cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prevention of Experimental Hematogenous and Retrograde Pyelonephritis by Antibodies Against Enterobacterial Common Antigen

Rabbits were immunized with common antigen (CA) derived from Salmonella typhimurium. Animals with CA hemagglutinin titers of 1-320 to 1-81,920 were injected with 107 viable Proteus mirabilis via the retrograde and hematogenous routes. Nonimmune control groups were challenged similarly. From the retrogradely challenged groups sacrificed at 4 weeks, pyelonephritis was found in 89% of the control animals but not in those immunized. Bacteriuria was present in 89% of the controls but in only 61% of the immunized group. Hematogenously challenged, immune animals sacrificed at 6 weeks did not show histological evidence of renal pathology, and only 6% had bacteriuria. Eighty-six per cent of the nonimmune controls showed both pyelonephritis and bacteriuria. The protective effect is specific because of the following. (i) Active and passive CA immunization did not prevent pyelonephritis due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa which does not produce this antigen. (ii) Passive immunization with a CA antiserum conferred protection against a P. mirabilis challenge. (iii) Passive administration of an antiserum from which CA antibodies had been differentially absorbed abolished the protective activity.
Clinicians’ accuracy in perceiving patients: Its relevance for clinical practice and a narrative review of methods and correlates

Abstract Objective A relatively unexplored aspect of clinicians’ communication skill is their interpersonal sensitivity, or ability to perceive their patients accurately with regard to patients’ feelings, desires, intentions, needs, physical states, personality, attitudes, beliefs, and values. The present article argues for the importance of this skill in clinical interactions and summarizes supportive research. Methods Reviews approaches to measuring interpersonal sensitivity and research on correlates of clinicians’ and laypersons’ interpersonal sensitivity. Results Studies on clinicians’ interpersonal sensitivity suggest that this skill could be improved. Furthermore, there are important correlates of clinicians’ interpersonal sensitivity, including, on the patient's side, satisfaction, appointment-keeping adherence, and learning of conveyed information, and, on the clinician's side, awareness of patients’ cues of anxiety and distress, commitment to patient-centered values, self-reported awareness of own emotions, and female gender. Furthermore, a very large non-clinical literature points to many other correlates of interpersonal sensitivity that are relevant to the clinical situation, including empathy, prosocial behavior, skill in negotiating, selling, teaching, and managing, better personal adjustment, and better interpersonal relationships. Research also suggests that interpersonal sensitivity is a trainable skill that could realistically be included in clinical education. Conclusion Clinicians’ interpersonal sensitivity is an important component of quality of care and deserves further research. Practice implications This important skill should be incorporated into training programs to improve clinician–patient communication.
Amyloid. VIII. On Strain Variability in Experimental Murine Amyloidosis

SummaryVariability due to strain and sex in experimental amyloidosis of mice was investigated. When given a single intraperitoneal injection of 0.25 ml of a Freund-type emulsion containing additional heat-killed M. butyricum (40 mg/ml), all of 10 strains of mice investigated (NBL/N, C3H/HeN, AKR/N, AL/N, DBA/2N, C57/6N, STR/N, A/HeN, AALF1; and general purpose Swiss albino) developed amyloidosis. However, strain-dependent differences in the incidence and degree of severity of the disease were note. It was also noted that the strains which are highly susceptible to experimental amyloidosis are the ones reported in literature to be least prone to develop spontaneous amyloidosis and vice versa. Both males and females of a single strain investigated, namely C3H, developed amyloidosis to a similar degree.
Reliability and qualification of high-power wavelength-tunable 1060-nm laser diode for ultra-compact laser projector application

We report highly reliable 1060-nm DBR semiconductor lasers after aging the gain section and DBR-section heater for up to 24000 and 11000 hrs, respectively, at various high-stress conditions.
Parent-, Teacher-, and Self-Rated Motivational Styles in ADHD Subtypes:

The motivational styles of 25 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, combined type (ADHD/C), 13 children with ADHD, inattentive type (ADHD/IA), and 25 nondiagnosed controls (NC) were compared using parent, teacher, and self-ratings. Both ADHD subtypes demonstrated motivational impairment characterized by a preference for easy work, less enjoyment of learning, less persistence, and a greater reliance on external than on internal standards to judge their performance relative to NC. Some motivational style differences between ADHD subtypes were also revealed, with the ADHD/C group more motivated by competitiveness and a desire to be perceived as superior to others and the ADHD/IA group less uncooperative and possibly more passive in their learning styles. When IQ was statistically controlled, these results were generally unchanged. The contributing role of motivational deficits to the generally poor academic functioning of children with ADHD is discussed, along with potential intervention implications of the divergent motivational styles of different ADHD subtypes.
Current and historic mercury deposition to New Haven Harbor (CT, USA): Implications for industrial coastal environments

Abstract This study quantifies historic and current mercury contamination in New Haven Harbor (New Haven, Connecticut, USA) through the analysis of sediment cores. The mercury concentration measured in surface sediment ranged from 320 to 1640 μg kg − 1 with an average of 530 μg kg − 1 . The harbor is relatively small in area (6.6 km 2 ) but displays a large range in concentrations, illustrating the important methodological issue that a large number of samples may be necessary to capture the variability in even a small area. Depth profiles of mercury reflect sedimentation over a range of 20 to 200 years and indicate a complex history of contamination. Mercury depth profiles were compared with lead, copper, cadmium, and silver concentrations and the metals generally covary. This trend indicates that the sources of mercury and heavy metals are linked and that regionally specific sources dominate the historic input of metals rather than large-scale atmospheric deposition patterns. Results also show there are large differences in absolute concentrations of metals among sites in the harbor. Differences in the abundance of Fe-rich, fine-grained sediment likely control the level of metals in various parts of the harbor. Proximity to current sources and the long, diverse industrial history of the harbor also influence the distribution pattern. All of the cores can be modeled as mixing between pre-industrial sediments and either one or two pollution endmembers. This study demonstrates the importance of riverine sources in the mass balance of mercury delivered to coastal areas and of watershed management to preserve coastal ecosystems.
Behavioral characteristics associated with the rat-virus-induced 'hamster mongolism' syndrome.

KILHAM~ found that hamsters inoculated intracerebrally (i.c.) with sub-lethal doses of rat virus (RV) during the first few weeks of life developed a number of abnormalities. The symptoms produced by the virus, which was originally isolated from rats bearing spontaneous or transplantable tumors, included stunted growth, malformed teeth,2 broadened facial bones, and protrusions of the eyes and tongue. The affected hamsters are somewhat ‘mongoloid’ in appearance (see Fig. 1). TOOLAN~ had previously reported similar abnormalities resulting from inoculation of hamsters at birth with cell-free filtrates of human tumor cells as well as certain tissues derived from human beings and rats carrying spontaneous cancers. The syndrome has been described previously as ‘hamster mongolism’.297 This syndrome is to be distinguished from other abnormalities which are produced in hamsters by the same virus when inoculation occurs at developmentally different times. The use of the term ‘mongolism’ should not be interpreted to imply any relation other than a superficial resemblance to the human syndrome of the same name.$ We thought it of interest to investigate the behavioral characteristics of hamsters afflicted with this syndrome. We have carried out a series of experiments in which hamsters with virus-induced ‘mongolism’ have been compared with normal hamsters on several standard behavioral tests. In the first experiment, differences in learning curves for shuttle-box avoidance learning were found, suggesting that affected hamsters were slow learners as compared to normal controls. However, further avoidance conditioning experiments found that this difference, while replicable, is highly variable. In two experiments a similar rate difference was found, in a third no rate difference appeared, and the overall performance level of the affected
Kaposi's sarcoma and human herpesvirus-8.

After years of suspicion that Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is caused by an infectious agent, 126 in 1994 Chang and associates 24 reported identification of a herpesvirus-like DNA sequence from tissue recovered from KS lesions of an AIDS patient. The sequences resembled, but were distinct from, those of herpesviruses of the family Gammaherpesvirinae: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and herpesvirus saimiri, a pathogen of nonhuman primates. Thus, the KS-associated virus appeared to be a new herpesvirus. In addition, the new virus, identified as KS-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or, the more frequently used name, human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8), 152 appears to represent a transmissible causal agent for several malignancies. KS is the most common malignancy in patients with HIV infection, reported as the initial AIDS-defining condition in over 20% of patients. The presence of HHV-8 infection has now been found in over 95% of KS tumors, supporting evidence that HHV-8 has a causal role in the development of KS. The discovery has contributed new avenues for understanding the epidemiology of KS and related conditions, the molecular basis of viral-induced carcinogenesis, and identification of novel therapeutic and prophylactic approaches for KS.
A Large Scale Distributed Syntactic, Semantic and Lexical Language Model for Machine Translation

This paper presents an attempt at building a large scale distributed composite language model that simultaneously accounts for local word lexical information, mid-range sentence syntactic structure, and long-span document semantic content under a directed Markov random field paradigm. The composite language model has been trained by performing a convergent N-best list approximate EM algorithm that has linear time complexity and a follow-up EM algorithm to improve word prediction power on corpora with up to a billion tokens and stored on a supercomputer. The large scale distributed composite language model gives drastic perplexity reduction over n-grams and achieves significantly better translation quality measured by the BLEU score and "readability" when applied to the task of re-ranking the N-best list from a state-of-the-art parsing-based machine translation system.
Sexual Dimorphism and Inter-Generic Variation in Proboscidean Tusks: Multivariate Assessment of American Mastodons (Mammut americanum) and Extant African Elephants

Characteristics of social structure, mating strategies, and parental investment can be inferred for mammalian species based on degree of sexual dimorphism, especially when males are substantially larger than females. American mastodons (Mammut americanum) and extant African elephants (Loxodonta africana, Loxodonta cyclotis) both exhibit marked dimorphism in tusk size. To evaluate the hypothesis that this dimorphism might be indicative of similar, and possibly conserved, behavioral patterns in each lineage, we undertook a detailed evaluation of the pattern of tusk growth in these two genera. Separate discriminant function analyses (DFA) of 21 adult mastodon tusks of inferred sex and 48 adult elephant tusks of known sex show that patterns of ontogenetic change in tusk circumference, regardless of genus, effectively discriminate between sexes. Canonical variates analysis (CVA) of tusks from male and female mastodons and male and female elephants shows that male tusks in both genera are larger than female tusks across all measurements, especially for maximum tusk circumference and pulp cavity depth. CVA’s emphasis of inter-group differences in tusk morphology also shows that mastodon tusks are more robust than elephant tusks. Overall, this study illustrates that there is a characteristic male and a characteristic female tusk form shared by elephants and mastodons. This shows that elephants and mastodons display a shared syndrome of traits beyond sex-linked differences in tusk size, supporting the hypothesis that mastodons exhibited behaviors similar to those we observe today in African elephants.
Stimulation of N-linked glycosylation and lipid-linked oligosaccharide synthesis by stress responses in metazoan cells

ABSTRACTEndoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress responses comprising the unfolded protein response (UPR) are activated by conditions that disrupt folding and assembly of proteins inside the ER lumenal compartment. Conditions known to be proximal triggers of the UPR include saturation of chaperones with misfolded protein, redox imbalance, disruption of Ca2+ levels, interference with N-linked glycosylation, and failure to dispose of terminally misfolded proteins. Potentially, ER stress responses can reprogram cells to correct all of these problems and thereby restore ER function to normal. This article will review literature on stimulation of N-linked glycosylation by ER stress responses, focusing on metazoan systems. The mechanisms involved will be contrasted with those mediating stimulation of N-linked glycosylation by cytoplasmic stress responses. This information will interest readers who study the biological roles of stress responses, the functions of N-linked glycans, and potential strategies for treatment ...
How amyotrophic lateral sclerosis got its name: the clinical-pathologic genius of Jean-Martin Charcot.

A myotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) occupies a unique place in the history of human disease in general and in neurological disease in particular. Charcot was the one who deduced the relationship between the clinical signs and the findings at autopsy. In his 1874 description, Charcot established the clinicopathologic approach that has dominated medical nosology ever since. In the latter half of the 19th century, diseases were defined by autopsy findings.
Atorvastatin action involves diminished recovery of hepatic HMG-CoA reductase activity

The effects of atorvastatin on the expression of the hepatic HMG-CoA reductase and LDL receptor genes were investigated in rats. Like the other statins, atorvastatin increased the rate of degradation and presumably cycling of the hepatic LDL receptor. In atorvastatin-treated rats, the half-life of the receptor was decreased by over 60%. Hepatic HMG-CoA reductase mRNA levels were increased about 3-fold by feeding a diet containing 0.04% atorvastatin while reductase protein levels were increased by as much as 700-fold. Apparent HMG-CoA reductase activity was not increased as much as protein levels. Washing experiments revealed that atorvastatin is more difficult to remove from microsomes than lovastatin. The results support the conclusion that the potent hypocholesterolemic action of atorvastatin involves decreased hepatic VLDL production due to effective inhibition of in vivo cholesterol biosynthesis resulting from diminished recovery of HMG-CoA reductase activity following drug treatment.
Bronchogenic and Esophageal Duplication Cyst in a Single Mediastinal Mass in a Child

We report an unusual case of a mediastinal foregut malformation consisting of complete components of both a bronchogenic and an esophageal duplication cyst in a child. The lesion was identified as an incidental finding during evaluation of a clavicular fracture. Thoracotomy was performed for excision of the mass. A discussion of the pathological findings and the diagnosis and management of foregut malformations is presented.
Ethical Considerations in Drafting and Enforcing Consumer Arbitration Clauses

Attorneys face mixed messages regarding consumer arbitration: Mixed professional responsibility rules; mixed legal enforcement; mixed messages from commentators and policymakers; mixed evidence regarding efficiency, cost-savings and fairness. It is therefore doubtful that attorneys would face discipline for drafting or enforcing onerous consumer arbitration provisions they believe in good faith to be lawful. Professional discipline rules, however, merely set the floor for ethical conduct and can only go so far in dictating morals or teaching values. Indeed, an attorney's commitment to ethics and public service "must begin at home." Moreover, the bottom line is: "If you have the wrong values, your life will not feel good no matter how good it looks."Attorneys representing companies in drafting or enforcing consumer arbitration should therefore remain committed to justice and ethical considerations that transcend stark professional conduct rules. This means that they should go beyond rote assumptions of arbitration's benefits to consider the real risks and impacts of onerous arbitration provisions. At the least, attorneys should counsel clients to draft consumer arbitration clauses that comply with procedural protocols, and offer additional suggestions for balancing efficiency and fairness through use of arbitration. Fair use of consumer arbitration may benefit companies and consumers, and promotes the substance and spirit of attorneys' ethical obligations.
The 'Jurassic Park' Problem – Dual-Use Research of Concern, Privately Funded Research and Protecting Public Health

During the late winter of 2011 and early spring of 2012, a controversy arose about publishing the results of two publicly funded experiments designed to transform the H5N1 “avian” influenza virus into a disease that would be easily transmissible between mammals through airborne means. The concern was that the published research could be used to produce biological weapons. Questions about the proper balance between encouraging the free-flow of scientific information and protecting public health followed. This paper discusses recent attempts by the U.S. government to balance these concerns, and analyzes the effectiveness of these attempts, especially in light of increasing involvement of the private sector in biological research. It posits that the best way to protect the public health when dual-use research of concern is involved is to ensure that the implications of the proposed research are scrutinized by qualified people before the research begins. The paper then proposes that requiring private sector researchers to demonstrate that they submitted their research protocols to the appropriate government body for a review of the potentially harmful uses of the research, prior to applying for a patent, is an effective way to ensure that privately funded research is subject to the same scrutiny as publicly funded research, while preserving First Amendment rights of free expression.
Syncope Best Practices: A Syncope Clinical Practice Guideline to Improve Quality

Objective To determine whether implementation of a standardized clinical practice guideline (CPG) for the evaluation of syncope would decrease practice variability and resource utilization. Design A retrospective review of medical records of patients presenting to our practice for outpatient evaluation of syncope before and after implementation of the CPG. The guideline included elements of history, physical exam, electrocardiogram, and “red flags” for further testing. Setting Outpatient pediatric cardiology offices of a large pediatric cardiology practice. Patients. All new patients between 3 and 21 years old, who presented to cardiology clinic with a chief complaint of syncope. Interventions The CPG for the evaluation of pediatric syncope was presented to the providers. Outcome Measures Resource utilization was determined by the tests ordered by individual physicians before and after initiation of the CPG. Patient final diagnoses were recorded and the medical records were subsequently reviewed to determine if any patients, who presented again to the system, were ultimately diagnosed with cardiac disease. Results Of the 1496 patients with an initial visit for syncope, there was no significant difference in the diagnosis of cardiac disease before or after initiation of the CPG: (0.6% vs. 0.4%, P = .55). Electrocardiography provides the highest yield in the evaluation of pediatric syncope. Despite high compliance (86.9%), there were no overall changes in costs ($346.31 vs. $348.53, P = .85) or in resource utilization. There was, however, a decrease in the variability of ordering of echocardiograms among physicians, particularly among those at the extremes of utilization. Conclusions Although the CPG did not decrease already low costs, it did decrease the wide variability in echo utilization. Evaluation beyond detailed history, physical exam, and electrocardiography provides no additional benefit in the evaluations of pediatric patients presenting with syncope.
The "automatic stabilizer" and angle of attack assessor: human factors contributions of the Wright brothers.

The Wright brothers followed their invention of the first practical airplane (1903) with a second epochal invention, the angle of attack sensor and aircraft stabilizer (1908). Both inventions were patented and details of each are contained in the respective patents for these two aeronautical advances. This paper emphasizes how the angle of attack sensor actuated an "automatic stabilizer." This approach decreased pilot workload, and variations of the Wright's invention are incorporated today in many types of aircraft. Language: en
Eliminating the Peremptory Challenge: The Washington Supreme Court Calls for a Post-Batson World

After its ruling in Swain v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court felt that it had successfully developed a rule to remove racial and minority discrimination from the jury selection process. However, in the years after the decision several state courts reached the conclusion that Swain did not provide adequate protection and that parties needed more to combat discriminatory voir dire.Three major examples include People v. Wheeler in California, Com v. Soares in Massachusetts, and State v. Neil in Florida. In 1978, the California Supreme Court held that Swain furnished insufficient protection against discrimination due to its high burden of proof, which no one was able to meet. The court then rejected the rule in Swain in favor of broader protections under California’s own constitution. In 1979, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts followed suit and adopted the holding put forth in Wheeler, throwing out Swain in exchange for protections under the state constitution The Florida Supreme Court followed these decisions in 1984, holding that the Swain test would no longer be used in Florida as it impeded instead of furthered the protections guaranteed by Florida’s constitution. Due to these, and other similar decisions, the United States Supreme Court, realized the need to revisit Swain in Batson v. Kentucky. In Batson, the Supreme Court acknowledged the failings of Swain and the need for a new test. Recently, however, the cycle is beginning to repeat itself. Similar to Swain, Batson receives more and more criticism regarding its failure to protect against discrimination, complete with calls for a new test and greater protections. The Washington Supreme Court’s opinion in State v. Saintcalle, serves as a prime example of the cycle’s continuance. Part II of this article explores the opinion of Saintcalle and its call for a new model to prevent discrimination in the voir dire process. Part III attempts to understand the root of this discrimination by examining the history of peremptory challenges and the steps taken to regulate them. Part VI and V explore the current Batson regime and its failures. Finally, Parts VI and VII detail the options for reform – both new peremptory challenges schemes and the abolishment of the strike completely.
Mechanical heterogeneities in the subendothelial matrix develop with age and decrease with exercise

Arterial stiffening occurs with age and is associated with lack of exercise. Notably both age and lack of exercise are major cardiovascular risk factors. While it is well established that bulk arterial stiffness increases with age, more recent data suggest that the intima, the innermost arterial layer, also stiffens during aging. Micro-scale mechanical characterization of individual layers is important because cells primarily sense the matrix that they are in contact with and not necessarily the bulk stiffness of the vessel wall. To investigate the relationship between age, exercise, and subendothelial matrix stiffening, atomic force microscopy was utilized here to indent the subendothelial matrix of the thoracic aorta from young, aged-sedentary, and aged-exercised mice, and elastic modulus values were compared to conventional pulse wave velocity measurements. The subendothelial matrix elastic modulus was elevated in aged-sedentary mice compared to young or aged-exercised mice, and the macro-scale stiffness of the artery was found to linearly correlate with the subendothelial matrix elastic modulus. Notably, we also found that with age, there exists an increase in the point-to-point variations in modulus across the subendothelial matrix, indicating non-uniform stiffening. Importantly, this heterogeneity is reversible with exercise. Given that vessel stiffening is known to cause aberrant endothelial cell behavior, and the spatial heterogeneities we find exist on a length scale much smaller than the size of a cell, these data suggest that further investigation in the heterogeneity of the subendothelial matrix elastic modulus is necessary to fully understand the effects of physiological matrix stiffening on cell function.
NO detection by cavity ringdown laser spectroscopy

Rapid detection and precise analysis of explosives in the environment is playing an increasingly important role in the modern world:1 for example, in criminal investigations of bombings, in detection of explosive materials concealed in mail or in airline baggage, in detection of soils and/or groundwater polluted by explosive materials. Spectroscopic methods can provide high selectivity and sensitivity for explosive detection.2 Because of their low vapor pressure,3 very sensitive detection is needed. Cavity Ringdown Laser Spectroscopy (CRDLS) is the most suitable technique for this purpose. The basic principles of CRDLS are presented in Reference 4.
Hyperferroelectrics: Proper Ferroelectrics with Persistent Polarization

All known proper ferroelectrics are unable to polarize normal to a surface or interface if the resulting depolarization field is unscreened, but there is no fundamental principle that enforces this behavior. In this work, we introduce hyperferroelectrics, a new class of proper ferroelectrics which polarize even when the depolarization field is unscreened, this condition being equivalent to instability of a longitudinal optic mode in addition to the transverse-optic-mode instability characteristic of proper ferroelectrics. We use first-principles calculations to show that several recently discovered hexagonal ferroelectric semiconductors have this property, and we examine its consequences both in the bulk and in a superlattice geometry.
A Case of Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome: A Broad Differential Diagnosis Requires Broad-Spectrum Treatment

“Aaron,” a 17-year-old high school junior living with his fatherandyoungerbrother,wasreferredforanevaluation in a university-based research program for individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis. He had undergone three brief inpatient stays, prompted by his father’ sc oncern about his suspicion and unusual behaviors (e.g., flipping light switches to let others know he was home) and a sudden decline in academic performance. In 10th grade, he earned a 3.75 grade point average for the fall term but then failed most of his classes in the spring term. During hisinitialhospitalization,hewastreatedwithziprasidone (80 mg b.i.d.) for 4 days before it was discontinued.
The influence of stress state on the reorientation of hydrides in a zirconium alloy

Abstract Hydride reorientation can occur in spent nuclear fuel cladding when subjected to a tensile hoop stress above a threshold value during cooling. Because in these circumstances the cladding is under a multiaxial stress state, the effect of stress biaxiality on the threshold stress for hydride reorientation is investigated using hydrided CWSR Zircaloy-4 sheet specimens containing ∼180 wt ppm of hydrogen and subjected to a two-cycle thermo-mechanical treatment. The study is based on especially designed specimens within which the stress biaxiality ratios range from uniaxial (σ2/σ1 = 0) to “near-equibiaxial” tension (σ2/σ1 = 0.8). The threshold stress is determined by mapping finite element calculations of the principal stresses and of the stress biaxiality ratio onto the hydride microstructure obtained after the thermo-mechanical treatment. The results show that the threshold stress (maximum principal stress) decreases from 155 to 75 MPa as the stress biaxiality increases from uniaxial to “near-equibiaxial” tension.
Health VLogger-Viewer Interaction in Chronic Illness Management (Best Paper Nomination)

Health video blogs (vlogs) allow individuals with chronic illnesses to share their stories, experiences, and knowledge with the general public. Furthermore, health vlogs help in creating a connection between the vlogger and the viewers. In this work, we present a qualitative study examining the various methods that health vloggers use to establish a connection with their viewers. We found that vloggers used genres to express specific messages to their viewers while using the uniqueness of video to establish a deeper connection with their viewers. Health vloggers also explicitly sought interaction with their viewers. Based on these results, we present design implications to help facilitate and build sustainable communities for vloggers.
The Interactive Effect of Presentation Format and Brand Usage on the Effectiveness of Retail Price Advertisements

This study examines the impact of %-off and $-off formats on consumers’ responses. Results reveal that the optimal savings presentation format depends on the desired response and on brand usage. This finding underscores the importance of segmenting the market based on user status when planning retail price advertising strategies.
Large optical nonlinearity of ITO nanorods for sub-picosecond all-optical modulation of the full-visible spectrum.

Nonlinear optical responses of materials play a vital role for the development of active nanophotonic and plasmonic devices. Optical nonlinearity induced by intense optical excitation of mobile electrons in metallic nanostructures can provide large-amplitude, dynamic tuning of their electromagnetic response, which is potentially useful for all-optical processing of information and dynamic beam control. Here we report on the sub-picosecond optical nonlinearity of indium tin oxide nanorod arrays (ITO-NRAs) following intraband, on-plasmon-resonance optical pumping, which enables modulation of the full-visible spectrum with large absolute change of transmission, favourable spectral tunability and beam-steering capability. Furthermore, we observe a transient response in the microsecond regime associated with slow lattice cooling, which arises from the large aspect-ratio and low thermal conductivity of ITO-NRAs. Our results demonstrate that all-optical control of light can be achieved by using heavily doped wide-bandgap semiconductors in their transparent regime with speed faster than that of noble metals. Optical nonlinearity in metallic nanostructures has been exploited for all-optical signal switching. Here, Guo et al. report on the optical nonlinearity of indium tin oxide nanorod arrays in the dielectric range induced by pumping in the metallic range, enabling modulation of the full-visible spectrum.
Bayesian estimation of a new Keynesian policy model for a small open economy

The estimation of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models has gained momentum during the last decade. In this paper, we estimate a small scale new Keynesian model for an emerging economy, Tunisia. We study the transmission channels of monetary policy on the fluctuations of domestic output and inflation over the short and long run in open and closed economy settings. We find that domestic shocks have higher impact on monetary policy calibration and the dynamic of the internal demand. The inclusion of the working capital channel for a country like Tunisia exhibiting high level of indebtedness of local firms helps better describe the behaviour of macroeconomic variables in response to shocks emanating from the policy side. We show that the policy reaction parameters of the Central Bank confirm our hypothesis that the latter has been following closely the Taylor rule. This finding explains the recent inflation trend in the country.
Center or periphery? Modeling the effects of focal adhesion placement during cell spreading

Focal adhesions are often observed at the cell's periphery. We provide an explanation for this observation using a system-level mathematical model of a cell interacting with a two-dimensional substrate. The model describes the biological cell as a hypoelastic continuum material whose behavior is coupled to a deformable, linear elastic substrate via focal adhesions that are represented by collections of linear elastic attachments between the cell and the substrate. The evolution of the focal adhesions is coupled to local intracellular stresses which arise from mechanical cell-substrate interactions. Using this model we show that the cell has at least three mechanisms through which it can control its intracellular stresses: focal adhesion position, size, and attachment strength. We also propose that one reason why focal adhesions are typically located on the cell periphery instead of its center is because peripheral focal adhesions allow the cell to be more sensitive to changes in the microenvironment. This increased sensitivity is caused by the fact that peripherally located focal adhesions allow the cells to modulate its intracellular properties over a much larger portion of the cell area.
A semantic tree-based approach for sketch-based 3D model retrieval

Sketch-based 3D model retrieval is to retrieve 3D models given a user's hand-drawn sketch. Due to the big semantic gap between rough sketch representation and accurate 3D model coordinates, sketch-based 3D model retrieval (SBR) is one of the most challenging research topics in the field of 3D model retrieval. To bridge the semantic gap, a novel semantic tree-based SBR algorithm is proposed in this paper. Given a 2D sketch query and a collection of 3D models, a 3D semantic tree is built up first based on the ontology structure of WordNet. Every leaf node in the tree contains a set of 3D models assigned to this class according to their semantic classification/label information. Then, sketch components of the 2D query sketch are identified by sketch segmentation and annotation. Finally, by measuring the semantic relatedness between the sketch components' annotations and tree nodes in the 3D semantic tree, the similarities between the 2D sketch and 3D models are computed to find out the most relevant 3D models. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and promising potentials of our approach on sketch-based 3D model retrieval.
Beyond birth order: The biological logic of personality variation among siblings

AbstractNotwithstanding their relatedness, siblings vary as much as strangers with respect to personality traits. Attempting to explain this paradox across many publications, Frank J. Sulloway invokes evolutionary theory, specifically emphasizing Malthusian competition and referencing the concept of adaptive radiation, which produced beak variation among Darwinian finches as they spread across the Galapagos Archipelago. However, Sulloway understands birth order and other familial dynamics to create personality variation among siblings, using evolutionary concepts only as illustrative comparisons. The present paper argues that Sulloway mistook a literal truth for an analogy. Sibling personality variation does not mirror a process of evolution, it is a process of evolution. Substituting the macroevolutionary process of adaptive radiation for the microevolutionary process of adaptive diversification, and emphasizing the perpetuation of genetic material above the survival of the organism, sibling personality ...
Robust Adaptive Control Algorithms with and without Persistence of Excitation

Abstract In this paper, we consider the model reference control problem of a plant with unmodeled dynamics. We first show that the model reference control structure is robust with respect to plant uncertainties and obtained bounds for the tracking error by assuming that the parameters of the modeled part of the plant are known. We then combine the control structure with a general robust adaptive law and apply it to the actual plant with unmodeled dynamics and unknown parameters. We show that the general adaptive law guarantees global stability and residual tracking errors which are small in the mean without any persistence excitation condition. Since within the residual set for the tracking error, burst phenomena cannot be excluded a persistence of excitation condition is given which guarantees exponential convergence for the parameter estimates and tracking error to bounded residual sets. Within these sets no burst phenomena can occur and the bound for the tracking error in the limit as t → ∞ depends only on the modeling error and a design parameter. In the case of the switching- σ modified adaptive law this design parameter becomes zero and therefore the bound for the tracking error is qualitatively the same as the one obtained in the known parameter case.
Control of protein digestion under simulated gastrointestinal conditions using biopolymer microgels

Controlling the rate and extent of protein digestion within different regions of the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is important for regulating hormonal responses (such as hunger, satiety, and satiation) and immune responses (such as allergenicity). In this study, hydrogel beads (biopolymer microgels) were fabricated by injecting a solution of anionic alginate molecules into a solution of cationic calcium ions using a vibrating extrusion device. A model food protein (whey protein isolate, WPI) was mixed with the alginate solution prior to bead formation. The impact of thermal processing (80°C, 15min) of the WPI before or after microgel formation was examined to determine the impact of protein denaturation and aggregation on encapsulation efficiency and retention. Heat-denaturation of the protein prior to microgel formation led to the highest encapsulation efficiency and retention, which was attributed to the formation of a cold-set protein gel inside the beads. Simulated GIT studies indicated that protein encapsulation in the microgels retarded its digestion in the stomach (around 3.7% digested), but not in the small intestine (around 19.6% digested). The denatured and native proteins were digested differently in different GIT regions: denatured protein digested faster in the stomach (around 11% digested), whereas native protein digested faster in the small intestine (around 41% digested). These results could provide valuable information for the design of microgel-based delivery systems to regulate protein digestion and peptide release in the GIT.
Satisfaction with life moderates the indirect effect of pain intensity on pain interference through pain catastrophizing

Objective Satisfaction with life buffers the effect of stress on health, but its role in the mechanism through which pain may impact engagement in activities of daily living is not known. We tested whether satisfaction with life protects against engaging in pain catastrophizing and through this explains individual differences in the extent to which pain interferes with activities of daily living. Method One-hundred and 42 patients with upper extremity musculoskeletal illness participated in this cross-sectional study and completed the PROMIS pain intensity, PROMIS pain interference, pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), satisfaction with life scale (SWLS), and demographic variables. Results A simple mediation model confirmed that the indirect effect of pain intensity on pain interference through PCS was 35.9% of the total effect. A moderated mediation analysis showed that the indirect effect of pain intensity on pain interference through PCS was differentially moderated by SWLS after controlling for relevant covariates. As satisfaction with life increased from low to moderate to high, a smaller proportion of the effect of pain intensity on pain interference (41.6%, 26.1%, and 10.5%) was carried through PCS, such that at the highest satisfaction with life, the indirect effect becomes completely nonsignificant. Conclusions Satisfaction with life appears to buffer the effect of pain in individuals with upper extremity musculoskeletal illness. If replicated through longitudinal designs, results suggest that clinical interventions focused on increasing satisfaction with life, such as acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness training, gratitude, and other positive psychology skills, may improve outcomes in this population. (PsycINFO Database Record
Behavioral animal models to assess pro-cognitive treatments for schizophrenia.

Cognitive dysfunction is a core aspect of schizophrenia that constitutes a major obstacle toward reintegration of patients into society. Although multiple cognitive deficits are evident in schizophrenia patients, no medication is currently approved for their amelioration. Although consensus clinical test batteries have been developed for the assessment of putative cognition enhancers in patients with schizophrenia, parallel animal tests remain to be validated. Having no approved treatment for cognitive symptoms means no positive control can be used to examine pharmacological predictive validity of animal models. Thus, focus has been placed on animal paradigms that have demonstrable construct validity for the cognitive domain being assessed.
Integrin-Activated Reactions to Metallic Implant Surfaces

With the current increase in demand for implants in younger patients, rapidly aging populations, and patients with tissue impairment due to disease, there is a need to improve the functional integration and life span of implants at the cellular level, in order to be able to substitute or augment complex tissues and organs. In many cases, stimulation of the ingrowth of specific, native, or seeded cells to form a continuum with the biomaterial is required. One of the major pathways by which cells adhere and interact with their extracellular environment is through integrins, which activate intracellular-signaling pathways that are essential for cell survival, growth, and differentiation. Therefore, understanding the role of integrins in the cell/tissue response to biomaterials is essential for the success of implants. Discussed in this article are a brief overview of integrins, their cellular functions, their signaling pathways, and biomaterials having integrin-activating surfaces, with particular attention to bone and metal implants. Generating functional implants having integrin-activating peptides and/or proteins has resulted in some success as significant increases in early bone formation have been obtained, both in vitro and in vivo. However, our ultimate goal to provide a long lasting implant still needs to be realized with respect to integrin-activating implants.
SiC Whisker Reinforced Alumina

SiC whisker reinforced alumina composites exhibit significant improvements in mechanical properties, such as strength and fracture toughness. These composites are typically densified by pressure-assisted sintering (i.e. hot-pressing) with SiC whisker contents ranging from 10 to 30 vol.%. Cutting tools for high nickel alloys are the major application, but other wear and structural uses are also being developed.
Characterization of Diene Polymer Microstructure by Olefin-Polymer Metathesis

The classical approach for elucidating structures of organic substances involves degradation followed by separation and quantitative analysis of the degradation products. Quantitative evaluation of degradation fragments obtained from the selective degradation of copolymers provides valuable information about their structures (1–3).
Managing the merger: building partnership through IT planning at the new Baxter

In mid-1987, Baxter Healthcare Corporation undertook a major IS strategic planning study on the heels of the company's merger with American Hospital Supply. Central to this planning effort was the building of a new level of partnership between business and IS managers in the new corporation. This article describes Baxter's seven-month planning effort and the role of this effort in building the partnership. Two specific planning behaviors are noted for their contribution: dual purpose executive interviews, designed to both elicit information and provide a basis for executive understanding of planning options; and "micro" and "macro" analysis template, which served to focus and clarify planning activities and options at both local and global levels within the firm. Several key components in effective partnership -- shared knowledge, shared commitment, and shared decision making -- were therefore encouraged and supported by this approacy.
First occurrence of the enigmatic peccaries Mylohyus elmorei and Prosthennops serus from the Appalachians: latest Hemphillian to Early Blancan of Gray Fossil Site, Tennessee

Two peccary species, Mylohyus elmorei and Prosthennops serus are described from the medium-bodied fauna of the Gray Fossil Site (GFS) of northeastern Tennessee. This site, recognized as an oak-hickory forest, is latest Hemphillian or earliest Blancan based on mammalian biochronology, with an estimated age of 4.9-4.5 Ma. The GFS represents the only site outside the Palmetto Fauna of Florida with M. elmorei, greatly expanding the species range north over 920 km, well into the Appalachian region. This is also the first Appalachian occurrence of the relatively widespread P. serus. Our understanding of intraspecific variation for both M. elmorei and P. serus is expanded due to morphological and proportional differences found in cranial and dental material from the GFS, Tyner Farm locality, Palmetto Fauna, and within the literature. The GFS M. elmorei material represents the most complete mandible and second cranium for the species, and preserve intraspecific variation in the length of the diastema, dental proportions, and the complexity of the cuspules of the hypoconulid complex. Similarly, mandibular material from the GFS for P. serus exhibited larger dentitions and a greater degree of robustness than currently recognized for the species.