cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differences in survival between Caucasians and Asians.

5570Background: To compare the difference in the presentation and survival of Asian subgroups and whites with epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods: Data were extracted from the National Cancer Databa...
The Prevalence and Psychological Cost of Interpersonal Violence in Graduate and Law School

There is a rich research literature linking interpersonal violence to mental health disorders among undergraduate students. However, scholars know less about the prevalence and consequences of vict...
Measuring the importance of context when modeling language comprehension.

It is widely accepted that language requires context in order to function as communication between speakers and listeners. As listeners, we make use of background knowledge — about the speaker, about entities and concepts, about previous utterances — in order to infer the speaker’s intended meaning. But even if there is consensus that these sources of information are a necessary component of linguistic communication, it is another matter entirely to provide a thorough, quantitative accounting for context’s interaction with language. When does context matter? What kinds of context matter in which kinds of domains? The empirical investigation of these questions is inhibited by a number of factors: the challenge of quantifying language, the boundless combinations of domains and types of context to be measured, and the challenge of selecting and applying a given construct to natural language data. In response to these factors, we introduce and demonstrate a methodological framework for testing the importance of contextual information in inferring speaker intentions from text. We apply Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) networks, a standard for representing language in its natural, sequential state, and conduct a set of experiments for predicting the persuasive intentions of speakers in political debates using different combinations of text and background information about the speaker. We show, in our modeling and discussion, that the proposed framework is suitable for empirically evaluating the manner and magnitude of context’s relevance for any number of domains and constructs.
Can We Pave the Pathway to Fracture Prevention

Siu and colleagues summarize the October 2018 National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop on long-term drug therapy to prevent osteoporotic fracture, and Fink and colleagues repor...
Treatment strategies for neuroendocrine liver metastases: an update

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Neuroendocrine liver metastases (NELM) occur in roughly 60–90% of patients with neuroendocrine tumors during the disease course. Understanding the available treatment options ...
Total Gastrectomy for CDH-1 Mutation Carriers: An Institutional Experience

Abstract Background Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death across the world. A subset of gastric cancers demonstrates an inherited genetic predisposition. Individuals with germline mutations in the CDH1 gene incur a lifetime risk for diffuse gastric cancer and benefit from prophylactic gastrectomy. The results for this operative intervention remain relatively undescribed in the literature, despite guidelines supporting its use. Methods We present a single-institution series of patients with confirmed CDH1 mutations who underwent gastrectomy. We describe their presenting symptoms, preoperative screening, clinicopathologic features, and outcomes. Focal outcomes of interest are weight loss and postoperative morbidity. Results Between 2010 and 2018, ten patients with a confirmed CDH1 mutation underwent total gastrectomy with intestinal pouch reconstruction at our institution. Two patients had clinical gastric cancer at the time of their operation at 21 and 60 y of age. Eight patients had prophylactic gastrectomy. All prophylactic patients had undergone prior endoscopic screening without detection of cancer; however, three had occult gastric cancer on pathological examination. Median weight loss after gastrectomy was 10 kg at 6 mo and 11 kg at 1 y. Postoperative morbidity was limited to one anastomotic leak, one hematoma, and one case of pneumonia. All patients remain disease-free with median follow-up of 19 mo. Conclusions Total gastrectomy for patients with a CDH1 mutation is a cancer-preventing operation for a high-risk population. For this series, jejunal pouch reconstruction was performed with encouragingly low postoperative morbidity, weight loss, and good subjective function.
A temporal approach to communicating relationship styles in romantic relationships

This study investigated how a trichotomy of relationships styles—self-focused autonomy, other-focused connection, and mutuality (Harter et al., 1997) are communicated in romantic relationships thro...
Adaptive guidelines for the treatment of gonorrhea to increase the effective life span of antibiotics among men who have sex with men in the United States: A mathematical modeling study.

Background The rise of gonococcal antimicrobial resistance highlights the need for strategies that extend the clinically useful life span of antibiotics. Because there is limited evidence to support the current practice of switching empiric first-line antibiotic when resistance exceeds 5% in the population, our objective was to compare the impact of alternative strategies on the effective life spans of antibiotics and the overall burden of gonorrhea. Methods and findings We developed and calibrated a mathematical model of gonorrhea transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States. We calibrated the model to the estimated prevalence of gonorrhea, the rate of gonorrhea cases, and the proportion of cases presenting symptoms among MSM in the US. We used this model to project the effective life span of antibiotics and the number of gonorrhea cases expected under current and alternative surveillance strategies over a 50-year simulation period. We demonstrate that compared to the current practice, a strategy that uses quarterly (as opposed to yearly) surveillance estimates and incorporates both the estimated prevalence of resistance and the trend in the prevalence of resistance to determine treatment guidelines could extend the effective life span of antibiotics by 0.83 years. This is equivalent to successfully treating an additional 80.1 (95% uncertainty interval: [47.7, 111.9]) gonorrhea cases per 100,000 MSM population each year with the first-line antibiotics without worsening the burden of gonorrhea. If the annual number of isolates tested for drug susceptibility is doubled, this strategy could increase the effective life span of antibiotics by 0.94 years, which is equivalent to successfully treating an additional 91.1 (54.3, 127.3) gonorrhea cases per 100,000 MSM population each year without increasing the incidence of gonorrhea. Study limitations include that our conclusions might not be generalizable to other settings because our model describes the transmission of gonorrhea among the US MSM population, and, to better capture uncertainty in the characteristics of current and future antibiotics, we chose to model hypothetical drugs with characteristics similar to the antibiotics commonly used in gonorrhea treatment. Conclusions Our results suggest that use of data from surveillance programs could be expanded to prolong the clinical effectiveness of antibiotics without increasing the burden of the disease. This highlights the importance of maintaining effective surveillance systems and the engagement of policy makers to turn surveillance findings into timely and effective decisions.
Kindness, Planners’ Response to Vulnerability, and an Ethics of Care in the Time of Covid-19

Last summer, before any of us knew about the pandemic that was going to change all of our lives, I started to write about a puzzle in the planning literature: Why was it that we could find repeated...
Extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma with paraneoplastic eosinophilic myositis

Abstract Extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma is a rare Epstein-Barr virus-associated aggressive lymphoma commonly involving the nasal and upper aerodigestive tract and, less commonly, extranodal sites such as skin and gastrointestinal tract. There is only one case report of paraneoplastic myositis associated with this type of lymphoma. Here in we present a second case of paraneoplastic eosinophilic myositis seen in a patient with extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma. Biopsy of one of the cutaneous nodules showed necrosis of the soft tissue and skeletal muscle with eosinophilic microabscess formation, along with peripheral blood eosinophilia. These nodules and the peripheral blood eosinophilia resolved with treatment of the cutaneous lymphoma.
Dopaminergic Genetic Variation in Young Adolescents: Associations with Sensation-Seeking

Deficient reward functioning, including reward-related personality, is implicated in depression’s etiology. A dopaminergic genetic multilocus genetic profile score (MGPS) has previously been associated with neural reward responsivity but, despite theoretical basis, has not been studied with reward-related personality. Such research is needed to elucidate associations between genetic variation and reward-related personality in a developmentally sensitive population. In the present study, we examined associations between dopaminergic MGPS’s and self-report reward-related personality in two young adolescent samples aged 10–15 years old (Sample 1: N = 100 girls, 82% White, 18% Other; Sample 2: N = 141, 65 girls, 76 boys, 89.36% White, 10.64% Other) using an established MGPS and an augmented MGPS. A “mini” meta-analysis synthesized results across samples. In Sample 1, an exploratory mediation analysis intended to gauge effect size for future work tested a path between the MGPS and depression through significant reward traits. In each independent sample, both MGPS’s showed significant associations with sensation-seeking but not social drive, a pattern that persisted following correction. Effect sizes of novel variants were at least as robust as established variants, suggesting their added utility. Additionally, the exploratory mediation analysis suggested no noteworthy indirect effect, but a small (R2 = 0.022), statistically non-significant direct effect of the MGPS predicting prospective depressive symptoms. Results suggest that dopaminergic genetic variation is associated with the reward-related personality trait of sensation seeking but not social drive. Additional work is needed to probe whether sensation seeking may be a path through which this genetic variation confers depression risk.
One: but not the same

Ordinary judgments about personal identity are complicated by the fact that phrases like “same person” and “different person” have multiple uses in ordinary English. This complication calls into question the significance of recent experimental work on this topic. For example, Tobia (Anal 75: 396–405, 2015) found that judgments of personal identity were significantly affected by whether the moral change described in a vignette was for the better or for the worse, while Strohminger and Nichols (Cogn 131: 159–171, 2014) found that loss of moral conscience had more of an effect on identity judgments than loss of biographical memory. In each case, however, there are grounds for questioning whether the judgments elicited in these experiments engaged a concept of numerical personal identity at all (cf. Berniūnas and Dranseika in Philos Psychol 29: 96–122, 2016; Dranseika in AJOB Neurosci 8: 184–186, 2017; Starmans and Bloom in Trends Cogn Sci 22: 566–568, 2018). In two pre-registered studies we validate this criticism while also showing a way to address it: instead of attempting to engage the concept of numerical identity through specialized language or the terms of an imaginary philosophical debate, we should consider instead how the identity of a person is described through the connected use of proper names, definite descriptions, and the personal pronouns “I”, “you”, “he”, and “she”. When the experiments above are revisited in this way, there is no evidence that the differences in question had an effect on ordinary identity judgments.
Argentina and Great Britain: Studying an Asymmetrical Relationship through Domestic Material Culture

For Argentina, and particularly Buenos Aires, no economic relations were more intense in the 19th century than those it maintained with Great Britain. Its whole industrial, trade, and financial structure depended on Britain, despite the fact that Argentina was not a colony, nor was there a British military force or a centralized institutional system to defend investments. The origins of this relationship can be traced to the events of the late 18th century, when consumer goods from Great Britain achieved absolute supremacy in Buenos Aires due to certain peculiarities in the city’s history.
Gray and Binary Encoding in the (1+1)-EA

The expected first passage time to optimality is used to analyze the relative performance of Gray and binary encoding for five variants of the (1+1)-EA.
The oxidative effect of bacterial lipopolysaccharide on native and cross-linked human hemoglobin as a function of the structure of the lipopolysaccharide.

The binding of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, also known as bacterial endotoxin) to human hemoglobin is known to result in oxidation of hemoglobin to methemoglobin and hemichrome. We have investigated the effects of the LPSs from smooth and rough Escherichia coli and Salmonella minnesota on the rate of oxidation of native oxyhemoglobin A0 and hemoglobin cross-linked between the α-99 lysines. For cross-linked hemoglobin, both smooth LPSs produced a rate of oxidation faster than the corresponding rough LPSs, indicating the importance of the binding of LPS to the hemoglobin. The effect of the LPS appeared to be largely on the initial fast phase of the oxidation reaction, suggestingmodification of the heme pocket of the α chains. For hemoglobin A0, the rates of oxidation produced by rough and smooth LPSs were very similar, suggesting the possibility that the effect of the LPSs was to cause dissociation of hemoglobin into dimers. The participation of cupric ion in the oxidation process was demonstrated in most cases. In contrast, the rate of oxidation of cross-linked hemoglobin by the LPSs of both the rough and smooth E. coli was not affected by the presence of chelators, suggesting that cupric ion had previously bound to these LPSs. Overall, these data suggest that the physiological effectiveness of hemoglobin solutions now being developed for clinical use may be decreased by the presence of lipopolysaccharide in the circulation of recipients.
ONLINE EDUCATION TOOLS

Academic institutions are increasingly utilizing online education as a hybrid teaching approach to support face-to-face teaching and learning. Universities are also offering academic degrees through online education, and the private and nonprofit sectors are providing training offerings for their employees and members online. The U.S. military has been a leader in investing distance education to train geographically dispersed troops. Further, the U.S. government has attempted to develop advanced distributive learning initiatives through online education.
Evolution and Emergence: Systems, Organisms, Persons

Introduction I. PHILOSOPHY 1. Reduction - how did we fall into it and can we emerge from it? 2. Reduction, emergence, and the mind/body problem 3. Who's in charge here? And who's doing all the work? 4. Three levels of emergent phenomena II. SCIENCE 5. Science, complexity, and the nature of existence 6. Emergence in the physical sciences: lessons from the particle physics and condensed matter debate 7. True to life? Biological models of origin and evolution 8. Nonlinear science and the cognitive hierarchy 9. The emergence of causally efficacious mental function III. THEOLOGY 10. Reductionism and emergence: implications for the theology and science dialogue 11. Emergence, scientific naturalism, and theology 12. Emergent realities with causal efficacy - philosophical and theological applications 13. Reduction and emergence in artificial life: a theological appropriation 14. Toward a constructive Christian theology of emergence Postscript
Regulation of Food Intake in Ruminants. 6. Influence of Caloric Density of Pelleted Rations

Abstract The objectives of this experiment were to determine voluntary feed and energy intake of rations varying in digestibility and density and to describe rations on which intake is limited by fill. A basic concentrate mixture was diluted from 5 to 50% at 5% increments with each of four diluents: (A) oak sawdust, (B) oak sawdust with constant 3% kaolin clay, (C) verxite, an expanded hydrobiotite, and (D) as (A), except nitrogen was kept constant at 17.4% crude protein equivalent. Thus, 40 rations were evaluated. The rations were pelleted. Each ration sequence (A–D) was fed to four sheep maintained in metabolism stalls. Density of the rations was measured on a dry basis and by water displacement. Dry matter intake (g/W kg .75 ) increased as the digestible energy per gram increased to 2.5kcal for Ration Sequences A, B, and D. With rations having digestible energy values above 2.5 kcal/g, dry matter intake decreased and digestible energy intake (kcal/W kg .75 ) remained static. Apparently, fill limited intake of these sheep when the digestible energy of the rations was less than 2.5 kcal/g, whereas above this level energy intake was regulated. Comparable values for caloric density were 1.45 kcal/ml (based on a dry feed density) and 3.48 kcal/ml (based on water displacement density). The sheep rejected the C sequence of rations when the digestible energy was less than 3.0 kcal/g (greater than 15% verxite), possibly because the rations were unpalatable.
Ultrastructural responses of vessel contact cells in cotton plants resistant or susceptible to infection by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum

When vascular elements of cotton plants became infected with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum , contact parenchyma cells surrounding the initially infected vessels responded with changes in their ultrastructural characteristics that could be categorized into three groups. In one group, contact cells were invaded by the fungus and rapidly disintegrated within 24 h after inoculation. In the second group, the cytoplasm in contact cells degenerated within 48 h after inoculation but without apparent hyphal invasion. The evidence suggests that this cytoplasmic degeneration may represent a type of defence response. In the third group, which comprised the majority of contact cells, the cytoplasm remained uninvaded and appeared healthy after inoculation; however, it showed ultrastructural evidence of cytoplasmic reorganization and increased metabolic activity that resulted in the deposition of a complex wall apposition, as well as the development of osmiophilic droplets in the cytoplasm and their apparent secretion through the plasmalemma into the apposition layers and vessel lumens. Lateral colonization by the fungus into the vascular parenchyma cells in both cvs Seabrook Sea Island SBSI and Rowden seemed to be prevented by these cellular responses. The responses, however, were produced faster and were more pronounced in the contact cells of the resistant cultivar than in the susceptible cultivar. Thus is appears that quantitative differences in these reactions may contribute to the degree of resistance to Fusarium .
Four Principles of Optimal Tax System Design

Although optimal tax theory dominates both tax economics and tax law scholarship in the upper academic ranks, legal academics make remarkably little use of it in their day-to-day work. This is unfortunate. Although I am unwilling to accord efficiency the primacy that optimal tax theory gives it, the behaviorally distortive effects of tax rules should be of concern regardless of one’s normative perspective. Distortive effects are not merely inefficient; they affect fairness and administrability as well. We know, for example, that if the relevant supply or demand curve of a nominal taxpayer is elastic, she is unlikely to bear the ultimate burden of a tax or rule. If so, the burden of a tax or rule that is supposed to be borne by one group may in fact be shifted to another. Tax shelters and the administrative problems they create similarly cannot be understood without taking into account the behaviorally distortive effects of the rules on which they rely.The paper proposes four nonmathematical principles that, consistently applied, should result in rules that minimize such distortion:1. Tax liability should not turn on factors as to which taxpayer is relatively indifferent (“relative indifference”).2. The least distortive tax base for any taxpayer is whatever that taxpayer would seek to maximize in the absence of taxation (“taxing the maximand”).3. If what taxpayer would seek to maximize in the absence of taxation is a number already computed for non-tax purposes, tax administrative costs will be minimized if the tax base equals that reported number (“taxing the reported maximand”).4. Taxpayers should be classified for tax purposes by reference to whatever it is they would seek to maximize in the absence of taxation (“classification by maximand”).All else being equal, rules consistent with these four principles are more likely to be efficient, more likely to effect intended distributive goals, and less likely to invite tax avoidance than rules that are not.The paper then illustrates the power of these principles by applying them to a problem that has long resisted solution: design of a minimally distortive system for taxing corporations, particularly multinational groups. Such a minimally distortive system, it concludes, would tax all publicly-reporting corporate groups, domestic and foreign alike, on their adjusted book income, computed on a consolidated basis and allocated among jurisdictions using a single factor formula based on sales adjusted by industry-average profit-to-sales ratios.
Tactile stimulation as an aid for the deaf in production and reception of speech: Preliminary studies

The present studies are an initial part of a project, the aim of which is development of a cutaneous communication aid for those born profoundly deaf or who become profoundly deaf before acquiring speech and language. A vocoder-type speech analyzer was interfaced to the tactile and visual displays of an Optacon (a reading aid for the blind) so that a time-varying spectral representation of the acoustic signal was displayed. In the production studies, 12 profoundly deaf children, 2-4 years old, were divided into three groups. Progress was assessed in terms of relative frequency of CV production. The group using the visual display and the group using the tactile display showed significant progress. The control group showed no progress. In perception studies adults served as subjects. They were trained and tested on identification of 1) duration, 2) vowels, and 3) spondee words. The tasks were increasingly difficult in the order named. Subjects showed gradual improvement during six weeks of training.
Homotopies in Classical and Paraconsistent Modal Logics.

Topological semantics for modal logics has recently gained new momentum in many different branches of logic. In this paper, we will consider the topological semantics of both classical and paraconsistent modal logics. This work is a new step in the research program that focuses on paraconsistent systems from geometric and topological point of view. Here, we discuss the functional transformations in paraconsistent and classical modal cases: how to transform one classical or paraconsistent topological model to another, how to transform one transformation to another in a validity preserving way. Furthermore, we also suggest a measure to keep track of such change.
Mitochondrially-imported RNA in drug discovery.

Preclinical Research The import of nuclear transcribed RNAs into mitochondria is an emerging area that presents a tremendous opportunity to develop human metabolic therapeutics. However, our knowledge base is quite limited. Much remains to be discovered regarding specific RNA localization and mechanisms of import. To identify novel RNAs imported into mitochondria, all RNAs within the mitochondria were characterized using next generation sequencing technology. Several nuclear transcribed RNAs were found within mitochondrial RNA (mtRNA) samples, including nuclear ribosomal RNAs, gamma satellite RNA and VL30 retroelement RNA. The presence of these RNAs within mitochondria coupled with RNA sequencing data from other laboratories investigating mtRNA processing, lead us to hypothesize that nuclease treatment of mitoplasts is insufficient for removing contaminating cytoplasmic RNAs. In contrast to traditional methodology, mitochondrial import was evaluated by qRT-PCR after stepwise removal of the outer mitochondrial membrane and subsequent lysis of mitochondria. This allowed identification of RNAs lost from the mitochondria with the same kinetics as mitochondrial DNA-transcribed RNAs. This approach provided an improved evaluation of nuclear RNA enrichment within mitochondrial membranes to characterize nuclease protection and mitochondrial import and identify false-positive detection errors. qRT-PCR results confirmed the presence of VL30 retroelement RNA within mitochondria and question the hypothesis that the RNA component of RNase P is imported. These results illustrate a reliable approach for evaluating the presence of RNAs within mitochondria and open new avenues of investigation relating to mtRNA biology and in targeting mitochondrial based therapeutics. Drug Dev Res 76 : 8261–71, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Basal and postprandial metabolic rates in lactating and nonlactating women.

Basal and postprandial metabolic rates were determined by indirect calorimetry in lactating, nonlactating postpartum, and nulliparous women who received a controlled diet of protein at 1.0 g.kg-1.d-1 and energy that approximated usual intake levels on the basis of diet records. Milk production was measured by the test-weighing procedure and by milk expression. Basal metabolic rates (BMRs) were similar among all groups of women. No relationships were detected between BMRs and postpartum time in lactating women. In contrast, postprandial metabolic rates (PMRs) increased (P less than 0.01) in lactating compared with nonlactating women. Milk nitrogen concentrations but not energy showed a linear relationship with PMR (r = 0.86, P less than 0.001). The energy cost of milk production was estimated to be 125% of the energy output in milk. Thus, increased energy needs during lactation are associated not only with milk production but also with elevated PMRs. This increase was met by an increase in dietary energy intakes of 50% above the intakes of nonlactating counterparts.
Effect Of Koh Concentration On Leo Cycle Life Of Ipv Nickel-hydrogen Flight Battery Cells

A breakthrough in the low-earth-orbit (LEO) cycle life of individual pressure vessel (IPV) nickel hydrogen battery cells is reported. The cycle life of boiler plate cells containing 26 percent potassium hydroxide (KOH) electrolyte was about 40,000 LEO cycles compared to 3500 cycles for cells containing 31 percent KOH. The effect of KOH concentration on cycle life was studied. The cycle regime was a stressful accelerated LEO, which consisted of a 27.5 min charge followed by a 17.5 min charge (2 x normal rate). The depth of discharge (DOD) was 80 percent. The cell temperature was maintained at 23 C. The next step is to validate these results using flight hardware and real time LEO test. NASA Lewis has a contract with the Naval Weapons Support Center (NWSC), Crane, Indiana to validate the boiler plate test results. Six 48 A-hr Hughes recirculation design IPV nickel-hydrogen flight battery cells are being evaluated. Three of the cells contain 26 percent KOH (test cells) and three contain 31 percent KOH (control cells). They are undergoing real time LEO cycle life testing. The cycle regime is a 90-min LEO orbit consisting of a 54-min charge followed by a 36-min discharge. The depth-of-discharge is 80 percent. The cell temperature is maintained at 10 C. The cells were cycled for over 8000 cycles in the continuing test. There were no failures for the cells containing 26 percent KOH. There were two failures, however, for the cells containing 31 percent KOH.
Simultaneous skin permeation of dideoxynucleoside-type anti-HIV drugs

Abstract The effects of vehicle and enhancer on the simultaneous skin permeation of three dideoxynucleoside-type anti-HIV drugs, Zalcitabine (DDC), Didanosine (DDI), and Zidovudine (AZT), were studied using hairless rat skin at 37°C. After the three drugs were saturated in various volume fractions of ethanol/tricaprylin or ethanol/water cosolvent system for 48 h at 37°C, an in vitro skin permeation study was conducted using Valia-Chien permeation cells for 30 h. In both ethanol/tricaprylin and ethanol/water cosolvent systems, the skin permeation rates of DDC, DDI, and AZT increased as the volume fraction of ethanol increased, reached maximum values at 50% (v/v) and 70–80% (v/v) of ethanol, respectively, and then decreased with further increase in ethanol volume fraction. Addition of 5.0% (v/v) of permeation enhancer, i.e., oleic acid (OA), in the ethanol/water (80:20) cosolvent system significantly increased the skin permeation of these drugs with reduced lag time, but not in the ethanol/tricaprylin (50:50) system. Permeation rates of these drugs increased as OA concentration in the ethanol/water (80:20) cosolvent system increased. The skin permeation of ethanol was also investigated to study the enhancing mechanism of vehicle and oleic acid. In the ethanol/water cosolvent system, the skin permeation rate of ethanol also increased as the volume fraction of ethanol increased, reached the maximum value at 70% (v/v) of ethanol, and decreased with further increase in ethanol volume fraction. Moreover, the permeability coefficient of DDC, DDI and AZT showed a good linear relationship with the permeation rate of ethanol up to 70% (v/v) of ethanol volume fraction. Addition of OA in the ethanol/water (80:20) cosolvent system further increased the skin permeation of ethanol, which suggests the mutual skin permeation enhancing-effect of ethanol and OA.
Barking pigs: differences in acoustic morphology predict juvenile responses to alarm calls

Alarm calls given by adults and juveniles sometimes elicit different responses in receivers, with the alarm calls of adults being more provocative than those of juveniles. We examined this possibility in the domestic pig, Sus scrofa domesticus . We hypothesized that alarm barks given by adults and juveniles would differ acoustically, and that weaned juvenile pigs would respond more strongly to the barks of adult sows than they would to the barks of peers. In support of our hypothesis, we found that the barks of adult sows were louder and had lower values for peak frequency parameters than those of juveniles. We conducted a playback experiment and found that juvenile pigs responded as if the barks of unfamiliar sows were more alarming than the barks of unfamiliar juvenile pigs or ambient noise (control sound), even after controlling for playback volume. We conclude that differences in acoustic morphology enable domestic pigs to discriminate between barks of adult sows and juveniles, with the former evoking a stronger response.
The Influence of Local Urban Containment Policies and Statewide Growth Management on the Size of United States Urban Areas

. In an attempt to slow the consumption of urban land for a given population, and the negative outcomes thought by some to be generated by such sprawl, regulations in the form of (i) the local imposition of urban containment policies that restrict or prohibit the amount and/or the type of urban settlement beyond a certain line and (ii) the statewide enactment of mandatory growth management requirements for all local governments have been enacted in the United States. This paper describes a regression-based analysis that finds that different forms of these policies are achieving their desired goal of shrinking the square mile size of an urban area. A comparison of the influence of the various forms of urban containment and growth management policies with other “natural evolution,”“flight from blight,” and “fiscalization of land use” factors that also influence the square mile size of an urban area is made, and policy implications are offered.
On the statistical determination of major gene mechanisms in continuous human traits: Regressive models

We consider the analysis of a continuous trait measured on human families and pedigrees to elucidate the mechanism of underlying major genes. Thinking in terms of the naturally Markovian structure of the dependencies in pedigrees rather than variance components, we describe natural classes of regressive models that are computationally feasible. These models can accommodate wide generalizations of the residual variation, and so should provide a stronger basis than other models. proposed to date for inferring the segregation and linkage relationships of major genes.
Identification of hTLR10: a novel human Toll-like receptor preferentially expressed in immune cells

Abstract Herein we describe the isolation of a cDNA encoding a novel human Toll-like receptor (hTLR) that we term hTLR10. Human TLR10 contains 811 amino acid residues. Deduced amino acid sequence analysis reveals that like the other known hTLRs (hTLR1–9) it is characterized by a signal peptide followed by multiple leucine-rich repeats (LRRs), a cysteine-rich domain, a transmembrane sequence and a cytoplasmic domain homologous to that of the human interleukin-1 receptor. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that among all the hTLRs, hTLR10 is most closely related to hTLR1 and hTLR6; the overall amino acid identity is 50% and 49%, respectively. hTLR10 mRNA is most highly expressed in lymphoid tissues such as spleen, lymph node, thymus, and tonsil. Expression analysis of cell lines indicates a predominance in a variety of immune cell types. Thus, hTLR10 is preferentially expressed in tissues and cells involved in immune responses.
A general technique for querying XML documents using a relational database system

There has been recent interest in using relational database systems to store and query XML documents. Each of the techniques proposed in this context works by (a) creating tables for the purpose of storing XML documents (also called relational schema generation), (b) storing XML documents by shredding them into rows in the created tables, and (c) converting queries over XML documents into SQL queries over the created tables. Since relational schema generation is a physical database design issue -- dependent on factors such as the nature of the data, the query workload and availability of schemas -- there have been many techniques proposed for this purpose. Currently, each relational schema generation technique requires its own query processor to efficiently convert queries over XML documents into SQL queries over the created tables. In this paper, we present an efficient technique whereby the same query-processor can be used for all such relational schema generation techniques. This greatly simplifies the task of relational schema generation by eliminating the need to write a special-purpose query processor for each new solution to the problem. In addition, our proposed technique enables users to query seamlessly across relational data and XML documents. This provides users with unified access to both relational and XML data without them having to deal with separate databases.
Induction Therapy in Cardiac Transplantation: When and Why?

Induction therapy has continued to be a subject of controversy in heart transplantation for more than 20 years. It is an example of a therapy that is logical, and ought to be better than "doing without." However, a careful review of the evidence suggests otherwise. Except for patients where the benefits clearly outweigh the short and long-term risks, the use of induction therapy should be avoided. In immunosuppression, as in life, there is no "free lunch." Clinicians need to be certain they fully understand what they are ordering when asking for induction therapy to be administered to their patients.
Analysis of a Diffusion-Convection System Modeling a Contamination Problem

A system of coupled diffusion-convection equations which model a contamination problem are analyzed. The equations are reformu-lated as an abstract problem which is used to obtain existence, uniqueness and posit ivity results for the solutions. A minimum principle is also proved and a special class of solutions which have bearing on the model are derived
Evaluation of information technology investment

Traditional accounting methods used for evaluating new information technology (IT) projects such as Net present value (NPV) and Internal rate of return (IRR) have been criticized in the academic and practitioners’ literature as being grossly inadequate. This is because these methods do not quantify benefits that are considered to be intangible. Similarly, they do not incorporate many “hidden” costs associated with new IT projects. Thus, traditional methods have been stated to be only appropriate for simple “cost saving” projects and not for evaluating complicated IT investments. New methods suggested in the academic literature have been criticized as being too esoteric for practitioners. Presents the results of a case study and shows how many intangible benefits previously ignored can actually be quantified and incorporated in traditional NPV models by holding discussions with personnel of all departments affected by the new IT. Also demonstrates how many of the costs considered hidden (and thus ignored) ...
Integrated low-power CMFB-free variable-gain amplifier for ultrasound diagnostic applications

An integrated current-feedback variable-gain amplifier (VGA) suitable for low-power ultrasound diagnostic applications is presented in this paper, which provides variable gain to accommodate large input dynamic range of ultrasonic receiver. With a proposed active feedback technique, the amplifier maintains a constant bandwidth at different gain levels. Signal distortion due to the bandwidth shift is thus avoided. Compared to most Bipolar and BiCMOS counterparts, the proposed VGA is implemented in a low-cost CMOS process, without compromising the performance. In addition, it employs a resistive feedback network to automatically set the output DC voltage, without using any extra common-mode feed-back (CMFB) circuits, making the design simple and effective. The proposed VGA was fabricated and tested with a standard 0.35-µm CMOS process, with an active die area of only 0.052 mm2. The static power dissipation is 2.18 mW with a power supply of 3.0 V. The VGA exhibits a constant bandwidth of 4.5 MHz with a variable gain ranging from 0 to 46 dB. The system is well stabilized with a phase margin of 71.3° at the worst case. Comparisons to the state-of-the-arts demonstrate very competitive performance of this work.
The Influence of Age at Degree Completion on College Wage Premiums

Although studies have shown a significant wage gain associated with the possession of a college degree, few have considered at what age the degree was received to estimate this college wage premium. Given the recent increase in the enrollment of older students, this study examines how the size of the premium is affected by college timing while focusing on a possible gender difference. Results from fixed-effects models show that those who complete their degree at 25 or older receive a significantly lower premium than those who graduate at a younger age, while the penalty for late graduation is much smaller for women than men. A further analysis suggests that the late college penalty is partly due to the delayed onset of the cumulative benefits higher education provides, and that women are penalized less for late degree completion because they gain less from college education over the course of time to begin with.
Measurement of diffusion length, lifetime, and surface recombination velocity in thin semiconductor layers

A small-signal admittance method is developed for the determination of two important parameters affecting the performance of several semiconductor devices with thin layers such as I2L and MOS transistors, OCI-HLE, BSF and TJ solar cells. These parameters, the minority-carrier diffusion length (or the minority-carrier lifetime) and the surface recombination velocity, are found using a combination of low-frequency and high-frequency admittance measurements. The theoretical base of the method and experimental results showing its application and usefulness are presented.
Absorption Spectrum of Phytoplankton Pigments Derived from Hyperspectral Remote-Sensing Reflectance

Abstract For a data set collected around Baja California with chlorophyll-a concentration ((chl-a)) ranging from 0.16 to 11.3 mg/m3, hyperspectral absorption spectra of phytoplankton pigments were independently inverted from hyperspectral remote-sensing reflectance using a newly developed ocean-color algorithm. The derived spectra were then compared with those measured from water samples using the filter-pad technique, and an average difference of 21.4% was obtained. These results demonstrate that the inversion algorithm worked quite well for the coastal waters observed and suggest a potential of using hyperspectral remote sensing to retrieve both chlorophyll-a and other accessory pigments.
Accomplishing deterministic XML query optimization

As the popularity of XML (eXtensible Markup Language) keeps growing rapidly, the management of XML compliant structured-document databases has become a very interesting and compelling research area. Query optimization for XML structured-documents stands out as one of the most challenging research issues in this area because of the much enlarged optimization (search) space, which is a consequence of the intrinsic complexity of the underlying data model of XML data. We therefore propose to apply deterministic transformations on query expressions to most aggressively prune the search space and fast achieve a sufficiently improved alternative (if not the optimal) for each incoming query expression. This idea is not just exciting but practically attainable. This paper first provides an overview of our optimization strategy, and then focuses on the key implementation issues of our rule-based transformation system for XML query optimization in a database environment. The performance results we obtained from experimentation show that our approach is a valid and effective one.
A case for review of anatomy and physiology

Abstract Nursing faculty must make decisions about course content. Thus, the question arises as to whether nursing students think it is helpful to include a review of anatomy and physiology prior to discussing the nursing care. An instructor and course-specific assessment revealed that students believed it was beneficial. This finding is consistent with the teaching/learning literature, which stresses the importance of linking past learning to new learning (Smilkstein [2003]. We're born to learn. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press; Sousa, D.A. [2005]. How the brain learns. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press).
Northern Islands, human error, and environmental degradation: A view of social and ecological change in the Medieval North Atlantic

Between ca. 790 and 1000 AD, Scandinavian settlers occupied the islands of the North Atlantic: Shetland, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland. These offshore islands initially supported stands of willow, alder, and birch, and a range of non-arboreal species suitable for pasture for the imported Norse domestic animals. Overstocking of domestic animals, fuel collection, ironworking, and construction activity seems to have rapidly depleted the dwarf trees, and several scholars argue that soil erosion and other forms of environmental degradation also resulted from Norse landuse practices in the region. Such degradation of pasture communities may have played a significant role in changing social relationships and late medieval economic decline in the western tier colonies of Iceland and Greenland. This paper presents simple quantified models for Scandinavian environmental impact in the region, and suggests some sociopolitical causes for ultimately maladaptive floral degradation.
Hysteretic synchronization of nonlinear spin-torque oscillators

We report the observation of hysteretic synchronization of point-contact spin-torque nano-oscillators by a microwave magnetic field. The hysteresis is asymmetric with respect to the frequency detuning of the driving signal and appears in the region of a strong dependence of the oscillation frequency on the bias current. Theoretical analysis shows that hysteretic synchronization occurs when the width of the synchronization range, enhanced by the oscillator's nonlinearity, becomes comparable to the dissipation rate, while the observed asymmetry is a consequence of the nonlinear dependence of frequency on the bias current. Hysteretic synchronization is a general property of strongly nonlinear oscillators, and can therefore be expected to affect the dynamics of a variety of physical systems.
Electron paramagnetic resonance in exchange-coupled systems with unlike spins

Electron paramagnetic resonance in exchange-coupled systems with unlike spins (i.e, different $g$ factors) is studied in the strong-isotropic-exchange limit. Arguments are advanced which show that in the long-wavelength low-frequency regime the dynamic magnetic susceptibility has a hydrodynamic component which can be identified with the dynamic susceptibility associated with the total spin. In an applied field the dynamic transverse susceptibility for the total spin develops an exchange-narrowed resonant peak. An expression for the effective $g$ factor characterizing the resonance is obtained and evaluated. An equation for the linewidth is derived and estimates are given for the width in the infinite-temperature limit. Comparisons are made with previously published work on this problem, and possible experimental tests of the theory are suggested. The implications of this work for the analysis of the paramagnetic resonance of localized moments in nonmagnetic metals are discussed.
ADOLESCENT WEAPON CARRYING ON SCHOOL PROPERTY. • 6

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between weapon carrying and victimization on school property, fear of attending school and the co-occurance of other risk and problem behaviors on school property. The association between academic achievement, participating in school sports and same-gender sexual behavior and weapon carrying at school was also examined.
Assignment of the backbone resonances for microcrystalline ubiquitin.

Site-specific assignments for the solid-state NMR spectra of uniformly 13C,15N-enriched ubiquitin are described. The assignments are derived from three three-dimensional 15N−13C−13C correlation spectra collected at 400 MHz on microcrystalline material. A few residues (the loop near Threonine 9 and the C-terminal fragment) were missing and correspond to regions previously reported to be mobile on the basis of X-ray crystallography and solution NMR studies. A few additional sites exhibit shifts that differ from previously reported solution NMR assignments. Nonetheless, these de novo assignments indicate close agreement between the chemical shifts observed in solution and those in microcrystalline or precipitated solids. The methods utilized are likely to be generally applicable for other noncrystalline, nonsoluble proteins.