cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Courtesy Stigma Perceived by Parents of Overweight Children with Bardet-Biedl Syndrome.

Background A child’s obesity is generally perceived by the public to be under the control of the child’s parents. While the health consequences of childhood obesity are well understood, less is known about psychological and social effects of having an obese child on parents. We set out to characterize stigma and courtesy stigma experiences surrounding obesity among children with Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), a multisystem genetic disorder, and their parents. Methods Twenty-eight parents of children with BBS participated in semi-structured interviews informed by social stigmatization theory, which describes courtesy stigma as parental perception of stigmatization by association with a stigmatized child. Parents were asked to describe such experiences. Results Parents of children with BBS reported the child’s obesity as the most frequent target of stigmatization. They perceived health care providers as the predominant source of courtesy stigma, describing interactions that resulted in feeling devalued and judged as incompetent parents. Conclusions Parents of children with BBS feel blamed by others for their child’s obesity and described experiences that suggest health care providers may contribute to courtesy stigma and thus impede effective communication about managing obesity. Health care providers may reinforce parental feelings of guilt and responsibility by repeating information parents may have previously heard and ignoring extremely challenging barriers to weight management, such as a genetic predisposition to obesity. Strategies to understand and incorporate parents’ perceptions and causal attributions of their children’s weight may improve communication about weight control.
Unaltered vasoconstrictor responsiveness after iNOS inhibition in lungs from chronically hypoxic rats.

Previous studies suggest that inducible (i) nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression within the pulmonary vasculature is increased in rats with chronic hypoxia (CH)-induced pulmonary hypertension. We...
Dinuclear coordination of a novel four-electron reduced μ-η1,η3-allene ligand with β-agostic C–H⋯Ta interaction: Direct addition of allene to (C5Me5)2Ta2(μ-X)4 (X = Cl, Br), and molecular structure of (C5Me5)2Ta2(μ-η1,η3-C3H4)(μ-Cl)Cl3

Abstract The organoditantalum complexes (η-C5Me5)2Ta2(μ-X)4 (X = Cl, Br) react with 1–5 equiv. of allene under mild conditions to afford the fluxional allene adducts (C5Me5)2Ta2(μ-η1,η3-C3H4)(μ-X)X3 as shown by spectroscopic and spectrometric data. Low-temperature-limit proton NMR data at −95 °C for (C5Me5)2Ta2(μ-η1,η3-C3H4)(μ-Cl)Cl3 show a large chemical shift range for the inequivalent allene hydrogens, with a high-field value for one hydrogen at δ −0.36, and inequivalent Cp* groups. The low-temperature-limit 13C NMR resonances for the allene ligand are found at δ 204.4 (central C), δ 70.3 (CH2, 1JCH = 154 Hz), and the substantially upfield value of δ 42.9. The latter resonance has remarkably different coupling constants (1JCH = 173, 154 Hz). The allene coordinates in a novel alkylidene-diyl fashion in the solid-state, as shown by X-ray diffractometry on (C5Me5)2Ta2(μ-η1,η3-C3H4)(μ-Cl)Cl3 at 200 K. One tantalum is doubly-bonded to the central allenic carbon (Ta1 C22 distance, 2.011(7) A) and interacts with an allene hydrogen in a probable β-agostic manner (Ta1–H21A distance of 2.25(10) A). The second tantalum is coordinated to the allene in a hybrid of η3-allylic and sigma bonding, with Ta2–C distances to the allene methylenes of 2.206(8) and 2.276(9) A and a Ta2–C22 bond distance to the central allenic carbon of 2.253(7) A. The allene hydrogens are oriented above and below the C–C–C plane, consistent with appreciable σ-bonding between the Ta(2) and the allene methylenes. The bent allene ligand has a C–C–C angle of 106.0(6)° and can be viewed as reduced by four electrons, with concomitant oxidation of the two d2 tantalum centers of the organoditantalum(III) reactant. The long Ta⋯Ta nonbonded distance of 3.3052(8) A is consistent with two d0 tantalum centers in an organoditantalum(V) product.
Fully Kinetic Modeling of Photoelectron Sheath In Drifting Plasma

This paper presents a theoretical and numerical investigation of the photoelectron sheath for a large planar structure in the solar wind. The plasma interaction and the resulting photoelectron sheath are studied using 3-D full particle PIC model simulations with the real ion to electron mass ratio. A one-dimensional analytical solution is also developed which compares well with PIC results.
Perspectives of female physicians practicing in rural Wisconsin.

BACKGROUND While approximately 30% of the Wisconsin population lives in rural areas, only 11% of physicians practice in these areas. More women are entering medicine today and some studies have raised concerns that women are less likely to practice in rural areas. The intent of this study was to identify which factors influenced female physicians to enter rural practice and to look at the issues they are confronting. METHODS Ten female physicians practicing in rural Wisconsin towns agreed to participate in 30- to 60-minute semi-structured interviews. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed to identify common themes in answers to the questions. RESULTS The physicians had been in practice between 2-26 years, with an average of 13 years. Seven of the 10 had rural backgrounds, which influenced their decisions to practice in rural areas. The physicians cited other factors, such as professional satisfaction, the ability to be engaged with and serve one's community, and having a good place to raise one's family, that made practicing and living in a rural community attractive. However, these physicians also found some drawbacks to rural practice, including too few providers, too much call, and finding a balance between professional and family life. Despite this, all plan to stay in their current practices indefinitely and recommend rural practice to female medical students and residents. CONCLUSIONS These female physicians find the value of being in rural practice overcome the challenges. The participants provided insight into motivating women to enter rural practice, finding a balance between the challenges and benefits of rural medicine, and promoting the future of rural health care.
Animal Care and Use Committees

Beyond the obvious distinction that Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) deal with animal ethical concerns and institutional review boards deal with human ethical issues, there are some other major important differences as well. IRBs generally are focused in protocol approval and for the most part rely on the investigators to self-report all serious adverse events, protocol violations, and deviations. While there are IRB audits, as noted above, these are performed only intermittently and not in a predetermined fashion. In the world of animal research, however, the committee and the animal research facility staff will be keeping an eye on your activities to ensure that you are doing what you said you would do in the protocol, i.e., not cheating. This means that your lab and research will be policed; this includes semiannual unannounced inspections as well as intermittent announced inspections. Moreover, the animals that that are being housed in the animal facility will be inspected and you will be notified if there are problems that need to be addressed. So while I think there is the general sense that dealing with IRBs is “tougher” since they are overseeing human research, IACUCs can be more challenging in some sense because they are monitoring your animals and procedures on a regular basis and bringing up issues that could go unrecognized by an IRB since they do not routinely have any form of surveillance. From my own experience, it has been more frequent for me to have a delightful Caribbean vacation unexpectedly interrupted with a concerned email from IACUC than from the IRB (this is why one should not check one’s email when on vacation, by the way).
Pairing Analytics Data with UX Methods

This chapter covers pairing web analytics data with personas, usability testing, and usability inspection methods, as well as infusing these data into design documentation and other deliverables. You can use personas and the underlying user research to segment analytics data and get more accurate results from analyses, but beware of the level of specificity that comes with persona development. Web analytics can help you during usability test planning by uncovering areas that you want to explore with users and helping prioritize tasks, and by providing context and evidence for findings. You can also use web analytics data to provide evidence for findings in usability inspections. Findings from web analytics should be integrated into your deliverables, providing additional evidence and context. When your design work is geared toward changing a measurable aspect of user behavior, your documentation should discuss which web analytics metrics correspond to this behavior to provide a way to measure the effectiveness of your design.
Special Review Section: Children's Picturebooks About Libraries

ABSTRACTAs librarians, and especially collections-focused librarians, we almost daily face misperceptions and misunderstandings of libraries, of our work, and of the collections and services that we provide. From outdated ideas, to stereotypes, to incomplete images of the realities and value of our institutions and our profession, these representations may pose constant challenges and consternation. In this special review section, my colleague Dr. Angela Wiseman, Associate Professor of Education and an expert on children's books, joins me in reviewing a sampling of current children's books about libraries.
Abstract 2141: Rab25 and Rab-coupling protein (RCP) coordinate H-Ras and EGFR post-Golgi vesicle trafficking, plasma membrane targeting, and function in mammary epithelial cells

In this study we investigated cellular and molecular mechanisms for breast cancer signaling by EGFR and Ras proteins, independent of activating mutations. Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) ligation to its receptor, EGFR, at the plasma membrane (PM) activates Ras small GTPases, propagating Ras mitogenic signaling. However, activating Ras mutations are not associated with breast cancers. EGFR and palmitoylated (Pa-) Ras localize to lipid rafts at the PM. Pa-Ras isotypes (H- and N-Ras, but not K-Ras) cycle through vesicle trafficking pathways between the Golgi and PM. We have found that anterograde H-Ras vesicles are sorted in the endocytic recycling compartment (ERC) into vesicles which contain the epithelial-specific transport mediator Rab25 (Rab11c), and Rab11/FIP1C (Rab-coupling protein, RCP). RCP couples Rab25 to vesicles to mediate vesicle anterograde transport. Rab25 and RCP expression are highly correlated with breast cancer progression, aggressiveness, and invasion and metastasis. Rab25, unique among the large family of human Rab genes, has been identified as a major marker and potential stimulator of breast cancers. RCP was recently shown to be a breast cancer driver oncogene, supporting the suggestion that RCP and Rab25 status may be significant clinical markers. Moreover, RCP stimulates H-Ras activation. Meta-analysis of human breast cancer cell line panels shows that while most do not harbor H- or N-Ras mutations, both RCP and Rab25 are highly over-expressed and levels correlate with resistance to EGF and Ras signaling inhibitors. We demonstrate that Rab25, RCP, H-Ras and EGFR co-localized in the ERC and in transport vesicles in MCF10A mammary epithelial cells, and that dominant negative (DN) Rab25 sequestered H-Ras and EGFR from the plasma membrane. DN Rab25 or Rab25 knockdown by shRNA inhibited EGF-induced EGFR phosphorylation, H-Ras activation, and ERK phosphorylation (ppERK), demonstrating a functional link between Rab25 activity and EGFR and H-Ras signaling. Both ER/PR-positive and -negative human breast invasive ductal carcinoma tissues showed elevated ppERK correlated with elevated Rab25 expression over normal breast tissue, whereas HER2+ tumor tissues had elevated ppERK even with low Rab25 expression. Thus, Rab25 and RCP regulate EGFR and Ras trafficking to the plasma membrane, required for mitogenic signaling and associated with tumorigenic effects, even in Ras (WT) cells. Citation Format: Allison B. Herman, Jeremy G.T. Wurtzel, Lawrence E. Goldfinger. Rab25 and Rab-coupling protein (RCP) coordinate H-Ras and EGFR post-Golgi vesicle trafficking, plasma membrane targeting, and function in mammary epithelial cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2141. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2141
Evaluating and Comparing Functional and Geometric Complexity of Products

This paper describes a design exercise that was conducted to investigate what, if any, correlation exists between the functional complexity of a given artifact and its associated physical complexity as defined by design for manufacturing principles. Nine electromechanical consumer products were chosen and evaluated based on function and form. The results of the experiment show that the products demonstrate a significant variability in physical complexity according to design for manufacturing principles for similar if not identical functional complexity. These results demonstrate that function alone is not an adequate way to evaluate the difficulty of realizing a given concept. Performance characteristics of the functional concept must also be considered. The paper concludes with suggestions for future work in order to better understand how performance influences the physical complexity of an artifact.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Liposomal Delivery of P-Ethoxy Antisense Oligodeoxynucleotides in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Liposomes have been used widely as drug delivery vehicles. Recently, we have focused our studies on the liposomal delivery of nucleic acids. We and others have reported the feasibility of using liposomes to deliver various nucleic acid analogues, such as phosphodiesters (Thierry and Dritschilo, 1992; Ropert et al, 1993; Thierry et al, 1993; Tari et al, 1995), phosphorothioates (Thierry and Dritschilo, 1992; Bennett et al, 1992; Busch et al, 1994; Lappalainen et al, 1994), and methyl phosphonates (Tari et al, 1994). In this chapter, we will present our findings on the liposomal delivery of another nucleic acid analogue, P-ethoxy oligodeoxynucleotides (oligos). P-ethoxy oligos are uncharged analogues of phosphodiesters in which an ethyl group has been added to the nonbridging oxygen atom of the phosphate bonds. P-ethoxys were first synthesized by (1971) and were found to be resistant against nuclease digestion (Miller et al, 1974) and could bind to DNA with higher binding affinity than their phosphodiester counterparts (Miller et al, 1971).
Quality measures for nurse practitioner practice evaluation

Background and purpose Evaluating the impact of nurse practitioner (NP) practice has become a priority area of focus for demonstrating outcomes. A number of quality measures are available to enable practice-specific evaluation of NP roles and initiatives. This article reviews sources of quality measures that can be used to facilitate quantifying the outcomes of NP practice as part of an overall evaluation agenda. Methods National resources and published literature on NP quality measures were reviewed. Conclusions Various resources and toolkits exist to assist NPs in identifying outcomes of practice using quality measures. Implications for practice The need to demonstrate outcomes of NP practice remains an ongoing priority area regardless of the clinical practice setting. A variety of sources of quality measures exist that can be used to showcase the effect of NP care. The use of quality measures can be effectively integrated into evaluation of NP role and NP-directed initiatives to demonstrate impact, and enhance the conduct of an NP outcomes assessment. The use of organizational, NP-specific, and national-related quality measures can help to showcase how NP care improves the quality, safety, and costs of health care.
Improved sparse reconstruction for fluorescence molecular tomography with Poisson noise modeling

We present a maximum-likelihood-expectation-maximization (MLEM)-based method that models Poisson noise for improved reconstruction in fluoroscence molecular tomography with sparse fluroscence distribution.
Banach Spaces and Operator Theory

The tools that we need to develop the abstract theory of bases and frames are largely drawn from the field of functional analysis. Therefore, the first two chapters of this volume survey the basic definitions and theorems from functional analysis that will be used throughout this volume. This chapter reviews foundational material that is likely to be at least partially familiar to most readers, while Chapter 2 delves into more advanced topics in functional analysis.
Experiments with Tropical Cyclone Wave and Intensity Forecasts

Abstract : The goal of this project is to improve guidance for the prediction of waves and intensity associated with tropical cyclones. The objectives of this project are to develop, test and evaluate new strategies to predict (a) tropical cyclone generated waves and (b) tropical cyclone intensity as measured by one-minute mean maximum sustained wind speed.
The Alexandrian Period

Greek science is collected, codified, and systematized in the Alexandrian Museum, a state-subsidized collection of scholars. Initially, important anatomical and physiological discoveries were made, and physiology was established as a science. But, over time, there was a gradual shift from science toward mysticism. As the museum declined to extinction, most of what was known of Greek science was lost.
Aligning Hare Krishna: Political Activists, Hippies, and Hindus

The underlying premise of this case study of the growth and development of the Hare Krishna movement is that frame alignment is a necessary, but largely unexplored, element in recruitment to religious movements. Attention is given here to the interactive and communicative processes used by ISKCON members in the United States as they strategically sought to align the practices, goals and beliefs of the movement with the unconventional interests and perspectives of recruits from the 1960s counterculture. The alignment processes described here represent attempts to gain the provisional interest of potential recruits. Whether successful or not, the alignment strategies helped define the Hare Krishna movement in America. As the counterculture declined in the mid-1970s, however, the leadership turned to a new constituent base of Hindu immigrants from India to secure the movement’s future. This required new forms of alignment that contributed to the Hinduization of the North American Hare Krishna movement.
Fatal Balamuthia mandrillaris Encephalitis

Balamuthia mandrillaris is a rare cause of granulomatous meningoencephalitis associated with high mortality. We report a 69-year-old Caucasian female who presented with a 3-day history of worsening confusion and difficulty with speech. On admission, she was disoriented and had expressive dysphasia. Motor examination revealed a right arm pronator drift. Cerebellar examination showed slowing of finger-nose testing on the left. She was HIV-negative, but the absolute CD4 count was low. Neuroimaging showed three cavitary, peripherally enhancing brain lesions, involving the right frontal lobe, the left basal ganglia, and the left cerebellar hemisphere. She underwent right frontal craniotomy with removal of tan, creamy, partially liquefied necrotic material from the brain, consistent with granulomatous amoebic encephalitis on tissue staining. Immunohistochemical studies and PCR tests confirmed infection with Balamuthia mandrillaris. She was started on pentamidine, sulfadiazine, azithromycin, fluconazole, flucytosine, and miltefosine. The postoperative course was complicated by an ischemic stroke, and she died a few weeks later.
LIFE HISTORY VARIATION IN RECENTLY ESTABLISHED POPULATIONS OF WESTERN MOSQUITOFISH (GAMBUSIA AFFINIS)

We report life history characteristics for 4 recently established populations of western mosquitofish ( Gambusia affinis ). Mosquitofish from thermally stable habitats, Bonham and Garrett, were characterized by maturity at large sizes, high fat reserves, and large embryos. In contrast, females from a thermally unstable habitat, Wabuska, matured at small sizes and had low fat reserves and small embryos. Females from Parker, a site with no appreciable thermal input, matured at intermediate sizes and had low fat reserves as well as large embryos. These populations shared a common ancestor in 1937; therefore, these results suggest either phenotypic plasticity or rapid evolution.
The Effects of the Type and Content of Audit Reports for Financially Stressed Initial Public Offerings on Information Uncertainty

SUMMARY The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has expressed concern that audit reports do not contain sufficient variation to provide useful information to the market. Using a sampl...
Frontostriatal white matter connectivity: age differences and associations with cognition and BOLD modulation.

Abstract Despite the importance of cortico-striatal circuits to cognition, investigation of age effects on the structural circuitry connecting these regions is limited. The current study examined age effects on frontostriatal white matter connectivity, and identified associations with both executive function performance and dynamic modulation of blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activation to task difficulty in a lifespan sample of 169 healthy humans aged 20–94 years. Greater frontostriatal diffusivity was associated with poorer executive function and this negative association strengthened with increasing age. Whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses additionally indicated an association between frontostriatal mean diffusivity and BOLD modulation to difficulty selectively in the striatum across 2 independent fMRI tasks. This association was moderated by age, such that younger- and middle-aged individuals showed reduced dynamic range of difficulty modulation as a function of increasing frontostriatal diffusivity. Together these results demonstrate the importance of age-related degradation of frontostriatal circuitry on executive functioning across the lifespan, and highlight the need to capture brain changes occurring in early-to middle-adulthood.
Graphplan Based Conformant Planning with Limited Quantification

Conformant planners solve problems with a correct but incomplete description of the initial state, by finding plans that are valid for all possible assignments of the unknown atoms. Most conformant planners, however, do not handle universal quantification, which is a problem when the set of all domain objects is unknown or very large, and thus can not be enumerated. This paper introduces PSIGRAPH, a conformant planner that operates with universally quantified statements in the initial and goal states, as well as in the action preconditions. Thus, PSIGRAPH does not need to know the complete set of domain objects. We present the algorithm and the results of its experimental evaluation, showing that PSIGRAPH is competitive with other conformant planners. PSIGRAPH is based on Graphplan, but differs from previous approaches such as Conformant Graphplan in that it does not create multiple plan graphs
Recognition and revision of the Phelister blairi group (Histeridae, Histerinae, Exosternini).

Forty-nine new species of Neotropical Exosternini are described in this work, representing the newly recognized Phelister blairi species group, within the large, heterogeneous taxon Phelister. Eight previously described species are also assigned to this group. Relationships within are indicated with several informal subgroups: P. blairi subgroup: (P. blairi Hinton, 1935, P. erwini sp. nov., P. fimbriatus sp. nov., P. stellans sp. nov., P. sparsus sp. nov., P. pretiosus sp. nov., P. trigonisternus Marseul, 1889, P. globosus sp. nov., P. serratus sp. nov., P. geminus sp. nov., P. parana sp. nov., P. asperatus sp. nov., P. uniformis sp. nov., P. miscellus sp. nov., P. inbio sp. nov., P. sculpturatus Schmidt, 1893, P. tunki sp. nov., P. praedatoris Reichensperger, 1939, P. ifficus sp. nov., P. genieri sp. nov., P. marginatus sp. nov., P. vazdemelloi sp. nov., P. dilatatus sp. nov., P. spectabilis sp. nov., P. pervagatus sp. nov.); P. amazoniae subgroup: (P. morbidus sp. nov., P. annulatus sp. nov., P. sphaericus sp. nov., P. geijskesi Kanaar, 1997, P. fraternus sp. nov., P. conjunctus sp. nov., P. chabooae sp. nov., P. striatinotum Wenzel & Dybas, 1941, P. notandus Schmidt, 1893, P. amazoniae (Lewis, 1898) comb. nov., P. arcuatus sp. nov.); P. gregarius subgroup: (P. gregarius sp. nov., P. praecisus sp. nov., P. rudis sp. nov., P. incongruens sp. nov., P. congruens sp. nov., P. praesignis sp. nov.); P. umens subgroup: (P. umens sp. nov., P. almeidae sp. nov., P. chicomendesi sp. nov., P. microdens sp. nov., P. matatlantica sp. nov.); P. curvipes subgroup: (P. curvipes sp. nov., P. vilavelha sp. nov.); P. rio subgroup: (P. rio sp. nov., P. semotus sp. nov., P. uncinatus sp. nov., P. inscriptus sp. nov.); incertae sedis – unplaced to subgroup: (P. incertus sp. nov., P. okeefei sp. nov., P. blairoides sp. nov., P. pirana sp. nov.). Lectotypes are designated for the following species: P. trigonisternus Marseul, P. sculpturatus Schmidt, P. praedatoris Reichensperger, P. notandus Schmidt, and Discoscelis amazoniae Lewis. Preliminary phylogenetic analyses of the broader Neotropical Exosternini do not support the monophyly of the P. blairi group, nor of all of these subgroups, but the majority do fall within one large clade (which is potentially paraphyletic with respect to some other Neotropical exosternine genera). More work on the phylogeny and taxonomy of this diverse fauna is needed.
Midi-superspace Models of Canonical Quantum Gravity

A midi-superspace model is a field theory obtained by symmetry reduction of a parent gravitational theory. Such models have proven useful for exploring the classical and quantum dynamics of the gravitational field. I present 3 recent classes of results pertinent to canonical quantization of vacuum general relativity in the context of midi-superspace models. (1) I give necessary and sufficient conditions such that a given symmetry reduction can be performed at the level of the Lagrangian or Hamiltonian. (2) I discuss the Hamiltonian formulation of models based upon cylindrical and toroidal symmetry. In particular, I explain how these models can be identified with parametrized field theories of wave maps, thus a natural strategy for canonical quantization is available. (3) The quantization of a parametrized field theory, such as the midi-superspace models considered in (2), requires construction of a quantum field theory on a fixed (flat) spacetime that allows for time evolution along arbitrary foliations of spacetime. I discuss some recent results on the possibility of finding such a quantum field theory.
Depression among Mexican immigrant mothers: the mediating role of self-efficacy

This study examines how immigration status and neighborhood collective efficacy shapes mothers’ self-efficacy and, in turn, depression. Path analysis was conducted drawing data from 578 Mexican-Ame...
Serotyping of Adenoviruses Using Immune Electron Microscopy

Immune electron microscopy may be used to determine the type specificity of several common human adenoviruses. The method described utilized equine antisera and was used to serotype adenoviruses within hours after typical cytopathic effect was observed in tissue culture. Adenovirus types 1, 2, 3, 5, 7a, 8, and 11 were isolated from clinical specimens and serotyped by serum neutralization and immune electron microscopy. Five of the seven types were identified consistently and identically by the two methods. Types 7a and 11 were indistinguishable by immune electron microscopy.
Democracy Aid, Democratization and Civil Conflict: How Does Aid Affect Civil Conflict?

It has been suggested that democratizing states are prone to civil wars. However, not all democratizing states experience domestic political violence. This paper investigates this puzzle. We argue that one of the key factors that “shelters” democratizing states from domestic political violence is the receipt of external democracy aid. States that receive democracy assistance are less likely to experience civil conflict than countries with no or little external democracy assistance. During democratic transitions, the central state weakens and uncertainty about future political commitments and promises increases. Democracy aid reduces the risk of conflict by bolstering state strength and reducing commitment problems and uncertainty. Using an instrumental variable approach that accounts for potential endogeneity problems, we find strong empirical support for our argument. We conclude that there is a potential path to democracy that ameliorates the perils of democratization and democracy assistance programs can play a significant positive role in this process.
LAMP-2C regulation of MHC class II antigen presentation (APP3P.105)

In autophagy cells divert cytoplasmic components and organelles to lysosomes for degradation impacting innate and adaptive immunity. A selective form of autophagy, known as chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), is implicated in adaptive immunity. CMA relies on the lysosome-associated membrane protein (LAMP)-2A to translocate proteins from the cytoplasm into lysosomes. Alternative splicing of the LAMP-2 gene generates 3 highly conserved isoforms LAMP-2A, LAMP-2B and LAMP-2C. The function and regulation of these genes is not well understood. Here we identified a novel role for LAMP-2C in the regulation of CMA. Studies were undertaken here to understand the role of LAMP-2C in MHC class II presentation of cytoplasmic antigens. Ectopic expression of LAMP-2C did not alter the maturation or the enzymatic activity of lysosomal enzymes. Furthermore, LAMP-2C ectopic expression failed to perturb other degradation pathways involved in antigen presentation like macroautophagy and proteasome degradation. Thus, LAMP-2C appears to have a selective regulatory role with respect to the presentation of cytoplasmic proteins. Future studies are underway to determine mechanistically how LAMP-2C controls antigen presentation. This work was supported by NIH 5T32AI060519 and AI079065.
Rayleigh Wave Effects in an Elastic Half-space

Consideration of Rayleigh wave effects in a homogeneous isotropic linearly elastic half-space subject to an impulsive uniform disk pressure loading. An approximate formula is obtained for the Rayleigh wave effects. It is shown that the Rayleigh waves near the center of loading arise from the portion of the dilatational and shear waves moving toward the axis, after they originate at the edge of the load disk. A study is made of the vertical displacement due to Rayleigh waves at points on the axis near the surface of the elastic half-space.
Subtilisin Carlsberg II. SEQUENCES OF THE TRYPTIC PEPTIDES

Abstract The amino acid sequences of the tryptic peptides from subtilisin Carlsberg have been determined. These peptides range in size from 2 to 66 residues.
Average Worn Profile of Tires in Europe

ABSTRACT: Tire tread wear is a key issue in the tire development process and for tire customers. In order to measure the wear performance, tire manufacturers usually proceed to wear tests and calculate the tire life from those tests. An important point in this tire life computation is the criteria chosen for defining the tire's end of life. In Europe, there is a legal minimum tread depth set to 1.6 mm applicable to 75% of the tread pattern width. However, outside those 75% (i.e., on the shoulder part), no clear and shared limit is defined. Also, the usual behavior of customers to decide when their tires should be changed is not well known. The goal of this 2012 study was to identify an average worn profile of tires in Europe and the behavior of customers for replacing their tires. For that, 3000 tires worn out by customers have been collected in scrapyards and measured in five European countries. In this article, we will present the tire collecting method, the measurement process, the analysis method, and...
Prospective study of plasma D-dimer and incident venous thromboembolism: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

Introduction Plasma D-dimer is a useful clinical test for acute venous thromboembolism (VTE), and concentrations remain higher in VTE patients after treatment than in controls. Yet, evidence is limited on whether higher basal D-dimer concentrations in the general population are associated with greater risk of first VTE.
Potassium Causes Calcium Retention in Healthy Adults

The administration of 60 mmol/d of KHCO3 to healthy adults reduced urinary calcium excretion by 0.9 mmol/d and caused calcium balance to become equivalently more positive. Other studies showed that 90 mmol/d of KHCO3 reduced both daily and fasting urinary calcium excretion rates, whereas deprivation of either KCl or KHCO3, using synthetic diets, was accompanied by increased daily and fasting urinary calcium excretion rates. A significant inverse relationship between the changes in urinary calcium and the changes in urinary potassium was observed: delta urinary Ca (mmol/d) = 0.29-0.015 delta urinary K (mmol/d); r = -0.65. Correlative evaluation of additional data suggested that the fall in urinary calcium during potassium administration may be related to the natriuretic effects of potassium, resulting in ECF-volume contraction or to potassium-induced phosphate retention and suppression of calcitriol synthesis, or to both mechanisms.
A Carbon-13 CPMAS Solid State NMR Spectroscopic Study of Wool: Effects of Heat and Chrome Mordanting

Carbon-13 CPMAS solid state NMR spectroscopy has been used to investigate the effect of heat on wool. Increases in the unsaturation of the keratin are observed at 225°C. The technique has also been...
Constitutive Modeling of Magneto-Thermo-Mechanical Response of Field-Induced Phase Transformations in NiMnCoIn Magnetic Shape Memory Alloys

In this work we model the magnetic field induced phase transformation (FIPT) of magnetic shape memory alloys (MS-MAs). The working principle of such materials is described by the cross coupling of mechanical, thermal and magnetic fields. The Thermo-magneto-mechanical constitutive equations are derived in a thermodynamic consistent way. A 3-D stress-field-temperature phase diagram is constructed using the model. The model is calibrated from the experimental data and the model predictions are compared with experimental results.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Analytic inversion of a general model in diffuse tomography

The idea of diffuse tomography has been recently introduced as a way of modeling an imaging problem using photons with very low energy. It can be seen as a far reaching extension of the standard tomographic problem where photons are assumed to travel in a straight line. Although any real-life application will require the solution to the three-dimensional problem, we start with the two-dimensional problem.
Is prototyping counterproductive

Abstract Fourth-generation languages are not as simple to use as it may seem; as they can result in expensive machine utilization and inefficient use of disc space, disc I/O, memory and machine instructions.
Host plant-based territoriality in the white peacock butterfly, Anartia jatrophae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Mate locating behavior of Anartia jatrophaewas studied near Ochopee, Collier County, Florida. Males were individually marked, and focal animal samples were used to determine activity, residency, and interactions with other butterflies. We recaptured more than half of 53 marked males within the study area on subsequent days. Marked males restricted non-feeding activity to roughly circular areas typically less than 15 m in diameter. Males showed considerable site fidelity and chased both conspecifics and a variety of other insects. Typically, encountered individuals flew away, and the resident peacock male returned to perch near his previous perch. Encounters with conspecific males averaged 38 sec, three times longer than with other insects. Such site fidelity combined with aggressive interactions indicates territorial behavior. When male density more than doubled, site fidelity decreased, resident turnover increased, and areas that had not been defended at lower density were defended. Without exception, defended sites contained the larval host, Bacopa monnieri.In butterfly mating systems, defense of host plants appears to be much less common than defense of natural features such as landmarks.
Alvin Harvey Hansen: Economic Growth and a More Perfect Society: The Economist's Role in Defining the Stagnation Thesis and in Popularizing Keynesianism

. Alvin H. Hansen was one of the leading American economists from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was largely responsible for the popularization of Keynesian economics in the United States and Canada. He was responsible for the development of the secular stagnation thesis which explained 19th century American economic growth in terms of population growth, the frontier, and technology. The diminishing of these factors explained the decrease in the American economic growth rate in the 20th Century. Hansen's policy conclusions to prevent stagnation were Keynesian in nature and, as a result, Hansen was an early advocate of active fiscal policy in the United States. He differed with Terborgh.
TPF-Interferometer: a decade of development in exoplanet detection technology

The last decade has seen great advances in interferometric nulling technology, propelled at first by the SIM and KECK nulling programs and then by the Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer (TPF-I). In the infrared at N-band (using a CO2 laser at 10.6 micron wavelength) the first million to one nulls were reported on a KECK testbed in 2003. For TPF-I, nulls needed to be both deep and broadband, and a suite of testbeds was designed and built to study all aspects of achromatic nulling and system implementation, including formation flying technology. Also, observatory designs were drawn up and studied against performance models. Modeling revealed that natural variations in the alignment and control of the optical system produced an "instability noise" signal and this realization eventually led to a redesign of the layout to a rectangular formation. The complexity of the early TPF-I spacecraft design was mitigated by the infusion of ideas from Europe and produced the current X-Array design which utilizes simple reflectors to form the apertures together with a stretched three dimensional formation geometry. This paper summarizes the main achievements of the infrared nulling technology program including the development of adaptive nulling for broadband performance and the demonstration of starlight suppression by 100 million to one.
Context, automated decision support, and clinical practice guidelines: does the literature apply to the United States practice environment?

Abstract Background Context – the combined effect of factors such as physician type, clinical setting, and guideline characteristics – influences the ability of automated decision support (ADS) to improve physician compliance with clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). Our goal was to determine whether research about the utility of ADS for promoting CPG compliance is contextually applicable to United States physicians. Methods We extracted information about physicians, settings, and guidelines from all articles published in the last 10 years that describe original research about the use of ADS to promote CPG compliance. The extracted information was compared to the range of practice contexts seen in the United States. Results Nearly two-thirds (65.3%) of papers described studies conducted in an academic setting, but only 11% of physicians report academic affiliations ( p p Conclusion The literature does not adequately address some physician, setting, and guideline contexts. Before making policy or spending decisions based on the effectiveness of ADS, additional research is needed to determine whether ADS research can be generalized to under-represented contexts.
Tri-material multilayer coatings with high reflectivity and wide bandwidth for 25 to 50 nm extreme ultraviolet light

Magnesium/silicon carbide (Mg/SiC) multilayers have been fabricated with normal incidence reflectivity in the vicinity of 40% to 50% for wavelengths in the 25 to 50 nm wavelength range. However many applications, for example solar telescopes and ultrafast studies using high harmonic generation sources, desire larger bandwidths than provided by high reflectivity Mg/SiC multilayers. We investigate introducing a third material, Scandium, to create a tri-material Mg/Sc/SiC multilayer allowing an increase the bandwidth while maintaining high reflectivity.
Update in hospital medicine.

This Update in Hospital Medicine features 9 articles published in 2006. Topics include quality processes of inpatient care, transitions of care, perioperative consultation, venous thromboembolism, ...
Neurophysiological evidence for two processing times for visual object identification.

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded to fragmented pictures of objects that were named correctly or were not to investigate the time course of visual object identification. The first ERP difference distinguishing identified from unidentified pictures estimates the upper limit of the time by which human brain regions have begun to activate long-term memory (LTM) representations specifying the identity of a visual object. Data from 15 young adults indicate that this time varies with the extent to which object parts are recoverable from the visual input, being approximately 200 ms earlier with recoverable than unrecoverable parts. Successful identification is evident by approximately 300 ms when object parts and overall structural configuration are readily recoverable but not until approximately 550 ms when object parts are difficult or impossible to recover (i.e. too poorly specified by the available contours to be recovered). In both cases, successful identification is associated with greater relative positivity. However, unidentified recoverable pictures are associated with an enhanced frontal negativity (N350), linked to object matching operations, not seen for non-recoverable pictures. Taken together, these results implicate two distinct processing sequences in the successful identification of visual objects.
Acute novel stressors modify ethanol intake of psychosocially stressed rats.

Abstract Psychosocial stressors are known to alter ingestion of ethanol in humans and experimental animals. We evaluated the effect of novel acute stressors on ethanol ingestion of male triad-housed rats. Based on behavioral and body weight assessments triad members were designated as dominant, subdominant or subordinate rats, housed in triads designated as aggressive or non-aggressive triads. The triad-housed, and a group of single-housed rats, were sequentially subjected to three stressors (novel open field arena, elevated plus maze, and modified resident–intruder test) at 1–2 week intervals. Ethanol intake was measured for 21-h before and after each stressor. Prior to stressor exposure, ethanol intake of the triad-housed rats was higher than that of single-housed rats. In triads overall intake of ethanol was lower in dominant compared to non-dominant rats. The modified resident–intruder test decreased ethanol intake in non-dominant rats in aggressive triads, but increased its intake in non-aggressive triads. Since in non-dominant rats this stressor also increased ethanol preference but not total fluid intake, its effect on ethanol intake was specific. In non-dominant rats ethanol intake and preference declined after the elevated plus maze stressor, without an effect on total fluid intake, but water intake was increased only in the subdominant rats. Compared to triad-housed rats, single-housed rats were more resilient to the novel stressors. It can be concluded that novel acute stressors have specific effects on ethanol intake that are dependent on the subject's psychosocial stress level.
Perceived Symptom Targets of Antidepressants, Anxiolytics, and Sedatives: The Search for Modifiable Factors That Improve Adherence

Expectations about treatment and beliefs about illness influence adherence in physical disorders, but the extent to which this occurs in mood disorders is unknown. Identifying modifiable factors, such as beliefs, may improve adherence to mood disorder medications. Data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys were used to examine relationships among perceived symptom targets of medication (mood only, non-mood only, mood, and non-mood) and self-reported adherence to antidepressants, anxiolytics, and sedatives. The sample included 807 community-dwelling individuals with and without depression and anxiety who regularly took one of these medications in the year before the survey. Slightly over half (53.2 %) of respondents were adherent. Perceived medication purpose was only significantly related to adherence among Latino respondents. Latino respondents who viewed their symptom target as non-mood only were the most adherent. Perceived symptom targets of medications were not associated with most patients’ adherence behaviors for antidepressants, anxiolytics, and sedatives.
Optical gesture sensing and depth mapping technologies for head-mounted displays: an overview

Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), and especially see-through HMDs have gained renewed interest in recent time, and for the first time outside the traditional military and defense realm, due to several high profile consumer electronics companies presenting their products to hit market. Consumer electronics HMDs have quite different requirements and constrains as their military counterparts. Voice comments are the de-facto interface for such devices, but when the voice recognition does not work (not connection to the cloud for example), trackpad and gesture sensing technologies have to be used to communicate information to the device. We review in this paper the various technologies developed today integrating optical gesture sensing in a small footprint, as well as the various related 3d depth mapping sensors.
Shape transformation in space-time

We present a method for transforming shapes in a plane. The primary strength of the proposed method is that it can handle scenes containing moving obstacles. We attain a smooth transformation between two given polygonal shapes and ensure that the shape does not collide with any obstacle during the transformation. We minimize a cost function associated with each transformation path that controls its length, smoothness, and collision freedom. Then a population of tentative transformation paths is generated by path planning for an anchor point in the shape. Next, collision detection and shape deformation techniques, applied to keyframes along the paths, minimize the occurrence of collision. Lastly, a genetic algorithm refines the population of transformation paths.