cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Worldwide abundance and distribution of Bacillus thuringiensis isolates

We found the insect control agent Bacillus thuringiensis to be a ubiquitous soil microorganism. Using acetate selection to screen soil samples, we isolated B. thuringiensis in 785 of 1,115 soil samples. These samples were obtained in the United States and 29 other countries. A total of 48% of the B. thuringiensis isolates (8,916 isolates) fit the biochemical description of known varieties, while 52% represented undescribed B. thuringiensis types. Over 60% (1,052 isolates) of the isolates tested for toxicity were toxic to insects in the orders Lepidoptera or Diptera. Soil samples were collected from various habitats, including those habitats with different numbers of insects. The current presence of insects did not predict the presence of B. thuringiensis in a particular soil sample. B. thuringiensis was most abundant in samples from Asia.
Effects of tailored knowledge enhancement on colorectal cancer screening preference across ethnic and language groups

Abstract Objective Tailoring to psychological constructs (e.g. self-efficacy, readiness) motivates behavior change, but whether knowledge tailoring alone changes healthcare preferences – a precursor of behavior change in some studies – is unknown. We examined this issue in secondary analyses from a randomized controlled trial of a tailored colorectal cancer (CRC) screening intervention, stratified by ethnicity/language subgroups (Hispanic/Spanish, Hispanic/English, non-Hispanic/English). Methods Logistic regressions compared effects of a CRC screening knowledge-tailored intervention versus a non-tailored control on preferences for specific test options (fecal occult blood or colonoscopy), in the entire sample ( N =1164) and the three ethnicity/language subgroups. Results Pre-intervention, preferences for specific tests did not differ significantly between study groups (experimental, 64.5%; control 62.6%). Post-intervention, more experimental participants (78.6%) than control participants (67.7%) preferred specific tests ( P P Conclusion Knowledge tailoring increased preferences for specific CRC screening tests across ethnic and language groups. Practice Implications If the observed preference changes are found to translate into behavior changes, then knowledge tailoring alone may enhance healthy behaviors.
Achievement Orientations and Strategies A Cultural Comparison of Tanzanian Street Children, Former Street Children, and School-Going Children

Cultures of achievement among street children (n = 60), former street children (n = 63), and school-going children (n = 60), all of whom share the Kilimanjaro culture of Tanzania, are compared. The Thematic Apperception Test, a projective test known to evoke achievement concerns and originally designed for clinical psycho-diagnoses, was used to generate narratives for thematic analyses. The approach is child centered, allowing children to be imaginative under low-stress conditions. Analysis showed that each subculture had a unique achievement orientation and strategy. Among street children, emerging themes of heroic achievement orientation were tempered with paralytic strategies through which goals could not be realized. Former street children’s emergent themes emphasized the presence of beneficial friendships and thus supportive achievement orientation, while strategy themes included exercising choices. School-going children showed deserved achievement orientation in which hard work leads to rewards and ...
11 Reaction mechanisms

This chapter provides an overview of the 2004 literature pertaining to the mechanism and kinetics of reactions involving neutral radicals and radical ions in solution. This overview begins by highlighting significant contributions to our understanding of fundamental classes of reactions: substitution, addition, and fragmentation. Afterwards, rearrangement reactions, which are intramolecular variants of these fundamental classes, are examined. With regard to a specific subclass of substitution reactions, Evans and Polanyi provided a foundation for understanding structure–reactivity relationships in hydrogen atom abstraction processes in 1938. Hence, it is particularly noteworthy that in 2004, a great deal of research effort was still directed towards improving our understanding of this fundamental class of radical reactions. There are many reasons for this continued interest: radical reactions are important in biological systems, and a number of fundamental processes (e.g., enzyme-catalyzed oxidations, lipid oxidations, etc.) involve hydrogen atom abstraction. Another facet of this chemistry is related to antioxidants, natural and synthetic compounds whose purpose is to protect synthetic materials (e.g., organic polymers), the foods we eat, and for that matter, our bodies (vitamin supplements, disease treatment) from the harmful effects of radicals. Also, the recent discovery that certain nitroxyl radicals can selectively abstract hydrogen, and that this chemistry can be used in industrially relevant processes, has driven a great deal of research reported in 2004.
Where Have We Been, How Did We Get There, and Where Shall We Go?

Commentators expressed a wide variety of views on my evaluation of the state of assessment center (AC) research and practice. In this response, I first trace the evolution of the construct validity paradox “urban legend.” Next, I consider the commentators’ comments as they relate to (a) my recommendation to abandon dimension-based ACs in lieu of task- or role-based structures (b) my recommendation to discontinue design fix attempts toward making ACs conform to multitrait–multimethod construct validity criteria, and (c) considerations of construct validity and validation evidence. Finally, I offer some directions for future AC research and practice.
Analysis of coupling characteristics of coplanar waveguides and microstrip lines to multi-layer dielectric media

The spectral domain technique is used to analyze the coupling characteristics of coplanar waveguide and microstrip lines to highly lossy multilayer dielectric media. The possibility of exciting surface waves and hence generating and coupling nontransverse electric field components is also investigated. It is shown that surface waves will not be excited in the substrate when a high-dielectric lossy media is placed on top of the coplanar structure. In the presence of a superstrate between a high-dielectric lossy medium and the coplanar waveguide, however, the quasi-static TEM and TM/sub 0/ modes may be excited. An axial electric field component can then be coupled to the loss medium. The developed solution was also utilized to optimize the coupling performance of these structures to lossy dielectric media. It is shown that to enhance the EM coupling, higher frequencies should be used, the dielectric constant of the substrate should be small, and the width of the center conductor and the air gaps in a coplanar waveguide should be as large as possible. >
Perseveration in extinction and in discrimination reversal tasks following selective frontal ablations in Macaca mulatta

Abstract In order to determine whether the perseverative syndrome exhibited by monkeys with frontal lobe lesions can be fractionated by partial frontal lesions, monkeys with dorsolateral frontal lesions, those with orbital frontal lesions, and those with partial orbital lesions were tested in three tasks: extinction of a food rewarded bar pressing response, spatial discrimination reversals and object discrimination reversals. Perseveration of bar-pressing in extinction was selectively related to the posteromedial or “limbic” portion of orbital frontal cortex. Deficits in object discrimination reversal, on the other hand, were specifically associated with the lateral sector of orbital cortex and possibly to the adjoining ventral portion of dorsolateral frontal cortex as well. Impairment in spatial discrimination reversal was most severe in monkeys with dorsolateral frontal removal. These findings suggest that the perseverative effects of orbital frontal ablation can be fractionated into at least two components and further support the view that dorsolateral frontal cortex is associated with spatial factors.
Multi-scale Predictability of High-Impact Weather in the Battlespace Environment

New capabilities have been developed for the Navy's mesoscale and global weather ensemble forecast systems. Inclusion of model perturbations is found to have a significant impact on both global and mesoscale ensemble performance. New methods for perturbing the initial conditions provide superior ensemble performance. The ensemble systems provide a probabilistic forecast capability for the occurrence of high-impact weather events, along with expected forecast skill information.
Biogeophysical factors influencing soil respiration and mineral nitrogen content in an old field soil

Microbivorous grazers are thought to enhance nutrient mineralization. The predicted effect of microbivory on nutrient cycling depends on the pore habitat model used. We evaluated CO2 evolution and mineral N content of an old field soil to test two alternative habitat hypotheses. The exclusion hypothesis predicts that nematodes are separated from their microbial food resources in water-filled pores when soils dry, resulting in slower rates of biogeochemical transformations. The enclosure hypothesis predicts that nematode densities increase relative to their forage in smaller, isolated water volumes when soils dry, accelerating rates of biogeochemical transformations. We investigated the effect of soil moisture on the relationship between microbial biomass, microbivorous and predaceous nematodes, soil respiration and mineral N concentrations in an old field five times during the course of a year. We could evaluate the validity of the two habitat hypotheses for the entire field only in August 1997 because that was the only sampling date when maximum water-filled pore diameters were smaller than microbivorous nematode body diameters in all sampled field locations. The mean microbivorous and predaceous nematode abundances for the field in August were greater than 6300 kg 21 and 80,000 kg 21 , respectively. Accordingly, the exclusion hypothesis was rejected. Predaceous nematode abundance was markedly higher in August than at any other sampling date. The high abundance of predators present suggests that detrital resources were not limiting productivity and that predators and microbivores were in enclosures, allowing predators to efficiently access their prey. Spatial maps, in agreement with linear correlation analyses, suggest that under our driest sampling conditions, soil respiration and mineral N content were controlled by microbivory and predation. q 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
A within‐individual study of interpersonal conflict as a work stressor: Dispositional and situational moderators

Summary Focusing on interpersonal conflict as a work stressor, the authors used a within-subjects research design to examine the effect of conflict episodes on employees’ negative affect on the job. The roles of agreeableness and social support in moderating the negative effects of conflict episodes were also examined. A two-week experience-sampling study revealed that interpersonal conflict influenced employees’ intraindividual fluctuations in negative affect. As predicted, agreeableness and social support influenced individuals’ patterns of affective responses to conflict, such that conflict was more strongly associated with negative affect for agreeable employees, and for thosewith lower levels of social support at work. Overall, the results suggest that both personality (agreeableness) and context (social support) significantly moderate the affective implications of interpersonal conflict at work. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A comparative analysis of Orem's self‐care model and Peplau's interpersonal theory

The process of choosing a nursing model or theory to guide one's clinical practice, curriculum development or theoretical framework for research can be facilitated by analysis of and comparison of existing theories, with each other and then with one's personal philosophies. This paper summarizes the major concepts and assumptions of Dorothea Orem's self-care model and Hildegard Peplau's interpersonal theory, and then compares the two for similarities and differences in their origins of theory development, meanings related to nursing metaparadigm concepts, logical adequacy, usefulness and generalizability, parsimony and testability.
Induction Motor Load Dynamics: Impact on Voltage Recovery Phenomena

This paper addresses the impact of load dynamics, and in particular induction motor loads, on voltage recovery after disturbances. The paper proposes a methodology that is based on load flow techniques with advanced modeling capabilities, augmented by a simplified induction motor dynamic model. The objective is to realistically capture the dynamic characteristics of voltage recovery phenomena, avoiding, however, the full scale transient simulation. The approach uses the quadratized power flow model with explicit induction motor representation. The paper describes the modeling approach and the overall methodology for evaluating the load dynamics on voltage recovery. Preliminary results of the application of the method on a simple power system with load dynamics are also included in the paper
Fast interpolation method for field evaluation in a periodic unit cell

Iterative integral equation (IE) solvers, which are widely used to analyze problems in a unit cell of an (infinitely) periodic structure, often are slow due to the need to evaluate the periodic Green's function (PGF) and its convolution with an extended source. FFT-based methods [1] speed up calculations but are suboptimal for general surfaces problems and require O(N) time consuming PGF evaluations, for N sources and observers. Fast Multipole Methods (FMMs) for statics exist [2]. However, electromagnetic periodic hierarchical-type approaches are more challenging and only one such (FMM) extension for the specific case of doubly periodic free-space problems was very recently presented [3]. Fast hierarchical methods for IE solvers for general periodic problems are yet to be developed with many applications in microwave engineering and optics.
Is the Free Will Defence Irrelevant

Recently Steven E. Boer gave another turn to the discussion of the free will defence by claiming that the free will defence is irrelevant to the justification of moral evil. Conceding that free will may be of real value, Boer claims that free will could have been allowed creatures without that leading to any moral evil at all. What I shall hereafter refer to as the ‘Boer reform’ is the suggestion that God could have allowed creatures to exercise free choices but have intervened with ‘coincidence miracles’ to prevent all the intended evil from actually occurring. What is important to the free will defence, according to Boer, is the ability to choose freely and not the ability to succeed in effecting what we have intended to accomplish. It is no intrusion on the freedom of our wills for God to prevent us from accomplishing what we tried to do with our free wills as long as we were free to try.
Was the Bank Holiday of 1933 Caused by a Run on the Dollar

International, rather than domestic, causes of both the Bank Holiday of 1933 and the calm in the banking system that followed are emphasized here. New information on gold losses by the New York Federal Reserve, rather than domestic currency hoarding, serve to explain the Bank Holiday's specific timing. Expectations that Roosevelt would devalue the dollar stimulated much of the gold loss. I also argue that Roosevelt's restrictions on gold holdings and foreign exchange dealings and his devaluation of the dollar by 60 percent were more important to the stability of the banking system after the Bank Holiday than was deposit insurance.
Design and analysis of a novel command governor architecture for shaping the transient response of nonlinear uncertain dynamical systems

In this paper, we develop a new control framework for nonlinear uncertain dynamical systems. The proposed methodology consists of a novel command governor architecture and an adaptive controller. The command governor is a linear dynamical system which adjusts the trajectory of a given command to follow an ideal reference system capturing a desired closed-loop dynamical system behavior in transient time. Specifically, we show that the controlled nonlinear uncertain dynamical system approximates the ideal reference system by properly choosing the design parameter of the command governor. In addition, the purpose of the adaptive controller is to asymptotically assure that the error between the controlled nonlinear uncertain dynamical system and the ideal reference system vanishes in steady state. Therefore, the proposed methodology not only has closed-loop transient and steady state performance guarantees but can also shape the transient response by adjusting the trajectory of the given command with the command governor. We highlight that there exists a trade-off between the adaptive controller's learning rate and the command governor's design parameter. This key feature of our framework allows rapid suppression of system uncertainties without resorting to a high learning rate in the adaptive controller. Furthermore, we discuss the robustness properties of the proposed approach with respect to high-frequency dynamical system content such as measurement noise and/or unmodeled dynamics.
Raman spectroscopy of bone metastasis

Raman spectroscopy of bone has been used to characterize chemical changes occurring in diseases such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and osteomyelitis. Metastasis of cancer into bone causes changes to bone quality that are similar to those observed in osteoporosis, such as decreased bone strength, but with an accelerated timeframe. In particular, osteolytic (bone degrading) lesions in bone metastasis have a marked effect on patient quality of life because of increased risk of fractures, pain, and hypercalcemia. We use Raman spectroscopy to examine bone from two different mouse models of osteolytic bone metastasis. Raman spectroscopy measures physicochemical information which cannot be obtained through standard biochemical and histological measurements. This study was reviewed and approved by the University of Michigan University Committee on the Care and Use of Animals. Two mouse models of prostate cancer bone metastasis, RM1 (n=3) and PC3-luc (n=4) were examined. Tibiae were injected with RM1 or PC3-luc cancer cells, while the contralateral tibiae received a placebo injection for use as controls. After 2 weeks of incubation, the mice were sacrificed and the tibiae were examined by Raman microspectroscopy (λ=785 nm). Spectroscopic markers corresponding to mineral stoichiometry, bone mineralization, and mineral crystallinity were compared in spectra from the cancerous and control tibiae. X-ray imaging of the tibia confirmed extensive osteolysis in the RM1 mice, with tumor invasion into adjoining soft tissue and moderate osteolysis in the PC3-luc mice. Raman spectroscopic markers indicate that osteolytic lesions are less mineralized than normal bone tissue, with an altered mineral stoichiometry and crystallinity.
Slope basins, headless canyons, and submarine palaeoseismology of the Cascadia accretionary complex

A combination of geomorphological, seismic reflection and geotechnical data constrains this study of sediment erosion and deposition at the toe of the Cascadia accretionary prism. We conducted a series of ALVIN dives in a region south of Astoria Canyon to examine the interrelationship of fluid flow and slope failure in a series of headless submarine canyons. Elevated head gradients at the inflection point of canyons have been inferred to assist in localized failures that feed sediment into a closed slope basin. Measured head gradients are an order of magnitude too low to cause seepage-induced slope failure alone; we therefore propose transient slope failure mechanisms. Intercanyon slopes are uniformly unscarred and smooth, although consolidation tests indicate that up to several metres of material may have been removed. A sheet-like failure would remove sediment uniformly, preserving the observed smooth intercanyon slope. Earthquake-induced liquefaction is a likely trigger for this type of sheet failure as the slope is too steep and short for sediment flow to organize itself into channels. Bathymetric and seismic reflection data suggest sediment in a trench slope basin between the second and third ridges from the prism’s deformation is derived locally. A comparison of the amounts of material removed from the slopes and that in the basin shows that the amount of material removed from the slopes may slightly exceed the amount of material in the basin, implying that a small amount of sediment has escaped the basin, perhaps when the second ridge was too low to form a sufficient dam, or through a gap in the second ridge to the south. Regardless, almost 80% of the material shed off the slopes around the basin is deposited locally, whereas the remaining 20% is redeposited on the incoming section and will be re-accreted.
Implications of constructed biologic subtype and its relationship to locoregional recurrence following mastectomy

We examined the prognostic value of biologic subtype on locoregional recurrence (LRR) after mastectomy in a cohort of low risk women who did not receive adjuvant radiation therapy. A total of 819 patients with invasive breast cancer underwent mastectomy from January 2000 through December 2005. No patient received preoperative chemotherapy. Estrogen receptor (ER) receptor, progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status were used to construct the following 4 subtypes: i) ER+ or PR+ and HER2- (HR+/HER2-), ii) ER+ or PR+ and HER2+ (HR+/HER2+), iii) ER- and PR- and HER2+ (HR-/HER2+)and iv) ER- and PR- and HER2- (HR-/HER2-). LRR-free survival was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association between time-to-event outcomes and patient prognostic factors. At a median follow-up of 58 months, five-year cumulative incidence of LRR for the entire cohort was 2.5%. Subtype specific LRR rates were 1% for HR+/HER2-, 6.5% in HR+/HER2+, 2% for HR-/HER2+ and 10.9% for HR-/HER2- (P 50 at diagnosis (HR 0.31 (CI 0.12 to 0.80), P = 0.02) was associated with improved LRR-free survival. Among the HR-/HER2- subtypes, five-year LRR incidence was 23.4% in patients with positive lymph nodes compared to 7.8% for lymph node negative patients (P = 0.01), although this association did not reach significance when the analysis was limited to HR-/HER2- women with only one to three positive lymph nodes (15.6% versus 7.8%, P = 0.11). Constructed subtype is a prognostic factor for LRR after mastectomy among low risk women not receiving adjuvant radiation therapy, although rates of LRR remain low across subtypes. Patients with node positive, HR-/HER2- type tumors were more likely to experience LRR following mastectomy alone. Prospective studies to further investigate the potential benefit of adjuvant radiation therapy in these women are warranted.
Psicoterapia v/s Farmacoterapia I, Aproximación inicial a las fronteras disciplinarias e ideológicas frente a una praxis compartida.

Resumen En el campo del tratamiento de los desordenes mentales existen hitos a lo largo de la historia moderna de la ciencia que sirven de referencia para poder entender el estado actual de dos importantes disciplinas cuyos campos disciplinarios se yuxtaponen. El objetivo de este articulo es aportar una primera reflexion sobre las formas de evaluar el campo de los desordenes mentales, se establece un especial enfasis critico en el rol de la academia como ente formador y reproductor de estos grupos disciplinarios, ademas se introduce el debate sobre el papel de los psicologos clinicos frente al uso de psicofarmacos, proponiendo un debate que supere la reproduccion de ciertos campos ideologicos que se traducen en “trincheras disciplinarias” las cuales se enfrentan al momento de establecer la praxis clinica en el campo social. Palabras clave: prescripcion de psicofarmacos, formacion universitaria, psicoterapia. Summary In the field of mental disorder treatment, there are landmarks throughout the modern history of science that are useful as references to understand the present state of two important disciplines whose disciplinary fields are juxtaposed. The objective of this article is to contribute in the “mental disorder evaluation” issue, it settles down a special critical emphasis in the academy role, in addition a debate is introduced to discuss what could be the role of psychologists in front of the prescription of psychopharmacs, proposing a meditation that pretends to go further the reproduction of certain ideological ideas that sometimes become "disciplinary trenches". Key words: psychopharmacs prescription, university formation, psycotherapy.
Quantitative autoradiographic (QAR) evaluation of bombesin receptor (GRPR) expression in normal and malignant tissue

506 Objectives Determination of radioligand binding to ex-vivo fresh-frozen sections using quantitative digital autoradiography (QAR), can potentially provide accurate quantification of target receptor expression in a wide range of tissues and tumor types. This would allow evaluation of radiotracer performance with clinical material, and assist in the early-stage development of novel radiotracers. Methods To validate the QAR method, we performed 125I-Tyr4-bombesin competition binding assays in vitro using PC3 cells, and assessed ligand binding by standard well counting and QAR. Next, we performed 125I-Tyr4-bombesin ligand binding studies on fresh-frozen murine PC3 and LnCAP xenograft tumor sections using QAR to assess radioligand binding, using unlabelled Tyr4-bombesin as a competitor. Normal pancreas (positive) and muscle (negative) were used as control tissues. Ligand binding curve fitting was used to determine GRPR receptor density and binding affinity. Results Using the autoradiographic method, the observed Bmax of 125I-Tyr4-bombesin to PC3 cells in vitro was 5.41 fmoles/105 cells and Kd 2.24nM, compared with a Bmax of 7.2 fmoles/105 cells and Kd of 3.62 when determined by standard in vitro ligand binding assay. For frozen tumor sections, homologous competitive binding analysis revealed Kd of 0.33nM and 0.58nM for PC3 and LnCaP respectively. Bmax for PC3 tumor was 38.3 fmol/mg and 13 fmol/mg for LnCAP tumor. Normal mouse pancreas had a Bmax of 9.7 fmoles/mg, and a Kd of 0.54 pM, whilst skeletal muscle showed no specific binding. Western blot analysis confirmed expression of GRPr in tumors and pancreas and showed no measurable protein in skeletal muscle. Conclusions This study demonstrates that radioligand binding assay can be used to evaluate target expression on ex-vivo fresh-frozen tissues. The method is quantitative and target-specific, representing an advance over current antibody-based methods. This provides the opportunity to evaluate novel radiotracer binding characteristics on archival human material prior to in vivo animal studies. Research Support P50-CA0864438, P30-CA008748
BM-07GENOMIC CHARACTERIZATION OF BRAIN METASTASES REVEALS BRANCHED EVOLUTION AND METASTASIS-SPECIFIC MUTATIONS

BACKGROUND: Brain metastases are the most common intracranial tumors in adults. We have a limited understanding of how brain metastases evolve from their primary tumor. Our objectives were to (1) elucidate the evolutionary patterns leading to brain metastases and (2) identify whether brain metastases are genetically distinct from their primary tumors. METHODS: We subjected 101 matched primary tumors, brain metastases, and normal tissue to whole exome sequencing. We developed novel computational tools to perform an integrative analysis of somatic mutations and copy-number alterations. This analysis allowed us to estimate the clonal architecture of the primary and metastases, and to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree relating the subclones from each patient. RESULTS: Every brain metastasis likely developed from a single clone. The brain metastasis and primary tumor shared a common ancestor yet both the primary tumor and brain metastasis continued to evolve independently. Subclonal mutations in the metastasis by definition occurred within the brain; these mutations displayed different mutational signatures than those acquired in the primary tumor. These contrasts were most pronounced in cases of lung cancer or melanoma, with tobacco and UV signatures prominent in these primaries and nearly absent from mutations acquired after metastasis. In order to understand the molecular drivers of clonal evolution and metastasis, we annotated each subclone with driver mutations identified using large numbers of cancer samples analyzed by the cancer genome atlas consortium. This produced a detailed portrait of each patient's cancer, with nearly every node in each phylogenetic tree associated with at least one known driver. We found novel drivers, many of which are known actionable targets, that were exclusive to brain metastases. CONCLUSIONS: This study sheds light on the evolutionary mechanisms in brain metastases. Our data suggests that single biopsies of primary tumors and metastases may not be sufficient to identify potential therapeutic targets.
Advanced Robotics Projects For Undergraduate Students

The benefits to using robots in the artificial intelligence and robotics classrooms are now fairly well established. However, most projects demonstrated so far are fairly simple. In this paper we explore advanced robotics projects that have been (or could be) successfully implemented by undergraduate students in a one-semester or two-semester course. We explore what makes a good undergraduate advanced project, why such advanced projects are now possible, give example projects, and discuss the benefits of such projects.
Inflammatory Disequilibrium in Stroke

Over the past several decades, there have been substantial advances in our knowledge of the pathophysiology of stroke. Understanding the benefits of timely reperfusion has led to the development of thrombolytic therapy as the cornerstone of current management of ischemic stroke, but there remains much to be learned about mechanisms of neuronal ischemic and reperfusion injury and associated inflammation. For ischemic stroke, novel therapeutic targets have continued to remain elusive. When considering modern molecular biological techniques, advanced translational stroke models, and clinical studies, a consistent pattern emerges, implicating perturbation of the immune equilibrium by stroke in both central nervous system injury and repair responses. Stroke triggers activation of the neuroimmune axis, comprised of multiple cellular constituents of the immune system resident within the parenchyma of the brain, leptomeninges, and vascular beds, as well as through secretion of biological response modifiers and recruitment of immune effector cells. This neuroimmune activation can directly impact the initiation, propagation, and resolution phases of ischemic brain injury. To leverage a potential opportunity to modulate local and systemic immune responses to favorably affect the stroke disease curve, it is necessary to expand our mechanistic understanding of the neuroimmune axis in ischemic stroke. This review explores the frontiers of current knowledge of innate and adaptive immune responses in the brain and how these responses together shape the course of ischemic stroke.
Diffusion of collaborative maps about accessibility

Recently, neogeography projects focused on collaborative mapping of localized accessibility knowledge have resulted in applications that are designed to collect ratings of how accessible certain venues (e.g., buildings) are for people who travel in wheelchairs, people with low to no hearing or vision and older adults. Each application is the product of different creators, yet there are striking similarities in their purpose and features. These applications are crowdsourcing systems for information sharing that allow users to add meaningful information to a personalized web map; however, little research has analyzed how these applications have been created and adopted overtime. This paper reviews several existing applications and presents a framework for analyzing their diffusion over time.
Real Wages and the Role of Distributional Conflict in the German Hyperinflation and Stabilization

Chapter 4 suggests that money wage growth, as generated by capital-labor conflict over income shares, played a significant role in augmenting fiscal pressures on the money supply in post-World War I Germany. The present chapter further develops the conflict analysis of the German hyperinflation in two ways. First, in order to more closely analyze the short-run determination of conflict outcomes in this episode, we estimate a conflict model of real wage determination under hyperinflationary conditions using monthly data for April 1920 through August 1923. Our analytical framework treats the current real wage as the outcome of distributional conflict between the money wage demands of labor and price increases by firms. While both of these conflict variables respond positively to expected inflation, the model also incorporates the negative effect of unemployment on the bargaining power of labor.
The Prize and Legacy of Joseph Stiglitz

Joseph Stiglitz is one of the most prolific scholars in the history of economics and finance, with more than three hundred published scholarly works. Since his first book was published in 1969, he has completed almost thirty books, at an average rate of about one book every 18 months. Many of his recent books have made their way to popular press, such as his book with Linda Bilmes from 2008 entitled The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict,1 and his book Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy from 2010.2 Stiglitz has augmented many of his books in the popular press with numerous and frequent opinion editorials with such newspapers as The New York Times.
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells Have Increased Expression of Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterase 7B, Which May Serve as Disease-Specific Therapeutic Target.

Non-specific inhibition of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells leads to intracellular accumulation of cyclic nucleotides, which in turn can sensitize the CLL cells to spontaneous and/or drug-induced apoptosis. Recent studies have identified at least 11 isoforms of PDE, each of which catalyzes the hydrolysis of cAMP and/or cGMP and regulates the intracellular levels of cyclic nucleotides. The finding that various tissues differentially express selected PDE isoforms has prompted development of isoform-specific inhibitors that can selectively increase intracellular levels of cyclic nucleotides in target cells that over-express the inhibited PDE isoform. Accordingly, we examined for differential expression of PDE isoforms by CLL B cells by assessing the levels of mRNA encoding each of the 11 different PDE isoforms in CLL cells and normal blood lymphocytes using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. CLL cell samples (n = 24) and lymphocytes of healthy adults (n = 16) each expressed detectable levels of PDE isoforms 1A, 1B, 2A, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 5A, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, and 9A. However, we discovered that CLL cells of each patient had significantly higher levels of PDE7B mRNA (2.8-fold to 368-fold) and significantly lower levels of PDE3B mRNA (5-fold to 138 fold) than did lymphocytes from healthy donors (n = 16). As such, the ratios of PDE7B/PDE3B in CLL cell samples were >3 (ranging from 3 to 1019), whereas normal lymphocytes had ratios of
Angiogenic Proteins: Can These Biomarkers Help to Prevent Maternal Deaths Related to Preeclampsia?

See related article, pp 469–474 Preeclampsia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in mothers particularly in the developing world.1 Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia collectively account for 86% of global maternal deaths, and a substantial percentage of these deaths is attributed to preeclampsia and related disorders. Historically, preeclampsia had been primarily viewed as medically important because it could presage eclamptic seizures. The word eclampsia derived from the Greek word for lightening refers to the sudden and unpredictable convulsive phase of a form of hypertension specific to preeclampsia. However, in the past century, it became apparent that preeclampsia is a dangerous condition in its own right; not only preconvulsive but also presevere hypertension, pre–HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets), prerenal failure, pre-abruption, prefetal death, and prenumerous complications related to the specific disorder, which also affects cardiac and renal health later in life. In developed countries, most women have adequate access to prenatal care and therefore are seen regularly for blood pressure and spot urine protein check. In this setting, if there is a concern for preeclampsia, the patient is usually admitted for frequent monitoring of blood pressures, laboratory work, management of hypertension, administration of betamethasone for fetal lung maturity, and close observation for development of warning signs that may indicate the need for delivery.2 Despite the absence of specific tests to predict complications, this management and treatment plan has resulted in a dramatic reduction of maternal deaths related to preeclampsia, though at the cost of increased rates of …
The phenomenon of twisted growth: humeral torsion in dominant arms of high performance tennis players.

This manuscript is driven by the need to understand the fundamental mechanisms that cause twisted bone growth and shoulder pain in high performance tennis players. Our ultimate goal is to predict bone mass density in the humerus through computational analysis. The underlying study spans a unique four level complete analysis consisting of a high-speed video analysis, a musculoskeletal analysis, a finite element based density growth analysis and an X-ray based bone mass density analysis. For high performance tennis players, critical loads are postulated to occur during the serve. From high-speed video analyses, the serve phases of maximum external shoulder rotation and ball impact are identified as most critical loading situations for the humerus. The corresponding posts from the video analysis are reproduced with a musculoskeletal analysis tool to determine muscle attachment points, muscle force vectors and overall forces of relevant muscle groups. Collective representative muscle forces of the deltoid, la...
Reconciling Growth and the Environment

Macroeconomic theory and policy are strongly based on the assumption that economic growth is a fundamental goal. The environmental realities of the twenty- first century compel a reassessment of macro theory in terms of the impact of current growth patterns on planetary ecosystems. This paper examines the macroeconomic impacts of growth in terms of several major areas of conflict between economic demands and ecosystem capacities: (1) energy use and fossil fuel dependence (2) greenhouse gas emissions and climate change (3) transportation systems and automobile use (4) food systems and agricultural productivity (5) water, forests, and fisheries (6) toxic chemicals and wastes. Implications for macroeconomic theory include a modification of the goal of increasing consumption, and a distinction between the consumption of necessities and luxuries. In addition, macro theory needs to address the issue of how to achieve a stable, full-employment economy in the absence of continual growth. The role of social investment and the provision of public goods needs to be recognized. The concept of a "long-term growth path" should be modified to take account of the specific impact of investment choices that affect long-term economic structure, and the concept of GDP needs to be broadened to a multidimensional measure of well-being. Macroeconomic policy implications include a shift in tax burden from income, capital, and labor to energy, materials, and waste flows, an increase in public investment, and new global institutions to regulate capital flows and transfer funds to developing nations.
Real-Time PCR Detection of Burkholderia cepacia in Pharmaceutical Products Contaminated with Low Levels of Bacterial Contamination

A real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed to detect Burkholderia cepacia in pharmaceutical products contaminated with low levels of bacteria. Different pharmaceutical suspensions were artificially contaminated with B. cepacia, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus megaterium. After a 24 h incubation in trypticase soy broth with Tween 20, samples were streaked on mannitol salt, phenyl ethyl alcohol, eosin methylene blue, MacConkey, and pseudomonas isolation agar. Microbial DNA was extracted from each sample by using a Tris-EDTA, proteinase K, Tween 20 buffer. Regular PCR targeting the 1.5 kilobases 16S rRNA eubacterial gene and cloning showed the predominant DNA in the extracted mix belonged to E. coli. Selective media isolation of bacterial contamination showed B. cepacia only detected on pseudomonas isolation while eosin methylene blue and MacConkey detected only E. coli. RT-PCR using primers PSL1 and PSR1 amplified a 209 bp 16S rRNA fragment using a Roche LightCycler 96® system with SYBR green I, a common double-stranded binding dye. The cycle at which fluorescence from amplification exceeds the background fluorescence was referred to as quantification cycle. All samples were found to be positive by standard microbiological testing and RT-PCR. B. cepacia was detected within 30 h in all contaminated samples using RT-PCR. Based upon standard curve analysis of B. cepacia DNA, the minimum DNA concentration that could be detected was 10 fg/uL with a correlation value of 0.98. RT-PCR detection of B. cepacia allowed faster quality control analysis, corrective actions, and process optimization. LAY ABSTRACT: A real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed to detect Burkholderia cepacia in pharmaceutical products contaminated with low levels of bacteria. B. cepacia is the number one reason for microbial contamination recalls of non-sterile drug products in the USA. RT-PCR using primers PSL1 and PSR1 amplified a 209 bp 16S rRNA fragment using a Roche LightCycler 96® system with SYBR green I, a common double-stranded binding dye. All samples were found to be positive by standard microbiological testing and RT-PCR. B. cepacia was detected within 30 h in all contaminated samples using RT-PCR. RT-PCR detection of B. cepacia allowed faster quality control analysis, corrective actions, and process optimization.
Laboratory Investigations on the Survival of Bacillus subtilis Spores in Deliquescent Salt Mars Analog Environments.

Abstract Observed features such as recurring slope lineae suggest that liquid water may exist on the surface and near-subsurface of Mars today. The presence of this liquid water, likely in the form...
Foliar Exposure of Cu(OH)2 Nanopesticide to Basil (Ocimum basilicum): Variety-Dependent Copper Translocation and Biochemical Responses

In this study, low and high anthocyanin basil (Ocimum basilicum) varieties (LAV and HAV) were sprayed with 4.8 mg Cu/per pot from Cu(OH)2 nanowires, Cu(OH)2 bulk (CuPro), or CuSO4 and cultivated for 45 days. In both varieties, significantly higher Cu was determined in leaves of CuSO4 exposed plants (691 and 672.6 mg/kg for LAV and HAV, respectively); however, only in roots of HAV, Cu was higher, compared to control (p ≤ 0.05). Nanowires increased n-decanoic, dodecanoic, octanoic, and nonanoic acids in LAV, but reduced n-decanoic, dodecanoic, octanoic, and tetradecanoic acids in HAV, compared with control. In HAV, all compounds reduced eugenol (87%), 2-methylundecanal (71%), and anthocyanin (3%) (p ≤ 0.05). In addition, in all plant tissues, of both varieties, nanowires and CuSO4 reduced Mn, while CuPro increased chlorophyll contents, compared with controls (p ≤ 0.05). Results suggest that the effects of Cu(OH)2 pesticides are variety- and compound-dependent.
Synthesis of 1,1'-Diarylethanes and Related Systems by Displacement of Trichloroacetimidates with Trimethylaluminum.

Benzylic trichloroacetimidates are readily displaced by trimethylaluminum under Lewis acid promoted conditions to provide the corresponding methyl substitution product. This method is a convenient way to access 1,1′-diarylethanes and related systems, which play a significant role in medicinal chemistry, with a number of systems owing their biological activity to this functionality. Most benzylic substrates undergo ready displacement, with electron deficient systems being the exception. The use of an enantiopure imidate showed significant racemization, implicating the formation of a cationic intermediate.
Lancelot : Dialogic Consciousness and the Triadic Self

Walker Percy’s novel Lancelot pushes the reader to recognize that confession of sin requires confession of God and that the human self can best be understood as not only dialogic but Trinitarian. Percy’s mad confessant is unable to construct his self-defining narrative without the audience provided by his boyhood friend, now a priest. Lance’s confession fails when he is unable to discover true evil, the “Unholy Grail” that alone would make guilt a possibility. Yet the priest’s imminent testimony at the end of the novel indicates that Lance is prepared to hear the declaration of praise that will place evil in its true light as the dark thing that the love of the good God has forbidden. This will in turn open the door to a sacramental confession promising forgiveness and self-knowledge as an antidote to sin.
James Ensor and the Mask of Reality

James Ensor (1860–1914), the Belgian painter, in his 23rd year, began to represent subjects wearing masks, and he continued to do so until the end of his life. Beyond the primarily formal use to which Ensor originally put the mask, it soon also became a means of representing his perception of the true selves of people. Thus, for Ensor, the visible face itself was a mask, a persona, concealing a subject's true self. In a brief discussion, the mask is situated in a broader, historical and psychosocial context, and Ensor's use of the mask is related to his early life and later experiences.
A Dynamic Model of Sovereign Debt and Defaults: Understanding the Incentives of the Borrower

This paper develops a non-stochastic sovereign-debt dynamic model, with increasing cost of capital. It finds that there are parameters for which there is a stable fixed borrowing level, and there are parameters for which the model depicts the case of serial defaulters. Levels of debt that tend towards the fixed point eventually achieve higher levels of consumption than would be attainable under financial autarky. In the cases of unstable paths (those that eventually end in default), consumption decreases as debt increases, because an increasing amount of domestic production needs to be added to current borrowing in order to pay debt obligations. The model shows how, as the cost of capital decreases, the equilibrium level of borrowing increases, and more levels of debt become sustainable in the long run. On the other hand, higher desired returns from creditors have the effect of lowering the stable borrowing level and the threshold for sustainable levels of debt. Very high levels of desired returns, R, may lead countries to become serial defaulters. This occurs because the stable equilibrium point disappears and every initial borrowing amount ends in default. A high level of R is not the only thing that can take a country to a state of chronic default; short punishments for defaulting are far more important. In the benchmark model, at least 21 periods of punishment are necessary to avoid chronic defaults. High levels of impatience can also make a country a serial defaulter.