cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of physical activity on delayed memory measures in randomized controlled trials with nonclinical older, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia participants

Introduction: Longitudinal studies have found that physical activity protects against Alzheimer disease, but the mechanism is unknown. The prevailing model derives from animal research and has phys...
The Code of Ethics for Orientation and Mobility Specialists: A Progress Report.

The history, development, and role of a Code of Ethics for the profession of orientation and mobility for the visually impaired is discussed. The value of such a code for the profession itself, for...
Case 9: Zone I/II Open Globe Injury from Metal Bearing

A 56-year-old man presented with a Zone I-II open globe injury with uveal prolapse of the left eye after he was struck with metal bearing he was prying from the spindle of a boat trailer. The patient underwent surgical repair with repositioning of uveal tissue using an intraocular sweeping technique and reapproximation of the corneal limbus with interrupted nylon sutures. Post-operatively, vitreous hemorrhage resolved spontaneously without any vitreoretinal complications or interventions. Mydriasis, secondary to an iris sphincter tear and iridodialysis, caused symptomatic glare in the affected eye that was addressed with a tinted contact lens.
Are All Teaching Activities Valued the Same? Their Relative Worth Is in the Eye of the Beholder.

OBJECTIVES The pressures for generating revenue from clinical activities dissuade clinician-educators from teaching; taking the steps to develop an educational value system is a way to recognize and perhaps support education. We compared the perceived educational value of diverse pedagogical activities during clinical training from students, residents, and faculty in medical and surgical specialties. METHODS Between 2016 and 2017, a survey among medical students, residents, and faculty from medical (internal medicine, pediatrics) or surgical (general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology) departments was conducted at an academic medical center that sponsors 88 training programs. Participants ranked teaching activities relative to their perceived teaching importance. RESULTS In total, 156 subjects participated (48 core teaching faculty, 68 residents, and 40 medical students). Teaching in the wards was the highest-ranked teaching activity for medical (mean 1.6) and surgical specialties (mean 1.9). For medicine and pediatrics, active teaching activities were ranked higher (mean 2.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.8-3.0) than passive teaching activities (mean 5.3, 95% CI 5.1-5.5, P < 0.001). Similarly, for surgery and obstetrics and gynecology, active teaching activities were ranked higher (mean 3.6, 95% CI 3.3-3.9) than passive teaching activities (mean 5.2, 95% CI 4.8-5.5, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Medical students, residents, and faculty across specialties have a high degree of agreement regarding the ranking of diverse pedagogical activities; such correlation will facilitate the interpretation of educational value units across specialties.
Non-reciprocal lasing action in topological cavities of arbitrary geometries

Topological insulator is a material in which helical conducting states exist on the surface of the bulk insulator. These states can transport electrons or photons at the boundary without any back scattering, even in presence of obstacles enabling to make topological cavities with arbitrary geometries that light can propagate in one direction. Here, we present the demonstration of the first experimental non-reciprocal topological laser that operates at telecommunication wavelengths. The unidirectional stimulated emission from edge states is coupled to a selected waveguide output port with an isolation ratio of 11 dB. Topological cavities are made of hybrid photonic crystals (i.e., two different photonic crystals) with distinct topological phase invariants, which are bonded on a magnetic material of yttrium iron garnet to break the time-reversal symmetry. Our experimental demonstration, paves the way to develop complex nonreciprocal topological devices of arbitrary geometries for integrated and robust generation and transport of light in classical and quantum regimes.
Cucurbitacin E inhibits the Yes‑associated protein signaling pathway and suppresses brain metastasis of human non‑small cell lung cancer in a murine model

Human non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with an extremely poor prognosis especially for the 40% of patients who develop brain metastasis, and few treatment strategies exist. Cucurbitacin E (CuE), an oxygenated tetracyclic triterpenoid isolated from plants particularly of the family Cucurbitaceae, has shown anti‑tumorigenic properties in several types of cancer, yet the mechanism remains unclear. Yes‑associated protein (YAP), a main mediator of the Hippo signaling pathway, promotes tumorigenesis, drug resistance and metastasis in human NSCLC. The present study was designed to ascertain whether CuE inhibits YAP and its downstream gene expression in the human NSCLC cell lines H2030‑BrM3 (K‑rasG12C mutation) and PC9‑BrM3 (EGFRΔexon19 mutation), which have high potential for brain metastasis. The efficacy of CuE in suppressing brain metastasis of H2030‑BrM3 cells in a murine model was also investigated. It was found that after CuE treatment in H2030‑BrM3 and PC9‑BrM3 cells, YAP protein expression was decreased, and YAP signaling GTIIC reporter activity and expression of the downstream genes CTGF and CYR61 were significantly (P<0.01) decreased. CuE treatment also reduced the migration and invasion abilities of the H2030‑BrM3 and PC9‑BrM3 cells. Finally, our in vivo study showed that CuE treatment (0.2 mg/kg) suppressed H2030‑BrM3 cell brain metastasis and that mice treated with CuE survived longer than the control mice treated with 10% DMSO (P=0.02). The present study is the first to demonstrate that CuE treatment inhibits YAP and the signaling downstream gene expression in human NSCLC in vitro, and suppresses brain metastasis of NSCLC in a murine model. More studies to verify the promising efficacy of CuE in inhibiting brain metastasis of NSCLC and various other cancers may be warranted.
Head Size of Male and Female Lizards Increases with Population Density Across Island Populations in the Bahamas

In polygynous lizards, male–male competition is an important driver of morphologic and behavioral traits associated with intraspecific dominance. The extent to which females engage in aggressive behavior and thus contribute to competition-driven morphologic variation is not well studied. We used injury frequencies of brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) in 16 island populations to test the hypothesis that injury-inducing aggressive encounters increase with population density in both male and female lizards. We further asked whether intraspecific competition is a potential driver of phenotypic traits related to dominance by using population density as proxy for intraspecific competition. We found that the proportion of individuals with injuries was greater in populations with higher densities, suggesting that agonistic competitive interactions increase with population density. Size-adjusted head length of male and female lizards increased with population density, suggesting that larger heads might be advantageous when intraspecific competition is strong. We detected differences in morphology and injury frequency among islands for both males and females, which suggests that agonistic competitive interactions among females may be stronger than previously appreciated. Further research is needed to determine whether aggressive encounters involving females are restricted to intrasexual competition or whether they also involve males, and how morphologic traits of females are related to competitive dominance and reproductive success.
Implementation of Intrusion Detection Methods for Distributed Photovoltaic Inverters at the Grid-Edge

Reducing the risk of cyber-attacks that affect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of distributed Photovoltaic (PV) inverters requires the implementation of an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) at the grid-edge. Often, IDSs use signature or behavior-based analytics to identify potentially harmful anomalies. In this work, the two approaches are deployed and tested on a small, single-board computer; the computer is setup to monitor and detect malevolent traffic in-between an aggregator and a single PV inverter. The Snort, signature-based, analysis tool detected three of the five attack scenarios. The behavior-based analysis, which used an Adaptive Resonance Theory Artificial Neural Network, successfully identified four out of the five attacks. Each of the approaches ran on the single-board computer and decreased the chances of an undetected breach in the PV inverters control system.
Early outcome of tricuspid repair for functional tricuspid regurgitation associated with left-sided valve lesions: modified flexible band versus ring annuloplasty

Background Repairing functional tricuspid regurge during left heart valve surgery in not uncommon. However, the technique of choice to achieve long-term results is still controversial. Although the DeVega technique was widely used, most surgeons have shifted to annuloplasty bands or rings to avoid early high failure rates and increased incidence of recurrent significant regurge. Objective To compare short-term results (1 year) of flexible band as a piece of tube graft (polytetraflouroethylene) annuloplasty versus ring annuloplasty for functional tricuspid regurge associated with left-side valve lesions. Patients and methods We prospectively studied 100 patients who underwent tricuspid repair during left-sided valve surgery at National Heart Institute. Thirty-one patients had ring annuloplasty whereas 69 patients had modified band annuloplasty. Echocardiography was done at discharge and after 1-year follow-up. Results There was no mortality in both groups. Mean age was 31 ± 10 years in group A and 30 ± 7 years in group B. Female sex was 67% in group A and 61% in group B. Five patients had mitral valve repair in group A versus four patients in group B, and the rest of the patient had their valve replaced. The mean cross-clamp time was longer in group B (117 ± 23) compared with group A (105 ± 19), with no significant difference between the two groups. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding cardiopulmonary bypass time. Conclusion Tricuspid valve repair using modified band annuloplasty offers excellent results, which are comparable to ring annuloplasty over 1-year follow-up.
A benchmarking model for validation and standardization of traction force microscopy analysis tools

Author(s): Pardon, Gaspard; Castillo, Erica; Pruitt, Beth | Abstract: Traction Force Microscopy (TFM) has become a well-established technique to assay the biophysical force produced by cells cultured on soft substrates of controlled stiffness. However, experimental conditions as well as computational implementations can have a large impact on the analysis results accuracy and reproducibility. While this can be alleviated using appropriate controls and a rigorous analytical approach, the comparison of results across studies remains difficult and there is a need for validation and benchmarking tools. To validate the accuracy of and compare various computational TFM analysis algorithms, we developed a virtual in silico model of a cell contracting on a soft substrate of controlled stiffness. The model utilizes user-defined parameters for the cell dimensions as well as for the strength and spatial distribution of a contraction dipole to calculate the deformation that would result on a soft substrate due to the cell contraction. The deformation is computed using the forward analytical stress-strain tensor calculation in the Fourier space. The resulting displacement field is used to apply, using image processing, a deformation on a real or simulated image of fluorescent microspheres embedded into a soft hydrogel, which is normally obtain experimentally by TFM imaging. The deformation field and resulting image then serve as input in the PIV and TFM analysis. The model also enables to create movies of a dynamic cell contraction, such as that of a cardiomyocyte, to validate the time accuracy of the TFM analysis after application of image processing algorithm, such as denoising. Our tool therefore addresses the need for validation and standardization of TFM analytical algorithms and its experimental implementations.
Cyber Kill Chain-Based Hybrid Intrusion Detection System for Smart Grid

Today’s electric power grid is a complex, automated, and interconnected cyber-physical system (CPS) that relies on supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)-based communication infrastructure for operating wide-area monitoring, protection, and control (WAMPAC) applications. With a push towards making the grid smarter, the critical SCADA infrastructure like power system is getting exposed to countless cyberattacks that necessitate the development of state-of-the-art intrusion detection systems (IDS) to provide comprehensive security solutions at different layers in the smart grid network. While considering the continuously evolving attack surfaces at physical, communication, and application layers, existing conventional IDS solutions are insufficient and incapable to resolve multi-dimensional cybersecurity threats because of their specific nature of the operation, either a data-centric or protocol-centric, to detect specific types of attacks. This chapter presents a hybrid intrusion detection system framework by integrating a network-based IDS, model-based IDS, and state-of-the-art machine learning-based IDS to detect unknown and stealthy cyberattacks targeting the SCADA networks. We have applied the cyber-kill model to develop and demonstrate attack vectors and their associated mechanisms. The hybrid IDS utilizes attack signatures in grid measurements and network packets as well as leverages secure phasor measurements to detect different stages of cyber-attacks while following the kill-chain process. As a proof of concept, we present the experimental case study in the context of centralized wide-area protection (CWAP) cybersecurity by utilizing resources of the PowerCyber testbed at Iowa State University (ISU). We also describe different classes of implemented cyber-attacks and generated heterogeneous datasets using the IEEE 39 bus system. Finally, the performance of the hybrid IDS is evaluated based in terms of detection rate in real-time cyber-physical environment.
Viral vector-based improvement of optic nerve regeneration: Characterization of individual axons' growth patterns and synaptogenesis in a visual target

Lack of axon growth ability in the central nervous system poses a major barrier to achieving functional connectivity after injury. Thus, a non-transgenic regenerative approach to reinnervating targets has important implications in clinical and research settings. Previous studies using knockout (KO) mice have demonstrated long-distance axon regeneration. Using an optic nerve injury model, here we evaluate the efficacy of viral, RNA interference (RNAi) and pharmacological approaches that target the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 pathways to improve long-distance axon regeneration in wild-type mice. Our data show that adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against PTEN (shPTEN) enhances retinal ganglion cell axon regeneration after crush injury. However, compared with the previous data in PTEN KO mice, AAV-shRNA results in a lesser degree of regeneration, likely due to incomplete gene silencing inherent to RNAi. In comparison, an extensive enhancement in regeneration is seen when AAV-shPTEN is coupled to AAV encoding ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and to a cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) analog, allowing axons to travel long distances and reach their target. We apply whole-tissue imaging that facilitates three-dimensional visualization of single regenerating axons and document heterogeneous terminal patterns in the targets. This shows that some axonal populations generate extensive arbors and make synapses with the target neurons. Collectively, we show a combinatorial viral RNAi and pharmacological strategy that improves long-distance regeneration in wild-type animals and provide single fiber projection data that indicates a degree of preservation of target recognition.
Variational Bayesian inference for association over phylogenetic trees for microorganisms

With the advance of next generation sequencing technologies, researchers now routinely obtain a collection of microbial sequences with complex phylogenetic relationships. It is often of interest to...
The neuropsychology of statin intolerance.

Statin nocebo effects have been demonstrated in numerous randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and active-controlled trials. Emerging evidence suggests that brain pathways might mediate statin nocebo hyperalgesia. Evidence-based pain-management approaches can be used to manage nocebo symptoms that occur during statin therapy.
Role of Surface Recombination Velocity and Initial Fermi Level Offset on Bifacial Thin Film Devices

As the efficiency of single junction devices improve, bifacial thin film (BFT) devices are being increasingly investigated as a way to increase energy yield per unit area. At the same time, increasing doping density of thin film devices are also being developed to increase the energy yield per unit area. Here, we investigate how critical parameters to improving backside illuminated devices and increasing the absorber doping density affect backside illuminated device performance. We show that reducing recombination at the back of the device through increasing initial Fermi level offset (IFLO) or decreasing back surface recombination velocity (BSRV) is far more important than increasing absorber doping density. We also show that there is a wide range of the IFLO-BSRV parameter space that can lead to high backside illumination device efficiency for highly doped thin film devices.
Regulating road rage

Road rage has been a problem since the advent of cars. Given the ubiquity of road rage, and its potentially devastating consequences, understanding road rage and developing interventions to curb it are important priorities. Emerging theoretical and empirical advances in the study of emotion and emotion regulation have provided new insights into why people develop road rage and how it can be prevented and treated. In the current article, we suggest an integrative conceptual framework for understanding road rage, based upon a psychological analysis of emotion and emotion regulation. We begin by defining road rage and other key constructs. We then consider the interplay between road rage generation and road rage regulation. Using an emotion regulation framework, we describe key points at which emotion-regulation difficulties can lead to road rage, followed by strategies that may alleviate these difficulties. We suggest that this framework usefully organizes existing research on road rage, while exposing key directions for future research.
DNA Breaks Due to Replication Stress Limit the Developmental Potential of Human Preimplantation Embryos

Human cleavage stage embryos frequently acquire chromosomal aneuploidies during mitosis. We recently showed that double strand breaks (DSBs) introduced by Cas9 result in frequent chromosomal alterations. Here we show that spontaneous DSBs arise de novo during embryonic DNA replication and show as chromosomal breaks that occur primarily, in centromeric, and gene-poor areas, with the latter harboring long genes implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders, including CNTN5, IMMP2L, LRP1B, RYR2, CSMD1. While transcription-replication conflicts are not required for chromosome fragility, fragile, gene-poor regions contain long-traveling replication forks, and complete replication late in G2 phase, hours after most of the genome has been duplicated. Incomplete replication at these sites in both human and mouse zygotes, results in DSBs, whole and segmental chromosome errors, micronucleation, chromosome fragmentation and poor embryo quality. Thus, failure to complete DNA replication is a mechanism of developmental failure, and a source of detrimental genetic alterations in humans.
Empowerment or Limitation? A Critical Exploration of American State Women-Owned Business Programs

Governments have a history of intervention in the market to aid small, minority, and women-owned businesses. This research explores women-owned business development programs across the United States. The paper begins with a discussion of programs to serve women-owned businesses, noting barriers that exist for women business owners to access markets and capital. Analysis considers program offerings and how they are communicated to the public and client businesses via government websites. Policy approaches may reinforce patterns of suppression, rather than opening maximum opportunities for women business owners.
Distribution of Paycheck Protection Program to otolaryngology practices during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Background Aims Methods Results Discussion Conclusion Level of Evidence The Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID‐19) has impacted physician practices in many ways with some ENT clinics reporting around a 50% drop in completed scheduled ENT visits during the first wave of the pandemic compared to 2019.This study surveyed first round PPP loan disbursement to otolaryngology practices in the United States in response to COVID‐19.A cross‐sectional study was conducted using publicly available data published on PPP by the SBA. Otolaryngology clinics receiving loans greater than $0.15M were filtered using the following terms: “otolaryngology”, “otolaryngologist”,“sinus”, “head and neck”, “throat”, “ENT”, and “facial plastic”. 481 ENT clinics that received loans greater than $0.15 M from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) were identified. Loan amount, business type, geographicregion, owner race, owner gender, and the number of jobs per business were recorded for each clinic. Chi‐square analysis was performed to determine significance (P < 0.05) of each characteristic.Loan distribution was significantly different based on jobs reported (P < .001) and business type (P < .001). 100% of loans ranging from $0.15 M to $0.35 M went to micro and small practices whereas 33% of medium‐sized practices received loans greater than $1 M. Higher proportions of Subchapter corporations (60.00%) received smaller loans of $0.15 to $0.35 M than Limited Liability Companies (39.13%) and Corporations (51.69%) which generally employ more people.Loan distribution was significantly different between businesses based on jobs reported (P < 0.001), with micro/small practices recieving smaller loans than their medium counterparts. All large businesses recived loans in in excess of $2 M. This suggests proportional distribution of loans in accordance with jobs reported.This study suggests PPP funding was objectively distributed to ENT clinics based on staff size.Level 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Comparative genomics of Thermus thermophilus and Deinococcus radiodurans : divergent routes of adaptation to thermophily and radiation resistance

Thermus thermophilus and Deinococcus radiodurans belong to a distinct bacterial clade but have remarkably different phenotypes. T. thermophilus is a thermophile, which is relatively sensitive to ionizing radiation and desiccation, whereas D. radiodurans is a mesophile, which is highly radiation- and desiccation-resistant. Here we present an in-depth comparison of the genomes of these two related but differently adapted bacteria. By reconstructing the evolution of Thermus and Deinococcus after the divergence from their common ancestor, we demonstrate a high level of post-divergence gene flux in both lineages. Various aspects of the adaptation to high temperature in Thermus can be attributed to horizontal gene transfer from archaea and thermophilic bacteria; many of the horizontally transferred genes are located on the single megaplasmid of Thermus. In addition, the Thermus lineage has lost a set of genes that are still present in Deinococcus and many other mesophilic bacteria but are not common among thermophiles. By contrast, Deinococcus seems to have acquired numerous genes related to stress response systems from various bacteria. A comparison of the distribution of orthologous genes among the four partitions of the Deinococcus genome and the two partitions of the Thermus genome reveals homology between the Thermus megaplasmid (pTT27) and Deinococcus megaplasmid (DR177). After the radiation from their common ancestor, the Thermus and Deinococcus lineages have taken divergent paths toward their distinct lifestyles. In addition to extensive gene loss, Thermus seems to have acquired numerous genes from thermophiles, which likely was the decisive contribution to its thermophilic adaptation. By contrast, Deinococcus lost few genes but seems to have acquired many bacterial genes that apparently enhanced its ability to survive different kinds of environmental stresses. Notwithstanding the accumulation of horizontally transferred genes, we also show that the single megaplasmid of Thermus and the DR177 megaplasmid of Deinococcus are homologous and probably were inherited from the common ancestor of these bacteria.
Calixthe Beyala ‘s “Parisian Novels”: An example of globalization and transculturation in French society

(2000). Calixthe Beyala ‘s “Parisian Novels”: An example of globalization and transculturation in French society. Sites: The Journal of Twentieth-Century/Contemporary French Studies revue d'etudes francais: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 119-127.
Who reads temporal information contained across synchronized and oscillatory spike trains

Our inferences about brain mechanisms underlying perception rely on whether it is possible for the brain to 'reconstruct' a stimulus from the information contained in the spike trains from many neurons . How the brain actually accomplishes this reconstruction remains largely unknown. Oscillatory and synchronized activities in the brain of mammals have been correlated with distinct behavioural states or the execution of complex cognitive tasks and are proposed to participate in the 'binding' of individual features into more complex percepts,. But if synchronization is indeed relevant, what senses it? In insects, oscillatory synchronized activity in the early olfactory system seems to be necessary for fine odour discrimination and enables the encoding of information about a stimulus in spike times relative to the oscillatory 'clock'. Here we study the decoding of these coherent oscillatory signals. We identify a population of neurons downstream from the odour-activated, synchronized neuronal assemblies. These downstream neurons show odour responses whose specificity is degraded when their inputs are desynchronized. This degradation of selectivity consists of the appearance of responses to new odours and a loss ofdiscrimination of spike trains evoked by different odours. Suchloss of information is never observed in the upstream neurons whose activity is desynchronized. These results indicate that information encoded in time across ensembles of neurons converges onto single neurons downstream in the pathway.
miR-15a/16 Regulates Macrophage Phagocytosis after Bacterial Infection

Bacterial infection and its associated sepsis are devastating clinical entities that lead to high mortality and morbidity in critically ill patients. Phagocytosis, along with other innate immune responses, exerts crucial impacts on the outcomes of these patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of regulatory noncoding RNAs that target specific mRNAs for modulation of translation and expression of a targeted protein. The roles of miRNAs in host defense against bacterial sepsis remain unclear. We found that bacterial infections and/or bacterial-derived LPS enhanced the level of miR-15a/16 in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). Deletion of miR-15a/16 (miR-15a/16(-/-)) in myeloid cells significantly decreased the bacterial infection-associated mortality in sepsis mouse models. Moreover, miR-15a/16 deficiency (miR-15a/16(-/-)) resulted in augmented phagocytosis and generation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in BMDMs. Supportively, overexpression of miR-15a/16 using miRNA mimics led to decreased phagocytosis and decreased generation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. Mechanistically, deletion of miR-15a/16 upregulated the expression of TLR4 via targeting the principle transcriptional regulator PU.1 locating on the promoter region of TLR4, and further modulated the downstream signaling molecules of TLR4, including Rho GTPase Cdc 42 and TRAF6. In addition, deficiency of miR-15a/16 also facilitated TLR4-mediated proinflammatory cytokine/chemokine release from BMDMs at the initial phase of infections. Taken together, miR-15a/16 altered phagocytosis and bacterial clearance by targeting, at least partially, on the TLR4-associated pathways, subsequently affecting the survival of septic mice.
Practical Issues in the Analysis of Univariate GARCH Models

This chapter gives a tour through the empirical analysis of univariate GARCH models for financial time series with stops along the way to discuss various practical issues associated with model specification, estimation, diagnostic evaluation and forecasting.
Fisher skills and compliance with effort‐limiting fishing regulations in a developing country: The case of Ghana

Purpose – The formal model of economics of crime developed by Becker is based on the assumption that a miscreant knows with certainty the benefit that accrues to a criminal activity. The purpose of this paper is to relax this assumption and establish a link between technical efficiency and commission of fishery crimes in a developing country where fishing techniques are rudimentary making catch volumes uncertain.Design/methodology/approach – The paper extends the neoclassical model of crime developed by Becker to account for catch uncertainties. The extended model predicts that, in addition to the risk and severity of punishment, less skilful fishermen are more likely to violate effort‐limiting fishing regulations. Primary data were obtained through a survey of 258 artisanal fishermen from the Central and Western Regions of Ghana to test the predictions of the model.Findings – The prediction that less skillful fishers are more likely to violate effort‐limiting fishing regulations is confirmed by the data....
Pesticides present in migrant farmworker housing in North Carolina.

Background Migrant farmworkers are exposed to pesticides at work. Housing provided to migrant farmworkers may also expose them to pesticides, increasing their health risks. This analysis (1) describes the presence of organophosphorous (OP) and pyrethroid pesticides in North Carolina migrant farmworker houses, and (2) delineates associations of farmworker camp characteristics with pesticide detection and concentration. Methods In 2010, 186 migrant farmworkers camps in NC were recruited (participation rate of 82.3%); pesticide wipe samples for 176 houses were analyzed. Tobacco is the predominant hand-harvested crop in this region. Two farmworkers per camp completed interviews; a third assisted with a housing inspection. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to detect OP and pyrethroid pesticides. Covariates of pesticide detection and concentration were determined with ANOVA and Tobit regression. Results OPs were found in 166 of 176 houses (average of 2.4/house); pyrethroids were found in 171 houses (average of 4.3/house). The number of different OPs detected in each camp and concentrations of these OPs were not associated with camp and housing characteristics. The number of different pyrethroids detected in each camp and concentrations of these pyrethroids were associated with camps having residents with H2-A visas, a posted North Carolina Department of Labor Certificate of Inspection, no barracks, fewer residents, no bedroom weather protection or floor violations, and no roaches. Conclusions Farmworkers are exposed to pesticides where they live. Policy on removing pesticides from farmworker houses is needed. Reducing pesticides in farmworker houses will reduce one health risk confronted by this vulnerable population. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:312–322, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Java UI : effects for controlling UI object access

Most graphical user interface (GUI) libraries forbid accessing UI elements from threads other than the UI event loop thread. Violating this requirement leads to a program crash or an inconsistent UI. Unfortunately, such errors are all too common in GUI programs. We present a polymorphic type and effect system that prevents non-UI threads from accessing UI objects or invoking UI-thread-only methods. The type system still permits non-UI threads to hold and pass references to UI objects. We implemented this type system for Java and annotated 8 Java programs (over 140KLOC) for the type system, including several of the most popular Eclipse plugins. We confirmed bugs found by unsound prior work, found an additional bug and code smells, and demonstrated that the annotation burden is low. We also describe code patterns our effect system handles less gracefully or not at all, which we believe offers lessons for those applying other effect systems to existing code.
The word ER. prepositional compounds

Dutch has no construction corresponding to our ‘of it’, ‘for it’, ‘on it’, etc.; ‘van het’, ‘voor het’ are not possible.* Instead, the word er is placed before the preposition in question.
Zeta Function Expression of Spin Partition Functions on Thermal AdS3

We find a Selberg zeta function expression of certain one-loop spin partition functions on three-dimensional thermal anti-de Sitter space. Of particular interest is the partition function of higher spin fermionic particles. We also set up, in the presence of spin, a Patterson-type formula involving the logarithmic derivative of zeta.
The theory of vibronic spectra in realistic crystals

Abstract An electron-lattice scalar interaction potential has been derived in terms of the actual lattice vibration modes and applied in the study of vibronic spectra. Good agreement is found between our calculations (lattice factor distributions) and experiments.
SRA coactivation of estrogen receptor-α is phosphorylation-independent, and enhances 4-hydroxytamoxifen agonist activity

The ability of steroid receptor RNA activator (SRA), an AF-1 coactivator, to contribute to differences in estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha and ERbeta transcriptional activity was tested. In transient transfections, SRA expression increased ERalpha- and ERbeta-dependent gene expression. However, when the receptors' amino-terminal A/B regions were examined as GAL4 DNA binding domain fusions, SRA enhanced the activity of GAL-ABalpha but not GAL-ABbeta. Exogenous SRA also enhanced AF-2 activity for both receptors, indicating that SRA effects are not limited to AF-1. Simultaneously mutating three phosphorylation sites within GAL-ABalpha domain only modestly reduced SRA coactivation of GAL-ABalpha, suggesting that phosphorylation does not play a major role in SRA function relative to this domain. SRA enhanced ERalpha activity stimulated by 4-hydroxytamoxifen, but was unable to convert this mixed antiestrogen to an ERbeta agonist. Thus, SRA is an ERalpha AF-1-specific coactivator that enhances the agonist activity of tamoxifen-bound ERalpha and may contribute to tamoxifen resistance.
Figure-ground classification based on spectral properties of boundary image patches

Image understanding requires segregation of the visual scene into perceptual objects. Due to the projection of the three-dimensional world on two-dimensional sensor surfaces, objects closer to the observer occlude those which are more distant. At any given occlusion border, it is important to decide which side is the foreground (figure) and which is the background, a decision which is influenced both by global and local image contents. In this report, we focus on local cues. We randomly select small image patches located on figure-ground borders in complex natural scenes. Spectral anisotropy features are extracted from the patches and used to train a non-linear Support Vector Machine. Using data from two large image databases (LabelMe and BSDS300), the classifier achieves an accuracy near 70% per local patch on the task of deciding which side of an occlusion is the foreground. Although in many cases global influences are important for figure-ground segregation, we suggest that the low computational cost of local computation can make it a useful strategy for figure-ground segregation.
Leading Temperature Corrections to Fermi-Liquid Theory in Two Dimensions

We calculate the basic parameters of the Fermi liquid: the scattering vertex, the Landau interaction function, the effective mass, and physical susceptibilities for a model of two-dimensional (2D) fermions with a short-ranged interaction at nonzero temperature. The leading temperature dependences of the spin components of the scattering vertex, the Landau function, and the spin susceptibility are found to be linear. T -linear terms in the effective mass and in the {open_quotes}charge-sector{close_quotes} quantities are found to cancel to second order in the interaction, but the cancellation is argued not to be generic. The connection with previous studies of the 2D Fermi-liquid parameters is discussed.
Morphology and transport properties of midblock-sulfonated triblock copolymers

The morphology and transport properties of newly reported sulfonated triblock copolymers with varying degrees of sulfonation in the midblock and two different hydrophobic end block compositions were studied. The methacrylate-b-styrene-b-methacrylate triblock copolymers were grown from the center of the polymer chain by atom transfer radical polymerization using a difunctional initiator. It was found that the degree of sulfonation had a systematic effect on the block copolymer domain size as measured by small-angle X-ray scattering. Additionally, the degree of self-assembly of copolymers with hexyl methacrylate end blocks was greater than that of the samples with perfluorooctyl methacrylate end blocks as evidenced by higher order X-ray scattering peaks and transmission electron micrographs. The phase ordering of the materials appeared to be controlled by the solvent casting properties and glass transition temperature of the outer blocks. Increased order and high sulfonation levels led the poly(hexyl methacrylate)-b-sulfonated poly(styrene)-b-poly(hexyl methacrylate) materials to have greater conductivity than analogous samples with poly(perfluorooctyl methacrylate) end blocks.
Serum pegfilgrastim concentrations during recovery of absolute neutrophil count in patients with cancer receiving pegfilgrastim after chemotherapy.

Study Objective. To examine the serum concentrations of pegfilgrastim during recovery of absolute neutrophil count (ANC) in patients with cancer who received pegfilgrastim after chemotherapy. Design. Retrospective analysis. Data Source. Data were pooled from seven pegfilgrastim registrational clinical trials: four open-label phase I or II studies and three randomized phase II or III studies. Patients. A total of 370 patients with non–small cell lung cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, non–Hodgkin's lymphoma, or breast cancer. Measurements and Main Results. Chemotherapy was given every 3 weeks, and pegfilgrastim was given once/chemotherapy cycle, 24 hours after chemotherapy completion. Data were available from 187 patients for the serum pegfilgrastim concentration analysis and from 319 patients for the ANC data analysis. Recovery of ANC to normal levels (≥ 1 × 103/mm3) correlated well with the decline of pegfilgrastim concentrations to subtherapeutic levels; this inverse correlation was observed across different tumor types. By day 12 after pegfilgrastim administration, all patients experienced ANC recovery to normal levels, and none had a serum pegfilgrastim concentration above 2 ng/ml, considered the lowest concentration to elicit clinically meaningful granulopoiesis. After administration of pegfilgrastim, a steady postnadir recovery of the ANC to normal levels was noted, and postnadir peaks of 30 × 103/mm3 or higher were observed in only three patients. Conclusion. Serum concentrations of pegfilgrastim were consistently cleared to subtherapeutic levels by day 12 after pegfilgrastim administration, and subtherapeutic pegfilgrastim levels were predicted by ANC recovery to 1 × 103/mm3 or greater.
Comfort levels of nursing faculty regarding student assignment to a patient with AIDS.

Abstract Introduction. AIDS is a major public health concern. A review of the literature suggests that many nursing faculty members may have little experience caring for patients with AIDS and that relatively little research has been conducted to examine the reactions of nursing faculty to the care of these patients. Purpose. This study, based on Peplau's interpersonal theory, was designed to examine the comfort levels of clinical nursing faculty regarding student assignment to a patient with AIDS. Methods. The survey method was utilized. A non-random sample of nursing faculty was asked to complete the Nursing Care Comfort Scale and a biographic questionnaire. Nursing faculty invited to participate in the study were those who provided on-site clinical supervision to non-RN baccalaureate nursing students. The nature of clinical supervision lay within the scope of the Nursing Care Comfort Scale. The sample was drawn from three baccalaureate programs in the northeastern region of the United States. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Data/results. Data analysis showed that the vast majority of faculty members surveyed had cared for a patient with AIDS and that they were comfortable anticipating the supervision of a nursing student assigned to provide care to a patient with this diagnosis.
Some carbonyl halide complexes of manganese(I) and rhenium(I) containing trithiophosphite ligands

Abstract The reaction of trithiophosphites, P(SR) 3 (R = CH 3 , C 2 H 5 and C 6 H 5 ), with M(CO) 5 X (M = Mn, Re, X = Cl, Br) yields complexes of the general formula M(CO) 4 P(SR) 3 X and M(CO) 3 [P(SR) 3 ] 2 X. The geometry of the disubstituted complexes is established from infrared and PMR spectroscopy to be fac -Re(CO) 3 [P(SR) 3 ] 2 X and mer -[ trans -{P(SR) 3 } 2 Mn(CO) 3 X] while all M(CO) 4 P(SR) 3 X compounds are found to be cis . From a comparison of the ν(CO) absorptions of the trithiophosphite complexes with analogous compounds containing phosphites, phosphines and aminophosphines, the order P(SR) 3 > P(OR) 3 > P(NR 2 ) 3 > PR 3 is obtained.
Four-wave mixing and luminescence of confined excitons in molecular aggregates and nanostructures. Many-body Green function approach

Abstract Four-wave mixing and spontaneous emission spectra of confined Frenkel excitons in molecular assemblies are calculated using a unified Green function approach. Applications to various time- and frequency-domain techniques show an interplay of coherent motion of two-exciton states and exciton transport in the third order response. Effect of exciton-phonon interactions and static disorder are studied. Many-body collective resonances which reflect level correlations and may not be attributed to specific pairs of eigenstates are predicted. A Kramers-Kronig representation of the nonlinear response in terms of a multidimensional spectral density offers a convenient computational scheme in condensed phases.
Cold weather and the potential range of invasive Burmese pythons

The Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) is established in Everglades National Park and neighboring areas in south Florida. Beyond its substantial ecological impacts to native fauna in south Florida, concerns have been raised as to its potential to occupy other parts of the USA, even as far north as Washington, DC. During a recent period of cold weather, seven of nine captive Burmese pythons held in outdoor pens at our facility in north-central Florida died, or would have died absent our intervention. This cold-induced mortality occurred despite the presence of refugia with heat sources. Our findings cast doubt on the ability of free-ranging Burmese pythons to establish and persist beyond the subtropical environment of south Florida.
K Giants in 47 Tucanae: Detection of a New Class of Variable Stars

We report the discovery of variability among K giants in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, using a time series of U exposures with the Hubble Space Telescope. The variables lie along a narrow band in the color-magnitude diagram, joining the faint end of the asymptotic giant branch to the red giant branch. The variations, if coherent, mostly have periods between ~2 and ~4 days, consistent with low-overtone radial pulsation or nonradial pulsation, and V amplitudes in the range 5-15 mmag, which explains their nondetection so far in clusters. One of the variables may have a period of 1.1 days and a V amplitude of 5.3 mmag. These stars define a new class of variable stars and probably contain variable field K giants such as α Boo as members. An understanding of their variations may have significant ramifications for theories of stellar structure and stellar evolution.
Short TE hydrogen‐1 spectroscopic MR imaging of normal human brain: Reproducibility studies

Studies have been performed to evaluate the reproducibility of longitudinal acquisitions with short TE spectroscopic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of human brain. In healthy volunteers, the ratios of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) and choline (Cho) with respect to total creatine (Cr) (creatine and phosphocreatine) have been examined in terms of voxel-to-voxel, acquisition-to-acquisition, and subject-to-subject variation. Overall coefficients of variation for NAA/Cr ratios and Cho/Cr ratios were 18% and 16%, respectively. The interacquisition variation was not statistically significant (P = .05) for either ratio. In terms of F ratios, the dominant source of variation in the NAA/Cr ratio was intersubject variability, whereas for the Cho/Cr ratio the dominant source of variation was intervoxel variability. Consequences of spectroscopic processing with spatial apodization and postacquisition water suppression and resolution enhancement were also examined. Such reproducibility studies are crucial if longitudinal spectroscopic evaluations are to be performed in a clinical setting to follow the natural course of disease states or the effects of therapy.
Drug laws handicapping control and education.

(1971). Drug Laws Handicapping Control and Education. Clinical Toxicology: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 141-146.
Surface and Epitaxial Overlayer Structures from X-Ray Photoelectron Diffraction (XPD)

The use of x-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD) for studies of surface and epitaxial overlayer structures is reviewed. XPD is found to provide several direct and rather unique types of structural information, including the sites and positions of adsorbed atoms, the orientations of small molecules or fragments bonded to surfaces, the layer thicknesses and morphologies of epitaxial or partially epitaxial overlayers, and short-range spin order in magnetic materials. A rather straightforward single scattering model also proves capable of quantitatively describing such data for near-surface species. New directions in such studies also include measurements with high angular resolution and expanded use of synchrotron radiation.