cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Operative Time with Conventional Fluoroscopy Versus Spinal Neuronavigation in Instrumented Spinal Tumor Surgery.

Objective Spinal neuronavigation improves accuracy of pedicle screw placement but may increase operative time, and its use in oncologic operations remains relatively unstudied. We compared the use of two-dimensional (2D) fluoroscopy and three-dimensional (3D) spinal neuronavigation relative to operative time in instrumented oncology procedures. Methods Consecutive instrumented oncologic spinal operations for multiple myeloma or metastatic disease performed between 2012 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were placed in 2 groups based on the method used for pedicle screw placement: 2D fluoroscopy versus spinal neuronavigation with 3D imaging. These groups were compared by age, number of screws placed, number of laminectomy levels, operative time, estimated blood loss, length of hospital stay after surgery, and rate of reoperation as a result of screw misplacement. Results Fourteen operations used 2D fluoroscopy and 25 used spinal neuronavigation. In the fluoroscopy and neuronavigation groups, respectively, patient ages were 64.71 ± 7.21 years and 63.24 ± 6.95 years ( P = 0.534), number of screws was 8.07 ± 1.98 and 7.84 ± 1.34 ( P = 0.667), laminectomy levels were 2.18 ± 1.25 and 1.60 ± 1.02 ( P = 0.126), operative time was 200.79 ± 34.99 minutes and 193.48 ± 43.77 minutes ( P = 0.596), estimated blood loss was 790.00 ± 769.61 mL and 389.80 ± 551.43 mL ( P = 0.068), and length of stay after the operation was 7.64 ± 4.63 days and 6.40 ± 3.23 days ( P = 0.331). One patient in the 2D fluoroscopy group and no patients in the spinal neuronavigation group required a reoperation for screw misplacement. Conclusions There was no significant difference in length of operative time when neuronavigation was compared with fluoroscopy for instrumented oncologic spinal surgery. There was a trend toward a decrease in estimated blood loss in the neuronavigation cases.
Implementation of tobacco cessation brief intervention in complementary and alternative medicine practice: qualitative evaluation

This article presents findings from qualitative interviews conducted as part of a research study that trained Acupuncture, Massage, and Chiropractic practitioners’ in Arizona, US, to implement evidence-based tobacco cessation brief interventions (BI) in their routine practice. The qualitative phase of the overall study aimed to assess: the impact of tailored training in evidence-based tobacco cessation BI on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners’ knowledge and willingness to implement BIs in their routine practice; and their patients’ responses to cessation intervention in CAM context. To evaluate the implementation of skills learned from a tailored training program, we conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 54 CAM practitioners in Southern Arizona and 38 of their patients. Interview questions focused on reactions to the implementation of tobacco cessation BIs in CAM practice. After participating in a tailored BI training, CAM practitioners reported increased confidence, knowledge, and motivation to address tobacco in their routine practice. Patients were open to being approached by CAM practitioners about tobacco use and viewed BIs as an expected part of wellness care. Tailored training motivated CAM practitioners in this study to implement evidence-based tobacco cessation BIs in their routine practice. Results suggest that CAM practitioners can be a valuable point of contact and should be included in tobacco cessation efforts.
The Severe Impairment Profile: A Conceptual Shift.

Objective The current study sought to evaluate and replicate the severe impairment profile (SIP) of the Word Memory Test (WMT) in patients referred for dementia evaluations. Method The sample consisted of 125 patients referred for a neuropsychological evaluation at a large Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Patients were assigned a Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) by blind raters, and were classified according to their performance on performance validity testing. Subsequent chart reviews were conducted to help in more accurately determining the presence of severe memory impairment likely due to an underlying dementing process versus poor effort/task engagement. Results In our sample, 51% of patients failed easy WMT subtests and 93% of these patients obtained the SIP. The rates of failure on these easy subtests generally coincided with both more severely impaired CDR ratings, as well as more impaired delayed memory composite scores. Upon chart review, it was determined that there were likely a significant portion of classification errors using the SIP, with a positive posttest probability of impairment based on having the SIP being 65% as opposed to 28% for a negative result. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the SIP does not appear to function effectively in a mixed dementia sample where there is increased potential for secondary gain. Additional concern is expressed regarding the overall likelihood of obtaining the SIP and subsequent inferential decisions related to obtaining an SIP. Future research should examine more optimal cut scores or alternative methods for more accurately classifying patients in different clinical contexts and patterns of impairment.
Gemcitabine-induced chronic systemic capillary leak syndrome.

A 56-year-old woman presented with anasarca, hypoalbuminaemia and hypotension following cycle 3 day 1 of adjuvant gemcitabine for stage II pancreatic cancer. Due to the temporal nature of presentation, suspicion for gemcitabine-induced capillary leak syndrome was included in the differential diagnosis. Vascular endothelial growth factor levels were elevated at 707 pg/mL (reference range: 9–86 pg/mL). Corticosteroids were initiated, resulting in complete resolution of symptoms and hypotension. The patient suffered relapse of symptoms on discontinuation of steroids, further supporting chronic capillary leak syndrome.
A Novel Network Structure with Power Efficiency and High Availability for Data Centers

Designing a cost-effective network for data centers that can deliver sufficient bandwidth and provide high availability has drawn tremendous attentions recently. In this paper, we propose a novel server-centric network structure called RCube, which is energy efficient and can deploy a redundancy scheme to improve the availability of data centers. Moreover, RCube shares many good properties with BCube, a well known server-centric network structure, yet its network size can be adjusted more conveniently. We also present a routing algorithm to find paths in RCube and an algorithm to find multiple parallel paths between any pair of source and destination servers. In addition, we theoretically analyze the power efficiency of the network and availability of RCube under server failure. Our comprehensive simulations demonstrate that RCube provides higher availability and flexibility to make trade-off among many factors, such as power consumption and aggregate throughput, than BCube, while delivering similar performance to BCube in many critical metrics, such as average path length, path distribution and graceful degradation, which makes RCube a very promising empirical structure for an enterprise data center network product.
Genetics and Pathophysiology of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

The congenital adrenal hyperplasias are a group of autosomal recessive disorder. The most common form is 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) associated with mutations in the 21-hydroxylase (CYP21A2) gene. The manifestations of 21-OHD range from the classic forms presenting in the neonatal period to milder forms presenting in adulthood. The pathophysiology is due to loss of function mutations leading to cortisol deficiency, increased ACTH secretion, and subsequent increased adrenal androgen secretion. Optimal care for patients with 21-OHD spans their lifetime with the involvement of pediatric and adult healthcare providers.
Reactive power and voltage control in a power grid: A game-theoretic approach

This paper presents an approach of applying game-theoretic concepts to the systematic control of reactive power and voltage in a power grid. A non-cooperative, extensive form game is used to model the complex interactions that exist among voltage-control components of a power system. An IEEE 6-bus test system has been used as a case study to study the systematic interactions among system components. At equilibrium, component settings minimize the reactive power injections, while satisfying load-bus voltage constraints.
Mechanisms underlying the rapid effects of estradiol and progesterone on hippocampal memory consolidation in female rodents.

Abstract Contribution to Special Issue on Fast effects of steroids. Although rapid effects of 17β‑estradiol (E2) and progesterone on cellular functions have been observed for several decades, a proliferation of data in recent years has demonstrated the importance of these actions to cognition. In particular, an emerging literature has demonstrated that these hormones promote the consolidation of spatial and object recognition memories in rodents via rapid activation of numerous cellular events including cell signaling, histone modifications, and local protein translation in the hippocampus. This article provides an overview of the evidence demonstrating that E2 and progesterone enhance hippocampal memory consolidation in female rodents, and then discusses numerous molecular mechanisms thus far shown to mediate the beneficial effects of these hormones on memory formation.
Synthesis of Masking Countermeasures against Side Channel Attacks

We propose a new synthesis method for generating countermeasures for cryptographic software code to mitigate power analysis based side channel attacks. Side channel attacks may arise when computers and microchips leak sensitive information about the software code and data that they process, e.g., through power dissipation or electromagnetic radiation. Such information leaks have been exploited in commercial systems in the embedded space. Our new method takes an unprotected C program as input and returns a functionally equivalent but side channel leak free new program as output. The new program is guaranteed to be perfectly masked in that all intermediate computation results are made statistically independent from the secret data. We have implemented our new method in a tool based on the LLVM compiler and the Yices SMT solver. Our experiments on a set of cryptographic software benchmarks show that the new method is both effective and scalable for applications of realistic size.
Simultaneous Registration and Segmentation by L1 Minimization

This paper studies the problem of simultaneously registering and segmenting a pair of images despite the presence of non-smooth boundaries. We assume one of the images is well segmented by automated algorithm or user interaction. This image acts as an atlas for the segmentation process. For the remaining images in the set, we propose a novel L1 minimization based technique, which leverages the fact that the other image is not closely segmented but has a reasonably ’thin’ boundary around it. The images are allowed to have non-rigid transformations amongst each other. We extend the two image formulation to multiple image registration and segmentation by introducing a low rank prior on the error matrix. We compare against rigid as well as non-rigid registration techniques. We present results on multi-modal real medical data.
Oscar Wilde’s Chatterton: Literary History, Romanticism, and the Art of Forgery

I’ll open this review with a confession, but one that is easier to make because I am in good company. Like many scholars who have examined Oscar Wilde’s Chatterton notebook at the William Andrews C...
Addiction and stress: An allostatic view

Allostasis, or stability through change, has most often been linked with challenges to homeostasis, in which repeated challenges or stressors produce sufficient allostatic load to generate an allostatic state that can ultimately lead to a disease state. The present review argues that the impact of stress on drug addiction fits with an allostatic model and represents a challenge to brain circuit regulatory mechanisms that underlie the emotional state of the animal. The central thesis is that stress leads to changes in corticotropin-releasing factor in the brain that impact addiction. Stress is further argued to impact all three stages of the addiction cycle-binge/intoxication, withdrawal/negative affect, and preoccupation/anticipation-exposing the animal to an emotional allostatic load and allostatic state that forms the growing motivational pathology of addiction. Viewing addiction as an allostatic mechanism provides key insights into the ways in which dysregulated neurocircuitry that is involved in basic motivational systems can transition to pathophysiology.
Metformin action through the microbiome and bile acids

Metformin functions through a gut microbiome–bile acid–farnesoid X receptor axis to lower glucose in type 2 diabetes, revealing a new therapeutic target in this disease.
Xanthobacter-dominated biofilm as a novel source for high-value rhamnose

Rhamnose is a high-value carbohydrate used in flavorings, aromatics, and pharmaceuticals. Current demand for rhamnose is filled through plant-based sources; however, microbially originated rhamnolipids have been proposed as an alternative source. A mixed microbial biofilm, cultured from a wastewater sludge, was found to comprise > 8 dry weight% rhamnose when provided volatile fatty acids as carbon source, and 24 dry weight% when given glucose. The latter rhamnose concentration is a fourfold higher production mass than the current plant-based origin and is competitive with yields from pure microbial cultures. The biofilm was characterized based on total carbohydrate production at varying nutrient levels, individual carbohydrate monomer production from varying organic acid substrates, and microbial community composition—based on 16s rRNA. Biofilm carbohydrate production was maximized at a C:N ratio of 28 (mol:mol). The production of rhamnose varied significantly based on carbon substrate; glucose had the greatest yield of rhamnose, followed by propionic acid, lactic acid, acetic acid, valeric acid, and butyric acid. Microbial community analysis indicated an abundance of organisms within the Xanthobacter genus, which is known to produce rhamnose as zeaxanthin rhamnoside. Rhamnose production was heavily correlated with ribose production (R2 = 0.96). Results suggest that mixed microbial biofilms could be a competitive source of monomeric rhamnose that may be produced from mixed organic waste streams of variable composition via volatile fatty acids and glucose.
Batch-Fabricated α-Si Assisted Nanogap Tunneling Junctions.

This paper details the design, fabrication, and characterization of highly uniform batch-fabricated sidewall etched vertical nanogap tunneling junctions for bio-sensing applications. The device consists of two vertically stacked gold electrodes separated by a partially etched sacrificial spacer layer of sputtered α-Si and Atomic Layer Deposited (ALD) SiO2. A ~10 nm wide air-gap is formed along the sidewall by a controlled dry etch of the spacer. The thickness of the spacer layer can be tuned by adjusting the number of ALD cycles. The rigorous statistical characterization of the ultra-thin spacer films has also been performed. We fabricated nanogap electrodes under two design layouts with different overlap areas and spacer gaps, from ~4.0 nm to ~9.0 nm. Optical measurements reported an average non-uniformity of 0.46 nm (~8%) and 0.56 nm (~30%) in SiO2 and α-Si film thickness respectively. Direct tunneling and Fowler–Nordheim tunneling measurements were done and the barrier potential of the spacer stack was determined to be ~3.5 eV. I–V measurements showed a maximum resistance of 46 × 103 GΩ and the average dielectric breakdown field of the spacer stack was experimentally determined to be ~11 MV/cm.
Maximally rotating supermassive stars at the onset of collapse: effects of gas pressure

The "direct collapse" scenario has emerged as a promising evolutionary track for the formation of supermassive black holes early in the Universe. In an idealized version of such a scenario, a uniformly rotating supermassive star spinning at the mass-shedding (Keplerian) limit collapses gravitationally after it reaches a critical configuration. Under the assumption that the gas is dominated by radiation pressure, this critical configuration is characterized by unique values of the dimensionless parameters $J/M^2$ and $R_p/M$, where $J$ is the angular momentum, $R_p$ the polar radius, and $M$ the mass. Motivated by a previous perturbative treatment we adopt a fully nonlinear approach to evaluate the effects of gas pressure on these dimensionless parameters for a large range of masses. We find that gas pressure has a significant effect on the critical configuration even for stellar masses as large as $M \simeq 10^6 M_{\odot}$. We also calibrate two approximate treatments of the gas pressure perturbation in a comparison with the exact treatment, and find that one commonly used approximation in particular results in increasing deviations from the exact treatment as the mass decreases, and the effects of gas pressure increase. The other approximation, however, proves to be quite robust for all masses $M \gtrsim 10^4 M_{\odot}$.
Levels of Vitamin D Are Low After Crohn’s Disease Is Established But Not Before

Background & Aims Low serum levels of vitamin D have been associated with Crohn’s disease (CD). However, it is unclear whether low vitamin D levels cause CD or CD reduces serum vitamin D. Methods United States military personnel with CD (n = 240) and randomly selected individuals without CD (controls, n = 240) were matched by age, sex, race, military branch, and geography. We measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D in sera 8–3 years (pre-2) and 3 years to 3 months before diagnosis (pre-1) and 3 months before through 21 months after diagnosis (pre-0). We genotyped VDR and GC vitamin D related polymorphisms. We used conditional logistic regression, including adjustments for smoking, season, enlistment status, and deployment, to estimate relative odds of CD according to vitamin D levels and interactions between genetic factors and levels of vitamin D. Results Levels of vitamin D before diagnosis were not associated with CD in pre-2 (P trend = .65) or pre-1 samples (P trend = .84). However, we found an inverse correlation between CD and highest tertile of vitamin D level in post-diagnosis samples (P trend = .01; odds ratio, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.30–0.86). Interactions were not detected between vitamin D levels and VDR or GC polymorphisms. We observed an association between VDR Taq1 polymorphism and CD (independent of vitamin D) (P = .02). Conclusions In serum samples from military personnel with CD and matched controls, we found no evidence for an association between CD and vitamin D levels up to 8 years before diagnosis. However, we observed an inverse-association between post-diagnosis vitamin D levels and CD. These findings suggest that low vitamin D does not contribute to development of CD—instead, CD leads to low vitamin D.
Altered RNA Processing in Cancer Pathogenesis and Therapy

Major advances in our understanding of cancer pathogenesis and therapy have come from efforts to catalog genomic alterations in cancer. A growing number of large-scale genomic studies have uncovered mutations that drive cancer by perturbing cotranscriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. These include alterations that affect each phase of RNA processing, including splicing, transport, editing, and decay of messenger RNA. The discovery of these events illuminates a number of novel therapeutic vulnerabilities generated by aberrant RNA processing in cancer, several of which have progressed to clinical development. SIGNIFICANCE: There is increased recognition that genetic alterations affecting RNA splicing and polyadenylation are common in cancer and may generate novel therapeutic opportunities. Such mutations may occur within an individual gene or in RNA processing factors themselves, thereby influencing splicing of many downstream target genes. This review discusses the biological impact of these mutations on tumorigenesis and the therapeutic approaches targeting cells bearing these mutations.
Harmful Algal Blooms (Phycotoxins)

Abstract Drivers of harmful algal blooms (HABs) include nutrient pollution, warmer temperatures, and stagnant waters. HABs often discolor water. When they block sunlight needed by oxygen-producing algae or aquatic macrophytes, or run out of a nutrient, die and are broken down by oxygen-consuming organisms, hypoxic dead zones are produced. Also, directly toxigenic HABs kill fish, fish-eating birds, marine and terrestrial mammals, and people. Although irritation results from skin, eye, or respiratory exposures, the most serious toxic effects typically follow ingestion of water, contaminated shellfish or fish. Microcystins, nodularins, and cylindrospermopsins cause lethal liver and sometimes kidney damage, and repeated exposures promote liver cancers. Paralysis of respiratory muscles can follow ingestion of anatoxin-A, which acts like nicotine, anatoxin-A(s), which inhibits acetylcholinesterase, or saxitoxins, which block sodium channels. Brevetoxins and ciguatoxins cause cell death, neurotoxicity, and respiratory irritation. Manatees, dolphins, and fish-eating birds have died from brevetoxin poisoning. In humans, ciguatera poisoning is common after eating contaminated large predatory fish from coral reefs. Okadaic acid and dinophysistoxins in shellfish cause severe diarrhea. Domoic acid contaminates shellfish and fish, and persistent neurotoxicity affects people, fish-eating birds and marine mammals. Preventing nutrient pollution and climate change, and restoring watershed biodiversity can prevent many harmful algal blooms.
Predictors of immunotherapy (IO) response in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

555Background: Despite advances in understanding the molecular pathways of HCC, therapeutic options are limited and patient survival is dismal. IO is a promising HCC treatment. There are currently ...
High Conductivity, Lithium Ion Conducting Polymer Electrolyte Based on Hydrocarbon Backbone with Pendent Carbonate

Solid polymer electrolytes (sPE) offer a pathway for safer, less flammable lithium batteries. However, developing a polymer that provides high Li+ mobility as well electrochemical stability remains a challenge, because ion conductive functional units in the polymer main-chain (e.g., polycarbonate and polyether) usually suffer from poor electrochemical stability at high and low potentials. Herein, an sPE with pendent carbonate on a hydrocarbon backbone has been designed and synthesized to overcome conductivity and electrochemical stability problems. This pendant polycarbonate is different from conventional polycarbonate electrolytes because the carbonate moiety is in the sidechain, which mitigates polycarbonate backbone stability problems while still providing high ionic conductivity when used with a plasticizer Conductivity as high as 1.1 mS/cm at 22oC was obtained. Stable lithium metal plating using and stripping using the sPE was observed for 1,200 hours and electrochemical stability up to 4.6 V vs Li+/Li has been demonstrated. The low interfacial resistance (<160 ohmcm2 at 22oC) and reasonable ionic conductivity have enabled acceptable cycling performance in a Li-LiFePO4 battery at 0.98 mA/cm2 for 2,300 cycles.
Immersion and clustered coloring

Hadwiger and Hajos conjectured that for every positive integer $t$, $K_{t+1}$-minor free graphs and $K_{t+1}$-topological minor free graphs are properly $t$-colorable, respectively. Clustered coloring version of these two conjectures which only require monochromatic components to have bounded size has been extensively studied. In this paper we consider the clustered coloring version of the immersion-variant of Hadwiger's and Hajos' conjecture proposed by Lescure and Meyniel and independently by Abu-Khzam and Langston. We determine the minimum number of required colors for $H$-immersion free graphs, for any fixed graph $H$, up to a small additive absolute constant. Our result is tight for infinitely many graphs $H$. A key machinery developed in this paper is a lemma that reduces a clustering coloring problem on graphs to the one on the torsos of their tree-cut decomposition or tree-decomposition. A byproduct of this machinery is a unified proof of a result of Alon, Ding, Oporowski and Vertigan and a result of the author and Oum about clustered coloring graphs of bounded maximum degree in minor-closed families.
Pick out the jams: Curation and independent record shops

Characterizing independent record shops as ‘curated’ is a recent trend in scholarship on the topic of music consumption. The processes that contribute to this description, however, are often not interrogated and ‘curated’ is taken as given, though this adjective is in actuality a representation of a rich and varied skill set that is essential to the running of a shop. This article draws on in-depth interviews with independent record shop owners and staff members to examine the processes involved in selecting and displaying stock in shops that predominantly carry used LPs and CDs, and argues that these processes are complex and underpinned by particular areas of expertise and acquired experience.
„Aufstieg durch Bildung“ – eine Einordnung

Um die Ergebnisse der vielfaltigen Fragestellungen und Teilprojekte, die in diesem Sammelband dargestellt werden, einordnen zu konnen, werden grundlegende Begriffe, Konzepte und Eckpunkte des Programms und Bund-Lander-Wettbewerbs „Aufstieg durch Bildung: offene Hochschulen“, sowie des berufsbegleitenden Studiengangs „Soziale Arbeit mit dem Schwerpunkt Jugendarbeit“ an der Hochschule Kempten erlautert. Dabei wird die grose Bedeutung adaquater hochschulischer Qualifizierungsmoglichkeiten zur Verwirklichung von „Aufstieg durch Bildung“ zum einen sowie zur Starkung der Jugendarbeit als Handlungsfeld der Sozialen Arbeit zum anderen hervorgehoben.
“I Didn't Know What Anti-Blackness Was Until I Got Here”: The Unmet Needs of Black Students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions:

Amidst institutional reckonings with anti-blackness, minority-serving institutions (MSIs) are thought to be an intervention. But, how do Black students perceive being served at Hispanic-serving ins...
NAD precursors cycle between host tissues and the gut microbiome

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is an essential redox cofactor in both mammals and microbes. Here we use isotope tracing to investigate the precursors supporting NAD synthesis in the gut microbiome. We find that preferred dietary NAD precursors are absorbed in the proximal part of the gastrointestinal tract and not available to microbes in the distal gut. Instead, circulating host nicotinamide enters the gut lumen and supports gut microbiome NAD synthesis. In addition, the microbiome converts nicotinamide, originating from the host circulation, into nicotinic acid. Host tissues uptake and utilize this microbiome-derived nicotinic acid for NAD synthesis, maintaining circulating nicotinic acid levels even in the absence of dietary consumption. Moreover, the main route from oral nicotinamide riboside, a widely used nutraceutical, to host NAD is via conversion into nicotinic acid by the gut microbiome. Thus, NAD precursors cycle between the host and gut microbiome to maintain NAD homeostasis.
Chapter 1 Fluorescence Spectroscopy; Principles and Application to Biological Macromolecules

Publisher Summary Luminescence is divided into two types, fluorescence and phosphorescence. In phosphorescence, the emission is from an excited triplet state to a ground state singlet. Since this transition is forbidden the rate of return to the ground state is slow, which means the decay times are long (msec to sec). Fluorescence is the emission from excited singlet states, also yielding a ground state singlet. Substances which display fluorescence are generally delocalized aromatic systems with or without polar substituents. It is difficult to predict which molecules will be fluorescent or non-fluorescent because exceptions can usually be found. However, several general rules are generally true. Studies of cell membranes by fluorescence depend almost exclusively upon the use of extrinsic probes. This is because most lipids are not fluorescent, and the emission from membrane-bound proteins is too heterogeneous for interpretation of the data. The phenomenon of fluorescence can provide information about the physical properties of proteins and other macromolecules. The information content results from the sensitivity of the spectral properties to the average and dynamic properties of the environment surrounding the fluorescent residues. In general, more detailed information is obtainable from time-resolved data than from steady-state measurements. However, the steady-state measurements are considerably easier to perform. At present, the ability to recover time-resolved spectral data is rapidly improving, primarily because of advances in instrument design. The newer instruments may possess resolution adequate to correlate experimental data with the structural or dynamic properties of macromolecules.
Political power, economic freedom and Congress: Effects on bank performance

Abstract This paper studies the linkages between bank performance, connections to powerful politicians, and the degree of economic freedom in a bank’s home state. We find that bank performance is positively related to state economic freedom. We also reconfirm the finding of Gropper et al. (2013) that bank performance is improved by political connections. However, the positive effect of political connections appears to be significantly reduced when there is a higher degree of economic freedom in the state, indicating that political connections may matter less to banks when there is more economic freedom. Economic freedom in a state can have a beneficial effect on state economic growth and hence may outweigh any political connection benefits. However, the declines in state economic freedom in recent years could make political connections potentially more valuable to banks.
The use of systematic reviews for decision making in animal production medicine and policy

Understanding factors that influence the persistence of influenza in an environment without host animals is critical to decision making for down times, set back distances and eradication programs in livestock production systems. This systematic review identified literature describing persistence of influenza in environmental samples i.e. air, water, soil, feces and fomites. An electronic search of PUBMED, CAB, AGRICOLA, Biosis and Compendex was performed and citation relevance was determined according to the aim of the review. Quality assessment of relevant studies was performed using criteria from experts in virology, disease ecology and environmental science. 9760 abstracts were evaluated, 40 appeared to report the persistence of influenza in environmental samples. Evaluation of full texts revealed 19 of the 40 studies were suitable for review as they described virus concentration measured at multiple sampling times with virus detectable at least twice. Within the 19 studies, there was significant heterogeneity in study design, quantification methods and outcome reporting. Seven studies reported survival in air (six published before 1970), seven in water (five published after 1990), two in feces and three on surfaces. All three fomite and five air studies addressed human influenza, and all water and feces studies pertained to avian influenza. Outcome measurements were transformed to half-lives, and resultant multivariate mixed linear regression models identified influenza surviving longest in water, compared with air, feces and fomites. Temperature was a statistically significant predictor of persistence over all matrices as well as air matrix specifically. Salinity and pH were significant predictors in water conditions.
Loss of the urethra: a report on 50 patients.

Abstract A series of 50 patients presented with total urinary incontinence secondary to traumatic loss of much or all of the urethral floor and bladder neck. Previously, the 50 patients had been subjected to 94 unsuccessful operations; this serves to indicate the challenging nature of the problem. Surgical reconstruction was accomplished by creating a small-caliber neourethra from the contractile tissue that remained in the urethral roof. In addition, 22 of the 50 patients (44 per cent) required a supplemental myocutaneous labial skin flap (12 patients) or a bulbocavernosus muscle flap of the Martius type (10 patients). A “second-stage” retropubic urethrovesical suspension was required in 20 patients. After a follow-up period of five to 15 years, 37 of the 50 patients (74 per cent) were cured and an additional four patients (8 per cent) were greatly improved.
Construction of an IS946-based composite transposon in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis.

An artificial composite transposon was constructed based on the lactococcal insertion sequence IS946. A 3.0-kb element composed of the pC194 cat gene (Cmr) flanked by inversely repeated copies of IS946 was assembled on pBluescript KS+. When subcloned into the shuttle vector pSA3 (Emr), two putative transposons were created on the recombinant plasmid pTRK128: the 3.0-kb Cmr element (Tn-CmA) and an inverse 11.5-kb Emr element (Tn-EmA). pTRK128 was electroporated into the recombination-deficient strain Lactococcus lactis MMS362, which contains the self-transmissible plasmid pRS01. An MMS362 Cmr Emr transformant was used to assay for transposition events via conjugal mobilization of pTRK128-encoded Cmr or Emr to L. lactis LM2345. Transfer of either marker alone occurred at frequencies of ca. 2 x 10(-4) per input donor. Approximately 19% of the Emr transconjugants were Cms, indicating loss of the cat gene marker. No Cmr Ems transconjugants were recovered (n = 550). Plasmid analysis showed that the Cms Emr isolates contained a single large plasmid that was determined to be a cointegrate between pRS01 and the Tn-EmA element. A 32P-labeled pSA3 probe hybridized specifically to pTRK128 sequences and revealed different junction fragments within each of the cointegrate plasmids. DNA sequence analysis of the Tn-EmA::pRS01 junctions from a representative cointegrate verified transposition by Tn-EmA. This represents the first example of a functional composite transposon in the genus Lactococcus and serves as an experimental tool and model for the genetic analyses of transposons in these organisms. Images
The Photographs of Jacob Riis: History in Relation to Truth

This article discusses the photographs and writing of Jacob Riis, who was instrumental in informing middle and upperclass people in the 1870's about the poverty and conditions in the slums. It suggests that Riis may have staged some of his photographs, and that he was not without bias in his reporting, but that his pictures and writing did help in charging the social reform movements. This article is available in Constructing the Past: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/constructing/vol5/iss1/6 I "Arbuckle Relates His Story to Jury." New York Times. 29 November 1921,5. "Arbuckle Unnamed in Rappe Statement." New York Times. 26 November 1921, II. "Charges Blackmail at Arbuckle Trial." New York Times. 27 Septcmber 1921,8. "Five Women Named on Arbuckle Jury." New York Times. 16 November 1921, 14. 'The Ordeal of Fatty Arbuckle." New York Times. 27 August 1976,62. "Promises to Press Arbuckle's Trial." New York Times. 16 September 1921, 3. "Put Miss Rappe in Tub, Fischback Testifies." New York Times. 24 Novcmber 1921,25. "Sherman Aids Arbuckle." New York Times. 2 November 1921, 15. 'Tattered Clothes in Arbuckle Trial." New York Times. 25 September 1921, 14. "Testify to Bruises on Virginia Rappe." New York Times. 23 September 1921,5. "Zeb Provost Tells of Arbuckle's Party." New York Times. 22 November 1921, 20.
Selective staining of a subset of GABAergic neurons in cat visual cortex by monoclonal antibody VC1.1

VC1.1 is a monoclonal antibody generated against cat area 17, which selectively outlines subsets of cortical neurons (Arimatsu et al., 1987). This study was conducted to determine the ultrastructural distribution of the VC1.1 antigen and to identify the particular subclasses of cortical neurons that were labeled. In the light microscope, VC1.1 delineated the surfaces of neurons located mainly in layer IV but also in other layers. The staining surrounded neuronal cell bodies and dendrites in a periodic or meshwork pattern but did not label axons. VC1.1-labeled neurons were morphologically heterogeneous and included multipolar, bipolar, and bitufted classes. In the electron microscope, VC1.1 immunoreactivity surrounded presynaptic membranes of terminal boutons and intersynaptic sections of postsynaptic membranes, but was not present within terminal boutons or synaptic clefts. Both asymmetric and symmetric synapses were immunoreactive. Labeling was also observed intracellularly on VC1.1-outlined neurons, associated with perisynaptic portions of plasma membranes. Tract-tracing methods were used in conjunction with immunocytochemistry to determine whether VC1.1 identified projection neurons, local circuit neurons, or a combination of both types. Layer V and VI corticogeniculate and corticotectal projection neurons were retrogradely labeled with rhodamine fluorescent latex microspheres. In a large sample of retrogradely labeled neurons, none were VC1.1-positive, suggesting that VC1.1 stained a population of local circuit neurons. Additional immunocytochemical double-labeling studies with an antiserum to GABA and VC1.1, revealed that VC1.1-positive neurons were immunoreactive to GABA. These were a major subset of the GABAergic neurons in area 17 and tended to have medium to large cell bodies. It is concluded that VC1.1 identifies a new, immunologically distinct subset of GABAergic neurons in area 17. The restricted distribution of this antigen on perisynaptic portions of GABA-containing cells and surrounding terminal boutons onto these cells suggests that this antigen may play an important role in inhibitory cortical circuits.
Strategies for Teaching Science: What Works?.

(1996). Strategies for Teaching Science: What Works? The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas: Vol. 69, No. 6, pp. 337-338.
Plant pigments and light penetration in intertidal sediments

1. Chromatographic analyses were used to determine the concentration of plant pigments in the sediments at four intertidal stations at Barnstable Harbor, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Two of the stations were sand flats exposed to relatively strong tidal currents and two were mud flats subject to weak currents. In general, highest concentrations of all pigments were found in the upper mm. Chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-c and fucoxanthin concentrations decreased with depth but considerable quantities (20 to 50% of surface values) were found at 5 cm. Diatoxanthin, diadinoxanthin and carotene concentrations did not decrease with depth. Quantitative differences between the stations were noted. 2. With one exception, measurements of light attenuation through these sediments, were roughly correlated with mean particle size. 3. On one station, living diatoms were found as deep as 5 cm, but the vertical distribution of the pigments could not be explained by the diatom distribution.
Quality of Service Negotiation for Distributed, Dynamic Real-Time Systems

Dynamic, distributed, real-time systems control an environment that varies widely without any time-invariant statistical or deterministic characteristic, are spread across multiple loosely-coupled computers, and must control the environment in a timely manner. In order to ensure that such a system meets its timeliness guarantees, there must be a means to monitor and maintain the quality of service in the system. The QoS manager is a monitoring and diagnosis system for real-time paths, collections of time-constrained and precedence-constrained applications. These applications may be distributed across multiple, heterogeneous computers and networks. This paper addresses the QoS negotiation features of the QoS manager and its interaction with the middleware resource manager. The major contributions of the paper are the negotiation algorithms and protocol that minimize the impact on the other paths' QoS while maximizing the unhealthy path's QoS. The approach and algorithms for QoS negotiation are presented.
Financial Advice: Does it Make a Difference?

The financial advice profession provides a potentially valuable service to consumers within an increasingly complex financial marketplace. Financial advice professionals can substitute for costly investment in financial knowledge by households. This paper provides evidence that financial advisers improve financial outcomes when the interests of the advisor and household are aligned. However, professional advice can harm consumers if conflicts of interest create high agency costs. Understanding how differences in compensation methods and regulatory frameworks affect incentives is essential to improving the breadth and quality of professional advice.
Association between inflammatory potential of diet and mortality in the Iowa Women's Health study.

Chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are well-established causes of disability and premature deaths. Dietary components that are known to affect chronic inflammation have been implicated in the etiology and prognosis of these chronic diseases. We examined the ability of the dietary inflammatory index (DII) to predict overall, cancer and CVD mortality in the Iowa Women’s Health study. The DII was computed from baseline dietary intake assessed in this cohort of 37,525 women, who were aged 55–69 years when enrolled starting in 1986. During the follow-up period, through December 31, 2010, in a total of 17,793 deaths, 5044 cancer- and 6528 CVD-related deaths were identified through mortality record linkage. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with DII expressed both as a continuous variable and as quartiles. Comparing subjects in DII Quartile 4 versus Quartile 1, modest positive associations were noted for all-cause mortality (HRQ4vsQ1 1.07; 95 % CI 1.01–1.13; p-trend = 0.006), digestive cancer mortality (HRQ4vsQ1 1.19; 95 % CI 1.00–1.43; p-trend = 0.05), CVD mortality (HRQ4vsQ1 1.09; 95 % CI 1.01–1.18; p-trend = 0.08), non-cancer/non-CVD/non-acute mortality (HRQ4vsQ1 1.09; 95 % CI 1.00–1.19; p-trend = 0.19), coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality (HRQ4vsQ1 1.17; 95 % CI 1.05–1.30; p-trend = 0.001) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality (HRQ4vsQ1 1.43; 95 % CI 1.18–1.75; p-trend = 0.0006). No substantial associations were observed for mortality from stroke, Alzheimer’s disease or unspecified dementia. These results indicate that a pro-inflammatory diet, as evidenced by higher DII scores, may be associated with total mortality as well as mortality from digestive cancer, CVD, CHD and COPD.
Learning algorithms for Boltzmann machines

The author describes a learning algorithm for Boltzmann machines, based on the usual alternation between 'learning' and 'hallucinating' phases. He outlines the rigorous proof that, for suitable choices of the parameters, the evolution of the weights follows very closely, with very high probability, an integral trajectory of the gradient of the likelihood function whose global maxima are exactly the desired weight patterns. >
Governance, Takeover Probability, and the Cost of Private Debt

Summary statistics of loans issued to U.S. non-financial firms 2000-2009. Spread is in basis points over LIBOR, inclusive of annual administration fees, if any. Descriptives Number % TotalMean MedianStandard DeviationAll Borrowers 2,973 Spread, All-in 156.926 125 119.469 All Loans 9,761 100.00 Size of Deal, $ Millions 655.899 350 1057.676 Stated Purpose, if any Size of Deal, % of Firm Assets 0.376 0.174 8.586 Corporate Purposes 2,802 28.71 Tenor (months) 51.264 60 14.76 Debt Repayment 1,088 11.15 Number of Lenders 11.238 9 8.838 Takeover/Acquisition 1,494 15.31 Working Capital 3,274 33.54 Pricing Grid 6,577 67.38 Dividend Restricted 8,063 82.60 Secured / Collateralized 6,925 70.95 Rated 4,909 50.29 Investment Grade 4,628 47.41 Amended 1,719 17.61 Financial Covenants Fixed Charge 4,080 41.80 Debt Service 620 6.35 Interest Coverage 3,969 40.66 Cash Interest 92 0.94 Leverage Ratio 1,100 11.27 Debt to EBITDA Ratio 6,332 64.87 Senior Debt to EBITDA Ratio 1,396 14.30 Debt to Net Worth Ratio
An epistemological view of collaboration

Ubiquitous computing and universal network connectivity have given rise to expectations of building a digital society, where many aspects of business and social activities may be accomplished by remote participants. Majority of the CSCW tools have been developed with plethora of tools providing various functionalities. These tools, however, have failed to reduce the complexities involved in using and managing them. A new generation of CSCW systems is required to harness innovative technologies to enact smooth collaboration among the constituents of the digital society.
Antigen Presentation by Human Microvascular Endothelial Cells Triggers ICAM-1-Dependent Transendothelial Protrusion by, and Fractalkine-Dependent Transendothelial Migration of, Effector Memory CD4+ T Cells

TCR engagement on adherent human effector memory CD4 + T cells by TNF-treated HUVECs under flow induces formation of a transendothelial protrusion (TEP) by the T cell but fails to induce transendothelial migration (TEM). In contrast, TCR engagement of the same T cell populations by TNF-treated human dermal microvascular cells (HDMEC) not only induces TEP formation, but triggers TEM at or near the interendothelial cell junctions via a process in which TEP formation appears to be the first step. Transduction of adhesion molecules in unactivated HDMEC and use of blocking Abs as conducted with TNF-activated HDMEC indicate that ICAM-1 plays a nonredundant role in TCR-driven TEP formation and TEM, and that TCR-driven TEM is also dependent upon fractalkine. TEP formation, dependence on ICAM-1, and dependence on fractalkine distinguish TCR-induced TEM from IP-10-induced TEM. These in vitro observations suggest that presentation of Ag by human microvascular endothelial cells to circulating CD4 + effector memory T cells may function to initiate recall responses in peripheral tissues.
Research methodologies and transaction log analysis: Issues, questions, and a proposed model

Introduction The central goal of transaction log analysis is to acquire new knowledge, which will help library managers, systems designers/developers, and researchers better understand how online information systems are used by library patrons and staffs. This knowledge can then be used to improve library services and operations through better designed systems and better allocation (or reallocation) of library resources. An example of reallocation of resources is changing schedules of public service staff to more closely match when and where patrons need help (e.g., in nonfiction, on weekends) and the relocation of terminals to where they are needed the most (e.g., to the science reference area). The system's resources (access points, online storage, databases) can also be distributed for the most effective and efficient operations through the use of transaction log data. A clearer understanding of human/computer interaction within the library setting can also be used to improve the design and utilization of other online systems and services used within libraries and other organizations.