cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Deregulation of c-Myc in primary effusion lymphoma by Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus latency-associated nuclear antigen.

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a rare subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is associated with infection by Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV)/human herpesvirus-8. The c-Myc transcription factor plays an important role in cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Lymphomas frequently have deregulated c-Myc expression owing to chromosomal translocations, amplifications or abnormal stabilization. However, no structural abnormalities were found in the c-myc oncogene in PEL. Given that c-Myc is often involved in lymphomagenesis, we hypothesized that it is deregulated in PEL. We report that PEL cells have abnormally stable c-Myc protein. The turnover of c-Myc protein is stringently regulated by post-transcriptional modifications, including phosphorylation of c-Myc threonine 58 (T58) by glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β). Our data show that the impaired c-Myc degradation in PEL cells is associated with a significant underphosphorylation of c-Myc T58. The KSHV latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) is responsible for this deregulation. Overexpression of LANA in human embryonic kidney 293 or peripheral blood B cells leads to post-transcriptional deregulation of c-Myc protein. Conversely, when LANA is eliminated from PEL cells using RNA interference, GSK-3β-mediated c-Myc T58 phosphorylation is restored. The presence of c-Myc and LANA in GSK-3β-containing complexes in PEL cells further confirms the significance of these interactions in naturally KSHV-infected cells.
Preface to the Special Issue

This Special Issue deals with the way computer networks are put together. There are various topics that are covered in this Special Issue. They consist of the systematic portrayal of the way communication network architectures are put together and conclude with an tip-to-date sampling of one of the most active. and exciting research areas in the protocol field today, verifying and directly implementing protocols from a formal specification. Throughout our discussion of the various architectures and protocols, the authors have been at pains to provide a readable description that is both tutorial and, within limits, encyclopedic.
Teaching as a new practitioner.

How do you establish credibility as a teacher when you are a new practitioner and almost the same age as your students? How do you offer your students valuable information and have a successful class while you yourself are learning to teach? These were some of the questions that I asked myself as I
Anesthetic techniques for the management of cancer pain

This review focuses on available anesthetic techniques for cancer patients, the indications, and appropriate agents for these potent tools in a stepwise approach to cancer pain. Anesthetic procedures are desirable when they will not compromise bodily functions important to the patient, and when tumor-directed therapy and noninvasive or less-invasive, low-risk approaches (primarily pharmacologic tailoring of analgesic drugs) fail to control pain. Nondestructive techniques include the epidural/intrathecal use of opioids via an implanted catheter, and local anesthetic blocks of nerves and sympathetic ganglia. Chronic intrathecal or epidural opioid infusion seems ideal if the life expectancy is 2 to 3 months. Local anesthetic blocks can help prognosticate results of subsequent neurolytic blocks, including undesirable effects. Destructive anesthetic procedures comprise injections of neurolytic agents (most commonly phenol or alcohol), and insertion of freezing probes, into nerves and ganglia. The types of nerve blocks performed, their complications, and success rates, and limitations of commonly used neurolytic agents as well as their proper applications, are described. The importance of proper patient selection and knowledge of the pathophysiology of the pain being treated is stressed, as is the appropriate timing of anesthetic procedures in the course of the disease.
Hallucinogens antagonize histamine H1 receptors of cultured mouse neuroblastoma cells.

Hallucinogens were competitive antagonists of histamine at the H1-receptor of cultured mouse neuroblastoma cells. Their rank order of potency at this receptor was similar to that for their potency at eliciting subjective effects in vivo. Comparison with studies of other receptors, however, suggests that no single model of drug—receptor interaction adequately accounts for the known subjective effects of these compounds.
Safeguarding indoor air quality.

California has created and implemented the first state program devoted exclusively to the investigation of nonindustrial indoor air quality. The program is responsible for promoting and conducting research on the determining factors of healthful indoor environments and is structured to obtain information about emission sources, ventilation effects, indoor concentrations, human activity patterns, exposures, health risks, control measures and public policy options. Data are gathered by a variety of methods, including research conducted by staff members, review of the available scientific literature, participation in technical meetings, contractual agreements with outside agencies, cooperative research projects with other groups and consultation with experts. 23 references, 1 figure, 1 table.
Ultra-high speed p-i-n/HBT monolithic OEIC photoreceiver

Summary form only given. An extremely wide-bandwidth monolithic OEIC receiver with high gain and low noise is described. It demonstrates the ability of HBT technology to provide low-noise and high-bandwidth performance in a preamplifier combined with an easily and naturally integrable optical detector. A circuit topology is also demonstrated to yield good high-speed performance with GaAs-AlGaAs HBTs. With minor modifications and improvements both speed and quantum efficiency should be easily increased. This approach can be extended into the InGaAs-InAlAs or InGaAs-InP system to provide operation at 1.3 and 1.55 mu m. >
Turbulent Reynolds analogy factors for nonplanar surface microgeometries

Direct measurements of turbulent Reynolds analogy factors are presented for 15 nonplanar surface microgeometries (including riblets, oscillating transverse curvature, wavy walls, and micro air bearings) for momentum thickness Reynolds numbers of 1638-2631. It is shown that certain types of nonplanar surface microgeometries will increase turbulent Reynolds analogy factors significantly above flat-plate levels. In several cases, the observed elevated heat-transfer efficiencies represent the combined effects of both heat-transfer increases and drag decreases. Generally, the results suggest that decreases of the order of 20 percent are possible in heat exchanger volume, cost, and weight for designs with extensive planar surfaces.
Optical feed for a phased array microwave antenna

Microwave signals for all array elements in a phared array microwave antenna are simultaneously generated by spatial sampling of a moving sinusoidal interference pattern formed between two frequency-offset injection-locked laser diodes. The offset and radar frequency of 3.2 GHz were generated by a Bragg cell. A nearly distortionless antenna beam pattern and 180° steering are demonstrated in a linear seven-element array.
Analysis of Patients Receiving Histone Deacetylase Inhibiting Antiepileptic Agents during Radiation Treatment for Glioblastoma

Results: Data for 269 patients were available for analysis with a median age of 58 y. Median OS and PFS for the cohort were 62 weeks and 20 weeks, respectively. RT response ranging from stable enhancement to a .50% decrease in the size of enhancement among subtotally resected patients was seen in 115 (43%) of cases. Concurrent TMZ was given to 142 patients (53%). Sixteen patients (6%) received VA during the course of their treatment. Other antiepileptic agents were given in 175 cases and included phenytoin (69%), levetiracetam (19%), and carbamazepine (7%). No significant benefit in OS, PFS, or RT response was seen for patients receiving VA. Median OS and PFS for the VA receiving group was 64 wks and 22 wks, respectively, compared to 63 wks and 19 wks, respectively, for the no-VA group. Eight patients (50%) of the VA group showed a response to RT compared to 107 (44%) in the non-VA group (p = NS). When patients receiving VA were combined with those receiving other HDAC inhibitoryantiepilepticdrugs(n= 51),theresultsweresimilarlynotsignificantforalloutcomes.Amongthesubsetofpatientsreceive TMZ, HDAC inhibitors resulted in a modest, but not statistically significant improvement in median OS (62 wks vs. 48 wks, p = 0.18), but no difference in PFS or RT response. Conclusions: The use of antiepileptic, HDAC inhibiting drugs during radiotherapy for GBM did not improve outcome in this retrospective analysis. While potentially beneficial, further study is needed to determine a benefit for the combination of TMZ and HDAC inhibitors. Author Disclosure: E.P. Sulman, None; C.E. Pelloski, None; K.D. Aldape, None.
New Lower Bounds for Vertex Cover in the Lovasz-Schrijver Hierarchy

Lovdsz and Schrijver (1991) defined three progressively stronger procedures LS0, LS and LS+, for systematically tightening linear relaxations over many rounds. All three procedures yield the integral hull after at most n rounds. On the other hand, constant rounds of LS+ can derive the relaxations behind many famous approximation algorithms such as those for MAX-CUT, SPARSEST-CUT. So proving round lower bounds for these procedures on specific problems may give evidence about inapproximability. We prove new round lower bounds for vertex cover in the LS hierarchy. Arora et al. (2006) showed that the integrality gap for VERTEX COVER relaxations remains 2 - o(1) even after Omega(log n) rounds LS. However, their method can only prove round lower bounds as large as the girth of the input graph, which is O(log n) for interesting graphs. We break through this "girth barrier" and show that the integrality gap for VERTEX COVER remains 1.5 - epsi even after Omega(log2 n) rounds of LS. In contrast, the best PCP-based results only rule out 1.36-approximations. Moreover, we conjecture that the new technique we introduce to prove our lower bound, the "fence" method, may lead to linear or nearly linear LS round lower bounds for VERTEX COVER
Ferroelectric Phase Transition in Individual Single-Crystalline BaTiO3 Nanowires

We report scanned probe characterizations of the ferroelectric phase transition in individual barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanowires. Variable-temperature electrostatic force microscopy is used to manipulate, image, and evaluate the diameter-dependent stability of ferroelectric polarizations. These measurements show that the ferroelectric phase transition temperature (TC) is depressed as the nanowire diameter (dnw) decreases, following a 1/dnw scaling. The diameter at which TC falls below room temperature is determined to be ∼3 nm, and extrapolation of the data indicates that nanowires with dnw as small as 0.8 nm can support ferroelectricity at lower temperatures. We also present density functional theory (DFT) calculations of bare and molecule-covered BaTiO3 surfaces. These calculations indicate that ferroelectricity in nanowires is stabilized by molecular adsorbates such as OH and carboxylates. These adsorbates are found to passivate polarization charge more effectively than metallic electrodes, explaining ...
Causal Parameters and Policy Analysis in Economics: A Twentieth Century Retrospective

The major contributions of twentieth century econometrics to knowledge were the definition of causal parameters within well-defined economic models in which agents are constrained by resources and markets and causes are interrelated, the analysis of what is required to recover causal parameters from data (the identification problem), and clarification of the role of causal parameters in policy evaluation and in forecasting the effects of policies never previously experienced. This paper summarizes the development of these ideas by the Cowles Commission, the response to their work by structural econometricians and VAR econometricians, and the response to structural and VAR econometrics by calibrators, advocates of natural and social experiments, and by nonparametric econometricians and statisticians. This paper considers the definition and identification of causal parameters in economics and their role in econometric policy analysis. It assesses different research programs designed to recover causal parameters from data. At the beginning of this century, economic theory was mainly intuitive, and empirical support for it was largely anecdotal. At the end of the century, economics has a rich array of formal models and a high-quality database. Empirical regularities motivate theory in many areas of economics, and data are routinely used to test theory. Many economic theories have been developed as measurement frameworks to suggest what data should be collected and how they should be interpreted. Econometric theory was developed to analyze and interpret economic data. Most econometric theory adapts methods originally developed in statistics. The major exception to this rule is the econometric analysis of the identification problem and the companion analyses of structural equations, causality, and economic policy evaluation. Although an economist did not invent the phrase, ‘‘correlation does not imply causation,’’ 1 economists clari
Positron Lymphography: Multimodal, High-Resolution, Dynamic Mapping and Resection of Lymph Nodes After Intradermal Injection of 18F-FDG

The lymphatic system plays a critical role in the maintenance of healthy tissues. Its function is an important indicator of the presence and extent of disease. In oncology, metastatic spread to local lymph nodes (LNs) is a strong predictor of poor outcome. Clinical methods for the visualization of LNs involve regional injection and tracking of 99mTc-sulfur colloid (99mTc-SC) along with absorbent dyes. Intraoperatively, these techniques suffer from the requirement of administration of multiple contrast media (99mTc-SC and isosulfan blue), unwieldy γ-probes, and a short effective surgical window for dyes. Preclinically, imaging of transport through the lymphatics is further hindered by the resolution of lymphoscintigraphy and SPECT. We investigated multimodal imaging in animal models using intradermal administration of 18F-FDG for combined diagnostic and intraoperative use. PET visualizes LNs with high sensitivity and resolution and low background. Cerenkov radiation (CR) from 18F-FDG was evaluated to optically guide surgical resection of LNs. Methods: Imaging of 18F-FDG uptake used PET and sensitive luminescent imaging equipment (for CR). Dynamic PET was performed in both sexes and multiple strains (NCr Nude, C57BL/6, and Nu/Nu) of mice. Biodistribution confirmed the uptake of 18F-FDG and was compared with that of 99mTc-SC. Verification of uptake and the ability to use 18F-FDG CR to guide nodal removal were confirmed histologically. Results: Intradermal injection of 18F-FDG clearly revealed lymphatic vessels and LNs by PET. Dynamic imaging revealed rapid and sustained labeling of these structures. Biodistribution of the radiotracer confirmed the active transport of radioglucose in the lymphatics to the local LNs and over time into the general circulation. 18F-FDG also enabled visualization of LNs through CR, even before surgically revealing the site, and guided LN resection. Conclusion: Intradermal 18F-FDG can enhance the preclinical investigation of the lymphatics through dynamic, high-resolution, and quantitative tomographic imaging. Clinically, combined PET/Cerenkov imaging has significant potential as a single-dose, dual-modality tracer for diagnostics (PET/CT) and guided resection of LNs (Cerenkov optical).
Least biased target selection in probabilistic atlas construction

Probabilistic atlas has broad applications in medical image segmentation and registration. The most common problem building a probabilistic atlas is picking a target image upon which to map the rest of the training images. Here we present a method to choose a target image that is the closest to the mean geometry of the population under consideration as determined by bending energy. Our approach is based on forming a distance matrix based on bending energies of all pair-wise registrations and performing multidimensional scaling (MDS) on the distance matrix.
Efficient mobility management for vertical handoff between WWAN and WLAN

As we move toward next-generation all-IP wireless networks, we are facing the integration of heterogeneous networks, such as WWAN and WLAN, where vertical handoff is required. In vertical handoff between WWAN and WLAN, mobile hosts should be able to move freely across different networks while satisfying QoS requirements for a variety of applications. In order to achieve seamless handoff and maintain continuity of connection, we propose a novel mobility. management system that integrates a connection manager to detect network condition changes in a timely and accurate manner, and a virtual connectivity manager that uses an end-to-end principle to maintain a connection without additional network infrastructure support. A prototype system was built to test the effectiveness of the proposed system. Experiments show that seamless roaming between WLAN and WWAN can be achieved, and much better performance can be obtained than with the traditional scheme.
Spectral features for the classification of civilian vehicles using acoustic sensors

Identification of civilian vehicles is in increasing demand in military and homeland security applications such as surveillance and traffic monitoring. This paper presents a new algorithm to estimate the fundamental frequency of a car engine sound accurately. It also presents examples of the use of this frequency to identify and classify different civilian vehicles. Acoustic features, such as the tristimulus response introduced in music theory, are proposed as tools for the characterization of the timbre of the car engine sound. In addition we introduce a new generalized M-stimulus as a tool to distinguish special features in some car engines.
What College Students Know about Older Adults: A Cross-Cultural Qualitative Study

A total of 227 college students from Joliet, Illinois in the USA and Shanghai in the People's Republic of China (PRC) answered open-ended questions on their perception of being old. Topics also included participant's knowledge about older adults' regular activities, social policies and benefits for senior citizens, the happiest and the most fearful things to older adults, and the things about older adults that they were able to understand the best or the least. More negative ideas of aging and older adults were observed in the PRC data than in the USA data. The USA students' responses displayed individualistic characteristics, whereas the PRC students' answers exhibited collectivistic interconnectedness. These findings gave support to the revised modernization theory and fit well into the theoretical framework of individualistic and collectivistic cultures.
On the pulling power of ice streams

Gravity wants to pull an ice sheet to the center of the Earth, but cannot because the Earth’s crust is in the way, so ice is pushed out sideways instead. Or is it? The ice sheet “sees” nothing preventing it from spreading out except air, which is much less massive than ice. Therefore, does not ice rush forward to fill this relative vacuum; does not the relative vacuum suck ice into it, because Nature abhors a vacuum? If so, the ice sheet is not only pulled downward by gravity, it is also pulled outward by the relative vacuum. This pulling outward will be most rapid where the ice sheet encounters least resistance. The least resistance exists along the bed of ice streams, where ice-bed coupling is reduced by a basal water layer, especially if the ice stream becomes afloat and the floating part is relatively unconfined around its perimeter and unpinned to the sea floor. Ice streams are therefore fast currents of ice that develop near the margins of an ice sheet where these conditions exist. Because of these conditions, ice streams pull ice out of ice sheets and have pulling power equal to the longitudinal gravitational pulling force multiplied by the ice-stream velocity. These boundary conditions beneath and beyond ice streams can be quantified by a basal buoyancy factor that provides a life-cycle classification of ice streams into inception, growth, mature, declining and terminal stages, during which ice streams disintegrate the ice sheet. Surface profiles of ice streams are diagnostic of the stage in a life cycle and, hence, of the vitality of the ice sheet.
An integrated development toolset and implementation methodology for partially reconfigurable system-on-chips

Partial reconfiguration (PR) enhances traditional FPGA-based system-on-chips (SoCs) by providing additional benefits such as reduced area and increased functionality as compared to non-PR SoCs. However, since leveraging these additional benefits requires specific designer expertise and increased development time, PR has not yet gained widespread usage. In this paper, we present an integrated development toolset that automates the implementation of PR SoCs on FPGA devices and leverage this tool in a rapid design space exploration case study.
Revising expectations from rapid HIV tests in the emergency department.

Background Expanded HIV screening efforts in the United States have increased the use of rapid HIV tests in emergency departments. The reported sensitivity and specificity of rapid HIV tests exceed 99%.
NGOs and `modernization' and `democratization' of media: Situating media assistance

Western-supported media assistance in transition and developing countries has a long history. Building independent media, preferably through the nongovernmental sector, is seen as an important aspe...
Does Syndicate Pressure Affect Analysts’ Incentive to Produce Information? Evidence from Recommended Firms’ Securities Class Action Lawsuits

We propose that syndicate pressure distorts unaffiliated analysts’ incentive to produce information. To examine this newly proposed conflict of interest problem, we separate unaffiliated analysts into two types. The first type is the analysts employed by syndicate banks, which do not have direct underwriting relationships with the recommended firms but have participated in the affiliated main banks’ syndicates (the underwriters of recommended firms). The second type is independent banks, which do not have underwriting relationships with the recommended firms or syndication relationships with the main banks. Syndicate pressure refers to syndicate banks’ analysts being cooperative or acting like main banks’ analysts so as to enhance their banks’ chance to participate in future underwriting syndicates. We further distinguish syndicate bank types by their roles as co-managers or co-lead syndicate members because co-managers tend to be smaller underwriters and do not have the same capacity to organize their own syndicates as co-lead syndicate banks. Therefore, co-manager partners are more susceptible to syndicate pressure than co-lead syndicate banks. Using a novel event, the securities class action lawsuits, we are able identify unique private information production periods prior to the public’s knowledge of the wrongdoings. Therefore, we can examine the timeliness of private information dissemination by various types of analysts. Consistent with the “syndicate pressure” hypothesis, we find that unaffiliated analysts employed by co-manager syndicate banks issue downgrade revisions no sooner than those employed by the affiliated main banks. On the other hand, unaffiliated analysts employed by co-lead syndicate banks and independent banks issue downgrade revisions significantly more promptly than those of main banks. In addition, we document that Global Settlement appears to improve analysts’ independence, particularly among main banks, which are subject to the greatest level of conflicts of interest, and co-manager syndicate banks, which are susceptible to syndicate pressure from main banks.
Computational Study of Optimum and Off-design Performance of Checkerboard Liners

A hybrid search procedure is used to compare the optimum and off-design performance of uniform and equi-segmented (checkerboard) liners. The objective function for the checkerboard liner contains multiple local optima and is computationally expensivedue to the need to solve a large system of complex linear equations. The hybrid search procedure employs a genetic algorithm to identify promising regions of the design spaceand then switches to a local searchmethod to further resolvethese regionsto obtain the optimum point. A sparse solver with equation reordering is used to reduce computer memory and wall clock time for each function evaluation and the genetic algorithm is run in parallel on 100 CPUs to obtain additional reduction in wall clock time. The primary conclusion of the study is that an optimized checkerboard liner attenuates substantially more sound than an optimized uniform liner at a single, targeted frequency, and has a broader off-design performance. The checkerboardliner tends to be much more effective than the uniform liner at the higher frequencies.
Environmental sex determination in a reptile varies seasonally and with yolk hormones.

Most hypotheses that have been put forward in order to explain the persistence of environmental sex determination (ESD) in reptiles assume a relatively fixed association of sex with temperature-induced phenotype and no maternal influence on offspring sex. Here we demonstrate the association of maternally derived yolk hormone levels with the offspring sex ratio and describe two new aspects of temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), i.e. seasonal variation in both thermal response and yolk steroid levels. Eggs from painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) were incubated at 28 degrees C. The hatchling sex ratio at 28 degrees C (i.e. the phenotypic reaction norm for sex at 28 degrees C) shifted seasonally from ca. 72% male to ca. 76% female. Yolk oestradiol (E2) increased seasonally while testosterone (T) decreased. The proportion of males in a clutch decreased as E2 levels increased and the E2:T ratio increased. These new findings are discussed in relation to heritability and adaptive explanations for the persistence of ESD in reptiles. Maternally derived yolk hormones may provide a mechanism for the seasonal shift in the sex ratio which in turn may help explain the persistence of ESD in reptiles. They may also explain those clutches of other reptiles with TSD that fail to yield only males at maximally masculinizing conditions.
A rigorous method for test templates generation from object‐oriented specifications

This paper describes a rigorous method that investigates the suitability of formal specifications written in Object-Z specification language for testing object-oriented software implementation in a black-box fashion. The insight gained in the formalization of a model, the inherent abstractions, and formally specified intended behaviours and exceptions lead to the generation of test templates that are free from any implementation bias. The method described in this paper is an extension of the one proposed by Stocks and Carrington. In particular, the focus of the paper is on generating test templates for composite operations in an Object-Z specification. The method is illustrated using the specification for an electronic mail system. The specification and the test templates generated for the electronic mail system show several interesting properties of the application that require considerable attention during testing. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Substance Use by Soldiers Who Abuse Their Spouses

Data on 7,424 soldier spouse abuse offenders were analyzed to determine the prev alence of substance use during abusiv e incidents, and to examine differences between substance-using and non-substance-using offenders. Results showed that 25% of all offenders used substances during abusiv e incidents, with males and non-Hispanic Whites being more likely to hav e used substances. Substance-using offenders were more likely to perpetrate physical spouse abuse and more sev ere spouse abuse. These findings underscore the importance of educating military personnel (including commanders) about links between substance use and domestic v iolence, and of coordinating prev entiv e and therapeutic substance abuse and v iolence-related interv entions.
Infection Caused by Propionibacterium in Children

Three hundred eighty-six isolates of Propionibacterium sp. were recovered from 2,003 specimens studied for the identification of anaerobic bacteria in children during a 15-year period. Three hundred forty-three (89%) of these were Propionibacterium acnes. A total of 50 (13%) Propionibacterium isolates identified from 45 patients were considered to cause infection. Clinically significant infections caused by Propionibacterium sp. were associated with bacteremia in 10 children; ear infection in eight; abscesses in seven; adenitis and central nervous system infection in five each; burns in four; wounds in three; tumors and bone in two each; and cysts, eye, sinus, and mastoid in one each. Predisposing or underlying conditions were present in 33 children (73%). These included the presence of a foreign body (17), immunodeficiency (six), malignancy (five), diabetes (five), previous surgery (four), and steroid therapy (two). Antimicrobial therapy was given to 41 (91%) children. Surgical drainage was concomitantly...
Selection Of Forum For Litigated Tax Issues

The adjudication of federal income tax disputes between the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and taxpayers takes place in one of three mutually-exclusive trial courts. The courts have several features in common but they differ with respect to a number of important requirements (aspects). This study models taxpayers choice of litigation forum as a function of requirements and constraints of the courts within the purview of the Elimination By Aspects Model (EBAM). The choice of forum is regressed on the contested deficiency using dichotomous and multinomial logit models. For increasing amounts of tax deficiency, the U.S. Tax Court appears to be the court of choice compared to the U.S. Claims Court. However, the magnitude of the contested deficiency does not meaningfully discriminate between the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S district court. A possible explanation is that both courts afford approximately equal probabilities of winning/losing and that taxpayers choose based on that understanding. The results have implications regarding the prepayment requirement in the U.S. Claims Court and U.S. district courts.
Silicon Nitride Encapsulated Silicon Nanocrystals for Lithium Ion Batteries

Silicon nitride (SiNx) is a promising passivation material for Si nanocrystal (NC)-based anodes in lithium-ion batteries. We report a single-step plasma synthesis process for growing SiNx-encapsulated Si NCs. In this process, nucleation and growth of the Si NCs occurred in the upstream region of a continuous-flow tubular plasma reactor via dissociation and polymerization of SiH4 diluted in Ar. The Si NC surface was nitrided downstream via N2 injection into the plasma afterglow. Infrared spectra show a N-rich SiNx coating, with some SiSi surface bonds that remained intact with no N insertion. Photoluminescence spectra show a Si NC core with an average diameter of ∼4 nm. These SiNx-coated Si NCs remained susceptible to oxidation in the ambient, which reduced the Si core by approximately a monolayer. Optical emission spectra from the downstream glow region show that excited N2 species likely led to surface Si nitridation.
Research Retrospective on Transformational Development of Programs

Robert Paige wrote this retrospective of his research work for the IFIP Working Group 2.1 meeting n. 53 which unfortunately he could not attend due to illness. This paper, delivered at the meeting in his absence, is focused on the transformational development of programs. The reader will find it useful to refer to the related paper “A National Science Foundation Proposal”, also by Robert Paige, which is included in this book.
Tactical Adaptation and Symbolic Protest

Protesters adapt and act symbolically. The persistence of annually aggregated data has hidden this fact. In fact, we have paid much attention to the correlates of protest without enabling protesters – or at least their leaders – to think (Jasper 1997). The potential importance of adaptation and symbolic protest for research problems is high: (1) it explains why domestic conflicts remain stable (Francisco 2000, 2009); (2) it explains mobilization is easier if risk is lowered; (3) it helps to understand why most conflicts are short – one side wins with relative ease in one-sided adaptation; (4) it aids in understanding why the relationship between protest and repression is complex; (5) it clarifies how dissidents can create political opportunities; and (6) two-sided adaptation explains how civil wars emerge.
North-South Trade and Export-Led Policies

An earlier paper in this journal [Chichilnisky (1981)] formulated a model of North-South trade where the South exports a Labor intensive commodity in exchange for industrial goods. The paper studied moves to new equilibria with higher levels of exports of the South and of industrial demand in the North. It was established that with abundant labor and technological dualism, such moves lead to more exports, but to lower terms of, trade, consumption and real wages in the South. This occurs within Walrasian stable and perfectly competitive markets. Sufficient conditions were also given for the South to improve its terms of trade, real wages, and consumption through an export expansion. This paper comments on several other papers written on these results, generalizes the earlier propositions and extends them to a larger class of economies which export labor-intensive products, but need not have abundant labor. lt gives a generalization of the earlier results on uniqueness and stability of the equilibria and reports also on recent econometric tests for Sri-Lanka and the U.K., and numerical simulations of the model.
Intraductal Approaches: Nipple Aspirate Fluid to Assist in Breast Cancer Detection

Over 40,000 women in the United States will die this year of breast cancer. Current generally accepted techniques to detect breast cancer are limited to breast examination and imaging studies (mammography supplemented with ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] for certain indications). Abnormalities found by these techniques require an invasive needle or surgical biopsy to determine if cancer is present. Our approach is to determine noninvasively whether a woman has breast cancer, and to do this before the abnormality is detectable by standard screening techniques. Herein we review the technology as it was, is, and its future potential.
SPECT and PET cerebral scintigraphy of tinnitus

1818 Objectives 1.Identify common structural/functional abnormalities of severe and disabling central type disabling tinnitus in brain with HmPAO SPECT and F-18 FDG PET of over 300 patients. 2.Support the clinical diagnosis and therapy of multiple types of tinnitus as an aberrant auditory sensory disorder of ear and brain with sensory-affect connectivity. Methods 1. Apply standardized medical-audiologic tinnitus protocol for patient inclusion. 2. Perform standard multidetector SPECT after injection of Tc99m HMPao and/or 3. Perform standard PET with MRI fusion or PET/CT after injection of F-18FDG. 4. SPECT analysis:compare ROI/Pons brain ratios in tinnitus and normal patients. 5. FDG PET analysis:compare SUVs of multiple standardized patient ROIs to normal age and sex matched group data. Results 1. SPECT-Brodman 21 and 22(auditory association),right thalamus, posterior superior pons(region of cochlear and vestibular nuclei),multiple cerebellar ROIs abnormal(p 2std dev). 3. FDG PET-frequent concurrent biparietal +/- frontal cortical abnormal SDAT-associated findings. 4. FDG PET followup study quantitative data parallels individual therapeutic responses. Conclusions 1. Medial temporal lobe hypometabolism is common/universal pathophysiology in central disabling tinnitus. 2. Primary and secondary auditory association cortex abnormalities common. 3. Thalamic, pons, and cerebellar abnormalities reflect sensory-affect connectivity. 4. Preclinical SDAT -type hypometabolism is a frequent association. Research Support Martha Entehman Foundation
The Constitutionality of Strict Liability in Sex Offender Registration Laws

People are afraid, and it is understandable. One need only hear the heartbreaking account of a child abducted and assaulted, or murdered by a convicted sex offender, to appreciate a community's desire to protect its children from predators living among them. Sex offender registration and notification schemes, which are designed to track the offenders and to protect the community, are motivated by justifiable regulatory intentions; nonetheless, legislators may be guilty of overreaching. This article explores the constitutionality of sex offender registration laws as applied to one specific group of convicted sex offenders - the statutory rapist who has been convicted in one of thirty jurisdictions that employs a strict liability framework. Specifically, this article questions whether strict liability provides a sufficient and constitutional framework for the requirement to register as a sex offender. I draw the distinction between a narrowly constructed sex offender registration system designed to protect the public, and a system marked by a net cast so wide that it captures offenders whose predatory behavior or criminal intent was never proven. This article argues that because of the convergence of several factors, including the recent Supreme Court decisions in Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. Doe and Lawrence v. Texas, the sweeping nature of sex offender registration laws unconstitutionally impacts the strict liability offender.
A new mobile payment protocol (GMPCP) by using a new group key agreement protocol (VTGKA)

Portable and mobile devices are capable of doing different types of payments, since they became really advances. Besides, most of the people would rather to do their online tasks with their cellphones. Our goals are decreasing the time complexity of computational operations and communications. Furthermore, it is important to protect identities of payer and payee completely.We will use a new group key agreement protocol named VTGKA that is working by symmetric key operations. We use the VTGKA protocol for generating a shared session key between n users.
Anatomy of the Nonprofit Starvation Cycle

The nonprofit starvation cycle is a debilitating trend of under-investment in organizational infrastructure that is fed by potentially misleading financial reporting and donor expectations of increasingly low overhead expenses. Since its original reporting in 2008, the phenomenon has been referenced several times, but seldom explored empirically; this study utilizes twenty-five years of nonprofit data to examine the existence, duration, and mechanics behind the nonprofit starvation cycle. Our results show a definite downward trend in overhead costs, reflecting a deep cut in administrative expenses partially offset by an increasing in fundraising expenses. The organization’s size is instrumental to its behavior, with a sharp rise in overhead occurring when revenues equal $100 thousand, but diminishing at $550 thousand. Finally, the brunt of the cuts have fallen on non-executive staff wages and professional fees, which heighten the concern of ill effects from a fixation on overhead cost reduction.
Law Stories, Coming Full Circle: Law as a Tool for Social and Personal Change

I had just finished my first semester. Like so many others, I was feeling lost in law school. But I soon found my compass.At an information session about the Center for Ethics and Public Service, I found everything that had been missing in my law school experience: a community committed to creating "citizen lawyers" and attorneys who would go out and change the world, case by case, step by step. I wanted to be part of this team of forward-thinking individuals keen for public service. I knew, instantly, that membership in this special organization could give me direction, and change my life through helping others.
Abstract C39: Docetaxel-induced growth and cell cycle phenotypes in prostate stromal cells

Background: Docetaxel (D) is a clinically used front-line chemotherapeutic agent for castration resistant advanced prostate cancer. However, its long-term benefits are limited with most patients eventually progressing because of inherent or acquired drug resistance. The treatment of advanced prostate cancer is a significant challenge and there are no effective treatments that stably suppress the disease. The mechanisms behind resistance to Docetaxel are not fully understood. Since in vivo Docetaxel cytotoxicity is directed not only to cancer cells, we hypothesize that the response of prostate stromal cells exposed to chemotherapeutic agents could modify drug response or therapeutic outcome in prostate cancer. One of cellular responses to chemotherapy is NF-kB activation and inflammatory signaling. NF-κB activation has been proposed as an important event in PCa development, castration-resistant progression and resistance to chemotherapy. Objective: In this study, we examined the response of prostate stromal (WPMY- 1) cells to Docetaxel. Current Results: Cellular proliferation was analyzed by MTT assay. The IC50 of Docetaxel for WPMY-1 cells was 10nM. Cell cycle profiles were assessed by flow cytometry. The analysis showed that Docetaxel (10-100nM) induced prominent G2-M arrest in these stromal cells within 24 hours, especially in the higher dose ranges. Interestingly lower doses of Docetaxel (10nM), in contrast to higher doses, consistently resulted in accumulation of sub-G1 population (28% 10nM vs 6% in 100nM) of cells suggestive of fragmented DNA associated with apoptotic process. We show that Docetaxel exhibits strong anti-proliferative effects on prostate stromal WPMY-1 cells. Conclusions: These preliminary results show that stromal cells are sensitive to Docetaxel. Why lower doses of the drug induce sub-G1 (apoptotic) accumulation while higher doses preferentially induce G2-M arrest is currently unknown. Future Steps: We will compare responses to D between prostate cancer cells and stromal cells in individual and co-culture models. NF-kB activity following D treatment or radiation, and the expression of genes in NF-kB pathway in D treated cells will be examined. Citation Format: Dominique Gales, Brionna McMcmeans, Temesgen Samuel. Docetaxel-induced growth and cell cycle phenotypes in prostate stromal cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr C39. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-C39
The Present Age Significance of Thoreau's View on Simple Life

The view on simple life is one of Thoreau's core concepts. Thoreau absorbed some ecological wisdom from Confucian idea of simple life,and then put forward the ecological thought that has far-reaching influence. As the ecocrisis worsens today,the present age value of Thoreau's view on simple life is becoming more and more important. A simple life does not mean requiring all the present-day people to live a secluded life,beside lakes and ponds,or among the mountains. It just suggests that people simplify their material life as much as possible,keep their material wants and consumer demands within the ecological bearing capacity,so that they can have much more time to communicate with nature and protect nature; so that they can elevate their spiritual mentality and cultivate a taste for ecological aesthetics. This is the present age significance of Thoreau's view on simple life.
The Effects of Temperature on the Yields of the Major Aliphatic and Aromatic Products of Supercritical n-Decane Pyrolysis

To investigate the effects of pyrolysis temperature on the production of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), precursors to solids, in the precombustion environment of fuels for future high-speed aircraft, we have conducted supercritical pyrolysis experiments with the model fuel n-decane, an alkane component of jet fuels. The experiments are performed in an isothermal, isobaric, silica-lined stainless-steel flow reactor at 94.6 atm, 133 s, and at six temperatures in the range of 530–570 °C, over which n-decane conversion rises from 57% to 92%. The products from the experiments have been analyzed by gas chromatography with flame-ionization and mass-spectrometric detection as well as by high-pressure liquid chromatography with diode-array ultraviolet–visible absorption and mass-spectrometric detection, and the experimentally measured product yields are reported, as functions of pyrolysis temperature, for 20 major aliphatic products (mostly C1–C9 n-alkanes and C2–C9 1-alkenes), 27 one- and two-ring aromat...
Aggregation, Phase Behavior and the Nature of Networks Formed by some Rod-Like Polymers

The rheological properties of four polymer-solvent systems involving rod-like polymers which formsgels were investigated. The systems studied were rod-like polybenzylglutamate (PBLG) in dimethylformamide (DMF), a solvent in which it does not aggregate, and in toluene, a solvent in which it end-to-end aggregates; polymerized deoxy-hemoglobin S (HbS) in aqueous solution; and bronchial mucus, having as a main component a stiff chain glycoprotein. The storage modulus of PBLG was found to be remarkably independent of concentration, molecular weight, temperature and solvent, and did not correspond to the “brush-pile” (rod polymer entanglements) theory of Doi. Sickle cell hemoglobin gels were found to have rheological properties very similar to PBLG gels. We propose that HbS does not show gel properties due to “brushpile” behavior, but indeed forms a three dimensional network. The rheological properties of the bronchial glycoprotein were found to be quite distinct from PBLG or HbS. A strong concentration dependence of the storage modulus was observed. At concentrations delivered from the lungs bronchial mucus is a non-integral, weak gel. Only upon concentrating do the rheological properties indicate an integral network.
Flunarizine rescues reduced lifespan in CLN3 triple knock-out Caenorhabditis elegans model of batten disease

CLN3 disease (Spielmeyer-Vogt-Sjogren-Batten disease, previously known as classic juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, NCL) is a pediatric-onset progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive vision loss, seizures, loss of cognitive and motor function, and early death. While no precise biochemical mechanism or therapies are known, the pathogenesis of CLN3 disease involves intracellular calcium accumulation that may trigger apoptosis. Our prior work in in vitro cell models of CLN3 deficiency suggested that FDA-approved calcium channel antagonists may have therapeutic value. To further evaluate the potential efficacy of this approach in an otherwise untreatable disorder, we sought to compare the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms in an animal model of CLN3 disease. Here, we used the well-characterized XT7 complete cln-3 knockout strain of C. elegans to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of calcium channel antagonist therapy in a living animal model of Batten disease. Therapeutic effects of five calcium channel antagonists were evaluated on XT7 animal lifespan and in vivo mitochondrial physiology. Remarkably, maximal therapeutic efficacy in this model animal was observed with 1 μM flunarizine, the identical concentration previously identified in cell-based neuronal models of CLN3 disease. Specifically, flunarizine rescued the short lifespan of XT7 worms and prevented their pathophysiologic mitochondrial accumulation. These results confirm the treatment efficacy and dosing of flunarizine in cln-3 disease in a translational model organism. Clinical treatment trials in CLN3 human patients are now needed to test the dosing regimen and efficacy of flunarizine in individuals suffering with this otherwise untreatable and ultimately lethal neurologic disease.