cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors Associated with Prevalent Diabetic Retinopathy in Chinese Americans: The Chinese American Eye Study.

Objective To identify factors associated with prevalent diabetic retinopathy (DR) among Chinese American adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and to compare these factors to ones previously described for a population-based sample of Latinos with a higher DR prevalence. Design Population-based cross-sectional study. Participants Total of 4582 Chinese Americans aged 50 or older residing in Monterey Park, California. Methods Participants completed an in-home questionnaire on sociodemographic status and medical history, and a comprehensive clinical eye examination, using the same protocol implemented in the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. Fundus photographs from 7 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study fields were graded in a masked manner using a modified Airlie House grading system to assess presence and severity of DR. Logistic regression analyses based on a conceptual model of DR risk identified factors associated with prevalent DR. Main Outcome Measures Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for factors associated with DR and vision-threatening DR (VTDR). Results In total, 238 participants were diagnosed with any DR; 27 of these were classified as having VTDR. Both any DR and VTDR showed statistically significant positive associations with T2DM duration (OR5–9 years = 1.24; OR10–14 years = 2.07; OR15+years = 3.99), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (OR6.5%–6.9% = 1.33; OR7%–7.9% = 1.86; OR8%+ = 3.22), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (ORper 10 mmHg+ = 1.19), and insulin treatment (ORinsulin+ = 2.44). For VTDR, we also found novel associations with antihypertensive drugs (OR = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.06–0.61) and statins (OR: 4.96; 95% CI: 1.60–16.41). Chinese Americans and Latinos had a nearly identical DR probability based on HbA1c and SBP. However, Latinos had a higher DR probability at every year of duration of T2DM (≥5 years). Conclusions Although we observed an overall lower DR prevalence in Chinese Americans than in Latinos (35.8% of individuals with TD2M among Chinese Americans vs. 42.0% among Latinos), our data indicate that the impact of increasing HbA1c and SBP on DR probability is incrementally the same in both populations. However, increasing T2DM duration is associated with higher DR probability in Latinos than in Chinese Americans, even after controlling for other known predictors. Novel factors associated with VTDR include antihypertensive drugs and statins. However, to determine whether these drugs impact VTDR susceptibility, we need longitudinal data and more cases.
Fly the electric skies

When you first sit in the cockpit of an electric-powered airplane, you see nothing out of the ordinary. However, touch the Start button and it strikes you immediately: an eerie silence. There is no roar, no engine vibration, just the hum of electricity and the soft whoosh of the propeller. You can converse easily with the person in the next seat, without headphones. The silence is a boon to both those in the cockpit and those on the ground below.
In What Order to Present the Material Within Each Topic: Concrete-First Versus Abstract-First

Let us start our analysis of the order in which the material should be presented with the teaching of each individual topic. Each topic in math and sciences usually contains some new abstract notion(s). Several examples are usually given to motivate these notions and to illustrate their use.
Dynamics of the vaginal wall dose in HDR interstitial brachytherapy for gynecological cancer: Systematic analysis of phantom vs patient case

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the dynamics of the vaginal wall dose for interstitial brachytherapy (ISBT). A patient undergoing ISBT was selected as the patient case. The phantom case was generated to simulate the patient case in all regards with the exception of parallel needle positions. The vaginal wall was contoured as a 0.5-cm expansion around the vaginal surface of the obturator. The prescribed ISBT dose was 20 Gy in 4 fractions. Six treatment plans were generated by modifying relative dwell times and needle positions (DTNP). The volume of the vaginal wall receiving > 150% of prescription dose (V > 150% ) and D 2cc of the vaginal wall were compared among plans. The V > 150% was much larger in the patient case (49.3%) due to unparallel needles compared with the phantom case (14.3%) without modification (plan 1). Among the 6 plans, reduced dwell time (plan 3) and no dwell time (plans 5 and 6) on the vaginal surface needles had the lowest vaginal wall doses with the use of a central obturator needle in both cases. In comparison of patient case plans 1, 3, 5, and 6, V 150% was 49.2%, 19.0%, 21.3%, and 28.7%, respectively, and D 2cc was 41.15 Gy, 33.10 Gy, 36.51 Gy, and 34.37 Gy, respectively, which was limited around each loaded needle. Modification of DTNP is able to reduce the vaginal wall volume exceeding 150% of the prescription dose in the patient case. Understanding these dynamics of the vaginal wall dose will improve dose optimization of ISBT and may reduce vaginal morbidities.
Rate of pull-out strength gain of dual-etched titanium implants: a comparative study in rabbits.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the rate of pull-out strength gain of an etched titanium implant surface. Rabbit tibiae were used to compare machined titanium and proprietary dual-etched titanium implants. Two custom cylindric implants (3 mm in diameter and 4 mm in length) were placed in each right anteromedial tibia in 31 rabbits. At weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8, the implants in 5 rabbits were subjected to failure shear loading in a pull-out test. For shear failure testing, each tibial segment was mounted in a precision alignment jig, and an Instron pull-out test was performed on each implant. Beginning at week 3, there was a statistically significant difference (P < .01) between the dual-etched and the machined implants. There was a significant increase in strength for dual-etched implants between week 5 and week 8, while the machined implants did not show an increase during this time interval. The etched implants maintained a significantly greater pull-out strength for the remainder of the study, with a 3.2-fold greater mean strength at 8 weeks, equivalent to 6 months in humans. At 3 weeks, the etched implant's strength exceeded the strength that the machined implant had achieved at 8 weeks. In short-term healing in the rabbit tibia, the dual-etched surface demonstrated a more rapid rate of pull-out strength gain than the machined surface and remained significantly stronger throughout the 8 weeks of the study.
Mapping regulatory circuits in allergic skin inflammation

RORα+ skin-resident regulatory T cells restrain innate lymphoid cell driven allergic skin inflammation.
Napoli and the loss of innocence: Three theatrical hypotheses

The layers of Neapolitan culture have pinned down the representation of the city to two shifting paradigms: Napoli as a nourishing mother, pregnant in luxurious views of her Gulf and generous produ...
Bordetella pertussis (Bp) disease: Before (2003-2011) and after (2013-2016) maternal immunization strategy in a pediatric hospital.

INTRODUCTION Whooping cough continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in infants younger than 1 year. In 2012, Argentina introduced Tdap in pregnancy to prevent infant mortality. The aim of this study is to describe the impact of maternal immunization on the hospitalization and mortality rates of confirmed Bordetella pertussis (Bp) cases by comparing pre- and post-Tdap vaccine recommendation periods. MATERIAL AND METHODS All PCR-confirmed Bp cases from "R. Gutierrez" Children's Hospital identified between December 2003 and December 2016 were included in. Analysis was performed comparing hospitalization rates (per 10,000 discharges) between pre-vaccination (PreV) 2003-2011 and post-vaccination (PostV) 2013-2016 time periods, excluding the intervention year (2012). RESULTS During the study time frame, there were 1046 suspected Bp cases, of which 337 (32.2%) were confirmed. Three-hundred eight cases were analyzed (excluding year 2012): 237 in PreV and 71 in PostV. In comparison with PreV, PostV cases were older (3 vs 9 months; p < 0.001), and required less hospitalization (86.9% vs 67.6%; p < 0.001). Bp hospitalization rate (HR) decreased (22.3 vs 11.6; p < 0.001). The mortality rate in PreV 5.9% (14 cases); there were not deaths during PostV (p = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS Confirmed cases were among infants younger than 1 year In PostV, Bp cases were older and there was a significant decrease in the hospitalization rate. There were no fatal cases in our center after the pregnancy Tdap recommendation was implemented.
Seasonal trends of biophysical ocean properties and anomalies across the Mississippi Shelf

The seasonal cycle in surface biological, optical and physical properties across the river dominated Mississippi (MS) Shelf changed during years 2015 to 2017 at different locations across the shelf. VIIRS satellite and ocean model products were used to monitor cycles for different properties of both the nowcast and anomalous water properties. MS Shelf water properties vary spatially between offshore waters and coastal MS Sound waters, as well as temporally throughout the year. Ten selected regions spanning east to west from the MS Sound to the shelf break characterized the cross shelf seasonal fluctuations in satellite-derived chlorophyll-a, backscattering, euphotic depth, sea surface temperature, and modeled salinity currents. The seasonal relationships between physical and bio-optical properties were determined for different regions across the shelf and the seasonal eastward movement of the MS river plume across the shelf was identified in June. Yearly MS Sound seasonal cycles of coastal bio-physical properties are different from the shelf regions’ offshore seasonal cycles and indicate a time-lag between the bio-optical responses to the physical properties. Bio-optical and physical results on the shelf indicated seasonal movements of the MS River plume locations. Results show the seasonal bio-physical response of the shelf waters which can be used to address and understand the timing of data collection and how ocean events are influenced by the natural seasonal cycle interactions between biological and physical properties. The seasonal cycle study will enable the ability to monitor the shelf water quality and to identify non-typical conditions and the impact of an event on the cycle. Correlations between the monthly seasonal cycle of bio-optical and physical properties such as salinity, ocean color, chlorophyll-a and particle scattering were not consistent over the shelf. Seasonal cycles of salinity and chlorophyll-a show improved correlation if chlorophyll-a is delayed one month from the salinity at offshore locations on the shelf. Results of the seasonal trends support how data collected at a single image location on the shelf during a certain month can be different from other seasons. The seasonal cycle of the dynamic anomaly properties (DAP) of bio-physical properties were determined to show how seasonal abnormal changes and trends at locations across the shelf can provide a method for seasonal adaptive sampling. The yearly differences in monthly cycles from 2015 to 2017 at shelf locations, identified elevated chlorophyll-a in several months of 2016 and yearly temperature differences in multiple areas. The seasonal cycle of Euphotic depth, solar UV light penetration, showed a maximum peak (deeper Euphotic depth) at certain shelf locations during the months of September and October and minimal penetration in Aug of 20152016,2017. This information could be useful to understand months for maximum oil UV degradation in case of an oil spill
Reinhold’s Road to Fichte: The Elementary-Philosophy of 1795/96

This paper examines the revisions the Elementary Philosophy underwent when Reinhold studied Fichte’s Science of Knowledge. The goal is to reconstruct Reinhold’s argument for the primacy of facts of moral consciousness over facts of theoretical consciousness when it comes to establishing the first principle of philosophy, and also to relate this argument to his idea that moral enlightenment is a precondition of philosophical enlightenment. I argue that there is an intimate relation between Reinhold’s work as an Elementary Philosopher and his activity as champion of enlightenment. The doctrine according to which moral enlightenment has priority over philosophical enlightenment corresponds to the revaluation of facts of moral consciousness within the framework of the amended Elementary Philosophy.
CCD Retina and Neural Net Processor

In a charge-coupled device (CCD), a continuous analog signal can be sampled and represented as analog charge packets. The charge packets can than be stored, delayed, transferred, reproduced, divided and summed [1]. A charge-domain, high-speed, low-power multiplier has been developed based on these fundamental CCD properties [2]. In addition, a charge domain parallel processing architecture has been developed [3] that allows single-chip CCDs to perform more then one billion computations per second and dissipate less than 2W [4],[5]. Because of their inherent and developed capabilities, CCDs are ideally suited for hardware implementation of neural nets with a large number of neurons and interconnections. Two types of CCDs will be described: CCD solid state retinas for early vision processing such as image restoration and segmentation, and CCD two-layer neural net (NN) processors for signal processing applications such as image feature extraction and pattern classification.
Partitioning, Spectra and Linear Programming

We obtain lower bounds on the value of the objective in a graph partitioning problem in terms of spectral information about the graph. Our approach introduces a class of generalized transportation problems which can be solved in a greedy fashion using the Monge sequence idea.
Nevi on the Conjunctiva

The conjunctiva is frequently involved by congenital and acquired benign melanocytic proliferations. The entities we discuss herein are mostly melanocytic nevi. Congenital, racial, and acquired epithelial pigmentations and oculardermal melanocytoses will be only shortly mentioned.
Effects of Color in Disaster Relief Advertising and the Mediating Role of Cognitive Elaboration

The current research examined the effects of color format (text only, text with black-and-white photo, text with full-colored photo, and text with color highlighted on the main visual subject) and ...
Silicon Photonic Cryptographic Engines

We present nonlinear chaotic silicon micro-cavities as unclonable physical keys to solve multiple problems in applied cryptography, particularly secure authentication and encryption.
Enzyme Architecture: Breaking Down the Catalytic Cage that Activates Orotidine 5′-Monophosphate Decarboxylase for Catalysis

We report the results of a study of the catalytic role of a network of four interacting amino acid side chains at yeast orotidine 5′-monophosphate decarboxylase (ScOMPDC), by the stepwise replacement of all four side chains. The H-bond, which links the −CH2OH side chain of S154 from the pyrimidine umbrella loop of ScOMPDC to the amide side chain of Q215 in the phosphodianion gripper loop, creates a protein cage for the substrate OMP. The role of this interaction in optimizing transition state stabilization from the dianion gripper side chains Q215, Y217, and R235 was probed by determining the kinetic parameter kcat/Km for 16 enzyme variants, which include all combinations of single, double, triple, and quadruple S154A, Q215A, Y217F, and R235A mutations. The effects of consecutive Q215A, Y217F, and R235A mutations on ΔG⧧ for wild-type enzyme-catalyzed decarboxylation sum to 11.6 kcal/mol, but to only 7.6 kcal/mol when starting from S154A mutant. This shows that the S154A mutation results in a (11.6–7.6) = ...
Resonant P33 S1+(3/2)(q2) electroproduction multipole amplitude and the Delta N gamma scalar form factor GC*(q2).

The resonant ${\mathit{P}}_{33}$ single-pion electroproduction multipole amplitude ${\mathit{S}}_{1}^{+(3/2)}$(${\mathit{q}}^{2}$) and the \ensuremath{\Delta}N\ensuremath{\gamma} scalar form factor ${\mathit{G}}_{\mathit{C}}^{\mathrm{*}}$(${\mathit{q}}^{2}$) are calculated nonperturbatively in terms of the well-known nucleon form factors ${\mathit{g}}_{\mathit{A}}$(${\mathit{q}}^{2}$) and ${\mathit{G}}_{\mathit{E}}^{\mathit{V}}$(${\mathit{q}}^{2}$). Results are in good agreement with experiment. Our treatment is completely relativistic with current conservation guaranteed. Assuming the usual dipole behavior for ${\mathit{g}}_{\mathit{A}}$(${\mathit{q}}^{2}$) and ${\mathit{G}}_{\mathit{E}}^{\mathit{V}}$(${\mathit{q}}^{2}$), we confirm that ${\mathit{G}}_{\mathit{C}}^{\mathrm{*}}$(${\mathit{q}}^{2}$) falls off asymptotically at the rate ${\mathit{q}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}6}$ as expected in perturbative QCD.
Distinct Modalities of Electronic Communication and School Adjustment.

Social media platforms and instant messaging applications have a widespread presence in today’s secondary schools. However, the implications of these ubiquitous communication technologies for adolescent’s social functioning with peers and academic competence in the classroom are not well understood. In fact, research on adolescents’ digital lives has only rarely incorporated direct assessments of adjustment in school environments. The current study addressed these limitations with a school-based data collection. 376 adolescents (Mage = 14.4; 209 girls; including 29.2% Latino/Hispanic, 27.3% White, 28.2% mixed) were recruited from an urban high school and followed for one year. Social reputations were indexed via peer nominations and electronic communication tendencies were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Grade point averages, disciplinary events, and attendance data were obtained from school records. On a cross-sectional basis, frequent use of fashionable social networks (i.e., Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter) was associated with popular-aggressive social reputations, poor achievement, and rule-breaking behavior. E-mail use, in contrast, was associated with academic competence. Longitudinal analyses were less conclusive because the examined constructs were highly stable across the period of data collection. The full pattern of findings indicates that electronic communication patterns can be a powerful marker of academic and social functioning at school.
Cyclic AMP-induced tyrosinase synthesis in Neurospora crassa.

Abstract Cyclic AMP induces the synthesis of tyrosinase in Neurospora crassa . Adenine, adenosine, 3′-AMP, 5′-AMP, and 2′,3′-cyclic AMP have no inductive effect while 8-bromocyclic AMP and dibutyryl cyclic AMP are good inducers. Caffeine and theophylline, inhibitors of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase, also induce tyrosinase. A possible relationship between cyclic AMP induction and previously reported induction by cycloheximide is suggested.
Racial discrimination, the superwoman schema, and allostatic load: exploring an integrative stress-coping model among African American women

Racial discrimination has been linked to allostatic load (i.e., cumulative biological stress) among African American women. However, limited attention has been given to psychosocial processes involved in the stress response-critical for understanding biological pathways to health-in studies examining racial discrimination as a social determinant of health. We examined whether the superwoman schema (SWS), a multidimensional culture-specific framework characterizing psychosocial responses to stress among African American women, modifies the association between racial discrimination and allostatic load. We used purposive sampling to recruit a community sample of African American women ages 30-50 from five San Francisco Bay Area counties (n = 208). Path analysis was used to test for interactions while accounting for the covariance among SWS subscales using both linear and quadratic models. Significant interactions were observed between racial discrimination and four of the five SWS subscales. Feeling obligated to present an image of strength and an obligation to suppress emotions were each protective whereas feeling an intense motivation to succeed and feeling an obligation to help others exacerbated the independent health risk associated with experiencing racial discrimination. Our findings affirm the need to consider individual variability in coping and potentially other psychosocial processes involved in the stress response process, and offer several insights that may help elucidate the mechanisms by which racial discrimination gets "under the skin."
Thermal Node Characteristics of a Bipolar Junction Transistor

The thermal characteristics of a transistor are essential to know as it can severely affect the performance of an integrated circuit. This paper presents the thermal node behavior of a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) by looking at various thermal node simulations. A multi-pole thermal model with a Mextram transistor by Philips is used for this research. The thermal I-V characteristics and thermal transient behavior of an NPN BJT are the main focus of this research.
A conserved regulatory switch controls phosphatase activity and specificity

Protein phosphatases must be regulated and specific for their substrates; how this control is achieved is critical for signaling by reversible phosphorylation. We recently reported the discovery of a regulatory switch that controls the activity of the PP2C family serine/threonine phosphatase SpoIIE from the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. This regulatory switch activates SpoIIE during spore development by forming the catalytically essential metal-binding site that is conserved across the PP2C family. We hypothesized that this switch is a conserved platform for regulating other PP2C phosphatases. An orthologous phosphatase from B. subtilis, RsbU, is activated under stress conditions and responds to different signals and acts on a different phosphoprotein substrate than SpoIIE. Using a combination of biochemical and genetic approaches, we find that broad features of the regulatory mechanism are conserved between SpoIIE and RsbU but that each phosphatase has adapted its response to be most appropriate for the distinct biological outputs it controls. In both cases, the switch accomplishes this by integrating substrate binding and recognition with regulatory inputs to control metal cofactor binding and catalysis. Thus, the switch is a conserved and mechanistically flexible regulatory platform that controls phosphatase activity and substrate specificity.
Conducting the Needs Assessment #11: Causal Analysis Techniques

This new 3-page publication in the Conducting the Needs Assessment series provides Extension educators and other service providers with an introduction to two techniques that can easily be used when seeking information about relationships between causes and needs: fishboning and cause and consequence analysis. Written by Amy Harder and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/wc352
Gabriel Renville: From the Dakota War to the Creation of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Reservation, 1825-1892

Review of: "Gabriel Renville: From the Dakota War to the Creation of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Reservation, 1825-1892," by Gary Clayton Anderson.
Systemic Therapy for Brain Metastases: Melanoma

Brain metastases are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with advanced melanoma and constitute a therapeutic challenge. Systemic treatment targeting both mutant BRAF and immune checkpoints has revolutionized the management of metastatic melanoma and prolonged patient survival. However, the impact of these drugs on central nervous system metastases was less well understood as historically many clinical trials for melanoma excluded patients with brain metastases. As the field has progressed, multiple clinical trials focusing specifically on systemic therapy approaches for melanoma brain metastases have been completed or are underway. Although combined BRAF and MEK inhibition has now shown intracranial response rates of over 50%, responses appear to be less durable in the brain than in extracranial metastatic sites. Anti-PD-1 monotherapy and combined ipilimumab and nivolumab have intracranial response rates of over 20% and 50%, respectively, with concordant responses among brain and extracranial sites with clear durability. In this chapter, we discuss the results of clinical trials studying the use and combination of targeted agents and immunotherapy for melanoma brain metastases, local approaches such as stereotactic radiosurgery, and current challenges in the management of melanoma brain metastases.
An Active-to-Sterile Neutrino Transition Dipole Moment and the XENON1T Excess

In this short letter, we find that a magnetic transition dipole moment between tau and sterile neutrinos can account for the XENON1T excess events. Unlike the ordinary neutrino dipole moment, the introduction of the new sterile mass scale allows for astrophysical bounds to be suppressed. Interestingly, the best-fit regions that are compatible with the SN1987A imply either boron-8 or CNO neutrinos as the source flux. We find that sterile neutrinos of either $\sim$ 260 keV or in the $\sim$(500 - 800) keV mass range are capable of evading astrophysical constraints while being able to successfully explain the XENON1T event rate. The sterile neutrino in the best fit parameter space may have significant effects on big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). We show the region in which a low reheating temperature of the Universe may allow the BBN constraints to be alleviated.
Rapid and efficient in vivo astrocyte-to-neuron conversion with regional identity and connectivity?

In vivo reprogramming of glia into functional neurons emerges as potential regeneration-based therapeutics for neural injuries or neurological diseases. Recent studies show that AAV-based manipulation of certain factors can rapidly and highly efficiently convert resident glia into functional neurons with brain region-specificity and precise connectivity. Using NEUROD1 as an example, we here show that the presumed astrocytes-converted neurons are essentially endogenous neurons in the adult mouse brain. AAV-mediated co-expression of NEUROD1 and a reporter indeed specifically, rapidly, and efficiently induces numerous reporter-labeled neurons. However, these neurons cannot be traced back to quiescent or reactive astrocytes by using stringent lineage-mapping strategies. Conversely, reporter-labeled neurons cannot be detected when NEUROD1 is strictly expressed in adult brain astrocytes. Through a retrograde labeling approach, our results rather reveal that endogenous neurons are the cell source for NEUROD1-induced reporter-labeled neurons. These results underline the indispensable value of stringent lineage-tracing strategies and beg for cautious interpretation of the in vivo reprogramming phenomena.
Successful treatment of superior sagittal sinus thrombosis after translabyrinthine resection of metastatic neuroendocrine tumor: A case report and review of literature.

Background Postoperative cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (pCVST) after resection of cerebellopontine angle and posterior fossa tumor resections occur almost exclusively in the lateral venous sinuses and are generally asymptomatic. Thrombus extension and involvement of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) - a serious and potentially devastating complication - are rarely described and, as such, successful treatment for which is still poorly understood. We report a case of pCVST involving the SSS after translabyrinthine approach for resection of a metastatic neuroendocrine tumor (NET), and the first that was successfully treated with anticoagulation therapy. Case description A 40-year-old man presented with headaches, diminished right-sided hearing, and ataxia was found to have a large right-sided cerebellopontine angle (CPA) lesion with extra-axial and possible intraparenchymal invasion. A retrosigmoid craniotomy for debulking and diagnosis was undertaken. Postoperative imaging revealed patent venous sinuses. Pathology confirmed NET. Further imaging revealed a likely pancreatic primary lesion. The patient then underwent subsequent translabyrinthine approach for definitive surgical resection. Postoperative imaging again revealed patent venous sinuses. The patient subsequently developed headaches on postoperative day 10 and was found to have pCVST involving the ipsilateral internal jugular to the SSS. The patient was started on therapeutic heparin with significant improvement in pCVST and symptoms. Conclusion Extensive pCVST involving the SSS after CPA and posterior fossa tumor resections is extremely rare. Initial management with anticoagulation can yield promising results and should be initiated early in the clinical course unless otherwise contraindicated.
Project Pulse: A Dance Research Experience

The research outlined in this article offers a systematic training methodology for students and licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners to learn the clinical art and science of pu...
Biased evaluations emerge from inferring hidden causes.

How do we evaluate a group of people after a few negative experiences with some members but mostly positive experiences otherwise? How do rare experiences influence our overall impression? We show that rare events may be overweighted due to normative inference of the hidden causes that are believed to generate the observed events. We propose a Bayesian inference model that organizes environmental statistics by combining similar events and separating outlying observations. Relying on the model’s inferred latent causes for group evaluation overweights rare or variable events. We tested the model’s predictions in eight experiments where participants observed a sequence of social or non-social behaviours and estimated their average. As predicted, estimates were biased toward sparse events when estimating after seeing all observations, but not when tracking a summary value as observations accrued. Our results suggest that biases in evaluation may arise from inferring the hidden causes of group members’ behaviours. Humans display biases in evaluations of social groups, such as the negativity bias. Shin and Niv present a model that suggests that this bias may arise from inferring the hidden causes of group members’ behaviours.
Human-Level Performance on Word Analogy Questions by Latent Relational Analysis

This paper introduces Latent Relational Analysis (LRA), a method for measuring relational similarity. LRA has potential applications in many areas, including information extraction, word sense disambiguation, machine translation, and information retrieval. Relational similarity is correspondence between relations, in contrast with attributional similarity, which is correspondence between attributes. When two words have a high degree of attributional similarity, we call them synonyms. When two pairs of words have a high degree of relational similarity, we say that their relations are analogous. For example, the word pair mason/stone is analogous to the pair carpenter/wood; the relations between mason and stone are highly similar to the relations between carpenter and wood. Past work on semantic similarity measures has mainly been concerned with attributional similarity. For instance, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) can measure the degree of similarity between two words, but not between two relations. Recently the Vector Space Model (VSM) of information retrieval has been adapted to the task of measuring relational similarity, achieving a score of 47% on a collection of 374 college-level multiple-choice word analogy questions. In the VSM approach, the relation between a pair of words is characterized by a vector of frequencies of predefined patterns in a large corpus. LRA extends the VSM approach in three ways: (1) the patterns are derived automatically from the corpus (they are not predefined), (2) the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is used to smooth the frequency data (it is also used this way in LSA), and (3) automatically generated synonyms are used to explore reformulations of the word pairs. LRA achieves 56% on the 374 analogy questions, statistically equivalent to the average human score of 57%. On the related problem of classifying noun-modifier relations, LRA achieves similar gains over the VSM, while using a smaller corpus.
Stored Video Transmission Across ATM Networks: RVBR versus RCBR Service for Interactive Applications

The transmission of stored video from a server to a client across an ATM network is considered. In this context the performance of the renegotiated VBR (RVBR) and renegotiated CBR (RCBR) services is investigated for interactive applications with bounded reaction times. We present two basic results. First, for delay sensitive applications smoothing the video stream in advance is much more efficient, than adding buffer to the network switches. Second, RVBR service leads to higher network utilization than RCBR or CBR service, independent of the call admission control scheme.
Arabidopsis thaliana H1 histones. Analysis of two members of a small gene family.

We have isolated two Arabidopsis thaliana cDNA clones that encode different H1 histone proteins. The H1–1 and H1–2 proteins are 274 and 273 amino acids in length, respectively, Unlike the H1 histones within a single animal species, the two plant H1 proteins share little sequence similarity outside the protein's central globular domain. Within the globular domain, a pentapeptide that is extremely well conserved in animal H1 histones, is not found in either of the plant proteins. Southern blot analysis suggests that A. thaliana has only three H1 histone genes. A genomic clone encoding the H1-1 protein was isolated and the protein-coding region was found to consist of two exons separated by a 104-bp intron. The site of transcriptional initiation of the H1-1 gene was mapped by primer-extension analysis and a conserved octamer motif, identical to that observed in most plant core histone gnes that have been characterized to date, was found 101 nucleotides upstream of the presumed transcription-initiation site. The 3′ portion of the gene encoding H1–2 was also isolated and sequenced. When the 3′-flanking regions of the two H1 genes were compared, several highly conserved sequences were observed that might be convergently transcribed relative to the histone genes.
Book Review: Hoyles, C., Noss, R., Kent, P., & Bakker. A. (2010). Improving mathematics at work: The need for techno-mathematical literacies

As mathematics educators, we constantly read about the failure of our schools to prepare graduates for the mathematical requirements of the modern workplace. Most of us accept this idea without question, perhaps because calls for more mathematics education keep us employed. Yet it is surprising that more of us do not question this failure, given the conventional wisdom that adults rarely use the mathematics they learned in school and that, when mathematics is needed in the workplace, computers handle it. In this era of national standard setting and high-stakes mathematics examinations for school students, it seems to behoove us to understand what are the mathematical requirements of todays jobs and how well todays workers meet them. Celia Hoyles, Richard Noss, Phillip Kent, Arthur Bakker, and other colleagues have led this area of research for years through major projects exploring the mathematics used by entry level, intermediate, and professional employees in a range of fields. Improving Mathematics at Work is the most recent and possibly most extensive report on their ethnographic and design-based workplace studies. I wish that educational policy makers and mathematics standards-setting groups would read the entire output of this research team, to ground their plans in reality. This book may have an especially accessible format, and mathematics educators at the university, secondary, and vocational levels should also enjoy this book: It offers an unusual opportunity for gaining insights into the worlds of work (beyond the world of education) for which we are preparing students, to see what workers actually do and think about every day, and what sort of mathematics comes into play. (http://www.springerlink.com/content/65872w3764234577/)
Arginine Requirement of Mature Protein-Mainourished Rats for Maximal Rate of Repletion

Male Sprague-Dawley rats (initial weight 400 g) were fed a 0.5% lactalbumin diet containing required amounts of all other known essential nutrients for 14 weeks. The body weights averaged 250 g after depletion when the animals were randomly assigned to four groups of four or five. Rats of one group were killed for baseline analyses on day 0 of repletion. The remaining three groups were repleted for 14 days with a complete L-amino acid diet containing 20% protein equivalent and 0, 0.75 or 1.5% Arg . HCl. Daily feed intakes averaged 11, 15 and 17 g and daily weight gains were 3.3, 7.4 and 8.3 g, respectively. Average values for corresponding groups were: nitrogen balance--116, 187 and 190 mg/day; urinary orotate--4.6, 0.8 and 0.15 mg/day; carcass lipid--27, 37 and 40 g/100 g dry matter. Liver weights per 100 g body weight for 0 arginine exceeded other groups by 40%. There were no differences in creatinine index, nor in plasma concentrations of insulin, glucagon and albumin. The maximal rate of recovery from protein-calorie malnutrition of mature rats required an exogenous source of arginine. Urinary orotic acid excretion provided a reliable measure for determining when arginine needs for maximal rate of repletion were not met.
Impact of deployment of renewable portfolio standard on the electricity price in the State of Illinois and implications on policies

Abstract The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) of the State of Illinois specifies a schedule for the fraction of electricity produced from wind to be phased in through 2025. The price of electricity due to implementation of RPS in order to achieve a six-year payback on investment on new wind farms was estimated for six scenarios that examined the effect of electricity consumption growth rate, production tax credit of $0.022/kW h or unrestricted investment tax credit of 30%, and projected changes in installed project costs. In all cases, the electricity price was found to be dominated by the installed project cost (capital cost). Thus, any policy that affects the capital cost directly or indirectly would have a significant effect on the electricity price. Whereas investment tax credit has a direct effect, policies that encourage technology improvement and improve transmission lines would have a similar effect of lowering the capital cost. Carbon tax, on the other hand, would increase the electricity price to the consumers, although it offers other benefits.
A general formula for moments of the Pearson goodness-of-fit statistic for alternatives

SUMMARY A method for constructing formulae for the exact moments of the Pearson statistic from convolutions of polynomial functions of elementary multinomial probabilities is presented. Formulae for the recursive generation of the polynomial coefficients are given. This method may be used for calculating exact moments for general alternatives.
Strategies for Coupling Schools: The Effective Schools Approach.

These writers offer strategies for use in moving from loosely coupled, or average schools, to effective schools. Research has shown that effective schools have much tighter connections among different organizational levels.
A programmable, arbitrary waveform electrosurgical device

The programmable electrosurgical device is an arbitrary waveform generator that provides feedback control of selected output variables. A desktop computer provides the human interface and controls the operation of the electrosurgical device. The generated waveform drives an RF amplifier. The electrosurgical device samples the instantaneous voltage and current of the amplifier's output. Any one of several variables-voltage, current, power, or impedance-may be selected for feedback control. >
Distantly related members of T cell co-stimulatory pathways

Abstract Rationale T cell co-stimulatory pathways are critical regulators of T cell activation and tolerance. The B7-1/B7-2:CD28/CTLA-4 pathway is the best characterized of these. The key immunoregulatory role of this pathway has prompted searches for additional B7 and CD28 family members. Several new co-stimulatory pathways in this family have been identified and these have important roles in regulating T cell activation and tolerance. However, the extent of these families and the identities of close relatives in the human genome have not been fully described. Methods We searched the NIH human genome protein database using a new multiple sequence analysis tool of our design. Putative family members were analyzed using structurally-biased multiple sequence alignment and three-dimensional structural models were constructed. Results Novel candidate members and distantly related relatives of the CD28/ICOS/CTLA-4 receptor superfamily and B7/ICOSL ligand superfamily were found. Sequence alignments recapitulated functionally important regions of these families as validated in the co-crystal structures. Conclusions We have identified potentially new members of the B7:CD28 family that may be important for immune activation and tolerance. Multiple sequence alignments and structure modeling demonstrate regions important for protein-protein interactions, and facilitate understanding of the disease-causing role of human polymorphisms.
Mate-searching behaviors in the freshwater calanoid copepod Leptodiaptomus ashlandi

We examined the mate-searching behaviors of the freshwater calanoid copepod, Leptodiaptomus ashlandi, collected from Lake Michigan. The copepods were observed using a 3D optical system to obtain simultaneous front and side views. Males showed significant increases in their swimming speed while pursuing females in 7 out of 14 pre-mating interactions. Females did not show any alterations in their swimming speeds. Males did not swim to females directly nor did they follow the female swimming paths. These results indicate that male L. ashlandi find their females in a manner that is different from either freshwater cyclopoids or the marine calanoids. Therefore, different species may have different behaviors to enhance the encounter probability for mating and to recognize mates.
Vascular endothelial cells express isoforms of protein kinase A inhibitor.

First published September 5, 2001; 10.1152/ ajpcell.00256.2001.—The expression and function of the endogenous inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKI) in endothelial cells are unknown. In t...
The application of multiple-quantum techniques for the suppression of water signals in 1H NMR spectra

Abstract Pulse sequences which generate multiple- and zero-quantum coherence and suppress the detection of single-quantum coherence have been used to reduce greatly the intensity of the water peak in 1H NMR spectra of biological interest. In addition to suppressing the strong water signal, other resonances having only single-quantum behavior are attenuated or eliminated, thus simplifying the spectrum. Unlike other suppression methods, the use of a multiple-quantum filter does not cause severe spectral distortions or loss in sensitivity near the H2O peak. In principle, total suppression of the water signal is possible. Suppression of the water resonance by a factor of more than 2500 was routinely observed experimentally.
Methotrexate and citrovorum factor rescue in the management of childhood lymphosarcoma and reticulum cell sarcoma (non-Hodgkin's lymphomas). Prolonged Unmaintained Remissions

High doses of methotrexate (HDMTX), given in pulse infusions of 3 to 30 mg/kg body weight, were studied in 22 children with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Sixteen complete and five partial remissions were observed in 21 patients evaluable for remission induction. The dose of MTX was increased stepwise on consecutive treatments until objective tumor response occured. Citrovorum factor rescue (CFR) was used "on demand" when toxicity started to develop, and routinely after 30 mg/kg of MTX. Twelve patients who had no previous chemotherapy were entered in a Phase II study consisting of remission induction with HDMTX and remission maintenance with monthly HDMTX supplemented with one monthly injection of vincristine and Cytoxan and five days of oral 6-mercaptopurine and prednisone. Eleven patients achieved remissions (eight complete and three partial) with HDMTX and one with surgery and radiation followed by HDMTX. The three partial remissions improved to complete remission during remission maintenance. All 12 were given the maintenance cyclic combination chemotherapy. Seven of the 12 patients entered the unmaintained phase of the study. One patient relapsed 6 months after cessation of therapy and died 4 years after diagnosis. Six patients are alive and free of disease 2 1/2 to 5 1/2 years after discountinuing treatment and 4 1/2 to 8 1/3 years after diagnosis. Five of these six patients had advanced (Stage IV) disease.
Fanconi anemia complementation group C is required for proliferation of murine primordial germ cells.

Summary: Fanconi anemia is a polygenic trait hypothesized to be a DNA damage repair disease. We show that all three Fanconi anemia loci that have been cloned are expressed in the embryonic gonad during the period of primordial germ cell proliferation. Mice mutant for the Fanconi anemia complementation group C locus (Fancc) have reduced germ cell numbers as early as embryonic day E12.5, suggesting the Fancc protein functions prior to meiosis in both sexes. Depletion in the mutant occurs at a time when all three loci would be expressed in a wild-type gonad, implying a function in the early germline. Determination of the mitotic index of primordial germ cells by BrdU incorporation shows that germ cells in Fancc−/− mice proliferate significantly more slowly than littermate controls. This study demonstrates Fancc is required for mitotic proliferation of primordial germ cells. genesis 27:117–123, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
the chief of the Chambri: social change and cultural permeability among a New Guinea people

Facing an environmental crisis wrought by the introduction of a South American aquatic fern, the Chambri of the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea have created a new social status, a “chief.” In our explanation of the significance of this political innovation, we suggest that the arrival of the Europeans altered the Chambri understanding of the inherent restrictions in human life. The presence of the Europeans provided the Chambri with what they regarded as not only the solution to their immediate environmental crisis but to their basic cosmological contradiction, that between intensity of power and density of social life. [New Guinea, cultural change, political anthropology]
Direct FexOy speciation in solid state materials by pulsed millisecond radio frequency glow discharge time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Although glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS) is best known for its utility in trace element analysis, recent work demonstrates that the technique can also provide chemical speciation information. Previous reports outline approaches for the direct speciation of chromium and manganese oxides utilizing GDMS. As that work illustrates, different approaches to speciation are needed depending on the metal oxide under study. The present work extends the application of this technique to the direct speciation of three iron oxide species in solid state samples. The appropriate adjustment of parameters such as sampling distance, temporal regime, discharge gas pressure, pulse frequency, and duty cycle is essential to enable such speciation. For the iron oxides, species specific variations in ratios between Fe+ and FeOH+ signal intensities provide the ability to discriminate between FeO, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4. Iron–oxygen cluster generation correlates with oxygen abundance in the original sample as seen in these comparisons.