cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Ethical and Political Construction of Action

The Realist Tradition and the Limits of International Relations. By Michael C. Williams Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 254 pp., $70.00 cloth (ISBN: 0-521-82752-3), $29.99 paper (ISBN: 0-521-53475-5). Like others before him (see, for example, Ashley 1986; Smith 1986; Tellis 1995/1996), Michael Williams believes that three classical figures in the history of political thought—Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Hans Morgenthau—have been misappropriated and abused by many international relations scholars, especially when cast as the foundations for the so-called realist tradition. In The Realist Tradition and the Limits of International Relations , however, Williams seeks to do more than merely critique the interpretations of these three thinkers. He also offers a new vision of realism, called “wilful realism,” whose three defining features have been culled from his engagement with the texts of Hobbes, Rousseau, and Morgenthau. The first of these features—“skepticism”—comes from his reading of Hobbes. In Williams's words, “Wilful Realism is characterized by a rational questioning of the limits of reason” and the “conviction that questions of knowledge and belief are crucial elements in the construction and evaluation of action and order” (p. 5). The second component, drawn from Rousseau, is “relationality,” which stresses “the construction of subjectivity and political order through relational processes of self and other, at the level of both individuals and communities” (p. 6). The third dimension is “power politics,” which may seem a familiar theme from Morgenthau's work but is not treated here as the reduction of politics to pure power and the capacity to hurt and destroy. Rather, according to Williams' image of how Morgenthau himself conceived of it, power politics is “a politics of limits that recognizes the destructive and productive dimensions of politics, and that maximizes its positive possibilities while minimizing its destructive potential” (p. 7). Williams describes Hobbes as a quintessential postmodern social constructivist, whose “view of the world is not objective and ‘scientific’ in the positivist sense of the term” but, rather, “resides in a set …
Unilateral severe chronic periodontitis associated with ipsilateral surgical resection of cranial nerves V, VI, and VII.

Background: The central and peripheral nervous systems participate in several local physiological and pathological processes. There is experimental evidence that the inflammatory, local immune, and wound healing responses of a tissue can be modulated by its innervation. The aim of this clinical report is to present a case of unilateral severe periodontitis associated with ipsilateral surgical resection of the fifth, sixth, and seventh cranial nerves and to discuss the possible contribution of the nervous system to periodontal pathogenesis.Methods: A 39-year-old female patient with a history of a cerebrovascular accident caused by a right pontine arteriovenous malformation and destruction of the right fifth, sixth, and seventh cranial nerves was diagnosed with severe chronic periodontitis affecting only the right maxillary and mandibular quadrants. The patient's oral hygiene was similar for right and left sides of the mouth. Percentages of tooth surfaces carrying dental plaque were 41% and 36% for right an...
Spectral Subtraction of Noise in Speech Processing Applications

We used Spectral Subtraction in this research as a method to remove noise from speech signals. Initially, the spectrum of the noisy speech is computed using the fast Fourier transform (FFT), then the average magnitude of the noise spectrum is subtracted from the noisy speech spectrum. We applied Spectral Subtraction to the speech signal "Hot dog" to which we digitally added vacuum cleaner noise. We implemented the noise removal algorithm by storing the noisy speech data into Hanning time-widowed half-overlapped data buffers, computing the corresponding spectrums using the FFT, removing the noise from the noisy speech, and reconstructing the speech back into the time domain using the inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). We had recourse to the speech to noise ratio (SNR )in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
Keeping the Metaphor of Scaffolding Fresh—-A Response to C. Addison Stone's “The Metaphor of Scaffolding Its Utility for the Field of Learning Disabilities”

This author suggests three responses to Professor Stone's call for enriching the scaffolding metaphor: (a) repositioning the metaphor in its theoretical frame; (b) considering the ways in which contexts and activities, as well as individuals, scaffold learning; and (c) examining the relationship between scaffolding and effective teaching. The author describes research that has been conducted toward these ends.
Recent Advances and Applications of Experimental Technologies in Marine Natural Product Research

Marine natural products are a rich source of novel and biologically active compounds. The number of identified marine natural compounds has grown 20% over the last five years from 2009 to 2013. Several challenges, including sample collection and structure elucidation, have limited the development of this research field. Nonetheless, new approaches, such as sampling strategies for organisms from extreme ocean environments, nanoscale NMR and computational chemistry for structural determination, are now available to overcome the barriers. In this review, we highlight the experimental technology innovations in the field of marine natural products, which in our view will lead to the development of many new drugs in the future.
Influence of Honey-containing Marinades on Heterocyclic Aromatic Amine Formation and Overall Mutagenicity in Fried Beef Steak and Chicken Breast

: The effects of marinade ingredients, namely lemon juice, soy sauce, minced garlic, and 3 levels of buckwheat honey and clover, and 3 marinade formulations containing these ingredients, were evaluated for their influence on heterocyclic aromatic amine (HAA) formation. Buckwheat and clover honeys were chosen for their high and low antioxidant capacity, respectively. Garlic and lemon juice, as well as honey, were effective in reducing HAA formation and overall mutagenicity. For both types of honey, 30% honey in the marinade formulation was most effective in inhibiting HAA formation and overall mutagenicity. Marinades containing buckwheat honey were the most effective. Increasing marinating time had no effect on HAA formation in cooked meats.
Risk factors associated with fatal animal-vehicle collisions in the United States, 1995-2004.

Objective.—Animal-vehicle collisions are a significant public health concern in the United States. The annual economic cost currently exceeds $1 billion from injuries and property damage. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evaluated nonfatal injuries from animalvehicle collisions, but information on fatal animal-vehicle collisions is limited. This study evaluates risk factors associated with fatal animal-vehicle collisions. Methods.—This study evaluates characteristics of fatal animal-vehicle collisions in the United States from 1995–2004 by using the Fatality Accident Reporting System database of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Results.—An average of 165 deaths occurred each year during this 10-year time period. Most deaths occurred in rural areas, during the fall months, on straight roads, and in clear weather, and an increasing trend for deaths was noted over this time period. Conclusion.—The number of fatal animal-vehicle collisions is increasing. Various methods to reduce such collisions are described, with fencing appearing to be the most effective. The use of personal restraints such as seat belts in passenger vehicles and helmets for motorcycle and all-terrain-vehicle riders may decrease fatalities during a collision.
On pressure boundary conditions for the incompressible Navier‐Stokes equations

The pressure is a somewhat mysterious quantity in incompressible flows. It is not a thermodynamic variable as there is no ‘equation of state’ for an incompressible fluid. It is in one sense a mathematical artefact—a Lagrange multiplier that constrains the velocity field to remain divergence-free; i.e., incompressible—yet its gradient is a relevant physical quantity: a force per unit volume. It propagates at infinite speed in order to keep the flow always and everywhere incompressible; i.e., it is always in equilibrium with a time-varying divergence-free velocity field. It is also often difficult and/or expensive to compute. While the pressure is perfectly well-defined (at least up to an arbitrary additive constant) by the governing equations describing the conservation of mass and momentum, it is (ironically) less so when more directly expressed in terms of a Poisson equation that is both derivable from the original conservation equations and used (or misused) to replace the mass conservation equation. This is because in this latter form it is also necessary to address directly the subject of pressure boundary conditions, whose proper specification is crucial (in many ways) and forms the basis of this work. Herein we show that the same principles of mass and momentum conservation, combined with a continuity argument, lead to the correct boundary conditions for the pressure Poisson equation: viz., a Neumann condition that is derived simply by applying the normal component of the momentum equation at the boundary. It usually follows, but is not so crucial, that the tangential momentum equation is also satisfied at the boundary.
Evaluation of ultra-short focusing cone-beam collimators for SPECT brain imaging

We evaluated short focal length cone-beam collimators for a dual-head brain SPECT system. Previously we showed that using a 20-cm-focal length cone-beam collimator paired with a 40-cm-focal length fan-beam collimator increases sensitivity dramatically near the center of the brain. In this study, we evaluated the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for various lesion locations when using short focusing collimators of different focal length. A spherical lesion was placed at each of several possible locations in an ellipsoidal phantom. The focal length was varied from 18 to 23 cm, so that the focal point was always inside the brain for a 15-cm radius of rotation. We calculated the SNR for estimation of activity concentration based on the Cramer-Rao lower bound on variance. For centrally located lesions, the SNR gain compared to a low-energy-high-resolution collimator ranged from 2.5 (f = 23 cm) to 3.6 (f = 18 cm). For peripheral lesions, the gain ranged from 1.7 to 1.8. We also reconstructed images of the Zubal brain phantom for simulated /sup 123/I-Altropane studies. Images were reconstructed from noisy projection data using the OS-EM algorithm. Based on image comparisons and SNR calculations, we concluded that the combination of a cone-beam collimator with focal point inside the brain and a fan-beam collimator (f = 40 cm), outperforms any other conventional collimators in sensitivity. Furthermore, mismatch between the center of the patient's head and the center of rotation was found not to reduce the sensitivity significantly.
Heat conduction in composite media: a boundary integral approach

A procedure to obtain accurate solutions for heat conduction problems in composite media is presented. The governing partial differential equation is cast into an integral form by the application of the boundary integral theory. The resulting integral equation is then solved on a generic element of the problem domain in a typical finite-element fashion. The partitioning and discretization of the problem domain is shown to resolve media heterogeneity in a straightforward and efficient manner. Three methods of weighting internodal thermal conductivity are tested for their influence on the accuracy of the numerical solutions. It is shown that the weightings do exert some influence on the accuracy of solution. The geometric mean taken over two adjacent elements appears to be the most accurate; since the numerical results obtained from this methodology predicted with good agreement the closed form solutions of heat transfer problems exposed to different boundary conditions.
The HSP90 inhibitor 17-AAG synergizes with doxorubicin and U0126 in anaplastic large cell lymphoma irrespective of ALK expression

Objective Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) chaperones and maintains the molecular integrity of a variety of signal transduction proteins, including the nucleophosmin-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (NPM-ALK) oncogenic protein, a genetic abnormality that is frequently observed in anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) cells. Here we demonstrate that HSP90 is overexpressed in primary and cultured ALK-positive and ALK-negative ALCL cells, and we evaluate the potential role of the small molecule inhibitor of HSP90, 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) in treating ALCL. Methods The antiproliferative effect of 17-AAG–cultured cells was determined by MTS assay. Apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest were determined by Annexin-V/propidium iodide and propidium iodide staining, respectively, and fluorescein-activated cell sorting analysis. Expression of HSP90 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, and molecular changes were determined by Western blot. Results Treatment of cultured ALCL cells with 17-AAG induced cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis, irrespective of ALK expression. At the molecular level, 17-AAG induced degradation of ALK and Akt proteins, dephosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and degraded the cell-cycle regulatory protein cyclin D1 and its cyclin-dependent kinases, CDK4 and CDK6, but had a differential effect on p27 and p53 proteins. Inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation by the mitogen activated protein kinase inhibitor U0126 induced cell death in all ALCL cell lines, and sublethal concentration 17-AAG showed synergistic antiproliferative effects when combined with U0126 or doxorubicin. Conclusion Our data demonstrate that targeting HSP90 function by 17-AAG may offer a novel therapeutic strategy for ALCL, either as single-agent activity or by combining 17-AAG with conventional or targeted therapeutic schemes.
The antiproliferative activity of c-myb and c-myc antisense oligonucleotides in smooth muscle cells is caused by a nonantisense mechanism.

Abstract Smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation is thought to play a major role in vascular restenosis after angioplasty and is a serious complication of the procedure. Developing antisense (AS) oligonucleotides as therapeutics is attractive because of the potentially high specificity of binding to their targets, and several investigators have reported inhibition of SMC proliferation in vitro and in vivo by using AS strategies. We report here the results of our experiments on vascular SMCs using AS oligonucleotides directed toward c-myb and c-myc. We found that significant inhibition of SMC proliferation occurred with these specific AS sequences but that this inhibition was clearly not via a hybridization-dependent AS mechanism. Rather, inhibition was due to the presence of four contiguous guanosine residues in the oligonucleotide sequence. This was demonstrated in vitro in primary cultures of SMCs and in arteries ex vivo. The ex vivo model developed here provides a rapid and effective system in which to screen potential oligonucleotide drugs for restenosis. We have further explored the sequence requirements of this non-AS effect and determined that phosphorothioate oligonucleotides containing at least two sets of three or four consecutive guanosine residues inhibit SMC proliferation in vitro and ex vivo. These results suggest that previous AS data obtained using these and similar, contiguous guanosine-containing AS sequences be reevaluated and that there may be an additional class of nucleic acid compounds that have potential as antirestenosis therapeutics.
Investigation of Slot Cooling at High Subsonic Speeds

The paper discusses the results of an experimental and numerical investigation of tangential slot injection film cooling with zero pressure gradients in subsonic boundary layers at freestream Mach numbers of 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8. The results are compared with the predictions obtained from a finite-difference boundary-layer program developed by NASA for slot injection into turbulent supersonic boundary layers. The two sets of results are found to compare favorably. The numerical results point to the existence of a unique relation between isothermal effectiveness and adiabatic effectiveness, thereby confirming the existence of similarity conditions for temperature and velocity profiles.
From Custer to Thermopylae: Last stand behavior in multi-stage contests

Abstract In a multi-stage contest known as a two-player race, players display two fundamental behaviors: (1) the laggard will make a last stand in order to avoid the cost of losing; and (2) the player who is ahead will defend his lead if it is threatened. Last stand behavior, in particular, contrasts with previous research where the underdog simply gives up. The distinctive results are achieved by introducing losing penalties and discounting into the racing environment. This framework permits the momentum effect, typically ascribed to the winner of early stages, to be more thoroughly examined. I study the likelihood that the underdog will catch up. I find that neck-and-neck races are common when the losing penalty is large relative to the winning prize, while landslide victories occur when the prize is relatively large. Closed-form solutions are given for the case where players have a common winning prize and losing penalty.
Clear cell adenocarcinoma arising from endometriosis in abdominal wall cesarean section scar: a case report and review of the literature

Malignancy arising in association with endometriosis is a rare but well-documented phenomenon that was first described in the literature as early as 1925. Cutaneous endometriosis with subsequent malignant transformation is even more uncommon, and high clinical suspicion is required for diagnosis. The clinical differential diagnosis of these lesions includes a wide variety of entities, ranging from benign cysts to malignancies such as melanoma. We report a case of clear cell adenocarcinoma arising from endometriosis in a cesarean section scar in a 47-year-old woman, and we complete a review of the literature regarding this unusual entity.
Addressing Research Priorities for Prevention of HIV Infection in the United States

More than half a million Americans became newly infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the first decade of the new millennium. The domestic epidemic has had the heaviest impact on men who have sex with men and persons from racial and ethnic minority populations, particularly black persons. For example, black men who have sex with men represent <1% of the US population but 25% of new HIV infections, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates published in 2008. Although black and Hispanic women constitute 24% of all US women, they accounted for 82% of HIV infections among women in 2005, according to data from 33 states with confidential name-based reporting. There is a nearly 23-fold higher rate of AIDS diagnoses among black women (45.5 diagnoses per 100,000 women) and a nearly 6-fold higher rate among Hispanic women (11.2 diagnoses per 100,000 women), compared with the rate among white women (2.0 diagnoses per 100,000 women). Investigators from the HIV Prevention Trials Network, a National Institutes of Health-sponsored collaborative clinical trials group, have crafted a domestic research agenda with community input. Two new domestic studies are in progress (2009), and a community-based clinical trial feasibility effort is in development (2010 start date). These studies focus on outreach, testing, and treatment of infected persons as a backbone for prevention of HIV infection. Reaching persons not receiving health messages and services with novel approaches to both prevention and treatment is an essential priority for control of HIV infection in the United States; our research is designed to guide the best approaches and assess the impact of bridging treatment and prevention.
Deluge II and the continent of doom: rising sea level and collapsing Antarctic ice

Hughes, Terence J. 1987 06 01: Deluge II and the continent of doom: rising sea level and collapsing Antarctic ice. Boreas, Vol. 16, pp. 89–100. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483. Many cultures in both the Old and New Worlds have preserved legends of a Great Flood. In the Biblical deluge, ‘the springs of the great deep broke through and the sluices of heaven opened’ (Genesis 7: 11). The rise in sea level, as opposed to prolonged rainfall, is a conceivable cause of global flooding because the last stages in collapse of late Wisconsin/Weichselian ice sheets occurred in the late prehistorical period, from 8,000 to 6,000 B.C. A possible mechanism that might collapse large parts of ice sheets in a short time is found in Jakobshavns Isbrae, which drains the west-central part of the Greenland Ice Sheet. This mechanism, called the Jakobshavns Effect, is described and its possible role in Holocene collapse of former Northern Hemisphere ice sheets (Deluge I) and future collapse of parts of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (Deluge II) is examined. Rapid global flooding by this mechanism is extremely unlikely; however, we lack the information needed to eliminate the possibility.
Gene ytkD of Bacillus subtilis Encodes an Atypical Nucleoside Triphosphatase Member of the Nudix Hydrolase Superfamily

Gene ytkD of Bacillus subtilis, a member of the Nudix hydrolase superfamily, has been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified protein has been characterized as a nucleoside triphosphatase active on all of the canonical ribo- and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. Whereas all other nucleoside triphosphatase members of the superfamily release inorganic pyrophosphate and the cognate nucleoside monophosphate, YtkD hydrolyses nucleoside triphosphates in a stepwise fashion through the diphosphate to the monophosphate, releasing two molecules of inorganic orthophosphate. Contrary to a previous report, our enzymological and genetic studies indicate that ytkD is not an orthologue of E. coli mutT.
Segmental hemodynamics during partial liquid ventilation in isolated rat lungs.

Partial liquid ventilation (PLV) is a means of ventilatory support in which gas ventilation is carried out in a lung partially filled with a perfluorocarbon liquid capable of supporting gas exchange. Recently, this technique has been proposed as an adjunctive therapy for cardiac arrest, during which PLV with cold perfluorocarbons might rapidly cool the intrathoracic contents and promote cerebral protective hypothermia while not interfering with gas exchange. A concern during such therapy will be the effect of PLV on pulmonary hemodynamics during very low blood flow conditions. In the current study, segmental (i.e. precapillary, capillary, and postcapillary) hemodynamics were studied in the rat lung using a standard isolated lung perfusion system at a flow rate of 6 ml/min ( ~5% normal cardiac output). Lungs received either gas ventilation or 5 or 10 ml/kg PLV. Segmental pressures and vascular resistances were determined, as was transcapillary fluid flux. The relationship between individual hemodynamic parameters and PLV dose was examined using linear regression, with n = 5 in each study group. PLV at both the 5 and 10 ml/kg dose produced no detectable changes in pulmonary blood flow or in transcapillary fluid flux (all R2 values < 0.20). Conclusion: In an isolated perfused lung model of low flow conditions, normal segmental hemodynamic behavior was preserved during liquid ventilation. These data support further investigation of this technique as an adjunct to cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Diet-induced obesity and mammary tumor development in relation to estrogen receptor status

Leptin enhances proliferation of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer cells in vitro. Here, we compared mammary tumor (MT) formation from ER-positive (MCF-7) and ER-negative (MDA-MB-231) breast cancer cells in athymic mice fed a High-Fat diet to elevate serum leptin. Neither body weight, diet or serum leptin levels impacted MT latency, burden or tumor grade. However, protein expression in mammary fat pads exhibited elevated PCNA and Cyclin D1 while in MTs, Ob-Rb, IGF-IR, Bcl-2, and Bax were lower in Low-Fat versus High-Fat mice. In conclusion, diet rather than serum leptin impacted breast cancer cell tumor metabolism.
Isokinetics: a clarification.

Abstract There is confusion in the literature regarding the term isokinetics; that is, does the term refer to constancy of change of muscle length or to constancy of angular movement of a limb? A mathematical argument is presented which indicates that when angular movement of a limb is held constant as provided by current isokinetic instrumentation, the concurrent change of muscle length is not constant, nor is its acceleration through the range of joint movement. It is suggested that isokinetics be reserved to denote contraction which accompanies constant angular velocity of a limb, and that some other term be used to describe contractions which are isovelocity in nature.
Continuous intravenous infusion of Demerol in labor

Abstract A simple method for the administration of Demerol intravenously is presented. The amounts of medication are relatively small and result in a satisfactory maternal analgesic effect. The infants are not depressed upon delivery. Further investigation is now in progress utilizing alcohol and scopolamine to enhance the analgesic effects of Demerol and to provide amnesia as well.
CFD Generation of Flight Databases for UAVs for Use in the Flight Certification Air-Worthiness Process

A Computational Fluid Dynamic approach has been applied to generating a flight database for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems to be used in the flight certification process. There is a need to build confidence in producing computational solutions of small unmanned aerial vehicles. This approach will be used to determine the basic aerodynamic, performance, and stability and control characteristics of the unmanned vehicles. These characteristics include the calculation of the forces and moments on the vehicle, the control surface effectiveness (for flap, aileron, elevator and rudder) and power effects. The turn around time necessary to produce these results was also evaluated. Accurate and efficient prediction of the aerodynamic behavior of these aircraft is essential to military system acquisition. The computational method was able to produce good aerodynamic, control effectiveness and power effect data.
Effects of Inhalation Transience on Particle Transport Through a CT-Based Human Airway Geometry

The effects of inhalation transience on particle transport through the lungs were examined using numerical simulation. Physiologically appropriate, regional ventilation was induced through a computed tomography (CT) based human airway geometry for steady and transient inhalation using lobar-specific boundary conditions. Transient inhalation and the analogous steady cases were simulated for two breathing rates. Particle transport was modeled for a range of particle sizes and Stokes numbers. The deposition fractions of particles were analyzed and comparisons were made between the results for steady and transient inhalation. Deposition fractions for particles released during transient inhalation were substantially less than those released during steady inhalation for all but the largest particle sizes. Future work is suggested.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Effect of ethionine on blood and depot lipids in experimental nephrotic hyperlipemia.

Summary1. Dl-ethionine reduces the markedly increased plasma lipid concentration of nephrotic rats to normal or subnormal values within 3–5 days. 2. The diminished liver fat values regularly noted in nephrotic rats increase to normal levels under ethionine administration while carcass fat values remain unchanged. 3. The effect of ethionine on hyperlipemia and liver fat of nephrotic rats was noted in female as well as male rats, and was not prevented by methionine. 4. These results lend support to the view that the nephrotic hyperlipemia may be due to an inability of the liver to take up plasma lipids normally.
The Spectrum of Renal Cell Carcinoma in Adults

The spectrum of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) includes many neoplasms with distinct cytogenetics, biologic behaviors, and imaging appearances. The advent of molecular therapies targeting different tumor types, new insights into the relative roles of biopsy and surveillance for small incidental tumors, and a growing array of nephron-sparing interventions have altered management of RCC. Similarly, the role of the radiologist is changing, and it is becoming increasingly important for radiologists to familiarize themselves with the various types of RCC. This article introduces the reader to the common and uncommon recognized types of renal cell carcinoma and discusses how these neoplasms differ in imaging appearance and behavior.
Towards a quantitative understanding of the epidemiology of keystone virus in the Eastern United States

The implications of the Keystone virus--Aedes atlanticus transmission cycle are explored in the context of a quantitative model. Among the variables considered are the vertical transmission rate, the effect of the virus upon vector fertility and survival, vector densities and distributions, the proportion susceptible in the vertebrate population, the attractiveness of different vertebrates to the vector and vector survival rates. The logical relationships between these several variables are explored. It is concluded that the current view of Keystone virus maintenance is quantitatively feasible, and that certain predictions may be made as to the magnitude of several parameters which have not yet been measured. Such predictions allow direct testing of the model. The general structure of the model is such that it may prove useful in describing the epidemiology of other vector-borne infections in which vertical transmission is essential for infection maintenance at certain periods of the year.
Observations on Pronghorn Behavior and Taphonomic Analysis of Bonebeds: Implications for Analysis of the Eden-Farson Pronghorn Kill

The Eden-Farson site represents a late Prehistoric or early Historic catastrophic event of over 200 pronghorns killed in late October and early November by Shoshonean hunters. No evidence remains of a structure used to trap the animals, but the Bridger Pronghorn Trap (48UT1) in the same general area is proposed as a model. Pronghorn behavior is distinctive and different from other animals native to the area. Along with eyewitness accounts and other pronghorn traps in the Great Basin, it is used to propose a procurement strategy for the Eden-Farson site.
Diabetes and Coronary Heart Disease

This review describes the prevalence of diabetes, its contribution to coronary heart disease risk, and possible mechanisms for this association including hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinaemia, dyslipidaemia and hypertension. Because many of these attributes antedate the diagnosis of non-insulin dependent diabetes, prevention of heart disease in diabetics will require modification of the other factors before improved glucose control is possible or necessary
Anti-infective Dosing for Obese Adult Patients: A Focus on Newer Drugs to Treat Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections

Abstract Purpose Obesity is recognized to be a risk factor for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) that are associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Several new antimicrobial agents have been introduced to treat MRSA-related ABSSSI and are dosed with and without regard to weight. This review seeks to explain the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) rationale for initial and maintenance dosage selection of these newer agents in obese adults. Methods A PubMed search was performed using the key words obese or obesity, pharmacokinetics, and the name of each MRSA active drug evaluated in this review. Major themes were identified through a review of this literature. A synopsis of key findings from population PK studies (including reference sources) and independent studies of the PK properties of each new MRSA active agent used to treat ABSSIs were reviewed to derive practical dosing considerations. Findings Clinical trials of ABSSSIs have increasingly incorporated individuals across a wide body size spectrum. This inclusion of obese adults has been reflected in population PK analyses that have permitted the evaluation of weight and other body size descriptors. In general, the volume of distribution is higher in obese patients, suggesting the need for higher initial (loading) doses if PK bioequivalence is desired. Less certainty exists with selection of a higher maintenance dose, especially for antimicrobial agents with time-dependent PK-PD properties. Selection of higher maintenance doses through alternate scaling approaches in obese patients can be justified on an individual clinical basis. Implications Maintenance dose modification of several MRSA-targeted anti-infective agents is unlikely to be necessary in obese patients and should be capped if dosed on total weight or this higher dose justified with therapeutic drug monitoring.
Measuring Neural Responses to Apparel Product Attractiveness An Application of Frontal Asymmetry Theory

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to investigate a neural mechanism of apparel product attractiveness and (b) to compare consumers’ brain responses to apparel product attractiveness with t...
Detecting Single Photons Using Capacitive Coupling of Single Quantum Dots

Capturing single photons through light–matter interactions is a fascinating and important topic for both fundamental research and practical applications. The light–matter interaction enables the transfer of the energy of a single photon (∼1 eV) to a bound electron, making it free to move either in the crystal lattice or in the vacuum. In conventional single photon detectors (e.g., avalanche photodiodes), this free electron triggers a carrier multiplication process which amplifies the ultraweak signal to a detectable level. Despite their popularity, the timing jitter of these conventional detectors is limited to tens of picoseconds, mainly attributed to a finite velocity of carriers drifting through the detectors. Here we propose a new type of single photon detector where a quantum dot, embedded in a single-electron transistor like device structure, traps a photogenerated charge and gives rise to a sizable voltage signal (∼7 mV per electron or hole by simulation) on a nearby sense probe through capacitive ...
An Evaluation of the Research and Clinical Usefulness of the Spiritual Weil-Being Scale:

Recent research results (Moody, 1988) have suggested that the Spiritual Weil-Being Scale (SWBS) may have ceiling effects. This study evaluated 17 selected religious and non-religious SWBS samples t...
Role of Exogenous Progesterone in the Treatment of Men and Women with Substance Use Disorders: A Narrative Review

Substance use disorders (SUDs) remain problematic as many individuals are untreated or do not benefit from the currently available interventions. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop novel pharmacological interventions to treat SUDs. Evidence suggests that the female sex hormone, progesterone, attenuates the craving for and the euphoric effects of drugs of abuse. Research to date has demonstrated that progesterone may modulate responses to drugs of abuse and may have utility as a novel treatment for SUDs. A literature search was conducted to identify and examine studies that administered exogenous progesterone. Sixteen publications were identified, exploring the utility of exogenous progesterone or its metabolite, allopregnanolone, among a range of substances, including amphetamines (one study), benzodiazepines (one study), cocaine (nine studies), and tobacco/nicotine (five studies). Results indicated that exogenous progesterone and, its metabolite allopregnanolone, demonstrated preliminary efficacy as a treatment for substance use in both men and women. Notably, progesterone appears to target negative affect and augment cognitive functioning, especially among female substance users. Additional research is needed to explore the potential use of exogenous progesterone and allopregnanolone in the treatment of SUDs, including that associated with alcohol and opioids, but considering the current promising findings, exogenous progesterone and allopregnanolone may have utility as novel pharmacological treatments for SUDs.
PS4:67 Losing antiphospholipid antibody positivity post thrombosis in secondary antiphospholipid syndrome

Objectives Loss of positivity of antiphospholipid antibodies has been observed in clinical practice post thrombosis with secondary APS. Our study aimed to define the frequency of this loss. Methods In this prospective study, the inclusion criteria comprised of SLE patients having at least two positive aPL markers in 3 years prior to the thrombosis. Patients with at least two post-thrombosis visits were included. Positive antiphospholipid markers comprised of RVVT>45, aCL IgG ≥20, aCL IgM ≥20 and aCL IgA ≥20. Loss of aPL was defined as being negative for these markers for all visits after the thrombosis, excluding the first visit post thrombosis. Percentages of loss of antiphospholipid markers after thrombosis was calculated. Further analyses were done for different types of thromboses (arterial vs venous). There were 17 patients with arterial and 16 patients with venous thromboses. Results The analysis included the numbers and percentages of patients with loss of aPL after thrombosis, as shown in the table below. Conclusions In secondary APS due to SLE, loss of aPL positivity post thrombotic event was up to 43% for anticardiolipin IgG, IgM and IgA, but only 13% for lupus anticoagulant (measured by RVVT). Loss of lupus anticoagulant positivity appears rare. Our analyses, however, are limited due to the small numbers of prospectively followed events.
Personal Space, Crowding, and Spatial Behavior in a Cultural Context

Research interest in the topics of personal space, crowding, and spatial behavior has increased exponentially over the past fifteen years. This growing literature has indicated that the two primary functions served by the use of space are regulation or control and communication. One of the first systematic treatments of this domain was E. T. Hall’s The Hidden Dimension. In his book, Hall (1966) proposed that individuals from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds differ with regard to their spatial behavior, and suggested that these differences were reflective of different cultural norms governing the use of space within different societies. During the last decade, Hall’s ideas have stimulated a considerable amount of research and writing on the description and comparison of differences in the structuring and use of space. Unfortunately, only a small proportion of this research has examined spatial behavior within a cultural context. Nevertheless, this growing body of research has generally been rather supportive of Hall’s qualitative observations.
Throttling positive semidefinite zero forcing propagation time on graphs

Abstract Zero forcing is a process on a graph that colors vertices blue by starting with some of the vertices blue and applying a color change rule. Throttling minimizes the sum of the size of the initial blue vertex set and the number of the time steps needed to color the graph. We study throttling for positive semidefinite zero forcing. We establish a tight lower bound on the positive semidefinite throttling number as a function of the order, maximum degree, and positive semidefinite zero forcing number of the graph, and determine the positive semidefinite throttling numbers of paths, cycles, and full binary trees. We characterize the graphs that have extreme positive semidefinite throttling numbers.
Using Phase Space Methods for Target Identification

The response of a radar or sonar target to a signal may be described by an impulse response function, which means that the target may be considered as a filter acting on a signal. It is known that filters are not exactly invertible, and this lack of invertibility may be used to identify the particular target that reflected a signal. We apply techniques from nonlinear dynamics to determine the probability that a function exists between 2 signals. If 2 identical signals are filtered by the same filter, then our statistic will indicate a high probability that a function exists between the 2 signals; if the 2 signals were filtered by different filters, then the statistic will show a low probability that the 2 signals are related by a function. We demonstrate target identification with both numerical simulations and acoustic experiments.
A Pilot Intervention Trial to Promote Sexual Health and Stress Management Among HIV-Infected Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) experience HIV disparities. This study pilot-tested a two session, group-delivered intervention to promote sexual health and stress management skills for HIV-infected MSM. Participants (N = 80) were randomized to an immediate or delayed intervention condition. Analyses of covariance examined intervention efficacy. Compared to the delayed condition, intervention condition participants reported: greater HIV transmission knowledge (p < .001), higher HIV disclosure self-efficacy (p = .004), stronger intentions to refuse unprotected sex (p = .05), decreased frequency of unprotected anal or oral sex (p = .03), decreased perceived stress levels (p = .03), and higher coping self-efficacy (p = .003). Differences in the number of unprotected anal sex episodes, condom attitudes, and level of social support did not differ between conditions. Findings provide evidence of intervention acceptability and suggest the brief intervention may enhance stress management skills and modify sexual risk behavior antecedents for HIV-infected MSM.
Music Therapy for Coping Self-Efficacy in an Acute Mental Health Setting: A Randomized Pilot Study

For adults with mental illness, coping skills represent an integral component of illness management and recovery (IMR) programs. Music therapy can be used to target IMR but empirical research specific to coping is needed. The purpose of this study was to determine if educational music therapy can influence coping self-efficacy in acute care mental health inpatients. Adults on an acute care mental health unit (N = 92) were cluster-randomized to one of three single-session conditions over 24 group-based sessions: educational lyric analysis, educational songwriting, or control. Although results were not significant, both educational music therapy conditions tended to have more favorable coping self-efficacy subscale means than the control condition but there were negligible differences between lyric analysis and songwriting conditions. Results can be considered clinically relevant within the temporal parameters of single-session therapy typical in acute care settings. Limitations, implications for practice, and suggestions for future research are included.
Derivations and Leibniz differences on rings

In an earlier paper we discussed the composition of derivations of order 1 on a commutative ring R, showing that (i) the composition of n derivations of order 1 yields a derivation of order at most n, and (ii) under additional conditions on R the composition of n derivations of order exactly 1 forms a derivation of order exactly n. In the present paper we consider the composition of derivations of any orders on rings. We show that on any commutative ring R the composition of a derivation of order at most n with a derivation of order at most m results in a derivation of order at most $$n+m$$. If R is an integral domain of sufficiently large characteristic, then the composition of a derivation of order exactly n with a derivation of order exactly m results in a derivation of order exactly $$n+m$$. As in the previous paper, the results are proved using Leibniz difference operators.
Use of Social Psychology to Improve Adherence to National Bronchiolitis Guidelines.

OBJECTIVES: The American Academy of Pediatrics’ bronchiolitis guidelines recommend against albuterol and corticosteroids for treating and chest radiographs (CRs) for diagnosing infants with bronchiolitis. However, high rates of nonadherence have been documented. Our objective was to improve guideline adherence in infants with bronchiolitis. METHODS: This quality improvement study was conducted in 1 urban academic pediatric primary care clinic caring for predominately minority and publicly insured children. We tested provider guideline education, display of guidelines in patient care areas, and monthly e-mails to all providers documenting deviation rates, with individual e-mails to providers who deviated. P-charts and interrupted time series analysis were used to estimate the effect of the intervention. RESULTS: There were 380 children CONCLUSIONS: Traditional quality improvement efforts coupled with social psychology techniques resulted in improved guideline adherence in outpatient bronchiolitis management. Additional study will help identify which techniques are most effective for increasing guideline adherence in cases of low-value care.
Towards Energy-Proportional Anomaly Detection in the Smart Grid

Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) deployment is increasing throughout national power grids in an effort to improve operator situational awareness of rapid oscillations and other fluctuations that could indicate a future disruption of service. However, the quantity of data produced by PMU deployment makes real-time analysis extremely challenging, causing grid designers to invest in large centralized analysis systems that consume significant amounts of energy. In this paper, we argue for a more energy-proportional approach to anomaly detection, and advocate for a decentralized, heterogeneous architecture to keep computational load at acceptable levels for lower-energy chipsets. Our results demonstrate how anomalies can be detected at real-time speeds using single board computers for on-line analysis, and in minutes when running off-line historical analysis using a multicore server running Apache Spark.
CRISPR-Cas9: A multifaceted therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment

CRISPR-Cas9 is an RNA guided endonuclease that has revolutionized the ability to edit genome and introduce desired manipulations in the target genomic sequence. It is a flexible methodology and is capable of targeting multiple loci simultaneously. Owing to the fact that cancer is an amalgamation of several genetic mutations, application of CRISPR-Cas9 technology is considered as a novel strategy to combat cancer. Genetic and epigenetic modulations in cancer leads to development of resistance to conventional therapy options. Given the abundance of transcriptomic and genomic alterations in cancer, developing a strategy to decipher these alterations is critical. CRISPR-Cas9 system has proven to be a promising tool in generating cellular and animal models to mimic the mutations and understand their role in tumorigenesis. CRISPR-Cas9 is an upheaval in the field of cancer immunotherapy. Furthermore, CRISPR-Cas9 plays an important role in the development of whole genome libraries for cancer patients. This approach will help understand the diversity in genome variation among the patients and also, will provide multiple variables to scientists to investigate and improvise cancer therapy. This review will focus on the discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 system, mechanisms behind CRISPR technique and its current status as a potential tool for investigating the genomic mutations associated with all cancer types.
Nonlinear Zonal Propagation of Organized Convection in the Tropics

AbstractA wide range of the observed variability in the ITCZ is frequently explained in terms of equatorially trapped modes arising from Matsuno’s linear shallow-water model. Here, a series of zona...