cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Introduction to NBER Symposium on the October 1987 Crash

The stock market crash of October 1987 led to a boom in conferences, commissions, and studies of the stock market. In almost each case, the participants would try to understand the events of October 1987 by a detailed analysis or description of events during the particular days of high volatility. Of course, to us economists there was nothing qualitatively unusual about October 19, 1987; the stock market moved, and we have no model that succeeds in explaining the magnitude or sources of daily stock market volatility for that day or any other day. When asked by the National Bureau of Economic Research to organize yet another conference on this subject, I decided that it was time to put these events in a historical perspective and try to understand them in the context of longer time periods and broader models. The papers collected in this symposium issue admirably succeed in broadening our understanding of market volatility and consequently deepening our understanding of the events of a few important days. To develop some perspective for the papers in the symposium and impose my own prejudices on the reader, it is useful to partition the sources of stock price movement.1 First, the price of equity can change for purely informational reasons related to the market receiving news that changes its perception of the payoff stream to holding equity (e.g., the expected dividends or volatility of the dividend may change). Sec-
Numerical factorization of polynomials via a fast transversal filter

A fast transversal filter for the numerical factorization of polynomials is presented. When all zeros of a polynomial are of different modulus, this algorithm can be used for the simultaneous determination of all zeros. The main feature of this method is that it is globally convergent and can be modified to compute all zeros of any given polynomial by shifting the zeros. The numerical efficiency of the proposed method is inherited from the reduced computational cost associated with certain implementation of transversal filters, which require only O(N) operations per sample, where N is the order of the filter. The behavior of the algorithm is demonstrated through several examples.
Methods for binary multidimensional scaling

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) is the process of transforming a set of points in a high-dimensional space to a lower-dimensional one while preserving the relative distances between pairs of points. Although effective methods have been developed for solving a variety of MDS problems, they mainly depend on the vectors in the lower-dimensional space having real-valued components. For some applications, the training of neural networks in particular, it is preferable or necessary to obtain vectors in a discrete, binary space. Unfortunately, MDS into a low-dimensional discrete space appears to be a significantly harder problem than MDS into a continuous space. This article introduces and analyzes several methods for performing approximately optimized binary MDS.
Ten Years Later: Locating and Interviewing Children of Drug Abusers.

Longitudinal studies require high follow-up rates in order to maintain statistical power, reduce bias, and enhance the generalizability of results. This study reports on locating and survey completion for a 10-year follow-up of the Focus on Families project, an investigation of 130 families headed by parents who were enrolled in methadone treatment for opiate addiction. Despite having no contact with participants in the study for at least 10 years, the project successfully located nearly 99% of parent participants and 98% of their children. Twenty-four percent of the parents and one child had died before the follow-up. Of the surviving sample, 91% of parents and 86% of the children completed the follow-up interview. Multiple techniques were used to locate study participants, including internet searches, researching court and public records, collaborating with government and service agencies, and contacting family and social networks. For more than half of the sample, costly efforts were required to locate individual participants.
Long-Term Complications in Renal Transplantation

The preferred modality for renal replacement is renal transplantation, and its superiority in prolonging the longevity of patients with end-stage renal disease is well established ([1][1]). In the United States, more than 12,000 kidney transplants were performed in 1998 and the waiting list for
TGF-β3 modulates the inflammatory environment and reduces scar formation following vocal fold mucosal injury in rats.

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and TGF-β3 have been reported to exert differential effects on wound healing, and possibly even account for tissue-specific differences in scar formation. Scarring is particularly detrimental in the vocal fold mucosa (VFM), where destruction of the native extracellular matrix causes irreparable biomechanical changes and voice impairment. Here, in a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments, we identified differences in TGF-β1 and TGF-β3 transcription and immunolocalization to various cell subpopulations in naive and injured rat VFM, compared with oral mucosa (which undergoes rapid healing with minimal scar) and skin (which typically heals with scar). Treatment of cultured human vocal fold fibroblasts with TGF-β3 resulted in less potent induction of profibrotic gene transcription, extracellular matrix synthesis and fibroblast-myofibroblast differentiation, compared with treatment with TGF-β1 and TGF-β2. Finally, delivery of exogenous TGF-β3 to rat VFM during the acute injury phase modulated the early inflammatory environment and reduced eventual scar formation. These experiments show that the TGF-β isoforms have distinct roles in VFM maintenance and repair, and that TGF-β3 redirects wound healing to improve VFM scar outcomes in vivo.
The Society: From Birth to Maturity

The author takes a statistical "snapshot" of the Society of American Archivists at three different periods in its history—each separated by twenty-five years—to illustrate the continuity and changes that have occurred. For the years 1940, 1965, and 1990, the author examines the composition of the Society's membership, its leadership, its scholarly journal, its annual meetings, and the perspective of its presidents. The article concludes with some comparisons with allied professional organizations, such as the American Library Association, the American Historical Association, and the Organization of American Historians, placing the Society's experience in a larger context. A briefer version of this article was delivered 28 August 1997 as the author's presidential address at the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists held in Chicago.
Retrospective evaluation of fixation complications of 49 pelvic osteotomies in 36 dogs

Thirty-six dogs undergoing 49 pelvic osteotomies (POs) stabilised either by manually twisted dynamic compression plates (DCPS; n= 29) or canine pelvic osteotomy plates (CPOPS; n = 20) were retrospectively reviewed. Postoperative radiographs were available for all POs and 36 had additional radiographic follow-up. Pelvic osteotomies with CPOPs were more likely to have three screws placed in the sacrum while DCPs were associated with none, one or two screws in the sacrum. There was no difference in the postoperative sagittal alignment of the acetabular segments for POs with DCPs or CPOPs. Screw loosening was the most common complication (n = 13/36, 36 per cent), usually involving screws in the ilial segment. On follow-up radiographs, medial displacement of the acetabular segment was most frequently associated with screw loosening and plate bending. Medial displacement of the acetabular segment caused apparent pelvic narrowing on radiographs, more pronounced in dogs with bilateral POs, but clinical problems were not reported.
Temporal niche switching by grizzly bears but not American black bears in Yellowstone National Park

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) have been reported as either nocturnal or diurnal in various studies, but have not been known to switch between the 2 times unless disturbed by humans. Black bears (Ursus americanus) are almost solely diurnal in studies unless human influences occur. Because human disturbance is often difficult to control, the relative temporal niche of both species remains ill-defined. Thus, the present study examined bears in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming) where hunting does not occur, human activities are relatively benign, and bear species are sympatric to determine if niche occupancy was a stable feature of the species. Onset of activity was anticipatory of both sunrise or morning civil twilight (illumination sufficient for human vision) for individuals of either species. The peak hour of activity in black bears was consistently midday, but fluctuated in grizzly bears from midday during early spring, late summer, and fall to evening during late spring and early summer. Black bears did not temporally avoid the times when the more dominant grizzly bears were active. Mean activity levels were higher for male black bears than for both male and female grizzly bears. Together, results suggest that the foraging needs of black bears necessitate ingestion of less-digestible, lower-quality foods requiring longer foraging time during daytime hours, whereas grizzly bears adapt their diet to seasonally available food sources, necessitating greater temporal flexibility.
Genetic Risk for Conduct Disorder Symptom Subtypes in an ADHD Sample: Specificity to Aggressive Symptoms

Objective: Recent studies have suggested an association between candidate genes (i.e., COMT, SLC6A4) and conduct disorder (CD). However, it is not clear if these relations extend to CD within the context of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Also, it is uncertain whether the risk is specific to aggressive symptoms or is a risk for CD generally. The aim of this study was to examine the role of the COMT and SLC6A4 genes in the risk for CD and its symptomatic subtypes in the context of ADHD. Method: We examined subjects with ADHD (n = 444, age range 6Y55 years) aggregated across four completed studies. Psychiatric diagnoses were determined by structured interviews. We tested the association between genotype and the diagnosis of CD and aggressive and covert symptom counts. Results: There was no significant association between variations in functional polymorphisms of either the COMT gene or the SLC6A4 gene and the risk for CD. The COMT gene was associated with increased aggressive CD symptoms but not covert CD symptoms. The SLC6A4 gene was not associated with either symptom subtype. Conclusions: These findings contribute to our understanding of the genetic basis of antisocial behavior in the ADHD population and provide additional support for the notion that aggressive and covert CD symptom subtypes are etiologically distinct. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2009;48(7):757Y764. Key Words: ADHD, conduct disorder, genetics, aggression.
Purinergic 2X receptors play a role in evoking the exercise pressor reflex in rats with peripheral artery insufficiency.

Purinergic 2X (P2X) receptors on the endings of thin fiber afferents have been shown to play a role in evoking the exercise pressor reflex in cats. In this study, we attempted to extend this finding to decerebrated, unanesthetized rats whose femoral arteries were either freely perfused or were ligated 72 h before the start of the experiment. We first established that our dose of pyridoxal phosphate-6-azophenyl-2′,4′-disulfonic acid (PPADS; 10 mg/kg), a P2X receptor antagonist, attenuated the pressor response to α,β-methylene ATP (10 μg/kg), a P2X receptor agonist. We then compared the exercise pressor reflex before and after infusing PPADS into the arterial supply of the hindlimb muscles that were statically contracted. In rats with freely perfused femoral arteries, the peak pressor responses to contraction were not significantly attenuated by PPADS (before PPADS: 19 ± 2 mmHg, 13 min after PPADS: 17 ± 2 mmHg, and 25 min after PPADS: 17 ± 3 mmHg). Likewise, the cardioaccelerator and renal sympathetic nerve responses were not significantly attenuated. In contrast, we found that in rats whose femoral arteries were ligated PPADS significantly attenuated the peak pressor responses to contraction (before PPADS: 37 ± 5 mmHg, 13 min after PPADS: 27 ± 6 mmHg, and 25 min after PPADS: 25 ± 5 mmHg; P < 0.05). Heart rate was not significantly attenuated, but renal SNA was at certain time points over the 30-s contraction period. We conclude that P2X receptors play a substantial role in evoking the exercise pressor reflex in rats whose femoral arteries were ligated but play only a minimal role in evoking the reflex in rats whose femoral arteries were freely perfused.
Combined stimulation with the T helper cell type 2 cytokines interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 induces mouse mast cell apoptosis

Mast cells are found in connective and mucosal tissues throughout the body. Their activation via immunoglobulin E (IgE)–antigen interactions is promoted by T helper cell type 2 (Th2) cytokines and leads to the sequelae of allergic disease. We now report a mechanism by which Th2 cytokines can regulate mast cell survival. Specifically, we find that interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 induce apoptosis in IL-3–dependent bone marrow–derived mast cells and peritoneal mast cells. This process required 6 d of costimulation with IL-3, IL-4, and IL-10, and expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (Stat6). Apoptosis was coupled with decreased expression of bcl-xL and bcl-2 . While this process occurred independent of the Fas pathway, culture in IL-3+IL-4+IL-10 greatly sensitized mast cells to Fas-mediated death. Additionally, we found that IgE cross-linkage or stimulation with stem cell factor enhanced the apoptotic abilities of IL-4 and IL-10. Finally, IL-3–independent mastocytomas and mast cell lines were resistant to apoptosis induced by IL-3+IL-4+IL-10. These data offer evidence of Th2 cytokine–mediated homeostasis whereby these cytokines both elicit and limit allergic responses. Dysregulation of this pathway may play a role in allergic disease and mast cell tumor survival.
Problems in Environmental Protection and Human Rights: A Human Right to the Environment

This "case study" was intended to be included in Anton & Shelton, Environmental Problems and Human Rights (Cambridge, 2011), but space limitations forced its omission from the printed text. The assertion of a human right to a healthy environment has persisted over the last 40 years. Here we examine the international guarantees and national guarantees that have developed. We also look at moves toward a Declaration on Human Rights and the Environment.
Material Engagements: Science Studies and the Environmental Humanities

Key words: materiality, natural world, humanities , ethical ecocriticism , agency In the twentieth century the principle tendency has been to denigrate the value of non-human nature. In this sense, scientific studies can help recover the materiality of the natural world for research in the humanities, especially when dealing with ecocriticism. Our current image of the environment has been deprived of its living beings and turned into an empty space at the disposal of humans. Natural sciences can provide theoretical and methodological models which can advance ethical and political projects of ecocriticism and encourage research that would consider the materiality of the non-human world, thereby restoring entity to the natural world. Twenty-first century environmental movements need to view the material and natural world as subjects with agency and not take for granted that these exist “somewhere out there.” Palabras clave: materia, naturaleza no humana, humanidades, etica ecocritica, agencia En el siglo XX la tendencia fundamental hacia el medioambiente fue la de menospreciar el valor de la naturaleza no humana. En este sentido, los estudios cientificos pueden ayudar a recuperar la materialidad del mundo natural para la investigacion de las humanidades, especialmente en lo que concierne a la ecocritica. El medioambiente actual ha sido privado de sus seres vivos y convertido en un espacio vacio a disposicion del ser humano. Las ciencias naturales pueden aportar modelos teoricos y metodologicos que hagan avanzar los proyectos eticos y politicos de la ecocritica, en definitiva, crear una investigacion que considere la materialidad del mundo no humano: que devuelva entidad al mundo natural. Los movimientos medioambientalistas del siglo XXI deben contemplar el mundo material y natural como sujeto agente, pues no se puede dar por sentado que estos existen “por ahi, en alguna parte.”
Film Exhibition and Distribution in Ireland, 1909–2010

Kevin Rockett with Emer Rockett Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2011, 652 pp., illus., $71.00 (cloth) Film Exhibition and Distribution in Ireland, 1909–2010 is Kevin Rockett’s second book in an ambitiou...
Evolution on a local scale: developmental, functional, and genetic bases of divergence in bill form and associated changes in song structure between adjacent habitats.

Divergent selection on traits involved in both local adaptation and the production of mating signals can strongly facilitate population differentiation. Because of its links to foraging morphologies and cultural inheritance song of birds can contribute particularly strongly to maintenance of local adaptations. In two adjacent habitats—native Sonoran desert and urban areas—house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) forage on seeds that are highly distinct in size and shell hardness and require different bite forces and bill morphologies. Here, we first document strong and habitat-specific natural selection on bill traits linked to bite force and find adaptive modifications of bite force and bill morphology and associated divergence in courtship song between the two habitats. Second, we investigate the developmental basis of this divergence and find that early ontogenetic tissue transformation in bill, but not skeletal traits, is accelerated in the urban population and that the mandibular primordia of the large-beaked urban finches express bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) earlier and at higher level than those of the desert finches. Further, we show that despite being geographically adjacent, urban and desert populations are nevertheless genetically distinct corroborating findings of early developmental divergence between them. Taken together, these results suggest that divergent selection on function and development of traits involved in production of mating signals, in combination with localized learning of such signals, can be very effective at maintaining local adaptations, even at small spatial scales and in highly mobile animals.
Acquisition of Antigen-Presenting Functions by Neutrophils Isolated from Mice with Chronic Colitis

Active episodes of the inflammatory bowel diseases are associated with the infiltration of large numbers of myeloid cells including neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages. The objective of this study was to systematically characterize and define the different populations of myeloid cells generated in a mouse model of chronic gut inflammation. Using the T cell transfer model of chronic colitis, we found that induction of disease was associated with enhanced production of myelopoietic cytokines (IL-17 and G-CSF), increased production of neutrophils and monocytes, and infiltration of large numbers of myeloid cells into the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and colon. Detailed characterization of these myeloid cells revealed three major populations including Mac-1(+)Ly6C(high)Gr-1(low/neg) cells (monocytes), Mac-1(+)Ly6C(int)Gr-1(+) cells (neutrophils), and Mac-1(+)Ly6C(low/neg)Gr-1(low/neg) leukocytes (macrophages, dendritic cells, and eosinophils). In addition, we observed enhanced surface expression of MHC class II and CD86 on neutrophils isolated from the inflamed colon when compared with neutrophils obtained from the blood, the MLNs, and the spleen of colitic mice. Furthermore, we found that colonic neutrophils had acquired APC function that enabled these granulocytes to induce proliferation of OVA-specific CD4(+) T cells in an Ag- and MHC class II-dependent manner. Finally, we observed a synergistic increase in proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine production following coculture of T cells with neutrophils in vitro. Taken together, our data suggest that extravasated neutrophils acquire APC function within the inflamed bowel where they may perpetuate chronic gut inflammation by inducing T cell activation and proliferation as well as by enhancing production of proinflammatory mediators.
Development of an alternator correlatable load dump model

The electrical transient resulting from the sudden loss of the battery as a load to the alternator is defined as load dump. By modelling the alternator as an exponentially decaying ideal current source with a speed dependent source impedance (a Norton's equivalent circuit) model parameters can be related to actual alternator characteristics. Applications of this model to prediction of load dump waveforms and energy dissipation in suppression devices as a function of vehicle operating conditions and alternator type are given. Implementation of the model in hardware results in a bench top load dump simulator for component testing. Methods of specifying proper suppression device parameters are discussed and computer simulations of suppression device stressing are included.
The same dorsal binding site mediates both activation and repression in a context-dependent manner.

Like many DNA binding transcription factors, the Drosophila morphogen encoded by dorsal can both stimulate and repress promoter activity. In particular, this factor activates twist and represses zerknullt on the ventral side of the early embryo. We find that when multiple copies of a dorsal binding site from the zerknullt ventral repressor element are fused to a heterologous basal promoter, the resulting construct is activated by dorsal to give a ventral specific expression pattern. Thus, the ability of a dorsal binding site to mediate repression rather than activation is not an intrinsic property of the site, but depends upon its context. We also show that a hybrid promoter containing both the zerknullt ventral repressor element and the twist ventral activator region is not ventrally active in the early embryo, demonstrating that repression is dominant over activation. Thus, the default mode of action of the dorsal protein is transcriptional activation. Additional factors may modify dorsal activity to bring about repression.
The Role of Practical Advice in Bioterrorism News Coverage.

This study examined the role of crisis advice appearing in US news coverage of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Coverage of any crisis can spark public outrage, including fear, speculation, and contradictory or confusing evidence, especially when the stories do not contain practical advice. Five coders analyzed 833 news stories from 272 major US newspapers, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and 4 major US television networks. Practical advice appeared in only a quarter of the stories, even though practical advice for self-protection was mentioned 3 times more often than the vague advice that simply advised people not to panic. Public health officials provided the most practical advice, while scientists provided the least practical advice. Stories containing practical advice also provided more elucidating information, explaining why the threat was low, reducible, treatable, and detectable. Over the 3 phases of the anthrax crisis, an inverse relationship appeared between the amount of news coverage cont...
Exercise induced bronchoconstriction in adults: evidence based diagnosis and management.

#### What you need to know EIB is defined as “the transient narrowing of the lower airway following exercise in the presence or absence of clinically recognized asthma.”1 Bronchoconstriction typically develops within 15 minutes after exercise and spontaneously resolves within 60 minutes. After an episode of EIB, there is often a refractory period of about 1-3 hours in which, if exercise is repeated, the bronchoconstriction is less emphasised in 40-50% of patients.2 3 EIB can also occur during exercise.4 5 The term “exercise induced bronchoconstriction” is preferred to that of “exercise induced asthma” since asthma is a chronic condition which is not induced by a single bout of exercise. EIB is more likely in people with asthma, but it also occurs in individuals without asthma.1 6 EIB is characterised by falls in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) after exercise, while in people with asthma there is persistent airway inflammation and recurrent symptoms outside of exercise (that is, …
Part Cause, Part Cure: The Changing Relationship between Aviation and Air Pollution in the United States, 1927-1973

This article discusses how airplanes and other aircraft became a crucial tool in investigating and comprehending local, regional, and nationwide air pollution problems from an early date, both by carrying scientific instrumentation aloft and by allowing human pilots and passengers to see the problem from a new vantage point. Pilots were among the first people to be aware of the extent of America's air pollution problems, and some, including Charles Lindbergh, became important environmental activists. Later, however, beginning with research into aircraft emissions conducted by Los Angeles County in the early 1960s, aircraft and airports came to be recognized as significant sources of environmental pollution in their own right, sources that needed to be cleaned up. Ultimately, despite the Nixon administration's desperate support of the project, the American supersonic transport program was canceled due to worries about environmental impacts. Today, aircraft, along with orbiting satellites offering an even higher vantage point from which to view environmental problems, continue to provide an indispensible tool for air pollution controllers and scientific researchers.
Short-term (1-2 mo) hormone therapy cessation before mammography.

Background—Some health care providers recommend hormone therapy (HT) cessation before mammography to improve performance. Methods—We performed a randomized clinical trial, the Radiological Evaluation And breast Density (READ) study within an integrated health plan (2004–2007). Women aged 45–80 who used HT at their most recent screening (index) mammogram, were due for a screening (study) mammogram, and were still using HT, were invited to participate. Randomization groups were: 1) no, 2) one-month, or 3) two-month cessation. Women’s willingness to participate was evaluated by age, race, ethnicity, education, hysterectomy, type of HT (unopposed estrogen, ET, estrogen plus progestin, EPT), duration of HT use, body mass index (BMI), breast cancer risk, and breast density. Results—5861 women were invited to participate; 2999 refused. An additional 169 women agreed to participate, but withdrew before data collection. Compared to women who participated (N=1535), nonparticipants (N= 3168; 2999+169; 54%) were older, were less educated, and had lower BMI (all p<0.05). Among nonparticipants, 1876 (59,2%) were unwilling to stop HT. Among EPT users, women with a first degree relative with a history of breast cancer had lower odds of refusal than women without a family history of breast cancer (aOR=0.71, 95%CI 0.54, 0.93). Conclusions—Most women were unwilling to stop HT, even for a short period when the intent was to improve mammographic accuracy, and even when informed they could restart HT at any time during the 2-month study. Some factors predicted willingness to stop HT; the magnitude of the differences may not be clinically meaningful.
High-resolution audiometry: an automated method for hearing threshold acquisition with quality control.

BACKGROUND In clinical practice, hearing thresholds are measured at only five to six frequencies at octave intervals. Thus, the audiometric configuration cannot closely reflect the actual status of the auditory structures. In addition, differential diagnosis requires quantitative comparison of behavioral thresholds with physiological measures, such as otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) that are usually measured in higher resolution. PURPOSE The purpose of this research was to develop a method to improve the frequency resolution of the audiogram. RESEARCH DESIGN A repeated-measure design was used in the study to evaluate the reliability of the threshold measurements. STUDY SAMPLE A total of 16 participants with clinically normal hearing and mild hearing loss were recruited from a population of university students. INTERVENTION No intervention was involved in the study. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Custom developed system and software were used for threshold acquisition with quality control (QC). With real-ear calibration and monitoring of test signals, the system provided accurate and individualized measure of hearing thresholds that were determined by an analysis based on signal detection theory (SDT). The reliability of the threshold measure was assessed by correlation and differences between the repeated measures. RESULTS The audiometric configurations were diverse and unique to each individual ear. The accuracy, within-subject reliability, and between-test repeatability are relatively high. CONCLUSIONS With QC, the high-resolution audiograms can be reliably and accurately measured. Hearing thresholds measured as ear canal sound pressures with higher frequency resolution can provide more customized hearing-aid fitting. The test system may be integrated with other physiological measures, such as OAEs, into a comprehensive evaluative tool.
Studies of alcaptonuria: binding of homogentisic acid solutions to hide powder collagen.

SummaryA volumetric study has been conducted of the effects of collagenase solutions on isoelectric and treated bovine hide powder collagen preparations. The data indicate that the enzyme solution used is active against hide powder collagen, that the effects of the collagenase noted here are independent of pH and that pretreatment of hide powder with the autoxidation polymers of homogentisic acid (HGA-OP) results in significant diminution of the effects of collagenase. With earlier data indicating that HGA-OP binds to hide powder, the current data are interpreted as indicating that HGA-OP acts as an effective tanning agent for hide powder collagen.
In Darkest New York

The stone fight that begins Maggie occurs between young Jimmie’s gang and some Irish children or, to use Jimmie’s word, “micks.” As an adult, Jimmie continues to get into fights and is arrested for assaulting a “Chinaman.” Pete also has a reputation for his fighting ability, which he exploits to impress Maggie. Describing one fight, Pete uses a derogatory term for an Italian and says his opponent “scrapped like a damn dago” (52). Though New York’s ethnic population is not a prominent theme in Maggie, it is an omnipresent one. These three derisive references cast the immigrants in an adversarial role. Jimmie and Pete represent the Native-born, Anglo-Saxon population, who must fight their various battles in an effort to assert their superiority over others. These instances of physical violence emphasize the ethnic tensions that significantly contributed to the urban tenement problem during the late nineteenth century and that set the tone for Stephen Crane’s novel. The violence in Maggie — both the street fights and the domestic violence within the “gruesome doorways” — does more than simply illustrate the tension-filled urban life, for it suggests that tenement dwellers are in the process of degenerating to a more primitive state of existence. The attitude underlying Crane’s savage imagery was not unusual for the times. A good portion of the middle-class American reading public held similar beliefs toward the urban poor. No words better reflect their attitude toward New York’s tenement district in the 1890s than the phrase, “in darkest New York.”
Análisis de Minería de Datos Distribuida con Weka Parallel en Computadoras Con Múltiples Procesadores físicos y lógicos

Los estudiantes e investigadores cada vez mas tienen la necesidad de aplicar de mineria de datos. Weka, surge como un proyecto que pone a su disposicion una coleccion de algoritmos que facilitan el descubrimiento de conocimiento en los datos. Sin embargo, no fue disenado para aprovechar el paralelismo local con multihilo ni los ambientes distribuidos. Ante esta necesidad han surgido algunos proyectos que extienden Weka permitiendole aprovechar mejor los recursos. Uno de estos es Weka Parallel. En este articulo se analiza el rendimiento de Weka Parallel y la mejor forma de utilizar en una sola computadora que tenga procesador multinucleo.
The importance of including anthropogenic heating in mesoscale modeling of the urban heat island

The surface characteristics and anthropogenic activities in the urban environment often lead to local warming relative to the rural surroundings – a phenomenon known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI). The UHI is typically largest during evening hours and during the winter. Nevertheless, the UHI effect in summer can be of particular interest with respect to its impact on urban air quality, air conditioning energy demand, human comfort, and heat-related illness. The urban-rural differences in albedo, moisture, roughness, and thermal capacitance are often cited as the key causes for the urban heat island. Studies that focus on the role that these parameters play in the development of the UHI are common (e.g., Carlson and Arthur, 2000; Hafner and Kidder, 1999; Owen et al., 1998; Taha et al., 1991). Anthropogenic heating is also a potential factor in the urban heat island, but is often dismissed under the assumption that it is relatively small in magnitude. While it is true that anthropogenic heating is small compared with summertime mid-day solar insolation, it plays a major role in the surface energy balance at times when the urban heat island effect is at its maximum (night time and winter). Recent studies suggest that anthropogenic heating, in fact, may be a significant contributor to the UHI (Fujino et al., 1996; Ichinose, 1999; Sailor, 2003). Additional studies are needed, however, to quantify the role of anthropogenic heating in the urban climate, and provide guidance with respect to the value of including it as a source term in modeling efforts. This serves as the motivation for the present work.
Two Cases of Exceptional Rule Ordering

Until very recently, it was generally assumed by linguists working within the framework of generative phonology that grammars must meet the following condition:
Steroid-Mediated Decrease in Blood Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Liver Transplant could Impact Long-Term Recovery

Orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) remains the standard of care for end stage liver disease. To circumvent allo-rejection, OLT subjects receive gluococorticoids (GC). We investigated the effects of GC on endogenous mesenchymal stem (stromal) cells (MSCs) in OLT. This question is relevant because MSCs have regenerative potential and immune suppressor function. Phenotypic analyses of blood samples from 12 OLT recipients, at pre-anhepatic, anhepatic and post-transplant (2 h, Days 1 and 5) indicated a significant decrease in MSCs after GC injection. The MSCs showed better recovery in the blood from subjects who started with relatively low MSCs as compared to those with high levels at the prehepatic phase. This drop in MSCs appeared to be linked to GC since similar change was not observed in liver resection subjects. In order to understand the effects of GC on decrease MSC migration, in vitro studies were performed in transwell cultures. Untreated MSCs could not migrate towards the GC-exposed liver tissue, despite CXCR4 expression and the production of inflammatory cytokines from the liver cells. GC-treated MSCs were inefficient with respect to migration towards CXCL12, and this correlated with retracted cytoskeleton and motility. These dysfunctions were partly explained by decreases in the CXCL12/receptor axis. GC-associated decrease in MSCs in OLT recipients recovered post-transplant, despite poor migratory ability towards GC-exposed liver. In total, the study indicated that GC usage in transplant needs to be examined to determine if this could be reduced or avoided with adjuvant cell therapy.
Roadway feature mapping from point cloud data: A graph-based clustering approach

Connected and automated vehicle applications are facilitated by Enhanced Digital Maps (EDMs) of the roadway environment. Due to the high numbers of roadway miles and signalized intersections, there is significant research interest in the automatic extraction of such maps from georectified LiDAR data. Most existing methods convert the LiDAR point cloud to a set of images for feature extraction and mapping. This rasterization step loses information that could be retained if new methods were developed that work directly on the LiDAR point could for feature extraction and mapping, without rasterization. This article presents one such approach that operates on a road surface point cloud, processing small patches at a time using a locally adaptive version of Otsu's method to discard low intensity reflections while retaining reflections from roadway markings. The main new aspect of the approach is a graph-based clustering algorithm implemented directly on the point cloud. A cluster growing method is used to group similar road markings into the same group to enable detection of the stop bars and lane edges. Finally, a SAE-J2735 map message is created from the extracted roadway features.
Discovery of a Positive Allosteric Modulator of the Thyrotropin Receptor: Potentiation of Thyrotropin-Mediated Preosteoblast Differentiation In Vitro

Recently, we showed that TSH-enhanced differentiation of a human preosteoblast-like cell model involved a β-arrestin 1 (β-Arr 1)-mediated pathway. To study this pathway in more detail, we sought to discover a small molecule ligand that was functionally selective toward human TSH receptor (TSHR) activation of β-Arr 1. High-throughput screening using a cell line stably expressing mutated TSHRs and mutated β-Arr 1 (DiscoverX1 cells) led to the discovery of agonists that stimulated translocation of β-Arr 1 to the TSHR, but did not activate Gs-mediated signaling pathways, i.e., cAMP production. D3-βArr (NCGC00379308) was selected. In DiscoverX1 cells, D3-βArr stimulated β-Arr 1 translocation with a 5.1-fold greater efficacy than TSH and therefore potentiated the effect of TSH in stimulating β-Arr 1 translocation. In human U2OS-TSHR cells expressing wild-type TSHRs, which is a model of human preosteoblast-like cells, TSH upregulated the osteoblast-specific genes osteopontin (OPN) and alkaline phosphatase (ALPL). D3-βArr alone had only a weak effect to upregulate these bone markers, but D3-βArr potentiated TSH-induced upregulation of ALPL and OPN mRNA levels 1.6-fold and 5.5-fold, respectively, at the maximum dose of ligands. Furthermore, the positive allosteric modulator effect of D3-βArr resulted in an increase of TSH-induced secretion of OPN protein. In summary, we have discovered the first small molecule positive allosteric modulator of TSHR. As D3-βArr potentiates the effect of TSH to enhance differentiation of a human preosteoblast in an in vitro model, it will allow a novel experimental approach for probing the role of TSH-induced β-Arr 1 signaling in osteoblast differentiation.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Adversely Impacts Colorectal Cancer Surgery Short-term Outcomes and Health-Care Resource Utilization.

Objectives Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) compared to patients without IBD. There is a lack of population-based data evaluating the in-patient surgical outcomes of CRC in IBD patients. We sought to compare the hospital outcomes of CRC surgery between patients with and without IBD. Methods We used the National Inpatient Sample (2008-2012) and Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD, 2013) and selected all adult patients (age ≥18 years) with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD) who underwent CRC surgery. Multivariate analysis for in-patient outcomes of postoperative complications, health-care resource utilization, readmission rate, and mortality were performed. Results A total of 397,847 patients underwent CRC surgery from 2008 to 2012, of which 0.8% (3,242) had IBD. Compared to CRC in non-IBD patients, CRC in IBD patients had longer length of stay (adjusted coefficient (AC) 0.86 days, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42, 1.30), more likely developed postoperative complications (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.26, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.50), including postoperative infection (AOR 1.69, 95% CI: 1.20, 2.38) and deep vein thrombosis (AOR 2.42, 95% CI: 1.36, 4.28), and more frequently required blood transfusion (AOR 1.59, 95% CI: 1.30, 1.94). CRC in IBD patients was more likely to be readmitted within 30 days (AOR 1.44, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.04). Conclusion At a population level, IBD adversely impacts outcomes at the time of CRC surgery.
Models of Ministry Internship for Colleges and Seminaries

Schools preparing students for vocational ministry have used a variety of models to situate students in fieldwork placements. This article will categorize such designs by their relationship to the ...
Chapter 56 – Control of Resting Ca2+ Concentration in Skeletal Muscle

The control of resting myoplasmic calcium concentration in skeletal muscle is critical for modulation of gene expression, development, repair, and physiologic function. It has been suggested by many that the primary governors of this process rely on pumps and exchangers in the plasma membrane. However, recent findings have demonstrated that the process is more complex. Under resting conditions, muscles constantly keep their resting calcium concentration in the nM concentration range using a complex dynamic equilibrium of calcium fluxes among pumps (plasma membrane calcium ATPase, and sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase) and an exchanger (Na + /Ca 2+ exchanger) pumping calcium out of the cells and into their internal stores. These outward forces are constantly being opposed by sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) leak channels (ryanodine-insensitive “calcium leak”) as well as basal sarcolemmal calcium influx, which allow calcium to enter the myoplasm setting up a push–pull mechanism that finely tunes myoplasmic calcium homeostasis at rest.
CANNA: neural network acceleration using configurable approximation on GPGPU

Neural networks have been successfully used in many applications. Due to their computational complexity, it is difficult to implement them on embedded devices. Neural networks are inherently approximate and thus can be simplified. In this paper, CANNA proposes a gradual training approximation which adaptively sets the level of hardware approximation depending on the neural network's internal error, instead of apply uniform hardware approximation. To accelerate inference, CANNA's layer-based approximation approach selectively relaxes the computation in each layer of neural network, as a function its sensitivity to approximation. For hardware support, we use a configurable floating point unit in Hardware that dynamically identifies inputs which produce the largest approximation error and process them instead in precise mode. We evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of our design by integrating configurable FPUs into AMD's Southern Island GPU architecture. Our experimental evaluation shows that CANNA achieves up to 4.84× (7.13×) energy savings and 3.22× (4.64×) speedup when training four different neural network applications with 0% (2%) quality loss as compared to the implementation on baseline GPU. During the inference phase, our layer-based approach improves the energy efficiency by 4.42× (6.06×) and results in 2.96× (3.98×) speedup while ensuring 0% (2%) quality loss.
Developments of analyses on grid-to-rod fretting problems in pressurized water reactors

Abstract This paper briefly summaries the recent developments of grid-to-rod fretting (GTRF) wear analyses, as well as the remaining challenges. Attention is given to the aspects of spring/dimple geometry design, fretting wear, turbulent flow, vibrations and material behaviors such as creep, swelling and corrosion. These factors are closely related to the loss of spring force and the wear damage of fuel claddings. Due to enormous number of publications for each factor, this brief review is not intended to be completely comprehensive. The goal is to understand how these factors affect the GTRF problem and give a big picture of it. Significant progress has been made in understanding each individual factor, which provided guidelines to the design of next generation fuel plant. However, state of art uncertainty analyses are needed to evaluate their contributions under the in-reactor conditions. Analyses to couple those factors together are challenging yet necessary to completely understand and eliminate the GTRF induced fuel failures.
Vipre―a reactor core thermal-hydraulics analysis code for utility applications

The development, validation, and applications of the VIPRE code are presented. The development of specifications for a reactor core subchannel thermal-hydraulics analysis code for utility applicati...
One-to-One Educational Computing: Ten Lessons for Successful Implementation

High levels of access to technology are transforming schooling. The nature of that transformation is still evolving, but its outlines are emerging. The types of learning activities are different. Attitudes toward school are different. Relationships between school and the community change. There are also new tensions that arise, such as conflicts between new learning models and old policy models, and between new outcomes and old assessments. (p. 1)
Data Sources and Structures

Hydrology is inherently spatial in nature. Once we decide to use GIS to manage the spatial data, we must address data characteristics in the context of GIS. Digital representation of topography, soils, land use/cover, and precipitation may be accomplished using widely available or special purpose GIS datasets. Each GIS data source has a characteristic structure. Derived hydrologic parameters will continue to have some vestige of the original data structure. Sources of data determine the characteristics of the data in terms of measurement. Rain gauges measure rainfall at a point, whereas radar, satellites, and other remote sensing techniques typically average some surrogate measure over a volume or area. This chapter addresses issues of data structure, projection, scale, dimensionality, and sources of data for hydrologic applications.
Safety of influenza vaccination in patients undergoing immunotherapy treatment for advanced cancer.

e15073Background: Cancer patients (pts) are at a higher risk for developing influenza related complications. It is unclear if vaccination against influenza exacerbates adverse events in patients un...