Theoretical and computational aspects of clumps

Chapter 1 of this paper contains the general theory of clumps, chapter 2 deals with three applications of this theory in associative information retrieval, and chapter 3 presents a procedure for computing clumps

Emotional Responses to Computer-Based Training Materials in Education

This paper discusses the results of an experiment that examines how emotional responses influence student satisfaction ratings with computer-based training materials. A comparison between tutorial-based and a simulation-based training showed significant differences in student emotional responses, satisfaction and continuance. The authors caution educators to consider the benefits and limitations of more automated assessment and learning simulation tools versus traditional application-embedded tutorials, as additional layers of training automation may lower student ease-of-use and satisfaction ratings, and ultimately, their interest in the subject

Team Loving and Loathing: Emotional Determinants of Consumption in Collegiate Football

The popularity of collegiate football in America is unprecedented. The fan frenzy surrounding teams, games, and the sport itself, is borderline barmy. Aptly described as the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, fan emotions in college football are rampant; yet, research exploring such hedonic-related consumption is scant. To help close this gap, two studies, grounded in Mehrabian & Russell’s (1974) pleasure, arousal, and dominance (PAD) typology of emotions, were developed to help explain collegiate football sport consumption for loved and loathed teams. Study 1 examined PAD emotional determinants of fans’ purchase intentions and willingness to attend games of their favorite team. The findings indicated that the emotional dimension of arousal related positively with fans’ apparel and memorabilia purchase intentions and willingness to attend games; also, the pleasure and dominance emotional dimensions related positively to purchase intentions of apparel and memorabilia, respectively. Study 2 explored PAD emotional determinants of fans’ willingness to attend games involving their least favorite team. The findings revealed significant positive effects for the emotional dimensions of pleasure, arousal, and dominance on willingness to attend collegiate football games. Implications for sports marketers and future research suggestions are offered

Aircraft wing structural detail design (wing, aileron, flaps, and subsystems)

The goal of this project was to design, in detail, the wing, flaps, and ailerons for a primary flight trainer. Integrated in this design are provisions for the fuel system, the electrical system, and the fuselage/cabin carry-through interface structure. This conceptual design displays the general arrangement of all major components in the wing structure, taking into consideration the requirements set forth by the appropriate sections of Federal Aviation Regulation Part 23 (FAR23) as well as those established in the statement of work

Proving the Absence of Microarchitectural Timing Channels

Microarchitectural timing channels are a major threat to computer security. A set of OS mechanisms called time protection was recently proposed as a principled way of preventing information leakage through such channels and prototyped in the seL4 microkernel. We formalise time protection and the underlying hardware mechanisms in a way that allows linking them to the information-flow proofs that showed the absence of storage channels in seL4.Comment: Scott Buckley and Robert Sison were joint lead author

Common activation of canonical Wnt signaling in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is an extremely aggressive malignancy, which carries a dismal prognosis. Activating mutations of the Kras gene are common to the vast majority of human PDA. In addition, recent studies have demonstrated that embryonic signaling pathway such as Hedgehog and Notch are inappropriately upregulated in this disease. The role of another embryonic signaling pathway, namely the canonical Wnt cascade, is still controversial. Here, we use gene array analysis as a platform to demonstrate general activation of the canonical arm of the Wnt pathway in human PDA. Furthermore, we provide evidence for Wnt activation in mouse models of pancreatic cancer. Our results also indicate that Wnt signaling might be activated downstream of Hedgehog signaling, which is an early event in PDA evolution. Wnt inhibition blocked proliferation and induced apoptosis of cultured adenocarcinoma cells, thereby providing evidence to support the development of novel therapeutical strategies for Wnt inhibition in pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Plasma Magnetohydrodynamics and Energy Conversion

Contains research objectives and reportsU. S. Air Force (Aeronautical Systems Division) under Contract AF33 (615)-1083 with the Air Force Aero Propulsion Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OhioNational Science Foundation (Grant GK-57

Varicella vaccination coverage of children under two years of age in Germany

Background: Since July 2004, routine varicella vaccination is recommended by the German Standing Vaccination Committee in Germany. Health Insurance Funds started to cover vaccination costs at different time points between 2004 and 2006 in the Federal States. Nationwide representative data on vaccination coverage against varicella of children under two years of age are not available. We aimed to determine varicella vaccination coverage in statutory health insured children under two years of age in twelve German Federal States using data from associations of statutory health insurance physicians (ASHIPs), in order to investigate the acceptance of the recommended routine varicella vaccination programme. Methods: We analysed data on varicella vaccination from 13 of 17 ASHIPs of the years 2004 to 2007. The study population consisted of all statutory health insured children under two years of age born in 2004 (cohort 2004) or 2005 (cohort 2005) in one of the studied regions. Vaccination coverage was determined by the number of children vaccinated under 2 years of age within the study population. Results: Varicella vaccination coverage of children under two years of age with either one dose of the monovalent varicella vaccine or two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccine increased from 34% (cohort 2004) to 51% (cohort 2005) in the studied regions (p < 0.001). More than half of the vaccinated children of cohort 2004 and two third of cohort 2005 were immunised at the recommended age 11 to 14 months. The level of vaccination coverage of cohort 2004 was significantly associated with the delay in introduction of cost coverage since the recommendation of varicella vaccination (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our study shows increasing varicella vaccination coverage of young children, indicating a growing acceptance of the routine varicella vaccination programme by the parents and physicians. We recommend further monitoring of vaccination coverage using data from ASHIPs to investigate acceptance of the routine vaccination programmes over time

Nonfucosylation of an anti-TIGIT antibody enhances FcγR engagement, driving innate immune activation and antitumor activity

TIGIT is an immune checkpoint receptor expressed on activated and memory T cells, immunosuppressive T regulatory cells, and natural killer (NK) cells. TIGIT has emerged as an attractive target for antitumor therapies, due to its proposed immunosuppressive effects on lymphocyte function and T cell activation. We generated an anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody (mAb) that binds with high affinity to human, non-human primate, and murine TIGIT and through multiple experimental methodologies demonstrated that checkpoint blockade alone is insufficient for antitumor activity. Generating anti-TIGIT mAbs with various Fc backbones we show that muting the Fc-Fcγ receptor (FcγR) interaction failed to drive antitumor activity, while mAbs with Fc functional backbones demonstrate substantial antitumor activity, mediated through activation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), T cell priming, and NK-mediated depletion of suppressive Tregs and exhausted T cells. Further, nonfucosylation of the Fc backbone resulted in enhanced immune responses and antitumor activity relative to the intact IgG1 backbone. The improved activity correlated with the biased FcγR interaction profile of the nonfucosylated anti-TIGIT mAb, which supports that FcγRIIIa binding with decreased FcγRIIb binding favorably activates APCs and enhances tumor-specific CD8+ T cell responses. The anti-TIGIT mAbs with intact FcγR interacting backbones also demonstrated synergistic enhancement of other standard antitumor treatments, including anti-PD-1 treatment and a model monomethyl auristatin E antibody–drug conjugate. These findings highlight the importance of the anti-TIGIT mAb’s Fc backbone to its antitumor activity and the extent to which this activity can be enhanced through nonfucosylation of the backbone