cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Declining Rates of Surgery for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the Era of Biologic Therapy

Medical therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has markedly advanced since the introduction of biologic therapeutics, although surgery remains an important therapeutic strategy for both Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). This study evaluated how rates of bowel resection surgery and post-operative mortality for IBD have changed over the last decade in the era of biologic therapies. The Nationwide Readmission Database (NRD) was queried for patients with IBD (based on ICD-9 and -10 diagnosis and procedure codes) who were hospitalized between 2010 and 2017. Longitudinal trends in bowel resection surgery, urgent surgery, and post-operative mortality were analyzed. During the 8-year period, a total of 1795,266 IBD-related hospitalizations (1,072,110 with CD and 723,156 with UC) were evaluated. There was an increase in the annual number of IBD patients hospitalized, but a statistically significant decrease in the proportion of IBD patients undergoing surgery, from 10 to 8.8% (p < 0.001) for CD and 7.7 to 7.5% (p < 0.001) for UC. From 2014 through 2017, the proportion of urgent surgeries remained stable around 25% (p = 0.16) for CD and decreased from 21 to 14% (p < 0.001) for UC. For CD, the rate of post-operative 30-day mortality varied between 1.2 and 1.6% and for UC decreased from 5.8 to 2.3% (p < 0.001). Analysis of a nationwide dataset from 2010 to 2017 determined that despite an increase in total admissions for IBD, a smaller proportion of hospitalized patients underwent surgery. A greater proportion of surgeries for UC were performed on an elective basis, and overall the rates of post-operative mortality for CD and UC decreased. The growth of biologic medical therapy during the study period highlights a probable contributing factor for the observed changes.
Evaluation of extraction workflows for quantitative analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: A case study using soil adjacent to a landfill.

Specific aspects of previously reported extraction workflows, for measurement of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in solid matrices, have not been adequately interrogated. The objective of this study was to explore the importance of each workflow step in providing the most appropriate extraction for a comprehensive set of PFAS (51 different species) in soil. We compared different procedures, including two pre-extraction set ups (overnight handling of samples prior to extraction), two extraction solvents (methanol (MeOH), and acetonitrile (ACN)), two extraction solvent volumes (10 mL and 8.5 mL), and two post-extraction cleanup strategies (ENVI-Carb and ion-pair). Of the 51 species targeted, 21 were at quantifiable levels in soil samples collected adjacent to a landfill, of which 13 PFAS were consistently detected among the different extraction workflows. Overall, results showed no significant difference in PFAS concentration between different extraction solvents and cleanup strategies. Perfluoropentanoic acid, perfluorohexanoic acid, and perfluorooctanoic acid had the highest concentrations in all extraction workflows, accounting for nearly 13%, 38%, and 17% of the total monitored PFAS (ΣPFAS), respectively. While final concentration values were similar across methods, recovery and accuracy studies showed that MeOH had the best recovery, with 88% of the isotopically labeled PFAS standards showing extraction recovery within the acceptable range of 80% to 120% (compared to 14% of isotopically labeled PFAS standards in workflows using ACN). Upon examination of additional cleanup steps, 67% of monitored PFAS (out of 51 total PFAS monitored), on average, exhibited higher accuracy (relative error ≤20%) using ENVI-Carb clean up (in comparison with 51% in workflows using ion pair clean up). Results also demonstrated that larger volumes of MeOH (and subsequent re-extractions) did not yield a better recovery, enabling a reduction in overall analysis time and cost in comparison to many published methods.
A Fault Tolerant Implementation for a Massively Parallel Seismic Framework

An increase in the acquisition of seismic data volumes has resulted in applications processing seismic data running for weeks or months on large supercomputers. A fault occurring during processing would jeopardize the fidelity and quality of the results, hence necessitating a resilient application. GeoDRIVE is a High-Performance Computing (HPC) software framework tailored to massive seismic applications and supercomputers. A fault tolerance mechanism that capitalizes on Boost.asio for network communication is presented and tested quantitatively and qualitatively by simulating faults using fault injection. Resource provisioning is also illustrated by adding more resources to a job during simulation. Finally, a large-scale job of 2,500 seismic experiments and 358 billion grid elements is executed on 32,000 cores. Subsets of nodes are killed at different times, validating the resilience of the mechanism in large scale. While the implementation is demonstrated in a seismic application context, it can be tailored to any HPC application with embarrassingly parallel properties.
Transient heat transfer of impinging jets on superheated wetting and non-wetting surfaces

Abstract Superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces possess desirable anti-fouling properties due to low wettability, but have also been shown to reduce heat transfer to subcooled water in impinging jet scenarios. In this work, superheated silicon substrates with varying wettability (hydrophilic or HPi, hydrophobic or HPo, SH) are quenched by an impinging water jet, where the substrate temperature is above the saturation temperature. Silicon wafers are either oxidized to create HPi surfaces, coated with Teflon to make the surface HPo, or plasma-etched and coated to create the necessary micro-texture for SH conditions. All wafers are integrated with an electric resistance heater and then heated to temperatures of 200–320 ∘ C before impingement with an axisymmetric room temperature water jet of varying specified flow rates yielding jet Reynolds numbers between 6000 and 18,000. High-speed visual data is collected, showing how the lamellar liquid contact region, limited by thermal breakup due to boiling, grows radially as the surface cools to temperatures below saturation. This data is correlated to temperature data recorded on the back side of the wafer using a thermal camera. Results of this study confirm previous conjecture that surface wettability can alter maximum heat flux, which is quantified here for the described scenario by up to 40%, and can also affect jet thin film spreading by up to 50%. Increasing initial surface temperature decreases thin film spreading rate on all surfaces, and increases heat transfer on all but the SH surfaces. Increasing Reynolds number yields an increase in heat flux, and affects both the thin film spreading rate as well as the maximum radius of the thin film region.
Visual art history and the psychology of perception: Perspectivism and its 20th century abandonment in the visual arts and in Gibson's ecological psychology

The development of linear perspective in the early 15th century and the discovery of the retinal image two centuries later became cornerstones of an approach to visual perception theory that eventually took shape primarily in the hands of British Empiricist philosophers. Even as this approach has dominated perceptual theory to the present day, the perspectivist influence on pictorial representation within the visual arts steadily diminished over time. Its decisive break with perspectivism came in the early 20th century with transformative 19th century changes in the sciences and technology. Collectively, these events elevated process and change over fixity and stasis, and ultimately led to the collapse of the distinction between space and time in the physical sciences. Even so, approaches to visual perception in psychology remained remarkably untouched by these occurrences until the 1960s when the experimental psychologist James Gibson drew upon them to challenge the legacy of perspectivism and the visual image and their effect on perceptual theory. His ecological approach to perception recognizes animacy as the essential functional property of living things, and in doing so, conceptualizes seeing as a perception-action process. From this stance, Gibson like the visual artists earlier in the century rejected the assumption that visual perception is best characterized as the capturing of static images. Jointly and yet independently, both efforts loosened the grip that perspectivism and the visual image have maintained on the arts and on visual perception theory, respectively, bringing 19th century scientific advances into 20th century psychological thought.
Asymptotic Theory for QMLE for Real-Time GARCH(1,1) Model

We investigate the asymptotic properties of the Gaussian Quasi-Maximum-Likelihood estimator (QMLE) for the Real-time GARCH(1,1) model of Smetanina (2017). The developed theory relies on the new dependence measure developed in Wu (2005) and is substantially different to the standard asymptotic theory for GARCH models. We prove consistency and asymptotic normality for the parameter vector at the usual √T rate. Finally, as part of the developed theory we also demonstrate how convergence rates of uniform laws of large numbers can be established via the powerful maximal inequalities for high-dimensional heavy-tailed time series using uniform functional dependence measure.
Real-World Problem: Connecting Socio-Scientific Contexts and Dioramas

This study describes research conducted in a national natural history museum in Taiwan. It describes how a museum education professional drew on the Benzene Ring Heuristic of scientific practice to integrate science education theory into the museum’s educational practices. Since 2001, the museum has strengthened its partnership with schools and social institutions related to education. A majority of these partners confirmed that the museum represents a strong resource for education but that its programming was difficult to fit into their science education practices. In response, the present study developed a scaffold for engaging participants with its exhibitions through inquiry, more specifically about the dilemma between renewable energy production and environmental protection. This chapter includes three parts. First, it introduces the significance of natural history dioramas for framing the controversy as a socio-scientific issue (SSI). Second, it discusses inquiry learning and clarifies the differences between the school setting and the natural history exhibition environment. Finally, it describes how the scaffolded educational program Which Renewable Energy Installations You Would Choose was iteratively developed for the gallery Life on Earth. The study concludes by discussing the advantages of using the Benzene Ring Heuristic of scientific practice for developing the program and offering a number of guidelines for scaffolding an SSI education program in a natural history museum.
Classification and Feature Extraction for Hydraulic Structures Data Using Advanced CNN Architectures

An efficient feature selection method can significantly boost results in classification problems. Despite ongoing improvement, hand-designed methods often fail to extract features capturing high- and mid-level representations at effective levels. In machine learning (Deep Learning), recent developments have improved upon these hand-designed methods by utilizing automatic extraction of features. Specifically, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are a highly successful technique for image classification which can automatically extract features, with ongoing learning and classification of these features. The purpose of this study is to detect hydraulic structures (i.e., bridges and culverts) that are important to overland flow modeling and environmental applications. The dataset used in this work is a relatively small dataset derived from 1-m LiDAR-derived Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial imagery. The classes for our experiment consist of two groups: the ones with a bridge/culvert being present are considered "True", and those without a bridge/culvert are considered "False". In this paper, we use advanced CNN techniques, including Siamese Neural Networks (SNNs), Capsule Networks (CapsNets), and Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs), to classify samples with similar topographic and spectral characteristics, an objective which is challenging utilizing traditional machine learning techniques, such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), Gaussian Classifier (GC), and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). The advanced CNN-based approaches combined with data pre-processing techniques (e.g., data augmenting) produced superior results. These approaches provide efficient, cost-effective, and innovative solutions to the identification of hydraulic structures.
Abstract 270: Immune vs. Thrombotic Stimulation of Platelets Differentially Regulates Intracellular Protein Associations and Protein Release: a Proteomics Analysis

In addition to hemostasis, platelets mediate inflammation and the clearance of bacteria from the bloodstream. As with platelet-platelet interactions, platelet-bacteria interactions involve release of granular content and cytoskeletal rearrangements in the platelet. Recently, we identified Toll-like receptors (TLRs) on the platelet surface. TLR2 in particular recognizes the bacterial lipopeptide Pam 3 CSK 4 and leads to platelet aggregation. However, the differential regulation of intracellular proteins and granule release in immune vs. thrombotic responses is not well understood in platelets. We studied platelet Factor XIIIA (FXIIIA) as a unique candidate protein, as the released form regulates clot stabilization and the cytosolic form crosslinks cytoskeletal proteins upon platelet activation. Our hypothesis, that the activation of platelets by thrombotic or immune pathways leads to differential regulation of protein interactions and granule release, was tested using a proteomics approach. We immunoprecipitated FXIIIA from resting and activated platelets to study FXIIIA-associated proteins by gel electrophoresis in one or two dimensions (2D-GE), followed by mass spectrometric identification of protein spots. Results were confirmed by Western blot and confocal microscopy. Proteins released after stimulation with Pam 3 CSK 4 or thrombin were analyzed by 2D-GE and Western blotting. We identified 15 proteins that associate with cytosolic or granular FXIIIA in resting platelets. Several novel protein interactions were found such as talin, GAPDH, gelsolin, tubulinβ. Specific protein associations were differentially altered by immune or thrombotic stimulation including gelsolin (20% decrease vs. no change) and GAPDH (80% vs. 30% decrease). Interestingly, integrin α IIb showed specific association with FXIIIA after thrombin- but not Pam 3 CSK 4 -activation. In addition, about 80 released proteins from Pam 3 CSK 4 - vs. thrombin-stimulated platelets were differentially displayed, including FXIIIA. In summary, immune or thrombotic stimulation of platelets leads to differential protein associations and protein release. These findings highlight the differences in the platelet’s inflammatory vs. thrombotic response.
Weighted /spl Lscr//sub /spl infin// norm approximation

The problem of frequency weighted /spl Lscr//sub /spl infin// norm approximation is considered. The authors extend some results of Nehari (1957), Adamjan, Arov and Krein (1978), and Glover (1984) to the frequency weighted case. Explicit state-space solutions are obtained for all the weighted /spl Lscr//sub /spl infin// norm approximation problems that are considered.
How many logics of collective action

L'A. etudie la logique de l'action collective. Il examine de facon critique la theorie des classes developpee par Claus Offe et Helmut Wiesenthal. Il analyse la relation entre interet, identite, organisation et mobilisation. Selon Offe et Wiesenthal, il existe deux logiques differentes de l'action collective : une propre au milieu ouvrier, une autre propre aux entrepreneurs capitalistes. L'A. presente sa conception de la logique de l'action collective. Celle-ci s'articule autour de la relation entre organisation, interet et identite. Il evoque les conflits sociaux survenus aux Etats-Unis au 19 e siecle
When Students Speak Away From School How Much Does the First Amendment Hear

Controversies arising over the extent of the First Amendment speech rights of public school students while at school are resolved by an analysis of the familiar quartet of major decisions of the United States Supreme Court: Tinker, Fraser, Kuhlmeier, and Morse. While these decisions have not removed all uncertainty over the scope of student speech rights, they at least have divided these cases into distinct categories and identified the standard to be applied within each category. The wide range of judicial views on the issue of when student off-campus speech can be the basis of discipline by school authorities makes it difficult for schools to develop sound policies to address this situation. Until a more definitive answer is provided by the U.S. Supreme Court, schools face this issue without clear judicial guidance.
Test expectancy affects metacomprehension accuracy.

Background. Theory suggests that the accuracy of metacognitive monitoring is affected by the cues used to judge learning. Researchers have improved monitoring accuracy by directing attention to more appropriate cues; however, this is the first study to more directly point students to more appropriate cues using instructions regarding tests and practice tests. Aims. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the accuracy metacognitive monitoring was affected by the nature of the test expected. Sample and method. Students (N= 59) were randomly assigned to one of two test expectancy groups (memory vs. inference). Then after reading texts, judging learning, completed both memory and inference tests. Results. Test performance and monitoring accuracy were superior when students received the kind of test they had been led to expect rather than the unexpected test. Conclusion. Tests influence students' perceptions of what constitutes learning. Our findings suggest that this could affect how students prepare for tests and how they monitoring their own learning.
Forecasting SPEAK test score from TOEFL score: a Bayesian model for screening international teaching assistants

Teaching assistantships provide funding to graduate students and support to teaching faculty. At many universities in the United States, students whose first language is not English can only teach if they pass an oral English assessment or complete English courses. Graduate programs face a risk that a prospective international teaching assistant (ITA) may fail the English test, potentially causing financial and logistical consequences. To develop rational decision procedures, which integrate the probability of failure on the test with the consequences and tradeoffs of ITA funding decisions, a probabilistic forecasting model is needed. At the University of Virginia (UVa), ITAs must pass the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK) Test before the semester begins in August. In this study, scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-based Test (TOEFL iBT), which are available at the admission time, are used to produce a probability of failing the SPEAK Test at a given threshold. A Bayesian forecasting model is described, estimating the prior probabilities from a sample of SPEAK Test scores of 803 prospective ITAs at UVa between 2006 and 2013, and using the TOEFL iBT scores from 318 students to update the forecast probabilities. Additional discrete predictors, such as the student’s gender and school, are considered, but only the native language is found to reduce uncertainty in the forecast. Overall, this forecasting model demonstrates and explains a useful statistical association between the SPEAK Test scores and the TOEFL iBT scores, used widely in university admissions.
Motion planning of mobile multi-limb robotic systems subject to force and friction constraints

A method is presented to generate motions for a class of multilimb robotic systems enabling them to apply large static forces over large ranges of motion without saturating actuator effort limits, system-environment friction constraints, kinematic joint limits, or geometric workspace obstacles. The approach, termed the force-workspace (FW) approach, maps these constraints into the system C-space to form constraint obstacles using a recursive subdivision process. To generate motions along which actuator efforts can be specified without violating system constraints, paths are planned that avoid these constraint obstacles. The method permits the shape of the paths to be controlled using any configuration-dependent performance criterion. The FW approach was applied to a proposed three-limb planar climbing robot whose task is to climb upwards between two vertical walls by pushing outwards to generate frictional support. >
3D Photography Using Shadows in Dual-Space Geometry

A simple and inexpensive approach for extracting the three-dimensional shape of objects is presented. It is based on ‘weak structured lighting’. It requires very little hardware besides the camera: a light source (a desk-lamp or the sun), a stick and a checkerboard. The object, illuminated by the light source, is placed on a stage composed of a ground plane and a back planes the camera faces the object. The user moves the stick in front of the light source, casting a moving shadow on the scene. The 3D shape of the object is extracted from the spatial and temporal location of the observed shadow. Experimental results are presented on five different scenes (indoor with a desk lamp and outdoor with the sun) demonstrating that the error in reconstructing the surface is less than 0.5% of the size of the object. A mathematical formalism is proposed that simplifies the notation and keep the algebra compact. A real-time implementation of the system is also presented.
SU-E-T-165: Characterization of Dose Distributions in High-Dose-Rate Surface Brachytherapy

Purpose: To characterize dose distributions in high-dose-rate(HDR) surface brachytherapy using an Ir-125 source for different geometries, field sizes and topology of the clinical targets(CT). To investigate the depth doses at the central axis(CAX), edges of the treatment fields(E), and lateral dose distributions(L) present when using flap applicators in skin cancer treatments. Methods: When malignancies diagnosed on the skin are treated, various geometries of the CT require proper adaptation of the flap or custom-made applicators to the treatment site. Consequently, the dose at the depth on CAX and field edges changes with variation of the curvatures and size of the applicators. To assess the dose distributions, we created a total of 10 treatment plans(TP) for 10×10 and 20×20 field sizes(FS) with a step size of 1cm. The geometry of the applicators was: planar(PA), curved to 30(CA30) and 60(CA60) degrees with respect to the CAX, half-cylinder(HC), and cylindrical shape(CS). One additional TP was created in which the applicators were positioned to form a dome shape(DS) with a diameter of 16cm. This TP was used to emulate treatment of the average sized scalp. All TPs were optimized to deliver a prescription dose at 8mm equidistantly from the planes containing the dwell positions. This optimization is equivalent to the clinical arrangement since the SSD for the flap applicators is 5mm and the prescription depth is 3mm in the majority of clinical cases. Results: The depths (in mm) of the isodose lines were: FS(10×10):PA[90%(9.1CAX,8.0E,7.6L),50%(28.3CAX,20E,17.3L), 25%(51.1CAX,40E,27L)],CA30[90%(10.3CAX,8.2E,7.9L),50%(32.1CAX, 16.2E,15.8L),25%(61.3CAX,36.7E,31.8L)],CA60[90%(12.2CAX,6.1E,6.3L ),50%(47CAX,14E,16.6L),25%(70.8CAX,31.9E,35.4L)],HC[90%(11.1CA X,6.3E,7.3L),50%(38.3CAX,14.6E,16.1L),25%(66.2CAX,33.8E,34.2L)];FS (20×20):PA[90%(11.1CAX,9.0E,7.0L),50%(34.4CAX,21.9E,15.3L),25%(7 0.4CAX,50.9E,34.8L)],CA30[90%(10.9CAX,7.5E,7.1L),50%(38.8CAX,16. 7E,15.4L),25%(80.7CAX,39.9E,35.7L)],HC[90%(11.1CAX,10.9E,10.6L),5 0%(34.4CAX,38.8E,47.2L),25%(70.4CAX,80.7E,96.6L);DS[90%(12.1CA X,8.5E,6.8L),50%(60.6CAX,17.7E,15.8L),25%(109.6CAX,40.3E,34.3L)]. Conclusion: These results can be used for the approximate calculation and quick assessment of the radiation dose to the organs-at-risk at depth (heart,brain,thyroid, optical nerve) or at the surface distance from the CT (breast,eyes, gonads), and only the geometry of the CT needs to be measured. Understanding of the dose distributions in HDR surface brachytherapy may improve clinical decision making process.
Cell Membranes and Model Membranes

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses structures and functions of the cell membrane and organelles since the advent of electron microscopy in detail. Much of the information was obtained through studies of the red blood cells. The formation of the surface film when a cell is injured is discussed within the context of the water-lipid combinations entering or leaving the cell. The chapter also discusses the techniques and methodologies used in assessing the content and biochemistry of the molecular layers using electrophysiological and electron microscopic studies emerging with studies, such as Davson-Danielli paucimolecular model, the intrinsic and form birefringence techniques and studies of isolated “ghost” membranes and others. The chapter provides a biochemical analysis of other cell types, such as myelin of nerve axons and inner membranes of the mitochondria. The lipid signatures of different membranes as well as the techniques involved in obtaining the structure of the inner surfaces of the membranes like freeze-etching or the rotational movement of molecules on membranes through fluorescence polarization, or the polarized excitation beam to assess the micro viscosity of membranes are discussed. The later part of the chapter discusses molecular dynamics across membranes, such as the planar lipid bilayers or the black lipid membranes, a technique for studying the transport kinetics of lipid-soluble ionophores, including the disadvantages of the method. Membrane structure, planar lipid bilayers, ion channel properties in planar lipid bilayers and gramicidin are discussed in detail. The Gorter and Grendel bimolecular phospholipid leaflet and the Singer-Nicholson fluid mosaic model are mentioned under structure of cell membranes. It is mentioned that planar lipid bilayers made from synthetic lipids, and incorporating ionophores such as valinomycin or gramicidin, provide a useful tool for the study of membrane transport..
VR: past, present, and future [virtual reality]

Summary form only given. The Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has partnered with dozens of computational scientists and engineers to create visualization and virtual reality (VR) devices and applications for collaborative exploration of scientific and engineering data. Since 1995, our research and development activities have incorporated emerging high bandwidth networks like the vBNS and the Internet2 in an effort now called tele-immersion. As a result of our six years' experience in building first and second-generation VR devices to support these applications, we consider third-generation VR devices that will provide desktop/office-sized displays. Since no current technology is yet configurable with ideal resolution and size, we first simulate these devices with available parts, and then build more advanced prototypes. We believe that the devices we propose to build using the new display technologies form a set of desirable human/computer interface requirements for successful tele-immersion adoption. A goal of this research is to develop clearly compelling prototypes so that these devices can be improved and reproduced by the private sector.
Optics of the Upper Atmosphere

Present knowledge of the upper atmosphere is reviewed, and the various absorption and emission phenomena are discussed. Topics included are: chemical composition, ionization, temperatures, aurora, night airglow, and twilight and day airglow. A short bibliography lists the standard reference works on this material.
Curcumin inhibits mitogen stimulated lymphocyte proliferation, NFκB activation, and IL-2 signaling

Background T cell mediated acute rejection of transplanted organ continues to be a noticeable problem in solid organ transplantation. We showed that Curcumin is a potent inhibitor of Cyclosporin A resistant T cell CD28 co-stimulation pathway. Here we report the inhibitory effects of Curcumin on mitogen-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation, IL-2 synthesis/signaling, and NFκB (transcription factor of IL-2 promoter) activation. Materials and methods Human lymphocytes were isolated from fresh human spleen (SP-L). Mitogens [final concentrations of 2 μg/ml concanavalin A (Con A), 5 μg/ml phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and 20 ng/ml of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)] were added to the designated wells in a 96-well plate with 0.2 million SP-L and cultured for 48 h and then assayed for IL-2 synthesis by ELISA and 3 H-thymidine uptake. In another parallel experiment we added IL-2 (0.5 nM) to stimulate the cells to check if Curcumin’s inhibition of IL-2 synthesis is the sole reason for inhibition of cell proliferation. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was performed in PMA (20 ng/ml, 1 h) stimulated cells with or without Curcumin to assay NFκB activation. Results Curcumin at 2.5 μg/ml inhibited Con A, PHA, and PMA stimulated SP-L proliferation at 77, 23, and 48%, respectively, over controls and Curcumin at 5 μg/ml completely (nearly 100%) inhibited the mitogen stimulated proliferation. Curcumin inhibited IL-2 synthesis in Con A, PHA, and PMA stimulated SP-L in a concentration-dependent manner with an ED50 (concentration required for 50% inhibition) measured at 3.5 μg/ml. Exogenous IL-2 stimulated SP-L proliferation was also inhibited by Curcumin in a concentration-dependent manner with an ED50 of 2 μg/ml. EMSA assay indicated that PMA at 20 ng/ml stimulated NFκB activation 253% over control, which was inhibited by 24, 38, and 73%, respectively, with Curcumin at final concentrations of 2.5, 5, and 10 μg/ml, respectively. Conclusion Curcumin has profound immunosuppressive effects mediated via inhibition of IL-2 synthesis, mitogen, and IL-2 induced activation of human lymphocytes. This effect may be mediated via NFκB inhibition.
Race and gender differences in workplace autonomy: A research note

While many studies have focused on race and gender differences in monetary labor market rewards, few studies have used national samples to examine race and gender differences in nonmonetary labor process rewards. Utilizing multivariate analysis on data from the 1993 and 1997 National Employee Survey, the present study examines how race and gender interact in shaping workplace autonomy. We regress an index of autonomy on human capital, structural level variables, and race and gender interaction terms. Findings show that black and white females, relative to white males, fare worse net of controls for human capital and structural level variables. Black males fare worse than white males when controlling for human capital but this disadvantage fails to retain its significant effect when controlling for structural level variables. We conclude that contrary to some beliefs that black females have experienced greater success in the labor market as a result of affirmative action policies, black females remain hindered by the double jeopardy of race and gender.
Oxygen consumption and water metabolism in a carnivorous mouse.

Abstract 1. 1. Unlike most desert rodents, grasshopper mice, Onychomys torridus, exhibited no reduction in basal metabolic rate from that predicted for mice their size and had high pulmocutaneous water loss. 2. 2. Their thermal neutral zone was 30–35°C. 3. 3. Fecal and urinary water losses were a function of water intake. 4. 4. Food intake increased with water deprivation and the mice could maintain their weight on a beef liver diet containing 72% water. 5. 5. Data from this study suggest that problems of water balance in this species are most severe in winter.
Thymic tumorigenesis induced by overexpression of p56lck.

Abstract The lck gene encodes a membrane-associated protein tyrosine kinase (p56lck) that is believed to participate in lymphocyte-specific signal transduction pathways. To investigate the function of this molecule, transgenic mice were generated carrying the wild-type lck gene or a mutated lck gene encoding a constitutively activated form of p56lck (p56lckF505). Transgene expression in thymocytes was achieved in each case using the lck proximal promoter element. Mice expressing high levels of either p56lckF505 or p56lckY505 reproducibly developed thymic tumors. The sensitivity of thymocytes to p56lck-induced transformation suggests that disturbances in lck expression may contribute to the pathogenesis of some human neoplastic diseases.
Polymorphism and phase transition behavior of 6,6'-bis(chloromethyl)-1,1',4,4'-tetramethyl-3,3'-(p-phenylenedimethylene)bis(piperazine-2,5-dione).

A crystallographic investigation of the title compound, C22H28Cl2N4O4, using crystals obtained under different crystallization conditions, revealed the presence of two distinct polymorphic forms. The mol­ecular conformation in the two polymorphs is very different: one adopts a `C' shape, whereas the other adopts an `S' shape. In the latter, the molecule lies across a crystallographic twofold axis. The `S'-shaped polymorph undergoes a reversible ortho­rhom­bic-to-monoclinic phase transition on cooling, whereas the structure of the `C'-shaped polymorph is temperature insensitive.
Coherence requirement for partially coherent correlation detection

The coherence requirement for correlation detection is determined using the theory of partially coherent light. It is shown that the requirement for temporal coherence strongly dependes on the spatial frequency and the spatial extension of the target (i.e., space bandwidth product). However, the spatial coherence requirement depends only on the extension of the target. Some numerical results are also presented.
Pairing mild stress with increased serotonin-1B receptor expression in the nucleus accumbens increases susceptibility to amphetamine.

Both serotonin-1B (5-HT 1B ) receptors and stress modulate the behavioral and neurobiological effects of psychostimulant drugs. In order to examine how these factors interact to influence the development of behaviors associated with addiction, we used viral-mediated gene transfer to transiently increase expression of 5-HT 1B receptors in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell along with exposure to repeated mild stress (novelty + saline injection) in rats. Once the viral-mediated increases in gene expression had dissipated, the resulting effects of this 5-HT 1B /stress pairing on the acute locomotor response to amphetamine and on the development of psychomotor sensitization were examined. We report that the increasing expression of 5-HT 1B receptors on the terminals of NAc shell neurons that project to the ventral tegmental area and repeatedly exposing rats to mild stress subsequently enhance the acute locomotor-activating effects of amphetamine. In addition, the development of psychomotor sensitization (both locomotor activity and stereotypy components) is facilitated. These results suggest that serotonin signaling through NAc 5-HT 1B heteroreceptors can interact with stress to increase susceptibility to the enduring forms of drug-induced plasticity that are associated with addiction.
Role playing, attitude change, and behavior

Abstract Considerable evidence from field studies and laboratory experiments suggests that role taking changes attitudes and possibly behaviors. To test the extent and transferability of such changes freshmen were assigned to three conditions: 36 to less involving role play; 39 to more involving role play; and 52 to a control group. After—only measurements of attitude were taken a week after treatment by having students write essays on the role play topic—voting in campus elections. Nonreactive pretests and post-tests of voting behavior were administered by examining punch marks on student identification cards. Students in the more involving role play condition showed a significantly more positive attitude than did students in the other groups, but there were no significant differences among the groups in voting behavior. Subsequent data confrontation interviews revealed that students in the more involving role play group had apparently not expressed their true feelings. These findings suggest that apparent attitude changes induced by role playing are actually increases in role players' tendencies to give socially desirable responses within the confines of the situation in which role playing took place.
Mending and malignancy

Carcinogenesis and tissue repair: how might chronic tissue injury lead to the development of cancer?
Can Agencies Work Together? Collaboration in Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Books reviewed: Jane Arsenault, Forging Nonprofit Alliances. Eugene Bardach, Getting Agencies to Work Together: The Practice and Theory of Managerial Craftsmanship. Seymour B. Sarason and Elizabeth M. Lorentz, Crossing Boundaries: Collaboration, Coordination, and the Redefinition of Resources.
Relaxing stylus typing precision by geometric pattern matching

Fitts' law models the inherent speed-accuracy trade-off constraint in stylus typing. Users attempting to go beyond the Fitts' law speed ceiling will tend to land the stylus outside the targeted key, resulting in erroneous words and increasing users' frustration. We propose a geometric pattern matching technique to overcome this problem. Our solution can be used either as an enhanced spell checker or as a way to enable users to escape the Fitts' law constraint in stylus typing, potentially resulting in higher text entry speeds than what is currently theoretically modeled. We view the hit points on a stylus keyboard as a high resolution geometric pattern. This pattern can be matched against patterns formed by the letter key center positions of legitimate words in a lexicon. We present the development and evaluation of an "elastic" stylus keyboard capable of correcting words even if the user misses all the intended keys, as long as the user's tapping pattern is close enough to the intended word.
Impact of Backbone Architecture on the Solubility of Fluorocopolymers in Supercritical CO2 and Halogenated Supercritical Solvents: Comparison of Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-22 mol hexafluoropropylene) and Poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-19 mol hexafluoropropylene)

Cloud-point data to 270 °C and 2800 bar are presented for poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-22.0 mol % hexafluoropropylene) (Fluorel) in supercritical fluid (SCF) C3F6, CClF3, CHF3, and CO2. The impact of backbone architecture on intermolecular interactions and fluorocopolymer solubility is determined by comparing the phase behavior of Fluorel to that of poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-19.3 mol % hexafluoropropylene) (FEP19) in the same SCF solvents. Good solvents for nonpolar FEP19 (SF6 and C3F8) did not dissolve polar Fluorel even at temperatures in excess of 260 °C. Although the small dipole moments of C3F6 and CClF3 interact favorably with the polar, vinylidene fluoride segments of Fluorel, the cloud-point curves in these two solvents exhibit a sharp rise in cloud-point pressures as the temperature is decreased. Apparently, dipolar interactions between vinylidene fluoride segments are much stronger than Fluorel−C3F6 or Fluorel−CClF3 cross-interactions as the temperature is lowered. In contrast, quadrupolar CO2 ...
Fuel Cell Frequency Response Function Modeling for Control Applications

This paper provides the framework for first-order transfer function modeling of a fuel cell for controls use. It is shown that under specific conditions a fuel cell can be modeled as a first-order system. With a first order model, it is possible to determine how the fuel cell responds dynamically on a systems level before incorporating it into a larger more complex system. Current data sheets for fuel cells provide limited information of the output of the fuel cell, and a polarization curve based on static operation. This is vital information, but gives no insight into how the fuel cell responds under dynamic conditions. Dynamic responses are important when incorporating fuel cells as a power source in larger systems, such as automobiles, as loads and conditions are constantly changing. The modeling technique used in this research is the frequency response function. In this approach an experimental frequency response, or Bode plot, is computed from a frequency rich input signal and corresponding output signal. Here the controlled input is the Hydrogen flow and the output is the fuel cell voltage. During these tests, the fuel cell was connected to a constant resistance load. Using the frequency response function approach, a family of first-order transfer function models was created for a fuel cell at different operating temperatures and reactant relative humidity. These models are validated through comparison to experimental step responses. From this family of models the variations in the first-order model parameters of static gain and time constant are quantified. Static gain varied from 0.675 to 0.961 and the time constant ranged between 4.5 seconds and 10.5 seconds.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Synthesis, Characterization, and Magnetic Properties of Dendrimer-Encapsulated Nickel Nanoparticles Containing <150 Atoms

The synthesis and magnetic properties of Ni nanoparticles containing <150 atoms are described. These materials are prepared in an organic solvent using hydrophobic dendrimers as templates, which results in a high degree of size monodispersity. The dendrimer-encapsulated nanoparticles were characterized by UV−vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Magnetic (SQUID) studies indicate that the particles are ferromagnetic at 5 K with magnetic saturations that vary depending upon the particle size.
Analyses of Nursing Home Residents With Diabetes at Admission

Objective The objective of this study was to profile nursing home residents with diabetes at admission to the nursing facility. Methods We used all admission assessments in the Minimum Data Set recorded throughout the United States during 2002 to identify 144,969 residents with diabetes, or 26.4% of all admissions. Results Only approximately one fourth of residents with diabetes were projected to have stays in the facility of 90 days or less when admitted. Heart and circulatory comorbidities were common among residents with diabetes at admission, as was depression. More than half of residents with diabetes were in pain at admission. A majority of residents with diabetes were either totally dependent or required extensive assistance in the self-performance of many activities of daily living and more than one third were at least moderately impaired in cognitive performance. Conclusions Residents with diabetes could be one of the most “heavy care” groups in nursing facilities, as demonstrated by their levels of functional disability and prevalence of serious comorbid conditions. The care provided to residents with diabetes should address depression, pain, and low rates of advance care planning.
Recanalization of flush iliac occlusions with the assistance of a contralateral iliac occlusive balloon

Treating flush iliac artery occlusion by endovascular means can be very challenging and is a cause of technical failure requiring open surgical intervention. We describe a simple endovascular technique that can be valuable in increasing technical success and avoiding the use of a re-entry device. The technique involves placing an occlusive contralateral iliac artery balloon to assist in recanalizing a flush iliac artery occlusion.
Microcoding the time processor unit of the M68300 and M68HC16 MCU'S

The Time Processor Unit is a modular component of the MC68300 and MC68HC16 families of microcontrollers. Both of these families of MCU's are based on modules that can be connected to a common bus. This bus, known as the Intermodule Bus or IMB, serves as the data/address/control bus structure to connect the modules together. The CPU module can communicate with the other modules by reading/writing the control and data registers of a particular module. Some modules have there own local processor or arithmetic logic unit complete with local RAM and ROM. In this case the CPU can communicate with modules of this type through dual-ported RAM. The Time Processor Unit is a module of this type.
Understanding runaway IT projects: preliminary results from a program of research based on escalation theory

Information technology (IT) projects can fail for any number of reasons, and can result in considerable financial losses for the organizations that undertake them. One pattern of failure that has been observed but seldom studied is the runaway project that takes on a life of its own. Such projects exhibit characteristics that are consistent with the broader phenomenon known as escalating commitment to a failing course of action. Several theories have been offered to explain this phenomenon, including self-justification theory and the so-called sunk cost effect which can be explained by prospect theory. This paper discusses the results of a series of experiments designed to test whether the phenomenon of escalating commitment could be observed in an IT context. This paper focuses not only on the results of the research which is still in progress, but also on the challenges that have been faced in conducting the research. >
Conservatives Can Relax: A(n Ethical) Reanalysis of “Bad News”

A recent article in Neuroethics posited “bad news for conservatives,” on the basis of survey data collected on line. On the basis of bivariate correlations between self-reported conservatism/liberalism and a variety of moral propositions, the author inferred that those moral judgments were ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal.’ Then, based on a series of bivariate correlations between those same moral propositions and measures of “morally worrisome” personality characteristics, the author concluded that conservatives tended to have these morally worrisome characteristics. Unfortunately, the original article was replete with methodological and statistical errors. This paper presents a reanalysis of the data from the original article, using good statistical and methodological technique. The reanalysis suggests that there are some small but potentially theoretically meaningful relationships between some moral propositions and three morally worrisome (antisocial) personality characteristics. The data also suggest that these relationships can change substantially depending on other conditions, so should not yet be generalized.