cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Engagement with health care providers as a mediator between social capital and quality of life among a sample of people living with HIV in the United States: Path-analysis.

Abstract Background Social capital is “features of social organizations—networks, norms, and as trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit”. People with high social capital have lower mortality and better health outcomes. Although utilization of social networks has grown, social capital continues to be a complex concept in relation to health promotion. This study examined 1) associations between social capital and quality of life (QoL), 2) factors of social capital leading to higher QoL among people living with HIV (PLWH), 3) role of health care providers (HCP) as a mediator between social capital and QoL. Methods This is a secondary analysis of the International Nursing HIV Network for HIV/AIDS Research. This cross-sectional study included 1673 PLWH from 11 research sites in the United States in 2010. Using path analysis, we examined the independent effect of social capital on QoL, and the mediating effect of PLWH engagement with HCP. Results The majority of participants were male (71.2%), and 45.7% were African American. Eighty-nine percent of the participants were on antiretroviral therapy. Social capital consisted of three factors — social connection, tolerance toward diversity, and community participation — explaining 87% of variance of social capital. Path analysis (RMSEA = 0, CFI = 1) found that social connection, followed by tolerance toward diversity, were the principal domain of social capital leading to better QoL (std. beta = 0.50, std. error = 0.64, p p p Conclusions This study emphasizes importance of social connections and mediating role of HCP in improving QoL for PLWH. To develop social capital effectively, interventions should focus on strengthening PLWH's social connections and engagement to HCP.
One-shot ontogenetic learning in biomedical datastreams

Recent technological advances in the biological and physical sciences have allowed for the generation of large quantity datasets necessary for applying deep neural networks. Despite the demonstrable success of these methods in a variety of tasks including image classification, machine translation, and query-answering, among others, their widespread adoption in biomedical research has been tempered due to issues inherent to modeling complex biological systems not readily addressed by traditional gradient-based neural networks. We consider the problem of unsupervised, general-purpose learning in biological sequence data, wherein variable-order temporal dependencies, multi-dimensionality and uncertainty in model structure and data are the norm. To successfully model and learn these dependencies in an intuitive and holistic manner, we have utilized the data abstraction of Simplicial Grammar within a Bayesian learning framework. We demonstrate that this framework offers the ability to quickly encode and integrate new information, and perform prediction tasks without extensive, iterative training.
Detection of Subclinical Arthritis in Mice by a Thrombin Receptor-Derived Imaging Agent.

OBJECTIVE:Functional imaging of synovitis could improve both early detection of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and long-term outcomes. Given the intersection of inflammation with coagulation protease activation, this study was undertaken to examine coagulation protease activities in arthritic mice with a dual-fluorescence ratiometric activatable cell-penetrating peptide (RACPP) that has a linker, norleucine (Nle)-TPRSFL, with a cleavage site for thrombin. METHODS:K/BxN-transgenic mice with chronic arthritis and mice with day 1 passive serum-transfer arthritis were imaged in vivo for Cy5:Cy7 emission ratiometric fluorescence from proteolytic cleavage and activation of RACPPNleTPRSFL . Joint thickness in mice with serum-transfer arthritis was measured from days 0 to 10. The cleavage-evoked release of Cy5-tagged tissue-adhesive fragments enabled microscopic correlation with immunohistochemistry for inflammatory markers. Thrombin dependence of ratiometric fluorescence was tested by ex vivo application of RACPPNleTPRSFL and argatroban to cryosections obtained from mouse hind paws on day 1 of serum-transfer arthritis. RESULTS:In chronic arthritis, RACPPNleTPRSFL fluorescence ratios of Cy5:Cy7 emission were significantly higher in diseased swollen ankles of K/BxN-transgenic mice than in normal mouse ankles. A high ratio of RACPPNleTPRSFL fluorescence in mouse ankles and toes on day 1 of serum-transfer arthritis correlated with subsequent joint swelling. Foci of high ratiometric fluorescence localized to inflammation, as demarcated by immune reactivity for citrullinated histones, macrophages, mast cells, and neutrophils, in soft tissue on day 1 of serum-transfer arthritis. Ex vivo application of RACPPNleTPRSFL to cryosections obtained from mice on day 1 of serum-transfer arthritis produced ratiometric fluorescence that was inhibited by argatroban. CONCLUSION:RACPPNleTPRSFL activation detects established experimental arthritis, and the detection of inflammation by RACPPNleTPRSFL on day 1 of serum-transfer arthritis correlates with disease progression.
Black feminism and radical planning: New directions for disaster planning research:

After Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the United States’ Gulf Coast, conversations about flooding became focused on the interconnections between so-called “natural” disasters, poverty, gender an...
Systematic characterization of 3D-printed PCL/β-TCP scaffolds for biomedical devices and bone tissue engineering: influence of composition and porosity.

This work aims at providing guidance through systematic experimental characterization for the design of 3D-printed scaffolds for potential orthopedic applications, focusing on fused deposition modeling with a composite of clinically available polycaprolactone (PCL) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP). First, we studied the effect of the chemical composition (0–60% β-TCP/PCL) on the scaffold’s properties. We showed that surface roughness and contact angle were, respectively, proportional and inversely proportional to the amount of β-TCP and that degradation rate increased with the amount of ceramic. Biologically, the addition of β-TCP enhanced proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of C3H10. Second, we systematically investigated the effect of the composition and the porosity on the 3D-printed scaffold mechanical properties. Both an increasing amount of β-TCP and a decreasing porosity augmented the apparent Young’s modulus of the 3D-printed scaffolds. Third, as a proof of concept, a novel multimaterial biomimetic implant was designed and fabricated for potential disc replacement.
Overview of the Alaska Groundfish Industry

The historical background and institutional structure of the Alaska groundfishery are described. Data are presented for the landings, trends, and price of major groundfish species.
Processing and ligand-induced modifications of the V2 vasopressin receptor.

Synthesis, processing and agonist-induced modifications of the V2 vasopressin receptor were examined in stably or transiently transfected HEK293 cells. Metabolic labeling with35S methionine for 30 min revealed a predominant precursor protein which subsequently gave rise to the mature receptor on the cell surface. Maturation of the receptor was unrelated to glycosylation suggesting that it was the consequence of protein refolding. In addition to monomeric forms of V2 receptor protein, oligomers of the precursor protein were also detected in SDS-PAGE. These oligomers seemed to be dimers and tetrameres, and were more apparent in transiently transfected cells that produced higher quantities of protein then stably transfected cells. No oligomers of the mature receptor were detected, and co-transfection of the wild type with a mutant V2 receptor lacking G-protein coupling activity did not alter the function of the wild type receptor. These results indicated that the formation of oligomeric was most likely a consequence of overproduction of the protein and not a required step for receptor function.
From bacterial genomics to clinical epidemiology: an interview with Bill Hanage.

Bill Hanage is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, where he studies fundamental and applied epidemiology using genomic and evolutionary methods. Bill spoke to us about the different types of selection that determine pathogen populations, asking reviewers to highlight positives of papers, and whether we’re closer to a causal framework for studying the microbiome.
A General Approach to Prior Transformation.

Abstract We present a general method for setting prior distributions in Bayesian models where parameters of interest are re-parametrized via a functional relationship. We generalize the results of Heck and Wagenmakers (2016) by considering the case where the dimension of the auxiliary parameter space does not equal that of the primary parameter space. We present numerical methods for carrying out prior specification for statistical models that do not admit closed-form solutions. Taken together, these results provide researchers a more complete set of tools for setting prior distributions that could be applied to many cognitive and decision making models. We illustrate our approach by re-analyzing data under the Selective Integration model of Tsetsos et al. (2016). We find, via a Bayes factor analysis, that the selective integration model with all four parameters generally outperforms both the three-parameter variant (omitting early cognitive noise) and the w = 1 variant (omitting selective gating), as well as an unconstrained competitor model. By contrast, Tsetsos et al. found the three parameter variant to be the best performing in a BIC analysis (in the absence of a competitor). Finally, we also include a pedagogical treatment of the mathematical tools necessary to formulate our results, including a simple “toy” example that illustrates our more general points.
‘The world they’ve been born into’: Black male teachers on Blackness, masculinities and leadership

In this article, life history methodology and principles of counterstorytelling are used to examine moments when one Black male preservice social studies teacher and three Black male social studies...
Observation Model for Indoor Positioning.

The IEEE 802.11mc WiFi standard provides a protocol for a cellphone to measure its distance from WiFi access points (APs). The position of the cellphone can then be estimated from the reported distances using known positions of the APs. There are several “multilateration” methods that work in relatively open environments. The problem is harder in a typical residence where signals pass through walls and floors. There, Bayesian cell update has shown particular promise. The Bayesian grid update method requires an “observation model” which gives the conditional probability of observing a reported distance given a known actual distance. The parameters of an observation model may be fitted using scattergrams of reported distances versus actual distance. We show here that the problem of fitting an observation model can be reduced from two dimensions to one. We further show that, perhaps surprisingly, a “double exponential” observation model fits real data well. Generating the test data involves knowing not only the positions of the APs but also that of the cellphone. Manual determination of positions can limit the scale of test data collection. We show here that “boot strapping,” using results of a Bayesian grid update method as a proxy for the actual position, can provide an accurate observation model, and a good observation model can nearly double the accuracy of indoor positioning. Finally, indoors, reported distance measurements are biased to be mostly longer than the actual distances. An attempt is made here to detect this bias and compensate for it.
Genomic expression assay testing among American Indian and Alaska Native women with breast cancer

Background Breast cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer mortality for all women, including American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women. The use of the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) appears to be predictive of the benefit of chemotherapy for women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. The objective of the current study was to compare RS testing between AI/AN and non-Hispanic White (NHW) women with breast cancer. Methods The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program was used to identify women with ER-positive breast cancer from 2004 through 2015. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate factors associated with RS use, with high-risk RS, and with chemotherapy use among those with a high-risk RS. Results A total of 363,387 NHW patients and 1951 AI/AN patients with ER-positive breast cancer were identified. AI/AN women were found to be less likely to undergo RS testing and, when tested, were more likely to have a high-risk RS. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, AI/AN women were found to be significantly more likely to have a high-risk RS (odds ratio,1.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.66). Among untested women, chemotherapy use was higher for AI/AN women; however, the use of chemotherapy was not found to be significantly different between the groups with a high-risk RS. Using Cox proportional hazards models, AI/AN race was found to be significantly associated with worse overall survival. Conclusions AI/AN women were less likely to undergo RS testing compared with NHW women and were more likely to have a high-risk RS. Reversing the disparity in genomic expression assay testing is critical to ensure guideline-based breast cancer treatment and improve survival rates for AI/AN women with breast cancer.
Evolution of p38 MAP Kinases in Drosophila

In order to understand how oxidative stress signal transduction pathways evolve, we analyzed the molecular evolution of the p38 MAPK (p38K) gene family across the genus Drosophila. p38K family genes play a vital role in oxidative stress resistance and are also important for organismal development and immunity. We find that the p38Ka and p38Kb genes are highly conserved across the genus and that p38Kc is more recently evolved. We further find that the p38Kb genomic locus includes conserved binding sites for the AP-1 and lola-PT transcription factors. Accordingly, over-expression of either AP-1 or lola-PT in D. melanogaster is sufficient to induce transcription of p38Kb under normal conditions, while under oxidative stress only lola-PT over-expression was able to induce p38Kb transcription. In addition, exposure to oxidative stress results in increased p38K protein levels in a number of species. These increased levels are associated with an increased resistance to oxidative stress across species. We also find that the presence of a lola-PT binding site in the p38Kb locus is predictive of the species survival in response to oxidative stress. Through this comparative genomics analysis, we have identified biologically relevant transcription factor binding sites that regulate the expression of p38Kb and are associated with resistance to oxidative stress.
Social Media Socialism: People’s Tech and Decolonization for a Global Society in Crisis

Recent proposals by the neo-Brandeisian School of antitrust seek to ameliorate harms to society created by social media monopolies. While this initiative sounds great on paper, their solutions are inadequate, as they leave the proprietary, profit-seeking structure of social media networking intact. As a result, the neo-Brandeisian framework fails to cope with the harms of Big Social Media networks, such as privacy harms, user manipulation, the amplification of sensational content, the problems of online advertising, digital colonialism, and environmental degradation. This Article argues that social media socialism based on a democratic commons should replace Big Social Media networks. It suggests an interlocking set of tools to decentralize social networks, including network interoperability, data portability, data decentralization, a fully Free and Open Source Software stack, and socialist legal solutions. The guiding framework is based on a People’s Tech model that places ownership and control of social media directly into the hands of the global public. It proposes solutions to (1) force interoperability, data portability, data decentralization, and a Free and Open Source Software stack on social media providers; (2) put rules in place to prevent new business practices that concentrate wealth and power; (3) abolish or amend laws inconsistent with social media socialism; (4) pass strong privacy laws; (5) subsidize the social media commons through a Digital Tech New Deal; (6) form regulatory bodies to regulate social media; (7) formulate solutions jointly with the international community within a decolonial framework designed for global equality, reparations, and environmental sustainability. The Article begins by outlining the harms produced by social media monopolies. Next, it provides a socialist critique of neo-Brandeisian philosophy and its proposals to fix social media. Following that, it explains how commons-based social media decentralization works -- including its history, philosophy, and core components -- using the Fediverse and LibreSocial as case examples. The final section outlines a People's Tech model for social media socialism and addresses possible challenges.
Why MMT can’t work

Using a stock-flow consistent ISLM open-economy model, this article shows that, unless very specific country circumstances hold, modern money theory (MMT) cannot work as an effective and sustainable macroeconomic policy program aimed to achieve and maintain full-employment output through persistent money-financed fiscal deficits in economies suffering from Keynesian unemployment or underemployment. Specific country circumstances include cases where the economy enjoys very high policy credibility in the eyes of the international financial markets or issues an international reserve currency; under such circumstances, the adverse outcomes of MMT policy can be prevented and expansionary demand shocks can be effective. Short of such features, an open and internationally highly financially integrated economy that implements MMT policy would either see its money stock grow unsustainably large or would have to set domestic interest rates to levels that would be inconsistent with the policy objective of resource full employment and that would cause instead economic and financial instability. The article explains why ISLM analysis is used to support the arguments developed in it.
Specific heat capacity of wildland foliar fuels to 434 °C

Abstract Specific heat capacity of eleven live foliar fuels from the southeastern United States was measured to 434 °C using differential scanning calorimetry to improve the modeling of prescribed fire behavior. Techniques which allow measurement of the standard heat capacity, excluding the effects of heat of reaction, were refined. Specific heat of leaves increased with temperature until the onset of pyrolysis. Once pyrolysis began, the specific heat became nearly constant. We present a simple model, suitable for incorporation in computer simulations, which captures this functional shape. This model approach could be applied to other foliar fuels if the chemical composition is known. Measurement of standard heat capacity was used to estimate effective heat of reaction given the measurements of total heat flow which included heat of reaction. For all foliar fuels studied, effective heat of reaction was found to be mildly exothermic between 220 and 350 °C.
Characterizing Sounds of Different Sources in a Commercial Broiler House

Audio data collected in commercial broiler houses are mixed sounds of different sources that contain useful information regarding bird health condition, bird behavior, and equipment operation. However, characterizations of the sounds of different sources in commercial broiler houses have not been well established. The objective of this study was, therefore, to determine the frequency ranges of six common sounds, including bird vocalization, fan, feed system, heater, wing flapping, and dustbathing, at bird ages of week 1 to 8 in a commercial Ross 708 broiler house. In addition, the frequencies of flapping (in wing flapping events, flaps/s) and scratching (during dustbathing, scratches/s) behaviors were examined through sound analysis. A microphone was installed in the middle of broiler house at the height of 40 cm above the back of birds to record audio data at a sampling frequency of 44,100 Hz. A top-view camera was installed to continuously monitor bird activities. Total of 85 min audio data were manually labeled and fed to MATLAB for analysis. The audio data were decomposed using Maximum Overlap Discrete Wavelet Transform (MODWT). Decompositions of the six concerned sound sources were then transformed with the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) method to generate the single-sided amplitude spectrums. By fitting the amplitude spectrum of each sound source into a Gaussian regression model, its frequency range was determined as the span of the three standard deviations (99% CI) away from the mean. The behavioral frequencies were determined by examining the spectrograms of wing flapping and dustbathing sounds. They were calculated by dividing the number of movements by the time duration of complete behavioral events. The frequency ranges of bird vocalization changed from 2481 ± 191–4409 ± 136 Hz to 1058 ± 123–2501 ± 88 Hz as birds grew. For the sound of fan, the frequency range increased from 129 ± 36–1141 ± 50 Hz to 454 ± 86–1449 ± 75 Hz over the flock. The sound frequencies of feed system, heater, wing flapping and dustbathing varied from 0 Hz to over 18,000 Hz. The behavioral frequencies of wing flapping were continuously decreased from week 3 (17 ± 4 flaps/s) to week 8 (10 ± 1 flaps/s). For dustbathing, the behavioral frequencies decreased from 16 ± 2 scratches/s in week 3 to 11 ± 1 scratches/s in week 6. In conclusion, characterizing sounds of different sound sources in commercial broiler houses provides useful information for further advanced acoustic analysis that may assist farm management in continuous monitoring of animal health and behavior. It should be noted that this study was conducted with one flock in a commercial house. The generalization of the results remains to be explored.
Diagnosis and Management of Myocarditis: An Evidence-Based Review for the Emergency Medicine Clinician.

Abstract Background Myocarditis is a potentially fatal condition that can be misdiagnosed in the emergency department (ED) setting. Objective The purpose of this narrative review article is to provide a summary of the background, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of myocarditis, with a focus on emergency clinicians. Discussion Myocarditis occurs when inflammation of the heart musculature causes cardiac dysfunction. Symptoms may range from mild to severe and are often preceded by a viral prodrome. Laboratory assessment and an electrocardiogram can be helpful for the diagnosis, but echocardiography is the ideal test in the ED setting. Some patients may also require advanced imaging, though this will often occur during hospitalization or follow-up. Treatment is primarily focused on respiratory and hemodynamic support. Initial hemodynamic management includes vasopressors and inotropes, whereas more severe cases may require an intra-aortic balloon pump, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or a ventricular assist device. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be avoided while intravenous immunoglobulin is controversial. Conclusion Myocarditis is a serious condition with the potential for significant morbidity and mortality. It is important for clinicians to be aware of the current evidence regarding the diagnosis, management, and disposition of these patients.
Using Prophet Algorithm for Pattern Recognition and Short Term Forecasting of Load Demand Based on Seasonality and Exogenous Features

As smart meters have proliferated in recent years, electrical power companies are dealing with a large volume of data, known as Big Data. Consistent with this issue, data science techniques are necessary to extract the patterns of consumption and forecast load at a specific area. Short-term load forecasting (STLF) models are crucial for electric utilities and play a vital role in generation planning, system operation, system security (false data detection), energy trading (buying/purchasing), reconfiguration, and contingency analysis. Nevertheless, electric consumption forecasting is challenging due to uncertainty incorporated in consumers' behavior. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive two-stage STLF method based on the Prophet Algorithm (PA). In the first stage and after data mining, load consumption patterns are extracted based on trend and seasonality features (e.g., spring, summer, autumn, winter, daily, weekly, etc.) along with holiday effects. Also, to make the model more robust, weather and lag data are added as an exogenous regressors. In the second step the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) is defined as an objective function to find hyper parameters of the PA. The optimal hyper parameters maximize the accuracy of the fitted model and result in an appropriate prediction based on the historical data. To show the performance of the proposed method Commonwealth Edison Company (CornEd., Northern Illinois, PJM RTO) data set including load and weather data is used. Three case studies are investigated to predict day-ahead load profiles employing different PA hyper parameters. The Simulation results developed in Python programing language reveal that different load patterns can be extracted by this method. Furthermore, different hyper setting results in distinct forecasting while one case can trace light load hours, the other one can follow peak load hours, more accurately. For all of the case studies, the next 24-hour load can be forecasted within an acceptable error range (less than 3%) within the confidence interval.
Clostridium thermocellum: Engineered for the Production of Bioethanol

Abstract Clostridium thermocellum is a candidate consolidated bioprocessing biocatalyst for the direct conversion of plant biomass-derived material into cellulosic ethanol because of its efficient degradation and utilization of cellulose. This chapter summarizes important C. thermocellum characteristics and highlights recent progress on genome sequences, systems biology studies, and important developments and applications of new genetic tools for metabolic engineering bioethanol production.
Sexual Dimorphism in Primates

Secondary sexual differentiation in sexually reproducing organisms leads to more or less pronounced sexual dimorphism in an array of interrelated morphological, physiological, and behavioral features. Among primates morphological sexual differences occur in a wide range of characteristics, including (1) size (body weight and linear body dimensions such as trunk, head, and tail length), (2) dentition (such as canine size), (3) cranial features (such as prognathism, or sagittal and nuchal cresting), (4) locomotor apparatus (dimensions of axial and appendicular skeleton, muscular development), (5) internal organs (such as brain and heart size), (6) external features (such as pelage color and markings, shoulder capes and manes, permanent skin ridges, and coloration, particularly on the face), and (7) maturational, seasonal, or periodic morphological changes associated with reproductive cycles (Leutenegger, 1982a).
Globalization, Privatization, and a Feminist Public

The central claim in Professor Zillah Eisenstein's article1 is that the process of globalization is leading to increasing privatization, and that privatization, in turn, contributes to substantial suffering for women around the world. Eisenstein suggests, however, that feminism may offer some hope for a revitalization of the realm of the public as a basis for resisting this trend toward privatization. I will pursue this suggestion in several stages. First, I will trace out three of the different manifestations of privatization that Eisenstein mentions. Second, I will consider the feminist criticisms of existing conceptions of the public and the related concepts of the State and citizenship. Third, I will briefly offer the outlines of a new vision of the public. Finally, I will explore the ways that a feminist revisioning of the public might address the criticisms of the old version of the public and also help ameliorate the privatizing impact of globalization. "Globalization" is the process through which forces and actors that transcend national boundaries shape life and law within nations.2 Transnational corporations are one of the prime movers of globalization, but they are hardly alone. Globalization is also driven by economic forces other than transnational corporations (e.g., the interrelationship of monetary systems) and noneconomic forces that cross national boundaries (e.g., the destruction of the environment or the transmission of diseases). I think it would be fruitful to consider a feminist assessment of these other forces of globalization, but Eisenstein's argument focuses on the particular impact of transnational business enterprises and the technology that makes them possible. Consequently, I will use the term "globalization" in Eisenstein's qualified way. Eisenstein mentions at least three forms of privatization that are encouraged or enforced by this process of globalization. First, there is what might be called economic privatization. Economic privatization is the
Scholarship from Northern Wisconsin: An Analysis of Efforts to Promote Scholarship in the University of Wisconsin’s Cooperative Extension Field-Based Staff

Utilizing results drawn from a survey of extension field-based staff from northern Wisconsin, the author examines the role of scholarship for county-level extension staff. This article argues that if the challenge of campus academicians is to become more engaged with civil society, the challenge for extension staff is the opposite: to engage and embrace scholarly work as part of their mission. Analysis of a recent survey of University of Wisconsin Northern District field staff led to the conclusion that field staff value scholarship but need to enhance their skills and opportunities in applied research, writing, and presenting. As public universities seek to re-engage their campus faculty in the larger community, they should draw on their most engaged members—field-based staff. Cooperative Extension’s faculty and staffcan contribute to meeting the needs of the people of their state and beyond, not only by the specific work they do in their communities, but also by adding to the larger base of knowledge through their scholarship.
Reacting to History

Chemical Creativity Ideas from the Work of Woodward, Huckel, Meerwein, and Others. Jerome A. Berson. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 1999. 207 pp. Paper, $54.95. ISBN 3-527-29754-5. Through a series of essays on specific research problems, Berson examines the origination and development of ideas in chemistry.
Predictive Grayscale Image Coding Scheme Using VQ and BTC

A predictive image compression scheme that combines the advantages of vector quantization and moment preserving block truncation coding is introduced in this paper. To exploit the similarities among neighboring image blocks, the block prediction technique is employed in this scheme. If a similar compressed image block can be found in the neighborhood of current processing block, it is taken to encode this block. Otherwise, this image block is encoded either by vector quantization or moment preserving block truncation coding. A bit-rate reduced version of the proposed scheme is also introduced. According to the experimental results, it is shown that the proposed scheme provides better image quality at a low bitrate than these comparative schemes.
Mind-making practices: the social infrastructure of self-knowing agency and responsibility

This paper is divided into two parts. In Section 1, I explore and defend a “regulative view” of folk-psychology as against the “standard view” (encompassing both theory-theory and simulation theory, as well as hybrid variations). On the regulative view, folk-psychology is conceptualized in fundamentally interpersonal terms as a “mind-making” practice through which we come to form and regulate our minds in accordance with a rich array of socially shared and socially maintained sense-making norms. It is not, as the standard view maintains, simply an epistemic capacity for coming to know about the mental states and dispositions already there. Importantly, the regulative view can meet and beat the standard at its own epistemic game. But it also does more. In Section 2, I show how the regulative view makes progress on two other problems that remain puzzling on the standard view: (1) the problem of “first-person authority” – accounting for the special features of self-knowledge; and (2) the problem of “reactive...
Synchronous Hepatoblastoma, Neuroblastoma, and Cutaneous Capillary Hemangiomas: A Case Report

Multiple synchronous tumors presenting in infancy raise concern for inherited or sporadic cancer predisposition syndromes, which include Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, familial adenomatous polyposis syndrome, and Li-Fraumeni syndrome. We report a case of a 7-month-old previously healthy male born following an in vitro fertilization-assisted twin pregnancy who presented with new-onset refractory shock, severe acidosis, and rapid decline over several hours. An autopsy revealed a ruptured liver involved by hepatoblastoma, an adrenal gland involved by neuroblastoma, and multiple cutaneous capillary hemangiomas. Standard genetic testing demonstrated that both twins were Gaucher disease (GD) carriers without evidence of other known cancer predisposition syndromes. This report describes a unique association of multiple synchronous tumors, which underscores the utility and importance of the pediatric autopsy. Moreover, given that the reported child was a GD carrier, the possibility the tumors were the result of a GD-mediated cancer-associated phenotype or an unrecognized sporadic clinical syndrome remains an unanswered, but intriguing, question worthy of further investigation.
9 Practices of Place‐Making, Ancestralizing, and Re‐animation within Memory Communities

Place-making, ancestralizing, and re-animation within memory communities are key features of residential burial. The history and ethical responsibilities of this archaeological study are considered within the discipline, particularly when control of the past has been alienated from descendant peoples. Residential burial practices create or modify a built environment, speak to the vitality of the house and community, but often minimize the message of social difference that is redolent in monumental mortuary shrines. Consideration is given to the notion that ancestralizing practices signal inalienable wealth (including the relicts of ancestors) and that such actions likely also signal a commitment to an ethos of hereditary wealth transmission.
Preferential binding of platelets to monocytes over neutrophils under flow

This study was undertaken to systematically investigate the binding kinetics of platelet recruitment by monocytes relative to neutrophils in bulk suspensions subjected to shear as well as the molecular requirements of leukocyte-platelet binding. Hydrodynamic shear-induced collisions augment the proportion of monocytes with adherent platelets more drastically than that of neutrophils with bound platelets. These heterotypic interactions are further potentiated by platelet activation with thrombin or to a lesser extent by monocyte stimulation with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP). Monocyte-platelet heteroaggregation increases with increasing shear rate and shear exposure time. Platelet P-selectin binding to monocyte P-selectin-glycoprotein-ligand-1 is solely responsible for maximal platelet adhesion to unstimulated monocytes in shear flow. However, the enhanced platelet binding to fMLP-treated monocytes involves a sequential two-step process, wherein P-selectin-PSGL-1 interactions are stabilized by CD18-integrin involvement. Blocking platelet alpha(IIb)beta(3) or monocyte beta(1)-integrin function had no effect. This study underscores the preferential recruitment of platelets by monocytes relative to neutrophils in shear flow, and demonstrates that the shear environment of the vasculature coupled to the state of cell activation modulates the dynamics and molecular constituents mediating monocyte-platelet adhesion.
MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION OF ACOUSTIC SANDWICH PANELS

Abstract In this paper the optimal acoustic design of sandwich panels is studied in a comprehensive way with an attempt to establish a methodology to assist the acoustic analysts and panel designers in making appropriate trade-offs between conflicting objectives. Closed-form relationships between design objectives and design variables are obtained for panel cost and for panel loading and deflection from various mechanics models of panel response. Four different objectives—Transmission Loss, Cost, Panel End-Loading, and Mid-Span Deflection—are combined to carry out the multi-objective optimization. Finally, ways for the selection of the best-compromise solution are indicated.
Improved Survival with Inhibitory Killer Immunoglobulin Receptor (KIR) Gene Mismatches and KIR Haplotype B Donors after Nonmyeloablative, HLA-Haploidentical Bone Marrow Transplantation

Natural killer (NK) cell alloreactivity, which may contribute to the graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), is influenced by the interaction of killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) on donor NK cells and their ligands, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules on recipient antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Distinct models to predict NK cell alloreactivity differ in their incorporation of information from typing of recipient and donor KIR and HLA gene loci, which exist on different autosomes and are inherited independently as haplotypes. Individuals may differ in the inheritance of the 2 KIR haplotypes, A and B, or in the expression of individual KIR genes. Here, we examined the effect of KIR and HLA genotype, in both the recipient and donor, on the outcome of 86 patients with advanced hematologic malignancies who received nonmyeloablative (NMA), HLA-haploidentical HSCT with high-dose, posttransplantation cyclophosphamide (Cy). Compared to recipients of bone marrow (BM) from donors with identical KIR gene content, recipients of inhibitory KIR (iKIR) gene-mismatched BM had an improved overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR]=0.37; confidence interval [CI]: 0.21-0.63; P=.0003), event-free survival (EFS) (HR=0.51; CI: 0.31-0.84; P=.01), and relapse rate (cause-specific HR, SDHR=0.53; CI: 0.31-0.93; P=.025). Patients homozygous for the KIR "A" haplotype, which encodes only 1 activating KIR, had an improved OS (HR=0.30; CI: 0.13-10.69; P=.004), EFS (HR=0.47; CI: 0.22-1.00; P=.05), and nonrelapse mortality (NRM; cause-specific HR=0.13; CI: 0.017-0.968; P=.046) if their donor expressed at least 1 KIR B haplotype that encodes several activating KIRs. Models that incorporated information from recipient HLA typing, with or without donor HLA typing, were not predictive of outcome in this patient cohort. Thus, NMA conditioning and T cell-replete, HLA-haploidentical HSCTs involving iKIR gene mismatches between donor and recipient, or KIR haplotype AA recipients of BM from KIR Bx donors, were associated with lower relapse and NRM and improved OS and EFS. These findings suggest that selection of donors based upon inhibitory KIR gene or haplotype incompatibility may be warranted.
Functional MRI study of specific animal phobia using an event-related emotional counting stroop paradigm.

Background: Emotional interference tasks may be useful in probing anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) function to understand abnormal attentional study in individuals with specific phobia. Methods: In a 3 T functional MRI study, individuals with specific phobias of the animal subtype (SAP, n=12) and healthy comparison (HC) adults (n=12) completed an event-related emotional counting Stroop task. Individuals were presented phobia-related, negative, and neutral words and were instructed to report via button press the number of words displayed on each trial. Results: Compared to the HC group, the SAP group exhibited greater rostral ACC activation (i.e., greater response to phobia-related words than neutral words). In this same contrast, HCs exhibited greater right amygdala and posterior insula activations as well as greater thalamic deactivation than the SAP group. Both groups exhibited anterior cingulate, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus/insula, and amygdala activations as well as thalamic deactivation. Psychophysiological interaction analysis highlighted a network of activation in these regions in response to phobia-related words in the SAP group. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings implicate a circuit of dysfunction, which is linked to attention abnormalities in individuals with SAP. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. Published 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A New Cirriped From the Hawaiian Islands

Description d'une nouvelle sous-espece, subquadrata, de Tetraclita (Tetraclitella) divisa Nilsson-Cantell, fondee sur des exemplaires provenant du littoral des Iles Hawaii.
Block Copolymer Domain Reorientation in an Electric Field: An in-Situ Small-Angle X-ray Scattering Study

Using in-situ small-angle X-ray scattering, the electric field induced orientation of symmetric block copolymers of polystyrene and polyisoprene was investigated. Alignment of the lamellar microdomains parallel to the electric field was achieved within minutes to a high degree of orientation. Analysis of the scattering patterns indicated that, during alignment of the lamellar microdomains, the material goes through an intermediate state with substantially reduced long-range order. After orientation, the sample consists of many small grains with the lamellae being oriented parallel to the electric field and a random orientation in the plane perpendicular to the field.
Maintenance following reward and cost token programs

The maintenance of treatment gains achieved in a classroom with reward and response cost token programs was compared in a group of 10 children with academic and/or behavior problems. Differentially superior maintenance of on-task behavior during fading of the response cost program was predicted on the basis of differential discriminability of treatment withdrawal. A within-subjects design and analysis revealed that both the reward and response cost programs had large and equivalent treatment effects. During fading of the response cost program, all children maintained their rates of on-task behavior. During fading of the reward program, half of the children did not maintain their rates of on-task behavior, while the remaining five children did. The five non-maintainers obtained significantly elevated scores on the Aggression and Hyperactivity factors of the Teacher Rating Scale (TRS) ( Conners, 1969 ). The results are discussed in the context of procedural differences between reward and response cost programs and theories of hyperactivity.
Characterization of the human and mouse sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor, S1P5 (Edg-8): structure-activity relationship of sphingosine1-phosphate receptors.

Five G protein-coupled receptors (S1P1/Edg-1, S1P3/Edg-3, S1P2/Edg-5, S1P4/Edg-6, and S1P5/Edg-8) for the intercellular lipid mediator sphingosine 1-phosphate have been cloned and characterized. We...
Apolipoprotein A-I mimetic peptides: potential role in atherosclerosis management.

Atherothrombotic vascular disease continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in much of the world. Although a healthy lifestyle and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol lowering significantly reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, substantial number of adverse vasoocclusive events continue to occur. These realities have brought attention to additional therapies that could further reduce cardiovascular events. High-density lipoprotein (HDL)/apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I)–based therapies are a potential therapeutic strategy against atherothrombotic vascular disease because of the known inverse relationship between HDL cholesterol and coronary heart disease, favorable and pleotrophic biologic effects of HDL/apo A-I, results of preclinical experimental studies, and emerging proof of concept in clinical studies. A variety of HDL/apo A-I–based therapies are currently under investigation, including synthetic peptides that mimic the function of HDL. Such apo A-I mimetic peptides are the focus of this review.
First Month Physiologic Instability is Associated with Neurodevelopmental Morbidity at Two Years in Extremely Premature Infants. ♦ 1211

Extreme prematurity is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, which may be due to chronic physiologic instability. We correlated 28 day cumulative scores for neonatal acute physiology (SNAP) with 1 and 2 yr developmental outcomes in infants ≤ 30 weeks gestational age (GA). Daily SNAP scores were summed over the first 28 days in 96 infants (mean GA 27.3± 1.6 wks and birthweight 1085 ± 271g). The mental and psychomotor indices (MDI and PDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development(II) were administered at 1 and 2 yrs of age; the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale (REEL) was administered at 2 yrs of age. Infants were ranked by 28 day SNAP scores and grouped by quartiles. Outcomes were compared using ANOVA. Higher 28 day SNAP scores were associated (p<0.05) with lower MDI (1 and 2 yrs), PDI (1 and 2 yrs), and increased incidence of combined neurodevelopmental morbidity (see table). REEL and 28 day SNAP scores were not correlated. Using stepwise regression analyses, 28 day SNAP and intracranial anomalies (ICA), but not GA, were predictors of 1 yr MDI and 1 and 2 yr PDI. For 2 yr MDI, only 28 day SNAP scores were a significant predictor. GA was not a significant cofactor in any analysis.
Controlled Study on the Effectiveness of Multimedia Learning Modules for Teaching Mechanics.

We have investigated the impact of using multimedia learning modules (MLM) on the learning of students enrolled in introductory physics courses at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. One hundred fifty-nine students were randomly registered in two sections of an introductory mechanics course, one of which featured the MLMs. Both sections had the same instructor, participated in class discussions on identical topics, and used the same problem-solving examples. The students in the multimedia group outperformed the students who did not experience the MLMs in a final course examination and across identical discussion questions.
Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon composition of air polluted by coal-tar pitch fumes.

Abstract Coal-tax-pitch pollution can be characterized by the large amounts of anthracene, phenanthrene, pyrene and carbazole present in collected airborne particulates. Carbazole has not yet been found in pollution due to incomplete solid fuel combustion products or auto exhaust fumes. Goal-tar-pitch pollution is characterized by much higher P/BaP, BaP/BghiP, and BaP/Cor ratios when compared to other types of pollution. The large amounts of polynuclear hydrocarbons (and especially benzo[a]pyrene) often present in coal-tar-pitch polluted air indicate the necessity of a thorough study of this problem as it affects lung cancer.
Experimental investigation of UWB MISO beamforming

An experimental setup is designed to study transmit beamforming over UWB multiple antenna configurations. We use time-domain spread spectrum channel sounding to simultaneously characterize system impulse responses and prove our capability to carry out high accuracy measurements. By exploiting the high quality impulse response data, we applied multiple input single output (MISO) phase compensation (PC) beamforming. This setup can be used to investigate practical issues which are not usually addressed in simulation models, such as imperfect channel estimation or coherency between the multiple transmitters.