cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Climatic Sensitivity of Dryland Soil CO2 Fluxes Differs Dramatically with Biological Soil Crust Successional State

Arid and semiarid ecosystems make up approximately 41% of Earth’s terrestrial surface and are suggested to regulate the trend and interannual variability of the global terrestrial carbon (C) sink. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are common dryland soil surface communities of bryophytes, lichens, and/or cyanobacteria that bind the soil surface together and that may play an important role in regulating the climatic sensitivity of the dryland C cycle. Major uncertainties exist in our understanding of the interacting effects of changing temperature and moisture on CO2 uptake (photosynthesis) and loss (respiration) from biocrust and sub-crust soil, particularly as related to biocrust successional state. Here, we used a mesocosm approach to assess how biocrust successional states related to climate treatments. We subjected bare soil (Bare), early successional lightly pigmented cyanobacterial biocrust (Early), and late successional darkly pigmented moss-lichen biocrust (Late) to either ambient or + 5°C above ambient soil temperature for 84 days. Under ambient temperatures, Late biocrust mesocosms showed frequent net uptake of CO2, whereas Bare soil, Early biocrust, and warmed Late biocrust mesocosms mostly lost CO2 to the atmosphere. The inhibiting effect of warming on CO2 exchange was a result of accelerated drying of biocrust and soil. We used these data to parameterize, via Bayesian methods, a model of ecosystem CO2 fluxes, and evaluated the model with data from an autochamber CO2 system at our field site on the Colorado Plateau in SE Utah. In the context of the field experiment, the data underscore the negative effect of warming on fluxes both biocrust CO2 uptake and loss—which, because biocrusts are a dominant land cover type in this ecosystem, may extend to ecosystem-scale C cycling.
Demography and decision-making

One of the goals of this special issue is to make demographers more aware of the interplay between demography and decision-making. Decision-making is unusual in that it is important for both theoretical and practical reasons. For example, theories about decision-making play a role in explaining variations in vital rates. That is, economic theory assumes that individuals make decisions rationally so as to maximize utility. According to this theory, birth rates would decline when the utility of children falls. In addition, demographers have long assisted those who make international and national population policies. More recently applied demographers have been using demographic methods and data to address issues in business and government. Many of these recent applications have made demographers active participants in the decision-making process. The papers in this issue, together with the case studies that appear in Kintner et al. (1994), demonstrate that applied demography differs from academic demography in the audience for its work. McNicholl, writing about the agenda of population studies, has noted 'Results are now reported principally to other specialists rather than to a wider audience in the social sciences or public affairs' (1992: 401). The papers in this special issue demonstrate that much of the work done by applied demographers has a wider audience of nonspecialists. This work rarely, however, appears in scholarly journals. Why? We are very grateful for the opportunity to edit a special issue of Population Research and Policy Review about Applied Demography. We hope that this special issue of the journal will increase awareness among demographers concerning the issues that others expect demographers to address. We believe that applications can enrich both theory and methods by identifying new phenomena to explain, new data sources to use, and new methodologies that must be employed. As editors we faced several challenges. First, demography has a very ambivalent attitude towards publishing applications in scholarly journals, although there are many examples of demographers providing advice to policy makers published under alternative formats such as books and commissioned papers. Other work is proprietary, and therefore not able to be
Knowledge Acquisition from Semantically Heterogeneous Data

Recent advances in sensors, digital storage, computing and communications technologies have led to a proliferation of autonomously operated, geographically distributed data repositories in virtually every area of human endeavor, including e-business and e-commerce, e-science, e-government, security informatics, etc. Effective use of such data in practice (e.g., building useful predictive models of consumer behavior, discovery of factors that contribute to large climatic changes, analysis of demographic factors that contribute to global poverty, analysis of social networks, or even finding out what makes a book a bestseller) requires accessing and analyzing data from multiple heterogeneous sources. The Semantic Web enterprise (Berners-Lee et al., 2001) is aimed at making the contents of the Web machine interpretable, so that heterogeneous data sources can be used together. Thus, data and resources on the Web are annotated and linked by associating meta data that make explicit the ontological commitments of the data source providers or, in some cases, the shared ontological commitments of a small community of users. Given the autonomous nature of the data sources on the Web and the diverse purposes for which the data are gathered, in the absence of a universal ontology it is inevitable that there is no unique global interpretation of the data, that serves the needs of all users under all scenarios. Many groups have attempted to develop, with varying degrees of success, tools for flexible integration and querying of data from semantically disparate sources (Levy, 2000; Noy, 2004; Doan, & Halevy, 2005), as well as techniques for discovering semantic correspondences between ontologies to assist in this process (Kalfoglou, & Schorlemmer, 2005; Noy and Stuckenschmidt, 2005). These and related advances in Semantic Web technologies present unprecedented opportunities for exploiting multiple related data sources, each annotated with its own meta data, in discovering useful knowledge in many application domains. While there has been significant work on applying machine learning to ontology construction, information extraction from text, and discovery of mappings between ontologies (Kushmerick, et al., 2005), there has been relatively little work on machine learning approaches to knowledge acquisition from data sources annotated with meta data that expose the structure (schema) and semantics (in reference to a particular ontology). However, there is a large body of literature on distributed learning (see (Kargupta, & Chan, 1999) for a survey). Furthermore, recent work (Zhang et al., 2005; Hotho et al., 2003) has shown that in addition to data, the use of meta data in the form of ontologies (class hierarchies, attribute value hierarchies) can improve the quality (accuracy, interpretability) of the learned predictive models. The purpose of this chapter is to precisely define the problem of knowledge acquisition from semantically heterogeneous data and summarize recent advances that have led to a solution to this problem (Caragea et al., 2005).
Solid-phase extraction technology for actinide and lanthanide separations in nuclear fuel reprocessing

Abstract: Solid-phase extraction has become a subject of increased interest for separation applications specific to radioisotopes of the nuclear fuel cycle. The objective of this chapter is to discuss recent advances in the technology with a focus on the separations of minor actinides and lanthanides from streams associated with nuclear fuel reprocessing. The discussion covers various techniques for making solid-phase extraction resins, recent applications, separation flow sheets, column modeling and the potential advantages and disadvantages of the technology.
Realistic Atomistic Modeling of Mound Formation During Multilayer Growth: Metal(100) Homoepitaxy

A realistic atomistic lattice-gas model is developed which describes the key features of film morphologies observed for multilayer homoepitaxial growth on Ag(100) in the temperature range 175-300 K corresponding to “mound formation”. The model accounts for irreversible formation of islands in each layer mediated by terrace diffusion, growth coalescence of islands within each layer, a non-uniform step edge barrier inhibiting downward transport, and restricted rounding of kinks by adatoms at island edges (at lower temperatures).
A Pilot Evaluation of the Toxicity of EarthTec® QZ on Invasive ( Bithynia tentaculata ) and Native ( Physa gyrina ) Snail Species from the Upper Mississippi River

We used a comparative approach to investigate the effects of a copper-based pesticide (EarthTec® QZ) on embryos of an invasive snail (Bithynia tentaculata) and a native snail (Physa gyrina). Embryos were exposed to one of three treatments: control (0 mg/L Cu2+), low-dose (0.1 mg/L Cu2+), or high-dose (0.6 mg/L Cu2+), which reflect manufacturer-recommended low and medium 4-day molluscicide treatment concentrations. Exposure to 0.6 mg/L Cu2+ over 4 days generated 100% mortality in both invasive and native snail embryos; however, reducing the exposure time from 4 to 1 day resulted in 100% mortality in B. tentaculata but some hatching (7%) in P. gyrina. In contrast, embryos of both species exposed to 0.1 mg/L Cu2+ treatment for 4 days showed almost 100% survivorship. Further manipulations of Cu2+ concentrations and exposure times may yield regimes that maximize mortality in B. tentaculata while minimizing negative impacts on native species.
Making Sense of Eighty Years of Theological Ethics

This article surveys all the contributions in ethics on these pages over the past eighty years and is divided into four historical parts: the first three years; the years from 1943 to 1964; the yea...
The infrared counterpart of GX 13 + 1

A bright (K = 12) IR source is discovered which is likely the counterpart to the bright galactic-bulge X-ray source GX 13 + 1. Observations with the MMT IR photometer and the Rochester IR Array camera at the IRTF allow determination of the source position to about 0.7 arcsec, allow the IR colors to be measured, and show no variability on a 1-yr timescale. Four possible sources for the IR emission are considered and it is most likely due to a K-giant secondary. The discovery of a late-type giant secondary in GX 13 + 1 is contrary to the expectation that low-mass X-ray binaries which show quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO) have giant companions, while those which do not show QPO (like GX 13 + 1) have dwarf secondaries. The relation between the size of the scattered X-ray halo and the Av inferred from the IR observations is compared to that found in other X-ray sources.
Integration of methylation QTL and enhancer-target gene maps with schizophrenia GWAS summary results identifies novel genes

Motivation Most trait-associated genetic variants identified in genome-wide association studies (GWASs) are located in non-coding regions of the genome and thought to act through their regulatory roles. Results To account for enriched association signals in DNA regulatory elements, we propose a novel and general gene-based association testing strategy that integrates enhancer-target gene pairs and methylation quantitative trait locus data with GWAS summary results; it aims to both boost statistical power for new discoveries and enhance mechanistic interpretability of any new discovery. By reanalyzing two large-scale schizophrenia GWAS summary datasets, we demonstrate that the proposed method could identify some significant and novel genes (containing no genome-wide significant SNPs nearby) that would have been missed by other competing approaches, including the standard and some integrative gene-based association methods, such as one incorporating enhancer-target gene pairs and one integrating expression quantitative trait loci. Availability and implementation Software: wuchong.org/egmethyl.html. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A new hybrid security program for securing automobile networks: poster session

Consumers like to believe that, when they are driving an automobile, that their operation of it is purely a relationship between them and the car's mechanical components. Their belief is becoming less and less a reality. Increasingly, automobile manufacturers have been incorporating more and more technology into cars. The new innovations meant to add safety and convenience into our lives, but at a cost. In this case, added features also mean added risk. Over the last decade, hackers have been taking advantage of automation of certain features to take control of a consumer's vehicle. These vulnerabilities come, more specifically, as a result of integrated systems. Certain wireless functions were integrated with mechanical functions. Therefore, creating a weak spot that others could exploit. Thus creating a plethora of both immediate and gradual consequences. Once again, they were meant to further expediency but created a vulnerability. In this paper we will discuss car network vulnerabilities, threats, and potential consequences. The ultimate goal of this research is to create and implement a security program architecture that will further protect a car's network and modules from being compromised by hackers through manipulation of packets. Not only with respect to traditional vehicles, but especially in hybrid and electric cars. Thus, taking a step closer to a fully green planet. Various automotive manufacturers have created solutions. For example, Ford has created whitelists and firewalls. Our proposed solution/idea deviates from what Ford and other manufacturers are doing because our solution is "program" based. These programs (Hybrid Security Program or HSP) can work with the firewalls and whitelists yet be independent from the systems. If one layer fails, such as the firewalls and whitelists, the "Hybrid Security System" will be the next line of defense preventing the compromise of a bus and/or module.
Polyarteritis Nodosa: an unusual case of paraneoplastic process in renal cell carcinoma

Polyarteritis Nodosa (PAN) is a small and medium vessel necrotizing vasculitis that can affect any system in the human body. Rarely, PAN can be the primary manifestation of an underlying malignancy. The association between malignancy and vasculitis is an ongoing topic of research. Our patient's presentation suggests malignancy may be a trigger for acute onset vasculitis and therefore once a malignancy is identified, therapy should be targeted towards treating the malignancy rather than the vasculitis alone.
Chapter 33 – Development of the Brain’s Functional Network Architecture

The human brain is an extraordinarily complex system that generates our behaviors and cognitive abilities, including the uniquely human capacity for language. Understanding the development of this complex system from infancy to adulthood is critically important if we are to fully understand the development of human behavior and cognition. When endeavoring to study something as complex as the brain, which can be characterized at many levels of investigation, one must determine what level to investigate. In this brief chapter, we discuss the development of the human brain at the network level. First, we discuss networks and network properties. Next, we describe current knowledge of network organization in the human brain and summarize the evidence for a language network. Finally, we discuss the development of the brain’s functional network architecture as well as current methodological challenges. We approach these topics from a perspective of using noninvasive neuroimaging tools.
Low-temperature and high-rate-charging lithium metal batteries enabled by an electrochemically active monolayer-regulated interface

Stable operation of rechargeable lithium-based batteries at low temperatures is important for cold-climate applications, but is plagued by dendritic Li plating and unstable solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI). Here, we report on high-performance Li metal batteries under low-temperature and high-rate-charging conditions. The high performance is achieved by using a self-assembled monolayer of electrochemically active molecules on current collectors that regulates the nanostructure and composition of the SEI and deposition morphology of Li metal anodes. A multilayer SEI that contains a lithium fluoride-rich inner phase and amorphous outer layer effectively seals the Li surface, in contrast to the conventional SEI, which is non-passive at low temperatures. Consequently, galvanic Li corrosion and self-discharge are suppressed, stable Li deposition is achieved from −60 °C to 45 °C, and a Li | LiCoO2 cell with a capacity of 2.0 mAh cm−2 displays a 200-cycle life at −15 °C with a recharge time of 45 min. In addition to high energy, batteries need to possess high power and to be able to operate in all climates. Here, the authors present an electrochemically active monolayer-coated current collector that is used to produce high-performance Li metal batteries under low-temperature and high-rate-charging conditions.
Clinical Results of the NUsurface® Meniscus Implant versus Non-Surgical Controls at 24 months: Data from a Pooled cohort of a randomized controlled study and single arm study:

Objectives:To demonstrate comparative KOOS outcomes (Symptoms, Pain, ADL, Sports/Rec, QoL, and Overall) of a synthetic meniscus implant versus non-surgical controls in treatment of persistent post ...
Fetus and Newborn Infants (Neonatology)

Nonstress test is the most common noninvasive test; it monitors the fetal heart rate accelerations that follow the fetal movements.
Patients with Opioid Use Disorder and Chronic Pain: Improving Pain Assessment Documentation.

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a growing problem that has reached epidemic status in the United States (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2017), and people are gaining access...
A General Approach to Convert Hemicyanine Dyes into Highly Optimized Photoacoustic Scaffolds for Analyte Sensing

Most photoacoustic (PA) imaging agents are based on the repurposing of existing fluorescent dye platforms that exhibit non-optimal properties for PA applications. Herein, we introduce PA-HD, a new dye scaffold optimized for PA probe development that features a 4.8-fold increase in sensitivity and a red-shift of the λabs from 690 nm to 745 nm to enable ratiometric imaging. Computational modeling was used to elucidate the origin of these enhanced properties. To demonstrate the generalizability of our remodeling efforts, we developed three probes for β-galactosidase activity (PA-HD-Gal), nitroreductase activity (PA-HD-NTR), and H2 O2 (PA-HD-H2 O2 ). We generated two cancer models to evaluate PA-HD-Gal and PA-HD-NTR. We employed a murine model of Alzheimer's disease to test PA-HD-H2 O2 . There, we observed a PA signal increase at 735 nm of 1.79±0.20-fold relative to background, indicating the presence of oxidative stress. These results were confirmed via ratiometric calibration, which was not possible using the parent HD platform.
NRTSI: Non-Recurrent Time Series Imputation.

Time series imputation is a fundamental task for understanding time series with missing data. Existing methods either do not directly handle irregularly-sampled data or degrade severely with sparsely observed data. In this work, we reformulate time series as permutation-equivariant sets and propose a novel imputation model NRTSI that does not impose any recurrent structures. Taking advantage of the permutation equivariant formulation, we design a principled and efficient hierarchical imputation procedure. In addition, NRTSI can directly handle irregularly-sampled time series, perform multiple-mode stochastic imputation, and handle data with partially observed dimensions. Empirically, we show that NRTSI achieves state-of-the-art performance across a wide range of time series imputation benchmarks.
Coreference-aware Surprisal Predicts Brain Response

Recent evidence supports a role for coreference processing in guiding human expectations about upcoming words during reading, based on covariation between reading times and word surprisal estimated by a coreference-aware semantic processing model (Jaffe et al. 2020).The present study reproduces and elaborates on this finding by (1) enabling the parser to process subword information that might better approximate human morphological knowledge, and (2) extending evaluation of coreference effects from self-paced reading to human brain imaging data. Results show that an expectation-based processing effect of coreference is still evident even in the presence of the stronger psycholinguistic baseline provided by the subword model, and that the coreference effect is observed in both self-paced reading and fMRI data, providing evidence of the effect’s robustness.
Morita Equivalent Symplectic Groupoids

Morita equivalence of C*-algebras, first introduced by M. Rieffel, has been widely accepted as one of the most important equivalence relations in C*-algebras [Riel] [Rie2] [Rie3] [Rie4]. Roughly speaking, two C*- algebras are said to be Morita equivalent if there is an equivalence bimodule between them. Morita equivalent C*-algebras have many similar features. For instance, they have equivalent categories of left modules, isomorphic K-groups, and so on. Also, Morita equivalence plays a very important role in understanding the structure of some C*-algebras such as transformation C*-algebras and foliation C*-algebras. A natural question arises as to what the classical analogue of this equivalence relation is. It is generally accepted that the classical analogue of a C*-algebra (or non-commutative algebra) is a Poisson manifold. So, more precisely, we expect to find an equivalence relation for Poisson manifolds that plays the same role as Morita equivalence does for C*-algebras. A solution to this problem was made possible by the recent introduction of symplectic groupoids in the study of Poisson manifolds due to Karasev and Weinstein [CDW] [Ka] [W2]. The original purpose for introducing symplectic groupoids was to study nonlinear commutation relations and quantization theory. In fact, it turns out that symplectic groupoids provide a bridge between Poisson manifolds, C*-algebras, as well as quantizations. Therefore, introducing and studying Morita equivalence of symplectic groupoids should be the first step in understanding Morita equivalence of Poisson manifolds.
Asymptotic Series Solutions to a Class of Stochastic Dual Control Problems

The stochastic optimal control solution to the Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian problem with partial information is considered where the system parameters operating on the control are assumed to be unknown Gaussian random processes. This class of problems has special properties that are exploited. First, the state and the random parameters are conditionally Gaussian with respect to the measurement history. This allows the optimal stochastic control problem to be reformulated as a stochastic optimal control problem of full information where the new state space is the state and parameter estimates and the error variance of the state and parameters. Even in this somewhat simple form, there is no closed form solution. Therefore, it is assumed that there is only a first order dependence on the random fluctuation of the parameter about its mean. In this way an asymptotic series solution is obtained in terms of the new state space. For this problem a closed form solution for the controller is obtained up to second order. The controller is derived for the scalar case and then extended to the case of vector state with single input and multiple outputs. The characteristics of the new solution is investigated and a scalar numerial example is given to assess the performance of this new controller.
Effects of acute treatment with 8-OH-DPAT and fluoxetine on aggressive behaviour in male song sparrows (Melospiza melodia morphna).

The role of serotonin in modulating male aggressive behaviour was investigated in male song sparrows, Melospiza melodia morphna, using two different serotonergic drugs, fluoxetine and 8-OH-DPAT. Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor of the neuronal reuptake pump increasing synaptic concentrations of serotonin, and 8-OH-DPAT is a specific serotonin (5-HT1A) receptor agonist. The serotonergic control of aggression in passerines has not been previously investigated. We examined these behaviours within a controlled setting using a laboratory simulated territorial intrusion, with a hierarchical scale to quantify male-male aggressive behaviour. Utilizing this scale, we quantified the extent of male aggressive behaviour in two experiments. In experiment 1, song sparrows were given 100 micro l, s.c. injections of either fluoxetine (10 mg/kg) or 8-OH-DPAT (1 mg/kg). Experiment 2 was a dose-response study using three doses of 8-OH-DPAT (0.1, 1 and 10 mg/kg). In both studies, aggressive behaviour was measured 1 h after injection for 10 min in response to the presence of a novel male decoy combined with playback of conspecific song. Both drugs significantly reduced male aggressive behaviour, and 8-OH-DPAT did so in a dose-dependent manner. The effect of the two drugs upon general activity was also measured using infra-red perch hop detectors. Activity levels were not effected by either fluoxetine or 8-OH-DPAT at all of the respective doses, indicating that the reduction in aggressive behaviour was specific. These results demonstrate that, in a passerine species, the serotonergic system negatively regulates male-male aggressive behaviour. These results further demonstrate that aggression can be effectively studied in a laboratory setting and natural aggressive responses can be elicited using this method.
Expression of murine CD38 defines a population of long-term reconstituting hematopoietic stem cells

Using a monoclonal antibody to murine CD38, we showed that a population of adult bone marrow cells that expressed the markers Sca-1 and c-kit but lacked the lineage markers Mac-1, GR-1, B220, IgM, CD3, CD4, CD8 and CD5 could be subdivided by the expression of CD38. We showed that CD38high c-kit+ Sca-1+, linlow/-cells sorted from adult bone marrow cultured with interleukin-3 (IL-3), IL-6, and kit-L produced much larger colonies in liquid culture at a greater frequency than their CD38low/- counterparts. In addition, we found that CD36low/ - cells contained most of the day-12 colony-forming units-spleen (CFU-S) but were not long-term reconstituting cells, whereas the population that expressed higher levels of CD38 contained few, but significant, day-12 CFU-S and virtually all the long-term reconstituting stem cells. Interestingly, the CD38high Sca-1+ c-kit+ linlow/- cells isolated from day-E14.5 fetal liver were also found to be long-term reconstituting stem cells. This is in striking contrast to human hematopoietic progenitors in which the most primitive hematopoietic cells from fetal tissues lack the expression of CD38. Furthermore, because antibodies to CD38 could functionally replace antibodies to Thy-1.1 in a stem cell purification procedure, the use of anti-CD38 may be more generally applicable to the purification of hematopoietic stem cells from mouse strains that do not express the Thy-1.1 allele.
Nb polarization in Ferroelectric Perovskites KNbO3 and (PbZn1/3Nb2/3O3)0.88-(PbTiO3)0.12

XANES measurements have demonstrated that Nb polarization in (PbZn1/3Nb2/3O3)0.88-(PbTiO3)0.12 is small compared to that in KNbO3. This finding disproves the view of Nb5+ as invariably ferroelectrically active cation, and demonstrates that its polarizability depends on the Asite cations. Our results do not support conventional view of relaxor behavior in Pb(B’1/3Nb2/3)O3 ferroelectrics as a consequence of disruption of the connectivity of polarizable Nb5+ ions by their non-polarizable B’ counterparts. Instead, they speak in favor of scenario in which relaxor behavior is caused by randomness of the local direction of Pb polarization due to chemical disorder on the B-sites of the perovskite structure.
Stability, Aim Bias Compensation and Noise Sensitivity of Phalanx Ciws Control System

An aiming control system which is similar to that in the Block I PHALANX CIWS is considered in this report. An important feature of this control system is that it compensates for any gun aim bias. An aim bias may be caused by variations in the gun, ammunition or environmental conditions. Design issues considered are stability, aim bias compensation and sensitivity to feedback noise. These are disparate design goals. Design tradeoffs which quantify this disparity are presented.
Color Doppler imaging of acoustic streaming in blood and clot

Acoustic streaming was generated in blood during coagulation using high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and imaged in real-time with regular color Doppler imaging. The streaming velocity was measured at various time points during the coagulation process until a clot was well formed. In unclotted blood the mean streaming velocity was 3.8 cm/s. During the clot formation the velocity decreased gradually to 1.6 cm/s and the reverse flow disappeared entirely. The changes in velocity magnitude and flow pattern appear to provide a method to differentiate clots from fluidic blood and estimate the state of coagulation.
Inhibition of immunoglobulin, but not polypeptide base-stimulated release of histamine and arachidonic acid by anti-inflammatory steroids.

Incubation overnight of purified rat mast cells with glucocorticoids inhibited the release of histamine and [1-14C]arachidonic acid (and its metabolites) stimulated by three immunoglobulin (Ig) E-like secretagogues, anti-IgE, the antigen-ovalbumin and concanavalin A. In contrast, pretreatment with glucocorticoids did not affect either histamine or [1-14C]arachidonic acid release stimulated by somatostatin, compound 48/80 or the calcium ionophore A23187. Glucocorticoids inhibited IgE-like arachidonic acid and histamine release with an order of potency similar to their in vivo anti-inflammatory potencies (i.e., fluocinolone greater than dexamethasone greater than hydrocortisone greater than cortisone). This inhibition required several hours and was temperature-dependent, suggesting a specific glucocorticoid receptor mechanism. IgE-stimulated Ca++ influx was decreased by hydrocortisone pretreatment. These results suggest that glucocorticoids specifically uncouple IgE-mediated calcium flux with subsequent inhibition of histamine and arachidonic acid release.
A Commentary on “The Senses in Anthropological and Marketing Research: Investigating a Consumer-Brand Ritual Holistically”

Cognitive and consumer psychologists both focus on mental processes such as thinking, perceiving, remembering, and learning. However, consumer psychologists further focus on the aspects of thinking, perceiving, remembering, and learning as they pertain to the consumer context―situations such as purchasing and consuming. The consumer psychologist may also use marketing stimuli (such as brands and advertisements) to study the basic concepts of thinking, perceiving, remembering, and learning. Whereas cognitive psychologists typically make their home in psychology departments, consumer psychologists are housed in marketing departments of business schools. The differences highlighted here between cognitive and consumer psychologists also apply in a somewhat similar manner to social/cultural anthropologists versus consumer anthropologists. Page 1 of 5
Colloidal membranes of hard rods: unified theory of free edge structure and twist walls

Monodisperse suspensions of rod like chiral fd viruses are condensed into a rod-length thick colloidal monolayers of aligned rods by depletion forces. Twist deformations of the molecules are expelled to the monolayer edge as in a chiral smectic A liquid crystal, and a cholesteric band forms at the edge. Coalescence of two such isolated membranes results in a twist wall sandwiched between two regions of aligned rods, dubbed π-walls. By modeling the membrane as a binary fluid of coexisting cholesteric and chiral smectic A liquid-crystalline regions, we develop a unified theory of the π-walls and the monolayer edge. The mean-field analysis of our model yields the molecular tilt profiles, the local thickness change, and the crossover from smectic to cholesteric behavior at the monolayer edge and across the π-wall. Furthermore, we calculate the line tension associated with the formation of these interfaces. Our model offers insights regarding the stability and the detailed structure of the π-wall and the monolayer edge.
Migration analysis using data with time intervals of differing widths

Migration data collected for periods of differing lengths will yield inconsistent population forecasts, inconsistent multiregional life tables, and alternative interpretations of mobility levels and migration patterns. In this paper, examples are first given to illustrate the effects of migration interval choice on demographic variables. The moverstayer model and its generalizations are discussed in their role as models useful in achieving consistency. It is argued that in addition to theievel of mobility, the geographic pattern of migration flows is also affected by the choice of interval width.
Explaining Intraurban Variations of Commuting by Job Proximity and Workers' Characteristics

Based on the Census for Transportation Planning Package (CTPP) 1990, in this paper I will attempt to explain intraurban variations of commuting time and distance in Columbus, OH. Whereas commuting times are directly available from the CTPP, commuting distances are recovered by GIS network techniques as the shortest-time distances through the urban road network. Explanations of commuting are first attempted by measures of job proximity such as distances from employment centers and a gravity-based index accounting for job competition among workers. The influence of employment centers on commuting sheds new light on polycentric urban models. The variation of commuting distance is well explained by the gravity-based job proximity index. That is to say, how far people commute is explainable to a large extent by urban land use. However, how much time people spend on commuting is complicated by their socioeconomic status, which affects their choice of commuting modes. Finally the research demonstrates the promis...
Nodal involvement by cutaneous CD30-positive T-cell lymphoma mimicking classical Hodgkin lymphoma

An association between classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) and mycosis fungoides (MF) or lymphomatoid papulosis has been reported in the literature. However, there can be considerable morphologic and immunophenotypic overlap between cHL and nodal involvement by CD30-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (CD30-T-LPD). To examine this potential association, biopsies from patients with a history of MF or primary cutaneous CD30-T-LPD and lymph node biopsies reported as either CD30-positive T-cell lymphoma (TCL) with Hodgkin-like cells or cHL were retrieved from the authors' institution. Of 11 cases identified, 10 were considered CD30-positive TCL with Hodgkin-like cells, whereas 1 was confirmed as cHL upon review. Five cases originally diagnosed as cHL were revised as CD30-positive TCL. Cases of CD30-positive TCL with Hodgkin-like cells showed a male predominance (M:F, 4:1) with a median age of 53 years (range, 44 to 72 y). Nearly all patients (9/10) initially presented with skin lesions. In 7/10 patients the draining lymph node was involved, whereas in 3 cases this could not be confirmed. Tumor cells morphologically resembled Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells; they were uniformly strongly positive for CD30, and CD15 was expressed in 9/10 (90%) cases. A T-cell derivation was confirmed by T-cell antigen expression (7/10) and clonal rearrangement of T-cell receptor genes (9/10). In 3 cases a common T-cell clone was identified in skin and lymph node. B-cell markers (CD20/PAX5) were consistently negative. In 1 case the diagnosis of cHL followed by lymphomatoid papulosis was confirmed, with Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells expressing PAX5, CD30, and CD15. In situ hybridization studies for Epstein Barr virus were negative. We show that cHL is less often associated with MF and primary cutaneous CD30-T-LPD than previously thought and that the coexpression of CD30 and CD15 in these TCLs may lead to a mistaken diagnosis of cHL.
Intervention for autistic spectrum disorders.

A comprehensive approach to the assessment of any child with autism must be matched specifically to each individual child and family. This premise holds for medical therapies and special education services as well as psychopharmacologic interventions. Behavioral, as opposed to pharmacologic, treatment is the hallmark of effective intervention for autism. Physicians involved in the care of children with autism need to become familiar with educational law and intervention recommendations. Goals should include improved functional verbal and nonverbal communication and social skills, increased engagement in developmentally appropriate activities, improved fine and gross motor skills, and the development of independent academic and organizations skills, as well as replacement of problem behaviors with developmentally appropriate behaviors. Medicating children with autism is difficult, but is often necessary for chronic behavioral difficulties. In the absence of clear and present guidelines, we have attempted to use evidence and clinical experience to suggest an algorithm based on symptom clusters. Although children with autism may be responsive to medications at lower doses and more susceptible to side effects than other children, medical intervention can produce a significant improvement in the quality of life for the child and family. Careful thought leading to correct identification of target behaviors can appropriately direct better alternatives for medication. Although these approaches are costly and time-consuming endeavors, the expenditure of such efforts is the only available pathway to improve the potential outcomes for individuals with autism as well as decrease the lifetime societal costs for each individual.
Features of Digital African American Language in a Social Network Site

This study examines a social network site (SNS) where specific interlocutors communicate by combining aspects of academic American English (AE), digital language (DL), and African American Language (AAL)—creating a digital form of AAL or digital AAL (DAAL). This article describes the features of DAAL in the discursive, online context of MySpace, by analyzing a corpus of DAAL comments (1,494 instances). The use of SNSs affords a space where AAL exists in written form, serving the function of approximating spoken AAL. More interesting, however, is the function that DAAL serves as a text that is visually distinct from AE, emphasizing the orthographic freedom of DAAL on SNSs. By examining how DL and AAL exist and combine in an SNS environment, this research found DAAL to be a robust form of written communication.
PROBLEMS WITH SOLUTIONS TO CONTEMPORARY MORAL PROBLEMS

The fast world of analyzing contemporary moral issues slows down for a few moments, at least in this paper, that we might catch some glimpse of the gross features of its terrain. Articles on moral issues associated with such broad concerns as abortion, poverty, racial discrimination, euthanasia, war, sexuality, and the treatment of animals, not to mention those on problems in more restricted areas, like medical, business, and legal ethics, have doubtlessly brought to the study of ethics a glitter, glamour, and relevance enjoyed by no other area of philosophy. On the face of things, this seeming preoccupation with issues so specific in nature seems foreign to the persistent philosophical attitude of turning away from immediate concerns and happenings in a search for what is fundamental to the universe and the human experience, and for that general reason alone a close look at this phenomenon seems warranted. Moreover, and more specifically, upon surveying a number of articles in this area, I find recurring five methodological practices that seem problematic and worthy of analysis because it is unclear just what the exact nature of the strategy, technique, or mode of analysis in question is as well as what its theoretical justification is. These practices include:
Salary compression and inversion in the university workplace

There are two grounds in the USA for bringing a claim of race or gender discrimination: discriminatory intent; and discriminatory effect. As to age discrimination, however, a plaintiff is allowed to bring a claim only on grounds of discriminatory intent. Argues that, with regard to age discrimination in the university, discriminatory effect and discriminatory intent are one: discriminatory intent is hidden inside certain employment practices which appear to be “facially neutral” but are not. In other words, stripped of its disguises discriminatory effect which persists is discriminatory intent. Identifies five strategies to disguise disparate treatment as disparate impact: resistance, pretense, evasion, denial and approval. Explains how a specific university employed these five strategies to hide its discriminatory intent behind discriminatory effect.
A Simplified Method for Calculating Wall Stress in Infants and Children

Measurement of the end-systolic wall stress-mean velocity of circumferential fiber-shortening relation, a load-independent measure of contractility, has enabled cardiologists to assess ventricular function under various loading conditions and at different heart rates. Unfortunately, it is time-consuming and difficult to perform in routine pediatric practice. Because a close relationship was noted between end-systolic pressure and mean blood pressure, we estimated wall stress by mean blood pressure in 115 patients. There was an excellent correlation between end-systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure ( r = 0.84) and end-systolic wall stress and mean systolic wall stress ( r = 0.98). The difference in mean blood pressure was 5.1 mm Hg (95% confidence interval −10.5 to 20.6 mm Hg), and the difference in mean wall stress was 2.7 gm/cm 2 (95% confidence interval −2.0 to 3.8 gm /cm 2 ). More important, substitution of mean blood pressure for end-systolic pressure allowed accurate identification of patients with normal contractility (55/56) and abnormal contractility (57/59).
Comparison of insecticide resistance in a North American field population and a laboratory colony of potato tuberworm (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

Potato tuberworm, Phthorimaea operculella Zeller, has become a serious threat to potato production in the Columbia Basin region of Oregon and Washington and in 2005 was found in Idaho. Despite intensive insecticide application, severe defoliation has occurred in recent years indicating insensitivity of potato tuberworms (PTW) to insecticides. In this study, dose responses of potato tuberworms from a Columbia Basin field population (CBFP) and a laboratory colony from Colorado (COLC) to three commonly used field crop insecticides (esfenvalerate, methamidophos and fipronil) were tested. The COLC was included in this study as a standard susceptible colony but despite being reared in isolation for >30 years, it was resistant to field-labeled rates of all three insecticides used in this study. The CBFP was also resistant to esfenvalerate and fipronil at field rates but was relatively susceptible (40% mortality) to methamidophos. At 10× field rate of fipronil, COLC was very susceptible (>90% mortality) but CBFP was not significantly affected. CBFP was also more resistant to esfenvalerate than COLC. None of the COLC survived a 500× field rate of esfenvalerate; the same dose killed only 10% of the CBFP. Although further tests are required to more broadly assess the levels and types of insecticide resistance in these populations, our findings indicated that the laboratory colony was susceptible to fipronil at dosages somewhat greater than labeled field rates and that the field population was susceptible to methamidophos. Although COLC was moderately insensitive to esfenvalerate and methamidophos, this laboratory colony was still more broadly susceptible to field rates than the CBFP.
The brain response to 2-deoxy glucose is blocked by a glial drug

Two brain regions — the basomedial hypothalamus and area postrema (AP) — react to changes in circulating glucose levels by altering feeding behavior and the secretion of pituitary and non-pituitary hormones. The precise identity of cells responding to glucose in these regions is uncertain. The recent detection of high-capacity glucose transporter proteins in astrocytes in these areas has suggested that astrocytes may play a role in glucose sensing by the brain. To test this hypothesis, rats were injected with either saline or methionine sulfoximine (MS), a compound that produces alterations in carbohydrate and glutamate metabolism in astrocytes. Eighteen hours later, rats were injected with either saline or 2-deoxy glucose (2-DG) and brain sections were stained to demonstrate 2-DG-activated neurons immunoreactive for Fos protein. MS-treated rats showed a 70% reduction in numbers of Fos+ neurons in the AP region (p<0.05). Also, specialized, Gomori+ astrocytes were particularly abundant in both glucose sensitive regions and showed a distribution identical to that reported for high-capacity glucose transporter proteins. These data suggest that specialized astrocytes influence the glucose-sensing function of the brain.
Inlet patch: heterotopic gastric mucosa--another contributor to supraesophageal symptoms?

Objective To determine prospectively the incidence of an inlet patch (IP) in children requiring esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and assess the prevalence of presenting symptoms between children with and without an IP. Study design All patients undergoing EGD in a 2-year period were assessed for the presence of an IP with biopsy confirmation. IP, distal esophagus, and stomach biopsy specimens were blindly reviewed by a pathologist for the presence and degree of inflammation and intestinal metaplasia. Symptoms from children with and without an IP were compared. Results From 407 EGDs done by a single endoscopist, 24 patients had confirmed IP (incidence of 5.9%). The presence and degree of inflammation were always relatively greater in the columnar mucosa of the IP than in the antral/body gastric mucosa in the same patient ( P = .0027) Inflammation was similar in the squamous epithelium around the IP and in the distal esophagus ( P = .46). Two patients had intestinal metaplasia of the IP. The patients with IPs had a higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms than the control group ( P = .03). Conclusions Children with IPs may have a higher frequency of respiratory symptoms. Periodic surveillance should be performed in children with intestinal metaplasia of an IP.