cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Crystal structure of the GerBC component of a Bacillus subtilis spore germinant receptor.

The nutrient germinant receptors (nGRs) of spores of Bacillus species are clusters of three proteins that play a critical role in triggering the germination of dormant spores in response to specific nutrient molecules. Here, we report the crystal structure of the C protein of the GerB germinant receptor, so-called GerBC, of Bacillus subtilis spores at 2.3 A resolution. The GerBC protein adopts a previously uncharacterized type of protein fold consisting of three distinct domains, each of which is centered by a β sheet surrounded by multiple α helices. Secondary-structure prediction and structure-based sequence alignment suggest that the GerBC structure represents the prototype for C subunits of nGRs from spores of all Bacillales and Clostridiales species and defines two highly conserved structural regions in this family of proteins. GerBC forms an interlocked dimer in the crystalline state but is predominantly monomeric in solution, pointing to the possibility that GerBC oligomerizes as a result of either high local protein concentrations or interaction with other nGR proteins in spores. Our findings provide the first structural view of the nGR subunits and a molecular framework for understanding the architecture, conservation, and function of nGRs.
Selenium as a structural surrogate of sulfur: template-assisted assembly of five types of tungsten-iron-sulfur/selenium clusters and the structural fate of chalcogenide reactants.

Syntheses of five types of tungsten–iron–sulfur/selenium clusters, namely, incomplete cubanes, single cubanes, edge-bridged double cubanes (EBDCs), PN-type clusters, and double-cuboidal clusters, have been devised using the concept of template-assisted assembly. The template reactant is six-coordinate [(Tp*)WVIS3]1– [Tp* = tris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)hydroborate(1−)], which in the assembly systems organizes Fe2+/3+ and sulfide/selenide into cuboidal [(Tp*)WFe2S3] or cubane [(Tp*)WFe3S3Q] (Q = S, Se) units. With appropriate terminal iron ligation, these units are capable of independent existence or may be transformed into higher-nuclearity species. Selenide is used as a surrogate for sulfide in cluster assembly in order to determine by X-ray structures the position occupied by an external chalcogenide nucleophile or an internal chalcogenide atom in the product clusters. Specific incorporation of selenide is demonstrated by the formation of [WFe3S3Se]2+/3+ cubane cores. Reductive dimerization of the cubane l...
The Eurozone Sovereign Debt Problem: What It Means for U.S. Exports

The European sovereign debt problem became the focus of world attention in 2010, when the interest rates on Greek government bonds rose dramatically, requiring immediate action by the European Union to avoid an imminent default. It has become clear that the problem is not limited to Greece, but a more general problem of the fundamental imbalances and underlying inconsistencies in the Eurozone economic system of using a single currency for a set of countries that lack a unified economic and political system. Financial markets reacted to the debt offering of the other deficit countries in the Eurozone by increasing interest rates on their sovereign debt as well. The major consequences are likely to be largely felt by the Eurozone countries themselves, some of whom will be forced to go through significant structural adjustments over the coming years. The adjustment process could generate a range of alternative macroeconomic outcomes for affected countries—including differences in growth, exchange rates, and investment—which could have significant implications for U.S. trade. This paper attempts to allay some of that uncertainty by exploring a wide range of alternative global macroeconomic outcomes and their potential impact on U.S. exports. The analysis extends the work done in a previous paper which focused on U.S. agricultural exports and its major components. While U.S. exports vary across the scenarios, continued strong economic growth in developing countries supports demand for U.S. exports. Because the EU has represented a declining share of U.S. exports, the direct impact of changes in European demand affects U.S. exports less than the secondary effects of changes in exchange rates and global investment patterns associated with alternative EU outcomes.
Why Kids Need to Be Bored: A Case Study of Self-Reflection and Academic Performance.

This case study involved 3 middle school students in an assessment of the influence of self-reflection on general academic performance. It was hypothesized that increased self-reflection would have a positive influence on academic performance as measured by grades on tests, writing assignments, and homework. The participants were ages 13.4, 13.5, and 13.8. The study covered 3 months and was divided into two stages. During the first stage (month 1), the participants kept daily logs of all activities and were asked to write in their personal journals for 15 min each day. Logs indicated that participants devoted an average of 42.2 hrs per week to watching TV, playing computer and video games, listening to music, and talking on the telephone. During the second stage (months 2 and 3), participants limited TV, computer and video games, music, and telephone time to 30 min per day; in the time made free thereby, they were to read, sit quietly, write in their journals, meet with friends, and so on, provided these activities did not include any of the proscribed activities. Two of the participants dropped out of the study within 2 weeks, stating that they could not bear the lack of electronic activities. The remaining participant succeeded in modifying her schedule, followed by improvement in overall academic performance.
Cell motility, a principal requirement for metastasis

In studying the role of motility in the metastasis of tumor cells, we have described an autocrine motility factor. This agent, which stimulates random motility, probably contributes to the initial dissociation of the cells from the primary tumor mass. Extracellular matrix components, via several different mechanisms, may facilitate the crossing of biological barriers by the cells prior to the entry into the circulation. In locating at new sites, the tumor cells may be induced to exit from the circulation in reponse to attractants such as the IGFs that could emanate from the target organ. These same growth factors could then stimulate cellular proliferation for another metastatic cycle. It is quite probable that detection of AMF may provide a new tool in cancer diagnosis. The complete characterization of AMF may also yield valuable therapeutic approaches: design of low molecular size antagonists of the attractants and antibodies that might be effective therapeutically as well as diagnostically. It seems clear, in any event, that immobilizing the tumor cell may be a crucial step in inhibiting metastasis.
Neural activity and diurnal variation of cortisol: Evidence from brain electrical tomography analysis and relevance to anhedonia

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), hippocampus, and amygdala are implicated in the regulation of affect and physiological processes, including hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. Anhedonia is likely associated with dysregulation of these processes. Dense-array resting electroencephalographic and cortisol were obtained from healthy and anhedonic groups. Low-resolution electromagnetic tomography was used to compute intracerebral current density. For the control group, voxelwise analyses found a relationship between current density in beta and gamma bands and steeper cortisol slope (indicative of more adaptive HPA axis functioning) in regions of the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and mPFC. For the anhedonic group, the mPFC finding was absent. Anhedonia may be characterized by disruptions of mPFC-mediated neuroendocrine regulation, which could constitute a vulnerability to the development of stress-related disorders.
A Current Pulse Screening Test for Metal Step Coverage

The response of aluminum thin films to single shot, constant current pulses was investigated to seek a ZAP test method for screening out inadequate metal coverage. At current density J, constant cross section stripes melt and open in time durations, tm and to respectively, which obey adiabatic heating laws J2tm - Km and J2to = Ko if heating time is sufficiently brief to minimize heat loss to the substrate. During ZAP testing of metal stripes, which have reduced cross sections as they cover oxide steps, the heat input needed to open the thin spots was significantly greater than predicted values because of lateral heat flow to the thicker portions of the metal stripes. However, the test method is capable of readily differentiating, in 7KA to 10KA A1 films, stripes with 30% step coverage from those with 45% coverage (and both from flat, 100% coverage, metal) solely by the measured burnout time. In summary, the potential utility of ZAP testing as a metal coverage screen was demonstrated.
A Bioengineered Peptide that Localizes to and Illuminates Medulloblastoma: A New Tool with Potential for Fluorescence-Guided Surgical Resection

Tumors of the central nervous system are challenging to treat due to the limited effectiveness and associated toxicities of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. For tumors that can be removed surgically, extent of malignant tissue resection has been shown to correlate with disease progression, recurrence, and survival. Thus, improved technologies for real-time brain tumor imaging are critically needed as tools for guided surgical resection. We previously engineered a novel peptide that binds with high affinity and unique specificity to α V β 3 , α V β 5 , and α 5 β 1 integrins, which are present on tumor cells, and the vasculature of many cancers, including brain tumors. In the current study, we conjugated this engineered peptide to a near infrared fluorescent dye (Alexa Fluor 680), and used the resulting molecular probe for noninvasive whole body imaging of patient-derived medulloblastoma xenograft tumors implanted in the cerebellum of mice. The engineered peptide exhibited robust targeting and illumination of intracranial medulloblastoma following both intravenous and intraperitoneal injection routes. In contrast, a variant of the engineered peptide containing a scrambled integrin-binding sequence did not localize to brain tumors, demonstrating that tumor-targeting is driven by specific integrin interactions. Ex vivo imaging was used to confirm the presence of tumor and molecular probe localization to the cerebellar region. These results warrant further clinical development of the engineered peptide as a tool for image-guided resection of central nervous system tumors.
HSP40 Binding Is the First Step in the HSP90 Chaperoning Pathway for the Progesterone Receptor

The progesterone receptor (PR) can be isolated in its native conformation able to bind hormone, yet its ligand-binding domain rapidly loses its activity at elevated temperature. However, an in vitro chaperoning system consisting of five proteins (HSP40, HSP70, HOP, HSP90, and p23) with ATP is capable of restoring this function. The first step of this chaperoning mechanism is usually thought to be the binding of HSP70 to PR. Our findings here show that the binding of HSP40 to PR is, instead, the first step. HSP40 binding occurred rapidly and was not dependent on ATP or other proteins. The stoichiometry of HSP40 to native PR in these complexes was approximately 1:1. HSP40 bound specifically and with a high affinity to native PR (K(d) = 77 nm). The binding of HSP40 to PR was sustained and did not interact in the highly dynamic fashion that has been observed previously for HSP90 in this system. The HSP40 small middle dotPR complex could be isolated as a functional unit that could, after the addition of the other chaperones, progress to a PR complex capable of hormone binding. These results indicate that HSP40 initiates the entry of PR into the HSP90 pathway.
Diets of Sympatric Populations of American Martens (Martes americana) and Fishers (Martes pennanti) in California

American martens (Martes americana) and fishers (M. pennanti) occur together in mixed-conifer forests of the southern Sierra Nevada. We studied their diets in the area of sympatry by examining their feces and comparing diet diversity and overlap. Diets of both species were more diverse than previously reported in North America. Although the diet of fishers appeared to include more remains of birds, lizards, hypogeous fungi, and insects than that of martens, the rank contribution of prey items to the diets did not differ and the Pianka index of dietary overlap was high. The great diversity of diets of fishers and martens may be due to the absence or rarity of large prey (e.g., snowshoe hares [Lepus americanus] and porcupines [Erethizon dorsatum]) or to a greater diversity of available prey types in the southern Sierra Nevada compared to other study sites for Martes in North America. The high degree of overlap in diets is surprising given the body size differences between martens and fishers, previously described differences in their diets, and similar use of other niche dimensions. The similarity is probably due, in part, to the relatively large pool of diverse and available resources that are exploited by both species by using similar modes of foraging. In addition, our sample of martens was drawn from the lowest margin of their elevational range in the southern Sierra; a more comprehensive survey of the diets of martens at higher elevations may yield different results.
Acute Epstein-Barr virus infection-associated collapsing glomerulopathy.

A 21-year-old woman presenting with acute Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection (infectious mononucleosis) was noted to have renal involvement. She had proteinuria, leukocyturia and microscopic hematuria, and 10 days after admission became nephrotic (23 g of protein per g of creatinine). Renal biopsy revealed glomerular tuft collapse, visceral epithelial cell proliferation and vacuolization consistent with collapsing glomerulopathy. She had only transient deterioration in renal function, attributed to contrast nephropathy, but after recovery remained proteinuric. Renal disease is well described in EBV infection, but collapsing glomerulopathy has not been reported previously.
The Souls of White Folk: Critical Pedagogy, Whiteness Studies, and Globalization Discourse.

At the turn of the 1900s, W. E. B. Du Bois argued that the problem of the color line was the twentieth century's main challenge. The article argues that critical pedagogy benefits from an intersectional understanding of whiteness studies and globalization discourse. Following Du Bois, it suggests that the problem of the twenty-first century is the global color line. As capitalism stretches across nations, its partnership with race relations also evolves into a formidable force. Appropriating concepts from globalization, the author defines a global approach to race, and in particular whiteness, in order to argue that the problem of white racial privilege transcends the nation state. Using concepts such as multinationalism, fragmentation, and flexibility, a critical pedagogy of whiteness promotes an expanded notion of race that includes global anti-racist struggles. Finally, the article concludes by suggesting that educators consider seriously the insights of the neo-abolitionist movement.
System level power estimation methodology with H.264 decoder prediction IP case study

This paper presents a methodology to generate a hierarchy of power models for power estimation of custom hardware IP blocks, enabling a trade-off between power estimation accuracy, modeling effort and estimation speed. Our power estimation approach enables several novel system-level explorations - such as observing the effect of clock gating, and the effects of tweaking application-level parameters on system power - with an estimation accuracy that is close to the gate-level. We implemented our methodology on an H.264 video decoder prediction IP case study, created power models, and evaluated the effects of varying design parameters (e.g., clock gating, IIP frame ratios, quantization), allowing rapid system-level power exploration of these design parameters.
Optimal seek-trajectory design for dual-stage systems

The minimum-energy, output-transition problem for dual-stage systems is solved in this article. The objective is to find optimal inputs that change the system output from an initial value to a final value during a specified output-transition time-interval. The main contribution of this article is accounting for the actuator redundancy when optimizing the output-transition problem for dual-stage systems. Additionally, it is shown that inputs applied outside the output-transition time-interval (i.e., pre- and post-actuation) can substantially reduce the required input energy. This advantage of using pre- and post-actuation is evaluated with an example dual-stage system. In particular, the experimental results show that the input-energy can be reduced by 69% with the use of pre-and post-actuation inputs when compared to standard methods that do not use such pre- and post-actuation.
Characterization of a petunia acetyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of the floral volatile isoeugenol

*Summary Petunia flower petals emit large amounts of isoeugenol, which has been shown to be synthesized by isoeugenol synthase (PhIGS1) from an ester of coniferyl alcohol, hypothesized to be coniferyl acetate. This paper describes the identification and characterization of a novel petunia gene encoding an enzyme belonging to the BAHD acyltransferase family whose expression correlates with isoeugenol biosynthesis. RNAi suppression of this gene results in inhibition of isoeugenol biosynthesis. Biochemical characterization of the protein encoded by this gene showed that it has acetyltransferase activity and is most efficient with coniferyl alcohol among the alcohol substrates tested. Overall, these data support the conclusion that coniferyl acetate is the substrate of isoeugenol synthase.
Science Signaling Podcast for 15 December 2015: Hydrogen sulfide and inflammation in obesity

This Podcast features an interview with Carl White, author of a Research Article that appears in the 15 December 2015 issue of Science Signaling , about how reduced bioavailability of hydrogen sulfide stimulates inflammation. In addition to altering metabolism, obesity also stimulates adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) to secrete inflammatory cytokines into the circulation, which causes chronic systemic inflammation. Velmurugan et al . found that, compared to ATMs from lean mice, ATMs from obese mice were depleted of the gaseous signaling molecule hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) and that bacterial lipopolysaccharide also reduced the amount of H 2 S in macrophages. H 2 S inhibited Orai3, a component of the store-operated Ca 2+ entry (SOCE) pathway, in macrophages. Depletion of H 2 S disinhibited Orai3, leading to increased Ca 2+ entry into macrophages and increased inflammatory cytokine production. Thus, the proinflammatory environment of adipose tissue is associated with the depletion of H 2 S in ATMs, which exacerbates inflammation by increasing SOCE in these cells. Listen to Podcast
Land Bank Strategies for Renewing Urban Land

Major urban areas are often hampered in their ability to deal with va cant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties. They encounter obstacles with inefficient tax foreclosure procedures and ineffective nuisance abate ment codes. They face reluctance to add to public inventories the title to deteriorated properties and face restrictions upon the manner in which such properties can be transferred to private third parties. Land banks have emerged as effective tools for the renewal of urban land. With a perspective that vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent prop erties can become assets instead of liabilities, land banks serve to break the barriers to renewal of inner-city properties. Five land banks?beginning in St. Louis and then emerging in Cleveland, Louisville, Atlanta, and Flint? demonstrate how a land bank can operate as a local government authority to transcend the legal and structural impediments to conversion of these liabilities into assets.
Telezoo (C): Feast or Famine?

The C case is the final case in the series that traces the growth of this Internet start-up. The firm has now entered the economic decline of the late 1990s and has been caught in the collapse of the telecom industry. The case explores the options available to Murville and describes how Telezoo can come back from the brink. It also examines the crash of the telecom industry and places Telezoo's challenges within this larger context. See also the A (UVA-M-0651) and B (UVA-M-0652) cases.
The platelet hammer: In vitro platelet activation under repetitive hypershear

Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices, such as ventricular assist devices and the total artificial heart, have emerged as a vital therapy for advanced and end-stage heart failure. However, MCS patients face life-long antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy to minimize thrombotic complications resulting from the dynamic and supraphysiologic device-associated shear stress conditions, whose effect on platelet activation is poorly understood. We repeatedly exposed platelets to average shear stresses up to 1000 dyne/cm2 for as short as 25 ms in the “platelet hammer,” a syringe-capillary viscometer. Platelet activation state was measured using a modified prothrombinase assay and morphological changes analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. An increase in stress accumulation (SA), the product of shear stress and exposure time, led to an increase in the platelet activation state and post-high shear platelet activation rate, or sensitization. A significant increase in platelet activation state was observed beyond an SA of 1500 dyne-s/cm2, with a marked increase in pseudopod length visible beyond an SA of 1000 dyne-s/cm2. The platelet hammer may be used to study other shear-dependent pathologies and may ultimately enhance the safety and effectiveness of MCS devices and objective antithrombotic pharmacotherapy management.
Removal of the Airwave Effect On MCSEM Data By Separation of the Main Part of the Anomalous Field

One of the difficulties in interpretation of MCSEM survey data in shallow water is related to the airwave effect, which dominates over the observed EM response and masks the anomalous effect of the resistive target. We demonstrate in this paper that this effect can be practically eliminated by a method of the separation of the main part of the anomalous field. As a result of this separation, the effect of the airwater interface and the seawater layer is completely removed from the transformed signal. The advantage of this technique is that it can be used not only for a flat sea bottom but in areas with rough bathymetry as well. The proposed technique is implemented in the form of a stable integral transformation, which reduces the effect of the noise on the data, while methods based on the interferometry principles require the solution of an illposed deconvolution problem. The numerical method of main-part separation is based on the application of corresponding digital filters to the observed data. It is shown that the spectral characteristics of this transformation represent low-frequency filters, which ensures robustness of the numerical algorithm.
Abstract 439: Glycosylation of α-dystroglycan in prostate cancer: Prognostic implications and regulation by LARGE2

Cancer cells exhibit altered interactions with their extracellular matrix microenvironment that are thought to underlie tumor progression and metastasis. Dystroglycan (DG) is a receptor for extracellular matrix proteins including laminins and perlecan that consists of a ligand-binding α subunit and a transmembrane β subunit. DG protein expression is reduced in numerous types of cancer, including prostate cancer. Typically DG mRNA expression is not remarkably altered and mutations in the DG gene have not been reported in any cancer to date. We have investigated the basis for reduced DG expression in prostate cancer. Using tissue microarray (n=50; Gleason score 6-8) we show that loss of either α or β DG independently predicts Gleason score. We show that loss of αDG immunostaining in human prostatectomy samples (n=138) trended towards predicting overall mortality independent of grade and stage with an estimated hazard ratio of 1.32 (CI=0.92, 1.89; p=0.1381). Furthermore, analysis of prostate cancer metastases in bone, lung and lymph node shows a near universal loss of αDG immunostaining. Importantly, we observed cases in which αDG is reduced while βDG persisted in serial sections, suggesting that these subunits may be differentially affected. In these studies, we detected αDG using a glycosylation-sensitive antibody IIH6. Therefore, we investigated the basis of altered αDG glycosylation using a series of prostate cancer cell lines. We found that αDG glycosylation is heterogeneous across several prostate cancer cell lines. Importantly, we found that an aggressive derivative of PC-3 cells lacks IIH6 immunoreactivity, but not core αDG protein expression; whereas the bulk PC-3 population is IIH6 positive. We evaluated the relative expression of a panel of glycosyltransferases known to modify αDG in these cell lines and found that loss of IIH6 immunoreactivity is correlated with loss of LARGE2 expression. This result contrasts with previous findings implicating LARGE or iGNT with abnormal glycosylation of αDG in breast and prostate cancer respectively. Reduced expression of LARGE2 is also observed in pancreatic cancer cell lines and is correlated with loss of IIH6 immunoreactivity. We show that LARGE2 is involved in the functional glycosylation of αDG in prostate cancer cells. shRNA-mediated knockdown of LARGE2 in prostate cancer cells does not affect growth rate, but does increase transwell migration across laminin-1 substrate. Our results are the first to implicate loss of LARGE2 expression as a means to explain the loss of appropriate glycosylation of αDG in prostate or other cancers, and indicates that LARGE2 function may modulate prostate cancer progression and metastasis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 439. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-439
Genitourinary Fungal Infections

AbstractAlthough fungal urinary tract infections occur less frequently than bacterial urinary tract infections their incidence has increased during the last several decades and their clinical importance to the urologist should not be underestimated. Herein the pertinent literature on fungal urinary tract infections is reviewed, with emphasis on the predisposing factors, pathogenesis, host defense mechanisms and the clinical spectrum of the disease. An approach to the evaluation of positive cultures and therapy is presented.
Inhibition of platelet-dependent thrombus formation by human activated protein C in a primate model

The in vivo antithrombotic properties of human plasma activated protein C (APC), a natural anticoagulant enzyme, were investigated in a baboon model of thrombus formation on prosthetic vascular grafts. Infusion of 0.25 to 1.1 mg/kg/h purified, human, APC inhibited blood clotting, as measured by the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and reduced vascular graft platelet deposition by 40% to 70%, as determined by the real-time scintillation camera imaging of 111In-labeled platelet deposition. APC infusion also preserved graft patency. Hemostatic plug formation remained normal, as measured by the template bleeding times. These results suggest that APC administration may produce immediate antithrombotic effects under arterial flow conditions.
Exercise Techniques for Radionuclide Angiocardiography

Evaluation of cardiac function during stress exercise provides important information unavailable from studies performed at rest. A dequate data are difficult to obtain during exercise because of the brief duration of the cardiac cycle, the rapid transit of tracer through the heart, and patient motion during exercise. During rest and exercise, we performed radionuclide angiocardiograms in the erect position on normal subjects and patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The electrocardiogram (ECG) was telemetered and the blood pressure was monitored at regular intervals. A prior treadmill exercise test in all subjects with CAD had documented the heart rate-blood pressure (HR-BP) product at which ischemic myocardial changes occurred on ECG. A bicycle ergometer provided a gradually increasing work load from 200 kilopond meters/min to 700 kpm/min to achieve 80% of the maximal HR-BP product achieved during treadmill testing. Cardiac chamber wall motion and volume changes during individual cardiac contractions were assessed at heart rates greater than 200 beats/min. When properly performed, resting and exercise initial transit radionuclide angiocardiograms provide a large amount of important hemodynamic information with little patient risk or discomfort.
Acute Illness Associated with Exposure to a New Soil Fumigant Containing Dimethyl Disulfide—Hillsborough County, Florida, 2014

Dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) is a new soil fumigant that is considered a replacement for methyl bromide. In 2014, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) received several complaints of illness following a strong DMDS odor in Hillsborough County. Public health investigation of DMDS-related illness was conducted to assess illness and identify areas to target for prevention activities. This investigation included surveillance, interviews, review of medical records, review of supporting documentation, and determination of pesticide-related illness and injury case status. FDOH interviewed 66 people complaining of illness related to DMDS. Thirty-two were classified as possible and 11 as suspicious cases of DMDS-related illness. Among cases, the mean age was 48 years (range: 3-71 years). The majority were non-Hispanic (n = 43, 100%), white (n = 40, 93%), and female (n = 23, 53.5%). The most common signs and symptoms reported by exposed people included eye pain, throat irritation, nausea, dizziness, headache, and fatigue. There were 88% of cases classified as having low severity of illness and 12% classified as having moderate severity. The average distance from an application site among individuals who reported being exposed at or near their home was 0.74 miles for those classified as cases (n = 36) and 2.84 miles for those not classified as cases (n = 21, P < .05). This is the first known comprehensive report of DMDS-related illness in humans. Even though illnesses associated with DMDS in this investigation were generally of low severity, it is important to identify better ways to prevent off-target movement of DMDS and to improve notification to communities when nearby DMDS applications are planned.
Influence of Provider Communication on Women's Delivery Expectations and Birth Experience Appraisal: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Although current research suggests that patient-provider prenatal communication and expectation-setting affects women's outcomes, more needs to be understood about the kinds of communication experiences that shape women's expectations, the nature of expectations that women hold, and how those expectations influence their appraisal of labor and delivery. The goal of this study is to draw connections between provider communication, birth experience expectations, and birth experience appraisals. METHODS Recently delivered mothers (n=36) were recruited at a mid-Atlantic community hospital. Using a grounded theory approach, interviews were systematically analyzed to uncover how participants perceived provider communication during their prenatal care, how participants described their expectations of the birth experience, and how expectations affected appraisals of the experience. RESULTS Mothers recognize providers' use of patient-centered communication in messages of empowerment, emotional support, explanation, decision making, and elicitation. Findings posit that it is the inflexibility or flexibility of expectations that may determine mothers' appraisals of the birth experience. CONCLUSIONS Mothers continue to rely on providers as partners in health care. Through patient-centered communication, providers can help mothers develop flexible expectations of the birth experience, which in turn can result in positive appraisals of delivery.
Extralocating Faculty in Technical Communication

ABSTRACTTenure-line faculty—teaching onsite or online—are typically perceived as resident scholars and instructors who live local to their institutions. A geographically diversified tenure-line faculty, however, could also serve the education of students by bringing a wider array of influences and opportunities to the online classroom. Programs in technical communication must examine how to incorporate extralocated faculty and how to prepare willing and eligible faculty for extralocated teaching, research, and service.
Preface: Guidelines for the Treatment of Travelers' Diarrhea in Deployed Military Personnel

Diarrheal disease frequently affects military personnel deployed to developing countries, resulting in decreased job performance and potential negative impacts on military operational readiness. Travelers' diarrhea is a self-limiting illness; however, antibiotic treatment (with and without use of adjunct loperamide therapy) has been shown to significantly reduce clinical presentation of symptoms and duration of illness. Nonetheless, the choice of first-line antibiotics must be carefully considered as increasing resistance of enteric pathogens in endemic regions has rendered many first-line antibiotics ineffective (e.g., Campylobacter spp. are resistant to fluoroquinolones in Southeast Asia). Presently, there are no standardized recommendations for the treatment of travelers' diarrhea among deployed military personnel. Therefore, an expert panel was convened to develop evidence-based, consensus-driven guidelines that address key clinical issues related to self-treatment, antibiotic treatment for acute watery diarrhea and febrile diarrhea/dysentery, and diagnostics. These guidelines "Management of Acute Diarrheal Illness during Deployment" are published in this supplement along with articles reviewing the evidence-based data that supported their development.
Advancing Research on Traditional Whole Systems Medicine Approaches

While the intention of Integrative Medicine (IM) is whole person medicine, it has for the most part remained driven by individual modalities. Like the practice of IM itself, IM research too has been driven primarily by studies on individual modalities. There are significant challenges to moving research on whole systems medicine forward, with funding being at the top of the list. Historically, NIH has not been receptive to supporting research on whole systems, preferring instead to support studies that are more individual modality driven so that mechanisms can be identified. Purely mechanistic research, however, assumes unidirectional causality and linear responses yet clinical responses to whole systems approaches are more often multidirectional and dynamically unpredictable. The concept of emergence is applicable here. Whole systems approaches suggest that by incorporating therapies into holistic treatment programs we not only treat symptoms but accomplish more by activating the body's inherent self-organizing healing mechanisms and treat the root cause of illnesses as well as associated symptoms. Given that interest in integrative therapies with the general public and medical community is steadily increasing, there is need for more research that explores intact whole systems approaches to elucidate the relevant system-wide effects and dynamic interactions related to these practices.
Cardiac Surgery in the Elderly: The Critical Care Phase

A growing number of elderly patients (aged 70 years and older) are seen in critical care units after valve surgery or coronary artery bypass grafting. While studies show that the elderly demonstrate overall successful results after cardiac surgery, the mortality and morbidity risks are higher than in younger adults. The elderly patient is more likely to experience postoperative complications, prolonging the recovery phase. Commonly reported postoperative complications include dysrhythmias, pneumonia, cerebral vascular accidents, and infection. Elderly surgical candidates must be evaluated preoperatively to determine risk factors that may affect the critical care recovery phase. The length of stay tends to be longer in the intensive care unit, requiring nursing care that takes the aging process into consideration. The following article focuses on trends in cardiac surgery in the elderly, physiologic factors that affect outcome and recovery, and nursing interventions aimed at preventing or limiting postoperative complications.
Israel’s “Constitutional Revolution”: A Thought from Political Liberalism

In his book The Purse and the Sword: The Trials of Israel’s Legal Revolution, Daniel Friedmann brings under critical inspection what he names as a legal revolution in Israel. Friedmann gives us, under that name, an account of a shift of certain major and sensitive state powers from elected leaders and legislators to politically insulated officials and judges. The Supreme Court’s construction of two Basic Law enactments of the twelfth Knesset into a justiciable, substantive “formal constitution” for Israel figures in Friedmann’s book as one component of the revolution, along with other judicial developments, including purposive interpretation of constitutional and other laws, an intensified form of common-law review of administrative actions for unreasonableness, and expansionary revisions to standing and justiciability. In all these developments, Aharon Barak took a leading part as judge and as scholar. I here consider to what extent these developments may be understood as responsive to promptings from a “political-liberal” conception of a justificational burden and need for substantive constitutional law. I reflect here on the possible pull of this conception in a political-cultural setting of a persisting widespread attachment to an idea of Israel as a member of the family of liberal constitutional states, and hence on Barak’s understanding of the role and responsibility of the Supreme Court. I speculate briefly about how far that pull may extend also to Professor Friedmann in his role of critic of the judicial handiwork of Barak and the Court on which he served.
Parenteral phenobarbital in status epilepticus revisited: Mayo Clinic experience

Despite phenobarbital (PB) being a key component in status epilepticus (SE) treatment algorithms for decades, it has fallen out of favor compared to newer nonsedating medications due to potential for respiratory suppression and prolonged sedation. We retrospectively analyzed all nonintubated patients with refractory SE treated with parenteral PB. Forty patients were identified as having received PB in the neurologic intensive care unit at Mayo Clinic over a 7-year period through our pharmacy dispensing database. Patients who received PB for maintenance therapy, those replenishing subtherapeutic levels, those who were already intubated, and those receiving PB for a non-SE indication were excluded. Clinical data, prior treatments, therapeutic response, and outcome were reviewed. Eight patients were identified. Ages ranged from 24 to 77 years (median = 64 years); all had focal SE, and none was comatose. Seizure activity improved acutely following PB administration in seven and stopped in six. Dosages ranged from 5 to 19.8 mg/kg (median = 10.1 mg/kg); none required intubation, and one received supplemental oxygen. Patients received a median of four antiepileptic drugs prior to PB. Median interval between first drug and PB was 23.5 hours. Glasgow Coma Scale score did not change following PB administration. One patient required intervention for hypotension. Moderate-dose parenteral PB was effective in attaining seizure control in a significant proportion of noncomatose refractory SE patients. None required ventilatory support. PB dosages below those in recent guidelines may be sufficient to stop SE without clinically significant cardiopulmonary complications.
Microfluidics-enabled rapid manufacturing of hierarchical silica-magnetic microflower toward enhanced circulating tumor cell screening

The emergence of microfluidic techniques provides new opportunities for chemical synthesis and biomedical applications. Herein, we first develop a microfluidics-based flow and sustainable strategy to synthesize hierarchical silica-magnetic microflower with unique multilayered structure for the efficient capture of circulating tumor cells through our engineered microfluidic screening chip. The production of microflower materials can be realized within 94 milliseconds and a yield of nearly 5 grams per hour can be achieved. The enhanced bioaccessibility of such a multilayered microflower towards cancer cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) is demonstrated, and the cancer cell capture efficiency of this hierarchical immunomagnetic system in clinical blood samples is significantly increased compared with a standard CellSearch™ assay. These findings bring new insights for engineering functional micro-/nanomaterials in liquid biopsy.
The opportunity cost of walking away in the spatial iterated prisoner's dilemma.

Abstract Previous work with the spatial iterated prisoner’s dilemma has shown that the ability to respond to a partner’s defection by simply “walking away” allows so-called walk away cooperators to outcompete defectors as well as cooperators that do not respond to defection. These findings are important because they suggest a relatively simple route by which cooperation can evolve. But it remains to be seen just how robust the walk away strategy is to ecologically important variables such as population density, strategic error, and offspring dispersal. The results of our simulation experiments show that the evolutionary success of walk away cooperators decreases with decreasing population density and/or with increasing error. This relationship is best explained by the ways in which population density and error jointly affect the opportunity cost of walking away. This opportunity cost also explains why naive cooperators regularly outcompete walk away cooperators in pair-wise competition, something not observed in previous studies. Our results further show that local offspring dispersal can inhibit the evolution of cooperation by negating the protection low population density affords the most vulnerable cooperators. Our research identifies socio-ecological conditions in which forgiveness trumps flight in the spatial iterated prisoner’s dilemma.
Community Engagement for Student Faith Development: Service-Learning in the Pentecostal Tradition

AbstractCommunity engagement through service-learning has been a mainstay of higher education for the past 20 years and has increasingly proven successful in grounding academic knowledge in communi...
Fusion-energy reaction H 2 ( t , α ) n from E t = 12.5 to 117 keV

We have measured the cross section for the important fusion-energy reaction $^{2}\mathrm{H}(\mathrm{t},\ensuremath{\alpha})\mathrm{n}$ at 17 energies over the triton bombarding energy range of 12.5-117 keV. This corresponds to an equivalent deuteron bombarding energy range of 8.3-78.1 keV and to a plasma temperature ($\mathrm{kT}$) range of 0.7-18.8 keV. The cross section is accurate to 1.4% over most of the energy range, with the error rising to 4.8% at the lowest energy. These data are considerably more accurate than the previous d + t measurements in this energy range. We compare our data with those of other measurements and with an existing $R$-matrix analysis of the mass-5 system. We have also performed a single-level $R$-matrix analysis of a restricted data base that contains our data and have used that analysis to compute Maxwellian reactivities up to a plasma temperature of 20 keV. In addition, for calibration purposes, we measured to better than 1% absolute error the $^{2}\mathrm{H}$(p,p)$^{2}\mathrm{H}$ elastic differential cross section at six laboratory angles at a proton bombarding energy of 10.04 MeV.
High-fructose corn syrup-sweetened soft drink consumption increases vascular resistance in the kidneys at rest and during sympathetic activation

We first tested the hypothesis that consuming a high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)-sweetened soft drink augments kidney vasoconstriction to sympathetic stimulation compared with water (study 1). In a ...
Influence of Sampling Site and Fluid Flow on the Accuracy of Total Body Clearance Calculation

Studies have showed that by assuming arteriovenous drug concentrations are homogenous after intravenous injection, the determination of total body clearance based on venous drug concentrations is often inaccurate. This study considers the use of a fluidic pharmacokinetic profile generator where 28 different profile types were generated corresponding to a physiological model with varying sampling sites, administration locations, and fluid flow rates. Clearance was calculated using established equations, commercial software, and recently proposed models. The results show large differences in clearance values calculated with published equations and commercial software relative to the actual value of clearance. Alterations in sampling site, administration location, and fluid flow rates each influence the extent of calculation errors. The data show that a significant drug concentration gradient exists within the central circulatory system. The results show that the best way to address this issue would be to inject the drug at a peripheral location to allow for sufficient mixing and then sample from a large vein. Extrapolating for missing data can also lead to large errors in clearance calculation; this can be addressed by collecting more samples early after IV bolus administration or by collecting data during steady state conditions for an IV infusion.
Why Do Election Results Change After Election Day? The "Blue Shift" in California Elections

The counting of votes in contemporary American elections is usually not completed on Election Night. There has been an increasing tendency for vote shares to shift toward Democratic candidates afte...
The Oxygen of Publicity: Explaining U.S. Media Coverage of International Kidnapping

What explains U.S. media coverage of Americans kidnapped abroad? While some hostages receive national media attention, others hardly make the local news. Using an original, event count dataset of n...
Medical emergencies in the dental school setting

Purpose/objectives An aging population with an increasing chronic disease burden may make management of medical emergencies in dental practice more common. Previous research has differed significantly in the reported frequency of medical emergencies in a dental setting, often relying on survey-based protocols. This study examines the incidence and type of emergencies encountered in a dental school setting. Additional examination of contributing medical co-morbidities is provided. Methods A retrospective study was designed to review 121 incident reports at the Ohio State University College of Dentistry (OSU CoD) from July 1, 2013 to January 24, 2019. Sixty-five of the recorded events were classified as medical emergencies and were further analyzed. Results The most common emergency encountered was syncope, followed by cardiac events, seizures, and diabetic complications. Emergencies most commonly occurred in the pre-doctoral general dentistry clinics. Many of the affected patients had no significant medical history. Conclusion Identifying emergencies most encountered by dentists is critical for process improvement, awareness, and targeted educational initiatives. This may reduce the frequency of medical emergencies in dental practices and allow for more efficient management should they occur.