cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
From Foster Care to Adoption and Guardianship: A Twenty-First Century Challenge

For nearly four decades, child welfare policy and practice have focused on the achievement of legal permanence for children in foster care. Although federal child welfare policy has resulted in the movement of children from state custody to legally permanent adoptive or guardianship families, little is known about the quality and enduring nature of these placements. A significant challenge of the twenty-first century child welfare system is how to ensure the well-being of children currently living with adoptive parents or guardians. This paper discusses child welfare policy and trends related to post-permanency well-being, including the decrease in Title IV-E foster care caseloads nationwide and the simultaneous increase in Title IV-E adoptive and guardianship caseloads. We highlight the needs of a twenty-first century child welfare system, including increased federal efforts to ensure child permanence and well-being after legal adoption or guardianship has been achieved, as well as more rigorous longitudinal and interdisciplinary research focused on the post-permanency adjustment of children and their families.
Bow Hunter's Syndrome: Surgical Management (Video) and Review of the Literature.

Background Bow Hunter's syndrome (BHS) is a rare condition characterized by vertebrobasilar insufficiency associated with rotational vertebral artery occlusion during head movement. Many existing reports describe surgical management, although no single technique has proven superior. Objective To review all reported cases of BHS with focus on outcomes of individual techniques as well as to present a video report of a posterior decompression without fusion performed at the authors' institution. Methods We searched PubMed for all relevant articles of BHS available in the English language. Pertinent studies were further characterized into surgical technique performed and associated outcomes. Results We included 27 studies in our review, excluding the case presented, for a total of 65 cases of BHS. These cases discuss anterior versus posterior decompressions, the need for fusion, coil embolization techniques, the efficacy of intraoperative dynamic angiography, and success rate with symptom resolution being the primary endpoint. A total of 53 cases underwent decompression without fusion, with an overall success rate of 90.6% (n = 48/53). Similarly, eleven cases underwent decompression with fusion, with a success rate of 91% (n = 10/11). Two additional cases opted for coil embolization, one of which reported resolution of symptoms. Furthermore, we present a video case of a posterior decompression without fusion with resolution of symptoms. Conclusions BHS remains a rare clinical condition with no clear superior method of treatment. Rates of symptom resolution are similar among cases undergoing decompression with or without fusion. Coil embolization has been reported with limited success in 2 cases.
The Evolution of the Problem of the Unity of Science

A serious part of the excitement of science is coming upon the unexcepted. Novel facts, unanticipated experimental results, and surprising consequences of theories with which we thought we were thoroughly familiar, provide the sense of recurring ‘newness’ which is part of the fascination of the scientific pursuit. Philosophers usually aren’t as lucky, and philosophy usually lacks this quality of eternal freshness.
COSMIC Function Points Evaluation for Software Maintenance

The Common Software Measurement International Consortium (COSMIC) group reviewed the existing functional size methods, such as the International Function Points User Group (IFPUG)'s Function Points (FPs), to develop a functional size metric based on "the basic principles" that applies to a wide range of application domains. Though several empirical studies on the COSMIC method verify that COSMIC Function Points (CFPs) successfully accomplished the goal of being applicable to a wide range of application domains and that its size correlate well with effort over a very wide range of sizes, one study of telecom switching software noticed that the correlation between CFPs and cost is very low for small projects (5 CFPs or less). The COSMIC method does not explicitly size data manipulations (such as, mathematical algorithms), which causes it to be less effective for mathematically-intensive software. IFPUG's FPs method has the same drawback of not explicitly measuring mathematical operations, but IFPUG developed the Software Non-Functional Assessment Process (SNAP) to complement a project's functional size. This empirical analysis will determine whether CFPs can be an effective size metric for small, maintenance tasks (between 2 and 12 CFPs) using a dataset consisting of Unified Code Count (UCC)1's maintenance tasks. Additionally, this analysis will consider whether using IFPUG's SNAP with COSMIC's FPs can lead to better effort estimates, as the former provides a method to measure data manipulation. The authors found that tasks adding new features require a different effort estimate model from those that modify existing features.
Editor's introduction: Reflecting on and re-thinking usability and user experience design

Everything changes over time. Societies evolve, original technologies emerge, and the structure of products shifts to meet the needs of new situations. What constitutes a usable design will similarly change over time. For these reasons, it's important to regularly stop and assess where a field is and what it is doing to determine how well its activities reflect the context in which it exists. Usability and user experience design are no different. This issue of Communication Design Quarterly represents such a reflection and a re-thinking of where the field is at this point in time.
Measurements at FP3 in support of pecan scientific objectives using MPL-111 lidar

This paper will report on the data collected by a Sigma Space Micropulse Lidar (MPL-111), and how these measurements, when integrated with other data, helps to inform our analysis of two cases of the Great Plains nocturnal Low-Level Jet (LLJ) in the vicinity of FP3.
Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Later Life Cognition: Evidence From the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study:

Objectives:This study examined childhood socioeconomic status (SES) as a predictor of later life cognition and the extent to which midlife SES accounts for associations. Methods: Data came from 5,074 participants in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Measures from adolescence included parents' educational attainment, father's occupational status, and household income. Memory and language/executive function were assessed at ages 65 and 72 years. Results: Global childhood SES was a stronger predictor of baseline levels of language/executive function than baseline memory. Associations involving parents' education were reduced in size and by statistical significance when accounting for participants' midlife SES, whereas associations involving parental income and occupational status became statistically nonsignificant. We found no associations between childhood SES and change in cognition. Discussion: Findings contribute to growing evidence that socioeconomic differences in childhood have potential consequences for later life cognition, particularly in terms of the disparate levels of cognition with which people enter later life.
neThing: An Educational Open-Source Web-based Graphical User Interface for Controlling Ambisonic and Wave Field Speaker Arrays

As multi-channel speaker arrays become more common within academic and research-oriented institutions, opportunities to expose casual listeners to the complex offerings of ambisonic and wave field systems have become more prevalent. The neThing project introduces a graphical, easy-to-use, free, open source, and educational web interface to control ambisonic and wave field arrays. By creating a simple user experience for both server and user side control, we attempt to remove technical and conceptual barriers that potentially hinder access to such systems, while at the same time increasing interest to use and maintain these large-scale systems. By reducing the barriers to entry on use and experimentation with multi-channel speaker arrays, students can more easily experiment with this format of audio presentation. Finally, by using a web application, we simplify the software profile needed to be distributed across end users, allowing for mobile use as well.
Temperature dependence of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in Pt/Co/Cu thin film heterostructures

Magnetic materials that exhibit chiral domain walls are of great interest for spintronic devices. In this work, we examine the temperature-dependent behavior of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in Pt/Co/Cu thin film heterostructures. We extract the DMI strength, D, from static domain spacing analysis between 300 K and 500 K and compare its temperature dependence to that of the magnetic anisotropy, Ku, and saturation magnetization, Ms. Consistent with expected scaling in thin films, Ms exhibits Bloch-law temperature scaling and Ku scales as Ms2.1±0.1. However, D varies more strongly with temperature than expected, scaling as D∝Ms4.9±0.7, indicating that interfacial DMI is more sensitive to thermal fluctuations than bulk magnetic properties. We suggest that this may be related to the temperature dependence of locally induced magnetic moments in the Pt underlayer and the 3d-5d orbital interactions at the interface. While we observe stable domain widths in the studied temperature range, a strongly temperature dependent DMI may have significant consequences for potential devices based on the chiral domain wall or skyrmion motion.
Anterior STEMI following electroconvulsive therapy: A case report

Abstract Cardiac adverse events, while infrequent, are the primary complications to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Acute myocardial infarction is a rare complication of ECT. Here, we report a case of a 49-year-old male with no known cardiac history and with intermediate cardiac risk who developed an Anterolateral ST elevated myocardial infarction after a course of ECT. His risk factors for coronary artery disease included hyperlipidemia and tobacco dependence. Coronary angiography demonstrated a complete occlusion of the proximal left anterior descending artery. The hemodynamic changes during ECT will also be discussed, which contribute to the associated cardiac complications.
An Analysis of Obstetrics-Gynecology Residency Interview Methods in a Single Institution.

Objective Interviews for residency are important for resident selection, yet how to best perform the interviews remains uncertain. Multiple approaches have been described with a variety of results. Our purpose of this study was to evaluate our Obstetrics-Gynecology residency program's interview structure to determine which interview components have association with performance evaluations completed by physicians and nurses during the residents’ years of training at our program. Design Using only data from our matched residents, existing interview scores from our standard interview process were compared to performance evaluation scores completed by faculty and nursing throughout the training years. Our standard interview process consisted of 4 interviews with individual faculty, 1 structured behavioral-based interview by a blinded faculty member, and 1 interview with a pair of current residents. Setting A single, multisite, Obstetrics-Gynecology residency program. Participants Interviewees of the Obstetrics-Gynecology residency program that ultimately matched with our program. Results Interview scores from 44 residents were compared to their performance evaluation scores. Positive associations were seen between performance evaluation scores and both resident teams’ interviews and unstructured faculty interviews, with the resident teams’ score showing a stronger degree of association. The behavioral-based interview total score did not have association with the performance evaluation scores, nor did any of the individual questions. Conclusions Resident teams’ interview scores of applicants show the strongest association with eventual performance evaluations completed by faculty and nursing during residency. This demonstrates that current residents should have a role in the resident selection process during interviews. This does not provide data to abandon behavior-based interview techniques, but rather encourage each program to carefully apply their use during the resident selection process.
Analysis of Graduate Programs in Adapted Physical Education in the United States

Graduate programs in adapted physical education (APE) prepare individuals to work with students with disabilities in the physical education setting. However, these APE graduate programs var...
“The Most Deeply Honorable Form of Government Ever Devised by Man”: Reagan, Human Rights, and Democracy

This chapter highlights a defining paradox of American foreign policy in the 1980s. Although human rights and democracy debates had a heavy ideological cast and occasionally involved heated political rhetoric, this era was defined by political compromises that fostered a well-balanced US foreign policy. While the Reagan administration employed hawkish security measures, it was also kept in check by Congress, the news media, NGOs, and by an American public wary of direct military commitments and fearful of nuclear war. Activists and some legislators criticized the administration’s human rights and democracy policies, but the administration got most of what it wanted by defending partner governments while pressing them to reform. These compromises produced outcomes that were largely positive for American national interests.
Nursing Home Quality and Financial Performance: Is There a Business Case for Quality?

This study examines the relationship between nursing home quality and financial performance to assess whether there is a business case for quality. Secondary data sources included the Online Survey...
Characterizing Non-Myopic Information Cascades in Bayesian Learning

We consider an environment where many players need to decide whether to buy a certain product (or adopt a trend) or not. The product is either good or bad, but its true value is not known to the players. Instead, each player has his own private information on the quality of the product. Each player can observe the previous actions of other players and deduce the quality of the product. A player can only buy the product once. In contrast to the existing literature on informational cascades, in this work players get more than one opportunity to act. In each turn, a player is chosen uniformly at random from all players and can decide to buy or not to buy. His utility is the total expected discounted reward, and thus myopic strategies may not be best responses. We provide a characterization of structured perfect Bayesian equilibria (PBE) with non-myopic strategies through a fixed-point equation of dimensionality that grows only polynomially with the number of players. Based on this characterization we study informational cascades and show that they happen with high probability for a large number of players. Furthermore, only a small portion of the total information in the system is revealed before a cascade occurs.
Road injury prevention in China: current state and future challenges.

In just a few decades, China has undergone probably the fastest motorization of a transportation system in history. Now possessing the longest roadway network and the highest volume of car sales in the world, China has also faced major public health impacts from adopting automobiles, including air pollution and traffic fatalities. This paper synthesizes various sources to present the challenges to road safety in China. The country’s rapid development expresses many patterns and features familiar to developed nations, such as declining urban density, increased use of sport utility vehicles, and strict drunk-driving laws. It also mirrors patterns familiar to developing nations—high-fatality rates for pedestrians and nondrivers, low salaries and corruption among police officers, and infrequent seat-belt use. Despite these similarities, China also exhibits particular attributes, such as a nationwide cadre evaluation system and tightly controlled media organization, which influence the traffic risks that receive national attention.
Operational Evaluation of Traffic Management Advisor Using Statistical Performance Metrics and Simulation Approach

The Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) is an air traffic management automation tool designed to allow more aircraft to land during the peak arrival periods by increasing the airspace capacity and minimizing delay via better scheduling, spacing, sequencing, and runway allocation of arrival traffic. This paper evaluates the TMA’s operational performance at George Bush Intercontinental airport in Houston over three daily selected rush-hour periods in the pre- and post-TMA deployments, using both the conventional and newly proposed performance metrics. The performance metrics used for the statistical analysis include: flight distances flown during transition from en route to terminal airspace, runway arrival distributions, and airport arrival traffic distributions. The results obtained from the analysis show that TMA improves the characteristics of arrival air traffic by better runway balancing, improved airport arrival throughput, and more evenly distributed airport arrivals. In addition to the statistical ana...
Growing the City as a Community

The effort to design a perfect city, an ideal society, eutopia (the good place) rather than utopia (nowhere at all), has a history centuries long; it deserves an overview, a picture of what the city would look like from the cab of a dirigible, perhaps, so that all its parts can be seen, and seen to work together. The enterprise goes back at least to the Greek philosopher Plato (c. 427-c. 347 B.C.), whose Republic described a carefully layered social system that worked beautifully as long as all classes—farmers and tradesmen at the bottom, soldiers (guardians) in the middle, and a few philosophers at the top—remembered to do their duty in their proper place, in the proper way, and not try to cross lines and become something else. Since then, a variety of thinkers have tried their hand at the construction of the Ideal Society—the human community where all people can live in harmony, ensure their safety, govern their affairs, produce what they need to live, and make each other happy.
The Interplay between HIV-1 Gag Binding to the Plasma Membrane and Env Incorporation

Advancement in drug therapies and patient care have drastically improved the mortality rates of HIV-1 infected individuals. Many of these therapies were developed or improved upon by using structure-based techniques, which underscore the importance of understanding essential mechanisms in the replication cycle of HIV-1 at the structural level. One such process which remains poorly understood is the incorporation of the envelope glycoprotein (Env) into budding virus particles. Assembly of HIV particles is initiated by targeting of the Gag polyproteins to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane (PM), a process mediated by the N-terminally myristoylated matrix (MA) domain and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2). There is strong evidence that formation of the Gag lattice on the PM is a prerequisite for the incorporation of Env into budding particles. It is also suggested that Env incorporation is mediated by an interaction between its cytoplasmic tail (gp41CT) and the MA domain of Gag. In this review, we highlight the latest developments and current efforts to understand the interplay between gp41CT, MA, and the membrane during assembly. Elucidation of the molecular determinants of Gag-Env-membrane interactions may help in the development of new antiviral therapeutic agents that inhibit particle assembly, Env incorporation and ultimately virus production.
Speaking to the past.

“Speak to the past and it shall teach thee”. I first read those words on a dedication tablet within the John Carter Brown library at Brown University where I was a graduate student. Little did I know the phrase would accurately describe the next three and a half decades of my career. Paleoclimate data are the language we use to look into the past to understand ourselves and ultimately our future.
Trabecular bone mineral density correlations using QCT: Central and peripheral human skeleton

Abstract Musculoskeletal injuries to the lower leg and foot-ankle joint are associated with external mechanical loads resulting from motor vehicle crashes, under body blasts, falls from height, or sports. As an intrinsic material property, the bone mineral density (BMD) is related to bone strength. The clinically recognized biological sites for BMD evaluation are the hip and spine. The focus of this study was to define the correlation between BMD from standard clinical sites (hip and lumbar spine) compared to BMD from non-standard sites (foot-ankle-distal tibia bones). Twenty-one post-mortem human subjects (PMHS) with mean age, height, and mass of 63 ± 11 years, 179 ± 7 cm, and 86 ± 13 kg, respectively were used for analysis. Clinical BMD software (Mindways Software, Inc.) was used for trabecular BMD quantification using quantitative computed tomography (QCT). In quantification of BMD of the foot-ankle-distal tibia (hind foot), the trabecular BMD of the talus (316 ± 86mg/cc) was highest followed by the distal tibia (238 ± 72 mg/cc) and then calcaneus (147 ± 51 mg/cc). To correlate BMD values from foot bone regions with the central skeleton BMD values within the same PMHS, there were 18 lumbar spine and 12 hip BMDs available. The BMD of the distal tibia correlated best with the hip intertrochanter BMD (R2 of 0.72). Calcaneus BMD best correlated with the hip femoral neck BMD (R2 = 0.64). In summary, the hind foot bone BMD values correlated better with the hip as compared to the lumbar spine BMD from the same PMHS. These findings indicate that, in the absence of a direct measure of foot-bone BMD, hip BMD might be a better predictor of injury risk to hind foot rather than lumbar spine BMD, or alternatively, calcaneal trabecular BMD can be used to predict the risk of injury to hip. Further, these relationships between central and peripheral regions can also be implemented in finite element models for improved failure predictions.
Description of a peregrine falcon (falco peregrinus) fence mortality in the southern high plains of texas

Many causes of mortality have been reported for the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), but there are no published descriptions of fence mortalities for this species. We report on a recently deceased juvenile peregrine falcon that was found ensnared on the top strand of a barbed-wire fence on 24 August 2018 in Hale County, Texas. The cause of mortality was determined to be from exposure after being ensnared by a barb on the fence, a previously undescribed cause of fence-related mortality for the species. This mortality illustrates the novel hazard that fencing and other such structures pose to wildlife, and highlights problems with using barbed fencing because it increases the risk of mortality due to ensnarement and exposure in addition to the risk of blunt-force trauma from collision.
Abstract PS17-18: Eribulin-mediated release of mitochondrial DNA activates the cGAS-STING innate immune signaling pathway

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients have a higher response rate to immune checkpoint inhibitors as compared to patients with other types of breast cancer. This higher response rate is thought to be due to higher mutational burdens, the prevalence of PD-L1/PD-1 expression, and immune cell infiltration in TNBC. However, less than half of TNBC patients respond to these drugs as single agents, which has prompted their use in combination with chemotherapy, including microtubule targeted agents (MTAs). Multiple clinical trials now show that the combination of PD-1/PD-L1-targeted immune checkpoint inhibitors with chemotherapy, including the MTAs paclitaxel or eribulin, can improve clinical responses in both late and early-stage TNBC. Previous studies have demonstrated that MTAs can activate innate immune sensing pathways that could potentially mediate their efficacy in combination with immunotherapies, including the ability of paclitaxel to promote TLR4 signaling. However, there has not been a direct comparison of the immunogenic effects elicited by each of the five MTAs that are used to treat TNBC to inform on how agents of this class could differentially alter the tumor immune microenvironment. In the current study, we determined the concentration and time-dependent effects of paclitaxel, docetaxel, ixabepilone, eribulin, and vinorelbine on the cytokine expression profiles in both immune and TNBC cells. Our results demonstrate that the microtubule destabilizers, eribulin, and vinorelbine, but not the microtubule stabilizers, paclitaxel, docetaxel, and ixabepilone, promote upregulation of type 1 interferons (IFNα/β) and downstream interferon-stimulated-genes. A time-course analysis in the human monocytic THP-1 cell line and primary murine bone-derived macrophages found that the induction of IFNβ by eribulin occurred within 2-6 hours and was independent of mitotic arrest. A pharmacological and genetic-based assessment of the signaling pathways responsible for the eribulin-mediated expression of IFNβ revealed a dependency on the cGAS-STING cytosolic DNA-sensing innate immune signaling pathway in both immune and TNBC cells. Moreover, we demonstrate that the mechanism for the promotion of cGAS-STING-dependent interferon induction by eribulin is due to the release of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) into the cytoplasm. Together, these results provide evidence that different MTAs have distinct immunomodulatory properties and highlight the ability of eribulin to promote the release of mtDNA to activate the cGAS-STING pathway, which has been previously shown to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy in TNBC. These studies were funded by Eisai. Citation Format: Charles Steven Fermaintt, Leila Takahashi-Ruiz, Susan L Mooberry, April L Risinger. Eribulin-mediated release of mitochondrial DNA activates the cGAS-STING innate immune signaling pathway [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS17-18.
Animal Cruelty and Violent Behavior: Is There a Connection?

During the 1960s a supposition emerged based on a few case studies from anecdotal presentations and varied observational reports that the presence of childhood abuse towards animals was likely a significant precursor or major predictive dynamic for later adult interpersonal violent behavior of violent murderers in particular. This connection was then further applied to the linkage of childhood generalized violent behavior with future adult interpersonal violence. From its earliest presentation coupled with a growing chorus of sociologists and criminologists asserting the linkage assumptions, the supposition rose in the popular consciousness as a key indicator of the violent propensities in children. In 1987 childhood animal cruelty first appeared in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic Statistical Manual (III-R) as one of a set of symptoms indicating the presence of conduct disorder and as a factor associated with adult antisocial behavior. This article explores the early history of th...
Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Devices in Athletes

With advancement in the technology of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), including the development of transvenous leads and compact pulse generators, sports participation is now possible for athletes and patients with these devices. The safety of competitive sports for patients with CIEDs has been questioned and studied over many years. Historically, expert-consensus guideline recommendations have discouraged patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) from engaging in competitive sports and advised sport participation restricted to low-intensity class IA sports. In the presence of these guidelines, however, some athletes have continued participation in sports. Growing data, including an ICD Sports Safety Registry of athletes, have demonstrated a low incidence of adverse sequelae associated with competitive sports participation in patients with ICDs. The most recent 2015 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines regarding sports participation for athletes with cardiovascular disease incorporated these data and left open the possibility for athletes to engage in more intensive sports through a shared decision making construct whereby the athlete assumes a portion of the potential risk for adverse events. Athletes with ICDs, and physicians, must weigh the benefits of sport participation with risks that are related to the underlying heart condition and inherent risks associated with the implanted device. This chapter will review the current recommendations for athletic participation in athletes with CIEDs, present data demonstrating the safety of CIEDs while highlighting potential adverse outcomes associated with competitive sports participation, and review quality of life factors for athletes with CIEDs.
MULTIPLE MOLECULAR FORMS OF BRAIN HYDROLASES.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses multiple molecular forms of brain hydrolases. The various hydrolases are separated by vertical starch-gel electrophoresis, and visualization of the zones of enzymatic activity is accomplished by applying various histochemical techniques for several enzymes to the gel, for nonspecific esterases. The enzymes studied include nonspecific esterases, acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterases, phosphomonoesterases, and thioesterase. Organophosphorus inhibitors and other compounds are used to characterize the enzymes in terms of isozyme homogeneity, and densitometric and other quantitative techniques are used to evaluate the degree of sensitivity of these isozymes to the inhibitors. Data are obtained on normal and pathological human material as well as animals, and some developmental and experimental studies are reported. Alterations in isozyme patterns are shown to occur during brain development, in the muscle esterases after denervation, and in human pathological tissue. Cytochemical studies have indicated a lysosomal localization of the nonspecific esterase, which are then adsorbed on microsomes in the process of preparation. A lysosomal locus provides presumptive evidence of a hydrolytic function of these esterases because the lysosome are shown to contain only hydrolytic enzymes to date.
Umbilical Cord Blood Cells in the Repair of Central Nervous System Diseases

Umbilical cord blood is composed of a heterogeneous population of cells including epithelial progenitors, mesenchymal stem cells, lymphocytes, and monocytes. These cells are immune-immature and have the ability to modify inflammation, promote angiogenesis and neurogenesis, secrete numerous cytokines and neurotrophic factors, and differentiate into cells of the neural lineage. The latter effect is not believed to be their primary mode of action in bringing benefit in numerous animal models for diseases, especially since the cells do not necessarily need to enter the CNS to be effective. In this way, umbilical cord blood has great translational potential from the animal models to the clinic for treatment of a multitude of CNS disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, and stroke. This potential is being explored in both animal models and also in a few clinical trials.
The Role of Optimism Versus Pessimism in the Experience of the Self

For nearly a decade we’ve been studying the personality dimension of optimism vs pessimism (Scheier & Carver, 1985, 1992). Our contribution to the topic of this volume (the organization and functions of the self) is the argument that the personality disposition of optimism versus pessimism has an indelible impact on how the person—how the self—experiences reality. We believe the world is quite literally a different place for an optimist than it is for a pessimist, because of differences in the way these two kinds of people experience the world. These differences in experience depend, in turn, on differences in what these two kinds of people bring to the world.
A modular, wireless damage monitoring system for structures

A structural monitoring system comprises a plurality of modular, battery powered data acquisition devices which transmit structural information to a central data collection and analysis device over a wireless data link. The data acquisition devices each comprise mechanical vibration sensors, data acquisition circuitry, a digital wireless transmitter, and a battery for providing electrical power to the device. The central data collection device comprises a digital wireless receiver that receives data sent from the data acquisition devices, and a microprocessor for processing the data. A more powerful computer may be interfaced with the central device to provide more sophisticated analysis after a natural hazard or other extreme event. A methodology for operating the monitoring system is also disclosed.
Efficient parallel algorithms forr-dominating set andp-center problems on trees

We develop efficient parallel algorithms for ther-dominating set and thep-center problems on trees. On a concurrent-read exclusive-write PRAM, our algorithm for ther-dominating set problem runs inO(logn log logn) time withn processors. The algorithm for thep-center problem runs inO(log2n log logn) time withn processors.
The Social Significance of Human Biomonitoring

Over the past few decades, developments in analytical chemistry have made it possible to measure low-level chemical exposures in human fluids and tissues through a process called human biomonitoring. Recent biomonitoring data suggest that humans are exposed to a wide variety of naturally occurring and synthetic environmental chemicals ranging from pesticides and plasticizers to flame-retardants. These data have provoked new questions about the safety of many environmental chemicals and the adequacy of environmental regulations. Biomonitoring has also attracted the attention of social scientists and scholars in the humanities, resulting in a small but growing body of literature that examines the social impacts of this technique in the contexts of environmental advocacy and environmental justice efforts, chemical regulation and toxic torts, and studies that provide research participants with personal exposure data. Some work also addresses how biomonitoring data are reshaping notions of the body and its ties to historic and contemporary economic and political processes. This paper shows that while there is agreement that biomonitoring data provide novel information about the relationships between bodies and environments, there is debate about the extent to which this information will be used to advance environmental justice and the adoption of more precautionary chemical policies.
Crop and Soil Responses to Phosphorus and Potassium

Introduction Producers in Southeast Iowa are interested in managing available soil phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) to achieve optimum grain yields. This study was established in 1989 to examine P and K management in a corn-soybean crop rotation. In 2001 and 2006, nitrogen (N) treatments were added to supply this nutrient to corn at low and moderate rates to determine if corn yields were affected by P and K levels in the soil.
TGFβ is required for the formation of capillary-like structures in three-dimensional cocultures of 10T1/2 and endothelial cells

New vessels form de novo (vasculogenesis) or from pre-existing vessels (angiogenesis) in a process that involves the interaction of endothelial cells (EC) and pericytes/smooth muscle cells (SMC). One basic component of this interaction is the endothelial-induced recruitment, proliferation and subsequent differentiation of pericytes and SMC. We have previously demonstrated that TGFβ induces the differentiation of C3H/10T1/2 (10T1/2) mesenchymal cells toward a SMC/pericyte lineage. The current study tests the hypothesis that TGFβ not only induces SMC differentiation but stabilizes capillary-like structures in a three-dimensional (3D) model of in vitro angiogenesis. 10T1/2 and EC in Matrigel™ were used to establish cocultures that form cord structures that are reminiscent of new capillaries in vivo. Cord formation is initiated within 2–3 h after plating and continues through 18 h after plating. In longer cocultures the cord structures disassemble and form aggregates. 10T1/2 expression of proteins associated with the SMC/pericyte lineage, such as smooth muscle α-actin (SMA) and NG2 proteoglycan, are upregulated in these 3D cocultures. Application of neutralizing reagents specific for TGFβ blocks cord formation and inhibits expression of SMA and NG2 in the 10T1/2 cells. We conclude that TGFβ mediates 10T1/2 differentiation to SMC/pericytes in the 3D cocultures and that association with differentiated mural cells is required for formation of capillary-like structures in Matrigel™.
Lazy is timely: Status updates by an energy harvesting source

A source submits status updates to a service facility for delivery to a monitor. Each update requires energy and the source is powered by a stochastic energy harvesting system. With knowledge of the service facility state, the source avoids queue-induced delays by submitting a fresh update only after the service completion of a prior update. For a source with a large battery, we evaluate updating policies using a status age timeliness metric. We show that an optimal policy is lazy; following a service completion, the service facility is frequently left idle even though the server may have sufficient energy to submit an update.
A circuit simulation model for high-power high-speed GaAs Schottky diodes

This paper proposes a physically-based behavioral circuit simulation model for high-power GaAs Schottky diodes which is valid over all regions of operation. No conditional statements are needed to define the regions of operation. A new and more accurate method of obtaining depletion capacitance model parameters from the measured capacitance values is proposed. A simple current and temperature dependent resistance model is used to model the nonlinear diode resistance as well as the contact and packaging resistance. The validity of the model is demonstrated under various DC and transient switching conditions. Simulation results are compared with experimental data obtained from 200 V GaAs Schottky diodes. The diode model is tested at various temperatures in different test circuits and the simulation results are shown to be in excellent agreement with the measured data under both hard- and soft-switching conditions. The model is implemented in SABER, an advanced behavioral circuit simulator, but it can easily be implemented in other circuit simulators which have user defined mathematical equations.
Monte Carlo modeling of north‐south asymmetries in Mercury's sodium exosphere

[1] Ground-based observations and MESSENGER's first flyby show persistent asymmetries in Mercury's neutral sodium tail, with brightest emission often seen in the northern lobe. This feature may be associated with the recent finding that the magnetic dipole moment is offset from the planet's center by 0.2 RM to the north, while approximately aligned with the spin axis. Such a configuration produces an asymmetry in the magnetosphere cusp whereby more plasma has direct access to the planet's southern hemisphere than the north. Using 3-D numerical modeling, it is demonstrated that ion precipitation, enhanced in the south, can result in the observed Na emission profiles across the tail that are brighter to the north. However, sources located at high-latitude cusp footprints on the dayside are unable to match the observed width of the brightness profiles across the tail. Instead, these simulations provide evidence for lower latitude sources on the dawnside, resulting from the accumulation of sodium during the long Mercury night. Photodesorption, rather than ion sputtering, is determined to be the responsible mechanism for this population's release and escape from the planet's surface.
Satellite-derived estimation of rainfall in forward-backward thunderstorm propagation model using neural network expert system techniques

An artificial neural network expert system technique for rainfall estimation from satellite data is presented. Estimation results of rainfall from a forward-backward thunderstorm propagation model using neural network expert system techniques are given. Using artificial neural network expert system techniques, estimation or computation of rainfall amounts is 10 times faster. The average error of rainfall estimates for the total precipitation event is reduced to less than 30%. The average error of rainfall estimates for the forward-backward thunderstorm propagation model for cases from May to August is about 1.45%. After all information has been received, the satellite-derived estimation of rainfall needs about 2 s of HDS 9000 CPU time to execute. >
A database machine based on surrogate files

Concatenated code word (CCW) surrogate files are useful as indexes for very large knowledge bases to support logic programming inference mechanisms because of their small size and simple maintenance requirements. A parallel back-end database machine is proposed to speed up relation operations based on the CCW surrogate files. The basic idea of the machine is to reduce the amount of fact data to be transferred from the secondary storage systems to satisfy a query by performing relational operations on the CCW surrogate files first. The database machine consists of a number of surrogate file processors (SFPs) and extensional database processors (EDBPs) operating in SIMD mode. The performance of the system for parallel relational operations is evaluated for various cases. >
Volatility and the Cross-Sectional Performance of Emerging Market Hedge Funds

In an augmented [Treynor and Mazuy, 1966] model, we find that realized volatility of emerging market financial indices generally have a negative impact on the performance of hedge funds operating in these markets. Our hypothesis is that daily trading activities related to overconfidence and forced liquidation of leveraged positions are the possible causes for this result. Our estimation results show that leverage level and some fund characteristics that imply possible overconfidence of hedge fund managers are indeed negatively linked with the coefficients on realized volatility for hedge fund returns. Our results also provide further information on how certain fund characteristics are related to emerging market hedge fund managers’ ability to generate higher alphas and their aptitude to time the market.
Cultural diversity, families, and research subjects.

Gordon and colleagues (2011) use a hypothetical case study featuring amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients who are expected to die before anticipated harms from an HIV vaccine research study...
Liver, but not muscle, has an entrainable metabolic memory

Hyperglycemia in the hospitalized setting is common, especially in patients that receive nutritional support either continuously or intermittently. As the liver and muscle are the major sites of glucose disposal, we hypothesized their metabolic adaptations are sensitive to the pattern of nutrient delivery. Chronically catheterized, well-controlled depancreatized dogs were placed on one of three isocaloric diets: regular chow diet once daily (Chow) or a simple nutrient diet (ND) that was given either once daily (ND-4) or infused continuously (ND-C). Intraportal insulin was infused to maintain euglycemia. After 5 days net hepatic (NHGU) and muscle (MGU) glucose uptake and oxidation were assessed at euglycemia (120 mg/dl) and hyperglycemia (200 mg/dl) in the presence of basal insulin. While hyperglycemia increased both NHGU and MGU in Chow, NHGU was amplified in both groups receiving ND. The increase was associated with enhanced activation of glycogen synthase, glucose oxidation and suppression of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-4 (PDK-4). Accelerated glucose-dependent muscle glucose uptake was only evident with ND-C. This was associated with a decrease in PDK-4 expression and an increase in AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation. Interestingly, ND-C markedly increased hepatic FGF-21 expression. Thus, augmentation of carbohydrate disposal in the liver, as opposed to the muscle, is not dependent on the pattern of nutrient delivery.
Evaluation of body appendage injuries to juvenile signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus): relationships and consequences

Aggressive behaviour occurs frequently in crayfish and commonly results in injuries to body appendages. This study aimed to evaluate injuries to antennae, chelae, and walking legs of juvenile signal crayfish after seven months of rearing at high stocking density. We suggest that the high incidence of antennae injuries (66.8%) is related to their delicate structure and exposed position, which makes them vulnerable to damage. Chelae were more frequently injured (45.5%) than walking legs (7.8–23.6%). Considering the robustness of these structures and the scarcity of animals with both chelae missing and/or regenerating (4.9%), it seemed that injured animals were often killed by less injured ones. Antennae of crayfish with a single injured chela were more frequently injured on the side of the body with the damaged chela, and a similar pattern was observed for walking legs. Expanding on previous research reporting a negative relationship only between incidence of chela injury and crayfish size, we found this relationship to be significant for all evaluated appendages. We hypothesize that any injury and accompanying regeneration may have significant impact on subsequent injuries, overall growth, and reproductive success, and may result in death through cannibalism.
Investigation of arc repressor DNA-binding specificity by comparative molecular dynamics simulations

Transcription factors regulate gene expression through binding to specific DNA sequences. How transcription factors achieve high binding specificity is still not well understood. In this paper, we ...
Maternal-Fetal Trauma

The injured pregnant patient is actually two patients—both in need of expert care. Initial management should be performed as a team effort, with prompt obstetrical consultation available if the mother is seriously injured. The ABCs of resuscitation must be followed in the pregnant patient, just as they are in other injured patients, and the gravid uterus should not cause undo alarm or distraction. Diagnostic studies necessary for the evaluation of the mother should not be withheld, and timely operative intervention (if indicated) offers the best chance of a favorable outcome for mother and fetus.
Non-Additivity in Two-Way Analysis of Variance

Abstract In two-way classification analysis of variance situations there often exists a systematic type of row column interaction. A model is proposed in which the interaction is of the type Q i γ i where Q i is a parameter of the ith row, not necessarily associated with the main effect for rows, and γ j is the main effect for column j. The analysis of data according to this model is given, including estimation and tests of significance. The model is more general than that involved in Tukey's “one degree of freedom for non-additivity” and includes the latter as a special case. The relationship between the two methods is discussed. Applications of the method to different types of problems are mentioned and a numerical example is included.