cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mobilizing for an Outbreak and Its Aftermath

When the H1N1 virus ascended to national attention in April 2009, colleges and universities in the United States were thrust into the role of managing an unforeseen health crisis. While other institutions were scrambling to coordinate the appropriate crisis response to the H1N1 virus, Babson College was using the lessons it had learned during its recent Norovirus outbreak to coordinate an effective response without panic or paranoia. As novel illnesses continue to emerge in our increasingly globalized society, it is important to explore and understand how institutions respond to unanticipated health crises. Babson’s experience with the Norovirus outbreak offers valuable insight into the importance of flexible protocol, decisive decision-making, and coordinated emergency responses that include external constituents as well as internal stakeholders. Background Babson College was founded in 1919 by Roger Babson in Wellesley, Massachusetts with the mission of educating the country’s next great business leaders. As a master’s level institution, Babson’s undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship programs are routinely ranked the top in the nation. Babson is a largely residential campus with 85 percent of the nineteen hundred undergraduate students living in a residential hall. This high residential capacity would also pose a challenge when the Norovirus emerged on campus in early spring of 2009 as campus leaders sought to contain the outbreak while addressing the needs of diverse campus community members. Norovirus is a highly contagious, surface-surviving virus that causes “acute onset vomiting, watery diarrhea with abdominal cramps, and nausea”
Graft versus graft and graft versus host reactions after HLA‐identical bone marrow transplantation in a patient with severe combined immunodeficiency with transplacentally acquired lymphoid chimerism

We describe a patient with severe combined immunodeficiency and transplacental transfer of maternal T cells who received an unfractionated HLA-identical sibling bone marrow transplant without prior conditioning. He presented prior to transplantation with a dermatitis later diagnosed as mild graft versus host disease. He had a normal absolute lymphocyte count, but proliferative responses to mitogens were very low. Antigens of the noninherited maternal HLA haplotype were detected on his blood lymphocytes. After transplantation, he developed a severe reaction including fever, cutaneous erythema and hepatosplenomegaly. Lymphocytes carrying the noninherited maternal HLA haplotype disappeared from his circulation, and his unprimed mononuclear cells became spontaneously cytotoxic to maternal lymphoblasts. He subsequently developed a lymphocytosis of 69,000/mm3, diarrhea, elevated transaminases and a worsening rash, necessitating treatment with immunosuppressive agents. Full T-cell engraftment and evidence of B-cell function later ensued and spontaneously cytotoxic lymphocytes against maternal cells disappeared by 47 days post-transplantation. We postulate that the patient's constellation of signs and symptoms after transplantation represented a combination of severe graft versus graft and mild graft versus host reactions.
A gold standard set of mechanistically diverse enzyme superfamilies

Superfamily and family analyses provide an effective tool for the functional classification of proteins, but must be automated for use on large datasets. We describe a 'gold standard' set of enzyme superfamilies, clustered according to specific sequence, structure, and functional criteria, for use in the validation of family and superfamily clustering methods. The gold standard set represents four fold classes and differing clustering difficulties, and includes five superfamilies, 91 families, 4,887 sequences and 282 structures.
Financial Synergies and the Optimal Scope of the Firm: Implications for Mergers, Spinoffs, and Structured Finance

Multiple activities may be separated financially, allowing each to optimize its financial structure, or combined in a firm with a single optimal financial structure. We consider activities with nonsynergistic operational cash flows, and examine the purely financial benefits of separation versus merger. The magnitude of financial synergies depends upon tax rates, default costs, relative size, and the riskiness and correlation of cash flows. Contrary to accepted wisdom, financial synergies from mergers can be negative if firms have quite different risks or default costs. The results provide a rationale for structured finance techniques such as asset securitization and project finance. DECISIONS THAT ALTER THE SCOPE of the firm are among the most important faced by management, and among the most studied by academics. Mergers and spinoffs are classic examples of such decisions. More recently, structured finance has seen explosive growth: Asset securitization exceeded $6.8 trillion in 2004, and Esty and Christov (2002) report that in 2001, more than half of capital investments with costs exceeding $500 million were financed on a separate project basis. 1 Ye tf inancial theory has made little headway in explaining structured finance. Positive or negative operational synergies are often cited as a prime motivation for decisions that change the scope of the firm. A rich literature addresses the roles of economies of scope and scale, market power, incomplete contracting, property rights, and agency costs in determining the optimal boundaries of the firm. 2 But operational synergies are difficult to identify in the case of asset securitization and structured finance.
COLONIC TUBES FOR THE ANTEGRADE CONTINENCE ENEMA: COMPARISON OF SURGICAL TECHNIQUE

ABSTRACT Purpose: The Malone antegrade continence enema has revolutionized the management of intractable fecal incontinence and constipation. When the appendix is absent, surgical options are limited. Small series with short-term followup have demonstrated the feasibility but not the reliability of the continent colonic tube. We present our experience with a lateral based colonic tube. We also compared lateral based colonic tubes to medial based tubes. Materials and Methods: The medical records of patients treated with a continent colonic tube for intractable fecal incontinence were reviewed. We identified 8 patients who underwent the procedure between July 2000 and February 2003. The literature was reviewed to compare lateral vs medial based tubes. Results: Average followup was 28 months (range 10 to 41). Stomal stenosis developed in 4 patients (50%) within 3 to 6 months of surgery. Passive dilation at the clinic corrected the problem in 3 patients and 1 required operative stomal revision. All 8 patients reported almost complete relief of rectal incontinence and constipation. A literature review demonstrated a significantly higher rate of stomal stenosis in lateral vs medial based colonic tubes (40% vs 12%). Conclusions: The continent colonic tube is a safe and effective alternative in patients with refractory fecal incontinence and constipation who do not have an available appendix. These results appear durable during the described period. We believe that this technique is an alternative to the cecostomy button and it should be offered to suitable patients. The lateral based colonic tube appears to have a higher rate of stomal stenosis than medial based colonic tubes, which may be attributed to the local blood supply of the colon.
A Scale To Assess African American Acculturation.

This study examined an acculturation scale designed for use in the African American population. Consisting of 10 items presented in Likert-scale format, the scale asked about: race-related cultural and media preferences (music, radio, television); racial balance in contexts of social interaction (friends, church congregation, parties, neighborhoods); race-related attitudes (relying on relatives for help, desirability of interracial marriage); and degree of comfort in interaction with Whites versus Blacks. Responses were gathered from a national probability sample of more than 900 African Americans. The data generally indicated an African American orientation within the sample but demonstrated notable variation on all items. The scale showed good reliability (internal consistency). Results from factor analysis pointed toward unidimensional structure. Evaluation of construct validity by examining sociodemographic correlates provided notable evidence of validity.
Effect of Nonlinear Amplifier in Companded OFDM with Application to 802.11n WLAN

It is a well known fact that Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) suffers from high peak to average power ratio (PAPR). The nonlinear distortion introduced by a high PAPR OFDM signal through practical amplifiers can further degrade the system performance. In this paper, we analyze the performance of a M-ary Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (M-QAM) OFDM system which is subject to distortions from nonlinear high power amplifiers (HPAs) in a Rayleigh fading channel. In order to reduce the nonlinear distortion caused by HPAs, we propose a new companding technique to reduce the PAPR and a novel receiver structure to minimize the degradation effects from the decompander. For the purpose of simulation, we extend the analytical model to be in compliance with the IEEE 802.11n standard. The theoretical results are verified with the simulation.
Friction modeling in concentric tube robots

Concentric tube robots are a novel class of continuum robots that are constructed by combining precurved elastic tubes such that the overall shape of the robot is a function of the relative rotations and translations of the constituent tubes. Frictionless kinematic and quasistatic force models for this class of robots have been developed that incorporate bending and twisting of the tubes. Experimental evaluation of these models has revealed, however, a directional dependence of tube rotation on robot shape that is not predicted by these models. To explain this behavior, this paper models the contributions of friction arising from two sources: the distributed forces of contact between the tubes along their length and the concentrated bending moments generated at discontinuities in curvature and at the boundaries. It is shown that while friction due to distributed forces is insufficient to explain the experimentally observed tube twisting, a simple model of frictional torque arising from concentrated moments provides a good match with the experimental data.
Prevalence, severity, and predictors of fatigue in subjects with primary Sjögren's syndrome

Primary Sjogren’s syndrome (PSS) is a common systemic autoimmune disorder affecting approximately 0.09% of the adult population (1). Based on American European Consensus Criteria (AECG) criteria, prevalence among women ranges from 0.1 to 0.6 percent in US, UK and Greek cohorts (2). Patients present with constitutional symptoms, as well as a wide variety of neurologic disorders and systemic involvement, in addition to complaints of oral and ocular dryness. PSS can lead to vasculitis (3) and is associate with a 40 fold increased risk of lymphoma (4). However, fatigue and pain are the most common extra-glandular symptoms (5, 6). Abnormal fatigue is defined as enduring, generalized tiredness and can be characterized in terms of intensity, duration and effects upon daily function (7). In population-based studies, approximately 20% of healthy adults report persistent fatigue (8, 9). Among patients with autoimmune disease the prevalence of fatigue is much higher, in the range of 60–70% (10–12). Despite the impact that fatigue has on quality of life in rheumatic disorders, there is no consensus regarding the assessment of fatigue. There is very little data comparing different fatigue measures and the pathogenesis of clinically significant persistent fatigue is unknown. In the primary care setting, chronic fatigue is strongly associated with depression. In a general medical practice, 73% of patients presenting with a complaint of chronic fatigue had a psychiatric diagnosis (13). The relationship of fatigue to depression in PSS is less clear. Despite the importance of clinically significant fatigue in the majority of patients with PSS, only a few studies have examined the relationship of fatigue to other clinical variables (5, 14–19). The relative contribution of physiologic variables, behavioral and immune mediated factors to fatigue has not been well characterized. While previous studies of PSS have demonstrated an association of fatigue with depression (5), the relationship between fatigue and depression is complex and the effect of illness severity is unclear. A key unresolved issue is whether chronic fatigue experience by patients with systemic autoimmunity is mediated primarily by a disturbance in immune function or by factors such as sleep disorder and depression which are associated with fatigue in persons with non-autoimmune disorders. In order to better understand the determinants of fatigue in PSS, we concurrently evaluated the differential effect of behavioral, cognitive and clinical variables contributing to fatigue in PSS. We used multiple validated measures to assess fatigue and compared the factors predictive of fatigue using 3 instruments and a visual analog scale. We hypothesized that depression; pain and helplessness contribute to, but do not entirely account for, the variance in fatigue severity in patients with PSS.
Action Thresholds for Managing Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) in Soybean Based on Sweep-Net Sampling

The kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria (F.), first discovered in the United States in 2009, has rapidly become a pest of commercial soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, throughout much of the southeast. Because of its recent arrival, management practices and recommendations are not well established. To develop action thresholds, we evaluated insecticide applications targeted at different densities of adults and nymphs determined using the standard 38-cm diameter sweep net sampling method in 12 soybean field trials conducted in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina from 2011 to 2013. Average peak densities of M. cribraria in the untreated controls reached as high as 63.5 ± 11.0 adults per sweep and 34.7 ± 8.0 nymphs per sweep. Insecticide applications triggered at densities of one adult or nymph of M. cribraria per sweep, two adults or nymphs per sweep, and one adult or nymph per sweep, with nymphs present, resulted in no yield reductions in most cases compared with plots that were aggressively protected with multiple insecticide applications. A single insecticide application timed at the R3 or R4 soybean growth stages also resulted in yields that were equivalent to the aggressively protected plots. Typically, treatments (excluding the untreated control) that resulted in fewer applications were more cost-effective. These results suggest that a single insecticide application targeting nymphs was sufficient to prevent soybean yield reduction at the densities of M. cribraria that we observed.
Mapping Wolbachia distributions in the adult Drosophila brain

Summary The maternally inherited bacterium Wolbachia infects the germline of most arthropod species. Using Drosophila simulans and D. melanogaster, we demonstrate that localization of Wolbachia to the fat bodies and adult brain is likely also a con- served feature of Wolbachia infection. Examina- tion of three Wolbachia strains (WMel ,W Riv ,W Pop) revealed that the bacteria preferentially concen- trate in the central brain with low titres in the optic lobes. Distribution within regions of the central brain is largely determined by the Wolbachia strain, while the titre is influenced by both, the host species and the bacteria strain. In neurons of the central brain and ventral nerve cord, Wolbachia preferentially localizes to the neuronal cell bodies but not to axons. All examined Wolbachia strains are present intracellularly or in extracellular clus- ters, with the pathogenic WPop strain exhibiting the largest and most abundant clusters. We also dis- covered that 16 of 40 lines from the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel are Wolbachia infected. Direct comparison of Wolbachia infected and cured lines from this panel reveals that differences in physiological traits (chill coma recovery, starva- tion, longevity) are partially due to host line influ- ences. In addition, a tetracycline-induced increase in Drosophila longevity was detected many gen- erations after treatment.
Harm concerns predict moral judgments of suicide: Comment on Rottman, Kelemen and Young (2014)

Two prominent theories offer different perspectives on the role of harm in moral cognition. Dyadic morality suggests that harm-related concerns are pervasive, whereas moral pluralism suggests that these concerns apply only to canonically harmful violations (e.g., murder), and not impure violations (e.g., suicide). Rottman et al. (2014) contrast these two theories by examining moral judgments of suicide. They conclude that suicide wrongness is independent of harm, therefore arguing against dyadic morality and for moral pluralism. However, these conclusions may be overstated; across all these studies, a meta-analysis reveals that harm is a significant predictor of suicide judgments. Moreover, the association between harm and suicide wrongness may be suppressed in individual studies by insufficient power, restrictive exclusion criteria, a single bivariate outlier, and reliance upon the conventional significance threshold of p < .05. In revised analyses harm is robustly associated with suicide wrongness, consistent with dyadic morality.
Lock-exchange flows in sloping channels

Two-dimensional variable-density Navier–Stokes simulations have been conducted in order to investigate the effects of a slope on the classical lock-exchange flow. Simulations of full lock releases show that the flow goes through an initial quasi-steady phase that is characterized by a constant front velocity. This quasi-steady front velocity has a maximum for slope angles around 40°, and it persists up to a dimensionless time of the order of 10. The flow subsequently undergoes a transition to a second phase with a larger, unsteady, front velocity. These computational findings were confirmed by experimental observations of lock-exchange flows in a tube of circular cross-section.The reason for the observed transition from a quasi-steady front velocity to a larger, unsteady, value is found in the continuous acceleration of the stratified fluid layers connecting the two fronts by the streamwise component of the gravity vector. This acceleration leads to a situation where the fluid layers behind the current front move faster than the front itself. Initially the resulting addition of fluid to the current front from behind affects only the size of the front, while its velocity remains unchanged. Eventually, the current front is unable to absorb more fluid from behind and its velocity has to increase, thereby triggering the transition to the second, unsteady, phase. The transition time is determined as a function of the slope and the density ratio of the two fluids. For increasing density contrast, the transition is seen to occur earlier for the denser current.Conceptually simple models based on the analysis by Thorpe (1968) are compared with simulation results for the flow in the region connecting the fronts. For the early stages of the flow a two-layer stratification model is found to be appropriate, while the later stages require a three-layer stratification model, owing to the intense mixing in the central part of the channel cross-section. These models are employed to estimate the time after which the accelerating stratified fluid layers will affect the velocities of the current fronts. They provide upper and lower estimates for the transition time which are in good agreement with the simulation results.
THE INFLUENCE OF NECTAR RESOURCES ON NESTING SUCCESS AND MOVEMENT PATTERNS OF THE COMMON AMAKIHI (HEMIGNATHUS VIRENS)

The objectives of this study were to investigate the influence of nectar re- sources on: (1) territory establishment, (2) breeding success, and (3) postbreeding dispersal in Hemignathus virens on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. I observed color-banded individuals from 1971 to 1981 and manipulated food during the 1975 breeding season by placing supplementary nectar resources in an area where breeding had not occurred in the previous 4 yr. The results of this study demonstrated that H. virens is intrinsically tied to the nectar resources available within its breeding territory and that a minimum of 2,000 l/day (1,400 cat) of nectar must be present before territory establishment will occur. This finding was further supported by the fact that no breeding occurred in the experimental area during the 6 yr after removal of the supplementary nectar. Breeding success of Hemignathus virens was influenced by different levels of nectar avail- ability. The most successful breeding occurred at nectar levels of 20,000-40,000 t/day (14,000- 28,000 cat). More than 35,000 t/day (24,500 cat) of nectar within a territory generally in- hibited successful breeding, presumably because too much time was spent in the defense of the nectar sources. Birds with larger amounts of nectar within their territories had concom- itantty larger clutch sizes. Postbreeding dispersal, an annual phenomenon in the H. virens population on Mauna Kea, did not occur if adequate food supplies remained available during the nonbreeding period. Received 30 November 1982, accepted 6 September 1983. AVIAN ecologists often speak of food-limited populations, but evidence of competition for a specific food supply during the breeding sea- son is meager (Stenger 1958, Walsberg 1977). There seem to be two reasons for this lack of
Static and Dynamic Friction Characteristics of a Steel on Polyoxymethylene Interface Under Dry and Lubricated Contact Conditions

The static and dynamic friction characteristics of a steel pin on injection molded polyoxymethylene homopolymer disk system were studied under both lubricated and dry contact conditions. Samples were tested at externally-applied normal loads ranging from 20 to 160 N. Under dry test conditions, friction coefficients displayed two distinct regions with very low friction coefficients at low loads and rising to approximately 0.7 (static) and 0.6 (dynamic) at loads above 60N. This phenomenon is attributed to an enhanced contribution of the ploughing friction mechanism at higher loads. As load increases, the pin penetrates through the injection mold-induced skin layer and into the core. At loads lower than 60 N, however, the pin does not significantly penetrate the disk during the test and the adhesive mechanism dominates the tribological properties. Additional tests were performed in order to determine the effects of a lithium soap thickened, low viscosity, synthetic hydrocarbon grease. The average static and dynamic friction coefficients for the lubricated interface were found to be 0.031 ± 0.01 and 0.027 ± 0.01, respectively. The friction coefficients exhibited a linear dependence on the load. This result indicates a shift from the more optimal elastohydrodynamic lubrication regime at lower loads to a mixed lubrication regime and a behavior closer to dry contact at higher loads. Results are interpreted in light of the principal static and dynamic friction mechanisms.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Conservative and compensatory evolution in oxidative phosphorylation complexes of angiosperms with highly divergent rates of mitochondrial genome evolution

Interactions between nuclear and mitochondrial gene products are critical for eukaryotic cell function. Nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial-targeted proteins (N-mt genes) experience elevated rates of evolution, which has often been interpreted as evidence of nuclear compensation in response to elevated mitochondrial mutation rates. However, N-mt genes may be under relaxed functional constraints, which could also explain observed increases in their evolutionary rate. To disentangle these hypotheses, we examined patterns of sequence and structural evolution in nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded oxidative phosphorylation proteins from species in the angiosperm genus Silene with vastly different mitochondrial mutation rates. We found correlated increases in N-mt gene evolution in species with fast-evolving mitochondrial DNA. Structural modeling revealed an overrepresentation of N-mt substitutions at positions that directly contact mutated residues in mitochondrial-encoded proteins, despite overall patterns of conservative structural evolution. These findings support the hypothesis that selection for compensatory changes in response to mitochondrial mutations contributes to the elevated rate of evolution in N-mt genes. We discuss these results in light of theories implicating mitochondrial mutation rates and mitonuclear coevolution as drivers of speciation and suggest comparative and experimental approaches that could take advantage of heterogeneity in rates of mtDNA evolution across eukaryotes to evaluate such theories.
Delivering solutions to questions regarding soil change— examples from USDA and the National Cooperative Soil Survey

The US National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) has been investigating Soil Change within the Interpretations Conference Committees and within the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Soil Science Division since the early 1990's. Historically, the National Cooperative Soil Survey worked on building a national map that would deliver information on land use and soil management. Soil Mapping, Soil Classification and Soil Taxonomy focused on the static qualities of the soil profile, attempting to make estimates and predictions of soil groupings based on soil characteristics that were stable beyond a 5 to 20 year cycle of use and management and potential anthropogenic change. The National cooperative Soil Survey continues to seek new ways to interpret soils and to make that information more easily accessible. Practice-specific soil interpretations are being explored to support NRCS conservation planning and practice implementation. Other areas of focus include the development of real-time interpretation systems that allow incorporation of site- specific information and interpretation systems that will allow users to incorporate other spatially-referenced data sets including climate and land use to develop accurate and site- specific interpretive information products.
State of the Art in Oscillatory Sediment Transport Models

The chapters following will present the models for longshore and cross-shore surf zone transport that have been developed from the analyses of NSTS data. These are global models in which net transport is integrated in space and time across the surf zone. This chapter is intended to form an introduction to them by reviewing existing models for gross sediment transport, i. e., transport at a point over a half cycle of oscillation. None of these point models were developed within the NSTS program, but all of the integrated NSTS net transport models have been developed from them.
Hedging Your Bets: Uncertainty About Continued Success Reduces People's Desire for High Procedural Fairness

A central tenet of organizational justice theory is that people prefer decisions to be made with higher than with lower procedural fairness. The results of five studies unearthed a boundary condition for this general tendency. People who experienced non-contingent success had less of a desire to be treated with higher procedural fairness relative to their counterparts who experienced contingent success. Furthermore, four of the five studies examined moderating influences on the relationship between success contingency and fairness preferences and found, as predicted, that the relationship was stronger when people were more motivated to protect against threats to the self.
Impacts of Grapevine Leafroll Disease on Fruit Yield and Grape and Wine Chemistry in a Wine Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) Cultivar

Grapevine leafroll disease (GLD) is an economically important virus disease affecting wine grapes (Vitis vinifera L.), but little is known about its effect on wine chemistry and sensory composition of wines. In this study, impacts of GLD on fruit yield, berry quality and wine chemistry and sensory features were investigated in a red wine grape cultivar planted in a commercial vineyard. Own-rooted Merlot vines showing GLD symptoms and tested positive for Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 and adjacent non-symptomatic vines that tested negative for the virus were compared during three consecutive seasons. Number and total weight of clusters per vine were significantly less in symptomatic relative to non-symptomatic vines. In contrast to previous studies, a time-course analysis of juice from grapes harvested at different stages of berry development from symptomatic and non-symptomatic vines indicated more prominent negative impacts of GLD on total soluble solids (TSS) and berry skin anthocyanins than in juice pH and titratable acidity. Differences in TSS between grapes of symptomatic and non-symptomatic vines were more pronounced after the onset of veraison, with significantly lower concentrations of TSS in grapes from symptomatic vines throughout berry ripening until harvest. Wines made from grapes of GLD-affected vines had significantly lower alcohol, polymeric pigments, and anthocyanins compared to corresponding wines from grapes of non-symptomatic vines. Sensory descriptive analysis of 2010 wines indicated significant differences in color, aroma and astringency between wines made from grapes harvested from GLD-affected and unaffected vines. The impacts of GLD on yield and fruit and wine quality traits were variable between the seasons, with greater impacts observed during a cooler season, suggesting the influence of host plant × environment interactions on overall impacts of the disease.
Bettina Wagner and Marcia Reed, eds. Early Printed Books as Material Objects. Berlin: De Gruyter Saur, 2010. xii, 367p. ISBN 9783110253245. $150.00.

This book consists of the proceedings from a preconference organized by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), held in Munich 19–21 August 2009 as a satellite meeting to IFLA’s annual congress in Milan, Italy. In the Introduction, Wagner sets the stage for the work included in this collection of presented papers. Although multiple copies of early printed editions may survive to the present day, Wagner emphasizes the importance of early printed books as individual objects, each with unique characteristics that distinguish it from all other copies printed in the . . .
Isolation of a cytopathogenic agent from human adenoids undergoing spontaneous degeneration in tissue culture.

Summary1. From the present evidence it appears that an unidentified, possibly new, tissue culture cytopathogenic agent has been isolated repeatedly from human adenoids undergoing spontaneous degeneration in tissue culture. The filter ability and the inability to cultivate the agent on bacteriological media and to demonstrate organisms in stained tissue culture preparations would indicate that the agent belongs to the group of viruses or rickettsial It is tentatively proposed to designate the agent as the “adenoid degeneration agent”, abbreviated as “A.D. agent”. 2. That the agent is derived from the adenoid tissue rather than from the nutrient media is indicated by the fact that some adenoids and all human embryonic tissues cultivated in the identical media and at the same time have not undergone degeneration, although they are susceptible to infection with the agent; also, repeated attempts to isolate the agents from adenoid cultures not demonstrating degeneration have been uniformly unsuccessful. 3. Fur...
The Phenomenology of Major Depression and the Representativeness and Nature of DSM Criteria

How should DSM criteria relate to the disorders they are designed to assess? To address this question empirically, the author examines how well DSM-5 symptomatic criteria for major depression capture the descriptions of clinical depression in the post-Kraepelin Western psychiatric tradition as described in textbooks published between 1900 and 1960. Eighteen symptoms and signs of depression were described, 10 of which are covered by the DSM criteria for major depression or melancholia. For two symptoms (mood and cognitive content), DSM criteria are considerably narrower than those described in the textbooks. Five symptoms and signs (changes in volition/motivation, slowing of speech, anxiety, other physical symptoms, and depersonalization/derealization) are not present in the DSM criteria. Compared with the DSM criteria, these authors gave greater emphasis to cognitive, physical, and psychomotor changes, and less to neurovegetative symptoms. These results suggest that important features of major depression ...
Analysis of Three-phase Asynchronous Motors Running with one Phase cut Off

In this paper,a theoretical analysis has been made on the three phase asynchronous motors running with one phase cut off,through which the change of electromaganetic moment and the revolution difference rate of the motor and the velationship between the running current and the norminal current and the load are obtained. The necessity and related measures of protection are herewith presented.
Internet of Things Application Using Tethered MSP430 to Thingspeak Cloud

Internet of Things (IoT) has evolved from being a vision for the future to being an increasing market reality. Technology companies have dedicated resources and personnel to research into IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. Internet of Things really involves primarily incorporating sensors to machines and everyday objects. The data from the sensors need to be leveraged by analyzing the data in real time. Cloud applications are tools that help us leverage this acquired data. The objects, tools and environments that we constantly monitor in our daily lives can be made smart and connected to the cloud. This paper is focused on implementing a typical IoT application using a Texas Instrument based MSP430 microprocessor and a cloud based Thingspeak Application. This paper was required as part of a course project at NC A&T for an embedded system course.
Vitamin D Status and Cancer Incidence and Ms

The role of vitamin D in cancer incidence and mortality has been investigated using several approaches, including using sun exposure as a proxy for vitamin D status, assessing vitamin D intake from food and supplements, using a predicted score to estimate vitamin D status, and directly measuring circulating 25(OH)D. A variety of complementary study designs have been implemented with various strengths and limitations. Although definitive randomized control trial data are lacking, there is strong evidence for a protective relationship of vitamin D and colorectal cancer incidence. Evidence for other cancers is not as consistent. More recently, large pooling projects have begun to investigate rarer cancers, studies have investigated common variation and expression of vitamin D-related genes and their relationships to cancer, and evidence has emerged on the role of vitamin D in cancer survival. Further study is needed to answer important questions that remain about the most affected cancer sites, the timing of vitamin D exposure in relation cancer etiology during the life span (e.g., adolescence or adulthood), the dose-response/optimal levels required for the most benefit, and which stages of carcinogenesis (e.g., incidence or progression) are most relevant.
The Refracted Constitution: Classical Liberalism and the Lessons of History

This essay offers a brief critique of Professor David Epstein’s notion that the Constitution is a classical liberal document and that modern constitutional law deviates in significant ways from classical liberal ideals. It argues that the premise of a classical liberal constitution, while theoretically intriguing, is not altogether historically accurate and is more a reflection of the interpretive biases of those uncomfortable with the concept of a living constitution who are deeply skeptical about the process of constitutional adaptivity. Reading classical liberal ideals into the Constitution distorts the historical context of the framing of the Constitution, as well as misinterprets the historical nature of common law constitutional interpretation. Classical liberal constitutionalism is, in essence, another brand of originalism and, like most theories of constitutional interpretation, has its strengths and weaknesses and falls somewhat short of providing a unified theory of constitutional law.
Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Performance Characteristics of Lithium/Sulfur Cells

In this study, we propose a modified mathematical model for Lithium/Sulfur (Li/S) cells and present a detailed numerical analysis showing the effects of (1) the presence of solid sulfur species (S8(s), Li2S2(s), Li2S(s)), (2) the solubility and diffusivity of polysulfides in the electrolyte, and (3) reaction rate constants of polysulfide reduction reactions at Li electrode on the electrochemical performance characteristics of Li/S cells including the cycling performance. The cell potential profiles predicted from numerical analysis were compared with experimental discharge and charge curves with emphasis on the possibility of the presence of the intermediate solid phase Li2S2(s). Numerical results suggest that the cell potential obtained without the consideration of the intermediate solid phase Li2S2(s) is in the best agreement with experimental results. Also, the polysulfide shuttling phenomenon has been numerically analyzed with electrolytes of different polysulfide solubility and compared with experimental cell discharge and charge curves. Our model clearly shows that the electrolyte of high polysulfide solubility and unprotected negative (anode) electrode can lead to unwanted reduction reactions of high-order polysulfides on the Li electrode, resulting in a significant overcharge problem. This agrees well with our experimental results for identical experimental conditions. Furthermore, the cycling performance of a Li/S cell was predicted, including the effect of the polysulfide shuttle on the subsequent discharge/charge curves. In the simulation, it was found that the high voltage plateau is reduced markedly in the discharge process after incomplete charge because sulfur (S8) could not be recovered when the polysulfide shuttle problem is significant. Also, it is suggested that cycling performance of Li/S cells would be improved by limiting both the polysulfide diffusivity and the reduction reaction rate of high-order polysulfides at Li electrode during charge.
General and Specific Factors in Selection Modeling

This chapter shows how analysis of data on selective subgroups can be used to draw inference to the full, unselected group. This uses Pearson-Lawley selection formulas which apply to not only regression analysis but also structural equation modeling. The chapter shows the connection with maximum-likelihood estimation with missing data assuming MAR versus using listwise deletion. Applications are discussed of selection into the military using factor analysis models for the variables used in the selection.
Identification of a cancer stem cell-specific function for the histone deacetylases, HDAC1 and HDAC7, in breast and ovarian cancer

Tumours are comprised of a highly heterogeneous population of cells, of which only a small subset of stem-like cells possess the ability to regenerate tumours in vivo. These cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a significant clinical challenge as they are resistant to conventional cancer therapies and play essential roles in metastasis and tumour relapse. Despite this realization and great interest in CSCs, it has been difficult to develop CSC-targeted treatments due to our limited understanding of CSC biology. Here, we present evidence that specific histone deacetylases (HDACs) play essential roles in the CSC phenotype. Utilizing a novel CSC model, we discovered that the HDACs, HDAC1 and HDAC7, are specifically over-expressed in CSCs when compared to non-stem-tumour-cells (nsTCs). Furthermore, we determine that HDAC1 and HDAC7 are necessary to maintain CSCs, and that over-expression of HDAC7 is sufficient to augment the CSC phenotype. We also demonstrate that clinically available HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) targeting HDAC1 and HDAC7 can be used to preferentially target CSCs. These results provide actionable insights that can be rapidly translated into CSC-specific therapies.
Evaluation and prediction of bond strength of GFRP-bar reinforced concrete using artificial neural network optimized with genetic algorithm

Abstract Assessment of bond behavior of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars to concrete plays an important role in design and implementation of the polymer-matrix composites (PMCs). This study develops an optimized modeling strategy that harnesses the strong nonlinear mapping ability of artificial neural network (ANN) with the global searching ability of genetic algorithm (GA) for bond strength prediction. The factors that affect the bond strength were identified from the test data of 157 beam-test specimens in the literature, in terms of bar conditions (bar diameter, surface, position and embedment length), concrete (thickness of concrete cover and concrete compressive strength), and confinement from transverse reinforcements. Comparison of the bond strengths predicted by the proposed optimized ANN-GA model with test results showed a higher accuracy with less scatter compared to the conventional ANN model.
Strengthening the supernatural punishment hypothesis through computer modeling

God is Watching You presents a comprehensive overview of the supernatural punishment hypothesis (SPH). In brief, the SPH posits that human behavior is influenced by the fear of punishment from supe...
Public Risk Perceptions of Handgun Use in the United States

This study explores public risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns and the influence of demographics on individuals' risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns. Data were collected from a nationally representative online survey of 2,008 individuals in the United States. The results indicate that the public views other people's use of handguns as highly risky (3.6 on a scale of 1 to 5). This result is not particularly interesting by itself, but when analyzing individuals' risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns along various demographics, interesting insights emerge. Specifically, the results indicate that women and minority groups, as well as older and more educated individuals have a significantly higher risk perception of other people's use of handguns. A better understanding of public risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns can provide critical insights needed to design appropriate gun safety policies.
Outcomes of nonsurgical versus surgical treatment of cesarean scar pregnancies in the first trimester.

To compare outcomes of nonsurgical versus surgical treatment of Cesarean scar pregnancies (CSP) in the first trimester and identify optimal treatment methods for CSP. Retrospective cohort study of all women diagnosed and treated with CSP in the first trimester at a single tertiary care center from 2000–2012. Main outcome measures were need for additional treatments, hemorrhage, or emergent hysterectomy. Future pregnancy outcomes were considered secondarily. Twenty-three cases of CSP treated in the first trimester were confirmed including 12 treated surgically and 11 treated nonsurgically. Of the nonsurgical patients, none treated with a combination of intrasac potassium chloride (KCl) and systemic methotrexate (MTX) required further treatment versus 5/8 (62%) of those treated with a single agent (p = 0.18). One patient who was treated with intrasac KCl alone experienced hemorrhage. Of the nine patients treated with suction dilation and curettage (D&C), two (22%) required additional intervention, but none experienced major complications. Nonsurgical therapy had a higher rate of needing further intervention (45%) than surgical therapy (17%) (p = 0.19). There was one recurrent CSP in 11 subsequent deliveries with no uterine ruptures or hysterectomies. We have described nonsurgical and surgical treatments of first trimester CSP with a low rate of major complications and no emergent hysterectomies. Of the nonsurgical therapies, single-agent treatment with either systemic MTX or intrasac KCl was associated with high rates of needing additional treatment and should be avoided. Our method of ultrasound-guided suction D&C resulted in no major hemorrhage and is a reasonable surgical treatment option.
Ring Block of the Penis: A Proven Addition to Multimodal Pain Relief for Newborn Circumcision.

* Abbreviations: EMLA — : eutectic mixture of local anesthetic RB — : ring block Pain in the neonatal period has both acute and chronic consequences. Increased awareness regarding the negative aspects of using narcotic analgesics to control procedural pain in infants and children favors the use of alternative techniques. In healthy neonatal boys, circumcision represents their first exposure to a procedure with the potential for significant pain. The goal of everyone involved in the performance of neonatal circumcisions must be to use techniques that allow this procedure to be performed with minimal discomfort to the infant while at the same time optimizing the risk/benefit ratio between the provision of anesthesia or analgesia and patient safety. In this month’s edition of Pediatrics , Sharara-Chami et al1 present their study entitled “Combination Analgesia for Neonatal Circumcision: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” in which they demonstrate that multimodal anesthesia and analgesia techniques are superior to the topical of a eutectic mixture of local anesthetic (EMLA). The authors found that the best combination for newborn circumcision anesthesia and analgesia was the use of EMLA cream, followed by sucrose administration and then a penile block with plain lidocaine before the onset of the procedure. Sharara-Chami et al1 used EMLA … Address correspondence to David A. Rosen, MD, FAAP, Department of Anesthesiology, West Virginia University, PO Box 8255, 1 Medical Center Dr, Morgantown, WV 26506-8255. E-mail: rosend{at}wvumedicine.org
Stimuli-responsively porating gels by condensation

A polyurethane (PU) resin derived from glycerol and hexamethylene diisocyanate and an imidazolium bromide ionic liquid chain terminator yield a stimuli-responsive resin that reversibly porates as a solvation response.
ac conductivity crossover in localized superconductors

An important experimental signature of localization is the low-frequency AC conductivity, which typically vanishes as $\omega^{\phi}$. The exponent $\phi = 2$ for Anderson insulators, whereas for many body localized insulators $\phi$ is a continuously varying exponent $1 \le \phi \le 2$. In this work, we study the low-frequency AC conductivity of localized superconductors, in which disorder is strong enough to localize all quasiparticles, while remaining weak enough to leave superconductivity intact. We find that while the ac conductivity still follows the general form $\sigma(\omega) \sim \omega^{\phi}$, the exponent $\phi$ can be markedly different from the characteristic value for localized insulators. In particular, in certain symmetry classes at zero temperature, we obtain $\phi > 2$. We further identify an interesting temperature dependent crossover in the scaling form of the AC conductivity, which could be useful for the experimental characterization of localized superconductors.