cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
National epidemiology of mycoses survey: a multicenter study of strain variation and antifungal susceptibility among isolates of Candida species.

Abstract The National Epidemiology of Mycoses Survey (NEMIS) involves six academic centers studying fungal infections in surgical and neonatal intensive care unit (ICU) patients. We studied variation in species and strain distribution and antifungal susceptibility of 408 isolates of Candida spp. Candida spp. were isolated from blood, other normally sterile site cultures, abscesses, wounds, catheters, and tissue biopsies of 141 patients hospitalized in the surgical (107 patients) and neonatal (34 patients) ICUs of medical centers located in Oregon, Iowa, California, Texas, Georgia, and New York. Isolates were also obtained from selected colonized patients (16 patients) and the hands of health care workers (27 individuals). DNA typing was performed using pulsed field gel electrophoresis, and antifungal susceptibility to amphotericin B, 5-fluorocytosine, fluconazole, and itraconazole was determined using National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) methods. Important variation in susceptibility to itraconazole and fluconazole was noted: MICs of itraconazole ranged from 0.25 μg/mL (MIC 90 ) in Texas to 2.0 μg/mL (MIC 90 ) in New York. Similarly, the MIC 90 for fluconazole was higher for isolates from New York (64 μg/mL) compared to the other sites (8–16 μg/mL). In general, DNA typing revealed patient-unique strains; however, there were 13 instances of possible cross-infection noted in 5 of the medical centers. Notably, 9 of the 13 clusters involved species of Candida other than C. albicans. Potential transmission from patient-to-patient (C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis) and health care worker-to-patient (C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. krusei) was noted in both surgical ICU and neonatal ICU settings. These data provide further insight into the epidemiology of nosocomial candidiasis in the ICU setting.
Does a Long-Term Relationship Kill Romantic Love?:

This article examines the possibility that romantic love (with intensity, engagement, and sexual interest) can exist in long-term relationships. A review of taxonomies, theory, and research suggests that romantic love, without the obsession component typical of early stage romantic love, can and does exist in long-term marriages, and is associated with marital satisfaction, well-being, and high self-esteem. Supporting the separate roles of romantic love and obsession in long-term relationships, an analysis of a moderately large data set of community couples identified independent latent factors for romantic love and obsession and a subsample of individuals reporting very high levels of romantic love (but not obsession) even after controlling for social desirability. Finally, a meta-analysis of 25 relevant studies found that in long- and short-term relationships, romantic love (without obsession) was strongly associated with relationship satisfaction; but obsession was negatively correlated with it in long-term and positively in short-term relationships.
Assessing technology effects on human performance through trade space development and evaluation

Constructive simulation provides an exploratory environment for performance - effectiveness tradeoffs. However, technology trade spaces comprise many potential experiments, each containing a large sample space of experimental outcomes. Exploration of this entire space is an intractably large problem. We describe a methodology that focuses analysts only on regions of the trade space holding the most promise for effective analyses. Our methodology uses an iterative process to define the trade space, develop system and operator descriptions, parameterize the trade space and analyze performance against requirements. Each step is briefly described through the use of a notional attack aircraft crew system example. Four vectors through the trade space are identified to guide definition of specific issues modeled within the Combat Automation Requirements Testbed (CART) environment. CART constructive simulations serve a critical role by allowing rapid development and testing of alternative technologies in each area of interest.
Strong magnetoelectric coupling in highly oriented ZnO films deposited on Metglas substrates

We have studied the magnetoelectric coupling in ZnO films deposited on Metglas substrates. Highly c-axis oriented ZnO films were successfully deposited using pulsed laser deposition at a low temperature of 300 °C. High quality films with low surface roughness of 2.82 nm and thicknesses of about 2 μm were obtained. A large converse magnetoelectric coef- ficient of 3 × 10–6 s/m and a direct magnetoelectric coefficient of 47 mV/cm Oe at a low dc bias field of 17 Oe and frequency of 1 kHz were obtained by dynamic converse and direct magnetoelectric measurements, respectively. Our results demonstrate a significant magnetoelectric coupling in these layers. (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Weighted combination of multi-parametric MR imaging markers for evaluating radiation therapy related changes in the prostate

Recently, multi-parametric (MP) Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging (T2-weighted, MR Spectroscopy (MRS), Diffusion-weighted (DWI)) has shown great potential for evaluating the early effects of radiotherapy (RT) in the prostate. In this work we present a framework for quantitatively combiningMP-MRImarkers in order to assess RT changes on a voxel-by-voxel basis. The suite of segmentation, registration, feature extraction, and classifier tools presented in this work will allow for identification of (a) residual disease, and (b) new foci of cancer (local recurrence) within the prostate. Our scheme involves, (a) simultaneously evaluating differences in pre-, post-RTMR imaging markers, and (b) intelligently integrating and weighting the imaging marker changes obtained in (a) to generate a combined MP-MRI difference map that can better quantify treatment specific changes in the prostate.We demonstrate the applicability of our scheme in studying intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)-related changes for a cohort of 14 MP (T2w, MRS, DWI) prostate MRI patient datasets. In the first step, the different MRI protocols from pre- and post-IMRT MRI scans are affinely registered (accounting for gland shrinkage), followed by automated segmentation of the prostate capsule using an active shape model. Individual imaging marker difference maps are generated by calculating the differences of textural, metabolic, and functional MRI marker attributes, pre- and post-RT, on a per-voxel basis. These difference maps are then combined via an intelligent optimization scheme to generate a combined weighted difference map, where higher difference values on the map signify larger change (new foci of cancer), and low difference values signify no/small change post-RT. In the absence of histological ground truth (surgical or biopsy), radiologist delineated CaP extent on pre-, and post-RT MRI was employed as the ground truth for evaluating the accuracy of our scheme in successfully identifying MP-MRI related disease changes post-RT. A mean area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 73.2% was obtained via the weighted MP-MRI map, when evaluated against expert delineated CaP extent on pre-, post-RT MRI. The difference maps corresponding to the individual structural (T2w intensities), functional (ADC intensities) and metabolic (choline, creatine) markers yielded a corresponding mean AUC of 54.4%, 68.6% and 70.8%.
Low-cost, high-efficiency, and high-speed SiGe phototransistors in commercial BiCMOS

We present a new approach to obtain low-cost and high-performance SiGe phototransistors in a commercial BiCMOS process. Photoresponsivity of 2.7 A/W was obtained for 850-nm detection due to the transistor gain, corresponding to 393% quantum efficiency. Responsivities of 0.13 A/W and 0.07mA/W were achieved for 1060 and 1310 nm with SiGe absorption. With V/sub ce/=2 V, we measure a -3-dB bandwidth of up to 5.3 GHz for phototransistors with a 4-/spl mu/m/sup 2/ active area and 2.0 GHz for phototransistors with 60-/spl mu/m/sup 2/ active area and finger contacts. This high-efficiency and high-speed phototransistor is an enabling device for monolithic receiver integration.
Management of cognition and function: new results from the clinical trials programme of Aricept ® (donepezil HCl)

Ideally, treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD) should prevent or cure the disease. Unfortunately, these goals appear unobtainable in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, symptomatic relief is a feasible treatment option for AD patients and is available currently in the form of cholinesterase inhibitors such as tacrine, donepezil, metrifonate and rivastigmine. Donepezil is a second-generation, piperidine-class, selective and reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. Four double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of donepezil, involving over 1900 individuals with mild to moderate AD, have been published recently. In all trials, significant improvements in cognition were observed consistently for both therapeutic doses of donepezil (5 and 10 mg/d), relative to placebo. Similar donepezil-associated benefits were reported for global functioning. In addition, in one 24-wk, multinational clinical trial, patients receiving donepezil (10 mg/d) performed better than placebo-treated patients in their ability to perform complex daily functioning tasks. Donepezil was well tolerated in all trials, with approx. 79% of all donepezil-treated patients completing the studies compared with approx. 84% of placebo-treated patients. The most common adverse events associated with donepezil were generally cholinergic-induced and gastrointestinal in nature (e.g. nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting) which were generally mild, transient and tended to occur after the dose was increased to 10 mg/d from 5 mg/d after 1 wk only. Sleep disturbances also occurred as the clinical trials utilized a bedtime dosing regimen. There was no evidence of organ toxicity or clinically significant treatment-emergent laboratory test abnormalities. Thus, donepezil appears to be a beneficial symptomatic treatment for patients with mild to moderate AD.
Selective gas adsorption and unique phase transition properties in a stable magnesium metal-organic framework constructed from infinite metal chains

A 3D Magnesium MOF PCN-72 has been synthesized from the solvothermal reaction of Mg(NO3)2 and a linear ligand. This MOF has a unique structure with 1-dimensional (1D) channel as well as infinite metal chains, which resembles the topology of MIL-53. It is thermally and moisture stable. In situ powder X-ray diffraction studies reveal its interesting phase transitions under temperature change. Calculation shows that each phase of PCN-72 exhibits unique and unusual thermal expansion properties. After removing coordinated solvent at Mg chains, PCN-72 can selectively adsorb CO2 over N2.
Evolutionary coadaptation of the motif 2--acceptor stem interaction in the class II prolyl-tRNA synthetase system.

Known crystal structures of class II aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases complexed to their cognate tRNAs reveal that critical acceptor stem contacts are made by the variable loop connecting the β-strands o...
Call admission control for CDMA cellular networks using adaptive critic designs

The present call admission control scheme for CDMA cellular networks is built upon the novel learning control architecture with only a single module instead of two or three modules in adaptive critic designs. The call admission controller will perform learning in real-time as well as in off-line environments and the controller will improve its performance as it gains more experience. Another important contribution in the present work is the choice of utility function for the present self-learning control approach which makes the present learning process much more efficient than existing learning control methods.
Tamil expressives with initial voiced stops

In colloquial Tamil the form-class of expressives includes some items which have in each member of a reduplicated pair an initial voiced stop, alongside many with initial voiceless stops. This is unlike the form-classes of nouns and verbs which have in initial position only voiceless stops, except for some borrowings from Sanskrit or other sources. The writing system has no provisions for such initial voiced stops, except for a very few items with the ‘northern letter’ j-. The etymological dictionary shows that in general, when in colloquial Tamil these voiced stops appear in expressives, etyma that appear in the other Dravidian languages also have voiced stops; they are then to be reconstructed for South Dravidian or in some cases even for Proto-Dravidian, and it is to be assumed that they were found in all periods of Tamil even though they were not written as such.
GaN-FET based dual active bridge DC-DC converter

This paper describes a high step-down unregulated, fixed-ratio DC-DC converter (DCX) based on the dual active bridge (DAB) power stage operating at high switching frequency using enhancement-mode Gallium-Nitride-on-Silicon (GaN) transistors. The DAB power stage design as well as a comparison of losses using GaN and silicon MOS devices is based on a detailed state-plane analysis of resonant transitions. Experimental results are presented for a 150 W, 150-to-12 V prototype DCX operating at 1 MHz switching frequency.
Dam nation: A geographic census of American dams and their large-scale hydrologic impacts

Newly available data indicate that dams fragment the fluvial system of the continental United States and that their impact on river discharge is several times greater than impacts deemed likely as a result of global climate change. The 75,000 dams in the continental United States are capable of storing a volume of water almost equaling one year's mean runoff, but there is considerable geographic variation in potential surface water impacts. In some western mountain and plains regions, dams can store more than 3 year's runoff, while in the Northeast and Northwest, storage is as little as 25% of the annual runoff. Dams partition watersheds; the drainage area per dam varies from 44 km 2 (17 miles 2 ) per dam in New England to 811 km 2 (313 miles 2 ) per dam in the Lower Colorado basin. Storage volumes, indicators of general hydrologic effects of dams, range from 26,200 m 3 km 22 (55 acre-feet mile 22 ) in the Great Basin to 345,000 m 3 km 22 (725 acre-feet mile 22 ) in the South Atlantic region. The greatest river flow impacts occur in the Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, and the arid Southwest, where storage is up to 3.8 times the mean annual runoff. The nation's dams store 5000 m 3 (4 acre-feet) of water per person. Water resource regions have experienced individualized histories of cumulative increases in reservoir storage (and thus of downstream hydrologic and ecologic impacts), but the most rapid increases in storage occurred between the late 1950s and the late 1970s. Since 1980, increases in storage have been relatively minor.
Cellulase Supplementation Does Not Improve the Digestibility of a High-Forage Diet in Horses

Abstract Six mature Arabian geldings were used in a two-period crossover study to investigate the effects of cellulase supplementation on fiber digestion. Horses were randomly assigned to either a control (CO; n = 3) or a cellulase (CE; n = 3) treatment for the first period and then treatments were switched for period 2. Each period consisted of a 10-day diet adaptation followed by a 3-day total fecal collection. The enzyme mixture contained 40,000 cellulase units/g and was fed at a rate of 3 g/day split evenly between two feedings. During the diet adaptation period, horses had ad libitum access to timothy hay and were also fed 165 g whole oats as a carrier for the supplement. When eating the CO treatment, horses consumed 16% more hay than when on the CE treatment (P = .004). Fecal output also tended to be greater when horses consumed the CO treatment as compared with CE treatment (P = .07). No differences were found between treatments for fecal percent dry matter (DM%), fecal neutral detergent fiber (NDF), fecal acid detergent fiber (ADF), fecal nitrogen (N), or fecal gross energy (GE). There was a trend for horses consuming the CO treatment to digest more NDF than when consuming the CE treatment (34.6% ± 1.5 vs 31% ± 1.5; P = .07). Horses also digested a greater %ADF, %N, and Mcal of energy when consuming the CO treatment than when consuming the CE treatment (P
The cultural approach to language is ripe, let us expand our options to test it empirically. Commentary on "Modeling the cultural evolution of language" by Luc Steels.

For almost two decades now, Luc Steels has been a leading pioneer of two novel approaches to studying language evolution. Methodologically, he has pioneered the artificial approach [1, henceforth AA]; theoretically, he has pioneered the cultural approach [2, henceforth CA]. In this paper [3], Steels (i) situates these approaches within their broader scientific context, (ii) provides an integrated overview of the main contributions made by these approaches, and (iii) suggests a number of fundamental challenges for the CA. Since my comment concerning (i) and (ii) is extremely terse—Steels offers us a very timely and authoritative review—I will focus on (iii). Insightfully summarizing the key phenomena linguists have observed in natural languages, Steels identifies three challenges for the CA. The CA “should explain how a language system may emerge and continue to change”, it should “explain how a new language strategy can emerge and propagate in a population”, and it “should explain the semiotic dynamics we see in cultural language evolution”. Steels then describes how these challenges have been tackled empirically by researchers who adopt the AA, providing a number of exciting insights. Here I describe another empirical approach to tackle the challenges identified by Steels and suggest that this approach, which has been labeled Experimental Semiotics [4], provides a key methodological complement to the AA. In the last few years, researchers have begun studying languages that human adults develop de novo under controlled laboratory conditions [5–7]. To do this, experimental semioticians ask people to play cooperative games, typically in virtual environments. The games require communication but players cannot use pre-established forms of communication such as spoken or written languages. In order to succeed, players must develop novel languages. Most people do this relatively rapidly, providing new opportunities of investigation for students of language. Some of these opportunities parallel the opportunities offered by the AA, allowing us to test its findings with real human agents [e.g., 8,9]. However, I will not focus on these opportunities here. Rather, I will focus on an opportunity which does not parallel those offered by the AA, therefore providing a methodological complement to it. When faced with ES tasks, people sometime violate our expectations about their behavior. These violations are extremely valuable because they
American Higher Education and Income Inequality

AbstractThis paper demonstrates that increasing income inequality can contribute to the trends we see in American higher education, particularly in the selective, private nonprofit and public sectors. Given these institutions’ selective admissions and commitment to socioeconomic diversity, the paper demonstrates how increasing income inequality leads to higher tuition, costs, and financial aid. A numerical example is presented that estimates how much lower tuition, spending (costs), and financial aid would have been if household incomes in the United States had grown by the same aggregate amount between 1971 and 2009, but with no increase in income inequality. The policy implications include the government addressing rising income inequality directly or changing the incentives facing higher education and will be of interest to those concerned with the rising cost of higher education and issues of access and affordability.
Modeling in Nutrient Sensing for Agricultural and Environmental Applications

This chapter describes applications of modeling in nutrient prediction, such as nitrogen (N) for citrus production and phosphorus (P) for agricultural and environmental purposes. Heavy reliance on agricultural chemicals has raised many environmental and economic concerns. Some of the environmental concerns include the presence of agricultural chemicals in groundwater and eutrophication in lakes due to excessive nutrients. To prevent groundwater contamination or eutrophication in lakes, excess use of chemicals should be avoided. Timely and efficient supplies of nutrients for agricultural production are also essential for high yield and profit.
Resurrection of segregates of the polyphyletic genus Zigadenus s.l. (Liliales: Melanthiaceae) and resulting new combinations

Reinstatement of segregate genera and the accompanying recombinations for species in the former polyphyletic Zigadenus complex allow for a revised, practical taxonomy that defines monophyletic groups and reflects phylogenetic relationships within tribe Melanthieae (Melanthiaceae). Nine new species combinations result from recircumscription of Zigadenus Michaux and Stenanthium (A. Gray) Kunth and from recognition of Anticlea Kunth and Toxicoscordion Rydberg. The genus Stenanthella Rydberg and the basionyms for Stenanthium leimanthoides (A. Gray) Zomlefer & Judd (Amianthium leimanthoides A. Gray) and Anticlea sachalinensis (F. Schmidt) Zomlefer & Judd (Stenanthium sachalinense F. Schmidt) are lectotypified.
Saloons, Prostitutes, and Temperance in Alaska Territory . By Catherine Holder Spude.

Saloons, Prostitutes, and Temperance in Alaska Territory . By Catherine Holder Spude . (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2015. xvii + 326 pp. Illustrations, maps, tables, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. $24.95.) Historians have long assumed that the arrival of middle-class women in Alaska and the Yukon began to change the culture of wide-open saloons, gambling, and prostitution that characterized the early gold rush days. However, to my knowledge, only anecdotal evidence exists for this thesis. Now Catherine Holder Spude has done solid research into the archives, the city records of Skagway, and territorial court records to provide voluminous background and documentation on this fascinating topic. She provides … jhaigh{at}kpc.alaska.edu
Biological hot spots and the accumulation of marine dissolved organic matter in a highly productive ocean margin

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and major biochemicals (amino acids and carbohydrates) were measured during five cruises (2009–2010) to the Louisiana margin in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Concentrations of amino acids and carbohydrates were elevated at mid-salinities and were indicative of plankton production of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface waters. Hot spots of two compositionally distinct types of labile DOM were identified based on the relative abundances of amino acids and carbohydrates. Amino acid-rich hot spots occurred sporadically in regions of high phytoplankton biomass and were mostly observed between dusk and dawn, reflecting a grazing source. In contrast, carbohydrate-rich hot spots were more widespread and were often found in nutrient-poor waters, indicating the production of carbon-rich DOM associated with nutrient limitation. Major biochemical indicators and bioassay experiments indicated labile DOM comprised a relatively small fraction of the DOC. Most DOM was degraded and had a semi-labile nature. Substantial accumulations of marine (plankton-derived) DOC were observed in surface waters, particularly at mid-salinities during the summer. Microbial alteration of marine DOC and nutrient limitation of microbial utilization of carbon-rich DOM appeared largely responsible for the accumulation of DOC. The reservoir of accumulated marine DOC in the shelf surface mixed layer ranged from 0.11 Tg C to 0.23 Tg C, with the lowest and highest values occurring during winter and summer. Substantial cross-shelf export of semi-labile marine DOM occurred during the summer and provided a major carbon and energy subsidy to microbial food webs in offshore waters.
Role of Chemical Composition in the Enhanced Catalytic Activity of Pt-Based Alloyed Ultrathin Nanowires for the Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction under Alkaline Conditions

With the increased interest in the development of hydrogen fuel cells as a plausible alternative to internal combustion engines, recent work has focused on creating alkaline fuel cells (AFC), which employ an alkaline environment. Working in alkaline as opposed to acidic media yields a number of tangible benefits, including (i) the ability to use cheaper and plentiful precious-metal-free catalysts, due to their increased stability, (ii) a reduction in the amount of degradation and corrosion of Pt-based catalysts, and (iii) a longer operational lifetime for the overall fuel cell configuration. However, in the absence of Pt, no catalyst has achieved activities similar to those of Pt. Herein, we have synthesized a number of crystalline ultrathin PtM alloy nanowires (NWs) (M = Fe, Co, Ru, Cu, Au) in order to replace a portion of the costly Pt metal without compromising on activity while simultaneously adding in metals known to exhibit favorable synergistic ligand and strain effects with respect to the host lat...
The Great Normative Changes of the Twentieth Century

This chapter examines some of the great normative changes of the twentieth century. Alongside changes in manners, these include changes in religious ethics, human rights, racial civil rights, the women’s movement and the newer, broader movement around LGBTQ.
Intra and Interdomain Motions of the NMDA Receptor using Single Molecule FRET

Ionotropic glutamate receptors are tetrameric ligand-gated ion channels which mediate the majority of excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system. The NMDA receptor (NMDAR) in particular is unique in that it is an obligate heterotetramer that also requires a co-agonist glycine or D-serine. The amino-terminal domains (ATD) and ligand-binding domains (LBD) of the NMDAR have been shown to fold into a clamshell-like shape that close upon the introduction of their respective ligand. At the LBD, extent of cleft closure of the agonist-binding domain is one mechanism by which the agonist mediates channel activity. However, only an open-cleft or a closed-cleft conformation has been seen in crystal structures of the glycine-binding GluN1 subunit of the NMDAR, and no partially-closed cleft states have been observed, leaving unanswered the mechanisms of partial agonism. Similarly, it is still unclear how binding of allosteric modulators at the NMDAR ATD is propagated downward through the LBD and transmembrane domain to affect channel activity. Here, we have used single molecule FRET to examine NMDAR dynamics in order to address these questions. Unnatural amino acids were used to achieve specific or directional labeling of the protein. Our studies in the LBD reveal experimental evidence of the two-state model, with a common closed cleft conformation among different agonists with agonist efficacy dictated by its ability to stabilize that closed cleft. We also see that this stability, as measured by the fractional occupancy of the isolated domain in cleft-closure states below a threshold, correlates linearly with agonist efficacy, providing a link between LBD dynamics, cleft closure, and channel activity. Our inter-domain studies on the full-length receptor reveal large-scale intersubunit motions and striking differences in the conformational landscape when bound to agonist and allosteric modulators.
Exercise and Management of Body Weight in Older People Living with HIV

Previous researchers have demonstrated that increasing physical activity has positive effects regarding the prevention and management of chronic illnesses in the younger population with HIV. Little is known about the effects of exercise in older people living with HIV (OPLWH). The purpose of this review was to critically analyze the existing literature on effects of aerobic and resistance exercise in OPLWH on physical and metabolic impacts. Seven studies were identified between 2006 and 2014 in PubMed with the key words HIV, elderly, exercise, and metabolic syndrome. The studies in this review demonstrated an overall improvement in metabolic function and showed the importance of encouraging older adults to exercise on a regular basis. Further research is warranted to study the benefits of exercise in OPLWH.
Conclusions—The Perceptual Structure of Abstract Artwork

Up until this point in this book I have reviewed previous research and thinking in the area of perception as this relates to how we understand and perceive art. I have singled out the philosophical writing of Paul Crowther as being especially pertinent to my research. I then presented the findings of my own research into the characteristics I used to evaluate and understand twelve pieces of abstract three-dimensional abstract art. In this concluding chapter I summarise the findings from my research, make positive claims regarding theory development and I also offer caveats. I compare and contrast the findings from my research into the perception of two- and three-dimensional art and provide suggestions as to the direction of future research. I conclude that the structural model that I have developed may be thought of as a meta-ontological and meta-mereological account of the experience of abstract three-dimensional art.
Social Service Organizations, Discretionary Funding, and Neighborhood Crime Rates

This article explores whether or not the presence and funding of neighborhood organizations are associated with local crime rates and how this impact differs by level of crime. The small body of li...
Chemoreception drives plastic consumption in a hard coral

The drivers behind microplastic (up to 5mm in diameter) consumption by animals are uncertain and impacts on foundational species are poorly understood. We investigated consumption of weathered, unfouled, biofouled, pre-production and microbe-free National Institute of Standards plastic by a scleractinian coral that relies on chemosensory cues for feeding. Experiment one found that corals ingested many plastic types while mostly ignoring organic-free sand, suggesting that plastic contains phagostimulents. Experiment two found that corals ingested more plastic that wasn't covered in a microbial biofilm than plastics that were biofilmed. Additionally, corals retained ~8% of ingested plastic for 24h or more and retained particles appeared stuck in corals, with consequences for energetics, pollutant toxicity and trophic transfer. The potential for chemoreception to drive plastic consumption in marine taxa has implications for conservation.
Social Justice and Sustainability Efforts in the U.S.-Mexico Transborder Region

The 1983 La Paz Agreement originally defined the U.S.-Mexico transborder region as 62.15 miles (100 km) on each side of the international border. The La Paz Agreement between the U.S. and Mexico created the first bilateral cooperation program on issues of environmental quality along the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to La Paz, cities throughout the U.S. adopted and have continued to adopt various sustainability policies to address environmental concerns. However, in the U.S.-Mexico transborder region where cities are fundamentally unique from communities in the interior United States, local sustainability policies and issues of environmental social justice are still in their infancy and deficient environmental conditions continue to exist in some border areas. While sustainability and social justice are two important goals for city governments, harmonizing both values is challenging due to their conflicting policy natures. This study examines if transborder cities pursue social justice and sustainability simultaneously despite the challenge of balancing nebulous goals. This study focuses on factors that influence different levels of environmental sustainability measured by greenhouse gas (GHG) amounts among transborder communities. The results indicate that U.S. transborder cities with densely populated areas and the geographical size of the community contribute to higher levels of GHG emissions and less equitable sustainability.
Do the media unintentionally make mass killers into celebrities? An assessment of free advertising and earned media value

ABSTRACTIn recent years, some critics have suggested that the media make mass killers into celebrities by giving them too much attention. However, whether the media coverage these offenders receive actually approaches the amounts given to celebrities has never been tested. This study compared perpetrators of seven mass killings during 2013–2017 with more than 600 celebrities over the same time period. Findings indicate that the mass killers received approximately $75 million in media coverage value, and that for extended periods following their attacks they received more coverage than professional athletes and only slightly less than television and film stars. In addition, during their attack months, some mass killers received more highly valued coverage than some of the most famous American celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, and Jennifer Aniston. Finally, most mass killers received more coverage from newspapers and broadcast/cable news than the public interest they...
Spectral Tuning of Multiple Germanium Vacancy Centers in Diamond with Mechanical Strain

We experimentally demonstrate spectral tuning of the optical transitions of the germanium vacancy (GeV) center using strain in a diamond microcantilever. The GeV shows a large strain susceptibility on the order of PHz/strain. Spectral alignment of two initially spectrally separated GeVs is achieved.
Critical Role for the Microbiota in CX3CR1+ Intestinal Mononuclear Phagocyte Regulation of Intestinal T Cell Responses.

The intestinal barrier is vulnerable to damage by microbiota-induced inflammation that is normally restrained through mechanisms promoting homeostasis. Such disruptions contribute to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases including inflammatory bowel disease. We identified a regulatory loop whereby, in the presence of the normal microbiota, intestinal antigen-presenting cells (APCs) expressing the chemokine receptor CX3CR1 reduced expansion of intestinal microbe-specific T helper 1 (Th1) cells and promoted generation of regulatory T cells responsive to food antigens and the microbiota itself. We identified that disruption of the microbiota resulted in CX3CR1+ APC-dependent inflammatory Th1 cell responses with increased pathology after pathogen infection. Colonization with microbes that can adhere to the epithelium was able to compensate for intestinal microbiota loss, indicating that although microbial interactions with the epithelium can be pathogenic, they can also activate homeostatic regulatory mechanisms. Our results identify a cellular mechanism by which the microbiota limits intestinal inflammation and promotes tissue homeostasis.
Racial Differences in the Predictors of Interest in Bariatric Surgery in the Rural, Southeastern USA.

Although African-Americans have a higher prevalence of severe obesity than Whites, they are less likely to have bariatric surgery. Demographic, healthcare, and knowledge variables contribute to this racial disparity but have not been examined separately by race. Examine the role of demographic, healthcare, and knowledge variables in African-Americans’ versus Whites’ interest in bariatric surgery. A random sample of 293 African-American and 259 White adults were surveyed door-to-door in the rural south. The survey assessed weight, height, demographics, access to healthcare, and knowledge of and interest in bariatric surgery. African-Americans had significantly lower knowledge of bariatric surgery than Whites but there were no racial differences in interest in the surgery. The logistic regression predicting African-Americans’ interest in the surgery from demographic, healthcare, obesity, and knowledge variables revealed that obesity (OR = 4.7) and the health benefits (OR = 3.3) were the only predictors. The same regression for Whites found that knowing someone who had the surgery (OR = 3.7) was the sole predictor. Knowledge variables may be stronger than healthcare and demographic variables as predictors of interest in bariatric surgery among rural, southern, African-Americans and Whites. Whites’ willingness to consider the surgery might be enhanced by favorable stories/blogs by those who had the surgery, whereas African-Americans’ interest might be increased by information on the additional health benefits of the surgery. These culturally tailored messages from healthcare providers might increase utilization of and reduce racial disparities in bariatric surgery.
Correction to: Do Insurance Mandates Affect Racial Disparities in Outcomes for Children with Autism?

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the analysis of the Tables 4 and 5.
An IL-6 receptor antagonist attenuates postpartum anhedonia, but has no effect on anhedonia precipitated by subchronic stress in female rats.

Nearly 60–80% of women experience some form of sadness, anxiety, or anhedonia in the weeks following the birth of a child (Patel et al. 23(2):534–42, 2012; Degner 10: 359;j4692, 2017); however, the exact mechanisms that precipitate these changes in mood postpartum are still unknown. It is well-known that the function of the peripheral immune system is significantly altered during pregnancy in order to protect the developing fetus from being rejected by the maternal immune system (Fallon et al. 17(1):7–17, 2002), and we have recently found a dramatic change in the central immune system during and just after pregnancy in female rats (Sherer et al. 66:201–209, 2017). We observed anhedonia in Sprague–Dawley rat dams on the day of birth that is associated with an increase in interleukin (IL)-6 expression in the brain on the day of birth (Posillico and Schwarz 298(Pt B):218–28, 2016). The goal of the current experiments was to determine whether inhibiting the IL-6 receptor could prevent onset of this postpartum anhedonia, or anhedonia precipitated by subchronic stress in non-pregnant females. Treatment with an IL-6 receptor antibody attenuated postpartum anhedonia as characterized by a decrease in sucrose preference. In contrast, this antibody had no effect on the decrease in sucrose preference induced following a week of forced swim stress in non-pregnant female rats. The results of these studies suggest that the molecular mechanisms that underlie the onset of anhedonia following birth or mild stress in female rats may be distinct.
Pediatric button battery ingestion: Publication trends in the literature

Abstract Objective Examine literature for evidence of changes in button battery (BB) research over time including: amount and rate of literature output, levels of evidence, and the location of the research. Methods Literature review of all peer-reviewed button battery literature available online through Pubmed and Embase was performed. Inclusion criteria were applied to ensure relevance. Publications were grouped into 4 time periods. Various study characteristics were compared between groups. Results A total of 255 original research studies were reviewed. A significant increase in study number was found with a 664% increase comparing 2009–2018 and 1977–1988 (p Conclusions Button battery ingestion in the pediatric population has been an important topic of discussion among various medical specialties due to a rise in morbidity and mortality surrounding these ingestions. Despite the increase in number of studies and authors, the strength of these studies has remained largely unchanged.
SWIFTCORE: a tool for the context-specific reconstruction of genome-scale metabolic networks.

High-throughput omics technologies have enabled the comprehensive reconstructions of genome-scale metabolic networks for many organisms. However, only a subset of reactions is active in each cell which differs from tissue to tissue or from patient to patient. Reconstructing a subnetwork of the generic metabolic network from a provided set of context-specific active reactions is a demanding computational task. We propose swiftcc and swiftcore as effective methods for flux consistency checking and the context-specific reconstruction of genome-scale metabolic networks which consistently outperform the previous approaches. We have derived an approximate greedy algorithm which efficiently scales to increasingly large metabolic networks. swiftcore is freely available for non-commercial use in the GitHub repository at https://mtefagh.github.io/swiftcore/.
Anterior urethral valve: an unusual cause of urethral obstruction

The case of an 11-year-old boy with an anterior urethral valve is reported. A weak urinary stream and urinary dribbling were his main symptoms. Clinical evaluation consisted of renal ultrasonography, an intravenous urogram, a voiding cystourethrogram, and panendoscopy. Transurethral excision of the valve achieved a satisfactory result.
Variation, Genetics, and Evolution of the Primate Craniofacial Complex

The primate craniofacial complex is characterized by tremendous variation in size and configuration. This variation has played an important role in evolutionary inquiries, as the craniofacial skeleton, along with the dentition, provides the primary basis for phylogenetic assessments of fossil specimens. Numerous studies have explored the functional influences and constraints associated with the craniofacial complex, which have significance in biomedical applications, but there are relatively few inquiries into the genetic underpinnings of this important anatomy in nonhuman primates. This chapter describes efforts to characterize the genetic influences on the craniofacial complex in animal models in general, and in humans and nonhuman primates. The evolutionary biology and biomedical significance of these studies are explored.
Outsourced External Audit Work and Audit Quality

We examine whether audit quality is reduced when part of the audit is conducted by auditors other than the audit firm signing the audit report (“other” or “participating” auditors) which typically occurs in a multinational group audit. Prior literature suggests group audits could face difficulties in coordinating work across multiple countries and legal jurisdictions. PCAOB concerns over audit quality when participating auditors are involved led to a requirement that audit firms disclose their use of participating auditors on Form AP. Consistent with concerns of the PCAOB, we find audit quality is lower when participating auditors are involved in the engagement compared to those without participating auditors. In analyses on a sample limited to engagements with participating auditors, we find having more than one participating auditor leads to lower audit quality relative to having only one participating auditor. We find no evidence to suggest that the percentage of the audit conducted by participating auditors influences audit quality. Other than the legal origin of the participating auditor, we find no evidence to suggest participating auditor characteristics (i.e. affiliated with the lead Big 4 auditor; not registered with the PCAOB; inexperienced with SEC clients of their own; or domiciled in a country that does not allow PCAOB inspections) influence audit quality. Lastly, we find higher audit fees for engagements that use more than one participating auditor, suggesting group audits entail a higher risk premium and increased costs to coordination.
Police strategy development: the New Zealand police prevention strategy

In 2009, the New Zealand Police implemented a comprehensive program called Policing Excellence, which by 2011 became Prevention First. This strategy was designed to place victims of crime and the p...
Subsonic Natural-Laminar-Flow Airfoils

From its very beginning, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) recognized the importance of airfoils as a cornerstone of aeronautical research and development. In its first Annual Report to the Congress of the United States, the NACA called for “the evolution of more efficient wing sections of practical form, embodying suitable dimensions for an economical structure, with moderate travel of the center of pressure and still affording a large range of angle of attack combined with efficient action” (Ref. 1). By 1920, the Committee had published a compendium of experimental results from various sources (Ref. 2). Shortly thereafter, the development of airfoils by the NACA was initiated at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory (Ref. 3). The first series of airfoils, designated “M sections” for Max M. Munk, was tested in the Langley Variable-Density Tunnel (Ref. 4). This series was significant because it represented a systematic approach to airfoil development as opposed to earlier, random, cut-and-try approaches. This empirical approach, which involved modifying the geometry of an existing airfoil, culminated in the development of the four- and five-digit-series airfoils in the mid 1930’s (Refs. 5–7).
A functional long-term 2D serum-free human hepatic in vitro system for drug evaluation.

Human in vitro hepatic models generate faster drug toxicity data with higher human predictability compared to animal models. However, for long-term studies, current models require the use of serum and 3D architecture, limiting their utility. Maintaining a functional long-term human in vitro hepatic culture that avoids complex structures and serum would improve the value of such systems for preclinical studies. This would also enable a more straightforward integration with current multi-organ devices to study human systemic toxicity to generate an alternative model to chronic animal evaluations. A human primary hepatocyte culture system was characterized for 28 days in 2D and serum-free defined conditions. Under the studied conditions, human primary hepatocytes maintained their characteristic morphology, hepatic markers and functions for 28 days. The acute and chronic administration of known drugs validated the sensitivity of the system for drug testing. This human 2D model represents a realistic system to evaluate hepatic function for long-term drug studies, without the need of animal serum, confounding variable in most models, and with less complexity and resultant cost compared to most 3D models. The defined culture conditions can easily be integrated into complex multi-organ in vitro models for studying systemic effects driven by the liver function for long-term evaluations.