cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of ferrite nanoparticles by laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

Magnetic nanoparticles are important materials used in magnetic storage media. The specific physical properties of nanophase particles can have profound effects on magnetism and will determine the merits of particular particles as components in storage devices. However, obtaining a detailed depiction of the structural features of nanoparticles is a non-trivial process. We have employed laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) to aid in the characterization of nanoscale magnetic particles. Our investigation reports on two types of ferrite nanoparticles, having Fe 2O3 and Fe3O4 crystal structures, that were each synthesized in reverse micelles. During positive and negative LDI-MS of both types of particles, iron oxide peaks were consistently produced. Compared to Fe2O3 ,F e 3O4 particles yielded more peaks at the high m/z end of the mass spectrum, and the relative intensities of higher m/z peaks were typically greater. A negative ion mode depth profiling experiment revealed the capacity of the LDI-MS approach to obtain information regarding changes in nanoparticle composition as a function of sampling depth. Over the course of prolonged irradiation of stationary Fe2O3 nanoparticles, distinctly different desorption/ionization behavior was observed at the particle surface as compared to the core region. The depth profiling experiment was particularly useful for distinguishing surface impurities from core constituents.
Dielectric resonance in composites filled with metal-coated microspheres

Using formulas obtained from the first-order solutions of Mie theory in an effective medium approach, several example computations of bulk permittivity of a composite are given in different cases of layered spherical inclusions dispersed in a matrix. It is theoretically shown that a simple, isotropic negative-permittivity composite material could be constructed by suitable choice of geometrical and dielectric parameters of the constituents.
Brandeis and the New Haven-Boston & Maine merger battle revisited

Despite Louis Brandeis' well-publicized opposition to the New Haven-Boston & Maine railroad merger of 1907–1909, a large number of public-spirited men, including many progressive reform leaders whom Brandeis had worked with and admired, favored the combination. They saw the merger not as a conspiracy against the public interest, but a necessary response in the public interest to a commercial crisis in Massachusetts. This examination of their reasoning and action tempers Brandeis' widely accepted assessment of the controversy.
The effect of abdominal muscle strengthening on pelvic tilt and lumbar lordosis

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of abdominal strengthening on pelvic tilt and lumbar lordosis in healthy subjects with established abdominal weakness, in a relaxed standing pos...
The Half‐Lives of Texts: Poetry, Politics, and Ethnography in Kabylia, Algeria

Poetry, politics, and ethnography have been intimately linked in Algeria's Kabyle Berber region for over a century. This article examines two entextualizations of a related Kabyle poem: one recorded by French colonel Hanoteau in 1867 and the other unearthed by Kabyle scholar and cultural activist Mammeri in 1980. By analyzing the relationship between metapragmatic discourse and metapragmatic function in each poetry collection, the article shows how Berber culture has been variously configured as an object of ethnographic knowledge.
An Active Core Fiber-Optic Temperature Sensor Using an Eu(III)-Doped Sol-Gel Silica Fiber as a Temperature Indicator

An active core fiber-optic temperature sensor has been developed by using an Eu(III)-doped sol-gel silica fiber as a temperature indicator and has been tested for sensing temperature in the range from 80 degC to 500 degC. The fluorescence of Eu(III) doped inside the sol-gel silica fiber was excited with a simple LED with peak wavelength at 420 nm and the fluorescence intensity was recorded as a sensing signal. The fluorescence intensity decreases with the increase of temperature. In the temperature range from 140 degC to 300 degC, the attenuation of the fluorescence intensity of the fiber-optic sensor in decibel has a linear relationship with temperature
Mice lacking NKCC1 are protected from development of bacteremia and hypothermic sepsis secondary to bacterial pneumonia

The contribution of the Na+-K+-Cl− transporter (NKCC1) to fluid in ion transport and fluid secretion in the lung and in other secretory epithelia has been well established. Far less is known concerning the role of this cotransporter in the physiological response of the pulmonary system during acute inflammation. Here we show that mice lacking this transporter are protected against hypothermic sepsis and bacteremia developing as a result of Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in the lung. In contrast, this protection was not observed in NKCC1−/− mice with K. pneumoniae—induced peritonitis. Although overall recruitment of cells to the lungs was not altered, the number of cells present in the airways was increased in the NKCC1−/− animals. Despite this robust inflammatory response, the increase in vascular permeability observed in this acute inflammatory model was attenuated in the NKCC1−/− animals. Our studies suggest that NKCC1 plays a unique and untoward unrecognized role in acute inflammatory responses in the lung and that specific inhibition of this NKCC isoform could be beneficial in treatment of sepsis.
Dynamic Modeling of a Two-Axis, Parallel, H-Frame-Type XY Positioning System

XY positioning is an important task in industrial applications. This paper addresses the dynamic modeling of a belt-driven, parallel-type XY positioning system constructed in the form of a capitalized H. The system uses one long timing belt to transmit the rotation of two stationary motors to end-effector motion. Due to less moved masses, the studied H-frame system is potentially capable of fast acceleration, and therefore, faster positioning than traditional stacked systems. The use of an elastic transmission element also causes the biggest disadvantage of the system, which is an uncertainty of end-effector position due to stretching in the belt. Thus, the objective of this paper is to develop a dynamic model that can capture the response of this system. Using Lagrange's method, an eighth-order lumped parameter dynamic model of the stage motion is derived. The effect of nonlinear friction in the pulleys and cart motion is added to the model. The response of the model was simulated in MATLAB Simulink, and the model prediction is compared with real data obtained from the developed system. The results show that the model can accurately predict the dynamics of the developed H-frame positioning system.
Achieving a Strongly Temperature-Dependent Casimir Effect

We propose a method of achieving large temperature T sensitivity in the Casimir force that involves measuring the stable separation between dielectric objects immersed in a fluid. We study the Casimir force between slabs and spheres using realistic material models, and find large >2 nm/K variations in their stable separations (hundreds of nanometers) near room temperature. In addition, we analyze the effects of Brownian motion on suspended objects, and show that the average separation is also sensitive to changes in T. Finally, this approach also leads to rich qualitative phenomena, such as irreversible transitions, from suspension to stiction, as T is varied.
Direct innominate artery cannulation: An alternate technique for antegrade cerebral perfusion during aortic hemiarch reconstruction

Abstract Objective We describe an alternate technique for establishing antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) during hypothermic circulatory arrest via direct, central cannulation of the innominate artery. Methods From 2009 to 2015, 100 elective hemiarch reconstructions for proximal aortic aneurysms were performed under moderate hypothermic circulatory arrest (MHCA). Cerebral perfusion was instituted with ACP via direct cannulation of the innominate artery. Results Mean patient age was 63 ± 13 years (72 men; 72%). Mean MHCA temperature was 27.3°C ± 1.0°C (median, 28°C). Mean ACP time was 17 ± 4 minutes and mean crossclamp time was 134 ± 42 minutes. Proximal reconstruction included root replacement with composite valved graft (n = 47), valve sparing root reimplantation (n = 16), and aortic valve replacement (n = 19). In-hospital 30-day mortality (n = 1; 1%), stroke (1; 1%), reversible ischemic neurologic deficit (n = 1; 1%), coma (n = 0), and renal failure (n = 1; 1%) rates were low. There was no incidence of injury or dissection of the innominate artery. Conclusions Direct, central innominate artery cannulation for ACP yields excellent outcomes. This technique is safe, provides excellent cerebral protection during circulatory arrest and simplifies the circulatory management strategy for elective ascending aortic and hemiarch reconstruction.
CASE STUDY: Evaluation of Different Cooling Systems in Lactating Heat-Stressed Dairy Cows in a Semi-Arid Environment

Two independent trials were conducted from June 3 to September 30 of 2004 and 2005. In each trial, 400 multiparous and 100 primiparous Holstein cows were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 cooling treatments [Advanced Dairy System fan plus misters — Shade Tracker (ADS-ST) vs. Korral Kool (KK)]. In 2004, production did not differ for multiparous cows housed in ADS-ST or KK (41.8 kg/d) pens, but primiparous cows housed under KK conditions tended (P = 0.10) to produce more than cows housed under ADS-ST conditions (37.8 vs. 36.7 kg/d). Respiration rates (RR) of multiparous cows cooled with ADS-ST were greater [P < 0.05; 60.5 vs. 58.3 breaths/min (BPM)]; however, RR in primiparous cows did not differ between treatments (59.2 BPM). In 2005, milk yields for multiparous(42.2 vs. 38.3 kg/d) and primiparous (35.2 vs. 32.7 kg/d) cows housed in KK were greater (P < 0.01) compared with cows housed in ADS-ST pens, respectively. In 2005, multiparous (70.9 vs. 59.3 BPM) and primiparous (72.2 vs. 61.3 BPM) cows cooled with ADS-ST had greater (P < 0.05) RR. During both trials, ADS-ST cooling system used less (P < 0.05) electricity (526 vs. 723 and 517 vs. 840 kwh/d; 2004 and 2005, respectively) and water (291 vs. 305 and 290 vs. 460 L/d; 2004 and 2005, respectively) than KK coolers. During moderate to severe heat stress conditions of these studies, cows housed under KK coolers outperformed those housed under ADS-ST fans, but the KK system used more resources than ADS-ST fans.
Are all infrastructure investments created equal? The case of Portugal

Using a newly developed data set, we analyze the effects of infrastructure investment on economic performance in Portugal. A vector-autoregressive approach estimates the elasticity and marginal products of twelve types of infrastructure investment on private investment, employment, and output. We find that the largest long-term accumulated effects come from investments in railroads, ports, airports, health, education, and telecommunications. For these infrastructures, the output multipliers suggest that these investments pay for themselves through additional tax revenues. For investments in ports, airports and education infrastructures, the bulk of the effects are short-term demand-side effects, while for railroads, health, and telecommunications, the impact is mostly of a long-term and supply-side nature. Finally, investments in health and airports exhibit decreasing marginal returns, with railroads, ports, and telecommunications being relatively stable. In terms of the other infrastructure assets, the economic effects of investments in municipal roads, electricity and gas, and refineries are insignificant, while investments in national roads, highways, and waste and waste water have positive economic effects but too small to improve the public budget. Clearly, from a policy perspective, not all infrastructure investments in Portugal are created equal.
THE EFFECT OF HUMAN PLASMA TRANSFUSIONS ON THE FECAL UROBILINOGEN EXCRETION IN SICKLE CELL ANEMIA

1. The results of transfusions of whole plasma and blood on the fecal urobilinogen excretion of 5 children with sickle cell anemia have been reported. 2. The phenomenon observed by Josephs—a reduction in urobilinogen output following plasma transfusions—has been confirmed. 3. It has been observed further that in certain patients the continued use of plasma transfusions induces a reversal of this phenomenon, namely an increase in urobilinogen output after each transfusion. 4. The possible significance of these phenomena is discussed and attention is called to the limitations inherent in accepting urobilinogen excretion as a valid index of hemoglobin destruction in certain disorders in which a defect of hemoglobin metabolism may be present.
Design of Retroviral Expression Vectors

Several characteristics of amphotropic murine retroviruses have made them useful as vectors for gene transfer with some distinct advantages over other methods of transduction First, the normal replication cycle of retroviruses includes integration of the viral genome into the host's chromosomal DNA, and these viruses have evolved a very efficient mechanism of stable gene transfer for this purpose Second, because the integration machinery uses the termini of the viral DNA as substrate, insertion of viral DNA takes place m a predictable manner with the long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences flanking the genes they carry. Third, retroviruses have a broad host range, which allows gene transfer and expression of foreign genes in many cell types, even including some cell types that are refractory to gene transfer by other means. Fourth, a cytopathic effect on infected cells is lacking, which is especially important for gene expression studies and the generation of stable cell lines Fifth, all retroviral proteins required for the assembly of infectious virions can be supplied in trans, thereby enabling the expression of exogenous genes up to approx 8 kbp. Finally, retroviral vectors can be conveniently manipulated in plasmid form and, as discussed below, are somewhat flexible in terms of vector design. There are, however, some limitations to the use of retroviral vectors. One limitation is that gene transfer only occurs when cells are actively dividing (1) A second limitation is that expression levels are only moderate compared to those achieved by other methods of gene transfer, owing m part to the low copy numbers of the integrated provirus generally achievable by these vectors. The first component of the retrovirus gene transfer system is the retroviral packaging cell line. Packaging cells provide all the retroviral proteins required for the encapsidation of the retroviral vector (in RNA form) into infectious
Hitching Our Wagon to a Dim Star: Why Outmoded Water Codes and 'Public Interest' Review Cannot Protect the Public Trust in Western Water Law

Scholars have called the public trust’s expansion into water rights the “most significant expansion of public trust principles” in the past few decades. Considering that this doctrinal expansion has been so legally significant, the lack of change in state water codes is both remarkable and troubling. Of particular concern is the largely unnoted trend of equating the public trust with the public interest, which opens the door to the use of politically driven public interest provisions in state water codes. These provisions are rife with problems, all stemming from the fact that legislatures and water agencies wield broad discretion over public interest review. Although use of such provisions may be administratively expedient, the practice falls far short of public trust requirements. Only a more pervasive change to western water codes will truly suffice to bring states into compliance with public trust law. Part I of this article describes the traditional public trust principles that apply to waters, as well as the modern judicial trend of extending these principles to water use permitting. Part II then analyzes the risky implications of supplanting the public trust with public interest review. While the public interest and the public trust may at first blush appear to occupy common territory, the two are distinguishable in their legal origin, purpose, and scope. Thus, permitting agencies must assess public trust impacts using a distinct analysis grounded in judicial and constitutional definitions of the public trust. Finally, by drawing on the best public trust practices from around the West, Part III advances a water use permitting framework that better fulfills the states’ public trust responsibility. This article builds on the valuable work of noted scholars Charles Wilkinson, Robin Kundis Craig, Michael Blumm, Harrison Dunning, Brian Gray and others writing in the fields of water law and public trust. Further, the article combines the theoretical and the practical by not only analyzing the key legal developments in public trust and public interest review, but also providing a section on best practices for how states can better conduct public trust review in water use permitting.
Developmental states and undervalued exchange rates in the developing world

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates why some developing countries maintain weak and undervalued exchange rates while others do not. I argue that one key feature of the ‘developmental state’ – namely, state control over the financial system – contributes to an undervalued exchange rate. However, state control of finance promotes undervaluation under a narrower set of conditions than most developmental state theories suggest. State-owned banks increase support for exchange rate undervaluation from certain interest groups. When those interest groups are politically important, state-owned banks encourage policymakers to undervalue their exchange rates. Two sets of empirical analyses support the argument. Using time-series – cross-sectional data, I show that state-owned banks are associated with undervalued exchange rates, but only in developing countries with large manufacturing sectors. Second, analyses of firm-level survey data reveal that state-owned banks increase the manufacturing sector's support for an und...
High-dose cytotoxic therapy and bone marrow transplantation for relapsed Hodgkin's disease.

Patients with Hodgkin's disease who have failed two or more chemotherapy regimens or who have relapsed after an initial chemotherapy-induced remission of less than 12 months are seldom cured with conventional salvage therapies. We studied the effect of high-dose cytoreductive therapy followed by bone marrow transplantation in 50 such patients with relapsed Hodgkin's disease. Twenty-one patients with histocompatibility locus antigen (HLA)-matched donors had allogeneic marrow transplants, one patient received marrow from an identical twin, and 28 patients without a matched donor received autologous grafts purged with 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide. Busulfan plus cyclophosphamide was the preparative regimen for the 25 patients who had received extensive prior irradiation, and the other 25 patients received cyclophosphamide plus total body irradiation. The overall actuarial probability of event-free survival at 3 years was 30%, with a median follow-up of 26 months. The event-free survival following transplanta...
Solace for the Frustrations of Silent Citizenship: the Case of Epicureanism

Insofar as no democratic society can fully realize norms of free and equal citizenship, citizens in such regimes are likely to experience some degree of discontent with their political lives. This raises a second purpose for democratic theory beyond the usual focus on improving democratic institutions: the psychological issue of how ordinary citizens might find solace in the face of disappointment. Democratic theory is capable of providing solace because egalitarian commitments – equality, free speech, solidarity, and self-sufficiency – have a double potential: they not only ground efforts to democratize institutions, but when sublimated in apolitical form also have the capacity to generate a transcendence of the political form itself. In this essay, I pursue both ideas – the need for solace and egalitarianism's ability to provide it – through analysis of the way Epicureanism may have functioned for the ordinary, plebeian citizens in late Republican Rome.
Investigation of the S0S1 excitation in bacteriorhodopsin with the ONIOM(MO:MM) hybrid method

We have investigated the S0 and S1 electronic states in bacteriorhodopsin using a variety of QM/MM levels. The decomposition of the calculated excitation energies into electronic and electrostatic components shows that the interaction of the chromophore with the protein electric field increases the excitation energy, while polarization effects are negligible. Therefore, the experimentally observed reduction in excitation energy from solution phase to protein environment (the Opsin shift) does not come from the electrostatic interaction with the protein environment, but from either the interaction ofthe chromophore with the solvent or counter ion, or structural effects. Our high-level ONIOM(TD– B3LYP:Amber) calculation predicts the excitation energy within 8 kcal/mol from experiment, the discrepancy probably being caused by the neglect of polarization of the protein environment. In addition, we have shown that the level of optimization is extremely critical for the calculation of accurate excitation energies in bacteriorhodopsin.
Italian-Americans in Film: From Immigrants to Icons

Intoned by a solemn voice and emblazoned on millions of television screens throughout the United States, these words preceded the 1977 showing of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Saga (a revised and expanded version of the two theatrical motion pictures, The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II). Forewarned that the characters were not "representative of any ethnic group," a nationwide television audience then watched the violent, multi-generational saga of the Corleone family. Much of the early part of the film took place in Sicily, large segments of the film were spoken in Italian with English subtitles, and most of the characters bore such names as Barzini, Clemenza, Brasi, and Tattaglia. No problem. The disclaimer had guaranteed that viewers would not mistake them as members of any specific ethnic group. The Godfather disclaimer has become a landmark in the history of the film depiction of Italian-Americans, as well as ethnic groups in general, reflecting a growing awareness of the power of the media to influence audience thinking and public beliefs. It also represented an effort, albeit ineffective, to address this media educational power, although the insertion of the disclaimer can be interpreted either positively as an honest attempt to mute the deleterious side-effects of the film or negatively as cynical posturing to blunt criticism by Italian-American groups. Moving beyond the confines of Italian-Americana, that statement established a media disclaimer model, which has been copied and only slightly modified in later controversial films that similarly presented other ethnic groups as criminally violent, such as the 1983 Scarface (Cuban-Americans) and the 1985 Year of the Dragon (Chinese-Americans). In short, the disclaimer demonstrated a recognition that entertainment films do, in fact, teach, possessing the power to create, reinforce, and modify public images about ethnic groups, including Italian-Americans.
A General Solution for Update with Out-of-Sequence Measurements: The Augmented Fixed-Lag Smoother

Kalman Filters have been used as a means of estimation in the aerospace field for decades. By offering both vector modeling and recursive processing, these filters can be used to estimate state vectors. These state estimates rely on input data from sensors which may become available at irregular intervals. A past sensor measurement, for example, may arrive after the estimate for a time step has been computed using the other sensor data. In this paper, we introduce a general solution to update the Kalman filter with the outof-sequence measurements (OOSM) based on the fixed-lag smoother (FLS). It is able to generate a new state estimation at OOSM time using two adjacent estimations in FLS so that these OOSMs can be incorporated into future state estimates for improved accuracy. An inductive proof is presented to show the derivation and application of the new algorithm, called the Augmented Fixed-Lag Smoother.
Seismic velocity inversion for patchy and homogeneous fluid-distribution conditions in shallow, unconsolidated sands

ABSTRACTKnowledge of homogeneous and heterogeneous fluid-distribution conditions in unconsolidated sediments is important for the selection of remediation techniques for groundwater contamination. However, for unconsolidated sediments, fluid-distribution conditions from laboratory tests on core samples may not be representative of in situ conditions. We have developed a seismic inversion method to determine in situ fluid-distribution conditions that involves inverting experimental seismic P- and S-wave velocities using Hertz-Mindlin and Biot-Gassmann models with different averaging methods (Wood and Hill averages) and different fluid-distribution condition assumptions. This method can determine whether seismic velocity-versus-depth profiles are better explained assuming heterogeneous or homogeneous saturation conditions in shallow (<1 m depth) unconsolidated sands. During the imbibition and drainage of shallow unconsolidated sands, we have observed nonmonotonic relationships between P-wave velocity and w...
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy in the Treatment of Sexual Dysfunctions

Sexual dysfunction and the pelvic pain that typically accompanies it can profoundly affect the lives of the many men and women who suffer from these disorders. This is a prevalent issue: In a study of 112 women with genital pain, 78 of them—67.8 % (p < 0.0001)—suffered some form of female sexual dysfunction (FSD). The most prevalent form of FSD, affecting 58 of the 78, or 74.3 %, was dyspareunia. Similarly, in a study of men with pelvic pain, 88.3 % suffered pelvic floor myalgia and pelvic floor dysfunction. The consequences for these individuals can be far reaching. Loving relationships are strained, and the individual’s sense of self-worth as a fully functioning human and sexual being can be severely impaired. Yet this is an issue that rarely gets attention from either clinicians or the public at large.
Perceptions of Interdisciplinary Communication Among Correctional Health Care Providers

Collaborative practice is a health care standard that improves patient outcomes through maximizing the use of resources and mutual work of all health care providers. Since collaborative practice de...
Foreign Aid as a Counterterrorism Tool

Is foreign aid effective in reducing terrorism? The existing evidence is mostly negative. We argue that this pessimistic outlook on the efficacy of aid as a counterterrorism tool is partly a function of focusing on only one type of aid: economic aid. Governance and civil society aid can dampen the participation in and support for terrorism by altering the political conditions of a country. We expect countries that receive high levels of governance and civil society aid to experience fewer domestic terrorist incidents than countries that receive little or none. Using a sample of aid eligible countries for the period from 1997 to 2010, we find that governance and civil society aid is effective in dampening domestic terrorism, but this effect is only present if the recipient country is not experiencing a civil conflict. Our findings provide support for the continued use of democracy aid as a counterterrorism tool.
Memories of and reflections on play

As the last son of two depression-era immigrants, I grew up in Springfield, Mass., across the decades of the late 1950s and all of the 1960s. It was a time when Major League Baseball and the Nation...
A platoon-based intersection management system for autonomous vehicles

Recent advancements in Intelligent Transportation Systems suggest that the roads will gradually be filled with autonomous vehicles that are able to drive themselves while communicating with each other and the infrastructure. Autonomous intersection management is among the more challenging traffic scenarios, which involves coordinating the movement of autonomous vehicles through a conflict zone. Intersection management is also potentially one of the more beneficial traffic scenarios in terms of mobility and environmental impact. In this paper we propose a platoon-based approach for the cooperative intersection management problem. We assert that leveraging the platooning capability of autonomous vehicles could improve the efficiency of any policy at an intersection, in terms of average delay time per vehicle and can reduce the communication overhead in the vicinity of intersections by a factor of up to the average platoon size. We also develop a new autonomous intersection management method that guarantees the safety of traffic by allowing one platoon in the conflict zone at any time. We examine the effects of platooning on a simple stop sign at a single 4-way intersection in a simulated environment and report the results in terms of average delay per vehicle and communication overhead. Moreover, we evaluate the performance of the proposed method in a simulated environment and compare the results in terms of average wait time per vehicle and variance in delay with that of a stop sign.
Clinicopathologic features and pathogenesis of melanocytic colonization in atypical meningioma.

Only two prior cases of benign dendritic melanocytes colonizing a meningioma have been reported. We add a third case, describe clinicopathologic features shared by the three, and elucidate the risk factors for this very rare phenomenon. A 29 year-old Hispanic woman presented with headache and hydrocephalus. MRI showed a lobulated enhancing pineal region mass measuring 41 mm in greatest dimension. Subtotal resection of the mass demonstrated an atypical meningioma, WHO grade II, and the patient subsequently underwent radiotherapy. She presented 4 years later with diplopia, and MRI showed an enhancing extra-axial mass measuring 47 mm in greatest dimension and centered on the tentorial incisura. Subtotal resection showed a brain-invasive atypical meningioma with melanocytic colonization. The previous two cases in the literature were atypical meningiomas, one of which was also brain invasive. Atypical meningiomas may be at particular risk for melanocytic colonization as they upregulate molecules known to be chemoattractants for melanocytes. We detected c-Kit expression in a minority of the melanocytes as well as stem cell factor and basic fibroblast growth factor in the meningioma cells, suggesting that mechanisms implicated in normal melanocyte migration may be involved. In some cases, brain invasion with disruption of the leptomeningeal barrier may also facilitate migration from the subarachnoid space into the tumor. Whether there is low-level proliferation of the dendritic melanocytes is unclear. Given that all three patients were non-Caucasian, meningiomas in persons and/or brain regions with increased dendritic melanocytes may predispose to colonization. The age range spanned from 6 years old to 70 years old. All three patients were female. The role of gender and estrogen in the pathogenesis of this entity remains to be clarified. Whether melanocytic colonization may also occur in the more common Grade I meningiomas awaits identification of additional cases.
Physical and Performance Characteristics Related to Unintentional Musculoskeletal Injury in Special Forces Operators: A Prospective Analysis

Context: Seventy-seven percent of musculoskeletal injuries sustained by United States Army Special Forces Operators are preventable. Identification of predictive characteristics will promote the development of screening methods to augment injury-prevention programs. Objective: To determine physical and performance characteristics that predict musculoskeletal injuries. Setting: Clinical laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 95 Operators (age = 32.7 ± 5.1 years, height = 179.8 ± 6.9 cm, mass = 89.9 ± 12.7 kg). Main Outcome Measure(s): Laboratory testing consisted of body composition, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, upper and lower body strength and flexibility, balance, and biomechanical evaluation. Injury data were captured for 12 months after laboratory testing. Injury frequencies, cross-tabulations, and relative risks (RRs) were calculated to evaluate the relationships between physical characteristics and injury proportions. Between-groups differences (injured versus uninjured) were...
Plague and Contagion in the Islamic Mediterranean

This book discusses diseases that affected human and non-human populations in areas stretching from the Red Sea and Egypt to Anatolia, the Balkans, and the Black Sea, in the early modern and modern eras. It tackles various questions of historiography and sources, tests new interdisciplinary methodologies, and asks new questions while revisiting older ones. It contributes to Ottoman studies, the history of medicine, Mediterranean and European history, as well as global studies on the role of epidemics in history.
Future perspectives for informationists

Abstract This chapter will focus on strategies and ideas for moving the informationist’s profession forward and future perspectives to consider in doing so. The skills sets and opportunities for training oneself on advanced techniques for providing above-and-beyond information and knowledge management services to users—data science, e-science, bioinformatics, translational science, and research and evaluation are discussed in detail. Getting institutional buy-in and marketing/self-promotion of informationist’s skills are also discussed—electronic medical record access, developing impactful and valuable services, updating job descriptions, and expanding the evidence base and body of literature of the profession are all detailed.
GRANULOCYTE RESERVE FOLLOWING RADIATION THERAPY AS STUDIED BY THE RESPONSE TO A BACTERIAL ENDOTOXIN.

The granulocyte response to an intravenous injection of Pyrexal, a highly purified bacterial endotoxin was used as an assay of the marrow granulocyte reserve in patients who had received radiation therapy for various types of neoplasms. The response to the endotoxin was correlated with the amount of marrow irradiated. Only those patients with large volumes of marrow irradiated had abnormal responses to Pyrexal. No patient receiving radiation therapy to the head and neck, or thorax, or pelvis alone, regardless of dose, developed an abnormal response to Pyrexal. Early changes in the marrow granulocyte reserve were also studied in patients before, during and after radiation therapy.
Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel beta-adrenergic receptor.

In an attempt to isolate new G protein-coupled receptors from turkey erythrocytes, reverse transcribed polymerase chain reaction was performed on fetal turkey blood RNA using degenerate primers based on conserved sequences present in seven transmembrane receptors. An open reading frame in one of the clones, designated 4C (497 base pairs), displayed approximately 50-60% identity to all of the previously cloned beta-adrenergic receptors (beta-ARs). A lambda-DASH turkey genomic library was screened with a probe generated from the partial 4C cDNA, and the gene encoding this receptor was localized to a 3.5-kilobase pair HindIII fragment. Ribonuclease protection analysis of turkey lung mRNA indicated that the 3‘ end of the coding sequence of the 4C gene, like beta 3-AR, was interrupted by an intron. To obtain the cDNA sequence of 4C, RNA-polymerase chain reaction was performed using primers complementary to regions identified by ribonuclease protection analysis to be present in 4C mRNA. Comparison of the genomic and cDNA sequences of 4C indicated that the first exon encodes 414 amino acids of the protein, the second exon (68 base pairs) encodes an additional 12 residues followed by a stop codon, and the third exon is composed of 3‘-untranslated sequence. The 4C receptor was transiently expressed in COS-1 cells, and the apparent affinities of a series of beta-AR agonists and antagonists were determined using [125I]iodocyanopindolol. As implicated by its amino acid sequence, 4C displayed a pharmacological selectivity that was consistent with that of a beta-AR but distinct from other cloned beta-ARs. Isoproterenol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation in a concentration-dependent manner in mouse L cells stably expressing the 4C receptor. No effect on phospholipase C activity was observed. Ribonuclease protection assays indicated that 4C mRNA exhibits a broad tissue distribution, which suggests that it may play an important role in avian physiology.
Physical hazards in the operating room.

The purpose of this article is to review some of the physical principles relating to electrical injuries, fires, and explosions. An understanding of these physical principles is necessary for the development of rational programs for their control.
The Pragmatic Demands of Placement Testing

The study I am reporting on today examines how the overall ranking of students’ placement-test essays was influenced by the pragmatic form of the texts the students had produced. Specifically, it documents how patterns in students’ use of information assumed to be either old, inferrable, or new for readers affected the evaluation of the texts and suggests that these effects are, at least partly, a function of the fact that this was a test—a demand that writers not only communicate but also display their ability to do so.
Investigation of ovotransferrin conformation and its complexation with sugar beet pectin

Abstract Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) has been used to investigate the conformation of ovotransferrin (OVT) in solutions of different pH values. OVT was found to be a spherical molecule at native state in aqueous solutions. Radius of gyration (Rg) of OVT increased by 19.6% upon transition from native to molten globular state, and Rg increased by 9.7% as OVT further unfolded to an extended conformation. Besides, OVT showed concentration scaling behaviors at molten globule state. The information about size and shape was expected to facilitate the understanding of interactions between OVT and sugar beet pectin (SBP). Increasing OVT/SBP mixing ratios altered critical pH transition points in phase diagram, and the ratio of 5:1 was close to the saturated complexation ratio between OVT and SBP. Turbidities of OVT–SBP mixtures decreased significantly in the presence of sodium chloride, indicating the domination of electrostatic interaction in OVT–SBP complexation. Atomic force microscopy data illustrated the formation, association and dissociation processes of OVT–SBP complexes. Fluorescence spectroscopy results revealed that binding constant between OVT and SBP decreased with increasing temperature. The negative ΔH and positive ΔS further indicated the strong attractive interaction between OVT and SBP, which overcame the entropy contribution. Emulsions stabilized by OVT–SBP complexes had smaller droplet sizes and better physical stability than those stabilized by either pure OVT or SBP.
Learning Activities to Build Population Health Management Skills for Pharmacy Students

Objective. To describe the implementation and evaluation of population health management learning activities in a second-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) course.Methods. Population health learning ...
The utility of tissue and epidermal transglutaminase immunohistochemistry in dermatitis herpetiformis

Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), also known as Duhring-Brocq dermatitis, is an autoimmune, chronic subepidermal blistering disorder characterized by an intensely pruritic, papulovesicular eruption. It is linked to gluten sensitivity and considered to be a cutaneous manifestation of celiac disease. It has been demonstrated that sera from most patients with DH demonstrate autoantibodies against epidermal transglutaminase (eTG) and tissue transglutaminase (tTG). Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic utility of eTG and tTG immunohistochemistry in identifying patients with DH. A total of 15 skin biopsies from patients with an established diagnosis of DH confirmed by histopathology and direct immunofluorescence (DIF) studies were evaluated. Six cases were used as controls in which the clinical differential included DH and were found to be nondiagnostic by both histopathology and DIF evaluations. Eight (55%) of the DH cases were positive for eTG expression, while none of the controls showed any immunoreactivity (P = 0.0456). All 15 (100%) DH cases showed faint granular staining for tTG in the epidermal basal layers with similar results in all 6 (100%) control cases. Our study indicates eTG immunohistochemistry may aid in identifying patients with DH, with a diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 55% and 100%, respectively. tTG does not appear to be a useful immunomarker in this setting.
An experimental design framework for Markovian gene regulatory networks under stationary control policy.

A fundamental problem for translational genomics is to find optimal therapies based on gene regulatory intervention. Dynamic intervention involves a control policy that optimally reduces a cost function based on phenotype by externally altering the state of the network over time. When a gene regulatory network (GRN) model is fully known, the problem is addressed using classical dynamic programming based on the Markov chain associated with the network. When the network is uncertain, a Bayesian framework can be applied, where policy optimality is with respect to both the dynamical objective and the uncertainty, as characterized by a prior distribution. In the presence of uncertainty, it is of great practical interest to develop an experimental design strategy and thereby select experiments that optimally reduce a measure of uncertainty. In this paper, we employ mean objective cost of uncertainty (MOCU), which quantifies uncertainty based on the degree to which uncertainty degrades the operational objective, that being the cost owing to undesirable phenotypes. We assume that a number of conditional probabilities characterizing regulatory relationships among genes are unknown in the Markovian GRN. In sum, there is a prior distribution which can be updated to a posterior distribution by observing a regulatory trajectory, and an optimal control policy, known as an “intrinsically Bayesian robust” (IBR) policy. To obtain a better IBR policy, we select an experiment that minimizes the MOCU remaining after applying its output to the network. At this point, we can either stop and find the resulting IBR policy or proceed to determine more unknown conditional probabilities via regulatory observation and find the IBR policy from the resulting posterior distribution. For sequential experimental design this entire process is iterated. Owing to the computational complexity of experimental design, which requires computation of many potential IBR policies, we implement an approximate method utilizing mean first passage times (MFPTs) – but only in experimental design, the final policy being an IBR policy. Comprehensive performance analysis based on extensive simulations on synthetic and real GRNs demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method, including the accuracy and computational advantage of the approximate MFPT-based design.
The Queer Kairotic: Digital Transgender Suicide Memories and Ecological Rhetorical Agency

When two transgender teenagers posted eerily similar suicide letters to public Tumblr accounts in late 2014 and early 2015, they inspired a viral memorialization effort across the website. In this ...
Repeated Use of the Psychoactive Substance Ethylphenidate Impacts Neurochemistry and Reward Learning in Adolescent Male and Female Mice

Schedule II prescription psychostimulants, such as methylphenidate (MPH), can be misused as nootropic drugs, i.e. drugs that enhance focus and cognition. When users are unable to obtain these prescribed medications, they may seek out novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) that are not yet scheduled. An example of a NPS reportedly being abused is ethylphenidate (EPH), a close analog of MPH but with a higher preference for the dopamine transporter compared with the norepinephrine transporter. Therefore, based upon this pharmacological profile and user self-reports, we hypothesized that repeated EPH exposure in adolescent mice may be rewarding and alter cognition. Here, we report that repeated exposure to 15 mg/kg EPH decreased spatial cognitive performance as assessed by the Barnes maze spatial learning task in adolescent male C57Bl/6 mice; however, male mice did not show alterations in the expression of mature BDNF - a protein associated with increased cognitive function - in key brain regions. Acute EPH exposure induced hyperlocomotion at a high dose (15 mg/kg, i.p.), but not a low dose (5 mg/kg, i.p.). Interestingly, mice exhibited significant conditioned place preference at the low EPH dose, suggesting that even non-stimulating doses of EPH are rewarding. In both males and females, repeated EPH exposure increased expression of deltaFosB - a marker associated with increased risk of drug abuse - in the dorsal striatum, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex. Overall, our results suggest that repeated EPH use in adolescence is psychostimulatory, rewarding, increases crucial brain markers of reward-related behaviors, and may negatively impact spatial performance.
Les Yeux de Mansour: by Ryad Girod, Paris, P.O.L Éditeur, 2019, 224 pp., €18.50 (softcover), ISBN: 978-2-8180-4744-6

Algerian writer Ryad Girod’s third novel, Les Yeux de Mansour, is a profound reflection on the contemporary Arab-Islamic world, in which modernity and religious fundamentalism are made to coexist. ...
Shoulder kinematics impact subacromial proximities: a review of the literature

Abstract Background Alterations in glenohumeral and scapulothoracic kinematics have been theorized to contribute to rotator cuff pathology by impacting the magnitude of the subacromial space. Objective The purpose of this review is to summarize what is currently known about the relationship between shoulder kinematics and subacromial proximities. Conclusions A variety of methods have been used to quantify subacromial proximities including photographs, MR imaging, ultrasonography, and single- and bi-plane radiographs. Changes in glenohumeral and scapulothoracic kinematics are associated with changes in subacromial proximities. However, the magnitude and direction of a particular motion's impact on subacromial proximities often vary between studies, which likely reflects different methodologies and subject populations. Glenohumeral elevation angle has been consistently found to impact subacromial proximities. Plane of humeral elevation also impacts subacromial proximities but to a lesser degree than the elevation angle. The impact of decreased scapulothoracic upward rotation on subacromial proximities is not absolute, but instead depends on the angle of humerothoracic elevation. The effects of scapular dyskinesis and humeral and scapular axial rotations on subacromial proximities are less clear. Future research is needed to further investigate the relationship between kinematics and subacromial proximities using more homogenous groups, determine the extent to which compression and other factors contribute to rotator cuff pathology, and develop accurate and reliable clinical measures of shoulder motion.