cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Shoulder problems of adolescents. How they differ from those of adults.

The open epiphyseal growth plate in the adolescent athlete results in shoulder problems that differ from those of the adult. Most injuries can be treated conservatively with full return to function. Glenohumeral dislocation is an exception, as it will probably recur and need surgical repair.
Configuring Geographically Distributed Videotex Databases: Model and Solution Procedure

Videotex refers to computer-based interactive systems that are capable of electronically delivering screen text, numbers and graphics via telephone or two-way cable for display on television sets or video monitors. This technology allows computer-naive users to easily access general interest or highly specialized information stored in on-line databases in the amount and sequence (s)he desires. Over the past decade, there has been considerable interest in videotex systems, and a number of them have already been implemented in different countries. With the proposed implementation of Integrated Services Digital Networks, the interest in videotex systems is expected to grow even further. This paper provides a brief overview of commercial videotex systems in various countries, and discusses possible organizational usage of these systems. In addition, we formulate a 0/1 integer programming model for allocating videotex files in a geographically distributed videotex system. A Lagrangian relaxation based solution procedure is developed for solving the videotex file allocation problem. Results of extensive numerical experiments performed using the proposed heuristic solution procedure are reported.
Perspective from the Alzheimer's Association: Neuroimaging Professional Interest Area of ISTAART continues impact on the field.

More than 5 million Americans [1] and 35 million people worldwide are estimated to be living with Alzheimer's disease (AD) today, with the prevalence expected to quadruple by 2050 as the world's population ages [2]. Although Dr. Alois Alzheimer first described AD more than a century ago [3], [4], advances in therapy development have remained elusive. Today's current therapies provide symptomatic relief, and there is no evidence that they stop or slow the progression of the underlying disease process. The search for disease-modifying therapies has been hampered by a lack of knowledge about the course of the disease process. Data from clinical, imaging, biomarker, genomic, and other omic studies combined with electronic health records, payer claims, and new technologies that track real-time data should inform a better understanding of the earliest neuropathological and behavioral events that herald the oncoming disease.
Modulation of the Host Immune Response by Respiratory Syncytial Virus Proteins

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes severe respiratory disease in both the very young and the elderly. Nearly all individuals become infected in early childhood, and reinfections with the virus are common throughout life. Despite its clinical impact, there remains no licensed RSV vaccine. RSV infection in the respiratory tract induces an inflammatory response by the host to facilitate efficient clearance of the virus. However, the host immune response also contributes to the respiratory disease observed following an RSV infection. RSV has evolved several mechanisms to evade the host immune response and promote virus replication through interactions between RSV proteins and immune components. In contrast, some RSV proteins also play critical roles in activating, rather than suppressing, host immunity. In this review, we discuss the interactions between individual RSV proteins and host factors that modulate the immune response and the implications of these interactions for the course of an RSV infection.
The ethics of genetic testing in psychiatry.

A discussion of ethics concerns in psychiatric genetics focusing on predictive genetic testing, psychosocial consequences for patients, effects on family and communities, and the ethics of some emerging technologies.
Profiling, isolation and structure elucidation of specialized acylsucrose metabolites accumulating in trichomes of Petunia species

Acylsugar specialized metabolites function as defenses against insect herbivores, and are the most abundant specialized metabolites produced in Solanaceous trichomes. Metabolite profiling provides the foundation for determining the genetic basis of specialized metabolism and its evolution. To profile and identify acylsugar specialized metabolites in three Petunia species: P. axillaris, P. integrifolia and P. exserta. Metabolites were profiled using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC/TOF MS). Metabolites were purified using solid phase extraction and HPLC, and structures were established using NMR spectroscopy. Twenty-eight distinct acylsucrose formulas, representing a sampling of more than 100 different detected chemical forms, were purified from three Petunia species and structures have been proposed based on one- and two-dimensional NMR data. 15 of the 28 purified acylsugars were sucrose pentaesters that possess a malonyl group on the fructose ring. These malonate esters can be readily distinguished from other acylsugars based on distinct masses of pseudomolecular ions and fragment ions generated using multiplexed collision-induced dissociation. Chemical diversity of acylsugars was observed between Petunia species, particularly with respect to the lengths of acyl chains and specific acylation positions. These findings suggest substrate selectivity of various acyltransferases in Petunia species.
Flexible estimation of risk metric using copula model for the joint severity-frequency loss framework

Predictive analytics and data fusion techniques are being regularly used for analysis in Quantitative Risk Management (QRM). The primary risk metric of interest, Value-at-Risk (VaR), has always been difficult to robustly estimate for different data types. The classical Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) approach (denoted henceforth as classical approach) assumes the independence of loss severity and loss frequency. In practice, this assumption may not always hold. To overcome this limitation and more robustly estimate the corresponding VaR, we propose a new approach known as Copula-based Parametric Modeling of Frequency and Severity (CPFS). The proposed approach is verified via large-scale MCS experiments and validated on three publicly available datasets. We compare CPFS with the classical approach and a Data-driven Partitioning of Frequency and Severity (DPFS) approach for robust VaR estimation. We observe that the classical approach estimates VaR poorly while both the DPFS and the CPFS methodologies attain VaR estimates for real-world data. These studies provide real-world evidence that the CPFS and DPFS methodologies have merits for its use to accurately estimate VaR.
Crafts and Creative Media in Therapy (2017)

Crafts and Creative Media in Therapy is a book that discusses the role and use of crafts in occupational therapy. The book is true to its purpose, providing a history to crafts, describing its use ...
Factors influencing fertility-sparing treatment for gynecologic malignancies: A survey of Society of Gynecologic Oncology members.

Abstract Objectives This study aims to examine practice patterns of gynecologic oncologists (GO) regarding fertility-sparing treatments (FST) for gynecology malignancies and explores attitudes toward collaboration with reproductive endocrinologists (RE). Methods An anonymous 23-question survey was sent to 1087 GO with a 14.0% completion rate. Descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact test, and Chi-square tests were used for data analysis. Results The majority of GOs offer FST for gynecologic malignancies. Providers seeing larger numbers of reproductive age women were more likely to consider cancer prognosis ( p p p p p p Conclusions While FST offers women the chance to pursue pregnancy after cancer, there are minimal data on factors that influence whether FST is offered and if collaboration with a RE is sought in the management of these patients. The number of reproductive age women seen, geographic location, and practice setting are important variables that may influence current practice. Understanding these factors can help identify opportunities to improve oncologic and reproductive outcomes of this patient population.
Driver Workload Management During Cell Phone Conversations Chip Wood

This study tested if intelligently suspending cell phone conversationsduring demanding driving situations would improve driver’s performance andlessen subjective workload. Using a simulator, drivers followed a lead carapproximately 2 secs ahead and braking randomly. The drivers engaged inspontaneous “Neutral,” “Intense,” or “No” cell phone conversations with theexperimenter, who sustained all conversations with scripted non-directiveutterances. When the lead car started to decelerate, the conversations weresuspended or not for the duration of the event. Objective driving performance andsubjective “workload” estimates showed significant differences betweenconversation topic types. Engaging in an “Intense” conversation duringdeceleration produced (1) smaller decreases in forward velocity, and (2) delays inreleasing the accelerator, applying the brake and decelerating. Suspending“Intense” conversations counteracted these effects, producing larger decreases inforward velocity, and speeding up drivers’ responses on the vehicle controls.Furthermore, suspending conversations clearly increased drivers’ headways andtemporal distances with the lead car. The results show that cell phoneconversation intensity has significant effects on both performance and workload.The results also show positive effects of suspending cell phone conversationsduring critical driving situations on driver performance, thus perhapscounteracting the negative effects of the workload imposed by the conversations.Subjective ratings and value judgments for this system indicate generally positiveassessments of the system.
Glutathione limits aquacopper(I) to sub-femtomolar concentrations through cooperative assembly of a tetranuclear cluster

The tripeptide glutathione (GSH) is a crucial intracellular reductant and radical scavenger, but it may also coordinate the soft Cu(I) cation and thereby yield pro-oxidant species. The GSH-Cu(I) interaction is thus a key consideration for both redox and copper homeostasis in cells. However, even after nearly four decades of investigation, the nature and stability of the GSH-Cu(I) complexes formed under biologically relevant conditions remain controversial. Here, we revealed the unexpected predominance of a tetranuclear [Cu4(GS)6] cluster that is sufficiently stable to limit the effective free aquacopper(I) concentration to the sub-femtomolar regime. Combined spectrophotometric–potentiometric titrations at biologically realistic GSH/Cu(I) ratios, enabled by our recently developed Cu(I) affinity standards and corroborated by low-temperature phosphorescence studies, established cooperative assembly of [Cu4(GS)6] as the dominant species over a wide pH range, from 5.5 to 7.5. Our robust model for the glutathione-Cu(I) equilibrium system sets a firm upper limit on the thermodynamic availability of intracellular copper that is 3 orders of magnitude lower than previously estimated. Taking into account their ability to catalyze the production of deleterious superoxide, the formation of Cu(I)-glutathione complexes might be avoided under normal physiological conditions. The actual intracellular Cu(I) availability may thus be regulated a further 3 orders of magnitude below the GSH/Cu(I) affinity limit, consistent with the most recent affinity determinations of Cu(I) chaperones.
Towards a unified model of innovation and technological change

Innovation and technological change have been at the center of our society for most of the past 50 years. During that time, academics have tried with varying success to study the processes that dri...
Study of natural down-welling sky light with imaging spectro-polarimeter

A full sky imaging spectropolarimeter that measures spectrally resolved (~2.5 nm resolution) radiance and polarization (s0, s1, s2 Stokes Elements) over approximately 2π sr between 400nm and 1000nm will be used to quantitatively characterize the spectral dependence of the polarization state of the sunlight scattered in the sky. The sensor is based on a scanning push broom hyperspectral imager configured with a continuously rotating polarizer (sequential measurement in time polarimeter). This study will help optimize sky polarimetry by offering information that can be used to select the best spectral band (or which spectra to reject) for a given application. Findings to be presented are sky maps of the angle of polarization and degree of polarization for different spectral bands, spectral dependency of degree (and angle) of polarization, and example data sets supporting each.
Quantifying system structural complexity using design structure matrices

Complicated systems are relatively large when compared to simple systems and tend to have many constituent subsystems and interfaces. Manufacturing systems fall into the category of complicated systems that are moving towards increased complexity day by day with the addition of new functions and capabilities towards addressing and finding better solutions. Measuring complexity of manufactured systems is not an easy task. A first step towards quantifying the complexity of a given system is to understand its constituent subs systems and identifying all the system component interactions that lead towards providing an insight on how each individual system component influences the behavior of the system as a whole. In this paper, we provide an entropy based approach on Design Structure Matrices (DSM) aimed at quantifying the complexity of a complicated technical system mapped onto a DSM as clusters. UPrint® SE plus 3D printer architecture is used as a case study to portray the applicability this approach. To examine the case study using information theoretic approach, we map its similarity to a typical communication channel that consists of a source that sends information, a channel that acts as a medium to transmit the information and a destination which receives the transmitted information. In the case of 3D printer architecture considered, the system components act as source and destination thereby transmitting and receiving the information and the type interaction pattern observed is considered to acts as a channel for relaying information. The results obtained show that the value of entropy decreases with the increase in the number of clusters the DSM is divided to. This essentially portrays that designs with fewer clusters are better as they limit the propagation of faults and makes it easier to isolate faults in a system.
Should Fibrinogen levels be monitored with IV-tPA? (P4.234)

Objective: To highlight risk of hemorrhagic complications with IV-tPA in patients with hypofibrinogenemia. Background: Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) dissolves clots by forming plasmin which binds to fibrin-bound plasminogen to break fibrin molecules. Fibrinogen is formed as an acute phase reactant and there is usually hyperfibrinogenemia in setting of acute stroke. Hypofibrinogenemia with IV-tPA is associated with greater hemorrhagic risk, but levels are not checked as standard protocol prior to IV-tPA administration. We report a rare case of coagulopathy detected in a patient after IV-tPA administration prior to hemorrhagic complications. Design/Methods: 86-year-old male developed acute left hemiparesis and presented to local hospital within 1-hour of symptom onset. NIHSS was 6 and CT head reported no changes. IV-tPA was administered at 3-hour window after labs indicated no coagulopathy (Platelets-126, INR-1.0, PT-10, PTT-27). Patient was transferred to our institution. On arrival, NIHSS was 12. CT head did not show hemorrhage. CT angiogram showed no large vessel occlusion and endovascular procedure was deferred. Coagulation profile revealed INR-2.36, PT-25.5, PTT-44.7, platelets-137. In view of absence of hemorrhagic changes on CT head, cryoprecipitate was not administered. Repeat surveillance CT head 12-hours post IV-tPA showed hemorrhagic conversion with IVH without change in NIHSS. Fibrinogen level was Results: NA Conclusions: Hypofibrinogenemia poses greater risk of hemorrhagic complications with IV-tPA. Stroke algorithms do not require fibrinogen levels to be checked before IV-tPA administration. Checking fibrinogen levels before IV-tPA administration will clarify whether hypofibrinogenemia is a result of baseline low fibrinogen levels or hypersensitivity reaction to tPA. It remains uncertain whether to reverse coagulopathy after IV-tPA in the absence of hemorrhagic complications. Disclosure: Dr. Shafqat has nothing to disclose. Dr. Goswami has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kurian has nothing to disclose. Dr. Xhihani has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sahni has nothing to disclose.
Rapamycin synthetic studies. 1. Construction of the C(27)-C(42) subunit

Abstract A convergent synthetic approach to the C(27)-C(42) fragment of the immunosuppressive macrocycle rapamycin is described.
Apple pomace improves liver and adipose inflammatory and antioxidant status in young female rats consuming a Western diet

Abstract Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is diet-driven and characterized by inflammation and alterations in liver-adipose fatty acid transport. Diet modification is the main treatment for NASH, with high antioxidant diets suggested. Apple pomace, an antioxidant-rich apple processing “waste” byproduct, has potential as a functional food in alleviating NASH. To investigate apple pomace and NASH, growing female Sprague-Dawley rats consumed one of four diets for 8 weeks: AIN-93G, AIN-93G/10% g/kg caloric substitution with apple pomace (AIN/AP), Western diet, or Western/10% apple pomace (Western/AP). Apple pomace substitution decreased Western-diet induced hepatic histological evidence of inflammation and positively influenced liver and adipose tissue saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid content. Further, rats consuming Western/AP had downregulated hepatic and adipose proinflammatory cytokine gene expression and improved antioxidant status compared to rats consuming a Western diet. Based on the results, apple pomace attenuated features of Western diet-induced NASH and supports apple pomace use as a sustainable functional food.
Aqui tudo é crónica, excepto o que não é: as crónicas e o legado de António Lobo Antunes

Ao mesmo tempo que defende a importância dos seus romances para a historia literaria, Antonio Lobo Antunes desvaloriza as suas cronicas, alegando que a sua utilidade se reduz ao facto de poderem ajudar-nos a ler melhor os romances. Este ensaio procura tracar uma linha divisoria alternativa entre os dois modos discursivos de Lobo Antunes, argumentando que a forma da cronica se mostra mais apta do que o romance para desenvolvermos um “pensamento ecologico” (Morton). Concluirei sugerindo que essa dimensao sera responsavel por converter o universo das cronicas no legado decisivo do autor.
High-throughput quantitative top-down proteomics

Top-down mass spectrometry (MS) analyzes intact proteins at the proteoform level, which allows researchers to better understand the functions of protein modifications. Recently, top-down proteomics has increased in popularity due to advancements in high-resolution mass spectrometers, increased efficiency in liquid chromatography (LC) separation, and advances in data analysis software. Some unique protein proteoforms, which have been distinguished using top-down MS, have even been shown to exhibit marked variation in biological function compared to similar proteoforms. However, the qualitative identification of a particular proteoform may not be enough to determine the biological relevance of that proteoform. Quantitative top-down MS methods have been notably applied to the study of the differing biological functions of protein proteoforms and have allowed researchers to explore proteomes at the proteoform, rather than the peptide, level. Here, we review the top-down MS methods that have been used to quantitatively identify intact proteins, discuss current applications of quantitative top-down MS analysis, and present new areas where quantitative top-down MS analysis may be implemented.
Diazoxide Preconditioning of Nonhuman Primate Pancreas Improves Islet Isolation Outcomes by Mitochondrial Protection.

Objectives Previously, we showed that diazoxide (DZ), an effective ischemic preconditioning agent, protected rodent pancreas against ischemia-reperfusion injury. Here, we further investigate whether DZ supplementation to University of Wisconsin (UW) solution during pancreas procurement and islet isolation has similar cytoprotection in a preclinical nonhuman primate model. Methods Cynomolgus monkey pancreata were flushed with UW or UW + 150 μM DZ during procurement and preserved for 8 hours before islet isolation. Results First, a significantly higher islet yield was observed in UW + DZ than in UW (57,887 vs 23,574 IEq/pancreas and 5396 vs 1646 IEq/g). Second, the DZ treated islets had significantly lower apoptotic cells per islet (1.64% vs 9.85%). Third, DZ significantly inhibited ROS surge during reperfusion with a dose-response manner. Fourth, DZ improved in vitro function of isolated islets determined by mitochondrial potentials and calcium influx in responses to glucose and KCI. Fifth, the DZ treated islets had much higher cure rate and better glycemia control in diabetic mice transplant model. Conclusions This study showed a strong mitochondrial protection of DZ on nonhuman primate islets against ischemia-reperfusion injury that provides strong evidence for its clinical application in islet and pancreas transplantation.
Flood dynamics dictate distributions of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. (Russian olive) on a riverine floodplain

North American invasions of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. (Russian olive) are still expanding, and hydrochory could be increasing invasion impacts along rivers. Spatial association between riverine flood-inundation patterns and E. angustifolia distributions suggests a link between seed movement potential and invasion patterns in time and space. Using output from hydraulic inundation models, we mapped inundation zones associated with successive flood return intervals within 10.81 km2 of the estimated 500-year floodplain of the Yellowstone River, Montana, USA. We then evaluated spatial relationships among inundation zones and E. angustifolia distribution. Elaeagnus angustifolia was highly spatially associated with frequent flood return intervals: 80% of E. angustifolia exists within a subset of the floodplain predicted to flood every 10 years or less, with the highest occupancy in the 1.5- to 5-year return zones. Within frequently inundated areas, floodplain occupancy of E. angustifolia was distributed in patterns consistent with likely areas of sediment deposition. Thus, existing predictions of invasion timelines are likely to improve with explicit consideration of dispersal opportunities associated with hydrochory during flooding. In particular, if hydrochory is a significant secondary dispersal mechanism, then seed immigration at flood intervals of 5 years or less could lead to substantially shorter invasion lags than currently predicted.
Liver Fibrosis Index FIB-4 Is Associated With Mortality in COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with adverse outcomes, including need for invasive mechanical ventilation and death in people with risk factors. Liver enzyme elevation is commonly seen in this group, but its clinical significance remains elusive. In this study, we calculated the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score for a cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and assessed its association with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA, inflammatory cytokine levels, and clinical outcome. A total of 202 hospitalized participants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by nasopharyngeal sampling were included in this analysis. FIB-4 was calculated for each participant using the alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, age, and platelet count. We evaluated the association between FIB-4 and mortality using both multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards model. Correlations between FIB-4 and SARS-CoV-2 RNA and cytokine levels were evaluated using the Spearman test. Among the 202 participants, 22 died. The median FIB-4 in participants who survived and died were 1.91 and 3.98 (P < 0.001 by Mann-Whitney U test), respectively. Each one-unit increment in FIB-4 was associated with an increased odds of death (odds ratio, 1.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.36, 2.35; P < 0.001) after adjusting for baseline characteristics including sex, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, and history of liver diseases. During hospitalization, FIB-4 peaked and then normalized in the survival group but failed to normalize in the death group. FIB-4 was positively correlated with the level of SARS-CoV-2 viral load and monocyte-associated cytokines, especially interleukin-6 and interferon gamma-induced protein 10. Conclusion: FIB-4 is associated with mortality in COVID-19, independent of underlying conditions including liver diseases. FIB-4 may be a simple and inexpensive approach to risk-stratify individuals with COVID-19.
Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Conditions

In this chapter, we discuss psychological factors affecting medical conditions among older adults.
SMIXnorm: Fast and Accurate RNA-Seq Data Normalization for Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Samples

RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) provides a comprehensive quantification of transcriptomic activities in biological samples. Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) samples are collected as part of routine clinical procedure, and are the most widely available biological sample format in medical research and patient care. Normalization is an essential step in RNA-seq data analysis. A number of normalization methods, though developed for RNA-seq data from fresh frozen (FF) samples, can be used with FFPE samples as well. The only extant normalization method specifically designed for FFPE RNA-seq data, MIXnorm, which has been shown to outperform the normalization methods, but at the cost of a complex mixture model and a high computational burden. It is therefore important to adapt MIXnorm for simplicity and computational efficiency while maintaining superior performance. Furthermore, it is critical to develop an integrated tool that performs commonly used normalization methods for both FF and FFPE RNA-seq data. We developed a new normalization method for FFPE RNA-seq data, named SMIXnorm, based on a simplified two-component mixture model compared to MIXnorm to facilitate computation. The expression levels of expressed genes are modeled by normal distributions without truncation, and those of non-expressed genes are modeled by zero-inflated Poisson distributions. The maximum likelihood estimates of the model parameters are obtained by a nested Expectation-Maximization algorithm with a less complicated latent variable structure, and closed-form updates are available within each iteration. Real data applications and simulation studies show that SMIXnorm greatly reduces computing time compared to MIXnorm, without sacrificing the performance. More importantly, we developed a web-based tool, RNA-seq Normalization (RSeqNorm), that offers a simple workflow to compute normalized RNA-seq data for both FFPE and FF samples. It includes SMIXnorm and MIXnorm for FFPE RNA-seq data, together with five commonly used normalization methods for FF RNA-seq data. Users can easily upload a raw RNA-seq count matrix and select one of the seven normalization methods to produce a downloadable normalized expression matrix for any downstream analysis. The R package is available at https://github.com/S-YIN/RSEQNORM. The web-based tool, RSeqNorm is available at http://lce.biohpc.swmed.edu/rseqnorm with no restriction to use or redistribute.
Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: A Critical Analysis of Judge Rakoff’s Book

This is a review of Jed S. Rakoff’s new book Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: And Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System. While the book has its merits, this review primarily focuses on critiques. These critiques cover the topics of the difference between innocence and wrongful conviction / exoneration, the death penalty, race, and plea bargaining. This review concludes by addressing the problematic breadth of the book and an unfortunate absence of citations.
Experimental Verification of Lattice QCD Predictions

In this Chapter we discuss the comparison between theoretical predictions and experimental measurements for several observables. In particular, we focus on fluctuations of conserved charges and how to perform a meaningful comparison between lattice QCD simulations and experimental results. We review several sources of non-thermal fluctuations and explain how to take them into account in the data or the theoretical results. We then discuss the details of the experimental analysis for fluctuations of net-protons, net-charge, net-kaons and net-Lambdas.
Progressive and Degenerative Peripheral Vestibular Disorders.

Initial diagnosis of peripheral vestibulopathy requires a detailed history, physical examination, and, in some cases, audiovestibular testing, radiographic imaging, or serology. Differentiation of a peripheral vestibulopathy as progressive or degenerative is often nuanced and influenced by a characterization of a patient's symptoms or natural history over time. A diverse group of vestibular pathology may fit into this category, including Meniere's disease, autoimmune conditions, congenital pathologies, ototoxic medications, radiation therapy, and perilymphatic fistula. Differentiation among these entities may be guided by initial or subsequent symptomatology, with various combinations of audiovestibular testing, serology, and imaging. Treatment options are disparate and disease-specific, ranging from observation to medical management or surgical intervention, underscoring the need for astute investigation and diagnosis.
Social Network Identity: Facebook, Twitter and Identity Negotiation Theory

The use of social networking sites (SNS) has had implications in traditional areas of communication such as identity and relationship construction. This study explores how identity is expressed on Facebook and Twitter, the top two most trafficked SNS (Brenner, 2013). Specifically, this study reports the finding of a survey of young adults who use these sites. Respondents were asked questions about what prompts them to choose how they express their identity on Facebook and how/if it differs from identity expression using Twitter. In addition this study examines how Facebook and Twitter can be understood through the sociological theory of identity negotiation. Implications for the connection between social digital identity and “catfishing” are provided and discussed.
Proposed universal relationship between dielectric breakdown and dielectric constant

Dielectrics with high dielectric constant k will likely be required for future replacement of conventional SiO/sub 2/ gate dielectric. Physical models are needed which describe the reliability tradeoffs associated with the high-k material selection. In this paper we report on a fundamental relationship existing between the dielectric breakdown E/sub bd/ and dielectric constant k. An approximate E/sub bd/ /spl sim/ (k )/sup -1/2/ relation is found and seems to be universal, i.e., the relation holds over nearly two decades of dielectric constant. A physics-based model has been developed to understand this critically important relationship. The good fit of the physical model (with no adjustable parameters) to the experimental data suggests that the local electric field (Lorentz-relation/Mossotti-field) in these high-k materials plays a very important role in the observed E/sub bd/ /spl sim/ (k)/sup -1/2/ behavior. The very high local electric field (in high-k materials) tends to distort/weaken polar molecular-bonds thereby lowering the enthalpy of activation required for bond breakage by standard Boltzmann processes.
Collaborating in the Evolution of a Middle School Science Learning Environment.

This study describes a collaborative study involving a teacher and university researcher using learning environment research to transform a middle school science learning environment. Habermas' idea of knowledge constitutive interests (technical, practical, and emancipatory) is used as a perspective to make sense of the learning environment. Student perceptions of science and the nature of science were explored. Classroom observations and student interviews were the primary data sources. Students perceived science as primarily a set of facts to be learned and did not view it as an inquiry method or a social process. Despite the characterization of the course by the teacher and students as ‘hands-on’ and ‘experimental’, technical interests were prevalent. Through negotiation, a plan of action was outlined for recreating the learning environment to make it more practical and emancipatory, as well as more consistent with contemporary perspectives on the nature of science.
Probabilistic inference in queueing networks

Although queueing models have long been used to model the performance of computer systems, they are out of favor with practitioners, because they have a reputation for requiring unrealistic distributional assumptions. In fact, these distributional assumptions are used mainly to facilitate analytic approximations such as asymptotics and large-deviations bounds. In this paper, we analyze queueing networks from the probabilistic modeling perspective, applying inference methods from graphical models that afford significantly more modeling flexibility. In particular, we present a Gibbs sampler and stochastic EM algorithm for networks of M/M/1 FIFO queues. As an application of this technique, we localize performance problems in distributed systems from incomplete system trace data. On both synthetic networks and an actual distributed Web application, the model accurately recovers the system's service time using 1% of the available trace data.
Predicting Sympathy and Prosocial Behavior From Young Children's Dispositional Sadness

The purpose of this study was to examine whether dispositional sadness predicted children's prosocial behavior and if sympathy mediated this relation. Constructs were measured when children (n = 256 at time 1) were 18, 30, and 42 months old. Mothers and non-parental caregivers rated children's sadness; mothers, caregivers, and fathers rated children's prosocial behavior; sympathy (concern and hypothesis testing) and prosocial behavior (indirect and direct, as well as verbal at older ages) were assessed with a task in which the experimenter feigned injury. In a panel path analysis, 30-month dispositional sadness predicted marginally higher 42-month sympathy; in addition, 30-month sympathy predicted 42-month sadness. Moreover, when controlling for prior levels of prosocial behavior, 30-month sympathy significantly predicted reported and observed prosocial behavior at 42 months. Sympathy did not mediate the relation between sadness and prosocial behavior (either reported or observed).
Automated Analysis of Human Factors Requirements

Computational ergonomic analyses are often laboriously tested one task at a time. As digital human models improve, we can partially automate the entire analysis process of checking human factors requirements or regulations against a given design. We are extending our Parameterized Action Representation (PAR) to store requirements and its execution system to drive human models through required tasks. Databases of actions, objects, regulations, and digital humans are instantiated into PARs and executed by analyzers that simulate the actions on digital humans and monitor the actions to report successes and failures. These extensions will allow quantitative but localized design assessment relative to specific human factors requirements
N-glycan analysis of IgG by enzymatic digestion with Remove-iT® Endo S and PNGase F (1004.1)

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the release of N-glycans from different sources of IgG using a novel endoglycosidase with a chitin-binding domain tag (Remove-iT Endo S) and PNGase F. Biotechnology companies are currently developing a growing number of monoclonal IgG antibodies as therapeutic agents. Critical for the structure and biological activity of the molecule is the N-glycan moiety attached to the asparagine 297 residue in the constant domain of the antibody. There are many variables in cell culture systems that can greatly influence the heterogeneity of the glycans on IgG. For this reason it has become increasingly important to monitor the glycosylation profiles of these biotherapeutics in the production process. Methods: Remove-iT Endo S (also known as Endoglycosidase S) was cloned from Streptococcus pyogenes and overexpressed in E. coli as a fusion to the chitin-binding domain. IgG samples were enzymatically deglycosylated under native conditions using Remove-iT Endo S and P...
Effects of Planning and Goal Setting on Reducing Latency to Task Engagement for Struggling Readers in Middle School

The current study examined the effect of a planning and goal-setting intervention in reducing latency to task engagement. This study used a multiple baseline design across participants for two seventh-grade and two eighth-grade students in a remedial reading class. The behavioral intervention was administered in small groups at the start of each class period. Latency for transitions was mea- sured from the conclusion of teacher directions to the initiation of assigned aca- demic tasks. Results showed the implementation of the intervention was closely associated with immediate decreases in latency to task engagement. The interven- tion reduced the mean latency to task engagement for all participants and reduced the variability over baseline. Visual analysis indicate a functional relation between the intervention and changes in latency. Implications for results and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Masturbation and sexual health: An exploratory study of low income african american women

Abstract In this study we applied research examining the hypothesized benefits of masturbation in dealing with sexual problems to the urgent health crisis posed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is the first study to test the hypothesized relationship between masturbation and HIV risk as predicted by the Sexual Health Model, a sex-positive approach to sexual health developed in response to the need for a more explicit focus on sexuality and relationships in HIV prevention. This is also the first study to examine the relationship between several masturbation variables (i.e., masturbation guilt, lifetime masturbation, and current masturbation) and HIV-related sexual behaviors and attitudes in a sample of African American women (N =239). Data was collected using face-to-face structured interviews as part of the Women's Initiative for Sexual Health (WISH), a randomized, controlled trial of an HIV prevention intervention based on the Sexual Health Model, targeting low income, adult African American women. Contrar...
Entry and investment: retrospective evaluations of incumbents’ responses in communications markets

Investment in the face of entry is a strategy used by incumbents. Nevertheless, the concept applies to traditional sectors of industry and not for contemporary two-sided network contexts. This article reports a study examining the behaviour of incumbent local exchange carriers in the US telecommunications with respect to technology investments in the face of competitive entry over a 14-year period, 1988 to 2001. In the face of competitive entry, the incumbents have underinvested in broadband technology, an approach consistent with desires to constrain entry, reflecting an unwillingness to supply unbundled network services at low rates or an inability to be pro-active in making technology investments. The evidence displays interesting dynamics in the investment behaviour of incumbent telecommunications firms as their markets have become competitive. These dynamics are explained using behavioural economics, and the use of behavioural concepts is highlighted for designing regulatory and competition policy me...
Segmented Aperture Lenses for Imaging and Illumination

New optical systems containing several laterally displaced lenses or lens segments operating in parallel are discussed. Such systems are useful for high resolution imaging of small, widely separated regions of an object or for producing custom illumination patterns for applications such as triangulation based range sensing using multiple stripe illumination. Inspection problems well suited to multiple aperture imaging are described and design rules are given. Examples of both imaging and illumination applications are given.
Pressure induced phase transformations in superconducting CuxMo6Se8

Abstract The variation of the superconducting transition temperature (T c ) with hydrostatic pressure up to 21 kbar is reported for the Chevrel-phase system Cu x Mo 6 Se 8 (0⩽x⩽2.8). At least two distinct low temperature phases may be distinguished on the basis of T c and high pressure data. The relative stability of these phases is delicately balanced, resulting in pressure induced phase transformations and large T c enhancements at pressures below 21 kbar.
Eustenopus villosus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Feeding of Herbicide-Resistant Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis L.)

Abstract A population of yellow starthistle ( Centaurea solstitialis L.) near Dayton, Washington developed herbicide resistance in response to repeated applications of picloram and other auxin-type herbicides. Laboratory and field experiments were conducted in 1998 to determine host acceptability and suitability of this herbicide-resistant yellow starthistle population to the biological control weevil Eustenopus villosus (Boheman) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). In choice and no-choice feeding and oviposition experiments using excised buds, the weevil did not demonstrate a consistent preference for either herbicide-resistant (R) or -susceptible (S) yellow starthistle. When caged on buds of intact plants, the E. villosus feeding rate of 97% did not differ between R and S types. Host plant suitability, measured as larval damage and development to adult weevils, was equivalent in R and S types, with weevils maturing in 46% of the R and in 32% of the S capitula bearing oviposition scars. The number of viable achenes per capitulum was reduced by 87% due to larval feeding, with no difference between R and S types. Observations at the field site where resistance was found revealed oviposition scars on 78% of the late-bud-stage capitula on 23 June 1998 and 73% of the flowering and postflowering capitula on 15 August 1998. Selection for herbicide resistance has not created host incompatibility for E. villosus nor reduced the effectiveness of E. villosus as a biological control agent.
Utilization and scope of practice of Nurse Practitioners and physician assistants in Montana.

Purpose To explore the licensing, certification, governance and education requirements of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) in the state of Montana. Services provided and privileges retained in employment were also analyzed. Data Sources This was a descriptive study using a survey of rural hospital administrators (N=34). Conclusions Survey results show that 92.5% of PAs in Montana meet their supervision requirement by a telephone contact provision outlined by the state board of medicine. In contrast, 54.2% of NPs, who are autonomous by legal definition, have a telephone supervision requirement imposed on them by their employers. Implications for Practice These findings have implications for the current and prospective professionals and the businesses for which they work. Nurse practitioners and their professional organizations need to consider the implications these findings have on the professional image and marketability of all NPs.
Role of calreticulin in the regulation of long non-coding RNA: MALAT-1 expression in mouse adenocarcinoma cells

Calreticulin (CRT) is a ubiquitously expressed protein in mammalian cells, with both calcium binding and chaperone activity. As such CRT is involved in quality control process during the folding and maturation of proteins in endoplasmic reticulum. Recent research in our lab showed that overexpression of CRT under control of Tie-2 promoter resulted in the development of metastatic lung adenocarcinoma. In order to examine genes involved in the development of lung cancer we carried out microarray analysis on RNA isolated from mouse lung tumors versus control lungs. In this screen we observed a significant increase (over 2 fold) in Metastasis Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript-1 (MALAT-1) long noncoding RNA (LncRNA) in the lungs of CRT overexpressing mouse models. MALAT-1 has been documented to be up-regulated in the human lung adenocarcinoma. This LncRNA has been shown to be associated with metastasis. Thus the aim of our study was to investigate the mechanism of regulation of MALAT-1 expression and role of CRT in this process. No data is available on the mechanism of regulation of MALAT-1 expression. We hypothesized that CRT as a regulator of intracellular calcium homeostasis regulated MALAT-1 expression thus inducing the development of metastatic lung adenocarcinoma in our mice model. Our data showed a significant correlation between intracellular calcium levels and expression and stability of MATAT-1 RNA level as determined using quantitative real time PCR. Treatment of adenocarcinoma cells with BAPTA-AM (to reduce intracellular calcium) resulted in a significant reduction in MALAT-1 level. Furthermore, treating the cells with thapsigargin (to elevate intracellular calcium) induced a 2 fold increase in MALAT-1 expression. We also demonstrated that knock down of MALA-1 expression using specific siRNA reduces the proliferation of adenocarcinoma cell derived from our CRT overexpressing mouse. Our data demonstrate for the first time involvement of calcium binding protein CRT and intracellular level of calcium on expression and stability of MALAT-1 that is involved in development of lung adenocarcinoma. This research was funded by Qatar National Research Fund (NPRP4-043-3-016).
Pore formation during oxidative annealing of Al2O3−∶Fe and slowing of grain growth by precipitates and pores

High-density samples of polycrystalline Al2O3 doped with iron retain their high density when annealed at high temperature in a reducing atmosphere, but pores are formed, both inside grains and at grain boundaries, and the density decreases upon annealing in oxidizing atmospheres. An explanation for these effects is proposed. The presence of pores and second-phase particles of FeAl2O4 is found to affect the physical properties and to slow grain growth. Grain size is proportional to the number of second-phase particles to the power −1/3 indicating that the number of second-phase particles per grain remains constant during grain growth.