cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Gary School Survives: Angelo Patri and Urban Education.

Angelo Petraglia, born in 1876 in the Salerno Province of Italy, the first child of Nicola and Carmela Petraglia, spent his first five years in Piaggine, a small mountain village, and in 1881 sailed to New York City with his mother, his uncle, and a younger sister. His father had preceded them to America to find work and a place to live. The family name was changed to Patri, perhaps by immigration authorities. The sister died shortly after their arrival in America, but three other sisters were born soon after.
Scientific realism, the atomic theory, and the catch-all hypothesis: Can we test fundamental theories against all serious alternatives?

Sherri Roush ([2005]) and I ([2001], [2006]) have each argued independently that the most significant challenge to scientific realism arises from our inability to consider the full range of serious alternatives to a given hypothesis we seek to test, but we diverge significantly concerning the range of cases in which this problem becomes acute. Here I argue against Roush's further suggestion that the atomic hypothesis represents a case in which scientific ingenuity has enabled us to overcome the problem, showing how her general strategy is undermined by evidence I have already offered in support of what I have called the 'problem of unconceived alternatives'. I then go on to show why her strategy will not generally (if ever) allow us to formulate and test exhaustive spaces of hypotheses in cases of fundamental scientific theorizing.
Evidence that αC Region Is Origin of Low Modulus, High Extensibility, and Strain Stiffening in Fibrin Fibers

Fibrin fibers form the structural scaffold of blood clots and perform the mechanical task of stemming blood flow. Several decades of investigation of fibrin fiber networks using macroscopic techniques have revealed remarkable mechanical properties. More recently, the microscopic origins of fibrin's mechanics have been probed through direct measurements on single fibrin fibers and individual fibrinogen molecules. Using a nanomanipulation system, we investigated the mechanical properties of individual fibrin fibers. The fibers were stretched with the atomic force microscope, and stress-versus-strain data was collected for fibers formed with and without ligation by the activated transglutaminase factor XIII (FXIIIa). We observed that ligation with FXIIIa nearly doubled the stiffness of the fibers. The stress-versus-strain behavior indicates that fibrin fibers exhibit properties similar to other elastomeric biopolymers. We propose a mechanical model that fits our observed force extension data, is consistent with the results of the ligation data, and suggests that the large observed extensibility in fibrin fibers is mediated by the natively unfolded regions of the molecule. Although some models attribute fibrin's force-versus-extension behavior to unfolding of structured regions within the monomer, our analysis argues that these models are inconsistent with the measured extensibility and elastic modulus.
Rapid isolation and single-molecule analysis of ribonucleoproteins from cell lysate by SNAP-SiMPull

Large macromolecular complexes such as the spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) play a variety of roles within the cell. Despite their biological importance, biochemical studies of snRNPs and other machines are often thwarted by practical difficulties in the isolation of sufficient amounts of material. Studies of the snRNPs as well as other macromolecular machines would be greatly facilitated by new approaches that enable their isolation and biochemical characterization. One such approach is single-molecule pull-down (SiMPull) that combines in situ immunopurification of complexes from cell lysates with subsequent single-molecule fluorescence microscopy experiments. We report the development of a new method, called SNAP-SiMPull, that can readily be applied to studies of splicing factors and snRNPs isolated from whole-cell lysates. SNAP-SiMPull overcomes many of the limitations imposed by conventional SiMPull strategies that rely on fluorescent proteins. We have used SNAP-SiMPull to study the yeast branchpoint bridging protein (BBP) as well as the U1 and U6 snRNPs. SNAP-SiMPull will likely find broad use for rapidly isolating complex cellular machines for single-molecule fluorescence colocalization experiments.
Serum sickness-like reactions from cefaclor in children

Cefaclor is an oral semisynthetic cephalosporin that is popular in the treatment of infections in children. This drug has been associated with a serum sickness-like reaction characterized by an urticarial eruption, pruritus, arthritis, and/or arthralgias. We report 12 additional cases of cefacor-related serum sickness-like reactions in children. All patients improved after discontinuation of the drug and no long-term complications resulted.
A Pilot Study of Observed Parenting and Adjustment in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes and their Mothers

Objectives The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the association of observed parenting behaviors with adjustment in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and their mothers. Methods Adolescents with T1D (n ¼30) and their mothers provided data on psychosocial adjustment and engaged in a discussion task about diabetes stress, which was coded for parenting behavior. Clinical data (i.e., HbA1c) was obtained from adolescents’ medical records. Results Mothers’ symptoms of anxiety and depression were related to lower levels of child-centered parenting. Higher levels of observed child-centered parenting and positive reinforcement and lower levels of maternal hostility and parental influence were related to better psychosocial adjustment in adolescents (i.e., fewer depressive symptoms, better quality of life) and better metabolic control. Conclusions Results support the use of observational data in this population and provide estimates of effect sizes between parenting variables, maternal and adolescent psychosocial adjustment, and metabolic control.
The Effect of Medicare Coverage for the Disabled on the Market for Private Insurance

Subsidies for health insurance for chronically ill, high-cost individuals may increase coverage in the broader population by improving the functioning of insurance markets. In this paper, we assess an historical example of a policy intervention of this sort, the extension of Medicare to the disabled, on the private insurance coverage of non-disabled individuals. We use data on insurance coverage from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from before and after the extension of Medicare to the disabled to estimate the effect of the program on private insurance coverage rates in the broader population. We find that the insurance coverage of individuals who had a health condition that limited their ability to work increased significantly in states with high versus low rates of disability. Our findings suggest that that subsidizing individuals with high expected health costs is an effective way to increase the private insurance coverage of other high-cost individuals.
Infant Feeding and Care Practices in the United States: Results From the Infant Feeding Practices Study II

This supplemental issue of Pediatrics presents the first set of results from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II (IFPS II), which were chosen to cover a wide range of the topics included in the study. The IFPS II was conducted collaboratively by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and was co-funded by other agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services, as indicated in “Acknowledgments.” The design of the IFPS II was similar to that of the original study (the IFPS I), which was conducted in 1992–1993. In the current longitudinal survey, a large cohort of 4900 women was enrolled prenatally, and >2000 were followed through the first year of their infant's life. The mothers were mailed 1 prenatal and 10 postnatal questionnaires at approximate monthly intervals; in addition, prenatal and postnatal subsamples were administered a dietary intake questionnaire. The questionnaires were modeled on the IFPS I, but the IFPS II included several new topics such as postpartum depression, consumption of herbal and alternative medicines, breast-pump use, and infant sleeping arrangements. The details of the study methods and a list of publications from the IFPS I are presented in an article by Fein et al1 in this supplement. Why an IFPS II? In the decade since the IFPS I, significant changes have occurred in the products, policies, information, and education related to infant feeding choices. Breast pumps have become more effective and more affordable; new ingredients have been added to infant formula; and changes in state and federal laws have reduced some barriers to breastfeeding. Policies and recommendations about infant feeding (duration and exclusivity) have changed. In 2004–2006, the Department of Health and Human Services conducted a national breastfeeding-promotion campaign, the impact of which had to be evaluated. Thus, the … Address correspondence to Sara B. Fein, PhD, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 5100 Paint Branch Pkwy, HFS 020, College Park, MD 20740. E-mail: sara.fein{at}fda.hhs.gov
Outcomes of Intended Home Births in Nurse-Midwifery Practice: A Prospective Descriptive Study

Abstract Objective: To describe the outcomes of intended home birth in the practices of certified nurse-midwives. Methods: Twenty-nine US nurse-midwifery practices were recruited for the study in 1994. Women presenting for intended home birth in these practices were enrolled in the study from late 1994 to late 1995. Outcomes for all enrolled women were ascertained. Validity and reliability of submitted data were established. Results: Of 1404 enrolled women intending home births, 6% miscarried, terminated the pregnancy or changed plans. Another 7.4% became ineligible for home birth prior to the onset of labor at term due to the development of perinatal problems and were referred for planned hospital birth. Of those women beginning labor with the intention of delivering at home, 102 (8.3%) were transferred to the hospital during labor. Ten mothers (0.8%) were transferred to the hospital after delivery, and 14 infants (1.1%) were transferred after birth. Overall intrapartal fetal and neonatal mortality for women beginning labor with the intention of delivering at home was 2.5 per 1000. For women actually delivering at home, intrapartal fetal and neonatal mortality was 1.8 per 1000. Conclusion: Home birth can be accomplished with good outcomes under the care of qualified practitioners and within a system that facilitates transfer to hospital care when necessary. Intrapartal mortality during intended home birth is concentrated in postdates pregnancies with evidence of meconium passage.
A Non-Central Version of the Birnbaum-Saunders Distribution for Reliability Analysis

The Birnbaum-Saunders distribution has largely been applied to material fatigue and reliability studies to relate the time until failure to some type of cumulative damage. This damage is produced by the growth of a dominant crack in material specimens, the propagation of which is due to cyclic patterns of stress. However, the Birnbaum-Saunders model was constructed under restrictive conditions that may not be valid for certain applications. In particular, this model was developed assuming that the crack extension in each cycle has a constant s-mean over time. In this article, we assume the crack extensions in each cycle have a non-constant s -mean. This leads us to introduce a non-central version of the Birnbaum-Saunders distribution. Specifically, a comprehensive description of the properties and characteristics of this new model is presented. The suitability of this non-central distribution is shown by using real, and simulated data.
The role of β-arrestin2-dependent signaling in thoracic aortic aneurysm formation in a murine model of Marfan syndrome

This manuscript demonstrates that β-arrestin2 mediates thoracic aortic aneurysm formation in a murine model of Marfan syndrome (MFS) by regulating proaneurysmal signaling. This work identifies a no...
The Political Violence Cycle

Elections are often violent affairs, casting doubt on the canonical claim that democracy makes societies more peaceful by creating nonviolent means to contest for power. We develop a formal argument to demonstrate that this conclusion is incorrect. Holding elections has a direct effect of increasing levels of violence close to the voting, as this is when electoral violence can influence political outcomes. Precisely for this reason, elections also have an indirect effect of decreasing levels of violence at all other times, as parties can wait for the election when their efforts are more likely to succeed. The direct and indirect effects generate a “political violence cycle” that peaks at the election. However, when the indirect effect is larger, politics would be more violent without elections. When elections also provide an effective nonviolent means to contest for power, they unambiguously make society more peaceful while still generating a political violence cycle.
Teaching Statistics through Learning Projects.

This paper aims to reflect on the teaching of statistics through student research, in the form of projects carried out by students on self-selected topics. The paper reports on a study carried out with two undergraduate classes using a methodology of teaching that we call ‘learning projects’. Monitoring the development of the various stages of the learning projects allowed continuous adjustment of the process and provided an insight into the benefits and limitations of this approach. Important aspects included the complexity of the group relationships, the importance of choosing the topic of the research, data collection and time management. Students carried out an evaluation of the process, and the resulting information was analysed using quantitative and qualitative approaches. First published November 2014 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives
Myths of Modern Individualism: Faust, Don Quixote, Don Juan, Robinson Crusoe

Introduction Part I. Three Renaissance Myths: 1. From George Faust to Faustbuch 2. The tragicall history of the life and death of Doctor Faustus 3. Don Quixote of La Mancha 4. El burlador and Don Juan 5. Renaissance individualism and the Counter-Reformation Part II. From Puritan Ethic To Romantic Apotheosis: 6. Robinson Crusoe 7. Crusoe, ideology, and theory 8. Romantic apotheosis of Renaissance myths 9. Myth and individualism Part III. Coda: Thoughts On The Twentieth Century: I. Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus II. Michel Tournier's Friday III. Some notes on the present Appendix.
Slow Fracture of Glass in Alkanes and Other Liquids

Water is generally considered to be the environmental agent most detrimental to the long-time strength of glass; consequently, it is to be expected that water will produce the highest fracture velocities for a given loading in the slow fracture range. Charles and Hillig1 attribute this aqueous sensitivity to an autocatalized, stress-enhanced chemical corrosion of the glass network at the crack tip.
Innovations in Bioengineering Education for the 21 Century

The National Academy of Engineering published a report titled The Engineer of 2020. That report suggests that, to meet the future head-on, we not only train our students to possess strong analytical skills but also to have practical ingenuity, be creative, have excellent communication skills, understand leadership, have high ethical standards, and be lifelong learners. Cognitive scientists have been suggesting that we change the educational process for the past 25 years. They opine that effective learning methods have shifted from concentrating on only developing skills and expertise to focus on students’ understanding of application and knowledge. Bioengineering curricula are being created world-wide as new departments and programs are formed3. There are around 50 new undergraduate programs in the US alone. New curricula are largely being developed independently. As expected, bioengineering curricula have been focused on developing deep skills through a biology-infused engineering curriculum. In 2005, The Whitaker Foundation convened an international summit meeting to explicate ideas on the new discipline, bioengineering.
Short-term demographic fluctuations in the croatian military border of austria, 1830–1847

Crude birth, death and marriage rates are examined for the Croatian military defence zone andcordon sanitaire against Turkey for the period 1830–1847. From 20 to 80 per cent of the variance in medium- and short-term swings in rates can be attributed to epidemics and fluctuations in grain harvest and livestock holdings. Standardization of the data to adjust for extreme ecological variation between micro-regions is essential. The ‘Malthusian’ status of this late feudal population is established, at the outset of long-term fertility decline.
A Spirituality of Openness: Christian Ecofeminist Perspectives and Inter-religious Dialogue

Feminists have critiqued assumptions and structures of inter-religious dialogue even as they have acknowledged the need for more feminist presence in this area. Because ecofeminist values span reli...
An Oral Proof in a Geometry Class: How Linguistic Tools Can Help Map the Content of a Proof

Recommendations that teachers promote argument and discourse in their mathematics classrooms anticipate researchers' needs for methods for examining and analyzing such talk. One form of discourse is oral arguments, including proofs. We ask: How can we track the development of an oral argument by a teacher and her/his students? We illustrate a method that combines Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Toulmin's argumentation scheme to examine how speakers logically connect different parts of an argument. We suggest that conjunction analysis can aid a researcher to map the content of a proof that has been constructed in class discussion. Using data from a discussion of a geometry proof, we show that different types of conjunctions enabled the teacher and the students to connect various components of an argument and, also, different arguments. The article illustrates how conjunction analysis can support and deepen what Toulmin's scheme for arguments can reveal about oral discussions.
Mass Media and Instituional Change: Organizational Reputation, Strategy, and Outcomes in the Academic Freedom Movement

We conceptualize mass media as a field of action and consider how a social movement organization’s reputation affects its media strategy as well as the quality of coverage it receives. Drawing on an analysis of two organizations mobilizing around academic freedom, Students for Academic Freedom (SAF) and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), we find that an organization’s reputation is consequential. FIRE, which has a strong reputation, gets high-quality coverage and primarily uses this media attention to threaten its targets. SAF has a weak reputation and, consequently, uses alternative and organizational media to create opportunities to spread its ideas to a broader public. It does so by exploiting the linkages among media outlets and moving its ideas from smaller to larger news outlets. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this research for understanding the role of mass media in strategy, outcomes, and institutional change.
Grief and Major Depression—Controversy Over Changes in DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria.

One of the more controversial revisions in the DSM-5, the elimination of the bereavement exclusion criterion for major depressive disorder (MDD), is discussed.
The location of the dust causing internal reddening of active galactic nuclei

We use the Balmer decrements of the broad-line regions (BLRs) and narrow-line regions (NLRs) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) as reddening indicators to investigate the location of the dust for four samples of AGNs with reliable estimates of the NLR contribution to the Balmer lines. Intercomparison of the NLR and BLR Balmer decrements indicates that the reddening of the NLR sets a lower limit to the reddening of the BLR. Almost no objects have high NLR reddening but low BLR reddening. The reddening of the BLR is often substantially greater than the reddening of the NLR. The BLR reddening is correlated with the equivalent widths of [O III] lines and the intensity of the [O III] lines relative to broad H\beta. We find these relationships to be consistent with the predictions of a simple model where the additional dust reddening the BLR is interior to the NLR. We thus conclude that the dust causing the additional reddening of the accretion disc and BLR is mostly located at a smaller radius than the NLR.
The Nonhuman Primate as a Translational Model for Pesticide Research

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the use of the nonhuman primate model for the assessment of potential developmental toxicants. Even after extensive research using animal models, it is often the case that adverse effects are seen in humans that were not predicted by the data obtained from our animal models; this is perhaps most obvious in the case of therapeutic agents that fail in clinical trials after extensive preclinical (animal) research. This means that either the animal models used to generate such data were inappropriate or the studies that employed the animal model(s) were not designed properly, or both. Because many of the current instruments that are used to assess nonhuman primates can be used in the clinical setting, cross-species extrapolation issues can be minimized with the appropriate use of this animal model. With the use of cognitive assessment tools such as the NCTR Operant Test Battery, significant adverse effects on specific brain functions have been demonstrated in the absence of effects on other, often more frequently monitored toxicological endpoints, including body weight, clinical chemistries, hematologies, and urinalyses. While the costs associated with nonhuman primate studies is considerable, it can be argued that untold millions of dollars have already been spent supporting studies in probably inferior animal models, using irrelevant exposure paradigms given at the wrong life stages. For new or untested compounds, our nonanimal and nonprimate animal models should be used to identify those compounds most likely to give a toxic signal related to nervous system function.
A network of genes associated with poplar root development in response to low nitrogen

Deployment of the root system is highly sensitive to the levels and spatial distribution of nutrients like nitrogen. However, the genetic determinants of these sensing and deployment mechanisms are still poorly understood. Previously, using system approaches based on temporal changes in root transcriptome in relation to low nitrogen (LN), we have been able to identify a module that activates root production in poplar in response to LN conditions. Here, using comparative, gene ontology and expression analyses, we provide further evidence that the genes in this module are indeed involved in regulation of root development under LN. Better understanding of these modules will enable approaches for breeding for better nitrogen use efficiency through development of a more sensitive and plastic root system.
Competition and consumer data: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Abstract Many retailers and social media sites trade their customer data to brokers who use these data to identify relevant market demographics and target segments. This information is valuable to a wide array of industries from trending fashion to health care. For consumers who value privacy however, trading data can be a “bad” and firms that do so may suffer a reputation loss. Our paper investigates whether a self-regulated market operating with transparent privacy policies will lead to an efficient market outcome. Competition in the product market is characterized by both horizontal and vertical differentiation, the latter being affected by the firms’ decisions whether or not to trade their consumer data. We identify market conditions under which, from the perspective of consumers, there is excessive selling of consumer data, but we also identify cases in which both consumers and firms would be better off with stricter privacy legislation or restrictions. We show that there are yet other cases where firms’ concern about loss of reputation leads to too little trading of data and both consumers and firms would be better off if there were more data trading.
Thymidylate Kinases as Potential Anti-Cancer and Antibiotic Drug Targets

Thymidylate kinases (TMKs) play a central role in the production of nucleotide precursors that are required for the replication of DNA. Consequently, this enzyme is a potential drug target for the discovery of anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic drugs. In addition, TMKs are also involved in the activation of prodrugs. In particular, the anti-HIV drug AZT is activated by human TMK (huTMK) and the low efficiency of huTMK towards AZT is a significant problem in the use of AZT in the treatment of HIV. Finally, nucleotide precursors are required in large amounts by cancerous cells, thus the inhibition of huTMK by chemotherapeutic agents may enhanced the arsenal of drugs that are used to treat cancer. Although there has been some effort to develop inhibitors of TMKs, these efforts have been hampered by the difficulty in performing high throughput screening using compound libraries. In addition, the characterization of TMK-drug complexes has been limited to X-ray diffraction studies which provide static information about the enzyme-drug complex. There have been no attempts to apply high-resolution multi-nuclear NMR techniques to determine the fundamental dynamic properties of these enzymes and how the structure and dynamics of the enzyme are altered by the binding of substrates or inhibitors. As a preliminary step in characterizing these enzymes by NMR we have over-expressed TMKs from yeast, human, and two pathogens - Plasmodium falciparum and Candida albicans. Expression of these TMKs was optimized by the design of synthetic genes for expression in bacteria. In the case of the human enzyme, we are able to routinely produce 250 mg of the enzyme/L of culture. Preliminary NMR spectra of the yeast, human, and plasmodium enzyme show that the protein is a homo-dimer in solution, as anticipated from X-ray studies. The amide and methyl spectra are well resolved, indicating that resonance assignment by traditional TROSY based methods will be feasible for both the amides and the methyl resonances. In particular the high sensitivity and dispersion of the methyl spectra will facilitate characterization of the dynamic properties of these enzymes by carbon and deuterium relaxation. Ligand induced changes in the dynamics and structure of huTMK in solution will be characterized using NMR methods. These studies will provide additional insights into the inability to huTMK to effectively activate AZT. The entropic component of the thermodynamics of substrate binding to TMK from the parasite that causes malaria will also be characterized by determining dynamic changes by NMR methods. The development of NMR methods to study these enzymes also provides a method for high throughput screening of compound libraries by detecting chemical shift changes in the NMR spectral of the enzyme due to binding of a potential lead compound.
50th Anniversary Perspective: Dielectric Phenomena in Polymers and Multilayered Dielectric Films

High dielectric constant and low dielectric loss are desirable electrical properties for next-generation polymer dielectrics that show promise for applications in pulsed power, power electronics, and printable electronics. Unfortunately, the dielectric constant of polymers is often limited to 2–5, much lower than that of inorganic dielectrics, because of the nature of hydrocarbon covalent bonds for electronic and atomic polarizations. It is essential to understand the fundamental physics of different types of polarization and the associated loss mechanisms in polymers. In this Perspective, we discuss the characteristics of each polarization and explain how to enhance the polarization using rational molecular designs without causing significant dielectric losses. Among various approaches for high dielectric constant and low loss polymers, the multilayer film technology is of particular interest because a multilayer film is a unique one-dimensional system with tailored material choices, layer thicknesses, a...
Cancer immunotherapy targeting the CD47/SIRPα axis

Abstract The success of cancer immunotherapy has generated tremendous interest in identifying new immunotherapeutic targets. To date, the majority of therapies have focussed on stimulating the adaptive immune system to attack cancer, including agents targeting CTLA-4 and the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. However, macrophages and other myeloid immune cells offer much promise as effectors of cancer immunotherapy. The CD47/signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) axis is a critical regulator of myeloid cell activation and serves a broader role as a myeloid-specific immune checkpoint. CD47 is highly expressed on many different types of cancer, and it transduces inhibitory signals through SIRPα on macrophages and other myeloid cells. In a diverse range of preclinical models, therapies that block the CD47/SIRPα axis stimulate phagocytosis of cancer cells in vitro and anti-tumour immune responses in vivo. A number of therapeutics that target the CD47/SIRPα axis are under preclinical and clinical investigation. These include anti-CD47 antibodies, engineered receptor decoys, anti-SIRPα antibodies and bispecific agents. These therapeutics differ in their pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties. Clinical trials are underway for both solid and haematologic malignancies using anti-CD47 antibodies and recombinant SIRPα proteins. Since the CD47/SIRPα axis also limits the efficacy of tumour-opsonising antibodies, additional trials will examine their potential synergy with agents such as rituximab, cetuximab and trastuzumab. Phagocytosis in response to CD47/SIRPα-blocking agents results in antigen uptake and presentation, thereby linking the innate and adaptive immune systems. CD47/SIRPα blocking therapies may therefore synergise with immune checkpoint inhibitors that target the adaptive immune system. As a critical regulator of macrophage phagocytosis and activation, the potential applications of CD47/SIRPα blocking therapies extend beyond human cancer. They may be useful for the treatment of infectious disease, conditioning for stem cell transplant, and many other clinical indications.
Ovarian Cancer: Symptoms and Presentation

The incidence of ovarian cancer increases with age however there is no screening protocol that has been shown to reduce the morbidity or mortality from ovarian cancer. Currently the best way to make a diagnosis of ovarian cancer is for clinicians to have a high index of suspicion in a symptomatic patient. As a result, delays in diagnosis are very common. The symptoms that are most commonly associated with ovarian cancer include bloating, abdominal or pelvic pain, difficulty eating and feeling full quickly. Symptoms that are of recent onset (6–12 months), that occur more than 12 times month and have persisted fort least 2–3 weeks are most concerning. Recently the development of a symptom index which takes into account the type of symptom, duration and frequency has been shown to have a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 80%. Symptoms in elderly women are no different than younger women and the symptom index has a higher sensitivity and specificity in older women. Currently symptoms are being evaluated as a possible low cost method for early detection of ovarian cancer.
Affective Labor and Technologies of Gender in Wei Yahua’s “Conjugal Happiness in the Arms of Morpheus”

Robotics explores the boundary between the human body and its objective use value, recasting the fields of of gender and affect as commodities—a question that takes on specific cultural values in post-Mao China. This privileging of technology and its engagement with gendered labor are examined in Wei Yahua’s short story, “Conjugal Happiness in the Arms of Morpheus,” which uses the feminine performativity of a robot wife to engage with the intertwined role of affective labor and the legal status of objects. Such a performance decenters the human subject while simultaneously subjugating the laboring technological materials, such that Lili—the robot wife in question—is only capable of acquiring legal subjecthood through her appeal to a law that binds human actors.
A Reversible Optical Recording Medium

A variety of reversible recording media have been developed in the United States in the last few years such as photochromic, catho dochromic, thermochromic, ferroelectric materials and liquid crystals.
Indeterminate QuantiFERON-TB Gold Increases Likelihood of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment Delay and Hospitalization.

Background QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFTG) is a blood test used to diagnose latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) prior to TNF-α inhibitor (anti-TNF) initiation. We sought to determine factors associated with indeterminate QFTG results in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and whether indeterminate results are associated with IBD-related morbidity. Methods This nested case-control study included IBD patients who underwent QFTG testing. Cases were patients with indeterminate QFTG and controls were those with negative QFTG. The association of demographic and clinical data with indeterminate QFTG result was assessed using logistic regression. We examined the clinical impact of indeterminate QFTG results on risk of hospitalization and delay in anti-TNF initiation using inverse probability-of-treatment weighting (IPTW) regression. Results We identified 411 patients with QFTG testing (320 negative, 80 indeterminate, and 11 positive results). No patient with an indeterminate result subsequently had LTBI. Systemic corticosteroid use (OR, 4.4; 95% CI, 2.0-9.6) and hospitalization at the time of QFTG (OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.9-7.7) were associated with indeterminate QFTG, while immunomodulator use was nearly statistically significant (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 0.9-9.8) and anti-TNF use was not (OR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.2-4.6). After IPTW adjustment, indeterminate QFTG was associated with a 23.1% (95% CI, 8.2%-37.9%) greater probability of delay in anti-TNF initiation beyond 30 days and an 11.9% (95% CI, 0.6%-23.1%) greater probability of hospitalization within 60 days. Conclusions Systemic corticosteroid use and hospitalization were associated with an indeterminate QFTG result. Indeterminate QFTG results were associated with delayed anti-TNF initiation and subsequent hospitalization.
The dispositions for culturally responsive pedagogy scale

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate the dispositions for culturally responsive pedagogy scale (DCRPS).,Scale development consisted of a six-step process including item development, expert review, exploratory factor analysis, factor interpretation, confirmatory factor analysis and convergent and discriminant validity analyses.,The final scale contains 19 Likert items across three dispositional domains: Disposition for Praxis, Disposition for Community and Disposition for Social Justice. The alpha reliability value for the overall scale was 0.92.,The DCRPS can be used in teacher preparation programs for programmatic evaluation, for teacher candidate growth assessment or for career counseling.,Other scales related to multicultural education reflect teachers’ general beliefs about diversity and/or inclusive education. The DCRPS is the first scale that assesses teachers’ beliefs and attitudes underlying culturally responsive teaching practices.
The Incremental Burden of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Long-term Follow-up of a Population-Based Nested Case-Control Study.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the long-term survival of patients at similar risk for hospital-acquired acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) who did and did not develop ARDS. Methods We conducted long-term follow-up of a population-based nested case-control study in a consecutive cohort of adult Olmsted County, Minnesota, patients admitted from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2010. Patients in whom ARDS developed during their hospital stay (cases) were matched to similar-risk patients without ARDS (controls) by 6 characteristics: age, sex, sepsis, high-risk surgery, ratio of oxygen saturation to fraction of inspired oxygen, and ARDS risk according to the Lung Injury Prediction Score. Hospital mortality, discharge disposition, and long-term survival were compared. Results Patients who developed hospital-acquired ARDS (n=400) had higher hospital mortality than at-risk controls (n=400) (35% vs 5%; P P =.002) and 6 months (adjusted HR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.2-2.6; P Conclusion These results suggest that in a population-based matched case-control study of patients with similar characteristics at the time of hospital admission, those who developed hospital-acquired ARDS had worse long-term survival.
Settler Postcolonial Ecologies and Native Species Regeneration on Banks Peninsula, Aotearoa New Zealand

The 2050 Ecological Vision for Banks Peninsula, New Zealand is ‘to create an environment in which the community values, protects and cares for the biodiversity, landscape and special character of B...
Collaboratively-developed vaccine pricing and stable profit sharing mechanisms

Abstract Within the private pediatric vaccine market, we consider the problem of pricing a polyvalent vaccine developed via collaboration between manufacturers that otherwise compete for market share. This study is motivated by the joint development by Merck and Sanofi Pasteur of a hexavalent pediatric vaccine that is undergoing clinical trials for childhood immunizations in the United States. Adopting a cooperative game theoretic framework, we formulate a mixed-integer linear program and a bilevel mixed-integer nonlinear program. When solved sequentially, these mathematical programming formulations identify whether the collaborative venture begets a stable coalition of manufacturers and, if such is the case, a price for the new vaccine that maximizes the net increase in profits among the collaborating manufacturers, subject to the actions of a rational customer seeking to minimize the cost of meeting the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule using pediatric vaccines available in the private sector market. We consider a set of profit sharing mechanisms and demonstrate that a convex combination of a subset of the mechanisms assures financial incentive for all participants. Finally, we demonstrate the formulations and price sharing mechanism for the aforementioned hexavalent vaccine in the context of the contemporary United States pediatric vaccine market.
Isolation and Culture of Normal Rat Mammary Epithelial Cells

Primary culture models offer researchers the opportunity to study the factors that regulate physiologically relevant development of normal mammary epithelial cells under defined conditions. This chapter provides detailed methods for the isolation and culturing of normal mammary epithelial cells. Briefly, excised rat mammary glands are mechanically and enzymatically disaggregated, and organized clusters of mammary epithelial cells are isolated as mammary epithelial organoids. The recovered organoids, free of associated stromal fibroblasts and adipocytes, are then cultured within a complex reconstituted basement membrane rich in laminin, type IV collagen, and sulfated proteoglycans. In the presence of serum-free medium supplemented with insulin, prolactin, progesterone, hydrocortisone, and epidermal growth factor, functionally immature mammary epithelial cells from pubescent virgin rats undergo extensive proliferation, branching morphogenesis, and functional differentiation in vitro. Adaptations of these protocols allow mammary gland biologists and breast cancer researchers to isolate and culture various types of normal and malignant mammary cells.
Conceptual Frameworks, Approaches, Theories, and Philosophies of QOL

The concept of QOL has been conceptualized differently by different QOL researchers. A number of these are discussed in the sections included in this chapter. Specifically, we will discuss the QOL concept from the following theoretical perspectives: Ideal theories, Personal utility theories, QOL as happiness versus life satisfaction Opulence theories, Theories of the just society, The needs approach, The transcendental approach, The social judgment approach, The bottom-up versus top-down approach, The resource management approach, The ecological approach, The adaptation level approach, The health approach., The culture model, The goal model, and Other perspectives.
RESPONSES OF HELMINTHS TO TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a study analyzing responses of helminths to temperature gradients. The study reported the anomalous behavior of a number of parasitic helminths in a thermal gradient. Rather than selecting an optimum temperature in the gradient, all the parasite species tested continued in the gradient toward higher temperatures until they were damaged or killed by high temperatures. It was also observed that worms of older infections moved more slowly than those of younger infections. The rates of movements of worms of a 7-day infection were compared with those of worms from a 17-day infection and with those of a 17-day old infection but in which the worms were transplanted from the original rat into a normal rat at day 7. The 7-day infection and the transplanted infection moved at similar rates and significantly faster than those of the 17-day infection. This suggests a host response that affects the worms of an older infection. Twenty-four observations of the activity of N. brasiliensis showed a definite diel activity with the activity greatest at night.
Ultrafast Laser Filament-induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy of Uranyl Fluoride.

Uranyl fluoride (UO2F2) is a compound which forms in the reaction between water and uranium hexafluoride, a uranium containing gas widely used for uranium enrichment. Uranyl fluoride exhibits negligible natural background in atmosphere; as a result, its observation implies the presence and active operation of nearby enrichment facilities and could be used as a tracer for treaty verification technologies. Additionally, detection of UO2F2 has a potential application in guiding remediation efforts around enrichment facilities. Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) has been proposed in the past as a viable technique for the detection and tracking of UO2F2. We demonstrate that ultrafast laser filamentation coupled with LIF extends the capabilities of standard LIF to enable remote detection of UO2F2. An intense femtosecond laser pulse propagated in air collapses into a plasma channel, referred to as a laser filament, allowing for the extended delivery of laser energy. We first investigate the luminescence of UO2F2 excited by the second harmonic of an ultrafast Ti:sapphire laser and subsequently excite it using the conical emission that accompanies ultrafast laser filamentation in air. We measure the decay rates spanning 4.3–5.6 × 104 s−1 and discuss the characteristics of the luminescence for both ultrafast- and filament-excitation. Larger decay rates than those observed using standard LIF are caused by a saturated component of prompt decay from annihilation of dense excited states upon excitation with an ultrafast source. The reproducibility of such decay rates for the given range of incident laser intensities 1.0–1.6 × 1011 W cm−2 is promising for the application of this technique in remote sensing.
Interventions for Preventing Thromboembolic Events in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review.

Background The comparative safety and effectiveness of treatments to prevent thromboembolic complications in atrial fibrillation (AF) remain uncertain. Purpose To compare the effectiveness of medical and procedural therapies in preventing thromboembolic events and bleeding complications in adults with nonvalvular AF. Data sources English-language studies in several databases from 1 January 2000 to 14 February 2018. Study selection Two reviewers independently screened citations to identify comparative studies of treatments to prevent stroke in adults with nonvalvular AF who reported thromboembolic or bleeding complications. Data extraction Two reviewers independently abstracted data, assessed study quality and applicability, and rated strength of evidence. Data synthesis Data from 220 articles were included. Dabigatran and apixaban were superior and rivaroxaban and edoxaban were similar to warfarin in preventing stroke or systemic embolism. Apixaban and edoxaban were superior and rivaroxaban and dabigatran were similar to warfarin in reducing the risk for major bleeding. Treatment effects with dabigatran were similar in patients with renal dysfunction (interaction P > 0.05), and patients younger than 75 years had lower bleeding rates with dabigatran (interaction P 0.05 for all). The greatest bleeding risk reduction was observed in patients with a glomerular filtration rate less than 50 mL/min/1.73 m2 (P = 0.003). Similar treatment effects were observed for rivaroxaban and edoxaban in patients with prior stroke, diabetes, or heart failure (interaction P > 0.05 for all). Limitation Heterogeneous study populations, interventions, and outcomes. Conclusion The available direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are at least as effective and safe as warfarin for patients with nonvalvular AF. The DOACs had similar benefits across several patient subgroups and seemed safe and efficacious for a wide range of patients with nonvalvular AF. Primary funding source Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. (PROSPERO: CRD42017069999).
Into the Weeds: High-volume Weeding at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

As print usage continues to shrink while the demand for student space grows, many academic libraries have felt the pressure to weed more aggressively. While not a new trend, much of the discussion ...
Revisiting the cumulative capability model (CCM) among manufacturing firms in developing countries

We examine the applicability of the competitive cumulative capability model among firms in developing economies within the context of the manufacturing industry. We specifically investigate whether...