cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical management of vulvodynia

Abstract Vulvodynia, also known as burning vulva syndrome, is characterised by sensory abnormalities of the vulva and the surrounding tissue, such as an unpleasant burning and itching sensation, or a painful response to a stimulus that is not usually painful such as sexual intercourse or the touch of a cotton swab. Organic vulvodynia is often treatable once a cause has been established. Idiopathic vulvodynia, which consists of vulvar dysesthesia or vulvar vestibulitis syndrome, often exists in conjunction with organic vulvodynia. Both entities should be treated concurrently, if possible. Several treatment methods exist for idiopathic vulvodynia and most may be used in conjunction with each other. Treatment options that are less invasive are often tried first, including hygienic and dietary changes, surface electromyographic biofeedback, and medications. Surgery, effective only for vulvar vestibulitis syndrome and usually considered only for women refractory to other treatments, can be combined with other treatments (interferon, and surface electromyographic (sEMG) biofeedback for example) to increase effectiveness. A pathway of treatment options is presented.
Structure and bonding in chain-like polyhalonium cations and polyhalide anions

Abstract Ab initio calculations with both all-electron basis sets and effective core potentials (ECP) were employed to study the bonding in chain-like polyhalogen cations and anions. An electron density analysis based on Bader's theory of atoms in molecules shows that these polyhalogen cations and anions can be described in terms of the VSEPR model. On the basis of this analysis one can also distinguish covalent and dative bonds in these polyhalogen cations and anions. Covalent bonds exist only between atoms where both are four-coordinate (including the number of lone pairs), because higher coordinate halogens must form a three-centre four-electron bond with its adjacent atoms. The arrangement of iodine-fluorine contacts in the crystal structure of (I5+)(AsF6−) can be explained by the distributions of lone pairs associated with the relevant iodines.
Safety of Novel Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Uninterrupted Warfarin for Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

Background: The novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are used for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF), but their safety and efficacy in the periablation period are not well established. Additionally, no standard procedure for managing periprocedural and intraprocedural anticoagulation has been established. Objective: To evaluate the frequency of hemorrhagic and thrombotic events as well as periprocedural management strategies of NOACs compared with warfarin as anticoagulation therapy for AF ablation. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study from a prospective AF ablation registry maintained at a large, academic medical center. Results: A total of 374 cases (173 warfarin, 123 dabigatran, 61 rivaroxaban, and 17 apixaban) were included in the analysis. The overall hemorrhagic/thrombotic event rate was 14.2 % (major hemorrhage 2.7%, minor hemorrhage 11.2%, thrombotic stroke 0.5%). The frequency of minor hemorrhage was significantly higher with warfarin compared with dabigatran (15% vs 5.7%, P = 0...
Insights into hormonal control of messenger RNA stability.

Until recently most studies of the regulation of eukaryotic mRNA levels have focused on the control of gene transcription. However, the level of a cellular mRNA actually represents a balance between its rates of synthesis and degradation. In the last few years the regulation of cytoplasmic mRNA stability has emerged as an important control point in a variety of biological systems (reviewed in Refs. 1–8). In this review we try to relate what is known about the regulation of mRNA stability in several intensively studied systems to the emerging area of hormonal control of mRNA stability. A useful working hypothesis is that most mRNAs are relatively stable in cells until subjected to an initial endonucleolytic cleavage. The 5′ and 3′ ends of most eukaryotic mRNAs are protected from exonucleolytic attack by the presence of a 5′ cap structure (9) and a 3′ poly(A) tract (10) complexed to a poly(A)-binding protein (11). Intramolecular cleavage by an endonuclease or removal of the protective poly(A) tract from the...
The Phylogeny of the Southeastern United States Hymenocallis (Amaryllidaceae) Based on ISSR Fingerprinting and Morphological Data

Abstract The phylogeny of the southeastern United States species of Hymenocallis was investigated using 23 ISSR presence/absence characters and 10 qualitative and quantitative morphological characters. Maximum Parsimony (MP) and Neighbor Joining (NJ) analyses with bootstrap replicates were performed in PAUP. The total combined data NJ analysis showed several supported clades with morphological synapomorphies. Hymenocallis choctawensis was sister to H. franklinensis [83% bootstrap (bt) support]; these taxa share the morphological characters of oblanceolate leaves, few ovules and the presence of rhizomes. Hymenocallis coronaria was sister to H. liriosme (63% bt) and these taxa share the morphological feature of a prominent yellow “eye” in the middle of their staminal cups and both reproduce asexually by offsets rather than by rhizomes. Hymenocallis godfreyi + H. rotata + H. tridentata formed a clade (99% bt) with the morphological synapomorphy of a 2n = 48 chromosome number. Hymenocallis henryae was siste...
Damage propagation analysis methodology for electromechanical actuator prognostics

Historically in aviation safety, sensor technology intrusion has presented a barrier to enabling prognostic solutions into mission critical, on-board power systems. Without prognostics, catastrophic, intermittent, and damage propagation faults can compromise the integrity of even the best power systems over time. The problem posed by physical limitations, such as size, weight, and wiring, prevents the upgrade of in-flight power systems with prognostic equipment. The solution is development of a non-intrusive prognostic technologies suite designed for minimal impact on existing systems. Specifically, we explore a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) approach to prognosticate the servo loop of an EMA. Results of this study indicate that a fault-progression methodology overcomes some of the disadvantages of the more familiar FMEA approach, which does not account for the contribution of unobserved failure to a degradation trajectory. We show by example how the Ring-down methodology, often used in power systems, can be adapted to servo loop systems employed in aircraft actuator. Adoption of this approach to electronic prognostics improves monitoring of the behavior and health of key or critical components not only ensures safety and success, it makes dynamic switching to back-up systems, fault mitigation, load-shedding, and condition-based maintenance (CBM) technically and economically feasible.
The Degeneration of Popper’s Theory of Demarcation

Karl Popper, on the one hand, the descriptive or hermeneutic phenomenologists, on the other, have offered radically different, influential diagnoses of the failure of psychoanalytic theory to pass scientific muster. As Popper would have it “Freud’s theory…simply does not have potential falsifiers” (Popper 1974: 1004) and is therefore non-scientific. But, in his view, the time-honored inductivist conception of scientific rationality was unable to detect this fundamental flaw. And, thereby, it purportedly failed to give a correct diagnosis of the scientific bankruptcy of the psychoanalytic enterprise (Popper 1962: 33–38, 255–258; 1974: 984–985; Grunbaum 1984: 103–107). Therefore, Popper (1962: 256) concluded: “Thus there clearly was a need for a different criterion of demarcation” between science and pseudo-science, other than the inductivist one. In this way, psychoanalysis served as the gravamen and benchmark of his case for the superiority of his own falsifiability criterion of demarcation.
Reexamining the effects of family structure on children's access to care: the single-father family.

Objective. To examine the effects of family structure, focusing on the single-father family, on children's access to medical care. Data Source. The 1999 and 2002 rounds of the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) including 62,193 children ages 0–17 years. Study Design. We employ a nationally representative sample of children residing in two-parent families, single-mother families, and single-father families. Multivariate logistic regression is used to examine the relationship between family structure and measures of access to care. We estimate stratified models on children below 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold and those above. Data Collection/Extraction Method. We combine data from the Focal Child and Adult Pair modules of the 1999 and 2002 waves of the NSAF. Principal Findings. Children who reside in single-father families exhibit poorer access to health care than children in other family structures. The stratified models suggest that, unlike residing in a single-mother family, the effects of residence in a single-father family do not vary by poverty status. Conclusions. Children in single-father families may be more vulnerable to health shocks than their peers in other family structures.
Synchronous Sympathy at the Symphony

This study compared the emotional intensities of a conductor and audience during a concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The affective state of the conductor was estimated unobtrusively with a wearable electrocardiogram, and audience participants self-reported their affective states with manual slider boxes. Results indicated that: 1) the conductor’s heart rate variations were temporally aligned with structural patterns in the musical scores; and 2) these variations strongly correlated with the average emotional intensity measurement of the audience. Four consecutive musical selections yielded significant positive correlations ( p < .001; r = .86, .84, .48, .61), demonstrating a temporally related emotional intensity shared between the conductor and audience during the performance. Although a causal relationship was not determined, some evidence supported induction as the mechanism of emotional communication. These results suggest possible methods for better understanding the affective experiences of conductors, the reactions of listeners to various stimuli, and the interactions between audiences and musicians during concerts.
Endless inefficient meetings? Try CMS

CEOs and top managers often find themselves in an endless series of meetings. And new responsibilities—along with an accelerated flood of information—have made the problem worse. But using a computer-mediated system (CMS) to share and manage information can greatly improve your efficiency and effectiveness. The authors explain how to do it. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Large-grain pipelining on hypercube multiprocessors

A new paradigm, called large-grain pipelining, for developing efficient parallel algorithms on distributed-memory multiprocessors, e.g., hypercube machines, is introduced. Large-grain pipelining attempts to maximize the degree of overlapping and minimize the effect of communication overhead in a multiprocessor system through macro-pipelining between the nodes. Algorithms developed through large-grain pipelining to perform matrix multiplication are presented. To model the pipelined computations, an analytic model is introduced, which takes into account both underlying architecture and algorithm behavior. Through the analytic model, important design parameters, such as data partition sizes, can be determined. Experiments were conducted on a 64-node NCUBE multiprocessor. The measured results match closely with the analyzed results, which establishes the analytic model as an integral part of algorithm design. Comparison with an algorithm which does not use large-grain pipelining also shows that large-grain pipelining is an efficient scheme for achieving a greater parallelism.
A Method for the Rheological Characterization of Thick-Film Pastes

A complete rheological profile of a thick-film ink can provide an understanding of the effects of composition on properties and enables one to predict and control the screening behavior. A complete profile includes the thixotropic and pseudoplastic properties as well as the viscosity behavior during post-shear recovery when leveling takes place. This paper presents a set of experimental techniques with which to measure shear thinning and recovery as experienced during the screening process. The basic problem in the measurement of the viscosity profile of a pseudoplastic paste during recovery is that the shearing involved in making the measurement itself causes a change in the paste viscosity. We have developed a technique which measures viscosity at essentially zero shear. The method involves the relaxation of a spring-driven cone against the viscous drag of the paste repeated at short intervals during the recovery. The moment of inertia of the cone, the compliance of the viscometer spring, the cone geometry, and the shearing action are critical factors to consider in obtaining accurate and reproducible values of the viscosity. Experimental data describing the measurement of viscosity of Newtonian standards and of the theological characteristics of thick-film pastes are presented and discussed.
Required bandwidth, unwanted emission, and data power efficiency for residual and suppressed carrier systems-a comparative study

This paper presents a new concept for required bandwidth along with a method for computing this bandwidth and the associated undesired emission for the classes of PCM/PSK/PM, PCM/PM and BPSK signals. The PCM/PSK/PM signals considered here employ either a square wave or sine-wave subcarrier with NRZ data format. On the other hand, the PCM/PM and BPSK signals use either a Bi-phase or an NRZ data format. Furthermore, the maximum allowable required bandwidth in the presence of noise and the data power efficiency for these modulation schemes will also be investigated. The term "data power efficiency" as considered in this paper consists of two principal components, namely, the amount of power contained in the data channel, and the symbol signal-to-noise ratio (SSNR) degradation due to the presence of intersymbol interference (ISI) for a specified required bandwidth. This paper evaluates both of these components numerically for the modulation schemes considered and the results are then compared. Furthermore, the impact of baseband filtering on the required bandwidth is also investigated in this paper. >
Bayesian analysis of binary prediction tree models for retrospectively sampled outcomes.

SUMMARY Classification tree models are flexible analysis tools which have the ability to evaluate interactions among predictors as well as generate predictions for responses of interest. We describe Bayesian analysis of a specific class of tree models in which binary response data arise from a retrospective case-control design. We are also particularly interested in problems with potentially very many candidate predictors. This scenario is common in studies concerning gene expression data, which is a key motivating example context. Innovations here include the introduction of tree models that explicitly address and incorporate the retrospective design, and the use of nonparametric Bayesian models involving Dirichlet process priors on the distributions of predictor variables. The model specification influences the generation of trees through Bayes’ factor based tests of association that determine significant binary partitions of nodes during a process of forward generation of trees. We describe this constructive process and discuss questions of generating and combining multiple trees via Bayesian model averaging for prediction. Additional discussion of parameter selection and sensitivity is given in the context of an example which concerns prediction of breast tumour status utilizing high-dimensional gene expression data; the example demonstrates the exploratory/explanatory uses of such models as well as their primary utility in prediction. Shortcomings of the approach and comparison with alternative tree modelling algorithms are also discussed, as are issues of modelling and computational extensions.
Anionic lipids activate group IVA cytosolic phospholipase A2 via distinct and separate mechanisms

Previously, ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P) and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] were demonstrated to be potent and specific activators of group IVA cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2alpha). In this study, we hypothesized that these anionic lipids functionally activated the enzyme by distinctly different mechanisms. Indeed, surface plasmon resonance and surface dilution kinetics demonstrated that C1P was a more potent effector than PI(4,5)P2 in decreasing the dissociation constant of the cPLA2alpha-phosphatidylcholine (PC) interaction and increasing the residence time of the enzyme on the vesicles/micelles. PI(4,5)P2, in contrast to C1P, decreased the Michaelis-Menten constant, increasing the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme. Furthermore, PI(4,5)P2 activated cPLA2alpha with a stoichiometry of 1:1 versus C1P at 2.4:1. Lastly, PI(4,5)P2, but not C1P, increased the penetration ability of cPLA2alpha into PC-rich membranes. Therefore, this study demonstrates two distinct mechanisms for the activation of cPLA2alpha by anionic lipids. First, C1P activates cPLA2alpha by increasing the residence time of the enzyme on membranes. Second, PI(4,5)P2 activates the enzyme by increasing catalytic efficiency through increased membrane penetration.
Feedback control of the software test process through measurements of software reliability

A closed-loop feedback control model of the software test process (STP) is described. The model is grounded in the well established theory of automatic control. It offers a formal and novel procedure for using product reliability or failure intensity as a basis for closed loop control of the STP. The reliability or the failure intensity of the product is compared against the desired reliability at each checkpoint and the difference fed back to a controller. The controller uses this difference to compute changes necessary in the process parameters to meet the reliability, or failure intensity objective at the terminal checkpoint (the deadline). The STP continues beyond a checkpoint with a revised set of parameters. This procedure is repeated at each checkpoint until the termination of the STP. The procedure accounts for the possibility of changes (during testing), in reliability or failure intensity objective, the checkpoints, and the parameters that characterize the STP. The effectiveness of this procedure was studied using commercial data available in the public domain and also from the data generated through simulation. In all cases, the use of feedback control produces adequate results allowing the achievement of the objectives.
Teaching Graduate Accounting Students What They Need To Know About Marketing Their Profession

This paper describes a graduate professional services marketing class which focuses on experiential learning in the context of the accounting profession. It incorporates traditional services marketing theory with development of critical marketing skills as identified by practicing professionals. Ten to fifteen years ago, professional services marketing courses emerged and several pedagogical papers were published (Blanchette, 1996; Gremler, Hoffman, Keaveney & Wright, 2000; McNeilly & Bar, 2001). However, compelling changes in professional practice and the economic climate have significantly impacted the accountant, resulting in the need to understand a new generation of marketing skills. Emphasis is placed on the role and importance of trust, interpersonal relationships, and understanding of the market and client. Students form “firms” that compete in a structured project where they research the potential client, write a formal response to a proposal, make presentations, and compete with each other for a new client engagement. Included are learning objectives (outcomes), detailed descriptions of instructional exercises, suggested readings and student assessment recommendations.
Students Respond To The Use Of Instructional Technology In The Accounting Information Systems Classroom

A SERVQUAL-inspired instrument measured students’ satisfaction with technology tools used in AIS classrooms; 151 students in six schools participated. Student in-class computer activities generated the highest satisfaction among students, live software demonstration the least. Satisfaction varied little by gender or age group. Student in-class computer activities showed the most reaction of satisfaction to usage rates, and in all cases greater usage led to higher satisfaction. In some instances, the satisfaction score for a question differed across technology groups, but these differences are not generalizable. Factor analysis largely supports the a priori loading of satisfaction items into five SERVQUAL dimensions
Voices inside schools: Skinning the drum: Teaching about diversity as other

In this article, Leswin Laubscher and Susan Powell explore their experiences as professors who teach about difference and are themselves considered "different" or "other." The authors describe how society and their students perceive them, and illustrate the unique pedagogical opportunities that their course offers them and their primarily White, able-bodied, and socioeconomically advantaged students to struggle not only with the theory, but also with the experience, of "difference." The authors proceed from the premise that the professor marked by difference, and who teaches about that difference, is not just teaching an academic course but is also articulating his or her life experience and self. The authors emphasize how difference is embodied in the classroom, how students respond to this difference, and the costs and benefits to educators marked as other who strive to facilitate students' self-exploration, growth, and commitment to social justice.
REDAPOL: Pollination and Fruit-set Prediction Model for ‘Delicious’ Apples

A computer-based model simulating the interaction of weather, bloom, and honey bee Apis mellifera L., foraging activity that culminate in ‘Delicious’ fruit-set is described. The model predicts the percentage of blossoms setting fruit based upon weather conditions, orchard design, tree characteristics, and honey bee colonies per hectare. Simulation results indicated that temperature, ratio of pollinizer to ‘Delicious’ trees, and colonies per hectare had the greatest effect on fruit-set. The use of systems science techniques to solve pollination problems in agricultural ecosystems is discussed.
Scaling Behavior Of Dynamic Permeability In Porous Media

We show that the scaling of the dynamic permeability κ(ω) by its static value κ0 and the frequency ω by a characteristic frequency ω0 particular to the medium results in a dimensionless function, with, which is dominated by the geometry of the throat regions in a porous medium. If the pore cross sectional area S varies slowly near the throat, i.e. dS/dz ≃ 0 where z is the distance normal to the cross section, then is an approximate universal function independent of microstructures. When scaling holds, the dynamic permeability κ(ω) is shown to contain only two pieces of geometric information, and the knowledge of either the low-frequency or the high-frequency asymptotic constants of κ(ω) would enable one to deduce the other missing parameters. In particular, since the high-frequency asymptotic parameters of κ(ω) can be related to the electrical formation factor and the volume-to-surface ratio, the static permeability value κ0 may be directly deduced from such non-permeability measurements.
Africa and Non-alignment: A Comparative Study of Foreign Policy

Research in international relations has many goals. One of the most important is the attempt to establish propositions which can serve to explain and perhaps predict the international behavior of the basic units of the international system, the nation-states. Ideally, such propositions will eventually be brought together to form a coherent theory of foreign policy. In this paper I have adopted the position that the most direct approach to this goal is the comparative study of the foreign policies of a number of state-actors. This method has the great advantage of increasing the number of units of study from one international system to a maximum of over one hundred and thirty states. This increase in units of analysis permits the use of statistics which, in turn, permits the use and manipulation of large quantities of data. By means of various statistical techniques one may draw from the data measures of foreign policy behavior, examine the relationships between theoretically interesting variables, test hypotheses, and develop causal models or theories of foreign policy. This paper illustrates only one aspect of this approach by means of an analysis of the foreign policies of thirty-two African states with
Local Dynamics in an Infinite Harmonic Chain

By the method of recurrence relations, the time evolution in a local variable in a harmonic chain is obtained. In particular, the autocorrelation function is obtained analytically. Using this result, a number of important dynamical quantities are obtained, including the memory function of the generalized Langevin equation. Also studied are the ergodicity and chaos in a local dynamical variable.
Girl Cartoons Second Wave: Transforming the Genre:

The US girl cartoon genre began in the 1980s with the Federal Communication Commission’s deregulation of television, allowing the programming of toy-based cartoons. The toy industry’s gender binary of girl toys vs boy toys was translated into the definitive split of girl cartoons and boy cartoons. This first wave of girl cartoons defined the gender normative parameters that would identifiably label a cartoon program as a girl cartoon: rainbow unicorns and star sparkles in friendship communities with motivational girl leaders that displayed confidence, determination and savvy while processing emotions and solving conflicts through communication. These characters were young girls, not teenagers or young adults with developed bodies. It is rarely addressed that these cartoon characters presented an empowered girl media product in popular culture a decade before the nomenclature ‘Girl Power’, and did so sans sexualization. In this article, the author discusses the second wave of girl cartoons that came about ...
Review: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Scleroderma: Effective Immunomodulatory Therapy for Patients With Pulmonary Involvement.

As seen from both patients’ and physicians’ points of view, there is wide agreement that systemic sclerosis (SSc) is one of the autoimmune disorders with the highest morbidity and mortality rates. In this review, we will follow the evolution of a new approach to its treatment. Support for using hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for SSc arose from seminal studies of genetic and antigen‐induced experimental models of autoimmune disease that demonstrated that high‐dose immunosuppression followed by either allogeneic (same species) or autologous (self) bone marrow transplantation (BMT) could prevent and even reverse damage from autoimmune diseases. Three decades after these initial preclinical observations, our understanding of the therapeutic potential of immune restoration following autologous HSCT has deepened, and the clinical evidence for its application in scleroderma has broadened. In this review we will examine the outcome of conventional therapy for scleroderma lung disease; detail the techniques, toxicities, and results of HSCT for SSc; and explore the biology of immune restoration following autologous transplantation. We will compare the design and outcomes of randomized trials comparing HSCT with cyclophosphamide (CYC) treatment and formulate criteria for the timely referral of patients with scleroderma lung disease for HSCT.
The antimicrobial armamentarium

The treatment of infectious complications in the cancer patient has evolved as a consequence of the developments in cancer chemotherapy, which significantly impair immune function. Broad-spectrum, single-agent antibiotics have replaced more cumbersome multidrug regimens for empiric coverage of fever and neutropenia in many institutions. The use of new, potent oral antibiotics may be a next step toward further simplifications. Several new antivirals have come into clinical use in the past decade, and reports of viral resistance to the standard agent, acyclovir, have come forth. Increasing experience with new (and older) antifungal and antiparasitic agents has given a better understanding of the use of these drugs for both prophylaxis and treatment. This overview includes a critical appraisal of the attributes and limitations of current antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitic agents for the immunocompromised host.
Genetics of Alzheimer Disease

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common causes of neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly individuals. Clinically, patients initially present with short-term memory loss, subsequently followed by executive dysfunction, confusion, agitation, and behavioral disturbances. Three causative genes have been associated with autosomal dominant familial AD (APP, PSEN1, and PSEN2) and 1 genetic risk factor (APOEe4 allele). Identification of these genes has led to a number of animal models that have been useful to study the pathogenesis underlying AD. In this article, we provide an overview of the clinical and genetic features of AD.
The joesmithite enigma; note on the 6s2 Pb2+ lone pair

La joesmithite, PbCa 2 Mg 3 Fe 2 3+ (OH) 2 [Si 6 Be 2 O 22 ], est unique parmi les clinoamphiboles en ce qu'elle possede le groupe d'espace P2/a. Discussion de ce fait en termes de doublet electronique 6s 2 Pb 2+
Metallothionein-null mice are susceptible to chronic CdCl2-induced nephropathy: Cd-induced renal injury is not necessarily mediated by CdMT

Chronic exposure to Cd results in kidney injury. It has been proposed that nephrotoxicity produced by chronic Cd exposure is via the Cd-metallothionein complex (CdMT), and not by inorganic forms of Cd. If this hypothesis is true, then MT-null mice, which cannot form CdMT, should not develop nephrotoxicity to inorganic Cd. Control and MT-null mice were injected sc with CdC12 (0.01 to 1.6 mg Cd/kg) daily, 6 times/week for up to 6 weeks, and the renal MT concentration and nephrotoxicity were examined. In control mice, renal Cd burden increased in a dose-and time-dependent manner, reaching as high as 135 µg Cd/g kidney, along with 150-fold increases in renal MT concentrations, reaching 450 µg MT/g kidney. In MT-null mice, renal Cd concentration (< 10 µg/g) was much lower. The maximum-tolerated dose of Cd in MT-null mice was approximately one-tenth that of controls. Cd-induced renal injury was more pronounced in MT-null than in control mice, as evidenced by proteinuria, glucosuria, enzymuria and blood urea nitrogen levels. CdC12 produced lesions throughout the kidney, including tubular degeneration, atrophy, interstitial inflammation, glomerular proliferation and sclerosis. These lesions were more severe in MT-null than in control mice, mirroring the biochemical analyses. These data indicate that (1) Cd-induced renal injury is not necessarily mediated through the CdMT complex, and (2) induction of MT is an important adaptive mechanism protecting against chronic Cd nephrotoxicity.
Patient-reported Anxiety: A Possible Predictor of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Health Care Use.

BACKGROUND Anxiety is linked with adverse health-related outcomes and increased health-seeking behaviors among patients with chronic illness. Yet, this relationship has received little attention in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study was to examine whether anxiety symptoms predicted youth at increased risk for repeated disease relapse and greater gastrointestinal health care use over the subsequent 12 months. METHODS Eighty-six pediatric patients aged 11 to 18 years (M = 14.7, SD = 2.0), and their caregivers completed a validated anxiety questionnaire during a gastrointestinal specialty appointment (baseline). Medical records were reviewed for the subsequent year to record the number of disease relapses and gastrointestinal health care services and generate disease activity scores at baseline and 12 months. Analysis of variance was used to examine anxiety levels between those who experienced ≤1 versus ≥2 disease relapses. Poisson regressions were used to model the relationship between child- and caregiver-reported anxiety and health care use, controlling for disease activity. RESULTS The sample was predominantly white (81%) and male (56%). Patients with higher anxiety at baseline (M = 19.6; SD = 13.7) had more frequent (≥2) disease relapses compared with those with lower anxiety at baseline (M = 12.6; SD = 10.3). Higher anxiety, irrespective of reporter, also predicted greater total gastrointestinal health care use (P < 0.01). This included hospital-based interventions (P < 0.01), but not office encounters or outpatient endoscopic procedures. Findings remained significant after controlling for disease severity (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Assessment of anxiety may be one mechanism by which to identify those youth who are most vulnerable for disease exacerbation and costly interventions in the near future.
Selective removal of Cu2-:X(S,Se) phases from Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin films

The selective removal of Cu2−x(S,Se) impurity phases from Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) and Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin films is a major barrier to achieving high efficiencies in solar cells based on these films. A toxic and hazardous potassium cyanide (KCN) solution is commonly used as a selective etchant to remove Cu2−x(S,Se) from CZTSSe and CIGS thin films. Herein, we report the selective removal of Cu2−x(S,Se) compounds from kesterite CZTSSe thin films using a mixture of ethylenediamine and 2-mercaptoethanol, a safer chemical mixture than KCN. We found that Cu2−xS and kesterite CZTS nanocrystals dissolve in this mixture in seconds and 6 hours, respectively, while wurtzite CZTS nanocrystals do not dissolve even after 6 hours. Etching CZTSSe thin films containing small amounts of Cu2−x(S,Se) phases for 20 minutes removes the Cu2−x(S,Se) phases completely.
Polygamy in Africa

Polygamy was common and widespread in the ancient world and widely practiced among some religious groups. The reasons for its existence and persistence are varied and have been a source of fierce debate. Africa, in particular western Africa, has established itself as a region where polygamy is viewed as the norm. This entry explores the trends in polygamous marriages in western African countries and examines the factors contributing to the practice and maintenance of polygamy, such as the slave trade, with its impact on the sex ratio, and traditional, sociocultural, and economic factors. The effects of education on attitudes toward polygamy are also examined, as is the influence of polygamy on the lives of women and children. Keywords: Africa; cultural diversity; family structure; marriage; polygamy
Endangered Marine Invertebrates

The number of extinct, endangered, and vulnerable marine invertebrates is not known. This is due to a poorly analyzed historical database; an equally poor understanding of the population status of most species; disparate treatments of vulnerability; and long-term declines in the study of marine biogeography, systematics, and natural history. The small number of formally recognized endangered marine invertebrates is in contrast to the possibility that thousands of marine species may be at risk of extinction due to a plethora of human-induced pressures on the ocean.
Study of climatic drought in Algerian high plateaus using standardized precipitation index and observations from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer

The high plateaus of Algeria is a critical region to policymakers in terms of social, economic, and infrastructure development. The main goal of the present work was to monitor the climatic drought and its impact on vegetation health across the Algerian high plateaus using remote sensing techniques. Vegetation health index (VHI) showed a clear drought in the western region of the study area. The results show practically three periods of drought were evident: October to December 2006, November to December 2009, and December 2012. Agreeable correlations among the obtained results using standard precipitation index for 3 months (SPI-3) and other satellite indicators such as temperature vegetation dryness index (TVDI) and VHI were obtained. TVDI and VHI agreed well with the ground-based observations from SPI-3; thus, these may serve as key and easily accessible indicators of drought. The research shows motivating results that decision makers can use to take timely corrective measures to minimize the reduction in agricultural production in drought prone areas.
Students See, Students Do?: Inducing a Peer Norm Effect for Oral Source Citations

Video modeling was used to establish descriptive norms for proper oral citation performance in a general education public speaking class (N = 191). Three conditions—a control, a peer model video, and a nonpeer model video—were compared for influence on proper citation usage and completeness. Results indicated that students viewing any video performed more complete citations than students not viewing a video. Results were mixed when comparing the effects of the peer model video against the nonpeer model video. Findings suggest norms for proper oral citation behavior can be established through modeling videos.
Dual Radio Autopilot System for Lightweight, Swarming Micro/Miniature Aerial Vehicles

This paper presents the autonomous micro aerial vehicle pilot, a new autopilot platform weighing 6.25 g and measuring 11.3 cm2, specifically designed for use on micro/miniature aerial vehicle mobi...
A cellular platform to enable targeted brain delivery of T cells to glioblastoma.

2053Background: Poor T cell homing hinders the development of effective cell therapy for central nervous system (CNS) malignancies. Lessons learnt from inflammatory brain diseases can give insight ...
Applicability of the modified ACOG/SGO referral criteria for adnexal mass within a limited‐resource setting

Objective To evaluate the performance of the modified American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)/Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) referral guidelines in a high-risk limited-resource setting. Methods In a retrospective study, data were assessed for all women who underwent surgery for an adnexal mass at John H. Stroger Jr Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA, between July 2006 and July 2011. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated both for actual practice referral patterns and for the modified ACOG/SGO guidelines. Results Among 542 study women, 176 (32.5%) were diagnosed with ovarian malignancy. The ACOG/SGO guidelines showed 81.3% sensitivity and 71.9% specificity for the prediction of malignancy at time of surgery, with positive and negative predictive values of 58.1% and 88.9%, respectively. Actual practice patterns demonstrated lower sensitivity (68.2%; P<0.001) but higher specificity (84.2%; P<0.001). Conclusion As compared with practice patterns, the modified ACOG/SGO guidelines lacked sufficient specificity for referral and might not be applicable in high-risk, low-resource settings. For this population, screening should be based on stratifying patients into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk categories to allow limited resources to be focused on women at highest risk.
Online message delay prediction for model predictive control over controller area network

Today's Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are typically distributed over several computing nodes communicated through buses such as Controller Area Network (CAN). Their control performance gets degraded due to variable delays incurred by messages on the shared CAN bus. This paper presents a novel online delay prediction method that predicts the message delay at runtime based on real-time traffic information on CAN. It leverages the proposed method to improve control quality, by compensating the message delay in the Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm design. It demonstrates that the delay prediction is accurate, and the MPC design which takes the message delay into consideration performs considerably better. It also implements the proposed method on an 8-bit 16MHz ATmega328P microcontroller and measures the execution time overhead. The results clearly indicate that the method is computationally feasible for online usage.
Estimating Costs of Care Attributable to Cancer: Does the Choice of Comparison Group Matter?

Objective To compare alternative strategies for specifying cancer-free control cohorts for estimating cancer-attributable costs of care. Data Source, Study Design, Data Extraction Secondary data analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data linked to Medicare claims among patients diagnosed with colorectal, lung, breast, and prostate cancers, 2007–2011. We estimated cancer-attributable costs using three alternative reference cohorts: (1) noncancer Medicare patients individually matched by demographic characteristics, (2) noncancer patients individually matched on demographic factors and comorbidity score, (3) cancer patients as their own control, using prediagnosis costs. Principal Findings Among 44,266 colorectal, 61,584 lung, 55,921 breast, and 67,733 prostate patients, mean total Medicare spending in the first year of diagnosis was $59,496, $54,261, $31,895, and $26,305, respectively. Estimates of cancer-attributable costs ranged from 79 percent to 82 percent of spending for colorectal, 76 percent–79 percent for lung, 65 percent–74 percent for breast, and 60 percent–75 percent for prostate cancers, depending on the reference cohort used. For all cancers, estimates were higher when patients were used as their own control, compared to demographic and comorbidity-matched controls. Conclusions Choice of reference group can have a substantial impact on proportion of total costs attributed to cancer and should be clearly defined in analyses of the costs of cancer care.
Functional Genomic Fabrics are Remodeled in a Mouse Model of Chagasic Cardiomyopathy and Restored Following Cell Therapy

We previously found that, in a mouse model of Chagas cardiomyopathy, 18% of the 9390 quantified unigenes were significantly regulated by Trypanosoma cruzi infection. However, treatment with bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (MNCs) resulted in 84% transcriptomic recovery. We have applied new algorithms to reanalyze these datasets with respect to specific pathways [Chagas disease (CHAGAS), cardiac muscle contraction (CMC) and chemokine signaling (CCS)]. In addition to the levels of expression of individual genes we also calculated gene expression variability and coordination of expression of each gene with all others. These additional measures revealed changes in the control of transcript abundances and gene networking in CHAGAS and restoration following MNC treatment, not accessible using the conventional approach limited to the average expression levels. Moreover, our weighted pathway regulation analysis incorporated the contributions of all affected genes, eliminating the arbitrary cut-off criteria of fold-change and/or p-value for significantly regulated genes. The new analyses revealed that T. cruzi infection had large transcriptomic consequences for the CMC pathway and triggered a huge cytokine signaling. Remarkably, MNC therapy not only restored normal expression levels of numerous genes, but it also recovered most of the CHAGAS, CMC and CCS fabrics that were altered by the infection.
Boltzmann, Monocycles and Mechanical Explanation

For more than two hundred years — from Isaac Newton in the seventeenth century to Ludwig Boltzmann at the close of the nineteenth — physical theory had a fixed, clear goal. Christiaan Huygens expressed it in his Treatise on Light in 1690, when he referred to “the true Philosophy, in which one conceives the causes of all natural effects in terms of mechanical motions.”1 Huygens was convinced that either one sought for mechanical explanations or else one had to “renounce all hopes of ever comprehending anything in Physics.” Newton’s Principia became the great model that scientific theory was to follow, and Newton was very definite in his views on this subject. “The whole burden of philosophy,” he wrote, “seems to consist in this — from the phenomena of motions to investigate the forces of nature, and then from these forces to demonstrate the other phenomena.” To this end he had developed the rational mechanics of the first two Books of the Principia, and his ‘explication of the System of the World’ in the third Book was merely ‘an example’ of his method — a superb example, but an example nevertheless. Newton expressed the wish that “we could derive the rest of the phenomena of Nature by the same kind of reasoning from mechanical principles.” 2 This wish described the program of generations of New-ton’s successors who tried to do for the other forces of nature what he had done for gravitation.
Plea Bargaining Pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 410: 'Criminal Defendant Beware!!!'

Fed.R.Evid. 410 provides that in any civil or criminal proceeding evidence of (1) a plea of guilty later withdrawn; (2) a plea of nolo contendere; (2) any statement made in the course of any proceedings under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or comparable state procedure regarding either of the foregoing pleas; or (4) any statement made in the course of plea discussions with an attorney for the prosecuting authority which do not result in a plea of guilty or which result in a plea of guilty later withdrawn, is not admissible against the defendant who made the plea or was a participant in the plea discussions as either substantive evidence or for impeachment. However, both the structure of Fed.R.Evid. 410 and its case law interpretation narrowly circumscribes the parameters of the criminal defendant's protection afforded when plea bargaining is attempted. The defendant in reality is protected more or less solely to the extent which the government believes is the absolute minimum protection that must be afforded a criminal defendant to permit such criminal defendant who reasonably believes that it may be in his interest to enter into the plea bargaining process to actually do so. As so circumscribed, there are several pitfalls into which the criminal defendant, especially when speaking without counsel, may fall when he attempts in his own mind to plea bargain. With respect to plea bargaining under Fed.R.Evid. 410, it is "Criminal defendant beware!".
Network motif detection: Algorithms, parallel and cloud computing, and related tools

Network motif is defined as a frequent and unique subgraph pattern in a network, and the search involves counting all the possible instances or listing all patterns, testing isomorphism known as NP-hard and large amounts of repeated processes for statistical evaluation. Although many efficient algorithms have been introduced, exhaustive search methods are still infeasible and feasible approximation methods are yet implausible. Additionally, the fast and continual growth of biological networks makes the problem more challenging. As a consequence, parallel algorithms have been developed and distributed computing has been tested in the cloud computing environment as well. In this paper, we survey current algorithms for network motif detection and existing software tools. Then, we show that some methods have been utilized for parallel network motif search algorithms with static or dynamic load balancing techniques. With the advent of cloud computing services, network motif search has been implemented with MapReduce in Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS), and with Storm, but without statistical testing. In this paper, we survey network motif search algorithms in general, including existing parallel methods as well as cloud computing based search, and show the promising potentials for the cloud computing based motif search methods.