cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cavity-enhanced detection of surface ablation

Abstract A resonant optical cavity was used to amplify the signals from minute laser ablation plumes. Such photovaporization signals were investigated for more than 25 different materials. Three features studied in detail were amplitude, temporal shape of the signals, and the velocity of the ejected particles. The most interesting signals were obtained from metals and opaque films. The diameter of the focal spot of the pulsed dye laser was measured to be 20 μm using a Ronchi grating. The fixed focal spot was compared to the surface damage spots which, depending on the material, were quite different in size.
California's Proposition 46: A Wolf in Sheep's Wool

On 4 November 2014, California residents voted against Proposition 46, which proposed to increase the cap on noneconomic damages in medical liability cases, mandate that physicians check the state'...
Thucydides in Wartime: Reflecting on Democracy and its Discontents

The challenge of democratic statecraft is a recurring subject matter in twentieth- and twenty-first century wartime expositions of Thucydides’ History. This article examines the readings of two American scholars with great public presence, Donald Kagan and Victor Davis Hanson, showing how they reflect enduring anxieties about the promise and perils of liberal democracy in a hostile world. I engage in close analysis of their pre- and post-9/11 interpretations of Thucydides in order to ascertain their judgments about democracy. Kagan and Hanson both use the History to defend democracy, but in ways that are at odds with their implicit criticisms of democratic politics. We can make sense of this tension by appreciating the performative dimension of their readings of Thucydides. Beyond distilling Thucydides for a general audience, their readings enact a response to concerns about democratic weakness with an account of democratic virtues. Their hermeneutic strategies are thus implicated in rhetorical politics that may have deleterious, if unintended, consequences for the democracy they seek to defend. I conclude by illustrating how Kagan and Hanson are paradigmatic rather than idiosyncratic. Their democratic exceptionalism finds echoes in leftist interpretations of ancient Greece and post-Cold War empirical political science.1
Computing a system of interacting multiple fuzzy objects

A computing system needs the ability to compute information presented to or stored in the system so that human understand it. Accordingly the system and human user must be able to communicate effectively. For the purpose, linguistic expression should be utilized for this user interface design and internal computation of a system. In this paper, we describe the nature of objects associated with crisp and linguistic information following a few basic definitions to describe the concept of the objects. Then, how fuzzy sets are interpreted and the computation of a interacting multiple-object system are given based on the dual views of objects and the fusion and diffusion mechanisms.
Performance of guinea fowl Numida meleagris during jumping requires storage and release of elastic energy.

SUMMARY The ability of birds to perform effective jumps may play an important role in predator avoidance and flight initiation. Jumping can provide the vertical acceleration necessary for a rapid takeoff, which may be particularly important for ground-dwelling birds such as phasianids. We hypothesized that by making use of elastic energy storage and release, the leg muscles could provide the large power outputs needed for achieving high velocities after takeoff. We investigated the performance of the leg muscles of the guinea fowl Numida meleagris during jumping using kinematic and force-plate analyses. Comparison of the methods indicated that in this species the wings did not supply energy to power takeoff and thus all the work and power came from the leg muscles. Guinea fowl produced a peak vertical force of 5.3 times body weight. Despite having lower muscle-mass-specific power output in comparison to more specialized jumpers, guinea fowl demonstrated surprisingly good performance by producing muscle-mass-specific work outputs of 45 J kg –1 , a value approximately two thirds of the maximal expected value for skeletal muscle. The muscle-mass-specific peak power output during jumping was nearly 800 W kg –1 , which is more than twice the peak isotonic power estimated for guinea fowl leg muscles. To account for high power outputs, we concluded that energy has to be stored early in the jumps and released later during peak power production, presumably using mechanisms similar to those found in more specialized jumpers.
Primary cutaneous follicle center lymphoma following deep brain stimulation implants.

Primary cutaneous follicle center lymphoma (PCFCL) is the most common, indolent subtype of primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (PCBL) [1,2]. PCBL is an uncommon non-Hodgkin lymphoma that primarily in...
Fusion of intraoperative three-dimensional rotational angiography and flat-panel detector computed tomography for cerebrovascular neuronavigation.

Objective We introduce a technique that uses intraoperative flat-panel detector computed tomography (FD-CT) and three-dimensional rotational angiography (3D-RA) acquired in the hybrid operative suite to provide full neuronavigation capabilities during cerebrovascular surgery without the use of preoperative imaging studies. Methods An Artis Zeego FD system (Siemens AG, Forchheim, Germany), mounted on a robotic C-arm was used during the clipping of an aneurysm to acquire intraoperative FD-CT and 3D-RA images. These images were then fused via the use of BrainLab iPlan 3.0 software and sent to a Vector Vision Sky neuronavigation system (NNS; BrainLAB, Heimstetten, Germany) to provide intraoperative image guidance. Results The use of intraoperative FD-CT and 3D-RA with a NNS allowed for accurate visualization of the vascular anatomy and localization of pathology. In a case of a patient harboring two aneurysms, one that was surgically clipped and a second that was treated endovascularly, the 3D-RA clearly showed neck remnants at both aneurysms. Use of the NNS assisted in further clip placement for obliteration of these neck remnants. Conclusions Hybrid operating suites equipped with FD-CT, 3D-RA, and NNS capabilities can be used to provide intraoperative 3D image guidance during cerebrovascular surgery with excellent accuracy and without the need for preoperative angiography. Furthermore, this technique required less than 15 minutes for image acquisition and utilizes digitally subtracted angiographic images that are superior to conventional CT or MRI for the imaging of cerebrovascular pathology.
Joining the Resistance

Introduction 1 1 Looking Back to Look Forward: Revisiting In a Different Voice 14 2 Where Have We Come From and Where Are We Going? 44 3 Free Association and the Grand Inquisitor: A Psychoanalytic Drama 78 4 Identifying the Resistance 114 5 Resisting Injustice: A Feminist Ethic of Care 164 Acknowledgments 181 References 185
Mitochondria from cultured cells derived from normal and thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anemia individuals efficiently import thiamine diphosphate.

Background Thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) is the active form of thiamine, and it serves as a cofactor for several enzymes, both cytosolic and mitochondrial. Isolated mitochondria have been shown to take up thiamine yet thiamine diphosphokinase is cytosolic and not present in mitochondria. Previous reports indicate that ThDP can also be taken up by rat mitochondria, but the kinetic constants associated with such uptake seemed not to be physiologically relevant.
The influence of object location on identity: a "spatial congruency bias".

Objects can be characterized by a number of properties (e.g., shape, color, size, and location). How do our visual systems combine this information, and what allows us to recognize when 2 objects are the same? Previous work has pointed to a special role for location in the binding process, suggesting that location may be automatically encoded even when irrelevant to the task. Here we show that location is not only automatically attended but fundamentally bound to identity representations, influencing object perception in a far more profound way than simply speeding reaction times. Subjects viewed 2 sequentially presented novel objects and performed a same/different identity comparison. Object location was irrelevant to the identity task, but when the 2 objects shared the same location, subjects were more likely to judge them as the same identity. This “congruency bias” reflected an increase in both hits and false alarms when the objects shared the same location, indicating that subjects were unable to suppress the influence of object location— even when maladaptive to the task. Importantly, this bias was driven exclusively by location: Object location robustly and reliably biased identity judgments across 6 experimental scenarios, but the reverse was not true: Object identity did not exert any bias on location judgments. Furthermore, while location biased both shape and color judgments, neither shape nor color biased each other when irrelevant. The results suggest that location provides a unique, automatic, and insuppressible cue for object sameness.
Becoming “at Home” in Assisted Living Residences: Exploring Place Integration Processes

Objectives This study explores the roles of place attachment, nonfamily social involvement, place valuation, and individual characteristics in the process of becoming at home in assisted living residences. Methods Purposive sampling and cross-sectional data by means of a questionnaire completed by current assisted living residents in four states (N = 297) were used to estimate a structural equation model to explain becoming at home. Results Place attachment to town and community is a necessary but not sufficient explainer of older adults' process of becoming at home. Nonfamily social involvement plays a pivotal role through which place attachment works to explain becoming at home. Both place valuation and nonfamily social involvement exhibit direct positive effects on the outcome. Discussion Findings support a transactional interpretation of assisted living as home. The relationship between place attachment to one's community and full integration into assisted living is more complex than currently acknowledged.
Effects of glucose on beta cells in pancreatic monolayer cultures.

Monolayer cultures were prepared by dissociating pancreases from newborn rats with a trypsin—collagenase solution. Cultures consisted of numerous discrete colonies containing beta cells, with a network of fibroblastoid cells between colonies. Large amounts of immunoreactive insulin (60–70 mU per culture per 2 days) were released into the culture medium. Active beta cell replication was documented by radioautography using thymidine–3H, and by incubation with Colcemid. Both the release of insulin and the frequency of beta cell replication were greater at a glucose concentration of 300 mg/100 ml medium compared to 100 mg/100 ml medium. Even after two months, cultures maintained at 300 mg/100 ml glucose continued to release large amounts of insulin into the medium indicating that beta cells remain viable in monolayer cultures for extended periods of time, and do not undergo exhaustion atrophy in the presence of a high glucose concentration. (Endocrinology 92: 212, 1973)
An investigation of psychopathic features among delinquent girls: violence, theft, and drug abuse

Although there has been intense interest in the application of the construct of psychopathy among juveniles, few studies have investigated psychopathic traits among adolescent females. To redress t...
Computer-based electromagnetic education

The activities of the NSF/IEEE Center for Computer Applications in Electromagnetic Education (CAEME) are reviewed. This Center was established to stimulate and accelerate the use of computers and software tools in electromagnetic (EM) education. The extensive software package developed and distributed by the CAEME Center is described, and examples of the software are presented. To help integrate available EM software into classroom teaching and corporate training, CAEME developed four multimedia lessons for instruction. These interactive media lessons integrate and allow individuals to interactively manipulate information from multimedia sources such as video, software, and animated graphics and also include instructional aids such as quizzes and tutorials to help evaluate the students' performance. Features of these lessons are presented, and future developments in the Center's activities are discussed. >
Septal myectomy for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy in Friedreich's ataxia.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy associated with Friedreich’s ataxia is progressive, and there are few, if any, effective treatments available at present. This case report describes a Friedreich’s ataxia patient who had a septal myectomy for the management of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with improved symptoms over a 7-year period. This suggests that septal myectomy may be a viable option to relieve symptoms and interrupt progression of heart disease in appropriately selected Friedreich’s ataxia patients.
Tracing Nitrogen in Volcanic and Geothermal Volatiles from the Nicaraguan Volcanic Front

We report new chemical and isotopic data from 26 volcanic and geothermal gases, vapor condensates, and thermal water samples, collected along the Nicaraguan volcanic front. The samples were analyzed for chemical abundances and stable isotope compositions, with a focus on nitrogen abundances and isotope ratios. These data are used to evaluate samples for volatile contributions from magma, air, air-saturated water, and the crust. Samples devoid of crustal contamination (based upon He isotope composition) but slightly contaminated by air or air-saturated water are corrected using N2/Ar ratios in order to obtain primary magmatic values, composed of contributions from upper mantle and subducted hemipelagic sediment on the down-going plate. Using a mantle endmember with d 15 N= � 5& and N2/He = 100 and a subducted sediment component with d 15 N=+ 7& and N2/He = 10,500, the average sediment contribution to Nicaraguan volcanic and geothermal gases was determined to be 71%. Most of the gases were dominated by sediment-de*
Application of Fuzzy Logic in Preference Management for Detailed Feedbacks

In consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce environments, the magnitude of products and the diversity of vendors have caused confusion and difficulty for consumers to choose the right product from a trustworthy vendor. Feedback system is a widely used solution to help consumers evaluate vendors’ reputations. Some C2C environments have started to provide detailed feedback besides the overall rating system to help consumers distinguish individual vendors from multiple aspects. However, the increase in detailed feedback may add to consumer confusion and increase the time needed to consider all aspects for a reputation evaluation decision. This paper analyzes a typical feedback and reputation system for the e-commerce environment and proposes a novel, perception-based reputation model for individual vendors.
Overview of the LLUMC/UCSC/CSUSB Phase 2 Proton CT Project.

Proton CT (pCT) has been identified as a potential solution for the range uncertainty problem of proton (or heavy ion) radiation therapy. In recent years, and with limited funding, a pCT scanner system suitable for head-size phantoms was developed (see report by Hurley et al. in these proceedings [1]. The concepts for this system were borrowed from High Energy Physics. This system, although suitable for the evaluation of this new imaging modality and its potential clinical advantages, is too slow for clinical application, both with respect to the data acquisition speed and the speed of image reconstruction. In 2011, a collaboration of the Department of Radiation Medicine at Loma Linda University Medical Center, the Santa Cruz Institute of Particle Physics at UC Santa Cruz, and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at California State University San Bernardino received funding from the NIH for a 4-year project to further develop pCT by building a new pCT scanner system (phase 2) that will be suitable for clinical applications. This report summarizes the design concepts for the new pCT system that will be evaluated within this project.
Intrinsic differences between males and females determine sex-specific consequences of inbreeding

Inbreeding increases homozygosity and exposes deleterious recessive alleles, generally decreasing the fitness of inbred individuals. Interestingly, males and females are usually affected differently by inbreeding, though the more vulnerable sex depends on the species and trait measured. We used the soil-dwelling nematode Caenorhabditis remanei to examine sex-specific inbreeding depression across nine lineages, five levels of inbreeding, and hundreds of thousands of progeny. Female nematodes consistently suffered greater fitness losses than their male counterparts, especially at high levels of inbreeding. These results suggest that females experience stronger selection on genes contributing to reproductive traits. Inbreeding depression in males may be further reduced by sex chromosome hemizygosity, which affects the dominance of some mutations, as well as by the absence of sexual selection. Determining the relative contributions of sex-specific expression, genes on the sex chromosomes, and the environment they are filtered through—including opportunities for sexual selection—may explain the frequent though inconsistent records of sex differences in inbreeding depression, along with their implications for conservation and the evolution of mating systems.
Mycotic Celiac Artery Aneurysm: A Case Report, Approach Options, and Review of Literature

Mycotic celiac artery aneurysm (MCAA) is extremely rare. To date, only 8 cases have been reported in the literature. Endocarditis is the most commonly documented etiology. Here, we report a case of a subacute, symptomatic MCAA presenting with progressive enlargement in a patient who was previously treated for bacterial endocarditis. Management involved a 2-stage surgical intervention: First, aortohepatic bypass with autologous conduit via transperitoneal approach, followed several days later by ligation of the aneurysm base via retroperitoneal exposure. The treatment options for this rare pathology are also discussed along with a literature review.
A Framework for Coordinated Surface Operations Planning at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

An Integer Programming formulation is developed for optimizing surface operations at Dallas-Fort Worth airport, with the goal of assessing the potential benefits of taxi route planning. The model is based on operations in the eastern half of the airport under the most frequently used configuration. The focus is on operational concepts that optimize taxi routes by utilizing dierent control points on the airport surface. The benefits of two dierent concepts for optimizing taxiway operations, namely controlled pushback and taxi reroutes are analyzed, for both current data and a projected data set with approximately twice the trac density. The analysis estimates that: (1) for current trac densities, controlled pushback would reduce the average departure taxi time by 17% without altering runway schedule conformance, while the benefits of taxi reroutes would be minimal; and (2) for high-density operations, controlled pushback would reduce the average departure taxi time by 18%, while incorporating taxi reroutes would reduce the average arrival taxi time by 14%. Other benefits analyzed for these control strategies include a decrease in the average time spent in runway crossing queues.
Variations in a Local Population of the Dragonfly Helocordulia

Much is known about the biology, ecology, and taxonomy of dragonflies. The Cordulinae, one of three subfamilies of Libellulidae, have received a special amount of attention. Indeed, Byers (1937) has remarked that as far as one of their genera (Neurocordulia) is concerned, “… nearly every American Odonatologist, at least once in his career, has published a paper on this genus”.
24 CARDIAC SYMPATHETIC DENERVATION PRECEDING PARKINSON DISEASE.

All of more than 30 neuroimaging studies and at least 4 postmortem pathology studies have agreed that Parkinson disease entails a loss of myocardial noradrenergic innervation, implying that in addition to being a movement disorder from loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons, Parkinson disease is also a dysautonomia from loss of postganglionic noradrenergic neurons. Cardiac sympathetic denervation has been reported even in the earliest stages of the disease; however, whether the denervation can actually precede the movement disorder has been unknown. As part of an evaluation of hemodynamic instability suggesting pheochromocytoma, a 52-year-old man underwent 6-[18F]fluorodopamine scanning and other autonomic function tests. Four years later, over the course of 6-12 months, he developed slow movement, limb rigidity, masked face, and small handwriting and was diagnosed with mild Parkinson disease. Review of the earlier 6-[18F]fluorodopamine scan revealed that the patient had had markedly decreased 6-[18F]fluorodopamine-derived radioactivity throughout the left ventricular myocardium, confirmed by follow-up scanning. He also had had evidence of low baroreflex-cardiovagal gain and excessive adrenomedullary secretion, also confirmed at follow-up. In the interval, baroreflex-sympathoneural function declined, as indicated by development of abnormal beat-to-beat blood pressure responses to the Valsalva maneuver; however, the patient did not have orthostatic hypotension. The combination of denervation supersensitivity, baroreflex failure, and increased adrenomedullary secretion may have contributed to the patient9s complaints related to neurocirculatory instability. The results lead to the proposition that cardiac sympathetic denervation may be a biomarker of presymptomatic Parkinson disease.
Analysis on results of HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) among 272 cases in Shunyi District of Beijing

Objective To analyze the characteristics and causes they sought HIV voluntary counseling and testing(VCT)in 272 cases of Shunyi,Beijing to provide scientific evidence for HIV prevention and control.Methods Face-to-face counseling was provided for each of the 272 people who sought HIV VCT,and a Counseling Registration Form was filled out.Serum HIV-antibody was tested with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)for all of them free of charge with signed informed consent.Results Majority of the 272 people who sought HIV VCT were men migrants working in urban area of Shunyi and aged 20 to 30 years.Two hundred and sixty-eight of them received serum HIV-antibody test,with positive result in one(0.37%).Conclusion VCT is one of key tasks for HIV prevention and control,so publicity for VCT related information should comprehensively be strengthened.
Analysis of Neonatal Tetanus Epidemic Features and the Control Strategy in Chongzuo City in Recent Years

[Objective] To analyze the neonatal tetanus epidemic features(NT) in Chongzuo city from 1999 to 2005 and provide scientific evidence for establishing strategy for prevention and control.[Methods]A descriptive analysis was applied to analyze the incidence level and epidemic characteristics in recent years.[Results] The average morbidity of neonatal tetanus was 1.32/1000,with fluctuates interval from 0.31/1000 to 1.99/1000,and the mortality was 9.37% to 28.21%;The peak incidence of NT is not obvious during the seasons,while there was obviously difference between gender,the male newborns' mortality rate is higher than female's.63.82% of NT cases came from rural population and 34.21% cases came from floating population,while cases coming from city population was only 1.97%,none of the cases' mother had been vaccinated with tetanus toxoid.[Conclusion]The risk factors of NT were unscientific delivery,nonvaccination of NT before delivery and the mobility of the population.Comprehensive measures for prevention and control should be taken to alleviate or eliminate the influence of the mentioned factors.
Asf1 facilitates dephosphorylation of Rad53 after DNA double-strand break repair

To allow for sufficient time to repair DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs), eukaryotic cells activate the DNA damage checkpoint. In budding yeast, Rad53 (mammalian Chk2) phosphorylation parallels the persistence of the unrepaired DSB and is extinguished when repair is complete in a process termed recovery or when the cells adapt to the DNA damage checkpoint. A strain containing a slowly repaired DSB does not require the histone chaperone Asf1 to resume cell cycle progression after DSB repair. When a second, rapidly repairable DSB is added to this strain, Asf1 becomes required for recovery. Recovery from two repairable DSBs also depends on the histone acetyltransferase Rtt109 and the cullin subunit Rtt101, both of which modify histone H3 that is associated with Asf1. We show that dissociation of histone H3 from Asf1 is required for efficient recovery and that Asf1 is required for complete dephosphorylation of Rad53 when the upstream DNA damage checkpoint signaling is turned off. Our data suggest that the requirements for recovery from the DNA damage checkpoint become more stringent with increased levels of damage and that Asf1 plays a histone chaperone-independent role in facilitating complete Rad53 dephosphorylation following repair.
Politics past the edge: Partisanship and arms control treaties in the U.S. Senate

Contemporary research on congressional activism in American foreign policy indicates that individual members of Congress have become more assertive over time. If so, the motivations and interests of individual members of Congress are even more important for understanding American foreign policy. What factors motivate members of Congress as they take a more active role in foreign policy than ever before? Recent research suggests that partisanship has increased in importance over the past three decades. This paper examines Senate ratification votes on the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963), Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (1968), Chemical Weapons Convention (1997) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (1999) to gauge the relative importance of three determinants of congressional voting - partisanship, ideology, and electoral concerns - while also controlling for region, career background, and other variables. Examining treaties in both the Cold War and Post-Cold War eras, we find that our model becomes increasingly powerful in the post-Cold War treaties and, especially, that partisanship increases substantially from the Cold War treaty votes to the post-Cold War votes.
Reference Librarians in the Information Age: Learning from the Past to Control the Future.

Reference service has existed in public and academic libraries for over one hundred years, but as libraries move into an age of increasing technology, many traditional methods for providing reference service will no longer be adequate. By examinmg reference services of the past and present, reference librarians can learn from the mistakes and successes of their predecessors to better plan for the future. Reference librarians must be committed to retaining the most successful ideas from the past and giving up the least successful. This critical examination of past services must also be coupled with a visionary and risk-taking outlook for what is needed in the future if reference librarians are to remain a vital part of the information age.
Asymmetry cointegration between the value of the dollar and sectoral stock indices in the U.S

Abstract Previous studies that have investigated the effects of exchange rate changes on stock prices, have assumed that such effects are symmetric. Recently, one study addressed the asymmetric effects of exchange rate changes on the S & P 500 index using U.S. data and showed that exchange rate changes have asymmetric effects on the S & P 500 index in the short run but not in the long run. Suspecting that such findings could suffer from aggregation bias, in this paper we investigate the asymmetric effects of exchange rate changes on the stock price indices of eleven different sectors in the U.S. Using asymmetry cointegration and nonlinear ARDL approach, we find that changes in the nominal effective exchange rate of the dollar has significant asymmetric effects in the short run in ten sectors. These effects last into the long run asymmetric effects in six of the eleven sectors. In five of these six sectors, while dollar depreciation has a positive impact on their share prices, dollar appreciation does not.
FOMC forecasts and monetary policy deliberations

This paper investigates the influence of the economic forecasts of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members on the committee’s policy deliberations and finds evidence that the policy preferences of only the voting Federal Reserve Bank presidents are influenced by other members’ forecasts.
Biotic Homogenization: Lessons from the Past

The ongoing process of biotic homogenization has two distinct components, extinction of species and invasion of species into new areas (Brown and Lomolino 1998; McKinney 1998). Both invasions and extinctions are an integral part of the evolutionary process (Williamson 1996), and the fossil record provides a rich source of data on the effects of each of these processes on species assemblages at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. These data allow a glimpse into how the processes of invasions and/or extinctions unfold over timescales beyond the reach of ecological data, and provide a historical framework for looking at ongoing patterns of biotic homogenization. The relevance of fossil data to the study of ongoing species extinctions have been extensively discussed (Jablonski 1995; McKinney 1997), but invasions have arguably received less attention. Here we will focus on patterns of invasions, past and present.
Early Developmental Exposure to dsRNA Is Critical for Initiating Efficient Nuclear RNAi in C. elegans

RNAi has enabled researchers to study the function of many genes. However, it is not understood why some RNAi experiments succeed while others do not. Here, we show in C. elegans that pharyngeal muscle is resistant to RNAi when initially exposed to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) by feeding but sensitive to RNAi in the next generation. Investigating this observation, we find that pharyngeal muscle cells as well as vulval muscle cells require nuclear rather than cytoplasmic RNAi. Further, we find in these cell types that nuclear RNAi silencing is most efficiently triggered during early development, defining a critical period for initiating nuclear RNAi. Finally, using heat-shock-induced dsRNA expression, we show that synMuv B class mutants act in part to extend this critical window. The synMuv-B-dependent early-development-associated critical period for initiating nuclear RNAi suggests that mechanisms that restrict developmental plasticity may also restrict the initiation of nuclear RNAi.
Understanding the Risk of Agglomeration of Polar Pharmaceutical Crystals

The present paper focuses on attractive electrostatic interaction between polar drug-like crystals as an additional mechanism of nano- and microcrystals aggregation, which is complementary to the traditional one driven by the surface energy stabilization of the crystalline facets. An increasing macro dipole moment of the growing polar crystal imposes penalties to the surface energies of the polar facets, while providing an opportunity for the electrostatic energy stabilization due to favorable dipole–dipole interactions between the particles. It is proposed that a combination of these effects enforces a polar nano- or microcrystal aggregation. In order to account for experimental observations of pharmaceutical crystal growth, a classification approach to the risk assessment of electrostatically driven crystal aggregation was proposed, based on the calculated values of the unit cell dipole moment and the cubic shape-dependent correction to the lattice energy.
Exploratory noise governs both flexibility and spontaneous errors and is regulated by cocaine

In many cognitive processes, lapses (spontaneous errors) are attributed to nuisance processes like sensorimotor noise or disengagement. However, some lapses could also be caused by exploratory noise: behavioral randomness that facilitates learning in changing environments. If so, strategic processes would need only up-regulate (rather than generate) exploration to adapt to a changing environment. This view predicts that lapse rates should be correlated with flexibility because they share a common cause. We report that when macaques performed a set-shifting task, lapse rates were negatively correlated with perseverative error frequency. Furthermore, chronic exposure to cocaine, which impairs cognitive flexibility, increased perseverative errors, but, surprisingly, improved overall performance by reducing lapse rates. We reconcile these results with a model in which cocaine decreased exploration by deepening attractor basins corresponding to rules. These results support the idea that exploratory noise contributes to lapses, meaning that it affects rule-based decision-making even when it has no strategic value.
Association of Age and Body Weight with Periodontal Disease in North American Dogs

Thirteen hundred and fifty dogs were examined under anesthesia at veterinary hospitals in the USA and Canada. Periodontal health was recorded in detail. Teeth were frequently absent (particularly lower third molar, upper and lower first premolars, and incisor teeth). Calculus was most extensive on the upper fourth premolar and molar teeth. Missing teeth, mobility of remaining teeth, extent of calculus and gingival inflammation, and furcation exposure and attachment loss all were more common in small dogs compared with larger dogs, and in order dogs compared with younger dogs.
Markov Processes II: Application of Semigroup Theory

Let {ξ(t);t ≥ 0} be a real homogeneous Markov process with transition probability P(x, t, B). In applications the following situation is typical. The transition probability is known for all t in a neighborhood of the origin. Then, P(x, t, B) can be determined for allt > 0 by means of the Chapman- Kolmogorov equation (8.1.2).
Movements and Temperature Preferences of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) off North Carolina: A Comparison of Acoustic, Archival and Pop-Up Satellite Tags

Electronic tagging technologies are providing new methodologies for tracking open ocean fish. In this paper, we compare the behavior and environmental preferences of Atlantic bluefin tuna tracked with acoustic, archival and pop-up satellite tags off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Four bluefin tuna were acoustically tracked for periods ranging from 2–27 hours. Data from the acoustic tracks were compared to results from archival and pop-up satellite tagging studies that were being conducted concurrently. The 2 minute sampling rate of the archival and pop-up satellite archival tags was compared to the 1–2 second sampling rate from the acoustic tags and it was determined that the lower resolution was sufficient to accurately describe behavior of bluefin tuna. Data from all types of tags show the same patterns in bluefin tuna behavior throughout the course of this study. All three techniques indicate that the fish remained for a significant period of time on the North Carolina continental shelf in waters that ranged from 19–24°C, near the strong thermal gradient formed by the Gulf Stream and the colder waters of the Labrador Current. It is hypothesized that a large aggregation of spawning prey fish is what attracts bluefin tuna to this area in the winter months.
The Supply of and Demand for Intelligence

As stated in Chapter 1, this book examines the relationship between implicit intelligence policy and explicit social policy, focusing on college admissions at highly selective universities as the primary example. Because implicit policies are unarticulated and, therefore, elusive, this relationship must be viewed in terms of the various underlying pressures at work on the overlay of explicit policy. Many of these pressures grow out of influential bodies of theory. As a prelude to the examination of theoretical pressures in Part II, Part I looks at the general issues of access to the university and assessment of academic performance once access to the university is attained. This first chapter of Part I considers the problem of access—of opportunity allocation—from two important historical standpoints: university biases (regarding those other than the “white male elite”) and the emergence of conflicting merit and populist standards (in response to elitist admissions policies).
Preparing the Clinical Engineers of the Next Millennium

Academic clinical engineering programs should be designed to provide students with the technical skills and critical thinking abilities necessary to become successful professionals. The success of clinical engineers depends not only on their ability to solve current problems, but also to anticipate their future needs. Employers today demand professionals with a broad knowledge, not limited only to technical aspects. The role of clinical engineers in the healthcare system is continuously changing, and consequently, academic programs should also change accordingly. This paper describes the current academic requirements and approaches of clinical engineering and how these may change in the near future.
The Emergence of Statistical Objectivity: Changing Ideas of Epistemic Vice and Virtue in Science:

The meaning of objectivity in any specific setting reflects historically situated understandings of both science and self. Recently, various scientific fields have confronted growing mistrust about...
Safety Problems With a Transdermal Patch for Migraine: Lessons From the Development, Approval, and Marketing Process.

OBJECTIVE We sought to analyze publicly available information about patient harm associated with an iontophoretic sumatriptan patch, to identify what went wrong and to suggest ways in which similar problems might be prevented in the future. BACKGROUND The Zecuity® sumatriptan iontophoretic transdermal system was marketed for acute treatment of migraine. The patch was withdrawn less than 10 months after its introduction because of multiple reports of scarring and burning. As of 2018, the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System public dashboard lists a total of 2889 reports of safety problems with the patch, 904 of which were classified as serious. METHODS For this narrative review, we examined US Food and Drug Administration documents related to the new drug application for this product and its approval. We searched Clinicaltrials.gov, PubMed, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram public posts for relevant information relating to the patch, its approval, marketing, and complications. RESULTS The FDA knew about problems with burns and scarring prior to approval of the product, and turned down the initial new drug application for this reason and because of other quality problems with the patch. The reapplication was approved despite continued concerns of several FDA reviewers about safety. The approval required the manufacturer to comply with enhanced postmarketing safety reporting. However, product information and labeling did not mention the possibility of burns or scarring. Approval was based on 1 clinical trial and 2 open label studies in which reporting of adverse events was suboptimal. The clinical trials had been prospectively registered but outcomes had been changed around the time the trial concluded. Aggressive marketing efforts and social media activity may have contributed to inaccurate perceptions of safety and efficacy, but social media also provided a written and photographic record of burns and other harm suffered by patients who used the patch. CONCLUSIONS Our review identified several problems with the development, testing, approval, and marketing of the Zecuity patch. To improve the process of developing headache treatments, it is important to consider the lessons that can be drawn from an examination of this high-profile failure of the drug development and regulatory system.
Nutrients and Gene Expression in Inflammation

Abstract In humans, the acute inflammatory response is a highly coordinated defensive response and its complete resolution is the ideal outcome. The resolution response is achieved in self-limited inflammation by activating resolution programs governed in part by local chemical mediators. Excessive inflammation leads to collateral tissue damage and chronic disease. Prostaglandins and leukotrienes amplify inflammation; a new genus of specialized pro-resolving mediators, denoted specialized pro-resolving mediator (SPM), activate the resolution of inflammation. SPM include several families such as E- and D-series resolvins, (neuro)protectins, and the maresins, biosynthesized from essential ω-3 fatty acids. In animal disease models, SPM accelerate resolution and are antiinflammatory. SPM actions are highly stereospecific and receptor-dependent, and act in low picogram to nanogram doses. SPM also reduce pain and promote tissue regeneration, the ultimate goal for a complete return to homeostasis.
Estrogen Receptor and Prognosis in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cause of death from malignancy in American and western European women. Unfortunately, improvements in the treatment of this disease have been scarce since the turn of the century, when radical surgery for primary disease and endocrine therapy for advanced disease were first introduced by Halsted(1) and Beatson,(2) respectively. The overall survival of patients has not been dramatically changed since that time, and the prognosis remains grim, especially for women with metastatic disease or those with primary tumors invading the axillary lymph nodes even when all the clinically evident tumor can be resected and good local control obtained.(3) Despite the poor survival statistics, many physicians seemed reluctant to accept new biological concepts or to investigate new treatment approaches.
Efficient DCE-MRI Parameter and Uncertainty Estimation Using a Neural Network

Quantitative DCE-MRI provides voxel-wise estimates of tracer-kinetic parameters that are valuable in the assessment of health and disease. These maps suffer from many known sources of variability. This variability is expensive to compute using current methods, and is typically not reported. Here, we demonstrate a novel approach for simultaneous estimation of tracer-kinetic parameters and their uncertainty due to intrinsic characteristics of the tracer-kinetic model, with very low computation time. We train and use a neural network to estimate the approximate joint posterior distribution of tracer-kinetic parameters. Uncertainties are estimated for each voxel and are specific to the patient, exam, and lesion. We demonstrate the methods’ ability to produce accurate tracer-kinetic maps. We compare predicted parameter ranges with uncertainties introduced by noise and by differences in post-processing in a digital reference object. The predicted parameter ranges correlate well with tracer-kinetic parameter ranges observed across different noise realizations and regression algorithms. We also demonstrate the value of this approach to differentiate significant from insignificant changes in brain tumor pharmacokinetics over time. This is achieved by enforcing consistency in resolving model singularities in the applied tracer-kinetic model.
Sibling relationship dynamics relate to young adults’ empathic responding

Existing research concerning empathy development has primarily focused on the role of parents, culture, and education but has overlooked the role of siblings. This current retrospective study inves...
National estimates of mental health needs among non-elderly adult cancer survivors.

e19103Background: As advancements in cancer therapies expand the population of long-term cancer survivors, it is important to understand long-term mental health (MH) outcomes associated with cancer...
Endogenous spatial heterogeneity in a multi-patch predator-prey system: insights from a field-parameterized model

The causes and consequences of spatial heterogeneity in population dynamics are of both theoretical and practical interest. Previously, we described (Kummel et al., Oikos 122:896–906, 2013) a field system in which predation by ladybugs drives the development of strong spatial heterogeneity among aphid populations living on nearby plants. In this paper, we investigate the detailed mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon. We develop a detailed mathematical model of the system, parameterized by an extensive experimental work showing that ladybugs tend to remain on plants with high aphid numbers and are attracted to plants on which ladybugs are actively feeding. The model reproduces important aspects of the field system and allows us to explore how various behavioral features contribute to these dynamics. The results indicate that spatial heterogeneity results from the random aspect of ladybug foraging that causes some large aphid populations to be under-exploited. For parameter values that are unrealistic for our system, the model displays other types of complex dynamics, including predator swarming and chaos. Our study illustrates how a realistic, carefully parameterized model can connect individual behavior to larger scale spatiotemporal dynamics.
Preferential N–H⋯:C hydrogen bonding involving ditopic NH-containing systems and N-heterocyclic carbenes

Hydrogen bonding plays a critical role in maintaining order and structure in complex biological and synthetic systems. N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) represent one of the most versatile tools in the synthetic chemistry toolbox, yet their potential as neutral carbon hydrogen bond acceptors remains underexplored. This report investigates this capability in a strategic manner, wherein carbene-based hydrogen bonding can be assessed by use of ditopic NH-containing molecules. N–H bonds are unique as there are three established reaction modes with carbenes: non-traditional hydrogen bonding adducts (X–H⋯:C), salts arising from proton transfer ([H–C]+[X]−), or amines from insertion of the carbene into the N–H bond. Yet, there are no established rules to predict product distributions or the strength of these associations. Here we seek to correlate the hydrogen bond strength of symmetric and asymmetric ditopic secondary amines with 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene (IPr, a representative NHC). In symmetric and asymmetric ditopic amine adducts both the solid-state (hydrogen bond lengths, NHC interior angles) and solution-state (1H Δδ of NH signals, 13C signals of carbenic carbon) can be related to the pKa of the parent amine.