cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the rhamnomannans from the human pathogen Sporothrix schenckii with those from the Ceratocystis species.

Rhamnomannans from several isolates of Sporothrix schenckii and Ceratocystis species were compared. No major differences emerged in the analysis of the carbohydrate composition of polysaccharides from either species. Methylation analysis for the identification of the glycosidic linkages present in the polysaccharides showed that they all were very similar with minor differences being observed among strains and between polysaccharides obtained at 25 and 37 C. Partially methylated derivatives were identified by gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Their proportions suggest that polysaccharides from S. schenckii and C. stenoceras have a general structure similar to that of C. ulmi: a (1 → 6)-linked α-d-mannopyranosyl main chain substituted in the 3-positions by α-l-rhamnopyranosyl and in many cases by α-l-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2)-l-rhamnopyranosyl side chains. Differences among polysaccharides resided in the proportions of the dirhamnosyl side chains and of 4-O-substituted and 2, 4-di-O-substituted mannose units. Increased proportions of dirhamnosyl side chains were observed in the polysaccharides from S. schenckii strains and from a pathogenic variant of C. stenoceras grown at 25 C. Proton magnetic resonance spectra (H-1 region) of the rhamnomannans showed that S. schenckii strains could be placed in two different groups similar but not identical to any Ceratocystis species. These spectra were very close to those of the polysaccharides from the C. clavata and C. ambrosia groups of Ceratocystis species.
Unemployment and Underemployment among Mexican-Origin Workers.

This study documents, for the first time, the incidence of underemployment among workers of Mexican descent. The results indicate that there were twice as many underemployed Mexican males relative ...
Rotational Maneuver of Ferromagnetic Nanowires for Cell Manipulation

1-D magnetic nanowires provide a powerful tool for investigating biological systems because such nanomaterials possess unique magnetic properties, which allow effective manipulation of cellular and subcellular objects. In this study, we report the rotational maneuver of ferromagnetic nanowires and their applications in cell manipulation. The rotational maneuver is studied under two different suspension conditions. The rotation of nanowires in the fluid is analyzed using Stokes flow assumption. Experimental results show that when the nanowires develop contacts with the bottom surfaces, the rotational maneuver under a modest external magnetic field can generate rapid lateral motion. The floating nanowires, on the other hand, do not exhibit substantial lateral displacements. Cell manipulation using skeletal myoblasts C2C12 shows that living cells can be manipulated efficiently on the bottom surface by the rotational maneuver of the attached nanowires. We also demonstrate the use of rotational maneuver of nanowires for creating 3-D nanowire clusters and multicellular clusters. This study is expected to add to the knowledge of nanowire-based cell manipulation and contribute to a full spectrum of control strategies for efficient use of nanowires for micro-total-analysis. It may also facilitate mechanobiological studies at cellular level, and provide useful insights for development of 3-D in vivo-like multicellular models for various applications in tissue engineering.
Model-based identification: an adaptive approach to ocean-acoustic processing

A model-based approach is developed to solve an adaptive ocean-acoustic signal-processing problem. Model-based signal processing is a well-defined methodology enabling the inclusion of propagation models, measurement models, and noise models into sophisticated processing algorithms. Here, we investigate the design of a so-called model-based identifier (MBID) for a general nonlinear state-space structure and apply it to a shallow water ocean-acoustic problem characterized by the normal-mode model. In this problem, we assume that the structure of the model is known and we show how this parameter-adaptive processor can be configured to jointly estimate both the modal functions and the horizontal wave numbers directly from the measured pressure-field and sound speed. We first design the model-based identifier using a model developed from a shallow-water ocean experiment and then apply it to a corresponding set of experimental data demonstrating the feasibility of this approach. It is also shown that one of the benefits of this adaptive approach is a solution to the so-called "mismatch" problem in matched-field processing (MFP).
Research Note---Comparing IT Workers' Compensation Across Country Contexts: Demographic, Human Capital, and Institutional Factors

As the IT workforce becomes global, it is increasingly important to understand the factors affecting IT workers' compensation in labor markets distributed across the globe. Ang et al. (2002) published the first in-depth analysis of compensation for IT professionals juxtaposing human capital endowment (education and experience) and institutional determinants (firm's size, industry, and sector) of compensation in the Singaporean economy. In this paper, we explore the influence of particular national economies on IT workers' compensation. We draw on research into the roots of wage differentials in labor economics and build on the Ang et al. research to present a multilevel analysis of IT workers' compensation in the United States, analyzing the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey (CPS) data for 1997, 2001, and 2003. We find that, while institutional differences in Singapore mattered only in conjunction with individual factors, in the U.S. institutional differences had a direct effect on IT workers' wages. As tightness of IT labor supply decreased in the United States in the early 2000s, the influence of a firm's size on wages became more pronounced. Also, female IT workers and workers without a college degree fared worse than their male and college-educated counterparts as the IT job market slowed down. We suggest that factors such as presence of job search friction, diversity in the educational system, geographical differences in cost of living, labor mobility, and shortages in IT labor supply vis-a-vis demand help explain the differences among countries. We conclude by outlining the implications of these findings for IT workers, firms, and policy makers.
The Prediction of Ducted Fan Engine Noise Via a Boundary Integral Equation Method

A computationally efficient Boundary Integral Equation Method (BIEM) for the prediction of ducted fan engine noise is presented. The key features of the BIEM are its versatility and the ability to compute rapidly any portion of the sound field without the need to compute the entire field. Governing equations for the BIEM are based on the assumptions that all acoustic processes are linear, generate spinning modes, and occur in a uniform flow field. An exterior boundary value problem (BVP) is defined that describes the scattering of incident sound by an engine duct with arbitrary profile. Boundary conditions on the duct walls are derived that allow for passive noise control treatment. The BVP is recast as a system of hypersingular boundary integral equations for the unknown duct surface quantities. BIEM solution methodology is demonstrated for the scattering of incident sound by a thin cylindrical duct with hard walls. Numerical studies are conducted for various engine parameters and continuous portions of the total pressure field are computed. Radiation and duct propagation results obtained are in agreement with the classical results of spinning mode theory for infinite ducts.
Real-Time DSP in a Freshman ECE Course

This paper describes the coverage of real-time DSP topics as part of a one credit laboratory course for freshman majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). The course is motivational in nature and exposes the students to a wide range of areas of electrical and computer engineering. The authors believe it is important to give freshmen a broad perspective of what ECE is all about, and to shine some light on topics they will see later in the curriculum. The resulting single credit hour course meets only one day a week for two hours, with a format that combines both lecture and experimentation. The course is divided into a series of one to three week modules, each covering a selected topic in electrical and computer engineering. This paper describes a two week module which introduces the students to real-time DSP using TI's DSP Starter Kits (DSK), winDSK6, and Code Composer Studio.
Academic outcomes of an elementary school-based family support programme

School-based family support programmes (FSPs) work within schools to build partnerships with families, promote family engagement, address family needs, provide mentorship to students and increase access to community resources. Very few programme evaluation studies of FSPs have been conducted. We report on findings from a participatory evaluation of an FSP operating in 28 elementary schools, with emphasis on whether the programme had an impact on student-level and school-level academic outcomes. Analyses approaching, but not reaching, statistical significance indicated that the FSP may have been related to the increased availability of external community resources in schools and reductions in mobility. However, in the absence of a randomly assigned control group, there were no indications that the programme was related to improvements in student attendance, disciplinary actions or standardized test scores. Implications for practice and research are described.
An Integrated Approach to the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders and Phobias

Anxiety is a human experience which many assume is universal. Excessive or inappropriate “amounts” or overly frequent occurrences of this state, in its biopsychologically pure form or in the form of anxiety-based symptoms, have been the concern of all schools of psychotherapy since the field was born. Phobias and anxiety disorders often have been at the center of fierce disputes, controversies, and battles between therapists of one sectarian approach or another. Such acrimonious debates go back as far as the “Little Hans” and “Little Albert” discussions (Freud, 1909; Watson & Reyner, 1920), in which the psychoanalytic and behavioral theories of phobic etiology first were described as mutually exclusive. As behavior therapy developed as a viable alternative to analytic and humanistic therapies, the disorders which were taken as its testing ground were phobias and anxiety.
Malignant hypertension and retinopathy in a western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

Background A 34-year-old western lowland gorilla presented with peracute blindness. Methods Clinical evaluation, diagnostic imaging, laboratory analyses, blood pressure measurements, and necropsy were performed. Results The clinical and postmortem findings supported malignant hypertension. Conclusions We describe a case of naturally occurring hypertensive encephalopathy and retinopathy in a gorilla.
Spatial Organization of EphA2 and its Effects on Internalization and Signaling in Living Cells

Our research focuses on the spatial reorganization of receptors and ligands that occurs at the cell-cell interface during juxtracine signaling. Our unique experimental platform, live cells interfaced with supported lipid bilayers, is a simplified and controllable system that recapitulates essential aspects of the cell-cell contact. To probe how protein organization in the membrane influences signaling in the cell, we pattern the supported lipid bilayer into microscale corrals that restrict membrane protein oligomerization to microclusters, then measure changes in the cell. For instance, when cells expressing the receptor tyrosine kinase EphA2 are placed on a supported lipid bilayer that contains the ligand ephrinA1, the receptors bind the ligands and the complex reorganizes into large clusters. Applying spatial perturbations to disrupt the reorganization of EphA2-ephrinA1 clusters results in alterations of downstream signaling events. In particular, we found that recruitment of the metalloprotease ADAM10 to the clusters is inhibited, indicating that EphA2 signaling is sensitive to perturbations in the spatial organization of the ligand. ADAM10 has been implicated in the cleavage and subsequent endocytosis of other ephrin ligands, suggesting that ADAM10 may be necessary for the efficient endocytosis of EphA2-ephrinA1. Therefore, our research is currently probing the role of endocytosis in the spatiomechanical sensitivity of EphA2. We will present our studies of receptor tyrosine kinase spatial organization in cancer cells as well as in other living systems.
Lasers and the Fate of Phonographic Recordings

Conventional methods cannot always be used to play back sound recordings from old and/or damaged phonographic cylinders and discs. New compact disc technology uses lasers for quality and precision playback of sound recordings. To what extent can lasers be effectively used on phonographic media? Laboratory work and attempts at mass marketing provide interesting insights for sound archivists.
Thermal shock in a new Vibrio phage.

Summary1. The phenomenon of “Thermal Shock” is described. Phage, which was partially inactivated by heating at 60°C for 0.5 hour, showed further inactivation when plunged into an ice bath (2°C). 2. Temperature and time conditions of heating to prepare the phage for inactivation by “Thermal Shock” have been defined. 3. Evidence is presented that “Thermal Shock” is a result of change in the physiological state of the phage particle brought about by pre-heating and does not involve a masked reactivation.
Measurement of Heme Ruffling Changes in MhuD Using UV-vis Spectroscopy.

For decades it has been known that an out-of-plane ruffling distortion of heme perturbs its UV–vis absorption (Abs) spectrum, but whether increased ruffling induces a red or blue shift of the Soret band has remained a topic of debate. This debate has been resolved by the spectroscopic and computational characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis MhuD presented here, an enzyme that converts heme, oxygen, and reducing equivalents to nonheme iron and mycobilin. W66F and W66A MhuD have been characterized using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, Abs, and magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopies, and the data have been used to develop an experimentally validated theoretical model of ruffled, ferric heme. The PBE density functional theory (DFT) model that has been developed accurately reproduces the observed spectral changes from wild type enzyme, and the underlying quantum mechanical origins of these ruffling-induced changes were revealed by analyzing the PBE DFT description of the electronic structure. Small ...
Effects of Aging Treatment on Mechanical Properties of Optimal Cast Al-Si-Mg Alloy

Effects of solution temperature and time on mechanical properties of improved cast Al-Si-Mg aluminum alloy after solution treatment(495℃×5 h) were investigated.The results show that,when the aging processes are 165℃×6 h and 175℃×6 h,the mechanical properties reaches peak values.At 165℃×6 h,σb =254.7 MPa,hardness=107.3HBS,δ=6.23%;at 175℃×6 h,σb =268.2 MPa,hardness=113.5 HBS,δ=5.08%.
Waveguide electro-optic modulators based on self-assembled material systems

Fabrication and characterization of electro-optic modulators based on the novel organic electro-optic materials composed of self-assembled superlattices (SAS) were presented, both wet-dipping self-assembly and vapor phase deposition approaches were discussed. Prototype waveguide electro-optic modulators were fabricated using SAS films integrated with low-loss polymeric materials functioning as partial guiding and cladding layers.Promising electro-optic thin film materials including DTPT and PEPCOOH grown from the vapor phase were used for fabrication and test of electro-optic prototype modulators. Finally,the EO coefficient of tens of pm/V was obtained,which can sufficiently support high-speed and small size EO modulators.
Relying on High-Stakes Standardized Tests to Evaluate Schools and Teachers: A Bad Idea.

ABSTRACTIn the twenty-first century, the use of standardized tests as the primary means to evaluate schools and teachers in the United States has contributed to severe dilemmas, including misleading information on what students know, lower-level instruction, cheating, less collaboration, unfair treatment of teachers, and biased teaching. This article provides reasons for the increased use in high-stakes testing and detail on the problems it causes. Also included are possible solutions to alleviate the concerns associated with high-stakes testing.
Von Hippel-Lindau Disease and Pheochromocytoma

Nineteen percent of 82 unselected patients with pheochromocytoma studied at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and the University of California, San Diego, were found to be gene carriers of von Hippel-Lindau disease.
Highly Organized Smectic-like Packing in Vapor-Deposited Glasses of a Liquid Crystal

Glasses of a model smectic liquid crystal-forming molecule, itraconazole, were prepared by vapor deposition onto substrates with temperatures ranging from Tsubstrate = 0.78Tg to 1.02Tg, where Tg (=330 K) is the glass transition temperature. The films were characterized using X-ray scattering techniques. For Tsubstrate near and below Tg, glasses with layered smectic-like structures can be prepared and the layer spacing can be tuned by 16% through the choice of Tsubstrate. Remarkably, glasses prepared with Tsubstrate values above Tg exhibit levels of structural organization much higher than that of a thermally annealed film. These results are explained by a mechanism based upon a preferred molecular orientation and enhanced molecular motion at the free surface, indicating that molecular organization in the glass is independent of the anchoring preferred at the substrate. These results suggest new strategies for optimizing molecular packing within active layers of organic electronic and optoelectronic devices.
Teachers as Producers of Data Analytics: A Case Study of a Teacher-Focused Educational Data Science Program

Educational data science (EDS) is an emerging, interdisciplinary research domain that seeks to improve educational assessment, teaching, and student learning through data analytics. Teachers have been portrayed in the EDS literature as users of pre-constructed data dashboards in educational technologies, with little consideration given to them as active producers of data analytics. This article presents the case study results of an EDS program at a large university in Midwestern U.S.A. in which faculty and instructors were provided with access to institutional data and data analytics technologies in order to explore questions related to their classroom and departmental environments. Semi-structured interviews of program participants were conducted to examine the participants’ experiences as practitioner researchers in EDS. The analysis showed that participants were motivated to participate to improve their learning and educational environments through data analytics, as opposed to developing a research agenda in EDS; that participants experienced a range of barriers related to data literacy; and that participant community support in addition to administrative support are vital to teacher-focused EDS programs. This study adds to a small but growing body of research in EDS and practitioner research that considers teachers as producers and not just consumers of data analytics.
Spain, Sweden and Subsidies

Pomponne, at The Hague, was not directly involved in the French efforts to win England and Sweden away from the Triple Alliance. Yet, as the representative of France at the hub point of the league, he had to note the responses there to the maneuvers conceived and directed by Lionne. As for the foreign minister, he looked to Pomponne perhaps more than to any other French diplomat for help in evaluating the changing events and in judging what should be done. Pomponne was a model of ambassadorial competence and sagacity; he was also a personal and intimate friend without hidden motives, who gladly followed his advice to the letter.1
Comparison of Perioperative Costs between Stereotactic Laser Ablation and Craniotomy for Hypothalamic Hamartoma

Hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) is a congenital intracranial lesion associated with precocious puberty and gelastic epilepsy in children. Surgical management of HH to treat refractory epilepsy is a mainstay of treatment. Our aim was to compare the demographic characteristics and perioperative costs associated with resection by craniotomy and stereotactic laser ablation (SLA) by reviewing our institutional experience with SLA and comparing these data to a national database for craniotomy and resection. Retrospective chart review was conducted for the Texas Children's Hospital cohort of patients who underwent SLA for HH between 2011 and 2013. Information about the craniotomy cohort representing historical cases of craniotomy was obtained from the Kids' Inpatient Database for years 2003, 2006, and 2009. The cohort definition for patients undergoing craniotomy for HH was modified from published adult literature to identify pediatric patients with refractory epilepsy secondary to HH. Our study has shown that children undergoing SLA for HH have a shorter length of stay and lower cost of hospitalization compared with those who underwent craniotomy and resection for the same diagnosis. Together with previous findings from our institution regarding the safety and efficacy of SLA, our findings suggest that SLA may represent an attractive alternative to craniotomy for the treatment of refractory epilepsy secondary to HH.
Iron Metabolism Anemia hbd Mice Have a Mutation in the Sec15l1 Gene for Vesicle Docking.

Defects in iron absorption and utilization lead to iron deficiency and anemia. Although iron transport in transferrin receptor-mediated endocytosis is well understood, it is not clear how iron is transported from the endosome to mitochondria where it is used to synthesize heme. We undertook a positional cloning project to identify the causative mutation for the hemoglobin deficit ( hbd ) mouse which suffers from a microcytic, hypochromic anemia associated with a defect in reticulocyte iron uptake. The hbd locus was previously mapped to Chromosome 19 in mouse. We established a mating of B6MOLDF1-+/ hbd with C57BL/6J- hbd/hbd mice to generate a high resolution map from 2,454 backcross mice. The hbd critical region was defined by the flanking marker with 6 crossover backcross mice, Kif11 , at 0.24 cM on the proximal side, and by the very informative marker with only 1 crossover backcross mouse, Fer1l3 at 0.04 cM on the distal side. The calculated size of the hbd critical region is 836 kb as determined by the sequence available in GenBank contig NT 039689. Our approach for mutation analysis was to amplify exons for each gene in the hbd critical region by genomic PCR using primers derived from flanking sequence. The results were examined for gene deletions, insertions, or large rearrangements as determined by the size of the PCR product generated from normal and mutant DNA. We now report the identification of a strong candidate gene for hbd: Sec15l1 , a homologue to yeast SEC15 which has been shown to be a key protein in vesicle docking. The Sec15l1 gene was the only gene in this region with a defect and was shown to have a deletion of exon 8 in hbd genomic DNA. The Sec15l1 partial deletion was verified by Southern blotting. Sec15l1 RNA expression in hbd mice was examined by RT-PCR and subsequent sequencing of the amplicon product. The exon 8 deletion leaves the coding sequence in-frame and a truncated SEC15L1 protein (3 kDa smaller) is predicted to be produced in hbd mice. The deletion in Sec15l1 removes 23 amino acids which includes two amino acids important for tertiary structure: a cysteine residue at position 283 and a proline residue at position 287. Studies of mutant hbd reticulocytes have shown that the binding of transferrin to its receptor and the formation of the endosome is normal but accumulation of iron is deficient in these cells. Iron and transferrin enter the hbd cells but iron does not build up in the cell. The efficient transfer of iron from endosome to mitochondria in normal reticulocytes has been proposed to result from the endosome traversing the cell to dock onto the mitochondria in order to directly transfer iron to it ("kiss and run" hypothesis). In hbd reticulocytes iron may not be transferred efficiently from the endosome to mitochondria because vesicle docking is impaired. This is the first known mutation of a SEC gene homologue in mammals and our findings suggest that SEC15L1 plays a crucial role in the transport of iron in the endocytosis cycle and may involve iron targeting to mitochondria.
Roadside Abundance of Anurans within a Community Correlates with Reproductive Investment

Roads and their associated effects (road-kill, pollution, etc.) have a largely negative impact on animals, especially amphibians, but not all species are affected to the same degree. Variation in life histories may explain some of these differences. Here, we examine how abundance of anuran species in roadside habitats is correlated with an aspect of reproductive life history: number of eggs produced by a female per year. Using data from a 1.5-year monitoring project in Central Florida, we found a positive correlation between the number of eggs produced by an average female of a species and the proportion of individuals found in roadside habitats compared to control habitats. This implies either that populations of species with a greater reproductive rate are able to rebound more quickly from negative road impacts, or that there is a strong selective pressure on species with low reproductive rates to avoid roads.
IDENTIFYING PREDICTORS OF SUBSTANCE USE AND RECIDIVISM OUTCOME TRAJECTORIES AMONG DRUG TREATMENT COURT CLIENTS.

Drug treatment court (DTC) is a diversion program for individuals with drug-related crimes. However, the DTC literature is conflicting with regard to substance use and recidivism outcomes. This study examines factors associated with improved client outcome trajectories among a multisite, national DTC sample. We conducted a secondary analysis of 2,295 participants using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs assessment tool. Participants in community-based treatment comprised a nonequivalent comparison group. Zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) regression examined client sociodemographics in relation to substance use and rearrest at 6-month follow-up. Employed DTC clients were more likely to abstain from substances, but among all study participants, higher baseline use, male gender, and employment predicted substance use. Similarly, among DTC clients, older age and employment predicted no rearrests, but among all study participants, older and employed individuals had worse arrest outcome trajectories. Future wor...
Paul Meier: My Journey to Now

I am honored and flattered to be among the first of several senior VASTA members invited to contribute an essay by this title to the Voice and Speech Review, and I look forward very much to reading...
Generalized Expectancies for Negative Mood Regulation Among Youth in Grades 4 to 8

Negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE) represent people’s beliefs that they can use behaviors and cognitions to alleviate unpleasant emotional states. The relationship between NMRE and measur...
Squeezed Quantum Fluctuations in Free-Motion and Harmonic Oscillation

With a proper choice of the initial wave function it is possible to obtain reduced or squeezed quantum fluctuations of the un- certainty of the position operator for a free particle.1 Such an effect is important for the so-called quantum nondemolition measurements of weak external signals. We show that for both free-motion and harmonic oscillation such a property holds owing to the conformal invariance of the Schrodinger equation. We show that for harmonic oscillation it is possible to reduce the quantum fluctuations of the measured photon below the standard quantum limit.2 Possible applications to optical communications and weak signal detections are also presented
The Future of Leisure Studies in Research Universities: Administrators' Perspectives

This article summarizes the content of a three-day administrative summit held at Zion Ponderosa Resort in southern Utah in late September 2010. Department chairs, heads, and deans representing 13 u...
Statewide Public School Music Competitions/Festivals in Kansas and Oklahoma: The Beginnings of the School Music Contest Movement in the United States:

Music competitions have an ancient history dating back some two thousand years. In the United States, early music contests mimicked the German Saengerfests and Welsh Eistoddfods; however, some of t...
Performance of various commercial TiO2 in photocatalytic degradation of a mixture of indoor air pollutants: Effect of photocatalyst and operating parameters

Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) air cleaners can be installed in air handling units to reduce occupants’ exposure to hazardous gases, boost indoor air quality, and concomitantly lower HVAC energy co...
Conduction heat transfer from oblate spheroids and bispheres

Abstract We theoretically examine heat transfer by conduction from oblate spheroidal and bispherical surfaces into a stationary, infinite medium. The surfaces are presumed to maintain a constant heat flux. Assuming steady-state condition and uniform thermal conductivity, we analytically solve Laplace’s equation for the temperature distribution and discuss the challenge of dealing with the Neumann (uniform flux) versus more convenient Dirichlet (isothermal) boundary condition. The solutions are obtained in boundary-fitting coordinate systems using the method of separation of variables and eigenfunction expansion. And, exact expressions for the average Nusselt number are presented along with their approximations.
Effect of leachate fraction on nitrate loading to the soil profile underlying a greenhouse crop.

Abstract Poinsettia stock plants were grown in a greenhouse and irrigated with a 20 mM (280 ppm) N solution to produce a low (10%) or high (50%) leaching fraction (LF). At two week intervals, core ...
Antibodies Irreversibly Adsorb to Gold Nanoparticles and Resist Displacement by Common Blood Proteins.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized with proteins to impart desirable surface properties have been developed for many nanobiotechnology applications. A strong interaction between the protein ...
Prehospital Naloxone and Emergency Department Adverse Events: A Dose-Dependent Relationship.

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate prehospital and emergency department (ED) interventions and outcomes of patients who received prehospital naloxone for a suspected opioid overdose. Objectives The primary objective was to evaluate if the individual dose, individual route, total dose, number of prehospital naloxone administrations, or occurrence of a prehospital adverse event (AE) were associated with the occurrence of AEs in the ED. Secondary objectives included a subset analysis of patients who received additional naloxone while in the ED, or were admitted to an intensive care or step-down unit (ICU). Methods This was a retrospective, observational chart review of adult patients who received prehospital naloxone and were transported by ambulance to a suburban academic tertiary care center between 2014 and 2017. Descriptive, univariate, and multivariate statistics were used, with p Results There were 513 patients included in the analysis, with a median age of 29 years, and median total prehospital naloxone dose of 2 mg. An increasing number of prehospital naloxone doses, an occurrence of a prehospital AE, and a route of administration other than intranasally for the first dose of prehospital naloxone were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of an ED AE. Patients who received Conclusions Our results suggest that an increasing number of prehospital naloxone doses was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of an ED adverse event.
Discovery: The Use of the N9/PFF2/KF94 Filter Mask by 100% of the South Korean Herd Has Saved Thousands of Lives on COVID-19.

More than 420,000 people in the United States and Brazil have unjustly died of infection with SARS-CoV-2 because they were not wearing an N95 filter mask or equivalent. That study found that the success of the South Korean experiment in having 624 killed by COVID-19, was that President Moon Jae-in performed actions of fair access to 100% of the South Korean herd to KF94 / N95 filter masks. In this study, we propose the protocol that turns filter masks into a public health asset for fair access to 100% of a country's herd, regardless of the government or president in power. Not giving fair access to the N95 / PFF2 filter mask is misconduct and neglects the country's highest authority because it means losing lives.
Assessment of aversive effects of methylone in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats: Conditioned taste avoidance, body temperature and activity/stereotypies

Abstract Methylone's rewarding effects have been well characterized; however, little is known about its aversive effects and how such effects may be impacted by sex. In this context, the present study investigated the aversive effects of methylone (vehicle, 5.6, 10 or 18 mg/kg, IP) in 35 male and 31 female Sprague-Dawley rats assessed by conditioned taste avoidance and changes in body temperature and activity/stereotypies. Methylone induced significant taste avoidance, changes in temperature and increased activity and stereotypies in both males and females. Similar to work with other synthetic cathinones, methylone has aversive effects as indexed by significant taste avoidance and changes in temperature and activity (two characteristics of methylone overdose in humans). The only endpoint for which there were significant sex differences was in general activity with males displaying a faster onset and females displaying a longer duration. Although sex was not a factor with taste avoidance and temperature, separate analyses for males and females revealed different patterns, e.g., males displayed a more rapid acquisition of taste avoidance and females displayed changes in temperature at lower doses. Males displayed a faster onset and females displayed a longer duration of activity (consistent with the analyses considering sex as a factor), while time- and dose-dependent stereotypies did not show consistent pattern differences. Although sex differences were relatively limited when sex was specifically assessed as a factor (or only evident when sex comparisons were made in the patterns of effects), sex as a biological variable in the study of drugs should be made to determine if differences exist and, if evident, the basis for these differences.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy does not alleviate tourniquet-induced acute ischemia-reperfusion injury in mouse skeletal muscles

Abstract During tourniquet application, blood flow is restricted to a limb to stop excessive limb hemorrhage in a trauma setting and to create a bloodless operating field in the surgical setting. During tourniquet-related ischemia, aerobic respiration stops, and ATP is depleted, and during subsequent reperfusion, there is an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and other endogenous substances, which leads to acute ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injuries, including tissue necrosis and skeletal muscle contractile dysfunction. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy can increase the arterial oxygen tension in the tissues of patients with general hypoxia/anoxia, including carbon monoxide poisoning, circulatory arrest, and cerebral and myocardial ischemia. Here, we studied the protective effects of HBO pretreatment with 100% oxygen at 2.5 ATA against tourniquet/IR injury in mice. After one hour of HBO therapy with 100% oxygen at 2.5 ATA was administered to C57/BL6 mice, a rubber band was placed at the hip joint of the unilateral hindlimb to induce 3 hours of ischemia and then released for 48 hours of reperfusion. We analyzed gastrocnemius muscle morphology and contractile function and measured the levels of ATP and ROS accumulation in the muscles. HBO pretreatment did not improve tourniquet/IR-injured gastrocnemius muscle morphology and muscle contraction. Tourniquet/IR mice with HBO pretreatment showed no increase in ATP levels in IR tissues, but they did have a decreased amount of ROS accumulation in the muscles, compared to IR mice with no HBO pretreatment. These data suggest that one hour of HBO pretreatment with 100% oxygen at 2.5 ATA increases the antioxidant response to lower ROS accumulation but does not increase ATP levels in IR muscles and improve tourniquet/IR-injured muscle morphology and contractile function.
Invasive Evaluation of Aortic Stenosis

In the current valvular guidelines, Doppler Echocardiography is considered the mainstay of diagnosis aortic valve stenosis. Invasive assessment of aortic valve stenosis is reserved in those cases with inconclusive non-invasive studies, discrepant clinical and Doppler findings, and for research purposes prior to TAVR.
Immunohistochemical labeling for Dpc4 mirrors genetic status in pancreatic adenocarcinomas: A new marker of DPC4 inactivation

DPC4 (MADH4, SMAD4) is a tumor suppressor gene inactivated by allelic loss in approximately 55% of pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Unfortunately, it can be technically very difficult to detect the inactivation of DPC4 at the genetic level because genetic analyses require the microdissection of relatively pure samples of neoplastic and normal tissues. This is especially true for pancreatic adenocarcinomas, which elicit vigorous, non-neoplastic, stromal responses. Immunohistochemical labeling can overcome this hurdle because it preserves morphological information. We therefore studied the expression of the DPC4 gene product in 46 cancers, including 5 cancer cell lines by Western blot analysis and 41 primary periampullary adenocarcinomas by immunohistochemistry. The status of exons 1-11 of the DPC4 gene in all 46 of the cancers had been previously characterized at the molecular level, allowing us to correlate Dpc4 expression directly with gene status. Three cell lines had wild-type DPC4 genes, and Dpc4 expression was detected in all three by Western blot. The two cell lines with homozygously deleted DPC4 genes did not show Dpc4 protein by Western blot analysis. Immunohistochemical labeling revealed that 17 (94%) of the 18 primary adenocarcinomas with wild-type DPC4 genes expressed the DPC4 gene product, whereas 21 (91%) of 23 primary adenocarcinomas with inactivated DPC4 genes did not. Cases in which there was discordance between the immunohistochemical labeling and the genetic analyses were reanalyzed genetically, and we identified a deletion in exon 0 of DPC4 in one of these cases. This is the first report of a mutation in exon 0 of DPC4 in a pancreatic cancer. The contrast between the strong expression of Dpc4 by normal tissues and the loss of expression in the carcinomas was highlighted in several cases in which an infiltrating cancer was identified growing into a benign duct. These observations suggest that immunohistochemical labeling for the DPC4 gene product is an extremely sensitive and specific marker for DPC4 gene alterations in pancreatic carcinomas. The sensitivity and specificity of immunohistochemical labeling for Dpc4 in other periampullary carcinomas has yet to be determined.
The women of Kano: internalized stress and the conditions of reproduction, Northern Nigeria

Kano State in northern Nigeria has been presented as a region which has undergone adaptation to rapid demographic growth without adverse ecological effects (Mortimore 1993a). The population has grown by natural increase and by in-migration, fueled partially by growth of the Kano urban and peri-urban zones and sustained by manure-fed upland and irrigated lowland agriculture. This paper presents demographic data for Kano State, collected through the 1990 Demographic and Health Survey (Macro International 1992) for Nigeria, to explore some possible demographic consequences of the population growth observed there. Covered will be sections on women's work and mobility, child nutrition and mortality, birth intervals, and weaning age. By presenting this data, I will suggest two points. First, there is perhaps an alternate hypothesis to the rosy though incomplete picture presented by Mortimore and others. The agricultural transformation in Kano seems to have put progressively more stress on women as domestic producers, which reflects in the demographic data. Second, there is a need for more temporally and spatially robust datasets on health and demography, as well as more concerted efforts to link, via more integrated analyses, agricultural production and health outcomes.
Against Being Against the Revolving Door

The revolving door between jobs in the public and private sector supposedly incentivizes government regulators to regulate on behalf of the industry interests for whom they will eventually work. It is a critical building block of the critique of government solutions to modern problems, and has, in the last two years, been the subject of one of the Obama administration’s first executive orders, made an appearance in financial regulatory reform legislation, and been blamed for the government’s failure to prevent the Gulf oil spill.But the revolving door’s explanatory power is remarkably overstated, especially when the subject is law enforcement. Most government officials have plenty of reasons to do a good job, and sometimes a successful stint in the public sector enhances private sector earning potential, to say nothing of more immediate civil service prospects. The revolving door may also foster citizen participation in government. A study of the careers of a tranche of elite Manhattan prosecutors does not reveal any evidence of those who leave doing the bidding of those they regulate while in public service.Moreover, as a legal matter, eliminating the revolving door would raise serious legal and even constitutional questions. The revolving door has become an overused shorthand for – at its worst – a toxic cynicism about government. It is time to deeply qualify the critique.
Ways of Criticizing the Court

Critics have attacked Supreme Court decisions not only for their substance, but also for their structure and inconsistency. Professor Easterbrook responds to these critics by arguing, first, that the increasing caseload of the judiciary, coupled with the techniques of Supreme Court case selection, makes more fractured decisions inevitable. Second, Professor Easterbrook applies Arrow's Theorem to show that it is impossible for critics to demand consistent decisions from the Supreme Court without requiring it to sacrifice its essential institutional nature.
Multi-modal Volume Registration Using Joint Intensity Distributions

The registration of multimodal medical images is an important tool in surgical applications, since different scan modalities highlight complementary anatomical structures. We present a method of computing the best rigid registration of pairs of medical images of the same patient. The method uses prior information on the expected joint intensity distribution of the images when correctly aligned, given a priori registered training images. We discuss two methods of modeling the joint intensity distribution of the training data, mixture of Gaussians and Parzen windowing. The fitted Gaussians roughly correspond to various anatomical structures apparent in the images and provide a coarse anatomical segmentation of a registered image pair. Given a novel set of unregistered images, the algorithm computes the best registration by maximizing the log likelihood of the two images, given the transformation and the prior joint intensity model. Results aligning SPGR and dual-echo MR scans demonstrate that this algorithm is a fast registration method with a large region of convergence and sub-voxel registration accuracy.
Larry Ribstein's Federalism Scholarship and the Unfinished Agenda

Larry Ribstein and his co-authors broke new ground in examining jurisdictional competition and private choice of law. Going beyond corporate law bounds, they examined jurisdictional competition for other forms of entities, and found competition driving efficient uniformity. The more challenging area they addressed was private choice of law in contracts. While much of their work is enlightening, there is much left to be done in examining the mechanisms of efficiency in private agreements. Law are complex bundles of rights and obligations, often heterogeneous, in a market without explicit prices. While the mechanisms of adoption of business laws are well documented, difficult questions of bounded rationality remain in the area of private choice of law.
Similitude Criteria for Flow from Unconfined Aquifers

Seepage in a two-dimensional unconfined aquifer of rectangular cross-section is analyzed to determine the rate of outflow into an adjoining water body which fully penetrates the aquifer. The analysis is made by using capillary flow theory as well as saturated Darcy flow theory with and without the Dupuit assumptions. In addition to the usual criteria of similarity of geometry, initial and boundary conditions, also the relative capillary conductivity and the dimensionless water content suction relationship must be similar. From the latter criterion a convenient parameter was formulated which expresses the effect of capillarity in relation to the depth of the aquifer. It was found that this parameter is useful to determine whether or not the capillary flow above the water table is important. An analysis was made which shows the errors that may arise in the prediction of the outflow rate by neglecting capillarity and using the Dupuit assumptions.
The effect of immigration on the internal migration of the native-born population, 1981-1990

This study examines the impact of immigration on the labor market opportunities of the native-born population by looking through the window of migration. We use Current Population Survey data to analyze the one-year migration patterns of Anglos and Blacks and include the presence of recent immigrants in the origin and (potential) destination US states among the covariates. Our departure model employs a logit specification to predict outmigration (vs not) from the state during the year prior to the survey. Our arrival model uses a conditional logit discrete choice specification with sampling among the alternatives to predict destination state. The data are taken from the 1981, 1984, 1987, and 1990 Current Population Surveys. This work adds to other knowledge of the migratory response of workers and sheds light on theories of substitution and complementarity in labor markets. States with high levels of recent immigration are less likely to retain Anglo workers or receive new Anglo interstate migrants, but this apparent substitution effect is partially offset by the presence of long-term immigrant stock. Lower skilled Anglos are more susceptible to this substitution effect than those of higher skill level. In the black population, results are more complex. Lower skilled blacks are less attracted to high immigrant locations, but African-Americans of higher skill level in selected occupations and industries are predicted to be more likely to remain in or choose states with many recent immigrants.
Preventive War and Democratic Politics

I define the concept of preventive war, distinguish it from preemption and other sources of better-now-than-later logic, and examine numerous conceptual issues that confound theoretical and empirical analyses of prevention. I then consider the argument that democracies rarely if ever adopt preventive war strategies because such strategies are contrary to the preferences of democratic publics and to the values and identities of democratic states. I examine a number of historical cases of anticipated power shifts by democratic states, and analyze the motivations for war and the mobilization of public support for war. The evidence contradicts both the descriptive proposition that democracies do not adopt preventive war strategies and causal propositions about the constraining effects of democratic institutions and democratic political cultures.