cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of complete genome sequence and major surface antigens of Neorickettsia helminthoeca, causative agent of salmon poisoning disease

Neorickettsia helminthoeca, a type species of the genus Neorickettsia, is an endosymbiont of digenetic trematodes of veterinary importance. Upon ingestion of salmonid fish parasitized with infected trematodes, canids develop salmon poisoning disease (SPD), an acute febrile illness that is particularly severe and often fatal in dogs without adequate treatment. We determined and analysed the complete genome sequence of N. helminthoeca: a single small circular chromosome of 884 232 bp encoding 774 potential proteins. N. helminthoeca is unable to synthesize lipopolysaccharides and most amino acids, but is capable of synthesizing vitamins, cofactors, nucleotides and bacterioferritin. N. helminthoeca is, however, distinct from majority of the family Anaplasmataceae to which it belongs, as it encodes nearly all enzymes required for peptidoglycan biosynthesis, suggesting its structural hardiness and inflammatory potential. Using sera from dogs that were experimentally infected by feeding with parasitized fish or naturally infected in southern California, Western blot analysis revealed that among five predicted N. helminthoeca outer membrane proteins, P51 and strain-variable surface antigen were uniformly recognized. Our finding will help understanding pathogenesis, prevalence of N. helminthoeca infection among trematodes, canids and potentially other animals in nature to develop effective SPD diagnostic and preventive measures. Recent progresses in large-scale genome sequencing have been uncovering broad distribution of Neorickettsia spp., the comparative genomics will facilitate understanding of biology and the natural history of these elusive environmental bacteria.
Long-term resolution of delayed onset hypoglossal nerve palsy following occipital condyle fracture: Case report and review of the literature

The authors present the case of a patient that demonstrates resolution of delayed onset hypoglossal nerve palsy (HNP) subsequent to occipital condyle fracture following a motor vehicle accident. Decompression of the hypoglossal nerve and craniocervical fixation led to satisfactory long-term (>5 years) outcome. There is a scarcity of literature in recognizing HNPs following trauma and a lack of pathophysiological understanding to both a delayed presentation and to resolution versus persistence. This is the first report demonstrating long-term resolution of hypoglossal nerve injury following trauma to the craniocervical junction.
Case 45: Solid-Pseudopapillary Neoplasm

35-year-old man with new onset abdominal pain. A mass in the tail of the pancreas was found on imaging.
Towards Reliable Wearable-User Identification

Wearables, such as Fitbit, Apple Watch, and Microsoft Band, with their rich collection of sensors, facilitate the tracking of healthcare- and wellness-related metrics. However, the assessment of the physiological metrics collected by these devices could also be useful in identifying the user of the wearable, e.g., to detect unauthorized use or to correctly associate the data to a user if wearables are shared among multiple users. Further, researchers and healthcare providers often rely on these smart wearables to monitor research subjects and patients in their natural environments over extended periods of time. Again, it is important to associate the sensed data with the corresponding user and to detect if a device is being used by an unauthorized individual. Existing one-time authentications using credentials (e.g., passwords, certificates) or trait-based biometrics (e.g., face, fingerprints, iris, voice) might fail since such credentials can easily be shared among users. Therefore, we need a reliable and continuous wearable-user identification mechanism.
Integrating Conflict: A Proposed Framework for the Interdisciplinary Study of Workplace Conflict and Its Management:

This article contributes to existing conflict research by proposing a theoretical framework capable of integrating findings and insights across distinct disciplines. The author utilizes the Kochan,...
Are Tax Expenditures Really on the Rise

This paper challenges conventional wisdom that U.S. federal tax expenditures—laws providing special deductions, credits, rates, exclusions, and deferral of tax liabilities for certain groups and activities—have been increasing significantly in recent years. Using Treasury Department data, it shows that over the past three decades the size of tax expenditures, measured in terms of foregone revenue, has remained relatively stable both as a share of national income and as a share of government spending. Although tax expenditures have increased as a share of discretionary spending of late, this development reflects the decreasing importance of discretionary spending in the federal budget as much as the increasing salience of tax expenditures.
How Schools Train Principals to Use New Teacher Evaluation Systems: A Comparative Case Study of Charter School and Traditional Public School Principals.

Over the past decade U.S. policymakers, practitioners, and researchers have sought to examine if changing teacher evaluation policies and systems have resulted in changes in identifying quality tea...
Nuclear Stress Testing Referrals: Time for a Novel Radiation Sparing Approach?

Background A Science Advisory from the American Heart Association implores clinicians to always consider equivalent tests which do not use ionizing radiation. Intersocietal guidelines describe only two scenarios where a nuclear stress test is the only option for non-invasive evaluation: left bundle branch block (LBBB) and ventricular-paced rhythm; otherwise, treadmill EKG and stress echocardiography are feasible. This study sought to measure our compliance with appropriate use criteria,6 and then to apply our own Novel Radiation Sparing Approach (NRSA) to measure what percentage could have been evaluated without radiation. Methods The appropriateness of each referral for nuclear stress testing was evaluated using the AUC. Our NRSA was then applied, reserving a grade of 'appropriate' for patients with LBBB, pacemaker, or known resting wall motion abnormalities. The rate of appropriate referrals was then compared using McNemar's test. Results We analyzed 423 consecutive referrals between Aug 2010 and Feb 2012. Median age was 64 yr; males comprised 57.2% of all patients; and 64.8% were outpatient. Chest pain and dyspnea were the most common reasons for referral. The rate of appropriate referrals at our facility using the AUC was 93.6%. When applying our NRSA, nuclear stress testing was the required or 'appropriate' test in only 17.7% of our patients (p < 0.001, McNemar's test). Conclusions According to the current AUC, our facility is referring patients appropriately for nuclear stress testing. However, by reserving nuclear stress testing primarily for patients with LBBB, pacemaker, and baseline wall motion abnormalities, we can reduce radiation exposure to our patients while still providing appropriate evaluation.
Debatable Issues and Future Discussions in Pharmacy Education

Abstract Pharmacy is an ancient and noble profession, but it must change as the societal and healthcare environments change over time. The problem is that many changes are ready for consideration, but we do not have a clear consensus within the profession about which way we should go. In addition, in many cases there is no delineation or clear authority as to what group or agency should take responsibility for various questions. This chapter lists and discusses some of these unresolved questions, such as manpower planning, future educational focus, appointment of academic leaders, etc. Hopefully, the raising of some of these unresolved questions in this chapter can provide pharmacy educators and professional society leaders with a possible agenda for considering some of these topics, prioritizing them, and then setting to work, attempting to devise solutions with the help of task forces, committees, and working groups for stakeholder representatives, including the lay public and medicine.
Trapping rhodium carbenoids with aminoalkynes for the synthesis of diverse N-heterocycles

Abstract A convergent approach for the synthesis of diverse N-heterocycles is described. The reaction involves trapping of diazo-derived rhodium carbenoids with gold activated aminoalkynes, and accommodates both the donor/acceptor (D/A) as well as acceptor/acceptor (A/A) diazo carbonyls. Mechanistic investigations indicate that the Rh(II)/Au(I) catalyzed reaction of aminoalkynes with D/A diazos is concerted, while the reaction with A/A diazo is stepwise and proceeds with carbene N–H insertion and a subsequent Conia-ene cyclization.
Supercomputers in Ocean Modelling

The increasing availability of supercomputers to the ocean modeling community in recent years is opening vast new possibilities for oceanographic research. Many research institutions in Europe and the United States now have access to supercomputers. This access not only changes the way one approaches a problem, but enables one to think of new problems that were previously intractable. Ocean modeling lends itself particularly well to supercomputing because of the structure of the partial differential equations involved and the numerical algorithms one must use to solve them. Ocean models usually “vectorize” very easily and require the storage of a large number of variables at a particular instant, enabling one to take full advantage of the capabilities of a supercompter.
A Developmental Approach for Supporting the Epistemology of Modeling

Across a wide spectrum of disciplines and forms of investigation, scientists invent and revise models. Although central to scientific practice, models cannot simply be imported into classrooms. Instead, pedagogy must be designed so that students can come to understand natural systems by inventing and revising models of these systems. Considering theories of analogical development, we suggest rooting first experiences of modeling in resemblance — physical microcosms — and in inscription — children’s drawings and related writings. From these starting points, we seek to stretch inscription into mathematization, so that children describe natural systems by recourse to mathematical systems and structures. Engagement in these practices has epistemic consequences, fundamentally altering how children view the natural world.
Impacts of glass composition, pH, and temperature on glass forward dissolution rate

Nuclear waste glasses dissolve at the forward dissolution rate (rf) in very dilute aqueous solutions, which can isolate the impact of the glass composition from solution feedback and alteration product effects. While it has long been known that pH and temperature (T) strongly impact rf, the impacts of glass composition have remained uncertain. In this work, rf data from 19 nuclear waste glasses were used with the aim of identifying the effect of glass composition on rf. The rf values were modeled as: rf = k010–ηpHexp(−Ea/RT), with k0, η, Ea, and R, respectively, being the intrinsic rate constant, pH coefficient, apparent activation energy, and gas constant. However, no predictive correlation could be established between the individual model parameters (log[k0], η, and Ea) and glass composition for the glasses considered in this study, an outcome that was attributed to the strong positive correlation between the log[k0] and Ea parameters. Therefore, a model was fitted directly to the combined rf from all 19 glasses. This approach showed that 90% of the variation in rf data could be accounted for solely by T and pH effects. Therefore, any composition effects must be relatively small. After normalizing for differences in pH and T, the only notable differences in rf between the glasses were found to correlate with variations in the fraction of glass forming tetrahedra contributed by tetrahedral boron, f([4]B), with an abrupt threshold at a high value of f([4]B) (~0.22), where higher rf are predicted with no discernable composition effects below the threshold. The effect that environment and composition has on the rate of decay of nuclear waste storage glasses in aqueous solution has been studied. Borosilicate glasses are often used as containment matrices for the disposal of radioactive waste. Their interaction with water is the likeliest method by which they could release their radioactive cargo, therefore it is important to understand the conditions under which glasses corrode. Now John Vienna and colleagues from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, have studied how pH, temperature and glass composition affect the rate at which various glasses dissolve. By measuring the dissolution rate of a test glass, comparing it with other glasses, and carrying out some modeling, they showed that 90% of the variation in dissolution rate could be accounted for by temperature and pH effects – thus any compositional effects are relatively small.
Pollen Grain and Sperm Cell Ultrastructure in Beta

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses pollen grain and sperm cell ultrastructure in Beta. The first mitotic division resembles normal mitosis except that the plane of division is radial. A curved cell plate develops and attaches to the pollen grain intine. The generative cell increases in size with a concomitant decrease in thickness of its wall and separates from the pollen grain intine. The second mitotic division occurs wholly within the two limiting membranes of the generative cell. Nuclear division does not appear to differ from normal mitosis and the details of cytokinesis have not been recorded. The two sperm cells in Beta are spindle-shaped and surrounded by two membranes. Each sperm cell contains its own cytoplasm and each displays cytoplasmic microtubules with a pole-to-pole orientation.
Liquefaction Resistance and Post-Cyclic Settlement of Nam O Sand Subjected to Uni-Directional and Multi-Directional Cyclic Shears

In this paper, saturated fine-grained sand of the Nam O formation (referred to henceforth as Nam O sand), which is widely distributed along the coastal plains in Central region of Vietnam, was tested by several series of uni-directional and multi-directional cyclic shears for a wide range of shear strain amplitudes and various cyclic shear directions and number of cycles. This paper presents the cyclic shear-induced effective stress reduction and the post-cyclic settlement that were observed under the effects of such cyclic shearing conditions. The cyclic shear direction strongly affects the effective stress reduction and post-cyclic settlement of Nam O sand for a small shear strain amplitude, these effects decrease, as the shear strain amplitude increases, and become negligible when the shear strain amplitude is larger than 1.0%. The liquefaction resistance of Nam O sand can be shown by relations between the shear strain amplitude and number of cycles, and also by those between the shear strain amplitude and cumulative shear strain for various cyclic shear directions. The minimum cumulative shear strain required for liquefaction of Nam O sand under the uni-directional and multi-directional cyclic shears was obtained.
Stabilization of enzyme-immobilized hydrogels for extended hypoxic cell culture

In this work, glucose oxidase (GOX)-immobilized hydrogels are developed and optimized as an easy and convenient means for creating solution hypoxia in a regular incubator. Specifically, acrylated GOX co-polymerizes with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) to form PEGDA-GOX hydrogels. Results show that freeze-drying and reaction by-products, hydrogen peroxide, negatively affect oxygen-consuming activity of network-immobilized GOX. However, the negative effects of freeze-drying can be mitigated by addition of trehalose/raffinose in the hydrogel precursor solution, whereas the inhibition of GOX caused by hydrogen peroxide can be prevented via addition of glutathione (GSH) in the buffer/media. The ability to preserve enzyme activity following freeze-drying and during long-term incubation permits facile application of this material to induce long-term solution/media hypoxia in cell culture plasticware placed in a regular CO2 incubator.
Touch Induces Local Mechanical Strain in C. elegans Sensory Neurons

Cutaneous mechanosensory neurons are activated by mechanical loads applied to the skin likely to result in local mechanical strain within sensory neurons. Using a microfluidics device to deliver controlled stimuli to intact animals and large, immobile and fluorescent protein-tagged mitochondria as fiducial markers in the touch receptor neurons (TRNs), we visualized and measured touch-induced mechanical strain in C. elegans worms. At steady-state, touch stimuli sufficient to activate TRNs induce an average strain of 3.1% at the center of the actuator and that this strain decays to near zero at the edges of the actuator. We also measured strain in animals carrying mutations affecting links between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and the TRNs, but could not detect any differences in touch-induced mechanical strain between wild-type and mutant animals. Collectively, these results demonstrate that touching the skin induces local mechanical strain in intact animals and suggest that a fully intact ECM is not essential for transmitting mechanical strain from the skin to cutaneous mechanosensory neurons.
Optimal Trading Strategies in Continuous Double Auctions for Transactive Energy

The current power distribution system is undergoing a transition from centralized markets to decentralized markets. However, the existing economic mechanism for decentralized markets has many disadvantages such as the ignorance of incomplete information, the lack of negotiation process, and the requirement of a high degree of synchronization between the prosumers. In this paper, we propose a novel economic mechanism based on continuous double auction. With respect to the incomplete information, an adaptive dynamic programming based strategy is used to adjust sequential strategies according to the market trends. Several structural results are established, which are then verified by sensitivity analysis.
Chatbot usage in restaurant takeout orders: a comparison study of three ordering methods.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore customers’ perceptions and behaviors when using chatbots in restaurant takeout orders. Built on the social presence theory, this study conducted a lab experiment to examine and compare three ordering methods in quick-service and full-service restaurants. Results revealed that phone ordering and online ordering were both better than chatbot ordering in terms of satisfaction and behavioral outcomes. The phone ordering method elicited best social presence and cognitive attitudes, while the online ordering method generated highest order amounts. Chatbot ordering is better suited for use in quick-service restaurants due to their simpler menus. In terms of order items, chatbot method was used for simple menu items and core products, phone method for specials and more complicated items, while online method for more expensive items and add-ons. The findings offer new insight for restaurant practitioners into designing and adopting chatbots.
Linear and Nonlinear Focusing Using Reconfigurable All-Dielectric Metalens Based on Phase-Change Materials

We numerically demonstrate a dynamically tunable all-dielectric metalens based on low-loss optical phase-change chalcogenide antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) to co-focus fundamental and third-harmonic generation (THG) signals with high dynamic range.
Development of foliage echo simulations based on generative adversarial networks

Through the use of biosonar, bats exhibit extraordinary navigation and localization capabilities, vastly outperforming any engineered sonar systems, especially while traversing complex cluttered environments, such as dense foliage. Therefore, computer simulation of foliage echoes has great potential to aid in studying and understanding bat biosonar, and thus may aid the development of technologies that deal with cluttered acoustic signals in air as well as in water. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are a machine learning tool that have produced useful results in many computer vision tasks, but have only relatively recently been applied to acoustic signals. The work presented here uses GANs trained on a large dataset of recorded leaf echoes to create plausible acoustic models of tree echoes from the generation of impulse responses from single leaves placed in virtual 3-D space by tree generation algorithms. The generated foliage echoes show significant similarity to real foliage echoes and outperform previous simulation methods in terms of the realism of the results. These simulated echoes may be used to devise navigation methods that could be transferred to real robotic systems. In future work the focus will be on generating entire environment impulse responses in a variety of bat habitats.
Enhancement of transamniotic stem cell therapy for spina bifida by genetic engineering of donor mesenchymal stem cells with an Fgf2 transgene.

Abstract Background/Purpose We examined whether engineered overexpression of fibroblast growth factor-2 (Fgf2) in donor mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could enhance spina bifida coverage induced by transamniotic stem cell therapy (TRASCET). Methods Pregnant Sprague–Dawley dams (n = 24) exposed to retinoic acid for induction of fetal spina bifida were divided in three groups. An untreated group had no further manipulations. Two groups received volume-matched intra-amniotic injections into all fetuses (n = 157) of either amniotic fluid-derived MSCs (afMSC; n = 85) or afMSCs transduced with an Fgf2 transgene (Fgf2-afMSC; n = 72) on gestational day 17 (term=21–22 days). Defect coverage was categorized at term by histology and pan-cytokeratin immunohistochemistry. Statistical coverage comparisons were by logistic regression. Results Among 84 survivors with isolated spina bifida, 71 had definitive histology. Defect coverage rates in both the afMSC (38.5%) and Fgf2-afMSC (73.3%) groups were statistically significantly higher than in the untreated group (10%; p Conclusions Fgf2 overexpression in donor mesenchymal stem cells increases defect coverage rates in a rodent model of transamniotic stem cell therapy for spina bifida. Genetic engineering of donor cells is a promising strategy for the enhancement of this emerging therapy.
Algorithmic justice and groundtruthing the remote mapping of informal settlements: The example of Ho Chi Minh City’s periphery

The significant advances made in interpreting satellite imagery to monitor urban expansion and informal settlements has made important contributions to urban studies and planning. This paper focuse...
Optimization Prior to Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation is Associated with Reduced Risk of Severe Early Post-Implant Complications

Purpose Although hemodynamic status prior to continuous flow left ventricular assist device placement (CF-LVAD) is an important determinant of outcomes, data on pre-implant optimization and patient-oriented outcomes are sparse. Methods We identified consecutive patients undergoing CF-LVAD implant between 2007 and 2017 at a single institution. Hemodynamic variables at three time points and laboratory studies were evaluated pre-LVAD implant in a logistic regression model to identify predictors of the primary composite endpoint: need for right ventricular assist device (RVAD) therapy, requirement for hemodialysis at 90 days, and 30-day mortality. Results Multivariate modeling identified three variables significantly associated with the primary endpoint: right ventricular stroke work index (RVSWI), right atrial pressure (RAP), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN); all immediately pre-LVAD, P Conclusion Low RVSWI, high RAP, and high BUN were independently associated with adverse outcomes after CF-LVAD implant, and demonstrated a stepwise association with severe post-implant adverse events. Prospective, protocol-driven hemodynamic optimization should be tested to improve outcomes after CF-LVAD implantation.
Modern Prostitution Reform and the Return of Volitional Consent

For decades, prostitution laws in America have focused exclusively on contractual consent: the agreement to exchange sexual services for a fee. Courts and legislatures alike ignored volitional consent, or traditional mens rea, by concentrating on the offer and acceptance of the prostitution agreement. In this way, the law disregarded the actor’s choice to engage in the crime. The de facto strict liability nature of the offense rendered it nearly impossible for prostitutes to successfully raise the defenses of duress and necessity. The failure of the law to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary prostitution resulted in charges, trials, and convictions against involuntary actors. Scholarship has failed to recognize a distinction between contractual and volitional consent within prostitution laws nationwide. Moreover, no article has yet examined all measures of modern prostitution legal reform, its effects, or its return of the element of volitional consent to prostitution statutes. This Article examines the pre-reform contractual nature of the element of consent, the reform’s return of traditional mens rea, and the historical underpinnings of volitional consent in prostitution legal jurisprudence. By distinguishing between individuals who possess the requisite mens rea to commit prostitution and those who do not, modern prostitution reform does more than merely safeguard against unjust convictions: it restores the element of volitional consent to its rightful place within the criminal offense of prostitution.
Audiences as Agents of Collective Memory – Implications for Press Criticism and Journalism Boundaries

Through textual analysis of Facebook comments on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s (ZBC) page, ZBC-TV News Online and Twitter hashtag, #RIPJudithMakwanya, the study explores how ordinary peop...
Without Fear or Anybody Escorting: Taking to the Streets in Northern Sudan, 1900-1964

In 1954, to celebrate the signing of Sudan’s Independence Agreement, hundreds of women marched the fifteen kilometers from Khartoum to Omdurman. This was the first large-scale demonstration by Sudanese women; and it signaled their desire to craft a public, female presence on the national stage. For the past fifty years, imperial education and civic programs had brought thousands of women and girls out of their homes and into schoolhouses, hospitals, and sites of political debate. Yet, the physical entry of women’s bodies into urban space raised new anxieties about chaos in the streets. To assure respectability, women’s presence in the streets required renegotiations of both bodies and space: women promoted traditional Sudanese dress to maintain their modesty and high-walled buildings were repurposed as meeting spaces for women and girls’ clubs. Despite these precautions, women in the streets were often subject to ridicule and violence. Combining analyses of archival sources, fashion trends, and political cartoons, this paper argues that Sudanese women in the 1950s were actively engaged in reimagining their place in both national and city life. As new players in Khartoum and Omdurman’s urban geography, Sudanese women recast public gender norms and struggled to appropriate urban space as their own.
Aberrant epigenetic and transcriptional events associated with breast cancer risk

BackgroundGenome-wide association studies have identified several breast cancer susceptibility loci. However, biomarkers for risk assessment are still missing. Here, we investigated cancer-related molecular changes detected in tissues from women at high risk for breast cancer prior to disease manifestation. Disease-free breast tissue cores donated by healthy women (N=146, median age=39 years) were processed for both methylome (MethylCap) and transcriptome (Illuminas HiSeq4000) sequencing. Analysis of tissue microarray and primary breast epithelial cells was used to confirm gene expression dysregulation. ResultsTranscriptomic analysis identified 69 differentially expressed genes between women at either high and those at average risk of breast cancer (Tyrer-Cuzick model) at FDR<0.05 and fold change[≥]2. The majority of the identified genes were involved in DNA damage checkpoint, cell cycle, and cell adhesion. Two genes, FAM83A and NEK2, were overexpressed in tissue sections (FDR<0.01) and primary epithelial cells (p<0.05) from high-risk breasts. Moreover, 1698 DNA methylation aberrations were identified in high-risk breast tissues (FDR<0.05), partially overlapped with cancer-related signatures and correlated with transcriptional changes (p<0.05, r[≤]0.5). Finally, among the participants, 35 women donated breast biopsies at two time points, and age-related molecular alterations enhanced in high-risk subjects were identified. ConclusionsNormal breast tissue from women at high risk of breast cancer bears molecular aberrations that may contribute to breast cancer susceptibility. This study is the first molecular characterization of the true normal breast tissues and provides an opportunity to investigate molecular markers of breast cancer risk, which may lead to new preventive approaches.
Between a Banana and a Coconut: Reflections on Being Second-Generation American on the Periphery

This autoethnography focuses on the author’s experiences as a second-generation Filipina/Thai American while growing up with other multi-generational immigrant families in a white suburb. Although she and her friends’ families were from different countries of origin, they bonded over shared experiences of living with multi-generations in the household, their families’ attitudes toward assimilation and acculturation, their struggles being tokenized and marginalized, as well as a lack of representation in television, film, and mainstream music. The author reflects on the impact of these limited representations—including conflicting feelings of shame and validation—while navigating racialization and exclusion. The chapter contributes to the volume by addressing how second-generation Americans understood their assimilation to white American culture and the symbolism of first- and second-generation narratives in media.
Boon or Burden? Evaluating the Competing Effects of House-Price Shocks on Regional Entrepreneurship:

This paper examines the impact of changes in housing affordability on regional entrepreneurship. Two-way fixed-effects estimates suggest an increase in the level of house prices in a commuting zone...
The Cultural Logic of Politics in Mainland China and Taiwan

Part I. Theory of Popular Culture: 1. Political culture theory and regime stability 2. Cultural norms in the East and West 3. Measuring cultural norms in mainland China and Taiwan 4. The relationship among culture, structure, and institutions Part II. Culture's Impacts on Politics: 5. The impact of culture on political trust 6. Cultural impacts on political participation 7. Cultural impacts on people's understanding of democracy 8. Conclusion and theoretical reflection.
Genetics and the Life Course

A life-course perspective is committed to the proposition that from conception to death, all human outcomes are the result of a continual interaction between the individual and all of the environments that he or she inhabits at any given point in time. Early development is a critical period, a window of time during the life course when a given exposure can have a critical or permanent influence on later outcomes. But the impact of exposures upon outcomes does not end at any specific point in time, inasmuch as life is a continuing interactive and adaptive process. We now know that what applies to human beings also applies to their genomes. The “outcome” of any gene at any given point in time (whether or not it is used to transcribe a particular protein, what form of that protein, and how much) is a product of the interaction between the gene and the multiple environments of which it is a part, which include the epigenome, the cell, the biological human, and the assorted environments he or she occupies (e.g., geographical, socioeconomic, ethnic, etc.). Early life experiences can permanently “reprogram” the epigenome and gene transcription with life-long behavioral consequences. At the same time, the epigenome as well as the genome continue to be environmentally responsive throughout the life course. Keywords: life course; epigenetics; retrotransposons; aneuploidy; G × E
Computer-aided circuit analysis using SPICE

This accessible guide to PSPICE prepares the reader to perform circuit analysis on a computer. It explains the basic concepts clearly, and follows up with an in-depth treatment of advanced topics. Over 60 detailed examples of PSPICE circuit analysis are presented.
An Exploratory Study of Interaction Patterns around the Use of Virtual Apparel Design and Try-on Technology

AbstractIn this exploratory study, three-dimensional (3D) virtual design and try-on technologies were investigated using 3D body-scan avatars (virtual human bodies). Such technology offers the possibility of allowing consumers to become involved as co-designers in the design process, with possible sustainability implications on how the clothing is valued and used. Eight apparel design students each designed garments to be worn for a semi-special event. Participants were scanned using the Human Solutions Vitus XXL 3D body scanner to create their own virtual avatar. These virtual personal fit models were then imported into the Optitex system to be used for the digital garment-creation process. Participants also viewed a short video as a part of the methodology on the environmental impact of current practices of apparel design, production, use, and discard.The qualitative nature of this study enabled an in-depth analysis of participants’ interactions with virtual design and fit technology and their perceptio...
Diffusion of protest information in twitter during shahbag movement of bangladesh

The advent of social media and microblogging tools, particularly Twitter, has been used by the protesters during worldwide social movements as the means of organization, communication and diffusion of protest information. Key protesters play significant roles in the information diffusion process and influence the protest network by disseminating specific types of information. The focus of this work is to investigate how information diffusion takes place in Twitter during social movement. To understand the phenomenon, this poster analyses the tweets of Shahbag Movement of Bangladesh and seeks answers to these questions: who are the influential protesters, what are the properties of the protesters’ information sharing behavior. Ultimately, it is founded that the instrumental protesters represent the citizens, journalists and not the government officials. This poster also finds that the protesters demonstrate information cascade behavior during disseminating protest information into the network.
Type 1 Diabetes: Chronic Progressive Autoimmune Disease

A wealth of data in animal models indicates that type 1A diabetes results from T cell-mediated specific destruction of islet beta cells. There is evidence for the NOD mouse model that insulin is the primary autoantigen and a specific insulin peptide B:9-23 is central to pathogenesis. It is also now possible to predict the development of type 1A (immune mediated) diabetes for the great majority of individuals with a combination of genetic, immunological and metabolic parameters. Such prediction is possible because of the chronic nature of the autoimmunity and loss of beta cell function that precedes the disease. Given the ability to predict type 1A diabetes trials at all stages of the disorder to prevent beta cell destruction are now possible.
The relationship between international editorial board composition and citation measures in political science, business, and genetics journals

Three measures of international composition on journal editorial boards - the number of countries represented on the board, the number of international members, and the proportion of international board members - were correlated with impact factor and total citation data in the 1999 Journal Citation Reportsfor 153 business, political science, and genetics journals. With a few exceptions the relationship between international editorial board composition and citation measures was non-linear, leading to the conclusion that international membership on the editorial board can not generally be used as a marker of better journal quality. Yet further investigation is warranted due to positive correlations between some editorial board and citation measures for non-U.S. business and political science journals.
Development and implementation of a pain education program

Pain is a significant problem for cancer patients and is of particular concern for the elderly. This article reports on the development and implementation of a pain management educational intervention for elderly cancer patients and their family caregivers. This patient education program was developed within a research study funded by the American Cancer Society. Subjects were stratified as either elderly (60-75 years) or oldest (greater than 75 years) and then were randomly assigned to an experimental group that received the three-part, structured pain education program or a control group that received usual care. Control group subjects were offered the intervention at the conclusion of data collection. The outcomes of the pain education were measured at two times after the intervention. Study variables included patient outcomes such as pain intensity, pain knowledge and attitudes, medication compliance, and quality of life as well as family caregiver outcomes. This pain education program was developed, implemented, and evaluated in 40 patients and family caregivers in the first year of a 2-year project. In this article, the investigators present the development and structure of the three-part education program, general principles of patient education regarding pain, methods of evaluating pain education, and initial results of the pain education. Pain education includes basic principles of pain relief, pharmacologic interventions, and nondrug interventions for relief of pain. This program has demonstrated that both cancer patients and their family caregivers benefit from a structured education program for relief of cancer pain.
Effects of differential early experience upon parental behavior in Mus musculus

Infant mice, reared with both parents were subjected to 1 of 4 different early experience contingencies at 3, 6, 9, and 12 days of age. Observation of parental behaviors following return of the pups to the nest revealed that mothers attended more to pups subjected to intermediate levels of stress, with the differences in maternal behavior persisting across the age span without change. Fathers exhibited marked changes in responsiveness to young across the ages observed, with their attention to young correlating directly with rate of ultrasonic calling by the young.
Production of Perchlorate by Laboratory Simulated Lightning Process

Perchlorate (ClO4−), a thyroid hormone disruptor, is both naturally occurring and a man-made contaminant increasingly found in a variety of terrestrial environments. The environmental presence of ClO4− is considered to be the result of atmospheric formation and deposition processes. The ultimate processes, particularly heterogeneous-based reactions, leading to natural ClO4− formation are not well understood. Oxidation of chlorine species by an energetic source such as lightning is considered to be one of the potential heterogeneous sources of natural ClO4−. Currently, there is very little information available on lightning-induced ClO4−. We designed a laboratory electrical discharge reactor capable of evaluating ClO4− formation by the oxidation of “dry” sodium chloride (NaCl) aerosols (relative humidity (RH) <70%) in electrical discharge plasma at voltages and energies up to 24 kV and 21 kJ, respectively. Similar to other non-electrochemical ClO4− production processes, the amount of ClO4− produced (0.5–4.8 μg) was 3 orders of magnitude lower than the input Cl− (7.1–60.1 mg). The amount of ClO4− generated increased with peak voltage (V) and theoretical maximum discharge energy with ΔClO4−/ΔV = 0.28 × 10−3 μg V−1 (R2 = 0.94) and ΔClO4−/ΔE = 0.44 × 10−3 μg J−1 (R2 = 0.83). The total ClO4− generated decreased with an increase in relative humidity from 2.8 ± 0.1 μg (RH ∼46%) to 0.9 ± 0.1 μg (RH ∼62%) indicating that the presence of moisture inhibits the formation of ClO4−. Additional modifications to the reactor support the hypothesis of ClO4− formation due to the action of plasma on Cl− aerosols as opposed to direct oxidation on the surface of the electrodes. Finally, the contribution of lightning-induced ClO4− in North America is calculated to have a wide range from 0.006 × 105 to 5 × 105 kg/year and is within the range of the measured ClO4− depositional flux in precipitation samples obtained across the USA (0.09 × 105–1.2 × 105 kg/y).
A synchronously mode-locked dye laser source for tunable picosecond spectroscopy and nonlinear frequency mixing

A mode-locked tunable dye laser has been developed which is synchronously pumped at high repetition rates by the doubled output of a mode-locked Nd:YAG laser. The dye laser provides intense pulses of 35 psec duration that are widely tunable, of near-transform-limited bandwidth, and in time coincidence with the pumping pulses. Conditions for achieving optimal pulse duration, lasing efficiency, spectral narrowing and tuning are discussed. Initial experiments using synchronous dye and pump laser pulses have demonstrated efficient sum-frequency generation in a KDP crystal of intense tunable near-UV short pulses.
Intramolecular Screening Effects in Polymer Mixtures. 1. Hydrogen-Bonded Polymer Blends

Spectroscopic evidence is presented to indicate that local screening effects are important in polymer mixtures. Essentially, a polymer segment has a locally higher concentration of like segments because of this factor. A simple modification to existing theories is presented to account for this local screening.
A New Diagnosis of Severe Aortic Coarctation Presenting in Adult Life

![Figure][1] [![Graphic][3] ][3][![Graphic][4] ][4] A 52-year-old man with a history of hypertension presented to the emergency department with 2 days of retrosternal chest pain and dyspnea. Blood pressure was 223/106 mm Hg on both arms. Cardiac auscultation revealed decreased S2
Neural networks implementation on a parallel machine

As more supporting theory and applications for neural nets are being developed the hardware implementation of neural nets becomes more important. However most of the existing hardware implementations of neural nets suffer from various weaknesses. Such problems range from inadequate support for parallelism to high communication overhead. In this paper we propose the design of a dataflow-based multiprocessor system for efficiently implementmg asynchronous highly parallel neural nets. L© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Nickel dithiene as a mode-locking saturable absorber for neodymium lasers

Abstract The recovery times from transient bleaching of the infrared bleachable dye, bis(4-dimethulaminodithiobenzil)nickel in solvents ethyl sulfide, methyl sulfoxide, pyridine, and iodoethane have been determined.
Discoid lupus erythematosus—variants and clinical associations

Abstract Chronic cutaneous LE most commonly is manifest by the discoid LE skin. 1 There are, however, important anatomic variations, variations of clinical morphology, and a multiplicity of cutaneous and/or systemic disease associations. Although DLE and its variants are generally at the benign end of the LE spectrum, severe systemic disease and even death can occur in the patient with DLE. 2,3 Furthermore, the presence of DLE can result in a prominent cosmetic problem, a change in lifestyle, and a psychologic stress over concern about possible systemic disease. In this chapter, we will deal with the most common form of cutaneous LE with particular reference to clinical variations, the relationship to SLE, abnormalities found on laboratory examination, and disease associations.
Reliability and stochastic synchronization in type I vs. type II neural oscillators

Neural reliability and stochastic synchronization are remarkable features of real neurons with important consequences for neural computation. Both phenomena are general properties of any device with a resetting threshold, such as neurons. However, certain characteristics of the single neuron dynamics can notably improve neural reliability and stochastic synchronization. Here we show that neural resonators synchronize more reliably and more robustly than neural integrators. This suggests that neurons conveying sensory information in a spike-timing code are likely to be resonators, as supported by our recent studies on reliability and stochastic synchronization in the olfactory bulb.
Requirement of low oxidation-reduction potential for photosynthesis in a blue-green alga (Phormidium sp.).

Photosynthesis in a Phormidium species which forms dense conical-shaped structures in thermal springs is strongly inhibited by aeration but is stimulated by sulfide and other agents (cysteine, thioglycolate, sulfite) which lower the oxidation-reduction potential. The compact structures which this alga forms in nature may restrict oxygen penetration from the environment so that the anaerobic or microaerophilic conditions necessary for photosynthesis can develop. The alga may be defective in a regulatory mechanism that controls the reoxidation of reduced pyridine nucleotides formed during photosynthesis. It is suggested that other mat-forming and benthic blue-green algae may also prefer anaerobic conditions for growth and photosynthesis.
Stimulation of the (Na+ + K+)-dependent adenosine triphosphatase by amino acids and phosphatidylserine: Chelation of trace metal inhibitors

Abstract Amino acids stimulated the (Na+ + K+)-dependent ATPase activity of a rabbit kidney preparation without affecting the Mg2+-ATPase activity; the most effective was histidine, producing a 2-fold increase in activity. Similar stimulation was produced by the well-known chelators EDTA, EGTA, and 8-hydroxyquinoline, and by the chelating phospholipid phosphatidylserine. In the presence of maximally effective concentrations of one agent, the other agents were unable to produce additional stimulation. It is suggested that the amino acids, phosphatidylserine, and the conventional chelators all stimulate the ATPase by a common mechanism: the removal of inhibitory trace metal (s). From measurements of the metal content of the enzyme preparation and experiments with extracted reagents it was concluded that the chelatable inhibitor was in the reagents used in the incubation medium rather than being endogenous to the enzyme; attempts to identify the inhibitor (s) were unsuccessful. The chelators also stimulated the K+-dependent phosphatase activity in the preparation but had no major effect on Na+-dependent incorporation of 32P from [32P]ATP. On monovalent cation activation the chelators appeared to relieve an uncompetitive inhibition of Na32 activation and a noncompetitive inhibition of K32 activation, also suggesting an action of the chelatable inhibitor on the later stages of the ATPase reaction sequence.
The granite problem as exposed in the southern Snake Range, Nevada

A geochemically and mineralogically diverse group of granitoids is present within an area of 900 km2 in the southern Snake Range of eastern Nevada. The granitoids exposed range in age from Jurassic through Cretaceous to Oligocene and include two calcic intrusions, two different types of two-mica granites, and aplites. The younger intrusions appear to have been emplaced at progressively more shallow depths. All of these granitoid types are represented elsewhere in the eastern Great Basin, but the southern Snake Range is distinguished by the grouping of all these types within a relatively small area.