cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enhancing Biodegradability of Refractory Aromatics in Wastewater: Pretreatment with Elemental Iron

Chlorinated aromatics, nitroaromatics, and azoaromatics are widely used in industry. As a result, these compounds are commonly present in industrial wastewater. Aerobic biological treatment processes are often inefficient for wastewaters containing these organic pollutants because most of these aromatic compounds are resistant to aerobic degradation. The goal of this research is to investigate the feasibility of elemental iron to pretreat wastewater through reduction of the azo and nitro functions, thus making these compounds more biodegradable prior to entering biological treatment processes, such as activated sludge. The experimental approach involved a series of batch reduction experiments to test the treatability, via chemical reduction, of a suite of compounds (nitrobenzene, 2,4-dinitrotoluene, orange G, orange II, orange IV, orange I, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, and pentachlorophenol) as well as the effects that various synthetic wastewater components would have on reduction rates. Once reduction products were identified in the batch reduction experiments, they were tested for their aerobic biodegradability through batch biodegradation and respirometric studies. A set of column experiments to examine iron life span were the final precursor to design and operation of a bench-scale integrated iron column-activated sludge treatment system for azo dyes. Results from batch reduction experiments indicate that azo dyes and nitroaromatics are rapidly transformed to their reduced counterparts. In all cases, the pretreatment of recalcitrant compounds via reduction with elemental iron enhanced their aerobic biodegradability This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series ISBN: 9781843396765 (eBook)
Decreased imposed work with a new nasal continuous positive airway pressure device

This model study compared the imposed work of two nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) devices for very low birthweight (VLBW) babies; a new NCPAP device, designed by Moa et al., (Crit Care Med 16:1238, 1988), and a conventional NCPAP device. In addition, the variabilities in the pressures of a simulated airway were compared. A continuous flow (8 L/min) was used to generate CPAP. A Harvard ventilator was used to simulate breathing at a fixed volume (12.1 mL) and rate (45 breaths/min). The pressure drop across and the flow rate through each device were measured, thus allowing the determination of imposed work, i.e., the work of breathing done by the patient to overcome frictional losses due to the NCPAP device. In addition, the pressure fluctuations in the simulated airway were measured. The data presented are averages of 36 breaths using the new device and 34 breaths using the conventional device. The means of the imposed work in the new device and in the conventional device were 0.135 (95% Cl ± 0.004) mJ/breath and 0.510 (95% Cl ± 0.004) mJ/breath (P < 0.01) respectively. The coefficients of variation for pressure in the simulated airway were: new 6.8% and conventional 15.3%. We conclude that the imposed work of the new NCPAP device for the VLBW baby is approximately one-fourth of that of the conventional device. The airway pressure generated by the VLBW size of the new NCPAP device shows less variability during simulated breathing than that found with the conventional device. The findings support the clinical use of the new NCPAP device in the very low birthweight baby. Pediatr Pulmonol. 1996; 22:188–194. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Pareto optimal multi-robot coordination with acceleration constraints

We consider a collection of robots sharing a common environment, each robot constrained to move on a roadmap in its configuration space. To program optimal collision-free motions requires a choice of the appropriate notion of optimality. We work in the case where each robot wishes to travel to a goal while optimizing elapsed time and consider vector-valued (Pareto) optima. Earlier work demonstrated a finite number of Pareto-optimal classes of motion plans when the robots are subjected to velocity bounds but no acceleration bounds. This paper demonstrates that when velocity and acceleration are bounded, the finiteness result still holds for certain systems, e.g., two robots; however, in the general case, the acceleration bounds can lead to continua of Pareto optima. We give examples and explain the result in terms of the geometry of phase space.
Factors Associated With Problems for Adolescents Returning to the Classroom After Sport-Related Concussion

The primary objective of this study was to determine factors in the clinic setting associated with concussion-related problems in the school setting. A total of 91 student athletes, 13 to 19 years old, completed the SCAT2 and computerized testing during their initial visit to the clinic. During a follow-up telephone interview, one-third reported problems with return to school. The presence of problems reported in school was associated with severity of concussion as represented by recovery time and the overall number of symptoms at the first clinic visit. Gender, age, and previous concussions were not associated with school problems. Athletes with computerized test scores below the ninth percentile were more likely to report school problems. The current study offers some descriptive information for clinicians and ideas for future research related to adolescent athletes with concussion and problems with return to the classroom.
Understanding and responding to patients' requests for assistance in dying.

Purpose: To explore how nurses experience and respond to patients' requests for assistance in dying (AID). Design and Methods: A phenomenological study of 10 self-selected nurses. Findings: Four major themes: Being Open to Hear and Hearing; Interpreting and Responding to the Meaning; Responding to Persistent Requests for AID, and Reflections. When faced with persistent requests for AID, participants provided a continuum of interventions: refusal, providing palliative care that might secondarily hasten dying, respecting and not interfering with patients' or families' plans to hasten dying, and providing varying types and degrees of direct AID. Their responses were context-driven rather than rule-mandated, and they drew a distinction between secondarily hastening and directly causing death. Conclusions: Few nurses in this study unequivocally agreed or refused to directly help a patient die. Most struggled alone and in silence to find a morally and legally acceptable way to help patients who persisted in requesting AID. Regardless of how they responded, many described feelings of conflict, guilt, and moral distress.
Muscimol dialysis in the rostral ventral medulla reduced the CO2 response in awake and sleeping piglets

Some victims of sudden infant death syndrome have arcuate nucleus abnormalities. The arcuate nucleus may be homologous with ventral medullary structures in the cat known to be involved in the contr...
Description of Nanocthulhu lovecrafti, a Preternatural New Genus and Species of Trichoplastini (Figitidae: Eucoilinae)

Abstract. A new genus and species, Nanocthulhu lovecrafti Buffington, is described. This genus is characterized by having a three-pronged structure, referred to as a fuscina, along the dorsal margin of the clypeus; this character is unique in the Hymenoptera. The genus is also characterized by the possession of a corniculum, and the shared possession of this trait with Stentorceps Quinlan suggests these two genera are sister-taxa. A phylogenetic analysis presented here, based on morphology, recovered Stentorceps + Nanocthulhu as the sister-group to Trichoplasta Benoit and Rhoptromeris Forster; based on these data, Nanocthulhu is hereby classified in the Trichoplastini. In addition to morphological features, wing interference patterns are described for this new taxon. Though the biology of this unusual wasp is unknown, the head morphology suggests digging is involved at some point in its life history. The possession of a fuscina in both sexes suggests that this structure is involved with emergence, rather ...
Professional Development Experiences in Co-Teaching: Associations with Teacher Confidence, Interests, and Attitudes.

Co-teaching is a widely implemented instructional strategy that poses unique challenges to teachers and may require targeted training. This study considers the role of pre-service and in-service professional development opportunities regarding co-teaching and teacher confidence, interests, and attitudes regarding co-teaching in a sample of general education and special education teachers. After controlling for key teacher demographics, professional development opportunities around co-teaching were positively associated with each teacher outcome. Teachers with more frequent in-service opportunities in co-teaching were more confident in their co-teaching practice and demonstrated higher levels of interest and more positive attitudes about co-teaching than did those teachers with less frequent in-service opportunities. Pre-service training on co-teaching was also positively associated with teacher confidence.
Type I IFN Receptor Signals Directly Stimulate Local B Cells Early following Influenza Virus Infection

Rapidly developing Ab responses to influenza virus provide immune protection even during a primary infection. How these early B cell responses are regulated is incompletely understood. In this study, we show that the first direct stimulatory signal for local respiratory tract B cells during influenza virus infection is provided through the type I IFNR. IFNR-mediated signals were responsible for the influenza infection-induced local but not systemic up-regulation of CD69 and CD86 on virtually all lymph node B cells and for induction of a family of IFN-regulated genes within 48 h of infection. These direct IFNR-mediated signals were shown to affect both the magnitude and quality of the local virus-specific Ab response. Thus, ligand(s) of the type I IFNR are direct nonredundant early innate signals that regulate local antiviral B cell responses.
Mesenteric venous thrombosis.

First differentiated from arterial causes of acute mesenteric ischemia 75 years ago, acute mesenteric venous thrombosis (MVT) is an uncommon disorder with non-specific signs and symptoms, the diagn...
The Importance of Thrombophilia in the Treatment of Paget-Schroetter Syndrome

Venous thoracic outlet syndrome (V-TOS) and associated subclavian vein thrombosis (SVT) result in significant patient morbidity and can be difficult to manage. Previous studies have suggested that both mechanical compressive factors and pathological alterations in patient coagulation may contribute to the development of SVT; however, no study has specifically evaluated the role of thrombophilia in the treatment of V-TOS and the need for long-term anticoagulation as an adjunct to surgical decompression. This retrospective study describes the clinical courses of 18 patients treated for V-TOS with and without acute SVT. In this review, 67% of patients with SVT are found to have relatively common coagulation disorders and 90% of postoperative complications were associated with some form of thrombophilia. This study suggests that thrombophilia may play an important role in the pathogenesis of V-TOS and may be a determinant of the success of surgical decompression. Clotting disorders should therefore be aggressively evaluated in this patient population and can improve therapeutic outcome.
The relationship between pain and disruptive behaviors in nursing home resident with dementia

Nursing home residents with dementia gradually lose the ability to process information so that they are less likely to express pain in typical ways. These residents may express pain through disruptive behaviors because they cannot appropriately verbalize their pain experience. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of pain on disruptive behaviors in nursing home residents with dementia. This is a secondary analysis of the Minimum Data Set (MDS 2.0) assessment data on long-term care from the state of Florida. The data used in this study were the first comprehensive assessment data from NH residents with dementia aged 65 and older (N = 56,577) in Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing homes between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. Variables examined were pain, wandering, aggression, agitation, cognitive impairment, activities of daily living impairments, and demographic characteristics. Ordinal logistic regression was used to evaluate the effect of pain on disruptive behaviors. Residents with more severe pain are less likely to display wandering behaviors (OR = .77, 95% CI for OR = [0.73, 0.81]), but more likely to display aggressive and agitated behaviors (OR = 1.04, 95% CI for OR = [1.01, 1.08]; OR = 1.17, 95% CI for OR = [1.13, 1.20]). The relationship between pain and disruptive behaviors depends on the type of behaviors. Pain is positively correlated with disruptive behaviors that do not involve locomotion (e.g., aggression and agitation), but negatively related to disruptive behaviors that are accompanied by locomotion (e.g., wandering). These findings indicate that effective pain management may help to reduce aggression and agitation, and to promote mobility in persons with dementia.
Face to face with the social brain

Recent comparative evidence suggests that anthropoid primates are the only vertebrates to exhibit a quantitative relationship between relative brain size and social group size. In this paper, I attempt to explain this pattern with regard to facial expressivity and social bonding. I hypothesize that facial motor control increases as a secondary consequence of neocortical expansion owing to cortical innervation of the facial motor nucleus. This is supported by new analyses demonstrating correlated evolution between relative neocortex size and relative facial nucleus size. I also hypothesize that increased facial motor control correlates with enhanced emotional expressivity, which provides the opportunity for individuals to better gauge the trustworthiness of group members. This is supported by previous evidence from human psychology, as well as new analyses demonstrating a positive relationship between allogrooming and facial nucleus volume. I suggest new approaches to the study of primate facial expressivity in light of these hypotheses.
Modeling dynamic functional relationship networks and application to ex vivo human erythroid differentiation.

Motivation: Functional relationship networks, which summarize the probability of co-functionality between any two genes in the genome, could complement the reductionist focus of modern biology for understanding diverse biological processes in an organism. One major limitation of the current networks is that they are static, while one might expect functional relationships to consistently reprogram during the differentiation of a cell lineage. To address this potential limitation, we developed a novel algorithm that leverages both differentiation stage-specific expression data and large-scale heterogeneous functional genomic data to model such dynamic changes. We then applied this algorithm to the time-course RNA-Seq data we collected for ex vivo human erythroid cell differentiation. Results: Through computational cross-validation and literature validation, we show that the resulting networks correctly predict the (de)-activated functional connections between genes during erythropoiesis. We identified known critical genes, such as HBD and GATA1, and functional connections during erythropoiesis using these dynamic networks, while the traditional static network was not able to provide such information. Furthermore, by comparing the static and the dynamic networks, we identified novel genes (such as OSBP2 and PDZK1IP1) that are potential drivers of erythroid cell differentiation. This novel method of modeling dynamic networks is applicable to other differentiation processes where time-course genome-scale expression data are available, and should assist in generating greater understanding of the functional dynamics at play across the genome during development. Availability and implementation: The network described in this article is available at http://guanlab.ccmb.med.umich.edu/stageSpecificNetwork. Contact: ude.hcimu@nafnauyg or ude.hcimu@legne Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Enhancing Lean Manufacturing Learning Experience Through Hands-On Simulation

Finding appropriate interactive exercises to increase studentsâ learning in technical topic courses is always challenging to educators. In this study, several paper plane hands-on simulation exercises were developed, used, and tested in a lean manufacturing course for beginning college students. A pretest and posttest was used to assess the effectiveness of students learning of lean manufacturing concepts by means of participating in the hands-on simulation exercises. Furthermore, the procedures used for an efficient integration of the hands-on simulation exercises into a teaching environment were evaluated. The results showed that studentsâ knowledge of lean manufacturing concepts increased significantly compared with lecture-based learning only.
An ultra-fast Reed-Solomon decoder soft-IP with 8-error correcting capability

We present algorithm and IP design of a parallel Reed-Solomon decoder with up to 8-byte random error correcting capability. The decoder soft-IP consists of a core that can be designed as parallel combinational circuits of around 62K primitive gates and a peripheral that can be arranged flexibly depending on codeword configurations. The technology mapping results with even commercial FPGA demonstrates that a single core can achieve a throughput well over 40 Gbps when it is 4-stage pipelined. A single decoder design can process N-interleaved codewords efficiently if the core is operated in a time division multiplexing manner.
Arabinoxylans, gut microbiota and immunity

Arabinoxylan (AX) is a non-starch polysaccharide found in many cereal grains and is considered as a dietary fiber. Despite their general structure, there is structural heterogeneity among AX originating from different botanical sources. Furthermore, the extraction procedure and hydrolysis by xylolytic enzymes can further render differences to theses AX. The aim of this review was to address the effects of AX on the gut bacteria and their immunomodulatory properties. Given the complex structure of AX, we also aimed to discuss how the structural heterogeneity of AX affects its role in bacterial growth and immunomodulation. The existing literature indicates the role of fine structural details of AX on its potential as polysaccharides that can impact the gut associated microbial growth and immune system.
Technoscientific Diplomacy: The Practice of International Politics in the ASTER Collaboration

Most chapters in this volume focus on the scientific and technical aspects of the design, performance, operations, and applications of the MODIS and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instruments. In contrast, this final chapter focuses on politics – specifically, the politics of technical decision making and scientific judgment. When scientific objectives, engineering design decisions, and familiar forms of scientific and technical authority are uncertain or otherwise unsettled, how do they become certain and settled? What facilitates collective judgment and the exercise of power in efforts to advance and achieve common scientific goals, especially in the international arena?
Correlation of serum fructosamine and recurrent pregnancy loss: Case-control study.

Aim Pre-gestational diabetes is associated with an elevated risk of pregnancy loss, but it is unclear whether subclinical glucose intolerance is associated with pregnancy loss, especially recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). The aim of this study was therefore to compare maternal serum fructosamine (a marker of glycemic control) in patients with and without RPL. Methods A case–control study was carried out of 117 women with unexplained RPL, defined as two or more pregnancy losses with no more than one live birth, and 117 age-matched controls with at least one full-term uncomplicated pregnancy and no more than one pregnancy loss. No RPL patients or controls had a clinical diagnosis of pre-gestational or gestational diabetes. Maternal serum was analyzed for fructosamine on quantitative spectrophotometry. Results Mean body mass index (BMI) of RPL patients was 26.0 ± 6.4 kg/m2 compared with 26.6 ± 5.8 kg/m2 (P = 0.40). Fructosamine was higher in women with RPL (224.1 ± 28.79 μmol/mL) compared with controls (188.9 ± 19.3 μmol/mL, P 285 μmol/L) was similar in RPL patients and controls. Conclusion The RPL patients and controls had a similar proportion of women with elevated fructosamine considered diagnostic of diabetes. Serum fructosamine was increased in women with RPL compared with controls. Thus, subclinical glucose intolerance may be associated with an increased risk of RPL. These data support further investigation into the mechanisms of RPL associated with glucose intolerance, but do not support testing for subclinical glucose intolerance in women with RPL.
Effects of Spore Introduction and Ratio of Adult Bees to Brood on Chalkbrood Disease in Honeybee Colonies

SummaryThree groups of honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies established on comb foundation were subjected to one of the following: (a) inoculation of the broodnest with a suspension of chalkbrood spores, (b) removal of some of the workers to decrease the ratio of adults to brood, (c) a combination of the two, while a fourth group served as untreated controls. All groups of treated colonies had significantly higher levels of chalkbrood than control colonies. The results indicated that at least two factors contribute to the development of chalkbrood disease in honeybee colonies: increased availability of the pathogen, Ascosphaera apis, and a decrease in the ratio of adult bees to brood.
Methanol O–H Bond Dissociation on H-Precovered Gold Originating from a Structure with a Wide Range of Surface Stability

Gold has been shown to exhibit promising catalytic activity, and understanding the fundamental interactions of reactants and hydrogen atoms on a gold surface is key to gaining insight into hydrogen...
Opportunities and Challenges in the 'Crowd' and 'Sensor' Era of Knowledge Management

In this paper we consider how advances in Information Technology (IT) are affording new opportunities for organizations to explore and exploit knowledge. In particular, while in the past organizati...
Fuzzy relations between Dempster-Shafer belief structures

Relationships between attribute values can involve concepts such as similar or greater then. We first discuss the mathematical structure of relationships. We consider both crisp and fuzzy relationships. We introduce some important examples of mathematical relationships and describe their formal properties. We then turn to the problem of calculating the degree of relationship between attributes whose values are uncertain. We first consider the case when the uncertainties in the attribute values are expressed in terms of possibility distributions. We next look at the case when the uncertainties are in the form of a standard Dempster-Shafer belief structure. We finally consider the situation when the uncertain information associated with the attribute values are expressed in terms of Dempster-Shafer belief structures whose focal elements are fuzzy sets.
Understanding and Mitigating Political Risks of Public-Private Partnerships in U.S. Infrastructure

The U.S. has done much to promote the benefits of private sector participation in infrastructure in recent years. However, several major bottlenecks have impeded the implementation of these advances. Most challenging has been the myriad and continuing political oppositions, public controversies, and related political risks associated with private sector participation. It is now generally recognized that the biggest threat to private sector investment in infrastructure is not financial, but political. Relative to emerging economies, private investment communities in the past have generally considered the U.S. and other industrialized economies, with their efficient democratic institutions, as free from political risks. But the challenges related to political risks in infrastructure development through public-private partnerships have been especially problematic in the U.S. in recent years. Many aspects of the unique political culture in the U.S. have contributed to this perception of high political risks. Among others, they have included: (1) a strong tradition of publicly led and publicly subsidized infrastructure, (2) the resulting public unease around putting infrastructure assets in the private hands, (3) the bottom-up and decentralized planning and decision-making approach that leads to fragmentation in infrastructure development processes, (4) the political fragmentation resulting from 50 states having 50 different sets of political culture and rules of engagements, and (5) a legacy of strong collaborative relationships between public sponsors and local contractors motivated in part by the lengthy and costly infrastructure development process. The primary purposes of this study are to identify and better understand the multitude of potential political risks that can surface when the private sector participates in infrastructure development in the U.S., based on lessons learned from both within and outside the U.S., and to develop a broad risk mitigation strategy that can serve as a guideline for policymakers as they begin to undertake public-private partnership efforts. Because many of the political challenges and risks currently facing U.S. private participation efforts occur in the project inception and procurement phases, the discussions in this report focus on public sector responses in the early phases of project development.
Convergence Rates of Finite Difference Stochastic Approximation Algorithms Part II: Implementation via Common Random Numbers

Stochastic optimization is a fundamental problem that finds applications in many areas including biological and cognitive sciences. The classical stochastic approximation algorithm for iterative stochastic optimization requires gradient information of the sample object function that is typically difficult to obtain in practice. Recently there has been renewed interests in derivative free approaches to stochastic optimization. In this paper, we examine the rates of convergence for the Kiefer-Wolfowitz algorithm and the mirror descent algorithm, by approximating gradient using finite differences generated through common random numbers. It is shown that the convergence of these algorithms can be accelerated by controlling the implementation of the finite differences. Particularly, it is shown that the rate can be increased to n −2/5 in general and to n −1/2 , the best possible rate of stochastic approximation, in Monte Carlo optimization for a broad class of problems, in the iteration number n.
The Dramas of Caryl Churchill: the Politics of Possibility

In one of Caryl Churchill’s recent plays, Top Girls, two sisters meet after a long separation and confront the differences and connections in their lives. With a quick leap of faith and imagination, one could replace those two sisters with Megan Terry and Caryl Churchill, and conjure up an extraordinary conversation about the joys and pitfalls of giving birth to and rearing contemporary feminist theatre. Like Terry, Churchill began writing plays in the 1950s and since that time has created an astonishingly large and significant body of work. Both eventually achieved an international reputation rare for women playwrights, and both have permanently altered the shape and direction of theatre through their insistent re-creation of the relationships between social and theatrical roles and gender. The one hundred or more plays written by these two women together establish the authenticity of feminist drama. Yet no spectator would ever mistake a Churchill play for a Terry play; in the contrasts as well as the similarities between their works, the complexities of the nature of feminist theatre emerge.
Hodgkin Lymphoma in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults

In 1832, Thomas Hodgkin described seven patients with enlarged lymph glands and spleen. At the turn of the 20th century, histological descriptions of multinucleated giant cells, were described by Sternberg in 1898 and Reed in 1902. In the 1960s, the clonality of Reed–Sternberg cell was established and recently, work has been done on the molecular biology of the disease, including the role of immunoglobulin genes, transcription factors, apoptotic pathways and Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) incorporation. Therapeutic advances in HL began in 1902 when Pusey reported on the use of radiotherapy, followed by the use of mechlorethamine (nitrogen mustard) in 1946, then combination chemotherapy with MOPP in 1964 and ABVD in the 1970s. Donaldson et al. at Stanford introduced the concept of combined modality therapy for pediatric patients using the MOPP backbone and low-dose radiation therapy. (See Table 18.1 for acronyms of treatment protocols.) Multimodality, risk-adapted therapies, designed to balance efficacy with toxicity, as well as the study of adverse long-term outcomes related to the disease and its treatment, are now the standard of care for Hodgkin lymphoma. Epidemiology
Diffusion and Gettering Simulations of Ion Implanted Copper in Polyimide

Recently we have observed gettering of ion-implanted copper in polyimide films. In this paper we have modeled the thermal process by incorporating the experimentally obtained dual activation energies into conventional diffusion models. The lower activation energy (small diffusant/substrate interaction) is associated with free atomic diffusion, while the larger activation energy (large diffusant/diffusant interaction) corresponds to diffusants with their movements restricted by clustering within the interaction distance of similar species. Computer simulations of the process validate the observed gettering mechanism via clustering. Experimental high temperature diffusion results are also in agreement with the simulation of the subsequent diffusion of clusters.
‘My Hypothetical Islanders’: The Role of Islands in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Island

Brave New World (1932), Aldous Huxley’s best-known satirical novel of ideas, appears at times to be the victim of insufficient thought. For example, in a society whose religio-economic basis is Fordism, the ever more expedient mass production of people and goods, no one bothers to explain the absence of automobiles. None of the central characters—Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson, Lenina Crowne, and surely not John the Savage—has seen a ‘flivver’; only the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (DHC) mentions it (BNW 37).1 Assembly lines remain for other purposes, but cars are inexplicably extinct. The Savage’s ability to parse Shakespeare boggles the mind. The Complete Works is a strange birthday present from Pope, who is not plausible as a book lover. An autodidact just turned 12, John instinctively knows that the ‘enseamed bed’ and ‘nasty sty’ (BNW 113) in Hamlet are ‘about Linda and Pope’ (BNW 114). Huxley was too preoccupied with ‘the application to human beings of the results of future research in biology, physiology and psychology’ (BNW xliv) to avoid small failures of the imagination. When the Savage disrupts the soma distribution at the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying and the Deputy Sub-Bursar decides to call Helmholtz Watson for help, he looks up a number ‘in the telephone book’ (BNW 186). In A.F. 632, the Brave New World still relies on directories and rotary telephones.
Practical post-quantum key agreement from generic lattices (invited talk)

Lattice-based cryptography offers some of the most attractive primitives believed to be resistant to quantum computers. This work introduces "Frodo" - a concrete instantiation of a key agreement mechanism based on hard problems in generic lattices.
Feminist Approaches to Time Use

The recognition that unpaid work time needs to be incorporated in all analyses of the economic choice, both in individual decision making and in the study of economic growth, business cycles, and the effects of macro policies on individuals is a fundamental tenant of feminist economics. The analysis offered goes beyond simply adding up time by emphasizing other important aspects of time use like who else is around, the time of day when an activity takes place, and subjective well-being of time use. On the macroeconomics side, the representative agent model is rejected for models in which consumers differ by gender, age, sexuality, race and ethnicity, migration status, and income class. Time poverty and its relationship to income poverty and the macroeconomic effects of recession and austerity are also explicitly analyzed.
How Rare Is an Oral Presentation of Myeloid Sarcoma in the Infant

Myeloid sarcomas of the oral cavity are exceedingly rare. This report describes a recent case, and reviews the literature. This case report serves three purposes: 1) to demonstrate that the use of an intraoral biopsy can diagnose severe systemic disease; 2) to remind practitioners to be cognizant of less common diagnoses in the differential diagnosis of facial swelling; and 3) to contribute a case of myeloid sarcoma that was confirmed by flow cytometry to the published data.
Posterior Cervical Subaxial Spine Fixation: Facet Fusion Techniques

Several fusion techniques of the cervical spine have been well described. The use of cervical interfacet spacers as a method of subaxial fusion is relatively new with limited but promising results. Given its anatomic morphology, the cervical interfacet space has been advocated as a strategic location for fusion given its relatively large size and surface area, firmness, and biomechanical strength. Facet spacers can be placed rather easily, safely, and quickly. Cervical interfacet spacers can be utilized with or without supplemental fixation. The pathogenesis of cervical spondylosis, the anatomic morphology of the facet, initial cervical interfacet graft design, radiographic outcomes of the intervertebral foramina, clinical outcomes, and technical pearls of facet fusion using interfacet grafts are described in this chapter. A clinical scenario using cervical interfacet spacers as a fusion technique in a patient with symptomatic pseudoarthrosis from a prior anterior cervical discectomy and fusion is provided.
Understanding Men’s Self-Reported Sexual Interest in Children

A few studies have found that even in the general population, a minority of adults—men as well as women—report some sexual interest in a young age group. The purpose of the present study was to identify factors associated with self-reported sexual interest in children among a community-based sample of men. Using an online survey methodology, we examined the extent to which different types of childhood adversities (witnessing parental violence, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse), atypical childhood sexual experiences, and participants’ self-reported likelihood of engaging in a variety of sexual behaviors (heightened sexual interest) were related to sexual interest in children (SIC) reported by a non-forensic/non-clinical sample of 173 men. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. After controlling for physical and emotional abuse and witnessing parental violence, self-reported experiences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) significantly increased the amount of variance explained in SIC scores. However, only early masturbation and current heightened sexual interests contributed significantly to the final model. Total variance explained by the model as a whole was 24% (adjusted R2 = 20%). Early masturbation and heightened sexual interests significantly mediated the relationship between CSA and SIC scores. Findings add to the small but growing body of literature examining the etiology of pedophilic sexual interests in non-clinical samples.
The Measurement, Nomological Net, and Theory of Perceived Self-Esteem Instability: Applying the Conservation of Resources Theory to Understand the Construct.

The current article performs the first focused investigation into the construct of perceived self-esteem instability (P-SEI). Four studies investigate the construct's measurement, nomological net, ...
Regulation of Hepatobiliary Transporters during Liver Injury

Transporters play an important role in the pharmacokinetics and disposition of pharmaceuticals, environmental contaminants, and endogenous compounds. In the liver, the main organ responsible for biotransformation and disposition, drug transporters are essential for the uptake and excretion of chemicals. Changes in the expression of hepatobiliary transporters are common in multiple forms of liver disease, including drug-induced liver injury, cholestatic liver disease, fatty liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. This chapter provides an overview of the localization, function, and substrate specificity of the various classes of uptake and efflux transporters in the liver. The major findings from studies examining the expression and regulation of hepatobiliary transporters in different models of liver disease are also discussed, in addition to the importance and relevance of changes in transporter expression to liver pathology and the signaling pathways contributing to altered transporter expression during liver disease. The information presented in this chapter provides an essential background for understanding the pharmacological and toxicological consequences of changes in drug transporter expression and function.
Methylation of MTHFR Moderates the Effect of Smoking on Genomewide Methylation Among Middle Age African Americans

Differential methylation at MTHFR (mMTHFR) has been examined previously as a moderator of changes in methylation among nascent smokers, but the effects of mMTHFR on genomewide patterns of methylation among established smokers in middle age are unknown. In the current investigation we examined a sample of 180 African American middle-aged smokers and non-smokers to test for patterns indicative of three different potential mechanisms of impact on epigenetic remodeling in response to long-term smoking. We found that mMTHFR moderated the association between smoking and changes in methylation for more than 25% of the 909 loci previously identified as being associated with smoking at a genomewide level of significance in middle-aged African Americans. Observed patterns of effect indicated amplification of both hyper and hypo methylating responses to smoking among those with lower mMTHFR. Moderating effects were robust to controls for sex, age, diet, and cell-type variation. Implications for potential mechanisms conferring effects are discussed. Of particular potential practical importance was a strong effect of mMTHFR on hypomethylation at GPR15 in response to smoking, indicative of the differential impact of MTHFR activity on changes in a specific cell population linked to inflammatory disease in smokers.
Long noncoding RNAs in intestinal epithelium homeostasis

The epithelium of the mammalian intestinal mucosa is a rapidly self-renewing tissue in the body, and its homeostasis is preserved through well-controlled mechanisms. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) r...
The Role of International Assessments in Understanding Teacher Quality

Internationally, high-quality teachers are often considered to play an essential role in good student outcomes, but there is little research on the relationship between measures of teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Variation across countries in how diverse measures of teacher quality are related to student outcomes has made cross-country transfer of educational ideas difficult, since, without understanding if or why policies work in different national contexts, policymakers and researchers have no solid basis for devising the best strategies for improving teacher effectiveness. IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) collects extensive information about teacher background and practices across countries, and therefore can potentially be used to address important questions about the role of teachers in influencing student outcomes. In this study, analysis of the TIMSS data prompts a series of research questions, designed to investigate whether there are identifiable international trends in teacher quality and instructional metrics over time while focusing on issues of educational equity, and examine the association between teacher characteristics and behaviors and mean student outcomes. The chapter concludes with a brief outline of the remainder of the report.
Feasibility of an iterative rehabilitation intervention for stroke delivered remotely using mobile health technology.

Background: Telehealth affords rehabilitation professionals opportunities to expand access to intervention for people in rural areas. Complex interventions have not been adapted for remote delivery...
BROADBAND MATCHING OF ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCERS TO PRODUCE MAXIMALLY FLAT DELAY

ABSTRACT Recent studies on designs of lossless electrical matching networks have led to several new algorithmic design procedures for broadbanding ultrasonic transducers with maximally flat gain characteristics. As such, the magnitude of the transfer function is maximally flat over the passband, but the delay is not. In order to produce a facsimile reproduction of a signal, it is essential to achieve both a flat magnitude and flat delay over the energy band of the signal. A better compromise towards this objective is available if a new design algorithm is developed that provides for a resultant transfer function displaying a maximally flat delay characteristic. This work generalizes the theory for designing broadband matching networks to arbitrary pole-zero locations of the transfer function, with Bessel functions emphasized as they represent the optimal solution for achieving maximally flat delay and thus improved transducer performance. Tradeoff tables between sensitivity (gain) and bandwidth are presented and compared for designs of the Bessel and Butterworth variety. Partial program listings for implementing the design algorithm on a digital computer and practical design examples are presented.
Do Taxes Matter to Foreign Real Estate Investors? Evidence from FIRPTA Reform

There is little research on whether foreign real estate investors respond to domestic taxes, which is somewhat ironic given that real estate is such a tax-driven industry. This article investigates the impact of taxes on foreign investment in real estate by exploring the response to 2015 reforms to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, a unique section of the US Internal Revenue Code that imposes real estate income and capital gains withholding taxes on foreign investors. The new law exempts qualified foreign pension funds, with the effect of reducing capital gains withholding taxes by up to 35% depending on investor position and home country tax treaties. The authors find that this reform led to a five to seven percentage point increase in annual investment growth from pension funds in countries that experienced a tax rate decrease, relative to general trends in foreign pension fund investment in US real estate investment trusts. In addition, the results suggest that pension funds in those countries responded almost immediately. TOPICS:Real estate, legal/regulatory/public policy Key Findings • The results in this paper suggest that domestic income taxes can be an important determinant of foreign investment in domestic real estate. • Recent changes to the U.S. taxation of foreign investment in U.S. real estate were associated with increased annual growth in investment in U.S. REITs from foreign pension funds in countries that received a tax rate decrease (relative to general foreign pension fund investment trends). • Additionally, affected foreign pension funds appear to have adjusted their investment immediately after the tax reform went into effect.
Factors limiting the duration of artificially induced torpor in mice.

Abstract The possibility of artificial induction of a torpid state in animals that do not naturally do so, as well as in humans, offers a great potential in biomedicine and in human spaceflight. However, the mechanisms of action that provide a coordinated and concomitant downregulation with a safe recovery from this state are poorly understood. In our previous study, we demonstrated that the metabolic rate of mice can be reduced by nearly 94% and can remain stable under hypothermic conditions for a prolonged period of up to 11 h. The present study was carried out in order to test the limitations and identify potential factors that can enable the safe and reversible arousal of non-hibernating mice from deep artificially-induced torpor to an active state. Results demonstrate that the energy budget may be a limiting factor for the prolongation and safe recovery from the hypometabolic state. While the continuation of torpor may be possible for additional hours, we found that a reduction of 40% or more in the plasma glucose level increases the risk of heart fibrillation, which results in death during arousal. Therefore, the plasma glucose level could be a component of the criteria indicating the reversibility of torpor. Another important factor complementing the energetic necessity that may limit the duration of torpor in mice is a gradual reduction in body mass during torpor. Under the conditions of our experiment, body mass declines by nearly 15% after 16 h from the initiation of torpor and may continue to decline if the mice are allowed to remain in torpor longer. Extrapolation of this data suggests that there may be a critical mass relating to animal mortality and thus limiting the duration of torpor. Control and maintenance of the body mass and glucose level in a torpid animal may extend the longevity of torpor and mitigate the risk of cardiac failure during rewarming to the metabolically active state. The cardiac complications that occur during arousal from torpor in many cases could be mitigated and even avoided by applying appropriate temperature-arising kinetics and providing a sufficient dynamic range to maintain cardiac output.
Chapter 34 – Antiviral Drugs

Viruses are major pathogenic agents causing a variety of serious diseases in humans, other animals, and plants. Drugs that combat viral infections are called antiviral drugs. There are no effective antiviral drugs for many viral infections. However, there are several drugs for influenza, a couple of drugs for herpesviruses, and some new antiviral drugs for treatment of HIV and hepatitis C infections. The arsenal of antivirals is complex. As of March 2014, it consists of approximately 50 drugs approved by the FDA, approximately half of which are directed against HIV. Antiviral drug creation strategies are focused on two different approaches: targeting the viruses themselves or targeting host cell factors. Direct virus-targeting antiviral drugs include attachment inhibitors, entry inhibitors, uncoating inhibitors, protease inhibitors, polymerase inhibitors, nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors, and integrase inhibitors. Protease inhibitors (darunavir, atazanavir, and ritonavir), viral DNA polymerase inhibitors (acyclovir, valacyclovir, valganciclovir, and tenofovir), and an integrase inhibitor (raltegravir) are included in the list of Top 200 Drugs by sales for the 2010s.