cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Impact of sublethal exposure to a pyrethroid-neonicotinoid insecticide on mating, fecundity and development in the bed bug Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae)

Sublethal exposure to an insecticide may alter insect feeding, mating, oviposition, fecundity, development, and many other life history parameters. Such effects may have population-level consequences that are not apparent in traditional dose-mortality evaluations. Earlier, we found that a routinely used combination insecticide that includes a pyrethroid and a neonicotinoid (Temprid® SC) had deleterious effects on multiple bed bug (Cimex lectularius, L.) behaviors. Here, we demonstrate that sublethal exposure impacts physiology and reproduction as well. We report that sublethal exposure to Temprid SC has variable aberrant effects on bed bugs depending on the strain, including: a reduction in male mating success and delayed oviposition by females. However, after sublethal exposure, egg hatch rate consistently declined in every strain tested, anywhere from 34%-73%. Conversely, impact on fifth instar eclosion time was not significant. While the strains that we tested varied in their respective magnitude of sublethal effects, taken together, these effects could reduce bed bug population growth. These changes in bed bug behavior and fecundity could lead to improved efficacy of Temprid SC in the field, but recovery of impacted bugs must be considered in future studies. Sublethal effects should not be overlooked when evaluating insecticide efficacy, as it is likely that other products may also have indirect effects on population dynamics that could either aid or inhibit successful management of pest populations.
An epoxide hydrolase secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa decreases mucociliary transport and hinders bacterial clearance from the lung

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonizes the lungs of susceptible individuals by deploying virulence factors targeting host defenses. The secreted factor Cif (cystic fibrosis tra...
Premixed turbulent flame speed in an oscillating disturbance field

This paper considers the manner in which turbulent premixed flames respond to a superposition of turbulent and narrowband disturbances. This is an important fundamental problem that arises in most combustion applications, as turbulent flames exist in hydrodynamically unstable flow fields and/or in confined systems with narrowband acoustic waves. This paper presents the first measurements of the sensitivity of the turbulent displacement speed to harmonically oscillating flame wrinkles. The flame is attached to a transversely oscillating, heated wire, resulting in the introduction of coherent, convecting wrinkles on the flame. The approach flow turbulence is varied systematically using a variable turbulence generator, enabling quantification of the effect of turbulent flow disturbances on the harmonic wrinkles. Mie scattering measurements are used to quantify the flame edge dynamics, while high speed particle image velocimetry is used to measure the flow field characteristics. By ensemble averaging the results, the ensemble-averaged flame edge and flow characteristics are recovered. For low turbulence intensities, sharp cusps are present in the negative curvature regions of the ensemble-averaged flame position, similar to laminar flames. These cusps are smoothed out at high turbulence intensities. The coherent, ensemble-averaged flame wrinkle amplitude decays with increasing turbulence intensity and with downstream distance. In addition, the ensemble-averaged turbulent flame speed is modulated in space and time. The most significant result of these measurements is the clear demonstration of the correlation between the ensemble-averaged turbulent flame speed and ensemble-averaged flame curvature, with the phase-dependent flame speed increasing in regions of negative curvature. These results have important implications on turbulent combustion physics and modelling, since quasi-coherent velocity disturbances are nearly ubiquitous in shear driven, high turbulent flows and/or confined systems with acoustic feedback. Specifically, these data clearly show that nonlinear interactions occur between the multi-scale turbulent disturbances and the more narrowband disturbances associated with coherent structures. In other words, conceptual models of the controlling physics in combustors with shear driven turbulence must account for the fundamentally different effects of spectrally distributed turbulent disturbances and more narrowband, quasi-coherent disturbances.
Adaptation and Evaluation of Military Resilience Skills Training for Pediatric Residents.

Background:An evidence-based trauma-informed resilience skills training program developed for deployed military personnel was adapted and pilot-tested with pediatric residents. We anticipated high ...
El Salvador: un país lejos de la paz

El Salvador continues to struggle with elevated levels of criminal violence perpetrated by street gangs, drug trafficking organizations, members of the security forces, and other criminal groups. The Attorney General’s Office and courts have taken some positive steps towards tackling impunity for current and civil war-era crimes. However, a history of corruption and favoritism within those institutions continues to undermine citizens’ faith in the legitimacy of their actions. Finally, El Salvador confronts a challenging road ahead characterized by uncertainty over the implications of an overturned amnesty law, low rates of economic growth, and a new U.S. president in the White House.
City-wide traffic control: modeling impacts of cordon queues

Abstract Optimal cordon-metering rates are obtained using Macroscopic Fundamental Diagrams in combination with flow conservation laws. A model-predictive control algorithm is also used so that time-varying metering rates are generated based on their forecasted impacts. Our scalable algorithm can do this for an arbitrary number of cordoned neighborhoods within a city. Unlike its predecessors, the proposed model accounts for the time-varying constraining effects that cordon queues impose on a neighborhood’s circulating traffic, as those queues expand and recede over time. The model does so at every time step by approximating a neighborhood’s street space occupied by cordon queues, and re-scaling the MFD to describe the state of circulating traffic that results. The model also differentiates between saturated and under-saturated cordon-metering operations. Computer simulations of an idealized network show that these enhancements can substantially improve the predictions of both, the trip completion rates in a neighborhood and the rates that vehicles cross metered cordons. Optimal metering policies generated as a result are similarly shown to do a better job in reducing the Vehicle Hours Traveled on the network. The VHT reductions stemming from the proposed model and from its predecessors differed by as much as 14%.
Cardiovascular Effects of the Opiods

The following compilation of opiods also includes some agents which are more correctly classified as narcotic antagonists. However, these agents usually compete for the same receptor sites and have some analgesic and/or sedative properties when used alone. The list is not exhaustive but represents agents commonly cited as being used for cardiovascular studies in the recent literature. The effectiveness of these agents for chemical restraint, sedation and analgesia seems to be a matter of individual preference more than objective evaluation, but also involves considerable species variability. Cardiovascular effects, dosage and appropriate comments are tabulated for each of the agents in each of the species reviewed. In general, the opiods are reported to decrease preload, contractility, afterload and heart rate.1 As a result cardiac output must also decrease. Actual reported cardiovascular responses to the various opiods do not always follow this scheme, especially in cats and horses, where the narcotic analgesics have repeatedly been reported to cause a paradoxical excitement and stimulation, usually as a result of central stimulation arising from ataxia.
Cardiac fibrosis: Cellular and molecular determinants

Cardiac fibrosis is an unavoidable consequence of chronic insult to the myocardium, characterized by wall stiffening, reduced contractility, and impaired overall heart performance. As a maladaptive response, cardiac myofibroblasts (myoFbs) mediate fibrosis by the excessive deposition of connective tissue in the interstitial space.
Differential toxicity of water versus gavage exposure to trichloroethylene in rats.

Abstract Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a persistent environmental contaminant that causes male reproductive toxicity. We investigated whether transient increases in TCE exposure modulated male reproductive toxicity by exposing rats via daily oral to repeated gavage exposures (1000 mg/kg/day) and through drinking water (0.6% TCE) for 14 weeks. The gavage route resulted in reversible reduction of epididymis weight, and reduced body weight that persisted for up to 12-weeks after cessation of exposure. Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling predicted that the gavage route results in higher Cmax and AUC exposure of TCE compared to drinking water exposure, explaining the observed differences in toxicity between dosing regimens.
Defect Characterization of Multicycle Rapid Thermal Annealing Processed p-GaN for Vertical Power Devices

Post-implantation damage and defect characterization of multicycle rapid thermal annealing (MRTA) activated Mg+ implanted (0001) GaN on (110) sapphire substrate was investigated using high resolution X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscope techniques. The initial implant-induced isolated defects produced a pseudomorphic strain that matches the calculated recoil damage profile in the GaN - along the [0001] direction. Triple axis X-ray diffraction showed removal of the implant-induced elastic strain during two different MRTA annealing processes. An improvement in crystalline quality after the different MRTA processes was also noted, indicating that the MRTA processes can reduce crystalline strain and defects in as-grown material. For the different MRTA processes, an improvement in electrical conductivity was correlated with a lower (0004) triple axis rocking curve width and with a reduced presence of extended defects observed from electron microscopy measurements. The extended defects were identified to be circular defects with an observable screw component. The defect density was on the order of 1010 cm−2. While both MRTA processes led to a high activation efficiency, a higher residue defect density was correlated with a greater X-ray scattering rocking curve width of the symmetric (0004) reflection, which was further correlated with a lower hole mobility (20 cm2/V⋅s vs 40 cm2/V⋅s).
Timing of Development of the Permanent Mandibular Dentition: New Reference Values from the Fels Longitudinal Study

Estimating chronological age or assessing the rate of maturation in immature individuals is an important task in biological anthropology and clinical practice. One of the most reliable ways of doing this is by evaluating one's dental development, specifically tooth mineralization. However, few chronologies include reference values for very young children, and few provide an extensive documentation of the range of variation surrounding the reported reference values. We present a new chronology of development of permanent mandibular canine and postcanine teeth from birth through age 28 years, based on over 6,000 radiographs of 590 participants of the Fels Longitudinal Study, recorded between 1940 and 1982. Tooth mineralization was scored following the 14-stage system of Moorrees, Fanning, and Hunt (Moorrees et al., 1963a) with an additional crypt stage. We calculated ages of attainment, as well as average age in stage, using transition analysis. We find that variation increases throughout ontogeny for all teeth, though it is generally comparable between girls and boys. The tempo of dental development tends to be faster in girls. Compared to the classic chronology of Moorrees et al. (1963a), partly based on Fels radiographs, in our sample the development of crowns tends to occur at earlier, and development of roots at increasingly later ages. Our results are more similar to chronologies based on more recent, clinical samples (Liversidge, 2009), though the development of tooth roots in our sample occurs at older ages. Anat Rec, 302:1733-1753, 2019. © 2019 American Association for Anatomy.
Inappropriate Secondary Erythrocytosis in a Dog With Renal Sarcoma.

Abstract A 7-year-old mixed breed dog was evaluated for erythrocytosis with an initial hematocrit of 82.3%. Abdominal ultrasound revealed a 6 cm mass on the cranial pole of the right kidney. Daily therapeutic phlebotomies were performed, reducing the hematocrit to 54%. The dog underwent a right nephroureterectomy, recovered without complications, and was discharged 3 days after surgery. Histopathologic evaluation revealed a completely excised grade II soft tissue sarcoma. The preoperative erythropoietin level was 7.00 mU/mL (RI 1.90-22.90 mU/mL) and the 3-day postoperative erythropoietin level was 0.99 mU/mL, supporting a diagnosis of inappropriate secondary erythrocytosis due to the renal tumor. Secondary erythrocytosis resulting from renal soft tissue sarcoma is rare. Confirmatory testing with erythropoietin levels can assist in the diagnosis of secondary erythrocytosis. Erythropoietin levels that are normal or increased in the face of erythrocytosis indicate a source of inappropriate erythropoietin production.
Behavioral Evidence for the Primacy of the Chorda Tympani Nerve in Sodium Chloride Taste

A conceptually rich depiction of sensory function can result from the comparison of behavioral and electrophysiologic data. Until recently, however, the correspondence between the electrophysiology of the peripheral gustatory system and the rat’s behavioral responsiveness to NaCl remained obscure. This chapter briefly reviews the interpretive limitations of the early behavioral work and confirms the value of animal psychophysics in revealing the functional significance of the chorda tympani nerve (CT) with respect to NaCl taste sensibility.
Identifying High School Physical Education Physical Activity Patterns after High School.

National standards for physical education (PE) encompass five principles for the purpose of defining what high school students should recognize and be able to perform as a result of a quality PE program. The expectation is that youth will develop an active, healthy lifestyle into adulthood from activities and skills taught in PE. Researchers from the United Kingdom and the United States have identified team sports as the primary curricular design in high school PE. However, it has been suggested the use of team sports is not an effective way to encourage students to be physically active throughout their lives. Participants for this study were 1,034 college-aged students from a private university located in the western United States. Responses from the questionnaire (Questions 9, 12, and 14) indicated a significant difference at the p < 0.05 level when gender was compared. Cohen's d for statistically significant values indicated low to moderate practical significance. Seven open-ended questions were used to investigate in which activities students enjoyed participating during high school PE. A majority of college students reflected the desire of being taught or exposed to lifetime activities during their high school PE class. College students who were surveyed tended to want to attain skills in high school that they could use throughout their lives. Study results indicate that some college students' reflections on past PE exposure were not beneficial.
Downregulation of Bim by BDNF/TrkB protects neuroblastoma cells from chemotherapy-induced cell death

4092 Chemoresistance and increased tumor expression of TrkB and Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are two biomarkers of poor prognosis in neuroblastoma (NB) patients. Understanding the signal transduction pathways that affect the sensitivity of NB cells to chemotherapy is important for developing more effective therapies. Previously we found that BDNF activation of TrkB through PI3K/Akt protects NB from etoposide/cisplatin induced cell death. Bim, a BH3-only member of death activators in the Bcl-2 superfamily, modulates the intrinsic mitochondrial death pathway and is regulated by multiple growth factor signaling pathways. In this study we investigated the role of Bim in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/TrkB protection of NB cells from chemotherapy-induced cell death. The three chemotherapeutic drugs paclitaxel, etoposide and cisplatin were used in this study to investigate the role of Bim in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/TrkB protection of NB cells from chemotherapy-induced cell death. Gene silencing experiments showed that silencing of Bim with siRNA protected the NB cells from paclitaxel but not etoposide or cisplatin-induced cell death. Using pharmacological and genetic methods, we found that BDNF-induced reduction of Bim was regulated by the MAPK pathway, but not by the PI3K/Akt pathway. Both MAPK and PI3K pathways were involved in the BDNF protection of NB cells from paclitaxel-induced cell death, while PI3K pathway only was involved in BDNF protection of NB cells from etoposide or cisplatin-induced cell death. Thus the role of Bim in BDNF protection of NB cells from chemotherapy depended on the chemotherapeutic drugs used. These data indicate that different chemotherapeutic drugs induce distinct death pathways and that growth factors utilize different signal transduction pathways to modulate the effects of chemotherapy on cells.
Data Sharing: An Analysis of Medical Faculty Journals and Articles

An increasing number of journals and publishers have data-sharing policies and data availability statements. This study examines data-sharing policies of faulty affiliated in medicine. More so, it ...
Harnessing Endogenous T-Regulatory Cells in Acute Kidney Injury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) affects 20-50% of hospitalized and intensive care patients, with a sizable proportion progressing to ESRD or death (https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/AcuteKidneyInjury). Since inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of AKI, studies on T-regulatory cells (Tregs), which suppress inflammation are important. Here, we highlight advances that utilize Tregs for intervention in AKI and were presented at the 25th International Conference on Advances in Critical Care Nephrology and UAB/UCSD O'Brien Center AKI & CRRT 2020.
NExtSteP: An Extensible Testbed for Network Covert Channels

We describe the design, initial implementation, and preliminary use of an extensible testbed–the NRL Extensible Stealthy Protocol (NExtSteP) testbed–for studying stealthy communication via covert channels in network traffic. We present the architecture and initial implementation of NExtSteP, including traffic (synthetic generation or the ingestion of real-world data), message embedding, channel modeling, the use of various tests to detect embedded messages, and the evaluation of those detection methods. We also present some preliminary results to demonstrate the utility of the testbed; these include results on synthetic data to validate the testbed and a demonstration of analysis of real-world data.
Movement Commercialization and Disc Golf’s Closed Economy

A sport movement with strong leadership, an attractive social identity, and a cohesive culture is more likely to take root and grow than a movement that lacks these properties. Alone, however, these resources are not likely to transform a non-normative sport into a mainstream one. Building on resource mobilization theory (RMT), this chapter introduces additional resources, including legitimacy, human resources, and material resources, that are required for transformative growth. The chapter defines these resources and illustrates their importance by analyzing other fast-growing sports. Drawing on interviews with disc golf stakeholders and a comprehensive data collection on disc manufacturers, I argue that, unlike the development of other fast-growing sports, disc golf’s commercialization has been driven primarily by talent donations and a relatively small pool of player entrepreneurs and movement enterprises. Lacking large outside investments, disc golf’s movement commercialization has not produced the explosive growth seen in mixed martial arts and esports, but it has sustained the sport with consistent growth for more than four decades.
The Tao of Open Source: Minimum Action for Maximum Gain

This Article denies the sharply diametric rhetoric characterizing the debate over the viability of open source software. Rejecting the extremes, Satchwell argues that a middle solution exists whereby a properly formed intellectual property regime will incentivize the production of quality open source software while ensuring the stability of the open source paradigm and without disrupting more traditional intellectual property structures. To this end, this Article discusses the necessary focus and form of such an open source IP regime and shows that by concentrating exclusively on attribution and vertical stability a path may be steered between the tragedies of the commons and anticommons that will enable and promote open source as a viably sustainable production method. Finally, a possible form for such a system is suggested and its benefits discussed.
Helical Waves and Nonlinear Dynamics of Fluid/Structure Interactions in a Cylinder Row

An array of cylinders placed in a fluid flowing perpendicular to their long axis has been known to perform large amplitude oscillations when the flow velocity is increased past a critical value. Many researchers have studied this problem and considerable understanding has been gained [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12]. [9] provides an extensive review of all the models of fluid elastic instability for cylinder arrays in cross flow. The goal of this study [13, 14] has been to investigate low-dimensional nonlinear models for fluid-structure dynamics of a row of cylinders in cross flow.
Riboswitches and Ribozymes

Riboswitches and ribozymes are two important classes of functional RNAs. Riboswitches are domains in messenger RNAs that regulate gene expression in response to the specific binding of a small molecule. Ribozymes, on the other hand, are RNA molecules that can catalyze chemical reactions. They are therefore analogous to protein enzymes. Riboswitches and ribozymes are widespread in nature, and mediate important cellular functions such as replication, RNA processing, and protein synthesis. In addition, RNAs exhibiting properties of both riboswitches and ribozymes have been successfully engineered to function in cells, demonstrating their potential to be developed into useful biological tools.
Length of Contracts and the Effect on the Performance of MLB Players

The goal of any professional athlete is to receive a multi-year contract that guarantees them a salary for multiple years. However, a concern that fans, coaches and owners all share is that when a player receives a multi-year contract they may have a strong incentive to shirk. Shirking is when a player purposely does not perfonn to the best of his ability and may occur when a player has a guaranteed salary. The goa� of this paper is to determine if a Major League Baseball player with a multi-year contract will show any pattern of shirking throughout the contract. Each of the fifty players has a four year contract and the theories of moral hazard and asymmetric infonnation suggest that a player may shirk during the contract until the last year. Descriptive statistics and OLS regression results provide evidence that Major League Baseball players with four year contracts do not have a pattern of shirking. Job security, above market wages and monitoring may be the important concepts explaining why there is no evidence for shirking.
State Units on Aging and Housing for the Elderly

One major goal of the Older Americans Act (OAA) is to promote suitable housing for the elderly through the aging network that includes the State Units on Aging (SUAs). Little is known, however, about SUA activity in this area. This article reports on the results of a recent survey of SUA housing efforts and roles played, collaborations and networks, resources, and priorities, accomplishments and future initiatives. To better link housing and services and expand housing options as some SUAs are already doing-especially in services coordination in existing housing, board and care, home equity conversion mortgages and assisted living-they must redefine housing as part of community-based care, vigorously focus political and advocacy skills on housing issues, and expand their capacity building and expertise in housing by resetting priorities and reallocating budgets.
Evaluating the need for display-specific and device-specific 3D interaction techniques

There are many visual display devices and input devices available to designers of immersive virtual environment (VE) applications. Most 3D interaction techniques, however, were designed using a particular combination of devices. The effects of migrating these techniques to different displays and input devices are not known. In this paper, we report on a series of studies designed to determine these effects. The studies show that while 3D interaction techniques are quite robust under some conditions, migration to different displays and input devices can cause serious usability problems in others. This implies that display-specific and/or device-specific versions of these techniques are necessary. In addition to the studies, we describe our display- and device-specific designs for two common 3D manipulation techniques.
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Treatment Failures in Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer: What Truly Constitutes Unresponsive Disease

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) remains the most effective intravesical therapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer but will fail in up to 40% of patients. The ability to identify patients who are least likely to respond to further BCG therapy allows urologists to pursue secondary treatments more likely to convey a recurrence or survival benefit to the patient. We examined the literature to determine what constitutes BCG unresponsive disease. After review, we believe that BCG unresponsive disease should be defined as (1) patients with recurrent high grade T1 disease within 6 months of their primary tumor after at least one course of BCG or patients who have failed at least 2 courses of BCG with either (2) persistent or recurrent pure papillary (Ta) disease within 6 months or (3) persistent or recurrent carcinoma in situ (CIS) within 12 months.
Developmental aspects of uridine addition within mitochondrial transcripts of Trypanosoma brucei.

Abstract The mitochondrial respiratory system is absent in slender bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei, incomplete in stumpy bloodstream forms, and complete in procyclic (insect) forms. The steady-state abundance of transcripts of some mitochondrially encoded components of the respiratory system correlates with its differential expression in different life cycle stages. Recently, it was reported that uridines which are not encoded in the genome are added to cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase II transcripts. We now report that the (U)+ transcripts of both genes are found in procyclic forms and to some degree in stumpy forms but are absent in slender forms. The uridine additions to cytochrome oxidase II correct a frameshift in the gene and presumably allow production of a full-length protein, whereas those added to cytochrome b create an in-frame AUG which extends the N terminus of the predicted protein by 20 amino acids. The stage specificity of uridine additions to these transcripts thus reflects the life cycle stage during which the protein products would be used. Transcripts of MURF2, a gene of unknown function, have additional uridines in both slender and procyclic forms which create two in-frame AUGs. MURF2 transcripts additionally differ from the DNA sequence in ways which cannot be explained by uridine addition alone, implying that other processes alter these transcripts.
Visual Performance Testing in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (P1.330)

OBJECTIVE: Using the King-Devick (K-D) test, a vision-based test of rapid number naming that requires saccades and visual processing, we investigated whether children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD) had worse scores compared to similar aged matched controls. BACKGROUND: In sideline studies of youth and collegiate athletes with concussion, the K-D test consistently demonstrates higher (worse) time scores post-injury compared to pre-season baseline scores. There is growing evidence that, like concussion and mild traumatic brain injury, ADHD may be associated with visual pathway dysfunction. DESIGN/METHODS: Time required to complete the K-D test, a 1-2-minute test that measures speed of rapid number naming, were collected from patients diagnosed with ADHD (5-21 years of age) seeking care from the NYU Neurology Faculty Group Practice and Child Study Center. Analyses compared K-D scores of patients with ADHD to those of pre-season baseline K-D scores for student-athlete controls matched for age and gender. Participants with known history of previous concussion or visual impairment were excluded. RESULTS: Among 134 participants in this study, ADHD vs. control status was significantly associated with higher K-D test time scores (p<0.001, logistic regression models, accounting for age). Patients with ADHD took an average of 17 seconds longer to complete the K-D test (81.2 seconds for ADHD vs. 63.9 seconds for controls, p<0.001, two-sample t-test). Current or previous use of stimulant medications was not associated with differences in K-D time scores within the cohort of patients with ADHD. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide evidence that that the visual pathways may perform differently in children with ADHD compared to similar aged student athletes. Correlation of K-D performance test scores with measures from electronic eye movement recordings will help to further characterize the nature of visual pathway involvement in children with ADHD. Disclosure: Dr. Mueller has nothing to disclose. Dr. Baner has nothing to disclose. Dr. Leong has nothing to disclose. Dr. Fleiss has nothing to disclose. Dr. Moehringer has nothing to disclose. Dr. Galetta has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec, Genzyme, and Vaccinex. Dr. Wells has nothing to disclose. Dr Balcer received personal compensation from Biogen Idec and consulting for Biogen Idec, Vaccinex and Genzyme. She is on a clinical trial advisory board for Biogen-Idec.,
Microbial Risk Assessment

Microbial risk assessment (MRA) is used to evaluate foodborne hazards, the likelihood of exposure to those hazards, and the resulting public-health impact. It is generally recognized to consist of four parts: hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. Model predictions generated by MRAs are most often expressed as the estimated likelihood of foodborne illness and/or number of deaths in a given population for a given period. MRA is used increasingly to inform decision-making aimed both at managing human health risks from foodborne pathogens and at devising standards for promoting safe and fair international food trade. This chapter discusses how MRA fits into the larger context of risk analysis, describes in detail the process of MRA, reviews examples of recently completed MRAs, and suggests steps towards further improvement of the MRA process.
Humeral Tray-Taper Failure in Modular Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty:

Background Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) provides reconstructive options in patients previously not candidates for total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) or who have failed previous anatomic TSA. Revision from anatomic TSA to RTSA previously required removal of all components, a difficult and extensive procedure. Modular humeral components permit conversion from anatomic TSA to RTSA without removal of well-fixed humeral components.
Coiled-coil intermediate filament stutter instability and molecular unfolding

Intermediate filaments (IFs) are the key components of cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells and are critical for cell mechanics. The building block of IFs is a coiled-coil alpha-helical dimer, consisting of several domains that include linkers and other structural discontinuities. One of the discontinuities in the dimer's coiled-coil region is the so-called 'stutter' region. The stutter is a region where a variation of the amino acid sequence pattern from other parts of the alpha-helical domains of the protein is found. It was suggested in earlier works that due to this sequence variation, the perfect coiled-coil arrangement ceases to exist. Here, we show using explicit water molecular dynamics and well-tempered metadynamics that for the coil2 domain of vimentin IFs the stutter is more stable in a non-alpha-helical, unfolded state. This causes a local structural disturbance in the alpha helix, which has a global effect on the nanomechanics of the structure. Our analysis suggests that the stutter features an enhanced tendency to unfolding even under the absence of external forces, implying a much greater structural instability than previously assumed. As a result it features a smaller local bending stiffness than other segments and presents a seed for the initiation of molecular bending and unfolding at large deformation.
Molecular beam epitaxial growth and characterization of Cd-based II–VI wide-bandgap compounds on Si substrates

We have carried out a detailed study on the growth of Cd-based II–VI compounds on Si substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). CdTe, CdSe, CdSeTe, and CdZnSeTe layers were nucleated and grown on Si(211) substrates in order to study a broad range of semiconductor properties, such as crystal structure, fundamental bandgap, surface morphology, and defect and dislocation density as a function of the constituent elements. For structural characterization, we used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction, which indicated that cubic Cd1-xSexTe material had been grown on Si substrates throughout the entire composition range. Likewise, photoreflectance (PR) and photoluminescence (PL) were used to measure the optical response in the near bandgap (Eg) region. Results indicated nonrandom ordering of CdSeTe/Si material. Studies on quaternary CdZnSeTe material indicated that Zn and Se concentrations directly impact surface morphology with extremely smooth surfaces obtained as Zn content is decreased.
Recovery from renal ischemia-reperfusion injury is associated with altered renal hemodynamics, blunted pressure natriuresis, and sodium-sensitive hypertension

The present studies evaluated intrarenal hemodynamics, pressure natriuresis, and arterial blood pressure in rats following recovery from renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Acute I/R injury, i...
New hominids from the Lake Turkana Basin, Kenya

New hominid fossils from the Lake Turkana Basin range in age from ca. 3.35 to ca. 1.0 Ma. Those recovered from sediments stratigraphically just above the Tulu Bor Tuff in the Lomekwi Member of the Nachukui Formation are best attributed to Australopithecus afarensis. This species is rare in Kenya, probably because of the scarcity of sediments deposited during its time span. Younger specimens are referable either to the megadont A. boisei or early Homo. Collectively the new fossils promote further understanding of morphological variation in East African Plio-Pleistocene hominids.
Yielding in Unidirectional Composites Under External Loads and Temperature Changes

Initial yield surfaces were constructed for the boron-aluminum com posite under arbitrary combinations of applied composite stresses and tem perature changes, by means of a finite element analysis of a regular hexa gonal array model.The results suggest that with regard to initial yielding, the macroscopic transverse isotropy of the composite is approximately retained on the microscale. Therefore, the general isothermal yield surface can be con structed as a function of four composite stresses. Yielding in the transverse plane is controlled mainly by matrix properties, whereas yielding under normal composite stresses applied in the fiber direction is controlled by the ratio Ef/Em of the Young's moduli of the constituents. In general, high magnitudes of this ratio, as well as higher fiber volume fractions make yielding more difficult.It was found that yielding takes place both under hydrostatic composite stresses, and as a consequence of uniform temperature changes. Therefore, these effects must be accounte...
Spectrum allocation in spectrum-sliced elastic optical path networks using traffic prediction

Spectrum-sliced elastic optical path (SLICE) networks distribute data on a number of sub-carriers overlapped in frequency domain to provide efficient sub-wavelength and super-wavelength traffic accommodation. In SLICE networks, a routing and spectrum allocation algorithm assigns a spectrum path (SP) to any demand with just enough contiguous sub-carriers while following the spectrum continuity and the sub-carrier consecutiveness constraints. In this paper, we propose efficient sub-carrier allocation algorithms to assign sub-carriers to SPs whose spectrum demands could fluctuate with time. An integer linear programming model is developed to minimize the network reconfiguration and spectrum usage. Based on the historic traffic profile, an interference graph technique is proposed to facilitate the sub-carrier assignment. Simulation results show that the proposed schemes can effectively accommodate the dynamic time-varying traffic while minimizing the network reconfiguration cost in SLICE networks.
A nonthermal chemicurrent effect of hydrogen adsorption on Pt/SiC planar nanostructures at normal ambient conditions

Abstract Reaction induced currents in planar metal/semiconductor nanostructures can provide a direct insight into underlying charge transfer processes involved in chemical energy dissipation at solid surfaces. This letter provides clear evidence of the nonthermal nature of chemicurrent induced by H2 adsorption on a Pt/SiC nanostructure at room temperature in 760 Torr N2/O2 mixtures with various oxygen fractions. The thermal effect of the reaction is reproduced also with admission of N2 molecules to the sample. Only the process with H2 leads to a detectable chemicurrent proving participation of nonthermal electrons in the charge transfer induced by hydrogen evolution on the nanostructure surface.
Analysis of part families for group technology applications using decision trees

Concurrent formation of part families and machine cells can be achieved by using various algorithms based on the part-machine matrix. Although, part features form the basis for the formation of the part-machine matrix, part features are not directly considered in the process of forming part families and machine cells. The goal of this paper is to understand the characteristics of machine cells in terms of part features. The relationship between part features and machine cells is captured as a decision tree. The decision tree also becomes a tool for post-clustering analysis including evaluation of different clustering methods and for the classification of ambiguous parts. The simplicity of the decision tree, the number of parts classified by each leaf of the tree, and the effect of pruning on the tree are used as metrics to evaluate the clustering methods.
Selective expression of the interleukin 7 receptor identifies effector CD8 T cells that give rise to long-lived memory cells

A major unanswered question is what distinguishes the majority of activated CD8 T cells that die after an acute viral infection from the small fraction (5-10%) that survive to become long-lived memory cells. In this study we show that increased expression of the interleukin 7 receptor alpha-chain (IL-7Ralpha) identifies the effector CD8 T cells that will differentiate into memory cells. IL-7R(hi) effector cells contained increased amounts of antiapoptotic molecules, and adoptive transfer of IL-7R(hi) and IL-7R(lo) effector cells showed that IL-7R(hi) cells preferentially gave rise to memory cells that could persist and confer protective immunity. Thus, selective expression of IL-7R identifies memory cell precursors, and this marker may be useful in predicting the number of memory T cells generated after infection or immunization.
Clinical outcomes following bowel resection versus reduction of intussusception.

Abstract Background Intussusception is most commonly managed with air-contrast reduction. However, when this fails, emergent operation with resection or manual reduction is indicated. It is not known if there are advantages to resection compared with manual reduction. Methods A retrospective review of all patients receiving operative care for intussusception from February 2000 to December 2011. Patients undergoing intestinal resection were compared with those treated with manual reduction alone. Results Of 111 patients, 49 underwent resection and 62 underwent manual reduction. Mean (±SD) time to oral intake favored manual reduction (2.1 ± 1.2 versus 2.6 ± 1.2 d, respectively, P = 0.05). Manual reduction was associated with a greater need for repeat imaging (47% versus 18%, P = 0.002) and the only recurrences were with manual reduction (8% versus 0%, P = 0.1). Mean duration of stay was no different (P = 0.36), nor was the need for reoperation (P = 0.9). Conclusions Patients undergoing manual reduction have an increased number of radiographic imaging procedures. The surgeon should have a low threshold for resection for intussusceptions requiring operative management.
Water and temperature parameters associated with winter wheat diseases caused by soilborne pathogens.

Smiley, R. W. 2009. Water and temperature parameters associated with winter wheat diseases caused by soilborne pathogens. Plant Dis. 93:73-80. Wheat in eastern Oregon is produced mostly as a 2-year rotation of winter wheat and summer fallow. Maximum agronomic yield potential is expected with early September planting dates but actual yields are generally highest for plantings made in mid-October. Field experiments with sequential planting dates from early September to December were performed over 4 years. Associations among yield, disease incidence, and 19 moisture and temperature parameters were evaluated. Incidence of Cephalosporium stripe, crown rot, eyespot, and take-all decreased as planting was delayed. Crown rot and eyespot were negatively correlated more significantly and more frequently with temperature than moisture parameters, and take-all was more associated with moisture than temperature. Rhizoctonia root rot was unrelated to planting date and climatic parameters. Crown rot was identified most frequently (4 of 5 tests) as an important contributor to yield suppression but yield was most closely associated (R2 > 0.96) with effects from a single disease in only two of five location–year tests. Yield was most related to combinations of diseases in three of five tests, complicating development of disease modules for wheat growthsimulation models. Additional keywords: Cephalosporium gramineum, Fusarium pseudograminearum, Helgardia herpotrichoides, Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides, Rhizoctonia solani AG-8, Triticum aestivum
When does a category built on a lattice with a monoidal structure have a monoidal structure

In a word, sometimes. And it gets harder if the structure on L is not commutative. In this paper we consider the question of what properties are needed on the lattice L equipped with an operation @? for several different kinds of categories built using Sets and L to have monoidal and monoidal closed structures. This works best for the Goguen category Set(L) in which membership, but not equality, is made fuzzy and maps respect membership. Commutativity becomes critical if we make the equality fuzzy as well. This can be done several ways, so a progression of categories is considered. Using sets with an L-valued equality and functions which respect that equality gives a monoidal category which is closed if we use a strong form of the transitive law. If we use strict extensional total relations and a strong transitive law (and @? is commutative and nearly idempotent), we get a monoidal structure. We also recall some constructions by Mulvey, Nawaz, and Hohle on quantales with properties making them commutative enough to have (non-symmetric) monoidal structures.
Computing the Hausdorff set distance in linear time for any L p point distance

Abstract A linear time minimal memory algorithm is given for constructing the “metric field” for cellularized point sets in arbitrary dimension. Resultant such metric fields are used to obtain Hausdorff set distances between sets of points. These techniques have applications to image processing.
Single-agent therapy for infections in neutropenic cancer patients

Abstract The initial therapy of febrile neutropenic cancer patients is an evolving, interesting, and important area of medical research. The introduction of carbenicillin provided the clinician with an antibiotic that had significant activity against Pseduomonas aeruginosa. Prior to the availability of this drug, neutropenic patients with bacteremia due to this organism did no better with antibiotic therapy than without it. Since then, several agents including carboxy- and ureidopenicillins, aminoglycosides, cephalosporins, monobactams, and carbapenems have appeared on the scene and strengthened our therapeutic armamentarium. Since some of them have an expanded spectrum of activity, they have been widely utilized for combination therapy. More recently, several clinical trials have addressed the feasibility of using them alone as initial empiric therapy in these patients. Some of the studies have achieved good results, especially when treating gram-negative infections, although these results should be interpreted with caution, since the studies were usually conducted under controlled conditions. These trials have, however, not been as successful when treating gram-positive organisms, which have again become an Important cause of Infection in these patients; in some of them, a specific antibiotic against these organisms had to be added. How will this approach utilizing newer antibiotics compare against a more conventional regimen of two synergistic agents? Hopefully, this will be better investigated and defined in the near future.
The effects of intentional cryoablation and radio frequency ablation of renal tissue involving the collecting system in a porcine model.

ABSTRACTPurpose:: Ablative techniques for the treatment of urological malignancy are gaining acceptance and they are likely to become more widely used in clinical practice. Indications and limitations of the technologies are still evolving. In a porcine model we evaluated the safety and efficacy of cryotherapy and radio frequency ablation (RFA) of cortical and deep renal tissue.Materials and Methods:: In 11 swine argon gas based cryoablation or RFA of renal tissue adjacent to the collecting system was performed using a laparoscopic or percutaneous approach. Lesions created in renal units 30 days or 2 hours prior to harvest were termed chronic or acute. Using single or multiple 17 gauge cryoneedles or 3.0 mm cryoprobes and 2 freeze-thaw cycles (10-minute freeze and 5-minute thaw) 13 acute and 10 chronic cryolesions were made. Using a single 16 gauge umbrella-shaped RFA probe and 2 heating cycles to maximum impedance 13 acute and 4 chronic RFA lesions were made. Gross and microscopic tissue analysis was per...