cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cien por Ciento Cubanos: National Identity, Master Narratives, and Silencing Moves in a Transnational Caribbean Family History

This article focuses on the oral and artifact-filled archive of a working-class Afro-Cuban family to create an intimate set of histories that illuminates the Americas as deeply connected and challenges the limits of national borders. The article explores the ways in which national identities assert themselves in the “private spaces” of migratory life through storytelling and the creation of collective memories, and how gender functions within these spaces. This family has created a master narrative about its own racially conscious, respectable, revolutionary Cuban working-class identity and practice that denies the centrality of international marriage and diasporic experiences to its making. Women’s whispered stories, marginalized from the familial narrative, illuminate alternative meanings and motivations for the strategies that propelled their family into the center of the great conflicts of Cuban history. Resumen Este articulo analiza el archivo oral y de artefactos formado por una familia obrera afro-cubana para crear unas historias intimas que demuestran tanto los limites como el poder de las fronteras nacionales en las Americas. El articulo explora como las identidades nacionales se crean en los espacios privados de la vida de los inmigrantes a traves de la narracion de memorias colectivas y tambien como el genero funciona en estos espacios sociales y discursivos. Esta familia ha creado una narrativa dominante sobre su propia identidad respetable obrera y racial que niega la importancia del matrimonio y las experiencias internacionales. Las memorias susurradas de mujeres, marginalizadas de la narrativa principal familiar, exponen motivaciones y significados alternativos de las estrategias que impulsaron a su familia al centro de los grandes conflictos historicos de Cuba.
Bitvector-aware Query Optimization for Decision Support Queries

Bitvector filtering is an important query processing technique that can significantly reduce the cost of execution, especially for complex decision support queries with multiple joins. Despite its wide application, however, its implication to query optimization is not well understood. In this work, we study how bitvector filters impact query optimization. We show that incorporating bitvector filters into query optimization straightforwardly can increase the plan space complexity by an exponential factor in the number of relations in the query. We analyze the plans with bitvector filters for star and snowflake queries in the plan space of right deep trees without cross products. Surprisingly, with some simplifying assumptions, we prove that, the plan of the minimal cost with bitvector filters can be found from a linear number of plans in the number of relations in the query. This greatly reduces the plan space complexity for such queries from exponential to linear. Motivated by our analysis, we propose an algorithm that accounts for the impact of bitvector filters in query optimization. Our algorithm optimizes the join order for an arbitrary decision support query by choosing from a linear number of candidate plans in the number of relations in the query. We implement our algorithm in a commercial database DBMS-X as a transformation rule. Our evaluation on both industry standard benchmarks and customer workload shows that, compared with DBMS-X, our technique reduces the total CPU execution time by 22%-64% for the workloads, with up to two orders of magnitude reduction in CPU execution time for individual queries.
Global Health in Pediatric Education: An Implementation Guide for Program Directors

Background: Residents and fellows are increasingly seeking global health (GH) opportunities during their medical training, including stateside GH curriculum and GH electives. Developing an infrastructure to support best practices in GH education can be difficult for busy educators. Objective: Create a comprehensive, practical, freely available resource for incorporating GH education into pediatric training programs. Methods: In 2013, the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) convened a Global Health Task Force (GHTF) to advise its Board of Directors (BOD) and staff in developing a GH agenda around its …
Towards a Framework for Equity in Engineering Classrooms

This work-in-progress paper presents a rationale for and initial step towards a framework for understanding equity in engineering classrooms. The utility of the framework is conceived as at the interface between theory, research, and practice, where an important theory-and-research-to-practice agenda exists to better understand how to help engineering instructors enact equity in their classroom settings. We contrast our approach with on the one hand decontextualized theory that is not accessible and engaged with by engineering instructors, and on the other with rudimentary best practice that simplify the complex interactions of the classroom into overly simple rules. Instead, the framework we are building towards guides thinking about equity in the engineering classroom. In its current form, the framework 1) draws on equity related social theory, 2) presents dimensions of engineering pedagogical relationships, and 3) identifies components of classroom practice that are involved in everyday engineering education. In future steps, we hope to refine and validate this framework with participant instructors as part of an ongoing collaborative ethnographic research agenda to look at equity in everyday engineering educational settings.
Undergraduate Civil Engineering Students’ Perspectives on Skills for Future Success

This full research paper explores undergraduate construction and civil engineering (CCE) students’ perspectives on the skills they need to be successful in their future careers. Previous research has identified important outcomes and attributes for engineering students to inform curriculum development. However, discrepancies between skills emphasized in the curriculum and those valued in industry have been reported. This potential disconnection raises questions regarding what students are trained to prioritize through their formal education and professional socialization, which has implications for their workforce development. This study explores what skills students believe they need and how/where they learned the importance of these skills. This work aims to connect these perspectives with those expressed by industry. The theoretical framework underpinning this research is a set of competencies that recent graduates need when entering the workforce, as identified by experienced professionals in CCE.This study employed a qualitative approach to explore student perceptions through semi-structured interviews. In 2019, 13 undergraduate CCE students at four U.S.A. institutions completed an interview. The transcripts were analyzed with a combination of inductive and deductive coding.At least one participant described 15 of the 19 competencies included in the guiding framework. The greatest number of students identified Communication, Humility, and Teamwork as important for success in their future field. Emergent competencies were Personal Persistence and Passion for Work. Students expressed that they primarily learned the importance of these skills and practiced them in internships and out-of-class activities. Although a few participants mentioned the classroom, the results indicate an opportunity for engineering educators to better emphasize these competencies in their courses and provide opportunities to foster their development. This research contributes an understanding of where expectations of students already align with industry perspectives, what gaps still need to be closed, and how engineering educators can help prepare students for the realties of the workforce.
Multi-mode magnesium diffusion in sanidine: Applications for geospeedometry in magmatic systems

Abstract The duration of magmatic processes can occur over a wide range of time from as long as millennia to as short as hours. It is therefore important to have a variety of geospeedometers that are sensitive to different timescales. The diffusivity of Mg in K-bearing feldspar such as sanidine has previously been a critical gap in the application of geospeedometry, as sanidine is a ubiquitous phase in dacites and rhyolites and also hosts a variety of major and trace elements with variable diffusivities. Here we present the results of a series of 1-atm diffusion experiments in order to constrain the diffusivity of Mg in sanidine. Two compositions of sanidine (Or71 and Or82) and crystallographic orientations (c-parallel and c-perpendicular) are investigated, showing Mg diffusion is isotropic with little to no resolvable major element compositional dependence. Additionally, Mg diffusion in sanidine simultaneously operates by a fast- and slow-path diffusion mechanism as suggested by irregular depth profile shapes that do not conform to an analytical solution to the diffusion equation. Therefore, we employed a model that considers multi-site diffusion reactions in order to determine diffusion coefficients. The following Arrhenius relationships are obtained for Mg diffusion in sanidine: DOr71-Fast = 4.2 E-12 exp (−275 ± 14 kJ mol−1/RT) m2 s−1, DOr71-Slow = 1.4 E-05 exp (−369 ± 15 kJ mol−1/RT) m2 s−1, DOr82-Fast = 1.6 E-05 exp (−283 ± 14 kJ mol−1/RT) m2 s−1, DOr82-Slow = 3.9 E-04 exp (−405 ± 15 kJ mol−1/RT) m2 s−1. Fast-path diffusivities for Mg in sanidine are similar to those of Mg in plagioclase determined by Van Orman et al. (2014). Slow-path diffusion in sanidine is at least a few orders of magnitude slower than fast-path diffusion. Slow-path diffusion may be rate-limited by exchange reactions between divalent cations such as Ba and Sr with K, and Mg with Al. Fast-path diffusion likely operates by interstitial and/or vacancy diffusion. Equipped with these new diffusivities, this study calculates timescales for magmatic rejuvenation that likely initiated the Lava Creek Tuff supereruption at Yellowstone Caldera to be as short as weeks but no more than a few decades. This work also demonstrates the complexity that may exist in experimentally-derived geospeedometers and the importance of careful application to natural systems.
Research process development mitigates effect of COVID-19 on stroke trial enrollment

Introduction: With hundreds of thousands of clinical trial patients enrolled yearly, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant, unexpected disruption in clinical trials across the world. US data showed a 70% enrollment reduction in April and a 38% reduction in July 2020, compared to prepandemic rates. We implemented processes during the initial phase of the pandemic to minimize participant and staff viral exposure, develop remote procedures, and ease communication barriers, while still maintaining enrollment goals. Methods: Our stroke research team developed multiple processes to help mitigate pandemic effects on our enrollment. We developed watchlists for eligible and interested patients who could not be enrolled due to national and local restrictions. As research staff was unable to approach patients in person, phone and email scripts were developed to ensure information was disseminated in a consistent fashion. Remote and alternate consent methods were implemented. We tracked the evolving national and local guideline changes, and began re-opening trials on May 23, 2020. We implemented a rotating pool of coordinators, including a site-specific sanitation plan, once it was safe to be on campus in-person. In person meetings were moved to a virtual platform. Enrollment data across for 10 active subacute stroke studies, each active over the 3 years of, 2018-2020, was analyzed for the months from March to June, with 2020 individually compared to 2018 and 2019 via the Student T-Test. Results: Total enrollment during these 4 months were 15 participants in 2018, 11 in 2019, and 15 in 2020, with no statistical difference between the years. No study patients nor staff contracted symptoms of COVID-19. Conclusion: Enrollment shows no significant changes despite COVID-19. New processes allowedthe timely reopening of clinical trials, an overall maintenance of enrollment rates, including a non-significant increase in 2020 compared to previous years. Our telehealth and virtual communicationfocused processes prioritize the safety of patients and staff while ensuring quality control andappropriate enrollment numbers.
“The Good Duck Translator”: Erika Fuchs and the Exporting of Donald Duck

Disney was one of the first cultural products to enter the post-war Germany; de-Nazification efforts created a fertile space for American culture to flourish, while staking a position in the larger cultural diplomacy of the early Cold War. The editor Erika Fuchs was single-handedly responsible for the written content of these comics in Germany for several decades; this chapter examines what I term “the Fuchs Effect,” wherein the translation functions more as an adaptation of the work, changing the meaning to a significant degree and effectively Germanizing Donald Duck for a receptive audience. The modern state of Donald Duck fandom in Germany reflects the end result of a process of negotiation that reconsiders cultural imports within an existing cultural context.
Informal Technology Education for Women Transitioning from Incarceration

As society increasingly relies on digital technologies in many different aspects, those who lack relevant access and skills are lagging increasingly behind. Among the underserved groups disproportionately affected by the digital divide are women who are transitioning from incarceration and seeking to reenter the workforce outside the carceral system (women-in-transition). Women-in-transition rarely have been exposed to sound technology education, as they have generally been isolated from the digital environment while in incarceration. Furthermore, while women have become the fastest-growing segment of the incarcerated population in the United States in recent decades, prison education and reentry programs are still not well adjusted for them. Most programs are mainly designed for the dominant male population. Consequently, women-in-transition face significant post-incarceration challenges in accessing and using relevant digital technologies and thus have added difficulties in entering or reentering the workforce. Against this backdrop, our multi-disciplinary research team has conducted empirical research as part of technology education offered to women-in-transition in the Midwest. In this article, we report results from our interviews with 75 women-in-transition in the Midwest that were conducted to develop a tailored technology education program for the women. More than half of the participants in our study are women of color and face precarious housing and financial situations. Then, we discuss principles that we adopted in developing our education program for the marginalized women and participants’ feedback on the program. Our team launched in-person sessions with women-in-reentry at public libraries in February 2020 and had to move the sessions online in March due to COVID-19. Our research-informed educational program is designed primarily to support the women in enhancing their knowledge and comfort with technology and nurturing computational thinking. Our study shows that low self-efficacy and mental health challenges, as well as lack of resources for technology access and use, are some of the major issues that need to be addressed in supporting technology learning among women-in-transition. This research offers scholarly and practical implications for computing education for women-in-transition and other marginalized populations.
Implementation of tobacco control measures in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, 2008-2020.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was developed to assist nations in reducing the demand and supply of tobacco. As of 2020, 182 nations joined the FCTC, agreeing to implement the recommended tobacco control measures. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) ratified the WHO FCTC by August 2006. Given the unique political, cultural, and religious context – and known tobacco industry efforts to influence tobacco use- in these nations, a careful examination of the translation of FCTC measures into policy is needed. This study aimed to assess the implementation of FCTC tobacco control measures at the national level within the six GCC countries. We collected and coded the FCTC measures that were implemented in the GCC countries. We examined trends and variations of the implementation between 2008 and 2020. GCC countries implemented most FCTC measures targeting the demand for and supply of tobacco, with some variation among countries. Bahrain and Qatar were more comprehensively implementing FCTC measures while Kuwait and Oman implemented the least number of the FCTC measures. Implementing measures related to tobacco prices and eliminating the illicit tobacco trade has slowly progressed in GCC countries. All GCC countries entirely banned smoking in workplaces while three countries implemented a partial ban in restaurants. Only Oman has restrictions on tobacco ads shown in media. There is progress in implementing FCTC measures related to tobacco packaging, cessation, and sale to minors in most GCC countries. Given the influence of the tobacco industry in the Gulf region, the findings suggest a need for ongoing surveillance to monitor the proliferation of tobacco control measures and evaluate their effectiveness. Efforts required to address tobacco use should correspond to the unique political and cultural background of the GCC countries.
Portable and Flexible Document Access Control Mechanisms

We present and analyze portable access control mechanisms for large data repositories, in that the customized access policies are stored on a portable device (e.g., a smart card). While there are significant privacy-preservation advantages to the use of smart cards anonymously created and bought in public places (stores, libraries, etc), a major difficulty is that, for huge data repositories and limited-capacity portable storage devices, it is not possible to represent any possible access configuration on the card. For a customer whose card is supposed to contain a subset S of documents, access to all of S must be allowed. In some situations a small enough number of ”false positives” (which are accesses to non-S documents) is acceptable to the server, and the challenge then is to minimize the number of false positives implicit to any given card. We describe and analyze schemes for both unstructured and structured collections of documents. For these schemes, we give fast algorithms for efficiently using the limited space available on the card. In our model the customer does not know which documents correspond to false positives, the probability of a randomly chosen document being a false positive is small, and information about false positives bound to one card is useless for any other card even if both of them permit access to the same set of documents S.
The Self-Diffusion Coefficients of Myoglobin and Hemoglobin in Concentrated Solutions

Abstract The self-diffusion coefficients of myoglobin and hemoglobin have been determined with a modification of the Northrup-Anson procedure in which diffusion is made to occur through a Millipore filter paper. In solutions less concentrated than 6 mm (heme) or about 10% (w/v), the self-diffusion coefficient is found independent of protein concentration. At greater protein concentration the logarithm of the self-diffusion coefficient falls linearly with increasing protein concentration. The decrease in self-diffusion coefficient is most simply related to the volume fraction of the solution occupied by protein. The relation between self-diffusion coefficient and hemoglobin concentration remains continuous and linear to the highest attainable concentration, which is the concentration within the erythrocyte. At this concentration the hemoglobin molecules are close-packed and nearly contiguous. The self-diffusion coefficient of hemoglobin in this environment is only 10-fold less than that at infinite dilution. This and other findings indicate that frictional interactions between myoglobin or hemoglobin molecules are minimal. The numerical values of the self-diffusion coefficient serve to test the molecular mechanism proposed for myoglobin (or hemoglobin)-facilitated oxygen diffusion. The facilitated oxygen flux per unit protein concentration is found to be directly proportional to the protein self-diffusion coefficient, as predicted.
Review of One Big Happy Family: 18 Writers Talk About Polyamory, Open Adoption, Mixed Marriage, Househusbandry, Single Motherhood, and Other Realities of Truly Modern Love, Rebecca Walker, ed.

This review discusses Rebecca Walker's 2009 anthology, One Big Happy Family: 18 Writers Talk About Polyamory, Open Adoption, Mixed Marriage, Househusbandry, Single Motherhood, and Other Realities of Truly Modern Love.
Jet extinction from nonperturbative quantum gravity effects

The infrared-ultraviolet properties of quantum gravity suggest on very general grounds that hard short distance scattering processes are highly suppressed for center of mass scattering energies beyond the fundamental Planck scale. If this scale is not too far above the electroweak scale, these nonperturbative quantum gravity effects could be manifest as an extinction of high transverse momentum jets at the LHC. To model these effects, we implement an extinction Monte Carlo modification of the PYTHIA event generator based on a Veneziano form factor with a large absorptive branch cut modification of hard QCD scattering processes. Using this we illustrate the leading effects of extinction on the inclusive jet transverse momentum spectrum at the LHC. We estimate that an extinction mass scale of up to roughly half the center of mass beam collision energy could be probed with high statistics data. Experimental searches at the LHC for jet extinction would be complementary to ongoing searches for the related phenomenon of excess production of high multiplicity final states.
Sexuality and Infatuation

We have postponed up to this point any detailed discussion of sexuality per se because, in order to lay the groundwork for understanding sexuality as expressive and not merely consummatory, it was first necessary to develop the larger context in terms of which physical sexuality plays its role for erotic love in the sense we are considering. But it has also been apparent at each step in the analysis that eros is distinguished from close, empathie friendships primarily because sexuality is involved. The intensity of physicality is central to the entrapment in the involuntary, ‘fateful’ and predetermined qualities — the mental obsession, the inability to substitute one object for another, the inability to forget the other or give up hope in chagrin d’amour, and the compulsion to pursue a particular object even if at the expense of one’s own happiness. The way in which sexuality develops also, in many instances, leads somewhat naturally to the establishment of a space of empathy and thus, if the space is well-established, to erotic love. I shall also suggest later that, even if the space of empathy is utterly destroyed by the eros-destructive factors alluded to in the previous chapter, sexual attraction in some ‘physical’ sense may well remain.
Electrochemical Detection Methods Following Liquid Chromatography, Capillary Electrophoresis, and Microchip Electrophoresis Separations

Electrochemical detection has proved to be an invaluable tool for analytical applications in a variety of research areas including environmental analysis, materials research, bioanalysis, and neuroscience. While some electrochemical techniques function as stand-alone methods, a few techniques, including amperometry, conductivity, and voltammetry, have been found to be useful as detectors for separation-based methods. Electrochemistry (EC) has the ability to provide chemical reduction/oxidation (redox) information about the analytes of interest and can be utilized for direct, quantitative analysis if the number of electrons in the redox process is known. Additional advantages of electrochemical detection include low detection limits, high selectivity, portability, low cost, and the ability to miniaturize the system without a loss in sensitivity. This article focuses on the principles and applications of EC detection in liquid chromatography (LC), capillary electrophoresis (CE), and microchip electrophoresis (ME) systems. Topics include an overview of electrochemical detection schemes and electrode materials, a brief introduction to LC, CE, and ME, and discussions of applications of the above-mentioned detection schemes to these separation methods. Keywords: capillary electrophoresis; microchip electrophoresis; liquid chromatography; electrochemistry; amperometric detection; voltammetric detection; conductivity detection; flow cell; isolated potentiostat
Early-release fair scheduling

Presents a variant of Pfair scheduling (S. Baruah et al., 1995, 1996), which we call early-release fair (ERfair) scheduling. Like conventional Pfair scheduling, ERfair scheduling algorithms can be applied to optimally schedule periodic tasks on a multiprocessor system in polynomial time. However, ERfair scheduling differs from Pfair scheduling in that it is work-conserving. As a result, average job response times may be much lower under ERfair scheduling than under Pfair scheduling, particularly in lightly loaded systems. In addition, run-time costs are lower under ERfair scheduling.
The Assassination of Chang Tso-lin

Japanese complicity in the death of Marshal Chang Tso-lin on June 4, 1928, by an explosion under his railway car on the Peiplng-Mukden Railway, has long been taken for granted. In the absence of a full explanation of what happened near Mukden as well as what happened, in consequence, in political circles in Japan, myth and conjecture have obscured the real significance of the episode. An examination of the record makes it possible to show that it was not another manifestation of the positive policy of the Tanaka cabinet but that it was the first successful test of strength between the radical wing centered in young officers in the Kwantung Army, with civilian sympathizers in Japan, and the more responsible elements of the Japanese government, both civilian and military. Strong disciplinary action by the latter group at this point, perhaps, could have checked a chain of events that eventually led to the ascendency to power of the radical faction and the realization of some of its foreign and domestic programs. The failure to punish by established disciplinary procedures may well have been a fateful decision in Japanese history.
d-Apiose Reductase from Aerobacter aerogenes

A strain of Aerobacter aerogenes PRL-R3 has been isolated which utilizes d-apiose as its sole source of carbon. A new enzyme, d-apiose reductase, was discovered in this strain. The enzyme was not present when the strain was grown on d-glucose. d-Apiose reductase catalyzes the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent interconversion of d-apiose and d-apiitol. The enzyme is specific for d-apiose and d-apiitol, with a few possible exceptions. The K m for d-apiose is 0.02 m. The K m for d-apiitol is 0.01 m. The enzyme is almost completely specific for the reduced and oxidized forms of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. When cell-free extracts were centrifuged at 100,000 × g for 1 hr, the enzyme remained in solution. Optimal activity for the reduction of d-apiose was obtained at p H 7.5 in glycylglycine buffer, whereas for the oxidation of d-apiitol it was obtained at p H 10.5 in glycine buffer. Enzymatic reduction of d-apiose was not appreciably affected by the presence of 0.02 m ethylenediaminetetraacetate. Paper chromatography and specific spray reagents were used to identify d-apiitol and d-apiose as the products of this reversible reaction. d-Apiose and d-apiitol did not serve as substrates for ribitol dehydrogenase and d-arabitol dehydrogenase from A. aerogenes PRL-R3.
Seismic velocity structure and event relocation in Kazakhstan from secondary P phases

Abstract Three-component seismic data from a set of presumed explosions recorded by stations at Bayanaul and Karkaralinsk in Kazakhstan were analyzed in order to model the crustal structure of the region and to examine the use of the arrival times of secondary P phases, primarily PmP , in regional event location. Polarization analysis aided in the identification of the secondary phases. Low-pass filtered data (4-Hz corner) from the first 5 to 10 sec of 13 presumed explosions were modeled with the reflectivity method. The two chemical explosions in 1987 provided a check on accuracy, as their locations and origin times are accurately known. A good fit to the arrival times and amplitudes in the first 5 sec of the P wave ( Pn , Pg , and PmP ) was obtained in the epicentral distance range of 100 to 300 km. Beyond 300 km, the simple layered model was not adequate to model the PmP arrival. The crustal P -wave velocity model we derived has an upper crustal velocity increasing fairly rapidly from 4.5 km/sec near the surface to 6.5 km/sec at 15-km depth, then increasing more slowly to 7.05 km/sec at 50-km depth. The observed difference in the arrival times of the phases Pg , PmP , and Pn in the range between 100- and 250-km distance required a relatively sharp transition at the crust mantle boundary. The model is generally similar to previous estimates of P velocity structure in the region, though with a gentler gradient in the upper crust and a steeper gradient in the lower crust. We used the derived crustal model and the primary and secondary P -wave arrival times to relocate events in the Kazakhstan region. Inclusion of the phase PmP substantially decreases the focal depth uncertainty for many of the events. All but one of the events analyzed are concluded to be surface explosions; the identity of the remaining event is uncertain.
Development and validation of a comprehensive mutation and deletion detection assay for SDHB, SDHC, and SDHD.

Abstract Background Lack of sequencing validation and complexity of deletion testing hinder genetic diagnosis of SDH -associated paraganglioma/pheochromocytoma. Methods We developed sequencing assays and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) deletion detection for SDHB , SDHC and SDHD . Clinical performance was validated on 141 blinded samples, previously tested at NIH. Results Sequencing and deletion detection were highly reproducible and agreed with previous NIH results in 99.3% and 100%, respectively. Conclusions DNA sequencing combined with MLPA allows reliable and simplified genotyping of SDHB , SDHC and SDHD .
Postmodern-postcolonial criticism and pro-democracy enlightenment.

This emphasis on the importance of democracy as a player in Chinas project of modernization constituted the core of what I call "pro-democracy enlightenment." It is a position that has been eclipsed even discredited in the post-Tiananmen era. In the current environment of retrenched political authoritarianism and intellectual quietism the "permanence" of certain social orders-undemocratic ones-has acquired a kind of self-evidence and attractiveness and democratic change as prescribed in 1980s discourses about enlightenment and modernity now seems "unrealistic." For some intellectuals in present-day China the only enlightenment worth cherishing is a depoliticized one; for others "enlightenment" and "modernity" are ideas whose realization would simply be inappropriate for their nation and evidence of a submissive relationship with the hegemonic West. Although they differ in their judgments of enlightenment both critical positions rely on an ahistorical framework which allows them erroneously perhaps to write off the uncomfortable notion that China might need pro-democracy enlightenment. (excerpt)
Role of NF-κB signaling in hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor-mediated cell protection

The cytokine scatter factor/hepatocyte growth factor (HGF/SF) protects epithelial, carcinoma, and other cell types against cytotoxicity and apoptosis induced by DNA-damaging agents such as ionizing radiation and adriamycin (ADR, a topoisomerase IIα inhibitor). We investigated the role of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling in HGF/SF-mediated protection of human prostate cancer (DU-145) and Madin–Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells against ADR. HGF/SF caused the rapid nuclear translocation of the p65 (RelA) subunit of NF-κB associated with the transient loss of the inhibitory subunit IκB-α. Exposure to HGF/SF caused the activation of an NF-κB luciferase reporter that was blocked or attenuated by the expression of a mutant ‘super-repressor’ IκB-α. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay supershift assays revealed that HGF/SF treatment induced the transient binding of various NF-κB family proteins (p65, p50, c-Rel, and RelB) with radiolabeled NF-κB-binding oligonucleotides. The HGF/SF-mediated protection of DU-145 and MDCK cells against ADR (demonstrated using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays) was abrogated by the IκB-α super-repressor. The ability of HGF/SF to activate NF-κB signaling was dependent on c-Akt → Pak1 (p21-associated kinase-1) signaling (with Pak1 downstream of c-Akt) and was inhibited by the tumor suppressor PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog). Inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol-3′-kinase and Src family kinases significantly inhibited HGF/SF-mediated activation of NF-κB, while inhibitors of MEK, protein kinase C, and p70 S6 kinase had a modest effect or no effect on NF-κB activity. HGF/SF induced the expression of several known NF-κB target genes (cIAP-1 (cellular inhibitor of apoptosis-1), cIAP-2, and TRAF-2 (TNF receptor-associated factor-2)) in an NF-κB-dependent manner; HGF/SF blocked the inhibition of expression of these genes by ADR. Experimental manipulation of expression of these genes suggests that they (particularly TRAF-2 and cIAP-2) contribute to the protection against ADR by HGF/SF. These findings suggest that HGF/SF activates NF-κB through a c-Akt → Pak1 signaling pathway that is also dependent on Src, and that NF-κB contributes to HGF/SF-mediated protection against ADR.
The Role of Contemporary Family Behaviors in Nonmarital Conception Outcomes of Nonmetro Women: Comments on Albrecht and Albrecht (2004)*

Recent research by Albrecht and Albrecht (2004) on nonmarital conception outcomes is extended using data from the 1995 cycle of the National Survey of Family Growth. Residential differences in nonmarital conception outcomes are examined, including nonmarital conception, live birth outcomes, and marital status at birth following a nonmarital conception. Analyses emphasize the role of more contemporary family behaviors in conception outcomes and the importance of distinguishing suburban-metro from central city-metro residence in studies that emphasize residential variation in family outcomes. Findings are that (1) nonmetro women have retained more traditional family behavior with regards to marriage following a nonmarital conception, (2) nonmetro and suburban women, however, have equally traditional family patterns and behaviors on many of the outcomes of interest, and (3) it is important to include contemporary family behaviors, such as nonmarital cohabitation, in studies that evaluate traditional family behavior among nonmetro populations.
Sic transit gloria telae: towards an understanding of the web's decay

The rapid growth of the web has been noted and tracked extensively. Recent studies have however documented the dual phenomenon: web pages have small half lives, and thus the web exhibits rapid death as well. Consequently, page creators are faced with an increasingly burdensome task of keeping links up-to-date, and many are falling behind. In addition to just individual pages, collections of pages or even entire neighborhoods of the web exhibit significant decay, rendering them less effective as information resources. Such neighborhoods are identified only by frustrated searchers, seeking a way out of these stale neighborhoods, back to more up-to-date sections of the web; measuring the decay of a page purely on the basis of dead links on the page is too naive to reflect this frustration. In this paper we formalize a strong notion of a decay measure and present algorithms for computing it efficiently. We explore this measure by presenting a number of validations, and use it to identify interesting artifacts on today's web. We then describe a number of applications of such a measure to search engines, web page maintainers, ontologists, and individual users.
Paradoxical Striatal Cellular Signaling Responses to Psychostimulants in Hyperactive Mice

Recent investigations have shown that three major striatal-signaling pathways (protein kinase A/DARPP-32, Akt/glycogen synthase kinase 3, and ERK) are involved in the regulation of locomotor activity by the monoaminergic neurotransmitter dopamine. Here we used dopamine transporter knock-out mice to examine which particular changes in the regulation of these cell signaling mechanisms are associated with distinct behavioral responses to psychostimulants. In normal animals, amphetamine and methylphenidate increase extracellular levels of dopamine, leading to an enhancement of locomotor activity. However, in dopamine transporter knock-out mice that display a hyperactivity phenotype resulting from a persistent hyperdopaminergic state, these drugs antagonize hyperactivity. Under basal conditions, dopamine transporter knock-out mice show enhanced striatal DARPP-32 phosphorylation, activation of ERK, and inactivation of Akt as compared with wild-type littermates. However, administration of amphetamine or methylphenidate to these mice reveals that inhibition of ERK signaling is a common determinant for the ability of these drugs to antagonize hyperactivity. In contrast, psychostimulants activate ERK and induce hyperactivity in normal animals. In hyperactive mice psychostimulant-mediated behavioral inhibition and ERK regulation are also mimicked by the serotonergic drugs fluoxetine and 5-carboxamidotryptamine, thereby revealing the involvement of serotonin-dependent inhibition of striatal ERK signaling. Furthermore, direct inhibition of the ERK signaling cascade in vivo using the MEK inhibitor SL327 recapitulates the actions of psychostimulants in hyperactive mice and prevents the locomotor-enhancing effects of amphetamine in normal animals. These data suggest that the inhibitory action of psychostimulants on dopamine-dependent hyperactivity results from altered regulation of striatal ERK signaling. In addition, these results illustrate how altered homeostatic state of neurotransmission can influence in vivo signaling responses and biological actions of pharmacological agents used to manage psychiatric conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Factor structure of the inventory of drinking situations

The Inventory of Drinking Situations (IDS; Annis, 1982) was developed to help identify situations in which a person may return to alcohol use after a period of abstinence. In this project, the IDS protocols of 543 male veterans were subject to factor analytic techniques to assess the factorial validity of the instrument. The results suggest that it is premature to assume the IDS items can be subsumed into eight high-risk categories. There is strong evidence that the IDS assesses three categories of high-risk situations, and some suggestion that two additional situations also may be assessed. Additional reliability and validity studies using a variety of populations are encouraged.
Stereotactic catheter navigation using magnetic resonance image integration in the human heart

53-year-old Caucasian woman with a medical history of requent, symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation for 4 ears and hypothyroidism was scheduled to undergo a cirumferential, anatomic pulmonary vein ablation. Prior to the radiofrequency ablation, nine standard surace skin markers (IZI Medical Products, Baltimore, MD, SA) were placed on the chest from the sternum to the right nd left axillary line. As part of the preprocedural magnetic esonance imaging (MRI), continuous ECG-gated, T2eighted fast spin-echo (FSE) images were obtained with a .5T Signa XL GE scanner and a cardiac phased-array (TR in/full, TE 68 ms, echo train length 32, field of view 6 cm, readout bandwidth 62.5 kHz, matrix 512 256, lice thickness 1.5 mm, nexus 2). After the scan, the urface markers were removed and the exact location arked on the skin with permanent marker. When the patient returned 2 days later, the nine skin arkers were placed at their marked location on the paient’s chest. The clinically indicated pulmonary vein isolaion was performed with the standard approach. At the end f the procedure, the T2-weighted MR images of the heart ere transferred to the novel, stereotactic catheter guiding ystem. Image registration, the process that superimposes he catheter mapping space with the MRI, was performed by lacing the ablation catheter at each skin marker and corelating it with the corresponding imaged marker (external egistration; skin marker shown in Figure 1) or using a ombination of external makers and a software-supported best fit” algorithm of a superior vena cava (SVC)/inferior ena cava (IVC) shell (hybrid registration). Registration equired between 10-12 minutes. A reference catheter was
Hypotensive effects of solitary addition of conventional nonfat dairy products to the routine diet: a randomized controlled trial

Background: The high consumption of low-fat and nonfat dairy products is associated with reduced risk of high blood pressure. Objective: We aimed to investigate whether the solitary addition of nonfat dairy products to the normal routine diet was capable of lowering blood pressure in middle-aged and older adults with elevated blood pressure. Design: With the use of a randomized, crossover intervention-study design, 49 adults (56% women) with elevated blood pressure (mean 6 SEM age: 53 6 2 y; systolic blood pressure: 135 6 1; diastolic blood pressure: 80 6 1 mm Hg) underwent a high-dairy condition (+4 servings conventional nonfat dairy products/d) and isocaloric no-dairy condition (+4 servings fruit products/d) in which all dairy products were removed. Both dietary conditions lasted 4 wk with a 2-wk washout before crossing over into the alternate condition. Results: The high-dairy condition produced reductions in systolic blood pressure (135 6 1 to 127 6 1 mm Hg) and pulse pressure (54 6 1t o 486 1 mm Hg) (both P , 0.05). The hypotensive effects were observed within 3 wk after the initiation of the dietary intervention and in both casual seated and ambulatory (24-h) measurements (P , 0.05). Pulse pressure was increased after the removal of all dairy products in the no-dairy condition (54 6 1t o 566 1 mm Hg; P , 0.05). There were no changes in diastolic blood pressure after either dietary condition. Conclusion: We concluded that the solitary manipulation of conventional dairy products in the normal routine diet would modulate blood pressure in middle-aged and older adults with prehypertension and hypertension. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01577030. Am J Clin Nutr 2014;100:80–7.
The delocalized d-electrons in the semimagnetic alloy Cd1−xMnxTe

Abstract The first angular dependent photoemission studies of the semimagnetic semiconductor Cd 1−x Mn x Te are reported. These studies provide no evidence for the commonly assumed presence of a highly localized 3d 5 ground state, but rather indicate strong hybridization between the Mn ++ d-levels and the primarily Te-derived valence bands.
Functional contribution of P2Y1 receptors to the control of coronary blood flow

Activation of ADP-sensitive P2Y1 receptors has been proposed as an integral step in the putative “nucleotide axis” regulating coronary blood flow. However, the specific mechanism(s) and overall con...
Pseudo-Goldstone boson masses in a one-loop approximation

Abstract A one-loop calculation of pseudo-Goldstone boson masses in a spontaneously broken gauge model indicates that they are either identically zero or too large (of the order of several GeV) to be identified with the pion masses. The former possibility, which suggests that the pion mass may have its origin in even higher order weak and electromagnetic corrections, is investigated.
Medicosocial problems engendered with the discovery of the bell-magendie law

The discovery of the Bell-Magendie Law, which states that the ventral spinal roots transmit motor impulses and the posterior roots sensory impulses, established a major landmark in the history of neuroscience. It led to further elucidation of brain function and served as a starting point for virtually all of electrophysiology. During the past two centuries, there has been an intense debate as to which of the two scientists deserves the credit for the discovery itself and the prominent claim to the discovery. Extensive literature exists in this regard, and the goal of the authors is not to dwell on it further but rather to summarize the arguments. The major objective of this work, however, is to elaborate on the two medicosocial issues that were brought into focus by the discovery of the Bell-Magendie Law, namely, the provision of adequate numbers of cadavers for the sound anatomic education of medical students, so that the despicable practice of "body-snatching" could be abolished, and the prevention of cruelty to the experimental animals used for biomedical research. Public opinion prevailing at the time of the postulation of the Bell-Magendie Law promoted the establishment of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and other similar societies were established worldwide. The authors summarize the current status of these two issues.
Concentrations and Fluxes of Salmon-Derived Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Lake Sediments

Fourteen sediment cores were collected from 10 lakes spanning a large gradient of sockeye salmon returns (0−40 000 spawners km-2) in Alaska and British Columbia in 1995−98 and 2002/03. The cores were analyzed for 210Pb to determine sedimentation rates and focusing factors. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) concentrations in the surface sediments (0−2 cm) were highly correlated with the number of sockeye salmon returns to each nursery lake. For 2002/03, the correlation between PCB concentration and number of salmon spawners was best with no correction factors applied, but decreased considerably when corrected for sedimentation rates, and was improved again by correcting for sediment focusing. Although ΣPCB concentrations were similar in 1995−98 and 2002/03, the congener patterns varied. Because salmon are the dominant source of PCBs for most of these lakes, variation in sediment congener pattern likely derives from variation in congener patterns carried by the salmon. Overall, total PCB input by salmon has r...
Nonlinear processes in the self-focused duct propagation of the whistlers in the magnetosphere

Abstract A finite amplitude whistler wave exerts a ponderomotive force on the electrons, creating a higher density duct and thus guiding itself to travel to long distances. This duct, however, is unstable to a short wavelength ( k , k z ⪢ k 0 z ) low frequency density perturbation, viz. oscillating two stream instability. In this process, the whistler pump wave excites a low frequency perturbation and two lower hybrid sidebands. The threshold for the instability is determined by the convection losses of sideband energy from the whistler duct. Threshold electric fields for the onset of the instability have been calculated in the magnetosphere for a range of pump frequency.