cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development of aptamer-based sensors for the real-time detection of proteins

In this work, the selective molecular recognition capability and high binding affinity of nucleic acid aptamers is integrated with the signal transduction methodology of molecular beacons for real-time monitoring of a protein target. An aptamer recognition element was modified to exist in a stem-loop configuration in the absence of a protein target, and in the presence of the protein target thrombin, the probe changes conformation. Upon binding to the target, this separation causes a physical separation of the attached fluorophore and quencher molecules, thereby allowing for an engineered, single- step recognition and signaling systems. The aptamer signaling probe was found to exhibit a maximum 12-fold change in signal when hybridized with a complement control, and a 3-fold change in signal with an excess of thrombin protein target. The fluorescence increased with increasing concentration of thrombin, until probe saturation where the fluorescence signal did not increase further, but leveled off in intensity. The signaling probe produced a rapid response, with 70% of the maximum signal achieved within a 15 second response time.
The biology of zinc transport in mammary epithelial cells: implications for mammary gland development, lactation, and involution.

Zinc plays a critical role in a vast array of cellular functions including gene transcription, protein translation, cell proliferation, differentiation, bioenergetics, and programmed cell death. The mammary gland depends upon tight coordination of these processes during development and reproduction for optimal expansion, differentiation, and involution. For example, zinc is required for activation of matrix metalloproteinases, intracellular signaling cascades such as MAPK and PKC, and the activation of both mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis and lysosomal-mediated cell death. In addition to functional needs, during lactation the mammary gland must balance providing optimal zinc for cellular requirements with the need to secrete a substantial amount of zinc into milk to meet the requirements of the developing neonate. Finally, the mammary gland exhibits the most profound example of programmed cell death, which is driven by both apoptotic and lysosomal-mediated cell death. Two families of zinc-specific transporters regulate zinc delivery for these diverse functions. Members of the ZIP family of zinc transporters (ZIP1–14) import zinc into the cytoplasm from outside the cell or from subcellular organelles, while members of the ZnT family (ZnT1–10) export zinc from the cytoplasm. Recently, the ion channel transient receptor potential mucolipin 1 (TRPML1) has also been implicated in zinc transport. Herein, we review our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms through which mammary epithelial cells utilize zinc with a focus on the transport of zinc into discrete subcellular organelles for specific cellular functions during mammary gland development, lactation, and involution.
Relative dose intensity: improving cancer treatment and outcomes.

Purpose/objectives To determine the incidence of and reasons for chemotherapy dose delays or reductions. Design A performance improvement initiative formed the basis for a prospective nursing research study. Setting A single institution in western Pennsylvania. Sample 204 patients scheduled for nonmyeloablative chemo-therapy. Methods Data collection forms were completed by RNs and evaluated by an interdisciplinary team. Main research variables Rates of nonadherence to chemotherapy schedule or dosing and associated reasons. Findings The performance improvement initiative revealed evidence of nonadherence to chemotherapy schedule or dosing when patient-requested cancellations and physician-ordered dose delays and reductions were left unchallenged and medical and nursing staffs had limited knowledge of or interest in relative dose intensity. The ensuing nursing research study found that less than 51% and 78% of patients adhered to their schedule and dosage, respectively. Nonadherence primarily was attributed to canceled visits, suboptimal or nonuse of hematopoietic growth factors, and routine dose reductions. Subsequent educational initiatives targeting the interdisciplinary team and patients and their families focused on the importance of keeping scheduled visits and preventing versus managing pancytopenia. Adopting a telephone referral procedure and distributing a patient education sheet reduced patient cancellations by 50%. Various reasons for dose delays and reductions have surfaced, many of which are modifiable with educational efforts. Conclusions A knowledge deficit was found among patients and healthcare providers regarding the importance of adhering to chemo-therapy orders. Implications for nursing Evaluating patterns of chemotherapy administration and educating patients, nurses, and physicians will have an impact on relative dose intensity, potentially improving treatment outcomes.
ADIPOSITAS UND PCO-SYNDROM BEI JUNGEN MADCHEN

Adipositas und PCO-Syndrom haben bei jungen Madchen in den letzten Jahren zahlenmasig erheblich zugenommen. So zahlt die Hyperandrogenamie mit und ohne PCO-Syndrom zu den haufigsten Endokrinopathien bei Zyklusstorungen junger Madchen. Der Zusammenhang zwischen Adipositas, insbesondere vom viszeralen Typ, mit dem PCO-Syndrom ist durch zahlreiche Studien gut belegt und die Verschlechterung des PCO-Syndroms durch die mit Adipositas einhergehende Insulinresistenz offenkundig. Uber den Zusammenhang der durch Leptin stimulierten LH-Freisetzung und -Pulsation einerseits sowie die Verstarkung des Steroidbiogeneseeffekts an der Theca interna durch Insulin, handelt es sich bei der Kombination Adipositas und PCO-Syndrom um eine besondere pathologische Kombination unterschiedlicher dualer, atiologischer Komponenten mit gegenseitiger Verstarkung. Die Adipositas im Kindes- und Jugendalter ist somit ein erster wichtiger, objektiver und einfach zu erhebender Mesbefund, mit dem Arztinnen und Arzte samtlicher Spezies der Jugendmedizin (Padiatrie, Allgemeinmedizin, Gynakologie) die Moglichkeit haben das Krankheitsbild rechtzeitig zu erkennen und durch eine gezielte Fruhtherapie die uberwiegend schlechte Prognose und vor allem die ungunstigen Spaterkrankungen zu vermeiden. Hierin liegt eine grose praventivmedizinische Aufgabe.
Sinus surgery in cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a common inherited disorder that results in widespread dysfunction of exocrine glands. Chronic sinusitis, nasal obstruction, and nasal polyps are frequently observed in these patients. Advances in diagnostic imaging and surgical instrumentation have made functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) an increasingly popular technique over the past decade. Recently, FESS has been adapted for the treatment of chronic nasal and sinus disease in patients with CF. An overview of the management of sinusitis in patients with CF is presented. Emphasis is placed on the clinical evaluation, preoperative and postoperative care, and surgical technique.
Understanding the Limits of the European Union’s Power

Building States without Society: European Union Enlargement and the Transfer of EU Social Policy to Poland and Hungary. By Beate Sissenich. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007. 252 pp., $80.00 cloth (ISBN: 0-7391-1222-8), $29.95 paper (ISBN: 0-7391-1223-6). Beate Sissenich's Building States without Society takes a refreshing, new look at the European Union's enlargement process. What is particularly novel and interesting about the book is that Sissenich is not intent on proving how powerful international institutions are or how transformative the European Union has been in Central and Eastern Europe. Rather, the study shows how surprisingly weak even the most densely institutionalized organizations can be. Specifically, Sissenich explains why the European Union's transfer of social policy to Poland and Hungary was mostly perfunctory. For although these two “most likely” cases of EU rule adoption changed their legal codes to comply with the acquis communautaire , in both countries behavioral compliance has been far less than the European Union had hoped. Sissenich argues that this kind of incomplete rule transfer is the consequence, in general, of the weak states in Poland and Hungary (and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe) and, more specifically, of their “insufficient interest differentiation” (p. 16). In other words, the domestic interest groups that might have had the power to implement EU social policy on the …
Weather and the Deterioration of Building Materials

Early attempts to predict the effects of the weather on the deterioration of building materials were often little more than speculation. The inadequacy of the results is discussed using freeze-thaw cycles and the annual driving rain index as examples. More precise empirical relationships will have to be based on laboratory or test-site observations and may require special weather analyses such as the humidity tables prepared for a study of corrosion of metals. More complex relationships are being found and the analysis of the weather often will invovle the study of the coincident values of two or more elements. The research scientist should be aware of the weather data now generally available and the types of analyses that could be provided.
Reliability of Hematoma Volume Measurement at Local Sites in a Multicenter Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage Clinical Trial

Background and Purpose— The reliability of hematoma volume (HV) measurement using the ABC/2 method in multicenter clinical trials is unknown. We determined the accuracy of ABC/2 method as an on-site test in comparison with the gold standard central HV-assessment and semiautomatic HV-assessment. Method— We analyzed data from an acute intracerebral hemorrhage multicenter clinical trial. HV was measured by site investigators to determine enrollment eligibility ( 3 ) using the ABC/2 method (on-site HV), and independently by the core-imaging laboratory using computer-based analysis (Medical Image Processing, Analysis, and Visualization [MIPAV] HV). HV was also measured by ABC/2 method (central HV) at the core-imaging laboratory to assess the difference in measurements between on-site (multiple raters with variable experiences) and central (single experienced rater) HVs. Results— Fifty-six subjects were analyzed (mean age 62±15 years; 45% women). On-site HV values showed a significantly lower correlation with the MIPAV HV (r=0.63) than central HV and MIPAV HV (r=0.93) values. The correlation between on-site HV and central HV values was modest (r=0.51). A total of 73% of the central HVs were within 25% of the corresponding MIPAV HVs, whereas only 46% of the on-site HVs were within 25% of the corresponding MIPAV HVs ( P Conclusion— On-site HV measurements showed high variability, but the impact on the eligibility determination was small. Centralized remeasurements of HVs with feedback to the sites may increase the reliability of the on-site HV measurements. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00415610 or http://www.atach-2.com. Unique identifier: NCT00415610.
Advances in developing next-generation electronics standards for physics

The Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA) open standard developed by an industry consortium is beginning to find new applications in non-telecom fields including accelerators, HEP detectors, medical physics, astrophysics, fusion and similar applications. At the same time the broad physics community needs to modernize the capabilities of standard platforms for the future. This paper describes the formation of a lab-industry collaborative effort to extend ATCA specifications into the physics field for greater reliability and availability of next-generation machines and detectors, to improve the interoperability of instruments developed at different laboratories, and to take advantage of the potentially broad base of ATCA industry support for physics products.
Constructions for perfect maps and pseudorandom arrays

A construction of perfect maps, i.e. periodic r*v binary arrays in which each n*m binary matrix appears exactly once, is given. A similar construction leads to arrays in which only the zero n*m matrix does not appear and to a construction in which only a few n*m binary matrices do not appear. A generalization to the nonbinary case is given. The constructions involve an interesting problem in shift-register theory. The solution is given for almost all the case of this problem. >
Susceptibility of 1100 Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated in 1997 from seven Latin American and Caribbean countries

Abstract The antimicrobial susceptibility to β-lactam and non-β-lactam agents of 1100 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae recovered in 1997 from 16 centres in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Venezuela and West Indies was studied using E -test and disk diffusion methods. A total of 23.6% of isolates had raised penicillin MICs (16.7% intermediate and 6.9% resistant). The susceptibility of the other agents tested, from most active to least active, were, amoxycillin/clavulanate (99.5% susceptible); chloramphenicol (93.2%); cefotaxime (91.7%); erythromycin (87.1%); tetracycline (74.6%); trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole (TMP–SMZ) (55.4%); and cefaclor (52.8%). The highest proportion of strains resistant to penicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, tetracycline and TMP–SMZ was found in strains from Mexico while resistance to these agents was lowest in strains from the West Indies. Prevalence of penicillin resistance (including intermediate and resistant isolates) in each of the countries, from highest to lowest was, Mexico (40.8%); Chile (31.3%); Panama (23.0%); Venezuela (21.9%); Argentina (19.1%); Brazil (12.9%); and West Indies (7.1%). Based on current levels of antimicrobial resistance of S. pneumoniae in Latin American and Caribbean countries, continued surveillance efforts are necessary in order to guide clinical empiric treatment and provide for judicious use of antimicrobial agents.
Tightening Up: Declining Class Mobility during Russia's Market Transition:

This study analyzes intergenerational occupational mobility in late Soviet and post-Soviet Russia using data from six surveys. Belying claims that class differences did not matter in the Soviet Union, the authors find that social origin did affect occupational opportunity during Russia's Soviet period. But the transition from state socialism to a market economy tightened the link between origins and destinations. Men and women were equally constrained by their social origin, even though they faced significantly different opportunity structures in both periods. As the economic transformation took hold, fewer Russians experienced upward mobility and more were downwardly mobile. Political and economic transition, not the demographic replacement of retiring cohorts by younger ones, strengthened the association between origins and destinations. Career mobility during the 1990s took the form of a regression toward origins, as workers who had the most upward mobility during the Soviet era lost the most in the tr...
The study of the polydispersivity effect on the thermal conductivity of particulate Thermal Interface Materials to refine the Random Network Model

Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) are particulate composite materials widely used in the microelectronics industry to reduce the thermal resistance between the device and the heat sink. Predictive modeling using fundamental physical principles is critical to developing new TIMs, since it can be used to quantify the effect of polydisersivity, volume fraction and arrangements on the effective thermal conductivity. A Random Network Model (RNM) that can efficiently capture the near-percolation transport in these particle-filled systems was developed by the authors, which can take into account the inter-particle interactions and random size distributions. The accuracy of the RNM is dependent on the parameters inherent in analytical description of thermal transport between two spherical particles, and their numerical approximation into a network model. In the present study, COMSOL™ was used to conduct polydispersivity studies that enabled the refinement of the analytical model. Comparing RNM results with FE results, the relation of a critical parameter with the polydispersivity and the volume fraction of the fillers in TIMs was found that provides a more accurate prediction of the effective thermal conductivity of the particulate TIMs using RNM.
Constant relative rate of protein evolution and detection of functional diversification among bacterial, archaeal and eukaryotic proteins.

Background: Detection of changes in a protein’s evolutionary rate may reveal cases of change in that protein’s function. We developed and implemented a simple relative rates test in an attempt to assess the rate constancy of protein evolution and to detect cases of functional diversification between orthologous proteins. The test was performed on clusters of orthologous protein sequences from complete bacterial genomes (Chlamydia trachomatis, C. muridarum and Chlamydophila pneumoniae), complete archaeal genomes (Pyrococcus horikoshii, P. abyssi and P. furiosus) and partially sequenced mammalian genomes (human, mouse and rat). Results: Amino-acid sequence evolution rates are significantly correlated on different branches of phylogenetic trees representing the great majority of analyzed orthologous protein sets from all three domains of life. However, approximately 1% of the proteins from each group of species deviates from this pattern and instead shows variation that is consistent with an acceleration of the rate of amino-acid substitution, which may be due to functional diversification. Most of the putative functionally diversified proteins from all three species groups are predicted to function at the periphery of the cells and mediate their interaction with the environment. Conclusions: Relative rates of protein evolution are remarkably constant for the three species groups analyzed here. Deviations from this rate constancy are probably due to changes in selective constraints associated with diversification between orthologs. Functional diversification between orthologs is thought to be a relatively rare event. However, the resolution afforded by the test designed specifically for genomic-scale datasets allowed us to identify numerous cases of possible functional diversification between orthologous proteins.
Early Lessons and Challenges from the Healthy Mendocino Community of Solution

Northern California’s Mendocino County is joining the national movement to upgrade the quantity and quality of local data available for assessing and improving local health. A broad-based coalition in the county has successfully engaged 20 community partners in funding a web-based tool for this purpose. HealthyMendocino.org, launched in January 2013, is designed to support setting local priorities, planning and evaluating the program, and building community by giving easy access to timely data on 90 indicators of local health and its determinants compiled from a range of state and federal sources. This article, written before the site’s launch by the Chair of the Healthy Mendocino Steering Committee, describes the community of solution that came together to envision, publicize, raise support for, and bring to fruition this new resource. Mendocino is a rural county with limited financial capacity but rich social assets, including a strong collaborative tradition and an infrastructure of dynamic coalitions. This article outlines the anticipated benefits, early lessons, and challenges of the initiative and explains how the organizers leveraged connections with other communities of solution that already are working to improve the quality of life in the area. The article also notes ways in which this local initiative illustrates and aligns with several of the grand challenges outlined in the modern Folsom Report—specifically, challenges 7, 8, 11, 12, and above all 13, which concerns the use of health information technology to enable the flow of knowledge to the community of solution.
Predicting Interests of People on Online Social Networks

We introduce a new data set which contains both a self-declared friendship network and self-chosen attributes from a finite list defined by the social networking site. We propose Gaussian Field Harmonic Functions (GFHF), a state-of-the-art graph transduction algorithm, as a novel way of testing the relevance of the friendship network for predicting individual attributes. We show that the underlying self-declared friendship network allows us to predict some but not all attributes. We use Support Vector Machines (SVM) in conjunction with GFHF to show that other attributes such as age or languages spoken are also important.
Neuroprotection by caffeine and A(2A) adenosine receptor inactivation in a model of Parkinson's disease.

Recent epidemiological studies have established an association between the common consumption of coffee or other caffeinated beverages and a reduced risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD). To explore the possibility that caffeine helps prevent the dopaminergic deficits characteristic of PD, we investigated the effects of caffeine and the adenosine receptor subtypes through which it may act in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) neurotoxin model of PD. Caffeine, at doses comparable to those of typical human exposure, attenuated MPTP-induced loss of striatal dopamine and dopamine transporter binding sites. The effects of caffeine were mimicked by several A2A antagonists (7-(2-phenylethyl)-5-amino2-(2-furyl)-pyrazolo-[4,3-e]-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine (SCH 58261), 3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine, and (E)-1,3-diethyl-8 (KW-6002)-(3,4-dimethoxystyryl)-7-methyl-3,7-dihydro-1Hpurine-2,6-dione) (KW-6002) and by genetic inactivation of the A2A receptor, but not by A1 receptor blockade with 8-cyclopentyl-1,3dipropylxanthine, suggesting that caffeine attenuates MPTP toxicity by A2A receptor blockade. These data establish a potential neural basis for the inverse association of caffeine with the development of PD, and they enhance the potential of A2A antagonists as a novel treatment for this neurodegenerative disease.
LIFE AT STABLE LOW OXYGEN LEVELS: ADAPTATIONS OF ANIMALS TO OCEANIC OXYGEN MINIMUM LAYERS

Zones of minimum oxygen level are found at intermediate depths in most of the world's oceans and, although the oxygen partial pressure in some of these 'oxygen minimum layers' is only a fraction of a kilopascal, populations of pelagic metazoans exist there. These oxygen minimum layers are areas of the water column and the associated benthos with stable conditions of continuously low oxygen level and low temperature at intermediate depths (400-1000 m depth) over vast areas. Off California, where POat the oxygen minimum is 0.8 kPa, there are abundant populations of animals both in the water column and on the bottom. Farther to the south in the eastern tropical Pacific, oxygen partial pressures of less than approximately 0.4 kPa result in very low biomasses and diversity of animals at minimum layer depths. At the minimum oxygen levels found off California, most animals which inhabit the minimum zones appear to support their routine metabolic demands via aerobic metabolism. They do this by being very effective at removing oxygen from water. Among the adaptations of pelagic crustaceans to these conditions are: (1) enhanced ventilatory abilities, (2) enhanced percentage removal of O 2 from the ventilatory stream, (3) large gill surface areas, (4) short diffusion distances from the water to the blood, and (5) hemocyanin respiratory proteins with a very high affinity for O2, high cooperativity and large Bohr effects. The lower O2 consumption rates of many deeper-living species are also functionally adaptive in that they facilitate aerobic survival at low PO•. However, they are not adaptations to the minimum layer, since similarly low rates are found in the same and comparable species living at the same depths in regions without well-developed minima, and these animals are unable to survive at the low PO• values of the minima. While anaerobic metabolism may be important for metabolic rates above the routine level for most animals in the minimum layer, there is little evidence for the use of sustained anaerobiosis in the species studied. In summary, given the stable presence of very low O 2 levels in the minima, the primary adaptations of animals living within them are those that support aerobic metabolism by giving the animals remarkable abilities to extract O 2 from water. These abilities are notably better than those of animals adapted to unstable hypoxic environments, such as intertidal mudflats, while the latter animals rely to a much greater extent on anaerobiosis and perhaps on metabolic suppression to survive periods of anoxia. Summary
Neisseria elongata subsp. nitroreducens subsp. nov., formerly CDC group M-6, a gram-negative bacterium associated with endocarditis.

CDC group M-6 is the vernacular name given to a gram-negative, oxidase-positive, aerobic, nonmotile, rod-shaped bacterium. This organism is biochemically similar to Kingella denitrificans and displays a cellular fatty acid profile consistent with CDC groups M-5 and EF-4 and with Neisseria elongata. Of the 95 M-6 strains referred to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for identification, 32 (64%) of the first 50 were from the throat or sputum and only 3 (6%) were from blood; only 5 (11%) of the next 45 isolates were from the upper respiratory tract and 23 (51%) were from blood, with many of these (15 or 65%) being associated with endocarditis. The major characteristics of CDC group M-6 include reduction of nitrate and nitrite with no gas formation; positive reaction for oxidase; negative reactions for catalase, urease, indole, and motility; and no acid production from carbohydrates. Guanine-plus-cytosine content determined spectrophotometrically by thermal denaturation was 55 to 58 mol % for six M-6 strains tested: 56 mol % for the N. elongata subsp. elongata type strain and for the N. elongata subsp. glycolytica type strain. By the hydroxyapatite method, DNAs from 24 M-6 strains showed an average of 78% relatedness to M-6 reference strain B1019 in reactions at 60 degrees C and 73% relatedness in reactions at 75 degrees C. M-6 strain B1019 was 79% related to the N. elongata type strain at 60 degrees C and 71% related at 75 degrees C; it was 75% related to the type strain N. elongata subsp. glycolytica at 60 degrees C and was 66% related at 75 degrees C. DNAs from CDC group EF-4, K. denitrificans, and CDC group M-5 were all less than 14% related to CDC group M-6 at 75 degrees C. The DNA relatedness data showed conclusively that all the M-6 strains belong in the species N. elongata. M-6 is different from N. elongata subsp. elongata in that M-6 reduces nitrate and sometimes weakly acidifies D-glucose, and it is different from N. elongata subsp. glycolytica in that it reduces nitrate and is negative for glucose and catalase. Because of the apparent clinical significance of M-6 compared with the clinical significance of N. elongata subsp. elongata and N. elongata subsp. glycolytica and the ease in distinguishing it biochemically, we propose M-6 as a third subspecies of N.elongata, N. elongata subsp. nitroreducens subsp. nov.
The effects of network partners’ characteristics on corporate social performance

This research argues that inter-organizational network partners’ characteristics could be a determinant of a firm’s social performance. In particular, I explore the effects of the prior social perf...
Culture of Two- and Four-Cell Rabbit Embryos to the Blastocyst Stage in Serum and Serum Extracts

Two- and four-cell rabbit embryos were cultured for 4 days in a simple synthetic medium containing 1.5% crystallized bovine serum albumin (BSA) with bovine serum and serum fractions added in order to determine the serum components useful for promoting blastocysts formation. Four experiments, involving 34 treatments and 1875 embryos, were carried out. The minimum level of serum for optimum blastocyst formation was found to be about 5%, and all the components necessary for blastocyst formation were present in the dialyzable portion of serum. With 1.5% BSA in a medium containing the dialyzate no other macromolecules were required to obtain expanding blastocysts. The ability of these compounds to promote blastocyst formation was not destroyed by boiling, freeze-drying, treatment with 1 N HC1 or 1 N NaOH, irradiation with UV light nor by adding EDTA to the culture medium. The dialyzate was very soluble in water and relatively insoluble in nonpolar solvents. The nondialyzable serum fraction did not promote blastocyst formation.
Applying Bayesian Modeling and Receiver Operating Characteristic Methodologies for Test Utility Analysis

This study integrated Bayesian hierarchical modeling and receiver operating characteristic analysis (BROCA) to evaluate how interest strength (IS) and interest differentiation (ID) predicted low–socioeconomic status (SES) youth’s interest-major congruence (IMC). Using large-scale Kuder Career Search online-assessment data, this study fit three models, the one-level BROCA, the two-level BROCA, and the ordinal Probit BROCA, to examine the moderating effects of gender and race/ethnicity. Both IS and ID displayed race/ethnicity differences in predicting low-SES females’ IMC. Gender difference was found only on IS in predicting low-SES youth’s IMC. Results suggested that low-SES White males and low-SES minority females may need help the most to develop stronger career interests and to differentiate their interests. This study illustrated that BROCA can be a powerful tool for test evaluation and utility analysis in the field because of its capacity of analyzing continuous, nominal, and ordinal data; its graphic...
Provenance analyzer: exploring provenance semantics with logic rules

Consider the snippet of an OPM (Open Provenance Model [8]) graph shown in Fig. 1. It consists of a single wasGeneratedBy edge with two nodes, data artifact A and process P.
Role of HDACs in optic nerve damage-induced nuclear atrophy of retinal ganglion cells

Optic neuropathies are characterized by retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death, resulting in the loss of vision. In glaucoma, the most common optic neuropathy, RGC death is initiated by axonal damage, and can be modeled by inducing acute axonal trauma through procedures such as optic nerve crush (ONC) or optic nerve axotomy. One of the early events of RGC death is nuclear atrophy, and is comprised of RGC-specific gene silencing, histone deacetylation, heterochromatin formation, and nuclear shrinkage. These early events appear to be principally regulated by epigenetic mechanisms involving histone deacetylation. Class I histone deacetylases HDACs 1, 2, and 3 are known to play important roles in the process of early nuclear atrophy in RGCs, and studies using both inhibitors and genetic ablation of Hdacs also reveal a critical role in the cell death process. Select inhibitors, such as those being developed for cancer therapy, may also provide a viable secondary treatment option for optic neuropathies.
A Figurative 'Wrestling Match': Including African Literature in American Public Schools

This paper begins by giving a brief overview of the limited presence of Africa in American K-12 school curricula. While research on the topic is limited, what little there is - including my own survey of English teachers in secondary schools in Bloomington, Indiana - suggests that Africa is nearly absent from American classrooms of all disciplines. In English, students might read Achebe’s Things Fall Apart in grade 10; they are more likely to read his essay “An Image of Africa” alongside Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in Advanced Placement English, in grade 12. When students graduate from high school at age 17 or 18, they enter adulthood (and the electorate) with little or no exposure to African literature, nor to information about the continent (beyond the stereotypical images they receive from National Geographic-style entertainments, or the popular children’s films Madagascar and The Lion King). I go on to discuss the practical issues involved in getting more African literary texts, including children’s literature, into American classrooms. Using Emecheta’s The Wrestling Match as an example, I outline what we as university-level researchers might do to encourage the inclusion of African literary texts in K-12 classrooms. American primary and secondary instructors are understandably reluctant to include texts unfamiliar to them, particularly when they inadequately understand the context for the literature. Therefore if we truly want to see African literary texts included in more classrooms, we must take on the responsibility of creating and providing to teachers the background information that will assist them in bringing these texts to their students. I will demonstrate how such material might be assembled for The Wrestling Match, and then, briefly, suggest ways in which we might conduct outreach to local school systems and teachers to invite them into the rich world of African literature.
Impact of Minimum Wage and Government Ideology on Unemployment Rates: The Case of Post-Communist Romania

The present paper looks to fill a gap in economic literature by analyzing the relationship between unemployment rates and minimum wage levels in Romania between 1994—2007. The hypothesis tested is that this relationship is nonlinear, with government ideology playing an integral part in determining the unemployment rate through an interaction term. The method of analysis is a time series regression tested with a two-period lag used to eliminate possible endogeneity. Finally, the model is tested for robustness using a 2-lag VAR and a first difference regression. The results appear robust and the evidence seems to point towards a statistically significant nonlinear relationship between unemployment and minimum wages. Finally, additional limitations and avenues for expanding the model are suggested.
Evaluation of Ultraviolet Radiation and Dust Control Measures in Control of Respiratory Disease at a Naval Training Center

The effectiveness of dust suppression by means of oiling floors and blankets for the control of air-borne respiratory disease is not fully determined.5 The Commission on Acute Respiratory Diseases and the Commission on Air-borne Infections, in a study at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, found that these measures had only a slight questionable effect in reducing respiratory disease in barracks under endemic conditions and were ineffectual in controlling an epidemic in recruits.' Methods of dust suppression, and encouraging bacteriological results obtained by the Board for the Investigation of Epidemic Diseases, United States Army, have been described by Robertson, et al.2 Effectiveness in practice was under determination at that time but has not yet been published. Studies of the effectiveness of ultra-
ACCELERATION MECHANISMS IN A VACUUM ARC THRUSTER

*† ABSTRACT Vacuum arc thrusters (VATs) are being developed to provide a highly scalable micro-propulsion system for use on small satellites. VATs produce thrust by emission of neutrals and ions from the negative electrode, with ion energies ranging from 18 eV to 150 eV. The exact mechanism to accelerate ions to this velocity is not precisely known. This paper discusses the possible ion acceleration mechanisms as well as some of the properties of the vacuum arc.
Quaternary Phase Equilibria in the Ti-Si-N-O System: Stability of Metallization Layers and Prediction of Thin Film Reactions

During high temperature circuit fabrication, metallization layers can come in contact with both solids and gases. Their stability can be addressed with the aid of phase equilibria. Using the Gibbs phase rule as a basis, a method for generating phase diagrams for multicomponent systems can be established. This procedure is described and illustrated by reference to the quaternary phase diagram of Ti-Si-N-O. This phase diagram can then be used to predict stability and/or reactions in metallization layers and thin films.
Fermi Resonance Effects in the Vibrational Spectroscopy of Methyl and Methoxy Groups

A theoretical model Hamiltonian [J. Chem. Phys. 2013, 138, 064308] for describing vibrational spectra associated with the CH stretch of CH2 groups is extended to molecules containing methyl and methoxy groups. Results are compared to the infrared (IR) spectroscopy of four molecules studied under supersonic expansion cooling in gas phase conditions. The molecules include 1,1-diphenylethane (DPE), 1,1-diphenylpropane (DPP), 2-methoxyphenol (guaiacol), and 1,3-dimethoxy-2-hydroxybenzene (syringol). Transforming the bending normal mode vibrations of CH3 groups to local scissor vibrations leads to model Hamiltonians which share many features present in our model Hamiltonian for the stretching vibrations of CH2 Fermi coupled to scissor modes. The central difference arises from the greater scissor–scissor coupling present in the CH3 case. Comparing anharmonic couplings between these modes and the stretch–bend Fermi coupling for a variety of systems, it is observed that the anharmonic couplings are robust; their ...
Mutation Yield of a 34-Gene Solid Tumor Panel in Community-Based Tumor Samples

Several targeted therapies have been approved for treatment of solid tumors. Identification of gene mutations that indicate response to these therapies is rapidly progressing. A 34-gene next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel, developed and validated by us, was evaluated to detect additional mutations in community-based cancer specimens initially sent to our reference laboratory for routine molecular testing. Consecutive de-identified clinical specimens (n = 121) from melanoma cases (n = 31), lung cancer cases (n = 27), colorectal cancer cases (n = 33), and breast cancer cases (n = 30) were profiled by NGS, and the results were compared with routine molecular testing. Upon initial mutation testing, 20 % (24/121) were positive. NGS detected ≥1 additional mutation not identified by routine testing in 74 % of specimens (90/121). Of the specimens with additional mutations, 16 harbored mutations in National Comprehensive Cancer Network guideline genes. These various additional mutations were in gene regions not routinely covered, in genes not routinely tested, and/or present at low allele frequencies. Moreover, NGS yielded no false negatives. Overall, NGS detected mutations in 59 % of the genes (20/34) included in the panel, 75 % of which (15/20) were detected in multiple tumor types. Mutations in TP53 were found in 51 % of tumors tested (62/121). Mutations in at least one other (non-TP53) gene present in the panel were detected in 64 % of cases (77/121). This assay provides improved breadth and sensitivity for profiling clinically relevant genes in these prevalent solid tumor types.
The Faddeev-Merkuriev Differential Equations (MFE) and Multichannel 3-Body Scattering Systems

Numerical implementation of the modified Faddeev Equation (MFE) is presented in some detail. The Faddeev channel wave function displays unique properties of each and every open channel, respectively. In particular, near resonant energies, the structures of the resonances are beautifully displayed, from which, the life-time of the resonances can be determined by simply using the uncertainty principle. The phase shift matrix, or the K-matrix, provides unique information for each and every resonance. This information enables the identification of the physical formation mechanism of the Gailitis resonances. A few of these resonances, previously known as the mysterious shape resonances, have occurred in a number of different collision systems. The Gailitis resonances are actually produced by a quantized Stark-effect within the various collision systems. Since the Stark-effect is a universal phenomenon, the Gailitis resonances are expected to occur in much broader classes of collision systems. We will present the results of a precision calculation using the MFE method in sufficient detail for interested students who wish to explore the mysteries of nature with a powerful theoretical tool.
Electrothermal Analysis of Tiny Ignition Unit

The work process of tiny electric ignition bridge is studied by build electrothermal modle of different electric current,the relation between heated time of minisize bridge surface temperature reaching ignition or fusion temperature and the current are achieved.The results show that the current has little influence on ignition and fusion time of amorce when the ignitopn power exceeds 2 W,which prowide the base of consistent analyze of tiny array propulsion.
Epidemiology of Mumps in Gaoping District of Nanchong,2004-2009

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of mumps in Gaoping district from 2004 to 2009.Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the incidence data of mumps during this period.Results A total of 1 317 mumps cases were reported in Gaoping from 2004 to 2009,and no death was reported.The average annual incidence was 40.21/105.The incidence peak was during April-July of a year,the cases during this period accounted for 60.82%.Most cases occurred among students(1 034,78.51%),followed by children in child care settings(130,9.87%),children outside child care settings(86,6.53%).The cases in age group of 4-10 years accounted for 88.38%.Conclusion The populations affected mostly by mumps were students and children in child care settings in Gaoping,and the disease mainly occurred during April-July.
Permanent contraception for women

Permanent methods of contraception are used by an estimated 220 million couples worldwide, and are often selected due to convenience, ease of use and lack of side effects. A variety of tubal occlusion techniques are available for female permanent contraception, and procedures can be performed using a transcervical or transabdominal approach. This article reviews currently available techniques for female permanent contraception and discusses considerations when helping patients choose a contraceptive method and tubal occlusion technique.
Models of antimicrobial resistance and foodborne illness: examining assumptions and practical applications.

Antimicrobial resistance is an issue of increasing global concern. Several investigators have suggested that antibiotic use in food-producing animals is a major contributor to the increasing incidence of antimicrobial-resistant organisms causing illness in humans (F. J. Angulo, K. R. Johnson, R. V. Tauxe, and M. L. Cohen, Microb. Drug Res. 6:77-83, 2000; P. D. Fey, T. J. Safranek, M. E. Rupp, E. F. Dunne, R. Efrain, P. C. Iwen, P. A. Bradford, F. J. Angulo, and S. H. Hinrichs, N. Engl. J. Med. 342:1242-1249, 2000; S. A. McEwen and P. J. Fedorka-Cray, Commun. Infect. Dis. 34(Suppl. 3):S93-S106, 2002; D. L. Smith, A. D. Harris, J. A. Johnson, E. K. Silbergeld, and J. G. Morris, Jr., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:6434-6439, 2002; D. G. White, S. Zhao, R. Sudler, S. Ayers, S. Friedman, S. Chen, P. F. McDermott, D. D. Wagner, and J. Meng, N. Engl. J. Med. 345:1147-1154, 2001; W. Witte, Science 279:996, 1998). In this paper, we discuss this and other assumptions relevant to a quantitative risk assessment model for salmonellosis in humans. We also discuss other important aspects of modeling food safety and food-associated antimicrobial resistance risk to humans. We suggest that the role of food-producing animals in the origin and transmission of antimicrobial resistance and "foodborne" pathogens has been overestimated and overemphasized in the scientific literature; consequently, nonfoodborne transmission, including pet-associated human cases, has been underemphasized. Much evidence exists for the potential contribution to infectious disease that may be of human or pet origin (that may contact humans through food but not be of a food origin). Risk analyses that do not acknowledge the potential for these sources of cross-contamination will understate the contribution that origin has in the realm of foodborne and food-associated diseases (e.g., Salmonella) and the resulting uncertainty levels in the food system, thus leading to biased inferences. We emphasize the importance of evaluating both the foodborne and nonfoodborne transmission risk for salmonellosis and outline the basics of an analytical modeling approach in food safety with examples to illustrate strengths and limitations in the modeling. Examples illustrate, on a simplistic level, how varying assumptions and other inputs can influence the output of food-associated quantitative risk models.
Two isorophid edrioasteroids (Echinodermata) encrusting conulariids from the Hunsrück Slate (Lower Devonian, Emsian; Rheinisches Schiefergebirge) of Germany

Two specimens of isorophid edrioasteroids encrusting conulariid remains are described from the Lower Devonian Hunsruck Slate of Germany. The Hunsruck Slate fauna is known for its well-preserved and diverse echinoderm fauna. Despite the great number of echinoderm fossils preserved, especially crinoids and stelleroids, reports of edrioasteroids have been limited to a few specimens of a single species ofRhenopyrgus. The specimens described herein represent the first documentation of encrusting isorophid edrioasteroids in the Hunsruck Slate. Unfortunately, known specimens are poorly preserved limiting classification to ordinal-level. Preservation of the edrioasteroids and conulariids suggests that the conulariids were alive when encrusted.
Management of the bladder by augmentation ileocecocystoplasty.

Abstract Use of cecum and ileum to construct a large capacity, urinary reservoir with provision for easy intermittent catheterization is described. The technique is useful in the management of hypertonic or hyperreflexic vesical dysfunction.
Immigration and Educational Inequity: An Examination of Latino Immigrant Parents' Inclusion in the Public School Context

This article examines the relationship between immigrant Latino parents and the U.S. public school system. Given the record-level immigration trends of the last twenty years, existing anti-immigrant sentiment, and increased workplace and residential immigration enforcement by ICE in predominantly Latino communities, the authors sustain that immigrant Latino parents continue to be disempowered in the school context despite the historic 1982 Plyler v Doe Supreme Court decision which established that undocumented immigrant children in the U.S. cannot be denied free public education. The authors further argue that current U.S. immigration enforcement policies and practices are for all intents and purposes explicitly and implicitly galvanizing inequitable learning opportunities for Latino students because they severely restrict authentic Latino parental participation in schools.
Predicting Band Gaps with Hybrid Density Functionals

We compare the ability of four popular hybrid density functionals (B3LYP, B3PW91, HSE, and PBE0) for predicting band gaps of semiconductors and insulators over a large benchmark set using a consistent methodology. We observe no significant statistical difference in their overall performance, although the screened hybrid HSE is more accurate for typical semiconductors. HSE can improve its accuracy for large band gap materials—without affecting that of semiconductors—by including a larger portion of Hartree–Fock exchange in its short-range. Given that screened hybrids are computationally much less expensive than their global counterparts, we conclude that they are a better option for the black box prediction of band gaps.