cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
How Incarceration Influences Native-Born Black Men's Risk of Obesity.

Objective: To build upon research that inves­tigates the health significance of familial and former incarceration with special emphasis on obesity risk among native-born Black (ie, African American) men. Methods: We analyzed data from the 2001-2003 National Survey of American Life (NSAL), focusing on native-born Black men (n=1140), the demographic group that bears the brunt of mass incarceration. The out­come of interest was obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI)>30. Principal predic­tors were familial and former incarceration, and their statistical interaction. Results: In survey-adjusted binomial logistic regression models, familial incarceration ap­peared an unimportant predictor; whereas, former incarceration associated with a lower risk of obesity. However, former incarceration modifies the association between familial incarceration and obesity, such that native-born Black men experiencing both familial and former incarceration were significantly more likely to be obese. Conclusions: Public health researchers should treat former incarceration with greater care in studies including native-born Black men because time spent incarcerated has lingering physical health significance. Ethn Dis. 2018;28(2):69-74; doi:10.18865/ ed.28.2.69.
Effect of lung-density correction in treatment planning for tangential-fields breast irradiation: A case report

We report on the effect of lung-density correction on dose distribution in a transverse slice containing the isocenter for tangential-fields breast irradiation. In this case study we analyzed the target coverage as well as hot spots for four types of treatment plans: Plan 1 assumes uniform unit density throughout, Plan 2 utilizes all the treatment parameters of Plan 1, but takes into account the lower lung density. Plan 3 is generated by optimizing the dose distribution in the presence of the lower lung density, and Plan 4 is an improvement on Plan 3 by using custom instead of standard wedges. Our analysis shows that consideration of the lower lung density is important for optimal treatment planning for the breast and that specially designed wedges can improve the dose distribution.
Radiative transfer of luminescence light in biological tissue

Radiative transfer of light in biological tissue plays a vital part in in vivo biomedical optics. Tissue constitutes a highly scattering and absorbing medium for light at wavelengths of the visible and near-infrared spectrum, and its light-tissue interaction can be exploited not just for therapeutic but also for diagnostic purposes [1, 2, 3]. In biomedical optics, light sources are placed on top of the tissue surface, either in contact or non-contact, and illuminate the tissue. Optical images of the reflected or trans-illuminated light are taken, which subsequently provide valuable biomedical information about macroscopic tissue changes. These optically detected tissue changes are mostly based on the absorption contrast that is caused by intrinsic tissue chromophores. The optical contrast of the detected images is, however, relatively poor due to the multiple scattered light inside tissue. Optical imaging has already been utilized in clinical and pre-clinical practice in order to detect these macroscopic tissue changes. Advances have been made in, for example, studying brain function [4,5], optical mammography and detecting breast cancer [6,7], small animal (for example rodents) imaging [8, 9, 10, 11], or in detecting the inflammatory progression of rheumatoid arthritis in finger joints [12].
Education of the Donor by the ILDA (Psychosocial Aspects)

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) has described in detail the medical knowledge that must be communicated to the living donor advocate (LDA), but the psychosocial evaluation, including the role of the independent living donor advocate (ILDA), has been less well characterized. Rodrique et al. found that despite the fact that published guidelines consistently highlight the importance of psychosocial evaluation to the overall selection process, only 74 % of the programs surveyed required this assessment, an increase over the 46 % reported by Bia et al. in 1995, but still significantly less than total compliance. The literature shows that nonacceptance of living donors for psychosocial or ILDA-related reasons ranges between 13 and 36 %. Living donor programs will benefit if these candidates can be identified early in the evaluation, before they have undergone extensive testing or met with multiple health-care providers. The thesis of this chapter is that the psychosocial evaluation, including the ILDA interview, can often uncover issues that need attention before a candidate receives approval to continue the evaluation. An initial evaluation process that includes participation by both the ILDA and the donor advocate team (DAT) offers significant benefits compared to other modes of evaluation. The training that ILDAs should receive is outlined, and examples are used throughout the chapter to illustrate ways in which the ILDA interview can succeed in the early identification of donors who will not proceed to donation.
Changes in RNA Polymerase

The bacteriophages generate developmental time sequences of gene expression by a variety of mechanisms, primarily but not exclusively involving transcription. There are many ways to modulate transcription in prokaryotes; phages are known to use many of these and may use them all. The viral infections we discuss are terminal events for their bacterial host cells, comparable, in that sense, with noninfectious terminal differentiations such as heterocyst and spore formation. From a regulatory point of view, the principal difference is that the commitment to bacterial differentiation involves more or less complex interplays of metabolic signals that the initiating event of infection—virus attachment and the injection of the foreign DNA—in no way resembles. However, similar alterations of transcription machinery are called into action during bacterial differentiation and during phage infection.
The Late Paleoindian Cody complex component at Lamb Spring, Colorado

The Late Paleoindian Cody complex component at the Lamb Spring site in Douglas County, Colorado, was reanalyzed to better document it and facilitate comparisons to other Cody kill sites. Cody hunte...
Refocusing CSA during magic angle spinning rotating-frame relaxation experiments.

Abstract We examine coherent evolution of spin-locked magnetization during magic-angle spinning (MAS), in the context of relaxation experiments designed to probe chemical exchange (rotating-frame relaxation (R 1ρ )). Coherent evolution is expected in MAS based rotating-frame relaxation decay experiments if matching conditions are met (such as, ω 1 = nω r ) and if the chemical shielding anisotropy (CSA) is substantial. We show here using numerical simulations and experiments that even when such matching requirements are avoided (e.g., ω 1 r , ∼1.5ω r , >2.5ω r ), coherent evolution of spin-locked magnetization with large CSA is still considerable. The coherent evolution has important consequences on the analysis of relaxation decay and the ability to extract accurate information of interest about dynamics. We present a pulse sequence that employs rotary echoes and refocuses CSA contributions, allowing for more sensitive measurement of rotating-frame relaxation with less interference from coherent evolution. In practice, the proposed pulse sequence, REfocused CSA Rotating-frame Relaxation (RECRR) is robust to carrier frequency offset, B 1 -field inhomogeneity, and slight miscalibrations of the refocusing pulses.
Psychophysical Equivalence of Static Versus Dynamic Stimuli in a Two-Alternative Forced-Choice Detection Task

Abstract The aim of the present work was to determine if the nature of stimulus presentation (i.e., displayed via static images versus dynamic video clips) affect observers' detection performance in a two-alternative forced-choice task under alerted conditions. Static and dynamic stimuli were presented via a two-alternative forced-choice task, and participants' detection performance was subsequently evaluated. Results indicated that stimulus type did play a significant role in critical signal detection. Findings from this study can help to inform and refine the design of future experimental protocols intended to elicit task demands commensurate with naturalistic visual detection tasks.
Device-Level Thermal Management of Gallium Oxide Field-Effect Transistors

The ultrawide bandgap (UWBG) (~4.8 eV) and melt-grown substrate availability of $\beta $ -Ga2O3 give promise to the development of next-generation power electronic devices with dramatically improved size, weight, power, and efficiency over current state-of-the-art WBG devices based on 4H-SiC and GaN. Also, with recent advancements made in gigahertz frequency radio frequency (RF) applications, the potential for monolithic or heterogenous integration of RF and power switches has attracted researchers’ attention. However, it is expected that Ga2O3 devices will suffer from self-heating due to the poor thermal conductivity of the material. Thermoreflectance thermal imaging and infrared thermography were used to understand the thermal characteristics of a MOSFET fabricated via homoepitaxy. A 3-D coupled electrothermal model was constructed based on the electrical and thermal characterization results. The device model shows that a homoepitaxial device suffers from an unacceptable junction temperature rise of ~1500 °C under a targeted power density of 10 W/mm, indicating the importance of employing device-level thermal managements to individual Ga2O3 transistors. The effectiveness of various active and passive cooling solutions was tested to achieve a goal of reducing the device operating temperature below 200 °C at a power density of 10 W/mm. Results show that flip-chip heterointegration is a viable option to enhance both the steady-state and transient thermal characteristics of Ga2O3 devices without sacrificing the intrinsic advantage of high-quality native substrates. Also, it is not an active thermal management solution that entails peripherals requiring additional size and cost implications.
MultiMexicans: An Introduction

This chapter explains the benefit of analyzing Mexican multinationals, MultiMexicans, as a laboratory for better understanding of the internationalization of emerging market firms. MultiMexicans are increasingly expanding across countries, and some have become leading firms in their industries. The chapter provides, first, a review of the traditional models of the multinational, which have been based on the study of firms from advanced economies: those that explain the existence of multinationals (the OLI framework, the internalization model, and the knowledge-based view) and those that explain the internationalization process (the product lifecycle model, the incremental internationalization model, and the innovation related model). It then presents a review of models introduced to explain emerging market multinationals: the LLL model, the springboard model, the “new” model of the multinational, and the non-sequential internationalization model. Building on these, the chapter then explains how the analysis of MultiMexicans helps better understand the internationalization of emerging market firms by taking into account the influence of the home country on firm internationalization, and the tradeoffs that emerging market firms face as they expand abroad. The chapter concludes with a summary of the contents of the book and the lessons drawn from the comparison of MultiMexicans in multiple industries.
Islamic geometric patterns: their historical development and traditional methods of construction

Jay Bonner’s heavily illustrated book on Islamic Geometric Patterns is an impressive effort that highlights the unique creative tradition which guided the development of the richly diverse manifest...
Systemic inflammation is associated with differential neural reactivity and connectivity to affective images.

Systemic inflammation is increasingly appreciated as a predictor of health and well-being. Further, inflammation has been shown to influence and be influenced by affective experiences. Although prior work has substantiated associations between inflammatory and affective processes, fewer studies have investigated the neurobiological correlates that underlie links between systemic, low-grade inflammation and affective reactivity. Thus, the current study examined whether markers of systemic inflammation (i.e. interleukin-6, C-reactive protein) are associated with differential patterns of neural activation and connectivity in corticolimbic regions in response to affective images. We investigated this question in a sample of 66 adults (44 women, M age = 54.98 years, range = 35-76) from the Midlife in the United States study. Higher levels of inflammation were associated with lower activity in limbic regions (i.e. amygdala, hippocampus, anterior insula, temporal pole) when viewing positive (vs neutral) images. Higher levels of inflammation were also associated with greater connectivity between the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex in response to positive images. Inflammatory markers were not associated with significant differences in activation or connectivity to negative images. These findings highlight the utility of health neuroscience approaches in demonstrating that physiological processes such as inflammation are related to how our brains respond to affective information.
The value of digital subtraction angiography in diagnosis and planning endovascular treatment of children with ischemic cerebrovascular diseases

Objective To evaluate the value of digital subtraction angiography(DSA) in diagnosis and planning endovascular treatment of cerebrovascular diseases. Methods Thirty-one children suspected with ischemic cerebrovascular diseases were treated by urokinase and dextran after they underwent DSA.Results Twenty-four cases (77%) had cerebrovascular abnormalities. Two cases had arteriovenous malformations, 1 case had posterior communicating artery aneurysm,21 cases had cerebrovascular stenosis or occlusions. Shortly after intervention therapy using urokinase,muscle strength increased by one level in 13 cases,two levels in 3 cases,3 levels in 2 cases and no effect in 4 cases. The total effective rate reached 86%. Seven patients with ischemic stroke achieved 100% recanalization. Conclusion DSA is very important in diagnosis of cerebrovascular stenosis and occlusion. Key words: Digital subtraction angiography; Ischemic cerebral vascular diseases; Children
Characterization of Glycosaminoglycan Disaccharide Composition in Astrocyte Primary Cultures and the Cortex of Neonatal Rats

Astrocytes are major producers of the extracellular matrix (ECM), which is involved in the plasticity of the developing brain. In utero alcohol exposure alters neuronal plasticity. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are a family of polysaccharides present in the extracellular space; chondroitin sulfate (CS)- and heparan sulfate (HS)-GAGs are covalently bound to core proteins to form proteoglycans (PGs). Hyaluronic acid (HA)-GAGs are not bound to core proteins. In this study we investigated the contribution of astrocytes to CS-, HS-, and HA-GAG production by comparing the makeup of these GAGs in cortical astrocyte cultures and the neonatal rat cortex. We also explored alterations induced by ethanol in GAG and core protein levels in astrocytes. Finally, we investigated the relative expression in astrocytes of CS-PGs of the lectican family of proteins, major components of the brain ECM, in vivo using translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) (in Aldh1l1-EGFP-Rpl10a mice. Cortical astrocytes produce low levels of HA and show low expression of genes involved in HA biosynthesis compared to the whole developing cortex. Astrocytes have high levels of chondroitin-0-sulfate (C0S)-GAGs (possibly because of a higher sulfatase enzyme expression) and HS-GAGs. Ethanol upregulates C4S-GAGs as well as brain-specific lecticans neurocan and brevican, which are highly enriched in astrocytes of the developing cortex in vivo. These results begin to elucidate the role of astrocytes in the biosynthesis of CS- HS- and HA-GAGs, and suggest that ethanol-induced alterations of neuronal development may be in part mediated by increased astrocyte GAG levels and neurocan and brevican expression.
Amygdala Activation in Cognitive Task fMRI Varies with Individual Differences in Cognitive Traits

The amygdala has been implicated in processing threat and learning fear. However, the amygdala also responds to motivationally relevant stimuli even in the absence of explicit emotional content. We investigated the relationship among amygdala activation, cognitive and emotional factors, and fMRI task data in participants from the Young Adult Human Connectome Project. We expected to see variation in amygdala activation that corresponded with variation in traits that could affect the salience of task related stimuli (i.e., internalizing symptoms and fearful faces). We found no relationship between amygdala activation during face viewing and emotion related traits. However, amygdala activation under working memory load was negatively correlated with fluid intelligence and reading level. There also was a negative relationship between task performance and activation in the amygdala. The observed relationship suggests that the role of amygdala is not limited to the processing of emotional content of incoming information but is instead related to salience, which can be influenced by individual differences.
Verification and Synthesis of Control Barrier Functions.

Control systems often must satisfy strict safety requirements over an extended operating lifetime. Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) are a promising recent approach to constructing simple and safe control policies. This paper proposes a framework for verifying that a CBF guarantees safety for all time and synthesizing CBFs with verifiable safety in polynomial control systems. Our approach is to show that safety of CBFs is equivalent to the non-existence of solutions to a family of polynomial equations, and then prove that this nonexistence is equivalent to a pair of sum-of-squares constraints via the Positivstellensatz of algebraic geometry. We develop this Positivstellensatz to verify CBFs, as well as generalization to high-degree systems and multiple CBF constraints. We then propose a set of heuristics for CBF synthesis, including a general alternating-descent heuristic, a specialized approach for compact safe regions, and an approach for convex unsafe regions. Our approach is illustrated on two numerical examples.
Comparison of Bariatric Protocols in Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Retrospective Analysis on Patient Outcomes

Background: More than 250,000 laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) are performed annually accounting for about 61.4% of all bariatric procedures. The national average cost for LSG ranges between $...
Rural Mental Health Ecology: A Framework for Engaging with Mental Health Social Capital in Rural Communities

The mental health of people in rural communities is influenced by the robustness of the mental health ecosystem within each community. Theoretical approaches such as social ecology and social capital are useful when applied to the practical context of promoting environmental conditions which maximise mental health helping capital to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerably as a buffer for mental illness. This paper explores the ecological conditions that affect the mental health and illness of people in rural communities. It proposes a new mental health social ecology framework that makes full use of the locally available unique social capital that is sufficiently flexible to facilitate mental health helping capital best suited to mental health service delivery for rural people in an Australian context.
Initiation and Spread of Seizures in Man: Analytical Methods for Monitoring Seizures

Electrical recordings of the spontaneous seizure are perhaps the most important source of information regarding seizure initiation and propagation. While the discharges that occur may be obvious, their interpretation is sometimes very difficult. This paper reviews computational procedures that have been devised to analyze initiation and propagation patterns of focal epileptic seizures via EEG measurements with macroscopic electrodes. Thus far, most efforts have been rather straightforward applications of signal processing methods such as signal detection, digital filtering, auto-spectral and cross-spectral analysis. Generally speaking, these methods invoke minimal assumptions regarding seizure mechanisms, and might be best described as computer aids to the objective, accurate measurement of the occurrence or interrelationship of epileptiform signals. The need for computer-aided analysis is especially evident when such information is not forthcoming from visual inspection, for example [1] when the signals of interest are obscured by noise or artifacts due to the recording process or behavioral seizure, [2] when there is rapid and/or complicated propagation of the discharge, [3] when the recording sites are sufficiently remote from the site of epileptiform activity to require some means of signal enhancement or localization of the signal source, or [4] when the relationship of simultaneously occurring signals is important.
A Parallel Pipelined SAT Solver for FPGAs

Solving Boolean satisfiability problems in reconfigurable hardware is an area of great research interest. Originally, reconfigurable hardware was used to map each problem instance and thus exploit maximum parallelism in evaluation of variable assignments. However, techniques to greatly reduce the search space require dynamic reconfiguration, and make regular mappings more desirable. Unfortunately, using a regular mapping constrains the parallelism in assignment evaluation. The architectures that have emerged choose either custom mapping and maximum parallelism or regular mapping and the promise of significant decreases in the search space. We propose a framework that can exploit both. Our framework uses a regular mapping while introducing a scalable parallel architecture. Using our approach, speedups of up to one order of magnitude over current state-of-the-art reconfigurable hardware solvers have been obtained.
Identification of an early-stage gene of Chlamydia psittaci 6BC.

Abstract Chlamydiae are parasitic bacteria characterized by a temporally regulated developmental cycle. In the early stage of the cycle, metabolically inert elementary bodies reorganize to dividing reticulate bodies, a process about which little is known. The purpose of this investigation was to identify and clone chlamydial genes that are expressed preferentially during the early stage of the developmental cycle of Chlamydia psittaci 6BC. Several potential early genes were cloned with highly radioactive, host-free-generated RNA probes to screen a genomic library. One clone appeared to encode a gene that was particularly well expressed at 1 h postinfection. In further characterization, we found that it encodes two complete open reading frames and one partial open reading frame of 370 codons. The partial open reading frame, designated gltX, is very similar to bacterial glutamyl-tRNA synthetases and was demonstrated to be transcribed in vivo at 24 h postinfection by primer extension analysis. A lysine-rich open reading frame (LRO) of 117 codons was found upstream and divergent from gltX. The LRO lacks homology to known proteins, and we were unable to demonstrate that it is transcribed in vivo. The third open reading frame, of 182 codons, was found to be convergent with and partially overlap the LRO. It was confirmed to be preferentially expressed within the first 1.5 h of infection by Northern (RNA) blot analysis and was designated the early upstream open reading frame (EUO). Like the LRO, the EUO is not homologous to known proteins. A major potential transcription start site of the EUO was identified by primer extension analysis. However, the sequence upstream of the site does not closely resemble the consensus recognition sequences of bacterial sigma factors even though it is AT rich. The EUO is the first chlamydial gene specific to the early stage to be cloned and sequenced.
Incomplete Utilization of Pyridoxine-β-Glucoside as Vitamin B-6 in the Rat

This research was conducted to determine the bioavailability of 5'-O-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl) pyridoxine (PN-glucoside) during chronic administration in a depletion-repletion bioassay. PN-glucoside was found previously to constitute a major portion of the total vitamin B-6 in many foods of plant origin. Following a 14-d depletion period, rats were fed diets containing graded levels of either free pyridoxine (PN) or PN-glucoside for 17 d. Slope ratio analysis of dose-response curves, on the basis of growth and plasma pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP) concentration, indicated 10-34% utilization of PN-glucoside relative to the molar response to PN. Erythrocyte aspartate amino-transferase (AspAT) activity and urinary 4-pyridoxic acid concentration were lower and the stimulation of AspAT activity by exogenous PLP was greater for rats fed PN-glucoside than for those fed PN, which indicated reduced vitamin B-6 nutriture in response to PN-glucoside. A constant 7-9% of the ingested PN-glucoside was detected in urine in intact form at all dosage levels. These results provide further evidence of incomplete bioavailability of PN-glucoside and indicate that its extent of utilization is not influenced by its level of dietary intake.
Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo Hones in on Dairy Judging Skills

Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo has been a long standing program that has been in existence since the early 1980’s. A donation from the Iowa State Dairy Association allowed a group to develop the Iowa Dairy Expo, now known as Tri-State Dairy Youth Expo. It began in 1984 at the Waterloo Cattle Congress as a dairy cattle judging show with commercial exhibits and informational seminars targeted mainly at dairy producers. As dairy farms changed and Iowa saw a decrease in dairy farms, the dairy sale diminished and locations changed from Waterloo to Dubuque to Decorah, and eventually to Calmar, Iowa. With the help of the Northeast Iowa Community College and Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation, a youth program was created for students interested in the dairy industry. With support from the dairy industry and business community, Iowa State University and NICC, this program has continued to educate and test youth’s expertise in dairy cattle and dairy products judging contests.
Comparison of the cost of hydrogen from air‐blown and thermally ballasted gasifiers

The objective of this study was to compare the cost of producing hydrogen by two types of biomass gasifi ers: a conventional air-blown fl uidized-bed gasifi er and a thermally ballasted fl uidized-bed gasifi er developed at Iowa State University. The ballasted gasifi er is an indirectly heated gasifi er that uses a single reactor for both com- bustion and pyrolysis. Heat accumulated in high-temperature phase-change material during the combustion phase is released during the pyrolysis phase to generate producer gas. Experimental data from pilot-scale air-blown and bal- lasted gasifi cation tests have been used as a basis for this study. Experimental data has been scaled up to calculate the cost and feasibility associated with 50 Mg of hydrogen per day production plants. Air-blown gasifi cation yields for total direct cost, total capital cost, and the annual operating cost were $19.20, $43.21 and $38.65 million, respec- tively. The cost estimate of a system producing 50 Mg/day of hydrogen via air-blown gasifi cation is projected to be $2.23/kg H2. The total direct cost, total capital cost and the annual operating cost for ballasted gasifi cation were $30.17 $67.80, and $52.11 million, respectively. The hydrogen production cost for ballasted gasifi cation showed $3.01/kg H2. This is 35% higher than that of air-blown gasifi cation. A sensitivity analysis was performed to help to assist economic feasibility which includes variables for labor, capital charges, biomass costs, and hydrogen yields. The cost of biomass was found to be the most infl uential contribution to hydrogen production costs. As a result, a detailed analysis based on a state-by-state model is used to demonstrate the effect of biomass cost on hydrogen production cost. This model also predicts the potential number of 50 Mg of H2/day plants that might be built in each state based on potential switchgrass supply. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Über die Anwendung von Greenfunktionen zur Beschreibung von Paarungseffekten bei deformierten Atomkernen

The theory of nuclear pairing correlations, recently developed byMigdal, introduces only one constant, which should be nearly the same for all nuclei. This Green's function method is compared with the well known BCS-theory. The constant is fitted and the problem has been solved by numerical methods. We found that the constant varies likeA−1/2. The individual magnitude of the pairing energy depends strongly on the single particle level density which determines the value of the renormalized coupling constant of the pairinteraction. This enables us to reproduce the deviations of the pairing energy from the curveδn=11,2A−1/2. The results are independent from the choice of the cut-off level.
Automatic task decomposition and state abstraction from demonstration

Both Learning from Demonstration (LfD) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) are popular approaches for building decision-making agents. LfD applies supervised learning to a set of human demonstrations to infer and imitate the human policy, while RL uses only a reward signal and exploration to find an optimal policy. For complex tasks both of these techniques may be ineffective. LfD may require many more demonstrations than it is feasible to obtain, and RL can take an inadmissible amount of time to converge.We present Automatic Decomposition and Abstraction from demonstration (ADA), an algorithm that uses mutual information measures over a set of human demonstrations to decompose a sequential decision process into several subtasks, finding state abstractions for each one of these subtasks. ADA then projects the human demonstrations into the abstracted state space to build a policy. This policy can later be improved using RL algorithms to surpass the performance of the human teacher. We find empirically that ADA can find satisficing policies for problems that are too complex to be solved with traditional LfD and RL algorithms. In particular, we show that we can use mutual information across state features to leverage human demonstrations to reduce the effects of the curse of dimensionality by finding subtasks and abstractions in sequential decision processes.
Classification and regression trees

Ecological analyses often involve modeling the relationship between a response and a set of explanatory variables for the purposes of exploring ecological relationships, describing patterns and processes, or making spatial or temporal predictions. Classification and regression trees are flexible and robust tools that are well suited to this task. They provide a single tool that can accommodate many of the challenges posed by ecological data, offering (1) flexibility to handle continuous and discrete responses and explanatory variables; (2) ability to capture nonlinear relationships, complex interactions, and multiple structure; (3) accommodation of missing values in response or explanatory variables; (4) robustness to outliers; and (5) an invariance to monotonic transformation of the explanatory variables. In addition, they are easy to construct and interpret. This article describes classification and regression trees, how they are fit, some of the issues surrounding their construction, as well as recent extensions to the methods.
5α-Androstane-3,17-dione in peripheral plasma of men and women

Abstract An antibody to androstanedione obtained in a rabbit by immunization with androstenedione-7α-carboxymethyl-thioether conjugated to bovine serum albumin was found to cross-react 100% with 5α-androstane-3,17-dione, a property that was used to develop a radioimmunoassay for this steroid. Plasma 5α-androstane-3,17-dione concentrations were determined in young men, and in women throughout an ovulatory cycle. In the men (n = 6), plasma 5α-androstane-3,17-dione concentrations were in the range of 84 to 273 pg/ml with a mean (±SD) value of 164 ± 57 pg/ml. The plasma levels in the women (n = 5) were in the ranges of 35 ± 14 to 145 ± 75 pg/ml during the follicular phase, and 109 ± 50 to 151 ± 44 pg/ml during the luteal phase. The tissue sites of origin of 5α-androstane-3,17-dione have not been defined, however some extraglandular tissues are known to contain enzymes that convert C19-steroids to 5α-androstane-3,17-dione. It is possible that 5α-androstane-3,17-dione in circulation serves as a substrate for peripheral synthesis of 5α-dihydrotestosterone.
Effect of trypan blue staining on the elastic modulus of anterior lens capsules of diabetic and nondiabetic patients.

Purpose To determine whether trypan blue causes a significant difference in the biomechanical properties (stiffness) of diabetic and nondiabetic anterior lens capsules and to determine whether diabetes significantly alters the stiffness of anterior lens capsules. Setting Veterans Administration Boston Healthcare Center System, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, USA. Methods In this unmasked prospective randomized controlled experimental study, anterior lens capsules were obtained from diabetic and nondiabetic patients approved for cataract surgery. Four treatment groups were created: (1) capsules of nondiabetic patients without trypan blue; capsules of nondiabetic patients with trypan blue; (3) capsules of diabetic patients without trypan blue; (4) capsules of diabetic patients with trypan blue. Anterior lens capsule stiffness as a function of elastic (Young's) modulus (kilopascals) was measured with the Hysitron TriboIndenter. Results The use of trypan blue led to significantly stiffer anterior lens capsules (P = .036). Trypan blue had the greatest effect on the stiffness of diabetic lens capsules (P = .046). Conclusion Trypan blue contributed to increased capsule stiffness during capsulorhexis, especially in diabetic patients.
Theory of plasma transport in toroidal confinement systems

The dissipation induced by coulomb-collisional scattering provides an irreducible minimum, and thus a useful standard for comparison, for transport processes in a hot, magnetically confined plasma. The kinetic description of this dissipation is provided by an equation of the Fokker-Planck form. As in the standard transport theory for a neutral gas, approximate solution of the Fokker-Planck equation permits the calculation of transport coefficients, which linearly relate the fluxes of particles, energy, and electric charge, to the density and temperature gradients, and to the electric field. The transport relations are useful in studying the confinement properties of present and future experimental devices for research in controlled thermonuclear fusion. The transport theory for a magnetized plasma (in which the Larmor radius is much smaller than gradient scale lengths describing the plasma fluid) departs from the theory for a neutral gas in several fundamental ways. Thus, transport coefficients for a magnetized plasma can be calculated even when the collisional mean free path is much longer than the gradient scale length (as would pertain in thermonuclear regimes). Such transport coefficients are generally nonlocal, being defined in terms of averages over surfaces with macroscopic dimensions. Furthermore, when the mean free path is long, the magnetized-plasma transport coefficients depend crucially upon the magnetic field geometry, the effects of which must be treated at the kinetic level of the Fokker-Planck equation. The results display several novel couplings between collisional dissipation and the electromagnetic field. The present review of magnetized-plasma transport theory is intended to be as widely accessible as possible. Thus the relevant features of magnetic confinement in closed (toroidal) systems, and of charged particles in spatially varying fields, are derived, at least in outline, from first principles. Although consideration is given to "classical" transport in which most field geometric effects are omitted, major emphasis is placed on the "neoclassical" theory which has been developed over the last decade. Neoclassical transport coefficients are specifically relevant to a magnetically confined plasma, rather than to just a magnetized plasma; their unusual features, such as nonlocality and geometry dependence, become particularly important in the high temperature regime of proposed thermonuclear reactors. The area of neoclassical theory which seems most complete---its application to axisymmetric tokamak-type confinement systems---is correspondingly stressed.
Kenosis, Economy, Inscription

Part of a roundtable on Julia Kristeva's The Severed Head: Chapters Five and Six of Julia Kristeva’s The Severed Head
Parent-adolescent communication about sexual intercourse: An analysis of maternal reluctance to communicate.

OBJECTIVE: A unified theory of behavior was applied to parent-adolescent communication about sexual intercourse to understand why some mothers speak less often with their children about not having sexual intercourse. According to the theory parental decisions or intentions to engage in such conversations are a function of expectancies social norms self-concept emotions and self-efficacy. DESIGN: Data were collected from a random sample of 668 mother-adolescent dyads recruited from middle schools located in the Bronx community of New York City. Data were collected via self-administered surveys. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mother and adolescent reports on the frequency of parent-adolescent communication about sexual intercourse were obtained. Adolescents and mothers reported how often the mother had discussed 21 topics related to sexual behavior. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Results supported the utility of the framework for understanding parent-adolescent communication about sexual intercourse. Significant maternal correlates included (a) expectancies about lacking knowledge being embarrassed and encouraging children to think maturely and focus on school; (b) self-concept and perceiving that mothers who didnt talk with their children about sex were irresponsible; (c) emotions about feeling relaxed and comfortable; and (d) self-efficacy about the ease of talking with ones child. Implications for family based prevention programs are discussed.
Telephone survey methods : sampling, selection, and supervision

INTRODUCTION Total Survey Error Telephone Surveying in Perspective The Telephone Phenomenon in the United States Basic Steps in the Telephone Survey Process Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) Contents and Organization of This Text Additional Sources of Instruction on Survey Methodologies Exercises GENERATING TELEPHONE SURVEY SAMPLING POOLS Choosing a Valid Sampling Design Random Digit Dialing (RDD) Directory and List-Based Sampling Pools Mixed Mode Sampling Pools Sampling Pool Size Exercises PROCESSING TELEPHONE SURVEY SAMPLING POOLS Issues in Controlling the Sampling Pool Using the Call-Sheet to Control the Sampling Pool Refusal Report Form, Refusal Conversions, and Nonresponse Error Expectations in Processing Sampling Pools Sampling Pool Dispositions and Survey Response and Nonresponse Rates Sampling Pools in Mixed Mode Surveys Processing Sampling Pools with CATI Exercises SELECTING RESPONDENTS AND SECURING COOPERATION Starting Off on a Solid Footing Introducing the Survey Respondent Selection and Screening Techniques Advance Contract of Respondents Exercises SUPERVISION I STRUCTURING INTERVIEWERS' WORK Quality Control in Telephone Versus Personal Interviewing Recruitment and Hiring of Interviewers Training Sessions Presurvey Practice and On-the-Job Training Total Survey Error and the Interviewer Exercises SUPERVISION II STRUCTURING SUPERVISORY WORK Staffing and Scheduling Interviewing Sessions Interviewing Session Setup Supervising Interviewing Sessions in PAPI and CATI Surveys Verifying Completed Interviews Conclusion Exercises
Racial and Ethnic Representation in Gifted Programs: Current Status of and Implications for Gifted Asian American Students

The Elementary and Secondary School Survey data and Civil Rights Data Collection of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) were analyzed to describe the issue of overrepresentation of gifted Asian American students in gifted education programs in the United States. Nationally, Asian and Whites have been overrepresented in gifted education since 1978, whereas, students from other ethnic backgrounds, such as those from American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, and African American groups, have been underrepresented with gradual increases in this underrepresentation since 1994. When the data were disaggregated by state for the period from 2002 to 2006, each racial and ethnic group displayed varied ranges of representation. Those varied distributions can be attributed to each state's unique demographic profile, varied definitions of giftedness, identification procedures, and identification policies. By focusing on Asian American students, this study addressed some difficulties that gifted Asian American students...
Mechanism of regulation of casein kinase I activity by group I metabotropic glutamate receptors

Previously, we reported that (S)-3,5-dihydroxypenylglycine (DHPG), an agonist for group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), stimulates CK1 and Cdk5 kinase activities in neostriatal neurons, leading to enhanced phosphorylation, respectively, of Ser-137 and Thr-75 of DARPP-32 (dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein, 32 kDa). We have now investigated the signaling pathway that leads from mGluRs to casein kinase 1 (CK1) activation. In mouse neostriatal slices, the effect of DHPG on phosphorylation of Ser-137 or Thr-75 of DARPP-32 was blocked by the phospholipase Cbeta inhibitor, the Ca(2+) chelator 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA/AM), and the calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporin A. In neuroblastoma N2a cells, the effect of DHPG on the activity of transfected HA-tagged CK1(epsilon) was blocked by BAPTA/AM and cyclosporin A. In neostriatal slices, the effect of DHPG on Cdk5 activity was also abolished by BAPTA/AM and cyclosporin A, presumably through blocking activation of CK1. Metabolic labeling studies and phosphopeptide mapping revealed that a set of C-terminal sites in HA-CK1epsilon were transiently dephosphorylated in N2a cells upon treatment with DHPG, and this was blocked by cyclosporin A. A mutant CK1epsilon with a nonphosphorylatable C-terminal domain was not activated by DHPG. Together, these studies suggest that DHPG activates CK1(epsilon) via Ca(2+)-dependent stimulation of calcineurin and subsequent dephosphorylation of inhibitory C-terminal autophosphorylation sites.
Nonperturbatively determined relativistic heavy quark action

We present a method to nonperturbatively determine the parameters of the on-shell, O(a)-improved relativistic heavy quark action. These three parameters, m{sub 0}, {zeta}, and c{sub B}=c{sub E}, are obtained by matching finite-volume, heavy-heavy, and heavy-light meson masses to the exact relativistic spectrum through a finite-volume, step-scaling recursion procedure. We demonstrate that accuracy on the level of a few percent can be achieved by carrying out this matching on a pair of lattices with equal physical spatial volumes but quite different lattice spacings. A fine lattice with inverse lattice spacing 1/a=5.4 GeV and 24{sup 3}x48 sites and a coarse, 1/a=3.6 GeV, 16{sup 3}x32 lattice are used together with a heavy quark mass m approximately that of the charm quark. This approach is unable to determine the initially expected, four heavy quark parameters: m{sub 0}, {zeta}, c{sub B}, and c{sub E}. This apparent nonuniqueness of these four parameters motivated the analytic result, presented in a companion paper, that this set is redundant and that the restriction c{sub E}=c{sub B} is permitted through order a|p-vector| and to all orders in ma where p-vector is the heavy quark's spatial momenta.
The CXXC Motif: A Rheostat in the Active Site†

The active-site CXXC motif of thiol:disulfide oxidoreductases is essential for their catalysis of redox reactions. Changing the XX residues can perturb the reduction potential of the active-site di...
Void fraction predictions in forced convective subcooled boiling of water between 10 and 18 MPa

Abstract Forced convective subcooled boiling is of interest for many industrial applications, especially as a possible heat transfer regime in the core of pressurized water reactors (PWR). Due to practical interest, R12 was used as a testing fluid to simulate water between 10 and 18 MPa. This article presents a study of the forced convective subcooled boiling of R12 based on previous models and new physical considerations. The axial void fraction profile is determined and compared to R12 experimental data obtained on the DEBORA loop at CEA/Grenoble. The research yielded a void fraction model, shown to be valid for R12 as well as water, and based on a new correlation for the distribution parameter and on a continuous actual quality versus equilibrium quality function extended to the partially developed boiling region. Results showed good agreement with the DEBORA R12 experimental data as well as the experimental data obtained by Bartolomei et al. [Thermal Engng. 29(3) 132] in water at high pressure.
Max-balancing weighted directed graphs and matrix scaling

A weighted directed graph G is a triple V, A, g where V, A is a directed graph and g is an arbitrary real-valued function defined on the arc set A. Let G be a strongly-connected, simple weighted directed graph. We say that G is max-balanced if for every nontrivial subset of the vertices W, the maximum weight over arcs leaving W equals the maximum weight over arcs entering W. We show that there exists a up to an additive constant unique potential pv for v ∈ V such that V, A, gp is max-balanced where gap = pu + ga-pv for a = u, v ∈ A. We describe an O|V|2|A| algorithm for computing p using an algorithm for computing the maximum cycle-mean of G. Finally, we apply our principal result to the similarity scaling of nonnegative matrices.