cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The life-long leisure graph: A tool for leisure counseling

Historically, work and leisure were clearly delineated: work was what one got paid for and leisure was what one did when not working. This dichotomy is not as acceptable today because researchers are discussing "career" in terms of both work and leisure activities (McDaniels, 1982). Understandably, these researchers would probably agree with the following definition: "Career development is part of human development. A person develops--from stage to stage the awareness, exploration, motivation, decision making, and preparation for a particular occupation or leisure activity. In short, career development equals work plus leisure" (McDaniels, 1982, p. 3). As people have more time for leisure in future years (McDaniels, 1984), leisure counseling may become more important, particularly if one believes that people may not know how to handle this increase in leisure time productively (Allen, 1980). Rimmer and Kahnweiler (1981) summarized the role of leisure in career counseling by stating: "Helping a client consider various career options should not be limited to work-related issues and information; an exploration of how various occupations might affect their leisure needs would be an essential facet of vocational guidance. In essence, vocational guidance would become life guidance" (p. 115). Several models for understanding leisure and approaches to leisure counseling have been developed (Hesser, 1984; Neulinger, 1981; Peevy, 1984; Super, 1980). However, the Bloland and Edwards' (1981) model provided a synthesis of career and leisure counseling that incorporates many components of the other models and approaches.
Quantal and classical radiative cascade in Rydberg plasmas

Atoms in high-$(n,\mathcal{l})$ states formed in cold Rydberg plasmas decay to the ground state in a succession of radiative transitions populating intermediate excited states. A classical treatment presents radiative cascade in a physically transparent way and reveals the ``trajectory'' in $n\mathcal{l}$ space obeyed by the cascade, scaling rules, and other aspects hidden within the quantal approach. Quantal-classical correspondence in radiative decay is directly demonstrated. Classical transition probabilities are also presented and are in excellent agreement with quantal transition probabilities, even for moderate quantum numbers.
A user-centric adaptive story architecture: borrowing from acting theories

Interactive virtual environments are becoming increasingly popular for their utility in education, virtual training, and entertainment. These applications often rely on a scenario that is revealed to the user as he/she interacts with synthetic objects and characters that inhabit virtual worlds. Current interactive narrative architectures used in the interactive entertainment industry often use decision trees, which are hard to author and modify. Some interactive entertainment productions are starting to use more generative techniques, such as plan-based or goal-based narrative. In this paper, I present an interactive narrative architecture that extends current research in interactive narrative by integrating a user modeling and user behavior analysis technique, which I argue facilities a more engaging and fulfilling experience. I have implemented the architecture within an interactive story called Mirage. The architecture resulted from an iterative design and development process involving a team that included film and theatre professionals. During this design and development process, I have experimented and evaluated different narrative techniques, which resulted in the proposed architecture.
Tool use in a group of captive chimpanzees I. Escape.

A group of 4 female and 3 male adolescent wild-born chimpanzees was observed for 7 months in an outdoor enclosure. Use of tools aimed at escaping from this enclosure is described, the two main techniques being the use of poles as ladders and sticks as pitons.
3D Materials Image Segmentation by 2D Propagation: A Graph-Cut Approach Considering Homomorphism

Segmentation propagation, similar to tracking, is the problem of transferring a segmentation of an image to a neighboring image in a sequence. This problem is of particular importance to materials science, where the accurate segmentation of a series of 2D serial-sectioned images of multiple, contiguous 3D structures has important applications. Such structures may have distinct shape, appearance, and topology, which can be considered to improve segmentation accuracy. For example, some materials images may have structures with a specific shape or appearance in each serial section slice, which only changes minimally from slice to slice, and some materials may exhibit specific inter-structure topology that constrains their neighboring relations. Some of these properties have been individually incorporated to segment specific materials images in prior work. In this paper, we develop a propagation framework for materials image segmentation where each propagation is formulated as an optimal labeling problem that can be efficiently solved using the graph-cut algorithm. Our framework makes three key contributions: 1) a homomorphic propagation approach, which considers the consistency of region adjacency in the propagation; 2) incorporation of shape and appearance consistency in the propagation; and 3) a local non-homomorphism strategy to handle newly appearing and disappearing substructures during this propagation. To show the effectiveness of our framework, we conduct experiments on various 3D materials images, and compare the performance against several existing image segmentation methods.
Incorporation of lysine into Y base of phenylalanine tRNA in Vero cells

Vero cells, a line derived from African green monkey kidney, contains a hypermodified base, called Y, adjacent to the 3' end of the anticodon of tRNAPhe. Two types of evidence are presented suggesting that lysine is involved in biosynthesis of Y base in these cells. First, when Vero cells are starved for lysine, a new, early-eluting species of tRNAPhe which lacks the fully modified Y base can be detected by reversed phase chromatography (RPC-5). After addition of lysine to the medium, this new species disappears. Second, when these cells are grown in low-lysine medium and then exposed to [3H]lysine, radioactivity from the lysine comigrates with tRNAPhe. The Y base can be selectively excised from tRNAPhe by incubation at pH 2.9, and extracted into ethyl acetate. Thin-layer chromatography of acid-excised material from these cells reveals that lysine-derived radioactivity comigrates with genuine Y base from calf liver tRNAPhe and the acid-excised tRNA no longer contains radioactivity. These results are consistent with the model that lysine is a structural precursor of Y base in tRNAPhe of Vero cells.
Ordered Boolean List (OBL): Reducing the Footprint for Evaluating Boolean Expressions

An Expanded Boolean Expression (EBE) does not contain any XOR or EQUAL operators. The occurrence of each variable is a different literal. We provide a linear time algorithm that converts an EBE of n literals into a logically equivalent Ordered Boolean List (OBL) and show how to use the OBL to evaluate the EBE in n steps and O(log log n) space, if the values of the literals are each read once in the order prescribed by the OBL. (An evaluation workspace of 5 bits suffices for all EBEs of up to six billion literals.) The primary application is the SIMD architecture, where the same EBE is evaluated in parallel for different input vectors when rendering solid models on the GPU directly from their Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) representation. We compare OBL to the Reduced Ordered Binary Decision Diagram (ROBDD) and suggest possible applications of OBL to logic verification and to circuit design.
A time-dependent approach for calculating steady inverse boundary-layer flows with separation

In this paper we describe an unsteady inverse boundary-layer method that can be used to compute steady flows with separation. The method uses Keller's box method with Cebeci's Mechul function formulation. Depending on the complexity of the flow, two versions of the box method are used. In regions of positive streamwise velocity component u, the regular box is used; in regions where u becomes negative (t > 0), the zigzag box is used. When t = 0, and u becomes negative in some region across the layer, the regular box with the FLARE approximation is used. Calculations performed with this approach indicate that the use of a time dependent inverse boundary-layer method in which time is used as an iteration parameter provides a good approach in improving the accuracy of the solutions obtained from the FLARE approximation.
Mapping Out a Path from Hardware Transactional Memory to Speculative Multithreading

This research demonstrates that coming support for hardware transactional memory can be leveraged to significantly reduce the cost of implementing true speculative multithreading. In particular, it explores the path from eager conflict detection HTM to full support of efficient speculative multithreading, focusing on the case where frequent memory dependencies exist between speculative threads. The result is a unified memory architecture capable of effective support for transactional parallel workloads and efficient speculative multithreading.
Prevalence and impact of complications on hospitalization outcomes following surgical repair for craniosynostosis.

Purpose The objective of the present study was to examine the association between different types of complications and hospitalization outcomes in patients having surgical repair for craniosynostosis. Materials and Methods The Nationwide Inpatient Sample for 2004 through 2010 was used. All patients up to 3 years old who underwent surgical repair for craniosynostosis were selected for analysis. The primary independent variable was occurrence of different types of complications. The outcomes of interest included hospital charges and length of hospital stay. Results During the study period, 17,788 hospitalizations concerned a surgical repair for craniosynostosis. Most procedures were performed in those younger than 1 year (77.7% of hospitalizations). Female patients comprised 65.2% of hospitalizations. After hospitalization, 98% were discharged routinely. Fifteen patients died in the hospital. Complications occurred in 10.1% of hospitalizations. The 5 frequently reported complications were hemorrhage (4.1%); iatrogenically induced complications, including accidental punctures, lacerations, or pneumothorax (3.1%); cardiac complications (0.7%); bacterial infections (0.7%); and respiratory complications (0.7%). Patients who developed nonhealing wounds, hemorrhages, infections, iatrogenically induced complications, respiratory complications, nervous system complications, and cardiac complication were associated with significantly higher hospitalization charges, whereas those who developed septicemia, bacterial infections, mycoses, hemorrhage, other infections, iatrogenically induced complications, vascular complications, digestive system complications, nervous system complications, and postoperative pneumonia were associated with significantly longer duration of hospital stay (P Conclusions Catastrophic adverse outcomes, such as in-hospital mortality, were reported in 0.08% of patients who underwent surgical repair of craniosynostosis. When complications occurred, they were associated with significantly higher hospital charges and longer length of hospital stay.
CORR Insights®: Surgical Technique: Results of Stabilization of Sternoclavicular Joint Luxations Using a Polydioxanone Envelope Plasty

Where Are We Now?Sternoclavicular joint instability problems generally areavoided by orthopaedic surgeons. Many consider thisregion to be the purview of thoracic surgeons, given theproximity to the great vessels in the mediastinum. How-ever, patients often visit orthopaedic surgeons for recurrentinstability of this joint or for symptomatic sternoclaviculararthritis. We usually start with nonoperative approaches,but surgery sometimes enters the conversation. What is thebest surgical procedure for sternoclavicular joint instabil-ity? The answer is difﬁcult to discern considering injuriesto this joint are rather rare. Large clinical trials do not exist,but the literature is replete with case reports and case ser-ies. We may seek guidance from the biomechanicsliterature; if so, the work of Spencer and Kuhn [2] is per-haps most relevant. They compared a tendon weave withtwo other reported stabilization techniques: subclaviustenodesis and the Rockwood technique. They found thetendon weave to be the strongest stabilization technique,but this approach involved bicortical drilling through thesternum and medial clavicle, which is not in the ‘‘wheel-house’’ of most orthopaedic surgeons—even those withshoulder and elbow fellowship training.Where Do We Need to Go?The technique described by Gardeniers and colleagues is anovel approach to address sternoclavicular joint instability.That said, the use of polydioxyanone (PDS) in and aroundthe shoulder girdle is not new. The material has been usedin early transglenoid capsulorraphies for glenohumeralinstability and to stabilize high-grade acromioclavicu-lar joint separations with a coracoclavicular cerclage. Italso has been used to stabilize acute sternoclavicular jointdislocations using the ‘‘safe’’ technique described byThomas et al. [3]. The ‘‘safe’’ technique, like the techniquedescribed by Gardeniers et al., is intriguing. It avoidspenetration of the dorsal surfaces of the sternum andclavicle and similarly obviates the risk of mediastinalinjury. However, eight of 39 patients in the current studyhad recurrent instability, which somewhat decreases one’senthusiasm to use this technique.How Do We Get There?The ideal approach would be an appropriately powered andrandomized clinical trial comparing the tendon graft ﬁgure-of-eight reconstruction, the PDS-envelop plasty, and the‘‘safe’’ method. This would need to be a multicenter study,as these cases are not particularly common. However, until
Mechanisms of the group-size effect on vigilance in Columbian ground squirrels: dilution versus detection

Antipredator vigilance decreases with group size in many vertebrate prey species. This pattern might be explained by collective detection (increased probability of observing a predator) or risk dilution (decreased likelihood of being captured with larger group size). If dilution is the main cause of the group-size effect, nearest-neighbour distances and distance to the edge of the group would affect vigilance, and alarm calling and factors that affect hearing alarm calls would not affect vigilance. The opposite outcomes are expected if detection is the primary influence. We used both model fitting and hypothesis testing to determine which mechanism had the greater effect, using 14 populations of Columbian ground squirrels, Spermophilus columbianus. Vigilance decreased significantly with increases in group size (R 2 ¼ 0.70, P ¼ 0.0002). Model fitting revealed that the detection model was a statistically good fit to our data and the dilution model was not. We found no significant effect of nearest-neighbour distance on the proportion of time vigilant. Distance of individuals to the edge of the meadow habitat had a marginally significant effect on vigilance in one analysis, but no significant effect in three other analyses. Alarm calls occurred in 56.1% of observations and had a significant effect on vigilance. Wind speed did not show a significant effect on proportion of time vigilant during foraging bouts (mixed models: F ¼ 2.41, P ¼ 0.12), but squirrels were observed to forage less in high wind. All of these results support the detection hypothesis. Group type and means of information transfer about predators may be indicators of which mechanism, detection or dilution, has the greatest influence on the group-size effect on vigilance.
RELIGION, RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION: INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

Book reviewed in this article: THE MAKING OF THE MODERN UNIVERSITY: INTELLECTUAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE MARGINALIZATION OF MORALITY By Julie A. Reuben THE UNIVERSITY GETS RELIGION: RELIGIOUS STUDIES IN AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION By D. G. Hart ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND CHRISTIAN SCHOLARSHIP By Anthony J. Diekema RELIGION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE POLITICS OF THE MULTI-FAITH CAMPUS By Sophie Gilliat-Ray HIGHER LEARNING AND CATHOLIC TRADITIONS Edited by Robert E. Sullivan QUALITY WITH SOUL: HOW SIX PREMIER COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES KEEP FAITH WITH THEIR RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS By Robert Benne RELIGION ON CAMPUS: WHAT RELIGION REALLY MEANS TO TODAY'S UNDERGRADUATES By Conrad Cherry, Betty A. DeBerg, and Amanda Porterfield CATHOLIC WOMEN'S COLLEGES IN AMERICA Edited by Tracy Schier and Cynthia Russett THE IDEA OF A CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY By George Dennis O'Brien RELIGIOUS STUDIES, THEOLOGY, AND THE UNIVERSITY: CONFLICTING MAPS, CHANGING TERRAIN Edited by Line11 E. Cady and Delwin Brown
Learning to construct fast signal processing implementations

A single signal processing algorithm can be represented by many mathematically equivalent formulas. However, when these formulas are implemented in code and run on real machines, they have very different runtimes. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to model this broad performance range. Further, the space of formulas for real signal transforms is so large that it is impossible to search it exhaustively for fast implementations. We approach this search question as a control learning problem. We present a new method for learning to generate fast formulas, allowing us to intelligently search through only the most promising formulas. Our approach incorporates signal processing knowledge, hardware features, and formula performance data to learn to construct fast formulas. Our method learns from performance data for a few formulas of one size and then can construct formulas that will have the fastest runtimes possible across many sizes.
Manganese-Enhanced MRI: An Exceptional Tool in Translational Neuroimaging

The metal manganese is a potent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent that is essential in cell biology. Manganese-enhancedmagneticresonanceimaging(MEMRI) is providing unique information in an ever-growing number of applications aimed at understanding the anatomy, the integration,andthefunctionofneuralcircuitsbothinnormalbrain physiology as well as in translational models of brain disease. A major drawback to the use of manganese as a contrast agent, however, is its cellular toxicity. Therefore, paramount tothesuccessfulapplicationofMEMRIistheabilitytodeliver Mn 21 to the site of interest using as low a dose as possible while preserving detectability by MRI. In the present work, the different approaches to MEMRI in translational neuroimaging are reviewed and challenges for future identified from a practical standpoint.
The Identification and Interpretation of Reptile Ichnofossils in Paleosols Through Modern Studies

Abstract The soil ecosystems of modern floodplains of North America, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and western Asia are the habitat of a group of limbless, fossorial reptiles (Order Amphisbaenia). Although body fossils are relatively abundant in North American Paleocene and Neogene paleosols, no ichnofossils are attributed to these organisms, largely because the morphologies present in modern burrows have not been studied. Because ichnofossils tend to have a higher preservation potential than body fossils, knowledge of the architectural and surficial burrow morphologies of such burrowing vertebrates as amphisbaenians can lead to the knowledge of their true stratigraphic and geographic ranges. The behavioral responses of a common South American amphisbaenian to variations in soil composition, moisture, and cohesion were studied in the laboratory so that the architectural and surficial morphology of their burrows could be tied to these environmental changes. Qualitative and quantitative models were designed to describe the morphology of the amphisbaenian burrows and then used to distinguish them from other floodplain burrowers, including skinks, scorpions, and crayfish. Amphisbaenians were found to produce unique two- and three-dimensional biogenic structures that could be both distinguished from those of other organisms and tied to specific environmental conditions. From these data, variations in the morphology of amphisbaenian ichnofossils can provide more accurate interpretations not only of the paleoecology, paleoenvironment, and paleoclimate of floodplain paleosols but also of rates of sedimentation.
Modelling of grouped vehicles within a cellular spatial structure

A new framework for multiple vehicle system modelling and control is proposed in this paper, in consideration of the existence of roads and turning vehicles. This framework integrates the path selection and vehicle formation in one systematic structure. The movement of the leader is modelled as a discrete state system within a cellular map, and the movement of the follower is modelled as a hybrid system, including the leader-follower interface. The advantage of this model framework is that, it abstracts the main features of the dynamics of multiple vehicle system in high dimensional spaces into one dimensional cellular space and, simplifies and extends the model of followers. The effectiveness of the new framework is illustrated by a simulation in the end.
Activation of Protein Kinase C ϵ Inhibits the Two-pore Domain K+ Channel, TASK-1, Inducing Repolarization Abnormalities in Cardiac Ventricular Myocytes

Abstract Activation of the platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor leads to a decrease in outward current in murine ventricular myocytes by inhibiting the TASK-1 channel. TASK-1 carries a background or “leak” current and is a member of the two-pore domain potassium channel family. Its inhibition is sufficient to delay repolarization, causing prolongation of the action potential duration, and in some cases, early after depolarizations. We set out to determine the cellular mechanisms that control regulation of TASK-1 by PAF. Inhibition of TASK-1 via activation of the PAF receptor is protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent. Using isoform-specific PKC inhibitor or activator peptides in patch clamp experiments, we now demonstrate that activation of PKCϵ is both necessary and sufficient to regulate murine TASK-1 current in a heterologous expression system and to induce repolarization abnormalities in isolated myocytes. Furthermore, site-directed mutagenesis studies have identified threonine 381, in the C-terminal tail of murine TASK-1, as a critical residue in this regulation.
Modeling of Transport Phenomena and Melting Kinetics of Starch in a Co-Rotating Twin-Screw Extruder

A mathematical model was developed to simulate fluid flow, heat transfer, and melting kinetics of starch in a co-rotating intermeshing twin-screw ex truder (TSE). The partial differential equations governing the transport phe nomena of the biomaterial in the extruder were solved by a finite element scheme. For validating the model, the predicted product pressure, bulk tem perature at the entrance of the die, and minimum residence time of the biomaterial in the extruder were compared with experimental data. Standard er rors of product pressure, bulk temperature at the die entrance, and minimum residence time were about 8.8, 2.8, and 17.3%. Simulations were carried out to investigate profiles of product pressure, bulk temperature, and melt fraction within the extruder during extrusion.
Genetic algorithms as a tool for restructuring feature space representations

This paper describes an approach being explored to improve the usefulness of machine learning techniques to classify complex, real world data. The approach involves the use of genetic algorithms as a "front end" to a traditional tree induction system (ID3) in order to find the best feature set to be used by the induction system. This approach has been implemented and tested on difficult texture classification problems. The results are encouraging and indicate significant advantages of the presented approach.
Key agreement scheme based on generalised inverses of matrices

For original paper see E. Dawson and C.-K. Wu, ibid., vol.33, no.14, pp.1210-11 (1997). Dawson and Wu proposed a key agreement scheme based on generalised matrix inverses. They suggest that for a key length of kn, using matrices of size k/spl times/m and m/spl times/n, with k/spl les/m/spl les/n the security parameter should be at least 2/sup (m-k)n/. We give an attack for which the security parameter is at most 2/sup k2/, and a second attack which applies in at least 28% of cases and reduces the original 2/sup (m-k)n/ to 2/sup (m-k)m/ m/sup 3/.
A High-Magnification Light-Field Telescope for Extended Depth-of-Field Biometric Imaging

We developed a light field telescope to simultaneously increase magnification and depth-of-field for biometric applications at large (>20 m) standoff distance. We discuss infrared performance and limitations due to microlens diffraction.
Corticosterone exposure augments sensitivity to the behavioral and neuroplastic effects of fluoxetine in C57BL/6 mice.

Both genetic background and pre-existing stress play critical roles in the effects of antidepressant drugs. The current studies showed this principal by demonstrating that exposure to the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) allowed behavioral and neurogenic effects to emerge following chronic treatment with fluoxetine of C57BL/6 mice, a strain ordinarily resistant to these effects. Adult male mice were implanted subcutaneously with 21-day slow-release CORT pellets (10 mg) or placebo and then co-treated with 5 mg/kg fluoxetine (b.i.d., i.p.) or saline for 14 days. Animals were then assessed for approach behavior in the novelty-induced hypophagia (NIH) test, hippocampal cell proliferation, corticosteroid receptor expression, and CORT plasma levels. Co-treatment of CORT with fluoxetine significantly reduced approach behavior in the novel environment of the NIH test and increased hippocampal cell proliferation whereas fluoxetine given alone was ineffective. CORT given alone did not alter approach behavior in the novel environment and caused a smaller increase of cell proliferation. The CORT effect was blocked by adrenalectomy and was likely due to increased adrenal feedback. Cell proliferation in CORT-treated animals was associated with reduced mineralocorticoid, but not glucocorticoid, receptor mRNA expression. Although the pellets were advertised to release CORT for 21 days, plasma CORT levels were increased at 1 day after implantation but were not sustained when measured at 7 days or longer intervals. Nevertheless, the transient CORT increase was sufficient to induce long-lasting behavioral and molecular changes when followed by fluoxetine treatment. These studies warrant further investigation into the role of glucocorticoids and environmental stress as adjunctive facilitators of the response to antidepressants, especially for treatment-resistant patients.
In vitro maintenance of Leishmania amastigotes directly from lesions: Advantages and limitations

Leishmania amazonensis (MHOM/BR/77/LTB0016) amastigotes were obtained from mouse cutaneous lesions and maintained in vitro for 48 hr at pH 4.6, 33 C. These organisms were reproducing, capable of transformation to promastigotes, and did not display the promastigote-specific antigen, GP46. In contrast, 97% of the organisms maintained for 24 hr at 31 C, pH 7.3, were positive for GP46. Thus, short-term cultivation of this L. amazonensis strain under appropriate conditions can provide a high yield of amastigotes for various in vivo and in vitro studies. However, the possible interference of host immunoglobin on the surface of these amastigotes needs to be considered because fluorescent-labeled anti-mouse immunoglobulin was detected on 16% of lesion-derived amastigotes even after 114 hr of cultivation.
Trm4 and Nsun2 RNA:m5C Methyltransferases Form Metabolite-Dependent, Covalent Adducts with Previously Methylated RNA

Trm4p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its mammalian orthologue Nsun2 fabricate 5-methylcytosine (m(5)C) in RNA molecules utilizing a dual-cysteine catalytic mechanism. These enzymes are now shown to form covalent complexes with previously methylated RNA. Enzyme linkage to methylated RNA requires S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy), and the removal of this metabolite results in the disassembly of preexisting complexes. The fraction of Trm4p linked to modified RNA is influenced by the AdoHcy concentration and by the pH of the solution, with maximal formation of Trm4p-RNA complexes observed in the pH range of 5.5-6.5. Four active-site residues critical for Trm4p-mediated tRNA methylation are also required for the formation of the denaturant-resistant complexes with m(5)C-containing RNA. On the basis of these findings, it is proposed that formation of a covalent complex between dual-cysteine RNA:m(5)C methyltransferases and methylated RNA provides a unique means by which metabolic factors can influence RNA. By controlling the degree of formation of the enzyme-RNA covalent complex, AdoHcy and pH are likely to influence the extent of m(5)C formation and the rate of release of methylated RNA from RNA:m(5)C methyltransferases. Metabolite-induced covalent complexes could plausibly affect the processing and function of m(5)C-containing RNAs.
Does fluoridation reduce the use of dental services among adults

OBJECTIVES The authors determine whether prevention influences the use of health services. Fluoridation's effect on restorative dental demand among 972 Washington state employees and spouses, aged 20 to 34 years, in two fluoridated communities and a nonfluoridated community was examined. METHODS At baseline, adults were interviewed by telephone, and oral assessments were conducted to measure personal characteristics, lifetime exposure to fluoridated water, oral disease, and the quality of restorations. Adults were followed for 2 years to measure dental demand from dental claims. Each adult's baseline and claims data were linked with provider and practice variables collected from the dentist who provided treatment. RESULTS Relative to adults with no lifetime exposure to fluoridated water, adults drinking fluoridated water for half or more of their lives had less disease at baseline and a lower but nonsignificant probability of receiving a restoration in the follow-up period. In the 2-year follow-up period, however, more than half of the restorations were performed to replace fillings of satisfactory or ideal quality at baseline. When only teeth with decay and unsatisfactory fillings at baseline were considered, adults with high fluoridation exposure had a lower probability of receiving a restoration than adults with no exposure. Market effects also were detected in demand equations; relative to adults in the nonfluoridated community, adults residing in the fluoridated community with a large dentist supply received a greater number of restorations, suggesting potential supplier-induced demand from less disease and fewer patients. CONCLUSIONS Among adults aged 20 to 34 years with private dental insurance, fluoridation reduces oral disease but may or may not reduce use of restorative services, depending on dentists' clinical decisions.
Towards SSD-Ready Enterprise Platforms.

High-performance solid state disks (SSDs) deliver a 2–3 orders of magnitude increase in I/O operations per second (IOPS) over hard disk drives (HDDs). Extreme-performance SSDs can produce up to 120,000 IOPS for random-access reads, taking as few as eight direct-attached SSDs to reach one million IOPS. However, today’s multi-core platforms have long been optimized for HDDs, leading to the question: Are platforms ready to deliver such extreme IOPS to the application? To this end, we provide measurements aimed to expose the correct optimizations necessary to deliver such performance. We found that the majority of platform I/O latency still lies in the SSD and not in system software. We identified data copies, uncacheable MMIO reads, interrupt processing, and context switches to be the primary contributors of I/O processing cost. We found typical reference platforms to be surprisingly robust, delivering up to 177,000 IOPS from a single host-bus adapter (HBA). We validated almost 500,000 IOPS with as many HBAs we can put into the platform while maintaining 50% CPU utilization, showcasing the extreme IOPS capable on single volume platform.
The Therapeutic Potential of Targeting Cytokine Alarmins to Treat Allergic Airway Inflammation

Asthma is a heterogeneous disorder that results in recurrent attacks of breathlessness, coughing, and wheezing that affects millions of people worldwide. Although the precise causes of asthma are unclear, studies suggest that a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental exposure to various allergens and pathogens contribute to its development. Currently, the most common treatment to control asthma is a dual combination of β2-adrenergic receptor agonists and corticosteroids. However, studies have shown that some patients do not respond well to these medications, while others experience significant side effects. It is reported that the majority of asthmas are associated with T helper type 2 (TH2) responses. In these patients, allergen challenge initiates the influx of TH2 cells in the airways leading to an increased production of TH2-associated cytokines and the promotion of allergy-induced asthma. Therefore, biologics that target this pathway may provide an alternative method to treat the allergic airway inflammation associated with asthma. As of now, only two biologics (omalizumab and mepolizumab), which target immunoglobulin E and interleukin-5, respectively, are FDA-approved and being prescribed to asthmatics. However, recent studies have reported that targeting other components of the TH2 response also show great promise. In this review, we will briefly describe the immunologic mechanisms underlying allergic asthma. Furthermore, we will discuss the current therapeutic strategies used to treat asthma including their limitations. Finally, we will highlight the benefits of using biologics to treat asthma-associated allergic airway inflammation with an emphasis on the potential of targeting cytokine alarmins, especially thymic stromal lymphopoietin.
How γ-secretase hits a moving target.

An improved understanding of the ways that amyloid-beta peptides are formed could help efforts to find a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
Texas Pulse Oximetry Project: A Multicenter Educational and Quality Improvement Project for Implementation of Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening Using Pulse Oximetry.

Objective Critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) is a leading cause of death in infants. Newborn screening (NBS) by pulse oximetry allows early identification of CCHD in asymptomatic newborns. To improve readiness of hospital neonatal birthing facilities for mandatory screening in Texas, an educational and quality improvement (QI) project was piloted to identify an implementation strategy for CCHD NBS in a range of birthing hospitals. Study Design Thirteen Texas hospitals implemented standardized CCHD screening by pulse oximetry. An educational program was devised and a tool kit was created to facilitate education and implementation. Newborn nursery nurses' knowledge was assessed using a pre- and posttest instrument. Results The nurses' knowledge assessment improved from 71 to 92.5% (p Conclusion Our educational program, including a tool kit, QI processes, and standardized pulse oximetry CCHD NBS, is applicable for a range of hospital birthing facilities and may facilitate wide-scale implementation, thereby improving newborn health.
Transsphenoidal Surgery for Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas

Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas represent nearly a third of all pituitary tumors. These tumors do not secrete clinically significant hormones, but often cause hypopituitarism from compression of the normal gland along with visual compromise due to proximity to the optic chiasm. Medical options for treatment of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas are limited, and surgical resection via a transsphenoidal approach, supplemented in some patients by stereotactic radiosurgery for residual or recurrent disease, remains the cornerstone of treatment. There is often pituitary dysfunction postoperatively, particularly diabetes insipidus (DI), which tends to resolve over time. Due to the modest recurrence rate of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas, these patients should be followed up over time with yearly MRI scans along with visual and endocrine evaluations as needed.
Analysis of Pro-inflammatory Cytokine and Type II Interferon Induction by Nanoparticles

Cytokines, chemokines, and interferons are released by the immune cells in response to cellular stress, damage and/or pathogens, and are widely used as biomarkers of inflammation. Certain levels of cytokines are needed to stimulate an immune response in applications such as vaccines or immunotherapy where immune stimulation is desired. However, undesirable elevation of cytokine levels, as may occur in response to a drug or a device, may lead to severe side effects such as systemic inflammatory response syndrome or cytokine storm. Therefore, preclinical evaluation of a test material's propensity to cause cytokine secretion by healthy immune cells is an important parameter for establishing its safety profile. Herein, we describe in vitro methods for analysis of cytokines, chemokines, and type II interferon in whole blood cultures derived from healthy donor volunteers. First, whole blood is incubated with controls and tested nanomaterials for 24 h. Then, culture supernatants are analyzed by ELISA to detect IL-1β, TNFα, IL-8, and IFNγ. The culture supernatants can also be analyzed for the presence of other biomarkers secreted by the immune cells. Such testing would require additional assays not covered in this chapter and/or optimization of the test procedure to include relevant positive controls and/or cell types.
Thermal Residual Stress Modeling in AlN and GaN Multi Layer Samples

Thermal residual stresses can detrimentally affect the electronic and optical properties of epitaxial films thereby shortening device lifetime. Based on our earlier work on thermal expansion of nitrides, we provide a finite element modeling analysis of the residual stress distribution of multilayered GaN and AlN on 6H-SiC. The effects of thickness and growth temperatures are considered in the analysis.
Abstract 1457: SCAP/SREBP-1 regulates lipid metabolism reprogramming in cancer cell

Warburg initial observation shows tumorigenesis is associated with an increased glucose consumption. Recently, accumulating evidence show that lipid metabolism is reprogrammed in cancers. Elevated lipogenesis which contributes to the development of malignant phenotypes is known to meet requirements for cancer cell rapid growth. However, how they interact to promote cancer growth remain unclear. Through biochemistry and molecular biology assays, we find that EGFR signaling, by increasing glucose uptake, promotes N-glycosylation of sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) cleavage-activating protein (SCAP) and consequent activation of SREBP-1, an ER-bound transcription factor with central roles in lipid metabolism. N-glycosylation promotes SCAP stabilization and dissociates from Insig-1, allowing movement of SCAP/SREBP to the Golgi and consequent SREBP activation. Blocking SCAP N-glycosylation ameliorates EGFRvIII-driven glioblastoma growth in xenograft mouse model. These results show glucose consumption and lipogenesis are linked as reciprocal metabolic cross-talk in tumorigenesis, and targeting SCAP and its N-glycosylation may provide a promising means of more effective cancer therapy. Citation Format: chunming cheng, feng geng, xiang cheng, arnab chakravarti, deliang guo. SCAP/SREBP-1 regulates lipid metabolism reprogramming in cancer cell [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1457.
Role of Dopaminergic and Glutamatergic Neurotransmitter Systems in Lead-Induced Learning Impairments

Publisher Summary This chapter elaborates the role of dopaminergic and glutamatergic neurotransmitter systems in lead-induced learning impairments. The research approaches outlined in this chapter describe new strategies to enhance understanding of the neurochemical bases of various behavioral manifestations resulting from lead (Pb) exposure. Lead has neurotoxic properties, and in experimental animal studies, lead exposure has been reported to impact a wide variety of neurotransmitter systems, including dopaminergic, opiate, cholinergic, GABAergic, norepinephrine systems, and serotonin systems. This chapter presents experimental results that indicate that Pb-induced changes in the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system have a functional counterpart at the level of the whole animal, expressed as changes in D1 and D2 dopaminergic sensitivity, but these alterations in dopaminergic sensitivity do not appear to play a role in Pb-induced learning impairments. The experimental findings also suggest that Pb-induced changes in the N -methyl- D -aspartate (NMDA) receptor complex occurring at a biochemical/cellular level have a functional counterpart in altered MK-801 sensitivity at the level of the whole animal, but, additionally, that these Pb-induced glutamatergic changes may indeed play a role in the learning impairments ascribed to lead exposure.
Losses (and Gains) from Health Reform for Non‐Medicaid Uninsureds

This article examines how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would change financial resources for and transfers to the previously uninsured if they were to purchase coverage in the ACA insurance exchanges (marketplaces) in 2014. The results suggest that the law provides gains to some, relative to their spending in the pre‐ACA period, particularly those in poor health and with very low incomes, but it also potentially imposes financial losses on many, again compared to their experience when uninsured. We estimate changes in expected payments—defined as premiums plus expected out‐of‐pocket costs—from purchasing coverage and paying cost sharing post‐ACA, relative to expected out‐of‐pocket payments when being uninsured pre‐ACA, across population subgroups characterized by income, age, and health status. We also estimate changes in expected transfers to the previously uninsured under alternative assumptions on how much health care spending increases after the ACA.
The Effects of Prolonged Direct Muscle Stimulation and Recovery on Biochemicals Associated with Glycolysis in Rat Skeletal Muscle

Investigations of glycolytic intermediates indicate that exercise increases the rate of glycolysis in skeletal muscle [1, 5, 6]. Individual substrate concentrations however, change at differing rates. An analysis of the individual changes may lead to an understanding of the control mechanisms that operate during stimulation and recovery processes.
How to Search for a Light Stop at the Tevatron

We describe a method for searching for a light stop squark [M(stop)+M(LSP)<M(t)] at the Fermilab Tevatron. Traditional searches rely upon stringent background-reducing cuts which, unfortunately, leave very few signal events given the present data set. To avoid this difficulty, we suggest using a milder set of cuts, combined with a ``superweight,'' whose purpose is to discriminate between signal and background. The superweight consists of a sum of terms (each of which are either zero or one) assigned event-by-event depending upon the values of various observables. By construction, the superweight ``large'' for the signal and ``small'' for the background. We apply this method to the detection of stops coming from top decay. It is straightforward to adapt our method to other processes.
Zarathustra’s Descent

On the epiphantic day when Nietzsche’s Zarathustra emerges from his home in the mountains, the cave he had lived in for a decade, and declares to the Sun, that great star, “we waited for you every morning, took your overflow from you, and blessed you for it,”1 he identified the openness of compassionate listening. Zarathustra awoke each morning, ready and waiting upon the saying of the sun.
Collaborating for Change: How an Urban School District and a Community-Based Organization Support and Sustain School, Family, and Community Partnerships:

BackgroundResearch suggests that schools’ capacity to successfully implement and sustain reform programs may rest, in part, with district-level facilitation. The importance of district leadership h...
High-fat diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in CYP4a14-/- mice is mediated by 20-HETE.

20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) has been shown to positively correlate with body mass index, hyperglycemia, and plasma insulin levels. This study seeks to identify a causal relationship b...
Better-Than-Worst-Case Design Methodology for a Compact Integrated Switched-Capacitor DC-DC Converter

We suggest a new methodology in co-designing an integrated switched-capacitor converter and a digital load. Conventionally, a load has been specified to the minimum supply voltage and the maximum power dissipation, each found at her own worst-case process, workload, and environment condition. Furthermore, in designing an SC DC-DC converter toward this worst-case load specification, designers often have been adding another separate pessimistic assumption on power-switch's resistance and flying-capacitor's density of an SC converter. Such worst-case design methodology can lead to a significantly over-sized flying capacitor and thereby limit on-chip integration of a converter. Our proposed methodology instead adopts the better than worst-case (BTWC) perspective to avoid over-design and thus optimizes the area of an SC converter. Specifically, we propose BTWC load modeling where we specify non-pessimistic sets of supply voltage requirement and load power dissipation across variations. In addition, by considering coupled variations between the SC converter and the load integrated in the same die, our methodology can further reduce the pessimism in power-switch's resistance and capacitor density. The proposed co-design methodology is verified with a 2:1 SC converter and a digital load in a 65 nm. The resulted converter achieves more than one order of magnitude reduction in the flying capacitor size as compared to the conventional worst-case design while maintaining the target conversion efficiency and target throughput. We also verified our methodology with a wide range of load characteristics in terms of their supply voltages and current draw and confirmed the similar benefits.
Mode-locked oscillator phase stabilization using a Gires-Tournois interferometer

Mode-locked oscillator pulse phase is stabilized and locked to an external cavity in a novel way by using a phase-sensitive peak power response of the Gires-Tournois interferometer, which enables significant increase in phase-measurement sensitivity.
A 45 % PAE pMOS Power Amplifier for 28GHz Applications in 45nm SOI

A power amplifier (PA) with peak power-added efficiency (PAE) above 45% at output power of 19dBm implemented with pMOS in a 45nm SOI technology is reported. The power amplifier operates over a 25 to 31GHz frequency range with output power within 1dB of its peak value. The PA employs two stacked FETs, each with gate width 306 $\mu {\mathrm{ m}}$, and uses an accelerator capacitor to increase gain and efficiency. pMOS- based PAs are of interest because of their potential for higher immunity to hot-carrier injection than their nMOS counterparts. To the authors best knowledge, the PA provides the highest reported PAE for 28GHz applications of any pMOS circuit, and has efficiency comparable to the best reported for nMOS, SiGe HBT and GaAs pHEMT circuits. Amplifier design considerations for efficiency enhancement are discussed.