cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Benefits of a smartphone as a remote microphone system

Remote microphone (RM) systems have been shown to reduce the challenges hearing aid users face with communicating in noisy environments. The RMs worn by the speaker stream their voice wirelessly to the users’ hearing aids which results in a significant improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio. Given that the additional cost of a RM may not be feasible for some individuals, the possible use of applications on a smartphone has been explored. The Apple iPhone has an application called ‘Live Listen’ (LL) that can be used as an RM with made for iPhone hearing aids. The Statistical Signal Processing Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Dallas has developed an open-source smartphone application for the iPhone that is also designed to be used as an RM. The purpose of this study was to compare the benefit of LL and the open-source app for participants with and without hearing loss on sentence recognition tasks in noise when listening through Starkey Halo2 hearing aids connected to an iPhone 7. Similar improvements in speech recognition were noted for both LL and the open-source app.
A Comparative Classification Analysis of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms by Machine Learning Algorithms

The objective of this work was to perform image-based classification of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) based on their demographic, geometric, and biomechanical attributes. We retrospectively reviewed existing demographics and abdominal computed tomography angiography images of 100 asymptomatic and 50 symptomatic AAA patients who received an elective or emergent repair, respectively, within 1–6 months of their last follow up. An in-house script developed within the MATLAB computational platform was used to segment the clinical images, calculate 53 descriptors of AAA geometry, and generate volume meshes suitable for finite element analysis (FEA). Using a third party FEA solver, four biomechanical markers were calculated from the wall stress distributions. Eight machine learning algorithms (MLA) were used to develop classification models based on the discriminatory potential of the demographic, geometric, and biomechanical variables. The overall classification performance of the algorithms was assessed by the accuracy, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and precision of their predictions. The generalized additive model (GAM) was found to have the highest accuracy (87%), AUC (89%), and sensitivity (78%), and the third highest specificity (92%), in classifying the individual AAA as either asymptomatic or symptomatic. The k-nearest neighbor classifier yielded the highest specificity (96%). GAM used seven markers (six geometric and one biomechanical) to develop the classifier. The maximum transverse dimension, the average wall thickness at the maximum diameter, and the spatially averaged wall stress were found to be the most influential markers in the classification analysis. A second classification analysis revealed that using maximum diameter alone results in a lower accuracy (79%) than using GAM with seven geometric and biomechanical markers. We infer from these results that biomechanical and geometric measures by themselves are not sufficient to discriminate adequately between population samples of asymptomatic and symptomatic AAA, whereas MLA offer a statistical approach to stratification of rupture risk by combining demographic, geometric, and biomechanical attributes of patient-specific AAA.
Motivational interviewing with individuals at risk of sex trafficking

SummaryMotivational interviewing is an evidence-based practice designed to collaboratively strengthen a person’s commitment to change. Used in a wide variety of practice settings, motivational inte...
Cancer survivors with multiple chronic conditions: A rising challenge—Trend analysis from National Health Interview Survey.

e24089Background: Cancer survivors are disproportionally influenced by chronic/comorbid diseases, which were linked to more psychological distress, increased healthcare service use, higher medical ...
PrkC modulates MreB filament density and cellular growth rate by monitoring cell wall precursors

Abstract How bacteria link their rate of growth to the external nutrient conditions is not known. To explore how Bacillus subtilis modulates the rate cells expand their encapsulating cell wall, we compared the single-cell growth rate to the density of moving MreB filaments under different conditions. MreB filament density scales with the growth rate, and is modulated by the mur genes that create the cell wall precursor lipid II. Lipid II is sensed by the serine/threonine kinase PrkC, which, among other proteins, phosphorylates RodZ. Phosphorylated RodZ then increases MreB filament density, increasing growth. Strikingly, increasing the activity of this pathway results in cells elongating far faster than wild type in nutrient-poor media, indicating slow-growing bacteria contain spare growth capacity. Overall, this work reveals that PrkC functions as a cellular rheostat, tuning the activities of cellular processes in response to lipid II, allowing cells to grow robustly across a broad range of nutrient conditions. One-sentence summary The serine/threonine kinase PrkC modulates both MreB filament density and cellular growth rate by sensing lipid II in Bacillus subtilis.
Direct Structural Insights into GABAA Receptor Pharmacology

GABAA receptors are pentameric ligand-gated ion channels that mediate most fast neuronal inhibition in the brain. In addition to their important physiological roles, they are noteworthy in their rich pharmacology; prominent drugs used for anxiety, insomnia, and general anesthesia act through positive modulation of GABAA receptors. Direct structural information for how these drugs work was absent until recently. Efforts in structural biology over the past few years have revealed how important drug classes and natural products interact with the GABAA receptor, providing a foundation for studies in dynamics and structure-guided drug design. Here, we review recent developments in GABAA receptor structural pharmacology, focusing on subunit assemblies of the receptor found at synapses.
Normative pediatric visual acuity using electronic early treatment for diabetic retinopathy protocol.

There is a lack of normative data for children tested with the electronic Early Treatment for Diabetic Retinopathy Study (E-ETDRS) protocol. In the current cross-sectional study, the mean best-corrected normal and 95% lower tolerance limit for E-ETDRS visual acuity by year in children 7-12 years of age was measured. Our objective was to provide a large normative data set for E-ETDRS visual acuity in children for use in clinical management and clinical trials.
Derivation of bedrock topography measurement requirements for the reduction of uncertainty in ice sheet model projections of Thwaites Glacier

Abstract. Determining the future evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is critical for understanding and narrowing the large existing uncertainties in century-scale global mean sea level rise (SLR) projections. One of the most significant glaciers/ice streams in Antarctica, Thwaites Glacier, is at risk of destabilization and, if destabilized, has the potential to be the largest regional-scale contributor of SLR on Earth. This is because Thwaites Glacier is vulnerable to the marine ice sheet instability, as its grounding line is significantly influenced by ocean-driven basal melting rates, and its bedrock topography retrogrades into kilometer deep troughs. In this study, we investigate how bedrock topography features influence the grounding line migration beneath Thwaites Glacier when extreme ocean-driven basal melt rates are applied. Specifically, we design experiments using the Ice-Sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM) to quantify the SLR projection uncertainty due to reported errors in the current bedrock topography maps that are often used by ice sheet models. We find that spread in model estimates of sea level rise contribution from Thwaites glacier due to the reported bedrock topography error could be as large as 21.9 cm after 200 years of extreme ocean warming. Next, we perturb the bedrock topography beneath Thwaites Glacier using wavelet decomposition techniques to introduce realistic noise (within error). We explore the model space with multiple realizations of noise to quantify what spatial and vertical resolutions in bedrock topography are required to minimize the uncertainty in our 200-year experiment. We conclude that at least a 2 km spatial and 8 m vertical resolution would independently constrain possible SLR to ±2 cm over 200 years, fulfilling requirements outlined by the 2017 Decadal Survey for Earth Science. Lastly, we perform an ensemble of simulations to determine in which regions our model of Thwaites Glacier is most sensitive to perturbations in bedrock topography. Our results suggest that the retreat of the grounding line is most sensitive to bedrock topography in proximity to the grounding line's initial position. Additionally, we find that the location and amplitude of the bedrock perturbation is more significant than its sharpness and shape. Overall, these findings inform and benchmark observational requirements for future missions that will measure ice sheet bedrock topography, not only in the case of Thwaites Glacier but for Antarctica on the continental scale.
On distributions of barrier crossing times as observed in single-molecule studies of biomolecules

Abstract Single-molecule experiments that monitor time evolution of molecular observables in real time have expanded beyond measuring transition rates toward measuring distributions of times of various molecular events. Of particular interest is the first passage time for making a transition from one molecular configuration ( a ) to another ( b ) and conditional first passage times such as the transition path time, which is the first passage time from a to b conditional upon not leaving the transition region intervening between a and b . Another experimentally accessible (but not yet studied experimentally) observable is the conditional exit time, i.e., the time to leave the transition region through a specified boundary. The distributions of such times contain a wealth of mechanistic information about the transitions in question. Here we use the first and the second (and, if desired, higher) moments of these distributions to characterize their relative width, for the model where the experimental observable undergoes Brownian motion in a potential of mean force. We show that, while the distributions of transition path times are always narrower than exponential (in that the ratio of the standard deviation to the distribution’s mean is always less than 1), distributions of first passage times and of conditional exit times can be either narrow or broad, in some cases displaying long power-law tails. The conditional exit time studied here provides a generalization of the transition path time that also allows one to characterize the temporal scales of failed barrier crossing attempts.
Node Feature Extraction by Self-Supervised Multi-scale Neighborhood Prediction.

Learning on graphs has attracted significant attention in the learning community due to numerous real-world applications. In particular, graph neural networks (GNNs), which take numerical node features and graph structure as inputs, have been shown to achieve state-of-the-art performance on various graph-related learning tasks. Recent works exploring the correlation between numerical node features and graph structure via self-supervised learning have paved the way for further performance improvements of GNNs. However, methods used for extracting numerical node features from raw data are still graph-agnostic within standard GNN pipelines. This practice is sub-optimal as it prevents one from fully utilizing potential correlations between graph topology and node attributes. To mitigate this issue, we propose a new self-supervised learning framework, Graph Information Aided Node feature exTraction (GIANT). GIANT makes use of the eXtreme Multi-label Classification (XMC) formalism, which is crucial for fine-tuning the language model based on graph information, and scales to large datasets. We also provide a theoretical analysis that justifies the use of XMC over link prediction and motivates integrating XR-Transformers, a powerful method for solving XMC problems, into the GIANT framework. We demonstrate the superior performance of GIANT over the standard GNN pipeline on Open Graph Benchmark datasets: For example, we improve the accuracy of the top-ranked method GAMLP from $68.25\%$ to $69.67\%$, SGC from $63.29\%$ to $66.10\%$ and MLP from $47.24\%$ to $61.10\%$ on the ogbn-papers100M dataset by leveraging GIANT.
Aalen's Additive Risk Model

First page of article Keywords: Survival analysis; failure time; censoring; regression; linear hazards; Aalen plots; counting processes; Cox proportional hazards
Persistent temporal streams

Distributed continuous live stream analysis applications are increasingly common. Video-based surveillance, emergency response, disaster recovery, and critical infrastructure protection are all examples of such applications. They are characterized by a variety of high- and low-bandwidth streams as well as a need for analyzing both live and archived streams. We present a system called Persistent Temporal Streams (PTS) that supports a higher-level, domain-targeted programming abstraction for such applications. PTS provides a simple but expressive stream abstraction encompassing transport, manipulation and storage of streaming data. In this paper, we present a system architecture for implementing PTS. We provide an experimental evaluation which shows the system-level primitives can be implemented in a lightweight and high-performance manner, and an application-based evaluation designed to show that a representative high-bandwidth stream analysis application can be implemented relatively simply and with good performance.
Acquired chromosome abnormalities: the cytogenetics of cancer

Cancer is a disease in which genetic alterations, most frequently chromosomal rearrangements, are acquired in somatic cells resulting in loss of critical cellular checks and balances. This leads to cellular dysregulation, proliferation, and ultimately, malignant transformation. Cancer cytogenetics is the subdiscipline of genetics in which the chromosomal abnormalities present in cancers are identified and investigated. This includes correlation of the cytogenetic abnormalities with clinical diagnosis, prognosis and response to therapy, and may extend to identification of the genes disrupted and/or dysregulated as a result of the chromosomal aberrations. The history of cancer cytogenetics, a description the cytogenetic methodology that has developed and evolved over the past half-century, clinical applications of cancer cytogenetics, and mechanisms by which cytogenetic abnormalities arise in cancer cells are described in this contribution to the literature. Keywords: translocations; leukemia; neoplasms; genetics
18 Molecularly imprinted polymers as sorbents for separations and extractions

Abstract Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are materials that mimic biological receptors with synthetic recognition sites that exhibit pre-determined selectivity toward analyte(s) of interest. MIPs have become increasingly popular in recent years, and have been applied as selective sorbents for extractions and chromatography and in other areas where high specificity is required. This chapter presents a summary of factors of importance in the synthesis and use of MIPs, describes various different synthesis approaches, and reviews recent advances in the field of molecularly imprinted materials.
Differential Sensitivity of Tumor Targets to Liver Macrophage-mediated Cytotoxicity

Liver macrophages activated in vivo with bacterially derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) display enhanced chemotaxis, phagocytosis, and oxidative metabolism. To determine if LPS also activates these mononuclear phagocytes for tumor cell killing, we compared the cytotoxic activity of macrophages from livers of rats treated with LPS (5 mg/kg, i.v.) with resident Kupffer cells. We found that both macrophage cell types displayed cytotoxicity towards rat N1S1 hepatoma and RBL-1 basophilic leukemia cells. Cytotoxicity of resident and LPS-activated liver macrophages towards these targets increased with cocultivation time, was dependent on the effector:target cell ratio, and appeared to involve extracellular lysis. No direct correlation between macrophage activation and cytotoxicity was observed towards these targets. While liver macrophages from LPS treated rats were more cytotoxic towards N1S1 cells, resident Kupffer cells were more cytotoxic towards RBL-1 cells. In further studies, resident Kupffer cells were also found to display extracellular cytolytic activity towards mouse P815 mastocytoma cells. In contrast, LPS-activated liver macrophage-mediated killing of these targets involved phagocytosis of intact tumor cells, as evidenced by light and electron microscopy and by uptake of 51Cr-labeled cells. These results suggest that cytotoxicity mediated by liver macrophages depends on the type of macrophage and the nature of the tumor cell target. In addition, cytotoxicity towards tumor targets appears to involve at least two different mechanisms including extracellular cytolysis and phagocytosis.
The home page as genre: a narrative approach

Demonstrates that personal home pages (PHPs) represent a distinct genre by using a functionalist, narrative analysis approach to address authors' involvement strategies. PHPs differ from know other kinds of data because they are always changing and should be viewed as works-in-progress. This study examines a corpus of PHPs synchronically, focusing on how involvement strategies associate a scene with the audience's imagination. Conclusions address the distinction between system and ritual constraints and their role in PHPs, developing expectations of what constitutes a PHP to the author and the audience, as well as the idea of prestige and PHP design.
Can You Buy Sperm Donor Identification? An Experiment

In the United States, most sperm donations are anonymous. By contrast, many developed nations require sperm donors to be identified, typically requiring new sperm (and egg) donors to put identifying information into a registry that is made available to a donor-conceived child once he or she reaches the age of 18. Recently, advocates have pressed U.S. states to adopt these registries as well, and state legislatures have indicated openness to the idea. This study relies on a self-selected convenience sample to experimentally examine the economic implications of adopting a mandatory sperm donor identification regime in the United States. Our results support the hypothesis that subjects in the treatment (nonanonymity) condition need to be paid significantly more, on average, to donate their sperm. When restricting our attention to only those subjects who would ever actually consider donating sperm, we find that individuals in the control condition are willing to accept an average of $43 to donate, while individuals in the treatment group are willing to accept an average of $74. These estimates suggest that it would cost roughly $31 per sperm donation, at least in our sample, to require donors to be identified. This price differential roughly corresponds to that of a major U.S. sperm bank that operates both anonymous and identity release programs in terms of what it pays donors.
Allosteric interactions at the m1, m2 and m3 muscarinic receptor subtypes

The purpose of our study was to investigate the interactions of allosteric antagonists at the individual m1, m2 and m3 muscarinic receptor subtypes. This was achieved through the use of transformed Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing the rat m1 or m3 receptor genes. A homogeneous population of the m2 subtype was obtained from rat heart tissue. Our data indicate that the cardioselective antagonists (gallamine, methoctramine, AF-DX 116 and himbacine) display the following rank order of potency for both displacing ligand binding to the primary site on the receptor and allosterically decelerating ligand dissociation: m2 greater than m1 greater than m3. Schild analysis showed the following rank order of the magnitude of gallamine's cooperative interactions with the three receptor subtypes: m3 greater than m1 greater than m2. By comparison, the ion-channel blockers (verapamil, phencyclidine and quinidine) exhibited a rank order of potency for cooperative effects similar to that of cardioselective antagonists; however, these blockers did not show appreciable specificity in their interaction with the receptor primary binding site. There was a lack of correlation between the displacement of ligand binding and the allosteric potencies of the allosteric antagonists at each of the three muscarinic receptor subtypes, thus revealing the complex nature of interaction (both competitive and allosteric) between many of these compounds with the muscarinic receptor. Despite the fact that the majority of allosteric muscarinic antagonists are also K+ channel blockers, the use of pertussis toxin did not support the notion that this channel represents the allosteric site coupled to the receptor.
Synchronous Machine Parameter Identification

ABSTRACT This paper presents a survey of synchronous machine modeling and parameter identification. In addition, the paper presents results of a study conducted to estimate the effects of measurement noise on the estimation of machine parameters from Standstill Frequency Response (SSFR) test data. Results obtained indicate that because the test data are inherently noise-corrupted, multiple solution sets can be obtained. Furthermore, the effect of noise on time-domain parameter estimation of synchronous machine models axe studied. It is shown that a unique set of parameters can be obtained and the noise effects can be dealt with effectively when the maximum likelihood estimatiou (ML) technique is used to estimate machine parameters.
Vocal changes in stutterers and nonstutterers when speaking to children

Abstract Within the last few years, considerable attention has been devoted to the possibility that the amelioration of stuttering in many novel speaking conditions is a function of vocal changes with or without accompanying modifications in prosodic expression. These formulations have made reference primarily to conditions in which stutterers were induced into one or another novel speech pattern by an external stimulus such as masking noise, a rhythmic cue, or by instructions to sing, or read in unison with another speaker. In contrast, far less attention has been paid to other ameliorative conditions that lack a novel external stimulus or special instructions that direct the stutterer to speak in some unique manner. Speaking or reading to a child is an example of this latter type of condition. The present study was conducted to see if nine adult stutterers and a matched group of nonstutterers would evince vocal changes as they read aloud to another adult, a child, and a child and adult together. There was also a fourth control condition wherein the subjects read to one of the experimenters. Dependent measures of disfluency and stuttering, fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency deviation, fluent reading rate, and peak vocal sound pressure level were made and treated statistically. The major findings of this study indicated that, relative to the control condition, both subject groups exhibited several vocal changes when reading to a child alone and to a child and adult together. In addition, the stutterers experienced a reduction in disfluency, but only when reading to the child alone. The normal speakers exhibited too few disfluencies in the control condition for any meaningful change to occur in that dependent variable. The fact that the stutterers evinced vocal changes in both experimental conditions but a significant drop in disfluency in just one bears importantly on hypotheses that emphasize vocal changes in conditions that ameliorate stuttering.
"Combined Effects: Organizational Form, Structural Embeddedness and Contract Performance"

Government increasingly contracts with for-profit organizations though nonprofits are theoretically better trading partners. I use qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to understand how sector combines with structural factors to lead to acceptable contract performance in 524 juvenile justice programs in 91 ex post contract markets. QCA is a discovery oriented research tool that analyzes whether combinations of variables within cases produce a specific outcome and whether those combinations are consistent across cases. I find that sector is not a necessary or sufficient predictor of performance on its own. Rather it combines with structural factors such as market competition, prevalence of nonprofits in a market, and public program presence to lead to acceptable contract performance. Combinations vary by sector. This paper is relevant and timely for nonprofit management as it takes a nuanced look at the role of sector on performance in markets where nonprofits and for-profits compete, an increasingly pre...
The dependence of transient climate sensitivity and radiative feedbacks on the spatial pattern of ocean heat uptake

The effect of ocean heat uptake (OHU) on transient global warming is studied in a multimodel framework. Simple heat sinks are prescribed in shallow aquaplanet ocean mixed layers underlying atmospheric general circulation models independently and combined with CO_2 forcing. Sinks are localized to either tropical or high latitudes, representing distinct modes of OHU found in coupled simulations. Tropical OHU produces modest cooling at all latitudes, offsetting only a fraction of CO_2 warming. High-latitude OHU produces three times more global mean cooling in a strongly polar-amplified pattern. Global sensitivities in each scenario are set primarily by large differences in local shortwave cloud feedbacks, robust across models. Differences in atmospheric energy transport set the pattern of temperature change. Results imply that global and regional warming rates depend sensitively on regional ocean processes setting the OHU pattern, and that equilibrium climate sensitivity cannot be reliably estimated from transient observations.
Toxicity and outcomes of thoracic re-irradiation using stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).

Patients treated for a thoracic malignancy carry a significant risk of developing other lung lesions. Locoregional control of intrathoracic recurrences is challenging due to the impact of prior therapies on normal tissues. We examined the safety and efficacy of thoracic re-irradiation using high-precision image-guided stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Records of 39 patients with prior intra-thoracic conventionally fractionated radiation therapy (RT) who underwent SBRT for a subsequent primary, recurrent or metastatic lung tumor from 11/2004 to 7/2011 were retrospectively reviewed. Median dose of prior RT was 61 Gy (range 30–80 Gy). Median biologically effective prescription dose (α/β = 10) (BED10) of SBRT was 70.4 Gy (range 42.6-180 Gy). With a median followup of 12.6 months among survivors, 1- and 2-year actuarial local progression-free survival (LPFS) were 77% and 64%, respectively. Median recurrence-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were 13.8 and 22.0 months, respectively. Patients without overlap of high-dose regions of the primary and re-irradiation plans were more likely to receive a BED10 ≥100 Gy, which was associated with higher LPFS (hazard ratio, [HR] = 0.18, p = 0.04), RFS ([HR] = 0.31, p = 0.038) and OS ([HR] = 0.25, p = 0.014). Grade 2 and 3 pulmonary toxicity was observed in 18% and 5% of patients, respectively. Other grade 2–4 toxicities included chest wall pain in 18%, fatigue in 15% and skin toxicity in 5%. No grade 5 events occurred. SBRT can be safely and successfully administered to patients with prior thoracic RT. Dose reduction for cases with direct overlap of successive radiation fields results in acceptable re-treatment toxicity profile.
Dasatinib suppression of medulloblastoma survival and migration is markedly enhanced by combining treatment with the aurora kinase inhibitor AT9283

Medulloblastoma (MB) expresses Src kinase, while aurora kinase A overexpression correlates with poor survival. We thus investigated novel combination treatment with dasatinib and AT9283, inhibitors of Src and aurora kinase, respectively, on MB growth in vitro and in vivo. Treatment with each drug significantly reduced cell viability and combined treatment markedly potentiated this response. AT9283 induced p53 expression, autophagy, and G2/M cell-cycle arrest, while combined treatment induced S phase arrest. Dasatinib treatment caused tumor regression in vivo. Activated Src was detected in 44% MB analyzed. We conclude that further evaluation of this combination therapy for MB is highly warranted.
Against Naive Romanticism: from celebration to the critical analysis of experience

Abstract The importance of building on adult learners’ rich experiences is celebrated as a defining characteristic of adult education. This paper argues that we must move from celebration to a critical reflection on experience. Critical reflection is defined as the illumination of power dynamics and the uncovering of hegemonic assumptions about practice. The author explores how adult educators can be engaged in a modelling of critical reflection on experiential practice by viewing what they do through four complementary lenses — their autobiographies as adult learners, their students’ eyes, their colleagues’ perceptions, and the lens of theory. Experiential educators’ use of the circle is discussed as an example of how critical reflection challenges orthodoxies of experiential learning.
Thiono compounds. 3. Chemical oxidation of thioacetamide to a mutagenic S-oxide.

Although thiones (R2C = S) such as methimazole (tautomer) and thioacetamide have been shown in animal studies to be weak carcinogens (Gupta, 1955, 1956; Jemec, 1977; Stall et al., 1978), they fall to be detected as mutagens for Salmonella typhimurium by the standard Ames assay protocol (McCann et al., 1975). In Drosophila, however, thioacetamide has been reported to increase significantly the number of sex-linked lethal mutations (Magnusson and Ramel, 1978) while methimazole produces dominant male mutations in mice (Akatsuka et al., 1979). Since the metabolic oxidation product of thioacetamide, thioacetamide S-oxide, has been demonstrated to be a more rapid and efficient hepatic necrotoxin (Hunter et al., 1977; Porter et al., 1979), the failure of the Ames assay to detect mutagenic thiones may be secondary to the mechanics of metabolic activation to S-oxides. In this study, we have shown that thioacetamide Soxide is mutagenic in the Ames assay without metabolic activation by mammalian microsomal ($9) additives and that such additives block the observed mutagenicity of the S-oxide.
Student Achievement in High Performing, Suburban Middle Schools and Low Performing, Urban Middle Schools: Plausible Explanations for the Differences.

Utilizing a qualitative, multisite case study design and the theoretical framework of Hoy and Hannum (1997), the design and execution of this research investigates plausible explanations for the di...
Comparing software development models using CDM

During the last few decades a number of software development models have been proposed and discussed within the Software Engineering community. Examples of such models are Waterfall, Spiral, V Model, and Prototyping. The introduction of different models and their subsequent adoption by practitioners motivates the need to compare them. Comparisons are defined to i) find the best fit for a particular software development project; ii) improve the models themselves; iii) facilitate dissemination and education on development best practices and iv) find relevant information to define new models. However, existing comparisons are often largely based on the experience of practitioners and the intuitive understandings of the authors. Consequently, they tend to be subjective and inaccurate. The lack of a systematic way of comparing development models reduces understanding of such models and their overall acceptance by practitioners. We propose a systematic way of comparing software development models based on a formal technique originally proposed to compare design methodologies. The use of one well-defined formal technique provides a more consistent and efficient way to compare software development models and could be used to fine-tune the software development process of a software development organization. We present the results of a case study conducted to compare two well known and largely used development models. Results of such comparisons could be used by Information Technology educators to show their students the advantages and disadvantages of each model and instruct them on how and when to apply each model or variations of them.
Secular trends in diet and risk factors for cardiovascular disease: the Framingham Study.

Abstract Objective In this study we examined changes in dietary intake and risk factors for cardiovascular disease that occurred over three decades in a US-population-based sample. Design Secular trends in dietary profiles and risk factors were studied in cross-sectional samples of subjects from the Framingham Study in 1957–1960, 1966–1969, and 1984–1988. Results Dietary levels of cholesterol appeared to have declined considerably, whereas macronutrient and fatty acid intakes appeared to change only slightly. Men appeared to increase their saturated fat intakes from 16.4% in 1966–1969 to 17.0% in 1984–1988 ( P Conclusions The observed secular trends in diet and risk factor levels for cardiovascular disease in the Framingham population are important to guide the development and implementation of population-based strategies for promoting cardiovascular health, including nutrition interventions. J Am DietAssoc. 1995; 95:171–179.
A multiple clocking scheme for low power RTL design

This paper presents a resource allocation technique to design low-power register-transfer-level datapaths. The basis of this technique is: to use a multiple clocking scheme of nonoverlapping clocks, by dividing the frequency of a single clock into cycles, to partition the circuit into disjoint modules and assign each module to a distinct clock, and to operate each module only during its corresponding duty cycle, thus clocking each module by a frequency to reduce power. However, the overall effective frequency of the circuit remains , i.e., the single clock frequency. Further power reduction is also obtained by tradeoffs between voltage, power, and delay across multiple clock partitions. Power savings up to 50% of the proposed multiple clocking scheme in comparison to single gated clock designs are also reported.
Principal Component Analysis of the PEAK Relational Training System

The purpose of the present study was to examine the underlying constructs within the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge (PEAK) Relational Training System Direct Training Module. Ninety-eight children with Autism or other developmental and intellectual disabilities were evaluated using the PEAK Direct Training Assessment, which endorsed the presence or absence of 184 possible skills within their repertoire. Following this evaluation, a Principal Component Analysis was run which yielded a four-factor model of the PEAK Direct Training Module. Specifically, factors that possessed Eigenvalues greater than three were retained. Items were loaded onto each factor based on their correlation scores within a final rotated component structure matrix. The resulting four-factor model includes the constructs of Foundational Learning Skills, Perceptual Learning Skills, Verbal Comprehension Skills, and Verbal Reasoning, Memory, and Mathematical Skills. In an era of movement towards evidence-based practices, the present data provide support for PEAK system as a conceptually systematic approach to the treatment of children with autism.
Time-frequency analysis of wind effects on structures

Abstract As many physical processes of interest to Civil Engineers manifest nonlinear and nonstationary features, their complete characterization may not be accomplished via Fourier transforms, necessitating a new analysis framework in the time-frequency domain. This paper overviews recent developments in wavelet-based analysis of a number of physical processes of relevance to the Civil Engineering community. It is shown that the dual nature of wavelet transforms, being a simultaneous transform in time and frequency, permits adaptation of a number of traditional system identification and analysis schemes. For example, the extension of wavelet transforms to the estimation of time-varying energy density permits the tracking of evolutionary characteristics in the signal using instantaneous wavelet spectra and the development of measures like wavelet-based coherence to capture intermittent correlated structures in signals. Similarly, system identification methodologies originally referenced in either the time or frequency domain can be extended into the realm of wavelets. Though the application of wavelet transforms in Civil Engineering is in its infancy, as the examples in this study demonstrate, its future shows great promise as a tool to redefine the probabilistic and statistical analysis of wind effects.
Leaf surface wax and plant morphology of peas influence insect density

Insect predators and parasitoids adhere better, forage more effectively, and take more aphid prey on pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) (Leguminosae) with mutations that reduce the crystalline wax bloom on the plant surface. To assess the agronomic potential of this trait for pest management, abundance of pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum L.) (Homoptera: Aphididae) and coccinellid predators, and percent parasitism of the aphids were evaluated on pea lines differing in wax bloom and plant architecture over two field seasons. Three pairs of pea lines were evaluated, each pair with a different architecture and differing within the pair in the amount of surface wax bloom (reduced or normal). The trials included plots treated with a narrow spectrum insecticide (pymetrozine) to reduce aphid populations and untreated controls. Reduced wax peas had significantly fewer aphids per plant in 2002 but not in 2003. Total natural enemy abundance was greater on reduced wax than on normal wax pea lines in both years of the study. Pymetrozine reduced aphid densities significantly in both years. Among the four pea lines evaluated for yield, seed yield per plant was affected by plant morphology and insecticide treatment. Yield was greatest on semileafless plants and on pymetrozine sprayed plots in both years. Yield of the reduced wax line in the semileafless background was similar to or exceeded yield in its normal wax sister line, suggesting that this morphological type was best for an agronomically viable reduced wax phenotype. Pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum L.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) damage to seed was overall more frequent on seeds from reduced wax varieties than from normal wax varieties. The results illustrate the trade-offs associated with a reduced wax trait in peas but also show that certain combinations of reduced wax and gross morphology lead to reduced pea aphid populations and yields similar to those of normal wax peas.
ELECTROKINETIC PHENOMENA : I. THE ADSORPTION OF SERUM PROTEINS BY QUARTZ AND PARAFFIN OIL.

1. The effect of human and rabbit sera on the cataphoretic mobility of glass and quartz particles, and of paraffin oil droplets, was studied in serum dilutions (with 0.85 per cent NaCl) from 1:50 to 1:1,000,000, over a pH range of 3.6 to 9.3. 2. Under the conditions described, these various types of particles adsorbed protein partially or completely from the most dilute solution giving these particles electrokinetic properties characteristic of certain proteins, probably here those of serum albumin. 3. Quartz particles and paraffin oil droplets both have an isoelectric point between 4.7 and 4.8 in a 1:50 serum dilution. 4. The biological importance of these findings is discussed. 5. A non-polarizable electrode composed of See PDF for Structure is described for use with cataphoresis cells.
Netrin-1/Neogenin Interaction Stabilizes Multipotent Progenitor Cap Cells during Mammary Gland Morphogenesis

Netrin-1 and its receptors play an essential role patterning the nervous system by guiding neurons and axons to their targets. To explore whether netrin-1 organizes nonneural tissues, we examined its role in mammary gland morphogenesis. Netrin-1 is expressed in prelumenal cells, and its receptor neogenin is expressed in a complementary pattern in adjacent cap cells of terminal end buds (TEBs). We discovered that loss of either gene results in disorganized TEBs characterized by exaggerated subcapsular spaces, breaks in basal lamina, dissociated cap cells, and an increased influx of cap cells into the prelumenal compartment. Cell aggregation assays demonstrate that neogenin mediates netrin-1-dependent cell clustering. Thus, netrin-1 appears to act locally through neogenin to stabilize the multipotent progenitor (cap) cell layer during mammary gland development. Our results suggest that netrin-1 and its receptor neogenin provide an adhesive, rather than a guidance, function during nonneural organogenesis.
Calcium and the Prevention of Colon Cancer

Chemoprevention studies utilizing calcium have now progressed from basic measurements to clinical trials. Calcium's effects on epithelial cells have demonstrated decreased proliferation and induced cell differentiation with increasing levels of calcium in vitro, similar in vivo effects in rodent and human colon, and decreased carcinogen-induced colonic tumor formation in rodents. Current studies are attempting to inhibit colonic adenoma formation in human subjects. Most but not all epidemiologic studies also link increased dietary calcium with a decreased risk of colon cancer. In animal models, supplemental dietary calcium has decreased mammary epithelial cell hyperplasia and hyperproliferation and colonic cell hyperproliferation when the latter was induced by bile acids, fatty acids, and partial resection of the small intestine. Supplemental dietary calcium also decreased carcinogen-induced colonic tumors in several rodent models. In normal mice, and in mice carrying a targeted apc gene mutation, we recently increased colonic polypoid hyperplasias by a Western-style diet containing low calcium and vitamin D. In human subjects at increased risk for colon cancer, oral calcium supplementation significantly reduced colonic epithelial cell proliferation in most of the studies, including four randomized clinical trials. These studies have now progressed to short-term human clinical trials, including trials that measure the regrowth of transformed adenoma cells. Short-term adenoma-regrowth clinical trials, however, are limited in their ability to measure whether chemopreventive agents inhibit early genotoxic events, abnormal cellular metabolic activities involved in tumor promotion over many years, or the progression of adenoma cells to carcinoma.
Groups and the mediation of dissociative experience: A Western and non-Western comparison

Since dissociative experience is generally devalued in our society and accepted, even honored, in many other cultures, groups play a crucial but very different role in the integration of dissociative experiences in both settings. This paper contrasts the role of groups in the treatment of patients with dissociative disorder in Western medical settings and the role of groups and community in integrating the experience of persons possessed by spirits or using trance in some non-Western societies. The link between trauma and dissociative sequelae is examined, with the speculation that subjectively painful and intense experiences may be normalized and thus hidden in non-Western cultures.
Metal-polysaccharide complexes—Part I

Abstract Many factors, including linear charge density, effective nuclear charge of the cation, basicity of the donor group, chelation, intermolecular binding of two or more donor groups by a single cation and steric fit, contribute—or possibly contribute—to the formation and stability of metal ion-polysaccharide complexes. In order to form a proper foundation for studying and interpreting metal ion-polysaccharide interactions, the author introduces into his treatise on polysaccharide complexes much current information concerning the interaction of metal ions with simple unidonor and simple multidonor ligands. For convenience of discussion, the subject of polysaccharide complexes is divided into two categories: interactions of neutral polysaccharides, such as cellulose and starch, and interactions of anionic polysaccharides, such as alginate, pectate, mucopolysaccharides and carrageenan. On the one hand, neutral polysaccharides form weak complexes with cations in neutral or non-alkaline media. Only in alkaline solution is there any great affinity between cation and donor. On the other hand, anionic polysaccharides have a strong affinity for metal counterions, even at low concentrations. Attempts are made to provide reasonable explanations for the formation of these complexes and for the often large differences in affinity between metals for a particular polysaccharide or between polysaccharides for a particular metal. In some instances, rheological behaviour of polysaccharide systems can be related to structural features of macromolecular complexes.
Construction and characterization of new coliphage M13 cloning vectors

New single-stranded DNA cloning vectors have been constructed by the insertion of additional DNA fragments into a HaeII restriction site in the bacteriophage M13 duplex replicative form (RF). These inserts into the M13 genome bring a single restriction sites useful for cloning, including PstI, XorII, EcoRI, SstI, XhoI, KpnI, and PvuII. Drug-resistance genes cloned into M13 include the beta-lactamase (bla) gene and the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (cat) gene. These vectors provide a convenient means of easily obtaining the separated strands of a cloned duplex DNA fragment by cloning the fragment in each of the two possible orientations. Standard cloning techniques commonly applied to double-stranded DNAs can be utilized to insert foreign DNAs into the duplex RF DNAs of these vectors. Cells transformed by chimeric DNAs extrude filamentous phage particles carrying a circular single-stranded copy of the chimeric viral strand. Because M13-infected cells continue to grow and divide, cells can be transformed to yield either plaques or drug-resistant colonies. Specific inserts are readily detected by plaque hybridization techniques using an appropriate probe. Chimeric viral single strands from virus particles in the supernatant of small volumes of infected cultures can be rapidly and sensitively analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis to determine the size of an insert.
Stress measurements in ZrB2–SiC composites using Raman spectroscopy and neutron diffraction

Abstract Raman spectroscopy and neutron diffraction were used to study the stresses generated in zirconium diboride–silicon carbide (ZrB2–SiC) ceramics. Dense, hot pressed samples were prepared from ZrB2 containing 30 vol% α-SiC particles. Raman patterns were acquired from the dispersed SiC particulate phase within the composite and stress values were calculated to be 810 MPa. Neutron diffraction patterns were acquired for the ZrB2–SiC composite, as well as pure ZrB2 and SiC powders during cooling from ∼1800 °C to room temperature. A residual stress of 775 MPa was calculated as a function of temperature by comparing the lattice parameter values for ZrB2 and SiC within the composite to those of the individual powders. The temperature at which stresses began to accumulate on cooling was found to be ∼1400 °C based on observing the deviation in lattice parameters between pure powder samples and those of the composite.