cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope discrimination and turnover in a small-bodied insectivorous lizard

Laboratory experiments are useful for estimating the carbon and nitrogen isotope discrimination factors and turnover rates that are critical for drawing field-based inferences on consumer diets using stable isotopes. Although the utility of these discrimination factors is widely recognized, work in terrestrial systems has largely been limited to studies involving mammals and birds. In contrast, scant attention has been paid to the application of isotopic techniques to reptiles, despite their broad diversity in terms of numbers of species as well as their trophic roles. Here we estimate carbon and nitrogen isotope discrimination factors and turnover for the tree lizard (Urosaurus ornatus) using a diet-switch experiment. Lizards were collected from a C4-dominated grassland and then switched to C3-based diet (crickets) in the laboratory. We estimated discrimination by lizard claw tissue as Δ(13)C = 1.2 ± 0.1 ‰ for carbon and Δ(15)N = 0.7 ± 0.1 ‰ (mean ± 1 SE) for nitrogen, with 95 % turnover occurring after ∼15.5 days. These estimates should be appropriate for use in trophic studies of U. ornatus, and possibly other related small-bodied insectivorous lizards.
Between Rosas and Sarmiento: Notes on Nationalism in Peronist Thought

Despite its crucial importance to the development of twentieth century Argentina and the volumes of scholarly, journalistic and partisan exegesis the movement has generated, historians have yet to reach a minimal consensus on the nature of Peronism. In the quarter century since Peron's first fall from power, numerous efforts have been made to explain, glorify or denigrate his regime. Many anti-Peronists have dismissed their bete noire as an unprincipled demagogue, motivated solely by political opportunism and an insatiable desire to retain power. Some supporters of the regime echo its propaganda by picturing Peron as taking the first great strides toward a politically free, economically independent and socially just Argentina. Certain anti-Peronists and a number of foreign commentators grudgingly admit that the movement had political and ideological content, but then label it as an imported fascist interlude, an alien virus that infected the body politic of Argentina just as it neared the end of the long march towards liberal democracy. The London Economist recently described the advent of Peronism as an instant replay of Italian Fascism. “The bulk of his supporters were the lower middle class immigrants who poured into the country from impoverished Italy after the second world war… The new arrivals cheered El Lider as they had cheered Il Duce for two decades. Peron representated the same historical phenomenon as Hitler and Mussolini…”
Binding Studies of G-Quadruplex DNA and Porphyrins: Cu(T4) vs Sterically Friendly Cu(tD4)

This investigation explores binding interactions involving G-quadruplex DNA and two copper(II)-containing porphyrins (5,10,15,20-tetra(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrinato)copper(II) and the sterically friendlier analogue (trans-5,15-di(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrinato)copper(II), or Cu(T4) and Cu(tD4), respectively. The study incorporates five different DNA sequences that support the formation of unimolecular and bimolecular G-quadruplex hosts capable of exhibiting at least nine different structures in toto. Absorbance and emission results establish that G-quadruplex DNA is more adept at sequestering Cu(tD4) compared with the bulkier Cu(T4) ligand, even though the predominant mode of uptake is by end-capping, irrespective of the porphyrin or DNA sequence employed. One of the more impressive observations is that the emission intensities exhibited by Cu(tD4) bound to G-quadruplex DNA are many-fold higher than corresponding signals obtained with single- or double-stranded DNA hosts. With human sequence ...
Note: Emotionality after Mild, Chronic Stress as a Function of Infantile Handling

Increased or decreased emotionality following mild, chronic stress was obtained as a function of handling rats at different ages during infancy.
The influence of glucocorticoids on plasma cholinesterase.

SummaryThe daily subcutaneous injection of 10 mg/kg methyl-prednisolone or 2 mg/kg dexamethasone for 12 days to mongrel dogs caused a significant decrease of plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) activity. BuChE activity returned toward pre-drug values after discontinuation of gluco-corticoids. There were no changes in erythrocyte AChE activity.The authors thank Dr. S. Stubbs and Dr. H. A. Strade for generous supplies of methylprednisolone (Solu-Medrol) and dexamethasone (Hexadrol) respectively.
Electrostatic discharge testing of carbon composite solar array panels for use in the Jovian environment

NASA is currently considering a mission to investigate the moons of Jupiter. When designing a spacecraft for this type of mission, there are a number of engineering challenges, especially if the mission chooses to utilize solar arrays to provide the spacecraft power. In order for solar arrays to be feasible for the mission, their total mass needed to fit within the total budget for the mission, which strongly suggested the use of carbon composite facesheets on an aluminum core for the panel structure. While these composite structures are a good functional substitution for the metallic materials they replace, they present unique challenges when interacting with the harsh Jovian space environment. As a composite material, they are composed of more than one material and can show different base properties depending in differing conditions. Looking at the electrical properties, in an Earth-based environment the carbon component of the composite dominates the response of the material to external stimulus. Under these conditions, the structures strongly resembles a conductor. In the Jovian environment, with temperatures reaching 50K and under the bombardment from energetic electrons, the non-conducting pre-preg binding materials may come to the forefront and change the perceived response. Before selecting solar arrays as the baseline power source for a mission to Jupiter, the response of the carbon composites to energetic electrons while held at cryogenic temperatures needed to be determined. A series of tests were devised to exam the response of a sample solar array panel composed of an M55J carbon weave layup with an RS-3 pre-preg binder. Test coupons were fabricated and exposed to electrons ranging from 10 keV to 100 keV, at 1 nA/cm2, while being held at cryogenic temperatures. While under electron bombardment, electrical discharges were observed and recorded with the majority of discharges occurring with electron energies of 25 keV. A decrease in temperature to liquid nitrogen temperatures showed a marked increase in the magnitude of these discharges. The results indicate that dielectric discharges are primarily produced due to the presence of large regions of the non-conductive pre-preg on the surface of the carbon sheets. The frequency and magnitude of discharges decreased when layers of the pre-preg material were removed from the composite surface. These tests indicate that solar array panels may be used in the Jovian environment, but that electrostatic discharges can be expected on the carbon composite solar arrays.
Characteristics of Drug Vendors on the Tor Network: A Cryptomarket Comparison

AbstractPast research on drug-related vendors on Tor marketplaces indicate that sellers are motivated by the greater anonymity afforded by the Tor Network. Limited research has even posited that some drug-related vendors on cryptomarkets sell to other dealers, adding another dimension to existing literature that highlights the retail nature (dealer-to-customer transactions) of these Tor-based drug markets. Yet these past studies have been largely qualitative in nature. This study conducted a quantitative analysis of vendor accounts on Evolution and Agora to determine characteristics predictive of vendors advertising controlled substances, and to determine whether any statistically significant differences among drug vendor characteristics existed between the two sites.
Learning latent variable models by improving spectral solutions with exterior point method

Probabilistic latent-variable models are a fundamental tool in statistics and machine learning. Despite their widespread use, identifying the parameters of basic latent variable models continues to be an extremely challenging problem. Traditional maximum likelihood-based learning algorithms find valid parameters, but suffer from high computational cost, slow convergence, and local optima. In contrast, recently developed spectral algorithms are computationally efficient and provide strong statistical guarantees, but are not guaranteed to find valid parameters. In this work, we introduce a two-stage learning algorithm for latent variable models. We first use a spectral method of moments algorithm to find a solution that is close to the optimal solution but not necessarily in the valid set of model parameters. We then incrementally refine the solution via an exterior point method until a local optima that is arbitrarily near the valid set of parameters is found. We perform several experiments on synthetic and real-world data and show that our approach is more accurate than previous work, especially when training data is limited.
The effect of graded unilateral testicular biopsy on the reproductive capacity of male rats.

Abstract Fifty adult rats were subjected to unilateral testicular biopsy removing either 0.01, 0.1, 0.2 or 0.3 cc of testicular parenchyma. In addition, 20 rats underwent either hemicastration or sham surgery. After a 30-day recovery period each male was housed with two cycling females for 20 days. At the end of this breeding trial the percentage of fertile males, percentage of pregnant females and resulting embryo scores (no. of embryos × size of embryos) were determined for each group of male rats. After an additional 30 days (60 days post-biopsy) a second breeding trial was performed so as to note any long-term changes in fertility. In addition to the fertility parameters, mean seminiferous tubule diameters and serum testosterone levels were noted. After the first breeding trial the percentage of fertile males and percentage of pregnant females were inversely proportional to the amount of biopsy material removed (p
The Impact of Gender on Productivity and Satisfaction Among Medical School Psychologists

The impact of gender on productivity and satisfaction was examined among a random sample of 293 psychologists employed as faculty members in medical schools. Forty-one percent of the respondents were female. Males were older than females, had worked in a medical school longer, had higher academic ranks, held more administrative positions, were more likely to be tenured, and earned higher salaries. When years of employment as a psychologist were statistically controlled, there were no gender differences in productivity, as measured by publications, presentations, and grant awards; however, gender differences in salary remained. Females were less satisfied than males with regard to salary, promotion opportunities, and overall respect. Results are discussed within the context of the changing gender composition within psychology and the changing demands within the health care system.
Chapter 8 The Monoterpene Alkaloids

Publisher Summary Earlier, the biogenesis of the monoterpene alkaloids, particularly, gentianine, centered on the prephenic acid hypothesis. When theories on indole alkaloid biosynthesis from an iridoid precursor were introduced, it became clear that the other alkaloids could also be derived from the iridoids. The alkaloids, rather than condensing with tryptamine/tryptophan with subsequent reaction, would condense with ammonia and give a series of alkaloids containing a C 10 unit. From the beginning, substantial number of alkaloids formed in this manner has been isolated. As further compounds of this type were isolated, two distinct types became apparent— that is, the iridoids and those with a cleaved cyclopentane ring, the secoiridoids. The discussion of the chapter is based on this distinction as applied to the monoterpene alkaloids. Original interest in many of the plants from which these alkaloids have been isolated was in most cases based on the experimental or folkloric experience with the crude drug. This data and subsequent work on the pharmacology of the alkaloids isolated from these drugs are discussed in the chapter. One of the first applications of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in the area of natural product structure elucidation was used successfully for skytanthine. The principal folkloric reputation of Gentiana sp. is as a tonic that may be related to the hypotensive and muscle-relaxant activity of gentianine.
Socializing Intellectual Talk: A Case Study of Instructor Follow-Up Statements in Classroom Discourse.

By analyzing the audio-recording and transcription of classroom discourse, this case study focused on the ways in which the instructor used follow-up statements to socialize students into intellectual talk. Four relevant categories of follow-up statements emerged: (a) revoicing, (b) contextualization; (c) parallel elaboration, and (d) assistive elaboration. These follow-up statements elevated students’ ability to articulate their ideas, restated or contextualized their ideas, and guided them to ground their utterances in the course readings and materials. Another conclusion drawn from the findings is that students clearly became enmeshed in the program’s community and were able to demonstrate this membership through their use of intellectual talk in the classroom. Suggestions for future research are provided.
Growth mechanisms of multiscale, mound-like surface structures on titanium by femtosecond laser processing

Femtosecond laser surface processing (FLSP) can be used to functionalize many surfaces, imparting specialized properties such as increased broadband optical absorption or super-hydrophobicity/-hydrophilicity. In this study, the subsurface microstructure of a series of mound-like FLSP structures formed on commercially pure titanium using five combinations of laser fluence and cumulative pulse counts was studied. Using a dual beam Scanning Electron Microscope with a Focused Ion Beam, the subsurface microstructure for each FLSP structure type was revealed by cross-sectioning. The microstructure of the mounds formed using the lowest fluence value consists of the original Ti grains. This is evidence that preferential laser ablation is the primary formation mechanism. However, the underlying microstructure of mounds produced using higher fluence values was composed of a distinct smaller-grained α-Ti region adjacent to the original larger Ti grains remaining deeper beneath the surface. This layer was attributed to resolidification of molten Ti from the hydrodynamic Marangoni effect driven fluid flow of molten Ti, which is the result of the femtosecond pulse interaction with the material.
Operation and performance of a new microTCA-based CMS calorimeter trigger in LHC run 2

In LHC (Large Hadron Collider) Run 2, the center-of-mass energy for proton-proton collisions is 13 TeV and the instantaneous luminosity has doubled. This has made it more challenging to trigger on interesting events since the number of interactions per crossing (pileup) is significantly larger than in LHC Run 1. The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment has installed, commissioned, and is operating the second stage of a two-stage upgrade to the Calorimeter Trigger. This upgrade has improved the trigger algorithms so that the trigger thresholds remain low and physics data is not compromised. The stage-1, which replaced the original CMS Global Calorimeter Trigger, operated successfully in 2015. The completely new stage-2 has replaced the entire calorimeter trigger in 2016 with AMC form-factor boards and optical links operating in a microTCA chassis. It required that updates to the calorimeter back-ends, the source of the trigger primitive data, were also fully installed and operational. The stage-2 system's boards use Xilinx Virtex-7 690T FPGAs and have hundreds of links operating at up to 10 Gbps to maximize data throughput. In addition, a new time-multiplexed architecture was implemented and extensive firmware and software development was necessary. The final commissioning, operation, and performance of the stage-2 calorimeter trigger in 2016 proton collisions are described.
Diffuse Infiltrative Colonic Lipomatosis in a Vietnamese Pot-bellied Pig

Diffuse infiltrative gastrointestinal lipomatosis (DIGIL) is characterized by widespread proliferation of adipose tissue within the submucosal and subserosal layers of the gastrointestinal tract. Here we describe a case of diffuse infiltrative colonic lipomatosis in a 3-year-old male Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. Gross anatomical changes included obesity with sparse small intestinal contents and no colonic contents. The colonic lumen was narrowed and the colonic wall was diffusely thickened (∼5 mm), white, homogeneous and soft. Other findings were vesical uroliths and mild fibrinous pneumonia. Histologically, the colonic submucosa and muscle layers were expanded and almost completely replaced by sheets of adipose tissue admixed with scant fibrovascular tissue. Other minor changes included mild fibrinous pneumonia, splenic lymphoid depletion and testicular atrophy. The colonic changes in the current case are consistent with those described for DIGIL. This is a rare condition in human beings and animals and has never been described in pigs.
Radiographic Evaluation of the Esophageal Phase of Swallowing

The barium esophagogram is a valuable diagnostic test for evaluating both structural and functional abnormalities in the esophagus. The study is usually performed as a multiphasic examination that includes upright double-contrast views with high-density barium, prone single-contrast views with low-density barium, and mucosal relief views of the collapsed esophagus. The double-contrast phase optimizes detection of inflammatory or neoplastic diseases, whereas the single-contrast phase optimizes detection of hiatal hernias and lower esophageal rings or strictures. Fluoroscopic examination of the esophagus is also important for assessing motility disorders such as achalasia and diffuse esophageal spasm. The radiologic diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease, other types of esophagitis, benign and malignant esophageal tumors, varices, lower esophageal rings, diverticula, and esophageal motility disorders is considered in this chapter.
High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy for Nanocharacterization

The study of nanomaterials is not only limited to the characterization of their properties as an ensemble of nanoparticles, but also often extends to the study of individual nanoparticles. Variations in size, shape and internal structure of nanoparticles may influence the macroscopic properties of these materials. Therefore, research in nanotechnology is frequently aimed at developing materials with uniform size and shape. In some cases periodic arrangements of uniform particles are developed. These requirements pose significant technological challenges for the preparation of devices incorporating nanostructured materials. Testing of the desired uniformity or periodicity of nanomaterials cannot be done by optical inspection as the resolution of optical methods is not sufficient for the characterization of nanomaterials. While some structural properties can be inferred from the macroscopic properties of the whole device or the ensemble of nanoparticles, scattering methods (using X-rays or neutrons) measure structural properties by averaging over the irradiated volume.
A Simple Renormalization Framework for SU(2)LxU(1)YxŨ(1) Models

SU(2)LxU(1)YxŨ(1) Modelsmodels have received considerable attention during the last several years [1]. They often arise as the low energy limit of interesting GUT and superstring theories. It is understood that gluons and quarks and leptons of the three generations have the same transformation properties under SU(2)LxU(1)Y as in the standard model (SM). There may exist additional exotic fields. In the cases of interest there exists an orthogonality constraint between the Ũ(1) and U(1)Y quantum numbers: this can be traced to the fact that such models are descendants of gauge theories with simple Lie groups.
A Framework for Articulating and Measuring Individual Learning Outcomes from Participation in Citizen Science

Since first being introduced in the mid 1990s, the term “citizen science”—the intentional engagement of the public in scientific research—has seen phenomenal growth as measured by the number of projects developed, people involved, and articles published. In addition to contributing to scientific knowledge, many citizen science projects attempt to achieve learning outcomes among their participants, however, little guidance is available for practitioners regarding the types of learning that can be supported through citizen science or the measuring of learning outcomes. This study provides empirical data to understand how intended learning outcomes first described by the informal science education field have been employed and measured within the citizen science field. We also present a framework for describing learning outcomes that should help citizen science practitioners, researchers, and evaluators in designing projects and in studying and evaluating their impacts. This is a first step in building evaluation capacity across the field of citizen science.
Semiparametric efficient estimation of structural nested mean models with irregularly spaced observations

Structural Nested Mean Models (SNMMs) are useful for causal inference of treatment effects in longitudinal observational studies. Most existing works assume that the data are collected at pre-fixed time points for all subjects, which, however, is restrictive in practice. To deal with irregularly spaced observations, we assume a class of continuous-time SNMMs and a martingale condition of no unmeasured confounding (NUC) to identify the causal parameters. We develop the first semiparametric efficiency theory and locally efficient estimators for continuous-time SNMMs. This task is non-trivial due to the restrictions from the NUC assumption imposed on the SNMM parameter. In the presence of dependent censoring, we propose an inverse probability of censoring weighting estimator, which achieves a multiple robustness feature in that it is unbiased if either the model for the treatment process or the potential outcome mean function is correctly specified, regardless whether the censoring model is correctly specified. The new framework allows us to conduct causal analysis respecting the underlying continuous-time nature of the data processes. We estimate the effect of time to initiate highly active antiretroviral therapy on the CD4 count at year 2 from the observational Acute Infection and Early Disease Research Program database.
Trauma and acute care surgeons report prescribing less opioids over time.

Introduction Confronted with the opioid epidemic, surgeons must play a larger role to reduce risk of opioid abuse while managing acute pain. Having a better understanding of the beliefs and practices of trauma and acute care surgeons regarding discharge pain management may offer potential targets for interventions beyond fixed legal mandates. Methods An Institutional Review Board-approved electronic survey was sent to trauma and acute care surgeons who are members of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and trauma and acute care surgeons and nurse practitioners at a Level 1 trauma center in February 2018. The survey included four case-based scenarios and questions about discharge prescription practices and beliefs. Results Of 66 respondents, most (88.1%) were at academic institutions. Mean number of opioid tablets prescribed was 20–30 (range 5–90), with the fewest tablets prescribed for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the most for rib fractures. Few prescribed both opioid and non-opioid medications (22.4% to 31.4 %). Most would not change the number/strength of medications (69.2%), dose (53.9%), or number of tablets of opioids (83.1%) prescribed if patients used opioids regularly prior to their operation. The most common factors that made providers more likely to prescribe opioids were high inpatient opioid use (32.4%), history of opioid use/abuse (24.5%), and if the patient lives far from the hospital (12.9%). Most providers in practice >5 years reported a decrease in opioids (71.9%) prescribed at discharge. Conclusion Trauma and acute care surgeons and nurse practitioners reported decreasing the number/amount of opioids prescribed over time. Patients with high opioid use in the hospital, history of opioid use/abuse, or who live far from the provider may be prescribed more opioids at discharge. Level of evidence Level IV.
Investigating the relationship between grain orientation and surface height changes in nickel polycrystals under tensile plastic deformation

Abstract This paper investigates the effect of the grain orientation on the surface roughening of nickel polycrystals undergoing plastic tensile deformation. Both experimental and simulation work was carried out. In the experiments, we measured the surface topography at different strain levels. The surface topography images were analyzed to classify individual grains as either rising or sinking. In simulations, we utilized a Crystal Plasticity Finite Element model that embeds a grain in an isotropic sample. This arrangement ensures that only the grain orientation of the embedded grain influences the grain surface topography. The average surface height of the grain was then calculated to classify its behavior to be rising or sinking. Both experiment and simulation results show that the grains with the loading direction close to the 〈001〉 and 〈111〉 lattice orientations tend to sink. For the rest of the grain orientations, the loading direction orientation, and thus the Schmid or Taylor factor, cannot uniquely determine whether the grain rises or sinks. A parametric study revealed that a grain's average surface height is contributed by the plastic deformation of the most stressed slip systems along the direction normal to the surface.
Correlates of loneliness in older persons living with HIV.

Loneliness poses a significant risk for morbidity and mortality in the context of older adulthood. Research shows that older persons living with HIV (PLWH) often face increased and complex vulnerab...
The Problem-Based Threshold: Shifting Pre-Service Teachers' Thinking about Mathematics Instruction.

AbstractThe purpose of the mathematics methods course where this study took place was to support pre-service teachers (PSTs) as their thinking about instruction transitioned from a traditional, tea...
Comparison of the muscarinic antagonist effects of scopolamine and L-687,306

This study aimed to use central and peripheral assays to compare the effects of the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine with those of a novel muscarinic antagonist, L-687,306 [(3R,4R)-3-(3-cyclopropyl-1,2,4,oxadiazol[5-yl]-1-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane. Groups of rats were trained to discriminate the stimulus effects of the muscarinic agonist, arecoline (1.0 mg/kg); concomitant measures of response rate were recorded. Separate groups were prepared with telemetery devices for recording bradycardia induced by arecoline (10 mg/kg). Methyl arecoline and arecoline were nearly equally potent in producing a brief but profound bradycardia, indicative of an equivalent effect in the heart. L-687,306 and scopolamine were both able to block this peripheral effect of arecoline. L-687,306 produced a surmountable antagonism of both the discriminative and rate-suppressing effects of arecoline. Scopolamine, however, was unable to antagonize the rate-reducing effects of arecoline in the discrimination assay. This limited the number of rats that could respond to the discriminative stimulus effects of arecoline, as well as the amount of arecoline stimulus effects they were able to report. The data suggest that L-687,306 may be a more generally effective muscarinic antagonist than scopolamine and support earlier reports that this antagonist has less direct effect on behavior.
Techniques and parameters for earthquake risk assessment

The principal elements of seismic risk assessment are outlined. An approach to seismic risk assessment is developed that provides quite satisfactory risk assessments on a scale of a single structure to regional assessments of risk. An example of a contemporary risk assessment is discussed and the development of a data base for routine risk assessments is advocated.
Performance Degradation in aSi/cSi Heterojunction Solar Cells by Glassy Dynamics

aSi/cSi heterojunction solar cells hold the efficiency world record around 27%, yet their market penetration is delayed. One concern is the presence of an amorphous Si layer that some suspect may speed up the degradation of their performance. To address this concern, we developed a structural simulation platform that is capable of capturing extremely slow degradation processes in aSi. One of our main results is the implementation of the nudged elastic band method to capture the defect generation time scales, which we showed is capable of capturing a time scale distribution that stretches over 8 orders of magnitude.
Scaling and Performance Challenges of Future DRAM

Over the years, memory and storage performance requirements have been driven by growth in computing and data needs. The future brings continued demands for performance improvements in terms of speed and power, as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and data analysis continue to become integrated into every aspect of modern life. Artificial Intelligence has become a game-changer—harvesting enormous data sets and converting them to insights and intelligent action in automotive, mobile edge devices, enterprise storage, and medical imaging applications. Historically, DRAM memory technology has scaled to achieve enough cost per bit reduction and meet high-speed with low-power requirements. Also, high volume manufacturing has been transformed with ten nanometer-class process technology. As future performance demands continue to increase, however, DRAM will run into many challenges to achieve cell devices below 1znm technology. It will take innovative processes and material development to overcome these challenges and provide the breakthroughs and innovative design approaches needed to deliver on future performance demands and scaling requirements.
Decorin, a novel negative modulator of E-cadherin in inflammatory breast cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a clinically distinct and highly aggressive form of breast cancer with rapid onset and a strong propensity to metastasize. The molecular mechanisms underlying the aggressiveness and metastatic propensity of IBC are largely unknown. Herein, we report that decorin (DCN), a small leucine-rich extracellular matrix proteoglycan, is downregulated in tumors from patients with IBC. Overexpression of DCN in IBC cells markedly decreased migration, invasion, and cancer stem cells in vitro and inhibited IBC tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, DCN functioned as a suppressor of invasion and tumor growth in IBC by destabilizing E-cadherin and inhibiting EGFR/ERK signaling. DCN physically binds E-cadherin in IBC cells and accelerates its degradation through an autophagy-linked lysosomal pathway. We established that DCN inhibits tumorigenesis and metastasis in IBC cells by negatively regulating the E-cadherin/EGFR/ERK axis. Our findings offer a potential therapeutic strategy for IBC, and provide a novel mechanism for IBC pathobiology.
Public Support for Solitary Confinement: A Randomized Experiment of Belief Updating and Confirmation Bias

This randomized control experiment investigates whether providing educational information about solitary confinement (SC) cause respondents to update their beliefs about the practice. It also exami...
Competition, Regulation, and 5G

The first part of this chapter puts forward a brief background on technology. The second part examines the use of 5G in FCC and DOJ merger review. The third part analyzes the potential increased efficiency and decentralization of the traditional MNO and how this might impact future competition analyses. And the fourth part examines how 5G may be a factor in less traditional competitive analyses—for example in federal attempts to develop markets in underserved areas, in delivering education and telemedicine, and in increasing competition to minimize theoretic bottlenecks.
From New York City to the World: Examining Critical Global Literacies in an English Language Arts Classroom

In this article, we examine one teacher’s enactment of critical literacy pedagogy in a 7th-grade English language arts classroom in a New York City public school. By conceptualizing critical global...
Design and evaluation of a touchscreen apparatus for operant research with pigeons

We developed a touchscreen apparatus for pigeons and conducted a series of experiments that assessed its utility for free-operant procedures. The apparatus incorporated an on-board Windows computer, an electromechanical interface, an amplified speaker, and the touchscreen. We found that merely projecting a virtual key on the screen was insufficient; too many pecks missed the key. Adding a visual target in the center of the key and providing visual feedback for on-key pecks both failed to improve response accuracy. Accuracy was improved by imposing a timeout after off-key pecks or providing a physical boundary around the key. With the physical boundary, response accuracy was comparable to that obtained with conventional plastic keys, and response acquisition via autoshaping also was comparable. Mixing the color elements of the screen's pixels produced color stimuli, but the colors did not function as pure wavelengths of light in tests of stimulus generalization. Both colors and geometric shapes functioned as discriminative stimuli in multiple schedules with variable-interval and extinction components or rich and lean fixed-ratio components. In general, our touchscreen apparatus is a viable alternative to conventional pigeon chambers and increases the experimenter's options for visual stimuli, auditory stimuli, and the number and location of response keys.
Morphological species identification of wildlife forensic evidence based on digital images

Abstract Species identifications of wildlife items from digital images are critical to many wildlife crime investigations. Digital images downloaded from social media or cell phones may be the only wildlife evidence available for examination. In other cases, examination of emailed photographs by morphological experts may provide probable cause for seizure of suspect items in time-sensitive situations such as customs inspections. This paper outlines protocols to document provisional identifications from emailed photos, and to assure the integrity of digital images submitted as evidence. These are based on the practices followed at the National Fish and Wildlife Laboratory (NFWFL) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement (OLE).
Leveraging synthesis-swelling relationship to precisely engineer synthetic hydrogels

Fundamental model analysis is useful for the rational design of engineered hydrogels with target physical properties. A synthesis-to-swelling model has been proposed to bridge the hydrogel synthesis variables to physical properties, providing an effective strategy to facilitate hydrogel designs for diverse biomedical applications.
Prediction of Blast Loads Based on the Expected Damage Level by Using Displacement Based Method

This paper describes how the equivalent viscous damping (EVD) ratio is a crucial parameter in the application of the displacement based method. Previous works have correlated the EVD ratio as a function of the displacement ductility level based on the hysteric response of reinforced concrete members subjected to blast loads. Furthermore, the displacement response factor (DRF) for blast loads was proved as a function of the EVD ratio and the ratio of impulse duration to the natural period. The explosive charge weight and stand-off distance required to impose a given damage level were predicted by the DBD method based on these research results. In order to examine the feasibility of assessing the blast-resistant capacity of concrete (RC) slabs using the displacement based design (DBD) method. A RC slab was tested under real blast loads in the out-of-plane direction. Test results have shown that the blast loads were effectively estimated and the damage levels observed from the field tests correlated well with the predicted levels.
In-Situ NDE of Navy Sonar Domes Via X-Ray Backscatter Tomography

X-ray backscatter tomography (XBT) is a relatively new NDE technology which is quantitative in its ability to detect a flaw location in three dimensions. The volume to be inspected is interrogated by a collimated x-ray beam and one or more collimated detectors to measure the Compton scatter signal produced by each volume element. XBT is particularly useful where access is available only to one side of the object. Although a number of novel backscatter inspection techniques have been demonstrated [1–4], there is a notable dearth of real applications. This can be attributed to both the development of other, lower cost, one-sided methods and the lack, until recently, of a commercial XBT scanner. In applications where the low cost alternatives are inferior or unfeasible and failure costs are high, XBT affords a solution.
Microfabrication Techniques for Studies of Percolation, Localization, and Superconductivity, and Recent Experimental Results

In the past four years studies of localization and percolation in lower-dimensional systems have been conducted in a number of laboratories. These studies have advanced in a fundamental way our understanding of electron transport in dirty and inhomogeneous systems. The production of the experimental systems has relied directly on advanced microfabrication techniques. It is the purpose of this chapter to review these techniques and also selected experimental results for systems whose production exemplifies these microfabrication techniques.
Regulation of Phospholipid Headgroup Composition in Castor Bean Endosperm

As a general rule, the phospholipid composition of cellular membranes, as defined by headgroups, is highly conserved. Repeated isolates of a membrane fraction at a given developmental stage will, within experimental error, provide the same phospholipid composition. On the other hand, there are reports that in some instances specific changes in phospholipid headgroup composition can take place as a response to environmental or hormonal influences. Indeed, in mammalian systems phosphatidylinositol metabolism responds dramatically to hormonal influences and has been demonstrated to be an intermediary in signal transmission2. These considerations lead to the conclusion that the phospholipid composition of cells must be highly regulated.
U.S. Government Publications in Ethnic Studies

U.S. government publications are valuable to collections supporting research on ethnic studies, but are underrepresented in collection building literature. Federal documents are no longer as difficult to identify and acquire as in the past and should be sought out for ethnic collections. This article describes relevant publications available from federal agencies, major federal and selected commercial sources for identifying and acquiring publications and using depository libraries as resources. Appendix A profiles key agencies and Appendix B is a bibliography of "tantalizing" examples.
Sports Skill Quotient Test.

(1979). Sports Skill Quotient Test. Journal of Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 52-52.
Abstract datatypes, specialization, and program reuse

It is often asserted that our ability to reuse programs is limited primarily by the power of programming language abstraction mechanisms. We argue that, on the basis of performance considerations, this is just not the case in practice—these “generalization” mechanisms must be complemented by techniques to adapt the generalized structures to specific applications. Based on this argument, we consider a view of programming experience as a network of programs that are generalizations and specializations on one another and that are interconnected by appropriate program derivation fragments. We support this view with a number of examples. These examples illustrate the important role of abstract data type boundaries in program derivation.
Baseline Models for Two‐Mode Social Network Data

Baseline models have been used in the analysis of social networks as a way to understand how empirical networks differ from “random” ones. For the purposes of social network analysis, a “random” network is one chosen—at random—from a population of possible graphs derived from a given generating function. Although these principled hypothesis tests have a long history, many of their properties and extensions to multiple data structures—here, specifically two-mode data—have been overlooked. This article focused on applications of different baseline models to two data sets: donations and voting of the 111th U.S. Congress, and organizations involved in forums on watershed policy in San Francisco, USA. Tests using each data set, but with different baseline reference distributions, will illustrate the range of possible questions baseline models can address and the differences between them. The ability to apply different models and generate a constellation of results provides a deeper understanding of the structure of the system.
Query reuse based query planning for searches over the deep web

Nowadays, data dissemination often involves online databases that are hidden behind query forms, thus forming the deep web. Lately, there has been a lot of research interest on supporting query answering over the deep web. To answer a deep web query efficiently, the current approaches generate a query plan for each query independently. However, in practice, deep web queries issued by a user over a short period of time can often share similarities. This, if properly utilized, can help us in generating more efficient query plan. In this paper, we have developed a solution for generating query plan for a deep web query based on the similarities between a given query and a set of earlier queries. Our algorithm systematically finds the reusable components of earlier query plans, and then develops a new query plan reusing these. While the resulting query plans may not be optimal, they are likely to enable more data reuse, and hence, speedup the execution.
Beating the Perils of Non-Convexity: Guaranteed Training of Neural Networks using Tensor Methods

Training neural networks is a challenging non-convex optimization problem, and backpropagation or gradient descent can get stuck in spurious local optima. We propose a novel algorithm based on tensor decomposition for guaranteed training of two-layer neural networks. We provide risk bounds for our proposed method, with a polynomial sample complexity in the relevant parameters, such as input dimension and number of neurons. While learning arbitrary target functions is NP-hard, we provide transparent conditions on the function and the input for learnability. Our training method is based on tensor decomposition, which provably converges to the global optimum, under a set of mild non-degeneracy conditions. It consists of simple embarrassingly parallel linear and multi-linear operations, and is competitive with standard stochastic gradient descent (SGD), in terms of computational complexity. Thus, we propose a computationally efficient method with guaranteed risk bounds for training neural networks with one hidden layer.
Variability in the Relationship Between Sleep and Pain in Patients Undergoing Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation for Chronic Pain

Objective Chronic pain and sleep disturbance frequently coexist and often complicate the course of treatment. Despite the well-established comorbidity, there are no studies that have investigated concurrent changes in sleep and pain among patients participating in an interdisciplinary chronic pain rehabilitation program (ICPRP). The goal of this study was to investigate the daily changes in sleep and pain among patients participating in an ICPRP. Methods Multilevel modeling techniques were used to evaluate the daily changes in total sleep time (TST) and pain among a sample of 50 patients with chronic noncancer pain participating in the ICPRP. Results Increases in TST were predictive of less pain the following treatment day, although daily pain ratings were not predictive of that night's TST. Time in treatment was a significant predictor of both TST and pain reduction, even while controlling for age, gender, anxiety, and depression. Additional analyses revealed significant individual variability in the relationship between TST and next day pain. Individuals with stronger associations between previous night's TST and next day pain were found to experience the greatest treatment benefits overall, in terms of pain reduction and TST. Conclusions Our results provide compelling support for individual variability of the pain–sleep relationship in patients with intractable pain conditions participating in an ICPRP. Importantly, these findings suggest that when pain and sleep are comorbid, both must be addressed to reap the maximum response to treatment programs such as an ICPRP. Perspective Statement This study demonstrates the utility of treating sleep problems in patients participating in an interdisciplinary chronic pain rehabilitation program. Results highlight the benefits of accounting for individual variability in the pain-sleep relationship in a clinical setting and targeting sleep interventions for those individuals whose pain and sleep problems are comorbid.
Is there value in routine administration of outcome questionnaires

Study design: Retrospective case-series of prospective routinely collected Short Form 36v2 (SF-36v2) data in an outpatient spine clinic. Objective: To determine if there is value in routine administration of outcome questionnaires for the patient and/or clinician without a targeted population or monitoring of follow-up. Method: Retrospective review of Health Outcomes Scoring database. Results: During an 18-month period 1,863 patients completed 3,124 SF-36v2 questionnaires. The extent of diagnoses and the uneven timing of follow-ups of the completed questionnaires render this data useless both to the patient and for aggregate analysis. Conclusion: There is no value in routine administration of outcome questionnaires to patient care or clinical research. Final class of evidence-prognosis Study design RCT Cohort Case control Case series • Methods Patients at similar point in course of treatment F/U ≥ 85% Similarity of treatment protocols for patient groups • Patients followed up long enough for outcomes to occur • Control for extraneous risk factors NA Overall class of evidence IV The definiton of the different classes of evidence is available on page 63. View it in a separate window Study Rationale The routine use of patients' outcomes scoring systems has become common in various specialties, such as spine surgery. The goal of such undertakings is to get a better understanding of patient well-being from a patient perspective as it is impacted by disorders, diseases, and hopefully being helped by interventions. To get a better handle on patient outcomes it has become normal to routinely collect these outcomes data at every clinic visit to hopefully enable a retrospective analysis at a later date. This practice is increasingly doubtful due to the cost involved and the incomplete nature of meaningful outcomes data actually collectable. In our outpatient spine clinic beginning in 2000, a set menu of accepted Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) questionnaires was given to all patients for all visits. Despite aggressive promotion and monitoring of this data collection during 2 years (2003–2004), this may not be an effective use of patient time and clinic resources when critically reviewed for value and economic cost.