cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chronic myelogenous leukemia as a paradigm of early cancer and possible curative strategies

The chronological history of the important discoveries leading to our present understanding of the essential clinical, biological, biochemical, and molecular features of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) are first reviewed, focusing in particular on abnormalities that are responsible for the massive myeloid expansion. CML is an excellent target for the development of selective treatment because of its highly consistent genetic abnormality and qualitatively different fusion gene product, p210(bcr-abl). It is likely that the multiple signaling pathways dysregulated by p210(bcr-abl) are sufficient to explain all the initial manifestations of the chronic phase of the disease, although understanding of the circuitry is still very incomplete. Evidence is presented that the signaling pathways that are constitutively activated in CML stem cells and primitive progenitors cooperate with cytokines to increase the proportion of stem cells that are activated and thereby increase recruitment into the committed progenitor cell pool, and that this increased activation is probably the primary cause of the massive myeloid expansion in CML. The cooperative interactions between Bcr-Abl and cytokine-activated pathways interfere with the synergistic interactions between multiple cytokines that are normally required for the activation of stem cells, while at the same time causing numerous subtle biochemical and functional abnormalities in the later progenitors and precursor cells. The committed CML progenitors have discordant maturation and reduced proliferative capacity compared to normal committed progenitors, and like them, are destined to die after a limited number of divisions. Thus, the primary goal of any curative strategy must be to eliminate all Philadelphia positive (Ph+) primitive cells that are capable of symmetric division and thereby able to expand the Ph+ stem cell pool and recreate the disease. Several highly potent and moderately selective inhibitors of Bcr-Abl kinase have recently been discovered that are capable of killing the majority of actively proliferating early CML progenitors with minimal effects on normal progenitors. However, like their normal counterparts, most of the CML primitive stem cells are quiescent at any given time and are relatively invulnerable to the Bcr-Abl kinase inhibitors as well as other drugs. We propose that survival of dormant Ph+ stem cells may be the most important reason for the inability to cure the disease during initial treatment, while resistance to the inhibitors and other drugs becomes increasingly important later. An outline of a possible curative strategy is presented that attempts to take advantage of the subtle differences in the proliferative behavior of normal and Ph+ stem cells and the newly discovered selective inhibitors of Bcr-Abl. Leukemia (2003) 17, 1211-1262. doi:10.1038/sj.leu.2402912
Interindividual Variation in Human Visual Performance

The responses of 20 young adult emmetropes with normal color vision were measured on a battery of visual performance tasks. Using previously documented tests of known reliability, we evaluated orientation discrimination, contrast sensitivity, wavelength sensitivity, vernier acuity, direction-of-motion detection, velocity discrimination, and complex form identification. Performance varied markedly between individuals, both on a given test and when the scores from all tests were combined to give an overall indication of visual performance. Moreover, individual performances on tests of contrast sensi tivity, orientation discrimination, wavelength discrimination, and vernier acuity covaried, such that proficiency on one test predicted proficiency on the others. These results indicate a wide range of visual abilities among normal subjects and provide the basis for an overall index of visual proficiency that can be used to determine whether the surprisingly large and coordinated size differences of the components of the human visual system (Andrews, Halpern, & Purves, 1997) are reflected in corresponding variations in visual performance.
The Effect of Expected Variability of Product Quality and Attribute Uniqueness on Family Brand Evaluations.

This research investigates the processes by which consumers evaluate a family brand on the basis of information about its products. Findings from three experiments suggest that the expected variability of individual product quality within the brand and attribute uniqueness systematically influence information processing and family brand evaluations. On-line (vs. memory-based) processing of information to form family brand judgments is more likely when expected variability is low (vs. high) and when the attributes are shared (vs. unique) within the family brand. These different processes lead to differences in family brand evaluations due to primacy (on-line processing) and recency (memory-based processing) effects.
The Spectacle of Crime, Digitized CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Social Anatomy

One of the most significant features of the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigationis its central preoccupation – forensic evidence – and the profession practised by its major characters –...
Cytotoxic Effects of Recombinant Adenovirus p53 and Cell Cycle Regulator Genes (p21 sup WAF1/CIP1 and p16 sup CDKN4) in Human Prostate Cancers

AbstractPurpose: Overexpressing or restoring the basal levels of tumor suppressor genes in cancer cells can suppress tumorigenicity of cancer cells. In this communication, we compared tumor suppressive activities of three well-defined tumor suppressive genes (p53, p21WAF1/CIP1, and p16CDKN2) delivered individually to prostate cancer cells with adenoviral vector (Ad).Materials and Methods: Efficacy of growth inhibition by recombinant adenoviruses bearing p53, p21WAF1/CIP1, or p16CDKN2 (Ad5CMV-p53, Ad5CMV-p21, Ad5CMV-p16) genes were tested in vitro on androgen-dependent (LNCaP) and androgen-independent (C4-2, DU-145, and PC-3) human prostate cancer cells, ex vivo and in vivo on PC-3 tumor.Results: Ad5CMV-p53 was observed to exert the greatest growth inhibitory action on all of the cell lines tested; inhibition appeared to be cytolytic. In comparison to control Ad5CMV-PA added samples, the growth inhibitory action of Ad5CMV-p21 and Ad5CMV-p16 appeared to be cytostatic. Ad5CMV-p53 is more effective than Ad5CM...
Glutathione S-Transferase T1 and M1: Gene Sequence Variation and Functional Genomics

Purpose: The glutathione S -transferases (GSTs) catalyze the glutathione conjugation of reactive electrophiles, including carcinogens and many antineoplastic drugs. GSTT1 and GSTM1 are polymorphically deleted, but the full range of genetic variation in these two genes has not yet been explored. We set out to systematically identify common polymorphisms in GSTT1 and GSTM1 , followed by functional genomic studies. Experimental Design: First, multiplex PCR was used to determine GSTT1 and GSTM1 copy number in 400 DNA samples (100 each from 4 ethnic groups). Exons, splice junctions, and 5′-flanking regions (5′-FR) were then resequenced using DNA samples that contained at least one copy of GSTT1 or GSTM1 . Results: Gene deletion frequencies among ethnic groups were from 33.5% to 73.5% for GSTT1 and from 50.5% to 78.0% for GSTM1. GSTT1 deletion data correlated with the results of mRNA microarray expression studies. The 18 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) observed in GSTT1 included three nonsynonymous coding SNPs (cSNPs) and one single-nucleotide deletion, whereas the 51 GSTM1 SNPs included two nonsynonymous cSNPs. Two of the GSTT1 nonsynonymous cSNPs resulted in decreases in levels of immunoreactive protein to 56% and 12% of wild type (WT), whereas those in GSTM1 resulted in modest increases in protein levels. Reporter gene assays showed that one GSTT1 5′-FR haplotype, with a frequency of 32% in African-American subjects, resulted in an increase in transcription in JEG-3 cells to 351% of that for the WT sequence, and one GSTM1 5′-FR haplotype resulted in an increase in transcription in JEG-3 cells to 129% of WT. Conclusions: These observations suggest that functionally significant pharmacogenomic variation beyond GSTT1 and GSTM1 gene deletion may contribute to carcinogenesis or individual variation in antineoplastic drug therapy response.
Phonological Processing in Visual Rhyming: A Developmental ERP Study

We employed a visual rhyming priming paradigm to characterize the development of brain systems important for phonological processing in reading. We studied 109 righthanded, native English speakers within eight age groups: 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18, 19-20, and 21-23. Participants decided whether two written words (prime-target) rhymed (JUICE-MOOSE) or not (CHAIR-MOOSE). In similar studies of adults, two main event-related potential (ERP) effects have been described: a negative slow wave to primes, larger over anterior regions of the left hemisphere and hypothesized to index rehearsal of the primes, and a negative deflection to targets, peaking at 400-450 msec, maximal over right temporal-parietal regions, larger for nonrhyming than rhyming targets, and hypothesized index phonological matching. In this study, these two ERP effects were observed in all age groups; however, the two effects showed different developmental timecourses. On the one hand, the frontal asymmetry to primes increased with age; moreover, this asymmetry was correlated with reading and spelling scores, even after controlling for age. On the other hand, the distribution and onset of the more posterior rhyming effect (RE) were stable across age groups, suggesting that phonological matching relied on similar neural systems across these ages. Behaviorally, both reaction times and accuracy improved with age. These results suggest that different aspects of phonological processing rely on different neural systems that have different to developmental timecourses.
Chimney Rock and the Ontology of Skyscapes: How Astronomy, Trade, and Pilgrimage Transformed Chimney Rock

Because of its architectural style and excellent masonry, the Great House of Chimney Rock in southwestern Colorado has been identified as one of some 225 outliers of the Chaco Regional System. Located just below the spectacular double rock towers, the Great House is set in a dramatic and unique skyscape containing a number of sight-lines to extremes of the Sun and Moon. Once considered important as a calendrical station, which communicated astronomical information southward to Chaco Canyon, the Great House may have been primarily important as a place for viewing the juxtaposition of the gods of earth and sky, a theophany similar to that of darśan of India. This paper proposes that the initial identification of a number of skyscapes as horizon calendars and calendrical stations should be reconsidered in the perspective of animism and alternate ontologies. Construction of the Great House may have been initiated by the local community and accomplished with the help of masons from its closest neighbour the Great House of Salmon. The area appears to have become a pilgrimage centre in its own right, not under hegemonic control of the powerful elites of Chaco Canyon. Rejection of the Chacoan influence is indicated by the construction by the local community of a structure that restricted entry to the area of the Great House. The decline of Chimney Rock as a pilgrimage centre sometime after 1093 AD was accompanied by the abandonment of the Salmon Great House, the breakup up of a trade network, and out-migration to the Taos Pueblo.
Detection of trace glucose on the surface of a semipermeable membrane using a fluorescently labeled glucose-binding protein: a promising approach to noninvasive glucose monitoring.

Background: Our motivation for this study was to develop a noninvasive glucose sensor for low birth weight neonates. We hypothesized that the underdeveloped skin of neonates will allow for the diffusion of glucose to the surface where it can be sampled noninvasively. On further study, we found that measurable amounts of glucose can also be collected on the skin of adults. Method: Cellulose acetate dialysis membrane was used as surrogate for preterm neonatal skin. Glucose on the surface was collected by saline-moistened swabs and analyzed with glucose-binding protein (GBP). The saline-moistened swab was also tested in the neonatal intensive care unit. Saline was directly applied on adult skin and collected for analysis with two methods: GBP and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC). Results:
The Measles Vaccination Narrative in Twitter: A Quantitative Analysis.

We acknowledge the support of the Office of the Provost of George Mason University, through a Multidisciplinary Research Initiation award. Publication of this article was funded in part by the George Mason University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund.
Rigid Bodies in Geometry

English translation of Moritz Pasch,“Der starre Korper in der Geometrie,” Annalen der Philosophie mit besonderer Rucksicht auf die Probleme der Als-Ob-Betrachtung 3 (1922), pp. 188–199. As Pasch noted in his paper on the decidability requirement ( Chapter 2 above), “Mathematics is a system with two parts.” While one part is “devoted entirely to deduction,” the other supplies the “material for deduction” by identifying axioms and supplying those axioms with content. In this paper, Pasch begins the job of supplying fundamental geometric propositions with content based on experience. His two goals are “to fix the concept of rigid body and, among such bodies, to distinguish between the ‘ extended’ and ‘ unextended’ ones.”
Ultrastructural effects of norethynodrel and mestranol on human endometrial stroma cell

The ultrastructural effects of 19-nor steroid on the endometrial stromal cells of normal healthy women between the ages of 20 and 30 years is described on days 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 during the second, sixth, tenth, and fourteenth months of drug administration. When compared with normal stromal cells, the 19-nor steroid stimulated stroma cells manifest ultrastructural evidence of increasingly rapid maturation with predecidual cell formation by day 20 of the second and sixth cycles. As the tenth and fourteenth experimental cycles are approached, predecidual cell characteristics are observed in day 15 stroma cells. The gross effect of norethynodrel and mestranol on the stroma cell is hyperplasia of the rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus and the gradual accumulation of glycogen. By day 25 the stroma cell assumes a less active state with most of the cytoplasm filled with glycogen and the remainder of the organelles compressed in a perinuclear position.
Loss estimation of steel buildings to earthquake mainshock–aftershock sequences

Abstract Following a large earthquake numerous aftershocks can be triggered due to the complex stress interaction between and within tectonic plates. Although aftershocks are normally smaller in magnitude, their ground motion intensity can be large and have different energy content than the mainshock. Even seemingly undamaged buildings may be damaged as a result of aftershocks. The mainshock-damaged buildings with deteriorated structural properties are more susceptible to damage. This paper proposes a framework for loss estimation of steel structures subjected to mainshock–aftershock sequences. The analysis is based on a typical 4-story steel frame with a deterioration model. Mainshocks are modeled as a homogeneous Poisson process, while aftershocks are simulated from non-homogeneous Poisson process, magnitudes of which are characterized by the Gutenberg–Richter relationship. The proposed framework is applied to examine the effects of aftershocks on seismic loss. The expected seismic loss of the building subjected to two levels of earthquakes, the Design Earthquake (DE) and the Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE), followed by aftershocks are examined considering both transition cost and downtime cost. Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) with Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) is applied to examine the uncertainty in the loss estimation. Uncertainty in earthquake ground motions, structural model, damage and loss are all considered. It was found that even if aftershocks have little effect on structural response, they may still have a significant impact on seismic loss due to the uncertainty of the damage state and cost estimation. This methodology can be used to mitigate seismic loss and evaluate the current building design.
Time and Duty Analysis of Wholesalers’ Salesmen

OUR COMPETITIVE economic system has been repeatedly attacked as wasteful and in recent years this attack has been leveled particularly at distribution. Among other things, it has been charged that marketing costs in general and personal selling costs in particular are excessive. That selling costs in many instances may be high can hardly be denied, as what limited statistical evidence relating to this subject is available seems to indicate that production coasts have been steadily reduced while distribution expenses have been rising, at least relatively.1 This situation is due in part to the fact that while scientific management methods and principles were applied to the solution of production problems the same methods and principles were quite generally overlooked or neglected in the solution of marketing problems. If it were true that there is a body of basic management principles peculiar to the field of manufacturing, another peculiar to distribution, and a third peculiar to finance, one could readily understand this failure of marketing executives to profit from the experience of production executives. But this certainly is not the case; management principles are universal and can be applied to all fields of business activity. The technique in applying these principles may vary somewhat with the individual characteristics of the particular field in question, but the principles themselves are basic and vary but slightly between the major segments of our economy such as production, distribution, and finance. For many years industrial engineers have been applying a scientific, objective approach to the work of factory employees with outstanding success. The results obtained are known and appreciated by all who are familiar with manufacturing processes. New methods have been developed that have sharply reduced manufacturing costs and at the same time made possible remarkable improvements in the products themselves. But the improvements have not been limited to increased mechanical efficiency. The intensive study of the worker and his machine has made possible the establishment of accurate performance standards. By means of such detailed study of the worker and his job, production experts have been able to determine with considerable precision just what constitutes an "honest day's" work. As a result, production planning and employee training and supervision have been facilitated tremendously, with obvious benefits to all parties concerned, including the worker, the employer and society in general. Development of Time and Duty Study. Despite the progress that was made in manufacturing by an intensive study of the job, the feeling has been general that marketing is an activity that does not lend itself to the same type of treatment. It has been said that there are too many 1 Stewart, Paul W., et al., "Does Distribution Cost Too Much?" Twentieth Century Fund, New York City, 1939, p. 336.
Acquired vulvar lymphangioma circumscriptum after cervical cancer treatment: Case report

Vulvar lymphangioma circumscriptum (LC) is a rare entity which may present as a painful, warty lesion. In contrast to the congenital form, which occurs in children, the acquired form arises in older adults and may be associated with infection, Crohn's disease, or prior pelvic/regional surgery. We present a case of acquired LC of the vulva in a 55-year-old woman who presented with a 3–4 year history of vulvar pain following chemotherapy, radiation, and brachytherapy for cervical cancer. Vulvar shave biopsies followed by excision revealed a thickened dermis with epidermal hyperkeratosis, parakeratosis, elongated rete ridges and dilated lymphatic channels containing eosinophilic material and scattered thrombi. The differential diagnosis for this unusual lesion includes more common conditions such as condyloma acuminatum, fungating squamous cell carcinoma and molluscum contagiosum. It is important to recognize the clinical presentation as well as the distinct histological appearance of this rare benign entity.
Human leukocyte interferon: the variation in normals and correlation with PHA transformation. 1.

SummaryFifty-two leukocyte cultures obtained from 28 healthy, normal individuals studied on 35 separate occasions produced a wide range of interferon titers (IF) in response to infection with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in vitro (< 0.7 to 2654 IU; median 406 IU). This variability could not be correlated with the proportion of mononuclear cells in the culture nor was any correlation noted between the IF titer and simultaneously determined phytohemagglutinin (PHA) blastic transformation. Technical factors could not explain these findings as a similar variability was noted when 10 individuals were studied concurrently. Repeated studies of 2 individuals over 18 months showed marked differences in the IF produced by their leukocytes on these separate occasions. Several subjects were encountered whose leukocytes produced no IF on one occasion, but were responsive to NDV on follow-up study. Spontaneous production of IF by control leukocyte cultures without virus by these individuals, and the group as a whole, ...
Social and Environmental Considerations in New Product Development

Changing environmental conditions require a more complete evaluation of new product ideas. New product analysis should include environmental and societal factors, as well as the traditional economi...
PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS AND MOLECULAR VARIABILITY WITHIN AND AMONG SIX CHROMOSOME RACES OF SCELOPORUS GRAMMICUS (SAURIA, IGUANIDAE), BASED ON NUCLEAR AND MITOCHONDRIAL MARKERS.

Selected populations of Sceloporus grammicus from central Mexico were karyotyped and screened for variability at the protein, ribosomal-DNA, and mitochondrial-DNA levels. Molecular markers were used to construct phylogenies of the chromosome races, which were then qualitatively evaluated for congruence with each other and with the original chromosomal phytogeny proposed by Hall (1973). Between-cytotype protein divergence generally was low, and few allozyme markers were fixed between cytotypes. Hence, these data were combined with the rDNA restriction-site data for phylogeny reconstruction. This combined nuclear data set provided a phylogenetic hypothesis that, with one exception, is reasonably congruent with that based on standard karyotypes. Similar results were obtained from mtDNA restriction-site data, although there are some discrepancies, and trees based on both DNA data sets are complicated by evidence for historical and/or ongoing hybridization. An unexpectedly rapid rate of rDNA divergence is demonstrated relative to the degree of allozyme divergence, suggesting that restriction-site variation in rDNA has systematic utility at lower taxonomic levels.
Effects of extending administration time on standardized reading achievement tests

Abstract The present study was undertaken to investigate whether the Nelson Denny Reading Test's time restrictions may bias the performances of marginal students. A total of 171 subjects including honors students, international students and students with low SAT scores participated in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to either the regular time treatment group or the extended time treatment group. The results indicated that the standard Nelson‐Denny scores alone may provide biased measures of reading ability. The authors recommend that test makers develop extended time norms.
Assessment on Urban Community Fitness Education in Hefei City

Objective Researching trial effect of healthy education project in community and laying a good basis for promotion of healthy education works.Methods Multi-stage random sampling was employed in the investigation.Results The percentage of the public in trial area who were aware of health knowledge increased by 9.1% and the percentage of healthy action by 6.2%.Conclusion Through community diagnoses,training,knowledge propaganda and action guidance and so on under the help of the government-led job with multi-department cooperation,the strategy of developing healthy education in community was effective,and the activities had active meaning to promote the healthy education works in community.
Liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease.

UNLABELLED Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for individuals with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) remains controversial. This review was designed to evaluate the survival, recidivism, and rehabilitation of the alcoholic liver transplant recipient in a single transplant center. METHODS Between 10/86 and 11/92 203 liver transplants were performed in 179 patients. In 42 patients (23%) the primary etiologic diagnosis was ALD (36 males, 6 females, median age 47 yr). All ALD patients were evaluated preoperatively by social service, psychiatry, and medical psychology, in addition to hepatology and transplant surgery. A minimum abstinence period of 3-6 months was encouraged, although exceptions were made for cases of extreme medical urgency in which a good prognosis for abstinence was predicted. RESULTS In OLT recipients with ALD, actuarial survival at 1, 2, and 3 yr was 74%, 71%, and 71%, respectively, compared to 71%, 71%, and 69% for all OLT recipients. One- and two-year survival was 85% in the most recently transplanted 86 patients, 20 of whom (23%) had ALD with 1- and 2-yr survival of 84% (N.S.). Recidivism was monitored postoperatively by interviews with the patient and family, supplemented by random urine and serum toxicology. Of the 29 survivors, 2 (7%) returned temporarily to alcohol use but are presently abstinent. Although none of the ALD patients in this study was able to work prior to OLT, 76% of the survivors at least 4 months post-transplantation were employed. CONCLUSIONS Although our experience is small, our results suggest that OLT is appropriate therapy for carefully selected patients with end-stage liver failure due to ALD. The multi-disciplinary approach to preoperative evaluation of the alcoholic liver transplant candidate is effective in determining those patients committed to abstinence after a successful transplant.
Transparency and Bank Runs

In a banking model with imperfect information, I find that more precise information increases the economy's vulnerability to bank runs. For low transparency levels, depositors cannot distinguish bad from good states based on their information and, absent liquidity shocks, have no incentives to withdraw early. As transparency increases, and signals become more informative, depositors' incentives to withdraw strengthen and run-proof contracts become costlier in risk-sharing terms: the bank must o§er less to early withdrawers to prevent runs. When transparency is high enough, the bank would rather forgo return and hold excess liquidity than choose a run-proof deposit contract.
The Student Voice Collaborative: An Effort to Systematize Student Participation in School and District Improvement.

Alienation from school improvement processes can lead students to disengage and disinvest in school. Through the creation of the Student Voice Collaborative (SVC) in New York City, an educational l...
Conundrums of Desire: Sexual Discourses of Mexican-Origin Mothers

Given the social construction of Latina sexuality as a social problem associated with high fertility and over-sexualization in popular media, Mexican-origin mothers use protective discourses to educate their daughters about their sexuality. Based on in-depth interviews with 34 Mexican-origin women (seventeen mother-daughter dyads), this study explores how mothers communicate with their daughters about not only sexual relations and virginity directly, but also the relevant topics of menstruation, tampon use, and masturbation. I find that mothers’ tend to employ one of two types of sexual discourse: disembodied and objectified or embodied and subjective. In the disembodied and objectified view, mothers urge their daughters to remain virgins until marriage—even avoiding tampon use in order to do so—and expect their daughters to have no interest in sexual pleasure prior to sexual initiation by a man. In the embodied and subjective view, mothers emphasize that sex should be an expression of love and connectedness, ideally in marriage, but they have more flexible views regarding menstruation and masturbation. These findings suggest that Mexican-origin women’s ideas about sexuality are dynamic and complex, while also broadening our understanding of how and through what topics mothers and daughters talk about sex.
Development and the Outer Periphery: The Logic of Exclusion

The concept of “development” has traditionally entailed the notion of improving the collective well-being at both the national and international levels. In its conventional version it has also implied an inevitable progression of poor and “backward” nations towards the “advanced” and mature model of capitalist modernity embodied in affluent Western liberal societies. This perspective goes as far as to announce a new world “convergence” between a stagnating or declining West and a rising “global South” (Birdsall 1998; Starrs 2014). A critical theory of “development,” however, must seriously challenge this notion. It is not only that critiques have questioned the analytical value of a unilinear understanding of history (Fukuyama 1992; Huntington 1996), but also that they see “development” itself as no longer desirable, let alone a feasible project (Escobar 1995; Rist 2008).
Additional Topics in Curves

This chapter presents several excursions that delve more deeply into the geometry of curves, including some of the famous theorems in the field. The theory of curves is an old and extremely well developed mathematical topic. Our aim is simply to describe a few fundamental and interesting highlights.
Mercury exposure may influence fluctuating asymmetry in waterbirds

Variation in avian bilateral symmetry can be an indicator of developmental instability in response to a variety of stressors, including environmental contaminants. The authors used composite measures of fluctuating asymmetry to examine the influence of mercury concentrations in 2 tissues on fluctuating asymmetry within 4 waterbird species. Fluctuating asymmetry increased with mercury concentrations in whole blood and breast feathers of Forster's terns (Sterna forsteri), a species with elevated mercury concentrations. Specifically, fluctuating asymmetry in rectrix feather 1 was the most strongly correlated structural variable of those tested (wing chord, tarsus, primary feather 10, rectrix feather 6) with mercury concentrations in Forster's terns. However, for American avocets (Recurvirostra americana), black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus), and Caspian terns (Hydroprogne caspia), the authors found no relationship between fluctuating asymmetry and either whole-blood or breast feather mercury concentrations, even though these species had moderate to elevated mercury exposure. The results indicate that mercury contamination may act as an environmental stressor during development and feather growth and contribute to fluctuating asymmetry of some species of highly contaminated waterbirds. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1599-1605. Published 2016 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
Coherent mixed with squeezed vacuum light interferometry: parity detection hits the Heisenberg limit

Mach-Zehnder interferometry based on mixing the coherent and the squeezed vacuum states of light has Heisenberg limited capabilities for phase estimation. This is also, because the quantum Cramer-Rao bound on sensitivity of phase estimation with the above interferometric scheme reaches the Heisenberg limit when the inputs are mixed in hear equal proportions. We show that a detection strategy based on the measurement of parity of photon number in one of the output modes of the interferometer saturates the quantum Cramer-Rao bound of the interferometric scheme, and therefore- as a consequence- hits the Heisenberg limit when the inputs are mixed in equal intensities.
BOP2: Bayesian optimal design for phase II clinical trials with simple and complex endpoints

We propose a flexible Bayesian optimal phase II (BOP2) design that is capable of handling simple (e.g., binary) and complicated (e.g., ordinal, nested, and co-primary) endpoints under a unified framework. We use a Dirichlet-multinomial model to accommodate different types of endpoints. At each interim, the go/no-go decision is made by evaluating a set of posterior probabilities of the events of interest, which is optimized to maximize power or minimize the number of patients under the null hypothesis. Unlike other existing Bayesian designs, the BOP2 design explicitly controls the type I error rate, thereby bridging the gap between Bayesian designs and frequentist designs. In addition, the stopping boundary of the BOP2 design can be enumerated prior to the onset of the trial. These features make the BOP2 design accessible to a wide range of users and regulatory agencies and particularly easy to implement in practice. Simulation studies show that the BOP2 design has favorable operating characteristics with higher power and lower risk of incorrectly terminating the trial than some existing Bayesian phase II designs. The software to implement the BOP2 design is freely available at www.trialdesign.org. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Predictive power of hepatitis B viral mutations in plasma of chronic carriers for liver cancer development.

5669 Liver cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in many regions of the economically developing world and its impact is exacerbated by a median age of diagnosis of between 45 and 50 years. Due to its very poor prognosis and lack of generally effective therapies, most people diagnosed with liver cancer succumb in less than one-year. In some cancers, early detection screening techniques have proven to be effective tools for identifying at-risk individuals for therapeutic interventions. Unfortunately, this strategy has yet to emerge in high liver cancer risk populations. In this investigation, we have taken advantage of a male cohort of 5581 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers who at baseline sampling in 1989 or 1992 were between the ages of 30 and 69. These men were all residents of Qidong County, China and they have been passively followed using the Qidong Cancer Registry; the mean time from diagnosis to death from liver cancer was 6 months. Six hundred sixty-seven liver cancer cases emerging over the course of 10–15 years in this cohort were identified. Baseline plasma samples containing fragments of DNA shed from the turnover of hepatocytes were then examined for specific acquired mutations in the hepatitis B viral (HBV) genome following integration into these patients’ liver cells. DNA from plasma was isolated in 512 samples and HBV DNA was found in 371 (72.5%). Using mass spectrometry, mutations in HBV were determined and 294 (79.2%) of these samples contained a two nucleotide 1762T/1764A mutation. Thirty-seven of the 294 samples had an additional double mutation in the HBV X-gene coding sequence. 16 samples had novel mutations in the 1761 to 1767 region of the HBV genome. Since the progression to liver cancer following enrollment into the study occurred at a relatively constant rate, we explored the relationship of HBV mutations at baseline to both time to death from liver cancer and age at death. Analysis showed that samples from individuals succumbed at longer intervals after plasma collection had a higher probability (P
Biodiversity matters in feedbacks between climate change and air quality: a study using an individual-based model

Air quality is closely associated with climate change via the biosphere because plants release large quantities of volatile organic compounds (VOC) that mediate both gaseous pollutants and aerosol dynamics. Earlier studies, which considered only leaf physiology and simply scale up from leaf-level enhancements of emissions, suggest that climate warming enhances whole forest VOC emissions, and these increased VOC emissions aggravate ozone pollution and secondary organic aerosol formation. Using an individual-based forest VOC emissions model, UVAFME-VOC, that simulates system-level emissions by explicitly simulating forest community dynamics to the individual tree level, ecological competition among the individuals of differing size and age, and radiative transfer and leaf function through the canopy, we find that climate warming only sometimes stimulates isoprene emissions (the single largest source of non-methane hydrocarbon) in a southeastern U.S. forest. These complex patterns result from the combination of higher temperatures' stimulating emissions at the leaf level but decreasing the abundance of isoprene-emitting taxa at the community level by causing a decline in the abundance of isoprene-emitting species (Quercus spp.). This ecological effect eventually outweighs the physiological one, thus reducing overall emissions. Such reduced emissions have far-reaching implications for the climate-air-quality relationships that have been established on the paradigm of warming-enhancement VOC emissions from vegetation. This local scale modeling study suggests that community ecology rather than only individual physiology should be integrated into future studies of biosphere-climate-chemistry interactions.
Articulatory correlates of the acoustic transition during the second passaggio of sopranos

The present experiment examines articulatory correlates associated with the presence or absence of a change in A1-A2, the amplitude difference between the first two harmonics (f o and 2f o), in the second passaggio transition (D5♮ to F5♮, or 587 to 698 Hz) of the soprano voice. An earlier investigation of this area in a classical, techniqued soprano singing on a low vowel revealed a change from negative to positive values in A1-A2 at a pivot point between E5♭ and E5♮. But when the same singer produced sounds without technique, the A1-A2 values remained negative. The present articulatory investigation uses ultrasound and optical tracking for analysis of head-corrected tongue contours, jaw opening, lip aperture, and lip protrusion that accompany the presence or absence of the acoustic change in this same singer. Preliminary results replicate the relationship between the acoustic change from negative to positive values of A1-A2 and show a substantial change in tongue dorsum height. In contrast, singing that ...
Revisiting the competitiveness theory in the new global environment: review and analysis of the competitiveness definition

The purpose of this research is to conceptualise the definition of competitiveness, based on extant theoretical and empirical research, thereby advancing the process of competitiveness theory building. To address the research purpose, the study analysed theoretical backgrounds of competitiveness to develop a comprehensive perspective and definition of the construct. To address the research purpose, in this study: 1) a theory building process (Silver, 1983) was used to analyse existing definitions of the competitiveness construct; 2) theoretical concepts were extracted from the existing competitiveness definitions and theories; 3) based on the analysis, a comprehensive definition of competitiveness was proposed.
Fake news and digital literacy: The academic library’s role in shaping digital citizenship

As proven authorities on information literacy, librarians are well positioned to lead learners through a politically and digitally polarized environment and advocate for the development of digital ...
Formal Analysis of k-Resiliency for Collaborative UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are growingly used in different aspects of our lives. As the cost of UAVs is decreasing with novel technologies, their popularity is increasing rapidly in surveillance, disaster management, agriculture, military operations, etc. The recent trend of collaborative operations of a network of UAVs to achieve a common objective has attracted the researchers as well as commercial vendors. It has revolutionized the means of data collection to maximize mission performances. However, the collaborative UAVs, with respect to the mission objective, need to be resilient to the unavailability of one or more UAVs that can be caused due to cyberattacks or technical failures. As UAVs can easily be targeted by adversaries, these devices need to maintain safe communication with each other while avoiding fuel outage and mid-air collisions, thus reducing the possibilities of being hacked but remain undetected. In this work, we present a formal framework that takes different UAV parameters in a UAV network, resiliency requirements, and resource constraints as the input, and verifies for the resiliency threats. Each threat specifies if k or less number of UAVs fail, whether the rest of the network still can maintain successful communication. We illustrate the execution of this framework with an example case study. We evaluate the proposed framework to demonstrate the relationships between different parameters of a network and its resiliency. We also evaluate the framework in terms of the resiliency analysis performance and scalability.
Systemic Arterial Hypertension

It is customary to divide the subject matter of science into what is basic or fundamental and what is applied, and the study of high blood pressure would commonly be relegated to applied science. But nature knows no such differences. The phenomena which have attracted men’s attention belong equally to these two fields, and the method of science may be as well illustrated by the subject of high blood pressure as by any other, with two reservations. Because what we call disease is something that maims and kills, physicians must allay the fears of the sick, and thus from time to time pretend to them an understanding which they do not in fact possess. This topic, then, is characterized by prematurity of conclusion and fixity of ideas. Moreover, the growth of this subject is recent, and this account must to some extent suffer the lack of perspective common to all contemporary critiques.
Prediction of Renal Functional Recovery after Relief of Upper Urinary Tract Obstruction

AbstractRenal cortical regions of interest were used prospectively to predict recoverability of renal function in 27 patients with unilateral or bilateral urinary tract obstruction. In these 27 patients 36 kidneys with short-term or long-term obstruction were studied. The 131iodine radiohippuran renogram curves were generated from areas of interest from the renal cortex and from the whole kidney. Curves generated during obstruction were evaluated qualitatively to determine if regional cortical renograms exhibited a more normal appearance than total kidney curves. After relief of obstruction renograms generated from the whole kidney were evaluated for evidence of renal functional recovery. Cortical curves obtained before relief of obstruction were judged normal, with an abnormal whole kidney renogram in 20 of 36 kidneys. The whole kidney renogram improved after relief of obstruction in all 20 cases. Cortical curves for the remaining 16 kidneys before relief of obstruction had the same abnormal appearance a...
Molecular Biology of Rubella Virus

Publisher Summary This chapter summarizes the present medical significance of rubella virus. Rubella virus infection is systemic in nature and the accompanying symptoms are generally benign, the most pronounced being a mild rash of short duration. The most common complication of rubella virus infection is transient joint involvement such as polyarthralgia and arthritis. The primary health impact of rubella virus is that it is a teratogenic agent. The vaccination strategy is aimed at elimination of rubella and includes both universal vaccination of infants at 15 months of age with the trivalent measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and specific targeting with the rubella vaccine of seronegative women planning pregnancy and seronegative adults who could come in contact with women of childbearing age, although it is recommended that any individual over the age of 12 months without evidence of natural infection or vaccination be vaccinated. Medically, the current challenge posed by rubella virus is to achieve complete vaccination coverage to prevent resurgences.
Commonsense Reasoning Using Answer Set Programming

Answer set programming is an approach to knowledge representation and reasoning. Knowledge is represented as answer set programs, and reasoning is performed by answer set solvers. Answer set programming enables default reasoning, which is required in commonsense reasoning. It supports event calculus reasoning and handles some types of event calculus formulas whose circumscription cannot be computed using predicate completion, including effect constraints, disjunctive event axioms, and definitions of compound events. We discuss the use of answer set programming for commonsense reasoning. We first describe the syntax and semantics of answer set programs. We then present the theory and practice of answer set programming for event calculus reasoning. Finally, we discuss two useful tools for answer set programming: the F2LP program and the E language. Resources are available at decreasoner.sourceforge.net/csr/ecasp/ .
Introduction to Volume I

A foreword supplies the necessary background in the theory of sets and cardinal (ordinal) numbers, and the concepts of group (and the Noether homomorphism theorems), semigroup, category, functor are introduced in Chapter 1. Products, coproducts, and the free object functors in various categories constitute Chapter 2. Rings, modules, ideals, and the Baer-Eckmann-Schopf notions of injectivity, essential extension, and injective hull are introduced in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 contains an elementary presentation (without tensor products) of the Morita theorems characterizing category equivalence of categories of modules over two rings. The basis for this is the correspondence theorem for projective modules, from which also is derived most of the known structure theory of noncommutative Noetherian simple rings. Chapters 5 and 6 survey limits, limit preserving functors, additive and abelian categories, free algebras, (semi) group and polynomial algebras, and the adjoint functor theorems of Eilenberg, Freyd, Gabriel, Kan, Mitchell, and Watts. These six chapters comprise Part I.
Digitale Plattformen als Innovationstreiber

Von A wie AirBnB bis Z wie Zalando – digitale Plattformen sind aus dem Alltag vieler Menschen nur noch schwer wegzudenken. In diesem Beitrag beschreibt Philip Meier an anschaulichen Beispielen, warum digitale Plattformen so erfolgreich sind und wie diese spezielle Geschaftsmodellart funktioniert. Besonders in Zeiten schnellen technologischen Wandels und wachsenden Innovationsdrucks schafft ein Grundverstandnis eines der aktuell erfolgreichsten Geschaftsmodelle einen wertvollen Nahrboden fur den eigenen Innovationsprozess.
Infections after xenotransplantation.

Purpose of review Xenotransplantation offers a solution for the global shortage of available organs. However, cross-species transplantation and immunosuppression raises concerns about transmission of zoonotic infections to the recipient as well as to the public. Recent findings Here, we review the major infections of concern after xenotransplantation, risks of their transmission, diagnostic, therapeutic as well as prevention modalities for these infections after xenotransplantation. This review is particularly timely in light of recent advances in porcine genome editing technology that allow removal of retroviral sequences. Summary We cannot appreciate the full risk of infections after xenotransplantation in absence of clinical trials. However, there are guidelines for strict microbiologic monitoring and reporting, infectious diagnostic assay development, breeding and quarantine of graft source animals to limit infectious transmission.