cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Monocyte Chemotactic Protein-1-Interleukin-6-Osteopontin Pathway of Intra-Aneurysmal Tissue Healing.

Background and Purpose— We have previously demonstrated that the local delivery of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) via an MCP-1–releasing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)–coated coil promotes intra-aneurysmal tissue healing. In this study, we demonstrate that interleukin-6 (IL-6) and osteopontin are downstream mediators in the MCP-1–mediated aneurysm-healing pathway. Methods— Murine carotid aneurysms were created in C57BL/6 mice. Drug-releasing coils (MCP-1, IL-6, and osteopontin) and control poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) coils were created and then implanted into the aneurysms to evaluate their intra-aneurismal–healing capacity. To investigate the downstream mediators for aneurysm healing, blocking antibodies for IL-6 receptor and osteopontin were given to the mice implanted with the MCP-1–releasing coils. A histological analysis of both murine and human aneurysms was utilized to cross-validate the data. Results— We observed increased expression of IL-6 in MCP-1-coil–treated aneurysms and not in control-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-only–treated aneurysms. MCP-1–mediated intra-aneurysmal healing is inhibited in mice given blocking antibody to IL-6 receptor. MCP-1–mediated intra-aneurysmal healing is also inhibited by blocking antibody to osteopontin. The role of IL-6 in intra-aneurysmal healing is in recruiting of endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Local delivery of osteopontin to murine carotid aneurysms via osteopontin-releasing coil significantly promotes intra-aneurysmal healing, but IL-6–releasing coil does not, suggesting that IL-6 cannot promote aneurysm healing independent of MCP-1. In the MCP-1–mediated aneurysm healing, osteopontin expression is dependent on IL-6; inhibition of IL-6 receptor significantly inhibits osteopontin expression in MCP-1–mediated aneurysm healing. Conclusions— Our findings suggest that IL-6 and osteopontin are key downstream mediators of MCP-1–mediated intra-aneurysmal healing.
Supraorbital Keyhole Craniotomy for Basilar Artery Aneurysms: Accounting for the "Cliff" Effect.

BACKGROUND Treatment of basilar artery aneurysms is challenging. While endovascular techniques have dominated, there still remain circumstances where open surgical clipping is required or preferred. Minimally invasive "keyhole" approaches are being used more frequently to provide the durability of surgical clipping with a lower morbidity profile; however, careful patient selection is required. The supraorbital "keyhole" approach has been described for the treatment of basilar artery aneurysms, but careful assessment of the basilar exposure is necessary to ensure proper visualization of the aneurysm and ability to obtain proximal vascular control. Various methods of estimating the basilar artery exposure in this approach have been described, including the anterior skull base line and the posterior clinoid line, but both are unreliable and inaccurate. OBJECTIVE To propose a new method, the orbital roof-dorsum line, to simply and accurately predict the basilar artery exposure. METHODS CT angiograms for 20 consecutive unique patients were analyzed to obtain the anterior skull base line, posterior clinoid line, and the orbital roof-dorsum line. CT angiograms were then loaded onto a Stealth neuronavigation system (Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minnesota) to obtain "true" visualization lengths. A case illustration is presented. RESULTS Pairwise comparison tests demonstrated that both the anterior skull base and the posterior clinoid estimation lines differed significantly from the "true" value ( P < .0001). Our orbital roof-dorsum estimation provided results that accurately predicted the "true" value ( P = .71). CONCLUSION The orbital roof-dorsum line provides a simple and reliable method of estimating basilar artery exposure and should be used whenever considering patients for surgical clipping by this approach.
The Effect of Adsorbed Sulfur on Heterogeneous Hydroformylation over Rh, Ni, and Ru Catalysts

Summary The effect of adsorbed sulfur on the ethylene hydroformylation reaction was studied on Rh/SiO2, Ni/SiO2, and Ru/SiO2 catalysts using in situ infrared spectroscopy under Fischer-Tropsch synthesis conditions of 240 °C and 10 atm. Adsorbed sulfur inhibits the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, but slightly enhances the ethylene hydroformylation on Rh/SiO2 and Ni/SiO2. The adsorbed sulfur blocks the bridge-CO sites and enhances the formation of propionaldehyde. In the case of Ru/SiO2, the adsorbed sulfur inhibits the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and permits hydroformylation to adsorbed propionaldehyde; however, the desorption of propionaldehyde is inhibited by sulfur.
Growth and Development of Haemopoietic Cells: A Deterministic Process?

Haemopoietic colony stimulating factors (CSFs) are defined by their ability to stimulate the clonal expansion of bone marrow cells in semi-solid medium. Four main CSFs, interleukin-3 (IL-3), granulocyte macrophage-CSF (GM-CSF), macrophage-CSF (M-CSF) and granulocyte-CSF (G-CSF), have been described. Although all four CSFs are glycoproteins, they are otherwise unrelated. M-CSF is the only dimer, the others being monomers with disulphide bridges. Each factor binds to its own distinct receptor which, in the case of M-CSF, is similar to the product of the c-fms oncogene [1]. The responses mediated by these receptors in haemopoietic cells are survival, proliferation, lineage commitment and activation of end cell function.
Dehydrogenative Transformations of Imines Using a Heterogeneous Photocatalyst

Heterogeneous semiconductors are underexploited as photoredox catalysts in organic synthesis relative to their homogeneous, molecular counterparts. Here, we report the use of metal/TiO2 particles as catalysts for light-induced dehydrogenative imine transformations. The highly oxophilic nature of the TiO2 surface promotes the selective binding and dehydrogenation of alcohols in the presence of other oxidizable and Lewis basic functional groups. This feature enables the clean photogeneration of aldehyde equivalents that can be utilized in multicomponent couplings.
Disposed to Measure Dispositions

During the more than 60 years since Benjamin Bloom and his co-authors trotted out their influential Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Bloom et al., 1956), American educators have become generally...
Practice Patterns in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety and Depression in the Medically Ill:A Survey of Psychiatrists

By use of a survey that assessed practice patterns and responses to case vignettes of anxiety and depression in the medically ill, 38 psychiatrists were compared with 10 national leaders in consultation-liaison psychiatry. On the case vignettes, percentage agreement with the experts varied significantly by case and by question. Fifty-eight percent of the time the psychiatrists agreed with the experts on whether to order laboratory tests as compared with an 81% agreement level on whether to use psychotherapy. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the best model to predict lower agreement with the experts was years in practice plus percentage of time spent in solo (vs. group) practice (r 2 = 0.40). This study extended previous data-based pharmaco-epidemiology by assessing multiple aspects of psychiatrists’ practice patterns. Psychiatrists who are more distant from training years and more isolated from the current stimulation of colleagues may be particularly appropriate targets for continuing education
Intraocular lens power adjustment by a femtosecond laser: In vitro evaluation of power change, modulation transfer function, light transmission, and light scattering in a blue light–filtering lens

Purpose To evaluate intraocular lens (IOL) power, modulation transfer function (MTF), light transmission, and light scattering of a blue light–filtering IOL before and after power adjustment by a femtosecond laser obtained through increased hydrophilicity of targeted areas within the optic, creating the ability to build a refractive-index-shaping lens within an existing IOL. Setting John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Design Experimental study. Methods Ten CT Lucia 601PY single-piece yellow hydrophobic acrylic IOLs were used in this study. The IOL power and MTF were measured with a power and modulation transfer function device. Light transmission was measured using a Lambda 35 UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Backlight scattering was assessed with a Scheimpflug camera within the IOL substance. All measurements were done with hydrated IOLs. The IOLs were also evaluated under light microscopy (LM) before and after laser adjustment. Results After laser adjustment, a mean power change of −2.037 diopters was associated with a MTF change of −0.064 and a light transmittance change of −1.4%. Backlight scattering increased within the IOL optic in the zone corresponding to the laser treatment at levels that are not expected to be clinically significant. Treated areas within the optic could be well appreciated under LM without damage to the IOLs. Conclusion Power adjustment of a commercially available hydrophobic acrylic blue light–filtering IOL by a femtosecond laser produced an accurate change in dioptric power while not significantly affecting the quality of the IOL.
mtROS-Induced TRPV4 Activation in Traumatic Brain Injury

In a recent article in J. Neurotrauma, Szarka et al report a novel role for mtROS in activating TRPV4 and promoting myogenic constriction in TBI. We discuss the implications of this article and the exciting body of emerging literature surrounding redox activation of TRPV4.
Walking in Another’s Skin: Failure of Empathy in to Kill a Mockingbird

Empathy — how it is discussed and deployed by both the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird and by the author, Lee — is a useful lens to view the depictions of racial injustice in the novel because empathy is the moral fulcrum on which the narrative turns. In this essay, I argue that To Kill a Mockingbird fails to aptly demonstrate the practice of cross-racial empathy. As a consequence, readers cannot empathize with the (largely silent) black characters of the novel. In order to examine the concept of empathy, I have developed a critical framework derived from rhetorician Kenneth Burke's theory of identification and then used this framework to examine some ways in which empathy manifests itself in our legal system, manifestations that help reveal the failings of To Kill a Mockingbird.
CHAPTER 28 – Strategies for Combining Gene Therapy with Ionizing Radiation to Improve Antitumor Efficacy

This chapter discusses the strategies for combining gene therapy with ionizing radiation (IR) to improve antitumor efficacy. The utility of gene therapy in the treatment of cancer results from its ability to deliver therapeutic genes to tumor cells and alter the malignant phenotype or to induce tumor cell cytotoxicity. IR is a conventional and effective local treatment for many different tumors. Unfortunately, many human tumors remain refractory to treatment with IR. Several gene products that have been proposed for gene therapy approaches to treat cancer are also involved in determining tumor cell sensitivity or resistance to IR, making the concept of combining anticancer gene therapy with IR an attractive one. Strategies that involve employing gene therapy to improve the antitumor effect of IR fall into two general categories: the use of gene therapy vectors to deliver genes whose protein products improve the antitumor effect of IR and the use of radiation to enhance the antitumor effect of replication-competent viruses such as herpes virus.
Evaluating degradation in a North American temperate forest

Abstract Forest degradation has been a focus of recent concern, especially in tropical countries, but temperate forests may also exhibit degradation. Our analysis of USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data shows that nearly 40% of the forestland in northern New England, USA, (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont) is in an understocked condition when species desirability and tree form are considered. This understocked area does not contain sufficient stand-level density of current or potential future sawlog trees, of preferred or secondary commercial species, to be able to fully utilize the growing space of the site following 10 years’ growth (i.e., they are below the “C-line” in a stand stocking guide when desirable trees are considered). Although forests in the region show a slight trend of increased stocking, nearly all this increase comes from shade-tolerant hardwoods (e.g. Fagus grandifolia), trees with poor form (e.g. Acer rubrum), and from Abies balsamea which is subject to episodic eastern spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) outbreaks. This degraded condition is likely the result of past management activities that have not considered long-term silvicultural objectives and may entail reduced resilience to many climate-related risks for forests and the ecosystem services they provide. Forest management and policy alternatives must be designed and incentivized to restore forest productivity and diversity and to increase climate resilience of the forests in northern New England.
Adomnán’s On the Holy Places: Pilgrimage Manuscripts and Architectural Translation from Jerusalem to Europe

This essay explores the most significant set of ground-plans to survive from medieval Europe in order to consider the role of architectural drawings as objects of translation. The architectural dra...
Parenting Across Two Worlds: Low-Income Latina Immigrants’ Adaptation to Motherhood in the United States:

This study explored how low-income documented and undocumented Latina immigrant mothers negotiate motherhood and adapt to life in new cultural and structural contexts. Grounded in ecocultural theor...
On Enabling Machine Learning Tasks atop Public Blockchains: A Crowdsourcing Approach

The recently emerged blockchain (in particular smart contract) technology offers an enticing opportunity for decentralized sharing economy. Machine learning can be one important subroutine in such a decentralized ecosystem. Unfortunately, machine learning programs are usually computational intensive as well as randomized, which fall into the inherent limitations of open blockchain where complex and randomized programs cannot be executed by the underlying nodes collectively. Given also the limitations of existing verifiable computing techniques, we propose a crowdsourcing idea from the game theoretic perspective to resolve the tension. We design a simple incentive mechanism so that the execution of a wide range of complex programs can be crowdsourced via the blockchain, and any false computing result could be deterred. In particular, our protocol works in the scenarios that there is no trusted third-party involved; Moreover, our protocol not only works in the classical model of non-colluding service providers, but also can tolerate any potential coalition up to n-1, where n is the total number of service providers. We also showcase how to use our protocol to crowdsource two typical kinds of machine learning tasks via open blockchain. We envision that our solution is not only promising to launch decentralized applications involving a wide range of machine learning programs, but also a stepping stone towards a general way to empowering intensive and randomized computations atop the open blockchain.
Optimization of microbial cell disruption using pressurized CO2 for improving lipid recovery from wet biomass.

Microbial cell disruption using pressurized gases (e.g., CO2) is a promising approach to improve the lipid recovery from wet oleaginous microorganisms by eliminating the energy-intensive drying required for conventional methods. In this study, we perform cell disruption of Rhodotorula glutinis using pressurized CH4, N2, and Ar where we find the efficacy of these gases on cell viability is minimal. Since CO2 is found to be the only viable gas for microbial cell disruption among these four gases, we use a combination of Box–Behnken design and response surface methodology (RSM) to find the optimal cell disruption by tuning different parameters such as pressure (P), temperature (T), exposure time (t), and agitation (a). From RSM, we find 6 log reduction of viable cells at optimized conditions, which corresponds to more than 99% cell death at P = 4000 kPa, T = 296.5 K, t = 360 min, and a = 325 rpm. Furthermore, from the scanning electron microscope (SEM), we find a complete morphological change in the cell structure when treated with pressurized CO2 compared to the untreated cells. Finally, we find that up to 85% of total lipid can be recovered using optimized pressurized CO2 from wet biomass compared to the untreated wet cells where up to 73% lipid can be recovered.
Learning risk culture of banks using news analytics

Abstract Risk culture is arguably a leading contributor to risk outcomes of a firm. We define risk culture indicators based on unstructured news data to develop a qualitative assessment of risk culture of banks. For US banks participating in an annual stress test program, we conduct a supervised learning ridge regression analysis to identify the most significant features to evaluate banks’ risk culture characteristics. These features are used for unsupervised clustering to determine the high to low quality of risk culture. The distinct groups obtained from clustering define and allow monitoring changes in the quality of risk culture in banks.
Competition or Cooperation? Peer Effects in the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery

We analyze longitudinal data on vessel activity in the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery from 2011 to 2014, employing a spatial Durbin model with fixed effects. Different definitions of peers using port and risk pool membership allow identification of competition and cooperation under various groupings. Positive spillovers are strongest among vessels with a shared primary port. Competition also exists, as greater fishing intensity by peers negatively impacts average revenue. We find smaller positive spillovers than previous literature on lobster and crab fisheries, which have more sedentary spatiotemporal patterns. Thus, cooperatives within a single port or close neighboring ports may better serve groundfish fisheries.
Met-Hemoglobin Is a Biomarker for Poor Oxygen Delivery in Infants Following Surgical Palliation:

Background:Infants with cyanotic congenital heart disease demonstrate wide fluctuations in hemoglobin (Hb), oxygen saturation, and cardiac output following palliation. Methemoglobin (Met-Hb), the p...
Process optimization and stochastic modeling of void contents and mechanical properties in additively manufactured composites

Abstract The effects of process parameters (print temperature, bed temperature, and print speed) on dimensional accuracy, void contents, and mechanical properties are experimentally investigated for the additively manufactured short carbon fiber reinforced composites. Such studies are carried out at bead, lamina, and laminate levels to identify the process-microstructure-property relationship. Different dimensional parameters such as height, width, and deposition-alignment are monitored for different process parameters at the bead level and its effects on lamina, and laminate are studied in a multi-level manner. The various sources of uncertainties in fused filament fabrication (FFF) based additive manufacturing (AM) are identified, and their adverse effects on microstructure and performance are analyzed. Utilizing the experimentally extracted data for dimensional variability and mechanical property at each level, physical models were adopted to accurately quantify the uncertainty. A non-intrusive polynomial chaos (NIPC) based uncertainty analysis was introduced to improve the computational efficiency and reliability of the physical models. The classical lamination theory (CLT) is used with a slight modification to account for different kinds of voids of short fiber reinforced composites manufactured by FFF. The adjusted process parameters for 5% carbon fiber reinforced polylactic acid (CF/PLA) composite showed minimum dimensional variability and maximum structural performance at a print temperature of 220 °C , bed temperature of 80 °C , and print speed of 20 mm / s . The maximum dimensional accuracy, minimum void contents, and improved mechanical properties support these optimized processed parameters. These optimized parameters may be related to the viscosity of the material to identify the same parameters for other material systems. The NIPC accurately predicted intra-bead, inter-bead and interfacial-bead voids contents with the overall void contents in the range of 20–26%. All these predicted void contents were incorporated in the CLT to predict the stochastic load distribution of the laminate. The stochastic model closely predicted the laminate properties in terms of axial load distributions which were validated by experimentation of [ 0 0 ] s , [ 90 0 ] s , [ 45 0 ] s , [ 0 0 / 90 0 ] s , and [ ± 45 0 ] s laminate testing.
Sleep and Health Among Collegiate Student Athletes

Although the link between sleep, health, and performance has been well documented, research on this link in collegiate student athletes is still in its infancy. A large body of evidence indicates that collegiate student athletes are not obtaining enough sleep, but less is known about their sleep quality, patterns, and the impact on health and performance. Consequently, short sleep negatively affects physical and mental health, as well as several domains of performance (ie, aerobic, anaerobic, sport-specific, cognitive). The majority of studies examining the links between short sleep, health, and performance have been conducted with healthy adults or noncollegiate athlete samples; however, collegiate student athletes have demands unlike those of their nonathlete or noncollegiate athlete counterparts. Poor sleep health and sleep disorders are of increasing concern among the college athlete population and have recently been recognized by national and international sports governing bodies. The purpose of this review is to summarize the available literature on sleep and its impact on health and performance among athletes, specifically addressing gaps where little to no data is available on collegiate student athletes. Consideration is also given to evidence-based sleep interventions that have been utilized with athletes, as well as recommendations for future research and intervention development.
Ion Mobility Spectrometry: Fundamental Concepts, Instrumentation, Applications, and the Road Ahead

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is a rapid separation technique that has experienced exponential growth as a field of study. Interfacing IMS with mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) provides additional analytical power as complementary separations from each technique enable multidimensional characterization of detected analytes. IMS separations occur on a millisecond timescale, and therefore can be readily nested into traditional GC and LC/MS workflows. However, the continual development of novel IMS methods has generated some level of confusion regarding the advantages and disadvantages of each. In this critical insight, we aim to clarify some common misconceptions for new users in the community pertaining to the fundamental concepts of the various IMS instrumental platforms (i.e., DTIMS, TWIMS, TIMS, FAIMS, and DMA), while addressing the strengths and shortcomings associated with each. Common IMS-MS applications are also discussed in this review, such as separating isomeric species, performing signal filtering for MS, and incorporating collision cross-section (CCS) values into both targeted and untargeted omics-based workflows as additional ion descriptors for chemical annotation. Although many challenges must be addressed by the IMS community before mobility information is collected in a routine fashion, the future is bright with possibilities.
Living with chronic contamination: a comparative analysis of divergent psychosocial impacts

Scholarship on contaminated communities has highlighted how residents living with the reality of significant environmental hazards often experience similar negative psychosocial stressors. However, relatively less is known about the mitigating factors that can explain divergence in these impacts such as levels of community efficacy and empowerment. This is critical as insight into these dynamics can provide answers as to why certain communities maintain a sense of efficacy whereas others do not. To address this question, we conduct a comparative analysis of two heavily contaminated communities in Oklahoma and Colorado. Our data come from extensive fieldwork, including in-depth interviews (n = 105) and participant observation. Our findings revealed a set of similar psychosocial outcomes in the two communities, but we argue that specific revitalizing events in one community played a crucial role in sustaining residents’ feelings of empowerment and persistence. Our paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of our research for future work on contaminated communities, technological disasters, and citizen participation.
Connecting the Interpersonal, Instructional, and Institutional Contexts

As discussed throughout this paper, many institutional and instructional strategies can facilitate higher achievement among Latino/a students. Many of these are effective partly because of the relationships they foster. But we also want to point out a few concrete examples of supportive constructive relationships. The common thread in these examples is how the school affirms the students’ home cultures and ethnicity. When students witness the validation of their culture within the educational process, they connect their home or community identities with an academic identity. Most importantly, the cultural substance of their identities feeds and sustains an academic persona , which in turn promotes strong school-oriented relationships among peers, teachers, and parents. The outcome is engaged and interested students who feel their culture is not a deficit but a benefit to their academic achievement.
From Dragnet to Brooklyn 99: How Cop Shows Excuse, Exalt and Erase Police Brutality

Cop shows originated as a literal “copoganda” effort: explicit partnerships with law enforcement agencies to transform the image of bumbling Keystone Cops into straight arrow Sergeant Joe Friday and lovable Andy Griffith. Though the explicit partnerships have faded away, the template they established has flourished, in part by adapting to changed times without challenging certain basic cop show verities — principally, the centrality of the police point of view. Police use of force, even when mistaken, is framed as essential, understandable, or forgivable: an act taken in the righteous pursuit of justice. These depictions matter. Portrayals of policing on TV — including fictional portrayals — exert enormous influence on public perceptions of how policing works and help shape both law and public policy. Part I traces the origins of the cop show. Part II illustrates how cop shows construct and transmit social norms that humanize and valorize law enforcement — both the job and those who do it. Part III considers the question of what constitutes police brutality. It concludes that cop shows fall short in depicting police brutality both in its narrower definition: action taken to degrade and dehumanize, and in its broader definition: the use of excessive force. Part IV explores the mechanisms by which police brutality and the harms it visits on people and communities are erased. Finally, Part V asks whether cop shows can do better. The chapter concludes that the failures of the genre to grapple with accountability and reform are not baked into the medium. The field is rife with possibilities for expanding the universe of empathic engagement, and for illustrating both the harms of police violence and the difficult tradeoffs inherent in the effort to reimagine public safety.
From new frontiers to new standards of practice: advances in radiotherapy planning and delivery.

Radiation therapy treatment planning and delivery capabilities have changed dramatically since the introduction of three-dimensional treatment planning in the 1980s and continue to change in response to the implementation of new technologies. CT simulation and three-dimensional radiation treatment planning systems have become the standard of practice in clinics around the world. Medical accelerator manufacturers have employed advanced computer technology to produce treatment planning/delivery systems capable of precise shaping of dose distributions via computer-controlled multileaf collimators, in which the beam fluence is varied optimally to achieve the plan prescription. This mode of therapy is referred to as intensity-mod ulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and is capable of generating extremely conformal dose distributions including concave isodose volumes that provide conformal target volume coverage and avoidance of specific sensitive normal structures. IMRT is rapidly being implemented in clinics throughout the USA. This increasing use of IMRT has focused attention on the need to better account for both intrafraction and interfraction spatial uncertainties, which has helped spur the development of treatment machines with integrated planar and volumetric advanced imaging capabilities. In addition, advances in both anatomical and functional imaging provide improved ability to define the tumor volumes. Advances in all these technologies are occurring at a record pace and again pushing the cutting-edge frontiers of radiation oncology from IMRT to what is now referred to as image-guided IMRT, or simply image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). A brief overview is presented of these latest advancements in conformal treatment planning and treatment delivery.
Engineering Improvement: Social and Historical Perspectives on the NAE’s “Grand Challenges”

The list of engineering "Grand Challenges" lately developed by the National Academy of Engineering enters a long historical tradition of such epically scaled to-do lists, dating back to the profession's U.S. origins in the mid-19th century. The mission statements, codes of ethics, and, later, lists of so-called grand challenges that have issued from engineering societies have served the dual function of directing engineers' work and supporting particular cultural roles for these bodies of experts. Almost all such plans, regardless of period or sponsoring body, have also blended highly practical aims of industrial and infrastructural development with more inchoate projects of societal uplift. The Grand Challenges of the NAE, currently playing a formative role in many engineering organizations and research and teaching settings, extend this lineage, working from a selective and self-confirming view of human welfare. We might bring to the Grand Challenges the type of critical, politically informed analysis that historians and STS scholars have brought to other sites of engineering activity and professionalization, to detect the nature of interests that underlay all such projections of engineering’s role in society. Who is served by the development of different technologies, products, and infrastructures? Who might be harmed? Most fundamentally, the Grand Challenges proceed from the premise that engineering research, construction, invention, and production are to take precedence over their absence, as befits a body dedicated not to the contraction of such enterprises but to their extension. Yet the interests of sustainability, global health, and other areas of human well-being might be best served in certain cases by just such a turning away from engineering. Making explicit the social and historical assumptions of the NAE’s Grand Challenges , and probing the implications of those assumptions for a diverse range of actors and communities, may pave the way for more thoughtful engagement with the humanistic and democratic potential of engineering.
Patterns of Vulnerabilities and Resources in U.S. Military Families

The appropriate format for services supporting military families depends on how vulnerabilities and resources are distributed across and within those families. If different types of vulnerabilities cluster together, then programs supporting families should combine multiple services rather than targeting specific concerns. Yet scant data exist about how vulnerabilities and resources covary within military families. The current study addressed this issue through a latent class analysis of data on a wide range of domains obtained from a stratified random sample of 1,981 deployable, active component, married servicemembers and their spouses. Within married deployable servicemembers, results indicated that vulnerabilities and resources cluster together within individuals; servicemembers at high risk in one domain are likely to be high risk in multiple domains. This is less the case for spouses. One or both spouses are vulnerable in 39% of couples. These results support programs that provide vulnerable military...
On representing actions in multi-agent domains

Reasoning about actions forms the foundation of prediction, planning, explanation, and diagnosis in a dynamic environment. Most of the research in this field has focused on domains with a single agent, albeit in a dynamic environment, with considerably less attention being paid to multi-agent domains. In a domain with multiple agents, interesting issues arise when one considers the knowledge of various agents about the world, as well about as each other's knowledge. This aspect of multi-agent domains has been studied in the field of dynamic epistemic logic. In this paper we review work by Baltag and Moss on multi-agent reasoning in the context of dynamic epistemic logic, extrapolate their work to the case where agents in a domain are classified into three types and suggest directions for combining ideas from dynamic epistemic logic and reasoning about actions and change in order to obtain a unified theory of multi-agent actions.
A 50 year perspective endocrine neoplasia: clinic to genes and back

Having completed medical school and internship in 1947 when effective therapeutic interventions were quite limited (mostly to surgery), I became impressed with the importance of diagnosing the then known treatable diseases. As a young army medical officer. I was exposed to those who emphasized pheochromocytomas and parathyroid adenomas as treatable conditions. After completing internal medicine training. I continued my search for these conditions but it was not until 1958 that I first encountered my first patient with hyperparathyroidism (HPT) who happened to be in a family with many others affected. After leaving the small clinic in Indiana where I practiced for 19 years. in 1970 I came to Henry Ford Hospital where I continued my search for hereditary HPT and encountered families of MEN-2 by applying calcitonin studies to the families of our cases of medullary thyroid cancer. Early genetic linkage studies suggested that progress in the field would benefit from a workshop on MEN-2 and Nancy Simpson agreed to host the first workshop in Kingston in 1984. This and the five subsequent workshops brought together those interested in the field and resulted in the remarkable advances being made in the diagnosis and treatment of endocrine neoplasias and in the understanding of these conditions and of neoplasia in general.
Lewis Gordon's contribution to the study of communication: Beyond disciplinary decadence

My interest in the present work is to consider how the study of communication necessarily entails an irreducible human presence that not only must be accounted for but which is the only adequate means through which we can assert knowledge and understanding concerning human beings and their inextricable interrelatedness with the social, cultural, and historical world. In developing this point, I feature the work of Lewis Gordon, particularly his notion of “disciplinary decadence,” as a way of suggesting how in the study of communication we can pursue a direct, demanding, and thoroughgoing account of the human presence in our work and therefore also develop a greater capacity to examine the human values conveyed and thusly produced in the immediacy of embodied experience. Through Gordon's work, we can see ways of studying communication that return us to the very vibrancy of life that sustains healthy human communities, both inside and outside of the academy.
HERSCHEL-RESOLVED OUTER BELTS OF TWO-BELT DEBRIS DISKS AROUND A-TYPE STARS: HD 70313, HD 71722, HD 159492, AND F-TYPE: HD 104860*

We present dual-band Herschel/Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer imaging for four stars whose spectral energy distributions (SEDs) suggest two-ring disk architectures that mirror that of the asteroid–Kuiper Belt geometry of our own solar system. The Herschel observations at 100 μm spatially resolve the cold/outer-dust component for each star–disk system for the first time, finding evidence of planetesimals at >100 AU, i.e., a larger size than assumed from a simple blackbody fit to the SED. By breaking the degeneracy between the grain properties and the dust’s radial location, the resolved images help constrain the dust grain-size distribution for each system. Three of the observed stars are A-type and one solar-type. On the basis of the combined Spitzer/IRS+MIPS (5–70 μm), the Herschel/PACS (100 and 160 μm) dataset, and under the assumption of idealized spherical grains, we find that the cold/outer belts of the three A-type stars are well fit with a mixed ice/rock composition rather than pure rocky grains, while the debris around the solar-type star is consistent with either rock or ice/rock grains. For the solar-type star HD 104860, we find that the minimum grain size is larger than expected from the threshold set by radiative blowout. The A-type stars HD 71722 and HD 159492, on the other hand, require minimum grain sizes that are smaller than blowout for inner- and outer-ring populations. In the absence of spectral features for ice, we find that the behavior of the continuum can help constrain the composition of the grains (of icy nature and not pure rocky material) given the Herschel-resolved locations of the cold/outer-dust belts.
Narrow grass hedge effects on nutrient transport following variable manure application

Nutrient transport in runoff has been shown to be reduced by the placement of stiff-stemmed grass hedges on the contour along a hill slope. This study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of a narrow grass hedge in reducing runoff nutrient transport soon after manure application. Beef cattle manure was applied to a silty clay loam soil at rates required to meet 0, 1, 2 or 4-year corn P requirements. Supplemental inorganic N fertilizer was also added at rates necessary to meet a 1-year nutrient requirement. Three 30-minute simulated rainfall events, separated by 24-hour intervals, were then applied. Runoff water quality characteristics were measured from 0.75-m wide x 4.0-m long plots. Manure application rate significantly affected the transport of DP and TP in runoff on the treatments without a grass hedge. However, DP and TP transport were not significantly affected by manure application rate on the hedge treatments. The grass hedge reduced runoff transport of DP and TP on the plots where manure was applied to values similar to those measured on the zero manure treatment. The transport of NO3-N, NH4-N, and TN in runoff was significantly less on the hedge than the no-hedge treatments. No significant differences in EC values were found among manure application rates for the hedge condition. Each of the runoff water quality parameters were significantly affected by runoff rate. The experimental results indicate that stiff-stemmed grass hedges can significantly reduce the transport of nutrients in runoff occurring soon after manure application.
WE‐C‐BRA‐10: Ultrasound Nakagami Imaging for Noninvasive Evaluation of Vaginal Fibrosis Following Radiotherapy for Gynecologic Malignancies

Purpose:Radiation therapy is an important treatment modality for most gynecologic (GYN) malignancies. However, radiation‐induced vaginal fibrosis is a debilitating side‐effect, affecting 80% of women post pelvic or vaginal radiotherapy. Vaginal fibrosis leads to pain, sexual dysfunction, and poor quality of life. This study's purpose is to develop an ultrasonictissue characterization technique based on Nakagami parameter imaging to evaluate vaginal fibrosis. Methods: We investigated the Nakagami imaging concept in a pilot study of 10 patients. All patients were previously diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Four patients who received surgery alone served as the control group. Six patients received surgery plus radiotherapy, and the follow‐up time ranged from 12 to 38 months after radiotherapy. Each participant underwent one transvaginal ultrasound study with a 7.5 MHz biplane probe. Three transverse images of the anterior vaginal wall were acquired in a 2 cm step‐wise progression from the apex (vaginal cuff) to the introitus (vagina opening). Vaginal wall thickness, Nakagami probability density function (PDF), and Nakagami parameter were calculated to evaluate radiation‐induced vaginal injury. Results: Significant differences in vaginal wall thickness and Nakagami PDF were observed between the post‐irradiation and non‐irradiated vaginal walls. The average vaginal wall thicknesses were 1.99±0.54 mm for the control group and 4.81±1.55 mm for the post‐irradiation group (p<0.01). The average Nakagami PDF values were 2.05±0.13E‐3 for the control and 3.54±0.40E‐3 for the post‐irradiation group (p<0.001). The average Nakagami parameter values were 0.92±0.31 for the control group and 1.31±0.12 for the post‐ irradiation group (p=0.15). Vaginal fibrosis appears to be associated with a thickened vaginal wall and increased Nakagami parameter. Conclusions: In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of using Nakagami imaging to evaluate vaginal fibrosis. Quantitative ultrasound provides a noninvasive, objective means of assessing radiation‐induced vaginal injury. This imaging method may be useful as we try to address vaginal toxicities and sexual dysfunction in women after radiotherapy for GYN malignancies.
Stopping powers from velocity distributions derived from Compton profiles

In the framework of the kinetic theory of stopping it is possible to relate the stopping power of a substance to the velocity distribution of the scatterers, which can be obtained from the Compton profile. This relation is explored, and is used to determine values of the mean excitation energy for Al solid and vapor and gaseous Ar, He, N/sub 2/, and CH/sub 4/. The mean excitation energy is determined as the value which within the kinetic theory gives the best fit to measured or calculated stopping cross sections.
Evolution of the MTA architecture: the impact of security

As the Internet matured, security became more important and formerly adequate designs became inadequate. One of the victims of the increased need for security was *sendmail*. This paper shows how its competitors improved on its design in response to the increased need for security. The designers of *qmail* and *Postfix* used well-known patterns to achieve better security without affecting performance; these patterns can be used by the designers of other systems with an increased need for security. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Big Food and the Body Politics of Personal Responsibility

Under the threat of obesity-related legal claims, food industry advocates have responded with rhetorical efforts to articulate obesity to a body politics of “personal responsibility.” This article extends Laclau and Mouffe's (1985) theory of articulation to Foucault's (1977) spectacle of the scaffold to critique verbal and visual articulatory efforts that position “personal responsibility” alongside social values such as “common sense” and “consumer choice” and against a shamed fat body. The article offers an extended critique of publicity campaigns by the Center for Consumer Freedom in which the fat body is used as an object of disdain and ridicule—a shaming signifier deployed to silence suggestions that the food industry bear some responsibility for American obesity.
The Effects of Social Desirability and Faking on Personality and Integrity Assessment for Personnel Selection

A review of the extant literature and new empirical research suggests that social desirability is not much of a concern in personality and integrity testing for personnel selection. In particular, based on meta-analytically derived evidence, it appears that social desirability influences do not destroy the convergent and discriminant validity of the Big Five dimensions of personality (Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness). We also present new empirical evidence regarding gender and age differences in socially desirable re- sponding. Although social desirability predicts a number of important work variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and supervisor ratings of training success, social desirability does not seem to be a predictor of overall job performance and is only very weakly related to specific dimensions of job performance such as technical proficiency (r = -.07) and personal discipline ( r = .05). Large sample investi...
Righting ability and skeletal muscle properties of phenytoin-treated dystrophic chickens.

Abstract Chickens with an inherited muscular dystrophy (line 413) and genetically related normal controls (line 412) were treated with phenytoin (diphenylhydantoin, DPH) on Days 1 through 40 ex ovo . DPH (20 mg/kg, intraperitoneally, b.i.d.) and a combination of DPH and intermittent “exercise” (twice-daily testing of righting ability) beneficially affected muscle function, morphology, and biochemistry. DPH dramatically improved the righting ability of dystrophic chicks, and the exhaustion scores of many treated birds were still as high as those of normal chicks after 30 days of treatment. Muscles from chicks killed after 27 to 40 days of treatment had decreased fiber diameters, increased lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, and reduced acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase activities. The effects of DPH were more pronounced in the posterior latissimus dorsi than in the pectoral muscle and were potentiated by exercise. Exercise alone produced a transient increase in righting ability and increased LDH activity of dystrophic muscles. The abnormal, rounded appearance of dystrophic muscle fibers was not altered by treatments. Research reported elsewhere showed that DPH partially corrected abnormal electromyographic activity of dystrophic chicken muscles. The data presented here show that other symptoms of avian dystrophy are also alleviated by DPH and suggest that abnormal membrane activity plays an important role in this myopathy.
Covalent titanium aryldioxy one-, two-, and three-dimensional networks and their examination as Ziegler-Natta catalysts.

Treatment of (iPrO)4Ti with 2,7-dihydroxynaphthalene at 100 °C afforded the one-dimensional ladder [cis-Ti(μ2,7-OC10H6O)2py2]n (1: C30H22N2O4Ti, orthorhombic, P212121, a = 9.866(2) A, b = 15.962(3) A, c = 16.223(3) A, Z = 4), in pyridine, and the stacked ladder, two-dimensional [Ti(μ2,7-OC10H6O)2(4-picoline)2·(4-picoline)0.5]n (2: C70H59N5O8Ti2, triclinic, P1, a = 10.814(2) A, b = 16.785(3) A, c = 18.020(4) A, α = 93.88(3)°, β = 107.31(3)°, γ = 108.77(3)°, Z = 2), in 4-picoline. A disruption of intramolecular edge-to-face and intermolecular face-to-face π-stacking interactions in 1 by the Me group of the 4-picoline causes the structural change to 2. These derivatives and related two- and three-dimensional covalent metal organic networks (CMON) were assayed for ethylene and propylene polymerization activity via the addition of methylaluminoxane. CMON are mediocre Ziegler−Natta catalysts that generate polydisperse, linear polyethylene and atactic polypropylene. The data are best accommodated by viewing t...