cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stability of coupled oscillators using Frenkel-Kontorova model

We study the stability of coupled oscillators motivated by the Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model. The FK model describes a chain of classical particles coupled to their neighbors and subject to a periodic on-site potential. The open-loop system of the FK model represents interconnected oscillators that have locally stable or unstable equilibrium points. We reveal the stability of the coupled system in the presence of linear and nonlinear particle interactions, respectively, and verify the results by numerical simulations. The result applies to physical systems such as atomic-scale friction whose dynamics is described by the FK model.
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Wave Sentry buoy

The design of a small Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) equipped Wave Sentry buoy can provide realtime remote measurement of wave data and ocean current profiles (surface to bottom) for operational and scientific exercises. The small size and weight of the system allows for deployment from small craft and provides military forces and the scientific community with valuable information to support operations, logistics and modeling. QinetiQ North America (QNA), formerly Planning Systems Incorporated, has designed and tested an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Wave Sentry buoy for near real-time reporting of wave and current measurements in littoral areas. This paper will discuss the design and preliminary test results of the ADCP Wave Sentry.
Effects of aquatic habitat continuity on signal composition in crocodilians

All crocodilians use long-distance signals, composed of vocal sounds, head slaps or jaw slaps and infrasound in various combinations. These signal components differ in their ability to carry information about the animal’s location and status through air and water. It can be predicted that animals living in fragmented aquatic habitats should predominantly use vocal sounds combined with infrasound, while those living in continuous aquatic habitats should predominantly use head slaps combined with infrasound. To test this prediction, I sampled signals of adult male American alligators, Alligator mississippiensis, and Nile crocodiles, Crocodylus niloticus, in geographical areas where each species inhabited only one type of habitat during the mating season. I found that American alligators used head slaps more often in areas with continuous aquatic habitat, but they bellowed frequently in all habitats. Nile crocodiles frequently used head slaps in all habitats, but they roared more often in fragmented aquatic habitats, whereas in areas with continuous aquatic habitat, their roars were reduced to quiet coughs and seldom used. This discrepancy might be due to some signal components having additional functions, such as bellows attracting participants to bellowing choruses in alligators. The ability of crocodilians to optimize their signalling to habitat parameters by adjusting signal composition might account for the evolutionary stability of their signalling systems, which are still very similar between crocodiles and alligators even after more than 70 million years of separation between these two lineages.
Articulating a foreign language sequence through content: A look at the culture standards

Curricular articulation and the integration of cultural knowledge with language development over extended sequences are among the most persistent challenges for contemporary language teaching and learning. The paper examines the nature of those challenges in light of theories of language and culture while using as the site of investigation the culture standards that have been developed within the framework of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning , a key document for L2 education in the United States, particularly at the K-12 level. Taking four perspectives, it suggests ways in which simultaneous content and language teaching might be tackled through a genre-based way of constructing extended curricula and by using genre-based tasks for informing pedagogical decisions. In this fashion, learners might be able to progress toward a competent cultural literacy that is language-based.
Histomorphometric evidence of growth plate recovery potential after fractionated radiotherapy: an in vivo model.

Abstract Damron, T. A., Horton, J. A., Pritchard, M. R., Stringer, M. T., Margulies, B. S., Strauss, J. A., Spadaro, J. A. and Farnum, C. E. Histomorphometric Evidence of Recovery Potential after Fractionated Radiotherapy: An In Vivo Model. Radiat. Res. 170, 284–291 (2008). This study evaluated the hypothesis that early growth plate radiorecovery is evident by growth rate, histomorphometric and immunohistochemical end points after exposure to clinically relevant fractionated radiation in vivo. Twenty-four weanling 5-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into eight groups. In each animal, the right distal femur and proximal tibia were exposed to five daily fractions of 3.5 Gy (17.5 Gy) with the left leg serving as a control. Rats were killed humanely at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15 and 16 days after the first day of radiation exposure. Quantitative end points calculated included individual zonal and overall growth plate heights, area matrix fraction, OTC-labeled growth rate, chondrocyte clone volume...
Prediction of symptomatic vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage: the modified fisher scale.

Objective We developed a modification of the Fisher computed tomographic rating scale and compared it with the original Fisher scale to determine which scale best predicts symptomatic vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Methods We analyzed data from 1355 subarachnoid hemorrhage patients in the placebo arm of four randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of tirilazad. Modified Fisher computed tomographic grades were calculated on the basis of the presence of cisternal blood and intraventricular hemorrhage. Crude odds ratios (OR) reflecting the risk of developing symptomatic vasospasm were calculated for each scale level, and adjusted ORs expressing the incremental risk were calculated after controlling for known predictors of vasospasm. Results Of 1355 patients, 451 (33%) developed symptomatic vasospasm. For the modified Fisher scale, compared with Grade 0 to 1 patients, the crude OR for vasospasm was 1.6 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-2.5) for Grade 2, 1.6 (95% CI, 1.1-2.2) for Grade 3, and 2.2 (95% CI, 1.6-3.1) for Grade 4. For the original Fisher scale, referenced to Grade 1, the OR for vasospasm was 1.3 (95% CI, 0.7-2.2) for Grade 2, 2.2 (95% CI, 1.4-3.5) for Grade 3, and 1.7 (95% CI, 1.0-3.0) for Grade 4. Early angiographic vasospasm, history of hypertension, neurological grade, and elevated admission mean arterial pressure were identified as risk factors for symptomatic vasospasm. After adjusting for these variables, the modified Fisher scale remained a significant predictor of vasospasm (adjusted OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.06-1.54), whereas the original Fisher scale was not. Conclusion The modified Fisher scale, which accounts for thick cisternal and ventricular blood, predicts symptomatic vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage more accurately than original Fisher scale.
Multifocus confocal Raman microspectroscopy for rapid single-particle analysis.

We have developed a multifocus confocal Raman microspectroscopy system that allows simultaneous analy- ses of ∼80 individual biological or airborne microparticles based on a precise image-guided technique. Multiple indi- vidual particles adhered in random positions on a coverslip were illuminated by a multifocus excitation pattern formed by rapidly steering a single laser beam with a pair of galvo- mirrors, and their Raman scatterings were synchronously projected with another galvo-mirror to different rows of a CCD chip for parallel spectroscopic analyses. We show that this technique can be used to rapidly identify single air- borne particles or bacteria collected on a slide and to mon- itor germination dynamics of multiple bacterial spores in real-time. C 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).
Between Fixity and Motion: Accumulation, Territorial Organization and the Historical Geography of Spatial Scales

During the last decade, discussions of geographical scale and its social production have proliferated. Building upon this literature, in particular the writings of Lefebvre and Harvey, I investigate the implications of the contradiction between fixity and motion in the circulation of capital—between capital's necessary dependence on territory or place and its space-annihilating tendencies—for the production of spatial scale under capitalism. I elaborate the notion of a ‘scalar fix’ to theorize the multiscalar configurations of territorial organization within, upon, and through which each round of capital circulation is successively territorialized, deterritorialized, and reterritorialized. These multiscalar configurations of territorial organization position geographical scales within determinate, hierarchical patterns of interdependence and thereby constitute a relatively fixed and immobile geographical infrastructure for each round of capital circulation. Drawing upon Lefebvre's neglected work De l'Etat...
Late Antique Ostia and a Campaign for Pious Tourism: Epitaphs for Bishop Cyriacus and Monica, Mother of Augustine.

Ever since Augustine narrated an account of his mother's death at Ostia, social historians have tried to adduce the identity of the person who erected Monica's tombstone, a copy of which is preserved in a ninth-century codex. Three members of the gens Anicii, all of whom were Augustine's contemporaries, have become usual suspects in the secondary literature. Throughout these debates the epitaph itself, a fragment of which was found in 1945, is frequently cited but rarely treated as a primary text. This article presents a new study of that epigraph and proposes that it was erected much later than previously suspected.
Identifying differentially expressed genes in microarray experiments with model-based variance estimation

Statistical tests have been employed to identify genes differentially expressed under different conditions using data from microarray experiments. The variance of gene expression levels is often required in various statistical tests; however, due to the small number of replicates, the variance estimated from the sample variance is not accurate, which causes large false positive and negative errors. More accurate and robust variance estimation is thus highly desirable to improve the performance of statistical tests. In this paper, cluster analysis was performed on the microarray data using a model-based clustering method. The variance for each gene was then estimated from cluster variances. Since cluster variances are estimated from multiple genes whose microarray data have similar variance, the proposed estimation method pools the relevant genes together; this effectively increases the number of samples in variance estimation, thereby improving variance estimation. Using simulated data, it is shown that with the novel variance estimation, the performance of the t-test, regularized t-test, and a variant of SAM test, which is called the S-test here, can be improved. Using colon microarray data of Alon et al., it is demonstrated that the proposed method offers better or comparable performance compared with other gene pooling methods. Using the IHF microarray data of Arfin et al., it is shown that the proposed novel variance estimation decreases the significance of those genes having a small fold change but a high significant score assigned by the t-test using the sample variance, which potentially reduces false positive probability.
Gallstone fragmentation during biliary lithotripsy: effect of stone composition and structure.

In vitro lithotripsy with the Siemens Lithostar was conducted on 36 radiolucent or minimally calcified gallstones housed in an anthropomorphic phantom. The ease and pattern of fragmentation were correlated with global composition for the entire stone, regional or microcomposition (determined by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy), and microstructure (determined by scanning electron microscopy). Stones made up of more than 62% cholesterol required 50% more shock waves to pulverize all fragments to 0.3 cm or less than did stones of less than 62% cholesterol (p less than .01). An inverse relationship was found between the number of shock waves needed for fragmentation and the cholesterol content (r = .77). Although a broad range of fragmentation responses occurred, little variation was seen in the ease of fragmentation within stone families. The majority of stones fractured along radially oriented cholesterol plates, but one third of stones treated showed initial chipping or flaking at the periphery bef...
Protein kinase C-ε activation induces mitochondrial dysfunction and fragmentation in renal proximal tubules

PKC-e activation mediates protection from ischemia-reperfusion injury in the myocardium. Mitochondria are a subcellular target of these protective mechanisms of PKC-e. Previously, we have shown tha...
OSCE and Case Presentations As Active Assessments of Dental Student Performance

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and case presentation (CP) as forms of active assessment were effective measures of overall didactic knowledge and clinical performance in a predoctoral dental curriculum. This evaluation was conducted by statistical analysis of quality points (QP) awarded for didactic and clinical performance, CP grades, and OSCE scores for 185 students at Harvard School of Dental Medicine who graduated during the period 2010-14. As part of the requirements for graduation, each student takes three OSCEs and presents two patient cases. Data for the study were obtained from the Office of the Registrar. The results showed no direct correlation between QP and CP grades and no correlation between CP grades and OSCE scores. However, there was a correlation between OSCE scores and QP. Students with honors-level scores on any of the three OSCEs received significantly more QP than students who did not receive honors. In addition, students with passing scores on OSCEs 2 and 3 received significantly more QP than students with failing or marginal OSCE scores. Innovative formats of active assessment such as OSCEs and CPs can promote a student-centered learning environment. These data indicated that, within this study population, there was a positive association between OSCE scores and clinical and didactic performance, supporting the value of OSCEs as a means of assessment.
Failure-Directed Search for Constraint-Based Scheduling

This paper presents a new constraint programming search algorithm that is designed for a broad class of scheduling problems. Failure-directed Search (FDS) assumes that there is no (better) solution or that such a solution is very hard to find. Therefore, instead of looking for solution(s), it focuses on a systematic exploration of the search space, first eliminating assignments that are most likely to fail. It is a “plan B” strategy that is used once a less systematic “plan A” strategy – here, Large Neighborhood Search (LNS) – is not able to improve current solution any more. LNS and FDS form the basis of the automatic search for scheduling problems in CP Optimizer, part of IBM ILOG CPLEX Optimization Studio.
Abstract 4301: Deletion-mapping identifies the regions within MN1 that regulates its transforming activity in hematopoietic cells

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL The oncogene MN1 is deregulated in human acute myeloid leukemias and its overexpression is known to induce proliferation and repress myeloid differentiation of primitive human and murine hematopoietic cells, which causes myeloid leukemia in mouse models. To study the role of different regions within MN1 in MN1-induced leukemia, we generated in-frame deletion mutants of the protein. Using retroviral transduction assays, we found that the regions between amino acids 12 to 228 and 570 to 1273 are required for its in vivo transforming activity, although the 12-228-mutant was still capable of repressing myeloid differentiation and inducing self-renewal in vitro. Both MN1 and the 12-228-mutant increased the frequency of common myeloid progentiors (CMP) in vitro and microarray comparison of purified CMPs identified Hoxa9, Meis1, Myb, Cebpa, Cebpb and Cebpd among many other differentially expressed transcripts as potential candidates that mediate MN1-induced leukemia. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4301. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4301
Experimental and trajectory study on the reaction of protonated methionine with electronically excited singlet molecular oxygen (a1Δg): reaction dynamics and collision energy effects.

The reaction of protonated methionine with the lowest electronically excited state of molecular oxygen O2(a1Δg) was studied in a guided ion beam apparatus, including the measurement of reaction cross sections over a center-of-mass collision energy (Ecol) range of 0.1−2.0 eV. A series of electronic structure and RRKM calculations were used to examine the properties of various complexes and transition states that might be important along the reaction coordinate. Only one product channel is observed, corresponding to generation of hydrogen peroxide via transfer of two hydrogen atoms (H2T) from protonated methionine to singlet oxygen. At low collision energies, the reaction approaches the collision limit and may be mediated by intermediate complexes. The reaction shows strong inhibition by collision energy, and becomes negligible at Ecol > 1.25 eV. A large set of quasi-classical direct dynamics trajectory simulations were calculated at the B3LYP/6-21G level of theory. Trajectories reproduced experimental resu...
Development of a Chemical Carbon Monoxide Laser

The initial development of a novel chemical carbon monoxide laser driven by the exothermicity of the chemical production of carbon monoxide via the reaction between gasphase atomic carbon and molecular oxygen is presented. A flowing chemical reactor has been constructed for the investigation of this chemical reaction, where sublimation of amorphous carbon is achieved within an electrically-driven arc, and injection of rf-discharge-activated oxygen results in the formation of carbon monoxide. Detection and quantification of the chemical product is performed via ex situ absorption spectroscopy. The production rate of carbon monoxide is determined to be ~4.3e 18 molecules/sec.
Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novobiocin Core Analogues as Hsp90 Inhibitors

Development of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) C-terminal inhibitors has emerged as an exciting strategy for the treatment of cancer. Previous efforts have focused on modifications to the natural products novobiocin and coumermycin. Moreover, variations in both the sugar and amide moieties have been extensively studied, whereas replacements for the coumarin core have received less attention. Herein, 24 cores were synthesized with varying distances and angles between the sugar and amide moieties. Compounds that exhibited good anti-proliferative activity against multiple cancer cell lines and Hsp90 inhibitory activity, were those that placed the sugar and amide moieties between 7.7 and 12.1 A apart along with angles of 180°.
Materials for next-generation desalination and water purification membranes

Membranes have an increasingly important role in alleviating water scarcity and the pollution of aquatic environments. Promising molecular-level design approaches are reviewed for membrane materials, focusing on how these materials address the urgent requirements of water treatment applications.
Patented Creativity: Reflecting on Video Game Patents

Patent battles certainly aren’t unheard of in the video game industry; they are not as common as in other technology-focused industries. In the context of the video game industry, patents serve as a lens through which to understand creativity, though the two are not equivalent. This chapter explores a handful of patents covering digital and nondigital games as a means for understanding what has counted as creativity in game design and development. Video game technology-related patents, game mechanic patents, and nondigital game mechanic patents tell us about how creativity is viewed. It is argued that the video game industry has benefited from a lackadaisical approach to game mechanic protection. However, there is little reason to presume that this will always remain the case, as the internal logics behind not leveraging patents is more historical legacy rather than based on professional logics.
Assessing Financial Markets through System ComplexityManagement

Today’s data-driven, electronic financial markets, wherein highly automated and, often, high frequency trading has become the norm for major participants, present significant technical challenges that complicate effective monitoring of their most fundamental functions, trade and the price discovery. Though regulators are implementing new surveillance systems capable of capturing all necessary market data to describe the details of market events, the fact that markets are fundamentally "complex systems" often undermines the use of conventional assessment techniques. The research work underlying this dissertation provides new approaches for analyzing financial markets that can help overcome these problems and demonstrates how each can be used to better understand the state of the market’s trading and price discovery processes. These approaches utilize adaptations of methods employing data visualizations, Markov State modeling, and agent based simulations that have been more commonly used in other fields.The occurrence of abnormal pricing anomalies in today’s complex markets has particularly intensified the demand for better monitoring and assessment, as it is crucial for regulators to be able to work to protect orderliness in markets and, thus, build confidence for both the industry and the public. These anomalies are transient, unique events that suddenly and unexpectedly take place in markets which are fundamentally complex systems environments with large numbers of participants each having their own, individual, ever-adapting views and decision-making processes. Much of the research effort in the dissertation is aimed at improving the capabilities of financial regulators and exchanges to better understand the precursors of such abnormal events and approach their investigation using methods that help overcome the effects of systematic complexities inherent in today’s data intensive markets.Through examination of financial markets as complex systems designed to support efficient and fair trade and pricing, this work has focused on untangling behavioral complexities by demonstrating how to apply techniques used in engineering that are well suited for the study of such systems. By breaking down the complexities based on the desired tasks and objectives, this work shows how issues arising from imaginary, periodic, and combinatorial complexities can be managed by using visual analytical techniques, Markov anomaly detection, and agent-based simulation. Through the use of such tools, regulators and exchanges can not only improve their analysis of markets post an event of interest, such as a "Flash Crash", but, also, analyze behaviors peri- and pre-events of interest.
[Serologic survey on pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus among aged ≥ 3 years population from Jiangsu province in 2009, China].

Objective To understand the antibody levels against pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus (2009 H1N1 ) among aged ≥3 years population in 2009, from Jiangsu province, and to describe the distribution of 2009 H1N1. Methods Serum specimens were collected from natural populations at four different periods in Jiangsu, and tested with hernagglutination-inhibition (HI)assays. Rates of protective antibody against 2009 H1N1 and Geometric mean titers (GMTs)were estimated. Results The rates of protective antibody against 2009 H1N1 rose with the and November, 2009. There were no significant differences on the rates of protective antibody between males and females at four different cross-sectional periods (P＞0.05), and no significant differences on GMTs were observed at different periods except for November 2009. Significant differences on rates of protective antibody and GMTs among various age groups were observed at four different periods (P＜0.05), and similar results were observed among different periods in various age groups (P＜0.05). There were significant differences on rates of protective antibody and GMTs among different areas (P＜0.05). Conclusion The 2009 H1N1 strain had been widely spread out in Jiangsu province since July 2009. People aged 12-17 years became the major victims after August. As of November 2009, the rate of protective antibody against 2009 H1N1 was still low, predicting that the epidemic might continue to exist for a certain period of time. Key words: Pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009; Serologic survey; Hemagglutination-inhibition assays; Antibody
GENERATION OF BROADBAND DATA FROM NARROWBAND INFORMATION

In a host of applications in engineering, it is necessary to obtain information about a system over a broad range. In most cases it is not possible to evaluate the parameter of interest in closed form. However, either theoretical or experimental data is available in a narrow band. Generation of the data over the broadband is not possible or may be extremely time consuming. The principle of analytic continuation is utilized to extrapolate/interpolate the data over a wide band. The method of Cauchy [1] has been chosen in this paper to carry out the analytic continuation.
Estimating tuberculosis cases and their economic costs averted in the United States over the past two decades.

Background Following a concerted public health response to the resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) in the United States in the late 1980s, annual TB incidence decreased substantially. However, no estimates exist of the number and cost savings of TB cases averted. Methods TB cases averted in the United States during 1995-2014 were estimated: Scenario 1 used a static 1992 case rate; Scenario 2 applied the 1992 rate to foreign-born cases, and a pre-resurgence 5.1% annual decline to US-born cases; and a statistical model assessed human immunodeficiency virus and TB program indices. We applied the cost of illness to estimate the societal benefits (costs averted) in 2014 dollars. Results During 1992-2014, 368 184 incident TB cases were reported, and cases decreased by two thirds during that period. In the scenarios and statistical model, TB cases averted during 1995-2014 ranged from approximately 145 000 to 319 000. The societal benefits of averted TB cases ranged from US$3.1 to US$6.7 billion, excluding deaths, and from US$6.7 to US$14.5 billion, including deaths. Conclusions Coordinated efforts in TB control and prevention in the United States yielded a remarkable number of TB cases averted and societal economic benefits. We illustrate the value of concerted action and targeted public health funding.
Phenotyping of Zebrafish Homebase Behaviors in Novelty-Based Tests

Various novelty-based assays used to quantify zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior show a striking similarity to behavioral responses in rodents. Exposed to the open field test, zebrafish establish overt homebases demonstrating clear preference for a particular area of the tank. This behavior aims to establish a “safe zone” that zebrafish can familiarize themselves with and feel secure in, and is similar to homebase behaviors of various laboratory rodent species. Here we outline a simple protocol for homebase phenotyping
Is providing mobile interventions "just-in-time" helpful? an experimental proof of concept study of just-in-time intervention for stress management

Although there is growing interest in using mHealth approaches to provide just-in-time [JIT] intervention elements tailored to current emotional states in real time, critical evidentiary questions remain unanswered. This study was a ‘proof of concept’ evaluation to see if, in the context of a manualized stress management program, adding JIT intervention reminders via mobile technology would enhance outcomes more than the provision of random (untailored) reminders (both also relative to a measurement only active control condition). Individuals participated in a stress management course and carried a palmtop computer for 11 days (2 days acclimation and assessment, 1 week intervention, and 2 days post-treatment assessment). For the intervention week participants were assigned to one of three groups and either: (a) only completed self-report assessments multiple times each data (using ecological momentary assessment [EMA]; (b) completed EMA and received random reminders to use stress management skills; (c) completed EMA and received JIT tailored reminders to use stress management intervention elements when high stress or negative affect were reported. Individuals receiving JIT reminders reported stressful events less frequently, lower stress severity, less negative affect, lower levels of a stress biomarker (cortisol), less frequent eating, less alcohol consumption, less smoking and better sleep quality than the other two groups at post-treatment assessment. Tailored mHealth interventions designed in conjunction with ambulatory assessment protocols to provide JIT intervention elements can improve the efficacy of a standard stress intervention above and beyond any effects of simple reminders or over the intervention training. Implications for mHealth and JIT interventions are discussed.
A COMPARISON OF STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR IN CUTTING AND HIGH STRAIN-RATE COMPRESSION TESTS

Stress-strain relations derived from orthogonal cutting of 1100-0 aluminum and of annealed electrolytic tough pitch copper are compared on an effective stress–effective strain basis with compression test data obtained for these metals at comparable strain rates. To facilitate such a comparison, three series of compression tests were made at strain rates of 10−3/sec, 1/sec and 103/sec. The high strain rate tests were carried to large strains by a repeated application of Kolsky's impact technique. The strain rates in metal cutting were estimated by associating with the zone of chip formation the zone of micro-hardness variation. The results for both aluminum and copper indicate that the effective flow stress derived from the cutting data is about 10% lower than the effective flow stress at the corresponding strain and strain rate derived from the compression data. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.
The theory of insular biogeography and the distribution of boreal birds and mammals

The present paper compares the distribution of boreal birds and mammals among the isolated mountain ranges of the Great Basin and relates those patterns to the developing theory of insular biogeography. The results indicate that the distribution of permanent resident bird species represents an approximate equilibrium between contemporary rates of colonization and extinction. A shallow slope of the species-area curve (Z = 0.165), no significant reduction in numbers of species as a function of insular isolation (distance to nearest continent), and a strong dependence of species diversity on habitat diversity all suggest that immigration rates of boreal birds are sufficiently high to maintain populations on almost all islands where there are appropriate habitats. In contrast, the insular faunas of boreal mammals represent relictual populations that receive no significant contemporary immigration. The insular mammal faunas have been derived by extinction from a set of species that colonized the islands when habitat bridges connected them to the continents in the late Pleistocene. A relatively steep species-area curve (Z = 0.326), no effect of isolation on species diversity, and the absence of appropriate species from large areas of apparently suitable habitat all support this conclusion. Measures of habitat diversity that are closely correlated with bird species diversity do not account for much of the variation in number of mammal species among islands. Insular area is the single variable that accounts for most of the variability in both bird and mammal species diversity; this supports the approach of using standard parameters such as area in comparative empirical analyses and general biogeographic theory. The results of this study suggest that extremes of vagility among taxa and a recent history of paleoclimatic and geological changes make it unlikely that equilibrial distributions, of the sort MacArthur and Wilson (1967) propose for the biotas of oceanic islands, are characteristic of the insular distributions of terrestial and freshwater vertebrates of western North America.
A Quantitative Analysis of Latino Acculturation and Alcohol Use: Myth Versus Reality.

Research on health among Latinos often focuses on acculturation processes and the associated stressors that influence drinking behavior. Given the common use of acculturation measures and the state of the knowledge on alcohol-related health among Latino populations, the current analyses tested the efficacy of acculturation measures to predict various indicators of alcohol consumption. Specifically, this quantitative review assessed the predictive utility of acculturation on alcohol consumption behaviors (frequency, volume, and quantity). Two main analyses were conducted-a p-curve analysis and a meta-analysis of the observed associations between acculturation and drinking behavior. Results demonstrated that current measures of acculturation are a statistically significant predictor of alcohol use (Z = -20.75, p < 0.0001). The meta-analysis included a cumulative sample size of 29,589 Latino participants across 31 studies. A random-effects model yielded a weighted average correlation of 0.16 (95% confidence interval = 0.12, 0.19). Additional subgroup analyses examined the effects of gender and using different scales to measure acculturation. Altogether, results demonstrated that acculturation is a useful predictor of alcohol use. In addition, the meta-analysis revealed that a small positive correlation exists between acculturation and alcohol use in Latinos with a between-study variance of only 1.5% (τ2 = 0.015). Our analyses reveal that the association between current measures of acculturation and alcohol use is relatively small.
Abstract 004: Electronic Health Record-Based Overestimation of Failure to Prescribe Statins in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease in a Large, Academic, Multispecialty Clinic Practice

Background: Programs such as Meaningful Use leverage electronic health record (EHR) systems to hold medical providers accountable for delivering high-quality care. However, the fidelity of querying...
Creating a Gold Standard for the Readability Measurement of Health Texts

Developing easy-to-read health texts for consumers continues to be a challenge in health communication. Though readability formulae such as Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level have been used in many studies, they were found to be inadequate to estimate the difficulty of some types of health texts. One impediment to the development of new readability assessment techniques is the absence of a gold standard that can be used to validate them. To overcome this deficiency, we have compiled a corpus of 324 health documents consisting of six different types of texts. These documents were manually reviewed and assigned a readability level (1-7 Likert scale) by a panel of five health literacy experts. The expert assigned ratings were found to be highly correlated with a patient representative’s readability ratings (r = 0.81, p<0.0001).
Does Blame Trump Benefit in Treatment Decisions? Nonadherence and Cardiac Surgery.

John's case exemplifies a commonly encountered situation in most hospitals: the nonadherent patient who is acutely ill and in need of medical services. In John's case, he has a second round of infe...
Review: Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia

Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia Walker Art Center, Minneapolis 23 October 2015–27 February 2016 Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 18 June–9 October 2016 Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive 8 February–21 May 2017 In the summer of 1967 nearly 100,000 people made their way to San Francisco, converging in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood during what became known in the popular press as the “Summer of Love.” In retrospect, the events marked more a death knell than a climax, as those at the epicenter well knew. The Diggers, a local radical collective and street theater troupe, staged a funeral service on 6 October 1967 at Buena Vista Park in which participants carried and then set afire a coffin symbolizing the demise of the “hippie,” a figure they contended had been conjured by the mass media and commercialized to the point of losing any genuine cultural or political purchase. “Hippies” and 1967 continue to be easy signifiers, however, and in 2017 numerous cultural institutions in San Francisco dutifully organized commemorations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Summer of Love. These included an exhibition at the de Young Museum focused on “art, fashion, and rock & roll” and local-history-centered shows at the California Historical Society and the San Francisco Public Library. On a different order from these mostly nostalgic and adulatory exhibitions was Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia , curated by Andrew Blauvelt. Originally staged at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the version at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) was augmented with items selected by guest curator and …
Online Learning for Patrolling Robots Against Active Adversarial Attackers

We study the online route planning problem for patrolling robots, to assign them to optimal routes to patrol in a large crime-prone area. To model the actively engaging, intelligent, and adversarial opponents, we use the Stackelberg Security Game between the patrolling robots and the attackers. We leverage a graph-based bandit algorithm [16] with adaptive adjustment of the reward for the robots in this game to perplex the best response attackers and gradually succeed over them. Our graph bandits can outperform other stochastic bandit algorithms [10] when a simulated annealing-based scheduling mechanism is incorporated to adjust the balance between exploration and exploitation. Hence our method can successfully assign a small group of patrolling robots to cover a large number of routes.
The Relationship Between Partner Abuse and Substance Use Among Women Mandated to Drug Treatment

This study investigates the relationship between substance use and partner abuse among women (N = 1,025) who entered drug-treatment programs through the criminal justice systems in New York City and Portland, Oregon. Self-report data on substance use and partner abuse indicate that although the rate of partner abuse in both cities is well above the national average, the less substance-involved women in Portland reported more abuse than their New York counterparts. Our analyses suggest that the relationship between partner abuse and substance use during conflicts varies within the population of women offenders who are heavily drug-involved, with women in Portland reporting a greater direct link between partner abuse and substance use. The findings indicate that there is a need for drug-treatment providers to understand their clients' victimization histories and the relationship between partner abuse and substance use in order to engage clients in the treatment process and help them learn how to avoid being victimized in the future.
Host selection and reproductive success of French and Moroccan populations of the parasitoid, Microctonus aethiopoides (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

French and Moroccan populations of the parasitoid Microctonus aethiopoides Loan were studied in the laboratory for their host selection, mating behavior, and reproductive success. The French strain, collected on Hypera postica (Gyllenhal), although capable of parasitizing and producing viable offspring on Sitona weevils, preferred Hypera weevils, its known target host. The Moroccan strain, collected on Sitona discoideus Gyllenhal, exhibited host specificity for Sitona. A partial reproductive isolation was observed between the two strains. Moroccan females mated more frequently with French males than did French females with Moroccan males. The pre-copulation time for mating pairs of opposite strains was significantly longer than that for mating pairs of the same strain. There was no significant difference in copulation time nor in larval and pupal duration between French and Moroccan strains. In summary, the French and Moroccan strains of M. aethiopoides are clearly separable by biological, behavioral, and morphometric traits and the preferred host for Hypera is the French strain and Sitona for the Moroccan strain. Consequently, geographic location and host source become important when considering this parasitoid as a potential biological control agent.
A Cerebral Asymmetry in Olfactory Control of Social Huddling by Infant Hamsters

Pups of the altricial species, Mesocricetus auratus, are born with little metabolic capacity for heat production (Hissa, 1968). Fortunately, they are endowed with a well developed mechanism for thermotaxis (Leonard, 1974). They orient and locomote toward the warm side of weak thermal gradients, becoming quiescent when their temperature starts to rise. This behavior presumably keeps them in the nest, close to their mother, an important source of heat. In an experimental situation (Leonard, 1982) young pups prefer contact with the warm end to huddling together with littermates. This is adaptive since their littermates are exothermic and do not provide an adequate source of heat.
The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism by James L. Aucoin University of Missouri Press, 2005, 242 pp

(2006). The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism by James L. Aucoin University of Missouri Press, 2005, 242 pp. American Journalism: Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 110-112.
Laparoscopic pyloroplasty versus endoscopic per-oral pyloromyotomy for the treatment of gastroparesis

Gastroparesis is a debilitating functional disorder of the stomach characterized by delayed gastric emptying absent an obstructive etiology. Surgical or endoscopic disruption of the pylorus has been utilized to treat this disease, but there is little evidence comparing laparoscopic pyloroplasty (LP) with endoscopic per-oral pyloromyotomy (POP). Herein we describe our experience at our institution using a propensity-matched cohort study to compare outcomes between these procedures. All patients who underwent LP for the treatment of gastroparesis from October 2014 through September 2017 at our institution were retrospectively reviewed. Propensity scoring was used to match these patients 1:1 to patients undergoing POP during this time period based on gender, age, and etiology of gastroparesis. Symptom scores using the Gastroparesis Cardinal Symptom Index (GCSI), scintigraphic gastric emptying studies (GES), and perioperative outcomes were compared between matched cohorts. Thirty patients underwent LP for gastroparesis during the study period which were matched 1:1 with patients undergoing POP. The etiology of gastroparesis was 63.3% idiopathic (n = 19), 20.0% post-surgical (n = 6), and 16.7% diabetic (n = 5) in both cohorts. Patients who underwent LP had a longer average length of stay (4.6 vs. 1.4 days, p = 0.003), operative time (99.3 vs. 33.9 min, p < 0.001), and estimated blood loss (12.9 vs. 0.4 mL, p < 0.001). There were more complications in the LP cohort (16.7 vs. 3.3%, p = 0.086), which included surgical site infection (6.7 vs. 0%, p = 0.153), pneumonia (6.7 vs. 0.0%, p = 0.153), and unplanned ICU admission (10.0 vs. 0.0%, p = 0.078). LP and POP both resulted in similar, significant improvements in both in GCSI scores and objective gastric emptying. Per-oral endoscopic pyloromyotomy (POP) is safe and effective for the treatment of medical refractory gastroparesis. POP has less perioperative morbidity compared to LP with comparative functional outcomes.
195 Sequential blockade of OX40L followed by PD-1 altered the suppressive function and proliferation of CD4+ regulatory T cells in lupus mice

Background In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), dysregulated production of autoantibodies is a consequence of disrupted T cell homeostasis. We have published that blockade of Programmed death-1 (PD-1), a negative regulator in T cells, limits helper T cell (Th) activation, restores regulatory T cell (Treg) suppression, and reinstates immune cell function. We have also shown that attenuated PD-1 expression in Treg down-regulates OX40L, which helps restore the suppressive capacity of Treg. However, concurrent administration of different immunotherapies may negate positive outcomes. We hypothesize that the sequence of blocking PD-1 and OX40L influences the induction and sustainability of Treg suppressivity. Methods We treated 8-week-old BWF1 mice with a neutralizing Ab against PD-1 or OX40L intraperitoneally. At age 25 weeks when anti-dsDNA began to rise, mice were treated with either anti-PD1 or anti-OX40L that they had not received at age 8 weeks. OX40L, Foxp3 and PD-1 expression on CD4 +CD25+Treg from spleens, apoptosis of Treg and CD4 +CD25 Th were measured by flow cytometry. Seum production of IFN (Th1), IL4 (Th2), IL17a (Th17) and TGF- (Treg), and anti-dsDNA (B cells) were measured by ELISA. The survival of these mice were compared to those treated with anti-PD1 alone at 8 weeks, which we previously demonstrated prolonged survival with delayed onset of proteinuria. Results Anti-OX40L suppressed Th function and proliferation independent of Foxp3 expression in Treg with decreased anti-dsDNA production. Subsequent blockade of PD-1 in anti-OX40L-treated mice generated more PD1loTreg with increased TGF- production; it sustained Treg suppressivity and delayed onset of proteinuria when compared to mice treated with anti-PD1 alone. Conversely, sequential blockade of anti-OX40L in anti-PD1-treated mice did not promote Treg survival and their disease inconsistently progressed: these mice had predominantly PD1hi or PD1-Treg, and antagonistic OX40L could not restore their suppressivity. Conclusions Effective induction of Treg is associated with low expression of PD-1 and OX40L, which permits Treg to survive and perform cell suppressive function. Combination of Abs targeting OX40L and PD-1 can improve Treg function and survival outcomes, but it is determined by the timing and sequence of Ab administration: blocking OX40L followed by PD-1 has an additive effect which is not observed when the order of Abs given was reversed. OX40L and PD-1 signaling communicate sequentially with Treg to regulate its suppressive capacity and survival to achieve peripheral tolerance in SLE, suggesting that treatment with one immunotherapy could change the biology of T-cell signaling such that another immunotherapy may lose its efficacy or has unexpected negative outcome. Funding Source(s): None
Modeling and simulation of leader-follower autonomous vehicles: environment effects

In this paper, we present results obtained through simulation of connected-autonomous semi-trucks that are operating in a leader-follower configuration. Autonomy is enabled in this configuration with a very lean sensor package on each truck, precision global positioning system (GPS), radar-based automated cruise control system (ACC), and dedicated short-range vehicle-to-vehicle communication system (DSRC). Our simulation includes modeling the operating environment, namely, the high-speed test track at the American Center for Mobility (ACM); the sensors, namely, GPS, ACC, and DSRC; and vehicle dynamics of semi-trucks. Simulation results in this paper are focused on measuring the safety margin of the follower semi-truck under different environmental conditions. We studied adverse weather and measured the decrease in safety margins with the increase in precipitation.