cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Strain Variations in Single Amino Acids of the 86-Kilodalton Human Cytomegalovirus Major Immediate-Early Protein (IE2) Affect Its Functional and Biochemical Properties: Implications of Dynamic Protein Conformation

The 86-kDa major immediate-early protein, IEP86 (IE2, IE2(579aa), or ppUL122a), from the Towne and AD169 strains of human cytomegalovirus show four amino acid variations, namely, R68Q, K455E, T541A, and seven consecutive serines beginning at position 258 in Towne and eight serines in AD169. A commonly utilized IEP86 cDNA expression clone (herein called the original cDNA) (E. Baracchini, E. Glezer, K. Fish, R. M. Stenberg, J. A. Nelson, and P. Ghazal, Virology 188:518-529, 1992) shows the Towne R68 and seven serines but contains the AD169 E455 and A541 plus two amino acid mutations, M242I and A463T. In transcriptional activation analyses using several promoters, the IEP86 produced by the original cDNA was 40 to 60% less active than wild-type (WT) Towne IEP86, whereas AD169 IEP86 was two to three times more active than WT Towne IEP86. To determine which amino acid variations or mutations accounted for the differences in transcriptional activation, they were individually tested in the WT Towne IEP86 background. K455E, M242I, and the eighth serine had little effect on transcriptional activation or sumoylation when inserted into the Towne background. T541A significantly increased transcriptional activation on all promoters tested and showed increased sumoylation; T541A is the primary reason that WT AD169 IEP86 has increased activity over WT Towne IEP86. The increased sumoylation seen with T541A was quantitatively reduced to WT Towne levels when the K455E alteration was present, suggesting that K455 may be a sumoylation site or that E455 may cause alterations in the IEP86 structure which affect overall sumoylation. A463T was very deleterious to transcriptional activation and caused reduced sumoylation. The A436T mutation in the original cDNA is partially compensated by the presence of the T541A variation. Phosphopeptide mapping suggests that a threonine at 463 or 541 does not introduce a phosphorylation site. However, the A463T mutation does affect phosphorylation at a distant site, suggesting that it alters the conformation of the protein. Promoter-specific effects were noted with some of the amino acid variations, particularly T541A. Structural modeling is presented which suggests how A463T and T541A alter the functional structure of WT Towne IEP86. A hydrophobic core containing A463 is predicted to be responsible for the functional integrity of the carboxy-terminal region of IEP86 between amino acids 344 and 579.
Linking juvenile habitat utilization to population dynamics of California halibut

We investigated the nursery role of four coastal ecosystems for the California halibut (Paralichthys californicus) using the following metrics: (1) contribution in producing the fish that advance to older age classes, (2) connectivity of coastal systems resulting from migration of fish from juvenile to subadult habitats, and (3) effect of nursery habitat usage and availability on subadult population size, specifically evaluating the concentration hypothesis. Potential nurseries were grouped using a robust classification scheme that segregated exposed, bay, lagoon, and estuarine environments. Assignment of nursery origins for individual subadult fish via elemental fingerprinting indicated that exposed coasts, bays, lagoons, and estuaries contributed 31% ,6 5 % ,1 %, and 3% of advancing juvenile halibut during 2003, versus 49% ,3 3 % ,1 6 %, and 2% during 2004, respectively. These results were remarkably similar to ‘‘expected’’ nursery contributions derived from field surveys, suggesting that in this system juvenile distributions were a good indicator of unit-area productivity of juvenile habitats and that densitydependent mechanisms during the juvenile phase did not regulate recruitment pulses. Elemental fingerprinting also demonstrated that individuals egressing from bays did not migrate far from their nursery origins (,10 km), resulting in reduced connectivity along the 110-km study region over the timescale of approximately one generation. Consequently, we observed considerably higher subadult densities at sites near large bays, while populations distant from large bays appeared to be more influenced by nursery habitat limitation. Over large (,100 km) scales, the location and availability of nursery habitat alternatives had significant effects on the population dynamics of an important member of the ichthyofaunal community of southern California. For coastal fish and invertebrate species, recruitment to an adult population is affected by a wide suite of spatially varying biotic and abiotic factors that operate throughout the pelagic larval phase (Checkley et al. 1988), at settlement (Allen 1988), or during advancement to older age classes (Modin and Pihl 1994). Many species are defined by life histories in which settled juveniles must select among nursery habitat alternatives that can affect the demography of adult populations through habitat- or site-specific growth or mortality (Sogard et al. 1992). Therefore, understanding the functional role that nursery habitats play in promoting population success is critically important for the proper management of coastal ecosystems and fish populations. Estuaries and semi-enclosed bays have historically been considered essential nursery habitat for many economically
HAUSMAN AND MCPHERSON ON WELFARE ECONOMICS AND PREFERENCE SATISFACTION THEORIES OF WELFARE: A CRITICAL NOTE

Hausman and McPherson defend welfare economics by claiming that even if welfare does not consist in preference satisfaction, preferences still provide good, if fallible, evidence of welfare. I argue that this strategy does not yet fully solve the problems for welfare economics stemming from the preference satisfaction theory of welfare. More work is needed to show that our self-interested preferences are sufficiently reliable, or in some other sense our best, evidence of well-being. Thus, my aim is to identify the challenges that remain and clarify what additional work is needed before Hausman and McPherson's defence of welfare economics succeeds. © 2014 Cambridge University Press.
High-performance dynamic pattern matching over disordered streams

Current pattern-detection proposals for streaming data recognize the need to move beyond a simple regular-expression model over strictly ordered input. We continue in this direction, relaxing restrictions present in some models, removing the requirement for ordered input, and permitting stream revisions (modification of prior events). Further, recognizing that patterns of interest in modern applications may change frequently over the lifetime of a query, we support updating of a pattern specification without blocking input or restarting the operator. Our new pattern operator (called AFA) is a streaming adaptation of a non-deterministic finite automaton (NFA) where additional schema-based user-defined information, called a register, is accessible to NFA transitions during execution. AFAs support dynamic patterns, where the pattern itself can change over time. We propose clean order-agnostic pattern-detection semantics for AFAs, with new algorithms that allow a very efficient implementation, while retaining significant expressiveness and supporting native handling of out-of-order input, stream revisions, dynamic patterns, and several optimizations. Experiments on Microsoft StreamInsight show that we achieve event rates of more than 200K events/sec (up to 5x better than simpler schemes). Our dynamic patterns give up to orders-of-magnitude better throughput than solutions such as operator restart, and our other optimizations are very effective, incurring low memory and latency.
Teachers' Perceptions of Connections and Disconnects Between Their Alternative Preparation and Teaching in Urban Classrooms:

This study is part of a larger ongoing research study on the impact of alternatively prepared teachers in urban mathematics classrooms. This report focuses on examining alternatively prepared high ...
Update on the new classification of hepatic adenomas: clinical, molecular, and pathologic characteristics.

Context.—Hepatic adenoma is an uncommon, benign, hepatic neoplasm that typically occurs in women of child-bearing age, often with a history of long-term use of oral contraceptive drugs. This is usually detected as an incidental mass lesion in a noncirrhotic liver during imaging studies. Pathologic evaluation by needle core biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis. Molecular studies have revealed that hepatic adenomas involve unique molecular pathways that are distinct from hepatocellular carcinoma. Based on these studies, a French collaborative group has recently proposed a molecular-pathologic classification for hepatic adenomas. In addition, advances in molecular studies have led to reclassification of the “telangiectatic variant of focal nodular hyperplasia” as “hepatic adenoma, inflammatory subtype.” Objective.—To review the proposed, new classification of hepatic adenoma and the changes in diagnostic workup in light of the above-mentioned developments. Data sources.—Review of published literatu...
Quantification of Brain Maturation and Growth Patterns in C57BL/6J Mice via Computational Neuroanatomy of Diffusion Tensor Images

Diffusion Tensor magnetic resonance imaging and computational neuroanatomy are used to quantify postnatal developmental patterns of C57BL/6J mouse brain. Changes in neuronal organization and myelination occurring as the brain matures into adulthood are examined, and a normative baseline is developed, against which transgenic mice may be compared in genotype-phenotype studies. In early postnatal days, gray matter-based cortical and hippocampal structures exhibit high water diffusion anisotropy, presumably reflecting the radial neuronal organization. Anisotropy drops rapidly within a week, indicating that the underlying brain tissue becomes more isotropic in orientation, possibly due to formation of a complex randomly intertwined web of dendrites. Gradual white matter anisotropy increase implies progressively more organized axonal pathways, likely reflecting the myelination of axons forming tightly packed fiber bundles. In contrast to the spatially complex pattern of tissue maturation, volumetric growth is somewhat uniform, with the cortex and the cerebellum exhibiting slightly more pronounced growth. Temporally, structural growth rates demonstrate an initial rapid volumetric increase in most structures, gradually tapering off to a steady state by about 20 days. Fiber maturation reaches steady state in about 10 days for the cortex, to 30-40 days for the corpus callosum, the hippocampus, and the internal and external capsules.
Diverse fracture properties and their impact on performance in conventional and tight-gas reservoirs, Saudi Arabia: The Unayzah, South Haradh case study

The Upper Permian–Carboniferous Unayzah Formation in South Haradh, Saudi Arabia, includes two major mechanical and petrophysical layers that are separated by shale-rich zones. Open tectonic fracture clusters are rare and not essential for fluid flow in the Unayzah A zone, which has high porosity and permeability. However, such fracture clusters are essential to, and impact, the production performance in the Unayzah B/C tight-gas reservoir. The occurrence of the tectonic fractures in the Unayzah Formation is linked to the rock mechanical properties, which vary with porosity, shale volume, cement type, and texture. The B/C unit is more fractured than the A unit, but its layers vary in the degree of fracturing. The variation in fracture development within the B/C unit results in differences in fracture-enhanced permeability based on production profiles where flow is restricted to preferentially fractured mechanical layers that lack effective vertical fluid communication with other layers. We identify two tectonic fracture systems: an older subordinate fully mineralized system and a younger primary mostly open system. Early extensional fractures including joints and faults developed parallel to the basement faults during the opening of the Neotethys. These are fully mineralized and have little or no function as fluid conduits. The younger system includes open-fracture clusters that are predominantly parallel or nearly parallel to the regional east-northeast–west-southwest maximum horizontal stress of the Zagros (that has been active since the Late Cretaceous) and is independent of local structures. Therefore, these fractures are controlled by remote stresses instead of the basement-rooted forced folds and faults. In this article, we demonstrate that in the Unayzah B/C, natural fractures are essential to permeability and, in some areas, to porosity, and thence, to reservoir performance. The results of this study are being implemented in well placement and completion design to optimize the intersection of open-fracture clusters with positive preliminary results.
The Nature of the Intertidal Zonation of Plants and Animals

1. Church Reef, in Wembury Bay, near Plymouth, was selected for a survey of common intertidal plants and animals. 2. Four traverses were accurately levelled relative to Ordnance Datum, and their floras and faunas examined. 3. The relation between predicted tide levels and probable actual levels is discussed, and the importance of the “splash zone” is stressed. 4. As an outcome of 2 and 3, it appears that on Church Reef the most critical levels on the shore, for the species examined, are: ( a ) between Mean and Extreme Low Water Springs; ( b ) between Mean Low Water Neaps and Springs; ( c ) at Extreme (Lowest) High Water Neaps. The least critical level is Mean Low Water Neaps. 5. Two special problems are presented by the upper limits of Littorina saxatilis and L. neritoides , and by the frontiers between Ascophyllum and Fucus spiralis and between F. spiralis and Pelvetia, where the algae do not overlap. 6. The work of previous authors is discussed for comparison with the present paper. 7. An important difference is suggested between the nature of the zonation of sedentary animals and plants on the one hand, and that of animals capable of locomotion on the other hand.
A high frame-rate and low-cost Elastography system by generating shear waves through continuous vibration of the ultrasound transducer

Ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) utilizes the propagation of induced shear waves to characterize the shear modulus of soft tissue. Many methods rely on an acoustic radiation force (ARF) push beam to generate shear waves. However, specialized hardware is required to generate the push beams, and the thermal stress that is placed upon the ultrasound system, transducer, and tissue by the push beams currently limits the frame-rate to about 1 Hz. This paper presents Probe Oscillation Shear Elastography (PROSE) as an alternative method to measure tissue elasticity, by generating shear waves using a continuous mechanical vibration of an ultrasound transducer, while simultaneously detecting motion with the same transducer under pulse-echo mode. Motion of the transducer during detection produces a compression strain artifact that is coupled with the observed shear waves. A novel symmetric sampling scheme is proposed such that pulse-echo detection events are acquired when the ultrasound transducer returns to the same physical position, allowing the shear waves to be decoupled from the compression artifact. Full field-of-view (FOV) two-dimensional (2D) shear wave speed (SWS) images were obtained by applying a local frequency estimation (LFE) method, capable of generating a 2D map from a single frame of shear wave motion, allowing for an imaging frame rate comparable to the vibration frequency. PROSE was able to produce smooth and accurate shear wave images from three homogeneous phantoms with different moduli, with an effective frame rate of 300Hz. An inclusion phantom study showed that increased vibration frequencies improved the accuracy of inclusion imaging, and allowed targets as small as 6.5 mm to be resolved with good contrast (contrast-to-noise ratio ≥19 dB) between the target and background.
Isolation, Characterization, and Localization of a Capsule-Associated Gene, CAP10, of Cryptococcus neoformans

Cryptococcus neoformans is a pathogenic fungus which most commonly affects the central nervous system and causes fatal meningoencephalitis primarily in patients with AIDS. This fungus produces a thick extracellular polysaccharide capsule which is well recognized as a virulence factor. Here, we describe the isolation and characterization of a novel gene, CAP10, which is required for capsule formation. Complementation of the acapsular cap10 mutant produced an encapsulated strain and the deletion of CAP10 from a wild strain resulted in an acapsular phenotype. The molecular mass of the hemagglutinin epitope-tagged Cap10p is about 73 kDa, which is similar to the size predicted from sequence analysis. When CAP10 was fused with a hybrid green fluorescent protein construct, the fluorescence signals appeared as patches in the cytoplasm. Using a reporter gene construct, we found that CAP10 was expressed at high levels in late-stationary-phase cells. In addition, we found that the expression levels of CAP10 are modulated by the transcriptional factor STE12alpha. Deletion of STE12alpha downregulated the expression levels of CAP10 while overexpression of STE12alpha upregulated the expression levels of CAP10. Animal model studies indicate that deletion of the CAP10 gene results in the loss of virulence, and complementation of the acapsular phenotype of cap10 restores virulence. Thus, CAP10 is required for capsule formation and virulence.
Will new generations of modified antimicrobial peptides improve their potential as pharmaceuticals

The concept of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as potent pharmaceuticals is firmly established in the literature, and most research articles on this topic conclude by stating that AMPs represent promising therapeutic agents against bacterial and fungal pathogens. Indeed, early research in this field showed that AMPs were diverse in nature, had high activities with low minimal inhibitory concentrations, had broad spectrums of activity against bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens, and could easily be manipulated to alter their specificities, reduce their cytotoxicities and increase their antimicrobial activities. Unfortunately, commercial development of these peptides, for even the simplest of applications, has been very limited. With some peptides there are obstacles with their manufacture, in vivo efficacy and in vivo retention. More recently, the focus has shifted. Contemporary research now uses a more sophisticated approach to develop AMPs that surmount many of these prior obstacles. AMP mimetics, hybrid AMPs, AMP congeners, cyclotides and stabilised AMPs, AMP conjugates and immobilised AMPs have all emerged with selective or 'targeted' antimicrobial activities, improved retention, or unique abilities that allow them to bind to medical or industrial surfaces. These groups of new peptides have creative medical and industrial application potentials to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and septic shock, to preserve food or to sanitise surfaces both in vitro and in vivo.
A1C: recommendations, debates, and questions.

This is the first of a series of articles based on presentations at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions held 5–9 June 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A series of elegant investigations some 4 decades ago led to the realization that elevated levels of certain hemoglobin components are found in individuals with diabetes (1). The useful measurement of A1C became standard in assessment of glycemia (2). A1C, rather than direct measures of glycemia, is now used as the “goal” for diabetes treatment (3,4). ### Should A1C be used for diabetes diagnosis? At the 69th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), David Nathan (Boston, MA) discussed the role of A1C in the diagnosis of diabetes in nonpregnant subjects and explained the position advocated by an expert committee of ADA and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) that the diagnosis of diabetes may be conveniently based on A1C ≥6.5%, without the need to measure a plasma glucose concentration (5). All methods previously used for the diagnosis of diabetes, he noted, have relied on measuring blood glucose, whether in the fasting state or after a stress, as in the oral glucose tolerance test. He asserted that early attempts to establish the diagnosis of diabetes were hampered by absence of standardization, for example, with different times for blood determination or with different oral glucose loads. Type 1 diabetes usually has characteristic presentation and thus is easily diagnosed, but Nathan observed that type 2 diabetes can be subtle in its onset; analyses of fasting and 2-h postload glucose levels in Korea, Nauru, Egypt, and Taiwan showed unimodal glucose distributions (6), although this may be an artifact of the relative infrequency of diabetes in the population, as studies in populations such as the Pima Indians with very high prevalence of diabetes do show evidence of bimodal …
Dominant critical gate identification for power and yield optimization in logic circuits

With increasing process variations, low-VT swapping is an effective technique that can be used to improve timing yield without having to modify a design following placement and routing. Gate criticality, defined as the probability that a gate lies on a critical path, forms the basis for existing low-VT swapping techniques. This paper presents a simulation-based study that challenges the effectiveness of low-VT swapping based on the conventional definition of gate criticality, especially as random process variations increase with technology scaling. We introduce dominant gate criticality to address the drawbacks of the conventional definition of gate criticality, and formulate dominant critical gate ranking in the presence of process variations as an optimization problem. Simulation results for 12 benchmark circuits from the ISCAS and OpenSPARC suites to achieve timing yields of 95% and 98% indicate that low-VT swapping based on dominant gate criticality reduces leakage power overhead by 61% and 42% for independent and correlated process variations, respectively, over low-VT swapping based onconventional gate criticality.
The Incidence of State Taxes on Oil and Gas

The rising economic value of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) waters, for oil and gas as well as wind farms, has attracted the attention of abutting states. Thus Louisiana, faced with dwindling revenu...
Susceptibilities of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae to 10 Oral Antimicrobial Agents Based on Pharmacodynamic Parameters: 1997 U.S. Surveillance Study

The susceptibilities of Streptococcus pneumoniae (1,476 strains) and untypeable Haemophilus influenzae (1,676 strains) to various oral β-lactam, macrolide-azalide, and fluoroquinolone antimicrobial agents were determined by broth microdilution. Organisms were isolated from specimens obtained from outpatients in six geographic regions of the United States. MIC data were interpreted according to pharmacodynamically derived breakpoints applicable to the oral agents tested. Among H. influenzae strains, 41.6% were β-lactamase positive. Virtually all H. influenzae strains were susceptible to amoxicillin-clavulanate (98%), cefixime (100%), and ciprofloxacin (100%), while 78% were susceptible to cefuroxime, 57% were susceptible to amoxicillin, 14% were susceptible to cefprozil, 9% were susceptible to loracarbef, 2% were susceptible to cefaclor, and 0% were susceptible to azithromycin and clarithromycin. Among S. pneumoniae isolates, 49.6% were penicillin susceptible, 17.9% were intermediate, and 32.5% were penicillin resistant, with penicillin MICs for 50 and 90% of the isolates tested of 0.12 and 4 μg/ml, respectively. Overall, 94% of S. pneumoniae isolates were susceptible to amoxicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanate, 69% were susceptible to azithromycin and clarithromycin, 63% were susceptible to cefprozil and cefuroxime, 52% were susceptible to cefixime, 22% were susceptible to cefaclor, and 11% were susceptible to loracarbef. Although ciprofloxacin has marginal activity against S. pneumoniae, no high-level fluoroquinolone-resistant strains were found. Significant cross-resistance was found between penicillin and macrolides-azalides among S. pneumoniae isolates, with 5% of the penicillin-susceptible strains being macrolide-azalide resistant, compared with 37% of the intermediate isolates and 66% of the resistant isolates. Resistance was highest in S. pneumoniae isolates from patients younger than 10 years of age, middle ear and paranasal sinus specimens, and the southern half of the United States. With the continuing rise in resistance, judicious use of oral antimicrobial agents is necessary in all age groups.
Counselor Self‐Disclosure

Self-disclosure in the counseling-therapy relationship has been an important area of research and study, with considerable emphasis placed on counselor self-disclosure. This study was initiated to explore further the phenomenon of counselor-therapist disclosure through direct assessment of potential clients' desires for disclosure and through development of a measure of counselor disclosure. Implications for counselor disclosure and for the counselor-client therapy relationship are discussed.
Independent colony founding by ergatoid queens in the ant genus Pogonomyrmex: queen foraging provides an alternative to dependent colony founding

Ant queens exhibit two primary strategies to initiate nests, independent colony founding (ICF) by solitary queens and dependent colony founding (DCF) when the queen starts a nest with a group of workers that disperse on foot from the parent nest. Numerous ant species have wingless (ergatoid) queens, and it is generally assumed that these species exhibit obligate DCF because their lack of wing musculature provides them with few resources to divert towards producing their first brood of workers. Thus, ICF by ergatoid queens is viewed as maladaptive because these queens need to take additional dangerous foraging trips to garner sufficient food to rear their first brood of workers. Contrary to this prediction, I document ICF by ergatoid queens for three species of harvester ants in the genus Pogonomyrmex (subfamily Myrmicinae), P. cunicularius cunicularius, P. cunicularius pencosensis, and P. huachucanus. Queens of P. huachucanus were obligate foragers, i.e., no minim workers could be produced without external food, and one queen of P. cunicularius pencosensis was observed foraging in the field. Abundant and/or predictable food resources likely select for the evolution of semi-claustral nest founding and ICF by these ergatoid queens. Under these conditions, foraging time would be minimized and the number and size of minim workers would be maximized. These benefits should increase founding success, which could compensate for loss of long-range dispersal. Overall, this study demonstrates that care should be taken before concluding that ant colonies employ DCF based solely on queen morphology.
Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy: Technique and Complications

Ideally, the intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IP) delivery device is placed at the time of the original diagnostic procedure, when an optimal surgical resection can be completed. The patient, who is appropriately counseled before surgery about her risk of cancer and the treatment options available, should have an IP device placed at the time of surgical resection of the presumed ovarian or primary peritoneal cancer. The pathologic diagnosis and stage is not completely understood in that setting, but good clinical judgment can identify an appropriate candidate for IP chemotherapy. It is safer to place the device and remove it unused at the bedside later, than to forego placement and have to reoperate to place the device at a second procedure. The second procedure to place an IP catheter is an important barrier to initiating IP chemotherapy, and also delays proper treatment.
New Integer Normalized Carrier Frequency Offset Estimators

Carrier frequency offset (CFO) introduces spectrum misalignment of the transmit and receive filters, causing energy loss and distortion of received signal. A recent study presents an accurate signal model that incorporates these characteristics. However, CFO estimators in the existing literature were developed based on the signal models without these characteristics. This paper generalizes the accurate signal model with CFO to include timing offset and sampling offset and then studies what effects the accurate signal model bring to the CFO estimation and how to address them. We investigate different existing CFO estimators and find some of them lose their optimality under the accurate signal model. We also develop two new integer normalized CFO (ICFO) estimators under the accurate signal model using only one OFDM symbol; one of them is a pilot-aided estimator using both pilot and data and the other one is a blind estimator using data only. Compared with the existing approaches, both of the new estimators make better use of channel and energy loss information, thus yielding more accurate estimation. Furthermore, the proposed methods overcome the existing approaches’ limitation to phase shift keying modulation. Simulation results corroborate the advantages of the new estimators. Analytical performance results are also provided for the proposed estimators.
Russian hybrid warfare and extended deterrence in eastern Europe

Russia's use of force against Ukraine since early 2014 has prompted some observers to remark that it is engaging in ‘hybrid warfare’. This form of military statecraft has made other former Soviet republics, such as the Baltic countries, fear that Russia would use subversion rather than pursue a conventional military engagement against them. Despite this concern about Russian hybrid war, existing descriptions of this form of war suffer from conceptual weaknesses. In this article hybrid warfare is conceived as a strategy that marries conventional deterrence and insurgency tactics. That is, the belligerent uses insurgent tactics against its target while using its conventional military power to deter a strong military response. The article then outlines why some former Soviet republics are susceptible to Russian hybrid warfare, allowing it to postulate inductively the conditions under which hybrid warfare might be used in general. The analysis yields two policy implications. First, military solutions are not wholly appropriate against hybrid warfare since it exploits latent ethnic grievances and weak civil societies. Second, only under narrow circumstances would belligerents resort to hybrid warfare. Belligerents need to be revisionist and militarily stronger than their targets, but they also need to have ethnic or linguistic ties with the target society to leverage in waging hybrid warfare.
Vaporization of Cuprous Oxide and Other Dissociating Oxides

The behavior of dissociating oxides at high temperatures is briefly reviewed. At low pressures the composition of the oxide will correspond to an equilibrium oxygen pressure quite different from the ambient oxygen pressure. Evaporation rate studies on cuprous oxide in various atmospheres show that this oxide dissociates according to Cu2O (solid) → 2Cu (gas) + 1/2O2 (gas).
Does Street Cleaning Encourage Car Usage? Evidence from New York

This paper investigates the impact of street cleaning on car usage in the New York City region, using a natural experimental design. The findings suggest that street cleaning encourages car usage for households without off-street parking and discourages car usage for households with off-street parking. The overall net effect is increased car usage despite the significant variation from neighborhood to neighborhood. Because street cleaning affects both mandatory and discretionary travel, this increase is unlikely a mere redistribution from non-street-cleaning days. A simulation shows that street cleaning on average increase car usage by 5.9 percent on a weekday.
The Associations and Correlations Between Self-reported Health and Neighborhood Cohesion and Disorder in a Community-dwelling U.S. Chinese Population

Purpose of the study Characteristics of neighborhood have been found to be associated with physical and psychological health status of older adults, especially in relationship to social dynamics like cohesion and disorder. This study aims to examine correlations and associations between sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported health status, cohesion, and disorder among Chinese older adults in the greater Chicago area. Design and methods The Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago is a cross-sectional, population-based study with community-dwelling Chinese older adults aged 60 and older, recruited through a community-based participatory research approach. Cohesion was measured through six questions; disorder was measured through eight questions. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted using SAS. Results Among 3,158 participants enrolled in the study, 92.3% reported any neighborhood cohesion; 69.8% reported any neighborhood disorder. After controlling for age, sex, education, income, marital status, living arrangement, number of children, years in the community, years in the United States, country of origin, language preference, and location, a higher level of cohesion is associated with higher quality of life (odds ratio [OR]: 1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.13, 1.39) and a higher level of disorder is associated with lower overall health status (OR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95, 0.99) and lower quality of life (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.95, 0.98). Implications Our findings suggest that neighborhood cohesion and neighborhood disorder are correlated to the health of U.S. Chinese older adults. Future longitudinal research should examine the relationship between community characteristics, both structural and social, and health-related outcomes.
Deferring virtue: The new management of students and the civic role of schools

The expectation that schools resuscitate civic virtues and create a vibrant civic and public sphere competes with a more powerful contemporary demand on schools, namely, that they generate equal opportunity and mobility, especially for poor and minority youth. This equal opportunity is framed solely in the context of grades on standardized tests. The effort to improve the educational achievement of youth from underserved communities is undertaken through strict behavior management practices, particularly in charter networks that are seen as more successful. These, I suggest, pose the risk of undermining the opportunity students have to develop and practice civic virtues. I raise the possibility that schools teach different kinds of civic virtue to different kinds of children.
Bisexuality, Mental Health, and Media Representation

ABSTRACTThere is a mental health crisis in the bisexual community, and though the issues of mental health and media representation are analyzed separately in bisexual literature, they are rarely put side by side. Media such as television, film, and music often contribute to the perpetuation of negative stereotypes and stigmas about people who are bisexual. How do these issues contribute to the high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide among individuals who are bisexual? What issues do individuals who are bisexual face when they choose to seek help? This research project contributes to bisexual literature by drawing connections between media representation and mental health by firstly examining existing literature on bisexual issues such as biphobia, bisexual erasure, media representation, and mental health, and secondly discussing the results of an online survey to determine how other people who identify as bisexual feel about media representation and its relationship to the mental health crisis in t...
R. G. Collingwood’s Research in the Archaeology of Roman Britain

R. G. Collingwood did his historical research in a field which required technical expertise of a very specialized kind. Due to the lack of documents, historians of Roman Britain had long been forced to rely on techniques of excavation for the most elementary information. The man who put this enterprise on a scientific basis in Britain was F. J. Haverfield (1860–1919), who had been inspired by Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903).1
Critical Infrastructure Asset Identification: Policy, Methodology and Gap Analysis

Critical infrastructure asset identification is a core component of the risk management process. Amidst growing concerns of terrorist and natural disaster threats to the critical infrastructure, it is imperative that public and private sector stakeholders understand exactly which assets are critical to national security in order to prioritize risk management efforts. Challenges to accomplishing this task are the difficulty in identifying exactly which assets are critical and comparing the risks to assets across the many critical infrastructure sectors. A proven method for critical infrastructure asset identification that meets these needs does not exist today. This chapter explores the critical infrastructure protection policy frameworks and requirements of the United States, European Union and other countries, and summarizes the key requirements and methodologies. The methodologies are analyzed against the outlined requirements. Based on this analysis, a new approach is presented for critical infrastructure asset identification and additional research using multi-criteria decision theory is proposed to resolve the challenges that have limited progress in this area.
Correlation between Accountants’ Competence and the Quality of Financial Reports of SMEs in the Province of Nakorn Nayok

The purpose of the research on the accountants’ competence and the quality of financial reports of SMEs in the province of Nakorn Nayok, is to study the levels of competency of the accountants, the levels of the quality of financial reports and to find the correlation between the accountants ‘competence and the quality of financial reports of SMEs in the province of Nakorn Nayok. The model group consisted of 175 managers of the industrial SMEs in the province of Nakorn Nayok. Tools used are questionnaires, statistic is by mean, t-test, pearson’s simple correlation moment. It is found that the levels of the accountants’ competence of SMEs in the province of Nakorn Nayok are high and the levels of the quality of financial reports of SMEs in the province of Nakorn Nayok are also high. It is also found that the correlation between the accountants’ competence and the quality of financial reports is at a medium level, with statistic significant at .01, correlation coefficient at .678
The Use of a Child-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Curriculum to Increase Attention

ABSTRACTAcceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a treatment that integrates mindfulness and acceptance training with behavior change processes. One of the core processes in ACT is contact with the present moment which involves shifting attention to what is happening here and now, contacting both internal and external stimuli. An experimental and control group were used to determine the impact ACT had on attention. ACT participants (M = 5.4, SD = 9.8) showed fewer inaccuracies on the CPT-X task compared to the control group (M = 19.75, SD = 16.1) at posttest F(1, 38) = 11.49, p = .02, ηp² = .232. Results of the current study demonstrate participation in the use of an ACT curriculum for children to help increase attention outcomes.
Diagnosis of periprosthetic infections: New tests and techniques

Abstract Periprosthetic joint infection of the shoulder is a substantial diagnostic challenge. Much of the difficulty in diagnosis is directly due to the high rates of positive Propionibacterium acnes cultures in both primary and revision shoulder arthroplasty. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe this diagnostic challenge and to review the traditional and emerging options for diagnostic testing.
Grandparent–Grandchild Relations

Intergenerational family ties include relationships between grandparents and their grandchildren. Historically, scholars have examined intergenerational solidarity including the influences of contact, comfort, geographical proximity, beliefs, and values within the grandparent–grandchild relationship. In the early 21st century these issues are still important; however, scholars have become more interested in contemporary intersections between individuals and families, leading to advancing the understanding of the grandparent–grandchild relationship. Researchers have found that grandchildren provide care-related tasks for grandparents when the latter are frail or sick. Further, regardless of sexual orientation of grandparents and/or grandchildren, close ties remain. Grandparents also continue to assume parenting roles to grandchildren as custodial grandparents. Issues related to grandparent–grandchild relations are likely to receive greater attention as the number of older adults who experience grandparenthood continues to increase. Keywords: adult grandchildren; coming out; family caregiving; grandfamilies
The Lifelong Preservation of the Self: Integrating the Contributions of Erikson and Kohut

Both developmental and psychoanalytic theorists have traditionally viewed older adults from the perspective of Erikson (1968, 1986), who posits that the final years of life are comprised of a struggle for integrity over despair. Kohut (1977, 1984), on the other hand, spoke more to the universal need of all individuals for empathic mirroring and relationships with admirable people. While Kohut did not address the challenges of aging directly, as did Erikson, Kohut's self psychology can serve as a logical model for understanding the emotional difficulties that commonly confront the aged. In particular, Kohut's description of selfobjects can adequately describe the interpersonal needs of many older individuals, if they are to develop Eriksonian integrity in its fullest sense. The case of an elderly professor, beset with numerous medical problems and the stress of a forced retirement, is described to illustrate these ideas.
Copper complexes for therapy of cancer and autoimmune diseases

This overview presents the pharmacological effectiveness of copper complexes as anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents as a physiological approach to treating cancers and autoimmune diseases [see References 1–8 and references cited therein]. Plasma copper concentration increases in neoplastic and autoimmune diseases as an immune-mediated physiological response to these disease states. Treatment with copper complexes is a therapeutic support of this increase in plasma copper and the attendant distribution of copper to affected tissues to enable de-novo syntheis of copper-dependent enzymes required to bring about remission by re-establishing normal tissue function.
Myasthenia Gravis: Classification and Outcome Measurements

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is the best characterized and understood autoimmune disease of the nervous system (Vincent et al., Lancet 357:2122–8, 2001). It is the most common neuromuscular transmission disorder followed in neurology clinics. Nevertheless, standardized classification and grading systems and outcome measures for MG were not developed until the 1990s and continue to be refined. In 1997, the Medical Scientific Advisory Board of the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) formed a task force to design classification and outcome measures for the disease (Barohn, Ann N Y Acad Sci 998:432–9, 2003). The task force’s primary charge was to create a system of uniformity in recording and reporting clinical data and outcomes research. Chairing the project was Dr. Alfred Jaretzki III, a cardiothoracic surgeon who had published extensively with colleagues at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center on thymectomy for MG (Jaretzki, Neurology 48:S52–63, 1997; Jaretzki et al., J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 95:747–57, 1988). He expressed concern that published outcomes following thymectomy could not be reliably compared across studies due to the lack of universally accepted measures. It was soon recognized that essentially all MG clinical research suffered from this same dilemma.
An Overlooked Central Bank Rescue: How the Bank of France Ended the American Panic of 1907

Recent American and European financial crises prompt the questions: under what conditions do crises end, when does a rescue plan crystallize, and how does a rescue happen? I examine a successful rescue operation in the worst pre-Federal Reserve financial crisis, the Panic of 1907, with these questions in mind. Received tradition ascribes the resolution of that crisis to a series of efforts to expand domestic liquidity. In this event study, however, I find that it was direct intervention by France in American money markets that ultimately relieved the stringency by providing a new source of international liquidity. I challenge the notion that J. Pierpont Morgan saved the American markets by devising a series of ad hoc domestic liquidity measures during the crisis. While Morgan’s actions may have averted a settlement crisis at the New York Stock Exchange and provided temporary relief for equity prices, I find that it was the announcement by the Bank of France to accelerate its gold payments directly for American crops that ultimately reversed the downtrend in equity prices. I find evidence that signs of spill-over to the French banking and financial systems accompanied the French decision to rescue the United States. Furthermore, discussions among French bank regents reveal how the rescue operation met their competing mandates to provide liquidity while preserving rigorous quality standards for assets the Bank purchased in exchange for its liquidity provision. Implications are that rescues occur when a surplus-reserve central bank experiences signs of domestic stress, that central banks cooperate when it serves their self-interest, and that a collateralized rescue operation can provide systemic liquidity and maintain central bank portfolio quality.
Genetic analysis of the Utah population: A comparison of STR and VNTR loci

Genetic data are reported for nine short tandem repeat (STR) loci (D3S1358, vWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, and D7S820) and six variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) loci (D2S44, D10S28, D4S139, D1S7, D5S110, and D17S79) in samples of Utah African Americans, European Americans, and Hispanics. Little evidence of departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or gametic equilibrium was found in these populations. Because of their relatively higher mutation rates, the VNTR loci exhibited higher average heterozygosity and lower FST levels than did the STR loci. Genetic distance analysis showed congruence between the two types of systems, and a genetic distance analysis of the STR data showed that the three Utah populations are genetically similar to the same ethnic groups in other parts of the United States. In addition, this analysis showed that the African American population is the most genetically divergent, with greater similarity between the Hispanic and European American populations. This analysis demonstrates a high degree of consistency for population designations commonly used in forensic analysis.