cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Deceiving or disrupting the pink aisle? GoldieBlox, corporate narratives, and the gendered toy debate

ABSTRACTUsing the coordinated management of meaning theory as a guide, this article examines critiques and commendations of toy company, GoldieBlox Inc.’s, goal of “disrupting the pink aisle.” Notwithstanding capitalistic enterprise, it is argued that GoldieBlox’s corporate narrative engages in an imperative social skill that its toys still lack: critical reflection. Although GoldieBlox’s toys are rudimentary in their science, technology, engineering, and math designs, the company’s corporate narrative—driven by its origin story, mission and vision statements, and marketing strategies—challenges a 100-year-old gendered toy tradition and prompts significant questions of gender representation and improbable beauty ideals in our children’s toys.
Persistent Hyperkalemia Status Postadrenalectomy for Primary Aldosteronism

ABSTRACT Objective: To report a rare case of persistent hyperkalemia and suppressed renin-aldosterone axis after adrenalectomy for an aldosterone-producing adenoma. Methods: We present the laboratory results, radiologic and surgical findings, and clinical course and management of a patient who had surgery to treat primary aldosteronism induced hypertension. Results: A 43-year-old male presented with hypertension and hypokalemia, and was diagnosed with primary aldosteronism with an aldosterone-producing adenoma. Adrenalectomy after localization was followed by delayed development of hyperkalemia with suppression of aldosterone requiring long-term mineralocorticoid replacement. Conclusion: This case illustrates the rare occurrence of persistent mineralocorticoid deficiency after adrenalectomy in a patient with confirmed primary hyperaldosteronism.
Optimization models and algorithms for spatial scheduling

Spatial scheduling problems involve scheduling a set of activities or jobs that each require a certain amount of physical space in order to be carried out. In these problems space is a limited resource, and the job locations, orientations, and start times must be simultaneously determined. As a result, spatial scheduling problems are a particularly difficult class of scheduling problems. These problems are commonly encountered in diverse industries including shipbuilding, aircraft assembly, and supply chain management. Despite its importance, there is a relatively scarce amount of research in the area of spatial scheduling. In this dissertation, spatial scheduling problems are studied from a mathematical and algorithmic perspective. Optimization models based on integer programming are developed for several classes of spatial scheduling problems. While the majority of these models address problems having an objective of minimizing total tardiness, the models are shown to contain a core set of constraints that are common to most spatial scheduling problems. As a result, these constraints form the basis of the models given in this dissertation and many other spatial scheduling problems with different objectives as well. The complexity of these models is shown to be at least NP-complete, and spatial scheduling problems in general are shown to be NP-hard. A lower bound for the total tardiness objective is shown, and a polynomial-time algorithm for computing this lower bound is given. The computational complexity inherent to spatial scheduling generally prevents the use of optimization models to find solutions to larger, realistic problems in a reasonable time. Accordingly, two classes of approximation algorithms were developed: greedy heuristics for finding fast, feasible solutions; and hybrid meta-heuristic algorithms to search for near-optimal solutions. A flexible hybrid algorithm framework was developed, and a number of hybrid algorithms were devised from this framework that employ local search and several varieties of simulated annealing. Extensive computational experiments showed these hybrid meta-heuristic algorithms to be effective in finding high-quality solutions over a wide variety of problems. Hybrid algorithms based on local search generally provided both the best-quality solutions and the greatest consistency.
Oxipurinol-Associated Inhibition of Pyrimidine Synthesis in Human Lymphoblasts

The administration of allopurinol or its major metabolic oxidation product, oxipurinol, to man consistently results in inhibition not only of uric acid synthesis but also of pyrimidine synthesis. Molecular correlates of the latter inhibition produced by oxipurinol have been studied in permanent human lymphoblast lines in tissue culture, which appear to be satisfactory models for the study of this drug effect. Incubation of intact lymphoblasts with oxipurinol resulted within 90 min in significant inhibition of incorporation of [14C]orotic acid but not [3H]uridine into cold acid-precipitable counts. This inhibition of pyrimidine synthesis was correlated with the generation of an orotidylic acid decarboxylase inhibitor which, in cell-free extracts, required 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate and oxipurinol for its formation and could be generated in extracts of cells deficient in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Stabilization of both orotidylic acid decarboxylase and orotate phosphoribosyltransferase also resulted from incubation of lymphoblasts with oxipurinol. The production of the stabilized activities appeared to coincide temporally, in substrate requirements, and in reversibility with the generation of the inhibitor of orotidylic acid decarboxylase activity, suggesting a common molecular basis for these effects. In addition, oxipurinol treatment resulted in an alteration in the quaternary structure of the bifunctional enzyme complex containing both activities, with an increase in molecular weight from 41,000 to 108,000 as estimated by gel filtration studies. In the higher molecular weight material both increased stability and inhibition of orotidylic acid decarboxy1ase were demonstrated. These findings are in accord with the suggestion that ribonucleotides of oxipurinol result in inhibition of pyrimidine synthesis through alterations in the activity, stability, and quaternary structure of the enzyme complex. A concentration-dependent increase in the specific activities of orotidylic acid decarboxylase and orotate phosphoribosyltransferase has been demonstrated in both lymphoblasts and fibroblasts incubated with oxipurinol. In lymphoblasts this increase in enzyme activity occurred within 2-3 hr and was not prevented by treatment of the cells with cycloheximide. Stabilization of the enzymes during extraction from the cell or direct activation of the enzyme activities appear to be more likely explanations for the increased enzyme activities than induction of new enzyme synthesis or inhibition of normal enzyme catabolism. No differences were found between normal and hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase-deficient lymphoblast (or fibroblast) lines in activities of either orotate phosphoribosyltransferase or orotidylic acid decarboxylase.
Afterward: Preparing for uncertainties

As the frequency and intensity of disasters increase around the world in the context of a changing climate, the likelihood that disasters will impact anthropological field sites increases. Therefore, disasters will increasingly become an expected component of anthropological work. In this article, the authors discuss the ways in which risk, hazards, and disasters will change anthropological research, practices, and methodologies as a whole.
Hard Times in Big Easy

W e experienced Katrina, but did we understand what we experienced? Do we really know the causes of the damage that was done and who was responsible? Have we undertaken real e f forts to compensate those whose lives were damaged and to redevelop the areas most a f fected? Isn’t it ironic that the two areas most a f fected, most damaged, most destroyed as the result of human activity and not simply the result of levee failure have received the least attention and have had only a minuscule amount of redevelopment compared to other areas of New Orleans? Is it any wonder I do not celebrate the redevelopment of New Orleans? What do I, a child of Lower Nine, have to celebrate?
To Be or Not to Be...A Lawyer; It's Elementary!

This article is about a talk given by the author to elementary school children regarding the profession of being a lawyer and his observations regarding the children's responses to a questionnaire.
Mouse versus Human Neutrophils in Cancer: A Major Knowledge Gap

Many types of cancer recruit neutrophils that could have protumor or antitumor effects on tumor development. Numerous findings in murine models suggest a predominantly protumoral role for neutrophils in cancer development. However, there are fundamental differences between mouse and human tumors in the evolution of tumors, genetic diversity, immune response, and also in the intrinsic biology of neutrophils that might have a profound impact on tumor development and the function of these cells. A crucial difference is that the majority of mouse tumor models lack the prolonged initial phases of multistage tumor evolution present in humans when antitumoral mechanisms are activated. In this review, we discuss the challenges specific to cross-species extrapolation of neutrophil function during mouse versus human tumor development.
Chronic Physical Health Conditions and Emotional Problems From Early Adolescence Through Midadolescence

Abstract Objective Chronic physical health conditions are highly prevalent in youth, frequently persisting into adulthood and contributing to the current and future health care burden in the United States. Our study evaluated associations of chronic physical health conditions with depressive and physiological anxiety symptoms in a community sample of youth and examined how those associations changed from early to midadolescence. Methods In this longitudinal study of 5147 youth, students and their caregivers were interviewed when youth were in grades 5 (mean age = 11), 7 (mean age = 13), and 10 (mean age = 16). Caregivers reported family sociodemographics, youth race/ethnicity, and youth chronic physical health history at baseline. Youth reported their depressive symptoms at each time point and their physiological anxiety symptoms at grades 7 and 10. Results At age 11, 28.5% had experienced a chronic physical health condition. Having any chronic physical health condition was related to elevated depressive symptoms at age 11 (2.05 ± 0.05 vs 1.89 ± 0.03; mean ± standard error; P P b = 0.13; P b = 0.13; P Conclusions Children with chronic physical health conditions have an increased risk of depressive symptoms and physiological anxiety symptoms, especially in early and midadolescence. Repeated screening for these symptoms may help identify children in need of interventions.
The blood-brain barrier and protein-mediated fatty acid uptake: role of the blood-brain barrier as a metabolic barrier: An Editorial Comment for 'The blood-brain barrier fatty acid transport protein 1 (FATP1/SLC27A1) supplies docosahexaenoic acid to the brain, and insulin facilitates transport'.

Read the commented article ‘The blood-brain barrier fatty acid transport protein 1 (FATP1/SLC27A1) supplies docosahexaenoic acid to the brain, and insulin facilitates transport’ on doi: 10.1111/jnc.13943.
Presence of Human Hepegivirus-1 in a Cohort of People Who Inject Drugs

Background Next-generation metagenomic sequencing (NGMS) has opened new frontiers in microbial discovery but has been clinically characterized in only a few settings. Objective To explore the plasma virome of persons who inject drugs and to characterize the sensitivity and accuracy of NGMS compared with quantitative clinical standards. Design Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. Setting A clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01285050) and a well-characterized cohort study of persons who have injected drugs. Participants Persons co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV. Measurements Viral nucleic acid in plasma by NGMS and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results Next-generation metagenomic sequencing generated a total of 600 million reads, which included the expected HIV and HCV RNA sequences. HIV and HCV reads were consistently identified only when samples contained more than 10 000 copies/mL or IU/mL, respectively, as determined by quantitative PCR. A novel RNA virus, human hepegivirus-1 (HHpgV-1), was also detected by NGMS in 4 samples from 2 persons in the clinical trial. Through use of a quantitative PCR assay for HHpgV-1, infection was also detected in 17 (10.9%) of 156 members of a cohort of persons who injected drugs. In these persons, HHpgV-1 viremia persisted for a median of at least 4538 days and was associated with detection of other bloodborne viruses, such as HCV RNA and SEN virus D. Limitation The medical importance of HHpgV-1 infection is unknown. Conclusion Although NGMS is insensitive for detection of viruses with relatively low plasma nucleic acid concentrations, it may have broad potential for discovery of new viral infections of possible medical importance, such as HHpgV-1. Primary funding source National Institutes of Health.
Transplantation for therapy-related, TP53-mutated myelodysplastic syndrome – not because we can, but because we should

> To the man who only has a hammer, everything he encounters begins to look like a nail . > > Abraham Maslow, and others Transplant physicians have often been accused of performing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) in patients for whom no hope of cure, or even meaningful gain,
Further Examples and Applications of Degree

Since finding out that a quadric surface Q ⊂ ℙ3 is abstractly isomorphic to the product ℙ1 × ℙ1 we have observed a number of times that, in describing a curve C ⊂ Q, it is much more useful to give its bidegree (a, b) in ℙ1 × ℙ1 (that is, the bidegree of the bihomogeneous polynomial F defining it as a subvariety of ℙ1 ⊂ ℙ1) than to give just its degree as a curve in P3 (the reader can check this is just a + b). We ask now what are the analogous numerical invariants of a k-dimensional subvariety X ⊂ ℙ m × ℙ n in general.
Future Trends in Nuclear Medical Imaging

Abstract. Continuous efforts to integrate recent research findings for the design of different geometries and various detector technologies of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scanners have become the goal of both the academic community and nuclear medicine industry. As PET has become of more interest for clinical practice, several different design trends seem to have developed. Systems are being designed for “low cost” clinical applications, very high-resolution research applications, and just about everywhere in-between. All of these systems are undergoing revisions in both hardware and software components. The development of dual-modality imaging systems is an emerging research field. One of the major advantages is that SPECT/PET data are intrinsically aligned to anatomical information from the X-ray CT without the use of external markers or internal landmarks. On the other hand, combining PET with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology is scientifically more challenging owing to the strong magnetic fields. Nevertheless, significant progress has been made resulting in the design of a prototype small animal PET scanner coupled to three multi-channel photomultipliers via optical fibers so that the PET detector can be operated within a conventional MR system. Thus, there are many different design paths being pursued - which ones are likely to be the main stream of future commercial systems? It will be interesting, indeed, to see what technologies become the most popular in the future. This paper briefly summarizes state-of-the art developments in nuclear and dual-imaging devices. Future prospects will also be discussed
Improved Adaptive Importance Sampling Based on Variational Inference

In Monte Carlo-based Bayesian inference, it is important to generate samples from a target distribution, which are then used, e.g., to compute expectations with respect to the target distribution. Quite often, the target distribution is the posterior of parameters of interest, and drawing samples from it can be exceedingly difficult. Monte Carlo-based methods, like adaptive importance sampling (AIS), is built on the importance sampling principle to approximate a target distribution using a set of samples and their corresponding weights. Variational inference (VI) attempts to approximate the posterior by minimizing the Kullback-Leibler divergence (KLD) between the posterior and a set of simpler parametric distributions. While AIS often performs well, it struggles to approximate multimodal distributions and suffers when applied to high dimensional problems. By contrast, VI is fast and scales well with the dimension, but typically underestimates the variance of the target distribution. In this paper, we combine both methods to overcome their individual drawbacks and create an efficient and robust novel technique for drawing better samples from a target distribution. Our contribution is two-fold. First, we show how to do a smart initialization of AIS using VI. Second, we propose a method for adapting the parameters of the proposal distributions of the AIS, where the adaptation depends on the performance of the VI step. Computer simulations reveal that the new method improves the performance of the individual methods and shows promise to be applied to challenging scenarios.
Spike-timing-dependent plasticity learning of coincidence detection with passively integrated memristive circuits

Spiking neural networks, the most realistic artificial representation of biological nervous systems, are promising due to their inherent local training rules that enable low-overhead online learning, and energy-efficient information encoding. Their downside is more demanding functionality of the artificial synapses, notably including spike-timing-dependent plasticity, which makes their compact efficient hardware implementation challenging with conventional device technologies. Recent work showed that memristors are excellent candidates for artificial synapses, although reports of even simple neuromorphic systems are still very rare. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate coincidence detection using a spiking neural network, implemented with passively integrated metal-oxide memristive synapses connected to an analogue leaky-integrate-and-fire silicon neuron. By employing spike-timing-dependent plasticity learning, the network is able to robustly detect the coincidence by selectively increasing the synaptic efficacies corresponding to the synchronized inputs. Not surprisingly, our results indicate that device-to-device variation is the main challenge towards realization of more complex spiking networks.
SmartEye: Mobile Device Proximity Monitoring via Wireless Signal Analysis

Mobile devices are pervasively used by everyone in all aspects of their daily lives. Sensing capability of the mobile devices, using their built-in sensors, is usually limited to their immediate proximity. In this paper, we exploit a technique which enables the mobile device to sense its physical proximity by taking advantage of the WiFi Channel State Information. We define a model to detect the movements of human and non-human objects in the proximity of the device. We have exploited the Fresnel zone model to detect the movement towards and outwards the device in the sensing area. The scheme can be used to alarm the user when device is left unattended. We further consider two models for early-detection of a user leaving her mobile device based on the user requirements and environment conditions. We evaluate our scheme using information from simulated theft attack scenarios in real environment and show that our scheme can achieve an average 84.44% and 77.77% accuracy on detecting the theft attacks for outdoor and indoor environments respectively.
Positron emission tomography studies of organophosphate chemical threats and oxime countermeasures

Abstract There is a unique in vivo interplay involving the mechanism of inactivation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) by toxic organophosphorus (OP) compounds and the restoration of AChE activity by oxime antidotes. OP compounds form covalent adducts to this critical enzyme target and oximes are introduced to directly displace the OP from AChE. For the most part, the in vivo inactivation of AChE leading to neurotoxicity and antidote-based therapeutic reversal of this mechanism are well understood, however, these molecular-level events have not been evaluated by dynamic imaging in living systems at millimeter resolution. A deeper understanding of these critically, time-dependent mechanisms is needed to develop new countermeasures. To address this void and to help accelerate the development of new countermeasures, positron-emission tomography (PET) has been investigated as a unique opportunity to create platform technologies to directly examine the interdependent toxicokinetic/pharmacokinetic and toxicodynamic/pharmacodynamic features of OPs and oximes in real time within live animals. This review will cover two first-in-class PET tracers representing an OP and an oxime antidote, including their preparation, requisite pharmacologic investigations, mechanistic interpretations, biodistribution and imaging.
Peptide complexation in water : Sequence-Selective binding with simple dye molecules

Abstract Many commercially available dyes bind certain acylated tripeptides with high selectivity on hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol)-polystyrene beads in water.
Bivalent Selection and Graded Darwinian Individuality

AbstractPhilosophers are approaching a consensus that biological individuality, including evolutionary individuality, comes in degrees. Graded evolutionary individuality presents a puzzle when juxt...
Calibration Validation of the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) with the High-Altitude Aircraft Based Scanning High-resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS)

A summary of the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) radiometric calibration validation assessment conducted using the aircraft-based Scanning High-resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS) during the 2017 GOES-16 calibration validation campaign is presented.
The effect of cognitive and behavioral factors on student success in a bottleneck business statistics course via deeper analytics

In this article, we study a set of factors underlying student success in a bottleneck business course using statistical and data mining techniques. Factors included learning styles, motivational an...
Dairy Intake in 2 American Adult Cohorts Associates with Novel and Known Targeted and Nontargeted Circulating Metabolites.

Background The role of dairy in health can be elucidated by investigating circulating metabolites associated with intake. Objectives We sought to identify metabolites associated with quantity and type of dairy intake in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring and Third Generation (Gen3) cohorts. Methods Dairy intake (total dairy, milk, cheese, yogurt, and cream/butter) was analyzed in relation to targeted (Offspring, n = 2205, 55.1 ± 9.8 y, 52% female, 217 signals; Gen3, n = 866, 40.5 ± 8.8 y, 54.9% female, 79 signals) and nontargeted metabolites (Gen3, ∼7031 signals) in a 2-step analysis including orthogonal projections to latent structures with discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) in discovery subsets to identify metabolites distinguishing between high and low intake; and linear regression in confirmation subsets to assess putative associations, subsequently tested in the total samples. Previously reported associations were also investigated. Results OPLS-DA in the Offspring targeted discovery subset resulted in a variable importance in projection (VIP) >1 of 65, 60, 58, 66, and 60 metabolites for total dairy, milk, cream/butter, cheese, and yogurt, respectively, of which 5, 3, 1, 6, and 4 metabolites, respectively, remained after confirmation. In the Gen3 targeted discovery subset, OPLS-DA resulted in a VIP >1 of 17, 15, 13, 7, and 6 metabolites for total dairy, milk, cream/butter, cheese, and yogurt, respectively. In the Gen3 nontargeted discovery subset, OPLS-DA resulted in a VIP >2 of 203, 503, 78, 186, and 206 metabolites, respectively. Combining targeted and nontargeted results in Gen3, significant associations of 7 (6 unannotated), 2, 12 (11 unannotated), 0, and 61 (all unannotated) metabolites, respectively, remained. Candidate identities of unannotated signals included fatty acids and food flavorings. Results supported relations previously reported for C14:0 sphingomyelin, and marginal associations for deoxycholates. Conclusions Dairy in 2 American adult cohorts associated with numerous circulating metabolites. Reports about diet-metabolite relations and confirmation of previous findings might be limited by specificity of dietary intake and breadth of measured metabolites.
Theatre as a Tool to Reduce Autism Stigma? Evaluating 'Beyond Spectrums'.

Drawing from ‘intergroup contact theory,’ which states that direct contact between groups can reduce biases, we developed a theatrical intervention to provide members of a college community with po...
Generation of vortex beams using holographic phase masks in photo-thermo-refractive glass (Conference Presentation)

We present a high-power capable, simple, tunable, and robust vortex beam generator. Initial phase profiles are generated using a Spatial Light Modulator and then holographically encoded into a Transmitting Volume Bragg Grating (TBG) resulting in fabrication of a Holographic Phase Mask (HPM). Such HPMs could be used for mode conversion (e.g. Gaussian to vortex) at high power due to low absorption and low nonlinear refractive index of photo-thermo-refractive glass. Unlike monochromatic conventional phase mask, adjustment of an incidence angle on the HPM results in conservation of the phase information incurred into the beam making HPM tunable.
Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Hospitalizations and Mortality in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

BACKGROUND Public health recommendations on the benefits and harms of moderate alcohol intake require a thorough and unbiased understanding of all potential effects of various levels and patterns of alcohol consumption. We seek to evaluate the associations between patterns of current and past alcohol consumption with hospitalizations and mortality. METHODS Data came from a prospective cohort of 12,327 adults (56% women, 78% white, mean age 60 years) participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study visit 3 (1993 to 1995). Current and past alcohol consumption was based on self-report. Hospitalizations and mortality were ascertained through December 31, 2017. Negative binomial and Cox proportional hazards regressions were used. RESULTS 24.8% of the study population reported never drinking, 48.3% reported currently drinking without a history of heavy drinking, 4.2% reported currently drinking with a history of heavy drinking, 19.2% reported being former drinkers without a history of heavy drinking, and 3.4% reported being former drinkers with a history of heavy drinking. Compared to those who reported drinking ≤1 to 7 drinks/wk, never drinkers (incident rate ratio [IRR]: 1.21 (95% confidence interval 1.13, 1.29) and former drinkers with (IRR: 1.43 [1.26, 1.63]) or without (IRR: 1.21 [1.13, 1.30]) a history of heavy drinking had a positive association with all-cause hospitalization (p < 0.001). Those who reported drinking ≤1 to 7 drinks/wk had the lowest all-cause mortality rate (19.2 per 1,000 person-years [18.4, 20.1]) and former drinkers with a history of heavy drinking had the highest (43.7 per 1,000 person-years [39.0, 49.1]). CONCLUSIONS The positive associations with hospitalization and mortality were stronger among never and former drinkers compared to those who consume ≤1 to 7 drinks/wk. Former drinkers with a history of heavy drinking had a stronger positive association with adverse health outcomes than former drinkers without a history of heavy drinking, highlighting the impact of this pattern of alcohol consumption.
Treat Sexual Stigma to Heal Health Disparities: Improving Sexual Minorities’ Health Outcomes

Despite recent strides toward equality in the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people continue to report experiences of sexual stigma and psychological and phys...
Constrained Gatekeepers of the Criminal Justice Footprint: A Systematic Social Observation Study of 9-1-1 Calltakers and Dispatchers

This study examines the gatekeeping role that public safety communication specialists (911 calltakers and dispatchers) play in the criminal justice footprint using systematic observations of one of...
Regularity of complexified hyperbolic equations with integral conditions

This paper considers hyperbolic wave equations with non-local in time conditions involving integrals with respect to time. It is shown that regularity of the solution can be achieved for complexifi...
Transportation into Narrative Worlds

This chapter will examine narrative and Transportation Theory in entertainment-education. Narrative transportation is the feeling of being lost in the world of a narrative, of being completely immersed in a story and leaving the real world behind. Transportation involves cognition, emotion, and mental imagery, all focused on the story. Transportation is a key mechanism underlying the influence of narratives on individuals’ attitudes and beliefs, and is also associated with media enjoyment. Individuals who are more transported are more likely to adopt story-consistent beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. This chapter will go into detail about how transportation works, specifically with regard to counterarguing, emotional response, and mental imagery, with the goal of helping creators of entertainment-education integrate transportation theory into their creative output.
How the Affective Quality of Social Connections May Contribute to Public Health: Prosocial Tendencies Account for the Links Between Positivity Resonance and Behaviors that Reduce the Spread of COVID-19.

Although behaviors such as handwashing, mask wearing, and social distancing are known to limit viral spread, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals in the United States did not adopt them. The positivity resonance theory of co-experienced positive affect (Fredrickson, 2016) holds that shared pleasant states that include the key features of mutual care and a sense of oneness through behavioral synchrony function to build prosocial tendencies (e.g., self-transcendent and other-oriented dispositions of felt unity, empathy, altruism, and general positivity toward humanity). We tested the theory-driven hypothesis that prosocial tendencies are associated with high-quality social connections characterized by the affective state of positivity resonance and, in turn, account for behaviors to slow the spread of COVID-19. We measured perceived positivity resonance at the level of social episodes either during the COVID-19 pandemic (study 1, N = 1059, April–May 2020) or before it (study 2, N = 227, March–November 2019). In both studies, cross-sectionally and prospectively, results suggest that perceived positivity resonance had a positive indirect effect on self-reported hygienic behaviors (e.g., handwashing and mask wearing), which was mediated by a latent measure of prosocial tendencies. Sensitivity analyses confirmed these mediation effects to be independent of competing predictors of prosocial tendencies (e.g., overall positive and negative affect, frequency of social interaction) and competing predictors of health behaviors (e.g., political orientation, high-risk status, illness symptoms). Effects for social distancing were mixed. Overall, findings are consistent with the view that positivity resonance builds self-transcendent prosocial tendencies that motivate behaviors to protect community health.
Resources for Families during COVID-19: A Content Analysis of Information Provided on School District Web Sites

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted the educational system not only in regard to teaching and learning, but also in relation to the other services and supports (mental health services, meal and nutrition programs, and so on) provided to students and families. School district Web sites are critical access points for families during this crisis to learn information about key resources being provided during school closure. This study used content analysis to examine whether school district Web sites in one southeastern state provided information about COVID-19 and 11 other resources. Findings indicate that about half of the Web sites provided both COVID-19 information and additional resources. Few districts provided information on resources for students with disabilities, a subgroup of students at heightened vulnerability during this time of virtual learning. Approximately a third of school district Web sites provided no information on COVID-19 or any of the other resources. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for school social workers related to crisis response and leadership around contributing to efforts that aim to address educational disparities and inequities and maximize student success during this time of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Children & Schools is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Partially Engaging: Copyright Royalties in Semi-Interactive Streaming Services

This paper examines the current system governing sound recording royalty rates, and suggests reforms to help the digital music economy adapt to the Internet age and the advent of a wide variety of music streaming services. First, it summarizes the current copyright royalty system for music streaming services, and describes the existing oversight for copyright streaming royalty rates and the statutory treatments of different streaming services. Next, it considers how certain statutory royalty rates are assessed under the Canadian equivalent of the American system, and proposes two options for reform that would help shape the law to foster the evolving market in music streaming services: the introduction of a mid-tier class of semi-interactive streaming services, and/or the replacement of the voluntary licensing deals for interactive services with a statutory license akin to that applicable for the noninteractive market. While significant barriers in the market stand in the way of such reforms, they are not as drastic as they initially appear, and in fact, Canada has adopted both reforms in its domestic system. Ultimately, the disparity between the statutory framework and the realities of the digital music economy will continue to diverge until reform is made; to reject proposed reforms on the grounds of some market opposition, or to insist on holding out for a flawless, idealized option for reform to emerge, would merely make the perfect the enemy of the good.
Do Diversity Awards Discourage Applicants From Marginalized Groups From Pursuing More Lucrative Opportunities

Four studies reveal that offering diversity awards (i.e., awards for applicants from marginalized groups) has unintentionally negative implications for equity. Across the four studies, applicants f...
Relationship between Ca2+ concentration and the properties of codoped Gd3Ga3Al2O12:Ce scintillators

Abstract Codoping is a method of current interest for modifying the properties of scintillators. The study reported here explores the effect of codoping on cerium doped Gd3Ga3Al2O12 (GGAG:Ce) crystals with various concentrations of Ca. These single crystals were grown via the Czochralski technique with Ce concentrations fixed at 0.2 at% and Ca concentrations ranging from 0.1 at% to 0.4 at% in the initial melt. The relationship between dopant concentration and light yield, rise time, and scintillation and photoluminescence decay times was determined. In addition, the absorbance, photoluminescence, radioluminescence, afterglow and thermoluminescence dependence on the dopant concentration are presented. In some of the Ca codoped crystals, an additional luminescence center was observed with an excitation wavelength of 350 nm and an emission wavelength of 400 nm and a photoluminescence decay time of ~3.5 ns.
Development and validation of the parental acceptance questionnaire (6-PAQ)

Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop the Parental Acceptance Questionnaire (6-PAQ), an instrument measuring the six primary processes theorized to contribute to psychological flexibility among parents. Items were collaboratively developed by a team of experts. Parents ( N =181) were recruited from a public elementary school and administered a pilot version of the 6-PAQ, which was refined using psychometric modeling procedures. The final version of the instrument yielded an overall internal consistency reliability coefficient of 0.84 with an average of 0.73 across the six psychological flexibility processes subscales. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis using items from the final version of the 6-PAQ suggested the measurement structure possessed an exceptional overall fit to the data: CFI=0.97, TLI=0.96, RMSEA=0.06 (90% confidence interval=0.05–0.08), and WRMR=0.86. Collectively, these results provide preliminary support for the 6-PAQ as a reliable and valid measure to assess parental psychological flexibility. Empirical and clinical implications of results as well as limitations and future directions are discussed.
The tradeoff between diversity gain and interference suppression via beamforming in a CDMA system

In this paper, the uplink of an asynchronous direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) system with multiple antennas at both the transmitter and the receiver is considered. We analyze the system performance over a spatially correlated Rayleigh fading channel with multiple access interference (MAI). Assuming perfect channel knowledge available at the transmitter, maximal ratio transmission (MRT) is employed to weight the transmitted signal optimally in terms of combating signal fading. Further, adaptive beamforming reception is adopted to suppress MAI and also to combat the fading. We examine the effect of varying the number of transmit and receive antennas on the diversity gain and interference suppression.
Abstract 14054: Chronic Treatment With Novel Nanoformulated Micelles of Rapamycin, Rapatar, Protects Diabetic Heart Against Ischemia/reperfusion Injury

Background: Elevated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling contributes to the pathogenesis of diabetes and plays a critical role in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Since the putative inhibitor of mTOR, rapamycin, has very poor water solubility and low absorption rate, its in vivo delivery and toxicity, especially during chronic treatment, may limit clinical utility. Rapatar are novel nanoformulated micelles of rapamycin (based on Pluronic block copolymers as nanocarriers) that have been rationally designed to increase water solubility of rapamycin in order to facilitate oral administration and enhance bioavailability. We therefore examined the effect of Rapatar in improving metabolic status and protection against I/R injury in type 2 diabetic (T2D) mice. Methods and Results: Adult male db/db mice were treated daily for 10 weeks with Rapatar (0.75 mg/kg/day, p.o.). At the end of treatment, the hearts were subjected to global ischemia (30 min) and reperfusion (1 hr) in Langendorff mode. Rapatar reduced fasting plasma glucose levels (266±48 mg/dL vs 478±28 mg/dL, p<0.01, n=10) (Fig. A) without affecting of body weight as compared to control db/db mice. Rapatar also improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity compared to control (Fig. B, C). Myocardial infarct size, measured by tetrazolium staining, was reduced in rapatar-treated mice (20.4±2.7 % vs controls 49.9±5.1 %, n=6, p<0.0005; Fig. D). Western blot analyses confirmed a significant inhibition in phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 (downstream target of mTORC1), but not AKT (Ser473, target of mTORC2) following chronic treatment with Rapatar (Fig. E). Conclusion: Chronic Rapatar treatment improved metabolic status and reduced myocardial infarction following I/R injury in diabetic mice. Rapatar may be a potentially safe and novel therapeutic option for diabetes-induced cardiovascular complications. ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Glycosylasparaginase activity requires the alpha-carboxyl group, but not the alpha-amino group, on N(4)-(2-Acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-L-asparagine.

Glycosylasparaginase catalyzes the hydrolysis of the N-glycosylic bond in N(4)-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-L-asparagine in the catabolism of N-linked oligosaccharides. A deficiency, or absence, of enzyme activity gives rise to aspartylglycosaminuria, the most common disorder of glycoprotein metabolism. The enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of a variety of asparagine and aspartyl compounds containing a free alpha-carboxyl group and a free alpha-amino group; computational studies suggest that the alpha-amino group actively participates in the catalytic mechanism. In order to study the importance of the alpha-carboxyl group and the alpha-amino group on the natural substrate to the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme, 14 analogues of the natural substrate were studied where the structure of the aspartyl group of the substrate was changed. The incremental binding energy (DeltaDeltaGb) for those analogues that were substrates was calculated. The results show that the alpha-amino group may be substituted with a group of comparable size, for the alpha-amino group contributes little, if any, to the transition state binding energy of the natural substrate. The alpha-amino group position acts as an "anchor" in the binding site for the substrate. On the other hand, the alpha-carboxyl group is necessary for enzyme activity; removal of the alpha-carboxyl group or changing it to an alpha-carboxamide group results in no hydrolysis reaction. Also, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine is not sufficient for binding to the active site for efficient hydrolysis by the enzyme. These results provide supporting evidence for a proposed intramolecular autoproteolytic activation reaction for the enzyme. However, the results raise a question as to an important role for the alpha-amino group in the catalytic mechanism as indicated in computational studies.
Health Care Utilization After Interdisciplinary Chronic Pain Treatment: Part II. Preliminary Examination of Mediating and Moderating Factors in the Use of Costly Health Care Procedures

Military chronic musculoskeletal pain accounts for over $1 billion in health care and disability costs annually. Recent advances in the tertiary treatment of chronic pain for military service members have demonstrated significant benefit for military pain sufferers who complete an interdisciplinary functional restoration program. Functional restoration patients demonstrate significant improvements in mood, pain-related cognitions, physical functioning, self-efficacy, and rates of retention on active duty. Examination of data from the military's Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) for active duty service members with chronic pain who completed the functional restoration FORT (Functional and Occupational Rehabilitation Treatment) program revealed that FORT patients sought significantly lower levels of costly medical procedures for pain compared to those who received treatment as usual. FORT participants were significantly less likely to seek treatment through the Emergency Department for pain, undergo injections for pain relief, or receive radio frequency nerve ablations for pain. This study was undertaken to identify relevant factors that contribute to reliance on costly medical procedures for pain relief among military service members with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Numerous psychosocial, physical, and demographic variables assessed as part of the FORT study were analyzed with AHLTA procedure data. This preliminary analysis revealed that service members without children (55%) were significantly more likely to seek medical procedures for pain compared to those with children (16%). Those who sought medical procedures for pain demonstrated significantly higher levels of work-related fear avoidance (x = 21.83) compared to non-procedure patients (x = 11.79), and those who received procedures also demonstrated less lumbar flexion (x = 37.67 degrees) compared to non-utilizers (x = 46.67 degrees). Lack of children, high work-related fear avoidance, and low lumbar range of motion accounted for 36% of the variance in medical procedure use in this sample. Implications for future research are discussed.
Target Plane Imaging System For The Nova Laser

The Nova laser, in operation since December 1984, is capable of irradiating targets with light at 1.05 ..mu..m, 0.53 ..mu..m, and 0.35 ..mu..m. Correct alignment of these harmonic beams uses a system called a target plane imager (TPI). It is a large microscope (four meters long, weighing one thousand kilograms) that relays images from the target chamber center to a video optics module located on the outside of the chamber. Several modes of operation are possible including: near-field viewing and far-field viewing at three magnifications and three wavelengths. In addition, the entire instrument can be scanned in X,Y,Z to examine various planes near chamber center. Performance of this system and its computer controls will be described.
A low cost, one-piece nitrogen burst processing rack for 3¼× 4 inches and 4×5 inches TEM and SEM negatives

SUMMARY A processing rack designed with a built-in nitrogen burst plenum to accommodate 3¼ × 4 in. and 4 × 5 in. negative can be inexpensively constructed from plexiglass.
Magnetic Anisotropy of the Iron-Group Fluorides

The magnetic anisotropy of single crystals of Fe${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ and Co${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ has been measured over the temperature range 11 to 340\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. Like Mn${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$, the anhydrous difluorides of iron and cobalt have the tetragonal rutile crystal structure, and the anisotropy results are compared with those found by Stout and Griffel for Mn${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$. In all three compounds the magnetic susceptibility parallel to the crystallographic $c$ axis is at room temperatures greater than that in a direction perpendicular to this axis. Because of the orbital magnetic moment the high temperature anisotropy is much greater for Fe${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ and Co${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ than for Mn${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$. As the temperature is lowered, the anisotropy changes sign and at 11\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K has large negative values, indicating that the susceptibility parallel to the $c$ axis becomes small. This indicates that at low temperatures there is an ordered antiferromagnetic arrangement with the elementary magnetic moments aligned parallel and antiparallel to the $c$ axis. Such a magnetic structure has been found from neutron diffraction measurements by Shull and Erickson. The anomalous behavior of the magnetic anisotropy, associated with the antiferromagnetic ordering, is in the case of Co${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ spread out over a much wider temperature range than in the case of Mn${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ and Fe${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$. At the lowest temperatures the anisotropy of Mn${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ varies as ${T}^{2}$, whereas those of Fe${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ and Co${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ vary as the fourth power of the temperature.
The Evolving Surgeon: How, When, and Why Change Is for the Better

Change is an inevitable part of a surgeon's practice. There are several positive and negative forces encouraging a surgeon to change. Whether a surgeon should modify and how to do it are the focus of this article.