cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Firm performance and focus: long-run stock market performance following spinoffs☆

Abstract We examine whether an increase in focus is an explanation for the stock market gains associated with spinoffs. For a sample of 155 spinoffs between the years 1975 and 1991, we find that the announcement period as well the long-run abnormal returns for the focus-increasing spinoffs are significantly larger than the corresponding abnormal returns for the non-focus-increasing spinoffs. The results for the change in operating performance are consistent with those for the stock market performance. Cross-sectionally, the stock market performance as well as the operating performance are positively associated with change in focus. An analysis of the non-focus-increasing spinoffs shows that the firms are likely to undertake these spinoffs to separate underperforming subsidiaries from the parents.
Mixing Time for a Random Walk on Rooted Trees

We define an analog of Plancherel measure for the set of rooted unlabeled trees on $n$ vertices, and a Markov chain which has this measure as its stationary distribution. Using the combinatorics of commutation relations, we show that order $n^2$ steps are necessary and suffice for convergence to the stationary distribution.
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Concurrent Bartonella Spp., Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, and Feline Leukemia Virus Infections in Cats from Grenada, West Indies

Toxoplasma gondii and Bartonella spp. are zoonotic pathogens of cats. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLv) are related to human immunodeficiency virus, and human leukemia virus, respectively; all of these viruses are immunosuppressive. In the present study, the prevalence of antibodies to T. gondi, Bartonella spp., FIV, as well as FeLv antigen were determined in sera from 75 domestic and 101 feral cats (Felis catus) from the Caribbean island of Grenada, West Indies. Using a modified agglutination test, antibodies to T. gondii were found in 23 (30.6%) of the 75 pet cats with titers of 1:25 in 1, 1:50 in 3, 1:400 in 4, 1:500 in 12, 1:800 in 2, and 1:1,600 in 1, and 28 (27.7%) of 101 feral cats with titers of 1:25 in 4, 1:50 in 7, 1:200 in 4, 1:400 in 1, 1:500 in 3, 1:800 in 2, 1:1,600 in 3, and 1:3,200 in 4. Overall, in both pet and feral cats, the seroprevalence increased with age. Antibodies to Bartonella spp. were found in 38 (50.6%) of the 75 pet cats and 52.4% of 101 feral cats. Antibodies to FIV were found in 6 domestic and 22 feral cats. None of the 176 cats was positive for FeLv antigen. There was no correlation among T. gondii, Bartonella spp., and FIV seropositivity.
Gender Differences in Employment Behavior during Late Middle Age

Gender differences in the employment rates of 55- to 59-year-olds are concentrated among married persons. Wives are much less likely than their husbands to hold jobs and, more often, to cite family motivations as their most important reason for not working. The employment disparity is partially the result of the coordinated retirement decisions (combined with men typically marrying younger women), and is probably reinforced by the heavier caregiving commitments of females. Several findings are consistent with traditional role relationships, which emphasize specialization in market employment by males and home activities among females; however, the data are less compatible with a simple pattern where husbands "lead" and wives 'follow."
Using kinematic properties of pre-planetary nebulae to constrain engine paradigms

Some combination of binary interactions and accretion plausibly conspire to produce the ubiquitous collimated outflows from planetary nebulae (PN) and their presumed pre-PN (PPN) precursors. But which accretion engines are viable? The difficulty in observationally resolving the engines warrants the pursuit of indirect constraints. We show how kinematic outflow data for 19 PPN can be used to determine the minimum required accretion rates. We consider mainsequence (MS) and white dwarf (WD) accretors and five example accretion rates inferred from published models to compare with the minima derived from outflow momentum conservation. While our primary goal is to show the method in anticipation of more data and better theoretical constraints, taking the present results at face value already rules out modes of accretion: Bondi– Hoyle–Lyttleton (BHL) wind accretion and wind Roche lobe overflow (M-WRLOF, based on Mira parameters) are too feeble for all 19/19 objects for an MS accretor. For a WD accretor, BHL is ruled out for 18/19 objects and M-WRLOF for 15/19 objects. RLOF from the primary at the Red Rectangle level can accommodate 7/19 objects, though RLOF modes with higher accretion rates are not yet ruled out. Accretion modes operating from within common envelope evolution can accommodate all 19 objects, if jet collimation can be maintained. Overall, subEddington rates for an MS accretor are acceptable but 8/19 would require super-Eddington rates for a WD.
On Being `Just Friends': The Frequency and Impact of Sexual Activity in Crosssex Friendships:

Research on cross-sex friendships has noted the presence of sexual tension in many of these relationships. Yet, to our knowledge, no studies have directly examined the frequency and effect of sexual contact on friendships. This investigation provides an initial look at the prevalence of sexual activity in otherwise `platonic' cross-sex friendships and applies a recently developed model of expectation violations to understand the related consequences of that behavior. Results suggest that approximately half the heterosexual college student population has engaged in sexual activity in an otherwise platonic cross-sex friendship and that the aversive uncertainty within valence model of expectation violations serves as a good framework from which to understand the associated relational outcomes. The findings' implications for research on cross-sex friendships are discussed.
A wirelessly powered log-based closed-loop deep brain stimulation SoC with two-way wireless telemetry for treatment of neurological disorders

A log-based closed-loop Deep Brain Stimulation system detects and processes low-frequency brain field signals to optimize stimulation parameters. The fully self-contained single-chip system incorporates LNAs, a log-ADC, digital log-filters, a log-DSP with a PI-controller, current stimulators, a two-way wireless transceiver, a clock generator, and an RF energy harvester. The 2×2mm2 180nm CMOS prototype consumes 468µW for recording and processing neural signals, stimulation, and for two-way wireless communication.
BAM Receptors Regulate Stem Cell Specification and Organ Development Through Complex Interactions With CLAVATA Signaling

The CLAVATA1 (CLV1) receptor kinase regulates stem cell specification at shoot and flower meristems of Arabidopsis. Most clv1 alleles are dominant negative, and clv1 null alleles are weak in phenotype, suggesting additional receptors functioning in parallel. We have identified two such parallel receptors, BAM1 and BAM2. We show that the weak nature of the phenotype of clv1 null alleles is dependent on BAM activity, with bam clv mutants exhibiting severe defects in stem cell specification. Furthermore, BAM activity in the meristem depends on CLV2, which is required in part for CLV1 function. In addition, clv1 mutants enhance many of the Bam− organ phenotypes, indicating that, contrary to current understanding, CLV1 function is not specific to the meristem. CLV3 encodes a small, secreted peptide that acts as the ligand for CLV1. Mutations in clv3 lead to increased stem cell accumulation. Surprisingly, bam1 and bam2 mutants suppress the phenotype of clv3 mutants. We speculate that in addition to redundant function in the meristem center, BAM1 and BAM2 act to sequester CLV3-like ligands in the meristem flanks.
Safe operating area of AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs HEMT power transistors

A study of the physical phenomena leading to second breakdown of AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs power HEMTs in high voltage and high current conditions is presented. The boundary of the safe operating area (SOA) is measured in both DC and pulsed conditions. The effect of gate de-biasing and triggering of the parasitic bipolar transistor are identified as reasons for deterioration of the SOA. A model for these effects is also presented.
Limonoid glucosides in orange molasses.

The concentrations of limonoid glucosides in orange molasses, a byproduct of citrus juice processing, were measured. The 17-β-D-gluco-pyranoside derivatives (glucosides) of limonin, nomilin, nomilinic acid and obacunone were present and quantified. Orange molasses contained an average of 568 ppm of total limonoid glucosides at 11.8°Brix. Orange molasses (3.8L) contained up to 12.5g of total limonoid glucosides. The molasses could be used as a source for commercial isolation of citrus limonoid glucosides.
High Resolution Broad-Band Spectroscopy in the NIR Using the TripleSpec Externally Dispersed Interferometer at the Hale Telescope

High resolution broad-band spectroscopy at near-infrared wavelengths has been performed using externally dis- persed interferometry (EDI) at the Hale telescope at Mt. Palomar. The EDI technique uses a field-widened Michelson interferometer in series with a dispersive spectrograph, and is able to recover a spectrum with a resolution 4 to 10 times higher than the existing grating spectrograph. This method increases the resolution well beyond the classical limits enforced by the slit width and the detector pixel Nyquist limit and, in principle, decreases the effect of pupil variation on the instrument line-shape function. The EDI technique permits arbi- trarily higher resolution measurements using the higher throughput, lower weight, size, and expense of a lower resolution spectrograph. Observations of many stars were performed with the TEDI interferometer mounted within the central hole of the 200 inch primary mirror. Light from the interferometer was then dispersed by the TripleSpec near-infrared echelle spectrograph. Continuous spectra between 950 and 2450 nm with a resolution as high as ~27,000 were recovered from data taken with TripleSpec at a native resolution of ∼2,700. Aspects of data analysis for interferometric spectral reconstruction are described. This technique has applications in im- proving measurements of high-resolution stellar template spectra, critical for precision Doppler velocimetry using conventional spectroscopic methods. A new interferometer to be applied for this purpose at visible wavelengths is under construction.
White Matter Abnormalities in Autism and Unaffected Siblings

This study was conducted to identify a potential neuroendophenotype for autism using diffusion tensor imaging. Whole-brain, voxel-based analysis of fractional anisotropy was conducted in 50 children: 19 with autism, 20 unaffected siblings, and 11 controls. Relative to controls, participants with autism exhibited bilateral reductions in fractional anisotropy across association, commissure, and projection fibers. The most severely affected tracts included the uncinate fasciculus, forceps minor, and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. Unaffected siblings also exhibited reductions in fractional anisotropy, albeit less severe with fewer affected tracts, sparing the uncinate fasciculus and forceps minor. These results suggest the presence of a neuroendophenotype for autism.
Distribution of Ehrlichia chaffeensis (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaeceae) in Amblyomma americanum in southern Indiana and prevalence of E. chaffeensis--reactive antibodies in white-tailed deer in Indiana and Ohio in 1998.

Abstract To continue monitoring the prevalence and distribution ofEhrlichia chaffeensis(Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaeceae) in southern Indiana, a total of 498Amblyomma americanum(L.) ticks (262 adults and 292 nymphs) was collected from five southern Indiana counties during May and June 1998. Ticks were pooled and examined for the presence ofE. chaffeensisusing nested polymerase chain reaction and primers specific for the 16S rRNA gene ofE. chaffeensis.The average minimum infection rate for adult ticks collected in 1998 was 3.8% (ranging from 0 to 7.7% in various counties) as compared with previous average minimum infection rates of 1.6% in 1995 and 4.9% in 1997. None of the pools ofA. americanumnymphs tested positive. In addition, blood samples were collected from 325 white-tailed deer taken in Indiana and 327 taken in Ohio in November 1998. Serum samples were tested for the presence ofE. chaffeensis-like organisms reactive to antibodies using an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Antibodies were found...
On Utilizing Nonstandard Abbreviations and Lexicon to Infer Demographic Attributes of Twitter Users

Automatically determining demographic attributes of writers with high accuracy, based on their texts, can be useful for a range of application domains, including smart ad placement, security, the discovery of predator behaviors, enabling automatic enhancement of participants’ profiles for extended analysis, and various other applications. It is also of interest from the perspective to linguists who may wish to build on such inference for further sociolinguistic analysis. Previous work indicates that attributes such as author gender can be determined with some amount of success, using various methods, such as analysis of shallow linguistic patterns or topic, in authors’ written texts. Author age appears more difficult to determine, but previous research has been somewhat successful at classifying age as a binary (e.g. over or under 30), ternary, or even as a continuous variable using various techniques. In this work, we show that word and phrase abbreviation patterns can be used toward determining user age using novel binning, as well as toward determining binary user gender, and ternary user education level. Notable results include age classification accuracy of up to 83% (67% above relative majority class baseline) using a support vector machine classifier and PCA extracted features, including n-grams. User ages were classified into 10 equally sized age bins and achieved 51% accuracy (34% above baseline) when using only abbreviation features. Gender classification achieved 75% accuracy (13% above baseline) using only abbreviation features, PCA extracted, and education classification achieved 62% accuracy, 19% above baseline with PCA extracted abbreviation features. Also presented is an analysis of the evident change in author abbreviation use over time on Twitter.
American Lawyers and Their Communities: Ethics in the Legal Profession (Book Review)

Prof. Cochran reviews American Lawyers and Their Communities, by Thomas Shaffer. Shaffer examines the ethical impact on lawyers of their professional, ethnic, and religious communities. In this review, Cochran focuses attention on the religious community section of the book and then briefly discusses the professional and ethnic community sections. Shaffer builds his discussion of the lawyer and the religious community around an engaging extended metaphor. He envisions a street. On one side is the church, on the other is the courthouse. The legal part of the academy, more than any other, has systematically discouraged and disapproved of invoking the religious tradition as important or even interesting. It ignores the community of the faithful so resolutely that even its students who have come to law school from the community of the faithful learn to look at the church from the courthouse, rather than at the courthouse from the church. Shaffer also has much to say about the lawyers' professional community. Most of his critique is not explicitly religious, but Cochran argues that there is a connection between his religious faith and his insight into the profession. Shaffer argues that lawyers should look within their religious and ethnic communities for a moral foundation for law practice. Cochran concludes this review with the hope that as we seek to identify lawyer ideals within our communities, a common vision will emerge.
Glucagon Is a Safe and Inexpensive Initial Strategy in Esophageal Food Bolus Impaction

Controversy exists about the utility of pharmacologic agents and endoscopic technique used for esophageal food bolus impaction. To evaluate the utility of glucagon and the technique used for endoscopic removal, including the rate of success and the adverse events of the techniques. The database of the largest healthcare provider in southeastern Wisconsin was retrospectively reviewed for patients presenting with esophageal food bolus impaction. Data extracted included glucagon administration and its success rate, outcome of radiographic studies, and the endoscopic method of removal and adverse events associated with it, including 30-day mortality. A total of 750 patients were identified with food bolus impaction from 2007 to 2012. Glucagon was administered in 440 patients and was successful in 174 (39.5 %). Endoscopic removal was performed in 470 patients and was successful in 469 (99.8 %). The push technique was utilized in 209 patients, reduction in the bolus size by piecemeal removal followed by the push technique was utilized in 97 patients, and the pull technique was utilized in 107 patients. There were no perforations with endoscopic removal. Only 4.5 % of the X-rays performed reported a possible foreign body within the esophagus. Glucagon was a significantly less-expensive strategy than endoscopic therapy (p < 0.0001). Glucagon is low cost, is moderately effective, and may be considered as an initial strategy. Endoscopic removal regardless of technique is safe and effective. The yield of radiography is poor in the setting of food bolus impaction.
Starvation Method for Obtaining Diapausing Boll Weevils Able to Survive the Winter in Hibernation

Fall field-collected boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis Boheman, were separated into diapausing and nondiapausing groups by withholding food for 1 to 3 weeks. All nondiapausing weevils died during the starvation period. Records indicated that weevils may not require large amounts of fat for winter survival.
Evidence of Clinically Significant Change: The Therapeutic Alliance and the Possibilities of Outcomes-Informed Care

This article addresses the issue of clinically significant (or meaningful) change resulting from treatment for stuttering. Research in both medical and behavioral fields indicates that clients often have their own unique perspective of meaningful clinical change and that this perspective is often different from that of the professional administering the treatment. Among the variables that the client brings to the treatment session are their progression through stages of therapeutic change and the ways in which they believe they are capable of coping with their problem. Research has shown that how an individual interprets the meaning his or her therapeutic experience is central to clinically significant change. Procedures for obtaining feedback from clients concerning clinically significant change and the quality of the therapeutic alliance are described.
Determination of cadmium in rice by functionalized CdSe /CdS quantum dots as fluorescence probe

Objective To develop a new method for rapid determination of cadmium in rice samples. Methods The core-shell CdSe / CdS QDs were synthesized by using selenium powders,cadmium oxide powders,liquid paraffin,oleic acid and sulfur power. The synthesized oil- soluble CdSe / CdS QDs was transferred into water- soluble QDs by adding mercaptoacetic acid. The dBSA was obtained by chemical reaction of BSA and NaBH 4. Then dBSA was coupled to CdSe / CdS core- shell QDs to form the dBSA- QDs bioconjugates. It was found that the enhanced luminescence intensity of the dBSA- coated QDs bioconjugates in a concentration of Cd2 +dependence is best described by a Langmuir binding isotherm equation. The effect of the pH, temperature,CdBSA / CQDs molar ratio and the interference of Ag+,Cu2 +,Al3 +,Cl-,F-,NO 3-,FeF 6 3-,Mg2 +,Ca2 +, Zn2 +on the fluorescence intensity of dBSA- QDs bioconjugates was investigated in the present study. In addition,the mechanism of Cd2 +detection by dBSA- QDs was also studied. Results Under the optimized conditions,the dBSA- QDs bioconjugates were used to detect Cd2 +with a detection limit of 8. 3 μg / kg and a relative standard deviation of 2. 7%. It can be used for direct analysis of rice samples,and the results were very close to those detected by AAS. Conclusion The method is simple, rapid and low- cost,it can be used to detect cadmium in rice samples.
Articular Compass: The Location of Frontal Accessories of Bioelastic Appliances

In long face syndrome with skeletal open bite, strongly associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), the trajectories of an incisal point are completely different. It was demonstrated by a longitudinal study that, in these cases, the Articular Compass cephalometric analysis is helpful in the construction of bioelastic appliances to provide a better location for frontal accessories, and thereby in most cases, also provide better anchorage with proper tongue and mandible position. The Articular Compass Analysis is valid in the early diagnosis. The odds ratio of success using the Articular Compass Analysis presents a confidence rate of 95%. Moreover, it was detected that subjects by the age of six with open bite, gonial angle equal to or greater than 135 degrees, with Nasion-Gonion-Menton equal to or greater than 76 degrees are risky cases for surgical treatment. These parameters are an indication of progressive problems which, with time, can reach severe levels which involve the cervical or even the lumbar spine.
SU-F-T-80: A Mobile Application for Intra-Operative Electron Radiotherapy Treatment Planning

Purpose: Intraoperative electron radiotherapy (IORT) poses a unique set of challenges for treatment planning. Planning must be performed in a busy operating room environment over a short timeframe often with little advance knowledge of the treatment depth or applicator size. Furthermore, IORT accelerators can have a large number of possible applicators, requiring extensive databooks that must be searched for the appropriate dosimetric parameters. The goal of this work is to develop a software tool to assist in the planning process that is suited to the challenges faced in the IORT environment. Methods: We developed a mobile application using HTML5 and Javascript that can be deployed to tablet devices suitable for use in the operating room. The user selects the desired treatment parameters cone diameter, bevel angle, and energy (a total of 141 datasets) and desired bolus. The application generates an interactive display that allows the user to dynamically select points on the depth-dose curve and to visualize the shape of the corresponding isodose contours. The user can indicate a prescription isodose line or depth. The software performs a monitor unit calculation and generates a PDF report. Results: We present our application, which is now used routinely in our IORT practice. It has been employed successfully in over 23 cases. The interactivity of the isodose distributions was found to be of particular use to physicians who are less-frequent IORT users, as well as for the education of residents and trainees. Conclusion: This software has served as a useful tool in IORT planning, and demonstrates the need for treatment planning tools that are designed for the specialized challenges encountered in IORT. This software is the subject of a license agreement with the IntraOp Medical Corporation. This software is the subject of a license agreement between Massachusetts General Hospital / Partners Healthcare and the IntraOp Medical Corporation. CLW is consulting on software development with the IntraOp Medical Corporation.
Perspectives in Antigen-Specific Treatment

Publisher Summary Different treatments appear to be necessary for asthma that was not previously a major problem. The implication is either that the treatments are all slightly off the mark or that the real cause of the increase in asthma is not being addressed. Thus, one has the enigma of an allergic/immunological disease where the causes are increasingly well defined and which is increasing in prevalence and probably morbidity, but where the real cause of the increase is not clear. Thus, it is essential to continue thinking about all the steps that contribute to symptoms, i.e. inducers, enhancers and triggers. Analysis of the changes leads to three main hypotheses. First, exposure to indoor allergens has increased because of changes in houses that both improve conditions for production of allergens, increase the reservoirs in the house and decrease ventilation. In addition, exposure has increased because of increased time indoors. Second, changes in diet, including increased sodium, decreased fish, decreased fresh vegetables and increased excess calories, have changed the immune response. The hypothesis is that children raised in this way are more prone to make immune and inflammatory responses to inhalant allergens and consequently develop asthma. Third, The secondary effects of increased indoor/sedentary entertainment have altered the physiological response of the lungs. Indoor entertainment increases the amount of time indoors with resulting increased exposure to house dust. At the same time there is a major decrease in the amount of time spent in playing, walking or exercising outdoors.
Multilingualism in Finland: A Legal Perspective

Multilingualism is an increasingly frequent societal phenomenon. More and more societies and individuals are, or have become, multilingual. Legislation is an important tool for language policy and, ultimately, language environment. Yet, it seems that little research has been dedicated to multilingualism from a legal framework perspective. The law is, generally speaking, blind to language. This means that the legal framework rarely takes into account the co-existence of several languages in a society other than national languages. In addition, there are altogether relatively few provisions regarding what language shall be used in which contexts. The article focuses on multilingualism in Finland where the cornerstone for the Finnish language policy of the country is laid down in the Constitution. Multilingualism is particularly interesting in a bilingual country Finland that has a long and solid history of language legislation. The country has over a few decades undergone change and rapidly developed into a multilingual country. This article examines whether the Finnish current legislation enables and supports the societal multilingualism or poses restrictions on the parallel use of several languages. Another more fundamental question discussed in this article is if societal multilingualism sets new demands on the national legislation. Cite as: Tallroth , JLL 1 (2012), 33–49, DOI: 10.14762/jll.2012.033
Rotordynamic Performance of a Shaft With Large Overhung Mass Supported by Foil Bearings

This work presents the theoretical and experimental rotordynamic evaluations of a rotor-air foil bearing system supporting a large overhung mass for high speed application. The proposed system highlights the compact design of a single shaft rotor configuration with turbomachine components arranged on one side of the bearing span. In this work, low speed tests up to 45krpm are performed to measure the lift off speed and to check the bearing manufacturing quality. Rotordynamic performance at high speeds is evaluated both analytically and experimentally. In the analytical approach, simulated imbalance responses are studied using both rigid and flexible shaft models with bearing forces calculated from transient Reynolds equation along with rotor motion. The simulation predicts that the system experiences small synchronous rigid mode vibration at 20krpm and bending mode at 200krpm. A high speed test rig is designed to experimentally evaluate the rotor-air foil bearings system. The high speed tests are operated up to 160krpm. The vibration spectrum indicates that the rotor-air foil bearing system operates under stable conditions. The experimental waterfall plots also show very small sub-synchronous vibrations with frequency locked to the system natural frequency. Overall, this work demonstrates the potential capability of air foil bearings in supporting a shaft with a large overhung mass at high speed.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
Mechanism of protection of polyethylene by anti-treeing additives

Water or electrochemical trees have been observed in polymeric insulation systems since the early 1970's(1,2) It is not known if water trees actually cause insulation failure(3) but they have been shown to decrease voltage breakdown strength, which is an accepted indicator of life expectancy.
Application of diet theory reveals context-dependent foraging preferences in an herbivorous coral reef fish

Dietary preferences of grazers can drive spatial variability in top-down control of autotroph communities, because diet composition may depend on the relative availability of autotroph species. On Caribbean coral reefs, parrotfish grazing is important in limiting macroalgae, but parrotfish dietary preferences are poorly understood. We applied diet-switching analysis to quantify the foraging preferences of the redband parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum). At 12 Caribbean reefs, we observed 293 redband parrotfish in 5-min feeding bouts and quantified relative benthic algal cover using quadrats. The primary diet items were macroalgal turfs, Halimeda spp., and foliose macroalgae (primarily Dictyota spp. and Lobophora spp.). When each resource was evaluated independently, there were only weak relationships between resource cover and foraging effort (number of bites taken). Electivity for each resource also showed no pattern, varying from positive (preference for the resource) to negative (avoidance) across sites. However, a diet-switching analysis consisting of pairwise comparisons of relative cover and relative foraging effort revealed clearer patterns: parrotfish (a) preferred Halimeda and macroalgal turfs equally, and those two resources were highly substitutable; (b) preferred Halimeda to foliose macroalgae, but those two resources were complementary; and (c) also preferred turf to foliose macroalgae, and those resources were also complementary. Thus parrotfish grazing rates depend on relative, not absolute, abundance of macroalgal types, due to differences in substitutability among resources. Application of similar analyses may help predict potential changes in foraging effort of benthic grazers over spatial gradients that could inform expectations for reef recovery following the protection of herbivore populations.
School Entry Age and Children’s Social-Behavioral Skills: Evidence From a National Longitudinal Study of U.S. Kindergartners

Prior research evaluating school entry age effects has largely overlooked the effects on social-behavioral skills despite the growing recognition of returns to such skills. This study is the first ...
An excited state underlies gene regulation of a transcriptional riboswitch

The use of chemical exchange saturation transfer NMR reveals a previously hidden excited conformational state of the fluoride riboswitch, providing a model in which ligand binding allosterically suppresses a linchpin base pair to activate transcription. Riboswitches control gene expression through ligand-dependent structural rearrangements of the sensing aptamer domain. However, we found that the Bacillus cereus fluoride riboswitch aptamer adopts identical tertiary structures in solution with and without ligand. Using chemical-exchange saturation transfer (CEST) NMR spectroscopy, we revealed that the structured ligand-free aptamer transiently accesses a low-populated (∼1%) and short-lived (∼3 ms) excited conformational state that unravels a conserved 'linchpin' base pair to signal transcription termination. Upon fluoride binding, this highly localized, fleeting process is allosterically suppressed, which activates transcription. We demonstrated that this mechanism confers effective fluoride-dependent gene activation over a wide range of transcription rates, which is essential for robust toxicity responses across diverse cellular conditions. These results unveil a novel switching mechanism that employs ligand-dependent suppression of an aptamer excited state to coordinate regulatory conformational transitions rather than adopting distinct aptamer ground-state tertiary architectures, exemplifying a new mode of ligand-dependent RNA regulation.
Interstate Conflict Management in South America: The Relevance of Overlapping Institutions

The objective of this chapter is to analyse existing institutions related to interstate security in South America and their respective roles and to highlight, if so, any overlapping purposes that might contribute to preventing interstate conflicts in the region. To achieve the proposed objective, the chapter is divided into three sections. The first section identifies current interstate conflict management institutions in South America and analyses their purposes and responsibilities. In the second section, some of the main potential conflicts among South American states and the roles of institutions to prevent the onset of armed conflict, or to cause them to be quickly resolved, are addressed. The third, concluding section briefly discusses these institutions’ performance in a regional scenario where interstate peace should prevail.
Rethinking Multicore Application Scalability on Big Virtual Machines

Virtual machine (VM) sizes keep increasing in the cloud. However, little attention has been paid to analyze and understand the scalability of multicore applications on big VMs with multiple virtual CPUs (VCPUs), assuming that application scalability on VMs can be analyzed in the same ways as that on physical machines (PMs). The paper demonstrates that, since hardware CPU resource is dynamically allocated to VCPUs, the executions of multicore applications on VMs show different scalability from those on PMs. The paper systematically studies how the virtualization of CPU resource changes execution scalability, identifies key application features and system factors that affect execution scalability on VMs, and investigates possible directions to improve scalability. The paper presents a few important findings. First, the execution scalability of applications on VMs is determined by different factors than those on PMs. Second, virtualization and resource sharing can improve scalability by nature. Thus, applications may show better scalability on VMs than on PMs. Linear scalability can be achieved even when there is substantial sequential computation. Third, there is still much space to further improve execution scalability by enhancing system designs. Better scalability can be achieved by increasing allocation period length and/or matching resource allocation and workload distribution.
Surgical Repair of a Traumatic Iridodialysis

A novel method for the surgical repair of traumatic iridodialysis is described. This method involves the use of a double-armed suture with straight needles to re-appose the iris by means of mattress sutures. In the case report presented, good cosmetic and optical results were obtained.
Arteriovenous Malformations: Evidence-Based Medicine, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Complications

Cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are complex lesions that require specialized, multidisciplinary treatment. Patients may be encountered in the intensive care unit either following intracranial hemorrhage from AVM rupture or following elective surgical resection of an unruptured AVM. This chapter reviews all aspects of clinical management of AVMs including initial assessment and critical care, perioperative considerations, and the available neurosurgical interventions utilized for definitive AVM treatment.
Solid—Fluid Systems with Simple, Continuous Interface

When the assumption of local thermal equilibrium between the solid and the fluid is not valid, i.e., when the main heat transfer is between the two adjacent phases, the two-medium treatment of the heat transfer is needed. In this chapter interfacial geometries that are simple and continuous (as compared to discrete, which is discussed in Chapter 5), such as planar and curved surfaces, are considered.
Interaction of Donor and Recipient Age: Do Older Heart Transplant Recipients Require Younger Hearts?

Background Older patients (aged 60 years or more) awaiting heart transplant often have comorbidities that may limit overall survival independent of cardiac status. We hypothesized that these comorbidities have a more-limiting impact on survival than age of donor heart and that older allografts might be utilized in these patients without compromising outcomes. Methods We identified all transplant recipients aged more than 60 years in the United Network for Organ Sharing database. Local regression analysis detected the point above which increasing donor age incurred increasing risk of mortality, above and below which two cohorts were defined. Kaplan-Meier analysis compared cumulative 5-year survival between groups. Cox proportional hazard modeling was then used to determine the hazards of death in the two groups. Results An inflection point in posttransplant survival was detected near donor age 50 years. Of 14,113 older recipients studied, 86% received younger donor hearts (less than 50 years of age), and 14% received advanced age allografts (50 years of age or more). Baseline characteristics were comparable between groups except more recipients had left ventricular assist devices at time of transplant in the younger donor group (15% versus 9%, p Conclusions Transplant recipients aged 60 years and more who receive advanced age donor hearts (50 years or more) have a significantly increased risk of mortality. With careful allograft selection, use of donor hearts to age 50 may be acceptable among older transplant recipients.
Deinterleaving of Mixtures of Renewal Processes

This paper proposes a new method for impulsive source separation (deinterleaving) in multi-input single-output systems based purely on impulse spacing. The impulse spacing for each source is modeled as a renewal process. To classify sources, an algorithm is developed to maximize the likelihood of impulse assignment based on the impulse spacing distributions. A theoretical lower bound on performance is derived and the algorithm is shown to get reasonably close to the bound. The algorithm is extended for use when the impulse spacing distribution parameters are unknown. Performance is evaluated on multiple application examples.
Taking Peer Teaching to the Next Level: Career Exploration Course Developed and Taught by MLS Students

Teaching educational methodologies is a required curriculum element of NAACLS accredited MLS programs. Finding a meaningful way to allow students to demonstrate and practice their skills has been a challenge. To address this challenge, we launched a pilot project to provide MLS students the opportunity to teach a two-credit STEM career exploration course for high school students titled "Medical Detectives". This course provides an opportunity to give high school students an experiential introduction to the MLS profession. MLS students were responsible for both designing and teaching this course. The educational methodologies that were designed and implemented by the MLS students in this course included; lecture, discussion, group learning activities, collaborative laboratory modules and flipped classroom coursework. The primary goal of this pilot program was for the MLS students to learn and apply the principles of course design and delivery. The secondary goal of this program was for high school students to learn about the MLS profession, career opportunities and our MLS program. Successful achievement of these goals were determined by course evaluations and a MLS student survey. Results from high school student course evaluations showed 80% of the students reported interest in the field as mildly to very interested after taking the course. Results from the MLS student survey showed 100% of students felt that they had gained substantial to exceptional progress towards applying educational methodologies. Based on these assessments, the program has met our initial goals and we plan to improve and expand the project.
Bassariscus astutus (Ringtailed cat)

One pair of relatively large autosomes shows a knob-like short arm. Secondary constriction is located on the short arm of a pair of small subtelocentric. Identification of X is somewhat equivocal, because one pair of autosomes possesses similar morphology. However, this autosomal pair tends to be more metacentric than the X. Identification of the Y is unequivocal.
Human Meibum Cholesteryl and Wax Ester Variability With Age, Sex, and Meibomian Gland Dysfunction.

Purpose Relationships between tear film lipid (TFL) layer composition, structure, and function could provide insight into the etiology of dry eye. The molar ratio of cholesteryl ester (CE)/wax ester (WE) was measured in meibum from normal donors (Mn) and compared with meibum from donors with meibomian gland dysfunction (MMGD). Methods CE/WE was measured using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Results CE/WE was distributed into two populations with 81% distributed near 0.55 and 19% near 0.3. CE/WE were higher in donors 13 to 19 years old compared with donors 1 to 12 years old and 20 to 88 years old. CE/WE for MMGD was 30% lower, 0.34 ± 0.04, compared with Mn, 0.49 ± 0.04. There were no sex differences in CE/WE. There were no significant racial differences between the CE/WE ratios for Asians and Caucasians. The CE/WE ratio was higher for blacks and lower for Hispanics compared to Caucasians. Due to the small number sampled, confirmation of the later racial results is needed. The packing of CE and WE in the TFL layer was proposed. Conclusions Although MMGD contains much less CE than Mn, factors other than the CE content, such as the levels of saturation and/or proteins, may be responsible for the higher order of MMGD. In addition to saturation, CE could contribute to the increase in order of Mn between 0 and 20 years of age. Observed changes in the meibum content of CE alone is not likely to influence tear film stability.
A randomized pilot program to reduce opioid use following dental surgery and increase safe medication return.

Abstract Research indicates that increased cumulative exposure (duration of administration and strength of dose) is associated with long-term opioid use. Because dentists represent some of the highest opioid prescribing medical professionals in the US, dental practices offer a critical site for intervention. The current study used a randomized clinical trial design to examine the efficacy of an opioid misuse prevention program (OMPP), presented as a brief intervention immediately prior to dental extraction surgery. The OMPP provided educational counseling about risks and appropriate use of opioid medication, as well as 28 tablets of ibuprofen (200 mg) and 28 tablets of acetaminophen (500 mg) for weaning off opioid medication. This was compared with a Treatment as Usual (TAU) control condition. Participants were individuals presenting for surgery who were eligible for opioid medication (N = 76). Follow up assessment was conducted at 1 week following surgery, with 4 individuals refusing follow up or not prescribed opioid. Intent to treat analysis indicated a non-significant treatment group effect (N = 72, Beta = 0.16, p = .0835), such that the OMPP group self-reported less opioid use (in morphine milligram equivalents, MMEs) than the TAU group (37.94 vs. 47.79, effect size d = 0.42). Sensitivity analysis, excluding individuals with complications following surgery (n = 6) indicated a significant treatment group effect (N = 66, Beta = 0.24, p = .0259), such that the OMPP group self-reported significantly less MMEs than the TAU group (29.74 vs. 43.59, effect size d = 0.56). Results indicate that a 10-minute intervention and provision of non-narcotic pain medications may reduce the amount of self-administered opioid medication following dental surgery.
Privacy Concerns in Robot Teleoperation: Does Personality Influence What Should Be Hidden?

Advances in robotics technology will bring more teleoperated robots into homes to perform a variety of household tasks. This raises new privacy concerns as the remote operator can control the robot and its camera, and record its sensor data. One way to provide some privacy protection is through on-board processing of the data to filter out sensitive visual information. But what do people want hidden, and how should we hide it? Do the personality traits of a particular user influence that choice?
Necrotizing Enterocolitis: The Future

Progress in our understanding of the pathophysiology, prevention and treatment of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) has been hampered for many reasons. Included among these is the fact that what we are calling "NEC" is likely to represent different disease processes, which need to be delineated before evaluating individual pathogenic mechanisms and attempting to develop predictive and diagnostic biomarkers. Treatment is also likely to be hampered because not all of the different entities called "NEC" will respond to the same regimen. In this review, some of these entities will be discussed in more detail, with suggestions for refining our approach toward improving methods for their diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
CHAPTER 3 – Inference

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the derivability of inference. Inference is the process of deriving conclusions from premises. The ability to perform inferences of this sort is an essential part of intelligence. Inference is typically a multistep process. In some cases, one can derive a conclusion from a set of premises in a single step. In other cases, one first needs to derive intermediate conclusions. Each step in this process must be sanctioned by an acceptable rule of inference. A rule of inference consists of a set of sentence patterns called conditions, and another set of sentence patterns called conclusions. Whenever one has sentences that match the conditions of the rule, then it is acceptable to infer sentences matching the conclusions. Universal instantiation allows to reason from the general to the particular. Existential instantiation allows eliminating existential quantifiers. This rule states that one can infer an instance of the quantified sentence in which the existentially quantified variable is replaced by a suitable term.
Abstract 289: Variation In 24-hour Physical Activity Patterns By Demographic And Psychological Factors In Women With Myocardial Infarction

Introduction: Despite the importance of physical activity (PA) for cardiovascular health, there is a scarcity of data on objectively measured PA in women with myocardial infarction (MI). We aim to ...
Clinical effect of Yanhuning combined with ganciclovir in the treatment of herpes simplex keratitis and its influence on inflammatory factors

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of Yanhuning combined with ganciclovir in the treatment of herpes simplex keratitis and its influence on inflammatory factors. Methods 82 patients with herpes simplex keratitis in our hospital were divided into control group (40 cases) and observation group (42 cases) according to the random number table method. Control group was treated with aciclovir eye drops, and observation group was treated with intravenous infusion of Yanhuning and ganciclovir on the basis of aciclovir eye drops. Compared the clinical curative effect, adverse effects, oxidative stress indexes in the serum and tear before and 7 d, 14 d after treatment. Results The total effective rate and healing time of observation group were 95.24% and (15.4±4.6)d, and those of control group were 75.00% and (30.5±5.5)d, with statistically significant differences (P 0.05). Conclusion Yanhuning combined with ganciclovir has significant effect in the treatment of herpes simplex keratitis, with shorter cure time, worthy to be popularized. Key words: Yanhuning; Ganciclovir; Herpes simplex keratitis; Clinical effect; Oxidative stress
Within-Host Viral Diversity: A Window into Viral Evolution

The evolutionary dynamics of a virus can differ within hosts and across populations. Studies of within-host evolution provide an important link between experimental studies of virus evolution and l...