — and primarily the business based in the United States — emerged as a potent agent of economic transformation and development, not only in the more laggard “developed” countries but also in the developing countries of the world. Both economic theory and economic policy have been slow in recognising this phenomenon.
Ethics in Educational Technology: Towards a Framework for Ethical Decision Making in and for the Discipline

This special issue of ETR&D is devoted to ethics in the broad domain of educational technology. Many ethical issues arise involving the study and use of educational technologies. A well-known issue involves the digital divide and the degree to which the introduction of new technologies is increasing the digital divide and disadvantaging some students while benefitting others. The potential of educational technologies to improve learning and instruction is generally well known. Many of the problems associated with the successful implementation of educational technologies are also generally well known. However the ethical issues involved with educational technology implementation, use and research are not well explored nor widely known. This paper provides a preliminary framework for ethical decision making with regard to educational technologies.
Metabolic engineering of Methanosarcina acetivorans for lactate production from methane.

We previously demonstrated anaerobic conversion of the greenhouse gas methane into acetate using an engineered archaeon that produces methyl-coenzyme M reductase (Mcr) from unculturable microorganisms from a microbial mat in the Black Sea to create the first culturable prokaryote that reverses methanogenesis and grows anaerobically on methane. In this work, we further engineered the same host with the goal of converting methane into butanol. Instead, we discovered a process for converting methane to a secreted valuable product, L-lactate, with sufficient optical purity for synthesizing the biodegradable plastic poly-lactic acid. We determined that the 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (Hbd) from Clostridium acetobutylicum is responsible for lactate production. This work demonstrates the first metabolic engineering of a methanogen with a synthetic pathway; in effect, we produce a novel product (lactate) from a novel substrate (methane) by cloning the three genes for Mcr and one for Hbd. We further demonstrate the utility of anaerobic methane conversion with an increased lactate yield compared to aerobic methane conversion to lactate. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 852–861. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Radiology of Hip Injuries

The purpose of this chapter is to provide guidance for the appropriate radiographic evaluation of hip pain and injuries in the athlete. The importance of correlating history and physical examination with appropriate imaging is emphasized. The topics that are covered include radiologic work-up and presentation of common osseous, articular, and soft tissue injury.
Outcomes of Ruptured Aortic Aneurysm: Early and Late

Without repair, ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) remains uniformly fatal. While nearly 50 % of patients are believed to die prior to hospital arrival, even with surgery, rAAA carries a significant risk of morbidity and mortality. Endovascular approaches were initially hoped to impart significant benefit compared to open surgical repair; however, randomized controlled trials performed to date have failed to demonstrate a significant advantage. While several retrospective series do suggest a benefit, these can be subject to confounding and bias. In this chapter, the existing data on early and late outcomes after repair of rAAA is presented.
"Benchmarking the Frequency, Content, and Efficacy of Peer Reporting Policies"

Employee theft, verbal altercations between co-workers, and destruction of company property are a few examples of employee misbehaviors that threaten an organization’s effectiveness. These misbehav...
Rubens, Calderón y los dioses de «La vida es sueño»: Urano, Saturno, Júpiter

This essay studies two myths that have been proposed as sources for La vida es sueno : the myth of Uranus castrated by Saturn and the story of Saturn dethroned by Jupiter. While both have to do with the confrontation between father and son (Basilio and Segismundo), each brings different themes and motifs to the work. The first has to do with the retention of power and the opposition to freedom; while the second appears in its astrological sense. Basilio is related to the malefic influence of Saturn that leads to incarceration. In its positive aspects, the saturnine influences that fall upon Segismundo allow him to eventually conceive a broader vision, thus pardoning the father and becoming part of a new Golden Age presaged by Rosaura/Astraea. Ruben’s painting, Saturn Devouring his Son , help us to visualize the complementarity that exists between the two major myths that are at the basis of the conflict in Calderon’s work
Dynamic compression of human and ovine meniscal tissue compared with a potential thermoplastic elastomer hydrogel replacement

Understanding how human meniscal tissue responds to loading regimes mimetic of daily life as well as how it compares to larger animal models is critical in the development of a functionally accurate synthetic surrogate. Seven human and eight ovine cadaveric meniscal specimens were regionally sectioned into cylinders 5 mm in diameter and 3 mm thick along with 10 polystyrene-b-polyethylene oxide block copolymer-based thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) hydrogels. Samples were compressed to 12% strain at 1 Hz for 5000 cycles, unloaded for 24 h, and then retested. No differences were found within each group between test one and test two. Human and ovine tissue exhibited no regional dependency (p < 0.05). Human samples relaxed quicker than ovine tissue or the TPE hydrogel with modulus values at cycle 50 not significantly different from cycle 5000. Ovine menisci were found to be similar to human menisci in relaxation profile but had significantly higher modulus values (3.44 MPa instantaneous and 0.61 MPa after 5000 cycles compared with 1.97 and 0.11 MPa found for human tissue) and significantly different power law fit coefficients. The TPE hydrogel had an initial modulus of 0.58 MPa and experienced less than a 20% total relaxation over the 5000. Significant differences in the magnitude of compressive modulus between human and ovine menisci were observed, however the relaxation profiles were similar. Although statistically different than the native tissues, modulus values of the TPE hydrogel material were similar to those of the human and ovine menisci, making it a material worth further investigation for use as a synthetic replacement. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2722-2728, 2017.
Remembering Per-Simon Kildal: Soft in heart and hard in technical work

Professor Per-Simon Kildal passed away on April 21, 2016, after a very short period of illness. He was born on July 4, 1951. He chaired the Division of Antenna Systems of the Department of Signals and Systems at Chalmers University of Technology. He authored an antenna textbook and many journal articles and conference papers. He designed two very large antennas, including the Gregorian dual-reflector feed of the Arecibo radio telescope. He was the originator of the concept of soft and hard surfaces, recently resulting in the gap waveguide, a new low-loss meta-material-based transmission line. His research group pioneered the reverberation chamber into an accurate measurement tool for antennas and wireless terminals. Prof. Kildal was the recipient of two Best Paper Awards for articles published in the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Transactions, and he was the recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Achievements Award of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society.
Motivationale Orientierungen, Überzeugungen und Einstellungen als zentrale Aspekte professioneller Lehrerkompetenz

Im Folgenden werden die einzelnen Konstrukte des in Kapitel 5.1.4 hergeleiteten Modells detailliert dargestellt. Dabei werden die Konstrukte – zur besseren Verstandlichkeit und Unterscheidung – konzeptuell von ahnlichen Konstrukten abgegrenzt. Neben der Beschreibung der Konstrukte und der Diskussion grundlegender Erkenntnisse aus der Perspektive verschiedener Domanen werden sie zudem auf den Bereich der Politikdidaktik bezogen.
Chemotherapy Toxicity Risk Score for Treatment Decisions in Older Adults with Advanced Solid Tumors.

BACKGROUND The decision whether to treat older adults with advanced cancer with standard therapy (ST) or reduced therapy (RT) is complicated by heterogeneity in aging. We assessed the potential utility of the chemotherapy toxicity risk score (CTRS) [J Clin Oncol 2011;29:3457-3465] for treatment decisions in older adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a prospective observational study of patients aged ≥65 years receiving first-line chemotherapy for advanced cancer for which combination chemotherapy is the standard of care. Patients were categorized as high risk (CTRS ≥10), for whom RT (dose-reduced combination or single-agent chemotherapy) is deemed appropriate, or nonhigh risk (CTRS <10), for whom ST is deemed appropriate for toxicity. The primary objective was to estimate the agreement in chemotherapy choice (ST vs. RT) between the treating physician and the CTRS using a κ statistic. RESULTS Fifty-eight patients (median age, 71 years) were enrolled. Thirty-eight patients received ST (21 had CTRS <10, and 17 had CTRS ≥10), and 20 patients received RT (12 had CTRS ≥10, and 8 had CTRS <10), with minimal agreement in chemotherapy choice (κ = 0.14; 95% CI, -0.10 to 0.38). Grade 3-4 toxicity and hospitalization occurred in 60% and 27% of 55 patients with follow-up data, respectively. Among patients receiving ST, patients with CTRS ≥10 had a higher incidence of toxicity (88% vs. 40%, p = .006) and hospitalization (50% vs. 15%, p = .03) than those with CTRS <10. CONCLUSION Older patients with cancer with a high CTRS who receive combination chemotherapy have an exceedingly high rate of severe toxicity and hospitalization. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE The potential utility of the chemotherapy toxicity risk score (CTRS) in old adults with advanced solid tumors receiving first-line chemotherapy was assessed. Little agreement was found between chemotherapy treatment decisions based on the clinical impression versus what was recommended based on the CTRS. Among patients treated with standard-dose combination chemotherapy, patients with CTRS ≥10 had a very high incidence of grade 3-4 toxicities and hospitalization, which was significantly greater than that of patients with a low CTRS (<10). These findings suggest that the addition of CTRS to the clinical impression has a potential to improve treatment decisions.
Nanoporous materials in polymeric membranes for desalination

Pressure-driven membrane desalination processes require new membranes that have increased energy-efficiency, perm-selectivity, resistance to chlorine, and resistance to fouling. Incorporation of nanoporous materials (e.g. zeolites, metal–organic frameworks, and graphene-based materials) into the state-of-the-art polyamide-based thin film composite (TFC) membranes is one strategy to address these challenges. This requires effectively incorporating nanomaterials into the polymer structure and understanding the true impact of the nanomaterials on membrane performances. Studies from 2015 to 2017 have revealed that thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes with nanoporous materials (a sub-class of mixed matrix membranes), to some extent, address these desalination membrane challenges.
Electrochemical behavior of dysprosium and lanthanum in molten LiF-NaF-KF (Flinak) salt

Abstract Cyclic voltammetry (CV) analysis was performed to determine the behavior of Dysprosium (Dy) and Lanthanum (La) in molten FLiNaK salt (LiF-NaF-KF: 46.5–11.5–42 mol%) and to understand the mechanism driving the electrochemical reactions. The goals of these experiments are to understand the behavior of contaminants and nuclear fission products related to the Fluoride Salt-cooled High-Temperature Reactor (FHR) concept, and to generate a reliable source of electrochemical properties in fluoride salts. The tests were performed at 600–650–700 °C for Dy and 650–700–750 °C for La in a glassy carbon crucible contained within an inert argon atmosphere. A platinum wire quasi-reference electrode exhibited stable potential throughout experiments and allowed for thermodynamic reference between test species and known redox couple (F2/F−). The electrochemical reduction of Dy and La (assumed three-electron, single-step transfer) maintained quasi-reversibility at the solid tungsten electrode for scan rates of 160 mV/s and below during CV. For scan rates of 200 mV/s and above, significant deviation from reversibility was evidenced by increasing separation between anodic and cathodic peaks. For Dy3+, the diffusion coefficient was calculated as D [cm2/s] = 0.0538∗exp(−6193/T(K)) and the activation energy Ea = 51.5 kJ/mol. The diffusion coefficient of La3+ was calculated as D [cm2/s] = 14.252∗exp(−15285/T(K)) and the activation energy Ea = 127 kJ/mol. The apparent potential of the La3+/La0 redox reaction was determined as E0∗[V vs. K+/K] = −0.368 + 0.001119∗T[K] and for the Dy3+/Dy0 reaction as E0∗[V vs. K+/K] = 0.0626 + 0.00088∗T[K].
Me, Myself or the Blogger? How to Use Instagram as a Content Platform to Promote Products from the Company’s Perspective

As consumers got more and more deluged with advertisements and their cognitive resources got overstrained (“information explosion,” Goodlad et al., 1997), marketers needed a new way to attract their target groups. Content marketing was a welcome solution to this problem, shifting away from above-the-line to below-the-line techniques (Goodlad et al., 1997). The concept of content marketing is not a new phenomenon (Pulizzi, 2012) but gained more and more attention over the past decade.
The First Amendment and the Parsonage Allowance

In this article, Professor Zelinsky criticizes the recent decision of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in Freedom from Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Lew. In that decision, the District Court held § 107(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Code § 107(2) excludes from gross income cash housing allowances furnished to "minister[s] of the gospel."For three, interrelated reasons, Professor Zelinsky finds the District Court’s opinion in FFRF is unpersuasive. First, § 107 has secular purpose and secular effect. Section 107 manages the entanglement which is inevitable when the modern government decides whether or not to tax the modern church. Moreover, § 107 accommodates the autonomy of religious institutions and actors by declining to tax clerical housing and housing allowances. Section 107 should be understood, not as subsidizing the church, but as separating the church from the state. The economic benefit of tax exemption is a by-product of that separation.Second, the District Court’s FFRF opinion places too much weight on the Supreme Court’s plurality opinion in Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock while giving short shrift to the Supreme Court’s earlier opinion in Walz v. Tax Commission. A more careful reading of Texas Monthly and Walz indicates that, consistent with the First Amendment, Congress can exempt from taxation churches and religious actors to avoid church-state entanglement and to accommodate the autonomy of religious institutions and actors. That is what § 107 does. Texas Monthly is the Supreme Court’s most recent treatment of the First Amendment status of tax exemptions for religious institutions, but Walz is the more convincing treatment of that status.Third, the District Court accepts the premise of the Texas Monthly plurality that tax exemptions are always subsidies. Often tax exemptions are subsidies, comparable to direct expenditures. However, in many settings, they are not. In constitutional terms, § 107 is more convincingly perceived, not as a subsidy, but, per Walz, as managing the inevitable entanglement caused by taxation and as accommodating the autonomy of religious institutions and actors. In a world of imperfect choices, § 107 separates rather than subsidizes. The economic benefit of § 107 is a side-effect of that separation.
General Considerations for Evaluating and Counseling the Physically Handicapped

In this era of social causes and consciousness-raising, there remains a curious void in the crusade of the disabled. Only occasionally is there a note of militancy, and virtually nothing about pride. “Help the Disabled” and “Hire the Handicapped” do little to deemphasize the dependent role of people who need special assistance. The powerful connotations of the sick role appear to grip us all, normal and disabled alike.
Abstract 5087: Human melanoma exosomes induce metabolic reprogramming in human adult dermal fibroblasts

The “seed and soil” hypothesis of cancer metastasis has led us to examine the role of tumor-derived exosomes on reprogramming stromal cells composing the tumor microenvironment. We used human adult dermal fibroblasts (HADF) in vitro as a model of the premetastatic niche. Specifically, we determined the role of human melanoma-derived exosomes (HMEX) on governing metabolic reprogramming of healthy HADF. HMEX from six melanoma cell lines (3 BRAF V600E mutant cell lines (526-mel, 888-mel and Hs 294T) and 3 BRAF wild-type cell lines (1300-mel, 2183-Her4 and HMCB)) were purified by size-exclusion chromatography. Using the fluorescent tag CellVue (Maroon) we demonstrated via ImageStream that HMEXs are rapidly taken up by HADF. Following 18 hours of exposure to HMEX, HADF increased aerobic glycolysis and reduced oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in vitro, as measured by Agilent Seahorse XFe96. We have also developed an immuno-biochip that captures exosomes via anti-CD63 antibodies and simultaneously detects exosomal microRNAs by cationic lipoplex nanoparticles (tCLN) containing molecular beacons. With this immuno-biochip, we demonstrated the presence of microRNAs miR-155 and miR-210 in HMEX, both of which work in concert to promote glycolysis and inhibit OXPHOS. The result has been consistent across all HMEXs from the six different melanoma cell lines. Our findings reveal a correlation between metabolic function and the presence of metabolically active microRNAs in HMEX that control aerobic glycolysis and OXPHOS of normal fibroblasts. Melanoma exosomes are potentially key players in promoting tumor progression by modulating normal stromal cell metabolism and creating an environment that is conducive to metastasis. Citation Format: Shin La Shu, Cheryl L. Allen, Yunchen Yang, Orla Maguire, Hans Minderman, Arindam Sen, Michael J. Ciesielski, Katherine A. Collins, Peter J. Bush, Martin Morgan, Yun Wu, Richard B. Bankert, Marc S. Ernstoff. Human melanoma exosomes induce metabolic reprogramming in human adult dermal fibroblasts [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5087.
Advanced Nanomaterials for Bio-Monitoring

Biomedical and diagnostic detection/monitoring are of great importance to society, as these areas directly impact our daily lives. This need is prevalent in the workings of wearable biosensors, as the biosensor market is projected to be a $US 22.5 billion dollar industry by 2020. Hence, the development of sensors utilizing the often enhanced properties of nanoscale materials is at the forefront of wearable analytical chemistry. Nanoscience presents an almost endless amount of novel materials, as their properties differ from their bulk counterparts. Many of the interactions with these nanomaterials remain unexplored, leaving a need for investigation. Both the structure and the materials should be soft and mechanically robust enough to bend, stretch, fold, and twist in response to the motion of the wearer. Here, electrospun polymer fibers have been used as wearable sensors, and further functionalized with a wide loading range of carbon nanomaterials via layer-by-layer and vacuum techniques to accommodate multiple analyte detection schemes in sweat. The data demonstrates the success of a nanocomposite sensor at monitoring in an accurate, selective, and reproducible manner. It is capable of outputting currents, at low voltages (< 1 V), that can easily be read via a portable/wearable device, enhancing the sensor's attractiveness for wearable/flexible devices.