cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Functionally Essential Interaction between Yersinia YscO and the T3S4 Domain of YscP

The type III secretion (T3S) system is essential to the virulence of a large number of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens, including Yersinia. YscO is required for T3S in Yersinia and is known to interact with several other T3S proteins, including the chaperone SycD and the needle length regulator YscP. To define which interactions of YscO are required for T3S, we pursued model-guided mutagenesis: three conserved and surface-exposed regions of modeled YscO were targeted for multiple alanine substitutions. Most of the mutations abrogated T3S and did so in a recessive manner, consistent with a loss of function. Both functional and nonfunctional YscO mutant proteins interacted with SycD, indicating that the mutations had not affected protein stability. Likewise, both functional and nonfunctional versions of YscO were exclusively intrabacterial. Functional and nonfunctional versions of YscO were, however, distinguishable with respect to interaction with YscP. This interaction was observed only for wild-type YscO and a T3S-proficient mutant of YscO but not for the several T3S-deficient mutants of YscO. Evidence is presented that the YscO-YscP interaction is direct and that the type III secretion substrate specificity switch (T3S4) domain of YscP is sufficient for this interaction. These results provide evidence that the interaction of YscO with YscP, and in particular the T3S4 domain of YscP, is essential to type III secretion.
About the Toroidal Magnetic Field of a Tokamak Burning Plasma Experiment with Superconducting Coils

In tokamaks, the strong dependence on the toroidal magnetic field of both plasma pressure and energy confinement is what makes possible the construction of small and relatively inexpensive burning plasma experiments using high-field resistive coils. On the other hand, the toroidal magnetic field of tokamaks using superconducting coils is limited by the critical field of superconductivity. In this article, we examine the relative merit of raising the magnetic field of a tokamak plasma by increasing its aspect ratio at a constant value of the peak field in the toroidal magnet. Taking ITER-FEAT as an example, we find that it is possible to reach thermonuclear ignition using an aspect ratio of approximately 4.5 and a toroidal magnetic field of 7.3 T. Under these conditions, fusion power density and neutron wall loading are the same as in ITER [International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor], but the normalized plasma beta is substantially smaller. Furthermore, such a tokamak would be able to reach an energy gain of approximately 15 even with the deterioration in plasma confinement that is known to occur near the density limit where ITER is forced to operate.
Providing Students with Usability Testing Experience: Bringing Home the Lesson &#8220;The User is Not Like You&#8221;

Teaching software testing has many facets, including the presentation of the various types of testing and the use of tools. Many perspectives exist in terms of schools of thought when planning for, conducting, and managing testing activities. Instructors wrap these facets of testing into overview courses in Software Engineering or into specialized courses. The presentation will describe the usability testing process and project used in an elective seminar designed for software engineering undergraduates. The seminar utilizes a strong hands-on approach, enabling students to apply various techniques to address usability in a system. Students followed a usability testing process enabling them the opportunity to plan the process and methodology, recruit participants, conduct the testing, and analyze test results. In addition to course content, the presentation will address student attitude and course expectation. The lessons learned and future directions will be provided
Singular boundary value problems for P-Laplacian-like equations

We consider the existence of positive solutions to a class of singular nonlinear boundary value problems for P-Laplacian-like equations. Our approach is based on the Schauder Fixed-Point Theorem.
Advances and Challenges in Entrepreneurship Education

Recent global economic crisis has increasingly demanded bold action from organizations. If these organizations fail to respond appropriately, entrepreneurs will develop new meaningful solutions to ...
Dynamic Maintenance and Evolution of Critical Components-Based Software Using Multi Agent Systems

Component-based development has become a commonly used technique for building complex software systems by composing a set of existing components. In general adapting an application means stopping the application and restarting it after the adaptation. This approach is not suitable for a large classes of software systems in which continuous availability is a critical requirement, hence the need of adapting dynamically the application at runtime. This paper presents an architecture based approach for dynamic adaptation in critical components based software using multi agent system.To achieve this, we use an agent based system to perform the adaptation. The agent system is guided by an architectural description. The adaptation mechanism is implemented within the connectors using the flexibility offered by the Java script language techniques. The script language Groovy is used. The evaluation is made by comparing the execution time before and after the adaptation mechanism. The paper is structured as follows: section 2 presents related works to dynamic adaptation. Section 3 describes the proposed solution to achieve a dynamic update of components-based software applications. The implementation details and some measurements relative to our solution are given in section 4. Section 5 concludes and presents some perspectives.
Bacterial Invasion Is Not Required for Activation of NF-κB in Enterocytes

Pathogenic enteric microorganisms induce the NF-κB-dependent expression of proinflammatory genes in intestinal epithelial cells. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the contribution of microbial invasion to the degradation of the regulatory protein IκBα and the subsequent activation of NF-κB in cultured intestinal epithelial cells. Caco-2BBe cells were incubated with Salmonella dublin, Salmonella typhimurium, or a weakly invasive strain of E. coli. S. dublin and S. typhimurium (107 organisms/ml) induced equivalent concentration-dependent gel mobility shifts of an NF-κB consensus sequence that was preceded by IκBα degradation. E. coli (107 organisms/ml) did not induce IκBα degradation or NF-κB translocation. Pretreatment with cytochalasin D blocked invasion of all three strains but had no effect on IκBα degradation or NF-κB activation. S. dublin and S. typhimurium adhered to Caco-2BBe cells 3- to 10-fold more than E. coli. NF-κB activation was prevented by physical separation of S. dublin from Caco-2BBe cells by a 0.4-μm-pore-size filter. Our results imply that bacterial adhesion, rather than invasion or release of a secreted factor, is sufficient to induce IκBα degradation and NF-κB activation in intestinal epithelial cells. Our data suggest that strategies to reduce enteric inflammation should be directed to the reduction of bacterial enterocyte adhesion.
Psychosocial Correlates of Interpersonal Sensitivity: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis examines how interpersonal sensitivity (IS), defined as accurate judgment or recall of others’ behavior or appearance, is related to psychosocial characteristics of the perceiver, defined as personality traits, social and emotional functioning, life experiences, values, attitudes, and self-concept. For 215 independent studies reported in 96 published sources, higher IS was generally associated with favorable or adaptive psychosocial functioning. Significant mean correlations were found for 27 of the 40 categories of psychosocial variables; these categories covered many different personality traits, indicators of mental health, and social and work-related competencies. Moreover, many additional studies that fell outside these conceptual categories also showed significant positive relations between IS and numerous other psychosocial variables. Taken together, the results support the construct validity of IS tests and demonstrate that IS is associated with many important aspects of personal and social functioning.
The number and genetic relatedness of transmitted/founder virus impact clinical outcome in vaginal R5 SHIVSF162P3N infection.

Severe genetic bottleneck occurs during HIV-1 sexual transmission whereby most infections are initiated by a single transmitted/founder (T/F) virus. Similar observations had been made in nonhuman primates exposed mucosally to SIV/SHIV. We previously reported variable clinical outcome in rhesus macaques inoculated intravaginally (ivg) with a high dose of R5 SHIVSF162P3N. Given the potential contributions of viral diversity to HIV-1 persistence and AIDS pathogenesis and recombination between retroviral genomes increases the genetic diversity, we tested the hypothesis that transmission of multiple variants contributes to heightened levels of virus replication and faster disease progression in the SHIVSF162P3N ivg-infected monkeys. We found that the differences in viral replication and disease progression between the transiently viremic (TV; n = 2), chronically-infected (CP; n = 8) and rapid progressor (RP; n = 4) ivg-infected macaques cannot be explained by which variant in the inoculum was infecting the animal. Rather, transmission of a single variant was observed in both TV rhesus, with 1–2 T/F viruses found in the CPs and 2–4 in all four RP macaques. Moreover, the genetic relatedness of the T/F viruses in the CP monkeys with multivariant transmission was greater than that seen in the RPs. Biological characterization of a subset of T/F envelopes from chronic and rapid progressors revealed differences in their ability to mediate entry into monocyte-derived macrophages, with enhanced macrophage tropism observed in the former as compared to the latter. Our study supports the tenet that sequence diversity of the infecting virus contributes to higher steady-state levels of HIV-1 virus replication and faster disease progression and highlights the role of macrophage tropism in HIV-1 transmission and persistence.
Effects of haptic device attributes on vibration detection thresholds

Human vibrotactile detection experiments were used to compare temporal sinusoids displayed on three commercial haptic devices to a high-fidelity linear voice-coil actuator. The three commercial haptic devices we used span the cost spectrum, supposing that cost of a device is correlated with the fidelity of its virtual textures. This turned out not to be the case. The results indicated that none of the three haptic devices we tested were able to render perceptually distortion-free, periodically regular vibrations at detection threshold levels. Further investigation into the electrical and mechanical device properties that limited the performance of these devices revealed that D/A resolution, amplifier non-linearity and stiction were the primary sources of signal corruption.
Humans as geologic agents: A deep-time perspective

Humans move increasingly large amounts of rock and sediment during various construction activities, and mean rates of cropland soil loss may exceed rates of formation by up to an order of magnitude, but appreciating the actual importance of humans as agents of global erosion necessitates knowledge of prehistoric denudation rates imposed on land surfaces solely by natural processes. Amounts of weathering debris that compose continental and oceanic sedimentary rocks provide one such source of information and indicate that mean denudation over the past half-billion years of Earth history has lowered continental surfaces by a few tens of meters per million years. In comparison, construction and agricultural activities currently result in the transport of enough sediment and rock to lower all ice-free continental surfaces by a few hundred meters per million years. Humans are now an order of magnitude more important at moving sediment than the sum of all other natural processes operating on the surface of the planet. Relationships between temporal trends in land use and global population indicate that humans became the prime agents of erosion sometime during the latter part of the first millennium A.D.
Analysis of leaf area index products from combination of MODIS Terra and Aqua data

A prototype product suite, containing the Terra 8-day, Aqua 8-day, Terra–Aqua combined 8- and 4-day products, was generated as part of testing for the next version (Collection 5) of the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) leaf area index (LAI) products. These products were analyzed for consistency between Terra and Aqua retrievals over the following data subsets in North America: single 8-day composite over the whole continent and annual time series over three selected MODIS tiles (1200×1200 km). The potential for combining retrievals from the two sensors to derive improved products by reducing the impact of environmental conditions and temporal compositing period was also explored. The results suggest no significant discrepancies between large area (from continent to MODIS tile) averages of the Terra and Aqua 8-day LAI and surface reflectances products. The differences over smaller regions, however, can be large due to the random nature of residual atmospheric effects. High quality retrievals from the radiative transfer based algorithm can be expected in 90–95% of the pixels with mostly herbaceous cover and about 50–75% of the pixels with woody vegetation during the growing season. The quality of retrievals during the growing season is mostly restricted by aerosol contamination of the MODIS data. The Terra–Aqua combined 8-day product helps to minimize this effect and increases the number of high quality retrievals by 10–20% over woody vegetation. The combined 8-day product does not improve the number of high quality retrievals during the winter period because the extent of snow contamination of Terra and Aqua observations is similar. Likewise, cloud contamination in the single-sensor and combined products is also similar. The LAI magnitudes, seasonal profiles and retrieval quality in the combined 4-day product are comparable to those in the single-sensor 8-day products. Thus, the combined 4-day product doubles the temporal resolution of the seasonal cycle, which facilitates phenology monitoring in application studies during vegetation transition periods. Both Terra and Aqua LAI products show anomalous seasonality in boreal needle leaf forests, due to limitations of the radiative transfer algorithm to model seasonal variations of MODIS surface reflectance data with respect to solar zenith angle. Finally, this study suggests that further improvement of the MODIS LAI products is mainly restricted by the accuracy of the MODIS observations.
Exploiting typical clinical imaging constraints for 3D outer bone surface segmentation

We present a method for extracting outer bone surfaces from a 3D CT (computer tomography) image sequence using a novel segmentation scheme on each image. A 3D mesh of the bone surface is then generated using the marching cubes algorithm. The new segmentation algorithm makes use of several imaging constraints which greatly simplify the problem including : (i) the cross-sectional size of a bone is approximately known and (ii) the geometric shape of a cross-section is approximately known. In clinical practice using commercial CT scanners, these quantities are typically known and serve to greatly simplify the segmentation problem. By segmenting the image data, the algorithm is capable of uniquely extracting the bone outer surface in contrast to other methods which often include extra surfaces or surfaces with holes. This paper presents the segmentation method and shows results for extracting tibia bone outer surfaces.
Ultrasensitivity of an adaptive bacterial motor

The flagellar motor of Escherichia coli has been shown to adapt to changes in the steady-state level of the chemotaxis response regulator, CheY-P, by adjusting the number of molecules to which CheY-P binds, FliM. Previous measurements of motor ultrasensitivity have been made on cells containing different amounts of CheY-P, and thus different amounts of FliM. Here, we designed an experiment to measure the sensitivity of motors containing fixed amounts of FliM, finding Hill coefficients about twice as large as those observed before. This ultrasensitivity provides further insights into the motor switching mechanism and plays important roles in chemotaxis signal amplification and coordination of multiple motors. The Hill coefficients observed here appear to be the highest known for allosteric protein complexes, either biological or synthetic. Extreme motor ultrasensitivity broadens our understanding of mechanisms of allostery, and serves as an inspiration for future design of synthetic protein switches.
NMDA antagonists block expression of sensitization of amphetamine- and apomorphine-induced stereotypy.

We have been studying sensitization of psychostimulant-induced stereotyped behavior in mice using both single and multiple pretreatment paradigms. In the present study, we tested whether NMDA receptor antagonists and an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis inhibit expression of sensitization in either of these models. Male CF-1 mice were pretreated with a single dose or with three daily doses of amphetamine (14 mg/kg) or apomorphine (40 mg/kg). Two days following these pretreatments, mice were injected with ((+/-)3-(2-carboxypiperazine-4yl)-propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP, 20 mg/kg), dizocilpine maleate (MK-801, 0.1 mg/kg), 7-nitroindazole (25 mg/kg), or vehicle 30 min before receiving amphetamine (7 mg/kg) or apomorphine (3 mg/kg). The stereotyped behavioral response was enhanced in mice pretreated with amphetamine or apomorphine, indicating that sensitization had developed. CPP, MK-801, and 7-nitroindazole prevented the expression of the sensitized stereotyped response induced by either amphetamine or apomorphine in both paradigms. These drugs did not attenuate the stereotypy elicited by amphetamine and apomorphine in drug-naive mice. The effect of 7-nitroindazole was reversed by pretreatment with 500 mg/kg of L-arginine but not by D-arginine. These results suggest that glutamatergic transmission and subsequent NMDA receptor activation and the production of nitric oxide play a critical role in the expression of the sensitized stereotyped behavioral response elicited by amphetamine or apomorphine.
The double-edged blade of recreational hockey.

In this issue, Sanita Atwal and colleagues[1][1] report the results of the Hockey Heart Study (page 303), in which 113 men over 35 years of age who played recreational hockey in a “gentlemen's league” in Sydney, NS, were fitted with holter monitors for one game each between January and March
Investigating the relationship between imagery and rationale in design

Artifacts can be used to inspire, guide, and create new designs. As approaches to design can range from focusing on inspiration to formalized reasoning, we seek to create and study artifacts that combine the use of images and rationale. In this paper, we contribute an understanding of the relationship between imagery and rationale through an investigation of an artifact made of both. Through a study of group design sessions, we find images can provide access to rationale, moments of inspiration can be balanced with rationale, and differences between images and rationale must be reconciled. We conclude with thoughts on how such artifacts might be leveraged by the design community.
Loyalty: A strategic commitment

Building a group of loyal customers is money in the bank for a hotel, but loyalty requires a long-term relationship in which a hotel earns its guests' trust.
A comparison of model-based machining force control approaches

Abstract Machining force regulation provides significant benefits in productivity and part quality. Adaptive techniques have typically been utilized due to the tremendous parameter variations that are found in machining processes. While adaptive controllers provide greater stability as compared to fixed-gain controllers, they have found very little headway in industry due to complexity in design, implementation, and maintenance. Recently, model-based techniques, with and without process compensation (i.e., the ability to directly adjust controller gains given known changes in process parameters), have been explored. This paper provides a comparison of four model-based machining force controllers; namely, linearization, log transform, nonlinear, and robust. These controllers are compared to an adaptive machining force controller in terms of transient performance and stability robustness with respect to parameter variations, and in terms of stability robustness with respect to unmodeled dynamics via simulation and experimental studies. The developed stability analyzes for the model-based controllers provide excellent predictions of the stability boundaries in the parameter space. Thus, stability robustness in terms of both model parameter variation and controller parameter adjustments can be systematically explored. Also, the results demonstrate that the stability robustness of the model-based controllers is insensitive to unmodeled servomechanism dynamics. While each force control approach performed satisfactorily in a laboratory environment, it can be generally concluded that their implementation should be dictated by the economics of the production environment.
The Arabidopsis ssi1 Mutation Restores Pathogenesis-Related Gene Expression in npr1 Plants and Renders Defensin Gene Expression Salicylic Acid Dependent

The Arabidopsis NPR1 gene was previously shown to be required for the salicylic acid (SA)- and benzothiadiazole (BTH)-induced expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes and systemic acquired resistance. The dominant ssi1 (for suppressor of SA insensitivity) mutation characterized in this study defines a new component of the SA signal transduction pathway that bypasses the requirement of NPR1 for expression of the PR genes and disease resistance. The ssi1 mutation caused PR (PR-1, BGL2 [PR-2], and PR-5) genes to be constitutively expressed and restored resistance to an avirulent strain of Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato in npr1-5 (previously called sai1) mutant plants. In addition, ssi1 plants were small, spontaneously developed hypersensitive response-like lesions, accumulated elevated levels of SA, and constitutively expressed the antimicrobial defensin gene PDF1.2. The phenotypes of the ssi1 mutant are SA dependent. When SA accumulation was prevented in ssi1 npr1-5 plants by expressing the SA-degrading salicylate hydroxylase (nahG) gene, all of the phenotypes associated with the ssi1 mutation were suppressed. However, lesion formation and expression of the PR genes were restored in these plants by the application of BTH. Interestingly, expression of PDF1.2, which previously has been shown to be SA independent but jasmonic acid and ethylene dependent, was also suppressed in ssi1 npr1-5 plants by the nahG gene. Furthermore, exogenous application of BTH restored PDF1.2 expression in these plants. Our results suggest that SSI1 may function as a switch modulating cross-talk between the SA- and jasmonic acid/ethylene-mediated defense signal transduction pathways.
Towards la clínica de mis sueños: Findings from a needs and assets assessment among rural nurses in Chiapas, Mexico

Mexican nurses can face important challenges such as difficulty finding employment, wide ranges of salaries and strained interprofessional relationships. Additionally, many nurses in Mexico care for a marginalized and underserved patient population. In Chiapas, one of the poorest states in the country, six government-sponsored clinics have partnered with the non-profit organization Partners in Health (PIH) to deliver healthcare. The goal of this study was to explore the perceptions of the nurses employed in these clinics about their role, professional relationship with clinic doctors and about the needs and assets that characterize their work. In March of 2013, with approval from an ethical research review board, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with the eight clinic nurses and six doctors working alongside them. The qualitative data analysis showed that nurses highlighted their role in disease prevention, reported highly valuing collaboration with clinic doctors and wanted opportunities to expand their clinical knowledge. Nurses identified the burden of documentation and lack of preparation for medical emergencies among their biggest professional challenges. These findings will serve as the foundation for the strategy to be used to support the work of nurses in the PIH-supported clinics.
African American Students' Participation in Online Distance Education in STEM Disciplines: Implications for HBCUs

Despite the increase in online distant learning initiatives at many of the nation’s colleges and universities, collectively, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to lag behind non-HBCUs in the development and implementation of online courses and programs. Data produced by the National Center for Education Statistics show that African American students are enrolled in significantly less distance education courses when compared with White students. In addition, there is a substantial disparity in the number of online science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses and programs when compared with online courses and programs in education, business, or the social sciences at HBCUs. The primary aim of this article is to examine data that explore African American students’ participation in distance education in STEM disciplines. Recommendations for future research are also discussed in this article.
Atopic characteristics of adult patients with eosinophilic esophagitis.

Background & Aims: The association of sensitization to food allergens, atopic disorders, and eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is well known in children, but not in adults. Our purpose was to identify the spectrum of specific allergic sensitivities to environmental and food allergens within a series of adult patients with EE. Methods: The case series consisted of 23 adult patients with biopsy-proven EE referred for allergy evaluation at an academic clinic. All patients had data that included serum measurement of specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E antibodies to common foods and spices. Patients diagnosed with allergic rhinitis had a relevant clinical history of respiratory allergy and evidence of specific IgE to environmental aeroallergens. Results: The series consisted of 16 men and 7 women with a median age of 34 years (range, 18–57 y). Eighteen of 23 had an atopic diathesis, allergic rhinitis being the most common. Seventeen of 21 patients were polysensitized to several different environmental allergens, and 19 of 23 (82%) had serum IgE specific for one or more food-associated allergens (median, 5 foods), with wheat, tomato, carrot, and onion identified most commonly. The preponderance of environmental and food allergy was similar across all age groups and did not favor younger adults. Conclusions: By using objective measures, our series confirms the high degree of atopy in adults with EE, similar to that seen in the pediatric population. These patients tend to be polysensitized to several environmental allergens, and the profiles of serum IgE specific for food allergens suggest that sensitization may partly be a response to inhaled allergens.
Instruction and High-level Learning in Connectionist Networks

Abstract Essentially all work in connectionist learning up to now has been induction from examples, but instruction is as important in symbolic artificial intelligence as it is in nature. This paper describes an implemented connectionist learning system that transforms an instruction expressed in a description language into an input for a connectionist knowledge representation system, which in turn changes the network in order to integrate new knowledge. Integration is always important when a single new fact causes changes in several parts of the knowledge-base; it is an adjustment which cannot easily be done with learning-by-example techniques only. The new, integrated knowledge can be used in conjunction with prior knowledge. The learning method used is recruitment learning, a technique which converts network units from a pool of free units into units which carry meaningful information, i.e represent generic concepts.
Unusual fourth order deformation of beam due to space charge

Unusual fourth order core deformation in y-phase space is observed in the simulation of SNS ring without lattice imperfections. The fourth order core deformation happens for a wide range of tunes, whereas an asymmetric deformation takes place when bare tune v/sub y/ is 5.53 to 5.74. When v/sub y/ is close to 6, 2:1 resonance appears in both planes. Extensive numerical simulation indicates that the difference resonance 2/sub x/-2v/sub y/ = 0 from space charge potential and dispersion effect are playing a crucial role. Similar effect is expected near the resonance 2v/sub x/ 2v/sub y/=P with a superperiod P. This is unusual because the SNS ring under model has a perfect four-fold symmetry and operating points are far from structural resonances. Also an interesting observation on equipartitioning is presented in section 4.
STUDIES ON THE GROWTH OF 5-DAY-OLD RABBIT BLASTOCYSTS IN VITRO.

Rabbit embryos at the early blastocyst stage (5 days post coitum ) do not grow well in vitro . The present studies were undertaken for the purpose of defining some of the components of the medium that are optimal for growth of young rabbit blastocysts under culture conditions. Preliminary studies showed that the cell culture medium F10 (Ham, 1963 a ) supported excellent growth of a variety of rabbit cells in vitro . Rabbit blastocysts would grow, although not at the normal rate, in F10 supplemented with 15 per cent, normal rabbit serum. F10R15 was therefore selected as the initial medium to which additions or alterations were made in an attempt to perfect its blastocyst growth-promoting qualities. It should be clearly understood that throughout this paper the word ‘growth’, used in reference to rabbit blastocysts, means an increase in blastocyst volume without prejudice to the issue of whether or not the total volume or mass of living cells is also increasing.
Integration of Research and Treatment

This chapter seeks to promote the integration of research and treatment practices in the area of child abuse and neglect. By encouraging this conceptual and practical rapprochement, it is hoped that the knowledge base in the area of child maltreatment can be expanded and made more relevant. A primary objective is to describe areas that may benefit from further empirical attention in clinical practice. As background, I will summarize recent literature describing or evaluating interventions and programs in the areas of sexual abuse, physical abuse, various forms of neglect, psychological maltreatment, and exposure to family violence. Of course, there may be considerable overlap among these subtypes. Certainly, progress is needed in further articulating clinical and therapeutic characteristics and the context in which treatment occurs. There are several excellent sources for gaining a more comprehensive perspective on the treatment outcome literature and details of relevant studies along with insightful recommendations for future work in each area (see Becker et al., 1995; Finkelhor & Berliner, 1995; Lutzker & Campbell, 1994; Oates & Bross, 1995; Wolfe, 1994).
Tropical insular fish assemblages are resilient to flood disturbance

Periods of stable environmental conditions, favoring development of ecological communities regulated by density-dependent processes, are interrupted by random periods of disturbance that may restructure communities. Disturbance may affect populations via habitat alteration, mortality, or displacement. We quantified fish habitat conditions, density, and movement before and after a major flood disturbance in a Caribbean island tropical river using habitat surveys, fish sampling and population estimates, radio telemetry, and passively monitored PIT tags. Native stream fish populations showed evidence of acute mortality and downstream displacement of surviving fish. All fish species were reduced in number at most life stages after the disturbance, but populations responded with recruitment and migration into vacated upstream habitats. Changes in density were uneven among size classes for most species, indicating altered size structures. Rapid recovery processes at the population level appeared to dampen effects at the assemblage level, as fish assemblage parameters (species richness and diversity) were unchanged by the flooding. The native fish assemblage appeared resilient to flood disturbance, rapidly compensating for mortality and displacement with increased recruitment and recolonization of upstream habitats.
"Soft Skills": A Phrase in Search of Meaning

Soft skills are a collection of people management skills, important to many professions and job positions, including academic librarianship. Yet the concept of soft skills lacks definition, scope, instrumentation, and systematic education and training. This literature review explores the definition of soft skills ; contrasts skills with related concepts, such as personality traits, attitudes, beliefs, and values; and compares a set of soft skill typologies. We discuss a number of conceptual issues associated with soft skills and suggest several lines of research to help clarify and strengthen librarians’ understanding of and development of soft skills.
Etonogestrel Implants in Adolescents: Experience, Satisfaction, and Continuation

Abstract Purpose Few studies have evaluated the use of etonogestrel subdermal implants (ESI) by U.S. adolescents. We assessed several factors, including continuation rates, the association of implant removal with postimplant management of nuisance bleeding, and the relation between bleeding and body mass index. Methods We reviewed 116 charts from all adolescent females with ESI placement in our adolescent medicine clinic from January 2010 to August 2013. Data were obtained from follow-up encounters up to 36 months after insertion. Results Of the 116 adolescents, 94% were nulliparous. Follow-up data were available for 81% (n = 94). Early ESI removal was defined as removal Conclusions Implant continuation rates were quite high at 12 and 24 months, with 40% of patients reaching 32 months retention, providing a significant period of pregnancy prevention. Treatments for nuisance bleeding were often not prescribed and when they were, medication regimens varied among providers. An evidence-based protocol for medication management, combined with more routine use of appropriate medications and preventive or long-term therapies, may help improve continuation of ESI.
The Journal of Government Information

Abstract This paper primarily addresses the question as to whether the Journal of Government Information (JGI) can be used as a vehicle to track the historical trends and changes within the government publishing industry over a 25-year period. Secondarily, it seeks to explore if government publishing lags behind or precedes coverage in the popular press on topics it covers. A quantitative analysis of coverage in JGI's Notable Documents issues, the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, and the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature is included along with qualitative findings gathered from the journal's editorial content. A clear picture of the emerging trends in content, format, and dissemination methods can be seen in this historical account but further comparison with the industry would be required to determine how complete a picture it provides. There is evidence to support the contention that JGI represents the coverage of certain topics in a proportional manner. There is also evidence to support that the popular press either leads or is on par with the government publishing industry in some areas.
The Evolving Art and Science of Hospital Epidemiology

The study of hospital-acquired infections is a new discipline in the young science of medicine. Although there have been important recognition and interest for centuries in the fates of patients housed in institutions for medical care [1, 2], it is only in recent decades that the field of nosocomial infection as such has been generally accepted. The important forces operative in the development of modern hospital epidemiology and infection control included the recognition of the need to control clusters of diarrheal diseases in hospitals in the 1940s [3], the widespread emergence of nosocomial infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus in the 1950s [4], the major initiation, in 1970, of the Centers for Disease Control for surveillance and control of disease [5], and subsequent institutional requirements of the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) [6]. From 1970 to 1985, a number of studies have confirmed the 5%-10% attack rate of infections during hospitalization [7, 8], the high, r',25%, attributable mortality for nosocomial infections of the bloodstream [9-12], and the average fiveto 10day added hospital stay directly related to nosocomial infections at various anatomical sites [13-16]. It is clear that even by the most conservative estimates, the consequences of the two to four million hospital-acquired infections occurring in the United States annually represent a leading cause of death and an economic burden of three to ten billion dollars [17, 18]. A renewed interest in the outcome of nosocomial infections has followed the introduction
The Vanishing Testis Syndrome: Indications for Conservative Therapy

AbstractBilateral anorchism is a rare condition. In the past almost all of these patients have undergone surgical exploration. With modern laboratory determinations of serum gonadotropin and testosterone it is now possible to avoid operation in a large number of these cases. A case is presented that illustrates this point and a protocol is established for the treatment of bilateral anorchism, including indications for operation and conservative management.
The use of archival Landsat MSS and ancillary data in a GIS environment to map historical change in an urban riparian habitat

Recent changes in the condition of the riparian habitat of the Tanque Verde Creek in Tucson, Arizona prompted an investigation of the dynamics of the native plant communities, hydrology, and climate in the area. The project was an initial attempt to assess and monitor the changing condition of native vegetation along the Tanque Verde Creek during the period 1983 through 1989, and to discover if mapped changes in vegetation patterns could be correlated with available ground data. Analysis techniques involved the use and evaluation of archival Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) multitemporal satellite data coupled with pertinent hydrologic and meteorologic measurements. The MSS data were used to develop indices of vegetation condition for the years 1983 through 1989. A wide array of multitemporal comparisons were constructed between the vegetation indices and well water levels, temperature, and precipitation. Varying levels of statistical correlation between changes in vegetation indices, water level, and climatic variables were discovered. Multitemporal maps of changing vegetation condition and well water levels reveal a definite decline in both after 1985. In addition, the multitemporal satellite data provide a viable and important historical view of changing vegetation condition within the Tanque Verde riparian area.
MNGO-14INCREASED PERIOPERATIVE MORBIDITY AND POOR SURGICAL OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH ASYMPTOMATIC MENINGIOMAS

INTRODUCTION: Conservative, non-surgical treatment has been argued as the ideal strategy for the management of asymptomatic meningiomas. Nevertheless, a significant number of patients with incidentally discovered and asymptomatic meningiomas continue to undergo operative resections. We sought to analyze the perioperative changes in performance status amongst asymptomatic patients undergoing a meningioma resection. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study on 265 patients who underwent primary meningioma resection at our institution between 2001-2013. The medical records were used to assign Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) scores both preoperatively and postoperatively. Latest preoperative clinic or ED presentations were used to estimate the preoperative KPS. Postoperative KPS was assigned at the first outpatient clinic visit. The preoperative assessment was used to categorize patients into either asymptomatic or symptomatic patient groups based on mode of presentation and preoperative symptomatology. Mean KPS changes were compared via student's t-test and Fisher's exact test was utilized to compare differences between categorical groups. RESULTS: Overall, the mean change in KPS after operative resection was +4.30. At time of operation, 19 patients were asymptomatic and 246 patients had tumor-related symptoms. The symptomatic and asymptomatic patient groups experienced an average change of +5.0 and -5.3 in perioperative KPS respectively. 9.3% of patients in the symptomatic group and 57.9% of the patients in the asymptomatic group suffered from perioperative decrease in KPS scores. The differences in the mean changes in KPS and risk of postoperative deterioration between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients were statistically significant (p = 0.003 and p < 0.0001 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic patients with incidentally discovered meningiomas are at increased risk of short-term perioperative deterioration. These patients may expect a short-term decline in performance status after operative intervention. Further studies are needed to compare the long-term functional outcomes of asymptomatic patients who are operated on versus those managed conservatively.
Racialized Femininity and Masculinity in the Preferences of Online Same-sex Daters:

This study considers how online dating preferences reflect gendered racial inequality among same-sex daters. Research shows that heterosexuals reproduce gendered racial hierarchies through partner ...
2002 Social Networks

A network of animals in interconnected by behavioral interactions. Each animal is a node within the network, and connections may be directly between pairs of animals, or indirect, via one or more intermediaries in the network. Networks help us to understand the flow of information in animal societies.
Why have southern pine beetle outbreaks declined in the southeastern U.S. with the expansion of intensive pine silviculture? A brief review of hypotheses

Abstract The southern pine beetle has shown a dramatic decline in outbreak activity over much of the southeastern United States since the turn of the 21st century compared to previous decades. Concurrently, from the 1950s through the present day, a twenty-fold increase in pine plantation area has occurred across the region while trends in genetic tree improvement and pine silvicultural advances have seen a marked increase in application towards the end of the 20th century. We examine southern pine beetle outbreaks in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic provinces of the southeastern U.S. relative to this increase in pine plantation area and intensive management. While climate and natural enemy hypotheses are discussed, the substantial changes to the management and condition of the southern pine resource in the form of plantations that are genetically improved, younger, faster growing, less overstocked or more fragmented may provide a more robust explanation for regional declines in SPB outbreak activity.
Colorado Tick Fever and Other Arthropod Borne Reoviridae

Among arthropod-borne viral infections, Colorado tick fever is second in incidence in North America only to West Nile fever (1). As with other viruses, evidence of infection by arthropod-borne reoviruses, including many newly identified viruses, as the cause of both human and veterinary disease continues to accumulate. This likely reflects advances in detection and diagnostic methods and perhaps also evolving demographic conditions that facilitate contact between human populations and the insect vectors that transmit these viral infections. The clinical importance of reoviruses will doubtless continue to change in the wake of the emergence of other arthropod borne infections such as Zika and dengue viruses.
Cosmeceuticals for Male Skin

The male cosmeceutical market is still underdeveloped. Although women embrace skin care as a part of general health, this concept has not gained wide male acceptance. Shaving is probably the most beneficial daily grooming event men commonly undertake for skin appearance and may account for the failure of antiaging cosmeceuticals to attract attention in this segment. In addition, there are many physiologic differences between male and female skin, with less of a need for moisturization and photoprotection in men. This article highlights some of the differences between male and female skin along with the unique product attributes required to address these differences.
Rationale and design of the HOME trial: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial of home-based human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling for increasing cervical cancer screening uptake and effectiveness in a U.S. healthcare system

Women who delay or do not attend Papanicolaou (Pap) screening are at increased risk for cervical cancer. Trials in countries with organized screening programs have demonstrated that mailing high-risk (hr) human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling kits to under-screened women increases participation, but U.S. data are lacking. HOME is a pragmatic randomized controlled trial set within a U.S. integrated healthcare delivery system to compare two programmatic approaches for increasing cervical cancer screening uptake and effectiveness in under-screened women (>3.4years since last Pap) aged 30-64years: 1) usual care (annual patient reminders and ad hoc outreach by clinics) and 2) usual care plus mailed hrHPV self-screening kits. Over 2.5years, eligible women were identified through electronic medical record (EMR) data and randomized 1:1 to the intervention or control arm. Women in the intervention arm were mailed kits with pre-paid envelopes to return samples to the central clinical laboratory for hrHPV testing. Results were documented in the EMR to notify women's primary care providers of appropriate follow-up. Primary outcomes are detection and treatment of cervical neoplasia. Secondary outcomes are cervical cancer screening uptake, abnormal screening results, and women's experiences and attitudes towards hrHPV self-sampling and follow-up of hrHPV-positive results (measured through surveys and interviews). The trial was designed to evaluate whether a programmatic strategy incorporating hrHPV self-sampling is effective in promoting adherence to the complete screening process (including follow-up of abnormal screening results and treatment). The objective of this report is to describe the rationale and design of this pragmatic trial.