cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Deep learning in breast cancer risk assessment: evaluation of fine-tuned convolutional neural networks on a clinical dataset of FFDMs

We evaluated the potential of deep learning in the assessment of breast cancer risk using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) fine-tuned on full-field digital mammographic (FFDM) images. This study included 456 clinical FFDM cases from two high-risk datasets: BRCA1/2 gene-mutation carriers (53 cases) and unilateral cancer patients (75 cases), and a low-risk dataset as the control group (328 cases). All FFDM images (12-bit quantization and 100 micron pixel) were acquired with a GE Senographe 2000D system and were retrospectively collected under an IRB-approved, HIPAA-compliant protocol. Regions of interest of 256x256 pixels were selected from the central breast region behind the nipple in the craniocaudal projection. VGG19 pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset was used to classify the images either as high-risk or as low-risk subjects. The last fully-connected layer of pre-trained VGG19 was fine-tuned on FFDM images for breast cancer risk assessment. Performance was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) in the task of distinguishing between high-risk and low-risk subjects. AUC values of 0.84 (SE=0.05) and 0.72 (SE=0.06) were obtained in the task of distinguishing between the BRCA1/2 gene-mutation carriers and low-risk women and between unilateral cancer patients and low-risk women, respectively. Deep learning with CNNs appears to be able to extract parenchymal characteristics directly from FFDMs which are relevant to the task of distinguishing between cancer risk populations, and therefore has potential to aid clinicians in assessing mammographic parenchymal patterns for cancer risk assessment.
Effect of cigarette smoke on esophageal epithelium of the rabbit

Cigarette smoking is a recognized risk factor for esophageal mucosal disease. For this reason we investigated the effects of smoke on esophageal epithelial electrolyte transport and barrier function in the rabbit. Studies were performed using an extract of cigarette smoke (EOCS) prepared from high-tar, high-nicotine cigarettes. Epithelia were exposed to EOCS in vivo or in vitro in the Ussing chamber. Acute in vivo exposure to EOCS lowered in vivo esophageal potential difference by 61%, and in vitro studies established that this was due to inhibition of active Na transport from mucosa to serosa. Exposure to an EOCS had no effect on net Cl transport or epithelial permeability, the latter reflected by the absence of change in electrical resistance or mannitol flux. The ability of an EOCS to lower potential difference (and inhibit Na transport) was dose-related and equally effective whether contact occurred with the luminal or serosal surface of the tissue. Similar studies performed with an EOCS prepared from filtered smoke established that the component(s) in EOCS responsible for the effects on transport resided in the particulate phase of smoke (i.e., nicotine and "tars"). However, nicotine only inhibited Na transport from the serosal side of the tissue, thus indicating that one or more tars either cause or contribute to the effect of an EOCS on transport. The inhibition by smoke of ion transport in esophageal epithelium may well be an early deleterious link in the pathophysiological chain between cigarette smoking and esophageal mucosal disease.
Surfactant-Activated Electrorheological Suspensions

Applications of the electrorheological (ER) response are limited by a lack of effective fluids. Surfactants may be used to tailor ER suspension properties. We report investigations of the influence of nonionic surfactants on the field-induced dynamic yield stress of various alumina suspensions. We explore the dependence of the yield stress on surfactant type and concentration, particle type, water content, and electric field strength and frequency. Suspension dielectric properties are also investigated. Experimental results at small surfactant concentrations are qualitatively reproduced by a simple model based on Maxwell-Wagner polarization of the disperse phase. This suggests that surfactants act primarily to increase particle conductivity, and hence polarizability, leading ultimately to an increased yield stress. Possible explanations are proposed for deviations from this model at large surfactant concentrations.
Optimizing Regression Testing of Software for the Consolidated Automated Support System

The use of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) operating systems in newer generations of Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) has introduced challenges that did not exist with legacy ATE. Unfortunately, COTS instruments and ATE operating systems do not have well documented test sequence execution time. COTS operating systems also require frequent updates due to cyber security concerns, optimization, and obsolescence. These updates, in turn, can affect a Test Program Sets' (TPSs) test sequence execution time and in the worst cases, generate errors. During initial TPS development, the test engineer accounts for any instrument and operating system latency during the TPS integration phase. Because of changes in this latency, the TPS will need to be re-certified whenever a new operating system update is installed prior to releasing it to fleet. This requires maintainers to ensure the integrity of the TPS with extensive regression testing and performing re-integration. For the US Navy's Consolidated Automated Support System (CASS) family of testers, which supports over 2000 unique avionics components, this is a very expensive and labor-intensive effort. Due to the complexity of the TPSs, a highly skilled engineering team is needed to correct test failures that occur during regression testing. As legacy CASS approaches sundown, and is replaced by newer versions of CASS, this regression testing effort will increase significantly. A newer, more automated, and less labor intensive process for regression testing needs to be developed. This paper will highlight the statistical analysis of TPS log data from the CASS family of testers and focus on the test sequence execution time in order to reduce cycle time for regression testing of new software releases to the fleet. Driven by the conclusions of the analysis, an automated tool will be developed to allow software engineers to adjust timing in the test executive in order to minimize the labor hours needed for testing. By reducing the labor needed to certify TPSs, maintenance costs can be optimized to better serve the fleet and Depot customers.
Imidacloprid is compatible with control provided by the predator Jalysus wickhami Van Duzee (Hemiptera: Berytidae) in flue-cured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

Abstract Jalysus wickhami Van Duzee is the most abundant predator in North Carolina flue-cured tobacco production but information on the effect of contemporary pest management practices and interactions with other arthropods is lacking. We measured the effect of systemic imidacloprid on J. wickhami in field experiments during 2015 and 2016 by surveying its abundance, the abundance of its prey; the pests Heliothis virescens (Fabricus), Manduca sexta L., and Manduca quinquemaculata (Haworth, 1803); and other predatory arthropods in the agro-ecosystem. Systemic imidacloprid applications did not reduce J. wickhami abundance nor increase the abundance of H. virescens, M. sexta, and M. quinquemaculata, indicating natural control was not affected. J. wickhami abundance was positively correlated with the abundance of prey and predators from another feeding guild, suggesting species interactions have significant implications for the predators.
Operational Strategies and Organizational Structures in Family Service Agencies

The author reports on the strategies and structures used by family service agencies. Niche theory informed the hypothesis that size differences among these family service organizations would be ass...
A coupled wicking and evaporation model for prediction of pool boiling critical heat flux on structured surfaces

Abstract Boiling is an effective heat transfer mechanism that is central to a variety of industrial processes including electronic systems, power plants, and nuclear reactors. Micro-/nano-structured surfaces have been demonstrated to significantly enhance the critical heat flux (CHF) during pool boiling, but there is no consensus on how to predict the structure-induced CHF enhancement. In this study, we develop an analytical model that takes into consideration key mechanisms that govern CHF during pool boiling on structured surfaces, namely, capillary wicking and evaporation of the liquid layer underneath the bubble. The model extends existing wicking-based CHF theories by introducing the competing evaporation mechanism. The model reveals a wicking-limited regime where CHF increases monotonically with the wicking flux, and an evaporation-limited regime where additional increases in the wicking flux do not significantly affect CHF. The model predictions are shown to agree with experimental CHF data from the literature for boiling of water on surfaces structured with square micropillar arrays. A parametric study is performed for such micropillared surfaces and has identified the optimal structure based on the competition between wicking and evaporation, capillary pressure and viscous resistance, and conduction and liquid-vapor interfacial resistance.
The importance of face-to-face contact and reciprocal relationships and their associations with depressive symptoms and life satisfaction

The current study aimed to examine how patterns of interpersonal relational contexts (e.g., face-to-face or technology-based) and processes (e.g., initiated or accepted) relate to depressive symptomology and life satisfaction. Participants were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (n = 962 adults [52.1% female; aged 18–78; 16.4% Non-White]). Quota sampling was used to closely match the sample demographics to that of the United States Census data. Latent class analyses (LCA) identified classes of interpersonal relations using the Multidimensional Interpersonal Relations Scale. Next, participants’ responses on the Beck Depression Inventory and Satisfaction With Life Scale were examined to evaluate differences in depressive symptoms and life satisfaction across classes. LCA results supported a 4-class model, in which classes were characterized by patterns of relational contexts and processes: Class 1 (50.6%) engagement across all contexts (e.g., face-to-face) and processes (e.g., initiated); Class 2 (12.7%) engagement across all contexts and processes except Facebook; Class 3 (24.0%) engagement in all contexts and only passive processes; and Class 4 (12.7%) engagement in only technology-based contexts and passive processes. Membership in Classes 1 and 2 was associated with lower depressive symptomology and higher life satisfaction as compared to Classes 3 and 4. The findings suggest that patterns of relations differentially relate to depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. The findings suggest that multicontextual (e.g., face-to-face and technology-based) and reciprocal relationships with friends (e.g., initiating and accepting connections) may play an important role in the association between interpersonal relations with life satisfaction and depressive symptoms.
Prolepticism: The Futurist Theology of Ted Peters

After over forty years of scholarly productivity, Ted Peters deserves a careful analysis of his thought. In this well-structured doctoral dissertation (8), Jantti does just that, contributing a use...
Ibrutinib: a new targeted therapy for hematologic cancers.

Background Hematologic cancers can occur from the overactivity of Bruton's tyrosine kinase, a proto-oncogene in blood cell maturation. Ibrutinib, a new oral targeted therapy drug, is the first agent that binds to the Bruton's tyrosine kinases and inhibits overgrowth of B cells. In blocking this overgrowth, ibrutinib has been shown to achieve lengthy remissions for patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Remissions are highly valued in these cancers; cure is rare in MCL, and CLL is incurable. Objectives This article reviews ibrutinib, its risks and benefits, and the role that oncology nurses play in educating patients and promoting drug adherence. Methods A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted using key words such as ibrutinib, mantle cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and oral chemotherapy. Findings Ibrutinib has been shown to be well tolerated, with manageable, low-grade toxicities compared to traditional cytotoxic agents. For all patients with a hematologic cancer, but particularly for the large proportion of older adults affected by hematologic malignancies, ibrutinib provides a new treatment option with a low toxicity profile.
Preparing to Use the Teachers Empowered to Advance Change in Mathematics Modules: Considerations for Mathematics Teacher Educators

This chapter highlights decisions mathematics teacher educators might make as they prepare to use the Teachers Empowered to Advance Change in Mathematics (TEACH Math) modules in their own courses. These modules are designed to support prospective teachers in integrating a focus on children’s mathematical thinking and their community and family-based knowledge in their mathematics instruction. Considerations for mathematics teacher educators include how to start integrating the modules into an existing course, suggestions for connecting to big ideas in mathematics education, and potential context adaptations. Expected tensions are also presented and discussed.
Prescribing Practices of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Waivered to Prescribe Buprenorphine and the Barriers They Experience Prescribing Buprenorphine.

Background In 2016, the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act permitted nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to obtain a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder (OUD), with the goal of increasing access to this treatment. This study's purpose was to describe the buprenorphine prescribing practices of NPs and PAs and compare the barriers rural and urban providers face delivering treatment. Methods From the October 2018 Drug Enforcement Administration list of providers with the waiver to prescribe buprenorphine, all rural NPs and PAs (1,057) and a random sample of 500 urban NPs and PAs were surveyed. The questionnaire queried respondents about demographics, prescribing practices, practice characteristics, reimbursement policies, and barriers to prescribing buprenorphine to treat OUD. Results Of the waivered NPs and PAs, 80.3% reported having prescribed buprenorphine and 71.1% said they were currently accepting new patients with OUD. Providers with the 30-patient waiver were treating, on average, 13.2 patients; 37.0% were not treating any patients. The most common barrier, cited by half of providers, was concerns about diversion/medication misuse. More rural providers indicated lack of specialty backup and mental health providers as a barrier than urban providers. Never-prescribers and former-prescribers reported 6 barriers at significantly higher rates than did current prescribers. More rural providers accepted Medicaid and cash reimbursement than urban providers. Conclusions NPs and PAs face many of the same barriers to providing buprenorphine as physicians have reported. Interventions to address these barriers have the potential to benefit all providers with the waiver to prescribe buprenorphine.
The chinchilla animal model for hearing science and noise-induced hearing loss

The chinchilla animal model for noise-induced hearing loss has an extensive history spanning more than 50 years. Many behavioral, anatomical, and physiological characteristics of the chinchilla make it a valuable animal model for hearing science. These include similarities with human hearing frequency and intensity sensitivity, the ability to be trained behaviorally with acoustic stimuli relevant to human hearing, a docile nature that allows many physiological measures to be made in an awake state, physiological robustness that allows for data to be collected from all levels of the auditory system, and the ability to model various types of conductive and sensorineural hearing losses that mimic pathologies observed in humans. Given these attributes, chinchillas have been used repeatedly to study anatomical, physiological, and behavioral effects of continuous and impulse noise exposures that produce either temporary or permanent threshold shifts. Based on the mechanistic insights from noise-exposure studies, chinchillas have also been used in pre-clinical drug studies for the prevention and rescue of noise-induced hearing loss. This review paper highlights the role of the chinchilla model in hearing science, its important contributions, and its advantages and limitations.
From morning to mourning: Yanomami listening practices in A Queda do céu

In Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert’s A Queda do ceu, listening, within the context of Yanomami shamanism, entails transposing the words of Omama, the creator god, and his spirits, the xapiri into the present, with the aim of establishing a livable future. This text, with its complex questions of co-authorship, demands of the reader a kind of listening in order to open up to Yanomami forms of sense-making. Shamanic listening depends on an initiation ceremony, which is a “listening lesson” as much for Kopenawa as for the reader. The undecidable nexus of hearing/imitating is the grounds for the discovery of the otherness of the self, a self-difference from which meaning stems. The shamanic listening practice is embedded within collective political struggles emerging in resistance to the colonizing incursions of market capitalism. Matihi is the name the Yanomami give to commodities, as they integrate them into a system of exchange involving affect and interdependence. Matihi, connected to mortality and the forest’s lived past, illustrates the renewal process born of shamanic listening.
Hydrogen peroxide-producing pyruvate oxidase from Lactobacillus delbrueckii is catalytically activated by phosphotidylethanolamine

Pyruvate oxidase (Pox) is an important enzyme in bacterial metabolism for increasing ATP production and providing a fitness advantage via hydrogen peroxide production. However, few Pox enzymes have been characterized from bacterial species. The tetrameric non-hydrogen-peroxide producing Pox from E. coli is activated by phospholipids, which is important for its function in vivo. We characterized the hydrogenperoxide-producing Pox from L. delbrueckii strain STYM1 and showed it is specifically activated by phosphotidylethanolamine (16:0–18:1), but not by phosphotidylcholine or phosphotidylglycerol. This activation is a mixture of K- and V-type activation as both km and enzyme turnover are altered. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the L. delbrueckii Pox forms pentamers and either decamers or dimers of pentamers in solution, which is different from other characterized Pox enzymes. Lastly, we generated a C-terminal truncation mutant that was only weakly activated by phosphotidylethanolamine, which suggests the C-terminus is important for lipid activation. To our knowledge this is the first known hydrogenperoxide-producing Pox enzyme that is activated by phospholipids. Our results suggest that there are substantial differences between Pox enzymes from different bacterial species, which could be important for their role in biological systems as well as in the development of Pox-based biosensors.
Could the US become a role model for electricity decarbonization

Decarbonizing the electricity system is a low-cost climate pathway that the US could lead by example to achieve science-based 2030 emission-reduction goals. However, fossil energy lock-in is inhibiting the infrastructure transition, and new fossil fuel infrastructure continues to be commissioned across the globe and in the US. Simultaneously, climate concerns are growing, and wind and solar solutions are advancing. With carbon pricing, strong regulations, and sustained financial incentives, the US could become a role model for electricity decarbonization.
Temporal accuracy of gait after metronome practice.

Abstract Humans readily entrain their movements to a beat, including matching their gait to a prescribed tempo. Rhythmic auditory cueing tasks have been used to enhance stepping behavior in a variety of clinical populations. However, there is limited understanding of how temporal accuracy of gait changes over practice in healthy young adults. In this study, we examined how inter-step interval and cadence deviated from slow, medium, and fast tempos across steps within trials, across trials within blocks, and across two blocks that bookended a period of practice of walking to each tempo. Participants were accurate in matching the tempo at the slow and medium tempos, while they tended to lag behind the beat at the fast tempo. We also found that participants showed no substantial improvement across steps and trials, nor across blocks, suggesting that participants had a robust ability to entrain their gait to the specified metronome tempo. However, we did find that participants habituated to the prescribed tempo, showing self-paced gait that was faster than self-paced baseline gait after the fast tempo, and slower than self-paced baseline gait after the slow tempo. These findings might represent an “after-effect” in the temporal domain, akin to after-effects consistently shown in other sensorimotor tasks. This knowledge of how healthy participants entrain their gait to temporal cues may have important implications in understanding how clinical populations acquire and modify their gait in rhythmic auditory cueing tasks.
Naturally occurring layered mineral franckeite with anisotropic Raman scattering and third-harmonic generation responses.

Vertically stacked van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures have introduced a unique way to engineer optical and electronic responses in multifunctional photonic and quantum devices. However, the technical challenges associated with the artificially fabricated vertical heterostructures have emerged as a bottleneck to restrict their proficient utilization, which emphasizes the necessity of exploring naturally occurring vdW heterostructures. As one type of naturally occurring vdW heterostructures, franckeite has recently attracted significant interest in optoelectronic applications, but the understanding of light–matter interactions in such layered mineral is still very limited especially in the nonlinear optical regime. Herein, the anisotropic Raman scattering and third-harmonic generation (THG) from mechanically exfoliated franckeite thin flakes are investigated. The observed highly anisotropic Raman modes and THG emission patterns originate from the low-symmetry crystal structure of franckeite induced by the lattice incommensurability between two constituent stacked layers. The thickness-dependent anisotropic THG response is further analyzed to retrieve the third-order nonlinear susceptibility for franckeite crystal. The results discussed herein not only provide new insights in engineering the nonlinear light–matter interactions in natural vdW heterostructures, but also develop a testbed for designing future miniaturized quantum photonics devices and circuits based on such heterostructures.
Tensor-variate finite mixture modeling for the analysis of university professor remuneration

There has been a long-standing interest in the analysis of university professor salary data. The vast majority of the publications on the topic employ linear regression models in an attempt to predict individual salaries. Indeed, the administration of any academic institution is interested in adequately compensating the faculty to attract and keep the best specialists available on the market. However, higher administration and legislators are not concerned with the matter of individual compensation and need to have a bigger picture for developing university strategies and policies. This paper is the first attempt to model university compensation data at the institutional level. The analysis of university salary patterns is a challenging problem due to the heterogeneous, skewed, multiway and temporal nature of the data. This paper aims at addressing all the above-mentioned issues by proposing a novel tensor regression mixture model and applying it to the data set obtained from the American Association of University Professors. The utility of the developed model is illustrated on addressing several important questions related to gender equity and peer institution comparison.
Towards performance portability in the Spark astrophysical magnetohydrodynamics solver in the Flash-X simulation framework

Abstract Simulations of core-collapse supernovae, and other astrophysical phenomena, are quintessential extreme-scale computing challenges. For core-collapse supernova simulations to be carried out by the ExaStar project under the Exascale Computing Project umbrella, a robust, efficient, and state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamics solver is a critical requirement. In Flash-X , the primary software instrument for ExaStar, a new magnetohydrodynamics solver has been designed and implemented from the ground up to achieve accuracy and efficiency for simulations of complex astrophysical flows. This new solver, dubbed Spark , uses high-order spatial reconstruction, Runge–Kutta time integration, and an efficient cell-centered approach to satisfying the divergence-free condition for the magnetic fields. Spark was written to be optimized for data locality in cache hierarchy of CPUs. Since data locality optimizations for cache hierarchy are not directly compatible with those of accelerators, we have taken the approach of using program synthesis to avoid massive amounts of code replication that would be necessary if we were to maintain two different versions of the solver. Our program synthesis relies on a simple key-dictionary approach, implemented in python, that enables us to assemble the version of the solver suitable for the target hardware from code fragments identified by specific keys. In this paper, we describe the data locality optimizations of the solver for CPUs and accelerators and the program synthesis tools that enable this portability. We also detail the parallel performance of Spark for both CPUs and accelerators.
Spotlight on Sotorasib (AMG 510) for KRASG12C Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Mutations in codon 12 of KRAS have been identified in 13% of non-small cell lung cancer patients. Developing targeted therapies against KRASG12C mutation has proven to be challenging due to the abundance of GTP in the cytoplasm, rapid hydrolysis of GTP, and difficulty designing small molecules to achieve sufficient concentration for KRAS inhibition. Based on promising results in both preclinical and clinical trials, sotorasib, a novel KRASG12C inhibitor, was given conditional approval by the FDA in May 2021. The Phase I portion of the clinical trial produced 32% confirmed response with 56% of patients with stable disease. About 91.2% of patients who received the highest dose of 960mg daily achieved disease control. The Phase II portion, which used 960mg daily dosing resulted in 37.1% of patients with confirmed response and 80.6% of patients with disease control. Both phase I and phase II had similar progression-free survival, in 6.3 months and 6.8 months, respectively. In both phases, grade 4 adverse events occurred in only one patient. The most common adverse events were elevations in LFTs, which down-trended upon dose reduction and steroid treatment. While the conditional approval of sotorasib was a major breakthrough for those patients harboring KRASG12C mutations, resistance mutations to sotorasib are increasingly common. Many proposals have been made to address this, such as the use of combination therapy for synthetic lethality, which are producing encouraging results. Here, we explore in further detail the development of sotorasib, its efficacy, mechanism of resistance, and strategies to overcome these resistances.
The Axiology of Abortion: Should We Hope Pro-Choicers or Pro-Lifers are Right?

The ethics of abortion considers whether abortion is immoral. Pro-choice philosophers think that it is not immoral, while pro-life philosophers think that it is. The axiology of abortion considers whether world would be better if the pro-choice or pro-life position is right. While much attention has been given to the ethics of abortion, there has been no attention given to the axiology of abortion. In this article, I seek to change that. I consider various arguments for thinking our world would be better if the pro-choice position or the pro-life position is correct, ultimately concluding that it would be better if the pro-choice position is right. This is unfortunate, however, since there is no good reason to think the pro-choice position is correct.
Lipid Composition and Membrane Fluidity in the Small Intestine of the Developing Rabbit

Characteristics of small intestinal microvillus membrane lipid composition and associated lipid fluidity were studied throughout postnatal development in the rabbit. Microvillus membranes from jejuna] and ilea] epithelia were isolated in high purity from 14 days to adulthood. Significant jejuna]-ilea] differences in microvillus membrane cholesterol to phospholipid molar ratios were observed at all ages. Despite a relatively constant cholesterol content (as percentage of total lipids) both regionally and at all ages, marked increases in the microvillus membrane cholesterol to phospholipid ratio were observed after weaning in both jejunum (14 days=0.56, adult=0.83) and ileum (14 days=0.66, adult=0.98). Further age-related changes in microvillus membrane lipid composition were characterized by a significant reduction in the weight ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids in jejunum and ileum and by the emergence, in the mature animal, of a jejunalileal difference in total lipid content (jejunum =1.21 mg/mg protein, ileum=1.01 mg/mg protein). Changes in microvillus membrane lipid fluidity estimated by fluorescence polarization spectrometry directly paralleled changes in the cholesterol to phospholipid molar ratio. Fluorescence anisotropy of jejuna] and ilea] microvillus membranes increased during the weaning period, suggesting decreased membrane fluidity. At all ages, ilea] membranes were relatively less fluid than jejuna] microvillus membrane. Studies of protein-free microvillus membrane liposomes, prepared from extracted membrane lipid, confirmed a major lipiddependent thermotropic transition point at -23°C in adult jejuna] and -25°C in adult ilea] enterocyte membranes, although no clear transition point was observed in suckling microvillus membrane. These combined data suggested that significant alterations in the microvillus membrane lipid composition and its physical-chemical properties occur during postnatal development in both jejuna] and ilea] rabbit small intestinal microvillus membrane. It is proposed that membrane lipid-dependent structural characteristics may be directly related to the maturation of enterocyte transport function.
A Data-Driven IDCT Architecture for Low Power Video Applications

Analysis of transform coded (MPEG) video data streams reveals a large percentage of zero-valued Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) coefficients. A Data-Driven 2D IDCT architecture (DDIDCT) is proposed which exploits this observation for energy efficiency. The DDIDCT architecture exploits variability in the computational workload caused by the presence of zero-valued DCT coefficients by adaptively changing the power supply and the clock frequency of the main computation units. Adaptive minimization of switching events and power supply voltage make the DDIDCT approach more energy efficient than a conventional fast row-column Distributed Arithmetic IDCT implementation by more than an order of magnitude for the same sample rate.
Effectiveness Evaluation of Contract Incentives on Project Performance

Incentive plans are predetermined contract strategies designed to motivate project personnel and/or organizations to achieve prescribed project performance objectives. Incentive plans may be designed in a variety of ways and can be used singularly or in combination, allowing project sponsors to apply several different motivational strategies concurrently on a given project. This article addresses the issue of incentive effectiveness and investigates the actual influence of incentive strategies on measures of project performance. Data was collected in two phases and included capturing case study information from multiple project organizations and a subsequent detailed survey instrument that included over 90 project respondents. The findings indicate that the implementation of contract incentive strategies can have widely varied levels of effectiveness and may not actually yield the assumed benefits to overall measures of cost and schedule performance. Furthermore, some projects reported that incentives act...
A Fundamental Approach to Estimating Economies of Scale and Scope of Financial Products: The Case of Mutual Funds

We propose a ‘Fundamental’ approach to estimate the economies of scale and scope for financial institutions offering multi-product lines. We first estimate pure economies of scale from its fundamental definition, which is the marginal cost reduction that is to be achieved by single product firms of increasing size that offer the same product. Similarly, we estimate the economies of scope from its fundamental definition, as the marginal cost reduction achieved by the addition of a new product line. Operationally, we compare the cost of operating a say, 3 product-line financial institution with the cost of operating a portfolios of companies that are synthetically created from a control sample of financial institutions offering fewer, such as 2 and 1 similar product lines. When this approach is applied to mutual funds data, we find economies of scale for some fund type. The evidence on marginal cost economies due to increasing scope is rather weak. The results have practical implications for potential organizers and current management of investment companies.
A signal detection theory analysis of racial and ethnic disproportionality in the referral and substantiation processes of the U.S. child welfare services system

Signal detection theory (SDT) was developed to analyze the behavior of a single judge but also can be used to analyze decisions made by organizations or other social systems. SDT quantifies the ability to distinguish between signal and noise by separating accuracy of the detection system from response bias—the propensity to over-warn (too many false positives) or under-warn (too many misses). We apply SDT techniques to national and state-level data sets to analyze the ability of the child welfare services systems to detect instances of child maltreatment. Blacks have higher rates of referral and the system is less accurate for them than for Whites or Hispanics. The incidence of false positives—referrals leading to unsubstantiated findings—is higher for Blacks than for other groups, as is the incidence of false negatives—children for whom no referral was made but who are in fact neglected or abused. The rate of true positives–children for whom a referral was made and for whom the allegation was substantiated–is higher for Blacks. Values of d ′ (signal strength) are roughly the same for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics but there are pronounced group differences in C (a measure of the location of the decision threshold). Analyses show that the child welfare services system treats Blacks differently from Hispanics and Whites in ways that cannot be justified readily in terms of objective measures of group differences. This study illustrates the potential for JDM techniques such as SDT to contribute to understanding of system-level decision making processes.
Folkloristik 2003: Fire Folkloristiske Essays [Folkloristics 2003: Four Folkloristic Essays]

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Flemming Hemmersam Year: 2003 Pages: 64 Publisher: Hemmersam@mail.tele.dk ISBN: 87-989355-1-8
Coronal Transients at High Heliographic Latitudes

One of the few properties of coronal transients to have been demonstrated to show a variation which may depend on the phase of the solar cycle is their distribution with latitude. Observations from Skylab (1973–74) showed a distribution which was restricted largely to the region between 45 ° N and 45 °S. Data from the the Solar Maximum Mission, on the other hand show transients over a much wider range of latitudes. A spacecraft at high heliographic latitude near the time of solar maximum is thus likely to encounter coronal transients directed towards it and because of its trajectory, offers a more favorable opportunity to identify the interplanetary signature of these events than is found near earth or in the ecliptic.
A bound on time-reversal noninvariance from transition-strength fluctuations

Transition strength fluctuation measures are calculated by randommatrix methods for time-reversal non-invariant (TRNI) Hamiltonians. We find that these measures are more sensitive to a TRNI admixing than the spectral fluctuation measures, but present experimental difficulties tend to offset this advantage. The strength measures, applied to the neutron resonance data, show that the local rms multiparticle H(TRNI) matrix element <0.07D with D being the average level spacing.Spectral averaging methods reduce this to a bound on the nucleon-nucleon TRNI vs. TRI interactions, which give for 169Er, a 0.3% upper bound, which is quite close to the bound from spectral analysis.
Language adaptation and psychometric estimation of measures of fear of and susceptibility to prostate cancer among Haitian-American men.

UNLABELLED Three previously validated instruments were translated into Haitian-Creole and Haitian-French. After face validity was assured, data were collected from 143 men to test the psychometric properties. Analyses determined that the translated scales are appropriate to measure fear and susceptibility to prostate cancer among this vulnerable population. BACKGROUND Haitian-American men have a very high rate of prostate cancer, yet they generally do not participate in prostate cancer screening activities. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to adapt, translate, and test the psychometric properties of two previously developed scales and one index to assure their appropriateness for use in research among Haitian-American men. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The theoretical framework was an integrated model consisting of a component of the health belief model, perceived susceptibility, and a component of the extended parallel process model, fear. METHODS Three phases of research activities were conducted to translate the study instruments. Each instrument was translated into Haitian-Creole and Haitian French. Construct validity and face validity of the translated instruments were assured and data were then collected from 143 Haitian-American men.These data were used to determine construct validity and reliability as internal consistency. RESULTS Psychometric testing determined that the translated scales and index had face validity, the index had content validity, and the scales were conceptually unidimensional. These analyses supported that the translated instruments were appropriate to measure the constructs among the target population.
GAMMA RAY DENSITY GAUGING.

The density of pressed powder metal parts can be rapidly and non-destructively measured by means of gamma ray transmission techniques.
Maternal Work Hours and Adolescents' School Outcomes Among Low-Income Families in Four Urban Counties

We examine how changes in maternal work hours affect adolescent children’s school participation and performance outcomes using data from interviews in 1998 and 2001 with approximately 1,700 women who, in May 1995, were welfare-reliant, single mothers of adolescents living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty in Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, and Philadelphia counties. Analyses control for a broad array of mothers’ characteristics, including their psychological and physical health, experiences with domestic violence and substance abuse, as well as unobserved time-invariant characteristics. In fixed-effects models, we find unfavorable effects of increased maternal work hours on three of six outcomes: skipping school, performing above average, and parental contact about behavior problems. Adolescent-aged sons seem to be particularly sensitive to changes in mothers’ hours of work.
Dynamic reconfiguration of terminal airspace during convective weather

Dynamic airspace configuration (DAC) algorithms strive to restructure the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) in ways that allow air traffic control to better manage aircraft flows. Although past research has largely focused on enroute airspace in clear weather conditions, the principle of better matching airspace structure to ambient conditions has potential to benefit airport terminal areas, which are often impacted by congestion due to convective weather, especially during summer months when travel demand is high. This paper studies the problem of dynamic airspace configuration in the terminal area given a stochastic model of route availability during convective weather conditions. An integer programming model is proposed for the dynamic reconfiguration of the terminal area. This model recommends small changes to airspace structure that alleviate airspace congestion, while limiting disruptions to air traffic control procedures. The model is tested against actual weather scenarios, and shows promising benefits to operations.
Temporal Instability as a Moderator of the Attitude-Behavior Relationship

The effects of temporal instability in attitudes on the attitude-behavior relationship were examined in a study of volunteering to tutor blind children. A mailed appeal was received by 286 Israeli undergraduates who had completed a questionnaire either 3 months, 6 months, or both 3 and 6 months earlier, or not at all. Embedded in the questionnaire were attitude items on altruistic acts (including tutoring blind children) and on various controversial issues. The attitude-behavior correlation was higher over the shorter time interval (.47 vs. .13), and data from the group whose attitudes were measured twice indicated this was due to real change in individuals' attitudes. A specific attitude and its corresponding behavior correlated more strongly among those whose general set of altruistic attitudes showed high rather than low temporal stability (.47 vs. —.03), but stability of the specific attitude did not moderate this correlation. Characteristics of attitudes that might influence their stability are discussed, and it is shown that attitude stability is not a general trait.
Expectancy and frequency effects on perceptual and motor systems in choice reaction time

Three experiments investigated the effects of expectancy and stimulus frequency in character classification and identification tasks. Both expectancy and frequency were found to have effects on overall response latency, but the two factors had different patterns of interaction with two other experimental variables. The effect of visual quality was larger for low-frequency stimuli than for high-frequency stimuli, whereas the effect of quality was independent of expectancy. The effect of S-R compatibility was more strongly influenced by whether a stimulus was expected than by the frequency of the stimulus. The results suggest that expectancy and frequency have somewhat different effects on human information processing mechanisms. Expectancy allows temporary preparation for a specific S-R pair in response selection processes, but it has no effect on perceptual processes. Stimulus frequency, on the other hand, influences the efficiency of both perceptual and response selection processes. The overall effect of stimulus probability may be interpreted as having as components both expectancy and frequency effects.
Lowering oral contraceptive norethindrone dose increases estrogen and progesterone receptor levels with no reduction in proliferation of breast epithelium: a randomized trial

Background This study was conducted to compare breast epithelial-cell proliferation and estrogen and progesterone receptor levels in women taking one of two oral contraceptives (OCs) containing the same dose of estrogen but different doses of the progestin norethindrone (NET).
NF-κB transcription factor subunits in rat brain: Colocalization of p65 and α-MSH

Abstract The subunit proteins p50 and p65 of the transcription factor NF-κB and the I-κB inhibitory protein were immunocytochemically identified and mapped in rat brain. The p65 subunit was localized to the cytoplasm of neurons in the lateral hypothalamus and colocalized with α-MSH in neurons identified as the α-2 component of the α-MSH system. The p50 subunit protein was distributed throughout the neocortex, basal ganglia, thalamic, and hypothalamic nuclei, and certain nuclei of the pons and medulla. The I-κB protein, which is necessary for the cytoplasmic sequenstration of the NF-κB transcription factor complex, was identified specifically in regions of limbic, hypothalamic, and autonomic nuclei.
Solution to the 3-loop Φ -derivable approximation for massless scalar thermodynamics

We develop a systematic method for solving the 3-loop $\Phi$-derivable approximation to the thermodynamics of the massless $\phi^4$ field theory. The method involves expanding sum-integrals in powers of $g^2$ and m/T, where g is the coupling constant, m is a variational mass parameter, and T is the temperature. The problem is reduced to one with the single variational parameter m by solving the variational equations order-by-order in $g^2$ and m/T. At the variational point, there are ultraviolet divergences of order $g^6$ that cannot be removed by any renormalization of the coupling constant. We define a finite thermodynamic potential by truncating at $5^{th}$ order in g and m/T. The associated thermodynamic functions seem to be perturbatively stable and insensitive to variations in the renormalization scale.
Dual-Axis Rotational Coronary Angiography: A New Technique for Detecting Graft Coronary Vasculopathy in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients

Annual surveillance coronary angiograpyhy to screen for graft coronary vasculopathy is routine practice after orthotopic heart transplantation. Traditionally, this is performed with direct coronary angiography using static single-plane or biplane angiography. Recently, technological advances have made it possible to perform dual-axis rotational coronary angiography (RA). This technique differs from standard static single-plane or biplane angiography in that a single detector is preprogrammed to swing through a complex 80° arc during a single injection. It has the advantage of providing a perspective of the vessels from a full arc of images rather than from one or two static images per contrast injection. The current study evaluated two coronary angiography techniques used consecutively at a single center to evaluate pediatric heart transplant recipients for graft coronary vasculopathy. A total of 23 patients underwent routine coronary angiography using both biplane static coronary angiography (BiP) and RA techniques at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin from February 2009 to September 2010. Demographic and procedure data were collected from each procedure and analyzed for significance utilizing a Wilcoxon rank sum test. No significant demographic or procedural differences between the BiP and the RA procedures were noted. Specific measures of radiation dose including fluoroscopy time and dose area product were similar among the imaging techniques. The findings show that RA can be performed safely and reproducibly in pediatric heart transplant recipients. Compared with standard BiP, RA does not increase radiation exposure or contrast use and in our experience has provided superior angiographic imaging for the evaluation of graft coronary vasculopathy.