cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cloning and Characterization of the socA Locus Which Restores Development to Myxococcus Xanthus C-signaling Mutants

The csgA gene produces an intercellular signal during fruiting body formation of the myxobacterium Myxococcus xanthus. Sporulating pseudorevertants were isolated to allow us to understand the mechanism by which CsgA is perceived by cells and used to regulate developmental gene expression. Two strains, LS559 and LS560, which have closely linked transposon insertions, soc-559 (formerly csp-559) and soc-560 (formerly csp-560), respectively, regained all the developmental behaviors lost by the csgA mutation including the ability to ripple, form fruiting bodies, and sporulate. The sequence analysis of the socA locus revealed that there are three putative protein-coding regions, designated socA1, socA2, and socA3. The deduced amino acid sequence of socA1 exhibits characteristics of the short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase family. The deduced amino acid sequence of socA2 shares 48% identity with the frdD gene product of the frd operon in Proteus vulgaris which anchors fumarate reductase to the membrane. The deduced amino acid sequence of socA3 does not show homology to any known proteins. Genotypic complementation, Northern (RNA) blotting, DNA sequence analysis, and the pattern of gene expression all suggest that these three genes are polycistronic. Since the socA mutations effectively bypass CsgA, the question of why csgA is maintained in M. xanthus was examined by studying the long-term stability of socA spores. Unlike the wild type, socA mutant spores germinated on starvation agar. Transmission electron micrographs of spore thin sections revealed that germination is not due to an obvious structural deficiency of the socA spores. These results suggest that the ability of socA myxospores to survive long periods under unfavorable environmental conditions is severely comprised. Therefore, soxA appears to be essential for the development of M. xanthus.
Detection of Mycobacterium avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis from Intestinal and Nodal Tissue of Dogs and Cats

Objective. To determine prevalence of MAP in intestinal and nodal tissue from dogs and cats at necropsy at Kansas State University and to determine if an association existed between presence of MAP and gastrointestinal inflammation, clinical signs, or rural exposure. Procedures. Tissue samples were collected from the duodenum, ileum, and mesenteric and colic nodes of adult dogs (73) and cats (37) undergoing necropsy for various reasons. DNA was extracted and analyzed for insertion sequence 900 using nested PCR. Positive samples were confirmed with DNA sequencing. An online mapping system was used to determine if patients lived in an urban or rural environment based on the home address. Medical records were reviewed for clinical signs and histological findings at necropsy. Results. MAP was identified from 3/73 (4.1%) dogs and 3/37 (8.1%) cats. There was no documented association between presence of MAP and identification of histologic-confirmed gastrointestinal inflammation, gastrointestinal clinical signs, or exposure to a rural environment. Conclusion and Clinical Relevance. MAP-specific DNA can be identified within the intestinal and nodal tissue of dogs and cats that do not have pathological lesions or clinical signs consistent with gastrointestinal disease. The significance of this organism's presence without associated gastrointestinal pathology is unknown.
An Overview of State Policies Supporting Worksite Health Promotion Programs.

Abstract Purpose. Worksite health promotion (WHP) programs can reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular disease risk factors. State law can encourage employers and employer-provided insurance companies to offer comprehensive WHP programs. This research examines state law authorizing WHP programs. Design. Quantitative content analysis. Setting. Worksites or workplaces. Subjects. United States (and the District of Columbia). Intervention. State law in effect in 2013 authorizing WHP programs. Measures. Frequency and distribution of states with WHP laws. Analysis. To determine the content of the laws for analysis and coding, we identified 18 policy elements, 12 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Worksite Health ScoreCard (HSC) and 6 additional supportive WHP strategies. We used these strategies as key words to search for laws authorizing WHP programs or select WHP elements. We calculated the number and type of WHP elements for each state with WHP laws and selected two case examples from stat...
Development and validation of a rule-based time series complexity scoring technique to support design of adaptive forecasting DSS

Evidence from forecasting research gives reason to believe that understanding time series complexity can enable design of adaptive forecasting decision support systems (FDSSs) to positively support forecasting behaviors and accuracy of outcomes. Yet, such FDSS design capabilities have not been formally explored because there exists no systematic approach to identifying series complexity. This study describes the development and validation of a rule-based complexity scoring technique (CST) that generates a complexity score for time series using 12 rules that rely on 14 features of series. The rule-based schema was developed on 74 series and validated on 52 holdback series using well-accepted forecasting methods as benchmarks. A supporting experimental validation was conducted with 14 participants who generated 336 structured judgmental forecasts for sets of series classified as simple or complex by the CST. Benchmark comparisons validated the CST by confirming, as hypothesized, that forecasting accuracy was lower for series scored by the technique as complex when compared to the accuracy of those scored as simple. The study concludes with a comprehensive framework for design of FDSS that can integrate the CST to adaptively support forecasters under varied conditions of series complexity. The framework is founded on the concepts of restrictiveness and guidance and offers specific recommendations on how these elements can be built in FDSS to support complexity. A rule-based method, CST, for scoring time series complexity is developed and validated.Validations confirm that the CST meaningfully distinguishes simple from complex series as below.Forecast errors from benchmark methods for simple series are lower than for those scored as complex.CST can be integrated into FDSS to provide decision support that adapts to time series complexity.A framework for development of such an adaptive system is proposed.
Washington County Mental Health Program Year End Report for Fiscal Year 1976-1977

Program evaluation is in its infancy at the Washington County Mental Health Program; it is only within the last two years that there has been any emphasis placed on evaluation activities. The first chapter in this practicum will identify and provide a context for the recent introduction of the manag~ment by objectives approach to process evaluation within the Washington· County Mental Health Program as well as present a rationale for such an approach; the·second chapter in this practicum is a presentation of results obtained from the first follow-up study to employ management objectives as an evaluation tool; the third chapter explores problems inherent in the nature and design of this type of evaluation procedure as wel.1 as program implications concerning the utility of results obtained from the study and recommendations for change in both appro~ch and procedure. & --.... ... ,,,_., --. ...... ....._........ ... ... ...... ... ....... -.......-...-~-- -------·&-• ·& .. --·. ---& __ & ___ ~. -&• WASHINGTON COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM YEAR END REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1976-1977 by JENNIFER DEE POCKEL A practicum submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK Portland State University 1978 TO THE OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH: ·rhe Advisor approves the practicum of Jennifer Dee Pockel presented May 10, 1978 -----rkson, Ph~·, Advisor \ \
A statistical model for ground motion produced by earthquakes at local and regional distances

To adapt random process theory techniques for statistical estimation of peak ground motion to more realistic earth models, we constrain the parameters of duration, geometrical spreading, and spectral shape by modeling the main ground motion as being the result of major contributions by the direct S wave and supercritically reflected S waves. The results of our modeling are constrained to be consistent with values from full-wave synthetics for the test models. The combination of estimation theory and theoretical amplitude spectrum of the main ground motion within the ergodic window successfully predicts the mean peak vertical ground displacements, velocities, and accelerations of the 1982 Miramichi earthquakes in New Brunswick, Canada. In addition, upon considering the effects of source depth and crustal structure for the November 25, 1988, Saguenay earthquake ( M = 5.8) in Quebec, Canada, the predicted mean peak horizontal ground accelerations match the observed data very well. The effects of source depth and crustal structure on the peak ground motion are complicated for different source sizes and at different epicentral distance ranges.
Apocrine Sweat Glands in the Angulus Oris of Microtine Rodents

Coiled, tubular glands of the apocrine, sudoriferous type occur in the angulus oris of microtine rodents ( Synaptomys cooperi , Clethrionomys occidentalis , Microtus californicus and M. mexicanus ) and are described here for the first time. This glandular tissue is similar in amount and structure in the three genera examined. The glands open into hair follicles and have dilated secretory tubules lined with cells that frequently exhibit an apocrine mode of secretory activity. They differ from the sudoriferous glands of the palmar and plantar pads of the same animals ( Microtus californicus ) not only in these features but also in their cytoplasmic content of lipid droplets. Glycogen granules and pigment (lipofuscin ?) are present in some secretory cells; ferric iron was not demonstrable. The structure of the glands is typical of the apocrine glands of some other mammalian Orders and is simpler and perhaps more generalized than that of the special dorsal and anal sudoriferous glands of some sciurids. The small number (2 to 3 per side) of the glands negates functional significance in thermoregulation but not the possibility of use in olfactory communication.
Abstract 263: Predictors of Physical Activity Increase among People Enrolled in a Worksite Wellness Center

Background: Physical activity (PA) prevents cardiovascular (CV) disease and maintains health. It is unclear which factors predict the adoption or maintenance of PA at a worksite wellness center. Methods: To assess the predictors of increase in PA we conducted a retrospective study on 7237 adults attending a worksite wellness center between September 2008 and October 2011. Upon joining the wellness center, participants completed an electronic or paper survey that assessed for the presence of CV risk factors, height, weight, self-perceived health behaviors and psychosocial factors using eleven validated 0-10 point scale. We included 1927 participants who completed the standard survey at the time of enrollment and at 12 months (+/- 90 days). For logistic regression analysis PA increase at 12 months was defined as an increase of ≥2 points of self-reported PA, on a 0 to 10 point scale, or maintenance of a high level of PA at follow up (FU). Results: Mean (SD) age was 38 (11) yr., BMI was 26.93 (6.06) kg/m2 and 32% were men. From the study sample, 717 (37%) participants increased their PA level or maintained a high level of PA at FU. When comparing people who increased or maintained a high level of PA with the group without improvement or a decline in PA, there were differences in age and BMI: age [39 (11) vs. 38 (11) yr.; p=0.04] and BMI [27.37 (5.92) vs. 26.68 (5.92) kg/m2; p=0.024]. The Table reports the results of the multivariate logistic regression model. While CV risk factors (tobacco use, hyperglycemia/diabetes mellitus, and high blood cholesterol), perceived stress level and self-perception of being overweight were not significant predictors of increase PA, low muscular strength and flexibility and interactions with close friends were significantly associated with PA. Conclusion: A significant proportion of people, over one-third, enrolled in a wellness center increase their PA level or maintain high levels of PA at 12 months after enrollment. Increasing age and BMI, and a measure of social support; interaction with close friends, and perceived muscular strength and flexibility, predict increase in PA. Presence of CV risk factors do not predict increase in PA. Tailoring programs to address these domains may help younger, less fit, and those with less social support improve their PA level. ![Graphic][1] [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif
Metric invariance entropy and conditionally invariant measures

Two notions of metric invariance entropy are constructed with respect to conditionally invariant measures for control systems in discrete time and it is shown that they are invariant under conjugacies.
On the Security and Usability of Segment-based Visual Cryptographic Authentication Protocols

Visual cryptography has been applied to design human computable authentication protocols. In such a protocol, the user and the server share a secret key in the form of an image printed on a transparent medium, which the user superimposes on server-generated image challenges, and visually decodes a response code from the image. An example of such protocols is PassWindow, an award-winning commercial product. We study the security and usability of segment-based visual cryptographic authentication protocols (SVAPs), which include PassWindow as a special case. In SVAP, the images consist of segments and are thus structured. Our overall findings are negative. We introduce two attacks that together are able to break all SVAPs we considered in the paper. Furthermore, our attacks exploit fundamental weaknesses of SVAPs that appear difficult to fix. We have also evaluated the usability of different SVAPs, and found that the protocol that offers the best security has the poorest usability.
TOR Complex 2-Regulated Protein Kinase Fpk1 Stimulates Endocytosis via Inhibition of Ark1/Prk1-Related Protein Kinase Akl1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Depending on the stress, plasma membrane alterations activate or inhibit yeast target of rapamycin (TOR) complex 2, which, in turn, upregulates or downregulates the activity of its essential downstream effector, protein kinase Ypk1. Through phosphorylation of multiple substrates, Ypk1 controls many processes that restore homeostasis. One such substrate is protein kinase Fpk1, which is negatively regulated by Ypk1. Fpk1 phosphorylates and stimulates flippases that translocate aminoglycerophospholipids from the outer to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. Fpk1 has additional roles, but other substrates were uncharacterized. We show that Fpk1 phosphorylates and inhibits protein kinase Akl1, related to protein kinases Ark1 and Prk1, which modulate the dynamics of actin patch-mediated endocytosis. Akl1 has two Fpk1 phosphorylation sites (Ark1 and Prk1 have none) and is hypophosphorylated when Fpk1 is absent. Conversely, under conditions that inactivate TORC2-Ypk1 signaling, which alleviates Fpk1 inhibition, Akl1 is hyperphosphorylated. Monitoring phosphorylation of known Akl1 substrates (Sla1 and Ent2) confirmed that Akl1 is hyperactive when not phosphorylated by Fpk1. Fpk1-mediated negative regulation of Akl1 enhances endocytosis, because an Akl1 mutant immune to Fpk1 phosphorylation causes faster dissociation of Sla1 from actin patches, confers elevated resistance to doxorubicin (a toxic compound whose entry requires endocytosis), and impedes Lucifer yellow uptake (a marker of fluid phase endocytosis). Thus, TORC2-Ypk1, by regulating Fpk1-mediated phosphorylation of Akl1, adjusts the rate of endocytosis.
Language Resocialization and Gender Allies

This chapter investigates how language socialization in the immigrant context cannot be separated from gender roles and their associative sociolinguistic practices. Exclusionary interactions that emanate either from the dominant or immigrant community have the potential to limit both women and men’s mobility and their access to native-speaking interlocutors. Studies in immigrant gender identities link potential changes in social position to the simultaneous shifts experienced by immigrants in a new economic context. Participating in formal language resocialization may deviate from expected gender roles and may be discouraged by family and friends. As our data show, however, the ESL classroom space can be a site where older women and men renegotiate gender norms to become gender allies in the process of second-language acquisition.
Behavioral Management of Neotropical Primates : Aotus, Callithrix, and Saimiri

This chapter discusses the three genera most often seen in laboratory settings—Aotus, Callithrix, and Saimiri. It provides a background through which the behavior of these nonhuman primates (NHPs) can be better appreciated. Each species has a unique set of environmental and social needs that must be met in order for the animals to thrive in the laboratory. The chapter begins with general statements about the ways in which these animals behave and interact in, and with, their natural environment. It also provides specific information on selected topics, including social group formation and housing, enrichment foods and devices, and positive reinforcement training (PRT). There are a number of factors related to Neotropical NHP sociality and natural living conditions that should play a role in determining functionally appropriate captive environments and related management procedures. The chapter concludes with enough information to promote informed decisions concerning the behavioral management of these animals.
A Novel Two-Stage Alignment Method for Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabolomics *

We report a novel two-stage alignment algorithm that contains full alignment and partial alignment, for the analysis of LC-MS based metabolomics data. The purpose of full alignment is to detect landmark peaks that present in all peak lists to be aligned. These peaks were first selected based on m/z value and isotopic peak profile matching. After removing peaks with large Euclidian distance of retention time from the potential landmark peaks, a mixture score was calculated to measure the matching quality of each landmark peak pair between reference peak list and a test peak list. After optimizing the weight factor in the mixture score, the value of minimum mixture score of all landmark peaks was used as the threshold for peak matching in the partial alignment. A local optimization based retention time correction method was used to correct the retention time changes between peak lists during partial alignment. The two-stage alignment method was used to analyze a spiked-in experimental data and further compared with literature reported algorithm RANSAC implemented in MZmine.
Inferior Radiographic and Functional Outcomes With Modular Stem in Metal-on-Metal Total Hip Arthroplasty.

Abstract Background Data on the association between stem type and metal-on-metal (MoM) total hip arthroplasty (THA) performance are limited. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of stem type on the prevalence of osteolysis and radiolucency, blood metal ion levels, and functional outcomes in patients with Articular Surface Replacement THA (ASR XL), a type of MoM THA. Methods We analyzed 539 unilateral MoM THAs coupled with Summit (48%), Corail (35%), or S-ROM (17%) hip stems at a mean follow-up of 6.4 years. Fifty-four percent of the patients were male, and the mean age was 60 years. We studied radiographs, patient-reported outcome measures, and ion levels. Results Patients with S-ROM hip stems were 3.8 times more likely to have osteolysis ( P = .003) and 7.6 times more likely to have radiolucency ( P Conclusion Patients with S-ROM hip stems had inferior functional and radiographic results compared to patients with Summit hip stems. Retrieval studies on large diameter head MoM THA and close follow-up of these patients with hip stems are needed to understand the mechanism causing the differences in outcomes between these stem types.
Nuclear functions of NME proteins.

The NME family of proteins is composed of 10 isoforms, designated NME1-10, which are diverse in their enzymatic activities and patterns of subcellular localization. Each contains a conserved domain associated with a nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) function, although not all are catalytically active. Several of the NME isoforms (NME1, NME5, NME7, and NME8) also exhibit a 3′–5′ exonuclease activity, suggesting roles in DNA proofreading and repair. NME1 and NME2 have been shown to translocate to the nucleus, although they lack a canonical nuclear localization signal. Binding of NME1 and NME2 to DNA does not appear to be sequence-specific in a strict sense, but instead is directed to single-stranded regions and/or other non-B-form structures. NME1 and NME2 have been identified as potential canonical transcription factors that regulate gene transcription through their DNA-binding activities. Indeed, the NME1 and NME2 isoforms have been shown to regulate gene expression programs in a number of cellular settings, and this regulatory function has been proposed to underlie their well-recognized ability to suppress the metastatic phenotype of cancer cells. Moreover, NME1 and, more recently, NME3, have been implicated in repair of both single- and double-stranded breaks in DNA. This suggests that reduced expression of NME proteins could contribute to the genomic instability that drives cancer progression. Clearly, a better understanding of the nuclear functions of NME1 and possibly other NME isoforms could provide critical insights into mechanisms underlying malignant progression in cancer. Indeed, clinical data indicate that the subcellular localization of NME1 may be an important prognostic marker in some cancers. This review summarizes putative functions of nuclear NME proteins in DNA binding, transcription, and DNA damage repair, and highlights their possible roles in cancer progression.
Left Atrial Appendage Morphology and Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source: A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Pilot Study.

Background The left atrial appendage (LAA) is the main source of thrombus in atrial fibrillation, and there is an association between non-chicken wing (NCW) LAA morphology and stroke. We hypothesized that the prevalence of NCW LAA morphology would be higher among patients with cardioembolic (CE) stroke and embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) than among those with noncardioembolic stroke (NCS). Methods This multicenter retrospective pilot study included consecutive patients with ischemic stroke from 3 comprehensive stroke centers who previously underwent a qualifying chest computed tomography (CT) to assess LAA morphology. Patients underwent inpatient diagnostic evaluation for ischemic stroke, and stroke subtype was determined based on ESUS criteria. LAA morphology was determined using clinically performed contrast enhanced thin-slice chest CT by investigators blinded to stroke subtype. The primary predictor was NCW LAA morphology and the outcome was stroke subtype (CE, ESUS, NCS). Results We identified 172 patients with ischemic stroke who had a clinical chest CT performed. Mean age was 70.1 ± 14.3 years and 51.7% were male. Compared with patients with NCS, the prevalence of NCW LAA morphology was higher in patients with CE stroke (58.7% versus 46.3%, P = .1) and ESUS (58.8% versus 46.3%, P = .2), but this difference did not achieve statistical significance. Conclusion The prevalence of NCW LAA morphology may be similar in patients with ESUS and CE, and may be higher than that in those with NCS. Larger studies are needed to confirm these associations.
Ideology and Participation: Examining the Constitutional Convention of 1787:

This article looks at the effect of ideology on delegate participation at the Federal Convention of 1787. Making use of an original data set on delegate verbosity and delegate speeches at the Const...
Effect of a mitochondrial-targeted coenzyme Q analog on pancreatic β-cell function and energetics in high fat fed obese mice.

We recently reported that mitoquinone (mitoQ, 500 μmol/L) added to drinking water of C57BL/6J mice attenuated weight gain and reduced oxidative stress when administered to high-fat (HF) fed mice. Here, we examined the effects of mitoQ administered to HF fed mice on pancreatic islet morphology, dynamics of insulin secretion, and islet mitochondrial metabolism. C57BL/6J mice were fed HF for 130 days while we administered vehicle (cyclodextrin [CD]) or mitoQ added to the drinking water at up to 500 μmol/L. MitoQ-treated mice vs vehicle gained significantly less weight, expended significantly more energy as determined by indirect calorimetry, and trended to consume less (nonsignificant) food. As we and others reported before, mitoQ-treated mice drank less water but showed no difference in percent body fluid by nuclear magnetic resonance. Circulating insulin and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by isolated islets were decreased in mitoQ-treated mice while insulin sensitivity (plasma insulin x glucose) was greater. Islet respiration as basal oxygen consumption (OCR), OCR directed at ATP synthesis, and maximal uncoupled OCR were also reduced in mitoQ-treated mice. Quantitative morphologic studies revealed that islet size was reduced in the mitoQ-treated mice while visual inspection of histochemically stained sections suggested that mitoQ reduced islet lipid peroxides. MitoQ markedly improved liver function as determined by plasma alanine aminotransferase. In summary, mitoQ treatment reduced the demand for insulin and reduced islet size, likely consequent to the action of mitoQ to mitigate weight gain and improve liver function.
AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF USER CONTENT GENERATION AND USAGE BEHAVIOR IN MOBILE DIGITAL MEDIA

Different kinds of user-generated content are becoming available in mobile digital and web media settings as well spurred by the rapid advances in the cellular telephony market. We use a unique dataset of individual-level mobile records to study the nature of interdependencies between users’ content generation and content usage behavior. While theories of resource constraints from economics posit the existence of a negative interdependency between content generation and usage, theories of social exchange from sociology posit the existence of a positive interdependency between these two activities. Hence, the final directional nature of this interdependency is an empirical question. We find that there exist negative inter-temporal interdependencies between the content generation and usage behavior. The effect is also asymmetric such that the negative impact of previous period’s content generation on current period’s content usage is higher than vice-versa. Managerial implications for discounting in data transmission prices are discussed.
NASA's physics of the cosmos and cosmic origins programs manage strategic astrophysics technology development in preparation for the next decadal survey

Future strategic astrophysics missions intend to answer the questions “How did our universe begin and evolve?” “How did galaxies, stars, and planets come to be?” and “Are we alone?” Enabling these missions requires advances in key technologies far beyond the current state of the art. NASA’s Physics of the Cosmos 2 (PCOS), Cosmic Origins 3 (COR), and Exoplanet Exploration Program 4 (ExEP) Program Offices (POs) manage projects to develop these technologies, which are funded through the Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT) program, as well as via directed funding. We present an overview of the Programs’ technology development activities and the current investment portfolio of technology advancements, including those that support four large-mission concepts in preparation for the upcoming Decadal Survey. The PCOS PO also supports funding for US contributionsto the European Space Agency (ESA) Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) gravitationalwave observatory and the Athena X-ray mission. We discuss our process for identifying and prioritizing technology investments by the NASA Astrophysics Division, which is informed by the National Research Council’s (NRC) “New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics” (NWNH), 2010 Decadal Survey report [1], the Astrophysics Implementation Plan [2] (AIP), and the Astrophysics Roadmap “Enduring Quests, Daring Visions” [3].
A domain independent framework to extract and aggregate analogous features in online reviews

Extracting and detecting features from online reviews is both important and challenging, especially when domain knowledge is not explicitly available. Moreover, opinions about the same feature of a product or service are frequently expressed in various lexical forms. In this paper, we present a novel framework to automatically detect, extract and aggregate semantically related features of reviewed products and services. Our model uses sentence level syntactic and lexical information to detect candidate feature words, and corpus level co-occurrence statistics to perform grouping of semantically similar features to obtain high precision feature detection. The high precision feature assembly capability of our model has a distinct advantage over state of the art approaches, like double propagation, by producing short and succinct sets of features compared to potential thousands of features that are generated by existing approaches. We evaluate our model in two completely unrelated domains, restaurant and camera online reviews, to verify its domain independence. The results of our model outperformed existing state of the art probabilistic models.
Colonial collectors: missionaries’ botanical and linguistic prospecting in French colonial Africa

Missionaries collected and, in many cases, were instructed to collect not only linguistic data but also cultural artifacts and natural scientific specimens of various kinds. In doing so, they becam...
Auditor Compensation Pattern Of S&P 500 Corporations Before And After The Passage Of Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The years 2001-02 were marked with an outburst of huge corporate financial failures that eroded billions of dollars from the stockholders’ equity and shook the confidence of the investor community. One of the issues that rose to the surface was the payment of huge nonaudit service fees by publicly traded companies to their auditors. In response to the outcry against the alleged role of the auditors in the corporate scandals, Congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), which imposed a prohibition on the supply of certain nonaudit services by a CPA firm to its audit clients in order to reduce the suspected revenue-dependence of auditors on their audit clients. The study described in this paper examines the pattern of auditor compensation in the years 2001 and 2004 (i.e., pre- and post-SOX periods), for a sample of large public companies, to determine how the auditor compensation has changed during this three-year period and whether the new regulations have decreased such revenue-dependence of the auditor. The study also examines if each of the Big 4 CPA firms that dominate the audit market for large public companies have experienced a change in the pattern of their revenues drawn from different sources of auditor compensation. The results show that not only the composition of auditor compensation has changed after the passage of SOX but also the overall compensation paid by the sampled companies to their auditors has gone up noticeably in many cases, primarily due to a phenomenal rise in audit fees, which still may continue to threaten the auditor’s independence in the audit process. Further, during this three-year period, each of the Big 4 CPA firms has shifted its emphasis on the different sources of its revenues from these large public companies.
Quantification of Cauline Leaf Abscission in Response to Plant Pathogens

Abscission is a process that allows plants to shed unwanted organs. Plants can use abscission as a defense mechanism to shed leaves that are heavily infected with pathogenic bacteria. By shedding infected leaves, plants completely eliminate the bacteria from the plant body, thus preventing further spreading of the disease. A lot is known about how plants limit the growth of pathogenic bacteria in vegetative leaf tissues. Much less is known about how plants defend themselves in non-vegetative developmental stages and how they use organ level responses such as leaf abscission for defense. Organ level defense responses can be effectively studied in the Pseudomonas syringae-triggered leaf abscission system in Arabidopsis. This method article describes detailed procedures for quantitative analysis of cauline leaf abscission including dissecting abscission zones for extraction of RNA and proteins for quantitative gene or protein expression analysis. The method described for molecular analysis of abscission zones could also be used in other cases where tissue is extremely limiting.
Femtosecond Polarization Pulse Shaping by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Metasurfaces offer the ability to control optical dispersion with large bandwidth and high resolution. Here, we demonstrate temporal polarization pulse shaping within a single femtosecond pulse by controlling the spectral phase using dielectric metasurfaces.
Erythrocyte leveraged chemotherapy (ELeCt): Nanoparticle assembly on erythrocyte surface to combat lung metastasis

Despite being the mainstay of cancer treatment, chemotherapy has shown limited efficacy for the treatment of lung metastasis due to ineffective targeting and poor tumor accumulation. Here, we report a highly effective erythrocyte leveraged chemotherapy (ELeCt) platform, consisting of biodegradable drug nanoparticles assembled onto the surface of erythrocytes, to enable chemotherapy for lung metastasis treatment. The ELeCt platform significantly extended the circulation time of the drug nanoparticles and delivered 10-fold higher drug content to the lung compared with the free nanoparticles. In both the early- and late-stage melanoma lung metastasis models, the ELeCt platform enabled substantial inhibition of tumor growth that resulted in significant improvement of survival. Further, the ELeCt platform can be used to deliver numerous approved chemotherapeutic drugs. Together, the findings suggest that the ELeCt platform offers a versatile strategy to enable chemotherapy for effective lung metastasis treatment.
Subacute stent thrombosis in a patient with COVID-19 pneumonia

Acute and subacute stent thromboses are rare but life-threatening complications of primary coronary intervention and stenting. We present a case of a patient with COVID-19 infection who presented w...
Association between early ventricular arrhythmias and mortality in destination vs. bridge patients on continuous flow LVAD support.

The association between ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) and mortality in patients supported by continuous flow left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) remains controversial. To evaluate the association between pre-implantation, early (≤ 30 day) post-implantation VAs and mortality in bridge to transplant (BTT) and destination therapy (DT) LVAD patients, separately. The risk factors for post LVAD VAs were also investigated. In this observational cohort study, we included 341 patients who received a first time, continuous flow LVAD between January 1st 2010 and July 30th 2018. We used Kaplan–Meier curves and multivariable cox regression analyses to study the association between VAs and mortality in the BTT and DT populations. The mean age of the cohort was 58 ± 14 years, with 82% males, 53% had ischemic cardiomyopathy, and 45% were DT. The mean follow-up was 2.2 ± 2.1 years. In both BTT and DT cohorts, pre LVAD VAs were not associated with mortality after LVAD implantation (log-rank p = 0.95 and p = 0.089, respectively). In the BTT population, early post-LVAD VAs were not statistically associated with increased mortality (log rank p = 0.072). In the DT patients, early post LVAD VAs were associated with a 67% increase in the hazards rate of mortality on LVAD support (HR 1.67 [1.05–2.65], p = 0.029). The final model was adjusted for type of cardiomyopathy, INTERMACS profile, glomerular filtration rate, post LVAD atrial fibrillation, age and cerebrovascular events. Early post-LVAD VA is common after LVAD implantation and is an independent predictor of mortality in the DT LVAD population.
Effects of heat stress on production, health and reproduction of dairy cattle

The combined effects of high ambient air temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation have profound effects on milk yield, growth, reproduction, and cow health. In the lactating cow, total body heat load is significantly escalated by an increase in metabolically-derived heat associated with milk production. Whenever heat gain is greater than heat loss body temperature rises, heat stress results and performance is proportionally reduced.
Partial Budget Analysis of Exclusion Netting and Organic-certified Insecticides for Management of Spotted-wing Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) on Small Farms in the Upper Midwest.

Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae), or spotted-wing drosophila, is an invasive pest first detected in the United States in 2008. Although D. suzukii can use many cultivated fruit as hosts, raspberries are considered ‘most at risk’ for infestation. Conventional broad-spectrum insecticides are proven effective D. suzukii controls and can be economically profitable when combined with integrated pest management (IPM) on large-scale commercial raspberry farms. It remains unclear, however, whether organic controls are cost-effective strategies, particularly for farms operating on a small-scale seasonal basis, as is common in the Upper Midwest. The purpose of this paper is to explore the efficacy of two organic D. suzukii controls—exclusion netting for high tunnels and organic insecticides for open plots using data available from different field trials—and to ascertain whether any economic benefits of the organic controls outweigh treatment costs for small-scale raspberry operations under different risk scenarios. The field trials suggest that the organic treatments are effective controls for D. suzukii infestation and economically profitable. The exclusion netting treatment produced positive net returns compared to the alternative of no treatment and economically outperformed the organic-certified insecticide treatment for several yield, price and infestation scenarios. As D. suzukii infestation rates increased, net returns improved for both organic treatments. The economic results were robust across a range of yields and prices, suggesting that in almost all scenarios small scale organic raspberry growers benefit economically from the application of exclusion netting on high tunnels and insecticides for open plots.
Using Participatory Design to Give Foster Teens a Voice in Designs for Their Own Online Safety

Compared to typical teens, teens in foster care face higher levels of offline risks, but little research has determined if this is also true regarding their online risk experiences. Yet, studying this underserved population poses many ethical challenges, including: 1) consent and assent, 2) confidentiality and privacy, and 3) sensitive data. We propose using participatory design as a method to help ensure that the ethical concerns around balancing privacy and disclosure, trade-offs between privacy and beneficial outcomes, and collecting and analyzing foster youth data, are calibrated to the specific needs of our user population.
Mesalamine Reduces Intestinal ACE2 Expression Without Modifying SARS-CoV-2 Infection or Disease Severity in Mice.

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing public health crisis that has sickened or precipitated death in millions. The etiologic agent of COVID-19, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), infects the intestinal epithelium, and can induce GI symptoms similar to the human inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). An international surveillance epidemiology study (SECURE-IBD) reported that the standardized mortality ratio trends higher in IBD patients (1.5-1.8) and that mesalamine/sulfasalazine therapy correlates with poor outcome. The goal of our study was to experimentally address the relationship between mesalamine and SARS-CoV-2 entry, replication, and/or pathogenesis. Methods: Viral infection was performed with a chimeric vesicular stomatitis virus expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and EGFP (VSV-SARS-CoV-2) and SARS-CoV-2 virus derived from an infectious cDNA clone of 2019n-CoV/USA_WA1/2020. Primary human ileal spheroids derived from healthy donors were grown as 3D spheroids or on 2D transwells. We assessed the effect of 10 mM mesalamine (Millipore Sigma) on viral RNA levels, as well as the expression of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor angiotensin II-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), Transmembrane Serine Protease 2 (TMPRSS2), TMPRSS4, Cathepsin B (CTSB) and CTSL by qRT-PCR. 8-12 week old K18-ACE2 were treated orally with PBS or mesalamine at 200 mg/kg daily. Mice were inoculated intranasally with 1x10^3 FFU of SARS-CoV-2. Mice were weighed daily and viral titers were determined 7 days post infection (dpi) by qRT-PCR. For the intestinal viral entry model, VSV-SARS-CoV-2 was injected into a ligated intestinal loop of anesthetized K18-ACE2 mice and tissues were harvested 6 hours post-infection. Results: We found no change in viral RNA levels in human intestinal epithelial cells in response to mesalamine. Expression of ACE2 was reduced following mesalamine treatment in enteroids, while CTSL expression was increased. Mice receiving mesalamine lost weight at similar rates compared to mice receiving vehicle control. Mesalamine treatment did not change viral load in the lung, heart, or intestinal tissues harvested at 7 dpi. Pretreatment with mesalamine did not modulate intestinal entry of the chimeric VSV-SARS-CoV-2 in K18-ACE2 mice. Conclusions: Mesalamine did not alter viral entry, replication, or pathogenesis in vitro or in mouse models. Mesalamine treatment reduced expression of the viral receptor ACE2 while concurrently increasing CTSL expression in human ileum organoids.
Conversation Analysis, Overview

Conversation analysis (CA) is a framework for studying the structures and processes of interaction in conversational and institutional talk. Practitioners draw on audio and video recordings of naturally occurring interaction as well as on detailed transcripts that capture both verbal and nonverbal features, to produce empirical analyses of different levels of the organization of talk. These include such phenomena as the production of social action, sequence organization, preference organization, turn-taking, and turn design. The framework allows for a data-driven account of interaction that is grounded in the participants' own displayed interpretations of the moment-by-moment unfolding of the talk. Keywords: conversation analysis; discourse analysis; language and social interaction
Franco-Americans in Maine: A Geographical Perspective

During the last decade the people of the United States and Canada have shown a growing awareness of and pride in their diverse ethnic backgrounds. In Maine this interest appropriately has focused most intently on the FrancoAmericans who, apart from the Yankees, constitute the most culturally distinctive and numerically important ethnic group in the state. Yet it would be wrong to assume that members of this group are found throughout the state. They have indeed been numerous in some areas, but, at the other extreme there are portions of the state where there are few if any. The largest centres of French ethnic strength are known to local residents and scholars in a general and rather imprecise way while the less visible centres are usually ignored. However, a knowledge of the changing locations of the Franco-American population would seem a necessary prelude to understanding their significance in the state. The major purpose of this paper is to depict the geographical characteristics of Maine's Franco-Americans during the twentieth century and to show what changes have occurred in recent years. A private 1908 census and the most recent United States government census are the basic sources regarding spatial patterns and trends. The historical development of various types of Franco-American settlement will be traced, and statistical analyses will demonstrate the extent to which this ethnic distribution has been distinctive. A second purpose of the paper is to describe certain changes in culture and social structure which have occurred as Franco-Americans have experienced assimilation to varying degrees in different places. In this regard, a variety of
Specifying geomagnetic cutoffs for solar energetic particles

Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) produce detrimental effects on spacecraft and possibly high altitude aircraft. They represent a potential hazard for astronauts and cause the disruption of polar cap communications. They are an ionization source for the polar cap and as such should be included in ionospheric models. Finally, SEPs are an important source for the radiation belts and should be included in dynamic radiation belt models. All of these reasons imply the need for a Solar Energetic Particle model for real-time operational use. Given the flux of Solar Energetic Particles in space beyond the magnetosphere, the main parameter that describes the SEP population near the Earth is what is called the geomagnetic cutoff'. For a given latitude and local time or longitude at the Earth, the cutoff is the lowest energy (or rigidity) particle that can reach the Earth. Because magnetospheric currents have a significant effect on the cutoffs and because these external currents change significantly during a magnetospheric storm, it is necessary to calculate cutoffs for each storm and throughout the storm at a multiplicity of latitudes and local times. Geomagnetic cutoffs are traditionally calculated by tracing test particle trajectories in a model magnetic field. Cutoffs are not sharp but exhibit alternate forbidden and allowed regions. As a result, the global calculation of storm-time cutoffs is computationally intensive and if performed in traditional ways may not meet time constraints associated with real-time operations. This challenge can be met by specialized cutoff search strategies. This paper will review one effort that is underway to construct a fast, useful, solar energetic particle model.
Legitimización y (re)producción discursiva de la dominación social: estudio de caso del discurso político británico y la ocupación israelí de Palestina

This research focuses on the discourses and strategies used by British political representatives in justifying continued ‘support’ for the Israeli occupation government in Palestine. As a member of the liberally identified ‘Western’ alliance, Britain, must justify its invested interests in the region, given Israel’s internationally criticized occupation practices. Between the months of May through July 2004 seven interviews were conducted with Members of British Parliament and the representative of a major London based pro-Israeli lobby organization concerning their rationales for the British government’s position towards the Israeli government’s occupation practices. A critical discursive analysis highlights key ideological and discursive themes forming the legitimizing rationales for the British position and involvements in the region. These rationales are seen as ideologically ‘necessary’ in negotiating the contradictory ‘gaps’ between neoliberalist identifications and practices. Given contemporary hegemonic contestations, the discussion highlights the necessity of an ideological and material analysis in studying Western discursive (re)productions of social domination.