cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Exposure of Brown Recluse and Brown Widow Spiders (Araneae: Sicariidae, Theridiidae) to a Commercial Sulfuryl Fluoride Fumigation

The body of pesticide research on spiders is sparse with most studies using topical or residual applications to assess efficacy. Data on the effects of fumigation on spider survivorship are scarce in the scientific literature. In this study, we exposed adult male and female brown recluse spiders, Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch & Mulaik, and female brown widow spiders, Latrodectus geometricus C. L. Koch, to a commercial fumigation event using sulfuryl fluoride directed at termite control. General consensus from the pest control industry is that fumigation is not always effective for control of spiders for a variety of reasons, including insufficient fumigant dosage, particularly, for contents of egg sacs that require a higher fumigant dosage for control. We demonstrated that a sulfuryl fluoride fumigation with an accumulated dosage of 162 oz-h per 1,000 ft(3) at 21°C over 25 h (≈1.7 × the drywood termite dosage) directed at termites was sufficient to kill adult brown recluse and brown widow spiders. The effectiveness of commercial fumigation practices to control spiders, and particularly their egg sacs, warrants further study.
Spontaneous Progression of a Stage IV-S Human Neuroblastoma Cell Line Involves the Increased Expression of the Protooncogenes RAS and Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4E

Until now, there have been no established cell lines of stage IV-S neuroblastoma, a stage of neuroblastoma that can spontaneously regress. We report a newly established and characterized stage IV-S human neuroblastoma cell line (NB-UK-LO, or LO). After four initial passages of this cell line in culture, freezing, then six more passages, spontaneous transformation to a very aggressive phenotype (NB-UK-LP, or LP) was noted with evident alterations in both in vivo and in vitro characteristics. Interestingly, the untreated IV-S tumor in the patient from which the cell line was derived subsequently progressed to a more aggressive (stage IV) neuroblastoma, but it responded favorably to a short course of chemotherapy. In our report, the two cell lines are characterized in regard to in vivo growth in nude mice and molecular expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, N-ras, nm23-Hl, eIF-4E, and CD44.
Responding to the Affordable Care Act: A Leadership Opportunity for Social Workers in Employee Assistance Programs

Until recently, estimates indicated that more than half of Americans obtain health insurance through their employers. Yet the employer-based system leaves many vulnerable populations, such as low-wage and part-time workers, without coverage. The changes authorized by the Affordable Care Act (2010), and in particular the Health Insurance Marketplace (also known as health insurance exchanges), which became operational in 2014, are projected to have a substantial impact on the provision of employer-based health care coverage. Because health insurance is so intricately woven with employment, social workers in employee assistance programs (EAPs) are positioned to assume an active leadership role in guiding and developing the needed changes to employer-based health care that will occur as the result of health care reform. This article describes the key features and functions of the Health Insurance Marketplace and proposes an innovative role for EAP social workers in implementing the exchanges within their respective workplaces and communities. How EAP social workers can act as educators, advocates, and brokers of the exchanges, and the challenges they may face in their new roles, are discussed, and the next steps EAP social workers can take to prepare for health reform-related workplace changes are delineated.
On-Chip Process Variation Detection and Compensation Using Delay and Slew-Rate Monitoring Circuits

In the nm design era, post-fabrication process characterization and compensation have become extremely important for mitigating the impact of process variations on the parametric yield. In this paper, a new variation detection and compensation scheme is presented that uses both slew and delay metrics to gauge the drive-strengths of and mismatch of NMOS and PMOS devices. The importance of considering both of these metrics is illustrated. Four compensation schemes are analyzed, based on delay or slew as the detection metric, with the ability to apply forward and reverse body-biasing. Design considerations, simulation results and power-performance characteristics of these schemes in a 45 nm SOI technology are presented. These schemes are shown to be capable of adjusting the critical path delay of the die to within the desired plusmn3% of the nominal delay while reducing the total power dissipation by an average of ~8% across various process corners.
The Very Separate Worlds Of Academic And Practitioner Periodicals In Human Resource Management: Implications For Evidence-Based Management

In this article the authors examine the differences between academic journals that deal with theoretical questions of personnel management and periodicals that investigate human resource management issues that occur in real-life situations. They note that there is a significant difference between human resource management as practiced in an academic setting as opposed to in the workplace. The management process known as “evidence-based management” is examined, the practice defined as an application that allows managers to use social science and organizational research to handle personnel matters.
Synthesis and Functional Evaluation of DNA-Assembled Polyamidoamine Dendrimer Clusters for Cancer Cell-Specific Targeting

Summary We sought to produce dendrimers conjugated to different biofunctional moieties (fluorescein [FITC] and folic acid [FA]), and then link them together using complementary DNA oligonucleotides to produce clustered molecules that target cancer cells that overexpress the high-affinity folate receptor. Amine-terminated, generation 5 polyamidoamine (G5 PAMAM) dendrimers are first partially acetylated and then conjugated with FITC or FA, followed by the covalent attachment of complementary, 5′-phosphate-modified 34-base-long oligonucleotides. Hybridization of these oligonucleotide conjugates led to the self-assembly of the FITC- and FA-conjugated dendrimers. In vitro studies of the DNA-linked dendrimer clusters indicated specific binding to KB cells expressing the folate receptor. Confocal microscopy also showed the internalization of the dendrimer cluster. These results demonstrate the ability to design and produce supramolecular arrays of dendrimers using oligonucleotide bridges. This will also allow for further development of DNA-linked dendrimer clusters as imaging agents and therapeutics.
Cost analysis of breast conservation surgery compared with modified radical mastectomy with and without reconstruction

Background: Breast conservation surgery (BCS), consisting of lumpectomy, axillary lymph node dissection, and radiation therapy, is as effective as modified radical mastectomy (MRM) for the treatment of early stage breast cancer. The costs of these treatment options have not been adequately addressed in the current era of increasing utilization of BCS and breast reconstruction. The purpose of this study is to determine differences in treatment costs among BCS, MRM alone, and MRM with reconstruction. Methods: Patients with stage I and II breast cancer receiving inpatient treatment at a private university-affiliated hospital between January 1996 and July 1997 were analyzed (n = 230). Charges were determined as follows: inpatient and radiotherapy charges from the hospital billing department, surgeon fees from group practice billing codes, and radiotherapy physician fees from the radiation oncology group practice. Inpatient length of stay was obtained from hospital medical records. Results: Average hospital inpatient charge for BCS was $4,748 (n = 74), $6,280 for MRM alone (P <0.001, n = 132), and $11,946 for MRM with reconstruction (P <0.001, n = 24). Surgeons’ fees for BCS were $2,840, $3,500 for MRM alone, and $10,774 for MRM with reconstruction. The average radiotherapy charge was $18,742. Average length of stay was 1.03 days for BCS, 2.44 days for MRM alone (P <0.001), and 3.71 days for MRM with reconstruction (P <0.001). Average total cost of BCS ($26,330) was significantly greater than the average total cost of either MRM alone ($9,780, P <0.001) or MRM with reconstruction ($22,720, P <0.001). Conclusions: BCS is more expensive than MRM with or without reconstruction. It is the addition of radiotherapy that results in the higher total cost of CS.
Wild-type human p53 transactivates the human proliferating cell nuclear antigen promoter

The wild-type p53 protein is a transcriptional activator implicated in the control of cellular growth-related gene expression. Here, using a number of different cell lines and transient-transfection-transcription assays, we demonstrate that at low levels, wild-type p53 transactivates the human proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) promoter. When expressed at a similar level, the tumor-derived p53 mutants did not transactivate the PCNA promoter. We identified a p53-binding site on the human PCNA promoter with which p53 interacts sequence specifically. When placed on a heterologous synthetic promoter, the binding site functions as a wild-type p53 response element in either orientation. Deletion of the p53-binding site renders the PCNA promoter p53 nonresponsive, showing that wild-type p53 transactivates the PCNA promoter by binding to the site. At a higher concentration, wild-type p53 inhibits the PCNA promoter but p53 mutants activate. Transactivation by p53 mutants does not require the p53-binding site. These observations suggest that moderate elevation of the cellular wild-type p53 level induces PCNA production to help in DNA repair.
Angiotensin II potentiates adrenergic and muscarinic modulation of guinea pig intracardiac neurons.

The intrinsic cardiac plexus represents a major peripheral integration site for neuronal, hormonal, and locally produced neuromodulators controlling efferent neuronal output to the heart. This study examined the interdependence of norepinephrine, muscarinic agonists, and ANG II, to modulate intrinsic cardiac neuronal activity. Intracellular voltage recordings from whole-mount preparations of the guinea pig cardiac plexus were used to determine changes in active and passive electrical properties of individual intrinsic cardiac neurons. Application of either adrenergic or muscarinic agonists induced changes in neuronal resting membrane potentials, decreased afterhyperpolarization duration of single action potentials, and increased neuronal excitability. Adrenergic responses were inhibited by removal of extracellular calcium ions, while muscarinic responses were inhibited by application of TEA. The adrenergic responses were heterogeneous, responding to a variety of receptor-specific agonists (phenylephrine, clonidine, dobutamine, and terbutaline), although α-receptor agonists produced the most frequent responses. Application of ANG II alone produced a significant increase in excitability, while application of ANG II in combination with either adrenergic or muscarinic agonists produced a much larger potentiation of excitability. The ANG II-induced modulation of firing was blocked by the angiotensin type 2 (AT2) receptor inhibitor PD 123319 and was mimicked by the AT2 receptor agonist CGP-42112A. AT1 receptor blockade with telmasartin did not alter neuronal responses to ANG II. These data demonstrate that ANG II potentiates both muscarinically and adrenergically mediated activation of intrinsic cardiac neurons, doing so primarily via AT2 receptor-dependent mechanisms. These neurohumoral interactions may be fundamental to regulation of neuronal excitability within the intrinsic cardiac nervous system.
Pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab-containing regimen in gastric cancer: a case report

We report a 49-year-old Chinese male with locally advanced gastric adenocarcinoma achieving pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab-containing regimen. He underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy in September 2009, which revealed a 2-cm gastric ulcer on the lesser curvature proximal to angularis. Biopsy of gastric ulcer showed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma with overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Further workups with endoscopic ultrasound, computed tomography and positron emission tomography staged his cancer as T3N1M0. He received 3 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of trastuzumab, oxaliplatin, docetaxel and capecitabine without severe toxicities except grade 2 diarrhea near the completion of cycle 3 requiring discontinuation of capecitabine. Afterwards, he received total gastrectomy with extended D2 lymph node dissections showing pathological complete response. He went on to receive 3 more cycles of chemotherapy postoperatively. The role of trastuzumab as a part of perioperative therapy in gastric cancer overexpressing HER2 is worth further investigation.
FIELD AND LABORATORY PERFORMANCE OF NOVEL INSECTICIDES AGAINST ARMYWORMS (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE)

Beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), and fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), are occasional pests of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum (L.), and soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill. These insects can be difficult to control due to insecticide resistance and larval behavior on plants. The objectives of these studies were to determine the efficacy of selected insecticides against native infestations of beet armyworm in cotton and soybean and to generate baseline dose-mortality responses for beet armyworm and fall armyworm adults to indoxacarb and pyridalyl in the adult vial test. Indoxacarb, pyridalyl, spinosad, methoxyfenozide, and emamectin benzoate controlled beet armyworm infestations up to 10 d after treatment compared to the non-treated control. Thiodicarb reduced beet armyworm densities up to three d after treatment. The LC50 values of indoxacarb and pyridalyl for beet armyworm and fall armyworm exceeded the highest concentrations tested (100-200 μg/vial) in the adult vial test. Dose-mortality values of indoxacarb and pyridalyl were higher than discriminating concentrations of cypermethrin, methomyl, profenofos, and endosulfan used in the adult vial test for monitoring tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.), and bollworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), susceptibility in Louisiana and Texas. These results indicate that the adult vial test may not be the most efficient test method for indoxacarb and pyridalyl in insecticide susceptibility monitoring programs.
Quantitative Proteomics Reveals Factors Regulating RNA Biology as Dynamic Targets of Stress-induced SUMOylation in Arabidopsis

The stress-induced attachment of small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) to a diverse collection of nuclear proteins regulating chromatin architecture, transcription, and RNA biology has been implicated in protecting plants and animals against numerous environmental challenges. In order to better understand stress-induced SUMOylation, we combined stringent purification of SUMO conjugates with isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantification mass spectrometry and an advanced method to adjust for sample-to-sample variation so as to study quantitatively the SUMOylation dynamics of intact Arabidopsis seedlings subjected to stress. Inspection of 172 SUMO substrates during and after heat shock (37 °C) revealed that stress mostly increases the abundance of existing conjugates, as opposed to modifying new targets. Some of the most robustly up-regulated targets participate in RNA processing and turnover and RNA-directed DNA modification, thus implicating SUMO as a regulator of the transcriptome during stress. Many of these targets were also strongly SUMOylated during ethanol and oxidative stress, suggesting that their modification is crucial for general stress tolerance. Collectively, our quantitative data emphasize the importance of SUMO to RNA-related processes protecting plants from adverse environments.
Inheritance, Stability, and Dominance of Cry Resistance in Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) Selected with the Three Cry Toxins of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis

ABSTRACT Mendelian crosses were used to study the mode of inheritance of Cry toxin resistance in a Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae) colony (CqAB11A) that evolved insecticide resistance under laboratory selection with a deletion mutant of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis de Barjac lacking the Cyt1Aa toxin component but containing its three major Cry toxins, Cry4Aa, Cry4Ba, and Cry11Aa. High levels of resistance were observed to Cry toxins. F1 offspring of reciprocal crosses to a sensitive colony showed intermediate levels of resistance with no maternal effect, indicating autosomal inheritance. Dose—response data for backcross offspring deviated significantly from the monofactorial model when tested with Cry4Aa + Cry4Ba + Cry11Aa, Cry4Aa + Cry4Ba, or Cry11Aa. However, tests with Cry11Ba from B. thuringiensis subsp. jegathesan (Seleena, Lee, Lecadet) fit the monofactorial model. Dominance of F1 offspring was calculated at different concentrations of Cry-toxin suspensions and, as repor...
Patterns, Mechanisms and Approaches to the Study of Migrations of Estuarine-Dependent Fish Larvae and Juveniles

Five species (<10%) contribute over 85% of the annual commercial catch of finfish off North Carolina. All five spawn in winter near the Gulf Stream and migrate about 100 km to major inlets in the barrier islands and then up to another 100 km to juvenile estuarine nursery areas. The vertical distribution of pelagic larvae of menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) differs significantly from that of more benthic-oriented larvae such as spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) and flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma and P. dentatus). Analysis of the shelf current regime suggests that differences in vertical distribution and season will subject larvae to markedly different currents, and therefore, different mechanisms for migration are required. Calculations of water movements using Ekman’s original transport equations are probably wrong in relatively shallow shelf waters subject to cross-shelf winds and density currents. Major differences probably exist, therefore, between the pelagic larvae of the west coast (e.g. Pacific sardine, Sardinops sagax) and estuarine dependent species of the east coast—both with respect to the importance of microscale processes (e.g. food patchiness) and drift. Predator avoidance is likely to be a more important determinant of migration pattern than has been suggested to date. Problems of determining migration vectors and mechanisms from highly variable larval and juvenile fish distributions are discussed. A research strategy dealing with the above is outlined, and testable implications of hypotheses are presented.
Finally, We Can Relax: A New Generation of Muscle Models that Incorporate Sarcomere Compliance

Relaxation is an important property of muscle activity, but is much less studied or understood than contraction. For skeletal muscle, relaxation is important for motor control of movement, breathing, and posture. For cardiac muscle, relaxation is critically important for diastolic function, allowing effective filling with blood for pumping (systole), during normal activity but especially so when heart rate increases during activity or stress. In both skeletal and cardiac muscle, contraction and relaxation occur in networks of myofibrils organized in parallel bundles (Fig. 1 A).
Abstract 508: Pyruvate Induction of Glyoxalase 1 in Porcine Brain Post-cardiac Arrest: Enhanced Methylglyoxal and Glutamate Detoxification

Background: After cardiac arrest (CA) and cardio-cerebral resuscitation (CCR), enhanced glycolysis elevates toxic methylglyoxal (MG) that contributes to carbonyl-exacerbated oxidative stress, enzyme inactivation and death of neurons and astroglia. Post cardiac arrest cognitive deficits may be prevented by pyruvate infusions that boost glyoxalase 1 (GLO1) detoxification of MG and brain glutamate efflux via Nrf2-regulated Phase II gene expression. Purpose: To define pyruvate-induced cytoprotective mechanisms that curtail brain injury and cognitive deficit after cardiac arrest and resuscitation in pigs. Methods: Pigs were subjected to CA/CCR, infused with 4 mM pyruvate or NaCl control, then carotid artery and frontal cortical lysates were assayed for Nrf2/ARE binding activity and GLO1 activity, while plasma glutamate concentrations were measured. Results: Compared with saline controls, pyruvate infused pigs demonstrated increased Nrf2/ARE binding activity and 3-fold higher GLO1 activity supporting MG detoxification. Plasma glutamate concentrations were substantially reduced by pyruvate, which would support greater brain efflux of excitotoxic glutamate. Conclusions: Intravenous pyruvate induces Nrf2-regulated gene activation for augmented GLO1 biological activity via mechanisms that may lower glutamate-inflicted excitotoxicity and the heretofore untreatable cognitive deficits.
Does Volume Chase Information

This study investigates the impact of proprietary traders on information-related trading volume. We argue that news-based proprietary traders contribute a large and essentially fixed amount of trading volume to the market. Consequently, their impact becomes “detectable” with intertemporal variation in the number of news events, and is most pronounced on days when the total number of news events is low. We indeed document that on low versus high news days (1) firms with earnings announcements experience significantly greater abnormal trading volume, and (2) the positive relation between abnormal trading volume and the magnitude of price changes is significantly stronger.
Nonlinear interaction of seismic waves in the lab: A potential tool for characterizing pore structure and fluids

As more and more resources are extracted from unconventional reservoirs, an understanding of the microstructure of reservoir rocks is of increasing importance. Many conventional techniques struggle to sense variations in the micro-structure and pore-fluids of rock samples. The nonlinear coupling of two elastic waves is known to be sensitive to these parameters, however, and so is a natural candidate to improve our understanding of these structures. Here, we develop an experimental technique to sense the nonlinear interaction of two propagating waves: a strong S-wave pump that changes (minutely) the elastic properties of the sample and a weaker P-wave probe that senses those changes. By measuring the delay in the P-wave probe traveltime induced by the S-wave pump, we show that this signal is significant in a Berea sandstone sample and absent in Aluminum and Plexiglass samples. The polarization of the S-wave (particle motion aligned or perpendicular to the P-wave probe) has a large impact on the measured response; this is evidence that the signal we measure is sensitive to the micro-structure of the rock. We show that the method is sensitive to fluids by imaging the variations in two specific nonlinear parameters, caused by the introduction of fluid into a Berea sandstone sample.
Biochemical Effects of Diflubenzuron on Chitin Synthesis in the Postmolt Blue Crab Callinectes Sapidus

ABSTRACT In vivo and in vitro metabolic studies were conducted on the effects of the insect growth regulator diflubenzuron (DFB) on chitin synthesis in the postmolt blue crab Callinectes sapidus. The effects of the pesticide on the incorporation of either 3H-glucosamine or 3H-N-acetylglucosamine into sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) insoluble cuticular residue were examined. The radiolabeled product formed was identified as chitin by chemical and enzymatic criteria. 3HN-acetylglucosamine was found to be incorporated to a greater extent than 3H-glucosamine during metabolic studies. During in vitro explant culture experiments, the highest concentration of DFB tested (1 ppm) caused 98% inhibition of chitin synthesis; 64% inhibition was observed at concentrations as low as 0.7 parts per billion. The results indicate that diflubenzuron inhibits the incorporation of 3H-N-acetylglucosamine into cuticular chitin in postmolt blue crabs. The data are consistent with our previous autoradiographic and ultrastructural studies on the effects of DFB in the blue crab; i.e., that the Golgi complex is disrupted by DFB treatment.
Developing a Scientific Virtue-Based Approach to Science Ethics Training.

Responsible conduct of research training typically includes only a subset of the issues that ought to be included in science ethics and sometimes makes ethics appear to be a set of externally imposed rules rather than something intrinsic to scientific practice. A new approach to science ethics training based upon Pennock’s notion of the scientific virtues may help avoid such problems. This paper motivates and describes three implementations—theory-centered, exemplar-centered, and concept-centered—that we have developed in courses and workshops to introduce students to this scientific virtue-based approach.
Preoperative AT-III values and clinical postoperative thrombosis: a comparison of three antithrombin-III assays.

Three antithrombin-III assays (Sigma functional plasma, von Kaulla functional serum, and Calbiochem-Behring radial immunodiffusion) are compared using preoperative serum and plasma from 48 patients admitted for cardiovascular or other major vascular surgery. Medical records were reviewed for evidence of thrombotic complications. Eight patients (17%) in this selected population had clinical evidence of postoperative thrombotic complications. The sensitivity and specificity for each AT-III assay were calculated, and the positive and negative predictive values in this population were determined. Sigma's plasma AT-III had the highest positive predictive value (67%) and negative predictive value (100%). The functional serum and RID assays had significantly lower positive predictive values (23% and 38% respectively) and negative predictive values of 86%. Using the Two Sample t-Test to evaluate differences in AT-III values between the two patient groups, i.e., those who experienced thrombotic complications and those who did not, only the functional plasma AT-III method was statistically significant at a 95% confidence interval.
Field test experiments using pseudo-conjugation

One common adaptive optics arrangement consists of a reference point source which produces a wave front that passes through an aberrating media and is returned back through the aberrating media by an adaptive optical system,1 Ideally this system produces the phase conjugate of the aberrated wave front and returns the wave front perfectly focused back at the reference source, Most phase conjugate adaptive optics depend on flexible reflective surfaces or one of several techniques closely related to real-time holography such as four-wave mixing.2 It has been pointed out by as early as 1978 by Orlov et al.3 that it is possible, in certain circumstances, to correct nonspecific time-varying distortions in a return wave arrangement using a retroreflective array to obtain an approximate conjugate described in most literature as a pseudo-conjugate.4,5
Cancer of the lung in young men

A series of 102 young male patients with lung cancer were investigated, ages 12 to 45 years. The patients were subdivided into those younger than 40 years of age and those between 40 and 45 years of age. No essential differences were found to exist between the two groups in such parameters as occupation, smoking history, tumor type or size, lymph node involvement, operability, or resectability. It was concluded that the prognosis for young men with this disease is no worse than that for lung cancer patients in general.
Authoritarianism and Public Opinion on Church and State in the United States

Despite the continued debate over the relationship between church and state in American politics, our understanding of the sources of attitudes on controversies over religious establishment and religious free exercise is limited. I argue that authoritarianism is an unrecognized but important predictor of mass-level attitudes on church and state. I argue that individuals with higher levels of authoritarianism are more likely to support religious establishment as a means of maintaining social conformity and reinforcing the existing social order. Likewise, those with higher levels of authoritarianism should exhibit reduced support for religious free exercise when minority groups are in question as a means of imposing greater costs on social out-groups. Using data from the 2008 Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project, I find strong support for my theory. Even after controlling for a variety of alternative explanations, authoritarianism remains an important factor in attitudes toward both religious establishment and religious free exercise.
Saturating the Movement: God Gets Power

Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan arrived in east-central Guangxi in 1844, and the fortunes of their ideas began to change very rapidly in the new conditions there. Hong wandered back to his home county in 1845; there was nothing yet to hold him in Guangxi. During this period he also spent a brief spell in Canton with the Southern Baptist missionary Issachar Roberts, who refused to baptize him (Hamberg, 1854:32). Feng, however, settled at Thistle Mountain, preaching Hong’s doctrine with remarkable success. When Hong returned to the area in 1847, he must have been astonished to find a large and increasingly bold following of God Worshipers. The numbers of converts grew at an astonishing rate, clearly reaching 2,000 or 3,000 followers in 1848, and perhaps 10,000 by the time of the first armed camp at Jintian in 1850.
Value Theory and Energy

diminishing marginal utility The desire for one additionalunit declines with successive units of the good.embodied energy The direct and indirect energy requiredto produce a good or service.evolution In natural systems it has three components: (i)generation of genetic variation by random mutations orsexual recombination, (ii) natural selection by relativereproductive success, and (iii) transmission via informa-tion stored in the genes.valuation The process of assessing the contribution of aparticular object or action to meeting a particular goal,whether or not that contribution is fully perceived bythe individual.value The contribution of an object or action to speciﬁcgoals, objectives, or conditions.value systems Intrapsychic constellations of norms andprecepts that guide human judgment and action. Theyrefer to the normative and moral frameworks people useto assign importance and necessity to their beliefs andactions.
Multi-scale modeling of an amine sorbent fluidized bed adsorber with dynamic discrepancy reduced modeling

Inaccuracy in chemical kinetic models is a problem that affects the reliability of large-scale process models. Detailed and accurate kinetic models could improve this situation, but such models are often too computationally intensive to utilize at process scales. This work presents a method for bridging the kinetic and process scales while incorporating experimental data in a Bayesian framework. “Dynamic Discrepancy Reduced Modeling” (DDRM) enables the use of complex chemical kinetic models at the process scale. DDRM inserts Gaussian process (GP) stochastic functions into the first-principles dynamic model form, enabling a sharp reduction in model order. Uncertainty introduced through the order reduction is quantified through Bayesian calibration to bench-scale experimental data. The use of stochastic functions within the dynamic chemical kinetic model enables this uncertainty to be correctly propagated to the process scale. The model reduction and uncertainty quantification framework was applied to a reaction–diffusion model of mesoporous silica-supported, amine impregnated sorbents; model order reduction of over an order of magnitude was achieved through a sharp reduction in the resolution of the approximate solution for diffusion. GPs of the Bayesian smoothing splines analysis of variance (BSS-ANOVA) variety were applied to the diffusion coefficients and equilibrium constants in the model. The reduced model was calibrated using experimental dynamic thermogravimetric data, with prior probability distributions for physical model parameters derived from quantum chemical calculations. Model and parameter uncertainties represented in the posterior distribution were propagated to a bubbling fluidized-bed adsorber simulation implemented in Aspen Custom Modeler. This work is the first significant demonstration of the dynamic discrepancy technique to produce robust reduced order models for bench-to-process multi-scale modeling and serves as a proof-of-concept.
Neural correlates of verbal memory in youth with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure

Prenatal alcohol exposure can impact both brain development and neurobehavioral function, including verbal learning and recall, although the relation between verbal recall and brain structure in this population has not been examined fully. We aimed to determine the structural neural correlates of verbal learning and recall in youth with histories of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure using a region of interest (ROI) approach. As part of an ongoing multisite project, subjects (age 10-16 years) with prenatal alcohol exposure (AE, n = 81) and controls (CON, n = 81) were tested using the CVLT-C and measures of cortical volume, surface area, and thickness as well as hippocampal volume were derived from MRI. Group differences in brain and memory indices were tested with ANOVA. Multiple regression analyses tested whether brain ROIs significantly predicted memory performance. The AE group had lower scores than the CON group on all CVLT-C variables (ps ≤ .001) and volume and surface area (ps < .025), although results varied by ROI. No group differences in cortical thickness were found. The relations between cortical structure and memory performance differed between group among some ROIs, particularly those in the frontal cortex, generally with smaller surface area and/or thinner cortex predicting better performance in CON but worse performance in AE. Cortical surface area appears to be the most sensitive index to the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, while cortical thickness appears to be the least sensitive. These findings also indicate that the neural correlates of verbal memory are altered in youth with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure compared to controls.
Effects of V2V communication on time headway for autonomous vehicles

In this paper, we investigate the benefits of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication for autonomous vehicles employing a Constant Time Headway Policy (CTHP). It is known that ACC equipped vehicles employing a CTHP must maintain a time headway that is lower bounded by 2τ 0 for string stability, where τ 0 is the maximum value of parasitic actuation lag. We show the following: (1) if acceleration of preceding vehicle (obtained via V2V communication) were also to be used, then the minimum employable time headway can be reduced to τ 0 (2) if the position and velocity information of r immediately preceding vehicles ahead were to be used, then the minimum employable time headway can be reduced to 4τ 0 /(1 + r); and (3) furthermore, if the acceleration of ‘r’ immediately preceding vehicle is used, then the minimum employable headway can be reduced to 2τ 0 /(1 + r).
Examining the Validity of Self-reported Primary and Secondary Exposure to Cigarette Smoke in Adolescent Girls: The Utility of Salivary Cotinine as a Biomarker.

ABSTRACTBackground: Studies of cigarette use and exposure often rely on either self-report or cotinine assay. In adolescence it is not clear how well assays and self-report correspond, or what effect estrogen exposure has on cotinine. Objectives: This study sought to identify optimal cut-points for salivary cotinine thresholds for girls with primary, secondary, and no smoke exposure, and whether menarche and hormone contraceptive use are important for interpreting salivary cotinine. Methods: This longitudinal prospective study recruited 262 healthy adolescent girls who participated in three annual interviews across 24 months. Salivary cotinine assays and self-report of primary and secondary smoke exposure, menarcheal status, and hormone contraceptive use were collected. Results: No adolescents reported primary smoke exposure without secondary exposure. Optimal cut-points for distinguishing primary smoke exposure from secondary-only and no smoke exposure were 1.05 and 3.01 ng/ml, respectively based on rece...
Scalable Markov chain approximation for a safe intercept navigation in the presence of multiple vehicles

This paper studies a safe intercept navigation which accounts for the uncertainty of other vehicles’ trajectories, avoids collisions and any other positions in which vehicle safety is compromised. Since the number of vehicles can vary with time, it is important that the navigation strategy can quickly adjust to the current number of vehicles, i.e, that it scales well with the number of vehicles. The scalable strategy is based on a stochastic optimal control problem formulation of safe navigation in the presence of a single vehicle, denoted as the one-on-one vehicle problem. It is shown that safe navigation in the presence of multiple vehicles can be solved exactly as an auxiliary Markov decision problem. This allows us to approximate the solution based on the one-on-one vehicle optimal control solution and achieve scalable navigation. Our work is illustrated by a numerical example of safely navigating a vehicle in the presence of four other vehicles and by a robot experiment.
Cooperative Theory of Bargaining II: Modern Development

The model discussed in Part I is written under the assumption of a fixed number of agents. Here, the number of agents is allowed to vary. How solutions should respond to such changes are formulated as axioms, and additional characterizations of the main solutions are developed. A detailed account of these recent developments can be found in Thomson and Lensberg (1989).
Brady-tachyarrhythmia syndrome.

(1972). Brady-Tachyarrhythmia Syndrome. Postgraduate Medicine: Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 194-195.
The Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) Program

A summary is given of Nimbus-7 CZCS history, characteristics, data collection and processing. Examples of Level 1 and Level 2 photographic data products are shown. Finally, a brief description is included of the CZCS II instrument to be flown on the National Oceanic Satellite System (NOSS).
Herpes zoster antivirals and pain management.

Topic Evaluation of evidence-based strategies for managing herpes zoster (HZ) and the pain of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Clinical Relevance Approximately 20% of the world's population suffers from herpes zoster at least once in a lifetime, with 10% to 20% having ophthalmic involvement. Treatment of the acute disease with oral antivirals may reduce the incidence and severity of complications but does not reliably prevent PHN or postherpetic itch (PHI). The acute pain abates as the acute phase resolves; the long-term pain of PHN or PHI may be severe and difficult to manage. Although many therapeutic agents have efficacy in the management of these complications, relief is frequently partial for months to the remainder of the lifetime. Methods Literature review was performed using the resources of the Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Ophthalmic library as well as the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health PubMed service searching by pertinent topics, authors, and journals. Results If started within 72 hours of the onset of the acute HZ rash, the oral antiviral agents acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir significantly shorten the periods of acute pain, virus shedding, rash, acute and late-onset anterior segment complications, and, in the case of valacyclovir and famciclovir, the incidence and severity of PHN. However, these medications do not prevent PHN, which remains a common and debilitating complication of HZ in older patients, requiring assiduous pain management. Tricyclic antidepressants, antiseizure drugs, opioids, and topical analgesics all offer some pain relief, and may be combined. Conclusion Options are available to manage HZ and reduce the pain of PHN. However, prevention, now possible with the HZ vaccine, is preferable to treatment.
Some Remarks on the Clinical and Pathological Aspects of Schistosomiasis in Central Africa

Much of what I am going to talk about remains conjecture. It is a pity, but this is the situation and if it were otherwise, there would be no reason for a meeting such as this.
Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Systems

Cyber-physical systems, in which computation and networking technologies interact with physical systems, have made great strides into manufacturing systems. From the early days, when electromechani...
High Magnetic Ordering Temperature in the Perovskites Sr4-xLaxFe3ReO12 (x = 0.0, 1.0, 2.0).

The title compounds are prepared by the citrate—nitrate method and characterized by powder XRD and neutron diffraction, TEM, SEM, XANES, Moessbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements.
Who provides open-ended comments? Assessing item nonresponse bias in Medicaid surveys of members and dentists.

OBJECTIVES This aim of this study was to examine factors associated with survey item nonresponse to open-ended items in mailed surveys. METHODS Data sources include two surveys conducted in Iowa in 2016 - one to a random sample of Medicaid dental program members and one to private practice dentists. Item nonresponse bias for open-ended comments was examined by comparing differences between commenters and noncommenters. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses examined differences based on demographic characteristics, attitudes, and experiences with the program, and survey mode. RESULTS Among members, respondents who were Black, older, unemployed, had a recent dental visit, rated the plan poorly, and completed the survey on paper were significantly more likely to provide comment. Among dentists, those who participated in the plan and those who completed the survey online were significantly more likely to provide comment. CONCLUSIONS Members and dentists with direct experiences with the Medicaid dental program were more likely to provide open-ended survey comments, whereas we found inconsistent results between members and dentists with regard to the impact of demographic characteristics, survey mode, and attitude toward the plan.
CCR5 receptor antagonism inhibits hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication in vitro.

Background and aim The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a single-strand RNA virus that infects millions of people worldwide. Recent advances in therapy have led to viral cure using two- and three- drug combinations of direct acting inhibitors of viral replication. CCR5 is a chemokine receptor that is expressed on hepatocytes and represents a key co-receptor for HIV. We evaluated the effect of CCR5 blockade or knockdown on HCV replication in Huh7.5JFH1 cells. Methods Cells were exposed to varying concentrations of maraviroc (CCR5 inhibitor), cenicriviroc (CCR2/CCR5 inhibitor), sofosbuvir (nucleotide polymerase inhibitor), or raltegravir (HIV integrase inhibitor). Results HCV RNA was detected utilizing two qualitative strand-specific RT-PCR assays. HCV core antigen and NS3 protein was quantified in the supernatant and cell lysate, respectively. siRNA was utilized to knockdown CCR5 gene expression in hepatocytes. Alternatively, anti-CCR5 antibodies were employed to block the receptor. Supernatant levels of HCV RNA (expressed as fold change) were not reduced in the presence of raltegravir but were reduced 8.55-fold and 12.42-fold with cenicriviroc and maraviroc, respectively. Sofosbuvir resulted in a 16.20-fold change in HCV RNA levels. HCV core and NS3 protein production was also reduced in a dose-dependent manner. Two distinct anti-CCR5 antibodies also resulted in a significant reduction in HCV protein expression, as did siRNA knockdown of CCR5 gene expression. Conclusions These data provide evidence that CCR5 modulation could have a significant effect on HCV replication in an in vitro system. Further evaluation of the role of CCR5 inhibition in clinical settings may be warranted.
Predicting Regression Probability Distributions with Imperfect Data Through Optimal Transformations.

The goal of regression analysis is to predict the value of a numeric outcome variable y given a vector of joint values of other (predictor) variables x. Usually a particular x-vector does not specify a repeatable value for y, but rather a probability distribution of possible y--values, p(y|x). This distribution has a location, scale and shape, all of which can depend on x, and are needed to infer likely values for y given x. Regression methods usually assume that training data y-values are perfect numeric realizations from some well behaived p(y|x). Often actual training data y-values are discrete, truncated and/or arbitrary censored. Regression procedures based on an optimal transformation strategy are presented for estimating location, scale and shape of p(y|x) as general functions of x, in the possible presence of such imperfect training data. In addition, validation diagnostics are presented to ascertain the quality of the solutions.
The Short Form KOOS, JR Is Valid for Revision Knee Arthroplasty.

Abstract: Background The knee injury osteoarthritis outcomes survey, Joint Replacement (KOOS, JR) is a reliable, responsive and validated patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) of knee health in patients with knee osteoarthritis undergoing unilateral primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The validity of the KOOS, JR for revision TKA remains unknown. Methods We identified 314 patients who underwent revision TKA and had completed preoperative and 2-year postoperative PROMs. Validation included assessment of: local dependence, unidimensionality, internal consistency, external construct validity, responsiveness, and floor effects preoperatively and ceiling effects at 2 years postoperatively. Results Among patients undergoing revision TKA, the KOOS, JR demonstrated an absence of residual item correlation, adequate unidimensionality, high internal consistency (Person Separation Index 0.897), and high external construct validity with existing validated PROMs, including KOOS Pain (Spearman’s correlation coefficient 0.89) and KOOS Activities of Daily Living (0.90) domains. The KOOS, JR was more responsive (standardized response means: 1.14) to revision TKA than other common knee PROMs. Three percent of revision TKA patients were at the floor (lowest score) pre-operatively and 9% reached the ceiling (highest possible score) post-operatively. Conclusions KOOS, JR performs well in revision TKA patients with regard to internal consistency, external validity, responsiveness, and floor & ceiling effects. Our results support extending its use to revision TKA in both clinical and research settings.
Towards an Information Systems Perspective and Research Agenda on Crowdsourcing for Innovation

Recent years have seen an increasing emphasis on open innovation by firms to keep pace with the growing intricacy of products and services and the ever changing needs of the markets. Much has been written about open innovation and its manifestation in the form of crowdsourcing. Unfortunately, most management research has taken the information system (IS) as a given. In this essay we contend that IS is not just an enabler but rather can be a shaper that optimizes open innovation in general and crowdsourcing in particular. This essay is intended to frame crowdsourcing for innovation in a manner that makes more apparent the issues that require research from an IS perspective. In doing so, we delineate the contributions that the IS field can make to the field of crowdsourcing.
Unified Behavior Framework for Discrete Event Simulation Systems

Intelligent agents provide simulations a means to add lifelike behavior in place of manned entities. When implemented, typically a single intelligent agent model (or approach to defining decision m...