cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Health and hunger: nutrient response to income depending on caloric availability in Nepal

Using data from NLSS III, we estimate nutrient‐income elasticities for macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals. We further allow for differential nutrient demand response to income depending on where a household is in the caloric availability distribution. We find that some nutrients are income inelastic indicating that they are necessity goods while others are relatively income elastic. We further test and reject equivalent nutrient‐income elasticities across the caloric availability distribution. Households in the lowest calorie quintile have highly income elastic nutrient demand leaving them vulnerable to income fluctuations. Moreover, as households meet their first‐order caloric needs, they substitute away from cheap calorie‐dense staples toward more expensive nutrient‐dense foods. Finally, for most nutrients, households in the highest calorie quintile exhibit more elastic nutrient demand, similar to households in the lowest quintile. Our results suggest that policies aimed at improving income will likely also improve household nutrient availability, particularly for the most calorie poor households. They further suggest that policies aimed at protecting poor households from negative income shocks will also likely yield nutritional benefits.
The Effect of Thermodynamic Fluctuations on the Properties of Untwinned Crystals of YBa2Cu3O1−δ

Thermodynamic fluctuations cause small regions of a sample to enter the superconducting state as the temperature approaches Tc from above. Conversely, small regions fluctuate into the normal state below Tc. We review the value of measuring fluctuation effects and the types of measurements that have been made. Conductivity and Hall-effect data are presented for an untwinned crystal of YBa2Cu3O7−δ . The data are analyzed to determine how well they are fitted by the three-dimensional theories of Aslamazov and Larkin and of Maki and Thompson (for the conductivity) and of Fukuyama, Ebisawa, and Tsuzuki (for the Hall effect). We find good qualitative fits to these theories as T approaches Tc, which is the temperature range where these theories are applicable. Quantitatively, however, there is difficulty in matching the data to the theory. For our low resistivity, untwinned YBa2Cu3O7−δ crystal, the fit to the theory would surprisingly indicate that the Maki-Thompson term dominates the Aslamazov-Larkin term in the Hall effect near Tc.
Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss in Diabetes Associated with Elevated Homocysteine

A number of studies have suggested that homocysteine may be a contributing factor to development of retinopathy in diabetic patients based on observed correlations between elevated homocysteine levels and the presence of retinopathy. The significance of such a correlation remains to be determined, and potential mechanisms by which homocysteine might induce retinopathy have not been well characterized. Ganapathy and colleagues1 used mutant mice that have endogenously elevated homocysteine levels due to heterozygous deletion of the cystathionine-β-synthase gene to examine changes in retinal pathology following induction of diabetes. Their finding that elevated homocysteine levels hastens loss of cells in the retinal ganglion cell layer suggests that toxicity to ganglion cells may warrant further investigation as a potential mechanism of homocysteine enhanced susceptibility to diabetic retinopathy.
Koshliakov’s Formula and Guinand’s Formula

In this chapter, we relate two well-known identities, with the names of N.S. Koshliakov and A.P. Guinand attached to them, which were proved by Ramanujan and recorded in his lost notebook before their discoveries by the aforementioned mathematicians. Ramanujan also derived some related formulas that have not been rediscovered by others.
Dialogue management for rulebased tutorials

Mixed-initiative discussion requires that a tutorial program have the means to manage its share of the dialogue. Dialogue management includes operations ranging from record keeping and context focusing to heuristics for directing the dialogue economically according to the needs of the student. This paper illustrates how knowledge for generating remarks in a tutorial dialogue about rule-based domain knowledge can be represented conceptually as a network consisting of transitions between dialogue situations in which the links are various kinds of management heuristics. The chief finding is that a network of procedures is a useful representation for organizing heuristics for carrying on a structured dialogue.
Opportunities for collaboration between infrastructure agencies and conservation groups: Road-stream crossings in Oklahoma

Abstract Rivers and streams worldwide are highly fragmented by dams and road crossings, and there is a pressing need to retrofit the most problematic structures to ensure aquatic organism passage. At the same time, a majority of the transportation infrastructure within developed nations is beyond its projected lifespan and significant investments will be needed to ensure that this transportation infrastructure remains safe and functional. Historically, these two problems have been addressed separately. Here, we use a rapid survey methodology to identify road-stream crossings that are likely high-priority projects for both conservation and infrastructure agencies. We conducted a field assessment of more than 700 road-stream crossings across Oklahoma to determine if they blocked fish movements and to determine their physical condition. We then developed an index of ecological impact, and an index of infrastructure condition, based on physical variables measured at each crossing. This survey revealed a subset of crossings that are both fragmenting the river network and in poor physical condition. These crossings are high-priority locations where culvert replacement may have both high ecosystem benefit and would eliminate a piece of transportation infrastructure with a high risk of failure. We discuss opportunities for cost-sharing between conservation and transportation agencies.
Agent-based modeling of a stadium evacuation in a smart city

The concept of Smart Cities is introduced to deal with the problems and challenges that come along with the growth of urbanization. Among all the challenges cities face, one fundamental concern is the safety of its citizens, especially during large sporting events. To test how smart capabilities can affect the evacuation process, an agent-based model was developed of the Georgia Tech football stadium. The model was developed to evaluate possible social behaviors during an evacuation, as well as produce the metrics of interest. To better visualize the results, a user interface was developed that includes a scenario evaluator and a decision making tool.
Curl-free ray mapping in three dimensions for freeform illumination design

An illumination design method that incorporates the entire 3-D geometry between the optical surface and target plane into the ray mapping calculation has been developed. The resulting mapping relationship is integrable along the specific contours of the optical surface instead of a 2-D plane. The method is capable of creating extremely high performance, off-axis designs (97% uniformity at 54-deg off-axis), and since it explicitly accounts for system geometry, appears to be easily generalizable.
Abstract 260: BAFF 60mer is Critical for B Cell Activation and BAFF Depletion Suppresses AAA Formation

Marginal zone and follicular B cells together constitute the B2 cell population, which is known to promote cardiovascular diseases by secretion of pathogenic antibodies. However, it is not complete...
Feasibility and Efficacy of Same-Day, In-Office Genetic Testing for Inherited Retinal Diseases:

Purpose:This article analyzes 2 practice patterns our institution uses for genetic testing of patients with inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) and compares testing completion and diagnostic yield ra...
Bolstering Cognitive Resilience via Train-the-Trainer Delivery of Mindfulness Training in Applied High-Demand Settings

Mindfulness training (MT) guidelines recommend that trainers have familiarity and knowledge of the training group as well as extensive MT expertise. Herein, a “train-the-trainer” (TTT) dissemination model was investigated for military service members whose access to MT is threatened by a scarcity of qualified trainers. US Army Master Resilience Trainer-Performance Experts (PEs), who had extensive familiarity with soldiers but no prior MT experience, participated in an MT practicum, and then delivered a 4-week MT program (Mindfulness-Based Attention Training, MBAT) contextualized for military personnel. Soldiers (n = 180) undergoing intensive military field training over the study interval were recruited as participants. MBAT was delivered to soldiers by PEs (n = 89) or by a trainer with extensive MT experience (Mindfulness Expert; ME, n = 45) but no military familiarity. The remaining participants served as no-training controls (NTC, n = 46). Soldiers’ performance on sustained attention and working memory (WM) tasks was assessed before (week 0, T1) and after MBAT delivery (week 5, T2), and again 4 weeks later (week 10, T3). For all participants, sustained attention and WM performance declined over the high-demand field training interval (p < 0.001). Yet, the PE group declined significantly less in attentional (p = 0.040) and WM (p < 0.001) performance relative to the other groups. These results suggest that TTT delivery of short-form MT by context-familiar trainers may be an expeditious route by which to increase access to MT in the service of promoting cognitive resilience in high-demand groups.
Skeletal Anatomy of the Newborn Primate

Although much is known about the anatomy of adult primates, particularly chimpanzees, the same cannot be said for the anatomy of young primates, especially non-hominoid primates such as lemurs and marmosets. This is the first book dedicated to newborn skeletal and dental anatomy and how it varies across primate species, which is important for interpreting adult primate skeletal form, as well as for comprehending primate and human evolution. Structured according to anatomical regions, the book includes hundreds of detailed anatomical illustrations, a color atlas illustrating entire skeletons in representative taxa, and boxes at the end of each chapter providing further detail on key aspects covered in the main text. Whilst the book is primarily a guide to comparative anatomy, it also highlights the links between development and behavior. An indispensable resource for students and researchers in the fields of biological anthropology, anatomy, primatology, growth and development, dental biology, and veterinary medicine.
Global Profiling of Cellular Substrates of Human Dcp2

Decapping is the first committed step in 5'-to-3' RNA decay, and in the cytoplasm of human cells, multiple decapping enzymes regulate the stabilities of distinct subsets of cellular transcripts. However, the complete set of RNAs regulated by any individual decapping enzyme remains incompletely mapped, and no consensus sequence or property is currently known to unambiguously predict decapping enzyme substrates. Dcp2 was the first-identified and best-studied eukaryotic decapping enzyme, but it has been shown to regulate the stability of <400 transcripts in mammalian cells to date. Here, we globally profile changes in the stability of the human transcriptome in Dcp2 knockout cells via TimeLapse-seq. We find that P-body enrichment is the strongest correlate of Dcp2-dependent decay and that modification with m6A exhibits an additive effect with P-body enrichment for Dcp2 targeting. These results are consistent with a model in which P-bodies represent sites where translationally repressed transcripts are sorted for decay by soluble cytoplasmic decay complexes through additional molecular marks.
Manufacturing of a microlens array mold by a two-step method combining microindentation and precision polishing.

A novel two-step method for manufacturing microlens array molds by combining microindentation and precision polishing is proposed. Compared with conventional manufacturing methods, such as single-point diamond turning, this two-step method, as an alternative method, presents great advantages on cost and flexibility on spherical microlens array mold fabrication. Various curvatures of radii and arrangements for microlens array molds can be fabricated in the same way. In this paper, a hexagonal microlens array with 1.58 mm curvature radius was demonstrated to prove the feasibility of the proposed method. First, a large number of precise steel balls were organized in hexagonal arrangement and pressed into the mold’s surface to generate multiple microdimples. Second, the pileups around the microdimples were removed from the mold surface by precision polishing. The geometrical accuracy and surface quality were investigated by an optical surface profiler. The measurement indicated that, compared with the initial surface, the surface inside the dimple had significantly higher hardness and better surface quality than that of the steel balls. Then the microlens array on the mold was further replicated to poly(methyl methacrylate) substrates by a precision compression molding process. The experimental results showed that the fabricated mold and the polymer replicas have high fidelity, great uniformity, and good surface roughness. The proposed two-step, low-cost mold fabrication method can produce highly uniform microlens arrays and is therefore suitable for high-volume fabrication of precise optical elements such as integrated light-emitting diodes and other similar micro-optics.
Exploring a wine farm micro-cluster: A novel business model of diversified ownership:

The winery tourism literature has traditionally focused on how to increase tasting room sales or to understand visitors as wine buyers to better promote product sales. It has been found, however, t...
The Glo3 GAP crystal structure supports the molecular niche model for ArfGAPs in COPI coats.

Abstract Arf GTPase activating (ArfGAP) proteins are critical regulatory and effector proteins in membrane trafficking pathways. Budding yeast contain two ArfGAP proteins (Gcs1 and Glo3) implicated in COPI coat function at the Golgi, and yeast require Glo3 catalytic function for viability. A new X-ray crystal structure of the Glo3 GAP domain was determined at 2.1 A resolution using molecular replacement methods. The structure reveals a Cys4-family zinc finger motif with an invariant residue (R59) positioned to act as an “arginine finger” during catalysis. Comparisons among eukaryotic GAP domains show a key difference between ArfGAP1 and ArfGAP2/3 family members in the final helix located within the domain. Conservation at both the sequence and structural levels suggest the Glo3 GAP domain interacts with yeast Arf1 switch I and II regions to promote catalysis. Together, the structural data presented here provide additional evidence for placing Glo3 near Arf1 triads within membrane-assembled COPI coats and further support the molecular niche model for COPI coat regulation by ArfGAPs.
Exercise and Diabetes

In this chapter, the benefits of exercise and physical activity for children and adolescents with T1D are discussed. However, there are challenges that T1D presents to youth with T1D involved with intermittent exercise, especially the increased risk of nocturnal hypoglycemia following antecedent exercise in the afternoon. Finally, our study of the efficacy of snacking to prevent hypoglycemia in patients with T1D using a closed-loop insulin delivery system is presented.
Sex Differences in Blood Transcriptional Profiles and Clinical Phenotypes in Pediatric Patients with Eosinophilic Esophagitis.

Background Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an increasingly recognized, chronic inflammatory disease. Recent reports suggest clinical differences between males and females. Objective To define the relevant molecular pathways that could be related to clinical phenotypes in children with EoE. Methods We performed blood RNA expression analysis in children with newly diagnosed EoE and matched, healthy controls, and applied bioinformatics tools to define EoE host immune biosignatures. Questionnaires and medical records were used to characterize symptoms, esophagogastroduodenoscopy results, and treatment response. Results Forty-one subjects (aged 2-17 years) were enrolled; the cohort consisted of 27 males and 14 females. Patients were randomly divided into a discovery cohort (21 EoE patients and 12 controls) that identified 544 significant differentially expressed transcripts (P ≤ .01; 1.25-fold change). Those 544 transcripts correctly classified most EoE patients in the validation cohort (n = 20) from healthy controls. Global transcriptional perturbation relative to healthy controls, Molecular Distance to Health scores were greater in EoE patients than controls (P = .003). When we analyzed subjects based on age and sex, males 13 years of age and older were more likely to have food impactions (P = .033) and to have higher endoscopic severity scores (P = .036). Separate group comparisons according to sex identified 294 differentially expressed transcripts in males and 643 transcripts in female EoE patients. Of those, 37 genes were shared and similarly expressed irrespective of sex. Conclusions Whole blood transcriptional analysis represents a promising noninvasive tool to assess activity of the immune/inflammatory response in children with EoE. Male and female EoE patients showed robust differences in gene expression suggesting distinct pathogenic endotypes.
Adropin transgenesis improves recognition memory in diet-induced obese LDLR-deficient C57BL/6J mice.

Obesity-related metabolic dysregulation causes mild cognitive impairment and increased risk for dementia. We used an LDLR-deficient C57BL/6 J mouse model (LDLRKO) to investigate whether adropin, a neuropeptide linked to neurodegenerative diseases, improves cognitive function in situations of metabolic dysregulation. Adropin transgenic mice (AdrTG) were crossed with LDLRKO; male and female progeny were fed a high fat diet for 3-months. Male chow-fed wild type (WT) mice were used as controls. Diet-induced obesity and LDLR-deficiency caused severe dyslipidemia, irrespective of sex. The AdrTG prevented reduced adropin protein levels in LDLRKO cortex. In males, metabolic dysregulation and AdrTG genotype significantly and bi-directionally affected performance in the novel object recognition (NOR) test, a declarative hippocampal memory task (discrimination index mean ± SE for WT, 0.02 ± 0.088; LDLRKO, -0.115 ± 0.077; AdrTG;LDLRKO, 0.265 ± 0.078; genotype effect, p = 0.009; LDLRKO vs. AdrTG;LDLRKO, P 1.3 or <-1.3 (P < 0.05) indicated metabolic dysregulation affected gene networks involved in intercellular/neuronal signaling, immune processes, angiogenesis, and extracellular matrix organization. The AdrTG selectively attenuated the impact of metabolic dysregulation on intercellular/neuronal signaling pathways. Intercellular/neuronal signaling pathways were also the predominant processes overrepresented when directly comparing AdrTG;LDLRKO with LDRKO. In summary, adropin overexpression improves cognitive function in severe metabolic dysregulation through pathways related to cell-cell communication and neuronal processes, and independently of preventing inflammatory responses.
When It Happens to Your Family

Abstract This article is a case study of how an African American family that includes a social worker, responded when three members received an HIV/AIDS diagnosis; two of whom are now deceased. It provides a retrospective look at a family's response to the diagnosis and resilience in the face of terminal illness. This is a personal story presented originally at the HIV/AIDS conference titled “A Social Work Response,” held in Los Angeles, California in 1997. The article provides insight to practitioners as well as offers a comparative experience for those who have also passed along on a similar journey. This family faced terminal illness many times, but until one of the matriarchs was diagnosed with AIDS in 1989, this was always an illness that happened to someone else's family.
An Analysis of Data from Laboratory Populations of Drosophila Melanogaster.

In some cases heterosis is inferred becanse a population appears to contain more heterozygotes than can be accounted for by ordinary genetic theory. A mathematical model based on a maximum likelihood formulation has been set up that allows an estimate to be made of the degree to which irregularities in genetic data require the assumption of heterosis. The analysis based on such a model is not practicable by ordinary methods, and for this reason an antomatic computer (the Oracle at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory) was used. The output of the computer showed that the assumption that heterosis is responsible for the increased frequency of the heterozygotes is unwarranted, and that a reduced viability of homozygous classes will equally well explain such data. This result is of some interest because it shows thnt one of the most commonly applied tests for heterosis, a statistical test for an excess of heterozygotes in a population, is actually ambiguous xam even if the data should consist of a large number of repiicated trials or observations. (auth)
Midperiod Rayleigh wave attenuation model for Asia

[1] We present an attenuation model for midperiod Rayleigh waves in Central Asia and surrounding regions. This model is defined by maps of attenuation coefficient across the region of study in the period band 14–24 s. The model is constructed to characterize the regional variations in attenuation of seismic waves in the crust, which are related to the tectonic history of the studied territory, to calibrate the regional surface-wave magnitude scale, and to extend the teleseismic 'surface-wave magnitude – body wave magnitude' (Ms-mb) discriminant to regional distances. The construction of the model proceeds in three stages. The first stage in model construction is the measurement of Rayleigh wave spectral amplitudes. We collected and processed waveform data for 200 earthquakes occurring from 2003 to 2006 inside and around Eurasia, and used records of about 135 broadband permanent and temporary stations. This data set provided a sufficient number of spectral amplitude measurements between 14 and 24 s periods for the construction of two–dimensional tomographic maps of attenuation coefficients. At the second stage of the work, the integral of attenuation coefficients along given paths is estimated using both inter-station measurements and single-station measurements corrected for source and receiver terms. The third stage includes the refining of source parameters, recalculation of attenuation coefficient integrals after this refinement, grooming of resulting coefficients, and multistage tomographic inversion of the data. Tomographic maps for the set of periods from 14 to 24 s, which exhibit clear correlation with geology and tectonics of the territory under study, were obtained. Validation of these maps using the inter-station measurements confirms their accuracy in predicting the observations.
Feature Selection via Global Redundancy Minimization

Feature selection has been an important research topic in data mining, because the real data sets often have high-dimensional features, such as the bioinformatics and text mining applications. Many existing filter feature selection methods rank features by optimizing certain feature ranking criterions, such that correlated features often have similar rankings. These correlated features are redundant and don’t provide large mutual information to help data mining. Thus, when we select a limited number of features, we hope to select the top non-redundant features such that the useful mutual information can be maximized. In previous research, Ding et al. recognized this important issue and proposed the minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance Feature Selection (mRMR) model to minimize the redundancy between sequentially selected features. However, this method used the greedy search, thus the global feature redundancy wasn’t considered and the results are not optimal. In this paper, we propose a new feature selection framework to globally minimize the feature redundancy with maximizing the given feature ranking scores, which can come from any supervised or unsupervised methods. Our new model has no parameter so that it is especially suitable for practical data mining application. Experimental results on benchmark data sets show that the proposed method consistently improves the feature selection results compared to the original methods. Meanwhile, we introduce a new unsupervised global and local discriminative feature selection method which can be unified with the global feature redundancy minimization framework and shows superior performance.
Chapter 5 Structural change in agricultural production: Economics, technology and policy

Abstract Over the last few decades, the structure of agricultural production around the world has been changing. An economic analysis of the factors influencing this evolution is presented. Special attention is given to the role of technology and resource mobility. Linkages with changes in market conditions are also evaluated.
Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: The Essential Guide to Assessment and Management

Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: The Essential Guide to Assessment and Management provides a comprehensive overview of pediatric neurological disability, providing guidance for health...
PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF MALE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SEXUAL EXPERIENCES WITH ADULTS : A REVIEW OF THE NONCLINICAL LITERATURE

Researchers have generally neglected sexual experiences of boys with adults, assumed them to be the same as those of girls, or tried to understand them by referring to clinical research while ignoring nonclinical research. A review of nonclinical research allows a more complete understanding of boys' sexual experiences with adults and the outcomes and correlates of those experiences. Research with nonclinical samples reveals a broad range of reactions, with most reactions being either neutral or positive. Clinical samples reveal a narrower, primarily negative, set of reactions. Comparison of the reactions of boys and girls shows that reactions and outcomes for boys are more likely to be neutral or positive. Moderator variables, including presence of force, perceptions of consent, and relationship to the adult, also relate to outcomes. Incestuous contacts and those involving force or threats are most likely to be negative. Problems in this field of research include broad and vague definitions of "abuse" and conflation of value judgments with harm. Effects of boys' early sexual experiences with older persons in general cannot be accurately inferred from clinical research alone or from girls' experiences.
Safe runtime validation of behavioral adaptations in autonomic software

Although runtime validation and verification are critical for ensuring reliability in autonomic software, research in these areas continues to lag behind other aspects of system development. Few researchers have tackled the problem of testing autonomic software at runtime, and the current state-of-the-art only addresses localized validation of selfadaptive changes. Such approaches fall short because they cannot reveal faults which may occur at different levels of the system. In this paper, we describe an approach that enables system-wide runtime testing of behavioral adaptations in autonomic software. Our approach applies a dependency-based test order strategy at runtime to facilitate integration and system-level regression testing in autonomic software. Since validation occurs on-line during system operations, we perform testing as part of a safe approach to adaptation. To investigate the feasibility of our approach, we apply it to an autonomic communication virtual machine.
Integrating Biology & Math in an Inquiry-Based Student Research Project

In daily life, students are allowed to use words such as “more,” “some,” or “increase–decrease” to describe the relationship between two events. In science, concise description is necessary, which requires the contribution of math. In the summer component of the Science Research Institute program, students integrated essential math concepts with their research questions. Students designed experiments using data-acquisition units to monitor heart rate and pulse in order to obtain enough statistical power to mathematically use the words “more” or “increase–decrease.” Overall, students gained an appreciation for the requirement of math to support the scientific question and research design.
Receptor, Transporter and Ion Channel Diseases

Ion channels reflect an important but still very new mechanism of disease, first formalized in 1989 with the discovery of mutations in the CFTR ion channel gene causing cystic fibrosis, thereby carving out a new category of genetic inborn error, the channelopathy. Now, however, ion channel disorders are recognized to cover the gamut of medical disciplines and to cause significant pathology in virtually every organ system. The opening of this era was driven largely by the success of positional cloning strategies in isolating the genes underlying the rare monogenic disorders of ion channels and the explosive growth in basic ion channel physiology and biophysics that rendered these pathogenic mutant alleles interpretable, but in addition crystal structures have recently become available. Ion channels are a large family of over 400 related proteins representing over 1% of our genetic endowment, and many of the features shared among the rare monogenic ion channel diseases provide a solid foundation to begin to target these mechanisms for the development of novel therapeutics. They also render members of this gene family important “functional candidates” in the much more common complex polygenic diseases. Keywords: Action potential; ADH; Aldosterone; Allele; Apical membrane; Aquaporin; Ataxia; Channel; Channelopathy; Depolarization; Diuretic; Dominant Allele; Dominant Negative Mutation; EKG; EMG; Environmental Disease; Epilepsy; Epithelium; Excitation-contraction Coupling; Gain-of-function Mutation; Gate; Gene Family; G-protein Coupled Receptor; Haploinsufficiency; Heteromultimer; Heterozygote; Homozygote; Hypermorphic; Hyperpolarization; Hypomorphic Mutation; Inactivation; Ion channel; Ligand-gated Ion Channel; Loss-of-function Mutation; Loss of Heterozygosity; Mendelian Disease; Migraine; Miniature Endplate Potentials (MEPPs); Monogenic Disease; Motor Endplate; Myotonia; Neomorphic Mutation; Nernst Equilibrium Potential; Neuromuscular Junction; Null Mutation; Pacemaker; Paracellular; Paralysis; Patch Electrode; Pathophysiological Mechanism; Permeability Pore; Pharmacogenetic Disease; Plateau Phase; Polygenic Disease; Primary Active Transport; QT Interval; Recessive Allele; Resorptive Epithelium; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum; Secondary Active Transport; Secretory Epithelium; Segregation; Seizure; Selective Advantage; Selectivity Filter; Splice Variant; Subcellular Compartment; Toxin; Transcellular; T-tubules; Voltage Clamp; Voltage-gated Ion Channel; Wild-type
A Review of “Fundamentals of Government Information: Mining, Finding, Evaluating, and Using Government Resources”

As most know, reading a book about government resources is not the easiest thing to do, especially if one is not a government documents librarian. For this reason, I was somewhat nervous when Funda...
Variation in Associations Between Family Dinners and Adolescent Well-Being

Empirical evidence and conventional wisdom suggest that family dinners are associated with positive outcomes for youth. Recent research using fixed-effects models as a more stringent test of causality suggests a more limited role of family meals in protecting children from risk. Estimates of average effects, however, may mask important variation in the link between family meals and well-being; in particular, family meals may be more or less helpful based on the quality of family relationships. Using 2 waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 17,977), this study extended recent work to find that family dinners have little benefit when parent-child relationships are weak but contribute to fewer depressive symptoms and less delinquency among adolescents when family relationships are strong. The findings highlight the importance of attending to variation when assessing what helps and what hurts in families.
Neurodynamic interface circuits for a multichannel, wireless sensor IC operating in saltwater

This paper presents the amplifier and stimulator circuits, as well as 50-/spl Omega/ antenna driver, that augment a multichannel, wireless sensor interface platform IC for use in neurodynamic studies of a sea animal, Aplysia Californica. The prototype chip, including the platform and 2-channel neurodynamic interface circuits, has been fabricated in a 0.5-/spl mu/m CMOS process, occupies an active area of just 0.7 mm/sup 2/ and consumes 3.56 mW. This would allow 120 hours of recording using 160mAh lithium ion battery. Test results of the interface circuits are presented and exhibit the desired performance.
African American English: AAE in literature

Focal point The literary representation of AAE in some authors' works is considered to be an accurate and rich representation of folk speech, while that of others is labeled stereotypical renditions of the shiftless Negro. By manipulating the spoken word, maneuvering the spelling of some and evoking symbolism and imagery, authors are able to mold characters into dialect speakers or make them appear to be dialect speakers. If we are to believe the majority of writers of Negro dialect and burnt-cork artists, Negro speech is a weird thing, full of ‘ams’ and ‘Ises.’ Fortunately, we don't have to believe them. We may go directly to the Negro and let him speak for himself. [Zora Neale Hurston, “Characteristics of Negro Expression”] Introduction Language in literature is used to achieve a number of goals: (1) to connect the character with a particular region, (2) to identify the character as a particular type (e.g., belongs to certain class) (3) to make the character more authentic and more developed, (4) to evoke some feeling within the reader. In addition, as Holloway (1978) notes in her discussion of Zora Neale Hurston's works, language use can indicate that a character is “communicating cultural understanding” (p. 118). By this Holloway means that the more deeply entrenched Hurston's characters are with their language, African American dialect, the more involved and in tune they are with each other.
Nonlinear X-ray optics: The next phase for X-rays

Phase information can be obtained from inelastically scattered X-rays by combining parametric down-conversion with tunable quantum interference. This is a step towards putting this nonlinear phenomenon to a practical use in the X-ray regime: investigating the optical response of chemical bonds at their electron-volt and subnanometre scales.
Dimensions of Premorbid Functioning in Schizophrenia: A Review of Neuromotor, Cognitive, Social, and Behavioral Domains

After a brief discussion of methods for studying the premorbid period in schizophrenia, the authors review relevant experimental literature to assess the validity of current theories. A critical review is provided that includes representative empirical investigations on premorbid functioning in schizophrenia in the domains of neuromotor, intellectual, academic, cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning. Limitations of past research, such as lack of specificity to schizophrenia populations, high incidences of false positives, questionable definitions of the premorbid period, inconsistent measures of premorbid functioning, and problems with the current method of DSM classification are discussed. Alternative approaches to studying early functioning in schizophrenia are highlighted.
Reprint of: Adjoint-based optimization for understanding and suppressing jet noise☆

Abstract Advanced simulation tools, particularly large-eddy simulation techniques, are becoming capable of making quality predictions of jet noise for realistic nozzle geometries and at engineering relevant flow conditions. Increasing computer resources will be a key factor in improving these predictions still further. Quality prediction, however, is only a necessary condition for the use of such simulations in design optimization. Predictions do not of themselves lead to quieter designs. They must be interpreted or harnessed in some way that leads to design improvements. As yet, such simulations have not yielded any simplifying principals that offer general design guidance. The turbulence mechanisms leading to jet noise remain poorly described in their complexity. In this light, we have implemented and demonstrated an aeroacoustic adjoint-based optimization technique that automatically calculates gradients that point the direction in which to adjust controls in order to improve designs. This is done with only a single flow solutions and a solution of an adjoint system, which is solved at computational cost comparable to that for the flow. Optimization requires iterations, but having the gradient information provided via the adjoint accelerates convergence in a manner that is insensitive to the number of parameters to be optimized.
Utilization of Radiotherapy for Malignant Phyllodes Tumors: Analysis of the National Cancer Data Base, 1998–2009

Malignant phyllodes tumors of the breast have traditionally been treated with surgical excision. Recently, the use of adjuvant radiotherapy has been advocated to reduce the risk of local recurrence; however, this recommendation is controversial in the absence of consistent outcome data. We hypothesize that there has been a trend toward increased utilization of adjuvant radiotherapy for malignant phyllodes tumors despite its uncertain effect on outcomes. Using the National Cancer Data Base, predictors of radiotherapy utilization were examined for women with malignant phyllodes from 1998 to 2009. Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression models were generated to determine the effect of radiotherapy on local recurrence (LR), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS). Of the 3,120 patients with malignant phyllodes, 57 % underwent breast conservation surgery and 42 % underwent mastectomy. Overall, 14.3 % of women received adjuvant radiotherapy. Utilization of radiotherapy doubled over the study period (9.5 % in 1998–1999 vs. 19.5 % in 2008–2009, p 10 cm, or had lymph nodes removed. For the 1,774 patients with available recurrence data, overall recurrence was 14.1 %, and LR was 5.9 %. In adjusted models, adjuvant radiotherapy reduced LR (aHR 0.43, 95 % CI 0.19–0.95) but did not impact DFS or OS after 53 months’ median follow-up. Utilization of adjuvant radiotherapy for malignant phyllodes doubled from 1998 to 2009. Radiotherapy significantly reduced LR but had no effect on DFS or OS.
Feeding of the 11/2 - isomers in stable Ir and Au isotopes

Excited states in $^{191}\mathrm{Ir}$, $^{193}\mathrm{Ir}$, and $^{197}\mathrm{Au}$ were studied and absolute partial $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray cross sections were measured using the ($n,{n}^{'}\ensuremath{\gamma}$) reaction. A Compton-suppressed germanium-detector array (GEANIE) for $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectroscopy was used for the measurement and the broad-spectrum pulsed neutron source of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center's WNR facility provided energetic neutrons. The energy of the incident neutrons was determined using the time-of-flight technique. Absolute partial $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray cross sections were measured up to incident neutron energy of 20 MeV for several transitions feeding directly the $11/{2}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ isomers and ground states in $^{191}\mathrm{Ir}$, $^{193}\mathrm{Ir}$, and $^{197}\mathrm{Au}$. The feeding of the $11/{2}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ isomers, which originate from the odd proton occupying the ${h}_{11/2}$ orbital, was found for the three targets to be very similar and increasing relative to the feeding of the corresponding ground state with increasing neutron energy up to ${E}_{n}~10$ MeV. Above this neutron energy the opening of the $(n,2n)$ reaction channel strongly affects the population of the isomers and leads to a decrease of their relative population compared to the population of the ground states. The experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions from the GNASH reaction model calculation implementing a version of the spin distribution for the pre-equilibrium reaction piece with either a compound nucleus spin distribution (CN-GNASH) or a Feshbach-Kerman-Koonin (FKK-GNASH) quantum mechanical spin distribution. The effects of the spin cutoff parameter values on the population of states are examined. Evidence is presented that FKK-GNASH provides a description of the experimental data that mitigates the need for adjustment of the level density parameter to fit the data.
Noncooperative target classification using hierarchical modeling of high-range resolution radar signatures

The classification of high range resolution radar returns using multiscale features is considered. Because of the characteristics unique to radar signals, such as clutter and sensitivity to viewing angle change, classifiers using features extracted from a single scale do not meet the requirements of non-cooperative target identification (NCTI). We present a hierarchical ARMA model for modeling high range resolution radar signals in multiple scales and apply it to NCTI database containing 5000 test samples and 5000 training samples. We first show that the radar signal at a course scale follows an ARMA process if it follows an ARMA model at a finer scale. The model parameters at different scales are easily computed from the parameters at another scale. Therefore, the hierarchical model allows us to compute spectral features at the coarse scale without adding much computational burden. The multiscale spectral features at five scales are computed using the hierarchical modeling approach, and are classified by a minimum distance classifier. The multiscale classifier is applied to both poorly aligned data and better aligned data. For both data sets, about 95 percent of the radar returns were correctly classified, showing that the multiscale classifier is robust to misalignment.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
From Pac-Man to Pop Music: Interactive Audio in Games and New Media

Karen Collins (Ed.), Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate, 2008, ISBN: 978-0-7546-6200-6, 207 pp, $29.95 (pb) From ringtones to Guitar Hero, one does not have to go far to confront the assortment of electroni...
Exploring SR Calcium and Cytosolic Calcium Wave Dynamics using a 3D Stochastic Myocyte Model

The local regulation of intracellular calcium has been widely known to play an important role in the normal excitation-contraction coupling in the cardiac myocytes. While Ca2+ sparks do not normally trigger regenerative SR Ca2+ release (i.e. Ca2+ waves), under calcium overload conditions calcium sparks can trigger spontaneous calcium waves. While experimental imaging using confocal microscopy with fluorescent dyes is the major technique used to study calcium dynamics inside a cardiac myocyte, the dynamics of SR calcium during calcium overload is poorly understood and controversial. In the study presented here, we present a new temporal-spatial model of calcium sparks to examine this issue. The resolution is sufficiently high (100nm) so that all critical local fluxes can be properly considered. The model also takes into account the different expression levels of the sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX) and SERCA pumps near the SR Ca2+ release sites. From that, we want to demonstrate different factors contributing to the characteristics of Ca2+ sparks. This work includes an examination of the extent of SR calcium elevation, and how much calcium must be released to support the triggering of a sustained propagating Ca2+ wave within the cell. The findings presented here will be compared to published work in other studies.
Physical models for electron transport in graphene nanoribbons and their junctions

Physics-based equivalent circuit models are presented for armchair and zigzag graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), and their conductances have been benchmarked against those of carbon nanotubes and copper wires. It is demonstrated that GNRs that have large coherence length behave like waveguides for electrons. This poses both challenges and opportunities for designing graphene nanoelectronic circuits.
Using shotgun sequence data to find active restriction enzyme genes

Whole genome shotgun sequence analysis has become the standard method for beginning to determine a genome sequence. The preparation of the shotgun sequence clones is, in fact, a biological experiment. It determines which segments of the genome can be cloned into Escherichia coli and which cannot. By analyzing the complete set of sequences from such an experiment, it is possible to identify genes lethal to E. coli. Among this set are genes encoding restriction enzymes which, when active in E. coli, lead to cell death by cleaving the E. coli genome at the restriction enzyme recognition sites. By analyzing shotgun sequence data sets we show that this is a reliable method to detect active restriction enzyme genes in newly sequenced genomes, thereby facilitating functional annotation. Active restriction enzyme genes have been identified, and their activity demonstrated biochemically, in the sequenced genomes of Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, Bacillus cereus ATCC 10987 and Methylococcus capsulatus.
Minimal uterine serous carcinoma: current concepts in diagnosis and prognosis

Uterine serous carcinoma (USC) is an aggressive type of endometrial cancer with a propensity to have extra-uterine spread at diagnosis, in some cases despite limited involvement of the uterus. Serous endometrial intra-epithelial carcinoma (EIC) is a recently recognised entity with the same cytological features and p53 mutations as USC, but it does not demonstrate stromal or myometrial invasion. In addition to representing the putative precursor to USC, the pure form of serous EIC may also be associated with extra-uterine tumour at the time of diagnosis and with risk for recurrence, spread, and eventual death from tumour. Current evidence indicates that serous EIC is a form of minimal USC with behaviour that is stage dependent, thereby necessitating complete surgical staging despite limited disease in the uterus. We review the diagnostic criteria for minimal USC, pitfalls in the differential diagnosis, and discuss a practical approach to evaluating biopsies, polypectomies, or hysterectomies containing minimal USC.
The Effect of Localized Monaural Cues on a Visually Controlled Turning Movement

(1955). The Effect of Localized Monaural Cues on a Visually Controlled Turning Movement. The Journal of General Psychology: Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 287-292.