cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Objectivity, relativism, and truth: Is natural science a natural kind?

Introduction One of the principal reasons for the development of a subarea within philosophy called “philosophy of science” was the belief that ‘science’ (or, at least, ‘natural science’) named a natural kind, an area of culture which could be demarcated by one or both of two features: a special method, or a special relation to reality. The further suggestion, implicit in Carnap's work and made explicit by Quine, that “philosophy of science is philosophy enough,” was a natural extension of this belief. For just as Plato was content to leave the world of appearances to the philodoxers, so many of the logical empiricists were, implicitly or explicitly, content to leave the rest of culture to itself. On their view, once the job of demarcation had been accomplished, once the distinctive nature of science had been accurately described, there was no need to say much about the other activities of human beings. For, since man was a rational animal and science the acme of rationality, science was the paradigmatic human activity. What little there was to say about other areas of culture amounted to a wistful hope that some of them (e.g., philosophy) might themselves become more “scientific.” Hempel and others, however, showed that demarcation was not as easy as it had first appeared. The increasing plausibility of Neurathian holism, once it had been revivified by Quine's “Two Dogmas” and by Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations , further undermined attempts to isolate “the scientific method,” because it undermined attempts to isolate piecemeal connections between scientific theories and the world.
Contextual Sensitivity Helps Explain the Reproducibility Gap between Social and Cognitive Psychology

We previously reported that contextual sensitivity correlates with the reproducibility of 100 psychology studies from the Reproducibility Project. This relationship remains after adjusting for several methodological factors believed to account for reproducibility. The current paper examines why the reproducibility rate of social psychology (28%) was lower than cognitive psychology (53%). The authors of the Reproducibility Project argued that the lower reproducibility rate of social psychology is due to weaker statistical power and effect sizes. The current paper finds no evidence for this hypothesis. Rather, new analyses suggest that different rates of reproducibility between social and cognitive psychology appear to stem from differences in contextual sensitivity rather than methodological factors (e.g., sample size, effect size). This will come as little surprise to social psychologists: The notion that human psychology is shaped by the social context has been the central premise of the field for nearly a century. We expect that same principle applies across the social sciences.
REDCap and clinical registries as a platform to promote clinical translational research

Laura D. Cassidy has a MS in Biostatistics and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health. She an Asssociate Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin in the Institute for Health and Society, Director of Epidemiology, Director of the Ph.D. Program in Public and Community Health and is also the Director of Clinical Research in the Division of Pediatric Surgery. She has published over 70 peer-reviewed journals. REDCap and clinical registries as a platform to promote clinical translational research
Designing for Scale: Reflections on Rolling Out Reading Improvement in Kenya and Liberia

Since 2008, the Ministries of Education in Liberia and Kenya have undertaken transitions from small-scale pilot programs to improve reading outcomes among primary learners to the large-scale implementation of reading interventions. The effects of the pilots on learning outcomes were significant, but questions remained regarding whether such large gains could be sustained at scale. In this article, the authors dissect the Liberian and Kenyan experiences with implementing large-scale reading programs, documenting the critical components and conditions of the program designs that affected the likelihood of successfully transitioning from pilot to scale. They also review the design, deployment, and effectiveness of each pilot program and the scale, design, duration, enabling conditions, and initial effectiveness results of the scaled programs in each country. The implications of these results for the design of both pilot and large-scale reading programs are discussed in light of the experiences of both the Liberian and Kenyan programs.
Advances in Microspore Culture Technology: A Biotechnological Tool for the Improvement of Medicinal Plants

Doubled haploidy techniques are well established for some species and are routinely used for practical application and basic research. Haploid/doubled haploid plants can be produced via a number of ways although the in vitro methods of androgenesis (culture of the male gametophyte) or gynogenesis (culture of the female gametophyte) are the most common. For medicinal plants, very little genetic improvement has been undertaken when compared to major crop species. However, callus, embryos, and doubled haploid plants have been produced in several medicinal species using a range of media formulations and culture conditions. This chapter focuses on doubled haploid production from the male gametophyte and the factors influencing this response.Doubled haploidy methodology would be beneficial for medicinal species as uniform, homozygous, true breeding lines would be available for growers. Uniformity in plants and in the active ingredient is very important for regulatory standards and for those conducting clinical trials.
HLScope: High-Level Performance Debugging for FPGA Designs

In their quest for further optimization, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) designers often spend considerable time trying to identify the performance bottleneck in a current design. But since FPGAs do not have built-in high-level probes for performance analysis, manual effort is required to insert custom hardware monitors. This, however, is a time-consuming process which calls for automation. Previous work automates the process of inserting hardware monitors into the communication channels or the finite-state machine, but the instrumentation is applied in low-level hardware description languages (HDL) which limits the comprehensibility in identifying the root cause of stalls. Instead, we propose a performance debugging methodology based on high-level synthesis (HLS). High-level analysis allows tracing the cause of stalls on a function or loop level, which provides a more intuitive feedback that can be used to pinpoint the performance bottleneck. In this paper we propose HLScope, a source-to-source transformation framework based on Vivado HLS for automated performance analysis. We present a method for analyzing the information collected from the software simulation to estimate the stall rate and its cause without the need for FPGA bitstream generation. For detailed analysis, an in-FPGA analysis method is proposed that can be natively integrated into the HLS environment. Experiments show that the parameter extraction from the simulation process is orders of magnitude faster than bitstream generation, with a 2.2% cycle difference on average. In-FPGA flow consumes only about 170 LUTs and a BRAM per monitored module and provides cycle-accurate results.
Patent Foramen Ovale Closure for Secondary Prevention of Cryptogenic Stroke: Updated Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials

Abstract Background Patent foramen ovale closure represents a potential secondary prevention strategy for cryptogenic stroke, but available trials have varied by size, device studied, and follow-up. Methods We conducted a systematic search of published randomized clinical trials evaluating patent foramen ovale closure versus medical therapy in patients with recent stroke or transient ischemic attack using PubMED, EMBASE, and Cochrane through September 2017. Weighting was by random effects models. Results Of 480 studies screened, we included 5 randomized clinical trials in the meta-analysis in which 3440 patients were randomized to patent foramen ovale closure (n = 1829) or medical therapy (n = 1611) and followed for an average of 2.0 to 5.9 years. Index stroke/transient ischemic attack occurred within 6 to 9 months of randomization. The primary end point was composite stroke/transient ischemic attack and death (in 3 trials) or stroke alone (in 2 trials). Patent foramen ovale closure reduced the primary end point (0.70 vs 1.48 events per 100 patient-years; risk ratio [RR], 0.52 [0.29-0.91]; I2 = 55.0%) and stroke/transient ischemic attack (1.04 vs 2.00 events per 100 patient-years; RR, 0.55 [0.37-0.82]; I2 = 42.2%) with modest heterogeneity compared with medical therapy. Procedural bleeding was not different between study arms (1.8% vs 1.8%; RR, 0.94 [0.49-1.83]; I2 = 29.2%), but new-onset atrial fibrillation/flutter was increased with patent foramen ovale closure (6.6% vs 0.7%; RR, 4.69 [2.17-10.12]; I2 = 29.3%). Conclusions In patients with recent cryptogenic stroke, patent foramen ovale closure reduces recurrent stroke/transient ischemic attack compared with medical therapy, but is associated with a higher risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation/flutter.
Low-cost hardware architectures for mersenne modulo functional units

With technology scaling leading to reliability problems and a proliferation of hardware accelerators, there is a need for cost-effective techniques to detect errors in complex datapaths. Modulo (residue) arithmetic is useful for creating a shadow datapath to check the computation of an arithmetic datapath and involves three key steps: reduction of the inputs to modulo shadow inputs, computation with those shadow values, and checking the outputs for consistency with the shadow outputs. The focus of this paper is new gate-level architectures and algorithms to reduce the cost of modulo shadow datapaths. We introduce low-cost architectures for all four key functional units in a shadow datapath: (1) a modulo reduction algorithm that generates architectures consisting entirely of full-adder standard cells; (2) minimum-area modulo adder and subtractor architectures; (3) an array-based modulo multiplier design; and (4) a modulo equality comparator that handles the residue encoding produced by the above. We compare our functional units to the previous state-of-the-art approach, observing a 12.5% reduction in area and a 47.1% reduction in delay for a 32-bit mod-3 reducer; that our reducer costs, which tend to dominate shadow datapath costs, do not increase with larger modulo bases; and that for modulo-15 and above, all of our modulo functional units have better area and delay then their previous counterparts. We also demonstrate the practicality of our approach by designing a custom shadow datapath for error detection of a multiply accumulate functional unit, which has an area overhead of only 12% for a 32-bit main datapath and 2-bit modulo-3 shadow datapath.
Visual rhetoric of the Presidency: an analysis of the Trump and Obama White House messaging in their first 100 days in Flickr images

AbstractIn this study, we examine images released by the White House on Flickr, an online public photo sharing site, to identify the visual messaging of the Trump Presidency in their first 100 days...
Designing awareness campaigns to counter human trafficking: An analytic approach

Abstract Human trafficking – the trade of persons for the gain of others – is a pervasive societal issue. Ongoing trafficking recruitment calls for targeted prevention strategies for individuals and communities at risk. Awareness campaigns, arguably the most common form of trafficking prevention, are intended to alert individuals to the tactics used by traffickers and provide them with practical strategies to avoid deception and exploitation. However there is a shortage of technical solutions regarding the analysis, impact assessment, and evaluation of alternatives related to implementing awareness campaigns. We present a resource allocation model that can be used to determine the allocation of funds that maximizes increases in trafficking awareness among at-risk populations. We apply this model to determine the allocation of a limited budget among different types of prevention programs in at-risk populations in Nepal. For each awareness campaign, we estimate a production function that relates the amount invested to the associated change in awareness. When allocating limited resources, decision makers must balance competing interests, and we illustrate the impact of three allocation policies on trafficking awareness. The model presented in this article is a first attempt to help decision makers evaluate how to allocate funds in the context of trafficking awareness.
Resuscitation: Pediatric Algorithms

This chapter provides “Quick Hit” algorithms to manage critically ill or coding pediatric patients and easy-to-follow, step-by-step references to manage the most acutely ill children. Seconds count in recognition, identification of causes, initiation of high-quality CPR, and administration of resuscitation medications and fluids. This chapter will give you the high-yield essential information you need to manage a pediatric code. The algorithms are easy to follow, with helpful tips and medication doses to providing rapid, high-quality care to the most critical pediatric patients.
Effect of adiposity on leukocyte telomere length in US adults by race/ethnicity: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Abstract Objective Obesity is associated with telomere attrition – a marker of cellular and biological aging. The US has the highest proportion of obesity and is comprised of a racially/ethnic diverse population. Little is known about the relationship between obesity and telomere attrition according to race/ethnicity in the US. Our objective is to examine the differential association. Design and setting The effect of body mass index (BMI), % total body fat (TBF) and waist circumference (WC) on leukocyte telomere length (LTL) were examined as adiposity measures according to race/ethnicity and sex specific race/ethnicity using separate adjusted linear regressions on a sample of 4,919 respondents aged 20-84 years from cross-sectional 1999-2002 data using the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mediation analyses assessed health behaviors associated with relationship between adiposity measures and LTL. Main outcome measure LTL Results African Americans (AA) experienced a 28% and 11% decrease in LTL associated with increasing BMI and WC, (p=.02 and .03) respectively. Mexican Americans (MA) experienced a 33% decrease in LTL associated with increasing %TBF (p=.04). Whites experienced a 19%, 23%, and .08% decrease in LTL associated with increasing BMI, %TBF, and WC, (p=.05, .003, .02) respectively. White men experienced a 26% decrease in LTL due to increasing BMI (p=.05). AA women experienced a 41%, 44%, and 16% decrease in LTL due to increasing BMI, %TBF, and WC, respectively (p=.007, .02, .04). White women experienced a 29% decrease in LTL associated with increasing %TBF (p=.006). Selected health behaviors were associated with the relationship between adiposity measures and LTL. Conclusion Overall, AA and Whites have worse cellular and biological aging related to collective adiposity measures. According to sex, AA women experienced more deleterious cellular and biological aging. Findings suggest tailored interventions to improve adverse behaviors that contribute to obesity may improve telomere attrition in US adults.
A Hierarchical Control Framework With a Novel Bidding Scheme for Residential Community Energy Optimization

Residential energy optimization provides economic and reliability benefits to the electric utility and consumers. Two major challenges in community energy optimization are: 1) to efficiently coordinate among a large number of residential consumers’ electric appliances and 2) to ensure participating consumers are comfortable and are rewarded with financial incentives during demand reduction. This paper proposes a hierarchical control framework with a novel bidding scheme that manages the use of consumers’ electric appliances while satisfying utility demand reduction requests. A new demand reduction bidding strategy is introduced for the efficient coordination among several local controllers (LCs) under a central controller (CC) in the proposed framework. Incentives are provided to the residential consumers for their participation, while considering their preferences, using a continuous reward structure. A simulation study on the 6-bus Roy Billinton test system with 1200 residential consumers demonstrates the financial benefits to the electric utility and consumers by performing a 6% demand reduction during peak times. The results show that the utility saves $28 217, and a residential consumer earns $9.37 on average for a one-hour demand reduction event (e.g., reducing 1.2 MW peak power). The reward scheme designed from this framework is more economical to utilities compared to existing utility reward schemes.
The Pediatric Diagnostic Referral Service: Filling in the Subspecialty Cracks

In a large academic tertiary-care center with scores of pediatric specialists and subspecialists, it is hard to imagine that there is not a “consultant” available to receive all patients referred for evaluation. Many centers, large and small, have a few clinically oriented or interested physicians who are willing to see patients referred with problems not clearly related to one organ system or specialty area. Some centers have long-established mechanisms for referrals and consultations, utilizing hospital-based generalists who are heavily involved in both the inpatient and outpatient services.1 In other centers ambulatory pediatric faculty assist resident physicians who see patients referred by other physicians or self-referred by parents seeking a second opinion. Not uncommonly children are seen by subspecialists in a “best of fit” mode, hoping that the problem corresponds to their area of expertise. If the problem does not appear to be in the realm of the subspecialist, the patient may be referred to another subspecialist or simply returned to the referring physician.
Relative Importance of Sustainability Measures and Costs in Mutual Fund Selection

Impact investing has become a mainstream investment practice, especially for millennial investors. More financially savvy than their Generation X predecessors and with an increased concern for environmental and social justice issues, Millennials are transforming socially responsible investing from unconventional to commonplace. This article examines the relationship between sustainability and mutual fund returns (both historical and anticipated) to identify beneficial information that socially responsible investors can use in making investment decisions. Using Morningstar sustainability ratings, star ratings, and analyst ratings, the authors find a very low correlation between sustainability and fund returns. Sustainability ratings do not vary across Morningstar star ratings or analyst ratings; nor do Morningstar star or analyst ratings vary within high or low sustainability groupings. The practical relevance of these findings is that socially responsible investors do not have to sacrifice financially when investing with a positive social inclination. However, the authors document the ability to enhance sustainable investment returns by limiting fund costs in the form of load charges and expense ratios. Low costs are associated with higher Morningstar star ratings and forward-looking analyst ratings. Hence, it is possible to “do well” financially by selecting less expensive funds with high sustainability ratings. TOPICS:ESG investing, mutual fund performance Key Findings • The practical relevance of these findings is that socially responsible investors do not have to sacrifice financially when investing with a positive social inclination. • The authors document the ability to enhance sustainable investment returns by limiting fund costs in the form of load charges and expense ratios. • Hence, it is possible to “do well” financially by selecting less expensive funds with high sustainability ratings.
An Instruction Roofline Model for GPUs

The Roofline performance model provides an intuitive approach to identify performance bottlenecks and guide performance optimization. However, the classic FLOP-centric approach is inappropriate for emerging applications that perform more integer operations than floating-point operations. In this paper, we propose an Instruction Roofline Model on NVIDIA GPUs. The Instruction Roofline incorporates instructions and memory transactions across all memory hierarchies together and provides more performance insights than the FLOP-oriented Roofline Model, i.e., instruction throughput, stride memory access patterns, bank conflicts, and thread predication. We use our Instruction Roofline methodology to analyze five proxy applications: HPGMG from AMReX, BatchSW from merAligner, Matrix Transpose benchmarks, cudaTensorCoreGemm, and cuBLAS. We demonstrate the ability of our methodology to understand various aspects of performance and performance bottlenecks on NVIDIA GPUs and motivate code optimizations.
Challenges faced by Latin American Immigrant Youth in Kentucky

Challenges faced by Latin American Immigrant Youth in Kentucky Abstract Out of all the immigrants, the Latino immigrants from the Central and South America constitute the largest group "The Utilization of Mixed Methods To Study Consensus Building in Dual Diagnosis Treatment. There are approximately 39.9 million foreign-born individuals in the United States in the year 2010 and a majority of them come from Latin America, Asia and the Afro-Caribbean basin. Immigrant youth face a variety of challenges of which struggling to receive the necessary education primarily due to poverty and also have difficulty finding employment thereafter. The purpose of the study is to determine if there is an association between education levels and unemployment statuses among the Latin American immigrant youth in Kentucky. The data for education levels would be collected from selected college campuses in Kentucky. The data on unemployment levels would be obtained from the Kentucky Workforce Development Cabinet. The data would be analyzed using chi-square to determine if any significant association exists between the two chosen variables
FDA Approval Summary: Enfortumab Vedotin for Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

On December 18, 2019, the FDA granted accelerated approval to enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (PADCEV; Astellas and Seattle Genetics) for treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously received a programmed cell death protein 1 or programmed death ligand 1 inhibitor, and a platinum-containing chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant/adjuvant, locally advanced or metastatic setting. Substantial evidence of effectiveness for this application is obtained from Cohort 1 of the single-arm, multicenter Study EV-201. Patients received enfortumab vedotin (EV) 1.25 mg/kg (up to a maximum dose of 125 mg) intravenously on days 1, 8, and 15 of 28-day cycles until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Confirmed objective response rate in the 125-patient efficacy population determined by blinded independent central review was 44% [95% confidence interval (CI), 35.1-53.2], with complete responses in 12%. Median response duration was 7.6 months (95% CI, 6.3-not estimable). Grade 3-4 adverse reactions occurred in 73% of patients. Hyperglycemia, peripheral neuropathy, ocular disorders, skin reactions, infusion site extravasations, and embryo-fetal toxicity are labeled as warnings and precautions for EV. The article summarizes the data and the FDA thought process supporting accelerated approval of EV. This approval may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trial(s).
Nine-year Prospective Safety and Effectiveness Outcomes from the Long-Term Treatment Trial of the RNS® System (S36.005)

Objective: Report the complete follow up experience of 33 epilepsy centers who participated in a 7 year prospective open-label long-term treatment (LTT) study of the RNS® System (NeuroPace, Inc.). Background: Patients participated in the LTT study following a 2 year randomized, double-blinded controlled pivotal study, or a prior 2 year feasibility study. Design/Methods: 256 adults with medically intractable focal onset seizures localized to 1 or 2 seizure foci were treated in the pivotal (N=191) or feasibility (N=65) studies and 230 transitioned into the LTT study. Efficacy assessments included median % change in seizure frequency. Safety was assessed by reporting of adverse events. Results: Mean age was 34.0 years, mean epilepsy duration was 19.6 years, mean number of AEDs was 2.9, and median seizure frequency was 10.2 seizures/month. Total follow-up was 9 years with 1895 patient implant years. The median % reduction reached 75% at the end of year 9 (n=168). In addition, 30% of subjects experienced ≥ one period of ≥ 6-months without seizures and 19% experienced ≥12 months without seizures. A LOCF analysis showed a median % reduction of 67.2% (IQR: 23 to 94.5%) with 33% of patients having a 90% or greater reduction in seizures in their most recent 3 months. Risk for infection was 3.7% per procedure, and all but one infection was soft tissue only. There were 16 deaths; 2 due to suicide, 1 each due to status epilepticus, herpes encephalitis, sepsis, lung/colon cancer, and lymphoma, and 4 due to definite, 2 due to probable, and 3 due to possible SUDEP. Conclusions: Patients treated with the RNS System experienced sustained reductions in seizures, with a third of patients having a 90% or greater reduction in their seizures during their last 3 months. The study supports the long-term effectiveness and safety of treatment of medically intractable focal seizures with brain responsive neurostimulation. Disclosure: Dr. Nair has nothing to disclose. Dr. Morrell has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with NeuroPace, Inc. Dr. Morrell holds stock and/or stock options in NeuroPace, Inc, which sponsored research in which Dr. Morrell was involved as an investigator. Dr. Morrell holds stock and/or stock options in NeuroPace, Inc.
Subject Matter Experts Identify Health Equity Concerns in Breastfeeding for African American Women.

Although the rate of breastfeeding initiation in the United States has continued to rise since 1972, African American mothers continue to experience a significant disparity in initiation. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of the facilitators and barriers of breastfeeding initiation among African American mothers from the perspective of subject matter experts (SMEs). This study was part of a larger study that also involved focus group methodology with African American women. The purpose of this article is to describe the opinions, knowledge, and perceptions of SMEs who work with African American mothers. A semistructured interview guide was used to interview 7 SMEs at which point no new themes emerged from the data. SMEs highlighted the significance of modifiable factors in breastfeeding initiation decisions and validated many perceptions of African American mothers. SMEs identified many critical issues foundational to community perspective and shaping future success in raising breastfeeding initiation rates. To increase breastfeeding initiation rates among African American mothers, strategies beyond the individual level are necessary. SMEs recognize the importance of addressing fundamental issues related to historical perspectives, normalization, education, and disparities in breastfeeding as critical.
Energy Profiles of Nine Water Treatment Plants in the Salt Lake City Area of Utah and Implications for Planning, Design, and Operation

AbstractThis study examined primary data on the energy use (electricity and natural gas) of nine surface water treatment plants in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, and how their energy use relates ...
Critical Reception and Postmodern Violation of Generic Conventions in Jacques Brossard’s "Monument aux marges": L’Oiseau de feu

Quebec writer Jacques-Edmond Brossard's 1989 novel, L'oiseau de feu-1. Les annees d'apprentissage , first of the five-part Oiseau series, created a literary sensation as a potential monument of la science-fiction quebecoise . Despite critical approbation, however, few readers endeavour beyond the series' first instalment, and the whole stands at the margins of the field both for readers and scholars. In part, the difficulty of identifying Brossard as primarily a mainstream or a science-fiction writer has estranged fans and critics of both camps. But more importantly, his series' ludic irreverence toward and self-conscious play with generic conventions – one of its many postmodern features – works against its long-term engagement of quebecois/French-Canadian critics in both the mainstream and the genre milieux. Yet, this "monument aux marges" deserves more attention precisely because of its postmodernism.
Displaying procedural vs. real-time information for paired approaches [ATC]

One concept for reducing delay pairs aircraft on instrument approaches to closely spaced parallel runways. The trail aircraft of the pair maneuvers to stay in a "safe zone", calculated to be free of collision danger and wake vortex interaction. Two different underlying bases can be used to determine the safe zone. The first is based on procedural information; which assumes that the two aircraft are following a pre-specified approach procedure, thereby presenting a spatial boundary which is predictable, small and unchanging throughout the approach, but which does not account for nonprocedural behavior. The second is calculated in real-time from the current states of both aircraft; thereby presenting a spatial boundary which is as large as possible and constantly (sometimes rapidly) changing in size and location. These two safe zones require different pilot actions, yet a simulation experiment utilizing airline pilots failed to detect any difference in pilot control strategy or monitoring behavior. This paper discusses the results of this experiment and the implications for paired approaches and self-separation tasks.
Identification and Characterization of a Novel Transcription Factor Participating in the Expression of Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 2α

We have recently cloned and characterized the promoter region of the gene encoding eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF-2α) to identify regulatory elements of this housekeeping gene. We compared the location of DNase I-hypersensitive (HS) sites with the distribution of protein-binding sites as revealed by footprint analysis. The eIF-2α promoter contains four upstream DNase I-HS sites extending from −650 to −40 base pairs and a fifth downstream site near the first intron-exon junction. In vitro DNase I footprint analysis shows eight distinct DNA-protein interactions organized into clusters that correspond well with the distribution of the five HS sites. None of the protected regions, however, shares obvious sequence homology with the binding sites of known regulatory factors. To initiate our analysis of factors required for eIF-2α expression, selected a CAP-proximal element shown by in vivo methylation protection analysis to bind a potential regulatory factor. A striking feature of this element is its palindrome sequences and eight-base pair direct repeats. We have purified to near homogeneity a 66-68-kDa protein that binds to this region and have designated it α-PAL. The α-PAL-binding site extends from −74 to −10. By methylation protection analysis and mobility shift assay, the α-PAL-binding site is shown to be two adjacent sites, one with high and one with lower affinity, which bind α-PAL in a noncooperative manner. When the high affinity binding site is cloned upstream of the adenovirus 2 core promoter, in vitro transcription is stimulated 2-3-fold. When linked to a CAT reporter gene, activity of the eIF-2α promoter shows an approximate 2-fold dependence on the α-PAL element.
Relationships between physiological and morphological properties of retinocollicular axons in the hamster

Intracellular recording and HRP injection were used to characterize retinocollicular axons in the hamster. Eighteen retinotectal axons were filled with HRP. The type of axon recovered most often (N = 10) had a receptive field with center-surround organization, gave sustained responses to flashed spots, had linear spatial summation, and responded only to more slowly moving stimuli. These fibers had a mean axonal diameter of 0.58 microns (SD = 0.21) and an average conduction latency of 3.4 msec (SD = 1.2) to optic chiasm (OX) stimulation. They gave rise to circular or vertically elongated arbors with an average cross- sectional area of 33,238 microns2 (SD = 12,763) and were almost completely restricted to the stratum griseum superficiale (SGS). We recovered 6 fibers with very different structural and functional properties. The receptive fields of these axons also had center- surround organization, but gave phasic responses to flashed stimuli, had nonlinear spatial summation, and responded to rapidly moving stimuli. These axons had an average diameter of 0.84 micron (SD = 0.09) and an average latency of 2.1 msec (SD = 0.40) to OX stimulation. They had elongated arbors with an average cross-sectional area of 78,045 microns2 (SD = 14,252) and innervated the SGS, the stratum opticum (SO), and upper stratum griseum intermediale (SGI). We also recovered 2 fibers that had thin (0.3 and 0.6 micron) axons and latencies of 4.2 and 3.6 msec to OX stimulation. They both gave rise to horizontally oriented arbors in the stratum zonale (SZ) and upper SGS.
The Effect of Incomes Policies on Inflation in Bulgaria and Poland

Transition countries, and many other countries with incomplete markets, have faced long periods with both high inflation and unemployment. Policies to reduce inflation without high unemployment include incomes policies, which were widely employed in transition countries. This paper studies the effects of incomes policies on inflation in Bulgaria and Poland in 1990-1993. The actual policies, which were complex and changing, are examined. The policies do not appear well-designed in a technical sense to reduce inflation.
The Rules of Engagement: Comparing Two Social Protest Movements on YouTube

Abstract Social media Web sites such as YouTube offer activists unique opportunities to reach out to new audiences through a variety of diverse appeals. Yet the rules of engagement on social media should depend on the structures, goals, and characteristics of the movements engaging in this outreach. To explore how differences in social movements translate into online activism, we employ a paired case study approach, comparing YouTube artifacts for two political mobilizations: the Occupy Movement and California's Proposition 8 ballot initiative concerning same sex marriage. Across movements, we examine the popularity of videos and their characteristics, and whether the type of video consistently predicts video engagement. We find that “social media activism” is not a unitary phenomenon; the two mobilizations produced unique YouTube ecologies. Occupy Wall Street videos tended on average to produce less engagement and focused on filmed live events and amateur content. Meanwhile, Proposition 8 videos usually ...
Pediatric multiple sclerosis

Pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) represents a particular MS subgroup with unique diagnostic challenges and many unanswered questions. Due to the narrow window of environmental exposures and clinical disease expression, children with MS may represent a particularly important group to study to gain a better understanding of MS pathogenesis. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is more common in children than in adults, often making the differential diagnosis of MS, particularly a clinically isolated syndrome, quite difficult. Although both disorders represent acute inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system and have overlapping symptoms, ADEM is typically (not always) self-limiting. The presence of encephalopathy is much more characteristic of ADEM and may help in distinguishing between the two. Young children (under ten years old) with MS differ the most from adults. They have a lower frequency of oligoclonal bands in their cerebrospinal fluid and are less likely to have discrete lesions on MRI. Problems of cognitive dysfunction and psychosocial adjustment have particularly serious implications in both children and teenagers with MS. Increased awareness of these difficulties and interventions are needed. While clinical research on therapies to alter the disease course is limited, the available data fortunately suggests that disease-modifying therapy is well tolerated and likely to be effective. Ultimately, multinational research studies are necessary to advance our knowledge of the causes, symptoms, and treatment of pediatric MS and such collaborations are currently underway.
Rectal obstruction by carcinoma of the prostate

Abstract Rectal obstruction by carcinoma of the prostate is not a rare disease. A high index of suspicion by the surgeon treating rectal disease will prevent its being mistaken for carcinoma of the rectum. Methods of differential diagnosis are described. The importance of obtaining tissue for biopsy is stressed.
The acquisition and utilization of information in problem solving and thinking

Some of the logical consequences of drawing a distinction between the following two aspects of problem-solving behavior are explored: (a) actions directed toward the acquisition of information to guide future actions toward valuable goals; (b) actions directed toward the utilization of accumulated information to attain a valuable goal. An experimental paradigm accomplishing this separation is described for the case of an environment of periodic sequences of binary events. A general way of describing behavioral strategies is developed in terms of: (a) a plan for when to acquire information, to guess an outcome, or to guess at the solution; and (b) a program for how to compute guesses from the information accumulated. The structure of the binary environmental sequences, the structure of these behavioral strategies, and the relations between them are analyzed, and certain strategies which maximize value are suggested. Computing machine interpretations of certain specific strategies for a restricted kind of experiment are displayed, and predictions from these are compared with experimental data from pilot studies performed with human subjects.
Hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy for colorectal metastases: A personal experience

A personal experience is reported with hepatic artery infusion (HAI) chemotherapy of 57 patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma confined to the liver. Fifty-seven percent of the 54 patients who received more than 2 weeks of infusion had objective regressions documented on hepatic scans. The response rate with fluorouracil and mitomycin C (75%) was higher than for fluorouracil alone (52.5%). The median survival of treated patients was 15 months with the longest survivor living 3 years 8 months, and responders had a median survival 3 months longer than nonresponders. Complications included one case of hemolytic uremic syndrome after HAI with mitomycin C. Survival after HAI was 9 months longer than that of comparable historical controls who received no treatment, but survival after HAI with fluorouracil alone was not superior to that of comparable patients treated with intravenous fluorouracil. HAI produces a high frequency of tumor regression, but superior survival has yet to be demonstrated.
Effects of Clinician-Assisted Emotional Disclosure for Sexual Assault Survivors: A Pilot Study

This study assessed the effects of clinician-assisted emotional disclosure (CAED), an integration of emotion focused therapy (Greenberg, Rice, & Elliott, 1993) and emotional disclosure, in ameliorating distress experienced by survivors of sexual assault. A total of 670 female university students were screened for both histories of sexual victimization and clinically significant levels of global psychological distress. Twenty-eight females entered the treatment phase of the study and were randomly assigned to participate in either treatment or no-treatment control conditions. Participants completed a battery of instruments at each evaluation to assess interpersonal, global, and traumatic stress symptoms. At termination and 1-month follow-up, there were no significant differences between CAED and control group on any of the outcome variables. However, there were several differences between the CAED treatment and control groups at 3 month posttreatment. Specifically, individuals in the CAED group reported significant reductions in interpersonal distress, namely, hostility and dependency and reductions in avoidance symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress disorder. These findings are useful for the development of emotion-focused therapies and, specifically, toward psychotherapy integration strategies that combine imaginal exposure with experiential techniques for emotional processing of previously avoided experience.
The Plight of Postdocs

The Report and Recommendations of the Committee on Postdoctoral Education was published by the Association of American Universities (AAU) on 31 March. It takes a hard look at how U.S. universities treat and train postdoctoral researchers in science and engineering, of whom it is estimated there are at least 35,000 nationwide. The report concludes that postdocs perform a significant portion of the nation's research and enhance the success of tenured faculty, yet often are a forgotten community for whom there are few appointment or training standards. In several universities, postdocs have organized to form associations as a voice for change. The School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has established an Office for Postdoctoral Programs (OPP) to oversee its appointments and training programs. The OPP currently serves 650 postdocs and ensures compliance with an institution-wide “Policy for Postdoctoral Fellows in the Physical, Biological and Health Sciences and Engineering” that was adopted in April 1996. This policy established the rights and obligations of postdoctoral researchers. The OPP has established a standardized appointment procedure that includes initial appointment letters that address the policy, stipend levels, and benefits. Such letters were recommended by the AAU report. We enforce a limit on the length of the postdoctoral appointment of 5 years so that individuals move to the next stage of their careers. We run orientation sessions for all incoming postdocs and hold roundtable discussions with them later to set new priorities. We have also established a web page ([www.med.upenn.edu/postdoc][1]) that includes funding information and a postdoctoral directory. Our hope is that the OPP is establishing policies and training for postdocs that may be emulated elsewhere. [1]: http://www.med.upenn.edu/postdoc
Membrane fluidity and phospholipid composition in relation to sulfur amino acid intake in brush border membranes of rat kidney.

ABSTRAn. The transport of ions and solutes across PS, phosphatidylserine biological membranes may relate to changes in the lipid PE, phosphatidylethanolamine microenvironment of the membrane which could alter the PG, phosphatidylglycerol activity or configuration of transport sites. Changes in the ANOVA, analysis of variance sulfur amino acid content of diets fed to young rats results in an increase in Na+-taurine symport in brush border membranes isolated from animals fed a low sulfur amino acid diet and a reduction in symport after a high taurine diet in comparison to uptake by membranes from normally fed animals ("the renal adaptive response"). We explored the possibility that diet-induced changes in brush border membrane symport relate to altered membrane fluidity and phospholipid composition in response to diet. An Arrhenius plot of initial rate (15 s) taurine uptake in breakpoint at 22" C, but no change in relation to dietary alteration. Fluorescence polarization data employing the probe 1-6diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene best fits a two-phase linear model employing a computer model fitting program. Dietary manipulations did not change the breakpoint upper segment slope or lower segment slope after incubating fresh membranes with DPH over the temperature range 4-56" C. No change was evident in membrane phospholipid composition in relation to diet. This study indicates that the changes in initial rate Na+-taurine symport in relation to diet are less likely to be due to changes in the configuration of the transporter from an alteration of the lipid microenvironment of the membrane. (Pediatr Res 20: 1305-1309, 1986)
The partnership with affiliates: Our stories

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) began as a grass roots federation of affiliates. In the 1950s, there were five original affiliates: Illinois, Michigan New York/New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Twenty-two affiliates developed in the 1960s and 12 more in the 1970s; the 1980s and 1990s brought changing affiliate configurations. After 50 years of progress, there are 52 affiliates in the NKF. As the national organization has grown, evolved, and prospered, each affiliate has also grown in unique and individual directions. Each affiliate has its own important history; unfortunately, space limitations preclude recounting all of them. Instead, we offer a limited collection of diverse anecdotes, stories, and vignettes from our affiliates. We hope that these reflect the richness and diversity of the ongoing histories of the affiliates of the NKF.
Asymptotic behavior of trajectory functions and size of classical orbits

The strong-coupling limits of several ladder-graph models are explored. A correlation is found between the power of the coupling constant appearing in the leading Regge trajectory $\ensuremath{\alpha}(t=0)$ and the size of classical orbits described by the coordinate-space Bethe-Salpeter wave function. Specifically: (i) For the ${\ensuremath{\varphi}}^{3}$ theory with exchanged mass $m\ensuremath{\ne}0$, the orbit radius ${r}_{0}$ approaches a fixed value and $\ensuremath{\alpha}(t=0)\ensuremath{\sim}{g}^{\frac{1}{2}}$. (ii) For ${\ensuremath{\varphi}}^{3}$ with $m=0$, ${r}_{0}$ grows linearly with $g$ and $\ensuremath{\alpha}(t=0)\ensuremath{\sim}g$. (iii) For ${\ensuremath{\varphi}}^{4}$, ${r}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ and the leading singularity is a fixed cut in $t$. Expansions about classical orbits are possible in the first two cases, and lead in lowest order to a harmonic-oscillator equation from which corrections to the classical result may be derived.
Collaborative monitoring and analysis for simulation scientists

Collaboratively monitoring and analyzing large scale simulations from petascale computers is an important area of research and development within the scientific community. This paper addresses these issues when teams of colleagues from different research areas work together to help understand the complex data generated from these simulations. In particular, we address the issues when geographically diverse teams of disparate researchers work together to understand the complex science being simulated on high performance computers. Most application scientists want to focus on the sciences and spend a minimum amount of time learning new tools or adopting new techniques to monitor and analyze their simulation data. The challenge of eSimMon, our web-based system is to decrease or eliminate some of the hurdles on the scientists' path to scientific discovery, and allow these collaborations to flourish.