cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation on surveillance system of pneumonia with unknown cause in Shenzhen City

[Objective]To evaluate the operation status of surveillance system of pneumonia with unknown cause in Shenzhen City,know the operation quality of system,and provide a scientific basis for improvement of surveillance system.[Methods]According to the international disease surveillance system evaluation method,combined with the actual situation of surveillance system operation in this city,the district-level Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDCs) and monitoring hospitals were selected and analyzed by questionnaires,interviews and filed inspection records.[Results]During 2008-2011,28 440 febrile pneumonia cases were reported,there were 5 pneumonia cases with unknown cause,and 1 case was diagnosed with human avian influenza.In the 7 monitoring hospitals,cases that met the criterion were found in 2 hospitals,and 1 hospital reported it by direct network report system.Among 8 CDCs,6 have received the report of pneumonia cases with unknown cause and participated in treatment,and 4 have involved in the investigation when the cases had not reached the standard of suspected cases by telephone report.24.2% of clinicians and 40% of CDC doctors felt it was hard to identify the definition of pneumonia with unknown cause.52.1% and 54.2% of investigation objects respectively thought it was hard for the hospital and district-level expert group to make a confirmation or elimination of cases.No omission of cases was found by records inspection,and the fever clinics have been running at a bad condition.24.2% of clinicians thought the reports affected by administrative department.All hospitals thought that surveillance added much workload and 57.1% of hospitals considered it might disturb routine work.79.2% and 62.5% of investigation objects respectively believed that surveillance system can effectively discover and control the human avian influenza and SARS,as well as can help them to grasp the dynamic change of case number.[Conclusion]The surveillance system of pneumonia with unknown cause in Shenzhen City runs well.However,it is necessary to alter the monitoring method,such as carrying out sentinel hospital surveillance for severe pneumonia,releasing the monitoring results to medical institutions and society in time,and restarting the fever clinics under emergency status,to improve the surveillance quality.
Heat Transfer Model of Tri-section Rotary Air Preheater and Experimental Verification

The model and its experimental verification of tri-section rotary regenerator energy transport involving axial heat conduction are presented.Dimensionless governing equations containing integral parameters instead of partial parameters are derived to fit engineering applications.The model consists of six partial differential equations and three flow interfaces,numerical solutions of the model equations are presented with directly measured experimental data on a full scale operating air pre-heater,gas inlet and outlet temperature,flow rate,air leakage and flue gas composition of the rotary regenerator of 13.552 m diameter in a 600 MW boiler are measured either to give model inputs or to compare with the model computed temperature.Good agreement between theory and experiments show that the model can be used to predict the metal and gas temperature distribution in the air pre-heater,which are essential for choosing sealing clearance and air entrance temperature,the former relies on thermoelastic deformation calculation of the radial plate in rotary regenerator,the latter ensures safety operating temperature of the metal.
Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight: A Confluence of Voluntary Self-Regulation and Shifting Policy Initiatives

Abstract Regulatory oversight of embryonic stem cell research has resulted from a diverse combination of oversight bodies and mechanisms. Federal regulation is largely confined to delineating which research activities are eligible for federal funding and the attendant conditions of such funding. Gaps left open by this limited federal role are filled by state legislatures and voluntary bodies such as the National Academy of Sciences. However, there exists no central authority to ensure consistency. In many ways, though the field has been subject to much political debate and a number of federal and state initiatives, executive orders, and regulations regarding public funding of the research, it historically has been, and continues to be, largely self-regulated. In fact, voluntary self-regulation may have been as influential in this sphere as the political environment in which the research developed.
The Gut Microbiome, Obesity, and Weight Control in Women’s Reproductive Health

The microbes residing in the human gut, referred to as the microbiome, are intricately linked to energy homeostasis and subsequently obesity. Integral to the origins of obesity, the microbiome is believed to affect not only health of the human gut but also overall health. This microbiome-obesity association is mediated through the process of energy extraction, metabolism, and cross talk between the brain and the gut microbiome. Host exposures, including diet, that potentially modify genetic predisposition to obesity and affect weight management are reviewed. The higher prevalence of obesity among women and recent evidence linking obesity during pregnancy with offspring health make this topic particularly relevant. Current limitations in microbiome research to address obesity and future advances in this field are described. Applications of this science with respect to applied nursing and overall health care in general are included, with emphasis on the reproductive health of women and their offspring.
Dependence of THz signals on carbon black compounding amount in vulcanized rubber

Dispersion of carbon black (CB) is one of the most important factor to keep better quality of rubber products. Our research group is developing evaluation methods using terahertz technology for rubber estimation during the product processes. In this paper, dependence of the THz signals on the CB compounding amount in vulcanized rubber is reported. It was found that both of the THz absorbance and THz reflectance were proportional to the CB concentration, however, at the higher CB amount, the THz absorbance did not obeyed relation of proportion, which suggests rather complicated THz transmission in vulcanized rubber.
The Rotor in Reaction-Diffusion Problems and in Sudden Cardiac Death

For many years it has been speculated that some forms of heart failure derive ultimately from the instigation of rotating waves in the excitable neuro-electric tissue of the ventricle. I show here that exactly such a peculiar event can easily arise by the action of a spatially graded perturbation on a nerve-like medium which has recently conducted a periodically recurrent wave. The arguments are only geometrical, computational, and heuristic, and they only establish appropriate initial conditions, without specifying conditions to guarantee persistence of the wave so initiated. However, a diversity of experimental examples encourage the belief that mathematical labors in this direction might be rewarded with a stability proof.
Sensory Evaluation of Enhanced Beef Strip Loin Steaks Cooked to 3 Degrees of Doneness

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of marbling level in combination with enhancement on beef palatability when strip loin steaks were cooked to 3 degrees of doneness. Consumer and trained sensory panelists evaluated strip steak palatability traits of 3 USDA quality grades: Prime, Low Choice, and Low Select. Additional strip loins from each grade were enhanced to 108% with a water, salt, and alkaline phosphate solution. Steaks from each treatment were cooked to 3 degrees of doneness (DOD; Rare: 60°C, Medium: 71°C, or Very Well-Done: 82°C). Consumer panelists rated all enhanced treatments similar (P > 0.05) for each palatability trait. Enhanced steaks had greater (P 0.05) for initial and sustained juiciness, myofibrillar tenderness, and overall tenderness and greater (P 0.05) among all enhanced treatments, and lower (P < 0.05) than non-enhanced Low Choice and Low Select treatments. Results from this study indicate marbling level has no impact on the palatability traits of enhanced strip loin steaks. Therefore, enhancement of higher valued, high marbled cuts does not provide additional palatability benefits over low marbled cuts, as enhancement does not provide an additive effect with marbling on beef eating quality.
Effects of Human–Structure Interaction from Seated Occupants on a Cantilevered Laboratory Test Structure

Vibration serviceability is an established design criterion for assembly-type structures to limit the vibration induced such that the structure’s occupants are not disturbed by such movement. Most current design guidance recommends the use of the dynamic properties of the empty structure in the dynamic response prediction. This guidance neglects the effects of human–structure interaction where the dynamic properties of the occupied structure are affected by the occupants. Experimental results from seated occupants on a cantilevered laboratory test structure are compared with analytical results obtained by modeling the occupants as an attached spring–mass–damper system. The cantilevered test structure was designed with variable supports to allow varied configurations with different natural frequencies. The experimental study includes various seated postures and group sizes on the test structure with various frequency configurations. The analytical modeling is performed using the modal parameters recommended by the Joint Working Group for passive occupants. A comparison of the resulting modal parameters of the occupied structure is presented and the results are discussed with respect to the estimation of the dynamic response of a structure for vibration serviceability assessment.
ANTIBODY DIVERSITY: AN ASSESSMENT

Four propositions are discussed. 1. Selection limits the variable regions expressed in the myeloma and normal pools of immunoglobulins. 2. Most antibody families have multiple variable genes in the germ line. 3. Hyper-variable regions are predicted by a germ line theory. 4. New and unexpected amino acid sequence patterns suggest that many mysteries of antibody genetics, evolution and control remain yet to be unraveled.
Chemical Synthesis of the Trichothecenes

That research in the trichothecene field is an area of intense interest cannot be disputed. In the years 1982 and 1983, there were more than 500 publications dealing with this subject, including more than 30 reviews. In addition, a comprehensive monograph has recently appeared (151). Virtually every aspect of the problem has been reviewed, including isolation and structure determination (8, 9, 70, 75, 81, 136), biological and biochemical studies (11, 39, 136, 155), toxicology (110, 154, 156), quantitative methods for determination (7, 108, 126, 153), and biosynthesis (35, 137). Efforts directed at the chemical synthesis of trichothecenes have received less attention (47, 112, 138, 141), primarily due to the relative scarcity of published material on the topic prior to 1980. However, since that time, more than ten total syntheses of naturally occuring trichothecenes have been reported, including some of the structurally more complex members of the family. The data base Federal Research in Progress reveals that for fiscal year 1982, there were nine research groups with U.S. government funding pursuing the chemical synthesis of trichothecenes. In light of this proliferation of synthetic work, the present review will concentrate on that area. One deviation from this plan will be an exhaustive compilation of known naturally occurring compounds with trichothecenoid structures. This listing will be an update of an earlier tabulation by Tamm (137) and will generally follow Tamm’s previous format.
Institutional investment patterns in gender-diverse firms

The authors examine the relationship between board gender diversity and institutional ownership. They find that firms with more gender diversity tend to have lower holdings of institutional ownersh...
The Recent Epidemic Spread of Zika Virus Disease

Zika virus (ZIKV) is one of the members of the Spondweni serocomplex within the genus Flavivirus of the family Flaviviridae. The virus was first isolated from a serum specimen from a sentinel non-human primate in the Zika forest of Uganda in 1947. ZIKV is transmitted by Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus in an urban cycle and maintained in a sylvatic cycle between Aedes mosquitoes and monkeys in Africa and Asia. Initially, the virus was thought to cause only mild and nonspecific clinical symptoms in humans. However, ZIKV became a serious public health concern in recent years due to an association with congenital malformation known as microcephaly in newborns as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome and other neurologic disorders in adults. The severe nature of complications of ZIKV infection have led to an urgent need for a safe and effective vaccine worldwide including Japan. The first large outbreak of disease caused by ZIKV infection was reported from the island of Yap, Micronesia in 2007. It was followed by outbreaks in French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Ester Island, and New Caledonia in 2013 and 2014. In 2015, ZIKV outbreak was reported in Brazil and has spread across the Latin America, and the Caribbean. The exact prevalence of ZIKV infection has not been reported because of the absence of a standardized protocol for differential diagnosis and its clinical resemblance to dengue virus and other flavivirus infections. In Japan, the first human case of ZIK fever, who developed illness soon after returning from French Polynesia, was reported in 2013, and until 2017, 20 imported cases were documented. Currently, research on ZIKV has progressed remarkably thus this article aims to review recent progress in virology, epidemiology, and pathology of ZIKV infection.
A Rose by Naming: How We May Learn How to Do It

Naming appears to be the source of the explosion in language development and involves the integration of the initially separate listener and speaker responses. This integration has a role in the development of reading, writing, and the following and construction of verbal algorithms that make types of complex human behavior possible. Considerable research has investigated the role of Naming in the emergence of derived relations. Recent research has also investigated the emergence of Naming itself. We describe these experiments and the experiences that function to induce Naming. We also describe evidence about preverbal developmental cusps that are foundational to the emergence of Naming and the evidence on its reinforcement sources. The isolation of the role of the environment in the emergence of Naming identifies stimuli that were said to be missing in accounts that were critical of Skinner's (1957) account of verbal behavior. These arguments purported that the phenomenon was not attributable to learning because of the “poverty of the stimulus.” Some of the relevant stimuli now appear to be identified.
Batch-Aware Unified Memory Management in GPUs for Irregular Workloads

While unified virtual memory and demand paging in modern GPUs provide convenient abstractions to programmers for working with large-scale applications, they come at a significant performance cost. We provide the first comprehensive analysis of major inefficiencies that arise in page fault handling mechanisms employed in modern GPUs. To amortize the high costs in fault handling, the GPU runtime processes a large number of GPU page faults together. We observe that this batched processing of page faults introduces large-scale serialization that greatly hurts the GPU's execution throughput. We show real machine measurements that corroborate our findings. Our goal is to mitigate these inefficiencies and enable efficient demand paging for GPUs. To this end, we propose a GPU runtime software and hardware solution that (1) increases the batch size (i.e., the number of page faults handled together), thereby amortizing the overheadName time, and reduces the number of batches by supporting CPU-like thread block context switching, and (2) takes page eviction off the critical path with no hardware changes by overlapping evictions with CPU-to-GPU page migrations. Our evaluation demonstrates that the proposed solution provides an average speedup of 2x over the state-of-the-art page prefetching. We show that our solution increases the batch size by 2.27x and reduces the total number of batches by 51% on average. We also show that the average batch processing time is reduced by 27%.
The Use of Social Media Analytics to Investigate Consumer Behavior and Build Marketing Strategies. Sentimental Analysis Used to Mitigate Risk Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Organizations will capitalize on social media marketing with the use of analytics. Big data allows entities to study various facets of consumer behavior and develop marketing strategies. The use of analytics gives businesses a direct competitive advantage over those who do not use such tools. The use of sentimental analysis curtailed risk management issues as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the masses.
Tunable electroconductive decellularized extracellular matrix hydrogels for engineering human cardiac microphysiological systems

Cardiomyocytes differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) offer tremendous potential when used to engineer human tissues for drug screening and disease modeling; however, phenotypic immaturity reduces assay reliability when translating in vitro results to clinical studies. To address this, we have developed hybrid hydrogels comprised of decellularized porcine myocardial extracellular matrix (dECM) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to provide a more instructive microenvironment for proper cell and tissue development. A tissue-specific protein profile was preserved post-decellularization, and through the modulation of rGO content and degree of reduction, the mechanical and electrical properties of the hydrogels could be tuned. Engineered heart tissues (EHTs) generated using dECM-rGO hydrogel scaffolds and hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes exhibited significantly increased twitch forces and had increased expression of genes that regulate contractile function. Improvements in various aspects of electrophysiological function, such as calcium-handling, action potential duration, and conduction velocity, were also induced by the hybrid biomaterial. dECM-rGO hydrogels could also be used as a bioink to print cardiac tissues in a high-throughput manner, and these tissues were utilized to assess the proarrhythmic potential of cisapride. Action potential prolongation and beat interval irregularities was observed in dECM-rGO tissues at clinical doses of cisapride, indicating that the enhanced electrophysiological function of these tissues corresponded well with a capability to produce physiologically relevant drug responses.
Comparison between partial and full coverage repair in massive rotator cuff tears. A minimum five year follow-up

Abstract Background Massive rotator cuff surgical management can be challenging. Controversy exists in the literature regarding the potential benefit of full head coverage for arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. The purpose of this study was to compare re-tear rate and clinical outcome of arthroscopic repair of massive rotator cuff tears in relation to the achievement of full humeral head footprint coverage or not. Hypothesis We hypothesized that there will be no difference in re-tear rate and clinical outcomes between full and partial coverage rotator cuff repairs. Patients and methods A retrospective analysis of all adult patients with a massive rotator cuff tear who underwent arthroscopic repair with a minimum five years follow-up was performed. Outcomes analyzed included re-tear rate, the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) Shoulder Score, and the Penn Shoulder Score. Correlation and subgroup analyses were performed in order to evaluate whether age, symptom duration, tear size, coverage percentage, and fatty infiltration had any effect in outcome. Results The average ASES score was 76.3 ± 25.2, and average Penn Shoulder Score was 75.8 ± 23.1 at 7.9 years mean follow-up in 27 patients analyzed. Re-tear rate was similar between full and partial footprint coverage repair with 2 versus 4 failures, respectively (p = 0.64). ASES and Penn Shoulder scores were 84.2 and 83.7 for full rotator cuff repair versus 70.6 and 71.1, for partial coverage repair (p = 0.20 and p = 0.22, respectively). The percentage of head coverage and the tear size were both found to be significantly correlated with outcome, with coefficient of determination R2 of 0.40 and 0.217, respectively, while a global fatty degeneration index GFDI Discussion No difference in failure rate and functional outcome was detected between full and partial coverage rotator cuff repair. The size of the tear and fatty infiltration were inversely correlated with functional score while the percentage of coverage achieved was positively correlated with favorable outcome. Level of Evidence III; retrospective comparative study.
Geography’s Position in Education Today

The objective of this article is to assess the position of geography in the United States by examining the educational organizations that serve geography. Specifically, I detail four pieces of evid...
Network Performance Adaptation in Wireless Control with Reinforcement Learning

We consider the problem of controlling a series of control systems, such as industrial robots, over a shared wireless channel. The wireless communication medium is prone to packet loss and latency and can lead to instability or task failure if the link is not kept sufficiently reliable. However, maintaining high reliability and low latency at all times is limited by available resources such as system bandwidth and time resource. We therefore propose a control-adaptive network performance framework in which the target reliability or latency in the wireless communications is dependent upon control system state information. We formulate a constrained Markov decision process that minimizes a cost of network performance as a means of maximizing resource efficiency, while maintaining control specific constraints such as task completion. We utilize deep reinforcement learning techniques to train a target reliability policy without need for dynamical models and demonstrate its effectiveness in learning resource-efficient policies in a robotic conveyor belt task.
Context Matters: Differing Implications of Motivation and Help-Seeking in Educational Technology

Educational technology (EdTech) designers need to ensure population validity as they attempt to meet the individual needs of all students. EdTech researchers often have access to larger and more diverse samples of student data to test replication across broad demographic contexts as compared to either the small-scale experiments or the larger convenience samples often seen in experimental psychology studies of learning. However, the source of typical EdTech data (i.e., online learning systems) and concerns related to student privacy often limit the opportunity to collect demographic variables from individual students—the sample is diverse, but the researcher does not know how that diversity is realized in individual learners. In order to ensure equitable student outcomes, the EdTech community should make greater efforts to develop new methods for addressing this shortcoming. Recent work has sought to address this issue by investigating publicly-available, school-level differences in demographics, which can be useful when individual-level variation may be difficult or impossible to acquire data for. In this study, we use this approach to better understand the role of social factors in students’ self-regulated learning and motivation-related behaviors, behaviors whose effectiveness appears to be highly variable between groups. We demonstrate that school-level demographics can be significantly associated with the relationships between students’ help-seeking behavior, motivation, and outcomes (math performance and math self-concept). We do so in the context of reasoning mind, an intelligent tutoring system for elementary mathematics. By studying the conditions under which these relationships vary across different demographic contexts, we challenge implicit assumptions of generalizability and provide an evidence-based commentary on future research practices in the EdTech community surrounding how we consider diversity in our field’s investigations.
Explaining Regeneration: Cells and Limbs as Complex Living Systems, Learning From History.

Regeneration has been investigated since Aristotle, giving rise to many ways of explaining what this process is and how it works. Current research focuses on gene expression and cell signaling of regeneration within individual model organisms. We tend to look to model organisms on the reasoning that because of evolution, information gained from other species must in some respect be generalizable. However, for all that we have uncovered about how regeneration works within individual organisms, we have yet to translate what we have gleaned into achieving the goal of regenerative medicine: to harness and enhance our own regenerative abilities. Turning to history may provide a crucial perspective in advancing us towards this goal. History gives perspective, allowing us to reflect on how our predecessors did their work and what assumptions they made, thus also revealing limitations. History, then, may show us how we can move from our current reductionist thinking focused on particular selected model organisms towards generalizations about this crucial process that operate across complex living systems and move closer to repairing our own damaged bodies.
Immunological Studies with Tobacco Mosaic Virus Protein: Differential Activation of B Cell Subpopulations

Currently, information concerning the activation requirements of B lymphocytes in different stages of differentiation is limited. It has been known for some time that resting B lymphocytes at different levels of maturation may not respond to the same stimuli in the same way. Activation of immunocompetent lymphocytes from adult animals by T-dependent (TD) antigens can lead to antibody production and memory whereas stimulation of immature lymphocytes (neonatal) may under identical conditions result in tolerance.1–4 Furthermore, it appears that primary and memory B cells do not exhibit the same requirements for activation under certain experimental conditions. Although some of these results may be explained by quantitative differences, there is evidence for qualitative differences as well.5–9
Does laminar position determine the receptive field properties of cortical neurons? A study of corticotectal cells in area 17 of the normal mouse and the reeler mutant

The neocortex of the reeler (rl) mutant mouse develops abnormally; as a result, the orderly arrangement of cells in laminae containing neurons of similar size and configuration is severely disrupted. The reeler mutant thus offers an opportunity to study the role played by laminar position in establishing the interneuronal connections of the cortex. Since the receptive field properties of neurons in the primary visual cortex (area 17) are determined by these complex interconnections, a study of receptive field properties provides a useful way to test whether functionally important connections are altered by abnormal cell position. We chose the corticotectal (CT) cells of area 17 for this analysis because they have distinctive receptive field properties and can be identified positively by antidromic stimulation with electrodes in the superior colliculus. In addition, CT cells are located in a single lamina (layer V) in the visual cortex of normal mice, but are distributed from surface to white matter in the reeler visual cortex. We characterized the receptive fields of identified CT cells in area 17 of normal mice and reeler mutants and studied several properties of these cells quantitatively. Corticotectal cells in the visual cortex of the normal mouse have high rates of spontaneous activity and large receptive fields that are neither oriented nor directional; they respond to moving stimuli over a wide range of stimulus velocities, have high peak velocity sensitivities, and show very little spatial summation. Corticotectal cells in the visual cortex of the reeler mutant do not differ significantly in these characteristics, although CT cells with extremely large receptive fields are encountered somewhat more frequently in reeler cortex. These findings indicate that the detailed connections which determine the receptive field properties of CT cells are properly established in the reeler mutant mouse despite the markedly abnormal positions of CT cells in reeler visual cortex.
Nonlinear Flexural Vibrations of a Rotating Myklestad Beam

T equations of motion of a rotating cantilevered blade vibrating in a plane other than the one perpendicular to the plane of rotation are nonlinear because of the couplings due to Coriolis forces. Carnegie used a variational approach to derive the partial differential equations of motion of a pretwisted cantilevered blade mounted on the periphery of a rotating disk. His equations include the effects of rotatory inertia, torsion, bending and Coriolis accelerations, but are complicated and only solvable for very special cases. Rao and Carnegie considered a uniform, untwisted, rotating cantilevered blade vibrating in its plane of rotation and simplified the problem considerably by ignoring the shear deformation and rotatory inertia effects. The fundamental nonlinear mode shape was obtained by the Ritz method. The purpose of this Note is to generate the nonlinear modes of a nonuniform rotating blade performing inplane vibrations by resorting to a Myklestad beam which is referred to here as a discrete model described in Ref. 3.
Heavy Truck Rollover Crashworthiness: Testing Methods and Development of Recommended Practices

Testing methods and SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Recommended Practices were developed for evaluating both the ability of a truck cab to resist roof loading in a rollover environment and the occupant kinematics and injury potential for occupants in a 90-degree heavy truck rollover. In evaluating a heavy truck roof for its ability to resist rollover loads, real-world accident data was analyzed and full-scale tests were performed to define the rollover environment. It was found that testing methods currently in place for passenger cars were not sufficient to represent the loading mechanisms that typically occur in a heavy truck rollover. An SAE Recommended Practice (RP) for both dynamic and quasi-static roof load testing was developed, and tests were conducted to evaluate their use. To evaluate heavy truck occupant safety in a 90-degree rollover, independent of roof intrusion, a rollover simulator was developed. The simulator allows occupant restraints, seats, and interiors to be evaluated for injury mechanisms. An RP for the full cab rollover simulator was written and evaluated with a series of tests. (A) For the covering abstract see ITRD E106540.
Learning of time templates from system observation

The use of time templates for discrete event fault monitoring in automated manufacturing systems gives a simple and versatile method of fault monitoring. However, ascertaining the correct knowledge of the time templates for the system is a significant issue. In this paper the authors present a simple online algorithm for the generation of templates by listening to observations corresponding to the correct operation of multiple concurrent, possibly identical, processes. Event pairs pertaining to individual concurrent process instances are segregated and the timing relationships between the events in each pair are determined. The paper also verifies several useful properties of the template sets thus determined.
Requirement of active human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase enzyme for productive infection of human T-lymphoid cells

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase enzyme exhibits significant amino acid sequence conservation with integrase proteins of other retroviruses. We introduced specific amino acid substitutions at a number of the conserved residue positions of recombinant HIV-1 integrase. Some of these substitutions resulted in proteins which were not able to be purified in the same manner as the wild-type enzyme, and these were not studied further. The remaining mutant enzymes were assessed for their abilities to perform functions characteristic of the integrase protein. These included specific removal of the terminal dinucleotides from oligonucleotide substrates representative of the viral U5-long terminal repeat, nonspecific cleavage of oligonucleotide substrates, and mediation of the strand transfer (integration) reaction. Substitution at position 43, within the protein's zinc finger motif region, resulted in an enzyme with reduced specificity for cleavage of the terminal dinucleotide. In addition, a double substitution of aspartic acid and glutamine for valine and glutamic acid, respectively, at positions 151 and 152 within the D,D(35)E motif region rendered the integrase protein inactive for all of its functions. The introduction of this double substitution into an infectious HIV-1 provirus yielded a mutant virus that was incapable of productively infecting human T-lymphoid cells in culture.
Belonging, Believing, and Group Behavior: Religiosity and Voting in American Presidential Elections

The authors examine the effect of religiosity on intended and recalled voter turnout in presidential elections. They argue that the trade-off between time spent in worship and time spent in political activities, specifically voter turnout, is strongest for mainline Protestants, weaker for Catholics, and nonexistent for evangelical Protestants. Evangelical Protestants increasingly recognize the connection between their religious beliefs and politics, with the result that they have formed a habit of voting. This argument has important implications for American voting behavior literature. Going beyond partisan voting patterns, the findings demonstrate that evangelical Protestants manifest unique patterns as they relate to turnout patterns.
Inheritance of freezing resistance in tuber-bearing Solanum species : Evidence for independent genetic control of nonacclimated freezing tolerance and cold acclimation capacity

Frost or winter survival is regarded as a complex trait with polygenic inheritance. Two major components of this survival in crop plants are freezing tolerance in the nonacclimated state and cold acclimation capacity. To date researchers have not distinguished the two components as separate heritable traits. The mode of inheritance of these two traits was investigated in F1 and backcross populations of two wild diploid potato species (Solanum commersonii and Solanum cardiophyllum) exhibiting extremes of freezing tolerance and acclimation capacity. Precise assessment of these two traits allowed distinction of small but significant differences among genotypes. The two traits were not correlated in segregating populations, suggesting independent genetic control. Analyses of generation means indicate that all of the variance for acclimation capacity and a major proportion of the variance for the nonacclimated freezing tolerance can be best explained by an additive-dominance model with both traits being partially recessive. Recovery of parental phenotypes in limited populations suggests that both traits are controlled by relatively few genes. To our knowledge this is the first study demonstrating independent genetic control of the two main traits associated with frost or winter survival. Our results show that it should be possible to incorporate these traits from wild germ plasm into cultivated crop plants by independent selection. These results help explain the lack of progress in improving winter survival through field selection. Furthermore, our study demonstrates relative simplicity of the inheritance of cold acclimation, thus providing avenues for understanding the link between biochemical and genetic aspects of low-temperature stress in crop plants.
DNA double-strand breaks induced by decay of (123)I-labeled Hoechst 33342: role of DNA topology.

Purpose: To determine double-strand-break (DSB) yields produced by decay of minor-groove-bound 123I-labeled Hoechst 33342 (123IEH) in supercoiled (SC) and linear (L) forms of pUC19 DNA, to compare strand-break efficiency of 123IEH with that of 125IEH, and to examine the role of DNA topology in DSB induction by these Auger electron emitters.Materials and methods: Tritium-labeled SC and L pUC19 DNA were incubated with 123IEH (0–10.9 MBq) at 4°C. After 123I had completely decayed (10 days), samples were analyzed on agarose gel, and single-strand-break (SSB) and DSB yields were measured.Results: Each 123I decay in SC DNA produces a DSB yield of 0.18 ± 0.01. On the basis of DSB yields for 125IEH (0.52 ± 0.02 for SC and 1.62 ± 0.07 for L, reported previously) and dosimetric expectations, a DSB yield of ∼0.5 (3 × 0.18) per 123I decay is expected for L DNA. However, no DSB are observed for the L form, even after ∼2 × 1011 decays of 123I per μg DNA, whereas a similar number of 125I decays produces DSB in ∼40% of L...
Partial vs. general equilibrium analysis and choice of functional form: Implications for policy modeling

Abstract In formulating empirically tractable, economywide models, researchers are often forced to employ “convenient” functional forms. These forms embody restrictive maintained hypotheses. Alternatively, flexible functional forms may be utilized in a partial equilibrium setting. Estimation and incorporation of flexible functions into computable general equilibrium models is considerably more demanding of research resources. Assuming that shortcuts will continue to be necessary for researchers attempting to respond to current policy problems, this paper compares these two alternatives. Specifically, a general equilibrium model for New York State is employed to evaluate the relative performances of flexible partial equilibrium models and their more restrictive, general equilibrium counterpart. In the particular application considered, the former approach is found to dominate the latter.
Alternative curing methods of UV curable automotive clearcoats

Alternative methods for curing UV curable clearcoats were characterized using confocal Raman microscopy, nano-scratch measurements, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). Clearcoats were cured using a xenon flash lamp, fluorescent UV bulbs with various spectral power distributions, and a microwave powered lamp. Raman spectroscopy was used to track acrylate double bond conversion of the clearcoat after each method of curing. DMTA was used to correlate double bond conversion to crosslink density. Nano-scratch results showed scratch resistance to be sensitive to the surface cure state. A combination of the flash and fluorescent methods produced a degree of cure similar to that of the microwave powered lamp. Scratch tests showed that clearcoats with a similar surface cure state achieved using different curing methods effectively had equivalent scratch properties.
Thrombopoietin in acute liver failure

Thrombopoietin (TPO) is the primary regulator of platelet production. TPO is produced in the liver and levels are low in patients with cirrhosis. Because thrombocytopenia is common in patients with acute liver failure (ALF), we measured TPO concentrations (normal TPO range, 31 to 136 pg/mL) in 51 patients with ALF to determine if low levels were associated with thrombocytopenia. TPO levels from hospital day 2 were elevated in 43% of patients, normal in 47%, and decreased in 10% of patients. Levels were higher in acetaminophen-induced than in non-acetaminophen-induced ALF, 160 (12 to 549) pg/mL versus 73 (18 to 563) pg/mL, respectively, P =.031. TPO levels did not correlate with platelet count and were not related with survival or infection. We analyzed daily TPO levels for the first week of hospitalization in 12 patients with acetaminophen-induced ALF and observed a gradual increase from a median admission level of 50 (5 to 339) pg/mL to a median peak level of 406 (125 to 1,081) pg/mL occurring on day 5 (3 to 6). Platelets were reduced in 11 of the 12 patients with a nadir platelet count of 52 (19 to 156) x 10(9) cells/L occurring on day 5.5 (1 to 6). The peak TPO level did not correlate with the nadir platelet count (P =.43). In conclusion, the normal inverse relationship between platelet count and TPO levels was not observed in ALF. Despite severe hepatic dysfunction, serum TPO levels were initially normal and increased during hospitalization in acetaminophen-induced ALF, but did not prevent the development of thrombocytopenia.
Information processing and innovative choice

In this paper we examine how the information processing of subjects who make an innovative choice (“innovators”) differs from that of subjects who make a noninnovative choice (“noninnovators”). The task involves selection of an alternative within a range of prerated product category innovativeness. We propose that subjects who seek 1) impersonal/uncontrollable sources, 2) higher levels of information, 3) more detailed (versus summary) data, and 4) noncomparative (versus comparative) data are more likely to make innovative choices. The research method is a computerized process tracing experiment utilizing Search Monitor (Brucks 1988).
Data-based analysis of winner-loser models of hierarchy formation in animals.

We review winner-loser models, the currently popular explanation for the occurrence of linear dominance hierarchies, via a three-part approach. (1) We isolate the two most significant components of the mathematical formulation of three of the most widely-cited models and rigorously evaluate the components’ predictions against data collected on hierarchy formation in groups of hens. (2) We evaluate the experimental support in the literature for the basic assumptions contained in winner-loser models. (3) We apply new techniques to the hen data to uncover several behavioral dynamics of hierarchy formation not previously described. The mathematical formulations of these models do not show satisfactory agreement with the hen data, and key model assumptions have either little or no conclusive support from experimental findings in the literature. In agreement with the latest experimental results concerning social cognition, the new behavioral dynamics of hierarchy formation discovered in the hen data suggest that members of groups are intensely aware both of their own interactions as well as interactions occurring among other members of their group. We suggest that more adequate models of hierarchy formation should be based upon behavioral dynamics that reflect more sophisticated levels of social cognition.
Gonadal hormones are responsible for maintaining the integrity of spine synapses in the CA1 hippocampal subfield of female nonhuman primates.

It is well established that gonadal hormonal manipulation results in morphologic changes in the rat hippocampus. The great similarities in the hippocampal formation between nonhuman primates and humans, as well as the differences in this structure between humans and rats, led to this investigation of whether hormonal manipulation in female subhuman primates influences pyramidal cell spine density in the CA1 hippocampal subfield, as it does in rats. African green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) were ovariectomized, and half of the animals received estrogen replacement therapy. One month later, the monkeys were killed. In the first group of experiments, pyramidal cell spines were analyzed on Golgi-impregnated material taken from the CA1 hippocampal subfield. In the second experiment, unbiased electron microscopic stereologic calculations were performed to estimate the volumetric density of spine synapses in the same hippocampal subfield. Analysis of the Golgi-impregnated material showed that the spine density of CA1 pyramidal cells is much lower in the ovariectomized animals than in ovariectomized and estrogen-replaced monkeys. The unbiased, electron microscopic, stereologic calculation confirmed the light microscopic observation. The volumetric density (number of spine synapses/μ m3) of spine synapses was significantly lower (43.33%) in the ovariectomized animals than in ovariectomized and estrogen-replaced monkeys. Because the hippocampus is involved in specific mnemonic functions, this observation highlights the importance of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal conditions. J. Comp. Neurol. 447:34–42, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Cortisol Reactivity Is Positively Related to Executive Function in Preschool Children Attending Head Start

This study examined relations among cortisol reactivity and measures of cognitive function and social behavior in 4- to 5-year-old children (N = 169) attending Head Start. Saliva samples for the assay of cortisol were collected at the beginning, middle, and end of an approximately 45-min testing session. Moderate increase in cortisol followed by down-regulation of this increase was positively associated with measures of executive function, self-regulation, and letter knowledge but not with measures of receptive vocabulary, emotion knowledge, or false belief understanding. Regression analysis indicates that executive function accounted for the association between cortisol reactivity and self-regulation and letter knowledge.
On the reduced susceptibility to stress whitening behavior of melt intercalated polybutene-clay nanocomposites during tensile straining

The paper describes the micro-scale response, mechanism, and susceptibility to stress whitening during tensile straining of polybutene-5 wt% clay nanocomposites, and its comparison with unreinforced neat polybutene utilizing electron microscopy observations. Polybutene-5 wt% clay nanocomposites exhibit increased tensile modulus, significantly reduced susceptibility to stress whitening, and are characterized by lower optical gray level in the plastically deformed stress whitened zone. Furthermore, crystallization studies suggest that the reinforcement mineral increases the rate of nucleation, accelerating the crystallization process. The reinforcement of polybutene with 5 wt% clay alters the primary micromechanism of stress whitening from stress relaxation of the 'fish-scale psiloma' containing tiny voids and subsequent transformation to ridge tearing at high plastic strains to nucleation and growth of large size voids in polybutene-clay nanocomposites. The final fracture in neat polybutene occurs by a mixed mode (brittle and fibrillation), while brittle deformation is the predominant fracture mode in polybutene-5 wt% clay nanocomposites.
Pathophysiology of neonatal resuscitation: application in a global context

Despite the adoption of evidence-based guidelines for neonatal resuscitation, formulated with international consensus, the process of resuscitating a newly born infant remains a uniquely local activity. Variations in the physical environment, cultural and medical beliefs, and available resources mediate significant difference in practices worldwide. Yet, the universal nature of the physiology surrounding birth, and its disturbances, provides a common basis for reference. Recognition of the importance of assistance available at the moment of birth, management of the thermal environment, and establishment of adequate ventilation is nearly universal. Differences in specific practices arise from local differences in the risks and challenges to perinatal health, which, in turn, stem from the environment or the available resources. Valuable information can be learned through comparison and evaluation of different techniques. In such a way, the evidence base for neonatal resuscitation can be strengthened and infants around the world can share in the benefits realized.