cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Theoretical Foundations for Developing Cybersecurity Training

Cybersecurity is a computer term regarding the detection, anticipation, and prevention of computer technologies and peripherals from damage, attack, or unauthorized access. These technologies include the monitoring of networks, programs, applications, and personnel. Cybersecurity can be viewed from both an offensive or defensive posture involving maintaining and proactively assessing security vulnerabilities. In 2013, Edward Snowden used his position as an infrastructure analyst to leak thousands of top-secret classified documents detailing the U.S. Government’s global covert surveillance and eavesdropping undertakings to the public. This incident identified the human threat as a contributing factor that highlighted several weaknesses in the present state of U.S. cybersecurity affairs. In efforts to strengthen cyber defenses, a solid theoretical research foundation regarding cyber vulnerabilities is warranted. Building upon that foundation, training and experimentation can provide insight into current cybersecurity training methods and how they can be transitioned and implemented into future training regimens.
Objectivity: A Redundant Dimension Of The Management Accountants Code Of Ethics

A Hallmark of any profession is the presence of a Code of Ethics which can be defined and defended The National Association of Accountants Code of Ethics sets standards for practicing management accountants and students aspiring to become management accountants. This study empirically evaluated the content validity of the current code of ethics. Using Flanagans Critical Incident Technique, interviews were held with 25 Certified Management Accountants from major corporations. The data from the interviews were assembled into a mail questionnaire. Based on responses to the questionnaire, six ethical categories and 191 specific behavior describing the categories were identified and validated. The results provide empirical support for the current code of ethics, with the exception of the Objectivity category. There was a lack of consensus regarding behaviors to be classified to the Objectivity category. The results indicate that the Objectivity standards of the current code are obscure and tend to repeat the Integrity standards. Such results raise the question Are the Objectivity standards of the current code of ethics necessary?
Interdiffusion of Amorphous Si/Ge Multilayers Under Hydrostatic Pressure

We report initial results of an x-ray diffraction study of the pressure-dependence of the interdiffusion rate in amorphous Si/Ge multilayers. Anneals were performed in a diamond anvil cell at 700 K for various pressures and durations. Interdiffusion was measured by monitoring the rate of decay of the artificial Bragg peaks associated with the multilayer periodicity. A consistent increase in diffusivity was seen with pressure, characterized by an activation volume of −25±11 percent of the atomic volume of Si. An atomistic mechanism that might account for such behavior is discussed.
Inhibition of polyamine synthesis induces p53 gene expression but not apoptosis.

The nuclear phosphoprotein p53 acts as a transcription factor and is involved in growth inhibition and apoptosis. The present study was designed to examine the effect of decreasing cellular polyami...
Analysis and control of genetic regulatory systems with switched drug inputs

Because cancer usually involves multiple genes and pathways, combination therapy is considered as a promising approach for cancer treatment. However, when multiple drugs are taken by a patient simultaneously, toxicity becomes a concern. A potential solution is to give the drugs sequentially rather than simultaneously. In this study, we try to explore the feasibility of such an approach. Specifically, this study investigates the response of genetic regulatory networks to sequential (switched) drug inputs. The switching mechanism is based on the combination of a state-dependent and time-driven switching function. The design of the switching strategy ensures that the genetic regulatory network will be stabilized and satisfies a decay rate performance index. Simulation results using a mTOR pathway model show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Relationship between Interleukin-17 and Several Common Autoimmune Dieases in Children

Interleukin-17 is a potent proinflammatory cytokin related to the pathogenesis of several common autoimmune diseases in children including Kawasaki disease,juvenile idiopathic arthritis,systemic lupus erythematosus and Henoch-Schonlein purpura.
Strategic Management of Biotechnology Agents

The use of biologic response modifiers to demonstrate a value-driven approach to strategic management by pharmacists is described. To participate in decisions on the use of technology in their institutions, pharmacists must practice strategic management. This process includes environmental scanning, analysis of clinical and pharmacoeconomic data, and development of clinical management approaches. It is ideal for analyzing biologic response modifiers such as filgrastim and sargramostim. Emphasis must be placed on maximizing the fit among the products, the institution, and the health care environment. Pharmacists will find plentiful opportunities for clinical management with biotechnology agents. Practitioners who specialize in determining the total cost of care by using pharmacoeconomic methods are needed, as are practitioners trained to monitor the complicated biotechnology agents. Also, the institution needs to forecast accurately the impact of emerging biotechnology agents. If pharmacists can develop and control clinical, pharmacoeconomic, and reimbursement information databases for biotechnology agents, the pharmacy profession will be in a strong position to meet the challenges of biotechnology and realize the inherent opportunities.
A conditional Lindley paradox in Bayesian linear models

The development of prior distributions for Bayesian regression has traditionally been driven by the goal of achieving sensible model selection and parameter estimation. The formalization of properties that characterize good performance has led to the development and popularization of thick-tailed mixtures of g priors such as the Zellner–Siow and hyper-g priors. In this paper we introduce a conditional information asymptotic regime that is motivated by the common data analysis setting where at least one regression coefficient is much larger than the others. We analyse existing mixtures of g priors under this limit and reveal two new phenomena, essentially least-squares estimation and the conditional Lindley paradox, and argue that these are, in general, undesirable. The driver behind both is the use of a single, latent scale parameter common to all coefficients.
Critical Literacy for Information Professionals

Critical literacy is an important and highly relevant concept to hospital and health sciences librarians: the theory reflects the value our profession gives to informed, contextual, critical readings of the research literature; the importance of context in evidence-based practice; and the inclusion and consideration of the patient’s and family’s social or cultural needs, values, and preferences. To wit, “the approach taken in critical literacy is not to read texts in isolation, but to develop an understanding of the cultural, ideological and sociolinguistic contexts in which they are created and read” (p. xi).
Socioeconomic Development in Middlesex County

Sustainable socioeconomic development is a widely accepted best business practice. Due to its complex nature, it is not easy for policymakers and community leaders to implement these practices without the help of an in-depth master analysis to guide them. The purpose of this report is a twofold. First, we analyze the challenges that restrain the economic development in Middlesex County area. Secondly, informed by the initial analyses, we advance a series of recommendations to help implement a sustainable socioeconomic development within Middlesex County and the surrounding area. The analysis relies on local demographics, and an overview of the ongoing activities and projects in Middlesex County along with comparisons to adjacent counties and national statistics. This analysis utilized data from a 2014-2015 detailed survey distributed among the leadership of the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce to assess extant business views and strategies in the area, as well as current census data and industry trends. This report concludes with general recommendations to aid the sustainability and continuity of business in the area.
Stereoselective reactions of trivalent phosphorus compounds

The data on stereoselective reactions of achiral compounds of trivalent phosphorus with chiral nucleophiles (derivatives of secondary alcohols, amines, and amino acids) are analyzed and discussed. In certain cases, these reactions enable preparation of optically active aminophosphines and phosphinites, precursors in the synthesis of chiral organophosphorus compounds and phosphine ligands. The reactions are suitable for elucidation of mechanism and stereochemistry of nucleophilic substitution at trivalent phosphorus atom.
A variable transmission thin film for visible light

A variable transmission system for visible light is proposed. The (0 ∼100%) transmission filter with negligible image distortion is realized with a multiscale architecture of an array of metal rods on a corrugated actuating surface.
A Layered Model for Understanding and Enforcing Data Privacy

In this paper, we propose a layered model for the understanding and enforcing of information privacy. The proposed model consists of three levels. At the lowest level, called the Read/Write Layer, privacy is defined as the resistance and resilience to Read or Write violations in the information or information source. At the middle level, the sharing layer, a logical privacy connection can be set up between a source and sink based on an embedded privacy agreement (EPA). At the highest layer, the trust layer, privacy is determined based on the history of sharing between directly connected network entities. We describe how the privacy metrics differ at each layer and how they can be combined to have a three-layer information privacy model. This model can be used to assess privacy in a single-hop network and to design a privacy system for sharing data.
Giustizia Fascista: The Representation of Fascist Justice in Marcello Piacentini’s Palace of Justice, Milan, 1932–1940

Designed by the architect most closely associated with fascism, Marcello Piacentini, the Palace of Justice was the largest building constructed in Milan in the interwar period. Piacentini intended that the building, with its extensive decorative program, would assert the state’s authority in Milan, the commercial and financial center of Italy and the birthplace of fascism, and serve as a permanent monument to the legal system that structured the fascist state. In Giustizia Fascista: The Representation of Fascist Justice in Marcello Piacentini’s Palace of Justice, Milan, 1932–1940, Lucy M. Maulsby examines the controversy surrounding the decorative program, which ultimately involved government officials at the highest levels, and argues that the building evinces a genuine uncertainty about how to translate fascist policy into a cultural program. The continued use of this building as the setting for the nation’s legal dramas raises questions about how and to what extent these symbols continue to embody the notion of justice in Italian society and culture today.
Sex Differences in Circulating Progenitor Cells.

BackgroundLower levels of circulating progenitor cells (PCs) reflect impaired endogenous regenerative capacity and are associated with aging, vascular disease, and poor outcomes. Whether biologic s...
Secretory microRNA-29 expression in gingival crevicular fluid during orthodontic tooth movement

Secretory microRNAs (miRNAs) have been used increasingly as biomarkers for cancers, autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases. They are reported as being freely circulated or encapsulated in microvesicles such as exosomes. This study was performed to elucidate the presence of miRNAs with exosomes in human gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), and the expression profile of miRNA-29 during orthodontic tooth movement. Four healthy volunteer and fifteen orthodontic patients were enrolled in the study. Secretory miRNA in GCF was collected and analyzed using a bioanalyzer, realtime PCR and Western blot analysis. The expression profile of secretory miR-29 family in GCF was analyzed during the course of canine retraction for 6 weeks. The results demonstrated the presence of miRNAs in the GCF. After series of ultracentrifugation and RT-PCR array, exosome-depleted fractions and pellets were isolated and we found that secretory miRNAs were detected in both the exosome-associated fraction and the exosome-depleted supernatant fraction; however, the concentration of miRNAs was higher in the exosome-associated fraction than in the exosome-depleted fraction suggesting a close association between the secretory miRNAs and exosomes in GCF. We also demonstrated the increased expression profiles of miR-29 family during six weeks of orthodontic tooth movement in humans. Secretory miRNAs are present in GCF and secretory miRNA-29 family expression profiles increase during the tooth movement in humans. Secretory miRNA-29 in GCF could serve as potential biomarkers for periodontal remodeling.
Effects of variable thickness circular plates on frequency response functions and shock response spectrum

Resonant plates used for shock testing are typically a constant thickness. Prior research demonstrated that circular plates utilize symmetry to limit the number of contributing modes, although more design control is necessary to achieve target shock response spectra (SRS). Analytical modeling results show that variable thickness plates provide more flexibility to meet a target SRS. The first membrane mode of a circular plate correlates with the knee frequency in the shock response spectrum. Higher order membrane modes can cause the SRS to occur outside of the target band. Concave plates decrease the frequency band between first membrane mode and higher order membrane modes, while convex plates show the opposite effect. Using this theory, resonant plate cross section can be altered to tune resonant plate natural frequencies in order to achieve target SRS.
Misses, near-misses and surprises in forecasting the informational city

By choosing ‘Societies and cities in the age of instant access’ as the theme of this volume, the editor is inviting us to reflect on this and other related information-age slogans, to sort out the facts, to confront the hype, and to concede the truths that lie behind the articulation of every myth. This paper focuses on the city of the information age, for the simple reason that instant access for societies first and foremost means instant access in cities. The city of instant access? It doesn’t take much thought to appreciate the irony of the phrase. Ask the rush-hour commuter approaching a ladder dropped on a freeway lane, or the soccer mom on her daily circuit from school to ballpark to gym to library to shopping. In their wisdom, the editors chose a title that is sure to provoke and make us reflect on both facts and meanings. What developments prompted this highly popular notion of instant access? What does ‘access’ mean in the age of ICT? Access where, when, to what, for whom, by what means, for what purpose? This paper offers some thoughts on these and other issues, risking, in so doing, to fall prey to its own myths. Let us then begin with two quick myth-busting stories.
Mill’s Theory of Justice

It is time we reconsidered the relations between justice and utilitarianism. Thanks to a convergence of political and philosophical developments, interest in political philosophy and the problem of justice is greater than it has been for many years. Significant contributions have recently been made to the field.2 But our understanding of the political face of utilitarianism is, by contrast, rather crude. By re-examining Mill’s theory, I shall try in this paper to help us gain a better grasp upon the utilitarian view of justice.
Abstract 4239: Infection, inflammation and cancer: Understanding Alaska Native cancer health disparities

Gastric cancer is a leading cancer health disparity among the Alaska Native (AN) people, occurring at a 3-fold higher incidence and 4-fold higher mortality rate in comparison to U.S. Non-Hispanic whites (NHW). AN gastric cancer patients have significant differences in tumor location and appearance compared to NHW patients. In addition, AN patients are younger at the time of diagnosis, 60 versus 69 years and have a lower 5-year survival rate of 10% compared to 22% of NHW gastric cancer patients. The purpose of this research was to understand the role of gene mutations, inflammation, and infection as possible factors in the promotion of gastric cancer in the AN population. In this study, we examined previously obtained tissue samples from AN gastric cancer patients diagnosed between 2006-2014 at the Alaska Native Medical Center. Using next-generation sequencing, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization, we evaluated for 50 cancer related gene mutations, the presence of the virus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the bacterium, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), and inflammatory factors. Cancer related gene mutations were observed in 69% of gastric tumors from AN patients. The most commonly mutated genes were TP53 (30%), PIK3CA (13%), STK11 (6%), KRAS (5%), and PTEN (5%). Of particular interest, gene mutations were associated with patients who were younger at time of diagnosis (less than 55 years old) and had a history of chronic gastritis. Additionally, EBV is associated with 23% of AN gastric cancers, which is significantly higher than the 10% of EBV associated gastric cancer cases observed in other populations. EBV associated AN gastric cancer patients were more likely to have a history of chronic gastritis, prior or current H. pylori infection, and tobacco use. Notably, aberrant overexpression of the inflammatory factor cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and the glycoprotein Mucin 1 (MUC1) in gastric cancer cells was significantly associated with a poorer prognosis among AN gastric cancer patients. Collectively, these findings indicate infection and inflammation are potential driving factors in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer among the AN people, which may have important clinical implications. Citation Format: Holly Martinson, Steven Alberts, Matthew Olnes. Infection, inflammation and cancer: Understanding Alaska Native cancer health disparities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4239.
Online Reinforcement Learning Control for the Personalization of a Robotic Knee Prosthesis

Robotic prostheses deliver greater function than passive prostheses, but we face the challenge of tuning a large number of control parameters in order to personalize the device for individual amputee users. This problem is not easily solved by traditional control designs or the latest robotic technology. Reinforcement learning (RL) is naturally appealing. The recent, unprecedented success of AlphaZero demonstrated RL as a feasible, large-scale problem solver. However, the prosthesis-tuning problem is associated with several unaddressed issues such as that it does not have a known and stable model, the continuous states and controls of the problem may result in a curse of dimensionality, and the human-prosthesis system is constantly subject to measurement noise, environmental change and human-body-caused variations. In this paper, we demonstrated the feasibility of direct heuristic dynamic programming, an approximate dynamic programming (ADP) approach, to automatically tune the 12 robotic knee prosthesis parameters to meet individual human users’ needs. We tested the ADP-tuner on two subjects (one able-bodied subject and one amputee subject) walking at a fixed speed on a treadmill. The ADP-tuner learned to reach target gait kinematics in an average of 300 gait cycles or 10 min of walking. We observed improved ADP tuning performance when we transferred a previously learned ADP controller to a new learning session with the same subject. To the best of our knowledge, our approach to personalize robotic prostheses is the first implementation of online ADP learning control to a clinical problem involving human subjects.
Finite Rate Quantized Distributed optimization with Geometric Convergence

This paper studies distributed (strongly convex) optimization over multi-agent networks, subject to finite rate communications. We propose the first distributed algorithm achieving geometric convergence to the exact solution of the problem, matching thus the rate of the centralized gradient algorithm (although with different constants). The algorithm combines gradient tracking with a quantized perturbed consensus scheme. The impact on the convergence (rate) of design and network parameters, such as number of bits, algorithm step-size, and network connectivity, is also investigated. Finally, numerical results validate our theoretical findings. They demonstrate the existence of an interesting trade-off among solution accuracy, convergence time and communication cost, defined as the total number of bits transmitted on one link to achieve a target solution error.
Use of Glucose, Glutamine, and Fatty Acids for Trophoblast Respiration in Lean Women, Women With Obesity, and Women With Gestational Diabetes

Purpose Maternal obesity and gestational diabetes (GDM) are associated with adverse outcomes particularly with a male fetus. The composition and amount of substrate supplied to the placenta is altered in these conditions. We hypothesized that there are sexually dimorphic differences in utilization of glucose, fatty acids and glutamine between trophoblast of lean, obese and GDM women. Methods Trophoblast were isolated from term male or female placentas from lean, obese or GDM women (n = 4-6/group) and syncytiotrophoblast formed over 72 hr before measuring mitochondrial respiration by fuel flex assay (Seahorse XF96 analyzer). Dependency, capacity and flexibility for use of glucose, glutamine and fatty acids was measured with western blot of glucose transporter GLUT1, glutaminase and carnitine palmitoyl-transferase 1A, (CPT1A). Results Sexual dimorphism in syncytiotrophoblast fuel utilization was seen in GDM vs lean with a significant increase in glucose dependency in male and glucose capacity in female, whereas for glutamine capacity significantly decreased in male and female but dependency only in female. Fatty acid dependency and capacity significantly increased in male and capacity in female trophoblast of GDM vs either lean or obese. In male but not female trophoblast flexibility to use all three fuels significantly decreased from lean to obese and GDM. In male trophoblast there were significant associations between GLUT1 and glucose dependency (positive) and flexibility (negative). Main conclusions Human syncytiotrophoblast utilizes glutamine for mitochondrial respiration. Utilization of glucose, fatty acids and glutamine changes in a sexually dimorphic manner with obesity and GDM predominantly with a male placenta.
“So shall yoe bee:” Encountering the Shrouded Effigies of Thomas Beresford and Agnes Hassall at Fenny Bentley

The Beresford Monument from the Church of St Edmund at Fenny Bentley in Derbyshire is a funerary monument that has received relatively little attention from scholars due to its unusual imagery and the lack of documentary evidence regarding its creation. The alabaster monument depicts Thomas Beresford (d. 1473) and Agnes Hassall (d. 1467) as fully shrouded three-dimensional effigies. Incised around the base of the monument are enshrouded representations of their twenty-one children. This paper analyzes the impact that veiling the bodies of Thomas Beresford and Agnes Hassall has on the effectiveness of the monument as a commemorative tool and situates the shrouded effigies within their broader visual and social context at the turn of the sixteenth century. Rather than dismiss the unusual imagery of the Beresford Monument as an expedient solution selected by sculptors who did not know what Thomas Beresford and Agnes Hassall actually looked like, this paper argues that shrouding the effigies was a deliberate commemorative strategy meant to evoke specific responses in the monument’s viewers. Although there is little concrete information about the tomb’s commission, contextualizing it by examining the monument in concert with other aspects of late medieval culture—including purgatorial piety, macabre texts and imagery, and ex votos—can provide a richer understanding of the object’s potentiality for its beholders. The anonymizing aspect of the shroud ultimately enabled viewers to identify freely and easily with the individuals depicted on the monument, which would have encouraged them to pray for the souls of Thomas and Agnes, thus perpetuating their memories and reducing their time in purgatory.
Hashtag Burnout? A Control Experiment Investigating How Political Hashtags Shape Reactions to News Content

Both hashtag activists and news organizations assume that trending political hashtags effectively capture the nowness of social issues that people care about [20]. In fact, news organizations with growing social media presence increasingly capitalize the use of political hashtags in article headlines and social media news post - a practice aimed to generate new readership through lightweight news consumption of content by linking a particular story to a broader topic [28]. However, response to political hashtags can be complicated as demonstrated with the events surrounding #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter. In fact, the semantic simplicity of political hashtags often belies the complexities around the question of who gets to participate [71], what intersectional identities are included or excluded from the hashtag [45], as well as how the meaning of the hashtag expands and drifts [10] depending on the context through which it is expressed. Overtime, reports show increasing backlash [70, 73, 74] and polarization [21, 52, 66, 67, 70] against key issues embodied by political hashtags. In this vein, we assume that political hashtags affect how people make sense of and engage with media content. However, we do not know how the presence of political hashtags -signaling that a news story is related to a current social issue - influences the assumptions potential readers make about the social content of an article. In this work we conducted a randomized control experiment to examine how the presence of political hashtags (particularly the most prevalently used #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter) in social media news posts shape reactions across a general audience (n=1979). Our findings show that compared to the control group, people shown news posts with political hashtags perceive the news topic as less socially important and are less motivated to know more about social issues related to the post. People also find the news more partisan and controversial when hashtags are included. In fact, negative perception associated with political hashtags (partisan bias & topic controversy) mediates people's motivation to further engage with the news content). High-intensity Facebook users and politically moderate participants perceive news with political hashtags as more partisan compared to posts excluding hashtags. There are also significant differences in discourse patterns between the hashtag and control groups around how politically moderate respondents engage with the news content in their comments.
Chapter 12 – Neuroendocrinology and Neuroimaging Studies of Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder is characterized by aberrant socio-emotional information-processing and affect regulation in the context of social evaluative threat and self-referential processing. Several neurobiological systems are likely to be implicated in the pathophysiology of the disorder, including the stress response system as shown by studies of psychoneuroendocrinology and cognitive-affective systems elucidated by studies of brain function. In this chapter, we provide a qualitative review and synthesis of the extant literature on the neuroendocrinology and neuroanatomy of social anxiety disorder that spans the past two decades.
Commodification and the Performative Sign in Eucharistic Ethics

The sacramental controversy raised the question of whether representation is naturally referential or performative. Whenever signs are seen to be efficacious in themselves, they are generally regarded as magical and demonic. The sacraments were sacred because they were exceptions to this rule. Unlike the fetish of the magician, whose effects were illusory, the sacraments actually achieved an objective effect in the real world. The Eucharist was the paradigmatic performative sign, and the questions raised by the Reformation involved the source and nature of this performative power. This chapter gives a detailed historical account of the sacramental controversy, before focusing on the competing Protestant theories of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin and their connections to the burgeoning influence of symbolic exchange value in the economy.
A Simplified Bayesian Analysis Method for Vaccine Efficacy

Abstract We describe a simplified Bayesian analysis of vaccine trial data, in which a reparametrization of the Poisson likelihood leads to a factorization in which the protective vaccine efficacy VES and the nuisance parameter appear in different factors. As a consequence the posterior density acquires a factorized form, and marginalization over the nuisance parameter is trivial. Estimates of VES accordingly become a matter of simple manipulations of one-dimensional posterior probability densities. We demonstrate the method using the publically-released data on the efficacy of three vaccines agains SARS-CoV-2: the final Phase III data from the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines and the interim data released for the Sputnik V adenovirus-based vaccine.
Sharing the Power of White Privilege to Catalyze Positive Change in Academic Medicine

White privilege can be often overlooked and poorly understood in academic medicine, by those who wield it, and by those who suffer from its deleterious effects. Dr. Peggy McIntosh, a leader in research on equity and diversity in education, described white privilege as a set of unearned benefits that white people have based on being born white in a culture that favors the white race. White people have privilege because it was given to them by other white people, and it was taken by claiming superiority over people of color, starting before the European colonizations of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, and continuing through the present day. Many white people come from impoverished communities, suffer from socioeconomic disadvantage, and struggle with unemployment. They may also suffer from inadequate housing and limited education. Because they are white, they still benefit from privilege and positive stereotypes associated with light skin color. As our nation reckons with the murders of unarmed Black people by police, recognizing that many white people have been allies and agents of change forBlack and other minority people, discussing how the power of white privilege can be shared is needed. The authors discuss the power of white privilege and how that power can be shared to promote change in academic medicine.
Stereotaxic Infusion of Oligomeric Amyloid-beta into the Mouse Hippocampus.

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease affecting the aging population. A key neuropathological feature of the disease is the over-production of amyloid-beta and the deposition of amyloid-beta plaques in brain regions of the afflicted individuals. Throughout the years scientists have generated numerous Alzheimer’s disease mouse models that attempt to replicate the amyloid-beta pathology. Unfortunately, the mouse models only selectively mimic the disease features. Neuronal death, a prominent effect in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients, is noticeably lacking in these mice. Hence, we and others have employed a method of directly infusing soluble oligomeric species of amyloid-beta - forms of amyloid-beta that have been proven to be most toxic to neurons - stereotaxically into the brain. In this report we utilize male C57BL/6J mice to document this surgical technique of increasing amyloid-beta levels in a select brain region. The infusion target is the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus because this brain structure, along with the basal forebrain that is connected by the cholinergic circuit, represents one of the areas of degeneration in the disease. The results of elevating amyloid-beta in the dentate gyrus via stereotaxic infusion reveal increases in neuron loss in the dentate gyrus within 1 week, while there is a concomitant increase in cell death and cholinergic neuron loss in the vertical limb of the diagonal band of Broca of the basal forebrain. These effects are observed up to 2 weeks. Our data suggests that the current amyloid-beta infusion model provides an alternative mouse model to address region specific neuron death in a short-term basis. The advantage of this model is that amyloid-beta can be elevated in a spatial and temporal manner.
Optimal resource allocation for competing epidemics over arbitrary networks

This paper studies an SI 1 SI 2 S spreading model of two competing behaviors over a bilayer network. In particular, we address the problem of determining resource allocation strategies that ensure the extinction of one behavior while not necessarily ensuring the extinction of the other, and pose a marketing problem in which such a model can be of use. Our discussion begins by extending the SI 1 SI 2 S model to nodedependent infection and recovery parameters and generalized graph topologies, contrasting prior work. We then find conditions under which a chosen epidemic becomes extinct. We show that a distribution of resources which realizes this goal always exists for some budget under mild assumptions. We address the case in which the available budget is not sufficient for extinction by establishing analytic means for mitigating the spreading rate of the unwanted behavior. We demonstrate a method for tractably computing solutions to each problem via geometric programming. Our results are validated through simulation.
Cutting planes from conditional bounds: A new approach to set covering

A conditional lower bound on the minimand of an integer program is a number which would be a valid lower bound if the constraint set were amended by certain inequalities, also called conditional. If such a conditional lower bound exceeds some known upper bound, then every solution better than the one corresponding to the upper bound violates at least one of the conditional inequalities. This yields a valid disjunction, which can be used to partition the feasible set, or to derive a family of valid cutting planes. In the case of a set covering problem, these cutting planes are themselves of the set covering type. The family of valid inequalities derived from conditional bounds subsumes as a special case the Bellmore-Ratliff inequalities generated via involutory bases, but is richer than the latter class and contains considerably stronger members, where strength is measured by the number of positive coefficients. We discuss the properties of the family of cuts from conditional bounds, and give a procedure for generating strong members of the family. Finally, we outline a class of algorithms based on these cuts. Our approach was implemented and extensively tested in a computational study whose results are reported in a companion paper [2]. The algorithm that emerged from the testing seems capable of solving considerably larger set covering problem than earlier methods.
Pandemic influenza planning in nursing homes: are we prepared?

Avian influenza or Influenza A (H5N1) is caused by a viral strain that occurs naturally in wild birds, but to which humans are immunologically naive. If an influenza pandemic occurs, it is expected to have dire consequences, including millions of deaths, social disruption, and enormous economic consequences. The Department of Health and Human Resources plan, released in November 2005, clearly affirms the threat of a pandemic. Anticipating a disruption in many factions of society, every segment of the healthcare industry, including nursing homes, will be affected and will need to be self-sufficient. Disruption of vaccine distribution during the seasonal influenza vaccine shortage during the 2004/05 influenza season is but one example of erratic emergency planning. Nursing homes will have to make vital decisions and provide care to older adults who will not be on the initial priority list for vaccine. At the same time, nursing homes will face an anticipated shortage of antiviral medications and be expected to provide surge capacity for overwhelmed hospitals. This article provides an overview of current recommendations for pandemic preparedness and the potential effect of a pandemic on the nursing home industry. It highlights the need for collaborative planning and dialogue between nursing homes and various stakeholders already heavily invested in pandemic preparedness.
Intellectual Property as the Third Dimension of GMO Regulation

In the past, opposition to GMOs and GM crops has tended to focus on alleged dangers to human health and environmental safety. The United States, Canada, and Europe have all established regulatory frameworks whose stated aims are to ensure that GMOs and GM crops do not harm the health of their citizens or threaten the well-being of their environments. However, these jurisdictions have set up regulatory hurdles of significantly different heights. North American neighbors, the United States and Canada, have tended to regulate GMOs and GM crops with a relatively light touch that tends to ease approval for field-testing and commercial marketing. By contrast, Europe has applied much stricter regulatory standards, with the result that few GM crops have been field-tested or GM foods allowed onto the market there. A large and growing body of scientific studies into the human health and environmental safety of GMOs and GM crops has failed to find significant justification for the extreme precautionary approach adopted by Europe. Furthermore, a WTO panel decision forcefully critical of the European regulatory regime for GMOs and GM crops was recently accepted by Europe, and may herald the adoption of a new regulatory regime more accepting of GMOs and GM crops. As prospects have faded that scientific evidence will demonstrate that GMOs and GM crops pose unique threats to human health and environmental safety, a third locus of anxieties has been growing in significance: patent monopolies over new and useful GM crops. Concerns about monopoly control of GM crops are the obverse of concerns about human health and environmental safety. Where the latter rationales counsel against the easy and widespread adoption of GM crops, the former rationale would operate to ensure such easy and widespread adoption. Both the United States and Europe offer patent protection for GM plants and animals, making regulation against patent monopolies in GM crops difficult. However, Canada does not allow the patenting of GM plants and animals, thus avoiding patent monopolies in GM crops per se. Ironically, just as Europe might look to Canada for a new method of regulating GMOs and GM crops, Canada may be undergoing a transition toward allowing such inventions to be patented. Of the three loci of regulation of GMOs and GM crops, the patent system maintains the most integrity. The scientific justifications for strictly limiting GMOs and GM crops due to concerns over human health and environmental safety have yet to materialize to any significant degree. In fact, there is so little scientific evidence of unique risks of GMOs and GM crops that even invocation of a conservative precautionary principle may be unjustified. Regardless of how regulation of GMOs and GM crops changes in Canada and Europe in the future, it is likely that concerns over monopoly control will grow in significance as a rationale for regulation, while the rationales of human health and environmental safety will continue to fade in the absence of a reversal of the current trend of scientific evidence.
An Anarchist Guide to Historic Rooms and House Museums

Historic house museums (HHM) and period rooms contribute to the national identity and acultural memory. Traditionally they have stood as shrines to a person or concept - reminders for socialcontinuity. Today, most HHMs are struggling for relevancy, and their place within the complex new structure of fast-paced, Internet based media. As a result of these cultural shifts, HHM and period rooms are having difficulty in finding new audiences, increasing fundraising, maintaining volunteers, producing relevant programming and planning for long-term stewardship. These houses and rooms hold a unique position in modernity. They have been actual private domestic worlds encapsulated and re-presented as public narrative. These architectural fragments exist in the volatile world between the REAL and the IDEAL. This paradoxical existence contains the most potential for an authentic "reading” of these domestic realms. Our research presents a methodology that makes visible a more holistic narrative of habitation. It begins with a critique and mapping of three HHMs and nine period rooms at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. These recordings reveal a less than authentic experience characterized by a proliferation of denied spaces; the lack of the detritus of human habitation and the choreography it suggests; and, the absence of preservation variation. This cleansing of history denies the potential use of Conjecture/Rumor and Gossip innarratives; or the presence of Simultaneity and Fingerprinting. To address these shortcomings, we suggest through illustrative recordings and design proposals how the visitor experience can expand to includeOwnership, Overlapping, and Trans-position. The sustainability of HHMs will depend on a new methodology that makes visible a more holistic narrative ofhabitation, one that embraces a chorus of diverse voices from both inside and outside the museum. The Anarchist Guide to Historic House Museums is a manifesto offered toward that cause.
It Takes Two To Tango: Understanding and Acquiring Symmetrical Verbs

Children's ability to understand symmetrical verbs was investigated, along with adults' use of linguistic and visual cues to learn novel symmetrical verbs. Symmetrical verbs encode a relationship r between two entities such that X r Y entails Y r X. In Experiment 1, sixteen children (mean age 4;8) acted out two types of sentences with symmetrical and asymmetrical verbs. Eight adult judges viewed videotapes of the children's performance and tried to guess what sentence type was being enacted. Judges' performance was predicted(p < .05) by the verb type, symmetrical or asymmetrical. In Experiment 2, seventy-two adult subjects received visual and linguistic cues to the meanings of novel verbs. Both cue types affected subjects' judgments about whether the new verbs were symmetrical or asymmetrical (p < .05).
Smart polymers for peptide and protein parenteral sustained delivery

Smart polymers have revolutionized the field of polymeric drug delivery to achieve sustained and/or targeted delivery of protein therapeutics. These polymers exhibit a non-linear response to a small stimulus leading to a macroscopic alteration in their structure/properties. The stimulus is categorized as physical, chemical or biochemical and could be internal, external, single or a combination of two or more. A broad classification of smart polymers, their fabrication and refinement of release characteristics, advantages, limitations and applications have been highlighted in this review. Special emphasis has been placed on temperature and phase-sensitive polymers to deliver protein therapeutics.
Unscrambling the Concept of Chaos Through Thick and Thin: Reply

Melese and Transue rightly distinguish two types of chaos: that in which the scrambled set has positive measure (observable chaos); and that when it has zero measure (unobservable chaos). In a series of studies that began with the reference they cite, Wayne Shafer and I have explored the existence of observable chaos for a Keynesian business cycle model [Day and Shafer, 1985a,b; Day, 1985]. On the basis of this work it is clear that observable chaos can exist and be robust for a continuum of parameter values for a large class of difference equations that arise quite naturally in economics. The functional forms for this class involve piece-wise smooth functions-in effect, switching regimes. Readers concerned with these issues may also be interested to learn of extensive computational studies, carried out by Pianigiani, of the classic quadratic difference equation that I used as a special case of a more general example and to which Melese and Transue confine their attention. These simulations, which were shown to me in Siena and which augment similar studies by James Yorke (both of these scholars are among the pioneers in the field), show that throughout the range of values 3.57 < m < 4.00, behavior switches from stable, relatively loworder cycles (with thin chaos) to very high-order cycles or thick chaos. The high-order cycles appear to be nonperiodic for finite series shorter than their periodicity. The latter could be in the hundreds, thousands, millions, or higher! One should also be reminded that Lorenz [1963], in one of his seminal papers, provided evidence that the asymptotic behavior of solutions changed erratically within what is now known to be the chaos zone. Putting all this together, we see that (1) thick chaos can be robust in important classes of models; (2) thin chaos may frequently be associated with stable, but high-order cycles that are practically indistinguishable from chaos; and (3) the long-run behavior of nonlinear difference equations typically switches frequently and sometimes erratically with parameter shifts. In a nutshell, complex, essentially unpredictable behavior is a structurally stable feature of nonlinear difference equations through