cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Origin, Operation, and Significance: The Federalism of William H. Riker

William Riker transformed the study of federalism by advancing both a methodological approach and numerous substantive propositions. Methodologically, he introduced students of federalism to the scientific approach of positive political science, illustrating the development of “testable and tested generalizations.” Substantively, he explained the origins of federal systems as a bargain among political leaders with expansionist and militaristic concerns. He argued that the United States was a politically centralized federal system from its founding. He linked the degree of centralization in federal systems to the degree of centralization among their political parties. Despite all his work, though, Riker ultimately dismissed federalism as a minor institution having little impact on policy outcomes. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.
Field validation of food outlet databases: the Latino food environment in North Carolina, USA

Objective Obtaining valid, reliable measures of food environments that serve Latino communities is important for understanding barriers to healthy eating in this at-risk population. Design The primary aim of the study was to examine agreement between retail food outlet data from two commercial databases, Nielsen TDLinx (TDLinx) for food stores and Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) for food stores and restaurants, relative to field observations of food stores and restaurants in thirty-one census tracts in Durham County, NC, USA. We also examined differences by proportion of Hispanic population (</≥23·4 % Hispanic population) in the census tract and for outlets classified in the field as ‘Latino’ on the basis of signage and use of Spanish language. Setting One hundred and seventy-four food stores and 337 restaurants in Durham County, NC, USA. Results We found that overall sensitivity of food store listings in TDLinx was higher (64 %) than listings in D&B (55 %). Twenty-five food stores were characterized by auditors as Latino food stores, with 20 % identified in TDLinx, 52 % in D&B and 56 % in both sources. Overall sensitivity of restaurants (68 %) was higher than sensitivity of Latino restaurants (38 %) listed in D&B. Sensitivity did not differ substantially by Hispanic composition of neighbourhoods. Conclusions Our findings suggest that while TDLinx and D&B commercial data sources perform well for total food stores, they perform less well in identifying small and independent food outlets, including many Latino food stores and restaurants.
On the use of multispectral conjunctival vasculature as a soft biometric

Ocular biometrics has made significant progress over the past decade primarily due to advances in iris recognition. Initial research in the field of iris recognition focused on the acquisition and processing of frontal irides which may require considerable subject cooperation. However, when the iris is off-angle with respect to the acquisition device, the sclera (the white part of the eye) is exposed. The sclera is covered by a thin transparent layer called conjunctiva. Both the episclera and conjunctiva contain blood vessels that are observable from the outside. In this work, these blood vessels are referred to as conjunctival vasculature. Iris patterns are better observed in the near infrared spectrum while conjunctival vasculature is better seen in the visible spectrum. Therefore, multispectral (i.e., color-infrared) images of the eye are acquired to allow for the combination of the iris biometric with the conjunctival vasculature. The paper focuses on conjunctival vasculature enhancement, registration and matching. Initial results are promising and suggest the need for further investigation of this biometric in a bimodal configuration with iris.
Toward a Psychology of Human Agency

This article presents an agentic theory of human development, adaptation, and change. The evolutionary emergence of advanced symbolizing capacity enabled humans to transcend the dictates of their immediate environment and made them unique in their power to shape their life circumstances and the courses their lives take. In this conception, people are contributors to their life circumstances, not just products of them. Social cognitive theory rejects a duality between human agency and social structure. People create social systems, and these systems, in turn, organize and influence people's lives. This article discusses the core properties of human agency, the different forms it takes, its ontological and epistemological status, its development and role in causal structures, its growing primacy in the coevolution process, and its influential exercise at individual and collective levels across diverse spheres of life and cultural systems.
Modernity and the Memory Artist: The Work of Imagination in Highland Sumatra, 1947–1995

L'A. analyse le travail realise par Sinek beru Karo, une artiste de la memoire qui, dans un chant epique enregistre en 1950, commemore l'evacuation des Karo des Hautes-Terres de Sumatra pendant la guerre d'independance nationale indonesienne. Il explore l'interrelation de trois themes caracteristiques de la modernite : la rupture avec le passe, l'idee de patrie, et la trajectoire biographique personnelle. Il montre comment le texte de Sinek situe l'imaginaire diasporique dans un recit de l'origine nationale et comment le travail de l'imagination est au centre de l'experience de la modernite. Le chant epique de Sinek est plus qu'une rememoration nostalgique d'un passe perdu. Il relate aussi l'histoire presente de Sinek, l'emergence de sa subjectivite en tant que femme et artiste. Par le recit publique de son histoire personnelle de l'evacuation, Sinek transforme son travail de l'imagination en pratique culturelle collective
Localization microscopy: mapping cellular dynamics with single molecules

Summary Resolution describes the smallest details within a sample that can be recovered by a microscope lens system. For optical microscopes detecting visible light, diffraction limits the resolution to ∼200–250 nm. In contrast, localization measures the position of an isolated object using its image. Single fluorescent molecules can be localized with an uncertainty of a few tens of nanometres, and in some cases less than one nanometre. Superresolution fluorescence localization microscopy (SRFLM) images and localizes fluorescent molecules in a sample. By controlling the visibility of the fluorescent molecules with light, it is possible to cause a sparse subset of the tags to fluoresce and be spatially separated from each other. A movie is acquired with a camera, capturing images of many sets of visible fluorescent tags over a period of time. The movie is then analysed by a computer whereby all of the single molecules are independently measured, and their positions are recorded. When the coordinates of a sufficient number of molecules are collected, an image can be rendered by plotting the coordinates of the localized molecules. The spatial resolution of these rendered images can be better than 20 nm, roughly an order of magnitude better than the diffraction limited resolution. The invention of SRFLM has led to an explosion of related techniques. Through the use of specialized optics, the fluorescent signal can be split into multiple detection channels. These channels can capture additional information such as colour (emission wavelength), orientation and three-dimensional position of the detected molecules. Measurement of the colour of the detected fluorescence can allow researchers to distinguish multiple types of fluorescent tags and to study the interaction between multiple molecules of interest. Three-dimensional imaging and determination of molecular orientations offer insight into structural organization of the sample. SRFLM is compatible with living samples and has helped to illuminate many dynamic biological processes, such as the trajectories of molecules within living cells. This review discusses the concept and process of SRFLM imaging and investigates recent advances in SRFLM functionality. Since its announcement in 2006, SRFLM has been quickly adopted and modified by many researchers to help investigate questions whose answers lie below the diffraction limit. The versatility of the SRFLM technique has great promise for improving our understanding of cell biology at the molecular level.
Leukocytosis at the onset of diabetes in crosses of inbred BB rats

Inbred lymphopenic, diabetes-prone (DP) and non-lymphopenic, diabetes-resistant (DR) BB rats in a specific pathogen-free (SPF) colony were subjected to a cross-intercross breeding experiment which showed diabetes to segregate as a recessive trait. All DP rats, but none of the DR and F1 rats, developed diabetes. In contrast, about 25% of the F2 rats developed diabetes which made it possible to study these rats without maternal influence of diabetes. All rats were bled at regular intervals between 30 and 150 days of age, and the samples analyzed for numbers of leukocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes and eosinophils. Leukocyte numbers tended to increase with age until about 100 days, and to decline thereafter. Males had more leukocytes than females. Coinciding with the time of onset of overt diabetes, there was a large increase in eosinophils, along with smaller increases in neutrophils, monocytes and lymphocytes. These data in SPF DP and DR BB rats and their cross-intercross offspring demonstrate that the overt onset of diabetes is associated with a significant leukocytosis.
Utility of positron emission tomography (PET) scanning in managing patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.

Use of positron emission tomography (PET) or PET/ computed tomography (CT) in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) continues to expand worldwide. PET is currently widely utilized for response assessment after completion of therapy and, to a lesser extent, for pretreatment staging and assessment of response during therapy (therapy monitoring). In pretreatment staging, PET cannot replace CT or bone marrow biopsy (BMB); however, it can provide complementary information to both CT and BMB, potentially resulting in a modification of disease stage (usually upstaging) in about 1520% of patients with impact on management in about 5-15%. PET for response assessment at the conclusion of treatment is substantially more accurate than CT because of its ability to distinguish between viable tumor and necrosis or fibrosis in posttherapy residual mass (es) that are present in about two-thirds of patients with HL without any other clinical or biochemical evidence of disease. PET, therefore, provides more accurate response classifications compared with CTbased assessment. The role of PET for therapy monitoring is still evolving but may prove to be the most exciting with potentially high impact on patient management and outcome. PET evaluation during therapy appears to be at least as accurate for predicting patient outcome as evaluation after completion of therapy and its use is clearly justified if the purpose is to provide an early and yet accurate assessment of response with the clear intent of tailoring therapy according to the information provided by the scan. The role of PET scanning for post-therapy surveillance without clinical, biochemical or radiographic evidence of disease remains controversial, primarily because of the potential for a disproportionate fraction of falsepositive findings, potentially resulting in increasing cost without proven benefit from earlier PET detection of disease compared to standard surveillance methods. Large prospective studies are therefore needed to determine whether routine surveillance by PET is both cost-effective and whether it results in meaningful changes in patient management and/or outcome.
Engineering education starts early

It is pointed out that developing more effective technology and preengineering education for grades K-12 in American schools is a major challenge facing society. Meeting this challenge will take bold leadership by engineering professionals and educators who realize that it is important to abandon an educational focus on fact and skill mastery and move to activity-based conceptual learning. All students deserve meaningful instruction in technology. This will require a new way of thinking and abandoning traditional stances and modes of action. It is concluded that instead of tenaciously holding onto present curriculum structures, schools must develop programs that help students explore technology and the ways it is developed, produced, used, and assessed. The structure of a typical technology education program and of a typical technology education class are discussed. >
Monoidal Uniqueness of Stable Homotopy Theory

We show that the monoidal product on the stable homotopy category of spectra is essentially unique. This strengthens work of this author with Schwede on the uniqueness of models of the stable homotopy theory of spectra. Also, the equivalences constructed here give a unified construction of the known equivalences of the various symmetric monoidal categories of spectra (S-modules, W-spaces, orthogonal spectra, simplicial functors) with symmetric spectra. As an application we show that with an added assumption about underlying model structures Margolis' axioms uniquely determine the stable homotopy category of spectra up to monoidal equivalence.
Restenosis after coronary stenting: the 'gender paradox'.

We read with great interest the elegant study of Mehilli et al .1(August 16 Issue) suggesting that, as compared with men, women present a lower risk of restenosis after coronary stenting despite their adverse baseline characteristics. This large study, including 4374 patients treated with coronary stents (23% female) give us, for the first time, important insights which help to understand the favourable long-term outcome of women undergoing coronary stenting. Many previous reports have demonstrated a higher number of acute procedural-related complications infemale patients. …
Accounting Editorial Board Membership And Research Output

The primary purpose of this article is to examine whether the university affiliation of faculty members on the editorial boards of three top academic accounting journals is related to the university affiliation of the faculty that publish in these journals. The journals selected – The Accounting Review (AR); The Journal of Accounting Research (JAR); and, Accounting, Organizations and Society (AOS), were identified by Chan, et al. (2009) as the top three accounting research journals. The board members (as of January 1, 2007) of these three journals were categorized by university affiliation (both current employer and doctoral-degree granting), and cross referenced with the authors (including co-authors) of all main articles published in these three journals during the calendar years of 2007-2009. The results indicate that the majority of the authors at JAR and AOS had academic affiliations different from the editorial board members. In the AR, however, over 60% of the authors had the same academic affiliations as the 101 members of the AR editorial review board. Secondary results provide that a small handful of university affiliations dominate the U.S.-based journal boards, however this connection was not as strong in the non-U.S. AOS. Overall, less than 11% of AACSB accredited business programs are represented on these collective boards, although AACSB accounting specific accreditation does increase this ratio to a 14% representation.
Will of the Minority: Rule of Four on the United States Supreme Court

The Rule of 4 on the U.S. Supreme Court is one of the only positive powers held by a minority coalition in our federal government (other minority powers are largely negative, such as the filibuster). In this paper we provide a formal model that explores the conditions under which we would expect the Rule of 4 to be invoked by a minority of justices on the Court. We also model the conditions under which such a vote under this rule will be successful. These models lead to explicit hypotheses about each part of the Court's agenda setting process. Using data from 1953 to 1985 we then empirically test our hypotheses. The results indicate that when the pivotal certiorari justice has preferences close to the status quo and when this pivot is ideologically close to the Court median she is more likely to vote to grant certiorari. Finally, our results indicate that such a vote can and is successful when the median justice is ideologically close to the status quo.
Social Inequalities and Atherosclerosis The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

The cross-sectional associations of social class indicators with coronary heart disease prevalence and subclinical atherosclerosis were investigated among 15,800 persons from four US communities between 1987 and 1989. Among persons without clinical atherosclerotic disease, ultrasound-determined intimal-medial wall thickening of the carotid arteries was used as an indicator of subclinical atherosclerosis. Odds ratios for coronary heart disease prevalence and mean differences in carotid wall thickness were investigated before and after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors. After adjustment for age and gender, the lowest income category was associated with a threefold increase in coronary heart disease odds compared with the highest category (for whites, odds ratio (OR) = 3.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8-6.6; for blacks, OR = 3.2, 95% CI 2.2-4.8). Odds ratios increased linearly with decreasing income (p < 0.0001). Low education was also associated with increased odds of coronary heart disease after adjustment for age and gender, but the association was stronger in whites than in blacks (lowest category vs. highest: for whites, OR = 3.8, 95% CI 2.5-5.9; for blacks, OR = 1.7, 95% CI 0.9-3.1). Similar patterns were found for subclinical atherosclerosis: Carotid wall thickness increased with decreasing income and education, but trends by education were clearer in whites than in blacks. Lower occupational categories were also associated with increased coronary heart disease prevalence odds and increased carotid wall thickness. After adjustment for risk factors, associations with clinical coronary heart disease persisted but associations with carotid wall thickness disappeared, suggesting that factors related to the clinical expression of lesions may vary by social class. The process of atherogenesis and its clinical expression are patterned by social class, emphasizing the need to address social inequalities in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Psychoacoustic model compensation for robust continuous speech recognition in additive noise

This paper addresses the problem of speech recognition in the presence of additive noise. It focuses on Psychoacoustic Model Compensation (Psy-Comp) scheme, which has been shown to be a powerful technique for noise robustness. It has further implemented model domain mean and variance normalization along with Psy-Comp to alleviate channel noise for robust continuous speech recognition in noisy conditions. The proposed algorithms are validated through experiments on noise corrupted TIMIT speech recognition database. We show that the Psy-Comp scheme along with model domain mean and variance normalization provide 9.5% performance gain compared to the Vector Taylor Series (VTS) scheme. Moreover, the computational cost of the proposed method is significantly less than the VTS scheme.
Discussion of “The Effect of Information on Uncertainty and the Cost of Capital”

Johnstone (2016) provides a theoretical analysis of how information might increase uncertainty and a firm's cost of equity capital (COEC). The author's analysis serves to highlight outcomes that he suggests receive limited attention in prior studies. He focuses on how more information might result in greater, rather than less, uncertainty and whether a decrease in uncertainty leads to a lower COEC. I discuss how his study provides an incremental contribution to the theoretical literature and ways in which future work in this area might provide a richer framework for empirical studies. Analyse critique de « L'incidence de l'information sur l'incertitude et le cout du capital » Johnstone (2016) propose une analyse theorique de la facon dont l'information peut accroitre l'incertitude et le cout des capitaux propres pour une societe. Son analyse met en relief des resultats auxquels les chercheurs ont jusqu’a maintenant accorde, selon lui, peu d'attention. Johnstone cherche plus particulierement a determiner comment un supplement d'information pourrait accroitre l'incertitude, plutot que de l'attenuer, et si l'attenuation de l'incertitude engendre la diminution du cout des capitaux propres. L'auteure se demande ici en quoi cette etude vient etoffer les ecrits theoriques et comment les travaux futurs dans ce domaine pourraient enrichir le cadre de reference des etudes empiriques.
Classifier-Guided Sampling for Complex Energy System Optimization

This report documents the results of a Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) effort enti tled "Classifier - Guided Sampling for Complex Energy System Optimization" that was conducted during FY 2014 and FY 2015. The goal of this proj ect was to develop, implement, and test major improvements to the classifier - guided sampling (CGS) algorithm. CGS is type of evolutionary algorithm for perform ing search and optimization over a set of discrete design variables in the face of one or more objective functions. E xisting evolutionary algorithms, such as genetic algorithms , may require a large number of o bjecti ve function evaluations to identify optimal or near - optimal solutions . Reducing the number of evaluations can result in significant time savings, especially if the objective function is computationally expensive. CGS reduce s the evaluation count by us ing a Bayesian network classifier to filter out non - promising candidate designs , prior to evaluation, based on their posterior probabilit ies . In this project, b oth the single - objective and multi - objective version s of the CGS are developed and tested on a set of benchm ark problems. As a domain - specific case study,more » CGS is used to design a microgrid for use in islanded mode during an extended bulk power grid outage.« less
The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities

In this funny, sincere, and at times even poignant guide to academic writing, Hayot applies a potentially counterintuitive analogy to academic humanists at all points of their career (although grad...
Hotspot detection in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: density approximation by α-shape maps

The grading of neuroendocrine tumors of the digestive system is dependent on accurate and reproducible assessment of the proliferation with the tumor, either by counting mitotic figures or counting Ki-67 positive nuclei. At the moment, most pathologists manually identify the hotspots, a practice which is tedious and irreproducible. To better help pathologists, we present an automatic method to detect all potential hotspots in neuroendocrine tumors of the digestive system. The method starts by segmenting Ki-67 positive nuclei by entropy based thresholding, followed by detection of centroids for all Ki-67 positive nuclei. Based on geodesic distance, approximated by the nuclei centroids, we compute two maps: an amoeba map and a weighted amoeba map . These maps are later combined to generate the heat map, the segmentation of which results in the hotspots. The method was trained on three and tested on nine whole slide images of neuroendocrine tumors. When evaluated by two expert pathologists, the method reached an accuracy of 92.6%. The current method does not discriminate between tumor, stromal and inflammatory nuclei. The results show that α-shape maps may represent how hotspots are perceived.
Effect of Surface Tension on the Growth of Escherichia Coli

depressants in relation to biologic processes is as yet unexplained. Nevertheless, observed effects of variations in surface tension on bacteria and bacterial growth increase our knowledge, and the accumulation of such observations may ultimately reveal the mechanism of the action of surface tension on vital processes. Numerous papers have described the antiseptic properties of surface tension depressants and their influence on the efficiency of various antiseptics, but comparatively little work has been done with surface tension in relation to bacterial growth.
The Effects of Election Reform on Legislator Perceptions: The Case of Taiwan

Mixed member legislative systems have proliferated in the last twenty years, and while our knowledge of the institutional impacts has grown, we have had difficulty in separating institutional and contextual (namely party) influences. Through an analysis of Taiwan before and after the implementation of a mixed member majoritarian (MMM) system, the level of contamination between tiers and variance between parties becomes clearer. Survey results show a marked shift in constituency focus for district candidates, moving from multimember to single-member districts, while party list seats focus on district factors at higher rates post-reform. Variance between the two major parties further suggests differing levels of party pressure.
Patient-reported functioning in major depressive disorder.

Objectives:Compared with the general population, patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) report substantial deficits in their functioning that often go beyond the clinical resolution of depressive symptoms. This study examines the impact of MDD and its treatment on functioning.Methods:From the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) trial, we analyzed complete data of 2280 adult outpatients with MDD at entry and exit points of each level of antidepressant treatment and again 12 months post treatment. Functioning was measured using the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS).Results:The results show that only 7% of patients with MDD reported within-normal functioning before treatment. The proportion of patients achieving within-normal functioning (WSAS) scores significantly increased after treatment. However, the majority of patients (>60%) were still in the abnormal range on functioning at exit. Although remitted patients had greater improvements compared with nonremitters, a...
Head and neck cancer in South Asia: Macroeconomic consequences and the role of the head and neck surgeon.

Background Head and neck cancer constitutes a substantial portion of the burden of disease in South Asia, and there is an undersupply of surgical capacity in this region. The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic welfare losses due to head and neck cancer in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in 2010. Methods We used publicly available estimates of head and neck cancer morbidity and mortality along with a concept termed the value of a statistical life to estimate economic welfare losses in the aforementioned countries in 2010. Results. Economic losses because of head and neck cancer in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh totaled $16.9 billion (2010 US dollars [USD]), equivalent to 0.26% of the region's economic output. Bangladesh, the poorest country, experienced the greatest proportional losses. Conclusion The economic consequences of head and neck cancer in South Asia are significant, and building surgical capacity is essential to begin to address this burden. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2016
Effect of APP17 peptide on the nephropathy in type 2 diabetic KkAy mice

Objective (1)To observe the effect of APP17 peptide on diabetic renal ultrastructure. (2) To study the excretions of urinary albumin and total protein in genetically obese and diabetic yellow KK(KK Ay) mice. Methods 1. The KK mice were divided into three groups according to the level of blood sugar: group of normal control (C), group of DM (D) and group treated with APP17 peptide (D+17P) subcutaneously in the dose of 8mg/kg, three times a week, for 12 weeks. The following indexes were investigated: (1) The 24 hour urine of each mouse were obtained to evaluate the amount of total protein and albumin. (2) The blood samples were obtained to evaluate the blood sugar and plasma insulin. (3) After fixation by transcardiac perfusion, 5 mice were selected randomly from each group and their renal cortexes were observed by using electron microscope. Results (1)Ultrastructure of kidney of mice in DM group showed more vacuole and degenerated and calcified mitochondria in areas of proximal convoluted renal tubules. The basal membrane became thicker markedly, while there was no the above changes in kidney of C group and D+17P group. (2)The blood sugar, hemoglobin and insulin of mice in D group and D+17P group were much higher than those of C group ( P 0.05).(3) But these indexes showed no significant difference between D group and D+17P group ( P 0.05), which indicated that APP17 peptide had no influence on the glucose metabolism. Conclusion APP17 peptide may play a protective role in diabetic nephropathy.
Prevention of diabetic nephropathy.

Normalization of blood pressure-and use of an ACE inhibitor or AT1-receptor blocker for patients with abnormal albumin or creatinine levels-can prevent or significantly slow the rate of progression toward end-stage renal disease.
The Familial and Developmental Context of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

This article discusses developmental and familial factors in childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) highlighting the spectrum of normative to pathologic obsessions and rituals. In addition, it explores the possible role of family functioning in the emergence and maintenance of OCD in childhood and adolescence. Finally, it posits a developmental model that integrates genetic and neurobiologic vulnerability, cognitive models of information processing, behavioral coping strategies, and familial and peer relationships.
Prognostic determinants and treatment outcomes analysis of osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma of the spine

Abstract Background Context Osteosarcoma (OGS) and Ewing sarcoma (EWS) are the two classic primary malignant bone tumors. Due to the rarity of these tumors, evidence on demographics, survival determinants, and treatment outcomes for primary disease of the spine are limited and derived from small case series. Purpose To use population-level data to determine the epidemiology and prognostic indicators in patients with OGS and EWS of the osseous spine. Study Design/Setting Large-scale retrospective study. Patient Sample Patients diagnosed with OGS and EWS of the spine in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry from 1973 to 2012. Outcome Measures Overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). Methods Two separate queries of the SEER registry were performed to identify patients with OGS and EWS of the osseous spine from 1973–2012. Study variables included age, sex, race, year of diagnosis, tumor size, extent of disease (EOD), and treatment with surgery and/or radiation therapy. Primary outcome was defined as OS and DSS in months. Univariate survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Results The search identified 648 patients with primary OGS and 736 patients with primary EWS of the spine from 1973 to 2012. Mean age at diagnosis was 48.1 and 19.9 years for OGS and EWS, respectively, with OGS showing a bimodal distribution. The median OS and DSS were 1.3 and 1.7 years, respectively, for OGS, with OGS in Paget's disease having worse OS (0.7 years) relative to the mean (log-rank p=.006). The median OS and DSS for EWS were 3.9 and 4.3 years, respectively. Multivariate cox regression analysis showed that age (OS p Conclusions Age, surgical resection, and EOD are key survival determinants for both OGS and EWS of the spine. Radiation therapy may be associated with worse outcomes in patients with OGS, and is of potential benefit in EWS. Overall prognosis has improved in patients with OGS of the spine over the last four decades.
A privilege and a challenge: valuation of heirs' property by African American landowners and implications for forest management in the southeastern U.S

African Americans have historically struggled to retain land that has been held in their families for generations as heirs’ property, or land held collectively by heirs of the original owners without clear title. Ethnographic interviews with sixty landholding African American families in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama reveal the cultural meanings associated with family land, forestland in particular, and the role of heirs’ property in inhibiting forest management, including the threat of land loss, intra-family conflict, and legal limitations on forestry activities. The majority of interviewees have a strong desire to pass family land on to their heirs, but they also need the land to be economically productive. Sustainable forest management offers both an incentive to obtain clear title to heirs’ property land and a means of paying property taxes and generating intergenerational wealth within families. The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities is currently collaborating with local institutions in several states in an innovative program designed to help African American landowners navigate the legal system in order to obtain clear title and provide educational workshops about the financial and ecological benefits of sustainable forestry as well as site visits by consulting foresters. Analysis of the situations faced by African Americans with heirs’ property adds to the diversity of our understandings of the complex relationships between land tenure and forestry, with potential application for other minority communities in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Team Relative Operating Characteristic: A Measure of Team Expertise in Distributed Detection Tasks 1

Abstract We consider a generalized distributed binary hypothesis-testing problem within a hierarchical team. In this problem, the subordinate decisionmakers (DMs) transmit their opinions on their own local hypotheses, which are only probabilistically related to the global hypotheses at the primary DM. In a recent paper, we have shown that the normative decision strategies of all DMs are coupled likelihood-ratio tests, but the decision thresholds are also a function of the joint probability distribution of hypotheses at all DMs. In order to assess the discrimination capabilities of a team, we have introduced the concept of a “Team Relative (Receiver) Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve”. In this paper, we extend earlier results in the literature, and show that the area under the team ROC curve can be used as a measure of expertise of teams. To predict the expertise of actual teams, the normative model is tested on teams of humans using a hypothetical medical diagnosis task. Potential human biases leading to discrepancies between the normative predictions and experimental results are identified. A normative-descriptive model is developed to capture the cognitive biases of human DMs. The model provides excellent predictions with respect to the individual and team ROC operating points and the confidence estimates.
Assimilation of Megha-Tropiques SAPHIR Observations in the NOAA Global Model

AbstractThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Global Data Assimilation System/Global Forecast System (GDAS/GFS) was extended to assimilate brightness temperatures from the Sondeur Atmospherique du Profil d’Humidite Intertropicale par Radiometrie (SAPHIR) passive microwave water vapor sounder on board the Megha-Tropiques satellite. Quality control procedures were developed to assess the SAPHIR data quality for assimilating clear-sky observations over ocean surfaces, and to characterize observation biases and errors. A 6-week impact experiment was performed using the GDAS/GFS data assimilation system. The addition of SAPHIR observations on top of the current global observing system improved analysis and forecast humidity root-mean-square error (RMSE) results at the upper levels of the troposphere by about 6%, mostly at 100 hPa, when verified against European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analysis, though some degradation to the forecast humidity was seen at 150–200 h...
Oral Medications in the Treatment of Bladder Overactivity

We sought to highlight the current advances in the oral treatments for overactive bladder in the pediatric population. We discuss gold standard therapies as well as describe more recent advances. Several therapies that have previously been approved in the adult populations are explored here, including combination therapies and mirabegron. Children with overactive bladder are now provided with more therapeutic options than previously available. Anticholinergics alone or in combination with medications such as mirabegron or alpha-blockers (in the setting of bladder outlet obstruction) improve bladder capacity and rates of dryness in these children. Further research is underway to further improve the drugs at hand while reducing their side effect profiles.
SHORT QT SYNDROME: A DIAGNOSTIC AND MANAGEMENT DILEMMA

Short QT syndrome (SQTS) is a rare genetic electrical disease of structurally normal hearts. Based on literature review, short QT interval is defined as Qtc<350ms in males and Qtc<360ms in females. In 2011, Gollob et al proposed a 4 component diagnostic criteria based on data from 61 cases. This
Toward a Maturity Model for DSS Development Processes

Despite recent progress with Decision support systems (DSS) development methodologies, a gap still exist in terms of the ability to assess the maturity of an organization with respect to its DSS development process. A need exist to be able to describe DSS development processes at a meta-level. Equally important is the ability to provide organization with prescriptions to increase the maturity of their DSS development processes. In this paper, we propose a Decision Support System Maturity Model (DSS-MM). The model draws on extant literature related to DSS development methodologies, practices and processes to identify pertinent DSS development practices and define maturity models for these practices. From a theoretical perspective, this research presents the first maturity model specifically targeting DSS development. From a practical perspective, the model provides a framework for organizations to assess their DSS development maturity level and devise process improvement initiatives to address any limitations with existing practices.
Templated Ring-Opening Metathesis (TROM) of Cyclic Olefins Tethered to Unimolecular Oligo(thiophene)s

We developed a fully abiotic approach to template the synthesis of discrete unimolecular polyolefins. Discrete, unimolecular oligo(thiophene)s with alternating sequence were obtained by iterative convergent/divergent couplings and then functionalized with pendant cyclic olefin monomers in the side chains. Upon treatment with the Grubbs third-generation catalyst in dilute solution (0.15 mM in DCM at 0 °C), the pendant monomers undergo templated ring-opening metathesis (TROM). Then, the daughter olefin is liberated from the parent thiophene by hydrolysis. Cyclooctenes undergo TROM to afford macrocyclic products that exactly replicate the chain length of the parent oligomer, as evidenced by MALDI MS/MS and NMR. Norbornene derivatives also undergo TROM and replicate unimolecular chain lengths, but in contrast, they exclusively form the linear oligomeric products with styrenic end groups. A template that was functionalized with one norbornene unit at the α chain end, followed by five cyclooctene units along th...
What are they thinking

Understanding student reasoning and identifying student misconceptions are important precursors to developing high quality pedagogical materials and approaches. In my work, I seek to build on prior work in the identification of important and difficult topics in computer science and in concept inventories that explore student reasoning about these topics. I wish to explore student reasoning and discover student misconceptions about important topics in introductory computer science, with the goal of informing the design and evaluation of interventions that improve teaching and learning of these topics. I present here a summary of my work to date: a deep review of related work including the selection of important and difficult topics in introductory computer science, the creation of an exploratory instrument, the conduct of an initial, exploratory study using that instrument, and an analysis of a selected subset of the responses. I present also my current plans in furtherance of my research goals: continued analysis of the responses to my initial study, the development of task-based interviews to gain clarification and deeper understanding of student reasoning and misconceptions, and the development and evaluation of interventions that both build on solid lines of students reasoning and address misconceptions.
Communication with Quantum Limited Subspace

One important aspect of our universe is that one cannot get something from nothing; there is always a price to pay. In this article we show that every bit of information is limited by a quantum unit. Since we are communicating within a temporal subspace, this unit can be equivalently described as a quantum limited subspace (QLS), as imposed by the Heisenberg Principle. We show that communication can be exploited within and outside the QLS. The size of a QLS is determined by carrier signal bandwidth; that is narrower the bandwidth the larger the size of the QLS. By manipulating the size of a QLS, more efficient information transmission strategies can be developed. Examples for inside and outside QLS communication are given. Extension to relativistic communication has also demonstrated. We remark that, a new era of communication is anticipated to immerge and it will change our way in communicating, observation and computing, we used to use, forever!
Abstract TMP28: Inhibition of Integrin α5β1With the Small Peptide Atn-161 Reduces Infarct Volume and Improves Functional Recovery Through Reduction of Blood-brain Barrier Permeability

Reperfusion-induced injury after recanalization is exacerbated by blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction after ischemic stroke. Endothelial cell integrin receptors, specifically the β1subtype, play ...
Comprehensive survey on privacy-preserving protocols for sealed-bid auctions

Abstract The internet is a ubiquitous technology that has changed conventional human interactions. In our present time, it is not unusual for financial transactions to take place virtually with nothing more than a computer and a credit card; many times without ever having to engage face-to-face with another person. Part of these electronic transactions taking place day-to-day are not simple economic mechanisms, instead they are constructed in the form of auctions in which a key aspect is the protection of bidders. Ideally, electronic auction mechanisms should provide the following fundamental properties: privacy of the losing bids, robustness, verifiability, and non-repudiation. This can only be accomplished by proper sealed-bid auction protocols. Indeed, the main motivation for constructing sealed-bid auction protocols is the fact that auctioneers and/or sellers may use the past losing bids to maximize their revenues in future auctions and negotiations. In addition, private valuations can be used to disclose personal preferences and private information about the bidders. This paper therefore surveys existing cryptographic solutions that are used for electronic sealed-bid auction protocols, and provides the challenges that currently exist in this field. Overall, various technical approaches will be covered and the state-of-the-art will be reviewed thoroughly.
Realism, Street Culture, Neighbourhood and a Border Clash?

The chapter explores the macro and micro structural contexts that impact on neighbourhood practices that in some spaces have resulted as new drug distribution networks called County lines. The chapter also identifies some of the cultural factors that can reinforce gang identities such as Grime music clips and the amplified responses to these cultural products. The chapter discusses the social realities of gang life, how this has been understood by criminologists and how these understanding have sometimes helped and sometimes hindered the development of policy and practice. The chapter provides an overview and critique of some of the key literature about gangs and introduces the UK Gangs Thesis Debate. The chapter examines the dimensions of the UK gang problem in terms of race, gender and class and extends this analysis by applying social theories which consider the influences of structure, culture and agency.
Analysis of AKR1B10 levels among various groups of breast cancer patients.

e14548Background: Aldo-keto reductase 1B10 (AKR1B10) is a protein that is primarily expressed in human colon and small intestine, but induced in hepatocellular carcinoma and non-small cell lung can...
Biological Activity of Bacillus thuringiensis and Associated Toxins against the Asian Longhorned Beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Bacillus fhuringiensis Berliner var. tenebrionis and 5. thuringiensis toxins were as- sayed against larval and adult Asian longhorned beetles, Anoplophora glabripennis (A. glabrip- ennis). Preliminary in vitro assays showed some toxins to be active on whole midgut prepara- tions in voltage clamp assays and in assays on brush border membrane vesicles formed from midgut epithelial cells. For in vivo tests, a commercially-available product (Novodo@) was incorporated into artificial diet, upon which larvae were allowed to feed ad lib. In other tests, droplets of solubilized B. thuringiensis toxins were fed to larval and adult beetles using a mi- cropipette. None of the in vivo assays showed significant negative effects on either larvae or adults. We believe that some aspect of A. glabripennis midgut chemistry may be incompatible with toxin activation or mode of action. The Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), is a large wood-boring cerambycid native to parts of mainland China and Korea. Anoplophora glabripennis is a polyphagous feeder with a marked preference for poplar, maple and willow. Adult beetles feed and mate on the leaves, branches, and bole of trees, and female beetles chew slits in the bark in which to deposit a single egg. After hatching, larvae burrow and consume wood under the bark surface, eventually penetrating deeply into trees. The damage resulting from larval feeding can be sufficient to render large trees unsound, creating hazardous conditions in populated areas. Anoplophora glabripennis was accidentally introduced into the United States in solid wood packing material from China, discarded in areas adjacent to airports. There were likely a number of such introductions in the 1980s and 1990s. Populations of A. glabripennis now exist in and near New York City, NY and Chicago, IL. These populations have been the targets of intense efforts aimed at eradication, usually in the form of removal and burning of infested trees. Less intrusive methods of control are currently being sought, especially biological control methods using parasites and microbial pesticides. Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner, an aerobic soil-dwelling bacterium, has a long his- tory of use in biopesticides. Bacillus thuringiensis and its subspecies produce insec- ticidal proteins during sporulation, the primary of which is S-endotoxin. Because the 6-endotoxins are derived from bacterial Cry genes, they are also known as Cry toxins (e.g., Cryl or Cry Ma). Some Cry toxins, notably Cryl b, have been shown to have
How to Discuss Controversial Sexual Issues with Christians Who Don't (and Do) Agree with You

I review the book, Geoffrey W. Sutton, A house divided: Sexuality, morality, and Christian cultures (Pickwick, 2016). After identifying the main premise as helping people understand the variety of ...