Gauging the Relationship between Contextual Growth and Structural Neglect

Population and land use out-migrations from urban to peripheral areas can result in non-functional, unmaintained historic structures which deteriorate to the point where removal is cheaper than removal – or demolition by neglect. The increasing rate of neglected historic structures is a growing concern. There is a need for research investigating connections between urban growth management and its effect on neglect. This paper applies Newman’s (2013) conceptual model of measuring neglect to Geographic Information Systems, comparing rates of neglect in historic Doylestown, Quakertown, and Bristol boroughs in Pennsylvania, USA utilizing different amounts of peripheral agricultural preservation. Comparisons are made examining descriptive statistics on existing conditions, a Polychoric correlation evaluating relationships between drivers of neglect, and a cross-comparative GIS spatial analysis. Results indicate as amounts of peripheral preserved farmlands increase, neglect can be lowered

Energy-Efficient Probabilistic Routing Algorithm for Internet of Things

In the future network with Internet of Things (IoT), each of the things communicates with the others and acquires information by itself. In distributed networks for IoT, the energy efficiency of the nodes is a key factor in the network performance. In this paper, we propose energy-efficient probabilistic routing (EEPR) algorithm, which controls the transmission of the routing request packets stochastically in order to increase the network lifetime and decrease the packet loss under the flooding algorithm. The proposed EEPR algorithm adopts energy-efficient probabilistic control by simultaneously using the residual energy of each node and ETX metric in the context of the typical AODV protocol. In the simulations, we verify that the proposed algorithm has longer network lifetime and consumes the residual energy of each node more evenly when compared with the typical AODV protocol

A Brand Loyalty Model Utilitizing Team Identification and Customer Satisfaction in the Licensed Sports Product Industry

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among the attitudinal brand loyalty variables (i.e., cognitive, affective, and conative components), team identification, and customer satisfaction by developing a structural equation model, based on Oliver's (1997) attitudinal brand loyalty model. The results of this study confirmed the study of brand loyalty stages by Oliver (1997) involving development of a brand loyalty process. Results supported the finding that consumers' strong beliefs about brand quality have increased the degree of "liking". In turn, results indicate a positive intention or commitment to repurchase a particular item. Therefore, this study emphasizes the importance of measuring attitudinal brand loyalty to identify attitudinal brand loyal customers and better understand their repurchasing intentions in the sports licensed product industry. Furthermore, this study showed the significant mediating effect of cognitive and affective brand loyalty in the relationship between customer satisfaction and conative brand loyalty

Weighted-DESYNC and Its Application to End-to-End Throughput Fairness in Wireless Multihop Network

The end-to-end throughput of a routing path in wireless multihop network is restricted by a bottleneck node that has the smallest bandwidth among the nodes on the routing path. In this study, we propose a method for resolving the bottleneck-node problem in multihop networks, which is based on multihop DESYNC (MH-DESYNC) algorithm that is a bioinspired resource allocation method developed for use in multihop environments and enables fair resource allocation among nearby (up to two hops) neighbors. Based on MH-DESYNC, we newly propose weighted-DESYNC (W-DESYNC) as a tool artificially to control the amount of resource allocated to the specific user and thus to achieve throughput fairness over a routing path. Proposed W-DESYNC employs the weight factor of a link to determine the amount of bandwidth allocated to a node. By letting the weight factor be the link quality of a routing path and making it the same across a routing path via Cucker-Smale flocking model, we can obtain throughput fairness over a routing path. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm achieves throughput fairness over a routing path and can increase total end-to-end throughput in wireless multihop networks

Deregulation of HDAC5 by Viral Interferon Regulatory Factor 3 Plays an Essential Role in Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus-Induced Lymphangiogenesis.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiologic agent for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), which is one of the most common HIV-associated neoplasms. The endothelium is the thin layer of squamous cells where vascular blood endothelial cells (BECs) line the interior surface of blood vessels and lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) are in direct contact with lymphatic vessels. The KS lesions contain a prominent compartment of neoplastic spindle morphology cells that are closely related to LECs. Furthermore, while KSHV can infect both LECs and BECs in vitro, its infection activates genetic programming related to lymphatic endothelial cell fate, suggesting that lymphangiogenic pathways are involved in KSHV infection and malignancy. Here, we report for the first time that viral interferon regulatory factor 3 (vIRF3) is readily detected in over 40% of KS lesions and that vIRF3 functions as a proangiogenic factor, inducing hypersprouting formation and abnormal growth in a LEC-specific manner. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that vIRF3 interacted with histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5), which is a signal-responsive regulator for vascular homeostasis. This interaction blocked the phosphorylation-dependent cytosolic translocation of HDAC5 and ultimately altered global gene expression in LECs but not in BECs. Consequently, vIRF3 robustly induced spindle morphology and hypersprouting formation of LECs but not BECs. Finally, KSHV infection led to the hypersprouting formation of LECs, whereas infection with a ΔvIRF3 mutant did not do so. Collectively, our data indicate that vIRF3 alters global gene expression and induces a hypersprouting formation in an HDAC5-binding-dependent and LEC-specific manner, ultimately contributing to KSHV-associated pathogenesis.IMPORTANCE Several lines of evidences indicate that KSHV infection of LECs induces pathological lymphangiogenesis and that the results resemble KS-like spindle morphology. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that KSHV vIRF3 is readily detected in over 40% of various KS lesions and functions as a potent prolymphangiogenic factor by blocking the phosphorylation-dependent cytosolic translocation of HDAC5, which in turn modulates global gene expression in LECs. Consequently, vIRF3-HDAC5 interaction contributes to virus-induced lymphangiogenesis. The results of this study suggest that KSHV vIRF3 plays a crucial role in KSHV-induced malignancy

Auxin response factor 2 (ARF2) plays a major role in regulating auxin-mediated leaf longevity

Auxin regulates a variety of physiological and developmental processes in plants. Although auxin acts as a suppressor of leaf senescence, its exact role in this respect has not been clearly defined, aside from circumstantial evidence. It was found here that ARF2 functions in the auxin-mediated control of Arabidopsis leaf longevity, as discovered by screening EMS mutant pools for a delayed leaf senescence phenotype. Two allelic mutations, ore14-1 and 14-2, caused a highly significant delay in all senescence parameters examined, including chlorophyll content, the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, membrane ion leakage, and the expression of senescence-associated genes. A delay of senescence symptoms was also observed under various senescence-accelerating conditions, where detached leaves were treated with darkness, phytohormones, or oxidative stress. These results indicate that the gene defined by these mutations might be a key regulatory genetic component controlling functional leaf senescence. Map-based cloning of ORE14 revealed that it encodes ARF2, a member of the auxin response factor (ARF) protein family, which modulates early auxin-induced gene expression in plants. The ore14/arf2 mutation also conferred an increased sensitivity to exogenous auxin in hypocotyl growth inhibition, thereby demonstrating that ARF2 is a repressor of auxin signalling. Therefore, the ore14/arf2 lesion appears to cause reduced repression of auxin signalling with increased auxin sensitivity, leading to delayed senescence. Altogether, our data suggest that ARF2 positively regulates leaf senescence in Arabidopsis

Neighborhood Detox: Enhancing Resilience in a Hazard Vulnerable Area

Enhancing resilience in physically vulnerable areas and amongst socially vulnerable populations is most effective with participation from the local community. Engaging population groups who are often left out of the design/planning process and can thereby be untrusting of authorities can be a challenge. This design incorporates an approach that transforms numerous hydrological risks into citizen driven methodologies for data collection and design decision making. The engagement process specifically works to enhance knowledge of risks and methods for collecting data on these risks through education, awareness, and feedback loops that support climate justice design and planning in the Manchester neighborhood of Houston, Texas, USA

A randomized, phase II study of gefitinib alone versus nimotuzumab plus gefitinib after platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (KCSG LU12-01)

We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of dual inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with nimotuzumab (EGFR monoclonal antibody) plus gefitinib (EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after platinum-based chemotherapy. An open label, randomized, phase II trial was conducted at 6 centers; 160 patients were randomized (1:1) to either gefitinib alone or nimotuzumab (200 mg, i. v. weekly) plus gefitinib (250 mg p. o. daily) until disease progression or intolerable toxicity. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) at 3 months. Of the total 160 enrolled patients, 155 (77: gefitinib, 78: nimotuzumab plus gefitinib) received at least one dose and could be evaluated for efficacy and toxicity. The majority had adenocarcinoma (65.2%) and ECOG performance status of 0 to 1 (83.5%). The median follow-up was 22.1 months, and the PFS rate at 3 months was 48.1% in gefitinib and 37.2% in nimotuzumab plus gefitinib (P = not significant, NS). The median PFS and OS were 2.8 and 13.2 months in gefitinib and 2.0 and 14.0 months in nimotuzumab plus gefitinib. Combined treatment was not associated with superior PFS to gefitinib alone in patients with EGFR mutation (13.5 vs. 10.2 months in gefitinib alone, P=NS) or those with wild-type EGFR (0.9 vs. 2.0 months in gefitinib alone, P=NS). Combined treatment did not increase EGFR inhibition-related adverse events with manageable toxicities. The dual inhibition of EGFR with nimotuzumab plus gefitinib was not associated with better outcomes than gefitinib alone as a second-line treatment of advanced NSCLC (NCT01498562).

Recovery of off-state stress-induced damage in FET-type gas sensor using self-curing method

The need for high-performance gas sensors is driven by concerns over indoor and outdoor air quality, and industrial gas leaks. Due to their structural diversity, vast surface area, and geometric tunability, metal oxides show significant potential for the development of gas sensing systems. Despite the fact that several previous reports have successfully acquired a suitable response to various types of target gases, it remains difficult to maintain the reliability of metal oxide-based gas sensors. In particular, the degradation of the sensor platform under repetitive operation, such as off-state stress (OSS) causes significant reliability issues. We investigate the impact of OSS on the gas sensing performances, including response, low-frequency noise, and signal-to-noise ratio of horizontal floating-gate field-effect-transistor (FET)-type gas sensors. The 1/f noise is increased after the OSS is applied to the sensor because the gate oxide is damaged by hot holes. Therefore, the SNR of the sensor is degraded by the OSS. We applied a self-curing method based on a PN-junction forward current at the body–drain junction to repair the damaged gate oxide and improve the reliability of the sensor. It has been demonstrated that the SNR degradation caused by the OSS can be successfully recovered by the self-curing method