cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The association of hormone replacement therapy and coronary calcium as determined by electron beam tomography.

Background: Observational studies have shown that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is associated with lower coronary heart disease (CHD), and animal studies demonstrate potent antiatherosclerotic estrogen effects. Paradoxically, recent clinical trials have not demonstrated a protective effect. This paradox may be explained by a healthy woman effect bias. Women using HRT have improved health outcomes unrelated to underlying atherosclerotic burden. Examination of the association between coronary calcium (CC), a marker of atherosclerotic plaque burden, and the use of HRT in postmenopausal women may help address this paradox. Methods: The study population comprised 641 asymptomatic postmenopausal women, 425 (66%) of whom were taking HRT. Data obtained from a self-administered questionnaire and blood samples were analyzed. Electron beam tomography (EBT) for CC was performed on each subject. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate adjusted means. Results: Independent t tests found that age, low-densi...
Identification of Signal Transduction Pathways Leading to the Expression of Arabidopsis Thaliana Defense Genes

We have developed a model system that utilizes the defense response of Arabidopsis thaliana to pathogenic pseudomonads to study the signal transduction pathways leading to the activation of plant defense genes. We have identified Pseudomonas syringae strains that are either virulent or elicit a visible hypersensitive response when infiltrated into A. thaliana leaves and we have cloned two avirulence (avr) genes from an avirulent strain. We have also cloned an A. thaliana gene encoding phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) as well as three adjacent genes that encode s-1,3-glucanases (BG1, BG2, and BG3). Our overall strategy is to devise simplified genetic screens in which we monitor the induction of the PAL and BG promoters in response to cloned avr genes. We have shown that inoculation of A. thaliana leaves with virulent strains leads to the gradual accumulation of mRNA corresponding to BG1, BG2, and BG3 but not to the accumulation of mRNA corresponding to PAL. In contrast, inoculation with an avirulent strain leads to transient accumulation of PAL mRNA but has only a modest effect on the levels of BG1, BG2, and BG3 mRNA. Significantly, virulent strains carrying cloned avr genes mimic the avirulent strain in that they strongly elicit PAL mRNA but not β-1,3-glucanase mRNA accumulation.
Islamic Finance: Prospects and Significance

This paper provides a brief overview of the development, nature, and prospects for Islamic finance. Islamic finance refers to banking, finance, investment, and insurance services that are structured so as to comply with Islamic law. Initially Islamic finance was limited to retail and commercial banking services. The industry has grown to include a range of investment vehicles as well as religiously approved insurance. Islamic banks now exist in more than sixty countries, and the industry is estimated to be worth over one-trillion dollars.
Influence of Visual Participation on Imagery Accuracy of Objects Moving at Different Speed

Based on analyzing the problems of traditional imagery training,this study investigated the imagery accuracy of objects moving at different speed under three different visual participation conditions of staring,tracking and eyes closed by using Laeng’s"perception-image"tw o stage research paradigm.A total number of 40 participants(19 males;21 females) from a sport university w ere involved in this study.The moving object videos w ere used as the stimulation and the eyetracker w as used to monitor the imagery process of the participants.The results suggested that the imagery accuracy of objects moving at slow speed is the highest,follow ed by medium speed,and fast speed is the low est;There w as no significant difference betw een the imagery accuracies of moving objects w ith image using eyes-tracking method,image w ith the eyes closed and image w ith the eyes stared at a fixed point;only in the condition of imaging w ith the eyes closed,men could image the objects moving at slow speed more accurately than w omen,w hile in the other conditions,there are no significant gender differences in imagery accuracy of moving objects.It w as suggested that speed w as an important factor to affect the imagery accuracy of moving objects.Imagery process of moving objects and static objects may have different psychological mechanisms.The"functional equivalence"effect betw een perceptual process and imagery process w as not found in this study.
Robustness of an adaptive beamforming method for hearing aids.

We describe the results of computer simulations of a multimicrophone adaptive-beamforming system as a noise reduction device for hearing aids. Of particular concern was the system's sensitivity to violations of the underlying assumption that the target signal is identical at the microphones. Two-and four-microphone versions of the system were tested in simulated anechoic and modestly-reverberant environments with one and two jammers, and with deviations from the assumed straight-ahead target direction. Also examined were the effects of input target-to-jammer ratio and adaptive-filter length. Generally, although the noise-reduction performance of the system is degraded by target misalignment and modest reverberation, the system still provides positive advantage at input target-to-jammer ratios up to about 0 dB. This is in contrast to the degrading target-cancellation effect that the system can have when the equal-target assumption is violated and the input target-to-jammer ratio is greater than zero.
Interfaces in coexisting metals and Mott insulators

Motivated by the direct observation of electronic phase separation in first-order Mott transitions, we model the interface between thermodynamically coexisting metals and Mott insulators. We show how to model the required slab geometry and extract the electronic spectra. We construct an effective Landau free energy and compute the variation of its parameters across the phase diagram. Finally, using a linear mixture of the density and double occupancy, we identify a natural Ising order parameter which unifies the treatment of the bandwidth and filling controlled Mott transitions.
Total Artificial Heart Implantation as a Bridge to Heart Transplantation in an Active Duty Service Member With Amyloid Cardiomyopathy.

ABSTRACT Introduction: Cardiac involvement by light-chain (AL) amyloid occurs in up to 50% of patients with primary AL amyloidosis. The prognosis of amyloid heart disease is poor with 1-year survival rates of 35 to 40%. Historically, heart transplantation was considered controversial for patients with AL amyloid cardiomyopathy (CM) given the systemic nature of the disease and poor survival. We present a case report of an active duty service member diagnosed with advanced cardiac amyloid who underwent total artificial heart transplant as a bridge to heart transplant and eventual autologous stem cell transplant. Case Report: A 47-year-old active duty male initially evaluated for atypical chest pain was found to have severe concentric left ventricular hypertrophy on echocardiogram but normal voltage on electrocardiogram. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, laboratory studies, and bone marrow biopsy established the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis. At the time of diagnosis, the patient's prognosis was very po...
Zero-power light-actuated micromechanical relay

This paper reports on the first demonstration of a passive light-actuated micromechanical relay (LMR). Differently from any existing switching element, the proposed LMR relies on a plasmonically-enhanced thermomechanical coupling to selectively harvest the impinging electromagnetic energy, in a specific spectral band of interest, and use it to mechanically create a conducting channel between the device terminals without the need of any additional power source, which directly translates into a near-zero standby power consumption. The first of a kind prototype presented here is selectively activated by an ultra-narrow band radiation in the mid-wavelength infrared (IR) spectral region (−5.5 μm). The strong and spectrally selective absorptivity (−95% at 5.5 μm with a full width at half maximum of ∼1.1 μm) and the high thermomechanical coupling of the fabricated structure result in the first experimental demonstration of a LMR with an ultra-low actuation threshold of only 950 nW suitable for the realization of a new class of zero-power IR digitizers capable of producing a quantized output bit in the presence of a unique IR spectral signature of interest.
A single changepoint software reliability growth model with heterogeneous fault detection processes

Most software reliability growth models characterize the software process as a function of testing time. However, during the software testing process, the failure data is affected by additional factors such as testing strategy and environment, integration testing, and resource allocation. This will have a major impact on the fault detection process reflecting the effect of such factors at various stages of testing, which are known as changepoints. Recently, several researchers have proposed non-homogeneous Poisson process software reliability models with one or more changepoints to model the data well. However, one of the limitations of previous research is that only homogeneous combinations of failure distributions before and after changepoints are considered. However, in real data sets this is often not the case. This paper develops heterogeneous single changepoint models by considering different failure distributions before and after the changepoint and applies algorithms to maximize the likelihood of these models. Heterogeneous models are compared with existing homogeneous models using goodness-of-fit measures. The expectation conditional maximization algorithm identifies the maximum likelihood estimates of the model parameters. Online changepoint analysis is also described. Experimental results suggest that heterogeneous changepoint models better characterize some failure data sets.
Stimulation of Oviposition and Heterosis in Interstrain Crosses of European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Hybrid matings of two Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) colonies (N and O), established in the laboratory a year apart, demonstrated positive heterosis in the F1 generation as in...
Evaluation of Cerebrospinal Fluid γ-Aminobutyric Acid Content in Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is present at micromolar concentrations in the brain and spinal cord13,31,46,48,52,68,69 and thus has been subject to widespread investigation of its role as a neurotransmitter. It functions primarily as an inhibitory neurotransmitter,30, 43, 47, 64 and alterations of its function have been associated with a variety of neurological and mental disorders, based either on attractive hypotheses or on implicating evidence, or on both. For example, reduced GABA level has been associated with epilepsy41,66,72 on a hypothetical basis because epilepsy can easily be pictured as resulting from a loss of inhibition, and on experimental bases because many convulsant drugs act by interfering with vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 deficiency itself can produce convulsions, and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the primary GABA synthetic enzyme, is particularly susceptible to reduced availability of B6. Reduction of GABA level has been implicated in Huntington’s disease (HD) through observation of reduced levels of GABA4,53,56,67 as well as GAD3,4,39,40,62,67 in autopsied brain tissue. Reduction of GABA function has been linked hypothetically with various psychiatric disorders,7,32,33,57-59 again because of its action as an inhibitory neurotransmitter and because of clinical associations between schizophrenia and HD. Reduced GABA levels have also been observed in autopsied brains of schizophrenic individuals36 and in certain autopsied brain areas from patients with Parkinson’s disease.27
The dog that did not bark: the army and the emergency in India

In June 1975, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency rule, capping off a decade long process of the ‘deinstitutionalisation’ of the founding Congress party, increased social mobilisa...
Ultrasonic neuromodulation

To treat brain dysfunction and enhance plasticity in healthy adults, there is a need for new methods of noninvasively modulating neuronal activity. Since the 1950's US has been known capable of modulating electrically-evoked or sensory driven activity in brain circuits. These early observations implemented high-intensity US in a continuous wave mode for long durations and depended on the ability of US to focally heat tissue. The thermal effects of US (for example, HIFU) have been used to therapeutically ablate deep-brain circuits at intensities typically > 200 W/cm2. The peripheral and central nervous systems including the brain are mechanically sensitive. For example, voltage-gated ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors can be activated and inactivated (opened/closed) by mechanical pressures. Because of this we initiated investigations aimed at addressing the possibility of directly stimulating neurons with pulsed US via mechanical actions about a decade ago. This paper describes general information related to the use of US for neuromodulation and it non thermal actions on brain circuits.
HIV and the Macrophage: From Cell Reservoirs to Drug Delivery to Viral Eradication

Macrophages serve as host cells, inflammatory disease drivers and drug runners for human immunodeficiency virus infection and treatments. Low-level viral persistence continues in these cells in the absence of macrophage death. However, the cellular microenvironment changes as a consequence of viral infection with aberrant production of pro-inflammatory factors and promotion of oxidative stress. These herald viral spread from macrophages to neighboring CD4+ T cells and end organ damage. Virus replicates in tissue reservoir sites that include the nervous, pulmonary, cardiovascular, gut, and renal organs. However, each of these events are held in check by antiretroviral therapy. A hidden and often overlooked resource of the macrophage rests in its high cytoplasmic nuclear ratios that allow the cell to sense its environment and rid it of the cellular waste products and microbial pathogens it encounters. These phagocytic and intracellular killing sensing mechanisms can also be used in service as macrophages serve as cellular carriage depots for antiretroviral nanoparticles and are able to deliver medicines to infectious disease sites with improved therapeutic outcomes. These undiscovered cellular functions can lead to reductions in persistent infection and may potentially facilitate the eradication of residual virus to eliminate disease.
Analysing managerial perceptions of when and how to structure public involvement in public-private partnerships

Previous research highlights what managers perceive to be the purposes of public involvement in public-private partnerships (PPPs) and the need for addressing stakeholder concerns unique to PPPs. Y...
Gastrodoudenal Embolization: Indications, Technical Pearls, and Outcomes

The gastroduodenal artery (GDA) is frequently embolized in cases of upper GI bleed that has failed endoscopic therapy. Additionally, it may be done for GDA pseudoaneurysms or as an adjunctive procedure prior to Yttrim-90 (Y90) treatment of hepatic tumors. This clinical review will summarize anatomy and embryology of the GDA, indications, outcomes and complications of GDA embolization.
Effects of finite populations on evolutionary stable strategies

A strong assumption made in evolutionary game theory (EGT) [7] is that the evolving population is infinitely large. Recent simulations by Fogel, et al, [3, 4, 5] show that finite populations produce behavior that, at best, deviate with statistical significance from the evolutionary stable strategy (ESS) predicted by EGT. They conclude that evolutionary game theory loses its predictive power with finite populations. In this paper, we revisit the question of how finite populations affect EGT dynamics. By paying particular attention to the operation of the selection mechanisms used by Fogel, et al, we are able to account for the divergence between ESS predictions (based on infinite populations) and results observed in our own finite-population simulations. We then show that Baker's SUS [1] selection method corrects the divergence to a great extent. We thus conclude that the dynamics of EGT, and particularly ESSs, can indeed apply to finite-population systems.
Properties, projection and connections of limb venous afferents in the feline central nervous system

Publisher Summary The venous system is described from antiquity to function as a volume reservoir. The functions of the venous system have been expanded to include a dynamic role in the regulation of circulation. To more completely understand the regulatory biology of the venous system, it is essential to identify governing relationships among system inputs, the conditions that produce them, and the mechanisms of compensatory circulatory adjustments. Although the venous system of the extremities is known to be innervated by sensory nerves, specific details of the functional role of these venous afferent fibers are unknown. The knowledge of the physiology and central connections of selected limb venous afferent fibers provides insight into their functional role and provides a better understanding of the dynamic role of the venous system in the regulation of circulation. The veins of the extremities are known to receive sensory innervation from the peripheral nerve trunks, which accompany the limb vessels. In a few animals, it has been observed that these bundles are coarse enough to be traced from the saphenous nerve onto the wall of the femoral vein.
Influences on and consequences of parafoveal preview in reading

During reading, information is extracted from upcoming words to the right of the currently fixated word, which facilitates recognition of those words when they are later fixated. According to the foveal load hypothesis (Henderson & Ferreira, 1990), this parafoveal preview benefit depends on how difficult the currently fixated word is to recognize. Furthermore, there is evidence that the influence of lexical variables (frequency and predictability) on word processing changes when no preview of that word is available. The present study reports two moving-window experiments in which the upcoming word to the right of fixation was either included in or excluded from the window. Through this manipulation, accurate parafoveal information was either available or not for each word in the paragraph. Two critical interactions between preview condition and lexical variables were observed. First, the word frequency at word N was found to be the primary influence on the amount of preview benefit obtained at word N+1, consistent with the foveal load hypothesis. Second, denial of preview eliminated the word predictability effect. These findings have implications for models of eye movement control in reading.
Investigation into the binding of dyes within protein crystals.

It was found that the crystals of at least a dozen different proteins could be thoroughly stained to an intense color with a panel of dyes. Many, if not most, of the stained protein crystals retained the dyes almost indefinitely when placed in large volumes of dye-free mother liquor. Dialysis experiments showed that most of the dyes that were retained in crystals also bound to the protein when free in solution; less frequently, some dyes bound only in the crystal. The experiments indicated a strong association of the dyes with the proteins. Four protein crystals were investigated by X-ray diffraction to ascertain the mode of binding. These were crystals of lysozyme, thaumatin, trypsin inhibited with benzamidine and satellite tobacco mosaic virus. In 30 X-ray analyses of protein crystal–dye complexes, in only three difference Fourier maps was any difference electron density present that was consistent with the binding of dye molecules, and even in these three cases (thaumatin plus thioflavin T, xylene cyanol and m-cresol purple) the amount of dye observed was inadequate to explain the intense color of the crystals. It was concluded that the dye molecules, which are clearly inside the crystals, are disordered but are paradoxically tightly bound to the protein. It is speculated that the dyes, which exhibit large hydrophobic cores and peripheral charged groups, may interact with the crystalline proteins in the manner of conventional detergents.
A meta-analysis of the accuracy of embedded performance validity indicators from the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status.

AbstractObjective: Meta-analyze the embedded performance validity tests of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), emphasizing two topics: diagnostic accuracy and relationships with demographics.Method: Literature was identified through a review of PsycINFO, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Bivariate linear mixed models were used for diagnostic accuracy analyses. Random-effects analysis of correlations with demographic variables was also used for the Effort Index.Results: Diagnostic accuracy analyses utilized 12 studies of the Effort Index (EI; N = 1469) and 6 studies of the Effort Scale (ES; N = 854). The EI was found to have a sensitivity of .44 (95% CI: .28 – .62), specificity of .87 (95% CI: .78 – .93), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 5.41 (95% CI: 3.74 – 7.58). The ES produced a sensitivity of .67 (95% CI: .50 – .81), specificity of .72 (95% CI: .53 – .85), and DOR of 5.97 (95% CI: 1.70 – 15.30). Meta-analysis of correlations utilized 14 samples of the EI (N = 37...
Lung Cancer Patient Perceptions of the Value of an Outreach Thoracic Surgical Clinic

Background Although specialty outreach clinics have been associated with improved outcomes and access to care, their role for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been described. We sought to characterize perceptions of the utility of a specialty outreach clinic among patients with suspected NSCLC. Methods Surveys were administered to patients who were suspected to have NSCLC and were seen at an outreach thoracic surgery clinic (2016 to 2017). The clinic was located approximately 20 miles from the academic cancer center. Results Sixty-nine patients completed surveys. The median distance traveled to the clinic was 43.5 miles (interquartile range: 5.0 to 111.3 miles). Among patients traveling 50 miles or more, the overwhelming majority (27 of 32 patients, 84.4%) cited physician expertise as the primary benefit of treatment at the clinic. Moreover, compared with patients living in closer proximity, they were more willing to travel 100 miles or more to have surgery (71.0% versus 26.7%, p = 0.001) or to consult with a surgeon (71.0% versus 25.8%, p Conclusions Many patients value receiving oncologic care close to home and are sensitive to distance required to travel for care. Thoracic surgical outreach clinics may provide a benefit for patients with lung cancer in the settings of initial consultation, preoperative care, and postoperative care.
Early Morning Training Impacts Previous Night’s Sleep in NCAA Division I Cross Country Runners

The effects of training time on sleep has been previously studied; however, the influence on sleep in female collegiate cross-country runners is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of training time on self-reported sleep metrics. Eleven female collegiate cross-country runners (mean [M] age?=?19 years, standard deviation [SD] age?=?1 year; M [SD] body mass?=?58.8 [9.6] kg; M [SD] height?=?168.4 [7.7] cm; M [SD] VO2max?=?53.6?[5.6] mL·kg-1·min-1) competing in the 2016 NCAA cross-country season were included in this study. Participants completed a sleep diary daily to assess perceived measures of sleep on days when training took place between the hours of 5:00–8:00 a.m. (AM), and when training did not take place during this time (NAM). Sleep quality questions utilized a 5-point Likert scale, in which a score of 1 is associated with the worst outcomes and a score of 5 is associated with the best outcomes. Sleep duration was significantly higher on NAM (M [SD]?=?8.26 [1.43] h) compared to AM (M?[SD]?=?7.97 [1.09] h, p?<?.001). Sleep quality was significantly higher on NAM (M [SD]?=?3.30 [1.01]) compared to AM (M [SD]?=?3.02 [1.06], p?<?.001). The impairment of sleep quantity and quality the night prior to early morning training suggests that future considerations should be made to sleep schedules and/or training times to optimize perceived sleep quality.
Prayer as a Religious Narrative: The Spiritual Self and the Image of God

This article examines William James’s study on prayer in The Varieties of Religious Experience by framing prayer as a form of religious narrative that demonstrates the religious person’s construction and development of the spiritual self. The author begins by reviewing William James’s theory of the self and discussing its significance for multiple constituents of the self. By assessing James’s distinction between the terms I and Me, the author discusses how James’s notion of multiple selves provides a helpful framework for understanding the narrative nature of the self. In the following section, he investigates how James discusses prayer as “the very core of the living religion” by looking at the prayers of George Muller and Karl Hilty in The Varieties. The author argues that the Jamesian understanding of prayer reveals a particular process of how one makes sense of oneself and one’s image of God.
Student Sensemaking of Learning Analytics Dashboard Interventions in Higher Education

An instrumental case study was conducted at a large, public research university in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States to understand undergraduate use of learning analytics dashboard (LAD)...
Programming Perception and Learning for Retarded Children

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a research program that has three interrelated goals: (1) to develop techniques for evaluating the behavioral potential of normal and retarded children who are nonverbal or deficient verbally, (2) to develop techniques for generating behavior in children who appear to be functioning below their actual capabilities, and (3) to uncover the basic processes that are involved when children learn to behave adaptively to the world around them. These three lines of work, proceeding simultaneously, constitute a relatively unusual mixture of the basic and applied research. Because of the widespread concern with problems of mental retardation, the chapter presents methods and findings in a way that is comprehensible to educators, administrators, and teachers who are interested in applying effective techniques of special education.
Age-Related Differences in Financial Toxicity and Unmet Resource Needs Among Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Patients

Financial toxicity may differ by age at diagnosis between adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. We surveyed 52 AYA cancer patients about unmet needs and financial toxicity using the COmp...
2453 Office Hysteroscopic Adhesiolysis in a Patient with Severe Asherman's Syndrome

Video Objective To demonstrate our technique for adhesiolysis in an office hysteroscopy setting. Setting Office Hysteroscopy. Our patient is a 40 year old nulliparous female with a history for fibroids and heavy uterine bleeding. She has had three hysteroscopic myomectomies, and a uterine artery embolization. In her evaluation prior to IVF she had a HSG and SIS that demonstrated a shortened uterine cavity and likely uterine adhesions. Interventions We demonstrate our technique for adhesiolysis of uterine synechiae utilizing a 5mm hysteroscope with a 5 fr. working channel and the semi-rigid scissors. Using internal landmarks, and a combination of blunt and sharp dissection we are able to restore the uterine cavity to its normal contour in the office, in spite of the dense adhesions. The presentation ends with a 2nd look hysteroscopy 3 weeks following the initial procedure. Conclusion Office hysteroscopy is a viable and effective option for management of severe Asherman's syndrome.
Security for a High Performance Commodity Storage Subsystem (CMU-CS-99-160)

How do we incorporate security into a high performance commodity storage sub- system? Technology trends and the increasing importance of I/O bound workloads are driving the development of commodity network attached storage devices which deliver both increased functionality and increased performance to end-users. In the network attached world, storage devices co-exist on the network with their clients, application file-managers, and malicious adversaries who seek to bypass system security policies. As storage devices move from behind the protection of a server and become first-class network entities in their own right, they must become actively involved in protecting themselves from network attacks. They must do this while cooperating with higher level applications, such as distributed file systems or database systems, to enforce the application's security policies over storage resources. In this dissertation, I address this problem by proposing a cryptographic capability system which enables application filemanagers to asynchronously make policy decisions while the commodity storage devices synchronously enforce these decisions. This dissertation analyzes a variety of access control schemata that exist in current distributed storage systems. Motivated by the analysis, I propose a basic cryptographic capability system that is flexible enough to efficiently meet the requirements of many distributed storage systems. Next, I explore how a variety of different mechanisms for describing a set of NASD objects can be used to improve the basic capability system. The result is a new design based on remote execution techniques. The new design places more access control processing at the drive in order to deliver increased performance and functional advantages. Based on the performance limitations of software cryptography demonstrated in a prototype implementation of a network attached storage device, I propose and evaluate an alternative to standard message authentication codes. This allows storage devices to precompute some security information and reduces the amount of request-time computation required to protect the integrity of read operations. Finally, I discuss the availability of cryptographic hardware, how much is required for a network attached storage device, and the implications of adding tamper-resistant hardware to a storage device.
A seroepidemiologicalstudy of rabies antibody level in the population of recruits

：Objective To investigatethe distribution of rabies antibody IgG in recruits,and to provide scientific evidence forfurther prevention of rabies.Methods A seroepidemiological study was conducted byELISA.The serum samples of 360 recruits,who came from 8 provinces during 2002,2004,2006and 2008,were tested to detect rabies antibody IgG and the overall positive rate wasanalysed statistically.Results There was no difference in serum rabies antibody IgG levelsin each year with a total positive rate of 10.83% .The regional difference existed.Thelevels found in recruits from Henan (17.86%),Jiangsu (17.54%) and Jiangxi (17.50%) werehigh,and the levels in Sichuan (2.99%)and Guangxi(4.00%)were low.There was no correlationbetween the antibody IgG positive rate and education or occupation background of therecruits before their recruitment.Conclusions The positive rate of rabies antibody IgG isincreasing year after year in the recruits.The positive rate for antibody IgG is differentbetween each provinces.The health education is necessary for the recruits to preventrabies.
Aid Volatlity: Is it a Problem in Tuvalu?

Empirical evidence on aid volatility shows that it adversely impacts recipient countries. For instance, high aid volatility results in uncompleted projects, affects fiscal planning, and decreases the economic and social value of aid. Given these impacts of aid volatility, this study seeks to find out whether aid volatility is a problem in Tuvalu – a small country in the Pacific that is highly dependent on foreign aid. The study, the first of its type in Tuvalu, looks at the volatility of aid relative to other government revenues, and aid volatility by donor, type, and sector in the country. Furthermore, the study tries to identify the causes and costs of aid volatility and how to deal with it. The findings reveal that although aid volatility, at the coefficient of variation (CV) of 0.49, is lower than the volatility of most revenue sources to the government of Tuvalu (fisheries licence, dot TV, TTF), it is much higher than domestic (tax) revenue which has a CV of 0.20 and aid volatility of other aid dependent countries. Moreover, by breaking down aid by donor, type, and sector; it is found that aid from donors funding projects (including capital projects) is more volatile than aid from donors whose aid goes more into budget support and routine programs such as scholarships. Accordingly, volatility is higher in project aid than budget support and program aid. Moreover, it is revealed that multilateral aid is less volatile than bilateral aid. The main causes of aid volatility in the country relate to the lack of effective aid agreements between Tuvalu and its donor partners, late disbursements in committed aid from donors, the focus of aid on individual projects instead of programs, and administrative problems in Tuvalu. The major costs of aid volatility in the country link to uncompleted projects, high transaction costs, ‘Dutch disease’, and fiscal planning problems. The study therefore argues that aid volatility is a problem in Tuvalu. Thus, to deal with the aid volatility problem, Tuvalu needs to strengthen ‘reserve funds’ such as the Tuvalu Trust Fund (Account B) to buffer for any disruptions in aid disbursements, provide sound policy and institutional climate in the country, target aid to budget support and programs instead of specific projects, and implement large infrastructural projects in phases.
Hemodynamic outcomes after undersizing ring annuloplasty and focal suture annuloplasty for surgical repair of functional tricuspid regurgitation

Abstract Objective Surgical annuloplasty for functional tricuspid regurgitation (FTR) is on the rise and can be performed in several ways with varied outcomes. In this study, we sought to compare the hemodynamic outcomes of tricuspid annuloplasty performed with a commercially available annuloplasty ring (tricuspid valve annuloplasty [TVA]) compared with focal suture annuloplasty (Hetzer) in an experimental FTR model. Methods An ex vivo FTR model was developed by inducing right ventricular dilatation by acute afterload elevation, causing severe tricuspid valve tethering and annular dilatation, leading to regurgitation. Ten porcine hearts in which FTR was induced underwent TVA with a 26-mm Edwards MC3 ring and Hetzer annuloplasty with a pledgeted suture cinching the anteroposterior and septal annulus. FTR was measured before after each repair, and tenting geometry, valve kinematics, and subvalvular geometry were measured with echocardiography. Results At baseline, none of the hearts had FTR, but upon afterload elevation an FTR volume of 17.7 ± 9.2 mL (26.38 ± 17.47% regurgitant fraction) was measured (P Conclusions Tricuspid annuloplasty with a ring or a focal suture can reduce FTR but not eliminate it. Annular approaches did not relieve tricuspid valve tethering and reduced leaflet mobility persisted. Either subannular repairs or judicious use of valve replacement may be necessary.
Serotonin 2A receptor signaling coordinates central metabolic processes to modulate aging in response to nutrient choice

It has been recognized for nearly a century that diet modulates aging. Despite early experiments suggesting that reduced caloric intake augmented lifespan, accumulating evidence indicates that other characteristics of the diet may be equally or more influential in modulating aging. We demonstrate that behavior, metabolism, and lifespan in Drosophila are affected by whether flies are provided a choice of different nutrients or a single, complete medium, largely independent of the amount of nutrients that are consumed. Meal choice elicits a rapid metabolic reprogramming that indicates a potentiation of TCA cycle and amino acid metabolism, which requires serotonin 2A receptor. Knockdown of glutamate dehydrogenase, a key TCA pathway component, abrogates the effect of dietary choice on lifespan. Our results reveal a mechanism of aging that applies in natural conditions, including our own, in which organisms continuously perceive and evaluate nutrient availability to promote fitness and well-being.
Genetic Variation in Enhancers Modifies Cardiomyopathy Gene Expression and Progression.

Background: Inherited cardiomyopathy associates with a range of phenotypes, mediated by genetic and nongenetic factors. Noninherited cardiomyopathy also displays varying progression and outcomes. E...
Tricksters, cyborgs, and the musalsal: media movement and infrastructure gaps in Arab television

For decades, Egyptian cultural production has adapted the story of Raya and Sakina, the nation's first women to receive the death penalty for murder. In 2017, their story crossed borders as Warde S...
Assessing hydrothermal carbonization as sustainable home sewage management for rural counties: A case study from Appalachian Ohio

Improper management of home sewage treatment systems (HSTS) presents major challenges in the developing world, and even in many parts of developed countries, which contribute to health, environmental, economic, and social problems. Hydrothermal treatment, a thermochemical conversion process that is particularly useful for wet wastes, can produce fertilizers from septic tank wastes while eliminating human pathogens. However, hydrothermal treatment requires high temperature and high pressure, which might need additional economical justification when targeted for rural communities. The aim of this study was to investigate the economic feasibility of a hydrothermal treatment facility that can treat septic waste generated in Athens County, Ohio, a rural Appalachian county in the U.S., where failing HSTS have been observed quite frequently. Two different cases were considered for economic analysis, where Case I assumed a decentralized facility and Case II assumed a centralized facility. Results showed that both cases are economically feasible, where Case I and II reached breakeven in years 4 and 6, respectively. Additionally, despite the greater capital investment requirement for Case I, there was also a greater return on investment (ROI) of 2.85 compared to 1.52 for Case II. A sensitivity analysis was examined to determine the effect of solid content in either the septic tank or the reactor's feed, selling price of the fertilizer, and septage pumping costs on the project feasibility. The sensitivity analysis showed that pumping cost is the most significant factor affecting the project feasibility, while the ROI varied about ±80% and ± 200% for Case I and II, respectively, due to only about ±18% change in pumping cost.
Solar Salt: Involvement of Microorganisms in Salt Production from Seawater

Historical Sketch Modern Methods The Physical System of Solar Saltworks Types of Solar Salt Works The Biological System Proactive Management Keywords: extreme environments; halophilic microorganisms; marine environment; solar salt; salt production
Two-Angstrom crystal structure of oxidized Chromatium high potential iron protein.

Abstract The 85-residue structure of Chromatium high potential iron protein (HiPIP) has been determined by x-ray diffraction methods at 2.0 A resolution, and is currently undergoing crystallographic refinement. The partially refined HiPIP structure reported here has an R factor of 0.24. Moreover, bond distances and angles have been constrained to their expected values, so that a model may be constructed from standard brass parts. Thus, it is an unusually well determined protein structure. The Fe4S*4 cluster (Carter, C. W., Jr., Freer, S. T., Xuong, Ng. H., Alden, R. A., and Kraut, J. (1971) Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 36, 381–385) is covalently attached to the protein by Fe—S bonds at cysteine residues 43, 46, 63, and 77. Residues 1–42 fold up upon this cluster binding segment. Most of the interface between these NH2- and COOH-terminal segments consists of packed nonpolar side chains. The chain segment containing Cys 77 is trapped inside this interface where it forms a stretch of antiparallel β sheet with residues 17–20 in the NH2-terminal half of the chain. This unusual architecture probably accounts for the relatively high stability of HiPIP (Dus, K., DeKlerk, H., Sletten, K., and Bartsch, R. G. (1967) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 140, 291–311). The Tyr 19 side chain abuts the Fe4S*4 cluster in a manner similar to that observed for Tyr 2 and Tyr 28 in Peptococcus aerogenes ferredoxin (Adman, E. T., Sieker, L. C., and Jensen, L. H. (1973) J. Biol. Chem. 248, 3987–3996). The polypeptide chain conformation may be described, almost in its entirety, as a sequence of α helical or extended conformations and hairpin turns. Moreover, most of these secondary structures are surprisingly close in their detailed geometry to those predicted to be of lowest energy. More than 75% of the main chain hydrogen bonding sites are bonded either within secondary structures (47%) or to water (30%). Thus these bonds may be formed prior to complete assembly of the entire structure. Hairpin turns are conspicuously associated with the protein-water interface: they contain a large majority of the polar side chains and their main chain carbonyl oxygen and amido nitrogen atoms bind a disproportionately large fraction of the "fixed" water molecules. Sequence-structure correlations of the type proposed by Robson and Pain (Robson, B., and Pain, R. H. (1971) J. Mol. Biol. 58, 237–259) and Lewis et al. (Lewis, P. N., Momany, F. A., and Scheraga, H. A. (1971) Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 68, 2293–2297) turn out to be quite accurate, and the most serious discrepancy between predicted and observed structures can be rationalized convincingly in terms of Fe4S*4 cluster binding requirements. These observations appear to weigh heavily against theories of protein folding which involve early, nonspecific micelle formation (Robson, B., and Pain, R. H. (1971) J. Mol. Biol. 58, 237–259).
Pregnancy and weight loss surgery.

The dramatic increase in the incidence of obesity has resulted in an overwhelming increase in the number of bariatric, or weight loss, operations performed in the United States. These operations induce long-term weight loss through a combination of volume restriction and malabsorption. As a result, bariatric surgery patients may suffer from nutritional deficiencies over the long term and need to be followed extremely closely before, during, and after pregnancy. Bariatric patients are given regimens of nutritional supplementation that are specific for their operation. This chapter describes the different types of bariatric surgery and the nutritional disturbances associated with each one. Additionally, the standard recommendations for supplementation and follow up are reviewed. Alterations to these regimens during pregnancy are discussed. Pregnancy outcomes after bariatric surgery are reviewed.
The optimum pneumoperitoneum pressure for laparoscopic surgery in the rat model. A detailed cardiorespiratory study.

Background: There is increasing interest in the rat model of laparoscopic surgery. This study evaluates the cardiorespiratory effects of increasing CO2 pneumoperitoneum (PP) in the rat. Methods: Nine Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to CO2 PP at pressures of 2, 5, 10, and 15 mmHg or control (no PP) under anesthesia. Catheters were placed in the femoral artery and the jugular vein to measure heart rate (HR), blood pressure (MAP), and arterial pH, PCO2, PO2, and HCO3. A thermistor probe in the aortic arch measured cardiac output (CO) and blood temperature (BT). Results: CO2 PP had no effect on CO, MAP, or BT at any pressure. CO2 PP greater than 5 mmHg caused significant bradycardia and CO2 PP greater than 10 mmHg caused significant respiratory acidosis. Conclusions: CO2 PP pressures above 10 mmHg in rat should be avoided when performing laparoscopic surgery in the rat model.
The Culture of Punishment: Prison, Society, and Spectacle. By Michelle Brown

The Culture of Punishment: Prison, Society, and Spectacle. By Michelle Brown. New York: New York University Press, 2009. 249 pp. $24.00 paper. Michelle Brown's The Culture of Punishment is a systematic analysis of the more visible ways the public imagines what goes on behind our nation's prison walls. Nowhere else is the reader able to encounter in one text a convincing thematic survey of the spectacularized representation of the prisonerFacross films and televisual programs; advertisements for historical prison tours, ghost hunts, and other adventure entertainment; official statements and print media representations of wartime prison-building and torture; and both specialized and popularized commentary on various late twentieth-century debates within criminology about the effectiveness of punishment. And because of how this expansive archive is mappedFstarting with the more popular and ending with the more technicalFit is easy to envision how The Culture of Punishment might play the important role in undergraduate education of connecting the everyday of college student life to the oftentimes separated, but nonetheless urgent, demands of social justice. According to Brown, the culture of punishment comprises four major visual media: mass media, commercial prison tourism, war discourse, and social scientific knowledge. Each medium contributes to generating what Brown calls "the penal spectator" (pp. 8-12), respectively, through the production of iconic images of prisoners, the deadened buildings of the history of punishment, the extralegal proliferation of the global prison, and the overvaluation of expert knowledge about whether and how punishment reduces crime. This penal spectator's gaze, distanced as it is from actual interaction with men and women living in prison, is unable to grasp the reality of human suffering that prisons produce and, presumably because of this lapse, tacitly becomes part of the larger disciplinary gaze of the prison regime. And while Brown's mapping of the gaze's passivity toward this disciplinary society charts quite a dismal picture, The Culture of Punishment argues that it is precisely through these various cultural media that there is also the possibility for the penal spectator to engage more activelyFfrom consuming to "witnessing" (p. 204) other people's pain and exclusion. Thus, in her final chapter, Brown summarizes her overarching argument that "cultural analysis has a special role in the transformation of the passivity of penal spectatorship to an informed and engaged mode of citizenship, which requires a critical engagement with the work of punishment" (p. 191). A "special role," indeed, but what exactly is this role, and its relationship to politics and social change? How precisely can one hope for cultural analyses to shift the penal spectator's gaze from consuming to witnessing, from voyeuristic pleasure to critical engagement, through what Brown generally calls the "cultural work of punishment" (p. …
Bioorthogonal chemical reporter methodology for visualization, isolation and analysis of glycoconjugates.

The recent development of metabolic oligosaccharide engineering combined with bioorthogonal reactions is providing unique opportunities to detect, image, and isolate glycoconjugates of living cells, tissues, and model organisms. In this methodology, exogenously-supplied non-natural sugars are fed to cells and employed by the biosynthetic machinery for the biosynthesis of neoglycoconjugates. In this way, reactive functional groups such as ketones, azides, and thiols have been incorporated into sialic acid, galactosamine, glucosamine, and fucose moieties of glycoconjugates. A range of bioorthogonal reactions have been described that functionalize the chemical ‘tags’ for imaging, isolation, and drug delivery.