cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evolving disparities in the epidemiology of oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers

Incidence rates of head and neck cancers (HNC) associated with human papillomavirus (HPVa) infection are increasing while non-HPV-associated (non-HPVa) HNC cancer rates are decreasing. As nearly all sexually active individuals will acquire an HPV infection, it is important to understand epidemiologic trends of HNCs associated with this sexually transmitted disease. We analyzed SEER 9 (1973-2012) and 18 data (2000-2012) for HPVa HNCs (oropharynx area; OP) and non-HPVa (oral cavity area; OC). Incidence rates were examined by gender, race, rurality, geographic location, and time. Joinpoint regression analyses assessed temporal variations. From 1973 to 2012, OC incidence decreased while OP increased, with changes largely driven by males (whose OP rate increased 106.2% vs female decrease of 10.3%). Males consistently had higher rates of both cancer groups across each registry except Alaska, OP rates among blacks changed from significantly above whites to below, and trend analysis indicated significant differences in rates over time by gender, race, and geography. Analysis of SEER 18 found that rates discordantly varied by group and gender across the 18 registries, as did the male/female rate ratio with overall means of 4.7 for OP versus 1.7 for OC (only Alaska and Georgia having overlapping ranges). Our findings indicate that much of the HPVa rate increases were driven by rate increases among males and that there were changing differences in risk between genders, race, and geographic location. The epidemiology of HNCs is complex, with locally relevant factors requiring further research for elucidation of demographic disparities in incidence.
Amazon vs. Commissioner: Has Cost Sharing Outlived Its Usefulness?

President Trump has decreed that for every new regulation, two old regulations should be repealed. The next time the IRS wishes to adopt a new tax regulation, I have two candidates for repeal: cost sharing and “check the box”, the 1997 regulation that enables US-based multinationals to shift profits from high to low tax foreign jurisdictions without triggering US tax. Both of those regulations run directly contrary to the intent of Congress in enacting Subpart F (the CFC rules) in 1961 and amending Code section 482 by adding the super royalty rule in 1986. They are the technical building blocks underlying the ability of US based multinationals to avoid US tax on profits economically earned in the US. It is high time for both of them to go.
Single-shot ultrafast coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering of vibrational/rotational nonequilibrium

The study of internal molecular energy transfer is important for a variety of nonequilibrium and nonthermal environments, including plasma-based manufacturing and materials treatment, medical device treatment applications, and plasma-assisted combustion. In the current work, hybrid femtosecond/picosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering spectroscopy is demonstrated for simultaneous, single-shot measurement of pure-rotational and rovibrational energy distributions in the highly nonequilibrium environment of a dielectric barrier discharge plasma. Detailed spatial distributions and shot-to-shot fluctuations of rotational temperatures spanning 325–450 K and corresponding vibrational temperatures of 1200–5000 K are recorded across the plasma and surrounding flow with high precision and accuracy. This approach allows concise measurements of vibrational/rotational energy distributions in nonequilibrium environments at kilohertz rates that are free of nonresonant background and minimize interference from molecular collisions.
Systematic review of antimicrobial lock therapy for prevention of central-line-associated bloodstream infections in adult and pediatric cancer patients.

Abstract Background Central venous catheter (CVC) use is commonplace in cancer patients. Antimicrobial lock therapy (ALT), the instillation of a concentrated antimicrobial solution into the catheter lumen, is one method for preventing infection among CVCs. This systematic review discusses the effectiveness and safety of prophylactic ALT in cancer patients with CVCs. Methods A literature search was performed using the Medline database and Google Scholar from inception until April 2016. The following terms were used: ‘antimicrobial lock solution’, ‘antibiotic lock solution’, ‘oncology’, ‘hematology’, ‘pediatrics’, ‘prevention’, ‘cancer’, ‘catheter related bloodstream infections’, ‘central-line associated bloodstream infection’ (CLABSI) and ‘central venous catheter’. Studies evaluating prophylactic ALT in cancer patients alone were eligible for inclusion. Case reports, case series and in-vitro studies were excluded. Results In total, 78 articles were identified. Following all exclusions, 13 articles (three adult and 10 pediatric) were selected for evaluation. The most common agents utilized were vancomycin with heparin; ethanol; taurolidine; and minocycline with EDTA. Quality of evidence was moderate to high in adult studies and low to moderate in pediatric studies. Use of ALT decreased the incidence of CLABSI in the majority of studies; however, there were significant differences in definitions of CVC-related infection, dwell times and lock solutions. Conclusion Lock therapy may be an adjunct in high-risk cancer patients for the prevention of CLABSI; higher quality evidence is needed for specific ALT recommendations.
Neocortical prodynorphin expression is transiently increased with learning: Implications for time- and learning-dependent neocortical kappa opioid receptor activation.

Abstract There are several lines of evidence that indicate a prominent role for the opioid system in the acquisition and consolidation of learned associations. Specifically, kappa opioid receptor (KOR) modulation has been demonstrated to alter various behavioral tasks including whisker trace eyeblink conditioning (WTEB). WTEB is an associative conditioning paradigm in which a neutral conditioned stimulus (CS; Whisker stimulation) is paired following a short stimulus free trace interval with a salient unconditioned stimulus that elicits a blink response (US; Eye shock). Work from our laboratory has shown that WTEB conditioning is dependent upon and induces plasticity in primary somatosensory cortex (S1), a likely site for memory storage. Our subsequent studies have shown that WTEB acquisition or consolidation are impaired when the initial or later phase of KOR activation in S1 is respectively blocked. Interestingly, this mechanism by which KOR is activated in S1 during learning remains unexplored. Dynorphin (DYN), KOR’s endogenous ligand, is synthesized from the precursor prodynorphin (PD) that is synthesized from preprodynorphin (PPD). In S1, most PPD is found in inhibitory GABAergic somatostatin interneurons (SOM), suggesting that these SOM interneurons are upstream regulators of learning induced KOR activation. Using immunofluorescence to investigate the expression of PD and SOM, the current study found that PD/SOM expression was transiently increased in S1 during learning. Interestingly, these findings have direct implications towards a time- and learning-dependent role for KOR activation in neocortical mechanisms mediating learning.
Nonlinear control for single-stage single-phase grid-connected photovoltaic systems

A nonlinear control strategy is developed for a single-stage single-phase grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) inverter in synchronous dq frame. The control scheme is proposed to achieve both maximum power point operation, regardless of the atmospheric conditions, and to control the active and reactive power. The control scheme forces the d-axis current to track a novel trajectory reference current, obtained online. The control scheme provides for energy balance from the input to the output of the system along with mitigating the PV current ripple, which is the major drawback of the single-phase PV inverter. A Lyapunov analysis is developed to prove the stability of the system and boundedness of signals. The scheme is validated through a simulation.
CHANGES IN HOSPITAL PERFORMANCE AND TRANSITION-CARE MEASURES 1-YEAR AFTER INITIATION OF THE PATIENT NAVIGATOR PROGRAM

Despite high rates of early readmission in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF), little data exists regarding the impact of best practices on hospital-based transition-care measures. This project sought to evaluate early changes in AMI and HF program performance
An international monitoring system for verification to support both the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons and the nonproliferation treaty

ABSTRACTThe Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons calls for states to meet regularly to consider measures for the verified, time-bound and irreversible elimination of nuclear weapon programs...
Defining lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma: Does MYD88L265P define a pathologically distinct entity among patients with an IgM paraprotein and bone marrow-based low-grade b-cell lymphomas with plasmacytic differentiation?

Objectives Lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL) remains a poorly defined entity, even with the discovery of MYD88L265P mutations and association with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM). Among bone marrow (BM)-based, low-grade B-cell lymphoma with plasmacytic differentiation (LGBLPD) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) paraproteins, we sought to determine whether MYD88L265P defines a distinct entity and can help refine diagnostic criteria for LPL. Methods BMs diagnosed with LGBLPD or LPL and serum IgM paraprotein were studied (2007-2013). Clinicopathologic features were reviewed and specimens were tested for MYD88L265P. Results In total, 138 (87%) of 159 cases had MYD88L265P, and 158 of 159 were clinically considered WM. MYD88L265P cases had higher disease burden than MYD88WT. Features associated with MYD88L265P include increased mast cells and lymphocyte (not plasma cell)-predominant infiltrate. Hemosiderin, Dutcher bodies, and paratrabecular growth were not associated with MYD88L265P. Conclusions Our data support a clinicopathologic approach to LPL diagnosis and recognition that it may manifest with varying morphologies, phenotypes, and molecular features.
Scissors-Action Deployables Based on Space-Filling of Polygonal Hyperboloids

Architecture needs lightweight and kinetic structures that are easy to move and which occupy small volume. Among these, deployable structures, especially those based on scissors action, are of great interest. This paper explores the application of the angulated scissors originated by C. Hoberman (Ref. 1) to periodic deployable structures composed of doubly-faceted curved surfaces. More specifically, we show the applications of the angulated scissors to a special class of facetted structures, which are here termed polygonal hyperboloids. The concept readily extends to other surfaces of translation.
Future Directions in Hypersomnias: Diagnosis and Treatment

Excess of sleep in the 24-h period is termed hypersomnia and the propensity to fall asleep is called hypersomnolence or excessive sleepiness. In everyday practice, excessive sleepiness refers to the inability to stay awake at appropriate times. The prototype disorder for excessive sleepiness of central nervous system (CNS) origin is narcolepsy, a condition sometimes associated with cataplexy. Narcolepsy without cataplexy and partial manifestations of narcolepsy, the so-called narcolepsy spectrum, merge in an ill-defined continuum with idiopathic hypersomnia, a disorder of severe and constant excessive daytime sleepiness and unrefreshing sleep. Other disorders featuring central hypersomnia occur intermittently in the recurrent hypersomnias, or appear in a relatively mild form in association with neuromuscular diseases, mainly myotonic dystrophy. Many questions pertaining to etiology, mechanism of action, and treatment of the central hypersomnias remain unanswered, and extensive research in CNS physiology and pathophysiology is called for.
Data Fusion with a Dense Sensor Network for Anomaly Detection in Smart Homes

Research into assistive technologies for the elderly has been increasingly driven by the rapidly expanding population of older adults in many developed countries. One area of particular interest is technologies that enable aging-in-place, which allows older adults to remain in their own homes and live an independent life. Our work in this space is based on using a network of motion detectors in a smart home to extract patterns of behavior and classify them as either typical or atypical. Knowledge of these patterns can help caregivers and medical professionals in the study of any behavioral changes and enable better planning of care for their patients. Once we define and extract these patterns, we can construct behavioral feature vectors that will be the basis of our behavioral change detection system. These feature vectors can be further refined through traditional machine learning approaches such as K-means to extract any structure and reduce the dimensionality of the data. We can then use these behavioral features to identify significant variations across time, which could indicate atypical behavior. We validated our approach against features generated from human labeled activity annotations, and found that patterns derived from raw motion sensor data can be used as proxies for these higher level annotations. We observed that our machine learning-based feature vectors show a high correlation with the feature vectors derived from the higher level activity annotations and show a high classification accuracy in detecting potentially atypical behavior.
On the Distributed Database Union Operation

In a distributed relational database, an operation that produces the union of fragments stored at different sites at a specified site is called a distributed union operation. In implementing the distributed union operation, operations other than the union operation, such as intersection and difference, may be used to facilitate the union. Optimization of the distributed union operation when the fragments are not disjoint requires the ability to predict the size of the result of set operations. A minimal basis of the result of multiple non-disjoint horizontal fragments of a relation is derived. This is used to develop a model for the optimization of the distributed union operation. As the problem is NP Hard, heuristic and lower bounding procedures are developed for a special case.
Charge Injection into Semiconductor Particles — Importance in Photocatalysis

Charge injection into irradiated semiconductors represents a new method for effecting photocatalytic oxidations. The advantages afforded by this method include: (1) high chemoselectivity from preferential adsorption effects and from the relative positions of the substrate oxidation potential and the semiconductor valence band, (2) controlled secondary reactions of primary reactive intermediates, and (3) the possibility of restricting the number of electrons exchanged photocatalytically. Several physical probes (transient laser flash spectroscopy, laser-induced coulostatic measurements, and time-resolved sensitization) have proved useful in characterizing the requisite electron exchange. The photooxidation of organic alcohols adsorbed on tungsten oxides varying in composition from discrete chemical species (WO2(OR)2 ) through heteropolytungstates (M3PW12040.10 H2O) to extended semiconductor structures (WO3 powders) exemplify the power of these new routes.
Novel Focal Treatment Modalities in Glioma Management

Malignant gliomas, including glioblastomas (GBMs) and anaplastic astrocytomas (AAs), remain difficult to treat. Overall prognosis for patients harboring these tumors is poor despite maximal surgical resection with appropriate chemotherapy and radiation. Here we outline several novel treatment modalities for focal control of malignant gliomas. The first set of therapies described rely on bypassing the blood brain barrier (BBB) to better deliver chemotherapeutics directly to the tumor and tumor cells infiltrating into the brain parenchyma. These include convection-enhanced drug delivery, intra-arterial (IA) chemotherapy, focused ultrasound, and laser interstitial thermal therapy. Another modality that has shown promising tumor control is tumor treatment fields therapy, which disrupts tumor mitosis and has increased survival in some studies. We also discuss the challenges associated with these treatments and examine the future of these and other glioma management strategies.
Sildenafil treatment of vascular dementia in aged rats.

Abstract Background and purpose: In this study, we employed a multiple microinfarction (MMI) based vascular dementia (VaD) model in aged rats and tested the therapeutic effects of Sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, on cognitive decline, white matter damage, autophagy and inflammatory response associated with VaD. Methods Male, aged (16–18 months) Wistar rats were subjected to MMI (800 ± 100, 70–100 μm cholesterol crystals injected into the internal carotid artery) and treated with or without Sildenafil (2 mg/kg, i.p) starting at 24 h after MMI daily for 28 days. Four experimental groups were employed: Sham control, Sham + Sildenafil, MMI, and MMI + Sildenafil. A battery of cognitive tests were performed and rats were sacrificed at 28 days after MMI for immunohistochemical evaluation and PCR assay. Results Sildenafil treatment in aged MMI rats significantly improves short term memory evaluated by the novel object recognition test and improves spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze test compared to aged control MMI rats. Sildenafil treatment of aged MMI rats significantly increases axon and myelin density in the corpus callosum and white matter bundles in the striatum, increases oligodendrocyte and oligodendrocyte progenitor cell number in the corpus callosum, cortex and striatum, and increases synaptic protein expression in the cortex and striatum compared to aged control MMI rats. In addition, Sildenafil treatment of MMI in aged rats significantly decreases Beclin1 expression and inflammatory factors Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and Interleukin-1β expression in brain. Sildenafil treatment in aged rats does not improve cognitive outcome compared to aged sham control rats. Conclusions Sildenafil treatment of MMI in aged rats significantly improves cognition and memory at 1 month after MMI. Sildenafil treatment increases axon and myelin density, increases Synaptophysin expression, decreases autophagic activity and exerts anti-inflammatory effects which in concert may contribute to cognitive improvement in aged rats subjected to MMI.
Using asymptotic embedding methods for dynamic estimation of spatial fields with mobile sensors

This paper proposes an asymptotic embedding method for the dynamic reconstruction of spatially varying fields. By assuming that the spatial field is the solution to an elliptic partial differential equation, then the elliptic PDE is embedded into a parabolic PDE which represents the time-varying estimator. An important advantage of the dynamic estimation scheme is the significant reduction in the use of sensing devices needed to reconstruct the spatial field. Static estimation schemes impose stringent conditions on the regularity of a regression matrix, which links the basis functions to the number of measurements. To further improve the performance of the dynamic estimator, a guidance scheme is proposed that repositions mobile sensors within the spatial field, which is linked to the performance of the dynamic estimator. Extensions to collaborative estimation and optimization of the placement of static sensors are also summarized to provide an integrated account on all facets of optimal dynamic estimation of spatial fields. Numerical simulations for spatial fields in one and two spatial dimensions are included along with a comparison of static reconstruction as quantified by the number of sensing devices required and the relative error.
Nutrients mediate the effects of temperature on methylmercury concentrations in freshwater zooplankton

Abstract Methylmercury (MeHg) bioaccumulation in freshwater aquatic systems is impacted by anthropogenic stressors, including climate change and nutrient enrichment. The goal of this study was to determine how warmer water temperatures and excess nutrients would alter zooplankton communities and phytoplankton concentrations, and whether those changes would in turn increase or decrease MeHg concentrations in freshwater zooplankton. To test this, we employed a 2 × 2 factorial experimental design with nutrient and temperature treatments. Mesocosms were filled with ambient water and plankton from Cottage Grove Reservoir, Oregon, U.S.A., a waterbody that has experienced decades of elevated MeHg concentrations and corresponding fish consumption advisories due to run-off from Black Butte Mine tailings, located within the watershed. Treatment combinations of warmer temperature (increased by 0.7 °C), nutrient addition (a single pulse of 10× ambient concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous), control, and a combination of temperature and nutrients were applied to mesocosms. The individual treatments altered phytoplankton densities and community structure, but alone the effects on MeHg concentrations were muted. Importantly, we found a significant interactive effect of nutrients and temperature: the nutrient addition appeared to buffer against increased MeHg concentrations associated with elevated temperature. However, there was variability in this response, which seems to be related to the abundance of Daphnia and edible phytoplankton. Nutrients at low temperature were associated with marginal increases (1.1×) in zooplankton MeHg. Our findings suggest that global change drivers that influence community composition and ecosystem energetics of both zooplankton and phytoplankton can alter MeHg pathways through food webs.
Validity and Reliability of Proximity Detection with Bluetooth-Enabled Accelerometers among Adults

ABSTRACTIntroduction: This study examined the concurrent validity and inter-pair reliability of the proximity detection function on Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers across manufacturer-specified ra...
Connecting Systems Thinking and Service Learning in the Chemistry Classroom

Systems thinking has been employed by many disciplines and agencies to address a diversity of needs from technical manufacturing objectives to global health interventions. Chemistry plays a signifi...
Preserving Patriarchy: Assimilation, Gender Norms, and Second-Generation Korean American Evangelicals

This ethnographic study of a second-generation Korean American Protestant congregation explores the role of religion in assimilation, focusing on emerging gender and family norms. The study found that individuals maintained a substantial commitment to patriarchal gender norms and articulated these norms in language consistent with American evangelical theology rather than in ethnic/cultural terms. Members were also influenced by egalitarian norms from the broader American society, and women in particular offered partial resistance to female subordination. The findings suggest that religious affiliation should be given consideration alongside economic variables in analyzing assimilation trajectories among the new second generation.
Physical Activity in Adults With an Amputation as Assessed With a Self-Reported Exercise Vital Sign.

BACKGROUND Physical activity (PA) is important for the prevention and treatment of numerous chronic medical conditions. Individuals with a limb amputation face unique challenges for staying physically active. There are few studies evaluating PA of civilians with amputation in the United States. OBJECTIVE To evaluate self-reported PA in persons with an amputation in the outpatient setting using a standardized exercise vital sign (EVS) and correlate PA with demographic information, amputation characteristics, and disease burden. DESIGN Cross-sectional observational study. SETTING Outpatient rehabilitation clinic at a tertiary care institution. INTERVENTIONS N/A. PARTICIPANTS Two hundred twenty-nine patients with limb amputation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS EVS (self-reported weekly participation in moderate to vigorous intensity exercise), disease burden using a modified Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), possession of a prosthetic limb, amputation level, time from amputation, body mass index (BMI), gender, race, and age. RESULTS A total of 28.8% of patients with limb amputation self-reported exercising at or above 150 min/wk as recommended by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); 31.8% of patients with transfemoral amputations, 27.8% with transtibial amputations, and 36% with upper extremity amputations reported exercising the recommended amount. Those with a prosthesis exercised 0.91 h/wk more than those without a prosthesis (95% CI 0.01, 1.8, P = .047), and female patients exercised 1.09 h/wk less than male patients (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.69-0.49, P < .001). Increasing age (P = .045), CCI (P = .006), and BMI (P = .005) all had a small but significant correlation with lower EVS. There was no statistically significant correlation between EVS and amputation level, race, or time from amputation. CONCLUSIONS Less than one-third of patients with an amputation meet HHS recommendations for aerobic exercise. Male patients, those with a prosthesis, lower CCI, lower BMI, and younger age reported higher PA rates. Assessing EVS can help clinicians to identify patients with amputation that are not sufficiently active and may benefit from PA counseling and prescription.
Polyphony in Team Communication

When teams are convened, they have many issues to discuss. Some of their conversations occur all at once; while, others require shifting among topics to make key decisions that reflect all the information available. Understanding how these conversations transpire, including when topics are discussed and in what order, may help teams perform effectively. In this chapter, we consider communication polyphony using event history analysis; specifically, we employ proportional hazard models and Andersen-Gill intensity models. This approach results in identifying the relationships among the points in time when teams complete conversations about specific topics. The findings from these analyses highlight the order in which topics are discussed, when action is initiated, how often teams cycle through various topics, and any relationships these points of interest have with team performance. Differences attributable to the conditions under which the teams collaborate are also examined.
Interactive Video Vignettes for Teaching Science

Although interactive videos have been feasible for decades, their use in science teaching has increased very slowly until recently. Interactive Video Vignette (IVV) projects in physics and biology have made it easier to create video-based online activities that foster active learning. IVVs produced by the projects have been tested in college-level physics and biology classes, and there is evidence that they promote learning. Materials created by the projects are available online, including finished IVVs and teacher notes, along with Vignette Studio, a user-friendly software application for making IVVs. Vignette Studio can be used to author IVVs that have sophisticated forms of interactivity such as video-based motion analysis and multiple-select branching. A commercial online homework system, WebAssign, has adopted IVVs for physics. This chapter describes the projects as well as some of their products and research results.
It's Not What You Say But How You Say It: Targeting RNA Methylation in AML

In this month's issue of Cancer Cell, Su et al. (2020) describe two small-molecule inhibitors of the RNA demethylase FTO that demonstrate significant anti-tumor effects in various models of acute myeloid leukemia.
Lymphocytic Esophagitis With Predominance of CD4 T Cells and Expansion of Th1 Cells Is Associated With Achalasia.

Objectives Although histologic features in biopsies suggesting a possibility of achalasia would be helpful diagnostically, such features remain unknown. The goal of this study was to explore the prevalence, histologic features, and immunophenotype of lymphocytic esophagitis (LyE) in achalasia biopsies. Methods The study group consisted of 57 patients with achalasia. Controls comprised 52 patients with severe gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and normal esophageal motility. CD4/CD8 immunophenotype of lymphocytes was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Results LyE was identified in 30% (17/57) of patients with achalasia and 6% (3/52) of patients with GERD, indicating a strong association with achalasia (odds ratio, 6.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.90-25.38). LyE was focal in 59% (10/17) of the cases and diffuse in 41% (7/17). CD4 T-cell predominance over CD8 T cells was observed in 88% of patients with achalasia and LyE. T helper 1 (Th1) cells, but not T helper 2 cells, were expanded in CD4 T cells; in the absence of evident infection, this was compatible with the role of Th1 cells in organ-specific autoimmunity. Conclusions Achalasia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of clinical entities associated with CD4-predominant LyE. Additional studies to explore the significance of Th1 cells in achalasia-associated LyE are warranted.
Exposures to Primary Air Pollutants Generated by Highway Traffic and the Risk of Daily Mortality in Near Road Communities: A Case-Crossover Study.

Most epidemiological studies fail to capture the impact of spatiotemporal fluctuations in traffic on exposure to traffic-related air pollutants in the near-road population. Using a case-crossover design and the Research Line Source Dispersion Model (RLINE) with spatiotemporally resolved highway traffic data, we quantified associations between primary fine particulate matter (PM2.5), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and black carbon (BC) generated by highway traffic and all non-accidental, respiratory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular daily mortality among individuals within 1 km of major highways in the Washington Puget Sound between 2009 and 2013. We estimated these associations using conditional logistic regression, adjusting for time-varying covariates. Although highly resolved modeled concentrations of PM2.5, NOx and BC from highway traffic in the hours before death were used, we found no evidence of an association of mortality with the preceding 24-hour average exposure (odds ratio: 0.99; 95% confidence interval: 0.96-1.02) or shorter averaging periods. This work did not support the hypothesis that the risk of mortality was meaningfully higher with greater exposures to PM2.5, NOx, and BC from highways in near-road populations, though we did incorporate a novel approach to estimate exposures to traffic-generated air pollution based on detailed traffic congestion data.
Regulatory T-cells inhibit microglia-induced pain hypersensitivity in female mice.

Peripheral nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain is a chronic and debilitating condition characterized by mechanical hypersensitivity. We previously identified microglial activation via release of colony stimulating factor 1 (CSF1) from injured sensory neurons as a mechanism contributing to nerve injury-induced pain. Here we show that intrathecal administration of CSF1, even in the absence of injury, is sufficient to induce pain behavior, but only in male mice. Transcriptional profiling and morphologic analyses after intrathecal CSF1 showed robust immune activation in male but not female microglia. CSF1 also induced marked expansion of lymphocytes within the spinal cord meninges, with preferential expansion of regulatory T-cells (Tregs) in female mice. Consistent with the hypothesis that Tregs actively suppress microglial activation in females, Treg deficient (Foxp3DTR) female mice showed increased CSF1-induced microglial activation and pain hypersensitivity equivalent to males. We conclude that sexual dimorphism in the contribution of microglia to pain results from Treg-mediated suppression of microglial activation and pain hypersensitivity in female mice.
Patterns of Spread of Disease from the Pancreas

The pancreas is considered a secondary extraperitoneal organ. During embryologic development, the body and tail of the pancreas are suspended in the peritoneal cavity in the dorsal mesoduodenum and the head in the ventral mesoduodenum. After rotation of the foregut, outpouching of the dorsal mesogastrium, and migration of the midgut, the posterior leaf of the dorsal mesogastrium fuses with the mesentery that attaches to the migrated midgut to form the transverse mesocolon over the pancreas, resulting in the fixation of the pancreas to the extraperitoneum. Because of this development, the pancreas can be connected to organs above the transverse mesocolon, the small and large bowel below the transverse mesocolon, and the extraperitoneal organs. In this chapter, we review developmental anatomy of the pancreas and its ligamentous attachment, and the potential pathways for disease of the pancreas to disseminate.
Statistics of Phase and Magnitude of Structural Transfer Functions

Abstract The statistics of transfer functions has long been of interest in room acoustics because of the necessity of frequency averaging to generate smooth response curves. An important parameter in these statistics is modal overlap, the ratio of modal bandwidth to modal spacing. When this parameter is large, as it often is in room response, the magnitude statistics become fairly simple. The phase statistics in room response have not been greatly studied. Time delays in room acoustics are more often related to pulse arrival statistics using an image model for wall reflections. Structures are different in the behavior of their transfer functions primarily because they tend to have low modal overlap. This means that both the magnitude and phase of their transfer functions need to be reevaluated. This has been done and the results are presented in this paper. Of particular interest are the phase statistics, which appear to be derivable from a random walk model.
Bursting Phenomena in Extended-Least Squares Based Self-Tuning Control

In this paper, bursting phenomena inherent to extended least-squares based self-tuning control are analyzed. It is shown that in the absence of external excitation and without imposing structural conditions on the system model, bursts of the tracking error and consequently drift of the parameter estimates are possible. Our analysis reveals the basic principle of learning and adaptation mechanisms: every increase of system disorder causes corresponding increases of system intelligence. On the other hand, every increase of system precision causes decreases of system intelligence.
Optimizing star-coordinate visualization models for effective interactive cluster exploration on big data

Interactive visual cluster analysis is the most intuitive way for finding clustering patterns, validating algorithmic clustering results, understanding data clusters with domain knowledge, and refining cluster definitions. The most challenging step is visualizing multidimensional data and allowing user to interactively explore the data to identify clustering structures. In this paper, we systematically study the star-coordinate based visualization models and propose the optimized design that presents the best visualization results and supports the most efficient interaction methods. We explain the intuition behind the models and their link with random projection, and then optimize the visual design in terms of the efficiency of visual presentation and interactive operations. We also discuss the randomized visualization generation method, which can be used to generate batches of meaningful visualization results in parallel for big data. Finally, we present the experimental evaluation for the optimal design of models. This study is critical to generating effective visualization and minimizing the computational cost for visualizing data clusters for big data in the cloud.
Diffusion and Dispersion in Open Channel Flow

The lateral turbulent diffusion and longitudinal dispersion coefficients were related to the parameters that make up the structure of the flow. The resistance to flow for these runs varied from 10.6 to 4.4. This relation for the lateral turbulent diffusion coefficient was not affected by the secondary circulation that was present in all of the flows and is the same as that given by other researchers for a large range of flow conditions. The dispersion coefficient varied with resistance to flow and the average velocity. Longitudinal diffusion, which depends on the turbulence of the flow, was an insignificant factor in the dispersion coefficient as compared to the distribution of the local mean velocity in the lateral and vertical directions.
Federal Policy and College Opportunity: Refurbishing a Rusted Dream.

(1993). Federal Policy and College Opportunity. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning: Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 10-15.
Food fight! Immigrant Street Vendors, Gourmet Food Trucks and the Differential Valuation of Creative Producers in Chicago

Immigrant street vendors in Chicago have fought for decades without success to change the restrictive and punitive city ordinance governing their work. The failure of the immigrant street vendors stands in marked contrast to the successful efforts of gourmet food truck entrepreneurs, who within only two years convinced the Chicago City Council to pass an ordinance permitting their work. The differential regulation of street vending reveals how local politicians use the rhetoric of the ‘creative’ city to justify building a city that appeals to young urban professionals, while simultaneously marginalizing the possibilities of working-class immigrants to shape the city to their desires. This article aims to add to the literature on the politics of the creative class by demonstrating how discourses of creativity and entrepreneurialism get mobilized by competing interests, and how racial-ethnic attitudes become integral to these discourses. The contrasting experiences of the vendors force us to ask: Why is the creativity of food truck entrepreneurs valued over the creativity of street vendors when, according to Richard Florida, creative class cities are supposed to be tolerant and immigrant-friendly? Whose ‘creativity’ gets to be part of the ‘creative’ city? I draw on interviews with street vendors and a discourse analysis of media coverage of vending debates.
On the Airside Performance of Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers

The present study focuses on the airside performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers. Contents of this lecture include the data reduction method of the airside perforinance and the updated correlations for the typical fin-and-tube heat exchangers which including plain, wavy, louver, and convex-louver fin patterns. It is strongly recommended that the investigators should clearly address the details of their data reduction methods. In addition, appropriate e-NTU relationships should be carefully examined before applying them to the determination of the heat transfer coefficients. It is also suggested that the entrance and exit loss should be included in the estimation of friction factors.
First Are Last Fractional-Charge Solitons

Jackiw and Rebbi found two types of intrinsically stable or `fundamental' soliton (kinks in 1+1 D and magnetic monopoles in 3+1 D) which can carry pieces of elementary-particle charges. After two decades there are no more, and it is argued here why that is inevitable.
olig2-Expressing hindbrain cells are required for migrating facial motor neurons.

The complicated trajectory of facial motor neuron migration requires coordination of intrinsic signals and cues from the surrounding environment. Migration begins in rhombomere (r) 4 where facial motor neurons are born and proceeds in a caudal direction. Once facial motor neurons reach their target rhombomeres, they migrate laterally and radially from the ventral neural tube. In zebrafish, as facial motor neurons migrate through r5/r6, they pass near cells that express olig2, which encodes a bHLH transcription factor. In this study, we found that olig2 function is required for facial motor neurons to complete their caudal migration into r6 and r7 and form stereotypical clusters. Additionally, embryos that lack mafba function, in which facial motor neurons also fail to complete caudal migration, lack olig2 expression in r5 and r6. Our data raise the possibility that cells expressing olig2 are intermediate targets that help guide facial motor neuron migration. Developmental Dynamics 241:315–326, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Theatre of Creative Involvement: An Introduction to Drama for Children.

This article describes The Theatre of Creative Involvement in terms of its differences from Children's Theatre and Creative Dramatics. It presents the Theatre as consisting of three steps or encounters. It focuses on The Theatre of Creative Involvement as (1) a way to introduce the child to theatre and (2) a way to fulfill the child's basic needs.
Effect of bromide on evoked release of monoamines from brain slices and intact atria.

MANY “psychoactive” drugs seem to influence monoamine metabolism in experimental animals. Such drugs have been suggested to act through their effects on monoamines in the central nervous system1. Bromide is a well known sedative although its mode of action remains uncertain. It has been suggested that the bromide ion interferes with synaptic transmission at cholinergic terminals2, but this has been disputed3. We have investigated the effect of bromide ions on release of other putative neurotransmitters—noradrenaline, serotonin and γ-aminobutyric acid.
Rickettsioses (tick typhus, Q-fever, urban typhus) in Malaya

Tick-borne rickettsiae occur primarily in the climatic climax forest formations which still cover much of peninsular Malaya. The jungle rats (Rattus bowersi, R. canus, R. cremoriventer, R. edwardsi, R. rajah, R. sabanus, R. surifer, R. muelleri, and R. whiteheadi) with their ectoparasitic Dermacentor, Ixodes and Haemaphysalis ticks are the reservoirs of tick typhus and Q-fever rickettsiae.
Structure−Activity Studies for α-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropanoic Acid Receptors: Acidic Hydroxyphenylalanines

Antagonists of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropanoic acid (AMPA) receptors may have therapeutic potential as psychotropic agents. A series of mononitro- and dinitro-2- and 3-hydroxyphenylalanines was prepared, and their activity compared with willardiine, 5-nitrowillardiine, AMPA, and 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenylalanine (6-hydroxydopa) as inhibitors of specific [3H]AMPA and [3H]kainate binding in rat brain homogenates. The most active compounds were highly acidic (pKa 3-4), namely, 2-hydroxy-3,5-dinitro-DL-phenylalanine (13; [3H]AMPA IC50 approximately equal to 25 microM) and 3-hydroxy-2,4-dinitro-DL-phenylalanine (19; [3H]AMPA IC50 approximately equal to 5 microM). Two other dinitro-3-hydroxyphenylalanines, and 3,5-dinitro-DL-tyrosine, were considerably less active. Various mononitrohydroxyphenylalanines, which are less acidic, were also less active or inactive, and 2- and 3-hydroxyphenylalanine (o- and m-tyrosine) were inactive. Compounds 13 and 19, DL-willardiine (pKa 9.3, [3H]AMPA IC50 = 2 microM), and 5-nitro-DL-willardiine (pKa 6.4, [3H]AMPA IC50 = 0.2 microM) displayed AMPA >> kainate selectivity in binding studies. Compound 19 was an AMPA-like agonist, but 13 was an antagonist in an AMPA-evoked norepinephrine release assay in rat hippocampal nerve endings. Also, compound 13 injected into the rat ventral pallidum antagonized the locomotor activity elicited by systemic amphetamine.
Price Patterns in Competitively Clustered Markets

In this paper, numerical analyses of price competition in spatial markets are presented. How equilibrium conditions are affected by the geographic distribution of firms and their pricing behavior is illustrated. Simulated and empirical findings suggest that clustering of competitors in space tends to promote lower overall price levels. It is posited that competitive market clusters may be responsible for the adoption of lower price conjectures. In theory, this suggests that the spatial structure of a market can create context-specific price-reaction functions that are sensitive to the relative locations of firms and distance to nearest and next-nearest rivals. Point-pattern and nearest-neighbor analyses of store locations for rival food chains in a major metropolitan market show that rivals tend to cluster in space, and that chain outlets in competitive market clusters demonstrate a tendency to support lower prices.
Inviting collaborations in stories about a woman

Stories provide rich environments for understanding how invitations to action, and responses to them, are delicately managed and consequential for shaping just how “the story” evolves as a form of social organization. The present analysis focuses on seventeen invited collaborations, as “Two guys” co-author gossip about an absent woman, and on the distinct interactional dilemmas that arise as morally indignant references are occasioned, initially avoided, and yet gradually pursued as resources for escalating affiliation and intimacy. At noticeably risky moments, as the story gets reconfigured – from a reporting about “last night,” to sexualized fantasy enacted through stereotypic portrayals of uneducated Southern males – speakers' intoned and animated voices are revealed as methodically deployed, prosodically constructed, and increasingly choral practices for shaping story trajectories: artfully crafted resources for contextualizing and negotiating concerted actions in ordinary conversation. The analysis concludes by addressing the question: Are these gossiping actions “sexist”?
Place and Crime: Integrating Sociology of Place and Environmental Criminology

Standard sociology and criminology have not been sufficiently sensitive to the unique characteristics that places have. It has been implicitly assumed that one place (be it a neighborhood, census t...
α-Synuclein Conformation Affects its Tyrosine-Dependent Oxidative Aggregation

Oxidative stress and aggregation of the protein α-synuclein are thought to be key factors in Parkinson’s disease. Previous work shows that cytochrome c with H2O2 causes tyrosine-dependent in vitro peroxidative aggregation of proteins, including α-synuclein. Here, we examine the role of each of α-synuclein’s four tyrosine residues and how the protein’s conformation affects covalent oxidative aggregation. When α-synuclein adopts a collapsed conformation, tyrosine 39 is essential for wild-type-like covalent aggregation. This lone N-terminal tyrosine, however, is not required for wild-type-like covalent aggregation in the presence of a denaturant or when α-synuclein is present in noncovalent fibrils. We also show that preformed oxidative aggregates are not incorporated into noncovalent fibrils. These data provide insight into how dityrosine may be formed in Lewy bodies seen in Parkinson’s disease.
BAHD superfamily of acyl-CoA dependent acyltransferases in Populus and Arabidopsis: bioinformatics and gene expression

Plant acyl-CoA dependent acyltransferases constitute a large specific protein superfamily, named BAHD. Using the conserved sequence motifs of BAHD members, we searched the genome sequences of Populus and Arabidopsis, and identified, respectively, 94- and 61-putative genes. Subsequently, we analyzed the phylogeny, gene structure, and chromosomal distribution of BAHD members of both species; then, we profiled expression patterns of BAHD genes by “in silico” northern- and microarray-analyses based on public databases, and by RT-PCR. While our genomic- and bioinformatic- analyses provided full sets of BAHD superfamily genes, and cleaned up a few existing annotation errors, importantly it led to our recognizing several unique Arabidopsis BAHD genes that inversely overlapped with their neighboring genes on the genome, and disclosing a potential natural anti-sense regulation for gene expressions. Systemic gene-expression profiling of BAHD members revealed distinct tissue-specific/preferential expression patterns, indicating their diverse biological functions. Our study affords a strong knowledge base for understanding BAHD members’ evolutionary relationships and gene functions implicated in plant growth, development and metabolism.