cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Production performance and physiological responses of Angora goat kids fed acidified milk replacer.

Angora kids were blocked by birth weight and sex and assigned randomly to goat milk or acidified milk replacer. Daily milk intake, weekly BW, and heart girth measurements, and blood parameters (packed cell volume, total protein, glucose, and NEFA) were monitored at 3 d (initial) and at 4, 6, 8, and 9 wk of age. Both groups were fed their respective milks for ad libitum intake for 6 wk and then reduced to 75, 50, 25, and 0% of wk-6 intake during wk 7, 8, 9, and 10, respectively. Solid feed (20% CP and 3.1. Mcal of metabolizable energy/kg of DM) was provided for ad libitum intake starting on wk 3. Pretreatment BW (average 2.4 kg) and blood parameters were similar for milk and replacer groups. Packed cell volume (21.8 and 34.2%), total protein (50.3 and 46.6 g/L), and NEFA (.52 and .69 meq/L) for goat milk and acidified milk replacer groups, respectively, were affected by dietary treatment. Final BW (average 10.5 kg) and mean plasma glucose concentration (84 to 88 mg/dl) were similar between treatments; however, kids fed goat milk produced more mohair (13.8%) than those fed acidified milk replacer. Despite physiological differences, acidified milk replacer can be used successfully to raise Angora kids.
β-Lactam-based approach for the chemical programming of aldolase antibody 38C2

Irreversible chemical programming of monoclonal aldolase antibody (mAb) 38C2 has been accomplished with beta-lactam-equipped targeting modules. A model study was first performed with beta-lactam conjugated to biotin. This conjugate efficiently and selectively modified the catalytic site lysine (LysH93) of mAb 38C2. We then conjugated a beta-lactam to a cyclic-RGD peptide to chemically program mAb 38C2 to target integrin receptors alpha(v)beta(3) and alpha(v)beta(5). The chemically programmed antibody bound specifically to the isolated integrin receptor proteins as well as the integrins expressed on human melanoma cells. This approach provides an efficient and versatile solution to irreversible chemical programming of aldolase antibodies.
Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae: The Role of N-Acetyl-5-Neuraminic Acid in Biology

NTHi is an exclusive human pathogen, which has evolved a number of unique mechanisms to survive within the human environment. An important part of this is the ability of the organism to take up and incorporate sialic acid into its surface structures. This protects the organism against host adaptive and innate immune factor as well as serving as a mechanism for sustaining itself within biofilms. Recent evidence suggests that this also may be the source of the evolution of human antibodies to non-human sialic acid structures, which can lead to inflammation in the host. In very rare instances, evolution of antibodies to sialylated LOS mimics of human antigens can result in autoimmune disease.
Cutting Edge: Parathyroid Hormone Facilitates Macrophage Efferocytosis in Bone Marrow via Proresolving Mediators Resolvin D1 and Resolvin D2

Bone marrow macrophages stimulate skeletal wound repair and osteoblastic bone formation by poorly defined mechanisms. Specialized proresolving mediators of inflammation drive macrophage efferocytosis (phagocytosis of apoptotic cells) and resolution, but little is known regarding this process in the bone marrow. In this study, metabololipidomic profiling via liquid chromatography mass spectrometry revealed higher levels of specialized proresolving mediators in the bone marrow relative to the spleen. The endocrine and bone anabolic agent parathyroid hormone increased specialized proresolving mediator levels, including resolvins (Rvs), in bone marrow. Human and murine primary macrophages efferocytosed apoptotic osteoblasts in vitro, and RvD1 and RvD2 (10 pM–10 nM) enhanced this process. These findings support a unique profile of specialized lipid mediators in bone marrow that contribute to a feedback system for resolution of inflammation and maintenance of skeletal homeostasis.
PERFUME: power and performance guarantee with fuzzy MIMO control in virtualized servers

It is important but challenging to assure the performance of multi-tier Internet applications with the power consumption cap of virtualized server clusters mainly due to system complexity of shared infrastructure and dynamic and bursty nature of workloads. This paper presents PERFUME, a system that simultaneously guarantees power and performance targets with flexible tradeoffs while assuring control accuracy and system stability. Based on the proposed fuzzy MIMO control technique, it accurately controls both the throughput and percentile-based response time of multi-tier applications due to its novel fuzzy modeling that integrates strengths of fuzzy logic, MIMO control and artificial neural network. It is self-adaptive to highly dynamic and bursty workloads due to online learning of control model parameters using a computationally efficient weighted recursive least-squares method. We implement PERFUME in a testbed of virtualized blade servers hosting two multi-tier RUBiS applications. Experimental results demonstrate its control accuracy, system stability, flexibility in selecting tradeoffs between conflicting targets and robustness against highly dynamic variation and burstiness in workloads. It outperforms a representative utility based approach in providing guarantee of the system throughput, percentile-based response time and power budget in the face of highly dynamic and bursty workloads.
Development of a transillumination infrared modality for differential vasoactive optical imaging

We present the development and implementation of a new near infrared transillumination imaging modality for tissue imaging. Exogenous inhaled hyperoxic and hypercarbic gases are used as “vasoactive contrast agents” via the production of changes in concentration of the endogenous HbO2 and Hb in blood. This vasoactive differential imaging method is employed to acquire data and for subsequent image analysis. Spectroscopic changes obtained from transillumination measurements on the palms of healthy volunteers demonstrate the functionality of the imaging platform. This modality is being developed to monitor suspect breast lesions in a clinical setting based on the hypothesis that the atypical tumor vascular environment will yield sufficient contrast for differential optical imaging between diseased and healthy tissue.
Overproduction of Type 8 Capsular Polysaccharide Augments Staphylococcus aureus Virulence

Type 8 capsular polysaccharide (CP8) is the most prevalent capsule type in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. However, its role in virulence has not been clearly defined. CP8 strains such as strain Becker produce a small amount of capsule on their surface in vitro. In contrast, CP1 strains such as strain M produce a large amount of capsule, which has been shown to be an important antiphagocytic virulence factor. The cap8 and cap1 operons, required for the synthesis of CP8 and CP1, respectively, have been cloned and sequenced. To test whether CP8 contributes to the pathogenesis of S. aureus, we replaced the weak native promoter of the cap8 operon in strain Becker with the strong constitutive promoter of the cap1 operon of strain M. The resultant strain, CYL770, synthesized cap8-specific mRNA at a level about sevenfold higher than that in the parent strain. Remarkably, the CYL770 strain produced about 80-fold more CP8. In a mouse infection model of bacteremia, the CP8-overproducing strain persisted longer in the bloodstream, the liver, and the spleen in mice than the parent strain. In addition, strain CYL770 was more resistant to ospsonophagocytosis in vitro by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. These results indicate that CP8 is an antiphagocytic virulence factor of S. aureus.
Cohort Study of Insulin Glargine and Risk of Breast, Prostate, and Colorectal Cancer Among Patients With Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To examine whether use of insulin glargine, compared with another long-acting insulin, is associated with risk of breast, prostate, colorectal cancer, or all cancers combined. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Computerized health records from Kaiser Permanente northern and southern California regions starting in 2001 and ending in 2009 were used to conduct a population-based cohort study among patients with diabetes aged ≥18 years. With use of Cox regression modeling, cancer risk in users of insulin glargine ( n = 27,418) was compared with cancer risk in users of NPH ( n = 100,757). RESULTS The cohort had a median follow-up of 3.3 years during which there was a median of 1.2 years of glargine use and 1.4 years of NPH use. Among users of NPH at baseline, there was no clear increase in risk of breast, prostate, colorectal, or all cancers combined associated with switching to glargine. Among those initiating insulin, ever use or ≥2 years of glargine was not associated with increased risk of prostate or colorectal cancer or all cancers combined. Among initiators, the hazard ratio (HR) for breast cancer associated with ever use of glargine was 1.3 (95% CI 1.0–1.8); the HR for breast cancer associated with use of glargine for ≥2 years was 1.6 or 1.7 depending on whether glargine users had also used NPH. CONCLUSIONS Results of this study should be viewed cautiously, given the relatively short duration of glargine use to date and the large number of potential associations examined.
FSHD region gene 1 (FRG1) is crucial for angiogenesis linking FRG1 to facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy-associated vasculopathy

The genetic lesion that is diagnostic for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) results in an epigenetic misregulation of gene expression, which ultimately leads to the disease pathology. FRG1 (FSHD region gene 1) is a leading candidate for a gene whose misexpression might lead to FSHD. Because FSHD pathology is most prominent in the musculature, most research and therapy efforts focus on muscle cells. Previously, using Xenopus development as a model, we showed that altering frg1 expression levels systemically leads to aberrant muscle development, illustrating the potential for aberrant FRG1 levels to disrupt the musculature. However, 50-75% of FSHD patients also exhibit retinal vasculopathy and FSHD muscles have increased levels of vascular- and endothelial-related FRG1 transcripts, illustrating an underlying vascular component to the disease. To date, no FSHD candidate gene has been proposed to affect the vasculature. Here, we focus on a role for FRG1 expression in the vasculature. We found that endogenous frg1 is expressed in both the developing and adult vasculature in Xenopus. Furthermore, expression of FRG1 was found to be essential for the development of the vasculature, as a knockdown of FRG1 resulted in decreased angiogenesis and reduced expression of the angiogenic regulator DAB2. Conversely, tadpoles subjected to frg1 overexpression displayed the pro-angiogenic phenotypes of increased blood vessel branching and dilation of blood vessels, and developed edemas, suggesting that their circulation was disrupted. Thus, the systemic upregulation of the FRG1 protein shows the potential for acquiring a disrupted vascular phenotype, providing the first link between a FSHD candidate gene and the vascular component of FSHD pathology. Overall, in conjunction with our previous analysis, we show that FRG1 overexpression is capable of disrupting both the musculature and vasculature, recapitulating the two most prominent features of FSHD.
Determination of vascular input impedance in near real-time using a portable microcomputer

A method for determining vascular input impedance using a portable laptop computer coupled to more conventional laboratory measurement equipment is described. The major impediment overcome in the clinical implementation of this microcomputer-based system was the rapid Fourier transformation of pulsatile pressure and flow waveforms from time domain to frequency domain. To meet this need, software was written to allow gating of data collection and Fourier analysis in a continually repetitive, alternating manner in synchrony with the cardiac cycle. High computational speed was achieved by using a math coprocessor and limiting the Fourier analysis to hemodynamically important harmonics of heart rate. >
Complete Genome Sequence of Pathogenic Guinea Pig Cytomegalovirus from Salivary Gland Homogenates of Infected Animals

The sequence of guinea pig cytomegalovirus (GPCMV) was determined by direct sequencing of salivary gland homogenates obtained following sustained, serial in vivo passage of pathogenic virus in guinea pigs. The 233,501-nucleotide salivary gland (SG) genome was noted to have 11 differences compared to the tissue culture-passaged virus, although no variations were noted in putative protein coding sequences.
Film-screen systems: sensitometric comparison of Kodak Ektavision system to Kodak T-Mat/RA system.

Abstract Background. In 1995, Eastman Kodak Company (Rochester, N.Y.) marketed the Ektavision Extraoral Imaging Film and Screen System. It produced high-resolution images by keeping the light emitted by intensifying screens from “punching through” one emulsion layer on the film to another. Objectives. The objectives of the experiment were (1) to compare the sensitometric properties of the Ektavision system to its predecessor, the T-Mat/RA system and (2) to determine whether films and screens of the Ektavision and the T-Mat/RA systems could be interchanged without clinically changing the sensitometric properties. Ektavision and Lanex Regular intensifying screens were used in combination with Ektavision, T-Mat G/RA, T-Mat L/RA, and T-Mat H/RA films. Results. The results showed that the Ektavision film was slightly slower than the T-Mat G/RA film no matter what type of screen was used. The type of screen used had little effect on inherent contrast or exposure latitude. The Ektavision film had approximately similar inherent contrast as the T-Mat G/RA film but less than that of the T-Mat H/RA film; its latitude was less than that of the T-Mat L/RA film. The manufacturer does not recommend combining T-Mat/RA film with Ektavision screens or Lanex Regular screens with Ektavision film because of a possible reduction in image resolution. But this mismatch did not clinically affect inherent contrast and exposure latitude; however, film speed was slightly affected. Conclusions. The Ektavision system is the result of advanced technology that produces images of high resolution. The high-resolution Ektavision film is slightly slower than the T-Mat G/RA film but is equivalent to it in its contrast and latitude. Therefore when changing from the combination of T-Mat/RA film plus Lanex Regular screens to that of Ektavision film plus Ektavision screens, a slight increase in x-radiation exposure should be made.
Bilingualism, writing, and metalinguistic awareness: Oral-literate interactions between first and second languages

This article reports on an investigation of the development of literacy, bilingualism, and metalinguistic awareness. The particular context of the study (high levels of bilingualism among school-age children) and the particular language contact situation (an indigenous language) offer a vantage point on the interaction between language learning and metalinguistic awareness and take into account the sociolinguistic imbalances that characterize bilingual communities of this type. The subjects who participated in the study were speakers of Spanish and Nahuatl from Central Mexico. Assessments of metalinguistic awareness related to different aspects of the children's consciousness of the languages they spoke or understood were compared to a series of assessments of reading comprehension, writing, and oral narrative in both languages. Findings suggest directions for further research along the following lines: metalinguistic awareness is related to different aspects of literacy development in different ways, the key variables being the degree of decontextualization and expressive versus receptive language tasks.
Tolerance of five riparian plants from the lower Colorado River to salinity drought and inundation

Abstract Two greenhouse experiments were conducted to compare the effects of salt stress and water stress on four native riparian species and one invasive species collected from the lower Colorado River, Mexico. Within a drying soil at the control salinity level, Populus fremontii , Salix gooddingii and Baccharis salicifolia were able to extract water from the soil equal to that of Tamarix ramosissima and Pluchea sericea . Yet, at elevated salinity levels T. ramosissima and P . sericea exhibited a superior water-use ability. Under flooded conditions all native riparian species outperformed T . ramosissima . The results show that the invasive species T . ramosissima has a competitive advantage over native species mainly with respect to salt tolerance. This suggests that pulse flooding along the river could reduce Tamarix 's competitive advantage by flushing out accumulated salts from the bankside and subjecting T . ramosissima to prolonged inundation.
Tremarctos ornatus (Spectacled bear)

Fibroblast cultures provided the karyotypes shown. The male specimen comes from Los Angeles Zoo, courtesy Dr. G. Kuehn, the female from National Zoo, Washington, D.C. through the courtesy of Dr. D.H. Wurster, Hanover, N.Y. Pairing is arbitrary in most cases, except the last pair of autosomes with characteristic secondary constriction.
Spill-over effects of ICT use in school to Thai communities

Policymakers around the world are considering whether to invest in putting information and communications technology (ICT) in schools. While the primary impact of this ICT is likely to be on the education that students get while at schools, there may be additional effects that are worth considering: adoption of ICT in the households of these students, and impact on utilization of adults who live with these students. Through an econometric analysis of survey data collected while Thailand was in the process of deploying ICT in schools, this paper first shows how the presence of students in a household affects both household adoption and adult utilization. Then the study examines how this effect changes depending on the extent to which students can access ICT at school. The ICT considered consists of computers and Internet connections. The study finds that households with students are far more likely to have adopted ICT, and this effect is stronger for students at higher educational levels, but adults in those households are no more likely to use ICT. Thus, not only is adult utilization relatively unaffected by the presence of students, but it is also relatively unaffected by the presence of ICT in the adult’s own home. For these adults, clearly making ICT more available and less costly will not increase Internet use. When a student accesses ICT at school, there is a spill-over effect on his or her household ICT adoption and ICT utilization by family members. The largest spill-over effect occurs with primary schools: making computers available in primary school increases household computer adoption somewhat, and adding Internet in the schools greatly increases both household adoption and adult utilization of computers and Internet. For junior high and high schools, computer access in schools alone has little impact on ICT adoption at home, and putting Internet access into high schools shows a small substitution effect on Internet adoption at home. Making Internet available in high schools may thereby reduce residential penetration. As for adult utilization, giving students at all educational levels access to computers without Internet has little impact on the ICT use of family members, but making Internet accessible in schools as well has a large spill-over effect on Internet usage of adults. In addition to the direct educational value, policy-makers should also consider these indirect benefits when making decisions about supporting ICT
Corporate Governance in IJVs - An Investigation of Foreign Equity Ownership Strategy

Although a plenty of studies on international joint ventures (IJVs) has been done by previous scholars, investigation from corporate governance perspective is still preliminary. It is supposed that governing IJV will be more problematic since there is a double-accountability in IJV's management, i.e. the management need to be accountable to at least two owners/parent companies. Considering the weakness of foreign owner's governing capability affected by the remoteness, using equity ownership control would be a optimal choice. Therefore, this research has empirically investigated the foreign equity ownership in IJVs within Chinese business environment. After investigation, this paper proposes that IJV dominantly owned by one partner will be prevail in its governance practice, and in fact the majority owner of successfully operated IJVs in China is always attributed to the foreign partner. The author used 'transaction cost approach' and 'bargaining power theory' to explain such phenomenon. The research method employs a qualitative approach, i.e. in-depth interview and substantive case study.
Arbitral Injustice Rethinking the Manifest Disregard Standard for Judicial Review of Awards

The manifest disregard test for judicial review of commercial arbitral awards is employed by the federal courts and those state courts operating under the so-called federal law of arbitration. The test is typically said to have two elements: - A basic mistake of law even though the correct rule was brought directly to the arbitrator's attention; and - Deliberate disregard of that rule of law by the arbitrator. Under this test, commercial awards are rarely overturned. Nonetheless, the courts are burdened with applications to vacate such awards with great frequency, almost as a knee jerk step in the process. The test, which somewhat surprisingly is applied to awards on statutory as well as common law claims, has proven largely unworkable. Given that most domestic awards are unreasoned, it is often impossible to determine whether a basic legal rule was, in fact, disregarded. The standard is often said to be inapplicable to awards which are even utterly inconsistent with the evidence. Moreover, a requirement that the basic mistake of law be deliberate fails to distinguish between purposeful attempts to do the wrong thing and those designed to do basic arbitral equity, which is thought to be integral to the commercial arbitral process. This piece canvasses use of manifest disregard in different types of cases, and offers partial attempts at improvement on the unworkable.
Growth ratios in holometabolous and hemimetabolous insects.

Evidence from studies of 105 species of insects is presented which show that holometabolous insects grow almost twice as much in linear dimension at each molt as do hemimetabolous insects (median growth ratios of 1.52 and 1.27 respectively).
Growth and Characterization of InxGa1−xP(x≤0.38) on GaP(1OO) with a Linearly Graded Buffer Layer by Gas-Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy

InxGa1-xP(x>0.27) grown on a GaP substrate has a large direct-bandgap, which is suitable for yellow light emission on a transparent substrate. Because of the large lattice mismatch, usually a thick (10-20 μm) graded buffer layer was required to reduce the threading dislocation density. In this work we report that a thin (1.2 μm for ×≈0.35), linearly graded buffer layer can filter out dislocations effectively. The structures were grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) intensity oscillations and X-ray double-crystal diffraction were used to control and determine the composition, respectively. Threading dislocations are well confined in the buffer layer, as shown under transmission electron microscopy. Dislocation loops injected into the substrate were observed, similar to those observed in the Six Ge1s-x/Si system. X-ray analysis also shows that the 3% mismatched buffer layer is fully relaxed. This relaxed buffer layer then can serve as a substrate for further growth. Homojunction and heterojunction light emitting diodes were fabricated to demonstrate the material quality.
The spillover effects of United States foreign trade zones

ABSTRACTThis article empirically tests the geographic and economic spillover effects of foreign trade zones (FTZs) in the United States by utilizing propensity score matching and the geographic rules of the programme. While these FTZ sites are designed to support manufacturing, we find that ZIP codes that receive FTZ sites experience growth in new and existing non-manufacturing establishments. Our results also show that FTZs spillover into nearby ZIP codes. We find that ZIP codes that border FTZ ZIP codes also experience positive effects on non-manufacturing establishments and these spillovers are strongest within a 5-mile radius of an FTZ.
Opp-Dibenzoporphyrins as a Light-Harvester for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

New opp-dibenzoporphyrins were prepared in a concise method that was based on a Pd(0)-catalyzed cascade reaction. These porphyrins, which contained carboxylic-acid linker groups on benzene rings that were fused to the porphyrin at their β,β'-positions, were examined as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells for the first time. Whereas all of the porphyrins showed solar-energy-to-electricity conversion, an opp-dibenzoporphyrin with conjugated carboxylic-acid linkers displayed the highest conversion efficiency and an exceptionally high J(sc) value. Cyclic voltammetry of these porphyrins suggested that the fusion of two aromatic benzene rings onto the periphery of the porphyrin lowered the HOMO-LUMO energy gap; the incorporation of a conjugated carboxylic-acid linker group decreased the HOMO-LUMO gap even further. These CV data are consistent with DFT calculations for these porphyrins and agree well with the UV/Vis absorption- and fluorescence spectra of these porphyrins.
Reliability Analysis and Design Considering Disjointed Active Failure Regions

Failure of practical engineering systems could be induced by several correlated failure modes, and consequently reliability analysis are conducted with multiple disjointed failure regions in the system random input space. Problems with disjointed failure regions create a great challenge for existing reliability analysis approaches due to the discontinuity of the system performance function between these regions. This paper presents a new enhanced Monte Carlo simulation (EMCS) approach for reliability analysis and design considering disjointed failure regions. The ordinary Kriging method is adopted to construct surrogate model for the performance function so that Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) can be used to estimate the reliability. A maximum failure potential based sampling scheme is developed to iteratively search failure samples and update the Kriging model. Two case studies are used to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Localization of endotoxin in the walls of the peripheral vascular system during lethal endotoxemia.

Summary and conclusionA minimal lethal dose of E. coli 0111:B4 endotoxin was injected intravenously into 3 dogs. Two were killed, one 10 and one 90 minutes after endotoxin administration. The third...
The Effects of E-Mentoring on Beginning Teacher Competencies and Perceptions.

There is a critical need to mentor novice special education teachers to meet the current and projected teacher shortages. However, due to the various skill-levels of beginning special education tea...
Enhancing Thermal Comfort with Ceiling Fans

To determine the effectiveness of ceiling fans in enhancing comfort, 256 subjects were examined at 24.4 C (76 F), 26.1 C (79 F), 27.8 C (82 F), and 29.4 C (85 F) (all at 50% rh), in an environmenta...
A self-correcting variable-metric algorithm for stochastic optimization

An algorithm for stochastic (convex or nonconvex) optimization is presented. The algorithm is variable-metric in the sense that, in each iteration, the step is computed through the product of a symmetric positive definite scaling matrix and a stochastic (mini-batch) gradient of the objective function, where the sequence of scaling matrices is updated dynamically by the algorithm. A key feature of the algorithm is that it does not overly restrict the manner in which the scaling matrices are updated. Rather, the algorithm exploits fundamental self-correcting properties of BFGS-type updating--properties that have been overlooked in other attempts to devise quasi-Newton methods for stochastic optimization. Numerical experiments illustrate that the method and a limited memory variant of it are stable and outperform (mini-batch) stochastic gradient and other quasi-Newton methods when employed to solve a few machine learning problems.
INTEGRATED EVACUATED CPC's FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT A new generation of advanced evacuated tube solar collectors capable of delivering efficient high temperature performance without tracking or tilt adjustment is being developed as an alternative to tracking collectors for temperatures up to and even exceeding 250°C. The essence of the design for these new collectors is the integration of moderate levels of nonimaging concentration inside the vacuum tube itself. This protects the reflecting surfaces permanently and allows the use of highly reflecting front surface mirrors with reflectances ≳95%. Previous work has established the superior performance of the concept through the fabrication and long-term testing of a proof of concept prototype. Present work is directed towards the development of a manufacturable unit which will be suitable for the widest possible range of applications. Design alternatives include scaling up of the original prototype from a 5cm to a 10cm diameter tube, the use of an internal shaped metal concentrating reflector, a variety of profile shapes to minimize so-called “gap losses” and accommodate either conventional (flow-through) or heat pipe absorber configurations.
Planning Techniques for Social Justice

As broad and ambitious a title as that of the present paper needs to be appropriately circumscribed. In Section 2 social justice is equated with poverty alleviation as estimated by a class of poverty measures sensitive to a (variable) relative deprivation concept of poverty. Given the degree of poverty aversion specified exogenously by the policy-maker, budgetary rules for poverty alleviation are presented which show how a given budget should be allocated among different socioeconomic groups – assuming a static framework and no economic interaction among groups.
Prevalence and Diversity of the Upper Respiratory Pathogen Mycoplasma agassizii in Mojave Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii)

Abstract: Upper respiratory tract disease (URTD), caused by Mycoplasma agassizii, has been deemed a threat to populations of Mojave Desert Tortoises, Gopherus agassizii. Previous work on URTD has focused on serology and visual health examinations to determine the extent of this disease in some natural tortoise populations. Here, we present the first range-wide study of the presence of the pathogen, M. agassizii, in Mojave Desert Tortoises. We detected M. agassizii in tortoise populations throughout the Mojave Desert, with notable differences in prevalence of M. agassizii among sampling sites within tortoise genotypes and sampling years. Analyses of three genetic markers in the M. agassizii genome indicated very low nucleotide diversity and no relevant spatial structuring of Mycoplasma haplotypes. We use published lines of evidence to discuss the roles of rare transmission events and long-term mycoplasmal persistence in individual hosts on tortoise URTD dynamics.
Condensation on hybrid-patterned copper tubes (I): Characterization of condensation heat transfer

Abstract Condensation heat transfer performance can be improved by increasing the condensate removal rate. Commonly, this can be achieved by promoting dropwise condensation mode in which super/hydrophobic coatings applied on the entire condenser surface. Herein, alternative mini-scale straight patterns consisted of hydrophobic (β) and less-hydrophobic (α) regions were formed on the condenser tubes. The existence of the two adjacent regions generates wettability gradient which can mitigate condensate and increase its removal rates. A parametric study was conducted to experimentally determine the influence of (β/α) ratios on the heat transfer performance and droplet dynamic under saturation condition near the atmosphere pressure with the presence of non-condensable gases (air). The results reveal that all patterned surfaces exhibited a drastic enhancement in terms of condensation heat transfer coefficient and heat flux compared to those of filmwise condensation. More interestingly, some (β/α) ratios significantly outperformed a surface with a complete dropwise condensation. In addition, an optimum (β/α) ratio of (2/1) exists with β and α-regions widths of 0.6 mm and 0.3 mm, respectively. The heat transfer coefficient of the optimum ratio is peaked at a value of 85 kW/m 2 K at a subcooling of 9 °C, which is 4.8 and 1.8 times that of a complete filmwise and dropwise condensation, respectively. Our study also reveals that the β-regions served mainly as droplet nucleation sites with rapid droplets mobility; whereas the α-regions promoted droplet removal from the neighboring β-regions, and served as drainage paths where condensate can be drained quickly under gravitational force. Furthermore, the existence of both α and β-regions on the condensing surface controls the droplets maximum diameters of the growing droplets on the β-regions. The maximum diameter is approximately 0.56 ± 3% mm, which is 26% the size of the droplets maximum diameter on a full β-region surface. In summary, this wettability-driven mechanism allows droplets to be removed from the condensing surface at higher rates, leading to a substantial enhancement in the condensation heat transfer coefficient.
Treatment Integrity of School-Based Behavioral Intervention Studies: 1980–1990

Treatment integrity (the degree to which a treatment is implemented as planned) represents a key concept in school-based intervention and is considered to be a link between use and effectiveness of...
The legacy of slavery and contemporary declines in heart disease mortality in the U.S. South.

Abstract Background This study aims to characterize the role of county-specific legacy of slavery in patterning temporal (i.e., 1968–2014), and geographic (i.e., Southern counties) declines in heart disease mortality. In this context, the U.S. has witnessed dramatic declines in heart disease mortality since the 1960s, which have benefitted place and race groups unevenly, with slower declines in the South, especially for the Black population. Methods Age-adjusted race- and county-specific mortality rates from 1968–2014 for all diseases of the heart were calculated for all Southern U.S. counties. Candidate confounding and mediating covariates from 1860, 1930, and 1970, were combined with mortality data in multivariable regression models to estimate the ecological association between the concentration of slavery in1860 and declines in heart disease mortality from 1968–2014. Results Black populations, in counties with a history of highest versus lowest concentration of slavery, experienced a 17% slower decline in heart disease mortality. The association for Black populations varied by region (stronger in Deep South than Upper South states) and was partially explained by intervening socioeconomic factors. In models accounting for spatial autocorrelation, there was no association between slave concentration and heart disease mortality decline for Whites. Conclusions Nearly 50 years of declining heart disease mortality is a major public health success, but one marked by uneven progress by place and race. At the county level, progress in heart disease mortality reduction among Blacks is associated with place-based historical legacy of slavery. Effective and equitable public health prevention efforts should consider the historical context of place and the social and economic institutions that may play a role in facilitating or impeding diffusion of prevention efforts thereby producing heart healthy places and populations.
Management of Inflammatory Fluid Collections and Walled-Off Pancreatic Necrosis

Pancreatic fluid collections are a frequent complication of acute pancreatitis. The revised Atlanta criterion classifies chronic fluid collections into pseudocysts and walled-off pancreatic necrosis (WON). Symptomatic PFCs require drainage options that include surgical, percutaneous, or endoscopic approaches. With the advent of newer and more advanced endoscopic tools and expertise, minimally invasive endoscopic drainage has now become the preferred approach. An endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS)-guided approach for pancreatic fluid collection drainage is now the preferred endoscopic approach. Both plastic stents and metal stents are efficacious and safe; however, metal stents may offer an advantage, especially in infected pseudocysts and in WON. Direct endoscopic necrosectomy is often required in WON. Lumen apposing metal stents allow for direct endoscopic necrosectomy and debridement through the stent lumen and are now preferred in these patients. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with pancreatic duct exploration should be performed concurrent to PFC drainage in patients with suspected PD disruption. PD disruption is associated with an increased severity of pancreatitis, an increased risk of recurrent attacks of pancreatitis and long-term complications, and a decreased rate of PFC resolution after drainage. Ideally, pancreatic ductal disruption should be bridged with endoscopic stenting.
On the Origins of Adaptive Behavioral Complexity: Developmental Channeling of Structural Trade-offs

Abstract Behavioral strategies combine an organism's genetic, physiological, and neurological systems into closely integrated complexes that nevertheless retain substantial environmental contingency in their expression. How does environmentally contingent and coordinated expression of behaviors evolve? While the fitness consequences of behavioral coexpression are often hypothesized to be the driving force behind the evolution of behavioral strategies, this assumes the components that comprise a strategy are ontogenetically independent. Here, we argue that because the components’ coexpression at a preceding developmental stage can delineate the range of subsequent behavioral associations, correlations among behaviors can arise through developmental linkages of behavioral components independently of their eventual fitness consequences. To distinguish this explanation from the conventional explanation of behavioral correlations arising through stabilizing selection, we need to know the mechanistic bases of behavioral associations. We propose that the basic components of behavioral strategies can arise from neural trade-offs early in development. We review evidence for this idea from recent work on the neuroanatomical basis of personality variation in humans and other animals and from studies of design principles of neural network formation. We show that some behavioral associations arise not because selection favors the association per se, but because energetic and space constraints of the brain channel developmental variation into repeatable pathways that produce predictable behavioral variation across taxa. We suggest that such developmental channeling of behavioral elements should greatly facilitate adaptive evolution in complex behavioral strategies and illustrate this with evolution of dispersal strategies.
Management of Itch in Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common itchy dermatosis that affects millions of children and adults worldwide. Chronic itch in this condition has significant impact on measures of quality of life, such as sleep. Treating itch in AD has been challenging for decades, but new drugs have emerged in the last year with significant anti-pruritic effect. The optimal treatment regimen for atopic itch addresses barrier dysfunction, inflammation, neural hypersensitivity, and the itch–scratch cycle. Topical moisturizers remain the foundation of treatment and should be used by all patients with AD-associated pruritus. Step-wise therapy, from topical anti-inflammatory creams to systemic monoclonal antibodies and immunosuppressants, is recommended. There are multiple adjuvant therapies that can be used, especially to target itch in the setting of minimal skin inflammation. Finally, patient education, sleep management, and stress relief are important components to optimize outcomes. This review assesses the latest advances and treatment recommendations for pruritus in AD. Finally, suggested therapeutic ladders and emerging treatments are discussed.
Creation I. A New Writing

“Creation” emphasizes how Levi uses literary animals to reverse that regime of “counter-creation” he identifies with Auschwitz. Initially the focus lies on an article, “Novels dictated by crickets,” in which Levi makes an original connection between animals and what he calls “uno scrivere nuovo” [a new writing]. Wondering about the nature of this “new writing” brings us to examine how Levi’s literature seems to replicate a pattern of creation–de-creation–re-creation that belongs to two biblical texts very dear to him, the Book of Genesis and the Book of Job. The former is recalled by Levi’s short story entitled “Il sesto giorno” [The sixth day]. The exploration of this story suggests Levi’s concern for the almost impossible task of properly inventing new animals.
Methodological Issues in Evaluating Cognitive-Behavioral Treatments for Students with Behavioral Disorders.

Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is based on the notion that thoughts, emotions, and actions are reciprocally linked and that changes in one of these necessarily will produce changes in the others....
Psychologic and Psychiatric Assessment

Sleep disorders have a significant adverse impact on alertness, vigilance/sustained attention, and higher cognitive functions (e.g., executive functioning and visual memory) as well as mood/affect. Neuropsychological evaluation can be helpful to evaluate the extent and severity of adverse effects of sleep disruption on cognitive functioning. Neuropsychological assessment of deficits should target the assessment of vigilance/sustained attention (frequently using a continuous performance task), executive functions (sequencing, problem solving, disinhibition, and problem solving), mood/affective functioning, and, sometimes, visual memory. Neuropsychological evaluations can have implications for identifying the extent and severity of cognitive impairments. Treatment for insomnia can improve neuropsychological function. Patients with acute sleep deprivation show improved neuropsychological functioning with a variety of stimulant medications (e.g., dextroamphetamine, modafinil, ritalin, etc.). Patients with obstructive sleep apnea show improved neuropsychological functioning following initiation of continuous positive airway pressure or bilevel positive airway pressure. Neuropsychological evaluation is also a method to document the effectiveness of treatment for sleep disorders.
Intravesical Drug Therapy

First line therapy for detrusor overactivity in patients with neurogenic bladder consists of oral agents, most commonly antimuscarinics. However, many patients suffer from severe side effects such as dry mouth, constipation and heat intolerance and therefore cannot tolerate the systemic administration of these agents. Intravesical administration, which is simply introducing the drug directly into the bladder through a catheter, attempts to maximize the local action of the medication while limiting the systemic absorption and thereby decreasing the emergence and/or severity of side effects.
Status of second VIIRS reanalysis (RAN2)

NOAA produces operational sea surface temperature (SST) data products from two VIIRS sensors, flown onboard NPP (launched in Oct 2011) and NOAA-20 (N20, aka. JPSS-1 prior to launch; launched in Nov 2017). These first two satellites in the US new generation Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) series will be followed by JPSS-2 to -4, planned for launch in 2022, 2026, and 2031, respectively. The goal of VIIRS SST Reanalyses (RANs) is to generate stable, accurate and consistent data products, which currently include Level 2P (L2P; swath projection; 26 Gb/day) and gridded 0.02° L3U (0.45 Gb/day). The RAN comprises multiples steps, including 1) RDR-to-SDR conversion, i.e., reprocessing of all available VIIRS L0 (“Raw Data Records”, RDRs) into improved L1b (“Sensor Data Records”, SDRs), using latest and most accurate sensor calibration, 2) pre-processing, which includes destriping the radiances, resampling VIIRS imagery (to minimize the effect of bow-tie deletions and distortions), and aggregating original 86-sec granules into 10-min SDR granules; 3) feeding those into the latest NOAA Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Oceans (ACSPO) enterprise SST code (currently, version 2.61), and producing L2P; 4) gridding L2P data and producing L3U; 5) matching L2P/3U data with several accurate Level 4 (L4) analyses, and with quality controlled in situ SSTs from the NOAA in situ SST Quality Monitor, iQuam, system; 6) calculation of the corresponding performance statistics – global daily mean biases and standard deviations, SDs, of various paired SST differences, ΔTs, stratified by day and night, and displaying them in the NOAA SST Quality Monitor (SQUAM) web-based system; 6) generation of SST imagery over ~30 regional targets and routine monitoring in another NOAA system, ACSPO Regional Monitor for SST (ARMS); 7) calculation of brightness temperature (BT) differences between measured BTs and those simulated using the fast Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM), as a part of ACSPO L2P processing, and displaying in another NOAA web-based system, MICROS; 8) product archival at NOAA (CoastWatch and NCEI) and at NASA/JPL PO.DAAC. NPP RAN1, performed in late 2015 jointly with UW/CIMSS using ACSPO v2.40, covered a period from Mar’2012-Dec’2015. The data from Jan’2016 – on have been supplemented from operational ACSPO products with various versions (2.41, 2.60, and 2.61). Some issues, unresolved in RAN1, are now being addressed in RAN2. The most important features of RAN2 include the addition of N20 data; fixing quarterly spikes in SST time series (resulting from the VIIRS black-body warm-ups/cool-downs, WUCDs); and using a consistent ACSPO version 2.61 for the full NPP and N20 records. As of this writing, 64 months of NPP (Jan 2014 – Apr 2019) and 16 months of N20 (Jan 2018 – Apr 2019) RAN2 data have been generated. The remaining two years of NPP data (Feb 2012 – Dec 2013), are being processed. The SST records appear stable, and consistent with in situ data and across NPP/N20. The RAN2 data are currently being archived at the NASA/JPL PO.DAAC, and NOAA CoastWatch and NCEI archives.