cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Wide-Ranging Review Manipulation Attacks: Model, Empirical Study, and Countermeasures

User reviews have become a cornerstone of how we make decisions. However, this user-based feedback is susceptible to manipulation as recent research has shown the feasibility of automatically generating fake reviews. Previous investigations, however, have focused on generative fake review approaches that are (i) domain dependent and not extendable to other domains without replicating the whole process from scratch; and (ii) character-level based known to generate reviews of poor quality that are easily detectable by anti-spam detectors and by end users. In this work, we propose and evaluate a new class of attacks on online review platforms based on neural language models at word-level granularity in an inductive transfer-learning framework wherein a universal model is refined to handle domain shift, leading to potentially wide-ranging attacks on review systems. Through extensive evaluation, we show that such model-generated reviews can bypass powerful anti-spam detectors and fool end users. Paired with this troubling attack vector, we propose a new defense mechanism that exploits the distributed representation of these reviews to detect model-generated reviews. We conclude that despite the success of neural models in generating realistic reviews, our proposed RNN-based discriminator can combat this type of attack effectively (90% accuracy).
Usefulness of Noninvasively Measured Pulse Amplitude Changes During the Valsalva Maneuver to Identify Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients at Risk of 30-Day Heart Failure Events (from the PRESSURE-HF Study).

The pulse amplitude ratio (PAR), the ratio of pulse pressure at the end of the Valsalva maneuver to before the onset, correlates with cardiac filling pressure. We have developed a handheld device that uses finger photoplethysmography to measure PAR and estimate left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP). Patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) performed three 10-second trials of a standardized Valsalva maneuver (at 20 mm Hg measured via pressure transducer), while photoplethysmography waveforms were recorded, at admission and discharge. Combined primary outcome was 30-day HF hospitalization, intravenous diuresis, or death. Fifty-two subjects had discharge PAR testing; 12 met the primary outcome. Median PAR on admission was 0.55 (interquartile range: 0.40 to 0.70, n = 48) and on discharge was 0.50 (interquartile range: 0.36 to 0.69). Mean PAR-estimated LVEDP was significantly higher in subjects that had an event (20.2 vs 16.9 mm Hg, p = 0.043). Subjects with PAR-estimated LVEDP >19.5 mm Hg had an event rate hazard ratio of 4.57 (95% confidence interval 1.37, 15.19, p = 0.013) compared with patients with LVEDP 19.5 mm Hg or below, with significantly lower 30-day event-free survival (log-rank p = 0.006). In conclusion, noninvasively estimated LVEDP using the pulse amplitude response to a Valsalva maneuver in patients hospitalized for HF changes with diuresis and identifies patients at high risk for 30-day HF events. Detection of elevated filling pressures before hospital discharge may be useful in guiding HF management to reduce HF events.
Protocol for Monitoring DNA-Triggered cGAS/STING Signaling in Mammalian Cells and Mice.

Summary Innate immunity is the first layer of defense against infection in mammals and is tightly regulated. We monitored cGAS/STING signaling upon ISD90 or 2′,3′-cGAMP stimulation in EA.hy926 cells by western blotting, RT-PCR, and ELISA analyses to reveal signaling activation and IFNβ production. In addition, we also include an HSV-1 infected mouse model to further reveal procedures in analyzing cGAS/STING signaling in mice. This protocol could be applied to studies focusing on cell culture or mouse models to investigate cGAS/STING signaling. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Zhang et al. (2020) .
The Basics of Professional Growth

This chapter addresses concepts that can support or hinder professional growth. These topics are relevant to today’s professional registered nurse (RN) and are evidence-based. The reader will be exposed to the topics and how they can support or hinder professional growth while advancing one’s nursing career. Strategies for exploring civility, burnout, and remembering the basics, such as being kind, will be described. Through suggested activities throughout the chapter, the reader will build upon the goals identified in Chap. 2 and incorporate kindness, civility, and burnout prevention into their goals. Sample vignettes depicting an example of the basics of professional growth will be included. Novice and senior nursing student assessment strategies will both be addressed in this chapter.
Deep-learning-based image restoration of depth-resolved, label-free, two-photon images for the quantitative morphological and functional characterization of human cervical tissues

High signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) images are necessary for analyzing sub-cellular features in biomedical images. Acquisition of such images may be limited by temporal or photon-budget-based imaging constraints. This study aims to use deep-learning-based image restoration methods to extract morpho-functional information from low-SNR, depth-resolved, label-free, two-photon images of human cervical tissue. A deep convolutional autoencoder model was trained using single-frame image inputs and multiple-frame averaged ground-truth image pairs. Automated analysis of restored reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF) images extracts depth-dependent, morpho-functional information otherwise lost in single-frame images.
Early antenatal counseling in the outpatient setting for high-risk pregnancies: a randomized control trial.

Determine if antenatal counseling delivered in the outpatient setting improves parental knowledge and satisfaction without contributing to anxiety. Randomized control trial at a large academic institution. Mothers at risk for preterm delivery were enrolled following routine maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) visits and randomized to early antenatal counseling of prematurity or standard counseling by MFM providers. The primary outcome was parental knowledge of prematurity. Secondary outcomes included parental satisfaction, anxiety scores, and compliance with recommended follow-up. Seventy-six women were enrolled, 38 in each group. Early counseling group had higher knowledge scores (86.3 vs 64.3, p = <0.001) and parental satisfaction (p = 0.003). Anxiety scores were similar between the two groups (38.2 vs 40.4, p = 0.53). No difference was noted in compliance with follow-up. Antenatal counseling in the high-risk outpatient setting improved parental knowledge and satisfaction without leading to increased anxiety.
Does the histologic subtype of uterine carcinosarcoma correlate with outcomes

Objectives: To evaluate uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) by epithelial component subtype and compare clinicopathologic characteristics, recurrence patterns, and survival. Methods: We conducted a retrospective medical record review of patients diagnosed with UCS from January 2008 through March 2019 at one institution. Cases of UCS were classified based on carcinoma subtype-endometrioid versus non-endometrioid. Non-endometrioid included serous, clear cell, mixed cell, squamous, poorly differentiated and un-differentiated epithelial components. If a predominant histologic carcinoma subtype was not identified with initial review, the slides were classified by a pathologist. Recurrence sites were pelvic, nodal, or distant. Data are presented as percent, median (interquartile range) or mean ± standard deviation. We compared characteristics between UCS subtypes and calculated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for overall survival. Results: We identified 77 patients with UCS, 18 (23%) with endometrioid subtype, 58 (75%) with non-endometrioid subtype, and one who could not be classified, as slides were unavailable. Median length of follow-up was 2 years[MRH1]; mean age at diagnosis was 70 years. The cohort was primarily White (66%) and African American (18%). Measured demographic variables, risk factors, symptoms at presentation, surgery, and adjuvant treatments were similar between epithelial subtypes. Most patients underwent surgery (96%) with nodal evaluation in 67%, 77% received chemotherapy, and 51% underwent radiation treatment. Forty percent of patients had mismatch repair protein immunohistochemistry, and 33% of patients with endometrioid subtype had loss of expression of at least one protein compared with 0% in the non-endometrioid group (p=0.02). Of patients with endometrioid subtype, 72% presented in stage I/II compared to only 46% of those with non-endometrioid subtype (p=0.06). The endometrioid subtype was more likely to recur in the pelvis (33%) than non-endometrioid (12%), but of the 32 (46%) patients whose disease recurred, there was no differences in nodal or distant recurrence by subtype. Median overall survival for stage I/II UCS was 6[MRH2] years; patients with stage I/II endometrioid subtype demonstrated poorer overall survival than stage I/II non-endometrioid subtype (HR 3.0, 95% CI 0.98-9.2). Median overall survival for stage III/IV was 2 years; data survival for stage III/IV did not meet assumptions to calculate an HR. Download : Download high-res image (211KB) Download : Download full-size image Conclusions: In this single-institution review of patients with UCS, those with stage I/II endometroid subtype had worse overall survival than those with stage I/II non-endometrioid subtype. Deficiency in mismatch repair protein expression and pelvic site of recurrent disease was more common in endometrioid than non-endometrioid subtypes. These findings suggest that the epithelial subcomponent in UCS has implications for biologic behavior of the disease and therapeutic choice.
Climate Change: The Real Inconvenient Truth

Consumers choose economic development over serious climate initiatives. Corporations don’t invest in meaningful change because consumers won’t pay for it. And governments cannot lead if citizens won’t follow. The battle to prevent climate change through behavior modification, regulation, or personal deprivation has already been lost. Yossi Sheffi explains why the solution is collaborative investment in developing technologies that can reverse climate change.
PAVEMENT REHABILITATION: IDENTIFYING THE NEED

A procedure for identifying the need for rehabilitation of city and county streets is presented. Key factors requiring consideration include user related factors, maintenance needs, and protection of the existing pavement investment. A key element in each of these factors, that can be easily measured, is pavement distress types, severity, and quantity. A composite distress index, called Pavement Condition Index (PCI), was defined. The PCI has been found to correlate strongly with rehabilitation needs as determined by experienced pavement engineers. The PCI, along with traffic volume, can be used as a general index of the relative need for rehabilitation. The procedure is easy to apply, does not require expensive equipment, and is under implementation for both streets and airfields.
Mourning in Late Imperial China: Death and the state in imperial China: continuities

As early as the Shang dynasty (traditionally dated 1766–1122 b.c.e. ), ancestors in China were believed to control people's destinies, and had to be consulted through divination on the course of action their descendants should follow. Elders both living and dead demanded the obedience of their juniors in an inexorable system that encompassed a full range of religious and social meanings. For those who sought to rule China by something more than coercion, the challenge was to create an ideology of rule that, at the very least, did not conflict with the loyalties owed to kin. Such an ideology was vital because no group could hope to rule China without the help of a network of loyal officials who would carry out orders, and faithfully report on developments in the hinterlands. Confucianism's answer to that challenge was an ideology that sought to harmonize service to the family with service to the state: the “parallel conception of society” referred to in the Introduction. Society, as Confucianists depicted it, was held together by parallel bonds of mutual obligation. In their view, instead of an emperor's demanding that officials be more loyal to him than to their parents, the relationship of emperor to minister was parallel to that of father to son. It was precisely, Confucianists argued, because individuals were filial sons that they could be loyal officials. These loyal officials, in turn, could serve as role models for the common people. Confucius had warned that he was a transmitter, not an innovator, and accordingly the Confucian parallel conception of society did not develop out of nothing. Shades of it appeared in various forms in early texts. According to Wang Guowei, references to ruling and filial piety can be traced back to oracle bones.
Lymphocyte stimulation by a glycopeptide isolated from Streptococcus pyogenes C203S: I. Isolation and partial purification☆

Abstract Lymphocyte transformation is induced by a streptococcal extract rich in streptolysin S (SLS). The lymphocyte-stimulating principle is distinct from SLS as shown by separation on DEAE-cellulose, by absorption spectroscopy, by amino acid analysis, and by its ability to retain full activity in the absence of stabilizers such as RNA digest required for the activation of SLS. The lymphocyte-transforming factor has been designated LTF. LTF is heat stable (100 ° for 5 min) and is resistant to proteolytic enzymes. It retains activity after exposure to acid or alkali in the pH range 1–12. Two peaks were eluted from DEAE-cellulose with a step-wise gradient. With two exceptions the amino acid composition of the two peaks was similar, suggesting polymerization. The molecular weight is estimated at less than 51,000.
Taking naturalism seriously

Publisher Summary Quine has concentrated much of his naturalized epistemological attention on “the learning of language and the neurology of perception,” but he recognizes that more than this goes into the development of good scientific hypotheses and suggests that further counsel is available anecdotally in the history of hard science. The chapter discusses the counsel of some such anecdotes. It also focuses on the practice of a truly naturalized methodology and explores some implications for the philosophy of mathematics. The status of some fairly concrete statements about point sets that turn out to be independent of the current set-theoretic axioms are also considered. A scientific theory with generous portions of the theoretical virtues will often also include a good measure of mathematics. It is realized that compounds with different chemical properties sometimes analyze into the same elements in the same proportions. Conflicts between the results achieved by the various methods discussed in the chapter led Dumas to conclude that atomic theory should be banished from chemistry.
Suicidality among acculturating Mexican Americans: current knowledge and directions for research

Despite the dramatic increase in Mexican-American immigration over the past two decades, the acculturative experience and its relationship to suicide risk have received little attention within the field of suicidology. This paper summarizes findings from community-based studies that have explored suicide and risk factors among immigrant and Mexican-American groups, and suggests directions for future research. Most of these studies have been epidemiologic, and relatively few have addressed risk and protective factors within well-defined acculturating groups. Further study of the full continuum of suicidal thoughts and behaviors that examines precise cultural risk factors, and uses methodologies that combine quantitative and qualitative data, may improve our understanding of suicide risk among acculturating Mexican Americans.
Dynamic scheduling strategies for avionics mission computing

Avionics mission computing systems have traditionally been scheduled statically. Static scheduling provides assurance of schedulability prior to run-time and can be implemented with low renting overhead. However static scheduling handles non-periodic processing inefficiently, and treats invocation-to-invocation variations in resource requirements inflexibly. As a consequence, processing resources am underutilized and the resulting systems are hard to adapt to meet worst-case processing requirements. Dynamic scheduling has the potential to offer relief from some of the restrictions imposed by strict static scheduling approaches. Potential benefits of dynamic scheduling include better tolerance for variations in activities, more flexible prioritization, and better CPU utilization in the presence of non-periodic activities. However the cost of these benefits is expected to be higher run-time scheduling overhead and additional application development complexity. This report reviews the implications of these tradeoffs for avionics mission computing systems and presents experimental results obtained using the Maximum Urgency First dynamic scheduling algorithm.
Strengthening Environmental Communications.

(1969). Strengthening Environmental Communications. Environmental Education: Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 13-14.
HIGH-PRESSURE AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE BEHAVIOR OF SIMPLE AND COMPLEX MOLECULAR LIQUIDS*

Recent theories in statistical mechanics and intermolecular forces are used to explain the shock-wave data of inert gases, diatomic molecules, and hydrocarbons.
THE MEDIUM AND MCLUHAN'S MESSAGE

Marshall McLuhan's famous aphorism, the medium is the message, serves as the title of the first chapter of his most influential work, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (2003), originally published in 1964. Its significance extends far beyond that starting point, as this single sentence sums up in pithy and poetic fashion the entirety of McLuhan's approach to the study of media. It would be tempting to designate this statement as the first axiom of McLuhan's media ecology, except for the fact that it is not a logical postulate, but rather is born out of McLuhan's literary sensibilities. As such, it is metaphoric, message being the metaphor for medium, leading us to ask, regarding each and every particular medium, what is the message that it conveys, and what is the effect that it produces? It is also oxymoronic, medium and message typically being considered two quite different elements of the communication process, and in some sense antonymic (paralleling the polarities of sender and receiver). Through this juxtaposition, McLuhan asks us to reconsider their opposition, asks us to consider whether they really are separate, distinct, and independent phenomena, or whether there is an erroneous elementalism at work resulting in a false division, in the same way that we may mistakenly divide mind from body, or the rational from the emotional. As an oxymetaphor, as Ray Gozzi (1999) puts it, the medium is the message serves as an invitation to contemplation, and as a poetic formulation, it invites participation through its ambiguity and openness, functioning as a cool medium, to draw on McLuhan's own taxonomy of media. But most importantly, as the first aphorism of McLuhan's media ecology, the medium is the message contains a multitude of meanings packed tightly together into one memorable package. The challenge, then, is to unpack McLuhan's saying, isolate and identify its many meanings, and express them in the form of coherent statements, thereby moving beyond an intuitive and aesthetic appreciation for McLuhan's thought, and into the developing field of inquiry known as media ecology (Nystrom, 1973; Postman, 1970; Lum, 2005; Strate, 2006, 2011). The first thing to be said about the medium is the message is that it is a warning and a wake-up call. It is a plea to pay attention, for as McLuhan insists in The Medium is the Massage, "there is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to RAZON Y PALABRA Primera Revista Electronica en America Latina Especializada en Comunicacion www.razonypalabra.org.mx
Fabrication of large-numerical-aperture anamorphic microlenses and collimation of tapered unstable-resonator-laser output

We describe the fabrication of the first anamorphic microlenses which are needed for the astigmatic output of unstable-resonator lasers and traveling-wave amplifiers with laterally tapered (i.e., flared) gain regions. Such lenses offer a means to realize simple and compact optical systems exploiting the demonstrated high-power capability of the new lasers. >
A-Rod: Signing the Best Player in Baseball

SUBJECT AREAS: Assets, Brand management, Cash flow, Cash management, Finance, Financial analysis, Insurance, Investments, Present value, Product management, Regression analysis, Service industry, Sports, Statistical analysis, Valuation CASE SETTING: Texas; sports/entertainment; $126.5 million revenues; 200 employees; 2000 Analyzes a large investment decision considered by the Texas Rangers in 2000: whether to spend $252 million for the services of shortstop Alex Rodriguez. The signing was probably the most controversial sports contract of the past decade. Teaching Purpose: 1) To teach students to evaluate a complex investment decision - the signing of the largest player contract in baseball history (was $252 million too high a price to pay?) - as well as to look at regression analysis, complex conditional cash flows, and discounting; and 2) to consider the difference between correlation and causation, the nature of insurance, and the long-run benefits of brand improvement.
DOP-based PMD monitoring in optical subcarrier multiplexed systems by carrier/ sideband equalization

We use an optical filter to equalize the power of the carrier and one of the sidebands, enabling demonstration of a novel PMD monitor for both single-and double-sideband SCM systems using DOP as the monitoring signal.
A particle‐based model of size or anion exclusion with application to microbial transport in porous media

[1] This paper presents a novel approach to the representation of pore-scale exclusion processes, based on the truncation of the distribution of local dispersive displacements in a random-walk particle model. This approach increases the mean velocity of colloidal-sized particles relative to inert solute tracers, and decreases the apparent dispersion. An equivalent continuum model, with modified velocity and dispersion parameters, is also derived. Both the particle and the equivalent continuum models are applied to the results of laboratory experiments on bacterial transport in intact cores from a research site near Oyster, Virginia. The particle-based model requires only modest truncation (8% maximum) of the particle velocity distribution function to closely reproduce the significant observed decrease in bacterial arrival times relative to a bromide tracer. The approach provides a conceptually appealing and consistent means of incorporating the exclusion process into groundwater transport models.
CD4-positive helper T lymphocytes mediate mouse cardiac allograft rejection independent of donor alloantigen specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

Mouse heterotopic cardiac allograft recipients were depleted of CD4+ or CD8+ T lymphocytes in vivo to assess cellular requirements for graft infiltration, tissue damage, and acute allograft rejection. Modified limiting dilution analysis was employed to quantitate IL-2-producing Th lymphocytes (HTL)
Hybrid security architecture for data center networks

Security is critical to data centers, especially multi-tenant data centers that host a variety of applications in a single facility. Conventional schemes place security devices (middleboxes) at a few choke points (e.g., core routers) and rely on routing policy to guarantee middlebox traversal. Coupling routing and security services together complicates operation and troubleshooting since routing and security are operated by different teams. When a data center scales, the security system needs upgrade accordingly. However, the current approaches are not flexible and incur high cost. Observing that rich computing resources are already available in data centers, we are interested in using a large number of software middleboxes to achieve scalability and cost efficiency. We present Hybrid Security Architecture (HSA), a design to decouple security services from routing and to allow the integration of hardware and software middleboxes in a complementary way. HSA is more cost-effective and flexible compared to the conventional schemes that solely use hardware middleboxes. It allows topology and routing changes with minimal impact to security services, and vice versa. In particular, HSA does not require modification to switches and routers. This paper explains the framework of HSA, describes the key techniques, presents a testbed to validate the design, and discusses future research directions.
Glutamine synthetase mRNA in cultured 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Complexity, content and hormonal regulation.

Abstract Glutamine synthetase (GS) activity increases more than 100-fold during adipocyte differentiation of cultured 3T3-L1 cells. We now find that Northern hybridization analysis of RNA from 3T3-L1 adipocytes with a rat GS cDNA clone (pGSRK-1) yields two hybridizable GS RNAs of length 3.2 and 1.6 kilobases (kb). Densitometric analyses of autoradiographs of the Northern blots probed with pGSRK-1 indicate that the 3.2 kb GS-specific RNA is at least 4- to 5-fold more abundant than the 1.6 kb GS RNA. Analyses of both total and poly(A + )RNA from 3T3-L1 adipocytes yielded similar results. (It is noteworthy that an mRNA of 1.2 kb would be sufficient to encode the 42500 Da GS subunit.) Quantitative dot-blot hybridization analysis indicates that dexamethasone increases GS mRNA while both insulin and dibutyryl cAMP decrease GS mRNA and/or prevent the dexamethasone-mediated increase. Our data suggest that there are at least two GS mRNAs in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and that they are regulated in parallel by dexamethasone, insulin and dibutyryl cAMP.
P5.050 STD Prevention Online: A Networking Website For STD/STI Professionals

Background STDPreventionOnline. Org (STDPO) is an online professional networking web site for the sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STD/STI) work force, including researchers, clinicians, epidemiologists, disease intervention specialists, and programme managers. The site was developed by the Internet and STD Center of Excellence, originally funded by a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and currently sponsored by the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association. The site was a conceived as a two-way clearing house of current STD/STI information and resources, where members can both download and upload information in a variety of formats, including text, graphics, audio/video formats as well as post blog and forum entries. Membership to the website (www.stdpreventiononline.org) is free. Objective To describe current users and usage of STDPO. Methods Descriptive statistics were obtained from embedded website metrics and Google Analytics©. Results Since its inception in 2007, the site has registered 3,587 users; the site’s monthly newsletter has over 4,100 subscribers. The predominance of members (92%) live/work in the United States; however a substantial number (387 as of February 2013), are non-US users with 52 countries represented. Most members (58%) work in STD/STI programmes in state/local health departments, 13% in community or private clinics, 11% in a university setting, 8% in federal government, and 8% in community organisations. During 2012, the site logged 8,240 site visits and 32,462, respectively 158 and 624 per week. To date 1,142 resources have been uploaded to the site which were downloaded 44,517 times, an average of 39 downloads per resource. Topics related to Internet use and online interventions are particularly popular, followed by clinical slide sets and podcasts. Conclusion During the 5 years of its existence, STPDO has demonstrated to meet a need in the STD/STI professional community for an interactive, two-way, clearing house of STD/STI-related information.
Life and death of Brugia malayi in the mammalian host: passive death vs active killing.

Abstract Rajan, T. V., Babu, S., Sardinha, D., Smith, H., Ganley, L., Pacior kowski, N., and Porte, P. 1999. Life and death of Brugia malayi in the mammalian host: passive death vs active killing. Experimental Parasitology93, 120–122.
Compression within a context-sensitive commercial random access domain: an industrial case study

An industrial case study of data compression within the library automation domain is described. A context dependent approach, where the individual records require file-independent compression and expansion, is evaluated. The discussed approach favorably compares against popular compression algorithms. Comparisons were made against commercially available implementations of the conventional compression schemes. The described approach is now in use by The Library Corporation.
Time for a Paradigm Shift With Computerized Adaptive Testing of General Physical Function Outcomes Measurements

Background:Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) are critical to understanding the value of orthopedic treatments. We hypothesized that use of the computerized adaptive testing from a well-characterized physical function item bank would show superiority in assessing all levels of physical function compared to current standard generic physical function outcomes instruments for foot and ankle patients.Methods:In a population of 126 foot and ankle patients we compared the psychometric properties for three PROs: the Physical Function subscale of the Medical Outcomes General Health Survey (SF-36 PF) version 2, the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function (PF) Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT), and the Lower Extremity (LE) CAT. A Rasch item response theory (IRT) model was applied to assess and compare the fit, dimensionality, reliability, validity, and coverage.Results:The unexplained variance for the PF CAT was 3.9% and the LE CAT was 2.1%, suggesting each instrument explain...
Biology as consent: Problematizing the scientific approach to seducing women's bodies

Synopsis Exploring the ways that scientific narratives are used to create scripts for heterosexual men to enact when performing the role of “seducer,” this paper details how evolutionary narratives and physiological research have been appropriated by the “pick-up artist” community in the text The Mystery Method: How To Get Beautiful Women Into Bed (Mystery, 2007). These problematic texts privilege biological responses as “truth” and position women's bodies against themselves by teaching men to arouse women and then to interpret this physical arousal as consent and ignore women's verbal communication. These texts are critiqued and their implications are discussed.
A technique for immobilizing and photographing small, live fishes

Abstract A common method for photographing small, live fishes involves the use of a restraining tank or photo cell for confining the specimen. Although the specimen is confined, the photographer faces the challenging and often time-consuming task of getting a sharp photograph of an active fish. A simple and inexpensive method for immobilizing and photographing small, live fishes is discussed.
Knee joint contact pressure decreases after chronic meniscectomy relative to the acutely meniscectomized joint: A mechanical study in the goat

Several studies have shown that meniscectomy causes an immediate, acute increase in knee joint contact pressure and that changes in pressure distribution cause remodeling of bone and soft tissue. Presumably, this remodeling in turn affects contact pressures. This study tested the hypothesis that medial compartment contact pressure increases immediately after medial meniscectomy and then decreases with time. Supporting hypotheses regarding medial compartment contact area and lateral compartment pressures also were tested. Unilateral medial meniscectomy was performed on seven adult goats. Four or 8 months later, contact pressure and area were measured in vitro in the involved joints, as well as in the contralateral joints, before and after removal of the meniscus. The medial compartment pressures of the chronically meniscectomized joints were significantly less than those of the acutely meniscectomized paired joints but remained significantly greater than those of the intact joints. For the 4 and 8 month groups combined, the mean pressures of the acutely and chronically meniscectomized joints were greater than the pressures of the paired intact joints by 70 and 42%, respectively. The mean medial compartment contact areas of the acute and chronic joints were lower than those of the intact joints by 60 and 50%, respectively; mean lateral compartment pressures remained the same. This study indicates that joint remodeling reduces joint contact pressures. It also suggests that the effectiveness of a treatment to reduce pressure concentrations may be determined only by comparison, at the same postoperative time, of the pressure with that of the chronically meniscectomized joint, since pressures decreased with time without treatment.
Multifunctional Electroelastomer Roll Actuators and Their Application for Biomimetic Walking Robots

Electroelastomers (also called dielectric elastomer artificial muscles) have been shown to exhibit excellent performance in a variety of actuator configurations, but making a compact, free-standing, muscle-like actuator capable of obtaining good performance has been a challenge. By rolling highly prestrained electroelastomer films around a compression spring, we have demonstrated Multifunctional Electroelastomer Rolls (MERs) that combine load bearing, actuation, and sensing functions. The MER spring rolls are compact, have a potentially high electroelastomer-to-structure weight ratio, and can be configured to actuate in several ways, including axial extension, bending, and as multiple degree-of-freedom actuators that combine both extension and bending. One degree-of-freedom (1-DOF), 2-DOF, and 3-DOF MERs have all been demonstrated through suitable electrode patterning on a single monolithic substrate. A 1-DOF MER with 9.6 g weight, 12 mm diameter, and 65 mm total length can deliver up to 15 N force and 12 mm stroke. Its capacitance is around 13 nF and changes linearly with strain during axial tension or compression. The MERs are useful in a number of applications where compact and high-stroke actuation is required. The applications as artificial muscles are particularly appealing, as multifunctionality prevails in natural muscles.
Assessment of image sensor technology for future NASA missions

ABSTRACTAn assessment of so1idstate UV/visible image sensor technology for future NASA missions is presented. The paper will attempt to sununarize the state of the art in image sensor technology in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Europe. The state of the art and future trends will be compared to a forecast of future NASA needs in scientific image sensors for planetary exploration, earth science, astrophysics, and spacecraft systems such as star trackers and optical communications. 1. INTRODUCTION The National Aeronautics and Space Administration utilizes a wide variety of image sensors in its manned and unmanned space missions. In 1993, a small study was performed by the Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology to betterunderstand the state of the art in industry for advanced image sensors and to better understand future mission needs andrequirements for new technology research, development and inseilion. The scope of the study was limited to visible and UV/visible image sensors, and particularly charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and active pixel sensors (APS), with particularattention to remote, scientific sensing applications.The study was perfonned by inteiviewing science investigators, NASA Headquarters personnel, industry technologists, andby visiting numerous companies and laboratories in the US., Canada, and Japan. Additional sources included conferencessuch as the 1993 SPIE CCDs and SolidState Optical Sensors Ill conference held in February 1993 in San Jose, CalifOrnia,the 1993 IEEE Workshop on CCDs and Advanced Image Sensors held in June 1993 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and the
Effect of insulin hypoglycemia upon cerebral energy metabolism and EEG activity in the rat

Anesthetized ventilated rats were subjected to insulin-induced hypoglycemia (50 units/kg i.v.) while EEG, ECG, mean arterial pressure, blood gases, arterial pH and rectal temperature were controlled. Animals were sacrificed by rapid transcalvarial freezing of the brain in situ. Glucose, pyruvate and lactate were measured in blood, CSF and cortical tissue, in which additionally glycogen, phosphocreatine, ATP, ADP, AMP, aketoglutarate (aKG), glutamate, oxalacetate, aspartate, ammonia and water content were estimated. ATP/ADP ratio, energy charge (ECh) energy reserve, NADH/NAD+ quotient and intracellular pH were calculated. ECh does not correlate with either dysfunction of carbohydrate depletion, but declines in a threshold fashion when tissue glucose has fallen by over 97% and glycogen by over 60%. The EEG correlates with the degree and duration of carbohydrate depletion in cortical tissue. An isoelectric EEG occurs pari passu with the fall of the ECh. Increase in ammonia and decrease in aKG and Glut are supportive evidence of intrinsic substrate. Lactate decrease during hypoglymecia is not reversed by super-imposed hyqoxia.
Future of the NOSAMS Tandetron AMS system

The NOSAMS 3 MV Tandetron AMS system will soon reach its 20 th anniversary of operation. A critical review of all aspects of the system is necessary to assess the analytical, economic, and operational factors that enter into the consideration of either an upgrade or a replacement of the instrument. Recent in-house experience with the design and construction of a large-acceptance 14 C AMS system gives us a benchmark with which to compare the expected outcome of an upgrade. The present ion analysis efficiency of our Tandetron system is roughly 1%, well below the 4% value of our new system. This affects the lower limit of analyzable sample size, speed of analysis, exposure to systematic errors, and the upper limit of achievable single-sample counting statistics. At first glance it may seem obvious that a replacement (even at higher cost) would be preferable to an upgrade. However, it will be shown that there are good reasons to consider the latter. One of the most compelling is the fact that the Tandetron is a state-of-the-art and superior high-current accelerator design with minimal signs of aging and very low maintenance. Ion beam modeling calculations show that the main transmission limitation of the instrument is caused by the design of our injector, a four-magnet "Recombinator", making it difficult to perform reliable AMS with negative currents exceeding 80 A. To be acceptable, an upgrade should bring the Tandetron to at least 3% ion efficiency by replacing the injector with a properly matched high-transmission device.
Transient anti-CD154-mediated immunotherapy of ongoing relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induces long-term inhibition of disease relapses

Abstract Relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (R-EAE) is a Th1-mediated central nervous system (CNS) autoimmune disease with pathology similar to that of relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis. Among recent therapeutic approaches to prevent or treat relapsing disease is the strategic blockade of the CD154–CD40 ligand pair interactions. We have previously shown that CD154 blockade at the peak of acute disease can, in the short term, inhibit spontaneous disease relapse and this is at least partly associated with the inhibition of T cell effector function and blockade of inflammatory cell recruitment to and/or retention in the CNS. However, little is understood about the long-term effects of CD154 blockade in the inhibition of immune responses to encephalitogenic antigens. Here we demonstrate that transient anti-CD154 blockade of CD154–CD40 interactions at the peak of acute phase of R-EAE resulted in significant long-term inhibition (by >80%) of clinical relapses and that clinical disease in those mice that did relapse was reduced in duration and severity compared to control antibody-treated mice. Additionally, we show that this strategy permanently inhibits DTH responses of T cells specific for relapse-associated encephalitogenic epitopes. Thus, transient CD154 blockade during ongoing disease has a long-term therapeutic efficacy in preventing disease relapses.
Asymptotic boundary layer solutions for mixed convection from a vertical surface in a micropolar fluid

Abstract Using the theory of micropolar fluids due to Eringen, asymptotic boundary layer solutions are presented to study the combined convection from a vertical semi-infinite plate to a micropolar fluid. Consideration is given to the region close to the leading edge as well as the region far away from the leading edge. Numerical results are obtained for the velocity, angular velocity and temperature distribution. The missing wall values of the velocity, angular velocity and thermal functions are tabulated. Micropolar fluids display drag reduction and reduced surface heat transfer rate when compared to Newtonian fluids.
Individual Differences in Catharsis, Emotional Valence, Trauma Anxiety, and Social Networks Among Hurricane Katrina and Rita Victims

This study examined individual differences in terms of gender, ethnicity, transfer status, and electronic messaging problems in terms of cell phone and e-mail mediums on emotional valence, catharsis, trauma anxiety, and social network development in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Transfer and nontransfer students completed an online survey measuring coping and adaptability after the storms. A large sample of 2881 participants completed the survey. Results revealed that transfer students, students with cell phone and e-mail problems, students with a poor social network, and students expressing a negative emotional valence were more likely to report a higher level of trauma anxiety. Students with high levels of trauma anxiety used the catharsis function of imagined interactions as a way to release tension. Basic emotions that predicted trauma anxiety were fear, anger, sadness, and guilt. A combination of sadness and joy predicted catharsis. Implications of the findings and future research dir...
Alternative Careers for Biomedical Engineers [Student's Corner]

In this article, the academic and industry careers for biomedical engineering students are explored. The clinical engineering field is growing as technology plays a greater role in the delivery of healthcare. Clinical engineering brings biomedical engineering to the clinical setting. It is concluded that working at the interface between engineering and medicine can make the transition to medical school a natural one for biomedical engineers who want to work closely with patients.
Epitope recognition by anti-cathepsin D autoantibodies in endometrial cancer patients.

Abstract Objective. This study analyzed a model for the identification of specific epitopes recognized by autologous tumor-reactive humoral responses of endometrial cancer patients as potential markers for the monitoring of cancer. Methods. The presence of circulating pro- and mature forms of cathepsin D and antibodies reactive with this enzyme were identified by Western immunoblot and quantitated by an enzyme immunoassay. Specific immunoreactivities with 34- and 52-kDa cathepsin D forms were analyzed by Western immunoblot using sera from endometrial cancer patients ( n = 40) and normal volunteers ( n = 15). Subsequently, reactivities with specific cathepsin D epitopes were defined by a peptide-specific ELISA. Results. Circulating pro-forms of cathepsin D were detected in 31 of 40 endometrial cancer patients tested and none of the control volunteers. Circulating IgG reactive with cathepsin D could be demonstrated in 29/31 patients with circulating procathepsin D, while an anti-cathepsin D response was not detectable in normal controls. This response appeared to be directed against the pro-peptide portion of cathepsin D. Using a peptide-specific ELISA, the frequencies of antibody production against specific epitopes within the pro-peptide were defined. Conclusion. There is a demonstrable tumor-reactive immune response elicited in endometrial cancer patients, directed against specific antigenic epitopes, some of which are conserved among these patients. Since these proteins are recognized as non-self, due at least in part to posttranslational processing errors, defining these epitopes will be useful as a means of diagnosis, assessment of therapeutic success, and, ultimately, identification of immunotherapeutic targets.
The effect of fibrin sealant on the healing of laser-resurfaced skin.

Background Fibrin sealant is an effective hemostatic agent and a useful tissue sealant. Studies have also suggested that fibrin sealant may accelerate the normal wound-healing process. Objective This study was designed to ascertain whether fibrin sealant would enhance wound healing after CO2 laser resurfacing in a guinea pig model. Methods The CO2 laser was used to create equal areas of skin resurfacing on both sides of 14 Dunkin Hartley guinea pigs. Fibrin sealant was applied to the treatment side, whereas bacitracin was applied to the control side. Biopsies of these areas were performed on days 1, 3, 7, and 10. A histologic evaluation was performed with the use of a grading scale that compared acute and chronic inflammation, granulation tissue, collagen deposition, and epidermal regeneration. Results The wounds treated with fibrin sealant demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the degree of acute and chronic inflammation as well as collagen deposition. At day 7, fibrin sealant was noted to enhance neovascularization and result in a slight delay in reepithelialization. All wounds were completely reepithelialized at day 10. No wound infections or other complications were noted as a result of the application of fibrin sealant. Conclusions Although wound healing was not accelerated, the application of fibrin sealant after CO2 laser resurfacing diminished the acute and chronic inflammatory response, enhanced neovascularization, and reduced collagen accumulation. Further research is needed to assess whether the effects of fibrin sealant noted in this study result in improved cosmetic healing after CO2 laser resurfacing.