cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Constitutive activation of kappa opioid receptors at ventral tegmental area inhibitory synapses following acute stress.

People who are recovering from drug addiction are more vulnerable to cravings and relapse when under stress. This ability of stress to boost drug relapse can also be shown in animals previously exposed to addictive drugs. Rats can learn to press a lever to administer themselves a dose of cocaine and, during withdrawal, rats previously exposed to the drug will press the lever more often if they are stressed. Indeed, just a few minutes of stress is enough to increase lever pressing for several days. Stress and addictive drugs both act on a region of the brain called the ventral tegmental area, or VTA, which is part of the brain’s reward system. Stress indirectly increases the activity of the VTA. It does so by activating a protein on the surface of VTA neurons called the kappa opioid receptor (κOR for short). Previous studies revealed that five minutes of stress increases the activity of κORs in the VTA of rats for five days. Conversely, blocking κORs stopped stressed rats from pressing the lever more often for cocaine. Together, these findings suggested that activating κORs in the VTA contributes to stress-induced drug relapse. Polter et al. have now discovered how stress activates κORs. It turns out that stressful or unpleasant experiences cause the brain to produce a protein called dynorphin, which binds to and activates the κORs. After a stressful event, the receptors are said to have become constitutively active, and blocking this constitutive activity prevents stress from inducing drug-seeking behavior. Polter et al. show that binding of dynorphin is needed to change the shape of the receptors so that they remain active even after dynorphin has detached, but it is likely that other molecules are also involved. This is the first study to show a link between stress, constitutive activation of κORs, and drug relapse. The next step is to work out why this process occurs on only some and not all occasions when the brain releases dynorphin, and why only certain κORs in the VTA respond in this way. Whether constitutive kOR activity drives stress-related craving in people with a history of drug abuse and how to halt these cravings also remain to be determined.
Scientific Epistemology in the Context of Uncertainty

Contemporary science confronts a huge wall: lack of data. Scientists desire to model large-scale systems that are both stochastic and nonlinear, for instance cell regulation; however, relative to the complexity of such systems there is a paucity of data that impedes our ability to both construct and validate models. With regard to large-scale systems and lack of data, this chapter has several aims: (1) discuss the relationship between scientific epistemology grounded in prediction and data insufficiency; (2) discuss the dichotomy between pure science, whose aim is to provide a mathematical representation of Nature, and translational science (engineering), whose aim is the pragmatic application of mathematical modeling to beneficially intervene in Nature, and the manner in which translational science mitigates the data requirement; (3) provide a detailed analysis of the effect of limited data as it applies to pattern recognition; and (4) provide a framework for translational science in the context of model uncertainty, including an epistemologically consequent concept of uncertainty quantification.
Understanding the 24-Hour City: Engagement, Positionality, and the Coproduction of Knowledge

This article explores the production of geographic knowledge arising through civic engagement, using the example of a research course in Pittsburgh's South Side Flats neighborhood. Although civic e...
Financial Reporting Fraud Schemes

The financial reporting fraud is still difficult to be detected because of a concealed and sophisticated nature of most fraud schemes, and a lack of effective fraud detection procedure. Fraud schemes have become more complex, sophisticated with the aid of advanced technology, and causes loss and damage to the financial community. A fraud scheme is the way (action) that fraudsters pursue to commit and conceal fraud through misrepresentation or omission of material facts (i.e. misrepresentation or omission of material amount, disclosure, or evidence in the financial reporting). Identifying fraud schemes is an important step for fraud detection. However, the identification of fraud schemes is still a challenging task because fraud schemes have become more complex and sophisticated with the aid of advanced technology and the concealment characteristic of fraud, which causes loss and damage to the financial community. The authoritative literature, SAS 99, 107, and International Standards on Auditing (ISA) 240, 315, and 330 require auditors to assess fraud risk factors (i.e. fraud schemes) and materiality in a client's financial statements. Then, auditors adjust their audit procedures (plan) to address identified fraud risk (schemes) in order to provide reasonable assurance whether the client's financial statements are free of material misstatements.
Effect of high carbon incorporation in Co substrates on the epitaxy of hexagonal boron nitride/graphene heterostructures

We carried out a systematic study of hexagonal boron nitride/graphene (h-BN/G) heterostructure growth by introducing high incorporation of a carbon (C) source on a heated cobalt (Co) foil substrate followed by boron and nitrogen sources in a molecular beam epitaxy system. With the increase of C incorporation in Co, three distinct regions of h-BN/G heterostructures were observed from region (1) where the C saturation was not attained at the growth temperature (900 °C) and G was grown only by precipitation during the cooling process to form a 'G network' underneath the h-BN film; to region (2) where the Co substrate was just saturated by C atoms at the growth temperature and a part of G growth occurs isothermally to form G islands and another part by precipitation, resulting in a non-uniform h-BN/G film; and to region (3) where a continuous layered G structure was formed at the growth temperature and precipitated C atoms added additional G layers to the system, leading to a uniform h-BN/G film. It is also found that in all three h-BN/G heterostructure growth regions, a 3 h h-BN growth at 900 °C led to h-BN film with a thickness of 1-2 nm, regardless of the underneath G layers' thickness or morphology. Growth time and growth temperature effects have been also studied.
Diagnosing Neonatal Encephalopathy as Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: Interpreting Test Results in Real Time

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), as a cause for neonatal encephalopathy, is a significant problem worldwide. Morbidity and mortality continue to be seen in association with asphyxial events before and during labor and during neonatal transition despite advances in neonatal care. Therapeutic hypothermia offers an opportunity to reduce those burdens. However, application of this therapy depends on the ability to accurately identify infants most likely to benefit. Having accurate diagnostic tests to identify such infants and being able to interpret these data quickly is crucial for the application of hypothermia. This review will discuss the major diagnostic modalities and their accuracies. This review also aims to provide a diagnostic path and method focused on probabilities and likelihoods.
When It Comes to Task Assignment, Sometimes You Gotta “LEGO”®: Teaching Delegation Principles With Mega Bloks®:

We describe an exercise for introducing undergraduate students to the practice of assigning tasks to followers and illustrating that proper task assignment is contingent on context. Students are as...
Financial burden in adult cancer survivors: Care affordability and accessibility.

6535Background: Cancer survivors represent a population that requires affordable and accessible long-term medical care, yet studies examining their financial burden and health care experience are l...
Decision Support for Civil Engineering Students: Analysis of Alumni Career Paths:

Undergraduate students in engineering face many important decisions in the final 2 years of their degree program. These decisions can have an impact on long-term career choices, such as specializat...
Evolving Realities: Ethical and Secure Computing in the New Technological Spaces

Artificial Intelligence discusses the new frontiers of ethics in the new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, virtualization and virtual reality, and cyberspace. The chapter explores how these new frontiers are affecting the traditional ethical and social values. Our discussion is on based on the premise that artificial intelligence technologies create possibilities to understand and extend human knowledge to create intelligent agents perhaps with a human value base, intended to help solve human problems. We further look at virtualization and virtual reality technologies and how they inform our behavior based on our traditional moral and ethical values through the mediation of interaction through with electronic media. Our discussion of the social and ethical implications and consequences of virtualization is centered on two issues. One is that the anticipated benefit to society of virtualization as it extends known and relatively managed humanity’s social spheres and social networks in an unprecedented way through opening up of virtual domains of social interactions. The second benefit of virtualization to society is to avail tools and make it possible for those in society who want to create new virtual social networks out of the old and dismantle old ones. Finally, we discuss a global mesh of interconnected computer networks, commonly referred to as cyberspace, which makes it possible for anyone using a point-of-entry device like a computer, smartphone, or any other Internet-enabled electronic device to reach anyone else, with the potential to access the mesh, through a one-on-one, one-to-many, and many-to-one communication capabilities or through broadcasting via the World Wide Web. Cyberspace, because of immerse and telepresence capabilities and global reach, creates a potentially dangerous environment where one can do anything with no elegance, no accountability, and no to limited.
HEMOSTASIS OUTCOMES OF TRANSPEDAL ARTERIAL ACCESS USING THE RADAR BAND

There is an increasing burden of Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the United States. Despite the advancements in endovascular therapy, there have been significant limitations in invasive interventions aimed at improving vascularity. The Tibiopedal arterial minimally invasive retrograde approach
StretchfMRI: a new technique to quantify the contribution of the reticular formation to long-latency responses via fMRI

Abstract Increased reticulospinal (RS) function has been observed to cause both positive and negative outcomes in the recovery of motor function after corticospinal lesions such as stroke. Current knowledge of RF function is limited by the lack of accurate, noninvasive methods for measuring RS function. Recent studies suggest that the RS tract may be involved in processing and generating Long Latency Responses (LLRs). LLRs, elicited by applying precisely controlled perturbations, can act as a reliable stimulus to measure LLR-related brainstem function using fMRI with high signal-to-noise ratio. In this paper, we present StretchfMRI, a new technique that enables simultaneous recording of neural and muscular activity during motor responses conditioned by velocity-controlled robotic perturbations, which allows for direct investigation of the neural correlates of LLRs using fMRI. Via preliminary validation experiments, we demonstrate that our technique can reliably elicit and identify LLRs in two wrist muscles–FCR and ECU. Moreover, via a single-subject pilot experiment, we show that the occurrence of an LLR in a flexor and extensor muscle modulates neural activity in distinct regions of the brainstem. The observed somatotopic organization is in agreement with the double reciprocal model of RS function observed in animal models, in which the right medullary and left pontine reticular formation are responsible for control of the motor activity in flexors and extensors, respectively.
Ecological feedbacks stabilize a turf-dominated ecosystem at the southern extent of kelp forests in the Northwest Atlantic

Temperate marine ecosystems globally are undergoing regime shifts from dominance by habitat-forming kelps to dominance by opportunistic algal turfs. While the environmental drivers of shifts to turf are generally well-documented, the feedback mechanisms that stabilize novel turf-dominated ecosystems remain poorly resolved. Here, we document a decline of kelp Saccharina latissima between 1980 and 2018 at sites at the southernmost extent of kelp forests in the Northwest Atlantic and their replacement by algal turf. We examined the drivers of a shift to turf and feedback mechanisms that stabilize turf reefs. Kelp replacement by turf was linked to a significant multi-decadal increase in sea temperature above an upper thermal threshold for kelp survival. In the turf-dominated ecosystem, 45% of S. latissima were attached to algal turf rather than rocky substrate due to preemption of space. Turf-attached kelp required significantly (2 to 4 times) less force to detach from the substrate, with an attendant pattern of lower survival following 2 major wave events as compared to rock-attached kelp. Turf-attached kelp allocated a significantly greater percentage of their biomass to the anchoring structure (holdfast), with a consequent energetic trade-off of slower growth. The results indicate a shift in community dominance from kelp to turf driven by thermal stress and stabilized by ecological feedbacks of lower survival and slower growth of kelp recruited to turf.
Recent progress of metals supported catalysts for hydrodeoxygenation of biomass derived pyrolysis oil

Abstract The production of alternative fuels is more than essential to the energy and transportation sectors. Biomass based oil generation through a pyrolysis process is one of the attempts to develop a sustainable way for energy production. One of the main concerns of pyrolysis oil is the undesired properties such as high oxygen level, acidic, viscosity and low heating value. The corrosiveness of pyrolysis oil is a threat to the existing transportation infrastructure and modern engines. For the past decade, research studies have been conducted to develop catalysts that can increase the pyrolysis oil quality through hydro-deoxygenation. From monofunctional, bifunctional with noble metals and non-noble metals to bimetallic catalysts (two metals and a support), hydro-deoxygenation has rapidly evolved in term of catalysts. This review paper studied and analyzed the progress of metals supported catalysts for hydro-deoxygenation of pyrolysis oil and its model compounds. Ru, Pt and Pd supported catalysts performed best among the noble metals supported catalysts. However, noble metals supported catalysts are expensive. Non noble metal such as Ni’s performance was comparable to Pt supported catalysts. Recently developed bimetallic catalysts were aimed to improve performance of hydrodeoxygenation at low cost. Nickel and Cobalt were widely used non-noble metals for bimetallic catalysts.
Probing Semiconductor Properties with Optical Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Summary Studying nanoscale photophysical processes is mandatory to fully understand the complex optoelectronic properties in semiconductor materials used in photovoltaics and light emitting diodes. In this perspective, we target specific scanning probe techniques, which combine scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) with optical methods to unravel the localized optoelectronic properties of semiconductors under realistic electric and optical fields, down to the nanoscale. Combining optical spectroscopy with STM yields a powerful platform that allows for simultaneous imaging of the surface morphology and the electronic structure down to the atomic level, a resolution that is otherwise not accessible due to the optical diffraction limit. Incident wavelengths spanning the electromagnetic spectrum from the terahertz region to X-rays have been coupled into the STM tip-sample junction to investigate the nanoscale properties of semiconductor materials, whereas the reverse process of luminescence can give insight on local recombination processes. Imagine the potential of a tool capable of detecting both localized absorption and spontaneous and stimulated emission processes of semiconductor materials at the nanoscale. The role of every atom, defect, or electronic interaction could be disentangled, tailored, or harnessed to its maximum capacity.
Investigating asthma heterogeneity through shared and distinct genetics: Insights from genome-wide cross-trait analysis.

Asthma is a heterogeneous respiratory disease reflecting distinct pathobiologic mechanisms. These mechanisms are based, at least partly, on different genetic factors shared by many other conditions, such as allergic diseases and obesity. Investigating the shared genetic effects enables better understanding of the mechanisms of phenotypic correlations and is less subject to confounding by environmental factors. The increasing availability of large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) for asthma has enabled researchers to examine the genetic contributions to the epidemiologic associations between asthma subtypes and those between coexisting diseases and/or traits and asthma. Studies have found not only shared but also distinct genetic components between asthma subtypes, indicating that the heterogeneity is related to distinct genetics. This review summarizes a recently compiled analytic approach—genome-wide cross-trait analysis—to determine shared and distinct genetic architecture. The genome-wide cross-trait analysis features in several analytic aspects: genetic correlation, cross-trait meta-analysis, Mendelian randomization, polygenic risk score, and functional analysis. In this article, we discuss in detail the scientific goals that can be achieved by these analyses, their advantages, and their limitations. We also make recommendations for future directions: (1) ethnicity-specific asthma GWASs and (2) application of cross-trait methods to multiomics data to dissect the heritability found in GWASs. Finally, these analytic approaches are also applicable to complex and heterogeneous traits beyond asthma.
Recasting Loyalty Dilemmas: Theoretical and Empirical Insights from Social Contexts

Loyalty is highly valued in organizations and business relations, and recent research has shown how loyalty can benefit both organizations and individuals. But there is a “dark side” to loyalty tha...
Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions for Children with Autism

Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs) blend behavioral and developmental strategies and use a naturalistic format to address the learning needs of children with ASD. In this chapter we will describe features that are common across NDBI approaches as well as differences and areas of overlap between NDBIs and the standard ABA approaches described in Chap. 5. Subsequently, we will review the principles, strategies, and empirical support for the different ASD early intervention models that fall under the NDBI umbrella.
Hepatobiliary phase enhancement of liver metastases on gadoxetic acid MRI: assessment of frequency and patterns.

To assess for and characterize patterns of hepatobiliary phase (HBP) enhancement in hepatic metastases of various malignancies on gadoxetic acid–enhanced MRI. Eighty gadoxetic acid–enhanced MRI studies performed between July 2012 and November 2019 in patients with hepatic metastases from 13 different primary malignancies were assessed. Most (n = 60) were from colorectal cancer (CRC), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), or neuroendocrine tumor (NET) primaries. Two radiologists quantitatively evaluated the dominant lesion on each MRI. A lesion was considered enhancing when HBP enhancement relative to muscle exceeded 20%. Lesions were classified by pattern of enhancement. Quantitative enhancement metrics and patterns of enhancement were compared between CRC, PDAC, and NET using non-parametric statistical tests. Most dominant metastatic lesions > 1 cm (77%, 54/70) demonstrated HBP enhancement. HBP enhancement was identified in hepatic metastases from 10 different primary malignancies, including CRC, PDAC, and NET. PDAC metastases demonstrated a lower degree of HBP enhancement (26%) than CRC (44%, padj = 0.04) and NET (51%, padj = 0.01) metastases. Three discrete enhancement patterns were identified: peripheral, central (target), and diffuse heterogeneous. Patterns of HBP enhancement varied between CRC, PDAC, and NET, with secondary analysis demonstrating that PDAC had the highest proportion of peripheral pattern (73%, padj < 0.001), CRC the highest proportion of diffuse heterogeneous pattern (32%, padj < 0.01), and NET the highest proportion of central pattern (89%, padj < 0.001). Liver metastases from several primary malignancies, including PDAC, demonstrate mild HBP enhancement in variable patterns. Correlation with OATP1B3 expression and prognosis is required. • Hepatobiliary phase (HBP) enhancement was identified in 77% of hepatic metastases in several different primary malignancies. • Discrete patterns of HBP enhancement exist (peripheral, central, diffuse heterogeneous) and varied between CRC, PDAC, and NET. CRC and PDAC metastases demonstrated mostly non-central patterns (diffuse and peripheral), and NET mostly a central pattern. • Relationship between HBP enhancement, enhancement pattern, OATP1B3 expression, and prognosis requires further dedicated exploration for each malignancy.
Health Promotion Programs and Policies in the Workplace: An Exploratory Study With Alaska Businesses.

Introduction We examined health insurance benefits, workplace policies, and health promotion programs in small to midsize businesses in Alaska whose workforces were at least 20% Alaska Native. Participating businesses were enrolled in a randomized trial to improve health promotion efforts. Methods Twenty-six Alaska businesses completed from January 2009 through October 2010 a 30-item survey on health benefits, policies, and programs in the workplace. We generated frequency statistics to describe overall insurance coverage, and to detail insurance coverage, company policies, and workplace programs in 3 domains: tobacco use, physical activity and nutrition, and disease screening and management. Results Businesses varied in the number of employees (mean, 250; median, 121; range, 41-1,200). Most businesses offered at least partial health insurance for full-time employees and their dependents. Businesses completely banned tobacco in the workplace, and insurance coverage for tobacco cessation was limited. Eighteen had onsite food vendors, yet fewer than 6 businesses offered healthy food options, and even fewer offered them at competitive prices. Cancer screening and treatment were the health benefits most commonly covered by insurance. Conclusion Although insurance coverage and workplace policies for chronic disease screening and management were widely available, significant opportunities remain for Alaska businesses to collaborate with federal, state, and community organizations on health promotion efforts to reduce the risk of chronic illness among their employees.
Percutaneous Needle Fasciotomy versus Collagenase Injection for Dupuytren's Contracture: A Systematic Review of Comparative Studies.

Introduction The purpose of this study was to review and compare clinical outcomes between percutaneous needle fasciotomy (PNF) and collagenase Clostridium histolyticum (CCH) injection for the treatment of Dupuytren's contracture. Materials and Methods A systematic review was performed including all level I-III evidence studies investigating the clinical outcomes of PNF and CCH injection in the treatment of Dupuytren's contracture. Results Five studies (278 CCH patients, 225 PNF patients; 285 CCH fingers, 246 PNF fingers, 405 males, and 98 females) were analyzed. Two randomized studies were level I evidence, one randomized study was level II, and two nonrandomized studies were level III. Two studies analyzed a total of 205 patients, each demonstrating statistically superior outcomes in one outcome measure (contracture improvement and Michigan Hand Questionnaire (MHQ) satisfaction subscore) with PNF, while the remaining three studies demonstrated no significant differences in outcomes between the two techniques. Three studies reported a statistically higher rate of minor complications (local pain, edema, ecchymosis, lymphadenopathy, pruritis) with CCH, while the remaining two studies demonstrated no significant difference in complication rates. Conclusion For the treatment of Dupuytren's contracture, there is some evidence that suggests superior clinical outcomes of PNF compared with CCH and a higher minor complication rate with CCH.
Liberal Citizenship and the Search for an Overlapping Consensus: The Case of Muslim Minorities

In this article I seek to establish what political liberalism demands of Muslim citizens living as minorities in liberal states by way of a doctrinal affirmation of citizenship. This is an inquiry of a special nature. My interests are not directly in what policies a liberal state should have, nor in what practices on the part of citizens are compatible with justice and equality, but rather in what views emerging from a comprehensive doctrine are reasonable responses to the liberal terms of social cooperation. My aim is to establish with as much precision as possible when it can be said that there is a consensus on the terms of social cooperation in a liberal society and thus that the comprehensive doctrine in question is providing its adherents with moral reasons for endorsing those terms. Thus, this is an inquiry into liberal political theory, but one inspired by the special concerns, misgivings and anxieties of a particular comprehensive doctrine.
Sense-and-respond payload delivery using a novel antigen-inducible promoter improves suboptimal CAR-T activation

ABSTRACT Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies demonstrate the clinical potential of lymphocytes engineered with synthetic properties. However, CAR-T cells are ineffective in most solid tumors, partly due to inadequate activation of the infused lymphocytes at the site of malignancy. To selectively enhance anti-tumor efficacy without exacerbating off-target toxicities, CAR-T cells can be engineered to preferentially deliver immunostimulatory payloads in tumors. Here, we report a novel antigen-inducible promoter and single-vector sense-and-respond circuit for conditional payload expression in primary human T cells. In therapeutic T cell models, the novel NR4A-based promoter induced higher transgene expression than the conventional NFAT-based promoter under weakly immunogenic conditions, where payload expression is most needed. Minimal activity was detected from the inducible promoters in the absence of antigen and after withdrawal of stimulation. As a functional proof-of-concept, we used the NR4A-based promoter to express cytokines in an anti-mesothelin CAR-T model with suboptimal stimulation, and observed improved proliferation compared to T cells engineered with the conventional NFAT promoter or CAR alone. Our single-vector circuit achieves CAR-directed payload expression under weakly immunogenic conditions and could enable the next generation of cell therapies with enhanced anti-tumor efficacy.
“If I’m shinin’, everybody gonna shine”: centering Black fat women and femmes within body and fat positivity

In this article, we negotiate the tension of Lizzo’s embodiment and the work she is forced to perform to appease and mollify both thin and non-Black audiences. As a Black fat rapper, singer, dancer...
Recent advances in understanding microbial regulation of host multi-drug resistance transporters

Multi-drug resistance transporters are highly conserved proteins present in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms. They are responsible for controlling physiologic efflux of toxins or xenobiotics from the cell as a form of protection which may also render the cells resistant to therapeutics. However, researchers have recently identified endogenous substrates of these transporters that modulate inflammation in addition to overall cell and organ function. While changes in the expression of these transporters have been implicated in some human diseases, it is becoming appreciated that such expression can also be regulated by microbes in both settings of health and during infection. Bacteria and viruses can be pathogenic or live in a symbiotic relationship as in commensal microbiota. Our objective is to highlight recent examples of microbial regulation of multi-drug resistance transporters in the mammalian host from the perspective of how this co-evolving relationship can negatively as well as positively impact the host.
The Shelf Project: 82 Fair and Efficient Suggestions to Raise $3.5 Trillion

This is summary of 82 proposals to raise revenue in ways that improve the fairness and efficiency of the income tax by defending the tax base, with digital links to the supporting articles. Most come from the Shelf Project which is a collaboration to think out the justifications and details of the proposals. Most have been published by Tax Notes as Shelf Projects although the summary supplements with proposals from other sources.
Library and Informatics Training May Improve Question Formulation among Public Health Practitioners

A review of: Eldredge, Jonathan D., et al. “The Effect of Training on Question Formulation among Public Health Practitioners: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of the Medical Library Association 96.4 (2008): 299-309. 28 Aug 2009 . Objectives – To determine whether providing library and informatics training to public health professionals would increase the number and sophistication of work-related questions asked by these workers. Design – Randomised controlled trial. Setting – New Mexico Department of Health. Subjects – Public health professionals from a variety of professions, including administrators, nursing professionals, nutritionists, epidemiologists, physicians, social workers, and others. Methods – All subjects received a three-hour training session on finding evidence-based public health information, with a focus on using PubMed. Two sessions were offered, two weeks apart. Participants were randomised to either an intervention group, which received instruction on the first date, or a control group, which received instruction on the second date. The intervening two weeks constitute the study period, in which both groups were surveyed by e-mail about their work-related question generation. Three times per week, subjects received e-mail reminders asking them to submit survey responses regarding all questions that had arisen in their practice, along with information about their attempts to answer them. Questions were tallied, and totals were compared between the two groups. Questions were also analysed for level of sophistication, and classified by the investigators as “background” questions, which are asked when one has little knowledge of the field, and can usually be answered using textbooks or other reference sources; and “foreground” questions, which are often asked when an individual is familiar with the subject, and looking for more sophisticated information that is usually found in journals and similar sources. This scheme for classifying questions was developed by Richardson and Mulrow (2001). Main Results The investigators found differences in both the number and sophistication of the questions asked between the control and intervention groups. The control group averaged only 0.69 questions per participant during the two-week observation period, while the intervention group averaged 1.24 questions. Investigators also found that a higher percentage of the questions asked by the intervention group were foreground questions (50.0%, versus 42.9%) for the control group. However, when two-tailed t-test analysis was performed on both the frequency of questions and the level of sophistication, the findings were no statistically significant within a 95% confidence interval. Conclusion This study suggests that library and informatics training for public health professionals may increase the number of questions that they ask on work-related topics, and also the sophistication of these questions. However, more studies need to be done to confirm these findings.
‘A Measure of Democracy’: Works Committees, Black Workers, and Industrial Citizenship in South Africa, 1973–1979

AbstractBy the early 1970s the permanent, urbanised African working class in manufacturing had reached a critical mass. Frustrated by poor wages, pressed by an inflationary economy, and barred from state-sanctioned trade unions, African workers engaged in a series of explosive, spontaneous, strikes in Natal in 1973. Faced with this shop-floor turmoil, the South African business class recognized a looming crisis in the labour field, bemoaning a shortage of skilled labour, poor productivity, and a lack of mechanisms for negotiating with an increasingly restive African working class. Nevertheless, they did not want to accept fully recognised trade unions for Africans. Instead, in response to the strike wave, employers and the state expanded the existing system of works and liaison committees, which pretended to give official voice to African workers’ shop-floor grievances while refusing them the right to state-sanctioned unionisation and collective bargaining mechanisms. South African nationalist historiogra...
Analysis of the human intestinal carboxylesterase and development of specific inhibitors to ameliorate the delayed diarrhea associated with CPT-ll administration.

5526 Carboxylesterases (CE) are members of the esterase class of enzymes and are involved in the metabolism of a broad range of xenobiotic substrates, including activation of the potent anticancer prodrug CPT-11. However, the high level expression of an intestinal CE in the gut appears to be partially responsible for the dose limiting toxicity (delayed diarrhea) for this drug. Therefore the development of specific inhibitors of this enzyme that prevent CPT-11 to SN-38 conversion in the intestine may serve to reduce the toxicity associated with CPT-11. The work reported here describes the purification, kinetic analysis, and biochemical characterization of a human intestinal CE (hiCE). This includes the analysis of the metabolism of clinically relevant substrates including CPT-11, heroin, and cocaine, as well as the development of specific hiCE inhibitors. Media containing secreted hiCE was obtained from baculovirus-infected Sf21 cells and the enzyme purified by ultrafiltration followed by ion-exchange and size exclusion chromatography. The resulting hiCE was determined to be greater than 98% pure by SDS-PAGE. We have determined the kinetic parameters for CPT-11 with the recombinant protein and they are in agreement with the enzyme purified from human liver. In addition, this CE converts cocaine to its inactive metabolite methylecgonine and heroin to 6-monoacetylmorphine. Selective inhibition of hiCE has also been achieved using a variety of dione-based inhibitors and we have demonstrated that these compounds can inhibit CEs intracellularly. Since we have hypothesized that the delayed diarrhea that occurs following CPT-11 administration results from activation of the drug in the gut epithelium, potentially these inhibitors may be utilized in the amelioration of this dose limiting toxicity. This work was supported in part by the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities.
Elastic properties of magnesium silicide

The adiabatic elastic constants of magnesium silicide have been determined from 80 to 300 °K. The longitudinal and transverse sound velocities were measured in the [llO] and (ill] crystallographic directions by a resonance technique. Values for the three elastic constants at 300 °K are: Ĉ = (12.06 ± 0.17) x 1011 d/cm2, Ĉ = (2.22 ± 0.l8) x 1011 d/cm2, C44 = (4.64 ± 0.05) x 1011 d/cm2. The frequencies of the lattice vibrations have been calculated along the three principal symmetry directions from the elastic constants and the reststrahl frequency, and an approximate frequency distribution was obtained. The lattice specific heat was calculated at several temperatures from this distribution. From the elastic constants, a value of 578 °K was obtained for the Debye temperature at absolute zero. The Debye approximation is not valid above 10 °K.
Loss, Melancholy and Reverie

Technology damages our sense of how to read and study as scholars. This loss (of knowing how to read and study) makes for melancholy. Melancholy is brought on as a result of not being able to find spaces of reverie in which to read and study. We need spaces of reverie in which to read and study. We need spaces of reverie so as to delve deeply into our studies and to produce and generate knowledge.
Subdiffusion reflectance spectroscopy to measure tissue ultrastructure and microvasculature: model and inverse algorithm

Reflectance measurements acquired from within the subdiffusion regime (i.e., lengthscales smaller than a transport mean free path) retain much of the original information about the shape of the scattering phase function. Given this sensitivity, many models of subdiffusion regime light propagation have focused on parametrizing the optical signal through various optical and empirical parameters. We argue, however, that a more useful and universal way to characterize such measurements is to focus instead on the fundamental physical properties, which give rise to the optical signal. This work presents the methodologies that used to model and extract tissue ultrastructural and microvascular properties from spatially resolved subdiffusion reflectance spectroscopy measurements. We demonstrate this approach using ex-vivo rat tissue samples measured by enhanced backscattering spectroscopy.
Identification of a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II regulatory phosphorylation site in non-N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors.

Abstract Glutamate receptor ion channels are colocalized in postsynaptic densities with Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM-kinase II), which can phosphorylate and strongly enhance non-N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor current. In this study, CaM-kinase II enhanced kainate currents of expressed glutamate receptor 6 in 293 cells and of wild-type glutamate receptor 1, but not the Ser-627 to Ala mutant, in Xenopus oocytes. A synthetic peptide corresponding to residues 620-638 in GluR1 was phosphorylated in vitro by CaM-kinase II but not by cAMP-dependent protein kinase or protein kinase C. The 32P-labeled peptide map of this synthetic peptide appears to be the same as the two-dimensional peptide map of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA) glutamate receptors phosphorylated in cultured hippocampal neurons by CaM-kinase II described elsewhere. This CaM-kinase II regulatory phosphorylation site is conserved in all AMPA/kainate-type glutamate receptors, and its phosphorylation may be important in enhancing postsynaptic responsiveness as occurs during synaptic plasticity.
Book review: Neural Networks for Knowledge Representation and Inference by D. S. Levine and M. Aparicio (eds.) (Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., 1994)

This book is the second of a series of books based on conferences sponsored by the Metroplex Institute for Neural Dynamics (MIND), an interdisciplinary conference of Dallas-Fort Worth area neural network professionals in both academia and industry. This book is based on the October 1990 conference - it's too bad that it took four years to reach publication.
Excitonic instability and termination of fractional quantum Hall effect

A shortcoming of the theoretical descriptions of the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) has been that they do not tell us when FQHE will not occur. In particular, they do not produce any instabilities at small filling factors, where the actual ground state is not a FQHE liquid but a Wigner solid. We show in this paper that building excitations in terms of composite fermions, a neutral excitation of the Laughlin state at 1/9 has lower energy than the Laughlin state itself, indicating an absence of FQHE at \ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\leqslant}1/9.
Scedosporium prolificans Osteomyelitis in an Immunocompetent Child Treated with Voriconazole and Caspofungin, as Well as Locally Applied Polyhexamethylene Biguanide

Scedosporium species are increasingly isolated from immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. Unfortunately, Scedosporium infections are generally resistant to amphotericin B, and Scedosporium prolificans strains are particularly resistant to the antifungal agents now in use. We report here on an immunocompetent child with S. prolificans-associated osteomyelitis successfully treated with debridement, local irrigation with polyhexamethylene biguanide, and the systemic administration of voriconazole and caspofungin despite poor in vitro activity of voriconazole alone against the isolate. We also review the treatments and outcomes of 28 reported cases of osteomyelitis or septic arthritis caused by Scedosporium species in immunocompetent patients.
Selection and Science: Critical notice of David Hull's Science as a Process

An examination of Hull's claims about the nature of interactors, replicators and selection, with special attention to how the genetic material realizes the first two types, and a critique of Hull's attempt to apply the theory of natural selection to the explanation of scientific change, and in particular the succession of theories. I conclude that difficulties attending the molecular instantiation of Hull's theory are vastly increased when it comes to be applied to “memes.”
Adaptive selling in a call center environment: A qualitative investigation

Abstract Technological changes and innovations have created the means by which organizations can centralize the selling function into a call-center environment. While there are numerous benefits to this centralization, the fact that potential customers are drawn to a call center via telephone or Web-based communication media from a wide geographic area heightens the need for sales representatives to perform adaptive-selling behaviors. In this study we found evidence to confirm this belief, suggesting that a premium is placed on sales representatives who can accurately assess each situation using limited information (e.g., through tone of voice) and then to correctly adapt their behavior to fit the situation. The results also offer implications for Web-based call centers that link sales representatives with potential customers through text-based communication.
ERP adoption in Indian organizations

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate various functions and processes in organizations. ERP software is developed in the form of different modules, each of which helps to perform distinct functions within the company. The modules interface with the same database and are integrated so that workflows can be designed across different modules. The software helps standardize business processes and ensures organization-wide availability of transaction data. ERP software evolved from earlier manufacturing resource planning (MRP) systems, which included inventory management, procurement and production planning functions. The implementation of ERP software started in the early 1990s and during the late 1990s, the growth rate of the ERP market was between 30 to 40%. As of 2001, 30,000 companies around the world had implemented ERP and the total value of the ERP market was at $25 billion. There is not much literature relating to ERP implementation and adoption in companies in Asia and other parts of the developing world. These organizations face issues that are significantly different from those faced by organizations in the developed world, because of differences in the sophistication of IT use, and in the cultural and social contexts. In this article, we describe some experiences that companies in India have gone through in implementing ERP systems. We present a framework for analyzing the critical factors and issues that influence the ERP adoption process, and highlight the areas of opportunity and risk. The framework is sufficiently general so as to be extended to other developing countries.
A comprehensive erosive-burning model for double-base propellants in strong turbulent shear flow

Abstract A comprehensive aerothermochemical model of erosive burning of double-base propellants has been developed. The present analysis includes detailed modeling of the combustion process, taking into account both chemical kinetics and diffusion effects in the gas phase. Different reactions simulating the fizz zone and the final flame zone (including dark and luminous zones) are considered in the gas phase. The instantaneous governing partial differential equations are Favre averaged to take into account variable density effects. The turbulence modeling consists of a two-equation ( k -ϵ) turbulence closure model for the final Favre-averaged conservation equations. The set of governing equations is solved numerically. Predicted results compare well with experimental data of Burick and Osborn for a noncatalytic double-base propellant. Predicted temperature profiles in the boundary layer correctly depict the characteristics of double-base propellant combustion. The main mechanisms for augmentation of the burning rate is the increase in heat feedback caused by turbulence-enhanced reactions and transport properties in the fizz zone.
Islamic higher education and social cohesion in Indonesia

This study explores the role of public Islamic higher education in promoting better relations between various religious communities in post-authoritarian Indonesia. Based on field research conducted between December 2005 and March 2006, it documents how progressive Islamic education leaders have advanced a tradition of critical intellectualism in efforts toward the “renewal” of Islamic thought. This report provides an analysis of how this tradition has served as a foundation for educators seeking to promote democratization and address issues of social cohesion. It examines some of the core values expressed by educational leaders as they have aspired to transform the most prominent State Institutes for Islamic Studies (IAIN) into genuine universities. The study also highlights the conservative backlash against public Islamic higher education and other purveyors of progressive ideas within Indonesian society.
Claiming Lincoln: Progressivism, Equality, and the Battle for Lincoln's Legacy in Presidential Rhetoric – By Jason R. Jividen

What do presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Barack Obama, and key advisors to these presidents, such as Herbert Croley and John Dewey, have in c...
Application of the luciferase recombinant cell culture bioassay system for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

An aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor-based luciferase cell culture bioassay developed to detect 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and other halogenated aromatics was modified and optimized to detect and quantitate polycyclic aromatics (PAHs). Twenty-four PAHs were analyzed, and subsequent EC50 and EC20 concentrations (based on the median and 20% TCDD maximal response, respectively) and appropriate induction equivalency factors (calculated by comparison to the response obtained with TCDD) were determined from dose-response experiments. Six compounds were shown to be active in the system, with benzo[k]fluoranthene > benz[a,h]anthracene indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene > benzo[a]pyrene > benzo[b]fluoranthene > chrysene. A complex mixture of 16 PAHs was also analyzed using this system, and overall induction equivalency (or 1-EQ) of the mixture was shown to be very similar to that predicted from the sum of the activity estimated for each individual PAH. Overall, our results strongly support the use of this system for the detection and relative quantitation of Ah receptor-active PAHs.