cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dual-Priming Isothermal Amplification (DAMP) for Highly Sensitive and Specific Molecular Detection with Ultralow Nonspecific Signals

Nucleic acid amplification tests have been widely used in clinical diagnostics, food safety monitoring, and molecular biology. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a prevailing nucleic acid isothermal amplification method. It has become a powerful alternative to conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for pathogen detection because of its simplicity, rapidity, and high sensitivity. However, the current LAMP methods, especially LAMP with two loop primers, suffer from undesired nonspecific amplification with strong background signals due to the increasing target sites. This nonspecific amplification substantially reduced the reliability of LAMP and limited its applications in clinical diagnostics. Here, we report a "dual-priming" ("self-priming" and "pairing-priming") isothermal amplification (DAMP) assay for rapid nucleic acid detection with ultralow nonspecific signals. This method takes advantage of the "dual-priming" strand extension strategy by adding two pairing-competition primers and designing unique inner primers, enabling highly sensitive and specific molecular detection. As an application demonstration, the DAMP assay was used to detect HIV-1 DNA/RNA and Escherichia coli DNA, showing equal or better sensitivity with shorter detection time compared to conventional LAMP and PCR methods. More importantly, the DAMP assay showed ultralow background signals without false positive signals even after a 2 h incubation. Such a simple, reliable, sensitive, and specific DAMP assay can be well suited for rapid nucleic acid detection as point-of-care testing, particularly in resource-limited settings.
The role of placebos in family medicine: Implications of evidence and ethics for general practitioners.

Background Placebo use is prevalent in primary care. A wealth of discourse on the ethical use of placebos in clinical contexts invariably assumes that placebos oblige practitioners to peddle in deception. However, the recent surge in empirical findings within the field of 'placebo studies' provides a very different perspective: namely, that placebos may yet prove to be both effective and ethical. Objective The aim of this article is to synthesise state-of-the-art scientific and bioethical research to provide up-to-date recommendations on placebo use for general practitioners. Discussion After disambiguating placebo concepts, this article outlines experimental studies into placebo effects and explores the ethical and evidence-based arguments for prescribing placebos. Evaluating the latest research into 'open-label placebos', it can be surmised that there are not yet persuasive grounds to incorporate these treatments into routine clinical care. Notwithstanding, the quality of physician interactions may go some way to harnessing remedial placebo effects among patients.
Digital Advertising and the Marketing Mix: A review of current literature and implications for Higher Education Marketers

By 2020, more than $117 billion will be spent on digital and mobile advertising in the U.S. As college bound populations shrink, shift and are out priced by some in-state rates, the need to increase higher ed digital marketing budgets will increase, as well. In order to improve marketing effectiveness, practitioners must develop a stronger understanding of how to maximize digital marketing’s place in the marketing mix. This paper culls current marketing effectiveness research and presents practical implications for higher ed marketing professionals.
Inhibition of both mutant and wild-type RAS-GTP in KRAS G12C colorectal cancer through cotreatment with G12C and EGFR inhibitors

Abstract Multiple KRAS G12C inhibitors are in development, and the identification of effective combination treatment regimens should maximize the benefit these agents have on cancer patients. Here, we find that KRAS G12C heterozygous mutated colorectal cancer cells are sensitive to targeting with EGFR therapeutic antibodies. We find that KRAS G12C is partially impaired in binding to tumor suppressor NF1 and also to RAF, and our computational simulations reveal how these deficiencies result in partial sensitivity to EGFR inhibition. For the combination of EGFR and G12C inhibitors we observe synergy and reductions in active forms of both wild-type and mutant RAS. Our simulations reveal the synergy involves both wild-type and mutant RAS. Overall, our work suggests that the addition of an EGFR inhibitor to a KRAS G12C inhibitor regimen should be further evaluated as a strategy for KRAS G12C colorectal cancer patients.
Opinion: The unintended consequences of antiflaring policies—and measures for mitigation

Oil reservoirs contain significant quantities of methane, which can leak out when the oil is extracted. At oil wells around the world, more than 140 billion cubic meters (bcm) of this methane is burned off (“flared”) every year, transforming it into carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. Just as much gas is released directly (“vented”) as methane, which makes as much as a 16-fold contribution to global warming. Flaring and venting waste 8% of global natural gas production annually, contribute 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions (1), and disperse a range of pollutants that harm human health (2, 3) and local environments (4). Capturing and using this gas would be a prodevelopment (5), cost-effective (6) means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, yet current efforts to curtail the problem are struggling to make headway. To improve antiflaring policies, we need to embrace remote sensing techniques that can detect point source methane emissions, and we need to enact new production taxes designed to counteract the effects of gas infrastructure investment on downstream emissions. Image credit: Shutterstock/Leonid Ikan. In 2015 the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) launched the “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” initiative (7), which promotes regulations on flaring and, to a lesser degree, the financing of new gas infrastructure. We present evidence that both of these approaches are seriously flawed. The regulatory solutions appear to be mostly ineffective and, we argue, run the risk of being seriously counterproductive. Because flaring is easily detected with high-resolution satellites whereas measurements of venting are either imprecise (conducted with medium-resolution satellites) or prohibitively costly at scale (done with aerial monitoring), restrictions on flaring can push oil producers toward greater venting. Even a small increase in venting would be enough to create a net increase in global warming. Meanwhile, although gas … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: raphael.calel{at}georgetown.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Domestic Military Operations and the Coronavirus Pandemic

The U.S. military has played a critical role in the nation’s coronavirus response. More than 50,000 military service members are responding to the crisis, representing one of the largest domestic military operations in American history. This Article describes and analyzes the laws, regulations, and policies governing the military’s coronavirus response, proceeding in three Parts. First, I analyze the different states of emergency declared by the executive branch in response to the coronavirus crisis, contextualizing their significance to the military. Second, I analyze the many legal restrictions on the military when used as a law enforcer, focusing on longstanding constitutional, statutory, and legal constraints. These restrictions are rooted in concerns about the role of the military in civil society that date from the nation’s founding. In doing so, I analyze the “law of martial law,” in which the military supplants civil authority—an example of the dangers of oppressive military use. Third, I describe and analyze the important role that both the state-based National Guards and federal military forces can play as a relief aid provider. Regardless of how the military is used in the coronavirus response and beyond, the President, Congress, and the courts must be cognizant of longstanding constitutional norms and broader conceptions of civilian control of the military.
Sleep and Sex: A Review of the Interrelationship of Sleep and Sexuality Disorders in the Female Population, Through the Lens of Sleeping Beauty Syndrome

Abstract Introduction For many, sleep and sex are crucial for physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Poor sleep quality is linked to a myriad of ailments from coronary artery disease to major depressive disorder. Likewise, a decrease in the frequency of sexual activity is associated with a decrease in self-rated health status. Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS) is a rare sleep disorder that provides a unique lens to examine the intricate interplay between sleep and sex as it is one of the few sleep disorders defined by concomitant sexual dysfunction. Objectives This study reviews the literature on links between sleep disorders and sexuality with a focus on women's health followed by a case study of unusual patient with KLS with persistent genital arousal disorder. Methods Literature searches were conducted for English language publications, including foreign language publications with English abstracts with ninety-five articles reviewed. The literature review is followed by a case report. Results We review the known literature linking sleep and women's sexual health with a focus on insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, sexsomnia, and KLS. We then present a case of KLS-associated persistent genital arousal disorder, which was amenable to treatment with a multimodal approach aimed at symptomatic relief with intravaginal diazepam suppositories, topical clitoral lidocaine, and duloxetine. Conclusion This case highlights that hypersexuality and persistent arousal cannot effectively be treated in isolation but rather must be contextualized within a patient's broader medical history and diagnoses. Specifically, sleep quality and potential sleep disorders should be assessed for those presenting with sexual health complaints (and vice versa). Zwerling B, Keymeulen S, Krychman ML. Sleep and Sex: A Review of the Interrelationship of Sleep and Sexuality Disorders in the Female Population, Through the Lens of Sleeping Beauty Syndrome. Sex Med Rev 2021;9:221–229.
Antibody Response to 2-Dose SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine Series in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients.

This follow-up study measures the antibody response following the second dose of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine in recipients of solid organ transplants.
Evolution of Surgical Reconstruction of the Medial Ulnar Collateral Ligament of the Elbow

From Dr. Jobe’s initial description of surgical reconstruction of the anterior bundle of the medial ulnar collateral ligament (MUCL) in 1986 to the present day, the so-called “Tommy John” procedure has undergone a series of modifications. These changes have been proposed by thought-leaders in the field of elbow surgery with the goal of improving surgical outcomes and decreasing the incidence of postoperative complications. New techniques with improvements over prior surgical iterations have been tested in biomechanical studies and many have been assessed in clinical studies. This gradual, evolutionary process has resulted in the creation of numerous unique surgical constructs, all of which are attempts to accurately reconstruct the MUCL and to restore valgus stability to the elbow. These surgical techniques can broadly be classified into three families according to their graft configuration: figure of eight, triangular, and linear constructs.
DIFFUSE BIFURCATIONS OF POROUS MEDIA UNDER PARTIALLY DRAINED CONDITIONS

This paper presents a procedure which utilizes an energy functional of the apparent solid skeleton (solid skeleton + fluid/solid interface) and higher- order mixed-field finite element to assess the stability of porous media under partially drained conditions. Assuming that the porous medium is fully saturated and the solid skeleton deformation is infinitesimal, we show that the static equilibrium and the sufficient conditions for the onset of diffuse bifurcations can both be derived from the same energy functional in an incremental fashion. A three-dimensional example is included to demonstrate the predictive capacity of the proposed procedure.
Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Models of 2′,3′-Dideoxyinosine

Purpose. The goal of this study was to develop physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models for 2′,3′-dideoxyinosine (ddI) in rats when the drug was administered alone (ddI model) and with pentamidine (ddI + pentamidine model), and to use these models to evaluate the effect of our previously reported pentamidine-ddI interaction on tissue ddI exposure in humans.
Robust H/sub /spl infin// stabilization via parameterized Lyapunov bounds

The parameterized Lyapunov bounding technique of Haddad and Bernstein is extended to include an H/sub /spl infin// disturbance attenuation constraint. The results presented in this paper provide a framework for designing fixed-order (i.e., full- and reduced-order) controllers that guarantee robust H/sub 2/ and H/sub /spl infin// performance in the presence of structured constant real parameter variations in the state space model.
Creating a software ecosystem for Data Intensive Science

“Data Intensive Science” is an acknowledgement that as simulations and experiments continue to generate larger amounts of data, we must turn our attention on how to move, store, manage, analyze and visualize this data in a timely fashion. The cost of “write once read never” is becoming too expensive and we must start to create software ecosystems to help us cope with this flood of data from scientific instruments and calculations. “Big Data” can be characterized by the five Vs of data intensive science: volume, velocity, variety, veracity, and value. Understanding how applications and experiments will change in the next ten years is critical in order to develop a software ecosystem that can handle the implications of “Big Data” in order to allow for knowledge discovery. In this talk, we will explore different software systems used by scientists today, and the extension of many of these software artifacts to bring them together into a complete software ecosystem that can be amenable to next-generation science. In particular we will focus on the ADIOS software system as a framework for the management of large data, and the use of operations on the data using the next-generation VTK-M visualization software system, and explore its usage in both the short and long term.
H/sup /spl infin// equalization of communication channels

As an alternative to existing techniques and algorithms, we investigate the merit of the H-infinity approach to the equalization of communication channels. We first look at causal H-infinity equalization problem and then look at the improvement due to finite delay. By introducing the risk sensitive property, we compare the average performance of the central H-infinity equalizer with the MMSE equalizer in equalizing minimum phase channels.
Subsequent malignancies and their effect on survival in patients with retinoblastoma

Background As cure rates for retinoblastoma have improved, it is clear that patients with hereditary retinoblastoma experience increased risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms (SMNs). Methods Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database, we evaluated risk of SMNs in survivors or retinoblastoma. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated to compare number of deaths observed to the expected number for the cohort. Cumulative incidence of SMNs and standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of observed to expected SMNs were calculated Results A total of 595 patients were included in the analysis. Cumulative incidence of secondary malignancy at 30 years for patients with unilateral and bilateral disease was 1.7% and 28.5%, respectively (P < 0.001). SIRs of subsequent malignancies for patients with unilateral and bilateral disease were 2.1 (95% CI = 0.6–5.4) and 38.3 (95% CI = 24.3–57.5), respectively. Patients with bilateral disease treated with and without radiotherapy both experienced an increased risk of SMNs (SIRs = 45.9, 95% CI = 26.8–73.6 and 27.3, 95% CI = 10.0–59.4, respectively). The most common cause of death for the patients with bilateral disease was subsequent malignancy (52% of deaths). Beginning in the 1990s, there was a significant decrease in the use of radiotherapy as 30.5% of patients received radiotherapy in the 1980s compared to 2.6% after 1999 (P < 0.001). Conclusions Survivors of bilateral retinoblastoma experience an increased risk of SMNs which adversely affects survival. The use of radiotherapy in the management of retinoblastoma has declined; however, patients with bilateral disease remain at an increased risk of subsequent cancers. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014;61:116–119. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Depression, stress, and weight loss in individuals with metabolic syndrome in SHINE, a DPP translation study

OBJECTIVE—To examine the relationships between elevated depression symptoms (EDS) or stress and weight loss in SHINE, a telephonic, primary-care based, translation of the Diabetes Prevention Program. DESIGN AND METHODS—N=257 adults with metabolic syndrome were randomized to individual (IC) or group (CC) phone participation. We assessed weight, depression, antidepressant use (ADMs), and stress (baseline, 6 months, 1 and 2 years). Univariate analyses used linear and logistic regression, t-tests for continuous variables and exact tests for categorical variables. Stratified analyses assessed modifiers of effects of depression/stress on weight loss. RESULTS—Approximately 35% reported EDS, with no change over time. Approximately 28% of all participants used ADMs. Participants with EDS had lower mean % weight loss and a smaller % who achieved ≥ 5% weight loss. Participants with EDS were less likely to be “completers” (40.1 % vs. 61.5%, p=.002), coached (48.0% vs. 60.7%, p=.049), or log diet/activity (19.4% vs. 42.7%, p<.001), behaviors related to weight loss. Results were similar for high stress. ADM use had no independent effect on weight loss.
ATR: an essential regulator of genome integrity

Genome maintenance is a constant concern for cells, and a coordinated response to DNA damage is required to maintain cellular viability and prevent disease. The ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and ATM and RAD3-related (ATR) protein kinases act as master regulators of the DNA-damage response by signalling to control cell-cycle transitions, DNA replication, DNA repair and apoptosis. Recent studies have provided new insights into the mechanisms that control ATR activation, have helped to explain the overlapping but non-redundant activities of ATR and ATM in DNA-damage signalling, and have clarified the crucial functions of ATR in maintaining genome integrity.
Depression and eating disorders: treatment and course.

Background We examined the course of major depressive disorder (MDD) and predictors of MDD recovery and relapse in a longitudinal sample of women with eating disorders (ED).
Hormone induction of ascorbic acid transport in immature granulosa cells.

Ascorbic acid serves a vital role as an antioxidant, and like FSH, it inhibits apoptosis of granulosa cells in cultured follicles. In contrast, reactive oxygen species block the action of FSH and induce DNA damage in these cells. As the uptake of ascorbic acid by granulosa cells may be a site for regulation, we examined the nature of this process and whether uptake is under hormone control. Granulosa cells were isolated from immature rats pretreated with estradiol or diethylstilbestrol for 3-4 days and placed in culture. Culture of the cells with either FSH (50 ng/ml) or insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I; 30 ng/ml) for 48 h increased ascorbic acid uptake by 2.7- and 1.9-fold (P < 0.05), respectively, and the response to FSH plus IGF-I was additive (4.5-fold; P < 0.05). The interval for maximum induction of ascorbic acid transport by FSH was between 4-8 h, whereas a significant response to IGF-I was not seen until 48 h. GnRH (1 microM), phorbol ester (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate; 1 microM), and 8-bromo-cAMP (8Br-cAMP; 1 mM) also induced ascorbic acid transport by 1.7-, 1.9-, and 2.3-fold (P < 0.05) within 24 h, and the response to maximal levels of phorbol ester and 8Br-cAMP was synergistic (4.8-fold; P < 0.05). Kinetic analysis showed a similar Michaelis constant (K(m); 50.8 +/- 5.3 microM) and maximum velocity (3.3 +/- 0.4 pmol/10(6) cells.min) for ascorbic acid transport in FSH-, 8Br-cAMP-, or phorbol ester-treated cells. Ouabain (100 microM) or removal of extracellular Na+ significantly inhibited ascorbic acid uptake, as did dinitrophenol (1 mM), an inhibitor of mitochondrial production of ATP. The induction of ascorbic acid transport by FSH, IGF-I, or GnRH was abolished by simultaneous incubation with tyrphostin (AG-18; 80 microM), a specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor, whereas induction was unaffected by an inactive, but chemically similar, compound (A-1; 80 microM). From these results we conclude that ascorbic acid uptake is energy and Na+ dependent and that the induction of ascorbic acid transporters in granulosa cells occurs through multiple hormones that ultimately influence tyrosine-specific protein kinases. The hormone-dependent induction of ascorbic acid accumulation in granulosa cells appears to be an essential process for the development and maintenance of a viable follicle.
Raman band contours. II: Symmetric top molecules

The general theory of Raman band contours of symmetric tops is discussed briefly, and a program for the calculation of the band contours for the degenerate bands of prolate and oblate symmetric tops is described. The band contours as a function of the Coriolis coupling constant, zeta, have been computed for the range ζ = −1.0 to + 1.0 and for values of beta (A/B–1) ranging from −0.5 (planar oblate top) to + 3.0. The results, which are presented in tabular and graphical form, can be used to determine approximate values of zeta from the contours of unresolved bands for molecules in which the selection rules are restricted to ΔK = ± 1 or ΔK = ± 2. Limitations and sources of error are discussed.
Sorting on STAR

This paper gives timing comparisons for three sorting algorithms written for the CDC STAR computer. One algorithm is Hoare's Quicksort, which is the fastest or nearly the fastest sorting algorithm for most computers. A second algorithm is a vector version of Quicksort that takes advantage of the STAR's vector operations. The third algorithm is an adaptation of Batcher's sorting algorithm, which makes especially good use of vector operations but has a complexity of N (log N)2 as compared to a complexity of N log N for the Quicksort algorithms. In spite of its worse complexity, Batcher's sorting algorithm is competitive with the serial version of Quicksort for vectors up to the largest that can be treated by STAR. Vector Quicksort outperforms the other two algorithms and is generally preferred. These results indicate that unusual instruction sets can introduce biases in program execution time that counter results predicted by worst-case asymptotic complexity analysis.
Reversal of a visual illusion of length perception

One-hundred and five human subjects compared an open interval, bounded by vertical lines, to one of equal length which contained an intervening dot. Open intervals were judged to be shorter when the lengths subtended a visual angle of less than approximately 9 deg, but longer when the visual angle was greater. There is a striking similarity to the perception of time intervals which contain intervening stimuli.
The preparation of analytically stable, immobilized stationary phase coatings on colums packing materials

A coating of silicone SE-54 on Chromosorb W has been converted to an analytically stable, immobilized stationary phase layer by cross-linking with an organic peroxide. Up to 10% by weight has been applied in this manner. Excellent high temperature qualities are exhibited, such as low bleeding and good base line stability, during typical analyses. Poly (2,6-dimethyl-p-phenylene oxide) has also been crosslinked as a surface coating on Chromosorb W with an organic peroxide. From 3 to 4% by weight has been immobilized in this way. The resultant packing material, following high temperature conditioning, has been examined for use as an adsorbent of trace substances, similar to the applications to which such adsorbents as Tenax GC have commonly been applied, e.g. trace analysis of air. It appears to exhibit satisfactory properties for this analytical purpose.
Antonius Bonfini and His "Rerum Ungaricarum Decades"

Held describes the nature a book written by Antonius Bonfini (1427â€”?), an early work on the history of Hungary, held in Rutgers Special Collections.
Protest militancy in the USSR: When does it work?

Abstract Recent studies of political protest suggest that militant tactics tend to produce greater concessions for aggrieved groups in hegemonies than in polyarchies. In hegemonic systems (such as the Soviet Union), political protest seems to be a two-player, regime-dissident power struggle in which the dissidents' best hope for success lies in overcoming regime force with their own force—disruption and damage. Protest militancy in hegemonies may work even better when militant tactics are combined with other protester power resources and when regime power resources are avoided. A study of 382 demonstrations in the Soviet Union confirms these propositions. Militancy does prove positively correlated with regime concessions under a wide variety of geographic, protest-group, and target characteristics. Yet protest militancy is even more effective under conditions of relative regime weakness and protester strength. The study concludes with some implications for the stability of hegemonic regimes.
Information Seeking and Responding Networks in Physical Gatherings: A Case Study of Academic Conferences in Twitter

With the allure of immediacy, social media like Twitter have been widely used in physical gatherings as a ``backchannel'' to facilitate the conversations among participants. Studies have been centered around identifying the characteristics of such collective activities in different event settings. It has remained largely unexplored though, how event participants seek information in those situations. On the other hand, studies that examine information seeking in social media have not addressed the information needs in a particular social context. This study takes the first initiative to characterize the information seeking and responding networks in a concrete context---academic conferences---as one example of physical gatherings. By studying over 190 thousand tweets posted by 66 academic communities over five years, we unveil the landscape of information-seeking activities and the associated social and temporal contexts during the conferences. We leverage crowdsourcing and machine learning techniques to identify distinct types of information-seeking tweets in academic communities. We show that the information needs can be differentiated by their posted time and content, as well as how they were responded to. Interestingly, users' tendencies of posting certain types of information needs can be inferred by prior tweeting activities and network positions. Moreover, our results suggest it is also possible to predict the potential respondents to different types of information needs. Our study has implications for understanding the design of social search engines that facilitate the information seeking and responding in physical gatherings.
Agricultural drainage affects export of dissolved organic carbon

[1] Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exported from agricultural lands can affect watershed carbon budgets and aquatic ecosystem functions. Agricultural practices, especially enhanced drainage, which is widespread in the midwestern United States and expanding, can influence how much DOC is exported from an area. Dalzell et al. compared fields that drained water at conventional rates (13 millimeters per day) with fields with intense drainage (51 millimeters per day). They found that intense drainage resulted in 55% more DOC exported per year. This was primarily due to increased water export but also due to increased DOC concentration. The researchers observed that DOC export from drained fields depended strongly on precipitation rates and varied considerably from year to year. DOC concentrations increased in stream networks in the drained watershed and shifted from microbial sources in farm field drainage to more terrestrially derived and higher molecular weight DOC at downstream sites. (Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, doi:10.1029/2010JG001540, 2011)
Experience in Implementing a Deploying a Non-IP Routing Protocol VIRO in GENI

In this paper, we describe our experience in implementing a non-IP routing protocol - Virtual Id Routing (VIRO) - using the OVS-SDN platform in GENI. As a novel, "plug-a-play", routing paradigm for future dynamic networks, VIRO decouples routing/forwarding from addressing by introducing a topology-aware, structured virtual id layer to encode the locations of switches and devices in the physical topology for scalable and resilient routing. Despite its general "match-action" forwarding function, the existing OVS-SDN platform is closely tied to the conventional Ethernet/IP/TCP header formats, and cannot be directly used to implement the new VIRO routing/forwarding paradigm. As a result, we repurpose the Ethernet MAC address to represent VIRO virtual id, modify and extend the OVS (both within the user space and the kernel space) to implement the VIRO forwarding functions. We also utilize a set of local POX controllers (one per VIRO switch) to emulate the VIRO distributed control plane and one global POX controller to realize the VIRO (centralized) management plane. We evaluate our prototype implementation through the Mininet emulation and GENI deployment test and discuss some lessons learned using the test-bed.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH–WOMEN'S SEXUAL HEALTH: Beyond Douching: Use of Feminine Hygiene Products and STI Risk among Young Women

ABSTRACT Introduction Use of feminine hygiene products (feminine wipes, sprays, douches, and yeast creams) by adolescent women is common, yet understudied. Aim We examine the association among these genital hygiene behaviors, condom use, and sexually transmitted infection (STI). Main Outcome Measures Using the interview as our unit of analysis, we examined associations between genital hygiene behaviors (use of feminine wipes, feminine sprays, douches, or yeast creams), STI risk factors, and infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae , and Trichomonas vaginalis . Methods We recruited 295 adolescent women from primary care clinics as part of a larger longitudinal study of STI among high-risk adolescents. Participants completed face-to-face interviews every 3 months, and provided vaginal swabs for STI testing. Data were analyzed with repeated measures logistic models to control for multiple observations contributed by each participant. Results Participants reported douching in 25% of interviews, feminine sprays in 29%, feminine wipes in 27%, and yeast creams in 19% of interviews. We observed a co-occurrence of douching, spraying, and wiping. A past STI (6 months or more prior) was associated with increased likelihood of yeast cream use, and a recent STI (3 months prior) was associated with increased likelihood of feminine wipe use. Condom use was modestly associated with increased likelihood of douching. Conclusions Young women frequently use feminine hygiene products, and it is important for clinicians to inquire about use as these products may mimic or mask STI. We found no associations between douching and STI, but instead modest associations between hygiene and STI prevention, suggesting motivation for self-care. Ott MA, Ofner S, and Fortenberry JD. Beyond douching: Use of feminine hygiene products and STI risk among young women. J Sex Med 2009;6:1335–1340.
Emmons spot forcing for turbulent drag reduction

An Emmons spot-generation wind tunnel system has been designed to trigger closely spaced Emmons spots in the spanwise and longitudinal directions of an aerodynamic surface. For certain combinations of generator frequencies and amplitude, hole size, and hole spacing, experimental results indicate smaller turbulence scales and a reduction in skin friction of about 15 percent.
α-Tocopherol modulates lipoprotein cytotoxicity in obstructive nephropathy

Oxidative stress in unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) contributes to the development of glomerular and tubulointerstitial lesions. The present study investigated whether oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oLDL) contributes to the pathogenesis of kidney injury in UUO, and whether alpha-tocopherol modulates such cytotoxicity and promotes repair. Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 100-125 g were assigned to three groups of 6 animals each: (1) sham, regular chow; (2) UUO, regular chow; and (3) UUO, alpha-tocopherol supplementation. We found a significant increase in the level of oxidative stress in the UUO group as measured by malondialdehyde (MDA) content in both plasma and kidneys. The LDL isolated from this group was cytotoxic to rat mesangial cells. The level of oxidation and cytotoxicity was significantly reduced when animals were treated with alpha-tocopherol. Plasma cholesterol concentration, kidney MDA, and transforming growth factor beta1 mRNA expression were all significantly increased in the UUO animals, and partially reduced in alpha-tocopherol-treated animals. Our data suggest that oxidative modification of LDL is associated with the renal injury in UUO. Taken together, our data support the concept that alpha-tocopherol can modulate LDL oxidation and its cytotoxic effects on rat mesangial cells in vitro.
Norms of paired-associate recall during multitrial learning of Swahili-English translation equivalents.

No normative data have been available for the recall of recently studied foreign-language vocabulary items. We report data from 200 university undergraduates who had three study-recall trials on Swahili-English translation equivalents (e.g. ardhi-soil). Performance on each of the three study-recall trials is reported for each of the 100 items. Recall varied from near-zero to near-perfect across the combinations of items and trials, thereby allowing investigators to choose combinations of items and trials that will produce any desired range of recall difficulty. Substantial improvements in recall of the items occurred across study-test trials, and therefore the items seem suitable both for investigations of the effect of acquisition variables and for most of the other goals that are satisfied by laboratory paired-associate items.
Adolescent Childbearing Revisited: The Age of Inner-city Mothers at Delivery Is a Determinant of Their Children's Self-sufficiency at Age 27 to 33

A 30-year longitudinal study of 1758 predominantly Black inner-city children born in Baltimore Maryland (US) in 1960-65 investigated the impact of maternal age at delivery on selected adult outcomes at ages 27-33 years. The Pathways to Adulthood Study a component of the Johns Hopkins Collaborative Perinatal Study confirmed that maternal age at birth is significantly associated with the childs self-sufficient outcomes in adulthood in terms of graduation from high school (p < 0.01) financial independence of public assistance (p < 0.05) and delay of first birth until age 20 or older (p < 0.001). These effects persisted even after adjustment for poverty at birth sex race maternal education and parity. Overall children with the oldest mothers (age 25 or over at delivery) had the most favorable outcomes while those with the youngest mothers (under age 20) had the least favorable outcomes. 62% of children of teen mothers compared with 72% of those with mothers aged 25 or older completed high school; 72% and 78% of these children respectively were independent of public assistance as adults. Finally the proportions of children who became teen parents themselves in these two age groups were 68% and 79% respectively. 22% of the daughters and 6% of sons of the oldest mothers compared with 38% of the daughters and 18% of the sons of teen mothers became teenage parents. These findings are consistent with an intergenerational life course model of development.
Elongation in translation as a dynamic interaction among the ribosome, tRNA, and elongation factors EF-G and EF-Tu

The ribosome is a complex macromolecular machine that translates the message encoded in the messenger RNA and synthesizes polypeptides by linking the individual amino acids carried by the cognate transfer RNAs (tRNAs). The protein elongation cycle, during which the tRNAs traverse the ribosome in a coordinated manner along a path of more than 100 A, is facilitated by large-scale rearrangements of the ribosome. These rearrangements go hand in hand with conformational changes of tRNA as well as elongation factors EF-Tu and EF-G - GTPases that catalyze tRNA delivery and translocation, respectively. This review focuses on the structural data related to the dynamics of the ribosomal machinery, which are the basis, in conjunction with existing biochemical, kinetic, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer data, of our knowledge of the decoding and translocation steps of protein elongation.
Palliative Care as a Primary Therapeutic Approach in Advanced Dementia: A Narrative Review

Abstract Purpose The goal of this narrative review was to identify and summarize the ways in which palliative care could benefit patients who have advanced dementia. Methods This case-based discussion article examines current literature on palliative care for dementia. Findings Dementia is an incurable, progressive disease that affects millions of subjects. The prevalence has grown in the last decade and is projected to continue on this trajectory. In the later stages of dementia, subjects require increasing levels of care due to severe cognitive and functional impairment. Although the field of palliative medicine focuses on improving the quality of life of patients with life-limiting illnesses, many patients with advanced dementia do not receive palliative care services. Implications Palliative care has been shown to improve patient and caregiver satisfaction, quality of life, and symptom burden at the end of life. Patients with advanced dementia would benefit from increased access to palliative care.
Lens epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF/p75) and p52 are derived from a single gene by alternative splicing

Abstract A human gene that encodes lens epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF) was isolated, and the DNA sequence and the exon/intron organization was determined. The gene contains at least 15 exons and 14 introns and encodes LEDGF mRNA and p52 mRNA. Exons 1–15 encode LEDGF mRNA, and exons 1–9, and a part of the ninth intron encode a splice variant (p52). Sequences of the exon/intron junctions of the gene have the highly conserved GT/AG rule. Most intron/exon junctions correspond to junctions of individual protein motifs. Almost equal amounts of LEDGF and p52 are expressed in lens epithelial cells in culture. The LEDGF gene is assigned to chromosome 9p22.2, which is adjacent to the major cell malignancy locus.
Nepotism among rhesus monkey brothers.

Either during or shortly after sexual maturation, male rhesus monkeys leave the social groups in which they were born and join other non-natal groups (refs 1, 2 and unpublished data). Here we report that males frequently transfer into the same social groups as their older maternally related brothers. Such brothers spent more time close to each other than to other males, formed alliances with brothers more frequently than with non-brothers and disrupted each other's interactions with oestrous females less frequently than expected by chance. They also spent more time in non-natal groups than did males who did not have a brother in the group. Length of time in a group is positively associated with male dominance rank1 and probably with reproductive success. The data are consistent with proposals that brothers who behave nepotistically and noncompetitively have high inclusive fitness.
2-(2-Isopropylanilino)pyridine-3-carboxylic acid

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C15H16N2O2, contains two mol­ecules and in each of the mol­ecules, the two aromatic rings, lying in two different planes, are bridged by a secondary amino group. This might be due to steric hindrance caused by the isopropyl group. Intra- and inter­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules, forming an infinite one-dimensional tape structure; they may be effective in the stabilization of the crystal structure.
The Effects Of Dissipation In One-Dimensional Inverse Problems

Consider the problem of determining the permittivity as a function of depth in a one-dimensional medium. If the incident field is a transverse electric plane wave then the permittivity can be determined by using the resulting reflected field in an appropriate inversion algorithm, assuming the conductivity of the medium is known. However, if the conductivity is only known approximately, use of such inversion techniques can result in erroneous estimates of the permittivity. In this paper we examine how the performance of an inversion algorithm is altered by misrepresenting the dissipative effects of the medium. Two cases are of interest: 1. The assumed dissipative effects differ slightly from the actual dissipative effects throughout the medium, e.g., assuming no dissipation in a medium which in fact has small, non-zero conductivity. 2. Ignoring conductivity in a narrow region of the medium. These studies will be carried out using the techniques developed in the companion paper, "Wave splittings, invariant imbedding and inverse scattering."
Properties of a-Si:H films grown using hot wire-ECR plasma techniques

Abstract We report on the growth and properties of a-Si:H films and nin layers prepared using combination of hot wire and ECR-plasma growth techniques. The films were prepared using both W and Ta hot wire filaments. A distinguishing feature of the reactor was the large spacing, 11 cm, of the filament from the substrate, thereby avoiding over-heating of the substrate. Films were grown at pressures from 2 to 50 mT, and the corresponding optical and electronic properties of the films were measured. The temperature of the substrate was varied between ∼225 and 350 °C. It was found that the growth rates do not follow the maximum at a pressure-distance (pd) product ∼15 mTorr cm postulated by Molenbroek et al.'s model. [J. Appl. Phys. 82, 1909 (1997)]. It was also discovered that the properties of the hot wire films depend upon the pd product, and that the H bonding and electronic properties depend critically upon the growth rate, and on the substrate temperature. The properties of the hot wire films bear a remarkable similarity to the films deposited using expanding thermal plasma (ETP) techniques at similar temperatures. When the films were subjected to low power He plasma, the properties improved dramatically. It was also found that H ions are more efficient at etching a growing film than H radicals alone. The results show that the H bonding and electronic properties of a-Si:H films are determined primarily by the efficiency of H extraction, and that low energy ions have a useful role to play in this process.
Conductance fluctuations in graphene nanoribbons

Over the past few years, the amazing properties of graphene have led to predictions for its use in a variety of areas, not the least of which is in semiconductor devices. But, the transport is an important aspect of any possible application. At low temperature, fluctuations are observed in the conductance through nanoribbons. These fluctuations arise from the presence of a random potential in the semiconductor, which arises from e.g. impurities present in the material structure. In this work, we examine the nature of these fluctuations in nanoribbons using an atomic basis quantum transport simulation.
A numerical model of the Martian polar cap winds

An investigation of the Martian polar cap winds and their response to a variety of factors is carried out by numerical experiments based on a zonally symmetric primitive equation model. The seasonal thermal forcing, mass exchange between polar caps and atmosphere, large-scale topography, and polar cap size are discussed, noting that topography has a small effect, but the circulation intensity increases with cap size. The model results show that surface winds near the edge of a retreating polar cap are enhanced, and that the surficial wind indicators near the south pole are formed during spring and those near the north pole during winter. It is suggested that the high-latitude dune fields in the northern hemisphere are formed when the terrain is covered by frost, and that the saltating particles are 'snowflakes' which formed by the mechanism proposed by Pollack (1976). The model results for the winter simulation compare favorably with general circulation model (GCM) calculations.
The effects of sex-role taking on children's responses to aggressive conflict situations

The effects of sex-role taking on children's responses to aggressive conflict situations were investigated in the present study. Subjects were 40 boys and girls aged 8–9, who were asked to take the role of boy and girl story characters involved in the following kinds of aggressive situations: victim of a verbal attack, victim of a physical attack, and witness to an attack upon a friend. A significant interaction effect between type of conflict situation and sex of story character was obtained. Subjects expected boy characters to retaliate more strongly than girl characters when intervening in an attack upon a friend, and girl characters to retaliate more strongly than boy characters when being verbally or physically assaulted. These findings suggest the importance of situational factors in determining children's sex-stereotyped expectations for aggressive retaliation.
Induction of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase by methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone)

The anti-tumor agent methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) was found to be a competitive inhibitor of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase with a Ki of about 8 microM. Treatment of rats with this drug lead to a very large increase in the total amount of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase in liver, kidney and spleen. The total increase as measured using a specific antiserum amounted to 700-fold in liver and 100-fold in kidney within 18 h of treatment with 80 mg/kg doses. At least part of this induction was due to a pronounced increase in the half-life of the acetyltransferase which increased from 15 min to more than 12 h. The very large increase in the amount of the enzyme is likely to overwhelm the direct inhibition, and a net increase in the acetylation of polyamines by this enzyme would be expected to occur after treatment with methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone). The acetylated polyamines are known to be rapidly degraded by polyamine oxidase producing putrescine. Direct evidence that a substantial part of the increase in the content of putrescine in the liver of rats treated with methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) occurs via the induction of this acetylase/oxidase pathway was obtained. These results indicate that methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) affects cellular polyamine levels not only by means of its inhibitory effect on S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase and diamine oxidase but also by the induction of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase. They also raise the possibility that the enormous increase in this enzyme which occurs with higher doses may contribute to the very severe toxicity of methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone).