cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Metastatic Pancreatic Insulinoma with Gallium DOTATATE

Ga-68 DOTATATE PET/MR imaging provides superior detection, localization, and characterization of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. It is excellent at detecting metastatic and recurrent disease and can detect therapy. Ga-68 DOTATATE has been shown to be superior to octreotide scintigraphy in the evaluation of these tumors.
Adipose stromal vascular fraction attenuates TH1 cell-mediated pathology in a model of multiple sclerosis.

The therapeutic efficacy of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) has been investigated for numerous clinical indications, including autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases. Less is known using the crude adipose product called stromal vascular fraction (SVF) as therapy, although our previous studies demonstrated greater efficacy at late-stage disease compared to ASCs in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse, a model of multiple sclerosis. In this study, SVF cells and ASCs were administered during the pathogenic progression, designated as early disease, to elucidate immunomodulatory mechanisms when high immune cell activities associated with autoimmune signaling occur. These implications are essential for clinical translation when considering timing of administration for cell therapies. We investigated the effects of SVF cells and ASCs by analyzing the spleens, peripheral blood, and central nervous system tissues throughout the course of EAE disease following administration of SVF cells, ASCs, or vehicle. In vitro, immunomodulatory potentials of SVF cells and ASCs were measured when exposed to EAE-derived splenocytes. Interestingly, treatment with SVF cells and ASCs transiently enhanced the severity of disease directly after administration, substantiating this critical immunomodulatory signaling. More importantly, it was only the EAE mice treated with SVF cells that were able to overcome the advancing pathogenesis and showed improvements by the end of the study. The frequency of lesions in spinal cords following SVF treatment correlated with diminished activities of the T helper type 1 cells, known effector cells of this disease. Co-cultures with splenocytes isolated from EAE mice revealed transcripts of interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor-β, known promoters of regulatory T cells, that were greatly expressed in SVF cells compared to ASCs, and expression levels of signaling mediators related to effector T cells were insignificant in both SVF cells and ASCs. This is the first evidence, to date, to elucidate a mechanism of action of SVF treatment in an inflammatory, autoimmune disease. Our data supports key immunomodulatory signaling between cell therapies and T cells in this T cell-mediated disease. Together, treatment with SVF mediated immunomodulatory effects that diminished effector cell activities, promoted regulatory T cells, and reduced neuroinflammation.
Effect of burning of tropical deciduous forest soil in Mexico on the microbial degradation of organic matter

Slash and burn conversion of tropical deciduous forest can result in significant disruption of soil nutrient cycling, particularly in terms of the dynamics of microbial populations. This study deals with the effect of fire and ash input on microbial respiration and on distribution of C within water-stable aggregate in soils during a long-term incubation experiment (164 days). In 0–2 cm samples, the forest soil with ash had the lowest total CO2-C evolved during incubation. In the top 2 cm soil burned samples, grass amendment did not increase respiration; it did increase respiration, however, in the undisturbed forest soil. Our results suggest that the fire affected microbial activity through both soil heating and chemical changes. As indicated by the results of the grass amendment to burned sample treatment the high temperature killed some soil microorganisms, mainly those associated with the use of newly added C. In addition, ash input appears to have constrained microbial activity through changes in soil chemistry.
Baker, Bus Driver, Babysitter, Candidate? Revealing the Gendered Development of Political Ambition Among Ordinary Americans

Americans without prestigious educational or professional backgrounds hold offices throughout the American government. Yet we know little about how these ordinary Americans developed political ambition or whether gender differences in ambition are present among this population. This paper uses a national sample of 1240 Americans to fill these gaps, identifying how political ambition develops differently for ordinary men and women, and drawing on this knowledge to help explain the surge in female candidates following the 2016 election. In contrast with elite samples, I show that the factors determining men’s political ambition are almost entirely distinct from those shaping women’s ambition among the mass public. I theorize that ordinary women’s ambition is particularly affected by the gendered expectations of those around them and the challenges they face balancing caregiving, work, and political engagement without the experience and resources possessed by elite women. I find support for this theory; ordinary women’s ambition is particularly dependent on the support of personal and political sources who can help them manage the demands of candidacy. In contrast, ordinary men’s ambition depends far less on encouragement from others, and instead increases with levels of education, political participation, and marriage. These results, and the distribution of the factors shaping ambition among Americans, help explain women’s low descriptive representation among American candidates and elected officials. They also provide a potential explanation for the unusual increase in women’s candidacies in 2017 and 2018.
Inventory of chytrid diversity in two temporary forest ponds using a multiphasic approach.

Food webs in temporary forest ponds are driven by decomposition of terrestrial inputs. Chytrid fungi are important components of the fungal community, degrading leaf litter in streams reliant on te...
Rapid, Affordable, and Scalable Genotyping for Germplasm Exploration in Maize

Over the last few decades, next-generation sequencing has revolutionized the way that genetic diversity is preserved, studied, and used. Maize, because it is one of the most important crops in the world, has been at the cutting edge in the application of these new technologies. Recently, several different platforms have been used to explore the diversity of the maize genome and its connection to observed phenotypes. This chapter presents a summary of the most successful platforms to date. As technology improves at a rapid rate, generating new and more complex data, researchers need new tools to optimize the use of resources to explore maize germplasm for genomics and breeding.
Influence of Store Managers’ Climate of Concern for Employees on FLE Commitment, Customer Word-of-Mouth, and Store Traffic Growth: An Abstract

Establishing a favorable employee work environment is a critical factor in improving customer and financial performance (Brown and Leigh 1996; Schneider et al. 2002). Although it is generally agreed that store managers play an important role in enacting retail workplace environments, there is little empirical work that has examined relationships between manager characteristics, employee attitudes and behaviors, and store performance. Thus, the manner by which store managers’ individualized interpretations of organizational strategies influence frontline employees’ organizational attitudes is unclear. Addressing this gap, we examine how store managers’ psychological climate of concern for employees impacts employee affective commitment, leading to higher store performance. Drawing from social exchange and agency theories, we offer support for a theorized model that was subsequently tested using survey data obtained from store managers, employees, and customers and supplemented by longitudinal store performance data. Study findings show store managers’ idiosyncratic interpretations of workplace climate are pertinent in shaping FLE commitment. In addition, we provide evidence suggesting the positive effects of FLE commitment upon improvements in store traffic may be nonlinear. The robustness of the study findings are bolstered through the use of multisourced data and multilevel SEM analysis that takes into account the hierarchical structure of the data.
Uncertainty Analysis of Ultra-Short- and Long- Baseline Localization Systems for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Oceanographic survey measurements conducted by autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) require accurate localization. Long-baseline (LBL) navigation systems can have a high degree of accuracy, but have a limited operating range and are not easily re-deployed and surveyed. As field testing operations at the University of Idaho continue to expand, we are currently investigating the feasibility of replacing LBL localization with an ultrashort-baseline (USBL) system for AUV tracking and navigation. In this paper, we present a series of Monte-Carlo simulations that were performed to compare the measurement uncertainty between conventional LBL and USBL systems. Results from simulations suggest that USBL localization uncertainty is comparable to that of LBL albeit for a smaller operating range.
REQUIREMENT FOR DIETARY myo -INOSITOL IN THE LACTATING RAT

SUMMARY: Effects of dietary myo-inositol deficiency were examined during prenatal and postnatal development and during lactation in the rat. The supplemented diet contained 0.5% (w/w) myo-inositol at the expense of sucrose. Both diets contained 25% casein, adequate amounts of all known vitamins, choline and essential fatty acids and 0.5% (w/w) phthalylsulfathiazole to depress myo-inositol contribution to the diet by microorganisms. During lactation, the myo-inositol-deprived dams developed severe fatty livers. After only 4 days of lactation, cholesterol esters and triglyceride levels were significantly elevated in the liver, whereas phospholipid levels were significantly depressed in the livers of myo-inositol-deficient dams compared with those fed myo-inositol-supplemented diets. By electron microscopy, numerous large intracellular lipid droplets were detected in the livers of dams deprived of myo-inositol after 14 days of lactation.
Applications of Microneurosurgery to the Repair of Trigeminal Nerve Injuries

SUMMARY Nerve injuries are a known and accepted risk of dental and surgical treatment in the oral and maxillofacial region. Advances in microsurgery developed in the past 30 years are applicable to the surgical treatment of peripheral trigeminal nerve injuries. Laboratory and clinical experience has established guidelines for the indications, timing, and surgical procedures for microneurosurgical operations.* Such operations are now considered part of the standard of care for the patient with a significant nerve injury.
The importance of the STOP- BANG questionnaire as a preoperative assessment tool for the elderly population

Abstract Undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may adversely impact surgical patients and can lead to increased morbidity and mortality during the perioperative period, especially among the geriatric patient population (Chung et al. 2008, 2012, 2014; McDonald et al., 2018; Zietlow et al., 2018; Singh et al., 2012). The setting of this quality improvement project was a preoperative anesthesia and geriatric evaluation clinic housed within a 957-bed tertiary academic affiliated hospital. The sample included 45 patients who met the criteria established for surgery and OSA screening preoperatively. Nine patients (20.0%) were assessed as low risk (Stop-bang [SB] score /= 3 indicative of high-risk for OSA. The retrospective utilization of a modified SB screening on charts that did not receive a clinical OSA evaluation (n = 52) detected 23 (44.2%) patients who were considered high-risk for OSA but were not identified prior to surgery. The SB questionnaire is underutilized, and patients’ OSA is often unidentified prior to surgery.
A multi-view model for relative and absolute microbial abundances

Abstract The absolute abundance of bacterial taxa in human host-associated environments play a critical role in reproductive and gastrointestinal health. However, obtaining the absolute abundance of many bacterial species is typically prohibitively expensive. In contrast, relative abundance data for many species is comparatively cheap and easy to collect (e.g., with universal primers for the 16S rRNA gene). In this paper, we propose a method to jointly model relative abundance data for many taxa and absolute abundance data for a subset of taxa. Our method provides point and interval estimates for the absolute abundance of all taxa. Crucially, our proposal accounts for differences in the efficiency of taxon detection in the relative and absolute abundance data. We show that modeling taxon-specific efficiencies substantially reduces the estimation error for absolute abundance, and controls the coverage of interval estimators. We demonstrate the performance of our proposed method via a simulation study, a sensitivity study where we jackknife the taxa with observed absolute abundances, and a study of women with bacterial vaginosis.
Learning-based computational MRI reconstruction without big data: from linear interpolation and structured low-rank matrices to recurrent neural networks

We present a brief overview of computational image reconstruction methods that assume that Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data possesses shift-invariant autoregressive characteristics, where the unique autoregressive structure of each dataset is learned from a small amount of scan-specific calibration data. Our discussion focuses particular attention on a method we recently introduced named LORAKI. LORAKI is a learning-based image reconstruction method that relies on scan-specific nonlinear autoregressive modeling using a recurrent convolutional neural network, and has demonstrated better performance than previous approaches. As a novel contribution, we also describe and evaluate an extension of LORAKI that makes simultaneous use of support, phase, parallel imaging, and sparsity constraints, where the balance between these different constraints is automatically determined through the training procedure. Results with real data demonstrate that this modification leads to further performance improvements.
Comparison of Questionnaire-Based and Performance-Based Screening Tools as Predictors of Auditory Processing Disorder

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare questionnaire-based and performance-based screening tools as predictors of an auditory processing disorder (APD) diagnosis. The questionnaire-based screening tools used were the Children's Auditory Performance Scale, Fisher's Auditory Problems Checklist, and Buffalo Model Questionnaire-Revised. The performance-based screening tools were from the SCAN-3 screening tests, that is, Auditory Figure Ground, Competing Words Free Recall (CW-FR), and Gap Detection Test. Predictability was ascertained by comparing the scores from screening tools with those from diagnostic APD tests and with the final diagnosis of APD. Research Design This study is a retrospective single-observation study. Method The screening and diagnostic test results were retrospectively analyzed from the medical records of 85 individuals (female = 39) aged 7-23 years who were seen for APD assessment at Bloomsburg University's Clinic for Hearing and Balance. Each participant was assessed with at least two questionnaire-based and at least two performance-based screening tools. Results Spearman correlation coefficient analysis showed a moderate relationship within questionnaire-based screening tools, whereas there was no relationship between questionnaire- and performance-based tools. Notably, the performance-based CW-FR screening tool showed a significant relationship with five diagnostic tests. The questionnaire-based screening tools did not predict APD diagnosis. The performance-based tool CW-FR (φ = 0.33) and the SCAN-3 screening battery (φ = 0.44) predicted the diagnosis of APD. Conclusion A performance-based screening tool or battery can be used to determine whether additional diagnostic APD evaluation is warranted. Referral for diagnostic assessment should not be based solely on questionnaire-based screening tools.
Abstract TP417: An Autoregulation-Derived Prediction Model for Midline Shift After Ischemic Stroke

Introduction: Identification of patients likely to develop midline shift (MLS) after large-vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke is essential for appropriate triage and patient disposition. Studies have id...
Achieving a better heat conductor.

Finding a competitor for diamond as a good heat conductor remains challenging. Measurements on crystals of cubic boron nitride demonstrate a thermal conductivity of 1,600 W m−1 K−1 at room temperature, rivalling diamond.
Diesel engines: environmental impact and control.

This article presents the discussion of the 2001 Critical Review about the environmental impact and control of diesel engines (LLoyd, A.C.; Cackette, T.A.; J. Air & Waste Manage. Assoc. 2001). The Review describes how diesel engines work and why they are used for certain application and not for others. It states and provides evidence about the effects of diesel emissions on occupational and public health, while recognizing diesel's lower emissions of ozone-forming hydrocarbon precursors and CO compared with gasoline engines. The Review discusses how diesel engine design, fuel production, and after-engine exhaust treatments can reduce pollutant emissions. Emerging technologies that might complement or replace diesel are described, but most of these are of limited applicability owing to costs, lack of a fuel distribution infrastructure, and other adverse effects on the environment. The Critical Review was presented on June 27, 2001, in a special session at the 94th Annual Conference of the Air & Waste Management Association in Orlando, Florida, followed by commentary from invited discussants and the audience. This discussion was compiled from written submissions and the recorded transcripts with revisions by the Critical Review Chair for conciseness and clarity.
Overcoming the Fundamental Limit of Two-Photon Microscopy With Non-Degenerate Excitation

We use non-degenerate two-photon excitation where the two excitation beams are displaced in space outside the focal volume to increase the signal-to-background ratio (SBR), overcoming the fundamental penetration depth limit of conventional two-photon microscopy.
Personal decision support for survivor engagement: formulation and feasibility evaluation of a conceptual framework for implementing online cancer survivorship care plans

Although cancer survivorship care plans have been in use for several years, they have been shown to not be effective in meeting the long-term needs of cancer survivors, in addition being generic and passive in nature. Interactive survivorship care plans in the form of a personal decision support aid could provide an opportunity to not only engage survivors in their health care, but also capture meaningful treatment-related outcomes to use as a rich data source as the basis for making informed decisions. The objective of this research is to formulate an evidence-based model framework for implementing breast cancer survivorship guidelines via an online breast cancer survivorship care plan (SCP). The study was completed in three steps. In the first step, or the requirements gathering phase, we conducted personal interviews of breast cancer survivors to determine their use of the survivorship care plan (SCP) and related needs to determine core SCP functions and formulate an implementation framework for an online SCP. In the second step, we used the framework as a guide to design and develop the online SCP tool. Finally, in the third step, we conducted preliminary testing to determine the feasibility of the developed tool among online users. Fifteen breast cancer survivors were consulted, who reported several issues from their use of the traditional paper-based SCP. Four themes were identified that represent the SCP’s core desired functions. Eight features were matched to implement these core functions. Using a personal decision approach, an online SCP tool called ACESO that incorporates these features and functions was developed. Preliminary feasibility testing yielded overall positive responses from breast cancer survivors (n = 51). Our study demonstrated that survivors face challenges from their use of a traditional paper-based SCP. The online SCP we developed is technically feasible and has the potential to effectively engage breast cancer survivors in self-management and shared decision-making with their clinicians and caregivers. Further testing is required to assess its usability and long-term impact.
Modified Ventricular Global Function Index Correlates With Exercise Capacity in Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot

Background Cardiac MRI (CMR) derived ventricular global function index (GFI), a ratio of stroke volume to the sum of mean ventricular cavity and myocardial volumes, has demonstrated improved predic...
Laser-based high bit-rate visible light communications and underwater optical wireless network

This talk presents an overview of the latest visible light communication (VLC) and underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) research and development from the device to the system level. The utilization of laser-based devices and systems for LiFi and underwater Internet of Things (IoT) has been discussed.
Breastfeeding – a human rights issue?

Canadian criminal law directly concerns itself with childhood in several ways. The child gains limited criminal capacity at age 12 and full capacity at age 18 (the regime governing adolescent delinquency is set out in The Young Offenders Act 1984). Access to the child's body is governed by sexual and physical assault laws. The use of corporal punishment to train and teach children has been viewed as both necessary and virtuous since Roman times. The defence of reasonable correction appears in both civil law, by more direct descent from Roman law, and the common law. The development of the common law was informed by Roman law through various processes of infusion. Lasting injury continues to emerge as the judicial standard for denying the defence of reasonable correction despite its clear rejection by the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in 1903. Keywords:Canadian criminal law; common law; lasting injury; physical assault laws; Roman law
McDonald v. City of Chicago: Brief of the United States Conference of Mayors as Amicus Curiae Supporting Respondents

In McDonald v. City of Chicago, presents the question whether the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is applicable to state and local governments by virtue of its incorporation within the Fourteenth Amendment. This brief of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or greater, argues against incorporation. Under the test for incorporation used by the Court to date, the brief argues that given the conditions in many urban areas, the eighteenth-century conception of the right to keep and bear arms codified in the Second Amendment will undermine rather than secure ordered liberty. The brief also argues that the historical evidence regarding the public's original understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment, on which petitioners and their amici heavily rely, is in deep conflict, and therefor provides no firm support for incorporation.
Long-term Follow-up and Correlative Analysis of Two Phase II Trials of Rituximab and Lenalidomide Followed by Continuous Lenalidomide in Untreated and Relapsed/Refractory Indolent Lymphoma.

Purpose: Rituximab and lenalidomide are effective for previously untreated and relapsed/refractory (R/R) indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL). However, long-term survival and predictive biomarkers are not well described. Patients and Methods: We conducted two phase II open-label trials involving 60 patients with previously untreated and R/R advanced-stage iNHL. Patients received lenalidomide and rituximab induction followed by continuous lenalidomide until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR). Correlative studies included plasma cytokine monitoring, flow cytometry of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC; days 0, 15, 30, and 60), and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of pretreatment tumor biopsies. Results: At a median follow-up of 63 months for previously untreated and 100 months for R/R, ORR was 82% for both. The 11 R/R patients who achieved complete remission remained in continuous remission for 16 to 141 months, thereafter. Median overall survival (OS) was not reached in the previously untreated and was 140 months (95% confidence interval, 53.4–140) in the R/R group. A mixed-effects linear regression model identified significant associations between Granzyme B+ (GranB+) CD8+ T cells and long-term complete response (LTCR; P = 5.3e-4). Furthermore, prior to start of therapy, treatment response could be predicted by B-cell and GranB+ CD8+ T-cell levels (% total lymphocytes). Conclusions: Rituximab plus lenalidomide followed by continuous lenalidomide is effective with manageable toxicity in patients with previously untreated and R/R iNHL. This regimen produces durable remissions, even in heavily pretreated patients, with some lasting greater than 10 years. GranB+ CD8+ T cells, B cells, and plasma IFNγ allowed prediction of LTCR but need validation in larger trials.
Multi-fidelity Monte Carlo for seismic risk assessment applications

Abstract Modern probabilistic seismic risk assessment practices frequently require a considerable number of nonlinear time-history analyses of the structural behavior for estimating risk. Use of high-fidelity finite element models (FEMs) in this setting has the potential to accurately capture all essential features of the inelastic/hysteretic structural behavior but introduces a large associated computational burden. This study examines a multi-fidelity Monte Carlo (MC) implementation to alleviate this burden. Approach leverages low computational cost, biased evaluations from a low-fidelity numerical model to accelerate the MC estimation process, and uses simulations of the computationally expensive, high-fidelity FEM, to establish an unbiased MC estimation. It specifically exploits the correlation between the two models following a control variate formulation. The number of simulations from each of the models is optimally selected to minimize the variability of the MC-based risk predictions for the given computational budget. Since seismic risk assessment requires simultaneous estimation of the risk for multiple quantities of interest, related to different engineering demand parameters or different thresholds describing performance, guidelines for achieving satisfactory computational savings across all of them are discussed. As low-fidelity model, the reduced order modeling framework recently proposed by the authors is adopted in this study, though implementation can support any other modeling approach. The computational savings and accuracy improvement established by using the multi-fidelity estimator, when compared against the use of only the high- or low-fidelity models, is examined within an illustrative implementation that considers two structures, corresponding to different heights and materials, with high-fidelity FEMs developed in OpenSees.
Optical Transitions and Magnetism in Mn-Implanted Gallium Nitride for Three-Level Magnetooptic Devices

A method of preparing passive materials suitable for magnetooptic interactions is shown using manganese implantation into gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial layers, which establishes both dilute ferromagnetism and a three-level optical system with persistence to over 300 K. A sweep of thermal anneal parameters for a high implant dose into Mg-doped p-type GaN films is presented, and the materials are tested for both their magnetization and photoluminescence (PL). The optimal anneal process at 825 °C for 5 min maintains ferromagnetism with $T_{C}$ > 305 K, confirming magnetic alignment at room temperature with a coercivity of ~100 Oe. PL and spectrophotometry of the optimally prepared materials show the effects of the mid-gap defect state on the material's optical characteristics. The anneal process returns the real part index to its baseline dispersion while retaining an onset of absorption starting at the defect level $E_{A}$ = 1.8 eV, signifying a stable mid-gap energy transition with a measured state lifetime of $τ _{PL}$ = 2.7 ns. The scalability of this process for producing three-level transition magnetic materials suggests passive optical or magnetooptic devices can be constructed that interconnect photonic and spintronic effects for emerging system designs and potential applications in quantum information.
New adventures in language and interaction

1. Table of contents 2. New adventures in language and interaction (by Streeck, Jurgen) 3. Interlocutory logic: A unified framework for studying conversational interaction (by Trognon, Alain) 4. Beyond symbols: Interaction and the enslavement principle (by Cowley, Stephen J.) 5. The case for an eclectic approach to discourse-in-interaction (by Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Catherine) 6. Grammar: A neglected resource in interaction analysis? (by Muntigl, Peter) 7. Researching intercultural communication: Discourse tactics in non-egalitarian contexts (by Lin, Angel) 8. Studying interaction in order to cultivate communicative practices: Action-implicative discourse analysis (by Tracy, Karen) 9. Healthcare interaction as an expert communicative system: An activity analysis perspective (by Sarangi, Srikant) 10. Interacting with difficulty: The case of aphasia (by Armstrong, Elizabeth) 11. Ecologies of gesture (by Streeck, Jurgen) 12. The neglected listener: Issues of theory and practice in transcription from video in interaction analysis (by Erickson, Frederick) 13. Dialogical dynamics: Inside the moment of speaking (by Shotter, John) 14. Author index 15. Subject index
The fun begins with retrieval: explanation and CBR

This paper discusses the importance of the post-retrieval steps of CBR, that is, the steps that occur after relevant cases have been retrieved. Explanations and arguments, for instance, require much to be done post-retrieval. I also discuss both the importance of explanation to CBR and the use of CBR to generate explanations.
An examination of the impact of voluntary disclosure on post -earnings announcement drift

This study investigates the impact of voluntary disclosure in the form of management earnings guidance on post-earnings announcement drift (PEAD). Prior research contends that investors' delayed response to the information contained in earnings contributes to PEAD. This delayed response occurs because either investors fail to understand the full implications of current earnings for future earnings or transactions costs prevent a complete and immediate response to earnings news. To the extent that management earnings guidance (MEG) overcomes these shortcomings, I examine three research questions. First, does MEG mitigate PEAD? Second, what is causal channel through which MEG mitigates PEAD? Third, is the impact of MEG on PEAD sensitive to the quality of MEG? Using management earnings guidance data from First Call for the period between 1996 and 2006, I show that MEG mitigates PEAD. I also find that MEG not only improves the extent to which investors incorporate prior earnings information into their earnings expectations but also provides information about future earnings which is uncorrelated with prior earnings information. Further, I find the mitigation effect of guidance on PEAD increases with guidance quality in terms of precision, accuracy, and usefulness. Overall, my study provides evidence on the effectiveness of voluntary disclosure and the channel through which it can alleviate the accounting anomaly of PEAD.
EFFECTS OF DYNAMIC AND STATIC LOADING ON EDDY CURRENT NDE OF FATIGUE CRACKS

This paper reports on a study of the effects of dynamic and static loading on eddy current (EC) crack signals in aerospace materials. In situ EC measurements were performed on a series of fatigue crack samples grown in Al 6061 bars under dynamic loading. The EC signals detected at a fixed location on the fatigue cracks were found to vary periodically with cyclic loading. Under dynamic tension, the amplitude of the vertical component of the crack signal, which is perpendicular to the lift off direction, increases with the load amplitude and the effect is stronger for longer cracks. Such changes in EC signals are attributable to crack morphology changes (i.e. crack opening) under tension. In contrast, the amplitude of crack signal remains relatively unchanged under compression, possibly due to the insulation effect of the oxidation layer on the crack face. The loading effects on crack signals in the Al samples were confirmed by obtaining c‐scan images of the fatigue cracks under static loads. C‐scans conducted on a series of Ti 64 fatigue crack samples under static loads revealed significantly stronger stress‐induced changes of crack signal for Ti 64 than for the Al samples. The results are interpreted in terms of load‐induced crack morphology changes, taking into account of likely differences between the Al and Ti alloy samples.
Neurotrophin receptors: mediators of life and death.

The mechanism of action of NGF has continued to provide a challenging and formidable problem in signal transduction. NGF can bind independently to two different receptors, the trkA tyrosine kinase receptor and the p75 neurotrophin receptor, which are involved in many different signaling events. In addition to promoting cell differentiation survival, NGF can paradoxically be an inducer of cell death. Several receptor mediated mechanisms are proposed to explain how NGF might act as a trophic factor and as a cell killer. The survival and cell death properties of the receptors are dependent upon the relative ratio of receptors and the persistent nature of the signaling events.
An Analytic Strategy To Assist Institutional Recruitment and Marketing Efforts.

This article demonstrates how to fit a statistical model to historical data, test whether the model can accurately predict enrollment out-of-sample, and use the results to segment admitted students into groups so that different recruitment and marketing interventions can be applied. Conceptual and practical issues are discussed, as well as policy considerations.
A search for amino acid substitutions that universally activate response regulators

Two-component regulatory systems, typically composed of a sensor kinase to detect a stimulus and a response regulator to execute a response, are widely used by microorganisms for signal transduction. Response regulators exhibit a high degree of structural similarity and undergo analogous activating conformational changes upon phosphorylation. The activity of particular response regulators can be increased by specific amino acid substitutions, which either prolong the lifetime or mimic key features of the phosphorylated state. We probed the universality of response regulator activation by amino acid substitution. Thirty-six mutations that activate 11 different response regulators were identified from the literature. To determine whether the activated phenotypes would be retained in the context of a different response regulator, we recreated 51 analogous amino acid substitutions at corresponding positions of CheY. About 55% of the tested substitutions completely or partially inactivated CheY, approximately 30% were phenotypically silent, and approximately 15% activated CheY. Three previously uncharacterized activated CheY mutants were found. The 94NS (and presumably 94NT) substitutions resulted in resistance to CheZ-mediated dephosphorylation. The 113AP substitution led to enhanced autophosphorylation and may increase the fraction of non-phosphorylated CheY molecules that populate the activated conformation. The locations of activating substitutions on the response regulator three-dimensional structure are generally consistent with current understanding of the activation mechanism. The best candidates for potentially universal activating substitutions of response regulators identified in this study were 13DK and 113AP.
Effect of cultural conditions on the fatty acid composition of Thiobacillus novellus.

The fatty acid content of Thiobacillus novellus was determined under various cultural conditions. Four fatty acids, C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, and a C19 cyclopropane acid (C19:cyc), generally accounted for 90 to 99% of the total acids. Phosphate concentration, temperature, culture agitation, and the presence of branch-chain precursors had no significant effect on cellular fatty acids. Autotrophically grown cells contained more saturated C16 and C18 acids than did heterotrophic ones, and the sum of the percentages of the C18:1 and the C19:cyc acids was consistently higher in the heterotrophs. When the inorganic medium was supplemented with biotin, autotrophic cells produced more C19:cyc and much less C18:1 than did autotrophs in unsupplemented medium. Heterotrophic cells grown with biotin also showed a marked reduction of the unsaturated acid and an increase in the cyclopropane acid, except when glutamatecitrate medium was employed, in which case the opposite effect was noted. Two different biotin-supplemented media yielded cells with 75 to 77% of the total fatty acids being the C19 cyclopropane acid, one of the highest reported values for this class of acid.
Segmental lumbar mobility in individuals with low back pain: in vivo assessment during manual and self-imposed motion using dynamic MRI

Altered spinal mobility is thought to be related to current or past episodes of low back pain; however evidence of that relationship in younger subjects has not been established. The purpose of this study was to compare lumbar segmental mobility in asymptomatic and symptomatic subjects during posterior to anterior (PA) manual spinal mobilization and a self-initiated prone press-up (PU) maneuver. We hypothesized that persons with central low back pain would have an altered lumbar segmental mobility pattern compared to those without pain. Forty-five individuals (age 32.1 ± 8.5) with non-specific low back pain and 20 persons (age 31.1 ± 7.0) without low back pain participated. Each subject underwent dynamic imaging of the lumbar spine during a PA mobilization procedure and while performing a PU. Segmental motion was quantified as the change in the intervertebral angle between the resting and end-range vertebral positions. The symptomatic group had a larger percentage of subjects with evidence of single level segmental hypermobility than the asymptomatic group during the PA (40.0% vs. 5%) and PU (26.7% vs. 15%) procedures. Single lumbar motion-segment analysis revealed hyper-mobility in symptomatic subjects at L5 – S1 (Chi-square = 10.0, p ≤ 0.01) and L4 – L5 (Chi-square = 4.18, p ≤ 0.05) during the PA test. Persons with non-specific low back pain have a tendency to demonstrate single level lumbar segmental hypermobility when compared to age specific asymptomatic subjects.
The MSA and the McCain Tobacco Bill: Smoke without a Fire?:

This article critically examines the mandates of the McCain Tobacco Bill and the Master Settlement Agreement toward addressing the youth smoking crisis in the United States. An overview of teenage smoking trends is presented, followed by the legislative history of the McCain Tobacco Bill and the Master Settlement Agreement. Reactions to this legislation are discussed, as well as predicted consequences. A review of the literature on youth smoking prevention, rooted in risk taking and social control theory, is presented. Empirical and theoretical support is provided for suggesting alternative solutions. The need for a comprehensive, coordinated approach involving law enforcement, the media, the family, and the educational system is described.
Object Localization by Propagating Connectivity via Superfeatures

In this paper, we propose a part-based approach to localize objects in cluttered images. We represent object parts as boundary segments and image patches. A semi-local grouping of parts named superfeatures encodes appearance and connectivity within a neighborhood. To match parts, we integrate inter-feature similarities and intra-feature connectivity via a relaxation labeling framework. Additionally, we use a global elliptical shape prior to match the shape of the solution space to that of the object. To this end, we demonstrate the efficacy of the method for detecting various objects in cluttered images by comparing them to simple object models.
Optimal design of structured nanospheres for ultrasharp light-scattering resonances as molecular imaging multilabels.

Optical molecular imaging could potentially enable noninvasive high-resolution characterization and diagnosis of living tissue. The capability to image multiple molecular targets simultaneously is particularly important. Currently this task cannot be achieved using conventional optical contrast agents, due to their broad spectral responses (~80 to 200 nm). Developments in research on semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots) provide one possible solution. We describe a different concept of multilabel molecular imaging that utilizes resonant light-scattering spectroscopy of multilayered nanospheres to achieve tunable ultrasharp resonance peaks with widths as narrow as 10 nm. Our theoretical study demonstrates that dozens of molecular targets can potentially be imaged simultaneously using this approach.
Constrained inverse formulations in random material design

The focus of this work is on the development of a computational strategy to design materials composed of randomly dispersed particulates suspended in a homogeneous binding matrix. The design objectives are to deliver prescribed macroscopic effective responses while simultaneously obeying constraints that reflect the distortion of the microscale stress fields, as well as the likelihood for fatigue damage. A nonderivative statistical genetic algorithm is developed which can handle difficulties in designing materials with random particulate microstructure due to objective function nonconvexity and lack of objective function regularity. Theoretical aspects are investigated and three-dimensional numerical examples are given.
Chemotherapy in Wilms' tumor. An appraisal

Vincristine and actinomycin D are effective antitumor agents in the treatment of children with Wilms' tumor. The current results of chemotherapy appear to be such that, given optimal clinical circumstances, the use of both drugs in combination might be expected theoretically to achieve a 90% long term survival rate in the primary cases and a 60% retrieval rate in the metastatic cases.
Effect of light and zooplankton on skeletal δ13C values in the eastern Pacific corals Pavona clavus and Pavona gigantea

Skeletal δ13C levels in symbiotic reef corals are believed to be predominantly influenced by metabolic fractionation. Therefore, environmental variables influencing coral metabolism should also affect skeletal δ13C levels. To test this hypothesis, we measured the effects of light (which drives photosynthesis) and relative zooplankton levels (heterotrophy) on skeletal δ13C values in the corals Pavona clavus and P. gigantea at two depths (1 m and 7 m). For both species, decreases in light or increases in zooplankton resulted in significant decreases in skeletal δ13C levels. A significant decrease in δ13C values with depth was observed in Pavona gigantea only. Thus, light and zooplankton directly affect coral skeletal δ13C values, supporting the hypothesis that metabolic fractionation significantly contributes to skeletal δ13C levels. Simultaneous decreases in both light and zooplankton resulted in decreases in skeletal δ13C values, reflecting decreases in light. In Pavona clavus, intra-annual variation in skeletal δ13C values over one year correlated with seasonal changes in irradiance. Further study is needed to resolve how skeletal δ13C values vary at intermediate levels of irradiance and zooplankton, and in other coral species.
The impact of mouse strain on iron ion radio-immune response of leukocyte populations.

Purpose: Exposure to various forms of radiation, including iron ions that have an exceptionally high biological effectiveness, is an inevitable consequence of spaceflight. However, genetic background can significantly influence the response to radiation and hence also the overall health of crewmembers. The major goal of this study was to compare leukocyte population responses in two strains of mice that differ in susceptibility to radiation: C57BL/6 (resistant) and CBA/Ca (susceptible).Materials and methods: The mice were whole-body irradiated with 0, 50, 200, or 300 cGy 56Fe26 (1 GeV) at ∼1 Gy/min and euthanised on days 4 and 30 thereafter for analyses. Analyses included body and organ masses (spleen, liver, thymus, lungs), distribution of leukocyte populations in blood and spleen, red blood cell and platelet characteristics, expression of surface molecules (CD11b, CD54), and spontaneous and mitogen-induced blastogenesis.Results: There were main effects of Dose and Dose × Day interactions on virtually al...
Spectroscopic detection and evaluation of morphologic and biochemical changes in early human oral carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Understanding the development and progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is key in the quest for the early diagnosis and prevention of this type of malignancy. The current study correlated early biochemical and histologic changes in oral tissue with spectral features in fluorescence, reflectance, and light scattering spectra acquired in vivo to diagnose early stages of oral malignancies. METHODS A total of 91 tissue sites from 15 patients with varying degrees of malignancy (normal, dysplastic, and cancerous sites) and 8 healthy volunteers were analyzed with 3 spectroscopic techniques. Direct biochemical information regarding oral tissue native fluorophores was obtained with intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy by fitting a linear combination of collagen and the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) fluorescence spectra to the intrinsic tissue fluorescence spectra excited with 337 nanometer (nm) and 358-nm laser light. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy was used to provide information regarding tissue absorption and structure, such as hemoglobin concentration and stroma density, by measuring the wavelength-dependent absorption and scattering coefficients. By subtracting the diffusely reflected component from the measured reflectance, light scattering spectroscopy (LSS) information resulting from single backscattering from epithelial cell nuclei was obtained. LSS provides information concerning the size distribution of cell nuclei. RESULTS These optically extracted tissue parameters provide biochemical or structural information in vivo without the need for tissue excision, and can be used to diagnose tissue abnormalities. By combining the information provided by the three techniques, a method known as trimodal spectroscopy, a sensitivity and specificity of 96% and 96%, respectively, in distinguishing cancerous/dysplastic (mild, moderate, and severe) from normal tissue was achieved. In addition, the authors were able to distinguish dysplastic from cancerous tissue with a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 90%. CONCLUSIONS The results of the current study demonstrated that Trimodal spectroscopy is a highly sensitive and specific technique with which to diagnose tissue abnormalities. Cancer 2003;97:1681–92. © 2003 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.11255