cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A COMPLEXITY DRAIN ON CELLS IN THE EVOLUTION OF MULTICELLULARITY

A hypothesis has been advanced recently predicting that, in evolution, as higher-level entities arise from associations of lower-level organisms, and as these entities acquire the ability to feed, reproduce, defend themselves, and so on, the lower-level organisms will tend to lose much of their internal complexity (McShea 2001a). In other words, in hierarchical transitions, there is a drain on numbers of part types at the lower level. One possible rationale is that the transfer of functional demands to the higher level renders many part types at the lower level useless, and thus their loss in evolution is favored by selection for economy. Here, a test is conducted at the cell level, comparing numbers of part types in free-living eukaryotic cells (protists) and the cells of metazoans and land plants. Differences are significant and consistent with the hypothesis, suggesting that tests at other hierarchical levels may be worthwhile.
Novel polynomial Bernstein bases and Bézier curves based on a general notion of polynomial blossoming

We introduce the G-blossom of a polynomial by altering the diagonal property of the classical blossom, replacing the identity function by arbitrary linear functions G=G(t). By invoking the G-blossom, we construct G-Bernstein bases and G-Bezier curves and study their algebraic and geometric properties. We show that the G-blossom provides the dual functionals for the G-Bernstein basis functions and we use this dual functional property to prove that G-Bernstein basis functions form a partition of unity and satisfy a Marsden identity. We also show that G-Bezier curves share several other properties with classical Bezier curves, including affine invariance, interpolation of end points, and recursive algorithms for evaluation and subdivision. We investigate the effect of the linear functions G on the shape of the corresponding G-Bezier curves, and we derive some necessary and sufficient conditions on the linear functions G which guarantee that the corresponding G-Bezier curves are of Polya type and variation diminishing. Finally we prove that the control polygons generated by recursive subdivision converge to the original G-Bezier curve, and we derive the geometric rate of convergence of this algorithm.
Information policy: Marketing academic libraries: A necessary plan

It is easy for an academic library to become complacent because it has no natural information competitors on campus to stimulate the business instincts to market within an institutional structure. With this in mind, library administrators, like all good business people, must resist complacency and market their products. An aggressive written marketing plan should be an integral part of a library's strategic plan, written as an information policy
Abstract 2585: Disparities in Evaluation by Certified Primary Stroke Centers within the REGARDS cohort

Background: There are known disparities in stroke incidence and mortality on the basis of race, income, region, and population density. Disparate access to specialized stroke care may contribute to...
Spin injection from (Ga,Mn)As into InAs quantum dots

Using a spin light emitting diode (spin-LED) we study the injection of spin-polarized holes and electrons from a (Ga,Mn)As epitaxial film into self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs). The electroluminescence polarization, integrated over the QD ensemble, is \ensuremath{\sim}1% for both carrier types, consistent with quantum well (QW) spin-LEDs. However, spectrally resolved measurements reveal a monotonic decrease in polarization with increasing energy for hole injection, while no spectral dependence is observed for electron injection. This is in contrast to previous measurements of QW based structures.
Gentamicin, A New Aminoglycoside Antibiotic: Clinical and Laboratory Studies in Urinary Tract Infection

Gentamicin, isolated in 1963 [1], has been shown to be an effective chemotherapeutic agent for a variety of infectious disease processes. Several studies [2, 3] have indicated the efficacy of gentamicin for urinary tract infections. In concentrations easily attainable in the serum and far exceeded in the urine, a bactericidal effect has been demonstrated against all Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas, and penicillinase-producing as well as nonpenicillinase-producing staphylococci. Our work with gentamicin, some of which has been reported previously [4], was initiated in 1964 and is based on the treatment of more than
THE CORPS OF ENGINEER'S GENERAL INVESTIGATION OF TIDAL INLETS

During the past decade the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been conducting a General Investigation of Tidal Inlets (GITl). The GITI was an applied research program through which a wide range of inlet phenomena relating to Corps responsibilities for coastal navigation and recreation, prevention of beach erosion, and control of coastal flooding were investigated. The program was managed by the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC); specific research projects were conducted by CERC, the U.S. Army Waterways Experiment Station (WES), private consultants, and universities. The various GITI research efforts can be divided into five categories: 1) field studies of the hydraulics and sedimentary dynamics of selected inlets, 2) analysis of historic field data, 3) numerical models of inlet hydraulics, 4) movable and fixed-bed physical inlet models, and 5) other miscellaneous inlet studies. Research results are being published in a special report series. The number, title, author and date of each report are listed in the Appendix - GITI Reports. The intent of this paper is to summarize GITI research efforts and, based on key results of this research as well as recent Corps field experience, to recommend new areas for research.
Analysis of the Epidemic of Main Infection Diseases in Linyi

OBJECTIVE To analysis the epidemic trend of main infectious diseases, provide scientific bases for prevention and control. METHODS Analysis was conducted on the data of infectious diseases from 1956 to 2005 with the method of descriptive epidemiology in Linyi City. RESULTS The morbidity and mortality of main infectious diseases was in decreasing in the past 50 years except AIDS, syphilis and. The main infectious diseases were Planned Immunization target disease during 70,s such as measles and malaria. The first two infectious diseases were dysentery and hepatitis during 80,s, and epidemic hemorrhagic fever was in the first during 90,s. The first infectious disease was pulmonary tuberculosis in later 90,s. At the same time sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and syphilis are in revival and the morbidity are in creasing. CONCLUSION AIDS, pulmonary tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, gonorrhea and syphilis are still the main infectious diseases to prevent and control in the future.
The Mechanism of Quinol Oxidation: Activation Barriers in UQH2:CYT C2 Oxidoreductase

We have previously reported (1) a large apparent activation energy for the reduction of cytochrome b50 (or bH) in the chromatophores from Rb. sphaeroides Ga in the presence of antimycin, and suggested therefore that the diffusion of ubiquinone in the membrane was not a rate-limiting step in the quinol oxidation by the ubiquinolicyt c2 oxidoreductase (or cyt bc1 complex). We could not rule out the possibility, however, that the activation barrier might actually arise from an obscure phase transition in the temperature range of our experiments. This scenario was also hinted by the apparent break in our Arrhenius plot. Here we present further studies of the temperature dependence of reduction of the b cytochromes. These experiments support the notion that the actual oxidation of the quinol at the Qz site of the bc1 complex is the rate-limiting step. It is proposed that the semiquinone at the Qz site is the transient intermediate in the reduction of b cytochrome in the presence of antimycin.
Basics of renal anatomy and physiology

A kidney contains over 1 million functioning units called nephrons. Each nephron is composed of a glomerulus and tubule. The glomerulus acts to filter the blood free of cells and large proteins, producing an ultrafiltrate composed of the other smaller circulating elements. The ultrafiltrate enters the tubule, which is highly specialized at various segments, to produce the final urine by removing substances from the tubular fluid (reabsorption) or adding substances to the tubular fluid (secretion). Filtration, reabsorption, and secretion keep the organism in balance in terms of water, minerals, electrolytes, and hydrogen ion concentration and eliminate the toxic substances produced by the body. The major known hormonal functions of the kidney influence blood pressure, calcium metabolism, and red blood cell production.
Lasers and Optoelectronics for Earth Observation

Lasers have been used extensively since the early 1960’s for making measurements of various properties of the Earth’s atmosphere. These include molecular and aerosol backscattering, gas concentration profiles, wind velocities, and atmospheric waves. The laser is used as a transmitter of pulsed radiation and needs an appropriate receiver to detect the backscattered signals. This combination is called a lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) system. Lidar development in the early years was primarily concerned with ground-based/laboratory systems, with a few airborne systems making measurements in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. By 1975, the lidar technique was well proven and consideration was being given to developing a shuttle lidar system. A spaceborne system is now undergoing development, brought about by the rapid maturing of the laser as a transmitter source over the last decade.
Environment identification in flight using sparse approximation of wing strain

Abstract This paper addresses the problem of identifying different flow environments from sparse data collected by wing strain sensors. Insects regularly perform this feat using a sparse ensemble of noisy strain sensors on their wing. First, we obtain strain data from numerical simulation of a Manduca sexta hawkmoth wing undergoing different flow environments. Our data-driven method learns low-dimensional strain features originating from different aerodynamic environments using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) modes in the frequency domain, and leverages sparse approximation to classify a set of strain frequency signatures using a dictionary of POD modes. This bio-inspired machine learning architecture for dictionary learning and sparse classification permits fewer costly physical strain sensors while being simultaneously robust to sensor noise. A measurement selection algorithm identifies frequencies that best discriminate the different aerodynamic environments in low-rank POD feature space. In this manner, sparse and noisy wing strain data can be exploited to robustly identify different aerodynamic environments encountered in flight, providing insight into the stereotyped placement of neurons that act as strain sensors on a Manduca sexta hawkmoth wing.
Neighborhood, Family and Peer-Level Predictors of Obesity-Related Health Behaviors Among Young Adolescents

Objective This longitudinal study examines peer social functioning (PSF), familism, and neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) on adolescents' obesity risk. Methods Participants ( N = 2,144) were originally sampled from 16 middle schools in Southern California (45% male; 45% Hispanic) as part of an alcohol and other drug use prevention program (CHOICE). Multilevel regression modeling tested main effects and interaction terms of PSF, familism, and NSES assessed at Wave 5 ( M age = 14.15) on body mass index and risk of obesity-related behaviors at Wave 6. Results Higher PSF predicted healthier eating habits, less screen time, and more physical activity. Higher familism also predicted more physical activity. The positive effect of PSF on healthy eating was stronger among youth who reported higher familism. PSF also moderated the associations of NSES with healthy eating and physical activity. Conclusion Findings emphasize the importance of targeting both peer and family factors, which may be more amenable to change than NSES.
Early life socioeconomic position and immune response to persistent infections among elderly Latinos.

Persistent infections, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), and Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), are common in the U.S. but their prevalence varies by socioeconomic status. It is unclear if early or later life socioeconomic position (SEP) is a more salient driver of disparities in immune control of these infections. Using data from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging, we examined whether early or later life SEP was the strongest predictor of immune control later in life by contrasting two life course models, the critical period model and the chain of risk model. Early life SEP was measured as a latent variable, derived from parental education and occupation, and food availability. Indicators for SEP in later life included education level and occupation. Individuals were categorized by immune response to each pathogen (seronegative, low, medium and high) with increasing immune response representing poorer immune control. Cumulative immune response was estimated using a latent profile analysis with higher total immune response representing poorer immune control. Structural equation models were used to examine direct, indirect and total effects of early life SEP on each infection and cumulative immune response, controlling for age and gender. The direct effect of early life SEP on immune response was not statistically significant for the infections or cumulative immune response. Higher early life SEP was associated with lower immune response for T. gondii, H. pylori and cumulative immune response through pathways mediated by later life SEP. For CMV, higher early life SEP was both directly associated and partially mediated by later life SEP. No association was found between SEP and HSV-1. Findings from this study support a chain of risk model, whereby early life SEP acts through later life SEP to affect immune response to persistent infections in older age.
Methylphenidate-Induced Obsessive-Compulsiveness

An 8-year-old boy with a transient but severely debilitating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), induced by a brief course of methylphenidate (MPH) (10 mg/daily) for treatment of mild, uncomplicated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is reported from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Rockford, Illinois.
The Long-term Dynamics of Racial-ethnic Inequality in Neighborhood Air Pollution Exposure, 1990-2009

Research examining racial/ethnic disparities in pollution exposure often relies on cross-sectional data. These analyses are largely insensitive to exposure trends and rarely account for broader contextual dynamics. To provide a more comprehensive assessment of racial-environmental inequality over time, we combine the 1990 to 2009 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) with spatially- and temporally-resolved measures of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in respondents' neighborhoods, as well as census data on the characteristics of respondents' metropolitan areas. Results based on multilevel repeated measures models indicate that Blacks and Latinos are, on average, more likely to be exposed to higher levels of NO2, PM2.5, and PM10 than Whites. Despite nationwide declines in levels of pollution over time, racial and ethnic disparities persist and cannot be fully explained by individual-, household-, or metropolitan-level factors.
Evidence for a confidence–accuracy relationship in memory for same- and cross-race faces

Discrimination accuracy is usually higher for same- than for cross-race faces, a phenomenon known as the cross-race effect (CRE). According to prior research, the CRE occurs because memories for sa...
PELAGIC FISHES | Endothermy in Tunas, Billfishes, and Sharks

Endothermy, the capacity to maintain body temperature by metabolic means above the external environment, has evolved in several groups of fish. These species include members of the suborder Scombroidei (mackerels, tunas, and billfishes) and sharks in the family Lamnidae. Endothermy in the aquatic environment required two developments: a mechanism to increase heat production plus mechanisms that reduce heat loss. In fishes, endothermy has involved cranial tissues (eyes, extraocular muscles, and brain), visceral tissues, and swimming musculature. Evolution of endothermy is correlated with niche expansion and improvements in visual, muscular, and digestive performance.
Delivering Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Weight Self-Stigma through Guided Self-Help: Results from an Open Pilot Trial

Abstract Weight self-stigma is a promising target for innovative interventions seeking to improve outcomes among overweight/obese individuals. Preliminary research suggests acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) may be an effective approach for reducing weight self-stigma, but a guided self-help version of this intervention may improve broad dissemination. This pilot open trial sought to evaluate the potential acceptability and efficacy of a guided self-help ACT intervention, included coaching and a self-help book, with a sample of 13 overweight/obese individuals high in weight self-stigma. Results indicated a high degree of program engagement (77% completed the intervention) and satisfaction. Participants improved on outcomes over time including weight self-stigma, emotional eating, weight management behaviors, health-related quality of life, and depression. Although not a directly targeted outcome, participants improved on objectively measured weight, with an average of 4.18 pounds lost over 7 weeks, but did not improve on self-reported weight at 3-month follow-up. Processes of change improved over time, including psychological inflexibility, valued action and reasons to lose weight. Coaching effects indicated greater retention and improvements over time with one coach vs. the other, suggesting characteristics of coaching can affect outcomes. Overall, these results provide preliminary support for the acceptability and efficacy of a guided self-help ACT program for weight self-stigma. Implications of these results and how to address clinical challenges with guided self-help are discussed.
Circulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells increase in patients undergoing neo-adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer

This study sought to evaluate whether myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) could be affected by chemotherapy and correlate with pathologic complete response (pCR) in breast cancer patients receiving neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Peripheral blood levels of granulocytic (G-MDSC) and monocytic (M-MDSC) MDSC were measured by flow cytometry prior to cycle 1 and 2 of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide and 1st and last administration of paclitaxel or paclitaxel/anti-HER2 therapy. Of 24 patients, 11, 6 and 7 patients were triple negative, HER2+ and hormone receptor+, respectively. 45.8% had pCR. Mean M-MDSC% were <1. Mean G-MDSC% and 95% confidence intervals were 0.88 (0.23-1.54), 5.07 (2.45-7.69), 9.32 (4.02-14.61) and 1.97 (0.53-3.41) at draws 1-4. The increase in G-MDSC by draw 3 was significant (p < 0.0001) in all breast cancer types. G-MDSC levels at the last draw were numerically lower in patients with pCR (1.15; 95% CI 0.14-2.16) versus patients with no pCR (2.71; 95% CI 0-5.47). There was no significant rise in G-MDSC from draw 1 to 3 in African American patients, and at draw 3 G-MDSC levels were significantly lower in African Americans versus Caucasians (p < 0.05). It was concluded that G-MDSC% increased during doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide therapy, but did not significantly differ between patients based on pathologic complete response.
Racial/ethnic variation and risk factors for allopurinol-associated severe cutaneous adverse reactions: a cohort study.

Objectives To examine associations of race/ethnicity and purported risk factors with hospitalised allopurinol-associated severe cutaneous adverse reactions (AASCARs). Methods We used US Medicaid data to identify incident allopurinol users between 1999 and 2012. We examined the risk of hospitalised AASCARs according to race/ethnicity and purported key risk factors and calculated relative risks (RR). Results Among 400 401 allopurinol initiators, we documented 203 hospitalised AASCAR cases (1 in 1972 initiators). The average AASCAR hospitalisation was 9.6 days and 43 individuals (21%) died. The multivariable-adjusted RRs for AASCARs among blacks, Asians and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders compared with whites or Hispanics were 3.00 (95% CI 2.18 to 4.14), 3.03 (95% CI 1.72 to 5.34) and 6.68 (95% CI 4.37 to 10.22), respectively. Female sex, older age (≥60 years), chronic kidney disease and initial allopurinol dose (>100 mg/day) were independently associated with a 2.5-fold, 1.7-fold, 2.3-fold and 1.9-fold higher risk of AASCAR, respectively. In our combined demographic analysis, older women (≥60 years) of a high-risk race/ethnicity (blacks, Asians or Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders) had over a 12-fold higher risk of hospitalised AASCARs than younger men of a low-risk race/ethnicity (whites or Hispanics) (multivariable-adjusted RR, 12.25; 95% CI 6.46 to 23.25). Conclusions This racially diverse (yet mostly white) cohort study indicates that the risk of hospitalised AASCAR is rare overall, although blacks, Asians and Native Hawaiians/Pacific-Islanders have a substantially higher risk of hospitalised AASCARs, particularly among older women. These data also support the practice of initiating allopurinol at a low dose (eg, ≤100 mg/day).
LBP29: TRANSPLANTATION OF SENSITIZED HEART PATIENTS

Introduction In 2010, at ASHI, we presented our preliminary data of using antibody titration to determine unacceptable HLA antigens (UAG) for selection of deceased donors for heart transplant. The one-year survival rate of recipients who had “low titer” donor-specific antibody (DSA) was comparable to recipients who had no DSA or no pre-transplant sensitization. This approach has been continuously used at our transplant center. Aims This study was conducted to evaluate the survival of recipients who received a heart transplant between 2010 and 2013 and to assess the risk of “low titer” DSA in the current cohort. Patients and methods All patients that received heart transplants from January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2013 were included in this study. Prior to listing, all patients were evaluated for HLA sensitization which was defined by presence of any HLA antibodies detected by Flow antibody screening and Luminex single antigen bead assay. For sensitized recipients, a titration test at 1:16 dilution was performed. Utilizing the principle of virtual crossmatch (VXM), only donors without UAGs determined at 1:16 dilution were selected for sensitized patients. All final XMs were performed by flow cytometry. Results A total of 183 recipients were included in this current study. Among them, 84 (45.9%) were pre-transplant sensitized. Among the 84 sensitized patients, 28 patients received organs with UAGs as determined by Abs detected in undiluted serum samples. 13 of these 28 patients had positive HLA XM by flow cytometry. The one-year survival rate of the 56 sensitized patients who received organs without UAGs and the 28 sensitized patients who received organs with UAGs were equal, that is 89.3%. The one-year survival of the 99 non-sensitized patient is 92.9% ( p = 0.685, comparing to that of sensitized patients). Among the 28 pts who received organs with UAGs determined in undiluted serum samples, the 1 year survival rate of patients with a positive XM ( N = 13) is 84.6%, while the 1 year survival rate for the patients ( N = 15) with a negative XM is 93.3% ( p = 0.58). Conclusion Based on our data, we conclude that the current approach of using a 1:16 titration to determine UAGs for the transplantation of sensitized heart patients is an acceptable practice. The long term survival beyond 1 year warrants further investigation.
Antidotal Action of Some Gold(I) Complexes toward Phosphine Toxicity

Phosphine (PH3) poisoning continues to be a serious problem worldwide, for which there is no antidote currently available. An invertebrate model for examining potential toxicants and their putative antidotes has been used to determine if a strategy of using Au(I) complexes as phosphine-scavenging compounds may be antidotally beneficial. When Galleria mellonella larvae (or wax worms) were subjected to phosphine exposures of 4300 (±700) ppm·min over a 20 min time span, they became immobile (paralyzed) for ∼35 min. The administration of Au(I) complexes auro-sodium bisthiosulfate (AuTS), aurothioglucose (AuTG), and sodium aurothiomalate (AuTM) 5 min prior to phosphine exposure resulted in a drastic reduction in the recovery time (0-4 min). When the putative antidotes were given 10 min after the phosphine exposure, all the antidotes were therapeutic, resulting in mean recovery times of 14, 17, and 19 min for AuTS, AuTG, and AuTM, respectively. Since AuTS proved to be the best therapeutic agent in the G. mellonella model, it was subsequently tested in mice using a behavioral assessment (pole-climbing test). Mice given AuTS (50 mg/kg) 5 min prior to a 3200 (±500) ppm·min phosphine exposure exhibited behavior comparable to mice not exposed to phosphine. However, when mice were given a therapeutic dose of AuTS (50 mg/kg) 1 min after a similar phosphine exposure, only a very modest improvement in performance was observed.
Aging Patients in Correctional Settings

The United States (US) has the highest number of incarcerated people in the world. This incarcerated population is aging disproportionately compared with the general population. Correctional facilities need to develop geriatric competencies to respond to this aging crisis. Older inmates have an increased burden of chronic medical conditions. This leads to higher healthcare utilization and costs across correctional systems. Daily symptoms, such as pain, and geriatric syndromes, such as cognitive impairment, frailty, and sensory impairment, are common but are frequently undertreated. There is a national shortage of geriatricians and minimal geriatric expertise within the correctional system. Geriatric models of care need to be embedded within correctional facilities to help patients maintain function, health, and dignity as people age within the criminal system.
Post-Concussion Syndrome: An Exemplar

This chapter describes post-concussion syndrome (PCS) using the method of hermeneutic phenomenology. The analysis focuses on three cases of PCS: two National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and II football players, and a college professor and amateur mountain climber. Each sufferer describes a change to his or her pre-injury personality and lifestyle, and a careful analysis of these stories demonstrates how PCS plays out along horizons of temporality, sociality, and embodiment.
Children’s Eyewitness Lineup Accuracy One Year Later: The Role of Social Support and Working Memory Capacity

Children’s ability to identify perpetrators who are strangers is crucial. Both failures to identify actual perpetrators and false accusations have serious costs for children’s personal security and wellbeing or for innocent suspects. In the current study, we investigated the accuracy of children’s person identification after a very long delay (one year) and, for the first time, as a function of interviewer-provided socio-emotional support, children’s pre-existing social support reserves, state anxiety, and individual differences in children’s working memory capacity. One year after a play session, 7- to 8-year-old children were asked to identify a stranger from a target-present lineup that included four pictures, a “She’s not here” card, and an “I don’t know” option in the form of a question mark card. Overall, children made few correct identifications, but also few false identifications, preferring to give “I do not know” responses or incorrectly stating the person was not in the lineup. Contrary to predictions, there were no main effects of interviewer-provided social support nor of social support reserves, but as predicted, children with higher working memory capacity performed significantly more accurately than did children with lower working memory capacity, regardless of interview condition. Children’s state anxiety and their confidence in the identification were unrelated to their performance, although interviewer support did decrease state anxiety. Implications of these findings for children’s personal safety are discussed.
Aquaporin Water Channels

Aquaporins (AQPs) are a family of integral membrane proteins, through which water and other small molecules pass across the lipid bilayer at high capacity. They are ubiquitously present in all five kingdoms of living organisms, consistent with the fundamental significance of water homeostasis for life. Since the discovery of the first aquaporin, AQP-1, various aquaporins have been found to play important roles in many physiological processes. The determination of AQP structures at atomic resolution and biochemical studies implicate the potential as drug targets for genetic or infectious diseases.
Common errors of interpretation in biostatistics

What do we wish to investigate? While this may be a common question in research, it does not always come with straightforward answers. This article reviews data-driven methods of collection, questi...
Does real-time transit information reduce waiting time? An empirical analysis

Abstract A claimed benefit of real-time information (RTI) apps in public transit systems is the reduction of waiting time by allowing passengers to appropriately time their arrivals at transit stops. Although previous research investigated the overall impact of RTI on waiting time, few studies examine the mechanisms underlying these claims, and variations in its effectiveness over time and space. In this paper, we theorize and validate the sources of RTI-based users’ waiting time penalties: reclaimed delay (bus drivers compensating for being behind schedule) and discontinuity delay (an artifact of the update frequency of RTI). We compare two RTI-based strategies – the greedy strategy used by popular trip planning apps and a prudent strategy with an insurance buffer – with non-RTI benchmarks of arbitrary arrival and following the schedule. Using real-time bus location data from a medium-sized US city, we calculate the empirical waiting times and risk of missing a bus for each trip planning strategy. We find that the best RTI strategy, a prudent tactic with an optimized insurance time buffer, performs roughly the same as the simple, follow-the-schedule tactic that does not use RTI. However, relative performance varies over time and space. Moreover, the greedy tactic in common transit apps is the worst strategy, even worse than showing up at a bus stop arbitrarily. These results suggest limitations on claims that RTI reduces public transit waiting times.
Market simulations of consumer preferences for the introduction of GM tomatoes

Labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods has increasingly become a topic at the consumer and policymaker level. Using an online survey that included a conjoint analysis experiment, consumer pref...
Technology Improves Learning in Large Principles of Economics Classes: Using Our WITS

Much recent innovation in teaching economics has focused on active learning strategies and on the use of technology. At the same time, budget realities make large lecture classes a fact of life for principles of economics courses at many universities. Unfortunately, neither active learning strategies nor teaching with technology tend to work well in large classes: active learning is difficult to facilitate with many students, and learning with technology in economics has been limited, for the most part, to classes small enough to fit in computer labs.We have developed a system that uses handheld devices and wireless technology to facilitate interactive learning in large classes by putting technology in the hands of the students during class. The Wireless Interactive Teaching System (WITS) consists of Handspring Visors (a hand-held PDA) equipped with wireless capabilities, a laptop server, a wireless access point and projector, and proprietary software. This intranet uses the 802.11b wireless standard. WITS allows students to trade in markets, play standard economics games (prisoner's dilemma, public goods, 2 x 2 matrix, etc.), take multiple choice quizzes, and communicate with the instructor during class. (See http://lshta.vt.edu/index.html for a sample exercise and instructional material.)We report the results of a controlled experiment to test the impact of WITS-facilitated active learning exercises. Our study differs from previous work in three important ways.' First, use of the WITS system allows us to implement experiments in larger classes than previous studies using hand-run exercises. Second, we measure learning using exam scores rather than the Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE), so that improved results are understandable in terms of students' grades, the metric that students and universities use to evaluate performance. Finally, to isolate whether changes in learning are from substituting experiment-based material for standard lectures or whether gains are the result of active learning, the control class held parallel "research days" where students discussed the same experiment.Students in the WITS class earned final grades that averaged 3.2 points higher than the control class, though impact varies by gender and class level. The impact on learning is highest for freshmen and women, groups that often struggle with introductory economics, and lowest for male seniors, who, in our sample, tend to be engineering majors satisfying a general education requirement. Teaching evaluations are also significantly higher in the experimental class.
Advancing Static Performance and Ruggedness of 600 V SiC MOSFETs: Experimental Analysis and Simulation Study

600 V MOSFETs were fabricated on 6-inch 4H-SiC substrates. Channel lengths and JFET widths were varied to study their impact on the on-state performances and blocking behaviors. Based on physical cross-sectional SEM analyses of fabricated 600 V MOSFETs, new structures were proposed to further improve the static and short circuit performances. Both static and non-isothermal, mixed-mode simulations were conducted to support the novelty of the proposed structures.
HOPX+ injury-resistant intestinal stem cells drive epithelial recovery after severe intestinal ischemia.

Intestinal ischemia is a life-threatening emergency with mortality rates of 50-80% due to epithelial cell death and resultant barrier loss.Loss of the epithelial barrier occurs in conditions includ...
Chikungunya virus vaccine candidate incorporating synergistic mutations is attenuated and protects against virulent virus challenge

Background: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arbovirus that periodically reemerges to cause large epidemics of arthritic disease. While the robust immunity elicited by live-attenuated virus (LAV) vaccine candidates makes them attractive, CHIKV vaccine development has been hampered by a high threshold for acceptable adverse events. Methods: We evaluated the vaccine potential of a recently described LAV, SKE, that exhibits diminished replication in skeletal muscle cells due to insertion of target sequences for skeletal muscle-specific miR-206. We also evaluated whether these target sequences could augment safety of a LAV encoding a previously described attenuating mutation, E2 G82R, which on its own was too reactogenic in clinical trials. Attenuation of viruses containing these mutations was compared with a double mutant, SKE G82R. Results: SKE was attenuated in both immunodeficient and immunocompetent mice and induced a robust neutralizing antibody response, indicating its vaccine potential. However, only SKE G82R elicited diminished swelling in immunocompetent mice at early time points post-inoculation, indicating that these mutations synergistically enhance safety of the vaccine candidate. Conclusions: These data suggest that restriction of LAV replication in skeletal muscle enhances tolerability of reactogenic vaccine candidates and may improve the rational design of CHIKV vaccines.
Inspiratory muscle weakness in cardiovascular diseases: Implications for cardiac rehabilitation.

Abstract Exercise limitation is a cardinal manifestation of many cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and is associated with poor prognosis. It is increasingly well understood that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an intervention that portends favorable clinical outcomes, including improvements in exercise capacity. The etiology of exercise limitation in CVD is multifactorial but is typically governed by terminal sensations of pain, fatigue, and/or breathlessness. A known but perhaps underestimated complication of CVD that contributes to breathlessness and exercise intolerance in such patients is inspiratory muscle dysfunction. For example, inspiratory muscle dysfunction, which encompasses a loss in muscle mass and/or pressure generating capacity, occurs in up to ~40% of patients with chronic heart failure and is associated with breathlessness, exertional intolerance, and worse survival in this patient population. In this review, we define inspiratory muscle weakness, detail its prevalence in a range of CVDs, and discuss how inspiratory weakness impacts physiological function and clinical outcomes in patients with CVD often referred to CR. We also evaluate the available evidence addressing the effects of exercise-based CR with and without concurrent specific inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on inspiratory muscle function, general physiological function, and clinical outcomes in patients with CVD. Finally, we consider whether the assessment of global respiratory muscle function should become standard as part of the patient intake assessment for phase II CR programs, giving practical guidance on the implementation of such measures as well as IMT as part of phase II CR.
Protein Purification by Immunoadsorption

One of the aims of the Molecular Anatomy Program at Oak Ridge is the isolation in quantity of cancer associated antigens and antibodies. Proteins produced in cancer may be new to the host and thus be antigenic; or they may be antigenic because the immunological response apparatus of the host normally does not see them; or finally, if the proteins were produced before and reappeared, the immunological apparatus of the host may have been functioning poorly at the time or may have forgotten that it once saw them. In any case the proteins are antigenic to a proper challenge in an experimental animal.
Where Do All the Attacks Go

The fact that a majority of Internet users appear unharmed each year is difficult to reconcile with a weakest-link analysis. We seek to explain this enormous gap between potential and actual harm. The answer, we find, lies in the fact that an Internet attacker, who attacks en masse, faces a sum-of-effort rather than a weakest-link defense. Large-scale attacks must be profitable in expectation, not merely in particular scenarios. For example, knowing the dog’s name may open an occasional bank account, but the cost of determining one million users’ dogs’ names is far greater than that information is worth. The strategy that appears simple in isolation leads to bankruptcy in expectation. Many attacks cannot be made profitable, even when many profitable targets exist. We give several examples of insecure practices which should be exploited by a weakest-link attacker but are extremely difficult to turn into profitable attacks.
Cellular growth of human placenta

Placentas from infants with intrauterine growth failure were examined for total organ weight, desoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and protein. In eight infants with severe malformations, the placentas were entirely normal when compared with those from physically normal infants of comparable gestational age. In seventeen infants with low birth weight but with no malformations there was a proportional reduction in weight of the placenta and in its DNA and protein contents; there was, however, a marked elevation of RNA content. Thus protein/DNA was normal whereas the RNA/DNA ratio was elevated. It is suggested that this increased ratio may be a manifestation of placental insufficiency.
Using hypermedia and the internet in the teaching of mathematics

Hypermedia documents contain links or connections to one or more other media. The advantages of hypermedia over traditional instruction are: 1. appeals to different learning styles; 2. provides a variety of means of expression for students; 3. gives students more real-world presentation experience; 4. taps into students’ creativity; 5. prepares students for the 21st century; 6. has entertainment value; 7. has storage capability.
The DNA-Activated Protein Kinase — DNA-PK

Recently, several mammalian and yeast genes have been identified that have carboxy-terminal domains (CTDs) related to the kinase domains of phosphatidylinositol kinases (PI3Ks) and appear to play roles in cell cycle control, DNA replication, recombination, and repair (Zakian 1995). The genes for this family of “lipid-like” kinases include T0R1 (DRR1) and T0R2 (DRR2) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Kunz et al. 1993; Helliwell et al. 1994), their mammalian homologue FRAP and RAFT1 (also called RAPT1) (Brown et al. 1994; Chiu et al. 1994; Sabatini et al. 1994), ATM, the gene defective in patients with ataxia telangiectasia (Savitsky et al. 1995a,b), MEI-41, a Drosophila gene that is functionally similar to ATM (Hari etal. 1995), MEC1 (ESR1) and its S. pombe counterpart rad3 (Seaton et al. 1992; Kato and Ogawa 1994; Weinert et al. 1994), TEL1, a S. cerevisiae gene that controls telomere length (Greenwell et al. 1995; Morrow et al. 1995), and DNA-PKcs (PRKDC), the catalytic subunit of the DNA-activated protein kinase (Carter et al. 1990; Lees-Miller et al.
Incentive Effects of Illiquid Stock and Option Holdings of Target and Acquirer CEOs

Due to a variety of liquidity constraints, CEOs of U.S. corporations hold highly undiversified portfolios of stock and options of their own firms. This results in an illiquidity discount, measured by the difference between the market value and the executive value of their holdings. We argue that acquisitions offer an effective mechanism for target CEOs to remove many liquidity constraints and reduce or eliminate the illiquidity discount. Following Shleifer and Vishny (2003), we further argue that for overvalued acquirer firms the acquisitions enable acquirer CEOs to improve the long-term value of their illiquid wealth. Using a sample of 250 acquisitions during 1993-2001, we document several incentive effects of illiquid stock and option holdings. Target CEOs who face higher illiquidity discount accept lower acquisition premium and are more likely to leave after the acquisition completes. They also put up lower resistance and speed up the acquisition. Similarly, acquirer CEOs who face higher illiquidity discount pay higher acquisition premium, speed up the acquisition, pursue relatively undervalued targets, and make multiple and diversifying acquisitions using stock payment.
Structure-aware graph anonymization

Graph structured data can be ubiquitously found in the real world. For example, social networks can easily be represented as graphs where the graph connotes the complex sets of relationships between members of social systems. While their analysis could be beneficial in many aspects, publishing certain types of social networks raises significant privacy concerns. This brings the problem of graph anonymization into sharp focus. Unlike relational data, the true information in graph structured data is encoded within the structure and graph properties. Motivated by this, a structure-aware anonymization approach is proposed that maximally preserves the structure of the original network as well as its structural properties while anonymizing it. Instead of anonymizing each node one by one independently, the approach treats each partitioned substructural component of the network as one single unit to be anonymized. This maximizes utility while enabling anonymization. Since grouping and matching local structures are the essential steps for the anonymization, several alternative grouping and matching techniques are proposed and compared. The proposed methods are applied to both synthetic and real datasets to demonstrate their effectiveness and practical usefulness.
Natural noun phrase variation for interactive characters

Interactive characters that cohabit a shared space with human partners need to generate and interpret references to elements of the virtual world. Natural language allows for a wide range of phrasings for referring to any particular object, and this variation is thought to reflect not only spatial but also cognitive and linguistic factors. Our study attempts to account for the variability in referring forms found in a set of dialogs of two human partners performing a treasure-hunt task in a virtual world. A decision tree classifier was built that predicts the form of 51% of the referring expressions, compared to a baseline of 39% achieved by a heuristic classifier. The classification algorithm can be used by conversational characters to generate referring expressions of the appropriate form.
Learning concepts with a prototype-based model for concept representation

In this research we develop the formalism for a prototype-based model for concept representation that requires the building of transformations for matching instances of a concept. Most learning systems use a model for concept representation based on logical definitions that requires specifying necessary and sufficient conditions for an "all-or-none" type of concept membership. A prototype-based model should perform well with concepts which are amorphous and open-textured such as legal concepts and some categorization problems. We adopt an "exemplar view" where a concept is represented by a collection of separate descriptions of some of its exemplars (either instances or subsets). The goal of this research is to demonstrate the importance and capabilities of a prototype-based model for concept representation in a machine learning scenario. Because with a prototype-based model both the trainer and the student can take advantage of knowledge about the typicality of a training instance, it is necessary to build a new learning strategy. We design four stages of learning for incrementally building, organizing, and testing a concept. Our implementation concentrates on the first stage of learning. The first stage starts with a human trainer presenting positive instances of the concept and asking the student to find or to compose transformations which will transform an instance into a prototypical instance. A transformation is composed by selecting a general mapping procedure (e.g., analogy, decomposition) and searching a set of domain-related primitive transformations to satisfy the mapping. New transformations are composed and recorded as part of the concept description to be reused for assimilating new instances.
Bacterial toxin superantigens activate human T lymphocytes reactive with myelin autoantigens.

Some bacteria that are common human pathogens produce protein toxins that are potent activators of human T lymphocytes expressing certain types of T-cell receptors. In this study we examined the ability of staphylococcal toxins to stimulate human T lymphocytes that also recognized the myelin autoantigens myelin basic protein and proteolipid protein. T-cell populations responding to myelin basic protein or proteolipid protein were isolated from 4 subjects including 1 individual with multiple sclerosis. All myelin antigen-specific T cells responded in proliferation studies to at least one of the nine superantigenic toxins used in this study. The superantigenic toxins were up to 7x10 5 -fold more potent in proliferation assays than the myelin antigens to which the T cells were initially sensitized