cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Future of Private Equity: The Future of Private Equity

After a period of robust growth, the private equity industry has experienced a marked decline. In the wake of the 2008 economic crisis, the future of the venture and buyout industries seems unclear. This speech discusses four possible scenarios for the future of the private equity industry by examining the short- and long-run determinants of private equity supply and demand. Possible scenarios include Recovery, Back to the Future, The Limited Partners' Desertion, and A Broken Industry. Although support is given for each of the scenarios, a clear prediction for the future remains difficult. The future of the private equity market is likely to be the subject of debate for some time to come.
Rates of concurrent responses and reinforcer duration

Rats were rewarded concurrently, at equal frequencies, for pushes at the doors in front of two reinforcement magazines. The duration of the reinforcer given at one magazine was constant, while the reinforcer duration at the other magazine was changed every six sessions. For three rats the constant reinforcer was 3 sec, and for three other rats the constant reinforcer was 1 sec. For all these animals the duration of the alternative reinforcer was varied between 1 and 5 sec. Rate of response at the magazine that delivered the constant reinforcer duration was found to vary inversely with the duration of the reinforcer obtained at the alternative magazine. The matching of relative response rate to relative reinforcer duration was poor, and the results are attributed partly to the general rate-suppressing effects of long reinforcer durations.
Effects of cyclo-oxygenase inhibition on ozone-induced respiratory inflammation and lung function changes

Inhalation of O3 causes airways neutrophilic inflammation accompanied by other changes including increased levels of cyclo-oxygenase products of arachidonic acid in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Ozone (O3) exposure also causes decreased forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume after 1 s (FEV1), associated with cough and substernal pain on inspiration, and small increases in specific airway resistance (SRAW). The spirometric decrements are substantially blunted by pretreatment with indomethacin. Since the O3-induced decrement in FVC is due to involuntary inhibition of inspiration, a role for stimulation of nociceptive respiratory tract afferents has been suggested and cyclo-oxygenase products have been hypothesized to mediate this stimulation. However, the relation (if any) between the O3-induced neutrophilic airways inflammation and decreased inspiratory capacity remains unclear. We studied the effects of pharmacologic inhibition of O3-induced spirometric changes on the inflammatory changes. Each of ten healthy men was exposed twice (5-week interval) to 0.4 ppm O3 for 2 h, including 1 h of intermittent exercise (ventilation 60l · min−1). One-and-a-half hours prior to and midway during each exposure the subject ingested 800 mg and 200 mg, respectively, of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen (IBU), or placebo [PLA (sucrose)], in randomized, double-blind fashion. Spirometry and body plethysmography were performed prior to drug administration, and before and after O3 exposure. Immediately following postexposure testing, fiberoptic bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed. Neither IBU nor PLA administration changed pre-exposure lung function. O3 exposure (with PLA) caused a significant 17% mean decrement in FE1 (P < 0.01) and a 56% increase in mean SRAW. Following IBU pretreatment, O3 exposure induced a significantly lesser mean decrement in FEV1 (7%) but still a 50% increase in mean SRAW. IBU pretreatment significantly decreased post-O3 BAL levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) by 60.4% (P < 0.05) and thromboxane B2 (TxB2) by 25.5% (P < 0.05). Of the proteins, only interleukin-6 was significantly reduced (45%, P < 0.05) by IBU as compared to PLA pretreatment. As expected, O3 exposure produced neutrophilia in BALF. There was, however, no effect of IBU on this finding. None of the major cell types in the BALF differed significantly between pretreatments. We found no association between post-exposure changes of BALF components and pulmonary function decrements. We conclude that IBU causes significant inhibition of O3-induced increases in respiratory tract PGE2 and TxB2 levels concomitant with a blunting of the spirometric response. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the products of AA metabolism mediate inhibition of inspiration. However, IBU did not alter the modest SRAW response to O3. The neutrophilic component of the inflammatory response to O3 was not significantly affected by IBU and does not appear to be directly related to the spirometric response.
Enabling Skip Graphs to Process K-Dimensional Range Queries in a Mobile Sensor Network

A skip graph is a resilient application-layer routing structure that supports range queries of distributed k-dimensional data. By sorting deterministic keys into groups based on locally computed random membership vectors, nodes in a standard skip graph can optimize range query performance in mobile networks such as unmanned aerial vehicle swarms. We propose a skip graph extension that inverts the key and membership vector roles and bases group membership on deterministic vectors derived from the z-ordering of k-dimensional data and sorting within groups is based on locally computed random keys.
Applying partial fault tolerance with explicit area constraints

As field programmable gate arrays find increasing use in aerospace and terrestrial applications, a number of methods of fault tolerance have been developed to ensure reliable operation. Current techniques output the required circuit area based on the desired level of fault tolerance with some techniques increasing the area by over 200%. In deployed systems, however, the FPGA is fixed and the area available for adding fault tolerance is limited. As a consequence, protecting an updated, larger circuit using the same fault tolerance scheme may result in a design that no longer fits in the deployed FPGA. This situation dictates the need for a technique that can trade fault tolerance for lower area penalties. To fill this need, this paper presents a new area constrained approach which accepts available hardware resources as an input and outputs a maximally fault tolerant circuit.
Barring intervention? Lesbian and gay bars as an underutilized venue for tobacco interventions.

Introduction Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities are at high risk for tobacco use. While LGBT communities have historically considered bars to be safe places to socialize and congregate, these spaces are often tobacco-friendly environments and may have potential as sites for much needed intervention. Interventions in bars Only a few public health interventions have attempted to work through bars and clubs to decrease tobacco use in the LGBT populations. Evidence from HIV prevention suggests some potential interventions in bars, and the tobacco industry has worked extensively (and successfully) to utilize bars in marketing efforts. Conclusions Lesbian and gay bars are underutilized in tobacco control, suggesting missed avenues for chronic disease prevention programs. Researchers and communities should continue to recognize the importance of clean indoor air laws covering bars and develop additional strategies for reaching LGBT populations with disparities.
Prostacyclin analogs stimulate receptor-mediated cAMP synthesis and ATP release from rabbit and human erythrocytes.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to establish that the prostacyclin (PGI2) receptor (IP receptor) is present on rabbit and human erythrocytes and that its activation stimulates cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) synthesis and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) release.Methods: The effect of incubation of erythrocytes with the active PGI2 analogs, iloprost or UT-15C, on cAMP levels and ATP release was determined in the absence and presence of the IP receptor antagonist, CAY10441. Western analysis was used to determine the presence of the IP receptor on isolated membranes. To establish that effects of PGI2 analogs were not due to prostaglandin E2(PGE2) receptor activation, the effect of PGE2 on cAMP levels and ATP release was determined.Results: Rabbit and human erythrocytes possess IP receptors. Iloprost and UT-15C stimulated increases in cAMP and ATP release that were prevented by the IP receptor antagonist, CAY10441. PGE2 did not stimulate cAMP accumulation or ATP release and did not inhibit ilopro...
Determination of burn depth by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

An assessment of burn depth is a key step in guiding the treatment of patients who have sustained thermal injuries. Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) might eventually provide the physician with a quantitative estimate of actual burn depth. Burns of various depths were induced by contacting rat skin with a brass rod preheated to 75 degrees C for 5, 15, or 30 s. Thermal injury denatured the collagen in the skin, and PS-OCT imaged the resulting reduction of birefringence through the depth-resolved changes in the polarization state of light propagated and reflected from the sample. Stokes vectors were calculated for each point in the PS-OCT images and the reduction in the rate of phase retardation between two orthogonal polarizations of light (deg/microm) was found to show a consistent trend with burn exposure time. PS-OCT is a noninvasive technique with potential to give the physician the information needed to formulate an optimal treatment plan for burn patients.
Quality-driven approximate methods for integrating GIS data

GIS data distributed in local, state, federal, and private data clearinghouses are being made accessible through the efforts of organizations such as Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and GeoData.gov. Many database applications, such as disaster management, transportation, and national infrastructure protection, need to access GIS information from such various data sources. In this paper we study how to answer keyword-based spatial queries approximately using information from heterogeneous GIS sources. An example query specifies the region of Orange County and keywords "junior schools," which asks for geospatial objects relevant to junior schools in Orange County. The answers to such a query provided by different sources differ widely in their content and quality. It is computationally expensive to access all the datasets to retrieve all the relevant objects. We develop approximate algorithms for answering such queries based on the local analysis of the query region using space-partitioning techniques. Our methods rank datasets in a partition based on parameters such as their spatial coverage and content matching the query keywords. The quality of the answers keeps improving progressively as we do deeper local analysis. We develop an efficient traversal strategy to maximize the quality refinement within a given time limit. We conducted experiments to evaluate the proposed techniques.
Integrated multiscale modeling of molecular computing devices

Molecular electronics, in which single organic molecules are designed to perform the functions of transistors, diodes, switches and other circuit elements used in current siliconbased microelecronics, is drawing wide interest as a potential replacement technology for conventional silicon-based lithographically etched microelectronic devices. In addition to their nanoscopic scale, the additional advantage of molecular electronics devices compared to silicon-based lithographically etched devices is the promise of being able to produce them cheaply on an industrial scale using wet chemistry methods (i.e., self-assembly from solution). The design of molecular electronics devices, and the processes to make them on an industrial scale, will require a thorough theoretical understanding of the molecular and higher level processes involved. Hence, the development of modeling techniques for molecular electronics devices is a high priority from both a basic science point of view (to understand the experimental studies in this field) and from an applied nanotechnology (manufacturing) point of view. Modeling molecular electronics devices requires computational methods at all length scales – electronic structure methods for calculating electron transport through organic molecules bonded to inorganic surfaces, molecular simulation methods for determining the structure of self-assembled films of organic molecules on inorganic surfaces, mesoscale methods to understand and predict the formation of mesoscale patterns on surfaces (including interconnect architecture), and macroscopic scale methods (including finite element methods) for simulating the behavior of molecular electronic circuit elements in a larger integrated device. Here we describe a large Department of Energy project involving six universities and one national laboratory aimed at developing integrated multiscale methods for modeling molecular electronics devices. The project is funded equally by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences and the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research, both within the Office of Science of the Department of Energy.
The Effects of a Multivitamin/Mineral Supplement on Micronutrient Status, Antioxidant Capacity and Cytokine Production in Healthy Older Adults Consuming a Fortified Diet

Background: Inadequate micronutrient intake among older adults is common despite the increased prevalence of fortified/enriched foods in the American diet. Although many older adults take multivitamin supplements in an effort to compensate, studies examining the benefits of this behavior are absent.Objective: To determine whether a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement can improve micronutrient status, plasma antioxidant capacity and cytokine production in healthy, free-living older adults already consuming a fortified diet.Methods: An eight-week double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial among 80 adults aged 50 to 87 years (mean=66.5±8.6 years).Results: Multivitamin treatment significantly increased (p<0.01, compared to placebo) plasma concentrations of vitamins D (77 to 100 nmol/L), E (27 to 32 μmol/L), pyridoxal phosphate (55.1 to 75.2 nmol/L), folate (23 to 33 nmol/L), B12 (286 to 326 pmol/L)), C (55 to 71 μmol/L), and improved the riboflavin activity coefficient (1.23 to 1.15), but not vitamins ...
Conversion front Greek Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism in the Fourteenth Century

Abstract Several prominent Byzantines, including the Emperor John V Palaiologos, converted to Roman Catholicism in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This may seem an odd sort of conversion. After all, if the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith are contained in the Nicene Creed, then Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic believers differ on only one tenet: whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father or from the Father and the Son – the Filioque issue. For a Christian to admit the double procession of the Holy Spirit is hardly on the same level as admitting that Mohammed is the prophet of the one God. Indeed, many members of each church have been willing to call the procession of the Holy Spirit unknowable and leave it at that.
Two failures to demonstrate superiority of a generalized secondary reinforcer

In two separate experiments the reinforcing effect of a generalized secondary reinforcer (paired with both food and water) proved not to be superior to that of a simple secondary reinforcer (paired only with food) in maintaining bar pressing behavior in rats. These results are discussed in relation to the commonly held generalized secondary reinforcer hypothesis and in relation to Skinner’s original formulation of the hypothesis.
Intrinsic Neurons of Fastigial Nucleus Mediate Neurogenic Neuroprotection against Excitotoxic and Ischemic Neuronal Injury in Rat

Electrical stimulation of the cerebellar fastigial nucleus (FN) elevates regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and arterial pressure (AP) and provides long-lasting protection against focal and global ischemic infarctions. We investigated which neuronal element in FN, perikarya or axons, mediates this central neurogenic neuroprotection and whether it also protects against excitotoxicity. In anesthetized rats, the FN was stimulated for 1 hr, and ibotenic acid (IBO) was microinjected unilaterally into the striatum. In unstimulated controls, the excitotoxic lesions averaged approximately 40 mm3. Stimulation of FN, but not dentate nucleus (DN), significantly reduced lesion volumes up to 80% when IBO was injected 15 min, 72 hr, or 10 d, but not 30 d, thereafter. In other rats, intrinsic neurons of FN or DN were destroyed by pretreatment with IBO. Five days later, the FN was stimulated, and 72 hr later, IBO was microinjected into the striatum. Lesions of FN, but not DN, abolished neuroprotection but not the elevations of rCBF and AP elicited from FN stimulation. Excitotoxic lesions of FN, but not DN, also abolished the 37% reduction in focal ischemic infarctions produced by middle cerebral artery occlusion. Excitation of intrinsic FN neurons provides long-lasting, substantial, and reversible protection of central neurons from excitotoxicity, as well as focal ischemia, whereas axons in the nucleus, probably collaterals of ramified brainstem neurons, mediate the elevations in rCBF, which do not contribute to neuroprotection. Long-lived protection against a range of injuries is an unrecognized function of FN neurons transmitted over pathways distinct from those regulating rCBF.
Study Abroad Learning Activities: A Synthesis and Comparison:

Learning activities are described for study abroad tours with appropriateness discussed in terms of study tour characteristics of location, integration with academic credit, and time spent on the t...
Decreased lung function in 7-year-old children with early-life organophosphate exposure.

Background Organophosphate pesticides are heavily used in agriculture, and adverse associations with respiratory health in occupational settings have been reported. However, most of the evidence comes from studies where there were no biomarkers of exposure and no objective outcome measurement. Non-occupational chronic effects among residents living in agricultural communities are less well described. Objective To evaluate associations between early-life organophosphate exposure and lung function of children living in an agricultural community. Methods Participants were 279 children from the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) longitudinal birth cohort. The area under the curve for organophosphate exposure was determined by urinary diethyl and dimethyl dialkylphosphate metabolites of organophosphate pesticides, which were measured five times during childhood (6–60 months). Spirometry was performed at age 7 years. Regression models controlled for maternal smoking during pregnancy, season of birth, particulate matter concentrations with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), breast feeding duration, mould and pets at home, distance of home from a highway, food insecurity, maternal education, season of spirometry, sex, height and technician. Results Childhood diethyl, dimethyl and total dialkylphosphate concentrations were associated with significant decreases in lung function at age 7. Specifically, we found lower FEV 1 , (L/s) (s=−0.16, 95% CI −0.30 to −0.02, p=0.03) and FVC (L) (s=−0.17, 95% CI −0.34 to 0.01, p=0.06) per 10-fold increase of total dialkylphosphate levels. Conclusions Early-life organophosphate exposure as assessed by dialkylphosphate concentrations was adversely associated with 7-year-old children9s lung function.
The Perils of Planning

Randal O'Toole reviews Robert Bruegmann's Sprawl. Richard Gordon reviews Jan Kalicki and David Goldwyn's Energy and Security. George Leef reviews Joseph Vranich's End of the Line. Richard Gordon reviews James Griffin and Stephen Puller's Electricity Deregulation.
Optogenetic skeletal muscle-powered adaptive biological machines

Complex biological systems sense, process, and respond to their surroundings in real time. The ability of such systems to adapt their behavioral response to suit a range of dynamic environmental signals motivates the use of biological materials for other engineering applications. As a step toward forward engineering biological machines (bio-bots) capable of nonnatural functional behaviors, we created a modular light-controlled skeletal muscle-powered bioactuator that can generate up to 300 µN (0.56 kPa) of active tension force in response to a noninvasive optical stimulus. When coupled to a 3D printed flexible bio-bot skeleton, these actuators drive directional locomotion (310 µm/s or 1.3 body lengths/min) and 2D rotational steering (2°/s) in a precisely targeted and controllable manner. The muscle actuators dynamically adapt to their surroundings by adjusting performance in response to “exercise” training stimuli. This demonstration sets the stage for developing multicellular bio-integrated machines and systems for a range of applications.
Abstract 3079: Estrogen signaling promotes cancer stem cell expansion via microRNA-140 targeting of pluripotency-associated factor SOX2 in ERα positive breast cancer cells.

Multiple reports indicate that the prospective tumor suppressor miR-140 is down regulated in breast tumors compared to normal breast tissues; however, the role of miR-140 in breast tumorigenesis remains unclear. We have identified a novel target for miR-140 in mammary epithelium, the core pluripotency transcription factor SOX2. It is well known that SOX2 regulates the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells, however, less is known concerning possible oncogenic roles of SOX2 in breast cancer. We found that miR-140 and SOX2 target mRNA exhibited inverse expression in breast tumors and normal breast tissues, which was also correlated with estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) status. We investigated the role of ERα signaling in the regulation of miR-140 and SOX2 in breast tumors and found that estrogen stimulation resulted in decreased miR-140 and increased SOX2 expression in mammary epithelium and breast cancer cells. We performed bioinformatics promoter analyses of the miR-140 promoter revealing several predicted estrogen response elements (ERE) in the miR-140 promoter. We examined estrogen-induced activation of these prospective EREs using luciferase reporters for a miR-140 promoter deletion series. Furthermore, we used chromatin-immunoprecipitation to reveal that ERα binds to an ERE flanking the miR-140 promoter, consequently suppressing miR-140 transcription. As estrogen signaling was previously implicated in the regulation of breast cancer stem cells (CSCs), we investigated whether the miR-140/SOX2 pathway might provide a mechanistic link between ERα signaling and CSC maintenance. We found that forced activation of the miR-140/SOX2 pathway decreased mammosphere formation (a surrogate measure of CSC self-renewal) and opposed estrogen-induced expansion of the well-characterized CD44(high)/CD24(low) CSC subpopulation in ERα+ breast cancer cells. These results indicate that an ERα/miR-140/SOX2 pathway critically regulates breast CSC maintenance in ERα+ breast tumors. Citation Format: Yongshu Zhang, Gabriel L. Eades, Yuan Yao, Qinglin Li, Qun Zhou. Estrogen signaling promotes cancer stem cell expansion via microRNA-140 targeting of pluripotency-associated factor SOX2 in ERα positive breast cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3079. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3079
Combinatorial Weighting Method for Early Warning Thresholding of Power Quality

Conducting over-limit and abnormal data mining for power quality(PQ) monitored data,and giving corresponding early warning can help find PQ problems earlier.However,few researches on setting the threshold of abnormal data can be found,and existing threshold judgment algorithms mainly concentrates on single assignment.In this paper,the combinatorial weighting method for early warning thresholding of PQ is put forward.The method uses distance based clustering analysis method and improved Otsu method to determine the objective weight.At the same time,expert scoring system is applied to calculate the subjective weight,and the final weight is determined by combinatorial weighting method.Calculation example based on measured data shows that the above method can set PQ early warning threshold accurately,and can be effectively used in the early warning system for PQ abnormal data.
Health Behavior Among Men With Multiple Family Roles: The Moderating Effects of Perceived Partner Relationship Quality

Men in the United States are increasingly involved in their children's lives and currently represent 40% of informal caregivers to dependent relatives or friends aged 18 years and older. Yet much more is known about the health effects of varying family role occupancies for women relative to men. The present research sought to fill this empirical gap by first comparing the health behavior (sleep duration, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, fast food consumption) of men who only occupy partner roles and partnered men who also fill father, informal caregiver, or both father and informal caregiver (i.e., sandwiched) roles. The moderating effects of perceived partner relationship quality, conceptualized here as partner support and strain, on direct family role-health behavior linkages were also examined. A secondary analysis of survey data from 366 cohabiting and married men in the Work, Family and Health Study indicated that men's multiple family role occupancies were generally not associated with health behavior. With men continuing to take on more family responsibilities, as well as the serious health consequences of unhealthy behavior, the implications of these null effects are encouraging - additional family roles can be integrated into cohabiting and married men's role repertoires with minimal health behavior risks. Moderation analysis revealed, however, that men's perceived partner relationship quality constituted a significant factor in determining whether multiple family role occupancies had positive or negative consequences for sleep duration, alcohol consumption, and fast food consumption. These findings are discussed in terms of their empirical and practical implications for partnered men and their families.
Shipping Flasks in Severe Rail Accidents

The Council on Economic Priorities (CEP) is an independent research organisation in the US. We have recently issued a report (The Next Nuclear Gamble) on the transport and storage of irradiated fuel which concludes that, whilst no transport accident leading to a major release of radioactivity has occurred in the US, the transport of irradiated fuel as currently practised in the US is unsafe. We do not think the flask (or ‘cask’ in the US) design is sufficient to withstand realistic highway and rail accidents.
Influence of ambient temperature on the heterogeneity of ambient fine particle chemical composition and disease prevalence.

AbstractIn this study, we present the associations of fine particle nitrate, sulfate, and four organic carbon fractions with ambient temperature in urban and background monitoring sites in the United States for the 2011–2012 period. Nitrate concentrations increased for decreasing temperatures, while sulfate levels increased for temperatures higher than 14 °C. The profiles of organic carbon fractions for different temperatures were comparable to that observed for elemental carbon, a thermally stable and non-reactive component emitted from combustion-related sources. The trends for all parameters were comparable for the nine regions and independent to emission estimates of fine particles and their precursors. These patterns demonstrated that ambient temperature may manipulate fine particulate composition. These differences may be augmented by rising temperatures due to changing climate. Considering the causal associations between particulate pollution and pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, changes in th...
Prevalence and Implementation Practices of School Salad Bars Across Grade Levels.

Purpose:To assess the prevalence of school salad bars in Arizona and to describe common practices of salad bar use among school nutrition managers across grade level.Design:Cross-sectional web-base...
Geostatistical Analysis of Compositional Data

Compositional data are represented as vector variables, with individual vector components ranging between zero and a positive maximum value representing a constant sum constraint, usually unity (or 100%). The earth sciences are flooded with spatial distributions of compositional data, such as
Continuous tunnelled femoral nerve block for palliative care of a patient with metastatic osteosarcoma.

An 18-year-old man with metastatic femoral osteosarcoma had inadequate pain control with gabapentin, naproxen and intravenous fentanyl. A tunnelled femoral nerve catheter was used to administer a c...
Is There an App for That

Everyday technologies (e.g., iPods, iPads, and Smart Phones) offer applications (apps) that can serve as supports to students with intellectual and related developmental disabilities. The extent to which apps that are currently on the market are aligned with the support needs of children was evaluated using the subscale framework of the Children's Supports Intensity Scale (Child-SIS). Recommendations for future research and app development are provided, and implications for how apps influence assistive technology (AT) consideration and the concept of technological abandonment are discussed.
Viral Epidemics in Latin America from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries and the Early Days of Virology in the Region

The contact between American and European populations after the Columbian voyages unintentionally introduced to the American continent a number of epidemic viral diseases that contributed to a catastrophic decline of the indigenous populations. Although influenza may have been the first pandemic introduced in the Americas in 1493, it was smallpox that had the most dramatic consequences, especially during the sixteenth century. From the seventeenth to the end of the nineteenth century, yellow fever was one of the most feared epidemic diseases in the Americas. The Latin American society responded to these epidemics with a number of innovative actions. The Spanish Royal Philanthropic Expedition of the Vaccine, the Balmis expedition, brought the smallpox vaccine to Latin America in 1804, only 7 years after its discovery by Edward Jenner. Similarly, the rabies vaccine developed by Louis Pasteur in 1885 was rapidly introduced in Argentina and Mexico in 1886 and 1888, respectively. The formalization of the germ theory of disease, especially by the work of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch at the end of the nineteenth century, stimulated the search for the “germ of yellow fever” by scientists in several Latin American countries. In 1900–1901, Walter Reed and collaborators, working in Cuba, described the mosquito transmission of yellow fever and the first human virus as the etiological agent of the disease. However, by 1881, systematic epidemiological observations conducted by the Cuban physician Carlos Finlay convinced him that the Aedes aegypti was the mosquito vector of yellow fever, an observation also advanced in 1858 in Venezuela by Louis Daniel Beauperthuy. Another early virus discovery in Latin America was that of rabbit myxomatosis by Giuseppe Sanarelli in Uruguay in 1898, the same year that Loeffler and Frosch described in Germany the viral etiology of foot-and-mouth disease, which was the first report of an animal virus.
Prophylactic Riluzole Attenuates Oxidative Stress Damage in Spinal Cord Distraction.

Abstract Spinal cord injury (SCI) without radiographical abnormalities (SCIWORA) presents a significant challenge because of the loss of function despite an apparent normal anatomy. The cause of dysfunction is not understood, and specific treatment options are lacking. Some scoliosis corrective surgeries result in SCIWORA, where stretching of the spinal cord can lead to vascular compromise and hypoxia. The iatrogenic nature of this injury allows for the implantation of neuroprotective strategies that are designed to prevent damage. We utilized a model of atraumatic SCI to evaluate the efficacy of the sodium-channel blocker, riluzole, as a prophylactic neuroprotectant. As expected, the stretch injury caused a significant reduction in intraparenchymal oxygen in distraction (−53.09 ± 22.23%) and riluzole pre-treated distraction animals (−43.04 ± 22.86%). However, in contrast to the oxidative stress and metabolic impairments observed in vehicle-treated distraction animals, in which protein carbonylation incre...
Consumption Junction: A Case of Peritoneal Tuberculosis-induced Small Bowel Obstruction.

The rapid diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) is necessary to prevent the spread of infecti onto others and reduce morbidity and mortality. Atypical presentations are not often considered in the differential. This patient presented with fever and abdominal pain. Computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis showed small bowel obstruction, initially attributed to the patient’s Crohn’s disease. Chest radiograph showed diffuse interstitial lung disease, consistent with his diagnosis of sarcoidosis. He had multiple recent negative tuberculin skin tests documented. After being admitted to the surgical service and started on antibiotics, the diagnosis of abdominal TB was discovered following surgical exploration and tissue sampling.
Big data and food retail: Nudging out citizens by creating dependent consumers

Abstract The paper takes a critical look at how food retail firms use big data, looking specifically at how these techniques and technologies govern our ability to imagine food worlds. It does this by drawing on two sets of data: (1) interviews with twenty-one individuals who oversaw the use of big data applications in a retail setting and (2) five consumer focus groups composed of individuals who regularly shopped at major food chains along Colorado’s Front Range. For reasons described below, the “nudge” provides the conceptual entry point for this analysis, as these techniques are typically expressed through big data-driven nudges. The argument begins by describing the nudge concept and how it is used in the context of retail big data. This is followed by a discussion of methods. The remainder of the paper discusses how big data are used to nudge consumers and the effects of these practices. This analysis is organized around three themes that emerged out of the qualitative data: path dependency, products; path dependency, retail; and path dependency, habitus. The paper concludes connecting these themes through the concept of governance, particularly by way of their ability to, in Foucault’s (2003: 241) words, have “the power to ‘make’ live and ‘let’ die” worlds.
Analyzing attack strategies against rule-based intrusion detection systems

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) have been widely used to detect cyber attacks in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). However, attackers can often adapt their attacking strategies to evade detection. Many commercial IDS are rule-based systems. This paper analyzes the possible attacking strategies against a widely used rule-based IDS, Snort, using hyper graph model and clustering. We present initial results and discuss some techniques to prevent such attacks.
Mapping and characterization of the new adult plant leaf rust resistance gene Lr77 derived from Santa Fe winter wheat

A new gene for adult plant leaf rust resistance in wheat was mapped to chromosome 3BL. This gene was designated as Lr77. ‘Santa Fe’ is a hard red winter cultivar that has had long-lasting resistance to the leaf rust fungus, Puccinia triticina. The objective of this study was to determine the chromosome location of the adult plant leaf rust resistance in Santa Fe wheat. A partial backcross line of ‘Thatcher’ (Tc) wheat with adult plant leaf rust resistance derived from Santa Fe was crossed with Thatcher to develop a Thatcher//Tc*2/Santa Fe F6 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population. The RIL population and parental lines were evaluated for segregation of leaf rust resistance in three field plot tests and in an adult plant greenhouse test. A genetic map of the RIL population was constructed using 90,000 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers with the Illumina Infinium iSelect 90K wheat bead array. A significant quantitative trait locus for reduction of leaf rust severity in all four tests was found on chromosome 3BL that segregated as a single adult plant resistance gene. The RILs with the allele from the resistant parent for SNP marker IWB10344 had lower leaf rust severity and a moderately resistant to moderately susceptible response compared to the susceptible RILs and Thatcher. The gene derived from Santa Fe on chromosome 3BL was designated as Lr77. Kompetitive allele-specific polymerase chain reaction assay markers linked to Lr77 on 3BL should be useful for selection of wheat germplasm with this gene.
Laplace's Ratio Estimator

This paper describes the sample survey from which Laplace estimated the population of France as of September 22, 1802 by means of a ratio estimator (ratio of population to births during the preceding year). His analysis of the distribution of the error in his estimate used a Bayesian approach with a uniform prior for the ratio of births to population. He assumed that the data for his sample and for France itself were both drawn at random from an infinite superpopulation. He found the large-sample distribution of his error of estimate to be approximately normal, with a small bias and a variance that he calculates. He ends by calculating the probability that his estimate of the population of France is in error by more than half a million. To my knowledge this is the first time that an asymptotic distribution of the ratio estimate has been worked out.
Bioinformatics contributions to data mining

The field of bioinformatics shows a tremendous growth at the crossroads of biology, medicine, information science, and computer science. Figures clearly demonstrate that today bioinformatics research is as productive as data mining research as a whole. However most bioinformatics research deals with tasks of prediction, classification, and tree or network induction from data. Bioinformatics tasks consist mainly in similarity-based sequence search, microarray data analysis, 2D or 3D macromolecule shape prediction, and phylogenetic classification. It is therefore interesting to consider how the methods of bioinformatics can be pertinent advances in data mining and to highlight some examples of how these bioinformatics algorithms can potentially be applied to domains outside biology.
The third speaker: The body as interlocutor in conventional, complementary, and integrative medicine encounters

This paper examines talk about the body in interactions between patients and their complementary/ alternative providers (CAM), integrative physicians (IM), or conventional physicians. In an analysis of 603 consultations, we focus on instances where the body is spoken of in agentive terms. We thus examine particular micro-interactive moments where the body is constituted as an agent that speaks, responds, and otherwise acts in ways that direct the flow of conversation or the medical decision-making process. With this data, we demonstrate how body-as-agent metaphors in the clinical encounter underscore the communicative agency of providers and position the body as an interlocutor or ‘third speaker’ in conversation with the patient and provider. We further note that we found only limited differences in the ways body-as-agent metaphors were used by CAM/IM and conventional providers. Rather than arguing that such differences demonstrate a fundamental divide between CAM/IM and conventional approaches, we therefore suggest that these kinds of supportive body-as-agent talk exist as opportunities for all providers to support patients in taking a more active stance in managing their relationship with their body.
Evaluation of the Effect of Uterine Fibroids on Microwave Endometrial Ablation Profiles

Thermal ablation of the endometrial lining of the uterus is a minimally-invasive technique for treatment of menorrhagia. We have previously presented a 915 MHz microwave triangular loop antenna for endometrial ablation. Uterine fibroids are benign pelvic tumors, of considerably different water content compared to normal uterus, and may change the shape of the uterus. Collectively, these changes introduced by fibroids may alter the pattern of microwave endometrial ablation. In this study, we have investigated the effect of 1 – 3 cm diameter uterine fibroids in different locations around the uterine cavity on ablation profiles following 60 W, 150 s microwave exposure with a loop antenna. Our computational model predicts ablation zone extents within 1 ± 0.8 of ablation zones observed in experiments in ex vivo tissue. The maximum change in simulated ablation depths due to the presence of fibroids was 1.1 mm. In summary, this simulation study suggests that 1 – 3 cm diameter uterine fibroids can be expected to have minimal impact on the extent of microwave endometrial ablation patterns.
Digital Microscopy, Image Analysis, and Virtual Slide Repository

Advancements in technology and digitization have ushered in novel ways of enhancing tissue-based research via digital microscopy and image analysis. Whole slide imaging scanners enable digitization of histology slides to be stored in virtual slide repositories and to be viewed via computers instead of microscopes. Easier and faster sharing of histologic images for teaching and consultation, improved storage and preservation of quality of stained slides, and annotation of features of interest in the digital slides are just a few of the advantages of this technology. Combined with the development of software for digital image analysis, digital slides further pave the way for the development of tools that extract quantitative data from tissue-based studies. This review introduces digital microscopy and pathology, and addresses technical and scientific considerations in slide scanning, quantitative image analysis, and slide repositories. It also highlights the current state of the technology and factors that need to be taken into account to insure optimal utility, including preanalytical considerations and the importance of involving a pathologist in all major steps along the digital microscopy and pathology workflow.
Some Issues of the Family

This chapter is devoted to the discovery of necessary and sufficient conditions under which the well-known rotten kid theorem, established in 1974 by Gary Becker, a Nobel Laureate in economics, holds true generally by employing the systemic yoyo model. Beyond that, this chapter also uses the yoyo model as the background intuition to establish the following two results: (1) the Theorem of Never-Perfect Value Systems, which shows how any developed value system would be flawed in practice, and (2) such a theorem that if a tender loving parent exists, then selfish kids would take advantage of his tenderness and love. At the end, some open, unsettled problems are posted for the future research.
Seeing Like a Cyborg? The Innocence of Posthuman Knowledge

This chapter examines some prominent periodisations of the current epoch as the age of the ‘posthuman’ and of 'hybridity'. Looking in particular to the work of Bruno Latour and Donna Haraway, the chapter assesses the way these and other theorists look primarily to contemporary technological developments as the basis for articulations of a fundamental transformation of existential experience. The chapter argues that such theories have a tendency to neglect both entrenched global divisions in access to the rewards as well as exposure to the perils that recent technological advancements imply. Moreover, it is claimed they overlook the continuity of historical structures of inequality in their assessments of technological change. The chapter proposes recalling the peculiar conditions from which our conceptions of digital experience are forged, namely contemporary regimes of private property. Not only might this prove valuable for reflection upon the historical horizons of our social theories, but also for understanding the impulses animating them.
The Impact of Demonetization on the Short-Term and Long-Term Returns of India’s Leading Real Estate Index

This article examines the short-term and long-term impact of demonetization on the daily and monthly returns of the Standard & Poor Bombay Stock Exchange (S&P BSE) Realty Index, India’s leading real estate index. Demonetization is supposed to result in a liquidity crunch in the market and have a negative impact on real estate activity and real estate stock market returns. The results suggest that the S&P BSE Realty Index had statistically lower returns immediately after the announcement of demonetization. However, the impact dissipated within a month. Furthermore, when we compared the monthly returns from the S&P BSE Realty Index with similar returns on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex index, we found no long-term impact of demonetization on the Realty Index. Our results suggest that markets reacted to demonetization as an opportunity to move to a cashless system that will reform the real estate sector and attract global investors, including hedge funds, to invest in the real estate market of India due to growing demand for residential and commercial real estate. TOPICS:Real estate, emerging markets, wealth management, currency Key Findings • Markets reacted to demonetization as an opportunity to move to a cashless system that will reform the real estate sector and attract global investors including hedge funds to invest in the real estate market of India due to growing demand for residential and commercial real estate. • On the day of the event and the day following the event, the S&P BSE Realty Index returns were negative. These returns were short-term only and dissipated a few days after the announcement. • Short-term after-effects of demonetization are consistent with previous studies that analyzed the effect of demonetization due to introduction of single currency, Euro.
Practical implications for providing physical activity counseling for the older adult: An integrative review.

Background Physical inactivity in the older adult is associated with functional decline, increased fall risk, and threatens the ability of the older adult to live independently. Nurse practitioners, with their expertise in health promotion and chronic disease management, are well positioned to provide physical activity (PA) counseling. However, there is a gap in the literature describing a practical formula for providing PA counseling and PA prescriptions for clinical practice. Objective The objective of this integrative review was to synthesize the literature related to counseling interventions designed to increase PA among older adults and provide practical recommendations for incorporating recommendations into practice. Data sources Five different databases were searched along with ancestry searching of relevant articles. Eligible studies tested methods of recommending PA for adults age ≥65 years, including in-person counseling, phone calls, written information, and exercise prescriptions. Conclusions Health care providers are able to motivate older adults to increase PA in the short term. Diverse health care disciplines are efficacious at motivating older adults to increase PA. Various counseling interventions can be used with varying amounts of time investment. Implications for practice Physical activity counseling is an underused but effective intervention for increasing PA in older adults. Older adults respond well to advice to increase their PA especially with the addition of a written exercise prescription. Basing PA counseling interventions on a theoretical construct such as social cognitive theory or transtheoretical stages of change theory improves the efficacy of the interventions.