cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stochastic inflation lattice simulations - Ultra-large scale structure of the universe

Non-Gaussian fluctuations for structure formation may arise in inflation from the nonlinear interaction of long wavelength gravitational and scalar fields. Long wavelength fields have spatial gradients a -1∇ small compared to the Hubble radius, and they are described in terms of classical random fields that are fed by short wavelength quantum noise. Lattice Langevin calculations are given for a ‘toy model’ with a scalar field interacting with an exponential potential where one can obtain exact analytic solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation. For single scalar field models that are consistent with current microwave background fluctuations, the fluctuations are Gaussian. However, for scales much larger than our observable Universe, one expects large metric fluctuations that are non-Gaussian. This example illuminates non-Gaussian models involving multiple scalar fields which are consistent with current microwave background limits.
Leadership Styles and School Effectiveness: Empirical Evidence from Secondary Level

Abstract School effectiveness is an important area of research in Education. The research in this area has primarily focused on leadership and school effectiveness in terms of its academic achievement. There are no significant studies looking at the relationship of school leader's leadership with school effectiveness. The main premise of the article is that school factors of effectiveness basically depends upon different styles of leadership being adopted by the headteachers with reference to gender and type of the institutions; public and private sector. This article draws on leadership theory to examine the connection between leading styles of school leaders towards learning outcomes of the schools. The study under discussion is a co-relational research for which a survey was conducted through two questionnaires. Analysis was conducted on the sample of 300 male and female headteachers, deputy headteachers and senior teachers, and students in the province of Punjab in Pakistan. The findings reveal that, the significant factor responsible for affecting the achievement of the school is the degree to which headteachers are participative and adopt the selling leadership style. Results showed that there was a considerable relationship of leadership styles with school effectiveness and there is a significant difference between leadership styles of headteachers/deputy headteachers on the bases of gender both for public and private sectors.
ABO incompatible transplantation: to B or not to B.

ABO antibodies (isoagglutinins) represent a formidable barrier to optimizing live donation and organ distribution. Blood group antigens are expressed on the endothelium of solid organs, and transplantation across a blood group barrier can result in hyperacute or acute antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). Based on blood group distributions in the United States, there is a 36% probability that any two individuals in the population will be ABO incompatible (ABOi), resulting in the exclusion of up to one third of willing live donors. The use of ABOi kidneys dates back to the earliest days of renal transplantation. Dismal results, enhanced availability of kidneys from deceased donors, and a better organ sharing infrastructure pre-empted further development of ABOi transplantation in the West. However, in Japan where cultural beliefs have limited utilization of deceased donors, ABOi renal transplantation flourished during the 1990s. The article by Takahashi et al. (1) reports the outcomes of 441 ABOi kidney transplants performed at 55 centers across Japan and shows no significant difference in graft survival when compared with historic recipients of ABOcompatible living donor organs. This is a landmark study representing the largest series of ABOi kidney transplants with the longest follow up to date. The results are the endorsement that the field of transplantation has been waiting for and a further expansion of the practice of ABOi transplantation now seems inevitable. While these results are very promising, many questions remain unanswered and there is a bewildering lack of standardization of protocol and reporting (titers, rescue treatments, biopsies) among the Japanese centers.
Medical Liaison Survey 4: Assessing Tools Used by Medical Liaisons, Clinical Trial Involvement, and Career Strategies

Medical liaisons were initially established in the pharmaceutical industry in the late 1960s. Since this time, their role has been evolving in such a way that today medical liaisons are helping to improve outcomes for patients in a variety of venues. They accomplish this through the timely, responsive dissemination of medical information, by exploring mutual clinical and scientific interests with health care providers, and through understanding the dynamics and unmet needs within therapeutic areas. In an effort to assess medical liaison trends across the pharmaceutical industry, three surveys of medical liaison practices were previously administered and published. The intent of these surveys was to identify overall approaches used by pharmaceutical companies in defining and managing the medical liaison role. We conducted this fourth survey to focus on areas identified by participants as major challenges and opportunities. The current survey focused on three areas: tools used by medical liaisons, career st...
On the SAR change detection review and optimal decision

Change detection is the process of identifying differences in the state of an object or scene after the occurence of an event. In this paper, we will present several similarity measures for automatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) change detection, which can be classified into two families: the first regroups the measures based on pixel radiometry and the second collects the detectors based on local statistics. This article details a judicious method for SAR image change detection using Dezert–Smarandache Theory (DSmT). On the one hand, a Rayleigh distribution function is used to characterize globally the radar texture data, which allows mass assignment through the Kullback–Leibler distance. On the other hand, local pixel measurements are introduced through the Rayleigh Distribution Ratio indicator to refine the mass attribution and take into account the context information. Finally, DSmT is carried out by comparing the modelling results between temporal images. This technique has been applied on both sim...
Children's response to literature: Author, text, reader, context

(1999). Children's response to literature: Author, text, reader, context. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 38, Expanding the Worlds of Children's Literature, pp. 120-129.
Method for the calculation of excitonic effects in the absorption spectra of some metals.

Due to the long-range screening behavior of electrons in metals, interactions between excited electrons and their corresponding holes are weak and are generally ignored. In this paper, we attempt to include this electron-hole interaction into the calculation by randomly choosing a finite number of electron-hole states to represent the excitations and calculating the response of these chosen electrons to the excited electron. In doing so, the Coulomb interactions are scaled to compensate for the finite sample chosen. Calculations were done for lithium, sodium, potassium, calcium, and aluminum.
An exchange assay for the cytoplasmic glucocorticoid receptor in the liver of the rat.

Abstract Cytosolic receptor for glucocorticoids can exist in either the free or bound form; assays now in use measure only the free form. In order to assay the total glucocorticoid receptor content of rat liver, free plus bound, we have developed an exchange assay wherein specifically bound [ 3 H]dexamethasone is shown to be a valid measure of receptor in the presence of high concentrations of corticosterone. The exchange between [ 3 H]dexamethasone and corticosterone is able to proceed because, under the conditions of the assay, corticosterone is almost completely metabolized.
Carbon monoxide induces cytoprotection in rat orthotopic lung transplantation via anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects.

Successful lung transplantation has been limited by the high incidence of acute graft rejection. There is mounting evidence that the stress response gene heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and/or its catalytic by-product carbon monoxide (CO) confers cytoprotection against tissue and cellular injury. This led us to hypothesize that CO may protect against lung transplant rejection via its anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects. Orthotopic left lung transplantation was performed in Lewis rat recipients from Brown-Norway rat donors. HO-1 mRNA and protein expression were markedly induced in transplanted rat lungs compared to sham-operated control lungs. Transplanted lungs developed severe intraalveolar hemorrhage, marked infiltration of inflammatory cells, and intravascular coagulation. However, in the presence of CO exposure (500 ppm), the gross anatomy and histology of transplanted lungs showed marked preservation. Furthermore, transplanted lungs displayed increased apoptotic cell death compared with the transplanted lungs of CO-exposed recipients, as assessed by TUNEL and caspase-3 immunostaining. CO exposure inhibited the induction of IL-6 mRNA and protein expression in lung and serum, respectively. Gene array analysis revealed that CO also down-regulated other proinflammatory genes, including MIP-1α and MIF, and growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor, which were up-regulated by transplantation. These data suggest that the anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic properties of CO confer potent cytoprotection in a rat model of lung transplantation.
Convex and extendable partitions of a lattice

Abstract In his paper, Ore studied the lattice of partitions of a set. For many current applications such as formal concept analysis where the underlying set is a lattice, it makes more sense to restrict our attention to those partitions that respect the partial order on the set in some way. This paper looks at two classes of partitions that respect the partial order in different ways. It then shows some of the lattice theoretic properties of each of these classes of lattices.
Optimizing the system of virtual paths

The virtual path (VP) concept is known to be a powerful transport mechanism for ATM networks. This paper deals with the optimization of the virtual paths system from a bandwidth utilization perspective. While previous research on VP management has basically assumed that bandwidth in ATM networks is unlimited, emerging technologies and applications are changing this premise. In many networks, such as wireless, bandwidth is always at a premium. In wired networks, with increasing user access speeds, less than a dozen of broadband connections can saturate even a Gigabit link. We present an efficient algorithm that finds a system of VP routes for a given set of VP terminators and VP capacity demands. This solution is motivated by the need to minimize the load, or reduce congestion, generated by the VP's on individual links. A nontrivial performance guarantee is proven for the quality of the proposed solution and numerical results show that the proposed solution carries the potential for a near optimal allocation of VPs. >
Conditioned Vasomotor Responses in Human Subjects

(1937). Conditioned Vasomotor Responses in Human Subjects. The Journal of Psychology: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 75-120.
Implicit Public Values and the Creation of Publicly Valuable Outcomes: The Importance of Work and the Contested Role of Labor Unions

The deep importance of work for families and communities means that discussions of public values and debates over public policies to create publicly valuable outcomes must not overlook work, the workplace, and the employment relationship. This article considers the range of public values on work and the options for creating work-related publicly valuable outcomes. Labor unions feature prominently in the analyses because they are the most visible nonmarket institution for creating publicly valuable outcomes relating to work. Ultimately, however, there is no consensus on the desired public values about work or the best ways of fulfilling them. Rather, these are deeply contested issues rooted in contrasting frames of reference on work and the employment relationship, which makes the realization of publicly valuable outcomes challenging.
Direct Bankruptcy Costs: Evidence from the Trucking Industry

Direct costs of bankruptcy are measured for a sample of firms in the trucking industry that petitioned for bankruptcy protection from 1970 to 1985. Average direct bankruptcy costs represent 9.12 percent of the book value of total assets as of the year before filing. These costs are large compared with those reported in prior studies: 3.39 percent of book value of assets for retail firms, 4.31 percent for industrials, and .53 percent for railroads. We also find evidence of substantial economies of scale in bankruptcy costs in the trucking sample.
Deposition of newly synthesized histones: hybrid nucleosomes are not tandemly arranged on daughter DNA strands

Density labeling procedures have been utilized to study the dynamics of histone-histone interactions in vivo. Cells were labeled for 60 min with dense amino acids, and the label was chased for up to 22 h (two replication events for these cells). Nuclei were isolated and treated with formaldehyde to stabilize the histone-histone interactions with a covalent cross-link that produces an octameric complex of two each of H3, H2B, H2A, and H4. This complex was then extracted from the DNA and analyzed on density gradients. The results indicate that new H3,H4 deposits as a tetramer and does not dissociate in the subsequent chases. New H2A,H2B deposited as a dimer and also does not dissociate in subsequent chases. These new histones form hybrid octamers with old histones. On the basis of the new:old ratio in the hybrid octamers, we propose that additional old H2A,H2B from elsewhere in the genome interacts with tetramers of new H3,H4 to form the newly synthesized nucleosomes. It is also observed that 5% of the cross-linked complexes produced by formaldehyde are octamer-octamer (dioctamer). Upon analysis of the density of the dioctamer, the hybrid octamers were found adjacent to octamers that were homogeneous with respect to containing normal density histones. Control experiments are presented to demonstrate that the octamer-octamer cross-links are a product of intrastrand and not interstrand interactions between nucleosomes. These same control experiments also indicate that these procedures do not induce histone exchange during the preparative procedure prior to density gradient analysis. The significance of these results with regard to the dynamics of histone-histone interactions at the replication fork and the potential role in the maintenance of differentiation is discussed.
Robotic real-time near infrared targeted fluorescence imaging in a murine model of prostate cancer: a feasibility study.

Objective To evaluate the detection of near-infrared fluorescence from prostate tumors stained with a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)–targeted tracer developed in our institution with a novel robotic imaging system. Methods Prostate cancer cell lines PC3-pip (PSMA positive) and PC3-flu (PSMA negative) were implanted subcutaneously into 6 immunodeficient mice. When tumors reached 5 mm, a PSMA-targeted fluorescent conjugate was injected intravenously. The first 3 mice underwent near-infrared imaging immediately and hourly up to 4 hours after injection to determine the time necessary to obtain peak fluorescence and were killed. The last 3 mice were imaged once preoperatively and were euthanized 120 minutes later. Excision of the tumors was performed by using a novel robotic imaging system to detect near-infrared fluorescence in real time. Specimens were submitted for pathology. Results In the first 3 mice, we found 120 minutes as the time needed to observe peak fluorescence from the PSMA-positive tumors. We identified discrete near-infrared fluorescence from 2 of 3 PSMA-positive tumors with the robotic imaging system. Surgical margins were negative for all excised specimens except for one PSMA-negative tumor. Conclusions Real-time near-infrared fluorescence imaging of prostate cancer is feasible with a novel robotic imaging system. Further research is needed to optimize the signal intensity detectable from prostate cancer with our tracer. Toxicologic studies are needed before its clinical use.
Core‐level photoemission and the structure of the Si/SiO2 interface: A reappraisal

Photoemission spectroscopy of spherosiloxane cluster derived Si/SiOx interfaces has allowed the direct assignment of observed spectral features to specific chemical moieties. The implications of these assignments for structural models of the Si/SiO2 interface are explored. Models specifically constructed to be consistent with photoemission data are shown to be incorrect after reanalysis of core‐level shifts based on the recently synthesized model systems. A new model for the Si/SiO2 interface is proposed which is consistent with the current understanding of photoemission for Si/SiOx interfaces as well as with results from numerous other experiments.
X-RAY COMPTON SCATTERING FOR ALUMINUM

The intensity of the Compton scattering of x-rays by aluminum has been measured for values of $\frac{sin\ensuremath{\theta}}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$ from 0.3 to 0.6 ${\mathrm{A}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. The method involved a self-consistent separation into the Compton and thermal diffuse scattering of the total intensities of diffuse scattering measured at 300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K and 5\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The measured Compton scattering is significantly lower than the intensity calculated theoretically. Limitations of the present theories are discussed.
Interaction effects of multi-metal solutions (As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) on life history traits in the rotifer Plationus patulus.

While many studies have determined toxicity of single heavy metals, few have addressed the combined effects of multiple elements at different concentrations. In order to estimate how metal mixtures affect population dynamics of freshwater rotifers, we exposed Plationus patulus to environmentally relevant concentrations and combinations of arsenic and five heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) for 8 days. The life-history parameters, intrinsic rate of increase (r), relative cumulative reproduction (RCR), mortality ratio, mictic ratio, fertilization ratio, and number of deformed offspring were used as endpoints. Exposures were repeated 4 times and considered as blocks in the experimental design. Differences between treatments were evaluated through ANOVA and LSD mean analysis. The combined presence of As, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in different concentrations produced a variety of changes in the population dynamics of P. patulus. However, only Cr produced a significant element*environment interaction. The presence o...
Affective sensors, privacy, and ethical contracts

Sensing affect raises critical privacy concerns, which are examined here using ethical theory, and with a study that illuminates the connection between ethical theory and privacy. We take the perspective that affect sensing systems encode a designer's ethical and moral decisions: which emotions will be recognized, who can access recognition results, and what use is made of recognized emotions. Previous work on privacy has argued that users want feedback and control over such ethical choices. In response, we develop ethical contracts from the theory of contractualism, which grounds moral decisions on mutual agreement. Current findings indicate that users report significantly more respect for privacy in systems with an ethical contract when compared to a control.
Causality in Real Estate Markets: The Case of Hong Kong

Executive Summary. This study examines the causal price/rental relationships between the residential and the commercial real estate markets (office buildings, retail stores and industrial propertie...
Activation energy for Ga diffusion on the GaAs(0 0 1)-(2×4) surface: an MBE-STM study

The pure migration of individual Ga atoms on the technologically important GaAs(0 0 1)-(2]4) reconstructed surface has been studied as a function of substrate temperature using a combined molecular beam epitaxy and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) ultra-high vacuum, multi-chamber facility. We have successfully deposited 1 10 of a plane of Ga atoms onto a pristine GaAs surface under a constant As 4 beam equivalent pressure of 10~6 Torr, at various substrate temperatures. After deposition the substrate was quenched to room temperature and transferred to the surface analysis chamber for STM imaging. A plot of the number density of islands formed as a function of deposition temperature follows an Arrhenius relationship. Assuming either a pure one-dimensional di!usion model or a pure isotropic two-dimensional di!usion model, the activation energy for di!usion is 2.3 or 1.7 eV, respectively. ( 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Identification of the oriI-Binding Site of Poliovirus 3C Protein by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Replication of picornaviral genomes requires recognition of at least three cis-acting replication elements: oriL, oriI, and oriR. Although these elements lack an obvious consensus sequence or structure, they are all recognized by the virus-encoded 3C protein. We have studied the poliovirus 3C-oriI interaction in order to begin to decipher the code of RNA recognition by picornaviral 3C proteins. oriI is a stem-loop structure that serves as the template for uridylylation of the peptide primer VPg by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. In this report, we have used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to study 3C alone and in complex with two single-stranded RNA oligonucleotides derived from the oriI stem. The 1 H- 15 N spectra of 3C recorded in the presence of these RNAs revealed site-specific chemical shift perturbations. Residues that exhibit significant perturbations are primarily localized in the amino terminus and in a highly conserved loop between residues 81 and 89. In general, the RNA-binding site defined in this study is consistent with predictions based on biochemical and mutagenesis studies. Although some residues implicated in RNA binding by previous studies are perturbed in the 3C-RNA complex reported here, many are unique. These studies provide unique site-specific insight into residues of 3C that interact with RNA and set the stage for detailed structural investigation of the 3C-RNA complex by NMR. Interpretation of our results in the context of an intact oriI provides insight into the architecture of the picornavirus VPg uridylylation complex.
Do obese individuals gain weight more easily than nonobese individuals

A review of studies done on human subjects who were overfed under controlled conditions for periods ranging from 2 to 12 wk shows that the energy cost of induced weight gain is a function of initial body weight and of lean body mass, body fat, and percent body fat. Therefore, bigger and fatter people need to eat more to gain a given amount of weight than do those who are thin. A likely explanation is that obese individuals tend to put on a large proportion of fat, a high-energy tissue, whereas thin people tend to gain more lean, which is a low-energy tissue.
Cities as Battlefields: Understanding How the Nation of Islam Impacts on Civic Engagement, Environmental Racism, and Community Development in a Low Income Neighborhood.

This article challenges social (dis)organization theory by investigating the impact of religious culture on civic engagement. Using qualitative data 1 from ‘Bridge View,’ a historically African‐American neighborhood in San Francisco experiencing environmental racism, this article asks: (1) How does the Nation of Islam (NOI) affect social organization in a low‐income community? And (2) How does the metropolitan distribution of wealth, opportunity, and resources play out in urban space? The findings suggest that the NOI has often had to replace important public institutions responsible for providing social services in low‐income communities—police protection, community welfare, and education. These findings suggest that we need to rethink the relationship between race, culture, structure, and political mobilization and incorporate a more fluid conceptualization of culture into social (dis)organization theory.
Outsourcing cognitive control to the environment: adult age differences in the use of task cues.

When an initial phase of cued task switching is followed by a phase of single-task trials, older adults show difficulties changing to the more efficient single-task mode of processing (Mayr & Liebscher, 2001). In Experiment 1, we show that these costs follow older adults’ continued tendency to inspect task cues even though these provide no new information. In Experiment 2, we included a condition in which task cues were eliminated from the display after the task-switching phase. In this condition, older adults behaved the same as younger adults, suggesting that the presence of the task cue is critical for observing age differences while switching from a “high-control” to a “low-control” mode of processing. We discuss our results in terms of a life-span shift with regard to the reliance on internal versus external sources of information under conditions of high-control demands.
A computational attack on the conjectures of Graffiti: new counterexamples and proofs

Graffiti is a computer program that checks for relationships among certain graph invariants. It uses a database of graphs and has generated well over 700 conjectures. Having obtained a readily available computer tape of all the nonisomorphic graphs with 10 or fewer vertices, we have tested approximately 200 of the Graffiti conjectures and have found counterexamples for over 40 of them. For each conjecture that failed we display a counterexample. We also provide results that came from analyzing those conjectures which had a small number of counterexamples. Finally, we prove some results about four of the conjectures.
Viscosity, modulus, and die swell of glass bead filled polystyrene-acrylonitrile copolymer

Flow curves were obtained at 190°C over the shear rate range 0.1 to 100 sec−1 for polystyrene-acrylonitrile copolymer containing up to 36 percent by volume glass beads, using a capillary extrusion rheometer. The addition of glass beads always increased shear stress and viscosity at a given shear rate, with the increase being more pronounced at low shear rates. The addition of glass beads decreased die swell, which also depended on shear-stress and capillary length-to-radius ratio. At low shear rates a lower limiting value of die swell ratio of about 1.1 was achieved. Values of recoverable shear derived from end correction data by the technique of Philippoff and Gaskins and from die-swell data by the method of Bagley and Duffey are compared. A fairly good agreement was found for low concentration blends at low shear, However, the values differed by a factor of up to 3 at higher shear stresses. In all cases, recoverable shear was found to increase with shear stress at a fixed filler loading and to decrease with increased filler loading at a fixed shear stress. Values of shear modulus calculated from the recoverable shear measurements decreased rapidly with increasing shear stress.
The origins and evolution of eukaryotic proteins

The common ancestry of eukaryotes, archaebacteria and eubacteria is well demonstrated by amino acid sequence comparisons of numerous proteins that are common to all three groups. On the other hand, there are a few proteins, like ubiquitin, that are common to eukaryotes and archaebacteria and which have yet to be observed in eubacteria. Some proteins appear to be wholly restricted to eukaryotes; this is especially true of cytoskeletal proteins. Recently, actin has been found by crystallography to be homologous with an ATP-binding domain found in a heat shock protein and several other proteins common to all three urkingdoms. This observation is puzzling on several counts. Most cytoskeletal proteins like actin and tubulin are very slow changing and must have been so for a very long time. How is it, then, that no sequence resemblance can be discerned with their alledged prokaryotic antecedents? The question is addressed by considering two bacterial fts proteins which appear to be related to actin, on the one hand, and tubulin, on the other. One answer may be that the rate of change of these proteins changed dramatically at a key point in their history. Another possibility is that eukaryotes are much older than some of their other proteins indicate.
Ernest henry starling, his predecessors, and the law of the heart

The discovery that end-diastolic volume regulates the work of the heart is generally credited to Ernest Henry Starling, who described this relationship in a series of papers between 1912 and 19141–4⇓⇓⇓ and in his Linacre Lecture, which was given at Cambridge University in 1915 and published in 1918.5 In these papers, Starling and his collaborators acknowledge that they were not the first to describe this relationship6; they cite the work of Blix7 and Evans and Hill8 on the length-dependence of energy release by skeletal muscle, Frank’s 1895 description of the influence of diastolic volume on the work of the frog ventricle,9 and contemporary descriptions in canine10 and feline hearts.11 The present article reviews evidence that what we now call “Starling’s Law of the Heart” or “The Frank-Starling Relationship” was widely appreciated by late 19th century physiologists. Starling’s Law of the Heart is a manifestation of the length-tension relationship seen in skeletal muscle, which was well known to physiologists during the second half of the 19th century. This relationship was discovered in 1832 by Schwann; Needham, who described this history,12 stated that Schwann’s discovery “caused a great sensation among physiologists of the time,” in part because this discovery was made at a time when muscle performance was being analyzed in terms of the then new science of thermodynamics. That contracting muscles liberate energy as both work and heat was first noted by Helmholtz, whose 1848 description of heat production by muscle “… lighted a flame which… burnt brightly in Germany till the end of the [19th] century.”13 Recognition of the role of rest length in determining energy release by skeletal muscle led to studies of cardiac energetics during the second half of the 19th century. ### Diastolic Volume and the Work of the Heart #### Early German Contributions Carl Ludwig …
Learning in noise: Dynamic decision-making in a variable environment

In engineering systems, noise is a curse, obscuring important signals and increasing the uncertainty associated with measurement. However, the negative effects of noise and uncertainty are not universal. In this paper, we examine how people learn sequential control strategies given different sources and amounts of feedback variability. In particular, we consider people's behavior in a task where short- and long-term rewards are placed in conflict (i.e., the best option in the short-term is worst in the long-term). Consistent with a model based on reinforcement learning principles (Gureckis & Love, in press), we find that learners differentially weight information predictive of the current task state. In particular, when cues that signal state are noisy and uncertain, we find that participants' ability to identify an optimal strategy is strongly impaired relative to equivalent amounts of uncertainty that obscure the rewards/valuations of those states. In other situations, we find that noise and uncertainty in reward signals may paradoxically improve performance by encouraging exploration. Our results demonstrate how experimentally-manipulated task variability can be used to test predictions about the mechanisms that learners engage in dynamic decision making tasks.
Variation of the Rate of Extension of Actin Networks

Self-assembling protein filaments are important components of a cell’s superstructure. Among these, actin filaments form the backbone of protrusions and extensions such as pseudopodia. The rates at which these structures extend cover a startlingly wide range: the acrosomal process of the sea cucumber may extend 90 µm in 10 seconds, which is more than 20 times the speed at which an epithelial goldfish keratocyte crawls. We seek to explain this range by examining the delivery of actin monomers to the growing filament ends. We show that the diffusive flux of actin monomers is adequate for fueling the slower movement of crawling cells, but is insufficient to propel the quicker acrosomal process of the sea cucumber. By introducing bulk fluid flow in response to the diffusive movement of water through the cell membrane, actin delivery can be enhanced. We compare the calculated speeds to experimental observations and discuss future refinements to the model.
Generation of functional human pancreatic β cells in vitro

The generation of insulin-producing pancreatic β cells from stem cells in vitro would provide an unprecedented cell source for drug discovery and cell transplantation therapy in diabetes. However, insulin-producing cells previously generated from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) lack many functional characteristics of bona fide β cells. Here, we report a scalable differentiation protocol that can generate hundreds of millions of glucose-responsive β cells from hPSC in vitro. These stem-cell-derived β cells (SC-β) express markers found in mature β cells, flux Ca(2+) in response to glucose, package insulin into secretory granules, and secrete quantities of insulin comparable to adult β cells in response to multiple sequential glucose challenges in vitro. Furthermore, these cells secrete human insulin into the serum of mice shortly after transplantation in a glucose-regulated manner, and transplantation of these cells ameliorates hyperglycemia in diabetic mice.
Chemical functionalization of carbon nanotubes through energetic radical collisions

Classical molecular dynamics simulations are used to model the bombardment of a bundle of single walled carbon nanotubes by ${\mathrm{CH}}_{3}$ radicals impacting with incident energies of 10, 45, and 80 eV. The simulations show that there is a high probability of adhesion of either the radicals or their fragments to the nanotube walls at all the incident energies considered. They therefore predict a pathway to the chemical functionalization of the walls of carbon nanotubes. The simulations also show how at 80 eV the incident radicals can induce cross-linking between the nanotubes.
A Fiber-Optic Sensor for Monitoring Trace Ammonia in High-Temperature Gas Samples With a ${\hbox{CuCl}}_{2}$ -Doped Porous Silica Optical Fiber as a Transducer

An optical fiber chemical sensor for detecting/monitoring trace ammonia in high-temperature gas streams has been developed. This sensor uses a CuCl2-doped porous silica optical fiber, prepared via a previously reported sol-gel process, as a transducer. Trace ammonia in a gas sample diffuses into the porous fiber to react with the doped agent to form a Cu2+-ammonia complex. The concentration of the Cu2+ -ammonia complex inside the porous silica optical fiber is proportional to ammonia concentration in the gas sample, to which the sensing porous silica fiber is exposed. Therefore, ammonia concentration in the gas sample can be detected through detecting the optical absorption signal of the formed Cu2+-ammonia complex inside the fiber by using a fiber-optic UV/V is absorption spectrometric method. This sensor can be used to reversibly monitor trace ammonia in a gas sample at an elevated temperature up to 450degC in the tested range. A detection limit of 0.24 ppmv ammonia in an air gas sample was achieved when the sensor was tested at a temperature of 450degC.
Development and in vitro evaluation of mesalamine delayed release pellets and tableted reservoir-type pellets

Background: The basic objective of this study was to develop a novel technique that aids in compaction of coated pellets into tablets and obtain a release pattern from compressed pellets resembling the same pattern before compression. Method: Multi-unit dosage forms of mesalamine targeted to the colon were formulated by extrusion-spheronization, and then coated with Eudragit S (30%). These pellets were filled into gelatin capsules or further formulated and compressed into tablets. Tablets for colonic delivery of mesalamine were prepared by mixing the coated beads with cushioning agents like stearic acid and Explotab, or by applying an additional coat of gelatin (4% weight gain) onto the Eudragit S coated pellets, and then compressing into tablets (tableted reservoir-type pellets). Then additional coating of the tablets prepared by the coating technique was applied utilizing Eudragit L 100-55 (5% weight gain). Results: This technique provides additive protection for the coated beads to withstand the compre...
MdmX Promotes Bipolar Mitosis To Suppress Transformation and Tumorigenesis in p53-Deficient Cells and Mice

Mdm2 and MdmX are structurally related p53-binding proteins that function as critical negative regulators of p53 activity in embryonic and adult tissue. The overexpression of Mdm2 or MdmX inhibits p53 tumor suppressor functions in vitro, and the amplification of Mdm2 or MdmX is observed in human cancers retaining wild-type p53. We now demonstrate a surprising role for MdmX in suppressing tumorigenesis that is distinct from its oncogenic ability to inhibit p53. The deletion of MdmX induces multipolar mitotic spindle formation and the loss of chromosomes from hyperploid p53-null cells. This reduction in chromosome number, not observed in p53-null cells with Mdm2 deleted, correlates with increased cell proliferation and the spontaneous transformation of MdmX/p53-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts in vitro and with an increased rate of spontaneous tumorigenesis in MdmX/p53-null mice in vivo. These results indicate that MdmX has a p53-independent role in suppressing oncogenic cell transformation, proliferation, and tumorigenesis by promoting centrosome clustering and bipolar mitosis.
Hypoxia-inducible factors link iron homeostasis and erythropoiesis.

Iron is required for efficient oxygen transport, and hypoxia signaling links erythropoiesis with iron homeostasis. Hypoxia induces a highly conserved signaling pathway in cells under conditions of low levels of O2. One component of this pathway, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), is a transcription factor that is highly active in hypoxic cells. The first HIF target gene characterized was EPO, which encodes erythropoietin—a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis. In the past decade, there have been fundamental advances in our understanding of how hypoxia regulates iron levels to support erythropoiesis and maintain systemic iron homeostasis. We review the cell type–specific effects of hypoxia and HIFs in adaptive response to changes in oxygen and iron availability as well as potential uses of HIF modulators for patients with iron-related disorders.
Local Low-Rank Matrix Approximation

Matrix approximation is a common tool in recommendation systems, text mining, and computer vision. A prevalent assumption in constructing matrix approximations is that the partially observed matrix is of low-rank. We propose a new matrix approximation model where we assume instead that the matrix is locally of low-rank, leading to a representation of the observed matrix as a weighted sum of low-rank matrices. We analyze the accuracy of the proposed local low-rank modeling. Our experiments show improvements in prediction accuracy over classical approaches for recommendation tasks.
Gonadal Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylase in Rats and Mice

Rat and mouse gonadal aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) activity was measured and characterized in control and 3-methylcholanthrene (MC)-treated animals. The ovarian AHH activity increased 2- to 3-fold in Sprague-Dawley, Lewis, and Brown-Norway rats following MC treatment. The same treatment decreased the testicular AHH activity in Sprague-Dawley rats. The induction of AHH activity after MC administration was the same in ovaries from weanling and adult Sprague-Dawley rats. Ovarian AHH activity was located in the microsomal fraction, required NADPH, and had a broad pH optimum between 7.0 and 8.8. Both carbon monoxide and antibody to cytochrome c reductase inhibited the ovarian AHH activity, suggesting that the hydroxylase is a cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase. Basal testicular and ovarian AHH activity was similar in C57BL/6N (B6) and DBA/2N mice; however, after MC treatment an increase in gonadal AHH activity was observed only in B6 mice. Treatment with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin resulted in an increase in testicular AHH activity in both B6 and DBA/2N mice. The oocyte toxicity of MC in mice and rats was different. Seven days after a single i.p. injection of MC, 80 mg/kg, 87% of the primordial oocytes were destroyed in the ovaries of B6 mice, 69% were destroyed in DBA/2N mice, and none were destroyed in Sprague-Dawley rats. These data suggest that the oocyte toxicity of MC in the mouse is related to the ovarian AHH activity, whereas no association is found between the ovarian AHH activity and oocyte toxicity in the rat.
Optic nerve head and intraocular pressure in the guinea pig eye.

The guinea pig is becoming an increasingly popular model for studying human myopia, which carries an increased risk of glaucoma. As a step towards understanding this association, this study sought to characterize the normal, developmental intraocular pressure (IOP) profiles, as well as the anatomy of the optic nerve head (ONH) and adjacent sclera of young guinea pigs. IOP was tracked in pigmented guinea pigs up to 3 months of age. One guinea pig was imaged in vivo with OCT and one with a fundus camera. The eyes of pigmented and albino guinea pigs (ages 2 months) were enucleated and sections from the posterior segment, including the ONH and surrounding sclera, processed for histological analyses - either hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of paraffin embedded, sectioned tissue (n = 1), or cryostat sectioned tissue, processed for immunohistochemistry (n = 3), using primary antibodies against collagen types I-V, elastin, fibronectin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM, SEM) studies of ONHs were also undertaken (n = 2 & 5 respectively). Mean IOPs ranged from 17.33 to 22.7 mmHg, increasing slightly across the age range studied, and the IOPs of individual animals also exhibited diurnal variations, peaking in the early morning (mean of 25.8, mmHg, ∼9 am), and decreasing across the day. H&E-stained sections showed retinal ganglion cell axons organized into fascicles in the prelaminar and laminar region of the ONHs, with immunostained sections revealing collagen types I, III, IV and V, as well as elastin, GFAP and fibronectin in the ONHs. SEM revealed a well-defined lamina cribrosa (LC), with radially-oriented collagen beams. TEM revealed collagen fibrils surrounding non-myelinated nerve fiber bundles in the LC region, with myelination and decreased collagen posterior to the LC. The adjacent sclera comprised mainly crimped collagen fibers in a crisscross arrangement. Both the sclera and LC were qualitatively similar in structure in pigmented and albino guinea pigs. The well-organized, collagen-based LC of the guinea pig ONH is similar to that described for tree shrews and more similar to the human LC than that of other rodents that lack collagen. Based on these latter structural similarities the guinea pig would seem a promising model for investigating the relationship between myopia and glaucoma.
Effects of lovastatin in humans on biliary lipid composition and secretion as a function of dosage and treatment interval.

Biliary lipid composition and secretion were assessed in nine human subjects in four randomly ordered 3- to 4-week treatment periods during which they took 0 (base line), 20, 40 and 80 mg/day of lovastatin. The mean secretion of cholesterol was lower than base line for each of the three doses but the change reached statistical significance only for the 40- and 80-mg/day doses (P = .004 and .001, respectively). The mean secretion of bile acid and phospholipid was unchanged by any dose of lovastatin. The cholesterol saturation index and molar percent cholesterol in gallbladder bile were both significantly reduced by all doses of lovastatin (P = .001 to .008). For both cholesterol secretion and saturation index, increasing the dose from 20 to 40 mg/day caused an additional incremental reduction but increasing it from 40 to 80 mg/day had no additional effect. This finding suggests that any clinical trial of lovastatin for the treatment or prevention of gallstones would best be carried out with a dose of 40 mg/day. Studies performed in a subset of four subjects revealed that time-course changes in the saturation index and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were similar and reached plateaus by 1 week after 80 mg/day of lovastatin was either started or stopped.
Provider communication about HPV vaccination: A systematic review.

abstractBackground. Improving HPV vaccination coverage in the US will require healthcare providers to recommend the vaccine more effectively. To inform quality improvement efforts, we systematically reviewed studies of provider communication about HPV vaccination. Methods. We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and POPLINE in August 2015 to identify studies of provider communication about HPV vaccination. Results. We identified 101 qualitative and quantitative studies. Providers less often recommended HPV vaccine if they were uncomfortable discussing sex, perceived parents as hesitant, or believed patients to be low risk. Patients less often received recommendations if they were younger, male, or from racial/ethnic minorities. Despite parents' preference for unambiguous recommendations, providers often sent mixed messages by failing to endorse HPV vaccine strongly, differentiating it from other vaccines, and presenting it as an “optional” vaccine that could be delayed. Conclusion. Interventions are needed t...
More nerve root injuries occur with minimally invasive lumbar surgery, especially extreme lateral interbody fusion: A review.

Background: In the lumbar spine, do more nerve root injuries occur utilizing minimally invasive surgery (MIS) techniques versus open lumbar procedures? To answer this question, we compared the frequency of nerve root injuries for multiple open versus MIS operations including diskectomy, laminectomy with/without fusion addressing degenerative disc disease, stenosis, and/or degenerative spondylolisthesis.