cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamic privacy management in pervasive sensor networks

This paper describes the design and implementation of a dynamic privacy management system aimed at enabling tangible privacy control and feedback in a pervasive sensor network. Our work began with the development of a potentially invasive sensor network (with high resolution video, audio, and motion tracking capabilities) featuring different interactive applications that created incentive for accepting this network as an extension of people's daily social space. A user study was then conducted to evaluate several privacy management approaches - an active badge system for both online and on-site control, on/off power switches for physically disabling the hardware, and touch screen input control. Results from a user study indicated that an active badge for on-site privacy control is the most preferable method among all provided options. We present a set of results that yield insight into the privacy/benefit tradeoff from various sensing capabilities in pervasive sensor networks and how privacy settings and user behavior relate in these environments.
Nicotinamide (vitamin B3) increases the polyploidisation and proplatelet formation of cultured primary human megakaryocytes.

Summary Megakaryocytic (Mk) cell maturation involves polyploidisation, and the number of platelets produced increases with Mk DNA content. Ploidy levels in cultured human MK cells are much lower than those observed in vivo. This study demonstrated that adding the water-soluble vitamin nicotinamide (NIC) to mobilised peripheral blood CD34+ cells cultured with thrombopoietin (Tpo) more than doubled the percentage of high-ploidy (≥8N) MK cells. This was observed regardless of donor-dependent differences in Mk differentiation. Furthermore, MK cells in cultures with NIC were larger, had more highly lobated nuclei, reached a maximum DNA content of 64N (vs. 16N with Tpo alone), and exhibited more frequent and more elaborate cytoplasmic extensions. NIC also increased the ploidy of cultured primary murine MK cells and a cell line model (CHRF-288) of Mk differentiation. However, NIC did not alter Mk commitment, apoptosis, or the time at which endomitosis was initiated. Despite the dramatic phenotypic differences observed with NIC addition, gene expression microarray analysis revealed similar overall transcriptional patterns in primary human Mk cultures with or without NIC, indicating that NIC did not disrupt the normal Mk transcriptional program. Elucidating the mechanisms by which NIC increases Mk maturation could lead to advances in the treatment of Mk and platelet disorders.
A Neural-Networks-Based Adaptive Disturbance Rejection Method and Its Application to the Control of Hard Disk Drives

This paper presents a neural-networks-based disturbance rejection adaptive scheme for dealing with repeatable and nonrepeatable runout simultaneously. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated empirically on a commercial hard disk drive where the adaptive disturbance rejector is added to a baseline linear time-invariant (LTI) controller. The adaptive scheme can be broken into two subsystems: one subsystem is designed to suppress the repeatable runout (RRO) and the other to attenuate the residual disturbance and nonrepeatable runout (NRRO) by the use of radial basis functions. Two different methods for RRO suppression are employed in conjunction with the neural-networks-based NRRO rejector. The first one is an adaptive feedforward disturbance rejection scheme. The second is a repetitive controller. In both cases the neural modeled disturbance rejector is adapted online further increasing the track-following performance by as much as 6.4%. Experimental results of the schemes at various locations of the hard drive are included to demonstrate the general applicability of the approach on commercial drives. The total reduction of the error during track-following is measured to be as much as 25.4% respect to the baseline LTI controller.
A Brief Analysis of the Burow's Wedge/Triangle Principle

. The Burow's wedge/triangle principle is analyzed and related to a variety of closure techniques that bear various names. The rationale for the application of these principles is reviewed.
CMOS Hardness Assurance through Process Controls and Optimized Design Procedures

Total Dose Hardness Assurance for complimentary MOS integrated circuits is recognized throughout the industry as a difficult problem. Most of the hardness assurance proposals to date have included a large amount of radiation testing on a diffision lot or wafer basis to help guarantee the hardness of a small group of integrated circuits. This, in general, is very expensive, and alternate techniques must be explored. This paper discusses the use of process and device parameter controls along with optimized design procedures for radiation hardness to minimize the need for frequent radiation testing. Total dose data up to 1 × 106 Rads-Si is presented for several metal gate CMOS diffusion lots which demonstrates the reproducibility obtained when these control and design procedures are implemented.
“The Seeming Anomaly of Buddhist Negation”: American Encounters with Buddhist Distinctiveness, 1858–1877

In a lecture in Horticultural Hall in Boston on Sunday 3 March 1872 Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the social reformer and religious radical, praised "The Character of the Buddha." He ended his very sympathetic portrait by alluding to King Asoka's discovery of the tomb of the Buddha. Those who opened the tomb, so the story goes, found the lamps that had been lighted two hundred years earlier still burning and the flowers that had been offered in homage still fresh and fragrant. Higginson saw a parallel to his own age: "More than two thousand years have now passed, and we are opening this tomb again; the lights still burn, the flowers are still fresh, the perfume of that noble life, yet remains immortal." In some ways, Higginson's comment seems appropriate: literate Americans of his generation were learning more and more about Buddhism and its founder; and, although most interpreters during the 1860s and 1870s struggled with its distinctiveness, some found Buddha's life and teachings praiseworthy. Yet Americans had begun to pry open "the tomb of the Buddha" decades earlier, and not everyone was as blinded by the sudden illumination or as overcome by the sweet fragrance as Higginson.
Task Redesign: Individual Moderating and Novelty Effects

This paper examines reactions to actual redesign of a clerical, information-processing task. The moderating effects of individual work values are noted along with "novelty effects. " Workers with intrinsic work orientations held more favorable attitudes toward task redesign, although favorableness was negatively related to actual experience with the new task. Workers with extrinsic work orientations had less favorable attitudes toward change, but these attitudes were positively correlated with experience. These results suggest that response to task redesign is contingent upon individual differences.
Economic Benefits of Investments in Transport Infrastructure

This paper begins by motivating the need for including “wider economic effects” when conducting transport infrastructure appraisal, followed by a discussion of various techniques to do so. The major focus is on studies from the cost function perspective that incorporate spillover benefits from public infrastructure capital, with a presentation of applications on highways, airports, and ports infrastructure stocks. The substantial differences between approaches focusing on “narrow” and “wider” impacts is evaluated, along with discussion of how application of the tools of spatial econometrics has facilitated estimation of models that capture wider economic benefits.
Using Tasks for Analgsis and Design in Writing Manuals: A Review

A survey done by Stephen Partridge in 1986 set out to determine documenters’ views on the concept of task orientation as an organizing principle of their manuals. The survey interests us because not only does it show that these writers, in primarily a service-oriented economy, preferred task orientation over system orientation in their manuals, but that they knew the concept, and felt comfortable discussing it in their survey. This knowledge suggests a consensus of opinion out there as to what task analysis means and its value to instructional writing. Once a tool of the trainer and manager-those technicians in charge with articulating the day-to-day effectiveness of workers-task analysis has become a main component of a user analysis for design of software documentation. Also during the 1980’s the idea of a task in the workplace began to change. You can see some of the change reflected in the story of my friend who works for Frito-Lay, Inc. The company, like many others during the current recession, has had to cut back on management personnel. A year ago a plant in our city had 24 managers; now 4 managers work there. And the tasks that these managers had to perform have fallen to the floor workers-like Terry-who find themselves in management meetings: the maintenance group meeting, the safety committee meeting, and so forth. The notion of task, to Terry and his colleagues, has evolved, grown, gotten immensely more complicated. Originally it referred only to individual jobs done by one person; now it refers to a web of responsibilities performed by a more integrated employee. The idea of task orientation also needs to shift from the single-function employee in a top-down structure to an integrated employee in what we might call an empowered structure. In this paper we will find, in fact, that the concept of task orientation has broadened lately to include a wider range of work-life activities, such as those faced by Terry and his colleagues. In this paper, I would like to explore some writings on task analysis as a way of identifying some useful guidelines for applying it to the design of instructional materials for software documentation. Defining Task-as- Job and Task-as-Person Task analysis can go in two directions: the first direction narrows the concept of task, the second direction broadens the concept of task. The more narrow definition we call “task-as-job” and the broader definition we call “task-as-person.”
Flow Cytometric Analysis of DNA Content for Tropical and Temperate New World Pines

Abstract Temperate pine species have unusually large, complex genomes which make genomic analysis problematic; it has been suggested that tropical pines might have smaller genome sizes than temperate pines. Laser flow cytometry (LFC) was used to measure genome sizes of 11 species from Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua, spanning latitudes 14°–37° N. These values were compared with previously reported LFC estimates for 17 subtropical and temperate species. Genome sizes in this study were large, varying 1.6-fold from 19.94 to 31. 76 pg/C. Genome size variation paralleled taxonomic classification more closely than latitudinal origin. Genome sizes of subgenus Strobus(soft pines) were larger, ranging from 27.36 to 31.76 pg/C; those of subgenus Pinus(hard pines) were smaller, ranging from 19.94 to 24.91 pg/C. The exception was hard pine subsection Macrocarpae which had larger genome sizes ranging from 26.33 to 28.35. Intraspecific variation was substantial for tropical hard pines P. oocarpa andP. tecunumanii yet negligible for tropical hard pine P. patula.
Effects of Chronic Methylphenidate on Cocaine Self-Administration under a Progressive-Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement in Rhesus Monkeys

It has been hypothesized that drugs that serve as substrates for dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) transporters may be more suitable medications for cocaine dependence than drugs that inhibit DA and NE uptake by binding to transporters. Previous studies have shown that the DA/NE releaser d-amphetamine can decrease cocaine self-administration in preclinical and clinical studies. The present study examined the effects of methylphenidate (MPD), a DA uptake inhibitor, for its ability to decrease cocaine self-administration under conditions designed to reflect clinically relevant regimens of cocaine exposure and pharmacotherapy. Each morning, rhesus monkeys pressed a lever to receive food pellets under a fixed-ratio 50 schedule of reinforcement; cocaine was self-administered under a progressive-ratio schedule of reinforcement in the evening. After cocaine (0.003–0.56 mg/kg per injection, i.v.) dose-response curves were determined, self-administration sessions were suspended and MPD (0.003–0.0056 mg/kg per hour, i.v.; or 1.0–9.0 mg/kg p.o., b.i.d.) was administered for several weeks. A cocaine self-administration session was conducted every 7 days. When a MPD dose was reached that either persistently decreased cocaine self-administration or produced disruptive effects, the cocaine dose-effect curve was re-determined. In most cases, MPD treatment either produced behaviorally disruptive effects or increased cocaine self-administration; it took several weeks for these effects to dissipate. These data are consistent with the largely negative results of clinical trials with MPD. In contrast to the positive effects with the monoamine releaser d-amphetamine under identical conditions, these results do not support use of monoamine uptake inhibitors like MPD as a medication for cocaine dependence.
Continence outcomes of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in patients with adverse urinary continence risk factors.

Objective To analyse the continence outcomes of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) in suboptimal patients that have challenging continence recovery factors such as enlarged prostates, elderly patients, higher body mass index (BMI), salvage prostatectomy, and bladder neck procedures before RARP. Patients and Methods From January 2008 through November 2012, 4 023 patients underwent RARP by a single surgeon at our institution. Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data identified 3 362 men who had minimum of 1-year follow-up. This cohort of patients was stratified into six groups: Group I, aged ≥70 years (451 patients); Group II, BMI ≥35 kg/m2 (197); Group III, prior bladder neck procedures (103); Group IV, prostate weight ≥80 g (280); and Group V, salvage prostatectomy (41). Group VI consisted of patients (2 447) with none of these risk factors. Continence outcomes at follow-up were analysed for all groups. Results The continence rate at 1 year and mean (sd) time to continence in different groups were: for patients aged ≥70 years, 85.6% and 3.2 (4.5) months; BMI of ≥35 kg/m2, 87.8% and 3.1 (4.5) months; prior bladder neck treatment, 82.4% and 3.4 (4.7) months; prostate weight of ≥80 g, 85.8% and 3.3 (4.4) months; salvage procedures, 51.3% and 6.6 (8.3) months; and in Group VI (none of the risk factors), 95.1% and 2.4 (3.2) months. The continence rate was significantly higher in group VI compared with the salvage group (group V) at the different follow-up intervals (P < 0.001). When compared with the other groups (I–IV), the continence rate, although higher, was not statistically significant at the different intervals in group VI (no risk). The mean time to continence was significantly lower in group VI compared with the other groups (I–V; P < 0.001). Conclusions This study has shown that selected risk factors adversely affect the time to return of continence after RARP, yet aside from salvage patients, there was no statistically significant difference demonstrated between the adverse-risk groups included. Patients undergoing salvage RP had significantly lower continence rates at the various intervals compared with the other groups. Patients with the risk factors identified should be counselled concerning expectations for achieving urinary continence.
Telemedicine in South Dakota A Cultural Studies Approach

The term `telemedicine' refers to health care and health education transmitted over large distances via computer with interactive audio and video capabilities. Over the past decade, telemedicine has been widely hailed as a means of administering health care to rural areas where doctors are scarce. Most research on the subject emphasizes technological, regulatory, and utilitarian aspects of telemedicine. This study, however, develops a cultural studies perspective in order to examine how social relationships are negotiated with regard to telemedicine in a particular context. The contextual focus is South Dakota - a state where telemedicine has rapidly developed in response to an ongoing crisis in health care access. An overview of economic and health care conditions in South Dakota is followed by examinations of network structures through which telemedicine operates in the state and an analysis of how telemedicine is rhetorically constructed in the state's leading newspaper. Concluding sections discuss the...
Transposon Insertion Reveals pRM, a Plasmid of Rickettsia monacensis

Until the recent discovery of pRF in Rickettsia felis, the obligate intracellular bacteria of the genus Rickettsia (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) were thought not to possess plasmids. We describe pRM, a plasmid from Rickettsia monacensis, which was detected by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and Southern blot analyses of DNA from two independent R. monacensis populations transformed by transposon-mediated insertion of coupled green fluorescent protein and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase marker genes into pRM. Two-dimensional electrophoresis showed that pRM was present in rickettsial cells as circular and linear isomers. The 23,486-nucleotide (31.8% G/C) pRM plasmid was cloned from the transformant populations by chloramphenicol marker rescue of restriction enzyme-digested transformant DNA fragments and PCR using primers derived from sequences of overlapping restriction fragments. The plasmid was sequenced. Based on BLAST searches of the GenBank database, pRM contained 23 predicted genes or pseudogenes and was remarkably similar to the larger pRF plasmid. Two of the 23 genes were unique to pRM and pRF among sequenced rickettsial genomes, and 4 of the genes shared by pRM and pRF were otherwise found only on chromosomes of R. felis or the ancestral group rickettsiae R. bellii and R. canadensis. We obtained pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and Southern blot evidence for a plasmid in R. amblyommii isolate WB-8-2 that contained genes conserved between pRM and pRF. The pRM plasmid may provide a basis for the development of a rickettsial transformation vector.
Comparison of mono- and stereo-camera systems for autonomous vehicle tracking

When a vision sensor is used to provide the sensory input of an autonomous vehicle, most researchers rely on a monocular camera system. In this paper, we have compared the capabilities and limitations of a monocular camera system with respect to a binocular camera system for the purpose of performing autonomous vehicle tracking. The problem of vehicle tracking includes automatic speed and steering control of an unmanned vehicle following the motion of a lead vehicle. We have indicted how the relative position of a lead vehicle is computed visually and investigated the quantization, tilt angle, pan angle, and road slope errors associated with a monocular and a binocular vision sensor. We have shown that a binocular camera system provides a more robust sensing mechanism when operating under realistic outdoor conditions.
The self-priming effect of gonadotropin-releasing hormone on luteinizing hormone release: observations using rat anterior pituitary fragments and dispersed cells continuously perifused in parallel.

To study in vitro the self-priming effect of GnRH on LH release, rat anterior pituitaries were prepared either as fragments or dispersed cells and continuously perifused in parallel chambers. The experimental groups consisted of rats killed at 0800 h on diestrus day 1, diestrus day 2, proestrus or estrus, or at 1400 h on proestrus. To insure truly independent observations, each experimental preparation was tested on three occasions. After basal LH release had stabilized, the tissue preparations were exposed to 10 nM GnRH as two 30-min challenges separated by 1 h. LH secretory rates (nanograms per min/pituitary for fragments; nanograms per min/107 cells for dispersed cells) were calculated 1) for basal release (during the 20-min period immediately preceding each GnRH challenge), 2) in response to GnRH, and 3) as the sum of basal and GnRHstimulated release. Comparison of the two preparations revealed that basal and GnRH-stimulated LH release by pituitary fragments was more variable than LH release by disper...
The Slave Trade and British Capital Formation in the Eighteenth Century: A Comment on the Williams Thesis *

Professor Engerman constructs estimates of relevant data in order to test the assertion that profits from the slave trade provided the capital which financed the Industrial Revolution in England.
The Relationship Process in Healthy Couple Relationships: A Grounded Theory

This research focuses on the experiences of couples who self-identify as being part of a healthy relationship. Grounded theory, a form of qualitative research, was used to uncover the underlying re...
A Developmental Classification of Feeding Disorders Associated with Failure to Thrive: Diagnosis and Treatment

In 1908 Chapin alerted pediatricians to the failure of growth and development associated with poverty and institutional care of infants and young children. Spitz (1945) gave new importance to Chapin’s observations, demonstrating severe retardation in growth and development in children raised in institutions and in infants between six and twelve months of age whose mothers were abruptly withdrawn. Goldfarb’s (1945) classic studies of the serious developmental disturbances of adolescents who had been raised in institutions added weight to the argument that relative maternal deprivation was a cause of FTT. Several studies have since explored general characteristics of the mother which might play a role in the development of non-organic FTT. Whereas Pollitt, Weisel, & Chan (1975) found that overt pathology was not more likely in FTT mothers than in mothers of normally thriving infants, most authors support the presence of psychosocial problems in FTT mothers (Fraiberg, 1975; Evans, 1972; Drotar, Malone & Negray, 1979).
The Key Principle: The Sign Character of Language

That every language is a system of signs, that the sounds of language are posited by the speaker as signs and received by the hearer as signs, that the phenomenon of language arises as the mediator between individuals in the exchange of signs in this or some similar way we can begin to speak about language. In any case, the first thing needed logically in order to define it is a general term such as sign (σηeα, signum, seign) . What are signs?
Management of Gastrointestinal Bleeding

The urgency with which gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is managed is dictated by the rate of bleeding. The patient with trace heme-positive stools and without severe anemia can be managed as an outpatient. Visible blood requires hospitalization and inpatient evaluation. Persistent bleeding or rebleeding with hemodynamic instability necessitates ICU admission. Massive bleeding is defined as loss of ≥30% of estimated blood volume or bleeding requiring blood transfusion of ≥6 U/24 hours. Hemodynamic assessment: blood pressure, pulse, postural changes and assessment of peripheral perfusion. The presence of comorbid disease must be determined. Estimating blood loss. This can be estimated by measuring the return from a nasogastric (NG) tube. An approximate estimate of blood loss can be made by the hemodynamic response to a 2- L crystalloid fluid challenge: If blood pressure (BP) returns to normal and stabilizes, blood loss of 15% to 30% has occurred. If BP rises but falls again, blood volume loss of 30% to 40% has occurred. If BP continues to fall, blood volume loss of >40% has probably occurred. History and examination: Attempt to localize most likely source of bleeding. The presence of melena indicates upper GI bleeding. Hematemesis indicates upper GI bleeding. When small amounts of bright red blood are passed per rectum, the lower GI tract can be assumed to be the source. In patients with large-volume maroon stools, NG tube aspiration should be performed to exclude upper GI hemorrhage. It should be noted that in about 15% of patients with upper GI bleeding, NG aspirate will fail to obtain blood or “coffeeground” material. In most cases, concerns that placement of an NG tube may induce bleeding in patients with coagulopathies are outweighed by the benefits of the information obtained. An NG tube should be inserted in all patients with upper GI bleeding to decompress the stomach. No data suggest that NG tube placement may initiate or potentiate bleeding in patients with esophageal varices. NG tube placement is essential to monitor ongoing bleeding and to decompress the stomach.
Behind the Mask of Method

This empirical paper demonstrates that political orientation affects the interpretive methods (e.g., originalism) that individuals prefer to use to interpret the Constitution. As a consequence, the sworn allegiance of a judge (or judicial candidate) to a particular interpretive methodology, even if faithfully followed, simply cannot guarantee constitutional adjudication that is apolitical in motivation. The paper begins by recognizing that certain interpretive methods often favor either liberal or conservative policies, and then propose that an individual's policy goals subconsciously bias their interpretive preferences. We test this hypothesis in two empirical studies. The first study surveys federal law clerks about their interpretive preferences. We find that liberal clerks are significantly more likely than conservative clerks to favor the current meaning of the constitutional text, while conservatives are much more likely to prefer the original meaning. Liberals also prefer to interpret the Constitution a great deal more expansively than conservatives. The second study demonstrates that altering the policy implications of expansive interpretation can shift interpretive preferences, implying that political orientation actually causes, and is not just related to, interpretive preferences. This relationship between political orientation and interpretive preferences challenges both traditional constitutional jurisprudence and contemporary politics. Interpretive methods are often cited because they appear to provide legal, rather than policy-based, guidance. Consequently, judges often frame their judicial rulings as an application of their interpretive preferences to the facts of the case. More controversially, many judicial nominees have argued that their personal beliefs will be irrelevant to their judicial decisions, as their interpretive preferences will guide them. Our findings imply, however, that judges cannot reduce the influence of their policy preferences by relying on interpretive methods, because their interpretive preferences were likely affected by their policy goals.
Evaluation of the Tumor Immunoenvironment in Clinical Trials

Monitoring of immunotherapeutic clinical trials has undergone a considerable change in the last decade resulting in a general agreement that immune monitoring should guide the development of cancer vaccines. The emphasis on immune cell functions and the quantitation of antigen-specific T cells has played a major role in the attempts to establish meaningful correlations between therapy-induced alterations in immune responses and clinical endpoints. However, one significant unresolved issue in modern immunotherapy is that when a tumor-specific cellular immune response is observed following a course of immunotherapy, it does not always lead to clinically proven cancer regression. This disappointing lack of a correlation between the tumor-specific cytotoxic immune responses and the therapeutic benefit may be explained in part by the notion that the analysis of any single immunological parameter is not sufficient to provide detailed information about the complex interactions between different cell subsets in the peripheral blood or immune, tumor, and stromal cells in the tumor milieu itself. Therefore, following administration of vaccines or immunomodulators, a systemic approach is required to improve the quality of a serial monitoring to ensure that it adequately and reliably measures crucial beneficial immunological changes induced in patients. Comprehensive evaluation of the balance between the immunostimulatory and immunosuppressive compartments of the immune system could be critical for obtaining a better understanding of why a given immunotherapy does or does not work in a particular clinical trial. New approaches to characterize tumor-infiltrating leukocytes, including their phenotypic, biochemical and genetic characteristics within the tumor microenvironment need to be developed, validated and standardized for reliability and consistency in order to establish the rigorous performance standards that should additionally complement current monitoring techniques.
Kinematics of Rigid Body Motion

We recall that a body B is a collection of material points P: = B = {P}. In general, all of the particles of a body may change their relative positions in B. and in this case the body is said to be deformable. At the other extreme, a rigid body is a body with the property that the straight line distance between every pair of its particles is constant in time. This idealization of a body that cannot be deformed, however great may be the forces and torques that act upon it, is so intuitively natural that it is often used without mention. The reader surely will recognize that our basic definition of a reference frame embodied the concept of rigidity. In fact, there were several occasions in Chapter 1 where the concept was quietly invoked. In particular, it was tacitly supposed for the mechanical device shown in Fig. 1.3 that the radius R of the wheel and the length L of the hinged rod did not vary with time. These are typical examples of rigid bodies whose motions will be investigated in this chapter. The kinematics of a rigid body in general motion in space will be studied. The main objective will be to learn how the velocity and acceleration of the particles of a rigid body are related to the translational and rotational parts of its motion.
A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest

A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest. By William deBuys. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. xii + 369 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $27.95, cloth; $19.95, paper.) 2
Are physicians ready for accountable care

To succeed in accountable care organizations, physicians will need to learn to emphasize collaboration rather than authority, keep costs in mind, and encourage patients to plan in advance for palliative care and death.
Beyond Black Boxes: bringing transparency and aesthetics back to scientific investigation

This article describes two years of work done under the project "Beyond Black Boxes" (BBB), which focuses on developing new computational tools and design materials that enable students to create, modify and customize their scientific instruments.
EFFECTS OF LIVING ACCOMMODATIONS OF HIGH PROXIMITY ON THE SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS RESIDING IN UNIVERSITY HOUSING FACILITIES

150 selected occupants of university residence hall rooms accommodating three students in space designed for only two were compared with 150 selected occupants of rooms accommodating two students in space designed for two. All responded to The Student Life Event Questionnaire and The Self-perception Assessment. Responses by occupants of triple-occupancy rooms had lower mean self-perception scores than the others.
Defining System Conversion Efficiency for Dish-Based Solar Concentrator PV

Concentrator system conversion efficiency may be characterized by using measurements of the optical components. Techniques of characterizing radiometric throughput via geometric ray shadowing, optical efficiency, and cell efficiency are presented.
185 HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS GENOTYPES IN ADOLESCENTS WITH ATYPICAL CERVICAL CYTOLOGY.

Purpose of Study Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. There are approximately 30 genital types of HPV, divided into low-risk (LR) types, which can lead to genital warts, and low-grade dysplasia and high-risk (HR) types, which, if persistent, can lead to cervical carcinoma. A new vaccine containing LR types 6/11 and HR types 16/18 has been licensed by the FDA for females 9 to 26. We evaluated the distribution of HPV genotypes present in our adolescent population with atypical cytology and HR HPV. Methods Prealiquots were removed from all liquid Pap smear specimens collected at our clinics from girls between the ages of 10 and 20 who underwent Pap testing from March to June 2006. These were held pending cytology results and if reported as atypical cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) were reflexed for Hybrid Capture-2TM (HC-2, Digene Corp.) screening for HR HPV. DNA was extracted from those specimens testing positive for HR HPV (n = 32), plus six negative controls using the QIAamp MinElute (QIAGEN). HPV genotyping was performed using the Multiplex Genotyping HPV Assay under development by Digene Corp. for the Luminex instrument (a kind gift from Renee Howell at Digene Corp.). Two LR and 17 HR HPV types are delineated with this method. Results Genotype results were available for 28 of 32 HC-2-positive patients (2 specimens were inhibitory and 2 specimens had no detectable genotype) in addition to 1 of the HC-2-negative patients (this latter patient had a LR type not detected by HC-2) for a total of 29 patients with genotype results. More than one type was detected in 55% and more than two types were found in 24% of the girls. The most common types detected were HPV 16 (38%); HPV 31, 35, 45, 52, and 59 (each at 14%); and HPV 6, 11, 58, 66, and 68 (each at 10%). Less commonly detected were HPV 18 (9%) and one specimen each for HPV 26, 39, 56, and 73. Conclusions Based on our preliminary study, about 47% of our adolescents with ASCUS cytology and HR HPV had evidence of incident infection with HPV genotypes found in the new vaccine.
Evaluation of uncertainty for the determination of valproic acid in human serum by SPE-GC

OBJECTIVE To set out the procedure for estimation of measurement uncertainty in the determination of valproic acid in human serum by SPE-GC.METHODS Each uncertainty component affecting detection process of valproic acid in human serum by SPE-GC was analyzed including GC repeatability,weighing,standard solution and drug serum preparation,drug extraction,and so on.The expanded uncertainty was obtained by calculating each component of uncertainty and combined uncertainty.RESULTS The expanded uncertainty of lwo concentration(16.8μg·mL-1)and high concentration(134.5μg·mL-1)was 5.04,11.84μg·mL-1,respectively(P=95%,k=2).CONCLUSION When determination of valproic acid in human serum by SPE-GC,the uncertainty of low concentration sample was mainly caused by calibration curve and the uncertainty of high concentration sample was mainly caused by the drug extraction(recovery)and GC repeatability(precision).
How to take precautions against false financial report

The investors in the stock market have suffered great loss due to false financial reports and the asymmetry of information,because there exists an asymmetry of information between the managers in the corporations and the investors,and the internal monitor mechanism is poor while the external monitor mechanism fails to work well.The measures for improvement are to perfect the corporations' management structure and to strengthen the external monitor mechanism while amplifying the internal monitor mechanism.
Effects of NKX3.1 gene knockdown on gene expression profile in LNCaP cells

Objective To study the effects of decreasing NKX3.1 protein expression on gene expression profiles in the androgen-dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cells.Methods Plasmids expressing shRNAs of NKX3.1 gene were transfected into LNCaP cells,Nothern blot and Western blot analyses were conducted to confirm the efficiency of RNA interference on mRNA and protein.cDNA microarray were used to profile the changes of mRNA level between shRNA transfected cells and empty vector transfected control cells.Results Decreasing NKX3.1 protein level by shRNA interference induced downregulation of 115 genes and upregulation of 114 genes.Nine groups of genes including apoptosis-related,carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism related genes were enriched by functional classification under stringent conditions.Conclusions Decreasing the NKX3.1 protein level significantly altered the gene expression profiles in LNCaP cells.Some of these gene expression changes may be closely correlated with the tumor modulator activities of NKX3.1.
Seasonal habitat use and selection of Chukars in west central Idaho

We examined radio-marked Chukar ( Alectoris chukar ) habitat use and selection in west central Idaho during spring and summer of 1995 and 1996. Use of habitats also was compared with abundance and distribution of yellow starthistle ( Centaurea solstitialis ), an exotic species that is increasingly abundant in Chukar habitats. During summer Chukars used areas of southeast aspect 12% less ( P = 0.002) and areas of northwest aspect 11% more ( P = 0.008) than in spring. Chukars also used areas that averaged 9% steeper slopes ( P P = 0.054) in summer than in spring. Shrub cover types were used 22% more ( P P P P P < 0.05) than expected, implicating the detrimental effects of this exotic plant on habitat use of Chukars.
The prostaglandin D2 receptor chemoattractant receptor homologous molecule expressed on Th2 cells regulates accumulation of group 2 innate lymphoid cells in the inflamed lung (IRC7P.426)

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) promote type 2 immunity and inflammation, but the pathways that control ILC2 migration into inflamed tissues remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) receptor chemoattractant receptor homologous molecule expressed on Th2 cells (CRTH2) regulates ILC2 accumulation in the lung in vivo . The frequency of ILC2s that expressed CRTH2 was significantly higher in healthy human and murine peripheral blood than in the lung, suggesting that regulation of CRTH2 expression might be associated with ILC2 accumulation in the lung. Consistent with this, CRTH2-expressing murine ILC2s accumulated in the lung in response to PGD2. Further, CRTH2-deficient mice exhibited reduced ILC2 accumulation and helminth-induced type 2 inflammation in the lung compared to wild-type mice. Critically, adoptive transfer of CRTH2-sufficient ILC2s restored helminth-induced pulmonary inflammation in CRTH2-deficient mice. Together, these data suggest that the PGD2-CRTH2 pathway regulates ILC2 accumulation and type 2 inflammation in the lung in vivo .
Differential responses of myeloid progenitor cells from patients with myeloid leukemia and myelodysplasia to the costimulating effects of steel factor in vitro

Steel factor (SLF, c-kit ligand), a potent costimulating cytokine in vitro for myeloid progenitor cells from normal donors, is currently being evaluated in clinical trials for effects on hematopoiesis. Based on a preliminary observation that colony-stimulating factor (CSF)-responsive myeloid progenitor cells (CFU-GM) from a few patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) did not respond to the costimulating effects of SLF, we evaluated responsiveness of bone marrow or blood CFU-GM from 26 patients with either AML, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) to the effects in vitro of SLF and/or granulocyte-macrophage CSF (GM-CSF). Cells from all 26 patients responded to the stimulating effects of GM-CSF, but marked heterogeneity was detected in each disease category to the costimulating effects of SLF. Nine of 13 patients with AML, 2 of 6 patients with CML and 4 of 7 patients with MDS had clonogenic cells that did not respond significantly to the costimulating effects of SLF. In a more limited study of cells from patients with MDS, it was noted that if the CFU-GM of that patient did not respond to SLF enhancement of CSF-induced colony formation, neither did the erythropoietin (Epo)-dependent erythroid (BFU-E) or multipotential (CFU-GEMM) cells of that patient (3 cases of refractory anemia [RA] evaluating bone marrow and in 1 case blood progenitors as well). If CFU-GM responded, BFU-E and CFU-GEMM responded (bone marrow from 1 patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia [CMMol]). Clinical criteria did not readily distinguish between patients who had SLF-responsive vs. -nonresponsive clonogenic cells. While the mechanistic reason for this heterogeneity in responsiveness is not clear, these differences should be carefully considered for possible clinical trials with SLF in patients with acute and chronic myeloid leukemia and MDS.
A case series of auricular acupuncture in a veteran's population using a revised auricular mapping-diagnostic paradigm (RAMP-uP).

Abstract Objectives To evaluate clinical effects of auricular acupuncture treatments for pain based on a revised auricular mapping and diagnostic paradigm (RAMP-uP). Design Retrospective chart review. Setting A major US Veterans Affairs Medical Centre located in the Southeaster United States. Main outcome measures Pain and efficacy rating scores based on visual analogue scales during each clinical visit. Duration of acupuncture treatment effects based on clinic notes documentation. Results Patients’ average pain score decreased by almost 60% (p Conclusion The observed clinical effects of auricular acupuncture based on RAMP-uP are promising. Further research is needed to assess its feasibility to generalize and generate clinical effects in randomized controlled clinical trials.
Stress and Energy

This chapter shows how by an appropriate definition of the vectors and the mechanical forces may be deduced directly from the Maxwell equations. It considers the elastic properties of material media. A brief digression on the analysis of elastic stress and strain provides an adequate basis for the treatment of the body and surface forces exerted by electric or magnetic fields. Under the influence of external forces the particles composing an elastic fluid or solid suffer relative displacements. These strains evoke internal forces which, in the case of static equilibrium, compensate the applied stresses. The chapter shows how the work done in bringing about small variations in the intensity or distribution of charge and current sources may be expressed in terms of integrals of the field vectors extended over all space. A deformation of the dielectric occasions a variation in the elastic energy as well as in the electrostatic energy.
Assessing the Effect of Panel Attrition on Log-linear Model Estimation

Attrition is a common problem for analysts of panel data. In this paper, we assess the impact of panel attrition on the association between categorical or cross-classified data via a log-linear model. We devise a simulation study in which the effects of the three common missingness mechanisms – missing completely at random, missing at random, and missing not at random – are assessed for the three different sample sizes of 200, 500, and 1,000, allowing for varying attrition rates from 10 to 50 percent. Increase in attrition rates are found to decrease efficiency of estimation while sample size tends to improve efficiency. When missing data mechanisms are not known, missing-at-random models are preferred to the other missingness assumptions in terms of model fitting, unbiased estimation, and efficiency. An analysis of real-world data further supports this conclusion.
REDUCING BPD IN A LEVEL IV NICU

Background The incidence of “any” and “severe” BPD in our all-referral unit was higher than comparison NICUs, even when controlling for NICU type, gestational age, and age at admission. Therefore, we initiated a QI project to improve adherence to best practices to reduce our iatrogenic contribution to the development of BPD. Objectives In infants born before 30 weeks admitted to main campus before 29 days of life, to decrease the incidence of any BPD in survivors at DOL 28 from 78% to 62%, and of severe BPD in survivors at 36 weeks CGA from 62% to 48%, by 12/31/2015 and sustain indefinitely. Methods Our multidisciplinary team identified a number of practice/system drivers (shown in attached key driver diagram). Upon these we layered a frame addressing the three physiologic drivers of BPD: barotrauma, atelecto-trauma, and oxygen toxicity. We developed protocols to address these three drivers (one shown in attachment). After multiple PDSAs, a marketing blitz (“stand-down”), emphasizing a wingman approach, was necessary before change started to occur. Results Shortly after the stand-down “any” BPD, and a few months later “severe” BPD, each showed statistical improvement. Time to first extubation attempt declined as well. We continue to work on PDSAs to reduce hyperoxia. (all shown in attachment) Conclusions Multiple contextual factors were leading to our high BPD rate, including lack of a burning platform and a sense of “it is someone else9s problem”. Reducing BPD required addressing the physiologic causes of disease as well as these cultural factors.
Leveraging Intercollegiate Athletics to Support Academic Giving at NCAA Division I Institutions

ABSTRACTOn average, National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Division (top-level of U.S. Intercollegiate athletics) schools raise 15% of their athletic budget from private fundraising. Key questions remain as to how increased emphasis on athletic fundraising influences academic giving. Some authors claim symbiotic effects while others assert that athletic gifts “crowd out” academic giving. The current study analyzes the largest single-institution set of individual donor data available to date. First time donors were more than twice as likely to give to athletics as academics. Fifty-one percent of donors making gifts to both athletics and academics (SPLIT donors) made their initial gift to athletics. Problematically, the conversion rate of athletic-only to split donors has fallen to less than 1%. On three different retention measures split donors have higher retention rates than athletic-only donors, who have higher retention rates than academic-only donors. Among split donors, 41.67% give th...
Spouses’ daily feelings of appreciation and self-reported well-being.

Objective Research shows that active support provision is associated with greater well-being for spouses of individuals with chronic conditions. However, not all instances of support may be equally beneficial for spouses' well-being. The theory of communal responsiveness suggests that because spouses' well-being is interdependent, spouses benefit most from providing support when they believe their support increases their partner's happiness and is appreciated. Two studies tested this hypothesis. Method Study 1 was a 7-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study of 73 spouses of persons with dementia (74%) and other conditions. In Study 1, spouses self-reported active help, perceptions of how happy the help made the partner and how much the help improved the partner's well-being, and spouses' positive and negative affect at EMA time points. Study 2 was a 7-day daily assessment study of 43 spouses of persons with chronic pain in which spouses reported their emotional support provision, perceived partner appreciation, and their own physical symptoms. Results Study 1 showed that active help was associated with more positive affect for spouses when they perceived the help increased their partner's happiness and improved their partner's well-being. Study 2 showed that emotional support provision was associated with fewer spouse reported physical symptoms when perceptions of partner appreciation were high. Conclusion Results suggest that interventions for spouses of individuals with chronic conditions take into account spouses' perceptions of their partners' positive emotional responses. Highlighting the positive consequences of helping may increase spouses' well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record