cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Postexposure Treatment with the Live-Attenuated Rabies Virus (RV) Vaccine TriGAS Triggers the Clearance of Wild-Type RV from the Central Nervous System (CNS) through the Rapid Induction of Genes Relevant to Adaptive Immunity in CNS Tissues

Postexposure treatment (PET) of wild-type rabies virus (RV)-infected mice with a live-attenuated triple-glycoprotein RV variant (TriGAS) promotes survival but does not prevent the pathogenic RV from invading and replicating in the brain. Successful PET is associated with the induction of a robust virus-neutralizing antibody response and clearance of the wild-type RV from brain tissues. Comparison of the transcriptomes of normal mouse brain with those of wild-type-RV-infected mice that had received either mock or TriGAS PET treatment revealed that many of the host genes activated in the mock-treated mice represent type I interferon (IFN) response genes. This indicates that RV infection induces an early type I IFN response that is unable to control the infection. In contrast, most of the activated genes in the brain of the RV-infected, TriGAS-treated mouse play a role in adaptive immunity, including the regulation of T cell activation, T cell differentiation, and the regulation of lymphocyte and mononuclear cell proliferation. These findings were confirmed by quantitative PCR (qPCR) array studies, which showed that 3 genes in particular, encoding chemokine ligand 3 (Ccl3), natural killer cell activator 2 (interleukin 12B [IL-12B]), and granzyme A (GzmA), were activated earlier and to a greater extent in the brains of RV-infected mice treated with TriGAS than in the brains of mock-treated mice. The activation of these genes, known to play key roles in the regulation of lymphocyte and mononuclear cell proliferation, is likely an important part of the mechanism by which TriGAS mediates its PET activity.
The Influence of Collection Site and Methods on Postmortem Morphine Concentrations in a Porcine Model

This study was to determine the relationship of antemortem to postmortem morphine concentrations in heart and femoral blood in a porcine model following acute intravenous opiate overdose. The study involved 20 swine; each was sacrificed 10 min after injection of 2 mg/kg body weight of morphine. Drug concentrations were assayed from vitreous humor and blood isolated from the femoral vein and artery and left and right ventricles at various times postmortem. Comparisons were made between antemortem and postmortem values to determine agreement and reliability. Both free and total postmortem values varied significantly among animals, sampling sites, and over time. Free postmortem values were generally higher in comparison with antemortem values, whereas postmortem total morphine values were similar to or slightly lower than antemortem values. The effect of time on postmortem values was small. These results demonstrate a significant amount of variability in free and total morphine measurements both over time and within and between sites. Furthermore, a comparison of antemortem to postmortem values demonstrates a lack of consistency relative to the dose of morphine administered. Concentrations of morphine in the femoral vein were typically the lowest observed. This observation is not surprising given the transformation that occurs prior to the drug reaching the femoral vein. Values associated with diffuse tissues, relative to femoral veins, demonstrate more stochastic variation.
Classroom Demonstrations in Perception and Cognition Using Presentation Software

Presentation software, notebook computers, and projection equipment are increasingly being used to present lecture material. However, the potential advantages of such presentation over more traditional lecture methods are often underutilized. In this article, I illustrate computer-based classroom demonstrations in perception and cognition that require no computer programming and can be presented with the same standard presentation software used for lecture presentation, thus allowing the demonstrations to fit seamlessly within the lecture. The demonstrations capitalize on the advantages of multimedia lecture presentations because they are interactive and cannot be achieved with more traditional pedagogical methods. Examples include apparent motion, anorthoscopic perception, illusory conjunctions, and the capacity of early visual memory.
Public–Private Relationships in Global Politics

The Emergence of Private Authority in Global Governance. Edited by Rodney Bruce Hall, Thomas J. Biersteker. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 272 pp., $65.00 cloth (ISBN: 0-521-81861-3), $23.00 paper (ISBN: 0-521-52337-0). In 1999 Claire Cutler, Virginia Haufler, and Tony Porter published a pioneering collection of essays on the subject of Private Authority and International Affairs . Although Bruce Hall and Thomas Biersteker's The Emergence of Private Authority in Global Governance is not strictly speaking a sequel, it is a splendid follow-on to the earlier book and a major contribution in its own right to the burgeoning literature on the role of private (that is, nonstate) actors in global politics. Private or nonstate actors in their myriad types have been of some interest for many years (see, for example, Mansbach, Ferguson, and Lampert 1976) but have truly come into their own with recent writings on globalization, international political economy, postinternationalism (see, for example, Rosenau 1997, 2003), cultural diversity (Berger and Huntington 2002), and terrorism. The Emergence of Private Authority in Global Governance resulted from a 1999 workshop organized by Hall in consultation with Biersteker at the Thomas J. Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. The workshop was inspired in part by the work of the late Susan Strange on the devolution of state authority to private actors (for example, Strange 1996), and Cutler was one of the participants and a contributor to this volume. Other contributors include Stephen Kobrin, Louis Pauly, Saskia Sassen, Ronnie Lipschutz and Cathleen Fogel, Mark Juergensmeyer, Phil Williams, and Bernedette Muthien and Ian Taylor. Hall and Biersteker provide unusually insightful and provocative introductory and concluding chapters that highlight the major points in the individual chapters and reflect on their common and divergent perspectives. As Hall and Biersteker note (pp. 3–4), traditional approaches to the study of international relations have asserted …
Muscle recruitment through electrical stimulation of the lumbo-sacral spinal cord

The goal of this study was to determine the feasibility of producing graded muscle contraction in individual muscles or muscle groups by electrically stimulating motor neurons in the lumbo-sacral spinal cord. Recruitment curves were obtained for quadriceps, tibialis anterior and triceps surae/plantaris by stimulating their activation pools in the ventral horn of the feline spinal cord. Mean twitch times-to-peak for quadriceps, tibialis anterior and triceps surae/plantaris were 33.0, 41.0, and 36.0 ms, respectively. Twitch duration as a function of stimulus strength demonstrated a mixed motor unit recruitment order, distinctively different from the inverse recruitment order exhibited by conventional methods of electrical stimulation of peripheral nerve. The recruitment curve slopes (expressed as a percentage of maximum force per nanocurrent of delivered charge) were shallow: 7.9 for quadriceps, 2.6 for tibialis anterior and 8.5 for triceps surae/plantaris. These results show that graded control of force in individual muscles or muscle groups can be obtained through spinal cord stimulation, and suggest that spinal cord stimulation could be used for functional neuromuscular stimulation applications.
Labor Unrest in England, 1910–1914

During the last four years before the outbreak of war in 1914 the people of England experienced an unprecedented combination of political strife and labor unrest. The struggle over the budget of 1909 had led to a constitutional crisis over the powers of the House of Lords in 1910–1911; suffragettes were resorting to obstructive and exasperating tactics to win the vote for women; the question of home rule almost resulted in civil war in North Ireland and brought what amounted to a threat of dereliction of duty by high military officers, who could not contemplate the use of force against the opponents of home rule; while the restlessness of labor brought a series of massive strikes in which the rank and file of workers often broke from the discipline of their leaders.
Effects of chronic glyceryl trinitrate on left ventricular haemodynamics in a rat model of congestive heart failure: demonstration of a simple animal model for the study of in vivo nitrate tolerance.

Study objective – The aim of the study was to investigate the problem of pharmacological tolerance to nitrate therapy in congestive heart failure, using an animal model. Design – The effects of chronic glyceryl trinitrate infusions were studied in a rat model of congestive heart failure, induced by myocardial infarction, wherein surgical procedures have been developed to permit continuous monitoring of ventricular pressures in conscious animals for up to 4-5 d. Subjects – Male Sprague-Dawley rats were used, weight 300-325 g, n=3-7 per experiment. Measurements and main results – Glyceryl trinitrate infusion (18 μg·kg−1·min−1) in rats with congestive heart failure caused by a 28.5(SEM 3.5)% infarction induced a rapid fall in left ventricular end diastolic pressure from 12.0(0.8) mm Hg to a peak effect of 5.5(0.6) mm Hg within 30 min (n=7), but rapid attenuation developed beginning about 4 h after the start of the infusion. Complete abolition of the haemodynamic effects of gyceryl trinitrate was observed after 8 h of infusion. After a 12 h wash out period, responsiveness to a new infusion of glyceryl trinitrate (same dose) was restored. Withdrawal of nitrovasodilator dose led to rapid return to baseline left ventricular end diastolic pressure values. Infusion of vehicle to control animals (infarct size not different from treatment group) caused no haemodynamic effects. Conclusions – The haemodynamic changes caused by glyceryl trinitrate resemble those seen in man and suggest a possible use for this animal model in examining the mechanisms of nitrate action and tolerance.
Physical Security and Vulnerability Modeling for Infrastructure Facilities

A model of malicious intrusions in infrastructure facilities is developed, using a network representation of the system structure together with Markov models of intruder progress and strategy. This structure provides an explicit mechanism to estimate the probability of successful breaches of physical security, and to evaluate potential improvements. An example of an intruder attempting to place an explosive device on an airplane at an airport gate illustrates the structure and potential application of the model.
A Fifty-State Survey of School Finance Policies and Programs: An Overview.

What This Means for the Field Results show an increase in states' use of foundation-type programs; changes as a result of state-level accountability systems, including increased recognition of the differentiated needs of students; and an increase in state support for capital outlay. Consistent with court decisions, states appear to be taking a more active role in the design of public school finance programs that recognize the differences in the needs of pupils, schools, and school districts.
In vitro assays and biomarkers for drug-induced phospholipidosis

Drug-induced phospholipidosis is the cytoplasmic accumulation of phospholipids as a result of xenobiotic exposure. This accumulation results in a unique histological effect in cells noted as electron-dense lamellar inclusions or whorls in the cytoplasm when observed with transmission electron microscopy. Electron microscopy has been the widely accepted standard for classification of the phospholipidosis effect. Molecules that have been prone to induce such an effect are made up of a lipophilic region and a positively charged region. Phospholipidosis has most commonly been associated with drugs that are cationic, amphiphilic drugs and can occur in a variety of tissues. Although phospholipidosis is not considered adverse in isolation, depending on the tissue affected or the occasional circumstance of concurrent toxicity, phospholipidosis can be perplexing if identified in early drug development. In most circumstances, characterisation of the effect with in vivo studies allows for determination of exposure and the magnitude of the effect. On occasion in drug development, there may be an interest to screen early stage compounds to minimise phospholipidosis. In such circumstances, in silico and in vitro assays can be employed in a strategy with in vivo assessments. In addition, there may be an interest to monitor for the potential development of phospholipidosis in longer-term animal studies. In such cases, biomarker approaches could be used. The challenge in the overall assessment of phospholipidosis remains the question of the possible relevance to any toxicity, and, therefore, any screening approach, while assessing the potential to induce phospholipidosis, must be considered in relation to prediction of findings in vivo. The status of current assays and biomarkers is presented with strategies for screening.
Stability of the Laminar Boundary Layer in a Streamwise Corner

The stability of viscous, incompressible flow along a streamwise corner, often called the corner boundary layer problem is examined. The semi-infinite boundary value problem satisfied by small amplitude disturbances in the "bending boundary layer' region is obtained. The mean secondary flow induced by the corner exhibits a flow reversal in this region. Uniformly valid "first approximations' to solutions of the governing differential equations are derived. Uniformity at infinity is achieved by a suitable choice of the large parameter and use of an approximate Langer variable. Approximations to solutions of balanced type have a phase shift across the critical layer which is associated with instabilities in the case of two dimensional boundary layer profiles.
Research on harmonious Man-machine accounting pattern

Man-machinery accounting pattern with reasonable configuration and concordant factor is foundation of management. Base on this idea so up say this paper gives a think of construct a pattern of accounting: describing man-machinery account pattern framework; selecting information management organization; designing&implementing accounting man-machinery accounting pattern.
ASSESSING AND FACILITATING PLAY IN HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

Summary The importance of using the play period in an educational curriculum to promote social and cognitive growth is discussed, especially as it pertains to handicapped children. Facilitation and stimulation of play at the child's current level of functioning is advocated. A sample play programme is discussed as an illustration of how problems in planning can be handled. A list of decision points and important factors to consider in planning for play is then provided.
Speech Intelligibility in Children With Speech Disorders

Intelligibility is a critical component of effective communication. For children with significant speech disorders, intelligibility often has detrimental impact on functional communication and social participation. In this article, I consider the concept of intelligibility using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health-2 (ICF-2; 2001) model and the concepts of an intelligibility-oriented approach to treatment.
Chemotaxis of Escherichia coli to Norepinephrine (NE) Requires Conversion of NE to 3,4-Dihydroxymandelic Acid

Norepinephrine (NE), the primary neurotransmitter of the sympathetic nervous system, has been reported to be a chemoattractant for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). Here we show that nonpathogenic E. coli K-12 grown in the presence of 2 μM NE is also attracted to NE. Growth with NE induces transcription of genes encoding the tyramine oxidase, TynA, and the aromatic aldehyde dehydrogenase, FeaB, whose respective activities can, in principle, convert NE to 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid (DHMA). Our results indicate that the apparent attractant response to NE is in fact chemotaxis to DHMA, which was found to be a strong attractant for E. coli. Only strains of E. coli K-12 that produce TynA and FeaB exhibited an attractant response to NE. We demonstrate that DHMA is sensed by the serine chemoreceptor Tsr and that the chemotaxis response requires an intact serine-binding site. The threshold concentration for detection is ≤5 nM DHMA, and the response is inhibited at DHMA concentrations above 50 μM. Cells producing a heterodimeric Tsr receptor containing only one functional serine-binding site still respond like the wild type to low concentrations of DHMA, but their response persists at higher concentrations. We propose that chemotaxis to DHMA generated from NE by bacteria that have already colonized the intestinal epithelium may recruit E. coli and other enteric bacteria that possess a Tsr-like receptor to preferred sites of infection.
Defined Contribution Plans after Enron

Enron employees, a significant majority of who invested their retirement savings in their own company's stock, lost their pensions and their jobs when the company went bankrupt. The pensions were defined contribution plans, under which employees invest their own money – sometimes matched by employer contributions, into the stock market – taking the same, uninsured risks with their retirement funds as any other stockholder. Increasingly, the only pensions that employers offer to their workforce are uninsured and uninsurable. A perversion of an amendment to the tax code and the pension law has made an oxymoron of "pension security." Federal law could not protect assets from their employers' larceny, mismanagement, and investment in near-record bear markets. Because such plan failures are endemic these so-called 401(k) plans, this paper argues that Defined Contribution Plans should not be considered pension plans at all, since the constant risk of loss obviates a secure retirement. If Congress chooses to continue to exempt these plans from taxation, and encourage their creation by creating incentives for employers, the plans should exist only as savings plans to supplement, and not supplant, retirement funds. In sum, the plans are racist, sexist, classist, and, ultimately, uninsurable. What is surprising about Enron? Usually, the losses to workers are less dramatic, but otherwise, it is a typical story. Enron's § 401(k) debacle is the worst case scenario for the majority of workers who have their pensions in such plans. But even where the chief executive and his cronies are not raiding the company, it is more than a theoretical possibility that retirement money may evaporate. Over the last three years, hundreds of thousands of moderately affluent employees with unparalleled retirement investments found themselves with little or nothing left. Increasingly, the only pensions that employers offer to their workforce are uninsured and uninsurable. A perversion of an amendment to the tax code and the pension law has made an oxymoron of "pension security."
A flexible model for multi-agent based simulation of software development process

Inadequate use of project management techniques in software development can be traced to the lack of efficient education strategies for managers [24]. Software development processes are complex and therefore it is hard to predict how changes made to some part of the process can affect the overall outcome of the process. Introducing change in the process is often time consuming and there is no assurance that the change implemented will result in an improvement. Simulation of software development process provides an easy way for managers to test the different configurations of the process and understand the effects of various policies. In this work, the users of the simulation can act as managers without caring about the risks of the failures of real software projects. This simulation is a learning-by-doing model where software developers and students can understand the concepts of software process and the underlying risk, and other decision making activities. This project aims at developing a software process simulation with an agent architecture, where the agents are the entities that mimic the real software developers within the simulation. The individual behavior of the agents is based on the statistical data collected over a period of time using Personal Software Process (PSP). Given the statistics collected, expected behavior of the individuals can be enacted over time during the scope of software development. The provision of having a user constantly monitoring the software development within the simulation is made. In this work, simulation processes can be changed during the model execution. The simulation accepts the feedback from the user after every period of time. The simulation interface displays the actual vs. planned matrix. Based on these matrices of comparison, the user can introduce any changes to the software process that he thinks might improve the overall development cycle of the project. Using agent directed simulation to mimic the software development process at the individual level also would enable us to introduce a new phase of software development without having to change the simulation code. This simulation would start with a given number of agents initialized by the user. At any point of time, the user may change the number of developers or assign developers on different phases of the software development depending on their performance and capabilities.
Processing Costs and Derived Demand for Screened Versus Unscreened Farmer Stock Peanuts1

Abstract Screening of farmer stock peanuts separates smaller, lower value pods from larger, higher value pods by mechanical separation. The returns to screening farmer stock peanuts depend on prescreened peanut quality. The purpose of this research was to examine the post-harvest processing costs and the resulting derived demand schedules between screened and unscreened lots. Screening increased value by $19.79/Mg in screened versus unscreened lots. Due to the removal of peanuts during the screening process, the farmer stock lot value and total value of 45 paired farmer stock lots comparing screened versus unscreened lots differed by only $2.45 (0.10%) and $109.98 (0.98%), respectively. Thus, the total purchase cost to shellers for screened lots is not significantly different from unscreened lots. Differences in shelled stock values on a per ton, per lot, and total basis were $38.86, $17.29, and $704.01, respectively, where processing cost differences were assumed to be zero. However, 16 shelled stock lot...
The Characteristics of Chinese Philosophical Categories

The outward and extensionary application and expansion of the wuxing (Five Elements) idea generated many correspondent systems that have the Five Elements as their fundamental criterion, such as the systems (or ideas) of wuse (Five Colors), wuqi (Five Breaths), wuyin (Five Tones), wushi (Five Segments of Time), wufang (Five Directions), and wuwei (Five Tastes). Later this further developed beyond the realm of general natural phenomena and entered into the human physical or physiological realm, as in the case of including and involving physical organs and psychological states, such as the theories about wuzhang (Five Internal Organs), wuti (Five Extremities or Limbs), wuqiao (Five Orifices), wurong (Five Effervescent Manifestations), and wuzhi (Five Wills). These became the foundation categories of Chinese physiology and medicine. What is noteworthy is that these systems, insofar as they are correspondent and relative, are based on the fundamental criterion of the characteristics of the original Five Eleme...
Zero Kinetic Energy Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Benzo[h]quinoline.

We report zero kinetic energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy of benzo[h]quinoline (BhQ) via resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) through the first electronically excited state S1. From the simulated REMPI spectra with and without Herzberg–Teller coupling, we conclude that vibronic coupling plays a minor but observable role in the electronic excitation to the S1 state. We further compare the S1 state of BhQ with the first two electronically excited states of phenanthrene, noticing a similarity of the S1 state of BhQ with the second electronically excited state S2 of phenanthrene. In the ZEKE spectra of BhQ, the vibrational frequencies of the cationic state D0 are consistently higher than those of the intermediate neutral state, indicating enhanced bonding upon ionization. The sparse ZEKE spectra, compared with the spectrum of phenanthrene containing rich vibronic activities, further imply that the nitrogen atom has attenuated the structural change between S1 and D0 states. We speculate tha...
NASA Balloon Program Overview

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Balloon Program Office (BPO) continues to support the scientific community by providing enhanced capabilities and reliable platforms. Low-cost, quick response access to near space continues to be provided to NASA’s science community in order to conduct cutting edge science investigations. In addition to being a platform for technology developments, the NASA Balloon Program provides an excellent training ground for the next generation of NASA scientists and engineers. The paper presents the flight manifests since the BPO’s return to flight following the balloon mishap in Australia in April 2010 and highlights some specific missions and technology developments.
The growth-promoting activity of the Bad protein in chicken embryo fibroblasts requires binding to protein 14-3-3

Phosphorylation of the Bad protein is a key regulatory event in the prevention of apoptosis by survival factors. Phosphorylated Bad binds to the cytosolic 14-3-3 protein and is sequestered from the apoptotic machinery of the mitochondrial membrane. To examine the role of Bad in cell growth and apoptosis in primary cultures, we produced stable Bad transfectants of chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF). As expected, serum starvation of Bad transfectants promoted apoptosis. However, Bad-transfected CEF maintained in media with a high serum concentration were capable of anchorage-independent growth and grew to a higher saturation density than control CEF transfected with the empty vector. High dilutions of the infectious retroviral vector RCAS expressing Bad led to the formation of multilayered cell foci. The growth-promoting effects of Bad were dependent on the serine 136 phosphorylation site and correlated directly with binding of Bad to 14-3-3. These results suggest that phosphorylated Bad promotes cell growth and in oncogenic transformation may contribute to the neoplastic phenotype of the cell.
Need for Increased Promotion of Physical Activity Among Adults at Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Brief Report

Background: We have a limited understanding of the physical activity (PA) and sedentary levels among individuals at risk and not at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which was the purpose of this study. Methods: Data from the 2003–2004 NHANES were used, from which 3015 participants were evaluated with 416 indicating a family history of AD. Physical activity and sedentary behavior were assessed via accelerometry with individuals at risk for AD self-reporting a family history of AD. Results: For the entire sample, those at risk for AD engaged in more sedentary behavior than those not at risk (494.9 vs. 477.9 min/day, P = .03, respectively). Similarly, those at risk for AD engaged in less total MVPA than those not at risk (22.4 vs. 24.3 min/day, P = .05, respectively). Results were also significant for various subgroups at risk for AD. Conclusion: Despite the beneficial effects of PA in preventing AD and prolonging the survival of AD, adults at risk for AD tend to engage in more sedentary behavio...
Creating conjugated hydrogel encapsulated membranes

Device engineering for ion channel proteins requires developing systems that incorporate mechanically stable, long-lived lipid bilayer membranes. Building on our previous work, we have further increased lipid bilayer longevity through covalent conjugation of lipid molecules in the bilayer to an encapsulating hydrogel. This is accomplished by polymerizing the hydrogel in situ around a gigaohm-seal membrane containing vinyl-modified lipid head groups, forming a conjugated hydrogel encapsulated membrane (cgHEM). Membranes formed in this manner show remarkable stability, maintaining gigaohm-level resistance for over 270 hours, better than an order-of-magnitude improvement over the previous state of the art. They also demonstrate the capacity to support the incorporation and measurement of ion channel proteins at the single-molecule level.
Disturbance attenuation approach to adaptive control - A longitudinal flight control example

The disturbance attenuation approach to controlling systems subject to external disturbances and uncertain coefficients has recently been under investigation. In this approach, a ratio of performance outputs to disturbance inputs is formed, and a controller is found which maintains this ratio below a certain bound. This disturbance attenuation problem is solved by converting the disturbance attenuation function to a performance index of a dynamic game problem. This game problem is then solved using dynamic programming. The resulting compensator structure is adaptive in that estimates of uncertain coefficients are calculated on line, and robust in that the control is a function of the worst case state and parameter values. This paper demonstrates the application of such a compensator to the problem of longitudinal flight control with uncertain aerodynamic control moment coefficient and well-known thrust vector control. Step responses in angle of attack which illustrate the effectiveness of the robust adaptive compensator are presented. (Author)
Association of an Interleukin Abnormality With the T Cell Defect in Hodgkin's Disease

The cellular immune defect in untreated Hodgkin's disease (HD) has long been recognized. This defect appears to be responsible for at least some of the morbidity and ultimately the mortality associated with the disease. In recent years, many studies have shown that the T cell component of the immune response is the apparent site where the defect in HD exists and where the immunoregulatory abnormalities that may account for the deficit are observed. The discovery of the lymphokines and monokines, comprising the human interleukin system, has elucidated some aspects of the regulatory control of the functional pathways involved in T lymphocyte activation and proliferation. The interleukin system can therefore provide the framework to dissect immunodeficiency states, such as that seen in HD. The present study indicates that HD patients' interleukin 1 (IL1) response appears to be normal, as is their T cell proliferative response to exogenous IL2. Interleukin 2 production by HD patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells, however, is decreased when compared with age/sex-matched controls. The inability to generate IL2 after appropriate stimulation may reflect either a primary cellular defect or a regulatory defect, such as excessive immunosuppression, giving rise to the characteristic T cell hyporesponsiveness seen in HD.
Epidemiology of mumps in Susong county,2008-2012

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of mumps in Susong county from 2008 to 2012,and provide evidence for controlling and preventing measures.Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was used to analyze the dada of mumps prevalence obtained from Susong national disease reporting system during 2008 and 2012.Results A total of 941 cases of mumps were reported accumulatively in Susong county during 2008 and 2012,with the annual average incidence of 22.02/100 000 and the rate had been rising year by year.The disease appeared to be sporadic and there were 10 clusters of cases from 2008 to 2012.There was obvious seasonality of the incidence,which peaked during the period of April to July.Age of most cases usually ranged from 5 to 19 years old.Conclusion The incidence rate of mumps showed an increasing trend in Susong county in recent years.The prevention and control of mumps should be further strengthened among High-risk groups and in key areas.
Study on prevalence and risk factors of overweight and obesity of school-age children in Yan'an

Objective To observe the prevalence of overweight and obesity among school-age children in Yan'an and to analyze risk factors for preventing from overweight and obesity. Methods Three primary schools located in urban and suburban district were respectively selected by a cluster sampling method.Morphological indicators including height,weight and body mass index(BMI)were collected,and questionnaire survey on children's character,exercise,sleep,diet was conducted. Results 1)The prevalence of overweight was 13.76%,of which the urban boy 20.09%,urban girl 10.64%,suburban boy 14.83%,suburban girl 8.19%;the prevalence of obesity was 5.27%,of which the urban boy 8.04%,urban girl4.47%,suburban boy 4.78%,suburban girl 3.00%.2)The factors involving gender,residence distribution,character had significant influences on the students' overweight and obesity(P0.05). Conclusions The current status of Yan'an children's overweight and obesity is higher.Basic prevention from overweight and obesity should be reasonable diet and physical exercise.
Clinical Report of 78 preterm Infants Receiving Partial Parenteral Nutrition

Objective:To discuss the nursing of preterm neonates undergoing parenteral nutrition. Methods:Seventy-eight preterm infants were given PPN and enteral feeding as early as possible after birth.Their body-weight,hospitalization days,metabolic and nursing complications during PPN treating were observe and recorded. Results:Among all of the seventy-eight infants,sixty-four babies body weight increased obviously with average rate of thirty to fifty grams per day.None of then appeared complications.The preterm infants were cured,except four of them giving up. Conclusion:PPN in early postnatal phase would attenuate the weight lousy,incidence of metabolic complication inspirating pneumonia and necrotic enterocolitis,shorten hospitalization days,and affect infants'development and growth during early life.
Real-time environmental sensor data

While real-time sensor feeds have the potential to transform both environmental science and decision-making, such data are rarely part of real-time workflows, analyses and modeling tool chains. Despite benefits ranging from detecting malfunctioning sensors to adaptive sampling, the limited number and complexity of existing real-time platforms across environmental domains pose a barrier to the adoption of real-time data. We present an architecture built upon 1) the increasing availability of new technologies to expose environmental sensors as web services, and 2) the merging of these services under recent innovations on the Internet of Things (IoT). By leveraging recent developments in the IoT arena, the environmental sciences stand to make significant gains in the use of real-time data. We describe a use case in the hydrologic sciences, where an adaptive sampling algorithm is successfully deployed to optimize the use of a constrained sensor network resource. Leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) services to support environmental sensing.A real-time architecture for the measurement and control of environmental systems.Demonstrating benefits of real-time data through adaptive sampling of water quality.
Carbamazepine Therapy and Long-Term Prognosis of Epileptic Children

The long term prognosis in 90 children with partial or generalized tonic-clonic seizures treated with CBZ has been evaluated in the Department of Pediatrics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Texture measurement and friction estimation using laser data acquisition and neural networks

This paper discusses the development of a neural net model for predicting Skid Number, a statistical index related to the texture characteristics of pavements. The model is based on surface roughness characteristics of pavements as measured by a laser based measurement system.
A Hidden Markov Model approach to infer timescales for high-resolution climate archives

We present a Hidden Markov Model-based algorithm for constructing timescales for paleoclimate records by annual layer counting. This objective, statistics-based approach has a number of major advantages over the current manual approach, beginning with speed. Manual layer counting of a single core (up to 3km in length) can require multiple person-years of time; the StratiCounter algorithm can count up to 100 layers/min, corresponding to a full-length timescale constructed in a few days. Moreover, the algorithm gives rigorous uncertainty estimates for the resulting timescale, which are far smaller than those produced manually. We demonstrate the utility of StratiCounter by applying it to ice-core data from two cores from Greenland and Antarctica. Performance of the algorithm is comparable to a manual approach. When using all available data, false-discovery rates and miss rates are 1-1.2% and 1.2-1.6%, respectively! for the two cores. For one core, even better agreement is found when using only the chemistry series primarily employed by human experts in the manual approach.
The Epichloë festucae antifungal protein has activity against the plant pathogen Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, the causal agent of dollar spot disease.

Epichloe spp. are naturally occurring fungal endophytic symbionts of many cool-season grasses. Infection by the fungal endophytes often confers biotic and abiotic stress tolerance to their hosts. Endophyte-mediated disease resistance is well-established in the fine fescue grass Festuca rubra subsp. rubra (strong creeping red fescue) infected with E. festucae. Resistance to fungal pathogens is not an established effect of endophyte infection of other grass species, and may therefore be unique to the fine fescues. The underlying mechanism of the disease resistance is unknown. E. festucae produces a secreted antifungal protein that is highly expressed in the infected plant tissues and may therefore be involved in the disease resistance. Most Epichloe spp. do not have a gene for a similar antifungal protein. Here we report the characterization of the E. festucae antifungal protein, designated Efe-AfpA. The antifungal protein partially purified from the apoplastic proteins of endophyte-infected plant tissue and the recombinant protein expressed in the yeast Pichia pastoris was found to have activity against the important plant pathogen Sclerotinia homoeocarpa. Efe-AfpA may therefore be a component of the disease resistance seen in endophyte-infected strong creeping red fescue.
Postural Hypotension and Cognitive Function in Older Adults

Background: Cognitive decline in the elderly is associated with chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. While many forms of exercise can slow or reverse cognitive decline, compliance in unsupervised exercise programs is poor. Objective: We address whether passive exercise, that is, muscle stimulation, is capable of reversing postural hypotension in an older adult population sufficiently to significantly improve cognitive function as measured by executive function tests. Subjects and Methods: In this study, 50- to 80-year-old women underwent cognitive testing, long-duration cardiac hemodynamic recordings during quiet sitting, and 60 min of soleus muscle stimulation with continued hemodynamic recording. Results: Two thirds of our subjects were hypotensive (diastolic blood pressure [DBP] < 70 mmHg) after 30 min of quiet sitting. Cognitive performance was significantly better in individuals with higher DBPs (0.79 s per 1-mmHg increase in DBP). Soleus muscle stimulation resulted in an average increase in DBP of 6.1 mmHg, which could translate into a 30% or greater improvement in cognitive performance. Conclusions: Incongruent Stroop testing provides high statistical power for distinguishing differential cognitive responses to resting DBP levels. These results set the stage to investigate whether regular use of calf muscle pump stimulation could effectively reverse age-related cognitive impairment.
An Evaluation of the Prevalence of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE) and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Hospital Food.

This prospective cohort study evaluated the presence of MRSA and VRE in the food of hospitalized patients. 149 patients were enrolled and 910 food specimens cultured; 3.2% were positive for MRSA and 2.4% positive for VRE, from a variety of food types.
Rate of Muscle Contraction Is Associated With Cognition in Women, Not in Men.

BACKGROUND In older persons, lower hand grip strength is associated with poorer cognition. Little is known about how the rate of muscle contraction relates to cognition and upper extremity motor function, and sex differences are understudied. METHODS Linear regression, adjusting for age, race, education, body mass index, appendicular lean mass, and knee pain, assessed sex-specific cross-sectional associations of peak torque, rate of torque development (RTD), and rate of velocity development (RVD) with cognition and upper extremity motor function. RESULTS In men (n = 447), higher rate-adjusted peak torque and a greater RVD were associated with faster simple finger tapping speed, and a greater RVD was associated with higher nondominant pegboard performance. In women (n = 447), higher peak torque was not associated with any measures, but a greater RTD was associated with faster simple tapping speed and higher language performance, and a greater RVD was associated with higher executive function, attention, memory, and nondominant pegboard performance. In women with low isokinetic peak torque, RVD was associated with attention and memory. CONCLUSIONS RVD capacity may reflect neural health, especially in women with low muscle strength.
Transient behaviour of torque and process efficiency during inertia friction welding

Process efficiency is a crucial parameter for inertia friction welding (IFW). A new method is developed to determine the efficiency by comparing the workpiece torque used to heat and deform the joi...
The Role of tRNA in Establishing New Genetic Codes

One of the most remarkable, but typically unremarked, aspects of the translation apparatus is the pleiotropic pliability of tRNA. This humble cloverleaf/L-shaped molecule must implement the first genetic code, via base pairing and wobble interactions, but is also largely responsible for the specificity of the second genetic code, the pairings between amino acids, tRNA synthetases, and tRNAs. Despite the overarching similarities between tRNAs, they must nonetheless be specifically recognized by cognate tRNA synthetases and largely rejected by noncognate synthetases. Conversely, despite the differences between tRNAs that allow such discrimination, they must be uniformly accepted by the ribosome, in part via the machinations of the translation elongation factors, which work with a diverse coterie of tRNA–amino acid conjugates to balance binding and loading. While it is easy to ascribe both discrimination and acceptance to the individual proteins (synthetases and EF-Tu/eEF-1) that recognize tRNAs, there is a ...
Effects of and Compensation for Translational Position Error in Microwave Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Systems

Translational position error in microwave and millimeter-wave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging systems can cause significant image quality degradation, particularly in nondestructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E) applications where the distance to the imaging object is relatively short. In this paper, this translational position error problem is fully studied through electromagnetic simulation. The results show that among possible geometrical causes of error, a translational position error, in the height direction, is the dominant factor in image quality degradation. Subsequently, a corresponding height position error compensation method is proposed and analyzed. The extensive simulations and measurement are performed in the X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) frequency range. Then, by defining several evaluation metrics, the relationship between image quality and height position error is discussed quantitatively. The measured results show good agreement with the simulated results, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed analysis approach and the compensation method. The methodology proposed in this paper can be used to evaluate the feasibility or help define the required specifications of a microwave SAR imaging system for a specific application.
The effect of abusive leadership by coaches on Division I student-athletes' performance: the moderating role of core self-evaluations.

Abstract The aim of this study was to increase our understanding of the harm of abusive leadership on followers’ performance. Student-athletes (N = 145) at a US institution completed surveys. The authors used hierarchical regression analysis and an independent samples t-test to assess the hypotheses. Consistent with core self-evaluations theory, results revealed that core self-evaluations moderate the negative relationship between abusive leader behavior and student-athlete performance, such that the negative relationship is weakened for those with higher, rather than lower, levels of core self-evaluations. Results further indicated that women student-athletes are likely to have lower levels of core self-evaluations than are men, thus highlighting the potential increased impact that abusive leadership may have on women and their performance. Implications of these findings for research, theory and practice on abusive leadership and performance are discussed.
TNF-alpha inhibition for the treatment of cardiac sarcoidosis

Abstract Background Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors are increasingly being used for treating refractory cardiac sarcoidosis. There is a theoretical risk, however, that these therapies can worsen heart failure, and reports on efficacy and safety are lacking. Methods We conducted a retrospective review of all cardiac sarcoidosis patients seen at Stanford University from 2009 to 2018. Data were collected on patient demographics, diagnostic testing, and treatment outcomes. Results We identified 77 cardiac sarcoidosis patients, of which 20 (26%) received TNF-α inhibitor treatment. The majority were treated for progressive heart failure or tachyarrhythmia, along with worsening imaging findings. All TNF-α inhibitor treated patients demonstrated meaningful benefit, as assessed by changes in advanced imaging, echocardiographic measures of cardiac function, and prednisone use. Conclusions A large cohort (n = 77) of cardiac sarcoidosis patients has been treated at Stanford University. Roughly one-fourth of these patients (n = 20) received TNF-α inhibitors. Of these patients, none had worsening heart failure and all saw clinical benefit. These results help support the use of TNF-α inhibitors for the treatment of cardiac sarcoidosis based on real-world evidence and highlight the need for future prospective studies.