cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Employment and Gainful Earnings Among Those With Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract Objective To identify demographic, educational, and disease-related characteristics associated with the odds of employment and earnings among participants with multiple sclerosis (MS). Design Cross-sectional using self-report assessment obtained by mail or online. Setting Medical university in the southeastern United States. Participants Participants with MS (N=1059) were enrolled from a specialty hospital in the southeastern United States. All were adults younger than 65 years at the time of assessment. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Current employment status and earnings. Results MS factors were highly related to employment, yet not as strongly to conditional earnings. Those with no symptoms reported 6.25 greater odds of employment than those with severe current symptoms. Compared with those with progressive MS, those with relapsing or remitting had greater odds of employment (odds ratio [OR]=2.24). Participants with no perceived cognitive impairment had 1.83 greater odds of employment than those with moderate to severe perceived cognitive impairment. Those with 20 years since diagnosis. An absence of problematic fatigue was highly related to the probability of employment (OR=5.01) and higher conditional earnings ($14,454), whereas the remaining MS variables were unrelated to conditional earnings. For non-MS variables, education was highly related to employment status and conditional earnings, because those with a postgraduate degree had 2.87 greater odds of employment and $44,346 greater conditional earnings than those with no more than a high school certificate. Non-Hispanic whites had 2.22 greater odds of employment and $16,118 greater conditional earnings than non-Hispanic blacks, and men reported $30,730 more in conditional earnings than women. Conclusions MS indicators were significantly associated with employment status including time since diagnosis, fatigue, symptom severity, and presence of cognitive impairment. However, among those who were employed, conditional earnings were less highly related to these factors and more highly related to educational attainment.
Tweeting for social justice in #Ferguson: Affective discourse in Twitter hashtags:

Social media platforms have broadened the scope of voices responding to social justice movements, significantly impacting public conversations of important social justice issues. This social networ...
Binge drinking is associated with altered resting state functional connectivity of reward-salience and top down control networks

Binge drinking is characterized by bouts of high-intensity alcohol intake and is associated with an array of health-related harms. Even though the transition from occasional impulsive to addictive alcohol use is not well understood, neurobiological models of addiction suggest that repeated cycles of intoxication and withdrawal contribute to the development of addiction in part through dysregulation of neurofunctional networks. Research on the neural sequelae associated with binge drinking is scant but resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) studies of alcohol use disorders (AUD) indicate that the development and maintenance of long-term excessive drinking may be mediated by network-level disruptions. The present study examined RSFC in young adult binge (BD) and light (LD) drinkers with seeds representing the networks subserving reward (the nucleus accumbens and caudate nucleus), salience (anterior cingulate cortex, ACC), and executive control (inferior frontal cortex, IFC). BDs exhibited enhanced connectivity between the striatal reward areas and the orbitofrontal cortex and the ACC, which is consistent with AUD studies and may be indicative of alcohol-motivated appetitive behaviors. Conversely, BDs demonstrated lower connectivity between the IFC and hippocampus which was associated with higher craving. This may indicate impaired ability to suppress unwanted thoughts and a failure to employ memory of the harmful consequences of heavy drinking in prospective plans and intentions. The observed greater connectivity of the reward/salience network and the lower prefrontal-hippocampal connectivity were associated with hazardous drinking levels indicating that dysregulation of neurofunctional networks may underlie binge drinking patterns.
Celiac Disease and Its Role in the Development of Metabolic Bone Disease.

Abstract Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy that occurs in genetically susceptible hosts with the ingestion of gluten-containing products. Ongoing gluten consumption leads to intestinal damage, characterized by villous blunting and increased intraepithelial lymphocytes, resulting in malabsorption. Pertinent to the development of bone disease, malabsorption of calcium and vitamin D leads to secondary hyperparathyroidism and metabolic bone disease among individuals with CD. In this article, we review the pathogenesis of CD and the effects of malabsorption on bone health. Imbalances in bone resorption and formation particularly in individuals with CD and persistent disease activity ultimately lead to a state of bone loss and impaired mineralization. Initiation of a gluten-free diet is critical in the management of CD-related metabolic bone disease, demonstrating improvements in bone mineral density within the first year of dietary adherence.
Aging Skeletal Muscle Proteomics Finds Changes in Spliceosome, Immune factors, Proteostasis and Mitochondria

Abstract A progressive decline of skeletal muscle strength with aging is a primary cause of mobility loss and frailty in older persons, but the molecular mechanisms of such decline are not fully understood. Here, using quantitative discovery proteomic data from skeletal muscle specimens collected from 58 healthy persons aged 20 to 87 years show that ribosomal proteins and proteins related to energetic metabolism, including those related to the TCA cycle, mitochondria respiration, and glycolysis were underrepresented in older persons. Proteins with important roles in innate and adaptive immunity, involved in proteostasis and regulation of alternative splicing were all overrepresented in muscle from older persons. Changes with aging of alternative splicing were confirmed by RNA-seq. Overall, older muscle has a profound deficit of energetic metabolism, a pro-inflammatory environment and increased proteostasis. Upregulation of the splicing machinery maybe an attempt to compensate for these changes and this could be tested in future studies.
The liquid state of carbon

Abstract While carbon provides the basis for all of organic chemistry and biology, elemental carbon compounds themselves play vital roles in our world. Graphite, diamond, fullerenes, graphene, and amorphous carbon solids are used in myriad modern applications, and a number of new, metastable states of carbon with unusual and promising properties have recently been proposed and created. Furthermore, liquid carbon and warm dense carbon are of astrophysical interest, and have been proposed to exist in the cores of large planets and stars (Ross, 1981) [1]. While much is known about the solid forms of carbon, its liquid state remains very poorly understood. Due to difficulties in preparing and studying this material, its structure and properties remain essentially unknown. In this review, we describe recent technological advances which have enabled new experiments on liquid carbon samples, prepared with laser melting and shock compression techniques.
Transposon Insertion Site Sequencing of Providencia stuartii: Essential Genes, Fitness Factors for Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection, and the Impact of Polymicrobial Infection on Fitness Requirements

ABSTRACT Providencia stuartii is a common cause of polymicrobial catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), and yet literature describing the molecular mechanisms of its pathogenesis is limited. To identify factors important for colonization during single-species infection and during polymicrobial infection with a common cocolonizer, Proteus mirabilis, we created a saturating library of ∼50,000 transposon mutants and conducted transposon insertion site sequencing (Tn-Seq) in a murine model of CAUTI. P. stuartii strain BE2467 carries 4,398 genes, 521 of which were identified as essential for growth in laboratory medium and therefore could not be assessed for contribution to infection. Using an input/output fold change cutoff value of 20 and P values of IMPORTANCEProvidencia stuartii is a common cause of polymicrobial catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), particularly during long-term catheterization. However, little is known regarding the pathogenesis of this organism. Using transposon insertion site sequencing (Tn-Seq), we performed a global assessment of P. stuartii fitness factors for CAUTI while simultaneously determining how coinfection with another pathogen alters fitness requirements. This approach provides four important contributions to the field: (i) the first global estimation of P. stuartii genes essential for growth in laboratory medium, (ii) identification of novel fitness factors for P. stuartii colonization of the catheterized urinary tract, (iii) identification of core fitness factors for both single-species and polymicrobial CAUTI, and (iv) assessment of conservation of fitness factors between common uropathogens. Genomewide assessment of the fitness requirements for common uropathogens during single-species and polymicrobial CAUTI thus elucidates complex interactions that contribute to disease severity and will uncover conserved targets for therapeutic intervention.
Retorsion as a Response to Ongoing Malign Cyber Operations

If a state has experienced a malicious cyber act that violates international law, it may implement proportional and limited countermeasures. If the act constitutes an armed attack, the target state may engage in self-defence. But what if the initial act, while malicious and harmful, does not clearly violate an international legal obligation? In such an instance, the primary option for response is retorsion, which is defined as an unfriendly but legal act. Little scholarship has meaningfully examined the contours of retorsion, which is increasingly important in an era of persistent, low-intensity cyber aggression. This paper seeks to fill that gap by exploring the contours of retorsion and examining the types of responses that could fall within its scope. It argues for an expansive view of retorsion that encompasses any responses that comport with international law. Definitional clarity is increasingly important to allow states to understand the range of potential responses to persistent cyber aggression that do not necessarily violate international law. Among the types of activities that may fall within the scope of retorsion are: exerting pressure via international relations, gathering information from the adversary’s networks, observing the adversary on one’s own network using tools such as honeypots, sending warnings to individual operatives, establishing a position on the adversary’s systems and slowing down malign cyber operations.
Tomorrow’s Critical Design Competencies: Building a Course System for 21st Century Designers

Abstract As design continues to evolve so does our approach at ID, especially toward our curriculum and the competencies we build in our students. Major institutional changes in 2017–18 prompted an in-depth analysis of and update to our largest graduate program, the Master of Design (MDes). Dean Denis Weil and the ID faculty kept two things in mind as they upgraded the program content: the school’s pioneering 80-year history, and the position design holds in today’s tech-oriented world. Doing so revealed three new competencies to instill in our students and three important challenges we face in teaching those competencies, and today’s MDes course system structure reflects these considerations. After offering a brief background of ID and its roots, we will present our view of the role of design in today’s world. We will then outline the structure of our updated curriculum—which responds to our view of design’s contemporary role—and discuss some of the challenges we face as we build tomorrow’s most critical competencies in our students.
Causal Explanations for Weight Influence Children’s Social Preferences: Biological-Essentialist Explanations Reduce, and Behavioral Explanations Promote, Preferences for Thin Friends

The current study experimentally investigated the impact of causal-explanatory information on weight bias over development. Participants (n = 395, children ages 4-11 years and adults) received either a biological or behavioral explanation for body size, or neither, in three between-subjects conditions. Participants then made preference judgments for characters with smaller versus larger body sizes. Results showed that both behavioral and biological explanations impacted children's preferences. Relative to children's baseline preferences, behavioral explanations enhanced preferences for smaller characters, and biological explanations reduced these preferences-unlike the typical facilitative impact of biological-essentialist explanations on other biases. The explanations did not affect adults' preferences. In contrast to previous findings, we demonstrate that causal knowledge can impact weight bias early in development.
Submerged fermentation of Streptomyces uncialis providing a biotechnology platform for uncialamycin biosynthesis, engineering, and production.

Uncialamycin (UCM) belongs to the anthraquinone-fused subfamily of 10-membered enediyne natural products that exhibits an extraordinary cytotoxicity against a wide spectrum of human cancer cell lines. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), utilizing synthetic analogues of UCM as payloads, are in preclinical development. UCM is exclusively produced by Streptomyces uncialis DCA2648 on solid agar medium with low titers (∼0.019mg/ L), limiting its supply by microbial fermentation and hampering its biosynthetic and engineering studies by in vivo pathway manipulation. Here we report cultivation conditions that enable genetic manipulation of UCM biosynthesis in vivo and allow UCM production, with improved titers, by submerged fermentation of the engineered S. uncialis strains. Specifically, the titer of UCM was improved nearly 58-fold to ∼1.1mg/ L through the combination of deletion of biosynthetic gene clusters encoding unrelated metabolites from the S. uncialis wild-type, chemical mutagenesis and manipulation of pathway-specific regulators to generate the engineered S. uncialis strains, and finally medium optimization of the latter for UCM production. Genetic manipulation of UCM biosynthesis was demonstrated by inactivating selected genes in the engineered S. uncialis strains, one of which afforded a mutant strain accumulating tiancimycin B, a common biosynthetic intermediate known for the anthraquinone-fused subfamily of enediyne natural products. These findings highlight a biotechnology platform for UCM biosynthesis, engineering, and production that should facilitate both its fundamental studies and translational applications.
Towards Diagnosing Cascading Outages in Cyber Physical Energy Systems using Temporal Causal Models

Cascading failures in critical cyber physical systems such as power systems are rare but lead to huge social and economic implications. Timely diagnosis of faults in these systems is a challenging task due to inherent heterogeneity and scale of the system. In the past, we have successfully demonstrated a robust technique for diagnosing independent component faults using Temporal Causal Diagrams (TCD) at sub-system level. In this paper, we present a systematic approach of using the sub-system level fault models to auto-generate a systemlevel fault model that helps in diagnosing cascading failures. We show the time complexity of our model generation algorithm using industry standard Power Transmission networks. Further, we describe the updates to the existing TCD reasoner algorithms and report the TCD diagnosis results for simulated multi fault scenario on a standard power system.
Optimal Market-Integration Decisions by Policymakers: Modeling and Analysis of Agriculture Market Data

Policymakers often seek to integrate markets as a way to maximize social welfare. In this article, the authors consider the spectrum of all possible integration policies, from full isolation to com...
Turbulent Boundary-Layer Characteristics at Supersonic Speeds-Theory and Experiment

Turbulent boundary-layer characteristics at supersonic speeds have been experimentally determined from Pitot pressure surveys made at several stations along a flat plate, and the data are compared with theoretical results. The theory is based on the assumption that von Karman's differential equation for the velocity distribution in the incompressible boundary layer applies for compressible flow when the variation in density through the boundary layer is taken into account. Taking the case of a thermally insulated flat plate and neglecting radiation effects, a relation between mean turbulent skin-friction coefficient and Reynolds Number is derived, and the relation appears to be valid throughout the test range of Mach Numbers and Reynolds Numbers. The check between theory and experiment is limited by the maximum test values of Mach Number and Reynolds Number, which are approximately 2.2 and 19 X 10, respectively. The theory is expected to be valid at Reynolds Numbers higher than 19 X 10 for Mach Numbers within the test range. However, the validity of the theory for Mach Numbers greatly in excess of 2.2 should be checked by further experiments.
The Paleobiologic Record of Cyanobacterial Evolution

This chapter considers one of the broadest questions of microbial evolutionary development, namely, what does the paleobiological record suggest about the tempo and mode of prokaryotic, especially cyanobacterial evolution? By the mid-1800s, when Darwin unveiled his grand theory, major features o f the Phanerozoic history of life, spanning the most recent several hundred million years, had already been deciphered. By the late 1980s, these had coalesced to produce the first rRNA phylogenic trees, powerful new means to decipher evolutionary relations among organisms of the modern world. Microbial mat-building communities in such settings today are almost always dominated by members of the Oscillatoriaceae and Chroococcaceae, the same two families inferred to be present in the same environments during the Precambrian. The isotopic compositions of organic and carbonate carbon in the Apex chert and associated sedimentary units evidence the occurrence of photosynthetic CO2 fixation like that occurring in extant cyanobacterial populations grown in CO2 -rich environments. Other paleobiological issues have drawn less attention, among them biotic interactions with long-term environmental change and the physiology and biochemistry of ancient fife. The available isotopic geochemical data add support to this interpretation and, like the known record of cellularly preserved microbial fossils, evidence the presence of other early-evolved prokaryotic lineages as well. Like the concepts of bradytely and arrested evolution, inference of cyanobacterial evolutionary rates is based on morphologic comparison of fossils and their living relatives. The versatility of cyanobacteria is shown especially by the Chroococcaceae and Oscillatoriaceae.
Depressive symptoms among caregivers of colorectal cancer patients during the first year since diagnosis: a longitudinal investigation.

Objective Few studies have examined prospectively and longitudinally depressive symptoms of family caregivers who provide care to colorectal cancer patients, and fewer have addressed ethnic minorities in this regard. This study investigated the relations of social support and caregiving stress with caregivers' depressive symptoms during the first year since the relative's diagnosis, as well as the role of ethnicity in such relations. Methods Seventy-nine caregivers provided complete data at 2 months (T1), 6 months (T2), and 12 months (T3) after their relative's cancer diagnosis. Demographics and caregiving experiences were measured at T1. Depressive symptoms were assessed at T1 through T3. Results Greater caregiving stress and lack of social support were significant predictors of greater depressive symptoms. The adverse effect of caregiving stress was more pronounced among African American caregivers, whereas the beneficial effect of social support was more pronounced among White caregivers. Conclusions The findings highlight the importance of both caregiving stress and lack of social support early in caregivership. Findings also suggest that caregivers may benefit from programs tailored for their ethnicity. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On the computational complexity of optimal sorting network verification

A sorting network is a combinational circuit for sorting, constructed from comparison-swap units. The depth of such a circuit is a measure of its running time. It is reasonable to hypothesize that only the fastest (that is, the shallowest) networks are likely to be fabricated. It is shown that the problem of verifying that a given sorting network actually sorts is Co-NP complete even for sorting networks of depth only 4[log n] + O(1) greater than optimal. This is shallower than previous depth bounds by a factor of two.
Recombination Occurs Mainly Between Parental Genomes and Precedes DNA Replication in Pseudorabies Virus-Infected Cells

Abstract The experiments described in this paper were part of an attempt to determine the mechanisms involved in the isomerization of the pseudorabies virus genome. To this end, [14C]thymidine-labeled parental virus DNA that was transferred to progeny virions produced by cells incubated in medium containing bromodeoxy-uridine was analyzed in neutral and alkaline CsCl density gradients. The buoyant density of the 14C-labeled DNA indicated that the parental DNA strands had retained their integrity and had not undergone breakage and reunion with progeny DNA strands; neither massive intermolecular nor intramolecular recombination had occurred after replication of the DNA. Whereas breakage and reunion between parental and progeny virus DNA strands were not detectable, these processes were observed between differentially density-labeled parental DNAs. Furthermore, the frequency of recombination between progeny DNAs accumulating in the cells was low. These results indicate that in pseudorabies virus-infected rabbit kidney cells recombination occurs mainly between parental genomes and precedes DNA replication. An analysis of the kinetics of appearance of recombinants between pairwise combinations of temperature-sensitive mutants also indicated that recombination is an early event. The ratio between the number of recombinant virions and the number of temperature-sensitive mutant virions produced by the cells remained the same throughout infection. Since the relative amounts of viral DNAs synthesized early and late during the infective process that were integrated into virions were approximately the same, it appears that late viral DNA did not experience an increased number of recombinational events compared with early viral DNA. These results, which reinforce the conclusion reached from the results of the analysis of the behavior of the parental DNA molecules in density shift experiments, indicate that recombination is an early event.
A confessional account of an ethnography about knowledge work

Information systems research has traditionally focused on information as an object that serves as input to decision making. Such a perspective attends mainly to the use of information. Increasingly, however, organizations are concerned about the production of information. This paper focuses on the work of producing informational objects, an activity central to knowledge work. Based on data collected during an eight-month ethnographic study of three groups of knowledge workers-computer system administrators, competitive intelligence analysts, and librarians-I explore the informing practices they relied upon. These are identified as ex-pressing, monitoring, and translating. Common to these informing practices is the knowledge workers' endeavor to balance subjectivity and objectivity, where subjectivity is a necessary part of doing value adding work and objectivity promises workers authority and a sense of security.
The Flesh and the Word in Jumpers

Jumpers explodes on the stage with a burst of flashing lights, puzzling pyramids of gymnasts, an unsynchronised medley of moon songs, and the striptease of a secretary who is, literally, a quite daring young woman on a flying trapeze. Suddenly a gunshot tears one of the jumpers out of the gymnasts’ pyramid; the party is over; and we are plunged into a play which is, among other things, a murder mystery. Tom Stoppard’s 1972 play has proven so popular that in 1976 it began a remarkable second run at the National Theatre — a ‘revival’ of a work not five years old. Drawing on the magnificent theatrical facilities available at the National, the production employed a revolving stage, projected televised images on a gargantuan screen, and belted out a concluding musical number which might bring down the house in Las Vegas. Making a most welcome reappearance on the West End stage in 1985, the play counterpointed the ravishing strains of Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo’ with the soundtrack of ‘Star Wars’, added a jet-propelled space suit for the eye-popping re-entry of Captain Scott to the Coda, and a grapevine for the swinging entry — clad in tuxedo top and loincloth — of Lord Greystoke, a.k.a. Tarzan.1
Systematics and evolutionary significance of some new cryptospores from the Cambrian of eastern Tennessee, USA

Abstract The highly bioturbated mudstones of the uppermost Rome Formation and the Conasauga Group in eastern Tennessee contain an extensive palynoflora that consists primarily of nonmarine, spore-like microfossils, which are treated systematically as cryptospores because they present characters that are consistent with a charophytic origin. The following new taxa are proposed: Adinosporus voluminosus, Adinosporus bullatus, Adinosporus geminus, Spissuspora laevigata, and Vidalgea maculata. The lamellated wall ultrastructure of some of these cryptospores appears to be homologous to extant, crown group sphaerocarpalean liverworts and to the more basal genus, Haplomitrium. There is direct evidence that some of these cryptospores developed via endosporogenesis—entirely within the spore mother cell wall. The topology of enclosed spores indicates that the meiotic production of spore dyads represents the functional spore end-members, but the diaspore itself appears to be a spore packet corresponding to the contents of each original spore mother cell. Aeroterrestrial charophytes of this time period underwent sporogenesis via successive meiosis rather than simultaneous meiosis. Overall, these remains are consistent with Bower's antithetic origin of the plant sporophyte because they present a picture of extensive and varied spore development (i.e. sporogenesis) well in advance of the occurrence of vegetative sporophytes in the fossil record.
Prevention of Epilepsy After Head Trauma: Do We Need New Drugs or a New Approach?

Annually in the U.S. about 500,000 head injuries are severe enough to require hospitalization. Past studies of severe head trauma estimate the risk of late seizures, which are synonymous with epilepsy, to be from 26 to 53%. Furthermore, head trauma accounts for 5% of all epilepsy cases and 20% of symptomatic epilepsy. Although potentially preventable, no effective prophylaxis for posttraumatic epilepsy currently exists. Prior attempts to prevent posttraumatic epileptogenesis used various anticonvulsants, usually given many hours after injury. Generally these studies showed these agents suppressed seizures in the first week after trauma, but had no effect on the incidence of late posttraumatic seizures. Brain trauma engages a rapid excitotoxic process triggered by glutamate release, similar to that seen with ischemia. For ischemic cell damage early and rapid delivery of agents has been a key to rescuing or protecting neurons. Yet, no study has addressed whether the rapidity of drug delivery is critical in the prophylaxis of late seizures. Perhaps excitotoxicity proximate to the brain injury also leads to the neurological deficits seen after severe trauma, initiating and promoting epileptogenesis, and that disrupting this process may prevent epilepsy. While experimental models of epileptogenesis have shown that GABAergic drugs, including valproate (VPA), may be antiepileptogenic, the timing of treatment with putative prophylactic drugs has not been studied. Recent laboratory work explored this issue using an in vitro model of posttraumatic epileptogenesis. The data suggest that a limited time domain exists for VPA to intervene in the epileptogenic process, requiring the earliest possible intervention. We contend that protection from posttraumatic epileptogenesis can be conferred only if agents are given soon after trauma. A pilot study is proposed to begin to translate these findings to explore the feasibility of early VPA delivery to severe head trauma patients admitted to Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, NY, a Level 1 trauma center.
SEX-SPECIFIC REPRODUCTIVE CONSEQUENCES OF BODY SIZE IN THE SOLITARY ECTOPARASITOID, DIGLYPHUS BEGINI.

In laboratory experiments on Diglyphus begini reared on Liriomyza trifolii larvae on chrysanthemum, both male mating success and male progeny production were positively correlated with male wasp size only when male accessibility to females was good. No correlation was made if male accessibility was reduced. Progeny production by female wasps was positively correlated with female size. Females gained more reproductive success with increasing body size than did males if accessibility was limited, confirming Charnov's sex allocation model [Charnov, E. L. The theory of sex allocation. NJ, USA; Princeton University Press, 1982.] under these conditions. Host density had no influence on the effects
Low-power silicon architectures for wireless communications

Wireless communication and networking is experiencing a dramatic growth, and all indicators point to an extension of this growth in the foreseeable future. This paper reflects on the demands and the opportunities offered with respect to the integrated implementation of these applications in the "systems-on-a-chip" era.
ESULA: changing perceptions of the academic library through student activism

Purpose – The influences of electronic information access and social networking through Facebook and other communications have, in many respects, lessened the relative importance of going to the library building as a physical place and space. Changes in general college/university culture such as fewer residential students and more non‐traditional students contribute in turn to a disconnect with library resources and services. The Emporia State University Libraries and Archives (ULA) have discovered an approach that not only helps in promoting services and resources, but also offers undergraduate and graduate students a training ground in leadership and mentoring of fellow students. This paper aims to focus on the issues.Design/methodology/approach – Empowered Students for University Libraries and Archives (ESULA), is a recognized student organization whose purpose is to raise awareness of and serve as an advocate for the ULA services and collections. ESULA members also serve individually and collectively ...
Free software and the political philosophy of the cyborg world

Our freedoms in cyberspace are those granted by code and the protocols it implements. When man and machine interact, co-exist, and intermingle, cyberspace comes to interpenetrate the real world fully. In this cyborg world, software retains its regulatory role, becoming a language of interaction with our extended cyborg selves. The mediation of our extended selves by closed software threatens individual autonomy. We define a notion of freedom for software that does justice to our conception of it as language, sketching the outlines of a social and political philosophy for a cyborg world. In a cyberspace underwritten by free software, political structures become contingent and flexible: the polity can choose to change the extent and character of its participation. The rejection of opaque power is an old anarchist ideal: free software, by making power transparent, carries the potential to place substantive restrictions on the regulatory power of cyborg government.
Augmenting security and accountability within the eHealth exchange

The increased use of electronic medical records and online sharing of such records is motivated by improved quality of healthcare delivery. However, this use has raised security and privacy concerns because sensitive medical data could be exposed to a variety of threats that exist in the online world, leading to problems such as medical identity theft and billing fraud. If not addressed, such concerns could become a barrier to the large-scale adoption and sharing of electronic medical records. To ease such concerns, we argue that the eHealth Exchange, which is a federal initiative for online exchange of healthcare information, needs to be augmented to provide greater patient awareness and control. We take an approach that informs the patient when her health data is accessed by a healthcare enterprise that is not already trusted by the patient. Such awareness is ensured even when some systems in the health information sharing environment become compromised. We enhance accountability support within eHealth Exchange by using digitally signed logs of sharing records that cannot be modified or refuted. We implement and evaluate these mechanisms in the open-source CONNECT system that follows the eHealth Exchange specifications.
Antibodies as Drug Carriers III: Design of Oligonucleotides with Enhanced Binding Affinity for Immunoglobulin G

Purpose. To understand the structural requirements in designing epitope-bearing oligonucleotides with high antibody-binding affinity.
Lased and sandblasted denture base surface preparations affecting resilient liner bonding.

Abstract Statement of problem. Adhesive failure between the liner and the denture base creates an environment for potential bacterial growth and accelerated breakdown of the soft liner resulting in a deteriorating prosthesis. Purpose. This study evaluated the effects of a specific sandblasted or lased preparation on the interfacial bonding of polymethyl methacrylate and silicone and polyethyl methacrylate resilient liners. Material and methods. Polymethyl methacrylate test specimens were fabricated and received one of three surface treatments: untreated (control), sandblasted (250 μm aluminum oxide particles), and lased (carbon dioxide). Polyethyl methacrylate and silicone resilient lining materials were applied to these surfaces and the peel strengths were determined with the American Society for Testing and Materials peel-in-adhesion test. Results. Altering the polymethyl methacrylate surface by sandblasting significantly reduced the peel strengths for the polymethyl methacrylate/polyethyl methacrylate and polymethyl methacrylate/silicone specimens. Altering the polymethyl methacrylate surface by delivering carbon dioxide laser energy to form a grid pattern produced lower peel strengths that were statistically significant from the controls for the polymethyl methacrylate/polyethyl methacrylate specimens, but not so for the polymethyl methacrylate/silicone specimens. Untreated polymethyl methacrylate/polyethyl methacrylate peel strengths were significantly higher than polymethyl methacrylate/silicone. Conclusions. Results of this study imply that mechanical surface preparation of denture bases before application of a resilient liner may not be warranted. (J Prosthet Dent 1997;78:153-8.)
Effect of diet on renal response to salt challenge in neonatal piglets

In piglets 14–40 days of age, blood pressure and glomerular filtration rate increased significantly with age and were lower than those reported for adult pigs. There was no effect of dietary salt on the maturation of these parameters and on tubular sodium reabsorption, although the piglets on a low salt diet had lower inulin space than piglets receiving higher dietary salt. After the completion of a 24-hour salt challenge there was little evidence of sodium retention and there was no effect of previous dietary salt intake on sodium excretion. However, salt challenge resulted in higher blood pressure and elevated serum sodium only in piglets on a low sodium diet. These results suggest that in contrast to puppies and infants, the renal response to salt challenge is physiologically adequate in piglets at 14–40 days although glomerular function is still immature. Dietary salt history appears to have little effect on the degree of sodium excretion during salt challenge in this age range.
Childhood Overweight: Does Quality of Parental Childcare Time Matter?

This study investigates the impact of parental primary childcare time (quality time) and parental secondary childcare time (multi-tasking time) on children’s overweight probability using data collected from each parent and one child aged 9–16 from 311 families in Houston MSA, US. We find that the primary childcare time is not marginally more important than the secondary childcare time and paternal childcare time is especially important for young children (age 9–11). Furthermore, if parents of overweight children adopt the time inputs of parents of healthy weight children, the predicted overweight probability decreases by ~15% on average, ceteris paribus. If either one of the parents is completely uninvolved, the overweight probability increases by ~21% on average, ceteris paribus.
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF VITAMIN A IN CEREAL PRODUCTS BY HIGH SPEED LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

A high speed liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of vitamin A. Retinol is separated isocratically at ambient temperature via high pressure liquid adsorption chromatography on silica from the nonsaponifiable fraction of the sample. Quantitative determination is accomplished by monitoring the ultraviolet absorbance of retinol at 313 nm. Recovery of vitamin A as retinol in cereal products was 94.3%× 2.01. The primary advantages of this procedure are the use of an isocratic solvent system for the separation of retinol and the elimination of carotenoid interference and toxic chromophore-producing reagents associated with the Cur-Price, trifluoro- and trichloroacetic acid methods. The method offers improved precision for the determination of vitamin A, increases the number of vitamin A assays that can be performed per day, and shows applicability to other food products.
A disordered intermediate stage in the reduction of Tb11O20 or Tb7O12 to C-type Tb2O3 in the electron microscope

A thin crystal of Tb/sub 11/O/sub 20/ with a patch of Tb/sub 7/O/sub 12/ has been observed to reduce in the high-resolution electron microscopy to Tb/sub 2/O/sub 3/ (C-type). In both cases the reduction occurred through a disordered intermediate stage which was of fluorite structure. The Tb/sub 2/O/sub 3/ was observed to grow into this disordered region in patches previously termed cooperative emergence in a nucleation controlled ordering process. Whereas transformation (reaction) between Tb/sub 11/O/sub 20/ and Tb/sub 7/O/sub 12/, for example, would be expected to be cooperative and displacive, the transformation to a C-type structure would be reconstructive and, thus, the intermediate stage of disorder is not unexpected. Direct observation of this intermediate stage in the reduction by high-resolution electron microscopy is an accomplishment unique to this power technique.
DYNAMIC FRACTURE TOUGHNESS PARAMETERS FOR HY-80 AND HY-130 STEELS AND THEIR WELDMENTS

Abstract Lower bound dynamic fracture toughness parameters for HY-80 and HY-130 steel and their weld metals are identified. Specific values of the parameters KId and KIm obtained from direct measurements are reported together with estimates inferred from the large body of Charpy energy, nil ductility transition temperature and dynamic tear energy measurements. The emphasis is on reasonable lower bound values at 30°F, the lowest anticipated service temperature, for use in elastodynamic analyses of crack growth initiation, propagation, and arrest in ship structures. For these conditions, it has been found that the ratio KId/ σY is approximately equal to 2 in 1 2 for HY-80 steel. For HY-130 steel and the HY-80 and HY-130 weld metals under these same conditions, KId/ σY is approximately 1 in 1 2 . Consequently, HY-80 plate appears to be substantially more resistant to fracture under dynamic loading than are the other three grades examined.
The silly games we play

As we worry about cash and treasury problems in this economic crisis, it would be nice to have confidence in our senators and representatives. Are they the honest, knowledgeable, and wise leaders we need to steer our ship through stormy financial waters? The author had a unique insider's view of how Congress works. But what he saw was not reassuring. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Non-linearity in constant current electron capture detection

Constant current electron capture detection in gas chromatography has increased the range and improved the stability of electron capture detector analysis. Systematic non-linearities of response have been seen for some compounds. Various electronic phenomena have been investigated and found not to be the cause. Two kinetic mechanisms have been developed theoretically. One of these, involving the fraction of sample that is ionized in the detector, is found to be consistent with the experimental data.
Outpatient continuous inotrope infusion as an adjunct to heart failure therapy in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

We report the use of continuous intravenous inotrope infusion as a palliative management strategy for the treatment of symptomatic, refractory, end stage cardiac dysfunction in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Milrinone and/or dobutamine administered by continuous intravenous infusion provided symptomatic and objective cardiovascular improvement up to 30 months in 3 individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and severe dilated cardiomyopathy. Continuous inotrope infusion should be considered a practical treatment strategy for end stage cardiac dysfunction in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients when cardiac transplantation is not a viable option.
Efficient polyethylene glycol (PEG) mediated transformation of the moss Physcomitrella patens.

A simple and efficient method to transform Physcomitrella pantens protoplasts is described. This method is adapted from protocols for Physocmitrella protonemal protoplast and Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplast transformation1. Due to its capacity to undergo efficient mitotic homologous recombination, Physcomitrella patens has emerged as an important model system in recent years2. This capacity allows high frequencies of gene targeting3-9, which is not seen in other model plants such as Arabidopsis. To take full advantage of this system, we need an effective and easy method to deliver DNA into moss cells. The most common ways to transform this moss are particle bombardment10 and PEG-mediated DNA uptake11. Although particle bombardment can produce a high transformation efficiency12, gene guns are not readily available to many laboratories and the protocol is difficult to standardize. On the other hand, PEG mediated transformation does not require specialized equipments, and can be performed in any laboratory with a sterile hood. Here, we show a simple and highly efficient method for transformation of moss protoplasts. This method can generate more than 120 transient transformants per microgram of DNA, which is an improvement from the most efficient protocol previously reported13. Because of its simplicity, efficiency, and reproducibility, this method can be applied to projects requiring large number of transformants as well as for routine transformation.
Spinal co-administration of cholecystokinin antagonists with morphine prevents the development of opioid tolerance.

Abstract The effects of intrathecal (i.t.) co-administration of the cholecystokinin (CCK) antagonists lorglumide or proglumide with a “low” (1 μg) and “high” (10 μg) dose of i.t. morphine on the development of opioid tolerance were determined using the rat tail-flick assay. Although co-injection of 7 ng lorglumide or 20 ng proglumide (doses which have been demonstrated to acutely enhance 1 μg morphine, i.t.) were without effect, co-administration of 70 ng lorglumide or 64 ng proglumide with 1 μg morphine for 6 days inhibited development of tolerance to this dose of opioid. Higher doses of CCK antagonists (1400 ng lorglumide and 1280 ng proglumide) were required to prevent the tolerance induced by 10 μg morphine. These findings provide further evidence thatv CCK mediates, at least partially, tolerance which develops to the analgesic effect of opioids and indicate the involvement of CCK pathways in the spinal cord. The results are also consistent with a mechanism in which the level of activation of compensatory, anti-opioid CCK circuitry is increased in proportion to the functional level of opioid pathways.
Data acquisition and management software for camera trap data: A case study from the TEAM Network

Abstract Camera traps and the images they generate are becoming an essential tool for field biologists studying and monitoring terrestrial animals, in particular medium to large terrestrial mammals and birds. In the last five years, camera traps have made the transition to digital technology, where these devices now produce hundreds of instantly available images per month and a large amount of ancillary metadata (e.g., date, time, temperature, image size, etc.). Despite this accelerated pace in the development of digital image capture, field biologists still lack adequate software solutions to process and manage the increasing amount of information in a cost efficient way. In this paper we describe a software system that we have developed, called DeskTEAM, to address this issue. DeskTEAM has been developed in the context of the Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network (TEAM), a global network that monitors terrestrial vertebrates. We describe the software architecture and functionality and its utility in managing and processing large amounts of digital camera trap data collected throughout the global TEAM network. DeskTEAM incorporates software features and functionality that make it relevant to the broad camera trapping community. These include the ability to run the application locally on a laptop or desktop computer, without requiring an Internet connection, as well as the ability to run on multiple operating systems; an intuitive navigational user interface with multiple levels of detail (from individual images, to whole groups of images) which allows users to easily manage hundreds or thousands of images; ability to automatically extract EXIF and custom metadata information from digital images to increase standardization; availability of embedded taxonomic lists to allow users to easily tag images with species identities; and the ability to export data packages consisting of data, metadata and images in standardized formats so that they can be transferred to online data warehouses for easy archiving and dissemination. Lastly, building these software tools for wildlife scientists provides valuable lessons for the ecoinformatics community.