cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Admissibility of Children's Statements in Sexual Abuse Prosecutions: Prompt Complaint, Excited Utterance, Medical Diagnosis or Treatment, Child Sexual Abuse Hearsay Exception; Confrontation Clause

In a prosecution for child sexual abuse, the alleged victim’s statements may be admissible in evidence as an excited utterance, a statement for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment, as a prompt complaint, or pursuant to a jurisdiction’s specific child sexual abuse hearsay exception.In assessing the current state of the waterfront with respect to the admissibility in a criminal prosecution of statements made by child victims of sexual abuse, the most glaring recent development is the backsliding caused by the United States Supreme Court’s reinterpretation of the Confrontation Clause beginning with Crawford in 2004.If the child declarant is unavailable to testify at trial, out-of-court statements of the child victim of sexual abuse are now much, much less likely to be admissible at trial. Many of such statements will have been made to law enforcement personnel. Each and every one of such statements made to law enforcement personnel, including SART personnel, must be subjected to the Confrontation Clause primary purpose testimonial/nontestimonial test. While some initial excited utterance statements to law enforcement personnel, admissible under the rules of evidence regardless of whether the declarant testifies, will be held to be nontestimonial, many others will not pass constitutional Confrontation Clause scrutiny. More significantly, all subsequent statements that were made by the unavailable to testify at trial child victim of sexual abuse as part of a subsequent ongoing investigation, in spite of admissibility of many under a state specific child sexual abuse hearsay exception, are now clearly inadmissible in a prosecution of the alleged abuser. The foregoing may be one of the most serious, hopefully, unintended consequences of the United States Supreme Court ill-advised primary purpose testimonial/nontestimonial Confrontation Clause adventure.
Thresher sharks (Alopiidae) catch in the pelagic fisheries of Western Indonesia

Thresher sharks (family Alopiidae) are an evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species group. Indonesia is the world's largest shark fishing nation, and a global priority for reducing the capture of threatened shark species. Kutaradja port is one of Indonesia's largest fishing ports, located in the capital of Aceh Province, Banda Aceh, Western Indonesia. Kutaradja is a large oceanic port serving a variety of fisheries, from small scale to industrial fleets. One of the main fisheries operating from Kutaradja port is an industrial purse seine fleet targeting valuable pelagic fish, particularly tuna. Pelagic sharks such as threshers are vulnerable to capture in these fisheries, due to their co-occurrence with stocks of valuable pelagic species. Here we describe the volume and composition of shark catch in Kutaradja's purse seine fleet, based on daily landing monitoring conducted in January 2017 to May 2019. Our results show that the dominant species caught are thresher sharks (Alopiidae), which make up 51% of all shark landings. A total of 627 thresher sharks were landed during the monitoring period, consisting of 558 individuals of pelagic threshers shark (Alopias pelagicus) and 69 individuals of bigeye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus). The catch is dominated by mature females, which could be particularly detrimental to the reproductive capacity of the population. Fishers in purse seine vessels often catch these threshers with hand-lines, which are used as a secondary gear while the main fishing gear is soaking. Based on these findings, we proposed recommendations for reducing thresher shark fishing mortality, including restricting the use of secondary fishing gears and releasing incidentally captured sharks.
The Interplay among Early Childhood Teachers’ Social and Emotional Well-Being, Mental Health Consultation, and Preschool Expulsion

Research Findings: The present study examines the associations between various elements of a teacher’s social-emotional well-being and context and her requests for the permanent removal of a child ...
Insights into the Genetic Architecture of Bran Friability and Water Retention Capacity, Two Important Traits for Whole Grain End-Use Quality in Winter Wheat

Bran friability (particle size distribution after milling) and water retention capacity (WRC) impact wheat bran functionality in whole grain milling and baking applications. The goal of this study was to identify genomic regions and underlying genes that may be responsible for these traits. The Hard Winter Wheat Association Mapping Panel, which comprised 299 lines from breeding programs in the Great Plains region of the US, was used in a genome-wide association study. Bran friability ranged from 34.5% to 65.9% (median, 51.1%) and WRC ranged from 159% to 458% (median, 331%). Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosome 5D were significantly associated with bran friability, accounting for 11-12% of the phenotypic variation. One of these SNPs was located within the Puroindoline-b gene, which is known for influencing endosperm texture. Two SNPs on chromosome 4A were tentatively associated with WRC, accounting for 4.6% and 4.4% of phenotypic variation. The favorable alleles at the SNP sites were present in only 15% (friability) and 34% (WRC) of lines, indicating a need to develop new germplasm for these whole-grain end-use quality traits. Validation of these findings in independent populations will be useful for breeding winter wheat cultivars with improved functionality for whole grain food applications.
Genome-wide association study of café-au-lait macule number in neurofibromatosis type 1.

Background Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a tumor-predisposition disorder that arises due to pathogenic variants in tumor suppressor NF1. NF1 has variable expressivity that may be due, at least in part, from heritable elements such as modifier genes; however, few genetic modifiers have been identified to date. Methods In this study, we performed a genome-wide association analysis of the number of cafe-au-lait macules (CALM) that are considered a tumor-like trait as a clinical phenotype modifying NF1. Results A borderline genome-wide significant association was identified in the discovery cohort (CALM1, N = 112) between CALM number and rs12190451 (and rs3799603, r2 = 1.0; p = 7.4 × 10-8 ) in the intronic region of RPS6KA2. Although, this association was not replicated in the second cohort (CALM2, N = 59) and a meta-analysis did not show significantly associated variants in this region, a significant corroboration score (0.72) was obtained for the RPS6KA2 signal in the discovery cohort (CALM1) using Complementary Pairs Stability Selection for Genome-Wide Association Studies (ComPaSS-GWAS) analysis, suggesting that the lack of replication may be due to heterogeneity of the cohorts rather than type I error. Conclusion rs12190451 is located in a melanocyte-specific enhancer and may influence RPS6KA2 expression in melanocytes-warranting further functional studies.
Leveraging EM Side-Channels for Recognizing Components on a Motherboard

This article proposes leveraging EM side-channels to recognize/authenticate electronic components integrated onto a motherboard. By focusing on components on a motherboard, our method provides an opportunity to authenticate devices assembled by third parties. This method identifies components based on the modulated signals emanated while they are excited in a controlled manner. When testing an unknown component, the spectrum is compared to previously recorded training signatures. To improve efficiency, the size of the spectrum is reduced by projecting it into a vector space generated from training signatures. The identity of the tested component is then determined using a k-nearest neighbors algorithm. This method successfully classified memory, processor, and Ethernet transceiver components integrated on seven types of Internet-of-Things devices. Since manufacturers commonly use the same components in multiple designs, cross-type testing of motherboards is conducted. Collecting the training signatures on one motherboard and testing components from different motherboards speeds up the process and decreases the cost. Using measurements taken while exciting the components for 1 s, our method achieves a classification accuracy greater than 96 $\%$ across all components tested. These results demonstrate that this method can recognize components based on their emanations, even if the components are integrated onto completely different motherboards.
A new model for dual-spin satellites.

A new mathematical model for the analysis of dissipative dual-spin satellites has been developed. This model makes explicit use of the fact that the high speed rotor is symmetric by modeling the rotor energy dissipation with symmetrically placed dampers. This permits the use of a quasi-holonomic transformation for the reduction of the periodic system of variational equations to an autonomous system in accordance with the Floquet Theory and the Liapunov Reducibility Theorem.-
Statistical Properties of Electron Curtain Precipitation Estimated With AeroCube-6.

Curtain precipitation is a recently discovered stationary, persistent, and latitudinally narrow electron precipitation phenomenon in low Earth orbit. Curtains are observed over consecutive passes of the dual AeroCube-6 CubeSats while their in-track lag varied from a fraction of a second to 65 s, with dosimeters that are sensitive to >35-keV electrons. This study uses the AeroCube-6 mission to quantify the statistical properties of 1,634 curtains observed over 3 years. We found that many curtains are narrower than 10 km in the latitudinal direction with 90% narrower than 20 km. We examined the geographic, magnetic local time, and geomagnetic dependence of curtains. We found that curtains are observed in the late-morning and premidnight magnetic local times, with a higher occurrence rate at premidnight, and curtains are observed more often during times of enhanced Auroral Electrojet. We found a few curtains in the bounce loss cone region above the North Atlantic, whose electrons were continuously scattered for at least 6 s. Such observations suggest that continuous curtain precipitation may be a significant loss of >35-keV electrons from the magnetosphere into the atmosphere. We hypothesize that the curtains observed in the bounce loss cone were accelerated by parallel electric fields, and we show that this mechanism is consistent with the observations.
Dynamic body-weight support to boost rehabilitation outcomes in patients with non-traumatic spinal cord injury: an observational study

Dynamic body-weight support (DBWS) may play an important role in rehabilitation outcomes, but the potential benefit among disease-specific populations is unclear. In this study, we hypothesize that overground therapy with DBWS during inpatient rehabilitation yields greater functional improvement than standard-of-care in adults with non-traumatic spinal cord injury (NT-SCI). This retrospective cohort study included individuals diagnosed with NT-SCI and undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. All participants were recruited at a freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Individuals who trained with DBWS for at least three sessions were allocated to the experimental group. Participants in the historical control group received standard-of-care (i.e., no DBWS). The primary outcome was change in the Functional Independence Measure scores (FIMgain). During an inpatient rehabilitation course, participants in the experimental group (n = 11), achieved a mean (SD) FIMgain of 48 (11) points. For the historical control group (n = 11), participants achieved a mean (SD) FIMgain of 36 (12) points. From admission to discharge, both groups demonstrated a statistically significant FIMgain. Between groups analysis revealed no significant difference in FIMgain (p = 0.022; 95% CI 2.0–22) after a post hoc correction for multiple comparisons. In a secondary subscore analysis, the experimental group achieved significantly higher gains in sphincter control (p = 0.011: 95% CI 0.83–5.72) with a large effect size (Cohen’s d 1.19). Locomotion subscores were not significantly different (p = 0.026; 95% CI 0.37–5.3) nor were the remaining subscores in self-care, mobility, cognition, and social cognition. This is the first study to explore the impact of overground therapy with DBWS on inpatient rehabilitation outcomes for persons with NT-SCI. Overground therapy with DBWS appears to significantly improve functional gains in sphincter control compared to the standard-of-care. Gains achieved in locomotion, mobility, cognition, and social cognition did not meet significance. Findings from the present study will benefit from future large prospective and randomized studies.
Statistical measures and methods for assessing the representativeness of juries: a reanalysis of the data in Berghuis v. Smith

To assess the fairness of a jury system, courts compare data on the race-gender-ethnic composition of a number of jury venires (pools) to that of the jury-eligible population of the jurisdiction. The recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion in the Berghuis v. Smith case discussed the criteria a defendant's evidence must meet to establish a prima facie case that the jury pools were not representative. The decision relied on the three criteria set previously in Duren v. Missouri: name a distinct subgroup of the population, demonstrate their underrepresentation with statistics and identify the aspect of the jury system, which produced the disparity. In addition to formal statistical testing, courts have considered the absolute and comparative differences between the percentages of minorities in the age-eligible population and on the jury venires. In Berghuis, data for the period when the defendant's trial was held indicate that 6.03% of the potential jurors in the circuit (felony) courts were African American but they formed 7.28% of the age-eligible residents of the County. The 1.25% absolute difference seems small. The comparative difference or percentage shortfall is 18%, suggesting underrepresentation. The defendant argued that the disparity in the circuit courts arose because, at the time of his trial, jurors were first assigned to local courts and African Americans were concentrated in Grand Rapids. Shortly after the trial, the County changed the system, however, the comparative disparity (CD) only declined by 3%. This small change failed to convince the Court that the juror assignment system caused the underrepresentation. The available data in Berghuis v. Smith differed from most jury discrimination cases as the racial identification of the venire members were unavailable. The defendant's expert estimated the number of African Americans on the venires from their addresses and compared it to their expected number derived from their fraction of the county's age-eligible population. He did not test whether the difference was statistically significant. The two analyses available to the Court treated the estimated number of minority jurors on the venires as though it was the actual number, which is statistically incorrect. This article derives the appropriate standard deviation analysis. Applying it to the data in Berghuis, it is shown that there was a statistically significant disparity between the percentages of African Americans on the venires and in the age-eligible population. On the other hand, the difference between the CDs in the two periods was not near significance. Thus, the first two Duren criteria were satisfied but the third was not, supporting the Court's decision. Language: en
Nearly-incompressible transverse isotropy in the cornea: comparing mechanical tests with acoustic micro-tapping based optical coherence elastography

Accurate estimates of corneal mechanical properties may improve diagnosis and treatment of many ophthalmic conditions. Recently, we introduced a nearly incompressible transversely isotropic (NITI) model based on two independent shear moduli determining tensile and out-of-plane shear behavior. Here, we directly compare acoustic micro-tapping OCE (AμT-OCE) modulus estimates with those obtained from mechanical testing on ex-vivo porcine corneas. Both OCE and mechanical testing show tensile behavior governed by a Young’s modulus on the order of MPa and out-of-plane shear behavior by a modulus on the order of tens of kPa, suggesting strong anisotropy in the cornea.
Abstract IA-09: Mapping cell structure across scales by fusing protein images and interactions

Cancer cells are multi-scale structures with modular organization across at least four orders of magnitude. Two central approaches for mapping this structure – protein fluorescent imaging and protein interaction – each generate extensive datasets but of distinct qualities and resolutions that are typically treated separately. Here, I will describe ongoing efforts to reconcile the large-scale data emerging from protein imaging and protein affinity purification interaction screens to create unified maps of cancer cells. The core concept is to use machine learning to compute a suitable embedding for each dataset, then to use these data embeddings to produce a general measure of protein distance calibrated against cellular components of known size. The evolving map, called the Multi-Scale Integrated Cell (MuSIC 1.0), currently resolves 69 subcellular systems of which approximately half are undocumented. Based on these findings we have performed 134 additional affinity purifications, validating close subunit associations for the majority of systems. I will also discuss how these cell maps can be used to identify protein complexes, and larger-scale systems such as organelles, that are under significant selective pressure for somatic mutations in different tumor types. In many of these cases, the mutation burden of the complex is far more substantial than the mutation frequency of any of the individual genes that encode it. By integration across scales, MuSIC substantially increases the mapping resolution obtained from imaging while giving protein interactions a spatial dimension, paving the way to incorporate many molecular data types in proteome-wide maps of cells. This work is a collaboration between the Cancer Cell Mapping Initiative (CCMI), the Human Protein Atlas (HPA), and the BioPlex Resource. Citation Format: Trey Ideker. Mapping cell structure across scales by fusing protein images and interactions [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Diagnosis, and Imaging; 2021 Jan 13-14. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2021;27(5_Suppl):Abstract nr IA-09.
Legal Vulnerability and Campus Environment: Assessing Factors that Affect the Academic Engagement of Undocumented College Students

Prior research has established that undocumented students experience structural marginalization which compromises their access, retention, and success in higher education. Building on this work, th...
The international visiting scholar experience: insights from an importance-satisfaction study

The number of international visiting scholars engaged in research and teaching at institutions of higher education in the United States has increased significantly over the past two decades. While ...
Jewish Identities in Postcommunist Russia and Ukraine: An Uncertain Ethnicity

Before the USSR collapsed, ethnic identities were imposed by the state. This book analyzes how and why Jews decided what being Jewish meant to them after the state dissolved and describes the historical evolution of Jewish identities. Surveys of more than 6,000 Jews in the early and late 1990s reveal that Russian and Ukrainian Jews have a deep sense of their Jewishness but are uncertain what it means. They see little connection between Judaism and being Jewish. Their attitudes toward Judaism, intermarriage and Jewish nationhood differ dramatically from those of Jews elsewhere. Many think Jews can believe in Christianity and do not condemn marrying non-Jews. This complicates their connections with other Jews, resettlement in Israel, the United States and Germany, and the rebuilding of public Jewish life in Russia and Ukraine. Post-Communist Jews, especially the young, are transforming religious-based practices into ethnic traditions and increasingly manifesting their Jewishness in public.
A polynomial time-optimal diode insertion/routing algorithm for fixing antenna problem [IC layout]

The antenna problem is a phenomenon of plasma-induced gate-oxide degradation. It directly affects manufacturability of very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits, especially in deep submicron technology using high-density plasma. Diode insertion is a very effective way to solve this problem. Ideally, diodes are inserted directly under the wires that violate antenna rules. But in today's high-density VLSI layouts, there is simply not enough room for "under-the-wire" diode insertion for all wires. Thus, it is necessary to insert many diodes at legal "off-wire" locations and extend the antenna-rule violating wires to connect to their respective diodes. Previously, only simple heuristic algorithms were available for this diode insertion and routing problem. In this paper, we show that the diode insertion and routing problem for an arbitrary given number of routing layers can be optimally solved in polynomial time. Our algorithm guarantees finding a feasible diode insertion and routing solution whenever one exists. Moreover, we can guarantee to find a feasible solution to minimize a cost function of the form /spl alpha//spl times/L+/spl beta//spl times/N, where L is the total length of extension wires and N is the total number of vias on the extension wires. Experimental results show that our algorithm is very efficient.
Flow around a Complex Building: Comparisons between Experiments and a Reynolds-Averaged Navier¿Stokes Approach

Abstract An experiment investigating flow around a single complex building was performed in 2000. Sonic anemometers were placed around the building, and two-dimensional wind velocities were recorded. An energy-budget and wind-measuring station was located upstream to provide stability and inflow conditions. In general, the sonic anemometers were located in a horizontal plane around the building at a height of 2.6 m above the ground. However, at the upwind wind station, two levels of the wind were measured. The resulting database can be sampled to produce mean wind fields associated with specific wind directions such as 210°, 225°, and 240°. The data are available generally and should be useful for testing computational fluid dynamical models for flow around a building. An in-house Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes approach was used to compare with the mean wind fields for the predominant wind directions. The numerical model assumed neutral flow and included effects from a complex array of trees in the vicin...
Miradas a los conjuntos históricos en Galicia. Antecedentes para la percepción del paisaje urbano como patrimonio

Este articulo examina los comienzos en la percepcion patrimonial del paisaje urbano en el contexto del proceso de modernizacion de las ciudades gallegas durante los siglos XIX y XX. La aplicacion de las estrategias de renovacion urbana decimononicas, sobre todo con la ampliacion y alineacion de calles, combinada con la aparicion de los edificios eclecticos y modernistas, origino las primeras miradas senalando el riesgo de perdida de los elementos tipicos en las viejas ciudades. La investigacion plantea una aproximacion cualitativa, combinando documentos de archivo con textos periodisticos de escritores gallegos como Emilia Pardo Bazan o Antonio Rey Soto. La difusion de estas preocupaciones tuvo su efecto en las primeras medidas y regulaciones adoptadas por arquitectos -Mariano Fernandez Ragel, Constantino Candeira, Jose Maria Banet- y politicos -Manuel Villar Iglesias, Jose M. Diaz-Varela, Fermin Zelada- para procurar la preservacion de los conjuntos historicos como patrimonio
Abstract 3500: NCI's Provocative Questions Initiative

In 2011, the NCI Director, Dr. Harold Varmus, created the Provocative Questions (PQ) initiative to encourage imaginative, bold approaches designed to tackle perplexing and previously neglected areas of cancer research. Based upon workshops and discussions with the extramural cancer research community and NCI program directors, a set of 24 questions and accompanying requests for applications (RFAs) were developed, addressing diverse topics in cancer risk and prevention, tumor development, and cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment. In order to stimulate innovative hypotheses and approaches, the “power of the ideas” was heavily weighted with a de-emphasis on preliminary data. In the first year of the initiative, the NCI awarded 56 unique proposals, totaling $21.5 million of research support via the R01 and R21 mechanisms. Building upon the 2011 RFAs and adjusting to changes in the research landscape, 24 revised questions were developed for the 2012 RFAs with a commitment of up to $30 million in support. The NCI released the 2013 RFAs in September 2013 with a revised set of 20 questions, including new questions related to clinical effectiveness. Several PQ-supported research projects funded in the first year of the initiative will be highlighted in order to demonstrate the breadth of topics and high level of innovation supported by the initiative. Projects will be selected from the four main PQ thematic areas to provide a sense of the many diverse approaches being used to answer the selected PQ. In addition, trends and criteria from awarded proposals will be presented to provide insight to potential applicants regarding the outcomes of the program to date. Through engagement of the cancer research community, the PQ initiative seeks to continually leverage scientific advances to address currently unsolved, understudied questions in cancer, which may influence the future directions of NCI-sponsored research. Citation Format: Michelle A. Berny-Lang, Emily J. Greenspan. NCI9s Provocative Questions Initiative. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3500. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3500
Cervical Foraminotomy: Indications and Technique

Several terms that reappear throughout this chapter are first defined: neural foramen, nerve root, and foraminotomy.
The limitations in applying analytic design equations for optimal class E RF power amplifiers design

The power efficiency of the final stage power amplifier (PA) in a RF transmitter is critical for the overall power consumption, size, lifetime, and reliability of RF transceiver products, especially for portable low-power highly-integrated RF-SoC applications. This paper discusses the limitations and issues in applying the analytic design equations for designing highly efficient RF class E PAs. The main focus of this work is on the validation of the previously published analytic design equations for optimal class E PAs design, as we implemented the PA designs using both discrete RF transistors and monolithic RF ICs at 300 to 2400 MHz. It is found that these analytic design equations available in the literature for RF class E PAs design largely ignored some important physical factors such as the bias sensitivity for the transistor, the undesired device parasitics at RF frequencies, the finite inductance and the low quality factor of the RF choke and/or tank inductors, the time-varying input impedance, and PA stability, etc. They are therefore in general not adequate for predicting the optimal class E PA performance at RF frequencies.
Nanodelivery of gambogic acid by functionalized graphene enhances inhibition of cell proliferation and induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in cervical, ovarian, and prostate cancer cells

Functionalized graphene (fGn) has been used to deliver the low toxicity plant product, gambogic acid (GA), to cervical, ovarian, and prostate cancer cells, and the relative cytotoxicity of this complex when compared to delivery of drug alone has been evaluated. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of the GA + fGn complex, including pH-sensitive release of the drug from the nanomaterial. We then compared the in vitro effects of GA and GA + fGn on the growth inhibition and apoptosis in the above three cancer cell types. We found that GA, when delivered as a GA/fGn complex was more effective at inhibiting cell proliferation, initiating cell cycle arrest and inducing apoptosis in HeLa, NCI/ADR-RES, and PC-3 cancer cell lines compared to delivery of drug alone. Overall, our results indicate that this novel GA/fGn nanocomplex has the ability to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in several different organ-derived cancer cells, and could have potential as a new drug delivery strategy in cancer chemotherapy.
σ28 RNA polymerase regulates hctB, a late developmental gene in Chlamydia

Chlamydia is predicted to encode two alternative sigma factors that could provide a mechanism for the regulation of gene expression via alternative forms of RNA polymerase. We have demonstrated that sigma 28, one of these alternative sigma factors, is transcriptionally active. Chlamydial sigma 28 RNA polymerase was reconstituted from recombinant sigma 28 protein and core enzyme that was biochemically isolated from chlamydiae. In an in vitro transcription assay, sigma 28 RNA polymerase transcribed the hctB promoter in a sigma 28-dependent manner. Transcription by sigma 28 RNA polymerase was salt tolerant compared with transcription by sigma 66 RNA polymerase, the major form of chlamydial RNA polymerase. As hctB encodes a histone-like protein that is only expressed late in the developmental cycle, our results suggest that sigma 28 RNA polymerase has a role in the regulation of late gene expression in Chlamydia.
Matrix metalloproteinases in acute inflammation: induction of MMP-3 and MMP-9 in fibroblasts and epithelial cells following exposure to pro-inflammatory mediators in vitro

Recent studies have demonstrated important pro-inflammatory roles for two matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)-MMP-3 (stromelysin-1) and MMP-9 (gelatinase B)-in acute lung injury [Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 24 (2001) 1]. A role for MMP-3 in skin inflammation has also been demonstrated [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 96 (1999) 6885]. While leukocytes (neutrophils and macrophages) are known to elaborate these tissue-destructive enzymes, parenchymal cells are also capable of synthesizing MMPs. In the present study, we examined the production of MMP-3 and MMP-9 by rodent lung fibroblasts, type II epithelial cells, and vascular endothelial cells. Dermal fibroblasts were also examined. Cells were examined under control conditions and in response to agonists that induce acute inflammatory tissue injury (IgG-containing immune complexes and lipopolysaccharide [LPS]). In the absence of stimulation, MMP-3 and MMP-9 were not detected or were present at low level. However, upon stimulation with either of the two pro-inflammatory agonists, production of both enzymes occurred in fibroblasts and epithelial cells (though not in endothelial cells). The observation that resident cells in the tissue parenchyma can elaborate MMPs in direct response to pro-inflammatory stimuli provides insight into possible mechanisms by which tissue damage occurs in acute inflammation.
Measuring Urban Teachers’ Beliefs About African American Students A Psychometric Analysis

Understanding urban teachers' beliefs about African American students has become important because (a) many teachers are reluctant to teach students from other cultures, and (b) most teachers are European American. To construct a psychometrically sound measure of teacher beliefs, the authors investigate the measurement properties of a teacher beliefs factor. This fac- tor was selected from an inventory of items that purported to measure urban teachers' cultural awareness and beliefs. Measurement invariance of the teacher beliefs factor across European American, African American, and Hispanic American teachers addressed its construct validity. The authors examine the psychometric properties of these items using graded response multi- level analysis. The final 5-item factor showed highest level of invariance for African American and European American teachers but did not fit Hispanic American teachers well. All the five items had good psychometric properties. Analyses of latent means showed that African American teachers had more positive beliefs about African American students than European American teachers did. However, the latent scores were bimodally distributed for African American teach- ers showing that one subgroup of African American teachers had similar beliefs as European American teachers while another subgroup had more positive beliefs.
Early U.S. studies of rheumatoid factor.

Unlike much of Europe, study of rheumatic disease in the United States prior to and during World War II was limited. Rheumatologists were a rare breed and immunologists were scarcely in evidence. Soon after that war, however, the discovery of cortisone and of blood factors in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus spurred interest and research to its current level.
Validation with guided search of the state space

In practice, model checkers are most useful when they find bugs, not when they prove a property. However, because large portions of the state space of the design actually satisfy the specification, model checkers devote much effort verifying correct portions of the design. In this paper, we enhance the bug-finding capability of a model checker by using heuristics to search the states that are most likely to lead to an error, first. Reductions of 1 to 3 orders of magnitude in the number of states needed to find bugs in industrial designs have been observed. Consequently, these heuristics can extend the capability of model checkers to find bugs in designs.
Monitoring digestibility of forages for herbivores: a new application for an old approach

Ruminant populations are often limited by how well individuals are able to acquire nutrients for growth, maintenance, and reproduction. Nutrient supply to the animal is dictated by the concentration of nutrients in feeds and the efficiency of digesting those nutrients (i.e., digestibility). Many different methods have been used to measure digestibility of forages for wild herbivores, all of which rely on collecting rumen fluid from animals or incubation within animals. Animal-based methods can provide useful estimates, but the approach is limited by the expense of fistulated animals, wide variation in digestibility among animals, and contamination from endogenous and microbial sources that impairs the estimation of nutrient digestibility. We tested an in vitro method using a two-stage procedure using purified enzymes. The first stage, a 6 h acid–pepsin treatment, was followed by a combined 72 h amylase–cellulase or amylase–Viscozyme treatment. We then validated our estimates using in sacco and in vivo met...
Population Size and Industrial Technology

Nature of the Study. This is one of a series of ongoing and projected verification studies on systemic dynamic social theory.1 In this theory, interaction frequency is identified as the basic variable in social organization, and all facets of the latter appear as concomitant manifestations of shifts in two sets of underlying events. One set consists in the interrelations between myriads of postulated units of behavioral organization in each behavior system. The other set consists in a host of small-scale interactive relations between behavior systems. Functional, motivational, and similar interpretations become unnecessary. The specific hypothesis to be tested deals with the relation between the emergence of industrial technology and interaction frequency. At present we have no direct indices for interaction frequency. However, over fairly large spatiotemporal units interaction frequency shows a high positive correlation with population density, and the latter with population size. Although these relations do not hold for small spatiotemporal units, within the context of this study we can use population size as an index of interaction frequency.2 Overall Hypothesis and Specific Data. Our basic hypothesis relates all features of social organization to interaction frequency. From this general hypothesis are derived specific ones concerning value systems, social stratification, institutional structure, and innumerable other matters such as, in the present case, industrial technology. Particular programs of verification will be required for every specific hypothesis. Each such program, in turn, will involve a series of studies on significantly different sets of data.
New algorithms for Luria–Delbrück fluctuation analysis

Fluctuation analysis is the most widely used approach in estimating microbial mutation rates. Development of methods for point and interval estimation of mutation rates has long been hampered by lack of closed form expressions for the probability mass function of the number of mutants in a parallel culture. This paper uses sequence convolution to derive exact algorithms for computing the score function and observed Fisher information, leading to efficient computation of maximum likelihood estimates and profile likelihood based confidence intervals for the expected number of mutations occurring in a test tube. These algorithms and their implementation in SALVADOR 2.0 facilitate routine use of modern statistical techniques in fluctuation analysis by biologists engaged in mutation research.
Families of Incest: a Collation of Clinical Impressions

The present paper provides a collation of the impressions of clinical workers regarding families in which father-daughter incest has incurred. Responses of the workers indicate that the incestuous relationship is typically not limited to one or two sexual encounters, but the relationship can become a stable part of family life. The sexual interactions appear to parallel sexual practices in non-incestuous relationships. Daughters involved in incest are viewed as submissive, passive, fearful, whereas the fathers are viewed as dominating, impulsive, and using violence or threats to obtain the daughters sexual co-operation. Mothers are viewed as weak and as failing to provide help for their daughters. The picture of the family in which father-daughter incest occurs is one in which unhappy people are unable to establish satisfying human relationships.
Trace Analysis Methods for Actinides in Aqueous Systems

Methods for trace analysis of the 5f actinide elements are reviewed. Emphasis is on the non-radioactive methods of analysis such as absorption and laser induced spectroscopies, precipitation and/or sorption, ion exchange and solvent extraction. Particular attention is given to methods which allow measurement of the relative concentrations of the different oxidation states of a cation such as plutonium as they occur in nature. Comparisons are given of the sensitivities of these methods with that of traditional radioactivity counting
Synthesis of adsorbable redox-active osmium thiol monolayers and the effects of the working electrode potential during deposition

Abstract A new series of redox-active transition metal complexes of the type [Os(bpy) 2 Cl(Py-(CH 2 ) n -SH)](PF 6 ), with n = 4, 6, or 9, capable of forming adsorbed monolayers on gold, platinum and silver electrodes has been synthesized and the effect of the working electrode potential during deposition on the amount of material deposited onto the electrode surface has been studied using cyclic voltammetry. The amount of material deposited onto the working electrode at potentials negative of the potential of zero charge E pzc for a given metal electrode depended on the potential applied during deposition, but at potentials positive of E pzc , the amount deposited was much smaller and virtually independent of the applied potential. The interaction most dominant in the adsorption process of these redox-active species appears to be electrostatic attraction and repulsion. In addition, this method provides for a facile way to determine E pzc for solid electrodes.
Pressure sensitivity of cemented granular materials

Abstract In this paper, we explore the mechanical contact interaction of two identical elastic spheres uniformly coated with thin layers of a different elastic material. These two coating layers intersect over a finite contact area thus bonding the spheres. The normal contact stiffness and the shear contact stiffness increase when the spheres are axially pressed together, due to the increasing contact area. The dependence of these stiffnesses on the axial load is calculated by using a new approximate analytical solution. The solution also gives the distributions of the normal and shear stress components on the cemented contact. We use this solution to calculate the pressure dependence of the effective elastic moduli of a random pack of identical cemented spheres. This pressure dependence may be large if the initial contact radius is small. It is insignificant for large contact radii. If the spheres are in direct contact and the initial contact radius is small, the elastic properties of the cement have little effect on the pack's elastic moduli. However, if the spheres are separated by even a small cemented gap, the elastic properties of the cement may have a considerable effect on the pack's elastic moduli.
An analysis of the contribution of the preparatory technique to the appearance of condensed and orthodox conformations of liver mitochondria

The structure and volume of isolated mitochondria embedded for electron microscopy during different respiratory states were analyzed in thin sections. Three different embedding methods were compared; osmium tetroxide fixation/acetone dehydration, glutaraldehyde fixation/acetone dehydration, and glutaraldehyde fixation-osmium tetroxide postfixation/acetone dehydration. Analysis of fresh mitochondria, isolated in a sucrose medium, revealed the presence of a homogeneous population with respect to structure when any of the three methods were applied. After fixation with osmium alone, or in combination with glutaraldehyde, nearly 100% of the mitochondria were in a "condensed" conformation. Mitochondria fixed with glutaraldehyde alone resulted in a population of mitochondria that had large spaces separating the two membranes of the cristae which corresponds to the condensed conformation as observed after osmium fixation. Transfer of the mitochondria to the incubation medium led to the appearance of two classes of mitochondria with respect to size. One class had a volume close to that observed when suspended in sucrose, and another class was present that was 30-45% larger. In osmium fixed or in double-fixed preparations, these small and large classes corresponded to "condensed" and "orthodox" forms of mitochondria respectively. When glutaraldehyde was used alone as the fixative, the two size classes were also present. However, the mitochondria were homogeneous with respect to structure. In these mitochondria, the width of the space that separated the cristae membranes had become reduced when compared to mitochondria suspended in sucrose. The two size classes were also present in samples of mitochondria prepared during both states 3 and 4. State 4 conditions did not lead to any significant increase of the number of condensed mitochondria. In state 3 preparations, 65-70% of the population were condensed. The condensed and orthodox forms could be related to normal and swollen forms of mitochondria. Conditions that led to a swelling also led to an increase in the number of orthodox mitochondria in osmium-fixed material. The different appearance of the mitochondria is explained by the different conditions for fixation of the mitochondria that exist when nonswollen and swollen mitochondria are fixed. This difference is particularly crucial in the case of osmium tetroxide due to the unique way this fixative, among generally used fixatives, denatures proteins.
Dissociable Deficits of Executive Function Caused by Gestational Adversity are Linked to Specific Transcriptional Changes in the Prefrontal Cortex

Poor-quality maternal diet during pregnancy, and subsequent gestational growth disturbances in the offspring, have been implicated in the etiology of multiple neurodevelopmental disorders, including ADHD, schizophrenia, and autism. These disorders are characterized, in part, by abnormalities in responses to reward and errors of executive function. Here, we demonstrate dissociable deficits in reward processing and executive function in male and female mice, solely due to maternal malnutrition via high-fat or low-protein diets. Gestational exposure to a high-fat diet delayed acquisition of a fixed ratio response, and decreased motivation as assessed by progressive ratio. In contrast, offspring of a low-protein diet displayed no deficits in operant learning, but were more prone to assign salience to a cue that predicts reward (sign-tracking) in a Pavlovian-conditioned approach task. In the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), gestational exposure to a high-fat diet promoted impulsivity, whereas exposure to a low-protein diet led to marked inattention. These dissociable executive function deficits are known to be mediated by the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), which displays markers of epigenetic dysregulation in neurodevelopmental disorders. Following behavioral characterization, we assayed PFC gene expression using a targeted PCR array and found that both maternal diets increased overall transcription in PFC. Cluster analysis of the relationships between individual transcripts and behavioral outcomes revealed a cluster of primarily epigenetic modulators, whose overexpression was linked to executive function deficits. The overexpression of four genes, DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), δ-opioid receptor (OPRD1), cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1), and catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT), was strongly associated with overall poor performance. All 5-CSRTT deficits were associated with DNMT1 upregulation, whereas impulsive behavior could be dissociated from inattention by overexpression of OPRD1 or COMT, respectively, as well as a distinct cluster of epigenetic regulators. These data provide molecular support for dissociable domains of executive function.
Obtaining funds for research

Abstract Problems encountered in obtaining funds for research are discussed from an academic scientists point of view. The author describes the techniques he has used over the years to help develop the skills and confidence of the new or young researcher.
A comparison of lipid and lipoprotein measurements in the fasting and nonfasting states in patients with type 2 diabetes

ABSTRACTBackground: Patients with diabetes often do not reach recommended lipid targets. This may be in part due to the difficulty of obtaining fasting measurements.Objective: To compare fasting and nonfasting low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDLc), and low density lipoprotein particle number (LDLP) patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and to determine the effect on assessing treatment success.Research design and methods: Standard lipids and NMR lipoproteins were analyzed at baseline and following a standardized meal in patients with T2DM.Outcomes measures: Primary outcomes were agree­ment between fasting and nonfasting LDLc, non-HDLc, and LDLP and the agreement between these measures for determining fasting LDLc treatment success. Direct LDL cholesterol (DLDL) was a secondary outcome.Results: Of 31 patients, only 56% of LDLc measure­ments were equivalent in the fasting and nonfasting states, compared to 97% of DLDLc ( p < 0.0001), 94% of non-HDLc (...