cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dental Student Enrollment and Graduation: A Report by State, Census Division, and Region

The purpose of this study is to provide descriptive data on the presence of dental schools, dental school graduates, instate enrollment, and interstate dental education agreements for U.S. states, districts, and regions. This information may be helpful in deciding to open or maintain a dental school. Data from the American Dental Association (ADA), American Dental Education Association (ADEA), and U.S. Census Bureau were used to conduct cross-sectional comparisons for states, census divisions, and regions for 2000. In 2000, there were fifty-four dental schools in thirty-two states and the District of Columbia. Total graduation across 1990–2000 was 43,289 dentists. Over half (56 percent) of the graduates were from public schools. The distribution of schools and graduates differed by geographic region. Alaska, Utah, Hawaii, and Nebraska were outliers with respect to high and low numbers of dental schools in states, in-state enrollment, and dentists to population. U.S. states, districts, and regions vary widely on the number of dental schools, dentists to population, first-year dental school enrollees, and dental school graduates. Further assessment on additional factors such as dental health provider shortage areas, state oral health status, and attractiveness of locations to dentists is needed to more fully understand the impact of these factors.
Practical iterative reconstruction methods for quantitative cardiac SPECT image reconstruction

Summary form only given. The authors investigate the practical implementation of iterative reconstruction methods to improve the quality and quantitative accuracy of cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images over the filtered backpropagation (FB) algorithm. A cardiac-chest phantom based on a patient CT scan and Tl-201 uptake data was used in the study. Projection data were generated which included the effects of nonuniform attenuation detector response, scatter and noise. Use was made of the iterative Chang algorithm with nonuniform attenuation compensation only, the iterative maximum likelihood-expectation maximization (ML-EM) and WLS-CG methods, and variations of the WLS-CG methods, including the use of the FB or Chang reconstructed image as initial estimate and filtering to suppress noise amplifications at high iteration number. The mean-square-error over the region of the heart and the normalized standard deviation over a background region were used to evaluate the different reconstruction methods. It was found that, using the Chang reconstructed image as the initial estimate in the WLS-CG method together with filtering between iterations, cardiac SPECT images with good quality and quantitative accuracy can be obtained in a few iterations. >
Parental assessment of peer play: Development and validation of the parent version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the construct validity of the parent version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS) and to compare it with the teacher version. PIPPS were collected on 297 urban Head Start children. The Parent PIPPS replicated the three-factor solution found with the teacher version, supporting the following constructs of peer play: Play Interaction, Play Disruption, and Play Disconnection. Factor matching and canonical correlational analyses examining the relationship between the parent and teacher versions of the PIPPS revealed significant one-to-one matches between hypothesized like factors. Additionally, analyses of overlapping variance between versions indicated a significant degree of overlap. Implications of the findings for involvement of parents in the assessment process and research on the continuity and discontinuity between home and school environments for low-income, urban children were discussed.
Borges. Entre autorretrato y automitografía

ROBIN LEFERE, Madrid: Gredos. 2005. 200 pp. More than thirty years ago Thomas Lyon in an illuminating article (‘Borges and the [Somewhat] Personal Narrator’, Modern Fiction Studies, 20:3 [1973], 34...
Minimax Optimal Algorithms for Unconstrained Linear Optimization

We design and analyze minimax-optimal algorithms for online linear optimization games where the player's choice is unconstrained. The player strives to minimize regret, the difference between his loss and the loss of a post-hoc benchmark strategy. While the standard benchmark is the loss of the best strategy chosen from a bounded comparator set, we consider a very broad range of benchmark functions. The problem is cast as a sequential multi-stage zero-sum game, and we give a thorough analysis of the minimax behavior of the game, providing characterizations for the value of the game, as well as both the player's and the adversary's optimal strategy. We show how these objects can be computed efficiently under certain circumstances, and by selecting an appropriate benchmark, we construct a novel hedging strategy for an unconstrained betting game.
Partitioning of REE between minerals and coexisting melts during partial melting of a garnet lherzolite

Partition coefficients for Ce, Sm, and Tm between garnet, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, olivine, and melt are determined at 35 kbar for 2.3, 8, 20, and 37.7% melting of a garnet lherzolite nodule with chondritic REE abundances. Partition coefficients are found to increase as the degree of partial melting increases. From 2.3 to 8% melting, this increase is for the most part a consequence of non-Henry's law behavior of REE in minerals.
Practical applications of an efficient time separation of events algorithm

Determining the time separation of events is a fundamental problem in the analysis, synthesis, and optimization of concurrent systems. We present results of applying an efficient algorithm to solve this problem of three different application domains. These are: analysis of instruction execution times of an asynchronous multiprocessor, analysis of a high-performance mixed asynchronous/synchronous communication interface, and isochronic fork analysis in asynchronous circuit synthesis. The algorithm we use yields exact (tight) bounds on the separation time of events in an arbitrary process graph without conditional behavior. This class of graphs is quite large and includes graphs that are not strongly connected. The algorithm is based on a functional decomposition technique that permits the implicit evaluation of an infinitely unfolded process graph.
Characterization of pilot-scale dilute acid pretreatment performance using deacetylated corn stover

Dilute acid pretreatment is a promising process technology for the deconstruction of low-lignin lignocellulosic biomass, capable of producing high yields of hemicellulosic sugars and enhancing enzymatic yields of glucose as part of a biomass-to-biofuels process. However, while it has been extensively studied, most work has historically been conducted at relatively high acid concentrations of 1 - 4% (weight/weight). Reducing the effective acid loading in pretreatment has the potential to reduce chemical costs both for pretreatment and subsequent neutralization. Additionally, if acid loadings are sufficiently low, capital requirements associated with reactor construction may be significantly reduced due to the relaxation of requirements for exotic alloys. Despite these benefits, past efforts have had difficulty obtaining high process yields at low acid loadings without supplementation of additional unit operations, such as mechanical refining. Recently, we optimized the dilute acid pretreatment of deacetylated corn stover at low acid loadings in a 1-ton per day horizontal pretreatment reactor. This effort included more than 25 pilot-scale pretreatment experiments executed at reactor temperatures ranging from 150 – 170°C, residence times of 10 – 20 minutes and hydrolyzer sulfuric acid concentrations between 0.15 – 0.30% (weight/weight). In addition to characterizing the process yields achieved across the reaction space, the optimization identified a pretreatment reaction condition that achieved total xylose yields from pretreatment of 73.5% ± 1.5% with greater than 97% xylan component balance closure across a series of five runs at the same condition. Feedstock reactivity at this reaction condition after bench-scale high solids enzymatic hydrolysis was 77%, prior to the inclusion of any additional conversion that may occur during subsequent fermentation. This study effectively characterized a range of pretreatment reaction conditions using deacetylated corn stover at low acid loadings and identified an optimum reaction condition was selected and used in a series of integrated pilot scale cellulosic ethanol production campaigns. Additionally, several issues exist to be considered in future pretreatment experiments in continuous reactor systems, including the formation of char within the reactor, as well as practical issues with feeding herbaceous feedstock into pressurized systems.
Parsimonious linear fingerprinting for time series

We study the problem of mining and summarizing multiple time series effectively and efficiently. We propose PLiF, a novel method to discover essential characteristics ("fingerprints"), by exploiting the joint dynamics in numerical sequences. Our fingerprinting method has the following benefits: (a) it leads to interpretable features; (b) it is versatile: PLiF enables numerous mining tasks, including clustering, compression, visualization, forecasting, and segmentation, matching top competitors in each task; and (c) it is fast and scalable, with linear complexity on the length of the sequences.We did experiments on both synthetic and real datasets, including human motion capture data (17MB of human motions), sensor data (166 sensors), and network router traffic data (18 million raw updates over 2 years). Despite its generality, PLiF outperforms the top clustering methods on clustering; the top compression methods on compression (3 times better reconstruction error, for the same compression ratio); it gives meaningful visualization and at the same time, enjoys a linear scale-up.
Working couples and class identification

This study examines the class identification patterns of married persons with working spouses. The analysis replicates earlier research demonstrating that the subjective class position of working wives is not determined solely by the husband's occupation but is also influenced by their own position in the labor force. In addition, it is argued that the class identification of men is affected by the wife's work experience. The class positions of individuals within families appears to be affected by both an individual's own occupation as well as that of the spouse.
Tetrodotoxin affects survival probability of rough-skinned newts ( Taricha granulosa ) faced with TTX-resistant garter snake predators ( Thamnophis sirtalis )

Lethal chemical defenses in prey species can have profound effects on interactions with predators. The presence of lethal defenses in prey can correct the selective imbalance suggested by the life-dinner principle in which the fitness consequences of an encounter between predator and prey should be much greater for the prey species than the predator. Despite the apparent adaptive advantages of lethality the evolution of deadly prey presents a fundamental dilemma. How might lethal defenses confer an individual fitness advantage if both predators and prey die during interactions? We examined the interaction between the rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa), which contains a powerful neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (TTX), and the common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis). In some sympatric populations, Th. sirtalis have evolved physiological resistance to TTX. Whether the newts’ toxin confers protection from snake predators or has been disarmed by the snakes’ physiological resistance has not yet been directly tested. In predator–prey trials, newts that were rejected by snakes had greater concentrations of TTX in their skin (4.52 ± 3.49 mg TTX/g skin) than those that were eaten (1.72 ± 1.53 mg TTX/g skin). Despite the plethora of taxa that appear to use TTX defensively, this is the first direct and quantitative demonstration of the antipredator efficacy of TTX. Because the survival probability of a newt (and thus fitness) is affected by individual TTX concentration, selection can drive the escalation of toxin levels in newts. The variable fitness consequences associated with both TTX levels of newts and resistance to TTX in snakes that may promote a strong and symmetrical coevolutionary relationship have now been demonstrated.
The rich history of gynaecological pathology: brief notes on some of its personalities and their contributions.

Summary The careers and contributions of some of those who have played a major role in the development of knowledge concerning gynaecological pathology are summarised. The emphasis is on workers of prior times beginning with those of the German-speaking school: Carl Ruge, Felix Marchand, Hermann Pfannenstiel, Oskar Frankl, Walter Schiller, and Robert Meyer. The two great Scandinavian investigators Lars Santesson and Gunnar Teilum are then considered, followed by those of the British school: John H. Teacher, Elizabeth, Magnus Haines, Claud Taylor, Fred Langley, and Harold Fox. North American workers reviewed are: Thomas S. Cullen, Emil Novak, John Albertson Sampson, Arthur Hertig, and Robert E. Scully. The essay concludes with Australasian contributors, those considered in detail being: Hans Frederick Bettinger, Rupert A. Willis, Hazel (Mansell) Gore, Robert Barter, Harold Attwood, Andrew Ostor (the last two also noted historians), Denys Fortune, Alan Ng, and Peter Russell.
Borderline changes in the Banff schema: Rejection or no rejection?

The relationship between acute renal allograft rejection and histopathologic biopsy alterations recognized by the Banff Schema as “borderline changes” is not clear. Some evidence supports the contention that about one third of patients with borderline infiltrates and clinical evidence of graft dysfunction do indeed have acute rejection, which, if left untreated, progresses to a histologically more advanced stage of rejection. Several investigators recognize that not all patients with mild tubulitis respond clinically to antirejection therapy; a significant number of these biopsy specimens display additional histological alterations. The most common concurrent lesions are chronic allograft nephropathy, arteriolar lesions consistent with calcineurin inhibitor toxicity, acute tubular necrosis, and obstructive nephropathy. Management of patients with borderline changes must tightly correlate the pathologic features and the clinical information.
The effect of pre-education on patient compliance with full-body examination in a public skin cancer screening.

background. Public skin cancer screening has become increasingly common in recent years. However, currently there is no standardized procedure for these screenings. Full body skin examination as opposed to examination of sun-exposed areas offers several advantages, including the opportunity to diagnose early melanoma in areas normally covered by clothing. Disadvantages of full body skin examination include patient resistance because of inconvenience and concerns about privacy and modesty. The additional time involved in full body skin examination may also be an impediment. objective. In a randomized double-armed study, we studied whether patients were more likely to develop a positive attitude towards full body skin examination if they were advised beforehand, in writing, of the logic underlying the need for a complete examination. methods. Patients presenting to a public skin cancer screening were divided into two groups. Group A (N = 111) received a written explanation of the need for full body skin examination and Group B (N = 175) received no information. Patients were then surveyed, after the screening, about their attitudes towards full body skin examination. results. Those who received pre-education were less likely (P < .05) to be concerned about a genital examination. Those who were concerned about a genital exam were compared with those who were not concerned about a genital exam, the former patients were: 1) younger (P < .05); 2) more concerned about privacy (P < .001); and 3) preferred a physician of the same sex (P < .001). conclusion. Providing patients with information about the need for full body skin examination decreases concern about undergoing a skin genital exam and may minimize resistance to full body skin examination in public skin cancer screenings.
The Impacts of Mast Year and Prescribed Fires on Tree Regeneration in Oak Forests at the Mohonk Preserve, Southeastern New York, USA

ABSTRACT: This four-year study investigated the impacts of a 2010 mast year (for red oak; Quercus rubra) and spring 2009 and 2011 prescribed fires by comparing temporal variation in tree regeneration on seven burned and unburned sites at the Mohonk Preserve in the Shawangunk Mountains of eastern New York. The overstory of all stands was dominated to varying degrees by red oak, chestnut oak (Q. montana), and red maple (Acer rubrum). Seedling density for red oak was 4267/ha in 2009 compared with 23,000/ha in 2011 as a result of the 2010 mast year. By 2012, red oak seedling density decreased to 12,714/ha, suggesting the ephemeral nature of young oak seedlings, but remained higher than pre-mast year levels. Average seedling density was 31,030/ha on the burned sites and 23,189/ha on the unburned sites and dominated by red oak followed by chestnut oak. Red oak seedling density was much higher on burned than unburned sites (mean = 19,400 versus 9578/ha, respectively), whereas chestnut oak was moderately higher o...
A low order controller design method

Proposes a design method for controller order reduction, using the /spl mu/ framework. The design method accounts for the perturbations to the controller, arising from the order reduction, constructs the weighting functions, representing the maximal size of perturbation to the controller at each frequency for the guaranteed robust performance, and then iterates between searching for optimal controller with respect to the weighs, and computing the optimal weights with respect to the designed controller, thus generates controller which is more susceptible for the post-design controller order reduction. Finally the reduced order controller is obtained through solving frequency weighted balanced truncation in the normalized coprime factorization form.
Losing Ground: Place-Making, Alienation, and (Sub)-Urbanization in Rural Bavaria

Les AA. examinent les dimensions socioeconomiques et naturelles qui ont affecte le paysage dans la Baviere superieure, centrant leur analyse sur la region du Chiemgau et son architecture vernaculaire. Ils decrivent la maniere dont l'environnement naturel caracterise des lieux specifiques d'un cote, alors que de l'autre les activites qui font les lieux informent egalement de facon significative le paysage. Ils mettent en lumiere l'enracinement des Bavarois dans leur terre, notamment a travers la societe paysanne et la forme d'habitat que constitue la ferme rurale. Il existe une identification forte avec le paysage, et les habitants autochtones se sentent deracines et alienes des qu'ils sont separes de leur territoire, notamment a cause des transformations de la modernisation. Cependant, a travers la volonte de s'opposer a l'alienation moderne, et a travers les efforts de conservation de l'environnement et l'appropriation de l'habitat traditionnel, ceux qui veulent perenniser le paysage culturel traditionnel deviennent finalement complices de la (sub)urbanisation d'une culture paysanne traditionnelle assiegee et de son environnement cree.
The Photoreceptor Outer Segment as a Sensory Cilium

Vertebrate rod and cone photoreceptors are members of the class of ciliated photoreceptors that have been identified in multiple phyla throughout the animal kingdom. In these cells, the phototransduction machinery is closely associated with and derived from the plasma membrane of a sensory cilium. Consequently, rods and cones have much in common with invertebrate ciliated photoreceptors and with nonvisual sensory neurons that do not detect light. This commonality includes the structural organization of the highly conserved sensory cilium cytoskeleton, called the axoneme, and microtubule-based trafficking pathways that are required for maintenance of the axoneme and the transduction machinery. This article highlights the features of rod and cone outer segments that are common to sensory cilia in general.
Historic and Paleo-Submarine Landslide Deposits Imaged Beneath Port Valdez, Alaska: Implications for Tsunami Generation in a Glacial Fiord

During the 1964 M9.2 great Alaskan earthquake, submarine-slope failures resulted in the generation of highly destructive tsunamis at Port Valdez, Alaska. A high-resolution, mini-sparker reflection profiler was used to image debris lobes, which we attribute to slope failures that occurred both during and prior to the 1964 megathrust event. In these reflection profiles, debris lobe deposits are indicated by acoustically opaque units that are separated by undisturbed parallel-layered reflectors. Near-surface debris lobes attributed to the 1964 earthquake include: (1) a debris lobe over 30 m thick that emanates from the fiord-head delta in eastern Port Valdez; and (2) debris flow lobes incorporating large, intact blocks up to 40 m high in western Port Valdez, off the Shoup Glacier moraine. In addition to the near-surface debris lobes, we imaged at least five additional debris lobe deposits buried beneath the 1964 deposit. The debris lobe directly beneath the 1964 deposit has a similar thickness and spatial distribution as the 1964 deposit. However, the older, deeper, debris lobes are thinner, less extensive, and separated by thinner sequences of parallel-layered reflectors. Glacier retreat and concomitant build-up of the fiord-head delta combined with longer time intervals between megathrust events may have resulted in more extensive delta failures and thus thicker debris lobes through time.
Corporate Governance and Economic Development

The law matters thesis, spearheaded by the work of La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer, and Vishny, offers one important explanation for the development of thick equity markets - namely, strong legal protections that shield shareholders from insider abuses and expropriation. Assuming that law does matter, the question for developing countries is, What law? As is often the case, when considering corporate governance reforms in developing countries, attention shifts to the U.S. The U.S., after all, has the world's thickest stock markets, even after the scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and elsewhere. But is transplanting U.S. corporate governance to developing countries likely to promote equity markets and economic growth there? Put differently, to what extent should the government displace private ordering with more substantive regulation of corporate governance in developing countries? In this essay, I conclude that in most instances, developing countries should adopt a mandatory model of corporate governance, as compared to the enabling market-based approach that the U.S. (i.e., Delaware) has opted for.
Boundary Layer Development and Spillway Energy Losses

Recent studies of the mechanics of the turbulent boundary layer development have resulted in knowledge applicable to the spillway energy loss problem. The significance of the boundary layer, displacement, momentum, and energy thicknesses is studied relative to the spillway energy losses. The results of a laboratory investigation on the turbulent boundary layer development are correlated with limited prototype data and extended to include the concept of energy thickness. A design procedure is included that should provide more accurate estimates of spillway energy losses than procedures previously published. Design charts are also included. In most cases of high structures the turbulent boundary is probably not fully developed before the design flow reaches the energy dissipators. Therefore, the described procedure should serve as a useful design tool.
Spatial Allocation of Selling Expense

T HE PURPOSE of this paper is to suggest a method for the allocation of selling effort among sales districts, and to compare it with others that have been used for the same purpose.1 The actions the business planner may take can be divided into groups among which there are complicated interactions. One convenient division is into actions pertaining to selling, production, and maintenance of inventory, respectively. If a new plan of selling is contemplated, the planner must realize that there will be repercussions through the rearrangement of sales in time. This change must be met by alterations in the schedule of production, or inventory, or both. There are also intertemporal relations among selling activities and sales. In general the variations in sales of two time intervals can be expected to be inverse, since some of the added sales of the first of the two periods may be simply anticipated replacement. However, sales effort can be devoted either to fitting the presentation of product to the customer, or to fitting the customer to the type of product the salesman wants him to buy. If money is spent in making a very careful study of the requirements of the customer, the increased purchasing of the first interval may be matched by later reorders induced by the satisfaction given by the original goods. On the other hand, if the
Numerical simulation of premixed H2–air cellular tubular flames

The detailed flame structure of laminar premixed cellular flames in the tubular domain is simulated in 2D using a fully-implicit primitive variable finite difference formulation that includes multicomponent transport and detailed chemical kinetics. Numerical results for H2/air flames are presented and compared against spatially resolved experimental measurements of temperature and chemical species including atomic H and OH. The experimental results compare well for flame structure and cell number, despite the numerical model under-predicting the peak temperature by 200 K. Numerical experiments were performed to assess the ability for cellular tubular flames to impact experimental and numerical investigations of practical flames. The cellular flame structure is found to provide a highly sensitive geometry that is useful for validating diffusive transport modelling approximations. This capability is exemplified through the development of a simple and accurate approximation for thermal diffusion (i.e. the So...
The Genetic Basis of Complex Human Disease: Extending the Utility of Twin Studies (P05.123)

Objective: To develop a mathematical Model that uses readily-available epidemiological data to provide quantitative estimates for many parameters, associated with disease-pathogenesis, that cannot be directly-observed. Background Disease-pathogenesis generally involves both environmental-events and genetic-risk, although quantifying each influence is difficult. Design/Methods: We define the subsets of genetically-susceptible individuals (G); women (F); men (M); and carriers (HLA+), carriers of one-copy (1HB+), carriers two-copies (2HB+), and non-carriers (HLA–) of the DRB1*1501 allele. We assume only that mono-zygotic (MZ)-twins are genetically similar to the general-population and that the probability of a person9s co-twin developing MS {P(MZ MS )} is equal to P(MS). Results: Using the example of multiple sclerosis (MS) and these definitions, we can conclude that:0.019≤P(G)≤0.0220.94≤P(G l MS)≤10.044≤P(G l HLA+)≤0.0490.012≤P(G l HLA–)≤0.0140.039≤P(G l 1HB+)≤0.0450.122≤P(G l 2HB+)≤0.1400.010≤P(G l F)≤0.0130.025≤P(G l M)≤0.0310.28≤P(F l G)≤0.480.52≤P(M l G)≤0.720.54≤P(HLA+ l G)≤0.55P(2HB+ l G)∼0.100.15≤P(MS l F,G)≤0.180.031≤P(MS l M,G)≤0.034P(MS l G,2HB+)∼P(MS l G,1HB+)∼P(MS l G,HLA–)∼P(MS l G)0.067≤P(MS l G)≤0.077And, furthermore, we conclude that:1. For practical purposes, purely-genetic MS does not exist (i.e., specific environmental-triggers are always necessary).2. For most susceptible-individuals (∼59%), the DRB1*1501 allele, even when present, doesn9t contribute to susceptibility.3. Each DRB1*1501 allele and each “(HLA–) allele” impacts susceptibility independently.4. The mean allelic frequency of DRB1*1501 in MS-women is consistently greater than in MS-men. This imbalance is primarily due to gender-differences the in the composition of the subset (G). Conclusions: These conclusions demonstrate that easily-obtained epidemiological data can provide considerable insight to the nature of the genetic and environmental bases of complex human diseases. Disclosure: Dr. Goodin has received personal compensation for activities with Merck Serono, Novartis, Berlex Laboratories, Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Biogen Idec, Schering AG and Teva Neuroscience as speaker, consultant and participant in clinical trials. Dr. Goodin has received research support from Novartis.
Fostering comparisons: Designing an interactive exhibit that visualizes marine animal behaviors

We share our challenges and lessons learned in designing our exhibit prototype that encourages museum visitors to learn about marine animal behaviors through interactive visualization and data exploration. Our intent is to have visitors draw comparisons between animal behaviors, similarly to how scientists would, to make insights and discoveries. In our efforts, we have designed a set of visual encodings around the Tagging of Pelagic Predator (TOPP) data set to create the appropriate abstractions of this rich and complex field data. We have incorporated Multiple External Representations (MERs) and tangible user interfaces (TUIs) to provide a complementary representation of the data and promote self-learning. Through the formative evaluation, we can identify a few strengths and weaknesses of our prototype design. Our evaluation results suggest that we are progressing in the right direction — we observed the public making some comparisons and inferences — but still require further design iterations to improve our visualization exhibit.
Application requirements for Robotic Nursing Assistants in hospital environments

In this paper we report on analysis toward identifying design requirements for an Adaptive Robotic Nursing Assistant (ARNA). Specifically, the paper focuses on application requirements for ARNA, envisioned as a mobile assistive robot that can navigate hospital environments to perform chores in roles such as patient sitter and patient walker. The role of a sitter is primarily related to patient observation from a distance, and fetching objects at the patient’s request, while a walker provides physical assistance for ambulation and rehabilitation. The robot will be expected to not only understand nurse and patient intent but also close the decision loop by automating several routine tasks. As a result, the robot will be equipped with sensors such as distributed pressure sensitive skins, 3D range sensors, and so on. Modular sensor and actuator hardware configured in the form of several multi-degree-of-freedom manipulators, and a mobile base are expected to be deployed in reconfigurable platforms for physical assistance tasks. Furthermore, adaptive human-machine interfaces are expected to play a key role, as they directly impact the ability of robots to assist nurses in a dynamic and unstructured environment. This paper discusses required tasks for the ARNA robot, as well as sensors and software infrastructure to carry out those tasks in the aspects of technical resource availability, gaps, and needed experimental studies.
Passing the buck: Delegating choices to others to avoid responsibility and blame

Abstract Although people prize the ability to choose when making choices for themselves, this right may become a burden when tasked with choosing for others. We show that people are more likely to delegate choices for others than for themselves, especially choices with potentially negative consequences. This is driven by a desire to avoid feeling responsible or being blamed for such decisions rather than a desire to avoid making difficult choices or a lack of concern for others’ outcomes, and is unique to delegation and does not extend to other methods of choice avoidance, like delaying decisions or flipping a coin, that do not absolve decision makers of responsibility and blame. Moreover, people only delegate to others who can assume responsibility, regardless of their expertise, consistent with the notion that people delegate primarily to cede responsibility and blame, not put choices in the hands of more capable decision makers.
Eating ‘Junk-Food’ Produces Rapid and Long-Lasting Increases in NAc CP-AMPA Receptors: Implications for Enhanced Cue-Induced Motivation and Food Addiction

Urges to eat are influenced by stimuli in the environment that are associated with food (food cues). Obese people are more sensitive to food cues, reporting stronger craving and consuming larger portions after food cue exposure. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) mediates cue-triggered motivational responses, and activations in the NAc triggered by food cues are stronger in people who are susceptible to obesity. This has led to the idea that alterations in NAc function similar to those underlying drug addiction may contribute to obesity, particularly in obesity-susceptible individuals. Motivational responses are mediated in part by NAc AMPA receptor (AMPAR) transmission, and recent work shows that cue-triggered motivation is enhanced in obesity-susceptible rats after 'junk-food' diet consumption. Therefore, here we determined whether NAc AMPAR expression and function is increased by 'junk-food' diet consumption in obesity-susceptible vs -resistant populations using both outbred and selectively bred models of susceptibility. In addition, cocaine-induced locomotor activity was used as a general 'read out' of mesolimbic function after 'junk-food' consumption. We found a sensitized locomotor response to cocaine in rats that gained weight on a 'junk-food' diet, consistent with greater responsivity of mesolimbic circuits in obesity-susceptible groups. In addition, eating 'junk-food' increased NAc calcium-permeable-AMPAR (CP-AMPAR) function only in obesity-susceptible rats. This increase occurred rapidly, persisted for weeks after 'junk-food' consumption ceased, and preceded the development of obesity. These data are considered in light of enhanced cue-triggered motivation and striatal function in obesity-susceptible rats and the role of NAc CP-AMPARs in enhanced motivation and addiction.
The Impact of Cross-Unit Coordination and Process Improvement Efforts in Anatomic Pathology: A Systems Perspective.

BACKGROUND The impact of coordination and problem solving on health care quality has become increasingly prevalent within the literature. However, few studies have empirically investigated the impact of these factors across organizational boundaries. METHODS This was an embedded, single-case study conducted within a large, academic Anatomic Pathology department. We surveyed 96 team members within 18 distinct processing or specialty units within the department and forward the Network Alignment Approach to measure coordination between units. In addition, we measure perceived safety culture and frequency of error in specimen documentation and preparation. RESULTS Regression results suggest that downstream cross-unit coordination between units (clarity of customer requirements) significantly improves safety culture (P < .001). In addition, within-unit process improvement efforts improved safety culture (P < .001). These 2 factors alone accounted for 30% of the variation in the regression model, with safety culture as our dependent variable. CONCLUSION Clarity of customer requirements and process improvement efforts significantly improve safety culture within the system. This approach to understanding and analyzing connections within complex systems provides insight into specific ways that leaders can begin to understand how each unit or department can improve as both a customer and a supplier within the larger system.
Foreign Policy Adaptation to Regional and Global Environment: Regional Dynamics

Since the birth of Pakistan in 1947, and especially through the 1950s, the leading decision-makers of Pakistan perceived threat primarily from India, and then to a lesser degree from Afghanistan. With both countries, the crux of the dispute revolved around territorial claims: Pakistan pressed a territorial claim over the princely state of Kashmir, which India was not prepared to concede; Afghanistan pressed self-determination for the Pashtuns (and even non-Pashtun ethnic groups) in the tribal belt, NWFP and Baluchistan, comprising almost 50 per cent of the territory of (West) Pakistan. The dispute with India had also acquired an ideological dimension, which was best stated by B. K. Nehru, India’s Ambassador to the United States in the 1960s: ‘The conflict between India and Pakistan is a basic conflict of ideology, as well as a conflict of power. And the nature of final settlement in Kashmir will have a profound effect on the ideology that is to prevail on that sub-continent and to some extent, the power relationship that will emerge.’1
Protein Quality Control in the Endoplasmic Reticulum

Publisher Summary Proteins destined for secretion or cell surface expression are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In addition to the complexity of protein folding in any organelle, the oxidizing, calcium rich ER environment and high concentration of unfolded proteins pose further dangers and constraints to the process. The ER represents a major and particularly complex site of protein synthesis. Quality control measures exist to ensure that nascent polypeptide chains are specifically prevented from traveling further along the secretory pathway until they have completed their folding or assembly. They ensure that only properly matured proteins are permitted to leave the ER for further destinations along the secretory pathway. Proteins that cannot achieve a proper conformation are recognized and removed from the ER for degradation by the 26S proteasome. The same chaperones that aid protein folding are also important for targeting misfolded proteins for degradation. Recent studies reveal a functional and physical organization of resident ER proteins that could provide a means of separating these contradictory functions. While much progress has been made in recent years in identifying the components of ER quality control and understanding how they work, some of the most basic elements of this system remain largely elusive, including the mechanism for distinguishing between unfolded proteins that are in the process of folding and those that cannot fold.
A phase I/Ib trial targeting the Pi3k/Akt pathway using perifosine: Long-term progression-free survival of patients with resistant neuroblastoma.

AKT plays a pivotal role in driving the malignant phenotype of many cancers, including high-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NB). AKT signaling, however, is active in normal tissues, raising concern about excessive toxicity from its suppression. The oral AKT inhibitor perifosine showed tolerable toxicity in adults and in our phase I trial in children with solid tumors (clinicaltrials.gov NCT00776867). We now report on the HR-NB experience. HR-NB patients received perifosine 50-75mg/m2/day after a loading dose of 100-200mg/m2 on day 1, and continued on study until progressive disease. The 27 HR-NB patients included three treated for primary refractory disease and 24 with disease resistant to salvage therapy after 1-5 (median 2) relapses; only one had MYCN-amplified HR-NB. Pharmacokinetic studies showed μM concentrations consistent with cytotoxic levels in preclinical models. Nine patients (all MYCN-non-amplified) remained progression-free through 43+ to 74+ (median 54+) months from study entry, including the sole patient to show a complete response and eight patients who had persistence of abnormal 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine skeletal uptake but never developed progressive disease. Toxicity was negligible in all 27 patients, even with the prolonged treatment (11-to-62 months, median 38) in the nine long-term progression-free survivors. The clinical findings 1) confirm the safety of therapeutic serum levels of an AKT inhibitor in children; 2) support perifosine for MYCN-non-amplified HR-NB as monotherapy after completion of standard treatment or combined with other agents (based on preclinical studies) to maximize antitumor effects; and 3) highlight the welcome possibility that refractory or relapsed MYCN-non-amplified HR-NB is potentially curable. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Analytic and Synthetic Forms of Vague Categorization

Most quantities or measures of interest modeling some form of uncertainty correspond to the intrinsic kind. Fuzzy image analysis is based on the premise that the properties of edge, boundary region or tonal relations in images are not generally represented in sharp terms. In general, the selection of relevant features and their standards is constrained by the aims and standards of the technical practice of analysis or processing and its specific applications, e.g., as formulated by performance indices.
Responding to linguistic diversity in South Africa: The contribution of language planning

Taalbeplanning as 'n toegepaste sosiolinguistiese aktiwiteit word bespreek, met klemplasing op die uitdaging wat die taalverskeidenheid in Suid-Afrika bied. Die bespreking handel onder meer oor taa...
A Direct-Path Interference Resistant Passive Detector

Passive radar, which detects and tracks targets of interest by using noncooperative illuminators of opportunity (IOs), has become popular since qualified IO sources are widely accessible nowadays. This letter examines the target detection problem for a passive multistatic radar, where the receivers are contaminated by nonnegligible noise and direct-path interference (DPI). The signal transmitted from the IO is treated as a deterministic but unknown process. A generalized likelihood ratio test approach is proposed, where the $\mathcal {H}_1$ estimation problem is solved using an iterative method. A clairvoyant matched filtering detector, which assumes the knowledge of the IO waveform, is provided as well to benchmark performance. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed detector in the presence of DPI.
Post-traumatic osteochondroma of the distal femur

Osteochondroma are the most common benign primary bone tumor. They are bony outgrowths surrounded by a characteristic cartilaginous cap, most commonly arising from the long bones. They are most often asymptomatic, usually discovered as incidental findings before the third or fourth decade of life. Although the exact pathogenesis is not fully established, there have been reports of these tumors arising after incidents such as fractures, trauma, radiation, and stem cell transplants. There have been only a few cases describing the development of osteochondroma after traumatic events. This report presents a documented case of an osteochondroma arising at the site of a previous femoral fracture, 10 years after the initial trauma.
Empowerment: A Social Work Approach for Asian Immigrants:

Asian immigrants and refugees are often powerless in American society. Thus client empowerment should be a major goal in working with this population group. Workers should help these clients adapt to their environment without abandoning their ethnic heritage, values, and beliefs.
Alterations to the Intestinal Microbiome and Metabolome of Pimephales promelas and Mus musculus Following Exposure to Dietary Methylmercury

Mercury is a global contaminant, which may be microbially transformed into methylmercury (MeHg), which bioaccumulates. This results in potentially toxic body burdens in high trophic level organisms in aquatic ecosystems and maternal transfer to offspring. We previously demonstrated effects on developing fish including hyperactivity, altered time-to-hatch, reduced survival, and dysregulation of the dopaminergic system. A link between gut microbiota and central nervous system function in teleosts has been established with implications for behavior. We sequenced gut microbiomes of fathead minnows exposed to dietary MeHg to determine microbiome effects. Dietary exposures were repeated with adult CD-1 mice. Metabolomics was used to screen for metabolome changes in mouse brain and larval fish, and results indicate effects on lipid metabolism and neurotransmission, supported by microbiome data. Findings suggest environmentally relevant exposure scenarios may cause xenobiotic-mediated dysbiosis of the gut microbiome, contributing to neurotoxicity. Furthermore, small-bodied teleosts may be a useful model species for studying certain types of neurodegenerative diseases, in lieu of higher vertebrates.
Pathogen colonization of the gastrointestinal microbiome at intensive care unit admission and risk for subsequent death or infection

Loss of colonization resistance within the gastrointestinal microbiome facilitates the expansion of pathogens and has been associated with death and infection in select populations. We tested whether gut microbiome features at the time of intensive care unit (ICU) admission predict death or infection. This was a prospective cohort study of medical ICU adults. Rectal surveillance swabs were performed at admission, selectively cultured for vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), and assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Patients were followed for 30 days for death or culture-proven bacterial infection. Of 301 patients, 123 (41%) developed culture-proven infections and 76 (25%) died. Fecal biodiversity (Shannon index) did not differ based on death or infection (p = 0.49). The presence of specific pathogens at ICU admission was associated with subsequent infection with the same organism for Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp., Klebsiella spp., and Clostridium difficile, and VRE at admission was associated with subsequent Enterococcus infection. In a multivariable model adjusting for severity of illness, VRE colonization and Enterococcus domination (≥ 30% 16S reads) were both associated with death or all-cause infection (aHR 1.46, 95% CI 1.06–2.00 and aHR 1.47, 95% CI 1.00–2.19, respectively); among patients without VRE colonization, Enterococcus domination was associated with excess risk of death or infection (aHR 2.13, 95% CI 1.06–4.29). Enterococcus status at ICU admission was associated with risk for death or all-cause infection, and rectal carriage of common ICU pathogens predicted specific infections. The gastrointestinal microbiome may have a role in risk stratification and early diagnosis of ICU infections.