cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spatial Segregation of Virulence Gene Expression during Acute Enteric Infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium

ABSTRACT To establish a replicative niche during its infectious cycle between the intestinal lumen and tissue, the enteric pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium requires numerous virulence genes, including genes for two type III secretion systems (T3SS) and their cognate effectors. To better understand the host-pathogen relationship, including early infection dynamics and induction kinetics of the bacterial virulence program in the context of a natural host, we monitored the subcellular localization and temporal expression of T3SS-1 and T3SS-2 using fluorescent single-cell reporters in a bovine, ligated ileal loop model of infection. We observed that the majority of bacteria at 2 h postinfection are flagellated, express T3SS-1 but not T3SS-2, and are associated with the epithelium or with extruding enterocytes. In epithelial cells, S. Typhimurium cells were surrounded by intact vacuolar membranes or present within membrane-compromised vacuoles that typically contained numerous vesicular structures. By 8 h postinfection, T3SS-2-expressing bacteria were detected in the lamina propria and in the underlying mucosa, while T3SS-1-expressing bacteria were in the lumen. Our work identifies for the first time the temporal and spatial regulation of T3SS-1 and -2 expression during an enteric infection in a natural host and provides further support for the concept of cytosolic S. Typhimurium in extruding epithelium as a mechanism for reseeding the lumen. IMPORTANCE The pathogenic bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium invades and persists within host cells using distinct sets of virulence genes. Genes from Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1) are used to initiate contact and facilitate uptake into nonphagocytic host cells, while genes within SPI-2 allow the pathogen to colonize host cells. While many studies have identified bacterial virulence determinants in animal models of infection, very few have focused on virulence gene expression at the single-cell level during an in vivo infection. To better understand when and where bacterial virulence factors are expressed during an acute enteric infection of a natural host, we infected bovine jejunal-ileal loops with S. Typhimurium cells harboring fluorescent transcriptional reporters for SPI-1 and -2 (PinvF and PssaG, respectively). After a prescribed time of infection, tissue and luminal fluid were collected and analyzed by microscopy. During early infection (≤2 h), bacteria within both intact and compromised membrane-bound vacuoles were observed within the epithelium, with the majority expressing SPI-1. As the infection progressed, S. Typhimurium displayed differential expression of the SPI-1 and SPI-2 regulons, with the majority of tissue-associated bacteria expressing SPI-2 and the majority of lumen-associated bacteria expressing SPI-1. This underscores the finding that Salmonella virulence gene expression changes as the pathogen transitions from one anatomical location to the next.
Directed evolution of communication and cooperation in digital organisms

This paper describes a study in the use of digital evolution to produce cooperative communication behavior in a population of digital organisms. The results demonstrate that digital evolution can produce organisms capable of distributed problem solving through interactions between members of the population and their environment. Specifically, the organisms cooperate to distribute among the population the largest value sensed from the environment. These digital organisms have no "built-in" ability to perform this task; each population begins with a single organism that has only the ability to self-replicate. Over thousands of generations, random mutations and natural selection produce an instruction sequence that realizes this behavior, despite continuous turnover in the population.
THE CASE FOR STABILIZING EXCHANGE RATES

This paper presents the case for a return to an system. The main point of the analysis in this paper exchange rate system resembling that which preis in fact to show why modem critiques of traditional vailed in the Bretton Woods period, or which logic here are in fact unjustified, prevails within Europe at the present time. That is, it argues the case for a system of mostly fixed rates The paper is in five parts. I begin with some broad, that can sometimes be adjusted. even philosophical questions about the reasons for even considering a return to fixed rates. The second The argument is not an enthusiastic one. I do not part documents what I believe to be the key thing claim that an ' adjustable peg' system will solve all that we have learned in the past fifteen years: that of the problems of the current system, or that it will foreign exchange markets behave much more like be without problems of its own. However, the the unstable and irrational asset markets described experience of floating rates has made the adjustable by Keynes than the efficient markets described by peg look much better in comparison, and greatly modem finance theory. The third part then asks reinforced the case against letting exchange rates be what harm this instability does, and argues that determined just like any other asset price. conventional efforts to test for serious costs—which generally fail to show much harm from exchange Fashions in exchange rate regimes go in obvious rate instability—are likely to miss the main action, cycles. In spite of the vast additions both to our The fourth part examines the advantages of exchange store of knowledge and to our theoretical sophistrate flexibility, and asks whether occasional parity ication since the 1940s, practical arguments against changes are a good enough substitute. Finally, the flexible rates are not very different from those fifth part tries to tie the whole argument together, advanced by the architects of the Bretton Woods offering a case for an adjustable peg system.
Practical TDMA for datacenter ethernet

Cloud computing is placing increasingly stringent demands on datacenter networks. Applications like MapReduce and Hadoop demand high bisection bandwidth to support their all-to-all shuffle communication phases. Conversely, Web services often rely on deep chains of relatively lightweight RPCs. While HPC vendors market niche hardware solutions, current approaches to providing high-bandwidth and low-latency communication in the datacenter exhibit significant inefficiencies on commodity Ethernet hardware.We propose addressing these challenges by leveraging the tightly coupled nature of the datacenter environment to apply time-division multiple access (TDMA). We design and implement a TDMA MAC layer for commodity Ethernet hardware that allows end hosts to dispense with TCP's reliability and congestion control. We evaluate the practicality of our approach and find that TDMA slots as short as 100s of microseconds are possible. We show that partitioning link bandwidth and switch buffer space to flows in a TDMA fashion can result in higher bandwidth for MapReduce shuffle workloads, lower latency for RPC workloads in the presence of background traffic, and more efficient operation in highly dynamic and hybrid optical/electrical networks.
Viruses, microRNAs, and host interactions.

One of the most significant recent advances in biomedical research has been the discovery of the ∼22-nt-long class of noncoding RNAs designated microRNAs (miRNAs). These regulatory RNAs provide a unique level of posttranscriptional gene regulation that modulates a range of fundamental cellular processes. Several viruses, especially herpesviruses, also encode miRNAs, and over 200 viral miRNAs have now been identified. Current evidence indicates that viruses use these miRNAs to manipulate both cellular and viral gene expression. Furthermore, viral infection can exert a profound impact on the cellular miRNA expression profile, and several RNA viruses have been reported to interact directly with cellular miRNAs and/or to use these miRNAs to augment their replication potential. Here we discuss our current knowledge of viral miRNAs and virally influenced cellular miRNAs and their relationship to viral infection.
Lipoprotein lipase deficiency and CETP in streptozotocin-treated apoB-expressing mice.

Both hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia have been postulated to increase atherosclerosis in patients with diabe- tes mellitus. To study the effects of diabetes on lipoprotein profiles and atherosclerosis in a rodent model, we crossed mice that express human apolipoprotein B (HuB), mice that have a heterozygous deletion of lipoprotein lipase (LPL1), and transgenic mice expressing human cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). Lipoprotein profiles due to each genetic modification were assessed while mice were consuming a Western type diet. Fast-protein liquid chroma- tography analysis of plasma samples showed that HuB/ LPL1 mice had increased VLDL triglyceride, and HuB/ LPL1/CETP mice had decreased HDL and increased VLDL and IDL/LDL. All strains of mice were made diabetic using streptozotocin (STZ); diabetes did not alter lipid profiles or atherosclerosis in HuB or HuB/LPL1/CETP mice. In contrast, STZ-treated HuB/LPL1 mice were more diabetic, severely hyperlipidemic due to increased cholesterol and triglyceride in VLDL and IDL/LDL, and had more athero- sclerosis. —Kako, Y., M. Masse, L-S. Huang, A. R. Tall, and I. J. Goldberg. Lipoprotein lipase deficiency and CETP in streptozotocin-treated apoB-expressing mice. J. Lipid Res. 2002. 43: 872-877.
Transitioning: Academic and Social Performance of African Immigrant Students in an American High School

Student achievement data in schools are often analyzed in terms of ethnic and racial parameters. Such data categorize African immigrant students as African Americans, thus creating an impression of homogeneity within the African American racial group. Given that these immigrant students relocate to the United States with cultural backgrounds that shape their views on educational opportunities, their school experiences render a unique perspective on the dynamics of schooling in the United States. Students enroll in schools where their racial status is an important defining characteristic. Their response to the school system and the racial and social dynamics that accompany this status has definite implications for their academic and social school experiences.
Does Participation in Undergraduate Research Affect Political Science Students

Despite great interest in the impact of undergraduate research on student development in the literature on higher education, there has not been much work done on the relationship between participation in undergraduate research and the development of political science students. This paper assesses the relationship between student participation in collaborative research projects with faculty and both student learning—operationalized in terms of scores on the Major Field Aptitude Test (MFAT) in political science, and the likelihood of entrance into professional or graduate school. We find that participation in collaborative research with faculty, in general, is associated with improved student learning in political science and a greater likelihood that students will proceed on to graduate/professional school.
FT-IR Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Investigation of Oxidized Wool

The Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectra (FT-IR/PAS) of wool, shrink-resist treated wool and corona discharge oxidized wool are reported. Products of the oxidation of wool by dichloroisocyanuric acid are discussed. The FT-IR/PAS results indicate the formation of a sulphinic acid residue during the wool treatment.
Unilateral Autonomous Testicular Testosterone Production Mimicking Androgen Independent Prostate Cancer

Reduction in circulating testosterone levels is the mainstay of treatment for advanced prostate cancer. Failure to achieve castrate testosterone levels (less than 30 ng./dl.) with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) agonist therapy is rare.1–3 To our knowledge we report the first case in which selective venous sampling revealed an autonomous unilateral testicular source of testosterone presenting as suspected androgen independent prostate cancer.
GEN03-3: Enhanced Box and Match Algorithm for Reliability-Based Soft-Decision Decoding of Linear Block Codes

In this paper, an efficient method to improve the performance of the box and matching algorithm (BMA) is presented. By constructing a control band which is error free with high probability, we enhance the matching capability of the BMA. More precisely, the performance of BMA of order (i + 1) is nearly achieved with a linear increase in complexity and no increase in memory with respect to BMA of order i. Simulation results show that the performance of the enhanced BMA with a finite number of random biasing iterations for the decoding of the RS(255,239) code is about 0.1 dB away from that of maximum likelihood decoding (MLD) at the word error rate (WER) 10 3. A tight performance analysis is derived based on the theory of ordered statistics for this new approach.
Fetal cell-free DNA circulates in the plasma of pregnant mice: relevance for animal models of fetomaternal trafficking.

BACKGROUND: Cell-free fetal DNA (fDNA) can be detected in maternal plasma throughout human pregnancy and is rapidly cleared after delivery. fDNA measurement has clinical application in many complications of pregnancy. Our aim was to determine if fDNA could be detected in maternal plasma during pregnancy in a mouse model system. We then compared the levels of fDNA during pregnancies in which the mother and fetus were either congenic or allogenic. METHODS: C57BL/6J (H-2b) or DBA/2J (H-2d) wild-type female mice were mated to C57BL/6J mice transgenic for the enhanced green fluorescent protein (gfp) and sacrificed while pregnant. C57BL/6J female mice that had previously given birth to three to six litters after mating with transgenic males were sacrificed after delivery. We used real-time quantitative PCR amplification to detect and measure gfp sequences in maternal plasma. RESULTS: fDNA was consistently detected in maternal plasma during pregnancy and was always absent after delivery [median 211 genome equivalents (GE)/ml vs 0 GE/ml, respectively, P=0.0001]. The level of fDNA was higher in allogenic matings compared to congenic matings (median 167 GE/ml/GFP + fetus vs 81 GE/ml/GFP + fetus, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: fDNA sequences can be reliably detected in maternal plasma during murine pregnancy. Our data lends further support to the use of nonhuman species to investigate the mechanisms involved in fetomaternal trafficking.
Self-Generating a Labor Force for Crowdsourcing: Is Worker Confidence a Predictor of Quality?

When leveraging the crowd to perform complex tasks, it is imperative to identify the most effective worker for a particular job. Demographic profiles provided by workers, skill self-assessments by workers, and past performance as captured by employers all represent viable data points available within labor markets. Employers often question the validity of a worker's self-assessment of skills and expertise level when selecting workers in context of other information. More specifically, employers would like to answer the question, "Is worker confidence a predictor of quality?" In this paper, we discuss the state-of-the-art in recommending crowd workers based on assessment information. A major contribution of our work is an architecture, platform, and push/pull process for categorizing and recommending workers based on available self-assessment information. We present a study exploring the validity of skills input by workers in light of their actual performance and other metrics captured by employers. A further contribution of this approach is the extrapolation of a body of workers to describe the nature of the community more broadly. Through experimentation, within the language-processing domain, we demonstrate a new capability of deriving trends that might help future employers to select appropriate workers.
Surface Oxidation Processes in Compound Semiconductors Studied by Profile Imaging

The profile imaging technique has been used to study the oxidation of ZnTe and InP surfaces induced by insitu reaction due to the electron beam of the microscope and by exsitu heating in air. For both materials, insitu reaction with the electron beam resulted in desorption of the anion species and the formation of the metal oxide. The observation of In metal particles, and the fact that the rate of formation of In2O3 was substantially reduced by an improvement of the vacuum near the specimen region, suggested that the presence of oxygen is not involved in the desorption process. The exsitu heating of ZnTe up to 260°C in air resulted in crystals of ZnO and Te metal, generally in a layered surface region with the sequence of ZnTe/Te/ZnO. The large Te crystals usually had an epitaxial relationship with the bulk ZnTe but the small ZnO crystals had random orientations. The exsitu heating of InP to 380°C in air only gave rise to small crystals of In2o3 in random orientations.
DESIGN, ANALYSIS AND FIELD TEST OF A DYNAMIC FLOATING BREAKWATER

Interest in floating breakwaters has been generated in recent years because the concept offers the potential of providing a less expensive alternative to traditional, solid wall type barriers for providing permanent wave protection to the thousands of new recreational boat harbors and marinas that have been built in the past 20 years. Also, they may be able to provide temporary, mobile wave protection during construction and installation of offshore facilities for oil transfer and production operations, defense facilities and other offshore structures in deeper water (depths exceeding 50 to 100 feet). The engineering director of one of the largest and most active offshore oil producing companies recently stated that they would be willing to pay up to $6 million for a mobile, floating breakwater that had the proven capability to significantly reduce risks due to wave action during offshore erection in the North Sea or elsewhere. Considering the investment in just one deep water oil production platform already exceeds $100,000,000, the worth of such a reusable, wave protection system during the critical erection period of a platform should be large.
Phototherapy for the Treatment of Neonatal Jaundice and Breastfeeding Duration and Exclusivity

Abstract Introduction: Because neonatal jaundice remains one of the most commonly treated conditions of the newborn infant, it is important to assess the unintended consequences of treatment with phototherapy. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether treatment with phototherapy affects breastfeeding duration in newborns >35 weeks gestation. Materials and Methods: We analyzed data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II. The exposure of interest was treatment of neonatal jaundice with phototherapy. The outcomes of interest were any breastfeeding through 12 months and exclusive breastfeeding through 4 months. Logistic regression models were developed to evaluate the association between the exposure and outcomes of interest. All models were adjusted for maternal age, race, education, household income, and gestational age, as well as for several potential markers of suboptimal breastfeeding. Results: Our study included 4,441 infants, of which 220 (5%) received phototherapy. We found no differenc...
Hardware Trojans in incompletely specified on-chip bus systems

The security, functionality, and performance of the on-chip bus system is critical in an SoC design. We highlight the susceptibility of current bus implementations to Hardware Trojans hiding in unspecified functionality. Unlike existing Trojans which aim to disrupt normal bus behavior and are often designed for a specific protocol and topology, we present a general model for creating a covert Trojan communication channel between SoC components. From our channel model, which is applicable to any topology and protocol, one can create circuitry allowing information to flow covertly by altering existing bus signals only when they are unspecified. We give the specifics of this circuitry for AMBA AXI4, then create a system comprised of several master and slave units connected by an AXI4-Lite interconnect to quantify the overhead of the Trojan channel and illustrate the ability of our Trojans to evade a suite of protocol compliance checking assertions from ARM.
Fan Zhongyan and Confucius-Yanhui Happiness View

During the renaissance of the Song Dynasty-Confucianism,Confucius-Yanhui Happiness had been a hot topic and a great goal for the Confucians.It was usually believed that it was Zhou Dunyi who first paid respect to the Confucius-Yanhui Happiness.However,based on the analysis of some historical documents,it is proved that Fan Zhongyan was earlier than Zhou Dunyi in studying and pursuing the Confucius-Yanhui Happiness,and that with Fan's encouragement some scholars were made ready for the renaissance of the Song Dynasty-Confucianism.
Surveillance and analysis on food contamination by Listeria monocytogenes in Hohhot province from 2010 to 2013

Objective In order to provide a scientific evidence for health supervision,an investigation on Listeria monocytogenes contamination in foods was completed in Hohhot. Method The investigation was performed according to National Surveillance of Food borne Pathogens Manual and GB / T 4789-2010. Results 744 samples of 8 kinds of foods were examined.10(1.34%) Listeria monocytogenes isolates were identified.The positive rate in meat products was 4.71%,in unpacked foods was 1.63%,and in farmers market foods was 2.56%. Conclusions Test results signify that foods,particularly the meat products and unpacked food, in Hohhot were contaminated by L. monocytogenes. The positive rate of L.monocytogenes in the foods that had been got from farmers market was the highest.Food hygiene supervision department should increase supervision of raw meat and unpacked foods and strengthen the management of hygiene of farmers market.
Reducing on the job injuries

Forming a Safety Team in conjunction with the Hospital's Safety Department to develop and implement a plan to reduce injuries of security officers has resulted in a substantial reduction of such injuries and the costs involved, the author reports. This, he adds, despite increases in the number of incidents which in the past were potentially the most frequent causes of injuries.
Energy discounted computing on multicore smartphones

Multicore processors are not energy proportional: the first running CPU core that activates shared resources incurs much higher power cost than each additional core does. On the other hand, typical smartphone applications exhibit little parallelism and therefore when one core is activated by an interactive application, computing resources at other cores are available at a deep energy discount. By non-work-conserving scheduling, we exploit energy-discounted co-run opportunities to process best-effort smartphone tasks that involve no direct user interaction (e.g., data compression / encryption for cloud backup, background sensing, and offline bytecode compilation). We show that, for optimal co-run energy discount, the best-effort processing must not elevate the overall system power state (specifically, no reduction of the multicore CPU idle state, no increase of the core frequency, and no impact on the system suspension period). In addition, we use available ARM performance counters to identify co-run resource contention on the multicore processor and throttle best-effort task when it interferes with interactivity. Experimental results on a multicore smartphone show that we can reach up to 63% energy discount in the best-effort task processing with little performance impact on the interactive applications.
Resonant Optical Suppression of the Van der Waals Force

The behavior of a single two-level atom in the presence of strong resonant light fields was first described by Mollow[l] and Cohen-Tannoudji[2], and observed by Schuda[3]. The interaction of light with two atoms coupled by Van der Waals forces has been described previously only well off resonance [4], however. Here we show that stationary pair systems of this kind, driven by light fields resonant with double-excitation pair transitions, exhibit unique features[5]. These include a seven-line resonance fluorescence spectrum and resonant suppression of the Van der Waals force.
Role of adenosine in norepinephrine-induced coronary vasodilation

Adenosine has been postulated to be the physiological transmitter coupling increases in coronary blood flow to increases in myocardial metabolism. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the role of adenosine in the coronary hyperemia due to norepinephrine. In 11 anesthetized, closed-chest canine preparations, the left main coronary artery was cannulated and perfused with blood at 100 mmHg. Coronary blood flow and myocardial oxygen consumption were measured, and interstitial adenosine concentration was estimated from arterial and coronary venous measurements using a distributed model. Adenosine receptor blockade with 8-phenyltheophylline (8-PT) was used to shift the adenosine dose-response curve 12-fold. During intracoronary norepinephrine infusion, coronary blood flow and myocardial oxygen consumption increased similarly before and after 8-PT, demonstrating a lack of an effect from the adenosine receptor blockade. Before 8-PT, estimated interstitial adenosine increased to a vasoactive concentration (220 nM); however, the temporal correlation with coronary blood flow was poor. After 8-PT, a similar increase in estimated interstitial adenosine was found, demonstrating that there was no augmentation in adenosine concentration to overcome the adenosine receptor blockade. Thus adenosine could not be responsible for the increase in coronary blood flow after adenosine receptor blockade and therefore is not required for norepinephrine-induced hyperemia.
DISCRETE STRUCTURAL DOMAINS DETERMINE DIFFERENTIAL ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM TO GOLGI TRANSIT TIMES FOR GLUCOSE TRANSPORTER ISOFORMS

The rate of movement of the glucose transporter isoforms Glut1 and Glut4 from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus was investigated by pulse labeling and monitoring endoglycosidase H resistance in mRNA-injected Xenopus oocytes and in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, a cell line that naturally expresses both transporter isoforms. Despite their high degree of sequence identity, Glut1 and Glut4 exhibited dramatically different transit times. The t1/2 values for ER to Golgi transit for Glut1 and Glut4 were
Student pharmacists provide tobacco use prevention education to elementary school children: A pilot experience

Abstract Background and purpose The purpose of this article is to describe a service learning experience involving tobacco prevention education and to measure the education's effect on the learners' knowledge of tobacco products. Educational activity and setting Student pharmacists planned and presented a 40-min tobacco prevention education program using the Tar Wars curriculum to fourth and fifth grade students at three suburban elementary schools in Western Massachusetts. Mean scores on a five-question assessment given to school age children before and after the presentation were compared. A total of 206 elementary school students in ten classrooms participated. Findings The average survey score increased from 1.87 on the pre-survey to 3.72 out of a maximum of five on the post-survey (P Discussion and Summary Student pharmacists provided tobacco prevention education to three suburban elementary schools. The children demonstrated an increase in short-term knowledge regarding tobacco use. Tobacco prevention is a unique co-curricular opportunity for student pharmacists to get involved in their community.
Tratamiento de Minerales de Uranio

(1964). Tratamiento de Minerales de Uranio. Nuclear Science and Engineering: Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 297-298.
Vigorous Public Debates in Academic Computer Science: Expert-curated Guides to the Best of CS Research

This installment of Research for Practice features a special curated selection from John Regehr, who takes us on a tour of great debates in academic computer science research. In case you thought flame wars were reserved for Usenet mailing lists and Twitter, think again: the academic literature is full of dramatic, spectacular, and vigorous debates spanning file systems, operating system kernel design, and formal verification.
Leveraging the arrangement of multiple, critically constrained inclusions in resonant metamaterials for control of broadband vibroacoustic energy

Abstract In many applications, unwanted vibroacoustic energies are broadband and concentrated at low frequencies, which presents a challenge for resonance-based dampers and lightweight materials to abate such energies. Recent studies have shown that utilizing the elastic stability limit in elastomeric inclusions can lead to a theoretically unbounded increase in macroscopic damping properties. Additionally, by embedding multiple, distributed masses within poroelastic media, the ability of the media to suppress acoustic energy is increased beyond the inherent attenuation characteristics of the foam itself. To understand the interaction between these two phenomena, this research experimentally characterizes the influences of strategically arranging multiple, critically constrained inclusions to tailor the vibroacoustic damping properties of poroelastic, resonant metamaterials. It is found that that such metamaterials are more effective when two adjacent inclusions are more widely spaced in the axis of wave propagation and in different planes orthogonal to the plane wave. The evidence also suggests that inclusions aligned in the axes normal to the wavefront direction especially promote vibroacoustic energy absorption. Arrangements of multiple inclusions are demonstrated to be robust, in that non-ideal, inclusion designs lead to metamaterials that remain effective to attenuate broadband energy. Moreover, these engineered inclusions are compared to traditional solid inclusions, and are shown to have similar or greater energy suppression while using around 40% less mass.
Systematic review of hearing loss after traumatic brain injury without associated temporal bone fracture.

Abstract Objective While hearing loss following temporal bone fracture is a well-described phenomenon, few data exist on auditory dysfunction in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) without temporal bone fracture. Herein, we aim to systematically review hearing loss after TBI without bony fracture and describe its etiologies. Data sources Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane databases. Review methods A systematic review of the literature from 1966 to January 2017 was performed using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses recommendations. Data were obtained from studies that investigated hearing loss in TBI without skull fracture according to an a priori protocol with inclusion and exclusion criteria. Variables included type and severity of hearing loss, as well as pathophysiology of hearing loss. Results There were 13 studies with 773 patients that met study criteria. Overall, there was one prospective cohort study, four retrospective cohort studies, two case-control studies, and six case reports. The studies with the highest level of evidence report a change in hearing of at least 10–15 dB across a range of frequencies in as many as 58% percent of TBI patients without bony fracture, which was transient or chronic. The mechanism/severity of injury may impact the rate of hearing loss. Conclusions Hearing loss after TBI in the absence of bony injury appears to be a clinically significant but poorly characterized phenomenon.
Corrosion Inhibition: Investigation of Lanolin Coating on the Corrosion Characteristics of Low Carbon Steel in Simulated Sea Water

There is a high demand for an environmentally friendly and cost-effective corrosion inhibitor. Commercially available lanolin has been used as a biodegradable corrosion inhibitor in addition to being a natural lubricant as a results of its relatively low viscosity. This is very useful particularly for marine steel structural applications. In this investigation, corrosion of lanolin-coated 1018 steel was examined after submerging in a stagnant simulated marine environment. Investigation of microstructure for surface corrosion variation including corrosion rate was carried out on both standard and lanolin-coated 1018 steel specimens. Based on the results obtained in this study, it was concluded that lanolin-treated 1018 steel samples retained lanolin coat during long-term submersion. This is attributed to the preferential lanolin amalgamation that occurred over time. The application of protective coat played an important role in corrosion protection/prevention. Pitting corrosion was dominant in uncoated samples, as expected. SEM-based analysis has demonstrated substantial corrosion attack occurring at the periphery of the standard sample compared to lanolin-coated samples.
Case Study: A Multiracial Man Seeks Care in the Emergency Department

Franklin is a 58-year-old multiethnic, multiracial man of African-American, Cherokee, and Scottish background who views all aspects of his heritage as important. He also considers being multiracial as a unique cultural experience. He grew up in a multi-generation household consisting of his paternal grandmother (Cherokee), mother (third-generation Scottish-American), father (African-American and Cherokee), and his three brothers and two sisters. Unable to marry in their home state due to miscegenation laws, Franklin’s parents married in a US state that permitted interracial marriages where they then settled to start a new life and family together. The opening of a factory with employee housing provided steady employment that led to a factory-sponsored mortgage to purchase a family home in a new housing development bordering the factory. Although federal laws purported “equal opportunities” in employment, education, and housing, the reality was that overt and covert discrimination existed, so factory work and company housing were greatly welcomed.
Second main theorem without exceptional intervals in value distribution theory

We prove the Second Main Theorem in Value Distribution Theory for meromorphic maps, generalizing a result obtained byVitter [5].
Effects of non-mining occupational silica exposure on proportional mortality from silicosis and systemic sclerosis.

Objective. Studies report an association between mining related silica exposure and systemic sclerosis (SSc). This study evaluated associations between non-mining occupational silica exposure, silicosis, and SSc. Methods. The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently identified 36 non-mining occupations in which workers face the potential for substantial silica exposure. Data from death certificates in 25 US states during 1985-92 were analyzed to determine whether excess proportional mortality from silicosis or SSc occurred among those who worked in these occupations. Results. Proportional mortality from silicosis in the occupations identified by NIOSH was significantly elevated among men [proportional mortality ratio (PMR) = 1.4; p < 0.0001] and women (PMR = 7.1; p = 0.002). The proportional mortality from SSc was not elevated among men (PMR = 1.0; p = 0.90) and was lower than expected among women (PMR = 0.8; p = 0.39). Conclusion. When cited on death certificates, the non-mining occupational categories identified by NIOSH reflect prior silica exposure; however, no evidence of excess mortality from SSc was observed in these occupations. The reported increased frequency of SSc among miners may depend on a level or mode of silica exposure unique to the mining industry.
Inflammatory Markers and Novel Risk Factors

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world. The escalation in global prevalence of abdominal adiposity and its associated metabolic risk factors has fueled speculation that cardiovascular disease will become the leading cause of mortality worldwide by 2020 (1). Increasing interest has focused on the development of new systemic biomarkers to assist in the prediction of cardiovascular risk. This should facilitate more effective use of therapeutic strategies developed for cardiovascular prevention.
Population growth, internal migration, and environmental degradation in rural areas of developing countries.

This paper examines possible relationships between demographic processes and the environment in rural areas in developing countries. Evidence is reviewed on increasing degradation in the forms of deforestation (of highland forests as well as lowland forests), soil erosion and soil desiccation. The conceptual framework considers changes in demographics as well as economic behaviour being induced by population growth and increasing pressures upon the land, but the focus here is on economic changes in the form of land extensification—often involving internal migration—and land intenstification. Despite data problems, the expected relationships are observed: countries with higher rural population growth tend to have larger increases in the arable land area and associated deforestation, but the intensification effects appear stronger. The paper concludes with implications for policy and further research.
High-Order Parameter Tuners for the Adaptive Control of Linear and Nonlinear Systems

A new method of parameter tuning is introduced which generates as outputs not only a set of tuned parameters, but also the first \(\bar n\) time derivatives of each parameter, \(\bar n\) being a prespecified positive integer. Using a modification of the idea of certainty-equivalence control, called “surrogate model control,” it is explained how to construct an “identifier-based parameterized controller” which, when tuned using the aforementioned method, is capable of adaptively stabilizing any member of a specially structured family of nonlinear systems. An analysis is made of a model reference adaptive control algorithm consisting of a simplified high-order tuner and an identifier-based parameterized controller. It is shown that this algorithm can adaptively stabilize siso processes admitting linear, minimum phase models with different relative degrees.
Treatment of Opiate Addiction in Asia

Treatment systems are usually studied at one point in time, although they have developed over time. Often they began to meet yesterday’s dilemmas; these may differ considerably from today’s challenges. Such systems usually grow by accretions, in fits and starts, rather than in a smooth, integrated fashion. Various folk, indigenous, or nonpublic means of healing or treatment for addiction predated the development of modem treatment systems. Antiaddiction programs vary from place to place, being private in one place and governmental in another, lay or professional, coercive or voluntary, primarily medical or primarily social. For example, private physicians and healers in Hong Kong have treated addicts for decades. The first government program in Hong Kong was located at the psychiatric hospital at Castle Peale Another early program was a private rehabilitation effort—the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts. A compulsory prison program began around the same time. These facilities cooperated with medical, rehabilitative, and self-help programs as they were subsequently established to treat addicts (Way, 1965). Methadone maintenance was evaluated for 3 years and then added to this diverse array of resources.
Transition Metal Ions in the Gas Phase

For several years we have been studying the chemistry of atomic transition metal ions with simple organic molecules. This research was stimulated by our interest in examining the consequences of oxidation and reduction of transition metals in their gas phase ion molecule chemistry. This is an area of chemistry, redox chemistry, which has received little attention from those of us interested in gas phase chemical dynamics. An initial discovery in our investigations was that atomic transition metal ions are quite subject to oxidative addition; a concerted process in which XY adds to M so that the metal is inserted into the XY bond to form XMY. As Pearson notes [1], it has only been in the last 15 years that oxidative addition has been recognized as an important elementary reaction. In fact our results appear to be the first direct observation of oxidative addition to transition metals in the gas phase. We have been particularly interested in oxidative addition processes that involve formation of metal carbon bonds. We have obtained evidence that such processes occur in alkyl halides and alcohols [2–4], in halobenzenes [5] and in alkanes [6,7].
Characterizing multi-decadal, annual land cover change dynamics in Houston, TX based on automated classification of Landsat imagery

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused substantial loss of life and property in the swiftly urbanizing region of Houston, TX. Now in its wake, researchers are tasked with investigating how to plan for an...
Causal models on probability spaces

We describe the interface between measure theoretic probability and causal inference by constructing causal models on probability spaces within the potential outcomes framework. We find that measure theory provides a precise and instructive language for causality and that consideration of the probability spaces underlying causal models offers clarity into central concepts of causal inference. By closely studying simple, instructive examples, we demonstrate insights into causal effects, causal interactions, matching procedures, and randomization. Additionally, we introduce a simple technique for visualizing causal models on probability spaces that is useful both for generating examples and developing causal intuition. Finally, we provide an axiomatic framework for causality and make initial steps towards a formal theory of general causal models.
Biochar alleviated the salt stress of induced saline paddy soil and improved the biochemical characteristics of rice seedlings differing in salt tolerance

Abstract Biochar is used mainly to alleviate salt stress in arid and semiarid soils, or to regulate acidification stress in paddy soils. However, the effects of biochar on paddy soil environments under salt stress and the biochemical characteristics of rice seedlings differing in salt tolerance are unclear. This study explored whether and how biochar is involved in alleviating salt stress in paddy soil and regulating the biochemical characteristics of rice seedlings. The trial was conducted under pot culture conditions, and NaCl was used as the salt stress agent in paddy soil. Two rice varieties were used in this trial: Jinyuan 85 (a salt-tolerant rice variety) and Nipponbare (a salt-sensitive rice variety). The salt stress included three treatments: 0 g NaCl kg−1 dry soil (control, S0), 1 g NaCl kg−1 dry soil (S1), and 3 g NaCl kg−1 dry soil (S3). Biochar produced by rice straw involved three treatments: no biochar (control, C0), biochar produced at 300℃ applied into soil (C300), and biochar produced at 600℃ applied into soil (C600). The results suggested that the adsorption ability of the biochar produced at 600℃ was significantly higher than that of the biochar produced at 300℃. Bulk density, electrical conductivity, exchangeable Na+ and exchangeable Cl- in the soil under salt stress were greatly decreased by the application of biochar, and the soil environment of C600 was more favorable for rice seedlings. The salt accumulations in the rice seedling, and the microstructure of the root and leaf of the rice seedlings under salt stress were significantly and positively affected by the biochar, and the biochemical characteristics of the rice seedlings also greatly improved in response to biochar application. The responses of Nipponbare to salt stress were more severe than those of Jinyuan 85, while the regulatory effects of biochar were more favorable for Jinyuan 85 than for Nipponbare. In conclusion, biochar, especially that produced at 600℃ in this trial played a positive role in alleviating the inhibitory effects of salt stress on rice seedlings, and might be useful as an amendment in saline soils to improve rice plant growth.
Pre-Stimulation of CML CD34+ Cells with High Concentrations of Growth Factors Counters Imatinib-Mediated Proliferation Suppression and Enhances Apoptosis of Non-Dividing Cells.

While imatinib mesylate is a highly effective treatment for CML, there is accumulating evidence that it may not adequately target quiescent malignant HSCs. In vitro exposure to imatinib inhibits CML progenitor growth primarily through suppression of abnormally enhanced proliferation. Apoptosis appears to be restricted to dividing cells while quiescent progenitors are resistant to apoptosis. One approach to more effectively enhance the sensitivity of HSCs to imatinib may be to induce them to cycle using hematopoietic growth factors (GF). We have shown that exposure of CML CD34+ progenitors to imatinib (1μM) in high GF conditions (100ng/ml SCF and FL3, 20ng/ml IL6, G-CSF and IL3) reduced the total number of viable, undivided cells compared to control cells cultured in 100-fold lower GF conditions (low GF). High GF treated cells were more proliferative but less sensitive to imatinib-mediated apoptosis (Blood2004, 104:2967). We hypothesized that pre-stimulation with high GF prior to imatinib exposure would further reduce viable, non-dividing CML progenitors. CML CD34+ cells were cultured in high GF for 48 hours and then exposed to imatinib (1μM) for 48 hours in either high or low GF conditions. Compared to cells exposed to imatinib without any pre-stimulation, high GF pre-stimulation significantly reduced imatinib-mediated inhibition of proliferation in both low GF (22±5%, p=0.0009) and high GF (18±3%; p=0.0003). Pre-stimulation decreased imatinib-mediated apoptosis when compared to the same conditions with no pre-stimulation [19±2% for imatinib treatment in low GF (p
Effects of Skin-to-Skin Care During Cesareans: A Quasiexperimental Feasibility/Pilot Study.

Introduction: Our aim was to describe feasibility and outcomes of skin-to-skin care (SSC) that began during cesarean surgery and continued, uninterrupted, for about 5 hours. We described maternal/n...
Prostate cancer incidence across stage, NCCN risk groups, and age before and after USPSTF Grade D recommendations against prostate-specific antigen screening in 2012.

BACKGROUND We sought to determine the extent to which US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) 2012 Grade D recommendations against prostate-specific antigen screening may have impacted recent prostate cancer disease incidence patterns in the United States across stage, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) risk groups, and age groups. METHODS SEER*Stat version 8.3.4 was used to calculate annual prostate cancer incidence rates from 2010 to 2015 for men aged ≥50 years according to American Joint Committee on Cancer stage at diagnosis (localized vs metastatic), NCCN risk group (low vs unfavorable [intermediate or high-risk]), and age group (50-74 years vs ≥75 years). Age-adjusted incidences per 100,000 persons with corresponding year-by-year incidence ratios (IRs) were calculated using the 2000 US Census population. RESULTS From 2010 to 2015, the incidence (per 100,000 persons) of localized prostate cancer decreased from 195.4 to 131.9 (Ptrend < .001) and from 189.0 to 123.4 (Ptrend < .001) among men aged 50-74 and ≥75 years, respectively. The largest relative year-by-year decline occurred between 2011 and 2012 in NCCN low-risk disease (IR, 0.77 [0.75-0.79, P < .0001] and IR 0.68 [0.62-0.74, P < .0001] for men aged 50-74 and ≥75 years, respectively). From 2010-2015, the incidence of metastatic disease increased from 6.2 to 7.1 (Ptrend < .001) and from 16.8 to 22.6 (Ptrend < .001) among men aged 50-74 and ≥75 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS This report illustrates recent prostate cancer "reverse migration" away from indolent disease and toward more aggressive disease beginning in 2012. The incidence of localized disease declined across age groups from 2012 to 2015, with the greatest relative declines occurring in low-risk disease. Additionally, the incidence of distant metastatic disease increased gradually throughout the study period.