cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Web-based information system for stock selection and evaluation

We have developed an expert system, called PORSEL (PORtfolio SELection system), which uses an effective set of rules to select and evaluate stocks on the Internet. At present, the PORSEL consists of three components: the information center, the fuzzy stock selector, and the portfolio constructor. The purpose of the information center is to provide representation of several technical indicators such as candlestick charts, moving average of closing prices, and price trends. The fuzzy stock selector evaluates the listed stocks and then assigns a composite score for each stock. The portfolio constructor generates the optimal portfolios for the selected stocks. A client/server model is implemented which allows users to communicate with the PORSEL program on a server computer at a remote site in a user-friendly manner. The results of simulation show that PORSEL outperformed the market almost every year during the testing period.
Hepatitis C and Lymphoproliferative Disorders: From Mixed Cryoglobulinemia to Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Background & Aims Hepatitis C virus is associated with both mixed cryoglobulinemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, particularly B-cell non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Although there are geographic discrepancies in the incidence and prevalence of hepatitis C virus-related lymphomas, large epidemiologic studies and meta-analyses confirm this relationship in both patients with and without mixed cryoglobulinemia. Other factors such as gene translocation, somatic hypermutation and direct infection may also play a role in the malignant transformation of B-cells. Methods Recent advances in our understanding between the complex relationship between hepatitis C virus and its interactions with cell proteins on B-cell surface membranes has led to proposed mechanisms on how hepatitis C virus leads to chronic antigenic stimulation resulting in lymphoproliferation. Results Hepatitis C virus is more weakly associated with T-cell lymphomas, Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia and other monoclonal gammopathies. Remission of mixed cryoglobulinemia is strongly associated with reduction of hepatitis C virus viral load and recurrence of disease corresponds with viral relapse. Similarly, some studies have shown complete remissions of low grade lymphomas with sustained viral response after antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus. Conclusions Further studies are needed to more clearly understand the pathogenesis and management of hepatitis C virus-related lymphoproliferative disorders.
Estimating Heat Sources And Fluxes In Thermally Stratified Canopy Flows Using Higher-Order Closure Models

Over the past two decades, several inverse methods have been proposed to estimatescalar source and sink strengths from measured mean concentration profiles withinthe canopy volume (hereafter termed the `inverse' problem). These inverse methodscommonly assumed neutral atmospheric stability conditions for the entire canopyvolume. For non-neutral conditions, atmospheric stability corrections in inverseschemes were limited to adjusting the integral time scale or other flow statistics tomatch well-established surface-layer similarity relations above the canopy. Suchstability corrections do not explicitly consider the local stability effects within thecanopy volume. Currently, there is no satisfactory inverse scheme that explicitlyaccounts for local atmospheric stability for canopy turbulence. A Eulerian inversemethod that explicitly accounts for local atmospheric stability within the canopy isdeveloped using second-order closure principles. Field testing the method is conductedusing temperature measurements from two field experiments collected in an even-ageduniform loblolly pine forest. It is demonstrated that by accounting for local atmospheric stability in the inversion scheme, the agreement between modelled sensible heat flux calculations and measurements improve by 60% for stable conditions, 10% for near-neutral conditions and 20% for unstable conditions
A Prospective Study of Medical Diagnostic Radiography and Risk of Thyroid Cancer

Although diagnostic x-ray procedures provide important medical benefits, cancer risks associated with their exposure are also possible, but not well characterized. The US Radiologic Technologists Study (1983–2006) is a nationwide, prospective cohort study with extensive questionnaire data on history of personal diagnostic imaging procedures collected prior to cancer diagnosis. We used Cox proportional hazard regressions to estimate thyroid cancer risks related to the number and type of selected procedures. We assessed potential modifying effects of age and calendar year of the first x-ray procedure in each category of procedures. Incident thyroid cancers (n= 251) were diagnosed among 75,494 technologists (1.3 million person-years; mean follow-up = 17 years). Overall, there was no clear evidence of thyroid cancer risk associated with diagnostic x-rays except for dental x-rays. We observed a 13% increase in thyroid cancer risk for every 10 reported dental radiographs (hazard ratio = 1.13, 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 1.26), which was driven by dental x-rays first received before 1970, but we found no evidence that the relationship between dental x-rays and thyroid cancer was associated with childhood or adolescent exposures as would have been anticipated. The lack of association of thyroid cancer with x-ray procedures that expose the thyroid to higher radiation doses than do dental x-rays underscores the need to conduct a detailed radiation exposure assessment to enable quantitative evaluation of risk. radiation; radiography; thyroid gland; thyroid neoplasms; x-rays
Quasi-linear interaction of whistler-mode waves and nonthermal electrons

In this investigation, we attempt to analyze the quasi-linear cyclotron instability (under the weak turbulence regime) for whistler-mode waves due to pitch angle anisotropy of nonthermal electrons. The motivation of this study is to explain the triggered discrete VLF emissions occurring in the terrestrial magnetosphere. The time evolution of the growth rate and the induced waves spectrum for a loss cone type of nonthermal electrons is analyzed numerically. The diffusion of particles in pitch angles due to quasilinear cyclotron instability is illustrated. It is shown that several major features of triggered VLF emissions can be explained by the stated instability. Some predictions of the theory is given and suggestions for further research are presented.
Identity-Based Motivation: Implications for Intervention

Children want to succeed academically and attend college, but their actual attainment often lags behind; some groups (e.g., boys, low-income children) are particularly likely to experience this gap. Social structural factors matter, influencing this gap in part by affecting children's perceptions of what is possible for them and people like them in the future. Interventions that focus on this macro-micro interface can boost children's attainment. We articulate the processes underlying these effects using an integrative culturally sensitive framework entitled identity-based motivation (IBM, Oyserman, 2007, 2009a, 2009b). The IBM model assumes that identities are dynamically constructed in context. People interpret situations and difficulties in ways that are congruent with currently active identities and prefer identity-congruent to identity-incongruent actions. When action feels identity-congruent, experienced difficulty highlights that the behavior is important and meaningful. When action feels identity-incongruent, the same difficulty suggests that the behavior is pointless and "not for people like me."
Seven Years After the Call: Students' and Graduates' Perceptions of the Re-envisioned Ed.D.

Given continued confusion about the Ed.D.degree, universities affiliated with the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) have re-envisioned it using a set of guiding principles and design features. In this study, we investigated why students and graduates chose to pursue the Ed.D., what and how they learned, how they viewed themselves, and whether they perceived their programs to be aligned with CPED’s principles. Data were collected from 296 participants at 14 CPED institutions using an online survey. Results indicated respondents agreed that their programs were aligned with CPED principles, helped them meet their professional and personal goals, and developed them as scholarly practitioners.
On Hoaxes, Humbugs, and Fictional Portraiture

From its origins, fiction has made a paradoxical claim on readers, presenting its inventions as actual history. In particular, biographical fiction often blurs the boundary between verifiable fact ...
Update on Medical Abortion: Expanding Safe and Equitable, Patient-Centered Care

Addressing disparities in abortion access and efforts to end the global problem of unsafe abortion are key public health and human rights priorities. Optimizing the role of various health workers in supporting safe medical abortion practices and working to remove unnecessary barriers to care are key strategies that address inequities in outcomes after abortion worldwide. Medical abortion using evidence-based protocols is effective through 70 days gestation and can safely be provided by non-physician providers in outpatient settings. Removing barriers of in-office administration of mifepristone and simplifying follow-up protocols are evidence-based approaches to expanding access to medical abortion, particularly in settings where access to surgical abortion is limited. Research supports expanding the role of women themselves, as well as task-shifting among health worker teams in providing safe abortion and postabortion care. Simplifying the process of medical abortion, including allowing prescription and home administration of mifepristone and utilizing telemedicine for follow-up protocols are safe and feasible, can optimize use of health resources and improve patient experience with medical abortion.
Cell-Cell Contact Proteins in Antigen-Specific and Antigen-Nonspecific Cellular Cytotoxicity

The lysis of target cells (TCs) by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) is probably mediated by proteins in the CTL plasma membrane. While the physiology of CTL-TC interactions has been described in detail (1-3), little is known about the molecular organization of the CTL surface membrane in the contact area of CTL-TC conjugates. The ability of certain alloantisera and monoclonal antibodies to inhibit CTL-mediated cytotoxicity in the absence of complement has served to identify functionally important CTL cell surface molecules: Lyt-2 (4,5) and lymphocyte function-associated antigens (LFA) (6,7). A similar approach has suggested that Lyt 5, also called T200, participates in the lytic mechanism of natural killer (NK) cells (8).
Optical Interconnects

The performance of advanced multiprocessor architectures of the future will be governed by the bandwidth and configuration of the communication channels between various subcomponents of the overall system. Optics and optoelectronics have an important role to play in alleviating the communication bottleneck in these systems. This paper will describe the current and planned developments of optical interconnection.
Syllable systems : four students' experiences in learning rhythm.

This qualitative study examines the effect of two different syllable counting systems on four sixth-grade band students. The goal of this study was to see the differences and similarities between rhythm learning and performance between these students in four related case studies. During a series of five lessons, students spent time with the researcher individually exploring rhythm reading and performing on their instrument. Two of the students were taught to count rhythms with the "takadimi" rhythm syllable system as developed by Richard Hoffman, William Pelto, and John White. The other two students counted rhythms using the traditional "l-e-&-a" system of counting most familiar to instrumental teachers in the United States. Subjects' experiences in counting rhythms using these systems were compared and contrasted to find what similarities or differences existed. Lessons with each student were also videotaped, and the lessons were transcribed to ascertain trends and differences between each teaching setting and rhythm system. This was also done to have a complete record of each teaching period. The researcher also kept a journal for reflection after each lesson in order to better understand and reflect on student learning. Data collected from the videotape transcripts reflected that students made mistakes that fell into six categories: (1) holding a note or rest too long, (2) playing a note or rest too short, (3) wrong syllable used, (4) unsteady pulse, (5) stops and hesitations due to rushing, and (6) incorrect rhythm. Analysis of this data resulted in identifying specific problems arising from the two rhythm methods used. Results showed that there were no apparent differences in achievement between the two approaches to learning rhythm. The students, regardless of method, generally made the same types of errors when counting and playing rhythms; they made fewer errors when they counted a rhythm before playing it rather than playing it first. The limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies are given.
Transmission Electron Microscopy and Electron Holography of Nanophase TiO2 Generated in a Flame Burner System

Nanophase TiO{sub 2} (n-TiO{sub 2}) particles were generated in a flame burner system under three experimental conditions. Selected individual nanoparticles were identified and characterized using selected area electron diffraction, bright-field and, in some cases, dark-field imaging to determine morphology and microstructural features. Previously unknown TiO{sub 2} particles with unusual central features were identified as rutile. Electron holography was used to characterize the central features which were found to be consistent with voids. More extensive characterization of individual particles may lead to improved understanding of n-TiO{sub 2} nucleation and growth.
Investigation of an Improved Design for a Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuator for Flight Control of an Inflatable Wing

Over the past decade, a substantial number of analytical, experimental, and computational research efforts have investigated the potential of plasma actuators in aerodynamics. This work has tested a variety of configurations, materials, flow conditions, and applications with varying degrees of success. Aggregating some of this data provides the potential for choosing more preferential designs for flight control devices and for applying this information to the improvement of numerical plasma actuator models. The particular flight mission under consideration is the aerodynamic control of inflatable wings, which do not lend themselves readily to traditional control surfaces. As such, the focus of this work is on incompressible, lower Reynolds number flight in the lower atmosphere.
Electrical Characterization of Ferroelectric Thin Films of Lithium Niobate on Silicon Substrates

Thin films (.1‒.6 μm) of LiNbO3 have been deposited on silicon substrates by rf reactive sputtering. MFS (metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor) capacitor structures were created by a liftoff process which physically isolated small areas of LiNbO3. Standard MOS (metal-oxide-semiconductor) electrical characterization techniques were used to determine the resistivity and dielectric constant of the films. Short-circuit photocurrent measurements revealed both transient and steady state components attributed to a pyroelectric effect and a bulk photovoltaic effect respectively. The conduction processes in these films were examined and found to exhibit FrenkelPoole characteristics. Ferroelectric switching at room temperature has also been observed in these films, however, the reversed orientation was not stable.
Site-selective imination of an anthracenone sensor: selective fluorescence detection of barium(II).

Site-selective imination of anthraquinone-based macrocyclic crown ethers using titanium tetrachloride as the catalyst yields imines where only the external carbonyl group of the anthraquinone forms Schiff-bases. The following aromatic amines yield monomeric compounds (aniline, 4-nitroaniline, 4-pyrrolaniline, and 1,3-phenylenediamine). Reaction of 2 equiv of the macrocyclic anthraquinone host with 1,2- and 1,4-phenylenediamine yields dimeric imine compounds. The 1,2-diimino host acts as a luminescence sensor, exhibiting enhanced selectivity for Ba(II) ion. Spectroscopic data indicate that two barium ions coordinate to the sensor. Due to E/Z isomerization of the imine, the monomeric complexes are nonluminescent. Restricted rotation about the 1,2 oriented C═N groups or other noncovalent/coordinate-covalent interactions acting between neighboring crown ether rings may inhibit E/Z isomerization in this example, which is different from current examples that employ coordination of a metal cation with a chelatin...
Paranormal Beliefs in Late-Adulthood:

71 members of a retirees' group (M age = 68 yr.) in northern Louisiana completed the Paranormal Belief Scale. The elder sample showed significantly less belief than a university student comparison group on Psi, Witchcraft, Superstition, Spiritualism, Extraordinary Life Forms, and Precognition. Findings probably reflect both generational and developmental processes.
The Value of the Barrow Neurological Institute Balance Scale in Predicting Falls (P06.043)

Objective: A novel Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) balance scale has been developed and its effectiveness in identifying falls examined. Background In Parkinson disease (PD), balance difficulty has been shown to correlate with falls. The revised Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), however, is not focused to identify people with falls. Consequently, we developed the BNI balance scale as a complement to the UPDRS. Design/Methods: We compared the BNI scale with the Tinetti scale, a widely used scale for assessing fall risks, in 53 PD patients, 9 of whom fell ≥ 3 times per month (fallers). The BNI scale consists of evaluating balance during standing on one foot, turning, and tandem walking. All patients were also examined utilizing the motor part of the UPDRS during medication-on state. A t-test was used to compare continuous variables, a chi- square test to compare categorical variables, and a logistic regression model was constructed to predict sensitivities and specificities. Results: The fallers had a longer PD duration, a higher UPDRS score, a higher (worse) BNI balance score and a lower (worse) Tinetti score than non-fallers. All differences were significant. Fallers were more significantly impaired than non-fallers on the UPDRS postural stability and on the BNI subtests of standing on one foot, turning, and tandem walking. The BNI scale, score ≥ 10, had a sensitivity of 100 % and a specificity of 88.6% in predicting falls. The Tinetti scale, score Conclusions: The BNI balance scale is more sensitive and as specific in predicting falls than the Tinetti. The BNI balance scale takes less than one third of the time to perform than the Tinetti and is a necessary complement to the UPDRS for predicting falls. Disclosure: Dr. Husain has nothing to disclose. Dr. Krishnamurthi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Santiago has nothing to disclose. Dr. Dhall has received personal compensation for activities with Teva Pharmacuticals as a speaker. Dr. Moguel-Cobos has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sadreddin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Salins has nothing to disclose. Dr. Pan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lieberman has nothing to disclose. Dr. Dhanani has nothing to disclose.
Left Lung Torsion: Complication of Lobar Resection for an Early Stage Lung Adenocarcinoma

Lobar torsion is a fatal but fortunately rare occurrence following lung resection. Early clinical signs and radiographic features may be nonspecific resulting in diagnostic delay. A high index of suspicion is vital for early diagnosis and intervention to avoid further parenchymal necrosis and deadly gangrene. We report a case of left lower lobe torsion in a 76-year-old female following elective upper lobectomy for underlying lung adenocarcinoma. Diagnosis was made following highly suggestive radiographic findings prompting bronchoscopy and revision thoracotomy. An emergency detorsion failed to restore lung viability and was followed by completion pneumonectomy. The patient recovered and was discharged on the seventh postoperative day.
Induction of α-Amylase Synthesis in Aleurone Cells of Barley Grains by Gibberellin

Each kind of plant hormone is known to be capable of evoking a number of often quite diverse physiological effects. An intriguing question about any hormone is, “What is the biochemical mechanism of action of the hormone?” That is, what is the direct and primary effect of the hormone on metabolism, which is the basis for the often more readily observable physiological effects? Progress toward elucidating the biochemical mechanisms of action of all kinds of plant hormones—auxins, gibberellins and cytokinins—has been rapid in recent years. This experiment is designed to acquaint you with the mechanism of action of one kind of hormone, specifically the gibberellins.
An effective prioritization scheme for handovers in cellular networks

The authors present a method of improving the quality of service in cellular systems based on prioritization of handover requests. Handover prioritization schemes lead to a tradeoff between the improvement of the probability of successful handover and spectrum utilization. The objective is to improve perceived quality of cellular service by minimizing both the probability of forced termination of ongoing calls due to handover failures and the degradation in spectrum utilization. The authors present a handover policy based on a multiple priority nonpreemptive queueing of calls in progress. Originating calls are blocked if all channels are occupied. Handover requests are queued such that as soon as a channel is available, it is offered to the mobile subscriber with the measurement results closest to the minimum acceptable power level for communication. The queue is dynamically reordered as new measurement results are submitted. The results of the authors' simulation study show that the new scheme provides lower probability of forced termination, less call blocking, less reduction in traffic and less delay than the single priority class FIFO queueing under all traffic conditions. >
Choosing Wisely: Opportunities for Improving Value in Cancer Care Delivery?

Introduction:Patients, providers, and payers are striving to identify where value in cancer care can be increased. As part of the Choosing Wisely (CW) campaign, ASCO and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology have recommended against specific, yet commonly performed, treatments and procedures.Methods:We conducted a retrospective analysis of Medicare claims data to examine concordance with CW recommendations across 12 cancer centers in the southeastern United States. Variability for each measure was evaluated on the basis of patient characteristics and site of care. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine differences in average costs per patient by concordance status. Potential cost savings were estimated on the basis of a potential 95% adherence rate and average cost difference.Results:The analysis included 37,686 patients with cancer with Fee-for-Service Medicare insurance. Concordance varied by CW recommendation from 39% to 94%. Patient characteristics were similar for pati...
Non-Gaussian Analysis of Observations from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Compared with ERA and MERRA Reanalyses

AbstractStatistical relationships between higher-order moments of probability density functions (PDFs) are used to analyze top-of-atmosphere radiance measurements made by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and radiance calculations from the ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA) and the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) over a 10-yr period. The statistical analysis used in this paper has previously been applied to sea surface temperature, and here the authors show that direct satellite radiance observations of atmospheric variability also exhibit stochastic forcing characteristics. The authors have chosen six different AIRS channels based on the sensitivity of their measured radiances to a variety of geophysical properties. In each of these channels, the authors have found evidence of correlated additive and multiplicative (CAM) stochastic forcing. In general, channels sensitive to tropospheric humidity and surface temperature show the strongest evidence of CAM forcing, while t...
Pediatric invasive fungal rhinosinusitis: An investigation of 17 patients.

Abstract Purpose To investigate outcomes of pediatric patients at a single institution with invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (IFRS) and to determine variables that impact overall survival. Methods All pediatric patients at a large tertiary children's hospital diagnosed with IFRS confirmed by surgical pathology from 2009 to 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographics, underlying diseases, symptoms, antifungal therapy, absolute neutrophil count (ANC), surgical management,and outcomes were analyzed. Results Seventeen patients were identified with IFRS with an average age of 8.7 years and 53% male. Hematologic malignancy was the most common (n = 13) underlying disease. The most common presenting symptoms were fever (82%) and congestion (41%). 15 patients had severe neutropenia (Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) Conclusion Pediatric IFRS is a life-threatening disease that requires a coordinated surgical and medical approach. Despite a relatively high local control rate, overall mortality remains disappointingly high, reflecting the disease's underlying pathogenesis - lack of host defense and risk of disseminated fungal infection. Further investigation is necessary to reveal optimal management with regards to antifungal therapy, surgery, and utility of labs.
A Parametric Study of Opinion Progression in a Divided Society

In this paper, a probabilistic finite state automaton framework is used to model the temporal evolution of opinions of individuals in an ideologically divided society in the presence of social interactions and influencers. In such a society, even quantifiable and verifiable facts are not unqualified absolute but are only viewed through the prism of the individual’s biases which are almost always strongly aligned with one of the few prominent actors’ viewpoint. The gradual progression of divisiveness and clustering of opinion or formation of consensus in a scale free network is studied within the framework of bounded-confidence interaction between nodes. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to study the effect of different model parameters, such as the initial distribution of opinion, confidence bound, etc. in the behavior of the society. We have shown that in absence of influencers, government policies are the important factors in the final distribution of the society unless a specific group has higher number of members initially. Also, even very small groups of influencers proved to be highly effective in changing the dynamics.
Enriching particles on a bubble through drainage: Measuring and modeling the concentration of microbial particles in a bubble film at rupture

The concentration of microbes and other particulates is frequently enriched in the droplets produced by bursting bubbles. As a bubble rises to the ocean surface, particulates in the bulk liquid can be transported to the sea surface microlayer by attaching to the bubble’s interface. When the bubble eventually ruptures, a fraction of these particulates is often ejected into the surroundings in film droplets with a particulate concentration that is higher than in the liquid from which they formed. The precise mechanisms responsible for this enrichment are unclear, yet such enrichment at the ocean surface influences important exchange processes with the atmosphere. Here we provide evidence that drainage, coupled with scavenging, is responsible for the enrichment. By simultaneously recording the drainage and rupture effects with high-speed and standard photography, we directly measured the particulate concentrations in the thin film of a bubble cap at the moment before it ruptures. We observed that the enrichment factor strongly depends on the film thickness at rupture, and developed a physical model, based on scavenging and drainage, that is consistent with our observations. We have also demonstrated that this model is quantitatively consistent with prior observations of film drop enrichment, indicating its potential for a broader range of applications in the study of the sea surface microlayer and related phenomena.
Updates in Polysomnographic Recording Techniques Used for the Diagnosis of Sleep Disorders

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this paper will be to focus on some important changes that have taken place in the field of sleep disorders medicine during the last ten years. When the first version of this article was published in 1978 (McGregor et al.) there were six accredited sleep disorders centers in the United States. At the present time there are over 100 accredited centers, with about the same number having provisional status and hundreds more in various stages of development.
A medical price prediction system using hierarchical decision trees

The health care costs constitute a significant fraction of the U.S. economy — nearly 20% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on health care. The health spending in the US is the highest among all developed nations in absolute numbers as well as a percentage of the economy. The U.S. government bears a large portion of seniors' health expenditure through its Medicare program. The growing health related expenses combined with the fact that the baby-boomer generation is retiring, and hence they will be eligible for Medicare, puts a great burden on the U.S. exchequer. Therefore, it is essential to contain health related payments through all means possible. In this paper, we develop a medical price prediction system using Medicare payment datasets. Such a system will aid in steering patients to cost effective providers and thereby curb health spending. The policymakers can also use the tool to better understand which providers are relatively expensive and take punitive actions if necessary. We develop a novel hierarchical decision tree approach to predict prices. We conduct extensive experiments to compare various machine learning algorithms, including hierarchical decision trees, RandomForests, linear regression, and Gradient-boosted trees. The experiments indicate that the price prediction system achieves high accuracy.
Towards Adaptive Support for Anticipatory Thinking

Adaptive training and support technologies have been used to improve training and performance in a number of domains. However, limited work on adaptive training has examined anticipatory thinking, which is the deliberate, divergent exploration and analysis of relevant futures to avoid surprise. Anticipatory thinking engages the process of imagining how uncertainties impact the future, helps identify leading indicators and causal dependencies of future scenarios, and complements forecasting, which focuses on assessing the likelihood of outcomes. It is particularly important for intelligence analysis, mission planning, and strategic forecasting, wherein practitioners apply prospective sense-making, scenario planning, and other methodologies to identify possible options and their effects during decision making processes. However, there is currently no underlying cognitive theory supporting specific anticipatory thinking methodologies, no adaptive technologies to support their training, and no existing measures to assess their efficacy.We are engaged in an ongoing effort to design adaptive technologies to support the acquisition and measurement of anticipatory thinking. As a first step toward adaptive environments that support the acquisition and application of anticipatory thinking competencies, we have developed a task to measure anticipatory thinking in which participants explore uncertainties and the impacts on the future given a particular topic. We present preliminary results from a study to examine the validity of this measure and discuss multiple factors that affect anticipatory thinking including attention, inhibitory control, need for cognition, need for closure, convergent thinking, and divergent thinking. We then introduce design principles for supporting training, application, and assessment of anticipatory thinking.
Exposure to a multi-level multi-component childhood obesity prevention community-randomized controlled trial: patterns, determinants, and implications

For community interventions to be effective in real-world conditions, participants need to have sufficient exposure to the intervention. It is unclear how the dose and intensity of the intervention differ among study participants in low-income areas. We aimed to understand patterns of exposure to different components of a multi-level multi-component obesity prevention program to inform our future impact analyses. B’more Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK) was a community-randomized controlled trial implemented in 28 low-income zones in Baltimore in two rounds (waves). Exposure to three different intervention components (corner store/carryout restaurants, social media/text messaging, and youth-led nutrition education) was assessed via post-intervention interviews with 385 low-income urban youths and their caregivers. Exposure scores were generated based on self-reported viewing of BHCK materials (posters, handouts, educational displays, and social media posts) and participating in activities, including taste tests during the intervention. For each intervention component, points were assigned for exposure to study materials and activities, then scaled (0–1 range), yielding an overall BHCK exposure score [youths: mean 1.1 (range 0–7.6 points); caregivers: 1.1 (0–6.7), possible highest score: 13]. Ordered logit regression analyses were used to investigate correlates of youths’ and caregivers’ exposure level (quartile of exposure). Mean intervention exposure scores were significantly higher for intervention than comparison youths (mean 1.6 vs 0.5, p < 0.001) and caregivers (mean 1.6 vs 0.6, p < 0.001). However, exposure scores were low in both groups and 10% of the comparison group was moderately exposed to the intervention. For each 1-year increase in age, there was a 33% lower odds of being highly exposed to the intervention (odds ratio 0.77, 95% confidence interval 0.69; 0.88) in the unadjusted and adjusted model controlling for youths’ sex and household income. Treatment effects may be attenuated in community-based trials, as participants may be differentially exposed to intervention components and the comparison group may also be exposed. Exposure should be measured to provide context to impact evaluations in multi-level trials. Future analyses linking exposure scores to the outcome should control for potential confounders in the treatment-on-the-treated approach, while recognizing that confounding and selection bias may exist affecting causal inference. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02181010 . Retrospectively registered on 2 July 2014.
Zymography, Casein Zymography, and Reverse Zymography: Activity Assays for Proteases and their Inhibitors

Proteases and their inhibitors play an important role in the extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling that occurs in a number of physiological and pathological processes. These include such diverse processes as trophoblast implantation, mammary gland involution, rheumatoid arthritis and tumor cell invasion (Liotta et al. 1991a; Liotta et al. 1991b). Matrix metalloproteinases involved in ECM degradation (Birkedal-Hansen et al, 1993; Stetler-Stevenson et al., 1993) have been found to be subject to regulatory controls at multiple levels including transcription, mRNA stability, translation, secretion, activation of proenzymes, degradation and inhibition by specific endogenous inhibitors known as Tissue Inhibitors of Metalloproteinases or TIMPS (Matrisian, L.M., 1992; Stetler-Stevenson et al, 1993b). The need to rapidly and easily screen tissue extracts, biological fluids or the conditioned media of a number of cell types has resulted in the adoption of the zymogram technique in many laboratories. The reverse zymogram is a related technique which detects metalloproteinase inhibitors. These techniques utilize electrophoresis for the separation of the various protease and inhibitory species coupled with the detection of the activity within the polyacrylamide gel. These techniques are simple to perform, highly sensitive in detecting secreted protease and protease inhibitory activity, and flexible enough to be utilized for a variety of proteases and their inhibitors.
Student Teacher Efficacy in Inner-City Schools.

The resolution of five middle-class student teachers' conflict and growth toward efficacy during their year interning in an inner-city school is described in this qualitative study. Analysis of 4 interviews, 12 written reflections, and 7 transcribed group discussions revealed a sense of culture shock felt by interns upon entering the inner-city schools. In particular, their concerns focused on problems in the children's home lives. Aggravating their worries were the normal concerns of student teachers about getting along with their collaborating teachers and their students and coping with doubts about their own abilities and values. Growth in self-efficacy began as the interns attempted to manage problems and take risks.
Local Codimension Two Bifurcations of Flows

In this chapter we discuss bifurcations from equilibria which have multiple degeneracies. We start with the analogues of the sadble-node and Hopf bifurcations with the same linear part, but additional degeneracy in the nonlinear terms of the Taylor expansion expressed in normal form. The theory here is complete, at least for the first few cases, and is essentially obtained by unfolding degenerate singularities of functions, since in each case we can reduce to a noe-dimensional flow.
Imaging of Liver and Spleen Morphology

In most nuclear medicine departments throughout the world, gamma cameras have completely replaced rectilinear scanners. A large field of view gamma camera with a single or dual head, fitted with a low-energy, parallel hole, all-purpose collimator, is generally chosen for most planar studies using technetium-99m-labeled agents. The main advantage of the dual-head gamma camera is patient convenience, where the data collection time is reduced by one-half as it allows simultaneous anterior and posterior image acquisition. The reduction in imaging time often improves the spatial resolution because of less patient movement during data collection. A triple-head gamma camera, when available, is preferred for SPECT images. The gamma camera image acquisition parameters are identical for both the liver and spleen.
Epidemiology, Incidence, and Prevalence of EoE in Children

Few pediatric diseases have produced similar volumes of clinical and basic research data in as short a time as eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Once believed to be a rare disorder that possibly represented recalcitrant gastroesophageal reflux disease, EoE is now known to be a unique entity with a specific transcriptional signature, epidemiologic descriptors, histologic features, and treatments. This chapter delineates the epidemiology of pediatric EoE, including demographic descriptors and measures of frequency.
Bolus Administration of Zidovudine During Pregnancy

This paper does not directly address the question of bolus tocolytic therapy. It examines the relative advantages of continuous intravenous infusion vs bolus oral administration of zidovudine (ZDV), previously known as azidothymidine (AZT) in the treatment of the HIV-infected woman during pregnancy. In an attempt to evaluate these two modes of therapy without risk to the mother and the intrauterine patient, we have studied the placental transfer and metabolism of the drug using an in vitro perfusion technique. Schneider and Proegler have used in vitro perfusion to compare bolus and continuous administration of beta-adrenergic antagonists (5).
Wetlands from a Psychological Perspective: Acknowledging and Benefiting from Multiple Realities

Information sharing is a necessity among collaborating team members as well as with many constituencies. It is easy to take it for granted, until it fails to work well. The chapter is largely devoted to what leads to more effective and less frustrating information sharing. Rather than a long list of do’s and don’ts—which are not a very effective way to share information—we use a simple framework that makes it easier to think about the issues. The same framework turns out to be useful for discussing the role that wetlands play in the urban context. For the most part urban residents have little understanding of the experts’ criteria for successful wetlands efforts. To them the wetland is “nature” and nature matters. The chapter thus also includes discussion of the importance of nature to the human consumers of the wetland project. The framework that brings all this together, the Reasonable Person Model (RPM), focuses on how environments or situations people find themselves in can be more supportive of their effectiveness and reasonableness.
Single-Laboratory Validation of the Multiplex xMAP Food Allergen Detection Assay with Incurred Food Samples

An xMAP Food Allergen Detection Assay (xMAP FADA) was developed to meet analytical needs when responding to complaints by individuals with multiple food allergies and to address potential ambiguities associated with cross-reactive proteins. A single-laboratory validation (SLV) was conducted to examine the reliability of the xMAP FADA to detect 15 analytes individually or as part of a mixture at more than six concentrations in four foods. The xMAP FADA reliably detected the analytes despite the incurred dark chocolate and incurred baked muffins displaying recoveries of 10-20% and 80% of the beads and the count for one bead set dropping to seven, the assay displayed only a decrease in precision (increased standard deviations) and a change in the ratios between complementary antibody pairs.
On MMD-Based Secure Fusion Strategy for Robust Cooperative Spectrum Sensing

Collaborative spectrum sensing (CSS) in cognitive radio-based networks (CRNs) is vulnerable to spectrum sensing data falsification (SSDF) attack. Existing defense mechanisms are commonly subject to major limitations with unrealistic assumptions which can be easily violated in future wireless networks. Such assumptions include the number of honest users is in majority, the attackers’ flip rates are identical and fixed, the adoption of hard decision approach in the fusion strategy and only TV sets are considered as the primary users to be protected. Essentially, all existing representative schemes utilize certain low-dimensional human-observed metric to distinguish malicious users and honest users based on domain knowledge. Therefore, these defense mechanisms cannot perform properly under certain condition, such as sensing reports with different distributions but have equal mean and variance. In this paper, we propose a secure fusion strategy which adopts “soft decision” method and can distinguish malicious users and honest users under any distribution of sensing reports using maximum mean discrepancy (MMD). Our proposed CSS scheme is suitable for general CRN application scenarios. The simulation results reflect the effects of different kernel functions and window size on the system performance, and show our proposed defense mechanism outperforms the existing works.
The Sonic Circle

In this chapter, we will discuss how we can organize all the grafted instruments into a broader context. As an example, we will discuss a framework to define the relationships between the different instrument variations. The framework will be based on the idea of creating a large portfolio of different sounds and styles. Instead of looking for the one, iconic sound, we will explore how we can diversify our musical identity into several unique voices. Using the concept of internal diversity, a performer can draw and benefit from both intuitive and rational approaches to music. To achieve this goal, we will use the non-judgmental approach we discussed in the context of the Deep Listening philosophy in Chap. 4.
Promoting Smoke-Free Homes Through Biomarker Feedback Documenting Child Exposure to Tobacco Toxins: Protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) early in life increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma, and respiratory illnesses. Since children's primary exposure to SHS occurs in the home, these most vulnerable members of our society are not fully protected by recent increases in the adoption of smoking bans in public spaces. Although exposure to SHS is a quickly reversible cause of excess morbidity, few low-income homes strictly enforce smoking restrictions. Objective This study aims to test a novel approach to motivate the adoption of home smoking restrictions and to eliminate child SHS exposure by providing parents with objective data documenting home SHS exposure and "biomarker feedback" of child ingestion of tobacco toxins, that is, objective, laboratory-based results of assays performed on child urine, documenting levels of nicotine; cotinine; and NNAL (4-[methylnitrosamino]-1-[3-pyridyl]-1-butanol), which is a metabolite of the known tobacco carcinogen NNK (4-[methylnitro-samino]-1-[3-pyridyl]-1-butanone). Methods From 2011 to 2013, 195 low-income, female smokers with children aged ≤10 years residing in their homes were recruited into a two-arm randomized clinical trial. Participants were assigned to one of two groups: biomarker feedback (n=98) and health education (n=97). In-home assessments were administered at baseline, week 16, and week 26. Children's home SHS exposure and nicotine, cotinine, and NNAL levels from urine samples, measured through a passive nicotine dosimeter and a surface sample of residual tobacco smoke (ie, thirdhand smoke), were collected at all three time points. Primary outcome was dosimeter-verified, self-reported complete home smoking restrictions at 6 months after randomization. Secondary outcomes included parental self-report of smoking behavior change and child urine tobacco toxin (biomarker) change. Results Data collection and analyses are complete, and the results are being interpreted. Conclusions The study protocol describes the development of a novel community-based controlled trial designed to examine the efficacy of biomarker feedback documenting home and child exposure to SHS on parental smoking behavior change. International registered report identifier (irrid) RR1-10.2196/12654.
Flipping class: Why student expectations and person-situation fit matter

Abstract The use of flipped instructional methods have become commonplace in business schools, despite a mix of potential benefits and pitfalls. To explore why flipped classes may have both benefits and pitfalls, we applied psychological contract theory and a person-situation fit perspective. We found undergraduate organisational behaviour students who expected traditional in-person lecture-based instruction, yet received flipped instruction (indicative of contract violation) were less satisfied and less intent on taking a flipped class later, yet they showed more in-class effort than students who expected and received traditional instruction. Moreover, autonomously motivated students were more intent on taking a flipped class in the future (indicative of a better fit), and satisfaction mediated this relationship. Autonomous motivation also predicted outside-of-class effort and self-regulated learning strategies. Flipped classes may benefit autonomously motivated students who can self-select such classes, while less autonomously motivated students or those with violated psychological contracts may experience pitfalls.
Health-Information Seeking and Intention to Quit Smoking: Do Health Beliefs Have a Mediating Role?:

Background:Smoking is a leading cause of preventable deaths. Smoking cessation can reduce the risk of smoking-associated disease and death. But smoking cessation involves behaviour change. Existing...