cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Times Are Tough—Brother, Can You Paradigm?

Ten years ago, the National Academy of Science released its risk assessment/risk management (RA/RM) “paradigm” that served to crystallize much of the early thinking about these concepts. By defining RA as a four-step process, operationally independent from RM, the paradigm has presented society with a scheme, or a conceptually common framework, for addressing many risky situations (e.g., carcinogens, noncarcinogens, and chemical mixtures). The procedure has facilitated decision-making in a wide variety of situations and has identified the most important research needs. The past decade, however, has revealed that additional progress is needed. These areas include addressing the appropriate interaction (not isolation) between RA and RM, improving the methods for assessing risks from mixtures, dealing with “adversity of effect,” deciding whether “hazard” should imply an exposure to environmental conditions or to laboratory conditions, and evolving the concept to include both health and ecological risk. Interest in and expectations of risk assessment are increasing rapidly. The emerging concept of “comparative risk” (i.e., distinguishing between large risks and smaller risks that may be qualitatively different) is at a level comparable to that held by the concept of “risk” just 10 years ago. Comparative risk stands in need of a paradigm of its own, especially given the current economic limitations. “Times are tough; Brother, can you paradigm?”
The changing face of classroom instructional methods: service learning and design in a robotics course

Service-learning is a form of instruction which uses community service activities as part of the medium for learning. There are two components: service which actively engages the student in community service; and focused-directed learning. Service learning enhances the engineering curriculum by linking engineering directly to improving society, which makes the profession more appealing and more diverse. At Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), service-learning has been incorporated into the robotics course. VCU students work with other students from local high schools to design and construct a mobile robot within time, materials and cost constraints. These robots compete in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology: FIRST Competition. This paper describes service-learning and the robotics course and how the two are incorporated to enhance the educational experience of the VCU and high school students and provide a service to the Richmond Virginia community.
Preregular maps between Banach lattices

A continuous linear map from a Banach lattice E into a Banach lattice F is preregular if it is the difference of positive continuous linear maps from E into the bidual F″ of F. This paper characterizes Banach lattices B with either of the following properties:(1) for any Banach lattice E, each map in L(E, B) is preregular;(2) for any Banach lattice F, each map in L(B, F) is preregular.It is shown that B satisfies (1) (repectively (2)) if and only if B′ satisfies (2) (respectively (1)). Several order properties of a Banach lattice satisfying (2) are discussed and it is shown that if B satisfies (2) and if B is also an atomic vector lattice then B is isomorphic as a Banach lattice to 11(Γ) for some index set Γ.
Built-in Current Sensor for High Speed Transient Current Testing in Analog CMOS Circuits

In this paper, we present a new built-in current sensor (BICS) for high speed, low voltage degradation transient current (IDDT) testing. This sensor has been designed using forward bias technique to limit the supply voltage degradation caused during transient current peaks to 2% of the supply voltage. A CMOS operational amplifier designed for operation at plusmn2.5 V in 0.5 mum n-well CMOS process is used as the circuit under test (CUT). The faults simulating possible short and bridging defects are introduced using the fault injection transistors (FIT). A total of twenty short faults have been introduced into the CUT and nineteen of them were detected, giving 95% fault coverage.
Coronary Heart Disease Knowledge and Risk Factors among Tri-Ethnic College Students.

Objectives Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and Europe. This study identified and compared nutritional knowledge associated with CHD risk factors amon...
CTH07-3: Optimal Linear Transceiver Design for Mimo Flat Fading Channels Exploiting Channel Mean Feedback

We investigate the design of optimal linear transceiver for multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) systems under channel mean feedback. We consider the case in which the receiver has perfect channel knowledge while the transmitter has only mean and variance information of the channel coefficients. We aim to minimize the mean square error of symbol detection by jointly designing the transmitter linear precoder and the receiver linear decoder. We present the optimal transceiver structure for any rank of channel mean matrix together with the sufficient and necessary conditions for optimal power loading. Furthermore, we provide a numerical optimal power loading strategy using water-filling principle, as well as one sub-optimal solution based on Jensen's inequality.
Multi-Tier Targeting of Social Assistance : The Role of Intergovernmental Transfers

Albania provides a small amount of social assistance to nearly 20 percent of its population through a system that allows some community discretion in determining distribution. This study investigates how well this social assistance program is targeted to the poor. Relative to other safety net programs in low-income countries, social assistance in Albania is fairly well targeted. Nevertheless, the system is hampered by the absence of a clear, objective criterion to determine the size of the grants from the central government to communes as well as limited information that could be used to implement this criterion. Substantial gains in targeting could be achieved if the central government better allocated transfers to local governments, even holding local targeting at base levels.
Using register-diversified corpora for general language studies

The present study summarizes corpus-based research on linguistic characteristics from several different structural levels, in English as well as other languages, showing that register variation is inherent in natural language. It further argues that, due to the importance and systematicity of the linguistic differences among registers, diversified corpora representing a broad range of register variation are required as the basis for general language studies.First, the extent of cross-register differences are illustrated from consideration of individual grammatical and lexical features; these register differences are also important for probabilistic part-of-speech taggers and syntactic parsers, because the probabilities associated with grammatically ambiguous forms are often markedly different across registers. Then, corpus-based multidimensional analyses of English are summarized, showing that linguistic features from several structural levels function together as underlying dimensions of variation, with each dimension defining a different set of linguistic relations among registers. Finally, the paper discusses how such analyses, based on register-diversified corpora, can be used to address two current issues in computational linguistics: the automatic classification of texts into register categories and cross-linguistic comparisons of register variation.
Broadening the investment model: An intensive longitudinal study on attachment and perceived partner responsiveness in commitment dynamics

The investment model is one of the most influential theoretical frameworks for understanding commitment in close relationships. Nonetheless, few studies have examined commitment dynamics using within-persons designs. In addition, there have been few attempts to examine potential antecedents of investment dynamics. The current research attempts to integrate the investment model with contemporary perspectives on attachment and perceived partner responsiveness by examining relationship dynamics within and between persons in a yearlong, intensive longitudinal design. We found that across levels of analysis, perceived partner responsiveness shaped investment model variables which, in turn, shaped commitment. We also found that individual differences in attachment moderated some of these dynamics, such that people who were insecurely attached were less likely than others to perceive their partner as responsive. We suggest taking a more integrationist approach to close relationship research and explore romantic ...
A microtubule-binding Rho-GEF controls cell morphology during convergent extension of Xenopus laevis

During Xenopus development, convergent extension movements mediated by cell intercalation drive axial elongation. While many genes required for convergent extension have been identified, little is known of regulation of the cytoskeleton during these cell movements. Although microtubules are required for convergent extension, this applies only to initial stages of gastrulation, between stages 10 and 10.5. To examine the cytoskeleton more directly during convergent extension, we visualized actin and microtubules simultaneously in live explants using spinning disk confocal fluorescence microscopy. Microtubule depolymerization by nocodazole inhibits lamellipodial protrusions and cell-cell contact, thereby inhibiting convergent extension. However, neither taxol nor vinblastine, both of which block microtubule dynamics while stabilizing a polymer form of tubulin, inhibits lamellipodia or convergent extension. This suggests an unusual explanation: the mass of polymerized tubulin, not dynamics of the microtubule cytoskeleton, is crucial for convergent extension. Because microtubule depolymerization elicits striking effects on actin-based protrusions, the role of Rho-family GTPases was tested. The effects of nocodazole are partially rescued using dominant negative Rho, Rho-kinase inhibitor, or constitutively active Rac, suggesting that microtubules regulate small GTPases, possibly via a guanine-nucleotide exchange factor. We cloned full-length XLfc, a microtubule-binding Rho-GEF. Nucleotide exchange activity of XLfc is required for nocodazole-mediated inhibition of convergent extension; constitutively active XLfc recapitulates the effects of microtubule depolymerization. Morpholino knockdown of XLfc abrogates the ability of nocodazole to inhibit convergent extension. Therefore, we believe that XLfc is a crucial regulator of cell morphology during convergent extension, and microtubules limit its activity through binding to the lattice.
Electrochemical Polymerization of Conducting Polymer Coatings on Neural Prosthetic Devices: Nanomushrooms of Polypyrrole Using Block Copolymer Thin Films as Templates

We have demonstrated a method to rapidly and reliably fabricate arrays based on the self-assembled morphology of block copolymer ultra thin films. An ordered, nanoporous structure obtained from the block copolymer thin films is used a template for the subsequent electrodeposition of conducting polymer nanomushrooms of polypyrrole (PPy). The influence of current density, deposition charge and morphology of the templates and nanostructured conducting polymer coatings has been investigated. The electrical properties of the polymer coatings were studied.
Call admission control in mobile cellular CDMA systems using fuzzy associative memory

In a mobile cellular system quality of service (QoS) to mobile terminals (MTs) is measured by the probability of forced termination P/sub ft/ and/or probability of new call blocking (P/sub b/). Since, both cannot be reduced simultaneously, usually keeping the P/sub ft/ below a designated level DP/sub ft/ is considered as QoS guarantee to the users of the system. However, P/sub ft/ is related to system parameters namely, maximum capacity of the cell C, the average new call arrival rate /spl lambda/, the average call holding time 1//spl mu/, and the average cell dwell time 1//spl eta/ by complex nonlinear equations. Therefore, call admission control (CAC) for maintaining P/sub ft/ at DP/sub ft/ is a very challenging task. A fuzzy controller is proposed to dynamically maintain P/sub ft/ at DP/sub ft/ with changes in system parameters. Also, current cellular networks are employing CDMA as the multiple access technique since it provides much more capacity than other techniques. Interference received at the base station (BS) of a cell is considered in the decision making process of whether to admit a call or not. We describe the CAC criteria used in CDMA cellular networks in this paper. Also, through simulation we show that fuzzy controller can be integrated with other CAC schemes to guarantee QoS to the users.
The effect of the approach to radical prostatectomy on the profitability of hospitals and surgeons

Study Type – Therapy (economics analysis) Level of Evidence 2b OBJECTIVE To evaluate the profit margins for radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP), laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) and robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP), and the effect on the reimbursement to the urologist, as there has been a dramatic increase in use of RALP, with the cost of the robot borne by hospitals. METHODS Data on costs and payments to hospital and surgeon from 2003 to 2008 for RRP, LRP and RALP were obtained from the hospital and urology department. We determined the profit based on the difference between payments received and total cost. RESULTS Between 2000 and 2008, 1279 RPs were performed at our private hospital. The introduction of RALP increased total number of RPs and replaced most RRPs. RRP represents the only procedure where payments exceed total costs. For RRP there was a significantly higher profit for patients with comorbidities. The type of payer had a large effect on profit. Medicare provides a small profit for RRP but a significant loss of >US$4000 for RALP. While all insurance companies resulted in losses for LRP and RALP, there was variability of almost $600/case for LRP and >$1400/case for RALP. RALP provided the highest reimbursement for the surgeon due to additional reimbursement for the S2900 code (use of robot). CONCLUSIONS The introduction of RALP has increased the case volume at our hospital and improved profits for the surgeon. The hospital loses money on each LRP and RALP case compared with RRP, which provides a small profit.
Statin-Induced Myopathy: The Two Faces of Janus

Statins (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors) have been shown to be effective at lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and decreasing the risk of coronary heart disease. Although safe and well tolerated by most patients, statins have also been associated with muscle-related adverse events. This article reviews statin-associated myotoxicity to clarify the definitions of muscle-related adverse events and discusses their incidences in major statin trials, case reports, and review articles through January 2006. Milder complaints (ie, myalgia) are reported by approximately 5% to 7% of patients who take statins. More severe myotoxicity, namely rhabdomyolysis, is extremely rare for all statins save cerivastatin, and most recent estimates of its incidence are between 0.44 and 0.54 cases per 10 000 person-years. The mechanism of statin-associated myotoxicity has not been satisfactorily defined and is likely due to multiple factors, including membrane instability, mitochondrial dysfunction, and defects in myocyte duplication.
Correlates of health-related quality of life in overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: This paper describes and examines conceptually relevant correlates of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in overweight or obese persons with type 2 diabetes. Research Design and Procedures: The investigation was a cross-sectional study of 5145 overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes between the ages of 45 and 74 years. Analyses examined the relationship that demographic characteristics, disease burden, and cardiovascular fitness had with HRQL: the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) II. Results: Means for the SF-36 physical component summary (PCS) scores, the mental component summary scores, and the BDI-II were as follows: 47.0, 54.0, and 5.7. Less desirable PCS scores were related to several comorbidities, insulin use, physical complaints, a high BMI, low metabolic equivalent (MET) capacity, and lower education. Interactions between categories of obesity and MET capacity revealed that greater BMI was related to lower PCS scores when individuals had lower MET capacities yet was absent for those individuals who had higher MET capacities. In addition, although greater BMI was associated with more severe depressive symptomatology, this association was the most dramatic for those with class III obesity who had low MET capacity. Discussion: Although participants in Look AHEAD had a favorable profile on the SF-36 and the BDI-II at baseline, lower PCS scores were related to disease severity and the presence of other comorbidities. More important, although the temporal ordering of associations cannot be determined in a cross-sectional design, the interactions between obesity class and MET capacity suggest that the adverse effect of BMI on PCS and BDI-II scores may be buffered by higher MET capacities.
The importance of the site survey in planning and implementing an electronic security system

It is noted that the conduct of a detailed site survey is critical to the successful implementation of an electronic security system. The author discusses the rationale for a site survey, the contents of the survey report, and the planning of the site survey, and the composition of the site survey team. >
Analysis of the dynamic and steady-state responses of growth rate and turgor pressure to changes in cell parameters

The physical analysis of plant cell enlargment is extended to show the dependence of turgor pressure and growth rate under steady-state conditions on the parameters which govern cell wall extension and water transport in growing cells and tissues, and to show the dynamic responses of turgor and growth rate to instantaneous changes in one of these parameters. The analysis is based on the fact that growth requires simultaneous water uptake and irreversible wall expansion. It shows that when a growing cell is perturbed from its steady-state growth rate, it will approach the steady-state rate with exponential kinetics. The half-time of the transient adjustment depends on the biophysical parameters governing both water transport and irreversible wall expansion. When wall extensibility is small compared to hydraulic conductance, the growth rate is controlled by the yielding properties of the cell wall, while the half-time for changes in growth rate is controlled by the water transport parameters. The reverse situation occurs when hydraulic conductance is lower than wall extensibility. The analysis also shows explicitly that turgor pressure is tightly coupled with growth rate when growth is controlled by both water transport and wall yielding parameters.In growing tissue where the resistance to water flow is distributed throughout the tissue, the physical analysis is more complicated because gradients in water potential (and hence turgor pressure) are required to sustain high growth rates. However, the analysis of growth in such tissues shows that the turgor and time-course relations are similar to that in single cells. These turgor and time-course relations provide experimentally useful ways for determining (a) whether growth is limited by water uptake, and (b) whether an agent which alters the growth rate does so by affecting the water transport or wall yielding properties or both.
Active surveillance of the adolescent with varicocele: predicting semen outcomes from ultrasound.

Purpose: We hypothesized that active surveillance of the adolescent varicocele is not associated with a high prevalence of suboptimal semen analysis and that patients with abnormal semen analysis have smaller testicular volumes and larger volume differentials.Materials and Methods: We conducted an institutional review board approved retrospective cohort study of adolescents with a clinically detected varicocele. Patients were initially observed by serial scrotal ultrasound evaluating testicular size and differential. Semen analysis was routinely collected in Tanner V cases, around age 18 years. Prevalence of normal semen analysis parameters was calculated, and logistic regression was used to model the ability of age at presentation and testicular volume parameters to predict a normal semen analysis.Results: A cohort of 73 patients underwent surveillance with a mean ± SD age at presentation of 15.5 ± 2.3 years. Median followup was 2.7 years, during which time subjects underwent a median of 3 scrotal ultras...
Spatial and temporal patterns in fish assemblages of upper coastal plain streams, Mississippi, USA

We assessed spatial, seasonal, and annual variation in fish assemblages over 17 months in three small- to medium-sized, incised streams characteristic of northwestern Mississippi streams. We sampled 17 962 fish representing 52 species and compared assemblages within and among streams. Although annual and seasonal variability in assemblage structure was high, fish assemblages maintained characteristics unique to each stream. High variability in fish catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) was exemplified in one site where total CPUE increased an order of magnitude from July 1993 to 1994. Species turnover and percent dissimilarity were often higher seasonally than annually, consistent with a period of change in spring to early summer and a return to similar species compositions between summers. Temporal variability was also high at the individual species level, and no species were classified as 'stable'. We found little evidence for correlation between changes in fish assemblage structure and measured habitat conditions. The fish characteristics fit the profile of 'colonizing assemblages', which probably resulted from both natural and anthropogenic causes. Flashy hydrographs , created in part by stream channelization and incision and watershed deforestation, may play a large role in structuring these fish assemblages. Extreme interannual variability in assemblages in the absence of detectable habitat change has important implications for the statistical power of fish monitoring programs designed to detect trends in fish assemblages over time.
The Sipuncula of sublittoral New Zealand, with a key to all New Zealand species

Fourteen species of the unsegmented marine worms known as Sipuncula are reported from sublittoral waters from recent collections of 519 specimens around New Zealand. Five are new to the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). A taxonomic key to all 26 known New Zealand species is provided. All six families and nine of the 17 genera of Sipuncula are represented.
Pencil–Paper Learning Should Be Combined with Online Homework Software

For the past eight years, we have used online homework software as a pedagogical tool for undergraduate students (almost all are second-year students) learning organic chemistry. Being strong proponents of homework, we were surprised to find that about half of the students who complete 90% or more of the online homework assignments received less than 50% of the available points on examinations, even though comparable problems were given. Students who combined traditional pencil–paper problem solving with the online software performed better than students who solely used the online homework package. Our findings contribute to the ongoing debate between pencil–paper and computer learning with the recommendation that they should be combined to provide students with the ultimate learning tool.
MULTIVARIATE TAIL ESTIMATION WITH APPLICATION TO ANALYSIS OF COVAR

The quality of estimation of multivariate tails depends significantly on the portion of the sample included in the estimation. A simple approach involving sequential statistical testing is proposed in order to select which observations should be used for estimation of the tail and spectral measures. We prove that the estimator is consistent. We test the proposed method on simulated data, and subsequently apply it to analyze CoVaR for stock and index returns.
Mating and Oviposition Behavior of the Velvetbean Caterpillar in Soybeans

Flight, feeding, pheromone, mating, and oviposition activities of caged and natural populations of Anticarsia gemmatalis Hubner moths were observed during light and dark hours of August 29 through September 1, and September 11–13, 1972. Mating pairs were more common on soybean plants than on cage walls or other field locations. Copulation lasted an average of 2 h 21 min and occurred most frequently from twilight to midnight. Shortly before copulation, pheromone apparently was emitted, at which time the female abdomen was bent upward. Flight was more directed during darkness than during light periods. Eggs were laid singly between plant hairs, and oviposition occurred through the night.
Effect of galanin on glucose-, arginine-, or potassium-stimulated insulin release

We have examined the effect of galanin infusion on glucose-stimulated release of insulin from the isolated perfused pancreas of the rat to better characterize the effect of galanin on the first and...
Application of microwave tissuecoagulation in partial nephrectomy

Abstract Microwave tissue coagulation was used during partial nephrectomy in 10 mongreldogs, without clamping the renal artery. There were no major complications, such as retroperitoneal hematoma, abscess formation, or macroscopic infarction of the kidney tissue related to this new procedure. The advantages of microwave coagulation are reduced blood loss, shorter operative time, and minimal risk of vascular injury.
The Implications of Blood Pressure Measurement Methods on Treatment Targets for Blood Pressure

Over the past 45 years, a number of clinical outcome trials have evaluated the effects of blood pressure (BP) reduction on cardiovascular outcomes.1 Most recently, SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) randomly assigned 9361 persons with a systolic blood pressure (SBP) of ≥130 mm Hg and increased cardiovascular risk to a SBP target <120 mm Hg versus <140 mm Hg. Although the results of SPRINT provide evidence that the goal SBP should be closer to 120 than 140 mm Hg, the methods of BP measurement were notably different between this trial and many others. More important, the methodology for measuring BP in SPRINT is not what is used in most clinical practices, and this difference has significant clinical implications. Most cardiovascular outcome trials, to date, have used either ausculatory or automatic oscillometric methods of seated BP measurement performed shortly after the patient’s arrival for a visit, with similar methods currently used in most clinical practices. The SPRINT methodology is not in widespread use clinically; BP was measured after the participant sat quietly alone for 5 minutes, after which study personnel returned to the room to measure BP 3 times at 1-minute intervals with all 3 values averaged. BP recorded in research studies using the standard BP …
REARRANGEMENT OF CYCLOPROPYLBORANE INTO BORETANE

Previously unknown boron-containing four-membered unsaturated heterocycle boretane was obtained via novel thermal rearrangement of cyclopropylborane and investigated by NMR and IR spectroscopy. Formation of boretane was also confirmed through its chemical transformation into more stable derivatives. Authors: M. Rubina and M. Rubin. English Translation in Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds , 2012, 48 (5), pp 807-821 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10593-012-1060-9
Teaching Tip: A Slippery Slope

The inflection point does give the minimum value of the derivative, but the solution is incorrect. The reason is that dc dv is the rate of change of c per unit change in velocity, not the actual consumption of fuel per distance traveled. Canceling units in (1) obscures the significance of the derivative. We actually want the minimum value of c/v whose units are the same as dc dv . From the Figure we see that c/v is the slope of a line from the origin to the point (v, c) on the curve. The least such slope occurs at Q where the line is tangent to the curve and c v = dc dv . The correct answer is about v = 46 mph. The corresponding value of c is about 1.19, so c/v = .02587, giving v/c = 38.65 miles per gallon. Using the function that generated Figure 1, the minimum derivative at the point of inflection is 1/170 (gallons per mile) giving a whopping 170 miles per gallon. Canceling units created a slippery slope.
Liver metastases: Basic principles of treatment and clinical data

Metastatic disease is the most common malignancy effecting the liver. Although metastatic disease can develop in the liver via systemic spread from most solid malignancies, certain tumor types have the propensity to develop liver-dominant disease, and often isolated liver metastases. These include primarily colorectal cancer and, less commonly, neuroendocrine tumors, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and others. There is a preponderance of evidence strongly suggesting that surgical resection offers the best potential cure for colorectal cancer metastatic to the liver, with long-term survival exceeding 50% at 5 years in most recent series. As surgical therapies have been shown to be increasingly safe and effective, more frequent and aggressive application of this local approach is being used. While standard of care in resectable patients with colorectal metastases, evidence is less clear for surgery in other primary tumor types. When local therapy such as hepatectomy is being considered, careful preoperative evaluation of the liver, primary tumor, and extrahepatic sites is important to exclude unresectable disease and select those patients who may benefit most from resection. Potential strategies currently under investigation for improving outcomes include combining resection with adjuvant regional or systemic chemotherapy. For unresectable disease, local ablative approaches, regional chemotherapy, and systemic chemotherapy may offer some benefit.
Neighborhood Spaces and Topological Spaces

Let G be a collection of sets, let G* be the union of the elements of G, and let X be a set. If X ⊂ G*, then we say that G covers X.
Conscience in Early Modern English Literature

Conscience in Early Modern English Literature describes how poetry, theology, and politics intersect in the early modern conscience. In the wake of the Reformation, theologians attempt to understand how the faculty works, poets attempt to capture the experience of being in its grip, and revolutionaries attempt to assert its authority for political action. The result, Abraham Stoll argues, is a dynamic scene of conscience in England, thick with the energies of salvation and subjectivity, and influential in the public sphere of Civil War politics. Stoll explores how Shakespeare, Spenser, Herbert, and Milton stage the inward experience of conscience. He links these poetic scenes to Luther, Calvin, and English Reformation theology. He also demonstrates how they shape the public discourses of conscience in such places as the toleration debates, among Levellers, and in the prose of Hobbes and Milton. In the literature of the early modern conscience, Protestant subjectivity evolves toward the political subject of modern liberalism.
Applying the PEN-3 Cultural Model to Address HIV/AIDS Prevention in Rural Guatemala

AbstractGuatemala has an accelerating HIV rate, where prevalence is three times higher among indigenous than nonindigenous, comprising 21% of all cases. Vulnerability is exacerbated by high poverty, low literacy, and poor access to testing and treatment options. This study develops a community-engaged HIV prevention campaign plan for the Mayan town of Santiago Atitlan. The PEN-3 model of cultural sensitivity frames this formative research project. Assessment domains of the PEN-3 model (Cultural empowerment and Relationships & expectations) identify culturally relevant factors affecting HIV prevention behaviours. The Cultural identity domain is utilized to identify entry points enhancing cultural acceptance and efficacy.
Targeting HSF1: A Prime Integrator of Proteotoxic Stress Response in Myeloma

The HSF1 transcription factor is an integrator of the cellular stress response, and its expression has demonstrated poor prognosis in multiple myeloma. The novel anti-HSF1 small-molecule inhibitors CCT251236 and KRIB11 demonstrate in vitro and in vivo antimyeloma activity, representing a novel approach for targeting the heat shock response in myeloma. Clin Cancer Res; 24(10); 2237-8. ©2018 AACRSee related article by Fok et al., p. 2395.
The Effect of Partner Reauditorization on Undergraduates' Attitudes Toward a Peer Who Communicates With Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Purpose This study compared college students' attitudes toward a peer who used a nonelectronic augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system with and without a partner reauditorization st...
Social Services in a Conservative Era

As the Reagan administration shifts responsibility for services to state, local, and private arenas, new problems appear for social workers. The goals of the changes are examined as well as difficu...
Differences in overall survival and mutation prevalence between right- and left-sided colorectal adenocarcinoma

Background: Prior reports have demonstrated inferior outcomes for patients with right-sided colorectal cancer (CRC) compared to patients with left-sided disease, as well as differences in treatment response based on disease sidedness. Differences in prognosis remain even among patients with metastatic disease, indicating that anatomy or stage at diagnosis alone cannot explain all of these findings. While genetic differences between right- and left-sided CRC have long been described, the genetic and molecular drivers underlying differences in prognosis and treatment response remain incompletely understood. Methods: We compared mutation prevalence between right- (cecum to splenic flexure) and left-sided (descending colon to rectum) CRC among 38 genes in a retrospective review of next-generation sequencing data of CRC samples obtained in routine clinical practice at a single academic medical center. Results: Among 288 cases (167 left-sided, 103 right-sided, 18 synchronous or without clear primary), patients with left-sided primaries had a longer overall survival from pathologic diagnosis (median 1,823 days vs . 1,006 days for right-sided cases, P=0.004). Among the assessed genes, BRAF and CTNNB1 mutations were more prevalent in right-sided CRC. BRAF was mutated in 15.5% of right-sided CRC (95% CI: 8.5–22.5%) compared to 4.8% (95% CI: 1.6–8.0%) (P=0.003). CTNNB1 was mutated in 3.9% of right-sided CRC (95% CI: 0.2–7.6%) compared to no instances of CTNNB1 mutations in left-sided disease (P=0.01). Conclusions: This difference in mutation prevalence may implicate these genetic pathways in the mechanisms underlying the discrepant outcomes and treatment responses between right- and left-sided CRC described in this and prior studies.
Understanding stories through morals and remindings

This paper examines the role of both episodic memory and abstract planning knowledge in narrative comprehension. Many narratives are memorable for the abstract planning advice they contain, usually in the form of failures which narrative characters experienced during either planning, or plan execution. The planning advice, or moral, contained within such stories is often expressed in terms of sayings, or cultural adages, which then effectively characterize these stories. These same planning failures also provide indexing structures for both the storage and subsequent retrieval from long-term episodic memory of narrative episodes involving similar errors in planning. Consequently, when people encounter similar episodes (either in real life situations, or vicariously in narratives) they experience spontaneous remindings (Schank 1982) of related stories which illustrate the same moral. A theory for extracting the moral of a story, along with remindings of related episodes, is currently begin designed and developed in order to extend the theoretical and practical scope of the BORIS(Dyer 1983) story understanding program.
Awake Craniotomy: Cortical and Subcortical Mapping for Glioma Resection

Over 70,000 patients are diagnosed each year with a glioma, and the majority of these tumors are within areas of the brain with presumed functional significance. It has been well established that extent of tumor resection impacts both overall and progression-free survival. Direct stimulation of the cerebral cortex was first employed by Foerster in 1931 and later popularized by Penfield and Ojemann. Intraoperative mapping is the gold standard approach for the identification and preservation of functional areas of the brain. This chapter outlines the evidence supporting the extent of resection for low- and high-grade gliomas, including procedural steps and technical nuances to maximize success and minimize perioperative morbidity.
Dispersal of a non-native land snail across a residential area is modified by yard management and movement barriers

Urban areas with residential yards (= domestic gardens) provide a diverse environmental mosaic characterized by high plant architectural and species diversity and variation in yard management practices among residents. For small, slow-moving taxa such as land snails, this mosaic provides an unplanned experiment to document dispersal patterns and conditions influencing this pattern. The snail Cornu aspersum is a Mediterranean-native that was likely introduced into a Norman, Oklahoma (USA) yard through the plant trade. Cornu spread across 16 residential yards (and up to 110 m) in a single block over a period of at least 6 years, moving in a diffusive dispersal pattern. Supplemental water (e.g., watered plant beds and ponds) combined with nearby shelters contributed to increased local density but may also result in targeted snail control. Although roads contributed to the species arrival, roads were barriers to short-term snail self-dispersal and the limited road crossing may have been human-mediated (e.g., snails carried on potted plants). Dispersal was limited across non-residential properties with expansive grass lawns and parking lots. Residential areas provide a good model system for examining factors associated with the spread of non-native species, especially for species having low mobility.
State Space Oscillator Models for Neural Data Analysis

Neural oscillations reflect the coordinated activity of neuronal populations across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, and are thought to play a significant role in mediating many aspects of brain function, including atten- tion, cognition, sensory processing, and consciousness. Brain oscillations are typically analyzed using frequency domain methods such as nonparametric spectral analysis, or time domain methods based on linear bandpass filtering. A typical analysis might seek to estimate the power within an oscillation sitting within a particular frequency band. A common approach to this problem is to estimate the signal power within that band, in frequency domain using the power spectrum, or in time domain by estimating the power or variance in a bandpass filtered signal. A major conceptual flaw in this approach is that neural systems, like many physiological or physical systems, have inherent broad-band 1/P’ dynamics, whether or not an oscillation is present. Calculating power-in-band, or power in a bandpass filtered signal, can therefore be misleading, since such calculations do not distinguish between broadband power within the band of interest, and true underlying oscillations. In this paper, we present an approach for analyzing neural oscillations using a combination of linear oscillatory models. We estimate the parameters of these models using an expectation maximization (EM) algorithm, and employ AIC to select the appropriate model and identify the oscillations present in the data. We demonstrate the application of this method to univariate electroencephalogram (EEG) data recorded at quiet rest and during propofol-induced unconsciousness.
Projected Stochastic Primal-Dual Method for Constrained Online Learning with Kernels

We consider the problem of stochastic optimization with nonlinear constraints, where the decision variable is not vector-valued but instead a function belonging to a reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS). Currently, there exist solutions to only special cases of this problem. To solve this constrained problem with kernels, we first generalize the Representer Theorem to a class of saddle-point problems defined over RKHS. Furthermore, we develop a primal-dual method which executes alternating projected primal/dual stochastic descent/ascent on the dual-augmented Lagrangian of this problem. The primal projection sets are low-dimensional subspaces of the ambient function space which are greedily constructed using matching pursuit. By tuning the projection-induced error to the algorithm step-size, we are able to establish mean convergence both in primal objective sub-optimality and constraint violation, respectively to the $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{T})$ and $\mathcal{O}(T^{3/4})$ neighborhoods, where $T$ is the total number of iterations. We evaluate the proposed method through numerical tests for the application of risk-aware supervised learning.
Cardiac gene expression and function in a mouse model of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus sepsis: Role of inflammatory caspases 1 and 11:

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is an important cause of invasive infections, including sepsis associated with myocardial dysfunction. Caspases 1 and 11, in...
Inhibition of Stearoyl-CoA desaturase suppresses follicular help T and germinal center B cell responses

Abstract Stearoyl-CoA desaturases (SCD) are endoplasmic reticulum (ER) associated enzymes that catalyze the synthesis of the monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). As such, SCD play important roles in maintaining the intracellular balance between saturated fatty acid (SFAs) and MUFAs. The roles of SCD in CD4+ T helper cell responses are currently unexplored. Here, we have found that murine and human follicular helper T (TFH) cells express higher levels of SCD1 compared to non-TFH cells. Further, the expression of SCD1 in TFH cells is dependent on the TFH lineage-specification transcription factor BCL6. We found that the inhibition of SCD1 impaired TFH cell maintenance and shifted the balance between TFH and follicular regulatory T (TFR) cells in the spleen. Consequently, SCD1 inhibition dampened germinal center B cell responses following influenza immunization. Mechanistically, we found that SCD inhibition led to increased ER stress and enhanced TFH cell apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. These results reveal a possible link between fatty acid metabolism and cellular and humoral responses induced by immunization or potentially, autoimmunity.
Liberalism, nationalism, and self-determination: Ludwig von Mises’s Nation, State, Economy after 100 years

This year, 2019, marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ludwig von Mises’s lesser known book, Nation, State, and Economy, which appeared in the immediate aftermath of the First World War. One of its leading themes was to trace out the interactions between language, nationalism, and the emergence of the political movement for national self-determination. On this basis, Mises formulated an explanation of nationalist imperialism within parts of, especially, Central and Eastern Europe where there were territories with overlapping linguistic or ethnic groups. Out of this came his proposed answer to national and ethnic conflicts through a system of plebiscites for a greater degree of individual self-determination to minimize intergroup tensions between and within nation-states. His proposal is then applied for an analysis of the recent international controversies over the Russian annexation of Crimea and the United Kingdom’s vote to secede from the European Union.
Legacy modeling and range prediction comparison: NV-IPM versus SSCamIP and NVTherm

NVESDs new integrated sensor performance model, NV-IPM, replaces the discrete spectral band models that preceded it (NVTherm, SSCamIP, etc.). Many advanced modeling functions are now more readily available, easier to implement, and integrated within a single model architecture. For the legacy model user with ongoing modeling duties, however, the conversion of legacy decks to NV-IPM is of more immediate concern than mastering the many “power features” now available. This paper addresses the processes for the legacy model user to make a smooth transition to NV-IPM, including the conversion of legacy sensor decks to NV-IPM format decks, differences in parameters entered in the new versus old model, and a comparison of the predicted performance differences between NV-IPM and legacy models. Examples are presented to demonstrate the ease of sensor deck conversion from legacy models and to highlight enhanced model capabilities available with minimal transition effort.
Optimal Discontinuous Space Vector PWM for Zero-Sequence-Circulating Current Reduction in Two Paralleled Three-Phase Two-Level Converter

This article proposes an optimal discontinuous pulsewidth modulation (ODPWM) strategy to reduce the zero-sequence circulating current (ZSCC) for paralleled three-phase two-level converters. While existing methods generally entail a tradeoff between the ZSCC peak and the switching losses, this article fully explores the redundancy in the vector sequences to further improve both objectives. First, we derive eight candidate vector sequences for 60° sectors, each sequence with minimal switching times and ZSCC changing rate. Second, we divide each 60° sector into 12 subsectors, each is equipped with one of the eight candidates. The comparisons show that the proposed method maintains the same maximum ZSCC peak of existing best methods while using the minimal switching times, or effectively reducing the switching loss by up to 50%; the ZSCC of the proposed method is minimal across the major modulation regions, guaranteeing a smaller loss of the common mode inductor and further reducing the semiconductor losses. We implement the proposed optimal vector sequences in a carrier-based modulation scheme, the references of which depends on the subsector. Despite the complex geometry of the subsectors, the decision procedure is simple. Finally, the experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed ODPWM.
Active and Ultrasensitive Chemical and Biosensing through Optothermally Generated Microbubble

An ultrasensitive chemical and biosensing method has been demonstrated for active sensing of analytes. This method works based on an optothermal microbubble which is generated through laser heating of metallic nanoparticles solution.
Regulation of NRF1, a master transcription factor of proteasome genes: implications for cancer and neurodegeneration

The ability to sense proteasome insufficiency and respond by directing the transcriptional synthesis of de novo proteasomes is a trait that is conserved in evolution and is found in organisms ranging from yeast to humans. This homeostatic mechanism in mammalian cells is driven by the transcription factor NRF1. Interestingly, NRF1 is synthesized as an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein and when cellular proteasome activity is sufficient, it is retrotranslocated into the cytosol and targeted for destruction by the ER--associated degradation pathway (ERAD). However, when proteasome capacity is diminished, retrotranslocated NRF1 escapes ERAD and is activated into a mature transcription factor that traverses to the nucleus to induce proteasome genes. In this Perspective, we track the journey of NRF1 from the ER to the nucleus, with a special focus on the various molecular regulators it encounters along its way. Also, using human pathologies such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases as examples, we explore the notion that modulating the NRF1-proteasome axis could provide the basis for a viable therapeutic strategy in these cases.