cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recommendations for Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Low-Rise URM Structures

Based on the results of a full-scale lateral load test of a two-story unreinforced masonry (URM) structure, modifications are suggested for the model implied by FEMA 356 for the in-plane analysis of perforated URM walls. These modifications allow the model to address global issues such as flange participation, overturning effects, and global rocking. In addition, changes are proposed to the pier model as well as to the definition of effective pier height. Following a description of each modification, the analysis results obtained using the proposed model and FEMA 356 are compared with experimental results. In terms of base shear resistance, the proposed model displayed an average error (absolute value) of 13% compared with an average error of 21% from FEMA 356. In addition, the proposed model also provided more accurate representation of failure modes. The improved accuracy of the proposed model is primarily attributed to the consideration of global issues. The results of a parametric analysis are also pr...
The Immunologic Response to Trichophyton Rubrum in Lower Extremity Fungal Infections

Manifestations of Trichophyton rubrum infestations, such as tinea pedis, tinea cruris, and tinea corporis, are among the most common human skin diseases seen throughout the world. About 80% of patients presenting with acute dermatophytosis respond well to topical antifungal treatment. However, the remaining 20% of patients progress into a chronic state of dermatophytosis, which is resistant to antifungal treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to have a better understanding and appreciation for the diverse immune responses to Trichophyton as this is critical for the development of therapeutic strategies for those individuals who suffer from a chronic manifestation of Trichophyton rubrum (T. rubrum) infection. As a result, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to review and discuss previous studies that evaluated the human body's defense to T. rubrum infections and to understand why and how these fungal infections invade the host defense system. Our research revealed that a cell-mediated immune response is critical in defending the body against T. rubrum. However, this organism has mechanisms that enable it to evade the immune system. Therefore, a more successful treatment for chronic T. rubrum infection would involve targeting the mechanisms of T. rubrum that diminish the immune response, while restoring the cell-mediated immune response.
A same/different fault dictionary: an extended pass/fail fault dictionary with improved diagnostic resolution

We describe a new type of fault dictionary called a same/different fault dictionary. The same/different fault dictionary is similar to a pass/fail fault dictionary in that it contains a single bit bi, j for every modeled fault fi and test vector tj. However, in a pass/fail fault dictionary, bi, j is determined by comparing the output vector of the faulty circuit with the output vector of the fault free circuit; while in a same/different fault dictionary, bi, j is determined by comparing the output vector of the faulty circuit with a preselected output vector called a baseline output vector. By selecting appropriately the baseline output vectors for all the test vectors, it is possible to obtain increased diagnostic resolution with a same/different fault dictionary compared to a pass/fail fault dictionary. We describe a procedure for selecting baseline output vectors and present experimental results.
Guidelines for aquaculture effluent management at the farm-level

Abstract Pressure from environmental groups will force most governments to impose effluent regulations on aquaculture. Shrimp and fish producers are concerned that these regulations will be unnecessarily restrictive and expensive. Most pond aquaculture cannot be conducted without discharge. Fish and shrimp farms tend to be concentrated in specific regions, but typically they are sprawling operations where large volumes of relatively dilute effluents are released at many points. Effluents from pond aquaculture resemble non-point sources of pollution more than point sources. Thus, application of traditional effluent treatment methods to meet effluent standards, as done for point source pollution, will be difficult or impossible. Many involved in aquaculture believe that application of best management practices (BMPs) could be a reasonable and affordable way to improve the quality and reduce the volume of pond effluents. During recent years, several organizations have suggested systems of BMPs for making pond aquaculture more environmentally responsible. These include international development organizations (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and International Finance Corporation), industry groups (Global Aquaculture Alliance, Australian Prawn Producers Association, Marine Shrimp Culture Industry of Thailand, and Alabama Catfish Producers), a research center (Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island), and state agencies in the USA (Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services). The contents of BMP documents presented by the different groups are remarkably similar. Although the BMP approach is largely a “paper list” at present, the topic is being discussed widely, and producers are becoming more aware of environmental issues. There is an obvious attempt by producers in Latin America, Asia, Australia, and the United States to improve production practices, and some producers are voluntarily adopting BMPs. Many shrimp producers in several nations have installed settling basins, and a few large shrimp farms monitor effluent quality. The Aquaculture Certification Council (ACC) plans to implement a certification program based primarily on compliance with BMPs during 2003. There also is considerable discussion among producers and governmental agencies in several nations regarding BMPs, and it is expected that regulatory programs based on BMPs will be forthcoming.
Revisiting an Article About Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy: The Life Cycle of a Woozle

This paper examines a 2006 Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal article (Becker-Weidman in Child Adolesc Soc Work J 23:147–171, 2006a) that purported to show the effectiveness of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). It is suggested that this claim, based only on weak evidence, has been the foundation of a “woozle” (Nielsen in Psychol Public Policy Law 20:164–180, 2014), a belief system that persists simply because the original statements have been repeated so often. A history of repetition and republication is traced, and current statements by the UK National Health Service and other sources are presented as evidence that acceptance of DDP began with repetition of the 2006 claims. Suggestions are made for editors and reviewers, who are in a position to prevent the creation of new woozles by carefully examining the claims made in submissions to their journals.
Raising high-density lipoprotein cholesterol: where are we now?

Low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) are acknowledged as an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease. Evidence from trials of fibrate and statin treatment indicate that increasing levels of HDL-C or apolipoprotein (apo)A-I, or decreasing the apoB:apoA-I ratio produces significant benefit in reducing risk for coronary heart disease. These findings have indicated the potential need for defining therapeutic targets for HDL-C, apoA-I, or the apoB:apoA-I ratio. Clinical trials have recently shown differences among statins in terms of their ability to raise levels of HDL-C and apoA-I and to reduce the apoB:apoA-I ratio. Clinical trials are needed to test whether raising HDL-C or apoA-I and decreasing apoB:apoA-I ratio should be goals in lipid-modifying therapy and to assist in defining specific target levels. © 2003 The European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Human Resource Development and Project Management: Key Connections:

As human resource development (HRD) efforts increase in scope, complexity and link to increasing numbers of key stakeholders, so do demands for careful and systematic execution of HRD implementation. Use of project management strategies and tools is an emerging solution for HRD implementation. Using a systematic literature search, intersections between project management and HRD literature are outlined. Key findings are presented for both articles that explore project management– and HRDrelated issues explicitly as well as emerging HRD literature that may have import for HRD-related concerns. A summative figure, conceptual framework, propositions for HRD project management, and implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed.
Acoustic-Gravity Wave Calculations in a Layer with a Linear Temperature Variation

An exact expression is obtained for the acoustic-gravity layer matrix for an atmospheric layer having a linear temperature variation. Expressions are also derived for the layer derivative matrices needed to calculate group velocity and mode excitation. The method requires the evaluation of confluent hypergeometric functions, whose series representations are rapidly convergent for layers, such as the lower thermosphere, which have large temperature gradients. The procedure allows rapid accurate calculations in studies of acoustic gravity wave propagation. The new procedure is used to calculate phase and group velocities for the GR_o mode at periods between 5 and 12 min and gives a change in these velocities of 0.3 per cent as compared with Press and Harkrider's results.
Increased pacing threshold after an automatic defibrillator shock in dogs: effects of class I and class II antiarrhythmic drugs.

A high energy shock delivered by an automatic defibrillator may interfere with pacemaker function. To provide insight into the changes that occur in the threshold for ventricular pacing after the shock from an automatic defibrillator, we measured the time to capture during asynchronous ventricular pacing in dogs from endocardial or epicardial sites, after a 30 joule shock was delivered via conventional automatic defibrillator (AICD) patch electrodes. After a 30 joule shock, there was a transient loss of ventricular capture. The duration of capture loss was related to current strength. During endocardial pacing at threshold current, the time to capture was 4.9 +/- 1.2 s, whereas at current values twice threshold the time to capture from endocardial pacing was 2.2 +/- 0.9 s. No difference was found between endocardial and epicardial pacing sites in the time to capture. To ascertain the mechanism of capture loss we: (1) examined the effects of converting the pacing catheter to a current sink (transiently shunting to ground); (2) altered excitability by an infusion of flecainide; (3) blocked sympathetic input (propranolol). No change in time to capture was noted by shunting the pacer to ground. After an infusion of flecainide the time to capture from endocardial pacing was significantly prolonged to 14.9 +/- 2.2 s at the threshold value (P less than .01) and 5.6 +/- 2.1 s at twice threshold (P less than .05). Conversely, intravenous propranolol had no effect on the time to capture after shock from endocardial pacing. These data indicate that there is a transient increase in pacing threshold after the shock from an automatic defibrillator.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Persistence and Critical Domain Size for Diffusing Populations with Two Sexes and Short Reproductive Season

A model is considered for a spatially distributed population of male and female individuals that mate and reproduce only once in their life during a very short reproductive season. Between birth and mating, females and males move by diffusion on a bounded domain \(\Omega \) under Dirichlet boundary conditions. Mating and reproduction are described by a (positively) homogeneous function (of degree one). We identify a basic reproduction number \({\mathcal {R}}_0\) that acts as a threshold between extinction and persistence. If \({\mathcal {R}}_0 1\). \({\mathcal {R}}_0\) is the cone spectral radius of a bounded homogeneous map.
Empirical analysis of overheads in cluster environments

In concurrent computing environments based on heterogeneous processing elements interconnected by general-purpose networks, several classes of overheads contribute to lowered performance. The most obvious limitations are network throughput and latency, but certain other factors also play a significant role. In an attempt to gain some insight into the nature of these overheads, and to propose strategies to alleviate them, empirical measurements of native communication performance as well as application execution performance were conducted, using the PVM network computing system. These experiments and our analyses have identified load imbalance, the parallelism model adopted, communication delay and throughput, and within-host overheads as the primary factors affecting performance in cluster environments. Interestingly, we find that agenda parallelism and load balancing strategies contribute significantly more to better performance than improved communications or system tuning. Drawing general conclusions on how these inefficiencies may be overcome is inadvisable because of the tremendous variability of many parameters in general purpose network environments; we therefore propose several potential approaches, including model selection criteria, partitioning strategies, and software system heuristics, to reduce overheads and enhance performance in network based environments.
Genetic Mapping of Novel Loci Affecting Canine Blood Phenotypes

Since the publication of the dog genome and the construction of high-quality genome-wide SNP arrays, thousands of dogs have been genotyped for disease studies. For many of these dogs, additional clinical phenotypes are available, such as hematological and clinical chemistry results collected during routine veterinary care. Little is known about the genetic basis of variation in blood phenotypes, but this variation may play an important role in the etiology and progression of many diseases. From a cohort of dogs that had been previously genotyped on a semi-custom Illumina CanineHD array for various genome-wide association studies (GWAS) at Cornell University Hospital for Animals, we chose 353 clinically healthy, adult dogs for our analysis of clinical pathologic test results (14 hematological tests and 25 clinical chemistry tests). After correcting for age, body weight and sex, genetic associations were identified for amylase, segmented neutrophils, urea nitrogen, glucose, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin. Additionally, a strong genetic association (P = 8.1×10-13) was evident between a region of canine chromosome 13 (CFA13) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), explaining 23% of the variation in ALT levels. This region of CFA13 encompasses the GPT gene that encodes the transferase. Dogs homozygous for the derived allele exhibit lower ALT activity, making increased ALT activity a less useful marker of hepatic injury in these individuals. Overall, these associations provide a roadmap for identifying causal variants that could improve interpretation of clinical blood tests and understanding of genetic risk factors associated with diseases such as canine diabetes and anemia, and demonstrate the utility of holistic phenotyping of dogs genotyped for disease mapping studies.
Tertiary and Quaternary Structure Formation of Voltage-Gated Potassium Channels

Voltage-gated potassium channels are ubiquitous and critical for life. They must fold and assemble correctly and target to appropriate sites in the plasma membrane. Failure to do so can lead to inappropriate targeting or function and to pathology. The methods described here were developed to assess in which compartment tertiary and quaternary structure acquisition occurs. The experimental strategies involve identifying quaternary and tertiary interfaces, engineering a pair of cysteines into a cysteine-free voltage-gated potassium channel protein, using bifunctional crosslinking agents, and using an assay of the crosslinked products to determine folding/assembly events. A biogenic intermediate (i.e., nascent chain attached to transfer RNA and the ribosome) is used to probe events inside and at the exit port of the ribosomal tunnel.
The AART of Ethnography: A Critical Realist Explanatory Research Model

Critical realism is a philosophy of science, which has made significant contributions to epistemic debates within sociology. And yet, its contributions to ethnographic explanation have yet to be fully elaborated. Drawing on ethnographic data on the health-seeking behavior of HIV-infected South Africans, the paper compares and contrasts critical realism with grounded theory, extended case method and the pragmatist method of abduction. In so doing, it argues that critical realism makes a significant contribution to causal explanation in ethnographic research in three ways: 1) by linking structure to agency; 2) by accounting for the contingent, conjunctural nature of causality; and 3) by using surprising empirical findings to generate new theory. The paper develops the AART (abduction, abstraction, retroduction, testing) research schema and illustrates its strengths by employing a Bourdieusian field analysis as a model for morphogenetic explanation.
Abstract LB-150: Binding selectivity of RNAs by eukaryotic initiation factor 3f in pancreatic cells

Deregulation of translation is necessary for an increase in protein production that benefits cancer cells to increase proliferation and tumor growth. Eukaryotic initiation factor 3f (eIF3f), a subunit in the eIF3 protein complex, has been shown to be a regulator for translation initiation. Our group was the first to describe eIF3f as a tumor suppressor, where we show its expression is lost in melanoma and pancreatic tumor tissues. In this study, we show that eIF3f binds to various RNAs for genes involved in GTP-binding, RNA binding, RNA capping and other cellular processes, through the use of RNA-Immunoprecipitation assay followed by a microarray analysis, coined RIP-Chip in normal human pancreatic ductal epithelial (HPDE) cells. We confirmed the binding of eIF3f to these RNAs through RNA-Immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay using an antibody against eIF3f to pulldown of our sample RNA and visualized by RT-PCR analysis. To determine the role of this selective binding of eIF3f to these particular RNAs, we observed their expression in the HPDE cells, were eIF3f was stably knocked-down with lentivirus containing eIF3f-siRNA. Preliminary results demonstrate some correlation between the absence of eIF3f and the protein levels of the genes encoding for the eIF3f pulled-down RNA. Our results demonstrate that eIF3f may be involved in directly targeting specific oncogenic RNA sequences for degradation. Further investigations will be needed to elucidate the role of these genes and eIF3f expression in the transformation of pancreatic tissues to the aggressive phenotype of pancreatic cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-150. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-LB-150
Coolidge and the Historians

back upon A decade of upheaval in American history. The country's youngest president, having succeeded a conservative Republican and having sounded a clarion call to the progressive forces in the country, is now gone forever from the presidency. An activist Democratic president skillfully shepherds legislation through Congress, but wolfish war follows close on the heels of domestic reform. Radical protests against the system, and a few bombings, ignite national hysteria. The president retires in bitterness, soon to die. His Republican successor at first holds forth the hope of restoring the national composure, but he is replaced by his vice-president after a truncated term marred by economic dislocation and executive scandal unprecedented in American history. Would it pass understanding if the new president set aside his clarion so that he might speak softly to his countrymen? As there are times during the nation's history that require its citizens to summon up their last reserves of daring and courage, are there not other times that call for the exercise of moderation and sobriety? Does not prudence comprehend all of the virtues? Imagine a statesman ascending to the presidency after a decade of war, national hysteria, recession, and scandal. Imagine that the next five years are characterized by peace, national calm, unprecedented inflation-free prosperity, and rigid executive integrity. Would not the citizens bestow their gratitude upon the statesman who presided over such a time? And if it is true, as a famous political scientist once said, that we approach the subject of prudence by studying those to whom we attribute it, would not such a statesman be worthy of the attention of our political scientists and political historians? When I wrote at the outset of this article about a decade of upheaval in American history, I had in mind the period from the first administration of Woodrow Wilson to the death of President Harding. During the five years following the decade 1914 to 1923, President Calvin Coolidge won the admiration and the gratitude of the American people. His three predecessors had begun their terms full of hope for the future, and had ended them, respectively, in defeat, repudiation, and death. Coolidge in-
Studies on the biochemistry and fine structure of silicia shell formation in diatoms VII. Sequential cell wall development in the pennateNavicula pelliculosa

The development of the wall of synchronized culture ofN. pelliculosa is described. The first step, modification of the 3-2 configuration of the girdle bands of the wall during interphase, occurs immediately before mitotic division by the addition of a third girdl band to the hypotheca. Following cytokenesis, the new valve is initiated when a primary central band is formed within a silica deposition vesicle. This band extends the length of the cell and contains a central nodule. Secondary arms extend from the central nodule, join with extensions of the primary central band, and constitute the raphe rib. Mounds or knolls are formed on the central nodule and disappear as the valve matures. Transapical ribs appear on both the primary central band and secondary arms, and cross extensions join to form the sieve plate areas. The wall appears to be released by a joining of the inner silicalemma and the plasmalemma. An organic coat covers the newly released wall. Two girdle bands are formed and released sequentially.
Effects of oxygen on the solidification microstructure of LaNi5

Modern nickel/metal hydride batteries and cryogenic refrigerators based on hydrogen absorption rely heavily on the rare-earth intermetallic compound LaNi5. Proper stoichiometry is crucial to obtain optimum performance in this compound. Oxygen segregation during solidification of these materials can lead to depletion of lanthanum through the formation La2O3. This, in turn, can greatly reduce the phase purity of these materials, thus limiting their performance in many applications. A series of LaNi5 alloys were produced by nonconsumable arc melting with various oxygen contents. These alloys were investigated principally by Auger spectroscopy. Correlations were made between the solidification microstructure and the oxygen content at a known solidification rate. Hydrogen storage capacities were also measured to evaluate the absorption properties of the solidification-derived microstructure. Increasing oxygen content was found to reduce the hydrogen absorption capacity of these materials.
The effect of quinidine on the uptake and release of serotonin by platelets in vitro.

SummaryThe addition of quinidine sulfate to human platelet-rich plasma inhibited serotonin uptake by platelets and caused the release of serotonin from platelets. Kinetic data suggest that the inhibition of serotonin uptake is noncompetitive. The release of serotonin by quinidine can be prevented by lowering the temperature.
Anthrax meningitis; report of a case of internal anthrax with recovery.

Anthrax meningitis has always been considered malignant and we have been unable to find any reports in the literature of its successful treatment. Favorable results, however, have been reported of the use of penicillin in experimental animal anthrax and there are also recent reports of the cure of cutaneous anthrax in man by the use of penicillin. A resume of 66 cases of anthrax at the Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company revealed four deaths. One case was complicated by diabetes mellitus, and the other three patients died of anthrax meningitis.
Computation of wall to suspension heat transfer in vertical pipes

ABSTRACTIn this article, turbulent gas-solid flow in a vertical pipe is investigated for predicting the heat transfer from the heated wall to the suspension. The Eulerian-Eulerian model is used, incorporating a four-way coupling; i.e., considering inter-particle collisions as well as particle-wall collisions. Both the phases are simulated based on Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) with a two-equation k − ϵ turbulence model for the gas phase and a granular temperature equation for the solid phase. The closure of the granular temperature (kinetic energy associated with the random motion of the particles) equation is done by the use of kinetic theory of granular flows. The main objective of the study is to investigate the variations of two-phase heat-transfer coefficient and Nusselt number with flow parameters like flow Reynolds number, particulate loading, and particle size. In comparison to single-phase flow, heat transfer is found to be significantly increased with the increase in Reynolds ...
Activity of Pyridyl and Phenyl Ether Analogues of Juvenile Hormone Against Coleoptera and Lepidoptera in Stored Grain

Five pyridyl or phenyl ether analogues of juvenile hormone were each mixed separately with whole wheat or ground wheat medium and tested for activity against stored grain insects. The chemical (E)-5{5-(3,3-dimethyl-2-oxiranyl)-3-methyl-2-pentenyl}oxy-2-ethylpyridine was effective at 100 ppm in preventing larval development from eggs of Tribolium confusum Jacquelin duVal, T. castaneum (Herbst), and Sitophilus oryzae (L.). The compound also suppressed adult progeny of Rhyzopertha dominica (F.), Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.), Plodia interpunctella (Hubner), Cadra cautella (Walker), and Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) at doses of 10–250 ppm. Other compounds, (E)-5-{3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienyl)oxy}-2-ethylpyridine, (E)-5-{(3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienyl)oxy}-2-methylpyridine, and 3-{5-(4-ethylphenoxy)-3-methyl-3-pentenyl}-2,2-dimethyloxirane, were less effective except in the case of T. confusum where a mixture of 2-ethyl-3-{3-ethyl-5-(4-ethylphenoxy)-pentyl}-2-methyloxirane and 2-ethyl-3-{5-(4-ethylphenoxy)-2,3-dimethyl-pentyl}-2-methyloxirane at 1 ppm was efficacious against adult progeny.
Symbiontic Interrelationships between Microbes and Ambrosia Beetles. III. Ergosterol as the Source of Sterol to the Insect

In the absence of a mutualistic fungus, X. ferrugineus (F.) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) pupated in the 2nd genoration on test diets which contained 0.2 g of ergosterol. Cholesterol at 0.2 g per diet batch was not an adequate source of sterol in the 2nd fungus-free generation. Those sterol requirements of the 1st fungus-free generation of the insect which were not in the diets apparently were met by carry-over of such nutrients from the previous generation (stock culture) fed fungus-containing diets.
Usefulness of High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol to Predict Survival in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

It has been suggested that lipoprotein abnormalities may contribute to the pulmonary arteriolar dysfunction observed in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) has vasodilatory, anti-inflammatory, and endothelial protective properties. We hypothesized that a higher serum HDL level may be advantageous for survival in PAH and that the serum HDL level at diagnosis would be an independent predictor of survival in PAH and be additive to previously validated predictors of survival. This study included all patients with PAH seen at the Mayo Clinic Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2009, who had a baseline HDL measurement. Mortality was analyzed over 5 years using the Kaplan–Meier method. Univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazards ratios were calculated to evaluate the relation between baseline HDL level and survival. HDL levels were available for 227 patients. Higher HDL levels were associated with significantly lower mortality. Patients with an HDL >54 mg/dl at diagnosis had a 5-year survival of 59%. By comparison those with an HDL
Paclitaxel-induced increase in NCX activity in subpopulations of nociceptive afferents: A protective mechanism against chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy?

We recently demonstrated, in a rat model of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), that there is a significant decrease in the duration of the depolarization-evoked Ca(2+) transient in isolated somata of putative nociceptive afferents innervating the glabrous skin of the hindpaw, but no change in transient magnitude or the resting concentration of intracellular Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)]i). Because the Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX) only contributes to the regulation of the duration of the evoked Ca(2+) transient, in putative nociceptive dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, we hypothesized that an increase in NCX activity underlies the CIPN-induced change in this subpopulation of neurons. Acutely dissociated retrogradely labeled sensory neurons from naive, vehicle-, and paclitaxel-treated rats were studied with fura-2 based Ca(2+) imaging. There was no difference in the relative level of NCX activity between glabrous neurons from paclitaxel-treated or control rats. However, in contrast to the relatively large and long lasting Ca(2+) transients needed to evoke NCX activity in neurons from naive rats, there was evidence of resting NCX activity in glabrous neurons from both vehicle- and paclitaxel-treated rats. More interestingly, there was a paclitaxel-induced increase in NCX activity in putative nociceptive neurons innervating the thigh, neurons in which there is no evidence of a change in the depolarization-induced Ca(2+) transient, or a body site in which there was a change in nociceptive threshold. Furthermore, while the majority of NCX activity in glabrous neurons is sensitive to the NCX3-preferring blocker KB-R7943, the increase in NCX activity in thigh neurons was resistant to KB-R7943 but sensitive to the NCX1-preferring blocker SEA0400. These results suggest that a mechanism(s) other than NCX underlies the paclitaxel-induced decrease in the duration of the evoked Ca(2+) transient in putative nociceptive glabrous skin neurons. However, the compensatory response to paclitaxel observed may also explain why only subpopulations of sensory neurons are impacted by paclitaxel, raising the intriguing possibility that CIPN is due to the failure of injured neurons to appropriately compensate for the deleterious consequences of this compound.
Analysis of class 1 integrons in drug-resistant shigella

Objective To analysis the epidemic serotypes of Shigella and their antibiotic resistant characteristics in our hospital.To investigate class 1 integrons in shigella,their association with drug resistance in shigella and the gene cassettes they carried. Methods The stool samples of the patients with diarrhea were collected and the bacteria isolation,culture,and systemic serotype identification were made.At the same time,antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed in Kirby-Bauer agar dilution method.Amplify the variable regions of class 1 integrons by PCR,sequencing and analysis gene cassettes they carried.Results Of the 70 strains of Shigella detected,37 were group B(Shigella flexneri) and 33 group D(Shigella sonnei).More than 60% of the Shigella strains tested were resistant to Tetracycline,Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole,Ampicillin,Rifampicin,Nalidixinic acid.But the resistant rate of Shigella strains to Norfloxacin is 12.8%,and the resistant rate to cephalosporin is no higher than 10%.Multidrug resistant rate is 77.1%.16(22.9%) isolates carried class 1 integrons.8(11.4%) isolates of them had a class 1 integron,which was 1 900 bp in size.Upon sequencing the entire integrons,2 different gene cassettes were found,including genes encoding for resistance to trimethoprim(dhfrXⅡ) and aminoglycosides(aadA2).8(11.4%)isolates of them had a class 1 integron,which was 1 000 bp in size and carried a gene cassette encoding for resistance to aminoglycosides(aadA2).Conclusion In our hospital,the main serotypes of Shigella spp were S flexneri and S sonnei.Multidrug-resistant rate of shigella was very high.Class 1 integrons were existed in shigella,and had association with drug resistance.
Epidemiological Analysis on Category A and B Infectious Diseases in Xiangcheng District of Suzhou City from 2006 to 2010

[Objective]To study the epidemiological characteristics and law of infectious diseases in Xiangcheng district of Suzhou city,provide scientific evidences for making preventive measures and strategy.[Methods]With descriptive epidemiology,the data of Category A and B infectious diseases in Xiangcheng district from 2006 to 2010 were analyzed.[Results]From 2006 to 2010,the annual average incidence of Category A and B infectious diseases in Xiangcheng district was 139.88/lakh,the annual average mortality was 0.34/lakh,and the annual average fatality was0.24%.The top five infectious diseases were tuberculosis(41.32/lakh),syphilis(25.15/lakh),gonorrhea(20.54/lakh),measles(18.87/lakh) and viral hepatitis(18.20/lakh).[Conclusion]Respiratory diseases,blood-borne diseases and sexually transmitted diseases are still the major infectious diseases that are harmful for residents' health,and which should be prevented and controlled firstly.
From bedlam to bioethics: Where did my psychodramatic childhood lead me?

> > A meeting of two: eye to eye, face to face. > > > > And when you are near I will tear your eyes out > > > > and place them instead of mine, > > > > and you will tear my eyes out > > > > and will place them instead of yours, > > > > then I will look at you with your eyes > > > > and you
Estimated versus predicted creatinine generation as an indicator of compliance with the prescribed dose of continuous peritoneal dialysis.

The expression (Estimated - Predicted)/Predicted creatinine generation {(E-P)IP} has been proposed as an index of compliance in continuous peritoneal dialysis (CPD). We attempted to define an (E-P)...
Fishing for function in noise

Stochastic resonance increases the ability of some nonlinear systems to detect weak signals. Paddlefish are now shown to use stochastic resonance to locate and capture prey, implicating this phenomenon in animal behaviour.
PARAMETER IDENTIFICATION VIA THE ADJOINT METHOD: APPLICATION TO PROTEIN REGULATORY NETWORKS

Abstract An adjoint-based algorithm for performing automatic parameter identification on differential equation based models of biological systems is presented. The algorithm solves an optimization problem, in which the cost reflects the deviation between the observed data and the output of the parameterized mathematical model, and the constraints reflect the governing parameterized equations themselves. Preliminary results of the application of this algorithm to a previously presented mathematical model of planar cell polarity signaling in the wings of Drosophila melanogaster are presented.
An exploratory study on student understandings of derivatives in real-world, non-kinematics contexts

Abstract Much research on calculus students’ understanding of applied derivatives has been done in kinematics-based contexts (i.e. position, velocity, acceleration). However, given the wide range of applications in science and engineering that are not based on kinematics, nor even explicitly on time, it is important to know how students understand applied derivatives in non-kinematics contexts. In this study, interviews with six students and surveys with 38 students were used to explore students’ “ways of understanding” and “ways of thinking” regarding applied, non-kinematics derivatives. In particular, six categories of ways of understanding emerged from the data as having been shared by a substantial portion of the students in this study: (1) covariation, (2) invoking time, (3) other symbols as constants, (4) other symbols as implicit functions, (5) implicit differentiation, and (6) output values as amounts instead of rates of change.
Microalgal Cultivation Using Animal Production Exhaust Air: Technical and Economic Feasibility

Fixing airborne nutrients from animal feeding operations (AFOs) into microalgal biomass could alleviate AFOs air emissions and reduce microalgal production cost. The aim of this study was to conduct a technical and economic assessment of integrating air emissions mitigation with microalgal cultivation. Experiments were conducted to determine technical feasibility for three air emission scenarios of exhaust gases, dust (particulate matter), and exhaust air. In the first scenario, microalgal Scenedesmus and Desmodesmus growing on the nutrients from exhaust gases had 92.7 and 71.0% of NH3 mitigation efficiency with biomass productivities of 11.2 and 21.5 g/m2 per day, respectively. In the second scenario, particulate matter from AFOs provided essential nutrients for Desmodesmus cultivation. The nutrient recoveries were 0.08 mg NH4+-N/mg biomass, 0.13 mg NO3−-N/mg biomass, and 0.03 mg PO43−-P/mg biomass. The biomass productivity was 21.4 g/m2 per day. In the third scenario, exhaust air from AFOs was the nutrient source to culture three microalgae of Scenedesmus, Chlorella, and Chlamydomonas. The corresponding microalgal biomass productivities were 14.5, 9.7, and 8.7 g/m2 per day. Four conceptual cases were applied to assess the economic feasibility of the integrated air emission mitigation and microalgae cultivation. The results demonstrated that using the recovered CO2 and nutrients in exhaust air could significantly reduce the cost of microalgal culture systems, and a net revenue of $0.0005/egg could be achieved by the integrated system with improved microalgal biomass productivity of 20 g/m2 per day.
STATISTICAL MECHANICS OF ADSORPTION AND WETTING TRANSITIONS

The molecular theory of adsorption, contact angles and wetting transitions has seen considerable advancement during the last several years. Presented here is a status report on our current understanding of adsorption and wetting phenomena. The exposition makes extensive use of van der Waals theory of inhomogeneous fluids which, though simple, captures qualitatively most of the patterns observed experimentally or predicted by more rigorous theories.
Medical Students' Professional Development as Educators Revealed Through Reflections on Their Teaching Following a Students-as-Teachers Course.

ABSTRACTPhenomenon: Teaching is an important part of the tri-partite mission of every medical center. Although teaching often is given lower priority and recognition as opposed to patient care and/or research, this activity for many physicians in academic medicine ranks second to their patient care responsibilities. Medical teacher training has traditionally been aimed at faculty and residents through faculty development initiatives, continuing education for physicians at professional conferences, formalized degree or certificate programs in education, and residents as teachers programs. More recently medical schools have developed medical-students-as-teachers programs, often offered as 4th-year electives, to introduce learners to the theory of teaching and learning with appropriate application in the clinical setting. Data on learner outcomes and students' perceptions and experiences in these programs consist mostly of their satisfaction after completing such a program. In this article we explore 4th-yea...
If the "Physician Payments Sunshine Act" Is a Solution, What Is the Problem?

The article by Chimonas and colleagues (Chimonas, DeVito, and Rothman 2017) uses focus groups to explore the attitudes of 42 physicians from three cities on the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (PPS...
Radiotherapy and Glioma Stem Cells: Searching for Chinks in Cellular Armor

Radiation became a pillar of oncologic treatment in the last century and provided a powerful and effective locoregional treatment of solid malignancies. After achieving some of the first cures in lymphomas and skin cancers, it assumed a key role in the curative treatment of epithelioid malignancies. Despite success across a variety of histologic types, glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary brain tumor afflicting adults, remains ultimately resistant to current radiation strategies. While GBMs demonstrate an initial response, recurrence is essentially universal and fatal and typically reoccur in the areas that received the most intense radiation. Glioma stem cells (GSCs), a subpopulation of tumor cells with expression profiles similar to neural stem cells and marked self-renewal capacities, have been shown to drive tumor recurrence and preclude curative radiotherapy. Recent research has shown that these cells have enhanced DNA repair capacity and elevated resistance to cytotoxic ion fluxes and escape multimodality therapies. We will analyze the current understanding of GSCs and radiation by highlighting key discoveries probing their ability to withstand radiotherapy. We then speculate on novel mechanisms by which GSC can be made sensitive to or specifically targeted by radiation therapy.
Transcutaneous immunization with influenza vaccines.

Transcutaneous immunization (TCI) is a novel vaccination route involving the topical application of vaccine antigens on the skin. The skin is an attractive site for vaccination because it is rich in various antigen-capturing immune cells. The outer skin barrier can be overcome through the use of mild chemical and/or physical treatments, including ethanol–water hydration and stripping, which allows for large vaccine molecules or even particulate antigens to gain access to the skin’s immune cells. The use of toxin adjuvants such as cholera or heat-labile toxins was demonstrated to enhance the immunogenicity of vaccine antigens, probably due to their stimulatory effects on immune cells. Oleic acid or retinoic acid, known as permeation enhancers or immune modulators, were found to increase immune responses to inactivated whole-influenza viral vaccines. The further development of more effective delivery systems and nontoxic adjuvants is needed to enhance the efficacy of this approach to vaccination.
SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE, RULE FOLLOWING AND FORMS OF LIFE •

Ludwig Wittgenstein was trained as a scientist and an engineer. He received a diploma in mechanical engineering from the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg, Berlin, in 1906, after which he did several years of research on aeronautics before turning to the full-time study of logic and philosophy. Hertz, Boltzmann, Mach, Weininger, and William James, all important influences on Wittgenstein, are authors whose work was both philosophical and scientific. The relationship between everyday life, science, and philosophy, is a central concern throughout the course of his writing. He regarded philosophy, properly conducted, as an autonomous activity, a matter of clarifying our understanding of language, or investigating grammar. Wittgenstein thought philosophy should state the obvious as a way of disabusing us of the desire to formulate philosophical theories of meaning, knowledge, language, or science, and was deeply opposed to the naturalist view that philosophy is a form of science. In his later work, Wittgenstein rejected systematic approaches to understanding language and knowledge. Wittgenstein’s answer to the Socratic question about the nature of knowledge is that it has no nature, no essence, and so it is a mistake to think one can give a single systematic answer: If I was asked what knowledge is, I would list items of knowledge and add “and suchlike.” There is no common element to be found in all of them, because there isn’t one. (Wittgenstein, MS 302, “Diktat Mr Schlick” 1931–33.)
Temperament and the Development of Self-Regulation

Although infants enter the world with a set of inborn reflexes for reacting to external stimuli, they cannot be seen as passive machines responding only to external input; inborn programs of self-regulation modulate re-sponsivity from the earliest days. With development, additional forms of regulation under voluntary control also become available to the child. Adult studies have developed criteria allowing us to separate more reflexive automatic activity from more voluntary regulatory control. Two central developmental problems involve identifying the biological timetable for development of regulatory mechanisms and the means whereby individual regulation comes under the influence of learning. In order to relate the basic biological characteristics of the infant to the acquisition of culture, it is necessary to explore development from both biological and psychological viewpoints.
Home Medication Readiness for Preschool Children With Asthma.

BACKGROUND: Having a medication available in the home is a prerequisite to medication adherence. Our objectives with this study are to assess asthma medication readiness among low-income urban minority preschool-aged children, and the association between beliefs about medications and medication readiness. METHODS: During a baseline assessment, a research assistant visited the home to administer a caregiver survey and observe 5 criteria in the medication readiness index: the physical presence and expiration status of medications, the counter status of metered-dose inhalers, and caregiver knowledge of medication type and dosing instructions. RESULTS: Of 288 enrolled children (mean age 4.2 years [SD: 0.7], 92% African American, 60% boys), 277 (96%) of their caregivers reported a rescue medication, but only 79% had it in the home, and only 60% met all 5 of the medication readiness criteria. Among the 161 children prescribed a controller medication, only 79% had it in the home, and only 49% met all 5 readiness criteria. Fewer worries and concerns about medications were associated with higher odds of meeting all 5 readiness criteria for controller medications. CONCLUSIONS: Inadequate availability of asthma medications in the home is a barrier to adherence among low-income urban preschoolers. Assessment of medication readiness should be incorporated into clinical care because this is an underrecognized barrier to adherence, and interventions are needed to improve medication management and knowledge to increase adherence.