cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intermittent hypoxia and hypercapnia induces inhibitor of nuclear factor-κB kinase subunit β-dependent atherosclerosis in pulmonary arteries.

Clinical studies have shown that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases atherosclerosis risk. The inflammation, especially mediated by the macrophages via nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), has been specu...
We are All Amina Filali: Social Media, Civil Society, and Rape legislation reform in Morocco

In 2012 Amina Filali, a 16-year-old girl from Larache, Morocco was kidnaped, raped, and forced to marry her rapist under Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code. The decision by the courts to impose...
Practices, attitudes and barriers faced by internists and pediatricians in transitioning young adult patients to adult medicine.

Purpose To assess perspectives of clinicians at an academic medical center regarding current practices, barriers and possible interventions in transitioning young adult patients to adult care. Methods Electronic survey results from licensed independent providers in the Departments of Internal Medicine (n = 87) and Pediatrics (n = 49) were analyzed. Results The majority of providers at our institution are unaware of and do not follow national transition guidelines. Seventy-seven percent of pediatricians provide the majority of preparation and support in transition care of young adults with complex medical conditions without involvement of other interprofessional team members. Ninety-six percent of internists report not receiving formal training related to transition care and only 44% are comfortable caring for young adults with medical complexity. Eighty-eight percent of pediatricians and internists support a standard transition process, yet significant gaps in this process exist. Conclusion Despite the existence of national society-supported recommendations for transitions of care processes, lack of awareness among providers regarding national transition guidelines has led to uncertainty when it comes to managing the transition of young adult patients. There is lack of communication between pediatricians and internists, and internists are not as confident in caring for young adult patients. The scope of work of the interprofessional team is not utilized adequately. Providers agree on the importance of developing a standardized pediatric to adult transition process. These results help inform possible future interventions to improve care for this population.
Understanding Public Attitudes Towards Partial Restoration of the Ocklawaha River

The Ocklwaha River was dammed due to the partial construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal. This dam, originally named the Rodman Dam but later renamed Kirkpatrick Dam, changed the historical ecosystem of the surrounding area. The damming resulted in negative impacts to certain fish and plant species within the reservoir and river, in addition to poor water quality upstream. However, it formed a large reservoir that became a favored location for centralized bass fishing. While the debate on the correct course of action in regards to the Kirkpatrick Dam has been ongoing for five decades, there are many skewed perceptions in comparison to what is scientifically true. In this paper, we analyze trends between the survey particpants demographics and their opinion on whether they are for or against breaching the Rodman Dam in order to partially restore the Ocklawaha River and the surrounding floodplain, and the reasoning behind their held opinion. While there are many individuals who hold perceptions on dam removal that are false, the most popular reasons that individuals support breaching the Rodman Dam are scientifically true. However, the popularity of individuals holding false perceptions on the Ocklawaha Rivers restoration highlights the need for more scientific education and outreach program to assist in reducing these misconceptions and to reduce residents’ uncertainty on the future of the Ocklawaha River.
Adoption trends of point of issue Verax PGD rapid test for bacterial screening of platelets between 2013 and 2018 among hospitals supplied by the American Red Cross and impact on platelet availability

Background Point-of-issue tests, such as the Verax Pan Genera Detection (PGD) test, can be used to mitigate the occurrence of septic reactions. Little is known about how widespread the adoption of the PGD test is across US hospitals. Study design/methods The Red Cross hemovigilance database was used to determine the numbers of PGD-positive test results between 2013 and 2018. An examination of the impact of a reactive PGD test on product availability was performed for 2018. Results The number of reported cases doubled, rising from approximately 50 to 100 per year between 2013 and 2018. A total of 475 initially reactive PGD tests during the entire study period were reported, and 7 (1.5%) of these were determined to be true positives. Hospitals surveyed reported testing platelet units once, with no repeat testing if the unit was PGD reactive. Evaluation of the reported PGD reactive cases for apheresis platelets for 2018 (n = 93) resulted in an estimated cost to the blood center of $87,000, which included the labor and material costs of working up the cases and the estimated value of the lost 64 units and co-components. In addition, there was a loss of the opportunity to collect over 85 apheresis platelets during the time the implicated donor was temporarily deferred. Conclusions The number of hospital reports of reactive PGD tests has shown modest growth in the past 5 years. The number of initially reactive PGD tests that were confirmed was minimal. Blood centers can incur cost and platelet inventory loss from initially false-positive test results.
Disrupting the Electrical Circuit: New Onset Atrial Fibrillation in a Patient With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

In December 2019, an outbreak of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China was attributed to a novel coronavirus that was eventually recognized as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Currently identified as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization given its rapid global transmission. Various cardiovascular complications have been reported, including heart failure, myocarditis, acute coronary syndrome and arrhythmias, both atrial and ventricular. Regarding arrhythmias, onset from time of infection is variable but usually ranges from several days to a week. We hereby present a case of a COVID-19 positive patient presenting with new onset atrial fibrillation.
Awareness and Willingness to Use Biomedical Prevention Strategies for HIV Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: Results From a National Survey.

Abstract Purpose Sexual and gender minority youth (SGM), an umbrella term encompassing gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, experience disproportionately high rates of new HIV infections, and recent advances in biomedical HIV prevention modalities hold promise in reducing new infections. However, the extent to which SGM youth are aware of and willing to use these modalities is unknown. Methods Using data from the Survey of Today's Adolescents Relationships and Transitions, we analyze awareness of and willingness to take HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), nonoccupational HIV post-exposure prophylaxis, and rectal microbicides among adolescent sexual minority males aged 13–18 years and transgender youth aged 13–24 years. Results Overall, we found a majority of our respondents were not aware of any of these prevention modalities. Across both subsamples, age and outness to a health care provider were associated with increased PrEP awareness, and any anal sex was associated with PrEP willingness. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of provider education on how to discuss SGM issues with patients and educate them about HIV prevention options.
Abstract 3661: Association of mammographic density with blood DNA methylation

Background: Mammographic density is a strong risk factor for breast cancer. While numerous genetic variations have been shown to be associated with mammographic density, an epigenetic signature of mammographic density has not yet been identified. The objective of this study was to identify a DNA methylation signature associated with mammographic density. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 197 postmenopausal women 45-65 years old with no personal history of breast cancer. For each participant, mammographic density according to the BI-RADs density classification was obtained from the most recent mammogram report. White blood cell DNA methylation at more than 850,000 CpG sites was measured using the Illumina HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip. Differential methylation was assessed using genome-wide, probe-level, and regional approaches after filtering and normalization using the recommended steps for DNA methylation microarray data. All analyses were adjusted for appropriate confounding variables. Results: On average, genome-wide DNA methylation was higher in women with elevated mammographic density. Additionally, DNA methylation at 343 individual sites and in 34 regions was significantly associated with mammographic density after false discovery rate correction. Most density-associated sites were hypermethylated. The top differentially methylated sites were located near cell cycle regulatory genes (ICMT, DESI2, TCF21/TARID, ROBO3), as well as those encoding cytoskeletal or plasma membrane proteins (PALLD, ANO7, ATP8B3, MTUS2). We observed hypermethylation near the promoters of genes including RUFY1 and SLFN12 and within the bodies of genes including LCN6, SNED1, and LRFN1. Functional analysis of the differentially methylated sites revealed enrichment of gene ontology categories including angiogenesis and regulation of cell adhesion, as well as apoptotic signaling in response to DNA damage. Conclusions: White blood cell DNA methylation differed according to mammographic density in a sample of postmenopausal women. Probe-based and regional analysis identified differentially methylated regions located near genes implicated in cancer. These differentially methylated regions may serve as a signature of mammographic density, and future studies of the genes implicated may provide a deeper understanding of the connection between mammographic density and breast cancer risk. Citation Format: Rachel McFarland Lucia, Wei-Lin Huang, Andrea Alvarez, Irene Masunaka, Argyrios Ziogas, Deborah Goodman, Andrew O. Odegaard, Trina M. Norden-Krichmar, Hannah Lui Park. Association of mammographic density with blood DNA methylation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 3661.
Creating a School-wide CS/CT-focused STEM Ecosystem to Address Access Barriers

STEM ecosystem is an emerging model for identifying the barriers and support structures that students have in their learning trajectories in STEM. In this paper our university-based research team presents a CS/CT-focused STEM ecosystem strategy designed to address underrepresentation in computing fields. We describe our current and future work within our school-level research-practice partnership (RPP) with a local middle school, used to guide the creation of this ecosystem.
Sequence-level Supervised Deep Neural Networks for Mitosis Event Detection in Time-Lapse Microscopy Images

Automatic mitosis detection is a key step in measuring cell proliferation and analyzing the responses to various stimuli. Current deep neural networks can learn complex visual features and capture long-range temporal dependencies. However, the state-of-the-art mitosis detection models require massive ground truth annotations which is labor intensive in biomedical experiments. Therefore, we propose a sequence-level supervised neural networks model to detect mitosis events at pixel-and-frame level. By using binary labels, the proposed network is trained to predict the presence of mitosis for the input microscopy sequences. Then we leverage the feature map produced by the proposed network to localize the cell division. The proposed model achieved a detection F1-score 0.881.With significantly less amount of ground truth in the training data, our method achieved competitive performance compared with the state-of-art fully supervised mitosis detection methods.
Understanding and enhancing the impact-induced tension of a falling chain

When a falling chain strikes a surface, it can accelerate downwards faster than free-fall. This counterintuitive effect occurs when a tension is created in the chain above where it strikes the surface. The size of this tension, and how it is produced, depend on the type of chain used. For a chain made of rods that are slightly tilted from horizontal, the impact-induced tension is readily observable. Here are reported experimental observations on such a falling chain for two different situations: when the chain strikes an inclined surface, and when the chain's mass density decreases with height. It is found that both of these arrangements can increase the downward acceleration. To quantitatively describe these observations, a theoretical model is developed. The model successfully predicts the chain's position and velocity, even when the top end approaches the surface, without any free parameters. The model also predicts that uniform rods are practically the best for producing large tensions.
Conquering the Arrhythmic Substrate: The Scalpel and the Source

In this chapter, the reentrant mechanism of VT and the pioneers behind these discoveries that ultimately resulted in identifying the pathophysiology of the substrate of VT in remote infarcts leading to its surgical and catheter ablation are discussed.
Seasonal Variation in Solar Ultra Violet Radiation and Early Mortality in Extremely Preterm Infants

Background Vitamin D production during pregnancy promotes fetal lung development, a major determinant of infant survival after preterm birth. Because vitamin D synthesis in humans is regulated by solar ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, we hypothesized that seasonal variation in solar UVB doses during fetal development would be associated with variation in neonatal mortality rates. Methods This cohort study included infants born alive with gestational age (GA) between 23 and 28 weeks gestation admitted to a neonatal unit between 1996 and 2010. Three infant cohort groups were defined according to increasing intensities of solar UVB doses at 17 and 22 weeks gestation. The primary outcome was death during the first 28 days after birth. Results Outcome data of 2,319 infants were analyzed. Mean birth weight was 830 ± 230 g and median gestational age was 26 weeks. Mortality rates were significantly different across groups ( p = 0.04). High-intensity solar UVB doses were associated with lower mortality when compared with normal intensity solar UVB doses (hazard ratio: 0.70; 95% confidence interval: 0.54–0.91; p = 0.01). Conclusion High-intensity solar UVB doses during fetal development seem to be associated with risk reduction of early mortality in preterm infants. Prospective studies are needed to validate these preliminary findings.
The Rolling Moment Due to Sideslip for a Swept Wing

Using strip theory, the rolling moment coefficient due to sideslip (Cip) is computed for a swept wing, a result that has been erroneously derived in the literature. 2 Multhopp's theory for a wing in sideslip and a modification of Prandtl 's elliptic wing theory are used to correct the result for induction effects. The effects of geometrical dihedral, twist, camber, elevons, or flaps, arid fuselage are also treated. The results are compared with available experimental da ta , 5 7 and it is found that, if Weissinger's value of Cip for a straight wing is added to the result for a swept wing, the agreement is satisfactory for most purposes. I t is remarked that these results are subject to modification by aeroelastic deflection of the wing.
Predictors of mortality, LVAD implant, or heart transplant in primary prevention cardiac resynchronization therapy recipients: The HF-CRT score

Background Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) reduces morbidity and mortality among individuals with dyssynchronous systolic heart failure (HF). However, patient outcomes vary, with some at higher risk than others for HF progression and death. Objective To develop a risk prediction score incorporating variables associated with mortality, left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implant, or heart transplant in recipients of a primary prevention cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator (CRT-D). Methods We followed 305 CRT-D patients from the Prospective Observational Study of Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators for the composite outcome of all-cause mortality, LVAD implant, or heart transplant soon after device implantation. Serum biomarkers and electrocardiographic and clinical variables were collected at implant. Multivariable analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model with stepwise selection method was used to fit the final model. Results Among 305 patients, 53 experienced the composite endpoint. In multivariable analysis, 5 independent predictors ("HF-CRT") were identified: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein >9.42 ng/L (HR = 2.5 [1.4, 4.5]), New York Heart Association functional class III/IV (HR = 2.3 [1.2, 4.5]), creatinine >1.2 mg/dL (HR = 2.7 [1.4, 5.1]), red blood cell count 6 /μL (HR = 2.4 [1.3, 4.7]), and cardiac troponin T >28 ng/L (HR = 2.7 [1.4, 5.2]). One point was attributed to each predictor and 3 score categories were identified. Patients with scores 0–1, 2–3, and 4–5 had a 3-year cumulative event-free survival of 96.8%, 79.7%, and 35.2%, respectively (log-rank, P Conclusion A simple score combining clinical and readily available biomarker data can risk-stratify CRT patients for HF progression and death. These findings may help identify patients who are in need of closer monitoring or early application of more aggressive circulatory support.
Surface roughness and chemical properties of porous inorganic films

Abstract Porous inorganic films of different materials and pore architecture: mesoporous γ-alumina, mesoporous yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ), macroporous YSZ and macroporous/microporous zeolite silicalite, were synthesized by the sol–gel spin-coating or dip-coating methods on silicon wafers of different surface roughness. Their surface chemical properties, pore and phase structure, and surface roughness were studied by various surface characterization methods. The pore sizes of these films are determined by their primary particle size. All the films studied are hydrophilic due to the presence of hydroxyl groups on the external crystallite surface, and their hydrophilicity increases in the order: macroporous YSZ
A novel 5GHz RF power detector

The principles of a RF power detector using bipolar transistors are analyzed and a new RF power detector for embedded RF IC test is proposed. The new detector uses a voltage divider to provide unequal ac signals for its differential input. It has a more linear transfer function for large-signal detection than previously reported detectors. Also, the detector retains its square-law transfer characteristics for low-level-signal detection. The errors in linear or square-law region operation are within 2%. The crossover region between detector linear and square-law operation is minimized to 30/spl sim/50mV and its detection error is within 8% using either linear or square-law estimation. The detector has 65dB dynamic range and it can work with 5GHz or higher signals as compared to roughly 30dB dynamic range in R.G. Meyer (1995).
Chromosomal localization of human glutamate receptor genes

The chromosomal localization of human glutamate receptor genes (GluR1- 4) has been established using PCR with DNA isolated from mapping panels of Chinese hamster-human hybrid cell lines and high-resolution fluorescent in situ suppression hybridization. This was accomplished with genomic clones containing putative human homologs of rat GluR 1–4 isolated by high-stringency screening of a cosmid library with the rat cDNAs encoding GluR1–4. The locations of GluR1–4, respectively, are 5q32–33, 4q32–33, Xq25–26, and 11q22–23. Evidence implicating glutamatergic synapses in a diversity of physiologic and pathologic processes together with concordance of the chromosomal locales and results of linkage analyses establishes GluR3 and GluR4 as candidate genes for a number of nervous system disorders including the oculocerebral-renal syndrome of Lowe and a form of manic-depressive illness.
Accuracy of commercial geocoding: assessment and implications

Published studies of geocoding accuracy often focus on a single geographic area, address source or vendor, do not adjust accuracy measures for address characteristics, and do not examine effects of inaccuracy on exposure measures. We addressed these issues in a Women's Health Initiative ancillary study, the Environmental Epidemiology of Arrhythmogenesis in WHI. Addresses in 49 U.S. states (n = 3,615) with established coordinates were geocoded by four vendors (A-D). There were important differences among vendors in address match rate (98%; 82%; 81%; 30%), concordance between established and vendor-assigned census tracts (85%; 88%; 87%; 98%) and distance between established and vendor-assigned coordinates (mean ρ [meters]: 1809; 748; 704; 228). Mean ρ was lowest among street-matched, complete, zip-coded, unedited and urban addresses, and addresses with North American Datum of 1983 or World Geodetic System of 1984 coordinates. In mixed models restricted to vendors with minimally acceptable match rates (A-C) and adjusted for address characteristics, within-address correlation, and among-vendor heteroscedasticity of ρ, differences in mean ρ were small for street-type matches (280; 268; 275), i.e. likely to bias results relying on them about equally for most applications. In contrast, differences between centroid-type matches were substantial in some vendor contrasts, but not others (5497; 4303; 4210) pinteraction < 10-4, i.e. more likely to bias results differently in many applications. The adjusted odds of an address match was higher for vendor A versus C (odds ratio = 66, 95% confidence interval: 47, 93), but not B versus C (OR = 1.1, 95% CI: 0.9, 1.3). That of census tract concordance was no higher for vendor A versus C (OR = 1.0, 95% CI: 0.9, 1.2) or B versus C (OR = 1.1, 95% CI: 0.9, 1.3). Misclassification of a related exposure measure – distance to the nearest highway – increased with mean ρ and in the absence of confounding, non-differential misclassification of this distance biased its hypothetical association with coronary heart disease mortality toward the null. Geocoding error depends on measures used to evaluate it, address characteristics and vendor. Vendor selection presents a trade-off between potential for missing data and error in estimating spatially defined attributes. Informed selection is needed to control the trade-off and adjust analyses for its effects.
POSSIBLE ACOUSTIC BASES FOR THE PERCEPTION OF VOICING CONTRASTS

Fifteen years ago the main questions for speech research, at least from a psychoacoustic perspective, concerned exactly how speech perception is special. At that time there was no strong motivation to study the perception of acoustic analogs to speech cues. Beginning about twelve years ago a few papers demonstrated for simple stimuli some of the phonema which had been claimed to be unique to speech. In the late 1970s psychoacoustic research on speech perception tended primarily to challenge some of the strong claims about unique speech phenomena; this research also served to allow investigators to begin to learn about concepts, procedures, and potential acoustic cues. Recent psychoacoustic research has begun to map perceptual properties of simple possible analogs to components and cues in speech stimuli. This psychoacoustic research is guided by the extensive literature which has identified potential speech cues, and the perceptual interactions among such cues. The primary goal for this current psychoacoustic research is to gain an understanding of the nature of the perception of such stimuli. In achieving this goal, we will provide a better understanding of the front-end of the system which results in speech perception.
From Potent to Popular: The Effects of Racism on Chicago Jazz 1920-1930

This is a discussion of early jazz music and the changes in style it underwent because of racism. The author also admits her own biases in the end as well and discusses the difficulty in portraying history objectively. This article is available in Constructing the Past: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/constructing/vol1/iss1/6
THE STRUCTURE OF THE COLLODION MEMBRANE AND ITS ELECTRICAL BEHAVIOR : I. THE BEHAVIOR AND PROPERTIES OF COMMERCIAL COLLODION.

1. The electrochemical behavior of membranes prepared from commercial collodion preparations varies widely, some preparations showing very high, other ones very low electrochemical efficiency ("activity"). 2. The electrochemical activity of a collodion membrane depends entirely upon impurities of an acidic nature contained in the collodion used for casting the membrane. 3. The active acidic impurities are substantially due to partial oxidation which occurs in the manufacturing process. Sulfuric acid compounds; e.g., acid sulfuric acid esters play only a minor role, if any. 4. The electrochemical behavior of collodion membranes in solutions of strong electrolytes is decisively dependent upon the acidic groups built permanently into the collodion surfaces. Preferential ion adsorption plays only a minor, if any, role.
Peer Modeling of Academic and Social Behaviors during Small-Group Direct Instruction

The authors describe an intervention for 3 preschoolers with disabilities who had low peer-related social competence. The intervention taught academic skills tailored to the need of each target student in small groups (triads) with two typically developing peers, using a progressive time delay procedure. Prior to instruction and separate from the students with disabilities, typical peers learned to provide reinforcers for correct responses, and to say “thank you” when a group mate shared. The authors assessed the acquisition of sharing and thanking behaviors during instructional sessions by the preschoolers with disabilities and generalization of these social behaviors to contexts similar to classroom activities for all participants. Results were (a) all participants learned targeted academic behaviors; (b) all participants learned some academic behaviors taught to their peers; (c) participants without disabilities modeled sharing with high fidelity but modeled thanking with lower fidelity; (d) all partic...
Characterization of membrane permeability alterations induced in vero cells by Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin

Alterations in plasma membrane permeability induced by Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin were studied using Vero (African green monkey kidney) cells which were radioactively labeled with four markers of different molecular size. The markers were α-amino[14C]isobutyric acid (Mr 103), 3H-labeled nucleotide (Mr approx. 300), 51Cr label (Mr approx. 3000) and [3H]RNA (Mr > 25 000). Over a 2 h period, enterotoxin caused significant release of aminoisobutyric acid, nucleotides and 51Cr label but not RNA. The effects of enterotoxin on label release were dose- and time-dependent. The rate of release of markers was dependent upon their size. Permeability alterations could be detected within 15 min with a high dose of enterotoxin. Gel chromatography of released material was used to determine that markers of Mr 3000 but not 25 000 leaked from permeabilized cells. It was concluded that enterotoxin is producing functional ‘holes’ of limited size in the membrane. Permeability changes due to enterotoxin treatment differed between confluent and non-confluent (growing) cells. We propose that the primary action of the enterotoxin is to interact with the plasma membrane and produce functional ‘holes’ of defined size. The resultant alterations in membrane permeability cause the loss of essential cellular substances which inhibits processes such as macromolecular synthesis and eventually leads to cell deterioration and death.
The Equivalence of Constrained and Weighted Designs in Multiple Objective Design Problems

Abstract Several competing objectives may be relevant in the design of an experiment. The competing objectives may not be easy to characterize in a single optimality criterion. One approach to these design problems has been to weight each criterion and find the design that optimizes the weighted average of the criteria. An alternative approach has been to optimize one criterion subject to constraints on the other criteria. An equivalence theorem is presented for the Bayesian constrained design problem. Equivalence theorems are essential in verifying optimality of proposed designs, especially when (as in most nonlinear design problems) numerical optimization is required. This theorem is used to show that the results of Cook and Wong on the equivalence of the weighted and constrained problems apply much more generally. The results are applied to Bayesian nonlinear design problems with several objectives.
The Empire Struck Back: Sanctions and Compensation in the Mexican Oil Expropriation of 1938

The Mexican expropriation of 1938 was the first large-scale non-Communist expropriation of foreign-owned natural resource assets. The literature makes three assertions: the United States did not fully back the companies, Mexico did not fully compensate them for the value of their assets, and the oil workers benefitted from the expropriation. This article finds that none of those assertions hold. The companies devised political strategies that maneuvered a reluctant President Roosevelt into supporting their interests, and the Mexican government more than fully compensated them as a result. Neither wages for oil workers nor Mexican government oil revenue rose after the expropriation.
The nature of the Rothschild loan: International capital and South African railway diplomacy, politics, and construction 1891–1892

Abstract “Mr, Harry Currey tells me privately that Rothschilds have been in communication with Mr. Rhodes regarding the (railway) loan (to the Transvaal) … and Rhodes said he favoured it.” 1 Given the anti-Boer ambitions of Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of Great Britain's Cape Colony, this was odd. Throughout the late 1880s and 1890s, imperialist Rhodes, drawing here, envisioning there, used private and public resources to sketch an encircled Transvaal — the Republican ox beleaguered by the British lion was his would-be imperial masterpiece. On the eve of the Rothschild Loan, floated primarily to connect the Transvaal's goldfields with a non-British port, the two Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal were almost completely enclosed by British territory. Only directly east did the Transvaal share a border with a non-British dominion and port, Portuguese Mozambique and Lorenco Marques. Paul Kruger, the Transvaal President, tried to negotiate a customs and railway agreement or purchase of ...
Weaving a Tapestry of Resilience and Challenges, Commentary: Clinical Assessment of Canadian Military Couples

As the months of wartime hardship ensue, servicemembers in the Canadian Forces continue to serve in combat zones in Afghanistan in considerable numbers, in addition to maintaining a presence in other areas throughout the world. Given the immediacy of active deployment of many troops and their families, attention devoted to military couples is quite timely. In an effort to illuminate central issues facing Canadian military couples, the author outlines her primary goals in the paper titled Clinical Assessment of Military Marriages. They aim to: (1) discuss the impact of is ‘isolation’ and ‘mandate’ on Canadian military marriages and (2) illustrate the value of using several theoretical models (i.e. strengths view, systems theory and attachment theory) to assess the overall functioning and adaptation of these couples. Since space constraints prevented the author from discussing treatment plans and processes, I will also restrict my focus specifically to biopsychosocial assessment with this commentary. Overall, I applaud the efforts demonstrated by this author to approach a complex clinical situation with a synthesis of theoretical models that sheds clarity on a biopsychosocial assessment. She has discussed both the strengths and limitations of each perspective very clearly, yet I will attempt to raise additional questions in relation to each theoretical stance that may promote more textured layers to this already sound analysis. How refreshing to see a paper that approaches a clinical case with a multiplicity of theoretical stances, prompted by the presenting issues at hand. All too often, clinicians rely exclusively on one evidence-based model that may focus solely on the behavioral and cognitive functioning of an individual soldier or veteran. In addition to the questionable validity of treatment approaches that allegedly accommodate all servicemembers, this multi-theoretical approach, in contrast, stresses the importance of individual, intrapersonal, interpersonal, sociocultural and systemic factors to fully understand the couple under consideration. Moving beyond a ‘‘one-size fits all’’ cookie-cutter approach allows us greater freedom to appreciate the complexity of military couples.
Ion Beam Mixing in Insulator Substrates

Ion beam mixing involving insulator substrates is reviewed with an emphasis on thermochemical considerations. Studies generally have employed the bi-layer geometry for metal/insulator or oxide/oxide combinations. There is little evidence for long-range material transport in crystalline substrates. Recoil mixing has been detected for both metal and oxide films deposited on sapphire and irradiated at room temperature. Agglomeration of non-wetting metal films suggests that surface diffusion is induced by the ion beam. Evidence has been reported for the occurrence of chemical reactions and perhaps thermally-induced migration in amorphous aluminum oxide substrates. Ballistic mixing is also indicated for metal films on SiC, Si3N4 and SiO2. Ion beam-induced reactions have been observed at the interfaces for systems in which the enthalpy of reaction is favorable. Chemical effects in the cascade mixing regime may determine the phases present in the mixed zone after the composition changes caused by ballistic processes.
Relationships Among Immunoglobulin Markers in Graves' Disease*

ABSTRACT TSH-binding inhibitory activity (TBIA), LATS, and LATS-protector (LATS-P) were examined in sera of 17 patients with untreated Graves' disease (UGD), 17 patients treated for Graves' disease (TGD) and rendered euthyroid, 4 TGD cases not yet euthyroid, 12 patients with euthyroid Graves' disease (EGD), 14 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and 14 euthyroid relatives of Graves' disease patients. TBIA, LATS, and LATS-P were positive in 69%, 29%, and 100% of UGD sera so studied. Frequency of positive TBIA, LATS, or LATS-P was much less in EGD than in UGD. These activities were undetectable in sera of all patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. LATS-P was demonstrable in one Graves' relative, while TBIA or LATS were undetectable in all 14 of them so studied. TBIA was strongly positive in all 10 LATS-positive sera (5 UGD, 4 TGD, and 1 EGD) in this study. It was negative, however, in many sera (5 of 12 UGD, all 7 TGD, all 4 EGD, and the 1 Graves' relative) which were positive for LATS-P without LATS. Th...
On the Choice of the Action Function in the New Field Theory

By the imposition of a regularity condition on the new field theory a new action function is found which is unique so far as the significant lower order terms of its expansion are concerned. The new action function leads to a theory in which the ${f}_{\mathrm{kl}}$ field is free from singularities, from which magnetic poles are automatically excluded, and in which the equations of motion can be deduced from the field equations without extra dynamical assumptions. When general relativity is taken into account the field of a particle is such that space-time is everywhere regular, and the theory leads to the identification of gravitational with electromagnetic mass.
EVIDENCE FOR INAPPARENT RABIES INFECTION

Abstract Evidence from laboratory and field studies of rabies in mouse, rat, guineapig, opossum, skunk, bat, bobcat, raccoon, fox, pig, dog, donkey, and man suggests that infection by rabies virus may lead to various outcomes—i.e., inapparent infection, survival with residual signs, or death. In the laboratory, inapparent infections were produced by aerosol inhalation and intramuscular injection of guineapigs, and by intraperitoneal inoculation of mice. Wild animals from rabies-endemic areas in the U.S.A. demonstrated evidence of previous contact with rabies virus, as did dogs in Ethiopia and Thailand and rodents in Thailand and Central Europe. Such evidence suggests exposure to rabies virus is more common in nature than previously believed. Knowledge about mechanisms underlying the different host responses may improve the chances of human survival after exposure to rabies virus.
Further evidence for a global correlation of the Earth‐ionosphere cavity resonances

The Stanford ELF/VLF Radio Noise Survey provides digital time series in the ELF range and VLF analog recordings of one horizontal magnetic field component at different locations around the globe. Three sites, Arrival Heights in Antarctica, Sondrestromfjord in Greenland and Stanford in California, are chosen to investigate the natural magnetic noise in the frequency range of the Earth-ionosphere cavity resonances (6-60 Hz). The resonances are interpreted as pure resonance phenomena and the associated parameters are derived in a robust manner by use of the complex exponential algorithm. The resulting amplitudes of the first and second resonances exhibit a pronounced diurnal variation and a distinct day to day variability of the same order during the time interval from January to April 1990. The day to day variability is well correlated between all of the three different sites. They also exhibit a 20-30 day variation that is related to the solar rotation period, expressed by means of sunspot numbers.
Acute HIV Infection and Implications of Fourth-Generation HIV Screening in Emergency Departments

In the United States, more than 1.1 million individuals are infected with HIV, more than 200,000 remain undiagnosed, and approximately 50,000 new infections occur annually.1 Individuals with undiagnosed HIV infection are responsible for the majority of new infections,2 and those with acute HIV infection are most likely to transmit the virus because of accompanying high viral loads.3,4 Identifying HIV infection remains an important public health priority because it affords the opportunity to link patients into specialized care in which treatment may halt disease progression while reducing the likelihood of transmission.5
Contractible Coherence Spaces and Maximal Maps

Abstract A coherence space is contractible if it can be generated from the singleton space under products and coproducts. We give an intrinsic characterization of contractible coherence spaces in connection with totality in [1, 2, 15]. We extend contractible coherence spaces with an arbitrary category C , and prove that the category of non-empty C -valued contractible coherence spaces and C -valued maximal maps is exactly the free bicompletion of C under non-empty products and coproducts.
Optical parameters of photopolymer rheoxane obtained by optical testing methods.

Two new nondestructive methods for measuring refractive index are presented. The methods are promising for investigating new materials because they do not require contact with the sample surfaces or etalon samples. Results of measurements of optical properties for photopolymer rheoxane are presented. In the IR spectral band the dispersion is almost zero and the transmission is almost constant. The refractive index varies over the spectral range of 1.15–3.39 μm by a few parts in the third decimal place. The dependence of the refractive index on temperature from 10 to 50 °C is comparable with the analogous dependence for optical glasses.
Electron-positron pair creation in relativistic shocks: Pair plasma in thermodynamic equilibrium.

The thermodynamics of the relativistic shock wave in which electron-positron pairs are produced in the post-shock matter is studied in the temperature range 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{9}$ K\ensuremath{\lesssim}T\ensuremath{\lesssim}${10}^{12}$ K, where the baryons are nonrelativistic and electron-positron pairs are the only leptons created. The post-shock matter with pairs in thermodynamic equilibrium are classified according to whether or not the energy density of the radiation (the pairs and the photons) exceeds that of the baryons. The post-shock matter without pairs in thermal equilibrium is also considered in the case where it is composed of a relativistic two-temperature electron-ion plasma. The relevant time scales for such processes as temperature relaxation, pair production, and cooling are examined in order to establish the temperature region where such a plasma can exist. Analytic relations between the pre-shock and post-shock quantities are obtained in certain limits of these three cases. The shocks with and without pairs in the post-shock matter are then compared.
Monoterpene biosynthesis: Mechanistic evaluation of the geranyl pyrophosphate:(−)-endo-fenchol cyclase from fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

Abstract Geranyl pyrophosphate:(−)-endo-fenchol cyclase catalyzes the conversion of geranyl pyrophosphate to (−)-endo-fenchol by a process thought to involve the initial isomerization of the substrate to the tertiary allylic isomer, linalyl pyrophosphate, and the subsequent cyclization of this bound intermediate. Studies with 18O-labeled acyclic precursors and H218O, followed by mass spectrometric analysis of the cyclic product, confirmed that water was the sole source of the carbinol oxygen atom of endo-fenchol, thus indicating the participation of the solvent in terminating this presumptive carbocationic reaction. The isomerization component of the normally coupled reaction sequence was demonstrated directly using the substrate analog 2,3-cyclopropylgeranyl pyrophosphate and by isolating the corresponding homoallylic analog of linalyl pyrophosphate as a major reaction product. The cyclization component of the reaction sequence was effectively dissected using linalyl pyrophosphate as substrate, and both isomerization and cyclization steps were shown to take place at the same active site of the cyclase, an observation consistent with the efficient coupling of these processes. 2-Fluorogeranyl pyrophosphate and 2-fluorolinalyl pyrophosphate were shown to be effective inhibitors of the cyclase, and the electron-withdrawing substituent was shown to greatly suppress the rate of cyclization of these labeled analogs, indicating that both steps of the coupled isomerization-cyclization sequence are initiated by ionization of an allylic pyrophosphate. Additional evidence for the electrophilic nature of the reaction was obtained by demonstrating the ability of the cyclase to solvolyze other substrate analogs which bear an allylic pyrophosphate, and by showing that cyclization was strongly inhibited by sulfonium analogs of presumptive carbocationic intermediates of the reaction sequence, especially in the presence of inorganic pyrophosphate as counterion. In spite of the fact that the fenchol cyclase terminates the cyclization with an external nucleophile (H2O), the primary mechanistic features of this isomerization-cyclization reaction are similar to those catalyzed by other cyclases that terminate the reaction by deprotonation or cation capture by the pyrophosphate moiety of the substrate.
Need for prior toothcleaning when performing a professional topical fluoride application: review and recommendations for change

A review of the literature and research from the past decade are used to examine the need for prophylaxis before fluoride treatment. The relationship between enamel fluoride uptake and plaque/pellicle permeability is no longer obscure.
A survey of polar and nonpolar lipids from epidermis and epidermal appendages of the chicken (Gallus domesticus)

Total lipid was extracted from chicken (Gallus domesticus) epidermis, leg scale, claws, feathers and preen glands and analyzed by quantitative thin-layer chromatography. All of the tissue lipids contained large proportions of wax diesters, triglycerides, and free sterols and variable proportions of phospholipids, steryl esters and free fatty acids. All of the keratinized tissues, but not the preen gland, contained ceramides, acylceramides and cholesteryl sulfate. Acylglucosylceramides were found only in full thickness epidermis. Glucosylsterols and acylglucosylsterols were found in the keratinized tissues, and may be of significance in the evolutionary history of the epidermal water barrier.
The Orbit of the Massive X-Ray Binary LS 5039

We present the first spectroscopic orbit for the massive X-ray binary LS 5039, which we find to be a short-period (P = 4.117 ± 0.011 days) and highly eccentric (e = 0.41 ± 0.05) system. The low-mass function for the orbit appears to be most consistent with a neutron star companion, although a black hole remains a possibility if the system has a low inclination. The spectrum of the O7 V optical star appears to be normal for its type (suggesting that there is little flux in the red from an accretion disk) except that the C IV λλ5801, 5812 lines are very weak, perhaps indicating the presence of CNO-processed gas in the O star. There is no evidence of Hα emission, so the system is probably not currently undergoing Roche lobe overflow. The projected rotational velocity, V sin i = 131 ± 6 km s-1, suggests that the optical star is rotating faster than synchronously with the orbit. The peculiar component of the systemic radial velocity is -17 ± 3 km s-1, so the system is not a runaway star (at least not in this dimension).
Role of a conserved amino-terminal sequence in the ecotropic MLV receptor mCAT1.

Abstract The amino-terminus of mCAT1 and homologous proteins is predicted to form a positively charged, amphipathic alpha helix on the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane. Peptides with similar sequence motifs often provide membrane anchors, protein-protein interaction domains, or intracellular transport-targeting signals. Deleting most of the cytoplasmic N-terminal sequence of mCAT1 led to reduced expression on the cell surface and accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum but did not abrogate receptor function. Surprisingly, when the N-terminal 36 or 18 amino acids of mCAT1 were fused to green fluorescent protein (gfp), gfp accumulated almost exclusively in mitochondria. Mitochondrial targeting depended on arginines at positions 15 and 16 and was inhibitable by downstream transmembrane sequences. Although the full-length mCAT1 was not detected in mitochondria, the mitochondrial-targeting property of the N-terminal sequence fused to gfp is conserved in orthologous and paralogous proteins that diverged ∼80 million years ago, suggesting a conserved biological function. We propose that the conserved N-terminal motif of CAT proteins provides a regulatable signal for transport to, or retention in, different cell membrane compartments.