cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Targeting surgeon decisions for facial soft tissue surgery

Carroll Ann Trotman received her dental degree from the University of Dundee, Scotland; a certificate in Orthodontics and MA (Oral Biology) degree from Columbia University, NY; and a MS (Clinical Research) from the University of Michigan. She has also completed Fellowships in Craniofacial Anomalies and Clinical Research and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. She has had an active research program throughout her career and her currently NIDCR-funded research efforts are focused on the outcomes of cleft lip surgery. She has published extensively, served on several NIDCR panels and study sections, and is a recipient of numerous awards and honors. Targeting surgeon decisions for facial soft tissue surgery
Specificity of Smad Signaling during Primitive Erythropoiesis.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) comprise a sub-family of TGF-beta-like molecules that exert a wide range of biological activities during development, and are essential for normal hematopoiesis. However, the precise stage in development that BMP signaling regulates hematopoiesis is not defined. Three proteins, Smad1, Smad5, and Smad8 transmit BMP signals to the nucleus to activate the expression of hematopoietic-specific transcription factors. These Smads are homologous in their sequences, and appear to be regulated similarly, however their specificity in regulating hematopoiesis remains undefined. Although Smad proteins are regulated post-translationally, their expression is also under transcriptional control during development. We examined the specificity of Smad1/5/8 activity in the context of primitive erythropoiesis, using the mouse embryonic stem cell /embryoid body (ES/EB) system. We exploited ES cells with GFP targeted to the brachyury locus, in order to identify specific sub-sets of progenitors. Smad1 transcript levels are initially upregulated as ES cells become fated to mesoderm and hematopoietic progenitors, but the levels are significantly decreased in cells derived from differentiating primitive erythroid colonies. In contrast, Smad5 transcript levels show the opposite profile, being more correlated with erythroid differentiation. To directly assess the role of these Smads during erythropoiesis, their activity is being manipulated in ES cells during the commitment phases of embryonic hematopoiesis. For this purpose, inducible ES cell lines were generated capable of forcing the expression of wildtype Smad1 or Smad5, or a dominant-negative isoform of Smad5, at any stage of ES/EB development. Colony assays were used to analyze quantitatively the hematopoietic potential of these cells. Forced expression of Smad1 results in a marked increase in primitive red blood cell colony formation as compared to control ES cells. Maintenance of Smad1 expression does not appear to inhibit terminal differentiation. Based on a time-study of the induction, the effect on erythoid colonies could be due to expansion of earlier progenitors. Current experiments using the in vitro blast assay are examining the direct effect of Smad1 expression on earlier (hemangioblast) development. This data, and analogous analyses of cells induced to express Smad5 or the dominant-negative Smad isoform are in progress and will be presented. These studies should facilitate our understanding of the specificity of BMP-regulated Smads during commitment and differentiation of embryonic stem cells and hematopoietic progenitors.
Influence of cow breed type, age and previous lactation status on cow height, calf growth, and patterns of body weight, condition, and blood metabolites for cows grazing bahiagrass pastures

This study was initiated to evaluate performance and patterns of cow traits and blood metabolites of 3 breeds of cows grazing bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flugge) pastures in central Florida. Purebred cows (n = 411) of either Angus (Bos taurus), Brahman (Bos indicus), or Romosinuano (Bos taurus) breeding, rotationally grazed (moved twice weekly) bahiagrass pastures year-round, and received bahiagrass hay supplemented with molasses and soyhulls or legume hay supplemented with unfortified molasses from October to June each production year. At monthly intervals, all cows were weighed, measured at the hip (HH), scored for BCS, and blood samples collected by jugular puncture from 10 cows per cow breed/block group for plasma urea N (PUN), glucose and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA). Data were analyzed on cows that calved with a statistical model that included fixed effects of year, cowage, cow breed, month, block, supplement group (n = 2, but not presented), and whether the cow weaned a calf the previous year. Cow was a repeated observation over mo. Three-way interactions involving monthly patterns for cowage x year, year x lactation status the previous year, cowage × cow breed, year × cow breed, and cow breed × lactation status the previous year were significant (P < 0.001) for BW and BCS. The interaction for cowage × month was also significant (P < 0.05) for glucose, and cow breed × month was important (P < 0.01) for PUN, glucose, and NEFA. Important differences included: 1) greater BW and BCS for older cows compared to 3-yr old cows; 2) greater BW and BCS before calving for cows that did not lactate the previous year; 3) PUN levels were above 11 mg/dl except for February, August and September, and was generally greater in tropically adapted breeds; 4) GLU was greatest in Brahman, lowest in Angus, and intermediate in Romosinuano cows; and 5) plasma levels of NEFA escalated at calving and then declined, but Brahman cows maintained greater (P < 0.05) levels from calving until weaning than the other breeds. Cows that lactated the previous year had less NEFA than those that did not lactate. Brahman cows were less fertile than Bos taurus breeds, and weaned heavier calves.
Tip-induced passivation of dangling bonds on hydrogenated Si(100)-2 × 1

Using combined low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM), we demonstrate hydrogen passivation of individual, selected dangling bonds (DBs) on a hydrogen-passivated Si(100)-2 × 1 surface (H–Si) by atom manipulation. This method allows erasing of DBs and thus provides a promising scheme for error-correction in hydrogen lithography. Both Si-terminated tips (Si tips) for hydrogen desorption and H-terminated tips (H tips) for hydrogen passivation are created by deliberate contact to the H–Si surface and are assigned by their characteristic contrast in AFM. DB passivation is achieved by transferring the H atom that is at the apex of an H tip to the DB, reestablishing a locally defect-free H–Si surface.
The Cooccurrence of Archaea and Bacteria Among Diverse Globally Distributed Ecosystems

Archaeal microorganisms have traditionally been considered ecological extremophiles and have been generally considered to only exist in the harshest environments. While Archaea are especially dominant in some of the most extreme environments known, the use of cultivation-independent methods to survey microbial diversity has elucidated a widespread diversity of Archaea in both mesic and extreme environments. Indeed, while Archaea were traditionally thought to inhabit distinct, more extreme environments compared to the better-studied bacterial domain, they are now known to coexist and comprise a significant community fraction in a variety of ecosystems that were once thought to be predominantly bacterial. Here, I outline some of the major advances that have led to our current understanding of the coexistence between Archaea and Bacteria, and how our understanding of archaeal ecology has changed over the previous several decades. In particular, I emphasize how the two domains overlap in various ecosystems at the level of biogeochemical interactions.
The dispersal success and persistence of populations with asymmetric dispersal

Asymmetric dispersal is a common trait among populations, often attributed to heterogeneity and stochasticity in both environment and demography. The cumulative effects of population dispersal in space and time have been described with some success by Van Kirk and Lewis’s average dispersal success approximation (Bull Math Biol 59(1): 107–137 1997), but this approximation has been demonstrated to perform poorly when applied to asymmetric dispersal. Here we provide a comparison of different characterizations of dispersal success and demonstrate how to capture the effects of asymmetric dispersal. We apply these different methods to a variety of integrodifference equation population models with asymmetric dispersal, and examine the methods’ effectiveness in approximating key ecological traits of the models, such as the critical patch size and the critical speed of climate change for population persistence.
Continuous esterification of oleic acid to ethyl oleate under sub/supercritical conditions over Γ-Al2O3

Abstract Esterification of oleic acid with ethanol was conducted under subcritical and supercritical conditions in a packed-bed reactor containing γ-Al2O3. The presence of γ-Al2O3 significantly improved the reaction rate such that the 42% yield achieved at 325 °C, 200 bar, and 1-min residence time without the alumina was increased to 98% at the same conditions when alumina was present. The catalytic capacity was attributed to Lewis acid sites on the surface of alumina, and non Bronsted acid sites were detected. Experiments to study the kinetics were executed at a pressure of 200 bar, elevated temperatures (200, 225, 275, 300, and 325 °C), and residence times of half to 8 minutes. Mass transfer limitations were estimated to be negligible via the Mears and Weisz-Prater criteria. Kinetic analysis based on the one-step model demonstrates that the overall reaction was endothermic, and an Eley-Rideal (ER) reaction mechanism was proposed to describe each elementary reaction step. The stability of γ-Al2O3 on product conversion was tested via a 25 h operation under 325 °C, 200 bar, and 1 min residence time, and decrease of the conversion was not observed. However, results of the catalyst analytical characterization shows a decrease of the acid site density and surface area, supporting the occurrence of catalyst degradation. The addition of water slightly decreased the yield, while the pressure change from 200 to 100 bar did not have an obvious effect on the conversion.
Investigating the Early Life Determinants of Type-II Diabetes Using a Project Talent-Medicare Linked Data-set.

Abstract The increasing prevalence of Type II Diabetes (T2D) presents a serious health and financial public crisis. Our study examines the hypothesis that adolescents’ perceptions of economic insecurity, along with absolute and relative socioeconomic status (SES), can contribute to T2D prevalence later in life. Project Talent (PT) Survey data, collected on high school students in 1960, have been linked to Medicare records from 2012, presenting a unique opportunity to examine measures gathered in adolescence and T2D prevalence later-in-life among a large, national, and diverse sample (n=88,849). Our results provide compelling evidence that real, perceived, and relative SES in adolescence have persistent impacts on later-in-life diabetes risk, even when controlling for possible confounders such as cognitive ability, conscientiousness, and early-adulthood educational attainment.
Using Animation to Alleviate Overdraw in Multiclass Scatterplot Matrices

The scatterplot matrix (SPLOM) is a commonly used technique for visualizing multiclass multivariate data. However, multiclass SPLOMs have issues with overdraw (overlapping points), and most existing techniques for alleviating overdraw focus on individual scatterplots with a single class. This paper explores whether animation using flickering points is an effective way to alleviate overdraw in these multiclass SPLOMs. In a user study with 69 participants, we found that users not only performed better at identifying dense regions using animated SPLOMs, but also found them easier to interpret and preferred them to static SPLOMs. These results open up new directions for future work on alleviating overdraw for multiclass SPLOMs, and provide insights for applying animation to alleviate overdraw in other settings.
Facilitators and Inhibitors in the Assimilation of Complex Information Systems

Complex information systems may be viewed as systems that cut across functional boundaries within an organization and even organizational boundaries. These include enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, supply chain management (SCM) systems, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, product lifecycle management (PLM) systems and business-to-business (B2B) systems. Such systems pose significant knowledge barriers for assimilation, require coordination with internal and external actors, and entail reengineering of both cross-functional and inter-organizational business processes. Moreover, organizations progress through various stages of assimilation such as initiation, experimentation, implementation, and routinization in assimilating complex systems.
Writing Effective Insurance Justification Letters for Cancer Genetic Testing: A Streamlined Approach

The topic of insurance coverage and justification letters for cancer predisposition testing has been the subject of much discussion on the National Society of Genetic Counselors Cancer Special Interest Group (NSGC Cancer-SIG) listserv. Some counselors have stated that they have had difficulty in obtaining insurance coverage for their patients, while others have indicated that they would appreciate seeing examples of successful letters. The purpose of this paper is to provide practical guidance in writing successful letters of justification and to share insurance success stories in the area of cancer genetic testing.
Spectrochemical Determination of Trace Metals in Beer

(1963). Spectrochemical Determination of Trace Metals in Beer. Proceedings. Annual meeting - American Society of Brewing Chemists: Vol. 21, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting 1963, pp. 111-113.
Aberrant functional connectivity of inhibitory control networks in children with autism spectrum disorder

Development of inhibitory control is a core component of executive function processes and a key aspect of healthy development. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show impairments in performance on inhibitory control tasks. Nevertheless, the research on the neural correlates of these impairments is inconclusive. Here, we explore the integrity of inhibitory control networks in children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children using resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imagaing (MRI). In a large multisite sample, we find evidence for significantly greater functional connectivity (FC) of the right inferior frontal junction (rIFJ) with the posterior cingulate gyrus, and left and right frontal poles in children with ASD compared with TD children. Additionally, TD children show greater FC of rIFJ with the superior parietal lobule (SPL) compared with children with ASD. Furthermore, although higher rIFJ-SPL and rIFJ-IPL FC was related to better inhibitory control behaviors in both ASD and TD children, rIFJ-dACC FC was only associated with inhibitory control behaviors in TD children. These results provide preliminary evidence of differences in intrinsic functional networks supporting inhibitory control in children with ASD, and provide a basis for further exploration of the development of inhibitory control in children with the disorder. Autism Research 2018, 11: 1468-1478. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Inhibitory control is an important process in healthy cognitive development. Behavioral studies suggest that inhibitory control is impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, research examining the neural correlates underlying inhibitory control differences in children with ASD is inconclusive. This study reveals differences in functional connectivity of brain networks important for inhibitory control in children with ASD compared with typically developing children. Furthermore, it relates brain network differences to parent-reported inhibitory control behaviors in children with ASD. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that differences in brain connectivity may underlie observable behavioral deficits in inhibitory control in children with the disorder.
Polygenic risk associated with post-traumatic stress disorder onset and severity.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric illness with a highly polygenic architecture without large effect-size common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Thus, to capture a substantial portion of the genetic contribution, effects from many variants need to be aggregated. We investigated various aspects of one such approach that has been successfully applied to many traits, polygenic risk score (PRS) for PTSD. Theoretical analyses indicate the potential prediction ability of PRS. We used the latest summary statistics from the largest published genome-wide association study (GWAS) conducted by Psychiatric Genomics Consortium for PTSD (PGC-PTSD). We found that the PRS constructed for a cohort comprising veterans of recent wars (n = 244) explains a considerable proportion of PTSD onset (Nagelkerke R2 = 4.68%, P = 0.003) and severity (R2 = 4.35%, P = 0.0008) variances. However, the performance on an African ancestry sub-cohort was minimal. A PRS constructed with schizophrenia GWAS also explained a significant fraction of PTSD diagnosis variance (Nagelkerke R2 = 2.96%, P = 0.0175), confirming previously reported genetic correlation between the two psychiatric ailments. Overall, these findings demonstrate the important role polygenic analyses of PTSD will play in risk prediction models as well as in elucidating the biology of the disorder.
Uncovering the cell type specificity of blood sample derived gene signatures using RNA expression data

Abstract Analysis of transcriptomic data derived from blood samples is complicated by the complex mixture of cell types such samples contain. Transcriptomic signatures derived from such samples are often driven by a particular cell lineage within the mixture. Identifying this most contributing lineage can help to provide a biological interpretation of the signature. We created a web application CellTypeScore which quantifies and visually represents the expression level of signature genes in common blood cell types. This is done by constructing an interactive stacked bar plot with the bars representing expression of genes across blood cell types. Summed scores serve as a measure of how highly the combined signature is expressed in different cell types. An online version of the application can be found at https://tools.dice-database.org/celltypescore/.
How we trust, perceive, and learn from virtual humans: The influence of voice quality

Abstract Research has shown that creating environments in which social cues are present (social agency) benefits learning. One way to create these environments is to incorporate a virtual human as a pedagogical agent in computer-based learning environments. However, essential questions remain about virtual human design, such as what voice should the virtual human use to communicate. Furthermore, to date research in the education literature around virtual humans has largely ignored one potentially salient construct – trust. This study examines how the quality of a virtual human's voice influences learning, perceptions, and trust in the virtual human. Results of on an online study show that the voice quality did not significantly influence learning, but it did influence trust and learners' other perceptions of the virtual human. This study, consistent with recent work around the voice effect, questions the efficacy of the voice effect and highlights areas of research around trust to further extend social agency theory in virtual human based learning environments.
Contingent Advantage? Sovereign Borrowing, Democratic Institutions and Global Capital Cycles

How do domestic and global factors shape governments’ capacity to issue debt in primary capital markets? Consistent with the ‘democratic advantage’, we identify domestic institutional mechanisms, including executive constraints and policy transparency, that facilitate debt issuance rather than electoral events. Most importantly, we argue that the democratic advantage is contingent: investors’ attention to domestic politics varies with conditions in global capital markets. When global financial liquidity is low, investors are risk-averse, and political risk constrains governments’ capacity to borrow. But when global markets are flush, investors are risk-tolerant and less sensitive to political risk. We support our argument with new data on 245,000 government bond issues in primary capital markets – the point at which governments’ costs of market access matter most – for 131 sovereign issuers (1990–2016). In doing so, we highlight the role of systemic factors, which are under-appreciated in much ‘open economy politics’ research, in determining access to capital markets.
Chapter 14 – Analytics Profiles

Data in web analytics tools like Google Analytics are organized into one or more profiles. Filters determine what data are presented in a profile and how those data are presented. Filters are a powerful tool for cleaning and manipulating web analytics data. By using filters, you can create alternate profiles to do things like make URLs more human-readable by rewriting how they are displayed, combining data about multiple pages by rewriting their URLs so they are presented as the same page, and giving the UX team a space to create its own analytics goals.
Experiences of implementing treatment manuals: Clinician, supervisor, and researcher reflections

Treatment manuals play an essential role in clinical trials that aim to determine the efficacy of an intervention. Yet, the idea of needing to adhere to a treatment manual may seem counterintuitive...
Fathers, Mothers, Sons, and Silence: Rhetorical Reconfiguration in Proverbs:

In the royal instruction of Proverbs 31:1–9, a Queen Mother exhorts her royal son Lemuel to “open your mouth” on behalf of another, namely those who cannot themselves speak, the mute, the poor, and...
Disease severity at the time of initial cognitive assessment is related to prior health-care resource use burden.

Introduction Research has shown increased health-care resource use (HRU) among patients with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) well before diagnosis, but the degree to which HRU is correlated with disease severity at the time of initial assessment is not well documented. Methods Retrospective analysis of linked medical records and claims data for three cohorts: mild ADRD (first [index] Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] ≥20), moderate/severe ADRD (index MMSE < 20), controls without cognitive impairment. HRU during the pre-index year was compared using multivariate regressions. Results ADRD cohorts had significantly (P < .01) higher HRU than controls. Compared to mild ADRD patients, moderate/severe ADRD patients had higher rates of hospitalizations (relative risk [RR]: 1.57), emergency department visits (RR: 1.36), potentially avoidable hospitalizations (RR: 1.72), and accidental falls (RR: 1.58). Discussion HRU before initial assessment increases with disease severity at the time of assessment, highlighting the need for timely evaluation and improved management in the earliest stages of ADRD.
Use of nets treated with food grade coatings on controlling mold growth and mite infestation in dry-cured ham aging facilities

Abstract Dry-cured hams are frequently infested by mold and Tyrophagus putrescentiae in the aging facility during the 3 mo to 2-year aging period. Food grade coatings and these coating treated nets have been developed to control mold and mite growth on dry-cured hams to curtail the use of methyl bromide. Ham nets treated with food-grade coating of 1% propylene glycol alginate + 1% carrageenan + 40% propylene glycol were tested in a commercial research trial in 3 lots with approximately 100 hams in each lot, which also had approximately 100 control hams (untreated). Six of these hams were sent back to the research team. Three of these hams (already aged for 8 mo) were kept in a mite-infested simulated aging room for further evaluation of mold occurrence and mite population growth for another 6 mo. The other 3 hams from each lot of each treatment were tested by gas chromatography for propylene glycol residual. Mold evaluation indicated that the treatment hams reduced mold occurrence compared to the control hams, and there were no mite activities in any of these hams per inspection. In the mite-infested aging room, these coating-treated nets reduced mold and mite growth on whole hams (8–14-month-old). There was no difference in propylene glycol concentration between the control (0.072%) and net treated samples (0.053%). This concentration is 4 times less than 2%, the maximum acceptable concentration of this GRAS compound based on CFR 21,184.1666. Therefore, these hams met the legal requirements for commerce and were safe for human consumption and can be used to mitigate and help control mite infestations and mold growth of hams that are aged longer than 5 months.
The Topology of Pediatric Structural Asymmetries in Language-Related Cortex

Structural asymmetries in language-related brain regions have long been hypothesized to underlie hemispheric language laterality and variability in language functions. These structural asymmetries have been examined using voxel-level, gross volumetric, and surface area measures of gray matter and white matter. Here we used deformation-based and persistent homology approaches to characterize the three-dimensional topology of brain structure asymmetries within language-related areas that were defined in functional neuroimaging experiments. Persistence diagrams representing the range of values for each spatially unique structural asymmetry were collected within language-related regions of interest across 212 children (mean age (years) = 10.56, range 6.39–16.92; 39% female). These topological data exhibited both leftward and rightward asymmetries within the same language-related regions. Permutation testing demonstrated that age and sex effects were most consistent and pronounced in the superior temporal sulcus, where older children and males had more rightward asymmetries. While, consistent with previous findings, these associations exhibited small effect sizes that were observable because of the relatively large sample. In addition, the density of rightward asymmetry structures in nearly all language-related regions was consistently higher than the density of leftward asymmetric structures. These findings guide the prediction that the topological pattern of structural asymmetries in language-related regions underlies the organization of language.
The Holistic Approach to Managing Adolescent Endometriosis

Holistic approaches to endometriosis include a wide variety of treatment modalities. These include nutrition, exercise, stress reduction techniques, sleep, and non-pharmacologic pain management. While there is little supportive evidence for the use of these in the treatment of adult endometriosis, there is even less data in adolescent endometriosis. These can and should be used as adjunctive therapy. Few adverse effects are noted. Additional research is necessary; however, discussion of these modalities as options can likely benefit patients. Goals for adjunctive therapy should improve perception of pain and daily functioning.
Evidence of visible wavelength spontaneous Brillouin scattering in Si3N4 waveguides

We report the first direct evidence of visible wavelength spontaneous Brillouin scattering in a photonic integrated waveguide. A Si3N4 spiral is pumped at 674nm and produces a 25.11GHz shifted, 400MHz-wide, Stokes signal, as predicted by simulations.
A global review of the impact of forest property rights interventions on poverty

Abstract Secure property rights are widely understood as critical for socio-economic development and sustainable land management in forested areas. Policies and programs, ranging from devolution of specific resource rights to formal land titling, have therefore been implemented to strengthen forest tenure and property rights in countries around the world. Despite the prevalence and importance of these efforts, however, systematic understanding of their effects on poverty remains lacking. We address this gap by systematically reviewing evidence on the impact of forest property rights interventions on poverty worldwide. We drew from a systematic map of evidence on forest-poverty links ( Cheng et al., 2019 ) and used a population-intervention-comparator-outcome (PICO) framework to identify relevant studies. Our final dataset included 61 articles published from 2002 to 2016 comprising 91 case studies across 24 countries. Of these, only 11 articles (22 cases) used quasi-experimental methods to control for confounders. We find that almost all studied interventions (n = 88; 97%) focused on rights to access a forest area or withdraw resources from it. Relatively few studied interventions supported the more extensive property rights of exclusion (32%) and alienation (10%). Overall, reported impacts on both income/consumption and capital/assets dimensions of poverty were generally positive or mixed. Results from more robust quasi-experimental assessments showed greater variation, with case studies as likely to report negative as positive impacts on both poverty dimensions. We find tentative support for the economic theory that more secure property rights yield positive welfare effects. However, the paucity of evidence from more robust impact assessments constrains our ability to draw generalizable conclusions about the poverty impacts of different kinds of forest property rights interventions.
Errors introduced in fission neutron spectrum measurements using a single reference

Abstract Measurements of physical quantities are often made relative to a reference quantity, simplifying the interpretation of the measurement and its uncertainties. However, if applied without careful considerations, this technique can carry with it a significant and complex systematic error that is usually ignored. For example, measurements of continuous neutron spectra relative to a reference spectrum yield a result that does not properly include the important effects of neutron scattering in the experimental environment. These effects act to distort the measured spectrum shape and create notable errors in spectrum-integrated quantities. While this effect is one of a series of known potential sources of systematic error including, but not limited to target impurities, angular distributions, incident beam flux, and others, the error introduced from differences in environmental scattering effects between the reference and desired spectra are frequently overlooked. In this work, we demonstrate the origin of this error using simulated data corresponding to measurements of the neutron-induced prompt fission neutron spectra of 233U, 235U, 238U, and 239Pu as well as the spontaneous fission neutron spectrum of 252Cf. Errors in the spectrum shape can be as high as 10%–15% depending on the combination of incident and outgoing neutron energy. The spectrum integral and average spectrum energy also contain errors that change with incident neutron energy and can be as high as ∼ 2%. While this study is based on simulated data, we also show a method for proving that this error exists in an experimental data set and we show a correction that can be applied to results of this type to obtain a more accurate result, thereby largely removing systematic errors from environmental scattering effects. The potential for these kinds of errors should be considered in measurements producing continuous neutron spectra.
Disease burden due to Group B Streptococcus in the Indian population and the need for a vaccine - a narrative review.

Streptococcus agalactiae, a Gram-positive bacterium, causes invasive infection known as Group B streptococcal disease (GBS). It is a leading cause of neonatal death and complications prior to deliv...
Improving Memory with Stem Cell Transplantation

Stem cell transplantation is heralded as an exciting and novel approach to treat a wide variety of human brain disorders for which only palliative therapies currently exist. The clinical application of stem cells for the treatment of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer disease, the most common cause of age-related dementia, remains untested. A growing body of work, however, suggests that stem cell transplantation may provide important therapeutic benefits: ameliorating cognition, memory, and locomotor function, albeit via indirect mechanisms. Although neuronal replacement strategies remain a major focus of stem cell research, recent studies indicate that stem cells may provide therapeutic utility not necessarily by replacing dead or dysfunctional cells but by enhancing the survival, health, and activity of existing endogenous neurons. In this chapter, we review the limited regenerative capacity of the brain and the potential role of adult neural stem cells in memory. We also discuss recent advances showing that neural stem cell transplantation provides therapeutic utility for neurological disease in large part via indirect mechanisms. Although neuronal replacement may provide some benefit, indirect mechanisms such as neurotrophic support, immune modulation, and enzyme replacement likely play a far more prominent role in stem cell–mediated functional recovery. Taken together, these studies suggest that at least in the short-term, harnessing or enhancing these alternate mechanisms may provide a more achievable method to treat human disease.
Replicating “Sources of Slow Growth in African Economies”

Economic analysis, even when buried in academic conference proceedings and journals, influences policy. In 2010 Reinhart and Rogoff found that economic growth drops off sharply once government debt exceeds 90 per cent of gross domestic product. Their paper, published as an unrefereed conference proceeding, was taken up en masse by deficit hawks and had a major influence on the 2012 Presidential election in the United States and on austerity programmes in Europe. A recent replication attempt challenges Reinhart and Rogoff’s findings, setting off a firestorm of controversy led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman (Herndon et al. 2013; Krugman 2013; Pollin and Ash 2013; Reinhart and Rogoff 2013). In this chapter I show the value of replication to development researchers. Via replication I challenge the mainstream understanding of economic growth in Africa that was spawned in part by an influential 1997 paper by Sachs and Warner (1997a).
MIP-1 Alpha and Myeloma Bone Disease

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a severely debilitating, incurable, and uniformly fatal neoplastic disease of B cell origin (Barker et al., 1993). Although much effort has been directed at devising effective treatments for these patients, their prognosis and survival have been relatively unchanged over the last 30 years, except for a subgroup of patients undergoing successful autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation (Gahrton et al., 2001). The major source of morbidity and possible mortality associated with MM is osteolytic lesions throughout the axial skeleton (Coleman, 1997). Lytic bone lesions occur in over 70–80% of these patients (Anderson, 1999), and are frequently associated with severe bone pain and pathologic fractures. Up to one third of the patients develop hypercalcemia. The bone lesions result from increased osteoclastic bone resorption that occurs adjacent to the myeloma cells and not in areas of normal bone marrow (Anderson et al., 2002). These data suggest that locally acting factors produced by myeloma cells induce extensive bone destruction. Consistent with this hypothesis is the finding that cultures of human myeloma cells in vitro produce several osteoclast activating factors (OAFs), including TNF-α (Garret et al., 1987; Sati et al., 1999, IL-1-s Lacy et al., 1999; Lust et al., 1999), and IL-6 (Bataille et al., 1995; Epstein et al., 1992; Iwasaki et al., 1999). However, none of these cytokines appears to be clearly responsible for the bone destruction in vivo. The increase in osteoclast (OCL) bone resorption in myeloma is usually associated with a marked impairment in osteoblast function Alexandrakis et al., 2002). Alkaline phosphatase activity in the serum is decreased or in the normal range, unlike patients with other types of osteolytic bone disease, and radionuclide scans do not show evidence of increased uptake in over 50% of patients with osteolytic lesions, indicating impaired osteoblast responses to the increase in bone resorption.
Distribution of Man-Machine Controls in Space Teleoperation

The distribution of control between man and machine is dependent on the tasks, available technology, human performance characteristics and control goals. This dependency has very specific projections on systems designed for teleoperation in space. This paper gives a brief outline of the space-related issues and presents the results of advanced teleoperator research and development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The research and development work includes smart sensors, flexible computer controls and intelligent man-machine interface devices in the area of visual displays and kinesthetic man-machine coupling in remote control of manipulators. Some of the development results have been tested at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) using the simulated full-scale Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS). The research and development work for advanced space teleoperation is far from complete and poses many interdisciplinary challenges.
The Criminalization of Speech in an Age of Terror

Since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the United States and many European states have sought ways to disrupt the radicalization process that leads individuals to join the call to Islamic jihad. This strategy has included attempts to prosecute individuals who post or help to circulate calls to jihad that appear on the internet. While this speech is unpopular, it is an open question whether the speech, standing alone, incites violence. More importantly, these prosecutions may both chill speech and open the door to wider governmental efforts to regulate unpopular speech. To explore the tension between security and civil liberties triggered by such strategies, I analyze three recent criminal cases in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. I examine the prosecution strategies and the legal hurdles that prosecutors faced in securing convictions. I show that, in an effort to surmount the legal problems inherent in prosecuting these cases, prosecutors have broadly branded the defendants as terrorists and evil-doers. The broader impact of these strategies, risks shaking a core element of democratic governance.
Micro/nano technology: a solution for next generation multi-function integrated systems

The unprecedented technology advancements in miniaturizing integrated circuits, and the resulting plethora of sophisticated, low cost electronic devices demonstrate the impact that micro/nano scale engineering can have when applied only to the area of electrical and computer engineering. Current research efforts in micro/nano fabrication technology for implementing integrated systems hope to yield similar revolutions in engineering fields of biomedical, mechanical, chemical, optical, fluidic, civil and environmental. The integrated system technology requires the integration of multiple materials, phenomena, technologies, and functions at micro/nano scales. By cross linking the individual engineering fields through micro/nano technology, various miniaturized system components have been developed at UCI that will have future impacts in the application markets such as medicine, healthcare, and telecommunications.
Considerations for MEMS packaging

MEMS devices have complex topography and delicate moving parts. Unlike microelectronics which really never wants to "touch" the media, MEMS is designed to interact with media for sensing and actuation in a special environment. The variety and specialty of MEMS challenge its packaging. Generally, MEMS can be packed either at wafer level or die level. There are a lot of researches and progresses on the wafer level packaging recently. In this paper, the requirements of MEMS packaging are outlined from the unique features of MEMS devices. Various MEMS packaging methods and materials are introduced as well. More discussions are given to reduce stress and improve hermeticity of MEMS packages at both die level and wafer level.
Special Education Reform: School Psychology Revolution

Analysis and critique of current school psychological services were provided with emphasis on the unresolved dilemmas in the current system (prevalence of learning disabilities, confusion over the ...
Ad hoc on-demand multipath distance vector routing: Research Articles

We develop an on-demand, multipath distance vector routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks. Specifically, we propose multipath extensions to a well-studied single path routing protocol known as ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV). The resulting protocol is referred to as ad hoc on-demand multipath distance vector (AOMDV). The protocol guarantees loop freedom and disjointness of alternate paths. Performance comparison of AOMDV with AODV using ns-2 simulations shows that AOMDV is able to effectively cope with mobility-induced route failures. In particular, it reduces the packet loss by up to 40p and achieves a remarkable improvement in the end-to-end delay (often more than a factor of two). AOMDV also reduces routing overhead by about 30p by reducing the frequency of route discovery operations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Physiologic and fit factor profiles of N95 and P100 filtering facepiece respirators for use in hot, humid environments.

Background To determine if hot, humid ambient conditions impact filtering facepiece respirators' (FFRs') fit, and to evaluate differences in physiologic and subjective responses between N95 FFRs and P100 FFRs. Methods Twelve subjects had physiologic monitoring and subjective perceptions monitored over 1 hour of treadmill exercise (5.6 km/h) in an environmental chamber (35°C, relative humidity 50%) wearing an N95 FFR, P100 FFR, or no respirator. Respirator quantitative fit testing was done before and after exercise. Results There was no significant difference in pass rates for both FFRs on initial fit testing, but subjects who passed were more likely to fail the postexercise test with N95 FFRs ( P = .01). Wearing FFRs increased the temperature of facial skin covered by the FFR ( P = .009) and breathing discomfort ( P = .002). No significant differences were noted in other measured variables (heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, transcutaneous carbon dioxide level, rectal temperature, global skin temperature, core temperature, and subjective perceptions) between controls and FFRs and between FFR models. Conclusion After 1 hour of exercise in hot, humid ambient conditions, P100 FFRs retained better fit than N95 FFRs, without additional physiologic or subjective impact. Wearing FFRs under these conditions does not add to the body's thermophysiologic or perceptual burdens.
Models to assess food iron bioavailability

vii CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Background 1 Objectives 2 Thesis Organization 3 References 3 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 5 Iron Absorption 6 Iron Transport and Cellular Uptake 8 Iron Storage 8 Regulation of Iron Storage and Uptake 10 Ferritin and transferrin receptor 10 The role of hepcidin in iron metabolism 11 Iron Utilization and Recycling 14 Functions of Iron 15 DNA synthesis 15 Iron and energy metabolism 16 Oxygen and electron transport 16 Iron Deficiency and Anemia 17 Consequences of Iron Deficiency 18 Adverse pregnancy outcome 19 Reduced work capacity and productivity 21 Assessment of Iron Nutritional Status 22 Strategies to Address Iron Deficiency Anemia 24 Supplementation 24 Fortification 25 Food based approach 27 Estimating Prevalence of Inadequate Iron Intake 28 Iron Bioavailability 32 Factors Influencing Iron Bioavailability 33 Ascorbic acid 33 Animal tissue 35 Phytic acid 36
Broad-host-range vectors for delivery of TnphoA: use in genetic analysis of secreted virulence determinants of Vibrio cholerae.

Abstract Gene fusions between the cholera toxin structural genes and phoA, which encodes bacterial alkaline phosphatase, were identified after TnphoA mutagenesis of the cloned genes in Escherichia coli and were then mobilized into Vibrio cholerae. The activities of the hybrid proteins were detectable in V. cholerae and suggested that, like cholera toxin, they were secreted beyond the cytoplasm. To extend the utility of TnphoA to identify additional genetic export signals in V. cholerae and other gram-negative bacteria, TnphoA delivery vectors utilizing broad-host-range plasmids were developed. By using V. cholerae as a model system, insertion mutants carrying active phoA gene fusions were identified as colonies expressing alkaline phosphatase, which appeared blue on agar containing the indicator 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate. Since alkaline phosphatase is active only upon export from the cytoplasm, PhoA+ colonies resulting from the mutagenesis procedure were enriched for insertions in genes that encode secreted proteins. Insertion mutations were identified in the gene encoding a major outer membrane protein, OmpV, and in tcpA, which encodes a pilus (fimbrial) subunit. Mutant strains harboring chromosomal insertions isolated in this manner can be used to assess the role of the corresponding inactivated gene products on survival of V. cholerae in vivo. The expression of the hybrid proteins as determined by measuring alkaline phosphatase activity also allowed the convenient study of virulence gene expression.
A growth curve analysis of stress and adolescent drug use.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and examine one pathway by which adolescent drug use increases during early and mid-adolescence. It draws upon recent research on adolescent stress, drug us...