Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Oncogenic Pik3ca Mutations Reprogram Glutamine Metabolism In Colorectal Cancer, Yujun Hao, Yardena Samuels, Qingling Li, Dawid Krokowski, Bo-Jhih Guan, Chao Wang, Zhicheng Jin, Bohan Dong, Bo Cao, Xiujing Feng, Min Xiang, Claire Xu, Stephen Fink, Neal J. Meropol, Yan Xu

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Cancer cells often require glutamine for growth, thereby distinguishing them from most normal cells. Here we show that PIK3CA mutations reprogram glutamine metabolism by upregulating glutamate pyruvate transaminase 2 (GPT2) in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, making them more dependent on glutamine. Compared with isogenic wild-type (WT) cells, PIK3CA mutant CRCs convert substantially more glutamine to alpha-ketoglutarate to replenish the tricarboxylic acid cycle and generate ATP. Mutant p110 alpha upregulates GPT2 gene expression through an AKT-independent, PDK1-RSK2-ATF4 signalling axis. Moreover, aminooxyacetate, which inhibits the enzymatic activity of aminotransferases including GPT2, suppresses xenograft tumour growth of CRCs with PIK3CA mutations, but not …

Quartz Crystal Preferred Orientation And Recrystallization Patterns From Naturally Deformed Rocks Under Constriction, Riley Quine

Materials Engineering

This study analyzes crystal preferred orientation (CPO) patterns within constrictional quartz-rich gneisses. Quartz deformation and CPO patterns are an area of interest because quartz is one of the most prevalent minerals in earth's crust. Understanding the typical way that quartz crystals reorient under different states of strain can provide geologists with an additional tool for understanding paleo-strain. Temperature and strain geometry are two dominant factors that control the orientation of quartz crystals within a rock. Temperature determines which slip planes are active and slip planes typically reorient so that they are perpendicular to maximum stress. Previous workers have suggested that …

Initiatives To Advance Clean Energy In The Low To Moderate Income Residential Market, Madeline Priest, John D’Agostino, New Haven Green Fund

Reports

No abstract provided.

Identification Of A Disulfide Bridge In Sodium-Coupled Neutral Amino Acid Transporter 2(Snat2) By Chemical Modification, Chen Chen, Jiahong Wang, Ruiping Cai, Yanmen M. Yuan, Zhanyun Y. Guo, Christof Grewer, Zhou Zhang

Chemistry Faculty Scholarship

Sodium-coupled neutral amino acid transporter 2 (SNAT2) belongs to solute carrier 38 (SLC38) family of transporters, which is ubiquitously expressed in mammalian tissues and mediates transport of small, neutral amino acids, exemplified by alanine(Ala, A). Yet structural data on SNAT2, including the relevance of intrinsic cysteine residues on structure and function, is scarce, in spite of its essential roles in many tissues. To better define the potential of intrinsic cysteines to form disulfide bonds in SNAT2, mutagenesis experiments and thiol-specific chemical modifications by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and methoxy-polyethylene glycol maleimide (mPEG-Mal, MW 5000) were performed, with or without the reducing regent …

Bella Vista Lakes Project: Fertility Management, J. Thad Scott

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Controlling Activity And Selectivity Using Water In The Au-Catalysed Preferential Oxidation Of Co In H2, Johnny Saavedra, Todd N. Whittaker, Z. Chen, Christopher J. Pursell, R. M. Rioux, Bert D. Chandler

Chemistry Faculty Research

Industrial hydrogen production through methane steam reforming exceeds 50 million tons annually and accounts for 2–5% of global energy consumption. The hydrogen product, even after processing by the water–gas shift, still typically contains ∼1% CO, which must be removed for many applications. Methanation (CO + 3H₂ → CH₄ + H₂O) is an effective solution to this problem, but consumes 5–15% of the generated hydrogen. The preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO with O₂ in hydrogen represents a more-efficient solution. Supported gold nanoparticles, with their high CO-oxidation activity and notoriously low hydrogenation activity, have long been examined …

Fuzzy-Inspired Hierarchical Version Of The Von~Neumann-Morgenstern Solutions As A Natural Way To Resolve Collaboration-Related Conflicts, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Martha Osegueda Escobar

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In situations when several participants collaborate with each other, it is desirable to come up with a fair way to divide the resulting gain between the participants. Such a fair way was proposed by John von Neumann and Oscar Morgenstern, fathers of the modern game theory. However, in some situations, the von Neumann-Morgenstern solution does not exist. To cover such situations, we propose to use a fuzzy-inspired hierarchical version of the von Neumann-Morgenstern (NM) solution. We prove that, in contrast to the original NM solution, the hierarchical version always exists.

Similarity Beyond Correlation: Symmetry-Based Approach, Ildar Batyrshin, Thongchai Dumrongpokaphan, Vladik Kreinovich, Olga Kosheleva

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

When practitioners analyze the similarity between time series, they often use correlation to gauge this similarity. Sometimes this works, but sometimes, this leads to counter-intuitive results. In this paper, we use natural symmetries -- scaling and shift -- to explain this discrepancy between correlation and common sense, and then use the same symmetries to come up with more adequate measures of similarity.

Security And Privacy Analysis Of Medical Wearables, Brian M. Chalif

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

The release of Google glass and the Apple and Samsung smart watches in the past two years pushed wearables to the forefront of technology. The realm of medical wearables will specifically see a huge growth as wearables become more common place. There are documented cases of security and privacy breaches in the five main potential breaching areas: wearable device itself, Bluetooth communication, smartphone or personal computer app, Wi-Fi data exchange, cloud storage. Privacy policies for individual wearables are not always in the best interest of the individual and government regulations on wearables security does not always fully vet wearables. Interviews …

Bae: Before Anyone Else; The Answer To Mobile Dating For The African Diaspora, Jordan S. Kunzika

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

As online dating becomes increasingly popular, millions of people across the country utilize various dating services that allow them to meet, chat, date, and develop meaningful relationships with people they would probably not have met otherwise. While mass market dating apps work well for the majority of online daters, and while many niche dating apps have been created to target a number of specific demographics such as the Jewish population, Southeast Asian population, farmers, homosexuals, etc., the African-American market has been largely underserved. African-Americans have the worst experience on mass market dating apps due to negative racial bias, and before …

Devising A Framework For Efficient And Accurate Matchmaking And Real-Time Web Communication, Charles Li

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

Many modern applications have a great need for matchmaking and real-time web communication. This paper first explores and details the specifics of original algorithms for effective matchmaking, and then proceeds to dive into implementations of real-time communication between different clients across the web. Finally, it discusses how to apply the techniques discussed in the paper in practice, and provides samples based on the framework.

Air Keyboard: Mid-Air Text Input Using Wearable Emg Sensors And A Predictive Text Model, Jacob A. Gaba

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

The human body is full of electrical signals. We propose to use the electric signals produced by the human body to input text without the use of a physical keyboard. We allow users to tap their fingers in the air as if typing on an imaginary keyboard. To detect the tapping, we created a wearable armband that uses electromyography (EMG) sensors to track individual finger muscle activation. Each finger is mapped to several characters, and based on the finger-sequence the user taps, a list of possible typed words is presented. Augmented reality and virtual reality headsets are becoming more prevalent …

Interactive Data Visualization Of Christian Demographics, Allison C. Wang

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

My thesis will attempt to use the affordances of interactive data visualization to showcase the global movement of Christianity from North to South since 1900 and projected and interpolated up until 2050. Through the usage of demographic data, honest and accurate visualization, and compelling graphics, I hope to create a tool that users can use to explore this monumental movement of Christianity in just the last century.

Creating A Probabilistic Graph For Wordnet Using Markov Logic Network, Lubomir Stanchev

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The paper shows how to create a probabilistic graph for WordNet. A node is created for every word and phrase in WordNet. An edge between two nodes is labeled with the probability that a user that is interested in the source concept will also be interested in the destination concept. For example, an edge with weight 0.3 between “canine” and “dog” indicates that there is a 30% probability that a user who searches for “canine” will be interested in results that contain the word “dog”. We refer to the graph as probabilistic because we enforce the constraint that the sum …

Quantum Computers Are Coming And Will Be Able To Solve Complex Aviation And Aerospace Problems, Nihad E. Daidzic

Aviation Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Properties And Nutrient Status Of Degraded Soils In Luzon, Philippines, Michelle Ann M. Calubaquib, Ian A. Navarrete, Pearl B. Sanchez

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

A prerequisite to soil management, particularly in degraded soils, is a good knowledge of the characteristics and fertility status of degraded soil, which is fundamental to planning suitable soil management strategies for crop production purposes. The aim of this study was to determine the physico-chemical and mineralogical properties and fertility constraints of degraded soils in Luzon, Philippines. Ten surface soil samples were collected from 10 degraded soils representing the dominant soil series in Luzon Island. These soils were analyzed for physical, chemical and mineralogical properties. Results revealed that all soils have high clay content (except Bantay soil), which impedes cultivation. …

Umphlett Qci June 2016, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Snowpack and Streamflow

Limited Frost Damage to Crops this Spring

Wet Conditions Cause Mixed Impacts

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

Why A Testing Career Is Not The First Choice Of Engineers, Pradeep Kashinath Waychal, Luiz Fernando Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Morphisms And Order Ideals Of Toric Posets, Matthew Macauley

Publications

Toric posets are in some sense a natural “cyclic” version of finite posets in that they capture the fundamental features of a partial order but without the notion of minimal or maximal elements. They can be thought of combinatorially as equivalence classes of acyclic orientations under the equivalence relation generated by converting sources into sinks, or geometrically as chambers of toric graphic hyperplane arrangements. In this paper, we define toric intervals and toric order-preserving maps, which lead to toric analogues of poset morphisms and order ideals. We develop this theory, discuss some fundamental differences between the toric and ordinary cases, …

Which Point From An Interval Should We Choose?, Andrzej Pownuk, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical situations, we know the exact form of the objective function, and we know the optimal decision corresponding to each value of the corresponding parameter x. What should we do if we do not know the exact value of x, and instead, we only know x with uncertainty -- e.g., with interval uncertainty? In this case, a reasonable idea is to select one value from the given interval, and to use the optimal decision corresponding to the selected value. But which value should we choose? In this paper, we provide a solution to this problem for …

Towards The Most Robust Way Of Assigning Numerical Degrees To Ordered Labels, With Possible Applications To Dark Matter And Dark Energy, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Martha Osegueda Escobar, Kimberly Kato

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Experts often describe their estimates by using words from natural language, i.e., in effect, sorted labels. To efficiently represent the corresponding expert knowledge in a computer-based system, we need to translate these labels into a computer-understandable language, i.e., into numbers. There are many ways to translate labels into numbers. In this paper, we propose to select a translation which is the most robust, i.e., which preserves the order between the corresponding numbers under the largest possible deviations from the original translation. The resulting formulas are in good accordance with the translation coming from the Laplace's principle of sufficient reason, and …

What If We Use Different "And"-Operations In The Same Expert System, Mahdokhat Afravi, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In expert systems, we often face a problem of estimating the expert's degree of confidence in a composite statement A & B based on the known expert's degrees of confidence a = d(A) and b = d(B) in individual statements A and B. The corresponding estimate f_&(a,b) is sometimes called an "and"-operation. Traditional fuzzy logic assumes that the same "and"-operation is applied to all pairs of statements. In this case, it is reasonable to justify that the "and"-operation be associative; such "and"-operations are known as t-norms. In practice, however, in different areas, different "and"-operations provide a good description …

Analysis Of The Execution Time Variation Of Openmp-Based Applications On The Intel Xeon Phi, Roberto Camacho Barranco, Patricia J. Teller

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

The Intel Xeon Phi accelerator is currently being used in several large-scale computer clusters and supercomputers to enhance the execution-time performance of computation-intensive applications. While performing a comprehensive profiling of the Intel Xeon Phi execution-time behavior of different applications included in the Rodinia Benchmark suite, we observed large variations in application execution times. In this report we present the average execution times for different runs of each application. In addition, we describe the different steps taken to try to solve this problem.

For example, a brief study was performed using one of these applications, i.e., a matrix-multiply kernel. By improving …

What Will Make Computers Faster: An Approach Based On Computational Complexity, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

No abstract provided.

How To Transform Partial Order Between Degrees Into Numerical Values, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Joe Lorkowski, Martha Osegueda Escobar

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Fuzzy techniques are a successful way to handle expert knowledge, enabling us to capture different degrees of expert's certainty in their statements. To use fuzzy techniques, we need to describe expert's degree of certainty in numerical terms. Some experts can provide such numbers, but others can only describe their degrees by using natural-language words like "very", "somewhat", "to some extent", etc. In general, all we know about these word-valued degrees is that there is a natural partial order between these degrees: e.g., "very small" is clearly smaller than "somewhat small". In this paper, we propose a natural way to transform …

Defect Driven Magnetism In Doped Sno2 Nanoparticles: Surface Effects, Pushpa Raghani, Pankaj Kumar, Balaji Ramanujam, Alex Punnoose

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Magnetism and energetics of intrinsic and extrinsic defects and defect clusters in bulk and surfaces of SnO₂ is investigated using first-principles to understand the role of surfaces in inducing magnetism in Zn doped nanoparticles. We find that Sn vacancies induce the largest magnetic moment in bulk and on surfaces. However, they have very large formation energies in bulk as well as on surfaces. Oxygen vacancies on the other hand are much easier to create than V_Sn, but neutral and V_O⁺² vacancies do not induce any magnetism in bulk as well as on surfaces. V_{O …}

Putting Prep Into Practice: Lessons Learned From Early-Adopting U.S. Providers' Firsthand Experiences Providing Hiv Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis And Associated Care, S. K. Calabrese, Manya Magnus, K. H. Mayer, D. S. Krakower, A. I. Eldahan, L. A. Gaston Hawkins, +5 Additional Authors

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

Optimizing access to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an evidence-based HIV prevention resource, requires expanding healthcare providers' adoption of PrEP into clinical practice. This qualitative study explored PrEP providers' firsthand experiences relative to six commonly-cited barriers to prescription-financial coverage, implementation logistics, eligibility determination, adherence concerns, side effects, and anticipated behavior change (risk compensation)-as well as their recommendations for training PrEP-inexperienced providers. U.S.-based PrEP providers were recruited via direct outreach and referral from colleagues and other participants (2014-2015). One-on-one interviews were conducted in person or by phone, transcribed, and analyzed. The sample (n = 18) primarily practiced in the Northeastern (67%) or …

Approximate Analytical Solution Of Boussinesq Equation In Homogeneous Medium With Leaky Base, Rajeev K. Bansal

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Approximate analytical solutions of Boussinesq equation are widely used for approximation of subsurface seepage flow in confined and unconfined aquifers under varying hydrological conditions. In this paper, we use a 2-dimensional linearized Boussinesq equation to simulate the water table fluctuations in an isotropic aquifer overlying a semi pervious bed under multiple localized recharge and withdrawal. The unconfined aquifer is considered to be in contact with two water bodies of constant water head along opposite cost lines, while the remaining two faces have no flow condition. The mathematical model is solved analytically using finite Fourier sine transform and the application of …

Statistical Methodology For Data With Multiple Limits Of Detection, Robert M. Flikkema

Dissertations

Limitations of instruments used to collect continuous data sometimes lead to obtaining observations lower than a limit of detection. These observations are known as nondetects. They could be zeroes, or positive numbers, but they are too small to be recorded by a measuring device. Nondetects frequently occur in environmental data. Trace amounts of chemicals can exist in soil or groundwater and are undetectable by a machine reading. These observations pose a problem to researchers since the true values are unknown.

Simulations in the literature have led to inconsistent conclusions regarding what estimation technique to use with nondetect data when estimating …

Accelerating Hash Grid And Screen-Space Photon Mapping In 3d Interactive Applications With Opencl, Nikolai Shkurkin

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Achieving interactive and realistic rendering is only possible with a combination of rendering algorithms, rendering pipelines, multi-core hardware, and parallelization APIs. This project explores and implements two photon mapping pipelines based on the work of Mara et. al [5] and Singh et. al [7] to achieve interactive rendering performance for a set of simple scenes using OpenCL and C++ to work with a GPU. In particular, both a 3D hash grid and a screen-space tiling algorithm are parallelized to accelerate photon lookup in order to compute direct and indirect lighting on visible surfaces in a scene. By using OpenCL with …