cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Engagement in reading and hobbies and risk of incident dementia: the MoVIES project.

Objective: To examine whether there is an association between engagement in reading and hobbies and dementia risk in late life. Methods: A total of 942 members of a population-based, prospective cohort study were followed biennially to identify incident dementia cases. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the risk of dementia in relation to baseline total number of activities and time commitment to reading and hobbies. Results: A lower risk for dementia was found for a greater number of activities and for a high (about 1 hour each day) compared with low (less than 30 minutes each day) weekly time commitment to hobbies, independent of covariates. Only the protective effect of hobbies remained after methods were used to minimize bias due to potential preclinical dementia. Conclusion: Engaging in hobbies for 1 or more hours every day might be protective against dementia in late life.
Preparing Net Gen pre-service teachers for digital native classrooms

This paper explores Net Gen pre-service teachers’ perspectives of future digital native classrooms based on the National Education Technology Plan (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Participants were seven Net Gen pre-service teachers enrolled in a semester-long laboratory of practice project for Literacy Development for English Language Learners. Data were collected using a narrative strategy (Ginsburg, cited in Riessman, 1993) which consisted of analyzing information from participants’ life stories produced during two audiotaped focus group conversations. Findings showed that pre-service teachers had positive perceptions and beliefs toward the laboratory of practices based on the experimental cyberlearning workstation framework designed by the authors. The hands-on experiences helped them enhance their digital native-like citizenship in order to meet future students’ individual abilities and learning styles, and to encourage teaching with digital technologies. Some recommendations and limitations are also addressed.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa PilY1 binds integrin in an RGD- and calcium-dependent manner.

PilY1 is a type IV pilus (tfp)-associated protein from the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa that shares functional similarity with related proteins in infectious Neisseria and Kingella species. Previous data have shown that PilY1 acts as a calcium-dependent pilus biogenesis factor necessary for twitching motility with a specific calcium binding site located at amino acids 850–859 in the 1,163 residue protein. In addition to motility, PilY1 is also thought to play an important role in the adhesion of P. aeruginosa tfp to host epithelial cells. Here, we show that PilY1 contains an integrin binding arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) motif located at residues 619–621 in the PilY1 from the PAK strain of P. aeruginosa; this motif is conserved in the PilY1s from the other P. aeruginosa strains of known sequence. We demonstrate that purified PilY1 binds integrin in vitro in an RGD-dependent manner. Furthermore, we identify a second calcium binding site (amino acids 600–608) located ten residues upstream of the RGD. Eliminating calcium binding from this site using a D608A mutation abolished integrin binding; in contrast, a calcium binding mimic (D608K) preserved integrin binding. Finally, we show that the previously established PilY1 calcium binding site at 851–859 also impacts the protein's association with integrin. Taken together, these data indicate that PilY1 binds to integrin in an RGD- and calcium-dependent manner in vitro. As such, P. aeruginosa may employ these interactions to mediate host epithelial cell binding in vivo.
CASE-BUILDING IN TRICHOPTERA AS AN INHERITED RESPONSE TO OXYGEN DEFICIENCY

Many papers have been written about caddis cases, treating these movable shelters from the standpoints of choice of materials (Brues 1930, Dodds & Hisaw 1926, Lloyd 1915, Lutz 1930, Simpson 1903), of repair (Marshall & Vorhies 1905), of ontogenetic initiation (Murphy 1919, Copeland & Crowell 1937), and of phylogenetic origin (Milne & Milne, 1938). The last of these references, a paper by Sleight (1913) and the work of Dodds & Hisaw cited above, give some attention to the relation between case-building and the physiology of the larva inhabiting the structure, but much remains to be studied in this connection.
On the linkup of multiple cracks

Abstract The coalescence or linkup of multiple cracks is considered in this paper. Moreover, two criteria for multiple crack linkup are proposed which are based on linear elastic models. Analytical predictions of multiple crack linkup are compared with experimental results from flat panel tests. The effect of stable tearing has been included in these predictions. The agreement between analysis and experiment is shown to be reasonable.
Multivariate Cointegration Tests and the Law of One Price in International Wheat Markets

The multivariate cointegration testing procedures recently developed by Johansen are used to evaluate the law of one price (LOP) for prices in five international wheat markets. Efficient arbitrage and trade activities should ensure that individual wheat prices in spatially separated markets are linked through a common long-run equilibrium. The results indicate that the LOP fails as a long-run equilibrium relationship when transportation costs are ignored. However, if wheat prices are adjusted for freight rates, the LOP is fully supported.
Post Focal Plane Processing For Staring IR Imagers

Staring infrared imagers presently under development possess an inherent fixed pattern noise characteristic at the output which is Primarily determined by the non-uniformities in detector resoonsivity, CCD threshold variations and detector/CCD electrical coupling circuitry. This fixed pattern noise can take up as much as 50% of the focal plane dynamic range and, as such, generally requires high accuracy, high speed compensation electronics which then allows the full NEAT sensitivity oerformance of the focal plane to be realized. This paper describes the requirements for the comoensation electronics and discusses different implementation circuitry for both conventional "shuttered" calibration (i.e., reimaging of a uniform thermal reference source to calibrate the non-uniformity coefficients) and for a concept which has been developed called the "shutterless" compensation which uses scene dynamics and statistics to calculate the correction coefficient values.
Mapping Rule-Based And Stochastic Constraints To Connection Architectures: Implication For Hierarchical Image Processing

Essential to the solution of ill posed problems in vision and image processing is the need to use object constraints in the reconstruction. While Bayesian methods have shown the greatest promise, a fundamental difficulty has persisted in that many of the available constraints are in the form of deterministic rules rather than as probability distributions and are thus not readily incorporated as Bayesian priors. In this paper, we propose a general method for mapping a large class of rule-based constraints to their equivalent stochastic Gibbs' distribution representation. This mapping allows us to solve stochastic estimation problems over rule-generated constraint spaces within a Bayesian framework. As part of this approach we derive a method based on Langevin's stochastic differential equation and a regularization technique based on the classical autologistic transfer function that allows us to update every site simultaneously regardless of the neighbourhood structure. This allows us to implement a completely parallel method for generating the constraint sets corresponding to the regular grammar languages on massively parallel networks. We illustrate these ideas by formulating the image reconstruction problem based on a hierarchy of rule-based and stochastic constraints, and derive a fully parallelestimator structure. We also present results computed on the AMT DAP500 massively parallel digital computer, a mesh-connected 32x32 array of processing elements which are configured in a Single-Instruction, Multiple Data stream architecture.
A robust decentralized load frequency controller for interconnected power systems

A novel design of a robust decentralized load frequency control (LFC) algorithm is proposed for an inter-connected three-area power system, for the purpose of regulating area control error (ACE) in the presence of system uncertainties and external disturbances. The design is based on the concept of active disturbance rejection control (ADRC). Estimating and mitigating the total effect of various uncertainties in real time, ADRC is particularly effective against a wide range of parameter variations, model uncertainties, and large disturbances. Furthermore, with only two tuning parameters, the controller provides a simple and easy-to-use solution to complex engineering problems in practice. Here, an ADRC-based LFC solution is developed for systems with turbines of various types, such as non-reheat, reheat, and hydraulic. The simulation results verified the effectiveness of the ADRC, in comparison with an existing PI-type controller tuned via genetic algorithm linear matrix inequalities (GALMIs). The comparison results show the superiority of the proposed solution. Moreover, the stability and robustness of the closed-loop system is studied using frequency-domain analysis.
New approach to AISC P–M interaction curve for square concrete filled tube (CFT) beam–columns

Abstract This paper presents a new method to design concrete filled tube (CFT) beam–columns based on the current American Institute of Steel Construction’s Load and Resistance Factor Design (AISC/LRFD) method that is known to provide an over-conservative estimation of strength. The over-conservativeness of the current AISC/LRFD method comes mainly from neglecting the contribution of the concrete in flexure and the different behavior of composite beam–columns from pure steel beam–columns. The new method reported herein assumes full composite action and idealizes the P – M interaction curve with two lines, as in the current AISC method; however, the lines intersect at a point where a maximum moment occurs. A complete parametric study is performed using fiber analysis to determine the maximum moment (normalized by the nominal moment strength) and the axial load ratio at the maximum moment with respect to tube width-to-thickness ratio ( b / t ) and relative concrete compressive strength to yield strength of the steel tube ( f c ′ / F y ) . The strengths based on the modified AISC P – M interaction equations for square CFT columns subjected to axial load and single axis bending are compared with a wide range of experimental data, and they show greatly improved results when compared with current AISC/LRFD design equations.
Special care units and their influence on nursing home occupancy characteristics.

Background There has been a steady increase in the number of special care units (SCUs) in nursing homes. In 2006, 4,370 (i.e., 29%) nursing homes reported having an SCU. One belief is that SCUs in nursing homes developed to provide better resident care. However, few studies have examined the impact of opening an SCU on the nursing home, rather than the impact on residents. Purpose In this research, we use national data over a period of 15 years (1991-2006) to examine whether opening either an Alzheimer's SCU or subacute SCU subsequently influences the overall nursing home occupancy, Medicare occupancy, or private-pay occupancy. Methodology/approach The 1991 through 2006 On-line Survey Certification of Automated Records was the primary data source used in this investigation. Using multivariate regression, overall occupancy, Medicare occupancy, and private-pay occupancy variables were examined 1, 2, and 3 years prior to opening of an SCU and 1, 2, and 3 years postopening of an SCU. Findings Opening either an Alzheimer's SCU or subacute SCU had a positive impact on both the overall occupancy and private-pay occupancy of a facility. In addition, opening a subacute SCU had a positive impact on Medicare occupancy. These positive changes occur within a year of opening the SCU and increase each year thereafter. Practice implications The improvements in occupancy and payer-mix identified could mean the difference between operating in the black as opposed to making a loss. Thus, the findings have substantial practice implications for nursing homes.
σ-Moderate solutions of Lu = uα and fine trace on the boundary

Abstract We investigate the class of all positive solutions of the equation Lu = u α , 1 α ≤ 2, in a smooth domain E ⊂ℝ d . We define the fine trace tr( u ) of a solution u as a pair (Γ, v ), where Γ is a set of singular boundary points of u , and v is a certain σ-finite measure on the complement of Γ. We describe all possible traces and we construct the minimal solution with the given trace.
Metallurgy of high strength Ni–Mn microsystems fabricated by electrodeposition

Abstract Electrodeposition is used for fabricating micron-size, high aspect ratio features. Ni–0.5wt%Mn electrodeposits possess high strength and strong texture. The high strength is attributed to twinned, submicrometer grains. Correlation of hardness, texture, microstructure, and alloy composition was established. Dimensional variations introduce composition variations that influence local metallurgical properties.
A comparative study of IT/IS job skills and job definitions

Do large firms have a pattern of utilizing certain types of IT/IS skills more than others? Do individuals need to have one set of IT/IS skills for Fortune 500 companies and another set of skills for small-sized firms? Understanding the set of skills required for IT/IS jobs is of importance to professionals as it governs their employability as well as their decisions to seek professional certifications. Meanwhile, the trend of job outsourcing means that certain types of jobs are kept in-house in firms while other types are contracted out. It thus becomes paramount for professionals to know the skill set that is required to preserve their employability in the job market. This ongoing study evaluates the skills required for IT/IS jobs by analyzing a broad set of online job descriptions. An initial set of data has been gathered through an automated retrieval of jobs descriptions from online sites. This data set will be analyzed using Latent Semantic Clustering which will result in a quantitative classification system of IT/IS jobs. The comparison of job skill requirements between small and large-sized firms is another expected result of this study. The contribution of this study is expected to be the determination of patterns of skills required for IT/IS jobs, a non-judgmental and quantitatively based definition of IT/IS jobs, and the investigation of differences in hiring patterns between firms of varying sizes.
Helicobacter pylori and gastric cancer

Infection with Helicobacter pylori is now recognized as the primary cause of peptic ulcers and their recurrence. Compelling evidence has also been found linking H. pylori infection to gastric cancer, the second most common cancer in the world. Given the high rate of patient morbidity and mortality associated with gastric cancer, any method by which one can reduce the occurrence of the disease or increase its early detection is desirable. The strong correlation with H. pylori infection and the current availability of easily administered tests for the detection of the pathogen argue for screening at least those individuals with a family history of gastric cancer or other risk factors. This article reviews the association between H. pylori and gastric cancer and the pathologic changes that the infection produces in the gastric mucosa, as well as the cost-effectiveness of universal testing and eradication of the infection in H. pylori-positive individuals to reduce gastric cancer.
Autoimmune Attack Takes Your Breath Away

Autoimmune targeting of a lung-specific protein can cause interstitial lung disease (Shum et al., this issue).
STAR: a tool for analyzing imprecise requirements

Requirement analysis is an important activity in a software development process. Customers usually describe requirements in a natural language, which is often vague. Requirements can be rarely satisfied in a black and white sense. That is, a requirement is usually satisfied to some degree. Existing requirement methodologies are limited in specifying requirements and in supporting tradeoff analysis between the conflicting requirements. A tool support for the requirement process is important since a number of tasks in the requirement process are very time consuming. We describe an on-going project for building a tool that supports requirement specification, trade-off, and analysis. In this tool, we use fuzzy logic to capture the imprecise requirements. Once customers identify some requirement relationships, we are able to infer more implicit relationships between requirements. This functionality is crucial since identification of all requirement relationships is tedious. Moreover, the tool provides the capability of making trade-off between conflicting requirements. We illustrate the tool using a textile spinning frame manufacturing example. The goal of developing such a tool is to automate part of the requirement process such that requirement errors can be reduced in the software development process.
The antigen-limited nature of microtiter ELISAs requires partial depletion of IgG to permit reliable determination of rabbit serum IgA antibody activity.

The antigen-limiting nature of microtiter ELISAs predicts that antibodies of minor classes may be underestimated when the same specimen contains large amounts of IgG antibodies specific for the same antigen. Such competitive inhibition can be diagnosed from ELISA titration plots. A method is described to eliminate the negative effects of this competition on the detection of IgA antibodies in rabbit serum. The detectability of rabbit serum antibodies to ovalbumin and bovine serum albumin is increased 10-fold by prior treatment of 1:100 dilutions of serum with 1% Cowan I S. aureus. High concns of S. aureus, e.g. 10%, completely deplete serum IgG without loss of IgA. However, concns higher than 1% do not lead to additional improvement in the detectability of IgA antibodies in the systems studied. The method is rapid, inexpensive and shows no non-specific depletion of IgA from either serum or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.
Increased mesocorticolimbic dopamine during acute and repeated social defeat stress: modulation by corticotropin releasing factor receptors in the ventral tegmental area

Stress activates a subset of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), increasing extracellular dopamine in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh). The stress neuropeptide corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) and its receptors (CRF-R1 and CRF-R2) are located within the VTA and directly and indirectly influence dopaminergic activity. However, it has yet to be shown in vivo whether VTA CRF receptor activation is necessary for acute and repeated stress-induced dopamine efflux. With intra-VTA CRF-R1 and CRF-R2 antagonism during social defeat, we assessed whether blockade of these receptors could prevent stress-induced dopamine increases in the mPFC and NAcSh using in vivo microdialysis. Rats were microinjected with a CRF-R1 or CRF-R2 antagonist into the VTA prior to social defeat stress on days 1, 4, 7, and 10. In vivo microdialysis for dopamine in the mPFC and NAcSh was performed during stress on days 1 and 10. During the first social defeat, extracellular dopamine was significantly elevated in both the mPFC and NAcSh, and this increase in the NAcSh was blocked by intra-VTA CRF-R2, but not CRF-R1, antagonism. During the final social defeat, the dopaminergic increase was neither sensitized nor habituated in the mPFC and NAcSh, and intra-VTA CRF-R2, but not CRF-R1, antagonism prevented the dopamine increase in both brain regions. These findings show that CRF-R2 in the VTA is necessary for acute and repeated stress-induced dopamine efflux in the NAcSh, but is only recruited into mPFC-projecting dopamine neurons with repeated stress exposure.
Maximum Entropy Signal Transmission

There are two means at our disposal to understand the behavior of physical systems: observation and experimentation. Observation becomes increasingly difficult as an object becomes more remote or obscure. Experimentation is impossible for objects that cannot be manipulated or directly contacted. In such cases it is necessary to use numerical simulation, drawing upon perceived virtual systems expressed through models. Two main approaches to deal with remote or obscure objects come under the headings of the “inverse source problem” and the “inverse medium problem.” In the typical inverse source problem, the source of energy is remote, the medium transmits the source signal to an accessible receiver, and information about the source is required. An example of an inverse source problem is classical earthquake seismology where received seismic data are used to determine locations of remote earthquakes. Another example is passive sonar where engine noise from a hidden submarine is used to locate its position. In the typical inverse medium problem the source of energy (usually man-made) is local, the signal penetrates an inaccessible medium that reflects energy back to accessible points, and information about the internal structure of the medium is required. Examples are reflection seismology, radar, and active sonar. The usual approach to either type of inverse problem is first to devise a theoretical model that admits a solution from the available data. Implementation then involves using the theoretical model to find the required solution, often through an iterative improvement method. One of the most basic models is a system with parallel plane layers (the so-called layer-cake model of geophysics). An important characteristic of the layer-cake model is that it yields a transmitted signal that has maximum entropy. Because of this property, a signal from a distant source can be deconvolved to remove the unwanted reverberations that occurred during transmission. Thus it is possible to obtain a good representation of the unknown source signal, and so the inverse source problem for the layer-cake model has an effective computer solution. The layer-cake model also has the characteristic that it yields a reflected signal with both feedforward and feedback components, where the feedback component has maximum entropy. In practical terms, this maximum entropy property means that the received reflected signal preserves the information about the structure of the medium. As a result, the received reflected signal can be deconvolved to give a picture of the internal structure of the medium, and so the inverse medium problem for the layer-cake model also has a computer solution.
Delayed gratification: A program of intimal hyperplasia progresses even as graft antigen-specific CD4+ T cells subside

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the feasibility of maintaining a CTA on topical tacrolimus therapy alone after withdrawal of systemic immunosuppression. Preoperative depletion of T cells with ALS, along with a short course of systemic immunosuppression, prevents acute rejection, while topical tacrolimus inhibits immune cell function in the skin. This novel regimen could reduce or eliminate the morbidity associated with systemic immunosuppression in clinical CTA.
Integration of sensory and motor processing underlying social behaviour in túngara frogs.

Social decision making involves the perception and processing of social stimuli, the subsequent evaluation of that information in the context of the individual's internal and external milieus to produce a decision, and then culminates in behavioural output informed by that decision. We examined brain networks in an anuran communication system that relies on acoustic signals to guide simple, stereotyped motor output. We usedegr-1 mRNA expression to measure neural activation in male tungara frogs, Physalaemus pustulosus, following exposure to conspecific and heterospecific calls that evoke competitive or aggressive behaviour. We found that acoustically driven activation in auditory brainstem nuclei is transformed into activation related to sensory-motor interactions in the diencephalon, followed by motor-related activation in the telencephalon. Furthermore, under baseline conditions, brain nuclei typically have correlatedegr-1 mRNA levels within brain divisions. Hearing conspecific advertisement calls increases correlations between anatomically distant brain divisions; no such effect was observed in response to calls that elicit aggressive behaviour. Neural correlates of social decision making thus take multiple forms: (i) a progressive shift from sensory to motor encoding from lower to higher stages of neural processing and (ii) the emergence of correlated activation patterns among sensory and motor regions in response to behaviourally relevant social cues.
Whither the transvestite? Theorising male-to-female transvestism in feminist and queer theory

Male-to-female transvestism is a complex phenomenon that is often confused with other manifestations of male-to-female cross-dressing, e.g. drag performance. As a practice, male-to-female transvest...
Wiping the Slate Clean Psychological Consequences of Physical Cleansing

Cleaning one’s hands removes more than physical contaminants; it also removes residues of the past—from the guilt of past transgressions to doubts about past decisions. We review recent evidence for these and other clean-slate effects from the perspectives of neural reuse, grounded cognition, and conceptual metaphor; discuss their implications; and suggest promising future directions.
Knowing “Good Food”: Immigrant Knowledge and the Racial Politics of Farmworker Food Insecurity

Abstract: This article explores the ways that farmworkers, many of whom come from a culture deeply rooted in food and agricultural practices, cope with food insecurity by utilizing their agricultural and nutritional knowledge. Food assistance providers in the USA often treat farmworkers' inability to afford healthy food as a lack of knowledge about healthy eating, reinforcing racialized assumptions that people of color don't know “good” food. I argue that in contrast to food banks and low-income nutrition programs, home and community gardens provide spaces for retaining and highlighting agricultural, cultural, and dietary practices and knowledge. This paper investigates the linkages between workers' place in the food system as both producers and consumers, simultaneously exploited for their labor, and creating coping strategies utilizing agrarian and culinary knowledge. I argue that food security and healthy eating, rather than being a matter of consumers making healthy “choices”, is a matter of class-based and racial differences in the food system.
Did the SOX Ban on Non-Audit Services Go Far Enough or Too Far? Evidence from Investors’ Perception of Auditor Independence

We investigate changes in the level of non-audit services (NAS) provided by incumbent auditors following strengthened auditor independence rules required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). On the one hand, the provision of NAS may impair auditor independence. Alternatively, benefits from knowledge spillover effects may result. We first examine characteristics of companies that reduce NAS subsequent to SOX. We find that the reduction in NAS is greater as agency costs increase and corporate governance strengthens. We then investigate whether investor perception of independence is affected and provide evidence of decreasing ERCs and increasing bid-ask spreads associated with the reduction in NAS post-SOX where there were no differences pre-SOX. These latter results are consistent with investor concerns about the loss of knowledge spillover effects and not auditor independence. We therefore provide evidence of negative effects from the ban on NAS.
Changes in rhythmic suckle feeding patterns in term infants in the first month of life.

To quantify parameters of rhythmic suckle feeding in healthy term infants and to assess developmental changes during the first month of life, we recorded pharyngeal and nipple pressure in 16 infants at 1 to 4 days of age and again at 1 month. Over the first month of life in term infants, sucks and swallows become more rapid and increasingly organized into runs. Suck rate increased from 55/minute in the immediate postnatal period to 70/minute by the end of the first month (p<0.001). The percentage of sucks in runs of ≧3 increased from 72.7% (SD 12.8) to 87.9% (SD 9.1; p=0.001). Average length of suck runs also increased over the first month. Swallow rate increased slightly by the end of the first month, from about 46 to 50/minute (p=0.019), as did percentage of swallows in runs (76.8%, SD 14.9 versus 54.6%, SD 19.2;p=0.002). Efficiency of feeding, as measured by volume of nutrient per suck (0.17, SD 0.08 versus 0.30, SD 0.11cc/suck; p=0.008) and per swallow (0.23, SD 0.11 versus 0.44, SD 0.19 cc/swallow; p=0.002), almost doubled over the first month. The rhythmic stability of swallow-swallow, suck-suck, and suck-swallow dyadic interval, quantified using the coefficient of variation of the interval, was similar at the two age points, indicating that rhythmic stability of suck and swallow, individually and interactively, appears to be established by term. Percentage of sucks and swallows in 1:1 ratios (dyads), decreased from 78.8% (SD 20.1) shortly after birth to 57.5% (SD 25.8) at 1 month of age (p=0.002), demonstrating that the predominant 1:1 ratio of suck to swallow is more variable at 1 month, with the addition of ratios of 2:1, 3:1, and so on, and suggesting that infants gain the ability to adjust feeding patterns to improve efficiency. Knowledge of normal development in term infants provides a gold standard against which rhythmic patterns in preterm and other high-risk infants can be measured, and may allow earlier identification of infants at risk of neurodevelopmental delay and feeding disorders.
Calcareous nannoplankton ecology and community change across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ca. 55.8 Ma) is thought to coincide with a profound but entirely transient change among nannoplankton communities throughout the ocean. Here we explore the ecology of nannoplankton during the PETM by using multivariate analyses of a global data set that is based upon the distribution of taxa in time and space. We use these results, coupled with stable isotope data and geochemical modeling, to reinterpret the ecology of key genera. The results of the multivariate analyses suggest that the community was perturbed significantly in coastal and high-latitudes sites compared to the open ocean, and the relative influence of temperature and nutrient availability on the assemblage varies regionally. The open ocean became more stratified and less productive during the PETM and the oligotrophic assemblage responded primarily to changes in nutrient availability. Alternatively, assemblages at the equator and in the Southern Ocean responded to temperature more than to nutrient reduction. In addition, the assemblage change at the PETM was not merely transient—there is evidence of adaptation and a long-term change in the nannoplankton community that persists after the PETM and results in the disappearance of a high-latitude assemblage. The long-term effect on communities caused by transient warming during the PETM has implications for modern-day climate change, suggesting similar permanent changes to nannoplankton community structure as the oceans warm.
Reproductive Issues for Women With BRCA Mutations

Women carrying BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations face difficult and confusing reproductive decisions that fall into three categories: issues relating to risk-reducing surgeries, issues relating to use of oral contraceptives/tubal ligation, and issues relating to pregnancy and breastfeeding. Risk-reducing surgeries may confer survival benefits, but they also affect quality of life. Oral contraceptives potentially protect mutation carriers against ovarian cancer but increase the risk of early-onset breast cancer, and evidence for the efficacy of tubal ligation in reducing ovarian cancer risk in BRCA mutation carriers is contradictory. Women with BRCA mutations may increase their risk of breast cancer by becoming pregnant before age 40 years, but breastfeeding may decrease risk of breast cancer in women with BRCA mutations, regardless of age. BRCA mutation carriers desiring to become pregnant must deal with a variety of psychosocial issues, some with significant ethical implications, with minimal guidance from research.
Bupropion Overdose: QTc Prolongation and its Clinical Significance

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the cardiotoxicity of bupropion hydrochloride in deliberate self-poisoning.METHODS:A prospective study was conducted in a national poisons information center (PIC) of cases of adult deliberate self-poisoning with medical record follow-up of the patients. Fifty-nine cases of bupropion deliberate self-poisoning managed in the hospital, in which the New South Wales PIC was contacted for advice, were evaluated from November 2000 through July 2001. Clinical effects and electrocardiographic (ECG) parameters (QRS, QT, QTc) were the main outcome measures.RESULTS:ECGs were available for 17 of the 59 patients for analysis, 9 patients (53%) were women, and median patient age was 28 years (interquartile range 22–37). The mean ± SD ingested bupropion dose was 3.8 ± 3.1 g. Tachycardia occurred in 13 patients (76%; 95% CI 50 to 93) and hypertension in 8 patients (47%). There were no reports of hypotension or arrhythmias. There was a significantly increased QTc of 461 ± 34 msec in the patients wi...
River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom; and Cotton and Conquest: How the Plantation System Acquired Texas

Walter Johnson. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2013. 526 pp., illusrations, tables, notes, index. $35.00 cloth (ISBN 978-0-674-04555-2).Roger G. Kennedy. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. xv...
Abiotic Hydrolysis of Fluorotelomer-Based Polymers as a Source of Perfluorocarboxylates at the Global Scale

Fluorotelomer-based polymers (FTPs) are the main product of the fluorotelomer industry. For nearly 10 years, whether FTPs degrade to form perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorocarboxylate (PFCA) homologues has been vigorously contested. Here we show that circum-neutral abiotic hydrolysis of a commercial FTP proceeds with half-life estimates of 55-89 years and that base-mediated hydrolysis overtakes neutral hydrolysis at about pH = 10, with a half-life of ~0.7 years at pH ∼ 12. Considered in light of the large production volume of FTPs and the poor efficacy of conventional treatments for recovery of PFCAs from waste streams, these results suggest that FTPs manufactured to date potentially could increase PFCAs 4- to 8-fold over current oceanic loads, largely depending on the integrity of disposal units to contain PFCAs upon hydrolytic generation from FTPs.
Tea and Sympathy: The Tea Party Movement and Republican Precommitment to Radical Conservatism in the 2011 Debt-Limit Crisis

†We examine an increasingly common political tactic: the self-binding pledge whereby lawmakers assure a constituency, social movement, or interest group that they will take a particular position on an upcoming vote or policy issue. An empirical analysis of novel data on the 2011 debt-limit crisis shows that pre-commitment by legislators to the Tea Party’s “Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge” was the joint product of grassroots pressure and ideological sympathy. Highly conser-vative early pledgers opposed fiscal compromise that fell short of the Tea Party’s position, while a number of less conservative later signers reneged by voting for the Budget Control Act that resolved the debt-limit crisis. The case of the pledge sug-gests that social movements are well positioned to collaborate with true believing insiders to promote policy change but have difficulty persuading fence sitters to take their side. The last decade has seen increasing use of a classic political tactic: the self-binding pledge whereby lawmakers assure a constituency, social movement, or interest group that they will take a particular position on an upcoming vote or policy issue. Recent pledge campaigns stem primarily, though not exclusively, from the conservative side of the political spectrum. The “Susan B. Anthony Pledge” asks Republican candidates for president in 2012 to promise to appoint antiabortion cabinet officers and cut off federal financing to Planned Parenthood, while the “Marriage Vow” asks candidates to oppose same-sex marriage, reject Shariah law, and pledge personal fidelity to their spouse. 1 And perhaps most prominently, the “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” seeks “a written promise by legislators and candidates for office to oppose any effort to increase income taxes on individuals and businesses.” 2
Compressed-Sensed-Domain L 1 -PCA Video Surveillance

We consider the problem of foreground and background extraction from compressed-sensed (CS) surveillance videos that are captured by a static CS camera. We propose, for the first time in the literature, a principal component analysis (PCA) approach that computes directly in the CS domain the low-rank subspace of the background scene. Rather than computing the conventional L 2-norm-based principal components, which are simply the dominant left singular vectors of the CS-domain data matrix, we compute the principal components under an L 1-norm maximization criterion. The background scene is then obtained by projecting the CS measurement vector onto the L 1 principal components followed by total-variation (TV) minimization image recovery. The proposed L 1-norm procedure directly carries out low-rank background representation without reconstructing the video sequence and, at the same time, exhibits significant robustness against outliers in CS measurements compared to L 2-norm PCA. An adaptive CS- L 1-PCA method is also developed for low-latency video surveillance. Extensive experimental studies described in this paper illustrate and support the theoretical developments.
Pupil Achievement: The Weakest Link in the Evaluation Chain

The role of pupil achievement data in the evaluation of any educational endeavor is controversial. The public and publicly supported politicians demand that the teaching profession be held accountable for their students’ achievements or lack thereof. At the same time, professional educators protest the unfairness of accountability systems based on student achievement.
LONELINESS, DURATION OF LONELINESS AND REPORTED STRESS SYMPTOMATOLOGY

The correlations between intensity of loneliness, duration of loneliness, and reported psychological and somatic stress symptoms were examined in 195 undergraduate students (100 women and 95 men). Analysis indicated that intensity and duration of loneliness were significantly correlated and both were also significantly positively correlated with subjects' reported psychological and somatic stress symptoms. In a forced-entry multiple regression equation predicting over-all stress symptomatology, only duration of loneliness emerged as a significant predictor, while intensity of loneliness did not add significant predictability. For college students, loneliness may be related to a wide array of reported psychological and somatic stress symptoms. It is also suggested that the duration of a lonely experience is perhaps a better predictor for symptoms of stress than intensity of loneliness.
Exploiting temporal information in parcel data to refine small area population estimates

Abstract Temporal analysis of small-area demographic data commonly relies on areal interpolation methods to create temporally consistent and compatible areal units. In this study, cadastral (parcel) data are used to identify residential land and to dasymetrically refine census tracts, with the goal of achieving more accurate small-area estimates. The built date recorded for residential parcel units is used to create residential land layers for two different time points used in the areal interpolation. Three different areal interpolation methods are employed with and without dasymetric refinement, including areal weighting (AW), target density weighting (TDW) and pycnophylactic modeling (PM). The methods interpolate tract-level population counts in Hennepin County, Minnesota, in 2000 into census tract boundaries from the year 2010. The mean absolute error, median absolute error, root mean square error and the 90th percentile of absolute error are calculated for each of the methods, and spatial variation in the interpolations are displayed in maps. Parcel-based refinements are also compared with refinements using the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD). Results show that spatial refinement using residential parcels has the potential to improve the accuracy of areal interpolation for temporal analysis. Parcel-refined TDW out-performs the other tested methods, as well as the NLCD-refined TDW in this example. Parcel data identify residential land more reliably in rural areas. However, parcel units can have very large extents potentially biasing residential area delineation and population counts. Parcel-based refinement has the potential to further advance demographic change analysis over long time periods and large areas where the built date attribute is included in the dataset.
Swelling of Filled Rubber Vulcanizates

Abstract A detailed study has been made of the swelling of vulcanizates containing “adhering” and “non-adhering” fillers. The restriction of the swelling of vulcanizates containing “adhering” fillers compared to the swelling of the corresponding pure gum vulcanizate does not take place in solvents with solvent power below a critical value. The solvent power is indicated by the volume fraction of rubber (vr0) in the swollen pure gum vulcanizate. It appears that the critical value, vrc, is not very dependent on the type of black and slightly dependent on the crosslink density. Graphitized (2700° C) blacks differ from all other fillers in that they cause no restriction in swelling for any solvent, nor do they increase the swelling of the apparent matrix as is the case with non-adhering fillers. A semi-quantitative explanation for the observed phenomena is proposed.
Indications for Fusion of the Ankle

Summary Arthrodesis of the ankle is usually indicated for painful posttraumatic lesions of the ankle joint. Any malalignment of the ankle in varus, valgus, or equinus should be corrected at the time of fusion. The operation is contraindicated unless the patient believes that his pain is severe enough to justify surgery. In lesions of a non-traumatic nature, fusion is indicated as a curative measure, as in tuberculosis of the ankle, or to correct deformity. Unless the patient will wear high heels indefinitely, the ankle should be fused at 90 degrees or in 5 degrees of calcaneus. An ankle fused in the neutral position will produce a good gait; fusion in the equinus will accentuate the postoperative limp.
Das Ganze ist weit weniger als die Summe der Teile

Dieser Abschnitt vertieft Argumente, dass die Leistungsvereinzelung der Menschen dazu fuhrt, dass das Gemeinsame, das Ganze und das gegenseitige Vertrauen immer weniger wiegt, weil niemand dafur noch „Punkte“ bekommt. Es soll Ihnen nach der Lekture fraglich erscheinen, ob sich nicht der Weg des Supramenschen an sich wegen dieses Faktums diskreditiert.
Experience: accurate simulation of dense scenarios with hundreds of vehicular transmitters

This paper reports on our methodology and experience from a multi-year effort to cross-validate a vehicular network experiment with four hundred Dedicated Short Range Communications IEEE 802.11p transmitters through ns-3 simulations. With most of these transmitters in communication range, this represents an extremely dense wireless configuration that challenges radio and interference models. Field test and simulations were conducted in tandem and iteratively to facilitate model selection and configuration as well as to allow a detailed evaluation of simulation accuracy. We have learned that 1) results were most sensitive to parameter choices in the propagation and receiver models, with simulator default parameters not providing a good match; 2) results could, however, be significantly improved by adapting, implementing, and calibrating the propagation models and receiver models from the literature, yielding 88% accuracy (in terms of packet error rate compared to the field test) in such a complex large-scale setting; 3) the process was helpful in identifying errors both in the simulation models and in the experimental code and points to opportunities for further research.
African Americans have lower TBS than whites among densitometry patients at a Chicago academic center

Trabecular bone score, an indirect measure of bone structure, may differ between ethnicities. We found that African Americans had lower trabecular bone score than do whites referred for densitometry, even when controlling for age and abdominal soft tissue thickness. Trabecular bone score (TBS), an indirect measure of bone structure, has been shown to predict fractures in predominantly white populations. Analysis of NHANES data revealed lower TBS in African Americans than in whites. However, it is not clear if this is true in patients referred for densitometry (where fracture risk stratification is most pertinent) or if ethnic differences in TBS may be related to differences in abdominal soft tissue (tissue thickness), which was not controlled for in the NHANES study. We retrospectively analyzed all BMD scans obtained at a university hospital in Chicago between 2011 and 2016. There were 3187 women (51 % African American) and 675 men (32 % African American). African American women were older (69.6 ± 10.4 vs. 64.8 ± 1.3) and heavier (BMI 28.3 ± 4.7 vs. 25.4 ± 4.5) than whites were, while men were of similar age and BMI. African American women had higher T-scores at all sites (the lowest of T-scores, termed LowT, −1.5 ± 1.2 vs. −1.9 ± 1.0, p < 0.001) but lower TBS than white women even when adjusting for age and tissue thickness (1.231 ± 0.130 versus 1.251 ± 0.130, p < 0.001). While LowT was higher in African American men (−1.1 ± 1.2 vs. −1.5 ± 1.4, p < 0.001), TBS was lower than in white men even after adjusting for age and tissue thickness (1.232 ± 0.144 vs. 1.275 ± 0.144, p < 0.001). African Americans had lower TBS than whites did, even with adjustment for age and tissue thickness. Ethnic differences in TBS should be considered when assessing fracture risk in clinical practice.