cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Combining multiple GPS receivers to enhance relative distance measurements

Inexpensive, commercial available off-the-shelf (COTS) Global Positioning Receivers (GPS) have typical accuracy of ±3 meters when augmented by the Wide Areas Augmentation System (WAAS). There exist applications that require position measurements between two moving targets. The focus of this work is to explore the viability of using clusters of COTS GPS receivers for relative position measurements to improve their accuracy. An experimental study was performed using two clusters, each with five GPS receivers, with a fixed distance of 4.5 m between the clusters. Although the relative position was fixed, the entire system of ten GPS receivers was on a mobile platform. An expensive RTK GPS system, accurate to the centimeter level, was also fixed to the mobile platform and used for comparison. Data was recorded while moving the system over a rectangular track with a perimeter distance of 7564 m. The cluster data was post processed and yielded approximately one meter accuracy for the relative position vector between the two clusters. Furthermore, the 2σ and RMS values were decreased by approximately 13 fold from a worst case scenario.
Design And Computer Analysis Of Bimodal Heavy Metal Fluoride Fibers In The 1.3 µm Wavelength Region

We have studied the design of heavy metal fluoride fibers, having segmented-core refractive index profiles, and operating in a bimodal regime, with small modal dispersion, or good equalization, between the LPN and LP11 modes in 1.3 gm wavelength region. In addition, we have incorporated the concept of effective cut-off, of the LP02 mode, in order to maximize the operating V value. A practical bimodal equalized design example, which has negligible extrinsic losses, is provided in which the equalization between the modes is within ± 25 ps/km over a wavelength interval of 160 nm (- 1.2 μm to 1.36 μm). Hence the predicted bandwidth of the bimodal fiber is high, over a broad wavelength interval.
An approach to processing and evaluation of gamma-ray spectra associated with neutron activation analysis

A data processing routine for gamma-ray spectra associated with neutron activation analysis is described. The program is designed to produce sufficient diagnostics to assess the results of the computation, the performance of the analyzing equipment and the uniformity of the neutron irradiation.
Academic achievement in individuals with infantile nephropathic cystinosis

The present study examined academic skills in children and young adults with infantile nephropathic cystinosis. Cystinosis is a genetic metabolic disorder in which the amino acid cystine accumulates in various tissues and organs, including the kidney, cornea, thyroid, and brain. Individuals with cystinosis have normal intelligence but subtle visual processing impairments. Subjects were 19 children and young adults with cystinosis and 19 age-, sex-, and IQ-matched controls. All subjects had IQs within the normal range. On a test of academic achievement, mean standard scores for cystinosis and control subjects, respectively, were as follows: arithmetic 89.95 ± 13.77 vs. 102.16 ± 9.62; spelling 90.68 ± 18.81 vs. 98.00 ± 10.96; reading 97.47 ± 15.59 vs. 98.58 ± 12.41. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant main effect for Group (P = .009); there was no main effect for Sex, nor was there a Group x Sex interaction. Univariate follow-up tests indicated that the cystinosis group performed significantly more poorly than did controls on the arithmetic subtest (P = .001) and that there was a trend (P = .085) toward poorer performance by the cystinosis group on the spelling subtest. Regression analyses revealed no evidence of a developmental lag or deterioration of function with age. The visual processing deficits previously identified in these individuals may underlie the academic difficulties observed here. It is possible that both visual processing and academic difficulties may reflect a common mechanism of selective cortical damage by this genetic defect. Am. J. Med. Genet. 74:157–161, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Conceptual model of web service reputation

Current Web services standards enable publishing service descriptions and finding services on a match based on criteria such as method signatures or service category. However, current approaches provide no basis for selecting a good service or for comparing ratings of services. We describe a conceptual model for reputation using which reputation information can be organized and shared and service selection can be facilitated and automated.
Getting past the asterisk: the subunit composition of presynaptic nicotinic receptors that modulate striatal dopamine release.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), despite wide distribution, do not play a major role in direct mediation of central synaptic transmission. Instead, these receptors are primarily involved in modulating the release of neurotransmitters, including glutamate, GABA, norepinephrine, dopamine,
Application of Petri-nets in the HERMES data flow machine: an overview

Parallel computer architectures and the data flow computation and architecture are presented. Data-flow networks and Petri nets are used to illustrate data-flow computation. These models express the data dependency between operations of a given system. The HERMES system is presented as an illustrative data flow system. This system is chosen since it has the following significant features: (1) parallelism of operation; (2) pipeline operation for a single image along the levels of the HERMES hierarchy; (3) systolic modes of operation; and (4) multiprocessor configuration. The Petri-net model for this system is presented to illustrate the usefulness of this mathematical tool. Petri-net models are convenient for the representation of semaphores and critical sections, and are useful for locating deadlocks. >
Public Safety Interoperability with an SCA Military Radio using the P25 Waveform

The need for interoperability between the U.S. Military and civilian forces has been demonstrated in matters of homeland security (9/11) and national disaster (Katrina). The APCO Project 25 (P25) waveform was designed in order to improve interoperability between civilian public safety agencies (Police, Fire, etc.). In increasing numbers, APCO Project 25 is being adopted by such civilian agencies across the country. When civilian agencies need to communicate with each other, the most prevalent choices are P25 or Analog FM. For military personnel to work with these civilian agencies, a radio providing both of these modes would be ideal. This currently is achieved by providing the military person with an additional radio for use during these homeland missions. This extra equipment means extra weight, extra batteries, and extra accessories for the soldier, as well as extra procurement and logistics support requirements. In addition, civilian P25 radios are typically capable of operation in only a single frequency band (either VHF or UHF) and typically have only one encryption type (either DES or AES). This means that in some cases P25 radios can not talk to each other due to frequency incompatibility, encryption incompatibility, or both. Modern military radios that employ the JTRS architecture and SCA Operating Environment are capable of supporting multiple waveforms in a single radio. These radios are also capable of a broad spectrum of frequencies. For this reason, it seems like a natural step to implement the P25 waveform for such a radio.
A model of high affinity glutamic acid transport by cortical synaptosomes from the Long-Evans rat.

— The initial velocity of uptake of L-glutamic acid by cortical synaptosomes from the Long-Evans rat has been measured as a function of sodium and glutamic acid concentration. These data were then fitted to the rate equation from each of several possible models, and the model giving minimum error identified. The major predictions from the best fit model are as follows: (1) The order of combination with the carrier should be sodium, sodium, glutamic acid. (2) Uptake should be 100% dependent on the presence of sodium in the incubation medium. (3) At a finite concentration of sodium, Vmx should be independent of the sodium concentration, which implies that translocation of the carrier across the membrane is independent of the sodium concentration. (4) Lineweaver-Burk plots should be linear with slopes depending on the sodium Concentration. (5) There should be co-transport of two sodium ions with each glutamic acid molecule. (6) The dependence of Kt, on the sodium concentration should have the following form: Kt= A/[Na]2+ 8/[Na] +C, where A, B, and C are constants. The results differ substantially from those previously reported for Sprague-Dawley rats. Kt, is 2–5 times less than that for Sprfague-Dawley rats, and the relation of sodium to Kt, is basically different. We also find a coupling ratio of two, whereas previous studies found a coupling ratio of one. Thus the results raise the possibility that there are fundamental differences between Sprague-Dawley and Long-Evans rats with regard to the mechanism by which sodium participates in amino acid transport.
Evidence for a direct role of the disease modifier SCNM1 in splicing

We originally isolated Scnm1 as a disease modifier gene that is required for efficient in vivo splicing of a mutant splice donor site in the sodium channel Scn8a. It was previously unclear whether the modifier effect on splicing was direct or indirect. We now report evidence that sodium channel modifier 1 (SCNM1) has a direct role in splicing. SCNM1 protein interacts with the spliceosome protein U1-70K in the yeast two-hybrid system, and is co-localized with U1-70K in nuclear speckles in mammalian cells. SCNM1 is also co-immunoprecipitated with the spliceosomal core Smith (Sm) proteins and demonstrates functional activity in a minigene splicing assay. In a yeast two-hybrid screen, SCNM1 interacted with LUC7L2, a mammalian homolog of a yeast protein involved in recognition of non-consensus splice donor sites. This interaction requires the acidic C-terminal domain of SCNM1 which is truncated by the disease susceptibility variant Scnm1(R187X) in mouse strain C57BL/6J. Luc7L2 transcripts are widely distributed in mammalian tissues, and undergo alternative splicing and polyadenylation. LUC7L2 is also co-localized with U1-70K and may function with SCNM1 in recognition of weak splice donor sites. In summary, Scnm1 is the first example of a modifier gene which influences disease severity through a trans-effect on splicing of the disease gene transcript.
Images of Media: Hidden Ferment — and Harmony — in the Field

As of now, media scholars have a rather limited shared vocabulary to describe exactly what it is they are studying about media or about a particular medium. This situation is not necessarily a serious problem for the scores of fields and research traditions whose concepts and vocabularies are brought to bear on media research questions, but it is a glaring problem for media studies because, even apart from other differences, we have no common understanding of what the subject matter of the field is.
A comparison of type I thyroplasty and arytenoid adduction

Glottal incompetence is a common laryngeal disorder causing impaired swallowing and phonation. The resultant voice has been characterized as weak and breathy with a restricted pitch range. Currently, medialization thyroplasty and arytenoid adduction are two of the surgical treatments for patients with glottal incompetence. However, few studies have evaluated the changes in objective measures of speech with type I thyroplasty and arytenoid adduction. In this study, 59 patients with glottal incompetence underwent either type I thyroplasty or arytenoid adduction. Acoustic (jitter, shimmer, and harmonics-to-noise ratio) and aerodynamic (airflow, subglottic pressure, and glottal resistance) measures were obtained both pre- and postoperatively. No significant differences were found among acoustic or aerodynamic measures for operation type. However, a significant pre/postsurgery effect was observed for translaryngeal airflow. In addition, no significant differences were found among the measures for patients with traditional compared with nontraditional operative indications. Patients who developed glottal insufficiency due to previous laryngeal surgery (e.g., vocal fold stripping) demonstrated no statistically significant improvement in acoustic or aerodynamic measures following thyroplasty or arytenoid adduction.
Learning to Find Object Boundaries Using Motion Cues

While great strides have been made in detecting and localizing specific objects in natural images, the bottom-up segmentation of unknown, generic objects remains a difficult challenge. We believe that occlusion can provide a strong cue for object segmentation and "pop-out", but detecting an object's occlusion boundaries using appearance alone is a difficult problem in itself. If the camera or the scene is moving, however, that motion provides an additional powerful indicator of occlusion. Thus, we use standard appearance cues (e.g. brightness/color gradient) in addition to motion cues that capture subtle differences in the relative surface motion (i.e. parallax) on either side of an occlusion boundary. We describe a learned local classifier and global inference approach which provide a frame-work for combining and reasoning about these appearance and motion cues to estimate which region boundaries of an initial over-segmentation correspond to object/occlusion boundaries in the scene. Through results on a dataset which contains short videos with labeled boundaries, we demonstrate the effectiveness of motion cues for this task.
Middle Eastern Americans: The Effects of Stigma on Attitudes Toward Counseling

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect of self-stigma of mental illness on the relationship between perceived public stigma of mental illness and attitudes toward counseling. One hundred and two Middle Eastern Americans from universities across the United States participated in the study. Path analysis consisting of multiple regressions revealed that mediation was not met. However, results revealed that participants with greater levels of self-stigma exhibited more negative attitudes toward counseling. Implications for theory, practice, and research are discussed.
Glass transition of thin films of poly(2-vinyl pyridine) and poly(methyl methacrylate): nanocalorimetry measurements

Abstract Glass transitions were observed in thin films of poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (P2VP) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) using a scanning nanocalorimetry technique which has both high sensitivity (10 −9 J/K) and high scan rates (10 4 –10 5 K/s). Samples were deposited by the spin-cast method. The thickness of samples was 100–400 nm. Glass transition temperature, obtained by nanocalorimetry, is shifted toward higher temperatures by 10–20 K and activation enthalpy of glass transition is shifted to lower values by factor of 2–4. The glass transition characteristics of both polymers are discussed in terms of the standard Tool–Narayanaswamy–Moynihan (TNM) multi-parameter model.
Attenuation of spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury by specific α-2a receptor activation with dexmedetomidine.

Background Despite surgical adjuncts, paralysis remains a devastating complication after thoracoabdominal aortic interventions. Dexmedetomidine, a selective α-2a agonist commonly used for sedation in the critical care setting, has been shown to have protective effects against ischemia-reperfusion injuries in multiple organ systems. We hypothesized that treatment with dexmedetomidine would attenuate spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury via α-2a receptor activation. Methods Adult C57BL/6 mice underwent sternotomy, followed by occlusion of the aortic arch for 4 minutes. Eight experimental mice received pretreatment with intraperitoneal dexmedetomidine (25 μg/kg) and at 12-hour intervals after reperfusion. Eight control mice received an equivalent amount of 0.9% normal saline. Five mice underwent the same procedure with dexmedetomidine (25 μg/kg) and atipamezole (250 μg/kg), an α-2a receptor antagonist. Functional analysis of the mice was obtained at 12-hour intervals and scored using the Basso Mouse Scale for Locomotion until 60 hours. All mice were euthanized at 60 hours. Their spinal cords were removed en bloc and were stained with hematoxylin and eosin to assess cytoarchitecture and neuronal viability. Results Mice treated with the α-2a agonist demonstrated preserved motor function compared with ischemic controls and with mice treated with the α-2a antagonist in addition to the agonist. Functional differences in the dexmedetomidine group were statistically significant from 24 hours through the remainder of the experiment ( P Conclusions Treatment of mice with the α-2a agonist dexmedetomidine preserves motor function and neuronal viability after aortic cross-clamping. In addition, mice exhibited almost complete reversal of the protective effect with the administration of the α-2a receptor antagonist atipamezole. Dexmedetomidine appears to attenuate spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury via α-2a receptor-mediated agonism.
Integrating compression and execution in column-oriented database systems

Column-oriented database system architectures invite a re-evaluation of how and when data in databases is compressed. Storing data in a column-oriented fashion greatly increases the similarity of adjacent records on disk and thus opportunities for compression. The ability to compress many adjacent tuples at once lowers the per-tuple cost of compression, both in terms of CPU and space overheads.In this paper, we discuss how we extended C-Store (a column-oriented DBMS) with a compression sub-system. We show how compression schemes not traditionally used in row-oriented DBMSs can be applied to column-oriented systems. We then evaluate a set of compression schemes and show that the best scheme depends not only on the properties of the data but also on the nature of the query workload.
Centralization and Decentralization in Administration and Politics: Assessing Territorial Dimensions of Authority and Power

Throughout the world, diverse countries are implementing programs of decentralization as a means of promoting both democratic and developmental objectives. Unfortunately, however, scholarship has yet to offer a comprehensive framework within which to assess and reform central-local relations. This article seeks to overcome the "division of labor" that has long separated analyses of administrative and political structures, and to provide stronger conceptual vocabulary for describing and analyzing the complexities of centralization and decentralization in both administration and politics. After developing two distinct continua of administrative and political centralization/decentralization, the paper then combines them in a single matrix able to highlight the wide range of strategies and outcomes that emerge from the complex interplay of the two spheres. Depending on where a country lies within the matrix, it is argued, strategies of decentralization may do more harm than good. Strategies of devolution are especially problematic in settings with strong local bosses, and should never be attempted without careful analysis of the preexisting character of central-local ties.
Evaluation of a Care Coordination Measure for the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Medicare Survey

There is widespread interest in assessing care coordination to improve overall care quality. We evaluated a five-item measure of care coordination included in the 2012 Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Medicare survey (n = 326,194 respondents, 46% response rate). This measure includes patient reports of whether their personal doctor discusses their medicines, has medical records and other relevant information, and is informed about care from specialists, and whether the patient gets help in managing care and timely follow-up on test results. A one-factor categorical confirmatory factor analytic model indicated that five items constituted a coherent scale. Estimated health-plan-level reliability was 0.70 at about 102 responses per plan. The composite had a strong unique association with the CAHPS global rating of health care, controlling for the CAHPS core composite scores. This measure can be used to evaluate relative plan performance and characteristics associated with better care coordination.
Cultural expressions of bodily awareness among chronically ill Filipino Americans.

To describe Filipino Americans' cultural traditions surrounding bodily awareness, especially how the principle of balance informs their views, and the link to self-management of chronic illness.This qualitative study used semistructured interviews with 85 Filipino Americans between the ages of 46 and 97 years. Volunteers were recruited from numerous health care sites in 1 geographic location in the United States. Respondents had 1 or more chronic illnesses. Taped and transcribed interviews were coded and evaluated for themes.The concept of balance was central to Filipino Americans' portrayal of bodily awareness of signs and symptoms related to chronic illnesses, as well as to actions they took to manage their chronic illnesses. Efforts were made to control chronic illnesses through a variety of self-care practices. Diet posed a particular challenge because of the symbolic importance of food in Filipino culture and its use in the maintenance of social relationships.The ways in which Filipino Americans combine attention to the body, values of balance and harmony, and emphasis on social well-being result in heightened attention to bodily processes. Filipino Americans' emphasis on bodily awareness suggests that this particular cultural strength can be used to enhance chronic illness management. Awareness of the cultural traditions of Filipino Americans can facilitate patient education about how to manage chronic illnesses.
Kinetics of Germination of Wet-Heat-Treated Individual Spores of Bacillus Species, Monitored by Raman Spectroscopy and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy

Raman spectroscopy and differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy were used to monitor the kinetics of nutrient and nonnutrient germination of multiple individual untreated and wet-heat-treated spores of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus megaterium, as well as of several isogenic Bacillus subtilis strains. Major conclusions from this work were as follows. (i) More than 90% of these spores were nonculturable but retained their 1:1 chelate of Ca2+ and dipicolinic acid (CaDPA) when incubated in water at 80 to 95°C for 5 to 30 min. (ii) Wet-heat treatment significantly increased the time, Tlag, at which spores began release of the great majority of their CaDPA during the germination of B. subtilis spores with different nutrient germinants and also increased the variability of Tlag values. (iii) The time period, ΔTrelease, between Tlag and the time, Trelease, at which a spore germinating with nutrients completed the release of the great majority of its CaDPA, was also increased in wet-heat-treated spores. (iv) Wet-heat-treated spores germinating with nutrients had higher values of Irelease, the intensity of a spore's DIC image at Trelease, than did untreated spores and had much longer time periods, ΔTlys, for the reduction in Irelease intensities to the basal value due to hydrolysis of the spore's peptidoglycan cortex, probably due at least in part to damage to the cortex-lytic enzyme CwlJ. (v) Increases in Tlag and ΔTrelease were also observed when wet-heat-treated B. subtilis spores were germinated with the nonnutrient dodecylamine, while the change in Irelease was less significant. (vi) The effects of wet-heat treatment on nutrient germination of B. cereus and B. megaterium spores were generally similar to those on B. subtilis spores. These results indicate that (i) some proteins important in spore germination are damaged by wet-heat treatment, (ii) the cortex-lytic enzyme CwlJ is one germination protein damaged by wet heat, and (iii) the CaDPA release process itself seems likely to be the target of wet-heat damage which has the greatest effect on spore germination.
Collector's Note: Zambian Emeralds A Recent Find

Everyone knows that the world's leading producer of emeralds is Colombia. However, the second leading producer is relatively unknown to collectors. It is the Kagem mine, the largest emerald mine in...
Teaching a Course on Psychology Ethics to Undergraduates: An Experiential Model

In this article, I detail a course for teaching ethics to undergraduates. In addition to learning about moral philosophy and the ethical principles for psychologists, the purpose of the course is to help students become more sensitive to the complex ethical dilemmas involved in the field of psychology and related disciplines. Participation in a service-learning experience allows students to reflect on ethical implications both in and outside of the classroom.
Effects of metal compounds with distinct physicochemical properties on iron homeostasis and antibacterial activity in the lungs: Chromium and vanadium

In situ reactions of metal ions or their compounds are important mechanisms by which particles alter lung immune responses. The authors hypothesized that major determinants of the immunomodulatory effect of any metal include its redox behavior/properties, oxidation state, and/or solubility, and that the toxicities arising from differences in physicochemical parameters are manifest, in part, via differential shifts in lung iron (Fe) homeostasis. To test the hypotheses, immunomodulatory potentials for both pentavalent vanadium (VV; as soluble metavanadate or insoluble vanadium pentoxide) and hexavalent chromium (CrVI; as soluble sodium chromate or insoluble calcium chromate) were quantified in rats after inhalation (5h/day for 5 days) of each at 100 microg metal/m3. Differences in effects on local bacterial resistance between the two VV, and between each CrVI, agents suggested that solubility might be a determinant of in situ immunotoxicity. For the soluble forms, VV had a greater impact on resistance than CrVI, indicating that redox behavior/properties was likely also a determinant. The soluble VV agent was the strongest immunomodulant. Regarding Fe homeostasis, both VV agents had dramatic effects on airway Fe levels. Both also impacted local immune/airway epithelial cell Fe levels in that there were significant increases in production of select cytokines/chemokines whose genes are subject to regulation by HIF-1 (whose intracellular longevity is related to cell Fe status). Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the role that metal compound properties play in respiratory disease pathogenesis and provide a rationale for differing pulmonary immunotoxicities of commonly encountered ambient metal pollutants.
Modeling and control of the incremental software test process

We present an overview of our current work in modeling and control of the software test process under an incremental life cycle. We first discuss the modeling primitives and their interaction to form a predictive model, and then discuss the direction by which we address the problem of controlling the process.
Critical Race Theory and Ethnographies Challenging the Stereotypes: Latino Families, Schooling, Resilience and Resistance

AbstractIn this article, Villenas and Deyhle use the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to examine Latino schooling and family education as portrayed in seven recent ethnographic studies. They argue that CRT provides a powerful tool to understand how the subordination and marginalization of people of color is created and maintained in the United States. The ethnographic studies of Latino education are filled with the stories and voices of Latino parents and youth. These stories and voices are the rich data by which a CRT lens can unveil and explain how and why “raced” children are overwhelmingly the recipients of low teacher expectations and are consequently tracked, placed in low-level classes and receive “dull and boring” curriculum. The voices of Latino parents reveal how despite the school rhetoric of parent involvement, parents are really “kept out” of schools by the negative ways in which they are treated, by insensitive bureaucratic requirements, and by the ways in which school-conceived parent inv...
Revival of essay writing in economics

Over the years, we have seen an increase in class size at all levels of leaning and across all curricula. As one might expect, the impact of this growth on student performance is constantly questioned. One of the consequences of large classes is the pending extinction of the essay test and dwindling research paper assignments. Scholars in any discipline typically understand that writing brings extraordinary focus to one’s thinking. Our students are losing that experience as large classes make essay grading increasingly onerous. In this paper, based on my experience teaching principles of economics, it is suggested that with the help of technology, writing can make a comeback in large class settings.
Ethnic Attachment among Second Generation Korean Adolescents

(1999). Ethnic Attachment among Second Generation Korean Adolescents. Amerasia Journal: Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 165-180.
A new computerized morphometric analysis for peripheral nerve study.

The c ommonly used methods to quantify axon numbers and mean area include manual and semiautomated procedures. The authors introduce a new fully automated method of morphometric analysis using ImageJ and Paint.net software to improve efficiency and accuracy. A total of s ix rat sciatic nerves were examined for their axon numbers and mean axon area by comparing the manual method or semiautomated MetaVue method with the new ImageJ method. It was observed that the number of axons for manual counting and ImageJ were 4,630 ± 403 and 4,779 ± 352, respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant ( p > 0.5, t -test). The mean axon area measured was 13.44 ± 2.62 µm 2 for MetaVue and 8.87 ± 0.78 µm 2 for ImageJ, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant ( p t -test). The standard error and coefficient of variation of MetaVue were 1.07 and 0.195; and for ImageJ were 0.32 and 0.087. The authors conclude that their new approach demonstrates improved convenience, time efficiency, accuracy, and less operator error or bias.
Effect of physical activity on epigenetic markers for breast cancer

3223 Background: Physical activity reduces breast cancer risk by 20-30%. Thus, it would be important to determine if epigenetic markers for breast cancer can be used to monitor the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for breast cancer prevention. Physical activity may lower the cumulative level of lifetime exposure to circulating estrogens as the result of absent or shorter menstrual cycles. Although the relationship between estrogen and the DNA-methylation of promoter regions of genes is unknown, there is evidence in mice that estradiol and diethylstilbestrol elicit DNA methylation changes that results in uterine tumors. Recently, it has been shown that aberrant DNA methylation of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs), RASSF1A and APC, in benign breast tissue is associated with higher breast cancer risk, measured by the Gail model. Methods: We conducted a case-control study in pre- and post-menopausal women without breast cancer to determine the effect of lifetime physical activity on the DNA methylation status of the APC and RASSF1A TSGs in benign breast tissue. Lifetime physical activity for all types (occupation, household, and exercise and sports) was obtained by an interviewer-administered questionnaire, and converted into metabolic equivalent (MET) hrs/wk. Breast cells were obtained using random periareolar fine-needle aspiration. DNA methylation status for the APC and RASSF1A TSGs in genomic DNA derived from breast cells was determined using methylation-specific PCR. Two independent samples t test analyses was performed to determine the difference between MET hrs/wk for lifetime physical activity and its different types with and without aberrant methylation for the APC and RASSF1A TSGs in breast cells. Results: Thirty-one women participated in the study. Aberrant methylation for the APC, RASSF1A, and APC + RASSF1A genes was noted in 9, 13, and 7 study subjects respectively. Lifetime physical activity was inversely associated with aberrant methylation for the APC and APC + RASSF1A genes, with P = 0.22 and P = 0.29 respectively. Lifetime physical activity for sports and exercise as a type had the highest inverse association with aberrant methylation for the APC and APC + RASSF1A genes, with P = 0.07 and P = 0.24 respectively. Also, lifetime physical activity for occupation as a type had a positive association with aberrant methylation for the APC, RASSF1A, and APC + RASSF1A genes, with P = 0.46, P = 0.21, and P = 0.37 respectively. Conclusions: The study, based on the trend in its current sample, suggests that lifetime physical activity, primarily sports and exercise, is inversely associated with aberrant methylation for the APC and RASSF1A genes individually and the APC + RASSF1A genes combined. Also, higher psychological stress levels at work may reduce the cancer protective effect of occupational physical activity, or that those with lower sports and exercise physical activity over-reported for occupational physical activity.
The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples

On the 27th of August 1991,' the Community and its Member States, at the same time as convening a peace conference on Yugoslavia, created an Arbitration Committee. The Committee was chaired by Mr Robert Badinter, President of the French Constitutional Council, and was furthermore comprised of the Presidents of the German and Italian Constitutional Courts, the Belgian Court of Arbitration and the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal. The mandate given to the Committee was somewhat vague. At the outset it was envisaged that the Committee would rule by means of binding decisions upon request from 'valid Yugoslavian authorities'. Although no consultative procedure was formally established, the Committee was in fact called upon to give one opinion at the request of Lord Carrington, President of the Peace Conference (Opinion No. 1); similar requests were subsequently made by the Serbian Republic, using the Conference as intermediary (Opinions Nos. 2 and 3) and the Council of Ministers of the EEC (Opinions Nos. 4 to 7).
Characters of High Resistance Grounding in Distribution Network Neutral

The test and analysis indicates that the ground of the neutral point in the distribution power network through the high resistors can effectively limit various resonance over voltage,including the arc ground,single-phase-switch and others to protect the network from serial resonance and realize selective relay protection.The high resistance ground has obvious advantages in reliability,safety and economy,which is worth to be popularized in a wider scope.
Ceforanide (BL-S 786) in the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia

Ceforanide (BL-S 786) is a new long-acting parenteral cephalosporin which has the major pharmacologic advantage of requiring only twice a day dosage. We treated 28 adult patients with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia using doses of 500 or 1000 mg every 12 hours. Twenty-four of 28 infections were due toStreptococcus pneumoniae and/orHemophilus influenzae, and all pathogens were susceptible in vitro to both cephalothin and ceforanide. Patients were treated for a mean of 7.5 days, and all showed a good clinical and radiographic response with no mortality. Of the 13 patients withH. influenzae, the organism could still be recovered during therapy in 9/12 and post therapy in 3/8. One clinical superinfection (sepsis due toPseudomonas aeruginosa) occurred during therapy. Side effects with therapy included thrombocytosis (15), asymptomatic eosinophilia (5), and mild elevation of the serum transaminases (3). These studies suggest that ceforanide is a safe and effective agent for the treatment of adult patients with bacterial pneumonia due toS. pneumoniae; further experience in therapy ofH. influenzae is needed because of frequent failure of ceforanide to eradicate this organism from the sputum.
Long-CPI Multichannel SAR-Based Ground Moving Target Indication

The detection of ground moving targets with arbitrary linear motion from an airborne multichannel radar via a long coherent processing interval is considered. The technique maximizes the target signal energy in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images by matching to the target's linear motion profile. A reparameterization of the target's linear motion is developed that decouples the array processing from the image formation process. An explicit approach to forming SAR images focused with respect to a particular along-track velocity is presented. The ground clutter is canceled via an adaptive array technique, which also yields an estimate of the target radial velocity. Because the algorithm generates estimates of the target's along-track and cross-track velocity components, a unique determination of the target's motion parameters is possible. The approach is derived and investigated via simulated point spread functions. Algorithm performance is demonstrated on the GOTCHA SAR ground moving target indication data set.
Effects of an antiplatelet glycoprotein Ib antibody on hemostatic function in the guinea pig.

Previous studies in the guinea pig model system have established a close structural homology between human and guinea pig glycoproteins lb (GPIb) and lib/Ilia (GPIIb/IlIa). Moreover, the murine monoclonal antibody (MoAb) PG-1, which recognizes GPIb in guinea pig platelets and megakaryocytes, exerted full inhibition on von Willebrand factor (vWF)-dependent platelet agglutination without inhibiting aggregation induced by ADP, collagen, or thrombin. The present research extends this animal model system to study of the effects on hemostatic function following the in vivo injection of MoAb PG-1 or its F(ab')2 fragments. A hind limb template bleeding time methodology was developed for use in guinea pigs. Normal bleeding time was determined to be 2.7 ± 0.5 minutes (mean ± SD), with an observed range of two to four minutes. Platelet counts in these same animals were 501 ± 82 × 103/µL. After intraperitoneal (IP) injection of busuhfan, guinea pigs became increasingly thrombocytopenic. As long as the platelet count remained above ~150 × 103/µL, the bleeding time was not more than five minutes; however, further decrease in the platelet count was accompanied by more marked prolongations of the bleeding time. For 14 to 72 hours after IP injection of 1.3 mg/kg intact PG-1 MoAb, a hemorrhagic state was produced with a bleeding time ≫20 minutes. The platelet count concurrently decreased to -50% of its baseline value but could not be further decreased either by raising the initial PG-1 dosage tenfold or by administering a second, equal dose 24 hours after the initial injection. This finding may reflect a heterogeneity of circulating platelets with respect to GPIb, to Fc receptors, or to an interaction between them. After IP injection of 0.63 to 2.5 mg/kg PG-1 F(ab')2 fragment, platelet counts did not decrease more than 21 % below baseline levels in a 72-hour period, and bleeding times never increased by more than one minute over baseline values. Nevertheless, platelets obtained from animals 24 hours after injection of 2.5 mg/kg PG-1 F(ab')2 showed full inhibition of agglutination induced by ristocetin. The response of these platelets to aggregation by asialo-vWF was also severely inhibited as compared with control platelets. PG-1 F(ab')2 produced no effect on aggregation induced by ADP. These studies show that virtually complete functional block of the vWF receptor by F(ab')2 fragments of the anti-GPIb MoAb PG-1 is not sufficient to produce a hemorrhagic state in the guinea pig animal model system. The possible antithrombotic potential of functional inhibition of this receptor remains to be determined. © 1989 by Grune & Stratton, Inc.
Multimodal Image-to-Image Translation by Enforcing Bi-Cycle Consistency

Many image-to-image translation problems are ambiguous, with a single input image corresponding to multiple possible outputs. In this work, we aim to model a distribution of possible outputs in a conditional generative modeling setting. The ambiguity of the mapping is encoded in a low-dimensional latent vector, which can be randomly sampled at test time. A generator learns to map the input, along with the latent code, to an output. We explicitly enforce cycle consistency between the latent code and the output. Encouraging invertibility helps prevent a many-to-one mapping from the latent code to the output during training, also known as the problem of mode collapse, and helps produce more diverse results. We evaluate the relationship between perceptual realism and diversity of images generated by our method, and test on a variety of domains.
Noninvasive Optical Assessment of Implanted Engineered Tissues Correlates with Cytokine Secretion.

Fluorescence lifetime sensing has been shown to noninvasively characterize the preimplantation health and viability of engineered tissue constructs. However, current practices to monitor postimplan...
Epidermal and hair follicle transglutaminases and crosslinking in skin.

Epidermal and hair follicle transglutaminases crosslink structural proteins in the skin by epsilon-(gammaglutamyl)-lysine bonds. This crosslinking produces protein polymers that are extremely insoluble and, until recently, difficult to characterize.
Context-dependent image quality assessment of JPEG compressed Mars Science Laboratory Mastcam images using convolutional neural networks

Abstract The Mastcam color imaging system on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover acquires images that are often JPEG compressed before being downlinked to Earth. Depending on the context of the observation, this compression can result in image artifacts that might introduce problems in the scientific interpretation of the data and might require the image to be retransmitted losslessly. We propose to streamline the tedious process of manually analyzing images using context-dependent image quality assessment, a process wherein the context and intent behind the image observation determine the acceptable image quality threshold. We propose a neural network solution for estimating the probability that a Mastcam user would find the quality of a compressed image acceptable for science analysis. We also propose an automatic labeling method that avoids the need for domain experts to label thousands of training examples. We performed multiple experiments to evaluate the ability of our model to assess context-dependent image quality, the efficiency a user might gain when incorporating our model, and the uncertainty of the model given different types of input images. We compare our approach to the state of the art in no-reference image quality assessment. Our model correlates well with the perceptions of scientists assessing context-dependent image quality and could result in significant time savings when included in the current Mastcam image review process.
No Association Found Between The Medicaid Primary Care Fee Bump And Physician-Reported Participation In Medicaid.

On average, state Medicaid programs paid 59 percent of what Medicare paid for primary care services in 2012. The Affordable Care Act required states in 2013 and 2014 to raise Medicaid payment rates...
Teaching Methods that Help Economics Students to be Effective Problem Solvers

A traditional teaching method, “chalk and talk”, may not help students to develop their ability to think logically and therefore students cannot be effective problem solvers. This paper examines the effect of a combination of two teaching methods: cooperative learning with a think-pair-share technique and a context rich problem on students’ learning. These teaching methods were applied to the author’s Principles of Economics course. This paper obtained several findings. First, students’ more active involvement in the class activity was observed. Second, students’ questions to the instructor changed and they were no longer “How to solve it.” Third, Students’ performance of the course improved. These findings indicate that these teaching methods help students to stand at and walk on the right path to become effective problem solvers, which will enhance their motivation to study and engagement in learning, and the methods are effective.
The effects of the water crisis on population dynamics in the City of Flint, Michigan

Since 2014, residents of Flint, Michigan have dealt with the effects of lead in their municipal system in a series of events known as the Flint water crisis. While several studies have examined the...
Lead sulfide colloidal quantum dot photovoltaic cell for energy harvesting from human body thermal radiation

Abstract In this paper, we present the development of a solution-processed photovoltaic structure designed to convert human body thermal radiation into electricity. An active layer composed of a layer of isopropylamine-capped lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs) covered with a layer of lithium chloride (LiCl) on top is sandwiched between a substrate and an aluminum contact. Experimental measurements reveal that the device was sensitive to infrared radiation with energies lower than the optical bandgap energy of the incorporated nanocrystals (Eg = 1.26 eV), allowing one to harvest thermal radiation from a human body. We used a conceptually different approach to harvest this radiation by intentionally introducing mid-gap states to the lead sulfide quantum dots through passivation with isopropylamine and likely enabling a multi-step photon absorption mechanism.
Strengthening student support: Offering TRiO Student Support Services in the library

Many units on campus play a significant role in student success. Individually, these departments provide services and staff to assist students with various aspects of college life. When these entities collaborate, the impact they have is multiplied and can make services more accessible to students. One such partnership, between the library and TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) at the Miami University-Hamilton Campus, is discussed in this article.
1 H, 13 C and 15 N resonance assignments and structure prediction of translation initiation factor 1 from Clostridium difficile.

Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive, toxin-producing, anaerobic bacterium whose virulence factors and mechanisms of pathogenesis require further investigation. C. difficile infections (CDI) result in the severe and potentially fatal gastrointestinal diseases pseudomembranous colitis and toxic megacolon following extensive broad spectrum antibiotic treatment. The increasing C. difficile fatalities are a result of the bacteria’s growing antibiotic resistance and consequential CDI recurrence, which led to the unmet need for new CDI treatment. Bacterial protein synthesis is an essential metabolic process and an effective target for antibacterial agents. Translation initiation factor 1 from C. difficile (Cd-IF1) is the smallest of the three initiation factors that acts to establish the 30S initiation complex to initiate translation during protein biosynthesis. Here we report the complete NMR 1H, 13C and 15N chemical shift assignments of Cd-IF1 as the basis for NMR structure determination and interaction studies. Secondary structure analyses have identified five β-strands and one short α-helix arranged in the sequential order β1-β2-β3-α1-β4-β5, which is supported by 15N-{1H} heteroNOEs. The assigned chemical shifts were used to conduct structure prediction by CS-Rosetta. The predicted structure suggests that Cd-IF1 adopts the typical β-barrel structure and is composed of an oligomer-binding motif.