CP Maps – An interactive Cal Poly Map iOS Application

According to Forbes magazine, Cal Poly ranks No. 9 among Califor- nia’s public universities and is the top-ranked California State University for this past year[7]. More than 55,000 undergraduates seek admission for Fall 2015[11]. These visiting students and their families and as well as 20,000 cur- rent students, faculty and staff need an convenient way of navigating around campus[8]. Our iOS app—CP Maps—was built from the ground up to address the difficulty of navigating around campus

Low Temperature Photo-oxidation of Chloroperoxidase Compound II

Oxidation of the heme-thiolate enzyme chloroperoxidase (CPO) from Caldariomyces fumago with peroxynitrite (PN) gave the Compound II intermediate, which was photo-oxidized with 365 nm light to give a reactive oxidizing species. Cryo-solvents at pH ≈ 6 were employed, and reactions were conducted at temperatures as low as − 50 °C. The activity of CPO as evaluated by the chlorodimedone assay was unaltered by treatment with PN or by production of the oxidizing transient and subsequent reaction with styrene. EPR spectra at 77 K gave the amount of ferric protein at each stage in the reaction sequence. The PN oxidation step gave a 6:1 mixture of Compound II and ferric CPO, the photolysis step gave an approximate 1:1 mixture of active oxidant and ferric CPO, and the final mixture after reaction with excess styrene contained ferric CPO in 80% yield. In single turnover reactions at − 50 °C, styrene was oxidized to styrene oxide in high yield. Kinetic studies of styrene oxidation at − 50 °C displayed saturation kinetics with an equilibrium constant for formation of the complex of Kbind = 3.8 × 104 M− 1 and an oxidation rate constant of kox = 0.30 s− 1. UV–Visible spectra of mixtures formed in the photo-oxidation sequence at ca. − 50 °C did not contain the signature Q-band absorbance at 690 nm ascribed to CPO Compound I prepared by chemical oxidation of the enzyme, indicating that different species were formed in the chemical oxidation and the photo-oxidation sequence

Bayesian algorithms for recovering structure from single-particle diffraction snapshots of unknown orientation: a comparison

The advent of X-ray Free Electron Lasers promises the possibility to determine the structure of individual particles such as microcrystallites, viruses and biomolecules from single-shot diffraction snapshots obtained before the particle is destroyed by the intense femtosecond pulse. This program requires the ability to determine the orientation of the particle giving rise to each snapshot at signal levels as low as ~10-2 photons/pixel. Two apparently different approaches have recently demonstrated this capability. Here we show they represent different implementations of the same fundamental approach, and identify the primary factors limiting their performance.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Suicide rate in the dental profession: Fact or myth and coping strategies

This article summarizes relevant scientific data on the alleged high suicide rate among dentists as compared to other health care professions. Potential contributing risk factors for the dental profession are identified. In addition, a brief review is provided for major depressive disorder, a contributor to increased suicide, along with its symptoms, underlying theory, drug treatment and coping skills to combat this disorder.

Deep-web search engine ranking algorithms

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-80).The deep web refers to content that is hidden behind HTML forms. The deep web contains a large collection of data that are unreachable by link-based search engines. A study conducted at University of California, Berkeley estimated that the deep web consists of around 91,000 terabytes of data, whereas the surface web is only about 167 terabytes. To access this content, one must submit valid input values to the HTML form. Several researchers have studied methods for crawling deep web content. One of the most promising methods uses unique wrappers for HTML forms. User inputs are first filtered through the wrappers before being submitted to the forms. However, this method requires a new algorithm for ranking search results generated by the wrappers. In this paper, I explore methods for ranking search results returned from a wrapped-based deep web search engine.by Brian Wai Fung Wong.M.Eng

Ligand-Specific Interactions Modulate Kinetic, Energetic, and Mechanical Properties of the Human β2 Adrenergic Receptor

SummaryG protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a class of versatile proteins that transduce signals across membranes. Extracellular stimuli induce inter- and intramolecular interactions that change the functional state of GPCRs and activate intracellular messenger molecules. How these interactions are established and how they modulate the functional state of GPCRs remain to be understood. We used dynamic single-molecule force spectroscopy to investigate how ligand binding modulates the energy landscape of the human β2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR). Five different ligands representing either agonists, inverse agonists or neutral antagonists established a complex network of interactions that tuned the kinetic, energetic, and mechanical properties of functionally important structural regions of β2AR. These interactions were specific to the efficacy profile of the ligands investigated and suggest that the functional modulation of GPCRs follows structurally well-defined interaction patterns

Building a Collaborative Phone Blacklisting System with Local Differential Privacy

Spam phone calls have been rapidly growing from nuisance to an increasingly effective scam delivery tool. To counter this increasingly successful attack vector, a number of commercial smartphone apps that promise to block spam phone calls have appeared on app stores, and are now used by hundreds of thousands or even millions of users. However, following a business model similar to some online social network services, these apps often collect call records or other potentially sensitive information from users' phones with little or no formal privacy guarantees. In this paper, we study whether it is possible to build a practical collaborative phone blacklisting system that makes use of local differential privacy (LDP) mechanisms to provide clear privacy guarantees. We analyze the challenges and trade-offs related to using LDP, evaluate our LDP-based system on real-world user-reported call records collected by the FTC, and show that it is possible to learn a phone blacklist using a reasonable overall privacy budget and at the same time preserve users' privacy while maintaining utility for the learned blacklist.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, 7 algorithm

Signet Ring Cell Gastric Carcinoma: Clinical Epidemiology and Outcomes in a Predominantly Latino County Hospital Population.

BackgroundGastric signet ring cell carcinoma (GSRC) is a rare but increasingly prevalent tumor histotype whose clinical features and natural history are poorly understood, particularly in the USA and minorities.AimsTo examine the occurrence, clinico-demographic characteristics, oncologic features, treatment, and outcomes of GSRC in a predominantly minority county hospital setting and benchmark them against data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program.MethodsWe queried biopsy-proven GSRC cases at a Los Angeles County hospital, from 2004 to 2017. Clinical characteristics, treatment, and survival data were collected and compared to SEER data.ResultsWe identified 63 patients with GSRC. Compared to SEER, our cohort was significantly younger (52.6 vs. 63.5 years, p < 0.01), Hispanic/Latino predominant (81% vs. 20%, p < 0.01), had higher overall stage (86% vs. 69% with stage III/IV, p < 0.01), and more frequent node involvement (89% vs. 49%, p < 0.01). Lower tumor stage, Helicobacter pylori positivity, and surgical intervention were associated with significantly longer median survival (all p < 0.05), which was similar in our study compared to SEER (median 12.6 vs. 9.0 months, p = 0.26).ConclusionsPatients with GSRC within the Los Angeles County population have different clinical characteristics compared to what has been reported in SEER. Our cohort was younger, and despite having more advanced disease, did not have shorter survival. Further study is needed to better identify protective and risk factors in this population and improve understanding of the etiopathogenesis and natural history of this malignancy

Why blog? (then and now): Exploring the motivations for blogging by popular American political bloggers

Abstract Despite the impact that influential American political bloggers have had on public policies and the mainstream media agenda in recent years, very little research is currently available on the most widely read political bloggers. Through a survey of 66 top American political bloggers, the present study examines this elite group by analyzing their initial and current motivations for blogging as well as their online and offline behaviors. The findings demonstrate that nearly all motivations for blogging have increased over time, with the most substantial increases occurring in extrinsic motivations. The results also reveal a significant association between extrinsic motivations and blogger online and offline political participation. This study demonstrates that future research on political blogs needs to look beyond blog readers and blog content and investigate the influential political bloggers themselves. Keywords bloggers, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, political blogs, political participation In the past several years, political bloggers have played a significant role in the development of the American mainstream news agenda and Washington politics. For example, By now, many of the country's most influential bloggers have been blogging about political topics and current events for years. Some of them have been concentrating on political issues from the very beginning, such as Markos Moulitsas, who made it clear on his first Daily Kos post, 'I am liberal. I make no apologies Yet despite the intriguing emergence of bloggers into legitimate political circles and their apparent influence on American media and public policies, very little research on the most widely read political bloggers is currently available. While there is a growing body of research focused on political blog content Political Blogs and Their Bloggers Although blogs have received a considerable amount of attention recently, there is no clear consensus among scholars, media professionals and blog users about the definition of the word 'blog' 3 found that when blog readers describe blogs, they emphasize the interactional attributes rather than any structural features. These authors argue that it is 'more useful and informative to consider blogs not in terms of academic definitions, but rather in the terms of those involved in the activity of blogging The presence and popularity of blogs, which have been around since the early days of the world wide web, grew exponentially after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks as writers sought new outlets to express their feelings about the uncertain times and readers searched for information unavailable in the mainstream media (Blood, 2002; Unlike traditional news, most political bloggers do not subscribe to journalistic norms of objectivity; rather, their writings tend to be grounded in strong ideological assumptions Political Blogger Motivations and Behaviors The content of a blog depends heavily on the intentions of its author or authors, with some blogs serving as news aggregators, some as more personal diaries and others as political soapboxes. As boyd (2006: 3) points out in arguing that blogs should be reconceptualized as a medium rather than a genre, blogging encapsulates a 'diverse set of practices that result in the production of diverse content'. Therefore, understanding why political bloggers choose to blog is useful for expanding our understanding of the content found on those blogs. Indeed, while laying out a framework for studying mainstream media effects, Scheufele (1999) argues for the importance of analyzing why journalists adopt certain frames rather than limiting our focus to frames themselves. Similarly, Carragee and Roefs Cognitive psychologists assert that an individual's behavior is influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations Several recent studies have begun to examine the question of why bloggers blog. While these studies focused on bloggers generally, it is important to distinguish between those who blog about personal, social and cultural topics and those who concentrate on political issues, as their motivations may differ. In his study of non-'A-list' political bloggers, Wallsten (2005) found these bloggers were primarily driven by two motivations: (1) a desire for self-expression on political issues (i.e. a form of political expression) and (2) a desire to influence the distribution of social goods and social values (i.e. a form of political participation). According to this categorization, political bloggers are driven by both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, the former being intrinsic and the latter extrinsic as bloggers are rewarded by perceiving the influence of their content beyond themselves. Therefore, the present study provides an investigation into the motivations for political blogging, whether these motivations change over time and if these motivations impact blogger behavior. Following the work of H1: Extrinsic motivations for blogging will increase over the blogspan. RQ1: Will intrinsic motivations for blogging change over the blogspan? Extending the work of Sampling the Most Widely Read Political Blogs To determine the top blogs, indexing sites employ a number of different methods Measures In the survey, we developed 13 possible blogger motivations based on the previous research (Blood, 2002; Beyond questions concerning motivations, the survey also measured bloggers' online and offline political behavior. In terms of bloggers' offline political behavior, we adopted political participation items widely used in political communication research new media & society XX(X) paper petition, contributed money to a political campaign or cause, worked on a political campaign, contacted elected officials, wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper or magazine, volunteered for a social group or cause and attended a protest or rally (M = 4.83, SD = 2.40, α = .86). Their response was recorded on an 11-point scale that ranged from 0 (not at all) to 10 (very frequently). Blogger online behaviors are broadly defined by two behavioral orientations of blogging: social interaction and information search In addition to these quantitative measures, bloggers were also asked the open-ended question, 'Why did you start a blog?' Responses to this question will appear later to provide further contextual information about this study's findings concerning motivations for blogging. Participants were also asked several other questions about party identification, media use and blog content that are beyond the scope of the current study. Results In response to our survey, participants rated the following three items highest for initial blogger motivations: 'to let off steam' (M = 7.00, SD = 2.93), 'to keep track of your thoughts' (M = 6.46, SD = 3.20) and 'to formulate new ideas' (M = 6.44, SD = 3.09). The three lowest initial motivators were 'to influence mainstream media' (M = 3.83, SD = 3.34), 'to help your political party or cause' (M = 4.58, SD = 3.69) and 'to serve as a political watchdog' (M = 4.79, SD = 3.40). As for current motivations for blogging, the three items that most strongly resonated with our respondents were 'to provide an alternative perspective to the mainstream media' (M = 7.87, SD = 2.43), 'to inform people about the most relevant information on topics of interest' (M = 7.61, SD = 2.31) and 'to influence public opinion' (M = 7.27, SD = 2.69). While none of these statements were considered among the top three initial motivations, the three weakest current motivators were very similar to the three lowest initial motivators: 'to influence mainstream media' (M = 5.25, SD = 3.06), 'to critique your political opponents' (M = 5.64, SD = 3.14) and 'to help your political party or cause' (M = 5.81, SD = 3.24). at SAGE Publications on March 20, 2015 nms.sagepub.com Downloaded from Ekdale et al. 9 To test the differences between initial and current levels of motivations for blogging among respondents, we conducted a paired-sample t-test. As shown in In terms of intrinsic motivations, thought process motivations also increased over the blogspan (initial: M = 6.49, SD = 2.69; current: M = 7.04, SD = 2.29; t = 2.02, d.f. = 62, p <.05), although the increase in 'to keep track of your thoughts' is not statistically significant (t = 0.96, d.f. = 60, p > .10). Finally, the catharsis motivation, 'to let off steam', was the only motivation to decrease from initial to current levels at the .1 significance level. The current mean score of 'to let of steam' was 6.57 (SD = 2.76), whereas the initial mean score was 7.00 (SD = 2.93) (t = −1.79, d.f. = 59, p < .1). To assess the relationship between motivations and behaviors, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed. The five demographic and partisanship variables were entered in a first block, followed by a second block consisting of the three types of blogger motivations: extrinsic, articulating ideas and catharsis. The equations of this model were run to make an initial assessment of which kinds of motivations have significant effects on bloggers' political behaviors. Discussion Based on the results of our survey, all motivations for blogging increased over the course of our participants' blogspans except for the motive 'to let off steam'. This finding demonstrates that for the top political bloggers included in our survey the activity of blogging reinforced their motivations for blogging. Overall, these bloggers were more motivated to blog now than when they first started blogging. In particular, the motivation 'to at SAGE Publications on March 20, 2015 nms.sagepub.com Downloaded from 10 new media & society XX (X) provide an alternative perspective to the mainstream media' exhibited the largest increase over time. This demonstrates that relative to when these bloggers first decided to provide their unique point-of-view online, they now saw an increased need to offer their perspective. They became more cognizant of the fact that, outside of traditional news media and day-to-day interactions, the blogosphere provided them with an outlet for disseminating information and expressing political opinions. Indeed, several of the responses to our open-ended motivation question indicate that many bloggers found blogging to be an effective outlet for providing alternative perspectives on political and social issues: I was skeptical of them at first -mostly saw them as vanity projects. Then I saw that they were capable of moving information around the traditional media bottlenecks and decided that it was something I could contribute to. (#33) First, I was frustrated out of my wits with the shallowness, and lack of context, background, and even facts, in political reporting. I started blogging so I could research and provide (for SOMEBODY) the information and context I wasn't seeing in establishment media. (#11

Ligand-regulated oligomerization of β2-adrenoceptors in a model lipid bilayer

The β2-adrenoceptor (β2AR) was one of the first Family A G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) shown to form oligomers in cellular membranes, yet we still know little about the number and arrangement of protomers in oligomers, the influence of ligands on the organization or stability of oligomers, or the requirement for other proteins to promote oligomerization. We used fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to characterize the oligomerization of purified β2AR site-specifically labelled at three different positions with fluorophores and reconstituted into a model lipid bilayer. Our results suggest that the β2AR is predominantly tetrameric following reconstitution into phospholipid vesicles. Agonists and antagonists have little effect on the relative orientation of protomers in oligomeric complexes. In contrast, binding of inverse agonists leads to significant increases in FRET efficiencies for most labelling pairs, suggesting that this class of ligand promotes tighter packing of protomers and/or the formation of more complex oligomers by reducing conformational fluctuations in individual protomers. The results provide new structural insights into β2AR oligomerization and suggest a possible mechanism for the functional effects of inverse agonists