cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of leucovorin administration on mucositis and skin reactions in patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma or cutaneous T-cell lymphoma treated with pralatrexate*

AbstractPeripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) are rare, heterogeneous non-Hodgkin lymphomas with poor prognoses. Pralatrexate has demonstrated efficacy in T-cell lymphomas; however, mucositis has been reported as the most common dose-modifying adverse event. Leucovorin has been shown to minimize mucositis incidence, without sacrificing pralatrexate efficacy. We retrospectively studied 34 patients (7-PTCL/27-CTCL) treated with pralatrexate alone or pralatrexate and leucovorin. Leucovorin was administered preemptively prior to any mucositis occurrence. Pralatrexate dosing ranged from 10–30 mg/m2 and clinical response or disease stabilization was observed in 85.2%. The incidence of mucositis was reduced in CTCL patients to 17% and was ameliorated in all but one patient with PTCL. There was no change the incidence of skin reactions with the addition of leucovorin. The response rates were similar to those previously reported in CTCL and PTCL. The addition of leucovorin reduced ...
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals alter the neuromolecular phenotype in F2 generation adult male rats

Endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) exposures to the fetus have long-lasting effects on health and disease in adulthood. Such EDC exposure to the F1 fetuses also reaches the germ cells that become the F2 generation. Previously, we demonstrated that adult social and communicative behaviors such as ultrasonic vocalizations and mating behaviors were altered by EDCs in F2 rats, especially males. In the current study, we used the brains of these F2 males to ascertain the underlying molecular changes in the hypothalamus related to these behavioral outcomes. Their progenitors were Sprague-Dawley rat dams, treated on pregnancy days 8 to 18 with one of three treatments: a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture, Aroclor 1221, selected because it is weakly estrogenic; the anti-androgenic fungicide vinclozolin (VIN); or the vehicle, 6% dimethylsulfoxide in sesame oil (VEH). In adulthood, F1 male and female offspring were bred with untreated partners to generate paternal or maternal lineages of the F2 offspring, the subjects of molecular work. Quantitative real-time PCR was conducted in the medial preoptic area (POA) and the ventromedial nucleus (VMN) of the hypothalamus, selected for their roles in social and sexual behaviors. Of the genes assessed, steroid hormone receptors (estrogen receptor α, androgen receptor, progesterone receptor) but not dopamine receptors 1 and 2 or DNA methyltransferase 3a expression were altered, particularly in the VIN males. Several significant correlations between behavior and gene expression were also detected. These results suggest that preconceptional exposure of male rats to EDCs at the germ cell stage alters the neuromolecular phenotype in adulthood in a lineage-dependent manner.
Prediction of peptide binding to MHC using machine learning with sequence and structure-based feature sets.

Abstract Selecting peptides that bind strongly to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) for inclusion in a vaccine has therapeutic potential for infections and tumors. Machine learning models trained on sequence data exist for peptide:MHC (p:MHC) binding predictions. Here, we train support vector machine classifier (SVMC) models on physicochemical sequence-based and structure-based descriptor sets to predict peptide binding to a well-studied model mouse MHC I allele, H-2Db. Recursive feature elimination and two-way forward feature selection were also performed. Although low on sensitivity compared to the current state-of-the-art algorithms, models based on physicochemical descriptor sets achieve specificity and precision comparable to the most popular sequence-based algorithms. The best-performing model is a hybrid descriptor set containing both sequence-based and structure-based descriptors. Interestingly, close to half of the physicochemical sequence-based descriptors remaining in the hybrid model were properties of the anchor positions, residues 5 and 9 in the peptide sequence. In contrast, residues flanking position 5 make little to no residue-specific contribution to the binding affinity prediction. The results suggest that machine-learned models incorporating both sequence-based descriptors and structural data may provide information on specific physicochemical properties determining binding affinities.
Hearing Damage Induced by Blast Overpressure at Mild TBI Level in a Chinchilla Model.

INTRODUCTION The peripheral auditory system and various structures within the central auditory system are vulnerable to blast injuries, and even blast overpressure is at relatively mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) level. However, the extent of hearing loss in relation to blast number and time course of post-blast is not well understood. This study reports the progressive hearing damage measured in chinchillas after multiple blast exposures at mild TBI levels (103-138 kPa or 15-20 psi). MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixteen animals (two controls) were exposed to two blasts and three blasts, respectively, in two groups with both ears plugged with foam earplugs to prevent the eardrum from rupturing. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) and distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) were measured in pre- and post-blasts. Immunohistochemical study of chinchilla brains were performed at the end of experiment. RESULTS Results show that the ABR threshold and DPOAE level shifts in 2-blast animals were recovered after 7 days. In 3-blast animals, the ABR and DPOAE shifts remained at 26 and 23 dB, respectively after 14 days. Variation of auditory cortex damage between 2-blast and 3-blast was also observed in immunofluorescence images. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that the number of blasts causing mild TBI critically affects hearing damage.
The future of pre-doctoral orthodontic education lies within the bakery aisle

Abstract Evidence shows that general practitioners desire better pre-doctoral orthodontic education while in dental school. This is particularly critical for those who choose to perform minor tooth movement in private practice, which is pervasive. The key to the future of pre-doctoral orthodontic education lies in providing a thorough understanding of orthodontic diagnosis, including facial balance issues, which then provides a framework for focusing on limited treatment. A scenario based curriculum will be discussed that encourages understanding rather than memorization. An acronym for orthodontic diagnosis will also be presented which provides an overall approach to understanding malocclusion rather than being numbers based.
Much ado about two: reconsidering retransformation and the two-part model in health econometrics

In health economics applications involving outcomes (y) and covariates (x), it is often the case that the central inferential problems of interest involve E[y|x] and its associated partial effects or elasticities. Many such outcomes have two fundamental statistical properties: y≥0; and the outcome y=0 is observed with sufficient frequency that the zeros cannot be ignored econometrically. This paper (1) describes circumstances where the standard two-part model with homoskedastic retransformation will fail to provide consistent inferences about important policy parameters; and (2) demonstrates some alternative approaches that are likely to prove helpful in applications.
Using People Styles for Interpersonal Competence: Encouraging Purposeful Reflection on Communication Behaviors

The purpose of this article is to revitalize the idea of soft skills as an important part of evaluator training through reflecting on the use of the People Styles Assessment Inventory (Bolton & Bolton, 2009) as a reflective exercise in a course with masters and Ph. D. level evaluation and measurement students. This paper provides an overview of the recent conversation in the literature surrounding interpersonal competency in evaluation, highlighting the need for and lack of emphasis on interpersonal skills in evaluation training, then describes the teaching practice context for engaging in the People Styles assessment and reflective activity. The People Styles model is described in detail along with key reflections on the use of the model for training future evaluation practitioners.
Diaspora and Small Country Economic Development

The promise of diaspora business networks is yet to materialize in a sustainable fashion. This paper offers a realistic, survey-based, perspective of diaspora driven economic development in small economies of Europe and the former Soviet Union. Emphasizing new waves of international migration and remittances flows, the literature puts disproportionate hope on diaspora to fill the structural voids, what this paper calls a diasporization argument, to motivate international business growth. Informed by a unique Armenian Diaspora Survey, this paper critiques the conventional view and proposes a new analytical framework, reaching three conclusions. First, a diaspora is a multilayered socioeconomic construct, diminishing its first-mover potential. Second, any successful engagement is a function of a sustained interaction of a diaspora with homeland. Finally, in the absence of systemic engagement infrastructure, a diaspora transfer of nonmonetary skills is short-lived. Thus, small open economies remain structurally disadvantaged integrating international business networks. This paper attempts to inform international business and policy literature on small open economies that are seeking to diversify their development approaches, especially following the 2020 economic and health crises.
When the Lawyer Screws Up: A Portrait of Legal Malpractice Claims and Their Resolution

All professionals make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes harm the clients or patients. What happens when this occurs and the professional involved is a lawyer? Surprisingly, there is virtually no empirical research on legal malpractice. In contrast, there is an extensive empirical literature on medical malpractice and the legal handling of legal malpractice claims. This literature examines the frequency of medical malpractice claims, how they are handled, how they are resolved, and their impact on access to and cost of medical care. The absence of a similar literature concerning legal malpractice is at least somewhat surprising given that there are roughly equal numbers of private practice lawyers and patient care physicians in the United States.In this paper we provide an empirical portrait of legal malpractice claims and their resolution. We draw on a wide range of data sources including reports published by the American Bar Association, reports from individual insurers, and data sets obtained from insurance regulators in Florida and Missouri. We examine a wide range of questions including the areas of practice producing large numbers of claims, the types of errors alleged in the claims, the practice settings and experience of the lawyers subject to the claims, the likelihood that claims are successful and the amounts paid in damages in successful claims and how the outcomes vary depending on factors such as the area of practice and the size of firm, and the frequency and outcomes of trials of legal malpractice cases including some comparisons to trials involving other types of professional malpractice.A central finding of our analysis is that there are essentially two hemispheres of legal malpractice paralleling the two hemispheres of the bar identified by Heinz and Laumann in their study of the Chicago bar. In the personal services sector one finds mostly relatively small stakes cases often involving plaintiffs’ personal injury, real estate, family law, and collections and bankruptcy; much of the insurance coverage is provided by mutual insurers started by and/or affiliated with state bars. In the corporate sector stakes tend to be very large, and cases involve corporate matters, corporate litigation, and high stakes areas such as intellectual property and securities; insurance is provided by either by specialized insurers or through brokers who put assemble a group of insurers to cover a large law firm.
The Commerce Clause and Federalism after Lopez and Morrison: The Case for Closing the Jurisdictional-Element Loophole

OF THE UNITED STATES: 1996 (1997), available at http://vww.census.gov/prod/2/ 96statab/parks.pdf (last visited July 17, 2001) [hereinafter STATISTICAL ABSTRACT 1996]. This figure includes some intrastate travel, but the increase demonstrates an increase in both intrastate and
A hierarchial, combinatorial-Markov model of solving complex reliability models

The design process for complex, fault-tolerant systems needs to be supported by cost-effective and accurate techniques for design evaluation in order to facilitate trade-off analysis. Combinatorial models such as fault-trees and reliability block diagrams are efficient in both specification and evaluation of system models. But is is difficult if not impossible to allow for various types of dependency (such as repair dependency and near-coincident-fault type dependency), transient and intermittent faults, standby systems with warm spares, and so forth. Markov models can capture such interesting system behavior. However, the size of a Markov model for the evaluation of such a system may grow exponentially with the number of components in the system. One approach that has been successful in connection with ultra-high reliability modeling is called behavioral decomposition. This approach is based on the decomposition of the model along temporal lines, separately analyzing a fast submodel (corresponding to fault/error-handling behavior) and a slow submodel (corresponding to the fault-occurrence behavior). In practical problems, however, the fault-occurrence behavior itself gives rise to a large number of states in the underlying stochastic process. This paper presents an approach for avoiding the large state space problem in the fault-occurrence model while retaining the benefits of behavioral decomposition. The approach used is part of a general hierarchical modeling technique for solving complex reliability models that allows the flexibility of Markov models where necessary and retains the efficiency of combinatorial solution where possible. Examples are presented that show how combinations of models can be used to evaluate the reliability and availability of large systems.
Leptin and Hunger Levels in Young Healthy Adults After One Night of Sleep Loss

Short-term sleep curtailment associated with activation of the stress system in healthy, young adults has been shown to be associated with decreased leptin levels, impaired insulin sensitivity, and increased hunger and appetite. To assess the effects of one night of sleep loss in a less stressful environment on hunger, leptin, adiponectin, cortisol and blood pressure/heart rate, and whether a 2-h mid-afternoon nap reverses the changes associated with sleep loss, 21 young healthy individuals (10 men, 11 women) participated in a 7-day sleep deprivation experiment (four consecutive nights followed by one night of sleep loss and two recovery nights). Half of the subjects were randomly assigned to take a mid-afternoon nap (14:00-16:00 hours) the day following the night of total sleep loss. Serial 24-h blood sampling and hunger scales were completed on the fourth (predeprivation) and sixth day (postdeprivation). Leptin levels were significantly increased after one night of total sleep loss, whereas adiponectin, cortisol levels, blood pressure/heart rate, and hunger were not affected. Daytime napping did not influence the effects of sleep loss on leptin, adiponectin, or hunger. Acute sleep loss, in a less stressful environment, influences leptin levels in an opposite manner from that of short-term sleep curtailment associated with activation of the stress system. It appears that sleep loss associated with activation of the stress system but not sleep loss per se may lead to increased hunger and appetite and hormonal changes, which ultimately may lead to increased consumption of 'comfort' food and obesity.
Geochemical and Geological Significance of Subsurface Microbiology

Background Microbial Fluid Interactions Microbial–Mineral Interactions Keywords: geochemical aspects of sbsurface microbiology; geological aspects of subsurface microbiology; isotopic fractionation; subsurface microbiology
Dimensionality of Stable and Unstable Directions in the Gravitational N-Body Problem

The gravitational n—body problem is chaotic. Phase trajectories that start very near each other separate rapidly. The rate looks exponential over long times. At any instant, trajectories separated in certain directions move apart rapidly (unstable directions), while those separated in other directions stay about the same (stable directions). Unstable directions lie along eigenvectors that correspond to positive eigenvalues of the matrix of force gradients. The number of positive eigenvalues of that matrix gives the dimensionality of stable regions. This number has been studied numerically in a series of 100—body integrations. It continues to change as long as the integration continues because the matrix changes extremely rapidly. On average, there are about 1.2n unstable directions out of 3n. Issues of dimensionality arise when the tools of ergodic studies are brought to bear on the problem of trajectory separation. A method of estimating the rate of trajectory separation based on matrix descriptions is presented in this note. Severe approximations are required.
Synchronous Adenocarcinoma and Mantle Cell Lymphoma of the Colon

Abstract Synchronous occurrence of malignant lymphoma and carcinoma, both located in the intestinal tract, is unusual. We report a unique case of an adenocarcinoma of the cecum and a simultaneous mantle cell lymphoma of the colon, terminal ileum, and regional lymph nodes in an 85-year-old man. Grossly, the adenocarcinoma was identified as a cecal mass. Lymphomatous involvement of the gastrointestinal tract was evident only on microscopic examination. The terminal ileum and colon showed microscopic disseminated multiple mucosal nodules, with involvement of the regional lymph nodes. There was no involvement of distant organs, suggesting that the mantle cell lymphoma was early in its evolution without formation of polyps or a mass lesion. To our knowledge, this is the fourth reported case with this association and the second case that showed early involvement of the gastrointestinal tract with mantle cell lymphoma without polyp formation.
Family Accommodation of Child and Adolescent Anxiety: Mechanisms, Assessment, and Treatment.

Topic Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health concern for youth. Unfortunately, a substantial number of children and adolescents do not respond positively to current evidence-based interventions and/or relapse. As pediatric anxiety disorders are fundamentally a systemic phenomenon, focusing on the ways in which parents become involved in their children's anxiety symptoms may be a promising alternative approach to treatment. Purpose To inform psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) about the phenomenology, associated neurobiology, and assessment of family accommodation (FA) as well as clinical interventions targeting FA. FA refers to ways that parents adapt their own behaviors to reduce their children's anxiety-related distress. Sources Used A literature search was performed using Psyc-INFO and PubMed. Conclusions Current findings indicate a high prevalence of FA associated with pediatric anxiety disorders. FA has a potentially deleterious impact on course of illness and treatment response and is associated with greater caregiver burden. Potential neurobiological underpinnings of FA include dysregulation of parent cortico-limbic circuitry and the oxytocinergic system. PMHNPs are in a unique position to identify families engaged in problematic FA, educate their clientele, provide psychotherapy services with the goal of reducing FA, and consult with multidisciplinary team members.
Executive Satisfaction with Managerial Performance Appraisal in City Government

The methods used by municipal executives to appraise the performance of upper management subordinates differ substantially among major U.S. cities. Responses from 122 municipalities indicate a wide...
A decentralized AI system for transcript applications

A working expert system for assessing a student's course requirements for graduation in various departments of a university is presented. The system draws on artificial intelligence (AI) techniques of expert systems and natural language processing to facilitate interaction with both intermediate- and end-user. Expertise is expressed in rules that take the form of English sentences. The flexibility of the AI approach allowed substantial benefit from an earlier related system for admission of transfer students. A key feature with respect to the workplace is the system's transparency or non-disruptiveness, achieved by using an existing database. A special editor for output that looks like a filled-in form of the type that has traditionally been prepared by hand is provided. Transparency and ease of use have enhanced acceptability of the system for the people in the registrar's office, who have enthusiastically collaborated in design and testing. Acceptability should also make decentralization to the departments, the university's counterpart to the government field office, possible. >
A new hybrid inorganic sorbent for heavy metals removal

Abstract Iron oxyhydroxides, commonly known as ferrihydrites, are unable to remove dissolved heavy metals at acidic pH, especially below 5.0, due to fierce competition from hydrogen ions. A new hybrid iron-rich inorganic sorbent has been identified and extensively studied in relation to heavy metals removals in fixed-bed processes for influent pH as low as 3.5. Every single particle of this new hybrid sorbent essentially contains ferrihydrite along with a crystalline silicate phase, akermanite, in close proximity (in the order of 100A) to one another. Akermanite has a unique ability to produce hydroxyl ions through incongruent hydrolysis reactions without being washed out from the fixed bed. The simultaneous presence of akermanite and ferrihydrite in a single particle has a synergistic effect on the sorption process: while akermanite helps neutralize aqueous-phase hydrogen ions (thus enhancing sorption capacity of ferrihydrites), neighboring sorption sites in ferrihydrites quickly remove dissolved heavy metals, thus avoiding precipitation. Equally important, the hybrid sorbent can be regenerated with any amine/ammoniacal solution and reused for multiple number of cycles. Some precipitations may occur within the column at relatively high influent concentrations of heavy metals (around 50 mg/l) or due to chromatographic effect. Such precipitates are, however, amenable to removals by conventional backwashing
The FMIT Accelerator

A 35-MeV 100-mA cw linear accelerator is being designed by Los Alamos for use in the Fusion Materials Irradiation Test (FMIT) Facility. Essential to this program is the design, construction, and evaluation of performance of the accelerator's injector, low-energy beam transport, and radio-frequency quadrupole sections before they are shipped to the facility site. The installation and testing of some of these sections have begun as well as the testing of the rf, noninterceptive beam diagnostics, computer control, dc power, and vacuum systems. An overview of the accelerator systems and the performance to date is given.
Variation of the count-dependent Metz filter with imaging system modulation transfer function.

A systematic investigation was conducted of how a number of parameters which alter the system modulation transfer function (MTF) influence the count-dependent Metz filter. Since restoration filters are most effective at those frequencies where the object power spectrum dominates that of the noise, it was observed that parameters which significantly degrade the MTF at low spatial frequencies strongly influence the formation of the Metz filter. Thus the radionuclide imaged and the depth of the source in a scattering medium had the most influence. This is because they alter the relative amount of scattered radiation being imaged. For low-energy photon emitters, the collimator employed and the distance from the collimator were found to have less of an influence but still to be significant. These cause alterations in the MTF which are more gradual, and hence are most pronounced at mid to high spatial frequencies. As long as adequate spatial sampling is employed, the Metz filter was determined to be independent of the exact size of the sampling bin width, to a first approximation. For planar and single photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) imaging, it is shown that two-dimensional filtering with the Metz filter optimized for the imaging conditions is able tomore » deconvolve scatter and other causes of spatial resolution loss while diminishing noise, all in a balanced manner.« less
A Single Common Portal for Clathrin-mediated Endocytosis of Distinct Cargo Governed by Cargo-selective Adaptors

Sorting of transmembrane cargo into clathrin-coated vesicles requires endocytic adaptors, yet RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated gene silencing of the AP-2 adaptor complex only disrupts internalization of a subset of clathrin-dependent cargo. This suggests alternate clathrin-associated sorting proteins participate in cargo capture at the cell surface, and a provocative recent proposal is that discrete endocytic cargo are sorted into compositionally and functionally distinct clathrin coats. We show here that the FXNPXY-type internalization signal within cytosolic domain of the LDL receptor is recognized redundantly by two phosphotyrosine-binding domain proteins, Dab2 and ARH; diminishing both proteins by RNAi leads to conspicuous LDL receptor accumulation at the cell surface. AP-2–dependent uptake of transferrin ensues relatively normally in the absence of Dab2 and ARH, clearly revealing delegation of sorting operations at the bud site. AP-2, Dab2, ARH, transferrin, and LDL receptors are all present within the vast majority of clathrin structures at the surface, challenging the general existence of specialized clathrin coats for segregated internalization of constitutively internalized cargo. However, Dab2 expression is exceptionally low in hepatocytes, likely accounting for the pathological hypercholesterolemia that accompanies ARH loss.
Congenic strains displaying similar clinical phenotype of arthritis represent different immunologic models of inflammation.

Proteoglycan (PG)-induced arthritis (PGIA) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease controlled by multiple genes in the murine genome. BALB/c × DBA/2 congenic strains carrying four major PGIA chromosome loci were immunized, and positions of loci on chromosomes 3, 7, 8 and 19 (loci Pgia26, Pgia21, Pgia4 and Pgia12, respectively) were confirmed. Each congenic strain exhibited a different pattern of regulation of clinical and immunologic features of PGIA, and these features were significantly influenced by gender. Locus Pgia26 delayed PGIA onset in males and females, and the effect was associated with a lower rate of antigen-induced lymphocyte proliferation and lower production of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-4 (IL-4). Pgia12 similarly delayed onset in males, but the effect was achieved by elevated proliferation of PG-specific lymphocytes and enhanced production of IFN-γ and IL-4. The effect of the Pgia21 locus was arthritis-suppressive in females but PGIA-permissive in congenic males. These opposite effects are attributed to two-fold higher serum autoantibody and IL-6 levels in males than in females. Our study supports the idea that each congenic strain represents a different immunologic subtype of PGIA, providing an explanation for the complex etiology and various clinical phenotypes of rheumatoid arthritis.
Effect of Surface Coating on the Toxicity of Silver Nanomaterials on Human Skin Keratinocytes.

As nanotechnology field continues to develop, assessing nanoparticle toxicity is very important for advancing nanoparticles for daily life application. In this Letter, we report the effect of surface coating on cyto, geno and photo-toxicity of silver nanomaterials of different shapes on human skin HaCaT keratinocytes. We found that the citrate coated colloidal silver nanoparticles at 100 μg/mL level are not geno-, cyto- and phtotoxic. On the other hand, citrate coated powder form of the silver nanoparticles are toxic. We have demonstrated that coating of the silver nanoparticles with a biodegradable polymer prevents the toxicity of the powder. Toxicity mechanism has been discussed.
Effects of ethynyl estradiol on incorporation of [1-14C] oleate into triglyceride and ketone bodies by the liver

The effect of ethinyl estradiol (EE) on the incorporation of (1-carbon-14) oleate into triglyceride and ketone bodies by the rat liver was investigated. Treatment with EE resulted in significant increases in the incorporation of oleate into hepatic (p less than .05) and perfusate (p less than .005) triglycerides. However the incorporation of oleate into ketone body perfusate was significantly (p less than .001) reduced though liver incorporation was not markedly affected. Liver uptake of fatty acid was somewhat lower in treated rats. Possible mechanisms for the increased rate of secretion of triglycerides following treatment with EE are briefly discussed.
An algorithm for nth degree stochastic dominance

An algorithm for nth degree stochastic dominance is developed using necessary conditions derived by Whitmore, Jean and Jean and Helms to reduce the computation time. The algorithm is presented and tested to determine run times for large sets of portfolios. The algorithm is fast enough computationally to be useful for both research projects and practical applications.
Adsorption of hydrogen and carbon monoxide on nickel

Abstract Ion induced desorption was used to examine the emission of secondary ion clusters during coadsorption of H 2 and CO on nickel. In addition to the expected CO bearing species, a significant NiOH + signal was observed. It is suggested that the source of this cluster ion may be interaction of the parent adsorbed H 2 and CO. Evidence was also found for emission of a negative species of mass 26, presumably C 2 H − 2 .
DISCOURSE FUNCTIONS OF THEMATIZATION AND TOPICALIZATION

Thematization, the relative frequency of a discourse referent, and topicalization are conceptualized as related discourse functions. In a probe recall experiment, a word with a thematized referent was a better recall probe than a word with a nonthematized referent. Also, an agent noun was a better prompt than a recipient, and this semantic variable interacted with topicalization such that a semantic recipient was a better prompt when it was topic than when it was comment. In a second experiment, subjects' choice between semantically equivalent active and passive sentences was influenced by thematization. Thematized nouns were chosen as topics more often than nonthematized nouns, and nouns used as paragraph titles were chosen as topics slightly more than nontitle nouns. It is suggested that twin discourse functions are served by thematization and topicalization, the former providing stable referential focus and the latter providing momentary referential focus.
Microstructure and mechanical properties of an HfB2 + 30 vol.% SiC composite consolidated by spark plasma sintering

Abstract An ultra-high-temperature HfB2–SiC composite was successfully consolidated by spark plasma sintering. The powder mixture of HfB2 + 30 vol.% β-SiC was brought to full density without any deliberate addition of sintering aids, and applying the following conditions: 2100 °C peak temperature, 100 °C min−1 heating rate, 2 min dwell time, and 30 MPa applied pressure. The microstructure consisted of regular diboride grains (2 μm mean size) and SiC particulates evenly distributed intergranularly. The only secondary phase was monoclinic HfO2. The incorporated SiC particulates played a key role in enhancing the sinterability of HfB2. Flexural strength at 25 °C and 1500 °C in ambient air was 590 ± 50 and 600 ± 15 MPa, respectively. Fracture toughness at room temperature (RT) (3.9 ± 0.3 MPa √m) did not decrease at 1500 °C (4.0 ± 0.1 MPa √m). Grain boundaries depleted of secondary phases were fundamental for the retention of strength and fracture toughness at high temperature. The thermal shock resistance, evaluated through the water-quenching method, was 500 °C.
When Gender Matters: Macro-dynamics and Micro-mechanisms

Does candidate sex matter to general election outcomes? And if so, under what conditions does sex exert an effect? Research conducted over the past 40 years has asserted an absence of a sex effect, consistently finding that women fare as well as men when they run. Nevertheless, this scholarship neglects sex-based differences in candidate valence, or non-policy characteristics such as competence and integrity that voters intrinsically value in their elected officials. If women candidates hold greater valence than men, and if women’s electoral success stems from this valence advantage, then women candidates would be penalized if they lacked the upper hand on valence. Recent research at the macro-level reports a 3 % vote disadvantage for women candidates when valence is held constant (Fulton, Political Res Q 65(2):303–314, 2012), but is based on only one general election year. The present study replicates Fulton’s (Political Res Q 65(2):303–314, 2012) research using new data from a more recent general election and finds a consistent 3 % vote deficit for women candidates. In addition, this paper extends these findings theoretically and empirically to the micro-level: examining who responds to variations in candidate sex and valence. Male independent voters, who often swing general elections, are equally supportive of women candidates when they have a valence advantage. Absent a relative abundance of valence, male independents are significantly less likely to endorse female candidates. If correct, the gender affinity effect is asymmetrical: male independent voters are more likely to support men candidates, and less likely to support women, but female independents fail to similarly discriminate.
Surface enhanced Raman scattering of biospecies on anodized aluminum oxide films

Abstract Traditionally, aluminum and anodized aluminum oxide films (AAO) are not the platforms of choice for surface-enhanced raman scattering (SERS) experiments despite of the aluminum’s large negative permittivity value. Here we examine the usefulness of aluminum and nanoporous alumina platforms for detecting soft biospecies ranging from bacterial spores to protein markers. We used these flat platforms to examine SERS of a model protein (cytochrome c from bovine heart tissue) and bacterial cells (spores of Bacillus subtilis ATCC13933 used as Anthrax simulant) and demonstrated clear Raman amplification.
A spatial data model design for feature-based geographical information systems

Abstract In state-of-the-art GIS, geographical features are represented as geometric objects with associated topological relations and classification attributes. Semantic relations and intrinsic interrelations of the features themselves are generally neglected. In this paper, a feature-based model that enhances the representation of geographical features is described. Features, as the fundamental depiction of geographical phenomena, encompass both real world entities and digital representation. A feature-based object incorporates both topological relations among geometric elements and non-topological (semantic) relations among features. The development of an object-oriented prototype feature-based GIS that supports relations between feature attributes and feature classes is described. Object-oriented concepts such as class inheritance and polymorphism facilitate the development of feature-based GTS.
The Possibilities of Situated Learning for Teacher Preparation: The Professional Development Partnership:

How do we learn to teach music? Do we learn by mastering a body of musical knowledge and skills? What about the knowledge base presented to us in philosophy or psychology of education courses? Must we observe students in their music classrooms so that we acquire more direct understanding of typical development? Does this observation constitute learning to teach? Surprisingly, little research has focused on the question of how we learn to teach music, in spite of the relatively long history of formalized music teacher preparation in the United States. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger have proposed a theory of situated learning, building on the idea of apprenticeship, which may help us. Lave and Wenger describe situated learning as participation in a community of practice, which they define as "a set of relations among persons, activity, and world ... A community of practice is an intrinsic condition for the existence of knowledge, not least because it provides the interpretive support necessary for making sense of its heritage."I They caution that situated learning is not a pedagogical strategy; it is a theory, or a way to understand learning. Several models of music teacher preparation draw on this theory. They attempt to prepare preservice teachers for the realities of contemporary schooling through significant field-based experiences during the initial stages of learning to teach. Small cohort groups of preservice music teachers are based together at the same school site, under the combined supervision of one experienced school music teacher and a university professor. One version of this kind of preparation is the Professional Development Partnership, described in more detail in the resources in the Suggested Reading list and modeled after what the Holmes Group has called a Professional Development School (PDS): By spending extended amounts of time at a school prior to student teaching, preservice music teachers can develop a clearer image of the kind of teachers they want to be.
Intracellular Signaling and the Origins of the Sensations of Itch and Pain

The skin is the largest sensory organ of the body. It is innervated by a diverse array of primary sensory neurons, including a heterogeneous subset of unmyelinated afferents called C fibers. C fibers, sometimes classified as nociceptors, can detect various painful stimuli, including temperature extremes. However, it is increasingly evident that these afferents respond to various pruritic stimuli and transmit information to the brain that is perceived as itch; this can subsequently drive scratching behavior. Although itch and pain are distinct sensations, they are closely related and can, under certain circumstances, antagonize each other. However, it is not clear precisely when, where, and how the processes generating these two sensations originate and how they are dissociated. Clues have come from the analysis of the activities of specific ligands and their receptors. New data indicate that specific pruritic ligands carrying both itch and pain information are selectively recognized by different G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs), and this information may be transduced through different intracellular circuits in the same neuron. These findings raise questions about the intracellular mechanisms that preprocess and perhaps encode GPCR-mediated signals.
Angle resolved photoemission from layered Bi2Te3 : Theory and experiment

Abstract We present a new, relatively simple approach to the interpretation of angle resolved photoemission consisting of determination of the plane wave expansion coeffecients for the final state. Calculated azimuthal intensity patterns provide sharp lobes in excellent agreement with experimental data for the layered semiconductor Bi 2 Te 3 . This agreement is in some cases nearly independent of the choice of the initial state charge distribution indicating that the sharp lobes in the data are due primarily to the final state.
Measurement Technique of Carrier Mobility in Silicon Nitride and its Application to Data Retention in MONOS Memories

A novel method to measure carrier mobilities in insulators such as silicon nitride was developed. The transport parameters were determined by measuring the threshold voltage shift and the gate leakage current during the retention simultaneously. The electric field and the temperature dependence of the mobility in Si3N4 shows the trap barrier lowering proportional to the electric field (E) in contrast with the Poole-Frenkel emission theory, where the trap barrier reduction is proportional to Efrac12. Based on the measured parameters, data retention characteristics are predictable for different device structures with a single parameter set.
Stop flow lithography synthesis and characterization of structured microparticles

In this study, the synthesis of nonspherical composite particles of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-DA)/SiO2 and PEGDA/ Al2O3 with single or multiple vias and the corresponding inorganic particles of SiO2 and Al2O3 synthesized using the Stop Flow Lithography (SFL)method is reported. Precursor suspensions of PEG-DA, 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, and SiO2 or Al2O3 nanoparticles were prepared. The precursor suspension flows through a microfluidic device mounted on an upright microscope and is polymerized in an automated process. A patterned photomask with transparent geometric features masks UV light to synthesize the particles. Composite particles with vias were synthesized and corresponding inorganic SiO2 and Al2O3 particles were obtained through polymer burn-off and sintering of the composites. The synthesis of porous inorganic particles of SiO2 and Al2O3 with vias and overall dimensions in the range of ∼35-90 µm was achieved. BET specific surface area measurements for single via inorganic particles were 56-69m2/g for SiO2 particles and 73-81m2/g for Al2O3 particles. Surface areas as high as 114m2/g were measured formultivia cubic SiO2 particles. The findings suggest that, with optimization, the particles should have applications in areas where high surface area is important such as catalysis and sieving.
Anti-neural antibody reactivity in patients with a history of Lyme borreliosis and persistent symptoms.

Some Lyme disease patients report debilitating chronic symptoms of pain, fatigue, and cognitive deficits despite recommended courses of antibiotic treatment. The mechanisms responsible for these symptoms, collectively referred to as post-Lyme disease syndrome (PLS) or chronic Lyme disease, remain unclear. We investigated the presence of immune system abnormalities in PLS by assessing the levels of antibodies to neural proteins in patients and controls. Serum samples from PLS patients, post-Lyme disease healthy individuals, patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, and normal healthy individuals were analyzed for anti-neural antibodies by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Anti-neural antibody reactivity was found to be significantly higher in the PLS group than in the post-Lyme healthy (p < 0.01) and normal healthy (p < 0.01) groups. The observed heightened antibody reactivity in PLS patients could not be attributed solely to the presence of cross-reactive anti-borrelia antibodies, as the borrelial seronegative patients also exhibited elevated anti-neural antibody levels. Immunohistochemical analysis of PLS serum antibody activity demonstrated binding to cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The results provide evidence for the existence of a differential immune system response in PLS, offering new clues about the etiopathogenesis of the disease that may prove useful in devising more effective treatment strategies.
Performance analysis of adaptive-optics systems using laser guide stars and slope sensors.

Many current wave-front-reconstruction systems use localized phase-slope measurements to estimate wave fronts distorted by atmospheric turbulence. Analytical expressions giving the performance of this class of adaptive-optics system are derived. Performance measures include the mean-square residual phase error across the aperture, the optical transfer function, the point-spread function, and the Strehl ratio. Numerical examples show that the mean-square residual error and the Strehl ratio are sensitive to variations of the photon noise in the wave-front sensor and to variations in the sensor spacing and the actuator spacing. The Strehl ratio degrades rapidly as the diameters of the individual slope sensors are made larger than the Fried seeing-cell diameter r0 and when the sensor signal levels fall below 100 counts per slope measurement. On the other hand, the resolution of the optical system is relatively unaffected by moderate changes in the photon noise or the densities of sensors and actuators. The diameter of the individual slope sensors can be as much as 1.5 times r0 without significant degradation in angular resolution. These performance measures are particularly important in the design of adaptive telescopes used for imaging in astronomy. For adaptive telescopes using laser guide stars, these measures can be used to determine the key design parameters for the laser.
Tics and Tourette's syndrome in childhood

Childhood tics are multidimensional in nature. The dimensions run along various continuums, including duration of symptoms (from fewer than 1 year to lifelong), intensity of symptoms (from mild to severe), frequency of symptoms (from rare to constant), variety of symptoms (from single motor groups/single phonic tic to multiple occurrences of both types), complexity of tics (from simple motor/phonic tic to multiple motor groups or the production of multiple sounds, including involuntary phrases), response to treatment (from good to minimal or no response), and comorbid psychiatric disorders (from none to multiple). This review describes these dimensions and their relationships to the current diagnostic scheme for tic disorders.
Robotic resection of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.

Computer-assisted surgical devices, or "surgical robots," have recently been approved for general surgical use. The device allows the surgeon remote control of multi-articulated instrument arms with a three-dimensional view. Here we report the first known case of pancreatic resection with use of a computer-assisted, or robotic, surgical device. A 46-year old woman presented with back pain and a complex cystic mass in the tail of the pancreas. The daVinci™ surgical robot was used to remove the lesion en bloc with the tail of the pancreas and spleen. The patient did well and returned to full activity promptly. In summary, robotic technology may enhance advanced laparoscopic procedures. Pancreatic resection is feasible, and future experience will determine the true benefits of this technique.