cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Snakes allocate amino acids acquired during vitellogenesis to offspring: are capital and income breeding consequences of variable foraging success?

Reproductive allocation strategies have been historically described as lying on a continuum between capital and income breeding. Capital breeders have been defined as species that allocate stored reserves to reproduction, whereas income breeders have been defined as species that allocate relatively recently-ingested food resources to reproduction. Snakes are considered capital breeders because they efficiently store large amounts of nutrients and energy, potentially enough to support an entire reproductive bout without feeding. We examined the abilities of five viviparous snake species to allocate income to follicles during vitellogenesis. We fed 15N-labelled L-leucine to experimental females of each species during vitellogenesis, whereas control females were fed unlabelled meals. After ovulation, we measured yolk 15N p.p.m. using mass spectrometry. Maternal scale samples taken before labelling were used to estimate endogenous 15N concentrations, which should represent ‘capital’. Scale samples taken at ovulation were used to determine whether snakes assimilated 15N-labelled-leucine from labelled diets. Yolks and post-ovulatory scales of labelled females were significantly more enriched in 15N than those of unlabelled females in all species, indicating significant assimilation and allocation of income-derived amino acids to the yolk during vitellogenesis. The lack of among-species differences suggests that all species allocated income amino acids to vitellogenesis. The results obtained in the present study suggest that proportional utilization of income or capital depends on the frequency and timing of foraging success during reproductive events. Therefore, capital and income breeding may be consequences of both life-history and environmental constraints on foraging success, rather than strategies of reproductive allocation. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 106, 390–404.
A scalable parallel framework for analyzing terascale molecular dynamics simulation trajectories

As parallel algorithms and architectures drive the longest molecular dynamics (MD) simulations towards the millisecond scale, traditional sequential post-simulation data analysis methods are becoming increasingly untenable. Inspired by the programming interface of Google's MapReduce, we have built a new parallel analysis framework called HiMach, which allows users to write trajectory analysis programs sequentially, and carries out the parallel execution of the programs automatically. We introduce (1) a new MD trajectory data analysis model that is amenable to parallel processing, (2) a new interface for defining trajectories to be analyzed, (3) a novel method to make use of an existing sequential analysis tool called VMD, and (4) an extension to the original MapReduce model to support multiple rounds of analysis. Performance evaluations on up to 512 cores demonstrate the efficiency and scalability of the HiMach framework on a Linux cluster.
Object Properties and Knowledge in Early Lexical Learning.

The ease with which young children learn object nouns suggests that they possess strategies to identify properties critical to lexical category membership. In previous work, young children used a same-shape criterion to extend new count nouns. The present research tested the generality of this shape bias. 2- and 3-year-olds were asked either to extend a novel count noun to new instances, or to choose unnamed objects to go together. The objects varied in shape, size, and texture. For half of the subjects, the objects had eyes--a property strongly associated with certain material kinds. If young children know this association, they should attend to texture as well as shape in classifying objects with eyes. With named objects only, both 2- and 3-year-old children classified eyeless objects by shape and objects with eyes by both shape and texture. The results suggest that very young children possess considerable knowledge about conditional relations between kinds of perceptual properties. Knowledge of such conditional relations may aid children in forming new categories and thus in discovering new word meanings.
Characterization of a West Nile Virus Isolate from a Human on the Gulf Coast of Texas

Genetic characterization of a human cerebrospinal fluid West Nile virus isolate from Beaumont, Texas, revealed several nucleotide changes and amino acid substitutions that differentiated it from all other North American strains isolated to date, suggesting that isolates from the Texas Gulf Coast may form a unique genetic group among North American strains.
ABILITY OF THYMIC LYMPHOCYTES TO ALTER CFU KINETICS IN RADIATION CHIMERAS

It is known that the poor colony-forming ability of B6 bone marrow transplanted into B6D2F1 hybrids can be improved if B6 lymphocytes are given in addition. It was recently reported that the augmenting lymphocytes decrease the doubling time of differentiating hemopoietic cells. To determine whether thymus cells alter the self-renewal of CFUs in this parent leads to F1 combination, retransplantation and 3H-thymidine 'suicide' were employed as methods to determine the cell-division rate. We have observed that in the presence of thymocytes, parental bone marrow cells are seeded more efficiently in the spleen, and the lag phase of the CFUs growth curve is shortened. However, thymic lymphocytes do not increase the slope of the exponential growth phase of CFUs.
Effects of resistance training and dietary protein intake on protein metabolism in older adults.

Nitrogen (N) balance, fed-state leucine kinetics, and urinary 3-methylhistidine (3-MeH) excretion were examined in 12 men and women, aged 56–80 yr, before and during 12 wk of resistance training (R...
Characterization of Polynucleotide Phosphorylase Mutants of Escherichia coli

Three polynucleotide phosphorylase mutations, isolated in heavily mutagenized Escherichia coli strains Q7, Q13, and Q27, were characterized after their transfer by P1 transduction to nearly isogenic strains which lack ribonuclease I. Each strain has a different altered form of polynucleotide phosphorylase. One enzyme exhibited sharply reduced activity under all conditions tested. A second had reduced activity which was stimulated by Mn++. The third enzyme was thermolabile and could be >95% inactivated in vivo at 44 C and pH 6 if the cells were prevented from growing; during growth under these and other conditions, the full enzyme level was maintained. The strains showed no differences from the wild type in their growth rates, their adjustments to changes in media and temperature, or their recoveries from starvation.
Seasonal Variation in Composition of Key Largo Woodrat (Neotoma floridana smalli) Diets

Abstract Neotoma floridana smalli (Key Largo Woodrat) is currently at high risk of extinction from anthropogenic disturbances, including loss and degradation of habitat and non-native predators. Habitat degradation may affect food-resource availability, yet food habits are poorly understood. Therefore, we examined seasonal diets of Key Largo Woodrats using microhistological analysis of fecal samples. We collected fecal material from captured individuals between January 2005 and February 2006 and identified food items to the lowest possible taxon. We classified food items as leaves, fruit, and insects to examine differences in diets between seasons (wet versus dry) and sexes. Fruit and leaves made up a greater percentage of Key Largo Woodrat diets during the wet and dry seasons, respectively, likely reflecting higher fruit availability during the wet season. Across seasons, diets of males had a higher percentage of fruit and insects, but a lower percentage of leaves than females. Greater fruit consumption ...
Longitudinal Multilevel Modeling of Facial Pain, Muscle Tension, and Stress

The role of masticatory muscle activation on pain in temporomandibular muscle and joint disorders (TMJD) is controversial. This single-group, prospective panel study examined the relationships among masticatory muscle tension, emotional distress, and TMJD pain in a sample of 7,023 observations obtained from 171 individuals using longitudinal multilevel modeling. Three main hypotheses were tested. The first posited that emotional distress and muscle tension directly influenced pain (hypothesis 1a: Distress → TMJD Pain; hypothesis 1b: Muscle Tension → TMJD Pain). The second posited that emotional distress directly influenced muscle tension (Distress → Muscle Tension), and the third posited that the effect of emotional distress on pain was mediated by muscle tension (Distress → Muscle Tension → TMJD pain). We also examined the fit of the data to possible alternative models. All the data used in this study were collected via an experience sampling methodology. The fit of the preferred models was better than that of the alternative models, with the preferred models explaining large proportions of the data, especially for level 2 variance (hypothesis 1a = 41% variance; hypothesis 1b = 69% variance; hypothesis 2 = 48% variance). In the mediation model, the addition of muscle tension to the model reduced the impact of emotional distress. The findings support a causal role for masticatory muscle tension in TMJD pain. Clinically, the results suggest that addressing tension and other oral parafunctions in those diagnosed with TMJDs should be an important part of the conservative, noninvasive care of individuals diagnosed with the myofascial pain or arthralgia of TMJD.
Passing the Buck: Race and the Role of State Lotteries in America’s Changing Tax Composition

Taxation represents a contested terrain for racial antagonism. During the 1970s and 1980s, white backlash against racially stigmatized government initiatives served as a mobilizing force that inspired taxpayer revolts throughout the country. These revolts culminated into numerous legal reforms that fundamentally altered America’s tax composition. Inevitably, these changes resulted in massive budgetary shortfalls and created optimal conditions for alternative ways to generate state income. Lotteries emerged as a politically feasible option for many state governments. Though politicians frequently based lottery adoption on the premise of providing additional funds to some designated public service, in reality, lotteries have displaced other sources of revenue like corporate, property, and income taxes. The sequence of this infrastructural redesign raises questions that remain largely unanswered. Namely, how do lotteries help redistribute tax liability?
Understanding the origin of photoelectrode performance enhancement by probing surface kinetics

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting holds the potential to meet the challenges associated with the intermittent nature of sunlight. Catalysts have often been shown to improve the performance of PEC water splitting, but their working mechanisms are not well understood. Using intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS), we determined the rate constants of water oxidation and recombination at the surface of three different hematite-based photoanodes. It was found that the best performing electrodes, in terms of photocurrent onset potential, exhibited the slowest water oxidation rate constants, which was a surprise. The performance of these photoelectrodes was enabled by the slow surface recombination. When amorphous NiFeOx, a water oxidation catalyst, was present, the rate of surface hole transfer actually slowed down; what was slowed more was the recombination rate at the hematite surface, resulting in better water oxidation performance. As such, NiFeOx primarily serves as a passivation layer rather than a catalytic layer. Together a better understanding of the role of catalytic overlayers for water oxidation has been achieved.
On Convergence Properties of Sequences of Analytic Functions

(1967). On Convergence Properties of Sequences of Analytic Functions. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 74, No. 10, pp. 1208-1211.
‘And You Need Me to Be the Token Mexican?’: Examining Racial Hierarchies and the Complexities of Racial Identities for Middle Class Mexican Americans:

This article examines the racial identities of middle class Mexican Americans, and provides a focus on how racial oppression plays a significant role in the formation, negotiation, and organization...
Good Work If You Can Get It...Again: Non-Compete Agreements, Occupational Detours, and Attainment

In this multi-method study, I explore how the institutional sanction of employment contracts shapes the process of individual attainment. In particular, I examine the implications of employee non-compete agreements, which are ostensibly used to protect trade secrets. Field data from interviews and a survey reveal that individuals respond to such post-employment restraints by taking “occupational detours” in order to avoid violating the non-compete, or by “seeking shelter” with large firms who can reliably indemnify those at risk of legal action. These constructs are subsequently verified using large-sample analysis that exploits an inadvertent reversal of non-compete enforcement policy in Michigan. The results advance our understanding of how individual attainment is shaped by institutional factors, fill a gap in the intellectual property literature regarding trade secrecy, and identify mechanisms by which the state may (unwittingly) deter entrepreneurial activity.
Spectrum of biliary complications following live donor liver transplantation

Liver transplantation is the optimal treatment for many patients with advanced liver disease, including decompensated cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and acute liver failure. Organ shortage is the main determinant of death on the waiting list and hence living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) assumes importance. Biliary complications are the most common post operative morbidity after LDLT and occur due to anatomical and technical reasons. They include biliary leaks, strictures and cast formation and occur in the recipient as well as the donor. The types of biliary complications after LDLT along with their etiology, presenting features, diagnosis and endoscopic and surgical management are discussed.
Abstract P3-07-24: The role of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression in predicting pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)

Background Up to 40% of breast cancers have moderate to strong expression of GR, and activation of GR is associated with poor prognosis in ER-negative breast cancer. GR activation in breast cancer cells initiates anti-apoptotic signaling, contributing to chemotherapy resistance. We hypothesize that GR highly expressing TNBCs will have a suboptimal response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods We identified patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy at the University of Chicago between 2002 and 2014 under IRB approved protocols. Those patients for whom pre-treatment and post-treatment tissue was available were included in this study. Unstained sections of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary tumor were obtained. Percentage tumor cell GR expression was determined via immunohistochemical (IHC) examination using two different antibodies: the anti-GR rabbit monoclonal XP antibody (Cell Signaling, D8H2, 1:500 dilution) and the polyclonal rabbit anti-GR antibody (1:80). Staining was performed according to methods previously published by Belova et al. TNBCs were considered GR positive if greater than 10% of cancer cells stained moderately to strongly positive for GR. Results Fifty paired tissue samples were identified and pre- and post-treatment tissue was stained for GR using two anti-GR antibodies as above. Of these 50 cases, 80% had moderate to strong expression of GR using the XP antibody; results with the polyclonal ab will be compared. Percentage GR expression did not change in the setting of treatment. Work to correlate GR expression using the monoclonal versus the polyclonal antibody and clinicopathological features is ongoing. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study attempting to evaluate percentage GR expression as a biomarker of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in TNBC. If higher GR expression correlates with a lower pCR rate in TNBC as hypothesized, then GR blockade in conjunction with chemotherapy may overcome chemotherapy resistance and lead to improved response to treatment in patients with GR expressing TNBCs. Citation Format: Saha P, Turk A, Lurain K, Baker G, Conzen S, Nanda R. The role of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression in predicting pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-07-24.
A capacitative Ca2+ influx is required for sustained fluid secretion in sublingual mucous acini.

The Ca2+ dependence of muscarinic-induced fluid and electrolyte secretion was studied using rat sublingual mucous gland preparations. During stimulation, secretions from vascularly perfused glands ...
The Evolution of Knowledge about the Arctic and Its Climate

Overview The land of the midnight sun has enchanted humankind for centuries. Rarely does a visitor to this unique and storied region leave without impressions that last a lifetime. Whether it is images of immense glaciers, the shifting pack ice under steel grey skies, or bountiful wildlife grazing treeless, windswept tundra, the Arctic, even today, evokes images of a largely wild and untamed place. For many, the Arctic is as much a feeling as it is a region. Those with even a passing knowledge of the Arctic are familiar with the spirit of adventure – humans against nature – that drove some of the early exploration of the region. But the history of Arctic exploration and discovery is much more than Peary's glorified, albeit doubtful conquest of the pole. The expeditions of Bering, Franklin, Frobisher, Hudson, Nansen, Nares, Sverdrup, Wegener and others variously reflected nationalism, the shifting economic significance of the region, and scientific inquiry. Many of the geographic place names in the Arctic honor these explorers (Figure 1.1). To appreciate our present understanding of the Arctic, we need to step back and review some of this rich history over the past four or five centuries, recognizing, of course, that there have been indigenous populations in the Arctic for many thousands of years. Historical exploration In the sixteenth century, the Arctic came to be seen by the nations of northern Europe as a potential route to China.
Peritoneal Dialysis vs Furosemide for Prevention of Fluid Overload in Infants After Cardiac Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance Fluid overload after congenital heart surgery is frequent and a major cause of morbidity and mortality among infants. Many programs have adopted the use of peritoneal dialysis (PD) for fluid management; however, its benefits compared with those of traditional diuretic administration are unknown. Objective To determine whether infants randomized to PD vs furosemide for the treatment of oliguria have a higher incidence of negative fluid balance on postoperative day 1, as well as avoidance of 10% fluid overload; shorter duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit stay, and inotrope use; and fewer electrolyte abnormalities. Design, Setting, and Participants This single-center, unblinded, randomized clinical trial compared methods of fluid removal after cardiac surgery from October 1, 2011, through March 13, 2015, in a large tertiary pediatric hospital in Ohio. The parents or guardians of all eligible infants (aged Interventions Infants received intravenous furosemide (1 mg/kg every 6 hours) or a standardized PD regimen. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary end point was incidence of negative fluid balance on postoperative day 1. Secondary end points included incidence of fluid overload, duration of mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit stay, electrolyte abnormalities and repletion doses, duration of inotropic administration, and mortality. Results Seventy-three patients (47 boys [64%] and 26 girls [35%]; median age, 8 [interquartile range (IQR), 6-14] days) received treatment and completed the trial. No difference was found between the PD and furosemide groups in the incidence of negative fluid balance on the first postoperative day. The furosemide group was 3 times more likely to have 10% fluid overload (odds ratio [OR], 3.0; 95% CI, 1.3-6.9), was more likely to have prolonged ventilator use (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.2-8.2), and had a longer duration of inotrope use (median, 5.5 [IQR, 4-8] vs 4.0 [IQR, 3-6] days) and higher electrolyte abnormality scores (median, 6 [IQR, 4-7] vs 3 [IQR, 2-5]) compared with the PD group. No statistically significant differences in mortality (3 patients [9.4%] in the furosemide group vs 1 patient [3.1%] in the PD group) or length of cardiac intensive care unit (median, 7 [IQR, 6-12] vs 9 [IQR, 5-15] days) or hospital (15 [IQR, 10-28] vs 14 [IQR, 9-22] days) stay were observed. No serious complications were observed. Dialysis was discontinued early in 9 of 41 patients in the PD group for pleural-peritoneal communication. Conclusions and Relevance Use of PD is safe and allows for superior fluid management with improved clinical outcomes compared with diuretic administration. Use of PD should be strongly considered among infants at high risk for postoperative acute kidney injury and fluid overload. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifer:NCT01709227
Managing Uncertainty - Harnessing the Power of Scenario Planning.

Scenario planning permits physicians to say, “If all goes well, this is what is likely to follow, and if things go poorly, this is what we can expect.” It helps patients appreciate causal relationships and imagine a range of outcomes more realistically.
P6.11 Stemming the tide of rising syphilis in the united states (U.S.)

Introduction In the U.S., rates of primary and secondary (P and S) syphilis increased by 19% from 2014–2015. While rates have increased among both men and women, men account for more than 90% of all P and S cases; the majority (83%) among men who have sex with men (MSM). Likewise, increases in congenital syphilis (CS) have paralleled the national increase in P and S syphilis among women. Methods On January 23–26, 2016, CDC held a consultation with 140 experts in the field of syphilis to discuss current issues, trends, and priority actions in response to increasing syphilis rates. Consultants included experts from academia, local and state health departments, and other federal agencies. The summit included five focus areas; 2 sessions concentrated on congenital and MSM syphilis. Strategies for a syphilis action plan were discussed. Meeting notes were taken during the summit, then independently reviewed, reconciled, and summarised. Results Several cross-cutting themes emerged: clearer recommendations for better clinical management of syphilis; better diagnostics for detection of active Treponema pallidum infection with need for new testing technologies and strain surveillance; and the need to address CS and MSM (and transgender) data gaps through better coordination between epidemiology, surveillance, lab, and program. Specific to CS, strategies need to address penicillin G manufacturing and supply line shortages; healthcare providers need to test all pregnant women for syphilis at the prenatal visit, the beginning of the third trimester and at delivery, promptly treat and quickly report cases to health departments where all CS cases should be reviewed for missed opportunities in the CS prevention cascade to inform interventions. Strategies relevant to MSM include addressing payment and access barriers, developing a sexual healthcare model for men which could include standing orders for frequent syphilis screening for MSM seeking STD or HIV services along with other recommended STD screening, vaccinations and prevention interventions, monitoring adverse outcomes of syphilis in MSM such as neurosyphilis and ocular syphilis, and aligning HIV and syphilis surveillance systems and prevention messages. Conclusion The prevention of CS and MSM syphilis depend on a successful call to action defining ways that healthcare providers, health departments, communities and policymakers can contribute to syphilis prevention and control.
Effects of two different domestic boiling practices on the allergenicity of cow's milk proteins.

The sale of raw drinking milk through automatic dispensers is permitted in some EU member states, but consumers are usually advised to boil the milk before consumption. The present study has been conducted to evaluate the effects of two common domestic boiling techniques on the proteins of raw milk and, in particular, on their potential allergenicity.; Results: Native one-dimensional electrophoresis, N-terminal amino acid sequencing and immunoblotting have been used to characterize the protein pattern and to evaluate the possible changes in the allergenic properties of the processed milk. The main result of this investigation is that heating induces the aggregation of β-lactoglobulin in higher-molecular-weight products, while caseins seem to be more resistant to the treatments. β-Lactoglobulin aggregates have been found to be non-immunoreactive with the sera of subjects suffering from cow's milk protein allergy.; Conclusion: Domestic boiling modifies the milk protein profile, causing a minor reduction in milk allergenicity. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
Auris: creating affective virtual spaces from music

Affective virtual spaces are of interest in many virtual reality applications such as education, wellbeing, rehabilitation, and entertainment. In this paper we present Auris, a system that attempts to generate affective virtual environments from music. We use music as input because it inherently encodes emotions that listeners readily recognize and respond to. Creating virtual environments is a time consuming and labor-intensive task involving various skills like design, 3D modeling, texturing, animation, and coding. Auris helps make this easier by automating the virtual world generation task using mood and content extracted from song audio and lyrics data respectively. Our user study results indicate virtual spaces created by Auris successfully convey the mood of the songs used to create them and achieve high presence scores with the potential to provide novel experiences of listening to music.
Racial and ethnic differences in perceived safety barriers to walking, United States National Health Interview Survey - 2015.

Abstract Barriers to safe walking may prevent people from being physically active, and previous reports have identified differences in barriers to safe walking across racial and ethnic groups. The purpose of this research was to determine the role demographic characteristics play on racial/ethnic differences in perceived barriers to safe walking and determine if racial/ethnic differences vary by urban/rural residence and Census region. Participants in the 2015 National Health Interview Survey Cancer Control Supplement (n = 31,433 adults ≥18 years) reported perceived barriers to safe walking (traffic, crime, and animals) and demographic characteristics. Urban/rural residence and Census region were based on home addresses. We calculated adjusted prevalence of barriers by race/ethnicity using logistic regression; geographic differences in barriers across racial/ethnic groups were examined via interaction terms. After adjustment for demographic characteristics, non-Hispanic blacks (blacks) and Hispanics reported crime and animals as barriers more frequently than non-Hispanic whites (whites) (crime: blacks, 22.2%; Hispanics, 16.7%; whites, 9.0%; animals: blacks, 18.0%; Hispanics, 12.4%; whites, 8.5%). Racial/ethnic differences in perceived crime as a barrier were more pronounced in the Northeast and Midwest than in the South and West. Urban-dwelling blacks (all regions) and Hispanics (Midwest and South) reported animals as barriers more frequently than whites. Racial/ethnic differences in perceived barriers to safe walking remained after adjusting for demographic characteristics and varied by geographic location. Addressing perceived crime and animals as barriers to walking could help reduce racial/ethnic differences in physical activity, and several barriers may need to be assessed to account for geographic variation.
Aural Fullness, Hearing Loss, and Tinnitus

A 5-year-old boy is brought to the doctor by his mother because she is concerned that he may be experiencing hearing loss. Over the past several weeks, he has been turning the volume of his favorite television program louder and has been sitting closer to the television. He has reached all his developmental milestones and is up to date with his immunizations. When asked, the child states that he feels that his ears are always “plugged up.” His medical history includes recurrent episodes of acute otitis media. On exam, he is afebrile. His nasopharynx is clear and he has no cervical lymphadenopathy. On otoscopic examination, his left tympanic membrane is immobile with an air-fluid level behind it and partial opacification dependently. It does not appear to be erythematous. A vibrating tuning fork placed on the middle of his forehead is appreciated as louder on the left side when compared to the right. The same tuning fork, when placed on the left mastoid bone, is appreciated as louder on the left, while softer when it is placed near the left external auditory meatus.
Breast and Prostate Cancer Healthcare Disparities

For most cancers, African Americans have the highest incidence and ­mortality rates of all racial or ethnic group in the USA. In 2005, the death rate for all cancers combined was 33% higher for African American men and 16% higher in African American women than for white men and women, respectively, excluding basal and squamous cell skin cancers and carcinomas in situ (American Cancer Society, Cancer facts & figures for African Americans 2009–2010. Atlanta: American Cancer Society, 2009). The higher cancer incidence in blacks is driven specifically by the higher rate in black men. Cancer incidence is slightly lower in black women than white women. Just over 150,000 new cases of cancer were expected to be diagnosed among African Americans in 2009 (American Cancer Society, Cancer facts & figures for African Americans 2009–2010. Atlanta: American Cancer Society, 2009). The most commonly diagnosed cancers for men of this race are prostate (34%), lung (16%), and colon and rectum (10%). Among African American women, the most common cancers are breast (25%), lung (12%), and colon and rectum (11%). More than 63,000 African Americans were expected to die from cancer in 2009 (American Cancer Society, Cancer facts & figures for African Americans 2009–2010. Atlanta: American Cancer Society, 2009). The second most common cancer, lung cancer, accounts for the largest number of cancer deaths among both men (31%) and women (23%). Prostate cancer in men (12%) and breast cancer in women (19%) cause the second largest number of cancer deaths (American Cancer Society, Cancer facts & figures for African Americans 2009–2010. Atlanta: American Cancer Society, 2009).
The Global Financial Crisis in Transition Economies: The Role of Initial Conditions

This paper adds to the existing body of literature that explores the effect of the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2009 on the countries of the former Soviet bloc. It traces differences in the impact of the crisis, as measured by the Country Risk and a newly constructed Cumulative Crisis Index, to the initial conditions. The regression analysis suggests that building a market-based system and opening the economies to the world’s financial system made some transition economies particularly vulnerable to the crisis. The empirical results also indicate that countries with more favorable initial conditions prior to the crisis (greater ethnic homogeneity, lower Country Risk and lower real gross domestic product) and a shorter duration of the socialist regime prior to the transition were more likely to exhibit resiliency during the global downturn.
Shakespeare in the Movies: Meaning-Making in the Non-Adaptation

In this chapter, I consider the interpretive pitfalls and profits of reading Shakespeare through contemporary American movies that do not refer directly or even indirectly to Shakespeare. I call such films “non-adaptations,” and the most celebrated film that belongs in this category is Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972), a modern vision of Hamlet. With its terrifying ghostly father, monstrous son, and tragic self-damnation through criminality, the movie perfectly embodies Shakespearean plot arc and subtexts. I conclude the introduction with a brief meditation on the film work of Stanley Cavell, who first wrote about the Shakespearean non-adaptation. Cavell’s readings are powerful and problematic, and I address some of the complications of attempting this kind of interpretation.
The Perceived Availability of Online Social Support: Exploring the Contributions of Illness and Rural Identities in Adults with Chronic Respiratory Illness.

Joining an online social support group may increase perceived membership to a community, but it does not guarantee that the community will be available when it is needed. This is especially relevant for adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), many of whom reside in rural regions and continually negotiate their illness identity. Drawing from social support literature and communication theory of identity, this cross-sectional study explored how COPD illness and geographic identities interact to influence patients’ perceived availability of online social support. In April 2018, 575 adults with a history of respiratory symptoms completed an online survey. Patients with a COPD diagnosis reported greater availability of online support. This was partially mediated by a positive degree of COPD illness identity (i.e., being diagnosed with COPD, a history of tobacco use, severe respiratory symptoms, high disease knowledge, and low income but high education). The relationship between COPD illness identity and the availability of online support was strongest among those with low rural identity; however, at lower levels of COPD illness identity, participants with high rural identity reported the greatest degree of available online support. Results have important implications for tailored education approaches across the COPD care continuum by illness and geographic identities.
The relationship among home language use, parental beliefs, and Spanish-speaking children's vocabulary

This study investigated the relationship among home language use, parents’ beliefs about dual language development, and Spanish-speaking children's vocabulary knowledge. Parents (n = 162) completed...
Expanding the Catatonia Tent: Recognizing Electroconvulsive Therapy Responsive Syndromes.

ABSTRACT Catatonia is a motor and mood disorder of behavior increasingly recognized in systemic medically ill. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome, delirious mania, self injurious behaviors in autism, and limbic encephalitis are conditions in which ECT-responsive catatonia is increasingly recognized and effectively treated.
The Pushed-Out Principal:

Kathleen Pitts was hired as an elementary principal with the intent of diversifying the educator ranks in a town with growing racial, economic, and cultural diversity. Upon starting her new positio...
The Cumberland River Archaic of Middle Tennessee

The Cumberland River Archaic of Middle Tennessee is a well-formed and illuminating body of work that breathes life into Middle-to-Late Archaic research of the American Southeast and provides a preh...
A Hybrid Microstructural-Continuum Multiscale Approach for Modeling Hyperelastic Fibrous Soft Tissue

The heterogeneous, nonlinear, anisotropic material behavior of biological tissues makes precise definition of an accurate constitutive model difficult. One possible solution to this issue would be to define microstructural elements and perform fully coupled multiscale simulation. However, for complex geometries and loading scenarios, the computational costs of such simulations can be prohibitive. Ideally then, we should seek a method that contains microstructural detail, but leverages the speed of classical continuum-based finite-element (FE) modeling. In this work, we demonstrate the use of the Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden (HGO) model (Holzapfel et al. in J. Elast. 61:1–48, 2000; Gasser et al. in J. R. Soc. Interface 3(6):15–35, 2006) to fit the behavior of microstructural network models. We show that Delaunay microstructural networks can be fit to the HGO strain energy function by calculating fiber network strain energy and average fiber stretch ratio. We then use the HGO constitutive model in a FE framework to improve the speed of our hybrid model, and demonstrate that this method, combined with a material property update scheme, can match a full multiscale simulation. This method gives us flexibility in defining complex FE simulations that would be impossible, or at least prohibitively time consuming, in multiscale simulation, while still accounting for microstructural heterogeneity.
Adolescent dopamine neurons represent reward differently during action and state guided learning

The neuronal underpinning of learning cause-and-effect associations in the adolescent brain remains poorly understood. Two fundamental forms of associative learning are Pavlovian (classical) conditioning, where a stimulus is followed by an outcome, and operant (instrumental) conditioning, where outcome is contingent on action execution. Both forms of learning, when associated with a rewarding outcome, rely on midbrain dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra (SN). We find that in adolescent male rats, reward-guided associative learning is encoded differently by midbrain dopamine neurons in each conditioning paradigm. Whereas simultaneously recorded VTA and SN adult neurons have a similar phasic response to reward delivery during both forms of conditioning, adolescent neurons display a muted reward response during operant but a profoundly larger reward response during Pavlovian conditioning suggesting that adolescent neurons assign a different value to reward when it is not gated by action. The learning rate of adolescents and adults during both forms of conditioning was similar further supporting the notion that differences in reward response in each paradigm are due to differences in motivation and independent of state versus action value learning. Static characteristics of dopamine neurons such as dopamine cell number and size were similar in the VTA and SN but there were age differences in baseline firing rate, stimulated release and correlated spike activity suggesting that differences in reward responsiveness by adolescent dopamine neurons are not due to differences in intrinsic properties of these neurons but engagement of different networks.
Scalable Plug-and-Play ADMM With Convergence Guarantees

Plug-and-play priors (PnP) is a broadly applicable methodology for solving inverse problems by exploiting statistical priors specified as denoisers. Recent work has reported the state-of-the-art performance of PnP algorithms using pre-trained deep neural nets as denoisers in a number of imaging applications. However, current PnP algorithms are impractical in large-scale settings due to their heavy computational and memory requirements. This work addresses this issue by proposing an incremental variant of the widely used PnP-ADMM algorithm, making it scalable to problems involving a large number measurements. We theoretically analyze the convergence of the algorithm under a set of explicit assumptions, extending recent theoretical results in the area. Additionally, we show the effectiveness of our algorithm with nonsmooth data-fidelity terms and deep neural net priors, its fast convergence compared to existing PnP algorithms, and its scalability in terms of speed and memory.
Trans-1,4-polybutadiene: Influences of Lewis bases on polymerization of butadiene with supported titanium catalyst systems

Three MgCl2 supported TiCl4 pro-catalysts; Cat-A, Cat-B and Cat-C were synthesized. Cat-A was synthesized without any internal Lewis base (ILB); while Cat-B and Cat-C were synthesized using diisobu...
Steel benchmark frames for structural analysis and validation studies: Finite element models and numerical simulation data

Abstract A sample of twenty-two steel benchmark frames was formed and used to investigate the accuracy of a single increment predictor-corrector (SIPC) solution scheme; an approximate method of second-order elastic analysis. Each of the frames is based on a structure from the literature and, as a collection, the set includes a diverse assortment of practical planar geometries and a wide range of sensitivities to second-order effects. This data article presents the details of these frames, including finite element models, relevant nodal coordinates and element connectivity, and detailed information regarding member sizes, support conditions, and applied loading. In addition, this article presents simulation data obtained from testing the SIPC method using the benchmark frames, and assessing its accuracy and precision. Error analysis results, based on comparisons of joint displacements and member design moments simulated using the SIPC method with those obtained using the more exact and computationally expensive work-control (WC) method, are summarized. The finite element modelling and subsequent structural analysis utilized the software package MASTAN2, which provides user-friendly features to execute both SIPC and WC methods. A detailed description of these analysis methods and the algorithms used to generate data is provided in “Efficient geometric nonlinear elastic analysis for design of steel structures: Benchmark studies” [1] . The benchmark frame models are more generally useful for any researcher interested in testing and validating structural analysis and design methods, and the simulation data allow for comparisons with the results of other proposed solution schemes.
End-to-End ‘data connectivity’ management for multimedia networking

The paper describes a management-oriented model for cost-effective ‘data connectivity’ provisioning between the end-point entities of networked multimedia applications. The ‘connectivity’ service provider (SP) may maintain multiple policy-based protocol mechanisms that differ in the bandwidth allocation strategies exercised on transport networks and the extent of QoS guarantees enforced for application-level data flows. The required QoS is prescribed through a service interface, with the SP instantiating one of the policy modules with appropriate parameters to meet the QoS requirements. The model allows dynamic switching from one policy module to another, based on a cost associated with bandwidth usage by the network infrastructure for a given QoS offering. The management functions of SP monitor the changes and/or outages in network bandwidth in a dynamic setting, and map them onto connectivity costs incurred by the selected policy mechanism. To accommodate this end-to-end connectivity management, the SP employs an extended form of ’diffserv’-style traffic classification for flow aggregation purposes and ’intserv’-style resource control for bandwidth allocation purposes.
Citric Acid Cycle

The citric acid cycle is a metabolic pathway common to aerobic cells by which carbohydrates, fats and amino acids are oxidized to carbon dioxide and water. Enzymes catalyse the condensation of two- and four-carbon compounds to citric acid, and then enzymatic oxidations and decarboxylations regenerate the four-carbon starting compound plus CO2 and H2O. The energy available from the downhill flow of electrons to oxygen is used indirectly for the synthesis of ATP, the energy currency of the cell. Keywords: respiration; adenosine triphosphate; aketoglutarate; citrate synthase
Homogenous and secure weighted clustering algorithm for mobile wireless sensor networks

The main concern of clustering approaches for mobile wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is to prolong the battery life of the individual sensors and the network lifetime. In this paper, we propose a homogeneous and secure weighted clustering algorithm which is an extended version of our previous algorithm (ES-WCA) for mobile WSNs using a combination of five metrics. Among these metrics lie the behavioral level metric which promotes a safe choice of a cluster head in the sense where this last one will never be a malicious node. The goals of the proposed algorithm are: offering better performance in terms of the number of re-affiliations which enables to generate a reduced number of balanced and homogeneous clusters. This algorithm, coupled with suitable routing protocols, aims to maintain stable clustering structure. We use simulation study to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Perceived Stress Scale-4 in a Community Sample

Although the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is among the most widely used measures of perceived stress, it has only recently begun to be tested in independent psychometric validation studies, and the four-item version of the PSS (PSS-4) (the briefest version of this measure) has never undergone testing to examine and confirm the originally proposed structure. To address this paucity of research, the present study (a) tested the structure of the PSS-4 in the first confirmatory factor analysis of the instrument and (b) tested for item-level gender differences in the PSS that have been demonstrated in other versions of this scale. Results indicated that the PSS four-item measure does not fit its proposed model. Additionally, score differences were observed for one item across genders. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Direct collapse black hole formation via high-velocity collisions of protogalaxies

We propose high-velocity collisions of protogalaxies as a new pathway to form supermassive stars (SMSs) with masses of ∼ 10 5 M⊙ at high redshift (z > 10). When protogalaxies hosted by dark matter halos with a virial temperature of ∼ 10 4 K collide with a relative velocity & 200 km s −1 , the gas is shock-heated to ∼ 10 6 K and subsequently cools isobarically via free-free emission and He + , He, and H line emission. Since the gas density (& 10 4 cm −3 ) is high enough to destroy H2 molecules by collisional dissociation, the shocked gas never cools below ∼ 10 4 K. Once a gas cloud of ∼ 10 5 M⊙ reaches this temperature, it becomes gravitationally unstable and forms a SMS which will rapidly collapse into a super massive black hole (SMBH) via general relativistic instability. We perform a simple analytic estimate of the number density of direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) formed through this scenario (calibrated with cosmological N-body simulations) and find nDCBH ∼ 10 −9 Mpc −3 (comoving) by z = 10. This could potentially explain the abundance of bright high-z quasars.
Turbulent bursts, inertial sets and symmetry-breaking homoclinic cycles in periodic Navier-Stokes flows

We investigate bursting regimes of two-dimensional Kolmogorov flows. We link these dynamics with symmetry-breaking heteroclinic connections which generate persistent homoclinic cycles. Small-scale turbulent dynamics prevail in a neighborhood of these heteroclinic connections, while large-scale dynamics are associated to hyperbolic tori. These intermittent turbulent regimes are a prime example of dynamics on an inertial set (or exponential attractor) of the Navier-Stokes equations.