cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Functional analysis of neuronal microRNAs in Caenorhabditis elegans dauer formation by combinational genetics and Neuronal miRISC immunoprecipitation.

Identifying the physiological functions of microRNAs (miRNAs) is often challenging because miRNAs commonly impact gene expression under specific physiological conditions through complex miRNA::mRNA interaction networks and in coordination with other means of gene regulation, such as transcriptional regulation and protein degradation. Such complexity creates difficulties in dissecting miRNA functions through traditional genetic methods using individual miRNA mutations. To investigate the physiological functions of miRNAs in neurons, we combined a genetic “enhancer” approach complemented by biochemical analysis of neuronal miRNA-induced silencing complexes (miRISCs) in C. elegans. Total miRNA function can be compromised by mutating one of the two GW182 proteins (AIN-1), an important component of miRISC. We found that combining an ain-1 mutation with a mutation in unc-3, a neuronal transcription factor, resulted in an inappropriate entrance into the stress-induced, alternative larval stage known as dauer, indicating a role of miRNAs in preventing aberrant dauer formation. Analysis of this genetic interaction suggests that neuronal miRNAs perform such a role partly by regulating endogenous cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling, potentially influencing two other dauer-regulating pathways. Through tissue-specific immunoprecipitations of miRISC, we identified miRNAs and their likely target mRNAs within neuronal tissue. We verified the biological relevance of several of these miRNAs and found that many miRNAs likely regulate dauer formation through multiple dauer-related targets. Further analysis of target mRNAs suggests potential miRNA involvement in various neuronal processes, but the importance of these miRNA::mRNA interactions remains unclear. Finally, we found that neuronal genes may be more highly regulated by miRNAs than intestinal genes. Overall, our study identifies miRNAs and their targets, and a physiological function of these miRNAs in neurons. It also suggests that compromising other aspects of gene expression, along with miRISC, can be an effective approach to reveal miRNA functions in specific tissues under specific physiological conditions.
Donepezil-induced mania.

Objective To report a case of mania associated with the titration of donepezil in an elderly patient. Setting A 400-bed academic acute care psychiatric facility. Case summary A 70-year-old male with a history of paranoid schizophrenia, alcohol dependence, and mild cognitive impairment was admitted after concerns that he was responding to internal stimuli and exhibited increased disorganization. The patient was initiated on quetiapine, titrated to 500 mg at bedtime, to address disorganization, hallucinations, and poor sleep. After improvement of psychotic symptoms and assessment of cognitive function, donepezil 5 mg daily was initiated and titrated to 10 mg daily after two weeks. Days following the increase of donepezil to 10 mg daily, the patient exhibited symptoms of mania and became hyperverbal with elevated mood and agitation. A decreased need for sleep with an increase in cleaning activities throughout the day was noted. Donepezil was suspected to have induced the new symptoms and was discontinued. Following discontinuation, the manic symptoms completely resolved over a two-week period. Conclusion The titration of donepezil was associated with the onset of mania. Previous trials involving off-label donepezil use in patients with bipolar disorder, but not schizophrenia, have reported the development of manic symptoms. Although rare, there is mounting evidence that donepezil is associated with the emergence of mania. Clinicians should be aware of this potential side effect in all patients treated with donepezil.
Action of metabolic hormones on the fine structure of rat liver cells III. Effects of adrenalectomy and administration of cortisone

Electron microscopic studies were made of hepatocytes from sham-operated rats, adrenalectomized animals fasted 15 hours, and adrenalectomized rats fasted 15 hours but given a single I.P. injection (10 mg) of cortisone acetate. The objective of this work was to define the earliest morphological response of hepatocytes to injection of a glucocorticoid and to provide additional information on the mechanism of hormone action at the cellular level. Hepatocytes from fasted, adrenalectomized rats contained no glycogen particles and very little smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER). In addition the rough endoplasmic reticulum was disorganized and showed fewer ribosomes and polysomes than found in liver cells from sham-operated rats. Two hours after glucocorticoid injection glycogen particles were seen in numerous centrilobular cells and some periportal hepatocytes. Elements of SER were associated with the glycogen particles. By 4 hours after hormone injection abundant glycogen was found in all hepatocytes. Centrilobular cells showed dispersed glycogen with extensive tubules of SER associated with the glycogen particles. Periportal hepatocytes accumulated glycogen as dense masses scattered throughout the cytosome. SER occurred mainly at the edges of the glycogen masses. Midlobular cells showed glycogen patterns intermediate between periportal and centrilobular cells; masses of dispersed glycogen with abundant SER occurred within and around the glycogen areas of the cells. Glucocorticoid stimulation also caused cisternae of RER to align in parallel arrays, and more ribosomes and polysomes appeared on membranes of RER than in similar cells from adrenalectomized rats. The interpretation is offered that the glucocorticoid-stimulated proliferation of SER is the morphological expression of induced microsomal enzyme synthesis (glucose-6-phosphatase) known to occur under these hormonal conditions.
Adaptation to the Birth of a Down's Syndrome Infant: Grieving and Maternal Attachment

Abstract Six cases, involving family adaptation to a Down's syndrome birth, illustrate variations in the countermovement between processes of parental grieving for a fantasied normal infant and attachment to a real handicapped infant. After initial grieving, there is likely to be some affective denial of disability, with a second wave of grieving inaugurated by a social smile which is dampened and by eye-to-eye contact which is less than expected. Implications for intervention are especially important in the light of our changing attitudes toward home care of the retarded.
Optimizing Geometrical Control of Surface Distributions in Rapid Prototyping Deposition

Rapid prototyping techniques employing thermal material deposition are intended for direct layered fabrication of functional products. This article introduces an analytical geometric model of such material transfer processes, using superposition of unit deposition distributions, composed of elementary ellipsoidal primitives. The real-time surface geometry model, with its deposition features identified by in-process height measurements, is used for Smith-prediction of the material shape in the deposition region that is inaccessible to sensing. Thus, a distributed-parameter geometry control scheme is established to obtain a desired surface topology, by modulating the feed and motion of a moving mass source. This is obtained by dynamic surface shaping based on minimization of the geometric error distribution by robust real-time optimization techniques. A moving constrained polytope and a simulated annealing method at random sampled surface locations are employed for this purpose. These methodologies are compared experimentally in geometric command following a robotic fused wire deposition plasma-arc welding station, using laser profilometric scanner sensing.
A Force of Ones: Reclaiming Individual Power in a Time of Teams, Work Groups, and Other Crowds

This article presents a review of the book “A Force of Ones: Reclaiming Individual Power in a Time of Teams, Work Groups, and Other Crowds,” by Stanley M. Herman.
A Critical Analysis of Treatment Strategies in Desmoid Tumours: A Review of a Series of 106 Cases

Abstract Background The management of desmoid tumours, previously based on strategies employed for sarcomas, should be reassessed, given the morbidity of interventions used in their treatment. Methods Long-term follow-up (median 123 months) of a series of 106 treated patients with 69 primary and 37 recurrent desmoids, in order to study natural history and outcome. Results Desmoids typically evolved actively over a median period of 3 years, and stabilised thereafter. Recurrences or progression most commonly occurred between 14 and 17 months. Risk factors for recurrence were presentation (primary vs. recurrent), gender, tumour location and resection margins. However, survival was independent from these factors, with equivalent survival whether resection had been performed or not. Tumour control and functional outcome depended on location and presentation. Functional impairment was proportional to number of operations and whether patients had received radiotherapy. Recurrences were observed in 12/23 patients after radiotherapy. Conclusion Desmoids are relatively indolent tumours needing different approaches than sarcomas. Direct surgery is advisable only in primary lower trunk wall/girdle locations. Wait-and-see and medical treatment is preferable in other types of presentations.
Results of Clinical Trials with the Administration of Interleukin 2 and Adoptive Immunotherapy with Activated Cells in Patients with Cancer

Abstract The administration of transferred lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells in conjunction with the administration of recombinant interleukin 2 (IL 2) at high doses has led to objective remissions in 14/41 cancer patients. Sequential studies with both Jurkat-derived IL 2, recombinant IL 2 and activated cells were conducted in a total of sixty-seven patients with cancer which established the safety, toxicity and immunologic effects of these treatments prior to their successful combination in humans. This regimen was developed in pulmonary and hepatic metastases models in mice using a variety of transplantable tumors. More recently we have demonstrated both in mice and in patients with melanoma that very high doses of recombinant IL 2 (> 100,000 units/kg administered three times daily) can lead to objective regressions. The future development of these immunotherapies will include their evaluation in adjuvant settings as well as in combination with other conventional cancer treatments.
The application of turbine bypass engines to high performance V/STOL aircraft

A study of the application of the turbine bypass engine (TBE) concept to high-performance V/STOL aircraft is in progress. The study is designed to identify the most promising TBE cycles for combination with a remote augmentor lift system (RALS), and to compare them with conventional turbofan RALS and lift-plus-lift/cruise concepts. Three cycles chosen for study are 15- and 30-percent-bypass-bleed TBE with simple RALS and 15-percent-bypass-bleed TBE with a turbo-compressor-RALS combination. Aircraft configurations were developed for the 15-percent-bleed TBE with simple and turbocompressor RALS and sized to a naval, supersonic, deck-launched, intercept mission. Early sizing results indicate that these two concepts give comparable airplane performance, although the simple RALS configuration has some potential design drawbacks that are avoided in the turbo-compressor RALS design.
Paying the price at the pump: dystonia from mutations in a Na+/K+ -ATPase.

Abstract Dystonia is a disorder of involuntary sustained muscle contraction, which usually affects a focal region of the body but may be generalized and results in twisting contorted movements or abnormal postures. Several clinical subtypes of dystonia have been delineated and many have a strong inherited basis. In this issue of Neuron , de Carvalho Aguiar and colleagues report the identification of missense mutations in the gene for the Na + /K + -ATPase α3 subunit ( ATP1A3 ) as a cause of rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism (RDP, DYT12 ).
Ecological Roulette: The Global Transport of Nonindigenous Marine Organisms

Ocean-going ships carry, as ballast, seawater that is taken on in port and released at subsequent ports of call. Plankton samples from Japanese ballast water released in Oregon contained 367 taxa. Most taxa with a planktonic phase in their life cycle were found in ballast water, as were all major marine habitat and trophic groups. Transport of entire coastal planktonic assemblages across oceanic barriers to similar habitats renders bays, estuaries, and inland waters among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Presence of taxonomically difficult or inconspicuous taxa in these samples suggests that ballast water invasions are already pervasive.
Chloroplast acclimation to low osmotic potential

Photosynthetic potential of isolated chloroplasts was investigated during in situ water deficits. An eight day stress cycle imposed on spinach plants reduced leaf ψw by 0.57MPa, and leaf ψπ by 0.50MPa, resulting in partial turgor maintenance during the stress cycle. Pressure/volume curves confirmed the occurrence of osmotic adjustment. Leaf ψπ depression was associated with an altered response of chloroplasts to low ψπ in vitro. Optimum reaction medium ψπ for photosynthesis shifted from -1.04 to -1.57MPa, and low ψπ was not as inhibitory to photosynthesis of plastids pre-exposed to stress in situ. These data indicate that chloroplasts acclimate to low external ψπ in response to leaf water deficits. This response was still evident four days after a stress cycle ended, but was nearly reversed eight days after stress. Repeated stress cycles in situ did not increase the degree of chloroplast acclimation to low ψπ in vitro. Fast dehydration of leaves did not induce this apparent chloroplast acclimation.
Surgery Insight: optimizing open nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy techniques for improved outcomes

Quality of life is an important factor that men with prostate cancer and their physicians consider when choosing an appropriate treatment option. Nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy offers the possibility of reducing postoperative complications relating to sexual, bladder and bowel dysfunction. This article reviews the techniques that can be used to improve outcomes in patients undergoing nerve-sparing surgery for prostate cancer.
On quadrature and singular finite elements

Special quadrature rules are described for elastic finite elements that have rq behaviour (0 < q < 1) directly induced in natural element co-ordinates. In general, the quadrature points and weights can vary with the exponent q. For two-dimensional problems with a square-root singularity (q = 1/2), the use of special quadrature results in significant improvements over regular Gauss quadrature. The development of special quadrature rules for three-dimensional elements is shown to be a difficult task. Several special case rules are developed and tested for a line-type singular element, and a precise rule is given for a point-type singular element in three dimensions.
ECONOMIC IMPERIALISM AND THE CRISIS IN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING RESEARCH

Abstract This paper explores the processes of economic imperialism to provide insight into the resilience of the positive accounting research program. In the late 1980s, after 20 years, the US financial accounting research program suffered a crisis of confidence due to the lack of strong empirical results and productive applications. This crisis did not lead, however, to meaningful re-examination of the usefulness of positive economic concepts or changes in research practice or orientation. The need for economic imperialism, or application of positive economic theory to new areas, is built into the reputational structure of the mainstream US academic discipline of economics. Furthermore, positive economics and its applied fields, such as financial economics and financial accounting, have adopted a methodology where application validates theory-regardless of success or fit. The application of modern finance theory to pension investment and funding policy illustrates that positive economic applications do not “work” as well as they are supposed to, however, the theories play an ideological role in justifying corporate behavior. One of the ways that financial accounting resolved the crisis of the late 1980s was launching a new wave of positive accounting imperialism into research on historical markets, international markets, and environmental issues. There are serious philosophical problems when disciplines are organized as rigid reputational hierarchies, as in economics, finance, and financial accounting. When lack of empirical results poses no problem to the dominant theory, and communication and innovation necessary to progress are thwarted, the research community becomes dysfunctional. One possible, although difficult, solution is to build alternative academic reputational structures.
Spatial-semantics: how users derive shape from information space

User problems with large information spaces multiply in complexity when we enter the digital domain. Virtual information environments can offer 3D representations, reconfigurations, and access to large databases that may overwhelm many users' abilities to filter and represent. As a result, users frequently experience disorientation in navigating large digital spaces to locate and use information. To date, the research response has been predominantly based on the analysis of visual navigational aids that might support users' bottom-up processing of the spatial display. In the present paper, an emerging alternative is considered that places greater emphasis on the top-down application of semantic knowledge by the user gleaned from their experiences within the sociocognitive context of information production and consumption. A distinction between spatial and semantic cues is introduced, and existing empirical data are reviewed that highlight the differential reliance on spatial or semantic information as the domain expertise of the user increases. The conclusion is reached that interfaces for shaping information should be built on an increasing analysis of users' semantic processing.
The effect of a physical activity intervention on bias in self-reported activity.

Purpose A positive outcome in self-reported behavior could be detected erroneously if an intervention caused over-reporting of the targeted behavior. Data collected from a multi-site randomized trial were examined to determine if adolescent girls who received a physical activity intervention over-reported their activity more than girls who received no intervention. Methods Activity was measured using accelerometers and self-reports (3-Day Physical Activity Recall, 3DPAR) in cross-sectional samples preintervention (6th grade, n = 1,464) and post-intervention (8th grade, n = 3,114). Log-transformed accelerometer minutes were regressed on 3DPAR blocks, treatment group, and their interaction, while adjusting for race, body mass index, and timing of data collection. Results Preintervention, the association between measures did not differ between groups, but post-intervention 3DPAR blocks were associated with fewer log-accelerometer minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in intervention girls than in control girls ( p = 0.002). The group difference was primarily in the upper 15% of the 3DPAR distribution, where control girls had >1.7 more accelerometer minutes of MVPA than intervention girls who reported identical activity levels. Group differences in this subsample were 8.5%–16.2% of the mean activity levels; the intervention was powered to detect a difference of 10%. Conclusion Self-report measures should be interpreted with caution when used to evaluate a physical activity intervention.
An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Louisville's Enterprise Zone

Louisville, Kentucky, has one of the oldest and largest enterprise zones (EZs) in the United States, yet until recently, the program had not been independently evaluated. Perhaps because no clearly superior evaluation methodology has emerged in the literature, the efficacy of EZ programs around the United States remains a contentious subject among scholars and policy makers alike. The authors take a quasi-experimental approach in evaluating Louisville’s EZ, using many different measures to give the program every chance to show success. Program tax exemptions and administrative costs of more than $55 million within the 13-year period studied are identified. The measures reveal that one of the EZ’s three objectives was obtained in one geographic subset of the zone, but not because of the EZ policy treatment. The research adds one more case study to the EZ literature and provides another indication of the questionable benefits of EZ programs.
The Determinants of Program Success and Failure

Recent social science research – particularly evaluation research and cost-benefit analysis – has produced a substantial and very useful literature on the impact of public policy and on the relationship of program inputs to outputs and outcomes. However, the explicit focus of these analytic techniques on impacts and outcomes does not systematically yield useful information on why programs have been successes or failures. Policy-makers faced with an evaluation of program success or failure obviously need to know something about the why question if they are to make needed adjustments in the program or carry the lessons of one program to other areas. This article attempts to present a comprehensive framework for explaining and understanding program performance. It is meant to have two uses and to serve two clienteles. First, it presents for social scientists a set of research questions to guide research into the determinants of program performance. Second, it provides public policy-makers with a set of action questions which should be asked and answered appropriately in the actual formulating and carrying out of public policy, as a means of enhancing the chances of program success. The framework is divided into two parts, the formulating process and the carrying out process, although these two processes may overlap considerably, both in time and in terms of substantive concerns. Program success may be impeded by problems or inadequacies in one or more of the components in either the formulating stage or the carrying out stage or in both.
Transparent mode flip-flops for collapsible pipelines

Prior work has shown that collapsible pipelining techniques have the potential to significantly reduce clocking activity, which can consume up to 70% of the dynamic power in modern high performance microprocessors. Previous collapsible pipeline proposals either rely on single phase clocking (by forcing latches into transparent state) or do not discuss the mechanisms by which stages are merged. In this work two flip-flop designs featuring an additional transparent state suitable for collapsing stages are presented. Transparency is achieved either by decoupling the master and slave clocks to keep both latches transparent, or by using a bypass mux that routes around the flip-flop. Both of these designs are evaluated in the context of transparently gated pipelines, an ad-hoc collapsible pipelining technique. Detailed analysis shows that the decoupled clock flip-flop is the most attractive in terms of energy and delay.
Methodology of risk assessment in mobile agent system design

In mobile agent systems, depending on their purpose, various paths may be taken to provide security based on the vulnerability of the features. With widespread information sharing between potential system breakers ranging from amateur hackers to professional crackers, system security features are tested every day. As evident from frequent break-ins, security is often proven either inefficient or nonexistent. Clearly, a pragmatic methodology of determining the system security requirements is needed. The purpose is two-fold. First, we catalog and classify numerous security techniques and practices for mobile agent systems. We also provide the definitions and describe implementations of security features relevant to mobile agent systems. Additionally, we measure their impact on agent system design and performance. The second purpose is to illustrate the discussed methodology in the context of DOORS, a mobile agent system developed by us for network performance data collection. We discuss which security features are suitable for DOORS and how they impact the performance of the DOORS system.
Effects of age, adrenocorticotropin, and dexamethasone on a male-specific cytochrome P450 localized in the inner zone of the guinea pig adrenal

Guinea pig adrenal microsomes have a capacity for xenobiotic metabolism which is localized to the inner zone, greater in adult males then females, greater in older than in younger males, and suppressed by ACTH. In this paper we show that a cytochrome P450 distinct from P45021 and P45017α, which is localized to the inner zone, is male specific, increases with age, and is suppressed by ACTH. This is the first report of a sex-dependent cytochrome P450 in the adrenal. It is immunochemically related to the two members of the P450I family, P450 c and d, neither of which has been reported to be hormonally regulated. The correlation of this cytochrome P450 with the ability of the microsomes to metabolize ethylmorphine suggests that it accounts for this capacity. Whether metabolism of foreign compounds and/or male-specific steroid hydroxylation are its functions in vivo remains to be determined. (Endocrinology 124: 2494-2498,1989)
Simultaneous measurement of intracellular and extracellular oxygen concentrations using a nitroxide‐liposome system

The concentration of oxygen within cells is important in many physiological and pathological processes, but such oxygen-dependent phenomena are generally studied as a function of the concentration of extracellular oxygen, due to a lack of suitable methods. Electron parmamagnetic resonance (EPR) oximetric techniques offer an attractive alternative to make such measurements. Previous EPR oximetric studies of extracellular-intracellular oxygen gradients have been hindered, however, by the fact that separate samples, prepared in slightly different ways, were required for individual measurements of extracellular and intracellular oxygen concentrations. In this study we demonstrate a technique that allows simultaneous measurement of intracellular and extracellular oxygen concentrations in a single sample: extracellular measurement is achieved using positively charged nitroxides encapsulated in liposomes, while intracellular oxygen is determined using a membrane-permeable nitroxide along with an extracellular broadening agent. Application of this system to the measurement of oxygen concentrations in suspensions of rat myoblast cells gave results which are consistent with non-simultaneous measurements and which show substantial extracellular-intracellular oxygen gradients in these rapidly respiring cells.
Just Food: Obesity Trends Demand System Strategies

Food and health are at the core of human existence and serve as common indicators of economic and social well-being. The simultaneous escalation in obesity rates and evidence of a food system marked by a lack of access and sustainability suggest the need for comprehensive systematic approaches to understanding, evaluating, and transforming both these complex and interrelated entities. This article reviews obesity trends and food system forces that may contribute to excessive caloric intake and food inequality. Given that obesity and food insecurity share many of the same etiologies, comprehensive evidence-based strategies designed to address shared causes may leverage the impact of shared solutions. The potential benefits of promoting healthy sustainable food systems to build healthy just communities are briefly explored to encourage more in-depth discussion.
Decline in insulin action with age in endurance-trained humans

We tested the hypothesis that regular endurance exercise prevents the age-related decline in insulin action typically observed in healthy, sedentary adults. An index of whole body insulin sensitivi...
Kundenbewertung mit Referenzwerten

Kundennahe, Kundenzufriedenheit und Kundenbindung stehen im Mittelpunkt nahezu jeder Marketinguberlegung. Nicht selten munden derartige Uberlegungen allerdings in dem falsch verstandenen Bemuhen um „zero defections“ , d.h. in dem Bemuhen, eine Kundenfluktuation von „Null“ zu erreichen. Gerade vor dem Hintergrund begrenzter unternehmerischer Marketing- und Vertriebsbudgets darf der Einsatz der Marketing- und Vertriebsinstrumente aber nicht einseitig auf Effektivitatsgewinne konzentriert werden, sondern muss viel starker als bisher auf die effiziente Gestaltung von Kundenbeziehungen ausgerichtet werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund gewinnen monetare Kundenwertanalysen zunehmend an Bedeutung. Ausgehend von einem umfassenden Kundenwertverstandnis stellt der Autor im vorliegenden Beitrag ein eigenes Referenzwert-Modell („REVAL“) vor, mit dem Empfehlungen bzw. Referenzen monetarisiert werden. Dabei wird deutlich, dass der kundenindividuelle monetare Referenzwert im Wesentlichen vom Grad der Meinungsfuhrerschaft, der Grose des Sozialen Netzes und der Zufriedenheit des Referenzgebers abhangig ist.
City Planning Biography: Selected References

Interest in the origins and history of city planning in the United States has made it necessary to provide more information about biographical and reference sources on the subject. In tracing the evolution of American city planning, it is often necessary to identify individuals active, for the most part, during the period from 1900 to 1950, who are significant either for the roles they have played in the development of particular cities or regions, or for their advocacy of particular planning principles. Anthony Sutcliffe, who organized the first International Conference on the History of Urban and Regional Planning in 1977, points out the importance of city planning biography in his book, The History of Urban and Regional Planning; An Annotated Bibliography (1981). In the introduction to his chapter on individual planners, he notes the “great attraction of the biographical approach to planning historians” (139).
Asbestos-Related Pleural Plaques and Diffuse Pleural Thickening: Functional Consequences:

Asbestos is associated with both pleural plaques and diffuse pleural thicken ing. While the first condition is believed to be associated with no significant change in lung function, the latter clea...
Rules of engagement: moving beyond combat-based quests

Computer role-playing games (CRPGs) are known for their strong narrative structure. Over time, quests have become one of the main mechanics for leading a player through the story. Quests are given to the player in the form of a set of tasks to complete with few, if any, options. The options given to the player instead often revolve around combat-oriented actions -- requiring the player to engage in combat to progress through the storyline, despite player preference or game story that hints otherwise. We address this issue with the GrailGM, a run-time game master which offers quests and actions to the player based on their history and current world state.
Effective Course-of-Action Determination to Achieve Desired Effects

An evolutionary algorithm-based approach to identify effective courses of action (COAs) in dynamic uncertain situations is presented. The uncertain situation is modeled using timed influence nets, an instance of dynamic Bayesian networks. The approach makes significant enhancements to the current trial-and-error-based manual technique, which is not only labor intensive but also not capable of modeling constraints among actionable events. The proposed approach is an attempt to overcome these limitations. It automates the process of COA identification. It also allows a system analyst to capture certain types of constraints among actionable events. Because of its parallel search nature, the approach produces multiple COAs that have a similar fitness value. This feature not only gives more flexibility to a decision maker during mission planning, but it can also be used to generalize the COAs if there exists a pattern among them. This paper also discusses a heuristic that further enhances the performance of the approach.
Evaluation of Sampling Methods and Development of Sample Plans for Estimating Predator Densities in Cotton

The cost-reliability of five sampling methods (visual search, drop cloth, beat bucket, shake bucket, and sweep net) was determined for four groups of predatory arthropods on cotton plants in Texas. The beat bucket sample method was the most cost-reliable sampling method for Orius adults, and the beat bucket and drop cloth were the most cost-reliable methods for Orius nymphs. The drop cloth and beat bucket were the most cost-reliable methods for sampling spiders. For sampling adult Coccinellidae, the sweep net and the beat bucket were the most cost-reliable. The visual sample method was the least cost-reliable method for Orius adults and nymphs and spiders. No one sampling method was identified as the optimum method for all four predator groups. However, the relative cost-reliability of the beat bucket method ranked first or second among the five sampling methods and this method was chosen for further evaluation in field studies in Texas and Arizona. The relative cost-reliability of 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-plants per beat bucket sample varied with predator group, but multiple plant sample units were equal to or more cost-reliable than the one plant sample unit. Fixed sample plans for the beat bucket method were developed for Orius adults, Orius nymphs, spiders, and adult Coccinellidae, and the sum of these groups using the 3-, 5-, and 10-plant sample unit sizes. The greater cost-reliability of the beat bucket sampling method and its ease of use is of particular advantage in assessing predator densities in a commercial cotton field monitoring program.
Examining Rowe and Kahn’s Concept of Successful Aging: Importance of Taking a Life Course Perspective

Purpose of the Study: This ar ticle critiques Rowe and Kahn’s conceptualization of successful aging using tenets of the life course perspective. Design and Methods: A review and synthesis of the literature on successful aging and studies that use a life cour se perspective. Results: W e draw on life course principles that view development as a dynamic lifelong process, embedded in historical time and place, and influenced by the web of relationships individuals are linked to, as well as more distal social structural factors. This discussion questions the relatively static nature of Rowe and Kahn’s successful aging model, its emphasis on personal control over one’s later-life outcomes, and neglect of historical and cultural context, social relationships, and structural forces in influencing later-life functioning. Implications: Caution in using the model in its cur rent formulation is needed, and we promote thinking about how successful aging can better align with micro- and macrolevel issues through utilization of a life course perspective.
Surface and Particle Modification via the RAFT Process: Approach and Properties

Surface modification of materials is of great importance, as it can alter the properties of the surface dramatically and thus control the interaction between materials and their environment. Due to the wide applications of polymers in many areas, for example adhesion, lubrication, friction and wear, composites, microelectronics and biotechnology [1–5], surface modification by polymers is gaining increasing attention [6–8]. Generally, there are two ways to achieve the surface modification of materials with polymers: physisorption and covalent attachment. Compared with the physisorption method, covalent attachment can avoid the desorption issue and provide a robust linkage between the introduced polymer chains and material surfaces. Polymer grafting techniques provide a versatile tool to covalently modify the surface of materials. These techniques can be categorized into ‘grafting to’ and ‘grafting from’. In the ‘grafting-to’ technique, the polymer, bearing an appropriate functional group, reacts with the material surfaces to form chemically attached chains. However, due to the steric hindrance imposed by the already-grafted chains, it becomes increasingly difficult for the incoming polymer chains to diffuse to the surface, which intrinsically results in low surface graft densities. In the ‘graftingfrom’ technique, the initiators are initially anchored on the surface and then subsequently used to initiate the polymerization of monomer from the surface. Because the diffusion of monomer is not strongly hindered by the existing grafted polymer chains, this technique is more promising to achieve high graft densities. The recent development of controlled polymerization techniques including cationic, anionic, ring-opening metathesis and controlled radical polymerizations (CRP) makes it possible to provide considerable control over both the structure of the polymer to be grafted onto the materials surface and surface graft densities. The combination of these polymerization methods with polymer grafting techniques has been successfully used as an approach to modify various surfaces with
Estimating intensity variance due to noise in registered images

Image registration refers to the process of finding the spatial correspondence between two or more images. This is usually done by applying a spatial transformation, computed automatic or manually, to a given image using a continuous image model computed either with interpolation or approximation methods. We show that noise induced signal variance in interpolated images differs significantly from the signal variance of the original images in native space. We describe a simple approach to compute the signal variance in registered images based on the signal variance and covariance of the original images, the spatial transformations computed by the registration procedure, and the interpolation or approximation kernel chosen. Our approach is applied to diffusion tensor (DT) MRI data. We show that incorrect noise variance estimates in registered diffusion weighted images can affect the estimated DT parameters, their estimated uncertainty, as well as indices of goodness of fit such as chi-square maps. In addition to DT-MRI, we believe that this methodology would be useful any time parameter extraction methods are applied to registered or interpolated data.
Subjecting the Fourth Amendment to Intermediate Scrutiny: The Reasonableness of Media Ride-Alongs

Many television viewers can readily recognize the catchy lyrics of the theme song from the popular television series, "Cops."1 With "Bad Boys"2 playing in the background, the show opens with a montage of graphic footage: courageous police officers hotly pursuing a criminal in a dangerous high-speed car chase and others invading the home of a stunned or oblivious suspect. This real-life footage comes from media ride-alongs, which allow media crews to accompany police officers on patrol and film them in action.3 Ride-alongs clearly appeal to both law enforcement officials and the media. They portray police officers courageously taking the seemingly guilty off of our streets4 while achieving the deterrent effect of publicizing specific law enforcement activities. Media executives are enticed by the high ratings potential5 of dramatic footage, which offers a level of reality that other television cannot achieve. As a result, the number of shows with
How to Handle Conflict With Poise?: A Fellow’s Perspective

2:00 am: While on call, the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) intern pages you regarding a hypotensive patient. The nurse started the patient on 2 pressors without orders. You rush to assess the patient. When you reach the CCU, you find that both the nurse and the intern are upset. The nurse is concerned
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is defined as an infection of the upper genital tract in women. Because of the difficulty of diagnosis and the potential for damage to the reproductive health of women, the Center for Disease Control now defines PID as pelvic or lower abdominal pain in sexually active young women and other women at risk of sexually transmitted infections, if no cause for the illness other than PID can be identified, and if either cervical motion tenderness (CMT), uterine tenderness, or adnexal tenderness is present. PID is treated on an empiric basis because a definitive diagnosis is rare and confirmatory tests are rarely known at diagnosis. Treatment should not be delayed because prevention of long-term sequelae due to this ascending infection is dependent on early administration of appropriate antibiotics. Long-term sequelae include Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome, tubo-ovarian abscess, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and chronic pelvic pain, all of which result from inflammatory damage to pelvic organs. Screening and treating sexually active women for N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis reduces the risk for developing PID.
Seeing Red: A Social- Psychological Analysis of the Rajneeshpuram Conflict

psychological study of intergroup conflict - between the Rajneeshees and other groups. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected on the Rajneeshees and on Oregon residents' attitudes toward them. The prevailing attitude was overwhelmingly negative. The public's perceptions of and reactions to the Rajneeshees can be understood in terms of a dynamic social-cognitive process. The psychological concepts of schema, level of abstraction, and stress and coping mechanisms are useful in explaining the public's strong opinion. The construct of "moral exclusion" is of utility in understanding the Rajneeshees' attitudes and hostile actions. This conflict provided a unique opportunity to analyze how beliefs and tactics interact with socialcognitive processes throughout the conflict dynamic. From 1981 to 1985, sannyasins, followers of the Indian religious leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, inhabited the commune in Eastern Oregon that they named Rajneeshpuram. During their stay in Oregon, the Rajneeshees gained wide publicity from their innumerable conflicts. Throughout the United States and around the world, Rajneeshpuram was prime-time television and front-page news. Everyone in Oregon knew about the Rajneeshees, and few had anything good to say about them. This dislike of the Rajneeshees was not a mild annoyance. The Rajneeshees enraged the people of Oregon. It is surprising that the tension did not fulminate, boil over, and culiminate in bloodshed. From a social-psychological, information-processing perspective the following questions about the Rajneeshpuram conflict will be examined: Why did this group catch the public's attention? Why did the public react so strongly to them? Why were they feared and despised? And, why did the Rajneeshees become so hostile and bellicose toward outsiders? I will present the results of a state-wide survey on the public's attitudes toward
Social Media for Professional Practice: Integrating Twitter With Social Work Pedagogy

As social media continue to influence information-seeking trends among digital-age learners, social work educators must develop their pedagogy apace and construct a curriculum that invites students to discover information on Twitter and related social networks. Organizing and sharing information via social media is rapidly becoming a fundamental literacy for professional practice, as government and nonprofit organizations use these platforms to circulate information about services. The authors suggest ways to integrate Twitter into classroom assignments across a social work program based in the liberal arts. They argue that Twitter is a professionally relevant tool that helps students develop knowledge and skills for social work as well as the digital literacies of metacognition, critical evaluation, and attention management demanded today. Furthermore, they assert that Twitter is particularly well-suited to cultivate the skills that align with the core values, competencies, and imperatives of the social ...
Composition of Eggs from Dwarf and Normal Chickens in Lines Selected for 56-Day Body Weight

Abstract Egg weight and egg components were measured at two ages in random samples of 30 nondwarf and 30 dwarf chickens from lines selected for high and low body weight at 56 days of age. Egg, dry shell, dry albumen, total moisture, relative moisture, and dry albumen weights as well as albumen and yolk percentage dry matter were similar at 300 and 360 days of age. Absolute and relative dry yolk weights increased with age, whereas relative shell weight and wet and dry albumen to yolk (A:Y) ratios decreased. Pullets from the high weight line laid larger eggs with more dry yolk, but less relative dry yolk and shell dry matter than those from the low weight line. Nondwarf pullets produced larger eggs with more absolute and relative dry yolk and shell dry matter than dwarf pullets. Line × genotype interactions were present for egg traits other than absolute and relative dry yolk and shell dry matter, providing evidence of differential effects of the dwarfing allele in different genotypic backgrounds.
Narrative Approaches to Learning and Development in Organizations

Learning and developing are integral parts of peoples’ lives in organizations, as ongoing learning is seen as critical for individual and organizational success. Thus, enhancing this learning has l...
Pre-European settlement forest composition in east New Jersey and southeastern New York

A total of 5059 witness trees were counted from survey reports of "unappropriated lands" in 23 tallies from 14 towns and 13 counties of southeastern New York and East New Jersey. Southeastern New York and northern East New Jersey were dominated by oak, particularly white, red and black oaks, with hickory and chestnut common. Pre-European settlement forests in southern East New Jersey were dominated by oak and pine with cedar and maple, probably the species white cedar and red maple, common in some areas. Cedar was unrepresented in two of five S East Jersey tallies which encompass the modern white cedar-red maple swamp forest areas, while maple was common only in one of the tallies. Distribution of modern forest types and fossil pollen records were consistent with witness tree counts for oak and pine. As compared to pollen records, four tallies overrepresented walnut and underrepresented hickory.
Abstract 028: BPH/5 Pre-eclamptic Mice Have Increased Uterine Interleukin (IL)-15 And This Is Associated with Decidual Natural Killer (dNK) Cell Loss At The Maternal-Fetal Interface Early In Pregnancy

Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive disease that affects 5-10% of pregnant women worldwide. Although a leading cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity/mortality, its origin is unknown. Abnormal placentation resulting in reduced placental perfusion is implicated. Early in pregnancy dNK cells are recruited to the maternal-fetal interface to promote uterine angiogenesis during decidualization. Uterine IL-15 activates dNK cells, which produce IFN-γ to orchestrate vessel remodeling. Using the BPH/5 mouse model that spontaneously develops the cardinal features of PE along with placental abnormalities, we tested the hypothesis that uterine inflammation is associated with dNK cell loss at the maternal-fetal interface prior to placenta formation. At the start of decidualization (e4.5-5.5), IL-15 mRNA was increased in BPH/5 implantation sites vs C57 controls (60-fold vs 20-fold respectively, p 3 cells vs C57: 9.7 x 10 3 cells, p 0.05), but blunted NKp46 mRNA expression (30-fold vs veh, p 3 vs rIL-15/IL-15Rα: 0.4 x 10 3 cells, n=3-5, p inflammation and dNK cell loss, and that artificial increases in intrauterine IL-15 in control mice cause dNK cell loss. This suggests that increased uterine expression of IL-15 contributes to dNK cell loss at the maternal-fetal interface in BPH/5 mice, which could lead to impaired placental perfusion and development of PE in this model.