cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Perceptions of best practices for return of results in an international survey of psychiatric genetics researchers

Many research sponsors and genetic researchers agree that some medically relevant genetic findings should be offered to participants. The scarcity of research specific to returning genetic results related to psychiatric disorders hinders the ability to develop ethically justified and empirically informed guidelines for responsible return of results for these conditions. We surveyed 407 psychiatric genetics researchers from 39 countries to examine their perceptions of challenges to returning individual results and views about best practices for the process of offering and returning results. Most researchers believed that disclosure of results should be delayed if a patient-participant is experiencing significant psychiatric symptoms. Respondents felt that there is little research on the impact of returning results to participants with psychiatric disorders and agreed that return of psychiatric genetics results to patient-participants may lead to discrimination by insurance companies or other third parties. Almost half of researchers believed results should be returned through a participant's treating psychiatrist, but many felt that clinicians lack knowledge about how to manage genetic research results. Most researchers thought results should be disclosed by genetic counselors or medical geneticists and in person; however, almost half also supported disclosure via telemedicine. This is the first global survey to examine the perspectives of researchers with experience working with this patient population and with these conditions. Their perspectives can help inform the development of much-needed guidelines to promote responsible return of results related to psychiatric conditions to patients with psychiatric disorders.
How Corporate Internal Auditors Can Advance Gender Equality

Virtually everyone agrees that a well-run, ethically responsible business pays all employees fair wages that are gender neutral. In other words, equal work results in equal pay, regardless of gender. Corporate management, including internal auditors, can help corporations in their efforts to achieve gender equality and other socially responsible goals. Corporate social responsibility is a major issue in modern business. The idea is that corporations should do their part to make the world a better place, that is, to be good corporate citizens. This paper describes how internal auditors and other corporate managers can assist corporations to attain corporate social responsibility goals, notably, to advance gender equality.
Black lives and spatial matters: policing blackness and practicing freedom in suburban St. Louis: by Jodi Rios, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 2020, 294 pp., $27.95 (paperback), ISBN: 9781501750472

“because white men can’t/police their imagination/black men are dying,” wrote poet Claudia Rankine in 2014, the same year 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by white police officer Darren Wilson ...
Single-Molecule Manipulation of Macromolecules on Membranes Using High-Resolution Optical Tweezers

Abstract Despite their wide applications into soluble macromolecules, optical tweezers have rarely been used to characterize dynamics of membrane proteins, mainly due to lack of model membranes compatible with optical trapping. Here, we found that optical tweezers can stably trap giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) containing iodixanol with controlled membrane tension, which can potentially serve as a model membrane to study dynamics of membranes, membrane proteins, or their interactions. We also observed that small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) are rigid enough to resist large pulling force and offer potential advantages to pull membrane proteins. To demonstrate the use of both model membranes, we pulled membrane tethers from the trapped GUVs and measured the folding or binding dynamics of a single DNA hairpin or synaptotagmin-1 C2 domain attached to the GUV or SUV with high spatiotemporal resolution. Our methodologies facilitate single-molecule manipulation studies of membranes or membrane proteins using optical tweezers.
Cystic Encapsulated Papillary Carcinoma in the Male Breast: An Unusual Feature With a Diagnostic Challenge:

Papillary carcinoma in the male breast is uncommon. Here, we report a case of a large encapsulated papillary carcinoma (EPC) in a 62-year-old male. The patient presented with a left breast mass of ...
Pearls and Oy-sters: Typical Atypical Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease: A Case Presenting as a Rapidly Progressive Corticobasal Syndrome Without Dementia.

Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD) is a rare disease but a common cause of rapidly progressive neurodegeneration. Although the "classic" presentation involves early dementia or behavioral changes, there are well-described atypical variants with less prominent cognitive symptoms at onset. One such variant is Corticobasal Syndrome (CBS), which may be seen with other underlying neurodegenerative processes, but when due to prion disease pathology involves much more rapid progression and certain characteristic imaging findings. This report presents a case presenting as CBS without cognitive or behavioral changes at onset, which rapidly progressed and was determined ultimately to be due to underlying CJD. This case illustrates the need for a high index of suspicion for CJD in order to drive appropriate diagnostic testing and careful review of imaging and EEG findings, which may be subtle in early disease.
Personhood, procedure and the endurance of corporate compliance

Over the past century, the Supreme Court has maintained a procedural framework that greatly eases the government’s burden in enforcing the substantive laws that regulate corporations and business entities. Concededly, it is still difficult to hold wrongdoers accountable for business related misconduct. Nevertheless, corporate constitutional procedure is rarely the roadblock preventing government prosecution. Most of corporate criminal procedure’s ground rules arise of the Constitution’s Fourth and Fifth Amendments. The Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment decisions permit government enforcers to avoid the costs of seeking and defending search warrants by instead serving broadly worded subpoena requests. Its Fifth Amendment precedents are even more important, as they bar business entities from claiming the privilege against self-incrimination. As technology reshapes society’s attitudes about government power, these rules are apt to change. Buoyed by the Court’s affirmation of a strong, rights-based vision of corporate personhood, new procedural rules may eventually enable corporate defendants to disempower the government’s procedural tools. This new equilibrium, in turn, will then impact the corporation’s internal policing function, also known as corporate compliance. For the past three decades, the government has successfully induced corporations to develop internal compliance programs, whose obligations span from policing the company’s employees to inculcating pro-social norms. To the extent compliance improves the firm’s internal governance and operational efforts, there exists good reasons for desiring strong compliance programs regardless of outside pressure. But compliance’s benefits are long-term in nature and difficult to verify. For that reason, outside pressure – in the form of enforcement actions and threatened prosecutions– remains necessary. The aim of this Chapter is to explore what happens when that outside pressure abates. If constitutional theories of personhood and procedure converge in a way to disable government enforcement institutions, how does the corresponding enforcement gap affect the corporation’s internal policing mechanism? Have corporate officers and employees internalized compliance’s lessons? Or is compliance a highly elastic concept, poised to disappear as soon as enforcement becomes encumbered by procedural hurdles? As I explain in the final part of this Chapter, what we know thus far inspires competing feelings of concern and optimism.
Bias against Daughters in Health-care Provision: A Theoretical Analysis ⁄

This is a theoretical paper to analyze possible bias against daughters in the provision of healthcare. Women once married become part of in-laws’ families, leading to certain interfamily externalities in household decision making, which in turn result in gender bias in healthcare. We also flnd that the extent of gender bias increases with the cost of healthcare.
Risk Management, Corporate Governance and the Public Corporation

The finance literature describes risk management as being concerned with identifying and managing a firm’s exposure to financial risk. Corporate governance is often described as the set of rules, structures and procedures by which investors assure themselves of getting a return on their investment and ensure that managers do not misuse the investor’s funds. This essay addresses the connection between risk management and corporate governance and the public corporation. We argue that risk management and risk management products help ensure the survival of the firm and thereby support broad public policy objectives — objectives beyond the immediate interests of the owners of the company and a narrow financial objective of shareholder wealth maximization.
A Social Network Model of Direct Versus Indirect Reciprocity in a Corrections-Based Therapeutic Community

Therapeutic communities (TCs) for substance abuse depend heavily on mutual aid between residents, who are expected to help each other in attaining recovery. An example of this mutual aid is that residents are expected to affirm each other for actions that are considered helpful in recovery or beneficial to the community. It is unclear how the residents maintain cooperative behavior. In this paper we construct an agent-based model in which affirmations are recorded as directional arcs in a social network. Reception of affirmations can be based on either direct reciprocity, an exchange of aid between two agents, friend of a friend dynamics, in which the exchange extends by one node, or indirect reciprocity, in which helping one agent improves the reputation of the agent who gives help and thereby attracts help from others. We then compare the model results to records of affirmations between residents kept in a TC. We find that indirect reciprocity more closely ­mimics the level of reciprocity and transitivity found in the actual network.
Image data compression with vector quantization in the transform domain

In this paper, an algorithm is presented for image data compression based upon vector quantization of the two-dimensional discrete cosine transformed coefficients. The ac energies of the transformed blocks are used to classify them into eight different ac classes. The ac coefficients of the transformed blocks of class one are set to zero, while those of classes two through eight are transmitted by seven different code books. The dc coefficients of all eight classes are scalar quantized by an adaptive uniform quantizer. As a result, only 4.5 bits instead of eight bits are required to transmit the dc coefficient with negligible additional degradation. Overall, this algorithm requires approximately 0.75 bits per pixel and gives an average reconstruction error of 7.1.
Comparison of continental and oceanic mantle electrical conductivity: Is the Archean lithosphere dry?

[1] Electrical conductivity profiles derived from magnetotelluric and geomagnetic sounding methods provide a means of constraining upper mantle properties that is complementary to seismic studies. We analyze conductivity profiles for an Archean craton and an oceanic setting, in conjunction with independent constraints on mantle geotherms, to estimate the water content of the upper mantle in these very different geologic environments. Results from this analysis indicate that the Archean lithosphere contains less water than the oceanic mantle in the depth range between ∼150 and ∼250 km. Below ∼250 km these oceanic and continental environments show similar conductivities, suggesting that the water content of the mantle does not vary significantly between ∼250 km and the 410-km discontinuity. These observations indicate that the Archean lithosphere may be stabilized against convective instabilities partly because it has a high viscosity associated with a dry composition.
Regulation of the gain of visually guided smooth-pursuit eye movements by frontal cortex

In studies of the neural mechanisms giving rise to behaviour, changes in the neural and behavioural responses produced by a given stimulus have been widely reported. This ‘gain control’ can boost the responses to sensory inputs that are particularly relevant1,2,3,4, select among reflexes for execution by motoneurons5,6 or emphasize specific movement targets7. Gain control is also an integral part of the smooth-pursuit eye movement system8,9,10,11,12,13. One signature of gain control is that a brief perturbation of a stationary target during fixation causes tiny eye movements, whereas the same perturbation of a moving target during the active state of accurate pursuit causes large responses9. Here we show that electrical stimulation of the smooth-pursuit eye movement region in the arcuate sulcus of the frontal lobe (‘the frontal pursuit area’, FPA) mimics the active state of pursuit. Such stimulation enhances the response to a brief perturbation of target motion, regardless of the direction of motion. We postulate that the FPA sets the gain of pursuit, thereby participating in target selection for pursuit.
A bilinear reduction based algorithm for solving capacitated multi-item dynamic pricing problems

In a capacitated multi-item dynamic pricing problem one maximizes the profit by choosing a proper production level as well as pricing policy, where the latter depends on a satisfied demand. The objective function involves inventory, production and setup costs, and revenue functions. The products are required to satisfy joined production capacities. We consider a bilinear reduction of the linear mixed integer formulation of the problem and prove that the problem is equivalent to finding a global maximum of the bilinear problem. A heuristic algorithm is proposed, based on the reduction technique. Numerical experiments confirm the efficiency of the proposed technique.
Evidence for multiple prolactin receptor transcripts in the turkey

Multiple prolactin receptor (PRL-R) mRNA transcript isoforms have been identified in mammals, but there are conflicting reports concerning the number of avian PRL-R isoforms. We hypothesized that multiple turkey PRL-R transcript isoforms exist and that PRL-R mRNA abundance may be related to reproductive status. Two turkey PRL-R cDNA fragments were generated using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that displayed a high degree of similarity to mammalian and avian PRL-R. Northern blot analysis of poly A+ mRNA hybridized to a turkey PRL-R riboprobe revealed a 3.1-kb band in the liver, oviduct, and testes. Additional 1.5- and 10.7-kb transcripts were found in the liver and testes, respectively. Hybridization of the same Northern blot to a chicken PRL-R probe verified the presence of a 3.1-kb transcript in all three tissues. A Northern blot was used to examine turkey PRL-R transcript isoform expression in laying hens. A 3.1-kb band was found in the pineal, infundibulum, magnum, isthmus, kidney, and intestine. In addition, 10.7- and 7.3-kb bands were detected in the pineal, magnum, isthmus, and intestine. Turkey PRL-R transcript isoforms were also examined throughout the reproductive cycle. The 10.7-, 7.3-, and 3.1-kb isoforms were detected in the oviduct, intestine, and pineal during each reproductive state. Turkey PRL-R mRNA levels were also compared during the reproductive cycle. Turkey PRL-R mRNA levels were greatest in laying hen pineal glands (P<0.05) and in incubating hen oviducts. This study provides the first evidence for multiple PRL-R mRNA transcript isoforms in turkeys.
Fractional-order dynamics in a random, approximately scale-free network of agents

Differential equations with fractional-order derivatives, e.g., the "one-half" derivative, have a long history in mathematics, but have not yet attained mainstream use in engineering and applied science. While applications do exist in modeling specific phenomena such as visco-elasticity and other types of difficult-to-model phenomena, and extensions to control such as in fractional-order PID do exist, everyday use of fractional order modeling is uncommon. A subset of complex systems called Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) is receiving much emphasis in the research community. In this paper we show examples of networked system models which exhibit fractional-order dynamic responses. This suggests that fractional-order dynamics may be prevalent in CPS and hence may be an important and useful modeling tool in that area. We particularly focus on a scale free networked system.
Preparing Pre-Service Generalist Teachers to Use Creative Movement in K-6

Abstract University courses preparing elementary education majors to incorporate creative movement into their teaching methodology are becoming requirements in many schools of education around the country. The article addresses three questions pertinent to preparing upcoming teachers: 1. How can pre-service generalist teachers develop an appreciation of creative movement as a means of problem-solving and expression? 2. What strategies and approaches are university professors finding useful for these students? and, 3. How can the art form of dance remain prominent while using creative movement as an educational tool? The “how to's” of using creative movement to teach academic concepts is described and example lessons included.
Where Are the Medicare Part D Claims Data

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have collected prescription drug claims data from all Medicare Part D plans since 2006, but these data are used only for limited purposes. Therefo...
Celebrating the Ordinary: Church, Empire and Gender in the Life of Mère Marie‐Michelle Dédié(Senegal, Congo, 1882–1931)

Member of the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny, Mere Marie-Michelle Dedie worked within a highly gendered institution, the Catholic church and within a highly gendered colonial society. Although at considerable personal cost, she successfully achieved her goals – the training of African girls and women in the Christian life – by working within prescribed boundaries rather than contesting them. She was lauded by churchmen for her dedication and fortitude, and celebrated by colonial men, who found and imagined in her the kinder face of the imperial enterprise. Mere Marie's life suggests a study of the lives of missionary nuns in the outposts of empire may add to our understanding of the contradictions of empire and the complexities of colonial society, as well as the predicaments and successes of religious women.
Using economic sanctions to control regional conflicts

(1996). Using economic sanctions to control regional conflicts. Security Studies: Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 43-72.
Performance Modeling and Analysis of the IEEE 802.11 Distribution Coordination Function in Presence of Hidden Stations

In this paper, we propose an analytical model to evaluate the hidden station effect on the performance of the IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function (DCF). DCF is a random channel-access scheme based on Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) method and the binary slotted exponential backoff procedure to reduce the packet collision. Most collisions are caused by hidden stations because stations cannot sense each other's transmission and often send packets concurrently, resulting in significant degradation of the network performance. The proposed model generalizes the existing work on 802.11 DCF performance modeling. The performance of our model is evaluated by comparison with NS-2 simulations. The impact of different parameters, such as the number of station, packet size and initial backoff window size, is also considered.
The Relationship Between Professional Preparation and Class Structure on Health Instruction in the Secondary Classroom

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of professional preparation and class structure on health content delivery and time spent delivering content among required health education classes in the United States. METHODS: Data from the classroom-level file of the 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study were utilized. A series of multivariable logistic regression models were employed to determine if instruction of content was dependent on professional preparation and/or class structure. Years of teaching health topics and size of the school district were included as covariates in the multivariable logistic models. We also conducted a multivariable logistic regression model to examine if time spent teaching each topic area was dependent upon professional preparation and/or class structure. RESULTS: Findings indicated that professionally prepared teachers were significantly more likely to deliver content in 6 of 12 health topic areas when compared to untrained teachers. Class structure was also an important predictor of content delivery among many topic areas. Teachers who taught classes that were devoted to health instruction were significantly more likely to deliver content in the following topic areas: alcohol/drug prevention, tobacco prevention, sexuality, pregnancy, human immuno virus and sexually transmitted disease prevention, emotional/mental health and suicide, and violence prevention. CONCLUSIONS: Research concerning the relationship between professional preparation and teaching outcomes is scant. The present study indicates that health content coverage and time spent on instruction are associated with both professional preparation and class structure for many health content areas.
The Structural Change Proposal in the Israeli Schools: Conflict and Conquest

A conflict of interests between two groups of educationists over proposed legislation for a school structural change is examined. Compromise is not achieved and evidence shows that the party which possessed more political power eliminated the threat of the other party. The process of conflict resolution is shown to reflect both a continuous utilization by the parties of legitimate influence and a gradually increasing use of illegitimate influence. Evidence also suggests that both parties adhered to the principle of minimization of waste of influence resources. A brief discussion of governmental organization for education in Israel precedes this case in educational politics. Hypotheses based on the work of Iannacconne and related to administrative and political influences of the parties to the conflict arc stated. A cross cultural dimension is added along certain theoretical constructs by comparing state politics of education in Israel and in one American State.
Multimedia content management in MPEG-21 framework

MPEG-21 is an emerging standard from MPEG that specifies a framework for transactions of multimedia content. MPEG-21 defines the fundamental concept known as a digital item, which is the unit of transaction in the multimedia framework. A digital item can be used to package content for such as a digital photograph, a video clip or movie, a musical recording with graphics and liner notes, a photo album, and so on. The packaging of the media resources, corresponding identifiers, and associated metadata is provided in the declaration of the digital item. The digital item declaration allows for more effective transaction, distribution, and management of multimedia content and corresponding metadata, rights expressions, variations of media resources. In this paper, we describe various challenges for multimedia content management in the MPEG-21 framework.
Substrate specificities of the insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor tyrosine kinase catalytic domains.

To compare the substrate specificities of the insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptor tyrosine kinases, the catalytic domains of the enzymes have been expressed in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins. The purified proteins have kinase activity, demonstrating that the catalytic domain of IGF-1 receptor, like that of insulin receptor, is active independent of its ligand-binding and transmembrane domains. The specificities of the two enzymes for the divalent cations Mg2− and Mn2− are indistinguishable. A series of peptides has been prepared that reproduces the major phosphorylation sites of insulin receptor substrate-1, a common substrate for the two receptor tyrosine kinases in vivo. Insulin and IGF-1 receptors show distinct preferences for these peptides; whereas insulin receptor prefers peptides based on Tyr-987 or Tyr-727 of insulin receptor substrate-1, the IGF-1 receptor preferentially recognizes the Tyr-895 site. The latter site, when phosphorylated, is a binding site for the SH2 domain-containing adapter protein Grb2. The ability of the two receptor tyrosine kinases to be phosphorylated and activated by v-Src has also been examined. The catalytic activity of IGF-1 receptor is stimulated ≈3.4-fold by treatment with purified v-Src, while insulin receptor shows very little effect of Src phosphorylation under these conditions. This observation is relevant to recent findings of IGF-1 receptor activation in Src-transformed cells, and may represent one method by which Src amplifies its mitogenic signal. Collectively the data suggest that the catalytic domains of the two receptor kinases possess inherently different substrate specificities and signaling potentials.
Does pharmaceutical advertising affect journal publication about dietary supplements

Advertising affects consumer and prescriber behaviors. The relationship between pharmaceutical advertising and journals' publication of articles regarding dietary supplements (DS) is unknown. We reviewed one year of the issues of 11 major medical journals for advertising and content about DS. Advertising was categorized as pharmaceutical versus other. Articles about DS were included if they discussed vitamins, minerals, herbs or similar products. Articles were classified as major (e.g., clinical trials, cohort studies, editorials and reviews) or other (e.g., case reports, letters, news, and others). Articles' conclusions regarding safety and effectiveness were coded as negative (unsafe or ineffective) or other (safe, effective, unstated, unclear or mixed). Journals' total pages per issue ranged from 56 to 217 while advertising pages ranged from 4 to 88; pharmaceutical advertisements (pharmads) accounted for 1.5% to 76% of ad pages. Journals with the most pharmads published significantly fewer major articles about DS per issue than journals with the fewest pharmads (P < 0.01). Journals with the most pharmads published no clinical trials or cohort studies about DS. The percentage of major articles concluding that DS were unsafe was 4% in journals with fewest and 67% among those with the most pharmads (P = 0.02). The percentage of articles concluding that DS were ineffective was 50% higher among journals with more than among those with fewer pharmads (P = 0.4). These data are consistent with the hypothesis that increased pharmaceutical advertising is associated with publishing fewer articles about DS and publishing more articles with conclusions that DS are unsafe. Additional research is needed to test alternative hypotheses for these findings in a larger sample of more diverse journals.
Determination of aromatic amines in Fd&C yellow no 5 by diazotization and coupling followed by reversed-phase HPLC

Benzidine, aniline, 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP) and 4-aminoazobenzene are determined at trace levels in the colour additive FD&C Yellow No. 5 by diazotization and coupling with disodium 3-hydroxy-2,7-naphthalenedisulphonate (R-salt). The products are separated and determined by reversed-phase HPLC. All four amines were found in a survey of commercial colours. 4-ABP is determined with 4,5-dihydro-5-oxo-1-(4-sulphophenyl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid as the coupling agent. Calibration is done by spiking a reference commercial colour at several levels.
Genes, individuals, and kin selection

Abstract The altruistic-gene theory of kin selection requires conditions so improbable that its reality is doubtful. The gene-quantity theory, including the theory of inclusive fitness, assumes that selection acts on sums of kins' genes, but no effective mechanism is apparent. Insect and human societies may have evolved by individual selection, in two steps: first something made staying together advantageous to individuals, and then altruistic behaviors evolved in net-gain lotteries, also (statistically) advantageous to individuals. Kin selection is not required in these or any other unequivocal cases; the theory should be reexamined and probably abandoned. The probability of kin selection is further reduced by the cost of evolution by selection. Much current evolutionary mathematics and determinist sociobiology, which ignore how the cost of selection limits the precision of adaptations, including adaptive behaviors, may be dangerously unrealistic.
Determination of polythiazide and prazosin in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Abstract A selective high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of polythiazide in human plasma down to concentrations of 0.5 ng/ml. Polythiazide and an internal standard (epithiazide) are simultaneously extracted from the sample, the extract is purified on a silica micro-column and analyzed on a μBondapak CN column. Chloroform—methanol (97:3) is the eluent, with spectrophotometric detection at 264 nm. The extraction methodology developed for the analysis of polythiazide in blood plasma allows the simultaneous quantitative determination of prazosin, which is frequently administered together with thiazide diuretics. The precision and accuracy of both the polythiazide and the prazosin assays are excellent and are not seriously affected by the simultaneous presence of both drugs in the plasma. Therefore, determination of polythiazide and prazosin is possible using a single plasma sample.
A cytoskeleton-associated RNA-binding protein binds to the untranslated regions of prolamine mRNA and to poly(A).

Abstract Prolamine mRNAs are not randomly translated on the extensive endoplasmic reticulum (ER) system in developing rice endosperm. Instead they are localized on the surface of the prolamine protein bodies (PBs). Recent findings suggest that prolamine polysomes are attached to the surface of the prolamine PBs not only to the ER but also to the cytoskeleton which is associated with this organelle. To uncover the molecular and cellular basis for the localization of prolamine mRNAs in the rice endosperm cells, we obtained a enriched cytoskeleton-PB fraction and studied the RNA binding activities associated from fractions obtained from poly(U)-Sepharose. Using a RNA–protein UV cross-linking assay we identified a dominant 40-kDa RNA-binding protein associated with the cytoskeleton-PB-enriched fraction. This activity binds to the 3′ and 5′ untranslated regions of prolamine mRNA and the 3′ untranslated region of glutelin mRNA but not to their coding sequences. Binding activity is readily competed by polyadenylic acid indicating that the binding recognition site is A-rich.
On the feasibility of optical-CT imaging in media of different refractive index.

Purpose: Achieving accurate optical-CT 3D dosimetry without the use of viscous refractive index (RI) matching fluids would greatly increase convenience. Methods: Software has been developed to simulate optical-CT 3D dosimetry for a range of scanning configurations including parallel-beam, point, and converging light sources. For each configuration the efficacy of three refractive media was investigated: air, water, a fluid closely matched to PRESAGE®, and perfect matching (RI = 1.00, 1.33, 1.49, and 1.501 respectively). Reconstructions were performed using both filtered backprojection (FBP) and algebraic reconstruction technique (ART). The efficacy of the three configurations and the two algorithms was evaluated by calculating the usable radius (i.e., the outermost radius where data were accurate to within 2%), and gamma (Γ) analysis. This definition recognizes that for optical-CT imaging, errors are greatest near the edge of the dosimeter, where refraction can be most pronounced. Simulations were performed on three types of dose distribution: uniform, volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), and brachytherapy (Cs-137). Results: For a uniformly irradiated dosimeter the usable radius achieved with filtered backprojection was 68% for water-matching and 31% for dry-scanning in air. Algebraic reconstruction gave usable radii of 99% for both water and air (dry-scanning), indicating greater recovery of useful data for the uniform distribution. FBP and ART performed equally well for a VMAT dose distribution where less dose is delivered near the edge of the dosimeter. In this case, the usable radius was 86% and 53% for scanning in water and air, respectively. For brachytherapy, the usable radius was 99% and 98% for scanning in water and air, respectively using FBP, and a major decrease was seen with ART. Point source geometry provided 1%–2% larger usable radii than parallel geometry. Converging geometry recovered less usable dosimetry data (up to 10% reduced usable radii) than point and parallel geometries. A further disadvantage of converging geometry was an increased requirement on detector size by up to 18°. Conclusions: For applications where dose information is not required in the periphery of the dosimeter, some dry and low-viscous matching configurations may be feasible. For all three dose distributions (uniform, VMAT, brachytherapy) the point source geometry produced slightly more favorable results (an extra 1%–2% usable radii) than parallel and converging. When dosimetry is required on the periphery, best results were obtained using close refractive matching and ART. A concern for water or dry-scanning is the increase in required detector size, introducing potential cost penalties for manufacturing.
Bias and Confidence Interval Coverage of Creel Survey Estimators Evaluated by Simulation

Abstract The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has carried out a complete creel census on Escanaba Lake, Wisconsin for more than 40 years. We used this creel census data set as the basis for simulations of a stratified random three-stage creel survey (stages were days, shifts, and count times) in which harvest was estimated as the product of effort and harvest rate. Effort was estimated from instantaneous counts of anglers, and harvest rate was estimated from completed-trip interviews. We evaluated the bias and precision of estimators of annual angler effort and harvest with creel census data from 3 years of varying angler effort and harvest. This creel survey method resulted in excellent estimates of annual effort. There was no evidence of bias, and coefficients of variation were less than 0.10 even though the standard errors of estimates were somewhat too large, resulting in conservative 95% confidence intervals (97–99% coverage). We found no evidence of bias for a stratum estimator of harvest i...
Variation in pollen performance among plants of Fagopyrum esculentum

In genetically-heterogeneous outcrossing species, there is the opportunity for selection based on the male gamete. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is self-incompatible with one ovule per flower, so pollen competition at each ovule can be studied. The occurrence of selection among pollen parents was determined, as well as the relative importance of prezygotic and post-zygotic selection. Mixed pollinations from two donors produced nonrandom paternity, with one of the donors being favored about 2:1 on several females. Individual plants showed significant variation in the speed of pollen-tube growth. Therefore, prezygotic selection is likely to have occurred based on the speed of pollen tube growth. In single-donor pollinations, donors had equal success as expected in the absence of post-zygotic selection among donors. However, a significant male x female interaction was found, consistent with postzygotic selection against particular parental combinations. To test whether male fitness is reduced by increased allocation to seed filling during pollen production, large- and small-seeded lines were compared, both as pollen donor and as pollen recipient. The large-seeded line was better in both roles, thus there was no evidence that greater allocation to seeds reduced the quality of the pollen.
The slavery debate: A note from the sidelines

The groves of academe, as the inhabitants know, are a malarial jungle infested by snakes, snipers, and booby traps; only rarely does scientific argument ascend from guerrilla operations to global conflict in the classic style. Our own discipline is much blessed: the ongoing Great War between the Central Empires of Fogel and Engerman and the Allied Powers of near everybody else is a model of the kind, long-lasting, wide-ranging, and splendidly expensive in men and materiel.’ But in the heat and din of battle, the problems of tactics are all-absorbing, and strategic considerations easily lost sight of. How easy it is to win the battle but lose the war, or win the war but lose the peace! Might not the notes of a neutral observer from another theater help even the combatants to reflect upon their war aims? In a sense, the slavery issue is as old as the “new” economic history, which is just now coming of age.* The early questions of slavery’s profitability and viability have been set aside: viability despite high slave prices was established by the observation that the latter were demand prices rather than supply prices$ private profitability is taken for granted, since there is little evidence to the contrary (and equally little evidence for it, given that neither expected earnings nor ex ante discount rates can be observed);4 and social profitability is too complex a question to be usefully approached by cliometric modeling.’ The issues central to
Petroleum generation, an easy and widespread process in hydrothermal systems: an overview

Abstract The conversion of organic matter to petroleum products by hydrothermal activity is an easy process, occurring in nature in many types of environments. Geologically immature organic matter of marine sediments has been shown to be altered to petroleum products by this process in the Guaymas Basin, Escanaba Trough, Bransfield Strait and Atlantis II Deep and this process probably occurs elsewhere in active sedimented rift systems. Contemporary organic detritus and/or viable microorganisms are also converted in part to petroleum-like products when they become entrained by turbulent mixing into hydrothermal vent waters, resulting in their instantaneous hydrous pyrolysis. This latter case occurs in hydrothermal vent fields without a sedimentary cover emanating directly from oceanic ridges, as for example on the East Pacific Rise at 13°N and 21°N and on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 26°N. This process is probably also ubiquitous for all actively venting sediment-starved oceanic ridges. The hydrocarbon products generated in these areas have been compared in terms of composition, organic matter sources and analogy to reservoir petroleum. They represent a major carbon source for chemosynthetic assimilation by vent biota and are compositionally similar to normal petroleum.
Not Telling the Whole Story: Teen Deception in Purchasing

Teenagers may engage in consumption behaviors that their parents may not approve of, as one way of asserting independence. Such behaviors may lead teens to attempt to deceive their parents about purchases. This research examined teens’ tendency toward such deception. The authors conceptualize deception as being related to the family communication environment and the shopping context in which it takes place. Some family communication environments may stifle open discussion of products and purchases, thereby encouraging teen deception. Moreover, certain patterns of family communication may socialize teens to focus on standards exogenous to the family that, in turn, lead to a greater propensity to deceive. Susceptibility to normative peer influence, the extent of television viewing, and teen materialism may partially mediate the effects of the family communication environment. Except for television viewing, the authors’ predictions are generally supported by the data collected from a sample of high school students.
Evaluation of methods for sorting CCA-treated wood.

Abstract Construction and demolition (C&D) wood frequently contains treated wood including wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Many recycling options for such wood require that the product be essentially free of preservative chemicals. The objectives of this study were to document the characteristics of the wood waste stream and to evaluate the effectiveness of sorting methods for identifying treated wood. Sorting methods evaluated included visual sorting and visual sorting augmented with the use of PAN indicator stain and/or hand-held X-ray fluorescence (XRF) units. Experiments were conducted on two types of construction and demolition (C&D) wood: source separated loads containing only C&D wood and wood hand-picked from commingled loads of general C&D waste. Results showed that 77% of the treated wood was CCA-treated. For uncontaminated piles (
New Horizons: A Partnership Between a New Medical Library and a Specialized Hospital Library, with Recommendations for the Future

Hospital libraries have often formed affiliations with other libraries. Miami Children's Hospital affiliated Florida International University (FIU) following the opening of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) in 2009. The relationship between the Miami Children's Hospital Medical Library and Florida International University's HWCOM Library is examined. Attention is given to resource sharing, collaboration, affiliation agreements, and future possibilities. Several obstacles that inhibit collaboration between the libraries and proposed solutions are also noted.
Plasma cell purification from murine bone marrow using a two-step isolation approach

Interest in plasma cells has increased greatly in the past decade. While several studies have examined the longevity and transcriptional control of antibody secreting cells in vivo, few studies have examined freshly isolated plasma cells ex vivo. Studies of primary plasma cells have been limited primarily due to the difficulty of isolating the large numbers of plasma cells necessary for experiments. In this protocol, plasma cells are purified from murine bone marrow in approximately 5 hours, following a two-step isolation method utilizing column enrichment and FACS-sorting based on CD138 (Syndecan-1) surface expression.
Effects of Selection on Variances and Covariances of Simulated First and Second Lactations

Abstract When variances and covariances are estimated for a number of traits of individuals, frequently each animal does not have records on all traits as a result of selection for one or more traits. Usual estimators of components of variances and covariances are biased by selection. Components of variance for sires and errors for production in first and second lactations and for sire and error covariances between those lactations were estimated from unselected and selected simulated data by Maximum Likelihood and Henderson's Method 1. Estimates by Maximum Likelihood were computed by an iterative algorithm based on Henderson's mixed model equations. Estimates by Method 1 from unselected data were unbiased. Estimates by Method 1 of variances of second records and covariances between records from data with 50% selection were biased. There were only slight differences between the parameters and estimates by Maximum Likelihood from either unselected or selected data. These results suggest the usefulness of Maximum Likelihood to estimate variances and covariances when selection within fixed subclasses exists.
fMRI reveals reciprocal inhibition between social and physical cognitive domains

Two lines of evidence indicate that there exists a reciprocal inhibitory relationship between opposed brain networks. First, most attention-demanding cognitive tasks activate a stereotypical set of brain areas, known as the task-positive network and simultaneously deactivate a different set of brain regions, commonly referred to as the task negative or default mode network. Second, functional connectivity analyses show that these same opposed networks are anti-correlated in the resting state. We hypothesize that these reciprocally inhibitory effects reflect two incompatible cognitive modes, each of which may be directed towards understanding the external world. Thus, engaging one mode activates one set of regions and suppresses activity in the other. We test this hypothesis by identifying two types of problem-solving task which, on the basis of prior work, have been consistently associated with the task positive and task negative regions: tasks requiring social cognition, i.e., reasoning about the mental states of other persons, and tasks requiring physical cognition, i.e., reasoning about the causal/mechanical properties of inanimate objects. Social and mechanical reasoning tasks were presented to neurologically normal participants during fMRI. Each task type was presented using both text and video clips. Regardless of presentation modality, we observed clear evidence of reciprocal suppression: social tasks deactivated regions associated with mechanical reasoning and mechanical tasks deactivated regions associated with social reasoning. These findings are not explained by self-referential processes, task engagement, mental simulation, mental time travel or external vs. internal attention, all factors previously hypothesized to explain default mode network activity. Analyses of resting state data revealed a close match between the regions our tasks identified as reciprocally inhibitory and regions of maximal anti-correlation in the resting state. These results indicate the reciprocal inhibition is not attributable to constraints inherent in the tasks, but is neural in origin. Hence, there is a physiological constraint on our ability to simultaneously engage two distinct cognitive modes. Further work is needed to more precisely characterize these opposing cognitive domains.
Water intoxication in a cretinoid infant.

A 4-month-old myxedematous infant in a state of coma is presented. Subnormal temperatures, coma, convulsions and shock were the main clinical findings. The examination of the serum electrolytes disclosed a profound hyponatremia and hypochloremia with a normokalemia. This complication of myxedema had been precipitated by gavaging and overloading the patient with fluids. Hypervolemic hyponatremia (water intoxication) resulted, most probably due to inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion, as suggested by Goldberg and Reivich (26). The hazards of overloading myxedematous patients with fluids is stressed, since in reviewing the literature on myxedema coma it seems likely that some of these cases were actually myxedematous patients with iatrogenic water intoxication.
Empirical Research In Management, Spirituality & Religion During Its Founding Years

Studying management, spirituality, and religion (MSR) in the workplace involves multi-disciplinary and broadly based literatures. This study utilizes a unique, quantitative visual analysis to explore the disciplinary inclusiveness of MSR in its founding decade from 1996–2005 by examining the population of 231 peer-reviewed empirical MSR-based journal articles. Results show conceptual research construct distinctions within the MSR domain and which disciplines are most represented in the field. The results also demonstrate what ideas from other fields might be missing in business-related MSR research. Finally, the study identifies conceptual clusters and conversations for MSR research in business contexts to utilize going forward.