cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of climate envelope models developed using expert-selected variables versus statistical selection

Abstract Climate envelope models are widely used to describe potential future distribution of species under different climate change scenarios. It is broadly recognized that there are both strengths and limitations to using climate envelope models and that outcomes are sensitive to initial assumptions, inputs, and modeling methods Selection of predictor variables, a central step in modeling, is one of the areas where different techniques can yield varying results. Selection of climate variables to use as predictors is often done using statistical approaches that develop correlations between occurrences and climate data. These approaches have received criticism in that they rely on the statistical properties of the data rather than directly incorporating biological information about species responses to temperature and precipitation. We evaluated and compared models and prediction maps for 15 threatened or endangered species in Florida based on two variable selection techniques: expert opinion and a statistical method. We compared model performance between these two approaches for contemporary predictions, and the spatial correlation, spatial overlap and area predicted for contemporary and future climate predictions. In general, experts identified more variables as being important than the statistical method and there was low overlap in the variable sets ( 0.9 for area under the curve (AUC) and >0.7 for true skill statistic (TSS). Spatial overlap, which compares the spatial configuration between maps constructed using the different variable selection techniques, was only moderate overall (about 60%), with a great deal of variability across species. Difference in spatial overlap was even greater under future climate projections, indicating additional divergence of model outputs from different variable selection techniques. Our work is in agreement with other studies which have found that for broad-scale species distribution modeling, using statistical methods of variable selection is a useful first step, especially when there is a need to model a large number of species or expert knowledge of the species is limited. Expert input can then be used to refine models that seem unrealistic or for species that experts believe are particularly sensitive to change. It also emphasizes the importance of using multiple models to reduce uncertainty and improve map outputs for conservation planning. Where outputs overlap or show the same direction of change there is greater certainty in the predictions. Areas of disagreement can be used for learning by asking why the models do not agree, and may highlight areas where additional on-the-ground data collection could improve the models.
Spoken Language Production in Young Adults: Examining Syntactic Complexity.

Purpose In this study, we examined syntactic complexity in the spoken language samples of young adults. Its purpose was to contribute to the expanding knowledge base in later language development a...
Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Hydration Status Among US Adults and the Role of Tap Water and Other Beverage Intake.

Objectives. To evaluate whether differences in tap water and other beverage intake explain differences in inadequate hydration among US adults by race/ethnicity and income.Methods. We estimated the prevalence of inadequate hydration (urine osmolality ≥ 800 mOsm/kg) by race/ethnicity and income of 8258 participants aged 20 to 74 years in the 2009 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Using multivariable regression models, we estimated associations between demographic variables, tap water intake, and inadequate hydration.Results. The prevalence of inadequate hydration among US adults was 29.5%. Non-Hispanic Blacks (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.17, 1.76) and Hispanics (AOR = 1.42; 95% CI = 1.21, 1.67) had a higher risk of inadequate hydration than did non-Hispanic Whites. Lower-income adults had a higher risk of inadequate hydration than did higher-income adults (AOR = 1.23; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.45). Differences in tap water intake partially attenuated ra...
Whither the diversity bargain

ABSTRACTIn Natasha Warikoo’s account, the “diversity bargain” is widespread among white elite American college students. This bargain is tentative support for preferences for underrepresented minorities in college admissions, conditioned on the admitted minority students providing white students with multicultural experiences that signal elite cosmopolitanism. This essay reviews three possible explanations for the pervasiveness of the diversity bargain: campus experiences with the benefits of diversity; socialization into expectations that elites give lip service to the benefits of diversity; and Warikoo’s methodological and analytical choices.
Transmission of Donor-Derived Trypanosoma cruzi and Subsequent Development of Chagas Disease in a Lung Transplant Recipient

Donor infection status should be considered when accepting an organ for transplant. Here we present a case of Chagas disease developing after a lung transplant where the donor was known to be Trypanosoma cruzi antibody positive. The recipient developed acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection with reactivation after treatment. Chagas disease-positive donors are likely to be encountered in the United States; donor targeted screening is needed to guide decisions regarding organ transplant and posttransplant monitoring.
Supporting Obesity Prevention in Statewide Quality Rating and Improvement Systems: A Review of State Standards.

Introduction A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) is a fundamental component of most states' early care and education infrastructures. States can use a QRIS to set standards that define high-quality care and award child care providers with a quality rating designation based on how well they meet these standards. The objective of this review was to describe the extent to which states' QRIS standards include obesity prevention content. Methods We collected publicly available data on states' QRIS standards. We compared states' QRIS standards with 47 high-impact obesity prevention components in Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, 3rd Edition, and 6 additional topics based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Spectrum of Opportunities for Obesity Prevention in the Early Care and Education Setting. Results Thirty-eight states operated a state-wide QRIS in early 2015. Of those, 27 states' QRIS included obesity prevention standards; 20 states had at least one QRIS standard that aligned with the high-impact obesity prevention components, and 21 states had at least one QRIS standard that aligned with at least one of the 6 additional topics. QRIS standards related to the physical activity high-impact obesity prevention components were the most common, followed by components for screen time, nutrition, and infant feeding. Conclusion The high proportion of states operating a QRIS that included obesity prevention standards, combined with the widespread use of QRISs among states, suggests that a QRIS is a viable way to embed obesity prevention standards into state early care and education systems.
Integrating collaborative governance theory with the Advocacy Coalition Framework

As collaborative governance processes continue to grow in popularity, practitioners and policy scholars alike can benefit from the development of methods to better analyse and evaluate them. This article develops one such method by demonstrating how collaborative governance theory can be integrated with the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to better explain coalition dynamics, policy-oriented learning and policy change in collaborative contexts. I offer three theoretical propositions that suggest alternate relationships among ACF variables under collaborative governance arrangements and illustrate these propositions using interview data from an original case study of a collaborative governance process in Colorado, USA. The integration of collaborative governance theory with the ACF improves its application in collaborative contexts and provides new theoretical insights into the study and practice of collaborative governance.
Comparing Reconstructive Outcomes in Patients with Gustilo Type IIIB Fractures and Concomitant Arterial Injuries.

BACKGROUND The Gustilo classification serves as a proxy for injury severity, but recent data suggest rising complications with decreasing arterial runoff. This study aims to compare different microsurgical anastomosis options based on the number of patent vessels in the lower extremity. METHODS A single-center retrospective review of 806 lower extremity free flaps performed from 1976 to 2016 was performed. Patients with Gustilo type IIIB injuries were grouped based on the number of patent vessels in the leg (three, two, or one). Patients were compared based on the type of anastomosis performed, evaluating for perioperative complications and flap failures. RESULTS Perioperative complications occurred in 111 flaps (27 percent): 71 take-backs (17 percent), 45 partial losses (11 percent), and 37 complete losses (9 percent). Among patients with three-vessel runoff (61.8 percent), there was no difference in take-backs or flap loss between those with end-to-end versus end-to-side anastomoses. In 68 patients (18.7 percent) with two-vessel runoff, no difference between take-backs or flap loss was noted when comparing any anastomosis (i.e., end-to-end into an injured vessel, end-to-end into an uninjured vessel, or end-to-side into an uninjured vessel), although vein grafts were required more often in the end-to-side groups (p < 0.01). Finally, in 39 patients (10.7 percent) with single-vessel runoff, no difference was seen between end-to-end anastomosis into an injured vessel or end-to-side anastomosis into an uninjured vessel in terms of take-backs or flap loss. CONCLUSION Higher rates of flap failure correlated with decreasing numbers of patent vessels in the leg, but neither type of microvascular anastomosis nor vessel selection demonstrated any impact on reconstructive outcomes. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic, III.
EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF THE SYSSIM COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR SOLAR APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT SysSim is a general FORTRAN computer code capable of modeling systems that are described by algebraic and/or differential equations. Complete system models are created by connecting individual component models together. The user has a complete array of standard components, but can also provide user-specified models. SysSim is designed to model user defined engineering systems, such as thermal-fluid, combustion, and power generation systems. The intent of this paper is to demonstrate the accuracy of SysSim for solar simulations. Results from forced-flow and thermosiphon simulations of solar domestic hot water systems (SDHW) are compared to experiments and the agreement is excellent.
Use of respiratory hydrogen (H2) excretion to detect carbohydrate malabsorption.

Abstract A technique in which an increase in the rate of breath H 2 excretion is used to detect carbohydrate malabsorption was tested. Ingestion of glucose, a completely absorbed sugar, never resulted in an increase in breath H 2 in normal subjects. In contrast, ingestion of xylose, an incompletely absorbed sugar, always yielded an increase in breath H 2 . Assessment of lactose absorption with the use of breath H 2 measurements agreed closely with the results of standard lactose tolerance tests. This technique has advantages over the tolerance test in that: (1) it reflects the quantity of sugar that is not absorbed and, thus, is not influenced by gastric emptying rate or intermediary glucose metabolism, and (2) it is sufficiently sensitive to detect malabsorption of as little as 5 to 10 Gm. of carbohydrate.
The effects of purposeful play after shared storybook readings on kindergarten children's reading comprehension, creativity, and language skills and abilities

This project explored the effects of purposeful play after shared storybook readings on kindergarten children's reading comprehension, creativity, and language abilities. The participants were 42 (...
Computational evaluation for effects of feedstock variations on the sensitivities of biochemical mechanism parameters in anaerobic digestion kinetic models

Abstract This work demonstrates a computational approach for the exploration of the importance of biochemical mechanism parameters in anaerobic digestion models subjected to concentration variations of digestion feedstock components. The methodology consists of an algorithm integrating global sensitivity analysis (GSA), functional principal component analysis (FPCA), and rank-clustering techniques. The GSA-FPCA integration removes the time-varying character of GSA (Morris’) indices while the rank-clustering step provides a statistical approach to grouping the ranks of parameter sensitivities as affected by feedstock component variations. To substantiate generalizations of findings, two digestion models of differing complexity were used: Case 1 – single-component feedstock digestion model with substrate inhibition, and Case 2 – rigorous model Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1). Results indicate that 95–99% of the variations in the time-dependent outputs can be captured by the principal components (PCs) after FPCA transformation, and that the first PC is sufficient to represent the model outputs. This capability of the FPCA to capture overall response curve patterns reduces the dimensionality of model response perturbation measures and makes the resulting data projections onto time-independent sensitivity indices intuitive of response curve perturbations. Ranked Morris sensitivity indices calculated from the first PC scores revealed stoichiometric parameters that dominantly affect kinetic responses as well as least sensitive parameters. The GSA-FPCA-Clustering approach elucidates digestion kinetic patterns only obvious under a systematic GSA methodology.
Introduction: Reading Rights Discourse in a Transnational Economy

This chapter provides an outline of the book’s materialist critique of human rights discourse in the post-9/11 era, clarifying parameters, offering a sketch of major ideas and arguments, and identifying challenges presented by the task. I mention the forms of rights discourse that the book will analyze—literary works, critical histories, international declarations, government statutes, NGO manifestos, and a documentary film—and note some of the injustices that rights discourse attempts to address: for example, injustices related to labor, gender, the citizen’s relationship to the state, and the movement of refugees. I highlight key problems with the discourse, including its limited definition of human rights, its reductive and regressive focus on the individual, its entanglement with systems of power, and its failure to point a way toward real transformation.
Electrophysiology of Tetrahymena.

Publisher Summary The focus in an electrophysiological analysis is the physical health of the cell. This is represented by a reliable, steady, and deep (hyperpolarized) resting membrane potential. A high membrane resistance is also necessary for an electrophysiological analysis. For any condition, many cell membrane potentials should be measured (at least three to ten cells) to establish the baseline, control level. Normal ciliary beating should also be observed. When a cell is damaged, it is often easy to see irregular or slowed ciliary beating, indicating either an uncoordinated or depolarized state. If a resting membrane potential has been established, an irreversible depolarizing drift may also indicate cell damage. A decreased membrane resistance is also an indication of cell damage. A good test of cell condition is to induce an action potential by current injection through the membrane potential recording electrode. This is easily done by using a 1-nA electrode resistance calibration pulse that is commonly a feature of modern recording devices. If the cell shows a visible jerk backward, it ensures that the electrode is inside the cell and that the cell is healthy enough to show a strong response.
Psoriasis in skin of color: epidemiology, genetics, clinical presentation, and treatment nuances.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic inflammatory skin disorder that occurs worldwide. However, epidemiological, clinical, and therapeutic data pertaining to psoriasis in non-Caucasian racial/ethnic groups are currently limited. Psoriasis in darker skin types can present diagnostic challenges due to overlapping features with other papulosquamous disorders and less conspicuous erythema. Variations in clinical presentation and quality-of-life impact of psoriasis may contribute to nuances in the approach to treatment in patients with skin of color.
Overnight Cross-Coverage on Hospital Medicine Services: Perceived Workload Based on Patient Census, Pager Volumes, and Patient Acuity.

OBJECTIVE Little is understood about what contributes to perceived workload for those providing overnight coverage to hospitalized patients overnight, which limits the ability to modify these factors or to proactively identify appropriate staffing levels. The objective of this study is to understand the major contributors to perceived overnight cross-coverage workload. METHODS Cross-covering advanced practice providers (APPs) in a large academic hospitalist group completed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) at the end of each night shift. Other shift characteristics were collected, including patient load, assigned action items, watcher/unstable patients, newly admitted patients, number of units covered, total pages, peak pager density, rapid response team (RRT) activations, and intensive care unit (ICU) transfers. RESULTS For 14 APP participants, who completed 271 post-shift surveys, the mean (SD) patient load was 49.9 (6.4) patients per night, and providers received a mean (SD) of 40.8 (13.7) total pages per shift. Mean (SD) NASA-TLX score was 35.1 (19.0). In multivariate modeling, total pages, action items, and any RRT or ICU transfer were associated with significant increases in the mean NASA-TLX score, with estimated effect sizes of 0.5, 0.8, and 14.3, respectively, per 1-unit increase in each shift characteristic. The greatest cumulative contributor to perceived workload was total number of pages, followed by the presence of any RRT activation/ICU transfer, with estimated effect sizes of 20.4 and 14.9, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Total number of pages was the greatest contributor to perceived workload. This study suggests that quality improvement initiatives designed to improve pager communication may considerably improve provider-perceived workload.
Recognizing encephalopathy in immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy: A single-center experience.

Background In this pilot study, we examined the characteristics of patients with and without central nervous system (CNS) malignancies who developed immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-induced encephalopathy. Methods We identified adult patients treated with ICIs between 1 January 2013 and 9 May 2018 at our tertiary care center who developed encephalopathy within 30 days of the last dose of ICI without other explained causes. Demographic and clinical features were compared between patients with primary and metastatic malignant CNS tumors and those without. Results Of the 480 patients treated with ICIs, 14 (2.9%) developed encephalopathy induced by nivolumab (8), pembrolizumab (4), and combined ipilimumab-nivolumab (2). Median age was 64.5 years. Patients with CNS malignancies tolerated more treatment cycles and developed encephalopathy later than patients without CNS lesions (20 and 32 days, respectively, p = 0.04) following ICI initiation. Four of seven patients with CNS tumors developed new contrast-enhancing lesions on brain imaging despite having no changes on imaging for a median of 61 (30-545) days. Electroencephalogram (EEG) revealed features of generalized dysfunction in patients in both cohorts. Two patients without and three with CNS malignancies were treated with steroids. Two thirds of patients without and 29% of those with CNS malignancies expired during ICI therapy or shortly thereafter. Conclusions Lack of the uniform evaluation limits the definitive conclusion of the cause of encephalopathy in some patients but reflects the standard of care at the time of their assessment. ICI-associated neurotoxicity presenting with encephalopathy is an ominous complication of ICI therapy, especially if left untreated. Prompt recognition and involvement of multidisciplinary care, including neurologists, would facilitate timely administration of recommended therapies.
Metastatic Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma Masquerading as Acute on Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Requiring ECMO

Introduction Pulmonary thromboembolism can result from underlying hypercoagulability. Malignancy can cause hypercoagulability; however, gastrointestinal malignancy is rare in pediatric patients. We present the case of an adolescent female with severe pulmonary thromboemboli and subsequent right heart failure requiring venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) who was found on autopsy to have widely metastatic signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) of gastric origin. Case Report An obese 16-year-old female taking combination oral contraceptives for menorrhagia presented to an outside facility with chest pain, dyspnea, and vomiting. She had no recent history of travel, surgery, or trauma. Her father had been diagnosed with protein C/S deficiency, though she had tested negative for this. She had inverted T-waves with elevated troponin. Chest computed tomography angiogram revealed bilateral pulmonary arterial thrombi and evidence of right heart strain. After transfer to our institution, she developed cardiogenic shock from right ventricular failure. She was placed on peripheral VA ECMO. After failing to wean from ECMO, she was evaluated by our lung transplant committee but was declined for listing. She continued to deteriorate despite ECMO support and maximal medical therapy, developing refractory sepsis and coagulopathy. After one month on ECMO, decannulation was performed. She expired two days later due to multi-system organ failure. Autopsy revealed widely metastatic diffuse SRCC of gastric origin that was not seen on multiple rounds of axial imaging and endoscopies (Figure 1). Summary This report highlights an unusual cause of pediatric hypercoagulability resulting in pulmonary embolism and right heart failure requiring mechanical circulatory support. It is imperative to maintain a broad differential diagnosis for pediatric patients requiring mechanical circulatory support.
Epigenetic‐modifying therapies: An emerging avenue for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases

Epigenetic modifications include DNA methylation, histone modification and the action of microRNAs. These mechanisms coordinate in complex networks to control gene expression, thereby regulating key physiological processes in the skin and immune system. Recently, researchers have turned to the epigenome to understand the pathogenesis of inflammatory skin diseases. In psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, epigenetic modifications contribute to key pathogenic events such as immune activation, T-cell polarization and keratinocyte dysfunction. These discoveries have introduced new possibilities for the treatment of skin diseases; unlike genetics, epigenetic alterations are readily modifiable and potentially reversible. In this viewpoint essay, we summarize the current state of epigenetic research in inflammatory skin diseases and propose that targeting the histone machinery is a promising avenue for the development of new therapies for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Expanding on the progress that has already been made in the field of cancer epigenetics, we discuss existing epigenetic-modifying tools that can be applied to the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases and consider future directions for investigation in order to allow for the widespread clinical application of such therapies.
A Qualitative Study of the Impact of COVID-19 on Smoking Behavior for Participants in a Post-Hospitalization Smoking Cessation Trial

(1) Background: COVID-19 has substantially altered individual environments and behaviors. We aim to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the smoking behavior of individuals trying to quit tobacco. (2) Methods: This study presents a qualitative analysis of individual interviews focused on perceived impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on tobacco use among 39 participants in the Helping HAND 4 (HH4) post-hospitalization smoking cessation trial (NCT03603496). (3) Results: Emergent impacts of COVID-19 included change in routine, isolation, employment changes, and financial challenges; these in turn were associated with boredom, altered cravings and triggers, and increased stress. The availability of effective coping mechanisms instead of smoking to deal with stress heavily influenced subsequent smoking behavior. These results were triangulated with the Transactional Model of Stress, providing a framework to elucidate connections between factors such as perceived control, self-efficacy, and dispositional coping style, and highlighting potential areas for intervention. (4) Conclusions: Results suggest that stress during the COVID-19 pandemic may undermine effective coping skills among individuals enrolled in a post-hospitalization smoking cessation trial. Strengthening effective coping skills (e.g., minimizing the use of tobacco as a default stress response) and increasing perceived control and self-efficacy are promising intervention targets.
Symmetries of neutrino oscillations in vacuum, matter, and approximation schemes

Expressions for neutrino oscillations contain a high degree of symmetry, but typical forms for the oscillation probabilities mask these symmetries. We elucidate the $2^7=128$ symmetries of the vacuum parameters and draw connections to the choice of definitions of the parameters as well as interesting degeneracies. We also show that in the presence of matter an additional set of $2^7=128$ symmetries exist of the matter parameters for a total of $2^{14}=16,384$ symmetries of the vacuum and/or matter parameters in the oscillation probabilities in matter. Due to the complexity of the exact expressions for neutrino oscillations in matter, we show that under certain assumptions, approximate expressions have at most $2^6=64$ additional symmetries of the matter parameters for a total of $2^{13}=8,192$ symmetries. We investigate which of these symmetries apply to numerous approximate expressions in the literature and show that a more careful consideration of symmetries improves the precision of approximations.
Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay A Comparative Assessment of the Rise of China and India

Both China and India have made remarkable economic progress in the last quarter century—China more than India—but both have severe structural and institutional problems that will hobble them for many years to come. In this article, after a comparative study of the two economies in terms of broad development indicators, we explore some deeper social and historical issues that underlie their differential ability to resolve collective action problems in long-term investment and to manage political conflicts, which go beyond the usual simple aggregative comparisons of an authoritarian and a democratic political regime.
The Physical Interpretation of Morphology

The morphological type of a galaxy depends on many physical parameters, being correlated with, for example, environment, star formation rate an angular momentum content. Which of these correlations is causal is obviously a crucial question. The initial larger-scale environment determines the density profile around a galaxy-mass peak in the primordial density fluctuation spectrum, and may affect the merger history of the proto-galaxy. The major-merger rate and the growth of substructure is important for regulating the star formation rate in the proto-galaxy, since star formation is necessarily inefficient in potential wells below a critical depth to prevent star-burst driven winds. Star formation is also inefficient in centrifugally-supported disks, where there is a maximum scale that is gravitationally unstable. Angular momentum redistribution depends on substructure mass and density, and on the star formation rate. Dynamical evolution and star formation rate are related, leaving an imprint via chemical evolution on the stellar populations, and in particular the pattern of element ratios of stars formed at different times and locations. The Milky Way Galaxy provides an ideal testing ground for theories of the chemical and dynamical evolution of galaxies.
Effect of shot peening on surface fatigue life of carburized and hardened AISI 9310 spur gears

Surface fatigue tests were conducted on two groups of AISI 9310 spur gears. Both groups were manufactured with standard ground tooth surfaces, with the second group subjected to an additional shot peening process on the gear tooth flanks. The gear pitch diameter was 8.89 cm (3.5 in.). Test conditions were a gear temperature of 350 K (170 F), a maximum Hertz stress of 1.71 billion N/sq m (248,000 psi), and a speed of 10,000 rpm. The shot peened gears exhibited pitting fatigue lives 1.6 times the life of standard gears without shot peening. Residual stress measurements and analysis indicate that the longer fatigue life is the result of the higher compressive stress produced by the shot peening. The life for the shot peened gear was calculated to be 1.5 times that for the plain gear by using the measured residual stress difference for the standard and shot peened gears. The measured residual stress for the shot peened gears was much higher than that for the standard gears.
Capital Structure Determinants for Tax‐Exempt Organisations: Evidence from the UK

: This study looks into the determinants of capital structure in the absence of tax incentives. I find that attributes normally associated with debt use for taxable corporations are likewise correlated with debt use in the tax-exempt sector. These include the organisation's age, asset tangibility, governance structure, industry grouping, liquidity, profitability, and size. Tax-exempt sector-specific findings indicate that debt use is also related to the size of the organisation's endowment and the amount of voluntary income. This study also demonstrates the portability of the theory of capital structure by extending the findings in Smith (2010) beyond the United States.
The Great War and Urban Life in Germany: Freiburg, 1914–1918 – By Roger Chickering

The author of this study begins with an intriguing set of questions: Does total war require “total history”? And is it possible to write such history?As an answer, Roger Chickering offers a rich an...
Fuzzy Logic for Biological and Agricultural Systems

Fuzzy logic is a powerful concept for handling non-linear, time-varying, adaptive systems. It permits the use of linguistic values of variables and imprecise relationships for modeling system behavior. The paper presents an overview of fuzzy logic modeling techniques, its applications to biological and agricultural systems and an example showing the steps of constructing a fuzzy logic model.
Atomistic model of orthorhombic Y Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7

We have developed a rigid-ion model of the orthorhombic Y${\mathrm{Ba}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ phase. The structure of the model lattice is in good agreement with available experimental structural data. The lattice is found to be unstable at 700 K where the initiation of disordering of the oxygen ions in the copper-oxygen linear chains is observed. Vibrational properties of the lattice have been calculated and compared with the experimental vibrational density of states.
Spirituality: The Essence of Wellness Among Tongan and Samoan Elders

Spirituality is often ignored as a central component of wellness. According to Pacific cultural beliefs, spiritual harmony is necessary for wellness to emerge and is particularly salient for Pacific elders who are intergenerational connectors between the past, present, and future. Using principles of grounded theory for data collection and analysis of in-depth interviews with 10 Samoan and 10 Tongan elders in Hawai'i, two major themes emerged: meanings and expressions of spirituality and interdependence of culture, spirituality, and wellness. From a Pacific perspective, spirituality is central, and wellness does not exist without balance of the spirit, body, mind, and environment.
The role of user motivations in moderating the relation between video game playing and children's adjustment

Eric Dubow, Ph.D., Advisor Over the past several decades, the use of video games has been on the rise among children and adolescents, and therefore, researchers have focused on identifying potential consequences of playing video games. The aim of the current study was to connect research on the behavioral correlates of video game playing with motivation research by utilizing a socialcognitive model, whereby specific motivations (e.g., video games as companionship, dominance, achievement) were hypothesized to be cognitive moderators of the relation between playing video games and theoretically-related adjustment variables (e.g., social adjustment, aggression, self-esteem, perceived cognitive competence). Survey data were collected from 195 students and their teachers in both fifth and eighth grades in a semi-rural Midwestern community, and the results were analyzed for the sample as a whole and separately by gender and grade level. For several hypotheses, multiple hierarchical regression analyses supported the prediction that motivations would moderate the relation between frequency of playing video games and adjustment, and these moderator effects were described according to types of protective effects discussed by Luthar et al. (2000). Possessing low levels of “negative motivations” or high levels of “positive motivations” served as protective factors at low to moderate levels of video game play; but at the highest levels of video game play, the protective effects disappeared. In many cases, moderator effects were present for both the overall sample and gender and grade subsamples, but a few gender and developmental differences were found. The results of this study inform future directions for research concerning motivations and video game play.
Principles Driving the Spatial Organization of Rho GTPase Signaling at Synapses

The Rho proteins play critical roles in numerous aspects of neuronal development, and mutations in their regulators (GEFs and GAPs) and effectors underlie multiple neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. How Rho GTPase-mediated signaling can have a hand in regulating so many different neurobiological processes remains a challenging question. An emerging theme is that GAPs and GEFs, through their spatial/temporal regulation and/or through additional protein–protein interactions, cooperate in making connections between upstream signals and the downstream signaling output, engaging distinct effector proteins. This chapter focuses on recent evidence illustrating distinct modes of regulation and specialized roles of Rho regulators particularly in the context of synaptic structure, function, and plasticity, and how their dysregulation affects behavioral processes and contributes to disease.
ADIFOR-Generating Derivative Codes from Fortran Programs

The numerical methods employed in the solution of many scientific computing problems require the computation of derivatives of a function f $R^N$→$R^m$. Both the accuracy and the computational requirements of the derivative computation are usually of critical importance for the robustness and speed of the numerical solution. Automatic Differentiation of FORtran (ADIFOR) is a source transformation tool that accepts Fortran 77 code for the computation of a function and writes portable Fortran 77 code for the computation of the derivatives. In contrast to previous approaches, ADIFOR views automatic differentiation as a source transformation problem. ADIFOR employs the data analysis capabilities of the ParaScope Parallel Programming Environment, which enable us to handle arbitrary Fortran 77 codes and to exploit the computational context in the computation of derivatives. Experimental results show that ADIFOR can handle real-life codes and that ADIFOR-generated codes are competitive with divided-difference approximations of derivatives. In addition, studies suggest that the source transformation approach to automatic differentiation may improve the time to compute derivatives by orders of magnitude.
Hepatorenal syndrome: A proposal for kidney after liver transplantation (KALT)

Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a well-recognized complication of end-stage liver disease. Once thought to be a reversible condition with liver transplantation (LT) alone, HRS may directly contribute to the requirement for long-term dialysis posttransplant. As a result, discussion has now focused on whether or when a kidney allograft should be considered for these patients. Using the International Ascites Club guidelines with a pretransplant serum creatinine (SCr) >2.0 mg/dL to define HRS, 130 patients undergoing LT over a 10-yr period were identified, for an overall incidence of 9%. Patient survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 yr were 74%, and 68%, and 62%, respectively. Survival was significantly worse when compared to non-HRS patients undergoing LT over the same study period (P = 0.0001). For patients presenting with type 2 HRS, 7 patients (6%) developed irreversible kidney failure posttransplant compared to 0.34% in the non-HRS population (P < 0.0001). Five of these patients died within 1 yr with a median survival time of 139 days. Combined liver and kidney transplantation (CLKT) for patients with HRS is not recommended. However, an improvement in outcome can be accomplished by addressing those patients who require dialysis greater than 60 days posttransplant. We propose a role for kidney after liver transplantation (KALT) in select HRS patients.
Gastrointestinal Colonization Rates for Human Clinical Isolates of Aeromonas Veronii Using a Mouse Model

A variety of environment-associated gastrointestinal infections have been associated with the Aeromonas group of bacteria which contain both non-virulent strains as well as virulent strains within a particular species. This study monitors the colonization rates of colon tissue in a mouse-streptomycin dose/response model involving isolates of Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria obtained from human clinical specimens. The ability to successfully colonize mouse colon tissues by the human clinical isolates was then compared with the rates achieved in a previous study of Aeromonas isolates obtained from environmental drinking water samples. Results suggest that strains of Aeromonas isolated from drinking water environmental samples contain pathogenic and virulence capabilities similar to those seen in Aeromonas veronii clinical isolates from human infections.
Ethnogeriatrics and Comparative Religions Methods for Gerontological Research into Topics of Religion and Spirituality

Ethnogeriatric investigation of the impact of religion and spirituality on the lives of older adults starts with listening to the voices of those persons practicing the various traditions. As with ...
Calculation of the electronic structure of color centers by the multiple-scattering method

The electronic structure of the $U$, $F$, ${U}_{1}$, and ${U}_{2}$ centers in KCl has been studied using the self-consistent multiple scattering (or scattered wave) $X\ensuremath{\alpha}$ method. In these calculations, clusters including the first-nearest neighbors are used to find the peak energies of various absorption bands. The calculated energies for the $U$ and $F$ centers agree well with the experiment. In the case of the ${U}_{2}$ center, two possible transitions are investigated and one agrees well with the experimental value while the other, a charge-transfer process, gives an energy too small. The hyperfine interaction of the ${U}_{2}$ center and the optical absorption of the ${U}_{1}$ center have also been studied.
Endogenous plasmin converts Glu-plasminogen to Lys-plasminogen on the monocytoid cell surface

Summary. Recently, we showed that localization of Glu-plasminogen on cell surfaces enhances its conversion to Lys-plasminogen by exogenous plasmin. This leads to stimulation of plasminogen activation because Lys-plasminogen is the preferred substrate on cell surfaces. Here, we show that Glu-plasminogen was converted to Lys-plasminogen on monocytoid cells in the absence of exogenous plasmin. Culture of cells under serum-free conditions did not affect this conversion, suggesting that the enzymatic activity was cell-derived. Therefore, we tested whether endogenous monocytoid plasminogen could provide a source of plasmin to convert cell-associated Glu-plasminogen to Lys-plasminogen because plasmin is the only enzyme known to effect this reaction. We used a recombinant human plasminogen mutant, [D(646)E]Pg, which can be cleaved by plasminogen activators, but cannot catalyze the generation of Lys-plasminogen. Upon incubation with either THP-1 or U937 monocytoid cells, 35 and 38%, respectively, of the cell-bound ligand was converted to Lys-[D(646)E]Pg. Trasylol, α2-antiplasmin, and an anticatalytic antiplasminogen monoclonal antibody decreased Lys-[D(646)E]Pg formation to < 5% on monocytoid cells, consistent with a plasmin-dependent mechanism. Plasminogen was detected in these cells by Northern blotting and RT-PCR. Our results suggest that plasmin converts cell-bound Glu-plasminogen to Lys-plasminogen and that this enzyme is produced by activation of monocytoid plasminogen by endogenous monocytoid plasminogen activators to enhance plasminogen activation on the monocytoid cell surface.
Spectral components in theb-wave of the ground squirrel electroretinogram

Abstract In the light of the recent discovery that the ground squirrel retina contains a small population of rods in addition to many cones, theb-wave of the electroretinogram (ERG) was examined to determine what spectral components can be discerned in this response. In confirmation of an earlier report, a clear separation of theb-wave into faster (b1), and slower(b2) components was seen in the ERG recorded from the dark-adapted eye. The spectral sensitivity of theb1 component indicates that it receives input from the cone system primarily responsible for photopic spectral sensitivity in this animal, while the spectral sensitivity of theb2 component matches that expected of a rod-driven response. Although these two components thus appear like theb1 andb2 components in other duplex retinae, it was also found that the two behave similarly during moderate light-adaptation and during dark-adaptation. Most surprisingly, the recovery of sensitivity in the dark is rapid for both components, much as would be expected from cone-like mechanisms.
Effect of thiazolidinediones on high-density lipoprotein subfractions.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of thiazolidinediones (TZDs) on specific high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfractions (HDL2 and HDL3) in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: We conducted a case-control study in a university diabetes clinic. The study included 45 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia; 31 of these patients received a TZD (troglitazone), and 14 patients received metformin. At the time of the study, the mean duration of therapy was 7 and 11 months, respectively. Results: In the TZD group, a significant increase of 12.6% occurred in the total HDL levels (from 34.9 &#45 2.2 mg/dL to 39.3 &#45 2.2 mg/dL; P = 0.0008), whereas no significant change was noted in the metformin group (from 40.9 &#45 3.5 mg/dL to 40.1 &#45 3.2 mg/dL; P = 0.14). All the increase in total HDL levels in the TZD group was due to an increase in the HDL3 subfraction, which rose by 16.7% (from 26.9 &#45 0.9 mg/dL to 31.4 &#45 1.2 mg/dL; P = 0.008). The HDL2 subfraction remained essentially unchanged (f...
Do Android users write about electric sheep? Examining consumer reviews in Google Play

Consumer reviews and star ratings are integral to application markets. The content of reviews help consumers determine whether an application is “good” or not. Since consumers rely heavily on reviews when selecting applications, we wanted to know what was being written about in reviews. In particular, we wanted to know if users were discussing privacy and security risks of an application, and if not, what were they writing about instead? In our work, we manually analyzed Android users' reviews to see what they write about when reviewing Google Play applications. Overall, only 1% of our reviews mentioned application permissions. We also found that a small subset of reviews relating to preinstalled applications and applications that requested a user's rating had underlying privacy and security implications. The majority of reviews focused on the quality of applications: people often described an application using an adjective (e.g., “great app” or “horrible”), wrote about its feature/functionality, specifically said if the application worked or not, and/or put their phone or tablet model in the review. We also found that sentiment did influence reviewers' ratings of the applications. In general, the overall star rating of our sample was overwhelmingly positive, suggesting that Google Play is no different from other e-commerce sites.
Determination of air-kerma strength for the 192Ir GammaMedplus iX pulsed-dose-rate brachytherapy source.

Purpose: Pulsed-dose-rate (PDR) brachytherapy was originally proposed to combine the therapeutic advantages of high-dose-rate (HDR) and low-dose-rate brachytherapy. Though uncommon in the United States, several facilities employ pulsed-dose-rate brachytherapy in Europe and Canada. Currently, there is no air-kerma strength standard for PDR brachytherapy {sup 192}Ir sources traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Discrepancies in clinical measurements of the air-kerma strength of the PDR brachytherapy sources using HDR source-calibrated well chambers warrant further investigation.Methods: In this research, the air-kerma strength for an {sup 192}Ir PDR brachytherapy source was compared with the University of Wisconsin Accredited Dosimetry Calibration Laboratory transfer standard well chambers, the seven-distance technique [B. E. Rasmussen et al., 'The air-kerma strength standard for 192Ir HDR sources,' Med. Phys. 38, 6721-6729 (2011)], and the manufacturer's stated value. Radiochromic film and Monte Carlo techniques were also employed for comparison to the results of the measurements.Results: While the measurements using the seven-distance technique were within + 0.44% from the manufacturer's determination, there was a + 3.10% difference between the transfer standard well chamber measurements and the manufacturer's stated value. Results showed that the PDR brachytherapy source has geometric and thus radiological qualities that exhibit behaviors similar to a pointmore » source model in contrast to a conventional line source model.Conclusions: The resulting effect of the pointlike characteristics of the PDR brachytherapy source likely account for the differences observed between well chamber and in-air measurements.« less