cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Specificity, sensitivity, and predictive value of apolipoprotein-E genotyping for sporadic Alzheimer's disease

Summary Background We aimed to determine the specificity, sensitivity, and predictive value of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotyping in 67 consecutive patients with clinical diagnoses of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) who underwent necropsy. Methods We studied patients who attended the Duke Memory Disorders Clinic and were diagnosed as having probable AD. These patients were followed up until they died. APOE genotyping was done during life in most cases, but in some brain tissue obtained at necropsy was used. Members of known AD families were excluded. Findings After neuropathological examination 57 (85%) of 67 of our patients were confirmed as having AD including all 43 who had at least one APOE-e4 allele. None of the patients found not to have AD carried an e4 allele. In this series, the specificity of the e4 allele was 100%, the sensitivity 75%, the positive predictive value 100%, and the negative predictive value 42%. In this necropsy-confirmed series, the e4/e4 genotype predicted AD with 100% accuracy. The e3/e4 and e2/e4 genotypes were also unexpectedly highly specific for AD. Interpretation Data from hundreds of necropsy-confirmed non-AD patients in other longitudinal necropsy series will allow the predictive value of APOE genotypes to be assessed with useful confidence limits.
Bovine Milk as a Source of Functional Oligosaccharides for Improving Human Health

Human milk oligosaccharides are complex sugars that function as selective growth substrates for specific beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal system. Bovine milk is a potentially excellent source of commercially viable analogs of these unique molecules. However, bovine milk has a much lower concentration of these oligosaccharides than human milk, and the majority of the molecules are simpler in structure than those found in human milk. Specific structural characteristics of milk-derived oligosaccharides are crucial to their ability to selectively enrich beneficial bacteria while inhibiting or being less than ideal substrates for undesirable and pathogenic bacteria. Thus, if bovine milk products are to provide human milk–like benefits, it is important to identify specific dairy streams that can be processed commercially and cost-effectively and that can yield specific oligosaccharide compositions that will be beneficial as new food ingredients or supplements to improve human health. Whey streams have the potential to be commercially viable sources of complex oligosaccharides that have the structural resemblance and diversity of the bioactive oligosaccharides in human milk. With further refinements to dairy stream processing techniques and functional testing to identify streams that are particularly suitable for enriching beneficial intestinal bacteria, the future of oligosaccharides isolated from dairy streams as a food category with substantiated health claims is promising.
A generalized singular value approach to the localization of closed loop eigenvalues for multivariable discrete-time systems

A method for eigenvalue localization for discrete-time systems which does not require explicit placement of the closed-loop eigenvalues is presented. The method is based on a simultaneous diagonalization accomplished by means of the generalized singular value decomposition (GSVD). The GSVD is introduced and applied to the system matrix and modified control distribution matrix to show that a proper choice of the full state feedback gain matrix leads to a diagonalized closed-loop system matrix. Furthermore, there exists a particular choice of the feedback gain matrix which reduces the closed-loop singular values as compared with those of the open loop. This fact is used to suggest an iterative algorithm for localization of the closed-loop eigenvalues. >
The linearity performance of a two-dimensional, X-ray proportional chamber with 0.58 mm anode wire spacing

A method of construction of multiwire chambers has been developed which yields X-ray images with very small non-linearity, in particular that due to anode wire modulation. The technique requires an absorption region in the detector, with the anode and upper cathode wires, which are parallel to one another, in registration with each other. Studies show that the strength of the electric field in the drift region determines the degree of anode wire modulation and, under specific conditions, modulation is halved in period and significantly reduced in amplitude. New interpolating cathodes have been developed to read out position in the other axis, along the anode wire direction. Position resolution in both axes-between 100-150 /spl mu/m FWHM has been achieved. Two-dimensional images of small objects have been taken which show unprecedented linearity. >
Improved Near-Earth Internet Data Transmission Using New Multi-Layer OSI Protocol Designs

This paper presents the designs for new multilayer open systems interconnect protocols that improve Internet data transmission within a hybrid communication network consisting of a geo-stationary earth orbit satellite and a terrestrial channel. These new designs span the transport, network, and data-link open systems interconnect layers and decrease the time required to transmit large data sets over a hybrid communication network compared to the transmission control protocol variant Reno and frequency division multiplexing over a geo-stationary earth orbit satellite. This paper outlines the functional details for these news designs, provides simulated data transmission performance characteristics for all designs, and concludes with justifications for and benefits related to our research.
Versatile substrates and probes for IgA1 protease activity.

Bacterial meningitis is a severe infectious disease with high mortality. Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria that cause meningitis secrete immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1) proteases to assist in mucosal colonization, invasion, and immune evasion. IgA1 proteases have unique selectivity, with few reported substrates other than IgA1 from human tissue. Here we describe the design, characterization, and application of peptide substrates for diverse IgA1 proteases from Neisseria, Haemophilus, and Streptococcus bacteria. IgA1 proteases from diverse strains showed unexpected selectivity profiles among peptide substrates derived from autoproteolytic sites. A fluorescence probe derived from one of these peptides was used to quantitate IgA1 protease activity in buffer and in human cerebrospinal fluid; it was able to detect recombinant Haemophilus influenzae type 1 IgA1 protease at less than 1 μg mL(-1) . We also used the probe to establish the first high-throughput screen for IgA1 protease inhibitors. This work provides tools that will help investigate the roles of IgA1 proteases in bacterial colonization, immune evasion, and infection.
Dynamic reconfiguration to support concurrent applications

This paper describes the development of a dynamically reconfigurable system that can support multiple applications running concurrently. A dynamically reconfigurable system allows hardware reconfiguration while part of the reconfigurable hardware is busy computing. An FPGA resource manager (RM) is developed to allocate and de-allocate FPGA resources and to preload FPGA configuration files. For each individual application, different tasks that require FPGA resources are represented as a flow graph which is made available to the RM so as to enable efficient resource management and preloading. The performance of using the RM to support several applications is summarized. The impact of supporting concurrency and preloading in reducing application execution time is demonstrated.
Metamasius callizona (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae): Longevity and Fecundity in the Laboratory

Abstract Metamasius callizona (Chevrolat) is native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. It was detected in Broward County, Florida, in 1989 and has spread to 20 counties in southern Florida, where it devastates populations of native epiphytic bromeliads and also attacks cultivated bromeliads. Larvae mine into stems of larger bromeliads, killing them. New data were obtained at ≈25°C and a photoperiod of 14:10 L:D to optimize cultures of this insect to serve as hosts for the production of biological control agents. After pairing with males, it took an average of 28.9 d (±17.8, range 8-89 d) for females to begin laying eggs; thereafter, each female laid eggs for the remainder of her life, or within just a few days of her death. The total duration of life of 75 ovipositing females averaged 156.4 d (±96.7, range 26-387 d); their lifetime egg production averaged 39.6 eggs (±40.0, range 2-188 eggs).
Avoiding the entropy trap

Utopians who use entropy to warn of a vast deterioration of energy and mineral resources seek a self-fulfilling prophesy when they work to deny society access to new energy sources, particularly nuclear power. While theoretically correct, entropy is not the relevant factor for the rest of this century. The more extreme entropists call for a return to an eotechnic society based on decentralized, renewable energy technologies, which rests on the assumptions of a loss in Gibbs Free Energy, a mineral depletion that will lead to OPEC-like manipulation, and a current technology that is destroying the environment. The author challenges these assumptions and calls for an exorcism of public fears over reactor accidents. He foresees a resurgence in public confidence in nuclear power by 1990 that will resolve Western dependence on foreign oil. (DCK)
Ultrafast Dynamics of Nonlinear Excitations in Quasi-One-Dimensional Molecular Solids Probed by Time-Resolved THz Spectroscopy

We present time-resolved spectroscopic studies of the evolution of charge carriers and localized nonlinear excitations in a quasi-one-dimensional molecular system using femtosecond time-resolved THz techniques.
Tangible–Intangible Factors Interaction on Hostility Escalation and Rivalry Endurance: The Case of India–Pakistan Rivalry

A major contribution of the enduring rivalry literature is that the same pair of states—commonly referred to as dyads—are the cause for the majority of violent territorial changes and low-intensity...
Cell-Demanded VEGF Release via Nanocapsules Elicits Different Receptor Activation Dynamics and Enhanced Angiogenesis

Although the delivery of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) with extended release profiles has consistently shown beneficial therapeutic effects compared with bolus delivery, [Martino, M. M., F. Tortelli, M. Mochizuki, S. Traub, D. Ben-David, G. A. Kuhn, R. Muller, E. Livne, S. A. Eming, and J. A. Hubbell. Sci. Transl. Med. 3(100):100ra189, 2011; Martino, M. M., P. S. Briquez, A. Ranga, M. P. Lutolf, and J. A. Hubbell. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 110(12):4563-4568, 2013; Amiram, M., K. M. Luginbuhl, X. Li, M. N. Feinglos, and A. Chilkoti. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 110(8):2792-2797, 2013] it remains unclear if the reason is solely due to the physical availability and the reduced degradation of the protein. Here we studied the activation of VEGF receptor 2 (VR-2) by sustained released VEGF compared with bolus delivered VEGF to unveil that sustained delivery system alters the dynamics of receptor activation and affects the actions of cells between sprouting and proliferation. We utilized a protein nanocapsule delivery strategy that releases VEGF as mediated by extracellular proteases. These protein nanocapsules were synthesized through an aqueous assembly of a nanogel-peptide shell around the protein, leading to one to two proteins encapsulated per nanocapsule. Receptor activation studies revealed differential dynamics of receptor activation for slowly released VEGF compared with bolus delivered VEGF. As expected sustained released VEGF via nanocapsules resulted in enhanced vascular sprouting in vitro and in vivo. These studies demonstrate the physical presentation of VEGF, in this case of a slow release with time, can affect its molecular mechanism of actions and cause alterations in cellular responses and therapeutic outcomes.
Cupric Oxide (CuO) Oxidation Detects Pyrogenic Carbon in Burnt Organic Matter and Soils

Wildfire greatly impacts the composition and quantity of organic carbon stocks within watersheds. Most methods used to measure the contributions of fire altered organic carbon-i.e. pyrogenic organic carbon (Py-OC) in natural samples are designed to quantify specific fractions such as black carbon or polyaromatic hydrocarbons. In contrast, the CuO oxidation procedure yields a variety of products derived from a variety of precursors, including both unaltered and thermally altered sources. Here, we test whether or not the benzene carboxylic acid and hydroxy benzoic acid (BCA) products obtained by CuO oxidation provide a robust indicator of Py-OC and compare them to non-Py-OC biomarkers of lignin. O and A horizons from microcosms were burned in the laboratory at varying levels of fire severity and subsequently incubated for 6 months. All soils were analyzed for total OC and N and were analyzed by CuO oxidation. All BCAs appeared to be preserved or created to some degree during burning while lignin phenols appeared to be altered or destroyed to varying extents dependent on fire severity. We found two specific CuO oxidation products, o-hydroxybenzoic acid (oBd) and 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTC2) that responded strongly to burn severity and withstood degradation during post-burning microbial incubations. Interestingly, we found that benzene di- and tricarboxylic acids (BDC and BTC, respectively) were much more reactive than vanillyl phenols during the incubation as a possible result of physical protection of vanillyl phenols in the interior of char particles or CuO oxidation derived BCAs originating from biologically available classes of Py-OC. We found that the ability of these compounds to predict relative Py-OC content in burned samples improved when normalized by their respective BCA class (i.e. benzene monocarboxylic acids (BA) and BTC, respectively) and when BTC was normalized to total lignin yields (BTC:Lig). The major trends in BCAs imparted by burning persisted through a 6 month incubation suggesting that fire severity had first order control on BCA and lignin composition. Using original and published BCA data from soils, sediments, char, and interfering compounds we found that BTC:Lig and BTC2:BTC were able to distinguish Py-OC from compounds such as humic materials, tannins, etc. The BCAs released by the CuO oxidation procedure increase the functionality of this method in order to examine the relative contribution of Py-OC in geochemical samples.
Relation of Respiratory Ventilation to Basal Metabolism in Thyroid Disorders

An analysis of basal metabolism records made available to one of us (ATB) from the files of the United States Veterans'Facility, Fort Miley, California, shows a relation between respiratory ventilation and metabolism which we believe has not been reported previously. The coefficient of ventilation (CV), or volume percent removed as oxygen from the tidal volume,1 has been used as a measure of respiratory activity. All data were obtained by one of us (ATB), using a conventional closed-circuit metabolism apparatus, with 16-minute recording periods.Ventilation, due to the mechanism of control normally depending on the CO2 content of the blood, makes available, under ordinary circumstances, a considerable surplus of oxygen over the metabolic needs. Thus at rest the average man uses only 4% of the tidal volume (CV = 4) or about one-fifth of the oxygen available. This factor of safety of 5 for oxygen may be increased to 20 by over-ventilation, that is, the CV may fall as low as one. The data contained 76 records...
The Children of Immigrants’ Academic Self-Efficacy The Significance of Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Segmented Assimilation

Academic self-efficacy reflects an adolescent’s level of confidence or belief that she or he can successfully accomplish educational assignments and tasks, which are also argued to be a fundamental...
Coethnic Endorsements, Out-Group Candidate Preferences, and Perceptions in Local Elections:

Black and Latino voters support coethnic candidates at high rates in local elections. What is less clear is how Black and Latino voters respond to out-group candidates when they do not have the option to support a coethnic candidate. I posit that when race and ethnicity become salient in a campaign, endorsements from Black and Latino leaders and organizations increase support of out-group candidates among Blacks and Latinos. I find that this hypothesis is strongly supported among Blacks. However, the same is not true for Latinos, most likely because of the political heterogeneity of the group. Using data from a survey experiment, I show that Black endorsements of minority out-group candidates are persuasive for Blacks, while comparable endorsements from Latinos are not as influential among Latinos.
Bouncing Back to the Future: A Look at the Road Ahead for the Assessment of Resilience

We appreciate the authors of the target article (Britt, Shen, Sinclair, Grossman, & Klieger, 2016) shining a spotlight on the important work being done in the study of resilience and providing a historical overview of how resilience has been conceptualized and assessed in the past. To add to this review, we would briefly like to comment on current developments in the field of resilience and related fields that may have broader implications for both the study of resilience and for many other topics in the industrial–organizational literature as well.
Reactivity Modes of an Iron Bis(alkoxide) Complex with Aryl Azides: Catalytic Nitrene Coupling vs Formation of Iron(III) Imido Dimers

The iron bis(alkoxide) complex Fe(OR)2(THF)2 (R = CtBu2Ph), 1, was found to have strikingly different reactivity with various aryl azides, ArN3. Azides with methyl or ethyl groups in the ortho positions of the phenyl ring react catalytically via nitrene coupling to give azoarenes, ArNNAr. Catalyst loading as low as 1 mol % yields clean, quantitative conversion of aryl azides to azoarenes at room temperature in as little as 4 h. A combination of two different aryl azides leads to the catalytic formation of all three possible azoarenes, including the asymmetric one. In contrast, reactions with aryl azides lacking ortho substituents yield stable dimeric iron imido complexes of the form (RO)(THF)Fe(μ-NAr)2Fe(THF)(OR) (Ar = 4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl, 5; Ar = phenyl, 6; Ar = 3,5-dimethylphenyl, 7), which do not undergo catalytic nitrene coupling. The isocyanide adduct Fe(OR)2(CNR)2 (4, R = 2,6-dimethylphenyl) was obtained from the reaction of Fe(OR)2(THF)2 with two equivalents of isocyanide. No C–N bond formati...
Truth and Judgment in Hegel’s Science of Logic

This chapter provides an account of G. W. F. Hegel’s treatment of judgment in the Science of Logic. I focus on what Hegel calls the judgment of reflection. The judgment of reflection is what Hegel refers to when he deals with the different quantifiers possible in the relation of the subject and the predicate in judgments. It is on the basis of Hegel’s metaphysical commitments that his discussion of quantity in judgment can be distinguished most clearly from Immanuel Kant’s. I will argue that these commitments are manifest in the assumptions, method, and standpoint in accordance with which Hegel’s Science of Logic unfolds.
Does Rituximab Cause Depletion of T-Cells in Multiple Sclerosis and Neuromyelitis Optica? (P2.158)

Objective: Rituximab is an effective treatment for several inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system including neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that targets CD 20 cells that leads to the depletion of B lymphocytes. This study was done to examine the effects of Rituximab on T cell lymphocytes, more specifically CD3, CD4, and CD8 cells. Methods: We retrospectively examined data of NMO or MS patients who received at least one infusion of rituximab between January 2011 and October 2015. Peripheral blood CD3, CD4, and CD19 lymphocyte counts were measured by flow cytometry. Results: We examined data on 37 patients. Rituximab caused a decrease in CD3 counts in 15/37 patients, a decrease in CD4 counts in 14/37 patients and a decrease in CD 8 counts in 9/37 patients. Of the 15 patients with a decrease CD3, their counts raged from 535-977cells /uL(normal 1000-2200 cells/uL). Of the 14 patients with a decrease CD4, their counts ranged from 330-502 cells/ uL (normal 530-1300 cells/uL). Of the 7 patients with a decrease in CD8, their counts ranged from 90-249 cells/ uL (normal 330-920 cells/ uL). Subsequent Rituximab infusions did not result in further significant decreases of CD3, CD4, or CD8 counts. Conclusion: Rituximab can induce a decrease in CD3 and CD4 and to a lesser degree CD8 cells which could increase the risk of infections in susceptible patient. Disclosure: Dr. Hardeman has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mann has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hughes has nothing to disclose. Dr. Greenberg has received personal compensation for activities with EMD Serono, Novartis, Amarantus, and MSAA for honoria and consulting. Dr. Greenberg has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for JAMA Neurology. Dr. Greenberg has rece
Aerobic and resistance exercise reinforcement and discomfort tolerance predict meeting activity guidelines.

Abstract Background Understanding individual-differences of those people who do and do not meet physical activity recommendations could inform targets for increasing physical activity. Exercise reinforcement may be one such individual-level determinate, but it is not yet known whether those who meet activity guidelines have a greater relative reinforcing value (RRV) of aerobic exercise training (RRV AT ) or resistance training (RRV RT ). The predictors of RRV AT or RRV RT are also not yet known. Purpose To determine whether individuals who meet aerobic activity or muscle strengthening activity guidelines have greater RRV AT or RRV RT and whether the preference and tolerance for exercise intensity predicts RRV AT or RRV RT . Methods Men ( n = 38) and women ( n = 50) were measured for RRV AT , RRV RT , minutes of vigorous physical activity, usual resistance training behavior, and completed the Preference for and Tolerance of the Intensity of Exercise Questionnaire. Results Individuals who met physical activity guidelines for aerobic activity and muscle strengthening activity had 58% greater RRV AT and 54% greater RRV RT, respectively, than those who did not meet these guidelines. Preference and tolerance for exercise intensity was associated ( p RT , but not RRV AT . Conclusion Having greater RRV of a mode of exercise is associated with meeting activity guidelines for that mode of exercise. Discomfort tolerance during exercise is associated with greater RRV of resistance exercise.
An exploration of caregiver choice through the lens of Sartrean existentialism

There are innumerable social and ethical factors which affect one's decision to become an informal caregiver for someone with chronic illness. The existential philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre provides unique insight into human motivation and choice. The purpose of this paper was to examine the social and ethical influences on the individual's decision to become a caregiver through the lens of Sartrean existentialism and discuss how this unique philosophy can advance nursing knowledge. The factors affecting one's choice to become a caregiver were considered using the Sartrean existential concepts of The Other, human freedom, choice, bad faith, shame and authenticity. When explored through the perspective of Sartrean existentialism, the choice to become a caregiver is strongly influenced by fear of judgement from The Other and the resulting sense of social obligation and shame. However, the interaction with The Other often results in the loss of authenticity through the pursuit of bad faith. To avert bad faith, potential caregivers must act authentically by exercising their freedom to choose and by choosing an action for its own sake and not for some extraneous purpose. The results of this philosophical inquiry contribute to nursing knowledge by providing a unique, alternative perspective by which nurses may understand the choices of potential caregivers and support them in making authentic decisions. This perspective may provide a foundation for theory development and promote further nursing knowledge which will improve caregiver health and well-being.
Gaseous state oxygen carrier for coal chemical looping process

Abstract Traditional chemical looping technologies utilize solid oxygen carriers and has some disadvantages, especially when solid fuels like coal are used. In this work, a novel chemical looping process using gaseous metal oxide as oxygen carrier was proposed. The reaction of activated charcoal with gas-phase MoO3 was studied for the first time. The experiments were conducted isothermally at different temperatures in a fixed-bed reactor. The apparent activation energy of the reaction was calculated and suitable kinetic models were determined. The results and analysis showed that the proposed concept has potential in both coal chemical looping combustion and gasification process.
Military and Government Practice

Government medical service can be a very satisfying career and has some financial advantages. There are also, however, several distinct differences that individually, one will have to deal with when entering the military on active duty, becoming a Government Service (GS) employee, or working in the Veteran’s Administrative (VA) system. One has to work 20 years on active duty to earn retirement pay from the military, while one has to work 25 years to earn an annuity from GS or VA work. Salary in the military is based on rank, years of service, and specialty. Salary in the VA or GS is based on a grade system, location, performance, and need of specialty. Although ultimately it depends on the market of the specialty one practices, it does not make financial sense to leave active duty service after serving more than 10 years. There are other reasons though to consider when deciding on how long to stay in any government system.
Recognizing RNA structural motifs in HT-SELEX data for ribosomal protein S15

Proteins recognize many different aspects of RNA ranging from single stranded regions to discrete secondary or tertiary structures. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) of in vitro selected populations offers a large scale method to study RNA-proteins interactions. However, most existing analysis methods require that the binding motifs are enriched in the population relative to earlier rounds, and that motifs are found in a loop or single stranded region of the potential RNA secondary structure. Such methods do not generalize to all RNA-protein interaction as some RNA binding proteins specifically recognize more complex structures such as double stranded RNA. In this study, we use HT-SELEX derived populations to study the landscape of RNAs that interact with Geobacillus kaustophilus ribosomal protein S15. Our data show high sequence and structure diversity and proved intractable to existing methods. Conventional programs identified some sequence motifs, but these are found in less than 5-10% of the total sequence pool. Therefore, we developed a novel framework to analyze HT-SELEX data. Our process accounts for both sequence and structure components by abstracting the overall secondary structure into smaller substructures composed of a single base-pair stack, which allows us to leverage existing approaches already used in k-mer analysis to identify enriched motifs. By focusing on secondary structure motifs composed of specific two base-pair stacks, we identified significantly enriched or depleted structure motifs relative to earlier rounds. Discrete substructures are likely to be important to RNA-protein interactions, but they are difficult to elucidate. Substructures can help make highly diverse sequence data more tractable. The structure motifs provide limited accuracy in predicting enrichment suggesting that G. kaustophilus S15 can either recognize many different secondary structure motifs or some aspects of the interaction are not captured by the analysis. This highlights the importance of considering secondary and tertiary structure elements and their role in RNA-protein interactions.
Intracellular Transfer Hydrogenation Mediated by Unprotected Organoiridium Catalysts

In the present work, we show for the first time that the conversion of aldehydes to alcohols can be achieved using “unprotected” iridium transfer hydrogenation catalysts inside living cells. The reactions were observed in real time by confocal fluorescence microscopy using a Bodipy fluorogenic substrate. We propose that the reduced cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is a possible hydride source inside the cell based on studies using pyruvate as a cellular redox modulator. We expect that this biocompatible reductive chemistry will be broadly useful to practitioners working at the interface of chemistry and the life sciences.
Comparative Archaeology: The Camel’s Nose?

A Review of The Comparative Archaeology of Complex Societies, edited by Michael E. Smith (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Development of an Enhanced Ozone-hydrogen Peroxide Advanced Oxidation Process

Advanced chemical oxidation processes (AOP’s), particularly processes using.ozone, involve a rapidly growing area of environmental research and applications. A need exists, however, for improvements to AOP’s to make them less costly and more effective. This paper evaluated the addition of a fixed bed of sand to the conventional H2O2-O3 process as a function of reactor configuration, pH, and sand type. The West Liberty sand consisting of the greatest concentrations of iron and manganese yielded the best results, showing 15% more phenol removal than Muscatine sand and 28% more removal than no sand (i.e. H2O2-O3). Phenol degradation product formation and disappearance rates in comparison to the direct ozonation and O3-H2O2 processes indicate metal-oxide sand surface-catalyzed H2O2 decomposition improves the conventional O3-H2O2 advanced oxidation process at pH 7. Analysis of results suggests the enhancement is a result of increased formation of essential oxygen radical intermediates (i.e. hydroxyl radical). Direct ozonation, however, was equally effective at phenol removal at pH 8.9 because the conjugate base of phenol (i.e. phenate ion) has a direct ozonation reaction rate constant six orders of magnitude greater than phenol.
Adjunctive Medication in the Maintenance Treatment of Schizophrenia and its Conceptual Implications

Beyond the continuing use of neuroleptic medication, psychopharmacological treatment approaches during the maintenance phase of schizophrenia often involve adjunctive medication. Appropriate use of such ‘polypharmacy’ can be crucial to patients in achieving their optimal levels of symptom management and functional capacity, although the risks of side-effects and medication interactions must be weighed. This paper reviews the use of adjunctive anti-Parkinsonian medication, benzodiazepines, propranolol, antidepressants, lithium, and carbamazepine in this context. It also explores a strategy of identifying secondary syndromes in the longitudinal course of schizophrenia which can be approached psychopharmacologically.
Involvement of angiotensin II in water intake of genetically polydipsic mice

The involvement of angiotensin II (ANG II) in the genetic polydipsia of the STR/N strain of mice was investigated. Daily water intake of the polydipsic inbred STR/N of both sexes ranged between five and eight times that of nonpolydipsic controls: STR/1N, a mutant of the STR/N, and Swiss-Webster (S/W) mice. Nevertheless the diurnal pattern of drinking was maintained in the STR/N. There was no difference in daily food intake, arterial blood pressure, and plasma renin activity among the three groups. Drinking responses to 48 h of water deprivation were not significantly different between the polydipsic mice and their control groups. Captopril, an angiotensin I converting-enzyme inhibitor, injected subcutaneously just before the dark period, reduced drinking for 6 h in the polydipsic strain only. Food intake of all three groups of mice was not affected. Similarly the ANG II antagonist saralasin, [Sar1,-Ile8]ANG II, injected into the lateral cerebroventricle just before the dark period, significantly reduced water intake for 6 h after injection in the polydipsic mice only. Intracerebroventricular injection of ANG II increased drinking in the nondeprived controls but not in the polydipsic mice. These findings suggest that the polydipsia in the STR/N mice may involve, at least in part, the ANG II system in the brain.
AUGER ANALYSIS OF THE SiO2/Si INTERFACE OF ULTRATHIN OXIDES

ABSTRACT The chemical state and width of the SiO2/Si interface have been investigated by Auger analysis of ultrathin oxides 23 to 45a thick (as estimated ellipsometrically). The low energy Si (LVV) line was recorded at various depths into the surface. By comparing measured and numerically synthesized Auger lines, it was determined that the interface is composed primarily of SiO2 and si and that the width of a fully developed interface is approximately 20a These results concur with those previously obtained for thick oxides using the Si KLL line. A slight excess oxygen buildup is evident directly at the surface of the ultrathin oxides but the Auger lines at a given distance from the substrate are otherwise the same regardless of the initial oxide thickness.
Spray Penetration and Natural Enemy Survival in Dense and Sparse Plant Canopies Treated with Carbaryl: Implications for Chemical and Biological Control1

Abstract Ornamental plant producers often rely on chemical control to manage insect pests. However, cultural practices, such as pruning, can influence plant architecture which may, in turn, affect pesticide penetration. Spray penetration was studied to determine the effect of canopy density on beneficial insect survival following insecticide application and to better understand the implications of canopy density on pest management. Regardless of canopy density or plant species, the interior position of the canopy received less than 8% spray coverage. The middle position of sparse canopies received 288 to 513% more coverage than the middle position of dense canopies. The middle and interior position of dense canopies protected greater than 50% of the convergent lady beetle (Hippodamia convergens (Guerin-Meneville) population while only the interior position of dense canopies protected greater than 50% of green lacewing (Chrysoperla rufilabris Burmeister) populations. Index words: beneficial insect, nursery...
HO Endonuclease-Initiated Recombination in Yeast Meiosis Fails To Promote Homologous Centromere Pairing and Is Not Constrained To Utilize the Dmc1 Recombinase

Crossover recombination during meiosis is accompanied by a dramatic chromosome reorganization. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the onset of meiotic recombination by the Spo11 transesterase leads to stable pairwise associations between previously unassociated homologous centromeres followed by the intimate alignment of homologous axes via synaptonemal complex (SC) assembly. However, the molecular relationship between recombination and global meiotic chromosome reorganization remains poorly understood. In budding yeast, one question is why SC assembly initiates earliest at centromere regions while the DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) that initiate recombination occur genome-wide. We targeted the site-specific HO endonuclease to various positions on S. cerevisiae's longest chromosome in order to ask whether a meiotic DSB's proximity to the centromere influences its capacity to promote homologous centromere pairing and SC assembly. We show that repair of an HO-mediated DSB does not promote homologous centromere pairing nor any extent of SC assembly in spo11 meiotic nuclei, regardless of its proximity to the centromere. DSBs induced en masse by phleomycin exposure likewise do not promote homologous centromere pairing nor robust SC assembly. Interestingly, in contrast to Spo11, HO-initiated interhomolog recombination is not affected by loss of the meiotic kinase, Mek1, and is not constrained to use the meiosis-specific Dmc1 recombinase. These results strengthen the previously proposed idea that (at least some) Spo11 DSBs may be specialized in activating mechanisms that both 1) reinforce homologous chromosome alignment via homologous centromere pairing and SC assembly, and 2) establish Dmc1 as the primary strand exchange enzyme.
Neural networks for mining the associations between diseases and symptoms in clinical notes.

There are challenges for analyzing the narrative clinical notes in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) because of their unstructured nature. Mining the associations between the clinical concepts within the clinical notes can support physicians in making decisions, and provide researchers evidence about disease development and treatment. In this paper, in order to model and analyze disease and symptom relationships in the clinical notes, we present a concept association mining framework that is based on word embedding learned through neural networks. The approach is tested using 154,738 clinical notes from 500 patients, which are extracted from the Indiana University Health’s Electronic Health Records system. All patients are diagnosed with more than one type of disease. The results show that this concept association mining framework can identify related diseases and symptoms. We also propose a method to visualize a patients’ diseases and related symptoms in chronological order. This visualization can provide physicians an overview of the medical history of a patient and support decision making. The presented approach can also be expanded to analyze the associations of other clinical concepts, such as social history, family history, medications, etc.
Age and Crime in South Korea: Cross-National Challenge to Invariance Thesis

By using US and Western databases, Hirschi and Gottfredson (HG) projected that the age distribution of crime always and everywhere has (a) a spiked adolescent peak and (b) a continuous decline ther...
Vadose Zone Testing Techniques

Vadose zone hydraulic properties impact the performance of surface-spreading MAR systems by controlling the rate of flow of water from land surface to the water table. Single- or double-ring or basin (pilot) infiltration tests are typically performed to estimate infiltration rates. Vadose zone hydraulic properties obtained from infiltration tests at land surface may differ greatly from those at depth, especially where the vadose zone is very thick. Evaluation of vadose zone properties is complicated by the zone being two phase (air and water), as opposed to the single-phase system of the phreatic zone. Vadose zone testing programs needs to consider the spatial variability in properties and the volume and area of investigation of tests relative to aquifer heterogeneity. Where project budgets and time are limited, the use of safety factors in design can compensate for uncertainty.
Analysis of Independent Differences (AID) detects complex thermal proteome profiles independent of shape and identifies candidate panobinostat targets

Abstract Identifying global cellular targets of small molecules is a challenge for drug discovery. Thermal proteome profiling (TPP) is a recent technique that uses quantitative proteomics to identify all small molecule protein targets in a single experiment. One current TPP analysis method relies on two major assumptions: sigmoidal melting curve behavior and that intra-condition dependencies preclude an independent and identically distributed model. Herein, we use a previously published panobinostat TPP dataset to show that these assumptions do not hold true and present a novel, shape-independent method, named Analysis of Independent Differences (AID). For each temperature, AID models the differences between conditions of fractions of non-denatured protein as an independent Normal distribution, resulting in a Multivariate Normal observation for each protein. The log of a Multivariate Normal p-value ranks the proteins from most to least likely shifted, and individual Normal p-values within each protein allow for qualitative inspection. Applying AID to the panobinostat dataset revealed known targets in the top 3% of most shifted proteins, as well as candidate targets involved in myeloid leukocyte activation. AID detects complex melting profiles and can be extended to any number of temperature channels, ligand-protein or protein-protein interactions, or general curve data for deeper biological insight.
On Human-Aligned Risk Minimization

The statistical decision theoretic foundations of modern machine learning have largely focused on the minimization of the expectation of some loss function for a given task. However, seminal results in behavioral economics have shown that human decision-making is based on different risk measures than the expectation of any given loss function. In this paper, we pose the following simple question: in contrast to minimizing expected loss, could we minimize a better human-aligned risk measure? While this might not seem natural at first glance, we analyze the properties of such a revised risk measure, and surprisingly show that it might also better align with additional desiderata like fairness that have attracted considerable recent attention. We focus in particular on a class of human-aligned risk measures inspired by cumulative prospect theory. We empirically study these risk measures, and demonstrate their improved performance on desiderata such as fairness, in contrast to the traditional workhorse of expected loss minimization.
Verb-argument integration in primary progressive aphasia: Real-time argument access and selection.

Abstract Background Impaired sentence comprehension is observed in the three major subtypes of PPA, with distinct performance patterns relating to impairments in comprehending complex sentences in the agrammatic (PPA-G) and logopenic (PPA-L) variants and word comprehension in the semantic subtype (PPA-S). However, little is known about basic combinatory processes during sentence comprehension in PPA, such the integration of verbs with their subject and object(s) (verb-argument integration). Methods The present study used visual-world eye-tracking to examine real-time verb-argument integration in individuals with PPA (12 with PPA-G, 10 with PPA-L, and 6 with PPA-S) and neurotypical older adults (15). Two baseline experiments probed eye movement control, using a non-linguistic task, and noun comprehension, respectively. Two verb-argument integration experiments examined the effects of verb meaning on (a) lexical access of the verb's direct object (argument access) and (b) selection of a semantically-appropriate direct object (argument selection), respectively. Eye movement analyses were conducted only for trials with correct behavioral responses, allowing us to distinguish accuracy and online processing. Results The eye movement control experiment revealed no significant impairments in PPA, whereas the noun comprehension experiment revealed reduced accuracy and eye-movement latencies in PPA-S, and to a lesser extent PPA-G. In the argument access experiment, verb meaning facilitated argument access normally in PPA-G and PPA-L; in PPA-S, verb-meaning effects emerged on an atypical time course. In the argument selection experiment, significant impairments in accuracy were observed only in PPA-G, accompanied by markedly atypical eye movement patterns. Conclusion This study revealed two distinct patterns of impaired verb-argument integration in PPA. In PPA-S, impaired verb-argument integration was observed in the argument access experiment, indicating impairments in basic semantic combinatory processes which likely relate to damage in ventral language pathways. In contrast, listeners with PPA-G showed marked impairments of argument selection, likely relating to damage to left inferior frontal regions.
Cognitive phenotypes in temporal lobe epilepsy utilizing data- and clinically driven approaches: Moving toward a new taxonomy.

Objective To identify cognitive phenotypes in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and test their reproducibility in a large, multi-site cohort of patients using both data-driven and clinically driven approaches. Method Four-hundred seven patients with TLE who underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation at one of four epilepsy centers were included. Scores on tests of verbal memory, naming, fluency, executive function, and psychomotor speed were converted into z-scores based on 151 healthy controls (HCs). For the data-driven method, cluster analysis (k-means) was used to determine the optimal number of clusters. For the clinically driven method, impairment was defined as >1.5 standard deviations below the mean of the HC, and patients were classified into groups based on the pattern of impairment. Results Cluster analysis revealed a three-cluster solution characterized by (a) generalized impairment (29%), (b) language and memory impairment (28%), and (c) no impairment (43%). Based on the clinical criteria, the same broad categories were identified, but with a different distribution: (a) generalized impairment (37%), (b) language and memory impairment (30%), and (c) no impairment (33%). There was a 82.6% concordance rate with good agreement (κ = .716) between the methods. Forty-eight patients classified as having a normal profile based on cluster analysis were classified as having generalized impairment (n = 16) or an isolated language/memory impairment (n = 32) based on the clinical criteria. Patients with generalized impairment had a longer disease duration and patients with no impairment had more years of education. However, patients demonstrating the classic TLE profile (ie, language and memory impairment) were not more likely to have an earlier age at onset or mesial temporal sclerosis. Significance We validate previous findings from single-site studies that have identified three unique cognitive phenotypes in TLE and offer a means of translating the patterns into a clinical diagnostic criteria, representing a novel taxonomy of neuropsychological status in TLE.
Hyperarousal symptoms and perceived burdensomeness interact to predict suicidal ideation among trauma-exposed individuals.

Abstract The association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal ideation is well-established and recent prospective studies have demonstrated the unique role of hyperarousal symptoms. In particular, over-arousal may elevate suicide risk in the presence of interpersonal vulnerability factors including thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability. Therefore, the current study sought to examine the differential associations between PTSD symptom clusters and suicidality and the impact of interpersonal risk factors. Trauma-exposed adults (N = 247) completed a questionnaire battery at baseline and three-month follow-up, as part of a larger randomized controlled trial of computerized interventions for suicide risk. Given the focus of the current study, treatment condition was controlled for in all analyses. Results indicated that hyperarousal symptoms significantly predict suicidality, while reexperiencing and avoidance symptoms do not. Specifically, greater hyperarousal symptoms predicted increased suicidal ideation among individuals with high perceived burdensomeness. Although the interaction effect was not significant, hyperarousal symptoms were also pertinent among individuals with high acquired capability. Taken together, findings suggest that assessment of hyperarousal symptoms and perceived burdensomeness may serve to identify trauma-exposed individuals at greater risk for suicide. Additionally, these factors may serve as effective intervention targets.