cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of polyI:C cotreatment on halothane-induced liver injury in mice

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a challenging problem in drug development and clinical practice. Patient susceptibility to DILI is multifactorial, making these reactions difficult to predict and prevent. Clinical observations have suggested that concurrent bacterial and viral infections represent an important risk factor in determining patient susceptibility to developing adverse drug reactions, although the underlying mechanism is not clear. In the present study, we employed the viral RNA mimetic (polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid [polyI:C]) to emulate viral infection and examined its effect on halothane-induced liver injury. Although pretreatment of mice with polyI:C attenuated halothane hepatotoxicity due to its inhibitory effect on halothane metabolism, posttreatment significantly exacerbated liver injury with hepatocellular apoptosis being significantly higher than that in mice treated with polyI:C alone or halothane alone. The pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk suppressed liver injury induced by polyI:C/posthalothane cotreatment, suggesting that the increased hepatocyte apoptosis contributes to the exacerbation of liver injury. Posttreatment with polyI:C also caused activation of hepatic Kupffer cells (KCs) and natural killer (NK) cells and upregulated multiple proapoptotic factors, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), NK receptor group 2, member D (NKG2D), and Fas ligand (FasL). These factors may play important roles in mediating polyI:C-induced hepatocyte apoptosis. Conclusion: This is the first study to provide evidence that concurrent viral infection can inhibit cytochrome (CYP)450 activities and activate the hepatic innate immune system to proapoptotic factors. DILI may be attenuated or exacerbated by pathogens depending on the time of infection. (HEPATOLOGY 2009;49:215–226.)
Registered Nurses' personal rights vs. professional responsibility in caring for members of underserved and disenfranchised populations.

Aims. Health disparities exist and refer to the chasms in health status between the advantaged and disadvantaged. Intense multiculturalism will require different approaches and moral obligations to work with these groups and urgency exists to develop nursing caring strategies when dealing with these populations. Development of nursing curricula which identify prejudicial thinking and intolerance for marginalized groups will help to decrease fears and increase nurses’ willingness to provide culturally competent health care for underserved and disenfranchised populations. Background. Caring for members of disenfranchised groups instills fear at some level in nurses who are working with these individuals. This fear may be due, in part, to the potential harm nurses perceive the patient may cause them, or perhaps it is because they feel they could possibly be in the individual's situation at some point in their lives. Prejudice and discrimination continue to exist in society and have adversely affected the health care system and the nursing profession. Discrimination may be based on differences due to age, ability, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any characteristics by which people differ. Relevance to clinical practice. Registered Nurses are accountable for nursing decisions and actions regardless of personal preferences. Due to the rapidly changing healthcare system the nurse faces increasing ethical dilemmas and human rights issues. Nurses are individually accountable for caring for each patient and the right to refuse an assignment should be carefully interpreted to avoid patient abandonment. Nurses’ objections can be based on moral, ethical, or religious beliefs not on personal preferences and in an emergency the nurse must provide treatment regardless of any personal objections.
Maximizing reliability while scheduling real-time task-graphs on a cluster of computers

Improper scheduling of real-time applications on a cluster may lead to missing required deadlines and offset the gain of using the system and software parallelism. Most existing scheduling algorithms do not consider factors such as real-time deadlines, system reliability, processing power fragmentation, inter-task communication and degree of parallelism on performance. In this paper we introduce a new scheduling algorithm, which is based on using an objective function to guide the search for a near optimal solution. This objective function includes different criteria such as real-time deadlines, reliability, and quantitative measures of the communication, degree of parallelism and processing power fragmentation. The presence of different criteria may affect the overall acceptance rate of the applications. We also investigate the effect of reliability on the overall acceptance rate.
Does exposure to magnesium sulfate in utero decrease the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants

Background. The objective of this study is to assess whether antenatal exposure to magnesium sulfate may decrease the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants.Methods. We have compared the rate of magnesium sulfate exposure before birth among 23 consecutive infants diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis with that of 46 controls matched by gestational age at delivery and gender. Relevant obstetric and neonatal variables were compared between the two groups using chi-square and Fisher’s exact test for categorical data, and one-way analysis of variance for continuous variables, with a two-tailed p-value.Results. No signiﬁcant differences were present between the two groups in mode of delivery (p=0.9), rate of Apgar score at ﬁve minutes below seven (p=0.4), prenatal exposure to indocin (p=0.5) or steroids (p=0.6), or neonatal administration of surfactant (p=0.1). Similar proportions of babies with necrotizing enterocolitis and controls were diagnosed with respiratory distress syndrome (p=0.5), i...
Socio-ecology of the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) and the spatio-temporal distribution of Bayou virus in coastal Texas.

Along the southeastern coast of the United States of America (USA), the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) is the primary host for the hantavirus genotype Bayou. According to the socio-ecological model for a territorial, polygamous spe- cies, females should be distributed across space and time by habitat resources and predation risks, whereas males should space themselves according to the degree of female aggregation and reproductive synchrony. To investigate how females affect the male-male transmission paradigm of Bayou virus, rodents were captured, marked, released, and re-captured in two macrohabitat types across a 30-month period. Microhabitat cover variables were quantified around the individual trap sta- tions. A geodatabase was created from habitat and rodent capture data and analysed in a geographical information system. The ratio of breeding to non-breeding females was ~1:1, with breeding females overly dispersed and non-breeding females randomly dispersed. Spatial analyses revealed both macro- and microhabitat preferences in females. Compared to sero-nega- tives, higher proportions of seropositive adult males were found consistently within closer proximities to breeding females but not to non-breeding females, indicating that male locations were not driven simply by habitat selection. Activities to acquire dispersed receptive females could be an important driver of Bayou virus transmission among male hosts. To date, socio-ecological theory has received little attention as an investigative framework for studying pathogen dynamics in small, solitary mammals. Herein, we describe an interdisciplinary effort providing a novel approach to elucidate the complexity of hantavirus trafficking and maintenance in rodent populations of a coastal marsh ecosystem.
Fractures of the carpal bones excluding the scaphoid

Abstract Carpal fractures excluding the scaphoid can cause morbidity that is disproportionate to their incidence because they are easily overlooked and are often harbingers of a wider wrist injury. Failure to recognize a more global injury pattern can result in undertreatment and permanent wrist dysfunction. Diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion, familiarity with carpal topography to guide the physical examination, and judicious use of specialized radiographic views and ancillary imaging techniques. Copyright © 2002 by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand
Services to handicapped children in the state of Iowa.

SUMMARY Services to the handicapped require the involvement of many disciplines and agencies. Where the region served is rural, collaboration, communication and follow-up care are more difficult to accomplish. The system in use in the State of Iowa is described. RESUME Aide aux enfants handicapes de VEtat d'lowa L'aide aux handicapes necessite la participation de nombreuses disciplines et services. Lorsqu'une region rurale est en cause, la collaboration, la communication et les services de suite sont beaucoup plus difficiles a realiser. Le systeme utilise dans l'Etat d'lowa est decrit. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die Fursorge der Beschrankten erfordert die Beteiligung vieler Disziplinen und Amter. In landlichen Gegenden sind die Zusammenarbeit, die Verstandigung und die regel-masige Betreuung schwieriger durchzufuhren. Das im Staate Iowa gebrauchliche System wird beschrieben. RESUMEN Servicios para ninos disminuidos en el estado de Iowa Los servicios para ninos lisiados requieren un gran numero de disciplinas y agencias. Cuando se trata de una region rural, es mas dificil llevar a cabo la colaboracion, la com-unicacion y seguir el curso de los casos. Se discute el sistema utilizado en el estado de Iowa.
Accelerated repopulation during fractionated irradiation of a murine ovarian carcinoma: Downregulation of apoptosis as a possible mechanism

Abstract Purpose: To test whether accelerated tumor clonogen repopulation occurs during continuous fractionated radiotherapy of a slow-growing mouse ovarian tumor, and if so whether the accelerated rate of repopulation is predicted by the pretreatment potential doubling time, and whether changes in apoptotic response are a possible mechanism for this change. Methods and Materials: The rate of clonogen production during fractionated radiotherapy was followed using the tumor-control assay, with an independent determination of the sensitivity to repeated dose fractions in vivo in the absence of repopulation. The pretreatment potential doubling time was measured by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) labeling and fluorescence measurements. The apoptotic and mitotic indices at various times during treatment were scored histologically Results: The slow-growing (pretreatment colume doubling time 6 days) ovarian tumor OCA responds to daily irradiation with 6 Gy under hypoxia by negligible tumor clonogen production in the first few days, followed by a change at about 9 days to accelerated repopulation, after which the effective clonogen time T clon was about 2 days, near the pretreatment T pot of 1.7 days. Alternative interpretations of the data, such as a change in radiosensitivity vs. a change in the repopulation rate or acceleration at 3 days as opposed to 9 days, were shown to be unlikely. This change was accompanied by a reduced apoptotic response (measured morphometrically). Conclusions: When sensitivity to fractionated doses has been corrected for in vivo , this slow-growing mouse tumor exhibits a change to accelerated clonogen production during a continuous radiotheraphy regimen that is accompanied or preceded by a reduced histologic apoptotic response. T clon during accelerated repopulation was slightly longer than the pretreatment T pot .
“Don’t Be a Whore, That’s Not Ladylike”: Discursive Discipline and Sorority Women’s Gendered Subjectivity

While multiple and competing understandings of sororities exist in popular culture, academic research on sororities tends to homogenize the experience of sorority women, simplifying their existence to a quantitative understanding of specific behaviors such as those associated with binge drinking, eating disorders, and heterosexuality. Specifically, it ignores processes of discursive discipline that converge to disseminate social expectations, maintain dominant discourse, conceal processes of social control, and limit possibilities for gendered subjectivity. Therefore, in order to provide a more complex understanding of sorority women's gendered subjectivity and to produce research cognizant of cultural discourse, this study explored sorority women's experiences through an ethnographic lens informed by poststructural theory. Represented by creative analytic practice as an ethnographic screenplay, this research provides contextualized insight into societal relationships of power and gender as they produce and reproduce specific historical and cultural regimes. In particular, I contextualize the experiences of sorority women, explore the dissemination and discipline of femininity within the sorority, and show how such discipline relates to Foucauldian theorizations. Language: en
Kinetics of retroviral production from the amphotropic ΨCRIP murine producer cell line

Rapidly expanding development and practice of gene therapy requires the availability of large quantities of high titer retroviral supernatants. One way to achieve high retroviral titers is through improved understanding of the kinetics of retroviral production and decay, and the subsequent development of improved cell culture methods. In the present study we investigated the effects of different operational modes on the retroviral production of the NIH 3T3 fibroblast derived amphotropic murine retroviral producing cell line pMFG/ΨCRIP. Semi-continuous culture (exchange of 50% of medium volume daily) was found to promote cell growth and enhance retroviral production. The rapid medium exchange resulted in significantly larger amounts of high titer supernatants and an extended production phase as compared to the batch control cultures. The specific viral productivity of the pMFG/ΨCRIP cells was in the range of 10 to 40 infectious viruses produced per thousand producer cells per day. The CV-1 African Green Monkey kidney cell line was used as the infection target. Lowering the serum level form 20% to 10% improved retroviral production slightly. However, at lower serum levels (1%, 5% and 10% (v/v)) growth of the producer cell line, and thus retroviral production, was directly proportional to the serum level. The half-life of the virus at 37°C was found to be 5.5 hours. Promoting the growth of producer cell lines can improve retroviral vectors titers and viral production. High cell density systems that allow for rapid cell growth and waste product removal are likely to be used to generate high-titer retroviral supernatants.
The closure in a Hilbert space of a preHilbert space Chebyshev set that fails to be a Chebyshev set

In 1987 the author gave an example of a non convex Chebyshev set S in the incomplete inner product space E consisting of the vectors in l 2 which have at most a finite number of non zero terms. In this paper, we show that the closure of S in the Hilbert space completion l 2 of E is not Chebyshev in l 2 .
Secure distributed storage for information dissemination and retrieval at the tactical edge

Information (and its timely delivery) has always been one of the most critical tactical assets. Today, we have the technology to deploy data collection and retrieval systems all the way from mission headquarters down to the lowest levels of echelon. Due to the lower echelons proximity to the adversary, protecting the information is one of the most important issues in designing such systems. In this paper, we describe a secure distributed storage scheme to be used especially at and near the tactical edge. The scheme does so through a peer-to-peer overlay and storage protocol designed to run on existing networked systems. We utilize a structured overlay that is dynamically organized in a layered, hierarchical manner based on the existing military command structure (e.g. fire-team, squad, battalion, etc.). These layers are used as storage sites for pieces of data near the layer at which that data is needed. The data is generated and distributed via an information dispersal algorithm (IDA) utilizing an erasure code such as the common Cauchy Reed-Solomon (RS). Through the use of this IDA, the data pieces are organized across neighboring layers to maximize locality. This organization also prevents a compromise within one layer from compromising data in that layer. Multiple layers would have to be compromised for a single datum to become compromised. As a result, both security and survivability of the data is improved compared to the typical remote server-client model. We present an overview of this approach along with our experimental results on hardware performance of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile devices. The recorded overhead (encoding/ decoding times and associated data sizes) show that such a scheme can be utilized with little increase in overall latency.
Water Grows Food: Dry Season Farming, Food Sovereignty, and Integrated Water Resource Management in Burkina Faso

Karim could be confused with one of millions of African smallholder farmers who tend small plots of land for their subsistence. He grows three hectares of maize and one hectare of vegetables in a small village in southwestern Burkina Faso. He and his family plow their field with a pair of oxen, and weed it with hand-held hoes. When asked where the water comes from for his crops, Karim answers, “God.”But there is a lot more to Karim’s story than this succinct anecdote can convey. Karim cultivates the three hectares of maize and one hectare of vegetables during the dry season, in addition to the crops he grows during the wet season. These dry season crops are not primarily destined for the household, but are sold in local markets, and some are even exported to Ivory Coast. He uses a diesel powered pump and a series of PVC pipes to direct water from a nearby river to irrigate his fields. He grows two improved varieties of maize and applies herbicides before planting. He purchases improved vegetable seeds from a private distributor who gets them shipped directly from Europe. Pest pressure is high, so he applies multiple applications of different, crop-specific pesticides to his vegetable and maize crops. He also makes multiple applications of mineral fertilizers. Much of these investments are done with very little support from government or non-governmental organizations.
LBM-IB: A Parallel Library to Solve 3D Fluid-Structure Interaction Problems on Manycore Systems

Deformable structures are abundant in various domains such as biology, medicine, life sciences, and ocean engineering. Our previous work created a numerical method, named LBM-IB method [1], to solve the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems. Our LBM-IB method is particularly suitable for simulating flexible (or elastic) structures immersed in a moving viscous fluid. Fluid-structure interaction problems are well known for their heavy demands on computing resources. Today, it is still challenging to resolve many real-world FSI problems. In order to solve large-scale fluid-structure interactions more efficiently, in this paper, we design a parallel LBM-IB library on shared memory many core architectures. We start from a sequential version, which is extended to two different parallel versions. The paper first introduces the mathematical background of the LBM-IB method, then uses the sequential version as a ground to present our implemented computational kernels and the algorithm. Next, it describes the two parallel programs: an Open MP implementation and a cube-based parallel implementation using Pthreads. The cube-based implementation builds upon our new cube-centric algorithm where all the data are stored in cubes and computations are performed on individual cubes in a data-centric manner. By exploiting better data locality and fine-grain block parallelism, the cube-based parallel implementation is able to outperform the Open MP implementation by up to 53% on 64-core computer systems.
Systematics and modes of reproductive isolation in the holarctic Drosophila testacea species group (Diptera : Drosophilidae)

Reproductive isolation and morphological differences among allopatric populations of the Holarctic species Drosophila testacea v. Roser indicate that this taxon is actually a complex of three morphocryptic species: D. testacea , from Europe and continental Asia; D. orientacea , n.sp., from Japan; and D. neotestacea , n.sp., from North America. Diagnostically important morphological variation is presented, along with distributional data for these three species and D. putrida Sturtevant, the only other member of the testacea species group. Both pre- and postmating barriers to reproduction were observed in various interspecific crosses. Premating isolation is strongly asymmetric between D. testacea and D. neotestacea . Modes of postmating isolation include lack of sperm transfer and failure of hybrid eggs to hatch. The revised taxonomy of this group should facilitate analyses of interesting aspects of the evolutionary ecology of these species.
The role of colony-stimulating factors in host defenses.

SummaryThe role of CSF in the production of activated phagocytes during infection is summarized in Figure 2. Resident macrophages and immigrating granulocytes serve in the first line of host defenses against microbial invasion. The phagocytes kill some of the invading microorganisms and the macrophages process and present microbial antigens to antigen-specific T lymphocytes. IL-1 secreted by a number of cell types, including macrophages, promotes clonal expansion and the activation of sensitized T lymphocytes, which in turn produce a variety of cytokines, including CSF. These cytokines, in combination with the microbial products released during infection, stimulate the proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow progenitor cells and the increased formation of circulating white blood cells. In response to chemotactic factors, the phagocytes in the circulation adhere to endothelial cells adjacent to the inflammatory site, undergo diapedesis, and migrate to the site of infection. These phagocytes, activ...
Pharmacists' role in a smoking-cessation program at a health maintenance organization

A comprehensive smoking-cessation program sponsored by a health maintenance organization (HMO) and the role of pharmacists in the program are described. Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound is an HMO serving more than 385,000 enrollees in western Washington State. Group Health established a smoking-cessation program in 1985. The smoking-cessation benefit consists of interventions by providers to determine smoking status, a formal behavioral modification program, and nicotine-replacement therapy (beginning in 1993) for patients undergoing behavioral modification. The behavioral modification program is offered in group or individualized format. A team of trained nursing, medical, and pharmacy staff members provides consultative support to the program's smoking-cessation specialists. A tobacco-use road-map team has been created as part of the quality-improvement effort at Group Health; a pharmacist serves on this team. The ultimate goal of the team is to reduce the percentage of adult enrollees who smoke from the current 20% to 12.5% by 2000. A procedure for promoting smoking cessation was presented to all the pharmacists, along with continuing-education sessions. The pharmacists are encouraged to be brief but consistent in their antismoking message and to apply the "four A's" (ask about the patient's smoking status, advise the patient to quit smoking, assist in the patient's efforts to quit, and arrange follow-up). The inclusion of nicotine-replacement products in the smoking-cessation program in 1993 provided pharmacists with a key role in determining dosages and monitoring patients. Although the program is leading many smokers to quit, efforts will have to be intensified if program goals are to be realized by 2000.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Management of Hypertension Associated With Chronic Renal Failure: Including the role of bilateral nephrectomy

The cases summarized here illustrate different ways of controlling hypertension in patients with chronic renal failure. Dietary restriction of sodium and protein is most effective if some renal function remains and the renal disease is fairly stable. Effective control through achievement of dry weight is possible in a majority of patients undergoing dialysis. Candidates for bilateral nephrectomy are those patients in the unresponsive minority, who can be identified by an elevation of serum renin.
Pathogenesis of Nonobstructive Urinary Tract Infections in Children

AbstractMost urinary tract infections occur without either obstruction or vesicoureteral reflux. Children become colonized by their mother’s bacterial flora, that within the nursery or by siblings. Bacterial adherence may lead to colonization of the perineum in girls and of the prepuce in boys (if uncircumcised). Nephropathogenic bacteria ascend the urinary tract because of the P-fimbriae of Escherichia coli which adhere to a specific urothelial cell glycolipid. The endotoxin effect on ureteral peristalsis leads to intrarenal reflux, adherence in the kidney and acute pyelonephritis. Complement activation then causes granulocytic aggregation in capillaries with renal ischemia and activates granulocytes to produce the respiratory burst of phagocytosis, which releases superoxide into both phagosomes and the tubular lumen. Bacteria are thus killed as are renal tubules, leading to nephron loss. Untreated, the ischemia and respiratory burst lead to a loss of renal function and scar formation ending as chronic p...
Effects of Resolution and Registration Algorithm on the Accuracy of EPI vNavs for Real Time Head Motion Correction in MRI

Low-resolution, EPI-based Volumetric Navigators (vNavs) have been used as a prospective motion-correction system in a variety of MRI neuroimaging pulse sequences. The use of low-resolution volumes represents a trade-off between motion tracking accuracy and acquisition time. However, this means that registration must be accurate on the order of 0.2 voxels or less to be effective for motion correction. While vNavs have shown promising results in clinical and research use, the choice of navigator and registration algorithm have not previously been systematically evaluated. In this work we experimentally evaluate the accuracy of vNavs, and possible design choices for future improvements to the system, using real human data. We acquired navigator volumes at three isotropic resolutions (6.4 mm, 8 mm, and 10 mm) with known rotations and translations. The vNavs were then rigidly registered using trilinear, tricubic, and cubic B-spline interpolation. We demonstrate a novel refactoring of the cubic B-spline algorithm that stores pre-computed coefficients to reduce the per-interpolation time to be identical to tricubic interpolation. Our results show that increasing vNav resolution improves registration accuracy, and that cubic B-splines provide the highest registration accuracy at all vNav resolutions. Our results also suggest that the time required by vNavs may be reduced by imaging at 10 mm resolution, without substantial cost in registration accuracy.
Extra-coding RNAs regulate neuronal DNA methylation dynamics

Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation are essential regulators of the function and information storage capacity of neurons. DNA methylation is highly dynamic in the developing and adult brain, and is actively regulated by neuronal activity and behavioural experiences. However, it is presently unclear how methylation status at individual genes is targeted for modification. Here, we report that extra-coding RNAs (ecRNAs) interact with DNA methyltransferases and regulate neuronal DNA methylation. Expression of ecRNA species is associated with gene promoter hypomethylation, is altered by neuronal activity, and is overrepresented at genes involved in neuronal function. Knockdown of the Fos ecRNA locus results in gene hypermethylation and mRNA silencing, and hippocampal expression of Fos ecRNA is required for long-term fear memory formation in rats. These results suggest that ecRNAs are fundamental regulators of DNA methylation patterns in neuronal systems, and reveal a promising avenue for therapeutic targeting in neuropsychiatric disease states.
Organizational Change And Development

This paper discusses the importance of organizational change and development. Passed literature suggests how companies have used adaptation to promote their companies. The research supports the ideas of workers personal desire for changes in the workplace. Without willingness to adapt to changes in technology, society, and worker needs an organization will miss major opportunities. Individual’s acceptance of workplace changes were also shown to changes based on comfort at present time. Our research revealed that successful organizations and those that accept and adapt to the change process.
Mediated Intimacies: State Intervention and Gender Violence in Nicaragua

This article forms part of an inquiry about the reach of legislative changes initiated by Law 779 in Nicaragua, the “Integral Law against Violence towards Women”, passed in February 2012. The primary texts I analyze include the legislative debates for the drafting of Law 779, the body of Law 779, the Reform to the law in October 2013, and the Regulations to Law 779, issued through a presidential proclamation in July 2014. I organize my discussion around the most controversial juridical figure in Law 779: that of mediation . Analyzing the trajectory of Law 779 within the Post-war cultural scene in Nicaragua, I conclude that the reinstatement of mediation represents a regressive reaffirmation of patriarchal authority in the guise of community empowerment. The family centered rhetoric of the Regulation to Law 779 signifies capitulation to the most conservative, religious sectors of society and a dramatic reversal of feminist gains towards recognizing women as subjects with rights. These are in fact battles over the cultural interpretation of women’s place, their autonomy, and the troubled reality of the nuclear family and normative social bonds in twenty-first century Central America. They show that women’s autonomy continues to be symbolically coded as dangerous, even as a threat to the collective interests of the family and the nation.
Anthropometric prediction of skeletal muscle cross-sectional area in persons with spinal cord injury.

This study used anthropometric measurements and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) and developed a field equation to predict thigh muscle CSA specific to...
Restoring the Legitimacy of Private Antitrust Enforcement

This is a draft chapter from the American Antitrust Institute's 2017 recommendations to the 45th President of the United States. It contains a brief but well-deserved defense of the benefits of private antitrust enforcement and a critique of the claims that private enforcement in the United States is excessive, that it leads to overdeterrence, and that the courts are plagued with widespread frivolous antitrust lawsuits. It also offer a number of specific recommendations for the new administration to implement in the private antitrust enforcement area, including: * Educate the courts, the public, and federal and state legislatures about the virtues of vigorous private antitrust enforcement, including how it compensates victims and deters anticompetitive conduct. * Actively support efforts by the European Union and other foreign jurisdictions to develop effective private rights of action. * Encourage states without effective Illinois Brick legislation to adopt strong and comprehensive legislation. * Support and encourage the formulation of antitrust jury instructions written in language that juries can understand. * Undertake a comprehensive study into why so few victims of antitrust violations receive full compensation for their losses. A recent study shows that victims of collusion received only a median of 37% and a mean of 66% of the overcharges they paid to illegal cartels in private damages actions. Why weren’t their recoveries closer to the 300% recovery Congress intended? This chapter contains specific recommendations that address this problem.
The Evolution of Adaptive-Wall Wind Tunnels

Adaptive-wall wind tunnel technology is examined as a natural extension of the continuing effort to mitigate wall-induced wind tunnel interference. The state of the art in interference assessment is briefly surveyed starting from its inception in the 1920s to present day practice. It is concluded that adaptive-wall wind tunnels will play a major role in future aerodynamic research, but that they will probably be used in a different manner than current wind tunnels. It is also concluded that more effort is needed to sort out the complex hardware/software/sensor relationships that will be required to support a large-scale, high-Reynolds-number, adaptive-wall wind tunnel.
Viral Protein X

Since the discovery of the human immunodeficiency viruses types 1 (HIV-1) and 2 (HIV-2) as the causative agents of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (Barre-Sinoussi et al. 1983; Clavel et al. 1987; Papovic et al. 1984) and the isolation of related lentiviruses from several species of Old World monkeys, much has been learned about their biology and evolution. Based on genetic analysis, five distinct phylogenetic lineages of primate lentiviruses have now been identified: HIV-1/simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)CPZ, HIV-2/SIVSM/SIVMAC, SIVAGM, SIVMND, and SIVSYK (for review see Johnson et al. 1991; Myers et al. 1992; Sharp et al. 1994). Like all retroviruses, primate lentiviruses are similar in structure and genomic organization. They contain gag, pol, and env genes that encode structural proteins essential for virion architecture (Gag), glycoproteins that enable the virus to recognize and infect its target (Env), and enzymatic proteins essential for processes of virus maturation, reverse transcription, and integration (Pol). While the genomic structure of all five lineages is conserved, differences exist in the composition of auxiliary genes: all five groups of viruses contain tat, rev, nef and vif all but SIVAGM contain vpr, only HIV-1/SIVSYK contains vpu, and only HIV-2/SIVSM/SIVMAC and SIVAGM viruses contain vpx (Cullen and Green 1990; Johnson et al. 1991). Primate lentiviruses have complex life cycles regulated by interactions of viral structural and accessory gene products as well as host factors (Cullen 1991). Viral accessory genes modulate replication, host cell tropism, chronic persistence, and pathogenicity. Defining the role of viral accessory genes is critical for understanding the natural history of infection and disease pathogenesis and thus represents a major goal in biomedical AIDS research. Moreover, knowledge of accessory protein function may facilitate the development of therapeutic and vaccine interventions. In this chapter the author reviews the present understanding of the role of Vpx in the HIV-2/SIV life cycle and the structure-function relationships that mediate incorporation of this protein into virions. Based on genetic and phylogenetic evidence indicating that in the HIV-2/ SIVSM/SIVMAC lineage vpxarose from a gene duplication of vpr and on the proposed reclassification of SIVAGM vpx to vpr (Tristem et al. 1990, 1992), for clarity this review will discuss vpx for only the HIV-2/SIVSM/SIVMAC group of viruses.
Cardinal Functions on Initial Chain Algebras on Pseudotrees

Initial chain algebras on pseudotrees generalize the notion of an interval algebra on a linear order. Many relationships which hold between the various cardinal functions on interval algebras also hold for initial chain algebras. In particular, for initial chain algebras on pseudotrees, depth equals tightness, spread equals hereditary Lindelof degree, irredundance equals the cardinality of the algebra, and incomparability equals hereditary cofinality. For interval algebras, Rubin showed that any subalgebra of regular uncountable cardinality κ contains either a chain of size κ or a pairwise incomparable family of size κ. This result holds for initial chain algebras as well.
Zinc: An Essential Trace Element with Potential Benefits to Soldiers

Zinc is a trace element known to be an essential nutrient for life. It functions as a cofactor for numerous enzymes, including those involved in DNA and RNA replication and protein synthesis. Soldiers represent a unique population faced with intense metabolic and mental demands, as well as exposure to various immune challenges. Some of these factors may affect their dietary zinc requirements. Although severe zinc deficiency is unlikely to occur, some soldiers may experience less than optimal zinc status because of diminished intake coupled with increased requirements. For those soldiers, supplemental dietary zinc may serve a protective function in numerous disease states affecting modern warfighters. This review highlights the importance of adequate zinc nutriture to soldiers and discusses the potential benefits of supplemental zinc in a number of diseases currently affecting soldiers, including diarrhea, respiratory diseases, malaria, and leishmaniasis.
The Fourth Amendment Aspects of Computer Searches and Seizures: A Perspective and a Primer

This article is called a "primer" because it outlines the application of Fourth Amendment principles to the search and seizure of computers and the digital information that is stored in them. It does not purport to address every Fourth Amendment issue that may arise in the computer context because, for many issues, the mere fact that a computer is involved does not change the analysis. Instead, it focuses on situations that are influenced by the fact that the object to be searched and seized is a computer or the data stored on it. Like a traditional primer, this article reports how courts have addressed Fourth Amendment applicability and satisfaction issues in the computer context.A primer is generally thought of as not espousing a point of view. This article, however, departs from that role in two important respects. First, in discussing the nature of computer and digital evidence searches and seizures, it rejects the view that those intrusions require a "special approach," that is, that unique Fourth Amendment rules are needed to regulate them; instead, this article adopts the view that computers are containers and the data they contain are mere forms of documents. This is to say that the principles applicable to document searches have equal application to electronic data searches. Second, it rejects expansion of the private search doctrine, used by some courts, which permits government agents to open data files that had not been opened during a preceding private party search and still not be a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment based on the theory that the "context" in which the file was found negated any reasonable expectation of privacy. Underlying both of these points of view is the perspective that a computer is a container of containers of documents, that is, each individual file is a separate container - just like each manila file in a filing cabinet is a container - that requires a separate opening to determine what is inside. This is to say that the mere fact that an item to be searched or seized is electronic evidence does not fundamentally change the Fourth Amendment analytical structure that governs.
LIN Bus Security Analysis

Automotive data buses are increasingly important to modern vehicles. While the CAN bus has been the primary automotive bus since the 1980s, increasing connectivity and increasing reliance on electronics has created the demand for heterogeneous data buses. These systems provide lower cost, higher throughput, or better security than the CAN bus, but none of the buses include all of these characteristics. Due to the highly competitive nature of vehicle manufacturing, the vehicular data buses are being optimized to use each type of data bus where each of these characteristics are necessary. The LIN bus, which is the focus of this paper, is intended as a low cost data bus for connecting the increasing number of sensors and auxiliary systems that are not safety critical. Due to the desire to increase the safety of vehicles, the sensors are likely to impact the decisions of the vehicle about whether to employ automatic safety corrections (e.g., applying the brakes). As expected from the cost efficient design goals of the LIN bus, it is shown in this paper to be less expensive and less secure than other vehicular data buses. A description of the LIN bus, the security considerations, and future work to further inform LIN bus security are included.
Bayesian Persuasion and Information Design

A school may improve its students’ job outcomes if it issues only coarse grades. Google can reduce congestion on roads by giving drivers noisy information about the state of traffic. A social plann...
A web application for cotton irrigation management on the U.S. Southern High Plains. Part I: Crop yield modeling and profit analysis

Irrigated cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum L.) production is a central part of west Texas agriculture that depends on the essentially non-renewable water resource of the Ogallala aquifer. Web-based decision support tools that estimate the profit effects of irrigation for cotton under varying lint price, production cost, and well capacity conditions could help to optimize the agricultural value of the Ogallala's water. The crop modeling and profit analysis component of such a support tool is demonstrated here. This web application is based on a database of modeled yields generated from the meteorological records of four weather stations under un-irrigated (dryland) conditions and under center pivot irrigation with 12 total irrigation (TI) levels spanning deficit to full irrigation conditions. The application converts the database's dryland and irrigated yield outcomes into corresponding values of profit per hectare based on user-defined yield values and production costs. Given the resulting values of dryland and irrigated profit per unit area and the additional constraints of a user's well capacity and center pivot area, the application also calculates the profit effects of dividing center pivot area into dryland and irrigated production under the 12 irrigation levels.
Flapping at Resonance: Measuring the Frequency Response of the Hymenoptera Thorax

Insects with asynchronous flight muscles are believed to flap at the fundamental frequency of their thorax or thorax-wing system. Flapping in this manner leverages the natural elasticity of the thorax to reduce the energetic requirements of flight. However, to the best of our knowledge, the fundamental frequency of the insect thorax has not been measured via vibration testing. Here, we measure the linear frequency response function (FRF) of several Hymenoptera (Apis mellifera, Polistes dominula, Bombus huntii ) thoraxes about their equilibrium states in order to determine their fundamental frequencies. FRFs relate the input force to output acceleration at the insect tergum and are acquired via a mechanical vibration shaker assembly. When compressed 50 μm, thorax fundamental frequencies in all specimens approximately 50-150% higher than reported wingbeat frequencies. We suspect that the measured fundamental frequencies are higher in the experiment than during flight due to experimental boundary conditions that stiffen the thorax. Thus, our results corroborate the idea that some insects flap at the fundamental frequency of their thorax. Next, we compress the thorax between 100 - 300 μm in 50 μm intervals to assess the sensitivity of the fundamental frequency to geometric modifications. For all insects considered, the thorax fundamental frequency increased nearly monotonically with respect to level of compression. This implies that the thorax behaves a nonlinear hardening spring, which we confirmed via static force-displacement testing. Hardening behavior may provide a simple mechanism for the insect to adjust wingbeat frequency, and implies the thorax may behave as a nonlinear Duffing oscillator excited at large amplitude. The Duffing oscillator exhibits amplitude-dependent resonance and may serve as a useful model to increase the flapping frequency bandwidth of small resonant-type flapping wing micro air vehicles.
Obesity Treatment in African American Churches: Current Treatment Targets and Preferences among Parishioners:

Obesity is prevalent among African Americans, and church-based weight management programs may help address this public health issue. To develop more effective interventions, a survey was administer...
Gender and Alcoholic Subtypes.

Although women generally have been subjects of alcohol research less often than men, gender can be used as a defining characteristic in subtyping schemes. Whether the sexes actually differ in aspects of their alcoholism, such as in etiology and degree of severity, however, is not known. Analyzing a sample of male and female alcoholics using several different statistical methods, the researchers found that men and women with either a severe or mild form of alcoholism differed little in their character profiles and etiologies. Women and men with moderately severe alcoholism, however, tended to differ with respect to co-occurring psychopathologies (e.g., depression or antisocial personality) and the degree to which they drank to relieve other conditions (e.g., boredom). These findings suggest that different forms of alcoholism treatment may be most effective for men and women with moderately severe alcoholism. However, as is the case with any subtyping scheme, this conclusion cannot be applied to the general population without further research.
Joint Precoding and Scheduling Optimization in Downlink Multicell Satellite Communications

Mobile satellite communications are expected to play an increasing role in future wireless communications. In this paper, we consider the joint optimization of multibeam precoding and scheduling in a downlink multicell satellite communication system where the users in each cell share the link in a time-division multiple access fashion. Multicell satellite precoding is considered in conjunction with user time resource allocation to minimize the overall satellite transmit power while satisfying the communication capacity requirement for all users. We also derive an alternative optimization problem using the signal-to-leakage ratio to facilitate parallel optimization with reduced computational complexity.
Inebriation and the early state: Beer and the politics of affect in Mesopotamia

Abstract Many early states were deeply invested in alcoholic beverages. In focusing on the political instrumentality of these beverages, however, archaeologists have often lost sight of what makes them such an effective tool of statecraft. People seek out alcoholic beverages because of their inebriating potential, their ability to transform people, places, atmospheres, and events. In this article, I consider the politics of affect and the enduring connection between alcohol and the state-making project. I argue that alcohol has long served as an affective technology, a means of intervening in the affective domain. As a case study, I explore the evidence for beer in early Mesopotamia. A fundamental element in the state-making arsenal, beer was recognized to produce distinctive effects on imbibers, but this affective dimension has often been sidestepped in the archaeological literature. I approach the topic from two angles: (1) Mesopotamian perspectives on the effects of beer consumption and (2) key parameters that need to be clarified if we are to assess the role of beer as affective technology. I hope that the roadmap laid out here will help to spark deeper archaeological engagement with the affective dimensions of alcohol consumption and the politics of affect in Mesopotamia and beyond.
Numerical and Experimental Vibration Analysis of an Additive Manufactured Sensor Mounting Unit for a Wireless Valve Position Indication Sensor System

Nuclear power plants have a very large catalog of regularly manipulated manual valves. To achieve the desired performance and operating margins, skilled technical staff use these valves to control,...