cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Controls on synorogenic alluvial‐fan architecture, Beartooth Conglomerate (Palaeocene), Wyoming and Montana

Late Palaeocene uplift of the Beartooth Range in northwestern Wyoming and southwestern Montana generated the Beartooth Conglomerate along the eastern and northeastern flanks of the range. Systematic unroofing sequences and intraformational unconformities, folds, and faults in the conglomerate attest to deposition during uplift Along the eastern flank, at least three ancient alluvial-fan systems and a braidplain system can be distinguished on the bases of petrofacies and lithofacies. The two southern fans consist of 700 + m of sedimentary-clast conglomerate and subordinate sandstone, dominated by hyperconcentratedflow and stream-flow facies. The next fan to the north is dominated by plutonic and metamorphic clasts and contains abundant mud-matrix-supported debris-flow facies, as well as stream-flow facies. The northernmost depositional system consists of arkosic, channellized fluvial conglomerate and sandstone, overbank mudstone, and crevasse-splay sandstone units. Palaeocurrent data indicate eastward dispersal, away from the Beartooth Range. Outstanding exposure of the Beartooth Conglomerate allows facies to be mapped on lateral photographic mosaics. A seven-fold hierarchy of bounding surfaces and enclosed lithosomes exists in the Beartooth Conglomerate. First- through fourth-order surfaces are analogous to first- through fourth-order surfaces that recently have been documented in sandy fluvial facies, with one exception: sediment gravity flows are bounded by first-order surfaces. Fifth-order surfaces are either erosional (e.g. lateral migration of fanhead trench) or accretionary (e.g. aggradation of fan surface during backfilling of trench, and construction of lobes on lower fan during entrenchment on upper fan). Some fifth-order surfaces coincide with intraformational angular unconformities and are thus the result of long-term fanhead entrenchment following uplift of the upper part of the fan. Sixth-order surfaces bound individual fan packages that are several hundred metres thick and - 10 km2 in area. The enclosed sixth-order lithosomes are distinguishable in terms of petrofacies and lithofacies. A single seventh-order surface bounds the entire Beartooth Conglomerate. Lower-order lithosomes are produced by intrinsic processes of fan construction. Fifth-order lithosomes can be attributed to both extrinsic and intrinsic controls. Sixth- and seventh-order lithosomes are generated by extrinsic controls.
Emotion and Decision Making: Short-term Reactions versus Long-term Evaluations

A computational theory of a particular decision task is extended to a neurocomputational theory of other decision making data involving influence of emotion on choices. The theory, involving opponent processing between two different neurotransmitter systems, includes both short-term responses to changes in affectively significant stimuli and long-term responses to ongoing affectively significant stimuli.
Early divergence of the FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 plastid division gene families in photosynthetic eukaryotes

Homologues of the bacterial cell division protein FtsZ are found in higher plants where they function as key components of the chloroplast division complex. In contrast to most bacteria that encode a single FtsZ protein, plants encode multiple proteins that group into two families, FtsZ1 and FtsZ2. Using new sequence data from a broad range photosynthetic organisms, we performed a series of analyses to better understand the evolutionary history of the plant FtsZ families. Multiple phylogenetic analyses strongly support the grouping of the plant FtsZ genes and proteins into distinct FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 clades. Protein features representing potentially significant functional differences between FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 are identified. Genomic structure comparisons show that exon length and intron position are conserved within each clade, but differ between the clades except at one position. Our data indicate that the divergence of the FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 families occurred long before the evolution of land plants, preceding the emergence of the green algae. The results are consistent with proposals that the two FtsZ families evolved distinct functions during evolution of the chloroplast division apparatus, and indicate that genetic and functional differentiation occurred much earlier than previously hypothesized.
Private Lawyers, Public Lawsuits: Plaintiffs' Attorneys in Municipal Gun Litigation

This chapter of Suing the Gun Industry: A Battle at the Crossroads of Gun Control and Mass Torts (T. Lytton, ed., U. Michigan Press 2005) examines the activists, politicians, and trial lawyers on the plaintiffs' side in the municipal gun suits, and how their converging and diverging interests drove the litigation. Like the state tobacco litigation, the gun litigation involved public entities that turned to mass tort plaintiffs' lawyers to supply the experience and resources to pursue difficult and expensive litigation. And like tobacco, it involved mass tort lawyers who, frustrated in their attempts to use class actions, turned to government lawsuits as an alternative means to aggregate claims. But the gun litigation presented a unique set of alliances and rifts, in which gun control advocates disagreed among themselves concerning trial strategy, mayors with different political ambitions pursued different litigation paths, and private lawyers found themselves embraced by some municipal plaintiffs and eschewed by others. In New Orleans, for example, a coalition of mass tort plaintiffs' lawyers, rebounding from disappointment in the tobacco litigation, saw their interests converge with a gun-control mayor at a moment of political opportunity, and with a public interest advocacy group whose constituency shared an interest in pursuing the product defect strategy favored by the mass tort lawyers. In Chicago, by contrast, government lawyers brought a law enforcement mentality to the litigation and pursued a public nuisance theory, using government resources and pro bono counsel rather than private contingent fee lawyers. Among activists and law enforcers, despite sharing a common agenda on gun control, important differences emerged on how to approach the litigation, depending on whether they saw the core problem as inner city violence or accidental shootings and unauthorized users. The story of private plaintiffs' lawyers in the public gun litigation suggests several themes concerning public policy mass torts: the convergence of activists, politicians, and trial lawyers, and the different mindsets they bring to litigation; the use of public entity lawsuits as an aggregation mechanism by mass tort lawyers; and the entrepreneurial mindset of mass tort lawyers. Closer examination of the gun litigation, however, reveals the difficulty applying generalizations across a spectrum of mass torts. Public policy mass torts bring together three major categories of players on the plaintiffs' side, but in the gun litigation, the noteworthy fault lines appeared within these groups as often as they appeared between them. The split between politicians at the city and state level, and the split between public nuisance advocates and product liability lawyers, proved as significant as the more obvious differences between activists, politicians, and trial lawyers.
Some Concluding Reflections - Recovering the Political: The Problem with Our Political Conversations

These are concluding reflections on an symposium entitled "Citizenship and Civility in a Divided Democracy: Political, Religious, and Legal Concerns -- A Symposium of the Mercer Law Review." In these reflection I argue that the usual ways of understanding the problem with our political conversations -- as a failure of civility for example -- are off the mark, and that the reason our political conversations are inadequate (for almost all purposes) is that they are not serious enough as counter intuitive as this may seem. They are, in fact, not political conversations at all because they are not about our identity as a people. Along the way -- and this is what is for me of most interest in the article -- I offer a different understanding of persuasion in communal rhetoric, one that recognizes that we are often surprised by our being persuaded and that, accordingly, persuasion seems to draw upon something that is in a sense beyond us and mysterious to us because it is. Such an understanding of persuasion allows us to recover an understanding of the art of rhetoric which, in turn, allows a truer political conversation. There are suggestions about how to get started on this recovery of the political with small personal steps. Also along the way, there are comparions of the political, religious, and legal conversations, and a few brief comments on the other speakers in the symposium.
A Comparative Double-Blind Study of Tiaprofenic Acid and Aspirin in the Treatment of Muscular Rheumatism, Fibrositis, Sprains and Soft Tissue Injuries in General Practice

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of tiaprofenic acid 200 mg t.d.s. were compared with those of aspirin 600 mg t.d.s. in 100 patients in general practice suffering from muscular rheumatic pain, fibrositis, sprains and soft tissue injuries. Tiaprofenic acid was shown to be better than aspirin in relieving pain by clinical assessment although both drugs were equally effective according to patients daily assessment. It was not possible to demonstrate any anti-inflammatory action by reduction of swelling, but this was only present in 20% of patients initially. Side-effects, none serious, were similar in both groups.
Preliminary results of a phase I study of weekly paclitaxel infusion in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Paclitaxel (Taxol; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Princeton, NJ) has a broad spectrum of activity, but the optimal schedule has not yet been determined. As a phase-specific agent, more frequent administration theoretically may be more effective. We have previously demonstrated that a weekly schedule of paclitaxel used as a radiation sensitizer is well tolerated by outpatients. We therefore conducted a phase I study of weekly paclitaxel in patients with chemotherapy-naive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer to determine the maximum tolerated dose of this alternative schedule. In all, 26 patients were entered into this study through six paclitaxel dose levels (100, 125, 135, 150, 175, and 200 mg/m2/wk) administered weekly for 6 of 8 weeks. All patients had a performance status of 0 through 2, with a median age of 65 years (age range, 37 to 80 years). Sites of disease included lung, bone, liver, soft tissue, and brain. Of the 26 entered, 24 patients completed the first 8-week cycle and are evaluable for toxicity. Dose-limiting toxicity, which consisted of neutropenia, occurred in four of six patients at 200 mg/m2/wk and in two of six at 175 mg/m2/wk. Only one evaluable patient required admission for febrile neutropenia. Other toxicities included rash, pulmonary infiltrate, myalgia, neuropathy, and alopecia. Nine (38%) of the 24 patients demonstrated objective responses. One patient with stable disease completed 48 weeks of therapy. Others remain in active treatment. We conclude that the maximum tolerated dose of paclitaxel administered for 6 consecutive weeks of an 8-week cycle is 175 mg/m2/wk and is limited principally by neutropenia. The response rate with this schedule is encouraging and merits further investigation.
Web Service Description Quality Function Deployment (WSDQFD): Systematic Analytical Approach

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a well-known concept that has proved its applicability in several domains to enhance quality of designing and manufacturing products while reducing design time and cost. The main idea behind QFD is to listen to customers' requirements and translate these needs into design characteristics. In this paper, we provide an analytical approach of the use of QFD in the domain of Web services. Specifically, we are looking on Web service description which is the main artifact that is used to describe Web service quality characteristics and then retrieve those Web services.
Statistical facies classification from multiple seismic attributes: comparison between Bayesian classification and expectation–maximization method and application in petrophysical inversion

We present here a comparison between two statistical methods for facies classifications: Bayesian classification and expectation–maximization method. The classification can be performed using multiple seismic attributes and can be extended from well logs to three-dimensional volumes. In this work, we propose, for both methods, a sensitivity study to investigate the impact of the choice of seismic attributes used to condition the classification. In the second part, we integrate the facies classification in a Bayesian inversion setting for the estimation of continuous rock properties, such as porosity and lithological fractions, from the same set of seismic attributes. The advantage of the expectation–maximization method is that this algorithm does not require a training dataset, which is instead required in a traditional Bayesian classifier and still provides similar results. We show the application, comparison, and analysis of these methods in a real case study in the North Sea, where eight sedimentological facies have been defined. The facies classification is computed at the well location and compared with the sedimentological profile and then extended to the 3D reservoir model using up to 14 seismic attributes.
Analysis of Factors Influencing Skin Toxicity after Autologous Hematopoeitic Stem Cell Transplant.

Abstract Skin toxicity is a known but understudied complication of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Its assessment is complicated by the development of graft-vs-host disease following allogeneic transplantation. We chose therefore to study skin toxicity following autologous transplantation. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 392 patients undergoing ASCT to analyze risk factors for skin toxicity, its association with mucositis and its effect on survival. Skin toxicity was assessed three times a week during the transplant admission and was classified as none, mild, moderate, severe or life threatening. The most severe skin toxicity is used in this analysis. Mucositis was assessed using the modified oral mucositis assessment scale (OMAS). Median patient age was 53 years; 63% of patients had non-Hodgkin s lymphoma (NHL), 17.6% multiple myeloma, 13.5% Hodgkin disease (HD) and 5.9% acute leukemia. Peripheral blood progenitor cells were mobilized with G-CSF alone (36%) or the combination of etoposide plus G-CSF (64%). The preparative regimen was busulfan (Bu)/cyclophosphamide (Cy) /etoposide in 82% and Bu/Cy alone in 18%. Two hundred and sixty patients (67%) developed skin toxicity of which 143 patients (36.5%) had mild, 105 (26.8%) had moderate and 16 (3.9%) had severe skin toxicity. Factors associated with the development of any skin toxicity in univariable analysis were male gender (p=0.028), diagnosis of NHL (p Patients with severe skin toxicity appeared to have worse overall survival (p=0.054) and relapse-free survival (p=0.08), but these findings did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: A substantial proportion of patients develop skin toxicity following autotransplantation. The inclusion of etoposide in the preparative regimen is associated with a significant increased frequency in multivariable analysis. The severity of skin toxicity correlates closely with the severity of mucositis. Download : Download high-res image (72KB) Download : Download full-size image Figure
The History of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Use in Disaster and Mass Casualty Incidents.

During disasters and mass casualties, point-of-care ultrasound makes it possible to diagnose thoraco-abdominal injuries rapidly and accurately, offers a tool for procedure guidance, and has streamlined patient triage. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Bridging a Gap in Applied Kalman Filtering: Estimating Outputs When Measurements Are Correlated with the Process Noise [Focus on Education]

Traditional statements of the Kalman filter focus on the estimation of states rather than outputs. An output of interest may contain feedthrough from both known inputs u and unknown inputs w, yn=Cxn+Dun+Hwn. It is usually assumed that the posterior state estimate and known inputs are enough to generate the minimum-variance output estimate, given by which is the same equation implemented in most popular control-design toolboxes.
Design and Development of a Rapid Research, Design, and Development Platform for In-Situ Testing of Tools and Concepts for Trajectory-Based Operations

To provide justification for equipping a fleet of aircraft with avionics capable of supporting trajectory-based operations, significant flight testing must be accomplished. However, equipping aircraft with these avionics and enabling technologies to communicate the clearances required for trajectory-based operations is cost-challenging using conventional avionics approaches. This paper describes an approach to minimize the costs and risks of flight testing these technologies in-situ, discusses the test-bed platform developed, and highlights results from a proof-of-concept flight test campaign that demonstrates the feasibility and efficiency of this approach.
In Situ Dark Adaptation Enhances the Efficiency of DNA Extraction from Mature Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) Leaves, Facilitating the Identification of Partial Sequences of the 18S rRNA and Isoprene Synthase (IspS) Genes

Mature oak (Quercus spp.) leaves, although abundantly available during the plants' developmental cycle, are rarely exploited as viable sources of genomic DNA. These leaves are rich in metabolites difficult to remove during standard DNA purification, interfering with downstream molecular genetics applications. The current work assessed whether in situ dark adaptation, to deplete sugar reserves and inhibit secondary metabolite synthesis could compensate for the difficulties encountered when isolating DNA from mature leaves rich in secondary metabolites. We optimized a rapid, commercial kit based method to extract genomic DNA from dark- and light-adapted leaves. We demonstrated that in situ dark adaptation increases the yield and quality of genomic DNA obtained from mature oak leaves, yielding templates of sufficiently high quality for direct downstream applications, such as PCR amplification and gene identification. The quality of templates isolated from dark-adapted pin oak leaves particularly improved the amplification of larger fragments in our experiments. From DNA extracts prepared with our optimized method, we identified for the first time partial segments of the genes encoding 18S rRNA and isoprene synthase (IspS) from pin oak (Quercus palustris), whose full genome has not yet been sequenced.
Measuring evolutionary rates of proteins in a structural context.

We describe how to measure site-specific rates of evolution in protein-coding genes and how to correlate these rates with structural features of the expressed protein, such as relative solvent accessibility, secondary structure, or weighted contact number. We present two alternative approaches to rate calculations: One based on relative amino-acid rates, and the other based on site-specific codon rates measured as dN / dS . We additionally provide a code repository containing scripts to facilitate the specific analysis protocols we recommend.
Active Steering Wheel, a new solution to implement active steering functionality into a vehicle

Since motorized vehicles are on the road, they all have an element to steer the vehicle. At the beginning it was a pure mechanical connection steering wheel – steering column – steering gear – front axle – front wheel. In the 50’s of last century the first systems of steering assistance were developed and introduced into the market. A hydraulic system supported the driver to turn the steering wheel with lower torque, so especially steering at low speed became more convenient. To reduce the fuel consumption of the vehicles the hydraulic system was replaced by electrical systems in the 90’s. Beside torque assistance, almost 10 years ago angle assistance was introduced to steering systems.
A $D$ -Band Two-Element Phased-Array Receiver Front End With Quadrature-Hybrid-Based Vector Modulator

This letter presents a ${D}$ -band two-element phased-array receiver (Rx) front end implemented in a 0.13- $\mu \text{m}$ SiGe BiCMOS process. The Rx employs a low-loss quadrature-hybrid-based power-domain phase interpolator for a power-efficient multibit phase synthesis. The measured average gain is 13 dB with a peak gain of 15.6 dB at 115 GHz and rms gain variation over 4-bit phase states is $P_{\mathrm {diss}}$ ) of the single Rx channel is 53 mW from 2.2-V supply. The core chip size of the two-channel Rx is $1.7 \times 1.24$ mm2.
Semen zinc levels in infertile and postvasectomy patients and patients with prostatitis.

The concentration of zinc in human seminal plasma and in sperm is higher than in other body fluids or tissues. In blood it is between 75 and 115 mcg/100 ml while in semen it is 15-30 mg/100 ml and in sperm it is even more. Semen specimens were obtained from 18 healthy medical students 19 patients with prostatitis and 132 postvasectomy patients. Also as part of an infertility study 153 semen specimens were obtained from 72 infertile men. Semen analyses were done within 90 minutes after ejeculation. Each analysis included volume sperm density sperm morphology percentage of motility of sperm and degree of motility. Zinc analyses were done by atomic absorption spectrometry and some by neutron activation. Details of these methods are given. Some patients were treated with supplementary zinc 80 mg orally 2-3 times a day with follow-up analyses at 8-week intervals. Values obtained by neutron activation were higher (p less than .02). There was a statistically significant difference between mean values for semen zinc in student volunteers and postvasectomy patients (p less than .01). In 12 patients who had been given zinc sulfate mean values for semen zinc were significantly increased (p less than .01). The data for 153 semen specimens from the 72 infertile men showed that those with the greatest potential for fertility had the highest mean zinc concentrations. A group of 11 of these patients were given zinc therapy for 6-12 months. Mean levels of semen zinc increased mean sperm counts and motility improved and 3 pregnancies resulted. Zinc is considered important in the function of the prostate gland.
Endovascular treatment of restenotic lesions

Chronic lower extremity arterial occlusive disease and carotid artery stenosis are common problems faced by most vascular surgeons. Due to technological advancements in stent technology, lower profile delivery systems, and the dexterity of vascular interventionalists, endovascular therapy of the femoropopliteal and cerebrovascular systems has gained wide acceptance. However, in-stent restenosis continues to limit the longevity of percutaneous vascular interventions. This chapter examines the management of patients with in-stent restenosis after femoropopliteal and carotid artery angioplasty and stenting.
The Chronically Inflamed Microenvironment and Cancer Stem Cells

The notion that tumors contain a population of cells termed cancer stem cells, or cancer initiating cells has been gaining momentum over the past several years. It is postulated that much like a normal organ in the body, tumors contain a population of stem cells which are responsible for driving tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. This becomes of paramount clinical importance because our present therapies often times shrink tumors, but do not prevent their recurrence or metastatic spread. This behavior of tumors suggests that a population of cells within the tumor capable of driving tumor growth is insensitive to our current therapies and survives to reestablish disease. Therefore, understanding the biology of the cancer stem cell which is believed responsible for this tumor re-growth, will allow targeted therapy to better treat cancers. This chapter reviews the cancer stem cell hypotheses, and investigates the potential sources for the cancer stem cell.
Management of Venous Thromboembolism in Pregnancy.

This manuscript addresses the risks for venous thromboembolism (VTE) during pregnancy and the associated challenges of both diagnosis and treatment. The obstacles to diagnosis given lack of specificity of typical biomarkers to predict VTE in pregnancy, as well as the unique fetal and bleeding risks introduced by managing massive pulmonary embolism (PE) with thrombolytics or thrombectomy are highlighted. VTE during pregnancy and the postpartum window occurs at a 6–10-fold higher rate compared with age-matched peers and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Hypercoagulability persists for 6–8 weeks after delivery with the highest risk of PE being postpartum. The lack of randomized trials in pregnant women leads to variability in practice, which are largely based on expert consensus or extrapolation from non-pregnant cohorts. The standard treatment of VTE in pregnancy is anticoagulation with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), which like unfractionated heparin does not cross the placenta and is not teratogenic. LMWH is preferred given the negligible risk for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and osteoporosis, better bioavailability, and a predictive dose response. Depending on the severity of the VTE, additional treatments including thrombolysis, thrombectomy, inferior vena cava filter placement, or venous stenting may be used. Management requires balancing the competing bleeding and thrombotic risks during labor and delivery and factoring the impact of treatment on the fetus. A multidisciplinary team involving hematology, obstetrics, anesthesia, vascular medicine, and cardiology is critical for safe and timely management. The design and execution of prospective, randomized trials to specifically address optimal diagnosis and management are a top priority in obstetric hematology.
Matching Markets via Descending Price

A market for matching participants with each other, such as buyers and sellers of labor, faces two challenges: efficiently coordinating information acquisition processes such as job interviews; and efficiently coordinating high-value matches. We propose a general descending-price market design called the Marshallian Match. In contrast to existing ascending or deferred-acceptance style proposals, the descending-price design is compatible with optimal search theory, allowing it to address both challenges.
Final Multivariate Testing of Study Hypotheses

Up to this point, the identification of variables that could potentially influence the relationship between race/Hispanic origin and mortality has been examined with each item analyzed separately along with year of birth. A more definitive testing of the study hypotheses will be described in this chapter that assesses all the significant variables simultaneously. Thus far, the empirical data indicate that African-Americans are the most disadvantaged of the 3 study groups when it comes to mortality. Also, in most analyses, Hispanic players do not fare as well mortality-wise compared to their non-Hispanic white counterparts, although educational attainment appears to attenuate this effect. The empirical analyses presented in this chapter will determine whether African-American race and possibly Hispanic origin persist as risk factors for mortality, above and beyond what is explained by all other significant variables, specifically year of birth, educational attainment, BMI, years of playing experience and player position. Results of these analyses will also indicate whether any of the other independent variables impact on the relationship between race/Hispanic and mortality risk. Year of birth, African-American race, lower educational attainment, overweight BMI, fewer years of baseball playing experience, and playing the pitcher position are independent risk factor for mortality in multivariate analyses. Provided that educational attainment is included in the analysis, mortality risk for Hispanic players is about equal to the risk detected among non-Hispanic whites.
The Child on Display in Ben Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair

Anna-Claire Simpson considers how early modern plays capitalized on their associations with children’s companies by exploring Ben Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair, written for and performed by Lady Elizabeth’s Men, in relation to Epicoene, written for and performed by the Children of the Blackfriars. By tracing the ways aesthetics in both plays focus and encourage a sensibility of age and specifically youth, and by locating shared conventions across these plays, the chapter seeks to identify a more robust connection between the role that children and childhood played in the writing, performance, and afterlife of the period’s tremendous contributions to literature and theater. The chapter’s framework features a brief discussion of child performers in early seventeenth century London and the “problem” of negotiating their legibility as such, alongside performance theory as a means to recognizing the complex work of bodies in the theater. Simpson proposes that theater could dependably instrumentalize its young actors to create and consolidate theater and troupe identities in this particular nascent moment of theater professionalization.
General tax structures for a Lévy insurance risk process under the Cramér condition

Abstract We investigate the Levy insurance risk model with tax under Cramer’s condition. A direct analogue of Cramer’s estimate for the probability of ruin in this model is obtained, together with the asymptotic distribution, conditional on ruin occurring, of several variables of interest related to ruin including the surplus immediately prior to ruin (undershoot) and shortfall at ruin (overshoot). We also compute the present value of all tax paid conditional on ruin occurring. The proof involves first transferring results from the model with no tax to the reflected process, and from there to the model with tax.
Brucella abortus Infection of Placental Trophoblasts Triggers Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated Cell Death and Fetal Loss via Type IV Secretion System-Dependent Activation of CHOP.

Subversion of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function is a feature shared by multiple intracellular bacteria and viruses, and in many cases this disruption of cellular function activates pathways of the unfolded protein response (UPR). In the case of infection with Brucella abortus, the etiologic agent of brucellosis, the unfolded protein response in the infected placenta contributes to placentitis and abortion, leading to pathogen transmission. Here we show that B. abortus infection of pregnant mice led to death of infected placental trophoblasts in a manner that depended on the VirB type IV secretion system (T4SS) and its effector VceC. The trophoblast death program required the ER stress-induced transcription factor CHOP. While NOD1/NOD2 expression in macrophages contributed to ER stress-induced inflammation, these receptors did not play a role in trophoblast death. Both placentitis and abortion were independent of apoptosis-associated Speck-like protein containing a caspase activation and recruitment domain (ASC). These studies show that B. abortus uses its T4SS to induce cell-type-specific responses to ER stress in trophoblasts that trigger placental inflammation and abortion. Our results suggest further that in B. abortus the T4SS and its effectors are under selection as bacterial transmission factors.IMPORTANCE Brucella abortus infects the placenta of pregnant cows, where it replicates to high levels and triggers abortion of the calf. The aborted material is highly infectious and transmits infection to both cows and humans, but very little is known about how B. abortus causes abortion. By studying this infection in pregnant mice, we discovered that B. abortus kills trophoblasts, which are important cells for maintaining pregnancy. This killing required an injected bacterial protein (VceC) that triggered an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response in the trophoblast. By inhibiting ER stress or infecting mice that lack CHOP, a protein induced by ER stress, we could prevent death of trophoblasts, reduce inflammation, and increase the viability of the pups. Our results suggest that B. abortus injects VceC into placental trophoblasts to promote its transmission by abortion.
Hypertension and Incident Cardiovascular Events Following Ibrutinib Initiation

Ibrutinib is associated with dramatic efficacy against B-cell malignancies. Yet, ibrutinib is linked with potentially-limiting cardiotoxicity, including emerging reports of profound hypertension. However, the long-term incidence, severity, and impacts of hypertension development during ibrutinib-use are unknown. Therefore, from 562 consecutive patients treated with ibrutinib for B-cell malignancies between 2009-2016 we assessed the incidence of new/incident or worsened hypertension [systolic blood pressure (BP) cutoff of 130mmHg]. Observed incident-hypertension rates were compared to Framingham-heart predicted incident-hypertension rates. We also evaluated the relationship of hypertension on ibrutinib to the development of other major-adverse-cardiovascular-events (MACE), including arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, and cardiovascular death. Further, we assessed the preventative and modulatory effects of antihypertensives, by medication-class, on ibrutinib-related hypertension. Overall, 78.3% of ibrutinib-users developed new or worsened hypertension [mean systolic BP increase 5.2mmHg ({plus minus}20.7)] over a median of 30months. New hypertension developed in 71.6% of ibrutinib-users (467 observed vs. 39 Framingham-predicted cases per 1,000 person-years), with a time-to-50% cumulative incidence of 4.2months. Among those without preceding hypertension, 17.7% developed high-grade (BP g160/100mmHg) hypertension. In multivariable regression containing known predictors of MACE, new or worsened hypertension was associated with increased MACE [hazard ratio (HR) 2.17, 95%CI 1.08-4.38]. No single-antihypertensive class was associated with prevention or control of ibrutinib-related hypertension. However, antihypertensive initiation was associated with a lower risk of MACE (HR 0.40, CI 0.24-0.66). Collectively, these data suggest ibrutinib is associated with substantial increase in the incidence and severity of hypertension, and that hypertension development may suggest a higher risk of subsequent cardiotoxic events.
On Power & Indian Country

An invited essay by the Stanford Law Review on the author's experience as a woman in the legal profession for a volume published collectively by the top sixteen law reviews.
Streamlining the genetics pipeline to increase testing for patients at risk for hereditary prostate cancer.

1590Background: Metastatic prostate Cancer (mPCa) is increasingly recognized as a heritable disease and germline genetic testing has increasingly become a part of standard of care. At the Universit...
Randomized prospective trial assessing Bifidobacterium-containing probiotic supplementation in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients receiving vascular endothelial growth factor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (VEGF-TKIs).

5078Background: Studies suggest a link between the gut microbiome and mRCC outcomes, including evidence that mRCC patients (pts) possess a lower abundance of Bifidobacterium spp compared to healthy...
Slave Family and Its Legacies

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the North American case and takes legacies to include not only the characteristics of family inherited or developed out of slavery by ex-slaves and their descendants but also the interpretations of that historical process by different commentators. The first legacy had its origins in the beliefs of middle-class northern reformers anxious to integrate the liberated slaves into the bourgeois civic order. Two sets of independent but complementary beliefs shaped private and public Yankee social policies aimed at transforming the liberated slaves into legally free men and women. One was proscriptive and the other was prescriptive. The first emphasized how enslavement had systematically denied Afro-Americans access to the rules of civil society and bred beliefs and behavior dysfunctional to that society. To one or another degree, most of the men and women who made and enforced policies affecting southern blacks shared these beliefs. Mid-19th-century class and sexual beliefs applied in special ways to enslaved Afro-Americans. As slaves, their marriages had not been sanctioned by the civil law and therefore, the sexual passion, the vice of licentiousness went unrestrained. Most emancipated blacks were very poor and, therefore, without high moral and religious culture.
Magnetic Field Uniformity Across the GF 9-2 YSO, L1082C Dense Core, and GF 9 Filamentary Dark Cloud

Based in part on observations made with the NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). SOFIA is jointly operated by the Universities Space Research Association, Inc. (USRA), under NASA contract NNA17BF53C, and the Deutsches SOFIA Institut (DSI) under DLR contract 50 OK 0901 to the University of Stuttgart. Financial support for this work was provided by NASA through award SOF. 04_0026 issued by USRA.This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC,. https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium).Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement.This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the NASA.Based on observations obtained with Planck (http://www.esa.int/Planck), an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States, NASA, and Canada.In addition to the authors, Mimir observations were conducted in part by A.. Pinnick, J.. Moreau, R.. Marchwinski, M.. Bartlett, and C.. Trombley. Participation by G.S. was supported in part by an NSF REU Site grant, number AST13-5920, to Boston University (PI: M. Opher). This research was conducted in part using the Mimir instrument, jointly developed at Boston University and Lowell Observatory and supported by NASA, NSF, and the W.M. Keck Foundation. This effort has been made possible by grants AST 06-07500, AST 09-07790, AST 14-12269 from NSF/MPS, USRA SOF_4-0026, and NASA NNX15AE51G to Boston University and by grants of Perkins telescope observing time from the Boston University-Lowell Observatory partnership. (NNA17BF53C - Universities Space Research Association, Inc. (USRA) under NASA; 50 OK 0901 - Deutsches SOFIA Institut (DSI) under DLR; SOF. 04_0026 - NASA; NNX15AE51G - NASA; NASA; ESA Member States, NASA, and Canada; AST13-5920 - NSF REU Site grant; NSF; W.M. Keck Foundation; AST 06-07500 - NSF/MPS; AST 09-07790 - NSF/MPS; AST 14-12269 - NSF/MPS; SOF_4-0026 - USRA; Boston University-Lowell Observatory partnership)
Dual Enkephalinase Inhibitors and Their Role in Chronic Pain Management

Dual enkephalinase inhibitors (DENKIs) are pain medications that indirectly activate opioid receptors and can be used as an alternative to traditional opioids. Understanding the physiology of enkephalins and their inhibitors and the pharmacology of these drugs will allow for proper clinical application for chronic pain patients in the future. DENKIs can be used as an alternative mode of analgesia for patients suffering from chronic pain by preventing the degradation of endogenous opioid ligands. By inhibiting the two major enkephalin-degrading enzymes (neprilysin and aminopeptidase N), DENKIs can provide analgesia with less adverse effects than nonendogenous opioids. The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature investigating DENKIs and explore their contribution to chronic pain management.
Effect of urgent carotid endarterectomy on operative risk and benefit

Objectives:The time of Carotid intervention for recently symptomatic,severe carotid stenosis which cause a transient ischemic attack or minor stroke is still a controversial issue.Early studies showed that carotid endarterectomy(CEA)caused a high risk if performed within days follow an acute ischemic stroke.However,The National Stroke Strategy posted by UK Department of Health advocated that this situation should be regarded as an emergency procedure,and carotid intervention should ideally be performed within 48 hours.We designed this study to discuss the effect of urgent CEA on operative risk and benefit.Methods:we analyze 12 urgent CEA with primary closure performed during 1996 to 1998.All 12 patients were underwent CEA within 2 weeks,and 2 of them within 2 days.Operative risks and overall benefit from surgery were discussed in relation to the time from the last symptomatic event to CEA.Results:2 urgent CEA performed in 2 days are recovery uneventful.1 of 12 patients,who underwent urgent CEA within 2 weeks,occurred restenosis after 3 months follow up.No 30-day perioperative recurrent TIA,stroke and death.Conclusions:CEA performed within 2 weeks is feasible and reliable procedure in preventing recurrent TIA and stroke after presenting manifestations.The future aim is to perform CEA within 48 hours after TIA or stroke symptoms.
Implants For Cranioplasty

Cranioplasty is the surgical correction of skull defects. Over the centuries, a variety of implant materials, from gold to animal bone, have been used to fill calvarial defects. These implants have had varying success in protecting the brain and providing acceptable cosmesis. With an expansion in skull base and craniofacial surgery in otolaryngology, knowledge and mastery of these procedures have become increasingly important to the head and neck surgeon. This article provides an overview of cranioplasty and examines recent advances in implant material and cranioplasty methods.
Impact of Corporate Response to Controversial Presidential Statements or Policies on Shareholder Price

This research explores the obligation, if any, a corporate leader has to make a statement in regards to communications issued by the President of the United States perceived as inconsistent with the values of the corporation and further assesses the financial impact of making a statement using an accounting method to assess stock change based on earnings announcements. The study focuses on corporate integrity within the framework of three controversial communications made during President Trump’s first year of office and specifically offers a case study in regards to the corporate leaders who served on his presidential advisory councils. The paper provides an answer to the question, "Does what a CEO says in response to the President impact the corporation's financial bottom line?"
Is the Genetic Code Optimized for Resource Conservation

The causes and consequences of the nonrandom structure of the standard genetic code (SGC) have been of long-standing interest. A recent study reported that mutations in present-day protein-coding sequences are less likely to increase proteomic nitrogen and carbon uses under the SGC than under random genetic codes (RGCs), concluding that the SGC has been selectively optimized for resource conservation. If true, this finding might offer important information on the environment in which the SGC and some of the earliest life forms evolved. However, we here show that the hypothesis of optimization of a genetic code for resource conservation is theoretically untenable. We discover that the aforementioned study estimated the expected mutational effect by inappropriately excluding mutations lowering resource consumptions and including mutations involving stop codons. After remedying these problems, we find no evidence that the SGC is optimized for nitrogen or carbon conservation.
Improved Contacts to Synthetic Monolayer MoS 2 – A Statistical Study

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are promising candidates for scaled transistors because they are immune to mobility degradation at the monolayer limit. However, sub-10 nm scaling of 2D semiconductors, such as MoS 2 , is limited by the contact resistance. In this work, we show for the first time a statistical study of Au contacts to chemical vapor deposited monolayer MoS 2 using transmission line model (TLM) structures, before and after dielectric encapsulation. We report contact resistance values as low as 330 ohm-um, which is the lowest value reported to date. We further study the effect of Al 2 O 3 encapsulation on variability in contact resistance and other device metrics. Finally, we note some deviations in the TLM model for short-channel devices in the back-gated configuration and discuss possible modifications to improve the model accuracy.
Fast Statistical Testing of Scintillated, Speckled Irradiance

We propose statistical metrics to quickly evaluate speckle’s influence on atmospheric wavefront sensing. Integrating over multiple pupil-plane speckle re- alizations, we find that the skewness in irradiance is ideally 1.
Some Exact Critical Value for the Kruskal-Wallis Statistic

Some exact critical values for the Kruskal-Wallis H-test for three, four, and five treatments are given. These critical values, which were obtained by partial enumeration on a computer, can be used instead of the very conservative chi-square approximati..
Kinetic studies of a NADP+-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase from Salmonella typhimurium. Purification and reaction mechanism.

Abstract The kinetics of a Mn2+-requiring, NADP+-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase from Salmonella typhimurium have been examined by the measurement of initial velocity rates in the presence and absence of the reaction products. The binding of each of the cosubstrates, isocitrate, and NADP+, is not independent of the other, and the isocitrate-Mn2+ complex is the kinetically important substrate species. All of the reaction products, α-ketoglutarate, CO2, and NADPH are competitive with both cosubstrates and the mechanism appears to be of the rapid equilibrium random type. The enzyme has been purified to homogeneity and has an isoelectric point at pH 4.0–4.2, and an apparent molecular weight of 102,000.
Oliver Cromwell Cox’s understanding of capitalism and the problem of his materialist perspective

Oliver Cromwell Cox rejected the Marxist label his critics appended for political-ideological reasons. As a sociologist with dependency/world system sympathies Cox emphasized economic and political relations between “leading nations” and “backward countries”. This article focuses mainly on his contribution to political economy, with special reference to Marx’s Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. Cox showed sympathy for neo-Keynesianism and social democracy, traced capitalism’s origin to the thirteenth-century Italian city states, asserted that primitive accumulation and feudalism via Marx are aspects of capitalism, made foreign trade (not commodity production for private capital accumulation) the driving force in capitalism, rejected the Marxist theory of class struggles, socialist revolution, and imperialism, and relied on Henri Pirenne and Fernand Braudel for theoretical guidance. The absence of any materialist praxis in his highly academic scholarship, which left no discernible impact in...
Diffusion Through Interfirm Cooperation: A Case Study

The last two decades have seen a remarkable growth in the number of cooperative agreements among large, multinational enterprises (MNE). Why, and under what conditions, would these vertically and horizontally integrated organizations choose to give up a part of what has often been cited as their main raison d’etre, i.e., secure control over firm-specific technical and market information, in favor of sharing such information with rivals?