cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chromosomal landscape of UV damage formation and repair at single-nucleotide resolution

UV-induced DNA lesions are important contributors to mutagenesis and cancer, but it is not fully understood how the chromosomal landscape influences UV lesion formation and repair. Genome-wide profiling of repair activity in UV irradiated cells has revealed significant variations in repair kinetics across the genome, not only among large chromatin domains, but also at individual transcription factor binding sites. Here we report that there is also a striking but predictable variation in initial UV damage levels across a eukaryotic genome. We used a new high-throughput sequencing method, known as CPD-seq, to precisely map UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) at single-nucleotide resolution throughout the yeast genome. This analysis revealed that individual nucleosomes significantly alter CPD formation, protecting nucleosomal DNA with an inward rotational setting, even though such DNA is, on average, more intrinsically prone to form CPD lesions. CPD formation is also inhibited by DNA-bound transcription factors, in effect shielding important DNA elements from UV damage. Analysis of CPD repair revealed that initial differences in CPD damage formation often persist, even at later repair time points. Furthermore, our high-resolution data demonstrate, to our knowledge for the first time, that CPD repair is significantly less efficient at translational positions near the dyad of strongly positioned nucleosomes in the yeast genome. These findings define the global roles of nucleosomes and transcription factors in both UV damage formation and repair, and have important implications for our understanding of UV-induced mutagenesis in human cancers.
Identifying Association Between Pedestrian Safety Interventions and Street Crossing Behavior Considering Demographics and Traffic Context

AbstractPedestrian fatalities are becoming a larger percentage of overall fatalities in the United States, therefore better understanding of the expected effects of any interventions/treatments aim...
Novel MIMO HARQ Schemes Jointly Utilizing Chase Combining

In this paper we propose several novel HARQ schemes for MIMO system which jointly utilize bit-wise soft- information (BWSI) chase combining. Retransmission mechanisms to obtain ARQ diversity are developed. We present the detection algorithm and how to jointly utilize the BWSI derived from former retransmission to improve BER performance. Finally we propose a new retrans scheme using channel codes based on BWSI feedback, which can achieve better performance compared to normal HARQ with acceptable complexity.
Crystal Structure and Conformational Change Mechanism of a Bacterial Nramp-Family Divalent Metal Transporter.

The widely conserved natural resistance-associated macrophage protein (Nramp) family of divalent metal transporters enables manganese import in bacteria and dietary iron uptake in mammals. We determined the crystal structure of the Deinococcus radiodurans Nramp homolog (DraNramp) in an inward-facing apo state, including the complete transmembrane (TM) segment 1a (absent from a previous Nramp structure). Mapping our cysteine accessibility scanning results onto this structure, we identified the metal-permeation pathway in the alternate outward-open conformation. We investigated the functional impact of two natural anemia-causing glycine-to-arginine mutations that impaired transition metal transport in both human Nramp2 and DraNramp. The TM4 G153R mutation perturbs the closing of the outward metal-permeation pathway and alters the selectivity of the conserved metal-binding site. In contrast, the TM1a G45R mutation prevents conformational change by sterically blocking the essential movement of that helix, thus locking the transporter in an inward-facing state.
“If Men Were Seeking the Franchise” (1913)

Let us imagine throughout this article, if we can sustain an absurd hypothesis so long, the result upon society if the matriarchal period had held its own; if the development of the State had closely followed that of the Family until the chief care of the former, as that of the latter, had come to be the nurture and education of children and the protection of the weak, sick and aged.
Reputation and Multilateral Punishment under Uncertainty

Principal-agent problems can reduce gains from exchange available in long distance trade. One solution to mitigate this problem is multilateral punishment, whereby groups of principals jointly punish cheating agents by giving them bad reputations. But how does such punishment work when there is uncertainty regarding whether an agent actually cheated or was just the victim of bad luck? And how might such uncertainty be mitigated---or exacerbated---by non-observable, pro-social behavioral characteristics? We address these questions by designing a simple modified trust game with uncertainty and the capacity for principals to employ multilateral punishment. We find that a modest amount of uncertainty increases overall welfare because principals are more willing to trust agents with bad reputations.
Embolization of congenital intercostobronchial trunk-pulmonary artery fistula using Amplatzer vascular plugs

We present the case of a 54-year-old male patient diagnosed with a right upper lobe lung cancer and was referred for resection. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan showed a prominent vascular structure in the right lung, suspicious for vascular malformation. A computed tomography angiography was done, demonstrating an intercostobronchial trunk-pulmonary artery fistula. There was also non-tapering dilated wandering pulmonary artery coursing through the right lower lung without any abnormal connection with pulmonary veins and were supplying normal lung parenchyma. Amplatzer vascular plugs were used for the treatment of the intercostobronchial trunk-pulmonary artery fistula. Our case highlights these very rare vascular anomalies, and their management.
Endemic treponemal disease in late pre-Columbian prehistory: New parameters, new insights

Abstract Pre-Columbian frequencies of bone-disseminated non-venereal treponemal disease (yaws, treponarid) increase with the shift to food production. This increase is associated with two subsistence corollaries: sedentism and settlement aggregation. The later prehistory of East Tennessee includes two socio-politically distinct maize-intensive sedentary agriculturalist phases: Dallas (1300–1550 CE) and Mouse Creek (1400–1600 CE). The Dallas phase is widely distributed across both steep-sided narrow and broad river valleys within the catchment areas of three reservoirs (Tellico, Melton Hill, Chickamauga). The Mouse Creek phase is confined to a single reservoir (Chickamauga) and differs from Dallas in social status/role and settlement organization. Physiographic differences (affecting population density and agricultural productivity) and changes in settlement organization potentially affect treponemal disease prevalence. This study tests these variables in ten sites segregated by phase and geographically by the three reservoirs. Treponemal disease was considered minimally present in a sample based on two levels of diagnostic reliability (i.e., pathognomonic and indicative). Results indicate that physiography does not consistently impact treponemal disease visibility. Negating the role of settlement organization, temporal differences occur only within the Chickamauga Reservoir, suggesting other testable epidemiological influences of extrinsic (e.g., internal Dallas cultural diversity, regionally varying sex roles) and intrinsic (i.e., frailty, disease synergisms) variables.
Awakening the Force of Radical Product Innovation: An Innovation Strategy of Future Integration

Radical product innovation (RI) is an important driver of an organization’s performance and sustainable future profits. RI is important yet difficult to achieve, and a variety of disciplines contri...
Design and Fabrication of an Experimental Microheater Array Powder Sintering Printer

Microheater array powder sintering (MAPS) is a novel additive manufacturing process that uses an array of microheaters to selectively sinter powder particles. MAPS shows great promise as a new method of printing flexible electronics by enabling digital curing of conductive inks on a variety of substrates. For MAPS to work effectively, a microscale air gap needs to be maintained between the heater array and the conductive ink. In this article, we present an experimental MAPS printer with air gap control for printing conductive circuits. First, we discuss design aspects necessary to implement MAPS. An analysis is performed to validate that the design can maintain the desired air gap between the microheaters and the sintering layer, which consists of a silver nanoparticle ink. The printer is tested by printing conductive lines on a flexible plastic substrate with silver nanoparticle ink. Results show MAPS performs on par with or better than the existing fabrication methods for printed electronics in terms of both the print quality (conductivity of the printed line) and print speed, which shows MAPS’ great promise as a competitive new method for digital production of printed electronics.
Meta-Analysis: A Statistical Method to Integrate Information Provided by Different Studies

Meta-analyses are a supplement to RCTs, which remain the gold standard for evaluating the efficacy of therapeutic interventions, but need to be supplemented by meta-analyses in order to broaden the applicability of the findings. Meta-analyses can be an important research tool for the systematic evaluation of the quality of published studies and for the disciplined investigation of reasons for disagreements among reports. Overviews can identify errors and shortcomings in completed studies and may be able to explain why trial results differ. Since meta-analysis is a technical statistical method, many clinicians find themselves unable to appreciate its nuances and limitations in the same way that they can appreciate those of a traditional original report. However, readers of the medical literature need to be familiar with the definitions and assumptions of fixed- vs. random-effects analyses, as well as with the meaning of the results of the Q test statistic or other tests for homogeneity because health-policy guidelines – as well as recommendations for patient management – are already being based, and are likely to be increasingly based in the future, on input from statistical overviews. Meta-analysis has several potential uses when the diagnostic accuracy of laboratory tests is investigated, but it is a rather new field of study that needs to refine its tools and establish its credibility.
Burns in older adults

Burn injury in older adults is expected to have a greater impact on regional burn centers in the next several decades as the population in high-income countries is progressively aging. In the United States, adults aged ≥55 are projected to represent 30 % of the population by 2030 [1]. The appropriate age cut-off defining the older adult is debated, with a spectrum of age ≥45 to age ≥80 used in previous burn literature reports [2, 3]. Although this cut-off should ideally be based on biology, aging is a continuous process influenced by the individual’s health lifestyle and co-morbid conditions. In fact, the often quoted age ≥65 is primarily based on the age at which one can obtain full pension benefits, a reflection of societal constructs rather than biological truths. It is generally agreed, however, that aged patients are vulnerable to burn injury, and that injured older adults have far worse treatment outcomes compared to young adults [4].
Critical curriculum studies and the concrete problems of curriculum policy and practice

In this article, I share a number of thoughts and concerns about the current and future status of a field in which I have been a participant for five decades. I know that many others share these wo...
Uplink-Downlink Duality For Integer-Forcing in Cloud Radio Access Networks

Consider a cloud radio access network where neighboring basestations are able to jointly encode and decode their signals via rate-limited links to a central processor. One promising approach to such systems is for the basestations to simply quantize their observations and send them to the central processor (during the uplink phase) and to emit the quantized signals generated by the central processor (during the downlink phase). Several recent works have proposed compression-based architectures based on sequential source and channel coding. In prior work, we proposed an integer-forcing architecture for the uplink phase, and, in this paper, we propose an integer-forcing architecture for the downlink phase. As part of the achievability argument, we introduce a novel “reverse” integer-forcing source coding strategy that can be used to quantize sources so that their quantization noises are correlated, i.e., multivariate compression. We also establish uplink-downlink duality between our uplink and downlink integer-forcing architectures, and use this as the basis for optimizing the beamforming, equalization, and integer matrices.
Stand Trainer With Applied Forces at the Pelvis and Trunk: Response to Perturbations and Assist-As-Needed Support

Functional rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury remains a current challenge. Training these patients to successfully stand is the first step towards restoring advanced skills such as walking. To address this need, we have developed a novel robotic stand trainer that can apply controlled forces on the trunk and the pelvis of a user, while controlling the knee angle. The stand trainer utilizes cables to apply assistive, resistive, or perturbation forces at the trunk, pelvis, and the knees, simultaneously. We have conducted a human study to validate the system. In this study, we applied multi-direction perturbation forces either at the pelvis or the trunk while assist-as-needed forces were applied to the other segment to keep balance. This study characterizes the human kinematics and measures of balance under the perturbations and assistive forces on the human body. Results shows that the level of force-field assistance (trunk or pelvis) directly affects the motion of the trunk, pelvis, and center of pressure. This provides a quantitative framework to restore balance in patients while providing assistance only when needed. This stand trainer can potentially free up therapists to attend to higher level rehabilitation goals and objectively assist patients to engage in interventions that challenge both their musculoskeletal and sensorimotor impairments.
Fasting may increase incentive signaling for nonfood rewards.

Abstract During acute energy deprivation, hunger signaling mechanisms support homeostasis by enhancing incentive for food. There is some evidence (primarily based on nonhuman experiments) that fasting heightens incentive signaling for nonfood reward as well. We hypothesized that, consistent with results from research in rodent and nonhuman primates, human participants would evidence increased incentive-related brain activity for nonfood rewards during fast (relative to satiety) and that this increase would be heightened when available rewards were immediate. To assess these possibilities, healthy participants with body mass index between 18 and 29 kg/m2 completed a task which engaged participants in opportunities to win immediate and delayed money (Monetary Incentive Delay Task) during 2 neuroimaging sessions (1 postprandial, 1 fasted). Analyses of participants (N = 18 included, body mass index 22.12± 2.72, age 21.39± 3.52) focused on brain activity during the incentive window of the task. Region of interest, as well as whole-brain analyses, supported the hypothesized increase in incentive signaling during fasting in regions that included caudate and putamen. No evidence of interaction was observed between fasting and the effect of reward immediacy or reward magnitude. Although provisional given the modest sample size, these results suggest that acute fasting can heighten incentive signaling for nonfood rewards.
Avoiding slush for hot-point drilling of glacier boreholes

Water-filled boreholes in cold ice refreeze in hours to days, and prior attempts to keep them open with antifreeze resulted in a plug of slush effectively freezing the hole even faster. Thus, antifreeze as a method to stabilize hot-water boreholes has largely been abandoned. In the hot-point drilling case, no external water is added to the hole during drilling, so earlier antifreeze injection is possible while the drill continues melting downward. Here, we use a cylindrical Stefan model to explore slush formation within the parameter space representative of hot-point drilling. We find that earlier injection timing creates an opportunity to avoid slush entirely by injecting sufficient antifreeze to dissolve the hole past the drilled radius. As in the case of hot-water drilling, the alternative is to force mixing in the hole after antifreeze injection to ensure that ice refreezes onto the borehole wall instead of within the solution as slush.
Trends in integrative medicine and health consults: differences between cancer survivors and patients without cancer

The objectives were to compare patients with and without cancer who sought an integrative health (IH) consult and reasons for seeking a consult. Descriptive cross-sectional study that employed a secondary analysis of an integrative health database supplemented by a retrospective medical record review. Integrative Medicine and Health program in a Southwestern United States academic medical center. Eight hundred thirty-nine adults over the age of 18 seeking IH consultation. The number of complementary therapies reported prior to consult were not significantly different between groups. The most reported complementary therapies used by cancer survivors were multivitamins, exercise, and turmeric. Patients without cancer reported significantly higher pain levels than cancer survivors. Cancer survivors reported significantly higher energy, sleep levels, overall health, spiritual wellbeing, and significantly better relationships compared to patients without cancer. Cancer survivors reported fatigue and cancer as the top reasons for IH consult. Participants without cancer reported higher levels of pain and lower levels of energy, sleep, overall health, spiritual wellbeing, and relationships compared to cancer survivors. However, cancer survivors still reported levels of unmanaged symptoms. Complementary therapy use prior to IMH consult was similar between groups; however, IMH providers recommended more treatments for patients without cancer. Our results highlight that more evidence is needed to guide IMH recommendations, especially for cancer survivors who may still be in treatment. Additionally, our results support evidence-based recommendations that all cancer survivors should be assessed for complementary therapy use and provided counseling by qualified providers on their advantages and limitations.
In-Hospital Outcomes in Patients With a History of Malignancy Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

A history of malignancy is incorporated in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons score to assess presurgical risk in patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement, however data on the prognostic importance in those undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remains limited. We sought to investigate the utilization and in-hospital outcomes of TAVI in patients with a history of malignancy. The National Inpatient Sample Database was queried from 2012 to 2017 to identify patients who underwent TAVI using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 9 and ICD-10 procedure codes. Between 2012 and 2017, there were 123,070 patients who underwent TAVI, of these 23,670 patients (19.2%) had a previous history of malignancy. The proportion of patients undergoing TAVI with a history of malignancy trended upward between 2012 and 2017. Patients with a history of malignancy were similar in age to those without (81.1 ± 7.9 vs 80.1 ± 6.7 years old, p
PID++: A Computationally Lightweight Humanoid Motion Control Algorithm

Currently robotic motion control algorithms are tedious at best to implement, are lacking in automatic situational adaptability, and tend to be static in nature. Humanoid (human-like) control is little more than a dream, for all, but the fastest computers. The main idea of the work presented in this paper is to define a radically new, simple, and computationally lightweight approach to humanoid motion control. A new Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller algorithm called PID++ is proposed in this work that uses minor adjustments with basic arithmetic, based on the real-time encoder position input, to achieve a stable, precise, controlled, dynamic, adaptive control system, for linear motion control, in any direction regardless of load. With no PID coefficients initially specified, the proposed PID++ algorithm dynamically adjusts and updates the PID coefficients Kp, Ki and Kd periodically. No database of values is required to be stored as only the current and previous values of the sensed position with an accurate time base are used in the computations and overwritten in each read interval, eliminating the need of deploying much memory for storing and using vectors or matrices. Complete in its implementation, and truly dynamic and adaptive by design, engineers will be able to use this algorithm in commercial, industrial, biomedical, and space applications alike. With characteristics that are unmistakably human, motion control can be feasibly implemented on even the smallest microcontrollers (MCU) using a single command and without the need of reprogramming or reconfiguration.
Technology-based solutions to address the family care gap challenge

Abstract In this chapter we describe current and emerging technology trends that have the potential to address the family care gap challenge, including telehealth systems, smart homes, conversational agents, and robotic assistants. This is by no means an exhaustive list of current or future uses of technology; these exemplars have rather been identified as platforms that redefine the frequency and type of supportive services available to caregivers. Ethical and practical implications resulting from the introduction of innovative technology tools into the broader caregiver “toolkit” are discussed including issues pertaining to caregiver burden, consent, and acceptance of new technologies. Emerging innovative tools introduce unique opportunities and challenges for caregiving.
Intensive and Extensive Margins of Labor Supply in HANK: Aggregate and Disaggregate Implications

This paper focuses on a labor-supply-side story for the monetary transmission mechanism, which has received relatively little attention in the New Keynesian literature. To this end, I develop a heterogeneous-agent New Keynesian (HANK) economy where a nonlinear mapping from hours worked into labor services generates operative adjustment along intensive and extensive margins of labor supply. The model economy quantitatively accounts for the U.S. data, including hours distributions and their transitions, and excels at producing empirically realistic responses of adjustment along both margins to a monetary policy shock. I find that, since the nonlinear mapping breaks the tight link between a curvature parameter and labor supply elasticity, the standard interpretation regarding a New Keynesian Phillips curve may be potentially very misleading from a quantitative perspective. Another important finding is that monetary policy has significantly different effects on earnings inequality, depending on the extent to which margin is dominant, even if it generates similar aggregate responses.
Qigong and the Treatment and Prevention of Cancer

Qigong is a sub-field of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that has been around for more than 4,000 years. It is also a sub-field of health economics. Practicing qigong exercises on a regular basis can improve health and cause the body to function more efficiently. Numerous studies have shown that the regular practice of various qigong exercises can help in the treatment and even the prevention of certain diseases. This bibliography provides the citations to 30 years of medical studies that have been conducted on the use of qigong to treat and prevent cancer. The bibliography is categorized by type of cancer, which makes it possible to find relevant studies on various types of cancer more easily. The present bibliography is part of a series on the economics of qigong, focusing on the healthcare benefits to be gained by the practice of qigong. Other studies in this series are listed at the end of this bibliography.
Bayesian Sequential Optimal Experimental Design for Nonlinear Models Using Policy Gradient Reinforcement Learning

We present a mathematical framework and computational methods to optimally design a finite number of sequential experiments. We formulate this sequential optimal experimental design (sOED) problem as a finite-horizon partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) in a Bayesian setting and with information-theoretic utilities. It is built to accommodate continuous random variables, general non-Gaussian posteriors, and expensive nonlinear forward models. sOED then seeks an optimal design policy that incorporates elements of both feedback and lookahead, generalizing the suboptimal batch and greedy designs. We solve for the sOED policy numerically via policy gradient (PG) methods from reinforcement learning, and derive and prove the PG expression for sOED. Adopting an actor-critic approach, we parameterize the policy and value functions using deep neural networks and improve them using gradient estimates produced from simulated episodes of designs and observations. The overall PG-sOED method is validated on a linear-Gaussian benchmark, and its advantages over batch and greedy designs are demonstrated through a contaminant source inversion problem in a convection-diffusion field.
Magnetic bearings for inertial energy storage

Advanced flywheels utilizing high strength fibers must operate at high rotational speeds and as such must operate in vacuum to reduce windage losses. The utilization of magnetic bearings in the flywheels overcome lubrication and seal problems, resulting in an energy storage system offering potential improvements over conventional electrochemical energy storage. Magnetic bearings evolved in the 1950s from the simple application of permanent magnets positioned to exert repulsive forces to the present where permanent magnets and electromagnets have been combined to provide axial and radial suspension. Further development of magnetic suspension has led to the design of a shaftless flywheel system for aerospace application. Despite the lack of proof of concept, integrated magnetic suspension in inertial storage systems can provide significant performance improvements to warrant development and tests.
Primary School Attendance and Completion Among Lower Secondary School Age Children in Uganda

At the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000, governments pledged to achieve education for all by 2015. However, if current enrollment trends continue, the number of out-of-school children could increase from current levels. Greater focus is needed on lower secondary school age (13 – 16 years) children. These children are not included estimates of the number of out-of-school children. It will be difficult to reduce the number of out-of-school children if we continue to overlook children of lower secondary school age. Therefore, using 2006 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey data this study examined school attendance and Grade 5 completion of lower secondary school age children in Uganda. The study found that poverty, low education among heads of households, and disability continue to limit continued access to and progress through school.
Shape-Based Curve Growing Model and Adaptive Regularization for Pulmonary Fissure Segmentation in CT

This paper presents a shape-based curve-growing algorithm for object recognition in the field of medical imaging. The proposed curve growing process, modeled by a Bayesian network, is influenced by both image data and prior knowledge of the shape of the curve. A maximum a posteriori (MAP) solution is derived using an energy-minimizing mechanism. It is implemented in an adaptive regularization framework that balances the influence of image data and shape prior in estimating the curve, and reflects the causal dependencies in the Bayesian network. The method effectively alleviates over-smoothing, an effect that can occur with other regularization methods. Moreover, the proposed framework also addresses initialization and local minima problems. Robustness and performance of the proposed method are demonstrated by segmentation of pulmonary fissures in computed tomography (CT) images.
Mixed Function Oxidation V. FLAVIN INTERACTION WITH A REDUCED DIPHOSPHOPYRIDINE NUCLEOTIDE DEHYDROGENASE, ONE OF THE ENZYMES PARTICIPATING IN CAMPHOR LACTONIZATION

Abstract 1. The isolation of a pure reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide:(acceptor) oxidoreductase from Pseudomonas putida, strain C1B, in 15% yield is described. 2. The absorption spectrum, fluorescence spectrum, and lack of activity with dye electron acceptors show the isolated enzyme to be devoid of flavin (apoenzyme). Iron, copper, and molybdenum are also absent. 3. One mole of the apoenzyme, molecular weight 36,000, will bind 1 mole of flavin mononucleotide, 2 moles of flavin adenine dinucleotide, or 1 of each when presented with them at equal concentrations. Two flavin-binding sites are present; one is common to both flavins and is catalytically active. The other is specific for flavin adenine dinucleotide and is not involved in catalysis. Equal concentrations of these two flavins are present in crude cell extracts; riboflavin is absent. 4. The dissociation constant, Kd, for the "apoenzyme-flavin mononucleotide" complex is 4.5 x 10-7 m. The minimum turnover number for reduction of the complex by reduced phosphopyridine nucleotide is 30,000. Michaelis constants, Km, for interaction of free flavin mononucleotide and reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide with the complex are 3 x 10-6 m and 10-4 m, respectively. 5. The dissociation constants for the "apoenzyme-2 flavin adenine dinucleotide" complex lie within the range 2.5 to 7 x 10-6 m. A minimum turnover number for reduction of this complex is 39,000. Michaelis constants for interaction of free flavin adenine dinucleotide and reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide with the complex are 1.9 x 10-5 m and 2.1 x 10-4 m, respectively. 6. Sulfhydryl groups and iron are not involved in flavin or reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide binding; reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide is not bound in the absence of flavin. Oxidation and reduction of an enzyme sulfhydryl group are not involved in catalysis. 7. Reduction of the "apoenzyme-flavin mononucleotide" complex proceeds by two 1-electron transfer steps. The first, more rapid transfer yields the flavin semiquinone. Reoxidation of the fully reduced complex proceeds by a single 2-electron transfer when free flavin mononucleotide is the electron acceptor. 8. A possible role for the flavin adenine dinucleotide bound to the specific site in coupling this enzyme to an iron-containing mixed function oxidase, which it is known to supply with electrons, is envisaged.
Global analysis of HIV models

Exploiting the fact that standard models of within-host viral infections of target cell populations by HIV of Perelson et al and Nowak and May give rise to competitive three dimensional dynamical systems, we provide a global analysis of their dynamics. If the basic reproductive number R 0 0 > 1 then the virus persists in the host, solutions either approaching a chronic disease steady state or a periodic orbit. The latter can be ruled out in some cases but not in general. Also simple drug treatment schemes are investigated.
A Review of: “Hold me tight: Seven conversations for a lifetime of love”

In Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love, Johnson (2008) explores the “primal code of attachment” with an emphasis on integrating the science and practice of the existing body o...
Modified tritium trick technique for doping vanadium alloys with helium

A modified tritium trick technique was used to implant three different levels of /sup 3/He in V-15Cr-5Ti (wt %) and Vanstar-7 specimens before irradiation in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF). The modifications include: (1) wrapping of the specimens with tantalum foil to minimize oxygen contamination, and (2) a 400/sup 0/C decay-time treatment to prevent vanadium tritide formation and to produce a /sup 3/He bubble distribution similar to that produced during elevated temperature irradiation. Preliminary results show that both modifications were successful. However, the tritium removal step at 700/sup 0/C was probably too excessive, especially at higher helium levels, because large /sup 3/He bubbles formed in the grain boundaries and several embrittled the V-15Cr-5Ti alloy. Reduction of the tritium removal step to 400/sup 0/C should alleviate this problem. Vanstar-7 specimens consistently absorbed about half as much tritium, and subsequently contained half as much /sup 3/He as V-15Cr-5Ti. Implanting /sup 3/He in vanadium alloys via the tritium trick offers a convenient technique to study the mechanism of helium embrittlement without irradiation and should provide a rapid screening method to help develop embrittlement-resistant vanadium alloys.
Cell Migration and Cortisone-Evoked Decrease of Acid β-Galactosidase in the Ileum of Suckling Rats

Abstract The mechanism of the decrease in acid β-galactosidase in the distal third of the small intestine (ileum) was analyzed in cortisone-treated suckling rats and normally weaned rats. Injections of cortisone (5 mg per 100 g of body weight per 24 hr daily, intramuscularly) beginning on day 9 postnatally do not evoke a decrease in acid β-galactosidase activity until after 4 days; however, this decrease is observed earlier (1 day) in rats injected initially on days 12 and 14 postnatally, respectively. The earlier decrease in activity in rats injected on day 12 or 14 postnatally thus caused the values after 96 hr to be lower than those obtained from rats injected on day 9 postnatally. Determination of the activity of acid β-galactosidase in homogenates of serial tissue sections of villi and crypts has shown that cortisone causes the decrease in acid β-galactosidase in enterocytes along the entire height of the villus. During the spontaneously occurring decrease (between days 16 and 21 postnatally), acid β-galactosidase activity diminishes in enterocytes also along the entire height of the villus.
The role of mineral aerosols in shaping the regional climate of West Africa

This article examines the role of mineral aerosols in the regional climate of West Africa. Analysis is completed by comparing two 30 year simulations using a regional climate model (RegCM3-IBIS). The two simulations are identical in structure except one includes the representation of mineral aerosols via a fully coupled radiatively interactive dust emissions and aerosol tracer model; the other simulation does not. To discern the impact of dust on West Africa's climate, comparisons are made between the two simulations' surface climatology as well as atmospheric dynamics. It is found that RegCM3-IBIS and its dust model perform well in simulating the temporal and spatial distributions of mineral aerosols over the Sahel and Sahara. Consistent with previous studies over the region, RegCM3-IBIS simulates high-dust loading over the region (aerosol optical depth of 0.5–1.1), which results in significant incident shortwave radiation attenuation (25–50 W/m2) and temperature cooling (0.5°C–1.25°C). Depending on the underlying surface brightness, the top of atmosphere net radiative forcing may be positive (bright desert surfaces) or negative (dark, vegetated surface) with important implications on surface temperature cooling. Here it is proposed that the effects of dust on West African rainfall are distinctly different across the ocean-land border and the desert border region of the Sahel/Sahara. Nevertheless, in both regions, the change in rainfall is less than 10% of the total annual values. Therefore, this work concludes that the current, observed, dust loading over West Africa does not significantly affect rainfall via changes in the radiation budget. However, it is important to note that this work does not include mineral aerosol effects on sea surface temperatures, which may be significant in influencing the results.
Ambulatory high-resolution manometry, lower esophageal sphincter lift and transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxation.

Background Lower esophageal sphincter (LES) lift seen on high-resolution manometry (HRM) is a possible surrogate marker of the longitudinal muscle contraction of the esophagus. Recent studies suggest that longitudinal muscle contraction of the esophagus induces LES relaxation. Aim Our goal was to determine: (i) the feasibility of prolonged ambulatory HRM and (ii) to detect LES lift with LES relaxation using ambulatory HRM color isobaric contour plots. Methods In vitro validation studies were performed to determine the accuracy of HRM technique in detecting axial movement of the LES. Eight healthy normal volunteers were studied using a custom designed HRM catheter and a 16 channel data recorder, in the ambulatory setting of subject’s home environment. Color HRM plots were analyzed to determine the LES lift during swallow-induced LES relaxation as well as during complete and incomplete transient LES relaxations (TLESR). Key Results Satisfactory recordings were obtained for 16 h in all subjects. LES lift was small (2 mm) in association with swallow-induced LES relaxation. LES lift could not be measured during complete TLESR as the LES is not identified on the HRM color isobaric contour plot once it is fully relaxed. On the other hand, LES lift, mean 8.4 ± 0.6 mm, range: 4–18 mm was seen with incomplete TLESRs (n = 80). Conclusions & Inferences Our study demonstrates the feasibility of prolonged ambulatory HRM recordings. Similar to a complete TLESR, longitudinal muscle contraction of the distal esophagus occurs during incomplete TLESRs, which can be detected by the HRM. Using prolonged ambulatory HRM, future studies may investigate the temporal correlation between abnormal longitudinal muscle contraction and esophageal symptoms.
Statistics of Fuzzy Data: A Research Direction for Applied Statistics

We emphasize problems where fuzzy data appear naturally and need to be used and analyzed properly within the context of applied statistics. To enlarge the practice of statistics to this new types of observed data, we need to place fuzzy data within the context of probability theory. Having a theory of statistics of fuzzy data, applied statisticians can embark on a promising road of important applications, especially in economics, whereas otherwise these problems are either ignored or badly handled.
When right is redundant

Clinicians frequently see the “right middle lobe” referred to in radiology reports, textbooks, and medical journals. Yet, there is no “left” middle lobe to distinguish it from, save a rare patient with Kartagener syndrome. We do not refer to the lingula as the “left” lingula. “Right” adds nothing to our understanding of the anatomic position of the lobe. So “right” is redundant when talking about the middle lobe. Yet, PubMed has 5,266 right middle lobe references, and a Google Scholars search found 22,900 publications used the phrase in the past 161 years. Th at is the equivalent of the length of two and one-half football fi elds worth of wasted words in just a Google search, nevermind those found in radiology reports, textbooks, or Index Medicus references (in Calibri font size 12, “right” 5 1 cm 3 22,900 search results 5 228.99 m).
Forensic Analyses of Suspect Illicit Nuclear Material

A small metal sample, alleged to be a substance that could substitute for highly enriched uranium in a nuclear weapon, was subjected to qualitative and quantitative forensic analyses using methods of materials science, radioisotopic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and organic chemistry. The specimen was determined to be moderately pure Sc, likely derived from a uranium refining operation. Although no fissionable species or weaponization signatures were detected, the sample did exhibit some unusual properties. These anomalies included lanthanide fractionation, with concentrations of Dy, Ho, and Er elevated by factors greater than 100 over normal levels, and the presence of long, odd-chain fatty acids.
Prevention and treatment of infectious diarrhea: Speculations on the next 10 years

The next decade should explode with exciting schemes and novel agents for the prevention and treatment of infectious diarrhea. The development of oral, nonabsorbed antibiotics will continue, but new antidiarrheal drugs, such as gastrointestinal hormone analogues and alpha-adrenergic agonists, will be added to our therapeutic armamentarium. Improved oral rehydration solutions, such as glycine in electrolyte solution, promise to revolutionize the management of diarrhea by diminishing diarrheal stool volume to the point where losses are too small to be clinically relevant. Infant formulas and adult oral solutions fortified with antibodies raised against selected enteropathogens may provide a way to prevent infectious diarrheas in infants and travelers. Advances in genetic engineering will usher in a new era of experimental and licensed enteric vaccines, including those against cholera, Escherichia coli, Shigella, typhoid fever, and rotavirus.
Similarity of Clients and Treatment Outcome in Outpatient Drug-Free Programs

Client peer groups in drug abuse treatment programs can be expected to impact on the treatment of drug abusers. This ex post facto study explored whether similarity in demographic characteristics and drug use history within client peer groups influences treatment outcome. Subjects were 455 clients in outpatient drug-free treatment. Four aspects of similarity were assessed-age, drug use history, race/ethnicity, and sex. Follow-up data on levels of criminality, nonopiate drug use, and opiate drug use during the first year posttreatment were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Client similarity was found to influence treatment outcome. While the findings do not warrant substantial changes in the delivery of drug abuse treatment, they suggest that peer relationships and the influence of similarity among clients should be considered in the formulation of treatment plans for individual clients.
Resource accumulation and overseas expansion by Japanese multinationals

Abstract In this paper, we examine the motivation for and outcome from a firm's multinational expansion strategy by analyzing two issues: first, the relationship between a firm's intangible assets and its investment abroad, and second, the evolution of the value of multinationality to shareholders as a firm's level of international activity and foreign experience changes. Overall, our results show that while it is typical for the Japanese firms in our sample to accumulate intangible assets prior to investing in foreign markets, these firms need experience in foreign markets before a return on this investment will be realized.
Simple tests for sample selection bias in censored and discrete choice models

This paper presents two simple tests of sample selection bias for models where the primary equation of interest has a censored or discrete dependent variable. The first test is derived as a conditional moment test and can be implemented in a regression-based framework. The second test is an extension of the testing procedures proposed by Heckman (1979) and Vella (1993) and is a t-test on a constructed variable in an auxiliary equation. The utility of the tests is illustrated in a model determining the receipt of work conditioned nonwage labour income over a subsample of working women.
The Accredited Hatchery as a Factor in Standardizing Market Chickens and Eggs

Abstract Merchants in food products of all kinds have noted in recent years a distinct demand developing for food products of uniform grade and high quality. With per capita earnings of consumers greatly increased by conditions during and following the war, the consumer’s purchasing ability has been greatly enhanced. These changed consumer demands have brought to the producer and distributor of food products a realization of the importance of standardization, for only by it can the new demands of consumers be met. Especially is this true of perishable food products, such as dressed poultry and eggs, which are quickly perishable unless handled and stored under proper conditions. QUALITY PRODUCTION ESSENTIAL The first essential of successful marketing is quality production. The problems of food distribution in the terminal markets bear convincing testimony to this fact. It is hardly necessary to mention that eggs to be readily salable in the best trade channels . . .
On Method in Science: A Reply to Jackson

Professor M.W. Jackson's recent article, "The Application of Method in the Construction of Political Science Theory"l reaches three conclusions I wish to dispute. First, he argues that behaviouralists (who are pro-science) and post-behaviouralists (anti-science) by and large share an image of scientific theory and method, but that this view is inadequate or seriously incomplete when judged by conceptions held by contemporary philosophers of science. The dispute within political science is thus a "pseudo debate" in so far as the subject of science is concerned. Second, Jackson contends that the well-known distinction
Habitat choice in natural populations of Drosophila

Mark-release-recapture experiments performed with natural populations of Drosophila at Mather, California show that flies tend to return to their area of original capture or an area ecologically similar to it. Such habitat choice explains the microgeographic genetic differentiation we observed in the population. This behavioral difference between the flies may have a genetic component or may be environmentally induced. Either way, the results help explain how high levels of genetic variation are maintained by natural selection in these species.
Diffuse optical spectroscopy of superficial volumes: Sensitivity to optical properties and sample thickness

We present a method for performing quantitative spectroscopy of superficial tissue volumes. We investigate the performance of this technique over a range of optical properties and by varying the top layer thickness of two-layer phantoms.
Behavorial, Cognitive, and Humanistic Theories: Which Theories Do Online Instructors Utilize?

This article presents fifteen different design theories from the behaviorism, cognitivism, and humanism schools of psychology. Information about the theories is presented as a response to three research questions. Descriptions and online learning empirical evidence of eight of the theories are illustrated first. Then, descriptions of seven additional design theories which have not yet been researched in connection with online learning are offered. Finally, results from a study that investigates how often online instructors utilize nine of the theories is presented. Conclusions are made in connection to the three research questions, and further research studies related to the topic are suggested.