cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Supertasters On Taste Test and Marketing Outcomes: How an Innate Characteristic Shapes Taste, Preference, Experience, and Behavior

ABSTRACT This article introduces advertisers to a new segmentation technique based on an individual9s inherited taste sensitivity—that is, the “supertaster.” Three studies demonstrate that this inherited supertaster difference can explain blind taste-test anomalies, such as the Pepsi Challenge; heightened brand loyalty; and a reduced sensitivity to peripheral product cues, such as visual variations. These findings underscore a new vein of segmentation that has great promise for explaining variance in lab, expert, and crowd-sourced evaluations involving matters of taste.
3D image guidance assisted identification of colorectal cancer liver metastases not seen on intraoperative ultrasound: results from a prospective trial.

Abstract Background Neoadjuvant treatment of colorectal liver metastases has become increasingly common, and while effective, often renders small metastases difficult to visualize on intraoperative US. The objective of this study was to determine the utility of a 3D image-guidance system in patients with intraoperative sonographically-occult CRLM. Methods 50 patients with at least one CRLM ≤ 1.5 cm were enrolled in this prospective trial of an FDA-approved Explorer image-guidance system. If the tumor(s) seen on preoperative imaging were not identified with intraoperative US, Explorer was used to target the US examination to the involved area for a more focused assessment. The primary endpoint was the proportion of cases with sonographically-occult metastases identified using Explorer. Results Forty-eight patients with preoperative scans within eight weeks of surgery were included for analysis. Forty-six patients were treated with preoperative chemotherapy (median 4 months, range 2–24 months). Overall, 22 sonographically-occult tumors in 14 patients were interrogated by Explorer, of which 15 tumors in 10 patients were located with image-guidance assistance. The only difference between patients with tumors not identified on US and those who did was the number of tumors (median 3 vs. 2, p = 0.018). Conclusion 3D image-guidance can assist in identifying small CRLM, particularly after treatment with chemotherapy. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02806037 , https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02806037 .
Developing Mathematical Creativity with Physics Invention Tasks

Modeling the creative mathematical sensemaking that characterizes expert thinking in physics is typically a struggle for new learners. To help students learn to reason this way, we created a set of supplemental activities called Physics Invention Tasks (PITs)*. PITs engage students in quantification, the process of mathematically generating quantities central to modeling in physics. PITs depict a scenario in which students need to engage in decision-making associated with creating quantities in order to resolve a problem. Students make decisions about the arithmetic construction, the magnitude and associated unit, and in some cases spatial direction of a new quantity. The design of PITs is informed by Inventing with Contrasting Cases, an instructional approach shown to foster generativity, i.e., creativity with mathematical structures. In this paper, we describe the theoretical foundation of PITs, and their structure and implementation. We share preliminary observations of the impact of PITs in one course, averaged over two years, as measured by the FCI and CLASS. We see an improvement in the FCI normalized gain corresponding to the introduction of PITS and we see CLASS pre- to post-test gains that may be the highest reported from a large enrollment calculus-based physics course. We discuss future research into the learning mechanisms and instructor influence associated with PITs. *available at this http URL
Providing Mental Health Care for the Complex Older Veteran: Implications for Social Work Practice

Mental health conditions are underdiagnosed and undertreated in older veterans, as with all older adults. Social workers bring an important perspective to the interdisciplinary team for the care of older veterans with mental health conditions. In this study authors assessed 50 older veterans referred for mental health treatment (mean age = 74.52 years, SD = 6.48) with standardized measures of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and cognitive impairment. At initial assessment, 24 percent had moderate depression, 30 percent had PTSD, and 62 percent (n = 31) had (mostly mild) cognitive impairment based on cut scores. These conditions were often comorbid with each other and with social (60 percent), retirement (26 percent), bereavement (32 percent), and financial (36 percent) stressors. Depression improved after three months of treatment [t(30) = 2.12, p = .04], but those with comorbid PTSD or social stressors had more depressive symptoms at follow-up [R2 = .36, F(4, 26) = 3.57, p = .02]. Interdisciplinary care is essential to address the multiple comorbidities and practical complexities of geriatric mental health care. Social workers play a valuable role on the interprofessional team in addressing these complexities.
Misleading prioritizations from modelling range shifts under climate change

Aim Conservation planning requires the prioritization of a subset of taxa and geographical locations to focus monitoring and management efforts. Integration of the threats and opportunities posed by climate change often relies on predictions from species distribution models, particularly for assessments of vulnerability or invasion risk for multiple taxa. We evaluated whether species distribution models could reliably rank changes in species range size under climate and land use change. Location Conterminous U.S.A. Time period 1977–2014. Major taxa studied Passerine birds. Methods We estimated ensembles of species distribution models based on historical North American Breeding Bird Survey occurrences for 190 songbirds, and generated predictions to recent years given c. 35 years of observed land use and climate change. We evaluated model predictions using standard metrics of discrimination performance and a more detailed assessment of the ability of models to rank species vulnerability to climate change based on predicted range loss, range gain, and overall change in range size. Results Species distribution models yielded unreliable and misleading assessments of relative vulnerability to climate and land use change. Models could not accurately predict range expansion or contraction, and therefore failed to anticipate patterns of range change among species. These failures occurred despite excellent overall discrimination ability and transferability to the validation time period, which reflected strong performance at the majority of locations that were either always or never occupied by each species. Main conclusions Models failed for the questions and at the locations of greatest interest to conservation and management. This highlights potential pitfalls of multi-taxa impact assessments under global change; in our case, models provided misleading rankings of the most impacted species, and spatial information about range changes was not credible. As modelling methods and frameworks continue to be refined, performance assessments and validation efforts should focus on the measures of risk and vulnerability useful for decision-making.
Conceptualizing the multiple dimensions of consumer financial vulnerability

Abstract Though the majority of Americans report they are financially stable, they do not have sufficient savings to handle an unplanned emergency. There appears to be a disconnect between an individual's perception of their financial situation and their actual financial state. Nevertheless, only scant research focuses on financial vulnerability from both a subjective and objective perspective, and a clear and consistent definition of this construct is missing in the literature. To fill this gap, this review draws across disciplines to consolidate extant knowledge on financial vulnerability. First, we propose a novel definition of financial vulnerability that includes both its subjective and objective dimensions. Next, we create a framework to assess a consumer's financial vulnerability. We then identify interventions for varying degrees of financial vulnerability that are tailored to the individual's fiscal situation. Finally, we present a research agenda to guide future research on financial vulnerability.
Decision-Based Learning: ″If I Just Knew Which Equation To Use, I Know I Could Solve This Problem!″

Heat and enthalpy are challenging topics for general chemistry students because they are conceptually complex and require avariety of quantitative problem-solving approaches. Expert chemists draw on conditional knowledge, deciding when and under what conditions a certain problem-solving approach should be used. Decision-based learning (DBL) explicitly teaches conditional knowledge, helping students decide the most appropriate strategy for each type of problem as they learn key concepts. In this study, we created a DBL model for heat and enthalpy problems and introduced it to students enrolled in first-semester general chemistry. We compared performance on test items related to heat and enthalpy with students not using the DBL model, from the previous cohort. Students engaging with the model outside of class, using it to work through five to ten problems related to heat and enthalpy, performed statistically significantly better than students in the comparison group. Students only using the model in class o...
El ascenso de la economía del comportamiento: Misbehaving, de Richard Thaler

espanolLa economia del comportamiento surgio en la decada 1980, debido sobre todo a la obra de Richard Thaler, quien exploro la relevancia del efecto dotacion, la contabilidad mental, la preocupacion por la justicia y otras “anomalias”, segun la teoria economica estandar. Su maravilloso libro, Misbehaving, ofrece una descripcion narrativa del surgimiento de estas ideas, y explora algunas de sus implicaciones para el futuro. Los retos continuos incluyen el de hacer predicciones cuando los resultados del comportamiento inciden en direcciones diferentes (como, p. ej., cuando el sesgo optimista entra en conflicto con el sesgo de disponibilidad); entender la linea entre empujar y manipular; y aplicar los resultados del comportamiento a desafios apremiantes de politica publica, como la pobreza, la educacion, el terrorismo y el cambio climatico. portuguesA economia comportamental emergiu na decada de 1980, principalmente, devido ao trabalho de Richard Thaler, que explorou a relevância do efeito de dotacao, da contabilidade mental, da preocupacao com a justica e de outras “anomalias”, de acordo com a teoria economica padrao. Seu maravilhoso livro, Misbehaving, oferece uma descricao narrativa do surgimento dessas ideias e explora algumas de suas implicacoes para o futuro. Os desafios continuos incluem fazer previsoes quando os resultados comportamentais atingirem direcoes diferentes (como, por exemplo, quando a tendencia otimista entra em conflito com a de disponibilidade); entender a linha entre empurrar e manipular; e aplicar resultados comportamentais nos desafiosemergentes das politicas publicas, como pobreza, educacao, terrorismo e mudanca climatica. EnglishBehavioral economics emerged in the 1980s, above all because of the creative work of Richard Thaler, exploring the relevance of the endowment effect, mental accounting, concern for fairness, and other “anomalies” from the standpoint of standard economic theory. His engaging book, Misbehaving, offers a narrative account of how these ideas came about, and also explores some of their implications for the future. Continuing challenges include making predictions when behavioral findings cut in different directions (as, for example, where optimistic bias conflicts with availability bias); understanding the line between nudging and manipulation; and applying behavioral findings to pressing public policy challenges, such as poverty, education, terrorism, and climate change.
Na/Ca exchange and first messenger Ca in skeletal muscle excitation-contraction coupling.

Depolarization initiates a process in the wall of the transverse tubular system (t system). This process gives rise to a transient electrical signal - charge movement - which is closely linked to the release of Ca from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) via the foot process. Two types of linkage have been discussed at this Conference: 1) structural links spanning the t-SR gap, such as the rigid rod model (Schneider and Chandler, 1973), and 2) chemical links including trigger Ca (Bianchi, 1969 and Frank, 1980).
Control of RNA Pol II Speed by PNUTS-PP1 and Spt5 Dephosphorylation Facilitates Termination by a "Sitting Duck Torpedo" Mechanism.

Summary Control of transcription speed, which influences many co-transcriptional processes, is poorly understood. We report that PNUTS-PP1 phosphatase is a negative regulator of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) elongation rate. The PNUTS W401A mutation, which disrupts PP1 binding, causes genome-wide acceleration of transcription associated with hyper-phosphorylation of the Spt5 elongation factor. Immediately downstream of poly(A) sites, Pol II decelerates from >2 kb/min to
Connected Gaming: What Making Video Games Can Teach Us about Learning and Literacy: by Yasmin B. Kafai and Quinn Burke, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 2016, xviii + 201 pp., $35.00/£27.00 (cloth)

The authors of Connected Gaming effectively update Yasmin B. Kafai’s 1995 discussion of “the first constructionist gaming project” (2), originally published as Minds in Play: Games to Be Played, Ga...
Impact of abiotic factors on microbialite growth (Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA): a tank experiment

Microbialites are microbial communities that create a carbonate structure. They are abundant in the Great Salt Lake, a hypersaline lake in the arid Great Basin of the USA, where they contribute to overall primary production, seasonally up to 55%. While the microbial diversity of microbialites has been investigated, how abiotic factors affect the abundance of their primary constituents is not well understood. We examined how microbialite primary producers respond to varying levels of temperature, salinity, and nitrogen within ranges observed in the Great Salt Lake. All abiotic factors and their interactions significantly affected the maximum chlorophyll-a abundance, suggesting that these factors co-limit microbialite primary producers in the Great Salt Lake. Maximum chlorophyll-a concentrations increased with nitrogen additions and showed a parabolic relationship with salinity and temperature with peaks around 60 ppt and 20°C, respectively. While salinity had a strong effect on microbialite primary producers, we found that temperature and nitrogen were more impactful, accounting for 40 and 30% of the variance in maximum abundance, respectively, while salinity contributed just 15%. Our results show the importance of the interplay of abiotic factors on Great Salt Lake microbialites and highlight the need for increased study of benthic communities in inland saline lakes.
Risk factors for wound-related complications after microvascular decompression

Retrosigmoid craniotomy for microvascular decompression (MVD) has been traditionally performed via craniectomy. Various closure techniques have been described, yet factors associated with wound-related complications remain undetermined. Accordingly, herein, we sought to identify risk factors associated with wound-related complications after such procedures. An institutional retrospective case-control study was performed; outcomes of interest were cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak, wound dehiscence, wound infection, and pseudomeningocele. Univariate analysis was performed using Wilcoxon rank sum test for non-parametric continuous outcomes and chi-square test for categorical outcomes. Multivariate logistic regression was performed on binomial outcome variables. The study population included 197 patients who underwent MVD for trigeminal neuralgia (83.2%), hemifacial spasm (12.2%), vestibular nerve section (3.0%), and glossopharyngeal neuralgia (1.5%). The overall wound-related complication rate was 14.2% (n = 28), including twelve patients (6.1%) with CSF leak, ten patients (5.1%) with wound infection, ten patients (5.1%) with pseudomeningocele, and nine (4.6%) patients with wound dehiscence. Using multivariate logistic regression, preoperative anemia and current tobacco use were associated with significantly higher rates of complications (OR 6.01 and 4.58, respectively; p < 0.05), including CSF leak (OR 12.83 and 12.40, respectively, p < 0.05). Of note, use of synthetic bone substitute for cranioplasty was associated with a significantly lower rate of complications (OR 0.13, p < 0.01). Preoperative anemia and current tobacco use significantly increased, while synthetic bone substitute cranioplasty significantly decreased, odds of wound-related complications, the need for treatment, and CSF leaks. Additionally, higher BMI, longer operative duration, and prior radiosurgery may increase risk for wound-related complications.
An algorithm to find (and plug) "holes" in multi-dimensional surfaces

We have developed an algorithm to detect holes in multi-dimensional real-valued surfaces-such as the potential energy surfaces (PESs) that describe the nuclear motion of molecules in the context of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. For our purposes, a PES "hole" is defined as an unphysical saddle point, beyond which the potential energy drops (typically) without limit to negative infinity. PES holes are numerical artifacts that can arise when fitting PES functional forms to discrete ab initio data-even when the data is of high quality, and/or for comparatively few degrees of freedom (DOF). Often undetected, PES holes can have devastating effects on subsequent dynamical calculations, especially if they occur at low energies. In this paper, we present a highly efficient algorithm designed to systematically identify hole configurations and energies. The method is applied to a variety of molecular PESs ranging up to 30 DOF. A number of evidently previously undetected PES holes are reported here-surprisingly, even for PESs that have been available for decades. The code itself (Crystal) is presented together with a user manual. These tools may be of great benefit for PES developers, who can use the information they provide to fix holes, once identified. More generally, the methodology can be applied in any context involving multi-dimensional surfaces.
Abstract 2980: Effects of cetuximab and CD-3379 on cytokine/chemokine balance in the tumor micro-environment (TME) of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN)

Background: The Anti-EGFR agent cetuximab has shown promising outcomes and remains to be the only FDA-approved non-immunotherapeutic targeted agent for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). There is evidence that immune modulation represents a mechanism by which cetuximab elicits its clinical activity in SCCHN. As resistance inevitably occurs to cetuximab, there is a need to further elucidate the biological mechanisms by which cetuximab affects immune effectors in the tumor microenvironment (TME). We aimed to explore the effect of EGFR inhibition on the cytokine/chemokine balance in the TME. Methods: Three SCCHN cancer cell lines UM-SCC47 (HPV positive), JHU022 (HPV negative), and SCC-1C (HPV negative and resistant to cetuximab) were treated with cetuximab, CD-3379 (a HER3 inhibitor), and their combination. After 48 and/or 72 hours, the supernatants of the treated and untreated cells were collected and subjected to multiplexed immunoassay [Meso Scale Discovery (MSD) U-PLEX Assays] to study the cytokine/chemokine alteration. Changes in immune suppressive chemokines were confirmed by ELISA. A potential effect of a chemokine neutralizing antibody on apoptosis was further evaluated using patient-derived organotypic cancer spheroids (PDOCSs). Results: Our results identified 10 down regulated cytokines/chemokines, including IL6, IL-8, IL-2, IL-12, IL-27, IL-4, IL-5, TGF-β, GM-CSF, and IFN-γ in at least one SCCHN cell line. Three cytokines/chemokines were up regulated, including IL-15, MCP-3, and MCP-1. MCP-1 (CCL2) is a modulator of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Enhancing MCP-1 by cetuximab and/or CD-3379 in the SCCHN cell lines was confirmed by ELISA. Treating multiple PDOCSs with the same combination along with MCP-1 neutralizing antibody enhanced apoptosis in comparison to cetuximab, CD-3379, or the cetuximab/CD-3379 combination. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that cetuximab in combination with HER3 inhibition affects secretion of cytokines/chemokines which are both immune stimulatory and suppressive in the TME of SCCHN. Alteration of the selected cytokines/chemokines may enhance the clinical activity of EGFR targeting in SCCHN. Citation Format: Dongsheng Wang, Sreenivas Nannapaneni, Gregory B. Lesinski, Dong M. Shin, Nabil F. Saba, Georgia Z. Chen. Effects of cetuximab and CD-3379 on cytokine/chemokine balance in the tumor micro-environment (TME) of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 2980.
Developing Machine Learning Models to Automate News Classification

Reading news articles is essential and critical for understanding the local, nation-wide, and global emerging and developing events, as well as understanding the citizens’ demands and critics’ opinions. However, with the explosion of social media as news channels, citizens and groups of professionals share news and opinions, which has been the territory of trained journalists, adding more news to process. News often comes with multimedia objects, and suffers from integrity issues, especially with the unreliable or false claims, so-called fake news or altered or alternative facts. These quantity, diversity, and integrity pose significant challenges in the information age, not only for the decision-makers, including policymakers, business leaders but also for individual citizens. This study focuses on how the machine learning classification algorithms could help the news classifications in different categories to easily access the needed category of news and to filter out the noisy and harmful news.
Death in Berlin: Hegel on mortality and the social order

It is widely acknowledged that Hegel holds the view that a rational social order needs to reconcile us to our status as natural beings, with bodily needs and desires. But while this general view is...
Octupole based current horn suppression in multistage bunch compression with emittance growth correction

High brightness electron beams are critical for x-ray free-electron laser performance. To achieve higher peak current, strong longitudinal compression often produces electron beams with peaks in the head and/or tail of the current profile. These current horns are formed after bunch compression due to nonlinear correlations in the longitudinal phase space and the higher order optics of the compressor. It has been suggested that this higher order compression can be corrected by inserting an octupole magnet near the center of a bunch compressor. However, this scheme provides a correlated transverse kick leading to growth of the projected emittance. We present here a method whereby octupole magnets are inserted into two sequential bunch compressors. By tuning a $\ensuremath{\pi}$ betatron phase advance between the two octupoles, the correlated transverse kick from the first octupole can be corrected by the second, while providing a cummulative adjustment of the higher order compression.
Voting for Experimentation: A Continuous Time Analysis

This paper uses a laboratory experiment to analyze how a group of voters experiment with a new reform. The experiment implements the continuous time Strulovici (2010) collective experimentation model. I analyze a subset of data where groups and single decision makers should eventually prefer to stop experimentation and abandon the reform. I find three results that are consistent with the modeled experimentation incentives. In this subset of data, groups stop experimentation earlier than single decision makers, wait longer to stop experimentation as the number of revealed winners increases, and stop experimentation earlier than the utilitarian optimum predicts. However, I also find that both groups and single decision makers stop experimentation earlier than predicted. Additional treatments show that this result is unlikely to be explained by standard explanations such as incorrect belief updating or risk aversion.
Benign Breast Conditions

Benign breast conditions are common and may present as an abnormal mammogram, a breast mass, an infection, nipple discharge, or breast pain. Breast concerns are investigated with a breast cancer risk assessment, a clinical breast exam, selected imaging, and possible biopsy. Breast masses are either watched closely through imaging and exam over time or biopsied, depending upon the risk of malignancy. Biopsies that show high-risk lesions or that are discordant with imaging are removed. Breast infections occur in women of all ages, especially in women who are breastfeeding, and are generally treated with antibiotics and ultrasound-guided aspiration when appropriate. Breast pain is a common complaint and treatment depends on the type of breast pain: cyclical, noncyclical, or extramammary. Cyclical breast pain is managed with reassurance and lifestyle changes, whereas focal breast pain is investigated with imaging before reassurance is offered. Benign or physiologic nipple discharge is differentiated from suspicious or pathologic discharge, and the latter requires a full investigation. Most benign breast disease has no malignant potential and does not increase a woman’s future risk of breast cancer. Importantly, atypical hyperplasia, lobular carcinoma in situ, and proliferative breast conditions are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, and increased surveillance and prevention strategies should be considered for patients with these diagnoses.
Active Channel Impact on SiC MOSFET Gate Oxide Reliability

It is well known that SiC MOSFETs have relatively susceptible gate oxide causing reliability concerns. Therefore, it is essential to identify gate oxide fault mechanisms under realistic conditions. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the load current impact on gate oxide degradation of SiC MOSFETs. For this purpose, conventional high electric field test (HEF) and active channel gate bias test (ACGB) are carried out under electro-thermal stress and the results are compared. During ACGB tests, both gate and drain biases applied to the device at high temperatures, and device channel is forced to conduct under various load currents. After tunning both tests, gate oxide degradation precursors such as threshold voltage and gate leakage are investigated, and the findings are compared to each other. In addition, load current impact on device consumable lifetime is evaluated, and possible failures and root causes are discussed. It is shown in the experimental results that the conductive channel with high drain-source current introduces severe device instability due to degradations and conventional HEF tests can be misleading and yield overestimated device lifetime.
Changes in Motor Behavior Predict Falls and Identify Acute Events.

This study aimed to examine how changes in motor behavior are associated with falls, delirium, and urinary tract infections (UTIs). Twenty-three (128 observations) skilled nursing residents were ex...
Critical analysis of Mediterranean sea level limit cycles during the Messinian salinity crisis

The Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.97-5.33Ma) may be one of the most significant periods of sea-level change in recent geologic history. During this period, evaporite deposition throughout the Mediterranean basin records a series of dramatic environmental changes as flow through the Strait of Gibraltar was restricted. In the first stage of evaporite deposition, cycles of gypsum appear in shallow basins on the margins of the Mediterranean. The complex environmental history giving rise to these cycles has been investigated for decades but remains controversial. Notably, whether the evaporites are connected to significant changes in Mediterranean sea level is an open question.In one proposed model, competition between tectonic uplift and erosion at the Strait of Gibraltar gives rise to self-sustaining sea-level oscillations—limit cycles—which trigger evaporite deposition. Here I show that limit cycles are not a robust result of the proposed model and discuss how any oscillations produced by this model depend on an unrealistic formulation of a key model equation. First, I simplify the model equations and test whether limit cycles are produced in 64 million unique combinations of model parameters, finding oscillations in only 0.2% of all simulations. Next, I examine the formulation of a critical model equation representing stream channel slope over the Strait of Gibraltar, concluding that a more realistic formulation would render sea-level limit cycles improbable, if not impossible, in the proposed model.
Unification of FEM with Laser Experimentation

Unification of finite element methods with laser experimentation is presented. It is pointed out that most engineering problems contain regions in which finite element modeling encounters difficulties due to nonlinearities, irregular boundaries, ambiguous energy functionals, etc. Measurements obtained by laser experimentation, particularly in these regions, can be digitized and automatically incorporated into the finite element modeling to improve results. Unification is possible in solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, gas dynamics, heat transfer, and in an everincreasing number of other fields.
Media and the moral mind

Series Editor Foreword: Donald G. Godfrey Foreword: Jennings Bryant, University of Alabama Preface Chapter 1: Moral Psychology and Media Theory: Historical and Emerging Viewpoints by Allison Eden, VU University Amsterdam, Matthew Grizzard, Michigan State University, and Robert J. Lewis, Michigan State University Chapter 2: Universal Morality, Mediated Narratives, and Neural Synchrony by Rene Weber, University of California, Santa Barbara, Lucy Popova, University of California, San Francisco, and J. Michael Mangus, University of California, Santa Barbara Chapter 3: A Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars by Ron Tamborini, Michigan State University Chapter 4: Morality Subcultures and Media Production: How Hollywood Minds the Morals of its Audience by Dana Mastro and Marisa Enriquez, University of Arizona, Nicholas David Bowman, West Virginia University, and Sujay Prabhu and Ron Tamborini, Michigan State University Chapter 5: The Experience of Elevation: Responses to Media Portrayals of Moral Beauty by Mary Beth Oliver, Erin Ash, and Julia K. Woolley, Pennsylvania State University Chapter 6: Moral Disengagement During Exposure to Media Violence: Would It Feel Right to Shoot an Innocent Civilian in a Video Game? by Tilo Hartmann, VU University Amsterdam Chapter 7: Moral Monitoring and Emotionality in Responding to Fiction, Sports, and the News by Dolf Zillmann, University of Alabama Chapter 8: How We Enjoy and Why We Seek Out Morally Complex Characters in Media Entertainment by Arthur A. Raney and Sophie H. Janicke, Florida State University Chapter 9: The Psychological Functions of Justice in Mass Media by Tobias Rothmund, University of Koblenz-Landau , Mario Gollwitzer, Philipps-University Marburg, and Anna Baumert and Manfred Schmitt, University of Koblenz-Landau Chapter 10: The Role of Media in Children and Adolescents' Moral Reasoning by Marina Krcmar, Wake Forest University Author Biographies Selected Bibliography
Triton-soluble phosphovariants of the high molecular weight neurofilament subunit from NB2a/dl cells are assembly-competent: Implications for normal and abnormal neurofilament assembly

NB2a/dl cells incorporate neurofilaments (NFs) containing extensively phosphorylated high (NF-H) molecular weight subunits into the Tritoninsoluble cytoskeleton of axonal neurites elaborated during differentiation with dibutyryl cAMP. However, immunocytochemical and biochemical analyses demonstrate the constitutive expression and extensive phosphorylation of a sizeable pool of (200 kDa) NF-H. We examined by cell-free analyses whether or not this Triton-soluble NF-H pool was assembly-competent in cell-free analyses. Triton-soluble fractions from 35S-radiolabeled NB2a/dl cells were incubated with dissociated mouse CNS Triton-insoluble cytoskeletons that had been dissociated by treatment with 6 M urea. Following overnight dialysis to remove urea, low-speed centrifugation to sediment Triton-insoluble cytoskeletons resulted in the co-sedimentation of radiolabeled NF-H, indicating that Triton-soluble NF-H was capable of association with Triton-insoluble structures. Triton-soluble, extensively phosphorylated NF-H from NB2a/dl cells was also capable of co-assembling with purified NF-L. Following high-speed centrifugation (100,000 × g for 1 h) to sediment any oligomeric assemblies, the Triton-soluble fraction from NB2a/dl cells was mixed with purified NF-L that had been solubilized by 6 M urea. Following overnight dialysis to remove urea, high-speed centrifugation sedimented both NF-L and Triton-soluble NF-H from NB2a/dl cells, demonstrating that Triton-soluble NF-H variants are assembly-competent. These data suggest that NF-H variants represent precursors for NF assembly, and indicate that their assembly within NB2a/dl cells must be under temporal and spatial regulation.
Smoking and postoperative outcomes in elective cranial surgery.

Object The goal in this study was to assess whether a current or prior history of smoking and the number of smoking pack years affect the risk for adverse outcomes in the 30-day postoperative period in patients who undergo elective cranial surgery. Methods Data from the 2006–2011 American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Project were used in this study. The authors identified 8296 patients who underwent elective cranial surgery, of whom 1718 were current smokers, 854 were prior smokers, and 5724 were never smokers. Using propensity scores and age, the authors matched current and prior smokers to never smokers. Odds ratios for adverse postoperative outcomes were predicted with logistic regression. The relationship between number of pack years and poor outcomes was also examined. Results In unadjusted analyses, prior and current smokers did not differ from never smokers for having poor outcomes postoperatively. Similarly, in matched analyses, no association was found between smokin...
Advanced schemes for all-optical computing, optical error correction, and optical signal processing

The recent progress in optical communications and signal processing outlines the fact that the parallel computing falls well behind the optical transmission systems' capabilities. Even though that photonic networks-on-chips (NOCs) can be employed to enable future computing and signal processing functions, there is a number of limitations (such as frequent O-E-O conversions, temperature sensitivity, and reliability issues) to be overcome before such schemes become widely adopted. All this strengthens the need for novel optical computing paradigms to be introduced. In this paper, we discuss novel optical processing schemes to overcome the computing limitations of photonic NOCs. We describe both continuous-time (CT) and discrete-time (DT) implementations of photonic integrated circuits (PIC)-based basic building blocks for all-optical computing. In addition, we need to use all-optical error correction schemes to deal with the accumulated errors due to the impact of noise. To perform all-optical linear block encoding and decoding we discuss and propose the use of SOA based XOR gates, while for CT implementation, the employment of Mach-Zehnder interferometer-based multiplier to perform probabilities multiplication, is considered. Also, the use of Y-junctions and phase modulators for all-optical FFT is discussed. Finally, we will describe and propose our approach of how to perform all-optical multiplication and addition in Galois field (GF), which represent the basic operations required in nonbinary LDPC coding and byte-based computing functions.
Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing Technology and Applications

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the Third International Workshop on High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing Technology and Applications (HPRCTA'09). High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (HPRC) based on the combination of conventional microprocessors and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) is a rapidly evolving computing paradigm that offers a potential to accelerate computationally intensive scientific applications beyond of what is possible on today's mainstream high-performance computing (HPC) systems. The academic community has been actively investigating this technology for the past several years and the technology has proven itself to be practical for a number of HPC applications. Many of the HPC vendors are now offering or are planning to offer various HPRC solutions. The goal of this workshop, co-located with the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis (SC09), is to provide a forum for academic researchers and industry to discuss the latest trends and developments in the field, and to set a research agenda for the upcoming years on the use of field-programmable gate array technology in high performance computing. The workshop is co-organized and co-sponsored by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, OpenFPGA, and the George Washington University. It consists of the keynote session chaired by Tarek El-Ghazawi (The George Washington University), two academic sessions chaired by Volodymyr Kindratenko and Craig Steffen (NCSA) and the technology panel chaired by Eric Stahlberg (OpenFPGA). We are very pleased to announce the keynote presentation by Alan D. George (University of Florida), Founder and Director of the NSF Center for High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (CHREC).
The Tryptophan Hydroxylase of Chromobacterium violaceum

Abstract A tryptophan hydroxylase has been purified approximately 20-fold from Chromobacterium violaceum. The enzyme is inducible and it is induced to a greater extent by phenylalanine than by tryptophan. The hydroxylation requires molecular oxygen and a reduced pteridine, and has a further requirement for the addition of a sulfhydryl compound. No evidence for the further metabolism of the product, 5-hydroxy-tryptophan, could be obtained. The enzyme is inhibited by phenylalanine and p-chlorophenylalanine. It acts on d-tryptophan to some extent. The enzyme is different from the phenylalanine hydroxylase also produced by the organism.
Cognitively Inspired Anticipatory Adaptation and Associated Learning Mechanisms for Autonomous Agents

This paper describes the integration of several cognitively inspired anticipation and anticipatory learning mechanisms in an autonomous agent architecture, the Learning Intelligent Distribution Agent (LIDA) system. We provide computational mechanisms and experimental simulations for variants of payoff, state, and sensorial anticipatory mechanisms. The payoff anticipatory mechanism in LIDA is implicitly realized by the action selection dynamics of LIDA's decision making component, and is enhanced by importance and discrimination factors. A description of a non-routine problem solving algorithm is presented as a form of state anticipatory mechanism. A technique for action driven sensational and attentional biasing similar to a preafferent signal and preparatory attention is offered as a viable sensorial anticipatory mechanism. We also present an automatization mechanism coupled with an associated deautomatization procedure, and an instructionalist based procedural learning algorithm as forms of implicit and explicit anticipatory learning mechanisms.
Beta normal control of TFTR using fuzzy logic

In TFTR plasmas heated by neutral beam injection, the fusion power yield increases rapidly with the plasma pressure. However, the pressure is limited by the onset of instabilities which may result in plasma disruptions that would have had an adverse effect on the performance of subsequent discharges and increase the risk of damage to internal components. The likelihood of disruption has been found to correlate with the normalized beta, defined as is the volume-average plasma perpendicular pressure, a the mid-plane minor radius of the plasma, BT the toroidal magnetic field and I P the plasma current. Other variables, such as the peaking of the plasma pressure and current profiles, have been found to influence the threshold of β N at which the probability of disruption begins to increase significantly. For TFTR plasmas with high fusion performance (TFTR “supershots”) the probability of disruption has been found to increase rapidly for β N > 1.8. Since confinement in this regime is affected by plasma-wall interaction, which can vary from shot to shot, operation at high β N with preprogrammed heating power pulses can produce an unaccept-ably high risk of disruption. To reduce the risk of producing beta-limit disruptions during neutral beam heating experiments, a control system, the Neutral Beam Power Feedback System (NBPFS), has been developed to modulate the total heating power by switching individual neutral beam sources on and off in response to the evolution of the normalized beta so that the limit will not be exceeded.
Calcium in motor nerve terminals associated with posttetanic potentiation

We have used fura-2 fluorescence to study the effects of repetitive stimulation producing posttetanic potentiation (PTP) at crayfish neuromuscular junctions on presynaptic calcium concentration. Fura-2 was injected into the preterminal axon of the excitor motor neuron to the claw opener muscle of a walking leg. Pictures of presynaptic terminals on the muscle surface were obtained with a charge-coupled device camera, ratioed, and converted to spatial images of intracellular calcium concentration. Stimulation of the motor nerve for 7-10 min at 20-33 Hz produced potentiation during the tetanus and PTP following the tetanus. Presynaptic calcium levels in terminal boutons and varicosities rose to about 2 microM during the tetanus and decayed at first rapidly and then slowly back to levels near the initial concentration of about 200 nM. The decay rate of potentiated synaptic transmission was the same as the decay rate of the elevated calcium concentration during the posttetanic period dominated by PTP, when facilitation and augmentation had dissipated. A 13-fold potentiation corresponded to a 500 nM elevation of calcium to about 700 nM. The linear dependence we observed is not consistent with the power law formulation of a residual calcium hypothesis for PTP. During the tetanus, the enhancement of synaptic transmission due to facilitation, augmentation, and potentiation exceeded that expected from the correspondence between PTP and posttetanic calcium levels. This may occur because during the tetanus there is insufficient time for calcium to equilibrate spatially between action potentials, and the submembrane calcium will be higher than the volume-average calcium levels that we detect. Following low-frequency trains (typically 8 Hz for about 35 sec), enhanced synaptic transmission and elevated presynaptic calcium decayed rapidly, within a few seconds. Short high-frequency trains (50-100 Hz for 1-2 min) elicited an additional hours-long elevation of presynaptic calcium, corresponding to, and perhaps responsible for, part of the long-term potentiation of transmission that such stimulation produces at this synapse.
Role of RKTG, a novel Golgi localized receptor, in Gβγ regulated transport of secretory proteins from the Golgi to the plasma membrane (604.4)

Recent studies have revealed a role for G protein betagamma signaling at the Golgi via protein kinase D (PKD) regulating fission of plasma membrane (PM) destined secretory vesicles from the trans Golgi network (TGN). The mechanism by which the Gbetagamma subunits are recruited to and activated at the Golgi in this process remains elusive. Recent studies reveal that a newly characterized Golgi localized, membrane protein belonging to the Progestin and AdipoQ Receptor (PAQR) family, RKTG (Raf Kinase Trapping to the Golgi), interacts with the Gbeta subunit and sequesters Gbetagamma to the Golgi thereby regulating the functions of Gbetagamma. Here we show that over expression of RKTG causes vesiculation of the Golgi, while a Gbeta binding mutant of RKTG does not cause vesiculation. Also, the C-terminal fragment of GRK2 (GRK2ct), which interacts with, and inhibits Gbetagamma signaling, and Gallein, a small molecule inhibitor of Gbetagamma, were both able to inhibit Golgi vesiculation in the presence of RKTG. F...
Long vs short spreading codes in cellular DS-CDMA

The performance of cellular DS-CDMA systems using long and short spreading sequences is compared in terms of bit error probability, and both conventional and MMSE detectors are considered. A slightly higher performance variability is found for the short code case and code hopping as a technique to mitigate this is investigated.
Mild hypothermia to limit myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury: importance of timing.

Background Hypothermia during ischemia has been shown to reduce myocardial reperfusion injury. We sought to establish the cardioprotective effect of very mild total-body hypothermia (≤ 2.5°C) and to determine whether the application of hypothermia at different points during the ischemia-reperfusion period influenced the degree of myocardial salvage. Methods Rabbits were subjected to 30 minutes of myocardial ischemia followed by 3 hours of reperfusion. Twenty-five animals were maintained at normal temperature (39.5°C) throughout the experiment (W-W-W group). All other animals were cooled to reduce left atrial temperature 2.0°C to 2.5°C. Eleven animals reached goal temperature before coronary occlusion (C-C-C group), in 14 animals cooling was initiated at coronary occlusion (W-C0-C group), in 8 animals cooling was initiated 15 minutes after coronary occlusion (W-C15-C group), in 5 animals cooling was initiated 25 minutes after coronary occlusion (W-C25-C group), and in 13 animals cooling was started concurrently with reperfusion (W-W-C group). Infarct size as a percentage of the risk area (I/AR) was determined by a double staining-planimetry technique. Results Goal temperature was achieved before reperfusion in the C-C-C and W-C0-C groups but was not achieved until the reperfusion period in the other treatment groups. Infarct size was 59.0 ± 1.2% in the W-W-W group and was reduced in all cooling groups (C-C-C = 30.4 ± 4.9%; W-C0-C = 33.4 ± 5.0%; W-C15-C = 42.4 ± 1.4%; W-C25-C = 44.1 ± 2.3%; W-W-C = 50.5 ± 4.1%). The temperature at reperfusion correlated most strongly with infarct size (r = 0.72, p −12 ). Conclusions Very mild hypothermia affords a significant cardioprotective effect. Temperature at the time of reperfusion most strongly correlates with the degree of myocardial salvage.