cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Airway Fluoroscopic Diagnosis of Vocal Cord Dysfunction Syndrome

Background Vocal cord dysfunction syndrome is often misdiagnosed as refractory asthma. Airway fluoroscopy has recently been proposed as an alternative to laryngology in the initial evaluation of certain cases of suspected vocal cord dysfunction. Objective To evaluate the use of airway radiographs and fluoroscopy in a patient with suspected vocal cord dysfunction. Methods We used soft tissue technique airway radiographs and fluoroscopy to evaluate the glottic function during inspiration and expiration in a 9-year-old boy with refractory asthma and suspected vocal cord dysfunction. Results The study confirmed paradoxical vocal cord motion. Conclusions Airway radiographs and fluoroscopy provide a rapid and noninvasive means of diagnosing vocal cord dysfunction. Patients should still have laryngoscopy performed at the earliest possible moment to rule out the possibility of other laryngeal abnormalities.
An analysis of college students’ attitudes and beliefs concerning body disposal

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the body disposal preferences of college students at The Pennsylvania State University, and to identify factors related to their choice in order to draw implications to strengthen death education programming. In this study, 184 undergraduate students were asked to complete a short questionnaire regarding body disposal preferences and related concerns. A variety of independent variables were identified. Significant interrelationships were found between the independent variables; primary reason for choice of body disposal, religious affiliations, perceived reasonable costs, desire to utilize the services of a funeral director, and the dependent variable, choice of body disposal. These data also indicate that college age students prefer non-traditional burial modalities. The educational implication of these findings are discussed.
The Bardic Chair / Y Gadair Farddol

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Richard Bebb and Sioned Williams Year: 2009 Pages: 240 Publisher: Saer Books in association with National Museum Wales and the National Library of Wales ISBN: 978-0-9553773-3-4 (hard cover).
The mixing layer: deterministic models of a turbulent flow. Part 1. Introduction and the two-dimensional flow

The prevalence in a turbulent mixing layer of dynamical events with a coherent history over substantial times suggests that it is profitable to study in detail entirely deterministic versions of this flow and to attempt to use a simplified synthesis of these solutions as the fundamental representation in a stochastic treatment of the layer. It is proposed that the deterministic representation of the flow be achieved by the embedding of a short hierarchy of motions which are studied in detail, though not exhaustively, in Parts 1, 2 and 3. Part 1 deals with the fundamental or first-order motion, which is the evolution of a layer constrained to be purely two-dimensional.
Multi-Informant Assessment of Anxiety regarding Ano-Genital Examinations for Suspected Child Sexual Abuse (CSA).

Abstract Objective Given the commonly held belief that physical examinations for child sexual abuse (CSA) are very distressing, our primary objective was to evaluate anxiety during these assessments using the Multidimensional Anxiety Score for Children (MASC-10). A second objective was to compare self-reported anxiety to parental report using the MASC-10 and to medical provider's rating of emotional distress using the Genital Examination Distress Scale (GEDS). Methods Child/parent dyads completed the MASC-10 prior to the evaluation and were retested at the completion of the medical exam. GEDS assessment occurred during the medical exam. Results One hundred seventy-five subject dyads were enrolled and were predominantly female (77%), Caucasian (66%), accompanied by mother (90%), and receiving Medicaid (57%). A significant subgroup of children reported clinically significant levels of anxiety at the pre-examination assessment (17.1%) and post-examination assessment (15.4%). However, most subjects reported low anxiety at both pre- and post-examination assessments. Both child and parent report demonstrated less anxiety, on average, post-examination compared to pre-examination scores. Reduced anxiety was measured with a mean pre- T -score = 55.8 versus mean post- T -score = 53.1 ( p T -scores and post- T -scores of child/parent dyad were 0.3257 ( p p p = .01), and post-exam (0.2090, p = .02). Conclusions Our research indicates that the majority of children are not severely anxious during medical evaluations for CSA. In addition, the MASC-10 shows promise as an instrument to assess anxiety from the ano-genital examination in CSA because it could be quickly completed by most patients and their parents, indicated a wide range of anxiety levels, and demonstrated some sensitivity to change. While parent report may identify some child anxiety, parent and provider report should not be substitutes for the self-report of children's anxiety during this medical evaluation. Practice implications A practical, quick, validated measure of anxiety can be used in the setting of CSA evaluations to identify anxiety in this population.
Crosslinking PMMA: Molecular dynamics investigation of the shear response

Crosslinking can fundamentally change the mechanical properties of a linear glassy polymer. It has been experimentally observed that when lightly crosslinked, poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA) has a characteristically more ductile response to mechanical loading than does linear PMMA despite having a higher glass transition temperature. Here, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to investigate conformational and energetic differences between linear PMMA and lightly crosslinked PMMA under shear deformation. As consistent with experiments, crosslinked PMMA is found to have a reduced yield stress relative to linear PMMA. Using the probing capabilities of our explicit atom MD approach, it is observed that while the crosslinks have a minimal direct energy contribution to the total system, they can alter how the main chains conform to macroscopic loading. In crosslinked PMMA, the backbone aligns more with the direction of external loading, thereby reducing the force applied to (and associated deformation of) the polymer bonds. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014, 52, 444–449
Solid-state light simulator with current-mode control

This paper presents an efficient, low-cost, versatile LED-based light simulator intended to produce a well-characterized spectrum for tests of solar cells and other photosensitive devices. Three major design aspects are addressed: LED spectra, power converters for LED drive, and control. Visible light emulating a standard solar spectrum is used as a test application using six LED colors. The number of LEDs and their placement for uniformity are addressed. Independent control of the six colors can simulate a range of different light sources and solar spectra. Boost converters under current-mode control are used to achieve reproducible LED brightness through adjustable currents, or equivalent radiant flux commands. Spectral uniformity tests verify that the system achieves standard uniformity requirements over an area of 100mm×100mm in simulations, and 100mm×50mm in experiments. The system is much less costly than available spectral test equipment. Current-mode controllers successfully maintain the desired illumination commands with low steady-state error and ripple, at converter efficiencies exceeding 93%.
Chinese settlement pattern analysis using Shuttle Imaging Radar-A data

Abstract The usefulness of Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-A) data for settlement study in the North China Plain is discussed with reference to the applicability of quadrat analysis techniques. A negative binomial probability distribution model is found to fit the Chinese settlement pattern best. A graphical analysis further suggests the lack of conformity of the pattern to the Christallerian spatial structure. It is recommended that the SIR-A data should be used in conjunction with field work to further our understanding of spatial organization in the Chinese rural landscape.
Dynamic establishment of restorable connections using p-cycle protection in WDM networks

Dynamic establishment of restorable connections in WDM networks is an important problem that has received much study. Existing algorithms use either path-based method or link-based method to protect a dynamic connection; the former suffers slow restoration speed while the latter requires complicated online backup path computation. In this paper, we propose a new dynamic restorable connection establishment scheme using p-cycle protection. For a given connection request our scheme first computes a working path and then computes a set of p-cycles to protect the links on the working path so that the connection can survive any single link failure. The key advantage of the proposed scheme over the link-based method is that it enables faster failure recovery while requiring much simpler online computation during connection provision. Our scheme consists of three components: offline computation of primary p-cycles, online computation of the working path, and online computation of p-cycles for working path protection. We adopted two existing algorithms, called SLA and Grow, for the first component and proposed two algorithms, called PS and PNS, for the second component. Simulation study shows that Grow combined with PNS gives the best performance in terms of the total capacity consumed for a given set of demands.
MONOMORPHIC AND POLYMORPHIC OPINION LEADERSHIP WITHIN A RELATIVELY CLOSED COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Previous research generally has indicated that within modern societies opinion leaders tend to function within single-topic areas, whereas, within traditional societies, opinion leaders tend to function across multiple-topic areas. Results conflicting with this general pattern have been obtained by several researchers. The present study was based on the speculation that these discrepant findings could be explained by the nature of the communication system in which the subjects function (varying from relatively open to relatively closed), regardless of the general society surrounding the communication system. The results of the study found a high degree of association between monomor-phic and polymorphic opinion leadership within a relatively closed communication system in a modern society. Supplementary findings indicated moderately high association between both innovativeness and communication apprehension and polymorphic opinion leadership. Much lower relationships between monomorphic opinion leadership and these variables were observed.
An equational logic approach for mapping/multiple-valued rule-based expert systems into hardware specification rules

This research extends techniques for mapping rule-based expert systems into VLSI hardware design notation and provides design procedures for performing the mapping from expert system' production rules to hardware specification rules. Results from this work enhance the applicability of the rule-based expert system approach to a larger class of real-time and control applications. >
Use of antiepileptic medications in pregnancy in relation to risks of birth defects.

Purpose To evaluate use of specific antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in pregnancy in relation to specific birth defects. Methods Using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, we assessed use of AEDs and the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs), oral clefts (OCs), heart defects (HDs), hypospadias, and other major birth defects, taking specific agent, timing, and indication into consideration. Results Drug-specific increased risks were observed for valproic acid in relation to NTDs [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 9.7;, 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.4–27.5], OCs (aOR, 4.4; 95% CI, 1.6–12.2), HDs (aOR, 2.0; 95% CI, 0.78–5.3), and hypospadias (aOR. 2.4; 95% CI, 0.62–9.0), and for carbamazapine in relation to NTDs (aOR, 5.0; 95% CI, 1.9–12.7). Epilepsy history without AED use did not seem to increase risk. Conclusions Valproic acid, which current guidelines suggest should be avoided in pregnancy, was most notable in terms of strength and breadth of its associations. Carbamazapine was associated with NTDs, even after controlling for folic acid use. Sample sizes were still too small to adequately assess risks of less commonly used AEDs, but our findings support further study to identify lower risk options for pregnant women.
Analysis of link traffic in incomplete hypercubes

A variation of the hypercube, called the incomplete hypercube, allows any sized construction, providing for better incremental flexibility. In this paper, traffic density over links in an incomplete hypercube with arbitrary size is analyzed for the first time. Despite its structural non-homogeneity, an incomplete hypercube is shown to exhibit bounded link traffic density (i.e., /spl les/ 2 messages per link per cycle) under the uniform message distribution, independent of the system size. As a result, it is easily achievable to build an incomplete hypercube with sufficient link communication capability that avoids any potential points of congestion, ensuring high performance. The incomplete hypercube thus appears to be an attractive and practical candidate topology for interconnecting parallel systems, since it shares every advantage of complete hypercubes while eliminating the restriction on system sizes. >
Jürgen Moltmann's Public Theology

Jurgen Moltmann's theology has always been characterized by its concern with questions of political and social life. His political hermeneutic is based upon a dialectical relationship between the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ in a dialogue with the philosophy and social theory of Ernst Bloch and the Frankfurt School. Theologians such as John Milbank and Arne Rasmusson have criticized Moltmann's approach as leading to a pagan captivity of Christian theology, and suggest instead the creation of a Christian social theory independent of secular categories. Yet, a proper understanding of Moltmann's conception of the "Exodus Church," coupled with a theory of role of civil society in modern life, demonstrates that Moltmann's theology more authentically represents Christian aspirations with regard to society than the approach of his critics.
Visual memory and perceptual impairments in prosopagnosia.

A patient who suffered traumatic hematomas of both occipitotemporal regions, but who had normal visual acuity, language, and cognitive functions, could not recognize faces of family members, celebrities , or recent acquaintances (prosopagnosia). He could distinguish same from different faces when they were presented simultaneously, but could not recognize faces that had been presented to him 90 seconds earlier. He could read and name objects correctly, but could not recognize any previously viewed object if it was reexamined later with other objects of the same semantic class. He had no difficulty copying complex figures, but synthesized incomplete visual information poorly and pursued an abnormal visual search strategy. We suggest that prosopagnosia is part of a more general inability to distinguish among objects within a visual semantic class. It results from impaired visual memory and perception caused by visual association cortex damage and interruption of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus connecting visual association cortex and temporal lobe.
Automated Determination of Subcellular Location from Confocal Microscope Images

Confocal microscopy is frequently used to examine the subcellular distributions of proteins or other biological macromolecules, but essentially all interpretation of the patterns in the resulting images is done by visual inspection. The difficulties associated with this approach include lack of reproducibility of assignments (both from viewer to viewer and from image to image), lack of precision in assigning location (especially for mixed patterns or patterns constituting a subdomain of an organelle, and potential inability to distinguish subtle changes in populations of cells. Automating this process allows it to be done more objectively, more rapidly, and more accurately.
Adversarial Legalism: The American Way of Law By Robert A. Kagan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001. 339p. $49.95.

Robert Kagan has three main objectives in writing this book: to demonstrate that the American systems of criminal and civil law, social welfare, and environmental regulation are dominated by “adversarial legalism,” to critique and explain why it has taken hold in the United States, and to make proposals for reform in light of findings in the United States and the advanced capitalist nations of Europe, the Commonwealth, and Japan.
Algebraic Aspects of Multiple Zeta Values

Multiple zeta values have been studied by a wide variety of methods. In this article we summarize some of the results about them that can be obtained by an algebraic approach. This involves “coding” the multiple zeta values by monomials in two noncommuting variables x and y. Multiple zeta values can then be thought of as defining a map ζ: ℌ0 → R from a graded rational vector space ℌ0 generated by the “admissible words” of the noncommutative polynomial algebra Q〈x,y〉. Now ℌ0 admits two (commutative) products making ζ a homomorphism-the shuffle product and the “harmonic” product. The latter makes ℌ0 a subalgebra of the algebra QSym of quasi-symmetric functions. We also discuss some results about multiple zeta values that can be stated in terms of derivations and cyclic derivations of Q〈x,y〉, and we define an action of QSym on Q〈x,y〉 that appears useful. Finally, we apply the algebraic approach to relations of finite partial sums of multiple zeta value series.
A New Database on the Structure and Development of the Financial Sector

This article introduces a new database of indicators of financial structure and financial development across countries and over time. The database is unique in that it combines a wide variety of indicators that measure the size, activity, and efficiency of financial intermediaries and markets. It improves on previous efforts by presenting data on the public share of commercial banks, introducing indicators of the size and activity of nonbank financial institutions, and constructing measures of the size of bond and primary equity markets. This article introduces a new database, the first to provide comprehensive measures of the development, structure, and performance of the financial sector. This database is the first to define and construct indicators of the size and activity of nonbank financial intermediaries, such as insurance companies, pension funds, and non-deposit money banks. It is also the first to include indicators of the size of primary equity markets and primary and secondary bond markets. In constructing the database, authors carefully deflate measures and match stock and flow variables.
The Appeal of Communism in Arab Countries

IN an appendix footnote to his tightly packed and ably constructed history of Communist parties in the Middle East, Walter Z. Laqueur quotes Karl Marx on the ignorance of Middle Eastern affairs prevailing in the West: ". . . the common notions floating about among the public were based more upon the Arabian Nights Entertainment than upon any historical facts. Official diplomatic functionaries, having been on the spot, boasted a more accurate knowledge, but this, too, amounted to nothing, as none of these officials ever troubled to learn the languages.... The business of these gentlemen was not with the people, the institutions, the social state of the country; it was exclusively with the court" (p. 348, n. 3) 1 In the century since Marx wrote, the West has undoubtedly learned a great deal about the Middle East, and some of its diplomats have even learned the languages of the region. But vast areas of ignorance have remained. With impressive scholarship, Mr. Laqueur fills many gaps in our knowledge of the origin and growth of Communist and other extremist movements in the Middle East. Manifesting an extraordinary linguistic facility,2 he threads his way through the labyrinthian intricacies of Communist Party politics in Middle Eastern countries without losing the reader along this previously uncharted path. The complex details of this study suggest that it is intended primarily for specialists in Middle Eastern affairs. Nevertheless, it will prove stimulating and valuable to the informed layman and to those interested in American policy in the Middle East, the economic growth of underdeveloped countries, and the impact of Asian-African affairs upon the West. About two-thirds of the text traces the tumultuous course of Communist Party activities in Egypt (including the Sudan), Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Turkey. Two chapters analyze the
On the identification of disease mutations by the analysis of haplotype similarity and goodness of fit.

The observation that haplotypes from a particular region of the genome differ between affected and unaffected individuals or between chromosomes transmitted to affected individuals versus those not transmitted is sound evidence for a disease-liability mutation in the region. Tests for differentiation of haplotype distributions often take the form of either Pearson’s χ2 statistic or tests based on the similarity among haplotypes in the different populations. In this article, we show that many measures of haplotype similarity can be expressed in the same quadratic form, and we give the general form of the variance. As we describe, these methods can be applied to either phase-known or phase-unknown data. We investigate the performance of Pearson’s χ2 statistic and haplotype similarity tests through use of evolutionary simulations. We show that both approaches can be powerful, but under quite different conditions. Moreover, we show that the power of both approaches can be enhanced by clustering rare haplotypes from the distributions before performing a test.
Diversity of the cadmium-containing carbonic anhydrase in marine diatoms and natural waters.

Summary A recent report of a novel carbonic anhydrase (CDCA1) with Cd as its metal centre in the coastal diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii has led us to search for the occurrence of this Cd enzyme (CDCA) in other marine phytoplankton and in the environment. Using degenerate primers designed from the published sequences from T. weissflogii and a putative sequence in the genome of Thalassiosira pseudonana, we show that CDCA is widespread in diatom species and ubiquitous in the environment. All detected genes share more than 64% amino acid identity with the CDCA of T. pseudonana. Analysis of the amino acid sequence of CDCA shows that the putative Cd binding site resembles that of beta-class carbonic anhydrases (CAs). The prevalence of CAs in diatoms that presumably contain Cd at their active site probably reflects the very low concentration of Zn in the marine environment and the difficulty in acquiring inorganic carbon for photosynthesis. The cdca primers developed in this study should be useful for detecting cdca genes in the field, and studying the conditions under which they are expressed.
Whigs and Paupers: The Reform of the English Poor Laws, 1830-1834

In 1832, a royal commission was appointed to investigate the operation of the poor laws in England and Wales, and two years later legislation was adopted on the basis of the commission's recommendations. For most contemporaries the passage of this measure, the so-called New Poor Law, seemed to promise significant, perhaps even radical, change in the administration of poor relief. An ancient system of parochial government was to be supplanted in the localities by a series of larger poor law unions and boards of guardians, whose discretion was to be limited by responsibility to a national bureaucratic authority in London. No less dramatic was the relief policy that the new law envisioned. It was generally understood that the poor law commissioners appointed under the act were to direct their main efforts to the establishment of a system of workhouses, wherein relief could be accorded under conditions that rendered the pauper's lot “less eligible,” that is, less attractive, than that of the poorest independent laborer. Through such means, it was hoped, an end might be made to what was seen as a long-established and widespread practice of supplementing the inadequate wages of the laboring poor out of the poor rates.While the tendency of recent work has been to question the practical effect of this legislation on the actual distribution of aid, the problem remains of explaining the motivations and intentions of the men who promoted a measure of such seemingly abundant and far-reaching implications.
MISR-based passive optical bathymetry from orbit with few-cm level of accuracy on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Abstract We demonstrate that, under ideal circumstances, passive optical measurements can yield surface water depth estimates with an accuracy of a few centimeters. Our target area is the Salar de Uyuni, in Bolivia. It is a large, active salt flat or playa, which is maintained as an almost perfectly level and highly reflective surface by annual flooding, to a mean depth of 30–50 cm. We use MISR data to estimate spatial and temporal variations in water depth during the waning portion of the 2001 flooding cycle. We use a single ICESat laser altimetry profile to calibrate our water depth model. Though the salt surface is probably the smoothest surface of its size on Earth, with less that 30 cm RMS height variations over an area of nearly 104 km2, it is not completely featureless. Topography there includes a peripheral depression, or moat, around the edge of the salt, and several sets of prominent parallel ridges, with 5 km wavelength and 30 cm amplitude. The process by which these features form is still not well characterized.
Enthalpy Transfer across the Air–Water Interface in High Winds Including Spray

AbstractControlled experiments were conducted in the Air–Sea Interaction Saltwater Tank (ASIST) at the University of Miami to investigate air–sea moist enthalpy transfer rates under various wind speeds (range of 0.6–39 m s−1 scaled to equivalent 10-m neutral winds) and water–air temperature differences (range of 1.3°–9.2°C). An indirect calorimetric (heat content budget) measurement technique yielded accurate determinations of moist enthalpy flux over the full range of wind speeds. These winds included conditions with significant spray generation, the concentrations of which were of the same order as field observations. The moist enthalpy exchange coefficient so measured included a contribution from cooled reentrant spray and therefore serves as an upper limit for the interfacial transfer of enthalpy. An unknown quantity of spray was also observed to exit the tank without evaporating. By invoking an air volume enthalpy budget it was determined that the potential contribution of this exiting spray over an ...
A Tapered Fluidized Bed as a Bioreactor

Bioreactor systems utilizing fluidized bed techniques to contact immobilized biological fractions with liquid streams have recently been under development [e.g., (1,2)]. Such technology offers several advantages over fixed-bed systems including: (a) utilization of small particulates with high specific surface area, thus allowing greater specific reaction rates; and (b) use of particulates in a state which allows easy replacement of the active fractions even during operation -- for example, a periodic partial replenishment of the fluidized bed to maintain high reactivity.
DiscreteTime Multivariable Adaptive Control

This paper establishes global convergence for a class of adaptive costral algorithms applied to discrete-time multiinput multioutput deterministic linear systems. It is shown that the algorithms will ensure that the system inputs and outputs remain bounded for all time and that the output tracking error converges to zero.
The Hypothalamic Melanocortin Pathway and the Regulation of Glucose Handling in the Kidney: A Sympathetic Look at Brain-Kidney Connection.

Insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretion are considered the major pathogenetic factors resulting in hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes. Although several mechanisms play a part in the development of hyperglycemia (1), excessive renal glucose reabsorption is now receiving much attention as a mechanism that contributes to the development of hyperglycemia (2). In euglycemic conditions, the kidney reabsorbs all of the filtered glucose primarily via the sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), and secondarily via SGLT1. Glucose transporters GLUT2 and GLUT1 carry glucose across the basolateral membrane into the bloodstream. Glycosuria occurs when plasma glucose levels exceed the maximal reabsorptive capacity of the renal SGLTs. In hyperglycemic conditions, glomerular filtration of glucose is increased and glucose and sodium reabsorption via SGLT2 and SGLT1 is enhanced. Moreover, protein kinase C–activated translocation of GLUT2 to the apical membrane may contribute to increased reabsorption of glucose (Fig. 1 A ). The enhanced glucose reabsorption of diabetes has been the target of therapeutic intervention with the development of specific SGLT2 inhibitors that, with their novel mechanism of action, represent a new tool for the treatment of diabetes (3). Recent evidence shows that glucose reabsorption is under the control of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) (4). However, there is still a lot to learn about the mechanisms by which the SNS may regulate renal handling of glucose in physiological or pathological conditions. Figure 1 A : Proximal tubular glucose transport …
Resilience, tipping, and hydra effects in public health: emergent collective behavior in two agent-based models.

Collective health behavior often demonstrates counter-intuitive dynamics, sometimes resisting interventions designed to produce change, or even producing effects that are in the opposite direction than intended by the intervention, e.g. lowering infectivity resulting in increased infections. At other times collective health behavior exhibits sudden large-scale change in response to small interventions or change in the environment, a phenomenon often called “tipping.” I hypothesize that these seemingly very different phenomena can all be explained by the same dynamic, a type of collective resilience. I compared two simple agent-based models of interactions in networks: a public health behavior game, in which individuals decide whether or not to adopt protective behavior, and a microbial-level game, in which three different strains of bacteria attack each other. I examined the type of networks and other conditions that support a dynamic balance, and determined what changes of conditions will tip the balance. Both models show lasting dynamic equilibrium and resilience, resulting from negative feedback that supports oscillating coexistence of diversity under a range of conditions. In the public health game, health protection is followed by free-riding defectors, followed by a rise in infection, in long-lasting cycles. In the microbial game, each of three strains takes turns dominating. In both games, the dynamic balance is tipped by lowering the level of local clustering, changing the level of benefit, or lowering infectivity or attack rate. Lowering infectivity has the surprising effect of increasing the numbers of infected individuals. We see parallel results in the microbial game of three bacterial strains, where lowering one strain’s attack rate (analogous to lowering infectivity) increases the numbers of the restrained attacker, a phenomenon captured by the phrase, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Collective behavior often shows a dynamic balance, resulting from negative feedback, supporting diversity and resisting change. Above certain threshold conditions, the dynamic balance is tipped towards uniformity of behavior. Under a certain range of conditions we see “hydra effects” in which interventions to lower attack rate or infectivity are self-defeating. Simple models of collective behavior can explain these seemingly disparate dynamics.
Cerebral acetylcholine, serotonin, and norepinephrine in acute ammonia intoxication.

SummaryThe primary purpose of this study was to assess the hypothesis that a depletion of cerebral acetylcholine (ACh) may be responsible for the coma induced with ammonia. An ancillary aim was to determine the effect of ammonia on cerebral levels of two other likely neurotransmitters, serotonin and norepinephrine. Acetylcholine, serotonin, and norepinephrine were measured in the brain of rats with NH4Ac-induced stupor and in asympotomatic NaAc-injected and uninjected controls. Studies were carried out during and after the development of stupor; and both cortex and brainstem were assayed separately since these areas are believed to be primarily responsible for the maintenance of consciousness. Acetylcholine was measured by a specific and accurate fluorometric procedure. In rats with ammonia-induced precoma and coma, the ACh and norepinephrine levels in the cerebral cortex and brainstem were comparable to values seen in control animals. Cerebral serotonin likewise was normal during the development of stupo...
Oxidation State of Uranium in A6Cu12U2S15 (A = K, Rb, Cs) Compounds

Black single crystals of A(6)Cu(12)U(2)S(15) (A = K, Rb, Cs) have been synthesized by the reactive flux method. These isostructural compounds crystallize in the cubic space group Ia 3d at room temperature. The structure comprises a three-dimensional framework built from US(6) octahedra and CuS(3) trigonal planar units with A cations residing in the cavities. There are no S-S bonds in the structure. To elucidate the oxidation state of U in these compounds, various physical property measurements and characterization methods were carried out. Temperature-dependent electrical resistivity measurement on a single crystal of K(6)Cu(12)U(2)S(15) showed it to be a semiconductor. These three A(6)Cu(12)U(2)S(15) (A = K, Rb, Cs) compounds all exhibit small effective magnetic moments, < 0.58 μ(B)/U and band gaps of about 0.55(2) eV in their optical absorption spectra. From X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES), the absorption edge of A(6)Cu(12)U(2)S(15) is very close to that of UO(3). Electronic band structure calculations at the density functional theory (DFT) level indicate a strong degree of covalency between U and S atoms, but theory was not conclusive about the formal oxidation state of U. All experimental data suggest that the A(6)Cu(12)U(2)S(15) family is best described as an intermediate U(5+)/U(6+) sulfide system of (A(+))(6)(Cu(+))(12)(U(5+))(2)(S(2-))(13)(S(-))(2) and (A(+))(6)(Cu(+))(12)(U(6+))(2)(S(2-))(15).
Distribution of Russian Wheat Aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) Salivary Sheaths in Resistant and Susceptible Wheat Leaves

Salivary sheath distribution of the Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko), on ‘Arapahoe’ (susceptible) and ‘Halt’ (resistant) wheat, Triticum aestivum L., leaves were compared. D. noxia produced both single and multiple branched salivary sheaths on resistant and susceptible wheat leaves. Three types of salivary sheath initiation sites (i.e., inter- or intracellularly on epidermal cells, or through leaf stomata) and sheath termination sites (i.e., mesophyll, vascular tissue, or both) in susceptible and resistant wheat leaves also were recorded. Although the number of aphids on the leaves before staining was not significantly different, Arapahoe seedlings showed higher leaf rolling and chlorosis ratings than Halt. The majority of aphid salivary sheaths was on the rolled leaves, within chlorotic streaks on Arapahoe plants, whereas on Halt leaves the majority of the sheaths was surrounded by chlorotic spots. Salivary sheaths also were found without showing chlorotic symptoms on Arapahoe and Halt plants. D. noxia produced more salivary sheaths through leaf stomata on Halt than on Arapahoe, although the total number of salivary sheaths on Arapahoe was not different from Halt. The number of salivary sheaths in either mesophyll or vascular tissues was not different between the 2 wheat cultivars, but more salivary sheaths terminated in vascular bundles than in mesophyll tissues in both Arapahoe and Halt. Although the aphids produced single and multiple branches of salivary sheaths on the 2 cultivars, a higher percentage of the multiply branched sheaths terminated in both vascular and mesophyll tissues on Arapahoe than on Halt. The salivary sheaths on Halt also were longer than on Arapahoe in both mesophyll and vascular tissues. The sheaths terminating in vascular bundles were longer than the sheaths terminating in mesophyll tissues in both cultivars. Implications of this study in relation to understanding the dynamic nature of aphid damage symptom development processes were discussed.
δ-COP modulates Aβ peptide formation via retrograde trafficking of APP

The components involved in cellular trafficking and protein recycling machinery that have been associated with increased Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk belong to the late secretory compartments for the most part. Here, we hypothesize that these late unavoidable events might be the consequence of earlier complications occurring while amyloid precursor protein (APP) is trafficking through the early secretory pathway. We investigated the relevance to AD of coat protein complex I (COPI)-dependent trafficking, an early step in Golgi-to-endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retrograde transport and one of the very first trafficking steps. Using a complex set of imaging technologies, including inverse fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (iFRAP) and photoactivatable probes, coupled to biochemical experiments, we show that COPI subunit δ (δ-COP) affects the biology of APP, including its subcellular localization and cell surface expression, its trafficking, and its metabolism. These findings demonstrate the crucial role of δ-COP in APP metabolism and, consequently, the generation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide, providing previously nondescribed mechanistic explanations of the underlying events.
STAFFING A SERVICE SYSTEM WITH NON-POISSON NON-STATIONARY ARRIVALS

Motivated by non-Poisson stochastic variability found in service system arrival data, we extend established service system staffing algorithms using the square-root staffing formula to allow for non-Poisson arrival processes. We develop a general model of the non-Poisson non-stationary arrival process that includes as a special case the non-stationary Cox process (a modification of a Poisson process in which the rate itself is a non-stationary stochastic process), which has been advocated in the literature. We characterize the impact of the non-Poisson stochastic variability upon the staffing through the heavy-traffic limit of the peakedness (ratio of the variance to the mean in an associated stationary infinite-server queueing model), which depends on the arrival process through its central limit theorem behavior. We provide simple formulas to quantify the performance impact of the non-Poisson arrivals upon the staffing decisions, in order to achieve the desired service level. We conduct simulation experiments with non-stationary Markov-modulated Poisson arrival processes with sinusoidal arrival rate functions to demonstrate that the staffing algorithm is effective in stabilizing the time-varying probability of delay at designated targets.
Motor and Cognitive Functional Status Are Associated with 30-day Unplanned Rehospitalization Following Post-Acute Care in Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries

BACKGROUND The Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014 stipulates that standardized functional status (self-care and mobility) and cognitive function data will be used for quality reporting in post-acute care settings. Thirty-day post-discharge unplanned rehospitalization is an established quality metric that has recently been extended to post-acute settings. The relationships between the functional domains in the IMPACT Act and 30-day unplanned rehospitalization are poorly understood.
Modeling the Charging Choices of Battery Electric Vehicle Drivers by Using Stated Preference Data

The time, location, rate, and duration of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging affects the performance of PEVs, including the amount of petroleum displaced, the emissions associated with electricity generation, the utilization of charging infrastructure, and the load placed on the electric grid. Empirical research has shown that charging preferences vary across PEV drivers and create large variations in the real-world utility factor for a fixed vehicle design. Nevertheless, most analyses of PEV usage rely on simple rule-based assumptions about charging behavior. In this paper, results from a web-based stated preference study of U.S. battery electric vehicle owners are displayed. Subjects were presented with situations representing potential charging opportunities and asked whether they would charge in such a situation. Binary, mixed, and latent class logit models of charging choices are investigated. The latent class logit fits the data best and allows identification of three basic types of decision ma...
Antimicrobial Properties of α-Dicarbonyl and Related Compounds.

By surface plating on plate count agar, 0.005 M (430 ppm) of the α-dicarbonyl compound, diacetyl, inhibited 28 of 40 organisms with the medium at pH 6 but only 11 at pH 8. Diacetyl was more effective against gram-negative bacteria and yeasts than non-lactic gram-positive bacteria and least effective against lactic acid bacteria. Acetoin, butanedioldiacetate and five butanediol isomers were considerably less effective than diacetyl, although all were more effective at pH 6 than 8. Diacetylmonoxime and diacetyldioxime were more effective than the diols and were less affected by pH of medium than diacetyl. Phenylglyoxal (PG) and 1,2-cyclohexanedione (CHD) ranked closest to diacetyl but, unlike the latter, they were more effective against gram-positive bacteria and less so against fungi and gram-negative bacteria. All 12 compounds were more effective against selected organisms by pour plating and in broth culture than by surface plating. Like diacetyl, CHD and PG are α, α-dicarbonyls and are widely used as ar...
A retrospective study to describe the epidemiology and outcomes of opportunistic infections after abdominal organ transplantation.

BACKGROUND Most epidemiologic studies of opportunistic infections (OI) following abdominal organ transplantation are derived prior to the era of contemporary immunosuppression and prophylaxis. These studies suggest that most OI occur within the first 6 months post transplant. METHOD In this single-center, retrospective cohort study, we describe the epidemiology of OI in 359 consecutive abdominal organ transplant recipients, in the era of contemporary prophylaxis practices and alemtuzumab induction in kidney and simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant recipients. RESULTS Ninety patients (25.1%) developed OI, with 53.3% of these occurring beyond 6 months. The most common OI were BK polyomavirus nephropathy (5.0%), cytomegalovirus (10.2%), varicella zoster virus (4.4%), and herpes simplex virus (1.1%), which typically occurred after discontinuation of antiviral prophylaxis, and Clostridium difficile infections (7.8%). CONCLUSION OI had no impact on patient or graft survival at 12 months post transplant. In the era of contemporary immunosuppression and prophylaxis, a significant proportion of OI occur beyond 6 months. Additional strategies may be important to reduce the incidence of such late-onset infections.
Racial disparities in cervical cancer mortality over time.

5604 Background: The aim of this study is to examine changes over time in survival for African-American (AA) and white women diagnosed with cervical cancer (CeCa). Methods: Surveillance, Epidemiolo...
About Abortion: Terminating Pregnancy in Twenty-First-Century America, by Carol Sanger: The Belknap Press of Harvard UP, 2017

Perhaps no issue in contemporary society is more intricately intertwined with faith, politics, justice, and health than abortion. Consistently characterized by controversy and polarization, abortio...
Critical race theory in the lis curriculum

Abstract Purpose – We examine the reading lists for required foundational library and information science (LIS) courses at the top 20 American Library Association-accredited LIS programs in North America; explore the extent to which critical race theory (CRT) and other critical literatures, methods, and approaches were engaged; and discuss the implications of the findings for LIS education. Methodological Approach – We conducted quantitative and qualitative content analyses of foundational required readings for the top 20 Master of Library Science/Master of Library and Information Science programs (as ranked by U.S. News & World Report). The sampling process was twofold. The initial sampling included development of the foundational course sample, and the secondary sampling included development of the sample of required readings. Findings – The vast majority of the required foundational courses examined provided students with little to no exposure to CRT or critical theory. Originality/Value – CRT and its related concepts provide a structural framework for preparing LIS students and graduates to recognize and address racism, to understand “how power and privilege shape LIS institutions and professional practice” (Cooke, Sweeney, & Noble, 2016, p. 107), and to embrace social justice as an LIS value. Incorporating CRT into existing courses is the first step in pushing the profession in this direction.
Preoperative and postoperative dynamic cavernosography and cavernosometry: objective assessment of venous ligation for impotence.

AbstractA total of 11 men (mean age 51.4 years, 1-year followup) with venous leakage impotence underwent surgical venous ligation. Of the men 8 had erections twice per week immediately after the procedure but at 3 months only 2 remained potent. Dynamic pharmacological cavernosography and caverno- sometry were repeated 3 months postoperatively and 6 of the 11 men had venous leakage. These men with venous leakage underwent percutaneous embolization with platinum coils and 4 had successful results. Three additional men became potent after embolization.Of the 11 men 9 are documented to have normal dynamic cavernosography and cavernosometry findings after the combination of an operation and embolization, and 5 are potent. The postoperative and post-embolization dynamic cavernosometry data show that all 11 men have a marked decrease in the flow to maintain erection. Eight men have erections with papaverine or prostaglandin El intracorporeal injections. Postoperative dynamic cavernosography and cavernosometry ca...
Ex Situ Chemical Determination of Free Radicals and Peroxides on Plasma Treated Surfaces

Ex situ determinations of free radicals by 2,2-Diphenyl-1-pricylhydrazyl (DPPH) method and of peroxides by the iodine method applied to plasma treated surfaces were examined. Plasma polymers and plasma-treated polymers, which are already exposed to ambient oxygen, the original free radicals could be detected as peroxides. It was found that the specificity of the both methods was not high enough for quantitative determination. Chemical cleaning of aluminum alloy surfaces, such as alkaline cleaning and deoxidizing treatment, was found to leave large amount of DPPH scavengers, which could be removed by argon or oxygen plasma treatment, implying that the reactivity of DPPH is not exclusive to free radicals. DPPH method should be viewed as an analytical tool to detect scavengers of DPPH (rather than free radicals) existing on the surface region accessible to the DPPH solution. The iodine method should be likewise viewed as an analytical tool for iodine-liberating species existing on the surface region. Plasma treatment (O2 or Ar) of aluminum surface did not remove the species, and in some cases increased the amount. The both methods could be used as tools to assess the overall surface reactivity, particularly of metals, which could influence the adhesion of coatings.