cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Poly[tris(p‐xylylenediaminium) [tetradeca‐μ‐oxo‐hexadecanonamolybdate(VI)] dihydrate]

Crystals of the title compound, {[C8H14N2]3[Mo9O30]·2H2O}n, were grown under mild hydro­thermal conditions in the presence of p-xylylenediamine. [Mo9O30]n6n− chains, constructed from [MoO6] octa­hedra and [MoO4] tetra­hedra, are separated by protonated p-xylylenediaminium cations and occluded water mol­ecules, creating an extensive hydrogen-bonding network. One cation posseses a centre of symmetry; the anion is also centrosymmetric and one Mo atom lies on a crystallographic twofold rotation axis.
Integrating 3-D seismic data, field analogs, and mechanical models in the analysis of segmented normal faults in the Wytch Farm oil field, southern England, United Kingdom

We propose a methodology for the analysis of normal fault geometries in three-dimensional (3-D) seismic data sets to provide insights into the evolution of segmented normal fault systems and to improve recovery efforts in fault-controlled oil fields. Limited seismic resolution can obscure subtle fault characteristics such as segmentation and gaps in fault continuity that are significant for oil migration and thus accurate reservoir characterization. Detailed seismic data analyses that incorporate principles of normal fault mechanics, however, can reveal evidence of fault segmentation. We integrate seismic attribute analyses, outcrop analog observations, and numerical models of fault slip and displacement fields to augment the use of 3-D seismic data for fault interpretation. We applied these techniques to the Wytch Farm oil field in southern England, resulting in the recognition of significant lateral and, to a lesser extent, vertical segmentation of reservoir-scale faults. Slip maxima on fault surfaces indicate two unambiguous segment nucleation depths, controlled by the lithological heterogeneity of the faulted section. Faults initiated preferentially in brittle sandstone and limestone units. Subsequent growth and linkage of segments, predominantly in the lateral direction, resulted in composite fault surfaces that have long lateral dimensions and multiple slip maxima. Reservoir compartmentalization is greatest at the level of prevalent segment linkages, which corresponds at Wytch Farm with the predominant hydrocarbon-producing unit, the Sherwood Sandstone. At relatively shallower depths, fault segments are younger and less evolved, resulting in a greater degree of segmentation with intact relay zones.
Response to Letter Regarding Article, “Defining Clinically Relevant Cerebral Hemorrhage After Thrombolytic Therapy for Stroke: Analysis of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator Trials”

We thank Turc et al1 for their interest in our article2 and their detailed appraisal. The authors raise the concern that the European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS) 2 definition may include radiographically minor intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) such as hemorrhagic infarction type 1 or 2.3 In response to their request for additional details on potential competing causes of worsening in patients 22 to 27, we contacted The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator (NINDS rt-PA) Stroke Trials Coordinating Center but the individual subject detailed data beyond the elements of the public access data set were not available. Accordingly, the basis of the judgments reached by local site investigators that the hemorrhages in these cases caused the early worsening was not available to be additionally interrogated. We concur that such minor ICHs are generally unlikely to be …
Body wave amplitude patterns and upper mantle attenuation variations across North America

Summary. A broad band amplitude study of P- and SH-waves from deep South American events recorded at WWSSN stations in the United States provides constraints on upper mantle variations in attenuation. The events were selected to minimize contamination due to source complexity, radiation pattern, and source structure. The prevalent feature in the short- and longperiod bands is that the SH amplitudes show the same regional variations as the P amplitudes, with the regional variations of short periods being similar, but enhanced relative to the variations at long periods. The amplitudes show some systematic regional difference between the East Coast and Rocky Mountain provinces, and both short and long periods are enhanced at the Gulf Coast and midwestern stations, probably due to thick sedimentary bed receiver structure. Since detailed receiver structures for individual stations are poorly known, we used the working hypothesis that the regional amplitude patterns are caused by lateral variations in upper mantle attenuation. Both a constant Q and a frequency-dependent attenuation operator were considered, with the relative amplitudes and waveforms in short- and long-period bands used to estimate the acceptable range of At* in the constant Q model, or the acceptable range of the parameter r, , which describes the high-frequency roll-off of the absorption band in the frequency-dependent model. Time domain modelling indicates that the short-period P and SH amplitudes and waveforms in the 1-10s period range do not unambiguously demand frequency-dependent attenuation, allowing for the uncertainty in source frequency content and long-period absorption band amplitude. The short-period P amplitudes can be fit with a range in At; = 0.5 s or a range in r, from 0.001 to 0.25s, with either single parameter variation consistent with the general short-period SH amplitude behaviour. A technique for determining the absolute value of t* and possible r, values appropriate for the 5-20s band was applied to selected data. A value of t* = 0.8 s and small 7, were found for travel paths from the deep events to North America, and lower t* or large r,, values were found for paths to southern African stations. Longperiod amplitude variations cannot be explained by frequency-dependent
Synthetic Peptide Antibody Probes of Membrane Orientation of the Gastric H,K-ATPase

Gastric acidification is mediated by H,K-ATPase, an integral membrane protein of the apical membrane of the gastric mucosal parietal cell. The enzyme is a heterodimer of α and s subunits, and belongs to the P-type class of membrane ATPases which form a phosphorylated intermediate, are inhibited by vanadate, and which oscillate between E1 and E2 conformations during the transport cycle. Other members of this class are Na,K-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase of plasma membrane and sarcoplasmic reticulum, H+-ATPases of plants and fungi, and the K+-ATPases of certain bacteria.
Reynolds-number effects and anisotropy in transverse-jet mixing

Experiments are described which measured concentration fields in liquid-phase strong transverse jets over the Reynolds-number range 1.0×10^3 ≤ Rej ≤ 20×10^3. Laser-induced-fluorescence measurements were made of the jet-fluid-concentration fields at a jet-to-freestream velocity ratio of Vr =10. The concentration-field data for far-field (x/dj =50) slices of the jet show that turbulent mixing in the transverse jet is Reynolds number dependent over the range investigated, with a scalar-field PDF that evolves with Reynolds number. A growing peak in the PDF, indicating enhanced spatial homogenization of the jet-fluid concentration field, is found with increasing Reynolds number. Comparisons between transverse jets and jets discharging into quiescent reservoirs show that the transverse jet is an efficient mixer in that it entrains more fluid than the ordinary jet, yet is able to effectively mix and homogenize the additional entrained fluid. Analysis of the structure of the scalar field using distributions of scalar increments shows evidence for well-mixed plateaux separated by sharp cliffs in the jet-fluid concentration field, as previously shown in other flows. Furthermore, the scalar field is found to be anisotropic, even at small length scales. Evidence for local anisotropy is seen in the scalar power spectra, scalar microscales, and PDFs of scalar increments in different directions. The scalar-field anisotropy is shown to be correlated to the vortex-induced large-scale strain field of the transverse jet. These experiments add to the existing evidence that the large and small scales of high-Schmidt-number turbulent mixing flows can be linked, with attendant consequences for the universality of small scales of the scalar field for Reynolds numbers up to at least Re=20×10^4.
Health Literacy Among Insulin-Taking African Americans A Need for Tailored Intervention in Clinical Practice

AimsTo determine the levels of functional health literacy (FHL) among insulin-taking African Americans with diabetes from an urban medical practice and to determine if associations exist between FHL levels and glycemic control.MethodsSeventy insulin-taking African Americans seen for diabetes management comprised the analysis cohort. Patients were 18 years or older, African American, had diabetes, and currently using insulin via syringe, pen, or insulin pump. All participants completed a one-time assessment of FHL levels, using the Newest Vital Sign (NVS). Scores ranged from 0 to 6 (0-1 = high likelihood of limited FHL; 2-3 = possibility of limited FHL; 4-6 = adequate FHL). A combination of t tests, Pearson’s chi-square tests, and multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine associations between glycemic control and FHL.ResultsAverage age was 58.7, 59.1% were female, 90.8% with type 2 diabetes, and 15.1% using an insulin pump. Glycemic control was: A1C < 7%: 22.9%, A1C < 8%: 47.1%. Of par...
Transgenic Gαq overexpression induces cardiac contractile failure in mice

The critical cell signals that trigger cardiac hypertrophy and regulate the transition to heart failure are not known. To determine the role of Gαq-mediated signaling pathways in these events, transgenic mice were constructed that overexpressed wild-type Gαq in the heart using the α-myosin heavy chain promoter. Two-fold overexpression of Gαq showed no detectable effects, whereas 4-fold overexpression resulted in increased heart weight and myocyte size along with marked increases in atrial naturietic factor (≈55-fold), β-myosin heavy chain (≈8-fold), and α-skeletal actin (≈8-fold) expression, and decreased (≈3-fold) β-adrenergic receptor-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity. All of these signals have been considered markers of hypertrophy or failure in other experimental systems or human heart failure. Echocardiography and in vivo cardiac hemodynamic studies indeed revealed impaired intrinsic contractility manifested as decreased fractional shortening (19 ± 2% vs. 41 ± 3%), dP/dt max, a negative force–frequency response, an altered Starling relationship, and blunted contractile responses to the β-adrenergic agonist dobutamine. At higher levels of Gαq overexpression, frank cardiac decompensation occurred in 3 of 6 animals with development of biventricular failure, pulmonary congestion, and death. The element within the pathway that appeared to be critical for these events was activation of protein kinase Cɛ. Interestingly, mitogen-activated protein kinase, which is postulated by some to be important in the hypertrophy program, was not activated. The Gαq overexpressor exhibits a biochemical and physiologic phenotype resembling both the compensated and decompensated phases of human cardiac hypertrophy and suggests a common mechanism for their pathogenesis.
E-plane performance of two-dimensional strip-element phased arrays with inhomogeneous substrates

The finite-element method of lines is examined as a versatile numerical tool for the analysis of infinite planar arrays. The two-dimensional formulation presented is distinguished by the fact that it allows for finite conductivity of the metal structures, strip thickness, and inhomogeneous dielectric substrates. The numerical solution is used to investigate the E-plane scanning performance of arrays with inhomogeneous substrates, for the purpose of alleviating or eliminating scan blindness problems. A simple example of such an array is one in which the individual strip elements are supported by dielectric slabs of finite extent. The influence on the array characteristics of the finite metallization conductivity and strip thickness is also assessed. >
Stimulus compounding in free-operant and classical conditioning. A review and analysis.

Free-operant and classical conditioning studies reporting additive summation, suppressive summation, and response averaging to compounded stimuli are reviewed, and a stimulus control model applicable to additive and suppressive summation in both paradigms is presented. A symmetrical composite-stimulus continuum, denned by the on-off states of the discriminative or conditioned stimuli controlling behavior in training, is seen to be common to both types of summation, with the functions of the ail-on and ail-off continuum extremes interchangeable. Moreover, additive summation, suppressive summation, and response averaging appear to be dependent on discrimination training, and determined by the history of, as well as the immediate relations between, response outputs and reinforcement densities conditioned to particular stimulus values along the composite training dimension. This evidence, and the stimulus control model derived therefrom, are used to functionally relate summation to generalization peak shift and to suggest that these additive, suppressive, and averaging effects to compounded stimuli might further help in clarifying, and in placing in contextual perspective, what are currently thought of as "excitatory" and "inhibitory" mechanisms in learning. This review presents the current status of stimulus-compounding research in free-operant and classical conditioning,3 and through this presentation it attempts to develop a comprehensive functional analysis of the variables involved in determining the various behavioral resultants reported within this experimental paradigm. The scope of the present paper does not extend to multiple-resp onse or multiplechoice procedures, exemplified by the experiments of Schoeffler (1954) and Atkinson, Calfee, Sommer, Jeffrey, and Shoemaker (1964), but instead focuses on unitary response paradigms where variations in rates or magnitudes of response are of primary concern. Ultimately, the stimulus control analysis formulated is (a) discussed in terms of some
Mechanism of Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence Elucidated by Use of Oxygen-18

The purpose of this report is to summarize our recent studies designed to elucidate the mechanisms of several bio- and chemiluminescent systems. We are using oxygen-18 as tracer for events occurring on a molecular level during light emission. The accuracy and validity of the oxygen-18 methodology has been extensively examined. Some previously unpublished methodology is included in this report. We have studied the oxidation of firefly and sea pansy (Renilla reniformis) luciferin catalyzed by firefly and sea pansy luciferase (1,2) and also the oxidation of firefly luciferyl-adenylate in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide and potassium t-butoxide, chemiluminescence. (3) Our data indicate that striking similarities must exist in the mechanisms of bio- and chemiluminescence. We found that CO2 is produced during substrate oxida-tion and light emission in all these systems and that oxygen present in the CO2 arises from water rather than molecular oxygen. These findings have permitted us to develop new mechanisms for the oxidative reactions occurring during luminescence in these systems.
On lateral mixing efficiency of lunar regolith

[1] To reexamine the potential for lateral mixing over large distances (>100 km) by impact craters, a mathematical model utilizing the stable probability distribution is proposed for estimating lateral mixing efficiency on the Moon. The proposed model divides material mixing into shallow slope and steep slope regimes. Mixing in the shallow slope regime conforms to the condition that the exponent of the power law describing lunar crater size frequency is larger than the exponent of the power law describing the rim thickness plus 2; otherwise the mixing is called the steep slope regime. The model suggests that in the shallow slope regime, lateral mixing on the Moon is efficient enough to deliver 20–30% exotic components over distances greater than 100 km (e.g., highland material to the mare). The model indicates that lateral mixing conforming to the steep slope regime is not efficient if linear addition of ejecta deposits is assumed because in this regime, impact cratering is driven by small craters reworking lunar surface, and the addition of crater ejecta is an invalid assumption. If the result of the proposed model for the shallow slope regime is applied to regolith layers below the reworked zone, a significant number of “exotic” components is predicted.
Power-based leader selection in ad-hoc wireless networks

In this paper, we develop a physical layer-based framework for the organization of an ad-hoc wireless network. The focus is quasi-static environments, such as multimedia classrooms, and situations characterized by real-time services and high traffic loads. In these cases, centralized control may be preferable due to its simplicity and high efficiency. Using a link loss matrix, an approach is proposed for selection of a network leader that takes into consideration link losses and transmitter powers. Both minimax and minisum criteria are developed to determine uplink, downlink, and overall leaders. A QoS-based iterative algorithm for determination of link transmit powers is also proposed, from which leader selection is obtained as a special case. Numerical results are also presented which explore the effect of quantization of feedback information on the iterative algorithm.
Two High-Performance Adaptive Filter Implementation Schemes Using Distributed Arithmetic

Distributed arithmetic (DA) is performed to design bit-level architectures for vector-vector multiplication with a direct application for the implementation of convolution, which is necessary for digital filters. In this brief, two novel DA-based implementation schemes are proposed for adaptive finite-impulse response filters. Different from conventional DA techniques, our proposed schemes use coefficients as addresses to access a series of lookup tables (LUTs) storing sums of delayed and scaled input samples. Two smart LUT updating methods are developed, and least-mean-square adaptation is performed to update the weights and minimize the mean square error between the estimated and desired output. Results show that our two high-performance designs achieve high speed, low computation complexities, and low area cost.
Effect of Dietary Lipid Level and Protein Energy Ratio on Growth and Body Composition of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides

A feeding trial was conducted in aquaria with juvenile largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides to examine the effects of increasing dietary lipid levels on growth and body composition. Feed-trained largemouth bass fingerlings were graded to a similar size (16.3 ± 2.4 g) and randomly stocked into 15 113.6-L glass aquaria at 25 fish/aquarium. Fingerlings were fed twice daily to apparent satiation with one of five isonitrogenous extruded experimental diets based on practical ingredients. Diets contained approximately 40% crude protein and either 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20% added lipid. Due to background lipids in the ingredients, this equated to total lipid levels of 7, 10, 16, 20, and 23%, respectively. These diets had protein to energy ratios of 137, 120, 106, 95, and 86 mg/kcal, respectively. There were three replicate aquaria per dietary treatment. After 12 wk, there were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) in average weight (g), specific growth rate (% body weight/d), survival (%), or protein efficiency ratio (PER, %) among fish fed the five diets, which averaged 79.3 ± 5.6, 1.9 ± 0.1, 99.5 ± 1.5, and 2.11 ± 0.19, respectively. Juvenile largemouth bass fed diets containing 15 and 20% added lipid had significantly lower (P± 0.05) feed conversion ratios (FCR) (1.1 ± 0.0 and 1.1 ± 0. 1, respectively) than fish fed diets containing 0, 5, and 10% added lipid (1.4 ± 0.1, 1.3 ± 0. 1, and 1.3 ± 0.2, respectively). Proximate analysis of whole body samples indicated a significantly higher (P ± 0.05) lipid content in fish fed 15 and 20% added lipid compared to fish fed lower lipid levels. While FCR was lowest in fish fed the 15 and 20% added lipid diets, increased whole body lipid deposition may indicate that these levels are above optimal levels for juvenile largemouth bass. It appears that 7–16% total dietary lipid (P/E:137–106 mg/kcal) is sufficient to support efficient growth without impacting body composition in juvenile largemouth bass when fed a diet containing 40% crude protein.
Have we really been analyzing terminating simulations incorrectly all these years

We all know how to estimate a confidence interval for the mean based on a random sample. The interval is centered on the sample mean, with the half-width proportional to the sample standard error. We know also that terminating simulations generate independent observations. What simulators appear to have overlooked is that independence alone is insufficient to guarantee a valid random sample - the observations must also be identically distributed. This is a good assumption if the outcome of each replication is a single observation, but it is demonstrably incorrect if the outcome is an aggregate value and the replications have differing numbers of observations. In this paper we explore the implications of this oversight when within-replication observations are independent. We then derive analytic results showing that although the impact on interval estimates can sometimes be negligible, there also are circumstances where the variance of our estimates is significantly increased. We finish with a simple example which demonstrates the potential impact for practitioners.
Evaluation of soyabean meal as a protein source in canine foods

Eight adult female dogs (18.2±0.4 kg) were used in an experiment to determine the feeding value of soyabean meal (SBM) in a complete food fed to dogs. All foods contained graded concentrations of SBM (151–461 g/kg dry matter (DM)) resulting in foods that were 100, 150, 200 and 250 g/kg crude protein (CP). Daily dry matter intake averaged 296±10 g per day. An increase in SBM resulted in a decrease in fecal moisture from 389 to 265 g/kg (linear; P<0.001) and fecal DM output increased from 49.8 to 131.4 g per day (linear; P<0.001). Ileal DM flow increased from 56.6 to 200.7 g per day (linear; P<0.001). Small intestinal DM digestibility decreased from 0.81 to 0.34 (linear; P<0.001) and total tract DM digestibility decreased from 0.83 to 0.57 (linear; P<0.001) as SBM increased. Large intestinal DM digestibility increased from 0.12 to 0.34 with increasing SBM (linear; P<0.001). Crude protein fecal excretion increased from 10.0 to 27.5 g per day (linear; P<0.001) and ileal flow of CP increased from 10.6 to 38.1 g per day (linear; P<0.001) as SBM increased. Small intestinal CP digestibility decreased from 0.65 to 0.51 (linear; P<0.002) with increasing SBM. Large intestinal CP digestibility increased from 0.05 to 0.27 (linear; P<0.021) with increasing SBM. Total tract CP digestibility was unaffected by treatment (P<0.267) as SBM increased. Disappearance of all amino acids (AA) (g per day), with the exception of cysteine and tryptophan, increased (linear; P<0.001) with increasing SBM. Glutamate had the highest disappearance ranging from 4.98 to 10.89 g per day. Tryptophan and cysteine had the lowest disappearance ranging from 0.35 to 0.43 g per day and 0.29 to 0.36 g per day, respectively. Arginine had the highest overall digestibility ranging from 0.85 to 0.88 whereas, threonine and cysteine had the lowest digestibility ranging from 0.39 to 0.57 and 0.30 to 0.60, respectively. These data indicate that SBM can adversely affect the digestibility of canine foods in concentrations greater than 150 g/kg of the food.
Computational and statistical approaches to analyzing variants identified by exome sequencing

New sequencing technology has enabled the identification of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the exome, and many computational and statistical approaches to identify disease-association signals have emerged.
Standardizing Communication From Acute Care Providers to Primary Care Providers on Critically Ill Adults

OBJECTIVE To increase the frequency of communication of patient information between acute and primary care providers. A secondary objective was to determine whether higher rates of communication were associated with lower rates of hospital readmission 30 days after discharge. METHODS A validated instrument was used for telephone surveys before and after an intervention designed to increase the frequency of communication among acute care and primary care providers. The communication intervention was implemented in 3 adult intensive care units from 2 campuses of an academic medical center. RESULTS The frequency of communication among acute care and primary care providers, the perceived usefulness of the intervention, and its association with 30-day readmission rates were assessed for 202 adult intensive care episodes before and 100 episodes after a communication intervention. The frequency of documented communication increased significantly (5/202 or 2% before to 72/100 or 72% after the intervention; P < .001) and the communication was considered useful by every participating primary care provider. Rates of rehospitalization at 30 days were lower for the intervention group than the preintervention group, but the difference was not statistically significant (41/202 or 23% vs 16/88 or 18% of discharged patients; P = .45; power 0.112 at P = .05). CONCLUSIONS The frequency of communication episodes that provide value can be increased through standardized processes. The key aspects of this effective intervention were setting the expectation that communication should occur, documenting when communication has occurred, and reviewing that documentation during multiprofessional rounds.
Work-Life Balance and Burnout

Serious consideration of work-life balance and its impact on professional performance and family life have been anathema to generations of surgeons in training and in practice for much of the past century. William Halsted (1852–1922), the father of the first formal surgical residency training program in the United States at Johns Hopkins Hospital, demanded continuity of care from his residents. The restrictive lifestyle and extreme personal sacrifice that characterized Halsted’s training program in the waning years of the nineteenth century remained pervasive in most American surgical training programs for much of the twentieth century—well into the 1960s and 1970s. During those earlier days, surgical residents frequently lived on hospital premises during their residencies, were strongly discouraged from starting families, and were not receiving salaries. Instead, they were gratified with room and board, hospital clothing, and with professional education and training. The Medicare and Medicaid Act of 1965, which was primarily designed to provide for medical care for the elderly and the poor, became one of the first agents of change in the surgical residents’ lives in that it provided for a substantial salary [1]. The basic underpinnings of the surgical residency changed gradually, with surgical residents now at least physically spending part of their lives outside of their training institutions. It was not until the beginning of this new millennium, in the wake of the highly publicized Libby Zion case, that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) designed and mandated the 80-h workweek for surgical and other residents, placing, among other measures, a cap on the length of the shifts that could be worked [2]. Not surprisingly, this change regarding surgical residents’ work hours generated vocal dissent from some of those representing prior surgical generations. For instance, Josef Fischer, M.D. stated “The 80-h work week is seen as damaging to the essence of surgery’s being. It is the denial of the foundation of…continuity of care.” [3]
Republican Antitax Policy

In this article, Pollack recounts the long history of hostility to the taxation of wealth and income within the conservative wing of the Republican party. He considers the origins of that antitax sentiment and ponders whether it makes for a viable electoral strategy for Republican candidates.
Adventures in K-5 STEM Outreach Using the NAO Robot (Abstract Only)

The humanoid NAO robot continues to win both hearts and imaginations with its lifelike appearance and behaviors. Its consistent growth in popularity, an increasing wealth of free behaviors, and the intuitive Choregraphe development environment provide educators and developers with exceptional opportunities to motivate interest in STEM disciplines and breach impediments such as perceptions that such technology is simply too hard. In this poster, the authors discuss a variety of experimental uses of the NAO robots for K-5 STEM Outreach. Initial development and demonstrations focused on generating enthusiasm for both robotics and programming. Dancing and exercising behaviors from Notre Dame University's F.U.N. Lab and Aldebaran Robots easily integrated into voice-controlled Choregraphe demonstration scripts. Faculty and undergraduate students directed this enthusiasm to motivate engagement in Hour of Code programming activities. The team also utilized the NAO robots in small group settings within a K-5 Response To Intervention (RTI) program where demonstrations were followed by having the children interactively experiment with the robots stimulating imagination, creativity, curiosity, and problem solving skills as well as confidence and self-esteem. Next the RTI children actually programmed the robots using a story-based methodology and the powerful while intuitive building block programming constructs of Choregraphe. The team's on-going development efforts focus on expanding the repertoire of available behaviors to include interactive math games and foreign language educational dialogs. Results from use of these new behaviors will be presented at the SIGCSE Symposium. The team is also working to measure attitudinal, conceptual understanding, and math and language skills improvements.
A Comparison of Two Logit Models in the Analysis of Qualitative Marketing Data

The authors compare the application of two logit models for the analysis of qualitative marketing data. A weighted least squares logit model is compared with a maximum likelihood logit model differ...
305 ASSESSMENT OF REGULATORY T CELLS IN PHENOTYPIC TYPE 2 DIABETES PATIENTS.

Type 1.5 diabetes or LADA comprises approximately 10% of Caucasian adult phenotypic type 2 diabetes patients. Autoantibodies and T cells reacting to islet proteins suggest an autoimmune pathogenesis, whereas classic type 2 patients are negative for autoantibodies and T cell responses to islet proteins. We hypothesize that regulatory cells are present in classic type 2 patients and are either decreased in numbers or function in type 1.5 patients. In this study, we asked whether regulatory cell (CD4+/CD38+ and CD4+/CD25+) numbers were similar in classic type 2 and type 1.5 patients. T cells were characterized by cellular immunoblotting and autoantibody responses (ICA/IAA/GAD/IA-2) to islet proteins were measured. Of 19 pheotypic type 2 diabetes patients, 6 were negative for both autoantibody (Ab-) and cellular immunoblotting responses (T cell-) to islet proteins, 8 patients were Ab-T cell+, and 5 patients were Ab+T cell+. The percentage of regulatory T cells was assessed by flowcytometry and beta cell function was measured by fasting and glucagon-stimulated C-peptide in the 3 subject groups. We observed no significant differences in the fasting C-peptide among the 3 groups. However, glucagon-stimulated C-peptide was significantly lower ( p < .05) in both T cell+ groups. We observed that CD4+/CD38+ and CD4+/CD25+ cells were significantly (p < .05) lower in Ab+T cell+ patients compared to both Ab-T cell+ and Ab-Tcell- patients. As expected the Ab+T cell+ group had lower beta cell function and decreased regulatory T cells compared to the Ab-T cell- and Ab-T cell+ groups. In contrast the Ab-T cell+ group, who demonstrate autoimmunity with positive T cell responses and lower beta cell function, had similar numbers of regulatory T cells as in Ab-T- group. A functional abnormality of regulatory T cells in such patients might be part of the explanation, which is currently under investigation. The defect in regulatory populations may allow for the progression of autoimmune response to islet proteins and subsequent decrease in beta cell function.
Sexy warriors: the politics and pleasures of submission to the state

This essay examines links between sexuality, sexiness, and militarized bodies. While scholars have persuasively established links between militarization, hyper-masculine identities, and sexual assault, I want to trouble the soldier as an object of desire, not merely as a subject imposing violence. This paper analyses the fetishism of militarization to argue that the relationship between soldiers’ bodies and the state might be usefully understood using theoretical categories derived from kink communities. While few would dispute that dominance and submission are involved in all hierarchical social relations, I follow Foucault in arguing that communities that eroticize these roles have broadly applicable insights into the productivity of power. Combining theoretical arguments with empirical illustrations of how fetishism and militarization concatenate, I demonstrate how to think critically about the relationships between gender, war, desire, and agency. I do so because, like it or not, war is sexy in contem...
Analyzing Nature as a Persuasive Tool in Advertisements

Manufacturers of consumer goods and advertising professionals who promote them often employ images of nature and related connotations as a persuasive strategy. The study of natural images and messaging in print and online advertisements offers students practice in identifying rhetorical strategies, insight into human relationships with the natural world, and an introduction to the spectrum of social responsibility behind “green” advertising. In this classroom activity, students analyze and discuss the use of nature-related imagery and messaging. After completing the activity, students should be able to (1) articulate a human/nature relationship expressed or implied in an ad, (2) identify argumentative strategies at work in an ad, and (3) assess the effectiveness of an ad for influencing an audience of their peers.
Effects of Sex Offenders' Residential Locations on Property Values Using Both Parametric and Semiparametric Models

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of sex offenders’ residential locations on property values in Rochester, New York, by using 19,702 screened single residential housing sales data from 2000 to May 2013. This paper uses both fixed effects and semiparametric models and concludes that the impact from a sex offender’s residential location on property values is only regional. Homeowners residing within 0.1 mile, between a 0.1 and 0.2 miles, and between a 0.2 and 0.3 mile radius of a nearby sex offender suffer about 7 %, 6 %, and 3 % property value drops, respectively. These percentage changes translate into $4617, $3731, and $1897 reductions for the average-priced house in the sample, respectively. This negative impact dissipates beyond the 0.3 mile radius.
The Impact of Three Cognitive Training Programs on Driving Cessation Across 10 Years: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose of the study Driving is important for older adults' health and well-being, yet little research has examined interventions to maintain driving mobility. As fluid cognitive abilities are strongly linked to driving, targeted cognitive training interventions may impact driving mobility longitudinally. This study assessed the effects of three different cognitive training programs (reasoning, speed of processing, and memory) on driving cessation in older adults across 10 years (n = 2,390). Design and methods Cox regression analyses evaluated the impact of each program relative to a no-contact control group with intent-to-treat (ITT) analyses. The effects of randomization to additional booster sessions were also examined. Subsample analyses repeated these models in participants who were at-risk for driving mobility declines. Results There were no training (n = 2,390) or booster training (n = 1,540) effects on driving cessation with ITT analyses. Individuals at-risk for future mobility declines were 49% (Hazard Ratio (HR) = 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.28, 0.94; n = 336) less likely to cease driving after speed of processing training and 55% (HR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.86; n = 324) less likely to quit driving subsequent to reasoning training. Additional booster sessions for speed of processing training resulted in a 70% reduction of driving cessation (HR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.11, 0.82; n = 252) in the subsample analyses. There were no significant effects of memory training. Implications Some cognitive interventions transfer to maintained driving among those at-risk for mobility declines due to cognitive impairment. Future research should identify moderators and mediators of training and transfer effects.
Control Theory and Singular Riemannian Geometry

This paper discusses the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the solution of a class of optimal control problems, together with related questions concerning a corresponding stochastic differential equation. The class has been chosen to reveal what one may expect for the structure of the set of conjugate points for smooth problems in which existence of optimal trajectories is not an issue but for which Lie bracketing is necessary to reveal the reachable set. It is, perhaps, not too surprising that in thinking about this problem various geometrical analogies are useful and, in the final analysis, provide a convenient language to express the results. Indeed, the geodesic problem of Riemannian geometry is commonly taken to be the paradigm in the calculus of variations; a point of view which is supported by a variety of variational principles such as the theorem of Euler which identifies the path of a freely moving particle on a manifold with a geodesic and the whole theory of general relativity. Nonetheless, the class of variational problems considered here can only be thought of as geodesic problems in some limiting sense in which the metric tends to infinity. For this reason the geodesic analogy has to be developed rather carefully.
Blowing Embers: An exploration of the agenda-setting role of books

Books have long been credited with social and cultural influence, but the evidence for this is largely anecdotal and fragmentary. This study proposes ways to test books’ influence by wedding the methods of cultural studies, communication studies, and book history with agenda-setting theory to assess the relationship between four best sellers and policy and cultural changes that previously had been uncritically attributed to them: The Jungle, Unsafe at Any Speed, Backlash, and Fast Food Nation.
Black Toenail Sign in MELAS Syndrome.

Abstract Background Mitochondrial encephalopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome is a mitochondrial disorder often causing progressive brain injury that is not confined to large arterial territories. Severe insults ultimately lead to gyral necrosis affecting the cortex and juxtacortical white matter; the neuroimaging correlate is partial gyral signal suppression on T2/FLAIR sequences that resemble black toenails. We aimed to characterize the imaging features and the natural history of MELAS-related gyral necrosis. Materials and Methods Databases at two children's hospitals were searched for brain magnetic resonance imaging studies of individuals with MELAS. Examinations with motion artifact and those lacking T2/FLAIR sequences were excluded. The location, the cumulative number, and the maximum transverse diameter of necrotic gyral lesions were assessed using T2-weighted images and T2/FLAIR sequences. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was employed to evaluate the relationship between disease duration and the number of necrotic lesions. Results One hundred twenty-four examinations from patients with 14 unique MELAS patients (16 ± 3 years) were evaluated. Six of the eight patients who developed brain lesions also developed gyral necroses (mean 13, range 0 to 44). Necrotic lesions varied in maximal diameter from 4 to 25 mm. Cumulative necrotic lesions correlated with disease duration ( P Conclusions The black toenail sign signifying gyral necrosis is a common imaging feature in individuals with MELAS syndrome. The extent of gyral necrosis correlates with disease duration.
Robust control of input constrained nonlinear systems subject to unknown bounded disturbances based on convex optimization

This work studies the problem of controlling nonlinear, control affine systems which are subject to polytopic input constraints and are perturbed by unknown, bounded disturbances. The control problem is split into two interconnected parts. The first part is solved offline and corresponds to the characterization of the subset of the state space where stabilization under input constraints and disturbances is guaranteed to be possible. The second part refers to the calculation of control inputs, using state feedback, which stabilize the closed loop system for any initial condition in the set resulting from the offline calculations, under any effect of the disturbance. The proposed solutions are based on Lyapunov-based stabilization methods, which are fused with techniques from convex optimization. In particular, the solution to the first part is pursued by formulating and proving set containment relationships through Semidefinite Programming with sum of squares polynomials, while the feedback control laws are pointwisely equal to the minimizer of lightweight Quadratic Programming problems. Shifting the theoretical and computational burden towards the analysis enables the direct derivation and implementation of robust controllers with explicit stabilization guarantees.
Effect of freeze-thaw cycling on grain size of biochar

Biochar may improve soil hydrology by altering soil porosity, density, hydraulic conductivity, and water-holding capacity. These properties are associated with the grain size distributions of both soil and biochar, and therefore may change as biochar weathers. Here we report how freeze-thaw (F-T) cycling impacts the grain size of pine, mesquite, miscanthus, and sewage waste biochars under two drainage conditions: undrained (all biochars) and a gravity-drained experiment (mesquite biochar only). In the undrained experiment plant biochars showed a decrease in median grain size and a change in grain-size distribution consistent with the flaking off of thin layers from the biochar surface. Biochar grain size distribution changed from unimodal to bimodal, with lower peaks and wider distributions. For plant biochars the median grain size decreased by up to 45.8% and the grain aspect ratio increased by up to 22.4% after 20 F-T cycles. F-T cycling did not change the grain size or aspect ratio of sewage waste biochar. We also observed changes in the skeletal density of biochars (maximum increase of 1.3%), envelope density (maximum decrease of 12.2%), and intraporosity (porosity inside particles, maximum increase of 3.2%). In the drained experiment, mesquite biochar exhibited a decrease of median grain size (up to 4.2%) and no change of aspect ratio after 10 F-T cycles. We also document a positive relationship between grain size decrease and initial water content, suggesting that, biochar properties that increase water content, like high intraporosity and pore connectivity large intrapores, and hydrophilicity, combined with undrained conditions and frequent F-T cycles may increase biochar breakdown. The observed changes in biochar particle size and shape can be expected to alter hydrologic properties, and thus may impact both plant growth and the hydrologic cycle.
Arms Down Cone Beam CT Hepatic Angiography Performance Assessment: Vascular Imaging Quality and Imaging Artifacts.

The practice of positioning patients’ arms above the head during catheter-injected hepatic arterial phase cone beam CT (A-CBCT) imaging has been inherited from standard CT imaging due to image quality concerns, but interrupts workflow and extends procedure time. We sought to assess A-CBCT image quality and artifacts with arms extended above the head versus down by the side. We performed an IRB approved retrospective evaluation of reformatted and 3D-volume rendered images from 91 consecutive A-CBCTs (43 arms up, 48 arms down) acquired during hepatic tumor arterial embolization procedures. Two interventional radiologists reviewed all A-CBCT imaging and assigned vessel visualization scores (VVS) from 1 to 5, ranging from non-diagnostic to optimal visualization. Streak artifacts across axial images were rated from 1 to 3 based on resulting image quality (none to significant). Presence of respiratory or cardiac motion during acquisition, body mass index and radiation dose area product (DAP) were also recorded and analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the impact of arm position on VVS and imaging artifacts. VVS were not significantly associated with arm position during A-CBCT imaging. One reader reported more streak artifacts across axial images in the arms down group (p = 0.005). DAP was not statistically different between the groups (23.9 Gy cm2 [6.1–73.4] arms up, 26.1 Gy cm2 [4.2–102.6] arms down, p = 0.54). A-CBCT angiography performed with the arms above the head is not superior for clinically relevant hepatic vascular visualization compared to imaging performed with the arms by the patient’s side.
The Relationship Between Parental Psychopathic Traits and Parenting Style

Surprisingly little research has examined the role of parental psychopathic traits in the parent-child relationship. We aimed to gain a better understanding of how parental psychopathic traits are related to parenting style and to determine whether specific parental psychopathic traits are differentially related to parenting behaviors. A sample of male and female parents from a community population completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R) as well as a modified version of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ). Path analyses predicting PAQ subscales from PPI-R factors indicated poor model fit. However, path analyses examining PAQ and PPI-R subscales indicated good model fit, with PPI-R subscales explaining 20–25% of variance in PAQ subscale scores. Surprisingly, PAQ Authoritative parenting was significantly predicted by the greatest number of PPI-R facets, including Carefree Nonplanfulness, Coldheartedness, Rebellious Nonconformity (all positive) and Fearlessness (negative). Rebellious Nonconformity also positively predicted PAQ Permissive parenting, and negatively predicted PAQ Authoritative Parenting. Results suggest parental psychopathic traits may be associated with specific parenting styles, although future research should consider potential moderating variables.