cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Can we proceed with physical activity recommendations if (almost) no clinical trial data exist on mortality

Observational studies consistently show reduced mortality rates among participants with higher physical activity levels compared with participants with less activity.1 2 However, as Kujala eloquently points out,3 there are sparse data from randomised trials leading some argue that a causal relationship of physical activity with mortality cannot be confirmed. As current physical activity guidelines were developed primarily based on observational studies of physical activity and clinical outcomes,4 one might question how despite the lack of trial data—the gold standard for causality inference—policy and medical advice for physical activity can be made. This opinion piece aims to highlight some of the challenges and implications of examining physical activity and mortality solely through a lens which sees causality only when randomised trial data are available. To our knowledge, there are currently no completed randomised trials of physical activity where mortality is a prespecified primary outcome, and where analyses are adequately powered to examine the effects of physical activity on mortality. While several large trials, such as LIFE5 and Look AHEAD,6 were able to provide a secondary look at mortality, they were not designed with mortality as a primary outcome. (And, further, Look AHEAD was not designed to exclusively target physical activity, but rather both diet and physical activity in order to achieve and maintain weight loss.) Thus, null findings for mortality or other clinical outcomes should be interpreted cautiously due to a lack of statistical power. For example, the LIFE study comprised 1635 adults between the ages of 70 and 89 years who were followed for an average duration of 2.6 years.5 Using the average probability of death, and the estimated reduction in mortality from a large observational study2 comparing those who participated in at least 150 min of moderate-to-vigorous activity with those who did no …
Reconciling the ‘step sisters’: early Byzantine numismatics, history and archaeology

Despite the growing body of excavation finds and the steady publication of museum collections, the numismatic evidence remains an underutilized historical source. Historians who study Late Antiquity rely on archaeological evidence but tend to ignore coin finds, partly because numismatics developed as an independent field with its own set of specialized tools and research questions. Insufficient dialogue between the disciplines has delayed a proper appreciation of Early Byzantine coins as historical source and the development of a clear methodology for their use in conjunction with the literary and archaeological evidence. In order to overcome such disciplinary divides, this paper proposes several research directions by highlighting the main benefits of integrating the numismatic evidence more fully into the historical narrative. These research directions include a greater emphasis on bronze coinage, the study of the long-distance circulation of people and goods, and distinctions between urban, rural, and fortified contexts. This methodological discussion is followed by a case study from Byzantium’s Lower Danube frontier.
Ten Remarks on Husserl and Phenomenology

I began to read the work of Edmund Husserl sometime in 1957. I began to understand him seven years later, in 1964.
El Voluntariado juvenil en América del Sur: un análisis de su orientación y formalización utilizando la teoría de los orígenes sociales de la sociedad civil

Los programas de voluntariado juvenil se han destacado por su crecimiento y contribucion a mejorar los desafios sociales, economicos, politicos y medioambientales. Usando una muestra de programas de voluntariado juvenil de cinco paises de America del sur (n=304) y comparandola con una muestrade paises de America Latina (n=533), este documento analiza la orientacion y formalizacion de estos programas utilizando la teoria de los origenes sociales de la sociedad civil. Se emplea la metodologia de “path analisis” (analisis de senderos) para identificar los factores asociados a la orientacion y formalizacion del voluntariado juvenil en el nivel de programa, de organizacion y de pais. El analisis de los datos indica que las relaciones entre la variable “orientacion del voluntariado” y las variables multi-niveles no son estadisticamente significativas para ambas regiones. Las relaciones entre las variables “formalizacion del voluntariado” y “efectividad del gobierno” y “nivel de pobreza” (a nivel nacional), y el “liderazgo juvenil” y los “programas incluyentes” (a nivel de programa) son estadisticamente significativas para America Latina. Para America del Sur solo las variables a nivel de programa son significativas. Por tanto, el analisis ayuda a confirmar parcialmente algunos de los postulados de la teoria de los origenes sociales de la sociedad civil. Finalmente, se presentan algunas sugerencias para la intervencion social.
Translabyrinthine Approach for Resection of Vestibular Schwannoma.

Objectives This video describes the surgical indications, relevant anatomy, and surgical steps of routine translabyrinthine surgery for gross total resection of sporadic vestibular schwannoma. Design The procedure is presented through a surgical instructional video. Setting The surgery took place at tertiary skull base referral center. Parcipant A 47-year-old patient reported with nonserviceable hearing, frequent episodes of vertigo, recurrent severe headache, and a small unilateral right sided vestibular schwannoma. Results Gross total resection with preservation of facial nerve function was achieved. Conclusion This instructional video documents the surgical steps and relevant anatomy for translabyrinthine resection of vestibular schwannoma. The link to the video can be found at: https://youtu.be/CJ2vKMLs7aI .
FIE 2018: Building on the Past, Creating the Future Where are the New Frontiers?

At FIE 2002, 13 engineering educators assembled to address a variety of topics and predict the “Future of Engineering Education.” Last year at FIE 2017, a follow-up panel assessed our progress in several key areas: the role of active and cooperative learning, the state of the University and forces driving change, promotion and tenure (the faculty reward system), strategies and methods for delivering engineering education, enhancing student performance, the impact of research in engineering education, diversity and inclusion, and the role of schools of engineering education. This year, we will continue the discussion of several of these issues, and ask “Where are the New Frontiers for Engineering Education?” Our goal is to stimulate discussion among faculty at the forefront of new approaches to instruction and outreach. We will also discuss the changing nature of the institutions where engineering education occurs, and speculate on the future of the university.
Occult Cervical Avulsion: A Rare Cause of Intrapartum Vaginal Bleeding.

Background. Cervical avulsion, complete or partial, is a rare intrapartum complication that can go unrecognized without proper physician vigilance. Cases. Case 1 is a 32-year-old multiparous woman admitted for induction of labor at 37 2/7 weeks for abnormal antenatal testing. Case 2 is a 22-year-old multiparous woman at 29 0/7 with spontaneous preterm labor 10 days after cerclage removal for preterm contractions. Vaginal bleeding and fetal heart rate decelerations complicated each patient’s intrapartum course. Annular cervical detachment noted at time of delivery resulted in partial or complete amputation of the cervix. Both women recovered well postpartum. Conclusion. This rare phenomenon should be considered in the differential of intrapartum vaginal bleeding to avoid a missed or delayed diagnosis.
On-Body Monitoring of Voice-Based Cognitive Load Features in an Auditory Working Memory Task

The ability to monitor an individual's cognitive load in operational and naturalistic settings is of great importance in improving military performance and readiness. This paper describes preliminary results of using an on-body, multimodal voice monitoring system for assessing cognitive load based on vocal characteristics extracted from noise-robust sensors. The main components of the system include a commercial wired electroglottograph (EGG) and a lightweight, flex circuit that houses two sensors: an acoustic MEMS microphone (MIC) and a non-acoustic neck-surface accelerometer (ACC). We conducted human subject experiments using a cognitive load protocol under quiet laboratory conditions and computed a previously investigated vocal biomarker (creaky voice quality) from the MIC, ACC, and EGG signals. Results demonstrated the potential of discriminating low versus high cognitive load using the creaky voice correlation structure within each of the three sensor domains. Combining MIC, ACC, and EGG hardware into an integrated system would provide complementary information for quantifying voice and speech biomarkers with a high degree of robustness to competing noise sources.
Technology steps towards portable 3D ultrasound

Significant strides have been made in the evolution of portable ultrasound with system becoming increasing smaller and power requirements decreasing. Commercial systems have concentrated largely on reaching a compact size and portability that has arguably come at some performance cost. Initially systems were lower channel and element count and restricted to b-mode imaging of reduced quality. However, significant advances have been made in these systems such that one can now readily envision the development of portable 3D ultrasound. This “Stethoscope of the Future” would combining the ultrasound imaging information and its presentation in a manner that would be more readily interpretable, allowing for more consistent diagnoses and assistance in obtaining appropriate images of high quality. There exist some challenges in reaching the next level of performance and doing so in the context of 3D/4D ultrasound imaging. Power consumption affects not only requisite battery capacity but depending on where power is consumed and efficiency can result in heating complications. As more of the operational components more to the scanhead, thermal regulation becomes an increasingly important consideration. Management of data sufficient for 3D/4D requires more intelligent beamforming (e.g. synthetic aperture, plane wave imaging, separable beamforming) to maintain image quality. This is all at the same time as there is an expanding demand on performance for new imaging modes such as elastography requiring motion (speckle) tracking. In this talk, some of the current methods being pursued to address these considerations will be presented and discussed along with data processing and hardware approaches that might be applied in the future.
Intracardiac administration of ephrinA1-Fc preserves mitochondrial bioenergetics during acute ischemia/reperfusion injury

Abstract Aims Intracardiac injection of recombinant EphrinA1-Fc immediately following coronary artery ligation in mice reduces infarct size in both reperfused and non-reperfused myocardium, but the cellular alterations behind this phenomenon remain unknown. Main methods Herein, 10 wk-old B6129SF2/J male mice were exposed to acute ischemia/reperfusion (30minI/24hrsR) injury immediately followed by intracardiac injection of either EphrinA1-Fc or IgG-Fc. After 24 h of reperfusion, sections of the infarct margin in the left ventricle were imaged via transmission electron microscopy, and mitochondrial function was assessed in both permeabilized fibers and isolated mitochondria, to examine mitochondrial structure, function, and energetics in the early stages of repair. Key findings At a structural level, EphrinA1-Fc administration prevented the I/R-induced loss of sarcomere alignment and mitochondrial organization along the Z disks, as well as disorganization of the cristae and loss of inter-mitochondrial junctions. With respect to bioenergetics, loss of respiratory function induced by I/R was prevented by EphrinA1-Fc. Preservation of cardiac bioenergetics was not due to changes in mitochondrial JH2O2 emitting potential, membrane potential, ADP affinity, efficiency of ATP production, or activity of the main dehydrogenase enzymes, suggesting that EphrinA1-Fc indirectly maintains respiratory function via preservation of the mitochondrial network. Moreover, these protective effects were lost in isolated mitochondria, further emphasizing the importance of the intact cardiomyocyte ultrastructure in mitochondrial energetics. Significance Collectively, these data suggest that intracardiac injection of EphrinA1-Fc protects cardiac function by preserving cardiomyocyte structure and mitochondrial bioenergetics, thus emerging as a potential therapeutic strategy in I/R injury.
Glucocorticoid Resistance in Premature Adrenarche and PCOS: From Childhood to Adulthood.

Context We hypothesize that impaired glucocorticoid sensitivity (GC sensitivity) plays a role in the development of premature adrenarche (PA) and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) by increasing androgen synthesis. Objective To study glucocorticoid sensitivity in vitro in subjects with PA and PCOS. Patients and Methods Fourteen subjects (10 girls, 4 boys, 6.9 ± 0.6 years) with PA; 27 subjects with PCOS (17 ± 2.5 years) and 31 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. All subjects and controls underwent GC sensitivity analysis in vitro using a fluorescein labeled-dexamethasone (F-DEX) assay. A GC sensitivity index (GCSI) was calculated as area under the curve of the F-DEX assay results. Subjects were classified as GC resistant if the GCSI ≤ 264 and GC sensitive if the GCSI ≥ 386. Results In the PA group, 8 of 14 subjects were resistant with GCSI of 179.7 ± 39.9, 4 were within the normal range with GCSI of 299.6 ± 27.9, and 2 had increased GC sensitivity with GCSI of 423.5 ± 47.9. In the PCOS group, 18 of 27 subjects were GC-resistant with GCSI of 180.9 ± 58.2, 8 were within the normal range with GCSI of 310.7 ± 26.4, and 1 had increased GCSI of 395.4. In the PCOS GC-resistant subgroup, cortisol was higher compared with PCOS with normal GCSI (P < 0.05). In the combined PCOS plus female control group, GCSI correlated negatively with cortisol and testosterone (P < 0.05). Conclusion GC resistance was found in more than 50% of patients with PCOS and PA. The findings strongly suggest that GC resistance is associated with states of PA and PCOS.
Oral ulcerations in a patient with autosomal dominant hyper-IgE syndrome (AD-HIES)

A 23-year-old woman with autosomal dominant hyper-IgE syndrome complicated by recurrent pneumonia and sinusitis presented with 1 week of multiple painful oral ulcers unresponsive to empiric antiviral and antifungal treatment. Her ulcers progressively worsened and she required hospitalisation for intravenous hydration and pain control. PCR swab of an ulcer was positive for varicella-zoster virus. Her symptoms never fully resolved despite antiviral therapy, and within 2 weeks, she relapsed with new and worsening ulcers. Biopsy revealed chronic active inflammation with no evidence of viral inclusion bodies or fungal hyphae. She was diagnosed with recurrent aphthous stomatitis and referred to a local dentist for CO2 laser treatments with rapid resolution of her symptoms. This case highlights the broad differential for recurrent oral ulcers in people with a primary immunodeficiency. It also raises awareness of the benefits of laser therapy for aphthous stomatitis treatment and the importance of partnering with our colleagues in dentistry.
Development and Refinement of a Telehealth Intervention for Symptom Management, Distress, and Adherence to Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy after Breast Cancer

Adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) prevents recurrence after early stage, hormone sensitive breast cancer; however, adherence to AET is suboptimal, and efficacious interventions are severely lacking. Barriers to adherence are well established; however, interventions, thus, far have failed to produce meaningful changes in adherence and have generally not followed guiding principles of psychosocial intervention development. The purpose of this paper is to describe the iterative development, using the National Institutes of Health Stage Model for Behavioral Intervention Development, of an evidence-based, patient-centered, telehealth intervention to enhance adherence, improve symptom management, and reduce distress for patients taking AET after breast cancer, with a focus on (1) a small open pilot study which informed modifications and refinement of the intervention based on quantitative and qualitative patient feedback about feasibility and acceptability and (2) the underlying theoretical and empirical rationale for each component of the finalized intervention. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developmental care practices for infants born preterm

Objectives To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rates of hospital visitation and rates and durations of developmental care practices for infants born preterm delivered by both families and clinical staff. Methods We analyzed electronic medical record data from infants born at less than 32 weeks gestational age (GA) cared for in the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a COVID-19-affected period (March 8, 2020 to May 31, 2020) and the analogous period in 2019. Our final sample consisted of 52 infants ( n =27, 2019 cohort; n =25, 2020 cohort). Rates of family visitation and of family- and clinical staff-delivered developmental care were compared across cohorts, adjusting for GA at start of study period. Results Results indicated that families of infants in the 2020 cohort visited less frequently (47% of available days) than those in the 2019 cohort (97%; p =0.001). Infants received developmental care activities less frequently in the 2020 cohort (3.51 vs. 4.72 activities per day; p =0.04), with a lower number of minutes per day (99.91 vs. 145.14; p =0.04) and a shorter duration per instance (23.41 vs. 29.65; p =0.03). Similar reductions occurred in both family- and staff-delivered developmental care activities. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted family visitation and preterm infant developmental care practices in the NICU, both experiences associated with positive health benefits. Hospitals should create programs to improve family visitation and engagement, while also increasing staff-delivered developmental care. Careful attention should be paid to long-term follow up of preterm infants and families.
Nitrate in Drinking Water during Pregnancy and Spontaneous Preterm Birth: A Retrospective Within-Mother Analysis in California.

Background: Nitrate is a widespread groundwater contaminant and a leading cause of drinking water quality violations in California. Associations between nitrate exposure and select adverse birth ou...
Unpacking the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: identifying structural domains.

Background: The novel coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a collective crisis that imposed an abrupt and unprecedented impact on college students, as universities were closed with little warning. Paired with the challenges associated with physical distancing (e.g. economic stress, job loss, food insecurity, housing challenges) and the simultaneous need to balance continued and new academic demands, impact will be wide-ranging. It is critical to determine the structure of the impact of this heterogeneous stressor (e.g. health concerns, pandemic worry, financial concerns) for prevention and intervention planning. Objective: Through an existing recruitment pipeline we were in a unique position to study the wide-ranging reach of this pandemic in a cohort of students for whom their university experiences were like no other cohort in history. Method: Data were collected from students who were in their third year of college during the onset of the pandemic; of the N = 1,899 in the cohort who were invited to participate in this COVID-related survey, 897 (47.2%) completed measures of impact between May and July of 2020. Results: A series of confirmatory and exploratory models were fit to examine the structure of the pandemic-related domains. Following estimation of a single-factor model, a correlated five factors model, as well as two second-order factor structures, the five correlated factors (exposure, worry, housing/food instability, social media, substance use) model was found to represent the data most appropriately, while producing an interpretable solution. Conclusions: These measurement model analyses set the stage for future research to examine how these correlated factors impact psychiatric, substance, and academic outcomes in this vulnerable population.
Innovations in infertility: a comprehensive analysis of the ClinicalTrials.gov database.

Objective To characterize the interventional clinical trials in infertility and to assess whether trial location or industry sponsorship was associated with trial noncompletion. Design Retrospective review of trials registered with ClinicalTrials.gov . Setting None. Patient(s) None. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Descriptive statistics characterizing the attributes of the clinical trials including intervention type, topic, population, completion status, size, location, sponsor, and results. The effects of the sponsor and trial location on trial noncompletion were assessed via logistic regression. Result(s) In total, 505 trials initiated between 2010 and 2020 were included in our analysis. Drug interventions were the most commonly studied (45%); ovarian stimulation trials accounted for 27% of the studies. Live birth was tracked as an outcome by 20% of the studies; 3% of the trials included mental health outcomes. Few trials (15%) enrolled male participants. Only 11% of the trials reported results, and 4% of the trials reported the race or ethnicity of the participants. Most trials (82%) were conducted outside the United States. Overall, 18% of the trials were not completed, most often because of lack of accrual (47%). United States trials had over twice the odds of noncompletion in univariate analysis (odds ratio = 2.48, 95% confidence interval = [1.47, 4.17]); however, this relationship lost significance after adjusting for potential confounders (odds ratio = 0.95, 95% confidence interval = [0.42, 2.14]). Trial sponsorship was not associated with trial noncompletion. Conclusion(s) Infertility trials predominantly investigated drug interventions, particularly ovarian stimulation. Live birth was an infrequent outcome despite its relevance to patients. Clinical trials should aim to address the unmet needs in fertility care and be inclusive of underserved populations affected by infertility.
DRIVER ADVOCATE TOOL

Using scenario driven research, a Driver Advocate (DA) system has been designed to advise the driver about potentially unsafe siuations based on information from environmental sensors. DA is an intelligent dynamic system that monitors, senses, prioritizes, personalizes, and sends alerts to the driver appropriate to the moment. This has the potential to sharply decrease driver distraction and inattention. To support the realization of DA, a DA Tool (DAT) has been developed to coordinate with a KQ (previously Hyperion) virtual driving simulator and allow the merging of the simulated driving performance, the environmental sensors, and the intelligent use of audio, visual, and tactile feedback to alert the driver to potential danger and unsafe driving behavior. DAT monitors the traffic, lane following, forward and side clearances, vehicle condition, cockpit distractions, Infotainment use, and the driver affective behavior. The DAT is designed to be highly configurable, flexible, and user friendly to facilitate creative freedom in designing usability and human factors experiments and rapid prototyping. For the covering abstract see ITRD E113119.
Causes as Necessary Conditions: Aristotle, Alexander of Aphrodisias, and J.L. Mackie

There is what might be called a ‘majority position’ in the history of Western philosophy according to which causes are sufficient for or ‘necessitate’ their effects. However, there is also a singificant ‘minority position’ according to which causes are necessary relative to their effects. The second/third century A.D. Peripatetic Alexander of Aphrodisias is an ancient representative of the minority position. He attributes his own view — with some justification, I shall suggest – to Aristotle. This paper has two, somewhat loosely connected purposes. The first is to explore the origin of the conception of ‘causes’ (aitia) as necessary conditions in Aristotle, particularly in On Generation and Corruption 2.11 and Posterior Analytics 2.12, and the development and use of the conception in Alexander's De fato. The second purpose of the paper is to explore and criticize a sophisticated contemporary version of the conception of causes as ‘necessary in the circumstances,’ that of J.L. Mackie.
Thread-based probabilistic models for expert finding in enterprise Microblogs

Unique characteristics of Microblogs are identified and contrasted with the Web environment.Probabilistic document-candidate models can find additional experts in enterprise Microblogs.Candidate models on Microblogs outperform the document models, making it different than the Web. Within the enterprise important conversations are shifting to Social Media Microblogs thus providing a new source for the acquisition of tacit knowledge useful for intelligent agents. While automated retrieval of candidate experts from Web documents has been well-researched, little exists that leverages social aspects of Microblogs for this purpose. We show that the experts and their related expertise can also be identified in the enterprise corpus. Analysis reveals the existence of problem-solving threads where the requestor seeking help often elicits responses from experts which consequently records tacit (experiential) knowledge. Here we present rules to automate the acquisition of this tacit knowledge. The rules are based on probabilistic models enhanced with linguistics to exploit the role patterns in threads. Heuristics also strengthen local evidence about associations between candidates, documents and (expertise) terms. Applying this, we demonstrate that the Enhanced Models can ameliorate the negative impact of Microblogs (such as sparse data, short content, and implicit associations). The experiments show that the candidate models significantly outperform the document models in the Microblog environment. This is different from previous research in Web environments. Examples also illustrate underlying insights and emphasize the 'additive' nature of expertise found in Social Media.
Abstract 2371: L-Carnitine Prevents Alcohol-Induced Altered Cardiac TNF-{alpha} and Beta-Adrenergic Receptor (AR) Expression and Restores Normal Positive Inotropic Response to Beta-AR Stimulation after Short-Term Alcohol Consumption

Background. Chronic alcohol intake is associated with a diminished positive inotropic response to β-adrenergic receptor (AR) stimulation. Since recent studies reported improvement of β-adrenergic signal transduction by L-carnitine (LC) in the failing myocardium, we tested the hypothesis that LC may limit or prevent alcohol-induced adverse changes in cardiac TNF-α and β-AR expression and restore normal cardiac efficacy of β-AR stimulation after short-term alcohol consumption. Methods. We compared left ventricular (LV) myocyte TNF-α and β 1 - and β 3 -AR expression and assessed LV and myocyte contractile response to isoproterenol (ISO) in 3 groups of adult rats over 8 –10 days: 13 received 20% alcohol (2 g/kg/day administered intragastrically); 12 received alcohol and LC (50 mg/kg i.p. daily, 60 min before ethanol); and 10 were controls. Results. Compared with control myocytes, in alcoholic myocytes, TNF-α level (70%, 0.56 vs 0.33) was elevated. The level of β 1 -AR mRNA was decreased (33%, 0.62 vs 0.92), but β 3 -AR mRNA was increased (10%, 0.34 vs 0.31). These changes were associated with reduced LV and myocyte response to ISO (10 -8 M). In controls, ISO increased LV contractility by 21% (M SW ,109 vs 90 mmHg); in alcoholic rats, ISO increased M SW by 13% (65.0 vs 57.4 mmHg). Consistently, compared with control myocytes (C), in alcoholic myocytes (A), ISO caused a significantly less increase in dL/dt max (A: 25%, 116 vs 93; C: 67%, 240 vs 143) and [Ca 2+ ] iT (A: 16%, 0.21 vs 0.18; C: 32%, 0.33 vs 0.25). Compared with alcoholic myocytes, with concomitant LC, the alterations of cardiac levels of TNF-α (0.4), β 1 -AR (0.86), and β 3 -AR (0.32) were significantly decreased. Moreover, LV and myocyte contractile response to ISO were improved. In response to ISO stimulation, M SW (100.9 vs 84.8 mmHg ), dL/dtmax (225 vs 134 μm/s), and [Ca 2+ ] iT (0.28 vs 0.23) increased about 19%, 57%, and 21%, respectively, which were similar to that achieved in the controls. Conclusion. LC prevents alcohol-induced adverse changes in cardiac TNF-α and β 1 - and β 3 -AR expression and restores normal positive inotropic response to β-AR stimulation. Thus, LC may suggest a method to protect the β-adrenergic support for maintaining cardiac function in alcoholism.
Approval Voting Reduces Parochialism

In hypothetical scenarios involving two groups (nations or groups of workers), subjects voted on three proposals: one helped group A (their group), one helped B, and one helped both groups, more than the average of the first two but less than their maximum. When subjects voted for one proposal, most voted for the one that helped group A. When they could approve two proposals, they tended to approve the third proposal as well, and it was more likely to win. Approval voting can reduce the effect of parochialism, a bias toward ones own group, on election outcomes.
“Women in programming” is not an oxymoron!

In teaching the Comparative Programming Languages course, one quickly discovers that there are few references in most of the texts to women who have made significant contributions to the field. As we become more aware of the emphasis on recruiting and retaining young women in the computing field, we as educators must take an active part in providing role models—both to the young women and to the men who will become the professionals in the field. This paper addresses one mechanism that has been classroom tested.
Chapter 1 Transport Components of Net Secretion of the Aqueous Humor and Their Integrated Regulation

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an overview of the current consensus concerning aqueous humor formation and discusses the functional components underlying transport by the ciliary epithelium. It describes pathways that may regulate net secretion and focuses on the formation of the aqueous humor of the anterior chamber and its outflow from the eye into the venous circulation. The mechanisms and regulation of aqueous humor secretion are of importance because (1) most of the effective ocular hypotensive drugs act by reducing secretion, (2) the efficacy of hypotensive therapy would be enormously enhanced by developing a drug capable of lowering secretion to the normal early morning rate, and (3) information concerning the molecular and cell biology and physiology of these mechanisms can provide a general perspective on transepithelial secretion and absorption. Net aqueous humor formation can be accelerated both by stimulating unidirectional secretion and by slowing unidirectional reabsorption. A wide range of regulatory pathways modifies the rate of aqueous humor formation, including the adrenergic system, arachidonic acid metabolites, melatonin, and corticosteroids.
Commercial Activity Exception Under the FSIA, Personhood Under the Fifth Amendment and Jurisdiction over Foreign States: A Partial Roadmap for the Supreme Court in the New Millennium

Twenty-six years after the enactment of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA), the issue as to whether or not foreign states are persons for constitutional due process purposes' remains undetermined by the U.S. Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court does determine this issue, the efficacy of the enactment of the commercial activity exception to foreign sovereign immunity under the FSIA may become a problem. The problem would arise because, under the FSIA, Congress has unambiguously sought to impose jurisdiction over foreign states, and in the future, if the U.S. Supreme Court rules that foreign states are persons, the exercise of jurisdiction over them must comport with the U.S. Constitution in light of the Fifth Amendment.The Supreme Court should grant foreign states the status of "persons" at least for the limited purposes of constitutional due process. Such entitlement is irrefutable for preclusion of potentially unconstitutional assertions of personal jurisdiction. Full and fair due process examination is necessary to further Congressional intent and provide balance between the executive and judicial branches. Taking into account that the FSIA's commercial exception appears before courts most frequently, it is important to allow full scale due process analysis before exercising jurisdiction over a foreign state because the foreign state in these situations is usually engaged in commercial activities and functions on the level of a private party. Personal jurisdiction jurisprudence in this context is similar to a number of fundamental common law doctrines. It prevents waste of judicial resources because recognition of foreign states as "persons" for due process purposes will ensure that U.S. courts are not overloaded with lawsuits involving activities originating outside the United States.In this article, Part I provides the introduction, followed by Part II introducing readers to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Part III provides more information, with an interpretation of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, while Parts IV and V discuss internal U.S. sovereign immunity and personal jurisdiction and the international context behind it. Part VI presents an approach of lower courts opinions since Weltover, while Part VII summarizes the article with the conclusion.
INNER-CITY YOUTHS, GANGS, AND SCHOOL: CONFLICT AND RESISTANCE

Researchers have extensively explored the relationship between delinquency and education. However, research in this area has been primarily outcome focused, with an emphasis on quantitative methods; there is a dearth of process-oriented research on delinquency and education. Little attention has been given to the significance of the school setting and social interaction within that setting. The possibility that the constitutive nature of schools may play a role in (re)producing delinquents' substandard performance in and detachment from school has been largely ignored.
Rhetorical Analysis of “The Drum Major Instinct”: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Leadership

Academics have long studied the rhetoric and speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because of his role in the Civil Rights Movement and the impact his words have had in defining American civil religion. His strong example of leadership in the face of injustice has been studied in many fields from many different perspectives. This rhetorical analysis looks at “The Drum Major Instinct,” one of King’s more well-known sermons that has largely been ignored as a subject matter for academic critical analysis. This paper highlights both the rhetorical techniques of persuasion and the overall message of King’s piece, both in the context of its delivery and today. This analysis will hopefully add to previous scholarly conversations about King’s style and source material. In addition, this paper will explore King’s thoughts in “The Drum Major Instinct” regarding leadership in the modern world and what it means to be successful.
Failure of saralasin acetate, a competitive inhibitor of angiotensin II, to diminish alveolar hypoxic vasoconstriction in the dog

The role of angiotensin II in the pulmonary vasoconstriction induced by alveolar hypoxia was investigated with the competitive inhibitor of angiotensin, saralasin acetate. Unilateral alveolar hypoxia was induced in dogs by ventilation of one lung with 100% N2 through a double lumened endotracheal cannula while maintaining adequate systemic oxygenation by ventilating the other lung with 1oo% O2. Pulmonary perfusion was monitored with 133Xe and external detectors. In 8 dogs perfusion to the test lung on room air before N2 ventilation was 49.2% (SEM +/- 3.8) of total lung perfusion. After 7 min of nitrogen ventilation, perfusion to that lung was 35.6% (SEM +/- 2.9) of cardiac output (P less than 0.001), a reduction of 27.5% (SEM +/- 2.4). After infusion of 6--24 microgram.kg-1/min of saralasin acetate, beginning 2 min before the alveolar hypoxic challenge and continuing through it, unilateral alveolar hypoxia continued to reduce perfusion to that lung by 28.8% (P = 0.6 from control). In 2 dogs a higher infusion of 60 microgram.kg-1/min failed to reduce the alveolar hypoxic vasoconstriction and in 2 dogs a 15 min infusion of 6 microgram.kg-1 of saralasin acetate before alveolar hypoxia and continuing through it, still failed to inhibit alveolar hypoxic vasoconstriction. Thus, no role was demonstrated for angiotensin II in acute alveolar hypoxic vasoconstriction of the dog.
Shock-compacted aluminum/boron carbide composites☆

Abstract The aim of this study was to verify that explosive consolidation can be used as a processing route to produce metal-matrix composites, comprising an aluminum-based matrix and boron-carbide reinforcement. Composites containing 30, 50 and 70 volume percent boron carbide in an MB 85 aluminum-alloy matrix were successfully compacted at 10–12 GPa pressure. Transmission electron microscopy was used to examine the resulting microsctructure and interface quality. It is predicted that the high density of dislocations produced during the compaction will lead to accelerated aging in age-hardenable aluminum alloy matrices.
Frequency Domain Identification of Tip-sample van der Waals Interactions in Resonant Atomic Force Microcantilevers

Hamaker constants are characteristic material properties that determine the magnitude of the nonlinear van der Waals force between atoms, molecules and nanoscale aggregates of atoms. This paper explores the novel possibility of using Harmonic Balance based nonlinear system identification methods to extract from the nonlinear vibration spectrum of resonant atomic force silicon microcantilevers, the Hamaker constants between a few atoms at the tip of the microcantilever and graphite, gold and silicon carbide samples. First, the nonlinear dynamics of a diving board microcantilever coupled to the samples through van der Waals force potentials are investigated through a discretized model of the system. Next, the feasibility of using Harmonic Balance based nonlinear system identification techniques are demonstrated using simulations of the discretized model. Finally the method is implemented on an AFM system. The results indicate that the proposed method provides a novel alternative way to measure Hamaker constants and the measured results are within the range of known experimental data.
Why safety doesn't save closure

Knowledge closure is, roughly, the following claim: For every agent S and propositions P and Q, if S knows P, knows that P implies Q, and believes Q because it is so implied, then S knows Q. Almost every epistemologist believes that closure is true. Indeed, they often believe that it so obviously true that any theory implying its denial is thereby refuted. Some prominent epistemologists have nevertheless denied it, most famously Fred Dretske and Robert Nozick. There are closure advocates who see other virtues in those accounts, however, and so who introduce revisions of one sort or another in order to preserve closure while maintaining their spirit. One popular approach is to replace the “sensitivity” constraint at the heart of both of those accounts with a “safety” constraint, as advocated by Timothy Williamson, Duncan Pritchard, Ernest Sosa, Stephen Luper, and others. The purpose of this essay is to show that this approach does not succeed: safety does not save closure. And neither does a popular variation on the safety theme, the safe-basis or safe-indicator account.
Rationalists, Fatalists, and the Modern Superstitious: Test-Taking in Introductory Sociology

As sociologists we are guided by a rational approach to understanding the social world. This rational approach is also evident in the way we test students. But do students approach tests from the same orientation that we take in creating them, or are they influenced by such nonrational orientations as superstitions? To explore this question the authors created and administered the Luck and Superstition Questionnaire to 426 students taking Introduction to Sociology. We found that nearly 70 percent of students indicate some level of test-related superstitious practice. However, we also found that superstitious practice was largely unrelated to religious belief and practice, gender and race, educational performance and grade expectations, and end-of-semester pressures. These results are entirely consistent with Colin Campbell's theory of modern superstition. Superstitious practice in modern society is self-sustaining–not integrated into social institutions or systems of belief–and only “half-believed” by the very practitioners of modern superstition.
Absolute light calibration using S-type thermocouples

Abstract Absolute light calibration in optical measurements requires the use of a calibrated light source. The most common sources are blackbody furnaces or tungsten lamps, which are both problematic due to their expense and the requirement for frequent recalibration. In combustion research, the availability of an absolute light calibration makes possible the quantitative measurement of several quantities of interest (e.g., soot volume fraction and number density of species measured with fluorescence or chemiluminescence). In this study, a low-cost, simple, yet high-accuracy method is described that uses widely available S-type thermocouples to do absolute light calibration. The spectral emissivity of Pt and Pt–10% Rh wires was measured in the visible range. The measured spectral emissivity, temperature, and diameter of the heated thermocouple wires allow them to serve as a light source with spectral radiance that can be calculated by Planck’s law. The proposed absolute light calibration method with S-type thermocouples was used to determine the number density of excited-state CH radicals in a lifted, coflow laminar diffusion flame of methane and the soot volume fraction in coflow laminar diffusion flames of ethylene with varying amounts of nitrogen dilution. The results were compared with previous measurements and excellent agreement was achieved.
Absorption measurments of extreme ultraviolet radiation in photoresists

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is one of the promising techniques for the fabrication of semiconductor features at or below 32 nm. One of the key parameters that can affect photoresist performance is their absorption characteristics at EUV wavelengths. The measurement of the absorption length or absorbance is important because it causes the dose to vary through the thickness of resist which can result in underexposure deeper in the resist. One method for measuring absorption length of a resist is by direct measurement of the transmission of EUV radiation through the resist when it is on a transparent membrane. The results of these measurements show the absorbance for different photoresists currently used for extreme ultraviolet lithography.
Till Death do us Part: Masculinity, Friendship, and Nationalism in Belfast, Northern Ireland:

Inherent to the conflict in Northern Ireland has been the spatial segregation of men from women, whereby men go to prison and women are left to support and take care of their families. As a result ...
Lack of the drosophila BEAF insulator proteins alters regulation of genes in the Antennapedia complex

In a screen based on a rough eye phenotype caused by a dominant negative form of the BEAF-32A and BEAF-32B insulator proteins, we previously identified 17 proteins that genetically interact with BEAF. Eleven of these are developmental transcription factors, seven of which are encoded by the Antennapedia complex (ANT-C). While investigating potential reasons for the genetic interactions, we obtained evidence that BEAF plays a role in the regulation of genes in the ANT-C. BEAF does not localize near the transcription start sites of any genes in the ANT-C, indicating that BEAF does not locally affect regulation of these genes. Although BEAF affects chromatin structure or dynamics, we also found no evidence for a general change in binding to polytene chromosomes in the absence of BEAF. However, because we were unable to detect proteins encoded by ANT-C genes in salivary glands, the DREF and MLE proteins were used as proxies to examine binding. This does not rule out limited effects at particular binding sites or the possibility that BEAF might directly interact with certain transcription factors to affect their binding. In contrast, the embryonic expression levels and patterns of four examined ANT-C genes were altered (bcd, Dfd, ftz, pb). A control gene, Dref, was not affected. A full understanding of the regulation of ANT-C genes during development will have to take the role of BEAF into account.
Isolation and characterization by electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography of oligosaccharides derived from hyaluronic acid by hyaluronate lyase digestion: observation of some heretofore unobserved oligosaccharides that contain an odd number of units.

Abstract Hyaluronic acid was degraded with hyaluronate lyase (E.C. 4.2.2.1, from Streptomyces hyalurolyticus), and the resulting oligosaccharides up to dp 16 were characterized by electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS) and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD). In accordance with the known regiospecificity of the enzyme, the products included even-numbered oligosaccharides of structure β- d -4en-thrHex p A-(1 → 3)-[β- d -Glc p NAc-(1 → 4)-β- d -Glc p A ] n -(1 → 3)- d -Glc p NAc . Minor amounts of novel and unexpected odd-numbered oligomers, having the structure β- d -4en-thrHex p A-(1 → 3)-[β- d -Glc p NAc-(1 → 4)- d -Glc p A ] n , were also isolated and characterized. This study, in addition to others beginning to appear in the literature, demonstrates the usefulness of ESIMS and HPAEC-PAD in the analysis and characterization of anionic glycosaminoglycan-type oligosaccharides.
Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition by MILTON, JAMES

The article reviews the book "Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition," by James Milton.
Estimation of isotacticity in semicrystalline polymers

A new method is suggested for estimating the degree of isotacticity and the distribution of block lengths in semicrystalline polymers. The method is based upon the maximum attainable crystallinity and its dependence upon temperature. An alternate approach is based upon the dynamic shear modulus and its temperature dependence above the glass temperature.
Bounds on the empirical Bayes and compound risks of truncated versions of Robbins's estimator of a binomial parameter

Abstract Robbins (1956) in his original paper on empirical Bayes methods suggested a method of estimating a binomial success probability. We give explicit bounds for the empirical Bayes risk of natural variants of the Robbins estimator that show convergence to an optimal risk at O(n − 1 2 ) rate. Bounds that yield the same convergence rate are also obtained in the related compound estimation problem.