Computerized morphometry analysis of epithelial fimbriae nuclear symmetry in BRCA carriers may identify patients at risk for developing ovarian cancer

Serous ovarian tumors may originate in epithelial cells of the fallopian tubes. Computerized morphometry was able to find significant alterations in the fallopian tube epithelium of healthy BRCA carriers. The purpose of this study was to identify a subgroup of BRCA carriers that may be at risk of developing serous ovarian cancer by evaluation of the epithelial nuclear symmetry in the fallopian tubes. Four groups of patients were analyzed; healthy patients, ovarian cancer patients, BRCA carriers, and BRCA noncarriers. All fallopian tubes appeared normal by H&E examination. The ImageProPlus software was used to assess the nuclear symmetry of 65 fimbriae epithelium cells and an artificial neural network algorithm aided in detecting a subpopulation among fimbriae of healthy BRCA carriers at risk for ovarian cancer. Significant differences were found between healthy patients and ovarian cancer patients, and between BRCA carriers and noncarriers. The algorithm was able to accurately predict BRCA carriers with associated ovarian cancer based on fallopian tube nuclear symmetry characteristics. These results reinforce the hypothesis that fimbriae epithelial cells of BRCA carriers may undergo early-stage changes that could predict the risk of progression toward malignancy.     

A survey on makespan minimization in semi-online environments

We discuss variants of online scheduling on identical and uniformly related machines, where the objective is to minimize the makespan. All variants are such that some information regarding the input is provided in advance, and therefore these models are known as semi-online problems. Algorithms are analyzed with respect to the competitive ratio. We discuss the benefit arising from different kinds of available information and find that almost all variants allow one to reduce the competitive ratio significantly compared to the best possible competitive ratio for the corresponding pure online problem.     

Men's media use, sexual cognitions, and sexual risk behavior: Testing a mediational model.

Efforts to link media use to adolescents' sexual initiation have produced somewhat inconsistent results, perhaps as a result of the limited framing of the question. This study sought to expand current approaches by sampling college students instead of high school students, by investigating a range of sexual behaviors and media formats, and by testing a model that featured sexual cognitions as mediators. We tested our model with a sample of 796 heterosexual, male college students who reported on their regular consumption of 4 media (prime-time TV programs, music videos, movies, and men's magazines); their attitudes toward abstinence, the male sexual role, and nonrelational sex; their perceptions of peer sexual behavior; and several aspects of their sexual behavior (e.g., number of sexual partners). Findings revealed strong support for our mediated model, with exposure to men's magazines and movies contributing most strongly to their sexual cognitions, and with men's cognitions, in turn, contributing heavily to their sexual behavior. Some direct connections from media use to sexual behavior also emerged. Together, the findings provide insight into both potential mechanisms for and new approaches to addressing this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tailoring Electron‐Transfer Barriers for Zinc Oxide/C60 Fullerene Interfaces

The interfacial electronic structure between oxide thin films and organic semiconductors remains a key parameter for optimum functionality and performance of next‐generation organic/hybrid electronics. By tailoring defect concentrations in transparent conductive ZnO films, we demonstrate the importance of controlling the electron transfer barrier at the interface with organic acceptor molecules such as C₆₀. A combination of electron spectroscopy, density functional theory computations, and device characterization is used to determine band alignment and electron injection barriers. Extensive experimental and first principles calculations reveal the controllable formation of hybridized interface states and charge transfer between shallow donor defects in the oxide layer and the molecular adsorbate. Importantly, it is shown that removal of shallow donor intragap states causes a larger barrier for electron injection. Thus, hybrid interface states constitute an important gateway for nearly barrier‐free charge carrier injection. These findings open new avenues to understand and tailor interfaces between organic semiconductors and transparent oxides, of critical importance for novel optoelectronic devices and applications in energy‐conversion and sensor technologies.     

A topic model approach to measuring interdisciplinarity at the National Science Foundation

As the National Science Foundation (NSF) implements new cross-cutting initiatives and programs, interest in assessing the success of these experiments in fostering interdisciplinarity grows. A primary challenge in measuring interdisciplinarity is identifying and bounding the discrete disciplines that comprise interdisciplinary work. Using statistical text-mining techniques to extract topic bins, the NSF recently developed a topic map of all of their awards issued between 2000 and 2011. These new data provide a novel means for measuring interdisciplinarity by assessing the language or content of award proposals. Using the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences as a case study and drawing on the new topic model of the NSF’s awards, this paper explores new methods for quantifying interdisciplinarity in the NSF portfolio.     

Solar decomposition of fossil fuels as an option for sustainability

This paper presents an overview on solar-thermal decomposition of fossil fuels as a viable option for transition path from today's permanent dependency on fossil fuels to tomorrow's solar fuels via solar thermochemical technology. The paper focuses on the thermochemical hydrogen generation technologies from concentrated solar energy and gives an assessment of the recent advancements in the hydrogen producing solar reactors. The advantages and obstacles of hydrogen generation via solar cracking and solar reforming are presented along with some discussions on the feasibility of industrial scaling of these technologies. Solar cracking and solar reforming processes are discussed as promising hybrid solar/fossil technologies to take considerable share during transition from fossil fuel dependency to clean energy based sustainability.     

Uniform flux heat transfer in concentric laminar flow of two immiscible liquids

The energy equation was solved exactly for fully developed steady laminar flow in a circular pipe of two immncible Newton liquids with a concentric cylindrical interface between them, assuming invariant physical properties of the liquids, uniform heat flux at the wall and fully developed temperature profiles. It is shown that, even if the viscosity of the annular liquid is orders of magnitude smaller than that of the core liquid, the improvement in heat transfer to the core liquid by infection of the annular liquid cannot exceed a factor of 1 8