cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A LinkedIn Analysis of IT Students and Alumni

This talk discusses a creative and effective way for collecting and analyzing student and alumni data by leveraging LinkedIn and provides evidence to address quality-related questions regarding the employment and career advancement of graduates from the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) program at an American university.
Bridging the Under-Five Mortality Gap for Africa in the Era of Sustainable Development Goals: An Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Analysis

Background: While Africa achieved significant progress in reducing under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in the MDGs era, it did not achieve the set target and still has the highest average of 81 deaths per 1000 live births compared to a global average of 43 deaths. The SDG number 3 has set a new target of reducing U5MR to 25 deaths per 1000 births in the world, which serves a huge challenge, especially for Africa. Socioeconomic inequities that remain unaddressed across countries account for Africa’s high U5MR. Unless there is adequate prioritization of important socioeconomic, healthcare, and environmental factors, the new SDGs target will be hindered. Objectives: In this study, our primary objective was to analyse and assess factors that account most for the U5MR inequities between Africa and the rest of the world. Methods: We conducted a series of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression-based prioritization analysis of socioeconomic, healthcare, and environmental variables from 43 African countries in a pool of 109 countries from around the world to understand the most important factors that account most for the high U5MR in Africa. Findings: The results suggest that the most critical category for bridging the U5MR gap with the rest of the world is improved healthcare access. However, with all categories examined together, the OLS regression showed that the most important factors that accounted for Africa’s high U5MR compared with the rest of the world were, in order: fertility rate, access to improved water, total health expenditure per capita, access to improved sanitation, and female employment rate. Conclusions: The findings reveal that Africa will significantly benefit from interventions geared towards both the treatment and prevention of acute infectious diseases in the form of providing affordable maternal healthcare services, as well as providing access to improved drinking water and sanitation.
Inspiratory Muscle Training in Patients with Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation: Narrative Review

Patients with impending respiratory failure often require mechanical ventilation to optimize gas exchange. Although this form of assisted ventilation is required for survival, its persistent use results in diaphragm weakness and muscle fiber atrophy. There is strong evidence that mechanical ventilation alters the structure and function of the diaphragm, resulting in prolonged dependence on assisted ventilation and long-term consequences such as a delayed functional recovery, reduced quality of life and increased risk of mortality. This review summarizes the mechanisms underlying diaphragm dysfunction due to prolonged mechanical ventilation, highlights the role of inspiratory muscle exercise as a strategy to counter diaphragm weakness, and identifies the parameters of an evidence-supported exercise prescription for difficult to wean patients.
A Relationship of Unbalanced Giants

This chapter sets the stage by comparing the histories and national psychologies of the two countries and emphasizing their interactions. They were intimately linked by the African slave trade. The United States rebuffed early Brazilian attempts to form an alliance, yet it intervened to defend the new republic. Comparing population distribution and transportation provides insight into control of territory. Brazil of Vargas was a dictatorship, while Roosevelt’s United States was an elected representative democracy. Although friendly there is a current of tension in their relations. During the war the American air and naval bases in the Northeast of Brazil played major roles in destroying Axis submarines in the South Atlantic and in the Allied victories in Egypt and North Africa. The Brazilian expeditionary force in the Italian campaign was a major feature of their joint war experience. Problems arose from the differing expectations of the two sides. The alliance was an important element in Brazil’s modernization and the development of its armed forces. The popular perception of World War II in Brazil has a curious poisonous undercurrent suggesting that the United States had somehow drawn Brazil into the conflict against the better judgment of Brazilian leaders. At its extreme this undercurrent alleges unbelievably that US Navy submarines sank Brazilian ships to provoke the country to enter the war.
Sex differences and mechanisms of muscle pain

Clinical conditions resulting in musculoskeletal pain show important sex differences in both prevalence and degree of functional disability. The underlying mechanisms for these distinctions in pain manifestation are not fully known. However, recent preclinical studies have shown at the primary afferent level that males and females present fundamental differences in their peripheral response properties and injury-related gene expression patterns that may underlie observed afferent sensitization. At the spinal cord level, studies in various models of pain suggest important roles for the immune system, glutamate signaling and hormones in modulating sex differences. While preclinical studies have been able to characterize some of the basic underlying molecular mechanisms of sex differences in muscle pain, human studies have relied mainly on functional brain imaging studies to explain differences. Further complicating our understanding of how sex influences muscle pain is the notion that the type of injury sustained, or clinical condition may differentially activate distinct mechanisms of muscle pain development in males versus females. More research is necessary to better understand how the sexes differ in their perception of muscle pain. This review highlights recent advances in both human and animal studies of sex differences in muscle pain.
OPTIMAL ELECTROLYTE MANAGEMENT AFTER CARDIAC SURGERY: A RETROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Introduction Electrolyte imbalance after cardiac surgery is an established finding which leads to higher incidence of ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias. Patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures under cardiopulmonary bypass is the most important cause of electrolyte depletion. Preventing electrolyte disorders is thus an important goal of therapy in such patients. Though the measurement of levels of potassium is done regularly, other electrolytes such as magnesium, and calcium are measured far less frequently. We therefore conducted the present study to assess electrolyte levels in such patients and the optimum level of these to avoid complications. Methods Levels of magnesium, potassium, calcium and sodium were measured in 160 consecutive patients undergoing various cardiac surgical procedures undergoing extracorporeal circulation were examined. The normal reference values for these electrolytes in our laboratory were as follows (all in mmol/l): magnesium 0.8–1.1, potassium 3.8–4.8, calcium 2.20–2.60 and sodium 135–145. The patients were divided in two groups keeping a cut of as follows (all in mmol/l): magnesium 1.0, potassium 4.0, calcium 2.5 and sodium 135 , Group 1 has lower than the cut of mark and group 2 had higher than the cut of mark. Intravenous potassium supplementation and magnesium supplementation was received at the time of surgery. Serum magnesium, potassium, calcium and sodium concentrations were determined on ICU admission and 6, 24 and 48 hrs later. Results There was signiﬁcant differences were found either in the primary end point (hours of intubation) or in the secondary end points (length of inotropic support, new atrial ﬁbrillation, ventricular tachycardia or ventricular ﬁbrillation, length of intensive care unit stay, ICU or hospital mortality). Conclusion Patients undergoing cardiac surgery with extracorporeal circulation are at high risk for electrolyte depletion, despite intraoperative supplementation. The probable mechanism is a combination of increased urinary excretion and intracellular shift induced by a combination of extracorporeal circulation and decreased body temperature during surgery (hypothermia induced diuresis). Our findings may partly explain the high risk of tachyarrhythmia in patients who have undergone cardiac surgery. Prophylactic supplementation of potassium, magnesium and calcium should be seriously considered in all patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures, should be kept at higher normal range.Levels of these electrolytes should be monitored frequently in such patients.
Understanding "Balance" Requirements for Standards-Development Organizations

Most technical standards-development organizations (SDOs) have adopted internal policies embodying “due process” criteria such openness, balance of interest, consensus decision making and appeals. Yet these criteria lack a generally-accepted definition and the manner in which they are implemented varies among SDOs. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in the principle that SDOs should ensure a balance of interests among their stakeholders. This article explores the origins and meaning of the balance requirement for SDOs. In doing so, it identifies four “tiers” of balance requirements, ranging from those required of all SDOs under applicable antitrust law, to those required of SDOs that wish to benefit from particular statutory and accreditation schemes, to those that are purely voluntary. Beyond first tier balance requirements, which prohibit anticompetitive attempts to skew decision making processes within an SDO, the imposition of greater degrees of balance among SDO stakeholders, whether through numerical quotas or affirmative participant recruitment efforts, are largely voluntary and dependent on an SDO’s policy preferences.
Comparison of Inflammatory Cell-Induced Corrosion and Electrocautery-Induced Damage of Total Knee Implants

Recently, inflammatory cell-induced corrosion (ICIC), a unique type of damage, has been reported in cobalt-chromium (CoCr) implants, but the mechanism remains poorly understood and controversial because electrocautery damage has also been shown to produce similar findings. This study aimed to distinguish between these two damage mechanisms. Forty-one CoCr primary total knee arthroplasty specimens were collected at time of necropsy. After removal and cleaning, light microscopy was used to identify areas of ICIC-like damage scars. A CoCr knee implant was intentionally damaged by electrocautery from both Bovie and Aquamantys sources using a 3-second hover method with 3 different energy settings for comparison to necropsy findings. Average roughness (Ra), max peak-to-valley height (Rmax), kurtosis (Rk), and skewness (Rsk) measurements were collected to represent the topography on the damaged areas for the CoCr implants. Necropsy implants showed signs of ICIC in 7 of 41 implants (17%) examined. Fe/C ratios of the Bovie electrocautery-damaged knee implant were shown to be statistically higher than those of necropsy-retrieved implants. Median Ra measurements were statistically less (P = 0.008) for Bovie-damaged areas compared to ICIC-dam-aged areas on CoCr. Median Rmax and Ra measurements were statistically less (P = 0.012, P < 0.001, respectively) for Aquamantys-damaged areas compared to ICIC-damaged areas on CoCr. While the visual patterns seen in necropsy-retrieved implants appeared similar to those with the intentionally damaged CoCrMo implant, the contents of the corroded regions are unique. The difference in roughness found on ICIC-damaged and electrocautery-damaged regions also indicates examination of surface topography as another distinguishing feature between the two mechanisms.
Nativity, ethnic enclave residence, and breast cancer survival among Latinas: Variations between California and Texas

Background Among Latinas with breast cancer, residence in an ethnic enclave may be associated with survival. However, findings from prior studies are inconsistent. Methods The authors conducted parallel analyses of California and Texas cancer registry data for adult (aged ≥18 years) Latinas who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from 1996 to 2005, with follow-up through 2014. Existing indices applied to tract-level 2000 US Census data were used to measure Latinx enclaves and neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES). Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were fit for all-cause and breast cancer-specific survival adjusted for year of diagnosis, patient age, nativity (with multiple imputation), tumor stage, histology, grade, size, and clustering by census tract. Results Among 38,858 Latinas, the majority (61.3% in California and 70.5% in Texas) lived in enclaves. In fully adjusted models for both states, foreign-born women were found to be more likely to die of breast cancer and all causes when compared with US-born women. Living in enclaves and in neighborhoods with higher SES were found to be independently associated with improved survival from both causes. When combined into a 4-level variable, those in low nSES nonenclaves had worse survival for both causes compared with those living in low nSES enclaves and, in the all-cause but not breast cancer-specific models, those in high nSES neighborhoods, regardless of enclave status, had improved survival from all causes. Conclusions Applying the same methods across 2 states eliminated previously published inconsistent associations between enclave residence and breast cancer survival. Future studies should identify specific protective effects of enclave residence to inform interventions.
Simulation of the diffusional impedance and application to the characterization of electrodes with complex microstructures

Abstract Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) has been widely employed to probe material properties in energy materials. One important aspect of EIS is the diffusional impedance. To date, the diffusional impedance behavior is understood based on the analytical solutions of the one-dimensional (1D) diffusion equation. However, transport in materials is strongly influenced by the materials’ three-dimensional (3D) microstructures that often possess complex geometries that are unlike the simplified 1D domains. In this work, we simulate the concentration response driven by oscillating loads by solving the diffusion equation in complex, experimentally determined 3D microstructures obtained from solid oxide fuel cell cathode and lithium-ion battery cathode. The simulation results demonstrate that the diffusional impedance can serve as a new technique for the evaluation of microstructural characteristics of porous media, including the tortuosity, the porosity, and the area of the loading boundary. Our findings open a new array of applications for diffusional impedance measurements.
Rumen-protected arginine in ewe lambs: effects on circulating serum amino acids and carotid artery hemodynamics

Sixty nonpregnant, nulliparous Rambouillet ewes (51 ± 1.4 kg initial body weight) were used in a completely randomized design to determine 1) if rumen-protected l-Arg (RP-ARG) supplementation would increase serum concentrations of amino acids resulting from Arg supplementation and metabolism, and decrease serum concentrations of amino acids that compete with Arg for transporters, 2) if RP-ARG supplementation would alter carotid artery hemodynamics, and 3) the most effective oral dose of RP-ARG to positively increase both circulating amino acids and improve peripheral tissue blood perfusion as measured by carotid hemodynamics. Ewes were penned individually in a temperature-controlled facility. Ewes were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: a control group that received no supplemental Arg (CON; 50 g of finely ground corn, only), or Arg-supplemented groups that received 90 (90), 180 (180), or 360 (360) mg RP-ARG·kg BW-1·d-1 mixed in 50 g of finely ground corn. Supplements were administered once daily for 14 d and fully consumed before the delivery of a total pelleted diet at 0630 and 1830 hours daily. Baseline and final blood samples were collected at days 0 (before treatment initiation) and 15, respectively. Doppler ultrasound was used to assess carotid arterial hemodynamics at 0600 hours on days 0 (before treatment initiation), 5, 8, 12, and 15. After 14 d of supplementation, ewes fed 180 had greater Arg (P = 0.05) and Orn (P = 0.05) and tended (P = 0.08) to have greater Asp in serum than ewes fed 90, and for these amino acids, ewes fed 180 were similar (P ≥ 0.16) compared with ewes fed 360. All supplemented ewes (90, 180, and 360) had a negative change (P = 0.02) from baseline when normalized to CON for the pulsatility and resistance indices, which indicate greater distal tissue blood perfusion and lower vascular resistance of blood flow, respectively. Additionally, there were quadratic responses for the pulsatility and resistance indices (P = 0.03 and 0.01, respectively) where ewes fed 180 had the greatest change from baseline when normalized to CON. Results indicate that Arg supplementation increased serum amino acid concentrations and improved peripheral tissue blood perfusion. The 180 mg·kg BW-1·d-1 RP-ARG dose was determined to be the optimal dose for nonpregnant, nulliparous Rambouillet ewes.
The new Bedlam: a legal and ethical analysis of commercial mug shot websites

Legal and ethical concerns have been raised since the inception of the commercial mug shot website industry in the United States. These issues include the violation of the presumption of innocence,...
Adaptive Management for Ecosystem Services Across the Wildland-Urban Interface

Managing the wildland-urban interface (WUI) is a widely-recognized land use problem plagued by a fractured geography of land parcels, management jurisdictions, and governance mandates and objectives. People who work in this field have suggested a variety of approaches to managing this interface, from informal governance to contracting to insurance. To date, however, none of these scholars has fully embraced the dynamism, uncertainty, and complexity of the WUI—that is, its status as a complex adaptive system. In focusing almost exclusively on the management of this interface to control wildfire, this scholarship largely ignores the fact that rampant wildfire is itself the product of incursions into important ecosystem services on both sides of the interface. In many cases, people tend to expand out towards the wildland not just for economics (cheaper housing) but also because of a suite of ecosystem services that are readily accessible at the interface, including aesthetics, a cleaner environment, and recreational opportunities. As the wildfire problem amply demonstrates, these settlers then become upset when other aspects of ecosystem function invade their lives, but those invasions include not just wildfire disasters but also more pernicious problems such as diseases, allergens, and wildlife. As such, development at the WUI can create a multifaceted desire to control several “undesirable” aspects of ecosystem function while simultaneously promoting the ecosystem services that residents desire, complicating land use management on both sides of a line that is itself often moving or transforming into a transition or buffer zone. To focus solely on wildfire, in other words, may oversimplify an increasingly complex management problem with significant policy implications. While we cannot and will not attempt to resolve all of these policy issues in this article, we do propose that adaptive management may provide a mechanism for dealing with the complexity of managing changing ecosystem functions and services at the WUI, even when—and perhaps especially because—the private lands and wildlands are usually subject to different land use regimes. We begin with an overview of adaptive management, then discuss the hard but common case of fractured landscape management. We then explore the potential for adaptive management to help negotiate this fractured landscape in a changing world, starting with the classic issue of wildfire management but also suggesting possible expansions.
Ultrathin epitaxial NbN superconducting films with high upper critical field grown at low temperature

Ultrathin (5–50 nm) epitaxial superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) films were grown on AlN-buffered c-plane Al2O3 by an industrial scale physical vapor deposition technique at 400°C. Both X-ray di...
Compact Array-Based Mesh Data Structures

In this paper, we present simple and efficient array-based mesh data structures, including a compact representation of the half-edge data structure for surface meshes, and its generalization—a half-face data structure—for volume meshes. These array-based structures provide comprehensive and efficient support for querying incidence, adjacency, and boundary classification, but require substantially less memory than pointer-based mesh representations. In addition, they are easy to implement in traditional programming languages (such as in C or Fortran 90) and convenient to exchange across different software packages or different storage media. In a parallel setting, they also support partitioned meshes and hence are particularly appealing for large-scale scientific and engineering applications. We demonstrate the construction and usage of these data structures for various operations, and compare their space and time complexities with alternative structures.
Storage and Retrieval

Information is represented in the brain as patterns of synaptic connections within and between arrays of linked neurons, and this determines how we interpret, remember, and respond to what we encounter. Memory and learning are indistinguishable at the neuronal level, since both involve similar changes in the synaptic connections that link nerve cells together as a result of experience. Recognition is the sense of familiarity elicited when a current experience activates the memory of a previous one; recall is the re-experiencing of previously perceived objects or events. Recalled memories are reconstructed, however, not just re-elicited. Although meaningless sensory stimuli can be experienced consciously and temporarily retained in working memory, only meaningful information gets stored in long-term memory.
Specific binding of [3H]±2-amino-7-phosphono heptanoic acid to rat brain membranes in vitro

The specific binding of [3H]+/- 2-amino-7-phosphono heptanoic acid (3H-APH), a potent N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist, to extensively washed, previously frozen crude mitochondrial fractions of rat brain is described. Binding was optimal at physiological pH and temperature and, in Triscitrate buffer, attained equilibrium within 60 minutes. Scatchard analysis of the equilibrium data for forebrain revealed a single, non-interacting population of binding sites (BMapp = 15 picomoles/mg protein; KDapp = 3.6 uM; Hill coefficient = 0.92, r = 0.99; N = 5). Specific binding of the ligand was readily reversible by unlabeled APH and was absent in peripheral tissues including heart, lung, kidney, liver, spleen and striate muscle and in heat treated brain sonicates. An 8-fold variation in the amount of ligand bound to brain membranes prepared from different regions was observed with binding being greatest in the hippocampal formation and least in the midbrain. Kainic acid, NMDA and aspartic acid exhibited negligible affinity for the [3H]-APH site; in contrast, quisqualic acid, ibotenic acid, glutamatic acid, homocysteic acid and 2-amino-4-phosphono butyric acid were moderately potent displacers. The results indicate that [3H]-APH labels a quisqualate preferring site in vitro. Unlike the receptor labeled by [3H]-glutamate however, [3H]-APH binding was attenuated in the presence of chloride ions suggesting that this ligand may label a subpopulation of excitatory amino acid receptors.
Recent Progress and Developments in LWR-PV Calculational Methodology

New and improved techniques for calculating beltline surveillance activities and pressure vessel fluences with reduced uncertainties have recently been developed. These techniques involve the combining of monitored incore power data with diffusion theory calculated pin-by-pin data to yield absolute source distributions in R-θ and R-Z geometries suitable for discrete ordinate transport calculations. Effects of finite core height, whenever necessary, can be considered by the use of a three-dimensional fluence rate synthesis procedure. The effects of a time-dependent spatial source distribution may be readily evaluated by applying the concept of the adjoint function, and simplifying the procedure to such a degree that only one forward and one adjoint calculation are required to yield all the dosimeter activities for all beltline surveillance locations at once. The addition of several more adjoint calculations using various group fluence rates as responses is all that is needed to determine all the pressure vessel group fluences for all beltline locations for any arbitrary source distribution.
Attitude stabilization of spacecraft with geomagnetic rate damping

Active and passive geomagnetic rate dampers for attitude control systems of geomagnetically, gravitationally or spin stabilized spacecraft
The Advantages of Togetherness

What would be the advantage of unicellular organisms becoming multicellular? For organisms that feed on organic food (heterotrophs), the most efficient way to produce energy is to metabolize the food by aerobic respiration, but the fastest way is to metabolize it by fermentation. In their Perspective, Cox and Bonner discuss a mathematical model (Pfeiffer et al.), which shows that when these two kinds of organisms (respirators and fermenters) compete for a limited food source, the respirators manage best when they are grouped in clusters rather than remaining as separate cells. In this way, multicellularity could have originated.
Coping with loss

Coping With Loss describes the many ways in which people cope with the death of someone they love. Most earlier books on bereavement have fallen into two categories: distillations of the clinical experience of individual therapists or collections of chapters reporting the results of empirical studies. Each category is valuable but has tended to serve a narrow group of readers--practitioners with particular theoretical orientations or researchers in quest of the latest findings. Coauthored by a leading research psychologist and an experienced therapist who specializes in bereavement education and intervention, this book is different. The authors weave together the strands of theory, research, and clinical wisdom into a seamless and readable narrative. While they discuss previous work, they also present new data, never before published, from one of the largest studies of bereaved people ever conducted, the Bereavement Coping Project. Unlike most studies to date, which focused on only one type of bereaved group (usually widows or widowers), the Bereavement Coping Project examined the experiences of several different groups during the first l8 months after the death. The groups included those who had lost a spouse, a parent, an adult sibling, or a child; and those who had lost their significant other to cancer or cardiovascular disease on one hand as opposed to the stigmatized disease of AIDS on the other. The book begins with a critical overview of theories of bereavement; succeeding chapters explore in depth the impact of specific types of loss, the impact of particular coping strategies on recovery; the impact of social supports and religion, and the special cases of children and of people who seem to grow and change for the better after a loss. A final chapter considers implications for intervention with bereaved people. Each chapter is richly illuminated with real-life examples throughout and ends with a section called "Voices" in which bereaved people describe their various attempts to cope in their own words. Insightful and informative.
Anthropological suspicion, public interest and NAGPRA

This article asks why suspicion regarding the aims of anthropology has been heightened in an era when anthropologists are perhaps engaged in more advocacy work than ever.While it may seem contradictory or even ‘unfair’ that anthropology continues to get a ‘bad rap’, this perception (of and about all parties involved) is itself an important focus for anthropological reflection. In this article, I examine an event that has contributed to this issue in important ways - the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990 - to illustrate why suspicions about anthropologists have taken on new dimensions, and to suggest what kind of approach anthropologists might take in responding to these issues.
Possible Rapid Gas Giant Planet Formation in the Solar Nebula and Other Protoplanetary Disks.

Gas giant planets have been detected in orbit around an increasing number of nearby stars. Two theories have been advanced for the formation of such planets: core accretion and disk instability. Core accretion, the generally accepted mechanism, requires several million years or more to form a gas giant planet in a protoplanetary disk like the solar nebula. Disk instability, on the other hand, can form a gas giant protoplanet in a few hundred years. However, disk instability has previously been thought to be important only in relatively massive disks. New three-dimensional, "locally isothermal," hydrodynamical models without velocity damping show that a disk instability can form Jupiter-mass clumps, even in a disk with a mass (0.091 M☉ within 20 AU) low enough to be in the range inferred for the solar nebula. The clumps form with initially eccentric orbits, and their survival will depend on their ability to contract to higher densities before they can be tidally disrupted at successive periastrons. Because the disk mass in these models is comparable to that apparently required for the core accretion mechanism to operate, the models imply that disk instability could obviate the core accretion mechanism in the solar nebula and elsewhere.
Classical rhetorical topics and contemporary historical discourse

This paper suggests a specific contribution of contemporary history and philosophy of science to the theory of history. The “pragmatic” in the technical sense of analysis of use and user aspects of scientific discourse, and the “pragmatist”, in the sense of a focus on utility as canon, dimensions of modern philosophy of science illumine the structure of historical inquiry. Simply put, the structure of writing produced by the historical discipline is argumentative. Further, the nature of the historical argumentative strategies is best described by reference to classical rhetorical, to topical modes of argument.
The Use of Adolescent Nonhuman Primates to Model Human Alcohol Intake: Neurobiological, Genetic, and Psychological Variables

: Traits characteristic of type I and type II alcoholism are thought to relate to dysregulated central nervous system serotonin functioning. In this review, we discuss variables associated with high adolescent alcohol consumption and other risk-taking behaviors in a nonhuman primate model. Adolescent primates with low CSF concentrations of the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA are more impulsive and exhibit increased levels of alcohol consumption. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to alcohol-seeking behavior in adolescent macaques. Sequence variation within serotonin system genes, for example, a repeat polymorphism in the transcriptional control region of the monoamine oxidase gene (MAOA-LPR), increases the propensity for adolescent males to consume alcohol. Environmental factors, such as early life stress in the form of peer-rearing or early age of exposure to alcohol, are also associated with increased alcohol consumption. Peer-reared females, especially those exposed to alcohol during early adolescence, exhibit increased rates of alcohol consumption compared to those exposed to alcohol later in development. When genetic variables are also considered, there is an interaction between the low activity serotonin transporter gene promoter s allele (rh5-HTTLPR) and rearing condition on alcohol preference in females but not males, suggesting that the interactions between genes and the environment may be sexually dichotomous. By learning more about the interactions between genes, early experience, and alcohol intake in the adolescent nonhuman primate, we may be able to identify factors that contribute to the susceptibility, pathogenesis, and progression of impulse control disorders, such as alcoholism.
THE EFFECT OF THYROIDECTOMY ON GROWTH IN THE SHEEP AND GOAT AS INDICATED BY BODY‐WEIGHT

In sixteen pairs of twin lambs. mainly of the same sex, the thyroid gland was removed from one of each pair and the other kept as a control. When the operation was performed from three to four weeks after birth, marked stunting resulted ; in more than one instance the weight of the control was three times that, of the cretin. Where thyroidectomy was delayed till the third or fourth month the retardation in growth was only slight; in some cases, indeed, no effect was evident although other signs of athyroidism were present. In triplet goat kids, all females, the thyroids were removed from two when twenty days old, while the third was kept as a control. A difference in growth rate was detectable on the 19th day following operation, and from that time the normal rapidly outgrew the cretins. There is no evidence for the belief that the mother's milk can retard to any extent the onset of hypothyroid symptoms in lambs or goat kids. I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Miss E. Campbell, Dr A. Bodansky, and Dr H. S. Liddell, for assistance rendered in this investigation. The expenses incurred were defrayed by grants received from the Heckscher Research Foundation of Cornell University, and the Sage Research Fund of the Ithaca Division of Cornell University Medical College.
Preconceptional antibiotic treatment to prevent preterm birth in women with a previous preterm delivery

This article addresses the question of whether the uterine cavity is normally sterile and reviews the difficulties in conducting microbiologic studies of the endometrium, the limitations of conventional microbiologic techniques (cultivation-dependent), and the potential contribution of molecular microbiology to examine microbial diversity and burden of the endometrium. Issues pertaining to the diagnosis of chronic endometritis and the need for information about the prognostic value of this finding in subsequent pregnancies are discussed. The results of a randomized clinical trial of antibiotic administration versus placebo in women with a previous preterm birth are reviewed and commentary is provided. The emerging picture is that microbial-host interactions in the endometrial cavity are important for reproductive success. This is a US government work. There are no restrictions on its use.
Mooreia alkaloidigena gen. nov., sp. nov. and Catalinimonas alkaloidigena gen. nov., sp. nov., alkaloid-producing marine bacteria in the proposed families Mooreiaceae fam. nov. and Catalimonadaceae fam. nov. in the phylum Bacteroidetes

Bacterial strains CNX-216(T) and CNU-914(T) were isolated from marine sediment samples collected from Palmyra Atoll and off Catalina Island, respectively. Both strains were gram-negative and aerobic and produce deep-orange to pink colonies and alkaloid secondary metabolites. Cells of strain CNX-216(T) were short, non-motile rods, whereas cells of strain CNU-914(T) were short, curved rods with gliding motility. The DNA G+C contents of CNX-216(T) and CNU-914(T) were respectively 57.7 and 44.4 mol%. Strains CNX-216(T) and CNU-914(T) contained MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone and iso-C15 : 0 and C16 : 1ω5c as the major fatty acids. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that both strains belong to the order Cytophagales in the phylum Bacteroidetes. Strain CNX-216(T) exhibited low 16S rRNA gene sequence identity (87.1 %) to the nearest type strain, Cesiribacter roseus 311(T), and formed a well-supported lineage that is outside all currently described families in the order Cytophagales. Strain CNU-914(T) shared 97.6 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with 'Porifericola rhodea' N5EA6-3A2B and, together with 'Tunicatimonas pelagia' N5DB8-4 and four uncharacterized marine bacteria isolated as part of this study, formed a lineage that is clearly distinguished from other families in the order Cytophagales. Based on our polyphasic taxonomic characterization, we propose that strains CNX-216(T) and CNU-914(T) represent novel genera and species, for which we propose the names Mooreia alkaloidigena gen. nov., sp. nov. (type strain CNX-216(T) = DSM 25187(T) = KCCM 90102(T)) and Catalinimonas alkaloidigena gen. nov., sp. nov. (type strain CNU-914(T) = DSM 25186(T) = KCCM 90101(T)) within the new families Mooreiaceae fam. nov. and Catalimonadaceae fam. nov.
Percutaneous coronary intervention without onsite surgical backup.

Although accepted in several countries abroad, the performance of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) without onsite surgical backup is controversial in the United States. Current guidelines from the United States do not endorse elective PCI in facilities without onsite surgical backup but acknowledge that primary PCI for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction is acceptable under carefully regulated and monitored circumstances. This differs from guidelines developed by organizations in other countries. In the United States, data indicate that primary alone or primary and elective PCI without onsite surgery is currently being performed in all but seven states, and the number of patients treated in this setting is increasing. More than 40 articles reporting the outcomes and safety of PCI without onsite surgical backup have been published, but these are from a limited number of centers and are retrospective reviews or prospective registries, which have inherent limitations. Additional studies are currently under way to evaluate PCI’s safety and effectiveness in this setting.
Homodimerization of APOBEC3G is required for inhibition of Alu retrotransposition

Background Alu elements are active non-LTR retrotransposons that account for approximately 11 % of the human genome and are known to be not only the cause of genetic disease in germinal cells, but have also been implicated on the development of B-cell lymphomas suggesting they affect the genome of somatic cells as well. In the present study, the molecular mechanisms of the inhibitory activity of human APOBEC3 (A3) family members on Alu retrotransposition were investigated. Materials and methods A3 family proteins were tested in a neomycin-resistant (neo r )-based retrotransposition assay. Briefly, HeLa cells were cotransfected with a neo r -Alu reporter vector, LINE-1 ORF2 vector and the respective A3 expression plasmids. Seventy-two hours post-transfection, G418 was added for resistance selection, and after 14 days resultant G418-resistant colonies were fixed, stained with crystal violet and counted. A series of APOBEC3G (A3G) mutants bearing deletions in the N-terminus in multiples of 30 amino acids (aa) were constructed to evaluate the responsible region. Likewise, dimerization and deamination deficient A3G mutants were also created to examine the inhibitory effect of A3G on Alu retrotransposition. Results The neo r -based retrotransposition assay showed that all hA3 family proteins differentially inhibited Alu retrotransposition. By the deletion analyses based on A3G that is the most well-characterized A3 family member, the N-terminal 30 aa of A3G was found to determine its inhibitory activity on Alu retrotransposition. Mutational analyses showed that the inhibitory activity of A3G was independent of its deaminase activity, but dependent on its dimerization, which was found to be affected by deletion in its N-terminal 30 aa. Importantly, the dimerization of A3G was also required for the inhibition of LINE-1 retrotransposition. Conclusions The N-terminal 30 aa of A3G are essential for its inhibitory activity on Alu retrotransposition, and this correlates with A3G homodimerization. The structural basis for the effect of the N-terminal 30 aa region of A3G on its dimerization is currently under investigation.
Multi-UAV Sensing Over Urban Areas via Layered Data Fusion

In this paper, we address the problem of layered data fusion occurring within a collaborative and distributed sensor network. Multi-UAV sensing combined with stationary sensors has the potential of creating smart airborne systems for completing aerial tracking and surveillance missions over an urban area. However, matching two different data with multiple resolution reveals the presence of large motion and dominant outliers, which makes this problem very difficult. Here we extend our earlier work to this type of multiple mini-UAV sensing by applying an information-theoretic cost criterion and cooperative optimization method. Assuming no zooming in the same type of cameras, we treat changes in scale-space as changes in UAVs' altitudes, and equivalently as changes in data resolution. Scale-space analyses indicate the importance of a prior adjustment of uncertain scaling factors. That is, to achieve a better performance in layered data fusion, it is critical to apply an approximate scaling factor first, within some error bounds, before applying a robust data alignment algorithm directly. We apply our layered data fusion technique to several examples: a single video registration, a video registration with a reference image, and the alignment of two video sequences. Experimental results show that our method can be useful for aerial monitoring and tracking systems within a dynamic sensor network.
Distance caregiving a parent with cancer.

Objective To discuss the new phenomenon of distance caregiving, with an emphasis on the experience of adult children providing distance caregiving to a parent with cancer. Data Sources Literature review and author research. Conclusion Although the research is limited, it forms the foundation for beginning to describe the phenomenon and the associated psychosocial burdens that distance caregivers are struggling with. Implications for Nursing Practice With the growing population of distance caregivers, it is important for nurses to address these burdens. Interventions for clinical practice are recommended.
Studies of the hydrogen held by solids: XVIII. Hydrogen and oxygen chemisorption on alumina- and zeolite-supported platinum

Abstract The chemisorption of H2 and of O2 on Pt particles, supported on alumina, was studied. Measurements made following sintering at successively higher temperatures showed that the H2 chemisorption values fell, while those for O2 remained relatively constant or sometimes increased as the Pt surface area decreased. Areas estimated from electron micrograph particle size distributions showed that H2 chemisorption properly reflected the changes in metal surface area; O2 chemisorption did not. Hence, titration of an oxygen covered surface with H2 cannot be used to discriminate between average surface compositions of PtH and PtH2. The particle size distributions from the micrographs were consistent with the 1:1 = H Pt (surface) stoichiometry, however, even at high dispersions where H Pt (total) was near unity. The variable stoichiometry of the oxygen chemisorption also complicates the titration method of determining Pt surface areas, although the error introduced probably cannot exceed 16.7%. Three cases where H Pt(total) > 1 have been reported were reinvestigated and two were shown to be of dubious reliability. The third, the Pt-zeolite system, was found to be more complicated than supposed and not necessarily an example of two H atoms held by each exposed Pt.
Nitrous oxide production by cyanobacteria

Evidence is presented here that axenic cultures of Nostoc spp., Aphanocapsa (PCC 6308), and Aphanocapsa (PCC 6714) but not Anacystis nidulans R-2 (PCC 7942) produce N2O and ammonia when grown on nitrite. The data suggest that the cyanobacteria produce N2O by nitrite reduction to ammonia.
Special Health Care Needs Among Children in the Child Welfare System

OBJECTIVE. The aim of this study was to determine levels of special health care need among children in the child welfare system and how these needs may affect children9s functioning. METHODS. Data were from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being, a national probability study of children investigated for child maltreatment. The sample consisted of 5496 children aged 0 to 15 years at baseline. For analysis, we used descriptive statistics to determine special health care needs and children9s functioning from baseline to 3-year follow-up. Logistic regression was used to examine correlates of special health care needs. RESULTS. At any point in the study period, approximately one third of the children were identified as having special health care needs. Overall, across 3 years of follow-up data, 50.3% of the children were identified as having special health care needs. Boys were significantly more likely than girls to have had special health care needs, and children aged 0 to 2 years at baseline were significantly less likely to have had special health care needs than older children. Adopted and foster children were significantly more likely to have had special health care needs than children never placed out of the home. The most commonly reported type of chronic health condition was asthma. The most commonly reported type of special need was a learning disability. CONCLUSIONS. Special health care needs are prevalent among children in the child welfare system. Many children with special health care needs have cognitive, language, adaptive, social, or behavioral functional impairments. Mechanisms are needed to ensure that this vulnerable population has access to and receives coordinated health and related social services.
Sectoral sources of metropolitan growth

Abstract The paper proposes a method for identifying sectoral sources of metropolitan employment growth The key feature of the VAR is the set of (over)identifying restrictions which do not require a causal ordering to be developed among industries to create orthogonal sectoral shocks. The simulations for four cities indicate that local sectoral shocks are more important than national counterparts, and that among local shocks, the overall evidence indicates that manufacturing, service and public sector employment shocks account for a substantial portion of employment growth variation, a conclusion that seems roughly consistent with export-oriented models of metropolitan growth.
DSM-5 and the Path Toward Empirically Based and Clinically Useful Conceptualization of Personality and Psychopathology

The DSM-5 represents a watershed in the history of mental disorder classification systems because it is the first DSM to incorporate an approach to clinical personality description tied directly to the empirical structure of personality. Personality disorder (PD) constructs in previous editions of the DSM were produced on the basis of putative authority, as opposed to being based on research on the way personality is organized in nature. By contrast, DSM-5 contains elements that were developed using data, such as a model of clinically relevant dimensional personality specifiers that constitutes part of a DSM-5 Section III PD diagnosis. In this article, we review the DSM-5 Section III PD model, focusing on how it contrasts with the DSM-IV PD model (reprinted in Section II of DSM-5). We conclude that personality science is leading research and practice in clinical psychology because it provides an evidence-based approach to comprehensive classification of psychopathology.