cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Translating Basic Research to Astronaut Health in Space: NASA Ames Rodent Specimen Biobanking for the Human Research Program

As an extension of NASA Ames long history and sustaining international collaboration for sharing tissues acquired from one-off spaceflight experiments, we have recently established a new mobile operation for acquiring small animal biospecimens from ongoing ground-based studies supported by the NASA Human Research Program (HRP) organized at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Goals of Ames’ Biospecimen Sharing Programs (BSPs) are to: (1) Advance understanding of physiological responses and adaptations to the space environment utilizing animal models in support of fundamental space and gravitational biology research, and to promote human health in space and on Earth, (2) Provide a repository of high quality, well preserved, and carefully archived and maintained biospecimens by applying modern approaches and established best practices in the biobanking field, and (3) Establish a database for gathering broad and comprehensive scientific information corresponding to these samples, including cutting edge techniques for tracking and archiving of structural, descriptive and administrative metadata. This program, modeled after contemporary human and animal biobanking initiatives, is yielding a rich archive of quality specimens that can be used to address a broad range of current and future scientific questions relevant to NASA Life Sciences, Exploration Medicine, and beyond.
Orthogonal haplotype structure in 106 DNA repair and cell cycle control genes simplifies the search for gene-disease association

1484 Risk of cancer is a complex function of exposures (external and endogenous) and genetic susceptibility to these exposures. For each exposure, the function of multiple pathways may be relevant. As pathways can have dozens of genes and most genes have multiple variant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 100s of SNPs are candidate susceptibility factors. Discerning the variants that affect function and cancer susceptibility is a major challenge. The goal of this study was identification of polymorphisms in base excision repair (BER) and antioxidant (AO) genes that affect the amount of DNA damage in untreated cells, primarily damage from oxidative metabolism, and the ability to repair damage induced by exposure to ionizing radiation (IR). Using the alkaline Comet assay we quantified single strand breaks and abasic sites in untreated cells and in cells immediately and 15 minutes after exposure to 5Gy IR, in 80 lymphoblastoid cell lines of the DNA Polymorphism Discovery Resource (DPDR). Comet distributed moment was the parameter used to quantify damage. Genotypes of the cell lines, known from extensive resequencing studies of the DPDR, included 174 variants of 34 BER genes (159 amino acid substitution SNPs and 15 SNPs in upstream ∼150bp sequences) and 17 amino acid substitution SNPs of 5 AO genes. Random Forests Regression (RFR) was used to identify SNPs that were important for predicting 2 phenotypes: endogenous (background) damage and % damage repaired 15 min after IR. Using a stringent cutoff for importance, there were 5 SNPs from 4 genes that were most influential for background damage (from greatest impact to least, POLD1 Arg19His, XRCC1 Arg399Gln, XRCC1 Val72Ala, LIG3 Arg780His, RPA4 Ala33Thr) and 7 influential SNPs for repair of IR damage (RPA4 Ala33Thr, XRCC1 Val72Ala, MPG 5 prime UTR, PNKP Pro20Ser, RAD23B Ala249Val, POLE Phe695Ile, LPO Thr105Ile). It is notable that the frequencies of these important SNPs range from 0.01 to 0.42 and that the SIFT scores of these variants independently predict an impact on protein function. In summary, RFR efficiently identified 10 out of 191 polymorphisms that help predict two phenotypes relevant to cancer risk. This study demonstrates the ability to use heuristic machine learning techniques to identify functionally important genetic variation by analyzing relationships between phenotypes and complex genotypes. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.
Literature and Science in Enlightenment Britain: New Directions

Despite predictions of its impending doom in the late 1970s, the field of literature and science continues to flourish, especially among scholars of eighteenth-century British literature. This essay identifies four main areas of research in this field: poetry and performance, fiction, new ontologies, and politics and gender. It argues that although scholars continue to study the influence of scientific ideas on literary texts, the most ambitious new work explores the relationship between science and literature through the analysis of shared rhetorical practices and common epistemological and ontological structures.
Epiphanies Without God

The understanding of a religious epiphany as the appearance of God or a god, or the manifestation of the divine or religious reality, clearly includes epiphanies as they occur in theistic traditions. However, this understanding also embraces epiphanies as they are, or can be, recognized in nontheistic traditions that in contradistinction to the theistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam give no place to a supreme God, but allow instead that there is a transcendent impersonal, or nonpersonal, religious reality. The religious reality recognized by a tradition is in large measure defined by that tradition. In some of the major religions of the world—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, for instance—the highest reality is God. But in other major traditions—Buddhism and nondevotional Hinduism, for example—the highest reality is not theistic. Accordingly, these latter traditions, if they allow an interaction with the religious reality they recognize, admit of nontheistic epiphanies. In this chapter, the ways in which different forms of nontheistic Buddhism can recognize epiphanies are examined, as is a way a nondevotional form of Hinduism allows epiphanies.
Molecular Pathogenesis of Chlamydia Disease Complications: Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Fibrosis

ABSTRACT The reproductive system complications of genital chlamydial infection include fallopian tube fibrosis and tubal factor infertility. However, the molecular pathogenesis of these complications remains poorly understood. The induction of pathogenic epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation was recently proposed as the pathogenic basis of chlamydial complications. Focusing on fibrogenesis, we investigated the hypothesis that chlamydia-induced fibrosis is caused by EMT-driven generation of myofibroblasts, the effector cells of fibrosis that produce excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. The results revealed that the targets of a major category of altered miRNAs during chlamydial infection are key components of the pathophysiological process of fibrogenesis; these target molecules include collagen types I, III, and IV, transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), TGF-β receptor 1 (TGF-βR1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), E-cadherin, SRY-box 7 (SOX7), and NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells) kinase dual-specificity tyrosine (Y) phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1a (Dyrk1a). Chlamydial induction of EMT resulted in the generation of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)-positive myofibroblasts that produced ECM proteins, including collagen types I and III and fibronectin. Furthermore, the inhibition of EMT prevented the generation of myofibroblasts and production of ECM proteins during chlamydial infection. These findings may provide useful avenues for targeting EMT or specific components of the EMT pathways as a therapeutic intervention strategy to prevent chlamydia-related complications.
Grandparent–Grandchild Relationships

Grandparent–grandchild relationships are complex because at least three generations are involved in forming, nurturing, and maintaining the relationship. Research conducted over the past 50 years has provided important insights into the demographic and personal characteristics of those involved in this relationship, about the behavioral and psychological dynamics occurring within the relationship, and the outcomes for grandparents, grandchildren, and the family as a result of engagement in the relationship. Keywords: grandparenting; grandparent–grandchild relationships; intergenerational family relationships; kinship
Economic costs of Fusarium Head Blight, scab and deoxynivalenol

Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) has led to major economic costs for wheat and barley producers. Grain products and feed grain contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON) (commonly known as vomitoxin) are subject to Food and Drug Administration advisory limits and as a result end-users place restrictions on their use. This has led to steep price discounts, as well as higher risks for producers and grain merchandisers. Varietal research has led to development of varieties that are resistant or moderately resistant to FHB. Studies indicate combinations of genetic resistance, fungicides and some management practices (combine settings, tillage practices, etc.) can be used to decrease economic costs due to FHB. The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic costs of scab. To do so we developed several economic models, analysed extensive data and conducted surveys of wheat flour millers, barley maltsters, and grain handlers. A detailed assessment of costs indicates the most important costs accrued by the wheat and...
Elastic WDM optoelectronic crossbar switch with on-chip wavelength control

We present an 8×8 ring resonator based crossbar switch for WDM networks in data centers. The switch can dynamically allocate bandwidth and is equipped with an on-chip wavelength reference for tuning the ring resonators to the specific channels.
Carbon Costs and Bushmeat Benefits of Hunting in Tropical Forests

Abstract Unsustainable hunting is widespread globally, generating one of the primary threats to tropical vertebrates but providing important revenue for many people. Recent evidence suggests that by removing seed dispersing vertebrates, overhunting can induce shifts in tree species composition that reduce the amount of carbon stored in the forest. I developed a bioeconomic model to assess the conditions under which hunting might lead to the loss of forest carbon, and to compare the revenue lost via carbon erosion to that gained from bushmeat procurement. The potential long-term decline in forest biomass and the uncertain degree of ecological complementarity among frugivore species had the strongest influence on the amount of carbon lost via overhunting. Parameters related to frugivore population dynamics and the economics of the hunting system had relatively little influence. Total revenue in the system was maximized when hunter effort and the opportunity costs of hunting were low, suggesting that limiting hunting effort could maximize income for hunters by avoiding the depletion of both game species and potentially saleable carbon credits. These results highlight that enhanced understanding of long-term carbon responses to hunting in different tropical forests could help increase revenue for forest-dwelling people and contribute to global climate change mitigation efforts.
Risk Stratification Using Scoring Systems

Several risk stratification scoring systems have been developed that incorporate information from the history, physical examination, electrocardiogram, and occasionally the initial cardiac marker results. The Goldman algorithm, ACI-TIPI, neural networks, and the TIMI risk score can all help risk stratify patients with potential acute coronary syndrome but none of them is able to identify a cohort of patients at less than 1% risk who may be safe for discharge from the ED. The GRACE and PURSUIT risk scores all help stratify patients with unstable angina but have no proven benefit in cohorts of patients with undifferentiated chest pain. This chapter reviews the various scoring systems and the evidence basis for their use in the appropriate patient population.
Programmed Neuronal Cell Death Mechanisms in CNS Injury

Neuronal cell death is a critical physiological process necessary for the normal development of the CNS, as well as essential for removing dysfunctional cells after injury or other various pathological conditions. However, excessive or inappropriate neuronal cell loss is also a hallmark of acute or chronic neurodegeneration (Eldadah and Faden 2000; Snider et al. 1999; Graeber and Moran 2002; Honig and Rosenberg 2000). Many cell death effector pathways are common to both physiological and pathophysiological processes. Elucidating such mechanisms and initiating signals is essential for understanding neurodegeneration and designing effective therapies.
A cross-sectional study on the relationship between the risk of hypertension and obesity status among pre-adolescent girls from rural areas of Southeastern region of the United States

Abstract This study investigated early indications of hypertension risk and the association of overweight and obesity in young girls from a low socioeconomic region of the rural South. 139 females (M age = 8.85 ± 1.67 years) from a rural school in the Southeastern region of the United States served as participants. Body mass index was calculated based on the child's height and weight measurements (kg/m2) and resting blood pressure measurements were taken with calibrated, automatic oscillations devices. Girls who were overweight or obese were 2.81 times more likely to have a systolic blood pressure indicative of being at-risk/hypertensive (i.e., pre-hypertension and/or hypertension stage 1) than girls who were not overweight/obese. In fact, the percentage of overweight/obese girls who were at-risk/hypertensive was double that of girls who were not overweight/obese (43.2% versus 21.3%), respectively. Being overweight or obese is associated with almost three times a higher risk of hypertension than girls who are not overweight or obese.
L-Band Radar Sounder for Measuing Ice Basal Conditions and Ice-Shelf Melt Rate

A new L-band radar system is proposed to measure ice thickness, basal conditions and ice-shelves bottom melt rates. The concept for ice measurements with an L-band radar is based on the recent success in sounding shallow low-loss ice (< 1 km) and measuring ice-self melt rates with a 600–900 MHz low-power radar, referred to as accumulation radar [1]. A surface-based radar operating over 1.2-1.4 GHz with a peak transmit power of 2 kW is proposed to sound and image more than 4 km thick ice. The higher frequency at 1.3 GHz will provide the sensitivity required to detect basal water film as thin as 0.5 mm as compared to radars operating now at frequencies less than 600 MHz. These radars need a minimum film thickness of 4 mm or more for reliable detection. The proposed L-band radar will also measure the bottom melt rate of ice shelves. The current plan is to deploy the proposed radar for field test in Antarctica during the 2018–2019 field season.
Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Ultrascale Visualization

The output from leading-edge scientific simulations is so voluminous and complex that advanced visualization and analysis techniques are necessary to examine and interpret the computed results. Even though visualization technology has progressed significantly in recent years, we are barely capable of exploiting petascale data to its full extent, and exascale datasets are on the horizon.
Enhancing Graduate Practicum Project Development and Selection at Schools of Public Health: A Case Study:

Experiential learning is a core competency of curricula across accredited U.S. schools of public health, helping students to hone diverse skill sets that will enable them to readily join the workfo...
Exploring supervisees’ in-session experiences of utilizing intentional nondisclosure

Investigations of supervisee intentional nondisclosure can only occur after the incident has happened. Thus, prior studies of the phenomenon have been limited in the ability to encourage rich parti...
The (invisible) work of Dual Language Bilingual Education teachers

The shortage of Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) teachers is uncontested. Yet while we have focused on recruiting and preparing DLBE teachers, we have neglected exploring how to retain curr...
Federal Urban Renewal in Three Small Texas Cities: A Mixed Legacy:

When it comes to the federal urban renewal program, Texas has often been dismissed as a conservative state since large cities like Dallas and Houston refused to participate. But a closer look at Te...
Multicultural orientation in clinical supervision: examining impact through dyadic data

Clinical supervision can support supervisee cultural development through the relationship and preparation for counseling practice. Supervisor modeling of cultural conversations can aid in this deve...
Recent progress in sodium beacon development

Researchers at the Starfire Optical Range have been researching laser beacons for AO for nearly 30 years. We developed four different sodium-wavelength lasers, all of which were based on diode-pumped, sum-frequency Nd:YAG oscillators. In 2016, we combined light from two commercial, 22 W, sodium-wavelength lasers to form a single beacon. These lasers, which use resonant-frequency doubling of light from a Raman fiber-amplifier, were built by MPB Communications and Toptica Photonics, under a contract from the European Southern Observatory. In 2019, we started to develop and procure a 75 W sodium-wavelength laser to enable better correction of turbulence in poor seeing. In conjunction with ESO, we have also started work to increase the return flux from sodium beacons by shifting or chirping the laser wavelength to compensate for recoil of optically pumped sodium atoms. Initial tests have demonstrated that chirping can increase beacon brightness by 10–20 percent.
Public Sentiment on Chinese Social Media during the Emergence of COVID-19

When COVID-19 first emerged in China, there was speculation that the outbreak would trigger public anger and weaken the Chinese regime. By analyzing millions of social media posts from Sina Weibo made between December 2019 and February 2020, we describe the content and sentiment of public, online discussions pertaining to COVID-19 in China. We find that discussions of COVID-19 became widespread on January 20, 2020, consisting primarily of personal reflections, opinion, updates, and appeals. We find that the largest bursts of discussion coincide with the January 23 lockdown of Wuhan and the February 7 death of Dr. Li Wenliang and contain simultaneous spikes of criticism and support targeting the Chinese government. Criticisms are directed at the government for perceived lack of action, incompetence, and wrongdoing—in particular, censoring information relevant to public welfare. Support is directed at the government for aggressive action and positive outcomes. As the crisis unfolds, the same events are interpreted differently by different people, with those who criticize focusing on the government’s shortcomings and those who praise focusing on the government’s actions.
Characteristics and patterns of older adult homicides in the United States

Nearly 1800 homicides were reported in 2018 among individuals aged 60 years or older in the US. The characteristics and circumstances of these homicides are understudied. We investigated the trends of homicides over time and compared victim, perpetrator, and incident characteristics by mechanism (firearm vs. non-firearm) among adults aged 60 years or older. We examined cross-sectional restricted-access data from the National Violent Death Reporting System from 2003 to 2017. Fatal Injury Data by CDC provided age-adjusted homicide rates. We quantitatively summarized victim, perpetrator, and incident characteristics for firearm and non-firearm homicides. We also reviewed 150 qualitative narratives to better understand the context of older adult homicides perpetrated by firearms. All data were analyzed in February 2020. Overall and firearm-specific older adult homicide rates increased between 2014 and 2017. Of the 6188 victims, 62% were male. The majority of victims (68%) were killed at home. Firearms (44%), sharp (19%) and blunt weapons (15%) were common mechanisms used in older adult homicides. The perpetrator was an intimate partner in 39% of firearm homicides and 12% of non-firearm homicides (prevalence difference = 27%; 95% CI: 25, 30%). Similarly, homicide-suicides (prevalence difference = 21%; 95% CI: 19, 22%) and multiple-victim incidents (prevalence difference = 7%; 95% CI: 5, 8%) were more common in firearm (23 and 13%, respectively) than in non-firearm (2 and 6%, respectively) homicides. Common contexts of firearm homicides were familial/intimate partner problems, robbery/burglary, argument, and illness. A substantial number of older adults were killed with firearms and by their intimate partners. Further research to identify violence victimization prevention strategies in this group, especially those that limit access to firearms by potential perpetrators, is warranted.
Deepening Understanding: Adding Privacy into a Library and Information Studies Course

This case will cover the experiences that the Online Learning Librarian (OLL) and E-resources Librarian (ERL) worked on adding a module about privacy to a 1 credit Information Literacy course at th...
Optic disc Edema in patients with fibrous dysplasia/McCune-Albright syndrome: Craniomorphometric analysis and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer data.

Abstract This article reports quantitative measurements of intracranial volume, optic canal area, and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) for a cohort of 124 patients with craniofacial fibrous dysplasia/McCune-Albright Syndrome (FD/MAS), previously used to determine risks for developing optic disc edema [1] . Of these, 7 subjects were diagnosed with optic disc edema. OSIRIX imaging analysis software was used to collect intracranial volume and optic canal diameter for 107 patients, via 3D multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) of ≤5 mm axial CT slices. Spectral-domain Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) was performed with the Cirrus-HD OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA). The Optic Disc Cube 200 × 200 protocol was used for acquisition and analysis of the RNFL for 69 patients. The data can be used to assess typical ranges for intracranial volume, optic canal area, and RNFL in the craniofacial FD/MAS population and to assess ranges concerning for optic disc edema. [1] Raborn LN, Pan KS, FitzGibbon EJ, Collins MT, Boyce AM. Optic disc edema in fibrous dysplasia/McCune-Albright syndrome: Prevalence, etiologies, and clinical implications. Bone. 2021 Feb;143:115661. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2020.115661. Epub 2020 Sep 24. PMID: 32979536 .
Efficacy of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy and interval debulking surgery in women with advanced uterine serous carcinoma.

Abstract Objective(s) To investigate the efficacy and safety of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) at the time of iterval debulking surgery (IDS) in women with advanced uterine serous carcinoma (USC) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Methods An IRB-approved single-institution prospective registry was queried to identify women with incidentally identified USC at the time of IDS + HIPEC for high-grade serous carcinoma. Patient demographic, oncologic, and surgical outcomes data were recorded. Univariate analysis determined progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results In total, seven patients were found to have advanced USC after undergoing IDS + HIPEC, with a median age of 64.5 years. The majority had stage IV, (n = 6, 85.7%), MMR proficient (n = 5, 71.4%), p53 mutant (n = 6, 85.1%) USC. The median pre-operative CA125 was 24.0U/mL. HIPEC regimen was cisplatin (n = 3, 42.9%) or cisplatin with paclitaxel (n = 4, 57.1%). All patients underwent optimal cytoreduction, with 71.4% (n = 5) having no gross residual disease. Accordion post-operative complications were mild in 14.3% (n = 1), moderate in 57.1% (n = 4) and severe in 14.3% (n = 1); 14.3% (n = 1) had no complications. The median length of stay was 6.5 days (IQR 4–8 days) with a median time to chemotherapy of 33.0 days. The median PFS was 14.0 months (95% CI 3.5–20.8 months), and the median OS was 27.0 months (95% CI 5.1- not reached). Conclusions In this small, prospective series, we demonstrate that IDS + HIPEC is well tolerated in patients with USC and is associated with favorable PFS and OS following NACT. Further prospective investigation is needed to validate these promising findings in larger, heterogeneous cohorts of women with advanced USC who are not candidates for primary surgical management.
Effects of aging on protein expression in mice brain microvessels: ROS scavengers, mRNA/protein stability, glycolytic enzymes, mitochondrial complexes, and basement membrane components.

Differentially expressed (DE) proteins in the cortical microvessels (MVs) of young, middle-aged, and old male and female mice were evaluated using discovery-based proteomics analysis (> 4,200 quantified proteins/group). Most DE proteins (> 90%) showed no significant differences between the sexes; however, some significant DE proteins showing sexual differences in MVs decreased from young (8.3%), to middle-aged (3.7%), to old (0.5%) mice. Therefore, we combined male and female data for age-dependent comparisons but noted sex differences for examination. Key proteins involved in the oxidative stress response, mRNA or protein stability, basement membrane (BM) composition, aerobic glycolysis, and mitochondrial function were significantly altered with aging. Relative abundance of superoxide dismutase-1/-2, catalase and thioredoxin were reduced with aging. Proteins participating in either mRNA degradation or pre-mRNA splicing were significantly increased in old mice MVs, whereas protein stabilizing proteins decreased. Glycolytic proteins were not affected in middle age, but the relative abundance of these proteins decreased in MVs of old mice. Although most of the 41 examined proteins composing mitochondrial complexes I–V were reduced in old mice, six of these proteins showed a significant reduction in middle-aged mice, but the relative abundance increased in fourteen proteins. Nidogen, collagen, and laminin family members as well as perlecan showed differing patterns during aging, indicating BM reorganization starting in middle age. We suggest that increased oxidative stress during aging leads to adverse protein profile changes of brain cortical MVs that affect mRNA/protein stability, BM integrity, and ATP synthesis capacity.
How we can help the next generation of scientists: introducing The "Hands-On" Primary Caregiver's Support Program.

The past year has been an eventful one both for The American Association of Immunologists and for the scientific community. We have seen controversy about the use of scientific information and advice in government, efforts by life scientists to prevent inappropriate information from falling into the
The informal sector, firm dynamics, and institutional participation

The high informality and mortality and apparent stagnation of developing country microfirms are often thought to result from government-induced distortions in labor or product markets. A new approach assumes that these informal firms have dynamics similar to firms in industrial countries, and that formality can be thought of as the decision to participate in societal institutions. This leads to a substantially different vision of the relationship between formality and the nature of the small firm that emphasizes the informal firm first as a normal enterprise and second as informal. The informal microfirm sector is believed to be large, accounting for 20-40 percent of employment in many developing countries. The literature tends to view the sector as the disadvantaged sector of a segmented labor market, as existing to evade government regulations, or as constrained by lack of access to government services. Levenson and Maloney offer a unique theoretical framework to analyze informality and microfirm growth behavior-one that emphasizes the entrepreneurial nature of informal firms and sees informality as a secondary characteristic. First, they assume that informal firms in developing countries have dynamics similar to firms in industrial countries: entrepreneurs have unobserved, differing cost structures that determine their long-run size and survival-structures that they can only discover by going into business. Second, informality can be thought of as a decision to participate in societal institutions. Access to mechanisms that ensure property rights, pool risk, or enforce contracts become more important as a firm grows, and the entrepreneur will be willing to pay for them through "taxes" in a way that was not the case as a small firm. The combination of these assumptions generates several of the stylized facts emerging from cross-sectional data and identified in existing models-informal firms tend to remain small and have high rates of mortality, and lower productivity-without recourse to government-induced distortions in labor or product markets. Further, the framework predicts that firms whose cost structures dictate that they should expand will make the transition to formality as they grow. Using detailed observations from Mexico, Levenson and Maloney find their view consistent with patterns of formality and growth of microfirms. This paper-a product of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Sector Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region-is part of a larger effort in the region to understand the structure of labor markets in developing countries. William Maloney may be contacted at wmaloney@worldbank.org.
Using Reminiscence Group Members' Family Slogans and Epitaphs to Enhance their Planning Abilities: A Case Study

Abstract Introducing a focus on family slogans and epitaphs into reminiscence groups serves three functions. It facilitates the group process by engaging all members in selecting the slogans and epitaphs that they discern in the memories the reviewers share. It also shows how these family dynamics over the grandparents' and parents' generations condition, if not determine, the slogans and epitaphs of the reviewers themselves. Finally, it enhances reviewers' planning for themselves by alerting them both to the accommodations they may need to make to their programming and to the talents they can draw upon because of the family they were born into.
High rejection Rx filters for GSM handsets with wafer level packaging

We present results of PCS and DCS Rx filters based on thin film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) technology for GSM handset application. The typical minimum rejection performances for PCs Rx filters are >18dB in the band of 1830-1910 MHz and 2010-2070 MHz, and >29 dB outside of the 1830-2070 MHz range. The typical minimum rejections for DCS Rx filters are >18 dB in the band of 1705-1785 MHz and 1820-1980 MHz, and >29 dB outside of the 1705-1980 MHz range. The filters consist of seven FBARs electrically coupled in a ladder topology, and are hermetically sealed using wafer-level packaging. The die sizes of PCs and DCS Rx filters are 0.7/spl times/0.8/spl times/0.25 mm and 0.9/spl times/0.9/spl times/0.25 mm, respectively.
Learning to Develop Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: A Lesson About Cornrowed Lives

This article describes the process of using African American children's literature through culturally relevant pedagogy. It chronicles how two teachers carefully plan a lesson using the literature, and then describes how one of the teachers enacts the lesson using pedagogy relevant to her students' cultural background. A framework that focused on the cultural patterns of the students' lives was used to help guide the planning process. The components of the lesson include a prereading activity, read aloud, group discussion, journal writing, and a follow-up activity. In the end, the teachers found that tailoring instruction to fit the textual, social, cultural, and personal lives of their students is largely about seeing pedagogy through the norms and practices of their students' lives.
Beyond opportunism: a resource-based view of outsourcing risk

To date, IT outsourcing research has focused on applied problems and case studies. Two bodies of theory offer useful and needed perspectives on both the risks and the factors or variables which affect the risk of outsourcing IT. Transaction cost economics provides a thorough description of the conditions under which the risks of opportunism and inflated transaction costs are high. The resource-based view of competitive strategy proposes variables that affect outsourcing hazards even when opportunism can be ruled out. The resource-based view is consequently particularly helpful in the examination of outsourcing contracts described as partnerships.
Pushdown Control-Flow Analysis of Higher-Order Programs

Context-free approaches to static analysis gain precision over classical approaches by perfectly matching returns to call sites---a property that eliminates spurious interprocedural paths. Vardoulakis and Shivers's recent formulation of CFA2 showed that it is possible (if expensive) to apply context-free methods to higher-order languages and gain the same boost in precision achieved over first-order programs. To this young body of work on context-free analysis of higher-order programs, we contribute a pushdown control-flow analysis framework, which we derive as an abstract interpretation of a CESK machine with an unbounded stack. One instantiation of this framework marks the first polyvariant pushdown analysis of higher-order programs; another marks the first polynomial-time analysis. In the end, we arrive at a framework for control-flow analysis that can efficiently compute pushdown generalizations of classical control-flow analyses.
Transient Three-Dimensional Solution for Thermoelastic Displacement Due to Surface Heating and Convective Cooling

In tribological contact, frictional heating may lead to temperature rise, which in turn may result in thermal displacement of the contacting bodies. The quantification of these effects is desirable in order to more accurately predict wear and failure of contacting surfaces. The change in temperature at a contact area may be attributed to the combined effects of frictional heating and convective cooling. This paper presents a transient, three-dimensional solution for the normal surface displacement of an elastic half-space due to an arbitrarily distributed, moving heat source and surface convection.
Carbon-uptake by the submerged hydrophyte Utricularia purpurea

Abstract Photosynthetic carbon-uptake and dark respiration by Utricularia purpurea Walt. were determined on five occassions in a laboratory chamber incubated at lake temperatures and a selected illuminance (10, 000 lux). The photosynthetic capacity declined during the autumn to less than 0.7% of the midsummer rate. This species does not use bicarbonate at the bicarbonate concentrations present in the soft waters of Mirror Lake (alkalinity 0.04–0.07 mequiv. 1−1). Photosynthesis in chambers with natural levels of free carbon dioxide is carbon-limited in short-term assays, suggesting a practical difficulty of using chamber methods to measure hydrophyte productivity in soft-water ecosystems.
Competing for Lebanon's Diaspora: Transnationalism and Domestic Struggles in a Weak State

Just as state strength influences relationships between state and society and among social forces within a national territory, so does it shape relationships between states and their emigrants and ...
Comparative evaluation of commercially available manual and automated nucleic acid extraction methods for rotavirus RNA detection in stools

Rotaviruses are a major cause of viral gastroenteritis in children. For accurate and sensitive detection of rotavirus RNA from stool samples by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the extraction process must be robust. However, some extraction methods may not remove the strong RT-PCR inhibitors known to be present in stool samples. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the performance of six extraction methods used commonly for extraction of rotavirus RNA from stool, which have never been formally evaluated: the MagNA Pure Compact, KingFisher Flex and NucliSENS® easyMAG® instruments, the NucliSENS® miniMAG® semi-automated system, and two manual purification kits, the QIAamp Viral RNA kit and a modified RNaid® kit. Using each method, total nucleic acid or RNA was extracted from eight rotavirus-positive stool samples with enzyme immunoassay optical density (EIA OD) values ranging from 0.176 to 3.098. Extracts prepared using the MagNA Pure Compact instrument yielded the most consistent results by qRT-PCR and conventional RT-PCR. When extracts prepared from a dilution series were extracted by the 6 methods and tested, rotavirus RNA was detected in all samples by qRT-PCR but by conventional RT-PCR testing, only the MagNA Pure Compact and KingFisher Flex extracts were positive in all cases. RT-PCR inhibitors were detected in extracts produced with the QIAamp Viral RNA Mini kit. The findings of this study should prove useful for selection of extraction methods to be incorporated into future rotavirus detection and genotyping protocols.
Estuarine production of juvenile dungeness crab (cancer magister) and contribution to the Oregon-Washington coastal fishery

Estuaries provide nursery habitat for juvenile stages of several commercial decapod crustaceans worldwide, and those in the Northeastern Pacific are viewed as providing this function for Dungeness crab,Cancer magister. It is difficult to ascertain the degree to which such estuarine production of juveniles eventually contributes to coastal adult populations and fisheries since there are no direct surveys of adult abundance. As other authors have done, we used fishery landings data to compute the long-term average contribution of 1 + juvenile crab populations reared in estuaries to future coastal fisheries. We focused on Oregon and Washington states, but grouped landings in two large geographic zones by combining fishery ports as adjacent to Large Estuarine Zones (LEZ; Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay, Washington, and both sides of the Columbia River) and Small Estuarine Zones (SEZ; all other ports in Oregon). Mortality estimates were used to reduce 1 + crab abundance to surviving legal males, and portrayed as percent of the fisheries. Trends in the SEZ indicate that an average of only about 5–7% of estuarine production adds to the coastal adult population and contributes about $0.7 million to the fishery. The contribution is 25–30% in the LEZ (but may be higher since interannual density varies up to 5 times) and is worth about $3.9 million based on present ex-vessel value. Analyses of crab distribution and density indicate that the majority of an estuarine population (50–80%) is located in lower side channels (LSC) in spring and summer where temperature is higher and prey within and on adjacent intertidal flats is high. The potential average dollar value of equivalent legal male crab produced from the juvenile population is about $180 ha−1 in LSC (but $280 ha−1 in Grays Harbor where long-term density is highest), and lower in other estuarine habitats ($50–100 ha−1). Estuarine juvenile production provides a relatively stable source of recruits to coastal adult populations, and large systems in the LEZ are important nurseries. Since direct coastal settlement of larvae does occur but is highly variable, the estuarine contribution may be especially important when physical forcing or unusual events lead to low survival of the coastal 0+ cohort. An unusually long period of very low landings in the LEZ from 1981–1987 is interpreted in light of the Mount St. Helens eruption (1980) and subsequent transport and deposition of very fine silt fractions over much of the LEZ nearshore shelf that may have adversely affected several year classes of small, early benthic phase juveniles at that time.
Immunoglobulin Class of Agglutinins to Oral Microorganisms in Post-irradiation Cancer Patients

Fractionation of serum samples from head and neck cancer patients and their assay for agglutination activity toward oral microorganisms showed that the activity was derived from IgG, 7S IgA, 10S (dimeric) IgA, and IgM, with considerable activity in the 10S IgA region. These findings probably account for the lack of a significant relationship among levels of individual serum immunoglobulins, agglutination titers, and caries activity presented in an earlier study. Conversely, most of the agglutinating activity in fractionated saliva was attributed to 11S IgA, presumably secretory IgA, with some activity from a 19S substance and, in the caries-active patients, from a higher molecular weight factor. These data correspond to positive correlations between saliva IgA levels, agglutination titers, and absence of caries in these patients.
A social judgment analysis of information source preference profiles: an exploratory study to empirically represent media selection patterns

To better understand how individuals and groups derive satisfaction from information, it is important to identify the information source preferences they apply in information seeking and decision making. Four informal propositions drove the structure and underlying logic of this study, forming a preliminary outline of a theory of information source preference profiles and their influence on information satisfaction. This study employed Social Judgment Analysis (SJA) to identify the information judgment preferences held by professional groups for six selected information sources: word of mouth, expert oral advice, Internet, print news, nonfiction books, and radio/television news. The research was designed as an hypothesis-generating exploratory study employing a purposive sample (n = 90) and generated four empirically supported, testable hypotheses about user satisfaction with information sources. The SJA judgment functions revealed the influences of volume and polarity (i.e., positive versus negative information) on information satisfaction. By advancing the understanding of how information source preferences can be identified empirically and their influence on information satisfaction, this research reflects a first, small step toward understanding "satisficing." Satisficing behaviors result in early termination of information search processes when individuals, facing incomplete information, are sufficiently satisfied to assume risks and execute decisions.
High Cycle Fatigue of Tantalum Carbide Reinforced Nickel Base Eutectics at Room Temperature

The high cycle fatigue response of two advanced tantalum carbide strengthened eutectic superalloys has been determined at room temperature. Since these alloys will be coated in service, the effects of variables associated with coating processes were given special attention. Both alloys showed a well defined fatigue limit. It was concluded that the maximum stress obtained in the cycle at the fatigue limit coincided with the tensile stress at which the matrix yielded. Above this stress level cyclic deformation of the matrix resulted in fiber failure, a necessary precursor of specimen failure. Detailed observation of the sequence of events leading to fiber failure and subsequent early crack growth in the matrix over a broad range of alturnating stresses confirmed that fiber fracture was the critical crack nucleation step in high cycle fatigue failure of the two alloys. It was shown that several changes in the surface condition did not affect the fatigue life of the alloys. However, when the samples were prestrained to crack the carbide fibers, they failed when cycled, at alternating stresses below the fatigue limit for virgin material. A similar loss of fatigue life was observed after heat treatment of one of the alloys. Fractographic examination indicated that this degradation resulted from enhanced crack nucleation at sigma platelets which were present as a result of the heat treatment.
Aqueous Viscosity Is the Primary Source of Friction in Lipidic Pore Dynamics

A new theory, to our knowledge, is developed that describes the dynamics of a lipidic pore in a liposome. The equations of the theory capture the experimentally observed three-stage functional form of pore radius over time—stage 1, rapid pore enlargement; stage 2, slow pore shrinkage; and stage 3, rapid pore closure. They also show that lipid flow is kinetically limited by the values of both membrane and aqueous viscosity; therefore, pore evolution is affected by both viscosities. The theory predicts that for a giant liposome, tens of microns in radius, water viscosity dominates over the effects of membrane viscosity. The edge tension of a lipidic pore is calculated by using the theory to quantitatively account for pore kinetics in stage 3, rapid pore closing. This value of edge tension agrees with the value as standardly calculated from the stage of slow pore closure, stage 2. For small, submicron liposomes, membrane viscosity affects pore kinetics, but only if the viscosity of the aqueous solution is comparable to that of distilled water. A first-principle fluid-mechanics calculation of the friction due to aqueous viscosity is in excellent agreement with the friction obtained by applying the new theory to data of previously published experimental results.
Thyroid stimulating and thyrotrophin binding-inhibitory immunoglobulin activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus having thyroid function abnormalities.

In order to determine whether thyroid function abnormalities seen in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are associated with autoantibodies directed against the TSH receptor, 28 patien...
X-irradiation sensitivity in Escherichia coli defective in DNA replication.

A mutant of Escherichia coli with a temperature sensitive defect in DNA replication is sensitive to X-irradiation but not to UV-irradiation. After UV-irradiation, dark-repair processes—dimer excision, DNA breakdown, repair synthesis and DNA strand joining—appear normal at the restrictive temperature. After X-irradiation, DNA degradation exceeds that in the wild type, and irradiation-dependent DNA synthesis does not occur. Single-strand breaks introduced into the DNA by the irradiation are nor repaired. The data indicate that the mutation results in a defect in repair of X-ray induced single-strand breaks as well as a defect in DNA replication. They provide evidence for the existence of a repair pathway for X-irradiated DNA similar to, but at least partially independent from, that postulated for the dark-repair of UV-irradiated DNA, viz., degradation at the site of the lesion, resynthesis of the degraded DNA complement and ligation of the DNA strand.
The ideal self as the driver of intentional change

Purpose – If the ideal self is the emotional driver of intentional change, the purpose of this paper is to explore the components of a person's personal vision and how it comes from their ideal self.Design/methodology/approach – Based on the concept of the ideal self from intentional change theory, the paper examines a variety of theoretical foundations, from psychoanalytic to positive psychology. Each views the ideal self and its components as deficiencies needing therapeutic intervention or the heights of human experience and intrinsic motivation.Findings – The ideal self is a primary source of positive affect and psychophysiological arousal helping provide the drive for intentional change. Many current frameworks or theories examine only portions of this model and, therefore, leave major components unaddressed. The ideal self is composed of three major components: an image of a desired future; hope (and its constituents, self‐efficacy and optimism); and a comprehensive sense of one's core identity (pas...