cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Earliest African Record of the Varanus Stem-Clade (Squamata: Varanidae) from the Early Oligocene of Egypt

KRISTER T. SMITH,",* BHART-ANJAN S. BHULLAR,2't and PATRICIA A. HOLROYD3; 1Vertebrate Paleontology Lab, J. J. Pickle Research Campus, 10100 Burnet Rd. Bldg. 6, The University of Texas, Austin, U.S.A.; 2Department of Geological Sciences, 1 University Station Stop C1100, The University of Texas, Austin, U.S.A.; 3University of California Museum of Paleontology, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.
Recontouring, Resurfacing, and Scar Revision in Skin Cancer Reconstruction

Residual disfigurement is a common problem for patients who have undergone skin cancer reconstruction. Restoring form and function in these patients is an artistic and technical endeavor. The efficacy of surgical scar revision, dermabrasion, chemical peels, and laser resurfacing is predicated upon the skin's innate ability to regenerate over time in response to mechanical, chemical, and thermal or ablative stresses. The patient and surgeon should be accepting of a process that is often gradual and may proceed in stages. Achieving proficiency with the secondary procedures for improving scars and local flaps may allow the motivated surgeon to mold an initially passable surgical result into an excellent one.
Exploring Multi-resolution and Multi-scaling Volatility Features

One of the most recent results in empirical finance is the achievement of an accuracy gain for the volatility estimates from the use of high-frequency samples. In many applications, for instance, the observed intra-day data become the best informative source of estimation for the daily volatilites. This information set, or filtration in probability terms, can in theory be optimally exploited while adopting an increasingly finer sampling rate, a fact which finds justification when assuming a stochastic characterization of the problem in terms of so-called semimartingales. These instruments are very useful for representing asset price dynamics, and in recent proposals supply realized and integrated volatility measures. The former volatility is the empirical approximation of the latter, an average of high frequency returns observed within a certain time frame. Semimartingales become suitable model tools by allowing for the quadratic variation principle to hold. This in turn means that the convergence of the realized to the integrated volatility can be verified; conversely, from both theoretical and experimental standpoints, the cumulative squared high frequency returns represent consistent estimators of the integrated volatility measure. The goal of this work is twofold: first, to show with simulations the quality of the convergence for time-based estimators, compared to that obtained when time-scale coordinate wavelet tranforms are considered. Second, to verify that special families of wavelet decompose returns and allow for multi-scaling features to be revealed, together with the possible presence of underlying nonlinear dynamics of stock index return volatility.
Genomic Analysis of the Emergence of Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is a human commensal bacterium and a prominent cause of infections globally. The high inci- dence ofS.aureusinfections is compounded by the ability of the microbe to readily acquire resistance to antibiotics. In the United States, methicillin-resistant S.aureus(MRSA) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality by a single infectious agent. Therapeutic options for severe MRSA infections are limited to a few antibiotics to which the organism is typically susceptible, including vancomycin. Acquisition of high-level vancomycin resistance by MRSA is a major concern, but to date, there have been only 12 vancomycin-resistant S.aureus(VRSA) isolates reported in the United States and all belong to a phylogenetic lineage known as clonal complex 5. To gain enhanced understanding of the genetic characteristics conducive to the acquisition of vanco- mycin resistance byS.aureus, V. N. Kos et al. performed whole-genome sequencing of all 12 VRSA isolates and compared the DNA sequences to the genomes of other S.aureusstrains. Thefindings provide new information about the evolutionary history of VRSA and identify genetic features that may bear on the relationship between S.aureusclonal complex 5 strains and the ac- quisition of vancomycin resistance genes from enterococci.
RECONSTRUCTIONS OF UPWELLING, PRODUCTIVITY, AND PHOTIC ZONE DEPTH IN THE EASTERN EQUATORIAL PACIFIC OCEAN USING PLANKTONIC FORAMINIFERAL STABLE ISOTOPES AND ABUNDANCES

In the hydrographically complex eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (EEP), the distinction between changes in productivity and changes in upwelling is important to the study of the causes and implications of changes in paleoproductivity during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We studied seven EEP coretops representing a gradient of increasing primary productivity from west to east. Comparison of the coretop data indicates calcification depth and temperature for each planktonic foraminiferal species may change depending on the vertical position of hydrographic features such as the degree of stratification of the water column, as well as associated biological parameters such as the depths of the photic zone and the chlorophyll maximum. Because these biological parameters are related to primary productivity, calcification depth and temperature patterns for each species are somewhat different for high and low productivity regions in the EEP. We use the relationship between modern surface hydrography and coretop planktonic foraminiferal abundances and isotopic composition to interpret upwelling and productivity changes in the EEP over the last 20,000 years. While data indicate higher primary productivity and lower SSTs, they do not indicate that there was greater upwelling at the location of our site during the LGM relative to present.
The temperature dependence of the hard sphere diameter

Abstract The temperature dependence of the equivalent hard sphere diameter is analyzed using statistical mechanics. The analysis shows that algebraic equations for the hard sphere diameter which were developed by previous workers are not consistent with the statistical mechanics at high temperature. An algebraic equation which is consistent with the statistical mechanics is developed.
Effect of Interparticle Potentials and Sedimentation on Particle Packing Density of Bimodal Particle Distributions During Pressure Filtration

Effect of interparticle forces, bimodal particle size distribution, and slurry viscosity on particle packing in alumina bodies consolidated by pressure filtration is presented. The requirements for packing colloidal particles to their highest density are strong repulsive interparticle forces and optimum particle size distribution. Even though these conditions are met, the high packing density in consolidated bodies may be adversely affected by particle segregation resulting from sedimentation. Therefore, the slurry during consolidation must have a sufficiently high viscosity to prevent sedimentation.
Evidence of Primary, Secondary, and Collateral Paraphilias Left at Serial Murder and Sex Offender Crime Scenes

Abstract: This paper is a descriptive review of the phenomenon of paraphilias, the relationship of possessing multiple paraphilias with the commission of sexual crimes and serial murder and the recognition of evidence related to sexual crimes committed by offenders with paraphilias. Several case studies are presented and the manifestations of multiple paraphilias, such as those experienced by Jeffrey Dahmer, Albert Fish, and others, are conceptualized and divided into three types: (i) replacement—no overlap; (ii) replacement with overlap; and (iii) cumulative. The categories are further divided into primary, secondary, and collateral paraphilias. Primary and secondary paraphilias are mutually exclusive and one does not build upon the other. Collateral paraphilias may serve to enhance the overall sexual experience of the primary and secondary paraphilias, including the sexualization of props or weapons. Implications for criminalists and criminal investigators are explained, particularly the value in discerning hidden as well as salient evidence of paraphilic behaviors left at crime scenes.
Auto-Ethnography: Paradigms, Problems, and Prospects

of the Indian Health Service Task Force on Alcoholism 11. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1973 Alcoholism: A High-priority Health Problem. Report of the Indian Health Service Task Force on Alcoholism. Section 111. DHEW Publication No. (HSM) 73-12002. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1976a The Forward Plan for FY 1978-1982, Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, with Appendix (pp. 85-94). Entitled Decision Paper on the Proposal to Transfer American Indian Projects Funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the Indian Health Service. Washington, D.C.: Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, 2nd printing, rev. ed., October. Mimeographed. 1976b Forward Plan FY 19781982, Indian Health Service, with Appendix B, Joint NIAAA-IHS Letter to Indian Alcoholism Projects, from Emery A. Johnson and Ernest P. Noble, May 10. Washington, D.C.: Public Health Service, Health Services Administration, October. Mimeographed. 1976c An Overview of Seven NIAAA Alcoholism Treatment Programs for Fiscal Year 1976. Program Analysis and Evaluation Branch, NIAAA. Mimeographed. 1977a Summary of Meeting of Consultants from National Indian Organizations with Indian Health Service Personnel, IHS Headquarters, Rockville, MD, June 15-16, 1977; with Appendix, Draft Alcoholism Transfer Plan, June 15, 1977, by Donald A. Swetter, IHS Alcoholism Programs. 1977b Proposed Alcoholism Transfer Plan-NIAAAI I HS. Washington, D.C.: Public Health Service, Health Services Administration, July 21. Mimeographed. 1977c Progress Report. The Indian Health Care Improvement Act-P.L. 94-437, presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Congress of American Indians, Dallas, Texas, September 15. Westermeyer, J. 1976 Clinical Guidelines for the Cross-Cultural Treatment of Chemical Dependency. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 3(2):315-22.
Neural Correlates of Auditory Repetition Priming: Reduced fMRI Activation in the Auditory Cortex

Repetition priming refers to enhanced or biased performance with repeatedly presented stimuli. Modality-specific perceptual repetition priming has been demonstrated behaviorally for both visually and auditorily presented stimuli. In functional neuroimaging studies, repetition of visual stimuli has resulted in reduced activation in the visual cortex, as well as in multimodal frontal and temporal regions. The reductions in sensory cortices are thought to reflect plasticity in modality-specific neocortex. Unexpectedly, repetition of auditory stimuli has resulted in reduced activation in multimodal and visual regions, but not in the auditory temporal lobe cortex. This finding puts the coupling of perceptual priming and modality-specific cortical plasticity into question. Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used with environmental sounds to reexamine whether auditory priming is associated with reduced activation in the auditory cortex. Participants heard environmental sounds (e.g., animals, machines, musical instruments, etc.) in blocks, alternating between initial and repeated presentations, and decided whether or not each sound was produced by an animal. Repeated versus initial presentations of sounds resulted in repetition priming (faster responses) and reduced activation in the right superior temporal gyrus, bilateral superior temporal sulci, and right inferior prefrontal cortex. The magnitude of behavioral priming correlated positively with reduced activation in these regions. This indicates that priming for environmental sounds is associated with modification of neural activation in modality-specific auditory cortex, as well as in multimodal areas.
Mobile Heart Health: Project Highlight

To address psychosocial risks of cardiovascular disease, we integrated on-the-body sensors with mobile therapies for "just-in-time" stress management. Breathing visualizations and cognitive reappraisal cues appeared on the cell phone when a wireless ECG detected deviations from an individuals' baseline heart rate variability. Reactions from participants validated this concept and highlighted the need for a broader array of therapies and applications that could be shared within relationships and communities.
Bounds on coefficients of reciprocals of formal power series with rapidly decreasing coefficients

This paper studies reciprocals of formal power series whose coefficients are monotone and bounded by a geometrically decaying sequence. Explicit and applicable, optimal decay rates are provided for the coefficients of the reciprocal series in terms of the parameters of the geometric bound. The results imply a best possible lower bound on the zeros of the series being considered.
Slippery questions about complex fluids flowing past solids.

Viscous flow is familiar and useful, yet the underlying physics is surprisingly subtle and complex. Recent experiments and simulations show that the textbook assumption of 'no slip at the boundary' can fail greatly when walls are sufficiently smooth. The reasons for this seem to involve materials chemistry interactions that can be controlled — especially wettability and the presence of trace impurities, even of dissolved gases. To discover what boundary condition is appropriate for solving continuum equations requires investigation of microscopic particulars. Here, we draw attention to unresolved topics of investigation and to the potential to capitalize on 'slip at the wall' for purposes of materials engineering.
A Longitudinal Investigation of Young Adolescents' Self-Concepts in the Middle Grades

Young adolescents grapple with a host of changes that may influence how they perceive themselves: rapid physical and emotional development, the transition to new school environments, and the onset ...
Group Threat and Policy Change: The Spatial Dynamics of Prohibition Politics, 1890-1919.

The authors argue that group threat is a key driver of the adoption of new and controversial policies. Conceptualizing threat in spatial terms, they argue that group threat is activated through the joint occurrence of (1) proximity to threatening groups and (2) the population density of threatened groups. By analyzing the adoption of county and state "dry laws" banning alcohol from 1890 to 1919, they first show that prohibition victories were driven by the relative strength of supportive constituencies such as native whites and rural residents, vis-a-vis opponents such as Irish, Italian, or German immigrants or Catholics. Second, they show that threat contributed to prohibition victories: counties bordering large immigrant or urban populations, which did not themselves contain similar populations, were more likely to adopt dry laws. Threat arises primarily from interactions between spatially proximate units at the local level, and therefore higher-level policy change is not reducible to the variables driving local policy.
Abnormalities in Brain Esterases in Multiple Sclerosis.

SummaryVertical starch-gel electrophoresis has been used for preparation of esterase zymograms of postmortem specimens of human brain. The specimens derived from 36 cases without a history of significant neurologic disability and 13 cases of multiple sclerosis. Certain esterases hydrolyzing alpha-naphthyl propionate were consistently demonstrable in, and characteristic of, zymograms of white matter from normal specimens. These were absent from zymograms of multiple sclerosis plaques. Alpha-naphthyl acetate zymograms of plaques and macroscopically-normal white matter from multiple sclerosis specimens showed frequently loss of, or diminution in activity of, the 6th, 7th and 9th anodally-migrating esterase bands, but alteration in bands 6 and 7 was not specific for multiple sclerosis. The cholinesterase activity of plaque tissue appeared to be diminished in comparison with that of macroscopically-uninvolved white matter from the same case, and one or more bands were absent in the plaque. The electrophoretic ...
An LUR/BME framework to estimate PM2.5 explained by on road mobile and stationary sources.

Knowledge of particulate matter concentrations <2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) across the United States is limited due to sparse monitoring across space and time. Epidemiological studies need accurate exposure estimates in order to properly investigate potential morbidity and mortality. Previous works have used geostatistics and land use regression (LUR) separately to quantify exposure. This work combines both methods by incorporating a large area variability LUR model that accounts for on road mobile emissions and stationary source emissions along with data that take into account incompleteness of PM2.5 monitors into the modern geostatistical Bayesian Maximum Entropy (BME) framework to estimate PM2.5 across the United States from 1999 to 2009. A cross-validation was done to determine the improvement of the estimate due to the LUR incorporation into BME. These results were applied to known diseases to determine predicted mortality coming from total PM2.5 as well as PM2.5 explained by major contributing source...
A Heat Vulnerability Index and Adaptation Solutions for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

With increasing evidence of global warming, many cities have focused attention on response plans to address their populations’ vulnerabilities. Despite expected increased frequency and intensity of heat waves, the health impacts of such events in urban areas can be minimized with careful policy and economic investments. We focus on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and ask two questions. First, what are the top factors contributing to heat vulnerability and how do these characteristics manifest geospatially throughout Pittsburgh? Second, assuming the City wishes to deploy additional cooling centers, what placement will optimally address the vulnerability of the at risk populations? We use national census data, ArcGIS geospatial modeling, and statistical analysis to determine a range of heat vulnerability indices and optimal cooling center placement. We find that while different studies use different data and statistical calculations, all methods tested locate additional cooling centers at the confluence of the thr...
The Relation Between Parentification and Dating Communication The Role of Romantic Attachment-Related Cognitions

The present study examined the relationship between reports of childhood parentification, current romantic relationship constructive communication, and adult attachment-related cognitions in 57 college participants. Results from analyses indicated that childhood emotional parentification was negatively associated with constructive communication and positively correlated with young adult avoidant and anxious attachment-related cognitions. Multiple mediation analyses revealed that anxious attachment-related beliefs were shown to have a significant indirect effect on the relationship between emotional parentification and romantic dyadic constructive communication. Clinical implications of the current findings are discussed.
Habermas'Discourse Ethic Ideology

On the basis of the theory of communicative action,Habermas put forward the theory of discourse ethic ideology.He proposed that communicative actions are essentially a discourse relationship between the main bodies with language as the media.In his theory,discourse is a core concept with the generalization principle and the discourse principle as its two main principles and cognitive doctrine and procedure doctrine as its basic feature.By building the theory of discourse ethic ideology,Habermas finished the reasoning process of his communicative theory,extended the communicative sense to the practical level from the theoretical level.By taking the theory of discourse ethic ideology as a organic part of communicative action theory,a standard basis of the critical social theory was built.
Analysis of resistant of 272 cases pneumonic streptococcal

Objective: To explore the epidemiodosy and drug resistance of pneumonic streptococcus in children. Method: The drug resistance of leven antibiotics were checked up by paperdelusion. ck - Bj in 272 pieces of pneumonic streptococcus. Results: The rate of drug resistance of pneumonic streptococcus to erythromycin, oxacillin, sulfamethoxazole, ofloxacin, tetracyclines, vancomycin, chloram-phenicol and rifampicin, were 80. 5% .84. 6% .89. 0% .6. 2%.67. 3% .0% .12. 0% .38. 2% respectively. Conclusion: It is important to know positive rate of pneumonic streptococcus and the character oi multi resistance to avoid preeluding drug resistance and using antibibotics rationally.
The expression of FAF1 and Livin proteins in gastric carcinoma and its clinical significance

Objective To explore the expression of FAF1 protein and Livin protein in gastric cancer tissues and its significance. Methods The expression of FAF1 protein and Livin protein was detected in 53 cases of gastric cancer and 50 normal subjects using immunohistochemical methods,respectively. Results ①The positive rate of FAF1 expression in the gastric cancer tissues was lower than that in the normal tissues( 28. 30% vs 84. 00%,χ2= 32. 30,P 0. 05). ②The positive rate of Livin expression in the gastric cancer tissues was higher than that in the normal tissues( 73. 58 vs 14%,χ2= 36. 96,P 0. 05). ③The expression of FAF1 was significantly related with the histological differentiation( P 0. 05),while the expression of Livin was significantly correlated to the tumor diameter,infiltration degree,differentiation degree,lymph node metastasis and TNM staging( P 0. 05). ④There was no correlation between the expression of FAF1 and Livin( rs= 0. 307,P 0. 05). Conclusion Lack of FAF1 expression may play an important role in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer and inhibit the cancer cell differentiation. The Livin protein abnormal expression may be associated with the occurrence,development,invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer. The combined detection of FAF1 and Livin proteins provides an important basis for early diagnosis and inference of the evolution of gastric cancer.
Febrile responses associated with cardiac surgery. Relationships to the postpericardiotomy syndrome and to altered host immunologic reactivity.

The etiology of postoperative fevers has been studied in 97 patients after cardiac surgical procedures. Of this group 26 had unexplained fevers higher than 101° F. after the first postoperative week, including fevers continuing beyond the first week, and recurrences of fever after an afebrile period. Only 6 (6.2 per cent) of all patients had a postpericardiotomy syndrome as we defined the condition in this study. Other criteria usually applied for the diagnosis of this syndrome appeared to be too unspecific to be of value in this patient population. Patients with a persistent or prolonged febrile course had an increased incidence of atypical lymphocytes in their peripheral blood. This group also received more units of transfused blood during operation. There was no correlation, however, between such cellular activation and the appearance of lymphocytotoxic antibodies. This result suggests that the appearance of atypical lymphocytes reflects a cellular rather than a serologic immune response to massive blood transfusions. Three patients with postpericardiotomy syndromes who had undergone aorto-coronary bypass procedures had a bypass patency rate of 50 per cent, as compared to a patency rate of 78.9 per cent in 8 patients who did not develop this complication.
Richard Aldington’s Excoriation of the Past

Richard Aldington’s Death of a Hero (1929) is distinguished from other works written by survivors of the trenches in France that suddenly claimed public attention, after what seemed a necessary decade for recuperation, in the mocking fury and anger of its language. Other works described equally the physical misery, shared loss and pointless waste of the trenches; other works, too, inscribed the self-slaughter of a generation in terms of historical cause. Aldington combined these depictions and attitudes with a relentless excoriation of previous generations in popular and deliberately vulgar terms. As an early Imagist in his poetry, he had been associated for nearly twenty years with modernism and its need to formulate a complete and linguistically violent break with the past. His jazzy, derisive language is visible throughout Death of a Hero, even in passages that simply describe the 1890 courtship of the parents of the war victim: So it wasn’t hard for George Augustus to swank. He took the Hartlys—even Isabel—in completely ... He gave them copies of the Non-conformist tract he had published at fifteen. He gave Ma Hartly a fourteen-pound tin of that expensive (2s. 3d. a pound) tea she had always pined for since they had left Ceylon. He bought fantastic things for Isabel—a coral brooch, a copy of the Pilgrim’s Progress bound in wood from the door of Bunyan’s parish church, a turkey, a year’s subscription to the Family Herald Supplement, a new shawl, boxes of 1s. 6d. a pound chocolates, and took her for drives in an open landau smelling of horse-piss and oats ... One night, a sweet rural night, with a lemon moon over the sweet, breast-round, soft English country, with the nightingales jug-jugging and twit-twitting like mad in the leafy lanes, George Augustus kissed Isabel by a stile, and—manly fellow—asked her to marry him.
Participation and punishment

Studies have demonstrated that altruistic punishment can motivate pro-social behavior in settings that require group cooperation. This paper extends these findings to the voter participation game. Using a laboratory experiment we find that some subjects are willing to punish abstainers and that punishment increases participation. However, not all subjects respond to punishment equally. We find that punishment increases turnout more among subjects with a egoist social value orientation (SVO) than among subjects with a pro-social SVO. This suggests that increased opportunities for altruistic punishment do not just increase participation, but may also change the composition of the electorate.
HIV-1 decreases Nrf2/ARE activity and phagocytic function in alveolar macrophages

Respiratory complications occur frequently in individuals living with human immunodeficiency-1 virus (HIV) infection, and there is evidence that HIV-related oxidative stress impairs alveolar macrophage immune function. We hypothesized that nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2), a master transcription factor that activates the antioxidant response element (ARE) and regulates antioxidant defenses, has an important role in alveolar macrophage (AMs) immune dysfunction in individuals with HIV infections. To test that hypothesis, we analyzed human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) that were either infected with HIV-1 or were exposed to the HIV-related proteins gp120 and Tat ex vivo and determined that either stress affected the expression of Nrf2 and the Nrf2-ARE-dependent genes for NAD(P)H dehydrogenase, quinone 1 (NQO1) and glutamate-cysteine ligase, catalytic subunit (GCLC). We then determined that the expression of Nrf2, NQO1, and GCLC was significantly decreased in primary AMs isolated from HIV-1 transgenic rats. In parallel, treating a rat macrophage cell line (NR8383 cells) with the HIV-related proteins gp120 or Tat similarly decreased the gene and protein expression of Nrf2, NQO1, and GCLC. Further, phagocytic function was decreased in both human MDMs infected with HIV-1 and primary AMs from HIV-1 transgenic rats. Importantly, treating HIV-1-infected human MDMs or AMs from HIV-1 transgenic rats with sulforaphane (SFN, an Nrf2 activator) significantly improved their phagocytic function. The salutary effects of SFN were abrogated by silencing RNA to Nrf2 in wild-type rat macrophages. Our findings demonstrate that HIV-1 infection and exposure to HIV-1-related proteins inhibit Nrf2-ARE activity in the AMs and impair their phagocytic function. Treatments targeted at increasing Nrf2-ARE activity could, therefore, enhance lung innate immunity in people living with HIV-1.
Aversive Second-Order Conditioning in the Pigeon

Second-order conditioned suppression of keypecking was demonstrated in pigeons by pairing a tone (CS2) and an on-key stimulus (CS1) after the on-key stimulus had been paired with electric shock (US). Suppression of keypecking during CS2 was significantly greater for subjects in this group than for subjects in control groups that received either (a) pairings of CS1 and US but “truly random” presentations of CS2 and CS1 or (b) pairings of CS2 and CS1 but “truly random” presentations of CS1 and US.
Enhancing Studies of Pharmacodynamic Mechanisms via Measurements of Metabolic Flux: Fundamental Concepts and Guiding Principles for Using Stable Isotope Tracers

Drug discovery and development efforts are largely based around a common expectation, namely, that direct or indirect action on a cellular process (e.g., statin-mediated enzyme inhibition or insulin-stimulated receptor activation) will have a beneficial impact on physiologic homeostasis. To expand on this, one could argue that virtually all pharmacologic interventions attempt to influence the flow of “traffic” in a biochemical network, irrespective of disease or modality. Since stable isotope tracer kinetic methods provide a measure of traffic flow (i.e., metabolic flux), their inclusion in study designs can yield novel information regarding pathway biology; the application of such methods requires the integration of knowledge in physiology, analytical chemistry, and mathematical modeling. Herein, we review the fundamental concepts that surround the use of tracer kinetics, define basic terms, and outline guiding principles via theoretical and experimental problems. Specifically, one needs to 1) recognize the types of biochemical events that change isotopic enrichments, 2) appreciate the distinction between fractional turnover and flux rate, and 3) be aware of the subtle differences between tracer kinetics and pharmacokinetics. We hope investigators can use the framework presented here to develop applications that address their specific questions surrounding biochemical flux, and thereby gain insight into the pathophysiology of disease states, and examine pharmacodynamic mechanisms.
Microsurgical selective removal of benign neoplasms of the parotid gland

Most of tumors of the parotid gland (about 85%) are benign tumors, especially benign mixed tumors [2]. Surgery of parotid gland tumors is generally performed by otorhinolaryngologists and general surgeons. Conventionally, parotid gland surgery implies the preliminary identification and isolation of the facial nerve and its branches, and then the resection of the parotid gland including the tumor. This procedure is also advocated for the treatment of benign tumors. However, the manipulation of the facial nerve which is performed before decompression of the tumor mass may result in anatomical damage of the neural tissue. Neurosurgeons dealing with peripheral nerve surgery have three aims to pursue, to decompress entrapped nerves, to repair damaged nerves, and to preserve the integrity of undamaged nerves, for example during surgery for removal of intraneural (like schwannomas) or extraneural (e.g., parotid gland tumors) masses. With respect of the latter aim, we treated eight patients with benign mixed tumors of the parotid gland. Selective removal of the tumor was achieved by using microsurgical techniques.
Water Connects It All: Environmental Racism and Global Warming in Tuvalu and Kiribati

The authors explore the consequences of global systemic racism on the environment, and on human and non-human beings, by focusing on water at a global level. While there are many examples, from lead in the drinking water of US inner cities, or the environmental justice struggle in the Cancer Alley, or the polluted lands of American Indians, the authors choose to concentrate on rising water levels and the impending destruction of the Republic of Tuvalu and the Republic of Kiribati to examine how water connects us all. The authors demonstrate how systemic racism is an integral part of global racism.
Systems Approaches to Understanding and Designing Allosteric Proteins

The study of allostery has a central place in biology because of the myriad roles of allosteric proteins in cellular function. As technologies for probing the spatiotemporal resolution of biomolecules have become increasingly sophisticated, so has our understanding of the diverse structural and molecular mechanisms of allosteric proteins. Studies have shown that the allosteric signal is transmitted a through a network of residue–residue interactions connecting distal sites on a protein. Linking structural and dynamical changes to the functional role of individual residues will give a more complete molecular view of allostery. In this work, we highlight new mutational technologies that enable a systems-level, quantitative description of allostery that dissect the role of individual residues through large-scale functional screens. A molecular model for predicting allosteric hot spots can be developed by applying statistical tools on the resulting large sequence–structure–function data sets. Design of allost...
Higher-order Network Representation Learning

This paper describes a general framework for learning Higher-Order Network Embeddings (HONE) from graph data based on network motifs. The HONE framework is highly expressive and flexible with many interchangeable components. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of learning higher-order network representations. In all cases, HONE outperforms recent embedding methods that are unable to capture higher-order structures with a mean relative gain in AUC of 19% (and up to 75% gain) across a wide variety of networks and embedding methods.
Geolocation system estimators: processes for their quality assurance and quality control

This paper presents recommended principles and processes for the Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) of estimators and their outputs in Geolocation Systems. Relevant estimators include both batch estimators, such as Weighted Least Squares (WLS) estimators, and (near) real-time sequential estimators, such as Kalman filters. The estimators typically solve for (estimate) the value of a state vector X_true containing 3d geolocations and/or corrections to the sensor metadata corresponding to the measurements supplied to the estimator. Along with a best estimate X of X_true, the estimator outputs predicted accuracy, typically an error covariance matrix CovX corresponding to the error in the solution X. It is essential that the estimator output a reliable and near-optimal estimate X as well as a reliable error covariance matrix CovX. This paper presents various procedures, including detailed algorithms, to help ensure that this is the case, and if not, flag the problem along with supporting metrics. The majority of the QA/QC procedures involve data internal to the estimator, such as measurement residuals, and can be built-in to the estimator. Examples include measurement editing, solution convergence detection, and confidence interval tests based on the reference variance.
The stable category

There are several natural homes for doing cohomology theory. For instance, any of several derived categories can be used for this purpose. Here we will focus on the stable category, which has the advantage of being very closely related to the module category.
Pupillary Abnormalities, Elevated Intracranial Pressure and Mass Lesion Location

Changes in the size and reactivity of the pupils are among the classic findings in patients suffering from intracranial catastrophes. Observations regarding the pupils were made in antiquity and the importance of such changes has been taught to medical students since well before the development of neurology and neurosurgery as disciplines. More subtle abnormalities of the pupils have not attracted as much attention, and it was not until Kinnear Wilson (1906) published his descriptions of pupillary correctopia and Miller Fisher (1980) described the oval pupil in patients suffering intracranial catastrophes that a broader understanding of more subtle changes in pupillary function emerged.
Ironing out the mechanisms of chronic bacterial infection

Molecular evaluation reveals an important role for nutrient-dependent intracellular trafficking in chronic bacterial otitis media.
Influence of triethanolamine on the hydration characteristics of tricalcium silicate

The hydration characteristics of 3CaO.SiO2 or β2CaO.SiO2 are studied by an addition of 0.0, 0.1, 0.5 or 1.0% triethanolamine. The amount of Ca(OH)2 found at 1, 3, 7 or 28 days was in the order C3S + 0% TEA > C3S +0.1% TEA > C3S + 0.5% TEA > C3S+1.0% TEA, irrespective of whether lime was estimated by X-ray, DTA, TGA or chemical analysis. The rate of hydration, in terms of the disappearance of 3CaO.SiO2, showed that hydration proceeded faster in the presence of TEA after 1 day. Additions of TEA increase the induction period, promote the formation of a C-S-H with higher CaO/SiO2 ratio, increase the formation of non-crystalline Ca(OH)2 and enhance the surface area of the hydrated silicate product.
Wideband Acoustic Immittance in Cochlear Implant Recipients: Reflectance and Stapedial Reflexes

Objectives to characterize differences in wideband power reflectance for ears with and without cochlear implants (CIs), to describe electrically evoked stapedial reflex (eSR)-induced changes in reflectance, and to evaluate the benefit of a broadband probe for reflex threshold determination for CI recipients. It was hypothesized that reflectance patterns in ears with CIs would be consistent with increased middle ear stiffness and that reflex thresholds measured with a broadband probe would be lower compared with thresholds obtained with a single-frequency probe. Design Eleven CI recipients participated in both wideband reflectance and eSR testing. Ipsilateral reflexes were measured with three probes: a broadband chirp (swept from 200 to 8000 Hz), a 226 Hz tone, and a 678 Hz tone. Wideband reflectance measures acquired from 28 adults without CIs and with normal middle ear function served as a normative data set for comparison. Results Considering the group data, average reflectance was significantly greater for ears with CIs across 250 to 891 Hz and 4238 to 4490 Hz compared with the normative data set, although individual reflectance curves were variable. Some CI recipients also had low 226 Hz admittance, which contributed to the group finding, considering the control group had clinically normal 226 Hz admittance by design. Electrically evoked stapedial reflexes were measurable in nine of 14 ears (64.3%) and in 24 of 46 electrodes (52.5%) tested. Reflex-induced changes in reflectance patterns were unique to the participant/ear, but similar across activators (electrodes) within a given ear. In addition, reflectance values at or above 1000 Hz were affected most by activating the stapedial reflex, even in ears with clinically normal 226 Hz admittance. This is a higher-frequency range than has been reported for acoustically evoked reflex-induced reflectance changes and is consistent with increased middle ear stiffness at rest. Electrically evoked reflexes could be measured more often with the 678 Hz or the broadband probe compared with the 226 Hz probe tone. Although reflex thresholds were lower with the broadband probe compared with the 678 Hz probe in 16 of 24 conditions, this was not a statistically significant finding (Wilcoxon signed-rank test; p = 0.072). Conclusions The applications of wideband acoustic immittance measurements (reflectance and reflexes) should also be considered for ears with CIs. Further work is needed to describe changes across time in ears with CIs to more fully understand the reflectance pattern indicating increased middle ear stiffness and to optimize measuring eSRs with a broadband probe.
Optimized Biodiesel Production from Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) using Calcium Oxide (CaO) Nano-catalyst

Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil (WCO) provides an alternative energy means of producing liquid fuels from biomass for various uses. Biodiesel production by recycling WCO and methanol in the presence of calcium oxide (CaO) nano-catalyst offers several benefits such as economic, environmental and waste management. A nano-catalyst of CaO was synthesized by thermal-decomposition method and calcinated at 500 °C followed by characterization using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The XRD results revealed nano-scale crystal sizes at high purity, with a mean particle size of ~29 nm. The SEM images exhibited morphology of irregular shapes and porous structure of the synthesized nanocatalysts. The highest conversion of WCO to biodiesel was estimated to be 96%, at optimized experimental conditions i.e., 50 °C, 1:8 WCO oil to methanol ratio, 1% by weight of catalyst loading rate and 90 minutes reaction time, which is among few highest conversions reported so far. Biodiesel properties were tested according to the American (ASTM D6571) fuel standards. All reactions are carried-out under atmospheric pressure and 1500 rpm of agitation.
Parental perception of a picture-based chronic asthma care management tool in an urban pediatric emergency department

Background: National asthma guidelines recommend use of an asthma action plan (AAP) as part of chronic asthma care. Unfortunately, AAPs have not been tailored for use in acute care settings, where ...
Secondary Intracranial Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Due to Spinal Missile Injury

Fresh intracranial subarachnoid hemorrhage may occur secondary to blast-type injury of the spinal cord. This phenomenon is demonstrated in four cases of gunshot and shotgun wounds involving the spinal column. The significance of such a finding is that the subarachnnid hemorrhage should not be construed to represent an independent injury. Such an erroneous conclusion could jeopardize a theory of self-defense in a homicidal shooting.
The Philosophy of Accidentality

In mid-twentieth-century Mexican philosophy, there was a peculiar nationalist existentialist project focused on the cultural conditions of agency. This article revisits some of those ideas, including the idea that there is an important but underappreciated experience of one's relationship to norms and social meanings. This experience—something called accidentality—casts new light on various forms of social subordination and socially scaffolded agency, including cultural alienation, biculturality, and double consciousness.
Applying Precision to the Management of BRAF-Mutant Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Identifying the presence or absence of a BRAFV600E mutation is paramount for the management of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) as there are distinct predictive and prognostic implications, as well as unique therapeutic approaches for this molecular subtype. Traditional cytotoxic doublet chemotherapy has historically been ineffective for this poor prognostic group, thereby highlighting the critical need for novel targeted therapies to drive management. Unlike the early success achieved with BRAF-inhibitor monotherapy for patients with BRAFV600E-mutated metastatic melanoma, response rates were found to only be 5% in early-phase clinical trials for patients with BRAFV600E mCRC. A deeper understanding of predominant resistance mechanisms in BRAFV600E mCRC after exposure to BRAF inhibition has resulted in innovative combinatorial approaches targeting the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, revitalizing the treatment portfolio for these patients. Of note, in recent years non-V600 BRAF mutations have been appreciated as a distinct molecular subset in mCRC, representing 2–4% of patients with a unique clinical presentation and complex signaling biology. These mutations, referred to as “atypical” BRAF mutations, warrant individual clinical investigation and demand innovative drug development that leverages known signaling class biology. Here, we summarize the current molecular and clinicopathologic understanding of BRAFV600E mCRC, as well as the landmark clinical trials that have led to successful targeted therapy for this historically aggressive subtype of colorectal cancer. Additionally, we briefly describe the current understanding of patients with atypical BRAF mutations, highlighting the importance of continued research efforts to appropriately treat this evolving subset of BRAF mutations.
Sorption of Benzene, Toluene, and Ethylbenzene by Poly(ethyl methacrylate) and Plasticized Poly(ethyl methacrylate) at 298.15 K Using a Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Solubilities of benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene (BTEX compounds, together with xylene) in poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) and plasticized PEMA at 298.15 K were measured using a quartz crystal microbalance and are reported in the form of solvent activity versus solvent weight fraction. Two plasticizers, diisononyl cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DINCH) and diisooctyl azelate (DIOA), were studied, each at three different concentration levels in the polymer. The presence of a plasticizer increases the solubility of all three compounds. Data were interpreted using a pseudobinary Flory–Huggins model in which the plasticized polymer is considered to be a single pseudocomponent.
Multivariate Analysis of Variance

More than two decades have passed since Lyle Jones (1966) wrote a chapter titled “Analysis of Variance in Its Multivariate Developments” in the first edition of this handbook. Many new developments have been made, and the technique has come to be much more widely known and applied in the behavioral sciences. The term “multivariate analysis of variance” and its acronym, MANOVA, are almost universally known among psychologists, and the circumlocution, “analysis of variance in its multivariate developments,” today sounds almost archaic.
An Extensible Software and Communication Platform for Distributed Energy Resource Management

This paper introduces a novel Distributed Extensible Grid Control (DEGC) software and communication platform to facilitate the control of distributed energy resources on electric grids. The DEGC software platform leverages state-of-the-art advances in secure, distributed communication and decentralized authorization and authentication. We discuss how these advances enable the kind of robust and secure communication required for a distributed grid control platform, and show how DEGC applies these technologies to the agile development and deployment of grid software through an extensible and flexible API. We describe how DEGC can implement both Volt-VAR voltage magnitude control and Phasor-Based Control as sample applications and demonstrate the DEGC platform in hardware with the demanding Phasor-Based Control test case, and provide performance metrics.
Mechanisms of Fast Walker Circulation Responses to CO2 Forcing

The Walker circulation (WC) responds to CO2 forcing at both short and long timescales. The fast response accounts for a substantial portion of the total responses, but its mechanisms, pa...
Orladeyo (Berotralstat): A Novel Oral Therapy for the Prevention of Hereditary Angioedema:

ObjectiveThe purpose of this article is to review the available trials that led to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of berotralstat, an oral kallikrein inhibitor, for the prevention ...
Is it alright to use people merely as a means to an end

Several philosophers inveigh against using people merely as a means to their own end. In theirview, this necessarily involves a rights violation. The present paper takes the opposite tack, anddefends this activity.
Evaluation of a capped dosing telavancin regimen compared to standard dosing at a large community teaching hospital.

Telavancin, a lipoglycopeptide antibiotic, is traditionally dosed as 10 mg/kg based on total body weight, but is associated with toxicities that limit its use. This study supports the use of a capped dosing regimen of 750 mg in obese patients, which is associated with equal efficacy and fewer adverse effects compared to traditional dosing.