cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Making Politics “Click”: The Costs and Benefits of Using Clickers in an Introductory Political Science Course

In this article, the author addresses both the costs and benefits of implementing clickers into an introductory political science course. Comparing student responses to a mid-semester survey in both a clicker and non-clicker course, the results show that students have higher satisfaction of the course and instructor, higher exam scores, and feel more comfortable participating in class when using clickers. The author finds that the benefits of using clickers in a large introductory course greatly outweigh the costs and encourages others to try the technology.
Special session: Raising P-20 engineers — Nurturing creativity and curiosity by getting STEAMd

The primary goal of this special session is to engage participants in a dialogue regarding two skills critical to the personal and professional development of engineers, creativity and curiosity, and discuss and practice pedagogies for nurturing them in students through STEAM (STEM + art) activities. The emerging STEAM approach emphasizes a hands-on, project-based, interdisciplinary approach to the study of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). To emphasize the importance of using engineering design principles to integrate learning in science and math and gain technological literacy, we also refer to this approach as STEAMd. By the end of the workshop, participants will be introduced to key concepts in the engineering design process, the STEAMd initiative, and Dweck's groundbreaking work on “mindsets” be able to identify methods for integrating engineering design and art activities into STEM studies; and gain experience in using STEAMd activities to promote the development of creativity and curiosity while strengthening critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This special session will be of interest to those involved in P-20 engineering education and in developing a philosophy of engineering education that stresses the development and maintenance of non-traditional skills that are nonetheless critical to the processes of innovation and invention.
Non-linear pricing and the law of demand

Abstract An analogue of the law of consumer demand is developed for changes in an outlay schedule with continuously and/or discontinuously varying marginal rates and lump sum payments required from or paid to the consumer at specific consumption levels.
Materials for hydrogen generation via water electrolysis

A review is presented of materials that could be utilized as electrolytes (and their associated electrodes and interconnect materials) in solid-state electrolysis cells to convert water (or steam) into hydrogen and oxygen. Electrolytes that function as oxygen ion conductors or proton conductors are considered for various operating temperatures from approximately 80 °C to 1000 °C. The fundamental electrochemical reactions are reviewed with some discussion of special sources of steam and DC electricity (advanced nuclear) to drive the reactions at the higher temperatures.
Hard-Limiting an Offset Signal

Expressions are derived for the output autocorrelation function of a hard limiter driven by the sum of signal, noise, and an offset term. Two signal types are considered: a random-phase sinusoid and a stationary, zero-mean Gaussian process. For each signal the offset at the sampling times is modeled first as a constant, and second, as a sequence of binary-valued random variables.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Ion Exchange Properties of Hydrotalcite Mg6Al2(OH)16(A)x(A‘)2-x·4H2O (A, A‘ = Cl-, Br-, I-, and NO3-, 2 ≥ x ≥ 0) Derivatives

A series of monovalent anion-containing hydrotalcites (HTCs) with the general formula Mg6Al2(OH)16(A)x(A‘)2-x·4H2O (A, A‘ = Cl-, Br-, I-, and NO3-, 2 ≥ x ≥ 0) have been studied. Samples were synthesized by three different methods: ion exchange (IE), hydrothermal (HT), and recrystallization based on “memory effect” (ME). The physical, structural, and chemical characteristics and properties of the HTCs have been studied as a function of the synthetic methods and anions used. All three synthetic methods produced HTCs of good crystallinity and uniform particle size. When a second (A‘) or all four (Cl-, Br-, I-, NO3-) anions were present together with an A-HTC in an aqueous medium, the order of ion exchange preference was Br- > Cl- > NO3- > I-. When using one-pot synthetic methods (HT, ME), the same order of anion incorporation preference, Br- > Cl- > NO3- > I-, was observed.
Color compression and spectral analysis of biological images

Optical microscopy plays a key role in the biological sciences. Color images, as seen through the microscope and as subsequently digitized for computer analysis, respresent basic data for qualitative and quantitative interpretation. We have developed a new compression algorithm for such images that can achieve a 2- to 8-fold increase in compression of the color information as a preprocessing step to further well-known image compression schemes. At the same time, the picture is optimally preprocessed for optical spectral analysis. This technique has been found to be very useful in cell biology when applied to stained specimens. Even with these large compression ratios, little significant information is lost.
Heat and mass transfer in liquid-to-liquid membrane contactors: Design approach and model applicability

Abstract Detailed design analysis of an ambient-pressure, membrane-based heat pump serves as a basis for examining the applicability of a variety of correlations used in coupled heat and mass transfer devices that include membranes and aqueous electrolyte streams. The transport phenomena were studied using scaling analysis and finite-volume numerical methods. Commonly accepted mass and heat transfer correlations for developing flow were found to be adequate for the liquid streams in these designs without requiring additional transport phenomena. We found that an air gap—separating a temperature gradient up to 20 °C—may be as large as 3 mm (vertical orientation) and 5 mm (horizontal orientation) before natural convection becomes important. But air gaps this wide are unlikely to be used in these membrane devices since radiation dominates the total energy transfer for air gaps larger than 2 mm. We also introduce a selectivity–productivity tradeoff based on the sustained-temperature-gradient per unit vapor pressure gradient (selectivity) and the overall heating capacity (productivity) of a design.
Nonviral vector-mediated thymidine kinase gene transfer and ganciclovir treatment in leiomyoma cells.

Abstract Objective: To test the hypotheses that ganciclovir is cytotoxic to leiomyoma cells transfected with herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase and that estrogen modulates the responsiveness of tumor cells to this gene therapy approach. Methods: Human and rat cultured uterine leiomyoma cells were transfected with plasmids encoding the β-galactosidase gene, thymidine kinase gene, or a control plasmid. Transfection efficiency was monitored by measuring β-galactosidase enzyme activity. Ganciclovir cytotoxicity in thymidine kinase–transfected cells was assessed by monitoring cell viability using trypan blue exclusion. The “bystander effect,” a phenomenon in which thymidine kinase–expressing cells exposed to ganciclovir are toxic to adjacent thymidine kinase–nonexpressing cells, was assessed when thymidine kinase vector-transfected cells were cocultured with control plasmid-transfected cells at various percentages before exposure to ganciclovir. The effect of estradiol on ganciclovir-thymidine kinase–mediated cytotoxicity was assessed in estrogen-responsive rat leiomyoma cells. Results: A thymidine kinase–ganciclovir–mediated “bystander effect” was demonstrated, with 48.6% (human) and 65.6% (rat) cell death when 5% of the leiomyoma cells were transfected with the pNGVL1-tk vector, with 0.84% and 1.9% of the cells expected to express thymidine kinase as based on the 16.7% and 39.8% transfection efficiency determined by the reporter gene assay in human and rat leiomyoma cells, respectively. Estradiol promoted cell growth and enhanced the “bystander effect” in rat leiomyoma cells. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the feasibility of using thymidine kinase gene therapy as a novel treatment for uterine leiomyomas. The effect of estrogen may provide a mechanism to enhance the tumor-suppressive effect of this approach.
Symmetry and appearance based automated detection of salient anatomical regions in ultrasound

In this paper we present a method for automated detection of enclosed anatomical regions in ultrasound images by utilizing the coarse shape symmetry as well as relative homogeneity of their sonographic appearance. The proposed method comprises of two steps: First, local phase based filtering [2] is used to detect points in the image which are roughly positioned along the axes of spatial symmetry with respect to structures around them. Secondly, the sonographic ‘appearance’ and location of these points is used to define a distance-map on the image, which is supplied to a simple fast-marching algorithm in order to provide the final feature detections. The method is robust to ultrasound speckle and works well with or without specialized pre-processing (e.g. speckle-reduction filtering). We illustrate the proposed method with qualitative results on in-vivo Ultrasound images.
Effects of handling and social isolation upon the rabbit's behaviour.

Starting in infancy groups of Purdue Dutch-belted rabbits were either handled, handled and socially isolated, or not disturbed. When tested in adulthood, the two groups which had received handling experience were less timid, more active, and more exploratory than were untreated rabbits. The sexual behaviour of the handled female was enhanced relative to socially isolated and untreated females. Results are discussed in terms of emotionality and exploratory differences brought about by handling in early life.
Sensitivity of bovid herpesvirus 2 replication to temperatures found in the natural host

Two isolates of bovid herpesvirus 2 replicated poorly in bovine testicular cells and fetal kidney cells at 39–40° C, temperatures commonly observed in virus-infected cattle. High viral titers occurred in replicate cultures at 30–37° C. Persistent viral infections were noted in cultures maintained at 40° C. Interferon-like activity was not responsible for the high-temperature restriction since the level was not significantly different between virus-infected cultures incubated at 35° or 40° C. Spontaneous viral inactivation was only three times as rapid at 41° as at 35° C. Analysis of temperature shift experiments with respect to results of growth studies and electron microscopy indicated a temperature sensitive event late in replication. The sensitiv of bovid herpesvirus 2 replication to elevated temperature provides a possible explanation for the extensive viral growth and occasionally severe lesions which are limited exclusively to the skin of infected cattle.
Solvation of copper ions by imidazole: Structures and sequential binding energies of Cu+(imidazole)x, x= 1–4. Competition between ion solvation and hydrogen bonding

The sequential bond dissociation energies of Cu+(imidazole)x, where x = 1–4 are determined by analysis of the kinetic energy dependence of the collision-induced dissociation with Xe in a guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometer. In all cases, the primary and lowest energy dissociation channel observed is the endothermic loss of an intact imidazole molecule. The primary cross section thresholds are interpreted to yield 0 K and 298 K bond dissociation energies after accounting for the effects of multiple ion–neutral collisions, kinetic and internal energy distributions of the reactants, and dissociation lifetimes. To obtain model structures, vibrational frequencies, rotational constants and energetics for the Cu+(imidazole)x complexes and their dissociation products, density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level are performed. Theoretical bond dissociation energies are determined from single point energy calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,2p) level of theory using the B3LYP/6-31G* optimized geometries. Excellent agreement between theory and experiment is observed for the Cu+(imidazole)x complexes, where x = 1, 2 and 4. In contrast, theory systematically underestimates the strength of the binding in the Cu+(imidazole)3 complex. The ground state structures of the Cu+(imidazole)x complexes and the trends in the sequential bond dissociation energies are explained in terms of stabilization gained from sd hybridization and hydrogen bonding interactions and destabilization arising from ligand–ligand repulsion. The trends in the binding of these complexes are also examined to provide insight into the structural and functional roles that histidine and other ligands play in the behavior of metalloproteins and metalloenzymes.
Biological oxidation of thiosulfate in mixed heterotrophic/autotrophic cultures

Abstract The biological oxidation of thiosulfate was examined using aerobic, continuous-flow reactors containing both heterotrophic and autotrophic microbial populations. Complete oxidation of thiosulfate at influent concentrations up to 600 mg/l as S took place with production of equivalent concentrations of sulfate. Removal of influent chemical oxygen demand and ammonia as well as nitrification were not adversely impacted by the presence of thiosulfate. Observed microbial yields were obtained based on experimental data and theoretical yields were calculated based on bioenergetics. Batch kinetic experiments were performed using mixed liquors from both a thiosulfate-deprived and a thiosulfate-amended continuous-flow reactor. The ability of the thiosulfate-deprived reactor to oxidize thiosulfate declined with increasing reactor operation time. Thiosulfate oxidation followed Monod kinetics. The following biokinetic parameter values for the biological oxidation of thiosulfate were determined: maximum specific substrate utilization rate (k) 19.8 mg thiosulfate-S/mg VSS-d and half-velocity coefficient (Ks) 14 mg thiosulfate-S/l.
CML characterization of a product of a second class I locus in the rat MHC.

In the rat, genes that control the expression of target antigens detected by cell-mediated lympholysis (CML) are present in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The relationship of these loci, CT and Ag-L, to each other and to other loci within the MHC is unknown. In this report, we demonstrate the existence of a CML target antigen in the (DA × BN)F1 anti-DA.11(BI) strain combination. The gene coding for this antigen is linked to the RT1 complex as indicated by the CML reactivity of targets from backcross and congenic animals. Inhibition studies demonstrated that this antigen has the widespread tissue distribution characteristic of class I antigens, and the gene coding for this CML antigen maps coincident with the RT1.E class I locus as indicated by the lysis of targets from the recombinant strains r10 and r11. The CML can be blocked by antisera directed against a product of the RT1.E locus. The locus controlling this CML reactivity, like CT and Ag-L, has been separated from RT1.A by recombination; unlike CT and Ag-L, the product of this CML locus appears to be identical with an RT1.E allelic product that has been serologically identified and biochemically characterized.
Stigma and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

AbstractWe predicted that the largely female population seeking relief from the incapacitating symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), an enigmatic illness, would feel stigmatized, and that attribution of CFS symptoms to psychological causes by physicians would contribute significantly to the CFS-related stigma. Most subjects scored high on measures of stigma: 95% had feelings of estrangement, 70% believed that others attributed their CFS symptoms to psychological causes, 77% coped by using an educational strategy (disclosure) and 39% saw a need to be secretive about their symptoms in some circumstances. Most subjects (77%) were labeled as ‘psychological cases’ by one or more of the physicians (mean = 8) consulted, but of the 4 stigma measures, only disclosure was related to physician labeling. Such factors as duration ofw illness and unemployment, dissatisfaction with spouse, and symptom severity correlated significantly with measures of stigma.That many physicians were reportedly ignorant or skeptic...
Male Entry into the Labor Force: Estimates of Occupational Rewards and Labor Market Discrimination*

Causal models of initial occupational rewards for black and white males are developed from the responses of first-year workers in the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience. A comparison of the black and white models shows that while blacks have experienced considerable upward mobility, their income and prestige remain far behind their white counterparts. Two explanations for this racial gap are indicated by the data: (1) blacks begin work with lower levels of key background variables, and (2) racial discrimination in the labor market. Our measurement of racial discrimination in labor market entry accounts for only a small proportion of the gap between black and white levels of rewards; and when compared with earlier research, the data indicate a national trend of decreasing racial discrimination in the labor market.
An Equatorial Jet in the Indian Ocean

At the surface of the Indian Ocean along the equator a narrow, jet-like current flows eastward at high speed during both transition periods between the two monsoons. The formation of the jet is accompanied by thermocline uplifting at the western origin of the jet and by sinking at its eastern terminus. This demonstrates that a time-variable current can have profound effects in changing the mass structure in the ocean.
Developing online communities of practice in preservice teacher education

Despite attempts to encourage greater teacher collegiality, the privacy of the classroom persists. Online communication tools offer opportunities for teachers to overcome these boundaries in professional communities of practice. This study of two cohorts of preservice teachers sought to determine if they were successful in building community in class and online and to examine factors that may have enhanced or impeded their ability to create community. Findings suggest that the physical and pedagogical contexts of the classroom and the way the communication tools are implemented are important factors in their use.
Laboratory for adaptive optics at UC Santa Cruz: project status and plans

The UCO/Lick Observatory Laboratory for Adaptive Optics charter goal is to advancing the state of the art in adaptive optics technology for instruments on the current and next generation of extremely large telescopes. We are investigating the architecture and techniques for implementing wide field adaptive optics systems for general purpose imaging and spectroscopy and high contrast adaptive optics systems for imaging extrasolar planets. The laboratory has two testbeds, a high contrast extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) testbed and a multi-guidestar tomography adaptive optics testbed. The later is reconfigurable between multi-conjugate AO (MCAO) and multi-object AO (MOAO) architectures. The testbeds are scaled to emulate 10 to 30 meter aperture telescope AO systems and allow systematic study of the performance and practicalities of such systems. Additionally, we are developing and testing new AO component technologies including novel wavefront sensors and MEMS deformable mirrors. In this paper we highlight the status and direction of the laboratory experiments and summarize the latest results.
Design Intent in 2D CAD: Definition and Survey

AbstractDesign intent has received much attention in numerous disciplines ranging from mechanical engineering design, software engineering to human-computer interaction research. While it is universally acknowledged that knowing design intent is extremely useful, there is still a lack of both support for frameworks for design intent and widespread use in engineering. Design groups looking to use the latest design intent systems and tools face the problem that the bulk of their product data resides in unintelligent 2D drawings. There exists a need to propagate the design intent present in these 2D drawings to a structured, intelligent, reusable format. This paper tries to understand what design intent is in the domain of 2D CAD drawings by providing a definition for it along with a survey of research and literature in the area of design intent. The paper also focuses on the importance, capture, representation and retrieval of design intent from 2D CAD drawing.
Addition of the MSA1 signal and anchor sequences to the malaria merozoite surface antigen 1 C-terminal region enhances immunogenicity when expressed by recombinant vaccinia virus

Abstract Genes encoding four different C-terminal fragments of a Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface antigen were generated: MSA1C-(Si,A), containing signal and anchor regions of MSA1; MSA1C-(Si,nA), containing the signal but not the anchor; MSA1C-(nSi,A), containing the anchor but not the signal, and MSA1C-(nSi,nA) containing neither the signal nor the anchor region. Each gene was inserted into the thymidine kinase region of vaccinia virus, under the control of a synthetic strong early/ late promoter. When the plasmodial genes were expressed in cells infected by the recombinant vaccinia virus, the two proteins containing the signal region were transported to the surface of infected cells. Infection of mice and rabbits with the latter recombinant viruses stimulated C-terminal-specific antibody levels that were 10–80-fold higher than those induced by the two recombinant viruses without the signal region. The combination of the signal and anchor regions with the C-terminal MSA1 protein also generated the most effective neutralization in a P. falciparum invasion assay.
InfoAnalyzer: a computer-aided tool for building enterprise taxonomies

In this paper we study the problem of collecting training samples for building enterprise taxonomies. We develop a computer-aided tool named InfoAnalyzer, which can effectively assist the enterprise to prepare large set of samples used for machine learning in text categorization. In our system, the enterprise category tree is initially defined by some keywords, then the Google search engine is used to construct a small set of labeled documents, and topic tracking algorithm based on document length normalization is applied to enlarge the training corpus on the bases of the seed stories. Furthermore, we design a method to check the consistency of the training corpus. Experiments show that the training corpus is good enough for statistical classification methods and meets human's requirements as well.
High-Purity Germanium: Detector Fabrication and Performance

The availability of germanium with less than 1010 acceptors/cm3 has enabled us to fabricate and study the performance of germanium detectors of substantially larger volume than has hitherto been possible except by using lithium-drifting techniques. Detectors having a sensitive volume of up to 25 cm3 have been made. These detectors have a lithium diffused n+ contact and a metal barrier non-injecting back contact, and are totally depleted. The energy resolution of these detectors is similar to that of equivalent sized lithium-drifted detectors, but the high-purity detectors are easier to fabricate, and present considerably fewer handling problems.
Hardware trojan state detection for analog circuits and systems

The circuit structures with positive feedback loops are likely to have multiple operating points, and the unwanted Trojan state is easy to be triggered by process, voltage, and temperature variation or user's action. In this paper, circuit-level Homotopy methods are used to find all operating points and detect Trojan states. Furthermore, the temperature characteristic of the positive feedback loop circuits can also identify the Trojan state. Examples are given to show both Homotopy and temperature methods are valid.
A Chimeric Form of Osteoprotegerin Inhibits Hypercalcemia and Bone Resorption Induced by IL-1β, TNF-α, PTH, PTHrP, and 1,25(OH)2D3

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a secreted protein that inhibits osteoclast formation and activity and appears to be a critical regulator of bone mass and metabolism. In the current study, mice were challenged with various cytokines and hormones (interleukin-1beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, parathyroid hormone, parathyroid hormone-related protein, and 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) that are known to increase bone resorption and cause hypercalcemia and treated concurrently with either a recombinant chimeric Fc fusion form of human OPG, with enhanced biological activity (cOPG) (2.5 mg/kg/day) or vehicle. Mice receiving these bone-resorbing factors became hypercalcemic by day 3 after commencing treatment and had increased bone resorption as evidenced by elevated osteoclast numbers on day 5. Concurrent cOPG treatment prevented hypercalcemia (p < 0.05) and maintained osteoclast numbers in the normal range (p < 0.001). The demonstration that cOPG can inhibit bone resorption suggests that this molecule may be useful in the treatment of diseases including hyperparathyroidism, humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy, osteoporosis, and inflammatory bone disease, which are characterized, in part, by increases in osteoclastic bone resorption.
American Viticultural Areas: A Problem in Regional Geography.

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine a particular type of formal geographic region—the viticultural region—to promote an understanding of the geographical bases of wine production. The authors have found that the viticultural area is an excellent vehicle for teaching students how geographers construct and analyze regions. Although the wine industry in the United States is concentrated overwhelmingly in California and secondarily in a belt running from New York across Pennsylvania and into Ohio, most of the lower 48 states have at least one officially recognized viticultural area. The following problem has been developed to be used “as is” or to be modified for any state or region in the country. By the end of the problem, students have gained hands-on experience in defining regions, correlating physical geography with human activities, and thinking about the importance of place names and scale.
Computational Cognitive Modeling of Operator Behavior in Telerover Navigation

The objective of this study was to demonstrate the use of a computational cognitive model for representing human performance in robotic rover control and to make comparison with actual human performance. In manual control trials, an operator was required to navigate a commercially available rover along a path using a remote workstation. A cognitively plausible GOMSL (Goals, Operators, Methods, Selection rules) model for controlling the rover was constructed based on a task analysis and observations during the human trials. Time-to-navigation completion and path tracking accuracy were recorded during the human performance and cognitive model trials with navigation conditions being identical. Model output demonstrated the GOMSL code to produce more precise control of the rover than human performance, but this was at the cost of time. This result was attributable to limitations of the modeling approach in terms of representing human parallel processing and continuous control. In general, computational GOMS modeling approaches appear to have the potential to describe interactive closed-loop system control with continuous monitoring of feedback and corresponding control actions.
Introduction to special section on the digital subject

This introduction to a special section entitled “The Digital Subject” considers the impact of digital technology on psychoanalytic theories of subjectivity, culture and society. In a survey of previous relevant work by our contributors, as well as by other influential scholars in the field of technology studies, I discuss the excessive tendencies of digital technology and media and consider the possible avenues for critique available to psychoanalytic theory.
The Beta-to-Alpha Phase Transformation in a Uranium Alloy

The behavior of the s-to-α phase transformation during continuous cooling was studied in uranium containing 359 ppm Si and 233 ppm Fe using dilatometry and metallography. For cooling rates between 0.01 K/s and 125 K/s the transformation temperature was a linear function of the square root of the cooling rate. The average interface migration rate during transformation at 64 K undercooling was 1.04 × 10−4 m/s. The transformation enthalpy was 2655 J/mole. The data were analyzed using the theoretical model for massive transformation due to Bhattacharya, Perepezko, and Massalski in which the transformation start was controlled by classical nucleation events without a strain energy barrier. The activation energy for atom transport during nucleation was found to be approximately two-thirds that for volume diffusion in uranium.
Effect of Warmed‐Over Flavor on Consumer Acceptance and Purchase of Precooked Top Round Steaks

Retail samples of semimembranosus were roasted, sliced, wrapped in aluminum foil and stored at 1.0°C for 0, 1, 4, and 7 days. A panel of 100 consumers evaluated samples for the variables: preference, purchase intention, flavor, off-flavor, and intended purchase frequency at three price levels. Panelists did not rate the 0, 1, and 4-day samples differently on all sensory variables, but the 7-day sample was rated as significantly different (P < 0.05) from all samples on each sensory variable. Results indicate that consumers were unable to detect off-flavor in reheated semimembranosus samples at TBA numbers of 6.3 or lower.
Effects of breeding pond isolation on the spatial and temporal dynamics of pond use by the tungara frog, Physalaemus pustulosus

1. Recent theoretical and empirical research has shown that habitat isolation can have strong effects on patterns of abundance and population dynamics of animals. Effects of habitat patch isolation may be particularly strong in taxa such as amphibians, which may have limited dispersal abilities and yet rely on breeding habitats that are variable in space and time. 2. We manipulated the distribution of replicated artificial ponds in order to determine the effects of breeding pond isolation on the spatial and temporal dynamics of pond use by the tungara frog (Physalaemus pustulosus Lynch), on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. Our principal objectives were to determine whether pond isolation affects if, when, and how much a pond will be used, and to determine the spatial scale over which isolation effects are likely to be important. 3. We used three sets of experimental ponds: ponds placed at distances from 1 to 200 m from active natural breeding sites; ponds placed at these same distances from recently abandoned breeding sites; and ponds placed among different terrestrial habitat types and at least 200 m from any known breeding sites (‘sampling ponds’). 4. We found that time to pond use increased with pond isolation, and that ponds near active sites were used more quickly than ponds near abandoned sites. The number of egg masses per pond decreased with pond isolation and was significantly lower near abandoned sites. Ponds near active breeding sites were more likely to be used by tungara frogs than both ponds near abandoned sites and sampling ponds. 5. Used sampling ponds were clumped at spatial scales less than 200 m, and mark–recapture data suggest that tungara frogs routinely move between ponds over these distances. 6. We conclude that breeding pond isolation is a primary determinant of the temporal and spatial dynamics of pond use by tungara frogs, and can result in spatial patterns in pond use that are independent of pond quality. These isolation effects are, however, unrelated to metapopulation processes, as most turnover in pond use is probably a result of dispersal and breeding site selection by individuals, and not resulting from the extinction of local populations.
Uncovering the Identities of Students and Graduates in a CPED-Influenced EdD Program.

The educational doctorate (EdD) is being re-envisioned as a distinct professional degree. Today's EdD graduates are envisioned as scholarly practitioners. Given this it may be reasoned these individuals have unique identities comprised of several layers. In this study, we examined how 18 entering students and 17 graduating students from an EdD program viewed themselves as learners, leaders, and action researchers. Data were obtained using a questionnaire with closed- and open-ended items, follow-up interviews were conducted with 12 incoming students and 12 graduates, and dissertations were also examined. Data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative procedures. Questionnaire results indicated no significant differences between groups, but qualitative results showed students new to the program held strong identities as learners and leaders, but not as action researchers. Graduates held stronger views of each layer and their views were aligned to the program's vision. From these findings implication...
Precision medicine and personalized breast cancer: combination pertuzumab therapy

Trastuzumab (Herceptin), a monoclonal antibody directed against the human epidermal growth-factor receptor 2 (HER2), is the poster child for antibody-based targeted therapy in breast cancer. Pertuzumab, another humanized monoclonal antibody, binds to a different domain of HER2 and prevents the formation of HER2:HER3 dimers, which is the most potent heterodimer in the HER family. The combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab has synergistic activity, and is associated with improved clinical outcomes. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pertuzumab in combination with trastuzumab-based chemotherapy originally as first-line therapy for metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer in 2012, and more recently as neoadjuvant therapy for localized disease in 2013. Pertuzumab is the first neoadjuvant drug to receive accelerated approval by the FDA based on pathological complete response as the primary end point. In this article, we review the mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, safety, and current role of pertuzumab in the management of breast cancer, as well as ongoing clinical trials and future directions regarding the utility of pertuzumab as a personalized therapeutic option for HER2-positive breast cancer. In the coming years, we anticipate increased utilization of neoadjuvant trials for drug development, biomarker discovery, and validation, and envision conduct of personalized breast cancer clinics in which therapies will be routinely selected based on genetic alterations in the tumor. Regardless of the targeted therapy combinations employed based on tumor genomic profile, trastuzumab and pertuzumab will likely continue to form the backbone of the personalized regimen for HER2-positive breast cancer.
Urological needs assessment for primary care practice: implications for undergraduate medical education.

AbstractPurpose: The majority of graduating medical students will become primary care physicians. We discuss what urological topics primary care physicians need to know, proficiency in urological skills of primary care physicians and undergraduate urological curriculum recommendations that would serve the needs of primary care physicians.Materials and Methods: A written survey instrument was mailed to all 452 family practice residency directors in the United States. Subjects rated how well family practice physicians need to know urological topics and how proficient they must be in urological skills.Results: A total of 329 responses were received (response rate 73%). Respondents indicated that they need to know urinary tract infection, sexually transmitted disease, epididymitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia diagnosis, hematuria and erectile dysfunction diagnosis very well. They indicated a greater need to know diagnostics than staging or management of prostate, bladder, renal or testis cancer (p <0.05). Am...
Mechanism of action of TSH studied by organ culture of fetal rat thyroid gland.

SummaryThyroid glands excised from fetuses of 21-day pregnant rats were cultured for 3 days in the absence and presence of TSH. The 6-hour 131I uptake as well as the incorporation of the isotope into proteinbound iodotyrosines and thyroxine were higher in the presence of TSH. Under similar conditions TSH failed to influence the 6-hour 14C incorporation of [14C]leucine into protein. Puromycin blocked almost completely the 6-hour incorporation of leucine carbon into protein by the fetal glands cultured in the presence and absence of TSH, but did not abolish the TSH-induced increase in the incorporation of 131I into protein-bound iodotyrosines and thyroxine. It seems therefore that TSH stimulation is not dependent on increased synthesis of protein, Treatment with sodium perchlorate affected the ability of the explants to concentrate iodide with little effect on total PB131I; however, the disposition of 131I within the lobes is strongly altered. In the presence or absence of TSH, pretreatment with perchlorate...
Professional Learning Networks to Support School Librarians' Development of Instructional Technology Expertise.

As K-12 schools increase the presence of and access to technology, the role of school librarians is changing. Many librarians have not been prepared by their colleges and universities for the changes demanded by their jobs. In this article, we discuss the skills that 47 school librarians reported having learned on the job as opposed to in librarian preparation programs. More than half indicated that they had to develop technological skills while on the job. This can be explained by technology’s influence on society, librarians being early adopters and leaders of technology and technology’s ability to enable learning. Because of these technological skills indicated by school librarians, we provide resources and share suggestions for how school librarians can build a Professional Learning Network (PLN) to learn about and with technology.
Access to the astrophysics data system: what, how, who, and where

The Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is the search system of choice for Astronomers world-wide. The searchable database contains over 2.6 million bibliographic records. In addition the ADS has over 2 million scanned article pages from about 280,000 articles, dating back as far as 1829. There are currently more than 10,000 regular users (more than 10 queries/month). ADS users issue almost 1 million queries per month and receive 40 million records and 1.2 million scanned article pages per month. One important aspect of the ADS is the system of links to other data providers. We have currently more than 3 million links to other on-line resources. The ADS is accessed from almost 100 countries with a wide range of the number of queries per country. In order to improve access from different parts of the world, we maintain 9 mirror sites of the ADS in Brazil, Chile, China, England, France, Germany, India, Japan, and Russia. Automatic procedures facilitate keeping these mirror sites up-to-date over the network. The ADS is funded by NASA Grant NCC5-189. The ADS is available at: http://ads.harvard.edu© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Oscillation and asymptotic behavior of a system of linear difference equations

We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the oscillation of all solutions of the system of difference equations where p is a real number. We also investigate the asymptotic behavior of all solutions.
Single Parenting in the African American Community: Implications for Public Policy and Practice

The percentage of female-headed African American families has increased significantly since the 1960s. It is now estimated that over half of all African American children will grow up in a female-headed household. This article examines factors related to the formation of these households as well as the challenges associated with these households. Policies and programs that have been implemented to treat these families are examined.
ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDIES OF THE FERTILIZED EGG AND THE TWO-CELL STAGE OF MYTILUS EDULIS.

Changes consequent to fertilization, polar lobe formation, cytokinesis, and the distribution of inclusions at the trefoil stage of the Mytilus egg are studied by electron microscopy. Comparisons of normal and centrifuged eggs before and after fertilization indicate a more uniform dispersion of cytoplasmic constituents in fertilized eggs, as well as a higher viscosity of the endoplasm and a lower viscosity of the cortex. The cytoplasms of the first polar lobe and the egg proper become temporarily partitioned by a sheet of vesicles. Relevance of this phenomenon is discussed with regard to unequal cleavage, cytoplasmic localization of morphogenic factors, and the pinching off of the polar lobe in hypertonic solutions. A sheet of vesicles appears in the cytoplasm in a plane which cleavage follows, cleavage occurring probably by fusion of the vesicles. Mitochondria are uniformly distributed in the cytoplasm at the trefoil stage. Yolk and lipid are randomly distributed.
On Row Rank Equal Column Rank

We will prove a well-known theorem in Linear Algebra, that is, for any m × n matrix the dimension of row space and column space are the same. The proof is based on the subject of elementary matrices and reduced row-echelon form of a matrix.
You Got It, So When Do You Flaunt It?: Building Rapport, Intersectionality, and the Strategic Deployment of Gender in the Field

Building on existing literature and disparate field experiences, this article forwards a thesis that status group memberships such as gender are not destiny for building access and rapport during f...
Molecular orbital theory of the hydrogen bond. VIII. Hydrogen bonding in H2OH2CO in relaxed singlet and triplet n → π* states

Abstract Ab initio SCF CI calculations with a minimal STO-3G basis set have been performed on the hydrogen bonded dimers in which H 2 O is the proton donor to H 2 CO in its relaxed singlet and triplet n→π * states. Two dimers which are easily interconverted are found in the singet n→π * state with hydrogen bond energies of 1.82 and 1.71 kcal/mole. The equilibrium dimer in the triplet state has a hydrogen bond energy of 2.97 kcal/mole. In both states, hydrogen bond formation occurs at the carbon atom. The structures of the dimers and the nature of the intermolecular surfaces in the regions of hydrogen bond formation are examined. Electron densities and distributions are also discussed.
Camões' Égloga dos Faunos

Camoes' Seventh Eclogue, traditionally known as the Egloga dos Faunos, is perhaps the one in which he moves farthest from the models provided by his immediate predecessors, Garcilaso and Sannazaro....
Incongruent Contextual Information Intrudes on Short-term Olfactory Memory

Both name and source information provide a context for the perceptual evaluation of odorants (Herz, J Exp Psychol 132(4): 595–606, 2003) that may also affect memory (Lyman and McDaniel, J Exp Psychol 16(4): 656–664, 1986). The current study asked whether appropriate information about the context in which an odor source is found would affect short-term memory for the odor. Fifty-four participants were presented with pairs of olfactory stimuli and visual contextual information that either matched each other or did not. There were two types of visual stimuli, either a pictorial representation of a contextual location for an odor source or a written representation of the name of that location. Stimulus presentation was followed by a verbal interference task (Peterson and Peterson, J Exp Psychol 58: 193–198, 1959). A recognition test for the olfactory stimuli conducted immediately afterwards revealed that participants who had been presented with visual representations of non-matching odor source contexts were more likely to falsely remember odors appropriate to the visual context. These findings suggest that participants either relied heavily on encoding of the visually presented source contextual information, to the detriment of memory, for olfactory stimuli or suffered from the semantic-based memory error of misattribution.
PULMOVERMIS AND HYDROPHITREMA, HEMIURID LUNG FLUKES OF SEA SNAKES: NEW HOST RECORDS WITH A CORRIGENDUM AND REEVALUATION.

Recent collection of lung fluke material from hydrophiid sea snakes permits a reevaluation of the suitability of criteria separating the monotypic genera Pulmovermis Coil and Kuntz, 1960 and Hydrophitrema Sandars, 1960. Consideration is also given of the new subfamily Pulmoverminae, erected by Sandars (1961) to include these genera within the digenetic family Hemiuridae. Typographical errors in the original description of H. gigantica Sandars, 1960 have been corrected, reducing the gross or external measurements of that species by ten times. Validity of characters such as flexure of the body, location of testes and ovary with respect to body length, length of seminal vesicle compared to body length, and anterior extension of the seminal vesicle with respect to acetabulum have been rejected. Retained are general body shape, relative position of acetabulum and development of peduncle, degree of coiling of seminal vesicle, and tandem or oblique arrangement of testes. Characters newly employed include body length-to-width ratio and presence of a cuticular fold in Hydrophitrema enclosing both suckers. Retention of the present genera based on these revised characterizations is recommended. Subfamily criteria (form, structure, and size of seminal vesicle, shape of vitellaria) are similar to those employed among the other nineteen subfamilies of this large and possibly heterogeneous group. In addition, these flukes are unique within the family on ecological and physiological grounds, in that they parasitize the lungs of sea snakes rather than the stomach of marine fishes, the usual site and host for members of this family.
194Pt(12C, 12C′) reaction and the triaxial-rotor model

Abstract Elastic and inelastic scattering differential cross sections for the 194 Pt( 12 C, 12 C′) reaction at a bombarding energy of 78 MeV have been measured. Data have been obtained for 0 + , 2 + , 4 + , and 2 +′ , states in 194 Pt. The data have been analyzed using a rigid asymmetric-rotor model in coupled-channels reaction calculations. It is found that satisfactory fits to all data can be obtained but only if the hexadecapole deformation is included in the asymmetric-rotor model.
Ionic liquids with fluorinated block-oligomer tails: Influence of self-assembly on transport properties

A novel imidazolium iodide ionic liquid with an ω-perfluoroalkyl poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) tail attached to the imidazolium ring has been synthesized for its potential incorporation as an electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cells. The ionic liquid molecules, with block oligomer tails, self-assembled to form a solvent-free ionic gel, without the assistance of an external gelator or an immobilizing matrix. The solidification was evidently facilitated by the generation of ionic clusters due to electrostatic interactions, as well as microphase separation of the immiscible perfluoroalkyl and PEG segments of the cation. We report herein the synthesis and electrochemical properties of this block oligomer ionogel, along with the results of self-consistent mean field calculations probing the formation of nanostructures in the ionogel. Although properties such as high viscosity and high ionic conductivity appear incompatible, it is shown that a nano-structured fluid can support high iodide diffusion at low effective fluidity, and that the formation of an organic alloy, by simple blending of two imidazolium iodide salts, can produce significant conductivity enhancements without lowering the viscosity.