cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Measuring the Strength of the Horned Passalus Beetle, Odontotaenius disjunctus: Revisiting an Old Topic with Modern Technology

Over a century ago, a pioneering researcher cleverly devised a means to measure how much weight the horned passalus beetle, Odontotaenius disjunctus (Illiger) (Coleoptera: Passalidae), could pull using a series of springs, pulleys, and careful observation. The technology available in modern times now allows for more rigorous data collection on this topic, which could have a number of uses in scientific investigations. In this study, an apparatus was constructed using a dynamometer and a data logger in an effort to ascertain the pulling strength of this species. By allowing beetles to pull for 10 min, each beetle's mean and maximum pulling force (in Newtons) were obtained for analyses, and whether these measures are related was determined. Then, whether factors such as body length, thorax size, horn size, or gender affect either measure of strength was investigated. Basic body measurements, including horn size, of males versus females were compared. The measurements of 38 beetles (20 females, 18 males) showed there was no difference in overall body length between sexes, but females had greater girth (thorax width) than males, which could translate into larger muscle mass. A total of 21 beetles (10 females, 11 males) were tested for pulling strength. The grand mean pulling force was 0.14 N, and the grand mean maximum was 0.78 N. Despite the fact that beetles tended to pull at 20% of their maximum capacity most of the time, and that maximum force was over 5 times larger than the mean force, the 2 measures were highly correlated, suggesting they may be interchangeable for research purposes. Females had twice the pulling strength (both maximum and mean force) as males in this species overall, but when the larger thorax size of females was considered, the effect of gender was not significant. Beetle length was not a significant predictor of pulling force, but horn size was associated with maximum force. The best predictor of both measures of strength appeared to be thorax size. There are a multitude of interesting scientific questions that could be addressed using data on beetle pulling strength, and this project serves as a starting point for such work.
Electrochemical synthesis of inorganic polycrystalline electrodes with controlled architectures

Most modern electrochemical and photoelectrochemical devices (e.g., solar cells, photoelectrochemical cells, fuel cells, and batteries) are composed of polycrystalline semiconductor and metal electrodes. The shape and size of the individual crystals constituting a polycrystalline electrode as well as the overall interfacial architecture have a significant effect on the overall performance of the electrode. Therefore, a method that can precisely control electrode morphologies and provide an understanding of their effects on electrode performance is critical for producing highly efficient and cost-effective electrode materials. Electrochemical synthesis is a low-cost method that can produce a variety of materials as polycrystalline electrodes with exceptional control of their morphologies. This article reviews recently developed electrochemical synthesis strategies that produce inorganic materials with various morphological features, which have a direct impact on the material's properties. This article will serve as a good foundation for those seeking a viable electrochemical route to produce electrodes having a specifically desired morphology.
Fluorescence dynamics and cross relaxation of 4 + curium in cerium tetrafluoride

Fluorescence from Cm 4+ has been observed for the first time. The dynamics of its emitting 5f state have been probed using time- and frequency-resolved laser-induced fluorescence. Nonexponential fluorescence decays were found from Cm 0 . 001 Ce 0.999 F 4 and Cm 0.05 Ce 0.95 F 4 at temperatures from 4.2 to 300 K. A simple cross-relaxation model was found to fit the excited f-state dynamics of the Cm 0.001 Ce 0.999 F 4 sample at low excitation intensity whereas an exciton-exciton annihilation model was necessary to model the observed fluorescence decay as exciton number density increased at higher excitation intensity. The annihilation model, modified to account for a small amount of trap site emission, was required to fit all the observed decays from the Cm 0.05 Cd 0.95 F 4 sample
A través del río del cambio

Se ha dedicado considerable actividad arqueo1ogica a los sucesos que condujeron al despoblamientode los centros dvicos y religiosos del area maya central. Las causas hipoteticas del llamado "colapso" frecuentemente recurren a Ia idea de invasores de la costa del Golfo de Mexico que arrasaron los pueblos asentados sobre el cauce superior del Usumacinta. Los estudios de la composicion de las pastas ceramicas por activacion neutronica han concentrado su atencion en los centros de fabricacion de las ceramicas anaranjado y gris fino en la region de Tabasco y los sitios meridionales localizados sobre el rio Pasion. Recientemente se ha concluido el analisis de ceramica de pasta fina de Yaxchilan, el cual nos permite integrar acontecimientos e influencias que ocurrieron a lo largo del Usumacinta medio. En este articulo se revisa lo que hasta la fecha se sabe de esa region al momento de la introduccion de las ceramicas anaranjado y gris fino, durante el colapso de las grandes ciudades mayas e inmediatamentedespues.
Time-Resolved Thermal Boundary-Layer Structure in a Pulsatile Reversing Channel Flow

The results of an experimental study of the time-resolved structure of a thermal boundary layer in a pulsating channel flow are presented. The developing laminar regime is investigated. Two techniques were used for time-resolved temperature measurements: a nonintrusive, pure-rotational CARS method and cold-wire anemometry. Results are presented for differing degrees of flow reversal
Learning mixtures of experts with a hybrid generative-discriminative algorithm

The hierarchical mixtures of experts (HME) model is a flexible model that stochastically partitions the feature space into sub-regions, in which simple surfaces can be fitted to data. However, there are issues with model selection during the learning of the HME model using Expectation-Maximization (EM) inference. In addition, the EM algorithm suffers from the well-known problem of local minima. In this paper, we present a hybrid generative-discriminative approach that inherits the flexibility of the HME while decomposing the learning process into a few simple steps. The proposed algorithm solves the model-selection problem and empirical experiments on public benchmark datasets show its advantages in classification accuracy and efficiency.
The FilmArray® respiratory panel: An automated, broadly multiplexed molecular test for the rapid and accurate detection of respiratory pathogens

The FilmArray Respiratory Panel (RP) (BioFire(™) Diagnostics, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, USA) is the first multiplex molecular panel cleared by the US FDA for the detection of both bacterial and viral respiratory pathogens in nasopharygeal swabs. The FilmArray RP targets 20 pathogens including 17 viruses and subtypes and three bacteria, and is performed with minimal sample manipulation. The FilmArray RP has a fully automated sample-to-answer workflow with a turn-around-time of approximately 1 h. The reported sensitivity and specificity of the assay ranges from 80 to 100 and 100%, respectively, with the sensitivity for the adenovirus as low as 46%. A new version of the FilmArray RP assay (version 1.7) with improved sensitivity for the adenovirus was released in 2013. The performance characteristics and simplified workflow have allowed its implementation in a wide range of laboratories. The FilmArray RP has changed the diagnostic landscape and will have a significant impact on the care of patients with respiratory tract infection.
Reliability-Based Design Optimization under Imprecise Uncertainty

Many reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) techniques have been developed to obtain a reliable design accurately and efficiently in the presence of uncertainties. Probability theory has primarily been used for uncertainty analysis in RBDO. However, in a situation in which information of uncertain variables is imprecise and incomplete, probabilistic techniques are not appropriate to describe the propagation of uncertainty. In this work, evidence theory, also called Dempster-Shafer theory, is employed to handle imprecise uncertain variables as an alternative to classical probability theory. Since the uncertainty quantification method of evidence theory is not compatible with prevailing probabilistic RBDO techniques, we propose an efficient optimization strategy by defining a plausibility function in a trustregion. The procedure for handling imprecise uncertain variables is presented on a practical large-scale structural RBDO problem.
Defects In 4H Silicon Carbide CVD Epilayers

The characteristic defects of 4H-SiC homoepitaxial thin films grown on bulk substrates using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are described based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and surface decoration studies. Emphasis is placed on understanding the formation mechanism of surface triangular defects. Cross-sectional TEM observations revealed the existence of two variants of 3C-SiC inclusions in 4H epitaxial films. In the plan-view orientation, g4 H = 3304 type reflections were found useful for distinguishing the two variants of 3C-SiC platelets that are present in the 4H epilayer. A decoration technique was employed to reveal the relationship between the 3C platelets and surface features, e.g., surface steps. A formation mechanism for surface triangular defects is proposed, which is partially confirmed by the etch pit patterns obtained on the epilayer surfaces after a molten KOH etch.
IPA3 non-specifically enhances phosphorylation of several proteins in human platelets

PAK (p21-Activation kinase), a serine-threonine protein kinase contains an autoinhibitory domain that suppresses the catalytic activity of its kinase domain. This autoregulatory domain found within PAK kinase provides a unique target for chemical inhibitors. IPA3, a small molecule allosteric inhibitor of PAK activation, binds covalently to the PAK regulatory domain and prevents binding to its upstream activators. IPA3 has been used in various cells including platelets to evaluate the role of PAK in signaling. In a recent study, PAK functions in platelet aggregation and lamellipodia formation were evaluated using IPA3 as the PAK inhibitor. Herein, we investigated the specificity and selectivity of IPA3 as a PAK inhibitor in the human platelets. Stimulation of platelets pretreated with IPA3 using a PAR-4 or GPV1 agonist resulted in a concentration-dependent inhibition of aggregation, as was suggested by earlier studies. Interestingly, we found that incubation of washed human platelets with IPA3 lead to a non-specific increase in phosphorylation of several proteins in absence of any agonist. However, this phosphorylation is not sufficient for aggregation of platelets by IPA3. In summary, we demonstrate that IPA3 by itself can phosphorylate several proteins in human platelets and thus its use is not an appropriate strategy for investigating PAK function in platelets.
Protein Kinase Cα Modulates Estrogen-Receptor-Dependent Transcription and Proliferation in Endometrial Cancer Cells

Endometrial cancer is the most common invasive gynecologic malignancy in developed countries. The most prevalent endometrioid tumors are linked to excessive estrogen exposure and hyperplasia. However, molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways underlying their etiology and pathophysiology remain poorly understood. We have shown that protein kinase Cα (PKCα) is aberrantly expressed in endometrioid tumors and is an important mediator of endometrial cancer cell survival, proliferation, and invasion. In this study, we demonstrate that expression of active, myristoylated PKCα conferred ligand-independent activation of estrogen-receptor- (ER-) dependent promoters and enhanced responses to estrogen. Conversely, knockdown of PKCα reduced ER-dependent gene expression and inhibited estrogen-induced proliferation of endometrial cancer cells. The ability of PKCα to potentiate estrogen activation of ER-dependent transcription was attenuated by inhibitors of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and Akt. Evidence suggests that PKCα and estrogen signal transduction pathways functionally interact, to modulate ER-dependent growth and transcription. Thus, PKCα signaling, via PI3K/Akt, may be a critical element of the hyperestrogenic environment and activation of ER that is thought to underlie the development of estrogen-dependent endometrial hyperplasia and malignancy. PKCα-dependent pathways may provide much needed prognostic markers of aggressive disease and novel therapeutic targets in ER positive tumors.
Integrating Systems Science and Community-Based Participatory Research to Achieve Health Equity

Unanswered questions about racial and socioeconomic health disparities may be addressed using community-based participatory research and systems science. Community-based participatory research is an orientation to research that prioritizes developing capacity, improving trust, and translating knowledge to action. Systems science provides research methods to study dynamic and interrelated forces that shape health disparities. Community-based participatory research and systems science are complementary, but their integration requires more research. We discuss paradigmatic, socioecological, capacity-building, colearning, and translational synergies that help advance progress toward health equity.
Chapter 2: Multilevel Selection and Restraint on Harm

Chapter 2 from Field, Alexander J. (2001) Altruistically Inclined: The Behavioral Sciences, Evolutionary Theory, and the Origins of Reciprocity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Resummation of high order corrections in Higgs boson plus jet production at the LHC

We study the effect of multiple parton radiation to Higgs boson plus jet production at the LHC. The large logarithms arising from the small imbalance in the transverse momentum of the Higgs boson plus jet final state system are resummed to all orders in the expansion of the strong interaction coupling at the accuracy of Next-to-Leading Logarithm (NLL), by applying the transverse momentum dependent (TMD) factorization formalism. We show that the appropriate resummation scale should be the jet transverse momentum, rather than the partonic center of mass energy which has been normally used in the TMD resummation formalism. Furthermore, the transverse momentum distribution of the Higgs boson, particularly near the lower cut-off applied on the jet transverse momentum, can only be reliably predicted by the resummation calculation which is free of the so-called Sudakov-shoulder singularity problem, present in fixed-order calculations.
Prediction Markets: A Complement to General Circulation Models and Integrated Assessment Models

Much of what we believe about the future of climate change relies upon complicated models run on supercomputers. General Circulation Models break the Earth down into three-dimensional cells covering the entire volume of Earth's atmosphere, and by analyzing the physical, chemical, and biological interactions among the cells, generate predictions about future states of the Earth's climate. Economic models take climate conditions as inputs, and breaking the world economy down into numerous sectors, generate predictions about the economic impacts of climate change. Integrated Assessment Models combine the two types of models, and attempt to study the interactions between scientific and economic outputs as interrelated phenomena. I argue in this essay that these modelling efforts should be complemented with an alternative, complementary means of projecting a climate-changed future: climate prediction markets. While modeling efforts will remain crucial, it seems safe to say that the accumulated efforts of a highly accomplished and talented army of climate scientists, economists, and modelers have failed to persuade large parts of the world population. This suggests the need for an alternative source of predictions. I have argued in my past work for a prediction market for climate outcomes. I propose extending this concept to modeling the some of the economic damages from climate change in a parallel set of prediction markets. Just as prediction markets for climate outcomes can be used to project future climate conditions such as global mean temperature, strong tropical cyclones, and drought severities, a prediction market for economic impacts of climate change might be used to project the damages flowing from climate change. These might include the costs of hurricane damage, crop losses due to drought, and the costs of other extreme weather events. For the problem of climate change, prediction markets offer the ability to harness the vast amounts of information, process information accurately, and generate predictions free of the taint of ideology (whether that perception is accurate or not). A set of dual prediction markets could well provide a useful policy and technical complement to ongoing modeling efforts.
Refinement of the Hybrid Neuroendovascular Operating Suite: Current and Future Applications.

Objective In early-generation hybrid biplane endovascular operating rooms, switching from surgical to angiographic position is cumbersome. In this report, we highlight the unique design of a new hybrid neuroendovascular operating suite that allows surgical access to the head while keeping the biplane system over the lower body of the patient. Current and future hybrid neuroendovascular operating suite applications are discussed. Methods We collaborated with engineers to implement the following modifications to the design of the angiographic system: translation of the bed toward the feet to allow biplane cerebral imaging in the head-side position and the biplane left-side position; translation of the base of the A-plane C-arm away from the feet to allow increased operator space at the head of the bed and to allow cerebral imaging in both the head-side and left-side positions; use of a specialized boom mount for the display panel to increase mobility; and use of a radiolucent tabletop with attachments for the headrest or radiolucent head clamp system. Results The modified hybrid neuroendovascular operating suite allows for seamless transition between surgical and angiographic positions within seconds, improving workflow efficiency and decreasing procedure time as compared with early-generation hybrid rooms. Conclusions Combined endovascular and surgical applications are facilitated by co-locating their respective technologies and refining the ergonomics of the system to ease transition between both sets of technologies. In so doing, hybrid neuroendovascular operating suites can be anticipated to improve patient outcomes, generate novel treatment paradigms, and improve time and cost efficiency.
Youth councils in municipal government: Examination of activities, impact and barriers

Abstract This study reports on youth councils in 24 municipalities in one major metropolitan area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with one key adult stakeholder in each municipality in order to understand the scope, structure, functioning, activities, and impact of youth councils. These data were supplemented with review of documents and websites that described the councils. Findings indicated that youth councils were engaged in a wide-range of activities suggesting the model is fluid to meet the needs of both the youth and the community. Specific impacts were identified by participants some of which were directly related to the delivery of activities and others which influenced policy change. Among the barriers identified was the continuing need to identify a broader range of youth to participate in these initiatives. Despite a societal need for greater youth civic engagement and the generally positive attitude toward this idea, youth councils remain limited in practice and the research base is under-developed. Our study contributes to advancing both practice and research.
Long-Range Ordering of Symmetric Block Copolymer Domains by Chaining of Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles in External Magnetic Fields

A new method to achieve long-range orientational order in symmetric diblock copolymer nanodomains through the alignment and chaining of superparamagnetic nanoparticles in a magnetic field is investigated computationally and theoretically. The effects of nanoparticle size, volume fraction, and magnetization strength are explored using the hybrid particle field (HPF) technique for particles that selectively segregate into one domain of a symmetric diblock copolymer assembly. A critical selectivity of the particles for one nanodomain is observed, above which strong alignment results and below which comparatively disordered structures are formed. The 2D simulations reveal that, for a given nanoparticle volume fraction, only a nanoparticle size commensurate with the block copolymer domain spacing yields well-aligned nanostructures. Nanoparticles significantly larger than the domain spacing break the symmetry of the lamellar phase and result in poor alignment, while high defect densities are observed for smalle...
BFGUI: An interactive tool for the synthesis and analysis of microphone array beamformers

Microphone arrays are beneficial for distant speech capture because the signals they capture can be exploited with beamforming to suppress noise and reverberation. The theory for the design and analysis of microphone arrays is well established, however the performance of a microphone array beamformer is often subject to conflicting criteria that need to be assessed manually. This paper describes BFGUI, a interactive graphical tool for MATLAB, for simulating microphone arrays and synthesizing beamformers, and whose parameters can be modified and performance metrics monitored in real-time. Primarily aimed at teaching and research, this tool provides the user with an intuitive insight into the effects of microphone types, number and geometry, and the influence of design constraints such as regularization and white noise gain on derived metrics. The resulting directivity pattern, directivity index and front-back ratio are examples of such metrics. Multiple analytic microphone models are supported and external measured microphone directivity patterns can also be loaded. The designs can be then exported in a variety of formats for processing of real-world data.
Retrospective comparison of costs between medical and surgical treatment of canine pyothorax.

This study compared costs of treating dogs with pyothorax medically versus surgically. Medical records from the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine were searched for cases of pyothorax that underwent either medical or surgical treatment. Patients undergoing surgery were subdivided into early (ES; 48 h) surgery groups. Costs and length of stay were compared between treatment groups. Treatment costs were adjusted for inflation. Nineteen dogs were included in analysis; 7 in the medical group (MG), 5 in the ES group, and 7 in the LS group. Total costs were significantly lower in the MG than in the LS group. Total costs were less for the MG than the ES group, and for ES than LS, but the differences did not achieve significance. Preoperative costs were higher in the LS than the ES group. We conclude that surgery for canine pyothorax is less costly if pursued earlier than later.
Directed Interpretable Discovery in Tensors with Sparse Projection.

Tensors or multiway arrays are useful constructs capable of representing complex graphs, spatio-temporal data and multi-source data. Analyzing such complex data requires enforcing simplicity (such as sparsity) so as to give meaningful insights. Sparse tensor decomposition typically requires adding a penalty term in addition to the reconstruction error term to the optimization problem which provides a number of challenges. Not only is tuning the weights on the terms time consuming, but the resulting sparse decomposition typically has a nonuniform distribution of sparsity. Such decomposition is undesirable in some datasets (such as fMRI scans) where we want each factor to have similar sparsity for easier interpretation. In this paper, we propose an alternative method that can directly obtain a sparse, nonnegative and interpretable decomposition without the need for tuning. We allow the user to specify the exact amount of sparsity and where the sparsity should be. This is achieved by augmenting the alternating nonnegative least squares (ANLS) algorithm with a projection step rather than imposing a penalty term on the objective function. We demonstrate our works usefulness in finding interpretable features for real world problems in fMRI scan data and face image analysis without the need to pre-process the data.
Current Standards for Dialysis Adequacy

Multiple lines of evidence suggest that inadequately prescribed or delivered dosage of hemodialysis is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Conversely, retrospective studies indicate that increased levels of hemodialysis reverse this trend of poor outcome. The results of the National Cooperative Dialysis Study (NCDS), a prospective and randomized trial, suggested that urea kinetic modeling was a valid method of quantifying the dose of hemodialysis delivered and also identified a level of treatment below which a number of adverse events occurred. In the ensuing years, urea kinetic modeling has been increasingly applied to quantitate dialysis. The application of the NCDS results as well as the limitations of the study are reviewed, and the modifications in applying urea kinetic modeling due to urea rebound are discussed. To assess the impact of newer membranes and higher levels of dialysis on an older hemodialysis population with more comorbid conditions than the subjects studied in the NCDS, a 5-year, multicenter, prospective and randomized trial, the HEMO Study, has recently been initiated.
Introduction and data manipulation

Why ordination? When we investigate variation of plant or animal communities across a range of different environmental conditions, we usually find not only large differences in species composition of the studied communities, but also a certain consistency or predictability of this variation. For example, if we look at the variation of grassland vegetation in a landscape and describe the plant community composition using vegetation samples, then the individual samples can be usually ordered along one, two or three imaginary axes. The change in the vegetation composition is often small as we move our focus from one sample to those nearby on such a hypothetical axis. This gradual change in the community composition can often be related to differing, but partially overlapping demands of individual species for environmental factors such as the average soil moisture, its fluctuations throughout the season, the ability of species to compete with other ones for the available nutrients and light, etc. If the axes along which we originally ordered the samples can be identified with a particular environmental factor (such as moisture or richness of soil nutrients), we can call them a soil moisture gradient, a nutrient availability gradient, etc. Occasionally, such gradients can be identified in a real landscape, e.g. as a spatial gradient along a slope from a riverbank, with gradually decreasing soil moisture. But more often we can identify such axes along which the plant or animal communities vary in a more or less smooth, predictable way, yet we cannot find them in nature as a visible spatial gradient and neither can we identify them uniquely with a particular measurable environmental factor. In such cases, we speak about gradients of species composition change .
Finite Elastic Deformation of a Plane Strain Wedgeshaped Radial Crack in a Compressible Cylinder

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the finite elastic deformation of a plane strain wedgeshaped radial crack in a compressible cylinder. The actual elastic stress distribution in a simple geometry is modified by accounting for the terms, which are ordinarily dropped in linear theory. It is assumed that the material under consideration is perfectly elastic and compressible so that no consideration is given to plastic deformation. When the crack is spread tangentially, the appearance of the keyhole at the base of the crack produces a shear deformation, which tends to prevent the keyhole formation. To anticipate and prevent this effect, it is assumed that the base of the wedge is also shaped as a keyhole, where the keyhole radius is a predetermined function of the quantities. The infinite tangential stress arises because original point becomes deformed into a sector of a circle. The radial stress in the nonlinear theory is nonsingular as opposed to another inverse square singularity of opposite sign in the linear theory.
Robert Tollison and operationalizing public choice

In this tribute to Robert Tollison, I will outline his contributions to the development of public choice. I focus on Tollison’s work on rent-seeking, the political economy of reform, and the rules level of analysis in sports economics. Throughout his career, Tollison brilliantly figured out ways to take insights from price theory and public choice theory and operationalize them using multiple methods of empirical analysis, including historical interpretation and statistical testing.
Disk Drive Actuator BIAS: Prediction and Compensation

Abstract Disk drive actuator bias, which is the average torque (current) required to maintain a set actuator position, has a profound impact on the performance of a disk drive by influencing the settle time at the hand-off from seek mode to track follow mode. With an adequate prediction of bias, the settling time of a seek can be reduced by properly selecting the initial conditions of the track follow controller at the hand-off. In this paper, a state-space prediction algorithm is derived which is based Dahl's friction model and which accounts for much of the hysteresis behavior of bias. Based on an accurate bias prediction, a method is also developed for choosing the optimal initial condition of the integrator of a discrete time PiD controller which minimizes the seek settle time.
Coping with Diabetes: Psychological Determinants of Diabetes Outcomes

Diabetes is a stressful chronic disease. The goals of this chapter are to provide a primer on diabetes for the social scientist, and to review the literature on psychological determinants of diabetes outcomes, including temporally-primary, behavioral outcomes of adherence to the medical regimen, and temporallysecondary, physiological outcomes of disease control. This chapter is limited in its scope. It includes only research that examined psychological variables in established diabetes (as opposed to psychological variables as risk factors for incident diabetes). Additionally, this chapter is limited to the most common forms of diabetes: type 1 and type 2.
Slope stability investigation and design parameters studies in phyllites in Ghana

Site investigation for rock slope design in Ghana has been based on experience from temperate areas of the world. Tropical weathering causes variation in engineering properties with time. This paper studies some of the variations and suggests that there is enough reason to consider the time-dependent variations in site investigation and design practice in the tropical situation.
Abstract IA08: Epigenetic mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapy

Targeted cancer therapies, such as inhibitors of the ALK receptor tyrosine kinase, have yielded promising outcomes in patients whose tumors aberrantly express ALK, yet the development of resistance invariably limits their efficacy. To address this issue, we have investigated potential mechanisms of resistance to ALK inhibitors in neuroblastoma cells expressing ALK point mutations. In tumor cells expressing the ALKF1174L mutant kinase in the absence of MYCN amplification, we observed that resistance to ALK inhibitors develops through activation of MAPK signaling and induction of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. By contrast, in tumor cells expressing the same mutation but with concomitant MYCN overexpression due to genomic amplification, resistance arises through a different mechanism, characterized by extensive chromatin remodeling and conversion to a stem cell-like state. I will describe our latest insights into the molecular details underlying this latter mechanism with emphasis on transcriptional regulators. Citation Format: Rani E. George. Epigenetic mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Pediatric Cancer Research: From Basic Science to the Clinic; 2017 Dec 3-6; Atlanta, Georgia. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(19 Suppl):Abstract nr IA08.
Impact of expanded diagnostic criteria for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder on clinical comparisons with anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and anorexia nervosa (AN) are restrictive eating disorders. There is a proposal before the American Psychiatric Association to broaden the current DSM-5 criteria for ARFID, which currently require dietary intake that is inadequate to support energy or nutritional needs. We compared the clinical presentations of ARFID and AN in an outpatient sample to determine how a more inclusive definition of ARFID, heterogeneous for age and weight status, is distinct from AN. METHODS As part of standard care, 138 individuals with AN or ARFID completed an online assessment battery and agreed to include their responses in research. RESULTS Individuals with ARFID were younger, reported earlier age of onset, and had higher percent median BMI (%mBMI) than those with AN (all ps < .001). Individuals with ARFID scored lower on measures of eating pathology, depression, anxiety, and clinical impairment (all ps < .05), but did not differ from those with AN on restrictive eating (p = .52), and scored higher on food neophobia (p < .001). DISCUSSION Allowing psychosocial impairment to be sufficient for an ARFID diagnosis resulted in a clinical picture of ARFID such that %mBMI was higher (and in the normal range) compared with AN. Differences in gender distribution, age, and age of onset remained consistent with previous research. Both groups reported similar levels of dietary restriction, although ARFID can be distinguished by relatively higher levels of food neophobia. Currently available measures of eating pathology may capture certain ARFID symptoms, but highlight the need for measures of impairment relative to ARFID.
Review of Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines

Like the first volume, Teaching Civic Engagement: From Student to Active Citizen (American Political Science Association, 2013) edited by Alison Rios Millett McCartney, Elizabeth A. Bennion, and Di...
THE ACCUMULATION OF ELECTROLYTES : VII. ORGANIC ELECTROLYTES PART 2.

Analyses have been made of the inorganic constituents of the juices expressed from the leaves of Rheum, Rumex, and Oxalis. It has been shown that in all cases there is a large excess of inorganic cations over anions in the sap, the average ratio of cations to anions being 3.8 (Part 1, p. 239). The ash analyses of plant tissues (chiefly leaves) reported in the literature have been examined critically, and it has been shown that the preponderance of inorganic cations over inorganic anions in the ash and in the sap is general. It has been concluded that the excess of inorganic cations is consistent with the view that cations pass into the protoplasm chiefly in the form of hydroxides, and are accumulated either in the form of organic salts (such as the oxalates) or in non-polar linkage. It has been concluded that practically all the potassium and sodium found in plant ash must have been present originally in the form of soluble ionogenic compounds, but that a considerable part of the calcium and magnesium may have been present originally in the form of insoluble salts or as components of non-polar compounds. The methods whereby the cations, particularly potassium, may have been accumulated have been discussed, and it has been concluded that as it does not seem very probable that they enter chiefly as nitrates or bicarbonates we may suppose that they go in to a large extent as hydrates: this is highly probable in the case which has been most carefully investigated (Valonia).
Muscle Relaxants and Antispasticity Drugs

Muscle relaxants are a diverse group of medications that are not chemically related like other drug classes and work through a variety of mechanisms. They can further be divided into antispastic and antispasmodic medications and are used for different indications. Since these drugs primarily work through the central nervous system, they have accompanying adverse effects such as sedation and dizziness that may limit their use.
Escalation of cocaine self-administration in adulthood after social defeat of adolescent rats: role of social experience and adaptive coping behavior.

Background The link between adolescent social stress and substance abuse is modeled in social defeat of adolescent male rats, at an age when social experiences are essential for neurobehavioral maturation.
Soylent Is People, and WEIRD Is White: Biological Anthropology, Whiteness, and the Limits of the WEIRD

WEIRD populations, or those categorized as Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic, are sampled in the majority of quantitative human subjects research. Although this oversampling i...
KnitPicking Textures: Programming and Modifying Complex Knitted Textures for Machine and Hand Knitting

Knitting creates complex, soft fabrics with unique texture properties that can be used to create interactive objects.However, little work addresses the challenges of designing and using knitted textures computationally. We present KnitPick: a pipeline for interpreting hand-knitting texture patterns into KnitGraphs which can be output to machine and hand-knitting instructions. Using KnitPick, we contribute a measured and photographed data set of 472 knitted textures. Based on findings from this data set, we contribute two algorithms for manipulating KnitGraphs. KnitCarving shapes a graph while respecting a texture, and KnitPatching combines graphs with disparate textures while maintaining a consistent shape. KnitPick is the first system to bridge the gap between hand- and machine-knitting when creating complex knitted textures.
Treating depressive disorders with the Unified Protocol: A preliminary randomized evaluation.

Abstract Objectives This study aims to examine the efficacy of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) for individuals diagnosed with a depressive disorder. Method Participants included 44 adults who met criteria for major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, or another specified depressive disorder according to the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule (ADIS). These individuals represent a subset of patients from a larger clinical trial comparing the UP to single-disorder protocols (SDPs) for discrete anxiety disorders and a waitlist control (WLC) condition (Barlow et al., 2017); inclusion criteria for the parent study required participants to have a principal anxiety disorder. Results Significant reductions in depressive symptoms were observed within the UP condition across clinician-rated and self-report measures of depression from baseline to post-treatment, as well as to the 12-month follow-up assessment. Compared to the WLC group, individuals in the UP condition demonstrated significantly lower levels on our continuous, clinician-rated measure of depressive symptoms at post-treatment. There were no differences between the UP and SDP conditions on depressive symptoms at post-treatment or at the 12-month follow-up timepoint. Conclusions In this exploratory set of analyses, the UP evidenced efficacy for reduction of depressive symptoms, adding to the growing support for its utility in treating depression.
Alzheimer's Disease Progressively Alters the Face-Evoked Visual-Processing Network.

Background Postmortem studies of Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains not only find amyloid-β (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) in the primary and associative visual cortical areas, but also reveal a temporally successive sequence of AD pathology beginning in higher-order visual association areas, followed by involvement of lower-order visual processing regions with disease progression, and extending to primary visual cortex in late-stage disease. These findings suggest that neuronal loss associated with Aβ and NFT aggregation in these areas may alter not only the local neuronal activation but also visual neural network activity. Objective Applying a novel method to identify the visual functional network and investigate the association of the network changes with disease progression. Methods To investigate the effect of AD on the face-evoked visual-processing network, 8 severe AD (SAD) patients, 11 mild/moderate AD (MAD), and 26 healthy senior (HS) controls undertook a task-fMRI study of viewing face photos. Results For the HS, the identified group-mean visual-processing network in the ventral pathway started from V1 and ended within the fusiform gyrus. In contrast, this network was disrupted and reduced in the AD patients in a disease-severity dependent manner: for the MAD patients, the network was disrupted and reduced mainly in the higher-order visual association areas; for the SAD patients, the network was nearly absent in the higher-order association areas, and disrupted and reduced in the lower-order areas. Conclusion This finding is consistent with the current canonical view of the temporally successive sequence of AD pathology through visual cortical areas.
Healthcare Access and Utilization Among Persons Who Inject Drugs in Medicaid Expansion and Nonexpansion States: 22 United States Cities, 2018.

Background Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act increased insurance coverage, access to healthcare, and substance use disorder treatment, for many Americans. We assessed differences in healthcare access and utilization among persons who inject drugs (PWID) by state Medicaid expansion status. Methods In 2018, PWID were interviewed in 22 US cities for National HIV Behavioral Surveillance. We analyzed data from PWID aged 18-64 years who reported illicit use of opioids (n = 9957) in the past 12 months. Poisson regression models with robust standard errors were used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to examine differences by Medicaid expansion status in indicators of healthcare access and utilization. Results Persons who inject drugs in Medicaid expansion states were more likely to have insurance (87% vs 36%; aPR, 2.3; 95% CI, 2.0-2.6), a usual source of healthcare (53% vs 34%; aPR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.3-1.9), and have used medication-assisted treatment (61% vs 36%; aPR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7), and they were less likely to have an unmet need for care (21% vs 39%; aPR, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.7) than those in nonexpansion states. Conclusions Low insurance coverage, healthcare access, and medication-assisted treatment utilization among PWID in some areas could hinder efforts to end the intertwined human immunodeficiency virus and opioid overdose epidemics.
Electrical Characteristics of LDD and LDD-Free FinFET Devices of Dimension Compatible With 14 nm Technology Node

FinFET devices with and without LDD implantation has been studied for dimensions compatible with leading 14nm technology node. Devices without LDD have better electrostatic characteristics with SS = 65mV/dec and DIBL = 33mV. The nFET transistors with no LDD have device Vtsat mismatch reduction by 20%, together with retained device reliability of HCI as compared to devices with LDD. A full range of device Vtsat flavors is enabled in this experiment, presenting excellent device performances at different operating voltages of 0.55V, 0.8V and 1.2V. All results indicates that devices with no LDD and one less mask in FinFET architecture achieve lower cost, compelling performance and area scaling compared to devices with LDD, for high performance and low power applications.
Brain injury in children with diabetic ketoacidosis: Review of the literature and a proposed pathophysiologic pathway for the development of cerebral edema

Cerebral edema (CE) is a potentially devastating complication of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) that almost exclusively occurs in children. Since its first description in 1936, numerous risk factors have been identified; however, there continues to be uncertainty concerning the mechanisms that lead to its development. Currently, the most widely accepted hypothesis posits that CE occurs as a result of ischemia-reperfusion injury, with inflammation and impaired cerebrovascular autoregulation contributing to its pathogenesis. The role of specific aspects of DKA treatment in the development of CE continues to be controversial. This review critically examines the literature on the pathophysiology of CE and attempts to categorize the findings by types of brain injury that contribute to its development: cytotoxic, vasogenic, and osmotic. Utilizing this scheme, we propose a multifactorial pathway for the development of CE in patients with DKA.
Identification of Channel Hot Carrier Stress-Induced Oxide Traps Leading to Random Telegraph Signals in pMOSFETs

We investigated the effect of channel hot carrier (CHC) stressing on the creation of gate oxide defect centers causing random telegraph signals (RTSs) in pMOSFETs. To identify these stress-induced hole traps in the oxide and fully characterize their trapping properties, variable temperature RTS measurements were performed from room temperature down to 215 K and repeated after each stressing interval, up to 1200 s. The trapping properties of the stress-induced defect sites and those present before stress are quantified, including the hole capture and emission activation energies, structural relaxation in the oxide network due to trapping/detrapping, and entropy change as well as the energy level and position of the trap in the oxide. Based on this information, disassociated III-Si and hydrogen bridge defects are identified as the hole trapping centers in SiO2. Difference was observed between the process- and stress-induced traps in the entropy change upon hole emission from the oxide trap to Si channel (electron capture from the Si valence band), implying the possibility of stress-induced structural defects being different than the native ones.
Fashion Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy: Development and Validation of a Domain-Specific Scale

The purpose of this project is to conceptualize and operationalize fashion domain entrepreneurial self-efficacy (FDESE) by developing a valid measurement. This study started with reviewing the literature and individual interviews among 19 fashion entrepreneurs, which aided in the development of 72 initial items. An online survey was then conducted with individuals who are running or have the intention to run fashion businesses, yielding 249 usable samples for scale purification, which generated a 21-item scale consisting of four dimensions with six items loaded on Passion for Fashion Business, five items loaded on Financial Management, eight items loaded on Marketing and Branding, and four items loaded on Creativity. This study is the first attempt to develop practical scales measuring self-efficacy that focus on fashion domain-based entrepreneurship. When compared to existing scales that are used to measure entrepreneurial self-efficacy, the four dimensions identified in this study and the items contained in each dimension reflect the typical characteristics in the fashion industry and will be more suitable to fashion entrepreneurs needing to evaluate their potential of running successful fashion businesses.