cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
E-Government at the American Grassroots: Future Trajectory

In this paper, I employ data from surveys and focus groups to examine the likely future trajectory of local e-government in the U.S. E-government at the local level is a relatively new phenomenon with two thirds of local government web sites being seven years old or less. Most local e-government offerings remain in early stages of development, are mainly informational and provide for relatively few transactions (especially financial transactions). Although local governments state that they intend to add new transactions to their web sites, this should be viewed with caution because local governments' stated plans for adopting new information technologies do not always predict actual adoption. Evidence from the focus groups identified five likely future trends emanating from local governments' future e-government plans. These trends show that local governments' interests in providing e-government are very citizen centric. They also indicate a gradual and incremental evolution of local e-government in the U.S.
MICHEL PARADIS , A neurolinguistic theory of bilingualism

Michel Paradis, A neurolinguistic theory of bilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2004. Pp. 293. Hb 39.95.Researchers and students of applied linguistics and anyone interested in bilingualism and second language learning will find this nontechnical and accessible state-of-the-art survey useful. Regardless of which neurolinguistic theory of bilingualism ends up holding sway, it is in the central nervous system that the core mental operations that underlie language use are materially computed. So, as we do our work, it is good to keep an eye on what's going on here.
Critique of: “The Role of the Subconscious in Executive Decision-Making”

Robert Ferber's paper revives a debate almost forgotten in our preoccupation with rational methods for seeking maximum benefits or minimum costs. Normative decision theory helps us to know how to seek optimal solutions, but there is also a need to know how far our daily decisions depart from this ideal. Except for a few studies in experimental heuristics little has been reported in the field of descriptive decision analysis showing how businessmen make everyday decisions. Consequently Ferber's welcome case vignettes reopen the question of how we might proceed in developing more adequate descriptive models of the decision process.
Microfluidic Investigation of BDNF Enhanced Neural Stem Cell Chemotaxis in CXCL12 Gradients

In vivo studies have suggested that gradients of CXCL12 (aka stromal cell-derived factor 1α) may be critical for neural stem cell (NSC) migration during brain development and neural tissue regeneration. However, traditional in vitro chemotaxis tools are limited by unstable concentration gradients and the inability to decouple cell migration directionality and speed. These limitations have restricted the reproducible and quantitative analysis of neuronal migration, which is required for mechanism-based studies. Using a microfluidic gradient generator, nestin and Sox-2 positive human embryonic NSC chemotaxis is quantified within a linear and stable CXCL12 gradient. While untreated NSCs are not able to chemotax within CXCL12 gradients, pre-treatment of the cells with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) results in significant chemotactic, directional migration. BDNF pre-treatment has no effect on cell migration speed, which averages about 1 μm min(-1). Quantitative analysis determines that CXCL12 concentrations above 9.0 nM are above the minimum activation threshold, while concentrations below 14.7 nM are below the saturation threshold. Interestingly, although inhibitor studies with AMD 3100 revealed that CXCL12 chemotaxis requires receptor CXCR4 activation, BDNF pre-treatment is found to have no profound effects on the mRNA levels or surface presentation of CXCR4 or the putative CXCR7 scavenger receptor. The microfluidic study of NSC migration within stable chemokine concentration profiles provides quantitative analysis as well as new insight into the migratory mechanism underlying BDNF-induced chemotaxis towards CXCL12.
CALCULATIONS AND CONCEALMENTS: INFANTICIDE IN MID–NINETEENTH CENTURY BRITAIN

ON 23 DECEMBER 1858, the Times reported the proceedings of the trial in Reading of Mary Newell, a servant, for the willful murder of her three-month-old child, whose body had been discovered in the Thames by boys who had gone fishing. Since Newell herself had admitted the crime in a statement to the constables who came to her mother's house to arrest her, the focus of the trial was not so much on establishing the guilt or innocence of the prisoner as it was on determining what could have motivated such an extreme and seemingly unnatural act of violence in order to decide the severity of her punishment. According to the testimony of a fellow inmate in the workhouse where she lived, Newell had been “a kind and affectionate mother” to the infant and had “suckled it to the last”; the prisoner's defense counsel, seeking to reconcile this description with the seriousness of her crime, invited the medical witness to affirm that she might have been “seized by a destructive impulse” that made her “destroy [that] to which [she] was most fondly attached.” While Newell's defense hoped to establish mental instability as the likeliest conceivable explanation for her act, the prisoner's confession to the constables, describing her hopelessness on being turned away by the child's father, pointed to another motivation, that of economic desperation: “I went to the father of it, and he refused to give me anything, and I told him I would swear the baby, or have a summons for him. He said I might do so. He put on his coat and left me in the shop…. I stood there till his sister put up the shutters. She said it was no use to stop any longer, he would not be home till 11 or 12. I walked the town till 12, being destitute of a farthing. I walked down the Forbury to the King's Meadow. I undressed the baby and laid it by the side on the bank, and let the baby roll in. Afterwards I walked up and down to see if I could see him come indoors. After that I went and got over into a field, and sat under a hedge–it was in a turnip field–till morning…. I saw him at Christmas and he said he would pay for the child.” (“Criminal Courts” 23 Dec. 1858)
The Effects of Informal Settlement on Suburban Property Values in Cape Town, South Africa

During the late 1980s some informal settlements were established within or near affluent Cape Town suburbs. Despite objections by suburban residents that these settlements would lead to a rapid escalation in crime and a dramatic fall in the value of properties, the authorities allowed the settlements to remain. Using data on property transfers, which are then mapped using GIS, the paper examines the effects that the informal settlement of Marconi Beam had on house prices and housing turnover within the adjacent suburb of Milnerton. The results show that most of the objections regarding Marconi Beam's effect on property values were groundless as the settlement had only a negligible effect on property values in the adjacent suburb.
Detection of Viruses By Counting Single Fluorescent Genetically Biotinylated Reporter Immunophage Using a Lateral Flow Assay

We demonstrated a lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) for detection of viruses using fluorescently labeled M13 bacteriophage as reporters and single-reporter counting as the readout. AviTag-biotinylated M13 phage were functionalized with antibodies using avidin–biotin conjugation and fluorescently labeled with AlexaFluor 555. Individual phage bound to target viruses (here MS2 as a model) captured on an LFA membrane strip were imaged using epi-fluorescence microscopy. Using automated image processing, we counted the number of bound phage in micrographs as a function of target concentration. The resultant assay was more sensitive than enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and traditional colloidal-gold nanoparticle LFAs for direct detection of viruses.
Safe and efficient screening for sparse support vector machine

Sparse support vector machine (SVM) is a robust predictive model that can effectively remove noise and preserve signals. Like Lasso, it can efficiently learn a solution path based on a set of predefined parameters and therefore provides strong support for model selection. Sparse SVM has been successfully applied in a variety of data mining applications including text mining, bioinformatics, and image processing. The emergence of big-data analysis poses new challenges for model selection with large-scale data that consist of tens of millions samples and features. In this paper, a novel screening technique is proposed to accelerate model selection for l1-regularized l2-SVM and effectively improve its scalability. This technique can precisely identify inactive features in the optimal solution of a l1-regularized l2-SVM model and remove them before training. The technique makes use of the variational inequality and provides a closed-form solution for screening inactive features in different situations. Every feature that is removed by the screening technique is guaranteed to be inactive in the optimal solution. Therefore, when l1-regularized l2-SVM uses the features selected by the technique, it achieves exactly the same result as when it uses the full feature set. Because the technique can remove a large number of inactive features, it can greatly increase the efficiency of model selection for l1-regularized l2-SVM. Experimental results on five high-dimensional benchmark data sets demonstrate the power of the proposed technique.
Global outsourcing: Have U.S. managers thrown the baby out with the bath water?

for high labor costs. intelligent management of raw material costs, rather than new technology, was primarily responsible for shifting the comparative advantage in steel production in Japan’s favor (Mohan and Berkowitz 1988). In the automotive industry, numerous articles have noted the significantly greater degree of outsourcing, versus in-house manufacture, in Japanese automotive companies compared with the “Big Three” U.S. companies. Typically, figures of about 60 to 70 percent outsourcing for Toyota versus 30 to 40 percent for General Motors are reported. The successful use of higher percentages of subcontracting by .Toyota, Nissan, and other Japanese automotive companies has been cited increasingly in recent years as a model for U.S. managers, who have increased their own outsourcing.
Feature Article-Energy Policy Modeling: A Survey

This survey provides an exposition of seven technoeconomic models that are representative of recent work on energy policy. The paper begins with several microeconomic concepts related to energy conservation and to energy-economy interactions. We then examine three representative medium-term models which deal with pricing, import policy and investment decisions in today's conventional supply technologies. Next, we analyze four studies dealing with longer-range issues-alternative research and development strategies for a transition away from depletable energy resources. The paper concludes with a summary of unresolved issues, and with suggestions on the future role of modeling in the public policy process.
Cross-Dressing the Virion: the Transcapsidation of Adeno-Associated Virus Serotypes Functionally Defines Subgroups

For all adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes, 60 monomers of the Vp1, Vp2, and Vp3 structural proteins assemble via an unknown mechanism to form an intact capsid. In an effort to better understand the properties of the capsid monomers and their role in viral entry and infection, we evaluated whether monomers from distinct serotypes can be mixed to form infectious particles with unique phenotypes. This transcapsidation approach consisted of the transfection of pairwise combinations of AAV serotype 1 to 5 helper plasmids to produce mosaic capsid recombinant AAV (rAAV). All ratios (19:1, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, and 1:19) of these mixtures were able to replicate the green fluorescent protein transgene and to produce capsid proteins. A high-titer rAAV was obtained with mixtures that included either serotype 1, 2, or 3, whereas an rAAV of intermediate titer was obtained from serotype 5 mixtures. Only mixtures containing the AAV4 capsid exhibited reduced packaging capacity. The binding profiles of the mixed-virus preparations to either heparin sulfate (HS) or mucin agarose revealed that only AAV3-AAV5 mixtures at the 3:1 ratio exhibited duality in binding. All other mixtures displayed either an abrupt shift or a gradual alteration in the binding profile to the respective ligand upon increase of a capsid component that conferred either HS or mucin binding. The transduction of cell lines was used to further evaluate the phenotypes of these transcapsidated virions. Three transduction profiles were observed: (i) small to no change regardless of ratio, (ii) a gradual increase in transduction consistent with titration of a second capsid component, or (iii) an abrupt increase in transduction (threshold effect) dependent on the specific ratios used. Interestingly, an unexpected synergistic effect in transduction was observed when AAV1 helper constructs were combined with type 2 or type 3 recipient helpers. Further studies determined that at least two components contributed to this observed synergy: (i) heparin-mediated binding from AAV2 and (ii) an unidentified enhancement activity from AAV1 structural proteins. Using this procedure of mixing different AAV helper plasmids to generate "cross-dressed" AAV virions, we propose an additional means of classifying new AAV serotypes into subgroups based on functional approaches to analyze AAV capsid assembly, receptor-mediated binding, and virus trafficking. Exploitation of this approach in generating custom-designed AAV vectors should be of significant value to the field of gene therapy.
Daptomycin Pharmacokinetics in Adult Oncology Patients with Neutropenic Fever

Daptomycin is the first antibacterial agent of the cyclic lipopeptides with in vitro bactericidal activity against gram-positive organisms, including vancomycin-resistant enterococci, methicillin-resistant staphylococci, and glycopeptide-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The pharmacokinetics of daptomycin were determined in 29 adult oncology patients with neutropenic fever. Serial blood samples were drawn at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 h after the initial intravenous infusion of 6 mg/kg of body weight daptomycin. Daptomycin total and free plasma concentrations were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Concentration-time data were analyzed by noncompartmental methods. The results (presented as means +/- standard deviations and ranges, unless indicated otherwise) were as follows: the maximum concentration of drug in plasma (C(max)) was 49.04 +/- 12.42 microg/ml (range, 21.54 to 75.20 microg/ml), the 24-h plasma concentration was 6.48 +/- 5.31 microg/ml (range, 1.48 to 29.26 microg/ml), the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) from time zero to infinity was 521.37 +/- 523.53 microg.h/ml (range, 164.64 to 3155.11 microg.h/ml), the volume of distribution at steady state was 0.18 +/- 0.05 liters/kg (range, 0.13 to 0.36 liters/kg), the clearance was 15.04 +/- 6.09 ml/h/kg (range, 1.90 to 34.76 ml/h/kg), the half-life was 11.34 +/- 14.15 h (range, 5.17 to 83.92 h), the mean residence time was 15.67 +/- 20.66 h (range, 7.00 to 121.73 h), and the median time to C(max) was 0.6 h (range, 0.5 to 2.5 h). The fraction unbound in the plasma was 0.06 +/- 0.02. All patients achieved C(max)/MIC and AUC from time zero to 24 h (AUC(0-24))/MIC ratios for a bacteriostatic effect against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Twenty-seven patients (93%) achieved a C(max)/MIC ratio for a bacteriostatic effect against S. aureus, and 28 patients (97%) achieved an AUC(0-24)/MIC ratio for a bacteriostatic effect against S. aureus. Free plasma daptomycin concentrations were above the MIC for 50 to 100% of the dosing interval in 100% of patients for S. pneumoniae and 90% of patients for S. aureus. The median time to defervescence was 3 days from the start of daptomycin therapy. In summary, a 6-mg/kg intravenous infusion of daptomycin every 24 h was effective and well tolerated in neutropenic cancer patients.
Cyclosporin a Increases Mitochondrial Calcium Uptake Capacity in Cortical Astrocytes but not Cerebellar Granule Neurons

Isolated brain mitochondria are a heterogeneous mixture from different cell types and these subsets may have differing sensitivities to Ca2+-induced membrane permeability transition (MPT) and to inhibition of the MPT by cyclosporin A (CsA). This study tested the hypothesis that mitochondria within primary cultures of astrocytes and neurons exhibit different energy-dependent Ca2+ uptake capacities and different degrees to which CsA increases their uptake capacity. Astrocytes and neurons were suspended in a cytosol-like medium containing respiratory substrates, ATP, and Mg2+ in the presence of digitonin to selectively permeabilize the plasma membrane. Uptake of added Ca2+ by mitochondria within the cells was measured by Calcium Green 5N fluorescent monitoring of the medium [Ca2+]. Permeabilized astrocytes had a fourfold higher Ca2+ uptake capacity, relative to neurons and a twofold higher content based on relative contents of mitochondria assessed by measurements of mitochondrial DNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 protein. In astrocytes the Ca2+ uptake capacity was increased twofold by preincubation with 2–5 μM CsA, while in neurons CsA had no effect. Similar results were obtained using measurements of the effects of added Ca2+ on mitochondrial membrane potential. FK506, a drug similar to CsA but without MPT inhibitory activity, had no effect on either cell type. These results are consistent with the presence of a calcium-induced MPT in astrocytes, even in the presence of ATP, and indicate that the MPT in cerebellar granule neurons is resistant to CsA inhibition. Some of the protective effects of CsA in vivo may therefore be mediated by preservation of mitochondrial functional integrity within astrocytes.
Spontaneous mutations in diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Another thousand cell generations

Previously we performed a 1012-generation mutation accumulation (MA) study in yeast and found that a surprisingly large proportion of fitness-altering mutations were beneficial. To verify this result and assess the impact of sampling error in our previous study, we have continued the MA experiment for an additional 1050 cell generations and re-estimated mutation parameters. After correcting for biases due to selection, we estimate that 13% of the mutations accumulated during this study are beneficial. We conclude that the high proportions of beneficial mutations observed in this and our previous study cannot be explained by sampling error. We also estimate the genome-wide mutation rate to be 13.7x10-5 mutations per haploid genome per cell generation and the absolute value of the average heterozygous effect of a mutation to be 7.3%.
The analysis and digital signal processing of NOAA's surface current mapping system

We describe newly developed numerical procedures used to analyze and process sea-echo data acquired with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) dual-site HF-radar system called Coastal Ocean Dynamics Applications Radar (CODAR). CODAR is a transportable shore-based system that can map surface currents out to a nominal range of 50 km. Since its introduction in 1976, it has performed well in a dozen major experiments. Until recently, however, the data processing was labor intensive, difficult to understand, and slow. The processing presented here largely corrects these difficulties, giving CODAR reliable real-time mapping capabilities.
Assessing Children with Down Syndrome

To the Editor: From a research perspective, individuals with Down syndrome (DS) comprise an extremely significant subgroup of individuals classified as “mentally handicapped.” Important differences in motor performances between subjects with DS and subjects with other nondistinguished mental handicaps (MH) have been noted in the literature,(1–3) as have important similarities.(4–7) Therefore, the study by Connolly and Michael (Physical Therapy, March 1986) is both significant and timely. In my opinion, the use of such global measures as those provided by the Bruininks Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency is of limited value. I would like to note, however, what I believe is a much more serious flaw, regarding the analysis and reporting of this study. Connolly and Michael state in the Results section, “The scores of the girls with Down syndrome (n = 9) were significantly higher than the scores of the girls without Down syndrome (n = 5), however, in the areas of running speed, strength, visual motor control, and upper limb speed and dexterity and in their fine motor skill composite scores.”… [ ARTICLE][1] [1]: /lookup/volpage/66/344?iss=3
The Tarsal-tunnel Syndrome

A case report illustrating the essential features of the tarsal-tunnel syndrome in a twenty-year-old white male army recruit is described. It is assumed that this syndrome is commonly misdiagnosed and that it occurs more frequently than the literature would lead one to believe.
Diverse current and voltage responses to baclofen in an identified molluscan photoreceptor.

1. gamma-Aminobuturic acid-B (GABAB) receptors play a role in the mediation of slow inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in mammalian as well as some nonmammalian species. In identified photoreceptors from the marine mollusc Hermissenda, recent evidence has suggested that GABA, as well as the GABAB receptor agonist baclofen, might simultaneously modulate multiple conductances on the postsynaptic membrane. Here, using intracellular current-clamp and single-electrode voltage-clamp techniques, we have characterized responses to baclofen in the B photoreceptors of the Hermissenda eye. 2. Microapplication of baclofen (12.5–62.5 microM) to the terminal branches of the B photoreceptors induced a slow, concentration-dependent hyperpolarization (approximately 3–8 mV) that was accompanied by a cessation of spontaneous action potentials and a positive shift in firing threshold. Both the hyperpolarization and the shift in spike threshold in response to baclofen were attenuated largely by the K+ channel blocker tetraeth...
Multi-Block Hierarchical Unstructured Grid Generation With Adaptation

An unstructured hierarchical mesh generation method is presented that uses multi-block structured meshes for construction. The structured blocks provide a scaffolding structure in a computational space that is used by a Cartesian-aligned hierarchical subdivision method for the generation of a hexahedral unstructured mesh. The structured blocks also provide a mechanism to transform geometry and mesh data from physical space to computational space and back. The strengths of the Cartesian aligned mesh generation method are fully realized in the transformed space. Feature based mesh adaptation is performed for inviscid and viscous cases. Results for several inviscid and viscous cases are included.
Characteristics of Music Teachers Who Effectively Promote Social Capital: A Literature Review.

It is the aim of this investigation through literature review to identify teacher characteristics that may best promote social capital in students, thereby improving their ability to succeed in soc...
Tumor recurrence incidence following hand-assisted laparoscopic nephroureterectomy.

Background and objectives We evaluated the incidence of tumor recurrence following hand-assisted laparoscopic nephroureterectomy (HALNU) for the treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Methods The medical records of consecutive patients who underwent HALNU by a single surgeon (CW) between October 2001 and May 2005 were reviewed. The ureter was clipped before kidney dissection to prevent distal migration of tumor. Following liberation of the kidney, the bladder cuff and intramural ureter were excised by using a Collings knife under cystoscopic guidance. Results Ten patients were identified. The primary location of disease was confined to the intrarenal collecting system. Eight high-grade (HG) and 2 low-grade (LG) tumors were removed, with pT3 (6), pT2 (1), pT1 (1), and pTa (2) disease. The patient having a LG pTa urothelial carcinoma developed pulmonary metastasis 20 months following surgery and survived an additional 26 months. Two patients, each having a HG pT3 tumor, developed a urothelial carcinoma in the bladder contralateral to the site of ureteral excision. At a mean follow-up of 41 months, there has been no evidence of tumor recurrence in the pelvis. Conclusion Our technique of HALNU does not appear to harbor an increased risk for urothelial carcinoma recurrence.
The role of conservation in new contemporary art installations in new contexts: The case of Richard Serra's East–West/West–East in Qatar

In recent years Qatar has invested a significant sum of money on exhibitions of contemporary artists and public art. This paper discusses decision-making processes in the conservation of contemporary artworks installed in newly emerging art markets such as Qatar, where there are no established practices. In 2014, Richard Serra's East–West/West–East, an installation of four vertical plates made of weathering (Corten™) steel, which span one kilometre at heights so as to reach the level of the surrounding gypsum plateaus, was installed in the Brouq Nature Reserve near Zekreet desert, two kilometres from the sea in the western part of Qatar. The artwork is already considered by some a landmark for the isolated area. The plates have started to develop protective corrosion layers, although Corten™ is not completely corrosion resistant when located near coastal sites. They have also started to bend and are heavily inscribed by visitors. Conservation of public art is complex, as site-specific artworks are linked ...
Evaluating the perceived effectiveness of pregnancy-related cigarette package health warning labels among different gender/age groups.

Abstract Introduction The impact of pregnancy-related health warning labels (HWLs) appearing on cigarette packages on women of reproductive age and other socio-demographic groups is not well understood. The current study analyzes how different age/gender groups respond to pregnancy-related HWLs as compared to non-pregnancy HWLs. Methods Data were analyzed from four waves of an online longitudinal study with adult smokers aged 18–64 in Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the US. Participants were classified into four age\gender groups: women 40 and under; men 40 and under; women over 40; men over 40. Participants rated one pregnancy-related and several non-pregnancy related labels on worry, believability, and motivation to quit. Country-specific adjusted linear GEE were estimated regressing ratings for each of the three key outcomes for 1) pregnancy-related HWLs and 2) a rating difference score that subtracted the average ratings of the non-pregnancy warning from the rating of the pregnancy warning. All models adjusted for socio-demographics and smoking related variables. Results In Mexico and Australia, where graphic pregnancy-related HWL imagery is used (i.e., premature infant), women of reproductive age reported stronger believability, worry, and quit motivation than all other groups. Results were similar in the US, where text only HWLs are used. In contrast in Canada, where the pregnancy-related HWL imagery features a pregnant woman, ratings were unassociated with gender/age groups. Stronger effects among women of reproductive age were limited to pregnancy HWLs in each country, except Canada. Conclusions HWLs that depict graphic effects to illustrate smoking-related pregnancy risks appear to be perceived as particularly effective among women of reproductive age.
Engaging Others in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement

Quality Improvement and Patient Safety curricula that are designed for trainees can improve the learners’ knowledge, provide an invaluable skillset and hence lead to safer clinical care. It requires a robust approach with curricula, faculty, and mindfulness of the requirements of the training program. The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has developed new requirements to incorporate such learnings in graduate medical education.
Popular Press Oral Histories of September 11

Narrativization of September 11 began with the stories told by the witnesses and survivors who encountered the events firsthand. Such stories inform three popular press September 11 oral history collections. Each collection centralizes eyewitness accounts of in-the-moment action as the day’s exigencies progress, particularly from those who were present at the World Trade Center. As publications for mass, rather than academic, consideration, these September 11 oral histories self-consciously position themselves as contributions to an accessible public historical record. As narratives shaped by the experiential limitations of people caught in dire and chaotic circumstances, these anecdotes of discrete personal ordeals root a history of September 11 in radical unsettlements about safety and agency, unsettlements that intimate a culturally traumatic rupture of expectations about ordinary life.
Trajectories of Cigarette Smoking From Teens to Young Adulthood: 2000 to 2013.

Purpose:To identify trajectories of smoking behaviors of a cohort of youth followed through young adulthood from 2000 to 2013.Design:The Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort study, a population-ba...
Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics: Impact on Drug Discovery and Clinical Care

Publisher Summary This chapter emphasizes the impact of genetics and genomics on drug discovery and development and the practice of health care. With the end of the Human Genome Project (HGP) and the wealth of available information, personalized medicine has assumed an important role, but the generalization into clinical applications of pharmacogenomics is challenging. This is due to the complexity of disease (disease heterogeneity, i.e., several phenotypes in a single disease), genetic involvement (several genes contributing to a single phenotype), and the difficulty in prospective validation of pharmacogenetic markers in controlled trials. In pharmacogenetics, most research involves determining the effect of polymorphisms, changes in the genetic code that occur in at least 1% of the population, on a given drug response. A polymorphism may be a single nucleotide change in the DNA sequence (single nucleotide polymorphism, SNP), an insertion or deletion of nucleotides or a change in the number of gene copies. While the focus of early pharmacogenetic investigations was oriented towards functional polymorphisms found in exons (i.e., coding regions), functional variation can be found in any area of the gene including introns, untranslated regions (UTRs), upstream of the transcriptional start site, and sometimes in nearby genes. The use of pharmacogenetics in current clinical care, its ethical and legal implications, pharmacogenetic candidates, and publicly available web-based genetic resources are discussed.
Safety Innovation and Integration in High-Performance Designs: Benefits, Motivations, and Obstacles

AbstractDesign plays a vital role in the building process. As the demand for design creativity and innovation continues to grow, high-performance designs have received significant attention in the ...
Planning, Implementing, and Improving Rural School Mental Health Programs

Systematic and dynamic continuous improvement processes are foundational to high-quality school mental health programs that maximize impacts for rural youth, and a growing body of evidence suggests the need for high-quality and effective SMH programs may be particularly acute in rural communities. In the current chapter, we draw upon the rich and evolving work on continuous improvement in SMH and provide the rural SMH workforce and other stakeholders with background, knowledge, and resources to plan, implement, and improve rural SMH programs. We describe the current context of continuous improvement in SMH programs and highlight best practice elements of an improvement system for SMH through a description of tiered systems of support widely implemented in schools. We include a case study to illustrate how these best practices might be applied to a hypothetical rural school mental health program. Finally, we discuss key contextual factors of rural SMH programs that create barriers and opportunities for continuous improvement with a focus on local and broader implications for practice, policy, and research.
Evaluating predictors for brownfield redevelopment

Abstract This paper quantitatively examines what drives brownfield redevelopment and what factors predict a completed brownfield redevelopment. This research investigated 200 brownfield properties that were listed with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and redeveloped between the years 2000 and 2015. Three significant correlations were found in this study: socio-economic factor (income level), green development, and tax incentives significantly correlated with brownfield redevelopment. The combination of six predictor variables was analyzed using multiple regression. Socio-economic (income level) [β = 0.27, t = 3.96, p 0.05), political climate (β = −0.04, t = −0.52, p > 0.05) and stakeholder involvement (β = 0.04, t = 0.62, p > 0.05) did not significantly predict brownfield redevelopment. Hypothesis two and four assessed predictors of brownfield redevelopment. The findings indicated a significant relationship between brownfield redevelopment and two variables (a) socio-economic factor (income levels) significantly predicted brownfield redevelopment, and (b) green development significantly predicted brownfield redevelopment. The higher value of socio-economic factor, the higher value of brownfield redevelopment. The projects with sustainable development had high brownfield redevelopment value than projects without green development. Recommendations for practice include (a) developers and other stakeholders incorporate sustainable building practices in brownfield redevelopments, (b) government agencies involved in the building process such as building and planning departments provide narratives of best practices in sustainable building to help guide brownfield redevelopments and implement policies to mitigate the displacement of low income residents (c) creation of a centralized database of brownfields that have been redeveloped detailing the project attributes. Recommendations for future research may include (a) quantitative study of demographic factors such as age, gender, race, and education as possible predictors of successful brownfield redevelopment and (b) a study on the types of contamination that have been successfully remediated resulting in a successful brownfield redevelopment.
Historical Legacy of Jesuits in China

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph. "What is the meaning today of the missionary activities of the Society of Jesus in China? The attempt by members of the Society of Jesus to convert Chinese to Christianity from the late-16th to early-18th centuries was part of the Catholic Reformation’s missionary expansion around the world. Was the Jesuit mission also part and parcel of an expansionist Western imperialism, or did it rather reflect a humanistic universalism?2 Obviously, there are some aspects of both, but on balance, the conversion of Chinese in this era is stronger evidence of the universal appeal of the Christian message. This faculty essay is available in Verbum: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/verbum/vol6/iss1/18 Historical Legacy of the Jesuits in China Lawrence Fouraker, PhD
Immigrant Youth Have Significantly Lower Rates of Externalizing Behavior than Native-Born Americans: Differences by Region of Birth

A large proportion of Americans have the opinion that immigrants increase crime. Although past research has not found immigrant status to be associated with criminal behavior, American immigration policy has historically discriminated against certain groups based on their region of birth due to safety concerns. The purpose of the present study was to examine differences in externalizing behavior by immigrant’s region of birth. Data was used from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a nationally representative and longitudinal study of 21,260 kindergarteners. A series of Poisson regression models were used to predict externalizing behavior of fifth grade students from immigrant status and parent’s region of birth. Analyses controlled for demographic characteristics of the child and family and were adjusted by probability weights and primary sampling unit provided by the ECLS-K. After controlling for family income and parents’ educational status, immigrant youth had 0.04 lower externalizing behavior scores compared to native-born American youth (B = − 0.04, 95% CI − 0.06 to − 0.01). When considering differences by region of origin, youth from Asia (B = − 0.12, 95% CI − 0.17 to − 0.07) and Central America (B = − 0.10, 95% CI − 0.14 to − 0.05) had significantly lower externalizing behavior compared to native-born American youth, after controlling for covariates. In fifth grade, immigrant youth have significantly lower rates of externalizing behavior than native-born Americans. In particular, immigrant youth from Asia and Central America engaged in significantly less externalizing behavior than native-born Americans. No region of origin engaged in significantly more externalizing behavior than native-born youth.
Evidence for the “Genetic Admixture Hypothesis” That the Increased Incidence of IDDM Among African Americans Compared to Africans is Due in Large Part to Susceptibility Gene(s) Which Entered Through Admixture with the European American Gene Pool

There are approximately 30 million African Americans in the U.S., constituting approximately 12 percent of the population.1 Most of this subpopulation can trace their ancestry to Africans who were brought over as slaves beginning in 1619 to the Jamestown settlement of the British American colonies and later to the United States. During the major period of slave importation from 1700 to 1808, approximately 400,000 Africans entered, almost all from the area of West and West-Central Africa, predominantly from the present countries of Nigeria and Angola. Through admixture with European Americans, African Americans now have an average of 20 percent European American genes.2
How to Measure Biomolecular Forces: A “Tug-of-War” Approach

Experimental measurements of biomolecular forces are ever-increasing in resolution, which calls for a convenient way of calculating forces as free energy gradients in simulations. While it is possible to first calculate the free energy landscape and take the gradient, free energy simulations typically require very extensive sampling time. Here, a quick and dirty method of calculating force at a given point in the conformational space is presented, named the “tug-of-war sampling.” Its basic operational principle is the same as an optical trap experiment that traces the position of a microbead held by a focused laser beam: A stiff harmonic sampling potential is applied to the system to constrain the motion at a particular conformational state, and the fluctuation of the constrained part of the molecule around the center of the sampling potential is analyzed to calculate the first and second order gradients of the free energy. The method is local and does not require sampling over multiple points to take the gradient, thus is very efficient. Tutorial-style examples are given. This method likely has broad applications in calculating mechanical forces in macromolecular systems.
Neurochemistry of Brain Tumors

The attempt to define a unique chemistry of malignant growth has been stimulated in recent years by progress in the chemical methodology available to examine both cell products and the genetic codes for their production. Immunochemistry has provided a powerful set of methods and a conceptual framework with which to begin to understand cancer. However, as is usual for the early stages of understanding in any area, dogma has impeded progress. Thus, the failure over six decades to define a chemical pathology of cancer in terms of an immune theory, which Ehrlich formulated at the beginning of the century, or any other theory led to the dictum that since no unique cancer chemistry had been found, it did not exist.
Knowledge of things

As I walk into a restaurant to meet up with a friend, I look around and see all sorts of things in my immediate environment—tables, chairs, people, colors, shapes, etc. As a result, I know of these things. But what is the nature of this knowledge? Nowadays, the standard practice among philosophers is to treat all knowledge, aside maybe from “know-how”, as propositional. But in this paper I will argue that this is a mistake. I’ll argue that some knowledge is constituted, not by beliefs toward propositions, but by awareness of properties and objects. Seeing isn’t believing, but it is knowing. After further characterizing this type of knowledge, I will make the case for it. Then I will consider a variety of objections. Finally, I will indicate how our recognition of this knowledge may answer other questions, and solve other problems, in philosophy.
Realistic virtues and how to study them: Introducing the STRIVE-4 model

ABSTRACTThis article argues that ordinary virtue trait attributions presuppose the existence of realistic traits that fall short of, for example, Aristotelian ideals and that debate about the existence of virtue traits should be reoriented in the light of this fact. After clarifying and motivating that basic thesis, we discuss what the existing psychological research shows about the existence of realistic traits and how future psychological research could be designed to show more. Our first conclusion is that current psychological research (weakly) supports virtue trait optimism not skepticism. Our second conclusion is that psychologists will need to adopt new models and conduct new studies before they can convincingly answer questions about the existence, development and normative significance of virtue traits. In short, we argue that there is no mature science of virtue today but that we can and should develop one. We end by presenting our STRIVE-4 Model, which is designed to guide future work.
Nitric Oxide Therapeutics in Pulmonary Vascular Disease

Clinical trials of inhaled nitrite to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are ongoing. The pathogenesis of PAH involves smooth muscle hypertrophy as a result of endothelial dysfunction and/...
Influencing Employees for a “Good Cause”: Mapping the Field of Nudging in Business Ethics

Companies such as Heineken, Unilever, Nestle and many more declared that they aim to “do good” with the help of nudging–a behavioural intervention that gently pushes the addressee towards a desired...
Vowel termination as a cue to voicing in post-vocalic stops

Abstract: O’Kane (1978) performed a perceptual experiment to test the hypothesis that the cue to the voice value of a final, post-vocalic stop in English is contained in the termination of the preceding vowel. He concludes that vowel length, and not vowel termination, is the major perceptual cue. However, O’Kane’s analysis is inadequate, because it fails to account for his subjects’ ability to predict the voice value of a (missing) final stop, even when the length of the preceding vowel was held constant. In fact, his results indicate that the final 60–80 ms of vowels preceding voiced stops does contain a cue to voicing, althought the specific physiological and acoustic correlates of the cue are not clear.
Emerging approaches to support dynamic mission planning: survey and recommendations for future research:

In the Department of Defense, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mission planning is typically in the form of a set of pre-defined waypoints and tasks, and results in optimized plans being implemented p...
IDENTIFYING THE CAUSE OF ISCHEMIC STROKE IN A YOUNG WOMAN USING MULTIMODALITY IMAGING

Ischemic stroke in young adults is a devastating condition with many possible causes. A multimodality imaging approach facilitates identification of the etiology and allows for early initiation of definitive treatment. A 28-year old woman presented with acute onset slurred speech and left-sided
Effects of Accelerated Seawater Corrosion on Hollow-Core FRP-Concrete-Steel Columns under Sustained Axial Load

Abstract The hollow-core fiber-reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) column is a relatively new structural system consisting of an outer fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tube, an inner steel tub...
Three types of HLA-G+ extravillous trophoblasts that have distinct immune regulatory properties

During pregnancy, invading HLA-G+ extravillous trophoblasts (EVT) play a key role in placental development, uterine spiral artery remodeling, and prevention of detrimental maternal immune responses to placental and fetal antigens. Failures of these processes are suggested to play a role in the development of pregnancy complications, but very little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Here we present validated methods to purify and culture primary HLA-G+ EVT from the placental disk and chorionic membrane from healthy term pregnancy. Characterization of HLA-G+ EVT from term pregnancy compared to first trimester revealed their unique phenotypes, gene expression profiles, and differing capacities to increase regulatory T cells (Treg) during coculture assays, features that cannot be captured by using surrogate cell lines or animal models. Furthermore, clinical variables including gestational age and fetal sex significantly influenced EVT biology and function. These methods and approaches form a solid basis for further investigation of the role of HLA-G+ EVT in the development of detrimental placental inflammatory responses associated with pregnancy complications, including spontaneous preterm delivery and preeclampsia.
Toward a cure in relapsed ALL: we must do better

In this issue of Leukemia and Lymphoma, Gokbuget et al. report on the long-term outcomes of the BLAST study (NCT01207388) [1,2]: the use of blinatumomab (Blin) at 15 µg/m2/day for up to four, 6-wee...
The traveling wave formulation of a splitting chamber containing reactive components

The present work investigates the traveling wave formulation and their scattering characteristics in a waveguide having splitting expansion chamber. The segments of the chamber contain sandwiched elastic components backed by rigid cavities and absorbent linings. The structure is radiated by a plane wave mode incident which scatter on interaction with the expansion chamber. The mode-matching (MM) solution is developed to investigate the attenuation of fluid–structure coupled/uncoupled waves with reference to the properties of elastic components and absorbent material. The eigenmodes of segments comprising elastic components are non-orthogonal, and use of generalized orthogonal characteristics yields the convergent solution. The MM solution is validated altogether through apposite mathematical and physical arguments. Moreover, in low-frequency regime, the MM results are compared with low-frequency approximation, and a good agreement is found. Furthermore, it is observed that the characteristics of elastic components and the properties of absorbent material significantly affect the transmission loss, absorbing power and scattering energies.