cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Grammatical evolution decision trees for trio designs

The detection of gene-gene and gene-interactions in genetic association studies is an important challenge in human genetics. The detection of such interactive models presents a difficult computational and statistical challenge, especially as advances in genotyping technology have rapidly expanded the number of potential genetic predictors in such studies. The scale of these studies makes exhaustive search approaches infeasible, inspiring the application of evolutionary computation algorithms to perform variable selection and build classification models. Recently, an application of grammatical evolution to evolve decision trees (GEDT) has been introduced for detecting interaction models. Initial results were promising, but the previous applications of GEDT have been limited to case-control studies with unrelated individuals. While this study design is popular in human genetics, other designs with related individuals offer distinct advantages. Specifically, a trio-based design (with genetic data for an affected individual and their parents collected) can be a powerful approach to mapping that is robust to population heterogeneity and other potential confounders. In the current study, we extend the GEDT approach to be able to handle trio data (trioGEDT), and demonstrate its potential in simulated data with gene-gene interactions that underlie disease risk.
Numerical Fitting of Molecular Properties to Hermite Gaussians

A procedure is presented to fit gridded molecular properties to auxiliary basis sets (ABSs) of Hermite Gaussians, analogous to the density fitting (DF) method (Dunlap; et al. J. Chem. Phys. 1979, 71, 4993). In this procedure, the ab initio calculated properties (density, electrostatic potential, and/or electric field) are fitted via a linear- or nonlinear-least-squares procedure to auxiliary basis sets (ABS). The calculated fitting coefficients from the numerical grids are shown to be more robust than analytic density fitting due to the neglect of the core contributions. The fitting coefficients are tested by calculating intermolecular Coulomb and exchange interactions for a set of dimers. It is shown that the numerical instabilities observed in DF are caused by the attempt of the ABS to fit the core contributions. In addition, this new approach allows us to reduce the number of functions required to obtain an accurate fit. This results in decreased computational cost, which is shown by calculating the Co...
Intensity modulation for breast treatment using static multi-leaf collimators.

Purpose: To achieve more uniform dose distributions in breast cancer treatment using multiple sets of multi-leaf collimator (MLC) defined fields. Dose uniformity for many breast cancer patients can be significantly improved by using two or more sets of portals and the “hot” regions of a traditional treatment can be significantly reduced. Methods and Materials: Patients for breast cancer treatment are immobilized with alpha cradle in the traditional arm-up position and have a CT scan in the treatment position. The target volume is delineated on the 5-mm thick CT slices that are obtained from the lower neck to well below the breast target volume. Medial and lateral tangential fields at conventional gantry angles are designed with the aid of digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs). The MLC, without collimator rotation, is used to shape the field to spare as much lung as possible. The wedges and relative weights of the beams are optimized to provide the best dose uniformity. For the patients with large dose inhomogeneity, a second set of fields is designed. The weight of the original set of fields is reduced (usually to ∼90%) so that the “original hot” regions receive the prescription dose; the second set of fields delivers a supplemental dose to the “cold” region, typically ∼10% of the total dose. The second set of fields has the same beam parameters but “treat” only the part of breast tissue that is “cool.” Presently, the design of the reduced field is an iterative process. The process can be extended to more than two sets of portals to obtain the desired dose uniformity. Results: With 3D planning and multiple MLC fields, dose uniformity in the treatment of breast patients was improved from 7%–22% to ∼7%–15%. The volume receiving these high doses decreased significantly and shifted from the lung to the target. By keeping the gantry angles and wedges the same for the multiple fields, treatments can be delivered quickly and reliably. The internal mammary nodes (IM) can also be treated without including significant amount of lung or heart in the field. Conclusion: Dose uniformity can be significantly improved by using this intensity modulation technique to treat certain breast patients. With these static MLC fields creating the intensity modulation, the dose uniformity to the breast can be significantly improved and the hot region in lung reduced. There is no increase in setup complexity. The small increase in treatment time is insignificant.
Effects of Price and User-Generated Content on Consumers’ Prepurchase Evaluations of Variably Priced Services:

The role of price in prepurchase evaluations for variably priced services has not been widely examined. Increased consumer awareness of variable pricing practices, coupled with growing availability...
Micro-total analysis system for virus detection: microfluidic pre-concentration coupled to liposome-based detection

An integrated microfluidic biosensor is presented that combines sample pre-concentration and liposome-based signal amplification for the detection of enteric viruses present in environmental water samples. This microfluidic approach overcomes the challenges of long assay times of cell culture-based methods and the need to extensively process water samples to eliminate inhibitors for PCR-based methods. Here, viruses are detected using an immunoassay sandwich approach with the reporting antibodies tagged to liposomes. Described is the development of the integrated device for the detection of environmentally relevant viruses using feline calicivirus (FCV) as a model organism for human norovirus. In situ fabricated nanoporous membranes in glass microchannels were used in conjunction with electric fields to achieve pre-concentration of virus-liposome complexes and therefore enhance the antibody-virus binding efficiency. The concentrated complexes were eluted to a detection region downstream where captured liposomes were lysed to release fluorescent dye molecules that were then quantified using image processing. This system was compared to an optimized electrochemical liposome-based microfluidic biosensor without pre-concentration. The limit of detection of FCV of the integrated device was at 1.6 × 10(5) PFU/mL, an order of magnitude lower than that obtained using the microfluidic biosensor without pre-concentration. This significant improvement is a key step toward the goal of using this integrated device as an early screening system for viruses in environmental water samples.
Flow-dependent entrapment of large bioparticles in porous process media.

The need for purification of biomolecules extends to larger bioparticles as well. For example, virus purification is required for production of many vaccines and gene delivery vectors, and understanding virus removal in porous media is also important in downstream processing of therapeutic proteins and in purification of water in soils. A convective entrapment mechanism for retention of large bioparticles is discussed here based on retention of such bioparticles in pore constrictions at high enough flow rates, even under non-binding conditions. A simple equation to predict whether such entrapment is expected to occur in a given system is derived based on a Peclet number that is proportional to the flow rate and to the cube of the bioparticle diameter. To test the theory, adenovirus was spiked onto chromatographic beds. As expected from the theory, under non-interacting conditions a progressively larger amount of virus becomes trapped with increasing flow rate. The entrapment is reversible upon flow rate reduction, which, within the proposed model, is based on the possibility of diffusive escape from pore constrictions. This mechanism can be exploited for virus purification or removal, and the theory is also consistent with the anecdotal evidence that monoliths and membranes are more difficult to clean than conventional chromatographic beds, especially at high flow rates.
Estimating annual bole biomass production using uncertainty analysis

Two common sampling methodologies coupled with a simple statistical model were evaluated to determine the accuracy and precision of annual bole biomass production (BBP) and inter-annual variability estimates using this type of approach. We performed an uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo methods in conjunction with radial growth core data from trees in three Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) dominated sites (young, mature, and old-growth) in the western Cascades of Oregon. A model based on the mean and standard deviation of annual radial growth from sampled trees was used with and without stratification by tree size to predict radial growth for non-sampled trees. Sample sizes of 64–128 trees per stand were required to achieve accuracy and precision within � 10%. Without stratification the model underestimated annual BBP (Mg ha � 1 year � 1 ) in all three age classes by up to 28%, and inter-annual variability by as much as 26%. Applying stratification increased accuracy of estimates at least twofold, and precision of estimates improved by 3–10%, resulting in decreased sample size requirements. The coefficient of variation of error of estimates was half that of inter-annual variability over the study period. Thus, this approach can be used to examine patterns of inter-annual variability of BBP in response to changing climate and land use patterns. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
An energy-efficient 3D CMP design with fine-grained voltage scaling

In this paper, we propose an energy-efficient 3D-stacked CMP design by both temporally and spatially finegrained tuning of processor cores and caches. In particular, temporally fine-grained DVFS is employed by each core and L2 cache to reduce the dynamic energy consumption, while spatially fine-grained DVS is applied to the cache hierarchy for the leakage energy reduction. Our tuning technique is implemented by integrating an array of on-chip voltage regulators into the original processor. Experimental results show that the proposed design can provide an energy-efficient, direct, and adaptive control to the system, leading to 20% dynamic and 89% leakage energy reductions, and an average of 34% total energy saving compared to the baseline design.
Protein translation and folding are coupled by an endoplasmic-reticulum-resident kinase

Protein synthesis and the folding of the newly synthesized proteins into the correct three-dimensional structure are coupled in cellular compartments of the exocytosis pathway by a process that modulates the phosphorylation level of eukaryotic initiation factor-2alpha (eIF2alpha) in response to a stress signal from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Activation of this process leads to reduced rates of initiation of protein translation during ER stress. Here we describe the cloning of perk, a gene encoding a type I transmembrane ER-resident protein. PERK has a lumenal domain that is similar to the ER-stress-sensing lumenal domain of the ER-resident kinase Ire1, and a cytoplasmic portion that contains a protein-kinase domain most similar to that of the known eIF2alpha kinases, PKR and HRI. ER stress increases PERK's protein-kinase activity and PERK phosphorylates eIF2alpha on serine residue 51, inhibiting translation of messenger RNA into protein. These properties implicate PERK in a signalling pathway that attenuates protein translation in response to ER stress.
Ovarian Cancer G Protein–Coupled Receptor 1, a New Metastasis Suppressor Gene in Prostate Cancer

BACKGROUND Metastasis is a process by which tumors spread from primary organs to other sites in the body and is the major cause of death for cancer patients. The ovarian cancer G protein-coupled receptor 1 (OGR1) gene has been shown to be expressed at lower levels in metastatic compared with primary prostate cancer tissues. METHODS We used an orthotopic mouse metastasis model, in which we injected PC3 metastatic human prostate cancer cells stably transfected with empty vector (vector-PC3) or OGR1-expressing vector (OGR1-PC3) into the prostate lobes of athymic or NOD/SCID mice (n = 3-8 mice per group). Migration of PC3 cells transiently transfected with vector control or with OGR1- or GPR4 (a G protein-coupled receptor with the highest homology to OGR1)-expressing vectors was measured in vitro by Boyden chamber assays. G protein alpha-inhibitory subunit 1 (G alpha(i1)) expression after treatment with pertussis toxin (PTX) was measured using immunoblotting analysis. The inhibitory factor present in the conditioned medium was extracted using organic solvents and analyzed by mass spectrometry. RESULTS In vivo, all 26 mice carrying tumors that were derived from vector-PC3 cells developed prostate cancer metastases (mean = 100%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 83.97% to 100%) but few (4 of 32) mice carrying tumors derived from OGR1-expressing PC3 cells (mean = 12.50%, 95% CI = 4.08% to 29.93%) developed metastases. However, exogenous OGR1 overexpression had no effect on primary prostate tumor growth in vivo. In vitro, expression of OGR1, but not GPR4, inhibited cell migration (mean percentage of cells migrated, 30.2% versus 100%, difference = 69.8%, 95% CI = 63.0% to 75.9%; P<.001) via increased expression of G alpha(i1) and the secretion of a chloroform/methanol-extractable heat-insensitive factor into the conditioned medium through a PTX-sensitive pathway. CONCLUSION OGR1 is a novel metastasis suppressor gene for prostate cancer. OGR1's constitutive activity via G alpha(i) contributes to its inhibitory effect on cell migration in vitro.
SRY Directly Regulates the Neurotrophin 3 Promoter During Male Sex Determination and Testis Development in Rats

Neurotrophin 3 (Ntf3) is expressed in Sertoli cells and acts as a chemo-attractant for cell migration from the mesonephros into the developing testis, a process critical to the early morphological events of testis cord formation. The male sex-determining gene Sry initiates the process of testicular development. Sox9 is a key regulator of male sex determination and is directly regulated by SRY. Information on other downstream target genes of SRY is limited. The current study demonstrates an interaction of SRY with the Ntf3 promoter both in vitro and in vivo. The Ntf3 promoter in both rat and mouse contains at least one putative SRY binding site in the −0.6 kb promoter region. In a luciferase reporter assay system, both SRY and SOX9 stimulated the Ntf3 promoter in vitro through an interaction with this SRY-binding motif. In an immunoprecipitation-based pull-down assay, recombinant SRY protein bound the Ntf3 promoter fragment containing an intact SRY binding site, whereas the same protein did not interact with the fragment containing a mutated SRY motif. Specific antibodies against SRY were used in a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay of embryonic testis and were found to precipitate the Ntf3 promoter region. The SRY ChIP assay confirmed the direct interaction between SRY and the Ntf3 promoter in vivo during male sex determination. Observations suggest that SRY physically interacts with the Ntf3 promoter during male sex determination to coordinate cell migration in the testis to form testis cords.
Inverse agonist actions of typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs at the human 5-hydroxytryptamine(2C) receptor.

Atypical antipsychotic drugs, which are distinguished from typical antipsychotic drugs by a lower incidence of extra-pyramidal side effects and less propensity to elevate serum prolactin levels (e.g., clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine, ziprasidone), have become the most widely used treatments for schizophrenia, although their precise mechanism of action remains controversial. It has been suggested that this group of atypical antipsychotic drugs is characterized by preferentially high affinities for 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)2A serotonin receptors and relatively low affinities for D2-dopamine receptors. It has recently been proposed that these atypical antipsychotic drugs may also be distinguished from typical antipsychotic drugs (e.g., haloperidol, fluphenazine, chlorpromazine, and so on) by inverse agonist actions at the 5-HT2C-INI RNA edited isoform of the human 5-HT2C receptor transiently expressed in COS-7 cells. We have examined the relationship among 5-HT2C inverse agonist potency, efficacy, and atypical antipsychotic drug status in HEK-293 cells of a large number of typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs using human embryonic kidney (HEK)-293 cells stably transfected with the h5-HT2C-INI receptor. Inverse agonist actions at h5-HT2C-INI receptors were measured for both typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs. Thus, some typical antipsychotic drugs (chlorpromazine, mesoridazine, fluphenazine, and loxapine) were efficient inverse agonists, whereas several clinically effective atypical antipsychotic drugs (remoxapride, quetiapine, sulpiride, melperone, amperozide) were not. Additionally, several drugs without significant antipsychotic actions (M100907, ketanserin, mianserin, ritanserin, and amitriptyline) were potent inverse agonists at the 5-HT2C-INI isoform expressed in HEK-293 cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate that both typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs may exhibit inverse agonist effects at the 5-HT2C-INI isoform of the human 5-HT2C receptor and that no relationship exists between inverse agonist actions and atypicality.
A coupling of nonconforming and mixed finite element methods for Biot’s consolidation model

In particular, this work has been motivated to overcome nonphysical oscillations in the pressure variable, which is known as locking in poroelasticity. The method is based on a coupling of a nonconforming finite element method for the displacement of the solid phase with a standard mixed finite element method for the pressure and velocity of the fluid phase. The discrete Korn’s inequality has been achieved by adding a jump term to the discrete variational formulation. We prove a rigorous proof of a-priori error estimates for both semidiscrete and fully-discrete schemes. Optimal error estimates have been derived. In particular, optimality in the pressure, measured in different norms, has been proved for both cases when the constrained specific storage coefficient c0 is strictly positive and when c0 is nonnegative. Numerical results illustrate the accuracy of the method and also show the effectiveness of the method to overcome the nonphysical pressure oscillations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 000: 000‐000, 2013
The Black Mafia: African-American organized crime in Chicago 1890-1960

The historical role of African-Americans in organized crime in the UnitedStates has been greatly ignored by the academic community. What researchthat does exist argues that black Americans played a minor role in theethnic gambling and vice industries that existed in many American citiesat the beginning of the Twentieth Century. This view is supported by the alien conspiracy theory, which argues that the participation of African-Americansand other minorities in syndicated vice and crime followed the decline oftraditional Italian American organized crime groups. This research arguesthat sophisticated African-American organized crime groups in Chicago existedindependently of Italian American organized crime and that African-Americans eventually played an important role in the activities of the Chicago Outfit,the traditional Italian American organized group in Chicago.
Southern Appalachian streams at risk: Implications for mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, and other aquatic biota

1. The Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT; mayfly, stonefly and caddisfly, respectively) faunas of the southern Appalachian Mountains are rich in species, including many endemic species. The species richness is a result of unique geological, climatological, and hydrological features of the region. 2. Humans have impacted, and are impacting, the stream faunas in several significant ways, primarily through air pollution (with acid precipitation), introduction of exotic forest pests, impoundments (ponds and reservoirs), sedimentation (from road building, development, deforestation, farming), toxic substances (industrial effluent, agricultural and golf course insecticides), and organic enrichment (agricultural and golf course fertilizers, trout farm effluent). 3. Nineteen species of Bphemeroptera, 17 species of Plecoptera and 38 species of Trichoptera are identified as examples that are probably rare and vulnerable to extirpation in the southern Appalachian Mountains. 4. The task of saving the streams and their biotas from further degradation will require thoughtful public discourse and thorough baseline and long-term research efforts.
Climate Change Governance after Bali

It is a long and winding road from Bali to a meaningful climate change regime. The “Bali Roadmap” is singularly indistinct in its details. Because the stakes are extremely high, we are unlikely to see any diplomatic breakthroughs in the negotiations until the very last minute. Consequently, I argue in this piece that the next year or so can be fruitfully used to help build the political support for achieving a genuine breakthrough at that fateful point. Relying on multilateral diplomacy, based on the general model which has been successfully pursued to create international regimes in other substantive domains of global environmental politics, is not likely to be effective for climate change in the short to medium term. I offer some suggestions to improve the prospects for multilateralism through an effort to fortify the foundations for meaningful multilateral diplomacy while we still have time. The issue of climate change now seems armly planted on the international agenda. Yet the political will for meaningful action is not yet apparent. The facts of the matter are now fairly clear. Scientiac consensus is expressed in the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group (WG) I report, which calls anthropogenic climate change “unequivocal.”1 Between the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, the Stern Review, and now the recent award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and the IPCC, it is widely agreed that severe consequences will occur if global concentrations of carbon are allowed to exceed 450–550 ppm by 2050. Keeping emissions below this level will entail 50–85 percent reductions in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 from current levels.2 A standard list of policy responses was also endorsed by the IPCC WG III, many of which hearken back to 1970s efaciency framing of the energy policy
Deployed electronic medical reference.

ABSTRACTDeployed medical professionals often do not have adequate access to medical reference materials. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and perceived benefit of providing reference materials in electronic format to deployed personnel. Prototype e-readers were provided to five physicians deploying to Afghanistan over a 6-month period from September 2009 to March 2010. Selected medical textbooks were converted to electronic format and provided to the physicians via the e-readers. The subjects later completed a questionnaire regarding their experience with the e-readers. Physicians with Internet access were able to reliably download additional content to their e-readers while deployed, although downloading was usually slow. Texts were used for a variety of purposes and could be read in most lighting conditions. The e-readers were easy to navigate, but lacked adequate search functions. The e-readers were adequately durable and were easily transported by the individual. Overall, e...
Principles of Inheritance: Mendel’s Laws and Genetic Models

It is difficult to overstate the impact of Mendel’s research on the history of genetics; indeed, his research in genetics has been credited as one of the great experimental advances in biology (Fisher, 1965). Prior to the publication of his results on experimental hybridization in plants, the concept of inheritance of physical ‘units’ (later called genes) was accepted, and scientists had reported on many hybridization experiments in both animals and plants. Yet no one had set forth principles of inheritance which could be used as a universal theory to explain how traits in offspring can be predicted from traits in the parents. Mendel provided an explicit rule for how the genotypes of the offspring can be predicted from the genotypes of their parents, and he also established models for how genotypes were related to traits.
Variable radii poisson-disk sampling

We introduce three natural and well-dened generalizations of maximal Poisson-disk sampling. The rst is to decouple the disk-free (inhibition) radius from the maximality (coverage) radius. Selecting a smaller inhibition radius than the coverage radius yields samples which mix advantages of Poisson-disk and uniform-random samplings. The second generalization yields hierarchical samplings, by scaling inhibition and coverage radii by an abstract parameter, e.g. time. The third generalization is to allow the radii to vary spatially, according to a formally characterized sizing function. We state bounds on edge lengths and angles in a Delaunay triangulation of the points, dependent on the ratio of inhibition to coverage radii, or the sizing function’s Lipschitz constant. Hierarchical samplings have distributions similar to those created directly.
Evaluating Utility Measurement from Recurrent Marker Processes in the Presence of Competing Terminal Events.

ABSTRACTIn follow-up studies, utility marker measurements are usually collected upon the occurrence of recurrent events until a terminal event such as death takes place. In this article, we define the recurrent marker process to characterize utility accumulation over time. For example, with medical cost and repeated hospitalizations being treated as marker and recurrent events, respectively, the recurrent marker process is the trajectory of cumulative cost, which stops to increase after death. In many applications, competing risks arise as subjects are at risk of more than one mutually exclusive terminal event, such as death from different causes, and modeling the recurrent marker process for each failure type is often of interest. However, censoring creates challenges in the methodological development, because for censored subjects, both failure type and recurrent marker process after censoring are unobserved. To circumvent this problem, we propose a nonparametric framework for the recurrent marker proce...
Shape-based multifeature brain parcellation

We present a novel approach to parcellate – delineate the anatomical feature (folds, gyri, sulci) boundaries – the brain cortex. Our approach is based on extracting the 3D brain cortical surface mesh from magnetic resonance (MR) images, computing the shape measures (area, mean curvature, geodesic, and travel depths) for this mesh, and delineating the anatomical feature boundaries using these measures. We use angle-area preserving mapping of the cortical surface mesh to a simpler topology (disk or rectangle) to aid in the visualization and delineation of these boundaries. Contrary to commonly used generic 2D brain image atlas-based approaches, we use 3D surface mesh data extracted from a given brain MR imaging data and its specific shape measures for the parcellation. Our method does not require any non-linear registration of a given brain dataset to a generic atlas and hence, does away with the structure similarity assumption critical to the atlas-based approaches. We evaluate our approach using Mindboggle manually labeled brain datasets and achieve the following accuracies: 72.4% for gyri, 78.5% for major sulci, and 98.4% for folds. These results warrant further investigation of this approach as an alternative or as an initialization to the atlas-based approaches.
The Sudden Death of Mice Injected Intraorbitally with Minute Quantities of Sesame Oil.

ConclusionIt was concluded that the oculo-cardiac reflex was responsible for the sudden and spectacular death of mice injected intraorbitally with minute quantities (0.02 to 0.05 cc) of sesame oil. Mice of cancer susceptible strains succumbed as readily as mice of cancer resistant strains.
Effects of Proactivity and Expressivity on Collaboration with Interactive Robotic Drawers

In this study, we examined how participants (N=20) interacted and collaborated with a set of robotic drawers to accomplish an assembly task. Using Wizard of Oz techniques, the drawers' behavior varied along two dimensions -- proactivity and expressivity of motions. The results of our study indicate that participants consider an expressive robot to be more involved and interested in the interaction. We also observe that while proactive or expressive robots can dominate the interaction, proactivity may negatively affect the participants' perception of their social status relative to that of the robot's, while expressiveness does not. This shows the importance of utilizing expressive movements when designing socially appropriate robots that collaborate with human users.
Risk Factors for Intracranial Hemorrhage

Risk factors for nontraumatic intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in 85 children identified, 2000-2007, were studied retrospectively at Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH.
Conclusions and Suggestions

The purpose of this work has been the investigation of the covariant Lagrangian and Hamiltonian theory of classical particle mechanics. This mechanics, introduced by Stuckelberg in 1941 and generalized to a many-body context by Horwitz and Piron in 1973, offers the possibility of a description of the relativistic point particle system with mutual long-range interaction. Specifically, the goal of the work was to interpret basic postulates and fundamental notions of the theory, in particular with the intent of testing the theory for self-consistency. Secondly, the goal of the work was to derive predictive results for specific physical systems with the intent of establishing a critical experiment.
FARELF and the Malayan Emergency, 1948–50

The beginning of armed insurrection in Malaya placed an enormous strain on the British Army, which at the time was in the midst of a major reorganization to create Montgomery’s new citizen army. Despite the ‘parlous state’ of the Army, the government and the Chiefs of Staff squeezed it to produce reinforcements not only for Malaya, but begin- ning in April 1949, for Hong Kong as well. By early 1950, the Malayan and Hong Kong contingencies had devoured all the Army’s available combat formations.
Effect of Single or Sequential Hot Water and Lactic Acid Decontamination Treatments on the Survival and Growth of Listeria monocytogenes and Spoilage Microflora during Aerobic Storage of Fresh Beef at 4, 10, and 25°C

The survival and growth of Listeria monocytogenes and spoilage microflora during storage of fresh beef subjected to different decontamination treatments was studied. Fresh beef inoculated with a five-strain mixture of L. monocytogenes (5.18 log CFU/cm2) was left untreated (control) or was immersed (30 s) in hot water (HW; 75°C), 2% lactic acid (LA; 55°C), hot water followed by lactic acid (HW-LA), or lactic acid followed by hot water (LA-HW) and then stored aerobically at 4, 10, and 25°C for 25, 17, and 5 days, respectively. Initial populations of L. monocytogenes were reduced by 0.82 (HW), 1.43 (LA), 2.73 (HW-LA), and 2.68 (LA-HW) log CFU/cm2. During storage, the pathogen grew at higher rates in HW than in control samples at all storage temperatures. Acid decontamination treatments (LA, HW-LA, and LA-HW) resulted in a weaker inhibition of L. monocytogenes (P LA > LA-HW > HW > control at all storage temper...
FDA Approval Summary: Pembrolizumab for the Treatment of Patients with Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma

On December 18, 2015, the FDA granted regular approval to pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.) for treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma based on results of two randomized, open-label, active-controlled clinical trials. In trial PN006, 834 patients with ipilimumab-naive metastatic melanoma were randomized (1:1:1) to pembrolizumab 10 mg/kg i.v. every 2 or 3 weeks until disease progression or ipilimumab 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks for up to four doses. In trial PN002, 540 patients with ipilimumab-refractory metastatic melanoma were randomized (1:1:1) to pembrolizumab 2 or 10 mg/kg i.v. every 3 weeks or to investigator's choice of chemotherapy. In trial PN006, patients randomized to pembrolizumab demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival compared with ipilimumab [every-2-week arm: hazard ratio (HR) = 0.63; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.47-0.83; P < 0.001; every-3-week arm: HR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.52-0.90; P = 0.004]. In both trials, patients receiving pembrolizumab demonstrated statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival. The most common (≥2%) immune-mediated adverse reactions in a pooled safety analysis were hypothyroidism, pneumonitis, and hyperthyroidism. Key considerations for approval were determination of pembrolizumab dose and interpretation of tumor response-based endpoints using RECIST or immune-related RECIST. Clin Cancer Res; 23(19); 5661-5. ©2017 AACR.
Affective dissonance, neoliberal postfeminism and the foreclosure of solidarity:

With the publication of Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, popular media debates about gender equality gained additional fuel. However, the popularisation of feminis...
Motor hyperactivity of the iron-deficient rat - an animal model of restless legs syndrome.

Author(s): Lai, Yuan-Yang; Cheng, Yu-Hsuan; Hsieh, Kung-Chiao; Nguyen, Darian; Chew, Keng-Tee; Ramanathan, Lalini; Siegel, Jerome M | Abstract: BackgroundAbnormal striatal dopamine transmission has been hypothesized to cause restless legs syndrome. Dopaminergic drugs are commonly used to treat restless legs syndrome. However, they cause adverse effects with long-term use. An animal model would allow the systematic testing of potential therapeutic drugs. A high prevalence of restless legs syndrome has been reported in iron-deficient anemic patients. We hypothesized that the iron-deficient animal would exhibit signs similar to those in restless legs syndrome patients.MethodsAfter baseline polysomnographic recordings, iron-deficient rats received pramipexole injection. Then, iron-deficient rats were fed a standard rodent diet, and polysomnographic recording were performed for 2 days each week for 4 weeks.ResultsIron-deficient rats have low hematocrit levels and show signs of restless legs syndrome: sleep fragmentation and periodic leg movements in wake and in slow-wave sleep. Iron-deficient rats had a positive response to pramipexole treatment. After the iron-deficient rats were fed the standard rodent diet, hematocrit returned to normal levels, and sleep quality improved, with increased average duration of wake and slow-wave sleep episodes. Periodic leg movements decreased during both waking and sleep. Hematocrit levels positively correlated with the average duration of episodes in wake and in slow-wave sleep and negatively correlated with periodic leg movements in wake and in sleep. Western blot analysis showed that striatal dopamine transporter levels were higher in iron-deficient rats.ConclusionsThe iron-deficient rat is a useful animal model of iron-deficient anemic restless legs syndrome. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
Structure and Function of the Pediatric Peritoneal Membrane

In the decade since first edition of this text, the field of PD kinetics has progressed, with the acquisition of additional knowledge and insights, from an obscure science with complex mathematical equations, based upon empirical assumptions and clinical observations, to one which is even more convoluted, with equations that can make the earlier ones seem like elementary arithmetic. Fortunately, the intervening decade had also seen the development of powerful computers which, again based on a mix of empiricism and observation, allow these complicated mathematics to be used clinically. As our understanding of the structure and function of the peritnoeal membrane has expanded, there has not necessarily been a concomittant growth in our understanding of the issues which were relevant to those who provide PD to infants and children. However, many nettlesome issues from the 1980s have been addressed in well-designed studies, with resulting significant changes in the approach to children on PD.
Viral Hypothesis and Antiviral Treatment in Alzheimer’s Disease

Viruses, particularly herpes simplex virus (HSV), may be a cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The evidence supporting the viral hypothesis suggests that antiviral treatment trials, which have not been conducted, are warranted. HSV1 (oral herpes) and HSV2 (genital herpes) can trigger amyloid aggregation, and their DNA is common in amyloid plaques. HSV1 reactivation is associated with tau hyperphosphorylation and possibly tau propagation. Anti-HSV drugs reduce Aβ and p-tau accumulation in infected mouse brains. Clinically, after the initial oral infection, herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV1) becomes latent in the trigeminal ganglion and recurrent reactivation may produce neuronal damage and AD pathology. Clinical studies show cognitive impairment in HSV seropositive patients, and antiviral drugs show strong efficacy against HSV. An antiviral treatment trial in AD is clearly warranted. A phase II treatment trial with valacyclovir, an anti-HSV drug, recently began with evaluation of clinical and biomarker outcomes.
"Seatbelts don't save lives": Discovering and targeting the attitudes and behaviors of young Arab male drivers.

Abstract The paper presents a two-part study that discovered then targeted beliefs and attitudes towards seatbelt use in young Arab men. The purpose of part one was to discover their safe driving beliefs, attitudes and behaviors as well as their responses to safe driving campaigns to ascertain message elements that could incite reactance. Part two targeted selected beliefs and attitudes in a message that was designed based on the results from part one to both address relevant beliefs and attitudes as well as avoid reactance. One belief, that seatbelts are not necessary in the back seat, and two attitudes, avoidance of wearing the seatbelt to prevent clothing from being wrinkled and to avoid friends’ derision, were targeted. Because the participants reported reactance to common safe driving campaigns, the options for the message were quite limited. Using fear appeals, shocking content or depicting the consequences of accidents was deemed likely to be ineffective, rather a novel approach was called for. Utilizing the collectivist and masculine nature of the culture, the resulting message featured a group of young Arab men who are convinced by a personified Seatbelt to wear their seatbelts after an adventure. The message succeeded in eliciting statistically reliable belief and attitudinal change on all three dependent variables after one exposure, suggesting that tailored messages that avoid triggering reactance and are culturally contextualized while aimed at specific beliefs and attitudes can be persuasive. Although risk taking behavior can result from group pressure, our message used culturally specific group pressure but depicted it as being against the risky behavior and positively reinforced the less risky behavior, demonstrating that such approaches can be effective. The film was not a typical safe driving message, utilized social norms from the target audience and was carefully matched to their attitudes and beliefs while not being an overtly persuasive. We argue that message campaigners can utilize both the method and results for subsequent campaigns aimed at young Arab men.
Intersecting Constraints on Label Learning: Effects of Age, Label Properties, and Referential Context

This research investigates the development of constraints in word learning. Previous experiments have shown that as infants gain more knowledge of native language structure, they become more selective about the forms that they accept as labels. However, the developmental pattern exhibited depends greatly on the way that infants are introduced to the labels and tested. In a series of experiments, we examined how providing referential context in the form of familiar objects and familiar object names affects how infants learn labels that they would otherwise reject, nonspeech sounds. We found evidence of the development of intersecting constraints: Younger infants (14-month-olds) were more open to learning nonspeech tone labels than older infants (19-month-olds), and younger infants were more open to the influence of referential context. These findings suggest that infants form expectations about labels and labeling contexts as they become more sophisticated learners.
Level 2 Evidence: Prospective Cohort Study

In the hierarchy used to classify evidence-based research in medicine, level 2 evidence includes prospective cohort studies. A prospective cohort study includes a research question developed prior to patient enrollment. This research design is particularly useful for assessing patient outcomes following a specific treatment or for assessing a specific patient characteristic. Prospective cohort studies may be susceptible to selection bias and low rates of follow-up. Prospective cohort studies can be either controlled or uncontrolled.
Estimation of Rolling Effectiveness and Control Reversal for Aeroelasticity Effects

Control effectiveness is the potential of a control surface to change the aircraft attitude in pitch, roll or yaw. This effectiveness can be considerably reduced due to the twist of an elastic airfoil. The reduction due to flexibility of aerostructure subsequently results in complete loss of efficacy of a control surface, resulting in control reversal. This study investigates the roll effectiveness and reversal of a standard wing. Analytical model of a fighter aircraft wing is used for static aeroelasticity analysis. The finite element analysis is carried out to investigate structural deformations that are caused by steady aerodynamic forces. Control surface effectiveness values were measured from the rolling moment stability derivatives. Reversal behavior for the selected geometric structure was studied and essential equations are developed. An algorithm is developed in NASTRAN and executed in FEMAP software for static aeroelasticity analysis of the model. Wing is considered to be flying in an incompressible air with nil Mach number and a specific value of dynamic pressure. Effects of different dynamic pressure values and variable size of control surface are examined. Results obtained through the software are tabulated and plotted to get a fair idea for roll behavior and reversal point of the control surface. Same was then compared with the theoretical results on the subject and are found in good agreement.
Hypomagnesemia and Survival in Patients with Ovarian Cancer Who Received Chemotherapy with Carboplatin

BACKGROUND Hypomagnesemia is a known side effect of several antineoplastic agents, but its impact on outcomes of patients with cancer is not well understood. We examined whether magnesium abnormalities affect survival in patients with ovarian cancer who receive chemotherapy containing carboplatin. MATERIALS AND METHODS We included patients with advanced ovarian cancer who had undergone surgery and chemotherapy between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2014, at our institution. Inclusion criteria were age 18 years or older, pathology of high-grade serous carcinoma, first treatment (surgery or chemotherapy) within 60 days of diagnosis, and chemotherapy containing carboplatin. The final cohort consisted of 229 patients. Vital signs and laboratory tests were recorded at baseline and during the treatment course. The associations between magnesium abnormalities (and other clinical characteristics) and survival were analyzed. RESULTS The median patient age was 64 years. Higher baseline heart rate (beats per minute; hazard ratio [HR] = 1.02, p = .002) and greater frequency of hypomagnesemia during the treatment course (HR = 1.05, p = .002) were significantly associated with shorter survival independent of completeness of tumor reduction (HR = 1.60, p = .02), and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage (HR = 1.63, p = .01). CONCLUSION Baseline heart rate and the frequency of hypomagnesemia episodes during treatment are prognostic of survival for patients with advanced ovarian cancer receiving carboplatin-containing chemotherapy and tumor reductive surgery. Future research is needed for strategies to detect and prevent hypomagnesemia in this patient population. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Despite standard laboratory tests and intravenous magnesium replacement prior to each cycle of chemotherapy, hypomagnesemia remains a common side effect of platinum-based chemotherapy. This study revealed that frequent occurrence of hypomagnesemia during the course of treatment including carboplatin-containing chemotherapy and tumor reductive surgery was strongly predictive of shorter survival in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Strategies to effectively mitigate hypomagnesemia, such as more frequent detection, dietary recommendations, and timely replacement, should be considered in the overall cancer treatment plan for these patients.
Framing Boko Haram’s female suicide bombers in mass media: an analysis of news articles post Chibok abduction

ABSTRACTThe employment of female suicide bombers continues to be a trend among terrorist organisations. Due to their sensationalist nature, suicide bombings attract extensive media attention and ar...
On peak-interpolation manifolds for A(\Omega) for convex domains in C^n

Let \Omega be a bounded, weakly convex domain in C^n, n>1, having real-analytic boundary. A(\Omega) is the algebra of all functions holomorphic in \Omega and continuous upto the boundary. A submanifold M\subset \partial\Omega is said to be complex-tangential if T_p(M) lies in the maximal complex subspace of T_p(\partial\Omega) for each p \in M. We show that for real-analytic submanifolds M\subset \partial\Omega, if M is complex-tangential, then every compact subset of M is a peak-interpolation set for A(\Omega).
On being green and profitable: Does industry context matter?

Abstract Environmental management practices (or “EMPs”) afford a firm the opportunity to reduce the effects of its activities and products on the natural environment. However, companies compete in different industry contexts, and currently little is known about the moderating effects of these contexts on firm profitability. Improved understanding of how industry context influences the relationship between a firm’s environmental practices and its financial outcomes is needed to help managers make better EMP investment decisions. Combining insights from resource-based theory and industrial organization theory, this paper formulates and empirically investigates how the effects of a firm’s EMPs on its financial performance are contingent upon the joint influence of industry concentration and industry growth. Empirically rebuttable hypotheses are tested by fitting a multi-level model. We find that firms within high growth/high concentration industries that implement EMPs realize the greatest improvement in financial performance. Additionally, industry growth amplifies the effect on firm financial performance of engaging in EMPs in relatively concentrated industries, but not in less concentrated ones. The study’s findings shed valuable light on the possible context-influenced role and effect of EMPs, including potential managerial and policy implications.