cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Is it Avoidance or Hypoarousal? A systematic review of emotion recognition, eye-tracking, and psychophysiological studies in young adults with Autism Spectrum Conditions

Abstract A systematic review was conducted for studies exploring the link between gaze patterns, autonomic arousal and emotion recognition deficits (ERD) in young adults with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) in the context of the eye-avoidance/hyperarousal and the orientation/hypoarousal hypotheses. These hypotheses suggest that ERD in ASC can be explained by either exacerbated physiological arousal to eye-contact interfering with emotion recognition, or blunted arousal not engaging the necessary attention and awareness mechanisms to process emotionally salient cues, respectively. Most studies have suggested that individuals with ASC display an overall reduced attention to the eyes, however, this was not always associated with ERD, and some studies also reported ERD with no evidence of atypical gaze patterns. The evidence from psychophysiological studies is also mixed. While some studies supported that individuals with ASC are hypoaroused during emotion processing, others reported hyperarousal or even partially supported both. Overall, these results suggest that the current autonomic arousal and gaze hypotheses cannot fully account for ERD in ASC. A new integrative model is proposed, suggesting a two-pathway mechanism, in which avoidance and orientation processes might independently lead to ERD in ASC. Current methodological limitations, the influence of alexithymia, and implications are discussed.
Trajectory-Based Skill Learning Using Generalized Cylinders

In this article, we introduce Trajectory Learning using Generalized Cylinders (TLGC), a novel trajectory-based skill learning approach from human demonstrations. To model a demonstrated skill, TLGC uses a Generalized Cylinder-a geometric representation composed of an arbitrary space curve called the spine and a surface with smoothly varying cross-sections. Our approach is the first application of Generalized Cylinders to manipulation, and its geometric representation offers several key features: it identifies and extracts the implicit characteristics and boundaries of the skill by encoding the demonstration space, it supports for generation of multiple skill reproductions maintaining those characteristics, the constructed model can generalize the skill to unforeseen situations through trajectory editing techniques, our approach also allows for obstacle avoidance and interactive human refinement of the resulting model through kinesthetic correction. We validate our approach through a set of real-world experiments with both a Jaco 6-DOF and a Sawyer 7-DOF robotic arm.
Political freedom in Byzantium: the rhetoric of liberty and the periodization of Roman history

ABSTRACTThis paper proposes an intellectual history of the idea that the later Roman empire and, subsequently, the whole of Byzantium were less ‘free’ in comparison to the Roman Republic. Anxiety o...
Medication adherence in pediatric renal transplant patients: The role of family functioning and parent health locus of control

Children and adolescents with renal disease experience daily social, emotional, and medical challenges. Renal transplantation can help to improve quality of life but requires a lifelong regimen of immunosuppressant medication to maintain health. Adherence to a daily complex regimen can be difficult, particularly for adolescents who are beginning to develop autonomy from caregivers and are faced with a unique set of socio-emotional challenges. This study examines two factors that have shown to influence adherence in other pediatric populations, namely family functioning and parent health locus of control, from mothers' perspectives, in predicting medication non-adherence for adolescents (ages 12-19 years) 1 year post-transplant. Non-adherence was defined as the percentage of missed doses and late doses of the weekly immunosuppressant doses prescribed. Regression results demonstrated that mothers' perceptions of poorer overall family functioning predicted missed medication doses (ΔR2 = 0.383, F(7, 21) = 2.570, P = 0.044) with significant contributions in the domains of problem-solving (β = -0.795, t(21) = -2.927, P = 0.008) and affective involvement (β = 0.872, t(21) = 3.370, P = 0.003). Moreover, mothers who perceived that their adolescent had control over his/her health also predicted more missed medication doses (ΔR2 = 0.133, F(1, 27) = 5.155, P = 0.031). Important implications for these findings include implementation of family-based interventions that promote developmentally appropriate skills for adolescents and cultivate emotional involvement within the family.
Advanced glycation end product carboxymethyl-lysine and risk of incident peripheral artery disease in older adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Carboxymethyl-lysine is an advanced glycation end product that is detectable in the serum. Higher carboxymethyl-lysine levels have been associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease, str...
Compelling Interests and Substantial Burdens: The Adjudication of Religious Free Exercise Claims in U.S. State Appellate Courts

Conflicts occasionally arise between individuals’ religious obligations and requirements of the state. In America, these conflicts are often resolved in the courts. A major debate over religious fr...
Colonic adenocarcinoma associated with chronic colitis in cotton top marmosets, Saguinus oedipus

Abstract Colitis is a common disease of cotton top marmosets, Saguinus oedipus , characterized by crypt abscesses and inflammation of lamina propria. In more advanced colitis there is marked irregularity of mucosal surface, distortion of crypt architecture and epithelium, increased numbers of mitoses, and decreased numbers of goblet cells. Foci of pleomorphic cells arranged in poorly formed glands or sheets, interpreted as carcinoma in situ, also occur. Many such cases have invasive colonic adenocarcinoma with metastasis to colonic lymph nodes but not elsewhere. Analysis of necropsy data from a group of 210 marmosets in captivity for 3.5 yr revealed that the incidence of advanced colitis, adenocarcinoma in situ and invasive carcinoma increased markedly over that period. A strong association between colitis and adenocarcinoma was suggested by both morphologic and epidemiologic data.
Murine model of OPRM1 A118G alters oxycodone self-administration and locomotor activation, but not conditioned place preference.

Abstract Mu-opioid receptors (MORs) mediate the rewarding properties of oxycodone and other prescription opioid medications, which have played a central role in the current opioid epidemic in the United States. The human mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) contains a functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), A118G, which has been associated with altered opioid addiction risk, however the mechanisms responsible for this are not well understood. To explore this, we examined oxycodone conditioned place preference (CPP) and self-administration behavior (SA) in A112G mice, which possess a functionally analogous SNP in the mouse mu-opioid receptor gene (Oprm1). For CPP, male and female A112G mice homozygous for the A112 (wild-type; AA) or G112 (GG) allele were conditioned with doses of 1 and 3 mg/kg across an 8-day period. For SA, mice were allowed to self administer oxycodone (unit dose 0.25 mg/kg/infusion, FR1) for 4h/day for 10 consecutive days. We observed no effects of genotype or sex on conditioned place preference behavior. Oxycodone 3 mg/kg increased locomotor activity in AA mice but not GG mice, and both male and female GG mice self-administered significantly more oxycodone compared to their wild-type AA littermates. These studies suggest that the G allele promotes greater opioid intake, which may underlie greater opioid addiction morbidity in G-allele carriers.
Prior incarceration associated with missed HIV care visits among young people living with HIV in the US.

Maintenance in HIV care is important to achieve optimal personal health and HIV viral load suppression for young people living with HIV (PLWH). We assessed the relationship between incarceration an...
Party Polarization and the Changing Effects of Supermajority Procedures in the Senate: Presidential Success of Bush and Obama

Research on presidential-congressional relations consistently finds that majority party presidents are more successful in the legislative arena than are minority presidents. Although the advantages of majority party status are similar in both chambers, the benefits are somewhat muted in the Senate. Increasing party polarization since the 1980s has profoundly affected presidential-congressional relations. A recent study (Cohen, Bond, and Fleisher 2013) found that increasing partisanship in the House enhances the benefits of majority control — majority party presidents win more and minority presidents win less. The relationships in the Senate, however, changed considerably in recent decades. Majority party presidents still had small advantage, but the explanatory power of the model declined. The authors speculated, but offered no evidence, that supermajoritarian procedures in the Senate were responsible for the weaker relationships. This paper offers some preliminary evidence that in the context of high partisanship, an increasing number of cloture votes during the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations contributed to a decline in success rates of both majority and minority presidents.
The roles of tools and models in a prospective elementary teachers’ developing understanding of multidigit multiplication

Abstract It is important for prospective elementary teachers to understand multidigit multiplication deeply; however, the development of such understanding presents challenges. We document the development of a prospective elementary teacher’s reasoning about multidigit multiplication during a Number and Operations course. We present evidence of profound progress in Valerie’s understanding of multidigit multiplication, and we highlight the roles of particular tools and models in her developing reasoning. In this way, we contribute an illuminating case study that can inform the work of mathematics teacher educators. We discuss specific instructional implications that derive from this case.
Regional brain metabolism differs between narcolepsy type 1 and idiopathic hypersomnia.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Daytime sleepiness is a manifestation of multiple sleep and neurologic disorders. Few studies have assessed patterns of regional brain metabolism across different disorders of excessive daytime sleepiness. One such disorder, idiopathic hypersomnia (IH), is particularly understudied. METHODS People with IH, narcolepsy (NT1), and non-sleepy controls underwent [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) with electroencephalography (EEG). Participants were instructed to resist sleep and were awoken if sleep occurred. Voxel-wise parametric analysis identified clusters that significantly differed between each pair of groups, with a minimum cluster size of 100 voxels at a cluster detection threshold of p < 0.005. Correlations between glucose metabolism and sleep characteristics were evaluated. RESULTS Participants (77% women) had IH (n = 16), NT1 (n = 14), or were non-sleepy controls (n = 9), whose average age was 33.8 (±10.7) years. Compared to controls, NT1 participants demonstrated hypermetabolism in fusiform gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, superior and middle temporal gyri, insula, cuneus, precuneus, pre- and post-central gyri, and culmen. Compared to controls, IH participants also demonstrated hypermetabolism in precuneus, inferior parietal lobule, superior and middle temporal gyri, and culmen. Additionally, IH participants demonstrated altered metabolism of the posterior cingulate. Most participants fell asleep. Minutes of N1 during uptake was significantly negatively correlated with metabolism of the middle temporal gyrus. CONCLUSION NT1 and IH demonstrate somewhat overlapping, but distinct, patterns of regional metabolism.
A dose-escalating toxicology study of the candidate biologic ELP-VEGF

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), a key mediator of angiogenesis and vascular repair, is reduced in chronic ischemic renal diseases, leading to microvascular rarefaction and deterioration of renal function. We developed a chimeric fusion of human VEGF-A121 with the carrier protein Elastin-like Polypeptide (ELP-VEGF) to induce therapeutic angiogenesis via targeted renal VEGF therapy. We previously showed that ELP-VEGF improves renal vascular density, renal fibrosis, and renal function in swine models of chronic renal diseases. However, VEGF is a potent cytokine that induces angiogenesis and increases vascular permeability, which could cause undesired off-target effects or be deleterious in a patient with a solid tumor. Therefore, the current study aims to define the toxicological profile of ELP-VEGF and assess its risk for exacerbating tumor progression and vascularity using rodent models. A dose escalating toxicology assessment of ELP-VEGF was performed by administering a bolus intravenous injection at doses ranging from 0.1 to 200 mg/kg in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Blood pressure, body weight, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were quantified longitudinally, and terminal blood sampling and renal vascular density measurements were made 14 days after treatment. Additionally, the effects of a single administration of ELP-VEGF (0.1-10 mg/kg) on tumor growth rate, mass, and vascular density were examined in a mouse model of breast cancer. At doses up to 200 mg/kg, ELP-VEGF had no effect on body weight, caused no changes in plasma or urinary markers of renal injury, and did not induce renal fibrosis or other histopathological findings in SD rats. At the highest doses (100-200 mg/kg), ELP-VEGF caused an acute, transient hypotension (30 min), increased GFR, and reduced renal microvascular density 14 days after injection. In a mouse tumor model, ELP-VEGF did not affect tumor growth rate or tumor mass, but analysis of tumor vascular density by micro-computed tomography (μCT) revealed significant, dose dependent increases in tumor vascularity after ELP-VEGF administration. ELP-VEGF did not induce toxicity in the therapeutic dosing range, and doses one hundred times higher than the expected maximum therapeutic dose were needed to observe any adverse signs in rats. In breast tumor-bearing mice, ELP-VEGF therapy induced a dose-dependent increase in tumor vascularity, demanding caution for potential use in a patient suffering from kidney disease but with known or suspected malignancy.
Chapter 19 – Tissue Engineering of Organ Systems

Organ failure from disease or injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for patients. Patients have traditionally been treated with organ transplantation, or artificial support systems that function outside the body (e.g., hemodialysis), but such options suffer from donor shortages, immunocompatibility and rejection issues, and decreased quality of life. This chapter provides an overview of tissue engineering of several important organ systems, including urogenital, liver, lung, gastrointestinal, and pancreatic tissues. Each section provides an insight into the research that has been conducted in the field until now. Although many challenges remain, rapid progress during 2004–2014 has successfully translated several engineered organs into the clinical setting, while for others, major headway has been made. It is becoming more and more apparent that the future of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is intimately intertwined and that their clinical translation relies on our increasing knowledge of biomaterials and their interaction with living cells.
Implications of Cancer Stem Cells for Cancer Therapy

Our contemporary understanding of cancer biology is based on the stem cell hypothesis. This framework explains regression of premalignant lesions, radiation and drug resistant tumor cell subsets, relapse after complete therapeutic response, clonal similarity of metastatic implants and stromal requirements for cancer cultivation. The stem cell hypothesis also brings with it a new paradigm for cancer treatment. New therapies will increasingly target stem cell specific surface molecules, oncoproteins, regulation pathway elements, resistance mediators and stromal niche support factors. As our understanding of stem cell markers expands for various tumor subclasses, this knowledge of cancer stem cell biology and clinical significance will lead to more effective and safer treatments for human cancers.
In Sickness and in Health (A)

Cameron Harding has just opened his own business, and needs to get health insurance for himself and his fiance, Audra. They are looking for a plan that will best meet their needs, but Harding knows little about the world of health insurance. Luckily, Harding's uncle, a senior salesman at a large pharmaceutical firm, is happy to offer advice and talk Harding through the process of choosing insurance. This case set walks students through choosing a health insurance plan, and what questions to ask when receiving care. Excerpt UVA-F-1917 Dec. 23, 2019 In Sickness and in Health (A) Cameron Harding sat in his car for a long time, turning the pair of bronze keys over and over in his hand, trying to suppress his smile. Perhaps he had been sitting there for an hour, or maybe it was only five minutes—the overwhelming joy made it hard for him to tell. The moment he had been working toward for five long years was finally here: he had just signed the lease to the office space of his new business. He clutched the new building keys so tight they left an imprint in his palm, and Harding could no longer control his urge to laugh. So there he sat, in his car, in broad daylight on Main Street—on what was surely an ordinary day to every other passerby—laughing by himself in long, loud howls of unimaginable joy. He must have looked crazy to anyone glancing in, but he didn't care—he was a business owner at last. His own man. After more than a decade of working for the sales department of a car dealership, he was finally on his way to owning his own car wash. Harding was excited to get home and show his girlfriend, Audra, the keys to his new car wash; she was one of his biggest supporters and had encouraged him to branch out on his own. But Harding had more than one surprise in store for Audra—as he sat there and looked over his new lease, he reached for the small blue box hidden in his pocket. He admired the silver ring inside, with its bright gem reflecting prisms of light along the windows. He hoped Audra would like it. Much in the same way Harding knew he was ready to start his own business, he also knew it was time to settle down and start a family with Audra. They had been together for six years now, and he had been waiting months for the right moment to propose to her. Today was the day. He was ready to begin a new chapter in his life as a man more in control of his own destiny. A New Health Insurance Plan . . .
In pursuit of diverse energy futures: The political economy of electricity in Senegal

In recent years, Senegal has proactively pursued the expansion of renewable energy generation, particularly from solar and wind. In addition to starting exploration of offshore liquefied natural ga...
Assessing Palliative Care Needs Using Machine Learning Approaches

Palliative care improves quality of life for patients and their families when facing a life-threatening illness. Studies have shown that physicians tend to over-estimate prognoses, which in combination with treatment inertia results in underutilization of end-of-life care plans. In our study, we apply machine learning methods to patients’ Electronic Health Record (EHR) data to predict patients who are likely to benefit from palliative care. Our work is based on a real-world dataset of 1,462,862 hospitalization records from the State Inpatient Database (SID) of Florida from 2012 to 2015. We examine the performance of five popular machine learning algorithms on all-cause and ten individual disease subgroups. Our experimental results demonstrate that machine learning models can achieve approximately 68% and 60% predictive accuracy for the patients who "need" and "do-not-need" end-of-life care respectively. Given the successful palliative needs identification rate is less than 50% among current hospital practices, our models can be used as an auxiliary tool to assist in palliative care resource allocation.
Reality vs. Perceptions: The Treatment of Early Modern French Jews in Politics and Literary Culture

REALITY VS. PERCEPTIONS: THE TREATMENT OF EARLY MODERN FRENCH JEWS IN POLITICS AND LITERARY CULTURE By Michael Woods, Master of Arts. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014. Director: Dr. George Munro Professor, Department of History Although historians have written extensively on both the early modern era and the development of an absolute monarchy, the history of Jewish communities in France and the role they played has been largely ignored. Beginning with the French Wars of Religion, this study analyzes to what extent France’s religious situation affected the growth of absolutism and how this in turn affected the Jews. Taking advantage of the fractured nature of the early French monarchy, Jews began settling in provinces along the border of both Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Affected by economic jealousies and cultural perceptions of Jews, the treatment of these communities by local officials led to requests by Jews for royal intervention in these regions. Perceptions of Jews evolved through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as the French Enlightenment influenced the way Jewish characters were presented. This study then ties these perceptions of Jews to the political and economic reality of these communities in an attempt to create a unified history of France’s early modern Jewish population.
Validity and Reliability of the Teamwork Scale for Youth

The teamwork life skill is a critical outcome desired in many positive youth development interventions; however, limited versatile, user-friendly measures of this construct exist.Purpose:This study examines the psychometric properties of the Teamwork Scale for Youth, an assessment designed to measure youths’ perceptions of their teamwork competency.Methods:The Teamwork Scale for Youth was administered to a sample of 460 youths. Confirmatory factor analyses examined the factor structure and measurement invariance of the scale across time. Correlations between teamwork and perceived social competence and commitment scores were also examined.Results:The revised 8-item Teamwork Scale for Youth was found to demonstrate acceptable factorial validity and measurement invariance across time. Additionally, strong reliability and concurrent and predictive validity of the scale were established.Discussion:The Teamwork Scale for Youth is a brief, easily administered, psychometrically sound tool that can be used with c...
Anaerobic co-digestion of municipal wastewater sludge and un-dewatered grease trap waste for assessing direct feed of grease trap waste in municipal digesters

Abstract The performance of anaerobic co-digestion of municipal wastewater sludge and un-dewatered grease trap waste was investigated for assessing direct feed of grease trap waste in municipal digesters. Substrate degradation, methane potential and process inhibition were monitored in two laboratory scale, semi-continuous feed reactors under mesophilic conditions (35 °C). The methane potential increased from 384 ml CH4 g−1 VSadded to 536 and 641 ml CH4 g−1 VSadded at 0%, 25% and 46% grease trap waste feed ratios, respectively. Co-digestion failed at the 70% grease trap waste feed ratio. The results demonstrated that feeds with volatile acids to alkalinity ratios greater than 2 could cause process failure. Recovery of the digesters following upset conditions was achieved by feeding digester effluent from a full scale digester for 10 days. The performance and stability results observed in this study were compared with data from previous studies of co-digestion of dewatered grease trap waste. The grease trap waste feed ratio that yielded stable co-digestion was increased by using un-dewatered grease trap waste. The results demonstrated that using un-dewatered grease trap waste as the co-substrate instead of dewatered grease trap waste can improve digester performance and provide a more stable digestion.
PA3 a general-purpose, time-shared Problem Analysis language

A general-purpose, time-shared language for modeling and solving problems which exhibit uncertainty in the input variables is presented. The language is described in terms of some comparative measures of simulation systems. A simple example is worked to demonstrate the major features of the language. Examples of actual problems which have been solved are described to illustrate the breadth of possible applications.
Neural Networks in an Artificial Life Perspective

In the last few years several researchers within the Artificial Life and Mobile Robotics community used Artificial Neural Networks. Explicitly viewing Neural Networks in an Artificial Life perspective has a number of consequences that make research on what we will call Artificial Life Neural Networks (ALNNs) rather different from traditional connectionist research. The aim of the paper is to make the differences between ALNNs and “classical” neural networks explicit.
Strategic interactions in multi-institutional epidemics of antibiotic resistance

The increasing frequency of antibiotic resistance in hospital-acquired infections is a major public health concern that has both biological and economic causes. Here we develop conceptual mathematical models that couple the economic incentives and population biology of hospital infection control (HIC). We show that the optimal investment by a hospital for HIC changes with the proportion of patients already colonized with antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) at the time of admission. As that proportion increases, the optimal behavior of a hospital is to increase spending to control ARB with low transmissibility and decrease spending on those with high transmissibility. In some cases, the global optimum investment in HIC can shift discontinuously from one that contains transmission to a do-nothing policy once the proportion already colonized at the time of admission becomes too great. We also show that investments in HIC are determined by a strategic game when several hospitals share patients. Hospitals acting selfishly and rationally will free-ride on the investments of other hospitals, and the level of free-riding should increase with the number of other hospitals in the area. Thus, in areas with many hospitals, the rational strategy for each hospital is to spend less than in areas with few hospitals. Thus, we predict that transmission rates and the prevalence of ARB should be higher in urban hospitals, for instance, compared with rural hospitals. We conclude that regional coordination and planning for HIC is an essential element of public health planning for hospital-acquired infections.
Generation of Diamagnetic Cavities at the Bow Shock by Ion Kinetic Effects

Two-dimensional global-scale hybrid simulations are carried out to study the generation of diamagnetic cavities at the bow shock due to accelerated ion beams in (1) intrinsic process of the shock and (2) the interaction of the shock with an interplanetary tangential discontinuity (TD). In the simulation of the bow shock alone, strong electromagnetic waves occur in the foreshock regions of the quasi-parallel shock due to the interaction between thin, hot backstreaming/reflected ions and the cold, dense solar wind plasma. Diamagnetic cavities form in these foreshock regions. The cavities are crater-like and have a width ∼1-2R E , with a low-density and low-magnetic field center bounded by a rim of high density and high magnetic field. The craters convect downstream with the solar wind. When the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) lies nearly parallel to the solar wind flow, the craters develop into field-aligned structures in upstream and downstream. On the other hand, as a TD carrying IMF direction change interacts with the bow shock, a strong hot flow anomaly (HFA) can be generated by coherent, gyrating multiple beams of reflected ions that are accelerated toward the TD by motional electric field. In the center of the HFA, a low plasma density and a low magnetic field strength are present. The plasma is heated to a nearly isotropic temperature, different from that in the foreshock cavities generated by process (1). The hot HFA cavity and the magnetosheath behind it may bulge into the solar wind by several R E . These transient cavities generated by the bow shock itself and a simple variation in the IMF direction can produce pressure pulses on the magnetopause.
Direct Democracy and Minority Rights: A Critical Assessment of the Tyranny of the Majority in the American States

This book conclusively demonstrates that direct democracy—institutions like the ballot initiative and the referendum—endangers the rights of minorities and perpetuates a tyranny of the majority. While advocates of direct democracy advocate that these institutions protect citizens from corrupt lawmakers beholden to special interests, Daniel Lewis’s thorough investigation shows how such mass participation exposes minority groups to negative policy outcomes favored by only a slim majority of voters. Some would argue that greater democratic responsiveness is a positive outcome, but without the checks and balances of a representative, separated powers system that encourages deliberation and minority representation, minority rights are at increased risk under direct democracy institutions. While research has been presented that supports both sides of the debate, the existing literature has yet to produce consistent and compelling evidence in favor of one side or the other. This book undertakes a comprehensive examination of the "tyranny of the majority" critique of direct democracy by examining a host of contemporary American state policies that affect the rights of a variety of minority groups. By assessing the impact of direct democracy on both ballot measures and traditional legislation, the book provides a more complete picture of how citizen legislative institutions can affect minority rights, covering a myriad of contemporary (and sometimes controversial) minority rights issues, including same-sex marriage, affirmative action, official English, hate crimes laws, racial profiling, and anti-discrimination laws. The book is unique in its approach and scope, making it compelling for scholars interested in direct democracy, state politics, minority politics and electoral institutions, as well as American politics generally.
Prolonged oral etoposide as second-line therapy for platinum-resistant and platinum-sensitive ovarian carcinoma: a Gynecologic Oncology Group study.

PURPOSEA phase II trial was conducted to determine the activity of prolonged oral etoposide in platinum-resistant and platinum-sensitive ovarian carcinoma.PATIENTS AND METHODSPlatinum-resistant disease was defined as progression on platinum-based chemotherapy or recurrence within 6 months of completing therapy. The starting dose was 50 mg/m2/d (30 mg/m2/d for prior radiotherapy) for 21 days, every 28 days. A dose escalation to a maximum dose of 60 mg/m2/d was prescribed.RESULTSOf 99 patients entered, 97 were assessable for toxicity and 82 were assessable for response. Among 41 platinum-resistant patients a 26.8% response rate (7.3% complete response [CR] and 19.5% partial response [PR] rate) occurred. The median response duration was 4.3 months (range, 1.3 to 8.7), median progression-free interval (PFI) was 5.7 months (range, 0.8 to 30.8+), and median survival time was 10.8 months (range, 1.9 to 45.8). Twenty-five of 41 platinum-resistant patients had also previously received paclitaxel; of which eight (3...
Mahdis and Millenarians: Shiite Extremists in Early Muslim Iraq

1. Earlier movements. 'Abd Allah ibn Saba' and his followers. Al-Mukhtar and the Kaisaniyya 2. Bayan ibn Sam'an and the Bayaniyya 3. Al-Mughira ibn Sa'id and the Mughiriyya 4. Abu Mansur Al-'ijli and the Mansuriyya 5. 'Abd Allah ibn Mu'Awiya and the Janahiyya 6. Influence and significance of the four sects Conclusion.
Analyzing terrorist networks: a case study of the global salafi jihad network

It is very important for us to understand the functions and structures of terrorist networks to win the battle against terror. However, previous studies of terrorist network structure have generated little actionable results. This is mainly due to the difficulty in collecting and accessing reliable data and the lack of advanced network analysis methodologies in the field. To address these problems, we employed several advance network analysis techniques ranging from social network analysis to Web structural mining on a Global Salafi Jihad network dataset collected through a large scale empirical study. Our study demonstrated the effectiveness and usefulness of advanced network techniques in terrorist network analysis domain. We also introduced the Web structural mining technique into the terrorist network analysis field which, to the best our knowledge, has never been used in this domain. More importantly, the results from our analysis provide not only insights for terrorism research community but also empirical implications that may help law-reinforcement, intelligence, and security communities to make our nation safer.
The International Military Intervention Dataset: An Updated Resource for Conflict Scholars:

As major wars have become uncommon over recent decades and the efficacy of economic sanctions is questioned, foreign military intervention seems to have become increasingly prevalent on the international scene. Military intervention has also gained a degree of moral legitimacy, as it is now often launched for humanitarian ends rather than simply to further the intervener's strategic or material interests. Despite the apparent increase in the use of foreign military intervention as a policy tool in recent years, the quantitative international conflict literature continues to operate without either a comprehensive or a current inventory of foreign military interventions. The authors attempt to fill this gap by updating Pearson & Baumann's International Military Intervention (IMI) dataset from 1989 to 2005. IMI has a number of attributes that should make it attractive to quantitative international conflict scholars. One is that it is one of a small handful of interstate conflict datasets that attempts to discern the motives behind state uses of force. Also, its substantive coverage is broad, allowing researchers to separate out and focus on the forms of intervention (supportive, hostile, humanitarian, territorial, etc.) that are relevant to their research. As a preliminary validity test of the updated data, the authors analyze patterns of Cold War and post-Cold War military intervention in the IMI collection to see if they correspond with conventional wisdom on real world events.
Monotherapy treatment of bipolar disorder with levetiracetam

Bipolar patients with early-onset, comorbid substance abuse, rapid cycling, and mixed episodes are difficult to treat and frequently require rational polypharmacy. When polypharmacy is unsuccessful, the clinician must consider the off-label use of newer psychotropics. Levetiracetam is a novel anticonvulsant with antikindling, inhibitory, and neuroprotective properties that is effective in an animal model of mania. This case report describes a patient with treatment-resistant rapid cycling bipolar disorder who failed 15 psychotropics, individually or in various combinations (maximum of 6), but ultimately responded to levetiracetam monotherapy and remained without bipolar features during 1 year of maintenance treatment, excluding 1 week during which the patient was medicine noncompliant. Further, methylphenidate used to treat comorbid attention deficit disorder did not precipitate manic features. Levetiracetam should be further studied for its potential use in the treatment of bipolar disorders.
Organic materials for blue emission OLEDs

In past couple of decades, organic EL materials with excellent characteristics have been searched and devices operational stability and efficiency has been significantly improved. However, as an emerging technology for the multibillion-dollar flat-panel-display industry, more typically with continue improvement of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) display technology face many challenges. In particular, organic materials for stable and efficient blue EL emission are one of an important subject of these challenges. In this paper, we will review our efforts in developing the organic materials for blue emission of organic electroluminescent devices after reviewing the history of blue EL materials development in past couple decades. Our efforts in developing the organic materials for blue emission of organic electroluminescent devices will include the following: 1. Fused aromatics fluorescent blue EL materials 2. Mixed cyano-isocyanide cyclometalated iridium complex phosphorescent blue EL materials 3. Exploration of the effects of blue emission stability and efficiency.
Secretion and export of IGF-1 in Escherichia coli strain JM101.

The processing of LamB-IGF-1 fusion protein and the export of processed IGF-1 (insulin-like growth-factor-1) into the growth medium was examined in the Escherichia coli host strain, JM101. Several strain or plasmid modifications were tried to increase export of periplasmic (Processed) IGF-1 into the growth medium of JM101. These included: (1) use of a lon null mutant strain to increase accumulation levels of unprocessed LamB-IGF-1 fusion protein; (2) use of an alternative drug resistance marker on the expression plasmid rather than beta-lactamase, thereby reducing any competition for processing of LamB-IGF-1 by signal peptidase; (3) examination of whether phage M13 gene III protein expression caused more periplasmic IGF-1 to be exported into the growth medium due to increased outer membrane permeability; and (4) examination of the effect of E. coli or yeast optimized IGF-1 codons. None of these strain or plasmid modifications caused any significant increase in export of IGF-1 into the growth medium of JM101. Solubility studies of LamB-IGF-1 and processed IGF-1 showed that virtually all of the LamB-IGF-1 and IGF-1 remaining within the cell after a 2 h induction period was insoluble. This implied that only soluble LamB-IGF-1 was processed to IGF-1 and that only soluble IGF-1 was exported into the growth medium. Taken together, the results indicated that LamB-IGF-1 and IGF-1 solubility were the limiting factors in secretion of IGF-1 into the periplasm and export of IGF-1 into the growth medium.
Climate Variability in West Antarctica Derived from Annual Accumulation-Rate Records from ITASE Firn/Ice Cores

Thirteen annually resolved accumulation-rate records covering the last ~200 years from the Pine Island–Thwaites and Ross drainage systems and the South Pole are used to examine climate variability over West Antarctica. Accumulation is controlled spatially by the topography of the ice sheet, and temporally by changes in moisture transport and cyclonic activity. A comparison of mean accumulation since 1970 at each site to the long-term mean indicates an increase in accumulation for sites located in the western sector of the Pine Island–Thwaites drainage system. Accumulation is negatively associated with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) for sites near the ice divide, and periods of sustained negative SOI (1940–42, 1991–95) correspond to above-mean accumulation at most sites. Correlations of the accumulation-rate records with sea-level pressure (SLP) and the SOI suggest that accumulation near the ice divide and in the Ross drainage system may be associated with the mid-latitudes. The post-1970 increase in accumulation coupled with strong SLP–accumulation-rate correlations near the coast suggests recent intensification of cyclonic activity in the Pine Island– Thwaites drainage system.
Individualism revisited: Moral worldviews and civic engagement

Abstract This paper investigates whether substantively distinct moral worldviews can help explain why certain people engage in different types of civic actions. Based on an analysis of survey data from a nationally representative sample of American adults, we find that, controlling for other important factors, a moral worldview emphasizing civic responsibility is more likely to encourage volunteer efforts that benefit the larger community than is one emphasizing personal fulfillment. Furthermore, we also find that a worldview emphasizing religious duty is less likely to promote involvement in civic activity that helps those in the larger community relative to a worldview emphasizing civic responsibility. But a religious worldview increases the probability of in-group volunteering relative to an individualist worldview. The implications of these findings for the broader scholarship on civic engagement and social capital and the role of culture in action are discussed.
Stability and reconstruction for an inverse problem for the heat equation

We examine the inverse problem of determining the shape of some unknown portion of the boundary of a region from measurements of the Cauchy data for solutions to the heat equation on . By suitably linearizing the inverse problem we obtain uniqueness and continuous dependence results. We propose an algorithm for recovering estimates of the unknown portion of the surface and use the insight gained from a detailed analysis of the inverse problem to regularize the inversion. Several computational examples are presented.
A four-antenna receiver in 90-nm CMOS for beamforming and spatial diversity

A fully integrated four-channel multi-antenna receiver intended for beamforming and spatial diversity applications is presented. It can also be used as a low-power area-efficient range extender for spatially multiplexed multi-antenna systems that are poised to become mainstream in the near future. Implemented in a 90-nm CMOS technology, each channel weights its input signal by a complex weight with full 360/spl deg/ phase shift programmability using vector combinations of variable-gain amplifiers, thus obviating the need for expensive phase shifters. The chip consumes 140 mW from a single 1.4-V supply and achieves 12 dB of array gain with all four channels activated and >20 dB direction-of-arrival-dependent interference rejection.
Effects of acute and sub-chronic nicotine on impulsive choice in rats in a probabilistic delay-discounting task

Rationale Cigarette smokers typically display impulsivity by preferring immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards at shorter delays than do non-smokers. Suggesting causality, nicotine injections in rats increase the choice for an immediate reward over a larger, delayed reward.
Cluster structure and hydrogen in Ti-Zr-Ni quasicrystals and approximants

Abstract Elastic neutron diffraction data from icosahedral Ti 45 Zr 38 Ni 17 are presented and analyzed using information from the 1/1 approximant Ti 50 Zr 35 Ni 15 . These data indicate that similar clusters exist in the approximant and the i-phase. This is shown to be consistent with simulated diffraction from an icosahedral glass model of the quasicrystal, placing a Bergman cluster on the glass sites. An electrochemical method was used to hydrogenate Ti-based quasicrystals and their crystal approximants. This technique gives a consistently high hydrogen to metal atom ratio of 1.9, without crystal hydride formation in the quasicrystal.
Cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in dialysis patients.

Dialysis patients constitute a high-risk group for cardiovascular disease, which accounts for 40% of deaths in these patients. After stratification for age, race and gender, cardiovascular mortality i
Pyrophosphate Stimulates Wild-type and Mutant Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Cl Channels

A unique feature of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl− channel is regulation by ATP through the two cytoplasmic nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs). To better understand this process, we asked how channel activity is affected by inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), a compound that binds to NBDs in other proteins. PPi and three nonhydrolyzable PPi analogs reversibly stimulated the activity of phosphorylated channels. Kinetic modeling of single channel data demonstrated that PPi affected two distinct steps in channel regulation. First, PPi increased the rate at which channels opened. Second, once channels were open, PPi delayed their closure. PPi could only stimulate channels when it was applied in the presence of ATP. PPi also increased the photolabeling of CFTR by an ATP analog. These two findings suggest that PPi modifies the activity of ATP-dependent CFTR channel gating. Based on these and previous data, we speculate that the effects of PPi are mediated by binding of PPi to NBD2 where it regulates channel opening by NBD1, and then, because it is not hydrolyzed, it slows the rate of NBD2-mediated channel closing. Because PPi stimulated wild-type channels, we tested its effect on CFTR containing the cystic fibrosis mutations: ΔF508, R117H, and G551S. PPi stimulated all three. PPi also stimulated endogenous CFTR in the apical membrane of permeabilized T-84 epithelia. These results suggest that PPi or an analog might be of value in the development of new approaches to the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
Expectations of adult wages and teenage childbearing

The adult earnings of women and the age at which they initiated childbearing are well known to be positively correlated. Most previous research on teenage mothers has emphasized that early births reduce later earnings. This article explores whether the causality might run in the opposite direction: whether the expectation of low adult wages might increase the probability of teenage childbearing. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, and treating teenage motherhood, wages and education as jointly determined, this investigation gives strong support to the idea that low wages contribute to teenage childbearing. I also explore two popular policy proposals for reducing the incidence of teenage childbearing: reducing transfer income and providing sex education courses. The former has only a very small effect on teenage childbearing; the latter is significant only for black adolescents.
Tracing post-limit-point paths with reduced basis technique

Abstract A reduced basis technique and a problem-adaptive computational algorithm are presented for predicting the post-limit-point paths of structures. In the proposed approach the structure is discretized by using displacement finite element models. The nodal displacement vector is expressed as a linear combination of a small number of vectors and a Rayleigh-Ritz technique is used to approximate the finite element equations by a small system of nonlinear algebraic equations. To circumvent the difficulties associated with the singularity of the stiffness matrix at limit points, a constraint equation, defining a generalized arc-length in the solution space, is added to the system of nonlinear algebraic equations and the Rayleigh-Ritz approximation functions (or basis vectors) are chosen to consist of a nonlinear solution of the discretized structure and its various order derivatives with respect to the generalized arc-length. The potential of the proposed approach and its advantages over the reduced basis-load control technique are outlined. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by means of numerical examples of structural problems with snap-through and snap-back phenomena.