cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantification of happy emotion: Proportionality relationship to gain/loss

Toward understanding the role of emotion played in cognitive processing, an emotional model has been proposed to quantify the computation involved in assessing the disparity between the expected and the actual outcomes. This study provides the experimental evidence to validate the above emotional model. In this model, emotion serves as an internal feedback to assess the disparity between the internal predicted outcomes and the actual (external) outcomes in reality. It predicts that emotion provides a feedback to reduce the discrepancy between the expected (subjective) reality and actual (objective) reality. The hypothesis for this model is that the intensity of emotional response is proportional to the disparity between the expected outcome and the actual outcome (i.e., gain/loss magnitude). Happiness is an emotional feedback that indicates the congruency between the predicted and actual outcomes. In order to validate this theoretical model of emotion, the classical Ultimatum Game (UG) is used as an experimental paradigm to elicit self-generated (endogenous) emotions in response to a monetary offer, so that the emotional responses with respect to the perceived monetary gain/loss can be assessed by the stimulus-response function. The results showed that the self-reported happiness intensity is directly proportional to the magnitude of the desirable monetary gain. An empirically derived emotion stimulus-response function is shown to quantify the specific emotional biases graphically by the emotional-disparity graph. The results validated the hypothesis that the intensity of self-reported happy emotion is directly proportional to the monetary gain. The analysis also showed that the happy emotional sensitivity is also changed by the perception of fairness (whether the offer is fair or unfair), which can be represented graphically by the emotional-disparity graph
Empirical Study of a National-Scale Distributed Intrusion Detection System: Backbone-Level Filtering of HTML Responses in China

We present results from measurements of the filtering of HTTP HTML responses in China, which is based on string matching and TCP reset injection by backbone-level routers. This system, intended mainly for Internet censorship, is a national-scale filter based on intrusion detection system (IDS) technologies. Our results indicate that the Chinese censors discontinued this HTML response filtering for the majority of routes some time between August 2008 and January 2009 (other forms of censorship, including backbone-level GET request filtering, are still in place). In this paper, we give evidence to show that the distributed nature of this filtering system and the problems inherent to distributed filtering are likely among the reasons it was discontinued, in addition to potential traffic load problems. When the censor successfully detected a keyword in our measurements and attempted to reset the connection, their attempt to reset the connection was successful less than 51% of the time, due to late or out-of-sequence resets. In addition to shedding light on why HTML response filtering may have been discontinued by the censors, we document potential sources of uncertainty, which are due to routing and protocol dynamics, that could affect measurements of any form of censorship in any country. Between a single client IP address in China and several contiguous server IP addresses outside China, measurement results can be radically different. This is probably due to either traffic engineering or one node from a bank of IDS systems being chosen based on source IP address. Our data provides a unique opportunity to study a national-scale, distributed filtering system.
Coming full circle? Forging missing links along Nike's integrated production networks

Abstract ‘Global’ corporations are being held accountable for conditions at sites of production, formerly the domains of their foreign contractors. This shift was exemplified when consumers in Nike's largest markets began replacing the excitement of the latest pair of Nike shoes with a question: ‘Should I be wearing Nike shoes?’ With existing analytical tools, we cannot comprehensively answer this question. To do so, we need a more complete picture of international production networks, their interrelationships among agents and their geographies. The use of an integrated production network that links consumption and production analyses and place-based conditions accomplishes this goal. This integrative approach allows for more thorough investigations of firm networks, the regions where they interact, the labour upon which they depend, and the consumers that influence their behaviour. Furthermore, investigating ‘feedback loops’ between these facets provides a means of understanding how reforms along production networks are mediated.
ScribbleBoost: adding classification to edge-aware interpolation of local image and video adjustments

One of the most common tasks in image and video editing is the local adjustment of various properties (e.g., saturation or brightness) of regions within an image or video. Edge-aware interpolation of user-drawn scribbles offers a less effort-intensive approach to this problem than traditional region selection and matting. However, the technique suffers a number of limitations, such as reduced performance in the presence of texture contrast, and the inability to handle fragmented appearances. We significantly improve the performance of edge-aware interpolation for this problem by adding a boosting-based classification step that learns to discriminate between the appearance of scribbled pixels. We show that this novel data term in combination with an existing edge-aware optimization technique achieves substantially better results for the local image and video adjustment problem than edge-aware interpolation techniques without classification, or related methods such as matting techniques or graph cut segmentation.
Reputation and Competition

This paper shows how competition generates reputation-building behavior in repeated interactions when the product quality observed by consumers is a noisy signal of firms' effort level. There are two types of firms and "good" firms try to distinguish themselves from "bad" firms. Although consumers get convinced that firms which are repeatedly successful in providing high quality are good firms, competition endogenously generates the outside option inducing disappointed consumers to leave firms. This threat of exit induces good firms to choose high effort, allowing good reputations to be valuable, but its uncompromising execution forces good firms out of the market. (JEL C7, D8)
Treatment characteristics of delirium superimposed on dementia.

Background: The course of delirium in patients with dementia who are undergoing management of delirium with antipsychotics has not previously been studied. In order to investigate the treatment characteristics of patients with delirium superimposed on dementia in contrast to delirium in the absence of dementia we performed a secondary analysis of our delirium database.Methods: We collected sociodemographic data and medical variables in addition to using the systematic rating scales of the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale (MDAS) and Karnofsky Scale of Performance Status (KPS). These data were recorded in the delirium database. For this analysis we extracted all data pertaining to patients with delirium and dementia (DD) and compared them to those with delirium without dementia (i.e. non-demented with delirium; NDD).Results: Out of 111 cases with a diagnosis of delirium we acquired 22 cases with a diagnosis of DD and 89 cases with NDD. The mean age was significantly different with 77.1 years for DD and 62.7 years for NDD. The MDAS scores at baseline were significantly higher in DD (21.1) compared to NDD (17.6). Over the course of treatment, MDAS scores were significantly higher in DD with 11.7 at T3 compared with 7.0 in NDD. After three days of management, delirium resolution rates were significantly lower in DD with 18.2% compared to 53.9% in NDD, and at seven days delirium resolution rates were 50% and 83% respectively. At the endpoint of the observation period, DD had a significantly more pronounced disturbance of consciousness and impairment in the cognitive domain. KPS scores were not significantly different between DD and NDD.Conclusion: In our sample of patients with delirium superimposed on dementia the delirium resolution rates were lower than in patients without dementia at one week of treatment. The data suggest that when delirium is superimposed on dementia the delirium may resolve at a slower rate.
Tracking articulated hand motion with eigen dynamics analysis

This paper introduces the concept of eigen-dynamics and proposes an eigen dynamics analysis (EDA) method to learn the dynamics of natural hand motion from labelled sets of motion captured with a data glove. The result is parameterized with a high-order stochastic linear dynamic system (LDS) consisting of five lower-order LDS. Each corresponding to one eigen-dynamics. Based on the EDA model, we construct a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) to analyze the generative process of a image sequence of natural hand motion. Using the DBN, a hand tracking system is implemented. Experiments on both synthesized and real-world data demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of these techniques.
Survival After Mitral Valve Replacement Does the Valve Type and/or Size Make a Difference?

The surgical replacement of diseased heart valves is based on the premise that the prosthesis chosen to replace a stenotic or insufficient valve will have a beneficial impact on the patient’s heart function, taking into account the risks of surgery and the recognized complications of prosthetic heart valves. It is well established that mitral valve replacement (MVR) is associated with higher short- and long-term mortality than mitral valve repair.1,2 Although the exact mechanism for this discrepancy is unknown, it increases the importance of repairing valves whenever possible and, when MVR is necessary, intervening to prevent prosthesis- and/or patient-related factors that may lead to less favorable postoperative outcomes. Article p 1417 A growing literature has identified aortic valve patient-prosthesis mismatch (PPM) after aortic valve replacement. Studies have suggested that aortic PPM may be accompanied by lower rates and absolute degree of regression of left ventricular hypertrophy. Some authors have linked incomplete regression of left ventricular hypertrophy to more postoperative cardiac events and worse long-term survival.3–7 This linkage is controversial, however; other authors suggest that PPM is of less importance after aortic valve replacement and indeed that valve size may not matter.8 Many fewer data are available regarding PPM after MVR. In this issue of Circulation , Magne et al9 investigate the impact of PPM on survival after MVR. The authors hypothesize that the effective orifice area (EOA) of prosthetic valves is often small relative to the patient’s size, thus causing a mismatch between valve EOA and flow across the valve. As a result, seemingly normally functioning mitral prostheses often have relatively high transvalvular gradients. These gradients mimic those found in patients with mitral stenosis. In addition to delaying the regression of left atrial and pulmonary artery hypertension, these high gradients and the resulting high left atrial pressures …
Neuroanatomical distribution of aromatase mRNA in the rat brain: indications of regional regulation

Aromatase, the enzyme responsible for the conversion of testosterone to estradiol, is found in the rat brain and is present in regions of the preoptic area, hypothalamus, and limbic system. Gonadal steroid hormones regulate aromatase activity levels in many brain regions, but not all. Using in situ hybridization, we examined the distribution of aromatase mRNA in the adult male forebrain, as well as the levels of aromatase mRNA in the brains of males and females, and the regulation by gonadal steroid hormones. In the adult male, many heavily labelled cells were found in the encapsulated bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), the medial preoptic nucleus (MPN), the ventromedial nucleus (VMN), the medial amygdala (mAMY) and the cortical amygdala (CoAMY). The regional distribution of aromatase mRNA was similar in males and females, but males tended to have a greater number of aromatase mRNA-expressing cells in each region compared to females. Aromatase mRNA levels in the BNST, MPN, VMN and mAMY tended to be lower in castrated males than in intact males, whereas aromatase mRNA levels were unaltered by castration in the CoAMY. Further analysis of individual cells expressing aromatase mRNA suggests that aromatase mRNA may be regulated by steroid hormones differentially in specific populations of cells in regions where enzyme activity levels are steroid-hormone-dependent.
Microbead-based biomimetic synthetic neighbors enhance survival and function of rat pancreatic β-cells.

Diabetes is caused by the loss or dysfunction of insulin-secreting β-cells in the pancreas. β-cells reduce their mass and lose insulin-producing ability in vitro, likely due to insufficient cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions as β-cells lose their native microenvironment. Herein, we built an ex-vivo cell microenvironment by culturing primary β-cells in direct contact with ‘synthetic neighbors', cell-sized soft polymer microbeads that were modified with cell-cell signaling factors as well as components from pancreatic-tissue-specific ECMs. This biomimetic 3D microenvironment was able to promote native cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions. We obtained sustained maintenance of β-cell function in vitro enhanced cell viability from the few days usually observed in 2D culture to periods exceeding three weeks, with enhanced β-cell stability and insulin production. Our approach can be extended to create a general 3D culture platform for other cell types.
Scalp distributions of event-related potentials: An ambiguity associated with analysis of variance models

often assessed in the same analysis of variance (ANOVA) used to assess the statistical significance of experimental manipulations. The simplest form of such an analysis is a 2-way Location x Condition design in which the Location main effect indicates whether there are differences between Locations averaged over all Conditions, the Condition main effect indicates whether there are differences between levels of the Condition factor averaged over all Locations, and the Location x Condition interaction indicates whether there are differences in the pattern of voltage across Locations in different Conditions. Based on conventional interpretations of ANOVA interactions (e.g., Winer 1962), significant Location x Condition interactions are typically interpreted as demonstrating different scalp distributions for different Conditions, hence implying different configurations of current sources. Although our results are presented in terms of Location x Condition designs, the same considerations apply to ANOVAs involving scalp distributions for different groups of subjects (i.e., Location x Group interactions) and for different ERP components (i.e., Location x Component interactions). The use of interactions involving electrode location to assess differences between scalp distributions initially appears to be both conceptually and statistically sound: such differences must be due (apart from artifacts) to changes in source configuration, location, or extent, and the additive
Acid-base balance and temperature in a predominantly skin-breathing salamander, cryptobranchus alleganiensis

Abstract Blood gases and pH and plasma [Na + ], [K + ], [Cl − ] and [lactate] were measured on arterial blood of the large predominantly skin-breathing salamander, the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) , at 5, 15 and 25°C, both with and without access to air. Access to air had no effect on any of the acid-base variables, but temperature had significant effects on both pH and P CO 2 . Blood pH decreased with temperature by about 0.016 unit/°C both in vivo and in vitro (over the range studied) which is similar to the change previously observed on other ectotherms. Blood P CO 2 rose significantly with temperature while plasma [HCO 3 − ] rose slightly but insignificantly. Other ions were unaffected by temperature. This is the first demonstration that the characteristic ectothermic acid-base response to temperature occurs in a vertebrate respiring exclusively through its skin. We suggest that the response in this animal is essentially passive and uncontrolled and is due to: 1. (1) the proportional effects of temperature upon metabolic CO 2 production and blood P CO 2 , and 2. (2) the temperature-independent CO 2 conductance of the skin.
Laparoscopic Duhamel Procedure for Hirschsprung's Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract Introduction: Since its introduction in 1956, the Duhamel procedure has been and remains one of the most widely performed for Hirschsprung's disease (HD). The most significant modification to this procedure has been the incorporation of laparoscopy, while the original principles of the method have been retained. This study compared long-term outcomes for open Duhamel (OD) and laparoscopic Duhamel (LD) procedures for HD, to identify any added advantage of the laparoscopic technique. Materials and Methods: We undertook a systematic review of all studies published over a period of 20 years (1994–2014) that assessed functional outcomes for OD and/or LD procedures. Odds ratios were calculated for dichotomous variables, and mean difference values were calculated for continuous variables. Results: From 11 articles 456 patients were included (253 OD, 203 LD), with no significant difference in age at surgery and length of follow-up (P > .05). The open group had a significantly greater incidence of soiling...
POLICY, RESEARCH, AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT IN AVIAN CONSERVATION

RUTH ET AL. (2003) propose a science agenda to meet information needs for avian conservation, building on a vision for conservation under the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) and conservation efforts that comprise NABCI (U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative Committee 2000). A close association between research and management is emphasized by the authors, especially concerning conservation planning and the use of ecological information in decision making. Left unanswered, however, are a number of interesting and important questions about exactly how scientific information is to be effectively communicated to decision makers, and how decision makers can be induced to use it for biologically informed and effective conservation. The need to address such issues was pointed out by a reviewer of Ruth et al. (2003). Thus, the objective here is to describe a framework for the interface of research and management in natural resource conservation. In what follows, I focus on the respective roles of decision makers and scientists in formulating and assessing natural resources policy. Background.-Conservation of natural resources necessarily involves living systems and the environments that sustain them. However, by its very complexity the network of biological, environmental, and social components that influence living systems challenges our ability to understand and manage those systems effectively (Marzluff and Sallabanks 1998). Thus, ecosystems typically consist of large numbers of components, and large numbers of interactions among components. They are subject to a high
Enrichment and characterization of microbial consortia degrading soluble microbial products discharged from anaerobic methanogenic bioreactors

Soluble microbial products (SMP) produced in bioprocesses have been known as a main cause to decrease treatment efficiency, lower effluent quality, and promote membrane fouling in water reclamation plants. In this study, biological degradation of SMP using selectively enriched microbial consortia in a down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor was introduced to remove SMP discharged from anaerobic methanogenic reactors. On average, 68.9–87.5% SMP removal was achieved by the enriched microbial consortia in the DHS reactor for >800 days. The influent SMP fed to the DHS reactor exhibited a bimodal molecular weight (MW) distribution with 14–20 kDa and <4 kDa. Between these two types of SMP, the small MW SMP were biodegraded in the upper part of the reactor, together with most of the large MW SMP. Using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing technology, the microbial community composition and structure were characterized and correlated with operational factors, such as hydraulic retention time, organic loading rate, and removal of soluble chemical oxygen demand at different depths of the reactor, by performing network and redundancy analyses. The results revealed that Saprospiraceae was strongly correlated to the increasing SMP loading condition, indicating positive co-occurrences with neighboring bacterial populations. Different microbial diversity along with the depth of the reactor implies that stratified microbial communities could participate in the process of SMP degradation. Taken together, these observations indicate that the spatial and temporal variability of the enriched microbial community in the DHS reactor could effectively treat SMP with respect to changes in the operational factors.
What Podolsky, Einstein and Others Have Taught Me about Greatness

Continuing scientific progress often results in a focus on technological advancements while ignoring those scientists who have brought them to fruition. By ignoring the life stories and struggles of these scientists, generations of students are being deprived of insight that may serve to encourage them to enter the scientific fields. Furthermore, they may develop a perspective that suggests that these advancements occur with little personal or professional struggle. It is becoming increasingly common to compare scientists based upon their achievements. These comparisons could discourage students from entering the scientific disciplines by suggesting that contributions not equal to or surpassing those of the most celebrated scientists are essentially worthless. This results in a winner-take all attitude. This article details the experiences of one social scientist in his quest to develop a greater understanding of science, scientists and those characteristics that ultimately determine greatness.
Prions and Protein Assemblies that Convey Biological Information in Health and Disease

Prions derived from the prion protein (PrP) were first characterized as infectious agents that transmit pathology between individuals. However, the majority of cases of neurodegeneration caused by PrP prions occur sporadically. Proteins that self-assemble as cross-beta sheet amyloids are a defining pathological feature of infectious prion disorders and all major age-associated neurodegenerative diseases. In fact, multiple non-infectious proteins exhibit properties of template-driven self-assembly that are strikingly similar to PrP. Evidence suggests that like PrP, many proteins form aggregates that propagate between cells and convert cognate monomer into ordered assemblies. We now recognize that numerous proteins assemble into macromolecular complexes as part of normal physiology, some of which are self-amplifying. This review highlights similarities among infectious and non-infectious neurodegenerative diseases associated with prions, emphasizing the normal and pathogenic roles of higher-order protein assemblies. We propose that studies of the structural and cellular biology of pathological versus physiological aggregates will be mutually informative.
CD44 and Primary Open Angle Glaucoma

In our view, primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a common neurodegenerative disease caused by a variety of molecular defects and/or cellular insults that result in cell stress and death of the trabecular meshwork (TM) and retinal ganglion cells (RGC). One potential biological marker of POAG is CD44, which is one of the adhesion/homing molecules. Direct evidence for CD44’s very central role in POAG includes: (1) aqueous humor of patients with POAG contains an increased amount of the soluble extracellular 32-kDa fragment of CD44 (sCD44) in comparison with the aqueous humor of age-matched normal individuals; (2) increased levels of sCD44 in the aqueous correlates with the extent of visual field loss in POAG patients; (3) sCD44, particularly hypo-phosphorylated sCD44, is a potent and specific toxic protein to TM and RGC in vitro; and (4) overexpression of both full-length CD44 and truncated sCD44 in transgenic mouse eyes is sufficient to cause ocular hypertension. The increase in intraocular pressure (IOP) lasted more than 90 days accompanied by optic nerve damage. The overexpression of CD44 may thus be the first documented animal model that closely mimics the human disease POAG. Other models have been cytodestructive and nonphysiologic.
Insect Population Response to Mixed and Uniform Plantings of Resistant and Susceptible Plant Material

This study was designed to determine how the preference of an insect for a plant line is affected by the proximity of less or more attractive lines. The test insects and their host crops were the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae (Harris), on potatoes; the imported cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (L.), on cabbage; and the Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis Mulsant, on lima beans. Comparisons were made between infestations in previously reported resistant and susceptible crop cultivars or lines. Field plots were planted all in a resistant cultivar or line, all in a susceptible cultivar or line, or the two cultivars or lines intermixed. The plant array did not have a significant effect on the size of the Mexican bean beetle population in the resistant or susceptible cultivars. A mixed planting of cultivars preferred and nonpreferred by the imported cabbageworm accentuated the differences between the two cultivars, although an unknown character of the preferred cultivar reduced the differences. Nonpreference was more apparent in isolated pure stands of potato lines than when the preferred and nonpreferred lines were in the same plot.
State Induced Theft

In this article I argue that one of the main tools that allowed the Romanian communist state to control oppositional activities, far better than many of its Eastern European neighbors, was the transformation of political opponents into petty criminals and felons. I contend that in the two decades that preceded 1989, communist Romania witnessed a pragmatic shift from hard rule (based on simply imprisoning political opponents under the category of “political detainees”) to subversive criminalization. The main operative tool for the subversive criminalization of so-called political offenses was Law 18/1968 (subtitled Law regarding the control of the provenance of goods that have not been acquired through legal means). I argue that Law 18 was the result of two interconnected political drives. The first drive was the desire of the Ceausescu regime to gain favor with the West by perpetuating the rhetoric launched as a result of the general amnesty for political detainees in 1964, under the Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej administration. The second drive was the political imperative of the Ceausescu regime to suppress political opposition. My argument is that this transformative shift was accomplished through the development of what I call a mechanism of state induced theft backed by the deployment of a subversive legal instrument of criminalization, which was Law 18/1969. This paper analyzes the role, essence, and implications of Law 18 while supporting a theory of a strategic shift in communist policy.
Carbonyl iron in humoral antibody responses.

SummaryCarbonyl iron (metallic iron of small spherical particles) had strong adjuvant effect for antibodies to sheep red blood cells in rats. It had a lesser effect with bovine serum albumin and ferritin, and was distinctly inferior to Freund's adjuvant for those antigens. Both local and systemic factors contributed to the adjuvancy of carbonyl iron.The adjuvancy of a series of particulate agents toward ferritin was proportional to the degree of adsorption of this antigen on the particles.
Development of Metal–Organic Nanotubes Exhibiting Low-Temperature, Reversible Exchange of Confined “Ice Channels”

Nanotubular materials have unique water transport and storage properties that have the potential to advance separations, catalysis, drug delivery, and environmental remediation technologies. The development of novel hybrid materials, such as metal–organic nanotubes (MONs), is of particular interest, as these materials are amenable to structural engineering strategies and may exhibit tunable properties based upon the presence of inorganic components. A novel metal–organic nanotube, (C4H12N2)0.5[(UO2)(Hida)(H2ida)]·2H2O (UMON) (ida = iminodiacetate), that demonstrates the possibilities of these types of hybrid compounds has been synthesized via a supramolecular approach. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction of the compound revealed stacked macrocyclic arrays that contain highly ordered water molecules with structural similarities to the “ice channels” observed in single-walled carbon nanotubes. Nanoconfinement of the water molecules may be the cause of the unusual exchange properties observed for UMON, includin...
Prognostic factors in renal cancer

In conclusion, the accumulated data indicate that the local extent of a renal carcinoma at the time of surgical intervention is the most important single variable in determining survival. Nuclear grade and cell type of the tumor appear to be of additional prognostic value, especially in patients whose tumor has spread beyond the anatomic confines of the kidney, because these variables may reflect the biologic virulence of the particular tumor in the individual host. Nuclear morphometry and cellular DNA content may play a more important role in the future by identifying that population of patients with clinically localized disease in whom radical nephrectomy will not be not curative, presumably because of concurrent undetectable micrometastases. This distinction will become increasingly important as more effective adjuvant therapies are identified.
The Irish Free State passport and the question of citizenship, 1921–4

The issue of citizenship played a major role in the negotiations that led to the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921; but that point was overshadowed by the tendency of those who negotiated the treaty (and the authors who have written about it) to see the issue of ‘common citizenship’ as only one point under the heading of allegiance to the crown and membership of the British Empire. That it was a central issue is clear, however, for at one point in the 1921 negotiations Lloyd George asked, ‘to put it bluntly will you be British subjects or foreigners? You must be either one or the other.’ Arthur Griffith, the leader of the Irish delegation, answered: ‘in our proposal we have agreed to “reciprocity of civic rights”. We should be Irish and you would be British and each would have equal rights as citizens in the country of the other.’ That exchange caused the British to ask the Irish for a direct answer to the question, would they ‘acknowledge this common citizenship?’. The Irish, however, only responded with the words, ‘Ireland would undertake such obligations as are compatible with the status of a free partner’ in ‘the community of nations known as the British Commonwealth’. Those words did not satisfy the English negotiators, but in the end the Irish accepted an agreement in which the words ‘common citizenship’ appeared in the oath to the king which all members of Dail Eireann would have to take. That satisfied the British demands on allegiance to the crown.
Average lengths for the two-player name game

In the Name Game, letters of the alphabet are drawn at random, and a player marks off all occurrences of the letter in his name as it is called. The winner is the player whose name is deleted first; but a tie can occur when players' names have letters in common. For the two-player game, the probability of a player winning depends not only on the length of his own name but on how many letters occur only in the other player's name. (See [1] for probabilities involving more players.) For example, if Stephanie plays against Georges, then there are 11 letters in the union, 2 in the intersection, 3 that are in Georges but not Stephanie, and 6 that are in Stephanie but not Georges. In this case, the probability of a tie is 2/11, the probability of Stephanie winning is 3/11, and the probability of Georges winning is 6/11. These probabilities are easily derived by considering the 11! permutations of the letters in the union.
CMV infection: Trends, clinical presentations, and treatment

The incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease has decreased dramatically as a result of the use of HAART in HIV-infected patients and the use of antiviral prophylaxis in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. In patients with HIV infection, the retina is still the organ most commonly affected by CMV, whereas in SOT recipients, the transplanted organ is the most common site of infection. The identification of CMV by histopathology is the most definitive diagnostic finding. Ganciclovir remains the mainstay of treatment. High-dose acyclovir, valacyclovir, and ganciclovir are used for CMV prophylaxis. Valganciclovir has been approved for prophylaxis in kidney, kidney-pancreas, and heart transplant recipients who have donor-positive/recipient-negative CMV serostatus. The combination of foscarnet and ganciclovir may be used to treat ganciclovir-resistant CMV infection in SOT recipients and CMV CNS infection in HIV-infected patients.
Hairy Nanoparticles with Hard Polystyrene Cores and Soft Polydimethylsiloxane Shells: One-Pot Synthesis by Living Anionic Polymerization and Characterization

Hairy core–shell nanoparticles have emerged as a unique class of polymeric nanocomposites. Hairy nanoparticles (HNPs) with hard polystyrene (PS) cores and soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) shells have been synthesized by living anionic polymerization via “one-pot synthesis” approach. The size and composition of both core and shell components can be controlled. The synthetic approach produces an entirely new class of HNPs. Differential scanning calorimetry thermograms of the core–shell nanoparticles show two distinct transition temperatures corresponding to a glass transition temperature (Tg) of PS segment and a melting transition temperature (Tm) of PDMS segment indicating the formation of a phase separated system. The synthesized HNPs show different morphologies dependent on the content of PDMS due to the fusion of particles. Solvents play a crucial role in the fusion of particles. Diethyl ether can reduce the fusion of particles and generate almost uniform particles. The HNPs can self-assemble into hierarchical suprastructures. The HNPs may have potential applications in emerging industries such as high-density microelectronic materials and lithography.
Phylogenetic Diversity and Anti-MRSA Activity of Halotolerant Actinobacteria from sediments in Great Salt Plains, Oklahoma

Studies have been surged on extreme environments and hypersaline ecosystems through the recent decades. Despite the apparent severity of the environmental conditions in the Great Salt Plain, recent phylogenetic studies carried on its soil samples have revealed a wide diversity of microorganisms. In this current study, we present the actinobacteria as one of the largest and important phenotypic groups. The Great Salt Plain of Oklahoma is an extreme region and a hypersaline environment from marine origin. Thirty soil samples were collected from vegetated and salt flat sites of the Great Salt Plain area and used for isolation. Actinomycetes were selectively isolated by employing four different media. A total of 358 actinomycetes isolates obtained from the Great Salt Plain soil samples. Based on morphological and physiological characterization 155 representative isolates were chosen for phylogenetic diversity, salt tolerance, and antimicrobial activities. Results from the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicate that, the isolates could be grouped into two genera; phylotypes were detected at high frequency, and affiliated to the genus Streptomyces, and phylotypes were detected at low frequency, and affiliated to the genus Nocardiopsis. The majority of the isolates were of hypersaline or marine origin. 38% of actinomycetes isolates were able to grow at 10% salinity, and only 7% of actinomycetes shown salient ability at 15% salinity. Of the 155 isolates, 44 strains exhibited anti-MRSA bioactivities. To our knowledge, this research paper is the first report on the isolation of actinomycetes members from hypersaline environment of the Great Salt Plain of Oklahoma. This current study confirms that the Great Salt Plain harbors significant diversity of actinobacterial communities, and illustrates their potential for production biologically active molecules. Due to the high bioactivity percentage, broad bioactivities against both MRSA strains, the isolated actinomycetes presented their capability in pharmaceutical application.
Nursing Care of Adult Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients and Families in the Intensive Care Unit: An Evidence-based Review

This article addresses evidence-based practice related to adult hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients when admitted to the intensive care unit. Specifically, it addresses non-HSCT staff, patient, and family needs and the strategies to address those needs.
Vestibular Dysfunction and Difficulty with Driving: Data from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

Background and Objective: There is growing understanding of the role of vestibular function in spatial navigation and orientation. Individuals with vestibular dysfunction demonstrate impaired performance on static and dynamic tests of spatial cognition, but there is sparse literature characterizing how these impairments might affect individuals in the real world. Given the important role of visuospatial ability in driving a motor vehicle, we sought to evaluate whether individuals with vestibular dysfunction might have increased driving difficulty. Materials and Methods: We used data from the 2001 – 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys to evaluate the influence of vestibular dysfunction in driving difficulty in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults aged ≥50 years (n = 3,071). Vestibular function was measured with the modified Romberg test. Furthermore, since vestibular dysfunction is a known contributor to falls risk, we assessed whether individuals with vestibular dysfunction and concomitant driving difficulty were at an increased risk of falls. Results: In multivariate analyses, vestibular dysfunction was associated with a 2-fold increased odds of driving difficulty (odds ratio 2.16, 95% CI 1.57, 2.98). Among participants with vestibular dysfunction, concomitant driving difficulty predicted an increased risk of falls that was significantly higher than in participants with vestibular dysfunction only (odds ratio 13.01 vs. 2.91, p<0.0001). Conclusion: This study suggests that difficulty driving may be a real-world manifestation of impaired spatial cognition associated with vestibular loss. Moreover, driving difficulty may be a marker of more severe vestibular dysfunction.
Is Tubulocystic Renal Cell Carcinoma Real?: Genomic Analysis Confirms the World Health Organization Classification.

This commentary highlights the article by Lawrie et al that validates that tubulocystic renal cell carcinoma is a distinct type of renal neoplasm.
Contamination or pollution—The judgment aspect of residues

This discussion is intended to set forth certain features of current outlook concerning risk and, to some extent, benefits. These are only partially matters of science, and scientists or users of science should be very much aware of this: not to change it, necessarily, but better to understand, and to assess, scientific contributions or participations of scientists in risk/ benefit determinations.
The Changing Political Geography of Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, a region consisting of the Asian mainland and fringing islands has great diversity of population, resources, and political and economic patterns.1 Once the arena of rival colonial powers, Southeast Asia in the 1990s is a region of booming economies experiencing robust growth in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. And the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprising six-nation group (the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei Darussalam), 25 years after its founding, has finally started moving towards economic integration and establishing an ASEAN free trade area in which tariffs on all manufactured products will be reduced to less than 5 percent over a 15-year period starting in 19932.
On the structure and stability of the hurricane eyewall

This study examines the structure and related stability of the hurricane eyewall at the mature stage. By treating the hurricane eyewall as a rotating fluid annulus, it is shown that axisymmetric steady-state solutions for the hurricane wind field can be explicitly obtained in the eyewall region. Using the energy method, we show that this class of the steady-state solutions is nonlinearly stable, thus explaining the resilience of the hurricane eyewall structure and intensity at the mature stage as established from previous observational and modelling studies.
Malalignment and Overload Syndromes

Anterior knee pain is one of the most common complaints that orthopedic surgeons evaluate patients for. Several conditions can cause anterior knee pain including imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, patellofemoral instability, chondral wear on patella or trochlea, and lateral retinacular tightness. Fixed lateral patellar tilt due to excessive lateral retinacular tightness can result in overload of the lateral patellofemoral joint, leading to chondral degeneration and pain. Although nonsurgical treatment can frequently alleviate symptoms in the short term, patients presenting with chondral damage secondary to overload often require surgical intervention to obtain long-lasting pain relief and functional improvement. This treatment comes in the form of a tibial tubercle osteotomy with or without other concomitant procedures. This chapter will discuss the pathogenesis, diagnosis, surgical treatment, complications, and outcomes of lateral patella and trochlea overload treated with tibial tubercle osteotomy (TTO).
Behavioral and neural correlates of memory suppression in PTSD

Abstract Previous work has shown that healthy individuals can actively suppress emotional memories through recruitment of the lateral prefrontal cortex. By contrast, individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently experience unwanted memories of their traumatic experiences, even when making explicit efforts to avoid them. However, little is known regarding the behavioral and neural effects of memory suppression among individuals with PTSD. We examined memory suppression associated with PTSD using the Think-No-Think paradigm in an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. We studied three groups: PTSD (n = 16), trauma exposure without PTSD (n = 19), and controls (i.e., no trauma exposure or PTSD; n = 13). There was a main effect of memory suppression such that participants remembered fewer face-picture pairs during the suppress condition than the remember condition. However, trauma-exposed participants (regardless of PTSD status) were less likely to successfully suppress memory than non-trauma-exposed controls. Neuroimaging data revealed that trauma-exposed individuals showed reduced activation in the right middle frontal gyrus during memory suppression. These results suggest that trauma exposure is associated with neural and behavioral disruptions in memory suppression and point to the possibility that difficulty in active suppression of memories may be just one of several likely factors contributing to the development of PTSD.
Nutrition Risk is Associated with Leukocyte Telomere Length in Middle-Aged Men and Women with at Least One Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease.

Poor diet quality has been associated with several age-related chronic conditions, but its relationship to telomere length, a biological marker of cellular aging, is unclear. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine whether overall diet quality was associated with relative leukocyte telomere length (rLTL) in a sample (n = 96) of nonsmoking middle-aged adults in Appalachia with at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015), the alternate Mediterranean diet score (aMed), and the Dietary Screening Tool (DST). Peripheral rLTL was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The associations between potentially confounding sociodemographic, lifestyle and health-related factors and the first and fourth rLTL quartile groups were examined using Chi-square or Fisher’s Exact tests or logistic regression. The relationships between diet quality index scores and rLTL as a continuous variable were analyzed using simple linear regression and multivariate linear models, analogous to linear covariance analyses. The rLTL ranged from 0.46 to 1.49 (mean ± SEM was 1.02 ± 0.18). Smoking history, income level, and cardiovascular health (Life’s Simple 7) were associated with the lowest and highest quartiles of rLTL and were used as covariates. In adjusted and unadjusted models, participants considered “at nutrition risk” by the DST were more likely to have shorter rLTL than those “not at risk or at potential risk” (p = 0.004). However, there was no evidence that adherence to the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans or to a Mediterranean diet was associated with rLTL in this sample. Intervention studies are needed to determine if improving the diet quality of those at nutrition risk results in reduced telomere attrition over time.
Building with Water:: The Rise of the Island-City in the Early Modern Mediterranean

From the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries, military engineers in the Mediterranean devised a new strategy for defending a city built on a peninsular site: a navigable canal was excavated through the neck of the landmass, severing the city from the coast and isolating it within the sea. In Building with Water: The Rise of the Island-City in the Early Modern Mediterranean, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub traces the development and dissemination of this overlooked urban type. She details how the “island-city” first emerged in the Adriatic and Ionian territories of the Venetian stato da mar and later swept across Spanish and Portuguese outposts in the western Mediterranean basin, where it was absorbed into a shared Iberian vernacular. By reconstructing the circulation of the island-city through this sprawling network of colonial frontiers, Kassler-Taub argues, we can chart an alternative path of architectural influence in the region, one that shifts our attention beyond the Italian and Spanish mainlands.