cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Understanding the Social Determinants of Cancer: Challenges, Opportunities, and Pathways to Success

Both conceptually and practically, the construct of social determinants of health is both complex and multidimensional. Social determinants of health exert influence across the cancer continuum from prevention through survivorship. Factors such as housing status and conditions, environmental exposures, educational attainment, employment opportunities, and access to high-quality health care not only increase the likelihood of cancer, but also dictate the quality and length of survival following a cancer diagnosis. Health literacy influences the extent to which patients and caregivers can play an active role in healthcare decisions and the financial burden associated with cancer treatment further exacerbates the influence of certain social determinants.
Emotional Insecurity and Child Health: Implications and Future Directions

This chapter describes the research and clinical implications of Davies, Sturge-Apple, and Martin’s (Chap. 5) emotional security formulation (EST-R) for child health. Research priorities include the following: (1) identify key features of family discord that affect emotional security and child health outcomes, (2) clarify the specific processes by which emotional insecurity affects child health risks and outcomes, (3) clarify the timing and impact of family discord and emotional insecurity on age-specific developmental competencies that affect child health outcomes, (4) identify key and protective factors that influence the impact of family discord on child health, and (5) clarify the implications for preventive interventions that address specific risks associated with emotional insecurity for various child health outcomes. A range of intervention strategies can be targeted to the functional consequences of family discord on the social defense, stress, or behavioral systems.
Leadership in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria: A study of the perceptions of its impact on the acquired leadership skills of expatriate Nigerian postgraduates

The primary trouble befalling Nigeria and its Niger Delta has been described as a failure of leadership. At various periods during the late 20 th and early 21 st centuries, Nigeria endured a bloody civil war and years of repressive military rule. Violence in the Niger Delta region, widespread brain drain, and frequent strikes that disrupted academic calendars at universities had serious ramifications for the region's educational system. This study explores former students' perceptions of perceived leadership qualities seen in educational leaders at universities in the Niger Delta and how those qualities impact the acquired leadership skills of expatriate Nigerian postgraduates. Participants were Nigerian postgraduates living in Africa, Europe, and North America. Twenty-three men and 4 women took part in the study. Purposeful snowballing sampling procedures was used to select the sample. A mixed method design was used to collect data through structured electronic-mail surveys, and data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis procedures. Fifteen areas of influence emerged from expatriates' perceptions of these educational leaders. Areas of influence were categorized into 4 major constructs: Leading qualities, Perceived produced impacts, Perceived barriers, and Responses. Expatriates perceived few negative leading qualities but perceived too many real negative impacts that posed barriers to their acquired leadership skills. They are aware that these perceived barriers could be social, economic, environmental, and ethnic. These perceived impacts and barriers have generated fear in respondents. Anger appeared to be postgraduates' most common response to negative leadership qualities of educational leaders, while restlessness, associated with desire for effective leadership in the region appeared to be a common attitude among respondents. Because educational leadership has tremendous impact on the lives of the country's postgraduates, and in light of increasing reports of "brain drain" from the region, Nigeria's educational leadership should be researched from every possible angle. A new theoretical model of perceptions of leadership qualities should be the focus of future research as Nigerian expatriates examine their own leadership qualities and, eventually, put them to use.
Modelling Critical Node Attacks in MANETs

MANETs (mobile ad hoc networks) operate in a self-organised and decentralised way. Attacks against nodes that are highly relied to relay traffic could result in a wide range of service outage. A comprehensive model that could enhance the understanding of network behaviour under attacks is important to the design and construction of resilient self-organising networks. Previously, we modelled MANETs as an aggregation of time-varying graphs into a static weighted graph, in which the weights represent link availability of pairwise nodes. Centrality metrics were used to measure node significance but might not always be optimal. In this paper, we define a new metric called criticality that can capture node significance more accurately than centrality metrics. We demonstrate that attacks based on criticality have greater impact on network performance than centrality-based attacks in real-time MANETs.
Group C streptococcal endocarditis: Case report and review of the literature

Human infections due to group C streptococci are rare. We describe here a patient with endocarditis caused by this organism. A review of 16 other cases of group C streptococcal endocarditis reported in the literature suggests that this organism has a high potential for attachment to and destruction of normal heart valves. Major emboli to vital organs are frequently observed and the mortality has been high. Synergistic combinations of penicillin and an aminoglycoside appear to result in lower morbidity as compared to penicillin used alone. Early valve replacement may reduce the mortality in this extremely serious infection.
The internalist character and evidentialist implications of Plantingian defeaters

Dans son livre Warranted christian belief, Alvin Plantinga suggere l'existence de deux contraintes internes importantes au sein de l'epistemologie de la croyance religieuse externe. L'A. etudie ces contraintes ainsi que leurs implications evidentialistes.
Abelian gauge invariance of non-Abelian gauge theories

The ultraviolet asymptotic freedom of a large class of non-Abelian gauge theories enables the renormalization constants to be computed exactly in perturbation theory. This exact knowledge is used in investigating renormalized field equations of such theories. Many of them are shown to be invariant under an Abelian gauge transformation on the renormalized vector field. Consequences of the Abelian invariance are derived in the form of Ward-Takahashi identities for the renormalized proper vertices GAMMA/sup center-dot center-dot center-dot/sup ..mu..//sup center-dot center-dot center-dot//sub R/(...,q,...): q/sub ..mu../GAMMA/sup center-dot center-dot center-dot/sup ..mu..//sup center-dot center-dot center-dot//sub R/(...,q,...) = 0.
ESCA Analysis of PMDA-ODA Polyimide

PMDA-ODA polyimide gives rise to three major carbon is ESCA peaks: 285.0eV peak assigned to aromatic carbons not joined to nitrogen or oxygen, 286.1eV peak assigned to aromatic carbons joined to nitrogen or oxygen, and 288.8eV peak assigned to carbonyl carbons. The observed intensity of the 286.1eV peak is too high (about 2.5 fold) to be accounted for by the assignment given above. An alternative assignment is that the aromatic carbons in the PMDA ring are all rendered sufficiently electron deficient by the attached carbonyls that their carbon 1s peaks are shifted to the higher binding energy (286.1eV). This assignment has been confirmed by model compound studies and very good agreement with observed intensities was obtained.
Single-Period Location Models for Subsidized Housing: Tenant-Based Subsidies

Previous research has established a need for operations research models to help urban public housing authorities (PHAs) in the U.S. better manage the transition from the traditional model of high-rise public housing developments to tenant-based housing subsidies for market-rate rental units and project-based housing subsidies for scattered-site, low-density public housing. This paper presents the tenant-based subsidized housing location model (TSHLP) that is simplified and applied to a larger and more representative data set than has been done previously. Base-case and sensitivity analyses indicate that model solutions, which are approximations to a Pareto frontier of nondominated potential family allocations, give planners considerable flexibility in choosing alternative housing configurations that can satisfy the needs of various interest groups.
Preferential adsorption of nickel porphyrin to resin to increase asphaltene precipitation

Abstract This paper incorporates a multi-scale approach to evaluate the contribution of nickel porphyrin to the aggregation and precipitation of asphaltenes in a medium of solvent/precipitator. This study provides an in-depth understanding of the role of metalloporphyrins in the complex matrix of petroleum/bitumen. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and laboratory experiments were performed to examine the changes in physicochemical and rheological properties of a selected bituminous structure when doped with Ni octaethylporphyrin (NiOEP). Based on the DFT results, light and small assemblies of asphaltene-resin (in the limit of a single asphaltene molecule) are easily attracted to NiOEP. This in turn may help establish the role of a metal center as a nucleating agent promoting formation of small nanoaggregates in solution. Our experiment results using size-exclusion chromatography and rheological analysis of bitumen doped with NiOEP indicate an increased number of small-size nanoaggregates, as evidenced by a reduction in large molecular size (LMS) and a reduction in the polydispersity index. The latter is indicative of the formation of uniform particle size within the matrix after being doped with NiOEP. The modeling results further show that in larger nanoaggregates, asphaltene-asphaltene intermolecular interactions are too strong to allow an asphaltene core to be affected by NiOEP. In such cases, small resin molecules surrounding asphaltenes show preferential adsorption to NiOEP and take distance from the original nanoaggregates, reducing nanoaggregates’ overall size. This was in line with UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy of a NiOEP-doped solution of bitumen showing that at least 95% of the added NiOEP remained in the maltenes portion containing resin, while only a trace amount of NiOEP was found in the asphaltenes. Considering the role of resins in stabilizing asphaltene aggregates, their departure can promote precipitation of asphaltene nanoaggregates. The latter was also evidenced by TLC-FID chromatography measurement, showing a substantial increase in asphaltene extracts in NiOEP-doped specimens compared to a control sample.
Trypanosoma cruzi Neurotrophic Factor Facilitates Cardiac Repair in a Mouse Model of Chronic Chagas Disease.

Most patients acutely infected with Trypanosoma cruzi undergo short-term structural and functional cardiac alterations that heal without sequelae. By contrast, in patients whose disease progresses to chronic infection, irreversible degenerative chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) may develop. To account for the contrast between cardiac regeneration in high-parasitism acute infection and progressive cardiomyopathy in low-parasitism CCC, we hypothesized that T. cruzi expresses repair factors that directly facilitate cardiac regeneration. We investigated, as one such repair factor, the T. cruzi parasite-derived neurotrophic factor (PDNF), known to trigger survival of cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts and upregulate chemokine chemokine C-C motif ligand 2, which promotes migration of regenerative cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs). Using in vivo and in vitro models of Chagas disease, we tested whether T. cruzi PDNF promotes cardiac repair. Quantitative PCR and flow cytometry of heart tissue revealed that stem-cell antigen-1 (Sca-1+) CPCs expand in acute infection in parallel to parasitism. Recombinant PDNF induced survival and expansion of ex vivo CPCs, and intravenous administration of PDNF into naive mice upregulated mRNA of cardiac stem-cell marker Sca-1. Furthermore, in CCC mice, a 3-week intravenous administration of PDNF protocol induced CPC expansion and reversed left ventricular T-cell accumulation and cardiac remodeling including fibrosis. Compared with CCC vehicle-treated mice, which developed severe atrioventricular block, PDNF-treated mice exhibited reduced frequency and severity of conduction abnormalities. Our findings are in support of the novel concept that T. cruzi uses PDNF to promote mutually beneficial cardiac repair in Chagas disease. This could indicate a possible path to prevention or treatment of CCC.
Cueing the radical voter: The impact of economic, immigration and integration cues on public fear of the EU:

This article analyses the extent to which radical left parties (RLPs) and radical right parties (RRPs) invoke fear of the EU in their voters by cueing on the economic, immigration and integration d...
Evaluating the effect of 3D urban form on neighborhood land surface temperature using Google Street View and geographically weighted regression

Land surface temperature (LST) directly responds to incoming solar radiation and is strongly influenced by vertical urban structures, such as trees and buildings that provide shade. Conventional LST-planar land-cover assessments do not explicitly address the vertical dimension of the “urbanscape” and therefore do not capture the heterogeneity of solar radiation exposure of planar surfaces adequately. To fill this gap, this study compares and integrates novel spherical land-cover fractions derived from Google Street View (GSV) with the conventional planar land-cover fractions in estimating daytime and nighttime LST variations in the Phoenix metropolitan area, AZ. The GSV spherical dataset was created using big data and machine learning techniques. The planar land cover was classified from 1 m NAIP imagery. Ordinal least square (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) were used to assess the relationship between LST and urban form (spherical and planar fractions) at the block group level. Social-demographic variables were also added provide the most comprehensive assessment of LST. The GSV spherical fractions provide better LST estimates than the planar land-cover fractions, because they capture the multi-layer tree crown and vertical wall influences that are missing from the bird-eye view imagery. The GWR regression further improves model fit versus the OLS regression (R2 increased from 0.6 to 0.8). GSV and spatial regression (GWR) approaches improve the specificity of LST identified by neighborhoods in Phoenix metro-area by accounting for shading. This place-specific information is critical for optimizing diverse cooling strategies to combat heat in desert cities.
Health Status and Transitions in Cohabiting Relationships of American Young Adults

Objective This study examines whether individual health predicts cohabitors' union transitions to marriage in American young adults. Background Associations between health and subsequent marital transitions are well documented, but less is known about how health influences transitions of cohabiting relationships. As cohabitation has become a common relationship experience, understanding how health may influence cohabitors' union transitions is an important component of how health shapes relationship exposures more broadly. Method Data were taken from Waves III and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth), including the supplemental collection of relationship partners conducted during Wave III. Competing risk regressions for the transition of cohabiting unions to marriage were estimated in two samples: one of individuals and a smaller one of cohabiting couples with information from both partners. Results Healthier cohabiters are more likely to marry than are their less healthy counterparts, but only women's health is significantly associated with the transition to marriage. In the dyadic sample with information from both partners, the significant association between the female partner's health and the transition to marriage is robust to male partner characteristics, including health. Conclusion Health is an important predictor of cohabitation transitions in early adulthood, but these transitions may only be sensitive to the female partner's health.
Comparative Effectiveness of Direct Oral Anticoagulants and Warfarin for the Treatment of Left Ventricular Thrombus

Introduction Left ventricular (LV) thrombus is a complication of acute endomyocardial injury and chronic ventricular wall hypokinesis (e.g. dilated cardiomyopathy), resulting in increased risk of thromboembolic complications. Historically, observational studies support the general safety and efficacy of warfarin for this indication. To date, limited data exists regarding the use of the direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) for LV thrombus. Methods A retrospective cohort study utilizing electronic medical records was conducted from September 2012 - October 2018 at the University of Colorado Hospital System. Patients were included if they had any diagnosis of LV thrombus and received either a DOAC or warfarin within 90 days of diagnosis. The primary outcome was to determine the incidence of thromboembolic stroke in patients receiving a DOAC compared to warfarin. Secondary outcomes consisted of the composite incidence of thromboembolic events (stroke and systemic embolism), bleeding rates defined by the The Global Use of Strategies to Open Occluded Arteries (GUSTO) criteria, and blood product administration. Chi square test was used to analyze categorical variables and the student's t-test and Wilcoxon Rank Sum test for continuous data. All statistical analyses were conducted using SAS. Results A total of 949 patients met inclusion, of whom 180 (19%) received a DOAC and 769 (81%) warfarin. Of the DOAC cohort, 77 (41.6%) received rivaroxaban, 79 (42.7%) apixaban, and 29 (15.7%) dabigatran. For baseline demographic information, see table 1. For the primary endpoint of new onset thromboembolic stroke on or within 90 days of LV thrombus diagnosis, no difference existed between treatment groups (DOAC: 7.8% vs warfarin: 11.7%, p=0.524). When compared to warfarin, no difference existed in the composite of thromboembolic events (33.1% vs 30.6%, P=0.524, respectively) or in GUSTO bleeding (11.1% vs 7.8%, p=0.397, for DOAC vs. warfarin, respectively). However, more patients on warfarin received blood products compared to those taking a DOAC (25.8% vs 13.9%, p Conclusions Compared to warfarin, DOACs may be safe and efficacious for the treatment of LV thrombus, however further studies are warranted.
Rational Design of a Red Fluorescent Sensor for ALDH1A1 Displaying Enhanced Cellular Uptake and Reactivity

High aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) activity has emerged as a reliable marker for the identification of both normal and cancer stem cells. To facilitate the detection, molecular imaging, and sorting of stem cells, a green fluorescent probe based on the xanthene dye scaffold was recently developed. However, green dyes are less amenable to multicolor imaging because most commercial reagents are also green. Overcoming this limitation will enable the simultaneous tracking of multiple stem cell markers. Herein, we report the development of a red congener, red-AlDeSense. Through chemical tuning we were able to achieve excellent isoform selectivity and chemostability, a good turn on response, and enhanced cellular uptake and reactivity. Importantly, red-AlDeSense represents one of only a few turn-on sensors in the red region that use the d-PeT quenching mechanism. By employing red-AlDeSense and a green anti-CD44 antibody, we were able to demonstrate staining of these two stem cell markers is independent of one another in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells.
Stem Cells and Burn

Tremendous clinical advancement has been made in the last four decades in terms of treating burn victims. The authors discuss human umbilical cord-derived stem cells, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and adipose-derived stem cells.
The Cinematic Killer: Cameras and Peeping Tom

In Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom, cameras are delegated the role of antagonist. Cameras become the movie’s monsters, murdering women and their identities. These murders reflect flaws of and anxieties preoccupied with technological advancements in documentary film during the middle of the 20th century. The terror cameras cause in Peeping Tom showcases the danger in believing in an objective lens.
Diaspora Migrations: Brain Drain or Symbioses

According to the Migration Policy Institute, between 2011 and 2015, 48% of newly arrived immigrants to the USA were college graduates (Batalova and Fix in Immigrants and the New Brain Drain: Ways to Leverage Rising Educational Attainment. Migration Policy Institute, 2017). Further, reports suggest that many of the recent immigrants are skilled and professional workers in highly valued fields such as medicine, higher education, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The emigration of skilled and professional workers from across the world, especially from developing countries, is a phenomenon known as “brain drain.” Africans are a growing part of this extraordinary phenomenon. In the USA, Africans were documented to be the most highly educated and accomplished immigrant group (Anderson in African Immigrant Population in the U.S. Steadily Climbs. Pew Research Center, Washington, DC, 2015). Since the 1990s, about 20,000 skilled and professional African workers leave to the industrialized Western world annually (International Organization for Migration, n.d.). Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Ghana are the top emigre countries of skilled and professional workers. African educators, researchers, governments, both in the continent and in the diaspora, have expressed great concerns over the brain drain phenomenon. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa declares that “the emigration of African professionals to the West is one of the greatest obstacles to Africa’s development” (“Brain Drain in Africa: Facts and Figures”, n.d.). For decades, there has been no shortage of scholarship, debates, and analysis of Africa’s brain drain phenomenon. Arthur (Invisible Sojourners: African Immigrant Diaspora in the United States. Praeger, Westport, CT, 2010) writes that the brain drain of Africa’s skilled and professional class has become the “epicenter of national and international discourse” (36). For the most part, the brain drain discourse has focused on the negative effects—the impoverishment of the continent due to the loss of human capital. Recently, the discourse is shifting toward recognizing its net gain. In this chapter, I examine the question: In today’s changing times, is African migration to the Western world a brain drain or a symbiosis? I examine the mutually beneficial relationship of the “brain drain” and “brain gain.” As a scholar and teacher educator for two and half decades in US academy, I will approach the chapter both from personal and professional perspectives. In particular, I will highlight Africans’ transnationalized lives in the diaspora. I will examine the opportunities and the mutual benefits to connect and maintain ties with the homeland and the sharing of resources. I will also examine the cultural values and spirits of “Sankofa” and “Ubuntu” that imbue Africans in the Diaspora to return home and give back to their ancestral communities that laid the foundation for their success. Finally, I will discuss the various ways and engagements Africans in the Diaspora use to revert the brain drain to brain gain.
Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on hospitality industry: review of the current situations and a research agenda

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s economy was shut down almost overnight (UNWTO, 2020). The pandemic has confronted the hospitality industry with an unprecedented challenge. Strategies to f...
Impacts of Storicide II on internal feeders of Brown rice

Abstract Protectants applied to grain can reduce damage caused by insect feeding during storage. Although these protectants are effective against many external feeders, they may also reduce damage caused by internal feeders as they often interact with the exterior surface of the grain during their larval or adult stages to feed or oviposit. For this study, we investigated impacts of Storicide® II applied to brown rice on three different internal feeders: Rhyzopertha dominica (Fauvel), Sitophilus oryzae (L.), and Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier). We also investigated the effects of this protectant at three different temperatures and when it was combined with different percentages of untreated brown rice. Time-series clustering was also performed to determine whether treatments caused disruptions to the timing of progeny emergence. Overall, R. dominica was the most susceptible as mortality and knockdown were observed in mixtures containing 10% treated brown rice. In contrast, S. cerealella was the least susceptible as mixtures containing at least 50–75% treated brown rice were required to reduce progeny production. However, lowering the temperature to 22 °C did reduce the amount of treated brown rice required to reduce progeny emergence and also reduced the number of progeny that emerged synchronously, which would likely reduce mating and reduce population levels over time. Similar effects on progeny were observed for S. oryzae and R. dominica. Overall, these findings suggest that Storicide II can reduce population levels of internal feeders and that combining this protectant with cooler temperatures can provide additional protection.
The Timing of Asset Sales and Earnings Manipulations

This study presents an empirical examination of whether managers manipulate earnings through the timing of income recognition from disposal of long-lived assets and investments (hereafter assets). Since managers can often choose the period during which an asset will be sold, and since the principle of acquisition cost underlying the accounting valuation of assets implies that changes in the market value of an asset between acquisition and sale are reported in the period of sale, it follows that there are opportunities for managers to manipulate earnings through the timing of asset sales at relatively low cost. Two common explanations for earnings manipulations are examined: the earnings-smoothing and the debt-equity hypotheses. The earnings smoothing hypothesis predicts that earnings are manipulated to reduce fluctuations around some level that is considered normal for the firm. The debt-equity hypothesis suggests a positive relation between a firm's debt-equity ratio and managers' choice of earnings-enhancing activities. The findings are consistent with the timing of asset sales by managers so that the recognized income from these sales smooths intemporal earnings changes and mitigates accounting-based restrictions in bond covenants. The results also show that the earnings-smoothing and the debt-equity effects are incremental; after controlling for one effect the other still exists. Finally, sensitivity analysis — showing that these results are robust to specifications that consider asset sale levels, bonus plans, possible tax effects, and financial soundness — suggests that the findings are not attributable to misspecified statistical tests. The results of this study may be relevant to the ongoing debate about dropping the principle of acquisition cost underlying the accounting valuation of assets in favor of the principle of current cost. While the former is considered reliable, the latter is said to be vulnerable to earnings manipulations because net income is materially affected by management opinion on the sale values of the assets involved. The evidence in this study suggests that, despite its reliability, managers take advantage of the acquisition-cost principle to manipulate earnings. This should be considered when evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of acquisition-cost accounting relative to current-cost accounting.
Gravity without averaging

We present a gravitational theory that interpolates between JT gravity, and a gravity theory with a fixed boundary Hamiltonian. For this, we consider a matrix integral with the insertion of a Gaussian with variance $\sigma^2$, centered around a matrix $\textsf{H}_0$. Tightening the Gaussian renders the matrix integral less random, and ultimately it collapses the ensemble to one Hamiltonian $\textsf{H}_0$. This model provides a concrete setup to study factorization, and what the gravity dual of a single member of the ensemble is. We find that as $\sigma^2$ is decreased, the JT gravity dilaton potential gets modified, and ultimately the gravity theory goes through a series of phase transitions, corresponding to a proliferation of extra macroscopic holes in the spacetime. Furthermore, we observe that in the Efetov model approach to random matrices, the non-averaged factorizing theory is described by one simple saddle point.
Serotonergic-Dopaminergic Interactions: Implications for Hyper-Kinetic Disorders

The elucidation of the neurochemical basis of movement disorders is currently one of the most challenging and important preclinical research endeavors. One very promising area of investigation concerns the role of serotonin (5-HT) in the control of neuromotor as well as behavioral activities. As a putative neurotransmitter, 5-HT has been implicated in such diverse activities as sleep (Jouvet, 1969; Jouvet and Pujol, 1974), learned and approach behavior (Aprison and Hingtgen, 1970, 1972; Aprison et al., 1975), aggression (Valzelli, 1974), sexual behavior (Gessa and Tagliamonte, 1974), operant or goal-directed behavior (Stein and Wise, 1974) and temperature regulation (Feldberg and Myers, 1964). On the basis of their earlier pharmacological findings, Brodie and Shore (1957) postulated the existence of two opposing systems regulating various brain functions, one catecholaminergic and the other serotonergic. More recent studies, however, have indicated that the relationship between 5-HT and the catecholamines is most likely one of mutual interaction rather than antagonistic opposition (Samanin and Garattini, 1975).
Outcomes associated with anxiety and depression among men who have sex with men in Estonia

Abstract Background Evidence supports that gay, lesbian, and transgender populations are at increased risk for mental health problems. The current study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and related factors among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Estonia. This is the only known study of its type in the Eastern European region. Methods In 2013, an Internet-based survey was conducted among men who have sex with men, collecting data on socio-demographics, sexuality, drug and alcohol use, mental health, suicidality, and internalized homonegativity. Results 265 MSM completed the questionnaire (median age 31 years, 90% Estonian, 71% from the capital; 73% employed full-time, 42% with at least college education; 44% in a steady relationship; 72% gay, 23% bisexual; 23% reported illegal drug use in the last 12 months). One third met criteria for problem drinking and depressive symptoms with one quarter for anxiety symptoms. Suicidality was 44% reported lifetime suicidal thoughts and 11% with at least one suicide attempt. Limitations The study instruments, EST-Q and CAGE, only measure symptoms and are not diagnostic tests. A non-random sample which could possibly include persons with easier internet access. Self-reported data and cross-sectional study design are prone to issues with recall bias and temporality. Conclusions With demonstrated high rates of anxiety, depression, drinking, and drug use among MSM which is consistent with similar studies in Western countries, further research could help determine effective MSM focused interventions to address the broad spectrum of issues among MSM.
Bacterial inhibition of inflammatory responses via TLR-independent mechanisms.

Summary Identification of cellular processes modulated by microbial organisms that undermine and disarm mammalian host defences against bacterial invaders has been the focus of significant biomedical research. In this microreview we will illustrate the role of bacterial N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHL) as a strategy utilized by Gram-negative bacterial pathogens to enable colonization of the host through AHL-mediated inhibition of inflammation induced via innate immune receptor mechanisms. We will also highlight some of the signalling pathways in which the study of AHL-mediated effects on mammalian cells might lead to the discovery of global underlying principles linking inflammation and immunity to many chronic human diseases, including cancer and obesity.
Marital Prenups? A Look at CEO Severance Agreements

Some theoretical literature on firm-specific human capital investment suggests that severance contracts generate strong incentives for CEOs to ensure firm profitability, while the agency problem theory argues severance agreements are a less effective executive compensation measure. Using a unique sample of S&P500 CEO severance agreements between 1993 and 2007, I examine whether and how the existence and structure of severance agreements influence subsequent firm performance, CEO investment behavior, as well as CEO turnover likelihood. I show that while firms with severance agreements tend to perform worse than firms without severance agreements, the structure of severance agreements also makes a significant difference in performance. In particular, I find that firms with cash-only severance contracts underperform other firms that also include equity elements in the agreement. In addition, I find that severance agreements affect CEOs’ risk-taking behavior in that they encourage CEOs to overinvest in R&D. The findings are robust to controls for possible endogeneity concerns. Consistent with these findings I show in event study analysis that shareholders react negatively when firms award CEOs severance contracts and positively when firms cease to do so. Moreover, executives with severance contracts are more likely to be forced out of their firms. Results indicate that severance agreements, rather than promoting incentive alignment between CEOs and shareholders, actually exacerbate agency problems which lead to overinvestment and poor subsequent firm performance.
Effect of highly concentrated gels of sodium hyaluronate on early phases of regeneration in the transected and tubulized rat sciatic nerve

Silicone regeneration chambers prefilled with sodium hyaluronate (HA) gels of different molecular weight (MW) and at different concentrations were used to tubulize the transected rat sciatic nerve. After two weeks, the tissue cables bridging the severed nerve ends within the silicone tubes were examined. Low MW HA gels had no significant effect while high MW HA gels reduced the diameter of the growing bridges.
Self-calibration in robot manipulators

The development of fast recursive methods for computing manipulator inverse dynamics has made possible open loop control strategies. However, for these strategies to work, an accurate plant model is required. Two key components of the plant are frictional terms and link/load inertias. This paper shows how these components may be computed using force and moment sensing.
Saturation Mutagenesis reveals that GLU54 of Norovirus 3C-like Protease is not Essential for the Proteolytic Activity

The norovirus 3C-like protease is a member of the chymotrypsin-like serine protease superfamily. Previous characterization of its crystal structure has implicated the Glu54-His30-Cys139 triad in the catalysis. In the present study, the Glu54 residue of the protease was subjected to site-saturation mutagenesis, with the result that nearly half of the mutants retained the significant proteolytic activity. It was suggested that a carboxylate at position 54 was not essential for the activity. The in vitro assays of the proteolysis revealed that most of Glu54 mutants retained relatively high proteolytic activity. When the Glu54 mutation was combined with the Ser mutation of the Cys139 residue, a nucleophile, only the Asp54 and Gln54 mutations showed proteolytic activity comparable to that of the Ser139 single mutant, suggesting that a hydrogen bond between Glu54 and His30 was critical in the Ser139 background. These results suggested that the mechanism of the proteolysis by the wild-type norovirus 3C-like protease was different from that of typical chymotrypsin-like serine proteases.
Further evaluation of the reinforcing effects of the novel cocaine analog 2β-propanoyl-3β-(4-tolyl)-tropane (PTT) in rhesus monkeys

2β-Propanoyl-3β-(4-tolyl)-tropane (PTT) is a cocaine analog which has been shown in rhesus monkeys to have cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects and a long duration of action (>8 h), yet does not function as a reinforcer when substituted for cocaine in monkeys responding under a fixed-interval 5-min schedule (Nader et al. 1997). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the reinforcing effects of PTT under a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule and to determine if decreasing the inter-injection interval would influence the reinforcing effects of PTT. Male rhesus monkeys (n=3) were trained to respond under a multiple FR 30 food-drug-food schedule. When responding was stable, cocaine (0.003–0.3 mg/kg per injection) or PTT (0.001–0.03 mg/kg per injection) was available during the drug component for at least five consecutive sessions and until stable responding was observed. To investigate whether the inter-injection interval would influence PTT-maintained response rates, the time-out (TO) following PTT injections was reduced from 180 or 300 s to 10 s for at least five consecutive sessions. Cocaine-maintained response rates were characterized as an inverted-U shaped function of dose, with peak rates maintained by 0.03 mg/kg per injection cocaine. PTT (0.001–0.03 mg/kg per injection) maintained response rates significantly higher than rates maintained by the PTT vehicle, but significantly lower than cocaine-maintained response rates; PTT intake increased with dose. A reduction of the TO following PTT injections to 10 s did not alter PTT-maintained response rates or total session intake. Self-administered PTT was more potent than cocaine at decreasing food-maintained responding. These results suggest that for long-acting compounds like PTT, reinforcing effects are more likely to be observed when the drug is available under a ratio-based schedule, compared to an interval-based schedule.
Identification of the clathrin-binding domain of assembly protein AP-2.

The clathrin binding domain of the assembly protein AP-2 has been identified by proteolytically cleaving AP-2 into 2 discrete moieties, termed light and heavy mero-AP (LM-AP and HM-AP), and testing their ability to bind to clathrin assembled into cage structures or to clathrin trimers immobilized on Sepharose. The smaller product (LM-AP), which contains 20–40-kD fragments of the parent 100-kD polypeptides and which comprises two small appendages in the native AP-2 molecule, did not significantly interact with clathrin under either condition. In contrast, the HM-AP complex, which forms the larger central mass of the native AP-2 structure and contains uncleaved 50-kD and 16-kD polypeptides as well as 60–66-kD fragments of the parent 100-kD polypeptides, retained binding activity for both dissociated and assembled clathrin.
Relationship Between Anger Expression and Stress in Predicting Depression

In this study the authors examine the relationship between anger expression and stressful life events as predictors of depression among college students. Measures of anger expression, stressful life events, and depression were completed by 247 undergraduates. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that anger directed inward and stressful life events were significant orthogonal predictors of depression. Because anger directed inward and stressful life events seem to be independent and additive predictors of depression, both play an important role in the assessment of depression. Counseling strategies based on such assessments may need to be multimodal and individualized
Effects of centrophenoxine on the nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae

Concentrations below 13.6 mM centrophenoxine in the culture medium had no inhibitory effect on several developmental parameters of Caenorhabditis briggsae: specifically growth, fecundity and longevity. The effects on two parameters which characterize senescence in this nematode, increased osmotic fragility and increased specific gravity, were also evaluated. Above 6.8 mM old nematodes showed significantly less osmotic fragility and reduced specific gravity. Evaluation of the effects on negative charge of the cuticle surface membrane showed that neither 6.8 mM nor 17 mM affected negative surface charge density. Electron microscope studies showed that age-pigment accumulation was significantly retarded by a concentration of 6.8 mM centro-phenoxine. It is suggested that the specific gravity effect is correlated with the retardation of lipofuscin accumulation with age. If this proves correct, then specific gravity will be another parameter for measuring the effects of centrophenoxine on aging tissues. This study also demonstrated that the effects of drugs on the retardation of age pigment formation can be visualized in three weeks by utilizing C. briggsae as a model.
SNIP, a Novel SNAP-25-interacting Protein Implicated in Regulated Exocytosis

Synaptosome-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25) is a presynaptic membrane protein that has been clearly implicated in membrane fusion in both developing and mature neurons, although its mechanisms of action are unclear. We have now identified a novel SNAP-25-interacting protein named SNIP. SNIP is a hydrophilic, 145-kDa protein that comprises two predicted coiled-coil domains, two highly charged regions, and two proline-rich domains with multiple PPXY and PXXP motifs. SNIP is selectively expressed in brain where it co-distributes with SNAP-25 in most brain regions. Biochemical studies have revealed that SNIP is tightly associated with the brain cytoskeleton. Subcellular fractionation and immunofluorescence localization studies have demonstrated that SNIP co-localizes with SNAP-25 as well as the cortical actin cytoskeleton, suggesting that SNIP serves as a linker protein connecting SNAP-25 to the submembranous cytoskeleton. By using deletion analysis, we have mapped the binding domains of SNIP and SNAP-25, and we have demonstrated that the SNIP-SNAP-25 association is mediated via coiled-coil interactions. Moreover, we have shown that overexpression of SNIP or its SNAP-25-interacting domain inhibits Ca(2+)-dependent exocytosis from PC12 cells. These results indicate that SNIP is involved in regulation of neurosecretion, perhaps via its interaction with SNAP-25 and the cytoskeleton.
Effects of silicon additions and retained austenite on stress corrosion cracking in ultrahigh strength steels

A study has been made of the effects of silicon additions and of retained austenite on the stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior of commercial ultrahigh strength steels (AISI 4340 and 300-M) tested in aqueous solutions. By comparing quenched and tempered structures of 4340 and 300-M i) at equivalent strength and ii) at their respective optimum and commercially-used heat-treated conditions, the beneficial role of silicon addition on SCC re-sistance is seen in decreased Region II growth rates, with no change in K’ISCC. The beneficial role of retained austenite is demonstrated by comparing isothermally transformed 300-M, containing 12 pct austenite, with conventionally quenched and tempered structures of 300-M and 4340, containing less than 2 pct austenite, at identical yield strength levels. Here, the isothermally transformed structure shows an order of magnitude lower Region II SCC growth rates than quenched and tempered 300-M and nearly two orders of magnitude lower Region II growth rates than 4340, K ISCC values remaining largely unchanged. The results are discussed in terms of hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms for SCC in martensitic high strength steels in the light of the individual roles of hydrogen diffusivity and carbide type.
On the asymptotic expectation and variance of the number of boundary crossings

Let X1,X2,… be independent and identically distributed nonnegative random variables with mean μ, and let Sn = X1 + … + Xn. For each λ > 0 and each n ≥ 1, let An be the interval [λnY, ∞), where γ > 1 is a constant. The number of times that Sn is in An is denoted by N. As λ tends to zero, the asymtotic behavior of N is studied. Specifically under suitable conditions, the expectation of N is shown to be (μλ−1)β + o(λ−β/2 where β = 1/(γ-1) and the variance of N is shown to be (μλ−1)β(βμ1)2σ2 + o(λ−β) where σ2 is the variance of Xn.
The binding of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide to cytochrome b of complex III isolated from yeast mitochondria.

The cytochrome b-cl complex (complex III) of the mitochondrial respiratory chain catalyzes electron transport, coupled to ATP synthesis and ion transport, from coenzyme Q to cytochrome c. This span of the respiratory chain has been shown to eject protons with an observed stoichiometry of H+/2 eapproaching 4 when studied in mitochondria in which other proton-conducting pathways of the inner membrane are selectively inhibited [l-3]. Moreover, similar stoichiometries have been observed when purified cytochrome b-c, complexes from either heart [4,5] or yeast [6] are reconstituted into proteoliposomes. Two different mechanistic models have been proposed to explain proton ejection in mitochondria. Mitchell’s Q cycle [7,8] postulates that proton ejection occurs by a ligand conduction mechanism in which coenzyme Q is the only proton carrier. Papa, however, originally suggested that some unidentified polypeptide of the cytochrome b-c1 complex might undergo a protonation-deprotonation cycle coupled to the oxidation-reduction reaction, such that protons were translocated across the membrane [9]. Subsequently, the cytochrome b dimer was proposed as the proton pump based on the observation that its redox potential displayed a pH dependence in the physiological range [lo]. in the yeast cytochrome b-cl complex reconstituted into liposomes [6]. The electrogenic ejection of protons was blocked in the DCCDtreated b-cl complex as well as reversed electron flow from cytochrome b to coenzyme Q, driven by a K+-diffusion potential. Similar inhibitions of proton translocation by DCCD at site 2 of the respiratory chain have also been reported in intact mitochondria isolated from both beef heart [12] and rat liver [ 131. It was thus of some interest to investigate the possibility that the inhibition of proton translocation by DCCD in the b-cl complex involves a specific covalent linking of DCCD to the enzyme as has been shown for H+-translocation ATPases [14-171, cytochrome c oxidase [18,19] and other proton-translocating proteins [20]. The results obtained indicate that DCCD binds selectively to cytochrome b in complex III, suggesting that this protein is involved in proton translocation at site 2 of the respiratory chain.
Contralateral corticofugal projections from the lateral, suprasylvian and ectosylvian gyri in the cat.

Contralateral corticofugal projections were investigated following multiple injections of a mixture of tritiated leucine and proline into the lateral, postlateral, suprasylvian and ectosylvian gyri of adult cats. Transported label was found in several Contralateral subcortical regions. These included the claustrum, caudate-putamen, thalamic intralaminar nuclei, pretectum, and the superior and inferior colliculi. These results show that the crossed corticofugal projections are common in the cat and are more extensive than has been previously reported.