cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
THE ROLE OF IMMUNOTHERAPY IN CHILDHOOD ASTHMA

Immunotherapy is a time-honored treatment for various forms of allergic disease. 11,32 Although immunotherapy has been shown to be safe and effective in rigorous double-blind placebo-controlled trials, 32,37 most of these trials have involved the treatment of either allergic rhinitis or sensitivity to stinging insects. 11,32,37 Studies have suggested that immunotherapy is effective in the treatment of asthma, 9 but the value of immunotherapy in asthma is still hotly debated. 6,7,27 Immunotherapy also has been widely used to treat children, even though most studies demonstrating the effectiveness of immunotherapy have been performed in adults. 2,37 A position paper from the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology listed patient age of less than 5 years as a relative contraindication to allergen immunotherapy. 22 This judgment was based on two concerns: (1) young children have an increased risk of systemic reactions; (2) expertise beyond that of the average general practitioner is needed to treat anaphylaxis properly in young children. A position paper from the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology noted a lack of information concerning the safety and efficacy of immunotherapy in children and concluded that "there is little justification for its (allergen immunotherapy) use in childhood asthma." 1 The purpose of this article is to examine some of the major issues surrounding the use of immunotherapy in children with asthma. Examining the value of immunotherapy in children with asthma is complicated by many problems (see the box on the following page). The first problem is the lack of clear criteria for establishing a diagnosis of asthma in children, especially in young children. The second problem is determining whether a child's asthma is causally related to allergic sensitivity. The rapid growth and development that take place between infancy and adulthood often produce major changes in the manifestations of allergic diseases. These growth-related changes in disease expression, especially the tendency for wheezing to remit with increasing age, may lead clinicians to the false impression that immunotherapy is effective in controlling or increasing the rate of remission in asthma. There is, also, no information directly comparing the anti-inflammatory effects of immunotherapy to the anti-inflammatory effects of inhaled agents such as cromolyn and glucocorticoids.
The relationship between coping, health competence and patient participation among patients with inactive inflammatory bowel disease

Background Coping is an integral part of adjustment for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease but has not been well described in the literature. This study explored the relationship between coping, perceived health competence, patient preference for involvement in their treatment, depression and quality of life, particularly among patients with inactive disease (in remission). Methods Subjects (n = 70) with active and inactive IBD completed questionnaires, including the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Perceived Health Competence Scale and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations. The Harvey Bradshaw Index measured disease activity. Results Patients with inactive IBD demonstrated significantly more interest in participating in their treatment ( p <.05), more perceived health competence ( p =.001), less depressive symptoms ( p <.001), more task oriented coping ( p =.02), and better quality of life than those with active disease. Only Task Oriented Coping was significantly negatively associated with the number of flares among inactive patients (p <.001). Patient preference for participation in treatment was inversely associated with Avoidance (p =.005), Distraction (p =.008), and Social Diversion (p =.008) coping among inactive patients. Conclusion Among patients in remission, those who expressed a greater interest in treatment participation were also less likely to practice maladaptive coping. Our data demonstrate that a more active coping style may be associated with improved health outcome. Compared to patients with active disease, patients in remission are more likely to employ task oriented coping, demonstrate a higher interest in treatment participation, report greater perceived control of their health, and exhibit less depression symptoms. Our findings may increase awareness of the importance of identifying coping strategies for IBD patients, including those in remission.
The neural basis of economic decision-making in the Ultimatum Game.

The nascent field of neuroeconomics seeks to ground economic decisionmaking in the biological substrate of the brain. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging of Ultimatum Game players to investigate neural substrates of cognitive and emotional processes involved in economic decision-making. In this game, two players split a sum of money;one player proposes a division and the other can accept or reject this. We scanned players as they responded to fair and unfair proposals. Unfair offers elicited activity in brain areas related to both emotion (anterior insula) and cognition (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex). Further, significantly heightened activity in anterior insula for rejected unfair offers suggests an important role for emotions in decision-making.
The Plasmid RK2 Initiation Protein Binds to the Origin of Replication as a Monomer

The TrfA protein encoded by the broad host range bacterial plasmid RK2 specifically binds to eight direct repeats (iterons) present at the plasmid replication origin to initiate DNA replication. Purified TrfA protein is largely in the form of a dimer, and using a dimerization test system that involves the fusion of the amino-terminal domain of the λ cI repressor protein to TrfA, we show that the TrfA protein forms dimers in vivo. Because of the high stability of the dimer form of TrfA, the formation of heterodimers between the wild-type and different sized TrfA proteins requires in vivo de novo folding of the primary protein sequence or in vitro denaturation and renaturation. The results of gel mobility shift assays using in vitro or in vivo formed heterodimers indicated that the TrfA protein binds to the iteron DNA as a monomer. Furthermore, when the monomeric and dimeric forms of TrfA are separated by gel filtration chromatography, only the protein in the chromatographic position of the monomeric form demonstrated significant DNA binding activity. These results indicate that only the monomer form of the TrfA protein is active for binding to the iterons at the RK2 replication origin.
A new species of Tsuga (Pinaceae) from the middle Eocene of Axel Heiberg Island, Canada, and an assessment of the evolution and biogeographical history of the genus

The fossil record of Tsuga (Endl.) Carriere (Pinaceae) indicates that the genus was distributed throughout North America and Eurasia from the Late Cretaceous to the Plio-Pleistocene. Examination of the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of Tsuga fossils indicates that the exchange of representatives between North America and Europe occurred across the North Atlantic land bridges prior to their demize at the end of the Eocene, while exchange between North America and Asia occurred throughout the Cenozoic across the Beringian Corridor. The discovery of well-preserved seed cones of Tsuga swedaea sp. nov. from the middle Eocene (Lutetian/Uintan; 41.3–47.5 Myr) sediments of the Buchanan Lake Formation at Napartulik, Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic provides a basis for re-assessment of the fossil record of the genus and an evaluation of the variability of morphological features seen in this taxon. Assignment of these fossil seed cones to the genus Tsuga is based almost entirely on a suite of anatomical features seen in the fossils that have been deemed diagnostic from studies of extant representatives of the genus. Among living representatives of Tsuga, species discrimination is based mainly on the morphological features of the leaves, seed cones and shoots. However, the degree of inter- and intraspecific variability of the characters examined among living representatives of Tsuga is considerable, which has made species-level circumscription and interpreting phylogenetic relationships within the genus difficult. Examination of the bract-scale complexes of T. swedaea and those of all extant species of Tsuga indicates that bract morphology, together with the ovuliferous scale morphology is distinct for each species and useful for species-level circumscription. Based on anatomical and morphological characters of the seed cones and bracts, those of T. mertensiana (Bong.) Carriere most closely resemble the fossil seed cones. However, the differences between T. swedaea, T. mertensiana and all other species of fossil Tsuga cones described in the literature are significant and allow for the erection of a new fossil species. Consideration of the entirety of the fossil record of Tsuga indicates that the earliest representatives of the genus closely resembled T. mertensiana and that diversification of the genus occurred mainly during Miocene and Pliocene time as global climate cooled and new habitats formed in response to major orogenic events. © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2003, 141, 257–296.
Adulomya from the Miocene Aokiyama Formation, Hota Group, in the Boso Peninsula, Japan

Vesicomyid bivalves are representative of the chemosynthetic deep-sea fauna, and their successive fossil records have been reported from the Cenozoic deposits of Japan (Amano and Kanno, 2005; Majima et al., 2005). Amano and Kiel (2007) have proposed that vesicomyid bivalves in the North Pacific region are assigned to four genera: Calyptogena, Archivesica, Adulomya and Hubertschenckia. Among these taxa, the fossil record for Adulomya in Japan has been investigated in detail, resulting in five well established species and several uncertain records (Amano and Kiel, 2011). The specimen discussed in this report is one of these uncertain records. The specimen was originally reported as Calyptogena (Ectenagena) sp. from the Aokiyama Formation, Hota Group, in the Boso Peninsula (Kuramochi et al., 1999). However, these authors determined only the external features of the left valve of the articulated specimen, and its internal features have remained unknown. Therefore, as Amano and Kiel (2011) indicated, the assignment of the specimen to Adulomya? sp. is based only on the shell size and outline. I reexamined the specimen described by Kuramochi et al. (1999), which is in the collections of the Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba (CBM-PS 2670-1). The specimen was revealed to preserve the right valve in good condition and to be attached with another conjoined individual (CBM-PS 2670-2). I also observed its internal features by nondestructive analysis using an X-ray microfocus CT system (TESCO TXS320-ACTIS) at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, under experimental conditions of 315 kV and 200 μA. The resolution of the square slice CT was 81 mm per 512 pixels, and the spacing between each CT slice was 0.1 mm. Analysis and surface rendering were performed using the software OsiriX version 3.9.2 32-bit (an open-source DICOM viewer for Macintosh).
Global Air Pollution and Climate Change

Mankind has now demonstrated that it can change the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale. Those consequences of global air pollution which may have the greatest impact on society in the decades ahead are the associated changes in the radiation balance of the earth and atmosphere and the resulting change of climate. Carbon dioxide increase from the burning of fossil fuels at a continuingly increasing rate can cause a 1°C rise in mean surface temperatures by 2000 A.D., and 2-3°C rise by the middle of the next century. There are uncertainties in this projection of mean temperature rise of perhaps a factor of two; and the polar regions are expected to experience an increase several times larger. Other anthropogenic influences, such as the addition to the atmosphere of chlorofluoromethanes, nitrous oxide, and possibly aerosols, may contribute still further to this global warming. The mean surface temperature of the earth by 2000 A. D., if our projection is correct, will be warmer than at any time in the past 1000 years or more. Accompanying such a climate change there will be shifts in the large scale atmospheric circulation patterns and significant alterations of regional temperature and precipitation distributions-favorable for some regions, unfavorable for others, although we cannot predict the details of these changes.
A polynomial-time optimal synchronous bandwidth allocation scheme for the timed-token MAC protocol

Numerous methods have been proposed to integrate real-time and non-real-time services of the timed-token medium access control (MAC) protocol. One of the key issues in tailoring the timed-token MAC protocol for real-time applications is the synchronous bandwidth allocation (SEA) problem whose objective is to meet both the protocol and deadline constraints. Several non-optimal local SEA schemes and an optimal global scheme have been proposed previously. Local SEA schemes use only information available locally to each node, and are thus preferred to global schemes because of their lower network-management overhead. Unfortunately it has been formally proved in Han et al. (1995) that there does not exist any optimal local SEA scheme. Chen et al. [1992] proposed the only-known optimal global SEA scheme which is based on an iterative approach. However, their algorithm may not terminate theoretically. The present authors give an optimal global SEA scheme of polynomial-time worst-case complexity.
Commentary on an article by Joseph F. Styron, PhD, et al.: "Preoperative predictors of returning to work following primary total knee arthroplasty".

As the volume of total knee replacements increases and the indications for this surgery expand to include younger age groups, it is clear that surgical treatment of arthritis in the form of knee replacement surgery will impact the adult working population. Time out from work has very important economic implications, which underscore the importance of studying this group of patients. The authors of this study completed a very interesting analysis of prospectively collected data focused on factors that impact the likelihood of returning to work after total knee replacement. While the stated goal of this research was to provide information to clinicians helping patients to set expectations, it turns out that the motivation, if not the expectations, of these patients is an …
Robust feature detection for signal interception

The problem of detecting the presence of direct sequence spread-spectrum signals in noise is considered, and the detector consisting of a filter followed by a delay-and-multiply device is optimized with respect to the filter bandwidth and the delay to maximize robustness to errors in assumed values of pulse rate and carrier frequency. Output SNR is used for performance optimization, and the results are corroborated by evaluating receiver operating characteristics. >
Isolation of Rhinovirus Intertypes Related to Either Rhinoviruses 12 and 78 or 36 and 58

Many antigenic relationships have been demonstrated among the 90 rhinovirus serotypes. Among these are reciprocal cross-reactions between serotypes 12 and 78 and between serotypes 36 and 58. Neutralizing-antibody titers to homologous virus of the related pairs are generally 16- to 64-fold higher than to the heterologous member, and neutralization by heterologous antiserum in the pools is not seen with prototype viruses. However, a number of isolates were encountered which gave anomolous results when tested with the antiserum pools in fetal tonsil cells. When these strains were tested in fetal tonsil cells against the monospecific antisera composing the pools, it was shown that several isolates were apparently intertypes, neutralized equally by antisera to related types 12 and 78 or 36 and 58. Isolate 1104, an apparent intertype between serotypes 36 and 58, and isolate 9433, intermediate between serotypes 12 and 78, were selected to use as immunogens in rabbits. When tested in HeLa cells, antiserum prepared against isolate 1104 neutralized isolates 1104, 58, and 36 at titers of 1280, 640, and 40, respectively. The k values against isolates 1104, 58, and 36 were 356, 145, and 4, respectively, indicating a much closer relationship of isolate 1104 to type 58 than to type 36. Similar results were obtained with isolate 9433. The neutralizing-antibody titer of anti-9433 serum was 160 against both 9433 and type 78 and was 20 against type 12. The k values of anti-9433 serum against 9433, 78, and 12 were 161, 111, and 2, respectively, indicating that 9433 and 78 were nearly identical. However, the respective neutralizing-antibody titers of anti-78 serum to type 78 and isolate 9433 were 640 and 80, and the respective k values were 172 and 85, demonstrating some antigenic differences. The discovery of intertypes confirms the antigenic variation among rhinoviruses, and the intertypes may represent links in the evolution of types. These observations also demonstrate that isolates in first or second passage in diploid cells may display an antigenic profile different from that seen in HeLa cells at high HeLa cell passage level.
The Regulation of Cathepsin K Gene Expression

Abstract: Cathepsin K is essential for normal bone resorption. Osteoclasts synthesize and secrete cathepsin Kinto the extracellular compartment at the attachment site between osteoclasts and the bone surface, wherein the organic matrix is subsequently degraded by cathepsin K. RANKL, NFAT, Mitf, and various components of AP-1 enhance osteoclast formation and bone resorption, whereas IFN-γ, calcitonin, estradiol, and calcium inhibit it. These agents appear to act correspondingly to alter cathepsin K mRNA and protein expression in order to stimulate and suppress the osteoclast's resorbing potential. RANKL signaling via the calcineurin-calcium-NFAT signaling cascade plays a significant role in the regulation of cathepsin K expression. Activation via p38 and the micropthalmia transcription factor also enhances cathepsin K expression. Future studies will be needed to elucidate the relative roles of various signaling pathways at different stages of osteoclast formation and activation and to determine whether genetically disrupting these pathways can modulate bone resorption with or without impeding other osteoclast functions.
EFFECTS OF HEAVY DRINKING IN COLLEGE ON STUDY EFFORT, GRADE POINT AVERAGE, AND MAJOR CHOICE

This article measures the effects of college drinking on study hours, grade point average (GPA), and major choice using simultaneous equation models and data from the 1993 College Alcohol Study. Binging and intoxication decrease GPA directly and indirectly by reducing study hours. Greater frequency of drinking increases the effect on study hours but not the total effect on GPA. College drinking increases the probability of choosing a business major but decreases the probability of choosing engineering. Simulations show that the effects of heavy drinking on GPA and major choice reduce future weekly earnings by between 0.3 and 9.8%.
Neighborhood gossip: Concurrent averaging through local interference

In this paper, we study a gossip algorithm for distributed averaging over a wireless sensor network. The usual assumption is that, through properly chosen codes, the physical layer is reduced to a set of reliable bit pipes for the distributed averaging algorithm. However, with a new channel coding technique, computation coding, we can exploit the interference property of the wireless medium for efficient averaging. This then provides a new abstraction for the physical layer: reliable linear equations instead of reliable bit pipes. The “neighborhood gossip” algorithm operates modularly on top of this abstraction. We will show that for certain regimes, such an approach can lead to energy savings that are exponential in the network size and time savings that are polynomial.
Effects of Snowmelt Timing and Neighbor Density on the Altitudinal Distribution of Potentilla diversifolia in Western Colorado, U.S.A

Abstract Range limits of temperate high-altitude plants may be controlled by tradeoffs between physically severe but uncrowded conditions, versus mild but crowded conditions. Because up-slope migration of lowland species may accompany global warming and earlier snowmelt, I tested whether crowding by neighbors vs. timing of snowmelt limit Potentilla diversifolia to later-melting sites in the Rocky Mountains (U.S.A.). I transplanted individuals from two altitudes to experimental plots within and below the species' range limit, and experimentally altered snowmelt timing and the density of neighboring vegetation. In contrast to theoretical predictions for biotic control of lower range limits, higher temperatures and drier soils contributed to markedly reduced survivorship and reproduction below the native-range regardless of treatment. Neighbor removal only marginally increased performance both within and below the native-range, suggesting that interactions with neighboring vegetation are much less important ...
“Reproducing the World”: Mary O'Brien's Theory of Reproductive Consciousness and Implications for Feminist Incarnational Theology

Mary O'Brien has inspired a vigorous reexamination of the concept and practices of reproduction. Her philosophy of birth reclaims this central female experience from the existentialist category of unconscious immanence. This article sketches O'Brien's theory and suggests how her reappraisal of reproductive process sheds light on the contradictions in traditional messages about biological difference, the nature of women, and the meaning of motherhood. It illustrates its claim by reading one such message, John Paul II's Mulieris Dignitatem, in light of O'Brien's work, and argues that using the bio-social process of reproduction as an analytic tool helps overcome dualisms and can further feminist insights into incarnation as a dynamic principle of creation. It invites further reflection on embodiment, birth, and motherhood as theological concepts.
Throwaway Children: The Tragic Consequences of a False Narrative

Truth be told, we are afraid for our children and we are afraid of our children. The intersection of these disparate thoughts has produced a perfect storm. We have created increasingly harsh sex offender registration schemes to protect our children from sexual abuse. At the same time, fear of our children ensnares and punishes them under the very same laws that were designed to protect them. Yet, what compels action is premised on a false narrative that includes flawed studies on recidivism rates and misguided case decisions that embraced these findings. In this article, I explore the inherently unfair and deeply flawed practice of mandatory lifetime registration for children who commit sex offenses. Examination reveals two fallacies in a system that condemns children to lifetime monitoring: the breadth of its ensnarement, and the presumption of a child’s continued sexual predatory behavior. Fueled by emotional rhetoric, both are tightly bound in a fundamentally false narrative that is unnecessary and wholly damaging for the child registrant. The utility of an overly-simplified registration scheme comes with a hefty price tag: the acknowledgement that mandatory lifetime registration captures and shatters the lives of many non-dangerous children. It is a price tag we should no longer be willing to bear. In the face of overwhelming statistical evidence to the contrary, we must commit to changing the false narrative that children who commit sex offenses are presumed to become sexually dangerous adults. We must commit to replacing it with a narrative that acknowledges that recidivism rates are low and that mandatory lifetime registration is both unnecessary and devastating.
Differences in limb volume trajectories after breast cancer treatment

Approximately 20 % of patients develop lymphedema (LE) following breast cancer (BC) surgery. An evaluation of distinct trajectories of volume change may improve our ability to diagnose LE sooner. The purposes of this study were to identify subgroups of women with distinct trajectories of limb volume changes following BC surgery and to evaluate for phenotypic differences among these classes. In this prospective longitudinal study, 380 women were enrolled prior to unilateral BC surgery. Upper limb bioimpedance was measured preoperatively and serially for 1 year postoperatively. Resistance ratios (RRs) were calculated. A RR of >1 indicates affected limb volume > unaffected limb volume. Latent class growth analysis (LCGA) was used to identify classes of women with distinct postoperative RR trajectories. Differences among classes were evaluated using analyses of variance and chi-square analyses. Three distinct classes were identified as follows: RR 1.05 (15.3 %). Patients in the RR >1.05 class were more likely to have diabetes (p = 0.036), were more likely to have BC on their dominant side (p < 0.001), had higher RR ratios at the preoperative and 1-month assessments (p < 0.001), and were more likely to be diagnosed with LE (p < 0.001). LCGA is a useful analytic technique to identify subgroups of women who may be at higher risk for the development of LE, based on trajectories of limb volume change after BC surgery. Assessment of preoperative and 1-month bioimpedance RRs may allow for the earlier identification of patients who are at higher risk for the development of LE.
Metastatic Cancer to the Central Nervous System

Brain metastases are the most common intracranial solid tumors identified in adults, with 150,000 to 170,000 newly diagnosed cases of brain metastases per year in the United States. Ten percent to 30% of adult cancer patients develop brain metastases in their lifetime with an incidence of up to 25% to 40% at time of autopsy. The mean age of patients diagnosed with brain metastases is 60 years.4 Brain metastases are much less frequent in children, affecting approximately 3% of children with localized solid tumors and 7% of those with known metastatic disease. The most common primary tumor giving rise to brain metastases is non-small cell lung cancer, followed by small cell lung cancer and breast cancer (Figure 92.1). The median time from diagnosis of the primary tumor to development of brain metastases is approximately 8 months.
The deterritorialised self in Laila Lalami's Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits

ABSTRACTThe most recurring image of the Mediterranean in recent years has been that of the overloaded migrant boat, an image often accompanied by the tragic story of shipwrecks and death tolls. Laila Lalami's novel, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, expands upon this tragic image, challenging narrow categorisations of Moroccan emigrant identity. Lalami creates a discursive space that disrupts the myth of the nation and subordinates considerations of Hispano-Moroccan relations to the individual narratives of four Moroccan emigrants. The novel – in three parts titled, ‘The Trip', ‘Before', and ‘After’ – opens with the Mediterranean crossing; it begins where the international discourse about North African immigrants generally ends. In the subsequent sections, Lalami redefines the emigrants, exploring their individual trajectories and the processes that lead them to their ultimate destinations. The end result – both for those characters who make it to Spain and those who must return to Morocco – is a liminal...
Relationship Between Lepidopterous Larval Density and Damage in Celery and Celery Plant Growth Analysis

The major insect pests of celery in California are the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), and the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner). These two species accounted for 98 and 94% of the larval population in 1978 and 1979, respectively. When larval populations were maintained at different densities, a positive linear correlation (r = 0.95) was found between the mean number of 3rd or later instars of these two species for the last half of the growing season and the mean percent damaged celery plants. Marketable celery petioles appeared about halfway through the growing season. Petioles that are produced before this time die or are stripped from the plants at harvest.
3D Thermal Modeling for Existing Buildings using Hybrid LIDAR System

This paper introduces an on-going research that develops a hybrid thermal LIDAR system for rapid thermal data measurement and 3D modeling of buildings, which will allow “virtual” representations for the energy and environmental performance of existing buildings. The modeled building is created for retrofit decision-support tools for the decision makers such as occupants, owners, and outside consultants of the buildings. Existing buildings represent the greatest opportunity to improve building energy efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. This research aims to stimulate the decision makers to improve their buildings by providing reliable and visualized information of their building’s energy performance using the developed hybrid thermal LIDAR system. The created 3D model contains point clouds of building envelop and thermal data on each point including temperature (C) and thermal color generated from the infrared camera. The developed system has successfully demonstrated its technical feasibility through intensive lab tests and a field experiment on residential house modeling.
Texture Synthesis Method Based on Pixel Adaptive Neighborhood

A novel method that can automatically confirm the best neighborhood size of pixel matching was proposed to improve the narrow application range of traditional pixel-based texture synthesis. Firstly,texton was extracted using block truncation coding,and the best neighborhood size of pixel matching was confirmed by the texton. Then,the norm of pixel matching was improved in the matching stage. By comparing the mean values and variance of sample pixels and target pixels,neighborhood similarity and optimal pixel can be deternined. The results show that the proposed method can generate good synthesis and has a wide application range,and thus can be a universal texture synthesis technology.
Anticorruption in Brazil: How Brazilian companies should deal with requirements of the FCPA and of the Brazilian Anticorruption Act

O enforcement anticorrupcao vem crescendo de forma vigorosa em varias partes do mundo recentemente. Essa tendencia envolve a investigacao de casos nao apenas dentro das fronteiras de certo pais, mas tambem esquemas internacionais. Talvez o primeiro pais a enfrentar a corrupcao internacional, os Estados Unidos aprovaram o Foreign Corrupt Practices Act em 1977. No Brasil, o governo aprovou a Lei Anticorrupcao em agosto de 2013 com o objetivo principal de responsabilizar pessoas juridicas por atos de corrupcao. O objetivo do presente artigo e analisar a interacao de ambas as leis, avaliar onde elas convergem ou divergem, e tentar estabelecer o que empresas sujeitasas duas leis precisam fazer para cumprir ambas.
More Than a Blood Pump: An Experimental Enquiry of the Folk Theory of the Heart.

The present research sought to address an intriguing yet heretofore unanswered question with the tools of experimental psychology: Do people today still subscribe to the outdated folk belief that the heart is a mental organ, governing certain, if not all, aspects of mental life—a belief we termed cardiopsychism? The results from multiple experiments provided converging evidence for the conclusion that cardiopsychism is still very much alive in the minds of modern people. Aside from demonstrating the continued presence of cardiopsychism, we explored both the antecedent and consequence of holding this misconception. Through cross-cultural comparison, we found evidence suggesting that the conventionalized heart-expressions people speak might be responsible for perpetuating cardiopsychism. In addition, our hypothetical scenario study indicated that the perseverance of cardiopsychism might be more than just an innocuous glitch but could have real-world impacts.
A spectrum of belief: a qualitative exploration of candid discussions of clergy on mental health and healing

ABSTRACTSince clergy are often first responders to mental health issues, it is important to understand clergy views on handling such issues. A discussion occurred in 2012 amongst clergy involved in a popular social utility network clergy’s group. One clergyperson asked peers: “If the church is where we are to come for healing, how do we handle people who are depressed, suicidal, suffering from PTSD or anxiety?” Over 140 comments were made during 13 days, and 35 clergy from the United States, Africa, and India contributed to the discussion. Data from this conversation were examined via classic grounded theory. Analysis revealed a spectrum of beliefs that clergy hold regarding the causes and best treatments for emotional issues. Findings shed light on the candid thoughts clergy have about mental health care. The findings provide greater understanding for mental health practitioners with clients who rely on their church for emotional support.
A Unified Method to Sum a Variety of Infinite Series, with Applications

Finding closed form formulas for sums of infinite series is of use and interest in many disciplines. Standard methods often involve special tricks for special series. The purpose of this article is to present a unified method to sum a large variety of infinite series, including complicated iterated series. The unification comes through the use of two probabilistic identities, resulting in exact integral representations for the various series and hence a closed form formula. Due to the large variety of series, including iterated series, for which exact formulas are produced, the results may also have some reference and instructional value.
Black women’s bodies, ideology, and the public curriculum of the pro- and anti-choice movements in the US

ABSTRACTThis paper explores how opposite sides of the abortion debate employ a discourse of endangerment to mobilise political support for their ideologies about black women’s bodies. I examine the role of black women within that rhetorical strategy through various rhetorical artefacts. To analyse these artefacts, I employ the theoretical framework of ideological or ideographic criticism. This framework helps us see how the artefacts used by both pro and anti-choice movements ‘condition’ the audience not merely to adopt a set of ‘beliefs and behavior, but a vocabulary of concepts that function as guides, warrants, reasons, or excuses for behavior and belief’. Though the two sides of the abortion debate differ in their overt political views, they turn out to share an implicit ideology about black women. This ideology prevents the voices of black women from being heard and valued in a debate that is nonetheless focused on black women’s bodies.
A new method for multimodal 3-D image registration with external markers

The authors have developed a method for 3-D image registration from the positions of corresponding external point markers in two modalities and their measurement errors. The transformation is parametrised in terms of nine parameters: 3 Euler angles for rotations, 3 translations and 3 magnifications. They are estimated by minimizing a /spl chi//sup 2/ function defined in terms of the squares of distances of corresponding markers in two modalities weighted by the corresponding measurement errors, using a sequence of non-linear minimization techniques. Also, a method for evaluation of multimodal 3-D image registration using Monte-Carlo generated images in two modalities as well as images of the external markers is developed. The authors have used this method to determine the minimum number of external markers needed for 3-D image registration with 9 parameters as well as various other aspects of 3-D image registration like the effects of the positioning errors of the markers. >
Engineered Oncogene Activation by Somatic Hypermutation Results in a Faithful Mouse Model of MGUS/Multiple Myeloma.

The time in cellular differentiation at which the expression of an oncogene is dysregulated is thought to determine the phenotype of the resulting neoplasia. We tested this assumption in C57BL6/J transgenic mice expressing an HA-tagged c-myc oncogene in B cells under the control of kappa light chain regulatory elements. Two transgenes were engineered that differed by only one nucleotide. The first set of mice carries a wild type HA-MYC transgene, develops pro-B cell tumors, and succumbs rapidly to pronounced lymphosplenomegaly. In the second set of mice, a point mutation in the HA-tag portion of the transgene creates a stop codon that abrogates HA-MYC translation. This stop codon was engineered to be a hotspot for somatic hypermutation. Thus sporadically, in a germinal center B cell, somatic hypermutation may revert the stop codon, allowing translation of HA-MYC. In two independently derived lines, mice spontaneously develop monoclonal gammopathies (50% incidence at 30 weeks (n=35), 80% at 40 weeks (n=35)). Serum protein electrophoresis detects M-spikes that increase in intensity over time, and 6 out of 7 cases tested so far were of IgG1 isotype. Unlike other mouse models of plasma cell neoplasia, no lymphosplenomegaly nor ascites were detected. In analogy to human multiple myeloma, that is a disease of isotype-switched and hypermutated cells homing to the bone, large populations of plasma cells were found in the bone marrow. Bone marrow (but not spleen) lysates reacted for HA and human MYC proteins by western blot and immunohistochemistry, thus indicating that reversion of the stop codon occurred. Remarkably, in two young mice, monoclonal spikes appeared 2 weeks after vaccination with NP-CGG. These spikes were sustained and the monoclonal protein was reactive to the NP antigen. Together, comparison of the two sets of mice demonstrates that activation of the same transgene at distinct B cell developmental stages results in dramatically different tumor phenotypes. In addition, and opposite to most engineered mice, we have created a system where the oncogene is turned on sporadically, as occurs in the human disease. Furthermore, we have developed a model that faithfully reproduces important clinical aspects of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and its progression to multiple myeloma. This model will be useful to develop immunologic and chemoterapeutic approaches.
TAVR-Related Complications: Why Did We Forget the Design of a Normal Aortic Valve?

The aortic valve leaflets are remarkable pieces of biomechanical engineering. They are just 0.15 mm thick and open and shut over 100,000× a day across a pressure difference of 100 mm of mercury. The tissue valves used for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are derived from either bovine
Daily School Context of Adolescents' Single Best Friendship and Adjustment

Research on adolescent best friendships typically focuses on school-based friendships, ignoring important differences between classroom-based and out-of-school friendships. With data from 156 ninth-grade students, many of whom named more than 1 best friend across the 14-day period, the authors examined associations between the daily school context of one's best friendship and adjustment. Benefits of in-grade best friendships were found in academic engagement when a composite was assessed across the 2-week period. Daily findings were more complex and were different between weekends and school days. Out-of-grade best friends were named more frequently on weekends, and on weekend days in which they named an out-of-school best friend participants spent more time with that friend but felt like less of a good student. Implications for our understanding of friendship context and for the measurement of friendship itself are discussed.
Agent-centric approach for cybersecurity decision-support with partial observability

Generating automated cyber resilience policies for real-world settings is a challenging research problem that must account for uncertainties in system state over time and dynamics between attackers and defenders. In addition to understanding attacker and defender motives and tools, and identifying “relevant” system and attack data, it is also critical to develop rigorous mathematical formulations representing the defender's decision-support problem under uncertainty. Game-theoretic approaches involving cyber resource allocation optimization with Markov decision processes (MDP) have been previously proposed in the literature. However, as is the case in strategic card games such as poker, research challenges using game-theoretic approaches for practical cyber defense applications include equilibrium solvability, existence, and possible multiplicity. Moreover, mixed uncertainties associated with player payoffs also need to be accounted for within game settings. This paper proposes an agent-centric approach for cybersecurity decision-support with partial system state observability. Multiple partially observable MDP (POMDP) problems are formulated and solved from a cyber defender's perspective, against a fixed attacker type, using synthetic (notional) system and attack parameters estimated from a Monte Carlo based sampling scheme. The agent-centric problem formulation helps address equilibrium related research challenges and represents a step toward automated and dynamic cyber resilience policy generation and implementation.
Singular Locus of a Schubert Variety in the Flag Variety SL n / B

In this chapter, we present the results on the singular locus of a Schubert variety in the flag variety. For an in-depth discussion on the singular locus of Schubert varieties for other semisimple algebraic groups, we refer the reader to [2].
Fluorescent excimers and exciplexes of the purine base derivative 8-phenylethynyl-guanine in DNA hairpins.

The ground- and excited-state electronic interactions between the nucleobase analog 8-(4′-phenylethynyl)deoxyguanosine, EG, with natural nucleobases and 7-deazaguanine, as well as between adjacent EG base analogs, have been characterized using a combination of steady-state spectroscopy and time-resolved fluorescence, absorption, and stimulated Raman spectroscopies. The properties of the nucleoside EG-H2 are only weakly perturbed upon incorporation into synthetic DNA hairpins in which thymine, cytosine or adenine are the bases flanking EG. Incorporation of the nucleoside to be adjacent to guanine or deazaguanine results in the formation of short-lived (40–80 ps) exciplexes, the charge transfer character of which increases as the oxidation potential of the donor decreases. Hairpins possessing two or three adjacent EG base analogs display exciton-coupled circular dichroism in the ground state and form long-lived fluorescent excited states upon electronic excitation. Incorporation of EG into the helical scaffold of the DNA hairpins places it adjacent to its neighboring nucleobases or a second EG, thus providing the close proximity required for the formation of exciplex or excimer intermediates upon geometric relaxation of the short-lived EG excited state. The three time-resolved spectroscopic methods employed permit both the characterization of the several intermediates and the kinetics of their formation and decay.
Classifying Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Failure: An Observational Study Examining Timing and Characteristics of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Failures

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is an effective treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (rCDI), with cure rates higher than 80%.1-3 FMT failure is defined as diarrhea and a positive stool laboratory test for C difficile at any point during the 8-week follow-up period after FMT.4.
Idea Generation and Idea Evaluation: Cognitive Skills and Deliberate Practices

Publisher Summary This chapter illustrates precise aspect of the creative process, reviews descriptions, skills and practices associated with idea generation and idea evaluation. Before delving headlong into a review of idea generation and idea evaluation, it is important first to define these terms, and then to locate these constructs within the network of related creativity concepts. Creativity studies are a young field, and within this field, the topic of organizational creativity is a recent area of interest. With the increased concern for innovation among corporations, it would be useful to engage in more field studies. Within the field of creativity, idea generation in general and the usefulness of idea generation methods has received much greater attention than idea evaluation. Idea evaluation research needs to catch up to the body of literature dedicated to idea generation; what training approaches work best, to what degree does training transfer to the workplace, what are the most effective approaches for organizations to vet and develop the most promising ideas, what idea evaluation tools are most useful to individuals and teams, and what dynamics impact successful idea evaluation in teams. These are just a few of the questions that might be useful to explore in future research.
Hyperlipasemia associated with hepatitis C virus.

Extrahepatic manifestations of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have been well described. However, hyperlipasemia and/or pancreatitis have not been reported. Following the observation that several HCV patients had elevated lipase levels, this retrospective study was conducted to assess the association between hyperlipasemia and/or pancreatitis with hepatitis C infection. Of 204 subjects who underwent evaluation for hepatitis C, 103 had lipase levels determined at baseline. The control group consisted of 41 nonHCV subjects with a variety of gastrointestinal diseases including 18 with nonalcoholic liver disease. Twenty-five percent of HCV patients had elevated lipase at baseline as compared to 10% of controls (P = 0.04; OR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.02–9.60). Mean lipase levels were 253 ± 72 units/liter (normal range 114–286 units/liter and 210 ± 42 units/liter for the HCV and control groups, respectively (P = 0.002). No significant difference in amylase was found between the groups. There was a significant association between ALT (>1.5 times the upper limit of normal) and lipase (P = 0.02; OR = 3.0; 95% CI: 1.1–7.5). Among 30 patients who received interferon-based therapy ± ribavirin, 11 had elevated lipase at baseline. Six of these patients responded to therapy and demonstrated normalization of lipase levels. In contrast, allnonresponders with baseline hyperlipasemia continued to have high lipase levels (P = 0.17; OR = 4.0; 95% CI: 0.6–28.4). Furthermore, only 3 of 8 (37.5%) patients with normal lipase responded to treatment as compared to 6 of 10 (60%) of hyperlipasemic patients (P = 0.36; OR = 2.5; 95% CI: 0.4–16.9). In conclusion, hyperlipasemia and/or subclinical pancreatitis may represent extrahepatic manifestations of HCV infection and should not preclude treatment.