cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Inhaled nitric oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gas that induces relaxation of smooth muscle cells in the vasculature. Because NO reacts with oxyhaemoglobin with high affinity, the gas is rapidly scavenged by oxyhaemoglobin in red blood cells and the vasodilating effects of inhaled NO are limited to ventilated regions in the lung. NO therefore has the unique ability to induce pulmonary vasodilatation specifically in the portions of the lung with adequate ventilation, thereby improving oxygenation of blood and decreasing intrapulmonary right to left shunting. Inhaled NO is used to treat a spectrum of cardiopulmonary conditions, including pulmonary hypertension in children and adults. However, the widespread use of inhaled NO is limited by logistical and financial barriers. We have designed, developed and tested a simple and economic NO generation device, which uses pulsed electrical discharges in air to produce therapeutic levels of NO that can be used for inhalation therapy. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on Nitric Oxide 20 Years from the 1998 Nobel Prize. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v176.2/issuetoc.
CrowdTeacher: Robust Co-teaching with Noisy Answers and Sample-Specific Perturbations for Tabular Data.

Samples with ground truth labels may not always be available in numerous domains. While learning from crowdsourcing labels has been explored, existing models can still fail in the presence of sparse, unreliable, or differing annotations. Co-teaching methods have shown promising improvements for computer vision problems with noisy labels by employing two classifiers trained on each others’ confident samples in each batch. Inspired by the idea of separating confident and uncertain samples during the training process, we extend it for the crowdsourcing problem. Our model, CrowdTeacher, uses the idea that perturbation in the input space model can improve the robustness of the classifier for noisy labels. Treating crowdsourcing annotations as a source of noisy labeling, we perturb samples based on the certainty from the aggregated annotations. The perturbed samples are fed to a Co-teaching algorithm tuned to also accommodate smaller tabular data. We showcase the boost in predictive power attained using CrowdTeacher for both synthetic and real datasets across various label density settings. Our experiments reveal that our proposed approach beats baselines modeling individual annotations and then combining them, methods simultaneously learning a classifier and inferring truth labels, and the Co-teaching algorithm with aggregated labels through common truth inference methods.
A comparison of undergraduate marketing curricula by type of accreditation

Previous studies of coursework required for marketing degrees have been limited to programs accredited by Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). Given that AACSB accreditation applies to less than one-third of all four-year business programs in the US, previous results are limited in scope. Research reported here draws current data from a broader selection of programs holding different types of accreditation thus providing a more complete view of coursework required by marketing programs. The findings reported here show little change over time for programs holding accreditation by AACSB International, yet significant differences between programs holding different types of accreditation.
Abstract 15509: SYNE2 Expression Regulates Calcium Cycling and Mitochondria Function in Cardiomyocytes: Implications for Association With Atrial Fibrillation

Introduction: SYNE2 encodes a nuclear membrane protein that connects the nucleus with the cytoskeleton. rs1152591 is a common SNP in the SYNE2 gene that is associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) ...
Videoconferenced Yoga Interventions for Cancer Patients and their Caregivers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Report from a Clinician's Perspective.

BACKGROUND: The acceptability of videoconferencing delivery of yoga interventions in the advanced cancer setting is relatively unexplored. The current report summarizes the challenges and solutions of the transition from an in-person (ie, face-to-face) to a videoconference intervention delivery approach in response to the Coronavirus Disease pandemic. METHOD: Participants included patient-family caregiver dyads who were enrolled in ongoing yoga trials and 2 certified yoga therapists who delivered the yoga sessions. We summarized their experiences using recordings of the yoga sessions and interventionists' progress notes. RESULTS: Out of 7 dyads participating in the parent trial, 1 declined the videoconferenced sessions. Participants were between the ages of 55 and 76 and mostly non-Hispanic White (83%). Patients were mainly male (83%), all had stage III or IV cancer and were undergoing radiotherapy. Caregivers were all female. Despite challenges in the areas of technology, location, and setting, instruction and personal connection, the overall acceptability was high among patients, caregivers, and instructors. Through this transition process, solutions to these challenges were found, which are described here. CONCLUSION: Although in-person interventions are favored by both the study participants and the interventionists, videoconference sessions were deemed acceptable. All participants had the benefit of a previous in-person experience, which was helpful and perhaps necessary for older and advanced cancer patients requiring practice modifications. In a remote setting, the assistance of caregivers seems particularly beneficial to ensure practice safety. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: NCT03948100; NCT02481349.
Are Clinical Vignette Questions Harder than Traditional Questions in Gross Anatomy Course

The increased integration of clinical scenarios throughout the first-year gross anatomy course is widely supported in the USA. This early introduction of clinically relevant material has created a need for new assessments of relevant knowledge that include questions based on clinical vignettes. However, little is known about how dental/medical students handle these clinical vignette questions (CVQ) in gross anatomy examinations. Thus, using meaningful ways to compare CVQ with traditional questions (TQ) could justify validation of the CVQ assessment format for this course. This study compared student performance on matched sets of CVQ and TQ test items before and after training on CVQ items in a summer 2014 and 2015 pre-matriculation program gross anatomy course. The subject matter for this course consisted of two blocks (back and upper limb; head and neck), accompanied by cadaveric dissection. Our data show that, in comparison with the TQ format, students fared poorly in the CVQ format (P < 0.05) under two conditions: (1) no advanced training on this format, or (2) unprepared for the test. However, an encouraging finding of our study suggests that training on CVQ items before testing may greatly improve student performance on this specific format for high-performing groups (grades ≥ 70). Training did not seem to exert any beneficial effect on low-performing groups (grades < 70) in this study. Thus, our current study recommends the early familiarization/training on CVQ items in the gross anatomy course and possibly other basic science courses.
Experiments Varying Semantic Similarity Measures and Reference Ontologies for Ontology Alignment

Semantic similarity measures within a reference ontology have been used in a few ontology alignment (OA) systems. Most use a single reference ontology, typically WordNet, and a single similarity measure within it. The mediating matcher with semantic similarity (MMSS) was added to AgreementMaker to incorporate the selection of a semantic similarity measure and the combination of multiple reference ontologies in an adaptable fashion. The results of experiments using the MMSS on the anatomy track of the Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI) are reported. A variety of semantic similarity measures are applied within multiple reference ontologies. Using multiple reference ontologies with the MMSS improved alignment results. All information-content based semantic similarity measures produced better alignment results than a path-based semantic similarity measure.
Unscharfe lineare Optimierung

Bezugspunkt fur die folgenden Ausfuhrungen zu einer Fuzzifizierung linearer Optimierungsprobleme ist die formale Darstellung des klassischen Standard-maximumproblems.
Toward an Attribution Model of Brand Loyalty

A model of brand loyalty is proposed in this paper based mostly on Kelley’s attribution theory, specifically, Kelley’s covariation principle. The central theme of the model is that brand loyalty is an attribution consumers make based on the observation of their own repeat purchase. It is postulated that the underlying psychological mediating process is an attribution process involving distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus. A set of predictors of the mediating conditions were suggested. Furthermore, a set of moderators were hypothesized concerning the various relationships among the main constructs of the model. The marketing implications of the model are also discussed.
Sleep Apnea Self-Management Program

Publisher Summary Sleep apnea self-management program (SASMP) is indicated for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who are prescribed continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. The SASMP was designed to be incorporated into existing clinical care processes, particularly the ones that include both diagnostic and treatment initialization services. SASMP provides basic education about diagnostic testing, sleep apnea, and CPAP therapy. The acute and the chronic illness models each emphasizes different characteristics in the conceptualization of disease. Acute illness is typically characterized by abrupt or rapid onset, limited duration, a predominant cause (usually), a commonly accurate diagnosis and prognosis, and a high cure rate. In contrast, chronic illness is typically characterized by gradual onset, lengthy or indefinite duration, multivariate causation (which may change over time), and a focus on functional status rather than individual diagnoses. In addition, cure of chronic illness is unlikely, and long-term management of symptoms and disease consequences is often necessary.
Postglacial Fire Frequency and its Relation to Long-Term Vegetational and Climatic Changes in Yellowstone Park

The paleoecologic record provides unique insights into the response of coinmunities to environmental perturbations of different duration and intensity. Climate is a primary agent of environmental change and its long-term effect on the vegetation of the Yellowstone region is revealed in a network of pollen records. Fire frequency is controlled by climate, and as climate changes so too does the importance of fire in shaping and maintaining spatia\l patterns of vegetation. The prehistoric record of Yellowstone's northern range, for example, shows the response of vegetation to an absence of major fires in the last 150 years (Whitlock et al. 1991; Engstrom et al. 1991). In longer records spanning the last 14,000 year8, periods of frequent fires are suggested â¢ by sediments containing high percentages of fire-adapted trees and high amounts of charcoal (Bamosky et al. 1987).
A state transition analysis of image search patterns on the web

Image seeking behavior is a complex interaction among many factors. One approach to the study of this behavior is to examine and categorize the search moves made by individuals as they transition from one search state to another. Seventy-one image searches conducted by graduate students on the web were analyzed to identify patterns of search state transitions used and the overall frequency of specific state transitions. Over a thousand state transitions were identified within eighteen state categories. The categories included search tool and collection selection, queries, context moves, and relevance judgments. Maximal Repeating Pattern Analysis (MRP) was used to examine patterns of transition from one search state to another. The patterns of state transition sequences were conceptualized within a framework of search tactics and search strategies.
Application of chemical relaxation to biological systems. III. Selected three-step reactions

Abstract This Part III of the series considers rather exhaustively one type of three independent reaction steps, which is also related to the presently rather important class of allosteric enzyme systems. It is a cyclic system of four steps, in which a monomolecular interconversion alternates with a bimolecular association (or dissociation). In the two bimolecular steps, association occurs with one and the same component, which is also present in considerable excess. Reactions are also considered, in which only part of the full cycle is contained in order to provide for comparison between alternate mechanisms. These mechanisms are extensively discussed, equations for kinetics, statics and thermodynamics are derived under various conditions, and theoretical curves are presented to facilitate the comparison between alternate mechanisms.
On the dynamics of hot air plasmas related to lightning discharges: 1. Gas dynamics

In this paper, we first study the dynamics of hot shocks in air in cylindrical geometry coupled to multiband radiation transport and detailed air chemistry. The wide energy and length scale ranges which are covered herein includes and exceeds the ones of first and subsequent return strokes happening during lightning discharges. An emphasis is put on the NOx production and the optical power emitted by strong shocks as the ones generated by Joule heating of the air from intense current flows. The production rate of NOx, which is useful for atmospheric global modeling, is found to be between 4.5 × 1016 and 8.6 × 1016 molecules/J for all computed cases, which is in agreement with the literature. Two different radiation transport methods are used to characterize the variability of the results according to the radiation transport method. With the exact radiation solver, we show that between 15 and 40% of the energy is lost by radiation, with a percentage between 20 and 25% for averaged lightning energies. The maximal visible peak is between 7 × 108 W/m and 3 × 107 W/m obtained for, respectively, a 19 kJ/cm and a 28 J/cm energy input. The mean radiated powers in the visible range are found between 9 × 106 W/m and 2 × 105 W/m for the energies just mentioned. We discuss the agreement of these values with previous studies.
Scalability of Sparse Direct Solvers

We shall say that a scalable algorithm achieves efficiency that is bounded away from zero as the number of processors and the problem size increase in such a way that the size of the data structures increases linearly with the number of processors. In this paper we show that the column-oriented approach to sparse Cholesky for distributed-memory machines is not scalable. By considering message volume, node contention, and bisection width, one may obtain lower bounds on the time required for communication in a distributed algorithm. Applying this technique to distributed, column-oriented, dense Cholesky leads to the conclusion that N (the order of the matrix) must scale with P (the number of processors) so that storage grows like P 2. So the algorithm is not scalable. Identical conclusions have previously been obtained by consideration of communication and computation latency on the critical path in the algorithm; these results complement and reinforce that conclusion.
Immunofluorescence Studies of Gastric Heterotopia of the Small Intestine in Crohn's Disease

A patient with long-standing Crohn's disease of the large and small intestine was foundto have extensive gastric metaplasia of the ileum. Most metaplastic glands were of the pyloric type, but numerous oxyntic glands with parietal and chief cells were also seen. By immunofluorescence the chief cells contained both the group I and group II pepsinogens, while the pyloric gland cells contained only the group II pepsinogens. Gastrin-containing or other endocrine cells were not detected in the metaplastic pyloric and oxyntic glands. The latter findings are consistent with the concept expressed by Pearse that the endocrine and exocrine cells of the gastrointestinal mucosa may originate from different precursor elements during embryogenesis.
Split-and-merge image segmentation based on localized feature analysis and statistical tests

Abstract In this paper, an adaptive split-and-merge image segmentation algorithm based on characteristic features and a hypothesis model is proposed. The analysis of characteristic features provides the requisite parameters that serve as constraints in the hypothesis model. The strength of the proposed method lies in the fact that the parameters in the algorithms are computed automatically and depend only on the context of the image under analysis. One of the key processes, the determination of region homogeneity, is treated as a sequence of decision problems in terms of predicates in the hypothesis model. Experimental results on natural scene pictures and medical images are included to demonstrate the robustness of the algorithm.
Principal components in the nonnormal case: The test of equality of Q roots

Abstract The limiting distribution of the likelihood ratio statistic W q for testing the hypothesis of equality of q characteristic roots of a covariance matrix is studied in the case of nonnormal populations. It is shown, both theoretically and empirically, that the limiting distribution of W q is not robust to departures from normality and that W q cannot be used for nonnormal populations with long tails. For the class of elliptical populations the limiting distribution of W q can be expressed in close form. A corrected test statistic, W q ∗ , is proposed that can be used in principal component analysis when sampling from elliptical populations.
Oculodentodigital dysplasia: new ocular findings and a novel connexin 43 mutation.

Objectives To describe new ocular findings associated with oculodentodigital dysplasia (ODDD) and a novel mutation in the connexin 43 transmembrane domain. Design Oculodentodigital dysplasia is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by multiple systemic abnormalities, most commonly of the ocular, nasal, dental, and limb structures. Herein, we studied 2 patients with ODDD. We describe their clinical findings and 2 ocular abnormalities not previously emphasized or reported. Results Optic nerve and retinal dysplasia was observed in both patients, and ciliary body cysts were observed in 1 patient. Both patients carried isolated in-frame deletion and missense mutations of theGJA1gene on chromosome 6. Conclusions Optic nerve and retinal dysplasia had not been emphasized as ocular manifestations of ODDD. Ciliary body cysts have not previously been reported in association with ODDD. Clinical Relevance Our findings support the potential significance of connexin 43 in the retina, optic nerve, and ciliary body. Retinal and optic nerve dysplasia may be more common than previously appreciated and may be associated with reduced vision. In addition, the ciliary body cysts observed in 1 patient may be secondary to weakened cellular adhesions between ciliary body pigmented and nonpigmented epithelium associated with the in-frame deletion identified in the affected patient. The presence of these cysts may exacerbate glaucoma or complicate its management.
Magneto-Optical Properties of Ferromagnetic Suspensions

Observations on the change of light transmission through magnetite suspensions under the influence of alternating magnetic fields show that the orientation of the particles is not exclusively of dipolar origin, as was assumed by Heaps and Elmore. Fields of frequencies between 500 and 15,000 cycles per sec. produce a steady change of absorption. In fields of lower frequencies $\ensuremath{\omega}$ the change consists of a steady and a fluctuating part. The wave form of the latter is studied with a photo-cell amplifier and an oscillograph. In general, it is given by an equation of the form: $Acos\ensuremath{\omega}t+Bcos2\ensuremath{\omega}t$. By varying the field intensity, the frequency or the viscosity, either $A$ or $B$ can be made to vanish. This behavior is shown to be characteristic of polar anisotropic particles, for which the torque on the induced dipole is of the same order of magnitude as that due to the permanent dipole. Included is a survey of the work done on the magneto- and electro-optical properties of numerous other colloids and suspensions.
Adhesive transition from noncontacting to contacting elastic spheres: extension of the Maugis-Dugdale model.

Abstract In this paper, an adhesion model for spherical noncontact is proposed based on the Maugis–Dugdale (MD) adhesive contact model. The proposed noncontact model is combined with the MD contact model, thus providing a full range adhesion model with analytical transition from noncontacting to contacting asperity geometry. The proposed model is favorably compared with the full range improved DMT model for low surface energy values. The transition process from noncontact to contact and the adhesion instability that occurs during this transition are also investigated. It is found that jump-off points are different for displacement control and force control. Moreover, under displacement control, jump-on and jump-off points are different when the adhesion parameter λ is greater than 0.95, whereas they are identical for λ 0.95 . By curve fitting a relationship between the critical approach under displacement and force control separately and the adhesion parameter λ, approach prediction equations for jump-on and jump-off under different adhesion levels were obtained.
Abstract LB-6: Non-covalent assembly of meso-tetra-4-pyridyl porphine with single-stranded DNA to form nano-sized complexes with pH-dependent DNA release and anti-tumor activity.

Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC Porphyrin-based nanomaterials frequently require non-physiological conditions to promote non-covalent assembly limiting therapeutic utility. In the present studies, we demonstrate that single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) modulates non-covalent assembly of meso-tetra-4-pyridyl porphine (MTP) and that the resulting porphyrin:DNA nano-sized complexes (PDN) are stable indefinitely in aqueous solution under physiologically relevant conditions and undergo pH-dependent DNA release under moderately acidic conditions (pH 5.1) that protonate the pyridyl nitrogens of MTP. The biological utility of pH-dependent DNA release from PDN was demonstrated by endosomal release of DNA in cancer cells. PDN formation is DNA-dependent with the ratio of porphyrin:DNA being approximately two DNA nucleobases per porphyrin consistent with half the pyridyl side chains of MTP interacting with DNA nucleobases. Raman spectra display surface-enhanced features for the porphyrin in the context of PDN consistent with π-π stacking of porphyrins and DNA nucleobases being a principal driving force for PDN assembly, a result also consistent with enhanced PDN dissociation in more hydrophobic solvent systems. PDN produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a light-dependent manner under conditions that favor dissociation, such as in hydrophobic environments as occurs upon endocytosis or in the presence of hydrophobic solvents. PDN induce light-dependent cytotoxicity in vitro and anti-tumor activity towards bladder cancer xenografts in vivo. Light-dependent, PDN-mediated cell death resulted from ROS-mediated localized membrane damage with mass spectrometry confirming the generation of the lipid peroxidation products9- and 13-hydroxy octadecanoic acid. Our results demonstrate that PDN have properties useful for therapeutic applications, including cancer treatment. Citation Format: William H. Gmeiner, Supratim Ghosh, Kamil B. Ucer, Richard T. Williams, Ralph D'Agostino, Ken Grant, Joseph Sirintrapun, Michael Thomas, Roy Hantgan, Manish Bharadwaj. Non-covalent assembly of meso-tetra-4-pyridyl porphine with single-stranded DNA to form nano-sized complexes with pH-dependent DNA release and anti-tumor activity. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-6. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-LB-6
Pulsed Neutron Sources for Condensed Matter Research

The efforts around the world to provide higher neutron intensities are now focussed on accelerator-driven spallation sources in which neutrons are produced by bombardment of heavy metal targets with high energy protons. Spallation sources can be pulsed or quasi-continuous depending on the nature of the proton accelerator. Pulsed spallation sources, based on rapid cycling synchrotrons or storage rings, are especially attractive since a moderate average proton current (10/sup -5/ - 10/sup -3/A) can produce high instantaneous neutron intensities which can be used with time-of-flight methods to provide powerful neutron spectrometers.
Search for soft gamma repeaters in the SMM/HXRBS data

The triggered fast memory of the hard X-ray burst spectrometer (HXRBS) on board the SMM is used to describe the results of a search for short transients resembling soft gamma repeater (SGR) bursts. Memory data for a total of about 4000 burst triggers, out of which only a very few could be considered as valid SGR candidate events, are analyzed. The search methodology is outlined, the HXRBS exposure and sensitivity to SGR bursts are calculated, and the criteria which constrain the number of candidate events are described. An upper limit is given for the SGR source number density. This limit, combined with results from other relevant observations and the assumption of a neutron star origin, are applied to obtain a constraint on SGR-active lifetimes.
The influence of second-nearest neighbor interactions on the thermodynamic properties of B2 phases with substitutional defects

In order to explain some discrepancies between the theoretical predictions and the experimental data for the thermodynamic properties of substitutional B 2 phases,Chang's theoretical model is extended by including the influence of second-nearest neighbor interactions. For this purpose a new parameter η is introduced which is defined as the ratio of the interchange energies between second-nearest and first-nearest neighbors. Theoretical equations are derived for the compositional dependence of the activity and the partial molar enthalpy. Using literature data, the following phases are re-evaluated in terms of the disorder parameter α and the newly introduced parameter η: β′-AuZn, β′-AuCd, β′-AgMg, and β′-NiZn. Very good agreement is found between the theoretical curves and the experimental data for the four systems. The values of η obtained range from 0.0 for β′-NiZn to 0.5 for β′-AuZn. The inclusion of second-nearest neighbor interactions has little influence on the values of α. It is shown that the behavior of the activity curve in β′-AuZn can be explained in a physically more meaningful way by including interactions between all second-nearest neighbors rather than interactions between gold substitutional defects only, as was done byLibowitz.
An Experimental Study of Effective Jamming in Underwater Acoustic Links

As Underwater Acoustic Networks (UANs) become more commonly utilized, it is crucial to research security against interference and jamming as the networks are based in an exposed environment. We have identified some of the key communication vulnerabilities across underwater networks using basic jamming techniques. Three commercial modems from the United States were analyzed in our tests, particularly LinkQuest, AquaSeNT and Benthos modems, which use DSSS, OFDM and MFSK transmission schemes. We observed that each modem has a preamble that contains a packet that is vulnerable to a shorter, more efficient targeted jam. Each modem is also vulnerable to single tone jamming at certain frequencies in the bandwidth, and can be reliably but less efficiently jammed with frequency sweeps.
AMPA receptor desensitization modulates synaptic responses induced by repetitive afferent stimulation in hippocampal slices.

Abstract In patches excised from CA1 pyramidal cells, peak amplitudes of currents evoked by brief glutamate pulses grew progressively smaller over a series of high-frequency pulses. This decline was eliminated by cyclothiazide, a drug previously shown to block AMPA receptor desensitization. In hippocampal slices, synaptically evoked bursts exhibited an increase from the first to the second response, presumably due to facilitation of transmitter release, but the subsequent responses gradually declined in amplitude. Cyclothiazide attenuated or reversed this decline; after normalization to the first response, the amplitudes of the later responses to a 50 Hz series of afferent stimulation were increased by 20–25% in regular recording medium and by as much as 40% when transmitter release was enhanced in a high-calcium medium. The effect of cyclothiazide was greatly diminished when the stimulation frequency was reduced to 33 or 25 Hz. Comparable results were obtained in slices in which NMDA, GABA A , and GABA B receptors were blocked. The ampakine drug CX516 which has only a minor influence on desensitization kinetics did not differentially facilitate the later responses to high-frequency afferent stimulation. These results suggest that the desensitization of AMPA receptors contributes importantly to synaptic activity when afferents are repetitively activated at high-frequency.
Tracking Public Mood in the Supreme Court: Cross-Time Analyses of Criminal Procedure and Civil Rights Cases

Representational models of judicial decision making posit that the Supreme Court is a permeable institution, subject to external pressures-namely elite and mass opinion. Court rulings, therefore, should be demonstrably congruent with the views of the majoritarian electoral/political alliance. Building upon an innovative study by Mishler and Sheehan (1993), the relationship between public and elite attitudes and Supreme Court rulings are examined in two important issue areas: criminal procedure and race- related civil rights. The results indicate that permeability of the Court varies to some degree according to issue area. While public opinion (in the pre- Reagan years) has a direct affect on Supreme Court liberalism in both issue areas, the direct impact of elite opinion is evidenced only in the area of criminal procedure, not in the area of race-related civil rights. The relation ship between public opinion and Court liberalism during the Reagan years, however, is negative as the gap between liberalism i...
Capturing learner's activity events from a mobile learning system using adaptive event framework

Several mobile-enabled solutions for education transformation have been deployed in Africa. Drawbacks of these systems include, a predominant focus on disseminating bulk learning content, student outcomes are measured solely on quantitative performance metrics, a lack of instrumentation to capture fine-grained user interaction data, and finally none of them seem to focus on capturing the contextual factors affecting learners. Hence, there are few chances to fully empower educators to create effective interventions for their students. In this paper, we present an adaptive event framework library that can be embedded within a blended learning environment. It enables the capturing of fine-grained learners activity stream data, including learners sentiment and context information. We conducted a limited controlled experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of the event framework. The real time visualizations provide useful insights to teachers in understanding their classroom and/or individual student engagement and progress. Finally, we outline challenges and preliminary solution how such system can be deployed in resource constrained environments.
CORTIN AND THE Na FACTOR OF THE ADRENAL1

THE USUAL EXTRACT of the whole adrenal or of the adrenal cortex will prevent II the loss of sodium which occurs in adrenal insufficiency. It will alsocause retention of sodium in the normal mammal (1). Such an extract can be divided into two fractions, one responsible for sodium retention and the other capable of maintaining the health of adrenalectomised animals without influence on sodium retention. The substance primarily responsible for sodium retention has been designated by us as the Na factor. The substance in the second fraction, responsible for maintenance of adrenalectomized animals but without influence on Na, we have tentatively designated as cortin (2). The separation of these two fractions was impossible until a method had been devised for the detection and assay of the Na factor. This is so essential to the present study that we shall present it in detail.
Identifying geographically diverse routes for the transportation of hazardous materials

Abstract Often, the carrier/shipper of hazardous materials is interested in a collection of routes with approximately the same performance so that they can switch between different routes to avoid exposing the same population and potentially as a security measure. We develop a K shortest path algorithm for which the performance of each highway facility, with respect to each objective, can be stochastic and can vary over time. We also devise a mixed integer program to identify a subset of paths, which represents an acceptable trade-off between geographic diversity and performance. These models are then applied to a realistic case study.
So Happy Together or Better Off Alone? Women's Economic Activities, Cooperative Work, and Employment in Rural Paraguay

Development organizations are emphasizing the use of women's groups to improve socioeconomic welfare and empower women at the household and community levels. This study looks at income-generating activities (IGAs) of women in a small rural community in eastern Paraguay, their contribution to family welfare, and women's involvement in community management. Economically active women in the study community had decision-making power within the household, but were not actively involved in community management. Further, the women preferred to work independently and not with others. There was a near universal preference for the use of particular IGAs, but personal and family circumstances affected production methods and yields. These preferences - along with negative experiences with previous group projects, a desire to work autonomously, socioeconomic differences, and attitudes of distrust among the women - affect women's willingness to participate in cooperative projects and community management. Recognition o...
Transracial adoptees in the media: 1986--1996.

Media reports of interviews with 93 adults transracially adopted as children were content analyzed (percentage agreement = 80%-100%, Cohen's kappas = .61-1.00). Most interviews (63%-88%) involved adoptees who were African American or biracial; in college, graduate school, or employed in professional or managerial occupations; 20-29 years old; and raised in the East or Midwest, with siblings who were the adoptive parents' biological children, other transracial adoptees, or a combination. Forty substantive themes were categorized as adoptive family relationships, direct outcomes, ethnicity and ethnic identification, general adoption issues, and racism experiences. Limitations of media-collected data and the influence of media reports on public opinion and public policies emphasize the importance of scientifically studying controversial phenomena such as transracial adoption.
Effects of schedule and delay of reinforcement on acquisition speed

The effects of schedule of reinforcement (partial vs. consistent) and delay of reward (0 to 20 sec) on running in rats were examined in two investigations. The effects of delay depended upon schedule of reinforcement; acquisition speed decreased as delay increased under consistent reinforcement, a common finding, while acquisition speed was independent of delay under partial reinforcement, a new finding. The partial-reinforcement acquisition effect or PRAE is defined as faster acquisition speed under partial than under consistent reinforcement. Because running speed was independent of delay under partial reinforcement, but decreased as delay increased under consistent reinforcement, the PRAE increased as delay of reinforcement increased.
Inherent Bias toward the Null Hypothesis in Conventional Multipoint Nonparametric Linkage Analysis

Traditional nonparametric “multipoint” statistical procedures have been developed for assigning allele-sharing values at a locus of interest to pairs of relatives for linkage studies. These procedures attempt to accommodate a lack of informativity, nongenotyped loci, missing data, and related issues concerning the genetic markers used in a linkage study. However, such procedures often cannot overcome these phenomena in compelling ways and, as a result, assign relevant relative pairs allele-sharing values that are “expected” for those pairs. The practice of assigning expected allele-sharing values to relative pairs in the face of a lack of explicit allele-transmission information can bias traditional nonparametric linkage test statistics toward the null hypothesis of no locus effect. This bias is due to the use of expected values, rather than to a lack of information about actual allele sharing at relevant marker loci. The bias will vary from study to study on the basis of the DNA markers, sample size, relative-pair types, and pedigree structures used, but it can be extremely pronounced and could contribute to a lack of consistent success in the application of traditional nonparametric linkage analyses to complex human traits and diseases. There are several potential ways to overcome this problem, but their foundations deserve greater research. We expose many of the issues concerning allele sharing with data from a large affected-sibling-pair study investigating the genetic basis of autism.
Patterns of mating among male patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) in Kenya.

An habituated group of wild patas monkeys was observed in Kenya for 550 h in 1984. Observations were made primarily during an interval that, as previous studies at the same site had demonstrated, coincided with the annual mating and conception periods. Earlier field studies of patas at other sites had reported that heterosexual patas groups had only a single resident adult male and that mating was harem-polygynous. At the Kenya site, by contrast, as many as six males were simultaneously resident and mated in the group during the conception period. Males adopted a variety of tactics to gain access to receptive females, ranging from opportunistic mating to attempts at sequestration that resembled consort behavior in other cercopithecoids such as savanna baboons and rhesus macaques. Aggressive competition for access to females took place among the males, although the number of completed copulations per male did not bear a positive relation to agonistic dominance rank. For patas monkeys, harem polygyny is only one available option within an overall mating system that is best described as a form of promiscuous polygyny, especially during periods when conception is most likely.
Evidence for a pro-calcitonin

Abstract The biosynthesis of calcitonin was studied using radioimmunochemical methods and suspensions of calcitonin-producing cells derived from trout ultimobranchial glands. [ 14 C]leucine was incorporated into cell proteins in a linear fashion for up to 36 hrs. Acid-extracted cellular radioactivity could be precipitated by trichloroacetic acid and calcitonin antiserum. Chromatography of the cell extracts revealed two distinct peaks of radio-immunoassayable and immunoprecipitable calcitonin activity. One peak coeluted with radioiodinated calcitonin, the other as a higher molecular weight species. The relative incorporation of [ 14 C]leucine into the higher and lower molecular weight peaks during “pulse-chase” experiments was consistent with a precursor-product relationship between them.
Effect of the wall Nusselt number on the simulation of catalytic fixed bed reactors

Abstract Literature correlations for the apparent wall heat transfer coefficient (hw) in fixed bed catalytic reactors are compared. At low to moderate values of the Reynolds number (Re), different correlations can produce estimates of the dimensionless wall Nusselt number (Nuw = hwdp/kf) that differ by an order of magnitude or more. Some correlations give Nuw as a function of Re only, others allow for the effects of tube-to-particle diameter ratio and particle and fluid thermal conductivities. The value of Nuw that is used in a simulation of a fixed bed catalytic reactor can have a strong effect on the predicted behavior. Two examples of fixed bed reactors are simulated and show that the more general correlations for Nuw are to be preferred.
Acetyl-CoA induces transcription of the key G1 cyclin CLN3 to promote entry into the cell division cycle in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In budding yeast cells, nutrient repletion induces rapid exit from quiescence and entry into a round of growth and division. The G1 cyclin CLN3 is one of the earliest genes activated in response to nutrient repletion. Subsequent to its activation, hundreds of cell-cycle genes can then be expressed, including the cyclins CLN1/2 and CLB5/6. Although much is known regarding how CLN3 functions to activate downstream targets, the mechanism through which nutrients activate CLN3 transcription in the first place remains poorly understood. Here we show that a central metabolite of glucose catabolism, acetyl-CoA, induces CLN3 transcription by promoting the acetylation of histones present in its regulatory region. Increased rates of acetyl-CoA synthesis enable the Gcn5p-containing Spt-Ada-Gcn5-acetyltransferase transcriptional coactivator complex to catalyze histone acetylation at the CLN3 locus alongside ribosomal and other growth genes to promote entry into the cell division cycle.
Level sets and the representation theorem for intuitionistic fuzzy sets

We discuss the concept of a level set of a fuzzy set and the related ideas of the representation theorem and Zadeh’s extension principle. We then describe the extension of these ideas to the case of interval valued fuzzy sets (IVFS). We then recall the formal equivalence between IVFS and intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS). This equivalence allows us to naturally extend the concepts of level sets, representation theorem and extension principle from the domain of IVFS to the domain of IFS. What is important to note here is that in the case of these non-standard fuzzy sets, interval valued and intuitionistic, the number of distinct level sets can be greater then the number of distinct membership grades of the fuzzy set being represented. This is a result of the fact that the distinct level sets are generated by the power set of the membership grades. In particular, the minimum of each subset of membership grades provides a level set. In the case of the standard fuzzy sets the minimum of a subset of membership grades results in one of the elements in the subset. In the case of the non-standard fuzzy sets, the membership grades are not linearly ordered and hence taking the minimum of a subset of these can result in a value that was not one of the members of the subset.
Latent classes and group membership

Abstract A technique for analyzing group membership data, such as interlocking directorates, based on the assumption of latent classes of individuals, is described and illustrated with two data sets. The technique partitions individuals and/or groups into homogeneous sets and can be used to create measures of structural centrality for groups and for individuals.
The effect of wave length and light intensity on the growth of tooth germs in newborn rats

Abstract The effects of light intensity (white light 72–75 ft-c. and 4–5 ft-c.), wave length (blue 4358 A and red 6907 A), and darkness were studied in very young rats. Animals exposed to white light of either intensity exhibited similar rates of growth as indicated by body weight, size of tooth germ and thickness of ameloblast, dentine and odontoblast layers. Haemoglobin was affected strikingly. However, the variations in haemoglobin levels and growth did not appear to be correlated with a specific light intensity or wave length. In comparison with animals exposed to white light of the same intensity, rats exposed to red or blue light showed retardation in body growth and size of tooth germ, but no significant variations in thickness of the layers of the tooth germ. Animals exposed to blue or red light showed a high degree of correlation between body weight and the size of the tooth germ. On the 10th and 12th days, the dark-exposed animals showed significant retardation in body growth when compared with all light-exposed groups. Development of the tooth germ was not retarded. Histological studies of testis, adrenal gland, thymus and epiphyseal plates of the femur did not show any difference between these groups during the 12-day experimental period.
Developing a predictive model of editor selectivity in a current awareness service of a large digital library

“NEP: New Economics Papers,” the current awareness service for the RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) digital library, is made possible by volunteer editors who filter new additions to RePEc into subject-specific reports. The official purpose of current awareness service is to filter working papers by subject matter without any judgment of its academic quality. In this article binary logistic regression analysis estimates the probability of a paper being included in any of the subject reports as a function of a range of observable values. The analysis suggests that, contrary to their claims, editors use quality criteria: the series the paper is coming from and the reputation of the authors. The findings suggest that a current awareness service can issue quality signals.
Combined air pollution particle and ozone exposure increases airway responsiveness in mice.

We investigated whether coexposure to inhaled ambient particles and ozone affects airway responsiveness (AR, measured as enhanced pause, Penh) and allergic inflammation (AI) in a murine model of asthma. Ovalbumin-sensitized mice were challenged with either ovalbumin ("asthmatic") or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) aerosols for 3 successive days. Immediately after daily challenge, mice were exposed for 5 h to concentrated ambient particles (CAPs), or 0.3 ppm ozone, or both, or neither (n ≥ 61/group, 12 experiments). Exposure to CAPs alone or coexposure to CAPs + O 3 caused an increase in Penh in both normal and "asthmatic" mice. These responses were transient and small, increasing approximately 0.9% per 100-µg/m 3 increase in CAPs. Analysis of the effects of particle composition on AR revealed an association between the AlSi particle fraction and increased AR in "asthmatic" mice exposed to ozone and particles. No effects of pollutants on AI were noted. We conclude that (1) particle exposure causes an immed...
Controlled‐Release Local Delivery Antimicrobials in Periodontics: Prospects for the Future

New knowledge about the microbial etiology of periodontal diseases emerged in the 1970s and 1980s and led to widespread interest in the use of antimicrobial agents to treat periodontitis. The controlled-release delivery of antimicrobials directly into the periodontal pocket has received great interest and appears to hold some promise in periodontal therapy. Some techniques for applying antimicrobials subgingivally, such as subgingival irrigation, involve local delivery but not controlled-release. Controlled-release local delivery systems, in which the antimicrobial is available at therapeutic levels for several days, have been evaluated in several forms and using different antimicrobials. Although most studies with such systems have focused on drug delivery kinetics and “proof of principle” evaluations, some controlled clinical trials have recently been reported. The most widely tested system, monolithic tetracycline-containing fibers, has shown significant clinical benefit when used alone as compared to ...