cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
RNA interference modulates replication of dengue virus in Drosophila melanogaster cells

Mosquito-borne dengue virus (DENV, genus Flavivirus) has emerged as a major threat to global human health in recent decades, and novel strategies to contain the escalating dengue fever pandemic are urgently needed. RNA interference (RNAi) induced by exogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) has shown promise for treatment of flavivirus infections in hosts and prevention of transmission by vectors. However, the impact of RNAi triggered by authentic virus infection on replication of DENV, or any flavivirus, has received little study. The objectives of the current study were threefold: first, to assess the utility of Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells for the study of DENV, second to investigate the impact of multiple enzymes in the RNAi pathway on DENV replication; and third to test for variation in the response of the four serotypes of DENV to modulation of RNAi. Three strains from each of the four DENV serotypes showed replication in S2 cells following infection at multiplicity of infection (MOI) 0.1 and MOI 10; each strain achieved titers > 4.0 log10pfu/ml five days after infection at MOI 10. The four serotypes did not differ in mean titer. S2 cells infected with DENV-1, 2, 3 or 4 produced siRNAs, indicating that infection triggered an RNAi response. Knockdown of one of the major enzymes in the RNAi pathway, Dicer-2 (Dcr-2), resulted in a 10 to 100-fold enhancement of replication of all twelve strains of DENV in S2 cells. While serotypes did not differ in their average response to Dcr-2 knockdown, strains within serotypes showed significant differences in their sensitivity to Dcr-2 knockdown. Moreover, knockdown of three additional components of the RNAi pathway, Argonaute 2 (Ago-2), Dcr-1 and Ago-1, also resulted in a significant increase in replication of the two DENV strains tested, and the magnitude of this increase was similar to that resulting from Dcr-2 knockdown. These findings indicate that DENV can replicate in Drosophila S2 cells and that the RNAi pathway plays a role in modulating DENV replication in these cells. S2 cells offer a useful cell culture model for evaluation of the interaction between DENV and the RNAi response.
Visualizing human prostate cancer cells in mouse skeleton using bioconjugated near-infrared fluorescent quantum dots.

Objectives To visualize human prostate cancer cells in mouse bone with bioconjugated near-infrared quantum dot (QD) probes. Near-infrared fluorescent probes using QDs can visualize tumors in deep tissues in vivo. Methods Human prostate cancer C4-2B xenografts grown in mouse tibia were detected by prostate-specific membrane antigen antibody conjugated with QDs emitting light at the near-infrared range of 800 nm (QD800). Images in culture and in vivo were acquired using the IVIS Imaging System. Results As few as 5000 cells can be detected subcutaneously when tagged with QD800 conjugate and injected directly into mice. QD800 conjugate injected intravenously in mice harboring C4-2B tumors in tibia detected signals from a minimum of 500 000 cells. The maximal light emission was detected 30 minutes after intravenous injection of QD800 conjugate in mice with established C4-2B tumors. Conclusions Bioconjugated near-infrared QD probes are highly sensitive molecular imaging tools for human prostate cancer micrometastases in mice.
Seasonal patterns of adult thrips dispersal and implications for management in eastern Virginia tomato fields

Seasonal flight activity of thrips was examined in commercial tomato fields, Lycopersicon esculentum L., on Virginia’s (USA) Eastern Shore in 2000 and 2001. In each of three regions along the Shore, populations of adult thrips infesting tomato flowers and dispersing within tomato fields were monitored weekly. Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) was the only thrips species captured that is currently considered as a competent vector of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in most of the mid-Atlantic US region. Seasonal patterns of F. fusca capture were dissimilar among tomato fields across all regions; yet, more F. fusca were captured between midMay and mid-June in all regions compared with those captured between transplanting and mid-May each year. Despite the relatively low observed dispersal activity of F. fusca before mid-May, the threat of TSWV transmission warrants protection of the crop from immigrating F. fusca from transplanting until the end of marketable fruit set. Frankliniella tritici (Lindeman) was the most frequently encountered thrips species dispersing in tomato fields and infesting tomato flowers. Seasonal patterns of F. tritici capture were similar among tomato fields in all regions in 2000, but were dissimilar among regions in 2001. Dispersal of F. tritici was most pronounced between mid-May and mid-June across all fields in each year. Because F. tritici was the dominant species recovered from tomato flowers, it is likely responsible for cosmetic injury to tomato fruit and should be managed to reduce fruit injury when infestations are highest, between mid May and mid June. r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Folate-Conjugated Rapamycin Slows Progression of Polycystic Kidney Disease

Activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway is aberrant in autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The mTOR inhibitors, such as rapamycin, ameliorate PKD in rodent models, but clinical trials have not shown benefit, possibly as a result of low tissue concentrations of rapamycin at clinically tolerable doses. To overcome this limitation, we synthesized a folate-conjugated form of rapamycin (FC-rapa) that is taken up by folate receptor-mediated endocytosis and cleaved intracellularly to reconstitute the active drug. We found that renal cyst-lining cells highly express the folate receptor in ADPKD and mouse models. In vitro, FC-rapa inhibited mTOR activity in a dose- and folate receptor-dependent manner. Treatment of a PKD mouse model with FC-rapa inhibited mTOR in the target tissue, strongly attenuated proliferation and growth of renal cysts and preserved renal function. Furthermore, FC-rapa inhibited mTOR activity in the kidney but not in other organs. In summary, these results suggest that targeting the kidney using FC-rapa may overcome the significant side effects and lack of renal efficacy observed in clinical trials with mTOR inhibitors in ADPKD.
Bone marrow-derived stromal cell therapy for traumatic brain injury is neuroprotective via stimulation of non-neurologic organ systems

Bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) used as “MSC therapy” after traumatic brain injury act as remote “bioreactors” via stimulation of lung macrophages and augmention of T regulatory cell production by the spleen, leading to systemic increases in circulating anti-inflammatory cytokines and alteration of the locoregional milieu of the central nervous system. The altered intracerebral microenvironment leads to modulation of the resident microglia population, thereby stimulating an increase in the ratio of M2 (anti-inflammatory) macrophage to M1 (proinflammatory) macrophage, and it is this effect that accounts for the observed neuroprotection.
Television and DVD/Video Viewing in Children Younger Than 2 Years

Objective To determine the television-, DVD-, and video-viewing habits of children younger than 2 years. Design A telephone survey of 1009 parents of children aged 2 to 24 months. Setting Parents in Minnesota and Washington state were surveyed. Participants A random sample of parents of children born in the previous 2 years was drawn from birth certificate records. Households in which English was not spoken were excluded, as were children with major disabilities. Main Outcome Measure The amount of regular television and DVD/video viewing by content, reasons for viewing, and frequency of parent-child coviewing. Results By 3 months of age, about 40% of children regularly watched television, DVDs, or videos. By 24 months, this proportion rose to 90%. The median age at which regular media exposure was introduced was 9 months. Among those who watched, the average viewing time per day rose from 1 hour per day for children younger than 12 months to more than 1.5 hours per day by 24 months. Parents watched with their children more than half of the time. Parents gave education, entertainment, and babysitting as major reasons for media exposure in their children younger than 2 years. Conclusions Parents should be urged to make educated choices about their children's media exposure. Parental hopes for the educational potential of television can be supported by encouraging those parents who are already allowing screen time to watch with their children.
Towards Higher Dimensionality in Cinema Color: Multispectral Video Systems

The current digital transition being experienced by the motion picture industry has afforded an effective increase in dimensionality in the domains of time and space, however, comparatively little effort has been put into expanding a rigorous treatment of color. All practical motion imaging systems continue to rely on the metamerism illusion wherein a particular integrated stimulation of the three cone types found on the human retina is sufficient to reproduce the sensation of color of any real object regardless of higher order spectral composition. Such treatments fundamentally restrict cinema color reproduction, offering limitations in absolute color accuracy and gamut, observer metamerism and consistent creative communication. Optimized multiprimary reproduction focused on spectral reproduction accuracy or metamerism reduction may ultimately prove a better answer to enhancing the color experience in future systems. It also promises to open new color management paradigms for visual effects compositing of live action and computer-generated imagery or for virtual cinematography. Research in progress at Rochester Institute of Technology has focused on exploring essential design attributes for abridged multispectral capture and display systems for motion imaging applications.
Dynamic Nonlocal Language Modeling via Hierarchical Topic-Based Adaptation

This paper presents a novel method of generating and applying hierarchical, dynamic topic-based language models. It proposes and evaluates new cluster generation, hierarchical smoothing and adaptive topic-probability estimation techniques. These combined models help capture long-distance lexical dependencies. Experiments on the Broadcast News corpus show significant improvement in perplexity (10.5% overall and 33.5% on target vocabulary).
Theory of sunspot structure

Recent high-resolution observations provide us with key information that allows us to begin to assemble a coherent theoretical picture of the formation and maintenance of a sunspot and its complex thermal and magnetic structure. A new picture of penumbral structure has emerged from observations, involving two components having different magnetic field incli- nations and remaining essentially distinct over the lifetime of the spot, with little interchange of magnetic flux. The darker component, with more nearly horizontal magnetic field, includes "returning" magnetic flux tubes that dive down below the surface near the outer edge of the penumbra and carry much of the Evershed flow. The configuration of these flux tubes can be understood to be a consequence of downward pumping of magnetic flux by turbulent granular convection in the moat surrounding a sunspot. This process has been demonstrated in recent three-dimensional numerical simulations of fully compressible convection. The process of flux pumping is an important key to understanding the formation and maintenance of the penum- bra, the hysteresis associated with the transition from a pore to a sunspot, and the behavior of moving magnetic features in the moat.
Variability of NSQIP-assessed surgical quality based on age and disease process.

Abstract Background Recent national attention has focused on improving upon the surgical quality of hospitals across the United States. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database includes expected morbidity probability for each surgical patient. We sought to investigate the accuracy of this probability across the spectrum of general surgical operations and assess the variability based on the age and disease process. Materials and methods Using the 2008 ACS-NSQIP database, we identified 190,929 operations that would be in the scope of practice of a modern general surgeon; the four most common included breast resection (n = 22,175; 11.6%), colon resection (n = 21,363; 11.2%), cholecystectomy (n = 20,889; 10.9%), and inguinal hernia repair (n = 11,709; 6.1%). We calculated the surgical observed versus expected morbidity rates (O/E) of each operation type and compared them by decile of patient age. We then determined the effect of case mix and patient age on theoretical hospitals performing at the NSQIP average. Results There is substantial variability in O/E ratios when comparing these disease processes across deciles of age. For patients undergoing breast resections, 67.2% of morbidities were solely attributed to 30-d reoperations; colon resections had an O/E ratio greater than 1 for all age deciles except over 90 y old. For cholecystectomies and the majority of patients undergoing inguinal hernia repairs, there was a lower morbidity rate than expected. Case mix and patient age were found to independently affect assessment of hospital quality. Conclusions It is conceivable that general surgery case mix and patient age could independently affect the quality assessment of a hospital. This variability may have implications for overall quality measures.
Daily Spiritual Experiences, Systolic Blood Pressure, and Hypertension among Midlife Women in SWAN

Background There is reasonable evidence that religious beliefs and activities are associated with lower blood pressure and less hypertension. It is not known if daily spiritual experiences have similar effects.
Measuring Students' Attitudes toward Educational Use of the Internet

The purposes of this study were to develop an instrument that would provide a quantitative measure of the attitudes of undergraduate college students toward educational use of the Internet and to study selected behavioral correlates of those attitudes. The development of pilot scales along with a social desirability response scale and the resulting 18-item Likert format “Attitude Toward Educational Use of the Internet” (ATEUI) scale are described. Several behavioral correlates were found to provide evidence for the scale's construct validity. For instance, favorable attitudes were associated with: (1) keeping track of valuable educational Internet sites; (2) sharing educational information found on the Internet with friends; (3) choosing classes that require Internet use; (4) greater frequency of Internet use, both in general and for educational purposes; (5) greater number of reasons for using the Internet for education; and (6) greater number of Internet features used. Some implications for future resea...
The Researcher, the Topic, and the Literature: A Procedure for Systematizing Literature Searches

Currently, no systematic procedure exists for ensuring the range and representativeness of publications included in a search of literature on a research topic. Using the logic of fieldwork methods, this article suggests such a procedure. The research topic is viewed as a "sensitizing concept, " and publications and authors are identified as "sites" and "informants, " respectively. Snowball sampling allows the researcher to build a sampling frame of publications. "Key" sites and informants are identified using consensual and "gatekeeper" validation criteria. These key sites and informants are subjected to careful reading resembling content analysis.
A Critical Discourse Analysis of Gisela's Family Story: A Construal of Deportation, Illegal Immigrants, and Literacy.

In this paper, I use critical discourse analysis to analyze a student's narrative about the arrest, incarceration, and deportation of her mother to Mexico. The student, Gisela, was a fifth grader in my classroom during the 2008/2009 school year, and I encouraged the students to collect family stories from their relatives. Gisela created this story, and she wrote and illustrated this with the help of her father, student peers, and me. I draw on Gloria Anzaldua's constructs of nepantla and nepantlera, narrative analysis, and systemic functional linguistics to show how Gisela's construed this story to create a powerful and creative narrative that disrupted autonomous forms of literacy along with the excluding and damaging discourses circulating about immigrants in our community.
Friction Losses on Lines with Service Connections

Use of assumption that amount of water actually withdrawn along line is withdrawn as single quantity at end of line; errors in computation resulting from such assumptions; two alternate methods are proposed; first method is applicable only to dead-end systems, or other situations where flows are known, second method is applicable to either dead end or loop system, and flows need not be known in advance.
The Roles of Hypocretin/Orexin in Narcolepsy, Parkinson’s Disease, and Normal Behavior

Despite the development of extremely useful rodent models [1–3], the best physiological model of human cataplexy remains the genetically narcoleptic dog [4]. In these animals, excitement induced by food or play produces abrupt loss of muscle tone which appears to be accompanied by maintained consciousness, as evidenced by tracking eye movements. Less severe attacks of partial weakness also mirror the human condition. Drugs effective in reversing human cataplexy are effective in blocking cataplexy in the narcoleptic dog [5]. In contrast, rodents lacking hypocretin (hcrt) have short periods of behavioral arrest, but it is not clear if they have tracking eye movements or other indications of maintained consciousness [6]. The generally positive emotions that trigger cataplexy in humans [7] and the feeding and play behavior that trigger it in dogs do not have clear parallels that allow behavioral arrest to be reliably triggered in mice. Clearly, murine models share key aspects of the underlying pathology of human narcolepsy, but the interaction of hcrt deficiency with a rodent limbic system produces differences in cataplexy elicitation, as should be expected. By comparing cataplexy in rodent, canine, and human subjects, each of which has a somewhat different underlying hypocretin pathology, we can most clearly identify the critical changes responsible for cataplexy and “behavioral arrest.”
Administrative Collusion: How Delegation Diminishes the Collective Congress

This Article identifies a previously unexplored problem with the delegation of legislative power by focusing not on the discretion given to executive agencies, but instead on how delegations allow individual congressmen to control administration. Delegations create administrative discretion, discretion that members of Congress can influence through a variety of formal and informal mechanisms. Members have persistent incentives for delegation to agencies, because it is often easier to serve their interests through shaping administration than by passing legislation. To understand the particular problem of delegation, I introduce the concept of the “collective Congress.” Collective decisionmaking is a fundamental characteristic of the legislative power. The collective Congress serves an important separation of powers principle by aligning the ambitions of legislators with the power of Congress as an institution. Although members represent distinct interests, the Constitution allows members of Congress to exercise power only collectively and specifically precludes them from exercising any type of individual or executive power. Delegation, however, provides opportunities for individual legislators to influence administration and poses a serious separation of powers concern by fracturing the collective Congress. This insight undermines the conventional view that delegations will be self-correcting because Congress will jealously guard its lawmaking power from the executive. Instead, members of Congress will often prefer to collude and to share administrative power with the executive. As a result, delegation destroys the Madisonian checks and balances against excessive delegation. This structural failure suggests a need to reconsider judicial enforcement of the nondelegation doctrine and to implement political reforms to realign Congress with its collective power.
Liquid Surface X-ray Studies of Gold Nanoparticle-Phospholipid Films at the Air/Water Interface.

Amphiphilic phospholipids and nanoparticles functionalized with hydrophobic capping ligands have been extensively investigated for their capacity to self-assemble into Langmuir monolayers at the air/water interface. However, understanding of composite films consisting of both nanoparticles and phospholipids, and by extension, the complex interactions arising between nanomaterials and biological membranes, remains limited. In this work, dodecanethiol-capped gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) with an average core diameter of 6 nm were incorporated into 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) monolayers with surface densities ranging from 0.1 to 20% area coverage at a surface pressure of 30 mN/m. High resolution liquid surface X-ray scattering studies revealed a phase separation of the DPPC and Au-NP components of the composite film, as confirmed with atomic force microscopy after the film was transferred to a substrate. At low Au-NP content, the structural organization of the phase-separated film is bes...
Study of emetic receptor sites for staphylococcal enterotoxin in monkeys.

SummaryBilateral destruction of the area postrema on the floor of the fourth ventricle (chemoreceptor trigger zone) makes rhesus monkeys completely refractory to the emetic action of staphylococcal enterotoxin. The surgically induced resistance is effective against the 2 antigenic types of enterotoxin used. Vagotomy at the level of the diaphragm gave protection in all animals, but in some protection was not complete. The partial protection against enterotoxin-induced emesis in some of the vagotomized monkeys may be due to incompleteness of the vagotomy. If this interpretation of the results is correct, a comomn basis of emesis prevention following staphylococcal enterotoxin feedings may account for the similarity of vomiting response of the area postrema ablated and vagotomized animals. A species difference between cats and rhesus monkeys in the importance of the area postrema region for enterotoxin stimulated vomiting is indicated.
Egg of Aedes (Gymnometopa) mediovittatus (Diptera: Culicidae).

The egg of Aedes mediovittatus (Coquillett) is described from scanning electron micrographs. The egg is black, slightly tapered toward the posterior pole, and is approximately 771 μm long and up to 175 μm wide. On the entire egg surface there are about 970 polygonal outer chorionic cells, each bounded by a raised outer chorionic reticulum which forms a wall around each cell. Incorporated into the inner surface of this wall are 13–18 relatively small, poorly defined and variably shaped tubercles. In the center of each cell there is a large, buttonlike, more or less round tubercle with a pitted upper surface. Over most of the egg surface, the walls of this tubercle are connected by spokelike bridges of variable diameter to the cell floor or reticulum wall. The structure of the outer chorionic cells is somewhat modified in areas approaching the anterior and posterior poles.
Demographic and Aetiological Profile of Microbial Corneal Ulcer in a Hill State in North India

Aim: To ascertain the demographic and aetiological profile of microbial corneal ulcer in Uttarakhand, a predominantly hilly state of North India.Methods: In this prospective non-randomized study, 180 consecutive patients with suspected microbial corneal ulcer attending the ophthalmology outpatient department of the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, India, were evaluated. Corneal scrapings were taken and subjected to microbiological analysis, including Gram stain, potassium hydroxide wet mount, and bacterial and fungal culture.Results: Among 180 patients, male sex, prior history of ocular trauma with vegetative materials,and occupation involving outdoor activity, especially agricultural work, were the major risk factors for development of corneal ulcer in the population studied. Forty percent of the ulcers were fungal, 28% were bacterial, 10% showed mixed bacterial and fungal growth, and 5% were viral. The aetiology could not be determined in 17% of patients. Fusarium spp was the most common fungal isolate (87.5%) while Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest bacterial isolate (53%).Conclusions: Fungal ulcers, especially due to Fusarium spp, were the most common type, followed by bacterial ulcers due to Gram-positive bacteria, especially S aureus. This information may be useful for empirical treatment of patients with corneal ulcer in remote areas, where microbiological diagnostic facilities are often not available.
Narasinha Mehta of Gujarat: A Legacy of Bhakti in Songs and Stories, by Neelima Shukla-Bhatt

An oft-cited Sanskrit verse, composed sometime around 1700 in North India, states that Bhakti, or the spirit of theological devotion, and conceived in the verse as a woman, was born in South India ...
A 43 Year Old with Vegetative Plaques and Erosions on the Trunk

A 43 year old African American female presented with a 1 year history of pruritic scaly plaques on her scalp. In the 2 months prior to presentation she had begun to develop thick painful vegetative plaques on her scalp as well as her trunk. She denied any history of mucosal lesions concurrently or prior to the cutaneous eruption.
Electrographic correlates of lateral asymmetry in the processing of verbal and nonverbal auditory stimuli.

A veraged evoked potentials (AEP) to verbal (digits) and nonverbal (clicks) auditory stimuli were recorded from left and right temporal leads in ten right-handed Ss. With dichotic presentation, there was no significant difference in accuracy of report of the clicks heard in each ear, but significantly more digits were identified correctly from the right ear than from the left. Dichotic verbal stimuli elicited AEP whose early components were of greater amplitude, and whose later components were of shorter latency, from the left hemisphere than from the right. No consistent latency or amplitude differences were observed between AEP from the left and right hemispheres when clicks were presented dichotically.
Ring-shaped deposition patterns in small nozzle-to-plate distance impactors

ABSTRACTExperiments were carried out in an impactor, where the distance between the impactor nozzle and the impactor plate was small, much less than one nozzle diameter in separation. The aerosol deposition patterns in this impactor were investigated for aerosols in the 3–15 m diameter range. Ring-shaped deposition patterns were observed where the internal diameter and thickness of the rings were a function of the particle diameter. Specifically, the inner diameter and ring thickness were correlated to the Stokes number, Stk; the ring diameter decreased with Stk, and the ring thickness increased with Stk. At the ring closed up, leaving a mostly uniform disk deposition pattern. These ring patterns do not appear to correspond to patterns previously described in the literature, and an order of magnitude analysis shows that this is an inertially dominated process.Copyright © 2018 American Association for Aerosol Research
Rate-Based Cell Range Expansion for Downlink Massive MIMO Heterogeneous Networks

This letter presents a rate-based user association using cell range expansion for downlink heterogeneous networks, where macro base stations (BSs) use massive multiple-input-multiple-output systems, and they are overlaid with dense small cells. Using stochastic geometry, we propose closed-form bias factors to improve the long-term average rate of a typical user. We show that such factors depend on the multiplexing gain and the BS average load. Simulation results show that the proposed bias factors efficiently distribute users across BSs, with significant rate coverage improvements in comparison with max-power and other existing biased user associations.
The Idea of Queer Children

In this chapter, Greteman comments on children as they have come to be taken up within queer theory. Investigating contemporary theoretical understandings of the child, as elucidated by Lee Edelman, Cris Mayo, Kevin McDonough, and Lee Airton, Greteman provides a pragmatic intervention to contemplate queer children as thriving. The author argues that queer lessons have filtered their way into childhood. Queer youth may not become gay or lesbian adults, but their queerness helps illustrate both the potential in becoming queer and the institutional limitations currently present.
Pediatric phyllodes tumors: A review of the National Cancer Data Base and adherence to NCCN guidelines for phyllodes tumor treatment

Abstract Background Phyllodes tumors are fibroepithelial breast lesions that are uncommon in women and rare among children. Due to scarcity, few large pediatric phyllodes tumor series exist. Current guidelines do not differentiate treatment recommendations between children and adults. We examined national guideline adherence for children and adults. Methods We queried the NCDB (2004–2014) for female patients with phyllodes tumor histology, excluding patients with missing age or survival data. Patients were stratified by age (pediatric Results We identified 2787 cases of phyllodes tumor (2725 adult, 62 pediatric). Median age was 17 years in children and 52 years in adults. Margin positivity rates and median tumor size were similar between adults and children. Treatment was discordant with NCCN guidelines in 28.6% of adults and 14.5% of children through use of axillary staging, chemotherapy, adjuvant endocrine therapy, and radiotherapy. Five-year and ten-year survival were comparable between both groups. Conclusion Children and adults present with similarly sized phyllodes tumors. Trends reveal high margin positivity rates, and overtreatment with regional axillary staging and systemic adjuvant therapies. Particularly in children, treatment decisions must consider risks of adjuvant therapy including radiation-related second primary cancers, given uncertain benefit. Type of Study Retrospective Comparative Study. Level of Evidence Level III.
Iran’s Strategic Culture: Implications for Nuclear Policy

Nima Gerami strikes a note of caution in his chapter concerning the prospects for preserving the 2015 nuclear agreement—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—between Iran and the P5+1. Explaining the “great civilization” lens through which Iran sees itself as a peer with global superpowers, Gerami discusses aspects of the Iranian national narrative which “fuel its sense of entitlement to advanced nuclear fuel cycle technologies.” Gerami argues that, even if the JCPOA remains intact, some of the deal’s restrictions expire in 10 to 15 years and thus “the question of Iran's nuclear intent will grow increasingly important over the next decade.” Affirming the salience of cultural context in assessing nuclear intent, Gerami emphasizes the primacy of Iranian cultural factors in decisionmaking. He explores these factors through the lens of the Cultural Topography Analytic Framework, offering insights concerning leverage points the United States might apply in its engagements with Iran.
The gendered effects of substance use on employment stability in transitional China

ABSTRACTSubstance use is often thought to harm employment prospects, an assumption challenged by the anomaly that people who use licit substances such as alcohol and tobacco are sometimes at a lower risk of unemployment. We argue that employment stability may benefit from the socialisation afforded through using licit substances, particularly in a context where licit substance use is encouraged. Furthermore, because the norms associated with substance use often reflect the gender hierarchy in a society, the impact of substance use on employment stability may be contingent on an individual's gender. Applying Cox proportional hazard modelling to a panel dataset during the critical two decades of China's market-based transition (1991–2011), we found that the impact of substance use on unemployment hazards varies depending on the dosage of the use and the gender of the users. Compared to abstinence, moderate alcohol-drinking reduces the risk of unemployment, and the reduction benefits especially men. The stan...
The insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and IGF binding proteins in postnatal development of murine mammary glands.

The insulin-like growth factors are mitogens and survival factors for normal mammary epithelialcells in vitro. Data reviewed here demonstrate that mRNAs for IGF-I and IGF-II, the IGFtype I receptor and the IGFBPs are expressed locally in mammary tissue during pubertal andpregnancy-induced growth and differentiation of murine mammary glands. IGF-I, IGF-II andthe IGF-IR were expressed in terminal end buds (TEBs) in virgin glands during ductal growth.In addition, IGF-II and IGF-IR mRNAs were expressed in ductal and alveolar epithelium inglands throughout postnatal development. Consistent with these results, IGF-I promoted ductalgrowth and proliferation in mouse mammary glands in organ culture. In addition to endogenousexpression of the IGFs and IGF-IR, the IGFBPs showed a varied pattern of expression inmammary tissue during postnatal development. For example, IGFBP-3 and -5 mRNAs wereexpressed in TEBs and ducts while IGFBP-2 and -4 mRNAs were expressed in stromal cellsimmediately surrounding the epithelium. These results support a role for the IGFs and IGFBPsas local mediators of postnatal mammary gland growth and differentiation.
What is ‘Social’ — What does it mean?

Except in the fields of philology and logic, there are probably few cases in which one would be justified in devoting a whole article to the meaning of one single word. Sometimes, however, a little word like this not only throws light upon the process of the evolution of ideas and the story of human error, but often continues to exercise an irrational power, which becomes apparent only when, by analysis, we arrive at the true meaning of it. I doubt whether there exists a better example of the little appreciated influence exercised by a single word than that afforded by the role which the little word ‘social’ has played for a hundred years in the whole sphere of political problems — and is still playing. We are so familiar with it, we accept it so much as a matter of course, that we are hardly conscious of any problem regarding its meaning. We have accepted it for so long as the natural exemplification of good behaviour and sincere thinking, that it seems almost sacrilege even to ask what this word, which so many men regard as the guiding star of their lives, really means.
Apparent increase in lip size is linked to tactile discrimination improvement

ABSTRACT Magnified vision of one’s body part has been shown to improve tactile acuity. We used an anesthetic cream (AC) to explore this effect. In Experiment 1, application of AC caused an increase in perceived lip size. As perceived lip size increased, tactile discrimination (as assessed by two-point discrimination) improved. In Experiment 2, we replicated these results in a larger sample and showed that these effects are not observed without AC. Tactile discrimination was better and improved as a function of lip size with AC, while performance remained consistent without AC. In Experiment 3, we showed that the increase in perceived lip size occurred only with the application of AC, but not with moisturizing cream. The application of either cream induced an improvement in two-point discrimination, but this improvement was modulated by perceived lip size only for AC. Magnification effects are mediated by malleable, experience-dependent representations of the human body.
Conformal Sites Theory for Adsorbed Films on Energetically Heterogeneous Surfaces

We present a conformal sites theory for a solid substrate whose surface is both geometrically and energetically heterogeneous and that interacts with an adsorbed film. The theory is based on a perturbation expansion for the grand potential of a real system with a rough surface about that of a reference system with an ideal reference surface, thus mapping the real system onto a much simpler interfacial system. The expansion is in powers of the intermolecular potential parameters, and leads to mixing rules for the potential parameters of the reference system. Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations for the adsorption of argon at 87.3 K, carbon dioxide at 273 K, and water vapor at 298 K on heterogeneous carbon surfaces are investigated to explore the limits of applicability of the theory. Simulation results indicate that the theory works well with typical asymmetry of the potential parameters in the force field. However, care should be taken when applying the theory to strongly associating fluids and in the low-pressure region where the active surface sites play an important role. The conformal sites theory can be used to predict the adsorption properties and to characterize the solid substrate by taking advantage of the corresponding states principle. Other possible applications are also discussed.
A Catch-22 in Audit Litigation? Interventions that Decrease Assessed Auditor Culpability by Reducing Assessed Fraud Detectability and Auditor Acquiescence Generate Reactance Effects that Increase Assessed Damages

We conduct an experiment to examine the joint effect of two potential reforms to auditor litigation: a higher intent standard and changes to case evaluators. Examining a higher intent standard (i.e., a standard explicitly incorporating good versus bad faith) is important as it has been proposed as a way to attenuate jurors’ second-guessing of difficult professional judgments made by auditors. While a variety of changes to case evaluators have been proposed, we examine the impact of an incremental change that would potentially be more palatable to regulators: increasing evaluators’ legal knowledge. Capturing task-relevant knowledge differences is a key principle from the expertise paradigm (Libby and Luft 1993), and we predict differences in evaluators’ legal knowledge to moderate the degree to which changing from an ordinary negligence standard to a higher intent standard alters evaluators’ assessments of auditor culpability. Consistent with predictions, a higher intent standard more substantially reduces negligent verdicts for evaluators with less legal knowledge (lay jurors), relative to evaluators with more legal knowledge (law students). However, also consistent with predictions, a higher intent standard comes with the cost of greater damages assigned by the subset of lay jurors who, despite a higher intent standard, still find the auditor negligent. Our findings highlight that the effects of implementing a higher intent standard are a complex tradeoff.
Local heating and curing of carbon nanocomposite adhesives using radio frequencies

Abstract Carbon nanoparticles are known to produce a strong, rapid heating response in the presence of a radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic field. Here we show that this property can be used to selectively cure nanocomposite thermoset adhesives in plastic bonding applications without deforming the surrounding plastic components. A non-contact RF applicator was used to generate an electric field through a carbon-black-loaded adhesive, which then volumetrically heats and cures the adhesive that bonds two plastic substrates. Because this heat was selectively generated in the adhesive, plastic substrates maintained temperatures lower than the curing temperature of the adhesive. Substrate temperatures as low as 53 °C were observed while the adhesive cured at a target temperature of 85 °C; in contrast, substrate temperatures exceed the adhesive temperatures when using conventional heating methods, such as IR lamps or ovens. The strength of cure was confirmed by mechanical testing; lap shear strengths of RF-cured adhesive joints were 3.26 MPa on average, well above the generally accepted green strength value of 1 MPa required for handling. This RF heating technology offers unique opportunities in industrial manufacturing applications, particularly in the automotive sector where thermoset adhesive bonding is ubiquitous.
Emancipatory pedagogies: fostering political engagement through action

Every electoral cycle, thousands of canvassers knock on doors to encourage strangers to vote. Many volunteers come from communities with low levels of participation. Scholars have yet to explore ho...
Sarcopenia as a Prognostic Factor for 90-Day and Overall Mortality in Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery for Metastatic Tumors: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study

Background Novel methods in predicting survival in patients with spinal metastases may help guide clinical decision-making and stratify treatments regarding surgery vs palliative care. Objective To evaluate whether the frailty/sarcopenia paradigm is predictive of survival and morbidity in patients undergoing surgery for spinal metastasis. Methods A total of 271 patients from 4 tertiary care centers who had undergone surgery for spinal metastasis were identified. Frailty/sarcopenia was defined by psoas muscle size. Survival hazard ratios were calculated using multivariate analysis, with variables from demographic, functional, oncological, and surgical factors. Secondary outcomes included improvement of neurological function and postoperative morbidity. Results Patients in the smallest psoas tertile had shorter overall survival compared to the middle and largest tertile. Psoas size (PS) predicted overall mortality more strongly than Tokuhashi score, Tomita score, and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS). PS predicted 90-d mortality more strongly than Tokuhashi score, Tomita score, and KPS. Patients with a larger PS were more likely to have an improvement in deficit compared to the middle tertile. PS was not predictive of 30-d morbidity. Conclusion In patients undergoing surgery for spine metastases, PS as a surrogate for frailty/sarcopenia predicts 90-d and overall mortality, independent of demographic, functional, oncological, and surgical characteristics. The frailty/sarcopenia paradigm is a stronger predictor of survival at these time points than other standards. PS can be used in clinical decision-making to select which patients with metastatic spine tumors are appropriate surgical candidates.
Citizenship Tasks and Women Physicians: Additional Woman Tax in Academic Medicine?

Background: Our aim was to evaluate differences in reported citizenship tasks among women physicians due to personal or demographic factors and time spent performing those tasks for work. Materials...
mokapot: Fast and flexible semi-supervised learning for peptide detection

Abstract Proteomics studies rely on the accurate assignment of peptides to the acquired tandem mass spectra—a task where machine learning algorithms have proven invaluable. We describe mokapot, which provides a flexible semi-supervised learning algorithm that allows for highly customized analyses. We demonstrate some of the unique features of mokapot by improving the detection of RNA-cross-linked peptides from an analysis of RNA-binding proteins and increasing the consistency of peptide detection in a single-cell proteomics study.
Evaluating the Role of Boat Electrofishing in Fish Monitoring of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta

Author(s): McKenzie, Ryan; Mahardja, Brian | Abstract: The San Francisco Estuary is an incredibly diverse ecosystem with a mosaic of aquatic habitats inhabited by a number of economically, culturally, and ecologically important fish species. To monitor the temporal and spatial trends of this rich fish community, long-term fish monitoring programs within the estuary use a variety of gear types to capture fish species across life stages and habitats. However, concerns have been raised that current sampling gears may fail to detect certain species—or life stages—that inhabit areas that are not accessible by current gear types (e.g., riprap banks, shallow vegetated areas). Boat electrofishing is one sampling method that has been proposed to supplement current long-term fish monitoring in the upper estuary. In this study, we used fish catch data from past boat electrofishing studies, a long-term beach seine survey, and a couple of long-running trawl surveys to compare the relative probability of detecting various fishes across these sampling gears. Overall, we found that boat electrofishing led to notable improvements in the detection rates for many native and non-native fishes we examined. Boat electrofishing gear was better at detecting the majority of species in the spring (20 out of 38 species, 53%) and fall-winter (24 out of 34 species, 70%) sampling periods. Based on these findings, we recommend that resource managers consider the implementation of a long-term boat electrofishing survey to help them in their long-term conservation planning for fishes within the upper estuary.
Morning light therapy in adults with Tourette’s disorder

Sleep disturbance is common among individuals with Tourette’s Disorder (TD). Given that sleep is influenced by the circadian system, this study examined circadian rhythms and sleep in adults with TD, and explored the possible benefit of short-wavelength wearable morning light therapy. Participants were 34 adults with TD (n = 14) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC; n = 20). Participants were screened using clinician-rated diagnostic and tic severity interviews, and procedures lasted 3 consecutive weeks. Participants completed a baseline week of actigraphy. Adults with TD completed 2 weeks of Re-Timer™ morning light therapy and continued actigraphy monitoring. Dim light melatonin-onset (DLMO) phase assessment, tic severity interview, and measures of chronotype, sleep disturbance, daytime sleepiness, disability, depression, anxiety, and stress were completed at baseline and post-intervention. Adults with TD reported significantly greater eveningness and sleep disturbance relative to controls. Per wrist actigraphy, adults with TD exhibited significantly longer sleep-onset latency, lower sleep efficiency, and greater sleep fragmentation than HC. Following morning light therapy, there was a significant advance in DLMO phase, but not self-report or actigraphy sleep variables. There were small, statistically significant decreases in tic severity and impairment. There were also significant reductions in daytime sleepiness, and self-reported anxiety, but not depression, stress, or disability. Participants reported minimal side effects and rated light therapy as acceptable and comfortable. Findings showed some benefits following brief light therapy in TD; further exploration of the impact of spectral tuning the photic environment as part of treatment for TD subjects is warranted.