cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Survey of Sight-Singing Instructional Practices in Florida Middle-School Choral Programs.

The purpose of this research was to discover materials and methods used and examine influences on how and why sight-singing is taught in Florida middle-school choral programs. Members of the Florid...
The Determinants of Intra-Occupational Wage Dispersion

(1987). The Determinants of Intra-Occupational Wage Dispersion. Applied Economics: Vol. 19, No. 7, pp. 969-981.
Lensfree on-chip tomographic microscopy employing multi-angle illumination and pixel super-resolution.

Tomographic imaging has been a widely used tool in medicine as it can provide three-dimensional (3D) structural information regarding objects of different size scales. In micrometer and millimeter scales, optical microscopy modalities find increasing use owing to the non-ionizing nature of visible light, and the availability of a rich set of illumination sources (such as lasers and light-emitting-diodes) and detection elements (such as large format CCD and CMOS detector-arrays). Among the recently developed optical tomographic microscopy modalities, one can include optical coherence tomography, optical diffraction tomography, optical projection tomography and light-sheet microscopy. 1-6 These platforms provide sectional imaging of cells, microorganisms and model animals such as C. elegans, zebrafish and mouse embryos. Existing 3D optical imagers generally have relatively bulky and complex architectures, limiting the availability of these equipments to advanced laboratories, and impeding their integration with lab-on-a-chip platforms and microfluidic chips. To provide an alternative tomographic microscope, we recently developed lensfree optical tomography (LOT) as a high-throughput, compact and cost-effective optical tomography modality. 7 LOT discards the use of lenses and bulky optical components, and instead relies on multi-angle illumination and digital computation to achieve depth-resolved imaging of micro-objects over a large imaging volume. LOT can image biological specimen at a spatial resolution of <1 μm x <1 μm x <3 μm in the x, y and z dimensions, respectively, over a large imaging volume of 15-100 mm3, and can be particularly useful for lab-on-a-chip platforms.
Pupillometry: a survey of sources of variation.

The purpose of this article was to discuss sources of pupillary variation not mentioned by either Hess(1972). or Goldwater (1972) and suggest experimental procedures to control for the effects of these variables when they are not themselves the object of study.
A new coulometric titration method application to the determination of uranium

Abstract A new coulometric titration technique has been developed which is applicable to substances which undergo reduction or oxidation in at least two stages at potentials that are several tenths of a volt apart. Electrolysis is performed with the potential of the working electrode controlled by a potentiostat at a value sufficient to cause both stages of the reduction or oxidation to occur, so that the product of the second stage is produced and reacts in the solution with the initial substance to yield the product of the first stage. Instead of carrying the controlled potential electrolysis to exhaustion, the titration is stopped at a discrete end-point (signalled potentiometrically, amperometrically, or by other means) corresponding to the completion of only the first stage, and the quantity of substance reacted is evaluated from the number of coulombs required to reach this end-point. As an example, the titration of +6 uranium to the +4 state, via the +3 uranium produced during reduction of the solution at a mercury cathode, has been studied. In either 0.2 M hydrochloric acid or in 0.03 M hydrochloric acid plus 0.5 M potassium chloride as supporting electrolytes, 15–60 mg quantities of uranium are determinable with an error of +0.4%. Because this error, caused by catalyzed reduction of hydrogen ion, is reproducible, it can be corrected for, to yield results correct to ±0.1%.
Drop impact reliability analysis of CSP packages at board and product system levels through modeling approaches

Chip Scale Package (CSP) and fine pitch Ball Grid Array (BGA) packages have been increasingly used in portable electronic products such as mobile cell phones and PDA, etc. Drop impact which is inevitable during its usage could cause not only housing crack but also package to board interconnect failure, such as BGA solder breaks. Various drop tests have been used to ensure high reliability performance of packaging to withstand such impact and shock load. It will be beneficial through modeling techniques using Finite Element Analysis tool to better understand the dynamic characterization of a package under different drop loads to avoid extensive physical testing cost as well as its repeatability challenge. In this paper, three drop tests have been modeled, namely, bare board drop, board with fixture drop/shock, and system level phone drop. Submodeling and explicit-implicit sequential modeling techniques are used to investigate the dynamic characterization of CSP packages in both PCB board and BGA solder joints which include failure criteria, effects of strain rate and edge support in multi-component boards. A validation test with data acquisition is also used to correlate the test results with numerical results.
When Frontline Practice Innovations Are Ahead of the Health Policy Community: The Example of Behavioral Health and Primary Care Integration

Innovation in health care delivery often far outpaces the speed at which health policy changes to accommodate this innovation. Integrating behavioral health and primary care is a promising approach to defragment health care and help health care achieve the triple aim of decreasing costs, improving outcomes, and enhancing patients' experiences. However, the problem remains that health policy does not frequently support the integration of care. This commentary describes some of the reasons policy falters as well as potential opportunities to begin to influence health policy to better support practices that take an integrated approach to health care.
Do public pensions crowd out private transfers to the elderly?: evidence from South Korea

We investigate the impact of receiving a public pension on total expenditures, food expenditures, and private transfers of the elderly in South Korea. Using a natural experiment that occurred in 1999, we are able to explore the impacts of a large public pension program expansion which newly incorporated people who had been self-employed, unemployed, and out of the labor force. We find that receipt of a public pension did not allow the elderly to increase total expenditures or food expenditures because the expansion of public pensions largely crowded out financial transfers from adult children and/or own siblings.
Codegree problems for projective geometries

The codegree density @c(F) of an r-graph F is the largest number @c such that there are F-free r-graphs G on n vertices such that every set of r-1 vertices is contained in at least (@c-o(1))n edges. When F=PG"2(2) is the Fano plane Mubayi showed that @c(F)=1/2. This paper studies @c(PG"m(q)) for further values of m and q. In particular we have an upper bound @c(PG"m(q))= =1.
Oral nutritional supplement fortified with beta-alanine improves physical working capacity in older adults: a randomized, placebo-controlled study.

This study examined the effects of an oral nutritional supplement fortified with two different doses of beta-alanine on body composition, muscle function and physical capacity in older adults. Using a double-blind placebo controlled design, 60 men and women (age ± SD = 70.7 ± 6.2 yrs) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: 1) oral nutritional supplement (ONS; n = 20) (8 oz; 230 kcal; 12 g PRO; 31 g CHO; 6 g FAT), 2) ONS plus 800 mg beta-alanine (ONS800; n = 19), and 3) ONS plus 1200 mg beta-alanine (ONS1200; n = 21). Treatments were consumed twice per day for 12 weeks. At pre- and post-supplementation period, participants performed a discontinuous, submaximal cycle ergometry test to determine physical working capacity at fatigue threshold (PWCFT). Fat mass, total body and arm lean soft tissue mass (ALSTM) were measured with DEXA while muscle strength was assessed with handgrip dynamometry (GRIP) and 30-s sit-to-stand (STS) was used to measure lower body functionality. Muscle quality (MQ) was calculated with GRIPmax and DEXA derived ALSTM [GRIP (kg)·ALSTM (kg)(-1)]. Two-way analysis of variance was used to compare pre- to post-supplementation measures and group differences. There were 16 dropouts over the duration of the study. Final group sizes were ONS = 16 (m = 11, w = 5), ONS800 = 15 (m = 5, w = 10), and ONS1200 = 13 (m = 6, w = 7). No significant changes were observed for body composition or GRIP values pre to post. Significant increases in PW(CFT) were seen in ONS1200 (13.6%) and ONS800 (17.8%) pre- to post-supplementation (p 0.05) in change scores were found between ONS and ONS800. ONS fortified with beta-alanine may improve physical working capacity, muscle quality and function in older men and women. These findings could have importance in the perception of frailty, and the maintenance of health and independent living in older adults.
The Overreliance of Accreditors on Consensus Standards

The legitimacy of accreditation in teacher education is rooted in political consensus and power and, to a lesser extent, in scholarship. Both roots, however, are fragile and weak. Consequently, to take a negative example, there is no accepted concept of educational malpractice in the field. The standards we have are at best hypotheses awaiting confirmation or falsification. The legitimacy of accreditation should be rooted in the scholarly evidence that the program has fulfilled the claim that its graduates are competent, caring, and qualified.
Individual and Cultural Differences in Response to Leaders' Nonverbal Displays

Humans share a repertoire of nonverbal displays with other primates, but they integrate these cues with learned information in a complex manner. In politics, as in other spheres of life, individuals in a given situation not only react differently, but even see different things. Building on research in ethology, social psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, this research used variations in leaders' facial displays to elicit differing emotional and cognitive responses. Effects associated with the viewer's sociocultural background, personality, and gender were found to be distinct in character. Cultural differences entail patterns of evaluating cues whereas the influence of personality is mediated by differential perceptions. Gender differences seem to involve an interaction of both types of effect. Evolutionary psychology can thus explore how emotion and cognition interact when humans' natural repertoire of social behavior is expressed in meaningful situations.
Effect of ultrasonic exposure time and burst frequency on the enhancement of chemotherapy by low-level ultrasound

Using previous methods, the ultrasonic potentiation of CHO cell killing by adriamycin at 2 mu g/ml as a function of ultrasound exposure or burst frequency was investigated. The duty cycle is fixed at 1:10. At a burst frequency of 1000 Hz, potentiation increases over exposure times from 2 to 60 min. In separate burst treatments of 30 min and burst frequencies from 16 to 5000 Hz, the frequencies around 60 and 1000 Hz are most effective. >
A set-membership approach to blind identification

This paper addresses the problem of blind identification in a set membership framework. Given a finite collection of noisy data and some a priori information about the sets of admissible plants and inputs, the objective is to (i) identify a suitable (model, input) pair that can explain the available experimental information, and (ii) provide a worst-case bound on the identification error. The main results of the paper consist in an analysis of the convergence properties of any interpolatory algorithm in the presence of unknown but bounded inputs and noise. In order to overcome the non convexity of the problem, additional results include an identification procedure to approximately check consistency between the a priori assumptions and the a posteriori experimental information, by sampling the set of admissible inputs. The proposed algorithm is illustrated with a practical application that involves tracking a human being in a sequence of video images.
SUSAX: Context-specific searching in XML documents using sequence alignment techniques

Keyword searching while very successful in narrowing down the contents of the Web to the pertaining subset of information, has two primary drawbacks. First, the accuracy of the search is closely coupled with the choice of keywords. Second, keywords are limited in their expressibility. In particular, they fail to adequately capture the contextual information implicit in most searches done by users. In this paper we present an approach to efficiently address these drawbacks of keyword searching over XML documents. In particular, we present SUSAX a system for approximate contextual querying over XML documents wherein queries are represented as simple XPaths. A key contribution of our work is the novel algorithm used to match the XPath-like query with similar paths in the repository. The algorithm is based on sequence alignment algorithms prevalent in life sciences domain for discovering the similarity between genome and protein sequences. In this paper, we show an adaptation of the sequence alignment algorithm for now discovering and cataloging the similarity between two paths.
Competitive Immunosorbent Assays for Biotin Using Bifunctional Unilamellar Vesicles

Competitive immunosorbent assays for the model antigen biotin were performed using both unilamellar vesicles with covalently attached biotin and horseradish peroxidase (HBVs) and commercially available biotin-labeled horseradish peroxidase (B-HRP) as the enzyme-labeled antigen. The assays were performed using anti-biotin antibody (ABA) surface densities ranging from one-tenth to full monolayer coverage. It was found that assays using HBVs strongly depended on the antibody surface density, while assays using B-HRP were relatively insensitive to the antibody surface density. The HBV assay dependence on the ABA surface density was most likely due to multiple point attachment of vesicles to the surface. The lowest detectable antigen concentration (least detectable dose) for vesicles (approximately 10(-9) M) was an order of magnitude lower than the value found for B-HRP (approximately 10(-8) M). The sensitivity (slope of the response vs biotin concentration curve) of assays with B-HRP was comparable to the sensitivity of assays with HBVs at low antibody surface density, probably due to less extensive multipoint attachment. It was also found that assays could be performed with vesicles at antibody surface densities that were at least 5 times lower, in terms of the bulk antibody concentrations used to coat the wells, than antibody surface densities at which B-HRP gave comparable signals (approximately 1 delta A/min).
Conjugated Heptavalent Pneumococcal Vaccine

OBJECTIVE:To review the immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety of the heptavalent conjugated pneumococcal vaccine (PCV7).DATA SOURCES:A MEDLINE search (1993–August 2001) of research limited to humans published in the English language was conducted.STUDY SELECTION:Findings from randomized, controlled, multicenter trials were reviewed. Literature regarding epidemiology, control, and treatment of invasive pneumococcal diseases in different populations and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations were also reviewed.DATA SYNTHESIS:PCV7 administered to infants aged 2, 4, and 6 months, with a booster dose at 12–15 months, has been shown to be immunogenic. It decreases the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease; individual data on bacteremia and meningitis are unavailable. Findings from clinical trials showed that invasive pneumococcal disease caused by vaccine serotypes was reduced by 87%, 58%, and 62% for children <1 year, <2 years, and <5 years of age, respectively, after introduction...
Fear of a foreign railroad: transnationalism, trainspace, and (im)mobility in the Chicago suburbs

The fluidity and mobility of the twenty-first century are grounded in physical infrastructure such as airports and train stations but also on the routes along which people and goods travel. Within recent work on the meanings, practices and experiences of flying, driving, walking, cycling or riding the rails, the focus has been on the travel of people rather than commodities and on network nodes rather than routes. Nevertheless, the transport of freight and its interaction with people and places along distribution routes has significant implications for understanding discursive constructions of the national and the foreign. In 2007, the Canadian National railroad began the process of purchasing a beltline railroad around Chicago to ease the passage of containerised freight from Asia to North American distribution centres. Suburban communities protested the transaction, arguing that the increase in trains would lead to traffic congestion, problems with emergency vehicle access and water supply contamination. Despite the local scale of these concerns, opponents framed their protest in terms of a foreign railroad disrupting American communities, suggesting deeper underlying concerns about the transnational nature of the transaction and the resulting route. They also argued for considering the spaces of this mode of transportation, what I term trainspace, as consisting of more than the vehicles, infrastructure and adjacent properties, underlining the importance of considering routes and infrastructure as a fundamental social component of transnational processes and of considering motility or potential movement along with mobility.
Between authenticity and alienation: The Druzes and Lebanon's history*

Almost ninety years have passed since the establishment of the Lebanese state, but it still lacks a consensual and unifying historical narrative. The Druzes of Lebanon, who claim to be the real founders of the historical Lebanese entity, reject the Lebanese historiography elaborated by Christian historians as ideologically motivated, sectarian and fabricated. Furthermore, they claim that their contribution to Lebanon's history has been systematically minimized. The Druze leader, Kamāl Junblāṭ, was the first to raise public awareness of the importance of rewriting Lebanon's history, and the process of doing so has gained momentum among Druze intellectuals since the 1980s. This article discusses the efforts of the Druze intelligentsia to cultivate a historical narrative that presents an alternative to what they call the “Maronite narrative”; it focuses predominantly on the Emirate's history during the Middle Ages and the reciprocal relations between the Druze political experience within modern Lebanon and the intellectual formulation of their narrative.
When Females Produce Sperm: Genetics of C. elegans Hermaphrodite Reproductive Choice

Reproductive behaviors have manifold consequences on evolutionary processes. Here, we explore mechanisms underlying female reproductive choice in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a species in which females have evolved the ability to produce their own self-fertilizing sperm, thereby allowing these "hermaphrodites" the strategic choice to self-reproduce or outcross with males. We report that hermaphrodites of the wild-type laboratory reference strain N2 favor self-reproduction, whereas a wild isolate CB4856 (HW) favors outcrossing. To characterize underlying neural mechanisms, we show that N2 hermaphrodites deficient in mechanosensation or chemosensation (e.g., mec-3 and osm-6 mutants) exhibit high mating frequency, implicating hermaphrodite perception of males as a requirement for low mating frequency. Within chemosensory networks, we find opposing roles for different sets of neurons that express the cyclic GMP-gated nucleotide channel, suggesting both positive and negative sensory-mediated regulation of hermaphrodite mating frequency. We also show that the ability to self-reproduce negatively regulates hermaphrodite mating. To map genetic variation, we created recombinant inbred lines and identified two QTL that explain a large portion of N2 × HW variation in hermaphrodite mating frequency. Intriguingly, we further show that ∼40 wild isolates representing C. elegans global diversity exhibit extensive and continuous variation in hermaphrodite reproductive outcome. Together, our findings demonstrate that C. elegans hermaphrodites actively regulate the choice between selfing and crossing, highlight the existence of natural variation in hermaphrodite choice, and lay the groundwork for molecular dissection of this evolutionarily important trait.
Enantiospecific desorption of chiral compounds from chiral Cu(643) and achiral Cu(111) surfaces.

Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) experiments have been conducted to investigate enantiospecific desorption from chiral single-crystal surfaces. The (643) and (6 h 4 3) planes of face-centered cubic metals such as Cu have kinked and stepped structures which are nonsuperimposable mirror images of one another and therefore are chiral. These chiral surfaces are denoted Cu(643) R and Cu(643) S .W e have observed that the desorption energies of (R)-3-methylcyclohexanone and (R)- and (S)-propylene oxides from the Cu(643) R and Cu(643) S surfaces depend on the relative handedness of the adsorbate/substrate combination. Since the (643) surface is comprised of terraces with local (111) orientation which are separated by kinked monatomic steps, it is instructive to perform TPD experiments with these chiral compounds on the achiral Cu(111) surface. These experiments have given some insight into the adsorption sites for the chiral molecules on the Cu(643) surfaces. There are several high-temperature features in the TPD spectra of the chiral compounds that only appear in the spectra from the (643) surfaces and thus are attributed to molecules adsorbed at or near the kinked steps. In addition there are lower temperature desorption features observed on the Cu(643) surfaces which occur in the same temperature range as desorption features observed on the Cu(111) surface. These features observed on the (643) surfaces are attributed to desorption from the flat (111) terraces.
Multiple Elements Controlling Adherence of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 to HeLa Cells

Adherence of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) to the intestinal epithelium is essential for initiation of infection. Intimin is the only factor demonstrated to play a role in intestinal colonization by EHEC O157:H7. Other attempts to identify additional adhesion factors in vitro have been unsuccessful, suggesting that expression of these factors is under tight regulation. We sought to identify genes involved in the control of adherence of EHEC O157:H7 to cultured epithelial cells. A total of 5,000 independent transposon insertion mutants were screened for their ability to adhere to HeLa cells, and 7 mutants were isolated with a markedly enhanced adherence. The mutants adhered at levels 113 to 170% that of the wild-type strain, and analysis of the protein profiles of these mutants revealed several proteins differentially expressed under in vitro culture conditions. We determined the sequence of the differentially expressed proteins and further investigated the function of OmpA, whose expression was increased in a mutant with an insertionally inactivated tcdA gene. An isogenic ompA mutant showed reduced adherence compared to the parent strain. Disruption of the ompA gene in the tdcA mutant strain abolished the hyperadherent phenotype, and anti-OmpA serum inhibited adhesion of wild-type and tdcA mutant strains to HeLa cells. Enhanced adhesion mediated by OmpA was also observed with Caco-2 cells, and anti-OmpA serum blocked adherence to HeLa cells of other EHEC O157:H7 strains. Our results indicate that multiple elements control adherence and OmpA acts as an adhesin in EHEC O157:H7.
The Impact of Downsizing on Workplace Attitudes: Differing Reactions of Managers and Staff in a Health Care Organization

Downsizing has become a popular organization-wide intervention for improving effectiveness. However, much of the existing literature is based on prescriptions and anecdotes. This article presents a...
Selection of tuning parameters for support vector machines

Support vector machines have become important in classification, biometrics, machine learning and pattern recognition. However, successful application requires selection of various tuning parameters such as kernel parameters and penalty or margin parameters. We apply a new technique for this problem which provides very simple structure for the automatic selector.
Effects of in utero exposure to alcohol upon male rats.

Ethanol ingestion by pregnant women can result in the development of the fetal alcohol syndrome in their progeny. To investigate the late consequences of maternal ethanol ingestion upon male progeny, pregnant dams were administered ethanol-containing liquid diets from the 12th day of gestation to 10 days postpartum and their male progeny were compared to those of offspring obtained from dams isocalorically fed a liquid diet without alcohol in which Dextri-MaKose isocalorically replaced the ethanol of the ethanol-containing diet and those of dams fed a standard rat chow ad libitum. A significant decrease in body weight at birth (p < 0.0001), at weaning, and at 55 days of age (postpuberty) (p < 0.005) was found for the in utero ethanol-exposed animals as compared to that of the animals obtained from the two control groups. Anogenital distances and indices (measures of masculinity) in the male progeny were reduced (p < 0.001) on days 1 and 5 in the alcohol-exposed animals as compared to those of the two control groups. Testes and prostate-seminal vesicle weights of the alcohol-exposed animals were reduced on day 55 (p < 0.05) and again on day 110 (p < 0.01) as compared to those of the two control groups. Similarly, serum testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels were reduced significantly on day 55 (p < 0.05) in the alcohol-exposed animals but not in the controls. No difference was noted at 110 days of age in testosterone and LH (luteinizing hormone) levels between the various groups. However, sexual motivation and performance were reduced in the alcohol-exposed animals as compared to that of the two control groups. These data suggest that in utero alcohol exposure of male rats results in less phenotypic masculinization at birth and reduced growth of the testes, prostate, and seminal vesicles, a delayed attainment of adult levels of tetosterone and LH, and abnormalities of adult sexual behavior.
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH FRESH MEAT COLOR: A REVIEW

The color of fresh meat is important to every aspect of the meat industry. The basic explanations for various colors and intensities of color need to be understood in order to minimize off-colors which ultimately result in product loss. This review discusses the various color forms of myoglobin in muscle and their relationship to species, atmospheric conditions, antemortem factors and storage characteristics.
The new and improved learning community at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine resembles that at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Background: In July 2005, a learning community was created at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) to foster camaraderie, networking, advising, mentoring, professionalism, clinical skills, and scholarship—The Colleges. The cultural and structural changes that emerged with the creation of this program have resulted in JHUSOM bearing a resemblance to J. K. Rowling’s fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Aims: This manuscript will describe the similarities between these two revered schools, and highlight the innovations and improvements made to JHUSOM’s learning environment. Description: The intense, stressful, and lengthy professional training required to achieve competency in the practice of medicine and in the practice of witchcraft (albeit fictional) have meaningful parallels. Conclusion: The supportive learning environment at these two schools should afford the next generation of graduates to have an even more enriching experience than those who have come before them.
Evaluating Uses Of Information Technology In Health Care Administration

This paper examines the distributional properties of stock returns in the Nigerian stock market. Because emerging stock markets present several institutional, political and economic barriers, we hypothesize that the structural adjustment program begun in 1986 resulted in a sustained increase in the variability of stock returns. Conventional variance homogeneity tests could not reject the hypothesis of changing volatility in the security returns process. However, the Lagrange multiplier test reveals the presence of autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) effect in the stock returns.
Physical and Microwave Radiative Properties of Precipitating Clouds. Part II: A Parametric 1D Rain-Cloud Model for Use in Microwave Radiative Transfer Simulations

Abstract A highly simplified, yet meteorologically realistic and flexible, parametric model is described for generating hydrometeor profiles and other environmental properties relevant to microwave radiative transfer calculations in quasi-stratiform rain clouds. With this model, it is possible, via 19 adjustable parameters, to vary cloud and environmental properties, including hydrometeor size distributions and densities, in a continuous, yet self-consistent, fashion and to assess the impact of these changes on computed multichannel microwave brightness radiances. It is also possible to utilize gradient descent methods to find plausible combinations of cloud properties that explain observed multichannel microwave radiances in rain clouds. Potential applications of the above model include 1) gaining insight into effective microphysical properties, for microwave radiative transfer purposes, of actual precipitating cloud systems and 2) accurate extrapolation of observed microwave multichannel radiances in ra...
Cleaning Up Dirty Politics: A Social Marketing Perspective on New Jersey's Clean Elections Program

This paper reviews the outcome of a state electoral reform initiative in terms of the four-stage behavior change process used by social marketers to gauge the effectiveness of their techniques. While the Clean Elections initiative was moderately successful in its Action and Contemplation stages, the author argues that realization of its full potential could be significantly hastened by utilizing the social marketing tools of segmentation, communications research and pretesting.
Prolonged ovarian hormone deprivation alters the effects of 17β-estradiol on microRNA expression in the aged female rat hypothalamus

// Yathindar S. Rao 1 , Cody L. Shults 1 , Elena Pinceti 1 , Toni R. Pak 1 1 Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA Correspondence to: Toni R. Pak, e-mail: tpak@luc.edu Keywords: microRNA, estrogen, hypothalamus, aging, Gerotarget Received: August 17, 2015 Accepted: September 29, 2015 Published: October 09, 2015 ABSTRACT Administration of 17β-estradiol (E 2 ) has beneficial effects on cognitive function in peri- but not post-menopausal women, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying age-related changes in E 2 action remain unclear. We propose that there is a biological switch in E 2 action that occurs coincident with age and length of time after ovarian hormone depletion, and we hypothesized that age-dependent regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) could be the molecular basis for that switch. Previously we showed that miRNAs are regulated by E 2 in young compared to aged female rats. Here we tested whether increasing lengths of ovarian hormone deprivation in aged females altered E 2 regulation of these mature miRNAs. In addition, we determined where along the miRNA biogenesis pathway E 2 exerted its effects. Our results showed that age and increased lengths of ovarian hormone deprivation abolished the ability of E 2 to regulate mature miRNA expression in the brain. Further, we show that E 2 acted at specific points along the miRNA biogenesis pathway.
Effectively Using Facebook to Foster Civic Engagement

In the early nineteenth century, Alexis de Tocqueville noted that America’s democracy was one of interconnectivity, as Americans were joiners (Tocqueville 1990); what made American democracy work was people being engaged with each other in groups. This group participation has been waning for the last few decades and scholars have lamented its decline since as early as the 1980s (Coleman 1994; Galston and Levine 1998; Putnam 1993, 1995, 2000; Skocpol and Fiorina 1999). In response, higher education has worked on connecting the work students do in the community to the content learned in the classroom in an effort to reboot our participatory nature (Colby et al. 2007; Jacoby and Ehrlich 2009). As the most recent round of published Carnegie classifications indicates with its 361 competitive designations, many universities are embracing this effort in the nature of high-quality civic engagement curricula. Pedagogical research for best practices advise faculty to use the world that students live in as a textbook as they teach civic engagement (Battistoni 2002; Damon 1998; Eyler et al. 2003). Students should accomplish their civic learning in their communities as citizens, not in their classrooms.
Sum Rate Analysis for Multi-User Massive MIMO Relay Networks

The performance of multi-user massive MIMO amplify-and-forward relay networks with linear zero-forcing detectors is investigated by deriving closed-form sum rate upper bounds for finitely many antennas and asymptotic approximations for infinitely many antennas at the relay and destination. The acquisition of channel state information (CSI) is investigated by using minimum mean square error channel estimation, and thereby, the impact of imperfect CSI on transmit power scaling laws at the user nodes and relay is studied. For genie-aided perfect CSI case, the transmit power at the user nodes and/or relay can be scaled down inversely proportional to the number of destination antennas. Nevertheless, for the imperfect CSI case, the transmit power can only be scaled down inversely proportional to the square-root of the destination antenna count. Specifically, asymptotic signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) expressions are derived for three transmit power scaling laws for both perfect and imperfect CSI cases and are used for deriving the corresponding asymptotic sum rates for the case in which the antenna counts at the relay and destination grow without bound while keeping a fixed ratio. Notably, these asymptotic SINRs and sum rates become independent of the fast fading component of the wireless channel for infinitely many relay and destination antennas, and consequently, paving the way to low-complexity medium access control layer operations and reduced latency in the air interface.
Characterization of a novel inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor in isolated olfactory cilia.

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3), a product of G-protein-mediated receptor activation of phosphoinositide turnover, plays the role of a second messenger when olfactory neurons are stimulated with certain olfactory stimuli. In this paper we examine the specific binding of [3H]InsP3 to isolated olfactory cilia, microsomes and brain membranes from the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and, by photoaffinity labelling with an InsP3 analogue (125I-labelled 1-[3-(4-azidosalicyloxy)-aminopropyl]inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (125I-ASA-InsP3)], we tentatively identify the major InsP3-binding protein in catfish olfactory cilia. InsP3 binding to ciliary membranes is specific and saturable, with a Kd of 1.10 +/- 0.31 microM and a maximum number of binding sites (Bmax) of 17.6 +/- 5.8 pmol/mg. The rank order for potency of inhibition of [3H]InsP3 binding is Ins(1,4)P2 less than Ins(1,3,4)P3 less than Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 = Ins(1,4,5)P3 less than Ins(2,4,5)P3. Exposure of cilia membranes to u.v. light in the presence of 125I-ASA-InsP3 results in the labelling of a protein with apparent Mr 107,000. Labelling is specifically prevented by Ins(1,4,5)P3, Ins(2,4,5)P3 and Ins(1,3,4,5)P4, but not by Ins(1,4)P2 or Ins(1,3,4)P3. Both specific [3H]InsP3 binding and photoaffinity labelling of the Mr-107,000 protein were displaced by heparin. The Kd and the inhibition of [3H]InsP3 binding and of photoaffinity labelling by inositol phosphates and heparin are consistent with the ability of micromolar concentrations of Ins(1,4,5)P3 [but not Ins(1,3,4)P3] to activate the InsP3-gated currents in patch-clamp experiments with olfactory neurons. These results suggest that InsP3 binding to a Mr-107,000 cilia membrane protein may represent binding to the olfactory InsP3-gated cation channel.
Descending Aortic Translocation for Relief of Distal Tracheal and Proximal Bronchial Compression

Background A descending thoracic aorta that traverses the midline is an uncommon cause of airway compression affecting the distal trachea and proximal main bronchi. Posterior aortopexy has had inconsistent results. Methods A retrospective review determined that, since 2004, 5 children have undergone descending aortic translocation at Texas Children's Hospital. The average age at the time of surgical treatment was 4.2 years, and all patients presented with recurring respiratory illness requiring hospitalization. All patients had preoperative imaging (4 patients with computed tomography scans and 1 with magnetic resonance imaging) confirming a compromised airway caused by a midline aorta, and 4 of the 5 patients had perioperative bronchoscopy. Three patients had a right-dominant double aortic arch. Descending aortic translocation was performed through a midline sternotomy with cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermia. The proximal descending aorta was transected distal to the subclavian artery, brought up through the transverse sinus caudad to the tracheal carina and pulmonary artery, and anastomosed in an end-to-side fashion to the ascending aorta. Results Mean cardiopulmonary bypass was 144.8 ± 32.6 minutes, with an aortic cross-clamp time of 59 ± 40.9. Absence of perfusion to the descending thoracic aorta averaged 44.4 ± 13.7 minutes. Concomitant procedures were performed in 4 of the 5 patients. At a median follow-up of 26 months (range, 3 to 101 months), all patients had resolution of symptoms. Conclusions A midline descending aorta can cause compression of the tracheal carina and proximal bronchi, with debilitating symptoms. Translocation of the descending aorta is a reliable procedure that relieves the compression and results in long-term resolution of symptoms.
Chemotherapy for glioneuronal tumors

ABSTRACT: Glioneuronal tumors are rare primary brain tumors. They are composed of both glial and neuronal elements. In most cases, they are benign tumors that are often cured with surgery. Radiation therapy is sometimes used to treat residual or aggressive tumors. The role of chemotherapy for these tumors is not well defined or not indicated. This chapter reviews the available literature on the use of chemotherapy to treat these tumors and when it may be indicated. A framework for which agents may be of benefit should assist physicians when chemotherapy is needed.
Gendered Islamophobia in American War Narratives: From the Barbary Coast to the Graveyard of Empires

In many American narratives on Islam, Muslim women are depicted as oppressed victims of their own cultures—symbols of the cultural values that America and ‘the West’ proclaim as abhorrent; damsels in distress that can only be rescued from their pitiful state by an invading outside force. This chapter shows how early accounts of enslavement, torture, and the deprivation of women’s rights that served to justify and heighten sea battles in the early 1800s are similar to stories that the Bush Administration used to justify its foreign policies in Afghanistan and Iraq, and how Muslim women were configured into the foreign policies of the Obama administration as it dealt with the Arab Spring and the rise of militant groups like Boko Haram and ISIS. The United States and Europe cast their interactions with the Barbary pirates and their legitimacy in fighting against them through the lens of oppression. The oppression of women was a particularly tempting and useful topic to engage as the West sought to present itself to the world as a beacon of freedom, liberty, and justice. The earliest resonances of Muslims and their relationships with women align with Islamophobic narratives that frame our understanding of the so-called War on Terror today. These discursive practices are not necessarily part of a driving central mission but are deployed as a means of encouraging support for war positions and strategies that are otherwise viewed with public scepticism. The net result is a marriage of imperial aims and Islamophobic narratives that perpetuates a climate of mistrust towards and loathing of American Muslims.
Review: The Art of Structure

The Art of Structure . The Heinz Architectural Center at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, 24 September 2010–30 January 2011 "The Art of Structure" brings together for the first time two pre-existing exhibits organized by the Princeton University Art Museum, each accompanied by a book and a website. The first, The Art of Structural Design: A Swiss Legacy , explores the work of four Swiss structural engineers trained at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich: bridge designers Robert Maillart, Othmar Ammann, and Christian Menn, and thin-shell designer Heinz Isler. The second, Felix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist , explores a range of thin-shell concrete vaults erected in Mexico by the Spanish-born architect-engineer Candela on the centenary of his birth (Figure 1). The combination of the two exhibits, conceived by curator Raymund Ryan, provides a broad, international overview of an artistic form of engineering that begins to challenge existing definitions of both engineering and architecture and expands the boundaries of what should be shown in an art museum. Figure 1 The Art of Structure (photo by Tom Little for Carnegie Museum of Art) The driving force behind both earlier exhibits is Princeton engineering professor David Billington. For over five decades Billington has been on a personal crusade to identify, define, and propagate a new branch of civil and environmental engineering that he has dubbed "structural art." Through lectures to his students and a long list of books and other publications over the years he has tried to change the boundaries of his field. …
Tales from the crypt: a parasitoid manipulates the behaviour of its parasite host.

There are many examples of apparent manipulation of host phenotype by parasites, yet few examples of hypermanipulation—where a phenotype-manipulating parasite is itself manipulated by a parasite. Moreover, few studies confirm manipulation is occurring by quantifying whether the host9s changed phenotype increases parasite fitness. Here we describe a novel case of hypermanipulation, in which the crypt gall wasp Bassettia pallida (a phenotypic manipulator of its tree host) is manipulated by the parasitoid crypt-keeper wasp Euderus set , and show that the host9s changed behaviour increases parasitoid fitness. Bassettia pallida parasitizes sand live oaks and induces the formation of a ‘crypt’ within developing stems. When parasitized by E. set , B. pallida adults excavate an emergence hole in the crypt wall, plug the hole with their head and die. We show experimentally that this phenomenon benefits E. set , as E. set that need to excavate an emergence hole themselves are about three times more likely to die trapped in the crypt. In addition, we discuss museum and field data to explore the distribution of the crypt-keeping phenomena.
Multidisciplinary Approach to the Management of Esophageal Malignancies

A multidisciplinary approach in the management of complex malignancies is becoming more common, and likewise, adopting such an approach to the care of patients with locally advanced esophageal is recommended in order to optimize clinical outcomes. In this review, we discuss both the surgical and medical oncology perspectives in the management of patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. We review the data supporting the current standard-of-care approach, namely trimodality therapy with neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy followed by surgery. Other aspects of managing these patients including the control of dysphagia and pain as well as nutritional support are discussed. Finally, we review data that support the importance of incorporating a multidisciplinary streamlined approach in the management of these patients. Rather than having patients see each provider separately, a multidisciplinary approach to esophageal cancer allows for the seamless flow of communication and proactive management of the patient’s symptoms. These benefits include increasing the likelihood of evidence-based decision making, shorter time to treatment, and increased patient quality of life, all of which can result in improved patient outcomes. The use of a multidisciplinary team can lead to a more accurate staging paradigm and thereby, better management decisions that translate to improved clinical outcomes. Therefore, optimizing the multidisciplinary approach for the care of patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer is essential for successful and individualized patient care.
Development of the Pulmonary Vasculature

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews current concepts related to the formation of vascular beds in the normal lung at different stages of growth and maturation, comments briefly on aberrant growth that results in a still adequately functioning lung, and summarizes the lung vasculature in aging. It also highlights the presence of signaling systems that, triggered by the ambient oxygen tension, change vascular density in the adult lung. The vascular units of the lung form in close coordination with airways and alveoli. Lung vascular growth is achieved by expansion of existing structures and by change in existing templates. As vascular networks increase in size and three-dimensional complexity, growth is accompanied by regression of unneeded units until these are appropriate to the stage of lung development. In this way, vascular systems formed in utero, in the postnatal period, and in early childhood, develop, enlarge and are remodeled. In the human embryo, the formation of vascular networks starts with the onset of organogenesis in the fourth week of gestation. As the lung anlage develops from the foregut, it is vascularized by ingrowth of a vascular plexus derived from the heart and the main pulmonary artery develops from migrating angioblasts. At 36 weeks to term of human gestation, the lung responds by a burst of vascular growth as existing units continue to expand in diameter and length, and many new intra-acinar units are added with formation of the gas-exchange surface. In the first months of postnatal life, the diameter of proximal intra-acinar vessels increases more than distal ones reflecting the burst of small vessels developing at the lung periphery.
Music Educator Views on String and/or Orchestral Participation in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi:

The purpose of this study was to discover music educators’ views on string music education by surveying active NAfME members in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and to compare results bas...