cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What's on your keyboard? A systematic review of the contamination of peripheral computer devices in healthcare settings.

Objective To determine the extent and type of microbial contamination of computer peripheral devices used in healthcare settings, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to reduce contamination of these devices and establish the risk of patient and healthcare worker infection from contaminated devices. Design Systematic review Methods We searched four online databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase and Scopus for articles reporting primary data collection on contamination of computer-related equipment (including keyboards, mice, laptops and tablets) and/or studies demonstrating the effectiveness of a disinfection technique. Pooling of contamination rates was conducted where possible, and narrative synthesis was used to describe the rates of device contamination, types of bacterial and viral contamination, effectiveness of interventions and any associations between device contamination and human infections. Results Of the 4432 records identified, a total of 75 studies involving 2804 computer devices were included. Of these, 50 studies reported contamination of computer-related hardware, and 25 also measured the effects of a decontamination intervention. The overall proportion of contamination ranged from 24% to 100%. The most common microbial contaminants were skin commensals, but also included potential pathogens including methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus, Clostridiumdifficile, vancomycin-resistantenterococci and Escherichia coli. Interventions demonstrating effective decontamination included wipes/pads using isopropyl alcohol, quaternary ammonium, chlorhexidine or dipotassium peroxodisulfate, ultraviolet light emitting devices, enhanced cleaning protocols and chlorine/bleach products. However, results were inconsistent, and there was insufficient data to demonstrate comparative effectiveness. We found little evidence on the link between device contamination and patient/healthcare worker colonisation or infection. Conclusions Computer keyboards and peripheral devices are frequently contaminated; however, our findings do not allow us to draw firm conclusions about their relative impact on the transmission of pathogens or nosocomial infection. Additional studies measuring the incidence of healthcare-acquired infections from computer hardware, the relative risk they pose to healthcare and evidence for effective and practical cleaning methods are needed.
Functional Movement Screen scores in a group of division IA athletes.

Background To determine mean values of the Functional Movement Screen scores in Division IA collegiate athletes. Methods One hundred sixty-one Division I collegiate athletes were recruited to participate in the study. The Functional Movement Screen was performed during pre-participation screenings prior to the beginning of the season. All athletes performed all seven tests and clearing tests as part of their participation. All the athletes were injury free at the time of testing. A χ2 analysis was used to evaluate whether significant differences in the individual scores existed and t-test comparisons were conducted for the composite scores of the FMS and to examine if there were significant differences between genders. Results No significant difference was found between genders. The overall mean FMS score amongst players was 16.2±2.6. Female athletes scored highest on the active straight leg raise (2.64±0.54) and shoulder mobility (2.52±0.72) while their lowest scoring trials were trunk stability (1.95±0.25) and IL (2.25±0.59). Male athletes scored highest on the push-pp test (2.78±0.49) and active straight leg raise (2.47±0.62) and the lowest on trunk stability (1.98±0.13). Conclusions This study provides mean value scores for FMS scores when testing Division IA collegiate athletes. The FMS may be useful for recognizing deficiencies in movements.
Toward multi-task support and security analyses in PLC program translation for verification: poster abstract

In this poster, we will present new tool, HyPLC [30], which implements the translation of discrete control code of verified hybrid program models to PLC controller code and, vice versa, the translation of existing PLC code into the discrete control actions for a hybrid program given an additional input of the continuous dynamics of the system to be verified. This approach allows for the generation of real controller code while preserving, by compilation, the correctness of a valid and verified hybrid program. PLCs are common cyber-physical interfaces for safety-critical industrial control applications, and HyPLC serves as a pragmatic tool for bridging formal verification of complex cyber-physical systems at the algorithmic level of hybrid programs with the execution layer of concrete PLC implementations. This poster will also discuss future directions of HyPLC such as support of multiple tasks (and, by extension, multiple PLCs), interval arithmetic, as well as security analyses.
Tubacin, An Inhibitor of HDAC6, Induces Apoptosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells in Vitro and in Vivo through a Na+/K+ATPase-Dependent Pathway.

Abstract Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common form of childhood cancer. Despite effective chemotherapy, 25 to 30% of children will relapse. In adults, less than 30% of patients with ALL are cured. Therefore, it is critical that we identify novel therapies to treat ALL. We are studying the effects of a small molecule compound known as tubacin (tubulin acetylation inducer) that selectively inhibits histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) resulting in increased acetylation of alpha-tubulin by inhibiting one of the two catalytic domains of HDAC6. We found that treatment of both pre-B and T-ALL cell lines with tubacin inhibits growth at very low micromolar concentrations (Jurkat IC50=1μM, Loucy IC50=3μM, REH IC50=2μM, Nalm6 IC50=5μM). We also determined that there is a therapeutic window, since tubacin inhibits the growth of normal bone marrow progenitor cells in methylcellulose colony assays at 20μM and normal human lymphocytes cultured in IL-2 at an IC50 of 16μM. We next tested the effects of tubacin in vivo. SCID mice injected with pre-B ALL Nalm-6 cells were treated with tubacin intraperitoneally at 50 mg/kg/day. Preliminary data using bioluminescence imaging in SCID mouse models showed that tubacin inhibited leukemic progression in vivo. To understand the mechanism of tubacin in ALL cells, we examined both apoptosis and cell cycle regulation by PARP cleavage, activation of caspases, and propidium iodide staining with FACs analysis. Tubacin induced apoptosis of pre-B and T-ALL cells within 12 hours of treatment. There was no effect on cell cycle progression, Retinoblastoma protein phosphorylation, or p21 upregulation, which have been observed with other HDAC inhibitors. Unlike in myeloma cells, tubacin did not increase JunK/SAPK activation or accumulation of acetylated HSP90 in ALL cells. Tubacin treatment resulted in accumulation of acetylated alpha-tubulin after 1 hour and an increase in polyubiquitinated proteins after 7 hours. To address potential mechanisms of tubacin in ALL, we tested whether Na+/K+ ATPase could be contributing to apoptosis. Previous work has shown that treatment with L-glutamate dissociates the Na+/K+ ATPase complex from acetylated tubulin and restores ATPase enzymatic activity. We hypothesized that the accumulation of acetylated tubulin could potentially inhibit the activity of the cytosolic Na/K ATPase pump, which could be reversed by treatment with 1mM sodium glutamate. Preliminary data demonstrate that we can partially rescue the effects of tubacin on PARP cleavage with sodium glutamate. These results suggest that tubacin induces apoptosis through a novel pathway in ALL cells and provide rationale for targeting the aggresome pathway to treat ALL in the future.
Anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-35 and IL-10 block atherogenic lysophosphatidylcholine-induced, mitochondrial ROS-mediated innate immune activation, but spare innate immune memory signature in endothelial cells

It has been shown that anti-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-35 (IL-35) and IL-10 could inhibit acute endothelial cell (EC) activation, however, it remains unknown if and by what pathways IL-35 and IL-10 could block atherogenic lipid lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-induced sustained EC activation; and if mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) can differentiate mediation of EC activation from trained immunity (innate immune memory). Using RNA sequencing analyses, biochemical assays, as well as database mining approaches, we compared the effects of IL-35 and IL-10 in LPC-treated human aortic ECs (HAECs). Principal component analysis revealed that both IL-35 and IL-10 could similarly and partially reverse global transcriptome changes induced by LPC. Gene set enrichment analyses showed that while IL-35 and IL-10 could both block acute EC activation, characterized by upregulation of cytokines/chemokines and adhesion molecules, IL-35 is more potent than IL-10 in suppressing innate immune signatures upregulated by LPC. Surprisingly, LPC did not induce the expression of trained tolerance itaconate pathway enzymes but induced trained immunity enzyme expressions; and neither IL-35 nor IL-10 was found to affect LPC-induced trained immunity gene signatures. Mechanistically, IL-35 and IL-10 could suppress mtROS, which partially mediate LPC-induced EC activation and innate immune response. Therefore, anti-inflammatory cytokines could reverse mtROS-mediated acute and innate immune trans-differentiation responses in HAECs, but it could spare metabolic reprogramming and trained immunity signatures, which may not fully depend on mtROS. Our characterizations of anti-inflammatory cytokines in blocking mtROS-mediated acute and prolonged EC activation, and sparing trained immunity are significant for designing novel strategies for treating cardiovascular diseases, other inflammatory diseases, and cancers.
Strategic Spatial Governance: Deriving Social–Ecological Frameworks for Managing Landscapes and Regions

Since the 1980s, watersheds or catchments have been the primary regions used for natural resource management in many countries. Catchments however, often do not represent the range of biophysical and social characteristics of importance for effective resource governance. The requirements for spatial definition of resource governance egions have received little analysis in science or policy. Research on ‘place’ attachment and community participation in resource management provides a grounding to re-examine such regional arrangements. This chapter describes three characteristics considered to be of priority importance in identifying regional boundaries for resource governance. Firstly, the boundaries of resource governance regions should enclose areas of high interest and importance to local residents. Secondly, the biophysical characteristics of a resource governance region should be as homogenous as possible. Thirdly, the nature and reach of environmental externalities of resource use should determine the size and nesting of resource management regions. An example of the application of these concepts to derive a hierarchy of nested regions for the State of New South Wales, Australia is provided. The results have been used by the New South Wales Government and the Electoral Commission to reconsider local government, natural resource management regions, and representative democracy within the State. Wider applications might include review of municipal boundaries and regional governance frameworks in other nations and across the European Union.
Pulmonary outcome measures in long-term survivors of infantile Pompe disease on enzyme replacement therapy: A case series.

OBJECTIVES To report the respiratory function of school-aged children with infantile Pompe disease (IPD) who started enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) in infancy and early childhood. STUDY DESIGN This is a retrospective chart review of pulmonary function tests of: (a) patients with IPD 5 to 18 years of age, (b) who were not ventilator dependent, and (c) were able to perform upright and supine spirometry. Subjects were divided into a younger (5-9 years) and older cohort (10-18 years) for the analysis. Upright and supine forced vital capacity (FVC), maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), and maximal expiratory pressure (MEP) were analyzed. RESULTS Fourteen patients, all cross-reactive immunologic material (CRIM)-positive, met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Mean upright and supine FVC were 70.3% and 64.9% predicted, respectively, in the 5- to 9-year-old cohort; and 61.5% and 52.5% predicted, respectively, in the 10- to 18-year-old group. Individual patient trends showed stability in FVC overtime in six of the 14 patients. MIPs and MEPs were consistent with inspiratory and expiratory muscle weakness in the younger and older age group but did not decline with age. CONCLUSION Data from this cohort of CRIM-positive patients with IPD showed that ERT is able to maintain respiratory function in a subgroup of patients whereas others had a steady decline. There was a statistically significant decline in FVC from the upright to a supine position in both the younger and older age groups of CRIM-positive ERT-treated patients. Before ERT, patients with IPD were unable to maintain independent ventilation beyond the first few years of life.
An essay in european ethnomathematics: The social and cultural bases of the vara de Burgos and its relation to the basque septuagesimal system

In 1780 the renowned French historian of metrology Alexis Paucton (1780:166, 191–195) argued that the physical length of the “feet” of the vara de Burgos (which are identical to those of the Basque bar standards of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia) should be adopted as the universal linear standard, rather than the length of the new decimal meter bar standard which at that time had been proposed by a group of French astronomers, including Mechain and Delambre. Although Paucton was unaware of the Basque Septuagesimal System (BSS), his intuition was correct since, as the present study demonstrates, the geometric feet coded into the vara de Burgos produce a remarkably accurate geodetic model (Frank 1997b).
Phase-Selective and Localized TiO 2 Coating on Additive and Wrought Titanium by a Direct Laser Surface Modification Approach.

Titanium has been the material of interest in biological implant applications due to its unique mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Their design is now growing rapidly due to the advent of additive manufacturing technology that enables the fabrication of complex and patient-customized parts. Titanium dioxides (TiO2) coatings with different phases (e.g., anatase, rutile) and morphologies have shown to be effective in enhancing osteointegration and antibacterial behavior. This enhanced antibacterial behavior stems from the photocatalytic activity generated from crystalline TiO2 coatings. Anatase has commonly been shown to be a more photocatalytic oxide phase compared to rutile despite its larger band gap. However, more recent studies have suggested that a synergistic effect leading to increased photocatalytic activity may be produced with a combination of oxides containing both anatase and rutile phases. Here, we demonstrate the selective and localized formation of TiO2 nanostructures on additive and wrought titanium parts with anatase, rutile, and mixed phases by a laser-induced transformation approach. Compared to conventional coating processes, this technique produces desired TiO2 phases simply by controlled laser irradiation of titanium parts in an oxygen environment, where needed. The effects of processing conditions such as laser power, scanning speed, laser pulse duration, frequency, and gas flow on the selective transformation were studied. The morphological and structural evolutions were investigated using various characterization techniques. This method is specifically of significant interest in creating phase-selective TiO2 surfaces on titanium-based bioimplants, including those fabricated by additive manufacturing technologies.
Speech-Language Pathologists' Practices for Addressing Cognitive Deficits in College Students With Traumatic Brain Injury.

Purpose Traumatic brain injury (TBI) accounts for a large percentage of death and disability in the United States. Survivors of TBI and their families often face impaired cognition (e.g., memory or...
Dissecting Cellulitis of the Scalp: A Review and Case Studies of Surgical Reconstruction.

Dissecting cellulitis of the scalp (DCS) is a part of the follicular occlusion tetrad (hidradenitis, acne conglobata, and pilonidal disease). It is a spectrum disorder that can be severe and refractory to medical management. The authors describe 3 such cases successfully treated with surgical resection and reconstruction and present a scoring system for timely referral of such patients to a reconstructive surgical team. Methods A literature review of all available cases of DCS was undertaken, and the treatments and outcomes were reviewed. Our institution has had 3 recent cases that demonstrated delayed presentation common in the severe spectrum of this condition. All underwent radical surgical resection and reconstruction with skin grafting that was very positively received by all the patients. Results Three cases of DCS were treated with radical scalpectomy, and split-thickness skin grafting was done with a good cosmetic outcome and a high degree of subjective patient satisfaction. All would have received timely referral if the presented scoring system had been applied earlier. Conclusions DCS is a rare but debilitating condition that may progress to a medically refractory condition requiring surgical intervention. Surgical resection and skin grafting offer a durable cure, but delayed presentations are common. Use of a scoring system may reduce the time to surgical referral for refractory cases.
OMPRacer: A Scalable and Precise Static Race Detector for OpenMP Programs

We present OMPRACER, a static tool that uses flow-sensitive, interprocedural analysis to detect data races in OpenMP programs. OMPRACER is fast, scalable, has high code coverage, and supports the most common OpenMP features by combining state-of-the-art pointer analysis, novel value-flow analysis, happens-before tracking, and generalized modelling of OpenMP APIs. Unlike dynamic tools that currently dominate data race detection, OMPRACER achieves almost 100% code coverage using static analysis to detect a broader category of races without running the program or relying on specific input or runtime behaviour. OMPRACER has competitive precision with dynamic tools like Archer and ROMP: passing 105/116 cases in DataRaceBench with a total accuracy of 91%. OMPRACER has been used to analyze several Exascale Computing Project proxy applications containing over 2 million lines of code in under 10 minutes. OMPRACER has revealed previously unknown races in an ECP proxy app and a production simulation for COVID19.
BEHAVIOURAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONCES OF BALADI RED AND NEW ZEALAND WHITE RABBIT TO NATURAL OESTRUS INDUCTION METHODS

This experiment was designed to study the behavioural and physiological responses of two breeds of rabbits to natural oestrus induction methods in non-receptive female rabbits to mating. One hundred multiparous female rabbits from Baladi Red (BR) and New Zealand White (NZW) breeds (50 from each breed) and twenty mature bucks from two breeds (10 from each breed) were used in the study. The following two methods were used: (1) doe-litter separation in the suckling females, or (2) presence of a doe beside buck cage in the non-suckling females. Basic behavioural (time of standing, walking and sitting %) and sexual behavioural activities (frequency of male circling around female, female circling around male, male mounting female and actual mating) were recorded for each male and female rabbits. Receptivity and conception rates were calculated in each treatment group. Also, serum concentrations of estradiol-17β hormone were determined in does under investigation. The results of this experiment indicated that animals after application of natural inducing oestrus treatments are more active than before treatments. Time of standing was significantly higher than time of sitting in both breeds after treatments compared with those before treatments. Moreover, animals after application of treatments showed significantly higher frequency of female circling around male, male mounting female and actual mating, and insignificantly higher frequency of male circling around female, than those values recorded in animals before application of treatments. Oestrogen levels significantly increased after presence doe beside buck cage and insignificantly increased after doe-litter separation in both breeds. Both treatments showed pronounced improvement in terms of receptivity and conception rates, irrespective of breed. NZW does were significantly superior over BR does in most studied traits. Highly significant positive correlations were found between both sexual behaviour and oestrogen level with receptivity and conception rates. Generally, natural methods used to induce oestrus led to a positive change in the basic and sexual behaviour as well as improvement in the physiological performance of non-receptive female rabbits for mating.
Return to Sport After Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty.

Background:Femoroacetabular impingement and degenerative hip osteoarthritis (OA) affect athletes across a wide variety of sports. Hip resurfacing arthroplasty (HRA) has emerged as a surgical treatm...
LevioSAM: Fast lift-over of variant-aware reference alignments.

Motivation As more population genetics datasets and population-specific references become available, the task of translating ("lifting") read alignments from one reference coordinate system to another is becoming more common. Existing tools generally require a chain file, whereas VCF files are the more common way to represent variation. Existing tools also do not make effective use of threads, creating a post-alignment bottleneck. Results LevioSAM is a tool for lifting SAM/BAM alignments from one reference to another using a VCF file containing population variants. LevioSAM uses succinct data structures and scales efficiently to many threads. When run downstream of a read aligner, levioSAM is more than 7 times faster than an aligner when both are run with 16 threads. Availability https://github.com/alshai/levioSAM. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Atomic-Scale Visualization of the Cuprate Pair Density Wave State

A recent discovery of the pair density wave (PDW) order creates a stir in understanding an underlying physics in the pseudogap states of the cuprate high temperature superconductors. Recent Spectro...
Noise2Void: unsupervised denoising of PET images

Objective:Elevated noise levels in positron emission tomography (PET) images lower image quality and quantitative accuracy and are a confounding factor for clinical interpretation. The objective of this paper is to develop a PET image denoising technique based on unsupervised deep learning.Significance:Recent advances in deep learning have ushered in a wide array of novel denoising techniques, several of which have been successfully adapted for PET image reconstruction and post-processing. The bulk of the deep learning research so far has focused on supervised learning schemes, which, for the image denoising problem, require paired noisy and noiseless/low-noise images. This requirement tends to limit the utility of these methods for medical applications as paired training datasets are not always available. Furthermore, to achieve the best-case performance of these methods, it is essential that the datasets for training and subsequent real-world application have consistent image characteristics (e.g. noise, resolution, etc), which is rarely the case for clinical data. To circumvent these challenges, it is critical to develop unsupervised techniques that obviate the need for paired training data.Approach:In this paper, we have adapted Noise2Void, a technique that relies on corrupt images alone for model training, for PET image denoising and assessed its performance using PET neuroimaging data. Noise2Void is an unsupervised approach that uses a blind-spot network design. It requires only a single noisy image as its input, and, therefore, is well-suited for clinical settings. During the training phase, a single noisy PET image serves as both the input and the target. Here we present a modified version of Noise2Void based on a transfer learning paradigm that involves group-level pretraining followed by individual fine-tuning. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of incorporating an anatomical image as a second input to the network.Main Results:We validated our denoising technique using simulation data based on the BrainWeb digital phantom. We show that Noise2Void with pretraining and/or anatomical guidance leads to higher peak signal-to-noise ratios than traditional denoising schemes such as Gaussian filtering, anatomically guided non-local means filtering, and block-matching and 4D filtering. We used the Noise2Noise denoising technique as an additional benchmark. For clinical validation, we applied this method to human brain imaging datasets. The clinical findings were consistent with the simulation results confirming the translational value of Noise2Void as a denoising tool.
Medicaid's Unseen Costs

Medicaid occupies a special place among government programs for the poor. Public support for Medicaid is broader and deeper than for other safety net programs because the consequences of inadequate medical care can be much more immediate and severe than those of a lack of money or even food. Medicaid is now larger than Medicare (the federal health program for the elderly and disabled) and is the single largest item in state budgets, even larger than elementary and secondary education. Yet Medicaid imposes additional hidden costs. Like all means-tested government programs, Medicaid discourages work and charitable effort among the taxpayers who fund it, while discouraging self-sufficiency and encouraging dependence among beneficiaries. Medicaid also imposes costs that stem from overuse of medical care, increasing costs for private payers, and giving patients poorer quality care than they could obtain with private coverage. As it did with federal cash assistance, Congress should: (1) cap federal Medicaid spending, (2) block grant federal funds to the states, and (3) allow states full flexibility to define eligibility and benefits under their Medicaid programs. States should use that flexibility to target Medicaid assistance to the truly needy, reduce dependence, reduce crowd-out of private effort, and promote competitive private markets for medical care and insurance. That means withdrawing assistance from those who are most able to obtain coverage elsewhere and deregulating health care and health insurance markets so they can meet that need.
Integrating the Complexity of Mental Disability into the Criminal Law Course

Mental disability issues can be discussed on a multitude of occasions in the course on criminal law. My own idiosyncratic approach emphasizes mental disability’s intersections with the doctrinal aspects of criminal law. These intersections fall into five categories: 1) the justifications for punishment; 2) the definition of crime in general, to wit, the requirements of a voluntary act, mens rea, and causation; 3) the definition of particular crimes, such as murder, manslaughter, rape, and burglary; 4) defenses to crime, including mistake of law and of fact, as well as justification (including self‐defense) and excuse (including insanity and duress); and 5) considerations in sentencing, including the death penalty and sex offenses.
R7BP augments the function of RGS7·Gβ5 complexes by a plasma membrane-targeting mechanism

the R7 family. We show that unpalmitoylated R7BP undergoes nuclear/cytoplasmic shuttling and that a C-terminal polybasic motif proximal to the palmitoylation acceptor sites of R7BP mediates nuclear localization, palmitoylation, and plasma membrane targeting. These results suggest a novel mechanism whereby palmitoyltransferases and nuclear import receptors both utilize the C-terminal domain of R7BP to determine the trafficking fate of R7G5R7BP heterotrimers. Analogous mechanisms may regulate other signaling proteins whose distribution between the plasma membrane and nucleus is controlled by palmitoylation. Lastly, we show that cytoplasmic RGS7G5R7BP heterotrimers and RGS7G5 heterodimers are equivalently inefficient regulators of G proteincoupled receptor signaling relative to plasma membrane-bound heterotrimers bearing palmitoylated R7BP. Therefore, R7BP augments the function of the complex by a palmitoylation-regulated plasma membrane-targeting mechanism.
Inquiring Informationists: A Qualitative Exploration of Our Role.

Objective – The goal of this study is to explore the impact of an informationist program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Library and to provide a basis for further program assessment. In 2001 the NIH Library began its informationist program, where librarians with training in both biomedicine and information science work alongside researchers. The goal of the program is to facilitate researchers’ access to and usage of information resources. Methods – The researchers used qualitative interviews with key informants to characterize the current informationist services of user groups. Subjects were selected to capture a variety of activities that would show patterns of how the program assists the researchers of various NIH groups. Following the interviews, the authors extracted recurring and significant themes from the subjects’ comments. Results – Interview subjects provided their views on the informationists’ skills, impact, and team participation. Research results documented that informationists helped find resources, provided instruction, and worked as part of the research team. The NIH groups currently using this service value their informationists’ knowledge of library resources and their ability to access information needs quickly. The informationists’ skills in finding information save the researchers time, increase the efficiency of the research team, and complement the contributions of other team members. Training by informationists was found useful. Informationist services led to increased self-reported library use, albeit in some cases this use was entirely via the informationist. Conclusions – Informationists saved researchers time by obtaining requested information, finding esoteric or unfamiliar resources, and providing related training. These activities appeared to be facilitated by the acceptance of the informationist as part of the research team. This exploratory study provides background that should be useful in future, more extensive evaluations.
Election Cycles and Partisanship in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1857‐2000

Democratic theory generally regards political parties as central to democracy and therefore views a more responsible U.S. party system as desirable. While a number of factors inhibit party responsibility in the United States, the decline of parties from the late 1880s into the 1970s and the subsequent rebound illustrates that parties nevertheless wax and wane over time. Within long-term trends, however, shorter-term patterns may also be evident. I examine the effects of the four-year cycle of presidential and midterm elections on parties in the U.S. House of Representatives using roll-call voting data from 1857 to 2000. The principal finding is that parties do not appear systematically stronger following presidential elections than following midterm elections. Instead, indicators of partisanship in successive Congresses reveal that changes in party strength vary in magnitude and direction. This casts some doubts on calls for elimination of midterm elections as a means to promote party responsibility.
Digital VLSI architectures for neural networks

A generic iterative model is proposed for a wide variety of artificial neural networks (ANNs): single-layer feedback networks, multilayer feedforward networks, hierarchical competitive networks, and some probabilistic models. A unified formulation is provided for the retrieving and learning phases of most ANNs. On the basis of the formulation, a programmable ring systolic array is developed. The architecture maximizes the strength of VLSI in terms of intensive and pipelined computing and yet circumvents the limitation on communication. It can be adopted as a basic structure for a universal neurocomputer architecture. >
A two-dimensional white-light amplitude interferometer

A review of the applications of a point-symmetric, 180-degree, rotational shearing interferometer is given. Material includes, photographs of the Michelson stellar interferometer fringes from Alpha-Lyr, measures of amplitude of phase excursions in the atmosphere, and a measure of the order of interference of speckle patterns. New material includes unpublished double star speckle patterns to illustrate the isoplanatic patch, a measure of the time fluctuations in the earth's atmosphere, and measurements of the properties of a 256 channel linear reticon.
A Review of “Global Marketing: Contemporary Theory, Practice, and Cases”

Discussing, analyzing, and commenting on current international marketing topics is critically important to expand the international knowledge base so that rational and workable decisions can be dev...
Variations in the distribution of motor end-plates in the avian pectoralis

Most avian muscles consist of serially arranged, overlapping fibers that do not extend the length of the muscle. This condition appears to be plesiomorphic with respect to diapsid reptiles. The presence of this serialfibered architecture is evidenced by bands of stained motor end-plates (meps) perpendicular to the columns of fibers and dividing each column into a series of "segments." The avian pectoralis was chosen for a study of variation in the distribution of meps within a single muscle. We report the interspecific variation for 158 specimens in 63 species. We also use additional specimens to examine intraspecific variation. Setting aside hummingbirds, which have an unique and clearly derived condition, the number of mep bands along a column of fibers near the shoulder falls within a remarkably small range. The number of segments is not obviously related to phylogenetic relatedness or to any characteristic of flight or ecology and is only slightly related to size. The largest specimens do average more segments per column, but there are no trends among small to medium-sized species, suggesting that there is an upper limit to fiber length. However, the shape of the sternum and pattern of connective tissue in the pectoralis alleviate the need for additional fibers in many large birds. These findings suggest that the architecture of the avian pectoralis is subject to some as yet unexplained selection that stabilizes the number of myofibers and/or motor neurons. The findings provide few clues as to whether the significant factors are phylogenetic, functional, ontogenetic, or some combination of these. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Comparison of laser and diode sources for acceleration of in vitro wound healing by low-level light therapy.

Low-level light therapy has been shown to improve in vitro wound healing. However, well-defined parameters of different light sources for this therapy are lacking. The goal of this study was (1) to determine if the wavelengths tested are effective for in vitro wound healing and (2) to compare a laser and a light-emitting diode (LED) source at similar wavelengths. We show four wavelengths, delivered by either a laser or LED array, improved in vitro wound healing in A549, U2OS, and PtK2 cells. Improved wound healing occurred through increased cell migration demonstrated through scratch wound and transwell assays. Cell proliferation was tested by the (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-car-boxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) (MTS) assay and was found generally not to be involved in the wound healing process. The laser and LED sources were found to be comparable when equal doses of light were applied. The biological response measured was similar in most cases. We conclude that the laser at 652 (5.57 mW∕cm 2 , 10.02 J∕cm 2 ) and 806 nm (1.30 mW∕cm 2 , 2.334 J∕cm 2 ) (full bandwidth 5 nm), and LED at 637 (5.57 mW∕cm 2 , 10.02 J∕cm 2 ) and 901 nm (1.30 mW∕cm 2 , 2.334 J∕cm 2 ) (full bandwidth 17 and 69 nm respectively) induce comparable levels of cell migration and wound closure. © 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) (DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.19.3.038001)
An adaptive approach to granular real-time anomaly detection

Anomaly-based intrusion detection systems have the ability to detect novel attacks, but when applied in real-time detection, they face the challenges of producing many false alarms and failing to match with the high speed of modern networks due to their computationally demanding algorithms. In this paper, we present Fates, an anomaly-based NIDS designed to alleviate the two challenges. Fates views the monitored network as a collection of individual hosts instead of as a single autonomous entity and uses dynamic, individual threshold for each monitored host, such that it can differentiate between characteristics of individual hosts and can independently assess their threat to the network. Each packet to and from a monitored host is analyzed with an adaptive and efficient charging scheme that considers the packet type, number of occurrences, source, and destination. The resulting charge is applied to the individual hosts threat assessment, providing pinpointed analysis of anomalous activities. We use various datasets to validate Fates ability to distinguish scanning behavior from benign traffic in real time.
The Future Trends in Avian Sciences

(1970). The Future Trends in Avian Sciences. World's Poultry Science Journal: Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 587-593.
The bipolar spectrum: origins, validation and critique

The roots of the bipolar spectrum go back to ancient Greek medicine linking temperaments to melancholia, fear to melancholia, and melancholia to mania. The subject was taken up by French alienists in the mid nineteenth century and then given international status by German psychiatrists. DSM-II had a broad concept of manic-depressive illness. DSM-III (and ICD-10) introduced the broad concept of (major) depression, which undermined the continuum concept between depressive, anxiety, and bipolar disorders. Now that comorbidity is fashionable in both clinical and epidemiological studies, and subthreshold psychiatry is being taken seriously, a great deal has been published internationally to convincingly argue for the necessity of returning to the concept of a dimensional extension from bipolar temperaments through recurrent depression, “soft bipolar spectrum”, all the way to the “hard spectrum” and psychotic edge of the spectrum. Despite opinions to the contrary, extensive epidemiologic, course, clinical, and familial-genetic evidence supports the concept of a broad spectrum of affective illness. There may even be some intersection of the affective and schizophrenic spectra. This perspective is also compatible with distinct categorical subtypes within the broad spectrum, because prognostic and therapeutic implications are relevant for clinical practice involving distinct subtypes. The main critiques come from those who live in the “unipolar” world, and the fields of addictive and “borderline” psychiatry with accusations of “nosological imperialism” on the part of those who subscribe to the broad bipolar view. Finally, treatments have been developed largely for the classical, well-defined hard spectrum conditions. Preventive psychiatry, including that of suicide, is an important driving force to address these therapeutic challenges. from International Society on Brain and Behaviour: 3rd International Congress on Brain and Behaviour Thessaloniki, Greece. 28 November – 2 December 2007
Social Issues among the Elderly: Long-Term Antecedents of Current Attitudes

This article examines the question of whether current attitudes about social issues can be traced to early background characteristics of older persons. The data come from the 1977 NORC General Social Survey and are based on the responses of those 60+. Dependent variables include composite measures of attitudes about abortion, sexual morality, tolerance, and race relations. The effects of relative family income at age 16, region of residence at age 16, and type of community of residence at age 16 are analyzed after controlling the effects of current socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. The significant increments in explained variance produced by the inclusion of the long-term antecedent variables demonstrate the value of examining background characteristics at earlier life stages as a source of current attitudinal differences among older persons.
Bladder injury and pelvic fractures

This study had two goals. The first was evaluating the relationship of intraperitoneal and extraperitoneal bladder injury to pelvic fractures. To determine that 10 patients with bladder rupture and no pelvic fracture were compared with 24 patients having both bladder injury and pelvic fracture following blunt trauma. In patients with pelvic fractures, extraperitoneal bladder ruptures were more common (15 of 24) than intraperitoneal tears. An extraperitoneal rupture was unlikely in the absence of a pelvic fracture (1 of 16). It thus appears that the compressive force that deforms and fractures the pelvic bones and ligaments exerts a shearing force on the bladder base resulting in an extraperitoneal injury.
Demographics of hepatitis C virus today

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Pitfalls in Early Stage Company “Cram Down” Recapitalization Transactions: How to Run a Defensible Process

The venture capital shakeout of the last two years has created a great deal of pain and suffering which is shared by all the players in the market, including investors, management teams, boards, and VCs. Yet capital is still flowing for good deals, although in many cases the valuations are being recalculated substantially downward. These revised values cause a host of problems as they set previously aligned parties against each other. This article discusses ways to deal with the inevitable conflicts that arise in these down rounds.
Analysis of the kinetics of folding of proteins and peptides using circular dichroism

Circular dichroism (CD) is a useful spectroscopic technique for studying the secondary structure, folding and binding properties of proteins. This protocol covers how to use the intrinsic circular dichroic properties of proteins to follow their folding and unfolding as a function of time. Included are methods of obtaining data and for analyzing the folding and unfolding data to determine the rate constants and the order of the folding and unfolding reactions. The protocol focuses on the use of CD to follow folding when it is relatively slow, on the order of minutes to days. The methods for analyzing the data, however, can also be applied to data collected with a CD machine equipped with stopped-flow accessories in the range of milliseconds to seconds and folding analyzed by other spectroscopic methods including changes in absorption or fluorescence spectra as a function of time.
Thinking Inside the Box: A Closer Look at Democracy and Human Rights

Research on human rights consistently points to the importance of democracy in reducing the severity and incidence of personal integrity abuses. The prescriptive implications of this finding for policy makers interested in state building have been somewhat limited, however, by a reliance on multidimensional measures of democracy. Consequently, a policy maker emerges from this literature confident that “democracy matters” but unclear about which set(s) of reforms is likely to yield a greater human rights payoff. Using data from the Polity IV Project, we examine what aspects of democracy are most consequential in improving a state's human rights record. Analysis of democracy's dimensions elicits three findings. First, political participation at the level of multiparty competition appears more significant than other dimensions in reducing human rights abuses. Second, improvements in a state's level of democracy short of full democracy do not promote greater respect for integrity rights. Only those states with the highest levels of democracy, not simply those conventionally defined as democratic, are correlated with better human rights practices. Third, accountability appears to be the critical feature that makes full-fledged democracies respect human rights; limited accountability generally retards improvement in human rights.
Nowotny chimney ladder compounds in Nd1+EFe4−xCoxB4

Structural investigations on Nd1+EFe4−xCoxB4 show the presence of distinct new phases with multiplicative c axis extensions (ladder compounds) and limited homogeneous range. We also report on compounds R1+EFe4B4 (R = rare earth) for which several new representatives (e.g., with R = La and Lu) are described. The ladder compounds in both substitutional series appear related and a common sequence as a function of composition is suggested. As an example the first new ladder type Nd1.06Fe1.5Co2.5B4 to develop out of NdCo4B4 is similar to La1.06Fe4B4 and the third namely Nd1.09Fe3CoB4 resembles Pr1.10Fe4B4.
High-field suppression of in-gap states in the Kondo insulator Sm B 6

The controversial ground-state properties of the Kondo insulator Sm B6 have been investigated using B11 NMR in very high magnetic fields up to 37 T. We find evidence that, following the development of a gap in the conduction-band density of states below 100 K, the in-gap states dominate the nuclear relaxation at temperatures less than 10 K. The Korringa product 1/ K2 T1 T exhibits anomalous behavior in this range and the application of high magnetic fields leads to suppression of nuclear relaxation. The hybridization gap, however, remains open up to 37 T. The behavior of the relaxation at low temperatures suggests a strong field dependence of the in-gap states and rules out the possibility that bound states arise from B6 vacancies. A simple density-of-states model and a band scheme are introduced to account for these observations. © 2007 The American Physical Society.
Two-pyroxene thermobarometry with new experimental data in the system CaO-MgO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2

In the system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 (CMAS), equilibrium alumina contents of orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene, both coexisting with spinel + forsterite or spinel + anorthite, have been reversed in 16 runs at 1,300–1,400°C and 10.2–20.8 kbar, using PbO flux. The present data and the data of Perkins and Newton (1980) have been modeled using the Redlich-Kister equation. The resulting model satisfies most of the reversed data in the CMAS system, agrees very well with thermochemical measurements, and is consistent with the model for the enstatite-diopside join of Lindsley et al. (1981) and with the system MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 of Gasparik and Newton (1984). The present data, however, do not confirm the negative slopes of Al-isopleths in the spinel lherzolite field suggested by Dixon and Presnall (1980). The new model has been used to calculate a graphical two-pyroxene thermobarometer applicable to natural two-pyroxene assemblages closely approaching in composition the CMAS system.
Problems of spatial analysis in geographical epidemiology.

Abstract Mortality rates at the county or state economic area level are available for a variety of diseases and frequently provide the basis for correlation studies relating illnesses to environmental and socio-economic indicators. The problems associated with such data are discussed with examples drawn from the etiology of cancer. Attention is focused on the difficulty of using mortality rates based on death certificates, the differences between a variety of mortality indices, the differences between mortality and incidence data and finally the problems inherent in spatial analysis. These include spatial autocorrelation, modifiable units, the ecological fallacy, and the implications of latency in the appearance of a disease.