cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prognostic significance of HPV status in postoperative squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

BACKGROUND There are limited data on the prognostic significance of human papillomavirus (HPV) status in relation to traditional risk factors for head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in the postoperative setting. OBJECTIVE To clarify the impact of HPV status on the risk for HNSCC in the postoperative setting. METHODS We retrospectively evaluated an institutional cohort of 128 patients with HNSCC patients who had been treated with definitive surgery with or without adjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. Patient, disease, and treatment factors were analyzed as potential prognostic indicators. RESULTS Lymph node extracapsular extension (ECE), perineural invasion (PNI), and lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) positivity predicted poorer locoregional control (LRC), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS). Positive margins related to poorer DFS and OS. HPV status alone did not predict LRC, DFS, or OS. Compared with patients who were HPV-positive and ECE-negative, both HPV-positive and HPV-negative patients with ECE experienced significantly poorer OS (78.6%, 60%, and 43.7%, respectively; 𝑃 = .010 and 𝑃 = .018, respectively). LIMITATIONS Retrospective, single-institution study; small patient cohort; short follow-up time. CONCLUSION The influence of HPV in postoperative HNSCC seems limited compared with traditional risk factors such as ECE, LVSI, and PNI. De-escalation of postoperative treatment based on HPV status alone should be approached with caution.
Viral phenotype and genotype as markers in clinical trials

Treatment of AIDS and HIV infection is increasingly dependent on the use of surrogate markers to assess the efficacy of drug and biologic therapies in individual patients and in the clinical trials. Recent developments in laboratory techniques have resulted in new assays to measure circulating viral RNA in HIV-infected individuals, standardized methods to assess genotypic changes in virus associated with drug resistance and biologic assays for syncytia-inducing phenotype, a viral characteristic associated with rapid clinical progression. Studies from our laboratory have examined the relationship between surrogate markers of drug efficacy, CD4 cell changes, quantitative HIV plasma RNA and cell dilution cultures, genotypic changes associated with drug resistance and the syncytia-inducing phenotype. The results of these studies suggest that drug-resistance genotype and syncytia-inducing phenotype are independent factors that contribute to disease progression in patients receiving zidovudine. The design of studies of drugs and biologics for the treatment of HIV should include assessment of genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of HIV in addition to CD4 cell numbers and virus load.
Tribological study in microscale using 3D SEM surface reconstruction

Abstract Tribology as a branch of materials and mechanical engineering sciences incorporates concepts of friction, wear, and lubrication to discover knowledge and facts about different surfaces. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the optical microscope (OM) are two common imaging equipment that have been used in tribological research to visualize and characterize worn surfaces. SEMs are more practical than the OMs since: (1) they are able to generate higher resolution and increased magnification, and (2) they can also provide a greater depth of field. While SEM micrographs still remain two-dimensional (2D), tribological studies truly require information about three-dimensional (3D) surface structures. 3D surface reconstruction of SEM images is very useful in the literature since it helps to analyze the surface roughness of worn surfaces which can imply the wear and friction behavior of materials. In this contribution, copper pins were tested by pin-on-disk tribometer on three different counterfaces (aluminum as softer material, copper with the same hardness, and stainless steel as harder material) and worn surfaces further characterized by using an optimized multi-view 3D SEM surface reconstruction framework. The surface roughness of pin is also calculated by using the 3D SEM surface reconstruction algorithm. In addition, wear mechanisms were studied in further details. Results show that the COF and wear of copper pin against stainless steel are less than COF and wear of copper pin against aluminum and copper due to the formation of in situ iron rich layer on the surface.
Evolution and Race: An Incomplete Revolution

In November 1859 the British scientist, Charles Darwin, published an abstract of a book on which he had been working for over twenty years; its title was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
Problems with lamp current control using a PWM signal

In electronic ballasts for fluorescent lamps, it is common to use a half-bridge inverter. If the half-bridge switches are not gated with a 1:1 ratio, a PWM signal is generated at the output of the half-bridge to drive the lamp. To filter out the DC component of the lamp drive, a coupling capacitor is used. Despite of having no DC component in the lamp current, the darkening of one end of the lamp can be observed. This is caused by a discovered nonlinear electrophoresis effect of the mercury in the lamp. To avoid this effect, a new driving scheme for the half-bridge switches is presented. It can be described as toggled duty cycle (TDC). Some properties of the TDC are discussed.
Deriving labeled training data for topic link detection by alternating words

Although classifiers can be trained to estimate whether two short text segments relate to a common topic, obtaining training data for supervised learning presents a hurdle. The natural approach would be to train with topic-aligned pairs of text segments from a large corpus, but nothing is available to locate such alignments. We offer that simply partitioning the words of a large document according to their odd and even positions will yield training data suitable for certain applications and sets of features. The reason is that the partitioned texts are topic-aligned along their respective lengths despite sharing no original word instances. We further show that parametrically introducing a small amount of overlap into the partitioned texts can greatly improve the precision of a classifier.
The Role of Photodynamic Therapy in Acne: An Evidence-Based Review

Acne vulgaris is a highly prevalent skin disorder that affects almost all adolescents and can persist into adulthood. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an emerging treatment for acne that involves the use of a photosensitizer in combination with a light source and oxygen. We performed a systematic review of the literature and critically evaluated the studies. Sixty-nine clinical trials, four case reports, and two retrospective studies met the inclusion criteria, and seven of the studies were high quality. The most common photosensitizers used were 5-aminolevulinic acid and methyl aminolevulinate, and both showed similar response. Red light was the most frequently used light source, followed by intense pulsed light, and showed comparable results. Inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesions both responded to treatment, with inflammatory lesions showing greater clearance in most studies. Adverse events associated with PDT for acne were mild and included pain on illumination and post-procedural erythema and edema. PDT has been safely used in higher Fitzpatrick skin types (III–IV), although these patients had a higher risk of transient hyperpigmentation. This review supports PDT as an efficacious treatment for acne and a good adjunctive treatment for mild to severe acne, especially in patients who have not responded to topical therapy and oral antibacterials, and are not great candidates for isotretinoin. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the optimal photosensitizers, light sources, incubation times, and number of treatments for PDT use in acne.
Systematic approaches to adverse events in obstetrics, Part II: Event analysis and response

The critical arm of improvement and change comes after events are identified and classified. Getting and making things right when things go wrong defines a successful safety program. This article reviews the important tasks that should be familiar to any team approaching a serious event on an obstetrics unit. Root cause analysis is a critical, but often misunderstood, tool for dissecting the contributing factors leading to an adverse event. Successful root cause analyses have a standardized approach that result in meaningful action plans. Disclosure to the patient of the event and error, if applicable, is a new concept that is gaining traction in medicine. The review of a structured disclosure program can help programs adopt a method that has successfully gained the trust of patients and families with very few complications. Second victim support through coordinated debriefing of the individuals and teams who worked during the event is a final important measure that is important to prevent burnout or identification and classification is just the beginning to having a systematic approach to adverse events. The critical arm to improvement and change comes in the analysis and response to these events, which includes root cause analysis, corrective action plans, error disclosure, and second victim support.
Collapse performance of seismically isolated buildings designed by the procedures of ASCE/SEI 7

Abstract This article presents an analytical study of the seismic collapse performance of seismically isolated buildings and comparable non-isolated buildings. The study is based on archetypical 6-story perimeter frame seismically isolated buildings designed with special concentrically braced frames (SCBF), ordinary concentrically braced frames (OCBF) and special moment resisting frames (SMF) for a location in California using the minimum criteria of ASCE/SEI 7-10 and ASCE/SEI 7-16 and also using a number of enhanced designs. The isolation system consists of triple Friction Pendulum (FP) isolators with stiffening behavior at large displacement. Additionally, double concave sliding isolators are considered and designed per minimum criteria of ASCE/SEI 7 and without a displacement restrainer, a practice permitted by the standards. Non-isolated structures, also with braced and moment frame configurations, are designed using the minimum criteria of ASCE/SEI 7 and studied. The study concludes that seismically isolated buildings designed by the minimum criteria of ASCE/SEI 7 of either 2010 or 2016 may have unacceptable probability of collapse in the Risk-Targeted Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCER). The probability of collapse in the MCER becomes acceptable when they are designed with enhanced criteria of RI=1.0 and with isolators having a displacement capacity at initiation of stiffening equal to 1.5 times the demand in the MCER. It is also observed that designs that meet the minimum criteria of ASCE/SEI 7 of either 2010 or 2016 and without any displacement restrainer have unacceptably high probabilities of collapse.
Factors Affecting the Durability of Titanium/Epoxy Bonds

Good durability of adhesive bonds in hot-wet environments is currently an area of active research [1–3]. Often, the weakest link in a hot, humid environment is the metal/adhesive or the metal/primer/adhesive interphases. These interphase regions need more study to determine the nature of the bonding between the adherend, primer, and adhesive.
Active Single Walled Carbon Nanotube–Polymer Composites

Electric field-activated electroactive polymers (EAPs) are an attractive class of smart materials that exhibit electromechanical coupling conversion. However, they require high actuation voltages, have low blocked stresses and low operating temperatures. These current limitations are linked to inherent polymer properties such as low dielectric constant and low modulus. Our recent efforts in EAP-based nanocomposites focus on incorporating single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) to significantly improve their electromechanical response. SWNTs have shown great promise as fillers in polymer-based composites, especially in terms of improving mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. In this research we evaluate the effect of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) on the electromechanical response of polymers with varying polar nature, from non-polar to highly polar. The electric, dielectric and electromechanical strain response is studied as a function of SWNT content and polymer matrix. The electromechanical response is found to be electrostrictive and it increases with SWNT content and polarity of the matrix. Dielectric measurements are also used to measure the enhanced polarization in the nanocomposites due to the presence of SWNTs.
Introduction and synthesis of polymeric prodrugs

The conventional drug delivery system with small molecular weight usually exhibits shorter half life non specific target in the blood stream and higher overall clearance rate Thus higher doses are often required for therapy purposes and may cause terrible sides effects like toxicities on the body Due to the organ toxicities caused by these unfavorable physical and chemical properties new drug delivery systems such as polymeric with higher bioavailability and less side effects are in highly demand In this mini review we aid at bringing up an overview of polymer prodrugs with their advantages and shortages
Addictions Training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowships

The primary purpose of this article is to identify current gaps in adolescent addictions training in order to develop a strategic plan to enhance clinical and didactic curricula for child and adolescent psychiatry fellowships. The American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT) Taskforce on Addictions was assembled in 2017 and consisted of 10 AADPRT members and 4 consultants to the committee with known experience in addictions treatment and training. A 21-item survey was developed and disseminated to all AADPRT members who were Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist (CAP) fellowship directors using the AADPRT Listserv (n = 109). Data were exported from the SurveyMonkey platform to provide deidentified responses to each question. Forty-seven programs (43%) responded to the survey. In supervision and education, 40.43% of programs denied making use of expertise from Addiction Psychiatry Fellows, faculty, and resources. Common reasons for not offering specific teaching and clinical exposure include a limited number of faculty/staff, limited number of faculty/staff with expertise, and insufficient clinical sites. Curriculum content and teaching exposure varied substantially between programs. While a lack of services in adolescent addictions may be a limiting factor, developing expertise through faculty development activities, as well as nationally disseminated model curricula with educational resources has the potential to improve national adolescent addictions training.
Association of the Use of a Mandatory Prescription Drug Monitoring Program With Prescribing Practices for Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery.

Importance Most states have adopted the routine use of a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) to curb overprescribing of opioids. The American College of Surgeons promotes the use of these programs as a “guiding principle to curb the opioid epidemic.” However, there is a paucity of data on the effects of the use of these programs for surgical patient populations. Objective To determine the association of the mandatory use of a PDMP with the opioid prescribing practices for patients undergoing general surgery. Design, Setting, and Participants A prospective observational cohort study was conducted at an academic hospital in New Hampshire among 1057 patients undergoing representative elective general surgical procedures from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017. Exposures New state legislation mandated the use of a PDMP and opioid risk-assessment tool for all patients receiving an outpatient opioid prescription in New Hampshire beginning January 1, 2017. The electronic medical prescribing system was modified to facilitate and support compliance with the new requirements. Main Outcomes and Measures Change in opioid prescribing practices after January 1, 2017, and time to complete PDMP requirements. Results Among the 1057 patients (569 women [53.8%] and 488 men [46.2%]; mean [SD] age, 56.8 [15.4] years), the percentage of patients prescribed opioids after surgery did not decrease significantly (429 of 536 [80.0%] before the new requirements vs 401 of 521 [77.0%] after the requirements;P = .29). The mean number of opioid pills prescribed decreased from 30.8 to 24.0 (22.1%) in the 6 months prior to the mandatory PDMP requirement; the rate of decrease was actually less (from 22.8 to 21.9 pills [3.9%]) in the 6 months after the legislation. These new requirements did not identify any high-risk patients who subsequently were not prescribed opioids. The query and opioid abuse risk calculator together took a median time of 7 minutes (range, 2-17 minutes) to complete. Conclusions and Relevance A mandatory PDMP query requirement was not significantly associated with the overall rate of opioid prescribing or the mean number of pills prescribed for patients undergoing general surgical procedures. In no cases was a high-risk patient identified, leading to avoidance of an opioid prescription. A PDMP can be a useful adjunct in certain settings, but this study found that it did not have the intended effect in a population undergoing elective surgical procedures. Legislative efforts to mandate PDMP use should be targeted to populations in which benefit can be demonstrated.
Organic matter removal associated with forest harvest leads to decade scale alterations in soil fungal communities and functional guilds

Abstract Intensive organic matter removal (OMR) associated with timber harvest has the potential to impart long-term alterations to soil biota and associated properties and processes; however, there is a lack of data to say if this trend persists at depth. This study investigated how OMR influences long-term stability of soil fungi to a depth of 1 m using a replicated experimental pine forest in the Gulf Coastal Plain, USA. Treatments included unharvested control stands as well as low- and high-OMR stands. Intensive OMR led to significant differences in community structure and the abundance of functional guilds in surficial soil. Saprophytic taxa increased while ectomycorrhizal (ECM) taxa decreased with intensive-OMR, which correlated strongly with increased surface temperature and reduced soil nitrogen. Ericoid mycorrhizae (ERM) also increased in intensive-OMR stands, which may indicate that following disturbance, ERM could outcompete ECM for colonization of subsequent seedlings. Overall, no differences were observed below 30 cm, except for alpha diversity, which was a function of high inter-replicate variability. Our results illustrate a distinct long-term structural and functional response of soil fungi to intensive-OMR in the upper portions of the soil profile, which could lead to altered stand productivity and ecosystem services.
Post-traumatic stress and gambling related cognitions: Analyses in inpatient and online samples

Abstract Individuals with gambling disorder (GD) report much higher rates of post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSS/D) than the general population, and individuals with both PTSS/D and GD often report much greater distress and impairment in daily life in comparison to individuals with GD alone ( Grubbs, Chapman, Milner, Gutierrez, & Bradley, 2018 ). Despite these associations, little is known about the specific ways in which PTSS/D and GD might influence each other. To address this gap in research, the present work sought to examine how PTSD might be related to the expression and experience of gambling related cognitions. Specifically, it was hypothesized that individuals with PTSD or symptoms of PTSD (i.e., subclinical levels of post-traumatic stress) would demonstrate greater cognitive distortions and erroneous beliefs about gambling. To test these hypotheses, we analyzed data from two samples, an inpatient sample of U.S. Armed Forces veterans seeking treatment for gambling disorder (n = 332) and an online sample of largely recreational gambling U.S. adults (n = 589). Results consistently revealed that, in both samples, individuals with PTSD or symptoms of PTSD were likely to report greater gambling related cognitions. These findings persisted, even when gambling symptom severity and trait neuroticism were held constant. Collectively, these results suggest that PTSD is uniquely associated with greater cognitive distortions and erroneous beliefs about gambling behaviors. These findings bear distinct implications for current understandings of how PTSS/D and GD are related, as well as for treatment of individuals with dealing with this comorbidity.
Management of Fibrous Dysplasia of Proximal Femur by Internal Fixation Without Grafting: A Retrospective Study of 19 Patients.

Introduction This paper assesses whether treating patients with fibrous dysplasia of proximal femur by internal fixation with correction of the deformity, if present, without grafting is enough or not. Methods This study is a retrospective study using patient's medical records, including analysis of 19 patients with fibrous dysplasia of proximal femur treated by internal fixation only and followed up between 2000 and 2017 for at least 2 years. Epidemiologic data, clinical manifestations, radiologic and histologic investigations, surgery, functional outcomes, and complications in these patients were analyzed. Results The study included 12 male patients and 7 female patients, with a mean age of 20.74 years. Of these, two patients presented with pathologic fractures, two presented with shepherd's crook deformity, and the remaining presented with hip pain and limping. Implants used for internal fixation were intramedullary nail in four patients, dynamic hip screw in eight patients, cannulated screws in four patients, broad dynamic compression plate in two patients, and narrow dynamic compression plate in one patient. The mean follow-up period was 53.58 months. Four patients had postoperative complications. The mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score was 27.63 points. Discussion The optimal management option for fibrous dysplasia of proximal femur is debatable. We suggest that internal fixation without grafting has a good local control and satisfactory functional long-term outcome.
Preventable Hospitalizations Among Nursing Home Residents With Dementia and Behavioral Health Disorders

Abstract Objective Nursing home (NH) residents with Alzheimer's disease/related dementias (ADRD) and/or behavioral health disorders (BHD) are at high risk of hospitalizations, many of which are potentially avoidable. Empirical evidence regarding potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAHs) among these residents is quite sparse and mixed. The objectives of this study were to (1) examine the risk of PAH among residents with ADRD only, BHD only, ADRD and BHD compared to residents with neither and (2) identify associations between individual- and facility-level factors and PAH in these subgroups. Design Retrospective, CY2014-2015. Setting and Participants Long-term residents age 65+ (N = 807,630) residing in 15,234 NHs. Methods We employed the Minimum Data Set, MedPAR, Medicare beneficiary summary, and Nursing Home Compare. Hospitalization risk was the outcome of interest. Individual-level covariates were used to adjust for health conditions. Facility-level covariates and state dummies were included. Multinomial logistic regression models were fit to estimate the risk of PAH and non–potentially avoidable hospitalizations (N-PAH). Results Compared to residents without ADRD or BHD, those with ADRD had at least a 10% lower relative risk ratio (RRR) of N-PAH and a significantly lower risk of PAH, at 16% (P Conclusions and Relevance We observed a lower risk of PAH and N-PAH among residents with ADRD, with the risk for residents with BHD varying by condition. Substantial variations in PAH and N-PAH were evident across states. Future research is needed to identify state-level modifiable factors that explain these variations.
Pharaoh’s Revenge

This chapter explores Muhammad Lutfi Jumʿa’s re-translation of the place of ancient Egypt in colonial archeology, in a British “imperial gothic” bestseller of the Edwardian era, Pharos the Egyptian, by Guy Newell Boothby (1899). Selim discusses the historical contexts of the imperial gothic genre in Edwardian Britain, as well as those of its Arabic translation in order to illustrate the political and social tensions and complicities that frame literary “rewritings” across the colonial divide and to examine the ways in which nineteenth-century social theories of civilization and degeneration shaped the agendas of both British and Egyptian reformers across national borders.
Power System Resilience: Current Practices, Challenges, and Future Directions

The frequency of extreme events (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods) and man-made attacks (cyber and physical attacks) has increased dramatically in recent years. These events have severely impacted power systems ranging from long outage times to major equipment (e.g., substations, transmission lines, and power plants) destructions. This calls for developing control and operation methods and planning strategies to improve grid resilience against such events. The first step toward this goal is to develop resilience metrics and evaluation methods to compare planning and operation alternatives and to provide techno-economic justifications for resilience enhancement. Although several power system resilience definitions, metrics, and evaluation methods have been proposed in the literature, they have not been universally accepted or standardized. This paper provides a comprehensive and critical review of current practices of power system resilience metrics and evaluation methods and discusses future directions and recommendations to contribute to the development of universally accepted and standardized definitions, metrics, evaluation methods, and enhancement strategies. This paper thoroughly examines the consensus on the power system resilience concept provided by different organizations and scholars and existing and currently practiced resilience enhancement methods. Research gaps, associated challenges, and potential solutions to existing limitations are also provided.
Cancer cells harness insulin for performance enhancement

Hyperinsulinemia and insulin receptor signaling allow cancer cells to evade cell competition.
QoS Assurance in IAB Network

The 5th generation (5G) of wireless communications have stringent requirements on latency and data rate. To support this, the millimeter wave (mmWave) bands above 10 GHz have gained great attraction. However, considering the severe isotropic path loss and the harsh propagation experienced at such high frequencies, a dense base station deployment is required, which may be unrealistic due to the unavailability of fiber drops to provide wired backhauling. Integrated access and backhaul (IAB), where the wireless connection is used for the backhaul connection of base stations instead of fiber, is an attractive solution which could allow easier deployment of a dense network. In IAB, packets may be forwarded by multiple IAB nodes before arriving at the base station. Thus, how to guarantee the Quality of Service (QoS) requirement needs to be studied. In this work, we propose some QoS assurance methods based on three scenarios in IAB network. The first one is integration case, and we propose some methods to accelerate the access of IAB node. We consider that the IAB node is able to forward data for the others in the second scenario. To ensure the QoS requirements for different forwarded packets, we optimize the backhaul radio link control channel setup/modification procedure, and put forward some bearer mapping schemes. IAB node migration is considered as the third scenario due to the vulnerable wireless backhaul links. Simulation results demonstrate that some assistant information, e.g. hop count and load information, may help the integrated IAB node select a suitable parent node and thus satisfy the access latency requirement.
Exposure to information increases motivation to learn more

Low motivation to learn in undergraduate general education courses hinders learning. Research has identified strategies that increase motivation to learn before students are asked to learn content (e.g., outlining the utility of the course material for future careers). Extending this work, we propose that learning any material in a course may beget motivation to learn more, in line with the notion that the process of learning itself may spark curiosity and interest. Across three populations (college-aged individuals on mTurk, large public university students, and small private university students), we found that watching a TED Talk video (i.e., exposure to new information, learning) pertaining to any topic led to an increase in motivation to continue learning about that topic and other topics more generally. These results reveal a need to broaden models of motivation to consider the importance of exposure to content to increase motivation to learn.
Novel keto–enol tautomerism in 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene systems

We report a new synthesis of the water-soluble compound 1,3,5-trihydroxy-2,4,6-trimethylsulfonic acid (1), which exists in two tautomeric forms (60 : 40::enol%:keto%) and can be used as a proton conductor. Quantum chemical calculations show the importance of intramolecular hydrogen bonding and the presence of implicit MeOH solvent on the relative stabilities of the tautomers. 1 complexes with lanthanides through its sulfonato groups and forms a layered cage-like structure with one intramolecular and two intermolecular hydrogen bonds.
Submillimeter Wave Differential Absorption Radar for Water Vapor Sounding in the Martial Atmosphere

In this study we report on the current state-of-progress of the Water Sounding Short-range Radar (WASSR) project. The proposed WASSR instrument will facilitate estimation of near-surface water vapor profile on Mars. This project is supported under NASA's Maturation of Instruments for Solar System Exploration (MatISSE) program and is a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) differential absorption radar (DAR) instrument. The scope of the work presented here includes a discussion of (i) the science background and motivation for profiling water vapor near the Martian surface, (ii) the differential absorption radar (DAR) technique implemented at the 557 GHz water vapor absorption line, and (iii) the submillimeter wave radar system implementation and characterization.
Karius-ity and the Cat: Diagnosing Hepatosplenic Bartonella Using Next Generation DNA Sequencing and Imaging

Case Summary: A 23-year-old female with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), presented with intermittent epigastric pain, which would eventually spread to her entire abdomen. She had night sweats, chills, and regular stools. She had been evaluated twice over the last two months for posterior cervical lymphadenopathy and similar abdominal symptoms, which were attributed to a possible EBV infection. Her exam was notable for diffuse abdominal tenderness, worse in the epigastric region, without rebound or guarding. Additionally, she had a non-tender fixed lymph node in the right posterior cervical chain. Her medical …
Mechanical Mechanisms of Chromosome Segregation

Chromosome segregation—the partitioning of genetic material into two daughter cells—is one of the most crucial processes in cell division. In all Eukaryotes, chromosome segregation is driven by the spindle, a microtubule-based, self-organizing subcellular structure. Extensive research performed over the past 150 years has identified numerous commonalities and contrasts between spindles in different systems. In this review, we use simple coarse-grained models to organize and integrate previous studies of chromosome segregation. We discuss sites of force generation in spindles and fundamental mechanical principles that any understanding of chromosome segregation must be based upon. We argue that conserved sites of force generation may interact differently in different spindles, leading to distinct mechanical mechanisms of chromosome segregation. We suggest experiments to determine which mechanical mechanism is operative in a particular spindle under study. Finally, we propose that combining biophysical experiments, coarse-grained theories, and evolutionary genetics will be a productive approach to enhance our understanding of chromosome segregation in the future.
Die Politischen Auseinandersetzungen Um Die CSR-Richtlinie Der EU: Unterstützer, Gegner Und Die Ursachen Des Deutschen Widerstandes (The Political Conflicts over the CSR Directive of the EU: Supporters, Opponents, and the Reasons for German Resistance)

German Abstract: Deutsche Zusammenfassung: Die CSR-Richtlinie der EU erhoht die Transparenz der sozialen und okologischen Auswirkungen unternehmerischer Tatigkeit. Die Verhandlungen uber diesen Gesetzentwurf waren jedoch hoch umstritten. Dieser Aufsatz beschaftigt sich mit dem Entstehungsprozess und den politischen Auseinandersetzungen, die mit dieser Richtlinie verbunden waren. Wahrend Frankreich, Danemark, Holland und Belgien dieses Vorhaben unterstutzten, versuchte die Bundesregierung, sie ganz zu verhindern. Dies gelang nicht, abgeschwacht wurde die Richtlinie jedoch schon. Wie lassen sich die unterschiedlichen Positionen der Lander in den Verhandlungen (von Unterstutzung bis Ablehnung), sowie die langjahrige deutsche Ablehnung der Europaischen Gesetzgebung in dieser Hinsicht und eine eher zogerliche Umsetzung dieser Richtlinie in das deutsche Recht erklaren? Ich argumentiere, dass Anpassungskosten, die Politik der Parteien und der deutsche Mittelstand wesentliche Einflussfaktoren sind. English Abstract: The EU’s Non-Financial Disclosure Directive 2014/95/EU increases the transparency of companies’ social and environmental impacts, but the negotiations over this Directive were very contentious. This paper (in German) deals with the origins and the political conflicts that were associated with this Directive. While France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium supported the Directive, the German government opposed it tooth-and-nail. Although it could not be stopped, the text of the Directive was weakened in a number of respects. How can the positions of different countries in the negotiations (from strong support to strong opposition), as well as the longstanding German opposition to legislation in this area and the unambitious transposition of this Directive into German law be explained? I argue that adjustment costs, political ideology, and partisan politics as well as the German Mittelstand (or SME sector) are important.
Generalization of the Badger Rule Based on the Use of Adiabatic Vibrational Modes

In the last 90 years, hundreds of investigations have focused on establishing empirical relationships between bond length r and bond stretching frequency ω or bond stretching force constant k. An overview over the 67 most important investigations is presented where Badger-type relationships that emerge from these studies as the most successful ones are discussed in more detail. The existence of such relationships is rationalized with the help of a Morse model potential. In this connection, it is shown that the hard sphere size of a bonded atom has a strong impact on any bond length stretching force constant relationship. In a diatomic molecule, hard sphere sizes increase with the number of electrons increasing from cations to neutral species, and then to anions. In polyatomic molecules, a multitude of different hard sphere situations is possible and the variation occurs more smoothly in dependence of the electron-donating or withdrawing ability of substituents, the magnitude and distribution of charge, the state multiplicity, the distribution of like and opposite spin, and the deviation of the bond electron density path from the internuclear connection line. Both calculated and experimental data for polyatomic molecules reveals that Badger-type relationships between r and k exist for each bond type AB. In the case of bonds AB and AC that are closely related, the overall features of r = f(k) are similar and it is possible to define effective bond lengths that lead to more general Badger-type relationships. However, the latter are only valid within strictly defined limits and may no longer apply to charged or excited bond situations of the same bond AB. A general Badger-type rule will be preferentially one with an exponential dependence of r on k. If suitable effective bond lengths are derived for all bonding situations, a finite set of Badger-type relationships will result, which is applicable to all bonding situations AB with A from period i and B from period j thus coming close to the original concept of Badger for diatomic molecules. A prerequisite for any relationship connecting r with k is the use of local mode information. The major ways of obtaining this information via isolated stretching modes, overtones spectroscopy, frequency averaging, compliance force constants, or potential energy distribution (PED) analysis are discussed. The adiabatic internal coordinate modes (AICoMs) are described as theoretically well-founded local modes. Their properties and advantages are discussed. 1 Current address: Tyndall National Institute University College Cork, Lee Maltings, Prospect Row Cork, Ireland 1
The American Military Frontiers: The United States Army in the West, 1783–1900

Review of: "The American Military Frontiers: The United States Army in the West, 1783–1900," by Robert Wooster.
A Universal Problem in Secure and Verifiable Distributed Computation

A notion of reduction among multi-party distributed computing problems is introduced and formally defined. Here the reduction from one multi-party distributed computing problem to another means, roughly speaking, a secure and verifiable protocol for the first problem can be constructed solely from a secure and verifiable protocol of the second. A universal or complete multi-party distributed computing problem is defined to be one to which the whole class of multiparty problems is reducible. One is interested in finding a simple and natural multi-party problem which is universal. The distributed sum problem, of summing secret inputs from N parties, is shown to be such a universal problem. The reduction yields an efficient systematic method for the automatic generation of secure and verifiable protocols for all multi-party distributed computing problems. Incorporating the result from [14], it also yields an alternative proof to the completeness theorem of [9] that assiuxung honest majority and the existence of a trap-door function, for all multi-party problems, there is a secure and verifiable protocol.
On Hölder regularity for elliptic equations of non-divergence type in the plane

This paper is concerned with strong solutions of uniformly elliptic equations of non-divergence type in the plane. First, we use the notion of quasiregular gradient mappings to improve Morrey’s theorem on the Holder continuity of gradients of solutions. Then we show that the Gilbarg-Serrin equation does not produce the optimal Holder exponent in the considered class of equations. Finally, we propose a conjecture for the best possible exponent and prove it under an additional restriction. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 35B65 (primary); 30C62, 35J15 (secondary).
Radical adducts of nitrosobenzene and 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane with 12,13-epoxylinoleic acid radical, 12,13-epoxylinolenic acid radical and 14,15-epoxyarachidonic acid radical. Identification by h.p.l.c.-e.p.r. and liquid chromatography-thermospray-m.s.

Linoleic acid-derived radicals, which are formed in the reaction of linoleic acid with soybean lipoxygenase, were trapped with nitrosobenzene and the resulting radical adducts were analysed by h.p.l.c.-e.p.r. and liquid chromatography-thermospray-m.s. Three nitrosobenzene radical adducts (peaks I, II and III) were detected; these gave the following parent ion masses: 402 for peak I, 402 for peak II, and 386 for peak III. The masses of peaks I and II correspond to the linoleic acid radicals with one more oxygen atom [L(O).]. The radicals are probably carbon-centred, because the use of 17O2 did not result in an additional hyperfine splitting. Computer simulation of the peak I radical adduct e.p.r. spectrum also suggested that the radical is carbon-centred. The peak I radical was also detected in the reaction of 13-hydroperoxylinoleic acid with FeSO4. From the above results, peak I is probably the 12,13-epoxylinoleic acid radical. An h.p.l.c.-e.p.r. experiment using [9,10,12,13-2H4]linoleic acid suggested that the 12,13-epoxylinoleic acid radical is a C-9-centred radical. Peak II is possibly an isomer of peak I. Peak III, which was observed in the reaction mixture without soybean lipoxygenase, corresponds to a linoleic acid radical (L.). The 12,13-epoxylinoleic acid radical, 12,13-epoxylinolenic acid radical and 14,15-epoxyarachidonic acid radical were also detected in the reactions of linoleic acid, linolenic acid and arachidonic acid respectively, with soybean lipoxygenase using nitrosobenzene and 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane as spin-trapping agents.
Proving the Chinese Remainder Theorem by the Cover Set Induction

An experiment of the cover sel induction principle in RRL is presented with a proof of the Chinese Remainder theorem. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first machine proof of the theorem. The proof itself can be viewed as the correctness proof of a program which computes the least positive simultaneous solution of n congruence equations. We also discussed the problems involved in proving the theorem: designs of good specifications and induction schemes and control of rewriting.
Dependence of hydrogen recycling on molecular effects in tokamaks

In a tokamak discharge, the external fuel, the hydrogen desorbed from the wall and a fraction of the plasma flux which recycles from the limiter enter the discharge as wall-temperature hydrogen molecules. In tokamak transport codes, the neutral hydrogen is usually introduced at the plasma edge as atoms with an energy of several eV. Recently the importance of molecular effects has been emphasized in Monte-Carlo neutral transport modeling of divertor chambers [I]. In this paper, we
Stability of Relative Equilibria in the Full Two-Body Problem

A BSTRACT : The stability of relative equilibrium solutions for the interaction of two massive bodies is explored. We restrict ourselves to the interaction between an ellipsoid and a sphere, both with finite mass. The study of this problem has application to modeling the relative dynamics of binary asteroids, the motion of spacecraft about small bodies, and the dynamics of gravity gradient satellites. The relative equilibrium can be parameterized by a few constants, including the mass ratio of the two bodies, the shape of the ellipsoid, and the normalized distance between the two bodies. Planar stability is characterized over this range of parameter values. When restricted to motion in the symmetry plane, the dynamical problem can be reduced to a two-degrees of freedom Hamiltonian system, which allows for an efficient computation of stability characteristics of the relative equilibria. Future work will look at full stability of these relative equilibria. K EYWORDS : stability; relative equilibria; full two-body problem
HYPERPLASIA OF THE ADRENAL CORTICAL TISSUE IN PACIFIC SALMON (GENUS ONCORHYNCHUS) AND RAINBOW TROUT (SALMO GAIRDNERII) ACCOMPANYING SEXUAL MATURATION AND SPAWNING

A comparative study was made of the histological changes occurring in the adrenal cortical tissue of the Pacific salmon, the sea-run steelhead trout, and the non-migratory rainbow trout at various stages in their life cycles with the purpose of ascertaining whether there exists a relationship between degree of adrenal hyperplasia at spawning and survival thereafter. These three fishes show varying post-spawning outcomes from death of all the salmon to partial mortality in steelhead to usual survival of the rainbow trout. The adrenal cortical tissue, found in the cephalic end of the kidney, consists in the sexually immature fish of small isolated groups of characteristic cells which are usually associated with branches of the cardinal vein. With the onset of gonadal development the adrenal cells begin to increase in number and by the time sexual maturity is reached in the salmon and steelhead, marked hyperplasia is present. The cells of this hyperplastic tissue are larger than those in the immature fish an...
How polymeric solvents control shear inhomogeneity in large deformations of entangled polymer mixtures

This work aims to elucidate how molecular parameters dictate the occurrence of inhomogeneous cohesive failure during step strain and large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) respectively in entangled polymer mixtures. Based on three well-entangled polybutadiene (PB) mixtures, we perform simultaneous rheometric and particle-tracking velocimetric (PTV) measurements to illustrate how the slip length controls the degree of shear banding. Specifically, the PB mixtures were prepared using the same parent polymer (M w ∼ 106 g/mol) at 10 wt.% concentration in respective polybutadiene solvents (PBS) of three different molecular weights 1.5, 10, and 46 kg/mol. After step strain, the entangled PB mixture with PBS-1.5 K displayed interfacial failure whereas the PB mixture with PBS-10 K showed bulk failure, demonstrating the effectiveness of our strategy to suppress wall slip by controlling PBS’ molecular weight. Remarkably, the PBS-46K actually allows the elastic yielding to occur homogeneously so that no appreciable macroscopic motions were observed upon shear cessation. PBS is found to play a similar role in LAOS of these three PB mixtures. Finally, we demonstrate that in case of the slip-prone mixture based on PBS-1.5 K the interfacial failure could be drastically reduced by use of shearing plates with considerable surface roughness.
Dichotic listening and the cerebral organization of the phonetic and semantic components of language.

Two words were presented dichoticly and the subject was required to point to visually presented words that either rhymed with or were semantically related to those words. Task demands were varied in terms of the number and type of stimuli which the auditory and visual words actually matched. Performance was superior when either type of stimulus was presented to the Left Hemisphere via the Right Ear, resulting in the standard Right Ear Advantage (REA) for verbal material. The strength of the REA, however, depended both on the type of stimuli and the specific demands of the task. It was concluded that, since language has many components, dichotic listening can be used to investigate the relative contributions of the two cerebral hemispheres to those various components