cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Humoral and cellular responses to cow milk proteins in patients with milk-induced IgE-mediated and non-IgE-mediated disorders

Background: Cow milk allergy (CMA) is one of the most common food allergies in childhood. Patients with CMA present with a wide range of immunoglobulin (Ig)E- and non-IgE-mediated clinical syndromes. Limited information is known about the specific humoral and cellular responses to cow milk proteins in these various forms of CMA. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine IgE, IgA, IgG1 and IgG4 antibody levels and lymphocyte proliferative responses to the major cow milk allergens in patients with IgE- and non-IgE-mediated CMA. Methods: One hundred and forty cow milk allergic patients, 6 months to 22 years of age, were included in the study. One hundred and thirteen patients had IgE-mediated CMA, 11 had milk protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome and 16 had allergic eosinophilic gastroenteritis. Twenty-one patients without food allergy, 8 months to 18 years of age, served as controls. Serum IgE, IgA, IgG1 and IgG4 antibodies to α-, β-, and κ-casein, α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. For a subset of these patients, we performed lymphocyte proliferation assays to the various milk allergens. Results: Patients with IgE-mediated CMA had higher specific IgE concentrations to casein compared with whey proteins (P < 0.001). In this group of patients, there was a positive correlation between IgE levels and levels of the other isotypes for all four milk proteins (P < 0.001). In general, the caseins were the more allergenic and antigenic proteins in all groups of patients. Patients with enterocolitis syndrome produced less milk protein-specific IgG4 (P < 0.05) and had a trend for higher IgA antibody levels when compared to the control group. Lymphocyte proliferative responses in all groups with CMA were significantly higher than controls (P < 0.05), although this response was similar in patients with IgE- and non-IgE-mediated CMA. Conclusion: There is a distinct pattern of humoral antibody response in the different forms of CMA. Patients with IgE-mediated CMA have an elevated polyisotypic response to cow milk protein. The relative lack of specific IgG4 production in patients with enterocolitis syndrome may be involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. In general, caseins appear to be the predominant allergen in patients with CMA.
Solvent dynamics-modified RRKM theory in clusters

Kramers and RRKM theories are used to formulate a solvent dynamics-modified treatment of unimolecular reaction rates in clusters. The canonical Kramers' description is modified so as to apply to microcanonical systems. An entropic gradient, arising from all coordinates but the reaction coordinate q, and a q-dependent microcanonical vibrational temperature are introduced. A simple expression is obtained relating the rate constant to its RRKM value and permitting comparison with recent experiments. An application is also made to the Kramers' turnover region.
The relationship of strategic business alignment and enterprise information management in achieving better business performance

Four constructs are developed and five research hypotheses are tested in a structural equation model focused on the role of strategic business alignment and information management in achieving business performance. The data to develop the constructs and test the model are based on a survey of 226 manufacturing firms in the US automobile components industry. The research is interdisciplinary in nature with a focus on building theory in an under-researched area of study by testing a causal model. The structural equation model analysis supports the general theory that 'the degree of business strategy alignment affects enterprise information management and time-related operating performance, and through these two intermediate constructs, improves business performance'. Enterprise information management is the key mediating variable in the causal model. Other insights based on statistical evidence are presented such as strategic business alignment, which do not directly improve time-related operating performance but must act indirectly through enterprise information management (the mediation construct) to improve performance.
The quark distributions in the Σ+ hyperon

Abstract We use the meson could model and the Sullivan mechanism to estimate the sea flavor asymmetry in the Σ+ baryon and calculate the distribution functions of both sea and valence quarks. We find large deviations from SU(3).
Analysis of the basicity of substituted dimethylamines in different solvents by theoretical descriptors

By using theoretically determined descriptors in quantitative structure–property relationships, quick and good a priori predictions of molecular properties can be accomplished. In this study, theoretical linear solvation energy relationship descriptors are used to analyze structural effects that contribute to the basicity variation of substituted dimethylamines in different solvents. A multilinear regression (MLR) analysis approach is used to generate equations and, owing to the goodness of the ‘fit’ of the different MLR equations, the descriptors used account very well for the structural effects that determine the relative basicity of dimethylamines. Good agreement is obtained between the basicity values predicted by this method and the experimental basicity values of 14 substituted dimethylamines in eight solvents and the gas phase. The Lewis basicity ϵB and the polarizability/dipolarity πi are the important factors that contribute to basicity variation. For the basicity of NCCH2N(CH3)2, a good prediction was not achieved and a discussion is presented. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Cell kinetics of the initial response to orthodontically induced osteogenesis in rat molar periodontal ligament.

Initial cell kinetics (15 min-20 h) of mechanically induced osteogenesis was studied with3H-thymidine (3H-Tdr) autoradiography. Continuous orthodontic force elicited a three-stage cell proliferative reaction within rat molar periodontal ligament (PDL): (a) brief, generalized response, characterized by a burst of mitotic activity from 75 min to 2 h and a cyclic change (decrease, increase and return to control levels) in percent labeled cells from 15 min to 2 h; (b) transient, generalized response, involving an increased mitotic index (MI) from 2 to 13 h, associated with elevated labeling index (LI) from 6 to 12 h; and (c) sustained, localized osteogenic response (12 h to several days) in which cell proliferation was confined primarily to the immediate area of new bone formation. These results suggest that the initial effect of mechanical perturbation on relatively quiescent adult bone progenitor cells is a generalized, transient release of G1 and G2 blocked cells. This response may correlate clinically with the regional acceleration phenomenon (RAP), which follows bone trauma, fracture, or surgical injury.
Nonlocal electron heat transport by not quite Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions.

We have made numerical calculations with a new nonlocal fluid treatment of Coulomb collisional electron transport which self-consistently accounts for the nonthermal high-energy electrons arising from the spatial transport of thermal electrons whose range is not short compared with the temperature scale length. Heat fluxes associated with steep gradients are reduced from classical, while ahead of a temperature front there is preheating which exceeds classical.
Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Analysis of Sphaerexochine Trilobites

Background: Sphaerexochinae is a speciose and widely distributed group of cheirurid trilobites. Their temporal range extends from the earliest Ordovician through the Silurian, and they survived the end Ordovician mass extinction event (the second largest mass extinction in Earth history). Prior to this study, the individual evolutionary relationships within the group had yet to be determined utilizing rigorous phylogenetic methods. Understanding these evolutionary relationships is important for producing a stable classification of the group, and will be useful in elucidating the effects the end Ordovician mass extinction had on the evolutionary and biogeographic history of the group. Methodology/Principal Findings: Cladistic parsimony analysis of cheirurid trilobites assigned to the subfamily Sphaerexochinae was conducted to evaluate phylogenetic patterns and produce a hypothesis of relationship for the group. This study utilized the program TNT, and the analysis included thirty-one taxa and thirty-nine characters. The results of this analysis were then used in a Lieberman-modified Brooks Parsimony Analysis to analyze biogeographic patterns during the Ordovician-Silurian. Conclusions/Significance: The genus Sphaerexochus was found to be monophyletic, consisting of two smaller clades (one composed entirely of Ordovician species and another composed of Silurian and Ordovician species). By contrast, the genus Kawina was found to be paraphyletic. It is a basal grade that also contains taxa formerly assigned to Cydonocephalus. Phylogenetic patterns suggest Sphaerexochinae is a relatively distinctive trilobite clade because it appears to have been largely unaffected by the end Ordovician mass extinction. Finally, the biogeographic analysis yields two major conclusions about Sphaerexochus biogeography: Bohemia and Avalonia were close enough during the Silurian to exchange taxa; and during the Ordovician there was dispersal between Eastern Laurentia and the Yangtze block (South China) and between Eastern Laurentia and Avalonia.
Local thermodynamic mapping for effective liquid density-functional theory

The structural-mapping approximation introduced by Lutsko and Baus (1990) in the generalized effective-liquid approximation is extended to include a local thermodynamic mapping based on a spatially dependent effective density for approximating the solid phase in terms of the uniform liquid. This latter approximation, called the local generalized effective-liquid approximation (LGELA) yields excellent predictions for the free energy of hard-sphere solids and for the conditions of coexistence of a hard-sphere fcc solid with a liquid. Moreover, the predicted free energy remains single valued for calculations with more loosely packed crystalline structures, such as the diamond lattice. The spatial dependence of the weighted density makes the LGELA useful in the study of inhomogeneous solids.
It Gets Better: Future Orientation Buffers the Development of Hopelessness and Depressive Symptoms following Emotional Victimization during Early Adolescence

Research consistently has linked hopelessness to a range of negative outcomes, including depression, during adolescence. Although interpersonal stressors such as familial and peer emotional victimization have been found to contribute to hopelessness, less research has examined whether adolescents with a greater tendency to think about and plan for the future (i.e., future orientation) are protected against the development of hopelessness, particularly in the context of negative events. Thus, the current study evaluated whether peer and familial emotional victimization predicted increases in hopelessness more strongly among adolescents with a weaker future orientation than those with a stronger orientation towards the future, and whether hopelessness in turn predicted increases in depression. In a diverse sample of 259 early adolescents (54 % female; 51 % African American; Mage = 12.86 years), both peer and familial emotional victimization predicted increases in hopelessness more strongly among adolescents with weaker future orientations than among those with stronger future orientations. Further, moderated mediation analyses revealed that hopelessness significantly mediated the relationship between emotional victimization and increases in depressive symptoms more strongly among adolescents with weaker orientations towards the future compared to those with stronger future orientations. These findings indicate that adolescents’ tendency to think about the future may impact whether emotional victimization induces hopelessness and ultimately depressive symptoms during early adolescence. Results have important implications regarding intervention and prevention of depression during the critical developmental period of adolescence.
Stealing the spotlight: CUL4-DDB1 ubiquitin ligase docks WD40-repeat proteins to destroy.

Recent investigation of Cullin 4 (CUL4) has ushered this class of multiprotein ubiquitin E3 ligases to center stage as critical regulators of diverse processes including cell cycle regulation, developmental patterning, DNA replication, DNA damage and repair, and epigenetic control of gene expression. CUL4 associates with DNA Damage Binding protein 1 (DDB1) to assemble an ubiquitin E3 ligase that targets protein substrates for ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. CUL4 ligase activity is also regulated by the covalent attachment of the ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 to CUL4, or neddylation, and the COP9 signalosome complex (CSN) that removes this important modification. Recently, multiple WD40-repeat proteins (WDR) were found to interact with DDB1 and serve as the substrate-recognition subunits of the CUL4-DDB1 ubiquitin ligase. As more than 150–300 WDR proteins exist in the human genome, these findings impact a wide array of biological processes through CUL4 ligase-mediated proteolysis. Here, we review the recent progress in understanding the mechanism of CUL4 ubiquitin E3 ligase and discuss the architecture of CUL4-assembled E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes by comparison to CUL1-based E3s (SCF). Then, we will review several examples to highlight the critical roles of CUL4 ubiquitin ligase in genome stability, cell cycle regulation, and histone lysine methylation. Together, these studies provide insights into the mechanism of this novel ubiquitin ligase in the regulation of important biological processes.
Response to divergent selection for early growth of chickens fed a diet deficient in selenium.

Abstract Three generations of divergent selection for 21-day growth response to a diet deficient in selenium (–Se) were bred using a meat-type chicken. The Athens-Canadian Randombred (AC) population of chickens served as the base population for this study. Mass selection was used to establish a –Se refractory line (SDR) and a –Se susceptible line (SDS). A genetic control line was maintained during the selection process to facilitate evaluation of the responses of the selected lines. The SDR males and females had an average of 17% increase in weight gain at 21 days of age when fed the –Se diet compared with the control line males and females fed the same diet for the three generations of selection. The SDS line had an average reduction in weight gain of 27% during the same period of selection. A difference of 25 g was observed between the mean body weights of SDR males and females and between the SDS males and females after one generation of selection. By the third generation of selection, the difference between SDR and SDS males had increased to 31 g, whereas the SDR and SDS females differed by 41 g. Early response to selection was asymmetrical because the response was greater in the SDS than in the SDR line. Response to selection, however, generally declined after the first generation. Realized heritability estimates for individual generations for this trait were variable (ranging from –.26 to .95), but cumulative estimates (.15 to .39) for growth through three generations were similar to those reported for chickens and quail. Females had larger estimates of heritability than males, which suggests the possiblity of sex-linked effects for this trait. This study establishes the response of the chick to nutritional Se deficiency as an heritable trait.
Assessing the performance limits of ultra-thin double-gate MOSFETs: silicon vs. germanium

The scalability of ultra-thin double-gate transistors in accordance with ITRS 2003 projection is examined with Si and Ge channel materials and with realistic device structure and parasitics. Continuum device simulations using Dessis are employed with electrostatic and transport models adjusted for Si and Ge. The density-gradient model is used to consider the confinement of the electrons in the channel with parameters adjusted using a Schrodinger-Poisson solver modified for different orientations of Si and Ge.
Postural Complexity Influences Development in Infants Born Preterm With Brain Injury: Relating Perception-Action Theory to 3 Cases

Background and Purpose Perception-action theory suggests a cyclical relationship between movement and perceptual information. In this case series, changes in postural complexity were used to quantify an infant's action and perception during the development of early motor behaviors. Case Description Three infants born preterm with periventricular white matter injury were included. Outcomes Longitudinal changes in postural complexity (approximate entropy of the center of pressure), head control, reaching, and global development, measured with the Test of Infant Motor Performance and the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, were assessed every 0.5 to 3 months during the first year of life. All 3 infants demonstrated altered postural complexity and developmental delays. However, the timing of the altered postural complexity and the type of delays varied among the infants. For infant 1, reduced postural complexity or limited action while learning to control her head in the midline position may have contributed to her motor delay. However, her ability to adapt her postural complexity eventually may have supported her ability to learn from her environment, as reflected in her relative cognitive strength. For infant 2, limited early postural complexity may have negatively affected his learning through action, resulting in cognitive delay. For infant 3, an increase in postural complexity above typical levels was associated with declining neurological status. Discussion Postural complexity is proposed as a measure of perception and action in the postural control system during the development of early behaviors. An optimal, intermediate level of postural complexity supports the use of a variety of postural control strategies and enhances the perception-action cycle. Either excessive or reduced postural complexity may contribute to developmental delays in infants born preterm with white matter injury.
Outcome of extra-anatomic vascular reconstruction in orthotopic liver transplantation

Abstract Background: Portal venous and hepatic arterial reconstruction are critical to successful outcomes in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). With portal vein thrombosis or inadequate hepatic arterial inflow, extra-anatomic vascular reconstruction is required. However, the clinical outcomes following extra-anatomic vascular reconstruction are largely unknown. Methods: To determine the outcomes associated with extra-anatomic vascular reconstruction, we performed a retrospective review of 205 OLT recipients transplanted between 1995 and 2000. Results: Extra-anatomic portal venous inflow was based upon the recipient superior mesenteric vein using donor iliac vein graft in a retrogastric position (n = 12). Extra-anatomic arterial inflow was based on recipient infrarenal aorta using donor iliac artery graft through the transverse mesocolon (n = 25). OLT with routine anatomic vascular construction served as control (n = 168). Extra-anatomic vascular reconstruction was not associated with increased morbidity, mortality, operating room time, length of stay, or thrombosis. Conclusion: We conclude that extra-anatomic vascular conduits are associated with excellent long-term outcomes and provide acceptable alternatives for vascular reconstruction in OLT.
Israeli registered nurse workforce.

This commentary on the article by Nirel, Riba, Reicher and Toren, “Registered nurses in Israel - workforce employment characteristics and projected supply”, describes major findings from this important Israeli study and links findings to other nursing workforce studies worldwide. Israeli projections include a 25% decrease in RNs in the workforce by 2028; the greater likelihood of leaving the progression of young nurses compared to older nurses, and the greater likelihood of leaving the profession by those nurses with no advanced training. Suggestions are made for future workforce analysis to triangulate economic analysis and policy planning, work design, and workforce management; for policy and planning and budget allocation at the macro level to go handin-hand with work design and management strategies at the micro level; and for the development of a national nursing workforce plan for investment and reform with a timeline and specific dates for accomplishing separate goals for recruitment and retention. This is a commentary on http://www.ijhpr.org/content/1/1/11/.
Energy dissipation in standing waves in rectangular basins

The modulus of decay of standing waves of finite height is derived by assuming that the attenuation of the waves is due to viscous losses in boundary layers close to the solid walls. Dampings are observed in six basins of varying sizes. The basins are duplicated using glass and lucite for the wall materials. With liquids wetting the walls, the losses due to viscosity are slightly increased from causes presumably related to surface tension. With a liquid not wetting the walls (distilled water and lucite), losses from surface activity, of some obscure origin, outweigh many times the losses due to viscosity in the basins of smaller sizes. For moderately large basins, for which surface activity may be neglected, the agreement between the observed and computed rates of decay is found to be satisfactory.
Psychometric properties of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Health-Related Quality of Life (CDC HRQOL) items in adults with arthritis.

Background Measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is important in arthritis and the SF-36v2 is the current state-of-the-art. It is only emerging how well the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) HRQOL measures HRQOL for people with arthritis. This study's purpose is to assess the psychometric properties of the 9-item CDC HRQOL (4-item Healthy Days Core Module and 5-item Healthy Days Symptoms Module) in an arthritis sample using the SF-36v2 as a comparison.
Simulation of Steam Generation in a Heat Exchanger

An analog-computer flow chart is developed for use in setting up a simulation of the steam-generation process in a heat exchanger. It is assumed in the paper that the rate of heat flow from the primary side of the heat exchanger to the secondary side is already known. The technique described considers only the process in the secondary side of the heat exchanger. Factors such as variations in pressure, boiling-point temperature, induction water heat rate, heat of vaporization, specific volume of steam, and rate of secondary steam extraction are considered. Some simplifications are made e.g., that the secondary steam is always at saturation conditions and that water level control in the boiler is good. Use is made of steam table data in function generators so that a fairly large range of operating conditions can be simulated.
Infection of macrophages with Mycobacterium tuberculosis induces global modifications to phagosomal function

The phagosome is a central mediator of both the homeostatic and microbicidal functions of a macrophage. Following phagocytosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is able to establish infection through arresting phagosome maturation and avoiding the consequences of delivery to the lysosome. The infection of a macrophage by Mtb leads to marked changes in the behaviour of both the macrophage and the surrounding tissue as the bacterium modulates its environment to promote its survival. In this study, we use functional physiological assays to probe the biology of the phagosomal network in Mtb-infected macrophages. The resulting data demonstrate that Mtb modifies phagosomal function in a TLR2/TLR4-dependent manner, and that most of these modifications are consistent with an increase in the activation status of the cell. Specifically, superoxide burst is enhanced and lipolytic activity is decreased upon infection. There are some species- or cell type-specific differences between human and murine macrophages in the rates of acidification and the degree of proteolysis. However, the most significant modification is the marked reduction in intra-phagosomal lipolysis because this correlates with the marked increase in the retention of host lipids in the infected macrophage, which provides a potential source of nutrients that can be accessed by Mtb.
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EVOLUTION OF QUALITATIVE MULTISTATE TRAITS

Simple models for the evolution of qualitative multistate traits are considered, in which the traits are permitted to evolve in time-dependent versus speciation-dependent fashion. Of particular interest are the means and variances of distances for these traits in evolutionary phylads characterized by different rates of speciation, when alternative characters are neutral with respect to fitness, and when the total number of observable characters is limited to small values. As attainable character states are increasingly restricted, mean distance (D) in a phylad decreases, regardless of whether evolution is a function of time or of rate of speciation. The ratio of mean distances in species-rich and species-poor phylads of comparable evolutionary age (DR/DP) remains near one when differentiation is proportional to time, even when attainable character states are severely restricted. DR/DP also nears one as a result of restricting character states when differentiation is proportional to rate of speciation, but the effect is not severe unless the number of character states is very small and the probability of change per speciation very large. These and other results are discussed with reference to available data sets on qualitative multistate traits.
Firms in turbulent environments and the competition–cooperation paradox: insights from Hegel's dialectic

We adopt Hegel's dialectical approach to explain the paradox of why firms engage in competition and cooperation in turbulent environments. While previous researchers have provided reasons why firms sometimes engage in cooperative strategies with competitors, the unique but conflicting scenario of simultaneous competitive and cooperative behaviour of a firm with the same rival has not so far been examined from a non–positivistic theoretical approach. By utilising insights from the principles of expression and differentiation in the Hegelian dialectic, we are able to offer an explanation of the paradox and establish its linkages with resource endowments, organisational legitimacy, and mimetic isomorphism of firms - concepts that are already well established in mainstream strategy and organisational theory literatures.
Power Optimization of an 11.75-Gb/s Combined Decision Feedback Equalizer and Clock Data Recovery Circuit in 0.18- $\mu\hbox{m}$ CMOS

An 11.75-Gb/s combined decision feedback equalizer (DFE) and clock data recovery circuit in a 0.18-μm CMOS is presented. Various techniques are applied to reduce the chip power consumption. In particular, the feedback path of the DFE is merged with an Alexander phase detector (PD). An analysis on the speed requirements of various blocks in the PD and DFE circuits is performed to determine the optimum power dissipation of each one. It is shown that the chip power consumption is reduced by 31% compared to a conventional design. The chip is capable of equalizing copper cable channels with up to 12-dB loss at the 5.875-GHz Nyquist frequency and consumes 101 mW (not including output buffers) with a 1.8-V supply voltage.
Automatic data transformation and restructuring

Data restructuring is often an important part of information processing. This paper describes an automatic data restructurer which takes over, from the user, the “thinking and coding” process normally associated with writing algorithms for data restructuring.
The Ginzburg-Landau Functional

In this chapter we consider derivation of the Ginzburg-Landau functional (GLF) from different microscopic Hamiltonians. The words “microscopic Hamiltonian” mean that we start from some plausible representation of interactions which could take place in a particular physical system. These words do not necessarily mean that a Hamiltonian is obtained from the first principles, but rather that it somehow formulated on a microscopic scale as a model reflecting physical reality. There is no general recipe for the derivation of the GLF. Each kind of Hamiltonian requires, as a rule, a somewhat different approach. Nonetheless, there is quite general way of obtaining the GLF.
Neurofibromas of the Phrenic Nerve: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background Phrenic neurofibromas are a rare pathologic entity, with 9 cases described in the English literature. They may occur in conjunction with or independently of neurofibromatosis type 1. Phrenic neurofibromas pose distinct therapeutic challenges compared with the more common phrenic schwannoma. We describe here a 12-year-old boy with neurofibroma of the left phrenic nerve presenting as dextroposition of the heart after paralysis of the left hemidiaphragm allowed herniation of abdominal contents into the left hemithorax and displaced the heart. Method Surgical resection of the tumor followed by diaphragmatic plication was performed to assess its degree of malignancy, reduce abdominal herniation, and improve lung capacity. Results The operation markedly improved his hemidiaphragmatic elevation. Conclusions The spectrum of management options ranges from conservative surveillance to open thoracic surgery. Functional preservation of the phrenic nerve is technically challenging, and although phrenic neurofibromas often present with absent function that cannot be recovered, surgical intervention can be fruitful in restoring lung capacity through diaphragmatic reconstruction.
Investigating the Energy-Water Usage Efficiency of the Reuse of Treated Municipal Wastewater for Artificial Groundwater Recharge

This project investigates the energy-water usage efficiency of large scale civil infrastructure projects involving the artificial recharge of subsurface groundwater aquifers via the reuse of treated municipal wastewater. A modeling framework is introduced which explores the various ways in which spatially heterogeneous variables such as topography, landuse, and subsurface infiltration capacity combine to determine the physical layout of proposed reuse system components and their associated process energy-water demands. This framework is applied to the planning and evaluation of the energy-water usage efficiency of hypothetical reuse systems in five case study regions within the State of California. Findings from these case study analyses suggest that, in certain geographic contexts, the water requirements attributable to the process energy consumption of a reuse system can exceed the volume of water that it is able to recover by as much as an order of magnitude.
Mean Recency Period for Estimation of HIV-1 Incidence with the BED-Capture EIA and Bio-Rad Avidity in Persons Diagnosed in the United States with Subtype B

HIV incidence estimates are used to monitor HIV-1 infection in the United States. Use of laboratory biomarkers that distinguish recent from longstanding infection to quantify HIV incidence rely on having accurate knowledge of the average time that individuals spend in a transient state of recent infection between seroconversion and reaching a specified biomarker cutoff value. This paper describes five estimation procedures from two general statistical approaches, a survival time approach and an approach that fits binomial models of the probability of being classified as recently infected, as a function of time since seroconversion. We compare these procedures for estimating the mean duration of recent infection (MDRI) for two biomarkers used by the U.S. National HIV Surveillance System for determination of HIV incidence, the Aware BED EIA HIV-1 incidence test (BED) and the avidity-based, modified Bio-Rad HIV-1/HIV-2 plus O ELISA (BRAI) assay. Collectively, 953 specimens from 220 HIV-1 subtype B seroconverters, taken from 5 cohorts, were tested with a biomarker assay. Estimates of MDRI using the non-parametric survival approach were 198.4 days (SD 13.0) for BED and 239.6 days (SD 13.9) for BRAI using cutoff values of 0.8 normalized optical density and 30%, respectively. The probability of remaining in the recent state as a function of time since seroconversion, based upon this revised statistical approach, can be applied in the calculation of annual incidence in the United States.
Some Theories are Unfalsifiable: A Comment on Trafimow

Trafimow (2009) claims that there are no unfalsifiable theories: To test any theory, one must make auxiliary assumptions, and with sufficient creativity about auxiliary assumptions one could always arrive at reasonably risky predictions. We argue that a prediction from a theory plus a given set of auxiliary assumptions will not be risky for the theory when the initial level of confidence in the theory is greater than the initial level of confidence in one or more of the auxiliary assumptions. Some theories, we claim, are so basic that initial confidence in these theories will be greater than initial confidence in any set of auxiliary assumptions with which they could be tested, and such theories are unfalsifiable. We illustrate this with a principle that forms part of the theory of reasoned action.
Evidence from shark teeth for a brackish Arctic Ocean in the Eocene greenhouse

Temperatures are rising at an unprecedented rate in the Arctic, and affecting the sensitive hydrological cycle with increased freshwater inputs to the marine environment. A deep-time analogue often used to understand and predict the environmental and ecological impacts of global warming is the early-middle Eocene greenhouse (ca. 53–38 Ma). Although the terrestrial Arctic during this interval is well documented, marine records are rare and largely based on one central Arctic Ocean site at Lomonosov Ridge. Here we estimate a mean paleosalinity of 12.7 PSU for coastal waters of the western Arctic Ocean by incorporating δ 18 O CO 3 values of shark teeth with estimates of Eocene Arctic paleotemperature and freshwater δ 18 O values into a salinity model. This paleosalinity is substantially lower than estimates by others for the Eocene central Arctic Ocean (21–25 PSU) and today9s Arctic Ocean (32–35 PSU). Our results provide the first Eocene salinity estimate for the western Arctic Ocean and, when considered with prior results from Lomonosov Ridge, suggest a reduced surface salinity, but larger salinity gradient (∼10 PSU) across the Eocene Arctic Ocean during the early–middle Eocene greenhouse. From an ecologic perspective, while today9s lamniform sharks are largely intolerant of low salinity, Eocene species were abundant in the brackish Arctic Ocean, suggesting that past environmental tolerances were much greater than today.
Intrinsic Evolution of Truncated Puiseux Series on a Mixed-Signal Field-Programmable SoC

Mixed-signal system-on-chip (SoC) devices offer single-chip solutions, but face challenges of hardware-software co-design optimization, device signal range constraints, and limited precision. These issues are addressed by developing a multi-level evolutionary approach to realize complex computational circuits called Embedded-Cascaded Hierarchically Evolved Logic Output Networks (ECHELON). The ECHELON technique utilizes analog evolved building blocks and refines their output using digital fabric to compose power series expansions of transcendental functions which are all routed under intrinsic control on a field-programmable SoC (PSoC). The result for the evolution of seven different powers of the independent variable is a reduction of 31.24% in the overall error as compared to the analog circuits that produce the raw inputs to a differential digital correction phase. Computation blocks developed on a Cypress PSoC-5LP mixed-signal SoC reduced error in the final mathematical approximation to the range of 40–150 mV. In doing so, speedups of roughly 1.4-fold to 6.6-fold with an average of 2.72-fold reduction in function execution times were attained. In particular, this approach achieved a 41.7-fold reduction in error with respect to the largest power of the independent variable used as an input to compute an erf(x) function.
Healthcare Real Estate: Excess Capacity and Growing Costs

An apparent paradox is the coexistence of excess demand by patients for medical services and excess supply by hospital and nursing home providers. The vacancy rate of licensed hospital and nursing ...
Imaging of the vena cava in the intensive care unit prior to vena cava filter insertion: carbon dioxide as an alternative to iodinated contrast.

This study evaluates the safety and effectiveness of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a contrast agent in patients in the intensive care unit undergoing vena cava filter (VCF) insertion. We prospectively ev...
Resisting the Ascendancy of Public Management: Normative Theory and Public Administration

AbstractThough the field of public administration has historically been grounded in a tension between a science-based quest for efficiency and the essentially contested questions that mark public life, this conceptual arena is under siege by adherents of public management, who reject “traditional” public administration in the way Herbert Simon did more thanfifty years ago, and for similar reaSons. Taking Dwight Waldo’s position that public administration is fundamentally a theory of politics, this essay argues that while scientific knowledge has a place in the field, the quest for a science of management should not be permitted to occlude the political. It argues that normative theory points us in the direction of usable knowledge, aform that is neither pure science nor conventional wisdom, and concludes by suggesting a stance for normative theorists, one aimed a preserving the publicness of public administration.
Depth-First Search

In sequential algorithms, reachability in a directed graph is often determined by depth-first search. Starting at a given vertex, a depth-first spanning tree is constructed by recursively searching all successors. To prevent looping, each vertex is marked before visiting its successors, and a marked vertex is not searched again.
Clinical Trial Design of Maintenance Treatments in Bipolar Disorder

This chapter reviews traditional and novel designs in maintenance trials in bipolar disorder. Since 2000, there have been several new and novel designs. Factors that influence design include regulatory and cultural issues.
Science, states, and salmon: Communicating through disagreement over a Cold War fault line

How are scientific communication and knowledge-production possible even in a politicized atmosphere pervaded by distrust and animosity? This essay takes the Soviet–Japanese Fisheries Convention of ...
Spotlight: Journalists assess investigative reporting and its status in society

Against a backdrop of pessimism about the future of investigative reporting, this study reports major findings of a survey of mainly US-based investigative journalists (N = 861). Although respondents reflect some of the current negative discourse, they also report high perceptions of autonomy and job satisfaction and say resources for investigative reporting are maintaining and even increasing. The survey provides empirical indication of the migration of investigative journalists to nonprofit newsrooms, with nonprofit journalists offering especially positive appraisals of the state of their craft. Also explored are investigative journalists’ professional role conceptions as well as perceptions of the nature of their relationship with the public and public policymakers.
Afrofuturist Remains: A Speculative Rendering of Social Dance Futures v2.0

What are the refashioned circulations of the social in African American social dance? What might be alternative alignments of capital and dance-making, that might align the applied science of the physical within the social, as a doing enlivened by a being? If African American social dancing situates as a local present that animates memories of deep compassion, where are its unknowable future circumstances most likely to produce a social profit, of some sort? This essay explores an impossible afrofuture, a place where dance arrives as a memory of something propulsive, personal, and still in the future; an emancipated dance of communion that can be entirely mediated and digitally exchanged. The essay argues for afrofuturist remains that are pre-, pure-, and post-human iterations of corporeal connectivity: dance born of a belief in the social essence of creativity.
Effect of Acid-base Status on Oxygen Transport by Whole Blood

Despite the frequent appearance of acid-base disturbances in clinical medicine, there seem to be few studies that assess their effect on oxygen transport. Moreover, by virtue of its relative complexity, oxygen transport seems to be a rather vulnerable process.
CHARACTERIZATION OF CASSAVA (MANIHOT SCULENTA CRANTZ) AERIAL PARTS FOR RUMINANT FEEDING

The objective of this research was to characterize the chemical composition and digestibility of aerial part and cuttings of four cassava cultivars grown in five different levels of soil fertilization and three plant densities, in order to use the residues for ruminant feeding. The experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design, in strip-split-plot scheme, with four replicates. The plots were composed of IAC14, IAC15, IAC90, and Cascuda cultivars; the subplots consisted of five fertilization categories, one fertilization with poultry litter (3000 kg.ha-1) and four chemical fertilization rates (0, 150, 450, 900 kg.ha-1) with NPK 4-20-20; and with the sub-subplots consisted of three plant densities (7,500, 12,500, 17,500 plants.ha-1). During the experiment, aerial part and cuttings were sampled for chemical and in vitro digestibility analyzes. There were differences between the varieties of cassava and fertilization rates on fiber fractions, chemical composition, in vitro digestibility, total digestible nutrients (TDN), and dry matter yield (kg / ha) of aerial part (P<0.05) and cuttings (P<0.05). Cassava aerial part and cuttings have considerable amounts of nutrients that can be used for ruminant feeding on small farms and for animal categories with low nutritional requirements. From all treatments, variety IAC15, with chemical fertilization of 900 kg.ha-1, as well as fertilization with poultry litter, with the highest plant density, were those with better nutritional composition and greater amount of available nutrients.
Fast downhole fluid viscosity and density measurements using a self-oscillating tuning fork device

The ability to characterize fluids as they are being produced is of great importance for reservoir management in the petroleum industry. Real-time information about changes in flow characteristics and fluid composition during production requires downhole (or surface) measurements that are able to probe the properties of the fluid in time scales shorter than those of the characteristic flow speeds. In this work, we demonstrate the use of a tuning fork sensor for fast viscosity and density measurements which would enable the characterization of transient fluid properties such as in multiphase flows of liquids. This functionality is enabled by using a piezoelectric tuning fork as the frequency defining element in an oscillator circuit. The feedback loop in the oscillator circuit is continuously turned on and off to allow the tuning fork to ring up and ring down. By monitoring the frequency and the decay rate during ring-down, transient changes in density and viscosity can be obtained within milliseconds in liquids. The compact measurement scheme implemented here allows us to use the tuning fork as a flow detection and fluid characterization sensor in an untethered well-logging tool for rapid downhole well diagnostics.
Incentivizing healthy eating in children: An investigation of the “ripple” and “temporal” effects of a reward-based intervention

Abstract Although previous studies have established the effectiveness of using small reward-based incentives in inducing the choice and consumption of healthier foods among children, little is known about their impact outside of experimental settings or their effectiveness over time when administered daily. This paper presents the results of a field experiment conducted to provide insight on these matters. The study employs a removed treatment within-subject design and was conducted at a summer program catering to low-income children between the ages of 5 and 12. The month long experiment—wherein participants were offered a small prize for choosing a fruit cup for dessert after lunch in lieu of cookies—involved 23 children between the ages of 5 and 8. Corroborating existing studies, the introduction of small reward-based incentives in this context was found to induce large increases in the number of children choosing the healthy dessert options after lunch, but disaggregating the results by week and day suggests that their impact diminished over time. Attempts to ascertain their effect outside of experimental settings did not indicate that the introduction of rewards had any adverse effects, but also did not provide definitive conclusions.
Deep Thoughts: A Look at Public Access to Deepwater Sites through the Mardi Gras Shipwreck

In late 2006, the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) was asked by the Minerals Management Service to direct the public outreach and education component of the Mardi Gras Shipwreck Project. Traditional public outreach efforts for archaeological sites in shallow water typically focus on getting diving and snorkeling visitors to the site. Interpretive materials for such sites often include waterproof site plans, submerged markers, and guidelines to direct visitors around the site as they explore and learn. Deepwater archaeological sites present unique challenges, namely, the interpretation of resources managed for the public that the public will never physically visit. This article discusses FPAN’s role in the Mardi Gras Shipwreck Project and the public education strategies developed to present the shipwreck and the extreme deepwater project to the public.
An Efficient Budget Allocation Approach for Quantifying the Impact of Input Uncertainty in Stochastic Simulation

Simulations are often driven by input models estimated from finite real-world data. When we use simulations to assess the performance of a stochastic system, there exist two sources of uncertainty in the performance estimates: input and simulation estimation uncertainty. In this article, we develop a budget allocation approach that can efficiently employ the potentially tight simulation resource to construct a percentile confidence interval quantifying the impact of the input uncertainty on the system performance estimates, while controlling the simulation estimation error. Specifically, nonparametric bootstrap is used to generate samples of input models quantifying both the input distribution family and parameter value uncertainty. Then, the direct simulation is used to propagate the input uncertainty to the output response. Since each simulation run could be computationally expensive, given a tight simulation budget, we propose an efficient budget allocation approach that can balance the finite sampling error introduced by using finite bootstrapped samples to quantify the input uncertainty and the system response estimation error introduced by using finite replications to estimate the system response at each bootstrapped sample. Our approach is theoretically supported, and empirical studies also demonstrate that it has better and more robust performance than direct bootstrapping.
Theatre Scene and Theatre Public in Early Modern London

Criticism on early modern theatre and the public sphere has primarily examined internal evidence in scripts to show how plays offered contemporary political events and controversies to the critical...