cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGCOMM workshop on Economics of peer-to-peer systems

Welcome to the ACM SIGCOMM 2005 Workshops!.This year we are pleased to present a program of four excellent workshops: (1) Workshop on experimental approaches to wireless network design and analysis (E-WIND), (2) Workshops on economics of peer-to-peer systems (P2PECON), (3) Workshop on mining data networks (MineNet), and (4) Workshop on delay tolerant networking and related networks (WDTN).Workshops are becoming an integral part of the ACM SIGCOMM week-long Data Communications Festival and their goal is to enhance the ACM SIGCOMM conference technical program and promote cross-disciplinary interactions. In response to the call for proposals, we received a record of 12 workshop proposals, 4 of which were accepted after a review by the SIGCOMM 2005 organizing committee. Reaching out to other communities was probably one of the key factors in our selection process. E-WIND brings together the wireless and data networking communities; P2PECON has been successfully organized in the past two years as an independent workshop and brings together researchers from economics, distributed systems, and data networking; MineNet focuses on the analysis of the vast amount of data that can be extracted from the network and crosses the boundaries of networking, data mining, statistics, and machine learning. WDTN was selected as an emerging topic in data networking that could benefit from a focused workshop that will update researchers on the latest results in the area.There is a significant amount of logistics and co-ordination required between the four workshops and the ACM SIGCOMM 2005 conference and I would like to thank all the members of the SIGCOMM 2005 organizing committee and several volunteers who made it possible. First, I would like to thank Roch Guerin, Joe Touch, and Jennifer Rexford, for all their guidance during the workshop organization process and for being ready to assist at any time. Jaudelice C. de Oliveira and Honghui Lu managed the local arrangements. Steve Weber was always available to update the web-site with the workshop information, and Andreas Terzis and Christos Papadopoulos handled the registration and financial issues. Saswati Sarkar, and Lisa Tolles at Sheridan Printing led the difficult task of producing the combined proceedings.Last but not least, I would like to thank the organizers of the four workshops: Ed Knightly, Christophe Diot, Emin Gun Sirer, Eric Friedman, Shubhabrata Sen, Chuanyi Ji, Debanjan Saha, Joe McCloskey, S. Keshav, and Kevin Fall. Their hard work together with the excellent contributions of all authors were key in making these workshops successful.
The role of cyclooxygenase in Alzheimer’s disease neurodegeneration

In the past few years, many epidemiological studies have addressed directly the possible protective effect of anti-inflammatory drug use with regard to AD. As recently reviewed [1], the great majority of these studies suggest that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) do have a protective effect. Perhaps the most convincing of these clinical efforts is the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, which utilized data collected prospectively, thereby minimizing recall bias issues; again the results indicated a protective effect with NSAID use [2]. One small controlled trial of indomethacin, a potent NSAID, suggested that the drug slowed cognitive deterioration in AD [3].
Voter Initiatives and American Federalism: Putting Direct Democracy in its Place

The idea of direct democracy provokes sharply conflicting thoughts and feelings. There is the hopeful vision of direct democracy: free and equal citizens governing themselves, public decisions that are truly of, by, and for the people. But direct democracy, especially the voter initiative as practiced in California, conjures up negative, even lurid, images for many people - perhaps especially for academics. On the dystopian view, voter initiatives mean public decisions by vote of an often ill-informed public, polarized by "Yes-or-No" questions, manipulated by demagoguery and special interests; imperiling the rights and interests of minorities, and weakening representative and republican institutions. This article argues that federalism provides a proper - and properly tamed - place for direct democracy: that voter initiatives at the state but not the federal level are a good thing to have in the mix of American lawmaking. The argument is an application, in part, of the idea of value pluralism associated with the thought of Isaiah Berlin. Direct democracy is pluralist in at least three ways. (1) It is institutionally pluralist, an element of political life that does not exist at the federal level, or in many states. (2) It makes for pluralism of participants, opening a door to interests and groups outside the usual mainstream of representative politics. (3) It makes for pluralism of results, yielding political outcomes whose tendency differs, at least somewhat, from that of laws typically enacted by legislatures. The difference in tendency shouldn't be exaggerated, but voter initiatives on the whole do have a distinctive - and somewhat conservative and libertarian - tilt. Federalism minimizes some of the genuine drawbacks and dangers of direct democracy, which might otherwise do more to threaten pluralism than to advance it. There is no direct democracy at the federal level. There are no voter initiatives in more than half the states. Where there are initiatives, most of a state's laws continue to be made by the legislature. And initiatives are subject to judicial review and can be struck down for violating federal laws or the US Constitution. Federalism means that direct democracy can function as a political counterweight, but that representative democracy will not be overwhelmed by peasants with pitchforks.
Effects of added absorption on the vocal exertions of talkers in a reverberant room

Occupational speech users such as schoolteachers develop voice disorders at higher rates than the general population. Previous research has suggested that room acoustics may influence these trends. The research reported in this paper utilized varying acoustical conditions in a reverberant room to assess the effects on vocal parameters of healthy talkers. Thirty-two participants were recorded while completing a battery of speech tasks under eight room conditions. Vocal parameters were derived from the recordings and the statistically significant effects of room acoustics were verified using mixed-model analysis of variance tests. Changes in reverberation time (T20), early decay time (EDT), clarity index (C50), speech transmission index (STI), and room gain (GRG) all showed highly correlated effects on certain vocal parameters, including speaking level standard deviation, speaking rate, and the acoustic vocal quality index. As T20, EDT, and GRG increased, and as C50 and STI decreased, vocal parameters showed tendencies toward dysphonic phonation. Empirically derived equations are proposed that describe the relationships between select room-acoustic parameters and vocal parameters. This study provides an increased understanding of the impact of room acoustics on voice production, which could assist acousticians in improving room designs to help mitigate unhealthy vocal exertion and, by extension, voice problems.
Joint Positioning-Communications System Design: Leveraging Phase-Accurate Time-of-Flight Estimation and Distributed Coherence

Limited spectral access motivates technologies that adapt to diminishing resources and increasingly cluttered environments. We design and implement a joint positioning-communications system that enables simultaneous positioning of, and communications between, nodes in a distributed network of base-stations and unmanned aerial systems (UASs). This system design achieves high precision position estimates with fewer spectral resources than similar technologies, while simultaneously enabling orientation estimation and network communications. These capabilities are enabled by developing advanced time-of-arrival (ToA) estimators and a phase-accurate distributed coherence algorithm.
Cost-effectiveness of birth-dose hepatitis B vaccination among refugee populations in the African region: a series of case studies

Hepatitis B affects 257 million people worldwide. Mother-to-child hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission is a preventable cause of substantial morbidity and mortality and poses greatest risk for developing chronic HBV infection. The World Health Organization recommends that all countries institute universal hepatitis B birth dose (HepB BD) vaccination during the first 24 h of life, followed by timely completion of routine immunization. The objective of this analysis was to assess the cost-effectiveness of adding HepB BD vaccination among sub-Saharan African refugee populations where the host country’s national immunization policy includes HepB BD. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis of three hepatitis B vaccination strategy scenarios for camp-based refugee populations in the African Region (AFR): routine immunization (RI), RI plus universal HepB BD, and RI plus HepB BD only for newborns of hepatitis B surface antigen-positive mothers identified through rapid diagnostic testing (RDT). We focused analyses on refugee populations living in countries that include HepB BD in national immunization schedules: Djibouti, Algeria and Mauritania. We used a decision tree model to estimate costs of vaccination and testing, and costs of life-years lost due to complications of chronic hepatitis B. Compared with RI alone, addition of HepB BD among displaced Somali refugees in Djibouti camps would save 9807 life-years/year, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of 0.15 USD (US dollars) per life-year saved. The RI plus HepB BD strategy among Western Saharan refugees in Algerian camps and Malian refugees in Mauritania camps would save 27,108 life-years/year with an ICER of 0.11 USD and 18,417 life-years/year with an ICER of 0.16 USD, respectively. The RI plus RDT-directed HepB BD was less cost-effective than RI plus delivery of universal HepB BD vaccination or RI alone. Based on our model, addition of HepB BD vaccination is very cost-effective among three sub-Saharan refugee populations, using relative life-years saved. This analysis shows the potential benefit of implementing HepB BD vaccination among other camp-based refugee populations as more AFR countries introduce national HepB BD policies.
Sequential and one-pot post-polymerization modification reactions of thiolactone-containing polymer brushes.

Thiolactone chemistry has garnered significant attention as a powerful post-polymerization modification (PPM) route to mutlifunctional polymeric materials. Here, we apply this versatile chemistry to the fabrication of ultrathin, multifunctional polymer surfaces via aminolysis and thiol-mediated double modifications of thiolactone-containing polymer brushes. Polymer brush surfaces were synthesized via microwave-assisted surface-initiated polymerization of DL-homocysteine thiolactone acrylamide. Aminolysis and thiol-Michael double modifications of the thiolactone-functional brush were explored using both sequential and one-pot reactions with bromobenzyl amine and 1H,1H-perfluoro-N-decyl acrylate. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and argon gas cluster ion sputter depth profiling enabled quantitative comparison of the sequential and one-pot PPM routes with regard to conversion and spatial distribution of functional groups immobilized throughout thickness of the brush. While one-pot conditions proved to be more effective in immobilizing the amine and acrylate within the brush, the sequential reaction enabled the fabrication of multifunctional, micropatterned brush surfaces using reactive microcontact printing.
Pregnancy-associated breast cancer in a contemporary cohort of newly diagnosed women.

Pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC) refers to breast cancer (BC) diagnosed during pregnancy, lactation, or in the postpartum period. There is evidence that PABC is associated with a poorer prognosis, and that the development of the disease is influenced by the unique hormonal milieu of pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics associated with PABC in a contemporary cohort of women with newly diagnosed BC. Our institutional Breast Cancer Database was queried for women diagnosed with BC between 2009-2018 who had at least one full-term pregnancy (FTP). Variables of interest included patient demographics and clinical and tumor characteristics. PABC was defined as breast cancer diagnosed within 24 months of delivery. Statistical analyses included Pearson's chi-square and logistic regression. Out of a total of 2202 women, 46 (2.1%) had PABC. Median follow-up in the total cohort was 5.5 years. After adjusting for age at first FTP, PABC was associated with younger age at diagnosis, older age at first FTP, non-Caucasian race, BRCA positivity, presentation with a palpable mass, higher pathologic stage, higher histologic grade, and ER-negative and triple-negative receptor status. The association of PABC with non-Caucasian race may be reflected in the increased proportion of triple-negative breast cancers in the PABC group. PABC was also associated with older age at first FTP. As more women delay childbearing, risk for PABC may increase. Our findings suggest that women who become pregnant at older ages should be followed carefully during pregnancy and the postpartum period, especially if they are BRCA mutation carriers. The optimal approach for monitoring older women during pregnancy and the postpartum period is unclear.
Etiology and management of early pregnancy renal anhydramnios: Is there a place for serial amnioinfusions?

Early pregnancy renal anhydramios (EPRA) comprises congenital renal disease that results in fetal anhydramnios by 22 weeks of gestation. It occurs in over 1 in 2000 pregnancies and affects 1500 families in the US annually. EPRA was historically considered universally fatal due to associated pulmonary hypoplasia and neonatal respiratory failure. There are several etiologies of fetal renal failure that result in EPRA including bilateral renal agenesis, cystic kidney disease, and lower urinary tract obstruction. Appropriate sonographic evaluation is required to arrive at the appropriate urogenital diagnosis and to identify additional anomalies that allude to a specific genetic diagnosis. Genetic evaluation variably includes karyotype, microarray, targeted gene testing, panels, or whole exome sequencing depending on presentation. Patients receiving a fetal diagnosis of EPRA should be offered management options of pregnancy termination or perinatal palliative care, with the option of serial amnioinfusion therapy offered on a research basis. Preliminary data from case reports demonstrate an association between serial amnioinfusion therapy and short-term postnatal survival of EPRA, with excellent respiratory function in the neonatal period. A multicenter trial, the renal anhydramnios fetal therapy (RAFT) trial, is underway. We sought to review the initial diagnosis ultrasound findings, genetic etiologies, and current management options for EPRA.
Electronic influence of substitution on the pyridine ring within NNN pincer-type molecules.

Pincer molecules are of increasing interest due to the modular nature of modification and range of reactivity observed when coordinated to metal ions. A subset within the family of pincer molecules use a pyridine group to bridge the outer two arms as well as provide a N-donor atom for metal binding. While the arm appendages have been studied extensively, little research has been conducted on the electronic effects of the central, substituted pyridine systems. Therefore, a series of NNN pincer-type ligands with substitution on the 4-position of the pyridine ring with –OH, –OBn, –H, –Cl, and –NO2 functional groups were synthesized and characterized through NMR spectroscopy and ESI-HRMS. Each pincer was metalated with Cu(II) salts and evaluated through X-ray diffraction analysis, cyclic voltammetry, and density functional theory analysis. The results indicate that the relatively unstudied –OBn group demonstrates both electron-withdrawing (XRD bond lengths) and electron-donating (NMR spectroscopy) properties. The –NO2 pincer ligand shows a redox event within experimental windows evaluated, in contrast to the other congeners studied. In addition, electron-donating groups increase the electron density around the Cu(II) center based on DFT studies and cyclic voltammetry. These findings can be applied to other pyridine-based pincer systems when considering ligand design and warrants future characterization of 4-position substituted pyridines.
Changes in the diagnosis and treatment of achalasia.

Esophageal achalasia is a primary esophageal motility disorder of unknown origin characterized by the absence of esophageal peristalsis and failure of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) to relax appropriately in response to swallowing. These abnormalities lead to impaired emptying of food from the esophagus into the stomach with consequent food stasis. The last two decades have seen a significant change in the understanding of the clinical presentation of this disease, and in its diagnosis and treatment.
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Physical Function Before and After Total Knee Arthroplasty Among Women in the United States.

Importance Although racial/ethnic differences in functional outcomes after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) exist, whether such differences are associated with differences in presurgical physical function (PF) has not been thoroughly investigated. Objective To examine trajectories of PF by race/ethnicity before and after TKA among older women. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study was conducted among the prospective Women’s Health Initiative with linked Medicare claims data. A total of 10 325 community-dwelling women throughout the United States with Medicare fee-for-service underwent primary TKA between October 1, 1993, and December 31, 2014, and were followed up through March 31, 2017. Exposures Race/ethnicity comparisons between Hispanic or Latina women, non-Hispanic black or African American women, and non-Hispanic white women (hereafter referred to as Hispanic, black, and white women, respectively). Main Outcomes and Measures Physical functioning scale scores and self-reported activity limitations with walking 1 block, walking several blocks, and climbing 1 flight of stairs were measured by the RAND 36-Item Health Survey during the decade before and after TKA, with a median of 9 PF measurements collected per participant over time. Results In total, 9528 white women (mean [SD] age at surgery, 74.6 [5.5] years), 622 black women (mean [SD] age at surgery, 73.1 [5.3] years), and 175 Hispanic women (mean [SD] age at surgery, 73.1 [5.2] years) underwent TKA. During the decade prior to TKA, black women had lower PF scores than white women (mean difference, −5.8 [95% CI, −8.0 to −3.6]) and higher odds of experiencing difficulty walking a single block (5 years before TKA: odds ratio, 1.86 [95% CI, 1.57-2.21]), walking multiple blocks (odds ratio, 2.14 [95% CI, 1.83-2.50]), and climbing 1 flight of stairs (odds ratio, 1.81 [95% CI, 1.55-2.12]). After TKA, black women continued to have lower PF scores throughout the decade (mean difference 1 year after TKA, −7.8 [95% CI, −10.8 to −4.9]). After adjusting for preoperative PF scores, PF scores after TKA were attenuated (mean difference 1 year after TKA, −3.0 [95% CI, −5.3 to −0.7]), with no statistically significant differences in long-term follow-up. Hispanic women had similar PF scores to white women during the pre-TKA and post-TKA periods. Conclusions and Relevance This study suggests that black women had significantly poorer PF than white women during the decades before and after TKA. Poorer PF after surgery was associated with poorer preoperative PF. Reducing disparities in post-TKA functional outcomes should target maintenance of function preoperatively in the early stages of arthritic disease and/or reduction of delays to receiving TKA once need arises.
Human activity recognition in smart environments employing margin setting algorithm

Human activity recognition is gaining promising attention in the research community with the recent revolution in artificial intelligence and machine learning to infer activities from the time-series sensor data. Significant progress has been made in the application of effective machine learning algorithms for pattern recognition and prediction of human activities in smart environments, such as ambient assisted living, healthcare monitoring, surveillance-based security and fitness tracking. In this paper, we propose to apply a supervised learning algorithm called margin setting algorithm (MSA) to predict the human activities. To validate the performance of MSA, we compare it with the support vector machine (SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN) and understand the activities of daily living of two residents in a smart home. The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm outperforms other state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms.
An examination of ethical attitudes towards wild pig (Sus scrofa) toxicants in the United States

This research aims to understand ethical attitudes of the U.S. public towards the use of a toxicant to control wild pigs (Sus scrofa), a destructive invasive species whose population growth is prov...
Interfacial water shuffling the intermediates of hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions in aqueous media

The kinetics of the hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions (HOR/HER) of platinum in aqueous solutions remains elusive, partly because of the lack of means to explore the surface–electrolyte interface. Herein, we probe this interface by utilizing surface transition metals (TMs), carbon monoxide, alkali metal cations (AM+), and heavy water in combination with in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy. It was found that the surface TMs in the metallic phase may boost the HOR kinetics of Pt in alkali by hosting the interfacial water with the oxygen-down orientation that removes the adsorbed hydrogen on Pt neighbors. Furthermore, surface TMs in either metallic or hydroxide phases improve the HER kinetics of Pt by hosting the hydroxyl generated from water dissociation so it can be desorbed by the interfacial water coordinated to AM+. The roles of interfacial water in shuffling the HOR/HER intermediates throughout the interface are supported by kinetic isotope effects.
Abstract PO014: Clinicopathologic evaluation of CTNNB1 gene mutations in high-intermediate risk endometrial cancer

Background:CTNNB1 mutations convey increased risk of recurrence in low risk endometrioid endometrial cancers. However, sub-analyses of high-intermediate risk (HIR) endometrioid endometrial cancers in other cohorts have not demonstrated a clearly increased recurrence risk and have often been equivocal. The objective of this study is to perform a clinicopathologic evaluation of patients with HIR endometrioid endometrial cancer in relation to CTNNB1 mutational status. Methods: A single-institution chart review of patients diagnosed with endometrioid endometrial cancer between 2006 and 2018 was undertaken. Patients were classified as HIR according to GOG249 criteria. Mutational status was determined by Sanger sequencing of exon 3 of the CTNNB1 gene in primary tumor specimens. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of B-catenin was performed to evaluate for the presence of nuclear staining. Factors associated with recurrence were assessed by logistic regression; recurrence-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results: 93 cases of HIR endometrioid endometrial cancer were identified, of which 23 (24.7%) were CTNNB1 mutant and 70 (75.3%) were wild type. Median follow-up was 54.7 months. Recurrence occurred in 14/93 (15.1%) patients. Recurrence rates were not significantly different between patients with CTNNB1 mutant and wild type tumors (13.0% vs. 15.9%, p=0.76). In both univariable and multivariable analyses, RFS and OS were not significantly different (RFS HR 0.88, p=0.85, 95% CI 0.24 – 3.17; OS HR 0.20, p=0.12, 95% CI 0.03 – 1.54). Predicted oncogenic mutations comprised 87% of all identified mutations and were present in 100% of recurrent tumors and 85% of non-recurrent tumors (p=0.47). Nuclear B-catenin expression by IHC demonstrated a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 83% for CTNNB1 mutations. Conclusions:CTNNB1 mutations have a prevalence of 25% in HIR endometrioid endometrial cancer. In this single institution retrospective study, there were no differences in RFS or OS in patients with CTNNB1 mutant compared to wild-type tumors. Citation Format: Jennifer G. Haag, Rebecca J. Wolsky, Marisa R. Moroney, Jamie Sheren, Jeanelle Sheeder, Benjamin G. Bitler, Bradley R. Corr. Clinicopathologic evaluation of CTNNB1 gene mutations in high-intermediate risk endometrial cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference: Endometrial Cancer: New Biology Driving Research and Treatment; 2020 Nov 9-10. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2021;27(3_Suppl):Abstract nr PO014.
Validating Modern NRG Oncology Pelvic Nodal and Groupe Francophone de Radiothérapie Urologique Prostate Bed Contouring Guidelines for Post-prostatectomy Salvage Radiation: A Secondary Analysis of the LOCATE Trial

Purpose We used the patterns of recurrence on 18F-fluciclovine positron emission tomography (PET)–computed tomography (CT) in patients enrolled in the LOCATE trial after prostatectomy to evaluate how well the most recent NRG Oncology and Groupe Francophone de Radiotherapie Urologique (GFRU) contouring recommendations encompassed all sites of recurrence in the prostate fossa and pelvic nodes in comparison to former Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) recommendations. Methods and Materials Patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy with a positive finding within the prostate fossa or pelvic nodes on 18F-fluciclovine PET/CTs were identified from the LOCATE patient population. Areas of gross disease were delineated. Prostate fossa contours were delineated using both the 2010 RTOG consensus guidelines and the recently published 2020 GFRU consensus guidelines. Pelvic nodes were contoured with both the 2009 RTOG consensus guidelines and the 2020 NRG consensus guidelines. The performance of the contouring guidelines was assessed by determining what proportion of gross recurrent lesions were encompassed completely or marginally. Results Of the 213 patients within the LOCATE trial, 45 patients were eligible for analysis with positive 18F-fluciclovine PET findings. Of the 30 total prostate fossa recurrences, the 2010 RTOG contour covered 20 (67%) and missed or marginally covered 10 (33%). The 2020 GFRU contour covered 27 recurrences (90%), and missed or marginally covered 3 (10%). Of the 43 total nodal recurrences, the 2009 RTOG pelvic nodal contour covered 29 nodes (67%), and missed or marginally covered 14 (32%). The 2020 NRG pelvic nodal contour covered 43 nodes (100%), with no misses or marginal coverage. Conclusions This secondary analysis of the LOCATE trial exemplifies the improved coverage of the latest prostate fossa contouring recommendations from the GFRU. Similarly, it also validates the updated 2020 NRG pelvic nodal contouring guidelines by demonstrating improved coverage of recurrent disease in this patient population.
Prior Investments in Human Capital Reduce Layoffs Associated with COVID-19 Financial Pressures

This study examines how a firm’s pre-pandemic investments in human capital and physical capital influence its likelihood of engaging in layoffs in response to financial pressures in the early perio...
Reconstruction with nonrigid alignment in tomography and 3D ptychography

As X-ray imaging is pushed further into the nanoscale, the sample deformations due to the increased radiation levels or mechanical instabilities of the microscopes become more apparent, leading to challenges in realizing high-resolution microscopy under these conditions. Here we propose a distributed optimization solver for imaging of samples at the nanoscale. Our approach solves the tomography and ptychography problems jointly with projection data alignment, nonrigid sample deformation correction, and regularization. Applicability of the method is demonstrated on experimental data sets from the Transmission X-ray Microscope, and the hard X-ray nanoprobe.
In Silico Electrophysiology of Inner-Ear Mechanotransduction Channel TMC1 Models

Inner-ear sensory hair cells convert mechanical stimuli from sound and head movements into electrical signals during mechanotransduction. Identification of all molecular components of the inner-ear mechanotransduction apparatus is ongoing; however, there is strong evidence that TMC1 and TMC2 are pore-forming subunits of the complex. We present molecular dynamics simulations that probe ion conduction of TMC1 models built based on two different structures of related TMEM16 proteins. Unlike most channels, the TMC1 models do not show a central pore. Instead, simulations of these models in a membrane environment at various voltages reveal a peripheral permeation pathway that is exposed to lipids and that shows cation permeation at rates comparable to those measured in hair cells. Furthermore, our analyses suggest that TMC1 gating mechanisms involve protein conformational changes and tension-induced lipid-mediated pore widening. These results provide insights into ion conduction and activation mechanisms of hair-cell mechanotransduction channels essential for hearing and balance.
Are Noradrenergic Transmission Reducing Drugs Antidepressants

Major depressive disorder (MDD) remains a significant public health problem worldwide, and revised treatment strategies are therefore urgently needed, including the creation of novel antidepressant compounds or using existing molecular entities in new ways. Etiologic theories of MDD from decades ago have suggested that synaptic deficiencies of monoaminergic neurotransmitters play a causative role in this neuropsychiatric disorder, and that boosting monoamines with drugs such as SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs, and MAOIs has antidepressant effects and in some individuals can even induce hypomania or mania. While other factors, such as various intracellular molecular pathways and hippocampal neurogenesis, undoubtedly also play a role in MDD, monoaminergic boosting drugs nonetheless have clearly demonstrated antidepressant properties. There is also, however, a body of studies in the preclinical literature suggesting that monoaminergic transmission reducing drugs, including noradrenergic ones, also have antidepressant-like behavioral properties in rodents. Given that there is increasing evidence that the monoamines have u-shaped or Janus-faced dose-response properties, in which a mid-range value is "optimal" in a variety of behavioral and physiological processes, it is plausible that either too much or too little synaptic norepinephrine in key circuits may exacerbate MDD in some individuals. Here we briefly review rodent depression-related behavioral data, focusing on the forced swim test, from three major classes of noradrenergic transmission reducing drugs (alpha2 agonists, beta blockers, alpha1 antagonists), and find much support for the hypothesis that they have antidepressant-like properties. Whether these drugs are antidepressants in human subjects remains to be determined.
An Investigation into the Bidirectional Relationship Between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Suicidal Ideation: A Nine Year Study

Abstract Suicide is the second leading cause of death in adolescents; a frequent precursor of suicide is suicidal ideation (SI). Literature indicates that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and SI are robust cross-sectional correlates of one another, with PTSD often being conceptualized as a risk factor (i.e., conferring risk) for SI. Indeed, PTSD is a well-established risk factor for SI; however, SI is an understudied risk factor for PTSD. It is possible that, yet unknown if, PTSD and SI promote each other over time in a bidirectional fashion. We investigated the bidirectional longitudinal associations between PTSD and SI in a large, diverse sample, who at baseline were adolescents. Participants were interviewed between 1995-1998 and again between 2004-2008. We hypothesized that PTSD and SI would be cross-sectionally, longitudinally, and bidirectionally related and that the number of traumas endorsed at baseline would be positively associated with PTSD and SI at baseline and follow-up. Indeed, PTSD and SI were cross-sectionally correlated at baseline, but not follow-up. PTSD predicted SI over nine years; however, SI during adolescence did not predict PTSD in adulthood. Finally, poly-trauma endorsed at baseline was associated with increased risk of SI, but not PTSD, over nine years.
Recommendation Systems in Requirements Discovery

Recommendation systems offer the opportunity for supporting and enhancing a wide variety of activities in requirements engineering. We discuss several potential uses. In particular we highlight the role of recommendation systems in online forums that are used for capturing and discussing feature requests. The recommendation system is used to mitigate problems introduced when face-to-face communication is replaced with potentially high-volume online discussions. In this context, recommendation systems can be used to suggest relevant topics to stakeholders and conversely to recommend expert stakeholders for each discussion topic. We also explore the use of recommendation systems in the domain analysis process, where they can be used to recommend sets of features to include in new products.
Knowledge and the child's developing theory of the world.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a history of research directed toward examining the developing ability of children to comprehend and produce metaphor that occurs with increasing age. It argues that the child's ability in this area does not rest upon developing an ability specific to metaphor, but, instead, metaphor comprehension and production, not unlike other forms of cognition, rests upon a developing theory of the world founded upon an expanding knowledge base. The discussion of knowledge drawn from philosophers who have attempted to propose theories of knowledge to awnser what is knowledge.” Traditional justificationalist theories of knowledge and subsequently developed non-justificationalist theories were considered. The chapter focuses upon a number of issues that have divided philosophers with respect to their treatment of knowledge in order to highlight the problematic nature of knowledge. Cognitive and developmental psychologists may consider some of these issues and the implications they hold for their theories, as they study knowledge and/or invoke knowledge as a part of their theory construction. Some of the implications of the issues are illustrated in a discussion of the relation of knowledge to the developing child's comprehension and production of metaphor.
About Time : Inventing the Fourth Dimension

Few intellectual problems are as intriguing or as difficult as understanding the nature of time. In "About Time," William Friedman provides a new integrated look at research on the psychological processes that underlie the human experience of time. He explains what psychologists have discovered about temporal perception and cognition since the publication of Paul Fraisse's "The Psychology of Time "in 1963 and offers fresh interpretations of their findings.In particular he shows that the experience of time depends on many different psychological processes and that it is essential to divide temporal experience into component categories in order to understand these processes.In chapters on perception and memory, Friedman discusses our impressions about the rate of time's passage and our ability to localize memories in time. He takes up representation and orientation, our ability to build mental representations of the time structures that surround us and to view these patterns from the unique perspective of the present moment. Moreover he shows that we can learn a great deal about the psychological basis of temporal experience by studying the development of this knowledge in children and the way in which views of time vary by culture, personality type, and kind of psychopathology.William J. Friedman is Associate Professor of Psychology at Oberlin College.
PURIFICATION OF THE SOLUBLE HEMOLYSINS OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES.

Jenkins, E. M. (Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala.), A. N. Njoku-Obi, and E. W. Adams. Purification of the soluble hemolysins of Listeria monocytogenes. J. Bacteriol. 88:418–424. 1964.—A method is described for obtaining relatively purified hemolysin preparations from both virulent and avirulent strains of Listeria monocytogenes. These hemolysins are protein in nature as shown by heat lability, nondialyzable properties, precipitation with trichloroacetic acid, and electrophoretic mobility. The hemolysins are antigenic in rabbits as shown by serum neutralization tests. The potency of the purified hemolysin was markedly increased by cysteine, sodium hydrosulfite, and a number of reducing agents. Many of the actions of the purified hemolysin seemed to parallel that of streptolysin O, and certain of these activities could be explained by the “thioldisulfide hypothesis.”
Teachable Moments: The Use of Child-Centered Arguments in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate

On Friday, October 10, 2008, a group of first-grade children from the Creative Arts Charter School in San Francisco took a field trip to City Hall.2 The children's first-grade teacher, a lesbian, was set to marry her longtime girlfriend that morning. The director of the charter school saw the wedding as a "teachable moment"?an opportunity for the children to witness firsthand the progression of civil rights in America.3 Many same-sex marriage advocates heralded the first graders' excursion as another step toward the full acceptance and integration of same-sex individuals in society.4 But other supporters worried that the field trip, while well intentioned, was ill timed and potentially damaging to the same-sex
Anxiety and Depression Association of America

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) web site is a comprehensive resource for individuals and their families and friends who suffer from anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, panic attacks, and related conditions. The web site provides detailed information on disorders in English and Spanish, including symptoms and treatment options, resources for finding help, information for managing the conditions, donation and organizational support, and a wide range of materials for health professionals.
Casetti on Film Theory

Francesco Casetti _Theories of Cinema: 1945-1995_ Translated by Francesca Chiostri and Elizabeth Gard Bartolini-Salimbeni, with Thomas Kelso Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999 ISBN 0-292-71207-3 368 pp.
Fitting the People They are Meant to Serve: Reasonable Persons in the American Legal System

What does the law demand when it requirescitizens to conform to standards ofreasonableness? I propose and defend theview that the law should demand thatcitizens conform their behavior to someactual conduct in society. I contrast thisidea against what might be called the``empty vessel'' view of reasonableness,where the standard is understood tofunction like an empty vessel in the law,allowing courts to use various norms andmoral judgments to determine what seemsreasonable in the circumstances. Theempty vessel account is the more commonapproach for understanding reasonableness,but it leaves obscure whether and howassessments about appropriate conductconnect with facts about citizens' actualconduct. I argue for a ``binocular'' viewthat focuses our attention on actualpractices and thereby establishes howthese standards provide a stable guide toconduct and support the rule of law.
Respiration in Blue-Green Algae

The low rate of endogenous respiration exhibited by the blue-green algae Anacystis nidulans and Phormidium luridum was not increased by the addition of respiratory substrates. However, endogenous respiration was inhibited by low concentrations of cyanide and by high carbon monoxide tensions. In addition, the uncouplers dinitrophenol and carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone both stimulated the respiratory rate. The transition of cells from the aerobic steady state to anaerobiosis was accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of cellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), whereas the concentration of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) was unchanged. Concomitant with the metabolite decreases were stoichiometric increases io reduced NADP+ (NADPH), adenosine diphosphate, and adenosine monophosphate. A decrease in ATP was also observed after the addition of uncouplers. These data are interpreted as evidence for the association of oxidative phosphorylation with the oxidation of NADP+-linked substrates in these algae. Membrane fragments isolated from the algal cells oxidized succinate, malate, ferrocytochrome c, ascorbate-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine, and reduced 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol but did not oxidize NADPH or reduced NAD+ in a cyanide-sensitive system. Oxidative phosphorylation has not yet been demonstrated in these fragments, but a dark ATP-Pi exchange, distinct from the lighttriggered exchange associated with photosynthesis, is readily observed. This exchange was inhibited by phloridzin, Atabrine, and uncouplers in concentrations which suggest that the mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation in blue-green algae is different from that found in other bacteria and in mitochondria. These results led to the conclusion that the biochemical basis for obligate autotrophy in these organisms does not lie in the metabolic events associated with terminal electron transport and energy conservation.
SyD: a middleware testbed for collaborative applications over small heterogeneous devices and data stores

Developing a collaborative application running on a collection of heterogeneous, possibly mobile, devices, each potentially hosting data stores, using existing middleware technologies such as JXTA, BREW, compact .NET and J2ME requires too many ad-hoc techniques as well as cumbersome and time-consuming programming. Our System on Mobile Devices (SyD) middleware, on the other hand, has a modular architecture that makes such application development very systematic and streamlined. The architecture supports transactions over mobile data stores, with a range of remote group invocation options and embedded interdependencies among such data store objects. The architecture further provides a persistent uniform object view, group transaction with Quality of Service (QoS) specifications, and XML vocabulary for inter-device communication. This paper presents the basic SyD concepts and introduces the architecture and the design of the SyD middleware and its components. We also provide guidelines for SyD application development and deployment process. We include the basic performance figures of SyD components and a few SyD applications on Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) platforms. We believe that SyD is the first comprehensive working prototype of its kind, with a small code footprint of 112 KB with 76 KB being device-resident, and has a good potential for incorporating many ideas for performance extensions, scalability, QoS, workflows and security.
Hyperaldosteronism, hyperplasia of the juxtaglomerular complex, normal blood pressure, and dwarfism: report of a case.

A patient with the syndrome of hyperaldosteronism, hyperplasia of the juxtaglomerular complex, dwarfism, and normal blood pressure is reported in detail. In this patient, the aldosterone secretion rate increased significantly and the serum potassium rose slightly with sodium deprivation. With a low-sodium diet urinary sodium fell to zero. Spironolactone with a low-sodium diet raised serum potassium to normal. Infusion of albumin, however, resulted in a rapid increase in serum potassium and a fall in aldosterone secretion rate. The unique features in this patient are the response to albumin and the lowering o urinary sodium to zero in response to a low-sodium intake. In all other essentials, the case resembles the two previously reported cases. Treatment by subtotal adrenalectomy was not curative.
Subjective and Physiological Effects of Intravenous Nicotine and Cocaine in Cigarette Smoking Cocaine Abusers

The subjective and physiological effects of intravenously administered cocaine and nicotine were compared in 10 cigarette-smoking cocaine abusers. Subjects abstained from smoking at least 8 h before each session. Under double blind conditions, subjects received placebo, cocaine (10, 20, and 40 mg/70 mg), or nicotine (0.75, 1.5, 3.0 mg/70 kg) in mixed order. Physiological and subjective data were collected before and repeatedly after each intravenous drug administration. Subjects also completed a drug versus money multiple-choice procedure in which they chose between that day's drug and 44 monetary values. Both drugs increased blood pressure and heart rate and decreased skin temperature. Nicotine showed a more rapid onset of subjective effects than cocaine. Overall, although both cocaine and nicotine increased subjective ratings of "drug effect", "rush", "good effects", "liking", "high", and "stimulated", only nicotine increased ratings of "bad effects" and "jittery". Although the highest nicotine dose produced greater effects than the highest cocaine dose on most subjective measures, the highest cocaine dose produced somewhat greater ratings of drug liking. At doses that produced comparable ratings of drug effect (40 mg/70 kg cocaine versus 1.5 mg/70 kg nicotine), cocaine produced significantly greater good effects, whereas nicotine produced greater bad effects. All three cocaine doses and the intermediate and high nicotine doses were frequently categorized as producing effects similar to those of cocaine or amphetamine. The drug versus money measure showed that the highest cocaine dose was worth twice as much as the highest nicotine dose. Thus, intravenous cocaine and nicotine can be differentiated by their subjective and reinforcing effects.
Physical properties of calcium aluminates from vibrational spectroscopy

Heat capacity (CV) and entropy (S) as a function of temperature were calculated for phases in the CaO-Al2O3 system from vibrational spectra using a quasi-harmonic model. Calculated values of CV at 298 K for the calcium aluminates may have uncertainties as small as ±1%, based on comparison with published calorimetric data for CaO, Al2O3, and CaAl2O4. For hibonite (CaAl12O19), we predict CP as 519.3 J/mol-K and S as 391.7 J/mol-K, at 298 K. For grossite (CaAl4O7), calculated values of CP as 195.9 J/mol-K and of S as 172.0 J/mol-K are slightly smaller than the available calorimetric data at 298 K, consistent with calorimetric data having been obtained from samples containing ∼10 wt% hibonite impurities. Thermal conductivity at 298 K (k0) is predicted from peak widths of the vibrational modes using the damped harmonic oscillator model of a phonon gas. Calculations of k0 for CaO and Al2O3 differ from the measurements by 17% and 5%, respectively. The discrepancy for lime is larger due to uncertainties in its peak widths. This comparison suggests that our results for the calcium aluminates should be more accurate than conventional measurements of k0 which are commonly uncertain by ∼25%.