cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Seasonal Diet and Foraging Preference of Greater Kudu Tragelaphus Strepsiceros in the Llano Uplift of Texas

Abstract The greater kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, a large African herbivore, occupies the browser trophic niche. This species has been introduced into selected areas of Texas inhabited by the white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus, a native browser. Based on similar trophic function, potential interspecific competition could exist between these two species. The objectives of our study were to: 1) describe the seasonal diets of greater kudu in Texas and 2) determine if greater kudu show preference for plants that might create competition with white-tailed deer. We documented the seasonal diet and forage preference of greater kudu at Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area from 15 May 2001 to 25 February 2002 by identifying epidermal fragments of plants in faecal pellets. We identified and quantified 49 species of plants eaten by greater kudu. Annually, browse made up 80.2% of the diet, while 7.6% mast, 6.5% grasses, 3% forbs and 2.7% unidentified material comprised the remaining parts of their diet. Im...
Creating the Kingdom of Ends: Reciprocity and Responsibility in Personal Relations

When we hold a person responsible, we regard her as answerable for her actions, reactions, and attitudes. We use the concept of responsibility in two contexts, the legal and the personal. We use it in the legal context when we must determine whether to punish someone for a crime or make him liable for another's losses. We use it in the context of everyday personal interaction, when we are pressed to decide what attitude we will take toward another, or toward some action or reaction of another. It is frequently assumed that these two uses are the same or at least continuous. Because I have doubts about this, and some worries about the appropriateness of using the notion in the legal context, I want to lay that use aside.3 In this paper, my focus will be on our practice of holding people responsible in the context of personal relations. I begin by offering an account of personal relations, derived from Kant and Aristotle, along with an explanation of why they require us to hold one another responsible. I then distinguish two views about what holding someone responsible involves. Specifically, I argue that to hold someone responsible is to adopt an attitude towards him rather to have a belief about him or about the conditions under which he acts. This view gives rise to a problem: if holding someone responsible is something that we do, why and how do we decide to do it? In the rest of the paper, I argue that Kant's theory of personal and moral relations provides some answers to this question.
Network sampling and classification: An investigation of network model representations

Methods for generating a random sample of networks with desired properties are important tools for the analysis of social, biological, and information networks. Algorithm-based approaches to sampling networks have received a great deal of attention in recent literature. Most of these algorithms are based on simple intuitions that associate the full features of connectivity patterns with specific values of only one or two network metrics. Substantive conclusions are crucially dependent on this association holding true. However, the extent to which this simple intuition holds true is not yet known. In this paper, we examine the association between the connectivity patterns that a network sampling algorithm aims to generate and the connectivity patterns of the generated networks, measured by an existing set of popular network metrics. We find that different network sampling algorithms can yield networks with similar connectivity patterns. We also find that the alternative algorithms for the same connectivity pattern can yield networks with different connectivity patterns. We argue that conclusions based on simulated network studies must focus on the full features of the connectivity patterns of a network instead of on the limited set of networkmetrics for a specific network type. This fact has important implications for network data analysis: for instance, implications related to the way significance is currently assessed.
Percutaneous Absorption: A Single-Layer Model

In vitro percutaneous permeation of betamethasone 17-valerate through excised human skin was studied. Pressure-sensitive silicone adhesive containing betamethasone 17-valerate in suspension was used as a vehicle. Steady-state flux through the split-thickness skin was similar to that through the isolated epidermis. However, the lag-time and half-life after removal of the vehicle were longer for the split-thickness skin than from epidermis. At steady state, 37% of the drug in the split-thickness skin was partitioned in dermis. When the kinetic parameters of a simple single-layer model are defined to specify the permeability coefficient and the drug amount in skin at steady state, this model can predict the longer half-life observed for the split-thickness skin sample compared with that for epidermis. The difference between the observed and theoretical values of the half-life after removal of the vehicle was within 23%. On the other hand, the lag-time had a large variation and the simple diffusion model failed to be predictive. A single-layer model described by two or three kinetic parameters may be able to describe percutaneous permeation kinetics even when the processes after the compound permeation through stratum corneum are not negligible. However, it is stressed that none of the kinetic parameters inherent in this simple model directly represents one of the single physicochemical parameters, such as diffusion and partition coefficients and path length of each skin layer.
Voxel-level functional connectivity using spatial regularization

Discovering functional connectivity between and within brain regions is a key concern in neuroscience. Due to the noise inherent in fMRI data, it is challenging to characterize the properties of individual voxels, and current methods are unable to flexibly analyze voxel-level connectivity differences. We propose a new functional connectivity method which incorporates a spatial smoothness constraint using regularized optimization, enabling the discovery of voxel-level interactions between brain regions from the small datasets characteristic of fMRI experiments. We validate our method in two separate experiments, demonstrating that we can learn coherent connectivity maps that are consistent with known results. First, we examine the functional connectivity between early visual areas V1 and VP, confirming that this connectivity structure preserves retinotopic mapping. Then, we show that two category-selective regions in ventral cortex – the Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA) and the Fusiform Face Area (FFA) – exhibit an expected peripheral versus foveal bias in their connectivity with visual area hV4. These results show that our approach is powerful, widely applicable, and capable of uncovering complex connectivity patterns with only a small amount of input data.
Selected Topics of Data Mining

We briefly summarize handling inconsistent data, discretization of numerical attributes, missing attribute values, and rule induction, with LERS as a typical example of a data mining system.
Highly Dissimilar Behaviors Mediated by a Multifunctional Network in the Marine Mollusk Tritonia diomedea

Several motor networks have now been found to be multifunctional, in which one group of neurons participates in the generation of multiple behavioral motor programs. Not surprisingly, the behaviors involved are frequently closely related, often using the same or similar muscle groups. Here we describe an interneuronal network in the marine mollusk Tritonia diomedea that is involved in producing two highly dissimilar behaviors, rhythmic, muscle-based escape swimming and nonrhythmic, cilia-mediated crawling. Several observations support this conclusion. First, the dorsal swim interneurons (DSIs) of the swim central pattern generator (CPG) directly excite Pedal neuron 21 (Pd21) and Pd5, the only identified cilia-activating efferent neurons in Tritonia . Second, stimulation of a single DSI elicits beating of the foot cilia in semi-intact preparations and crawling in intact animal treadmill preparations. Third, the DSIs fire at an elevated rate for nearly 1 hr after a swim motor program, which correlates reasonably well with the period freely behaving animals were found to crawl after they swam. Fourth, silencing the tonically active DSIs after a swim motor program substantially reduces or eliminates ongoing cilia neuron firing, indicating that the DSIs are major contributors to the synaptic input driving these cells. Finally, all of the other swim CPG neurons also connect to the cilia neurons, most monosynaptically. Taken together, these observations indicate that the Tritonia swim CPG network participates in producing both escape swimming and crawling. Given the extreme differences between these behaviors—-rhythmic versus tonic, muscular versus ciliary, and brief versus prolonged—these findings reveal a striking versatility for a small multifunctional network.
THE CONSTITUTION OF MEDINA: A SOCIOLEGAL INTERPRETATION OF MUHAMMAD'S ACTS OF FOUNDATION OF THE UMMA

One of the oldest extant documents in Islamic history records a set of deeds executed by Muhammad after his migration (hijra) in 622 from Mecca to Yathrib, subsequently known as “the City [madīna] of the Prophet.” Marking the beginning of the Islamic era, the document comprising the deeds has been the subject of well over a century of modern scholarship and is commonly called the “Constitution of Medina”—with some justification, although the first modern scholar who studied it at the end of the 19th century, Julius Wellhausen, more accurately described it as the “municipal charter” (Gemeindeordnung) of Medina. In 1889, Wellhausen highlighted the text's antiquity, which has been acknowledged by even the most skeptical of contemporary “source-critical” scholars, Patricia Crone, who thinks that, in Ibn Ishaq's Sira, “it sticks out like a piece of solid rock in an accumulation of rubble.”
The influence of weight and starting height on lifting mechanics in lower extremity amputees

This study compares the lifting mechanics of lower extremity amputees to controls and describes the influence of weight lifted and starting height on lifting style. Subjects included three individuals with transtibial amputation (TTA), two individuals with transfemoral amputation (TFA), and three able-bodied controls (CO). Amputee subjects performed six repetitions of six weights, randomly ordered, from two starting heights. TTA lifted from 30 cm and knee height, TFA from knee and thigh height, and controls from all three heights. Data were obtained from a work simulator, force plate, and a motion analysis system, with starting posture index, lateral sway index, lift duration, synchrony index, and hip moments and elbow moments as dependent measures. The results for each lifting height were analyzed using a mixed model repeated measures MANOVA to test for group and weight differences and post hoc tests were applied when appropriate. Results suggest that healthy lower extremity amputees who have had a number of years to adjust to their prosthesis and develop compensatory strategies can complete a repetitive lifting task at a performance level very similar to able-bodied controls. The most consistent, group differences detected were in the timing parameters: synchrony and duration. TTA and TFA tended to lift with less synchronization of hip and knee movements than able-bodied controls and to initiate the lift with their upper bodies. In contrast, able-bodied controls tended to move their upper and lower bodies more synchronously during the lift. TTA had longer lift durations than CO. In terms of stability and moments generated, TTA lifted very similarly to controls. TFA used a different lifting style that involved higher moments and more use of the upper body, particularly for lifts of heavier weights. TFA appeared to be less stable than CO, while TTA did not appear to be less stable than CO.
Thucydides on the Causes of Athenian Imperialism

Thucydides' investigation of Athenian imperialism is in part an investigation into whether imperialism as such is based on universal human compulsions, and hence cannot simply be condemned. It is generally recognized that for Thucydides, Athenian imperialism is connected to the Athenian national character, but it has not been widely appreciated that Thucydides provides a detailed account of the foundations of the Athenian character in human nature itself. That account revolves around what he calls “daring” and the human impulse of eros. The erotic and daring character of the Athenians is connected by Thucydides both to the unique democracy of the city and to its unique experience in the Persian Wars. The unique Athenian character stems from an unprecedented liberation of certain impulses of human nature. This produces Athenian imperialism and dynamism, but also destroys the city in time.
Natriuretic Peptides and Myocardial Structure: Insights From Population Genetics

It has been more than 2 decades since the seminal report by DeBold demonstrating the existence of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) as a cardiac hormone that links the heart and kidney in cardiorenal homeostasis.1 Since that discovery, a family of structurally similar but genetically distinct peptides have been reported that function via well-characterized particulate guanylyl cyclase receptors linked to cGMP. These include ANP and B-type naturetic peptide (BNP), which are ligands for the naturetic peptide receptor A, and C-type naturetic peptide, which binds to the naturetic peptide receptor B.2 In the current issue, Rame et al3 focus attention on the processing of the cardiac peptide prohormones to mature biologically active peptides by the protease corin. This study was predicated by the work by Yan et al,4 which established corin as the natriuretic peptide-converting enzyme for ANP and presumably BNP (Figure). This cleavage of the prohormone to the mature peptide is essential for biological activity exemplified by a novel murine model of corin deletion in which the phenotype is hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy.5 Processing of pro-ANP and pro-BNP. This figure illustrates the processing of these 2 procardiac natriuretic peptides by corin to biologically active mature cardiac natriuretic peptides ANP and BNP. These peptides mediate their …
The private junior college in higher education's future

The private liberal arts junior college is an endangered species. Its survival will depend on a number of saving graces, not the least of which is commitment to the basic values of the higher education system in the United States.
Evaluating the effects of tubal sterilization on menstrual function: Selected issues in data analysis

Selected issues in data analysis in the Collaborative Review of Sterilization (CREST) a multicenter prospective observational study of women undergoing tubal sterilization were examined. Menstrual function after sterilization was analyzed in 5068 women at baseline who were enrolled in the period 1978-83 and followed for 5 years with yearly interviews. 4716 had follow-up information 1 year after TS. The generalized estimating equations (GEE) approach to longitudinal data analysis was used. The main response variables wee the presence or absence of menstrual dysfunction indicators: severe pain heavy bleeding intermenstrual spotting and irregularity of cycle. Covariates included in the model were: year of observation method of tubal sterilization race age at time of sterilization Quetelets index education gravidity history of surgery observed pathology at time of surgery and method of contraception most often used during the month before tubal sterilization (TS). The prevalence of menstrual dysfunction before TS compared with after TS and estimation of post-TS rates of menstrual dysfunction given a womans menstrual function at baseline (before TS) were explored. The response rates for the 2nd 3rd 4th and 5th years were 89 84 17 and 72%. The models refitted with imputed values showed the same trends as the original models. At baseline and 1 year after TS 59% of women had some form of menstrual dysfunction. This figure dropped to 57% for the next 2 years and then increased to 67% by the 4th and 5th year. The adjusted rates of menstrual dysfunction at the 5th year were higher than at baseline; this was similar to the pattern among adjusted rates that was similar to the pattern of crude marginal and transitional probabilities. Marginal modelling resulted in a statistically significant increase in the odds of menstrual dysfunction at 5 years after tubal sterilization.
In Situ Activation and Expansion of Host Tregs: A New Approach to Enhance Donor Chimerism and Stable Engraftment in Major Histocompatibility Complex-Matched Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Host antidonor effector T cells represent a major barrier to the successful engraftment of allogeneic donor hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells. Here, administration of a complex of IL-2 and anti-IL 2 antibodies (IAC) significantly enhanced donor chimerism early as well as long-term engraftment following reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) and allogeneic major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-matched hematopoietic cell transplantion (HCT). Timing of administration of this complex was crucial: administration of IAC post-HCT more efficiently facilitated marrow engraftment than pre-HCT treatment. Donor chimerism persisted to >6 months post-HCT. Importantly, this approach clearly suppressed the emergence of host antidonor CD8 T cells 2 to 3 weeks post-HCT as assessed by tetramer staining. Following in vivo reactivation of IAC-treated and control recipients at >5 months post-HCT with donor antigen, only PBS-treated control marrow allograft recipients responded with tetramer-binding CD8 cells. In total, the present findings support the notion that the transient activation and expansion of host Tregs in situ post-HCT can be explored as a new approach to regulate host alloreactivity posttransplant. Interestingly, direct stimulation of recipient Treg cells in RIC recipients obviated a requirement for exogenous Treg cell transfusion in this model and may represent a viable alternative to, and/or complement the adaptive transfer of Treg populations in clinical HCT.
Osmotic gradient-induced water permeation across the sarcolemma of rabbit ventricular myocytes.

The mechanism of water permeation across the sarcolemma was characterized by examining the kinetics and temperature dependence of osmotic swelling and shrinkage of rabbit ventricular myocytes. The magnitude of swelling and the kinetics of swelling and shrinkage were temperature dependent, but the magnitude of shrinkage was very similar at 6 degrees, 22 degrees, and 37 degrees C. Membrane hydraulic conductivity, Lp, was approximately 1.2 x 10(-10) liter.N-1.s-1 at 22 degrees C, corresponding to an osmotic permeability coefficient, Pf, of 16 microns.s-1, and was independent of the direction of water flux, the magnitude of the imposed osmotic gradient (35-165 mosm/liter), and the initial cell volume. This value of Lp represents an upper limit because the membrane was assumed to be a smooth surface. Based on capacitive membrane area, Lp was 0.7 to 0.9 x 10(-10) liter.N-1.s-1. Nevertheless, estimates of Lp in ventricle are 15 to 25 times lower than those in human erythrocytes and are in the range of values reported for protein-free lipid bilayers and biological membranes without functioning water channels (aquaporin). Evaluation of the effect of unstirred layers showed that in the worst case they decrease Lp by < or = 2.3%. Analysis of the temperature dependence of Lp indicated that its apparent Arrhenius activation energy, Ea', was 11.7 +/- 0.9 kcal/mol between 6 degrees and 22 degrees C and 9.2 +/- 0.9 kcal/mol between 22 degrees and 37 degrees C. These values are significantly greater than that typically found for water flow through water-filled pores, approximately 4 kcal/mol, and are in the range reported for artificial and natural membranes without functioning water channels. Taken together, these data strongly argue that the vast majority of osmotic water flux in ventricular myocytes penetrates the lipid bilayer itself rather than passing through water-filled pores.
Fast Food, Soft Drink, and Candy Intake Is Unrelated to Body Mass Index for 95% oAmerican Adults

Objective: Excessive intake of fast food, soft drinks, and candy are considered major factors leading to overweight and obesity. This article examines whether the epidemiological relationship between frequency of intake of these foods and Body Mass Index (BMI) is driven by the extreme tails ( /- 2 SDs). If so, a clinical recommendation to reduce intake frequency may have little relevance to 95% of the population. Methods: Using 2007-2008 Centers for Disease Control’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the consumption incidence of targeted foods on two non-continuous days was examined across discrete ranges of BMI. Data were analyzed in 2011.Results: After excluding the clinically underweight and morbidly obese, consumption of fast food, soft drinks or candy was not positively correlated with measures of BMI. This was true for sweet snacks (r = .005, p= Conclusion: For 95% of this study’s sample, the association between the intake frequency of fast food, soft drinks, and candy and BMI was negative. This result suggests that a strategy that focuses solely on these problem foods may be ineffective in reducing weight. Reducing the total calories of food eaten at home and the frequency of snacking may be more successful dieting advice for the majority of individuals.
Perturbation Theory and Normal Forms

Perturbation theory is one of the few ways that one can bridge the gap between the behavior of a real nonlinear system and its linear approximation. Because the theory of linear systems is so much simpler, investigators are tempted to fit the problem at hand to a linear model without proper justification. Such a linear model may lead to quantitative as well as qualitative errors. On the other hand, so little is known about the general behavior of a nonlinear system that some sort of approximation has to be made.
Transitional Effect on Turbulence Model for Wind Turbine Blade

This paper presents the computational predictions of NREL Phase VI rotor using SST Gamma Theta turbulence model. All models were performed using the commercial CFD software, ANSYS Workbench CFX. Exactly the same geometry as NREL blades was built. Around 14 million unstructured mesh elements and 3.7 million nodes have been applied during the simulation. To deal with the boundary effect, 18 inflation layers were constructed around the boundary wall. The comparison of torque and thrust between several turbulent models and the experimental data were performed. For the overall performance, a better agreement with the NREL Experimental data was obtained with SST Gamma Theta model. After these verifications, the first, second SST blending function and transition blending function for seven distinct wind speeds were performed. It has been observed that SST Gamma Theta method can simulate the transition effect appropriately.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
The Impact of Technology on Marketing

Predicting the impact of technology on marketing is a hopeless task. By the time this paper is typed, new technologies will have emerged which ultimately will impact marketing in ways we simply cannot imagine no matter how creative a process we follow. My comments are an outgrowth of brainstorming sessions held near the end of the "Electronic Marketing and the Consumer" Conference on the University of Texas, Austin, campus in October 1996. This paper is drawn directly from the text of a chapter in the book cited at the end of this paper, and my co-author Bill Keep deserves half or more of the credit. Predictions are organized around eight major headings. Each heading highlights a generalized implication of predicted changes. No attempt has been made to sequence them in their order of importance or impact, as clearly that is a debatable issue. Needless to say, however, some are likely to have a greater impact than others.
Increasing the Number of Organs Available to Transplant Is Separate From Ensuring Equitable Distribution of Available Organs: Both Are Important Goals

Keywords: ethics and public policy; liver transplantation/hepatology; organ allocation; United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
Functional Roles of Lianas for Forest Canopy Animals

Lianas are climbing plants with relatively long, slender, woody stems rooted in soil and extending to the forest canopy, where they produce abundant foliage. Like “tree” or “shrub,” “liana” refers to a polyphyletic functional group that exhibits considerable structural diversity among taxa (Schnitzer and Bongers 2002). Hundreds of species of lianas exist worldwide, and the liana growth form is represented in nearly all major plant families (Putz and Mooney 1991).
Introducing the Journal of Chemical Education’s “Special Issue: Chemical Information”

How chemical information is produced, distributed, discovered, managed, shared, and preserved has changed significantly in the past two decades. The number of publications continues to grow exponentially, and most of the core chemistry literature is now available online. Understanding how to navigate this digital landscape is essential for students, educators, and researchers. Similar to calibrating and learning how to use lab instruments, developing information literacy skills enables researchers to use their time more effectively and efficiently. In response to an open call for papers, this issue contains 26 papers that are grouped into three broad subject areas: Information Skills, Prototypes and Best Practices, and Discovery. Papers in this special issue aim to be a resource for ideas and a catalyst for expanding communication and collaboration between chemists and information professionals. Because some areas of chemical information are not included in this issue, topics for future issues of the Jour...
Sensitivity analysis of material and process parameters in finite element modeling of selective laser melting of Inconel 625

A prediction of the 2-D temperature profile and melt pool geometry for selective laser melting (SLM) of Inconel 625 metal powder with a numerically based approach for solving the heat conduction-diffusion equation was established in this paper. The finite element method is utilized to calculate two-dimensional (2-D) temperature profiles along the scanning (x-direction) and hatch direction (y-direction) for a moving laser heat source during SLM. The effects of varying laser power, scanning speed, and the powder material’s density are analyzed. A sensitivity analysis has been conducted to investigate the influence of material properties and process parameters on the predicted temperature profile along the center of the laser beam path. It was found that the packing density (or porosity) significantly affects the temperature profile. The powder reflectivity has the greatest effect on the predicted peak temperature and melts pool geometry, followed by laser power and scanning speed. These results provide a detailed insight into the SLM process, since most of the predicted variables are very difficult to be measured experimentally.
Spatial Organization of Nanoparticles in Thin Film Block Copolymer/Homopolymer Hosts

Polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) diblock copolymers (BCP) form spherical micelles, wherein each micelle is composed of an inner core of the P2VP block and an outer corona of the PS block of BCP, within thin film PS homopolymer hosts. The spatial distribution of PS-grafted gold nanoparticles (PS-Au NPs) within this thin film BCP/homopolymer system is characterized by a morphological diagram of the curvature of the Au cores 1/RC vs the degree of polymerization N of the grafted PS chains. Five basic morphological regimes, largely dictated by competing entropic and enthalpic intermolecular interactions, characterize the distribution of nanoparticles. The NP distributions include one case wherein the NPs reside primarily at the external interfaces (free surface and substrate) and another where the nanoparticles preferentially “decorate” the surfaces of the micelles. The existence of these different regimes is rationalized in terms of various competing short- and long-range intermolecular interac...
How to overcome prejudice

What do social scientists know about reducing prejudice in the world? In short, very little. Of the hundreds of studies on prejudice reduction conducted in recent decades, only ~11% test the causal effect of interventions conducted in the real world ( 1 ). Far fewer address prejudice among adults or measure the long-term effects of those interventions (see the figure). The results reported by Broockman and Kalla on page 220 of this issue are therefore particularly important ( 2 ). The authors show that a 10-min conversation with voters in South Florida reduced prejudice against transgender people and increased support for transgender rights for at least 3 months.
Global Gene Expression in Leukemic Blasts as a Function of Germline Genetic Variation.

The possible impact of common, functional, germline polymorphisms on clinical outcome in patients with leukemia is under active investigation. However, little attention has been paid to the possible consequences of germline genetic variation on genome-wide phenotypic variation in human tissues. We determined the germline status of 16 well-characterized functional genetic polymorphisms (using normal leukocyte cell DNA) in unrelated children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We assessed whether global gene expression (using oligonucleotide arrays that interrogated approximately 10,000 genes) of diagnostic ALL blasts from the same patients differed by germline polymorphic genotypes. Gene expression values were adjusted for ALL-subtype-specific patterns. In a supervised analysis that divided patients based on their germline genotypes, we identified two polymorphisms that were significant predictors of global gene expression: the UGT1A1 promoter repeat polymorphism [A(TA)nTAA] (181 probe sets, p=0.01, false discovery rate [FDR] = 35.6%) and the GSTM1 deletion (112 probe sets, p=0.008, FDR = 42.5%). Genes whose expression differed significantly in ALL cells from patients with and without the UGT1A1 (TA) 7/7 genotype included ATM and ABL1 ; genes whose expression differed significantly between patients with the GSTM1 null genotype and the non-null genotype included PCNA , PRIM1 , CDC6 and SKP1A . In an unsupervised analysis, patients were separated into two clusters; only the UGT1A1 promoter repeat polymorphism differed in frequency between the two clusters (p=0.001, Fisher’s exact test). These findings illustrate that polymorphisms in genes whose direct products are restricted to other tissues (e.g. UGT1A1 is primarily expressed hepatically) may affect gene expression elsewhere (e.g. ALL blasts). Because UGT1A1 is involved in the conjugation (and thus the transport and excretion) of numerous endogenous steroids and hormones, it is plausible that genotypic variation in its activity could have consequences for gene expression in distant tissues, such as ALL blasts.
Enhancing radiotherapy for lung cancer using immunoadjuvants delivered in situ from new design radiotherapy biomaterials: a preclinical study.

Studies show that radiotherapy of a primary tumor in combination with immunoadjuvants (IA) can result in increased survival or immune-mediated regression of metastasis outside the radiation field, a phenomenon known as abscopal effect. However, toxicities due to repeated systematic administration of IA have been shown to be a major obstacle in clinical trials. To minimize the toxicities and prime a more potent immune response, Ngwa et al have proposed that inert radiotherapy biomaterials such as fiducials could be upgraded to multifunctional ones loaded with IA for in situ delivery directly into the tumor sub-volume at no additional inconvenience to patients. In this preliminary study, the potential of such an approach is investigated for lung cancer using anti-CD40 antibody. First the benefit of using the anti-CD40 delivered in situ to enhance radiotherapy was tested in mice with subcutaneous tumors generated with the Lewis Lung cancer cell line LL/2 (LLC-1). The tumors were implanted on both flanks of the mice to simulate metastasis. Tumors on one flank were treated with and without anti-CD40 and the survival benefits compared. An experimentally determined in vivo diffusion coefficient for nanoparticles was then employed to estimate the time for achieving intratumoral distribution of the needed minimal concentrations of anti-CD40 nanoparticles if released from a multifuntional radiotherapy biomaterials. The studies show that the use of anti-CD40 significantly enhanced radiotherapy effect, slowing the growth of the treated and untreated tumors, and increasing survival. Meanwhile our calculations indicate that for a 2-4 cm tumor and 7 mg g-1 IA concentrations, it would take 4.4-17.4 d, respectively, following burst release, for the required concentration of IA nanoparticles to accumulate throughout the tumor during image-guided radiotherapy. The distribution of IA could be customized as a function of loading concentrations or nanoparticle size to fit current Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy schedules. Overall, the preliminary results support ongoing work in developing multifunctional radiotherapy biomaterials for in situ delivery of immunoadjuvants such as anti-CD40 to leverage the abscopal effect, while minimizing systemic toxicities. The potential of extending such an approach to other cancer types is discussed.
Integrating interprofessional experience throughout a first-year physician assistant curriculum improves perceptions of health care providers

Abstract Purpose Interprofessional collaboration is essential in Physician Assistant (PA) practice. Therefore, a three-semester sequence of Hospital Community Experience (HCE) was implemented during the didactic phase of the PA program providing students with weekly opportunities to shadow/observe health care professions. Methods This longitudinal, cohort study evaluated the effect of the HCE on PA students' perceptions of other health care professions prior to HCE, immediately after HCE, and one year later, after the clinical clerkships. The Interprofessional Perception Scale (IPS) survey was used to assess perceptions. Results Comparison of the IPS between the Pre-HCE and subsequent time points revealed statistically significant positive change in perception of other health care professions while also identified some areas for future research and curricular intervention. The greatest number of statistically significant changes occurred in statements which related to how other professions viewed the PA profession and how other professions worked with PAs. Conclusion The interprofessional HCEs emerged to be important in shaping the desired interprofessional professional identity of PA students.
Associations between human breast milk hormones and adipocytokines and infant growth and body composition in the first 6 months of life.

SummaryBackground Much is to be learnt about human breast milk (HBM). Objectives The purpose of this study is to extend our knowledge of HBM by investigating the role of maternal body mass index (BMI), sex and stage of lactation (month 1 vs. 6) on HBM insulin, glucose, leptin, IL-6 and TNF-α and their associations with infant body composition. Methods Thirty-seven exclusively breastfeeding infants (n = 37; 16♀, 21♂), and their mothers (19–47 kg m−2) were studied at 1 and 6 months of lactation. Infants had body composition measured (using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and HBM collected. Results A significant interaction between maternal BMI and infant sex on insulin levels (p = 0.0322) was observed such that insulin was 229% higher in obese mothers nursing female infants than in normal weight mothers nursing female infants and 179% higher than obese mothers nursing male infants. For leptin, a significant association with BMI category was observed (p < 0.0001) such that overweight and obese mothers had 96.5% and 315.1% higher leptin levels than normal weight mothers, respectively. Leptin was also found to have a significant (p = 0.0004) 33.7% decrease from months 1 to 6, controlling for BMI category and sex. A significant inverse relationship between month 1 leptin levels and infant length (p = 0.0257), percent fat (p = 0.0223), total fat mass (p = 0.0226) and trunk fat mass (p = 0.0111) at month 6 was also found. No associations or interactions were observed for glucose, TNF-α or IL-6. Conclusions These data demonstrate that maternal BMI, infant sex and stage of lactation affect the compositional make-up of insulin and leptin.
Binge drinking and family history of alcoholism are associated with an altered developmental trajectory of impulsive choice across adolescence.

AIMS To test whether binge drinking, the density of familial alcoholism (FHD) and their interaction are associated with an altered developmental trajectory of impulsive choice across adolescence, and whether more life-time drinks are associated with a greater change in impulsive choice across age. DESIGN Alcohol-naive adolescents, with varying degrees of FHD, were recruited as part of an ongoing longitudinal study on adolescent development, and were grouped based on whether they remained non-drinkers (n = 83) or initiated binge drinking (n = 33) during follow-up. During all visits, adolescents completed a monetary delay discounting task to measure impulsive choice. The effects of binge-drinking status, FHD and their interaction on impulsive choice across adolescence were tested. SETTING Developmental Brain Imaging Laboratory, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA. PARTICIPANTS A total of 116 healthy male and female adolescents (ages 10-17 years at baseline) completed two to four visits between July 2008 and May 2016. MEASUREMENTS Discounting rates were obtained based on adolescents' preference for immediate or delayed rewards. FHD was based on parent-reported prevalence of alcohol use disorder in the participant's first- and second-degree relatives. Binge-drinking status was determined based on the number of recent binge-drinking episodes. FINDINGS There was a significant interaction effect of binge-drinking status and FHD on impulsive choice across age (b = 1.090, P < 0.05, β = 0.298). In adolescents who remained alcohol-naive, greater FHD was associated with a steeper decrease in discounting rates across adolescence (b = -0.633, P < 0.05, β = -0.173); however, this effect was not present in binge-drinkers. Furthermore, total life-time drinks predicted escalated impulsive choice (b = 0.002, P < 0.05, β = 0.295) in binge-drinking adolescents. CONCLUSIONS A greater degree of familial alcoholism is associated with a steeper decline in impulsive choice across adolescence, but only in those who remain alcohol-naive. Meanwhile, more life-time drinks during adolescence is associated with increases in impulsive choice across age.
The Law and Economics of Concealing Health and Safety Information

A conspiracy to conceal information is a central allegation in prominent mass tort claims totaling billions of dollars. Analysis of such claims can be informed by evaluating firms' economic incentives to conceal substantive information. We show that these incentives — and thus the potential merit of such allegations — relies on the dynamic nature of the "markets" for information and innovation, which determine current and future expected public information dissemination and determine the likelihood of successful concealment of information.
Performance bounds for modal analysis using sparse linear arrays

We study the performance of modal analysis using sparse linear arrays (SLAs) such as nested and co-prime arrays, in both first-order and second-order measurement models. We treat SLAs as constructed from a subset of sensors in a dense uniform linear array (ULA), and characterize the performance loss of SLAs with respect to the ULA due to using much fewer sensors. In particular, we claim that, provided the same aperture, in order to achieve comparable performance in terms of Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) for modal analysis, SLAs require more snapshots, of which the number is about the number of snapshots used by ULA times the compression ratio in the number of sensors. This is shown analytically for the case with one undamped mode, as well as empirically via extensive numerical experiments for more complex scenarios. Moreover, the misspecified CRB proposed by Richmond and Horowitz is also studied, where SLAs suffer more performance loss than their ULA counterpart.
Cultural references in the novels of Fuminori Nakamura: a case study in current Japanese-to-English literary translation practices and challenges

The five novels by award-winning Japanese writer Fuminori Nakamura that were translated into English and published in quick succession through 2016 offer an interesting case study in current litera...
Optimization of Coreless Electromagnets to Maximize Field Generation for Magnetic Manipulation Systems

Magnetic manipulation systems typically take the form of a set of stationary electromagnets surrounding, and projecting their fields into, a common workspace. The electromagnets are typically wound with cylindrical geometries, sometimes with a tapered end for tighter packing. Motivating this study was the conjecture that an optimal general electromagnet designed with minimal constraints on the allowable geometry would outperform an optimal (tapered) cylindrical electromagnet in terms of maximizing field generation at a given point on the axis of the electromagnet for a given amount of power. In this letter, we provide a method to calculate the optimal general geometry in the case of coreless electromagnets, and verify that it is not cylindrical, as expected. However, we also find that the optimal general electromagnet negligibly outperforms the optimal (tapered) cylindrical electromagnet for any parameter set. Because of the added complexity in fabricating an optimal general electromagnet, designers of magnetic manipulation systems using coreless electromagnets can limit their design space by considering only simple (tapered) cylindrical electromagnets, with confidence that their design will be very close to the optimal general design.
Stress, Health and Social Behavior

The body attempts to achieve a state of homeostasis in which physiological systems function optimally. A stressor is any challenge to the homeostatic balance, and the stress-response is the array of physiological changes meant to reestablish homeostasis. When activated in response to acute physical stressors, these changes are life saving. However, when activated in response to chronic psychological stress, the stress-response can have adverse health consequences. A major source of psychological stress in many social species is one’s rank in a dominance hierarchy. Critically, the relationship between the rank and patterns of stress-related disease differs complexly across species as a function of the meaning of a particular rank.
Onboard CubeSat data processing for hyperspectral detection of chemical plumes

We describe the development and implementation of plume detection algorithms under severe bandwidth and processing constraints imposed by a CubeSat architecture. In particular, two ideas will be presented: one employs onboard processing to reduce the data that is downlinked, and one employs the Sparse Matrix Transform (SMT) to speed up the onboard computation of an approximate Mahalanobis distance.
Toward a large-scale open learning system for data management

This paper describes ClassDB, a free and open source system to enable large-scale learning of data management. ClassDB is different from existing solutions in that the same system supports a wide range of data-management topics from introductory SQL to advanced "native analytics" where code in SQL and non-SQL languages (Python and R) run inside a database management system. Each student/team maintains their own sandbox which instructors can read and provide feedback. Both students and instructors can review activity logs to analyze progress and determine future course of action. ClassDB is currently in its second pilot and is scheduled for a larger trial later this year. After the trials, ClassDB will be made available to about 4,000 students in the university system, which comprises four universities and 12 community colleges. ClassDB is built in collaboration with students employing modern DevOps processes. Its source code and documentation are available in a public GitHub repository. ClassDB is work in progress.
PEDIATRIC EPILEPSY | Animal Models of Catastrophic Epilepsies of Childhood

The catastrophic epilepsies are among the most devastating neurologic disorders affecting young children. Catastrophic epilepsies are age-specific epilepsy syndromes that are refractory to medical treatment and are associated with encephalopathy and cognitive decline. Examples include infantile spasms and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Catastrophic epilepsies of childhood occur within a specific age window and are characterized by numerous etiologies. Attempts to develop animal models of catastrophic epilepsies have been quite limited, as rodents and other experimental systems lack clinical and electrographic features found in human syndromes. In this article, we describe a new model of infantile spasms in infant rats, a ‘2-hit’ model produced by prenatal exposure to betamethasone and postnatal seizures induced by N-methyl-d-aspartic acid. This model replicates the developmentally-specific flexion seizures, interictal electroencephalographic abnormalities, ictal EEG changes, and adrencorticotrophic hormone responsiveness of human infantile spasms.
Wave mechanics of fields

We present a detailed discussion of the Schrodinger approach to wave mechanics applied to free fields instead of particles. The state vector is a functional of the fields and a function of time, and the operators are constructed from the fields as the co-ordinates and functional derivatives with respect to these fields as the momenta, which thus obey the canonical commutation relations. We first study the complex scalar field along the lines of the harmonic oscillator in ordinary quantum mechanics, and we indicate briefly what changes are introduced when the field is real. Next we discuss the massive Lorentz vector field, examining the usual difficulties related to the scalar part, such as negative energies and the indefinite metric. We proceed to discuss the electromagnetic field, with special attention given to the constraints of the theory; we do this both in the usual manner where the potentials are the generalized co-ordinates and in a variation where the fields themselves are the co-ordinates. In both ways we obtain a gauge-independent theory with no redundant variables and no indefinite metric in the space of state vectors. We also discuss the spinor field briefly, but we soon realize that this method is not applicable in its present form. We do not obtain this way any new results, but we explore a new method that brings fresh insights to the problems that beset the quantum theory of fields.