cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Legitimacy and Ethics

The word ‘legitimacy’ has been given a number of meanings by various political scientists. I don’t want to quarrel about definitions, and so I shall rather arbitrarily assign a very simple meaning to the term. It sometimes happens that there is popular or official support for a government, whether dictatorial, royal, or democratic, at a time when it does not seem to have a great deal of power other than that support. In other words, it is supported at a time when it does not seem to have much capacity, either to reward its supporters or penalize its opponents. We will call such a government ‘legitimate’. But the word will extend further. A governement which does have power to reward and penalize will also be called ‘legitimate‘ if the public attitude toward it is such that if it lost that power, it would still have support. Obviously the second meaning is of greater empirical importance than the first. Further, this kind of ‘legitimacy’ would be helpful to any government. How often it occurs in history is a matter to which we will turn below. Certainly there are at least some instances.
A phase II and co-clinical study of an AKT inhibitor in patients (pts) with biomarker-enriched, previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

3563Background: The PI3K / AKT pathway has several roles in CRC growth and progression through downstream targets including the MAPK pathway. Based on strong preclinical mCRC and non-mCRC clinical ...
Dichotomous scoring of TDP-43 proteinopathy from specific brain regions in 27 academic research centers: associations with Alzheimer’s disease and cerebrovascular disease pathologies

TAR-DNA binding protein 43 (TDP-43) proteinopathy is a common brain pathology in elderly persons, but much remains to be learned about this high-morbidity condition. Published stage-based systems for operationalizing disease severity rely on the involvement (presence/absence) of pathology in specific anatomic regions. To examine the comorbidities associated with TDP-43 pathology in aged individuals, we studied data from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) Neuropathology Data Set. Data were analyzed from 929 included subjects with available TDP-43 pathology information, sourced from 27 different American Alzheimer’s Disease Centers (ADCs). Cases with relatively unusual diseases including autopsy-proven frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-TDP or FTLD-tau) were excluded from the study. Our data provide new information about pathologic features that are and are not associated with TDP-43 pathologies in different brain areas—spinal cord, amygdala, hippocampus, entorhinal cortex/inferior temporal cortex, and frontal neocortex. Different research centers used cite-specific methods including different TDP-43 antibodies. TDP-43 pathology in at least one brain region was common (31.4%) but the pathology was rarely observed in spinal cord (1.8%) and also unusual in frontal cortex (5.3%). As expected, TDP-43 pathology was positively associated with comorbid hippocampal sclerosis pathology and with severe AD pathology. TDP-43 pathology was also associated with comorbid moderate-to-severe brain arteriolosclerosis. The association between TDP-43 pathology and brain arteriolosclerosis appears relatively specific since there was no detected association between TDP-43 pathology and microinfarcts, lacunar infarcts, large infarcts, cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), or circle of Willis atherosclerosis. Together, these observations provide support for the hypothesis that many aged brains are affected by a TDP-43 proteinopathy that is more likely to be seen in brains with AD pathology, arteriolosclerosis pathology, or both.
Health risk of childhood exposure to PCDD/Fs emitted from a municipal waste incinerator in Zhejiang, China

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the body burdens of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and their associated health impacts toward school-age children living near a municipal waste incinerator (MWI). A total of 82 children from the exposure area and 49 from the control area were recruited. We measured blood PCDD/F levels, conducted comet assays, calculated the percentage of 5-methylcytosine (%5-mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (%5-hmC), performed flow cytometry, measured hormonal levels, and analyzed hematological parameters. We also examined 17 congeners of PCDD/Fs in environmental samples, namely, eggs, rice, water, soil, and PM2.5. The mean blood levels of ΣPCDD/Fs and TEQ-ΣPCDD/Fs were statistically higher in the exposure group than in the control group (3.40 vs. 2.77 pg/g wet weight and 0.40 vs. 0.28 pg WHO-TEQ/g wet weight, respectively; p 0.05). Furthermore, the mean ΣPCDD/F levels in eggs and soil obtained from the exposure area were statistically higher than those of the samples obtained from the control area (31.08 vs. 4.32 pg/g dry weight and 1026.04 vs. 674.97 pg/g dry weight, respectively). In conclusion, children living near the MWI may suffer genetic and epigenetic modifications, such as DNA damage or global DNA hypomethylation due to the MWI-emitted PCDD/Fs and other contaminants.
Mechanisms of nuclear mRNA export: A structural perspective.

Export of mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm is a critical process for all eukaryotic gene expression. As mRNA is synthesized, it is packaged with a myriad of RNA-binding proteins to form ribonucleoprotein particles (mRNPs). For each step in the processes of maturation and export, mRNPs must have the correct complement of proteins. Much of the mRNA export pathway revolves around the heterodimeric export receptor yeast Mex67•Mtr2/ human NXF1•NXT1, which is recruited to signal the completion of nuclear mRNP assembly, mediates mRNP targeting/translocation through the nuclear pore complex (NPC), and is displaced at the cytoplasmic side of the NPC to release the mRNP into the cytoplasm. Directionality of the transport is governed by at least two DEAD-box ATPases, yeast Sub2/human UAP56 in the nucleus and yeast Dbp5/human DDX19 at the cytoplasmic side of the NPC, which respectively mediate the association and dissociation of Mex67•Mtr2/NXF1•NXT1 onto the mRNP. Here we review recent progress from structural studies of key constituents in different steps of nuclear mRNA export. These findings have laid the foundation for further studies to obtain a comprehensive mechanistic view of the mRNA export pathway.
Animal Signs: Theriomorphic Intercession Between Heaven and Imperial Mongolian History

Momentous events in Mongolian history were frequently augured by zoomorphic signs such as the barking of dogs, the bellowing of an ox, the alighting of a bird of prey, and so on. Scholars have tended to treat the animals that made these signs as tokens of Turko-Mongolian animism (and/or totemism), an aspect of an indigenous, tribal shamanism. This animism, they hold, bears an antiquity so great as to appear timeless. While the dictates of evolving civilization have moved other Eurasian peoples away from it, apart from the Mongols and other like peoples in Siberian Northern Asia, animism remains, scholars maintain, among tribal peoples on other continents, and it is with such tribes that Mongolian examples ought to be compared. Integral to such a view is the assumption that zoomorphic signs reflect an ontology comprised wholly of belief, devoid of fact, science, or history. This chapter presents an epistemology by which these animal signs are to be understood in wholly scientific terms entirely devoid of belief. This science is the science of orientation in space and time, manifested as a symmetry between heaven and earth and expressed as an allegory essential for the promulgation government. This chapter demonstrates that, as expressions of Mongolian science, zoomorphic signs do not exist in a vacuum but rather manifest a syncretism derived from prevailing orders upon which the Mongols built their own and thus possess a clear history.
Relevance of Oocyte Morphology on ICSI Outcomes

The observation of the oocyte has always been at the base of the embryological evaluation since the inception of in vitro insemination procedures [1]. However, the identification of oocyte characteristics and/or ooplasm dysmorphism under an inverted microscope (Fig. 16.1) have mostly been carried out after the exposure of the oocyte-cumulus complex to the inseminating spermatozoa. Therefore, the evaluation of oocyte complexion was carried out mostly on oocytes that had failed to undergo fertilization. This led to the work of some investigators who attempted to describe these anomalies and concluded that dysmorphic oocytes were not capable of undergoing fertilization and if ever they would, they would not be able to develop into viable embryos [2].
Chapter 2 – Gene Targeting

Publisher Summary This chapter summarizes the historic background and the current state of gene targeting technology with specific regard to neuroscience research. Random mutagenesis is a very powerful method for elucidating gene function in simpler model organisms. Given the size of the genome and slow reproductive cycles, however, a more direct approach is required for mammalian models. The capacity of most mammalian somatic cells to carry out homologous recombination between endogenous loci and exogenous DNA. Pluripotent embryonic stem cell lines have been established that maintain the ability to intermingle with the early mouse embryo and contribute to the germline, thereby conferring heritability, even after extensive culturing in vitro. The process of homologous recombination had been known to exist in yeast and during the prophase I of meiotic cell division during gametogenesis. In somatic cells, however, this faculty was generally believed to be absent, until the appearance of curious results of gene conversion in human fetal globin genes and head-to-tail concatemerizations of microinjected plasmid DNA copies in the process of genomic integration strongly suggested that this mechanism operates in any cell. Subsequently, unequivocal evidence was furnished opening the door for specific gene modifications in somatic mammalian cells.
Heart of Darkness: Saba’s Operatic Eroticism

This chapter looks at the eroticism in Saba’s poetry in relation to his interest in opera and other musical forms. The focus is the second book of the Canzoniere, comprising poems written between 1922 and 1931. This book is dense with quotations from opera librettos, as well as images, motifs, and dramatic situations borrowed from the operatic repertoire. For Saba, the power of these operatic references lay in their ability to convey the conflicting elements of his soul—most notably, his sexuality. These references manifested his inner conflicts by allowing the poet to stage mini-dramas within his works, using familiar refrains (from popular operas) for his own recurring themes, in particular the “mending” of his broken heart, a metonym of his neuroses and conflicted identity.
Large-Scale Cellular Coverage Analyses for UAV Data Relay via Channel Modeling

With the rapid popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, also known as drones), UAV data relay has demonstrated potential extending wireless communication coverage, especially for rural areas. The flexibility of this approach has attracted research attention from a variety of areas, including Internet of Things, intelligent transportation systems, and digital agriculture. However, most current research effort focuses on modeling and theoretically optimizing data relay systems via UAV trajectories in simplified geographic environments, while taking advantage of UAVs for practical wireless communication networks requires large-scale quantitative performance analysis results based on real-life environment information. In this paper, we propose algorithms for generating large-scale blockage and path loss maps via terrain-based channel modeling for cellular communication systems with fixed-height relay drones. Our analyses reveal the coverage ratios for Tippecanoe County and the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network region in Indiana, with relay drones simulated at different heights. A coverage ratio gain over 40% can be achieved at a drone height of 100 m, compared to a typical pedestrian height of 1.5 m. These site-specific analyses are important in locating poorly covered spots and quantifying the coverage improvement from UAV data relay.
A 2-week-old Infant Presenting with Seizures.

A 2-week-old male infant was referred to the emergency department (ED) by his pediatrician because of abnormal movements. ### Prenatal and Birth Histories ### Presentation The infant began having abnormal movements at 14 days of age that were described by his parents as episodes of rightward deviation of the head and eyes, as well as right arm and leg jerking that lasted for 20 seconds and occurred every few hours. Between events, the infant acted appropriately and was feeding well, with good urine output. Overnight, the parents thought that he was fussy and had …
The evolving metabolic landscape of chromatin biology and epigenetics.

Molecular inputs to chromatin via cellular metabolism are modifiers of the epigenome. These inputs — which include both nutrient availability as a result of diet and growth factor signalling — are implicated in linking the environment to the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and cell identity. Recent studies have demonstrated that these inputs are much broader than had previously been known, encompassing metabolism from a wide variety of sources, including alcohol and microbiotal metabolism. These factors modify DNA and histones and exert specific effects on cell biology, systemic physiology and pathology. In this Review, we discuss the nature of these molecular networks, highlight their role in mediating cellular responses and explore their modifiability through dietary and pharmacological interventions. Various cellular metabolites provide the chemical moieties for DNA and histone modifications, resulting in a complex interplay between metabolism and epigenetics. In this Review, Dai, Ramesh and Locasale discuss the metabolic regulation of diverse types of chromatin modifications and the functional consequences of these modifications at the molecular, cellular and organismal levels, as well as influences from diet and microbiota.
The Impact of Housing First in a Small Town: Emergency Service Use and the Changing Community Attitude

This study examines a newly established Housing First program in a small city in Alaska. Statistically significant decreases in tenants’ use of services such as ambulance transports, hospital emergency room visits, nights spent in the sobering center, and contacts with the police department are noted in the first six months of permanent housing. Additionally, pre/post-self-report data on tenants’ sense of well-being show statistically significant improvements in their sense of safety, physical health, and self-esteem. Interestingly, self-report data also showed tenants had an increase in their feelings of isolation after housing stabilization. In addition to describing the outcome data of residents, this study also highlights the community tension concerning homelessness that was present at the onset of this project and the role this rapid evaluation, shared and understood widely, had on the community perspectives. Ultimately, the data helped to move community leadership from passing a “camping ban” just ten months before the opening of housing first to unanimously supporting a financial investment to expand housing first services in the coming years.
Solubility of CO2 in Sodium Silicate Melts

In this study, CO2 is equilibrated with molten sodium metasilicate (Na2SiO3). Dissolved CO2 is analyzed with postexposure carbon analyses and evolved gas analysis (EGA). We interpret these data tog...
Resonance Production in STAR

The recent results from resonance production in central Au+Au and p+p collisions at \(\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200\) GeV from the STAR experiment at RHIC are presented and discussed.
Books: Rapport. The Four Ways to Read People: T-Rex, Lion, Mouse, or Monkey - Which One are You?

Emily Alison, Laurence Alison Vermilion, 2020, PB, 368pp, £14.99, 978-1785042065 Emily and Laurence Alison are clinical psychologists with extensive experience in interviewing criminal suspects, including suspected terrorists and murderers. This new book distils their approach at gaining rapid rapport and information gathering in difficult situations or under time pressure, and has many valuable lessons for primary care clinicians. It offers insights into why poor rapport may cause consultations to fail, and why we may be unable to help patients make changes in their lives that would improve their …
Physiologic versus malignant uncinate process uptake on 68Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/MRI

565 Introduction: Radiotracer uptake in the uncinate process is a frequent normal finding at somatostatin receptor PET imaging. In patients with neuroendocrine tumors, however, this physiologic activity can occasionally be difficult to distinguish from pancreatic masses, proximal small bowel tumors, or nodal metastases, and requires careful evaluation of CT or MR images to confirm the absence of an associated structural abnormality. PET and MRI data can be obtained concurrently with PET/MRI, which allows for optimal co-localization of abnormalities detected on either or both modalities. Materials and Methods: We evaluated for the presence or absence of uncinate process uptake on 68Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/MRIs in 86 patients with known or suspected primary neuroendocrine tumors and characterized the uptake as either focal or diffuse. In cases where uncinate process uptake was present, T1 pre-contrast, T2, diffusion-weighted, and post-contrast MR images were reviewed to assess for underlying structural lesions as a cause for the uptake, and SUVmax was obtained from the PET images. Results: Uncinate process activity was present in 39 of 86 cases (45%) and absent in the remaining 47 cases. In the 39 patients with uncinate process uptake, 28 had diffuse uptake and 11 had focal uptake. All cases (28) of diffuse uncinate uptake were without restricted diffusion or other MR abnormality and deemed physiologic. Nine out of 11 cases (82%) with focal uptake demonstrated an associated pathologic lesion with restricted diffusion or other MR abnormality, while the remaining 2 were physiologic. Radiotracer uptake in cases with physiologic uncinate activity had lower SUVmax (10.5+/-7.2) when compared to cases of malignant disease (SUVmax 63.2+/-52.0)(p < 0.001). Conclusions: Physiologic uncinate process uptake is commonly found in patients undergoing somatostatin receptor PET imaging. More than one-third of our patients had physiologic uncinate activity at 68Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/MRI. Although there is some overlap, SUVmax values appear to be valuable in determining whether uptake in the uncinate process is physiologic, and features such as a diffuse pattern of uptake and absence of a DWI abnormality can improve interpretive confidence.
An FPGA Based 24 GHz Radar Testbed for Physical-layer Cyberattack Research

In this paper, we present a low cost Ka-band radar testbed using commercial off-the-shelf components. The motivation for this design comes from the popular S-band radar known as the MIT radar or coffee-can radar. To be able to do experimental research and real-time tests with a radar, we need two critical subsystems (1) A microwave circuit with I/Q outputs, and (2) A baseband processing system with high-speed ADC/DACs. Our main objective for building this testbed is to use it for physical-layer cyberattack research, attack resilience testing, OFDM radar and joint radar-communication tests. The proposed microwave circuit is built using commercial off-the-shelf microwave parts, and the baseband system is another commericial off-the-shelf FPGA board with Zynq SoC and 100 mega-sample per second dual ADC and dual DAC. There are three possible workflows for this testbed (1) All DSP processing is done on the FPGA fabric, (2) A baremetal system is running on the ARM side, and part of the DSP is done on the ARM, and the rest is done on the FPGA fabric, (3) An embedded linux system is running on the ARM for better connectivity and multitasking capability, and DSP workload is shared between the FPGA fabric and the ARM cores. In a future version of this paper, more detailed examples with FPGA design and ARM source codes will be presented.
The impacts of shared e-scooters on bus ridership

Abstract Shared electric scooters (shared e-scooters) are rapidly growing in popularity across the United States. In 2019, more than 88 million shared e-scooter trips occurred nationwide. However, the impact of this growing mode on transit ridership is still largely unknown and limited to the findings of user surveys. The overarching goal of this study is to conduct an empirical analysis to quantify the impact of shared e-scooters on bus ridership using Louisville, Kentucky, as a case study conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. To assess if shared e-scooters decrease or increase bus ridership, this study evaluated more than half a million shared e-scooters trips, and estimated several daily, weekly, and monthly fixed effects regression models of route level bus ridership. The results of the preferred fixed effect regression models indicate that shared e-scooters do not have a significant impact on local bus ridership. However, the model results suggest that shared e-scooters could potentially complement express bus routes as they serve the first/last mile of a trip, but further research on express routes is recommended. Most critically, the results of this study indicate that shared e-scooters are not one of the primary causes of bus ridership decline in Louisville. This finding is important for cities across the United States as they explore the causes of the recent declines in bus ridership.
Standing in the Shadows of the New Fourth Amendment Traditionalism

In the past decade, the Supreme Court has revived an originalist, property-based approach to evaluating Fourth Amendment problems. The Court has used this approach to broaden its understanding of the sorts of governmental conduct that qualify as Fourth Amendment searches. So far, however, neither the Court nor scholars have offered a comprehensive assessment of the implications of this new Fourth Amendment traditionalism for what is known as Fourth Amendment standing, a doctrine reflecting the Court’s longstanding determination that only one whose own Fourth Amendment interests are implicated by government conduct is entitled to raise a Fourth Amendment challenge to such conduct. This Article, which provides the first sustained treatment of the issue, concludes that the logical consequence of the new traditionalism will be a significant expansion of the class of people entitled to make Fourth Amendment claims, including in cases involving the kinds of quotidian, physical searches and seizures that have long been the focus of complaints about law enforcement abuse of vulnerable communities.
Cataract surgery and intraocular lens placement in patients with Fuchs corneal dystrophy: a review of the current literature.

Purpose of review Late-onset Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is seen in approximately 4% of individuals over the age of 40. With the growing population of adults over the age of 65, ophthalmologists need to be aware of the preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative considerations involved in cataract surgery in Fuchs patients. Recent findings Management of cataract patients with FECD requires preoperative assessment of endothelial cell size, density, and morphology. Considerations for perioperative endothelial cell loss include patients with hyperopia and shallow anterior chambers, phacoemulsification technique, transfer of ultrasonic energy to the cornea, corneal-protective perioperative agents, as well as thermal and mechanical damage. Summary Ophthalmologists performing cataract surgery on patients with FECD must carefully consider the risks of endothelial cell loss during surgery and minimize the risk of corneal decompensation after surgery. Preoperative management should evaluate the severity of the FECD as well as individual factors such as cataract density, the health and thickness of the cornea, and the anterior chamber depth. Perioperative techniques, adjustments to biometry calculations, and intraocular lens (IOL) selection may help optimize visual outcomes and recovery time.
Modern Food, Moral Food: Self-Control, Science, and the Rise of Modern American Eating in the Early Twentieth Century

American eating changed dramatically in the early twentieth century. As food production became more industrialized, nutritionists, home economists, and so-called racial scientists were all pointing Americans toward a newly scientific approach to diet. Food faddists were rewriting the most basic rules surrounding eating, while reformers were working to reshape the diets of immigrants and the poor. And by the time of World War I, the country's first international aid program was bringing moral advice about food conservation into kitchens around the country. In "Modern Food, Moral Food," Helen Zoe Veit argues that the twentieth-century food revolution was fueled by a powerful conviction that Americans had a moral obligation to use self-discipline and reason, rather than taste and tradition, in choosing what to eat.Veit weaves together cultural history and the history of science to bring readers into the strange and complex world of the American Progressive Era. The era's emphasis on science and self-control left a profound mark on American eating, one that remains today in everything from the ubiquity of science-based dietary advice to the tenacious idealization of thinness.
Heterotypic Signals from Neural HSF-1 Separate Thermotolerance from Longevity

Integrating stress responses across tissues is essential for the survival of multicellular organisms. The metazoan nervous system can sense protein-misfolding stress arising in different subcellular compartments and initiate cytoprotective transcriptional responses in the periphery. Several subcellular compartments possess a homotypic signal whereby the respective compartment relies on a single signaling mechanism to convey information within the affected cell to the same stress-responsive pathway in peripheral tissues. In contrast, we find that the heat shock transcription factor, HSF-1, specifies its mode of transcellular protection via two distinct signaling pathways. Upon thermal stress, neural HSF-1 primes peripheral tissues through the thermosensory neural circuit to mount a heat shock response. Independent of this thermosensory circuit, neural HSF-1 activates the FOXO transcription factor, DAF-16, in the periphery and prolongs lifespan. Thus a single transcription factor can coordinate different stress response pathways to specify its mode of protection against changing environmental conditions.
Range of hematology and biochemistry values in open-water, captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Roatan, Honduras (1100.15)

There is virtually little published information regarding open-water, captive bottlenose dolphins. Few places around the world combine these environments, allowing bottlenose dolphins to experience being captive and in the open water. The Roatan Institute for Marine Science (RIMS) in Roatan, Honduras has been open since 1989 and houses around seventeen bottlenose dolphins, with ages ranging from newborn to thirty years old. Although hematology and biochemistry values are found for either open-water dolphin or captive dolphins, there are not any values published regarding bottlenose dolphins in an open-water, captive environment. This study was conducted to determine the range of hematological and biochemistry values in open-water, captive dolphins. Hematological data has been collected from 2003 until 2013 from dolphins ranging in age and lineage. The ages of the dolphins being studied were between six and twelve years old. Samples of blood were drawn from the periarterial venous rete in the fluke. The go...
Repetitively dosed docetaxel and 153samarium‐EDTMP as an antitumor strategy for metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer

BACKGROUND β-emitting bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals have historically been administered for pain palliation whereas docetaxel prolongs life in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). In combination, these agents simultaneously target the bone stroma and cancer cell to optimize antitumor effects. The toxicity and efficacy when each agent is combined at full, recommended doses, in a repetitive fashion is not well established. METHODS Patients with progressive mCRPC and ≥3 bone lesions received 153Sm-EDTMP (samarium-153 ethylene diamine tetramethylene phosphonate) at a dose of 1.0 mCi/kg every 9 weeks and docetaxel at a dose of 75 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. In the absence of unacceptable toxicity, patients were allowed to continue additional cycles, defined by 9 weeks of treatment, until intolerance or biochemical/radiographic disease progression. RESULTS Of the 30 patients treated, approximately 50% were considered to be taxane-naive, 36.7% were taxane-refractory, and 13.3% had previously been exposed to taxanes but were not considered refractory. Patients received on average 2.5 cycles of treatment (6.5 doses of docetaxel and 2.5 doses of 153Sm-EDTMP). Twelve patients (40%) demonstrated a decline in their prostate-specific antigen level of ≥50%. The median progression-free survival (biochemical or radiographic) was 7.0 months and the overall survival was 14.3 months. Nine patients (30%) did not recover platelet counts >100 K/mm3 after a median of 3 cycles to allow for additional treatment, with 4 patients experiencing prolonged thrombocytopenia. The most common reasons for trial discontinuation were progressive disease and hematologic toxicity. CONCLUSIONS The results of the current study indicate that 153Sm-EDTMP can be safely combined with docetaxel at full doses on an ongoing basis in patients with mCRPC. Although thrombocytopenia limited therapy for some patients, preliminary efficacy supports the strategy of combining a radiopharmaceutical with chemotherapy, which is an appealing strategy given the anticipated availability of α emitters that can prolong survival. Cancer 2013;119:3186–3194. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Rural-Urban Alliances and Reciprocity in Africa

Recent years have witnessed a surge of scholarly interest in the rural sectors of emerging nations. For the social scientist, this means a new awareness of agrarian people, comprising some 70 to 90 percent of most Third World populations. For the country folk, this may produce merely a higher incidence of well-meaning snoopers asking new-fangled questions, or it may prove profitable in the long run. Whatever, a new dimension has been added to the quest for an adequate understanding of the processes of national development and integration.
Quality Assessment of MPEG‐4 Compressed Videos

The recent MPEG‐4 Part 10/H.264 AVC standard enables improved compression rates without compromising on visual quality. ‘Visual quality’ here refers to the quality of a video as perceived by a human observer. It is this aspect of visual quality that we focus upon in this chapter. It is widely agreed that the most commonly used mean squared error (MSE) correlates poorly with the human perception of quality. MSE is a full reference (FR) video quality assessment algorithm (VQA). FR VQA algorithms are those that require both the original as well as the distorted videos in order to predict the perceived quality of the video. Recently proposed FR VQA algorithms have been shown to correlate well with human perception of quality. However, a practically implementable solution remains evasive. In this chapter, we detail one possible approach to real‐time quality assessment, developed specifically for MPEG‐4 compressed videos. This algorithm leverages the computational simplicity of the structural similarity index (SSIM) for image quality assessment (IQA), and incorporates motion information embedded in the compressed motion vectors from the H.264 compressed stream to evaluate visual quality. We detail the algorithm and demonstrate its performance on the popular Video Quality Experts Group (VQEG) FRTV Phase – I dataset. Further, we describe a subjective study that we have undertaken specifically for H.264 compressed videos. We compare the performance of leading VQA algorithms on this database and make the database available free‐of‐cost for researchers in order to further the field of VQA for MPEG‐4 compressed videos.
Game Design Through Mentoring and Collaboration

The findings from an after-school program entitled Game Design through Mentoring and Collaboration (GDMC) funded by the National Science Foundation’s Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program. A total of 139 middle and high schools students in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to learn the basics of professional level 3-D modeling and animation software and logic of game design and programming. The features of this program create a community of students interested in, and skilled with, technology, to foster this interest around the task of designing computer games (and the associated skills of programming, 3D modeling involved), and to help foster awareness of higher education and career pathways related to their interest in technology. The findings show that this is a highly attractive program for our target population of students who are traditionally underserved and underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.
Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second and Cognitive Aging in Men

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1, a measure of overall lung function), long-term average FEV1, and rate of decline in FEV1 in relation to cognition and cognitive decline in older men. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Community-based population. PARTICIPANTS: Eight hundred sixty-four older men from the Normative Aging Study. MEASUREMENTS: Starting in 1984, participants underwent triennial clinical evaluations. Lung function assessments provided estimates of FEV1. Cognitive assessments entailing tests of several cognitive abilities began in 1993. FEV1 measured approximately 12 years before baseline cognitive testing, average FEV1 over the 12-year period, and rate of change in FEV1 were all evaluated in relation to baseline and change in performance on the cognitive tests. RESULTS: In multivariable-adjusted analyses, associations between FEV1 and baseline cognitive scores were mixed, although average FEV1 predicted significantly better performance on tests of visuospatial ability (P=.04) and general cognition (P=.03). Higher FEV1 was more consistently associated with slower cognitive decline, but only the association between historical FEV1 and attention was significant (difference per standard deviation in FEV1=0.056, P=.05). Rate of FEV1 decline was not consistently associated with cognitive function or decline. Findings were generally similar or stronger in men who had never smoked. To account for potential bias due to selective attrition, inverse probability of censoring weights were applied to the cognitive decline analyses, yielding slightly larger estimates; the inadequate prognostic power of the censoring models limited this approach. CONCLUSION: Overall, the data provide limited evidence of an inverse association between FEV1 and cognitive aging.
Gastritis, nitrosamines and gastric cancer

Superficial gastritis accompanies peptic ulcer, gastroenterostomy, pernicious anemia, and exposure to nitrosamines. Once established, the process may be self perpetuating, resulting in atrophy, metaplasia, dysplasia and neoplasia. This can be explained, by the process of endogenous nitrosation of amines in the inflamed gastric mucosa. Evidence is presented that supports this hypothesis. Several drugs given parenterally have been identified as mutagenic nitroso compounds in homogenates of human and canine antral mucosa. Nitrite for this process is apparently derived from the inflamed mucosa. Different amines appear to be nitrosated at different places in the antrum suggesting the presence of sitespecific enzymes that control this reactions.
Briefe 1903–1905

There are approximately a dozen biographies of Max Weber, including the recent volumes by Jurgen Kaube and Dirk Kaesler. What we now have is a more complete and a more objective picture of Weber's ...
A neural network architecture for path planning

The potential field approach to path planning is computationally intensive but highly parallel. The authors propose a general neural network architecture called the wave expansion neural network (WENN), specifically designed to implement such potential field operations useful for path planning. The authors describe WENN-based neural network systems which implement certain types of artificial potential fields for path planning. The neural network takes the workspace which needs to be navigated as input and generates artificial potential fields which are then subsequently used to find a path. Neural network implementation results in greatly reduced computations. >
Effects of biomass burning on climate, accounting for heat and moisture fluxes, black and brown carbon, and cloud absorption effects

This paper examines the effects on climate and air pollution of open biomass burning (BB) when heat and moisture fluxes, gases and aerosols (including black and brown carbon, tar balls, and reflective particles), cloud absorption effects (CAEs) I and II, and aerosol semidirect and indirect effects on clouds are treated. It also examines the climate impacts of most anthropogenic heat and moisture fluxes (AHFs and AMFs). Transient 20 year simulations indicate BB may cause a net global warming of ~0.4 K because CAE I (~32% of BB warming), CAE II, semidirect effects, AHFs (~7%), AMFs, and aerosol absorption outweigh direct aerosol cooling and indirect effects, contrary to previous BB studies that did not treat CAEs, AHFs, AMFs, or brown carbon. Some BB warming can be understood in terms of the anticorrelation between instantaneous direct radiative forcing (DRF) changes and surface temperature changes in clouds containing absorbing aerosols. BB may cause ~250,000 (73,000–435,000) premature mortalities/yr, with >90% from particles. AHFs from all sources and AMFs + AHFs from power plants and electricity use each may cause a statistically significant +0.03 K global warming. Solar plus thermal-IR DRFs were +0.033 (+0.027) W/m2 for all AHFs globally without (with) evaporating cooling water, +0.009 W/m2 for AMFs globally, +0.52 W/m2 (94.3% solar) for all-source BC outside of clouds plus interstitially between cloud drops at the cloud relative humidity, and +0.06 W/m2 (99.7% solar) for BC inclusions in cloud hydrometeor particles. Modeled post-1850 biomass, biofuel, and fossil fuel burning, AHFs, AMFs, and urban surfaces accounted for most observed global warming.
VR4VR: vocational rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities in immersive virtual reality environments

This paper presents a virtual reality for vocational rehabilitation system (VR4VR) that is currently in development at the University of South Florida's Center for Assistive, Rehabilitation, and Robotics Technologies (CARRT). VR4VR utilizes virtual reality to assess and train individuals with severe cognitive and physical disabilities. Using virtual reality offers several advantages such as being inexpensive, safer and easily adjustable to different user needs through customization of environments, content and real time interventions. The system is composed of the following components: a virtual reality training area surrounded by an optical motion tracking system, a curved screen with two projectors, a server computer, a remote control interface on a tablet computer for job coaches, and a virtual assistive robot. This paper focuses on virtual reality training for underserved individuals with cognitive disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). We describe six transferrable skill modules and corresponding design considerations. Future work focuses on people with severe mobility impairment, such as spinal cord injury (SCI).
The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education edited by BURNS, ANNE, & JACK C. RICHARDS

The article reviews the book "The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education," edited by Anne Burns and Jack C. Richards.
Residual gas and ion-beam analysis of ion-irradiated polymers☆

Abstract In order to understand the ion-polymer interactions which lead to improved polymer-surface properties of ion-irradiated polymers, we have measured both the gases evolved from the polymers Teflon and Kapton during irradiation and the change in the composition of Kapton after irradiation. Ion beams of helium, nitrogen and silicon in the energy range 0.2 to 2.0 MeV were used to irradiate the targets. The primary residual gases observed were CF and CF3 from Teflon and H2, CO, and CO2 from Kapton. Teflon appeared to decompose by fragmentation of its molecular chain. Ion beam analysis of the ion-irradiated Kapton was carried out by Rutherford backscattering (RBS), by elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA), and by nuclear reaction analysis (NRA). The results from these analyses show that the heavy-ion irradiation creates a complex depth dependence in the composition of the target. Radiolysis and radiation induced chemical reactions during the ion irradiation are discussed.
Stochastic response of flexible rotor-bearing system to seismic excitations

Abstract Random vibration analysis of flexible rotor-bearing systems subjected to six-component nonstationary earthquake ground accelerations is carried out. The rotor system consists of several rigid disks and a flexible shaft that is modelled as a Timoshenko beam. The governing equations of motion involve both inhomogeneous random excitations and random parametric excitations. Analytically, the Markov vector approach using the Ito equation and Stratonovich averaging procedures is employed to determine the response statistics. Unfortunately, the second moments of the response quantities thus obtained involve a great discrepancy when compared with the results of Monte Carlo simulation. The difficulty involved in analytically solving such a complicated problem is pointed out. Currently, the method of Monte Carlo simulation appears to be the only practical approach for such a problem. The significant influence of the seismic base rotations and the flexibility of the rotor-bearing system on the overall dynamic structural response is demonstrated by a numerical example.
Ontogenetic changes in the pattern of androgen accumulation in song‐control nuclei of male zebra finches

The present study examines the development of androgen accumulation in cells of two brain nuclei that are involved in controlling vocal behavior in zebra finches (Poephila guttata). HVc (caudal nucleus of the ventral hyperstriatum) is involved with vocal production in adult birds, and MAN (magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum) is involved with the initial ability to learn song. In both of these nuclei there is an increase in the proportion of cells that are labeled by systemic injections of tritiated dihydrotestosterone in juvenile male zebra finches during the time when production of song is becoming stereotyped (25–60 days). Within MAN there is an overall loss of cells during this time, such that the absolute number of androgen target cells in MAN remains at a constant level. However, it does not appear to be the case that unlabeled cells are selectively lost from MAN (see the text). Rather it appears that both labeled and unlabeled cells are lost, and the absolute number of labeled cells is maintained at a constant level via recruitment of additional labeled cells from the unlabeled population (i.e., some MAN cells that are unlabeled in young birds become labeled in older birds). In line with this hypothesis, there is a large increase in the density of labeling in individual MAN cells, indicating that these cells have an enhanced ability to concentrate androgen. In contrast to the situation in MAN, there is an increase in the overall number of cells within HVc during this time; this increase in total cell number combines with the increased proportion of labeled cells such that the absolute number of androgen target cells in HVc increases threefold. The ability of individual HVc cells to accumulate androgen remains constant. The relationship of these changes in the pattern of androgen accumulation to other aspects of neural and behavioral development related to song in zebra finches are discussed.
Differential dopaminergic modulation of neostriatal synaptic connections of striatopallidal axon collaterals

Recent studies have demonstrated that GABAergic synaptic transmission among neostriatal spiny projection neurons (SPNs) is strongly modulated by dopamine with individual connections exhibiting either D 1 receptor (D 1 R)-mediated facilitation or D 2 receptor (D 2 R)-mediated inhibition and, at least in some preparations, a subset of connections exhibiting both of these effects. In light of the cell type-specific expression of D 1a R in striatonigral and D 2 R in striatopallidal neurons and the differential expression of the other D 1 and D 2 family dopamine receptors, we hypothesize that the nature of the dopaminergic modulation is specific to the types of SPNs that participate in the connection. Here the biophysical properties and dopaminergic modulation of intrastriatal connections formed by striatopallidal neurons were examined. Contrary to previous expectation, synapses formed by striatopallidal neurons were biophysically and pharmacologically heterogeneous. Two distinct types of axon collateral connections could be distinguished among striatopallidal neurons. The more common, small-amplitude connections (80%) exhibited mean IPSC amplitudes several times smaller than their less frequent large-amplitude counterparts, principally because of a smaller number of release sites involved. The two types of connections were also differentially regulated by dopamine. Small-amplitude connections exhibited strong and exclusively D 2 R-mediated presynaptic inhibition, whereas large-amplitude connections were unresponsive to dopamine. Synaptic connections from striatopallidal to striatonigral neurons exhibited exclusively D 2 R-mediated presynaptic inhibition that was similar to the regulation of small-amplitude connections between pairs of striatopallidal cells. Together, these findings demonstrate a previously unrecognized complexity in the organization and dopaminergic control of synaptic communication among SPNs.
Synthesis and design of organic light-emitting devices containing lanthanide-cored complexes

There is a considerable interest in the use of metal centered materials as a light source in the growing field of organic light emitting devices (OLED's). In these devices, a polymeric host matrix containing either a carbazole type polymer or polyfluorene derivatives is used to help facilitate energy transfer to the luminophore. We have shown that by using a gadolinium complex that consist of three equivalents of a chelated dibenzoylmethane b-diketone ligand and one equivalent of a phenanthroline type ligand as a component in the host matrix, the performance of a double layer type OLED is improved. We have studied OLED systems that contain tris chelated europium compounds that contain three equivalents of partially fluorinated β-diketone type ligands and an equivalent of a phenanthroline type ligand. In these devices, the external efficiency has shown a 30-fold increase. We have also shown there is an increase for Osmium based OLED's that use the gadolinium complex as part of the polymer matrix. In these devices, the maximum quantum efficiency increased from 2.1% to a value of 3.8%.