cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Visibility and Legibility of Exit Signs Part II: Experimental Results

Part I1 presented an analytical assessment of the factors involved in visibility and legibility of exit signs in commerial buildings. As noted in that article, the available literature on this important topic is surprisingly sparse, there are a number of conflicts in existing standards, and it appears that many of the required illumination levels are unnecessarily high. This suggests the possibility of significant energy savings if more meaningful specification requirements for exit signs can be established and justified. This paper presents experimental verification of the analytical results.
Molecular Biology and Clinical Mitigation of Cancer Treatment-Induced Neuropathy.

Disruption of microtubule function is the antitumor mechanism of several classes of drugs used to treat cancer today. However, the significant beneficial effect on tumor outcomes is frequently counterbalanced by neurotoxic complications. Despite an abundance of scientific data, our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying this toxic reaction remains unclear, further hindering attempts to identify and develop effective preventive strategies. The primary goals of this review are to: (1) provide insight regarding the biology of the microtubule, (2) analyze the molecular and biochemical pathways that may be involved in the development of neurotoxicity, and (3) propose a unifying concept linking drug-induced neuropathy, microtubule dysfunction, and vitamin D.
Strategy for treatment of acute evolving myocardial infarction with pulsatile left heart assist device. Can this modality increase survival and enhance myocardial salvage

This article describes the technique of left heart bypass in the treatment of both experimental and clinical acute myocardial infarction. A new technique of closed-chest percutaneous left heart bypass that can be used in patients with acute evolving myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock is also described.
Plasma Selenium Protein P Isoform 1 (SEPP1): A Predictor of Selenium Status in Nepalese Children Detected by Plasma Proteomics.

Abstract. Selenium deficiency or excess may have public health consequences, yet selenium status is infrequently characterized in populations, perhaps due to challenges in methodology. We are seeking to identify plasma proteins, using proteomics discovery and validation approaches, to serve as proxies for micronutrient status, including selenium, which may in the future be more readily assessed by robust, affordable field methods. In a sample of rural Nepalese children 6 - 8 years old (n = 500), the prevalence of selenium deficiency was 13.6 and 60.9 % at plasma selenium concentrations < 0.60 and < 0.89 µmol/L, respectively, assessed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Relative abundance of selenoprotein P isoform 1 (SEPP1), glutathione reductase-3, and apolipoprotein A2 from discovery-based experiments was correlated with plasma selenium with a false discovery rate < 10 % (i. e., q < 0.10), all with p < 0.001. In linear mixed effects regression models to predict plasma selenium, only SEPP1 was significant...
Outcome of Gleason 3 + 5 = 8 Prostate Cancer Diagnosed on Needle Biopsy: Prognostic Comparison with Gleason 4 + 4 = 8.

Purpose: ISUP (International Society for Urologic Pathology) and WHO adopted prognostic Grade Groups 1 to 5 that simplify prostate cancer grading for prognosis. Grade Group 4 is Gleason score 8 cancer, which is heterogeneous, and it encompasses Gleason score 4 + 4 = 8, 3 + 5 = 8 and 5 + 3 = 8. The comparative prognostic implications of these various Gleason scores had not been studied by urological pathologists after a re-review of slides.Materials and Methods: Patients with a highest biopsy Gleason score of 3 + 5 = 8 or 4 + 4 = 8 were included in the study. Controls were cases with a highest Gleason score of 4 + 3 = 7 or 9-10. A total of 423 prostatic biopsy cases accessioned from 2005 to 2013 at 2 institutions were reviewed. Clinicopathological findings and followup (median 33.4 months) were assessed.Results: Among Gleason score 8 cancers the cancer status outcome in 51 men with Gleason score 3 + 5 = 8 was marginally worse than in 114 with Gleason score 4 + 4 = 8 (p = 0.04). This was driven by a persist...
Semantic Similarity Graphs of Mathematics Word Problems: Can Terminology Detection Help?.

Curricula often lack metadata to characterize the relatedness of concepts. To investigate automatic methods for generating relatedness metadata for a mathematics curriculum, we first address the task of identifying which terms in the vocabulary from mathematics word problems are associated with the curriculum. High chance-adjusted interannotator agreement on manual identification of math terms was achieved by considering terms in their contexts. These terms represent 13% of the vocabulary in one seventh grade mathematics text. Six classification algorithms were compared to classify math terms for this text. To avoid overfitting to this curriculum, we relied on a small number of features that exploit external knowledge sources.
An evaluation of the attentional demand of selected visual route guidance systems

Experiments were conducted in a moderate-fidelity desktop simulator to investigate the attentional demand of four types of turn-by-turn route guidance displays. Subjects had to perform a tracking task with the mouse and record their decision to turn left, go straight, or turn right at an intersection, by pressing the left, middle or right mouse buttons. The RMS value of the tracking error and the response time to the pressing of the buttons, were the performance measures. Two of the turn-by-turn displays (one of which was text based, and the other that did not contain street names but merely a count of intersections to the turn) performed worse than the other two turn-by-turn displays. The most effective and preferred display was the one which used countdown bars to supplement text elements concerning distance from the turn location, retained turn location intersection geometry as part of the display, and provided symbolic cues when a turn was imminent.
The effect of rupture velocity upon seismic first motions

Abstract The effect of rupture velocity upon the first motion radiated by seismic sources is to multiply the radiation pattern by a scalar factor. This modulating function is F 1 = ζ /(1 − ( ζ / c ) cos ψ ) for unilateral dislocations and F 2 = 2 ζ /(1 − ( ζ / c ) 2 cos 2 ψ ) for bilateral dislocations; here ζ and c are the velocities of rupture and wave propagation respectively and ψ is the angle between the direction of rupture propagation and the radius vector to the observer. It is presumed that ζ > c . This result constitutes a correction to the first motion theories of Knopoff and Gilbert. The relation of the first motion to the complete response is shown by a sample calculation. It is concluded that the amplitude of the first half cycle of trace displacement on a seismogram is probably a valid measure of the first motion at least for major shallow-focus earthquakes.
Readmissions after diagnosis of surgical site infection following knee and hip arthroplasty.

Context. Surgical site infection (SSI) after total hip and knee arthroplasty is a common postoperative complication. We sought to determine readmission rates and costs for total hip and knee arthroplasty complicated by SSI.Design. The Thomson Reuters MarketScan database was searched for patients who underwent knee or hip arthroplasty in 2007. From these data, patients who received a diagnosis of SSI and were readmitted after diagnosis were identified.Setting. A population of 31 to 45 million individuals receiving insurance coverage. Patients who underwent knee or hip arthroplasty who experienced a hospitalization for SSI in the year after surgery were analyzed.Outcome measures. Total readmission rates and costs per readmission at 30, 60, and 90 days and 1 year after diagnosis of SSI.Results. Of the 76,289 case patients with hip or knee replacement in 2007, 1,026 (1.3%) had a hospitalization for SSI within the year after surgery. Among these patients, 310 (30.2%) were subsequently rehospitalized in the yea...
Film Violence and Perceptions of Crime: The Cultivation Effect

(1987). Film Violence and Perceptions of Crime: The Cultivation Effect. Annals of the International Communication Association: Vol. 10, Communication Yearbook 10, pp. 384-394.
The Construction of Fraction Schemes Using the Generalized Number Sequence

In this chapter, we trace the construction of the fraction schemes of two of the children in our teaching experiment, Nathan and Arthur, who apparently had already constructed a generalized number sequence before we began working with them. We interacted with these two children as we did with the other children in the sense that our history of the children along with their current mathematical activity served in creating possibilities and hypotheses that we continually explored in teaching episodes. In our interactions, we found that their construction of the operations that produce the generalized number sequence opened possibilities for their constructive activity that we did not experience with the other children. We did not decide a priori to use higher-order tasks in our interactions with these two children than we used with the other children. Rather, their ways of operating served as the basis for our constructions of tasks that we used. Nathan participated in the teaching experiment during his third, fourth, and fifth grades, whereas Arthur participated only during his fourth and fifth grades.
Autophagy, inflammation, and breast cancer risk

Abstract Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women, with more than 246,000 new cases diagnosed annually. Based upon receptor profiling, breast cancer can be classified into estrogen receptor (ER) positive, human epidermal growth factor-2 receptor (HER2) overexpressing, or triple negative (TN) that are ER negative, progesterone receptor negative, and HER2 normal. Targeted therapy options, such as selective ER modulators or aromatase inhibitors for ER+ breast cancer, or HER2-targeted antibodies and EGFR inhibitors for HER2-overexpressing breast cancers, improve overall survival rates. TN breast cancers are limited to cytotoxic chemotherapeutic options. Unfortunately, many of these tumors develop resistance to treatments, which limit the curative potential of these therapies. Autophagy, a cellular process of “self-eating,” is implicated as a possible contributor to therapy resistance in breast cancer. Autophagy plays an important role in inflammation and immune responses, which may impact breast cancer risk and therapeutic responsiveness.
Z 3 topological order in the face-centered-cubic quantum plaquette model

We examine the topological order in the resonating singlet valence plaquette (RSVP) phase of the hard-core quantum plaquette model (QPM) on the face centered cubic (FCC) lattice. To do this, we construct a Rohksar-Kivelson type Hamiltonian of local plaquette resonances. This model is shown to exhibit a ${\mathbb{Z}}_{3}$ topological order, which we show by identifying a ${\mathbb{Z}}_{3}$ topological constant (which leads to a ${3}^{3}$-fold topological ground state degeneracy on the 3-torus) and topological pointlike charge and looplike magnetic excitations which obey ${\mathbb{Z}}_{3}$ statistics. We also consider an exactly solvable generalization of this model, which makes the geometrical origin of the ${\mathbb{Z}}_{3}$ order explicitly clear. For other models and lattices, such generalizations produce a wide variety of topological phases, some of which are novel fracton phases.
Potential U.S. Population Impact of the 2017 ACC/AHA High Blood Pressure Guideline.

Background: The 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults provides recommendations for the definition of hypertension, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) thresholds for initiation of antihypertensive medication, and BP target goals. Objectives: This study sought to determine the prevalence of hypertension, implications of recommendations for antihypertensive medication, and prevalence of BP above the treatment goal among US adults using criteria from the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline and the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC7). Methods: The authors analyzed data from the 2011 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (N = 9 623). BP was measured 3 times following a standardized protocol and averaged. Results were weighted to produce US population estimates. Results: According to the 2017 ACC/AHA and JNC7 guidelines, the crude prevalence of hypertension among US adults was 45.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 43.6% to 47.6%) and 31.9% (95% CI: 30.1% to 33.7%), respectively, and antihypertensive medication was recommended for 36.2% (95% CI: 34.2% to 38.2%) and 34.3% (95% CI: 32.5% to 36.2%) of US adults, respectively. Nonpharmacological intervention is advised for the 9.4% of US adults with hypertension who are not recommended for antihypertensive medication according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline. Among US adults taking antihypertensive medication, 53.4% (95% CI: 49.9% to 56.8%) and 39.0% (95% CI: 36.4% to 41.6%) had BP above the treatment goal according to the 2017 ACC/AHA and JNC7 guidelines, respectively. Conclusions: Compared with the JNC7 guideline, the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline results in a substantial increase in the prevalence of hypertension, a small increase in the percentage of US adults recommended for antihypertensive medication, and more intensive BP lowering for many adults taking antihypertensive medication.
Detection of light

The invention and development of advanced methods to detect light underlies much of modern technology. This fully updated and restructured third edition is unique amongst the literature, providing a comprehensive, uniform discussion of a broad range of detection approaches. The material is accessible to a broad range of readers rather than just highly trained specialists, beginning with first principles and developing the relevant physics as it goes. The book emphasizes physical understanding of detector operation, without being a catalog of current examples. It is self-contained but also provides a bridge to more specialized works on specific approaches; each chapter points readers toward the relevant literature. This will provide a broad and lasting understanding of the methods for detecting light that underpin so much of our technology. The book is suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and will provide a valuable reference for professionals across physics and engineering disciplines.
Premicellar taurocholate enhances calcium uptake from all regions of rat small intestine

Abstract Background/Aims: The specific components of bile, which is necessary for normal calcium absorption, are unknown. We have previously shown that Ca 2+ is bound with high affinity by premicellar taurocholate. The current studies examined the effects of taurocholate on intestinal calcium transport. Methods: Intestinal Ca 2+ uptakes were measured from proximal, mid, and distal small intestinal segments perfused with solutions containing 45 CaCl 2 (0.1–1 mmol/L), taurocholate (0–10 mmol/L), trihydroxymethylaminomethane buffer (pH 7), phenolsulfonpthalein (nonabsorbable marker), and NaCl (total ionic strength, 0.16 mol/L) for four randomized perfusion periods. In other studies, the proximal small intestine was divided into two equal segments and perfused with either 45 CaCl 2 or 45 CaCl 2 plus taurocholate (2.5–5 mmol/L). Calcium absorption was measured from the difference in uptake and calcium concentration retained in mucosa. Finally, effects of taurocholate on Ca 2+ uptake across isolated brush border membrane vesicles were measured. Results: Premicellar taurocholate produced an approximately 1.7–2-fold enhancement ( P 2+ uptake in all regions, with lesser contributions from micellar taurocholate. These effects resulted in a net increase in calcium absorption. Premicellar taurocholate also significantly increased calcium uptake across brush border vesicles. Conclusions: Premicellar taurocholate significantly enhances calcium uptake into, and absorption across, enterocytes. The mechanisms remain to be experimentally verified.
Alveolar Epithelial Fluid Transport Under Normal and Pathological Conditions

This chapter focuses on the mechanisms of salt and water transport across alveolar and distal airway epithelium of the adult lung. The first section presents evidence for active sodium transport as a mechanism for regulating in vivo alveolar fluid clearance, including a discussion of catecholamine and non-catecholamine dependent mechanisms for stimulating fluid transport. The second section reviews new evidence for involvement of transcellular water channels in alveolar and distal airway fluid transport, and the third section describes how the normal capacity of the alveolar epithelial barrier to transport salt and water is altered by exposure to clinically relevant pathological conditions).
Postoperative Hormonal Suppression for Prevention of Deeply Infiltrative Endometriosis Recurrence After Surgery

The long-term management of deeply infiltrative endometriosis (DIE) remains debatable. Surgical excision improves pain and fertility in patients with endometriosis, however recurrence is common. In this article, we present an evidence-based approach of recurrence and postoperative hormonal suppression in DIE. A clear understanding of recurrence patterns and methods for prevention of DIE are lacking. Repeat surgery in DIE patients is associated with increased morbidity. Older data has suggested the limited utility of short-term postoperative hormonal suppression for the prevention of pain or disease recurrence for patients with endometriosis (Yap et al., Cochrane Database Syst Rev. (3):CD003678, 2004). More recent studies suggest that long-term medical therapy with oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) or progesterone only pills (POPs) reduces recurrence of superficial disease and endometriomas. Limited data, however, exists for DIE. This article reviews the literature of hormonal suppression for the prevention of postoperative recurrence of DIE. Despite the dearth of data, the current evidence suggests the utility of long-term postoperative hormonal suppression after surgery especially in those who underwent incomplete excision of DIE. Longer follow-up studies are greatly needed.
Aging and HIV Disease: Synergistic Immunological Effects?

The population of HIV-infected adults is progressively aging, due to more effective treatments that lower the viral load. Since aging and HIV disease each have major detrimental effects on the immune system, it is possible that in older persons who are infected with HIV-1, the immune changes due to the infection combined with those that occur with age may synergize to exacerbate the disease. Indeed, clinical studies have already documented older age as an independent risk factor for more rapid HIV disease progression. Moreover, immunological recovery in older individuals treated with antiretroviral drugs is less robust than in younger adults, even with equivalent levels of viral suppression. The challenge to future research will be to develop a detailed mechanistic understanding of the interplay between HIV-related and age-related immunological changes. This information will advance our theoretical understanding of the immune system, and, at the same time provide practical information regarding age-appropriate approaches to therapy and prophylactic vaccines.
Investigation of a Solid-State Tuning Behavior in Lithium Niobate

Electric field-based frequency tuning of acoustic resonators at the material level provides an enabling technology for building complex tunable filters. Tunable acoustic resonators were fabricated in thin plates (h/$\lambda \sim 0.05)$ of X-cut lithium niobate (90°, 90°, ψ = 170°). Lithium niobate is known for its large electromechanical coupling (SH: K2 40%) and thus applicability for low-insertion loss and wideband filter applications. We demonstrate the effect of a DC bias to shift the resonant frequency by ~ 0.4% by directly tuning the resonator material. The mechanism is based on the nonlinearities that exist in the piezoelectric properties of lithium niobate. Devices centered at 332 MHz achieved frequency tuning of 12 kHz/V through application of a DC bias.
What it takes to win when the game is rigged: the evolution of opposition electoral strategies in Moscow, 2012–2017

This paper examines how the political opposition innovated strategies to overcome obstacles presented by Russia’s uneven electoral playing field. Using evidence from two municipal elections in Mosc...
Joint linkage and association mapping of complex traits in shrub willow (Salix purpurea L.)

Background and aims Increasing energy demands and the necessity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are key motivating factors driving the development of lignocellulosic crops as an alternative to non-renewable energy sources. The effects of global climate change will require a better understanding of the genetic basis of complex adaptive traits to breed more resilient bioenergy feedstocks, like willow (Salix spp.). Shrub willow is a sustainable and dedicated bioenergy crop, bred to be fast-growing and high-yielding on marginal land without competing with food crops. In a rapidly changing climate, genomic advances will be vital for the sustained improvement of willow and other non-model bioenergy crops. Here, joint genetic mapping was used to exploit genetic variation garnered from both recent and historical recombination events in S. purpurea. Methods A panel of North American naturalized S. purpurea accessions and full-sib F2S. purpurea population were genotyped and phenotyped for a suite of morphological, physiological, pest and disease resistance, and wood chemical composition traits, collected from multi-environment and multi-year replicated field trials. Controlling for population stratification and kinship in the association panel and spatial variation in the F2, a comprehensive mixed model analysis was used to dissect the complex genetic architecture and plasticity of these important traits. Key results Individually, genome-wide association (GWAS) models differed in terms of power, but the combined approach, which corrects for yearly and environmental co-factors across datasets, improved the overall detection and resolution of associated loci. Although there were few significant GWAS hits located within support intervals of QTL for corresponding traits in the F2, many large-effect QTL were identified, as well as QTL hotspots. Conclusions This study provides the first comparison of linkage analysis and linkage disequilibrium mapping approaches in Salix, and highlights the complementarity and limits of these two methods for elucidating the genetic architecture of complex bioenergy-related traits of a woody perennial breeding programme.
Characteristics of Bed Bug Infested Patients in the Emergency Department

Cimex lectularius L., the common bed bug, is a hematophagous human ectoparasite that has undergone a global resurgence in the past two decades. We surveyed 706 active emergency department (ED) patients about their experiences with bed bugs. We found that 2% of ED patients reported having a current bed bug infestation, significantly more than the historical number of ED patients upon which we find bed bug; 37% of ED patients report previously having been fed on by a bed bug; 15% currently know someone with an active infestation; and 59% know someone that has had an infestation within ≤ 5 years. Only 18% of bed bug infested patients reported their infestation to emergency medicine providers and only 21% were put in isolation precautions. We found that 25% of patients with bed bugs worried about receiving worse healthcare because of their infestation. Persons with bed bugs were more likely compared to those without bed bugs to be older (52 vs. 41 years) and arrive by ambulance (57% vs. 14%) (p < 0.05), but not reporting insomnia (50% vs. 49%) (p = 1.0). Bed bug infested patients can be common in the ED. Most bed bug infested patients are older, arrive to the ED by ambulance, do not report their infestation to healthcare providers, and are not adequately placed into isolation precautions, potentially putting other patients and providers at risk for acquiring the infestation.
Proximal Adjacent Segment Disease Manifesting as Retroodontoid Pseudotumor After Fusion to C2

Background Although adjacent segment disease (ASD) following anterior cervical fusion has been well described in the literature, there is relative paucity of data on this pathology after posterior cervical fusion. To our knowledge, there have been no reported cases of proximal ASD following posterior fusion to C2. Case Description We present 2 cases of proximal ASD presenting as retroodontoid pseudotumors following posterior fusion to C2, both in middle-aged females without history of rheumatologic disease. The first occurred in a patient with Klippel-Feil deformity 13 years after C2-6 posterior cervical fusion, the second in a patient 3 and a half years following revisional circumferential C2-T2 fusion. Both were successfully treated with proximal extension of laminectomy and fusion to the occiput, supplemented in the first patient by transdural decompression of retroodontoid mass. Conclusions Proximal ASD can manifest as retroodontoid pseudotumor at variable time intervals following posterior fusion to C2. Clinicians must account for this possibility in their decision making.
The NIH Toolbox: Overview of Development for Use with Hispanic Populations

Objective:Hispanics/Latinos are the largest and fastest-growing minority population in the United States. To facilitate appropriate outcome assessment of this expanding population, the NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function® (NIH Toolbox®) was developed with particular attention paid to the cultural and linguistic needs of English- and Spanish-speaking Hispanics/Latinos.Methods:A Cultural Working Group ensured that all included measures were appropriate for use with Hispanics/Latinos in both English and Spanish. In addition, a Spanish Language Working Group assessed all English-language NIH Toolbox measures for translatability.Results:Measures were translated following the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) translation methodology for instances where language interpretation could impact scores, or a modified version thereof for more simplified translations. The Spanish versions of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery language measures (i.e., Picture Vocabulary Test, Oral Reading Recognition Test) were developed independently of their English counterparts.Conclusions:The Spanish-language version of the NIH Toolbox provides a much-needed set of tools that can be selected as appropriate to complement existing protocols being conducted with the growing Hispanic/Latino population in the United States.
Intratracheal aerosolization of viral vectors to newborn pig airways.

Gene therapy for airway diseases requires efficient delivery of nucleic acids to the airways. In small animal models, gene delivery reagents are commonly delivered as a bolus dose. However, large a...
Direct observation of cross sectional local conductive paths in a degraded multilayered ceramic capacitor

Using scanning spreading resistance microscopy, we obtained images of local conduction paths on the cross section of a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) just before electrical breakdown. The images were observed after the local low-resistance part in the MLCC was identified as being degraded according to the highly accelerated lifetime test. Each grain in the conductive path images was clearly visible, and the insulation resistance (IR) around the cathode was lower than that near the anode. It was concluded that this is a phenomenon that accompanies the migration of oxygen vacancies. We directly observed the degraded resistance distribution of ceramic grains, which showed the bulk-limited conduction mechanism formed by IR degradation.
Trends in Electronic Content at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library: 1999-2003

Abstract The Cushing/Whitney Medical Library at the Yale School of Medicine has added thousands of electronic journals and many new research databases in the past five years. The library has gathered and analyzed data to measure trends in the use of these online resources. Data show that library patrons are using more research databases than they were five years ago. They make heavy use of electronic journals, although for the largest and most popular package at Yale, the top 17% of journals account for 80% of all use. The link resolver SFX has proven popular as well at CWML, and its use has risen 150% in its first full year of use. Electronic journals can be shown to save library patrons time. In 2003, electronic journals linked through SFX saved Yale researchers, faculty, and students 17,365 hours.
Effect of Ethynyl Estradiol on Hepatic Excretory Function of the Rat

Current knowledge concerning the effect of natural and synthetic estrogens on hepatic excretory function in man (1,2) and in animals (3) is based for the most part on changes in the rate of disappearance from plasma of compounds that are excreted in high concentration in bile. The increased retention in plasma of phenoltetrabromphthalein disulfonate (BSP) and phenoldibromphthalein disulfonate (diBSP) (1–3) has been attributed to a decrease in the transport maximum (Tm) of these compounds from the liver cell into the biliary canaliculus. Since Tm was considered to be independent of bile flow, it has been inferred that the hormone interferes with the active transfer process. However, it has been shown by O’Maille, Richards and Short (4) and others (5,6) that the maximum excretion rate of BSP is enhanced more than two-fold by an increase in bile flow rate. Therefore, changes in the hepatic excretion rate of compounds that are present in bile in high concentrations can be attributed to alterations in both bile flow and active transfer. To distinguish between these possibilities, the effect of ethynyl estradiol on bile flow and the concentration of sodium taurocholate and phenoldibromphthalein disulfonate was determined in bile fistula female rats.
WET: Write Efficient Loop Tiling for Non-Volatile Main Memory

Future systems are expected to increasingly include a Non-Volatile Main Memory (NVMM). However, due to the limited NVMM write endurance, the number of writes must be reduced. While new architectures and algorithms have been proposed to reduce writes to NVMM, few or no studies have looked at the effect of compiler optimizations on writes.In this paper, we investigate the impact of one popular compiler optimization (loop tiling) on a very important computation kernel (matrix multiplication). Our novel observation includes that tiling on matrix multiplication causes a 25× write amplification. Furthermore, we investigate techniques to make tilling more NVMM friendly, through choosing the right tile size and employing hierarchical tiling. Our method Write-Efficient Tiling (WET) adds a new outer tile designed for fitting the write working set to the Last Level Cache (LLC) to reduce the number of writes to NVMM. Our experiments reduce writes by 81% while simultaneously improve performance.
Differential item functioning of the Beck Anxiety Inventory in a rural, multi-ethnic cohort.

Abstract Background Evaluating measurement bias is vital to ensure equivalent assessment across diverse groups. One approach for evaluating test bias, differential item functioning (DIF), assesses item-level bias across specified groups by comparing item-level responses between groups that have the same overall score. Previous DIF studies of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) have only assessed bias across age, sex, and disease duration in monolingual samples. We expand this literature through DIF analysis of the BAI across age, sex, education, ethnicity, cognitive status, and test language. Methods BAI data from a sample (n = 527, mean age=61.4 ± 12.7, mean education=10.9 ± 4.3, 69.3% female, 41.9% Hispanic/Latin American) from rural communities in West Texas, USA were analyzed. Item response theory (IRT) / logistic ordinal regression DIF was conducted across dichotomized demographic grouping factors. The Mann-Whitney U test and Hedge's g standardized mean differences were calculated before and after adjusting for the impact of DIF. Results Significant DIF was demonstrated in 10/21 items. An adverse impact of DIF was not identified when demographics were assessed individually. Adverse DIF was identified for only one participant (1/527, 0.2%) when all demographics were aggregated. Limitations These results might not be generalizable to a sample with broader racial representation, more severe cognitive impairment, and higher levels of anxiety. Conclusions Minimal item-level bias was identified across demographic factors considered. These results support prior evidence that the BAI is valid for assessing anxiety across age and sex while contributing new evidence of its clinical relevance across education, ethnicity, cognitive status, and English/Spanish test language.
Effects of Host Species Identity and Diet on the Biodiversity of the Microbiota in Puerto Rican Bats

Microbiota perform vital functions for their mammalian hosts, making them potential drivers of host evolution. Understanding effects of environmental factors and host characteristics on the composition and biodiversity of the microbiota may provide novel insights into the origin and maintenance of these symbiotic relationships. Our goals were to (1) characterize biodiversity of oral and rectal microbiota in bats from Puerto Rico; and (2) determine the effects of geographic location and host characteristics on that biodiversity. We collected bats and their microbiota from three sites, and used four metrics (species richness, Shannon diversity, Camargo evenness, Berger-Parker dominance) to characterize biodiversity. We quantified the relative importance of site, host sex, host species-identity, and host foraging-guild on biodiversity of the microbiota. Microbe biodiversity was highly variable among conspecifics. Geographical location exhibited consistent effects, whereas host sex did not. Within each host guild, host species exhibited consistent differences in biodiversity of oral microbiota and of rectal microbiota. Oral microbe biodiversity was indistinguishable between guilds, whereas rectal microbe biodiversity was significantly greater in carnivores than in herbivores. The high intraspecific and spatial variation in microbe biodiversity necessitate a relatively large number of samples to statistically isolate the effects of environmental or host characteristics on the microbiota. Species-specific biodiversity of oral microbiota suggests these communities are structured by direct interactions with the host immune system via epithelial receptors. In contrast, the number of microbial taxa that a host gut supports may be driven by host diet-diversity or composition.
Ordered Containers and Their Implementation

We continue with the second branch of the containers specification hierarchy, that of ordered containers Figure 1 Consideration starts with class order, which is general enough to serve as a base class not only for classes stack, queue, and list, but also for a great many other applications. The underlying new concept is a linear ordering method, called greater-than?, which is assumed to be available to order the items in a container. By characterizing this method as a state-representing query, we obtain a generic capability to order container contents that can be readily specialized to any appropriate subclass. In particular, by properly defining greater-than? for stack, queue, and list, we can derive their behaviors from the base class order. (We will show later in this chapter how this differs from the usual specifications of stacks and queues, which don’t take advantage of state-representing queries.)
Food Co‐ops and the Paradox of Exclusivity

Consumer food cooperatives constitute a vital part of the alternative food movement in the United States, alongside farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture, community gardens and other initiatives. Like these efforts, food co-ops seek to counter the dominance of industrial agriculture and the decimation of local economies. Yet food co-ops wrestle with a paradox of exclusivity, whereby some practices and people are inadvertently left out in order to create conditions for a strong identification among others with particular ways of being and doing. This article explores the paradox of exclusivity through an in-depth study of two food co-ops in Philadelphia, PA. Exclusivity manifests itself in what the co-ops sell, their business practices, and how they market themselves to potential members. Overcoming the paradox of exclusivity requires efforts towards affordability, accessibility and reflective practice in order for co-ops to realize their transformative social and economic potential.
Immortalization of human and rhesus macaque primary antigen-specific T cells by retrovirally transduced telomerase reverse transcriptase

Human and rhesus macaque primary antigen-specific T cells derived from infected or immunized individuals or animals are a valuable material with which to study cellular immune responses against pathogens and tumors. Antigen-specific T cells can be expanded in vitro but have a finite proliferative life span. After a limited period in culture, primary T cells undergo replicative senescence and stop dividing. This restricts their applicability to short-term experiments and complicates their use in adoptive immunotherapy. The proliferative life span of primary human and rhesus macaque T cells can be considerably extended by ectopically expressed human telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). Antigen-specific T cells transduced with TERT-expressing retroviral vectors can proliferate and expand in culture for long periods of time while maintaining their primary T cell characteristics, including antigen-specific responses. Thus, TERT-immortalized T cells are an important and valuable resource for studying T cell-mediated immune responses and, potentially, for adoptive immunotherapy.
Neue Modellbildung eines rotordynamischen Systems mit Hilfe eines elektrischen Schaltkreises

Ein mechanisches System kann auf einen aquivalenten elektrischen Schaltkreis reduziert werden, so dass die Impedanzen und Admitanzen die mechanischen Elemente, so z.B. Masse, Feder und Dampfer, nachbilden. Dabei entspricht in der direkten Analogie-Form der Strom der Geschwindigkeit, die Spannung der Kraft; in der indirekten Analogie-Form entspricht umgekehrt der Strom der Kraft, die Spannung der Geschwindigkeit.
Smart-Cuff: A wearable bio-sensing platform with activity-sensitive information quality assessment for monitoring ankle edema

Leg swelling produced by retention of fluid in leg tissues is known as peripheral edema, which is regarded as a symptom for various systematic diseases such as heart or kidney failure. In current clinical practice, edema is manually assessed by clinical experts. Such an assessment can often be inaccurate and unreliable especially if it is made by different operators at different times. Despite the importance of monitoring edema for the purpose of evaluating the course of disease or the effect of treatment, quantifying peripheral edema in a continuous and accurate fashion has remained a challenge. In this paper, we propose a wearable real-time platform (namely, Smart-Cuff), which integrates advanced technologies in sensing, computation, and signal processing and machine learning for continuous and real-time edema monitoring in remote and in-home settings. Given that peripheral edema is highly dependent on various contextual attributes such as body posture, we present an activity-sensitive approach to discard erroneous or contextually invalid sensor data in order to meet the requirements of both energy efficiency and quality of information. Examination of our hardware prototype demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed forcesensitive resistor-based edema sensor (with an R2 of 0.97 for our regression model) as well as the activity monitoring mechanism (over 99% accuracy) that provide the means to perform reliable data sanity check on ankle circumference measurements in a continuous manner.
A Comparison between tomographic and geodynamic models of the Earth's mantle

We compute tomographic images of the short and long wavelength expansions of a 3-D spherical convection simulation to a resolution comparable to that of a recent seismic model of the whole mantle. The simulation incorporates realistic thermal effects associated with convection in the mantle, namely 20% bottom heating and phase transitions at 410 km and 670 km. A depth-dependent viscosity profile, and the history of plate motions starting in the mid-Mesozoic are also imposed. We show that tomography recovers the image of the convection simulation well, making it a useful tool to investigate physical parameters characteristic of mantle convection, in conjunction with geodynamic modeling. Our results indicate that the part of the temperature field corresponding to cold mantle heterogeneity in the convection simulation agrees relatively well with the fast velocities derived from tomography, but that current convection computations are lacking some key ingredients necessary to reproduce the character of upwellings correctly. Contingent upon the accuracy of the time dependence of the plate reconstruction, we place an upper bound of -4 MPa.K -1 on the Clapeyron slope of the phase transition at 670 km. Comparisons between the images of the short and long wavelength model (developed up to degrees 32 and 12, respectively) provide insight into the spectral leakage in inversions of actual waveform data. We show that contamination of long-wavelength models by small-scale structure is present at all depths, increases with spherical harmonic degree, and has a peak magnitude of the order of 1% perturbation from PREM. Although this effect is small in absolute terms, it is significant on the scale of the models and casts doubts on the reliability of the smallest amplitude component of the heterogeneity pattern in long wavelength seismic images of the whole mantle.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus Induces RelA Release from Cytoplasmic 100-kDa NF-κB2 Complexes via a Novel Retinoic Acid-inducible Gene-I·NF-κB-inducing Kinase Signaling Pathway

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a primary cause of severe lower respiratory tract infection in children worldwide. RSV infects airway epithelial cells, where it activates inflammatory genes via the NF-κB pathway. NF-κB is controlled by two pathways, a canonical pathway that releases sequestered RelA complexes from the IκBα inhibitor, and a second, the noncanonical pathway, that releases RelB from the 100-kDa NF-κB2 complex. Recently we found that the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) is a major intracellular RSV sensor upstream of the canonical pathway. In this study, we surprisingly found that RIG-I silencing also inhibited p100 processing to 52-kDa NF-κB2 (“p52”), suggesting that RIG-I was functionally upstream of the noncanonical regulatory kinase complex composed of NIK·IKKα subunits. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments not only demonstrated that NIK associated with RIG-I and its downstream adaptor, mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS), but also showed the association between IKKα and MAVS. To further understand the role of the NIK·IKKα pathway, we compared RSV-induced NF-κB activation using wild type, Ikkγ-/-, Nik-/-, and Ikkα-/--deficient MEF cells. Interestingly, we found that in canonical pathway-defective Ikkγ-/- cells, RSV induced RelA by liberation from p100 complexes. RSV was still able to activate IP10, Rantes, and Groβ gene expression in Ikkγ-/- cells, and this induction was inhibited by small interfering RNA-mediated RelA knockdown but not RelB silencing. These data suggest that part of the RelA activation in response to RSV infection was induced by a “cross-talk” pathway involving the noncanonical NIK·IKKα complex downstream of RIG-I·MAVS. This pathway may be a potential target for RSV treatment.
Prevalence and trends in psychotropic medication use among US male veterans, 1999-2010.

PURPOSE: Prior studies of psychotropic medication use among US veterans are limited in their ability to generalize estimates to the full veteran population and make comparisons with non-veterans. This study estimated the prevalence of psychotropic medication use and trends over time among male US veterans, compared their use of psychotropic medications with non-veteran males, and examined differences among veteran subpopulations. METHODS: The data for our analysis came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2010), a cross-sectional, nationally representative study of the civilian, non-institutionalized US population. RESULTS: The percentage of male veterans who used any psychotropic medication increased from 10.4% in 1999-2002 to 14.3% in 2003-2006, then remained stable in 2007-2010 (14.0%). During the same time period, the percentage of non-veteran males who used psychotropic medications remained relatively stable (7.0%, 8.3%, and 9.2%, respectively). Veterans were more likely to use psychotropic medication, specifically antidepressants, than non-veterans. The percentage of non-Hispanic white veterans and veterans aged 60 years and over who used psychotropic medications increased between 1999-2002 and 2003-2006, but the percentages remained stable between 2003-2006 and 2007-2010. In 2003-2006 and 2007-2010, a higher percentage of non-Hispanic white veterans used psychotropic medications than non-Hispanic black veterans. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that the use of psychotropic medications and antidepressants was higher among male veterans than male non-veterans, and that prevalence of use increased between 1999-2002 and 2007-2010 for male veterans but remained relatively stable for non-veterans. There were significant variations in the use of psychotropic medications among veteran subpopulations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en
Posturing the Bomb

Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era: Regional Powers and International Conflict. By Vipin Narang. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014. 341 pp., $29.95 paperback (ISBN-13: 978-0-691-15983-6). Vipin Narang's Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era is the best political science book published on nuclear strategy in more than two decades. This is mostly because it is an excellent book and partly because nuclear strategy has not received the attention it deserves in recent years. During the Cold War, International Relations (IR) scholars flocked to questions of nuclear deterrence, and in the late 1980s and early 1990s, classic works on the subject were published by leading lights, such as Richard Betts (⇓), Charles Glaser (⇓), Robert Jervis (⇓), Robert Powell (⇓), and others. For better or worse, however, the scholarly study of IR tends to follow real-world events, and following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War scholarship on nuclear deterrence slowed to a trickle. The United States principal foes, such as Slobodan Milosevic's Serbia, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and Libya, did not possess nuclear weapons, and The United States nuclear forces were of little utility against the unconventional challenges these adversaries posed. Policymakers certainly worried about nuclear proliferation to rogue states and terrorist networks, and scholars continued to design rigorous research to analyze these questions, but traditional questions of nuclear deterrence and strategy remained overlooked. In the real world, however, the specter of nuclear confrontation is reemerging. The United States adversaries, including North Korea and Russia, have moved nuclear weapons to the center of their national security strategies, in part as an effort to offset The United States conventional military dominance. India and Pakistan are engaging in the most intense arms race the world has seen since the end of the Cold War, and Iran appears determined to earn admission into the club of nuclear …