cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Contribution of the Religion of the Colonial Period to the Ideals and Life of the United States

The Great Seal of the United States, designed in the early days of the Republic, has on it symbolism whose significance is often overlooked. On one side is an eagle which grasps with one talon a branch and with the other a sheaf of arrows. Above its head are “E Pluribus Unum” and thirteen stars for the original states bound together in one nation. The other side has on it an unfinished pyramid. The foundation bears the number MDCCLXXVI. Above the pyramid is the eye of God flanked by the words “Annuit Coeptis,” namely, “He smiles on the undertakings.” Underneath is the phrase “Novus Ordo Seculorum,” meaning “New Order of the Ages.” Here succinctly is the vision which inspired the founding fathers of the new nation. The thirteen colonies had become one, prepared to face together the exigencies of the future, whether for preservation in self-defense or for cooperation in the arts of peace. Here was an attempt at building something novel in the history of mankind—a new and ordered structure. That structure, as yet incomplete, was based upon the Declaration of Independence, with its best-remembered phrases: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Here is “the American dream.” As “four score and seven years” later Abraham Lincoln even more briefly described it, the new nation was “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” and its success or failure was a test whether “government of the people, by the people, for the people” could “long endure.” To that dream faith in God, in His creative activity, and in His sovereignty was basic.
Integrating oculomotor and perceptual training to induce a pseudofovea: A model system for studying central vision loss

People with a central scotoma often adopt an eccentric retinal location (Preferred Retinal Locus, PRL) for fixation. Here, we proposed a novel training paradigm as a model system to study the nature of the PRL formation and its impacts on visual function. The training paradigm was designed to effectively induce a PRL at any intended retinal location by integrating oculomotor control and pattern recognition. Using a gaze-contingent display, a simulated central scotoma was induced in eight normally sighted subjects. A subject's entire peripheral visual field was blurred, except for a small circular aperture with location randomly assigned to each subject (to the left, right, above, or below the scotoma). Under this viewing condition, subjects performed a demanding oculomotor and visual recognition task. Various visual functions were tested before and after training at both PRL and nonPRL locations. After 6-10 hr of the training, all subjects formed their PRL within the clear window. Both oculomotor control and visual recognition performance significantly improved. Moreover, there was considerable improvement at PRL location in high-level function, such as trigram letter-recognition, reading, and spatial attention, but not in low-level function, such as acuity and contrast sensitivity. Our results demonstrated that within a relatively short time, a PRL could be induced at any intended retinal location in normally-sighted subjects with a simulated scotoma. Our training paradigm might not only hold promise as a model system to study the dynamic nature of the PRL formation, but also serve as a rehabilitation regimen for individuals with central vision loss.
Imaging of the Pancreas

Endoscopic ultrasound is the most sensitive method to detect malignant tumors of the pancreas <2 cm.
Developing issues under the Massachusetts 'Physician Profile' Act.

Massachusetts recently became the first state in the United States to publish physician malpractice histories and hospital disciplinary records. On August 9, 1996, Governor William F. Weld signed the Physician Profile Act (Profile Act or Act) into law, making “profiles” of the Commonwealth’s approximately twentyseven thousand doctors available to the public. Under the Act, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine (Board) provides information on physicians’ insurance plans, specialties, training, honors, and malpractice histories over a toll-free telephone number, through the Internet and on CD-ROM. The Act developed partially as a legislative response to a series of Boston Globe articles appearing in late 1994 which savaged the Board. Spotlighting a number of high-profile iatrogenic incidents, this highly charged series of articles, accompanied by a blistering editorial, alleged that some patients suffered substandard medical care at the hands of physicians who had been sued repeatedly for malpractice but never disciplined by the Board.
Using Genre Pedagogy to Teach Adolescent English Learners to Write Academic Persuasive Essays

The new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) (NGACBP & CCSSO, 2010) require teachers to prepare all learners, including adolescent English learners (ELs), to develop academic literacy practices. Genr...
Engaging the Future as Ethnographic Object: Japan’s Aging Society Crisis, Ontogenesis and Cybernetics

The aging society crisis in Japan represents a point of saturation, when the numbers of elderly in-need-of-care exceed the available resources, leading to economic, societal, and national collapse. The aging society crisis is an agent of change, a future potentiality that is inextricably linked with enactments of and approaches to aging, old age, and sociality in present-day Japan. The passing of Japan’s national long-term care insurance in 2000 opened up new possibilities, new ground on which to compare and contrast, to carve out meaning, identity and particularities. I discuss a differentiation currently underway between the ordering of people, things, institutions, and ideas involved in “prevention” versus that of “care”. Topologically, I argue, care and prevention are noticeably distinct orders of being. But, with an analysis of temporality, we discover that prevention is an action motivated by an anticipatory future that effects change in the present, while care is a direct evincing of the feared-for future. Both care and prevention are thus united in a shared becoming that is the aging society crisis. Engaging the future as an ethnographic object presents opportunities for innovative theoretical exploration and development. How do we go about analysing an object that lacks substantial existence, yet displays agency in the present by organizing networks of relations and motivating change? How might we theoretically frame and approach the future? This research analytically explores futurity as a force of change not unlike power, information and action, by applying the theory of ontogenesis and cybernetics.
The role of coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy in the current era.

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is widely accepted as the preferred treatment for left main or multi-vessel coronary artery disease, but benefit of CABG in patients with left ventricular dysfunction is not established. The most recent American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association 2013 Heart Failure Clinical Practice Guidelines state that either CABG or medical therapy is reasonable treatment for patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction <35%), heart failure, and significant coronary artery disease; the indication is class IIa and level of evidence B (1).
A comparison of NYS utilities' approaches to integrate distributed energy resources and the penetration over time

The Reforming the Energy Vision, is an ambitious project initiated by NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2015 to, in part, integrate Distributed Energy Resources, in an effort to transform New York State's electric transmission and distribution system for the 21st Century. One aspect of the program has placed the integration of Solar & Wind power generation projects on to the Operating Companies Networks into high gear. Even with NYS statutes on how the Utilities are to accept all qualified electric generators into their systems, there still remains some discretion in how the individual Utilities may accomplish this effort. Consequently, each Operating Company may have a set of rules and regulations as to how the connection shall be made. This leads to more questions than answers. To gain knowledge about different aspects of the project we started to learn more detail about the project and various potential approaches to get to the goal. We are also studying variations in the imperative system parameters before and after distributed integration. In this presentation we will present our initial study on some approaches and critical parameters that we think are important for the system design based upon the regulations from the NYS Department of Public Service. Discussion will also include technologies, design approaches and challenges to determine the practicality and feasibility of distributed integration in a power system from an economic as well as operational point of view.
Laparoscopic Gastropleural Fistula Repair: A Minimally Invasive Solution for a Complex Problem.

Abstract Introduction: Gastropleural fistula (GPF) is a complex pathology that can present as a result of surgery, trauma, peptic ulcer disease, malignancies, radiation, or chemotherapy. Management typically includes endoscopic or surgical intervention along with intraabdominal or intrathoracic drainage of pre-existing infection. Traditionally, surgical approaches have been through exploratory laparotomy or thoracotomy, subjecting already ill patients to additional morbidity. Case Report: We describe and demonstrate a laparoscopic minimally invasive approach to the management of a GPF with a wedge resection of the stomach, along with a review of the current literature regarding GPF treatment. Conclusion: GPF repair can be performed through laparoscopy and may lead to improved patient outcomes and faster recovery.
Moving Target Defense Intrusion Detection System for IPv6 based smart grid advanced metering infrastructure

Conventional intrusion detection systems for smart grid communications rely heavily on static based attack detection techniques. In essence, signatures created from historical data are compared to incoming network traffic to identify abnormalities. In the case of attacks where no historical data exists, static based approaches become ineffective thus relinquishing system resilience and stability. Moving target defense (MTD) has shown to be effective in discouraging attackers by introducing system entropy to increase exploit costs. Increase in exploit cost leads to a decrease in profitability for an attacker. In this paper, a Moving Target Defense Intrusion Detection System (MTDIDS) is proposed for smart grid IPv6 based advanced metering infrastructure. The advantage of MTDIDS is the ability to detect anomalies across moving targets by means of planar keys thereupon increasing detection rate. Evaluation of MTDIDS was carried out in a smart grid advanced metering infrastructure simulated in MATLAB.
Fiduciary law’s anti-corruption norm

This Chapter examines an important feature of the Anglo-American common law of fiduciary obligation — what I have previously characterized as the “anti-corruption norm.” While this norm has been invoked in a variety of different contexts and operationalized with different specific proscriptive conduct rules, the norm has broadly (albeit inconsistently) proscribed and punished the use of an entrusted position for self-regarding gain where the fiduciary has failed to disclose the gain to her beneficiary. The norm is animated by a concern that the fiduciary refrain from acting out of an illicit motive — that is, a motivation of self-enrichment — in contrast to the thoroughgoing devotion to the beneficiary’s interest reflected in the requirement of loyalty. As courts have occasionally articulated the concern, fiduciaries ought to avoid placing themselves in situations where there is a conflict between their duty and their self-interest, lest the temptation to disloyally exercise their duty-bound judgment proves too great to resist. This “temptation rationale” is suggestive of a moralistic, perhaps religious, understanding of corruption as a human failing and serves as an ethical and public policy basis for imposing fiduciary duties. This Chapter argues that the range of improper conduct that could be associated with corruption, as signaled by reference to the temptation rationale, is quite broad. It reaches this conclusion by analyzing the use of the anti-corruption norm in the following contexts: (i) bribes and secret commissions, (ii) opportunities, (iii) renewals and reversions, and (iv) confidential information. These categories are neither mutually exclusive nor do they exhaust the myriad situations in which the anti-corruption norm has been employed. Due primarily to space limitations, this Chapter excludes treatment of the classic self-dealing situations, where the fiduciary transacts directly with the beneficiary and thus appears on opposite sides of the same transaction — in both personal and fiduciary capacities.
Reply to “Comments on ‘A Finite Difference Treatment of Differential Equation Systems with Widely Differing Time Constants’”

(1984). Reply to “Comments on ‘A Finite Difference Treatment of Differential Equation Systems with Widely Differing Time Constants’”. Nuclear Technology: Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 309-309.
The Moral Burdens of Temporary Farmwork

Agricultural guest worker programs are typically justified on the ground that they enable host countries to cheaply meet their labor needs while offering nonresidents access to higher wages than in their home countries. But to participate in the programs, guest workers must temporarily sever personal and political ties to then come to a new country and either not establish new relations or rupture the new ones when their work authorization expires. Not only is this a burden for the workers — especially since many nonresidents perform repeated tours of guest work — but the programs also risk depleting associational life in major sending countries. This contribution argues that adopting such programs to avoid having to perform as much farmwork, or to avoid the (perceived) costs of permanent immigration, treats guest workers’ interests in associational life as less valuable than the like interests of host-country residents. Thus, even if the programs could ensure decent pay and safe working conditions, the programs’ effect on nonresidents’ associational ties provides a distinctive and compelling reason to cease such programs under their current formulation and create a path to citizenship for guest workers.
Pediatric vaccine-strain herpes zoster: a case series.

Background/objectives Herpes zoster (HZ) is caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus (VZV), and typically causes a painful, vesicular, dermatomal rash in adults over the age of fifty. However, HZ has been known to present in immunocompetent pediatric patients, which account for under 1% of total cases. Pediatric cases are typically caused by natural infection with VZV, but among vaccinated children up to half of cases can be due to vaccine-strain VZV. We present two such cases of vaccine-strain HZ in pediatric patients. Methods This is a retrospective study of two cases seen at UCLA-affiliated sites. PCR and Sanger sequencing, using previously described PCR primers, determined the presence of two vaccine-strain-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms. Results We report two cases of vaccine-strain HZ in immunocompetent pediatric patients who had previously received the varicella vaccine, affecting the right thigh in the first patient and the left leg in the second. Varicella-strain VZV positivity was confirmed by PCR. Both patients had received the varicella vaccine at 12 months of age. Both patients achieved complete resolution of symptoms after 7-day courses of acyclovir. Conclusions While vaccination against VZV has overall reduced the incidence of both varicella and HZ in US children, given the widespread use of the VZV vaccine, awareness of the possibility of vaccine-induced HZ remains an important consideration.
Leaf and Stem Cold Hardiness of 17 Broadleaf Evergreen Taxa

Abstract The leaves and stems of 17 broadleaf evergreen taxa were screened for cold hardiness in laboratory tests. Leaves of Ilex were generally less cold hardy than stems. However, the leaves of I. × koehneana ‘Wirt L. Winn’, Ilex latifolia and Ilex ‘Lydia Morris’ were equal to or more cold hardy than the stems. Maximum cold hardiness of most taxa occurred in mid-January. Ilex opaca, Ilex opaca, ‘Greenleaf’, and Ilex × attenuata ‘Foster's #2,’ were the most cold hardy. Among the Ilex × attenuata cultivars, ‘Foster's #2’ was more cold tolerant than ‘Savannah’ and ‘East Palatka.’ Ilex latifolia and Ilex ‘Lydia Morris’ were least cold hardy. I. ‘Nellie Stevens’ and I. × koehneana ‘Wirt L. Winn’ were intermediate. Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Gulftide’ was the hardiest tea-olive, followed by Osmanthus americanus, Osmanthus × fortunei and Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Rotundifolius’. Prunus laurocerasus ‘Zabeliana’ was hardier than ‘Schipkaensis’ than ‘Otto Luyken’. The actual differences, however, were slight.
Is the Cure a Wall? Behavioral Immune System Responses to a Disease Metaphor for Immigration

Humans have evolved a capability to identify and subsequently avoid communicable pathogens. The current research tested whether activation of this system can be co-opted by disease metaphors, which frame abstract social issues as concrete disease risks. We predicted that language framing immigration as a disease would elicit heightened anti-immigration attitudes and greater support for restrictive social policies (study 1), tested whether this effect was moderated by pathogen concern (study 2), and compared aversion to disease metaphors with concerns of literal disease (study 3). We identified conditions under which the disease framing generally produced more anti-immigrant attitudes, particularly among individuals with stronger chronic disease concerns. Furthermore, we also identified boundary conditions for such effects, such that disease metaphors demonstrated limited efficacy in the presence of a literal disease threat. We explain these results at the intersection of evolutionary and conceptual metaphor theories.
Hardware Implementation of Chaos Control Using a Proportional Feedback Controller

This paper presents an electronic implementation of a controller for an exact solvable chaotic oscillator. The controller uses a proportional feedback control scheme to stabilize the chaotic oscillator, with both analog and digital components. The analog hardware implementation uses commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) digital logic components and an analog feedback path in order to generate a control signal that produces small voltage perturbations in the oscillator’s trajectory. The digital portion of the control effort is contained on a single microcontroller, which contains the information to be encoded into the chaotic oscillator. The perturbations are aperiodically applied using a clock that is generated from the oscillator’s output signal so that the pulses can be applied to the oscillator at the correct times. In order to achieve different stabilized orbits, a variable gain stage was added to the controller, using an operational amplifier and a potentiometer, such that the magnitude of the control pulses can be adjusted. This controller is used to demonstrate stabilization of various periodic orbits in a double scroll exact solvable chaotic oscillator, which is shown in the time domain and in phase portraits. This type of controller could be used to encode information into chaotic waveforms for communication systems.
Trial by skype: A causality-oriented replication exploring the use of remote video adjudication in immigration removal proceedings

Abstract In this article we present a replication of Ingrid Eagly’s 2015 empirical study on the use of remote video adjudication in immigration removal hearings. Eagly’s original study found that respondents who appear before judges via video feed fare significantly worse than those who appear in person. Our replication takes a three-tiered approach. First, we conduct a base-level reproduction of Eagly’s original empirical study using a reconstruction of her dataset and the same methodological approaches featured in her analysis. Second, we replicate Eagly’s data-cleaning and empirical analysis on a newer and larger removal dataset. Lastly, we conduct an expanded replication of her study using data-cleaning and methodological approaches that more fully consider the assumptions required to make identifiable causal claims in this procedural arena. Although our replications produce results that vary in magnitude with Eagly’s original results, the overall findings support her conclusion that the use of remote video adjudication disadvantages respondents at both the procedural and final stages of their removal hearings.
The Conversion of Bank Deferred Tax Assets in 2016 to Bank Shares in 2017

This study correlates the provisions of CRD IV with the application of IFRS in banks operating in Greece. The accounting losses allow the creation of additional DTA which are transferred in claims against the state (tax credit). Thus, in 2017 conversion rights (warrants) may be issued which represent common shares of total market value equal to 100% of these tax credits. Then, equivalent special reserve is formed, and the equity capital of banks is increased, since the DTA are not deducted from the common equity tier 1 (CET 1) ratio.
The Legacy Effect in Treating Hypercholesterolemia.

Background:The duration of randomized controlled clinical trials usually is approximately 3 to 5 years although hypercholesterolemia and other risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseas...
Gel-Modulated Growth of High-Quality Zeolite Membranes

Trade-off between thickness (and thus gas permeance) and quality (and thus selectivity) of zeolite membranes significantly restricts their wide application. It is challenging to maintain the membrane thickness while minimizing nonselective defects in the selective membrane layer. Currently, continuous change of the synthesis gel concentration during membrane synthesis, instead of high gel concentration for membrane "skeleton" growth and low gel concentration for slow crystal growth to merge "skeleton" crystals, usually leads to thick membranes to compensate for the low selectivity. In this work, we report a gel-modulated synthesis approach to engineer the zeolite membrane synthesis. The gel concentration was suddenly reduced by a quenching process in the middle of the membrane synthesis, leading to reduced nuclei formation and crystal growth rate in the following synthesis process. Membrane quality was significantly improved without increasing membrane thickness, leading to a great increase in membrane selectivity but without sacrifice of gas permeance. Moreover, as an example, highly reproducible SAPO-34 membranes were successfully prepared by the gel-modulated growth method. We expect this novel synthesis strategy might be a viable and economic way of growing thin and high-quality zeolite membranes.
Evaluation of remotely sensed prediction and forecast models for Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the Chesapeake Bay

Abstract Over the last decade, an increase of gastrointestinal illness due to Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the consumption of raw shellfish has been reported in multiple regions around the United States. Studies mainly attribute this increase to rising sea surface temperatures and prolonged warm seasons in the mid-latitudes. Historically, temperature has been the main environmental determinant used to predict V. parahaemolyticus concentrations in shellfish and surface water. However, studies using in situ sampling campaigns have shown that additional water quality parameters can be useful in predicting the bacterium. While the time and cost of obtaining in situ samples throughout the Chesapeake Bay at regular time intervals can exceed available resources, satellite remote sensing has the potential to provide predictions at higher temporal and spatial resolutions. This study uses satellite ocean color remote sensing and sea surface temperature (SST) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to investigate the utility of remotely sensed information for Vibrio parahaemolyticus predictions in the Chesapeake Bay and whether additional remotely sensed information can improve predictions over conventional SST-based models. We find that the addition of remotely sensed salinity, total suspended solids, and chlorophyll-a generally improves presence and abundance predictions compared to SST-only models. Models using remote sensing reflectances and SST also show potential for V. parahaemolyticus predictions, which could bypass the intermediary step of deriving water quality products from reflectances. Remotely sensed ocean color products and SST from one week prior to in situ V. parahaemolyticus measurements are evaluated and shown to be useful in bacterium predictions, which could provide lead-time for management decisions. The forecast models using ocean color products in addition to SST showed improvement over SST-only forecast models. The results of this study suggest that remote sensing can be a valuable tool to aid in higher resolution V. parahaemolyticus predictions and forecasts in the Chesapeake Bay, particularly when multiple environmental predictors are employed. However, the complexities of using remotely sensed data for ecological modeling applications and evaluating model performance also highlight the need for more research in this area.
Paisaje e identidad en la sierra andina: literatura y fotografía

El paisaje de la sierra andina ha sido una constante presencia no solo en el arte y en la literatura peruana, sino tambien en los discursos de representatividad estetica e identitaria en el Peru. Su aparicion coincidio con el desarrollo de la fotografia, con el desarrollo del turismo en la region andina, asi como con el indigenismo peruano. Este trabajo sostiene que tanto la construccion del paisaje de la sierra andina como de la imagen del indio en la obra del fotografo Martin Chambi, aunque son imagenes opuestas a las propuestas por Jose De la Riva Aguero y por Mariano Iberico, son, por otro lado, similares: imagenes a-historicas de la identidad indigena en la sierra peruana.
Comorbidities and Seizures: Bone Health

Patients with a seizure disorder receive antiseizure medication (ASM) and may experience idiosyncratic or dose-related treatment-emergent adverse effects. One important concern associated with ASM use is metabolic bone disease. Selected medical therapies have an increased incidence for bone health issues and may predispose to fractures. The combination of a gait disorder, balance issues, and falling also needs to be considered in individuals with metabolic bone disease. All patients receiving long-term antiseizure medications, regardless of diagnosis or seizure classification, need to have periodic evaluation for bone health.
Broadband Small-Aperture High-Gain Ridge Horn Antenna Array Element

This letter presents the design and characterization of an octave-bandwidth, small-aperture, linearly polarized, high-gain horn antenna operating in the 6–12 GHz band for active arrays. The aperture size is limited by the waveguide feed cutoff at lower frequencies and by grating lobes at higher frequencies. The radiating structure is composed of an E-plane flared horn with an exponential double ridge fed by a low-loss waveguide-to-microstrip transition, eliminating the need for additional connections between the antenna elements and the beamforming and amplification circuits. The horn is loaded with an artificial dielectric with 1 $ 2.2, which lowers the cutoff frequency and improves phase distribution over the aperture. The lens and feed loading structure are designed together to improve matching without degrading the radiation pattern. A prototype is fabricated in brass using split-block machining, and the lens is machined from 16 parallel dielectric slabs. The measured performance is in agreement with simulations.
Nickel-catalyzed asymmetric reductive cross-coupling of α-chloroesters with (hetero)aryl iodides

An asymmetric reductive cross-coupling of α-chloroesters and (hetero)aryl iodides is reported. This nickel-catalyzed reaction proceeds with a chiral BiOX ligand under mild conditions, affording α-arylesters in good yields and enantioselectivities. The reaction is tolerant of a variety of functional groups, and the resulting products can be converted to pharmaceutically-relevant chiral building blocks. A multivariate linear regression model was developed to quantitatively relate the influence of the α-chloroester substrate and ligand on enantioselectivity.
Non-antimicrobial approaches for the prevention or treatment of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis in cattle applicable to cow-calf operations: A scoping review.

Abstract Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) is a common ocular disease in cattle that causes economic losses to producers and negatively impacts animal welfare. In a 2016 survey of cow-calf producers in California, IBK was identified as the disease for which antimicrobials are most frequently used. The presented scoping review examined the available literature for methods to prevent IBK and for alternatives to antimicrobials to treat the disease that can be applied in cow-calf operations. Online databases were searched for publications about IBK in cattle populations that were reported from 1950 to 2020. Citations were systematically evaluated in a multi-stage approach using commercial software and summarized in a scoping review format. For the studies included in the review, most research (n = 50) has focused on the development of vaccines for the prevention of IBK. Although the quality of publications has improved over time, there is a lack of consistent evidence for vaccine efficacy against IBK in post-2000 experimental and conventional vaccine trials. A systematic analysis of vaccine studies is warranted. A limited number (n = 6) of studies evaluated the prevention of IBK through fly control, where most have found efficacy of this control measure. Several treatment options (n = 5) that do not include the use of antimicrobials have been investigated but remain at the preliminary stage of testing. Differences in breed susceptibility has been demonstrated with breeds belonging to the Bos indicus subspecies less frequently affected compared to those belonging to the Bos taurus subspecies. Hereford cattle and those lacking pigmentation around the eyelid margin are more frequently affected than other breeds. At present, there are few evidence-based measures that producers can utilize to reduce the burden of IBK in their herds and more research into the efficacy of fly control measures, non-antimicrobial treatment options, the continued search for a viable vaccine, as well as identifying genetic markers associated with traits that confer resistance to the disease are needed.
Distinct cellular immune signatures in acute Zika virus infection are associated with high or low persisting neutralizing antibody titers

Abstract Although the formation of a durable neutralizing antibody response after an acute viral infection is a key component of protective immunity, little is known about why some individuals generate high versus low neutralizing antibody titers to infection or vaccination. Infection with Zika virus (ZIKV) during pregnancy can cause devastating fetal outcomes, and efforts to understand natural immunity to this infection are essential for optimizing vaccine design. In this study, we leveraged the high-dimensional single-cell profiling capacity of mass cytometry (CyTOF) to deeply characterize the cellular immune response to acute and convalescent ZIKV infection in a cohort of blood donors in Puerto Rico incidentally found to be viremic during the 2015-2016 epidemic in the Americas. During acute ZIKV infection, we identified widely coordinated responses across innate and adaptive immune cell lineages. High frequencies of multiple activated innate immune subsets, as well as activated follicular helper CD4+ T cells and proliferating CD27-IgD-B cells, during acute infection were associated with high titers of ZIKV neutralizing antibodies at 6 months post-infection. On the other hand, low titers of ZIKV neutralizing antibodies were associated with immune features that suggested a cytotoxic-skewed immune “set-point.” Our study offers insight into the cellular coordination of immune responses and identifies candidate cellular biomarkers that may offer predictive value in vaccine efficacy trials for ZIKV and other acute viral infections aimed at inducing high titers of neutralizing antibodies. One Sentence Summary Mass cytometry reveals acute ZIKV infection cellular immune signatures that predict high or low neutralizing antibody titers 6 months post-infection.
Exoskeleton Controller and Design Considerations: Effect on Training Response for Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

The objective of this research was to identify variables (demographic, device, neurological, clinical, and training session dose) that were associated with results of the ten-minute walk test (10MWT) for individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI) who participated in a large randomized crossover clinical trial of exoskeletal walking. Fifty individuals were randomized into Group AB or BA (A = exoskeleton intervention arm, B = control arm). A generalized linear mixed model was applied to model 10MWT and found that a training dose of 36 sessions and gender were the most significant. These variables were more significant than neurological level of injury or completeness of injury. Understanding the effects of exoskeleton/human interface for different devices is crucial for identifying suitable candidates to use the device and developing effective/efficient clinical training protocols for community ambulation, rehabilitation, and recovery post-SCI.
Systematic discovery of mutation-directed neo-protein-protein interactions in cancer

Comprehensive sequencing of patient tumors reveals numerous genomic mutations across tumor types that enable tumorigenesis and progression. A subset of oncogenic driver mutations results in neomorphic activity where the mutant protein mediates functions not engaged by the parental molecule. Here, we identify prevalent variant-enabled neomorph-protein-protein interactions (neoPPI) with a quantitative High Throughput differential Screening (qHT-dS) platform. Coupling of highly sensitive BRET biosensors with miniaturized co-expression in an ultra-HTS format allows large-scale monitoring of interactions of wild-type and mutant variant counterparts with a library of cancer-associated proteins in live cells. Screening of 13,392 interactions with 1,474,560 data points revealed a landscape of gain-of-interactions encompassing both oncogenic and tumor suppressor mutations. For example, the recurrent BRAF V600E lesion mediates KEAP1 neoPPI, rewiring a BRAFV600E-KEAP1 signaling axis and creating collateral vulnerability to NQO1 substrates, offering a combination therapeutic strategy. Thus, cancer genomic alterations can create neo-interactions, informing variant-directed therapeutic approaches for precision medicine.
Dose-dependent association between xerostomia and number of medications among older adults

Purpose/aim To investigate factors associated with self-reported dry mouth (xerostomia) among older adults seeking dental care at a University clinic. Materials and methods A query was performed in the electronic records database and de-identified data were collected from patients aged 65 + recorded on the date that the initial health history was entered. Among these patients, data about patients' medications, gender, age, BMI, tobacco use, alcohol addiction, diabetes, heart disease, joint replacement, allergies to medications, hypertension, and mental disorders were obtained. Evaluation of potential risk factors for dry mouth was performed using univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyzes (alpha = 0.05). Results A total of 11,061 subjects were included in the analysis, 51.5% of whom were women. The mean age in years was 74.2 ± 7.0, the median number of medications was 7 (IQR = 4-11), and 38.5% of the participants reported dry mouth. The multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds of xerostomia for subjects who took 11 +, 7-10, or 4-6 medications were 3.34, 2.07, or 1.38 times those of subjects who had took 0-3 medications, respectively. Conclusion Number of medications showed a strong and dose-dependent association with xerostomia.
Landscape of Hopx expression in cells of the immune system

Homeodomain only protein (Hopx) is a regulator of cell differentiation and function, and it has also emerged as a crucial marker of specific developmental and differentiation potentials. Hopx expression and functions have been identified in some stem cells, tumors, and in certain immune cells. However, expression of Hopx in immune cells remains insufficiently characterized. Here we report a comprehensive pattern of Hopx expression in multiple types of immune cells under steady state conditions. By utilizing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and flow cytometric analysis, we characterize a constitutive expression of Hopx in specific subsets of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and B cells, as well as natural killer (NK), NKT, and myeloid cells. In contrast, Hopx expression is not present in conventional dendritic cells and eosinophils. The utility of identifying expression of Hopx in immune cells may prove vital in delineating specific roles of Hopx under multiple immune conditions.
Determinants of Chlamydial Pathogenesis and Immunity

This chapter focuses on the molecular determinants of the initial step of chlamydial pathogenesis, adherence, and on the antigens responsible for immunopathogenesis and immunity to chlamydial infection. Three equally tangible reasons to be pessimistic are that (i) natural immunity is of short duration, (ii) there may be more, or less, to hypersensitivity than Hsp-60, and (iii) various synthetic or recombinant major outer membrane protein (MOMP)-based immunization regimens have so far failed to generate significant protection against either infection or pathology. In this system, parenteral immunization with live elementary bodies (EBs), UV-inactivated EBs, or MOMP-enriched extracts all elicited protective immunity, albeit to various degrees, in the female genital tract. First, it is not clear that Hsp-60 is solely responsible for eliciting DTH; i.e., other deleterious chlamydial antigens may exist. Second, the original experiments performed by Watkins and coworkers and Morrison and coworkers included Triton X-100 in the Hsp-60 preparations. Third, it is unclear what role other contaminants of the preparations may have played in the observed immunopathologies; in this regard, it is worrisome that the recombinant Hsp-60 used in the experiments of Morrison and coworkers appeared to be contaminated with significant quantities of endotoxin. Lastly, in reverse experiments in which guinea pigs were primed with sucrose gradient-purified Hsp-60 and challenged in the eye with live GPIC organisms, enhanced immunopathology was not observed. The development of methods of genetic transfer for Chlamydia species presents unique challenges.
Selfish Gifts: Senegalese Women's Autobiographical Discourses

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Lisa McNee. Year: 2000 Pages: xi + 197 Publisher: Albany
Failure to detect beta-leucine in human blood or leucine 2,3-aminomutase in rat liver using capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

It has been reported (Poston, J. (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 1859-1863; (1982) 255, 10067-10072; (1984) 259, 2059-2061) that mammalian tissues contain an adenosylcobalamin-dependent enzyme, leucine 2,3-aminomutase, which catalyzes the interconversion of beta-leucine and leucine. It was also reported that beta-leucine is detectable in normal human serum (mean = 4.8 mumol/liter, n = 37) and is elevated in serum from patients with cobalamin deficiency (mean = 24.7 mumol/liter, n = 17). Serum levels of leucine were claimed to be decreased in the cobalamin deficient patients (mean = 52 mumol/liter) as compared with the normal subjects (mean = 81 mumol/liter). It was also reported that rat liver supernatant catalyzed the formation of beta-leucine, leucine, or both amino acids from iso-fatty acids, and that the generation of leucine from iso-fatty acids was stimulated by adenosylcobalamin and inhibited by unsaturated cobalamin-binding protein. We have synthesized t-butyldimethylsilyl derivatives of beta-leucine and leucine and have used capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for their analysis. Using forms of beta-leucine and leucine that contain several deuterium atoms in place of several hydrogen atoms as internal standards, techniques have been developed which make it possible to detect and quantitate as little as 0.1 mumol/liter of beta-leucine or leucine in human serum and in incubations containing rat liver supernatant. beta-Leucine was not detectable, i.e. less than 0.1 mumol/liter, in any sera from 50 normal human subjects or in any sera from 50 cobalamin-deficient patients. The mean level of leucine in the 50 cobalamin-deficient sera was 219 mumol/liter, which was not decreased with respect to that in the 50 control sera (167 mumol/liter). Experiments in which beta-leucine, leucine, isostearic acid, or isocaproic acid were incubated with rat liver supernatant in the presence or absence of adenosylcobalamin or cobalamin-binding protein failed to demonstrate the formation of leucine or beta-leucine or their interconversion under any of the conditions studied. We conclude that beta-leucine is not present in human blood and that the existence of leucine 2,3-aminomutase in mammalian tissues remains to be established.
Decoding Temporal Information Through Slow Lateral Excitation in the Olfactory System of Insects

Sensory information is represented in a spatio-temporal code in the antennal lobe, the first processing stage of the olfactory system of insects. We propose a novel mechanism for decoding this information in the next processing stage, the mushroom body. The Kenyon cells in the mushroom body of insects exhibit lateral excitatory connections at their axons. We demonstrate that slow lateral excitation between Kenyon cells allows one to decode sequences of activity in the antennal lobe. We are thus able to clarify the role of the existing connections as well as to demonstrate a novel mechanism for decoding temporal information in neuronal systems. This mechanism complements the variety of existing temporal decoding schemes. It seems that neuronal systems not only have a rich variety of code types but also quite a diversity of algorithms for transforming different codes into each other.
Thermal Conductivity of the Accidental Degeneracy and Enlarged Symmetry Group Models for Superconducting UPt3

We present theoretical calculations of the thermal conductivity for the “accidental degeneracy” and “enlarged symmetry group” models that have been proposed to explain the phase diagram of UPt 3 . The order parameters for these models possess point nodes or cross nodes, reflecting the broken symmetries of the ground state. These broken symmetries lead to robust predictions for the ratio of the low-temperature thermal conductivity for heat flow along the ĉ axis and in the basal plane. The anisotropy of the heat current response at low temperatures is determined by the phase space for scattering by impurities. The measured anisotropy ratio, κ c/κ b, provides a strong constraint on theoretical models for the ground state order parameter. The accidental degeneracy and enlarged symmetry group models based on no spin-orbit coupling do not account for the thermal conductivity of UPt 3. The models for the order parameter that fit the experimental data for the ĉ and $${\hat c}$$ directions of the heat current are the 2D E1g and E 2u models, for which the order parameters possess line nodes in the ab-plane and point nodes along the ĉ axis, and the A1g⊕E 1g model of Zhitomirsky and Ueda. This model spontaneously breaks rotational symmetry in the ab-plane below Tc2 and predicts a large anisotropy for the ab-plane heat current.
Early Response of Mouse Foot Pads to Mycobacterium Leprae

Abstract The purpose of these experiments was to study the early response of mouse foot pads to Mycobacterium leprae. To accomplish this, mice were inoculated in both foot pads with large and small numbers of organisms. The animals were sacrificed at intervals from 2 hr to 27 days after inoculation. The microscopical results, which utilized normal BALB/c and thymectomized-irradiated B6C3F1 mice, showed that the tissue responded first with an influx of polymorphonuclear cells and later lymphocytes and monocytes. The latter formed a diffuse infiltrate in the tissues. Under conditions where growth normally occurred, the mononuclear cell infiltrate did not persist. The organisms were found within phagocytic cells and the interstitial space. They were always contained within a phagosome and often fused with lysosomes. Most of the organisms appeared to be degenerating at all of the times studied. No organisms were observed in striated muscle fibers of tissues studied.
Photostatic Copying of Immunoelectrophoretic Patterns with the Use of Color Print Filters

Abstract Immunoelectrophoretograms can be replicated inexpensively, rapidly, and to scale by the use of color print filters on a photostatic copy machine. By this method additional copies are readily available for patient charts, permanent record, and any other use.
Imprints of the Nuclear Symmetry Energy on Gravitational Waves from Deformed Pulsars

The density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy is a critical input for understanding many interesting phenomena in astrophysics and cosmology. We report here effects of the nuclear symmetry energy partially constrained by terrestrial laboratory experiments on the strength of gravitational waves (GWs) from deformed pulsars at both low and high rotational frequencies.
The effect of cardiovascular health promotion on health behaviors in elementary school children: an integrative review.

Abstract This report provides on an integrative review of health promotion studies relevant to elementary school children published between 1986 and 1998. The 22 research articles represented several disciplines including public health and nursing. The studies varied in research design, sample characteristics, and approaches to health education. The most common interventions targeted behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but it also was evident from the literature that family and community involvement both played a significant role in health behaviors of children. Health promotion studies were under-represented in the nursing literature, a gap that creates an impetus to study children and families to identify the ways they learn primary preventive behaviors. Copyright © 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company