cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of the Resistance Mechanisms of HL60 Leukemia Cell Derivatives to Apo2L/TRAIL.

Abstract Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (Apo2L/TRAIL) is a recently identified member of the TNF superfamily. Recombinant Apo2L/TRAIL is a promising immunotherapeutic agent for treating malignant diseases since this molecule preferentially induces apoptosis in a variety of tumor cells with apparently little toxicity to normal cells. However, it has also been shown that some tumor cells are resistant to this molecule. We hypothesized that resistance to Apo2L/TRAIL occurs through defects in the Apo2L/TRAIL-mediated apoptotic signaling pathway. To address this hypothesis, we developed several Apo2L/TRAIL-resistant HL60 derivatives (HL60/TR) by exposure of Apo2L/TRAIL-sensitive HL60 human leukemia cells to escalating levels of Apo2L/TRAIL, followed by subcloning. Two of these resistant clones (a moderately resistant clone-R1 and a highly resistant clone-R3) were selected for further study. Molecules in the Apo2L/TRAIL-mediated apoptotic pathway of R1 and R3 cells were analyzed by Western blot analysis, flow cytometry and gene sequencing and compared to those in parental HL60 cells. In the R1 cells, the activation of caspase-8 and -10 by Apo2L/TRAIL was significantly inhibited. However, R1 cells were still sensitive to Fas agonistic monoclonal antibody treatment, indicating that the FAS-mediated apoptosis-inducing pathway was intact. In the R3 cells, caspase-8 expression was completely lost and activation of caspase-10 in response to Apo2L/TRAIL was totally inhibited; R3 cells were therefore also resistant to FAS antibody treatment. Although the total protein level of death receptors DR4 and DR5 was equal in HL60 cells and in the Apo2L/TRAIL-resistant derivatives, the cell surface levels of DR4 were significantly decreased in both R1 and R3 cells, while the surface expression level of DR5 in these two clones was comparable to that on HL60 cells. No mutation in either the DR4 or DR5 genes was found in these cells. These results suggest that defective targeting of DR4 molecules to the cell surface occurs in these Apo2L/TRAIL resistant cells. Blocking cell surface DR4 significantly attenuated the sensitivity of parental HL60 cells to Apo2L/TRAIL, indicating that cell surface expression of DR4 plays a crucial role in regulating susceptibility of tumor cells to Apo2L/TRAIL. Taken together, our results demonstrate that malignant cells can develop resistance to Apo2L/TRAIL by several different mechanisms and multiple resistance mechanisms may develop in a single tumor cell (such as R3 cells). Understanding the basis of Apo2L/TRAIL resistance will help to predict sensitivity and to develop strategies to circumvent resistance.
Typifications and nomenclatural notes in Passiflora section Dysosmia (Passifloraceae)

Names within Passiflora section Dysosmia (Passifloraceae) were evaluated for proper typification and nomenclatural clarity. Because several names lacked type material, 13 lectotypes, two neotypes, and four epitypes are here designated to maintain nomenclatural stability. Many more names suffered from other nomenclatural discrepancies and thus four orthographic errors, six author citations, and 12 type designations are here corrected to comply with the International Code of Nomenclature ( ICN ). Seven names in Dysosmia are treated as ambiguous and 12 names are identified as either invalid or illegitimate.
Combinatorial materials approach to accelerate materials discovery for transportation (Conference Presentation)

Combinatorial material research offers fast and efficient solutions to identify promising and advanced materials. It has revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry and now is being applied to accelerate the discovery of other new compounds, e.g. superconductors, luminescent materials, catalysts etc. Differing from the traditional trial-and-error process, this approach allows for the synthesis of a large number of compositionally diverse compounds by varying the combinations of the components and adjusting the ratios. It largely reduces the cost of single-sample synthesis/characterization, along with the turnaround time in the material discovery process, therefore, could dramatically change the existing paradigm for discovering and commercializing new materials. This talk outlines the use of combinatorial materials approach in the material discovery in transportation sector. It covers the general introduction to the combinatorial material concept, state of art for its application in energy-related research. At the end, LBNL capabilities in combinatorial materials synthesis and high throughput characterization that are applicable for material discovery research will be highlighted.
Genetic relationship and the case of Ma?a (Mbugu)

This paper addresses the general question of genetic vs. nongenetic language development, in the context of a structural and historical discussion of Ma'a (Mbugu), a language with Cushitic basic vocabulary that is spoken in Tanzania. The grammatical structure of Ma'a is compared to characteristic Cushitic and Bantu structures. The conclusion that emerges from this comparison is that Ma'a probably does not have enough Cushitic grammar to qualify as a Cushitic language in the full genetic sense; and if it does not, its origin must be nongenetic. The final section of the paper seeks to determine the particular route of nongenetic development that Ma'a has followed, using the direct evidence of published comments about its speakers' history and the indirect evidence of comparison with other languages whose origin is nongenetic or, like Ma'a, on the borderline between genetic and nongenetic.
Multiplicative Functional for the Heat Equation on Manifolds with Boundary

The multiplicative functional for the heat equation on k-forms with absolute boundary condition is constructed and a probabilistic representation of the solution is obtained. As an application, we prove a heat kernel domination that was previously discussed by Donnelly and Li, and Shigekawa.
Prevalence and Factors Affecting Cervical Deformity in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Patients: A Single-Center Retrospective Radiological Study

Abstract Background It has been reported that adult spinal deformity patients have a high prevalence of cervical kyphosis (CK) and cervical positive sagittal malalignment (CPSM). However, the prevalence and possible factors affecting CK and CPSM in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) are less clear. Methods We retrospectively analyzed a consecutive series of AIS patients from a single center. Radiographic measurements included the Cobb angle, C2-C7 sagittal vertical axis (C2-C7SVA), and C2-C7 lordosis. Cervical deformity was defined as loss of lordotic or neutral cervical angle (CK) or C2-C7SVA more than 4 cm (CPSM). Patients were stratified by the degree of thoracic kyphosis and coronal thoracic curve. Results A total of 99 patients were included in this study. The patients9 mean age was 14 years (range, 10-18 years). Mean cervical lordosis and C2-C7SVA were 1.5° and 30.4 mm, respectively. The CK and CPSM prevalence were 49% and 16%, respectively, and prevalence of CK and/or CPSM was 59%. CK was present in 32% of the patients who had >20° thoracic kyphosis, and it was present in 75% of the patients who had ≤20° thoracic kyphosis (P = .003). No association between CPSM and thoracic kyphosis was found. The patients who had >20° coronal thoracic curve had higher CK prevalence (64% versus 37%, P = .05), but no CPSM association was found. Conclusions Cervical deformity is highly prevalent in AIS patients. There is a significant correlation between the loss of thoracic kyphosis and the development of CK but not the development of CPSM. High coronal thoracic curve is associated with CK prevalence, but it is not associated with CPSM prevalence.
DYNAMICAL METEOROLOGY | Kelvin Waves

This article is reproduced from the previous edition, volume 3, pp 1062–1068, © 2003, Elsevier Ltd.
Epilepsy and childhood learning disabilities

Epilepsy is very frequent in childhood. Learning disabilities in epilepsy are not very well known. Even if mental retardation has been studied, very few teams have focused on the different cognitive functions in children with epilepsy. Several neuropsychological studies have been carried out but only on epileptic syndromes as West syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. It looks very important to study the neuropsychological profiles in the different types of epilepsy in childhood (generalized and partial epilepsy, idiopathic and non idiopathic). Different tools are now available for detection of cognitive deficits.
The Theorem of Abel-Jacobi

A differential will be said to be of the first kind if it is holomorphic everywhere on the Riemann surface. Such differentials form a vector space over the complex, and by the Riemann-Roch theorem, one sees that the dimension of this space is equal to the genus g of R.
A framework for analyzing and optimizing regional bio-emergency response plans

The presence of naturally occurring and man-made public health threats necessitate the design and implementation of mitigation strategies, such that adequate response is provided in a timely manner. Since multiple variables, such as geographic properties, resource constraints, and government mandated time-frames must be accounted for, computational methods provide the necessary tools to develop contingency response plans while respecting underlying data and assumptions. A typical response scenario involves the placement of points of dispensing (PODs) in the affected geographic region to supply vaccines or medications to the general public. Computational tools aid in the analysis of such response plans, as well as in the strategic placement of PODs, such that feasible response scenarios can be developed. Due to the sensitivity of bio-emergency response plans, geographic information, such as POD locations, must be kept confidential. The generation of synthetic geographic regions allows for the development of emergency response plans on non-sensitive data, as well as for the study of the effects of single geographic parameters. Further, synthetic representations of geographic regions allow for results to be published and evaluated by the scientific community. This dissertation presents methodology for the analysis of bio-emergency response plans, methods for plan optimization, as well as methodology for the generation of synthetic geographic regions.
Globalization, Structural Violence, and LGBT Health: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

It is a daunting task to provide even a partial analysis of the health of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transsexuals (LGBTs) from a global perspective owing to the cross-cultural and regional variation in the social construction and expression of sexuality as well as the still incomplete scholarly literature on the topic. This chapter, however, argues that it is precisely such a global vantage point that is required to apprehend the contemporary context of health and illness among LGBT populations. Although LGBT health is shaped by local cultural meanings and practices, it is also inherently embedded in large-scale processes and the position of local LGBT populations within the global system. In the era of a highly mobile, hybrid, and fundamentally interconnected world in which material and symbolic cultures are linked across vast distances, the meanings of LGBT sexuality and their consequences for health in specific locales cannot be understood if nations are viewed in isolation (Altman, 1989). Indeed, the nature of global interconnectedness requires us to engage LGBT health as a fundamentally transnational phenomenon involving the interplay of meanings, practices, and vulnerabilities that extend beyond the purely local. For example, the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic among gay-identified men in the United States and Europe may be intimately related to the meanings and practices that drive risky practices in Papua New Guinea, Uganda, or Bolivia.
CURatio: Genome-Wide Phylogenomic Analysis Method Using Ratios of Total Branch Lengths

Evolutionary hypotheses provide important underpinnings of biological and medical sciences, and comprehensive, genome-wide understanding of evolutionary relationships among organisms are needed to test and refine such hypotheses. Theory and empirical evidence clearly indicate that phylogenies (trees) of different genes (loci) should not display precisely matching topologies. The main reason for such phylogenetic incongruence is reticulated evolutionary history of most species due to meiotic sexual recombination in eukaryotes, or horizontal transfers of genetic material in prokaryotes. Nevertheless, many genes should display topologically related phylogenies, and should group into one or more (for genetic hybrids) clusters in poly-dimensional “tree space”. Unusual evolutionary histories or effects of selection may result in “outlier” genes with phylogenies that fall outside the main distribution(s) of trees in tree space. We present a new phylogenomic method, CURatio , which uses ratios of total branch lengths in gene trees to help identify phylogenetic outliers in a given set of ortholog groups from multiple genomes. An advantage of CURatio over other methods is that genes absent from and/or duplicated in some genomes can be included in the analysis. We conducted a simulation study under the coalescent model, and showed that, given sufficient species depth and topological difference, these ratios are significantly higher for the “outlier” gene phylogenies. Also, we applied CURatio to a set of annotated genomes of the fungal family, Clavicipitaceae, and identified alkaloid biosynthesis genes as outliers, probably due to a history of duplication and loss. The source code is available at https://github.com/QiwenKang/CURatio , and the empirical data set for Clavicipitaceae and simulated data set are available at Mendeley https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/mrxts7wjrr/1 .
SPECIAL ASPECTS OF THE MODERN WORLD ECONOMY: TRANSITION FROM A UNIPOLAR TO A MULTIPOLAR WORLD SYSTEM

This paper reveals the consequences of the unipolar system of the world economy provided by the United States leadership in the military-technological, financial-economic, geopolitical and information-ideological spheres. It was established that after the collapse of the socialist camp, the concepts of ‘humanitarian intervention’ and ‘spreading democracy’ were brought to the forefront. In practice, Western European countries have demonstrated their readiness to judge the solutions of domestic political disputes in other countries of the world, especially when it comes to geopolitically important countries. A series of ‘colour revolutions’ have become a demonstration of this policy. Therefore, the globalization of the modern world does not mean the homogenization of development indicators of countries’, but instead leads to further delamination and inequality. The gap between the world leaders and the rest of the world in terms of indicators reflecting the dynamics of the standard of living, the quality of life, scientific and technological progress, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, has significantly increased. It is illustrated that attempts of the US to consolidate its hegemony in the form of ‘leadership’ in the world had led to the erosion of international legal principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. Therefore, the United States attempts to solve the problems in Iraq and Afghanistan unilaterally has failed.The objective and subjective signs of a global restructuring of the existing unipolar world system are revealed.
Transient Probability Distributions of Gene Regulatory Networks with Slow Promoter Kinetics

Under a suitable time-scale separation hypothesis, we show that the time evolution of the probability mass function of gene regulatory networks can be written as a time-varying mixture of Poisson distributions.
Patient Characteristics and Outcomes Following Operative Repair of Acute versus Chronic Traumatic Diaphragmatic Hernia

Background: Diaphragmatic hernia is a complication of trauma that may lead to significant morbidity and mortality if unrecognized. The clinical sequelae following missed traumatic diaphragmatic hernia (TDH) diagnoses have not been well-defined. Methods: The 2005–2015 ACS-NSQIP databases were accessed to identify patients ≥18 years old who underwent operative repair of acute and chronic TDH. Patient demographics, health characteristics, pertinent complications, and 30-day outcomes were collected. Categorical variables were analyzed using chi-square and Fisher’s Exact Test. Logistic regression was used to perform multivariate analyses with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) constructed about group differences. Results: From 2005–2015, 1000 patients underwent operative repair for TDH, of which 285 (28.5%) were acute and 715 (71.5%) were chronic. Patients undergoing acute repairs had a greater percentage of emergency procedures (29.8% vs. 10.2%, p 2 (51.2% vs 43.2%, p = 0.02). Acute TDH patients were more likely to develop postoperative wound infection (1.40% vs 0.28%, p = 0.05), infectious process (11.2% versus 7.0%, p = 0.03), failure to wean from mechanical ventilation (8.1% vs 3.4%, p = 0.0015), and remain hospitalized at 30 days (4.3% vs 0.9%, p = 0.0058). Conclusions: Patients with acute TDH repair are more likely to develop postoperative complications. Further study is necessary to determine the optimal timing of surgery for TDH discovered following initial resuscitation and evaluation.
Characterizing Social and Academic Aspects of School Anxiety in Pediatric Chronic Pain

Objective School anxiety is a prevalent and debilitating mental health problem among youth with chronic pain. Despite evidence that anxiety in the context of school is associated with significant school-related disability, no studies have examined specific aspects of school anxiety in a pediatric chronic pain population. Materials and methods Adolescents with chronic pain (n=30) and age-matched and sex-matched controls (n=30) and their parents completed questionnaires assessing school anxiety and functioning. Results Adolescents with chronic pain reported significantly more cognitive, behavioral, and psychophysiological symptoms of school anxiety relative to healthy controls. Youth with pain also endorsed significantly greater school anxiety in situations involving negative social evaluation and peer aggression. Exploratory analyses indicated that adolescents with chronic pain reporting school refusal behaviors more strongly endorsed behavioral and psychophysiological school anxiety symptoms, and more symptoms in social-evaluative situations. Youth with pain reporting lower school functioning endorsed more cognitive school anxiety symptoms and anxiety in situations involving academic failure relative to those reporting higher functioning. Discussion Present results offer a nuanced perspective into the underlying sources of school anxiety among adolescents with chronic pain. Our findings may inform future research efforts and targeted school functioning interventions. In particular, findings suggest that an individualized approach to the assessment of school anxiety which considers the unique sources of anxiety (eg, social vs. academic) may lay the groundwork for the refinement of school functioning interventions in pediatric chronic pain.
The Language Network in Autism: Atypical Functional Connectivity With Default Mode and Visual Regions

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders associated with atypical brain connectivity. Although language abilities vary widely, they are impaired or atypical in most children with ASDs. Underlying brain mechanisms, however, are not fully understood. The present study examined intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) of the extended language network in a cohort of 52 children and adolescents with ASDs (ages 8-18 years), using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We found that, in comparison to typically developing peers (n = 50), children with ASDs showed increased connectivity between some language regions. In addition, seed-to-whole brain analyses revealed increased connectivity of language regions with posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and visual regions in the ASD group. Post hoc effective connectivity analyses revealed a mediation effect of PCC on the iFC between bilateral inferior frontal and visual regions in an ASD subgroup. This finding qualifies and expands on previous reports of recruitment of visual areas in language processing in ASDs. In addition, increased iFC between PCC and visual regions was linked to lower language scores in this ASD subgroup, suggesting that increased connectivity with visual cortices, mediated by default mode regions, may be detrimental to language abilities. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1344-1355. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: We examined the functional connectivity between regions of the language network in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) compared to typically developing peers. We found connectivity to be intact between core language in the ASD group, but also showed abnormally increased connectivity between regions of an extended language network. Additionally, connectivity was increased with regions associated with brain networks responsible for self-reflection and visual processing.
Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Extracellular Matrix Remodeling

Biomechanics is the development, extension, and application of the principles of mechanics for the purposes of understanding better both biology and medicine. Mechanobiology is the study of biological responses of cells to mechanical stimuli. These two fields must be considered together when studying the extracellular matrix of load-bearing tissues and organs, particularly, how the matrix is established, maintained, remodeled, and repaired. In this chapter, we will illustrate a few of the myriad aspects of matrix biology and mechanics by focusing on the arterial wall. All three primary cell types of the arterial wall are exquisitely sensitive to changes in their mechanical environment and, together, they work to establish and promote mechanical homeostasis, loss of which results in diverse pathologies, some of which have life threatening consequences. There is, therefore, a pressing need to understand better the intricate inter-relations between the biomechanics and the mechanobiology of arteries and so too for many other tissues and organs.
In silico analysis for determining the deleterious nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms of BRCA genes.

Recent advances in DNA sequencing techniques have led to an increase in the identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, but no further information regarding the deleterious probability of many of them is available (Variants of Unknown Significance/VUS). As a result, in the current study, different sequence- and structure-based computational tools including SIFT, PolyPhen2, PANTHER, SNPs&GO, FATHMM, SNAP, PhD-SNP, Align-GVGD, and I-Mutant were utilized for determining how resulted BRCA protein is affected by corresponding missense mutations. FoldX was used to estimate mutational effects on the structural stabilityof BRCA proteins. Variants were considered extremely deleterious only when all tools predicted them to be deleterious. A total of 10 VUSs in BRCA1 (Cys39Ser, Cys64Gly, Phe861Cys, Arg1699Pro, Trp1718Cys, Phe1761Ser, Gly1788Asp, Val1804Gly, Trp1837Gly, and Trp1837Cys) and 12 in BRCA2 (Leu2510Pro, Asp2611Gly, Tyr2660Asp, Leu2686Pro, Leu2688Pro, Tyr2726Cys, Leu2792Pro, Gly2812Glu, Gly2813Glu, Arg2842Cys, Asp3073Gly, and Gly3076Val) were considered as extremely deleterious. Results suggested that deleterious variants were mostly enriched in theN- and C-terminal domain of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 C-terminus. Utilizing evolutionary conservation analysis, we demonstrated that the majority of deleterious SNPs ensue in highly conserved regions of BRCA genes. Furthermore, utilizing FoldX, we demonstrated that alterations in the function of proteins are not always together with stability alterations.
Critical Analysis of Neuronal Cell and the Mouse Bioassay for Detection of Botulinum Neurotoxins

Botulinum Neurotoxins (BoNTs) are a large protein family that includes the most potent neurotoxins known to humankind. BoNTs delivered locally in humans at low doses are widely used pharmaceuticals. Reliable and quantitative detection of BoNTs is of paramount importance for the clinical diagnosis of botulism, basic research, drug development, potency determination, and detection in clinical, environmental, and food samples. Ideally, a definitive assay for BoNT should reflect the activity of each of the four steps in nerve intoxication. The in vivo mouse bioassay (MBA) is the ‘gold standard’ for the detection of BoNTs. The MBA is sensitive, robust, semi-quantitative, and reliable within its sensitivity limits. Potential drawbacks with the MBA include assay-to-assay potency variations, especially between laboratories, and false positives or negatives. These limitations can be largely avoided by careful planning and performance. Another detection method that has gained importance in recent years for research and potency determination of pharmaceutical BoNTs is cell-based assays, as these assays can be highly sensitive, quantitative, human-specific, and detect fully functional holotoxins at physiologically relevant concentrations. A myriad of other in vitro BoNT detection methods exist. This review focuses on critical factors and assay limitations of the mouse bioassay and cell-based assays for BoNT detection.
Revisiting the Feldstein-Horioka puzzle for Turkey

The domestic saving and investment correlation as posited by Feldstein and Horioka is revisited for Turkey and tested over the whole period (1950–2017) and the two subperiods (1950–1989 and 1990–2017). The time-series properties of the data and the presence of structural breaks are properly addressed by the bounds testing procedure. Although, the investment and savings are positively correlated during the period of restricted capital mobility (1950–1989) and negatively correlated during the period of perfect capital mobility (1990–2017) according to the joint F-test on the significance of the coefficients, the long-run elasticity of investment with respect to savings ratio is significant for the whole period and for the first sub-period. The results confirm the Feldstein and Horioka hypothesis in a closed economy. However, the high, negative and insignificant long-run elasticity and non-constant coefficients in the second sub-period necessitate a full-investment model.
Concise presentation of the Coulomb electrostatic potential of a uniformly charged cube

Abstract We use a novel method to calculate in closed form the Coulomb electrostatic potential created by a uniformly charged cube at an arbitrary point in space. We apply a suitable transformation of variables that allows us to obtain a simple presentation of the electrostatic potential in one-dimensional integral form. The final concise closed form expression of the Coulomb electrostatic potential of the uniformly charged cube is obtained after completing the calculation of the resulting one-dimensional integrals. Such integrals consist of combinations of products of error functions and power functions that can be solved exactly despite their intimidating appearance. The exact analytic formula for the Coulomb electrostatic potential that we derive reflects the symmetry of the cube and is easy to implement. We illustrate its use by calculating the exact values of the electrostatic potential at some points of symmetry such as the center of cube, center of face of cube, center of edge of cube and corner of cube.
The association between frailty and detrusor overactivity in older adults.

Objective To explore the relationship between frailty, age, and detrusor overactivity (DO) in older adults presenting to an academic urology practice. Materials and methods This study uses the University of California, San Francisco Geriatric Urology Database to examine all adults ages ≥65 years who underwent urodynamic testing from December 2015 to April 2019. All subjects had a timed up and go test (TUGT) as a measure of frailty and were categorized as fast (≤10 seconds), intermediate (11-14 seconds), or slow (≥15 seconds), corresponding to not frail, pre-frail, and frail, respectively. Urodynamic studies were reviewed for the presence of DO. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to examine the relationship between frailty, age, and the presence of DO. Results In total, 549 older adults underwent urodynamics during the study period, and 48.5% had a study that demonstrated DO. Individuals with DO tended to be older (18.4% vs 11.0% were ≥80 years; P = .01) and more frail (19.5% vs 13.4% with TUGT ≥5 seconds; P .05). Conclusions Frailty, not age, is associated with DO among older adults undergoing urodynamics. Further research on the role of frailty in the evaluation and management of older adults with DO is warranted to best serve the needs of this population.
When does a daily dose of nature matter? Linking extra-work contact with nature to employee behavior

A growing body of research indicates that contact with nature at work has beneficial effects on employees. However, many employees spend most of their workdays indoors, largely separate from natura...
A quantitative approach to identifying turfgrass key players

The purpose of this study was to systematically identify “key players” and media channels within the turf industry to constitute the diffusion of innovations in emerging turf research and technologies. Online survey questions were structured using Borgatti’s KeyPlayer™ (TM Analytic Technologies) software to determine “the contribution of a set of actors to the cohesion of the network (Borgatti, 2006, p. 21). Turf industry professionals were asked to identify who they trust when they have questions regarding turfgrass. Researchers directly contacted 282 participants via email, collecting 239 responses. The top 25 key players, the number of distinct persons reached in the network, and the percent of the network reached were calculated for the entire sample and each strata of the sample (including golf course superintendents, landscapers, turf producers, Extension, and Others—including Extension Specialists, Turfgrass Faculty, and Sales representatives. Of the 422 unique names mentioned in the survey, key player data showed that the top 25 key players were 1 or 2 steps away from 305 distinct persons in the network (72.3% of the network). With their influence on the larger network, these individuals will now be enlisted to aid in the diffusion of emerging new turf research and technologies.
Advanced remote sensing and GIS methods for restoration of the Lahontan cutthroat trout

Wetland ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions are under increasing stress due to demands for water resources, encroachment of urban and agricultural land use, and changes in climate and hydrologic regimes. An integrated geospatial and remote sensing approach is required to understand the current state and expected range of variability in these systems. Here we describe a research tool called the Wetland Analysis Toolbar (WetBar) and its application in a multi-agency restoration effort for the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout in the Great Basin region of the United States. A significant amount of research for restoring this species has been performed at the field scale, but remote sensing and GIS methods are required to scale these efforts to the species’ historic range. This will include methods for riparian mapping, determining an appropriate spatial scale for schemes for disaggregating the historic range, and developing metrics for choosing which regions should be targeted for habitat protection or restoration activities. The WetBar software integrates Google Earth Engine cloud computing directly into the ESRI ArcMap environment, enabling decades-long time series of multispectral satellite and climate data to be used within a querying environment. WetBar disaggregates the network of wetland environments to appropriate spatial units based on elevation and geometric operators and automatically tags these subunits with land use attributes, environmental data, and statistics that capture multi-decadal trends observed by satellite remote sensing. This information will then be used in objective functions to allocate the limited resources for restoration in a coordinated and effective manner.
Common ground in asking and understanding questions.

An important part of the context speakers and listeners use in conversation is their “common ground” — their mutual knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions. This paper reports the findings of two experiments that investigated the role of common ground information in asking and understanding questions. Subjects read stories containing conversations that depicted different degrees of common ground information between the characters who served as speakers and addressees. The subjects were asked in Experiment 1 to select the question from a set of alternatives that the speaker would most likely say in a given context. Experiment 2 examined the time it took subjects to understand different questions posed by the speaker given the presence of different types of common ground between the speaker and addressee. The results of the first study indicated that subjects preferred to ask questions which adequately specified the degree of common ground between speakers and addressees that was depicted in the story contexts....
Diagnosis of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis: state of the art.

Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis is an emerging zoonosis caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum and transmitted through the bite of infected Ixodes scapularis. It is prevalent in the Midwest and Northeast United States and also in Europe, and it presents as a nonspecific febrile illness a few days after a tick bite usually between late spring and fall. Most cases present in adult patients with a mild form of the disease, although it can be severe with multiorgan failure, particularly in the elderly and in the immunocompromised. Routine laboratory abnormalities include leukopenia with a left shift, lymphopenia, and thrombocytopenia. These abnormalities are more frequently present during the first week of illness and then tend to normalize; therefore their absence should not exclude the diagnosis. Specific tests to confirm the diagnosis during the acute phase include microscopic detection of morulae in granulocytes, culture of A. phagocytophilum, and polymerase chain reaction. Of these methods, culture appears ...
The Study of Customer Switching Behaviour Toward Carbonated Soft Drink Market

With the continuous growth of competition in the market place, understanding customers has become more and more important in marketing. Moreover, customers are more mobile and knowledgeable than ever before, searching for a best alternative in their purchasing process, and finally switch to best brand. This process can be known as customer switching behaviour. The switching behaviour in products and services are not the same for all categories.The main purpose of this study was to examine whether there is customer switching behaviour in the carbonated soft drink market; and if so, what are the factors that contributed for customers’ switching behaviour. This research was limited to Manmunai -North Divisional secretariat area in Batticaloa district. Customer switching behaviour is operataionalized in terms of four variables; Marketers’ Product Mix, Pricing Strategies, Distributional Strategies, and Promotional Strategies. A quantitative method was applied where for data collection structure questionnaires were used. 200 questionnaires were issued and collected data were analyzed using SPSS v.11.0 and evaluated as low, moderate, and high level influence of research variables on switching behaviour in carbonated soft drink repurchase. Family unit was considered as a unit of analysis. Descriptive analysis was used for data analysis. This study found that most of the customers are switching their brands (85%). Research found that Marketers’ promotional, distributional and product mix are heavily motivating customers’ switching tendency while pricing strategies has moderate influence on customers’ switching tendency. However, most of the respondents agree that marketers’ promotional strategies are attracting them to switch toward their brand. According to the analyzed data, the Coca-Cola Company holds 43.7%, PepsiCo holds 25.1%, and Ceylon Cold Stores Limited holds 21% of Market share.It is advisable for carbonated soft-drink marketers to concentrate more on their pricing and product strategies while maintaining present placing and promotional strategies. Finally recommendations have been given as to how carbonated soft-drink marketers can enhance their markshare further by protecting their customers from competitors’ moves.
Using Earnings Data From the Monthly Current Population Survey

The monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) has collected earnings on individuals' current jobs since 1979 from a quarter of the sample. This paper discusses three unique aspects of the CPS: (1) the 1994 redesign of the CPS data collection methodology, (2) the complex CPS sample design, and (3) the top coding of CPS earnings data. Failure to account for these unique features of the CPS may result in biased estimates and invalid research conclusions. The first part of the paper discusses the motivation for and the effect of changes implemented with the 1994 redesign. To facilitate comparisons over time, adjustment factors to be applied to mean and median hourly earnings, along with 90th and 10th percentile cutoffs, were estimated. Examination of these adjustment factors indicates that failing to account for the redesign could lead to serious mismeaurement in the patterns and magnitude of earnings inequality over time. A common misconception about the CPS is that it is a simple random sample, when in reality it has a complex multistage sample design. The second and third parts of this paper discuss properly accounting for the complex design of the CPS and obtaining design consistent point estimates and variances through the use of weights and replicate methods such as Balanced Repeated Replication (BRR). As part of the discussion of sample weights, a simple test for whether using weights is appropriate is presented. Throughout the discussion of properly accounting for the complex design of the CPS, the effects are illustrated using a standard OLS log earnings regression model. Comparison of results indicate that not properly accounting for the CPS's sample design can significantly underestimate or even reverse some of the estimated effects of education, being in certain minority groups, occupational rewards, or living in certain regions of the country. The paper concludes with a discussion of the effect of top coding individuals' earnings above a certain amount to a predetermined value. Comparison of estimates generated using original confidential untop coded data and publicly released non-confidential top coded data indicate that even though only a small proportion of earnings are top coded, top coding can lead to statistically significant differences, both with respect to simple arithmetic means and parameter estimates from OLS regression models. However, fitting a Pareto distribution to the tail of the earnings distribution using a modified maximum likelihood was found to provide estimates that usually were quite close to those obtained when no top coding was imposed.
Signal expansions for compression

Signal expansions play a key role in practical compression schemes, from audio/image/video coding standards to current adaptives bases. Recent developments, especially related to wavelets series expansions, are reviewed, and current work on "best bases" is discussed.
Strategic analysis tools for high tech marketing

High tech marketing is characterized by high levels of technical, market and financial uncertainties, rapidly declining prices, collapsing markets and shortening product life cycles. Conventional strategic analysis tools are inadequate for effective analysis in developing high tech marketing strategy. This paper reviews a portfolio of contemporary strategic analysis tools that have been used effectively in developing high tech marketing strategies and case analyses. These include the Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) portfolio matrix, the technology adoption life cycle, the whole product concept, and disruptive technologies mapping. Some of these tools have been effective in alleviating the engineering - marketing interface issues in high tech companies. The implicit relationships between these tools are also explored.
El cortesano endiosado: espectáculos paganos en El burlador de Sevilla

This essay looks at pagan disguises utilized in plays and courtly entertainments of the Golden Age, focusing on El burlador de Sevilla. Don Juan and all those who surround him, turn to mythology, pretending to be deities and thus reflecting the theatrical culture of the court where the nobility often assumed such pagan guises. When he metamorphoses himself into Jupiter, don Juan reminds us that this particular guise was common in most European courts of the times were courtiers and kings imagined themselves as abiding in a new Olympus. Don Juan, then, defies society, utilizing the same symbols of power that served to exalt the Habsburgs. Don Juan’s power of metamorphosis is seen most clearly in Tisbea and Isabela who both play the part of Europa to the god/bull.
Investigation of the Decomposition Mechanism and Thermal Stability of Nitrocellulose/Nitroglycerine Based Propellants by Electron Spin Resonance

Nitrocellulose based (NC) and nitroglycerin based (NG) propellants often have a fixed acid and water content during the manufacturing time. After manufacture, the quantity and ratio of acid/water will continue to vary depending upon the conditions of storage and operation. The level of variation depends on many factors such as loading density, temperature, volume of ullage and sealing condition of the containing cartridge, just to name a few. As described in this paper and other literature, the degradation mechanisms and aging processes of NC/NG based propellants are extremely complicated. This paper describes the details of the application of Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) to study if the free-radical mechanism is involved in the decomposition of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. Due to the high free-radical intensity possessed by the propellant composition, we believe that a π complex intermediate may be formed between DPA and NG and/or NC. The formation of a π complex intermediate is not preferred because it may enhance the rate of decomposition of nitrate esters.
A new method for predicting response in complex linear systems II

The paper describes convergence and response studies in the low frequency range of complex systems, particularly with low values of damping of different distributions, and reports on the modification of the relaxation procedure required under these conditions. A new method is presented for response estimation in complex lumped parameter linear systems under random or deterministic steady state excitation. The essence of the method is the use of relaxation procedures with a suitable error function to find the estimated response; natural frequencies and normal modes are not computed. For a 45 degree of freedom system, and two relaxation procedures, convergence studies and frequency response estimates were performed. The low frequency studies are considered in the framework of earlier studies (Kayser and Bogdanoff, 1975) involving the mid to high frequency range.
On simultaneous determinations of the permeability of a membrane and of the diffusion coefficient in an adjacent medium

This paper deals with diffusion into a medium of finite thickness through a flat structure which can be considered either as a slice of tissue or as a membrane. Formulae are given to determine the diffusion coefficients in both the flat structure and the adjacent medium from the knowledge of the amount of substance penetrating the medium. The meaning of the formula: (permeability coefficient) = (diffusion coefficient)/(membrane thickness) and the experimentally observed variability of the permeability coefficient in the non-steady state are interpreted on the basis of the mathematical theory of diffusion.
The incidence and antigenic specificity of antibodies against denatured human collagen in rheumatoid arthritis.

Abstract Antibodies to denatured human collagen were identified in sera of rheumatoid arthritis patients. The incidence of anti-collagen antibodies was about 60% in 100 arthritis sera and about 9% in 400 age and sex-mathched control sera. Also, the titers ranged from 1:8 to 1:512 in the rheumatoid sera, compared to a maximum of 1:4 in the controls. The occurrence of anti-collagen was shown to be independent of rheumatoid factor and was shown to be primarily of the IgG class. Both α1 and α2 chains of collagen were recognized by rheumatoid anti-collagen antibodies. Assays with five sera showed that the major antigenic determinants were cyanogen bromide fragments α1CBO, 1, and α2CB3.
Measuring the microelastic properties of biological material

We have used the atomic force microscope (AFM) to measure the local rigidity modulus at points on the surface of a section of hydrated cow tibia. These data are obtained either from contrast changes that occur as the contact force is altered, or from force versus distance curves obtained at fixed points. These two methods yield the same values for rigidity modulus (at a given point). At low resolution, the elastic morphology and topography mirror the features seen in optical and electron micrographs. At high resolution we see dramatic variations in elastic properties across distances as small as 50 nm.
Historicizing the American cultural turn: The slave narrative

This article probes the historical significance of the black slave narratives, and particularly that of Frederick Douglass, in the USA. While a number of important narratives were published in the years surrounding the Civil War, only Douglass's performed a modern interpretation of slave music as embedded culture. Like other narratives, Douglass opened up for the first time a black psychocultural interior; but Douglass's narrative was also unique in that it paid attention to music in a manner that prefigured a sociology of music. The attention it and other narratives garnered, along with the burgeoning interest in black religious singing, helped constitute a prototype of ethnic and cultural studies.
Simulation methods for mean and median bias reduction in parametric estimation

Abstract The use of the iterated Bootstrap to find estimators that have the correct expectations is now standard. However when the distributions are skewed, or without means, the median makes more sense to us. This paper is primarily concerned with an algorithm that produces estimators whose median equals the unknown parameter. The method is illustrated by its application to four troublesome parametric estimation problems and a dataset.
Knowledge About Hospice: Exploring Misconceptions, Attitudes, and Preferences for Care

Context:Poor knowledge and misperceptions about hospice are believed to be common, but there is scant evidence about the public’s understanding of hospice.Objectives:To examine hospice knowledge among geographically diverse adults; and describe linkages between knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about hospice care, and demographics.Methods:A small cross-sectional telephone survey of adults living in the contiguous US was conducted using randomly selected numbers (cell phone and landline) and over-sampling of minorities. Measures assessed knowledge (23-item test), attitudes (8-item scale), experiences and preferences related to hospice.Results:123 participants completed surveys (response rate 46%). 106 (86%) had heard about hospice, 65 (54%) of whom had a personal experience with hospice. Participants had an average hospice knowledge test score of 18 (SD = 3.4) indicating moderate knowledge of hospice. A majority of respondents (62%) did not know that hospice cannot provide concurrent cure-oriented care. Mis...