cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthetic seismicity for the San Andreas fault

Because historical catalogs generally span only a few repetition intervals of major earthquakes, they do not provide much constraint on how regularly earthquakes recur. In order to obtain better recurrence statistics and long-term probability estimates for events M ? 6 on the San Andreas fault, we apply a seismicity model to this fault. The model is based on the concept of fault segmentation and the physics of static dislocations which allow for stress transfer between segments. Constraints are provided by geological and seismological observations of segment lengths, characteristic magnitudes and long-term slip rates. Segment parameters slightly modified from the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities allow us to reproduce observed seismicity over four orders of magnitude. The model yields quite irregular earthquake recurrence patterns. Only the largest events (M ? 7.5) are quasi-periodic; small events cluster. Both the average recurrence time and the aperiodicity are also a function of position along the fault. The model results are consistent with paleoseismic data for the San Andreas fault as well as a global set of historical and paleoseismic recurrence data. Thus irregular earthquake recurrence resulting from segment interaction is consistent with a large range of observations.
Reflecting the Open-Ended Computation System of Constructive Type Theory

The computation system of constructive type theory is open-ended so that theorems about computation will hold for a broad class of extensions to the system. We show that despite this openness it is possible to completely reflect the computation system into the language in a clear way by adding simple primitive concepts that anticipate the reflection. This work provides a hook for developing methods to modify the built-in evaluator and to treat the issues of intensionality and computational complexity in programming logics and provides a basis for reflecting the deductive apparatus of type theory.
Speaking in Tongues: The Importance of Speaking Indigenous Languages in Maternal Health Care

Indigenous women of Central America and Mexico are predominantly monolingual speakers of their indigenous languages. When they seek out maternal health-care services, they face a language barrier because the majority of these services have workers that only speak the dominant language of the country. These workers have minimal to no knowledge of indigenous languages. Understanding this, indigenous women are already placed at a disadvantage because they may not be able to communicate their health issues to the workers. But this should not be the case. This chapter speaks to the importance of learning an indigenous language for workers in health care and nongovernmental organizations that work among populations of indigenous women within Mexico and Central America. Through integrating ethnographic vignettes from my fieldwork experiences in the Yucatan Peninsula, I hope to illuminate the plight of indigenous women as they navigate this rocky terrain. The goal of this chapter is to demonstrate that through learning an indigenous language, one also learns how to become culturally sensitive, which has the capacity to empower both workers and indigenous women.
Development, use, and verification of expert systems in modelling microeconomic systems

Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Expert Systems (ES) have potential application in widely diverse arenas. In the present paper, we consider their application and testing in the field of economics. We begin by outlining the structure of a micro- economic system following Smith [1982]. It is readily apparent that the rule and information flow structures of such micro- economic systems are excellent candidates for expert system modelling. Taking the framework one step further, we argue that the ES approach also fits well for modelling the behavior of economic agents or “experts” who repeatedly face similar decisions problems. We detail the suggested approach by outlining an example of an auction bidding mechanism and of the participating economic agents or “bidders.”
Knowing Your Place: Theorizing Sexual Harassment at Home

This Article considers the laws relating to sexual harassment in the home and the cases addressing it, and argues that the courts that have addressed sexual-harassment-at-home cases (1) have failed to examine context in determining liability, and (2) have failed to examine context in awarding damages. As a result of these failures, the application of established legal principles to sexual-harassment-at-home cases is fatally flawed. Current law cannot serve its presumed purposes: to compensate plaintiffs appropriately and to punish and/or deter defendants adequately. We must develop a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of sexual harassment at home by examining the context in which the harassment occurred. Furthermore, we must recognize the cultural history and continuing significance of that context by examining the culturally constructed meaning of “home.” This Article is concerned with the sexual harassment of women by unrelated men that occurs in or around the home where a threat to a woman's home is an integral part of the harassing act. Thus, by “sexual harassment at home,” I mean sexual harassment that occurs in the context of the rental market rather than, for example, between spouses or housemates. Given that reality, this Article explores the ramifications of the sexual harassment of female renters by landlords and/or other individuals who are purportedly responsible for providing them with a safe living environment and fail to do so.
Two cultivars of bean display a differential response to extracellular components from Colletotrichum lindemuthianum

Certain extracellular components from the α race of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum exhibit differential elicitor activity on bean cultivars. Purification of α race extracellular components by a variety of chromatographic techniques has revealed elicitor activity in components with different chemical compositions. One class of elicitor, which does not adsorb to DEAE-Sephadex or CM-Sephadex, possesses galactose (17%), glucose (38%), and mannose (45%). This carbohydrate-rich complex displays high levels of elicitor activity on α race incompatible Dark Red Kidney bean but had no elicitor activity on compatible Great Northern bean. No extracellular components from the β race were detected to have elicitor activity on compatible Dark Red Kidney and Great Northern bean.
The Person and the Unconscious

In this chapter I shall suggest the direction in which the theory of the person I am proposing should be expanded, especially in view of the phenomena of sleep and some influential concepts of “the unconscious.”
The War on Drugs as a Metaphor in American Culture

George Bush had been President of the United States for half a year, elected by a landslide victory and inaugurated in a time of welling chauvinism and superficial prosperity. The American people seemed eager to hear his plans when he gave his first televised address in August of 1989. Whatever disappointment there may have been over pressing needs that were not mentioned, his call to arms in the war on drugs struck a responsive chord. During the next several months, the media was full of feature stories, editorials, news reports, and background accounts about “the drug menace,” the “war on drugs,” and a host of other approaches to drug use and its deadly impact. At one level the imagery of war could be viewed as just a metaphor, a rhetorical device virtually guaranteed to galvanize public opinion, demonstrate the speaker’s decisiveness, rally support, and draw a sharp line between “us” and “them.” No longer a wimp, as he had earlier been characterized, Pres. Bush had identified a common enemy, announced a firm stand, and promised to take action to “defeat” the other side. Such rhetoric on the part of other presidents had been applauded in connection with the “war on poverty” and the “war on illiteracy,” as it had been earlier with the “war against drink” and, probably, in a series of other pseudoevents in American history.
Smoke-induced flowering in the fire-lily Cyrtanthus ventricosus

Flowering of certain fynbos geophytes has long been noted to have an obligate dependence upon fire. One of these species, Cyrtanthus ventricosus (Jacq.) Willd., is shown here to be stimulated to flower by smoke. Ethylene, a gaseous component of smoke, did not stimulate flowering in this species. Dit is lank reeds bekend dat blomvorming by sekere fynbosgeofiete ’n verpligte afhanklikheid van vuur het. Daar word hier aangetoon dat een van hierdie spesies, Cyrtanthus ventricosus (Jacq.) Willd., deur rook gestimuleer word om te blom. Etileen, ’n gaskomponent van rook, het nie blomvorming by hierdie spesie gestimuleer nie.
The Probability Table Method for Treating Unresolved Neutron Resonances in Monte Carlo Calculations

The use of Monte Carlo calculations in reactor criticality and shielding problems requires cross section data sets which are properties of the individual isotopes rather than group averaged sets. A...
Getting a Taste for Parasites in the Gut

How type 2 immune responses are initiated is obscure. Nadjsombati et al. (2018), along with two other studies (Lei et al., 2018; Schneider et al., 2018), show that tuft cells can initiate type 2 responses by recognizing the metabolite succinate produced by intestinal parasites.
Depoliticization, Politicization, and Criminalization: How China Has Been Handling Political Prisoners since 1980s

By exploring the CECC’s political prisoner database and employing three ARDL times series models and two OLS models, the paper finds that China’s party-state has been dealing with political cases through depoliticization, politicization, and criminalization within and without the judiciary. The author argues that these strategies employed by China’s party-state are a function of China’s modernization, domestic conflicts, and the urgency to sustain political stability. Unlike what happened in the Western history where depoliticization was usually followed with democratization, China’s depoliticization has been strategically utilized to justify the Party’s rule over China mainly through its judicial system. China’s politicization, as a fundamental political strategy, has been often applied to handle those political threats such as Falun Gong practitioners and political/civil rights fighters, who are unable to be publicly criminalized and trialed but can be penalized with covert judicial and/or extra-judicial means by the Chinese government.
Preferences of Specialist and Generalist Mammalian Herbivores for Mixtures Versus Individual Plant Secondary Metabolites

Herbivores that forage on chemically defended plants consume complex mixtures of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs). However, the mechanisms by which herbivores tolerate mixtures of PSMs are relatively poorly understood. As such, it remains difficult to predict how PSMs, singly or as complex mixtures, influence diet selection by herbivores. Although relative rates of detoxification of PSMs have been used to explain tolerance of PSMs by dietary specialist herbivores, few studies have used the rate of detoxification of individual PSMs to understand dietary preferences of individual herbivores for individual versus mixtures of PSMs. We coupled in vivo experiments using captive feeding trials with in vitro experiments using enzymatic detoxification assays to evaluate the dietary preferences and detoxification capacities of pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis), dietary specialists on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), and mountain cottontails (Sylvilagus nuttallii), dietary generalists. We compared preference for five single PSMs in sagebrush compared to a mixture containing those same five PSMs. We hypothesized that relative preference for individual PSMs would coincide with faster detoxification capacity for those PSMs by specialists and generalists. Pygmy rabbits generally showed little preference among individual PSMs compared to mixed PSMs, whereas mountain cottontails exhibited stronger preferences. Pygmy rabbits had faster detoxification capacities for all PSMs and consumed higher concentrations of individual PSMs versus a mixture than cottontails. However, detoxification capacity for an individual PSM did not generally coincide with preferences or avoidance of individual PSMs by either species. Cottontails avoided, but pygmy rabbits preferred, camphor, the PSM with the slowest detoxification rate by both species. Both species avoided β-pinene despite it having one of the fastest detoxification rate. Taken together our in vivo and in vitro results add to existing evidence that detoxification capacity is higher in dietary specialist than generalist herbivores. However, results also suggest that alternative mechanisms such as absorption and the pharmacological action of individual or mixtures of PSMs may play a role in determining preference of PSMs within herbivore species.
Vitamin A status affects weight gain and hepatic glucose metabolism in rats fed a high-fat diet

Whether vitamin A (VA) has a role in the development of metabolic abnormalities associated with intake of a high-fat diet (HFD) is unclear. Sprague–Dawley rats after weaning were fed an isocaloric ...
Calcium Homeostasis in Kidney Disease

Maintenance of calcium levels within a narrow physiological range is essential to life. Calcium homeostasis is complex and tightly regulated and depends on regulation of calcium fluxes within the intestine, kidney, and bones. Calcium metabolism is controlled by calcium itself through a calcium receptor and several hormones, the major ones of which are parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D). PTH and 1,25(OH)2D exert their effects on the gastrointestinal tract, kidney, and bone in order to maintain normal levels of calcium. Hypercalcemia and hypocalcemia indicate critical disruptions of calcium homeostasis. This chapter reviews the regulation of calcium homeostasis and the diagnosis and management of disorders of calcium metabolism.
The "Writing Spiral": A Practical Tool for Teaching Undergraduates to Write Publication-Quality Manuscripts.

One of the perceived barriers to publishing with undergraduates (especially with undergraduates as first author; see Giuliano, 2019) is the concern that students lack the requisite writing skills to make a significant contribution. For example, several authors in a recent special issue devoted to publishing with undergraduates (see “Engaging Undergraduates in Publishable Research: Best Practices,” Frontiers in Psychology) discuss this challenge (e.g., McKelvie and Standing, 2018; Detweiler-Bedell and Detweiler-Bedell, 2019; Reavis and Thomas, 2019; Scisco et al., 2019). Unfortunately, despite the numerous individual articles describing tips for teaching writing in psychology (in journals such as Teaching of Psychology), as well as step-by-step books that teach students to improve their writing, there is no widely-accepted comprehensive resource to guide faculty in teaching psychological writing to students (see Ishak and Salter, 2017, for a review). The purpose of this paper is to address this gap, with a focus on teaching undergraduates to write publication-quality manuscripts. Although there are many important factors in teaching writing, one tool that I have developed—which students call “the writing spiral”—has been successfully used to guide numerous undergraduates through the publication process1. After describing the purpose and benefits of the writing spiral, I provide a detailed description of its contents in the hopes that interested readers might successfully incorporate some of this material into their own writing instruction2.
Impact of Resident and Fellow Participation on Surgical Outcomes in Breast Conserving Surgery for Invasive Breast Cancer.

Objective Few studies examine the impact of surgical trainee involvement on tumor-free margins in breast conserving surgery (BCS). Our objective was to investigate the impact of resident and fellow involvement on positive margins rates following BCS for invasive breast cancer (BC). Design We identified female patients who had BCS for BC between January 2005 to December 2015. Setting Tertiary care hospital. Participants Around 1089 patients were identified from a prospectively maintained database. Results Of 1089 patients, mean age was 63 (range 43-99) years. Around 768 patients (70.1%) required preoperative localization, and 328 patients (29.9%) had a palpable cancer. Nonpalpable cancers had a smaller volume of specimen tissue excised (p = 0.0005) compared to palpable cancers, and no significant difference was observed in the positive margin rate between the nonpalpable group compared to the palpable group (24.7% nonpalpable vs. 25.3% palpable, p = 0.88). Nonpalpable cancer positive margin rates were 23.9% (n = 102/427) for cases performed by an attending surgeon, 25.0% (n = 15/60) with a junior resident (PGY 2-3), 28.6% (n = 8/28) with a senior resident (PGY 4-5), and 25.7% (n = 65/253) with a fellow, which were not statistically significant (p = 0.89). Palpable cancer positive margin rates were 27.6% (n = 47/170) for cases performed by an attending, 13.9% (n = 5/36) with an intern (PGY-1), 40.9% (n = 9/22) with a junior resident, 0% (n = 0/8) with a senior resident, and 23.9% (n = 22/92) with a fellow, which were also not significantly different (p = 0.07). Conclusion Resident and fellow participation in BCS for BC does not appear to impact the rate of positive margins.
Networks of Power: Analyzing World Leaders Interactions on Social Media.

World leaders have been increasingly using social media platforms as a tool for political communication. However, despite the growing research on governmental accounts on social media, virtually nothing is known about interactions among world leaders. Using a novel, cross-national dataset of Twitter communication for leaders of 193 countries for the period of 2012-2017, we construct retweet and mention networks to explore the patterns of leaders communication. We use social network analysis to conclude that the leaders interactions on social media closely resemble their interactions in the offline world. Besides, consistent with the democratic peace theory that underscores a special connection between democracies, we identify political regime as the main predictor of clustering between countries on Twitter. Finally, we explore the patterns of the leaders centrality to identify features that determine which leaders occupy more central positions in the network. Our findings yield new insights on how social media is used by government actors, and have important implications for our understanding of the impact of new technologies on the new forms of diplomacy.
Abstract 235: A Micropeptide Regulator of Voltage-gated Potassium Channels Controls Cardiac Rhythm

Voltage-gated potassium (K+) channels (VGKCs) are essential regulators of the cardiac action potential and are required to maintain normal heart rhythm and contractility. Voltage-dependent activati...
Privacy Verification and Enforcement via Belief Manipulation

We study the problem of verifying and enforcing the privacy of a partially observable stochastic system in the presence of an eavesdropping intruder. The intruder has the knowledge of the system model. It also has partial observation to system states and actions based on which it updates the belief which is a probability distribution over the system states. The intruder’s objective is to learn the system’s secrets in terms of whether the system is currently in some critical or sensitive states. We model the system as a partially observable Markov decision process and propose a notion of privacy with respect to the intruder ’s belief. Our key observation is that the evolution of the intruder’s belief can be represented as a discrete-time switched system. The privacy verification and enforcement can thus be cast into a reachability problem with respect to the unsafe subset of beliefs defined by the privacy requirement. We show how to apply control theory to verify and enforce the system’s privacy with two proposed approaches.
Placing Localized Entrepreneurial Hubs in the Field of Community Well-Being

Entrepreneurial hubs in communities have moved beyond chambers of commerce to include coworking communities, incubators, and accelerators. The place for these localized entrepreneurial hubs in communities in the field of community well-being is not readily apparent. This perspective article proposes a place for localized entrepreneurial hubs in communities, especially small to midsize urban communities (<100,000 persons), in the community well-being literature. A literature review is undertaken to showcase relevant community well-being themes. Furthermore, a community case is shared to help craft a new indicators framework for analyzing localized entrepreneurial hubs’ impact on community well-being. The article finishes by generating essential questions for use in future research on localized entrepreneurial hubs in community well-being research, policy, and practice.
Unpacking the Oral Translanguaging Practices of Korean-American First Graders.

This qualitative study utilized sociocultural and heteroglossic perspectives to examine the oral translanguaging practices of four Korean-American first-graders in a Korean heritage language (HL) c...
Distribution of the Minimum Distance of Random Linear Codes

In this paper, we study the distribution of the minimum distance (in the Hamming metric) of a random linear code of dimension k in $\mathbb{F}_q^n$. We provide quantitative estimates showing that the distribution function of the minimum distance is close (superpolynomially in n) to the cumulative distribution function of the minimum of (qk -1)/(q-1) independent binomial random variables with parameters $\frac{1}{q}$ and n. The latter, in turn, converges to a Gumbel distribution at integer points when $\frac{k}{n}$ converges to a fixed number in (0, 1). In a sense, our result shows that apart from identification of the weights of parallel codewords, the probabilistic dependencies introduced by the linear structure of the random code, produce a negligible effect on the minimum code weight. As a corollary of the main result, we obtain an asymptotic improvement of the Gilbert-Varshamov bound for 2 < q < 49.
Species Separation and Hydrogen Streaming upon Shock Release from Polystyrene under Inertial Confinement Fusion Conditions.

Shock release from inertial confinement fusion (ICF) shells poses a great challenge to single-fluid hydrodynamic equations, especially for describing materials composed of different ion species. This has been evidenced by a recent experiment [Haberberger et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 235001 (2019)], in which low-density plasmas (${10}^{19}$ to ${10}^{20}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$) are measured to move far ahead of what radiation-hydrodynamic simulations predict. To understand such experimental observations, we have performed large-scale nonequilibrium molecular-dynamics simulations of shock release in polystyrene (CH) at experimental conditions. These simulations revealed that upon shock releasing from the back surface of a CH foil, hydrogen can stream out of the bulk of the foil due to its mass being lighter than carbon. This released hydrogen, exhibiting a much broader velocity distribution than carbon, forms low-density plasmas moving in nearly constant velocities ahead of the in-flight shell, which is in quantitative agreement with the experimental measurements. Such kinetic effect of species separation is currently missing in single-fluid radiation-hydrodynamics codes for ICF simulations.
Bleep: motor-enabled audio side-channel for constrained UAVs

Small unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs) swarms are becoming ubiquitous in a number of applications (e.g., surveying, monitoring, and situational awareness). Indoor environments may contain metal equipment that temporarily disrupts radio reception. During these momentary interruptions, a small UAV needs to be able to broadcast a 'heartbeat' to indicate that it is not damaged or lost. Considering alternative messaging modalities, we observe that light-based methods require line-of sight, which is not guaranteed when UAVs are moving through a cluttered environment, while a naive sound-based method is easily drowned out by the UAV's own loud motor and propeller noise. We present Bleep, a side-channel messaging system that modulates UAV motors sounds to enable multiple UAVs to communicate when radio is unavailable. Bleep accomplishes this by 1) embedding linear chirps within the PWM frequency while maintaining the controllability of the UAV and 2) decoding the received sounds utilizing chirp multiplication to enhance signal detection in loud motor noise. Our chirp-based encoding allows multiple simultaneous transmissions to be detected and decoded in the presence of loud sounds from multiple UAV motors. Through real-world experiments, we show that Bleep is able to achieve over 95% signal detection and decoding accuracy with simultaneous transmissions.
Emergency preparedness: Interviews with senior leadership in Nebraska hospitals.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore perceptions of senior leadership in hospitals on the motivations, cost, benefits, barriers, and facilitators of investment in emergency preparedness. Study design: This is a qualitative study which used a grounded theory approach to develop a theory of hospital emergency preparedness. Setting and study participants: A purposive sample of hospital leaders (n = 11) in the US state of Nebraska were interviewed. Results: Results showed that the environmental risk associated with the hospital location, the hospital’s position in the community, and the preparedness requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services contribute to investment decisions. Rural hospitals face unique challenges in preparing for disasters, for example, lack of trained personnel. Facilitators of disaster preparedness include the availability of federal funds, the commitment of leadership, and an organizational mission aligned toward emergency preparedness. Hospitals invest in hazard vulnerability assessments; partnerships with other organizations in the community; staff trainings and infrastructure. Conclusions: The authors concluded that hospitals in Nebraska are committed toward investing in preparedness activities. The theory of hospital emergency preparedness developed will be used in a subsequent study to develop a decision-support framework for hospital investment in preparedness .
Imaging of open spinal dysraphisms in the era of prenatal surgery

Over the last decade fetal surgery to repair open spinal dysraphisms has become an acceptable and in some cases desirable alternative to the traditional method of postnatal closure. Fetal MRI is an essential part of the workup in these patients, not only to select the appropriate candidates for fetal surgery but also to guide prenatal counseling and perinatal management. In this article we review current surgical techniques for prenatal repair, relevant imaging findings in the era of fetal surgery, and expected imaging findings of the brain and spine in the fetal and postnatal periods.
Expanding the Search for Digital Preservation Solutions [Poster]

Poster presented at the 2009 ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries. The poster provides some preliminary results on factors that affect the adoption of PREMIS (Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies) in cultural heritage institutions.
Microstructure evolution of gadolinium doped cerium oxide under large thermal gradients

Abstract The effects of large thermal gradient annealing on the microstructure of 10 mol% gadolinium doped ceria (GDC) were investigated. GDC powder was prepared by solvent deficient method and sintered at 1650 °C for 10 h to achieve dense ceramics with ~8 μm grain size. The densified GDC samples were subsequently annealed using a 60 W infrared laser at over 2100 °C for 1 h under a thermal gradient equivalent to ~0.3–0.5 °C/μm. The post-annealed samples at 2150 °C for 1 h exhibit grains with average length and width of 37 and 28 μm, respectively. Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis revealed that the post-annealed sample at 2150 °C consists of grains oriented close to five principal directions ( , and on [0 0 1], and and on [0 1 0]) within a tolerance angle of ±10°, whereas the grains of the pre-annealed sample are randomly oriented. Gadolinium diffuses 20–30 μm away from the irradiated surface, with the measured composition of regions deeper than 30 μm, Ce0.86Gd0.14O1.93, is close to that of the pre-annealed sample, Ce0.87Gd0.13O1.94. Enhancement of total conductivity of the post-annealed GDC (1.1 × 10-3 S cm-1 at 500 °C, and 2.1 × 10-2 S cm-1 at 700 °C) is observed when compared to the pre-annealed GDC (3.1 × 10-5 S cm-1 at 500 °C, and 1.7 × 10-3 S cm-1 at 700 °C), and points to the decrease in the grain boundary (GB) resistivity. This could be attributed to both the change in GB area and grain alignment.
Is MR-guided High-intensity Focused Ultrasound a Feasible Treatment Modality for Desmoid Tumors?

MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound is a noninvasive treatment modality that uses focused ultrasound waves to thermally ablate tumors within the human body while minimizing side effects to surrounding healthy tissues. This technology is FDA-approved for certain tumors and has potential to be a noninvasive treatment option for extremity soft tissue tumors. Development of treatment modalities that achieve tumor control, decrease morbidity, or both might be of great benefit for patients. We wanted to assess the potential use of this technology in the treatment of extremity desmoid tumors. (1) Can we use MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound to accurately ablate a predetermined target volume within a human cadaver extremity? (2) Does MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound treatment stop progression and/or cause regression of extremity desmoid tumors? Simulated tumor volumes in four human cadavers, created by using plastic markers, were ablated using a commercially available focused ultrasound system. Accuracy was determined in accordance with the International Organization of Standards location error by measuring the farthest distance between the ablated tissue and the plane corresponding to the target. Between 2012 and 2014, we treated nine patients with desmoid tumors using focused ultrasound ablation. Indications for this were tumor-related symptoms or failure of conventional treatment. Of those, five of them were available for MRI followup at 12 months or longer (mean, 18.2 months; range, 12–23 months). The radiographic and clinical outcomes of five patients who had desmoid tumors treated with focused ultrasound were prospectively recorded. Patients were assessed preoperatively with MRI and followed at routine intervals after treatment with MRI scans and clinical examination. The ablation accuracy for the four cadaver extremities was 5 mm, 3 mm, 8 mm, and 8 mm. Four patients’ tumors became smaller after treatment and one patient has slight progression at the time of last followup. The mean decrease in tumor size determined by MRI measurements was 36% (95% confidence interval, 7%–66%). No patient has received additional adjuvant systemic or local treatment. Treatment-related adverse events included first- and second-degree skin burns occurring in four patients, which were managed successfully without further surgery. This preliminary investigation provides some evidence that MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound may be a feasible treatment for desmoid tumors. It may also be of use for other soft tissue neoplasms in situations in which there are limited traditional treatment options such as recurrent sarcomas. Further investigation is necessary to better define the indications, efficacy, role, and long-term oncologic outcomes of focused ultrasound treatment. Level IV, therapeutic study.
ANOMALOUS VENOUS DRAINAGE OF THE LEFT LUNG INTO THE INFERIOR VENA CAVA. A CASE REPORT.

Abstract Relevant anatomic details of previously reported cases of anomalous pulmonary venous drainage involving the left lung are briefly reviewed. A case of anomalous drainage of the entire left lung into the inferior vena cava is described. It was associated with a hypoplastic left lung with absent interlobar fissure, and shift of the heart to the left. To our knowledge, this is the first reported instance of such an anomaly.
What are the Methods for Diagnosing MCI

Speech-language pathologists will be increasingly called upon to screen for, identify, and assess mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as the population ages. The diagnosis of MCI involves several profe...
The Radiolytic Oxidation and Reduction of Plutonium

It has been shown on several occasions that all other things being equal, the rate of migration of plutonium through an aquifer is greatly influenced by its oxidation state. It is a reasonable expectation that other actinides exhibiting multiple oxidation states will behave similarly. By and large the more highly charged ions in solution move through rock strata more slowly than those of lesser charge. Thus from comparative experiments on the relative migration rates of Pu(IV) and Pu(III) we would expect Pu(III) to move about 10 times faster than Pu(IV)* and it has been shown Pu02+ moves about 250 times more rapidly than Pu(IV) (1).
Databases for interval probabilities: Research Articles

We present a database framework for the efficient storage and manipulation of interval probability distributions and their associated information. Although work on interval probabilities and on probabilistic databases has appeared before, ours is the first to combine these into a coherent and mathematically sound framework including both standard relational queries and queries based on probability theory. In particular, our query algebra allows users not only to query existing interval probability distributions, but also to construct new ones by means of conditionalization and marginalization, as well as other more common database operations. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 19: 789–815, 2004.
Gender Differences in Self-Perceptions and Academic Outcomes: A Study of African American High School Students

There is increasing divergence in the academic outcomes of African American males and females. By most accounts, males are falling behind their female peers educationally as African American females are graduating from high schools at higher rates and are going on to college and graduate school in greater numbers. Some have suggested that school completion and performance is associated with how students feel about themselves. The purpose of this study was to explore gender differences in the relationship between self-perceptions and 2 academic outcomes among a sample of 243 African American high school sophomores. The results suggest that, overall, females are more favorably oriented toward high school completion. Both male and female students with more positive self-perceptions have stronger intentions to complete the current year of high school. Higher grade point averages were more strongly associated with greater self-efficacy for females than for males. Given these findings, increased attention to educational programming, societal messages, and future research is warranted.
Exponential time and bounded arithmetic

For each n, we give weak theories of bounded arithmetic, whose provably recursive functions (having appropriate graphs) are exactly those functions computable deterministically in n-fold time TIME(2(n,p(|x|))), where p is a polynomial and 2(n,z) is a stack of n two's topped by a z. In proving this result, we separate out the time contribution due to different variables in a multivariate function. These results further the evidence that “normalized” formal logic proofs (free cut free proof in Gentzen sequent calculus) of the totality of a function furnish an algorithm to compute the function.
Perspectives of clinical genetics professionals toward genome sequencing and incidental findings: a survey study

The introduction of clinical genome-wide sequencing raises complex issues regarding the management of incidental findings. However, there is a lack of empirical studies assessing views of providers involved in potential disclosure of such findings. In an anonymous survey of 279 clinical genetics professionals, we found that the vast majority of participants agreed that they were interested in knowing about clinically actionable incidental findings in themselves (96%) and their child (99%), and they reported that these types of findings should be disclosed in adult (96%) and minor (98%) patients. Approximately three-fourths agreed that they were personally interested in knowing about an adult-onset clinically actionable disease (78%) and a childhood-onset non-clinically actionable disease (75%) in their child. A similar percentage of participants (70%) felt that these two types of findings should be disclosed to patients. Forty-four percent of participants wanted to know about an incidental finding that indicates an adult-onset non-clinically actionable condition in themselves and 31% wanted to know about this type of information in their child. Findings from this study revealed participants' views highly dependent on clinical actionability. Further research is needed with a broader population of geneticists to increase generalizability, and with diverse patients to assess their perspectives about results disclosure from clinical sequencing.
A scalable framework to transform samples from one continuous distribution to another

We present a framework to transform a sample from one continuous distribution ℙ to another ℚ. Our previous work considered the special case of Bayesian inference where ℙ is the prior and ℚ is the posterior, showing that this can be solved with convex optimization under appropriate conditions. Here, our contribution is two fold: (i) we consider the more general case of arbitrary ℙ and ℚ and show using optimal transport theory and KL divergence minimization that convexity holds provided that ℚ has a log-concave density; (ii) we develop a largescale distributed solver. With this general framework finding the optimal Bayesian map is done through a series of MAP estimation problems. Interesting applications are also presented.
Der Begriff der freien Oberflächenenergie bei kleinsten Teilchen

Die Arbeit, die zur reversiblen Abtrennung eines kleinsten Teilchens notig ist, hangt merklich von der Konzentration dieser kleinsten Teilchen ab. Daher ist fur diese die freie Oberflachenenergie undefinierbar. Eine sie ersetzende Grose, die wirksame freie Oberflachenenergie, wird fur Stickstoffkeime mit 2 bis 8 Molekulen berechnet.
PGC Reversion to Pluripotency Involves Erasure of DNA Methylation From Imprinting Control Centers Followed by Locus-Specific Re-methylation

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are fate restricted to differentiate into gametes in vivo. However, when removed from their embryonic niche, PGCs undergo reversion to pluripotent embryonic germ cells (EGCs) in vitro. One of the major differences between EGCs and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is variable methylation at imprinting control centers (ICCs), a phenomenon that is poorly understood. Here we show that reverting PGCs to EGCs involved stable ICC methylation erasure at Snrpn, Igf2r, and Kcnqot1. In contrast, the H19/Igf2 ICC undergoes erasure followed by de novo re-methylation. PGCs differentiated in vitro from ESCs completed Snrpn ICC erasure. However, the hypomethylated state is highly unstable. We also discovered that when the H19/Igf2 ICC was abnormally hypermethylated in ESCs, this is not erased in PGCs differentiated from ESCs. Therefore, launching PGC differentiation from ESC lines with appropriately methylated ICCs is critical to the generation of germline cells that recapitulate endogenous ICC erasure.
Ellipsoid-weighted protein conformation alignment

Conformation alignment is a critical step for properly interpreting protein motions and conformational changes. The most widely used approach for superposing two conformations is by minimizing their root mean square distance (RMSD). In this work, we treat the alignment problem from a novel energy-minimization perspective. To this end we associate each atom in the protein with a mean-field potential well, whose shape, ellipsoidal in general, is to be inferred from the observed or computed fluctuations of that atom around its mean position. The scales and directions of the fluctuations can be obtained experimentally from anisotropic B-factors for crystal structures or computationally. We then show that this “ellipsoid-weighted” RMSD alignment can be reformulated nicely as a point-to-plane matching problem studied in computational geometry. This new alignment method is a generalization of standard RMSD and Gaussian-weighted RMSD alignment. It is heavily weighted by immobile regions and immobile directions of the protein and hence highlights the directional motions of the flexible parts. It has an additional advantage of aligning conformations of proteins along their preferred directions of motions and could be applied to order protein conformations along its trajectory.
A preliminary analysis of failure mechanisms in karst and man-made underground caves in Southern Italy

Abstract Natural and anthropogenic caves may represent a potential hazard for the built environment, due to the occurrence of instability within caves, that may propagate upward and eventually reach the ground surface, inducing the occurrence of sinkholes. In particular, when caves are at shallow depth, the effects at the ground surface may be extremely severe. Apulia region (southern Italy) hosts many sites where hazard associated with sinkholes is very serious due to presence of both natural karst caves and anthropogenic cavities, the latter being mostly represented by underground quarries. The Pliocene–Pleistocene calcarenite (a typical soft rock) was extensively quarried underground, by digging long and complex networks of tunnels. With time, these underground activities have progressively been abandoned and their memory lost, so that many Apulian towns are nowadays located just above the caves, due to urban expansion in the last decades. Therefore, a remarkable risk exists for society, which should not be left uninvestigated. The present contribution deals with the analysis of the most representative failure mechanisms observed in the field for such underground instability processes and the factors that seem to influence the processes, as for example those causing weathering of the rock and the consequent degradation of its physical and mechanical properties. Aimed at exploring the progression of instability of the cavities, numerical analyses have been developed by using both the finite element method for geological settings represented by continuous soft rock mass, and the distinct element method for jointed rock mass conditions. Both the effects of local instability processes occurring underground and the effects of the progressive enlargement of the caves on the overall stability of the rock mass have been investigated, along with the consequent failure mechanisms. In particular, degradation processes of the rock mass, as a consequence of wetting and weathering phenomena in the areas surrounding the caves, have been simulated. The results obtained from the numerical simulations have then been compared with what has been observed during field surveys and a satisfactory agreement between the numerical simulations and the instability processes, as detected in situ, has been noticed.
Level Three common sense

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that “common sense” is rooted in genetic and memetic legacies developed early in life and is not so common based on where those legacies were developed. To show that managers who are unable to review and adjust their common sense are not likely to be effective managers locally or globally.Design/methodology/approach – The logic developed here is based on eclectic literature sources in psychology, anthropology, and management and from personal consulting activities all over the globe. The logic converges on the border between common and uncommon “sense” and reports data from sessions held in every quarter of the globe.Findings – This discussion finds that much of management behavior is based on “common sense” that is neither accurate nor effective. For example, managers who focus on visible professional behavior and results at the expense of feel, which is common sense to most, may find their results to be, ironically, less than they could be.Practical implica...
Occupational and Physical Therapy Services for Disabled Children in the Developing World

The purpose of this study was to review and compile a bibliography of article on occupational and physical therapy services for disabled children in the developing world. The articles are divided into three areas: the need for services for disabled children in developing countries, planning intervention to meet these needs, and involvement of physical and occupational therapist in programs serving disabled children in developing nations.
Altered phosphorylation of sarcoplasmic reticulum contributes to the diminished contractile response to isoproterenol in hypertrophied rat hearts.

We tested the hypothesis that changes in phosphorylation of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) protein, phospholamban (PlB) and myofibrillar proteins troponin I (TnI) and C protein are responsible for the decreased relaxant response to isoproterenol in cardiac hypertrophy and failure induced by ascending aortic banding in rats. In isolated perfused heart preparations under maximal isoproterenol stimulation, the capacity for in vitro cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of PlB was significantly increased at the compensatory stage of hypertrophy (126–130%, P<0.001), but decreased with failure (70–76%, P<0.001). Phosphorylation of TnI also decreased in the failing hearts, however to a lesser extent (80–83%, P<0.05). No significant hypertrophy-related difference was evident in isoproterenol-induced phosphorylation of C protein. The relative tissue level of PlB was increased (150–168%, P<0.001) in hypertrophied and decreased (71–83.8%, P<0.05) in failing hearts compared with the respective age-matched sham-operated controls (100%). As a percentage above baseline, the maximal isoproterenol-induced increase in the EC50 of the SR Ca2+ pump in response to phosphorylation of PlB was 38.5±1.1% for sham-operated rats, and 26.0±3.8% and 15.4±4.2% for hypertrophied and failing hearts respectively. As a consequence, linear correlation was observed between the maximal increase in EC50 and the maximal rate of relaxation [(–dP/dt)/DevP] upon isoproterenol stimulation, declining with progressive hypertrophy to failure. These data suggest that hypertrophy-induced alterations in PlB phosphorylation and protein level contribute to the diminished relaxant response of the hypertrophied and failing heart to adrenergic agonists.
A note on a well-known dispatching rule to minimize total tardiness

The single machine tardiness problem is considered. We clarify and correct an earlier result related to the Modified Due Date (MDD) Rule of Baker and Bertrand and show that a heuristic does not always satisfy an optimal sequence. However, we present some interesting special cases of optimal sequences that do satisfy the MDD Rule. We believe this note is important because the MDD Rule is still considered to be one of the most efficient rules to minimize the single machine tardiness problem. Because of its dispatching nature and simplicity, the MDD Rule is found to be very practical. It is widely applied in both static and dynamic job shop and industrial settings where setup times if any are negligible or included in the job processing times and hence not an issue.
Synthesis, Identification, and Reactivity Properties of Symmetrical MoFe3S4 Double Cubanes with Fe−S−Fe and Fe−O−Fe Bridges

Singly bridged double cubane clusters containing Fe4S4 and/or MoFe3S4 cores and linked by an Fe−S−Fe unit bear an interesting compositional similarity to the cofactor of nitrogenase and constitute ...