cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of National Conservation Spending and Amount of Protected Area on Species Threat Rates

: Red-list data from non-island nations show that a greater proportion of protected area is correlated with significantly lower percentages of threatened birds, mammals and plants, and especially overharvested birds and mammals, once the effects of endemism, human population size, and other confounding variables are removed. Proportion, number and size of areas protected are among the reserve traits correlated with reduced threat. Per-capita conservation spending strongly correlates with per-capita income and with proportion of area protected, number of reserves, and proportion of partially protected area. Although most reserve traits are positively correlated among themselves, median reserve size is significantly inversely correlated with other reserve traits and with conservation spending, indicating that wealthier nations have more numerous but smaller and less protected reserves than poorer nations. These findings represent correlation rather than causation, but they do support studies at finer scales which suggest that even poorly protected “paper parks” are better than no parks at all for the reduction of threat among species. Resumen: Los datos de la lista Roja de naciones que no son islas indican que mas areas protegidas (reservas) estan correlacionadas con porcentajes significativamente mas bajos de aves, mamiferos y plantas amenazadas de extincion y en particular con especies de aves y mamiferos sobreexplotadas, una vez que se ha removido el efecto del endemismo, el tamano de la poblacion humana y otras variables que podrian confundir el analisis. La proporcion, el numero y el tamano de las areas protegidas se encuentran entre las caracteristicas de las reservas correlacionadas con la disminucion de amenazas. El gasto per capita para la conservacion se correlaciona fuertemente con el ingreso per capita y con la proporcion de area protegida, el numero de reservas y la proporcion del area parcialmente protegida. Aunque la mayoria de las caracteristicas de las reservas se correlacionaron positivamente entre si, la media del tamano de la reserva estuvo inversamente correlacionada de manera significativa con otras caracteristicas de las reservas y con el gasto para la conservacion, indicando que las naciones mas ricas tienen un numero mayor de areas protegidas pero son mas pequenas y estan menos protegidas que las naciones mas pobres. Estos resultados son correlacionales pero no prueban una causa, sin embargo, apoyan estudios a escalas mas finas que sugieren que las areas pobremente protegidas “parques en papel” son mejores que la carencia total de parques para obtener una reduccion en los indices de amenazas de especies.
Observation of relativistic mass shift effects during high-intensity laser–electron interactions

Observations of multiphoton scattering of electrons born in a high-intensity laser focus are extended to intensities at which the relativistic mass shift associated with the quiver motion must be taken into account.
Privacy in Location-Based Services: State-of-the-Art and Research Directions

The explosive growth of location-detection devices (e.g., GPS-like devices and handheld devices) along with wireless communications and mobile databases results in realizing location-based applications that deliver specific information to their users based on their current locations. Examples of such applications include location-based store finder, location-based traffic reports, and location-based advertisements. Although location-based services promise safety and convenience, they threaten the privacy and security of users as such services explicitly require users to share private location information with the service. If a user wants to keep her location information private, she has to turn off her location-aware device and temporarily unsubscribe from the service. Recent studies show that such privacy concerns - ranging from worries over employers snooping on their workers' whereabouts to fears of tracking by potential stalkers - are a serious obstacle to wider adoption of location-based services. This article aims to provide practitioners, researchers, and graduate students with the state of the art and major research issues in the important and practical research area of location privacy. In general, the tutorial is divided into the following five parts: (1) legislative issues and privacy concerns, (2) location privacy in mobile environments, (3) privacy attack models, (4) privacy-aware location query processing; (5) concluding remarks.
The energy business

Looking at change as a great opportunity for growth puts a different perspective on the response both managers and employees exhibit. To rekindle motivation and energy in the workplace, the very mind-set of each individual must change. The potential for growth rather than fear of loss creates energy and excitement. It can ultimately lead to a workplace where there is joy and a strong sense of accomplishment.
Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation in patients with coronary heart disease: meta-analysis outcomes revisited

Cardiac rehabilitation that includes either exercise training alone or exercise training in addition to psychosocial, risk factor management and/or educational interventions is considered a Class I indication [i.e., useful and effective] for patients with coronary heart disease. This overview of six independent cardiac rehabilitation meta-analyses published since 2000 includes a total of 71 randomized clinical trials (n = 13,824 patients) and clearly demonstrates significant clinical outcomes (reduced all-cause and cardiac mortality, nonfatal reinfarction and reduced hospitalization rates) and significant positive changes in modifiable risk factors (total cholesterol, triglycerides and systolic blood pressure). Despite the observation that the elderly, females, minority ethnic groups, low socioeconomic status patients and patients with comorbidities have not been well represented in the randomized clinical trials. Recent guidelines in the UK and USA have concluded with the recommendation that cardiac rehabilitation is reasonable and necessary and should be promoted by healthcare professionals, including senior medical staff.
Tendon transfers for the adult flexible cavovarus foot.

Correction of the adult cavovarus foot deformity, whether rigid or flexible, can be quite challenging. While there are many causes of this deformity, the universal problem is the loss of muscle balanc...
Autoconstruction in Working-Class Brazil

The ideologues of Brazil's industrialization have long advanced home ownership as a recipe for disciplining the work force. They argue that it brings social stability and moral development to the "dangerous classes." Over the last 50 years, however, millions of workers have become home owners through a radicalizing process called autoconstruction (autoconstrucdo), in which they build their own houses in the urban hinterland under precarious material and legal circumstances. These conditions politicize them, becoming core issues of grassroots organizations and social movements. At the same time, autoconstruction is a domain of symbolic elaboration about the experience of becoming propertied and participating in mass consumer markets, in which both ruling-class and working-class ambitions for developing new social identities intersect. This elaboration occurs in the context of what is for most autoconstructors their greatest lifetime project: the transformation over decades of an initial shack of wood or concrete block into a dream house-a finished, furnished, and decorated masonry home.
Non-work-conserving effects in MapReduce: diffusion limit and criticality

Sequentially arriving jobs share a MapReduce cluster, each desiring a fair allocation of computing resources to serve its associated map and reduce tasks. The model of such a system consists of a processor sharing queue for the MapTasks and a multi-server queue for the ReduceTasks. These two queues are dependent through a constraint that the input data of each ReduceTask are fetched from the intermediate data generated by the MapTasks belonging to the same job. A more generalized form of MapReduce queueing model can capture the essence of other distributed data processing systems that contain interdependent processor sharing queues and multi-server queues.Through theoretical modeling and extensive experiments, we show that, this dependence, if not carefully dealt with, can cause non-work-conserving effects that negatively impact system performance and scalability. First, we characterize the heavy-traffic approximation. Depending on how tasks are scheduled, the number of jobs in the system can even exhibit jumps in diffusion limits, resulting in prolonged job execution times. This problem can be mitigated through carefully applying a tie-breaking rule for ReduceTasks, which as a theoretical finding has direct engineering implications. Second, we empirically validate a criticality phenomenon using experiments. MapReduce systems experience an undesirable performance degradation when they have reached certain critical points, another finding that offers fundamental guidance on managing MapReduce systems.
Decreased vasodilator response to isoproterenol during nitric oxide inhibition in humans.

Abstract The vasodilator effect of β-adrenergic agonists has traditionally been ascribed solely to a direct effect on vascular smooth muscle. Experimental studies, however, have suggested a role of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (NO) in β-adrenergic–mediated vasodilation. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether NO contributes to the vasodilator effect of β-adrenergic stimulation in humans. We analyzed the forearm blood flow response to increasing doses of isoproterenol (50, 100, and 200 ng/min), a β-adrenoceptor agonist, during the concomitant infusion of saline or N G -monomethyl-l-arginine (L-NMMA; 4 μmol/min), a blocker of NO synthesis, in 23 normal subjects (9 men and 14 women, aged 48±7 years). The effect of L-NMMA was also assessed during infusion of sodium nitroprusside (0.8, 1.6, and 3.2 μg/min), an exogenous NO donor. Drugs were infused into the brachial artery, and forearm blood flow was measured by plethysmography. The vasodilator effect of isoproterenol was significantly blunted during the administration of L-NMMA compared with saline (maximum flow, 7.7±4 versus 11.2±5 mL · min −1 · dL −1 , respectively; P −1 · dL −1 during L-NMMA versus 8.9±3.2 mL · min −1 · dL −1 during saline; P =.25). These findings indicate that NO inhibition blunts the vasodilator effect of β-adrenergic agonists in the human forearm and suggest that an abnormal response to adrenergic stimulation may occur in conditions associated with impaired NO activity.
High throughput overlapped message passing for low density parity check codes

In this paper, a systematic approach is proposed to develop high throughput decoder for structured (quasi-cyclic) low density parity check (LDPC) block codes. Based on the properties of quasi-cyclic LDPC codes, the two stages of belief propagation decoding algorithm could be overlapped and thus the overall decoding latency is reduced. To avoid the memory access conflict, the maximum concurrency of the two stages is explored by a novel scheduling algorithm. Consequently, the decoding throughput could be increased by almost twice assuming dual-port memory is available.
Impact of a digital archive (JSTOR) on print collection use

The ubiquitous question of whether electronic journals are capable of replacing paper versions is beginning to be answered. The author discusses patterns of use observed in a scholarly setting where severe remote library storage created greater incentive to rely on electronically archived journals (JSTOR). As awareness of electronic access increased, use of the equivalent paper collection declined. In fact, electronic use is on a significantly larger scale than that measured for paper. These observations permitted the author to confidently transfer all electronically archived journals to remote storage and to conclude that electronic journals can substitute for paper.
MAJOR ECONOMIES : BLACK ENERG Y INTENSITY AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

This study attempted to identify common trends for the "black" economic development of the major developed and developing countries as well as exceptions to these trends. It investigated these economies' energy and carbon dependences in the last 44 years. Drawing on the traditional concept of "energy intensity," this study developed the term of "b lack energy intensity" to account for the intensity of fossil fuels in the total energy mix as opposed to that of renewable energy sources. Using time series of fossil fuels and nuclear power consumption, population, GDP data of 14 major economies and a combination of statistical analytical methods, it studied the trends of these economies in fossil and non-renewable fuel consumption and de- pendence and the related CO2 emissions individually and in groups. Based on the analysis of the group trends and exceptions of the main developed and developing economies' carbon-based energy intensities and carbon intensities, the study dis- cussed the policy imp lications of these findings for these economies' future sustain- able development.
Position of the aorta relative to the spine in idiopathic scoliosis.

To The Editor: Dr. Sucato and Dr. Duchene are to be congratulated for providing a very timely analysis of the first magnetic resonance imaging anatomical study to definitely outline the aorta and its relationship to the normal spine as well as to the spine in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, in their article “The Position of the Aorta Relative to the Spine: A Comparison of Patients with and without Idiopathic Scoliosis” (2003;85:1461-9). The article's timeliness corresponds to the rapid adaptation of screw-rod constructs, both transpedicular and transcorporeal, for correction of scoliosis. In spite of their findings, one has to balance them with the good fortunes of spine surgeons who, over the years, have placed thousands of screws across vertebral bodies in this region, purposely projecting one or two threads of the screws outside the vertebra to reinforce pullout strength. The good fortune of these surgeons is reflected by the fact that the only important references to untoward vascular events are found in the article by Sucato and Duchene. Perhaps the fact that correction of the coronal and sagittal plane deformity of lordosis and scoliosis realigns the vertebrae, causing the aorta to shift anterior and to the midline, is a part of this good fortune. The conclusions of the article suggest that having multiple screw lengths available and not engaging the far cortex possibly provide margins … Corresponding author: Daniel J. Sucato, MD, MS Department of Orthopaedic Surgery University of Texas at Southwestern Medical Center Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children 2222 Welborn Street Dallas, TX 75219-3993 dan.sucato{at}tsrh.org
A graphical tool for computing opacities for ICF applications

AbstractA graphical tool (JATBASE) and an object-oriented atomic database have been developed to apply to the opacity calculations and spectrum analysis for supporting the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) applications. The computing of large-scale atomic data, spectrum analysis, and equation of state (EOS) and opacities is integrated into a single platform. The distributed common object request broker architecture (CORBA) is used as the computing framework. Java technology is used extensively by the graphical user interface tool to construct a portal for users to access and use the data. The tool has been used in many ICF applications and provides quick and on-the-fly calculations for designing spectroscopy experiments.
SY13-1-4AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ADDICTION MEDICINE – AN ANNUAL REVIEW

Introduction. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has focused on two primary political issues in the last year: (1) The growing demand for legalized marijuana and state legislatures' work in addressing medical practice through the introduction of marijuana allegedly for medicinal purposes; (2) The extremely rapid increase in opioid use disorder incidence over the past decade due to a confluence of driving forces. Conclusion. Our talk will address ASAM's response to these difficult situations, as well as discussion of our opening membership to non-physicians, our work with NIAAA/NIDA, and our release of the third edition of the ASAM Criteria.
Differential transcriptomic responses to Fusarium graminearum infection in two barley quantitative trait loci associated with Fusarium head blight resistance

Fusarium graminearum causes Fusarium head blight (FHB), a major disease problem worldwide. Resistance to FHB is controlled by quantitative trait loci (QTL) of which two are located on barley chromosomes 2H bin8 and 6H bin7. The mechanisms of resistance mediated by FHB QTL are poorly defined. Near-isogenic lines (NILs) carrying Chevron-derived resistant alleles for the two QTL were developed and exhibited FHB resistance in field trials. To understand the molecular responses associated with resistance, transcriptomes of the NILs and recurrent parents (M69 and Lacey) were investigated with RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) after F. graminearum or mock inoculation. A total of 2083 FHB-responsive transcripts were detected and provide a gene expression atlas for the barley-F. graminearum interaction. Comparative analysis of the 2Hb8 resistant (R) NIL and M69 revealed that the 2Hb8 R NIL exhibited an elevated defense response in the absence of fungal infection and responded quicker than M69 upon fungal infection. The 6Hb7 R NIL displayed a more rapid induction of a set of defense genes than Lacey during the early stage of fungal infection. Overlap of differentially accumulated genes were identified between the two R NILs, suggesting that certain responses may represent basal resistance to F. graminearum and/or general biotic stress response and were expressed by both resistant genotypes. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as potential key regulators of transcription. A total of 12,366 lncRNAs were identified, of which 604 were FHB responsive. The current transcriptomic analysis revealed differential responses conferred by two QTL during F. graminearum infection and identified genes and lncRNAs that were associated with FHB resistance.
The ontogeny of nasal shape: An analysis of sexual dimorphism in a longitudinal sample.

Objectives Potential integration between the nasal region and noncranial components of the respiratory system has significant implications for understanding determinants of craniofacial variation. There is increasing evidence that sexual dimorphism in body size and associated male-female differences in energetically relevant variables influence the development of the nasal region. To better understand this relationship, we examined the ontogeny of sexual dimorphism in nasal shape using a longitudinal series of lateral cephalograms. Methods We collected a series of two dimensional coordinate landmark data from n = 20 males and n = 18 females from 3.0 to 20.0+ years of age totaling n = 290 observations across nine age groups. First, we tested whether there are sex differences in the nasal shape related to ontogenetic increases in body size (i.e., sitting height). Additionally, we examined whether there are male-female differences in patterns of nonallometric variation in nasal shape. Next, we tested whether there are sex differences in the strength of integration between the nasal region and other aspects of the facial skeleton. Results Our results indicate that there are a number of similarities in patterns of morphological variation in the nasal region between males and females. However, as sitting height increases males exhibit a disproportionate increase in nasal region height that is not present in the female sample. Moreover, the male nasal region is less integrated with the surrounding facial skeleton when compared to the female sample. Conclusions These results are consistent with the hypothesis that sex differences in nasal development are associated with male-female differences in energetically relevant variables.
MO-DE-202-02: Advances in Image Registration and Reconstruction for Image-Guided Neurosurgery

At least three major trends in surgical intervention have emerged over the last decade: a move toward more minimally invasive (or non-invasive) approach to the surgical target; the development of high-precision treatment delivery techniques; and the increasing role of multi-modality intraoperative imaging in support of such procedures. This symposium includes invited presentations on recent advances in each of these areas and the emerging role for medical physics research in the development and translation of high-precision interventional techniques. The four speakers are: (1) Keyvan Farahani, “Image-guided focused ultrasound surgery and therapy” (2) Jeffrey H. Siewerdsen, “Advances in image registration and reconstruction for image-guided neurosurgery” (3) Tina Kapur, “Image-guided surgery and interventions in the advanced multimodality image-guided operating (AMIGO) suite” (4) Raj Shekhar, “Multimodality image-guided interventions: Multimodality for the rest of us” Learning Objectives: 1. Understand the principles and applications of HIFU in surgical ablation. 2. Learn about recent advances in 3D–2D and 3D deformable image registration in support of surgical safety and precision. 3. Learn about recent advances in model-based 3D image reconstruction in application to intraoperative 3D imaging. 4. Understand the multi-modality imaging technologies and clinical applications investigated in the AMIGO suite. 5. Understand the emerging need and techniques to implement multi-modality image guidance in surgical applications such as neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, vascular surgery, and interventional radiology. Research supported by the NIH and Siemens Healthcare.; J. Siewerdsen; Grant Support - National Institutes of Health; Grant Support - Siemens Healthcare; Grant Support - Carestream Health; Advisory Board - Carestream Health; Licensing Agreement - Carestream Health; Licensing Agreement - Elekta Oncology.; T. Kapur, P41EB015898; R. Shekhar, Funding: R42CA137886 and R41CA192504 Disclosure and CoI: IGI Technologies, small-business partner on the grants
The role of pest pressure in technical and environmental inefficiency analysis of Dutch arable farms: an event-specific data envelopment approach

This article provides estimates of farm technical and environmental inefficiency that recognize the effect of pest pressure on farmers’ production environment. This effect is modeled through the use of an event-specific production technology, which is empirically implemented using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). A regional biodiversity variable and two variables reflecting impacts of pesticides on farmland biodiversity are used to partition the data into high and low pest infestation events. The DEA representation is applied to data from Dutch arable farms. Results show that the degree of inefficiency overstatement from a model that ignores the event-specific nature of the production technology increases with pest infestation. Mean environmental inefficiency of the sample farms is low, implying that these farms are, on average, minimizing their impacts on farmland biodiversity. Environmental inefficiency provides an indicator of farm-level environmental sustainability that could help towards a more effective distribution of farm-support payments and make agriculture more environmentally sound.
Evaluating a General Education Program in Transition

This reflective case study uses one public university example to explore the role of student learning outcomes assessment in the improvement of general education programs. These programs are a universal feature of higher education in the United States, requiring learning experiences for all students at an institution—but with little likely commitment from the faculty. Our university's efforts to overcome faculty apathy and resistance, build a responsive assessment system, and direct it toward transformation of our program are instructive beyond the higher education context. We take a participatory, utilization-focused approach and reflect on what we have learned as it illuminates both the relevance of evaluation concepts to our work in assessment and the contributions from our context to the broader domains of evaluation conceptualization and practice.
Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis secondary to otomastoiditis.

A 64-year-old man with chronic sinusitis and frequent antibiotic use failed a visual acuity examination. Funduscopy showed right papilloedema. There was tenderness to palpation over the right mastoid. Physical examination was otherwise normal. T2-weighted MRI of the brain demonstrated right otomastoiditis (figure 1A). Post-gadolinium T1-weighted MRI showed extensive right-sided dural enhancement (figure 1B). MR venogram of the head revealed cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) involving the superior sagittal sinus (figure …
Darly and Her Battle with the Sand-Mining Mafia: Tracing a Feminist Geopolitics of Fear in the Production of Nature:

This paper draws on the testimonials and writings of Darly and other environmental activists based in the South Indian state of Kerala to illuminate the workings of the sand mining industry in cont...
Korean Wave| Between Hybridity and Hegemony in K-Pop’s Global Popularity: A Case of "Girls’ Generation’s" American Debut

Examining the sociocultural implications of Korean popular music (K-pop) idol group Girls’ Generation’s (SNSD’s) debut on Late Show With David Letterman , this article discusses how the debut warrants a critical examination on K-pop’s global popularity. Investigating critically how the current literature on K-pop’s success focuses on cultural hybridity, this article maintains that SNSD’s debut clarifies how K-pop’s hybridity does not mean dialectical interactions between American form and Korean content. Furthermore, this article argues that cultural hegemony as a constitutive result of sociohistorical and politico-economic arrangements provides a better heuristic tool, and K-pop should be understood as a part of the hegemony of American pop and neoliberalism.
Regulation and Pathways of Membrane Lipid Biosynthesis in Bacilli

For cogent reasons, studies on the regulation of membrane fluidity and on the consequences to the cell of perturbations in this property are often carried out in bacteria. In contrast to eukaryotic organisms which contain a complex variety of internal membranous organelles in addition to the plasma membrane, bacterial membranes are external and restricted to the cell envelopes. Essentially all of the lipids of bacterial cells are found in these membrane envelopes and therefore the total lipids extracted from bacteria fairly accurately reflect the gross composition of their external membrane systems. In practice, this relative simplicity greatly facilitates attempts to correlate changes in lipid composition on the one hand with alterations in membrane fluidity and function on the other. The absence of sterols and polyunsaturated fatty acids in most bacteria as well as their usually less complex complement of other lipids also eases the technical and interpretative aspects of such studies. Also important, especially for research designed to reveal the biochemical processes involved in the adaptive regulation of membrane fluidity, is the fact that bacteria can be grown in well-defined media under rigorously controlled conditions but are nevertheless usually capable of adjusting to much wider variations from their optimum environment than are eukaryotic organisms.
THERMODYNAMIC ASPECTS OF HYDROGEN TRANSFER VIA THE MALATE-ASPARTATE SHUTTLE UNDER CONDITIONS OF STEADY-STATE PHOSPHORYLATION AND REDUCTION POTENTIALS

Liver mitochondria were incubated with ATP, P., MgCl2, glutamate, aspartate, malate, NAD+, NADH, glyceraldehyde 3-P (G3-P), 3-phosphoglycerate (3-PG), β-OH butyrate (HB), acetoacetate (AcAc), G3-P dehydrogenase, 3-PG kinase, triose-P isomerase (TPI), malic dehydrogenase (MDH) and aspartate aminotransferase (AAT). ATPase was added to provide the desired steady-state phosphorylation potential, or dinitrophenol to dissipate the membrane potential. The extramitochondrial phosphorylation potential established a steady-state NAD+/NADH through interaction of G3-P dehydrogenase and 3-PG kinase. H transfer by the shuttle was measured by changes in total extramitochondrial H-equivalents and mitochondrial NAD+/NADH ratios were estimated from HB/AcAc. When mitochondria were coupled, initial rates of H transfer inward were inversely correlated with the external NAD+/NADH ratio and to the gradient of NAD+/NADH (out vs. in). A ‘poise’, in which there is no net transport of H-equivalents, was approached when the NAD+/NADH (out) vs. NAD+/NADH (in) was about 25. With uncoupler, inward flux of H-equivalents persisted at a diminished rate even though the gradient of NAD+/NADH was essentially abolished. These data provide an estimate of the thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics of the malate-aspartate shuttle under constant respiring and phosphorylating conditions.
Gender, electrodermal activity, and videogames: Adding a psychophysiological dimension to sociolinguistic methods

User experience research on the affective dimensions of videogame players’ interactions has looked to psychophysiological measures as proxies for emotional states. We add to the growing body of literature on this topic and offer our research as a novel application to the methodological toolbox of sociolinguistics. We present a case study of an interaction occurring in a mixed-gender group (3m/1f) playing a video game that has a potentially sexualized component in gameplay, using a Nintendo Wii-mote joystick as a mimetic penis in the game Mario Party 8. Through a detailed analysis of (1) gameplay interaction, including talk, laughter and gesture, (2) participants’ electrodermal activity (EDA), and (3) a post-game debriefing, we track the varied engagements of the players in-game and with each other, showing how the design of the game itself and the entanglement of hardware and software design with gendered gameplay serve to marginalize and exclude the female participant.
Examining the Impact of Geosocial Networking on the Sex Behaviors of Men Who Have Sex with Men

Men who have sex with men (MSM) often use smartphone geosocial networking applications (GSN apps) to meet sex partners. Relative to non-GSN app users, MSM GSN app users have more sex partners. Research also reveals sexual-risk taking is associated with alcohol consumption and sexual sensation seeking (SSS) in MSM. We examined if GSN app use moderated relationships between SSS and risky sexual behaviors, as well as relationships between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors. Participants were 423 MSM who completed survey measures concerning demographics, app use, alcohol consumption, SSS, and risky sexual behavior recruited via various social networking websites (e.g., Reddit, Facebook). Data revealed that app use predicted recent numbers of male sex partners, and SSS predicted recent and lifetime male sex partners and receptive unprotected anal intercourse (UAI). GSN app use did not moderate relationships between SSS and risky sexual behaviors or between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors. Although app use did not serve as a moderator, relationships between app use and number of sex partners and SSS and UAI suggest future work should consider how sexual health programming might be incorporated into GSN apps.
Preliminary exploration of online social support among adults with asthma.

OBJECTIVE Evaluate the qualitative and quantitative differences between moderated and unmoderated on-line social support groups focused on asthma. DESIGN A retrospective study of a single months duration of Internet postings to four public on-line support groups focused on asthma. MEASUREMENT Content analysis of random set of messages. RESULTS Preliminary data indicate a quantitative and qualitative difference between moderated and unmoderated groups. Patterns of differences point to variations in the content of messages and the types of social support sought and provided.
Port Placement in Robotic Urologic Surgery

In 2001, the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) was approved for use in urology (www.fda.gov) and the technological improvements have translated to a paradigm shift, especially in the field of urologic oncology. Robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) has quickly become the minimally invasive surgical procedure of choice at most centers of excellence and robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical and partial nephrectomy (RALPN/RALN) and cystectomy (RALC) are also increasing in numbers. The impetus for the robotic approach to surgical management is based on a combined need for minimally invasive treatment with optimal surgical outcomes. Historically, conventional laparoscopy has been at the forefront of minimally invasive surgical technique and the fundamental principles of robotic surgery are founded upon those used in laparoscopic surgery. However, the advanced technology utilized in robotics has required modifications of these techniques to capitalize on the enhanced capabilities of robotic surgery. Whereas laparoscopic surgery is limited by counterintuitive movement, 2D visualization, and a decreased range of motion, robotic surgery offers 3D visualization, seven degrees of freedom, and is a natural reflection of the surgeon’s movement. Robotic surgery therefore offers enhanced capabilities for visualization, surgical dexterity, and exposure to the surgical field but these are ultimately dependent on the proper placement of the ports used for access. This chapter will provide a comprehensive overview of the standard techniques for access and port placement in a number of major robotic urologic procedures focusing on the nuances of prostate, renal, bladder, and female robotic urologic surgery.
Data flow programming for parallel implementation of digital signal processing systems

Digital signal processing systems constitute a special class of discrete event systems where events correspond to samples of signals. A data flow description of such systems can capture much of the information required for high performance, cost-effective, parallel implementation. A formal model called synchronous data flow (SDF) is a useful special case of data flow and subclass of discrete event systems where the events are deterministic and periodic. An SDF description of an algorithm can be first analyzed for implementability, then an implementation can be synthesized. In the analysis phase we can check for (1) stability of the buffers, (2) freedom from deadlocks, and (3) adequate concurrency to meet a given performance specification. The synthesis phase consists primarily of constructing a periodic schedule and mapping the algorithm onto parallel processors. The resulting schedule is said to be static and is far less costly to implement than dynamic, or run-time scheduling.
Road Oft Taken: The Route to Spatial Development

Most estimates of the economic impacts of transit networks compare regions along network routes to neighboring regions away from such routes. However, in the presence of spatial spillovers in economic activity such a method will underestimate the true effect of roads and railways. In this paper, I take into account spatial spillovers in estimating the overall impacts of transit networks in India. I use an empirical strategy relying on the historical placement of major cities: by connecting nodal cities with straight lines, I instrument for the endogenous placement of these networks. Using night-time luminosity data as a measure of economic activity, I estimate the parameters of a predictive model that incorporates these spillovers, which then performs well in an out-of-sample exercise. I find that being close to transit networks between cities led to greater economic activity in the 1990s and that such activity spread to neighboring regions, substantially increasing the overall impacts. Ignoring the spillovers produces income elasticities that are only 27% of the true overall effects of such routes. These geographic externalities led to a rapid rate of convergence in incomes across regions, highlighting how transit networks and spatial spillovers together, strongly determined the geographic spread and temporal changes in the economic development of the region.
Scalable Auditory Alarms

In information dense, visually complex environments (e.g., automobiles, airplanes, and operating rooms) auditory alarms can direct attention to critical events. Effective alarms are designed to convey a hazard level appropriate for the situation they represent. Acoustic intensity plays an essential role in perceived urgency, with louder sounds generally being perceived as representing something more urgent. However, intensity may be dictated by factors outside the alarm designer’s control (e.g., background noise, manufacturer’s sound system specifications). Therefore it is essential to examine other acoustic parameters that can be used to convey scalable levels of perceived urgency. Previous work suggests that looming sounds, or sounds perceived to be coming towards a listener, may result in faster response times than other types of sounds. Further, people may respond faster to looming sounds if the rate of change (ROC) in the increase in intensity is more rapid, potentially making them a strong candidate for scalability. Sounds increasing in intensity quickly may be perceived as more urgent than other sounds. However, it is critical that ROC is not confounded by overall intensity, since the intensity-urgency relationship is well documented. The present study measured perceived urgency ratings of auditory looming stimuli with different intensity ROCs that were equated for overall intensity. Results revealed no differences in urgency ratings across the three ROCs. Current results indicate that overall intensity is more critical than ROC to achieving scalability in auditory alarms.
Familiar perversions: the racial, sexual, and economic politics of LGBT families

In Familiar Perversions: The Racial, Sexual, and Economic Politics of LGBT Families, Professor Liz Montegary details the history of LGBT family activism in the United States and how gay and lesbian...
Angiotensin receptor expression revealed by reporter mice and beneficial effects of AT2R agonist in retinal cells.

Abstract The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays a vital role in cardiovascular physiology and body homeostasis. In addition to circulating RAS, a local RAS exists in the retina. Dysfunction of local RAS, resulting in increased levels of Angiotensin II (Ang II) and activation of AT1R-mediated signaling pathways, contributes to tissue pathophysiology and end-organ damage. Activation of AT2R on other hand is known to counteract the effects of AT1R activation and produce anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. We examined the expression of angiotensin receptors in the retina by using transgenic dual reporter mice and by real-time RT-PCR. We further evaluated the effects of C21, a selective agonist of AT2R, in reducing Ang II, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and hydrogen peroxide induced oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in cultured human ARPE-19 cells. We showed that both AT1Ra and AT2R positive cells are detected in different cell types of the eye, including the RPE/choroid complex, ciliary body/iris, and neural retina. AT1Ra is more abundantly expressed than AT2R in mouse retina, consistent with previous reports. In the neural retina, AT1Ra are also detected in photoreceptors whereas AT2R are mostly expressed in the inner retinal neurons and RGCs. In cultured human RPE cells, activation of AT2R with C21 significantly blocked Ang II, LPS and hydrogen peroxide -induced NF-κB activation and inflammatory cytokine expression; Ang II and hydrogen peroxide-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and MG132-induced apoptosis, comparable to the effects of Angiotensin-(1–7) (Ang-(1–7)), another protective component of the RAS, although C21 is more potent in reducing some of the effects induced by Ang II, whereas Ang-(1–7) is more effective in reducing some of the LPS and hydrogen peroxide-induced effects. These results suggest that activation of AT2R may represent a new therapeutic approach for retinal diseases.
Abstract P3061: Elective Electroencephalography Monitoring During Tilt Table Testing in the Diagnosis of Syncope and Non-Syncopal Fainting

Objective: Non-syncopal fainting (psychogenic pseudo-syncope) is a diagnostic challenge, leading to unnecessary diagnostic procedures and inappropriate treatments. We explored the utility of electi...
O papel da cultura na língua(gem) e na cognição

Este trabalho apresenta um panorama de algumas pesquisas a respeito de como a cultura esta relacionada de forma causal com o entendimento da cognicao humana. Particularmente, avalio estudos a respeito da influencia da cultura na memoria de curto prazo, na percepcao visual, na gramatica, na cognicao numerica, e na evolucao linguistica. Alem disso, apresento um desiderato de metodologias sobre as conexoes entre cultura e cognicao, e um direcionamento para pesquisas futuras.
The Politics of Lawyer Regulation: The Case of Malpractice Insurance

This Article examines the politics of lawyer regulation and considers why some states will adopt lawyer regulation that protects the public, when others will not. It uses the debates over how to regulate uninsured lawyers as a lens through which to examine the question. Clients often cannot recover damages from uninsured lawyers who commit malpractice, even when those lawyers cause serious harm. Yet only two states require that lawyers carry malpractice insurance. This Article uses case studies to examine the ways in which six states recently have addressed the issue of uninsured lawyers to understand this regulatory failure. It uses interest group theory and cultural capture to explain why state supreme courts and legislatures rarely initiate efforts to regulate lawyers in this context, and why lawyer regulation is so dependent on the organized bar. The case studies suggest when some state bars will act to regulate lawyers in this context, and factors that affect whether states will ultimately adopt public-regarding laws. The Article concludes that if courts and legislatures will not initiate or support lawyer regulation that is unpopular with the bar, other means are needed to inject the public’s interests into the regulatory process. It suggests two ways to do so.
Creating Systems-Level Change to Better Support Expectant and Parenting Young People: A Case Study

Expectant and parenting young people (young parents) require diverse services to support their health, educational success, and family functioning. Rarely can the needs of young parents be met by a single school or service provider. This case study examines how one large school district funded through the pathways to success initiative was able to facilitate systems change to increase young parents’ access to and use of supportive services. Data sources include a needs and resources assessment, quarterly reports documenting grantee effort, sustainability plans, social network analysis, and capstone interviews. All data sources were systematically reviewed to identify the existing context prior to the start of the initiative, the changes that resulted from the initiative, and efforts that could potentially be maintained beyond the grant period. The community context prior to Pathways implementation was one of disconnected services and missed opportunities. The full-time program coordinator hired by the district focused on systems-level change and facilitated connections between organizations. This greater connectivity contributed to increased collaboration with the goal of producing lasting benefits for young parents. Promoting sustainable connections and collaboration at the systems level can help dismantle barriers to service access and benefit young parents.
Leveraging the Newsvendor for Inventory Distribution at a Large Fashion E-Retailer With Depth and Capacity Constraints

Problem definition:We consider the problem of inventory allocation of multiple products, across a network of warehouses, faced by a large fashion e-retailer. The objective is to minimize overall shipment costs and to speed up deliveries to customers accounting for inventory constraints on products and capacity constraints of warehouses. Academic / Practical Relevance: Online retailers increasingly face the problem of optimizing inventory allocation for a wide variety of products, across a large network of warehouses. In most practical cases, demand of these products is unknown, and product level inventory available for distribution across the warehouses is very limited. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, inventory allocation with both capacity and depth constraints has not been previously studied. Methodology: We formulate the inventory allocation problem as a Multi-Product, Multi-Warehouse Newsvendor (MPMWN) problem that balances overage and underage costs across products and warehouses. We then use Lagrangian duality to propose an efficient allocation algorithm (Optimal Distribution Algorithm (ODA)). ODA breaks the central MPMWN problem into two subproblems with either depth or capacity constraints. We show that these subproblems can be efficiently solved using binary search, due to the separability of the objective function and monotonicity of the constraints with respect to the dual variables. Results: Analytically, we show that the inventory allocation from the proposed algorithm converges to the optimal solution of the MPMWN problem. Furthermore, we analyze the rate of convergence of the algorithm to show fast convergence. Numerically, in collaboration with a large fashion retailer, we perform a large-scale real data study to show that the proposed algorithm, combined with a state-of-the-art demand prediction method can reduce inventory costs by as much as 7% and increase In-Class-Fulfillment (ICF) up to 10%. This improvement is also robust to changes in the demand distribution and the overage to underage cost ratio. Hence, the proposed method leads to considerable cost reduction and service improvement, both very important for the retailer. Managerial Implications: E-Retailers increasingly face the task of managing a very wide variety of products across a large network. Adding both capacity and depth constraints to the classical newsvendor problem poses computational challenges that make the current inventory optimization methods either impractical or inapplicable. We solve this problem by proposing an efficient and practical algorithm that combines transaction data for efficient inventory allocation.