cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Early Onset Drinking Predicts Greater Level But Not Growth of Alcohol-Induced Blackouts Beyond the Effect of Binge Drinking During Emerging Adulthood

BACKGROUND: Early onset drinking is associated with later heavy drinking and related consequences. Early drinking onset and binge drinking are also independently associated with blackouts, which are periods of amnesia for events during a drinking episode. The objective of this study was to examine how early onset drinking relates to changes in the frequency of experiencing blackouts across 3 years controlling for year-specific binge drinking. METHODS: Participants (N = 1,145; 67.9% female) from a 6-year, longitudinal study are included in these analyses. Measures of self-reported age at drinking onset included ages at first drink, first high, and first drunk, which were used to create a latent early onset drinking factor. Frequency of binge drinking and blackouts were assessed annually during Years 4 to 6. RESULTS: Overall, 69.2% of participants reported experiencing blackouts. After controlling for year-specific binge drinking, a growth curve model indicated that early onset drinkers reported more frequent blackouts at Year 4. There were, however, no significant effects of acceleration or deceleration in the frequency of blackouts across the 3 years. Early onset drinkers continued to experience more frequent blackouts compared with those who initiated alcohol use later, despite decreases in binge drinking over time. CONCLUSIONS: Early onset drinkers reported more frequent blackouts across all 3 years, indicating that early alcohol initiation predisposes those individuals to continue to experience more frequent blackouts, despite a decrease in their binge drinking. This may be due to various factors, such as altered hippocampal development and functioning resulting from early alcohol exposure. Language: en
Nonlinear control of industrial processes

As a result of increased customer demand for consistent attainment of high product quality, coupled with increasingly stringent safety and environmental regulations, and intensified global competition, the current drive in the chemical and allied industries has been towards more efficient utilisation of existing assets (especially capacity and energy) rather than new capital expenditure. The result is that a growing number of industrial processes must now operate under conditions that emphasise their inherent nonlinearities. Nonlinear control is thus becoming more important in industrial practice. This chapter assesses the current status of nonlinear control applications in the chemical industry, discusses some of the most pertinent issues of, and barriers to, practical implementation, and presents an actual industrial application to illustrate the main points.
Sustainable development in health.

There is growing tension between the desire to expand access to modern medical technology the need to provide universal access to health services for larger and longer-lived populations and shrinking resources for the health sector especially primary health care. UNICEF maintains its position that health care is a human right which society must strive to ensure for everyone. The author notes that for the first time in history national programs of action are guiding efforts to improve the lives of almost all of the worlds children. Malnutrition has been reduced immunization levels are generally being maintained or increased the level of measles mortality has declined by 80% from pre-immunization levels polio has been eradicated from large areas of the developing world disabilities such as mental retardation and blindness caused by dietary disorders are being defeated on a massive scale the use of oral rehydration therapy is increasing guinea worm disease has been reduced by 90% thousands of hospitals in developing and more developed countries are actively supporting breastfeeding progress in primary education is being resumed and 177 nations have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While these achievements have not made the nightly news they have changed the daily lives of many millions of families in some of the worlds poorest communities.
Generalized treatment of magneto-optical transmission filters

This work has constructed a model for the theoretical analysis of generalized magneto-optical transmission filters for any relative angle between the light beam and the applied magnetic field. This model was experimentally validated and shows good agreement between the theoretical predictions and experimental spectra. In addition, the value of examining magneto-optical filters for arbitrary angle cases was demonstrated by revealing an optimized filter with an equivalent noise bandwidth of 0.56 GHz, which is approximately a factor of 2 better than those previously reported.
A controlled trial of fluconazole or amphotericin B to prevent relapse of cryptococcal meningitis in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The NIAID AIDS Clinical Trials Group and Mycoses Study Group.

Abstract Background. After primary treatment for cryptococcal meningitis, patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) require some form of continued suppressive therapy to prevent relapse. Methods. We conducted a multicenter, randomized trial that compared fluconazole (200 mg per day given orally) with amphotericin B (1 mg per kilogram of body weight per week given intravenously) in patients with AIDS who had completed primary therapy for cryptococcal meningitis with amphotericin B (≥15 mg per kilogram). To be eligible, patients had to have at least two negative cultures of cerebrospinal fluid immediately before randomization. The primary end point was relapse of cryptococcal disease as confirmed by biopsy or culture. Results. Of 218 patients initially enrolled, 119 were assigned to fluconazole and 99 to amphotericin B. Twenty-three patients were found not to have met the entry criteria; six other patients assigned to amphotericin B did not receive it and were lost to follow-up. Of the rem...
The Relationship between Values and Practice Organizational Climates for Wrongdoing

Previous research on whistle-blowers has tended to focus on the individual as the unit of analysis rather than on the organization or its subunits. Subunit level analysis of survey data from 15 subunits of the U.S. government was used to examine the relationship between members' values concerning wrongdoing and whistle-blowing and the organization's practices. We conclude that "positive" organizational climates may discourage serious wrong-doing and encourage whistle-blowing under some conditions, but the relationship is not as straightforward as might be expected.
MOTIVES FOR PARTICIPATION IN TRIATHLONS AMONG MIDLIFE TO OLDER BLACK WOMEN: A MIXED METHOD STUDY

MOTIVES FOR PARTICIPATION IN TRIATHLONS AMONG MIDLIFE TO OLDER BLACK WOMEN: A MIXED METHOD STUDY By: Candace Safiya Brown, PhD, MAG, MEd A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2016 Major Director: J. James Cotter, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Gerontology BACKGROUND: Research has established the positive link between physical activity and its impact on health among adults. Generally, as people get older, they are less likely to be active. Black women comprise 13% of the women in the US but constitute 52% of women who are inactive. Existing articles on exercise motivation among Black women have generally assessed sedentary individuals. Little research has examined the motivations to exercise among physically active Black women. METHODS: Guided by the regulators of the Self Determination Theory, the 56 item Motivations of Marathoners Scales for Triathletes (MOMS-T) was used to assess the motives of (N =121) midlife to older Black women (36+) and then transformed into a semi structured guide to interview (n =12) women to further understand their motives for participating in triathlons. RESULTS: Univariate and two way analysis reveals age as a predictor for the four regulators (external, introjection, integration and intrinsic) but BMI and distance are not. Integration demonstrated the highest mean. Qualitative results indicated that construct of self competition and receiving medals are important aspects of participation but are not measured in the survey. A new scale, triathlete lifestyle, should be considered within the MOMS-T. CONCLUSION: Findings were representative of the study population and comparable to previous studies. The survey transformation of the MOMS-T into an interview guide provided additional qualitative explanations of the survey answers demonstrating a secondary method of gathering data as important to provide further understanding about constructs not measured in the survey form of the MOMS-T.
Patterns of Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Progression in Kawasaki Patients: A Crystal Ball for Long-Term Vascular Health?

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute vasculitis of unknown etiology that predominantly affects infants and young children. It manifests with fever, rash, enanthem, conjunctival injection, extremity changes, cervical adenopathy, and laboratory test results reflecting intense systemic inflammation.[1][1
Methods for Estimating Virus Infectivity

Foodborne viruses of human health concern can be observed using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), but whether the viral particles are infectious or not cannot be determined by TEM. The determination of the presence of infectious virus is crucial in the food industry as well as clinical and environmental studies to control viral spread. A brief overview of the current research trends and approaches for the determination of enteric virus infecitivity with a focus on mainly human noroviruses and hepatitis A virus is summarized.
Improving the order and rates of convergence for the Super-Halley method in Banach spaces

In this study we are concerned with the problem of approximating a locally unique solution of an equation on a Banach space. A semilocal convergence theorem is given for the Super-Halley method in Banach spaces. Earlier results have shown that the order of convergence is four for a certain class of operators [4], [5], [8]. These results were not given in affine invariant form, and made use of a real quadratic majorizing polynomial. Here, we provide our results in affine invariant form showing that the order of convergence is at least four. In cases that it is exactly four the rate of convergence is improved. We achieve these results by using a cubic majorizing polynomial. Some numerical examples are given to show that our error bounds are better than earlier ones.
Track geometry big data analysis: A machine learning approach

Track geometry has a considerable effect on rail travel comfort and safety and deteriorates with age and tonnage. In order to maintain the track geometry quality, maintenance activities such as tamping, stone blowing and ballast undercutting are usually employed. However, these activities are ineffective if the underlying cause of track deformation such as subgrade failure is not addressed. Geosyn-thetics such as geocells and geogrids can be placed in the subballast which strengthens the layer, lowers the stresses on the weak subgrade and invariably enhances track geometry quality. Machine learning techniques are becoming increasingly imperative in processing and analyzing of large volumes of track geometry data which exhibit the classical attributes of big data. Several unsupervised and supervised learning techniques were used to analyze the effect of geocell installation on track geometry quality. Cluster analysis was used to group the track geometry data with major clusters found to differ by surface and alignment features. Principal component analysis was employed as an effective dimension reduction tool to simplify the track geometry data based on the proportion of variance explained. Supervised learning techniques such as multiple linear regression, decision tree regression, random forest regression and support vector regression were subsequently used to estimate and predict the effect of geocell installation on the track geometry quality. Random forest regression was found to the best performing model for both the original and dimensionally-reduced data.
Preparation of Cellular Extracts from Xenopus Eggs and Embryos

Cell-free cytoplasmic extracts prepared from Xenopus eggs have been used extensively to recapitulate and characterize intracellular events in vitro. Egg extracts can be induced to transit the cell cycle and reconstitute assembly of dynamic structures including the interphase nucleus and the mitotic spindle. In this protocol, methods are described for preparing crude cytoplasmic extracts from Xenopus eggs and embryos that are arrested in metaphase of the cell cycle. The basic protocol uses unfertilized Xenopus laevis eggs, which are crushed by centrifugation in the presence of EGTA to preserve the natural cytostatic factor (CSF) activity that maintains high levels of Cdk1/cyclin B kinase and metaphase arrest. In the second method, the basic procedure is adapted for Xenopus tropicalis eggs with minor modifications to accommodate differences in frog size, timing of egg laying, and temperature and salt sensitivity. The third variation takes advantage of the synchronous divisions of fertilized X. laevis eggs to generate extracts from embryos, which are arrested in metaphase by the addition of nondegradable cyclin B and an inhibitor of the anaphase-promoting complex (APC) that together stabilize Cdk1/cyclin B kinase activity. Because they are obtained in much smaller amounts and their cell cycles are less perfectly synchronized, extracts prepared from embryos are less robust than egg extracts. X. laevis egg extracts have been used to study a wide range of cellular processes. In contrast, X. tropicalis egg extracts and X. laevis embryo extracts have been used primarily to characterize molecular mechanisms regulating spindle and nuclear size.
Women's lives in times of Zika: mosquito-controlled lives?

Zika virus infection during pregnancy is a cause of congenital brain abnormalities. Its consequences to pregnancies has made governments, national and international agencies issue advices and recommendations to women. There is a clear need to investigate how the Zika outbreak affects the decisions that women take concerning their lives and the life of their families, as well as how women are psychologically and emotionally dealing with the outbreak. We conducted a qualitative study to address the impact of the Zika epidemic on the family life of women living in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the US, who were affected by it to shed light on the social repercussions of Zika. Women were recruited through the snowball sampling technique and data was collected through semi-structured interviews. We describe the effects in mental health and the coping strategies that women use to deal with the Zika epidemic. Zika is taking a heavy toll on women’s emotional well-being. They are coping with feelings of fear, helplessness, and uncertainty by taking drastic precautions to avoid infection that affect all areas of their lives. Coping strategies pose obstacles in professional life, lead to social isolation, including from family and partner, and threaten the emotional and physical well-being of women. Our findings suggest that the impacts of the Zika epidemic on women may be universal and global. Zika infection is a silent and heavy burden on women’s shoulders.
Primary External Dacryocystorhinostomy

Epiphora may be the result of obstruction of the outflow tract, excessive tear production, lacrimal pump failure, or abnormalities of eyelid position or movement. With external dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR), the lacrimal sac is directly incorporated into the lateral wall of the nasal cavity, allowing the canaliculi drain directly into the nose.
Taxonomic Implications of Sexual Dimorphism in Lufengpithecus

Sexual dimorphism frequently complicates the determination of species numbers in fossil samples. This has been particularly true for anthropoid primates, among whose living members are some of the most highly size dimorphic extant terrestrial mammals (Jungers and Susman, 1984; Markham and Groves, 1990). A number of Miocene hominoid fossil assemblages have been interpreted as sampling a single large-bodied species displaying substantial body-size dimorphism, usually inferred from apparently very high levels of dental dimorphism, since most hominoid samples preserve few or no postcranial remains. These include sites from the early (Songhor, Koru, Rusinga), middle (Maboko, Ft. Ternan, Nachola, Pasalar), and late (Siwaliks, Lufeng, Rudabanya, Ravin de la Pluie) Miocene (de Bonis, 1983, 1984; Kelley and Pilbeam, 1986; Kelley, 1986a,b; Pickford, 1985, 1986a,b; Wu and Wang, 1987; Kelley and Etler, 1989). In the case of at least one species, from the early Miocene site of Rusinga in Kenya, it has been suggested that dental and body-size dimorphism were perhaps greater than in any living anthropoid (Kelley and Pilbeam, 1986; Kelley, 1986a; Pick-ford, 1986a).
Insect Herbivory in the Transition to California Annual Grasslands: Did Grasshoppers Deliver the Coup de Grass?

Herbivory has been shown to greatly influence plant productivity (Crawley 1983) and spatial distribution (Harper 1977; Louda 1982). Among the many groups of herbivores in grasslands, insects such as grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) are very common and intermittently remove large portions of the above-ground biomass (Hewitt 1977, 1978). Immediate losses to grasshoppers are often obvious, especially when densities are high. However, the net effect of herbivory has been hypothesized to be positive under certain circumstances (Dyer et al. 1982; McNaughton 1979; McNaughton et al. 1982) while negative under most (Belsky 1986). At present, the impact of insect herbivores in most grasslands, especially on dominant grasses, is not understood. In this chapter, I assess the possible role of herbivory from grasshoppers in the restructuring of California grasslands dominated chiefly by native, perennial bunch grasses to introduced, annual grass species (Jackson 1985). Since specific information concerning grasshoppers from California grasslands is generally lacking, I will summarize patterns and processes of grasshopper feeding from other North American grasslands and suggest possible mechanisms by which grasshoppers may have contributed to the altered balance between native and introduced grass species.
New Juan Crow Education as a Context for Institutional Microaggressions: Latina/o/x Students Maintaining College Aspirations:

Latina/o/x students aspire to earn a college degree but given that they likely attend urban high schools with inadequate educational opportunities and high-discipline environments, more research is needed to examine the influence of institutional racism on aspirations. This case study was guided by the frameworks of New Juan Crow in Education and racial microaggressions. Using ethnographic data from observations, semi-structured interviews with educators, and oral history interviews with Latina/o/x students, this study examined the experiences of student participants with institutional microaggressions and the influence on college-going aspirations. Implications address the cumulative effects of microaggressions and inform asset-based research, policies, and practices.
What have we learned? A review of stated preference and choice studies on autonomous vehicles

Abstract This paper provides a review of studies published in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and technical academic and private sector reports on surveys about autonomous vehicles (AVs) from 2012 onward. The studies and respective surveys are categorized in this paper based on the study objectives and methodology applied. More than half of the reviewed studies on AVs focus on capturing individuals’ behavioral characteristics and perceptions. The second most prevalent category includes studies about individuals’ willingness to pay to use AVs. The reviewed studies were also categorized according to the study population. The paper identifies and classifies attitudinal questions in each survey into different components that may affect behavioral intention to ride in AVs and provides information on specific hypotheses that were set in the studies. Moreover, a discussion of the benefits, barriers/concerns, and opportunities related to the deployment of AVs is presented. The paper concludes by summarizing the lessons learned and outlining the research gaps.
Experimental Characterizations and Analysis of Deep Learning Frameworks

Big Data has fueled the wide deployment of Deep Learning (DL) in many fields, such as image classification, voice recognition and NLP. The growing number of open source DL software frameworks has put forward high demands on comparative study of their efficiency with respect to both runtime performance and accuracy. This paper presents a brief overview of our empirical evaluation of four representative DL frameworks: TensorFlow, Caffe, Torch and Theano through a comparative analysis and characterization. First, we show that the complex interactions among neural networks (NN), hyper-parameters, their specific runtime implementations and datasets are latent factors for the uncertainty of runtime performance and accuracy. Second, we characterized the CPU/GPU resource usage patterns under different configurations for different frameworks to obtain an in-depth understanding of the impact of different batch sizes. Third, we describe the data loading process of ImageNet for TensorFlow and present an experimental characterization of TensorFlow with respect to its data loading process when the dataset is too large to fit into the main memory of the CPU server. We conjecture that our experimental characterization and analysis can offer empirical guidance for users and application developers to select the right DL frameworks and configurations for their domain-specific learning tasks and datasets.
Fostering Resilience among Couples Coparenting a Young Child with Autism: An Evaluation of Together We Are Stronger

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to evaluate a 4-week caregiver training program designed to promote resilience among couples raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Seven couples...
Fungicides for Control of Downy Mildew on Pickling Cucumber in Michigan

Michigan growers rely on fungicides to limit cucurbit downy mildew (CDM), incited by Pseudoperonospora cubensis; resistance of the pathogen to fungicides is a concern. We evaluated fungicides again...
Nutrient and Pathogen Suppression Properties of Anaerobic Digestates from Dairy Manure and Food Waste Feedstocks

Anaerobic co-digestion of dairy manure and food wastes is increasing in the New England region of the United States because of policy measures intended to divert organic materials from landfills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase renewable biogas energy production. The sustainability of this approach depends on the management and valorization of remaining solid and liquid residues (i.e., digestates) after anaerobic digestion. Few studies have characterized digestates derived from combined dairy manure and food waste feedstocks. In this study, we analyzed screw-press separated liquid and solid digestates from 6 of 26 (23%) operational full-scale facilities in New England. We quantified multiple pools of nitrogen and phosphorus in these materials, with results suggesting that, in most cases, these nutrients largely exist in forms that can be recycled via slow-release fertilization, with smaller fractions in forms more easily lost to the environment. Furthermore, we found that solid digestates can inhibit mycelial growth of a common soilborne fungal pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani, suggesting potential to manage resident soil pathogens. Capitalizing on both nutrient recycling and pathogen suppression co-benefits will likely be useful in digestate valorization efforts.
Cordemoy and ‘Cartesian Linguistics’

It is hard to exaggerate our debt to seventeenth-century thought. So much of what has occurred, intellectually speaking, in more recent times may be traced back to arguments developed by representatives of the grand siecle. Even the techniques of diffusion current then—learned academies, rapid translations (usually into Latin, but often into other vernaculars), exchange of correspondence—remain ours today and have been only partially supplanted. If, as is frequently the case, antiquity or the Middle Ages are also involved, the perspective taken by present-day thinkers has usually been first conditioned by viewpoints proper to seventeenth-century thought. Consequently, even philosophers of the second or third rank deserve our close attention. Next to the giants—Galileo, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Malebranche—a host of lesser figures cope, so to speak, on a day-to-day basis with an astonishingly wide variety of concepts and concerns. (These notions usually grow out of the vast philosophical systems assembled by the great thinkers.) Some examples are rather startling.
Thinking the empire whole

Most scholarship on the British empire in the eighteenth century tends to focus on the empire’s relationship with one or another region that would later become a nation-state. We argue that imperia...
Temperature sensitive Mutant Proteome Profiling: a novel tool for the characterization of the global impact of missense mutations on the proteome

ABSTRACT Temperature sensitive (TS) mutants have been foundational in the characterization of essential genes. However, a high-throughput workflow for characterization of biophysical changes in TS mutants is lacking. Temperature sensitive Mutant Proteome Profiling (TeMPP) is a novel application of mass spectrometry (MS) based thermal proteome profiling (TPP) to characterize effects of missense mutations on protein stability and PPIs. This study characterizes missense mutations in two different subunits of the 26S proteasome on the thermal stability of the proteome at large, revealing distinct mechanistic details that were not obtained using only steady-state transcriptome and proteome analyses. TeMPP is a precise approach to measure changes in missense mutant containing proteomes without the requirement for large amounts of starting material, specific antibodies against proteins of interest, and/or genetic manipulation of the biological system. Overall, TeMPP provides unique mechanistic insights into missense mutation dysfunction and connection of genotype to phenotype in a rapid, non-biased fashion.
Hypertension and the Heart and Vasculature

The importance of the heart as a target for end-organ damage in hypertensive disease has long been recognized. This chapter describes the structural and functional cardiac and vascular alterations noted with sustained, pathological increases in systemic arterial blood pressure, as well as the clinical relevance of these alterations. Through mechanisms that include the hemodynamic effects of increased cardiac afterload, direct cellular influences, and activation of and interactions with various neurohumoral systems, systemic hypertension is able to affect phenotypic changes to the heart that most commonly include concentric left ventricular hypertrophy, and which result in altered diastolic and systolic myocardial function. Although typically subclinical, the cardiovascular alterations noted in response to chronic, pathological increases in systemic arterial blood pressure may increase the affected animal’s risk for life-threatening complications, particularly in patients with pre-existing heart disease or in those faced with additional hemodynamic stressors.
Comprehensive Compositional and Structural Comparison of Coal and Petroleum Asphaltenes Based on Extrography Fractionation Coupled with Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance MS and MS/MS Analysis

A recently developed extrography separation method fractionates petroleum asphaltenes based on their ionization efficiency, which correlates with polarity, aggregation tendency, and asphaltene stru...
Characterization of all-terrain vehicle-related thoracolumbar spine injury patterns in children using the AOSpine classification system.

To evaluate thoracolumbar spine injury patterns, demographics, and clinical characteristics in pediatric patients following all-terrain vehicle-related trauma. A retrospective review of patients 0–17 years old admitted to a level I trauma center following an ATV-related incident from 2004 to 2013 was performed. Thoracolumbar spine injury patterns, accident mechanism, driver/passenger status, and demographic and clinical data were compared between patients with and without a spine injury. Of 456 pediatric patients involved in ATV-related trauma, 36 sustained one or more thoracolumbar spine injuries (7.9%). These patients tended to be older, taller, heavier, and had a higher BMI. ATV rollover was the major statistically significant mechanism of injury to cause spine fractures (61%). Patients with spine injuries had twice the hospital length of stay compared with those without (4 days vs. 2 days, P = 0.003). Nonstructural spine injuries (A0) were the most common type of injury (49.1%), followed by wedge-compression fractures (A1) (41.1%). In patients with a thoracolumbar spine injury, there was a mean of 3.11 spine injuries per child. Four (10%) patients with thoracolumbar spine fractures also sustained a cervical spine fracture. Once a thoracolumbar spine injury has been detected in a patient, the entire spinal column should be scrutinized because there is a high likelihood for additional injuries throughout the spine. Younger pediatric patients (≤ 8 years old) exhibit a spine fracture pattern distinct from that of older children who have a mature osseous-ligamentous complex.
Abstract 992: IL-6/STAT3-mediated inflammatory signaling results in dysregulated fibroblast growth factor receptor activation and tumor cell signaling in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating malignancy characterized by delayed diagnosis and the lowest five-year survival amongst all cancer sites. PDAC development and progression are attributed to chronic inflammation and associated tissue repair mechanisms which contribute to high density tumor formation and chemoresistance. PDAC-associated inflammation is, in part, owed to high levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and its activated pathways including JAK/STAT3. In Addition, Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling pathways are known to be dysregulated in cancer and have been implicated in various malignancies including PDAC. As such, we sought to explore the association between IL-6-induced inflammatory signaling and FGF signaling activation. To observe this effect as it pertains to carcinogenesis and cancer progression we used four human cell lines ranging from healthy pancreatic ductal epithelial (HPDE) cells to various grade (G) PDAC cells. Cells were treated with IL-6 at a concentration of 100 ng/mL for 24 hours. The results showed increased phosphorylation of STAT3 in BxPC-3 (G2) and PANC-1 (G3) cells with no change noted in HPDE and SW1990 (G2, metastatic) cells. IL-6 stimulation likewise resulted in markedly increased phosphorylation of the fibroblast growth factor receptor substrate 2-alpha (FRS2-α) and its downstream component Erk1/2 in BxPC3 cells, indicating activation of FGF signaling through the MAPK/Erk pathway in our low grade PDAC cell model. In conclusion, the results demonstrate a potential link between IL-6 induced inflammatory signaling and dysregulation of FGF signaling in human PDAC. Activated STAT3 signaling seems to be involved in this process. Existing cancer therapies aimed at controlling growth factor signaling broadly target vascular endothelial or epithelial growth factor receptors (VEGF/EGFR) with marginal efficacy and adverse side effects in PDAC. Identifying the pivotal link between inflammatory signaling and dysregulation of fibroblast growth factor signaling will allow for the development of more precisely targeted and effective cancer therapy in pancreatic cancer. This may minimize clinically observed exaggerated fibrotic events within the tumor and may hence result in higher vulnerability for established chemotoxic therapies in the tumor cells. Citation Format: Karol Nawalaniec, Yuxiang Wang, Romana Moench, Minghua Cao, Yueming Luo, Li-Li Hsiao, Ana Maria Waaga-Gasser. IL-6/STAT3-mediated inflammatory signaling results in dysregulated fibroblast growth factor receptor activation and tumor cell signaling in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 992.
As Slaves and Not Vassals: Interethnic Claims of Freedom and Unfreedom in Colonial Peru

Across much of the Spanish empire in the Americas, indigenous and African-descent peoples lived in close contact. The entangled nature of labor, both in urban centers and on massive complexes, gave them the opportunity to measure themselves against one another. Law that developed across the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries suggested an eventual clarity about their separate conditions, but experience revealed the muddiness of both definitions and enforcement. Indigenous and Black subjects used those colonial discourses about freedom and hierarchy to understand their own positions and to argue for comparable protections and privileges. Rather than consider indigenous and Black lives separately, the essay argues for a more integrative approach to reading legal documents produced by and about them.
Phyllis Monk: a pragmatic revolutionary in charge of a school for ‘girls with little or no sight’

After the First World War, the second generation of headmistresses were working in a Britain in which the secondary education of girls was generally accepted. In 1920, Phyllis Monk, a former Blackh...
Investigating the Landscape of Physics Laboratory Instruction across North America.

There is significant heterogeneity in terms of goals and pedagogy used in tertiary laboratory instruction in North American physics courses.
Influence of organic acids on the growth of Thiobacillus neapolitanus.

An ether-soluble fraction of yeast extract was found to bring about the reduction of cytochromes of thec type in crude cell-free extracts of autotrophically grown cells ofT. neapolitanus. Re-extraction of the ether-soluble fraction with petroleum ether resulted in marked decrease in its ability to reduce the cytochromes ofT. neapolitanus. Among several organic acids tested only succinate was effective in reducing the cytochromes. Acetate at 20mm concentration was a potent inhibitor of growth, although thiosulfate oxidation by intact cells was only slightly affected. No poly-β-hydroxybutyric acid was found in cells grown on thiosulfate in the presence or absence of non-inhibitory concentrations of acetate. Glycollic acid was not inhibitory to growth at concentrations up to 60mm. Glycollic oxidase could not be demonstrated in crude extracts, however glyoxylic reductase was present in high concentrations. In cells fixing14CO2 in the presence or α-hydroxypyridyl-methanosulfonic acid, (HPMSA), a specific inhibitor of glycollic acid oxidase, 18% of the total radioactivity extracted by 95% alcohol was present in glutamate, whereas in the absence of HPMSA, glutamate accounted only for about 9% of the total radioactivity. No accumulation of glycollic acid, glycine or serine was observed in the presence of HPMSA. It appears that glycollic acid formation does not participate to a significant extent in CO2 fixation by this organism. α-Hydroxypyridylmethanosulfonic acid appears to act differently on this obligate autotroph than on photosynthetic organisms.
Eliminative Induction and Bayesian Confirmation Theory

In his recent book The Advancement of Science, Philip Kitcher endorses eliminative induction, or the view that confirmation of hypotheses proceeds by the elimination of alternatives. My intention here is to critically examine Kitcher's eliminativist view of confirmation, and his rejection of the widely held Bayesian position, according to which an hypothesis H is confirmed by evidence E just in case the probability of H conditional on E is greater than the simple unconditional probability of H [i.e. p(H/E) > p(H)]. Here, I will maintain that while there are aspects of the eliminative approach which Bayesianism must incorporate, as has been argued by John Earman, the eliminativism advocated by Kitcher is unsatisfactory. In addition, I will suggest that Kitcher's reasons for rejecting Bayesian confirmation theory are unconvincing and depend on an overly restrictive version of the position and that indeed Bayesianism has resources needed by an eliminativist account of confirmation.
Actinomycosis of the fallopian tube.

Abstract A case report of actinomycosis of the Fallopian tube in a 39-year-old woman is presented. The diagnosis was established by demonstration of the organism in direct smear and by means of culture from material obtained at the time of the operation. Prior to operation the patient's clinical appearance and the physical findings were highly suggestive of advanced pelvic malignancy. Following surgical and medical treatment as described a complete and uneventful recovery occurred. This opinion is premised on the two-year follow-up without evidence of exacerbation of the mycotic infection.
Peroxynitrite oxidation of sulfhydryls. The cytotoxic potential of superoxide and nitric oxide.

Peroxynitrite anion (ONOO-) is a potent oxidant that mediates oxidation of both nonprotein and protein sulfhydryls. Endothelial cells, macrophages, and neutrophils can generate superoxide as well as nitric oxide, leading to the production of peroxynitrite anion in vivo. Apparent second order rate constants were 5,900 M-1.s-1 and 2,600-2,800 M-1.s-1 for the reaction of peroxynitrite anion with free cysteine and the single thiol of albumin, respectively, at pH 7.4 and 37 °C. These rate constants are 3 orders of magnitude greater than the corresponding rate constants for the reaction of hydrogen peroxide with sulfhydryls at pH 7.4. Unlike hydrogen peroxide, which oxidizes thiolate anion, peroxynitrite anion reacts preferentially with the undissociated form of the thiol group. Peroxynitrite oxidizes cysteine to cystine and the bovine serum albumin thiol group to an arsenite nonreducible product, suggesting oxidation beyond sulfenic acid. Peroxynitrous acid was a less effective thiol-oxidizing agent than its anion, with oxidation presumably mediated by the decomposition products, hydroxyl radical and nitrogen dioxide. The reactive peroxynitrite anion may exert cytotoxic effects in part by oxidizing tissue sulfhydryls.
Lowering the Assouad dimension by quasisymmetric mappings

We study the relationship between the Assouad dimension and quasisymmetric mappings, showing that spaces of dimension strictly less than one can be quasisymmetrically deformed onto spaces of arbitrarily small dimension. We conjecture that this fact holds also for the Hausdorff dimension, and our results yield several corollaries which provide partial support for this conjecture. The proofs make use of connections between Assouad dimension, porosity, and ultrametrics.
Systemic Propaganda as Ideology and Productive Exchange

Abstract: Informed by the works of Marx and his progeny (Lukacs, Gramsci, Althusser) as well as more recent marxian scholarship, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of ideology and propaganda in the production and circulation of commodities and in the informalization of the contemporary workplace, particularly in the context of the promotional economy, politics, and culture of the United States. The heightened functions of media and communication technologies mark the pinnacle expression of late capitalism—the production, reproduction and colonization of the sphere of consciousness as a necessary condition for the maintenance of the corporate state as it faces its most profound contradictions in production and governance. The central question is whether the present dialectic is leading to a more liberated commons or to a society of exploited prosumers in what Italian Autonomistas call the “social factory.”
Intracorporeal suturing: Transfer from Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery to cadavers results in substantial increase in mental workload.

Introduction A spatial secondary task developed by the authors was used to measure the mental workload of the participant when transferring suturing skills from a box simulator to more realistic surgical conditions using a fresh cadaver. We hypothesized that laparoscopic suturing on genuine bowel would be more challenging than on the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS)-simulated bowel as reflected in differences on both suturing and secondary task scores. Methods We trained 14 surgical assistant students to FLS proficiency in intracorporeal suturing. Participants practiced suturing on the FLS box for 30 minutes and then were tested on both the FLS box and the bowel of a fresh cadaver using the spatial, secondary dual-task conditions developed by the authors. Results Suturing times increased by >333% when moving from the FLS platform to the cadaver F(1,13) = 44.04, P Conclusion The mental workload associated with intracorporeal suturing increases dramatically when trainees transfer from the FLS platform to human tissue under more realistic conditions of suturing. The increase in mental workload is indexed by both an increase in suturing times and a decrease in the ability to attend to the secondary task.
Revision Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in Military Personnel.

This study aims to report the clinical and functional outcomes of revision anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in a young, active duty military population. Patients undergoing revision ACL reconstruction were enrolled in an institutional clinical database and followed prospectively. The primary outcomes were patients' scores on a timed run, as compared with recorded scores before reinjury. Secondary outcomes included scores on the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC), the International Knee Documentation Committee subjective (IKDC subjective), the Short Form - 36 health survey (SF-36) version 2, the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE), and the Tegner activity scale. A total of 13 patients were identified who met the inclusion criteria and had complete follow-up. The mean age at revision ACL reconstruction was 20.5 years (range, 19–22 years), and mean follow-up was 40.2 months (range, 13–66 months). All patients underwent a single stage revision ACL reconstruction with ipsilateral bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft, ipsilateral hamstring autograft, or bone-tendon-bone allograft. Mean physical readiness test (PRT) score at final follow-up was not statistically different than documented preinjury PRT score (77.9 vs. 85.5, p > 0.05), nor was the mean run time (7:12 vs. 6:43/mile, p > 0.05). Significant improvements exceeding published minimal clinically important differences were seen in SANE score, SF-36 physical component summary score, KOOS sports and recreation, KOOS quality of life, WOMAC pain score, and WOMAC function score. Patients undergoing revision ACL reconstruction at our facility show good recovery of baseline physical performance as measured by the semiannual PRT and timed run test, and significant improvements in patient-reported outcome scores. Level of Evidence Level IV, case series.
Images of the homeless: Public views and media messages

Abstract Despite its potential policy relevance, public opinion about homelessness has received little attention from researchers. This deficiency is addressed here by bringing together data obtained in four recent surveys. The survey results indicate that many Americans accurately perceive the characteristics of homeless people, consider homelessness a serious problem with structural roots, and support a variety of measures intended to solve it. Certain segments of the public— Democrats, liberals, blacks, and residents of communities that have homeless populations—are especially likely to hold these views. The extent to which the public's thoughts on homelessness have been shaped by the media is difficult to determine. However, an analysis of the volume and content of print and broadcast news coverage of the issue hints at a plausible causal connection.
Polarization transfer in the (p, p') reaction on light nuclei

A high-efficiency, high-resolution polarimeter has been employed to measure the transverse spin-flip probability in ($p,{p}^{\ensuremath{'}}$) reactions induced by polarized protons in the energy range from 30 to 42 MeV. The spin-flip probability for central forces is shown to be uniquely related to spin transfer ($s=1$) in the eikonal approximation. More exact calculations indicate the general rule $S\ensuremath{\ge}0.5$ when $s=1$ and $S\ensuremath{\le}0.1$ when $s=0$. Antisymmetrized distorted-wave calculations give a generally poor account of spin transfer in isoscalar transitions and transitions in odd mass nuclei. Spin flip in isovector transitions is well described by the calculations.
Vibrational Overtone Spectroscopy of Metallocenes and ``Half-Sandwich'' Organometallic Complexes

The FTIR spectra of ferrocene, ruthenocene, cyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (CPMT), cyclopentadienyl titanium trichloride (CPTT), and cyclopentadienyl iron dicarbonyl iodide (CPIDI) CCl4 solutions are presented at the first and second overtone region (Δv = 2, 3). The gaseous ferrocene, ruthenocene, and CPMT spectra are also presented at the third overtone region (Δv = 4) recorded by intracavity photoacoustic spectroscopy. Assignments for the observed transitions are suggested for the liquid and reevaluated for the gas-phase spectra. The influence of the metal and other ligands attached to the metal on the vibrational behavior of the cyclopentadienyl ring is also discussed.
Active control of intracellular pH.

Abstract When the interior of a squid giant axon is loaded with acid, the cell responds by extruding that acid in an energy-requiring process. Our results indicate that this acid extrusion is accomplished by exchanging external HCO 3 − for internal Cl − at the expense of ATP.
On the mathematical theory of rumor spread

The applicability of the theory of random nets to the theory of rumor spread is shown. In particular the “weak connectivity” of the net appears as the saturation fraction of “knowers” in a thoroughly mixed population through which a message diffuses where each knower tells the message to a finite average number of individuals. Further it is shown how the time course equation of rumor spread, where time is measured by the number of “removes” from the starters, can be translated into an ordinary continuous time course equation if the distribution of the telling intervals is known.
ANHEDONIA AND THE INTENTIONAL COMMUNICATION OF EMOTION

This study evaluated the accuracy and expressiveness of emotional communication by college students identified as anhedonic or control (ns = 24), based on their scores on the Physical Anhedonia Scale, using an emotional communication task and self-report indices of emotional expressiveness and self-monitoring. As expected, the anhedonic group reported significantly less emotional expressiveness in real-life social situations. However, contrary to the hypotheses, they did not differ from controls on measures from a laboratory communication task or on self-monitoring.
Electron-capture negative ionization calibrants for magnetic sector mass spectrometers

Abstract Fomblin [poly(perfluoropropylene oxide)], PFK (perfluorokerosene) and FC-43 (perfluorotributylamine) are investigated as mass calibrants in electron-capture negative ionization mass spectrometry on a magnetic sector hybrod mass spectrometer. This work provides exact negative ion mass tables of these three calibrants obtained using high-resolution peak matching of representative ions of the calibrants against ions of known mass. The suitability of these calibrants for full data system control in the negative ionization mode is demonstrated for the techniques of high-resolution scanning, selected ion recording and calibration of the quadrupole sector of a hybrid instrument.