cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Past, Present, and (Possible) Future of Serologic Testing for Lyme Disease

Lyme disease prevails as the most commonly transmitted tick-borne infection in the United States, and serologic evaluation for antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi remains the recommended modality for diagnosis. This review presents a brief historical perspective on the evolution of serologic assays for Lyme disease and provides a summary of the performance characteristics for the currently recommended two-tiered testing algorithm (TTTA). Additionally, a recently proposed alternative to the traditional TTTA is discussed, and novel methodologies, including immuno-PCR and metabolic profiling for Lyme disease, are outlined.
Casino Customers’ Intention to Join a Loyalty Rewards Program The Effect of Number of Tiers and Gender

Companies have long sought to use a loyalty rewards program as a way to maintain loyal customers, encourage purchasing, and attract new customers by providing certain incentives. Despite the fruitf...
Pioneers: Pioneers of Women's Education in the United States

(1932). Pioneers: Pioneers of Women's Education in the United States. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 167-168.
Effect of Obstructive Jaundice on Polyarthritis in Rats.

SummaryLigation of the common bile duct of rats prior to or 20 hours after the injection of L7 organisms delayed the onset of arthritis, and the subsequent degree of joint involvement up to 12 days' time was markedly diminished. However, when duct ligation was performed after the onset of arthritis there was no effect upon the course of the disease. Since rat arthritis induced by the injection of hemolytic streptococci was not influenced by bile duct ligation, it seems probable that the effect of obstructive jaundice on the development and severity of L7 arthritis in rats was due to the bile solubility of the L7 organisms.
Colonization, Transmission, and Longevity of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae (Deuteromycotina: Hypomycetes) on Pecan Weevil Larvae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the Soil

Curculio caryae larvae exposed to Beauveria bassiana or Metarhizium anisopliae were held in soil cages for 14 months. After weevil larvae were colonized by B. bassiana, hyphae from the weevil cadavers spread through the surrounding soil and formed colonies up to 8.55 cm in diameter (soil volume, 327.26 cm3). M. anisopliae colonies were restricted to larval cadavers and to the inside of larval soil cells. Adjacent, untreated weevil larvae were sometimes infected and killed by B. bassiana that spread through the soil. B. bassiana colonies reached maximum diameter and threatened adjacent weevil larvae 90 to 120 days after primary larvae were infected.
Mental Stress and Related Factors in Recruits of 2013

Objective To explore the mental stress and its related factors among recruits in2013 and to provide scientific basis for mental health education.Methods The mental stress of 2683 recruits was tested by Symptom Checklist 90(SCL-90)and self-developed questionnaire.Results The factorial of obsessive-compulsive,interpersonal sensitivity and anxiety among recruits of 2013 were significantly lower than those among recruits of 2010(P0.01).18.4% recruits had mild and moderate mental stress.The mind state of most recruits were positive,upward and optimistic,but a few recruits had psychological discomfort which was related with strict management of troops,hard physical training and homesick.Conclusion The mental health education to the recruits should emphasized to increase the psychological bearing ability and ability to adapt to the environment.The troops backbone should strengthen humanistic care during the teaching.
The 5q- abnormality.

Abstract LOSS OF A PORTION of the long arm of chromosome 5 is seen predominantly in therapy-related myelodysplastic syndromes and acute leukemias, as well as in a unique clinical disorder known as the 5q– syndrome. Recently, many growth factor and growth factor receptor genes have been localized to the long arm of chromosome 5, and several of these genes have been found to be deleted in patients with a 5q– chromosomal abnormality. These findings raise the possibility that alteration of expression of these genes may play a pathogenetic role in these hematologic disorders. In this review, we discuss the clinical and molecular biological findings associated with the 5q– abnormality.
Parental History of Diabetes, Positive Affect, and Diabetes Risk in Adults: Findings from MIDUS

Family history of diabetes is one of the major risk factors for diabetes, but significant variability in this association remains unexplained, suggesting the presence of important effect modifiers. To our knowledge, no previous work has examined whether psychological factors moderate the degree to which family history of diabetes increases diabetes risk. We investigated the relationships among parental history of diabetes, affective states (positive affect, negative affect, and depressed affect), and diabetes in 978 adults from the MIDUS 2 national sample. As expected, parental history of diabetes was associated with an almost threefold increase in diabetes risk. We found a significant interaction between positive affect and parental history of diabetes on diabetes (p = .009): higher positive affect was associated with a statistically significant lower relative risk for diabetes in participants who reported having a parental history of diabetes (RR = .66 per unit increase in positive affect; 95 % CI = .47; .93), but it did not influence diabetes risk for participants who reported no parental history of diabetes (p = .34). This pattern persisted after adjusting for an extensive set of health and sociodemographic covariates and was independent of negative and depressed affect. These results suggest that psychological well-being may protect individuals at increased risk from developing diabetes. Understanding such interactions between non-modifiable risk factors and modifiable psychological resources is important for delineating biopsychosocial pathways to diabetes and informing theory-based, patient-centered interventions to prevent the development of diabetes.
Medical Entomology for Students: Fifth Edition

Medical Entomology for Students: Fifth Edition Mike Service Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK 303 pages ISBN: 078-1-107-66818-8 Price: $50 (softcover) ![Graphic][1] Medical Entomology for Students has been an invaluable resource for physicians, nurses, health officers, and entomology students since the first edition appeared in 1996. The author, Mike Service, Emeritus Professor at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, is an internationally recognized authority on medical entomology. Currently in its fifth edition and extensively revised with new information (particularly on control strategies), Service's book provides an overview of the identification, life cycles, ecology, classification, medical importance, disease transmission, and control of key vector species. As the title suggests and as the author cautioned in the first edition, this is not … gaugler{at}rci.rutgers.edu [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif
Early Appearance of Antigen-Binding Cells to Two Different Antigens during Fetal Lymphoid Development

Assessment of the development of immune competence by examining the capacity to produce antibody would seem an unreliable index of expression in the immune system, due to the interdependence of many factors and cells in the production of antibody. In an effort to view the first signs of specific immunologic expression, and to thereby gain a more immediate estimate of the pace of the generation of diversity, we have studied the binding of antigen to cells during fetal ontogeny in the chicken, mouse, rabbit and piglet.
CSF Substance P Levels in Rett Syndrome

The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of neuropeptide substance P were measured in 20 patients with Rett syndrome and controls at Kurume University, Japan, and other centers.
A contemporary Chinese returnee entrepreneurship case study

We present a case on how a returnee entrepreneur succeeds in the Chinese high technology chemical material supply market through its understanding of local market and local customers, and through its innovative commercialization process. Innovative factors that may have made a contribution to this successful case are explored. For instance, the entrepreneur's intangible assets due to his training and experiences overseas in high technology knowledge, outstanding strategic operation management skills, and deep customer knowledge including unique sales strategy.
Two parts are better than one: modeling marginal means of semicontinuous data

In health services research, it is common to encounter semicontinuous data characterized by a point mass at zero followed by a continuous distribution with positive support. These are often analyzed using two-part mixtures that separately model the probability of use to account for the portion of the sample with zero values. Commonly, but not always, the second component models the continuous values conditional on them being positive. Prior work examining whether such two-part models are needed to appropriately draw inference from semicontinuous data compared to standard one-part regression models has found mixed results. However, prior studies have generally used only measures of model fit on a single dataset, leaving a definitive conclusion uncertain. This paper provides a detailed evaluation using simulations of the appropriateness of standard one-part generalized linear models (GLMs) compared to a recently developed marginalized two-part (MTP) model. The MTP model, unlike the one-part GLMs, explicitly accounts for the point mass at zero, yet takes the same form for the marginal mean as the commonly used GLM with log link, making the covariate effects directly comparable. We simulate data scenarios with varying sample sizes and percentages of zeros. One-part GLMs resulted in increased bias, lower than nominal coverage of confidence intervals, and inflated type I error rates, rendering them inappropriate for use with semicontinuous data. Even when distributional assumptions were violated, estimates of covariate effects and type I error rates under the MTP model remained robust.
First Responder Assistance Tool for Mobile Device Forensics

The growing importance of mobile telephones, especially so called “smartphones”, the problem of identifying these phones has become a real issue. There is a prevalence of these devices being used by criminals, foreign agents and terrorists. The need to be able to quickly identify these phones and determine what forensics tools maybe compatible with the device is critical. The issue of imitation phones and the potential of hidden operating systems have further muddied the forensics waters. Having a starting point from which to perform this analysis is important first step. The purpose of this research is to provide that starting point. By analyzing basic aspects of the phone and viewing the compatibility with other forensics tools it will give the investigator ideas as to what they can reasonably expect to gain from analyzing the phone. Additionally this software attempts to gather information about the software with the intention of detecting hidden partitions and secondary operating systems.
Using Capture-the-Flag to Enhance the Effectiveness of Cybersecurity Education

Incorporating gamified simulations of cybersecurity breach scenarios in the form of Capture-The-Flag (CTF) sessions increases student engagement and leads to more well-developed skills. Furthermore, it enhances the confidence of students in their own abilities. Our argument is supported by a study in which undergraduate students taking a cybersecurity class were surveyed before and after participating in a CTF.
Improving rigor in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon source fingerprinting

Source identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental samples has advanced greatly in the last 20 years and continues to advance. To realize potential benefits and avoid possible pitfalls, however, great care is needed as one applies published diagnostic tools to data sets. This commentary reflects some recent observations, concerns, and recommendations.
Forming Effective Partnerships to Commercialize Public Sector Technology

Moving technology developed in the federal labs to the marketplace (i.e., commercializing public sector technology) has clearly become an imperative for both management and researchers in federal laboratories. Two major problems negatively affect the labs’ abilities to do this efficiently and effectively: 1. Labs have focused on the needs of one market, the military, to the exclusion of industrial, commercial markets. 2. Labs do not know how to commercialize technology.
African American Children in the Modern Child Welfare System: A Legacy of the Flemming Rule.

Children of color throughout America-and especially those who are African American-are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system. This article links this current child welfare condition to the most significant but little known ruling in the historical development of the modern child welfare system-the Flemming Rule. The Flemming Rule, although intended to be constructive, was negatively implemented in a way that has had long-term serious consequences for African American children and their families. Implications for future policies are discussed.
Calciphylaxis: a case study with differential diagnosis.

Calciphylaxis is a relatively rare, but horribly disfiguring, skin condition that is most often associated with end-stage renal disease and long-term dialysis. Unfortunately, calciphylaxis-related morbidity and mortality are significant. The case study presented demonstrates many of the findings associated with the "typical" calciphylaxis patient; end-stage renal disease and an extensive, painful ulcer. The complexity of the patient's ltistory and medical/surgical interventions, especially medication therapy with coumadin and heparin, complicated initial diagnostic processes. Close scrutiny of multiple physical assessment findings, historical factors, and test results was required for correct diagnosis. Crucial components of differential diagnosis of calciphylaxis verstis is coumadin-induced skin necrosis or heparin-induced thrombocytopenia necrosis include: patient history and characteristics, clinical presentation, and diagnostic test results.
Life History, Developmental Processes, and Energetics of the Burrowing Mayfly Dolania Americana

Dolania americana has a two year life history in Upper Three Runs Creek at Savannah River Plant near Aiken, SC. Eggs deposited in early June hatch the following spring; larvae require 12–14 months to mature. Adult metamorphosis is synchronous, with > 95% of individuals emerging during the first week. Females produce an average of 77 eggs per individual; adult size and fecundity are correlated positively. Adult size of both males and females appears to decrease during the emergence period. Caloric measurements on various tissues and developmental stages ranged from 4.63 to 6.55 cal/mg. Eggs had the highest caloric content (avg 6.18 cal/mg); subimaginal molt skins had the lowest (4.63 cal/mg). Caloric content per unit weight of larval tissue increased with larval size. Chemical analysis of eggs revealed a high protein content (50.3%) relative to lipid (25.5) and carbohydrate (9.0) fractions. Weight specific respiration rates for larvae were inversely related to larval size, but correlated positively with water temperature between 6 and 23°C. Larval growth appeared continuous, although seasonal differences in the amount of growth were observed. Net production efficiency for larvae ranged from 5.3 to 29.2% and varied seasonally, averaging 8.1, 16.6,21.7 and 19.4% for winter, spring, summer and fall, respectively.
An Examination of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Truancy Court:

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of race/ethnicity on recidivism outcomes with a sample of juveniles involved with a truancy court. Three regression models were conducted to exam...
Overexpression of Thalassiosira pseudonana violaxanthin de-epoxidase-like 2 (VDL2) increases fucoxanthin while stoichiometrically reducing diadinoxanthin cycle pigment abundance

ABSTRACT Despite the ubiquity and ecological importance of diatoms, much remains to be understood about their physiology and metabolism, including their carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. Early carotenoid biosynthesis steps are well-conserved, while the identity of the enzymes that catalyze the later steps and their order remain unclear. Those steps lead to the biosynthesis of the final pathway products: the main accessory light-harvesting pigment fucoxanthin (Fx) and the main photoprotective pigment pool comprised of diadinoxanthin (Ddx) and its reversibly de-epoxidized form diatoxanthin (Dtx). We used sequence comparison to known carotenoid biosynthesis enzymes to identify novel candidates in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. Microarray and RNA-seq data was used to select candidates with transcriptomic responses similar to known carotenoid biosynthesis genes and to create full-length gene models, and we focused on those that encode proteins predicted to be chloroplast-localized. We identified a violaxanthin de-epoxidase-like gene (Thaps3_11707, VDL2) that when overexpressed results in increased Fx abundance while stoichiometrically reducing Ddx+Dtx. Based on transcriptomics, we hypothesize that Thaps3_10233 may also contribute to Fx biosynthesis, in addition to VDL2. Separately using antisense RNA to target VDL2, VDL1, and both LUT1-like copies (hypothesized to catalyze an earlier step in the pathway) simultaneously, reduced the overall cellular photosynthetic pigment content, including chlorophylls, suggesting destabilization of light-harvesting complexes by Fx deficiency. Based on transcriptomic and physiological data, we hypothesize that the two predicted T. pseudonana zeaxanthin epoxidases have distinct functions and that different copies of phytoene synthase and phytoene desaturase may serve to initiate carotenoid biosynthesis in response to different cellular needs. Finally, nine carotene cis/trans isomerase (CRTISO) candidates identified based on sequence identity to known CRTISO proteins were narrowed to two most likely to be part of the T. pseudonana carotenoid biosynthesis pathway based on transcriptomic responses and predicted chloroplast targeting.
Infrared-Laser Spectroscopy of Ammonia-Copper Adsorbates by Infrared-Laser-Induced Photodesorption under Ultrahigh Vacuum

An infrared laser generated from a Nd:YAG laser mixing with a dye laser and operating in the 2–4–μm range with a 10-nsec pulse width has been used recently as a tunable laser source to photodesorb ammonia from a Cu(100) surface after excitation of the ν3 mode.1,2 Microsecond time-resolved quadruple mass spectrometry was successfully applied to detect the molecular desorption from a monolayer coverage on the metal surface after pulsed laser–adsorbate interaction. As recently reviewed by Chuang3 on aspects of laser-induced gas-surface interactions, studies of molecular-solid interactions at low temperatures with infrared lasers can indeed provide important insight into the dynamic processes on surfaces.
EFFECTS OF HIGH URACIL DIET-INDUCED GUT DYSBIOSIS ON COURTSHIP BEHAVIOR IN DROSOPHILA

Abstract Past research has established that Drosophila gut inflammation via the dual oxidase (DUOX) regulatory pathway is induced by exposure to bacterial-derived uracil, which can be secreted by a...
Abstraction-based Synthesis for Stochastic Systems with Omega-Regular Objectives.

This paper studies the synthesis of controllers for discrete-time, continuous state stochastic systems subject to omega-regular specifications using finite-state abstractions. We present a synthesis algorithm for minimizing or maximizing the probability that a discrete-time stochastic system with finite number of modes satisfies an omega-regular property. Our approach uses a finite-state abstraction of the underlying dynamics in the form of a Bounded-parameter Markov Decision Process (BMDP) arising from a finite partition of the system's domain. Such abstractions allow for a range of transition probabilities between states for each action. Our method analyzes the product between the abstraction and a Deterministic Rabin Automaton encoding the specification. Synthesis is decomposed into a qualitative problem, where the greatest permanent winning components of the product are created, and a quantitative problem, which requires maximizing the probability of reaching this component. We propose a metric for the quality of the controller with respect to the abstracted states and devise a domain partition refinement technique to reach a quality target. Next, we present a method for computing controllers for stochastic systems with a continuous input set. The system is assumed to be affine in input and disturbance, and we derive a technique for solving the qualitative and quantitative problems in the abstractions of such systems called Controlled Interval-valued Markov Chains. The greatest permanent component of such abstractions are found by partitioning the input space to generate a BMDP accounting for all possible qualitative transitions between states. Maximizing the probability of reaching this component is cast as an optimization problem. Quality of the synthesized controller and a refinement scheme are described for this framework.
Precision Medicine for All: Minority Health

Racial and ethnic disparities in respiratory health are defined as significant differences in the burden of respiratory diseases that can be linked to racial ancestry or ethnicity. Such disparities are due to complex interactions between genetic and environmental or lifestyle factors. Although most genomic studies of respiratory diseases have included subjects of European descent, recent studies have been more racially and ethnically diverse. Multiple genome-wide association studies have evaluated lung function and airway diseases with demonstrable racial or ethnic disparities in prevalence, morbidity, and therapeutic responses. Findings from such studies show that most trait- or disease-susceptibility variants are relevant to multiple racial or ethnic groups (cosmopolitan), but that some risk variants are race- or ethnicity-specific. Recent results from epigenome-wide association studies of asthma support a key role for environmentally induced epigenetic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of complex respiratory diseases. Given this and the fact that common genetic variants explain only a small proportion of the heritability of most respiratory diseases, large-scale studies that analyze rare genetic variants and integrate data from multiple omics compartments in diverse populations are needed to fully characterize the causes of respiratory health disparities. Such knowledge will improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of respiratory diseases in underrepresented minorities and thus get us closer to achieving respiratory health equality.
Clinical Features of Optic Disc Drusen in an Ophthalmic Genetics Cohort.

Background/Aims. Optic disc drusen (ODD) are calcified deposits of proteinaceous material in the optic disc, and their burden in ocular conditions is unknown. As ODD can be associated with visual field defects further compromising already degenerating visual function in patients with retinal degenerations, it is important to further our knowledge of ODD in inherited eye disease. The present study aims to evaluate prevalence, demographic features, and optic disc parameters of eyes with superficial ODD in inherited eye conditions. Materials and Methods. Electronic medical records of patients evaluated in the Ophthalmic Genetics clinic at the National Eye Institute (NEI) between 2008 and 2018 were searched for a superficial ODD diagnosis. Color fundus and autofluorescence images were reviewed to confirm ODD, supplemented with optical coherence tomography (OCT) in uncertain cases when available. Demographic information, examination, and genetic testing were reviewed. Disc areas and disc-to-macula distance to disc diameter ratios (DM : DD) were calculated. Results. Fifty six of 6207 patients had photographically confirmed ODD (0.9%). Drusen were predominantly bilateral (66%), with a female (62%) and Caucasian (73%) predilection. ODD prevalence in our cohort of patients with inherited retinal degenerations was 2.5%, and ODD were more prevalent in the rod-cone dystrophy subgroup at 2.95% (OR = 3.3 [2.1–5.3], ) compared to the ophthalmic genetics cohort. Usher patients were more likely to have ODD (10/132, 7.6%, OR = 9.0 [4.3–17.7], ) and had significantly smaller discs compared to the rest of our ODD cohort (disc area: , DM : DD: ). Discussion. While an association between ODD and retinitis pigmentosa has been reported, this study surveys a large cohort of patients with inherited eye conditions and finds the prevalence of superficial ODD is lower than that in the literature. Some subpopulations, such as rod-cone dystrophy and Usher syndrome, had a higher prevalence than the cohort as a whole.
Does Postmortem Imaging Provide Additional Findings After Unexpected Deaths in Infants and Children

The yield of postmortem imaging (PMI) after sudden unexpected deaths in children has not been well studied. Findings consistent with physical abuse detected on PMI may alert the physician to this diagnosis before the autopsy results. Our objectives are to describe the PMI performed and their diagnostic yield after unexpected deaths in children and to adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines regarding performance of skeletal survey and autopsy in infants at our institution. Methods We performed a retrospective study of unexpected deaths in children 2 years or younger between 2008 and 2018. Children with known traumatic deaths and those transferred after a cardiopulmonary arrest at an outside institution were excluded. We collected patient demographics, physical examination findings, and type of PMI performed along with their results. Results We analyzed 150 deaths with majority (128; 85.3%) being infants. No PMI was performed in 20 children (13.3%). An autopsy was not performed in 22 children (14.6%). A skeletal survey and an autopsy were performed only in 72.6% (93/128) infants. PMI provided additional findings in 51 infants (34%) and 13 children (59.1%) aged 13 to 24 months. PMI identified abuse in 11 children with a negative physical examination result, 3 of whom had a negative autopsy. Conclusions The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations of performance of a skeletal survey and an autopsy were not adhered to after all infant deaths. PMI is useful in identification of additional findings in children 2 years or younger, especially those concerning for physical abuse in infants with a negative physical examination.
Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants in the treatment of portal vein thrombosis.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants vs. warfarin for portal vein thrombosis treatment. METHODS This was a single-center, retrospective study. Adult patients initiated on a direct oral anticoagulant or warfarin for treatment of a new portal vein thrombosis were included. The primary failure outcome was the absolute difference in recurrent thromboembolic events 90 days following initiation of a direct oral anticoagulant vs. warfarin. The primary safety outcome was the absolute difference in bleeding events 90 days following initiation of a direct oral anticoagulant vs. warfarin. Descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact, and Student's t-tests were utilized as appropriate. RESULTS Thirty-three patients were included. Thirteen (39.4%) patients received direct oral anticoagulants, and 20 (60.6%) received warfarin. None of the patients receiving direct oral anticoagulants experienced a primary failure event compared to four receiving warfarin (P < 0.001). None of the patients receiving direct oral anticoagulants experienced a primary safety event vs. one receiving warfarin (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Direct oral anticoagulants appear to be effective and safe in the treatment of portal vein thrombosis and in preventing recurrent thromboembolic events. Future studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to confirm direct oral anticoagulants' efficacy in portal vein thrombosis.
Open-source computational framework for studying Drosophila behavioral phase.

Summary This protocol describes a standardized method for analyzing Drosophila behavioral rhythmicity under light dark cycles, temperature ramps, and free running conditions. The protocol constitutes a step-by-step guide from generation of appropriate Drosophila genetic crosses to behavioral experiments. We also provide an open-source computational framework using R for the analysis of the phase of behavior using circular statistics. An extended method for complete use is also provided. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Fernandez et al. (2020) .
An Alternative Conception of Technology: The Systemic-Purposeful Perspective for Technology Analysis

The definition and explanation of concepts in science are a vital scientific activity because a scientific field can develop only on the base of new comprehensive concepts and categories of concepts and their applications that enlarge the domain of scientific analyses. The conception technology has been one of the most troublesome and yet one of the most important concepts in science. The goal of this study is to suggest a new conception of technology with a systemic-purposeful perspective for technology analysis. Technology here is a complex system, made and/or used by living systems, that is composed of more than one entity or sub-system and a relationship that holds between each entity and at least one other entity in the system, selected considering practical, technical and/or economic characteristics to satisfy needs, achieve goals and/or solve problems of users for purposes of adaptation and/or survival in environment. Technology changes current modes of cognition and action to enable makers and/or users to take advantage of important opportunities or to cope with consequential environmental threats. Scientists should open the debate regarding the nature of technology based on new perspectives, such as interactive technologies within inter-related systems of technology, which may explain and generalize vital aspects of technology, evolution of technology and technical utilization for adaptation of users in changing environment. This study begins the process of clarifying and generalizing, as far as possible, an alternative conception of technology based on a systemic-purposeful perspective, which it can lay a foundation for the development of more sophisticated concepts and theories to explain technology and technological change in environment and society.