cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Radiographic Prepatellar Fat Thickness Ratio Correlates With Infection Risk After Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Abstract Background Obesity has been associated with complications after a total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Surgical site infection (SSI) after TKA is one of the feared complications as it increases revision rates, costs, and stress to the patient. There is conflicting evidence in the literature regarding body mass index (BMI) and risk of infection after TKA, and some studies have suggested that site-specific fat distribution may be a better metric for determining risk of postoperative infections. Here, we investigate the correlation of soft tissue distribution about the knee to SSI after TKA. Methods We retrospectively review 572 patients who underwent primary TKA at a single institution from 2006 to 2010. We introduce the prepatellar fat thickness ratio (PFTR) as a radiographic means to quantitatively assess fat distribution about the knee and evaluate this measurement’s ability to assess the risk of developing an SSI after TKA. Results The PFTR was shown to be a better predictor of SSI than BMI in both the univariate (P = .05) and multivariate (P = .01) analyses. Conclusion Although BMI cannot fully account for variations in adipose distribution, the PFTR may account for this variability and may be a helpful tool for assessing a patient’s preoperative risk of SSI after TKA.
Use of Social Media for Teaching Online Courses and Enhancing Business Communication Skills at the University Level: Can This Really Be Done?

This study reviews the literature on the advantages, disadvantages, best practices, communication challenges, and benefits of using social media for teaching online, particularly the enhancement of essential business communication skills. Social media tools for teaching online are varied, plentiful, and easily accessible to teachers and students. Nevertheless, educators cannot assume because social media is an appropriate technology, it will essentially involve learners and enhance student achievement. This study, therefore, will examine the literature that reported positive effects of social media for teaching online, as it relates to learners' achievement and engagement, as well as literature showing a negative relationship or showing no conclusive evidence that there exists any relationship between the two. The findings of the review will reveal there is irrefutable evidence to suggest the use of social media for teaching online has a positive relationship to learner engagement, however, a negative relationship to learner achievement.
Spectrum of Nondystrophic Skeletal Muscle Channelopathies in Children

Abstract Background The nondystrophic skeletal muscle channelopathies are a group of disorders caused by mutations of various voltage-gated ion channel genes, including nondystrophic myotonia and periodic paralysis. Methods We identified patients with a diagnosis of muscle channelopathy from our neuromuscular database in a tertiary care pediatric center from 2005 to 2015. We then performed a retrospective review of their medical records for demographic characteristics, clinical features, investigations, treatment, and follow-up. Results Thirty-three patients were identified. Seventeen had nondystrophic myotonia. Seven of them had chloride channelopathy (four Becker disease and three Thomsen disease). Warm-up phenomenon and muscle hypertrophy were common clinical manifestations in this subgroup. Ten patients had sodium channelopathy (four paramyotonia congenita and six other sodium channel myotonia). Stiffness of the facial muscles was an important presenting symptom, and eyelid myotonia was a common clinical finding in this subgroup. The majority of these patients had electrical myotonia. Mexiletine was effective in controlling the symptoms in patients who had received treatment. Sixteen children had periodic paralysis (four hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, eight hypokalemic periodic paralysis, and four Andersen-Tawil syndrome). Acetazolamide was commonly used to prevent paralytic attacks and was found to be effective. Conclusions Nondystrophic muscle channelopathies present with diverse clinical manifestations (myotonia, muscle hypertrophy, proximal weakness, swallowing difficulties, and periodic paralysis). Cardiac arrhythmias are potentially life threatening in Andersen-Tawil syndrome. Timely identification of these disorders is helpful for effective symptomatic management and genetic counseling.
Axisymmetric Wall Jet Development in Confined Jet Impingement

The flow field surrounding an axisymmetric, confined, impinging jet was investigated with a focus on the early development of the triple-layered wall jet structure. Experiments were conducted using stereo particle image velocimetry at three different confinement gap heights (2, 4, and 8 jet diameters) across Reynolds numbers ranging from 1000 to 9000. The rotating flow structures within the confinement region and their interaction with the surrounding flow were dependent on the confinement gap height and Reynolds number. The recirculation core shifted downstream as the Reynolds number increased. For the smallest confinement gap height investigated, the strong recirculation caused a disruption of the wall jet development. The radial position of the recirculation core observed at this small gap height was found to coincide with the location where the maximum wall jet velocity had decayed to 15% of the impinging jet exit velocity. After this point, the self-similarity hypothesis failed to predict the evoluti...
Lower extremity mycotic aneurysm in a patient with Listeria monocytogenes - associated prosthetic valve endocarditis.

Introduction. Listeria monocytogenes is a rare etiology of infectious endocarditis with only 30 cases of prosthetic valve and about twice as many native valve infections described in the literature. We describe an unusual presentation of an endovascular embolic phenomenon with associated lower extremity mycotic aneurysm due to Listeria monocytogenes prosthetic aortic valve and aortic endograft infection. Case presentation. This is a case of an elderly gentleman with prior history of bioprosthetic aortic valve placement and aortic arch repair who was admitted with several weeks of constitutional symptoms and left lower leg pain. Diagnostic work-up was consistent with thrombosed popliteal artery aneurysm. Blood cultures were positive for Listeria monocytogenes. A transesophageal echocardiogram revealed vegetation on the bioprosthetic valve. The patient underwent arterial bypass and ligation of the aneurysm as well as redoing of his aortic valve and aortic graft replacement. Histopathology of the aortic valve was remarkable for acute inflammation and Gram-positive coccobacilli and bacilli occupying intracellular spaces. The results of broad-range bacterial 16S rRNA PCR and sequence analysis of unfixed aortic valve tissue confirmed detection of L. monocytogenes. Conclusion. Infective endocarditis attributable to species of the genus Listeriais a rare entity. As such, there are no specific guidelines for treatment of Listeria monocytogenesendocarditis. However, combination of penicillin or ampicillin with gentamicin is the most acceptable approach described in the literature. Our patient was treated with ampicillin and gentamicin for 6 weeks followed by life-long amoxicillin suppression therapy. The patient remained asymptomatic at a 6 months follow up visit.
Effects of Small-Scale Armoring and Residential Development on the Salt Marsh-Upland Ecotone

Small-scale armoring placed near the marsh-upland interface to protect single-family homes is widespread but understudied. Using a nested, spatially blocked sampling design on the coast of Georgia, USA, we compared the biota and environmental characteristics of 60 marshes adjacent to either a bulkhead, a residential backyard with no armoring, or an intact forest. We found that marshes adjacent to bulkheads were at lower tidal elevations and had features typical of lower elevation marsh habitats: high coverage of the marsh grass Spartina alterniflora, high density of crab burrows, and muddy sediments. Marshes adjacent to unarmored residential sites had higher soil water content and lower porewater salinities than the armored or forested sites, suggesting that there may be increased freshwater input to the marsh at these sites. Deposition of Spartina wrack on the marsh-upland ecotone was negatively related to elevation at armored sites and positively related at unarmored residential and forested sites. Armored and unarmored residential sites had reduced densities of the high marsh crab Armases cinereum, a species that moves readily across the ecotone at forested sites, using both upland and high marsh habitats. Distance from the upland to the nearest creek was longest at forested sites. The effects observed here were subtle, perhaps because of the small-scale, scattered nature of development. Continued installation of bulkheads in the southeast could lead to greater impacts such as those reported in more densely armored areas like the northeastern USA. Moreover, bulkheads provide a barrier to inland marsh migration in the face of sea level rise. Retaining some forest vegetation at the marsh-upland interface and discouraging armoring except in cases of demonstrated need could minimize these impacts.
Review of and Updates on Hypertension in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent sleep disorder as is hypertension (HTN) in the 21st century with the rising incidence of obesity. Numerous studies have shown a strong association of OSA with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. There is overwhelming evidence supporting the relationship between OSA and hypertension (HTN). The pathophysiology of HTN in OSA is complex and dependent on various factors such as sympathetic tone, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, endothelial dysfunction, and altered baroreceptor reflexes. The treatment of OSA is multifactorial ranging from CPAP to oral appliances to lifestyle modifications to antihypertensive drugs. OSA and HTN both need prompt diagnosis and treatment to help address the growing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality due to these two entities.
Prenatal maternal mood patterns predict child temperament and adolescent mental health.

Abstract Background This study quantifies the dynamics of maternal mood focusing on unpredictability, and to assess if greater unpredictability of prenatal maternal mood predicts child temperament and internalizing symptoms through early adolescence. Methods The association between prenatal mood predictability and child internalizing symptoms were assessed in two longitudinal cohorts (N's = 227 and 180). Maternal mood was assessed repeatedly during pregnancy as early as 15 weeks’ gestation. Predictability of maternal mood was calculated by applying Shannon's entropy to the distribution of responses on mood questionnaires. Maternal reports of child negative affectivity (a predictor of later internalizing) were collected at 6, 12, 24 months and 7 years of age. Child self-reports of anxiety symptoms were collected at 10 years and reports of depression symptoms at 13 years. Results Fetal exposure to more elevated maternal mood entropy predicted higher levels of child negative affectivity at 12 months (r = .36; p Conclusions Our findings provide strong support for the notion that patterns of maternal mood influence the developing brain. More specifically, they suggest that prenatal maternal mood predictability may be a critical predictor of developmental mental health trajectories and should be considered when assessing early life influences on lifespan mental health.
The Necessity of Physical Activity in Kinesiology Degree Programs

The term “the practice of physical activity” was recently introduced as one of the four elements of the American Kinesiology Association undergraduate core curriculum. The purpose of this article is to articulate the nature of the term by offering a philosophical justification (other than health) for including physical activity coursework and/or experiences in kinesiology degree programs, specifying a definition of physical activity, and examining what it means to “practice” physical activity. Using three major themes from the relevant literature and a clarified meaning of the term, it is concluded that to practice physical activity means to participate in dance, exercise, games, play or sport regularly with the intent to maintain or improve fitness or skill proficiency. Two approaches — (1) physical activity for fitness and health and (2) physical activity for skillful performance — are presented to guide the curriculum design process in kinesiology.
Simultaneous determination of tryptophan and its 31 catabolites in mouse tissues by polarity switching UHPLC-SRM-MS.

Abstract Tryptophan (TRP) and its catabolites have attracted a lot of attention because of their clinical significance to human health. Recently, microbiome-gut-brain axis was found to have links to many diseases based on the imbalance of TRP catabolism. By using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, we present a rapid, robust and comprehensive method to determine 31 TRP catabolites covering three major pathways - kynurenic, serotonergic and bacterial degradation - within 5 min. Polarity switching was employed to analyze catabolites in both ionization modes simultaneously for greatly improved analytical throughput. The intra-day and inter-day precision were 0.5–15.8% and 1.5–16.7%, respectively. Accuracy was between 75.8 and 126.9%. The developed method was applied to study the tissue level of TRP catabolites in the liver, ileum, ileal contents, brain and plasma samples from 8 mice, and clear differences in the distribution of TRP catabolites were observed in different tissues. Ratios of key catabolites to TRP were used to evaluate the activities of specific enzyme and pathway in respective tissues. This method has potential in high throughput analysis of TRP catabolites in biological matrices, which can facilitate understanding the influence of TRP catabolites on microbiome-gut-brain axis and on human health.
External cost of leverage adjustment: Evidence from defined benefit pension plans

Abstract This paper investigates the influence of external cost shock on the speed of adjustment (SOA) toward target capital structure. To look at the impact of an exogenous shock on the speed of adjustment, we employ mandatory contributions (MCs) of defined benefit (DB) pension plans as a measure of the external shock, and find a significant impact of MCs on SOA toward target leverage. This impact of MCs on SOA is negative and more significant for over-levered firms, whereas it is positive but less significant for under-levered firms. This result demonstrates that firms, especially over-levered firms, adjust to their target leverage actively rather than passively. Additionally, we show that this impact of MCs on SOA is heterogeneously determined for the firms with different levels of leverage volatility and managerial entrenchment. Our results are robust when using system GMM estimation to reduce the bias in estimation.
A role for proteolytic regulation of δ-catenin in remodeling a subpopulation of dendritic spines in the rodent brain.

Neural wiring and activity are essential for proper brain function and behavioral outputs and rely on mechanisms that guide the formation, elimination, and remodeling of synapses. During development, it is therefore vital that synaptic densities and architecture are tightly regulated to allow for appropriate neural circuit formation and function. δ-Catenin, a component of the cadherin–catenin cell adhesion complex, has been demonstrated to be a critical regulator of synaptic density and function in the developing central neurons. In this study, we identified forms of δ-catenin that include only the N-terminal (DcatNT) or the C-terminal (DcatCT) regions. We found that these δ-catenin forms are differentially expressed in different regions of the male mouse brain. Our results also indicated that in rat primary cortical culture, these forms are generated in an activity-dependent manner by Ca2+-dependent and calpain-mediated cleavage of δ-catenin or in an activity-independent but lysosome-dependent manner. Functionally, loss of the domain containing the calpain-cleavage sites allowing for generation of DcatCT and DcatNT perturbed the density of a subpopulation of dendritic protrusions in rat hippocampal neurons. This subpopulation likely included protrusions that are either in transition toward becoming mature mushroom spines or in the process of being eliminated. By influencing this subpopulation of spines, proteolytic processing of δ-catenin can likely regulate the balance between mature and immature dendritic protrusions in coordination with neural activity. We conclude that by undergoing cleavage, δ-catenin differentially regulates the densities of subpopulations of dendritic spines and contributes to proper neural circuit wiring in the developing brain.
African American Gender Roles: A Content Analysis of Empirical Research From 1981 to 2017:

The purpose of this study was to explore how gender roles research has been conducted among African Americans in the psychological literature. Accordingly, we completed a content analysis of empiri...
Eastern Equine Encephalitis and YouTube videos: A content analysis

Abstract Background Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV) infections among humans are rare, but can result in severe consequences. YouTube can serve as a platform for EEEV health education. This study aims to assess the characteristics of the top EEEV-related YouTube videos, and whether their informational contents vary by uploading source. Methods On August 15, 2016, we searched YouTube.com for the top 100 videos by number of views featuring "Eastern Equine Encephalitis". We manually coded and statistically analyzed the contents, source of uploads and meta-data of 100 most viewed EEEV-related YouTube videos. Univariate logistic regression was applied to identify if videos of different sources (consumer, professional, and news) differed in their contents. Results Excluding one video, 21 Consumer, 9 Professional, and 69 News videos were analyzed (N = 99). Compared with news-videos, consumer-videos are less likely to mention the geography of EEEV transmission (OR = 0.21, p Conclusions Professional videos provided the most comprehensive information. However, few videos from professionals made it to the top 100 list. The untapped potential of YouTube as a unique platform to disseminate EEEV information deserves the attention of public health professionals.
Family environment, children's acculturation and mothers' dietary intake and behaviors among Latinas: An autoregressive cross-lagged study

Abstract Background Many Latinos in the U.S. do not meet dietary recommendations for healthy eating. Family systems theory posits that the family environment affects family members' dietary behaviors. Moreover, research suggests that children's acculturation is associated with Latina mothers' dietary intake and behaviors. Purpose This longitudinal study examined the effect of the family environment on Latina mothers’ dietary intake and behaviors. Further, we examined whether these effects differed between mothers of assimilated versus bicultural children. Methods Secondary data were collected at three time points (baseline, and four and 10 months' post-baseline) from 162 culturally traditional and bicultural Latina mothers residing in Imperial County, California, U.S. Participants were enrolled in the delayed treatment group of a randomized controlled trial. Mothers' daily fruit, vegetable, and sugary beverages intake, percent of calories from fat, weekly away-from-home eating, and percent of weekly grocery dollars spent on fruits and vegetables were examined. The family environment was measured by family expressiveness and family interactions around food. Separate autoregressive cross-lagged models examined the effects of the family environment on dietary outcomes, adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Interactions between the family environment and children's acculturation were also tested. Results Less positive family interactions around food at baseline predicted more frequent away-from-home eating four months later among mothers of assimilated children. More family expressiveness at four months predicted more grocery dollars spent on fruits and vegetables at ten months among mothers of bicultural children. Conclusions Findings suggest the importance of a positive family environment on socially-bound dietary behaviors (e.g., away-from-home eating) exhibited by the mother. Family interventions aimed at improving dietary intake and associated behaviors should promote a positive family environment around food and consider the moderating role of children's acculturation.
Race, Remembering, and Jim Crow’s Teachers . By Hilton Kelly

In Race, Remembering, and Jim Crow’s Teachers, sociologist Hilton Kelly presents an ethnohistorical account of the perspectives of black teachers from Jim Crow era North Carolina public schools. Th...
Evaluation of Formalin Fixation for Tissue Biopsies Using Shear Wave Laser Speckle Imaging System

Chemical fixation is the slowest and often the most uncontrolled step in the multi-step process of preparing tissue for histopathology. In order to reduce the time from taking a core needle biopsy to making a diagnosis, a new approach is proposed that optically monitors the common formalin fixation process. A low-cost and highly-sensitive laser speckle imaging technique is developed to measure shear wave velocity in a biospecimen as small as 0.5 mm in thickness submerged in millifluidic channels. Shear wave velocity, which is the indicator of tissue mechanical property and induced by piezoelectric-actuation, was monitored using gelatin phantom and chicken breast during fixation, as well as post-fixed liver and colon tissues from human. Fixation levels in terms of shear wave velocity increased by approximately 271.0% and 130.8% in gelatin phantom and chicken breast, respectively, before reaching the plateaus at 10.91 m/s and 7.88 m/s. Within these small specimens, the plateaus levels and times varied with location of measurement, and between gelatin and chicken breast. This optical-based approach demonstrates the feasibility of fine-tuning preanalytical variables, such as fixation time, for a rapid and accurate histopathological evaluation; provides a quality metric during the tissue preparation protocol performed in most pathology labs; and introduces the millifluidic chamber that can be engineered to be a future disposable device that automates biopsy processing and imaging.
The influence of spatial patterning on modeling PM2.5 constituents in Eastern Massachusetts

Geostatistical exposure methods for air pollution have inherent uncertainties, resulting in varying levels of exposure misclassification. In this study, we propose that areas representing clusters of PM2.5 elements are potential predictor variables to be included in spatial models for particle composition. The inclusion of these clusters may minimize the exposure misclassification. We evaluated the influence of spatial patterning on modeling of 10 components of ambient PM2.5, which included Al, Cu, Fe, K, Ni, Pb, S, Ti, V, and Zn. This study was performed in three stages. First, we applied a hybrid approach (combination of Empirical Bayesian Kriging and land use regression) to estimate spatial variability for each one of the 10 components of ambient PM2.5. In this stage, we accounted for numerous predictors representing land use, transportation, demographic, and geographical characteristics. In the second stage, we applied the same hybrid approach adding clusters of each PM2.5 component to the set of predictor variables. The clusters here were estimated by a multivariate clustering approach based on k means. Finally, in the last stage, we compared the estimates obtained from the model without clusters (first stage) and the model with clusters (second stage). Overall, our findings suggest significant influence of spatial clusters on modeling some PM2.5 components. We observed that the clusters may affect the error of the prediction values and especially the proportion of explained variance for most of the PM2.5 constituents evaluated in this study. The model with cluster presented a better performance for all PM2.5 components, except for Pb, which the R2 value decreased 8.51% when we included the clusters in the analysis; and for V, which the R2 value did not change with the clusters. Models for Cu and Fe explained the highest concentration variance. The R2 value for the model without cluster was 0.55 for both pollutants. When we accounted for clusters, R2 value increased 13 and 7% for Cu (R2 = 0.62) and Fe (R2 = 0.59), respectively. The models for K and S presented the lowest performance for both models with and without cluster (although the model with cluster improved substantially the R2 values). Better knowledge of the influence of spatial patterns on air pollution modeling should be of interest to policy makers to devise future strategies to improve human exposure assessment to air particulates while controlling for spatial patterns of ambient PM2.5 elemental concentration.
UaL Decomposition, an Alternative to the LU Factorization of MNA Matrices

This brief presents an alternative to the well know LU factorization technique dominantly used in modified nodal analysis (MNA) circuit solutions. The method, called upper and lower decomposition, is proven to be computationally efficient as well as less prone to round off errors compared to the traditional LU factorization. The method is developed for three cases of circuit analysis. First, for situations where the excitation sources are all current sources, as traditionally is the case for MNA representation. In the second and third cases we allow input voltage sources in the circuit, making it the most general case of mixed sources. It is shown that a combined sources representation can generalize all three cases into one category. In terms of accuracy, because of the capability of the method to find the common factors (pivots) and remove them before hand, all divisions with remainders are categorically eliminated. This removes possible round off errors, adding to the precision of the technique, particularly for symbolic analysis.
Case Studies of Global Governance for Health Research

This chapter is specified to a number of case studies to portray the challenges of Global Health Governance and Global Governance for Health Research in the real-world through historical cases. The fourth chapter begins with a broader scope. In the first case, Zika pandemic, it shows how Global Health Governance uses previous experiences to deal with newly-emerged pandemics. Research integrity in Iran discusses how local practices on research integrity are important at the global scale and should be addressed by Global Governance for Health Research. HIV/AIDS Research in LMICs describes a paradigm case of exploitation in research that contributed to a significant shift in the history of clinical research. Sending Biological Specimens Abroad discusses bio-piracy as a topic within Global Governance for Health Research. Also, it shows how international collaborations may be seen by the weaker sides. Research on Pre-Implantation Human Embryo portrays how different religious and seculars perspectives collectively take part in shaping the ethical grounds for Global Governance for Health Research. The final case study in this chapter, Traditional Medicines, Science-Pseudoscience Debate, and Biopiracy, addresses the globalized aspects of science-pseudoscience debate and Biopiracy by discussing traditional medicines as a paradigm example. By exploring such spectrum of real-world cases, the fourth chapter portrays the existing need of Global Health Governance and Global Governance for Health Research to a comprehensive ethical framework. It also shows how particular challenges or ethical principles are more relevant to each case.
The impact of randomized trial results and altered regulatory policies on ESA use, transfusions, and thrombosis: A longitudinal analysis over a 3-year period of resource utilization data from a large comprehensive oncology program

6611 Background: Recent randomized trials and meta-analyses demonstrated unexpected findings with ESA use with chemotherapy. Results revealed an overall increase in thrombosis rates with the use of...
Pediatricians' Approach to Obesity Prevention Counseling with Their Patients

Objective: The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a primary pediatric obesity prevention policy statement. Its focus is directed toward the health supervision visit. We used qualitative research to determine physicians’ approaches toward obesity prevention within this visit. Design: Twenty-four University of Wisconsin pediatricians participated in a qualitative study consisting of data transcribed from audio-taped interviews. Openended questions investigated specific health supervision practices pertaining to obesity prevention, and major themes were identified. Results: The pediatrician’s role in obesity prevention is education and detection. Pediatricians provide information on proper nutrition, physical activity, media time, and parenting skills. These pediatricians routinely discuss (1) junk food, (2) balanced diets, (3) nutritional requirements, and (4) parental techniques to promote healthy approaches to food. They discuss methods to increase physical activity and routinely recommend limitations to media time. However, only a third use body mass index (BMI) charts during their health supervision appointments and many are uncertain how to tailor guidance to children with obesity risk factors. Conclusions: Pediatricians follow many of the obesity prevention guidelines. Further evidence is needed to understand the effectiveness of their education and detection methods. Potential areas for improvement include use of BMI charts and counseling with specific obesity prevention in mind.
Modeling the effects of density dependent emigration, weak Allee effects, and matrix hostility on patch-level population persistence

The relationship between conspecific density and the probability of emigrating from a patch can play an essential role in determining the population-dynamic consequences of an Allee effect. In this paper, we model a population that inside a patch is diffusing and growing according to a weak Allee effect per-capita growth rate, but the emigration probability is dependent on conspecific density. The habitat patch is one-dimensional and is surrounded by a tuneable hostile matrix. We consider five different forms of density dependent emigration (DDE) that have been noted in previous empirical studies. Our models predict that at the patch-level, DDE forms that have a positive slope will counteract Allee effects, whereas, DDE forms with a negative slope will enhance them. Also, DDE can have profound effects on the dynamics of a population, including producing very complicated population dynamics with multiple steady states whose density profile can be either symmetric or asymmetric about the center of the patch. Our results are obtained mathematically through the method of subsuper solutions, time map analysis, and numerical computations using Wolfram Mathematica.
Influence of Seasonality on Activity Patterns, Feeding Behavior, Ranging, and Grouping Patterns in Taï Chimpanzees

Lowland rain forest chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) of the Tai National Park, Ivory Coast, responded to the minor dry season (July and August) of 1988 in a predictable manner by spending more time feeding, feeding more frequently on lower quality food items, reducing day range and party size, and spending more time solitarily and less time in mixed groups than during the rainy season. These behaviors are consistent with a response to scarce resources. My findings do not support Boesch's (1991, 1996) hypothesis of bisexually bonded chimpanzees. Females spent 45% of time alone and associated with males in mixed parties only 18% of their time. This major discrepancy in our results probably stems from differences in the time of year when our studies were conducted, the year in which my study was conducted (potentially scarcer resources than on average), and methodological differences: focal animal sampling of males and females equally. Although Boesch (1991, 1996) and Steiner (1996) have demonstrated that Tai parties are usually larger and more mixed, Tai chimpanzee social structure—party size and composition—during this study closely resembles that found at other study sites.
Enhanced nonlinear instabilities in photonic circuits with exceptional point degeneracies

We propose a conceptual design of optical power limiters with abrupt limiting action and enhanced power-handling capabilities that is based on exceptional point degeneracies (EPDs). The photonic circuit consists of two coupled cavities with differential Q factors. One of the cavities includes a Kerr-like nonlinear material. The underlying mechanism that triggers an abrupt transmittance suppression relies on the interplay between a nonlinear instability and an abrupt destruction of EPDs due to a resonance detuning occurring when the incident power exceeds a critical value. Our proposal opens up possibilities for the use of EPDs in optical power switching, Q switching, routing, and so on.
Moving Toward Synthesis

This chapter explores the history of the demand for a synthesis of knowledge, gradual movement in that direction, and some of the challenges encountered along the way. Recounting important advancements in the natural sciences—namely, how the shift in focus from entities to organizing relations enabled them to finally reconcile life and matter—this chapter reveals an important precedent for success. Applying this basic principle, as well as lessons learned from failed attempts to bring the social sciences into the fold, suggests a way forward for integrating the seemingly irreconcilable social and natural sciences.
MMP13 Expression Is Increased Following Mutant α-Synuclein Exposure and Promotes Inflammatory Responses in Microglia

α-Synuclein is a 140-amino acid protein that readily misfolds and is associated with the Lewy body pathology found in sporadic and genetic forms of Parkinson's disease. We and others have shown that wild-type α-synuclein is a damage-associated molecular pattern that directly elicits a proinflammatory response in microglia through toll-like receptor activation. Here we investigated the direct effect of oligomeric mutant α-synuclein (A53T) on microglia morphology and activation. We found that misfolded A53T increased quantitative measures of amoeboid cell morphology, NFκB nuclear translocation and the expression of prototypical proinflammatory molecules. We also demonstrated that A53T increased expression of MMP13, a matrix metalloproteinase that remodels the extracellular matrix. To better understand the role of MMP13 in synucleinopathies, we further characterized the role of MMP13 in microglial signaling. We showed exposure of microglia to MMP13 induced a change in morphology and promoted the release of TNFα and MMP9. Notably, IL1β was not released indicating that the pathway involved in MMP13 activation of microglia may be different than the A53T pathway. Lastly, MMP13 increased the expression of CD68 suggesting that the lysosomal pathway might be altered by this MMP. Taken together this study shows that mutant α-synuclein directly induces a proinflammatory phenotype in microglia, which includes the expression of MMP13. In turn, MMP13 directly alters microglia supporting the need for multi-target therapies to treat Parkinson's disease patients.
Jessica Nakamura. Transgenerational Remembrance: Performance and the Asia-Pacific War in Contemporary Japan.

Transgenerational Remembrance documents post-1989 performances, video installations, and other artistic practices about Japan’s role in the Asia-Pacific War. The book uses Noh theatre as a model in...
Abstract SP020: Beyond Hormones: Newer Pharmacologic Approaches

It is now possible to prevent many breast cancers inhigh-risk women using anti-estrogen hormonal drugs. Several Phase III breast cancer preventiontrials demonstrated that hormonal drugs such as the “selective estrogenreceptor modulators” tamoxifen and raloxifene, and aromatase inhibitors preventthe development of 50% of ER-positive breast cancers in women. However, mostwomen at high risk of breast cancer do not use these cancer preventive drugsdue to concerns about their side effects. To overcome this problem, recent studies havefocused on testing novel approaches for the prevention of breast cancer. Results of preclinical and clinical studiestesting targeted drugs and vaccines for breast cancer prevention show that itis possible to prevent breast cancer with reduced toxicity. Studies seeking to prevent all forms ofbreast cancer, including ER-positive, HER2-positive, and “triple-negative”breast cancer, will be presented and discussed. Novel approaches testing targeted therapies including signalinginhibitors, combinations of preventive agents, and vaccines, will be presented. Many of these interventions prevent breastcancer in animal models, and are now being tested in human clinicaltrials. Results from studies testing novel drugdelivery approaches will also be discussed. Topical gels containing anti-estrogen drugs are being used to reducebreast cell growth and mammographic density in Phase II clinical trials. This topical approach has the potential toprevent ER-positive breast cancers without the toxicity of oral hormonaldrugs. All of these novel preventive measuresoffer great promise to effectively prevent all forms of breast cancer withminimal toxicity. Citation Format: P Brown. Beyond Hormones: Newer Pharmacologic Approaches [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr SP020.
Comparative Measures of Naivet é

We propose nonparametric definitions of absolute and comparative naivete. These definitions leverage ex-ante choice of menu to identify predictions of future behavior and ex-post choices from menus to identify actual behavior. The definitions’ main advantage is their independence from any assumed functional form for the utility function representing behavior. An individual is sophisticated if she is indifferent between choosing from a menu ex post or committing to the actual choice from that menu ex ante. She is naive if she prefers the flexibility in the menu, reflecting a mistaken belief that she will act more virtuously than she actually will. One individual is more naive than another if she is both more optimistic about her future behavior while actually being less virtuous. In the case of Strotzian preferences, absolute naivete implies that beliefs are a convex combination of virtuous and temptation utility, while comparative naivete implies that the more naive individual’s beliefs puts relativeley more weight on her virtuous utility, while her actual behavior puts more weight on the temptation utility. In different specifications of the underlying Strotzian preferences, such as quasi-hyperbolic discounting, the definitions impose further intuitive restrictions, such as inequalities on believed and actual present-bias factors. We propose suitable definitions for random choice. Finally, we discuss the implications of general naivete for welfare and the design of commitment devices.
High genetic barrier to SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal neutralizing antibody escape.

The number and variability of the neutralizing epitopes targeted by polyclonal antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 convalescent and vaccinated individuals are key determinants of neutralization breadth and the genetic barrier to viral escape1–4. Using HIV-1 pseudotypes and plasma-selection experiments with vesicular stomatitis virus/SARS-CoV-2 chimeras5, we show that multiple neutralizing epitopes, within and outside the receptor binding domain (RBD), are variably targeted by human polyclonal antibodies. Antibody targets coincide with spike sequences that are enriched for diversity in natural SARS-CoV-2 populations. By combining plasma-selected spike substitutions, we generated synthetic ‘polymutant’ spike protein pseudotypes that resisted polyclonal antibody neutralization to a similar degree as circulating variants of concern (VOC). By aggregating VOC-associated and antibody-selected spike substitutions into a single polymutant spike protein, we show that 20 naturally occurring mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike are sufficient to generate pseudotypes with near-complete resistance to the polyclonal neutralizing antibodies generated by convalescents or mRNA vaccine recipients. Strikingly, however, plasma from individuals who had been infected and subsequently received mRNA vaccination, neutralized pseudotypes bearing this highly resistant SARS-CoV-2 polymutant spike, or diverse sarbecovirus spike proteins. Thus, optimally elicited human polyclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 should be resilient to substantial future SARS-CoV-2 variation and may confer protection against potential future sarbecovirus pandemics.
Optimization of mid-IR photothermal imaging for tissue analysis

Photothermal imaging in the mid-infrared enables highly sensitive, label-free microscopy by relying on bond-specific characterization of functional groups within the samples. In a pump-probe configuration, the mid-infrared (mid-IR) pump laser is tuned to characteristic vibrational modes and through localized absorption thermal changes in the refractive index are induced. The shorter wavelength probe scatter can be detected with lock-in technology, utilizing highly sensitive detectors at telecommunication wavelengths. This mitigates the need of complex detector technology as required for traditional infrared spectroscopy/Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The presented photothermal system integrates a high brightness quantum cascade laser that can be tuned continuously over a spectral range of interest with a fiber probe laser. Fiber laser technology features a compact footprint and offers robust performance metrics and reduced sensitivity to environmental perturbations compared to free-space laser configurations. In systematic spectroscopy studies where the probe laser parameters were modified, we demonstrate that the signal-to-noise ratio can be significantly enhanced by utilizing a mode-locked laser compared to a continuous-wave laser. With a raster-scanning approach, photothermal spectroscopy can be extended to hyperspectral label-free mid-infrared imaging to combine spectral content with localized sample details. By tuning the pump laser to the amide-I absorption band around 1650 cm -1 in biological tissue samples, the spectral characteristics can provide insight into the secondary structure of proteins (e.g. amyloid plaques; alpha-helix, beta-sheet). We present the versatility of our mid-IR photothermal system by analyzing histopathological tissue sections of cancerous tissue in a non-contact, non-destructive approach with good sensitivity.
Motion Encoding in Russian and English: Moving Beyond Talmy's Typology

The aim of the present study is twofold. One, we will show that Talmy's (1985, 1991, 2000) motion typology that groups Russian and English together as satellite-framed languages may be justified on linguistic grounds but is inadequate from a psycholinguistic point of view. Two, we will argue that the shortcomings of the typology may account for inconclusive findings in research on language effects in motion cognition. The study examined lexicalization of motion in narratives elicited with the use of a picture book Frog, where are you? (Mayer, 1969) from L1 speakers of Russian ( n = 31), L1 speakers of English ( n = 38), and Russian-English bilinguals ( n = 30). All bilinguals told the story twice, once in each language, and were subdivided into early, childhood, and late bilinguals in order to control for combined effects of the Age of Arrival (AoA) and Length of Residence (LoR) in the L2 context on L2 performance. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the four motion verb corpora (L1 Russian, L1 English, Bilingual L1 Russian, Bilingual L2 English) revealed that L1 Russian speakers segment motion events in a more fine-grained way and encode the manner, directionality, and spatiotemporal contours of motion events significantly more frequently than speakers of L1 English. Bilinguals followed language-specific lexicalization patterns in both languages but late bilinguals displayed reduced lexical diversity in L2 English. These findings were linked to differences in obligatoriness, boundedness, and complexity of encoding of motion components in the two languages. We argue that these dimensions of motion encoding can be productively explored in instructional contexts and in future studies of language and motion cognition that go beyond Talmy's typology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
The Woman Who Discovered Printing – By T. H. Barrett

Technologies pertinent to printing developed early in the Chinese past. The inscriptions in the bronze vessels of the Shang [ca. 1600–ca. 1100 BCE] and Zhou [ca. 1100–256 BCE] dynasties were cast, ...
Relationship between Economic Growth and Debt: An Empirical Analysis for Sub-Saharan Africa

In this study, we examine the connection between economic growth and debt, with the question in mind -“Is debt a burden and bad for economic growth? Employing several sophisticated statistical approaches to investigate the problem and to assess the impact of debt on economic growth in 48 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa from 1995 to 2012, we find evidence of Granger causality between debt and economic growth in 8 out of the 48 sub-Saharan countries during the period of study and validate for the existence of “Debt Laffer Curve.” We also study the relationship between debt and economic growth rate in Granger causality and Dynamic Arellano-Bond panel data estimation frameworks, and find evidence of a negative correlation between the two variables (Debt and GDP) and confirm the findings by testing several versions of the models. Political decision and economic policy are intertwined and need to be examined carefully when implemented for economic growth and our findings lend credence to the politically unpopular austerity measures (constraints on government spending financed by borrowing). There is a limit to the economic growth rate that the government financed expenditure can bring. If the burden of debt is too high then there is a negative impact of debt on the economic growth. Keywords. Economic Growth, Debt, Laffer curve and Investments. JEL. E20, E60, E24.
Factors in the Membrane Filtration of Enteroviruses

The filtration of two species of enteroviruses through membranes of porosity ranging from 50 to 220 mmu was studied. It was shown that extensive or total losses of virus may attend filtration at these porosities, apparently owing to adsorption of the virus to the membrane matrix. This could be minimized by the incorporation of serum into the virus suspension at the time of filtration, or by pretreating the membrane with serum or with a gelatin solution. It was also found that the first few drops of filtrate, even under optimal conditions, were likely to be virus-free, so that the filtration of too small a volume of virus suspension would result in a relatively great loss of titer. The degree to which these factors were critical was found to decrease with increasing pore diameter.