cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cultural Replication Theory and Law: Proximate Mechanisms Make a Difference

Culturally-transmitted behavioral information exhibits a Darwinian evolutionary dynamic. The argument is straightforward. Darwinian evolution has three basic elements: (1) replicative descent with (2) variation, subject to (3) a form of selection. Bundles of cultural information as diverse as language, religious practices, and how to bake bread pass with imperfect fidelity from generation to generation. Some of the variants created by these imperfections are passed, nonrandomly, to the next generation with greater frequency. These kinds of approaches can be applied to help understand legal systemsRecent studies have recognized the need both for a more general approach to evolutionary phenomena, of which cultural and biological processes can be seen as specific cases, as well as for better, sui generis descriptions of the proximate mechanisms through which cultural elements replicate, vary, and have differential replicative success. A better description of the proximate mechanisms of cultural transmission will provide a clearer understanding of cultural evolution and of evolutionary approaches to the law itself.Viewing cultural transmission as the replication of actions, rather than of ideas, focuses us on a key bottleneck. In humans, replicating actions can be broadly categorized into three modes: nonlinguistic transmission, stories, and formulas. Decoupling the transmission of language-based elements from their translation into action can help us to understand such human questions as hypocrisy and failures in the legal system and suggests pathways for further application in the law.
Disorienting ‘Shapes’ in Shelley’s The Revolt of Islam

ABSTRACTThis essay examines Shelley’s Orientalist imaginary in The Revolt of Islam. I demonstrate a shared poetic strain in Shelley and his Orientalist antecedent, William Jones, whose 1772 volume of Poems gives authority to The Revolt’s own expressive poetics. Through Jones’s structuring tenets of expression over imitation, The Revolt’s metonymic use of ‘shapes’ comes to the fore as an aesthetic paradigm. This paradigm integrates universal precarity and cultural difference, generating the disoriented subjectivities that become a larger form in Shelley’s later works and underscoring the continual significance of his aesthetics and geopolitics.
The stigmatization of nonsuicidal self-injury.

Objective Despite the high prevalence of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), no research has systematically studied the occurrence and effects of stigmatization by others towards NSSI scarring. Methods The current study measured implicit and explicit attitudes among undergraduates towards NSSI scarring using the implicit association test and questionnaires to compare implicit and explicit biases towards NSSI with biases towards tattoos, a culturally sanctioned form of self-determined marking, as well as nonintentional disfigurement. Results Our study demonstrated strong negative implicit and explicit biases towards NSSI when comparing NSSI to tattoos and nonintentional disfigurement. Conclusions Results extend previous research describing stigma towards mental illness and suggest a large negative bias towards NSSI. The importance of studying how stigma affects those who bear scarring from NSSI is discussed.
Sequencer Hacking Unlocks Quantitative Protein Studies.

In this issue of Molecular Cell, Layton et al. (2019) repurpose a common next-generation DNA sequencer to enable high-throughput protein biochemical studies, identifying improved sequence variants for stronger protein-protein interactions and dissecting the contributions of specific amino acids to enzymatic activity.
Sensory perception of dead conspecifics induces aversive cues and modulates lifespan through serotonin in Drosophila.

Sensory perception modulates health and aging across taxa. Understanding the nature of relevant cues and the mechanisms underlying their action may lead to novel interventions that improve the length and quality of life. We found that in the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster, exposure to dead conspecifics in the environment induced cues that were aversive to other flies, modulated physiology, and impaired longevity. The effects of exposure to dead conspecifics on aversiveness and lifespan required visual and olfactory function in the exposed flies. Furthermore, the sight of dead flies was sufficient to produce aversive cues and to induce changes in the head metabolome. Genetic and pharmacologic attenuation of serotonergic signaling eliminated the effects of exposure on aversiveness and lifespan. Our results indicate that Drosophila have an ability to perceive dead conspecifics in their environment and suggest conserved mechanistic links between neural state, health, and aging; the roots of which might be unearthed using invertebrate model systems. Different sensory experiences can affect longevity in Drosophila. Here the authors find that exposure of Drosophila directly to dead conspecifics affects longevity via a serotonergic mechanism, and that Drosophila exposed to dead conspecifics also become an aversive stimulus to naive choosers.
Epigenetic impact of the social and physical environment on brain and body

Modern biomedical scientists are often trapped in silos of knowledge and practice, such as those who study brain structure, function and behavior, on the one hand, and body systems and disorders, on the other. Scientists and physicians in each of those silos have not often paid attention to the brain-body communication that leads to multi-morbidity of systemic and brain-related disorders [eg. depression with diabetes or cardiovascular disease]. Outside of biomedicine, social scientists have long recognized the impact of the social and physical environment on individuals and populations but have not usually connected these effects with changes in underlying biology. However, with the rise of epigenetics, science and the public understanding of science is leaving an era in which the DNA sequence was thought to be "destiny" and entering an era where the environment shapes the biology and behavior of individuals and groups through its interactive effects on brain and body. It does so, at least in part, by shaping epigenetically the structure and function of brain and body systems that show a considerable amount of adaptive plasticity throughout development and adult life. This results in substantial individual differences even between identical twins. These individual differences are produced epigenetically by the two-way interaction between the brain and hormones, immune system mediators and the autonomic nervous system. Disorders, then, are often multimorbid involving both brain and body, such as depression with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It is therefore imperative to incorporate into "precision medicine" a better understanding of how these differences affect the efficacy of pharmacological, behavioral and psychosocial interventions. This article presents an overview of this new synthesis, using as an example emerging evidence about the linkages between systemic inflammation, insulin resistance and mental health and neurodegenerative diseases.
Secular Stagnation or Technological Lull

Abstract The slow recovery of the economy from the Great Recession and the lingering low real interest rates have led to fears of “secular stagnation” and calls for government aggregate demand stimulus to lift the growth rate of the economy. I present evidence that the current state of the U.S. economy does not satisfy the conditions for secular stagnation, as originally defined by Alvin Hansen (1939) . Instead, the U.S. is experiencing a period of low productivity growth. I suggest that long intervals of sluggish productivity growth may be natural in an economy whose growth is driven by technological revolutions that are large, infrequent, and randomly-timed. If this is the case, then the best description of the recent experience of the U.S. economy is a technological lull. In this situation, traditional government aggregate demand stimulus policies are not the appropriate response. Instead policies that can increase the rate of innovation and its diffusion may be more appropriate.
Treatment Manuals, Single-Subject Designs, and Evidence-Based Practice: A Clinical Behavior Analytic Perspective

Empirical support of procedures linked to processes of therapeutic change is emerging as an alternative foundation for evidence-based treatment development and selection in clinical psychology, in particular within cognitive-behavioral practice. Single-subject designs conducted with treatment manuals have contributed to the existing evidentiary base of research-supported treatment packages organized around psychiatric diagnoses, but as a rule have not been afforded the same status as randomized clinical trials. From a clinical behavior analytic perspective, single-subject experiments may be positioned to proportionately contribute more to emerging evidence-based practice that is itself more process focused, in particular if at least two recommended adjustments are made in how they are conducted. The first of these is to maximize efficacy and minimize rigidity in developing treatment manuals by creating them in a post-hoc rather than a-priori manner and with an emphasis on therapeutic procedures linked to specific processes. The second recommendation is that clinical behavior analysts routinely collect repeated process as well as outcome measures in conducting single-subject research.
Promoting Persistence: The Role of Academic Advisors:

Retention and persistence to graduation have been concerns for colleges and universities across the country. Research has pointed to sociodemographic and economic factors that affect persistence. O...
The coupling of translational control and stress responses

The translation of messenger RNA (mRNA) into protein is a multistep process by which genetic information transcribed into an mRNA is decoded to produce a specific polypeptide chain of amino acids. Ribosomes play a central role in translation by coordinately working with various translation regulatory factors and aminoacyl-transfer RNAs. Various stresses attenuate the ribosomal synthesis in the nucleolus as well as the translation rate in the cytosol. To efficiently reallocate cellular energy and resources, mammalian cells are endowed with mechanisms that directly link the suppression of translation-related processes to the activation of stress adaptation programmes. This review focuses on the integrated stress response (ISR) and the nucleolar stress response (NSR) both of which are activated by various stressors and selectively upregulate stress-responsive transcription factors. Emerging findings have delineated the detailed molecular mechanisms of the ISR and NSR and expanded their physiological and pathological significances.
Evaluating the reliability of attention bias and attention bias variability measures in the dot-probe task among people with social anxiety disorder

The dot-probe task is a widely used experimental paradigm that evaluates attention biases within anxiety disorders. Considerable research has focused on improving the reliability of dot-probe scores because the task's original attention bias index has shown very low test-retest reliability. The current study serves as a replication and extension of Price et al. (2015), who systematically examined the effects of methodological choices on reliability of dot-probe task results. Fifty-six adults diagnosed with social anxiety disorder were asked to complete a facial dot-probe task twice, approximately 1 week apart. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were examined for 10 dot-probe attention bias indices across 55 sets of outlier cutoffs. Both Pearson's r and intraclass correlation coefficients were used. Trial-level bias score indices of mean bias toward threat and attention bias variability, which measure attention bias dynamically using individual pairs of trials, demonstrated the highest reliability and were less sensitive to changes in outlier cutoffs as compared with the dot probe's classic attention bias index and others. Results demonstrate the potential for post hoc outlier cutoff selection to artificially inflate reliability, particularly for unreliable indices. A priori cutoff selection is recommended for future research. Intraclass correlation coefficients are also recommended for assessment of reliability because Pearson's r does not account for poor agreement between scores. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Preventable Morbidity and Mortality Among Non-trauma Emergency Surgery Patients: The Role of Personal Performance and System Flaws in Adverse Events

Preventable morbidity and mortality among emergency surgery patients is not adequately analyzed. We aim to describe and classify preventable complications and deaths in this population. The medical records and quality control documents of patients with emergency, non-trauma, surgical disease admitted between September 1, 2006, and August 31, 2018, and recorded to have a preventable or potentially preventable morbidity and mortality were reviewed. The primary outcome was a classification of the complications and deaths by a panel of experts, as attributable to issues of personal performance or system deficiencies. One hundred and fifty patients were identified (127 complications and 23 deaths). The most commonly encountered preventable complications were surgical-site infection (17%), bleeding (13%), injury to adjacent structures (12%), and anastomotic leak (8%). The majority of complications seemed to stem from personal performance (97%), due to either technical or judgment issues, and only 3% were linked with system flaws, either in the form of communication or inadequate protocols. Alcohol use disorder and duration of operation were different between patients with preventable adverse events related to technical issues and patients related to judgment issues; furthermore, more patients who experienced judgment issues died during hospital stay (p <0.05). Among emergency surgery patients, who suffer preventable complications and deaths, issues related to personal performance are more frequent than system flaws. Whereas the effort to improve systems should be unwavering, the emphasis on the surgeon’s personal responsibility to avoid preventable complications should not be derailed.
A short course of Tofacitinib sustains the immunoregulatory effect of CTLA4-Ig in presence of inflammatory cytokines and promotes long-term survival of murine cardiac allografts

Costimulation blockade-based regimens are a promising strategy for management of transplant recipients. However, maintenance immunosuppression via CTLA4-Ig monotherapy is characterized by high frequency of rejection episodes. Recent evidence suggests that inflammatory cytokines contribute to alloreactive T cell activation in a CD28-independent manner, a reasonable contributor to the limited efficacy of CTLA4-Ig. In this study, we investigated the possible synergism of a combined short-term inhibition of cytokine signaling and CD28 engagement on the modulation of rejection. Our results demonstrate that the JAK/STAT inhibitor Tofacitinib restored the immunomodulatory effect of CTLA4-Ig on mouse alloreactive T cells in presence of inflammatory cytokines. Tofacitinib exposure conferred dendritic cells with a tolerogenic phenotype reducing their cytokine secretion and costimulatory molecules expression. JAK inhibition also directly affected T cell activation. In vivo, the combination of CTLA4-Ig and Tofacitinib induced long-term survival of heart allografts and, importantly, it was equally effective when using grafts subjected to prolonged ischemia. Transplant survival correlated with a reduction in effector T cells and intragraft accumulation of regulatory T cells. Collectively, our studies demonstrate a powerful synergism between CTLA4-Ig and Tofacitinib and suggest their combined use is a promising strategy for improved management of transplanted patients.
“Level Up”: Leveraging Skill and Engagement to Maximize Player Game-Play in Online Video Games

We propose a novel two-stage data-analytic modeling approach to gamer matching for multiplayer video games. In the first stage, we build a hidden Markov model to capture how gamers' latent engageme...
Should States Ban the Use of Non-Positive Interventions in Special Education? Re-Examining Positive Behavior Supports Under IDEA

In the 1980s and 1990s, behavior analysts vigorously debated ethical concerns about the use of certain behavioral interventions to address severe behavior of disabled children. In 1997, while that debate was still ongoing, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was amended to require educators to consider the use of “positive behavioral interventions and supports,” among other strategies, to address problem behavior that impedes a disabled child’s learning. Since 1997, the “positive behavioral interventions and supports” framework has shifted focus, but IDEA’s language essentially has stayed the same. In addition, some states have enacted poorly-worded statutes or regulations in order to define positive or non-positive interventions. The legal requirements for behavioral interventions became even more convoluted after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that a State may ban the use of any non-positive interventions, even though non-positive interventions can be effective tools to address severe behavior, particularly self-injurious and aggressive behavior, in disabled children. This article contends that a complete ban on the use of non-positive behavioral interventions violates a core tenet of the IDEA, specifically that each child with a disability is entitled to an individualized education program designed to meet that child’s unique needs. After an in-depth review of both the science and the law pertaining to behavioral interventions, this article proposes ways in which Congress can amend IDEA to clarify the statute’s use of behavioral intervention techniques.
Clozapine Intoxication in a Patient on Chronic Use With a Short-Term Noncompliance.

Clozapine has been associated with various adverse effects at both subtherapeutic and standard doses. These adverse effects are most commonly seen during the initiation of therapy in treatment-naive patients. However, reports of intoxication in patients with long-term use of clozapine are yet to be documented. We highlight the case of a 42-year-old gentleman who had been on long-term clozapine use and presented with an altered mental status after being resumed on full standard doses without careful titration of clozapine after a short period of medication noncompliance. His workup in the hospital was largely unremarkable, and his presentation was attributed to the resumption of clozapine without medication titration. This is the first case to demonstrate the necessity of careful titration regardless of previous treatment history and highlights that patients should be started on clozapine at low levels to avoid the possibility of acute intoxication.
Rapid Extraction of the Spatial Distribution of Physical Saliency and Semantic Informativeness from Natural Scenes in the Human Brain

Physically salient objects are thought to attract attention in natural scenes. However, research has shown that meaning maps, which capture the spatial distribution of semantically informative scene features, trump physical saliency in predicting the pattern of eye moments in natural scene viewing. Meaning maps even predict the fastest eye movements, suggesting that the brain extracts the spatial distribution of potentially meaningful scene regions very rapidly. To test this hypothesis, we applied representational similarity analysis to ERP data. The ERPs were obtained from human participants (N = 32, male and female) who viewed a series of 50 different natural scenes while performing a modified 1-back task. For each scene, we obtained a physical saliency map from a computational model and a meaning map from crowd-sourced ratings. We then used representational similarity analysis to assess the extent to which the representational geometry of physical saliency maps and meaning maps can predict the representational geometry of the neural response (the ERP scalp distribution) at each moment in time following scene onset. We found that a link between physical saliency and the ERPs emerged first (∼78 ms after stimulus onset), with a link to semantic informativeness emerging soon afterward (∼87 ms after stimulus onset). These findings are in line with previous evidence indicating that saliency is computed rapidly, while also indicating that information related to the spatial distribution of semantically informative scene elements is computed shortly thereafter, early enough to potentially exert an influence on eye movements. Significance Statement: Attention may be attracted by physically salient objects, such as flashing lights, but humans must also be able to direct their attention to meaningful parts of scenes. Understanding how we direct attention to meaningful scene regions will be important for developing treatments for disorders of attention and for designing roadways, cockpits, and computer user interfaces. Information about saliency appears to be extracted rapidly by the brain, but little is known about the mechanisms that determine the locations of meaningful information. To address this gap, we showed people photographs of real-world scenes and measured brain activity. We found that information related to the locations of meaningful scene elements was extracted rapidly, shortly after the emergence of saliency-related information.
The measurement chain and validation of experimental measurements

This is a reissue of a paper which appeared in ACTA IMEKO 1973, Proceedings of the 6th Congress of the International Measurement Confederation, "Measurement and instrumentation", 17.-23.6.1973, Dresden, vol. 1, pp. 45-53. The paper witnesses the sophisticated discussion that, well before the publication of the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM), was active in the measurement science community around the subject of error and uncertainty, and its consequences on the structure of the measuring process and the way it is performed.
Using distance covariance for improved variable selection with application to learning genetic risk models

Variable selection is of increasing importance to address the difficulties of high dimensionality in many scientific areas. In this paper, we demonstrate a property for distance covariance, which is incorporated in a novel feature screening procedure together with the use of distance correlation. The approach makes no distributional assumptions for the variables and does not require the specification of a regression model and hence is especially attractive in variable selection given an enormous number of candidate attributes without much information about the true model with the response. The method is applied to two genetic risk problems, where issues including uncertainty of variable selection via cross validation, subgroup of hard-to-classify cases, and the application of a reject option are discussed.
Construction of φ80 dhis Carrying Salmonella typhimurium Histidine Operon Mutations

Abstract Starting with a previously isolated F′his episome and 80 dhis immλ cI857 transducing phage, we have constructed recombinant elements bearing previously isolated his mutations from Salmonella typhimurium. These phages were constructed as sources of deoxyribonucleic acid for in vitro biochemical experiments on gene regulation. The manipulation of genes between S. typhimurium and Escherichia coli described here may be useful in studying other S. typhimurium operons.
Vitamin A deficiency diminishes the salivary immunoglobulin A response and enhances the serum immunoglobulin G response to influenza A virus infection in BALB/c mice

We examined the effect of vitamin A deficiency on the secretory immunoglobulin (Ig) A and serum IgG response to influenza A virus infections in BALB/c mice. Mice fed a vitamin A-deficient (VAD mice) or a control diet were inoculated with influenza virus at 7 or 9 wk of age when serum retinol concentration had dropped to 0.05). In a separate experiment, this salivary IgA response was significantly lower in the VAD mice (0.3 +/- 0.4% of total IgA) following a more severe infection (intranasal infection while under anesthesia) than it was in control mice (4.2 +/- 4.6% of total IgA, P < 0.0001). In contrast, the concentration of total salivary IgA was uniformly greater in the VAD mice than in the control mice during both the mild infection (VAD, 17 +/- 6 mg/L vs. control, 8 +/- 11 mg/L at 3 wk, P < 0.0001) and the severe infection (VAD, 38 +/- 30 mg/L vs. control, 9 +/- 7 mg/L, P < 0.0001). Similarly, the influenza-specific serum IgG response was also greater in the VAD mice than in the control mice during both the mild infection (VAD, 194 +/- 91 mg/L vs. control, 79 +/- 95 mg/L at 5 wk, P = 0.0002) and the severe infection [VAD median, 202 mg/L (25th, 75th percentiles, 153, 409 mg/L) vs. control, 123 mg/L (42, 165 mg/L), P = 0.0023]. Thus VAD significantly impairs the secretory IgA response to influenza infection but modestly increases the serum IgG response to the same infection.
A connectionist classifier architecture applied to image segmentation

A connectionist classifier architecture that is used in an image segmentation scheme based upon a decision analysis paradigm is described. An appropriate architecture for a connectionist classifier is discussed, and its relationship to other image segmentation architectures following the same paradigm is shown. The performance of a complete system, including pixel descriptor extraction and connectionist classifier, is demonstrated using scenes from industrial inspection and combustion chamber research tasks. >
"But Some People Will Not": Arendtian Interventions in Education

A recent study of the effects of peer involvement in bullying among elementary school children in Toronto reached the disturbing but not surprising conclusion that the behavior of children observing incidents of bullying tends to reinforce bullying. The researchers’ analysis of fifty-three videotaped incidents of bullying indicates that most the time, peer behavior contributed to the bullying, either actively, by cheering on the bully or modeling his aggressive behavior, or passively, by the inaction of those who stood by, “attending to the episode and not helping the victim.” On average, onlookers spent only twenty five percent of their time actively intervening in the incident on behalf of the victims of bullying. According to the companion questionnaire filled out by students at the school, “forty one percent of students indicated that they ‘try to help’ the victim when they observe bullying.” This study shows otherwise, marking a shift in focus of efforts to reduce bullying in the playground from a preoccupation with the psychological dimensions of the bully-victim dyad to a broader understanding of the immediate social context within which bullying takes place. Rather than viewing peer inaction as a peripheral matter in the problem of bullying, the researchers suggest that it plays a pivotal role in the dynamics of playground aggression and victimization. Effective intervention in bullying, the researchers suggest, is best achieved by raising peer awareness of the ways in which their unwillingness to intervene on behalf of the victim contributes to a climate of bullying.
Death thoughts in hysteria, antisocial personality, and anxiety neurosis

A study of death thoughts in primary affective disorder, hysteria, antisocial personality, and anxiety neurosis demonstrated an inverse frequency to seriousness relationship for death thoughts in each diagnostic group. Hysterics reported more less serious death thoughts than did patients with antisocial personality or primary affective disorder.
The Physics of Extragalactic Radio Sources

Abstract The physical processes which are currently thought to give rise to the observed characteristics of these objects are reviewed. The large-scale structure clearly demands a need for an in situ resupply of energy to the relativistic particle population, and in addition strongly suggests that the large-scale flow is non-relativistic. Examination of the data for compact sources indicates that relativistic motion may explain the observations, but that severe difficulties arise when such flows are coupled to the large-scale structure. Finally, various aspects of the poorly understood nuclear engine are reviewed.
System of generalized nonlinear boundary conditions of a boundary-value problem of heat conduction for a layer under two-sided local high-temperature deposition of coatings

We obtain a system of generalized nonlinear boundary conditions for describing radiant-convective heat exchange of a layer with a working media through local regions of coatings. The corresponding twodimensional problem of heat conduction is formulated.
Effect of anti-sperm gamma globulins on metabolism of human spermatozoa.

Abstract Rabbits were immunized with saline extracts of human spermatozoa Presence of antibodies to spermatozoa was confirmed by Ouchterlony gel diffusion, microscopic sperm agglutination, and immunofluorescent techniques. Anti-sperm gamma globulin significantly decreased the average oxygen consumption of 10 8 washed human spermatozoa. Sperm incubated in the presence of anti-sperm gamma globulin had a significantly lower rate of lactic acid accumulation than sperm incubated in normal rabbit gamma globulin. It appears that anti-sperm antibodies can influence both aerobic respiration and glycolysis of washed human spermatozoa.
Differentiation arrest by autologously replicating DNA loops formed along differentiation pathway: An hypothesis of carcinogenesis

The current hypothesis attempts to explain tumor development from the perspective of deoxyribonucleic acid structural changes rather than mutational alterations of single or multiple genes. The hypothesis postulates that stable deoxyribonucleic acid loops capable of autologous replication, translation and expression cause cell-differentiation arrest and contribute to the carcinogenesis and various abnormal biological behaviors of tumor. The formation of deoxyribonucleic acid loops at particular steps along the differentiation pathway determines tumor phenotype, grade and behavior. The outcome of deoxyribonucleic acid loop-formation in a cell is highly affected by the differentiation signals imposed by the cell's differentiation microenvironment which is considered as a very important regulatory factor during tumor development in this hypothesis. The incompatibility of adhesion molecules between tumor cells and surrounding normal cells is proposed in this hypothesis as a major reason for separation of tumor cells from primary lesions and thus metastasis. This hypothesis also postulates that tumor invasion is caused by the expression of proteins related to the transient invasive phenotype of normal cells in physiologic process that is controlled by the genes within autologous deoxyribonucleic acid loops.
MEMS-activated mirrors for arming and safing in optical firing sets

In optical firing sets, laser light is used to supply power to electronics (to charge capacitors, for example), to trigger electronics (such as vacuum switches), or in some cases, initiate explosives directly. Since MEMS devices combine electronics with electro-mechanical actuators, one can integrate safe and arm logic alongside the actuators to provide all functions in a single miniature package. We propose using MEMS-activated mirrors to make or break optical paths as part of the safe and arm architecture in an optical firing set. In the safe mode, a miniature (~1 mm diameter) mirror is oriented to prevent completion of the optical path. To arm the firing set, the MEMS mirrors are deflected into the proper orientation thereby completing the optical path required for system functionality (e.g., light from a miniature laser completes the path to an optically triggered switch). The optical properties (i.e. damage threshold, reflectivity, transmission, absorption and scatter) of the miniature mirrors are critical to this application. Since Si is a strong absorber at the wavelengths under consideration (800 to 1064 nm), high-reflectivity, high-damage-threshold, dielectric coatings must be applied to the MEMS devices. In this paper we present conceptual MEMS-activated mirror architectures for performing arming and safing functions in an optical firing set and report test data which shows that dielectric coatings applied to MEMS-mirrors can withstand the prerequisite laser pulse irradiance. The measured optical damage threshold of polysilicon membranes with high-reflectivity multilayer dielectric coatings is ~ 4 GW/cm2, clearly demonstrating the feasibility of using coated MEMS mirrors in firing sets.
Review of Radon and Lung Cancer Risk

Radon, a long-established cause of lung cancer in uranium and other underground miners, has recently emerged as a potentially important cause of lung cancer in the general population. The evidence for widespread exposure of the population to radon and the well-documented excess of lung cancer among underground miners exposed to radon decay products have raised concern that exposure to radon progeny might also be a cause of lung cancer in the general population. To date, epidemiological data on the lung cancer risk associated with environmental exposure to radon have been limited. Consequently, the lung cancer hazard posed by radon exposure in indoor air has been addressed primarily through risk estimation procedures. The quantitative risks of lung cancer have been estimated using exposure-response relations derived from the epidemiological investigations of uranium and other underground miners. We review five of the more informative studies of miners and recent risk projection models for excess lung cancer associated with radon. The principal models differ substantially in their underlying assumptions and consequently in the resulting risk projections. The resulting diversity illustrates the substantial uncertainty that remains concerning the most appropriate model of the temporal pattern of radon-related lung cancer. Animal experiments, further follow-up of the miner cohorts, and well-designed epidemiological studies of indoor exposure should reduce this uncertainty.
PNEUMOCOCCUS CULTURES IN WHOLE FRESH BLOOD : I. THE RETARDATIVE EFFECT OF THE BLOOD OF IMMUNE ANIMALS AND THE MECHANISM OF THE PHENOMENON.

1. It has been shown that the whole uncoagulated blood of immune animals is not as highly pneumococcidal in vitro , as has been claimed by others. 2. Cultures of pneumococci in the fresh whole blood of immune animals, as compared with cultures in the blood of susceptible animals, show a greatly prolonged latent period, and, in a general way, the relative lengths of the latent periods of the cultures correspond to the relative resistances of the animals to infection by these organisms. 3. The blood of animals artificially immunized, both actively and passively, retards the growth of pneumococci in the same manner as the blood of naturally immune animals. 4. Microscopic examination of cultures of pneumococci in immune blood reveals chain formation, growth in clumps, and phagocytosis of the organisms by the polynuclear cells. It also shows that growth occurs first in the free serum, the clot being invaded later. 5. The retardation of multiplication depends on two factors, opsonization of the pneumococci by the immune serum and phagocytosis of the organisms by the polynuclear cells; growth readily occurs when either agent is absent. 6. Pneumococci multiply in defibrinated immune blood because few phagocytes are present after defibrination. 7. Pneumococci grow in the most potent immune blood after mechanical destruction of the white cells. 8. It has not been shown that immune blood does not kill a certain number of the pneumococci with which it is inoculated, but the tentative conclusion has been arrived at that no killing occurs since none of the tests became sterile during the course of our experiments.
Exploring the impact of technology on communication in medicine and health

The greater use of modern technology in medical care and public health raises questions about impacts on practitioner‐patient relations. This paper summarizes some important events in the use of medical technologies in relation to the status of the spoken word. A new computerized diagnostic system is explained with respect to the impact this new technology has on communication in medicine and health.
How do primary grade teachers teach handwriting? A national survey

A random sample of primary grade teachers from across the United States was surveyed about their instructional practices in handwriting. Nine out of every ten teachers indicated that they taught handwriting, averaging 70 minutes of instruction per week. Only 12% of teachers, however, indicated that the education courses taken in college adequately prepared them to teach handwriting. Despite this lack of formal preparation, the majority of teachers used a variety of recommended instructional practices for teaching handwriting. The application of such practices, though, was applied unevenly, raising concerns about the quality of handwriting instruction for all children.
COMPLICATIONS IN EQUINE LARYNGEAL SURGERY

SUMMARY Surgery on the larynx as is seen in most cases today is either a laryngotomy in which the laryngeal saccules are removed or a laryngoplasty procedure in which the muscular process of the arytenoid cartilage is sutured to the cricoid cartilage or the combination of both. Continued research in this area might lead to a better surgical technique than laryngoplasty. At this time laryngoplasty has apparently increased the efficacy of surgery treatment on the larynx by at least 20% over the long advocated laryngeal saccule removal. It is of interest to note that in comparing the larynx of man and the horse that innervation and musculature are very similar. Perhaps in viewing laryngeal paralysis in man better understanding of the etiology and perhaps the surgical approach may be obtained. But, as pointed out by Cook1, man is not judged by how fast he can run a mile as opposed to the horse.
Characterizing Properties of Asphalt Cement at Cold Temperatures

A range of binder test results for Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) Materials Reference Library asphalts were used to identify critical low-temperature behavior. Test results were obtained from in-house testing, Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) testing, and previously reported SHRP research reports. Tests used were the Fraass brittle point, bending beam, a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) glass transition temperature. A good correlation between the Fraass brittle point and the bending beam rheometer limiting stiffness indicated that the Fraass brittle point represented the behavior of a binder at a stiffness of approximately 200 MPa. Because the traditional method of using the DSR to obtain the glass transition temperature, Tg from the peak of the loss modulus curve did not provide sufficiently specific results, the temperature at which a minimum phase angle was used to define the Tg instead. These results showed a good correlation with the...
Amygdalar interhemispheric functional connectivity differs between the non-depressed and depressed human brain

The amygdalae are important, if not critical, brain regions for many affective, attentional and memorial processes, and dysfunction of the amygdalae has been a consistent finding in the study of clinical depression. Theoretical models of the functional neuroanatomy of both normal and psychopathological affective processes which posit cortical hemispheric specialization of functions have been supported by both lesion and functional neuroimaging studies in humans. Results from human neuroimaging studies in support of amygdalar hemispheric specialization are inconsistent. However, recent results from human lesion studies are consistent with hemispheric specialization. An important, yet largely ignored, feature of the amygdalae in the primate brain--derived from both neuroanatomical and electrophysiological data--is that there are virtually no direct interhemispheric connections via the anterior commissure (AC). This feature stands in stark contrast to that of the rodent brain wherein virtually all amygdalar nuclei have direct interhemispheric connections. We propose this feature of the primate brain, in particular the human brain, is a result of influences from frontocortical hemispheric specialization which have developed over the course of primate brain evolution. Results consistent with this notion were obtained by examining the nature of human amygdalar interhemispheric connectivity using both functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). We found modest evidence of amygdalar interhemispheric functional connectivity in the non-depressed brain, whereas there was strong evidence of functional connectivity in the depressed brain. We interpret and discuss the nature of this connectivity in the depressed brain in the context of dysfunctional frontocortical-amygdalar interactions which accompany clinical depression.
Deoxygenated and alkylated furanoses: Thorpe-Ingold effects on tautomeric equilibria and rates of anomerization.

2-Deoxy-d-glycero-tetrose, 3-deoxy-dl-glycero-tetrose, 3-deoxy-3,3-di-C-methyl-dl-glycero-tetrose, 3-C-methyl-dl-erythrose, 3-C-methyl-dl-threose, 2-deoxy-5-O-methyl-d-erythro-pentose and 3-deoxy-5-O-methyl-d- erythro-pentose have been prepared, in some cases with 13C-substitution at the anomeric carbon, and characterized by 1H- (300 and 620 MHz) and 13C-n.m.r. (75 MHz) spectroscopy. The proportions of cyclic (α and β furanoses) and acyclic (aldehyde and hydrate) forms were determined in aqueous (2H2O) solution, and ring-opening (kopen) and ring-closing (kclose) rate constants were measured by 1H and 13C saturation-transfer n.m.r. spectroscopy at p2H 5.0 (acetate buffer) and 60°. The degree of furanose ring substitution was found to significantly affect both the thermodynamics and kinetics of furanose anomerization. Increased substitution enhances the proportion of cyclic forms in solution by stimulating furanose kclose. In contrast, furanose kopen was less affected by the degree of substitution; however, kinetic studies of 2-deoxyfuranose anomerization implicate furanose ring conformation as a potential determinant of kopen.
Relationship between plasma amino acids and composition of the ingested protein.

Abstract Plasma amino acid changes of the adult dog after a meal have been found to be directly dependent upon the amino acid composition of the protein ingested if it is postulated that the individual essential amino acids are removed from the blood by the body tissues at rates proportional to the amino acid requirements of the dog. A Plasma Amino Acid Ratio procedure is presented which permits the evaluation of the amino acid adequacy in a food protein for the nourishment of the animal species to which it is fed. By this method, with dogs being employed as the test animal, lysine was found to be the first limiting amino acid for wheat gluten, tryptophan for gelatin, and arginine for casein.
S2 (a 1Δ ) production in the photolysis of reduced sulfides: Production chemistry, spectroscopy and interference potential in the LIF detection of OH

Production of S2 (a1Δ, v=2) has been observed in the UV photolysis of several reduced sulfur compounds by monitoring the f1Δ–a1Δ (2–3) laser excitation spectrum. There appears to be at least three production mechanisms including reaction of S (1D) with the precursor. The f–a (2–3) band shows several spectral overlaps with the OH A2Σ–X2Π (1–0) band including the Q11 line. Since a significant fraction of the f–a emission from f1Δ (v=2) overlaps the OH A–X (1–1) and (0–0) bands the potential for a significant `interference' signal exists if the two species are produced simultaneously.
Effects of spectral alternation on the intelligibility of words and sentences.

In this study of a novel speech interference paradigm, it was found that periodic alternation between nonoverlapping filtering conditions (1100 Hz low-pass and 1700 Hz high-pass) significantly reduced intelligibility. Thus, although repetition accuracy for key words within sentences was approximately 98% with continuous low-pass or high-pass filtering alone, listeners averaged only 48% correct when frequency ranges alternated at a rate of 2.67 Hz. Interestingly, intelligibility improved by about 39% when low-pass noise was mixed with segments of high-pass speech and high-pass noise was mixed with segments of low-pass speech. A smaller increase due to added noise was also observed with spectrally alternated word lists. The interference produced by spectral alternation appears to be related to other verbal and musical phenomena, including stream segregation. The results from various control conditions indicate that the enhanced intelligibility produced by added noise involved phonemic restorations that occurred within each speech band, as well as a spectral completion effect that acted across spectral bands.
WE‐E‐BRB‐01: A Mathematical Model of the Optical Density Growth of EBT2 Film after Proton Irradiation

Purpose: Gafchromic EBT2 is being used for radiation dosimetry including photon, electrons and recently in proton beams, based on its color changes from transparent to blue due to polymerization. It is critical to understand the temporal response of the polymerization after irradiation to proton beam for more accurate dosimetric results with EBT2. Methods: Five small pieces cut from the same sheet (lot no. A08060905A) were irradiated with different doses (2 – 10 Gy) using a clinical proton beam with range 16 cm and spread‐out‐Bragg‐peak 10 cm. An EPSON flatbed 10000XL was used for digitization in 48 bit color RGB images. The films were kept in the same position on the scanner for each scan. Within a 6‐day period, measurements were taken every 3 minutes for the first hour, every 5 to 30 minutes for the first 1–12 hours and then randomly after 12 hours. Red, green and blue frequency read out of the scanner for each film was analyzed in ImageJ software. Results: A mathematical function (netOD =a + s (1−exp (−t/Ta)) + γ (1−exp (−t/Tb)) was used to describe the temporal response. The polymerization is time dependent with two time constants, Ta (25 minutes) and Tb (1000 minutes), a, s, and γ are dose dependent parameters. The percentage of OD change per 10 minutes remains less than 1% after the first hour. A 7%–ll% increase in the net OD was observed within the first 12 h when irradiated within 10 Gy, comparable to the 9% reported for EBT films.Conclusions: The growth of OD post–irradiation may be explained by the rapid polymerization in EBT2 film. This characteristic can be described by a double exponential function which may be used to correct the temporal coloration effect to improve the accuracy for radiation dosimetry using EBT2 film in proton beam.
Psychological Assessment Using Simulations with Unrestricted Natural Language Input

Five computerized role-playing scenarios, which accept unrestricted natural language input, were developed and administered to seventy-two freshman medical students. The scenarios, written in CASIP, measured and automatically scored each response on five psychological dimensions: Social skills, level of frustration, submissiveness, combativeness, and negotiative ability. The programmed scenarios also monitored nonverbal dimensions, which may reflect the emotional state of the testee. These included: The time it took to start an answer; the time spent reviewing the answer; the lengths of answers and of the words used. The testees behaved significantly different in handling the different role-playing scenarios. While no significant correlations were found between the psychological dimensions expressed in the different scenarios, the tests identified individual testees who displayed a pattern of extremes of psychological behavior.