cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Triplet-state properties of N,N-dimethylaniline: laser flash photolysis study

Abstract The laser flash photolysis of N,N -dimethylaniline in cyclohexane at 266 nm has been studied. The triplet-triplet absorption spectrum was determined: λ max = 350 nm and ϵ 350 = 4800 ± 500 M −1 cm −1 ; λ max = 460 nm and ϵ 460 = 4000 ± 400 M −1 cm −1 . The triplet decays by second-order kinetics with a diffusion-controlled rate constant and a delayed fluorescence was observed at the same time. It was shown that this fluorescence arises from a triplet-triplet annihilation process. In methanol the triplet decays by a first-order process with a rate constant of 1.6 × 10 6 s −1 .
Synovial cyst mimicking an intraspinal sacral mass.

A 68-year-old female had a three-week history of severe low back pain radiating down the posterior left buttocks and left leg exacerbated by standing and walking. Lumbar spine MRI revealed cystic mass with similar intensity to cerebrospinal fluid located on dorsolateral left side of the sacral spinal canal inferior to the S1 pedicle. There was compression of left exiting S1 and traversing S2 nerve roots. Neurosurgery consult was requested to evaluate the cystic mass in the sacral spinal canal. After clinical evaluation, an unusually located synovial cyst was thought possible. Cyst contents were heterogeneous, suggestive of small hemorrhage and acute clinical history seemed reasonable. Left S1 and partial left S2 hemilaminectomy was performed and an epidural, partially hemorrhagic cyst was removed. There was no obvious connection to the ipsilateral L5-S1 facet joint. Pathology revealed synovial cyst, and the patient’s leg pain was improved postoperatively. This synovial cyst was unusual as it had no connection with the facet joint intraoperatively and its location in the sacral canal was uncommon.
Designing with projects in mind: an approach for creating authentic (and manageable) programming projects (abstract only)

Creating programming projects that engage students has been a continual challenge in computer science. Ideally, programming projects should require student to reflect upon and apply programming concepts and help them develop creativity, problem-solving, and other skills for the workplace. The use of real-world problems is one possible solution to the issue but it comes at the cost of increased complexity, size, and burden on the instructor. One approach to reducing these costs is to design (or redesign) programs, developed as part of a research agenda, for use as student projects. Designing these programs for flexibility, adding extra, student-appropriate, feedback and identifying portions of the code that could become interesting student projects helps support both research and classroom learning at the same time. By explicitly designing with projects in mind, instructors can control the complexity and size of these real-world problems and can, potentially, create a platform that can support multiple types of student assignments. This poster describes the experience of redesigning a UML diagramming tool to implement this idea and provides examples of the design decisions made, lessons learned during the process, and other programs that could be used in a similar fashion. Future work includes evaluating the students' reaction to the projects and whether enough support is being provided.
A Closer Look at the Mean Residence Time (MRT) Concept Based on Statistical Moments

Mean Residence Time (MRT) based on statistical moments, presuming the residence time of drug in a system to be in congruence with a frequency distribution curve, can give reliable estimate of true MRT only for monoexponential distributions (one-compartment models). However, significantly erroneous results are obtained for the frequently observed biexponential (two-compartment models) distributions. There is a definite need for reassessment of this increasingly popular concept, particularly focussing on this conceptual misunderstanding, in view of its true potential and applicability.
On two stage shrinkage testimation for exponential

Let θ be the mean of an exponential distribution for which prior knowledge is available in the form of a value θo. A two stage testimator T(m), already proposed in the literature, is given as follows. If the hypothesis Ho : θ = θo is accepted by the UMPU test based on the first random sample of n1 observations , where m , 0≤ m ≤1, is a suitable function of the test statistic. If Ho is rejected, a second random sample of size n2 is taken and T(m) is taken as the mean of the combined samples. The present paper obtains a general expression for the mean squared error of T(m). For different choices of factors m, their efficiencies with respect to the mean of an equivalent single sample are examined via computer based techniques. The problem of choosing a shrinkage factor so as to obtain better efficiency over a pre-specified interval for θ is also considered.
The LDLR locus in alzheimer's disease: A family-based study and meta-analysis of case-control data

Genetic linkage studies suggest the presence of an Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk gene on chromosome 19, acting independently of apolipoprotein E (apoE), a known AD risk factor on 19q13. The low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) is an interesting candidate because it maps within the linked interval, and is intimately involved in cholesterol homeostasis and the function of apoE. We tested three previously reported single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within LDLR in a large sample of discordant sibships from multiplex AD families, and failed to find evidence for genetic association with disease risk. In addition, we performed meta-analyses for SNP rs5925 on published data from five independent case control samples, but did not detect any significant summary odds ratios. Based on our data, it seems unlikely that these genetic variants in LDLR make a significant contribution to AD risk in the general population.
Growth of Fetal Porcine Scapular Cartilage In Vitro

ABSTRACT Fetal pig scapular cartilage provides an ideal model to study mammalian cartilage growth in vitro. Growth plate and nongrowth plate cartilages were cultured in serum-free medium for 14 days. These cartilages visibly enlarged, and their wet weight increased over their preincubation weight (86 ± 12% for growth plate; 104 ± 16% for nongrowth plate). Addition of insulin 87 nM, somatomedin C (Sm-C) 10 ng/ml, or triiodothyronine (T 3 ) 10 nM to the medium caused an increase in growth plate cartilage weight and radiolabeled precursor incorporation of [ 3 H]- proline and 35 S0 4 . Insulin and Sm-C also stimulated nongrowth plate cartilge growth, but T 3 had no effect. Since both growth-plate and nongrowth-plate cartilage grew in medium alone, the likelihood that fetal porcine scapular cartilage produced its own growth factor(s) was studied. Conditioned medium was assayed for radioimmunoassayable Sm-C. Sm-C was readily measurable in concentrated conditioned medium (575 ± 20 pg/ml). Since secretion of Sm-like peptides might play a functional role in the growth process, a monoclonal antibody to Sm-C was used to determine whether immuno- neutralization of the Sm-like peptides would inhibit cartilage growth. Addition of anti-Sm-C prevented increases in wet weights of growth plate and nongrowth plate cartilages (47% and 49%, respectively below weights of cartilage incubated in medium alone). These studies demonstrate that fetal mammalian cartilage grows and responds to hormonal stimulation in vitro and suggest that these cartilages make Sm-like peptides that may have a functional role in promoting cartilage growth.
Upstream stimulating factor-1 (USF1) and USF2 bind to and activate the promoter of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumor suppressor gene.

The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene product is involved in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and loss of function is associated with the development of colorectal carcinogenesis. Although it has been demonstrated that the APC gene is inducible, its transcriptional regulation has not been elucidated. Therefore, we characterized the promoter region of the APC gene and transcription factors required for basal expression. The APC gene has a TATA-less promoter and contains consensus binding sites for Octamer, AP2, Sp1, a CAAT-box, and three nucleotide sequences for E-box A, B, and M. The E-boxes are functional in several cancer cell lines and upstream stimulating factor-1 (USF1) and USF2 interact with these sites, with a preferred sequence-specificity for the B site. Analysis of activation of the cloned APC promoter by USF1 and USF2 in transient transfection assays in HCT-116 cells demonstrated that mutation of the E-box B site completely abolished the basal promoter activity. Further, the ectopic USF1 and USF2 expression in HCT-116 cells with deletion mutations of E-box A, B, and M sites showed that these E-boxes contribute to USF1- and USF2-mediated transcriptional activation of the APC promoter, with maximum promoter activity being associated with the E-box B site. Thus, USF1 and USF2 transcription factors are critical for APC gene expression.
Optical flow based Kalman filter for body joint prediction and tracking using HOG-LBP matching

We propose a real-time novel framework for tracking specific joints in the human body on low resolution imagery using optical flow based Kalman tracker without the need of a depth sensor. Body joint tracking is necessary for a variety of surveillance based applications such as recognizing gait signatures of individuals, identifying the motion patterns associated with a particular action and the corresponding interactions with objects in the scene to classify a certain activity. The proposed framework consists of two stages; the initialization stage and the tracking stage. In the initialization stage, the joints to be tracked are either manually marked or automatically obtained from other joint detection algorithms in the first few frames within a window of interest and appropriate image descriptions of each joint are computed. We employ the use of a well-known image coding scheme known as the Local Binary Patterns (LBP) to represent the joint local region where this image coding removes the variance to non-uniform lighting conditions as well as enhances the underlying edges and corner. The image descriptions of the joint region would then include a histogram computed from the LBP-coded ROI and a HOG (Histogram of Oriented Gradients) descriptor to represent the edge information. Next the tracking stage can be divided into two phases: Optical flow based detection of joints in corresponding frames of the sequence and prediction /correction phases of Kalman tracker with respect to the joint coordinates. Lucas Kanade optical flow is used to locate the individual joints in consecutive frames of the video based on their location in the previous frame. But more often, mismatches can occur due to the rotation of the joint region and the rotation variance of the optical flow matching technique. The mismatch is then determined by comparing the joint region descriptors using Chi-squared metric between a pair of frames and depending on this statistic, either the prediction phase or the correction phase of the corresponding Kalman filter is called. The Kalman filter for each joint is modeled and designed based on a linear approximation of the joint trajectory where its true form is mostly sinusoidal in fashion. The framework is tested on a private dataset provided by Air Force Institute of Technology. This dataset consists of a total of 21 video sequences, with each sequence containing an individual walking across the face of the building and climbing up / down a flight of stairs. The challenges associated in this dataset are the very low-resolution imagery along with some interlacing effects. The algorithm has being successfully tested on some sequences of this dataset and three joints mainly, the shoulder, the hip and the elbow are tracked successfully within a window of interest. Future work will involve using these three perfectly trackable joints to estimate positions of other joints which are difficult to track due to their small size and occlusions.
An Androgen Binding Protein in the Cyst Fluid of Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Androgen binding proteins (ABP) have not been described in the ovary. We have studiedcyst fluids from three patients with the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and one patient with choriocarcinoma for the presence of ABP. All contained a high affinity, low capacity binding protein for dihydrotestosterone and 17β-estradiol. Comparison of this protein with the plasma androgen binding protein (TeBG) in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and equilibrium dialysis did not reveal any significant differences in molecular size (KR), net charge (Yo), radius R, molecular weight (mol wt), heat stability, steroid specificity, or binding affinity (Ka). Cyst fluid and plasma could not be distinguished from each other on the basis of protein composition as measured by cellulose acetate electrophoresis. In the one patient studied, the bindingcapacity for DHT in cyst fluid and plasma was 58.1 and 16.1 ng/Gm protein, respectively.
Contour motion estimation using relaxation matching with a smoothness constraint on the velocity field

Abstract We estimate optical flow from a sequence of 2-D images by computing the velocity field along moving contours in the scene. This new approach is different from others in that it combines displacements computed by feature matching with a smoothness constraint on the second derivative of velocity. First, we use our previously reported relaxation matching technique to find correspondences between contour features in adjacent image frames. Displacements for discrete points along the contours are interpolated from the magnitudes and directions of neighboring matched points. The displacements so-computed are used as initial estimates for the velocity (magnitude and direction) along contours. The final estimated velocities are required to yield components which are close in a least-squares sense to these initial velocity magnitudes, when projected along the same directions. We also constrain the second derivative of velocity to be a minimum when integratedalong the contour, leading to a unique solution for the motion of a straight line undergoing an affine transformation. The second-derivative constraint gives better results than the first-derivative constraint in this case. Our method also gives better results for most second-order flows. In cases where it does not, a combination of first- and second-derivative constraints can be used. Computation of velocities at discrete points along the contour is achieved by solving linear equations via the conjugate gradient algorithm. The image flow technique is applied to examples of rigid and nonrigid motion.
Liberals, Socialists, and Sobriety: The Rhetoric of Citizenship in Turn-of-the-Century Sweden

Many years have passed since temperance was treated solely as an expres sion of "status anxiety," "social control," or "internalization of bourgeois norms."1 In the past decade, historians have documented how temperance functioned as part of liberation and empowerment movements: in Char tism, Irish patriotism, women's suffrage, and Russian socialism.2 In this article, I will discuss the role of temperance in turn-of-the-century Swedish suffrage movements, with particular attention to its use by the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' party. In 1866, Sweden had a new, two-house parliament. An indirect fran chise reserved the Upper House for the rich: aristocrats, industrialists, and government functionaries. The Lower House was comparatively open; its electorate consisted of Swedish males either of substantial property or with an income of over 800 crowns a year (workers usually earned between 400 and 600). About 23 percent of adult males, or 6 percent of the total popula tion, could vote in Lower House elections.3 Until 1898, the only cohesive parliamentary group was the Farmers' party. The farmers were not illib eral: They opposed state spending and militarism and?at least un til the 1880s?were in favor of moderate suffrage reform. A more res olutely democratic opposition also existed in the cities, where progres sive notables, academics, and writers, as well as workers' and artisans' associations, maintained traditions of working-class or "small folk" repre sentation.
Characterization of striping in fresh, enhanced pork loins.

To investigate the striping phenomenon in fresh, enhanced pork, a series of experiments were undertaken to identify possible causes of the problem. No one factor (individual brine components, brine pH, ingredient concentration, enhancement pressure, meat and brine pH, or enhancement level) was specifically identified, which could be used to reduce the severity of the striping problem. Furthermore, tumbling the product for 2 h, did not reduce the amount of striping, indicating once striping has occurred, it is permanent. Evaluation of the striping pattern indicates that the stripes are formed not only at the needle injection site, but also follow the muscle fiber orientation. The use of darker pork provided more of a contrast when evaluating striping, thus exacerbating the perceived level of striping.
Ammonium uptake and incorporation by Chesapeake Bay phytoplankton: Short term uptake kinetics1

Using ‘JN-labeled NH, I-, we assessed the time-course of NH4+ uptake, the parameters of saturation kinetics, and the rates of incorporation of NII,“ into trichloroacetic acid-insoluble material by Chesapeake Bay phytoplankton. The amount of NH4+ taken up by the phytoplankton increased linearly with time for 2 h for all samples growing on or exposed to high concentrations (> 1 pg-atom N * liter-‘) of NH4 , + but extrapolations to time zero did not intercept the origin. These results could be explained by rapid isotopic equilibration of internal and external NH,+ pools. For stations for which ambient NH, + bordered on detection limits, rapid but nonsaturablc uptake was observed in l- and 5-min incubations, whereas saturation was attained in 15-60-min incubations. The experiments on rates of NH4+ incorporation into TCA-insoluble material demonstrated that most (>85%) of the 15N label was incorporated into the macromolecular fraction by -15 min. These data thus demonstrate that rates of NH,+ uptake may become limited within minutes by rates of assimilation and incorporation into macromolecules and that reported kinetic parameters reflect these metabolic rates rather than transport rates.
Reach Out and Heal Someone: Telemedicine and the Globalization of Health Care:

This article considers how telemedicine emerged as an important new means of constructing new geographic and social relationships in health care. Telemedicine is considered in light of the telecommunications revolution of the 1990s and the potential for expanding health markets during this period. An argument is made that telemedicine is part of an actuarial mode of organizing peoples according to the interests of emerging health care corporations. The techniques of the field are central components of a spatial social ordering of subjects into populations within a newly converged global health network. This article argues that telemedicine is not simply a new approach to delivering health care better, it is a method of tailoring health-care communities to match the demands of a global health economy.
Combination of Niacin and Fenofibrate with Lifestyle Changes Improves Dyslipidemia and Hypoadiponectinemia in HIV Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy: Results of “Heart Positive,” a Randomized, Controlled Trial

Context: HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) have a unique dyslipidemia [elevated triglycerides and non-high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low HDL-C] with insulin resistance (characterized by hypoadiponectinemia). Objective: The aim was to test a targeted, comprehensive, additive approach to treating the dyslipidemia. Design and Setting: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 24-wk trial of lifestyle modification, fenofibrate, and niacin in multiethnic HIV clinics at an academic center. Participants: Hypertriglyceridemic adult patients were stratified on three combinations of ART classes. Subjects retained at the first measurement (2 wk) after entry were included in the analysis (n = 191). Interventions: Subjects were randomized into five treatment groups: usual care (group 1); low-saturated-fat diet and exercise (D/E; group 2); D/E + fenofibrate (group 3); D/E + niacin (group 4); or D/E + fenofibrate + niacin (group 5). Main Outcome Measures: We measured changes ...
THE APPLICATION AND ROBUSTNESS OF THE RATIONAL CHOICE PERSPECTIVE IN THE STUDY OF INTOXICATED AND ANGRY INTENTIONS TO AGGRESS

Using a rational choice framework, this study examines the effects of alcohol and anger on violent decision making. Male students of legal drinking age participated in a randomized experiment in which intoxication and anger levels were manipulated. Participants read a “bar fight” scenario and completed a series of questions measuring aggressive intentions and the perceived consequences of violence. Results indicate that alcohol and anger interacted to increase one measure of aggressivity, but the perceived costs and benefits of violence were unaffected. Exploratory analyses call into question the robustness of the rational choice model, suggesting that the perspective may not be the general explanation for crime it is proclaimed to be.
The effect of visual and hearing impairments on functional status.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence of visual and auditory impairment in frail older persons and to evaluate the association between sensory impairment and overall functional status. DESIGN: Prospective patient evaluation and retrospective analysis of data SETTING: The outpatient geriatric assessment clinic of a university medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive patients seen in the University of Nebraska Medical Center Outpatient Geriatric Assessment Clinic from 1986 to 1992 for whom both vision and hearing information were available (n = 576). MEASUREMENTS: Visual acuity was measured by the Lighthouse Near Visual Acuity Test, and auditory acuity was evaluated with the whisper test. Functional status was determined by Lawton-Brody activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) scales. Comoro-bid illness was classified by the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale, and mental status was assessed by the Feldstein Mini-Mental State Exam. RESULTS: Eighteen percent of patients had visual impairment of 20/70 or worse. Hearing impairment was found in 64%. The mean ADL and IADL scores were 20/24 and 12/23, respectively, for patients with visual acuity better than 20/70, compared with 18/24 and 8/23 for visually impaired patients (P < .001 for both comparisons). ADL and IADL scores were also higher in hearing intact patients compared with those with hearing impairment: respectively, 21/24 vs 19/24 (P < .001) and 13/23 vs 11/23 (P < .001). The effects of visual acuity and hearing acuity on IADL score are independent of mental status and co morbid illness (P < .001). The effect of visual acuity on ADL score is independent of mental status and co morbid illness (P < .001), whereas the effect of hearing on ADL score is not. Subjects with both hearing and vision impairment had mean IADL (P < = .05) and ADL (P < = .05) scores significantly lower than those with no impairment CONCLUSIONS: Impairments of vision and hearing are common in this frail older outpatient population. Functional status, as measured by IADL and ADL scores, is diminished for sensory impaired subjects. Combined vision and hearing impairments have a greater effect on function than single sensory impairments and influence functional status independent of mental status and comorbid illness. Overall, these results suggest that interventions to improve sensory function may improve functional independence. J Am Geriatr Soc 47:1319–1325,1999.
Unresolvable Endings--Defective Telomeres and Failed Separation

Telomeres, usually consisting of repetitive sequences and proteins bound to them, form the ends of all chromosomes, where they protect against unwanted shortening during DNA replication and cell division. The Perspective by Hawley discusses two reports, one by Kirk et al. (p. 1478) of this week9s issue and the other in press at Genes and Development, that point to a surprising new function for telomeres in the separation of the ends of the chromosomes during cell division.
Pertussis awareness among internists and family practice physicians in the state of Michigan in the USA

Over the past two decades, reports of pertussis have increased considerably in the United States of America (USA) in people of all ages. The most striking increases have taken place among adolescents and adults. The aim of this study is to evaluate pertussis awareness among internists and family practice physicians in the state of Michigan in the USA. This study consists of a survey of internists and family practice physicians in the state of Michigan. The survey instrument is a questionnaire containing one clinical vignette that presents an adult who has prolonged afebrile cough and normal physical examination, followed by three multiple-choice questions. The first question was about the differential diagnosis; pertussis was included among the choices in this question. The other two questions were about antibiotic prescribing for the patient as well as the family members. Out of 500 physicians, 148 (30%) responded to our survey. Fifty-five physicians (37.2%) included pertussis among their differential diagnosis. Only seven (4.7%) selected pertussis as a single diagnosis. Among the physicians who selected pertussis, 49 (89%) prescribed antibiotics to the patient and forty-seven (85%) prescribed antibiotics to the family members. This study demonstrates that two out of three (or 63%) of internists and family practice physicians in the state of Michigan in the USA who responded to our survey overlooked the diagnosis of pertussis in adults. Though the number of the physicians who responded to this survey was relatively small, still it is an important finding and it merits more studies to shed the light on this imperative issue. It is important for the clinicians who treat adults to be aware of the resurgence of pertussis, to be familiar with its diagnosis and treatment, and to understand the options for prevention.
Optimizing residential photovoltaic system size using approximate reasoning

Alternative electrical energy conversion systems employing renewable energy sources suffer significant price disadvantages in relation to those utilizing conventional sources. In an effort to minimize this disadvantage, an evaluation was made of a residential photovoltaic conversion system configured to take advantage of an economic incentive offered by an electrical utility to encourage off-peak energy consumption. Subjective factors in the array sizing decision were evaluated using a fuzzy decision-making process. The alternative does not make economic sense for subjectively acceptable array sizes. A small saving for annual utility bills was obtained utilizing the incentive relative to one not incorporating the utility rate differential, but additional hardware expenses are likely to negate the benefit. >
Joint Determination of Anaphoricity and Coreference Resolution using Integer Programming

Standard pairwise coreference resolution systems are subject to errors resulting from their performing anaphora identification as an implicit part of coreference resolution. In this paper, we propose an integer linear programming (ILP) formulation for coreference resolution which models anaphoricity and coreference as a joint task, such that each local model informs the other for the final assignments. This joint ILP formulation provides f score improvements of 3.7-5.3% over a base coreference classifier on the ACE datasets.
Energy Efficient Adaptive Sensing for Dynamic Coverage in Wireless Sensor Networks

The coverage problem in sensor networks studies how to turn redundant sensors off while maintaining a required level of coverage. The existing algorithms and protocols are proven to be effective to conserve energy and prolong network lifetime, but only support a static level of sensing coverage. In contrast, many sensor network applications may require a dynamic level of coverage, which changes from area to area and from time to time. To this end, new algorithms must be designed. In this paper, we propose to adapt the sensing scheduling of sensor nodes to the dynamic level of coverage. In the proposed scheme, the lifetime of a sensor node is divided into epochs. At each epoch, the base station computes a minimum set of active nodes based on the current level of coverage requirement. Each sensor samples the field only if it is determined by the base station to sense. The problem of selecting a minimum set of active sensor nodes for a required level of sensing coverage is formulated as an integer programming problem and a heuristic algorithm is proposed. The algorithm is shown to have an approximation factor close to 2 ln n. The scheme eliminates redundant sensing by adapting the sensing scheduling to the dynamic sensing coverage requirement at each epoch. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme can extend the network lifetime significantly, in comparison with existing schemes for static sensing scheduling when the coverage load is low on the field.
A distributed approach to security in sensornets

Secure communication is an important aspect of any network and it has largely remained unexplored in wireless sensor networks (WSN). Security becomes a major challenge because of ad-hoc and resource constrained nature of sensor networks. In this paper we present a scalable and distributed security protocol, DSPS, for WSN that fits in between the network and the transport layers. DSPS satisfies the essential requirements of secure communication such as data confidentiality, data authentication, data integrity and data freshness. Basic building blocks of our security protocol are key generation-distribution and signatures. The key is a 56-bit random number generated initially by a key server, which is then securely distributed to all the nodes in the cluster. This key is used for encryption. DSPS also supports security critical transactions by dynamically generating a key, which can be shared between two nodes. The simplicity of DSPS allows compatibility with most of the routing protocols.
Social preferences for the evaluation of procedures

The standard analysis of procedures (mechanisms), in the theory of implementation, focuses on the properties of the subset of possible outcomes. But since a given procedure may yield very different outcomes in different circumstances (preference profile, information or rationality of players), it may be useful to rely on fine-grained social preferences over outcomes in order to evaluate the procedure. This paper introduces the notion of cross-profile social ordering, and illustrates how this concept may be used for the assessment of procedures.
Occupations Included in the Defense Vocational Training Program

The collaboration of the U. S. Office of Education and the Employment Service in preparing a list of occupations for defense training courses is described here. The author also points out the effects of this program on youth's choice of an occupation and the counselor's responsibility in helping him to choose from the bewildering number of courses offered.
Age dependent development of ethanol drinking in rats after inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase.

Abstract The purpose of this experiment was to determine the temporal characteristics associated with the age-related development of volitional consumption of ethanol induced by the pharmacological inhibition of aldehyde dehydrogenase (AIDH). To induce preference for ethanol, the AIDH inhibitor, cyanamide, was administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats which were 30 days of age. Cyanamide ( n = 8) was injected subcutaneously twice daily in a dose of 10 mg/kg over a period of 3 days while the control group ( n = 6) received the saline vehicle solution according to the same schedule. Then at 50, 70, 90, and 110 days of age, both groups of rats were given a standard 11-day test of preference for water versus ethanol offered in concentrations ranging from 3% through 30%. The results showed that at 70 days of age the preference for ethanol increased above the level of the 50-day test in terms of absolute g/kg intakes and proportion of ethanol to water consumed over the lower range of 3% through 15% concentrations. During the tests at 90 and 110 days of age, the cyanamide-treated rats further increased their preference for ethanol significantly over the levels at the 70-day test in terms of both g/kg and proportional intakes. The pattern of drinking of ethanol offered in the higher concentrations of 25% and 30% was unrelated to the age of the rats and the overall intakes were significantly higher than those of the lower concentrations. These findings demonstrate that the enzymatic inhibition of AIDH systemically acts in a delayed fashion to shift the pattern of preference for ethanol which is contingent on the maturation of the animal. In this instance, the volitional intake of ethanol in the cyanamide-treated rats reached its maximal level by 90–110 days of age. It is proposed that an endocrine mechanism involved in gonadal maturation may function in the intense shift in alcohol drinking.
Functional properties of retinal ganglion cells during optic nerve regeneration in the goldfish.

After being severed, optic axons in goldfish regenerate and eventually restore the retinotectal map; refinement of the map depends upon impulse activity generated by the ganglion cells. Because little is known about the changes in activity and receptive-field properties of ganglion cells during regeneration, we made extracellular recordings from them in the intact eye up to 95 days after sectioning their axons in the optic tract. Their receptive fields were classified as OFF-, ON–OFF-, or ON-centers, and their axonal conduction velocities measured by antidromic activation. The rate of encountering single units dropped drastically at 4–8 days postsection when only a few OFF-center units could be recorded, recovering to normal between 42 and 63 days. Receptive-field centers were normal in size, except for the few OFF-centers at 4–8 days which were abnormally large. Maintained discharge rates of all types were depressed up to 42 days, but ON–OFF-center units were more spontaneously active than normal around 42 days. Light-evoked responses in OFF-center units were subnormal at 4–8 days, becoming supernormal at 16 days and normal thereafter. ON–OFF- and ON-center units started to regain responsiveness at 16 days, and became supernormal at 42 days, before returning to normal. Conduction velocities of all fiber groups dropped to a minimum at 8 days, the fastest being affected most. There was a gradual recovery to normal conduction velocity by 63 days. The conduction latencies of OFF- and ON–OFF-center units recovered to normal by 42 days, and ON-center units by 63 days. Recovery of ganglion cell responsiveness correlates with functional recovery in the retinotectal system: OFF-center units recover light-evoked responses at about the time OFF activity first reappears in the tectum. ON- and ON–OFF-center units recover later, exhibiting supernormal spiking activity around the time that ON responses reappear in the tectum.
Modeling Mitochondrial Bioenergetics with Integrated Volume Dynamics

Mathematical models of mitochondrial bioenergetics provide powerful analytical tools to help interpret experimental data and facilitate experimental design for elucidating the supporting biochemical and physical processes. As a next step towards constructing a complete physiologically faithful mitochondrial bioenergetics model, a mathematical model was developed targeting the cardiac mitochondrial bioenergetic based upon previous efforts, and corroborated using both transient and steady state data. The model consists of several modified rate functions of mitochondrial bioenergetics, integrated calcium dynamics and a detailed description of the K+-cycle and its effect on mitochondrial bioenergetics and matrix volume regulation. Model simulations were used to fit 42 adjustable parameters to four independent experimental data sets consisting of 32 data curves. During the model development, a certain network topology had to be in place and some assumptions about uncertain or unobserved experimental factors and conditions were explicitly constrained in order to faithfully reproduce all the data sets. These realizations are discussed, and their necessity helps contribute to the collective understanding of the mitochondrial bioenergetics.
Association of body mass index with embryonic aneuploidy.

Objective To determine whether an association exists between body mass index (BMI) and embryo ploidy in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) with trophectoderm biopsy and 24-chromosome preimplantation genetic screening (PGS). Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting University-based fertility center. Patient(s) 279 women aged 20–45 years with documented height and weight from the day of oocyte retrieval who underwent 24-chromosome PGS between 2010 and 2013. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Primary outcomes: number and percentage of euploid embryos. Result(s) Patients were grouped by World Health Organization (WHO) BMI class: underweight ( Conclusion(s) No statistically significant relationship was identified between BMI and euploidy in an otherwise homogenous cohort of patients undergoing IVF with PGS, suggesting that the negative impact of overweight and obesity on IVF and reproductive outcomes may not be related to aneuploidy.
Jigsaw: supporting investigative analysis through interactive visualization

Investigative analysts who work with collections of text documents connect embedded threads of evidence in order to formulate hypotheses about plans and activities of potential interest. As the number of documents and the corresponding number of concepts and entities within the documents grow larger, sense-making processes become more and more difficult for the analysts. We have developed a visual analytic system called Jigsaw that represents documents and their entities visually in order to help analysts examine them more efficiently and develop theories about potential actions more quickly. Jigsaw provides multiple coordinated views of document entities with a special emphasis on visually illustrating connections between entities across the different documents.
Intellectual development is positively related to intrinsic motivation and course grades for female but not male students

We hypothesized that the intellectual development of students, i.e., their beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning, affects their intrinsic motivation and class performance. Specifically, we hypothesized that students with low intellectual development (i.e., the naive beliefs that knowledge is simple, absolute, and certain) have low intrinsic motivation and low class performance, whereas students with high intellectual development (i.e., more sophisticated beliefs that knowledge is complex, tentative, and evolving) have high intrinsic motivation and class performance. To test this hypothesis, we administered the Learning Context Questionnaire to measure intellectual development. In addition, we administered the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory to assess our students' intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, we performed regression analyses between intellectual development with both intrinsic motivation and class performance. The results document a positive relationship among intellectual development, intrinsic motivation, and class performance for female students only. In sharp contrast, there was a negative relationship between intellectual development, intrinsic motivation, and class performance for male students. The slope comparisons documented significant differences in the slopes relating intellectual development, intrinsic motivation, and class performance between female and male students. Thus, female students with more sophisticated beliefs that knowledge is personally constructed, complex, and evolving had higher intrinsic motivation and class performance. In contrast, male students with the naive beliefs that the structure of knowledge is simple, absolute, and certain had higher levels of intrinsic motivation and class performance. The results suggest that sex influences intellectual development, which has an effect on intrinsic motivation for learning a specific topic.
Early therapy response assessment with FLT in glioblastoma multiforme

1976 Objectives The utility of 3′deoxy-3′-[18F]fluorothymidine (FLT) PET for early prediction of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) progression was investigated. Methods Six histologically proven GBM patients (3 m, 3 f, 29-81 y) underwent surgical debulking, external beam radiation and concomitant temozolomide. Dynamic acquisition F-18 FLT-PET studies were performed at baseline (T0), three weeks (T1) and 72 days (T2) after initiation of therapy. All PET data were acquired on a Siemens/CTI ECAT HR+ BGO scanner operating in 3-D mode (axial field-of-view: 15.5 cm; 63 planes). 3T MRI scans were performed at the same time as PET on the Siemens 3T Magnetom TIM system. The maximal SUV, mean SUV, volume of the metabolically active lesion (TV), total metabolic activity (TMI), size of the tumor on MRI, and ratio of contrast enhancement relative to normal brain were acquired. Clinical follow-up (mean 13.7 mo, 4-18 mo) and sequential MRI studies were used as the reference standard. Results Five cases showed stable lesions or improvement at T2. SUVmax, TMI and TV at T1 correlated properly with the outcome at T2. Early MRI study of one patient showed significant progression in size (1.9x1.1 cm to 3.3x25 cm) and contrast enhancement; however, SUVmax of the lesion significantly decreased (2.062 to 1.27). Clinical follow-up and subsequent MRI studies showed improvement. This case was deemed pseudo-progression. FLT and MRI parameters were concordant in one patient who showed early and late progression. Conclusions This study shows FLT as a potential biomarker for early therapy response assessment of glioblatoma multiforme and differentiation of pseudo-progressive cases. Research Support NIH grant 1U01CA140230 to Dr. Mountz
Trust But Verify: Fraud in Victorian Banking and Its Diminishment

The Victorian banking system was plagued by regular bank failures due to fraud or mismanagement exacerbated by grossly misleading information. In the opinion of informed contemporaries, many banks that did not fail were weakened by fraud. I look at data on the frequency and magnitude of fraud, and show that while it was a minor part of a healthy financial system it was substantially more than fraud in the UK or US in the 20th century; excepting the period after 1878 (the last 23 years of Queen Victoria's 63 year reign), there was the equivalent of Madoff-scale scandal or greater every decade. I develop a simple model that explains why rational agents might, under limited monitoring, engage in fraud to cover short-term losses in a bank.
Experimental hatching of the eggs of Ascaris suum.

Summary1. Infective Ascaris eggs treated in “Clorox”-sodium hydroxide solution, hatched and produced viable larvae when they were subsequently:(a) incubated in physiological saline at 37.5° and 40°C. Hatching occurred up to 100% in 4 weeks.(b) dried, rewet and incubated in saline at 37.5°C. Hatching occurred up to 100% in 2 days.(c) centrifuged at speeds from 2000 to 3000 R.P.M. Hatching occurred up to 99.1% during 10 minutes of centrifugation at 3000 R.P.M. with a starting temperature of 40°C.2. Batches of eggs from different worms showed different hatching characteristics depending on the treatment strength and time, and influenced by subsequent procedure.
Analysis on Surveillance of Injury in Penglai City from 2006 to 2008

[Objective] To analyze the data of injury in Penglai for the disease control and prevention.[Methods] The data from injury surveillance system in 5 hospitals were analyzed in Penglai(2006-2008).[Results] Totally 35 619 injury cases were reported in the years.The main injury cases were at aged 35-49(33.9%).The peak time of injury was at 8:00-10:00 and 14:00-16:00.The main places of injury were in road/street(35.3%),industry and architecture area(22.3%) and at home(18.0%).The four leading causes of injury were fall down(26.0%),traffic accident(25.3%),blunt injury(23.5%),knife/ sharp instrument injury(10.7%).[Conclusion] It is suggested that the measures for injury control and prevention should be focused for adults and males.
Modeling System Threat Probabilities Using Mixed-Radix Multiple-Valued Logic Decision Diagrams

Design for security has become an area of increasing importance. This includes securing systems from both natural and intentional threats. Extremely large and complex systems can have an accordingly large number of threat scenarios, thus simply listing the threats and devising countermeasures for each is ineffective and inefficient. The components of a large system may also have various states of failure, which cannot be captured by contemporary binary system models. To address this problem, we describe a threat cataloging methodology whereby a large number of threats can be efficiently cataloged and analyzed for common features. This allows countermeasures to be formulated that address a large number of threats that share common features. The methodology utilizes Mixed-Radix Multiple-Valued Logic for describing the state of a large system and a multiple-valued decision diagram (MDD) for the threat catalog and analysis.
THE ECOLOGY OF RHIZOBIUM IN THE RHIZOSPHERE: SURVIVAL, GROWTH AND COMPETITION

The excitement over prospects for genetic improvement of Rhizobium has, unfortunately, overshadowed the need for an understanding of its ecology. It must be kept in mind, however, that in order for any “superbug” engineered in the laboratory to have an economic impact, it must be able to withstand the stresses of the soil, survive and grow in the rhizosphere, and compete successfully with well-adapted indigenous rhizobia for nodulation of the appropriate host.
Ligand Blot Overlay Assay: Detection of Ca+2- and Small GTP-Binding Proteins

Publisher Summary This chapter describes protocols for identifying Ca+2- and GTP-binding proteins using whole cellular protein extracts from noncultured human psoriatic keratinocytes and COS-1 cells. The protocol for blot overlay detection of Ca+2- and GTP-binding proteins is exemplified using whole cellular protein extracts from noncultured human psoriatic keratinocytes and COS-1 cells, but can be applied to a variety of other cultured cells, tissue samples, and biological fluids. Calcium ion is a universal intracellular signal that acts as an important second messenger for many cellular processes and whose effect is modulated by specific calcium-binding proteins. Proteins are separated by means of one (1D)- or two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis, transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane, and overlaid with radioactive 45Ca. Calcium-binding proteins are detected by autoradiography or phosphorimaging. No significant differences in calcium binding are observed when using membranes that had been dried before probing or membranes that had been used directly after blotting.
Comment: The elusive search for markers of hematoma expansion

Hematoma expansion occurs in up to 40% of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients within 6 hours from the onset. Stopping the expansion is one aim of randomized clinical studies,1 and an important clinical imperative. CT angiography (CTA) spot sign is a known marker, found in about 30% of patients. Ultraearly hematoma growth (uHG) (expressed as the ratio between hematoma volume [mL] and time [h] from onset to imaging acquisition) is also a useful marker of hematoma expansion.