cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The importance of broadband provision to knowledge intensive firm location

Despite the volume of literature afforded knowledge work and innovations in information and communications technologies (ICTs), few studies have examined the importance of ICTs to firms in knowledge industries. This study will develop spatial econometric models to examine the relative importance of broadband provision levels to knowledge intensive firms in select US metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Results demonstrate the need for both a spatial econometric and a metropolitan area specific evaluation of this relationship. They also suggest potential spillover effects to knowledge intensive firm location, which may explain why some regional economies are relatively more successful at stimulating firm growth in this increasingly important sector of the US economy. Resumen. A pesar del volumen de conocimiento aportado por la literatura y las innovaciones en las tecnologias de la informacion y las comunicaciones (ICTs, siglas en ingles), pocos estudios han examinado la importancia de las ICTs para las empresas del sector del conocimiento. Este estudio desarrolla modelos econometricos espaciales para examinar la importancia relativa de los niveles de prestacion del suministro de banda ancha para empresas que hacen un uso intensivo del conocimiento, utilizando areas estadisticas metropolitanas (MSAs) seleccionadas de los EE.UU. Los resultados demuestran la necesidad de una evaluacion especifica de esta relacion, tanto a escala econometrica espacial como del area metropolitana. Tambien sugieren efectos de spillover para la localizacion de empresas que hacen un uso intensivo del conocimiento, lo cual podria explicar por que algunas economias regionales tienen relativamente un mayor exito a la hora de estimular el crecimiento empresarial en este sector cada vez mas importante de la economia de los EE.UU.
A new method in teaching power system harmonics in the undergraduate power curriculum

An educational method is presented for teaching power system harmonics-related problems in the undergraduate power curriculum. The problems are included in several undergraduate courses such as power system analysis, electric machines, electric power distribution system engineering, power system protection, and power electronics. The facilities in the power laboratory at Clemson University enhance this method of teaching about harmonics-related problems. One of the important facilities consists mainly of a computer-based three-phase harmonic generator, a data acquisition system to process the data digitally, and a computer control system to control the harmonic levels. Examples of the teaching procedure are included. >
Lingual Luring by Mangrove Saltmarsh Snakes (Nerodia clarkii compressicauda)

Very few cases of predatory luring by squamate reptiles involve body parts other than the tail. Here, I report the use of the tongue by Mangrove Saltmarsh Snakes (Nerodia clarkii compressicauda) to lure prey, a behavior thus far adequately described for only one other snake species. Fishes are the only verified component of the diet of these snakes and are effectively attracted by the luring behavior. Lingual luring by these snakes is particularly unique in that the tongue is curled upon itself distally such that a conspicuous loop is formed at its terminus. The rapid oscillations typical of chemosensory tongue flicks are absent, though the terminal loop does exhibit some vertical and horizontal movement. The duration of luring tongue flicks is significantly greater than the duration of chemosensory tongue flicks.
Preventing Attacks on Back-End Servers using Masquerading/Honeypots

Perhaps the most significant threats remaining to web-based applications are back-end server attacks. In general, back-end servers are separate entities that contain more sensitive information such as a database than front-end servers which connect directly to client machines; these front-end servers are typically insulated from such malicious endeavors as Denial-of- Service (DoS) attacks by the ability to massively replicate interfaces. Back-end servers cannot be replicated in the same manner and typically contain sensitive information that is more desirable to attackers; for this reason, back-end servers must be protected from malicious attacks by more stringent means. In this paper, a protective model for back-end servers will be outlined that can provide (1) network isolation from unauthorized traffic, (2) blacklisting of misbehaving client traffic, and (3) a limitation of the effectiveness of back-end DoS attacks. This is accomplished by the novel combination of honeypot deployment, honeypot masquerading, and strict authentication for back-end server access.
Adjunctive management of central line-associated bloodstream infections with 70% ethanol-lock therapy

Objectives Ethanol is bactericidal against most pathogens implicated in central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and biofilms. Current Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines cite insufficient evidence to support adjunctive ethanol-lock therapy (ELT) for central venous catheter (CVC) salvage in patients with CLABSI in combination with systemic antimicrobial treatment. We evaluated the safety and potential efficacy of 70% ELT for CLABSI at our institution after implementation of a hospital ELT protocol. Methods We collected data on all patients treated with adjunctive 70% ELT for catheter salvage from September 2009 to September 2011 and assessed clinical outcomes and adverse events associated with ELT. Results Sixty-eight hospitalized patients received 70% ELT for CVC salvage: 45 (66%) met the criteria for CLABSI. Five (11%) had persistent or recurrent bacteraemia triggering CVC removal; 28 (62%) preserved their CVC long term. There were no documented adverse events associated with ELT. Discussion Adjunctive 70% ELT is an inexpensive, well-tolerated option for CVC salvage in patients with CLABSI and warrants further investigation.
Light-Weight Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Deck Panels for Extreme Applications

Currently within the military there is a need for a universal light-weight bridge deck system capable of supporting extreme loads over a wide temperature range. This research presents the development, testing, and analysis of five different fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) webbed core deck panels. The performance of the FRP webbed decks are compared with an existing aluminum deck and with a baseline balsa core system, which has previously been tested as part of the development of the composite army bridge for the US Army. The study shows that for one-way bending, the FRP webbed core can exceed the shear strength of the baseline balsa core by a factor of 3.2 at a core’s density, which is 28% lighter than the balsa baseline. In addition, weight savings in excess of 30% are shown for using FRP decking in place of conventional aluminum decking. Based on test results and finite-element analysis, the failure modes of the different FRP webbed cores are discussed and design recommendations for FRP webbed core decks...
Intrinsic dissipation in high-frequency micromechanical resonators

We report measurements of intrinsic dissipation in micron-sized suspended resonators machined from single crystals of galium arsenide and silicon. In these experiments on high-frequency micromechanical resonators, designed to understand intrinsic mechanisms of dissipation, we explore dependence of dissipation on temperature, magnetic field, frequency, and size. In contrast to most of the previous measurements of acoustic attenuation in crystalline and amorphous structures in this frequency range, ours is a resonant measurement; dissipation is measured at the natural frequencies of structural resonance, or modes of the structure associated with flexural and torsional motion. In all our samples we find a weakly temperature dependent dissipation at low temperatures. We compare and contrast our data to various probable mechanisms, including thermoelasticity, clamping, anharmonic mode-coupling, surface anisotropy and defect motion, both in bulk and on surface. The observed parametric dependencies indicate that the internal defect motion is the dominant mechanism of intrinsic dissipation in our samples.
Reliable broadcasting in hypercubes using safety levels

We consider a distributed broadcasting algorithm for faulty hypercubes using incomplete spanning binomial trees. A faulty hypercube is a connected hypercube with faulty nodes. The incomplete spanning binomial tree proposed in this paper is a useful structure for implementing broadcasting in faulty hypercubes. It is defined as a subtree of a regular spanning binomial tree that connects all the nonfaulty nodes. The root node of such a tree is called an l-node. A method is proposed to locate a large subset of the l-node set using the concept of safety level. An optimal broadcast initiated from a safe node is proposed. When a nonfaulty source node is unsafe and there are at most n-1 faulty nodes in a faulty n-dimensional hypercube, the proposed broadcasting scheme requires at most n+1 steps. Possible extensions of the safety level concept to cover a larger subset of l-nodes are also presented.
Effect of rhythmic tetanic skeletal muscle contractions on peak muscle perfusion

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of rhythmic tetanic skeletal muscle contractions on peak muscle perfusion by using spontaneously perfused canine gastrocnemii in situ. Si...
Process evaluation of a repeat pregnancy prevention program for African-American adolescent mothers.

Purpose:Process evaluation of adolescent pregnancy prevention programs provides important data which can identify program coverage, dosage, and participants' perception of specific components.Methods:A school-based youth development peer group with integrated medical care in Charleston, South Carolina, was evaluated for specific process objectives. Quantitative measurements included enrollment and participation rates. Qualitative measurements included focus groups with participants and in-depth interviews with parents and school personnel.Results:Overall, 95% of eligible girls participated in the project, with an average attendance of 42%. Participants found support of other teen parents beneficial and privacy concerns a barrier. Parents and school personnel viewed the program positively, and saw it as a means of providing the girls direction.Conclusions:This evaluation demonstrated achievement of program objectives for enrollment and participation rates and identified components contributing to program s...
Parallel MATLAB for Extreme Virtual Memory

Many DoD applications have extreme memory requirements, often with data sets larger than memory on a single computer. Such data sets can be addressed with out-of-core methods, which use memory as a "window" to view a section of the data stored on disk at a time. The Parallel Matlab for eXtreme Virtual Memory (pMatlab XVM) library adds out-of-core extensions to the Parallel Matlab (pMatlab) library. The DARPA High Productivity Computing Systems HPCchallenge FFT benchmark has been implemented in C+MPI, pMatlab, pMatlab hand coded for out-of-core and pMatlab XVM. We found that 1) the performance of the C+MPI and pMatlab versions were comparable; 2) the out-of-core versions deliver 80% of the performance of the in-core versions; 3) the out-of-core versions were able to perform a 1 TB (64 billion point) FFT; and 4) the pMatlab XVM program was smaller, easier to implement and verify, and more efficient than its hand coded equivalent. We plan to apply pMatlab XVM to the full HPCchallenge benchmark suite. Using next generation hardware, problems sizes a factor of 100 to 1000 times larger should be feasible. We are also transitioning this technology to several DoD signal processing applications. Finally, the flexibility of pMatlab XVM allows hardware designers to experiment with FFT parameters in software before designing hardware for a real-time, ultra-long FFT.
A fully addressable micro-array chip integrated with cascade multiplexors for selective cell loading and retrieval

We report a fully addressable micro-array chip integrated with cascade multiplexors for selective cell loading and retrieval in a stacked PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) layers for microfluidic control. This chip provides the addressable manipulation of large number of cells at single cell resolution. A cascade multiplexer is developed to reduce the number of pneumatic control inputs integrated on chip. Hydrodynamic structures are incorporated for efficient single cell loading as well as retrieval. We have fabricated the prototype device in an 8×8 array and demonstrated the feasibility of single cell manipulation. We have loaded and cultured C2C12 cells in the prototype chip and then successfully retrieved the viable cells.
A statistical model for long-term forecasting of strong sand dust storms

Historical evidence indicates that dust storms of considerable ferocity often wreak havoc, posing a genuine threat to the climatic and societal equilibrium of a place. A systematic study, with emphasis on the modeling and forecasting aspects, thus, becomes imperative, so that efficient measures can be promptly undertaken to cushion the effect of such an unforeseen calamity. The present work intends to discover a suitable ARIMA model using dust storm data from northern China from March 1954 to April 2002, provided by Zhou and Zhang (2003), thereby extending the idea of empirical recurrence rate (ERR) developed by Ho (2008), to model the temporal trend of such sand dust storms. In particular we show that the ERR time series is endowed with the following characteristics: 1) it is a potent surrogate for a point process, 2) it is capable of taking advantage of the well developed and powerful time series modeling tools and 3) it can generate reliable forecasts, with which we can retrieve the corresponding mean number of strong sand dust storms. A simulation study is conducted prior to the actual fitting, to justify the applicability of the proposed technique.
Retaining ligaments of the face: review of anatomy and clinical applications

The retaining ligaments of the face are important in understanding concepts of facial aging and rejuvenation. They are located in constant anatomic locations where they separate facial spaces and compartments. Their superficial extensions form subcutaneous septa that separate facial fat compartments. Their main significance relates to their surgical release in order to achieve the desired aesthetic outcome. Furthermore, they have a sentinel role in their anatomic relationship to facial nerve branches. When performing facial aesthetic surgery, plastic surgeons should select a plane of dissection, release the appropriate ligaments depending on the desired aesthetic goals, and avoid nerve injury by using the ligaments as anatomic landmarks. Descriptions of the retaining ligaments are variable in the literature; due to different interpretations of anatomy, several classifications, locations, and nomenclature systems have been proposed. This article will review and clarify the anatomy of the retaining ligaments of the face, including the cheek, mandible, temporal, and periorbital areas.
Ablation of DHRS3 is associated with alterations in retinoic acid metabolism and signaling and with defects in developmental programming in mice (39.8)

Background: The levels of the signaling molecule all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) are tightly controlled at the level of enzymes involved in its synthesis and degradation. Previous studies have implicated the retinaldehyde reductase DHRS3 in establishing a negative feedback mechanism to limit the formation of ATRA during zebrafish development. Objective: Here, we investigate the physiological role of DHRS3 in the regulation of embryonic levels of ATRA by characterizing a mouse deficient in this enzyme. Results: Lack of DHRS3 leads to increased levels of ATRA and decreased levels of retinol and retinyl esters in Dhrs3-/- embryos. Furthermore, accumulation of excess ATRA in Dhrs3-/- embryos is accompanied by alterations in ATRA signaling and defects in developmental programming. Dhrs3-/- embryos die late in gestation and display defects in cardiac outflow tract formation and in atrial and ventricular septation. In addition, Dhrs3-/- embryos also exhibit defects in skeletal development and palatogenesis. The e...
Picosecond Raman studies of electron-phonon interactions in the wide bandgap semiconductor GaN

Picosecond Raman spectroscopy has been employed to study electron-phonon interactions in the wide bandgap semiconductor GaN. An ultraviolet picosecond laser with photon energy ћω= 4.36eV was used to excite electron-hole pairs in an undoped bulk GaN. The relaxation of these high energy electrons and holes were used to interrogate electron-phonon interactions. We have found that electrons thermalize toward the bottom of the conduction band by emitting primarily longitudinal optical phonons. Our work demonstrates that the Frohlich interaction is much stronger than the deformation potential interaction in wurtzite GaN.
SOME NEW VIEWPOINTS IN MARKETING

T is particularly appropriate that university teachers should take the lead in developing marketing theory. Business men are preoccupied with specific and immediate problems of buying and selling. Teachers are engaged in training students for careers which are largely undefined. The product of teaching is not likely to be fully utilized for ten to twenty years when the students reach positions of responsibility. If students learn only the current and obvious facts about marketing, their training will be hopelessly out-moded by the time they are ready to use it. Only when teachers dig below the over-burden of facts and seek their hidden meanings can their teaching become of significant value. Theories become practical concepts in the outreach of time. Equally as important in the training of students is the fact that broad concepts raise broad questions which activate and stimulate the student's mind. To delve
Chromatographic methods in the determination of absolute and relative configurations of fatty acids.

Chromatographic techniques for determination of con­ figurations of branched and substituted long-chain fatly acids, both absolute and relative, are reviewed. Gas-liquid chromatographic and thin-layer chromatographic procedures are emphasized.
Diagnosis and Treatment on the Basis of an Overall Analysis of the Illness and the Patients Condition Treatment of Facial Acne

Chinese and Western Medicine on facial acne awareness,diagnosis and treatment on the basis of an overall analysis of the illness and the patient's condition syndrome of wind - heat invading lung,dampness - heat of spleen and stomach,et al),with traditional Chinese medicine external application treatment discussed facial acne treatment.
Swelling-activated anion conductance in skate hepatocytes: regulation by cell Cl- and ATP

Cell swelling activates an outwardly rectifying anion conductance in mammalian cells. The channel responsible for this conductance mediates volume-regulatory efflux of organic osmolytes such as tau...
Re-interventions after TEVAR for type B aortic dissection: considerations for management and the need for further insight.

The paper by Zhang et al . discusses an important issue regarding thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for type B aortic dissections (1). The article is a single center retrospective report, so some caution is appropriate when considering the results. The authors do report some interesting findings that add to our current literature. Chronicity, smoking and oversizing the implanted stent graft too much, were found to be predictive of re-interventions after TEVAR for type B aortic dissections.
A twist and a turn.

DR. WILLIAM BINDER: Today’s patient is a 16-year-old boy who presented to the emergency department with approximately 90 minutes of left-sided testicular pain. The patient states he was playing Ping-Pong when he suddenly developed pain in his testicle. It was associated with nausea, but no vomiting, fever, or chills. He tried lying down but the pain persisted. He had been playing soccer throughout the day but denied any trauma to the groin. The patient reported no dysuria, no hematuria, and no discharge from his penis. He was not sexually active. His past medical history was significant for a right inguinal hernia repair at 18 months, but he was otherwise healthy and takes no medicine. He has an uncle with a history of testicular torsion. He denied drugs or alcohol use. The patient’s physical exam was remarkable for a very uncomfortable young man, who was in significant pain. His abdomen was soft and non tender, and his genitourinary exam revealed a circumcised male, with no evidence of discharge or lesions on the phallus, and with a normal, descended right testicle. The left testicle was firm, elevated and with a transverse lie, and quite tender to palpation. He had an absent cremasteric reflex on the left. There was no discoloration of the scrotum. No hernia was palpated, and there were no bowel sounds heard in the scrotum. The remainder of his exam was unremarkable. A urinalysis was negative.
Fused salt power reactor study: Minutes of discussion meeting No. 2

Remarks made by participants in a 1956 meeting are sketched. Economics was a major concern. Significant topics included development of a new alloy for use in the heat exchanger, conversion ratios in a U-233 breeder, the effects of ThF4 on corrosion, and means of producing various transmutation products other than U-233.
Gnostic Self-Deification: The Case of Simon of Samaria

This essay argues that gnostic deification can be redescribed as self-deification. Self-deification, it is argued, is realized in three “moments”: (1) the intuition of one’s own divine core, (2) deeply reflexive practices of self-knowledge, and (3) identification with a higher divine self. These three moments are contextualized with the help of ancient philosophy and several gnostic texts. Finally, a case study on Simon of Samaria illustrates how the three moments of self-deification play out.
Antibodies against HLA-DP recognize broadly expressed epitopes

HLA matching and avoidance of pre-transplant donor-specific antibodies are important in selection of donors for solid organ transplant. Solid phase testing with single antigen beads allows resolution of antibody reactivity to the level of the allele. Single antigen bead testing results at a large transplant center were reviewed to identify selective reactivity patterns of anti-HLA antibodies. Many HLA-DP antibodies were identified in the context of other HLA antibodies, but some sera had antibodies against only HLA-DP. B cell flow crossmatch testing was positive for 2 out of 9 sera with HLA-DP antibodies. Many patterns of reactivity corresponded to epitopes in hypervariable regions C and F of DPB1, but some matched epitopes in other regions or DPA1. Through analysis of single antigen bead testing from a large number of patients, we report that anti-HLA-DP antibodies predominantly recognize broadly cross-reactive epitopes. The United Network for Organ Sharing has mandated HLA-DP typing on all deceased kidney donors, and HLA-DP epitopes should be considered as the major antigens for avoidance of pre-transplant donor-specific antibodies.
Computational Prediction of Pathogenic Network Modules in Fusarium verticillioides

Fusarium verticillioides is a fungal pathogen that triggers stalk rots and ear rots in maize. In this study, we performed a comparative analysis of wild type and loss-of-virulence mutant F. verticillioides co-expression networks to identify subnetwork modules that are associated with its pathogenicity. We constructed the F. verticillioides co-expression networks from RNA-Seq data and searched through these networks to identify subnetwork modules that are differentially activated between the wild type and mutant F. verticillioides , which considerably differ in terms of pathogenic potentials. A greedy seed-and-extend approach was utilized in our search, where we also used an efficient branch-out technique for reliable prediction of functional subnetwork modules in the fungus. Through our analysis, we identified four potential pathogenicity-associated subnetwork modules, each of which consists of interacting genes with coordinated expression patterns, but whose activation level is significantly different in the wild type and the mutant. The predicted modules were comprised of functionally coherent genes and topologically cohesive. Furthermore, they contained several orthologs of known pathogenic genes in other fungi, which may play important roles in the fungal pathogenesis.
Center of mass estimation in irregular planar terrains using a geometric approach

Locomotion maneuvers over irregular terrains involve complex forces and movements that make estimation of center of mass(CoM) behavior a challenging task. Nevertheless, understanding CoM dynamics remains pivotal in locomotion planning for both humans and robots. Current methods for CoM position estimation rely heavily on expensive and ungainly tools, for example force plates, that render CoM analysis impractical and time consuming. To tackle these challenges, this paper proposes an efficient and reliable geometric approach for CoM estimation that delivers accurate CoM behavior in irregular planar terrains. The geometric approach depends only on terrain geometry information and essential kinematic data of the moving body. Using this key information in conjunction with an Optimized Geometric Hermite(OGH) curve, a model is developed that produces accurate CoM position and phase space behavior. Various human case studies were analyzed to validate the effectiveness of the approach. The results show that for natural walking over irregular planar terrains, the geometric approach generates accurate CoM path approximations and state space trajectories and is a powerful tool for understanding CoM position in irregular planar terrains.
Trainees at a resuscitation: a dual liability.

BACKGROUND During basic life support (BLS) training, medical students receive little instruction on their role during a resuscitation attempt. Research is sparse regarding trainee perceptions of the resuscitation team. This study sought to describe trainee experiences and perceptions of resuscitation teams. METHODS Clinical third-year medical students (MS3s) and incoming interns (PGY1s) reported on survey items addressing prior BLS education, knowledge of BLS, and the student's perceptions and experiences during a resuscitation attempt. RESULTS Of the 61 third-year medical students surveyed, 72 per cent responded. Over half (51%) of third-year medical students reported feeling confident with their compressions, yet few knew the correct rate of compressions (16%). Nearly three-quarters of the third-year medical students participated in a resuscitation (74%), but only 16 per cent considered themselves an essential member of the resuscitation team. Moreover, almost half (45%) felt awkward during a resuscitation attempt, and nearly one-third (29%) felt marginalised. To contextualise our data, incoming interns were surveyed during their orientation week and 81 per cent responded: one-third (35%) considered themselves essential to the team, over half (64%) felt awkward and nearly one-third (32%) felt marginalised. In addition, many do not understand their role on the resuscitation team: 37 per cent of third-year students versus 57 per cent of incoming interns. DISCUSSION Although most students participated in a resuscitation attempt, many students do not understand their role, few felt included on the team and numerous students felt awkward or marginalised. Explicit role training and expanding resuscitation simulation to include the student may increase confidence levels, improving patient care. Medical students receive little instruction on their role during a resuscitation attempt.
DEVELOPING GENE-SPECIFIC META-PREDICTOR OF VARIANT PATHOGENICITY

Rapid, accurate, and inexpensive genome sequencing promises to transform medical care. However, a critical hurdle to enabling personalized genomic medicine is predicting the functional impact of novel genomic variation. Various methods of missense variants pathogenicity prediction have been developed by now. Here we present a new strategy for developing a pathogenicity predictor of improved accuracy by applying and training a supervised machine learning model in a gene-specific manner. Our meta-predictor combines outputs of various existing predictors, supplements them with an extended set of stability and structural features of the protein, as well as its physicochemical properties, and adds information about allele frequency from various datasets. We used such a supervised gene- specific meta-predictor approach to train the model on the CFTR gene, and to predict pathogenicity of about 1,000 variants of unknown significance that we collected from various publicly available and internal resources. Our CFTR-specific meta-predictor based on the Random Forest model performs better than other machine learning algorithms that we tested, and also outperforms other available tools, such as CADD, MutPred, SIFT, and PolyPhen-2. Our predicted pathogenicity probability correlates well with clinical measures of Cystic Fibrosis patients and experimental functional measures of mutated CFTR proteins. Training the model on one gene, in contrast to taking a genome wide approach, allows taking into account structural features specific for a particular protein, thus increasing the overall accuracy of the predictor. Collecting data from several separate resources, on the other hand, allows to accumulate allele frequency information, estimated as the most important feature by our approach, for a larger set of variants. Finally, our predictor will be hosted on the ClinGen Consortium database to make it available to CF researchers and to serve as a feasibility pilot study for other Mendelian diseases.
Compositionally and functionally distinct sinus microbiota in chronic rhinosinusitis patients have immunological and clinically divergent consequences

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by persistent sinonasal inflammation and sinus microbiome dysbiosis. The basis of this heterogeneity is poorly understood. We sought to address the hypothesis that a limited number of compositionally distinct pathogenic bacterial microbiota exist in CRS patients and invoke discrete immune responses and clinical phenotypes in CRS patients. Sinus brushings from patients with CRS (n = 59) and healthy individuals (n = 10) collected during endoscopic sinus surgery were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, predicted metagenomics, and RNA profiling of the mucosal immune response. We show that CRS patients cluster into distinct sub-groups (DSI-III), each defined by specific pattern of bacterial co-colonization (permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA); p = 0.001, r 2 = 0.318). Each sub-group was typically dominated by a pathogenic family: Streptococcaceae (DSI), Pseudomonadaceae (DSII), Corynebacteriaceae [DSIII(a)], or Staphylococcaceae [DSIII(b)]. Each pathogenic microbiota was predicted to be functionally distinct (PERMANOVA; p = 0.005, r 2 = 0.217) and encode uniquely enriched gene pathways including ansamycin biosynthesis (DSI), tryptophan metabolism (DSII), two-component response [DSIII(b)], and the PPAR-γ signaling pathway [DSIII(a)]. Each is also associated with significantly distinct host immune responses; DSI, II, and III(b) invoked a variety of pro-inflammatory, TH1 responses, while DSIII(a), which exhibited significantly increased incidence of nasal polyps (Fisher’s exact; p = 0.034, relative risk = 2.16), primarily induced IL-5 expression (Kruskal Wallis; q = 0.045). A large proportion of CRS patient heterogeneity may be explained by the composition of their sinus bacterial microbiota and related host immune response—features which may inform strategies for tailored therapy in this patient population.
Flight of the bumble bee: Buzzes predict pollination services.

Multiple interacting factors drive recent declines in wild and managed bees, threatening their pollination services. Widespread and intensive monitoring could lead to more effective management of wild and managed bees. However, tracking their dynamic populations is costly. We tested the effectiveness of an inexpensive, noninvasive and passive acoustic survey technique for monitoring bumble bee behavior and pollination services. First, we assessed the relationship between the first harmonic of the flight buzz (characteristic frequency) and pollinator functional traits that influence pollination success using flight cage experiments and a literature search. We analyzed passive acoustic survey data from three locations on Pennsylvania Mountain, Colorado to estimate bumble bee activity. We developed an algorithm based on Computational Auditory Scene Analysis that identified and quantified the number of buzzes recorded in each location. We then compared visual and acoustic estimates of bumble bee activity. Using pollinator exclusion experiments, we tested the power of buzz density to predict pollination services at the landscape scale for two bumble bee pollinated alpine forbs (Trifolium dasyphyllum and T. parryi). We found that the characteristic frequency was correlated with traits known to affect pollination efficacy, explaining 30–52% of variation in body size and tongue length. Buzz density was highly correlated with visual estimates of bumble bee density (r = 0.97), indicating that acoustic signals are predictive of bumble bee activity. Buzz density predicted seed set in two alpine forbs when bumble bees were permitted access to the flowers, but not when they were excluded from visiting. Our results indicate that acoustic signatures of flight can be deciphered to monitor bee activity and pollination services to bumble bee pollinated plants. We propose that applications of this technique could assist scientists and farmers in rapidly detecting and responding to bee population declines.
Inflammation-dependent regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in non-small cell lung cancer: the role of interleukin-1β

5366 Pulmonary disorders such as emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis are characterized by abnormalities in inflammatory pathways as well as a heightened risk of cancer development. The inflammatory cytokines, growth factors and mediators released in the pulmonary microenvironment in these conditions include, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), PGE2, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and interleukin 1-β (IL-1β). Here we have studied the link between inflammation and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process whereby cells undergo changes from a highly polarized epithelial phenotype to a mesenchymal, migratory phenotype. These changes lead to a more invasive phenotype and poor patient prognosis. Our findings indicate that IL-1β down regulates E-cadherin in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. IL-1β treatment also leads to the up regulation of the mesenchymal markers vimentin and N-cadherin. This IL-1β mediated regulation of EMT markers is MEK/ERK dependent. In a 3-dimensional cell culture system NSCLC cells form distinct spheroid structures. This spheroid formation is disrupted in the presence of IL-1β, with cells acquiring a mesenchymal phenotype. Down regulation of E-cadherin, a hallmark of EMT, can result from up regulation of transcriptional repressors that bind the E-cadherin promoter. We show that treatment of NSCLC cell lines with IL-1β leads to an increase in the mRNA of the E-cadherin transcriptional repressor Slug and a concurrent decrease in E-cadherin expression. As indicated in chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, we find that Slug binds to the E-cadherin promoter, causing transcriptional repression. Thus, IL-1β, a cytokine abundantly present in the lung cancer microenvironment, has the capacity to regulate Slug. We conclude that IL-1β contributes to EMT in NSCLC. Thus our findings suggest a role for the E-cadherin transcriptional repressor Slug in inflammation-induced promotion of EMT in NSCLC.
Themes, Theories, and Models:

Although theory building is often described as the ultimate goal of qualitative research, an examination of articles in Qualitative Health Research ( QHR) shows that themes are actually the typical format for reporting results. In addition, articles that rely on themes often present low-level theories in the form of models that connect these themes. Because models have received less attention than either themes or theories, this article concentrates on summarizing four different kinds of models: hierarchies, timelines, processes, and cycles. In each of these cases, it presents both a general illustration of such a model and a realistic example from a published article in QHR. It concludes with a call for greater recognition of the role that models play in capturing the results of qualitative research.
Public Speaking—From Preparation to Presentation: How to Become Confident, Relaxed and Meaningful

In Public Speaking—From Preparation to Presentation: How to Become Confident, Relaxed and Meaningful, Silke von Seydlitz sets out to empower public speakers, primarily the inexperienced. The book i...
A CASE OF LOPERAMIDE INDUCED CARDIAC SYNCOPE

Loperamide is a nonprescription medication commonly used to treat diarrhea. If consumed in large amounts, it can cause QRS widening accompanied by QT interval prolongation and torsades de pointe arrhythmia. 25 year old female presents with syncopal episode. Home medicines included quetiapine,
MVO Automation Platform: Addressing Unmet Needs in Clinical Laboratories with Microcontrollers, 3D Printing, and Open-Source Hardware/Software.

Laboratory automation improves test reproducibility, which is vital to patient care in clinical laboratories. Many small and specialty laboratories are excluded from the benefits of automation due ...
Regulation of activation of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase from Pseudomonasoxalaticus

Abstract 6-phosphogluconate, potentiated activation of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase from Pseudomonas oxalaticus whereas fructose-1,6-bisphosphate inhibited activation and fructose-6-phosphate had no effect. The presence of 1 mM 6-phosphogluconate during activation reduced the Kact for Mg2+ from 1.4 mM to approximately 0.2 mM. In the absence of 6-phosphogluconate, the enzyme responded sigmoidally to increasing CO2 (Hill coefficient, h, of 1.8), with a concentration causing half maximal activation, Act0.5, of 15 mM NaHCO3. In the presence of 1 mM 6-phosphogluconate h was reduced to 1.1 and an Act0.5 value of 5 mM NaHCO3 was obtained. 6-phosphogluconate appeared to saturate at or below 20 μmM.
A retrospective study of the incidence of culture-positive endophthalmitis after cataract surgery and the use of preoperative antibiotics.

Background and objective To determine the incidence of culture-positive endophthalmitis after cataract surgery in an ambulatory surgery center and to analyze the effect of a specific preoperative antibiotic regimen in reducing the incidence of endophthalmitis. Patients and methods The medical records of 30,870 consecutive eyes undergoing cataract extraction at a single ambulatory surgery center were reviewed retrospectively. Complications of the cataract surgeries, including endophthalmitis, were collected. Results Cataract surgery was performed without the use of preoperative topical antibiotics on 19,529 eyes from 1990 to 1998 (Group 1) and using topical preoperative ciprofloxacin-soaked pledgets on 11,341 eyes from 1999 to 2003 (Group 2). Five eyes had culture-positive endophthalmitis in each group. The incidence of culture-positive endophthalmitis was 0.03% (1 in 3000) in Group 1 and 0.04% (1 in 2268) in Group 2 (P = 1.0). Conclusions The incidence of postoperative endophthalmitis in this study was low. A preoperative pledget soaked with a second-generation fluoroquinolone did not appear to lower the incidence of culture-positive endophthalmitis after cataract surgery in this series.
The Wiki and the Blog: Toward a Complex Adaptive Intelligence Community

US policy-makers, war-fighters, and law-enforcers now operate in a real-time worldwide decision and implementation environment. The rapidly changing circumstances in which they operate take on lives of their own, which are difficult or impossible to anticipate or predict. The only way to meet the continuously unpredictable challenges ahead of us is to match them with continuously unpredictable changes of our own. We must transform the Intelligence Community into a community that dynamically reinvents itself by continuously learning and adapting as the national security environment changes. Recent theoretical developments in the philosophy of science that matured in the 1990's, collectively known as Complexity Theory, suggest changes the community should make to meet this challenge. These changes include allowing our officers more autonomy in the context of improved tradecraft and information sharing. In addition, several new technologies will facilitate this transformation. Two examples are self-organizing knowledge websites, known as Wikis, and information sharing websites known as Blogs. Allowing Intelligence Officers and our non-intelligence National Security colleagues access to these technologies on SIPRNet, will provide a critical mass to begin the transformation.
Vitamin D and bone.

Recent studies of the effects of vitamin D on bone include characterization of the receptors for 1,25-(OH)2D3 in bone and bone derived cells. The receptors show similar affinities in the different tissues. The receptor concentration is affected by the stage of the cell cycle. Glucocorticoid treatment affects the number of receptor sites. The most extensively studied effects of 1,25-(OH)2D3 on macromolecular synthesis in bone have been on collagen, where both anabolic and antianabolic effects are found. Differences in the response may reflect the state of differentiation of the cells. Significant effects are seen on osteocalcin synthesis, although the role of this protein in vitamin D action on bone is still unclear. 1,25-(OH)2D3 influences the activity of alkaline phosphatase and 25-OH-D3 24-hydroxylase in bone. Receptors for growth factors, and production of cytokines may be influenced by 1,25-(OH)2D3 treatment. Although some of these findings would be consistent with direct anabolic effects of vitamin D or its metabolites on bone, such a process has yet to be integrated into the complete picture of vitamin D action at physiological and pharmacological levels in vivo. Recent studies are consistent with earlier results that indicate that hypercalcemic effects of 1,25-(OH)2D3 are mediated by a direct effect on bone. Studies with analogs of 1,25-(OH)2D3 suggest that the stimulation of bone resorption can be dissociated from effects on differentiation of cells of the monocyte lineage.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Spatially distributed modeling of rainfall-induced landslides in shallow layered slopes

The zoning of landslide susceptibility on layered landscapes is a key challenge for regional hazard analyses. From a modeling standpoint, the combination of transient infiltration and vertical heterogeneity can lead to hydro-mechanical processes that are difficult to incorporate in spatially distributed frameworks. In this work, a physically based model for the efficient generation of regional landslide susceptibility maps in layered landscapes is presented. The formulation involves the discretization of a digital terrain into slope units, thus enabling the incorporation of georeferenced datasets to define the input variables. Model computations rely on a vectorized finite element (FE) solver that performs simulations of vertical unsaturated flow and slope stability analyses. The framework allows the use of different meshes across the region to efficiently allocate the computational cost associated with layers of variable thickness and/or complex stratigraphy. The model is used to analyze a series of documented shallow landslides that occurred in a region covered by stratified volcanic deposits. In addition to the simulation of layered profiles constrained by field and laboratory data, two simplified scenarios are considered in which homogeneous slopes with different values of hydraulic conductivity Ks are used. It is shown that, while the homogeneous models may have an acceptable spatial performance in some sectors of the landscape, the use of homogenized values of Ks leads to inconsistent temporal sequences of landslide triggering, as well as to failure depths always located at the base of the slope. By contrast, the use of stratified profiles leads to an improved spatiotemporal performance over the whole region, as well as to computed failure depths that are consistent with landslide inventories. The proposed methodology provides a useful tool for landslide hazard studies in that it not only addresses the computational challenges associated with multiple slope stability analyses, but it also enables the incorporation of system properties that are often neglected in spatially distributed modeling frameworks.
Plosive voicing acoustics and voice quality in Yerevan Armenian

Abstract Yerevan Armenian is a variety of Eastern Armenian with a three-way voicing contrast that includes voiced, voiceless unaspirated, and voiceless aspirated stops, but previous work has not converged on a description of how voice quality is involved in the contrast. We demonstrate how voice quality can be assessed in a two-dimensional acoustic space using a spectral tilt measure in conjunction with a measure of spectral noise. Eight speakers produced a list of words with prevocalic word-initial and postvocalic word-final plosives. The results suggest that Yerevan Armenian has breathy-voiced plosives which are produced with closure voicing and a relatively spread glottis that is maintained into a following vowel. These qualitatively differ from some Indic ones in that they do not have an extended interval of voiced aspiration after the closure. For the voiceless unaspirated plosives, most speakers produced acoustically modal voiceless plosives, although two showed evidence for some glottal constriction and tensing. Many acoustic cues contribute to overall reliable discriminability of the three-way contrast in both initial and final position. Nevertheless, closure voicing intensity and aspiration duration together provide a robust separation of the three categories in both positions. We also find that back vowels are fronted after the breathy-voiced plosives, which supports a historical analysis in which early Armenian voiced stops were also breathy, rather than plain voiced.
Jared Diamond: The world until yesterday: what can we learn from traditional societies?

Jared Diamond: The world until yesterday: what can we learn from traditional societies? Bruce Winterhalder Journal of Bioeconomics ISSN 1387-6996 Volume 17 Number 3 J Bioecon (2015) 17:303-307 DOI 10.1007/s10818-015-9199-y
European trends in the frequency of original research in acne vulgaris, rosacea, dermatitis, psoriasis, skin cancer, and skin infections, 1970-2010.

We analyzed trends in the frequency of original publications into common dermatologic topics in two premier European journals, the British Journal of Dermatology and the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. Most notably, we found that psoriasis publications peaked around the mid-to-late 1980’s as well as demonstrated an upward trend since the 21st century. Skin cancer research witnessed a gradual increase in the frequency of publications since 1970. These findings were consistent with a prior study analyzing trends in two American dermatology journals. We attempted to analyze these results from a historical perspective as well as provide an outlook on the future of research into these common dermatologic topics.