cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Oral Chemotherapy, A Tough Pill To Swallow: A Systematic Review

As patients begin to receive more oral chemotherapies in the place of the traditional parenteral therapies, the responsibility for treatment falls on the shoulders of patients and their caregivers. The responsibility for the “five rights” of medication administration, which include theright drug, right dose, right time, right route, and right patient are being transferred to patients and care givers. This places patients at risk for medications errors. Patients and care providers assume responsibility for medication administration, often with little or no healthcare education. As the number of patients being prescribed chemotherapies continues to increase, an emphasis on education as well as adherence to therapy should be emphasized. Multiple barriers exist, that negatively affect a people’s ability to adhere with prescribed treatment. A systematic review was conducted to identify the most prevalent barriers to nonadherence in this patient population. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) checklist and flowchart were utilized to extrapolate, analyze, and synthesize the date. Common themes were identified and organized into three main categories: patient-related factors, system-related factors, and nurse and provider-related factors. The most prevalent were analyzed in further detail which revealed there were multi-factorial causes of nonadherence to oral chemotherapies. Under the patient-related heading, adverse effects and toxicities as well as forgetfulness were seen most commonly in the literature. Within the theme of systemrelated both regimen complexity and financial causes were found, whereas under nurse and provider-related patient education and frequency and length of follow up were most common. The advanced practice nurse (APN) is in the prime position to help counter-act these barriers to adherence. This systematic review served to help identify common causes of nonadherence to patients’ oral chemotherapeutic agents as prescribed. Acknowledgements This author would like to thank Lynn Blanchette for serving as a first reader for this project, Cynthia Padula for being the second reader, and Megan Begnoche for being the third reader. Thank you for your kindness, expertise, and patience through this process. Words cannot articulate my gratitude. To Christie Bowser, Carly Shields, and Ashlee Viveiros, thank you for all of the laughter and support. I could not have managed this without you all by my side. Thank you for becoming my extended family. To my wonderful, amazing, and supportive husband Kevin and my wonderful and loving son Max, thank you for all of your love and patience with me through this long process. Your love, support, and help saw me through it all and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To the rest of my friends and family, thank you for standing by me and for the kind words of endless support. You are all my rocks in the storm and I appreciate your help more than I can say.
Financing Public Education Facilities: The Role of Elderly Populations and Geographic Mobility

Objectives The objective of this study was to explore how the age distribution of voters and their mobility affects the probability of passing bonds for the purpose of improving education facilities and to demonstrate the differential motivations within elderly populations rather than viewing elderly voters as a single voting bloc. Method The study examines California education bond results using logistic regressions to determine the effect that the elderly population as a percent of the population has on the probability of passage. The study also includes the percentage of the elderly population that recently moved into the school district to account for differences in community connection among elderly populations. Result The result of the study determines that the effect of recent elderly movers on the probability of bond passage is found to be negative, whereas no evidence is found that older households resist educational funding. Conclusion The conclusion of this study is that part of the reason why the previous literature surrounding the “Gray Peril” has been inconclusive is that the elderly population is not uniform in its opposition to education spending and that other factors such as community connection help determine the strength of that opposition in the elderly community.
Empowerment Through Difference: An Online Difference-Education Intervention Closes the Social Class Achievement Gap:

A growing body of work suggests that teaching college students a contextual understanding of difference-that students' different experiences in college are the result of participating in different contexts before college-can improve the academic performance of first-generation students (i.e., students whose parents do not have 4-year college degrees). However, only one empirical study, using an in-person panel format, has demonstrated the benefits of this intervention approach. In the present research, we conduct two studies to test the effectiveness of a new difference-education intervention administered online to individual students. In both studies, first-year students read senior students' and recent graduates' stories about how they adjusted to college. In the difference-education condition, stories conveyed a contextual understanding of difference. We found that the online intervention effectively taught students a contextual understanding of difference and closed the social class achievement gap by increasing first-generation students' psychological empowerment and, thereby, end-of-second-year grades.
HAIL Gmail: Email with Hierarchical Adaptive Interface Layout

For users with disabilities using mouse-replacement devices, we propose an email interface that adapts to the abilities of the user. The application implements HAIL (Hierarchical Adaptive Interface Layout) and provides an interface using Google’s Gmail API. The interface was intended to be simplistic and user-friendly, with large, color-coded buttons, an uncluttered screen, and functional access to the user’s inbox. Through the two main windows, the user is able to read and compose emails. We tested the application with the mouse-replacement interface “Camera Mouse”, which uses a web camera on a computer to track the user’s face to control the mouse pointer. The characteristics of HAIL Gmail were implemented with the strengths and weaknesses of Camera Mouse in mind. Initial testing of the HAIL Gmail included several subjects without disabilities. Participants were able to complete the tasks and stated that the interface was relatively easy to use. These subjects also offered some constructive feedback in the form of possible improvements such as modifying how to compose emails. After the initial stages of HAIL Gmail, we plan to extend the capabilities of the interfaces to the point where we can deploy it for public use.
LISTERIA | Listeria monocytogenes

This article is a revision of the previous edition article by Scott E. Martin, Christopher W. Fisher, volume 2, pp 1228–1238, © 1999, Elsevier Ltd.
Association of Pediatric Medical Emergency Teams With Hospital Mortality.

Background:Implementation of medical emergency teams has been identified as a potential strategy to reduce hospital deaths, because these teams respond to patients with acute physiological decline ...
Modeling Stress with Social Media Around Incidents of Gun Violence on College Campuses

Stress constitutes a persistent wellbeing challenge to college students, impacting their personal, social, and academic life. However, violent events on campuses may aggravate student stress, due to the induced fear and trauma. In this paper, leveraging social media as a passive sensor of stress, we propose novel computational techniques to quantify and examine stress responses after gun violence on college campuses. We first present a machine learning classifier for inferring stress expression in Reddit posts, which achieves an accuracy of 82%. Next, focusing on 12 incidents of campus gun violence in the past five years, and social media data gathered from college Reddit communities, our methods reveal amplified stress levels following the violent incidents, which deviate from usual stress patterns on the campuses. Further, distinctive temporal and linguistic changes characterize the campus populations, such as reduced cognition, higher self pre-occupation and death-related conversations. We discuss the implications of our work in improving mental wellbeing and rehabilitation efforts around crisis events in college student populations.
Motivation for Launching a Cancer Metastasis Inhibition (CMI) Program

Metastatic cancers impose significant burdens on patients, affecting quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. Even during remission, microscopic metastases can lurk, but few therapies directly target tumor cell metastasis. Agents that interfere with this process would represent a new paradigm in cancer management, changing the ‘waiting game’ into a time of active prevention. These therapies could take multiple forms based on the pathways involved in the metastatic process. For example, a phenome-wide association study showed that a single nucleotide polymorphism in the gene TBXA2R is associated with increased metastasis in multiple primary cancers (P = 0.003), suggesting clinical applicability of TBXA2R antagonists. Emerging data related to the role of platelets in metastasis are concordant with our sense that these pathways present significant opportunities for therapeutic development. However, before real progress can be made toward clinical targeting of the metastatic process, foundational work is needed to define informative measures of critical elements such as circulating tumor cells and tumor DNA, and circulatory vs. lymphatic spread. These challenges require an expansion of team science and composition to obtain competitive funding. At our academic medical center, we have implemented a Cancer Metastasis Inhibition (CMI) program investigating this approach across multiple cancers.
Interior energy error estimates for the weak Galerkin finite element method

Consider the Poisson equation in a polytopal domain $$\Omega \subset {\mathbb {R}}^d$$ ( $$d=2, 3$$ ) as the model problem. We study interior energy error estimates for the weak Galerkin finite element approximation to elliptic boundary value problems. In particular, we show that the interior error in the energy norm is bounded by three components: the best local approximation error, the error in negative norms, and the trace error on the element boundaries. This implies that the interior convergence rate can be polluted by solution singularities on the domain boundary, even when the solution is smooth in the interior region. Numerical results are reported to support the theoretical findings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first local energy error analysis that applies to general meshes consisting of polytopal elements and hanging nodes.
The ice, cloud, and land elevation satellite-2 — Overview, science, and applications

The Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite — 2 (ICESat-2) was designed and built by NASA. It is planned to launch in September of 2018 with a designed mission life of 3 years to measure the elevation changes of the earth's land and ice masses. This paper describes the mission overview and the mission systems; outlines how the laser altimeter instrument works; summarizes the orbit, and discusses the expected science results and potential applications.
Dissertation III: Physical Systems

This proposal has four unique features. First, the literature section distills complex research in geomorphology into easily understood concepts. Second, the author explicitly cites the works from which the hypotheses are derived. This technique serves to situate the proposed research squarely in the existing literature and by implication defines the “gap.” Third, the methods section of this proposal provides a solid example how research methodologies are inherently linked to the literature review. Fourth, the author nicely describes the intial field work (i.e., process) used to obtain the study data. Finally, the proposal’s introduction and explanation of the methods and associated equations is both economical and effective.
Beyond Binary Search: Parallel In-Place Construction of Implicit Search Tree Layouts

We present parallel algorithms to efficiently permute a sorted array into the level-order binary search tree (BST), level-order B-tree (B-tree), and van Emde Boas (vEB) layouts in-place. We analytically determine the complexity of our algorithms and empirically measure their performance. Results indicate that on both CPU and GPU architectures B-tree layouts provide the best query performance. However, when considering the total time to permute the data and to perform a series of search queries, our vEB permutation provides the best performance on the CPU. We show that, given an input of N=500M 64-bit integers, the benefits of query performance (compared to binary search) outweigh the cost of in-place permutation using our algorithms when performing at least 5M queries (1% of N) and 27M queries (6% of N), on our CPU and GPU platforms, respectively.
Progressive sensitivity of trophic levels to warming underlies an elevational gradient in ant–aphid mutualism strength

Author(s): Nelson, AS; Pratt, RT; Pratt, JD; Smith, RA; Symanski, CT; Prenot, C; Mooney, KA | Abstract: © 2018 The Authors Although species interactions are often proposed to be stronger at lower latitudes and elevations, few studies have evaluated the mechanisms driving such patterns. In this study, we assessed whether, and by which mechanisms, abiotic changes associated with elevation altered the outcome of an ant–aphid protection mutualism. To do so, we characterized the multi-trophic interactions among the ant Formica podzolica, the aphid Aphis varians, and aphid natural enemies occurring on the plant Chamerion angustifolium within replicate high and low elevation valleys. Low (versus high) elevation sites had longer summers (snowmelt 13 days earlier) and were on average 1.1°C warmer and 41% drier throughout the year. At low elevations, individual ant colonies consumed approximately double the volume of carbohydrate baits, likely due to a higher foraging tempo, and possibly due to a greater demand for sugar- versus protein-rich resources (as indicated by stable isotope analysis). Wild aphid colonies at low elevations were visited by 1.4-fold more natural enemies (controlling for variation in aphid abundance), while experimental aphid colonies on potted plants were tended 52% more frequently by ants. As a result, ants increased aphid colony survival by 66% at low elevations but had no detectable effect at high elevations; at low (versus high) elevations aphid colonies without ants had lower survival, demonstrating stronger predator effects, while aphid colonies with ants had higher survival, demonstrating even stronger ant benefits. Analyses for the effects of mean summer temperature yielded qualitatively identical results to those based on elevation. Collectively, these findings support predictions for a greater sensitivity of higher trophic levels to warming and demonstrate how species interactions can vary across environmental gradients due to simultaneous changes in species traits and abundances across multiple trophic levels.
Molecular aspects of Rift Valley fever virus and the emergence of reassortants

Rift Valley fever phlebovirus (RVFV) is a mosquito-transmitted pathogen endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. RVFV is a threat to both animal and human health and has costly economic consequences mainly related to livestock production and trade. Competent hosts and vectors for RVFV are widespread, existing outside of endemic countries including the USA. Thus, the possibility of RVFV spreading to the USA or other countries worldwide is of significant concern. RVFV (genus Phlebovirus) is comprised of an enveloped virion containing a three-segmented, negative-stranded RNA genome that is able to undergo genetic reassortment. Reassortment has the potential to produce viruses that are more pathogenic, easily transmissible, and that have wider vector or host range. This is especially concerning because of the wide use of live attenuated vaccine strains throughout endemic countries. This review focuses on the molecular aspects of RVFV, genetic diversity of RVFV strains, and RVFV reassortment.
Bucking White Stallion : Why EPA Should Have Prohibited Cost Considerations from Clean Air Act EGU Regulatory Designations and Why the D.C. Circuit Would Have Upheld It

In 2012 the Environmental Protection Agency issued a Final Rule subjecting coal and oil-fired electric utility steam generating units, or EGUs, to EPA regulation under section 112 of the Clean Air Act, officially listing them as “source-categories” of Hazardous Air Pollutant, or HAP, emissions. Additionally, the agency held that situation-specific factors, such as implementation and compliance costs, should not be considered when designating EGUs for regulation. In White Stallion Energy Center, LLC v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the CAA does not require EPA to consider implementation and compliance costs when designating coal and oil-fired EGUs for regulation. The legislative purpose and statutory language of CAA section 112, however, supports a finding that EPA is actually barred from such cost consideration. This Comment argues that in light of the D.C. Circuit’s holding in White Stallion, EPA could have interpreted section 112 in its 2012 Final Rule to completely prohibit the agency from considering EGU regulatory compliance costs. If EPA had taken a stronger position on the statutory bar to cost consideration, the D.C. Circuit would have affirmed the agency’s decision as the correct interpretation of section 112. Such a holding, in turn, would have ensured more environmentally friendly decision-making for years to come.
Tissue Electroporation as a Bioelectric Phenomenon: Basic Concepts

Electroporation is the phenomenon in which cell membrane permeability to ions and macromolecules is increased by exposing the cell to short (microsecond to millisecond) high electric field pulses. In living tissues, such permeabilization boost can be used in order to enhance the penetration of drugs (electrochemotherapy) or DNA plasmids (electrogenetherapy) or to destroy undesirable cells (irreversible electroporation). The main purpose of the present chapter is to provide an overview of the electrical concepts related to electroporation for those not familiar with electromagnetism. It is explained that electroporation is a dynamic phenomenon that depends on the local transmembrane voltage and it is shown how a voltage difference applied though a pair of electrodes generates an electric field which in turn induces the required transmembrane voltage for electroporation to occur. Quite exhaustive details are given on how electroporation changes the passive electrical properties of living tissues. Furthermore, some remarks are given about the effects of electroporation on other bioelectric phenomena such as cardiac arrhythmias.
SPARC: a method to genetically manipulate precise proportions of cells

Abstract Many experimental approaches rely on controlling gene expression in select subsets of cells within an individual animal. However, reproducibly targeting transgene expression to specific fractions of a genetically-defined cell-type is challenging. We developed Sparse Predictive Activity through Recombinase Competition (SPARC), a generalizable toolkit that can express any effector in precise proportions of post-mitotic cells in Drosophila. Using this approach, we demonstrate targeted expression of many effectors and apply these tools to calcium imaging of individual neurons and optogenetic manipulation of sparse cell populations in vivo.
Effects of voluntary exercise and sex on multiply-triggered heroin reinstatement in male and female rats

The rise in heroin addiction has heightened the need for novel and effective treatments. Physical exercise has been shown as an effective treatment for stimulant abuse in clinical and pre-clinical research. However, this treatment has not yet been tested on opioid addiction. This study examined the effects of physical activity (wheel running) on heroin-seeking in rats within a reinstatement paradigm (i.e., heroin relapse model). Female and male rats were trained to self-administer intravenous heroin (0.015 mg/kg). Once trained, rats were placed into extinction (i.e., heroin abstinence) for 21 days with continuous access to a locked or unlocked running wheel. After extinction, rats were tested for drug- (heroin, caffeine, and yohimbine) and cue-primed reinstatement of heroin-seeking. Females completed more wheel revolutions than males across all study phases. Access to an unlocked running wheel reduced extinction and reinstatement of heroin-seeking, with greater reductions in females than males across several reinstatement conditions. In the locked wheel group, female rats showed greater reinstatement of heroin-seeking than males across several priming conditions. Wheel running reduced heroin-seeking in male and female rats, with females showing a more robust effect during reinstatement. The locked wheel group allowed an examination of sex differences in heroin reinstatement, which revealed that females showed greater vulnerability to heroin reinstatement than males, but with no other sex differences observed in maintenance or extinction. Overall, the results indicate that voluntary physical exercise may be an effective treatment for heroin dependence in humans.
Should Compensated Surrogacy Be Permitted or Prohibited

Surrogacy provides a way for infertile people, as well as same-sex couples and single individuals, to become parents. Surrogacy is permitted in most states in the United States. In New York, however, surrogacy contracts are void and unenforceable according to a 1992 law. The Child-Parent Security Act of 2017 (the CPSA) would repeal this prohibition, make surrogacy agreements enforceable, and permit surrogates to be compensated for the gestational care they provide. In this report, we review the landscape of state laws in the United States, laws around the world, moral concerns that led to the adoption of the current New York law, and international human rights considerations that are relevant to evaluating the CPSA. Based on this review, we support the CPSA and suggest some possible additional protections based on practices in other jurisdictions.
A Self-Routing Technique for Software-Defined Networks

Software-defined networking (SDN) is a centralized organization of computer networking in which all network switches are controlled and monitored by a single remote controller. Similar to any other centralized designs, having a single unit to control the entire network with a large number of nodes will introduce new vulnerabilities and challenges that require the controller to be involved in most network operations, an issue that entails greater consideration. In this study, we propose a self-routing technique for software-defined networks to reduce the number of interactions of the SDN controller in network operations. Our model follows a different technique to address the controller’s limitations by utilizing the transmitted traffic flows to reduce controller interactions without requiring any additional resources. To evaluate the impact of the proposed model, we implement a testbed network in order to measure and analyze the behavior of the proposed self-routing technique. The experiment results suggest a significant decrease of approximately 85% in the number of interactions between the controller and the network devices.
Zum Ursprung der Normalantikörper

In allen Studien mit modernen Methoden der keimfreien Forschung, der Serologie und der Genetik hat sich als die Ursachenachweisbarer „normaler“ Hamagglutinine immunogene Stimulation beweisen oder hochwahrscheinlich machen lassen. Ererbt ist die Fahigkeit, Antikorper zu bilden. Genetische Faktoren durften bei der Induktion der Antikorpersynthese durch Antigene bedeutungsvoll sein. Auch ist nach dem heutigen Stande des Wissens die primare Globulinstruktur genetisch bedingt.
Rationale and Design of the Randomized Controlled Trial of New Oral Anticoagulants vs. Warfarin for post Cardiac Surgery Atrial Fibrillation: The NEW-AF Trial.

: New onset atrial fibrillation commonly occurs following cardiac surgery and is associated with increased rates of stroke and mortality. In non-surgical patients with atrial fibrillation, novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been shown to confer equivalent benefits for stroke prevention with less bleeding risk and less tedious monitoring requirements compared with Warfarin. However, NOACs have yet to be adopted widely in cardiac surgery patients. The NEW-AF study has been designed as a pragmatic, prospective, randomized controlled trial that will compare financial, convenience and safety outcomes for patients with new onset atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery who are treated with NOACs versus Warfarin. Study results may contribute to optimizing the options for stroke prophylaxis in cardiac surgery patients and catalyze more widespread application of NOAC therapy in this patient population. The trial is registered with clinicaltrials.gov under registration number NCT03702582Rationale and Design of the Randomized Controlled Trial of New Oral Anticoagulants vs. Warfarin for post Cardiac Surgery Atrial Fibrillation: The NEW-AF Trial.
Are urban teachers culturally responsive

Classroom management continues to be a great concern for novice teachers. Moreover, the cultural mismatch in the urban settings exacerbates classroom management issues. This cultural mismatch is the result of the demographic discrepancy between the teacher and the student population, as well as the teachers’ weak multicultural competence, reflected in the way they mitigate classroom conflict. One way to bridge this mismatch is to use Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, an approach that incorporates students’ culture into teaching. In the context of today’s schools, the need to help teachers develop a culturally responsive classroom management mindset is more relevant than ever. This study analyzed some classroom management strategies used by secondary mathematics and science novice teachers in their urban classrooms, as well as the extent to which these strategies were culturally responsive. The researcher interviewed the twenty-one teachers and conducted classroom observations with each of them. Results show that the participants successfully managed their classrooms by developing relationships with their students, by fostering collaboration among students, and by holding their students’ accountable in following the classroom rules. An implication of this study points to the need for teacher preparation programs to help future teachers develop a culturally responsive mindset. Likewise, in service teachers need to be supported in the field in order to become better culturally responsive classroom managers. This can be accomplished by providing them with continued mentoring by teachers who possess a culturally responsive mindset.
Obese endometrial cancer survivors’ perceptions of weight loss strategies and characteristics that may influence participation in behavioral interventions

Objectives: Endometrial cancer is strongly linked to obesity and obesity-related comorbidities, making weight management a vital aspect of survivorship care. Understanding the health determinants that factor into weight management among survivors can help providers more effectively promote interventions among their patients. To that end, we aimed to evaluate obese endometrial cancer survivors’ perceptions of barriers to weight loss and previously attempted weight loss strategies and aimed to identify characteristics that predict willingness to enroll in a behavioral weight loss intervention trial. Methods: A 29-question baseline survey was administered at a single academic institution to all endometrial cancer survivors with body mass index >30 kg/m2 approached for enrollment in a weight loss intervention trial. Prior to any interventions, survivors were queried on their health habits and lifestyles, previous weight loss strategies, and perceived barriers to weight loss. Fisher's Exact, Kruskal-Wallis, and univariate and multivariate regressions were used to analyze data. Download : Download high-res image (163KB) Download : Download full-size image Results: 155 of 358 (43.3%) eligible obese endometrial cancer survivors were surveyed. 80 (51.6%) enrolled in a randomized weight loss intervention trial. In a multivariate model, adjusting for race and disease stage, survivors without recurrence were 4.3 times more likely to enroll in the behavioral weight loss intervention trial compared to survivors with recurrence. Nearly all survivors (n=148, 95.5%) had considered losing weight, and 77% (n=120) had tried two or more strategies. Few survivors had undergone bariatric surgery (n=5, 3.3%), met with psychologists (n=2, 1.3%), or met with physical therapists (n=9, 5.8%). Lower income was associated with survivors’ perceptions of difficulty in accessing interventions. Survivors commented that negative self-perceptions and difficulties with follow-through were barriers to weight loss, and that fear of complications and self-perceived lack of qualification were deterrents to bariatric surgery. Conclusions: Most obese endometrial cancer survivors have tried multiple strategies to lose weight, but remain interested in behavioral weight loss interventions, especially women who have never experienced recurrence. Providers should encourage weight loss interventions early, at the time of initial endometrial cancer diagnosis, and promote underutilized strategies such as psychological counseling, physical therapy, and bariatric surgery via multidisciplinary team approaches.
Random-effects linear model application to herd-level assessment of bovine hepatic trace mineral concentrations.

To evaluate the utility of random-effects linear modeling for herd-level evaluation of trace mineral status, we performed a retrospective analysis of the results for trace mineral testing of bovine...
Nearest-neighbor effects in the structure and function of nucleic acids.

Publisher Summary This article examines the hypothesis, called the RY model, that these extended stacks occur in the special arrangements of purines (R) and pyrimidines (Y) along the chains. The RY model comes from the measurements of the nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr) chemical shifts in oligoribonucleotide and finds some support in X-ray diffraction studies. The model will evolve into a more comprehensive picture when the nearest-neighbor effects are characterized more thoroughly by further experiments. The purpose is to stimulate the molecular biologists to think beyond sequence, to consider the arrangement of nearest neighbors. It is largely these neighbor interactions that determine the local three dimensional shape imparted by the sequence. The A-form may represent the conformation of DNA in its actively expressed form. B-DNA may be a form useful for storage rather than expression of genetic content, although enzymes may also use its special plasticity in “induced-fit’’ interactions. The left-handed Z-form exists only in specific sequences and is in a delicate balance with the right-handed B-form, easily shifted by solution conditions. Z-DNA may be especially important in regulating torsional stress in supercoiled DNA.
Visible and Subvisible Protein Particle Inspection Within a QbD-Based Strategy

In spite of significant progress in many analytical technologies, nondestructive particle characterization remains a challenge. Guidance on foreign particle matter in conventional therapeutics dates back many years in contrast to protein aggregate particles present in the relatively recent biotechnology protein therapeutic products. In this chapter the focus will be on protein aggregates that manifest themselves as both visible and subvisible particles. Protein aggregation is undesired and when unavoidable must be controlled. This requires the ability to characterize this attribute, ideally by size and number and its distribution amongst a manufactured drug product lot as a function of time. Once quantitation is available, in-process controls can be established to ensure that those aggregation levels observed in the manufacture of clinical materials are not exceeded in the commercial product during its shelf life.
Forest invader replaces predation but not dispersal services by a keystone species

Invasive species generally occur and thrive in human-disturbed ecosystems, but Brachyponera chinensis (Asian needle ant, formerly ‘Pachycondyla chinensis’) also invades intact forests. The invasion into native habitats potentially puts B. chinensis in direct competition with the keystone seed-dispersing ants in the genus Aphaenogaster. We observed B. chinensis colonizing artificial nests placed in deciduous forest of the north Georgia Piedmont (US). Their presence appeared to displace existing Aphaenogaster rudis and Reticulitermes flavipes (subterranean termite) colonies. We subsequently mapped the B. chinensis invasion as well as co-existing A. rudis and R. flavipes colonies by examining coarse woody material (CWM) for nesting colonies. We tested whether the B. chinensis invasion changed with forest microclimates, covaried with A. rudis and/or R. flavipes occurrence, and whether it was associated with failed dispersal of a dominant understory herb. Our results and observations suggest that B. chinensis shares ecological niche requirements (temperature, moisture and CWM as nesting habitat) with A. rudis, severely diminishing the abundance of this native ant. In supplanting A. rudis, B. chinensis appears to play an equivalent role to A. rudis as a termite predator, but fails as a seed disperser. Essentially, the invader substitutes for the negative but not the positive species interactions, thereby apparently shifting ecological dynamics in the invaded system.
Hormonal regulation of spermatogenesis in the hypophysectomized rat: quantitation of germ-cell population and effect of elimination of residual testosterone after long-term hypophysectomy

Spermatogenesis continues after long-term hypophysectomy (Hx), but massive cell degeneration prevents seminiferous tubules from attaining the full complement of cells. One objective of this study was to determine the vulnerable sites for completion of spermatogenesis in long-term Hx rats. It is now known that Leydig cells continue to secrete small amounts of androgen after Hx. A second objective was to determine the cellular sites that are maintained by residual androgen secreted by Leydig cells post-Hx. Two groups of adult animals were utilized. Both groups were Hx for 36 days, but one group of rats received the androgen antagonist flutamide during the 26th through the 36th day of Hx (10 days). Germ-cell numbers were quantified using a method that allowed their expression as numbers of cells present per hour of development. In the long-term Hx rat, the germ-cell population increased to preleptotene, but the divisions that led to preleptotene were inefficient due to cell degeneration. Subsequent to preleptotene, there was a gradual loss in cells such that there were few germ cells remaining by steps 9-13. Flutamide given to Hx rats did not result in a significant difference in the numbers of intermediate and type B spermatogonia or significant differences in progenitor cells. A significant and major depression of cell numbers in Hx-flutamide-treated rats occurred in the cell division of type B spermatogonia to form preleptotene spermatocytes. There was a less dramatic, although significant, depression of cell numbers in Hx-flutamide-treated animals that occurred from preleptotene until late pachytene as well as an increased loss of round spermatids at midcycle (step 5-6). These data demonstrate that cell loss after long-term Hx occurs at numerous phases of spermatogenesis. The data also demonstrate that the presence of residual androgen action after long-term Hx results in enhanced germ-cell survival. Although the major blockage in cell viability occurs at midcycle steps in the long-term Hx rat, there are several other hormone-sensitive phases of spermatogenesis.
N-Methyl-2-anilinonaphthalene-6-sulfonyl Peptides as Fluorescent Probes for Pepsin-Substrate Interaction

Abstract Advantage has been taken of the high sensitivity of the N-methyl-2-anilinonaphthalene-6-sulfonyl (mansyl) group as a fluorescent probe for hydrophobic regions of proteins to study the interaction of pepsin with mansylamide and with several peptides bearing an amino-terminal mansyl group. The data indicate that pepsin has a binding site for mansylamide that is distinct from the substrate-binding region of the enzyme. When a mansyl group is attached to a peptide having an l-phenylalanyl-l-phenylalanyl bond, previously identified as a preferred linkage for attack by pepsin, the fluorescent probe appears to be drawn into a hydrophobic region not evident in the interaction with mansylamide. Upon the addition of pepstatin, a powerful competitive inhibitor of pepsin, the enhancement of the fluorescence of mansylamide is unaffected, but that of the mansyl peptides is reduced to the value for mansylamide. Further evidence for the discrete nature of the binding sites in pepsin for mansylamide and for the mansyl group of peptide substrates is provided by the fact that, upon autocatalytic activation of pepsinogen, the enhancement of the fluorescence of mansylamide is decreased, whereas that of the mansyl peptides is increased; both effects are abolished by pepstatin. Studies on the fluorescence of mansylamide and of mansyl peptides in the presence of pepsin that had been stoichiometrically inactivated by treatment with tosyl-l-phenyl-alanyldiazomethane have shown that this active site-directed inhibitor not only blocks the access of a mansyl peptide substrate to the active site, but also alters the mansylamide-binding site so as to lower its polarity. Further evidence for the conformational flexibility of pepsin suggested by this finding is provided by data on the partially acetylated enzyme, which is more active toward oligopeptide substrates than is pepsin itself. With acetyl-pepsin, the enhancement of the fluorescence of mansyl peptides (but not of mansylamide) is much greater than with untreated pepsin. The addition of pepstatin, however, markedly alters the polarity of the mansylamide-binding site of acetyl-pepsin. Data are presented for the kinetics of the cleavage, by pepsin, of several mansyl peptide substrates. These results, together with those from the fluorescence studies, give further evidence of the importance of secondary interactions of pepsin substrates with the extended active site of the enzyme in influencing catalytic efficiency without marked change in total binding energy. It is difficult to accommodate the findings reported here with a relatively rigid extended active site that can be mapped in terms of subsites; instead, pepsin appears to exhibit considerable conformational flexibility at the active site in response to enzyme-substrate (or enzyme-inhibitor) interaction.
Intrinsic Point Defects in Semiconductors 1999

The sections in this article are Introduction Silicon Defect Production The Silicon Vacancy Electronic Structure Effects of Lattice Relaxation – General Considerations Electrical Level Positions of the Vacancy Vacancy Migration Vacancy Interactions with other Defects The Silicon Interstitial Interstitial Migration Trapped Interstitials Theory of the Silicon Interstitial Close Frenkel Pairs Other Group IV Semiconductors Germanium Diamond SiC II–VI Semiconductors ZnSe The Zinc Vacancy Zinc Vacancy Diffusion and Interaction with other Defects Interstitial Zinc and Close Frenkel Pairs Defects on the Selenium Sublattice Other II–VI Materials The Metal Vacancy The Chalcogen Vacancy The other Intrinsic Defects Theory III–V Semiconductors Antisites The Anion Antisite VIII The Cation Antisite IIIV Group-III Atom Vacancies Metal Interstitials Defects on the Group-V Sublattice Summary and Overview Summary Group IV Semiconductors II–VI Semiconductors III–V Semiconductors Overview Vacancies Interstitials Antisites Migration Barriers Acknowledgements
Going-Concern Opinions, Corporate Control, Executive Compensation and Management Turnover

We investigate economic consequences of going-concern opinions in terms of corporate control, executive compensation and management turnover. We argue that announcement of going-concern opinions either decreases firm value or signals negatively to investors. Therefore, upon the announcement of these opinions, companies are motivated to go through organizational changes to strengthen monitoring and restore investors’ confidence. These organizational changes include modifications in corporate ownership, executive compensation and management turnover. Based on a sample period of 1995 – 2012 and using a difference-in-difference approach, we find that the existence of going-concern opinions results in decreases in ownerships of blockholders and institutional investors. In addition, the presence of these opinions decreases CEO compensation and increases subsequent turnovers of top managers and auditors. Our findings point out other adverse consequences of going-concern opinions besides declines in market value. Thus going-concern opinions might be useful for outside stakeholders to predict future organizational changes within companies.
Disruption of quantum oscillations by an incommensurate charge density wave

Because a material with an incommensurate charge density wave (ICDW) is only quasiperiodic, Bloch's theorem does not apply and there is no sharply defined Fermi surface. We will show that, as a consequence, there are no quantum oscillations which are truly periodic functions of $1/B$ (where $B$ is the magnitude of an applied magnetic field). For a weak ICDW, there exist broad ranges of $1/B$ in which approximately periodic variations occur, but with frequencies that vary inexorably in an unending cascade with increasing $1/B$. For a strong ICDW, e.g., in a quasicrystal, no quantum oscillations survive at all. Rational and irrational numbers really are different.
An Experimental Investigation into the Transit Performance of a Titanium-Water Loop Heat Pipe Subjected to a Steady-Periodic Acceleration Field (Postprint)

Abstract : The objective of this research is to experimentally investigate the transient operating characteristics of a titanium-water loop heat pipe subjected to a combined steady-state evaporator input heat rate and a steady-periodic acceleration field. For this experimental investigation, a steady-periodic acceleration field, in the form of a sine wave, was generated using a centrifuge table. Radial acceleration peak-to-peak values and frequency of the sine wave were defined prior to conducting each experimental run and ranged from 0.5g less than or equal to ar less than or equal to 10g, and 0.01Hz is less than or equal to f is less than or equal to 0.1Hz respectively. Evaporator input heat rate and condenser cold plate coolant temperature was varied 300W is less than or equal to Qin is less than or equal to 600W and 30 deg C is less than or equal to Tcp is less than or equal to 56 deg C respectively. In some cases acceleration driven forces complimented the thermodynamic forces improving LHP dynamical performance. However, the converse was also true in that transient acceleration driven forces also appeared to counter thermodynamic forces or excite natural frequencies of the LHP. This resulted in immediate total failure of the LHP to operate, delayed total failure, or in some cases, the LHP operated in a stable manner but in a degraded condition.
POLLINATION BIOLOGY, SELF-INCOMPATIBILITY, AND STERILITY IN IPOMOEA PANDURATA (L.) G.F.W. MEYER (CONVOLVULACEAE)

Ipomoea pandurata rarely produces seed. Sporophytic self-incompatibility is a secondary factor contributing to the reduced seed production because the principal pollinators, Bombus pennsylvanicus (Apidae) and Melitoma taurea (Anthophoridae), effect cross-pollination in most populations. Sterility, expressed as pollen tube failure in the style and as a sterility mechanism in the ovary, is the primary factor accounting for reduced seed production. It is difficult to reconcile the extensive geographical distribution of I. pandurata with this sterility.
Expert approaches to communicating violence risk.

There has been virtually no empirical study of the way in which evaluating clinicians communicate their conclusions about the risk of violence toward others. Risk communication has become particularly important in recent years, serving as the link between empirical data from recent studies and the understanding and use of such data by evaluators and decision makers. The present study considered how psychologists and psychiatrists, identified as experts in violence risk assessment, responded to eight vignettes that systematically measured preferences for risk communication. The vignettes involved the presentation of the following factors in a 2 × 2 × 2 within-subjects design, counterbalanced for order: (1) risk model (prediction vs. management), (2) risk level (high vs. low risk of the individual being assessed), and (3) risk factors (the predominance of static vs. dynamic risk factors). A total of 71 individuals (41 psychologists, 2 sociologists, and 28 psychiatrists) responded to a survey mailed to 100 individuals, for a response rate of 71%. Participants were asked to rate the value of six forms of risk communication for each of the eight vignettes. There were few significant differences between the ratings assigned by psychologists and those assigned by psychiatrists. The most highly valued form of risk communication involved identifying risk factors applicable to the individual and specifying interventions to reduce risk. A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance yielded a main effect for risk level and an interaction between risk level and risk factors. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.
Relationship between the Archie saturation exponent and wettability

Les imperatifs de faisabilite en recuperation assistee exigent une connaissance de plus en plus precise des saturations en huile in situ. L'amelioration des interpretations quantitatives des logs de resistivite necessite d'une part d'etablir une relation generale entre l'exposant, n, de l'equation de saturation d'Archie et la mouillabilite, et, d'autre part de pouvoir determiner in situ la mouillabilite par logging de la pression de la formation. Cet article decrit une relation lineaire entre l'exposant de la relation de saturation d'Archie et la mouillabilite des huiles. La pente de la droite representatrice depend des caracteristiques petrophysiques de la Roche; elle est identique, pour une meme roche, a basse et haute temperature. L'exposant n passe de 2 a 8 pour les roches mouillees a l'eau ou a l'huile. la mouillabilite a l'eau des systemes huile/eau/roche augmente avec la temperature