cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Personalizing robot tutors to individuals' learning differences

In education research, there is a widely-cited result called “Bloom’s two sigma” that characterizes the differences in learning outcomes between students who receive one-on-one tutoring and those who receive traditional classroom instruction [1]. Tutored students scored in the 95th percentile, or two sigmas above the mean, on average, compared to students who received traditional classroom instruction. In human-robot interaction research, however, there is relatively little work exploring the potential benefits of personalizing a robot’s actions to an individual’s strengths and weaknesses. In this study, participants solved grid-based logic puzzles with the help of a personalized or non-personalized robot tutor. Participants’ puzzle solving times were compared between two non-personalized control conditions and two personalized conditions (n=80). Although the robot’s personalizations were less sophisticated than what a human tutor can do, we still witnessed a “one-sigma” improvement (68th percentile) in post-tests between treatment and control groups. We present these results as evidence that even relatively simple personalizations can yield significant benefits in educational or assistive human-robot interactions. Categories and Subject Descriptors I.2.9 [Artificial Intelligence]: Robotics; J.4 [Computer Applications]: Social And Behavioral Sciences—Psychology General Terms Experimentation
PROTEIN ANALYSIS IN THE DAIRY LABORATORY

The paper describes methods of analyses in direct determination of fat, protein and lactose. The Infrared Milk Analyser (IRMA) its fundamental component a double-beam infrared spectrophotometer which compares the absorption of a milk sample at specific wavelengths is described in detail. Calibration of the IRMA is discussed and the comparison of infrared and chemical analyses shown.
Vibrations of Damaged Cantilever Beams Manufactured from Functionally Graded Materials

This paper is concerned with the effect of damage on free and forced vibrations of a functionally graded cantilever beam. The modes of damage considered in the paper include a region with degraded stiffness adjacent to the root of the beam, a single delamination crack, and a single crack at the root cross section of the beam propagating in the thickness direction. Closed-form solutions are suggested for all cases considered, including both forced and free vibrations; in the case of free vibrations, these solutions are exact. The peculiarities of the frequency analysis of nonprismatic and/or axially graded beams with the root crack in the presence of static thermal loads are also discussed and it is shown that neglecting axial inertia may lead to a qualitative error (this conclusion remains valid in prismatic functionally graded material beams). Numerical examples concentrate on the effect of a single root crack on the fundamental frequency, because such damage was observed in numerous loading scenarios. It is shown that the presence of a crack that has propagated through about one-third of the thickness of the beam significantly affects the fundamental frequency.
The Use of Milk as a Saliva Substitute

Xerostomia, a clinical manifestation of salivary gland dysfunction, affects many people. These individuals frequently sip liquids to alleviate the discomforts associated with hyposalivation. Milk appears to have many of the chemical and physical properties of a good saliva substitute. Besides the obvious benefit of providing moisture and lubrication for the dehydrated mucosa, milk buffers oral acids, reduces enamel solubility, and contributes to enamel remineralization. These anticariogenic factors are generally attributed to the high calcium and phosphate content along with the milk phosphoproteins that strongly adsorb to enamel. Patients with xerostomia frequently have difficulty in obtaining proper nutrition due to problems associated with lubricating, masticating, tasting, and swallowing food. Milk is a food with high nutritional quality that would certainly benefit most patients with xerostomia. Because of the nutritional, anticariogenic, and moisturizing properties of milk, patients with xerostomia may find milk of value as a saliva substitute to help reduce the oral health problems associated with hyposalivation.
Explaining variance in black carbon's aging timescale

Abstract. The size and composition of particles containing black carbon (BC) are modified soon after emission by condensation of semivolatile substances and coagulation with other particles, known collectively as "aging" processes. Although this change in particle properties is widely recognized, the timescale for transformation is not well constrained. In this work, we simulated aerosol aging with the particle-resolved model PartMC-MOSAIC (Particle Monte Carlo – Model for Simulating Aerosol Interactions and Chemistry) and extracted aging timescales based on changes in particle cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). We simulated nearly 300 scenarios and, through a regression analysis, identified the key parameters driving the value of the aging timescale. We show that BC's aging timescale spans from hours to weeks, depending on the local environmental conditions and the characteristics of the fresh BC-containing particles. Although the simulations presented in this study included many processes and particle interactions, we show that 80% of the variance in the aging timescale is explained by only a few key parameters. The condensation aging timescale decreased with the flux of condensing aerosol and was shortest for the largest fresh particles, while the coagulation aging timescale decreased with the total number concentration of large (D >100 nm), CCN-active particles and was shortest for the smallest fresh particles. Therefore, both condensation and coagulation play important roles in aging, and their relative impact depends on the particle size range.
Clinical spinal instability and low back pain

Clinical instability is an important cause of low back pain. Although there is some controversy concerning its definition, it is most widely believed that the loss of normal pattern of spinal motion causes pain and/or neurologic dysfunction. The stabilizing system of the spine may be divided into three subsystems: (1) the spinal column; (2) the spinal muscles; and (3) the neural control unit. A large number of biomechanical studies of the spinal column have provided insight into the role of the various components of the spinal column in providing spinal stability. The neutral zone was found to be a more sensitive parameter than the range of motion in documenting the effects of mechanical destabilization of the spine caused by injury and restabilization of the spine by osteophyle formation, fusion or muscle stabilization. Clinical studies indicate that the application of an external fixator to the painful segment of the spine can significantly reduce the pain. Results of an in vitro simulation of the study found that it was most probably the decrease in the neutral zone, which was responsible for pain reduction. A hypothesis relating the neutral zone to pain has been presented. The spinal muscles provide significant stability to the spine as shown by both in vitro experiments and mathematical models. Concerning the role of neuromuscular control system, increased body sway has been found in patients with low back pain, indicating a less efficient muscle control system with decreased ability to provide the needed spinal stability.  2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
An Evaluation of the Scale at which Ground-Surface Heat Flux Patchiness Affects the Convective Boundary Layer Using Large-Eddy Simulations

Abstract The effects on the convective boundary layer (CBL) of surface heterogeneities produced by surface sensible heat flux waves with different means, amplitudes, and wavelengths were investigated here. The major objective of this study was to evaluate at which scale surface heterogeneity starts to significantly affect the heat fluxes in the CBL. The large-eddy simulation option of the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System developed at Colorado State University was used for that purpose. Avissar et al. evaluated this model against observations and demonstrated its reliability. It appears that the impact of amplitude and wavelength of a heat wave is nonlinearly dependent upon the mean heating rate. The circulations (or rolls) resulting from surface heterogeneity are strong when the amplitude and the wavelength of the heat wave are large, especially at low mean heating rate. In that case the profiles of horizontally averaged variables are quite strongly modified in the CBL. The potential temperature is no...
Compensation Benchmarking Practices in Large U.S. Local Governments Results of a National Survey

Growing competition over human capital has reiterated the importance of strategic practices to maintaining a high-quality public sector workforce. But how often does the public sector study pay and benefits among competitive peers? This study presents the findings of a national survey of human resource professionals regarding compensation benchmarking practices. Just over half of respondents indicated they conducted a benchmarking study within the last decade. A majority said their jurisdiction only compares compensation with other public employers, with a smaller number including both public and private competitors. Salaries were the most frequent topic of concern; fringe benefits and paid leave time were less often compared. Several jurisdictions conducted benchmarking studies for purposes other than compensation; about one quarter gathered data for purely informational purposes and 9% carried out a study in anticipation of labor negotiations. A series of best practices for benchmarking studies is offered in conclusion.
SAMPLE SELECTION AND THEORY DEVELOPMENT: IMPLICATIONS OF FIRMS' VARYING ABILITIES TO APPROPRIATELY SELECT NEW VENTURES.

I highlight the need to consider sample selection when developing theory. When a sample is the result of a selection process, the process may be (1) generating empirical relationships consistent with a theoretical explanation that plays no causal role or (2) canceling out an empirical relationship actually generated by a causal process associated with a proposed theory. I argue that firms' varying abilities to appropriately select new ventures and select in or out of samples of such investments can lead to empirical misinterpretation and inappropriate theoretical conclusions.
Neutron Leakage Through Fusion Chamber Ports: A Comparison of Lithium and Lead-Lithium Blankets

Monte Carlo neutronics calculations have been carried out to compare the effects of chamber ports on the neutron leakage and blanket performance for lithium and lead-lithium blankets. A spherical chamber with diametrically opposed, conical penetrations through the blanket and a 14.1-MeV point source at its center is the basis for the comparison. The total neutron leakage through ports in a lithium blanket is about two times greater than one would estimate based on the solid angle fraction subtended by the holes. For a blanket comprised primarily of the lead-lithium eutectic, PB/sub 83/ LI/sub 17/, the leakage per deuterium-tritium neutron is about six times the subtended solid angle fraction. As a result of the enhanced neutron leakage, the tritium-breeding ratio and neutron energy deposited in the blanket decrease more rapidly than the loss of blanket coverage. For example, for a chamber in which the ports subtend 5% of the total solid angle, the tritiumbreeding ratios are about8 and about20% less than the results without ports for the lithium and PB/sub 83/ LI/sub 17/.
Antibunched emission of photon pairs via quantum Zeno blockade.

We propose a new methodology, namely, the ``quantum Zeno blockade,'' for managing light scattering at a few-photon level in general nonlinear-optical media, such as crystals, fibers, silicon microrings, and atomic vapors. Using this tool, antibunched emission of photon pairs can be achieved, leading to potent quantum-optics applications such as deterministic entanglement generation without the need for heralding. In a practical implementation using an on-chip toroidal microcavity immersed in rubidium vapor, we estimate that high-fidelity entangled photons can be produced on-demand at MHz rates or higher, corresponding to an improvement of $\ensuremath{\gtrsim}{10}^{7}$ times from the state-of-the-art.
Absolute rate constants for the reaction of OH with cyclopentane and cycloheptane from 233 to 351 K.

Absolute rate constant measurements for the reactions of OH with cyclopentane and cycloheptane in the gas phase in 6–8 Torr of nitrogen from 233 to 351 K in the Harvard University High-Pressure Flow System (HPFS) are reported. Hydroxyl concentrations were measured using laser-induced fluorescence, and alkane concentrations were measured using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Results were fit to a modified Arrhenius equation based on transition state theory (ignoring tunneling): k(T) = B e–Ea/T/T(1 – e–1.44ν1/T)2(1 – e–1.44ν2/T), with ν1 and ν2 bending frequencies set to 280 and 500 cm–1 . Results were as follows for Ea (K) and k (298) (10–12 cm3 s–1): cyclopentane, 460 ± 32, 4.85; cycloheptane, 319 ± 36, 9.84. This work represents the second absolute temperature-dependent rate constant measurement reported for cycloheptane, and the third absolute temperature-dependent rate constant measurement reported near room temperature for the reaction of OH and cyclopentane. For the title reactions, the reac...
Large-Scale Hierarchical Self-Assembly Structures from Gold Nanoparticles

Metallic nanoparticles may form hierarchical dendrites in the presence of ionic surfactant through self-assembly upon solvent drying at room temperature. With nanoparticle density varying in the drying area on the supporting solid substrate, the morphology and relevant size of the dendrites evolve in different structures. At the region where the nanoparticle density is high, the large dendrite can develop with manifest crystal symmetry. At the low density region, many small sizes of compact crystals can be found, indicating that particle nucleation dominates over the long-range crystal growth. SEM image reveals the ordered stacking of gold nanoplates over the long dendrite branches, resembling the liquid crystal array. We present the possible physical origins to explain the various structures of the assembled dendrites during the solvent evaporation at the interface of solid and air.
Analysis and Application of Phase Detection Methods

This paper briefly describes the analog and digital phase difference measurement methods for interferometer direction finding(DF), with the emphasis on analysis of their DF errors, and finally compares the phase detection methods.
Parent-adolescent conflict in African American families

Parent-adolescent conflict is frequent in families and has implications for youth adjustment and family relationships. Drawing on a family systems perspective, we examined mothers', fathers', and two adolescent-aged siblings' (50.5 % females) reports of parent-adolescent conflict in 187 African American families. Using latent profile analysis in the context of an ethnic homogeneous design, we identified three family types based on levels of and differences between parent and youth conflict reports: low conflict, father high conflict, and younger sibling high conflict. Compared to low conflict families, youth in younger sibling high conflict families reported more depressive symptoms and risky behaviors. The results for parents' acceptance revealed that, in comparison to low conflict families, older siblings in father high conflict families reported lower acceptance from mothers, and mothers in these families reported lower acceptance of their children; further, older siblings in younger sibling high conflict families reported less acceptance from fathers, and fathers in these families reported less acceptance of their children. Results underscore the significance of levels of and both differences between and direction of differences in parents' and youth's reports of their "shared" experiences, as well as the importance of examining the larger family contexts of dyadic parent-relationships.
Allocating Property Tax Revenue in California: Living with Proposition 13

The authors suggest new ways of allocating California property tax revenue among local governments. They propose basing allocation on assessed value and population. The change would result in a revenue gain for 82 percent cities, but only 15 percent of counties.
Order-Sorted Rewriting and Congruence Closure

Order-sorted type systems supporting inheritance hierarchies and subtype polymorphism are used in theorem proving, AI, and declarative programming. The satisfiability problems for the theories of: (i) order-sorted uninterpreted function symbols, and (ii) of such symbols modulo a subset \(\varDelta \) of associative-commutative ones are reduced to the unsorted versions of such problems at no extra computational cost. New results on order-sorted rewriting are needed to achieve this reduction.
Optical Properties and Dimer Formation in Copper Phthalocyanine-Doped Sol-Gel Matrices

Dimer formation in sol-gel matrices was studied using optical absorption spectroscopy of copper phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate dopants in silicate and aluminosilicate sol-gel matrices. Changes in the optical absorption spectra of dimers and monomers were correlated with various stages of the sol-gel process. Dimerization is strongly influenced by the chemistry of the pore liquid. The primary factors that control dimerization are the quantity of solvent remaining in the pores, pore solvent alcohol/water ratio, and presence of protons which can be either from the catalyst or from silanol groups on the silicate pore surfaces. Synthesis conditions which cause dye protonation invariably lead to dimerization during the latter stages of drying when the pore liquid becomes water-rich and there is a high dye concentration. These studies also identify chemical conditions which are able to avoid dye protonation and subsequently reduce dimer formation.
Geographic area-based rate as a novel indicator to enhance research and precision intervention for more effective HIV/AIDS control.

Abstract Ending the HIV epidemic needs additional methods to better assess the incidence and prevalence of HIV infection. In this study, a new indicator — G-rate was developed for the evaluation of HIV epidemics across regions with regard to geographic area size. Different from the commonly used incidence and prevalence rates that assess the HIV epidemic with reference to population (termed as P rate in this study), G rate measures the number of new infections (incidence) or cases (prevalence) over a unit land area in one year. We demonstrated the utility of G rates using officially reported data on new HIV infections and persons living with HIV in the United States during 2000–2012. Findings of our analysis indicate that relative to P rates, G rates indicated a quicker increase in the HIV epidemic in the United States during the study period. In 2012, 4.6 persons were newly infected and 101.4 persons lived with HIV per 1000 km 2 land area. The five states with both highest P prevalence rates and highest G prevalence rates were Florida, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Washington DC, which included New Jersey ranked 8th by P rate and excluded Massachusetts ranked 5th by G rate. In conclusion, adding G rates extends the conventional measurement system that consists of case count and P rate. Combining G rates with P rates provides a new approach for information extraction to support precision intervention strategy toward the goal of creating an AIDS-Free Generation.
Developing a citizen science web portal for manual and automated ecological image detection

Image recognition is challenging in the field of wildlife ecology as samples of a specific species can be rare, making manual detection cumbersome. With over 2,060,000 images taken from motion-sensor trail cameras and unmanned aerial vehicle flights, a touch enabled web interface has been developed to allow citizen scientists and ecologists to categorize positive samples. To minimize categorization errors, the same images are shown to multiple separate users. The observations of each user are then compared using two novel validation strategies: percentage of overlapping area and maximum corner distance. Two novel methods for the extraction of final images from validated results are presented and compared as well: average corner points and area intersection. These methods were evaluated using a set of 142 images with a total of 811 observations of objects generated by citizen scientists that were manually inspected for ground truth. Results show that for this research a maximum corner distance of 10 pixels and the use of area intersection provided the best extracted imagery for future use as training and testing data by computer vision methods.
Place, community and information behavior: Spatially oriented information seeking zones and information source preferences

Abstract Even in a digitally advanced society, much of our daily lives is based in place, but information behavior research has largely ignored place as theoretically relevant to information behavior. This study explores the implications of a place-based approach to studying information practices, and examines factors that influence information seeking and sharing in place-based communities among parents of individuals with disabilities. Based on qualitative data gathered from 35 parents of individuals with disabilities, it proposes a spatial model of information source preferences based on the theory of information horizons, and discusses implications of the model for future research related to information seeking and places. It also presents substantive place-related findings about local information needs, including discussion of the local parent network as an information seeking system.
Ethical Awareness of Seller’s Behavior in Consumer-to-Consumer Electronic Commerce: Applying the Multidimensional Ethics Scale

ABSTRACTConsumer-to-consumer electronic commerce (C2C e-commerce) has opened the possibility of consumers completing more transactions with each other. It has also introduced the ability for consumers to behave unethically. This study examines an individual’s ethical awareness of a seller’s behavior in C2C e-commerce situations by applying the multidimensional ethics scale (with measures for moral equity, relativism, egoism, utilitarianism, and contractualism). The study surveys undergraduate business students in four different C2C e-commerce situations and finds relativism to influence ethical awareness in all scenarios. Egoism is found to influence ethical awareness in three scenarios and contractualism in one scenario, and utilitarianism is not found to be an influence in any scenario. The findings from this study suggest that sellers in C2C e-commerce should conduct transactions based on what is culturally and socially acceptable (i.e., relativism), but also consider the importance of one’s reputation...
Parenting practices focusing on literacy: a study of cultural capital of kindergarten and first-grade students from low-income families

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to examine the relations between parents’ home literacy practices and the literacy skills of young children at risk for reading difficulties. Participants included 198 kindergarten and first-grade students and their parents. Children were enrolled in two Title I schools in an urban setting. Parents completed the Stonybrook Family Reading Survey, and children completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4th edition, Expressive Vocabulary Test, 2nd edition, and Woodcock Reading Mastery Test. Results revealed that children with greater social capital in the form of more frequent home literacy activities demonstrated higher expressive and receptive vocabulary skills. These findings have implications for researchers, educators, and parents including the suggestion that school-based interventions should assess home literacy environment at the baseline to inform the design of instructional activities and to inform teachers on ways to enhance the home–school connection.
Gender, Social Class, and Women's Employment

People in low-power positions, whether due to gender or class, tend to exhibit other-oriented rather than self-oriented behavior. Women's experiences at work and at home are shaped by social class, heightening identification with gender for relatively upper class women and identification with class for relatively lower class women, potentially mitigating, or even reversing, class-based differences documented in past research. Gender-class differences are reflected in women's employment beliefs and behaviors. Research integrating social class with gendered experiences in homes and workplaces deepens our understanding of the complex interplay between sources of power and status in society.
Macaque monkeys in Zika virus research: 1947–present

Zika virus was first isolated in 1947 from an exotic rhesus macaque. Nearly 70 years later, the emergence of Zika virus in the Americas and its newly described association with birth defects has motivated the development of captive macaque monkey models of human Zika virus infection. This review describes similarities between macaque and human Zika virus pathogenesis and discusses specific advantages and disadvantages of using macaques instead of other laboratory animal models. In particular, macaques provide an outstanding model for understanding in utero Zika virus infections that are essential for evaluating preclinical interventions for use in pregnancy.
Using Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarker Testing to Target Treatment to Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

Objective Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers are shown to facilitate a risk identification of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) into different risk levels of progression to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Knowing a patient’s risk level provides an opportunity for earlier interventions, which could result in potential greater benefits. We assessed the cost effectiveness of the use of CSF biomarkers in MCI patients where the treatment decision was based on patients’ risk level.
6-P: VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICES (VAD) ARE HIGHLY SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH CLASS I HLA ALLOSENSITIZATION

Aim VADs are increasingly used as a bridge to transplantation and are implicated as a risk factor for allosensitization. We investigated in a matched case-control study the association between VAD and PRA changes (peak & significant increase ⩾20%). Methods We analyzed records of VAD recipients at our institute from 00-09 (n = 384) and included patients with pre-VAD PRA testing and another PRA test within 6 months post-VAD (n = 100). PRA testing was performed by screening flowPRA beads (One Lambda, CA). A control group was constructed from heart transplant candidates evaluated in the same time frame with no VAD (n = 830) for whom we had ⩾3 PRA tests within 8 months pre-transplant (n = 445). Two controls were randomly matched for each VAD case based on yr of initial PRA test. Results Follow-up was longer in the controls (median:103 vs 33; p Table 1 ). Multivariable models adjusted for gender, race, pre-VAD PRA, duration of VAD and blood transfusion yet the associations remained unchanges. Of VAD patients, that had a significant increase in C1 PRA and single antigen testing performed 81% (35/43) showed development of new HLA antibody specificities post-VAD. Conclusions Our results suggest that VAD is associated with CI allosensitization independent of other risk factors. These findings have important clinical implications and warrant prospective studies to better understand VAD associated allosensitization.
A deep learning based approach for analog hardware implementation of delayed feedback reservoir computing system

As the 2020 roadblock approaches, the need of breakthrough in computing systems has directed researchers to novel computing paradigms. The recently emerged reservoir computing model, delayed feedback reservoir (DFR) computing, only utilizes one nonlinear neuron along with a delay loop. It not only offers the ease of hardware implementation but also enables the optimal performance contributed by the inherent delay and its rich intrinsic dynamics. The field of deep learning has attracted worldwide attention due to its hierarchical architecture that allows more efficient performance than a shallow structure. Along with our analog hardware implementation of the DFR, we investigate the possibility of merging deep learning and DFR computing systems. By evaluating the results, deep DFR models demonstrate 50%–81% better performance during training and 39%–64% performance improvement during testing than shallow leaky echo state network (ESN) model. Due to the difference in architecture, the training time of MI (multiple inputs)-deep DFR requires approximately 21% longer than that of the deep DFR model. Our approach offers the great potential and promise in the realization of analog hardware implementations for deep DFR systems.
Use of durable mechanical circulatory support on outcomes of heart-kidney transplantation.

OBJECTIVES Previous studies have demonstrated that preheart transplant mechanical circulatory support (MCS) can lead to a small but significant increase in mortality. However, data on outcomes of patients with MCS who require simultaneous heart-kidney transplant are limited. METHODS A retrospective review of simultaneous heart-kidney transplantations (HKTxs) performed at a single institution over a 5-year period was performed. Patients were divided based on the preoperative use of durable MCS. Renal graft-related end points were evaluated, including glomerular filtration rate following transplantation, prevalence of delayed renal graft function and freedom from antibody and cellular-mediated graft rejection. Patient-specific outcomes, including survival and frequency of non-fatal major adverse cardiac events at 1 year, were additionally assessed. RESULTS During the study period, 50 HKTxs were performed, 14 of which had preoperative MCS. HKTx patients with and without MCS implantations had a similar prevalence of delayed graft function (57.1% vs 50.0%; P = 0.757). A numerical trend was observed towards a reduced glomerular filtration rate 1-month post-transplant in patients without an MCS device (81.2 ± 32.8 vs 64.4 ± 27.5; P = 0.072), but no significant difference was observed at 6 and 12 months. No significant difference was observed on the need for post-transplant renal replacement therapy, non-fatal major adverse cardiac events, freedom from graft rejection and overall survival at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS The use of preoperative MCS in patients undergoing combined HKTx was not found to affect renal graft function post-transplantation and does not seem to be associated with increase in morbidity or mortality.
Dosimetric Evaluation of Pinnacle’s Automated Treatment Planning Software to Manually Planned Treatments:

INTRODUCTION With the advent of complex treatment techniques like volumetric modulated arc therapy, there has been increasing interest in treatment planning technologies aimed at reducing planning time. One of these such technologies is auto-planning, which is an automated planning module within Pinnacle3. This study seeks to retrospectively evaluate the dosimetric quality of auto-planning-derived treatment plans as they compare to manual plans for intact prostate, prostate and lymph nodes, and brain treatment sites. MATERIALS AND METHODS Previous clinical plans were used to generate site-specific auto-planning templates. These templates were used to compare the 3 evaluated treatment sites. Plans were replanned using auto-planning and compared to the clinically delivered plans. For the planning target volume, the following metrics were evaluated: homogeneity index, conformity index, D2cc, Dmean, D2%, D98%, and multiple dose fall-off parameters. For the organs at risk, D2cc, Dmean, and organ-specific clinical metrics were evaluated. Statistical differences were evaluated using a Wilcoxon paired signed-rank test with a significance level of 0.05. Statistically significant ( P < 0.05) differences were noted in organs at risk sparing. RESULTS For the prostate, there was as much as 6.8% reduction in bladder Dmean and 23.5% reduction in penile bulb Dmean. For the prostate + lymph nodes, decreases in Dmean values ranging from 4.1% in the small bowel to 22.3% in the right femoral head were observed. For brain, significant improvements were observed in Dmax and Dmean to most organs at risk. CONCLUSION Our study showed improved organs at risk sparing in most organs while maintaining planning target volume coverage. Overall, auto-planning can generate plans that delivered the same target coverage as the clinical plans but offered significant reductions in mean dose to organs at risk.
Hydroxy fatty acid metabolism in brain.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the biosynthesis metabolism of hydroxy fatty acid (HFA) in brain. While a great variety of chain lengths is to be found in the HFA of other animal tissues, the assortment in brain is rather limited. Cerebronic acid (h24:0) is by far the main acid, with h22:0 and h24:l next, and h23:0, h25:l, and h26:l next in abundance. The two synthetic routes possible for the biosynthesis of these acids are hydroxylation of unsaturated non-hydroxy fatty acids (NFA) or dehydrogenation of saturated HFA. The most likely route for the biosynthesis of unsaturated NFA is by chain elongation of the medium-length unsaturated NFA. It is these acids that are probably hydroxylated. Evidence for this mechanism comes from the examination of the double-bond positions in the HFA of brain. Further evidence for the occurrence of the keto acid as an intermediate in HFA breakdown comes from Mead. By treating the enzymatic preparation with NADase, he was able to demonstrate formation of the keto acid. NAD is needed for both oxidative steps: HFA to keto acid and keto acid to NFA. The keto acid degradation resembles that of pyruvate and ketoglutarate, which are oxidized by a lipoamide enzyme via a thiamine pyrophosphate intermediate. However, the requirement for ascorbate in the brain system suggests that an entirely different mechanism is involved.
Design for Simplified Materials in Transformation Electromagnetics

In this chapter we review some of the common methods used to simplify the design of transformation electromagnetics devices. One of the major challenges is the complexity of the needed material parameters, and a variety of analytical, numerical, and approximation techniques can be used to create devices that still perform well, although not ideally, but are much easier to fabricate. All of these techniques are a manifestation of the general concept that transformation electromagnetics designs are relatively robust to material perturbations.
Risky Behavior in Online Social Media: Protection Motivation and Social Influence

Online Social Media (OSM) websites have attracted millions of users by enabling them to socially interact in ways that were not possible before. While the explosion of OSM use has had many benefits, it also has a darker side where an individual's personal information can potentially be misused. This study develops and tests an empirical model based on a theoretical lens provided by Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to examine the salient factors that influence an individual's perceptions of threat and their intention to use OSM websites. We investigate this model with a data set representing survey responses from 197 OSM users. Results suggest that rewards, which are largely overlooked in the IS PMT literature, are the primary influence in the perceived threat calculation in the OSM context. In addition, social influence was found to significantly influence behavioral intentions to share information on OSM websites.
International Public Finance

Analysis of the international implications of public expenditure and tax policies began in earnest in the mid-1980s and has since become a major line of research in public sector economics. The literature on international tax and expenditures issues is now so large and varied that a single chapter cannot begin to do it justice. Chapter 29 focuses on two of the main lines of research in the literature, both concerning taxation: (1) the taxation of mobile capital and (2) the ways in which multinational enterprises can exploit differences in nations’ tax policies to reduce their tax liabilities. The main goal is to highlight the models used to explore these issues. A number of excellent surveys of the broader literature already exist and are noted in the chapter.
Impact of Mothers’ Interactions on the Development of Their Young Visually Impaired Children:

This article reports on a study of the relationship between mother-child interactions and children's development for 18 children, aged 20–36 months with severe visual impairments and no other known...
The voice in the drum: music, language, and emotion in Islamicate South Asia

Richard Wolf's study of vernacular drumming traditions in South Asia is a welcome addition to the ethnomusicological literature addressing musical practices of this region. While the volume's title...
Developmental-regulatory aspects of brain tryptophan hydroxylase.

Several articles in this volume deal with the roles of serotonin and other neurohumoral substances in the regulation of neurogenesis. It should be emphasized that the maturation of the serotonergic system itself must also be subjected to regulation by a variety of biochemical events. In our laboratory, we are concerned with the developmental regulation of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), the enzyme that catalyzes the initial and probably rate-limiting step in the biosynthesis of serotonin from tryptophan. Two regulatory aspects are described in this article. One involves adrenal glucocorticoids as a regulatory factor for the enzyme during postnatal development of the brain. The other involves the activation of the enzyme by ATP-magnesium and its developmental relevance. Some of the unpublished experiments summarized here were conducted in collaboration with my energetic colleagues, Tom Lysz, Andy Towle, and Ralph F. Alderson. Their contribution to the overall work was no less important than mine.
Metabolic Targets for Improvement of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Graft-vs.-Host Disease

Utilization of the adaptive immune system against malignancies, both by immune-based therapies to activate T cells in vivo to attack cancer and by T-cell therapies to transfer effector cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) to the cancer patient, represent major novel therapeutic advancements in oncologic therapy. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation (HSCT) is a form of cell-based therapy, which replaces the HSC in the patient's bone marrow but also serves as a T-cell therapy due to the Graft-vs.-leukemia (GVL) effect mediated by donor T cells transferred with the graft. Allogeneic HSCT provides one potentially curative option to patients with relapsed or refractory leukemia but Graft-vs.-Host-Disease (GVHD) is the main cause of non-relapse mortality and limits the therapeutic benefit of allogeneic HSCT. Metabolism is a common cellular feature and has a key role in the differentiation and function of T cells during the immune response. Naive T cells and memory T cells that mediate GVHD and GVL, respectively, utilize distinct metabolic programs to obtain their immunological and functional specification. Thus, metabolic targets that mediate immunosuppression might differentially affect the functional program of GVHD-mediating or GVL-mediating T cells. Components of the innate immune system that are indispensable for the activation of alloreactive T cells are also subjected to metabolism-dependent regulation. Metabolic alterations have also been implicated in the resistance to chemotherapy and survival of malignant cells such as leukemia and lymphoma, which are targeted by GVL-mediating T cells. Development of novel approaches to inhibit the activation of GVHD-specific naive T cell but maintain the function of GVL-specific memory T cells will have a major impact on the therapeutic benefit of HSCT. Here, we will highlight the importance of metabolism on the function of GVHD-inducing and GVL-inducing alloreactive T cells as well as on antigen presenting cells (APC), which are required for presentation of host antigens. We will also analyze the metabolic alterations involved in the leukemogenesis which could differentiate leukemia initiating cells from normal HSC, providing potential therapeutic opportunities. Finally, we will discuss the immuno-metabolic effects of key drugs that might be repurposed for metabolic management of GVHD without compromising GVL.
HACE1, RAC1, and what else in the pathogenesis of SPPRS?

Spastic paraplegia and psychomotor retardation with or without seizures (SPPRS) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with an autosomal recessive inheritance. SPPRS typically shows an infantile onset, starting with hypotonia either at birth or by age 3–4 months, followed by severely impaired global development and delayed early motor milestones.1 All patients with SPPRS develop slowly progressive bilateral lower limb spasticity, leaving them wheelchair bound and bed bound by their 20s. In some cases, patients may never walk. Most patients develop seizures in childhood and have a speech delay. Other variable features include ocular abnormalities, sensorineural hearing loss, skeletal abnormalities, obesity, and double incontinence. Some male patients have hypoplastic genitalia. Brain imaging may show generalized cerebral atrophy, ventricular dilatation, hypoplasia of the corpus callosum, and decreased white matter.1
Outcomes of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant in Older Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Co-Existing Myelofibrosis: A Single Center Experience and Review of the Literature

Abstract Background:Myelodysplastic syndrome with coexisting bone marrow fibrosis has a dismal prognosis when treated with conventional chemotherapy suggesting that marrow fibrotic grade may be an important prognostic factor. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has been utilized in young fit patients with this disorder. However outcomes in older patients are unknown. Design and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to assess the therapeutic efficacy of ASCT in 11 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome with a known co-existing high grade myelofibrosis (n=11) .Data were classified based on cytogenetic risk, conditioning regimen, donor source and cytoreduction pre-transplant. We evaluated rates of engraftment, graft versus host disease and overall survival. Results: Higher median age of 66 years, high cytogenetic risk class and high grade bone marrow fibrosis in our study population was not associated with inferior survival in a univariate analysis. There were no patients who developed graft failure. Cumulative incidence of engraftment achieved at day +30 based on chimersim was 72.7%. The 3 year overall survival was 100% when pre-transplant cytoreduction was used. There were no cases of disease relapse. Conclusions: Among patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and concomitant bone marrow fibrosis, advanced age, a higher grade of fibrosis or cytogenetic complexity did not adversely affect survival after ASCT.This treatment modality should therefore be considered in patients even with advanced age. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Entropic colloidal crystallization pathways via fluid-fluid transitions and multidimensional prenucleation motifs.

Complex crystallization pathways are common in protein crystallization, tetrahedrally coordinated systems, and biomineralization, where single or multiple precursors temporarily appear before the formation of the crystal. The emergence of precursors is often explained by a unique property of the system, such as short-range attraction, directional bonding, or ion association. But, structural characteristics of the prenucleation phases found in multistep crystallization remain unclear, and models are needed for testing and expanding the understanding of fluid-to-solid ordering pathways. Here, we report 3 instances of 2-step crystallization of hard-particle fluids. Crystallization in these systems proceeds via a high-density precursor fluid phase with prenucleation motifs in the form of clusters, fibers and layers, and networks, respectively. The density and diffusivity change across the fluid–fluid phase transition increases with motif dimension. We observe crystal nucleation to be catalyzed by the interface between the 2 fluid phases. The crystals that form are complex, including, notably, a crystal with 432 particles in the cubic unit cell. Our results establish the existence of complex crystallization pathways in entropic systems and reveal prenucleation motifs of various dimensions.
Implementation of a Competency-based Pressure Ulcer Curriculum for Medical Students: Outcomes from an Educational Intervention Study.

A paucity of research exists on medical student pressure ulcer education. PURPOSE This study examines medical student competency outcomes following implementation of a competency-based curriculum that included a pressure ulcer component in its educational intervention. METHODS Over a 5-year period, 645 medical students completed the curriculum, which included a preceptor-led didactic session, online study resources, clinical experiences, and a brief online competency assessment. The assessment involved knowledge of risk factors, wound staging/classification, and prevention and management strategies and included short answer and extended matching questions. A performance standard was set; students not achieving this standard underwent remediation and reassessment. The curriculum was implemented in 3 phases with quality improvement (QI) between each phase. The average competency assessment score and passing rates were determined for each phase. Mean scores for each phase were compared using an analysis of variance test. RESULTS Mean competency assessment scores increased significantly after each QI from 17.5 (range 11-23) to 18.3 (range 12-24) to 19.8 (range 12-25) in phases 1, 2 and 3, respectively [F(2,642) = 59.502, P <.001]; the performance standard was raised after both QI points. Overall, 8.7% of students underwent remediation and reassessment, but all achieved the performance standard on their second attempt. CONCLUSION Through a thoughtful QI process that involved carefully aligning all curricular elements (the instructional activities and the assessment), a focused and accountable curriculum was developed that ensured all medical students in the program would achieve a basic level of competency. Increasingly, accreditation agencies are asking medical schools to move toward competency-based curricula. This curriculum represents an important step in this direction.