cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Political risk at the interface of civilizations: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates

Political risk is the probability that an investor or investors will lose money due to factors in a society, a government, or its international environment. Risk will vary according to the theory applied to projection and measurement (assessment). Risk also varies at different investor levels, i.e. for all foreign investors, for a particular industry, for a particular firm, or for a specific project. (Howell, 2001b, p. 4) © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Do “Clicker” Educational Sessions Enhance the Effectiveness of a Social Norms Marketing Campaign?

Abstract Objective: Social norms campaigns are a cost-effective way to reduce high-risk drinking on college campuses. This study compares effectiveness of a “standard” social norms media (SNM) campaign for those with and without exposure to additional educational sessions using audience response technology (“clickers”). Methods: American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment questions are used to evaluate actual and perceived use. Additional survey questions assess individual exposure to the interventions. Results: The authors find “clicker” technology to be more effective than social norms poster media alone in reducing misperceptions of normative alcohol use for those students who attended clicker sessions. Conclusion: Poster SNM campaigns may be most effective when supported by group “clicker” heath-related sessions.
Error and Availability Analysis of Category IIIb LAAS Augmented by Radar Altimeter

The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS), originally designed for Category I (CAT I) precision approach applications, is being evaluated for extension to Category IIIb (CAT IIIb) autoland applications. This paper evaluates the improvement achieved by using the radar altimeter as another ranging source in the position solution for the more stringent CAT IIIb operations. New mathematical expressions are derived for the vertical error standard deviation using satellites and radar altimeter together. For the case of four or more satellites and radar altimeter, the vertical error standard deviation is no larger than the lesser resulting from using either the satellites alone or the radar altimeter alone. Consequently, if satellite geometry is poor, this augmentation can considerably limit the vertical error, depending on the quality of the radar altimeter. Availability results indicate that the contemplated performance of the radar altimeter (with additional terrain data) could significantly improve the availability of LAAS for CAT IIIb.
Risk of Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality in Patients Treated With Thiazolidinediones in a Managed-Care Population

Background—This study directly compares risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), acute heart failure (AHF), or all-cause death among pioglitazone- and rosiglitazone-treated patients in a managed-care population. Methods and Results—Patients ≥18 years of age, newly initiated on rosiglitazone or pioglitazone between January 1, 2001, and December 12, 2005, were included. The date of the first pharmacy claim for rosiglitazone or pioglitazone was defined as index date. Patients were excluded if they had <1 year continuous eligibility preindex or a preindex insulin claim. Primary outcome measure was time to composite event of AMI, AHF or death among pioglitazone- and rosiglitazone-treated patients. The National Death Index database was accessed to obtain date of death for patients who died during the study period. Propensity score matching was used to control for potential confounders. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate effects of exposure to rosiglitazone and pioglitazone on time to even...
Hierarchical metallic and ceramic nanostructures from laser interference ablation and block copolymer phase separation

We report on the formation of hierarchical nanostructures of Au, PtOx, FexOy and PdOx using a hybrid technique by combining laser interference ablation (LIA) and block copolymer phase separation (BCPS). Different types of hierarchical arrays can be obtained including square, triangular, linear and circular arrays by varying the loading time of the block co-polymer with metallic salts, and the laser interference technique. The primary ordering of the as-generated nanoarrays (30–100 nm) is tunable by changing either the composition of the block copolymer spun from solution or by changing other parameters that affect the phase separation kinetics of the block copolymer, while the secondary ordering of the features can be tuned from 200 nm to 2 μm, by changing the angle of convergence of the laser beams on the patterned substrate. Such a robust method can be applied to the fabrication of other metallic and ceramic materials including Ag, Co, and Ni (O) and has potential use in the large scale fabrication of hierarchical arrays of catalysts that can be used to grow germanium, silicon nanowires using the vapour–liquid–solid growth (VLS) technique. The as-generated arrays can also find use in optical as well as sensor applications for biodetection and biosensing.
The 1995 Agreement on the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks: significance for the Law of the Sea Convention

On 4 August 1995, the UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks adopted an Agreement for the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. The mandate given by the General Assembly required that the results of the Conference be fully consistent with the UN Law of the Sea Convention. The purpose of this article is to examine the significance of the agreement for the law of the sea as embodied in the Convention. It shows that the agreement constitutes an important contribution to the Convention in that it facilitates the implementation of the Convention's provisions, strengthens the Convention's regime, and further develops general or framework rules of the Convention. The most significant contribution lies in the development of the law with respect to such issues as the precautionary approach to fisheries, compatibility of conservation and management measures adopted for areas under national jurisdiction and those for the adjacent high seas areas, the role of regional organizations or arrangements, duties of the flag State, enforcement against foreign vessels on the high seas, and port State jurisdiction.
Querying multimedia data from multiple repositories by content: the Garlic project

We describe Garlic, an object-oriented multimedia middleware query system. Garlic enables existing data management components, such as a relational database or a full text search engine, to be integrated into an extensible information management system that presents a common interface and user access tools. We focus in this paper on how QBIC, an image retrieval system that provides content-based image queries, can be integrated into Garlic. This results in a system in which a single query can combine visual and nonvisual data using type-specific search techniques, enabling a new breed of multimedia applications
Bounds on uptime distribution based on aging for systems with finite lifetimes

Consider a system which is subject to occasional failures over its lifetime. Under general stochastic assumptions concerning the occurrence of these failures, the duration of the repair times, and the length of the system’s lifetime, the distribution of the total uptime the system accumulates over its lifetime may be determined. While the distribution is unfortunately complicated except in certain circumstances, it is possible to derive useful bounds based on the aging characteristics of the distributions of interfailure times, repair times, and system life. Bounds are developed for the cases where the system lifetime follows (1) a degenerate distribution (or constant mission duration), (2) an exponential distribution, and (3) a general distribution. These bounds may be interpreted as extensions of well-known bounds based on aging notions from renewal theory. Conditions are identified for when the bounds are sharp, and examples are used to show the computational tractability and usefulness of the results.
Glucose-deprivation increases thyroid cancer cells sensitivity to metformin

Abstract Metformin inhibits thyroid cancer cell growth. We sought to determine if variable glucose concentrations in medium alter the anti-cancer efficacy of metformin. Thyroid cancer cells (FTC133 and BCPAP) were cultured in high-glucose (20 mM) and low-glucose (5 mM) medium before treatment with metformin. Cell viability and apoptosis assays were performed. Expression of glycolytic genes was examined by real-time PCR, western blot, and immunostaining. Metformin inhibited cellular proliferation in high-glucose medium and induced cell death in low-glucose medium. In low-, but not in high-glucose medium, metformin induced endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy, and oncosis. At micromolar concentrations, metformin induced phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase and blocked p-pS6 in low-glucose medium. Metformin increased the rate of glucose consumption from the medium and prompted medium acidification. Medium supplementation with glucose reversed metformin-inducible morphological changes. Treatment with an inhibitor of glycolysis (2-deoxy-d-glucose (2-DG)) increased thyroid cancer cell sensitivity to metformin. The combination of 2-DG with metformin led to cell death. Thyroid cancer cell lines were characterized by over-expression of glycolytic genes, and metformin decreased the protein level of pyruvate kinase muscle 2 (PKM2). PKM2 expression was detected in recurrent thyroid cancer tissue samples. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that the glucose concentration in the cellular milieu is a factor modulating metformin's anti-cancer activity. These data suggest that the combination of metformin with inhibitors of glycolysis could represent a new strategy for the treatment of thyroid cancer.
Association of occupational trajectories with alcohol use disorders in a longitudinal national survey

Objectives We investigated longitudinal associations between occupation and alcohol use disorders (AUDs) across early- to mid-adult life. Methods Longitudinal trajectories of work substantive complexity were constructed by growth mixture modeling of occupational data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and O*NET work variables. The association between work trajectories and AUDs was modeled adjusting for education. Results Lower work trajectories were associated with higher AUD prevalence and incidence. Incident AUDs were associated with a subsequent decline in work trajectory class for both high and low initial classes, more strongly in women despite lower overall AUD incidence. Conclusions Low work trajectory is associated with increased AUD prevalence. Development of an AUD may presage risk of decline in work substantive complexity. These findings suggest reinforcing relations between the development of AUD and occupational course at midlife.
Experimental Brucellosis in Dogs

In another paper a report was made of the spontaneous occurrence of Brucella agglutinins in dogs.1 Of 500 dogs obtained as adults from rural environments the blood serums of 10.4 per cent gave positive reactions to the agglutination test. Only five of the serums were positive in titers of 1:100 or more. None of the dogs with Brucella agglutinins exhibited symptoms indicative of a specific infection, and in none of those examined at necropsy was there morphologic evidence of disease due to Brucella abortus. These observations suggested two possibilities as regards susceptibility of dogs to bacteria of the Brucella group. Either the animals possess a profound natural resistance to these microcrganisms, which precludes the development of lesions, or, following establishment of the lesions, the disease is of a nonprogressive character, and eventually the lesions disappear and recovery occurs. In order to obtain information concerning the pathogenicity of certain strains of Brucella for dogs, an experiment was planned for the purpose of answering the following questions: (1) can a state of disease definitely be induced in dogs by intravenous or oral introduction of Brucella abortus? (2) Is there a significant difference in the pathogenicity for dogs of strains of Brucella obtained, respectively, from swine and from cattle?
The Aero-Optical Environment of a Helicopter in Hover

Aero-optic aberrations for an optical system carried by a helicopter are expected to originate primarily from rotor-blade tip vortices that propagate down into the line of sight of the optical system. Landgrebe’s prescribed wake model in conjunction with a revised Biot-Savart law is used to calculate the velocity field beneath a medium-sized helicopter in hover. A thermodynamic numerical routine calculates the corresponding density and indexof-refraction fields associated with the velocity field. The approach is used to determine spatiallyand temporally-resolved predictions of the aero-optic aberrations on an optical system mounted on a hovering helicopter. Metrics for the farfield optical performance and potential adaptive-optic correction approaches are discussed.
Ningbitai Capsule" and Microwave Irradiation for Chronic Prostatitis in 45 Cases

One hundred and thirty-six cases of chronic prostatitis were assigned randomly into three groups: group A in which 45 cases were treated with "Ningbitai Capsule" and microwave irradiation, group B in which 45 cases were treated with Minocycline and microwave irradiation, and group c in which 46 cases were treated with simple microwave irradiation. After three courses of treatment, their effects were observed and compared. Results: The total effective rate was 93.33% in group A, 84.44% in group B and 78.26% in group C, P0.05.
Application of HIV antibody rapid test to voluntary counselling and testing

Objective To explore the way to further shorten the waiting time for confirmed results and improve the detection rate of CD4+T lymphocytes for HIV infections by applying HIV rapid test(RT) to voluntary counselling and testing(VCT), and comparing the consistency of results between RT and western blotting(WB). Methods Two reagents of RT were used for HIV screening, and WB was used for confirming test in positive samples found by one or two RT. The results were compared and evaluated. At the same time, blood samples were collected for the detection of CD4+T lymphocytes. Results Among 1435 samples, 398 were found positive by one or two RT reagents. Among these 398 samples, 377 were confirmed positive by WB, with a consistent rate of 94.7%; 379 samples were found positive by two RT reagents, and 376 were confirmed positive by WB, with a consistent rate of 99.2%; 1037 samples were found negative by two RT reagents, and among them HIV RNA positive sample was not found by pooling PCR. Conclusions The strategy of RT used for HIV screening and WB used for confirming can be applied to VCT and other urgent tests, which can shorten the waiting time for confirmed results and improve the detection rate of CD4+T lymphocytes for HIV infections. In addition, two RT reagents with high quality are suggested to be used together in HIV screening, so as to ensure test quality and avoid missing positives.
Sonographic Detection of a Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor of the Stomach

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) arise from mesenchymal tissue and represent the majority of gastric tumors. Diagnostic workup of GISTs is usually done through immunohistochemistry and imaging, typically not including sonography. A case is presented of a GIST that was initially identified sonographically with an unknown primary site. Sonography detected and characterized the mass, followed by the use of computed tomography to obtain additional information that led to the diagnosis. The use of both diagnostic imaging modalities allowed for accurate diagnosis and helped to determine the next step in proper treatment of the tumor.
Integrated measurement and modeling for performance and power

In this presentation we will describe methodologies for integrated measurement and modeling of power and performance for extreme scale systems and applications.
[Relationship between interleukin 28B, equilibrative nucleoside transporters 1 gene polymorphisms and spontaneous clearance of HCV in HIV/HCV co-infectors].

Objective To explore the association between interleukin 28B (IL–28B) , equilibrative nucleoside transporters 1 (ENT1) gene polymorphisms and spontaneous clearance of HCV in HIV/HCV co-infectors in Hunan province. Methods Genotypes of IL–28B and ENT1 (rs12980275, rs12979860, rs8099917 and rs760370) were analyzed in 107 HIV/HCV co-infectors in Hunan province and the distributions of gene polymorphisms were compared between chronic hepatitis and spontaneous clearance groups. Results The major genotypes in rs12980275, rs12979860 and rs8099917 of IL–28B were AA, CC and TT in HIV/HCV co-infectors, which accounted for 84.1% of each. The three single nucleotide polymorphisms were highly linkage disequilibrium (r2>0.94) and the differences of genotype distribution were statistically significant between chronic hepatitis and the spontaneous clearance groups (P<0.05). Infectors which carrying the major genotypes were more susceptible to spontaneous clearance of HCV. Differences of the genotype distributions in rs760370 of ENT1 were not statistically significant between the two groups. Conclusion Genotypes AA, CC and TT of IL–28B were related to spontaneous clearance of HCV in HIV/HCV co-infectors. Key words: Hepatitis C virus; Human immunodeficiency virus; Interleukin 28B; Equilibrative nucleoside transporters 1; Spontaneous clearance; Single nucleotide polymorphism
On the formation of context-based person impressions

The current research examined how people form context-based trait impressions and why some of these impressions are stronger than others. This research drew from principles of attention theory (Kruschke, 1996, 2001) in order to account for the processes underlying impression formation in context. According to attention theory, the traits expressed by an individual target person in a rarely occurring context should be more strongly associated with that context than the traits expressed in a commonly occurring context are associated with the common context. That is, people form stronger impressions of others' behavior in rare compared to common contexts. Four experiments provide support for these predictions. The current study is one of the first to examine the cognitive mechanisms by which perceivers form trait impressions of individuals across different contexts and to explain why some of these impressions are stronger than others. Implications of the nature of these impression formation processes are discussed.
Preface: The Sound and the Spirit

I hear the motions of the spirit and the sound Of what is secret becomes, for me, a voice That is my own voice speaking in my ear. – Wallace Stevens, “Chocorua to its Neighbor” These lines, although written by a twentieth-century American, nevertheless provide an eloquent summary of what I intend to examine in European poetry, philosophy, and music between 1798 and 1830. Although many critics have studied vision and the visionary in Romantic poetry, relatively few have confronted the related issues of sound, voice, and music, and even fewer have looked into corresponding moments in musical aesthetics and composition. I attempt to answer several questions about these concepts and practices in all three fields and relate these answers to each other. How does musical sound become the articulate voice of the self? How does natural sound become music? How can music represent self-consciousness? I argue that Holderlin and Wordsworth, despite their obvious differences, follow a similar path of self-constitution through a musical conception of poetic sound. Furthermore, I maintain that Hegel and Beethoven, although working in radically different fields, nevertheless establish music and self-consciousness as mutually positing, reciprocal dialectical structures. In other words, at the core of early Romanticism lies a structure – the dialectic of Idealist self-consciousness – and a metaphor – the self-sustaining aesthetic of absolute music – that mirror and support each other, often in ways difficult to discover.
Maximum A Posteriori Estimation of Time Delay

Time-delay estimation (TDE) is an important topic of array signal processing for applications such as source localization and beam-forming. With a pair of sensors, the generalized cross correlation (GCC) method is widely used for TDE and the maximum-likelihood (ML) estimation can be considered as a GCC prefilter. Unfortunately, the ML estimation suffers from performance degradation due to the limitation of having only finite duration signals available for estimating source and noise power spectral densities. Also, its optimality is governed by the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and multipath environments. In this paper, we propose a method of Maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation of time delay based on the ML estimation by modeling the prior probability of time delay. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the conventional ML estimation. It also ourperforms the phase transform (PHAT) method with moderate SNR in multipath environments.
Giant field enhancement in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero films (Conference Presentation)

We investigated anisotropic epsilon-near-zero (AENZ) films under TM-polarized plane wave incidence and found they possess peculiar properties. In particular we studied uniaxially anisotropic films where either the permittivity along the surface normal or along the transverse plane tends to zero while the other one does not. Previously, numerous applications of isotropic epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) films including radiation pattern tailoring, enhanced harmonic generation, optical bistability and energy squeezing have been studied. A notable property of these materials is the capability of enhancing electric field. In this paper the capability of AENZ films in local electric field enhancement has been quantified and several AENZ conditions are reported with superior performance in comparison to (isotropic) ENZ films. Specifically, sensitivity to film thickness and losses, and the range of angles of incidence have been elaborated with the aim of achieving large electric field enhancement in the film. It has been proved that in comparison to the (isotropic) ENZ case the AENZ film’s field enhancement is not only much larger but it also occurs for a wider range of angles of incidence. Furthermore the field enhancement in AENZ does not exhibit significant dependence on the film thickness unlike the isotropic case. The effect of loss on the value of the field enhancement is also investigated emphasizing the advantages of AENZ versus ENZ. Realization of AENZ materials can be done by a multilayered media made of a stack of conductive and insulator layers or by stacking semiconductor layers. This giant field enhancement is an important target in nonlinear optics for applications like second harmonic generation and other applications like light generation
Analysing the bubbly

Expose any child to bubbles – like those made by blowing through a straw into a glass of milk – and you will hear screams of delight. For adults, however, some bubbles are not much fun, such as the runaway fiscal sort. Luckily, grown-ups can escape to the unalloyed, bubble-based, sensual joys of champagne. That requires little expertise, but it takes know-how to put those bubbly charms into scientific terms. In another piece of good fortune, champagne scientist Gerard Liger-Belair has done just that in his little book Uncorked.
Resilient cooperative distributed energy scheduling against data integrity attacks

Distributed energy management algorithms eliminate the control center from the conventional energy management systems and calculate the optimal schedule for all devices through iterative coordination among neighbors. Most of the existing distributed approaches are developed under the assumption that all devices are secure and willing to achieve an optimal system performance together in a “collaborative” environment. However, unexpected faults and adversaries may emerge in the network and disrupt the convergence of those distributed approaches. In this paper, we extend the cooperative distributed energy scheduling (CoDES) algorithm to improve its resilience against data integrity attacks. Two types of data integrity attacks are considered in this paper - faulty attacks and random attacks. A distributed attack detection algorithm is developed to verify the state of neighboring devices without infringing their private information. A reputation-based mitigation algorithm is introduced to identify the compromised device and act accordingly to maintain the optimal energy scheduling result. The effectiveness of the proposed resilient distributed energy scheduling algorithm is evaluated in the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) microgrid system.
The Role of Invasive Plant Species in Urban Avian Conservation

The implications of invasive plant species on urban avian conservation are complicated and often species or context specific. In the past 20 years, research into the effects of invasive plant species on bird ecology and conservation has increased immensely, thus allowing conservationists to create management practices for the benefit of bird populations. However, until recently, the potential of invasive species to create positive relationships with bird species has been absent from the literature. Recent findings have created a complex puzzle for management of invasive species in order to conserve avian populations in any environment, especially urban areas. Bird communities utilize invasive plants for various aspects of their life histories. In this chapter, I provide evidence for the positive, negative, indirect, and direct effects of invasive plant species on avian communities with a strong focus on the relationship of fruiting invasive plants with native birds. In order to create a relevant discussion, I will use current case studies that are consistent with research from many different areas across the globe. I will then synthesize this discussion into a theory on how invasive plants should be viewed in the paradigm of urban avian conservation. This theory can then be used to discuss possible habitat design and management plans for urban environments and how those may influence other aspects of the environment through their conservation of bird communities.
A qualitative review and integrative model of gratitude and physical health

Gratitude is seen as a central component of Christian theology, and the extant literature suggests that there is an important relation between gratitude and physical health and well-being. In the c...
Maternal Prenatal Stress and Other Developmental Risk Factors for Adolescent Depression: Spotlight on Sex Differences

Maternal stress during pregnancy has been linked to premorbid abnormalities associated with depression (e.g., difficult temperament, cognitive deficits) in offspring. However, few studies have looked across developmental periods to examine maternal stress during pregnancy and offspring depression during adolescence and whether these associations differ by sex. The current study used data from 1711 mother-offspring dyads (offspring sex: 49.8% male) in a longitudinal birth cohort study. Maternal narratives collected during pregnancy were qualitatively coded for stress-related themes by independent raters. Latent class analysis (LCA) identified distinct subgroups of offspring based on exposure to maternal prenatal stress and other developmental factors from the prenatal, childhood, and adolescent periods that have been associated with depression and/or maternal prenatal stress. LCA identified subgroups that were compared to determine whether and to what extent they differed on adolescent depressive symptoms. LCA revealed a subgroup of “high-risk” individuals, characterized by maternal factors during pregnancy (higher ambivalence/negativity and lower positivity towards the pregnancy, higher levels of hassles, lower maternal education and higher maternal age at birth, higher pre-pregnancy BMI) and offspring developmental factors (decreased cognitive functioning during childhood and adolescence, lower perceived parental support during adolescence, and higher levels of maternal depression during adolescence). High-risk females exhibited elevated conduct symptoms and higher birth order, while high-risk males exhibited decreased internalizing symptoms and lower birth order. Both high-risk males and females reported elevated depressive symptoms during adolescence relative to their “low-risk” counterparts.
Martin Luther’s Influence on Legal Reforms and Civil Law

The Lutheran reformation transformed not only theology and the church but law and the state as well. Beginning in the 1520s, Luther joined up with various jurists and political leaders to craft ambitious legal reforms of church, state, and society on the strength of Luther’s new theology. These legal reforms were defined and defended in hundreds of monographs, pamphlets, and sermons published by Lutheran writers from the 1520s to 1550s. They were refined and routinized in hundreds of new reformation ordinances promulgated by German cities, duchies, and territories that converted to the Lutheran cause. By the time of the Peace of Augsburg (1555)--the imperial law that temporarily settled the constitutional order of Germany--the Lutheran Reformation had brought fundamental changes to theology and law, to church and state, marriage and family, education and charity. Critics of the day, and a steady stream of theologians and historians ever since, have seen this legal phase of the Reformation as a corruption of Luther’s original message of Christian freedom from the strictures of human laws and traditions. But Luther ultimately realized that he needed the law to stabilize and enforce the new Protestant teachings. Radical theological reforms had made possible fundamental legal reforms. Fundamental legal reforms, in turn, would make palpable radical theological reforms. In the course of the 1530s onwards, the Lutheran Reformation became in its essence both a theological and a legal reform movement. It struck new balances between law and Gospel, rule and equity, order and faith, structure and spirit.
The Use of Marihuana in the Treatment of Alcoholism

The past decade has seen an increasing awareness of the impact on man of alcohol abuse. The skid-row stereotype of alcoholism has slowly given way to the realization that this illness ranges from mild and reversible to severe and chronic and that all strata of the population are affected. Not only does alcoholism impair the physical and mental health of the individual but it also diminishes his social and economic well-being and that of his family.
Van Allen Probes Measurements of Energetic Particle Deep Penetration Into the Low L Region (L < 4) During the Storm on 8 April 2016

Using measurements from the Van Allen Probes, a penetration event of 10s – 100s of keV electrons and 10s of keV protons into the low L-shells (L<4) is studied. Timing and magnetic local time (MLT) differences of energetic particle deep penetration are unveiled and underlying physical processes are examined. During this event, both proton and electron penetrations are MLT-asymmetric. The observed MLT difference of proton penetration is consistent with convection of plasma sheet protons, suggesting enhanced convection during geomagnetic active times to be the cause of energetic proton deep penetration during this event. The observed MLT difference of 10s – 100s of keV electron penetration is completely different from 10s of keV protons and cannot be well explained by inward radial diffusion, convection of plasma sheet electrons, or transport of trapped electrons by enhanced convection electric field represented by the Volland-Stern model or a uniform dawn-dusk electric field model based on the electric field measurements. It suggests that the underlying physical mechanism responsible for energetic electron deep penetration, which is very important for fully understanding energetic electron dynamics in the low L-shells, should be MLT-localized.
Evaluation of ebolavirus glycoprotein Fc fusion protein as a subunit vaccine (P4417)

Ebolavirus is a Filoviridae that induces severe hemorrhagic fever in humans. Several vaccines based on Filovirus glycoprotein (GP) are under development including recombinant adenovirus, parainfluenza virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, vesicular stomatitis virus, and subunit GP vaccines such as virus-like particles and soluble protein constructs. Here we describe the development of an ebolavirus subunit vaccine based on GP fused to the Fc fragment of human IgG. We expressed the ectodomain of the Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) GP fused to the Fc fragment of human IgG1 (EBOVgp-Fc) in mammalian cells and showed that GP undergoes the complex furin cleavage and processing as observed in the membrane-bound GP. In vaccinated mice, EBOVgp-Fc induced high levels of total and neutralizing anti-GP antibodies and elicited T-cell immunity characterized by the production of IFNγ (Konduru et al. 2011). Vaccinated guinea pigs developed a strong humoral response as measured by total and neutralizing antibodies to GP, and completely protected against lethal EBOV challenge. We are currently extending our studies to the monkey model. Our preliminary data indicates that EBOVgp-Fc induces neutralizing antibodies and recall CD8+ T-cell immunity, as assessed by the production of IFNγ and TNFα in PBMC. Further experiments, including protection against lethal challenge in monkeys, will be required to determine whether Filovirus GP-Fc fusion proteins could be developed as a candidate vaccine.
Soft robotic devices for hand rehabilitation and assistance: a narrative review

The debilitating effects on hand function from a number of a neurologic disorders has given rise to the development of rehabilitative robotic devices aimed at restoring hand function in these patients. To combat the shortcomings of previous traditional robotics, soft robotics are rapidly emerging as an alternative due to their inherent safety, less complex designs, and increased potential for portability and efficacy. While several groups have begun designing devices, there are few devices that have progressed enough to provide clinical evidence of their design’s therapeutic abilities. Therefore, a global review of devices that have been previously attempted could facilitate the development of new and improved devices in the next step towards obtaining clinical proof of the rehabilitative effects of soft robotics in hand dysfunction. A literature search was performed in SportDiscus, Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles related to the design of soft robotic devices for hand rehabilitation. A framework of the key design elements of the devices was developed to ease the comparison of the various approaches to building them. This framework includes an analysis of the trends in portability, safety features, user intent detection methods, actuation systems, total DOF, number of independent actuators, device weight, evaluation metrics, and modes of rehabilitation. In this study, a total of 62 articles representing 44 unique devices were identified and summarized according to the framework we developed to compare different design aspects. By far, the most common type of device was that which used a pneumatic actuator to guide finger flexion/extension. However, the remainder of our framework elements yielded more heterogeneous results. Consequently, those results are summarized and the advantages and disadvantages of many design choices as well as their rationales were highlighted. The past 3 years has seen a rapid increase in the development of soft robotic devices for hand rehabilitative applications. These mostly preclinical research prototypes display a wide range of technical solutions which have been highlighted in the framework developed in this analysis. More work needs to be done in actuator design, safety, and implementation in order for these devices to progress to clinical trials. It is our goal that this review will guide future developers through the various design considerations in order to develop better devices for patients with hand impairments.
A Review Of Measures

One of the first “discoveries” anyone makes when delving into the domain of interpersonal competence is that it is a concept without an academic home. Competence has been dealt with in a variety of disciplines under a variety of labels. Interpersonal competence is directly related to, and sometimes isomorphic with, notions labeled communication competence, linguistic competence, social competence, social skills, heterosocial skills, interpersonal skills, assertiveness, maturity, psychosocial adjustment, mental health, executive competence, referential competence, organizational competence, efficacy motivation, rhetorical competence, marital competence, infant competence, and autonomy. It is also closely related to a host of what we will refer to as “constellation construct.” These constellation constructs are concepts that are associated closely with the concept of interpersonal competence, yet have clearly retained their own identity. Usually, such constellation constructs are considered integral to the display of interpersonal competence. These constructs include: motivation and anxiety; empathy, role-taking, perspective-taking, and decentering; self-monitoring, and cognitive complexity. Some of the measures of these constellation constructs are identified in this chapter. Before reviewing the competence measures, this chapter will (1) identify the criteria used to select measures for review, (2) introduce and explicate a “grammar” of measurement terms relevant to review, (3) identify and briefly review measures in five constellation areas of interpersonal competence (i.e., assertiveness, empathy and role-taking, motivation and anxiety, fundamental competence, and children’s competence), and (4) discuss the factor-analytic research associated with competence measurement.
Contributions of Experimental Archaeology

This chapter shows how experimental methods can be used for modeling the science embodied in technologies, especially of traditional societies. Replication experiments, which begin with a question about a particular artifact, supply insights into manufacture (and other) processes by representing, in a recipe, the sequence of interactions among people and artifacts. Replication and recipe construction are illustrated by Folsom spear points. Controlled experiments address general questions that apply to a large family of artifacts. Such experiments may yield experimental laws with far-reaching applicability, as illustrated by a case study treating the effects of traditional surface treatments on the heating effectiveness of ceramic cooking pots.
Deutetrabenazine for the treatment of Huntington's chorea.

Introduction: Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder for which no disease-modifying treatment is currently available. Only symptomatic treatment can be offered. Chorea...
Physics students’ construction and checking of differential volume elements in an unconventional spherical coordinate system

Students do not have a good understanding of the geometrical aspects of polar coordinate systems, thus limiting their ability to reason on E topics that use vector calculus.
Boundary determination of foot ulcer images by applying the associative hierarchical random field framework

As traditional visual-examination-based methods provide neither reliable nor consistent wound assessment, several computer-based approaches for quantitative wound image analysis have been proposed in recent years. However, these methods require either some level of human interaction for proper image processing or that images be captured under controlled conditions. However, to become a practical tool of diabetic patients for wound management, the wound image algorithm needs to be able to correctly locate and detect the wound boundary of images acquired under less-constrained conditions, where the illumination and camera angle can vary within reasonable bounds. We present a wound boundary determination method that is robust to lighting and camera orientation perturbations by applying the associative hierarchical random field (AHRF) framework, which is an improved conditional random field (CRF) model originally applied to natural image multiscale analysis. To validate the robustness of the AHRF framework for wound boundary recognition tasks, we have tested the method on two image datasets: (1) foot and leg ulcer images (for the patients we have tracked for 2 years) that were captured under one of the two conditions, such that 70% of the entire dataset are captured with image capture box to ensure consistent lighting and range and the remaining 30% of the images are captured by a handheld camera under varied conditions of lighting, incident angle, and range and (2) moulage wound images that were captured under similarly varied conditions. Compared to other CRF-based machine learning strategies, our new method provides a determination accuracy with the best global performance rates (specificity: > 95 % and sensitivity: > 77 % .
Impact of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in patients with high grade glioma.

e13541Background: Clinical utility of NGS in high grade glioma patients remain debatable. Methods: We reviewed patients who underwent Foundation One NGS between 7/2013 and 10/2018 after high-grade ...
Serotonin Modulates AhR Activation by Interfering with CYP1A1-Mediated Clearance of AhR Ligands.

Background/aims Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is a neurotransmitter and hormone with important physiological functions in many organs, including the intestine. We have previously shown that 5-HT activates the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) via a serotonin transporter (SERT)-dependent mechanism. AhR is a nuclear receptor that binds a variety of molecules including tryptophan (TRP) metabolites to regulate physiological processes in the intestine including xenobiotic detoxification and immune modulation. We hypothesized that 5-HT activates AhR indirectly by interfering with metabolic clearance of AhR ligands by cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1). Methods Inhibition of CYP1A1 activity by 5-HT was assessed in the human intestinal epithelial cell line Caco-2 and recombinant CYP1A1 microsomes using both luciferase and LC-MS/MS. Degradation of 5-HT by recombinant CYP1A1 was measured by LC-MS/MS. For in vitro studies, CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 mRNA expression levels were measured by RT-PCR and CYP1A1 activity was measured by ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) assays. For in vivo studies, AhR ligands were administered to SERT KO mice and WT littermates and intestinal mucosa CYP1A1 mRNA was measured. Results We show that 5-HT inhibits metabolism of both the pro-luciferin CYP1A1 substrate Luc-CEE as well as the high affinity AhR ligand 6-formylindolo[3,2-b] carbazole (FICZ). Recombinant CYP1A1 assays revealed that 5-HT is metabolized by CYP1A1 in an NADPH dependent manner. Treatment with 5-HT in TRP-free medium, which is devoid of trace AhR ligands, showed that 5-HT requires the presence of AhR ligands to activate AhR. Cotreatment with 5-HT and FICZ confirmed that 5-HT potentiates induction of AhR target genes by AhR ligands. However, this was only true for ligands which are CYP1A1 substrates such as FICZ. Administration of β-napthoflavone by gavage or indole-3-carbinol via diet to SERT KO mice revealed that lack of SERT impairs intestinal AhR activation. Conclusion Our studies provide novel evidence of crosstalk between serotonergic and AhR signaling where 5-HT can influence the ability of AhR ligands to activate the receptor in the intestine.
Effect of soy protein ingestion on total and specific immunoglobulin G concentrations in neonatal porcine serum measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Crossbred neonatal pigs from spring and summer farrowings were used to evaluate the systemic humoral immune response in porcine serum after ingestion of soy protein. At 10 to 12 d of age (average BW 3.8 kg), pigs were randomly allotted to three treatment groups according to litter, weight, and sex. Treatments were intermittent gavage feedings two or three times daily for six consecutive days with nonfat dry milk (NFDM) or textured vegetable protein (TVP) and a nongavaged control group. Pigs were weaned at 20 to 22 d of age (average BW 5.7 kg) and fed a corn-soybean meal-based starter diet. Total serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgG concentrations specific for soy protein were measured by ELISA. Blood samples were taken at 1 d of age after colostrum intake and at 4-d intervals from the beginning of treatment to 31 d of age. When averaged from d 1 to 31, spring-farrowed pigs had greater (P less than .005) total IgG and soy-protein-specific IgG concentrations than did summer-farrowed pigs (8.70 vs 6.51 mg/mL and 1.59 vs .55 micrograms/mL, respectively). Total serum IgG concentrations changed with time (P = .005); they initially decreased, then recovered after weaning. These changes were independent of treatment, sex, or farrowing season. Soy-protein-specific IgG concentrations also changed with time (P = .003); however, this trend was dependent on season (P = .014). Summer-farrowed pigs exhibited a more rapid and severe decrease in serum IgG concentrations specific for soy protein than did spring-farrowed pigs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Evidence Base for Measurement-Based Care in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Measurement-based care (MBC) is the routine collection of data using standardized, validated measures and use of these data to guide treatment. MBC has been implemented throughout medicine to improve patient outcomes, but its use in mental health care remains low. This article summarizes the evidence of MBC's efficacy in adults then reviews the sparser data in youth mental health care. The literature indicates that MBC must be administered immediately before or during every encounter, results must be available to and reviewed by providers immediately, results must be shared with the patient, and results must be used to guide treatment.
Improving patient and caregiver understanding of risks and benefits of immunotherapy for melanoma or lung cancer.

TPS6596Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) extend survival for patients with advanced cancer, particularly melanoma and lung cancer, though responses are heterogeneous and treatment may ...
Does Shared Decision-Making for Prostate Cancer Screening Among African American Men Happen? It Depends on Who You Ask

Shared decision-making (SDM) is recommended for prostate cancer screening, but little is known about how this process is perceived by patients and providers. SDM is especially important for African American men, who are at high risk for the disease. To evaluate agreement in SDM ratings among patients, providers, and objective observers. African American men ages 45–70 were recruited from primary care practices to participate in a study evaluating a decision aid (DA). Immediately after using the DA, patients proceeded to primary care appointments. Afterwards, patients and physicians completed surveys assessing perceptions about SDM. Clinical visits were also audio-recorded and coded to assess SDM. Mean scores on SDM measures among patients were 73.2 (SD = 27.5, 95% CI 55.71–90.62), 83.1 among physicians (SD = 7.8 95% CI 78.14–88.06), and 67.1 among objective raters (SD = 36.8 95% CI 43.72–90.45). Among patient-provider dyads, mean agreement was 49.9%. Patients, physicians, and objective observers perceived SDM differently. Understanding discordant experiences of SDM is vital for improving clinical guidance about SDM especially among African Americans who have historically faced healthcare discrimination and mistrust. DAs, particularly for African American men, should incorporate strategies to empower patients to advocate for their communication needs and preferences. Clinical trials identifier number: NCT02787434