cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Automated Stenosis Classification of Carotid Artery Sonography using Deep Neural Networks

Carotid duplex sonography is an ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging technique used to reveal structural details of carotid arteries for hemodynamic changes and plaque morphology assessment. Deep convolutional neural networks were utilized to classify sonographic images into four categories based on learned features of internal carotid artery blood flow rate. Rather than build networks from scratch, model weights from three pretrained architectures were utilized and fine-tuned to accelerate task learning. A 50 layer residual network was evaluated as a feature generator for carotid stenosis identification. Moreover, a Gaussian process model utilized expected improvement acquisition to perform global hyperparameter optimization. An adversarial network mitigated class imbalance by generating 2500 severe category images for data augmentation. Finally, an ensemble meta-learner was constructed that calculated a weighted average of classifier probabilities. Distinct sonographic datasets were utilized for building two 4-ary classification models that achieved peak test metric performance accuracies of 98.37% and 97.26% respectively.
Justicia contra el epistemicidio. Hacia una breve crítica de la razón occidental moderna

Este articulo aborda y disecciona las huellas contemporaneas de la Modernidad Eurocentrica Occidental que conducen a la gran regresion global actual, que necesita ser contextualizada dentro de la crisis del yugo de la razon Eurocentrica Occidental Moderna. Al hacerlo, adelantare una critica a dicho razonamiento –que es la matriz del epistemicidio–, desentranare su despotismo teorico y metodologico y argumentare que el modelo de Modernidad Cartesiana Occidental, como matriz hegemonica eugenesica, con su arrogante pretension de abordar la justicia global, no solo esta moribundo, sino que esta muerto. La modernidad, fue/es un sueno enganoso, un juego acabado. En este contexto, defiendo la necesidad de abrir los canones teoricos y metodologicos, de ir mas alla de las plataformas epistemologicas Eurocentricas Occidentales Modernas, de desafiar la occidentosis educativa y curricular y de pensar alternativamente en opciones para trabajar metodologicamente hacia la justicia social y cognitiva e intergeneracional. Llamo a los educadores a liderar la lucha justa contra el epistemicidio educativo y curricular trabajando dentro de una teoria curricular educativa itinerante y una pedagogia de la sociedad, una teoria de los pueblos, defendiendo asi los dialogos no relativistas entre el Norte y el Sur global y dentro del Norte y el Sur.
Consequences of ignoring dispersal variation in network models for landscape connectivity

Habitat loss and fragmentation can negatively influence population persistence and biodiversity, but the effects can be mitigated if species successfully disperse between isolated habitat patches. Network models are the primary tool for quantifying landscape connectivity, yet in practice, an overly simplistic view of species dispersal is applied. These models often ignore individual variation in dispersal ability under the assumption that all individuals move the same fixed distance with equal probability. We developed a modeling approach to address this problem. We incorporated dispersal kernels into network models to determine how individual variation in dispersal alters understanding of landscape-level connectivity and implemented our approach on a fragmented grassland landscape in Minnesota. Ignoring dispersal variation consistently overestimated a population's robustness to local extinctions and underestimated its robustness to local habitat loss. Furthermore, a simplified view of dispersal underestimated the amount of habitat substructure for small populations but overestimated habitat substructure for large populations. Our results demonstrate that considering biologically realistic dispersal alters understanding of landscape connectivity in ecological theory and conservation practice.
Antiemetic medication efficacy during EPOCH and R-EPOCH treatment.

IntroductionThis study aims to determine the adequacy of current institutional standard practice for CINV prophylaxis for EPOCH and R-EPOCH at The Ohio State University James Cancer Hospital.Method...
Education in Japan: a comprehensive analysis of reforms and practices: edited by Yuto Kitamura, Toshiyuki Omomo, and Masaaki Katsuno, Sinagpore, Springer, 2019, xii + 241 pp., RRP £59.00 (hardback) IBSN 978-981-13-262-5

Across the world there is evidence that national investments in education can lead to national and regional economic advantage and, further, to business success. Overall, Japan remains one of the l...
Membrane-partitioned cell wall synthesis in mycobacteria

Many antibiotics target the assembly of cell wall peptidoglycan, an essential, heteropolymeric mesh that encases most bacteria. In rod-shaped bacteria, cell wall elongation is spatially precise yet relies on limited pools of lipid-linked precursors that generate and are attracted to membrane disorder. By tracking enzymes, substrates, and products of peptidoglycan biosynthesis in Mycobacterium smegmatis, we show that precursors are made in plasma membrane domains that are laterally and biochemically distinct from sites of cell wall assembly. Membrane partitioning likely contributes to robust, orderly peptidoglycan synthesis, suggesting that these domains help template peptidoglycan synthesis. The cell wall-organizing protein DivIVA and the cell wall itself promote domain homeostasis. These data support a model in which the peptidoglycan polymer feeds back on its membrane template to maintain an environment conducive to directional synthesis. Our findings are applicable to rod-shaped bacteria that are phylogenetically distant from M. smegmatis, indicating that horizontal compartmentalization of precursors may be a general feature of bacillary cell wall biogenesis.
Archiving affect and activism: Hashtag feminism and structures of feeling in Women's March tweets

On 21 January 2017, over three million women participated in the Women’s March throughout the U.S., one day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. This article investigates the digital component of this historic protest as a powerful moment of hashtag feminism, one that exemplifies the vital role of affect in contributing to social change. Through qualitative analysis of 2,600 #WhyIMarch tweets from the day of the March, we identify the rhetorical strategies that best leverage affect to further the social justice goals of the March — dedications, personal narratives, the use of first-person, and the use of humor — and describe the affective outcomes of these strategies, including motivational affect, vicarious affect, and collective affect. Using Raymond Williams’ concept of “structures of feeling,” we argue that these rhetorical strategies and their affective outcomes create a digital archive of affect that captures the cultural climate surrounding the Women’s March and mediates the way this cultural moment is affectively remembered. This study reveals that affect is vital for effective hashtag feminism
Food Program Participation Influences Nutrition Practices in Early Care and Education Settings.

Abstract Objective To determine differences by Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) participation on nutrition requirements and best practices and barriers to implementing both in early care and education programs (ECEs) stratified by context (centers vs home-based ECEs). Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Three-thousand and fourteen licensed Nebraska ECEs in 2017. Participants One-thousand three hundred forty-five ECEs. Main Outcome Measure(s) Director-reported nutrition practices in classrooms serving children aged 2-5 years (8 requirements for foods served, 5 best practices for foods served, and 14 best practices for mealtime behaviors). Analysis Chi-square analysis adjusted for multiple comparisons. Results Of the sample, 86.8% participated in CACFP, 21.7% were center-based, and 78.3% were home-based. Overall, CACFP participation was related to the higher implementation of CACFP requirements for foods served (P Conclusion and Implications Findings suggest strengthening of requirements to include staff mealtime behaviors beyond service of healthful foods. Improving CACFP enrollment and including CACFP standards in state licensing requirements may be key strategies for improving nutrition practices in ECEs.
Efficient Variational Graph Autoencoders for Unsupervised Cross-domain Prerequisite Chains.

Prerequisite chain learning helps people acquire new knowledge efficiently. While people may quickly determine learning paths over concepts in a domain, finding such paths in other domains can be challenging. We introduce Domain-Adversarial Variational Graph Autoencoders (DAVGAE) to solve this cross-domain prerequisite chain learning task efficiently. Our novel model consists of a variational graph autoencoder (VGAE) and a domain discriminator. The VGAE is trained to predict concept relations through link prediction, while the domain discriminator takes both source and target domain data as input and is trained to predict domain labels. Most importantly, this method only needs simple homogeneous graphs as input, compared with the current state-of-the-art model. We evaluate our model on the LectureBankCD dataset, and results show that our model outperforms recent graph-based benchmarks while using only 1/10 of graph scale and 1/3 computation time.
A Novel Cellular Therapy to Treat Pancreatic Pain in Experimental Chronic Pancreatitis Using Human Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Overexpressing Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is characterized by pancreatic inflammation, fibrosis, and abdominal pain that is challenging to treat. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) overexpressing human alpha-1 antitrypsin (hAAT-MSCs) showed improved mobility and protective functions over native MSCs in nonobese diabetic mice. We investigated whether hAAT-MSCs could mitigate CP and its associated pain using trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced CP mouse models. CP mice were given native human MSCs or hAAT-MSCs (0.5 × 106 cells/mouse, i.v., n = 6–8/group). The index of visceral pain was measured by graduated von Frey filaments. Pancreatic morphology and pancreatic mast cell count were analyzed by morphological stains. Nociceptor transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) expression in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) was determined by immunohistochemistry. hAAT-MSC-treated CP mice best preserved pancreatic morphology and histology. MSC or hAAT-MSC infusion reduced abdominal pain sensitivities. hAAT-MSC therapy also suppressed TRPV1 expression in DRG and reduced pancreatic mast cell density induced by TNBS. Overall, hAAT-MSCs reduced pain and mitigated pancreatic inflammation in CP equal to MSCs with a trend toward a higher pancreatic weight and better pain relief in the hAAT-MSC group compared to the MSC group. Both MSCs and hAAT-MSCs might be used as a novel therapeutic tool for CP-related pain.
ANOTHER INTEGER NUMBER ALGORITHM TO SOLVE LINEAR EQUATIONS (USING CONGRUENCY)

In this section is presented a new integer number algorithm for linear equation. This algorithm is more “rapid” than W. Sierpinski’s presented in [1] in the sense that it reaches the general solution after a smaller number of iterations. Its correctness will be thoroughly demonstrated.
Identification of Biologically Significant Elements Using Correlation Networks in High Performance Computing Environments

Network modeling of high throughput biological data has emerged as a popular tool for analysis in the past decade. Among the many types of networks available, the correlation network model is typically used to represent gene expression data generated via microarray or RNAseq, and many of the structures found within the correlation network have been found to correspond to biological function. The recently described gateway node is a gene that is found structurally to be co-regulated with distinct groups of genes at different conditions or treatments; the resulting structure is typically two clusters connected by one or a few nodes within a multi-state network. As network size and dimensionality grows, however, the methods proposed to identify these gateway nodes require parallelization to remain efficient and computationally feasible. In this research we present our method for identifying gateway nodes in three datasets using a high performance computing environment: quiescence in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, brain aging in Mus Musculus, and the effects of creatine on aging in Mus musculus. We find that our parallel method improves runtime and performs equally as well as sequential approach.
Searching at the right time of day: Evidence for aqueous minerals in Columbus crater with TES and THEMIS data

The primary objective of the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) experiment, which has been in orbit at Mars since early 2002, is to identify minerals associated with hydrothermal and subaqueous environments. Data from THEMIS have supported the presence of clays, silica-rich deposits, and chlorides but has not before provided definitive evidence for the presence of sulfates. This is an especially puzzling result given that sulfates have been extensively identified with other instruments at Mars. If present, sufficiently exposed, and in high enough abundances, such minerals should be detectable in orbital thermal infrared spectra at the resolution of THEMIS. The extended mission proposal for THEMIS on Mars Odyssey suggests that the detection of all minerals may be enhanced by observing at an earlier time of day and thus at warmer temperatures. Therefore, in 2009, Odyssey moved to an earlier orbit time. Here, we examine THEMIS data collected when the earlier orbit time coincided with the Martian local (southern) late summer (Ls = 270) for Columbus crater where Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) data have detected a number of aqueous minerals. Some of the warmest THEMIS images show evidence for aqueous minerals, although not in the same locations where CRISM finds the highest concentrations. Several factors contribute to this result, including differences in the diurnal temperature curve and levels of induration and particle size. For THEMIS, earlier time-of-day and proper seasonal observations combine to provide warm surface temperatures and ideal low atmospheric opacity that significantly increases the ability to definitively identify low spectral contrast aqueous minerals at the surface of Mars.
Semantic small world: an overlay network for peer-to-peer search

For a peer-to-peer (P2P) system holding massive amount of data, efficient semantic based search for resources (such as data or services) is a key determinant to its scalability. This work presents the design of an overlay network, namely semantic small world (SSW), that facilitates efficient semantic based search in P2P systems. SSW is based on three innovative ideas: 1) small world network; 2) semantic clustering; 3) dimension reduction. Peers in SSW are clustered according to the semantics of their local data and self-organized as a small world overlay network. To address the maintenance issue of high dimensional overlay networks, a dynamic dimension reduction method, called adaptive space linearization, is used to construct a one-dimensional SSW that supports operations in the high dimensional semantic space. SSW achieves a very competitive trade-off between the search latencies/traffic and maintenance overheads. Through extensive simulations, we show that SSW is much more scalable to very large network sizes and very large numbers of data objects compared to pSearch, the state-of-the-art semantic-based search technique for P2P systems. In addition, SSW is adaptive to distribution of data and locality of interest; is very resilient to failures; and has good load balancing property.
Human CD34+ Bone Marrow Cells Regulate Stromal Production of Interleukin-6 and Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor and Increase the Colony-Stimulating Activity of Stroma

Cytokines produced by stromal cells induce the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic cells in the marrow microenvironment. We hypothesized that cross-talk between hematopoietic cells at different stages of differentiation and stromal cells influences stromal cytokine production and is responsible for maintaining steady-state hematopoiesis and responding to stress situations. We show that coculture of primitive CD34(+) cells in contact with or separated by a transwell membrane from irradiated human bone marrow stromal layers induces a fourfold to fivefold increase in interleukin-6 (IL-6) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) levels in the stromal supernatant (SN) during the first week. Levels of both cytokines decreased to baseline after coculture of CD34(+) cells for 3 to 5 weeks. Coculture of more mature CD15(+)/CD14(-) myeloid precursors induced only a transient 1.5- to 2-fold increase in IL-6 and G-CSF at 48 hours. Neither CD34(+) nor CD15(+)/CD14(-) cells produced IL-6, G-CSF, IL-1beta, or tumor necrosis factor alpha. When CD34(+) cells were cultured in methylcellulose medium supplemented with cytokines at concentrations found in stromal SN or supplemented with stromal SN, a fourfold to fivefold increase in colony formation was seen over cultures supplemented with erythropoietin (EPO) only. When cultures were supplemented with the increased concentrations of IL-6 and G-CSF detected in cocultures of stroma and CD34(+) cells or when CD34(+) cells were cocultured in methylcellulose medium in a transwell above a stromal layer, a further increase in the number and size of colonies was seen. The colony-forming unit-granulocyte-macrophage-stimulating activity of stromal SN was neutralized by antibodies against G-CSF or IL-6. These studies indicate that primitive CD34(+) progenitors provide a soluble positive feedback signal to induce cytokine production by stromal cells and that the observed increase in cytokine levels is biologically relevant.
SCORE: symbiotic context oriented information retrieval

Much of the data in an enterprise is strictly-typed and thus can be meaningfully decomposed at a fine granularity and stored in a relational database. Such data is mostly operational business data (e.g. sales, accounting, payroll, inventory), and has been the mainstay of the RDBMS products like DB2.
Public Health Systems and Services Research: Building the Evidence Base to Improve Public Health Practice

Public health services and systems research (PHSSR) is the American designation for a field that uses a number of research disciplines and perspectives to examine the organization of public health systems, how they are financed, how they deliver public health services, the quality and costs of services they deliver, and the impact of variations in all these areas on population health; it is closely related to health services research (HSR), and uses many of the same methods as HSR. This article traces the developmental path of PHSSR, identifies organizations that have been critical in its growth, provides examples of PHSSR that demonstrate the potential it has to improve public health practice, and discusses the future of PHSSR and the use of PHSSR to influence public policy. While there have been sporadic attempts to examine the public health system in the United States since the early 20th century, PHSSR has only been a formally recognized area of scientific inquiry since the early 2000s. PHSSR has experienced rapid growth, and evolved from mainly descriptive research to inferential research, and towards yielding results that suggest causation rather that correlation. While PHSSR as a field shows great promise to improve public health practice, in order for it to fulfill that promise it is vital that PHSSR produce results that are of use to the practice and policy making communities.
Mucus and iron absorption regulation in rats fed various levels of dietary iron.

We tested two hypotheses: (1) that iron binding by secreted mucus enhances iron absorption and (2) that iron binding by secreted mucus prevents excess iron absorption. Rats were fed diets containing 6, 200 or 500 mg Fe/kg diet (Fe-0, Fe-200 and Fe-500 rats, respectively) for 3 wk. Iron absorption was measured in fasted rats using 59FeCl3 in a 10-min in situ duodenal ligated-segment procedure. After draining the segment contents, the mucus layer was separated from the under-lying mucosal surface using Quarterman's agar cast technique. In comparison with that in Fe-200 rats, iron absorption in Fe-0 rats was markedly increased, but the 59Fe and the total mucus in the mucus layer were decreased. The 59Fe absorption and total mucus and total iron in the mucus layer were similar in Fe-500 rats and Fe-200 rats, but the 59Fe in the mucus layer was marginally lower in Fe-500 rats. There was no evidence that mucus enhanced iron absorption; it appeared to trap or bind iron proportionally to the amount of secreted mucus, suggesting protection against excess absorption. Mucus secretion and possibly synthesis were decreased in the Fe-0 rats.
Dispersion monitoring and compensation using a single inband subcarrier tone

We demonstrate a simple technique for dispersion monitoring by adding a single inband tone to the data. Our technique has high accuracy and an easily reconfigurable measurement range. Dispersion compensation is also demonstrated using the monitor's output.
Function of sll1906, a Member of the Bacteriochlorophyll Delivery Family, in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

A deletion mutation was introduced into the sll1906 gene in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to examine the function of Sll1906, a member of the putative “bacteriochlorophyll delivery” protein family. The Sll1906 sequence contains possible chlorophyll-binding sites. The pigment profile indicated that the chlorophyll and carotenoids contents were not altered in the mutant, and no chlorophyll precursors accumulated. According to the oxygen evolution and 77 K fluorescence emission spectra, the PSII activity and PSII/PSI ratio remained the same upon deletion of the gene. The sll1906 deletion was also introduced into the chlL− background mutant strain, in which chlorophyll is synthesized in the light only. When grown in light-activated heterotrophic growth (LAHG) conditions, the rate of chlorophyll degradation in the chlL − sll1906 − mutant was similar to that in the chlL − background strain. When cells were returned to continuous illumination after a week of growth under LAHG conditions, both the rate of chlorophyll synthesis and chlorophyll-dependent photosystem biogenesis were monitored. The deletion of the sll1906 gene affected neither. Although the sll1906 deletion did not affect chlorophyll degradation/biosynthesis and photosystem assembly, Sll1906 could still be involved in these processes as other pathways may compensate for the absence of Sll1906.
Putting your best “face” forward: The role of emotion‐based well‐being in organizational research

Summary Organizational researchers have long been interested in the role played by employee “happiness” in workplace life. What remains less clear is what exactly constitutes happiness. The present purpose is not to invent a new definition of happiness. Rather the goal is to present the extant body of knowledge about “happiness” in a more manageable and consistent manner to assist future research endeavors. To that end, an overview of the literature is provided, which summarizes the differing approaches to the study of the “happiness” and “well-being” constructs into a more coherent framework. More specifically, the four faces of happiness taxonomy is used to highlight the conceptual diversity of happiness. These four faces include objective indicators, eudaimonic well-being, facets of satisfaction, and emotion-based conceptualizations of well-being. The present research highlights the importance of emotion-based measures of well-being (Category 4) in the prediction of such important organizational variables as job performance and employee retention. Several avenues for future research endeavors on workplace happiness and well-being are suggested, including the possibility of additional faces of happiness. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Teaching Road Signs and Traffic Laws to Learning Disabled Students.

phasize teaching how to drive. However, in most states a temporary permit is a prerequisite to driving. Obtaining such a permit usually involves passing a vision test and a test on traffic laws, safety rules, road signs, signals, and pavement markings (Bogue, 1979). Little, if any, research has been reported on obtaining a temporary permit as a part of driver education. Normally, students are expected to read the state motor vehicle digest and pass the test (Knowles, 1978). While this is an effective approach for most students, it poses a serious handicap to students with deficient reading skills. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a driver education unit designed to teach eight learning disabled youths the skills necessary to pass the written test on road signs and traffic laws required by the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles (ODMV) to obtain a temporary permit. All instruction was conducted in a special resource room called the Visual Response System. Visual Response System The Visual Response System (VRS) is a classroom specially designed to provide students with opportunities for individual response. Student desks, each with a built-in overhead projector and point counter, are arranged in a horseshoe configuration with the teacher's desk at the open end. Students respond on the stage of their overhead projector by writing on transparencies, putting down 3" x 3" acetate response slides, or performing tasks on diagrams of street maps. All overhead projectors are focused on screens behind each student's desk, thus allowing the teacher to easily see all the students' projected
Teaching restorative justice: developing a restorative andragogy for face-to-face, online and hybrid course modalities

Teaching restorative justice in an academic setting is different from teaching almost any other academic course. Courses taught in the context of academic criminal justice programs tend to reinforce the structural inequalities in society, replicated and reinforced by instructor driven classroom experiences. In contrast, effective teaching of restorative justice should emulate the values of principles of restorative justice in the organization and management of the course. Teachers of restorative justice must ‘walk the talk’ and apply restorative principles and values to the design and delivery of the course itself. A conceptual framework for ‘restorative andragogy’ is developed that blends principles and values of adult learning with those of restorative justice. Four principles of this approach are identified and applied across three instructional modalities – face-to-face, online only, and hybrid courses. This approach provides a theoretically grounded model for effective teaching of restorative justice...
Long-term results of treatment for ureteroenteric strictures.

Abstract Objectives. To review the long-term outcome for ureteroenteric stricture treatment. Methods. The ileal conduit diversions that formed ureteroenteric strictures from 1966 to 1999 were reviewed. The strictures were diagnosed radiographically, and malignancy was excluded. The treatment, location, length, diameter, and timing of stricture development after conduit creation was evaluated and compared regarding the time until stricture recurrence (failure). Success was defined as symptomatic improvement and radiologic evidence of patency. Results. Forty patients, after exclusions, returned for ureteroenteric stricture repair, comprising 79 procedures (27 open repairs and 52 balloon dilations). The open repair had a success rate at 1, 2, and 3 years of 92%, 87%, and 76%, respectively. Seven of the open cases were preceded by failed dilations. Balloon dilation had a success rate at 1, 2, and 3 years of 15%, 15%, and 5%, respectively ( P = 0.0001 versus open). Similar patency results for open versus balloon ( P = 0.0001) were noted with analysis restricted to each patient’s first stricture repair. Strictures greater than 1.0 cm were more likely to recur ( P = 0.03). All strictures forming within 6 months of the conduit creation were treated with dilation and failed within 1 year. Of note, 11 of the 40 patients were found to have less than 25% renal function on the strictured side. Conclusions. Open repair for ureteroenteric strictures offers excellent long-term patency (76% at 3 years, P = 0.0001). On review, balloon dilation appeared to have less successful patency rates and was often followed by open repair after failure. Patients with a history of anastomotic strictures should be closely monitored to avoid renal damage and failure.
Comparative Study of Titanium Dioxide Atomic Layer Deposition on Silicon Dioxide and Hydrogen-Terminated Silicon

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of amorphous titanium dioxide (TiO2) at 100 °C using the precursors titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) and water (H2O) was studied on two different surfaces by in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The initial growth rate on hydroxyl-enriched silicon dioxide (SiO2) is found to be higher than on hydrogen-terminated silicon. Moreover, the data show that the growth rate is accelerated during the first several ALD cycles on both surfaces. The interface between the SiO2 substrate and TiO2 is abrupt and composed of Si−O−Ti bonds. On the hydrogen-terminated silicon surface, the XPS results provide evidence of direct Si−Ti bond formation without traces of interfacial oxide. However, a silicon oxide layer forms on this surface after vacuum annealing, concurrent with the reduction of TiO2, suggesting that the TiO2 film is the oxygen source for the silicon oxidation under these conditions. Chlorine incorporates into the TiO2 films on both surfaces and is found to concentrate near ...
Projected Survival Gains from Revising State Laws Requiring Written Opt-in Consent for HIV Testing

Background Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends HIV testing in all settings unless patients refuse (opt-out consent), many state laws require written opt-in consent.
Effect of nedocromil sodium on specific mediator- and antigen-induced airway responses in allergic sheep

This study evaluated the airway effects of nedocromil sodium in the sheep model of allergic bronchoconstriction. Nedocromil sodium provided statistically significant protection against both reflex- and mediator-induced bronchoconstriction in allergic sheep as assessed by bronchial responses to inhaled bradykinin and platelet-activating factor, respectively. When administered before antigen challenge, nedocromil sodium blocked both the immediate and late asthmatic response and prevented the subsequent increase in airway hyperresponsiveness. The protective effect of nedocromil sodium against the antigen-induced late response was associated with a significant decrease in the number of airway eosinophils measured by bronchoalveolar lavage. Although nedocromil sodium has no direct bronchodilatory activity, it prevented antigen-induced contractions in sheep tracheal smooth muscle in vitro. These results suggest that nedocromil sodium is active in the sheep model of allergic bronchoconstriction and may be useful in the treatment of reversible obstructive airway disease in human beings.
Low-Energy Deposition of High-Strength AI(O) Alloys From an ECR Plasma

Low-energy deposition of Al(O) alloys from an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma offers a scaleable method for the synthesis of thick, high-strength Al layers. This work compares alloy layers formed by an ECR-0{sub 2} plasma in conjunction with Al evaporation to 0-implanted Al (ion energies 25-200 keV); and it examines the effects of volume fraction of A1{sub 2}0{sub 3} phase and deposition temperature on the yield stress of the material. TEM showed the Al(O) alloys contain a dense dispersion of small {gamma}-Al{sub 2}0{sub 3} precipitates ({approximately}l nm) in a fine-grain (10-100 nm) fcc Al matrix when deposited at a temperature of {approximately}100C, similar to the microstructure for gigapascal-strength 0-implanted Al. Nanoindentation gave hardnesses for ECR films from 1.1 to 3.2 GPa, and finite-element modeling gave yield stresses up to 1.3 {plus_minus} 0.2 GPa with an elastic modulus of 66 GPa {plus_minus} 6 GPa (similar to pure bulk Al). The yield stress of a polycrystalline pure Al layer was only 0.19 {plus_minus} 0.02 GPa, which was increased to 0.87 {plus_minus} 0.15 GPa by implantation with 5 at. % 0.
Intraoperative aberrometry-assisted toric IOL exchange following unexpected surgically induced astigmatism

A 74-year-old man with a preoperative manifest refraction of −3.00 +1.00 × 25 had cataract extraction and implantation of a toric intraocular lens (IOL). Although the IOL power was chosen according to the surgical records and accurately aligned on the target axis at the follow-up examination, the incision apparently induced enough surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) to make the cornea spherical. The patient was dissatisfied with the resulting flipped axis and 20/60 uncorrected acuity. Intraoperative aberrometry confirmed that the cornea was now spherical. An IOL exchange was performed with placement of a 22.0 diopter nontoric IOL. The second surgery was complicated by early capsule phimosis. Because it can measure true aphakic corneal astigmatism intraoperatively, intraoperative aberrometry can be useful in preventing IOL exchanges due to anomalous SIA. Financial Disclosure The author has no financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
Interstitial-nitrogen- and oxygen-induced magnetism in Gd-doped GaN

The observed ferromagnetism in Gd-doped GaN appears to arise from lattice defects incorporated along with Gd rather than from Gd itself. A previous model, invoking Ga vacancies as the primary defect responsible for the magnetism is here argued to be unlikely because Ga vacancies have a high energy of formation in the neutral charge state that carries magnetic moment. Interstitial nitrogen as well as oxygen in octahedral sites next to Gd are shown to be a more likely source of defect induced magnetism. They not only support magnetic moments and ferromagnetic coupling in semi-insulating conditions but are also energetically attracted toward the Gd and energetically more likely to form in the presence of Gd.
“The Manager and His Job Skills” —Some Comments

The article presents a letter to the editor in response to the September 1967 article “The Manager and His Job Skills,” by Kenneth McLennan.
Laser durability improvement of deep UV fluoride coatings

Fluoride materials are typically used as optical coatings for Deep UV applications such as semiconductor lithography steppers/scanners equipped ArF excimer laser (193nm). To extend its lifetime, laser durability of fluoride optical coatings deposited by conventional thermal evaporation method were investigated. From relation between coating defects amount and LIDT, it was apparent the laser durability of fluoride multilayer coatings are strongly spoiled by their coating defects. These defects are observed by naked eyes, Nomarski microscopy, AFM and SEM for more details. Finally it was found that defects broke the coating structures.
A Psychoanalytic Study of Rembrandt's Self-Portraits.

We recall Paul Federn, who knew Freud personally and was our teacher, quoting Freud: “When you think of me think of Rembrandt, a little light and a great deal of darkness.” Our study attempts to link the two. Shakespeare and Rembrandt are only one generation apart. Both contributed to humanity’s capacity to turn our gaze inward; obtaining license from Freud’s “family romance” fantasies we claim both as ancestors of psychoanalysis. In spite of what Freud said, the psychoanalytic literature on Rembrandt is sparse. This may well be due to the fact that so little is known of Rembrandt’s biography, but since the same holds true about Shakespeare, we conclude that it is easier for psychoanalysts to obtain data from written words than to read works of art. In this paper we attempt to redress some of this imbalance. The portrait, including the self-portrait, is a latecomer in the history of art. Idealization and monumentalization have taken place earlier. In Greek art, no portrait survived, and in Egyptian art, only the heretic Pharaoh Aknathon has preserved his likeness for posterity. Otherwise, the statue and the actual features of the Pharaoh were of no interest to the builders of Egyptian monuments. However, when Rembrandt came along in the seventeenth century, the art of portraiture at the hands of Raphael, Durer, Titian, and others had reached a high degree of perfection. What Rembrandt introduced into the art of selfportraiture was the enormous variety and changeability of the
Integrated planning for enrollment, facilities, budget, and staffing: Penn State University

Integrated planning promotes collaborative thinking and furnishes mechanisms for linking strategic plans with operational plans.
Synergistic antibody induction by antigen–CD40 ligand fusion protein as improved immunogen

Full scale B-cell activation requires not only B-cell receptor (BCR) engagement with antigen, but also costimulatory signals provided by T helper cells through the CD40-CD40 ligand (CD40L) interaction. It is hypothesized that a fusion protein of an antigen and soluble CD40L (CD40LT) would selectively target the costimulation to antigen-specific B cells, leading to synergy in the antibody response. This hypothesis was investigated by fusing green fluorescence protein (GFP), a generic antigen, with mouse CD40LT. Studies revealed that immunization in mice with the plasmid encoding GFP-CD40LT fusion protein led to synergistic induction of GFP-specific antibodies, while control plasmid(s) for GFP, CD40LT, or GFP plus CD40LT did not. Immunization with a single dose of the fusion protein also provoked a vigorous GFP-specific immunoglobulin G1 antibody response, but not other antibody isotypes. These results suggest that GFP-CD40LT fusion protein induces a GFP-specific B-cell activation and antibody response in an antigen-guided fashion. The potential application of this novel strategy in vaccine development is discussed.
Analysis of the use of specimen mammography in breast conservation therapy

Abstract Background Obtaining tumor-negative margins when performing breast-conserving surgery is the standard of care to prevent local recurrence. We believe two-view specimen mammography is a useful method for intraoperative determination of adequacy of excision. Methods A retrospective review was performed on patients who underwent wire-localized partial mastectomy for invasive cancer in our Breast Center from 2000 to 2001. Two-view specimen mammography reports were compared to the pathologic evaluation. Results Eighty-eight of 93 patients (95%) had complete primary excision. Sixteen patients had additional margins excised at the time of the initial operation based on specimen mammogram. Six patients would have had positive margins had additional excision at the primary surgery not been performed. Conclusions Specimen mammography can help reduce reoperation rate by identifying patients who need additional margin excision at the time of initial surgery for breast conservation therapy. Using two-view specimen mammography, our reoperation rate was reduced from 12% to 5%.
Disrupt, Transgress, and Invent Possibilities: Feminists' Interpretations of Educating for Democratic Citizenship

Abstract This paper explores the possibilities created by feminist and other alternative interpretations of citizenship in democratic societies — particularly as these concepts relate to secondary social studies education. The study involved five women — four secondary social studies teachers and one university-based researcher — in a series of focus group discussions. Each of the study's participants identified individual goals she hoped to obtain through her participation. As the university-based researcher, my goal was to create stories, grounded in our discussions, which would encourage readers to “disrupt, transgress, and invent possibilities” (Fine, 1992, p. xii) about the meaning of citizenship in a postmodern world. In addition, I wanted to explore “how we perform the magical feat of transforming the contents of our consciousness into a public form that others can understand” (Eisner, 1997, p. 4).
Earthquake activity near Ascension Island, South Atlantic Ocean, as seen by a combined seismic/hydrophone array

Abstract Earthquake activity in the vicinity of Ascension Island is studied using data from a recently installed, very broadband seismographic station and a network of ocean hydrophones deployed around the island. The seismic station ASCN recorded 121 local earthquakes over a 188-day period. Distance from ASCN is computed for 41 of these events, most of which occurred at approximately 100 km—the distance to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. A local magnitude scale is calibrated and applied to the same 41 events with mahnitudes ranging from 0.4 to 4.2. Six earthquakes were located using data from the hydrophones and ASCN. Two of the earthquakes occur on the Ascension Fracture Zone 35 km northwest of the island and the other four near the ridge-transform intersection. The locations have errors less than 10 km and frequently less than 3 km. There is no direct evidence for seismicity connected with geothermal activity on Ascension Island during the observation period.
Family structured patterns of mortality in the false Colorado potato beetle

. 1. The distribution of mortality within and among groups of immature Leptinotursu juncta (Germar) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was studied in the field at three points in the life-cycle in order to test whether the fates of individuals occupying the same host plant were non-independent. 2. Studies were conducted on eggs subject to cannibalism and predation, on newly hatched larvae subject to predation, and on older larvae subject to parasitism by Myiophurus doryphorue (Riley), a tachinid fly. 3. At all three points in the life-cycle the variance in group-specific survivorship rates was demonstrated to be significantly greater than expected when individual deaths are distributed randomly among groups, with standardized variances ranging from 42% to 52% of the maximum possible. 4. A statistically significant positive correlation was shown between the number of individuals in a group and the group-specific survivorship rate at all three life stages. 5. The distribution of genetic variants within and among groups of larvae showed the groups to be mixtures of full and half siblings, with an average coefficient of genetic relatedness, r, equal to 0.38.
Single-crystal deuterium NMR study of urea-d4/n-nonadecane

Abstract Single-crystal deuterium NMR spectra of urea-d4/n-nonadecane have been measured as a function of crystal orientation at 303 K. Analysis of the patterns obtained by rotation of the crystal about two orthogonal axes yields values for the deuterium quadrupole coupling constant and asymmetry parameter, as well as detailed information regarding crystal and molecular geometry. In addition, the single-crystal spectra demonstrate that, in the inclusion compound, urea molecules undergo 180° jumps about their carbonyl bonds.
On graphically representing the confidence region for an unknown rotation in three dimensions

Abstract In assessing the errors involved in reconstructing tectonic plate rotations, it is desirable to have confidence regions for the unknown rotation. This paper presents a method for graphing such confidence regions, which exhibits the dependence of the range of possible angles of rotation on the axis considered. Namely, the minimum and maximum angles of rotation are graphed as functions of axis longitude and latitude. A FORTRAN 77 program SPHEREREGRESS is given which, under a variety of probabilistic models for the data, generates grid matrices which are used to draw contour maps of the minimum and maximum angles of rotation.
Foreign-Born Voting Behavior in Local Elections Evidence From New Immigrant Destinations

Approximately half of immigrants to the United States are now settling directly in cities and towns with little prior history of immigration. Because this dispersed settlement pattern is so recent,...
Seeds to monsters: tracing the growth of black holes in the universe

An overview of our current knowledge of black seed formation models following their growth history over cosmic time is presented. Both light seed formation channels remnants of the first stars and the more massive direct collapse seed formation scenarios are outlined. In particular, the focus is on the implications of these various scenarios and what these initial conditions imply for the highest redshift black holes, the local black hole population, the highest mass black holes at each epoch and the low mass end of the black hole mass function all of which are currently observed. The goal is to present a broad and comprehensive picture of the current status; the open questions and challenges faced by black hole growth models in matching current observational data and the prospects for future observations that will help discriminate between competing models.
Platelet-activating factor in the modulation of excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter release and of gene expression

Selective phospholipids of synaptic membranes are reservoirs for lipid second messengers. 1-Alkyl-2 arachidonoyl glycero-3-phosphocholine is hydrolyzed by phospholipase A2 (PLA2) into two products: lyso-PAF, which is transacetylated to yield platelet-activating factor (PAF), and free arachidonic acid (20:4), which can undergo oxidative metabolism to eicosanoids. Alternative pathways of PAF synthesis, such as CoA-independent transacylase and the de novo route of synthesis, remain to be explored and compared to the PLA2-dependent route. At low concentrations, PAF is a retrograde messenger of LTP in CA1 hippocampal neurons, and is also a memory enhancer in inhibitor avoidance tasks. PAF enhances excitatory amino acid release in synaptic pairs from primary hippocampal cultures by a presynaptic mechanism. Ischemia and convulsions activate synaptic PLA2. Thus, increased concentrations of PAF promote massive glutamate exocytosis, glutamate receptor activation, and elevated intracellular calcium levels in target cells. As a result, calcium-sensitive cascades are affected. PAF thus had dual roles as a lipid mediator: under physiological conditions it modulates neurotransmitter release, but at high concentrations it becomes neurotoxic. Through an intracellular high affinity binding site, PAF activates the expression of immediate-early genes. Some of these genes encode transcription factors (e.g. zif-268, c-fos), and others encode enzymes (COX-2 or inducible prostaglandin synthase). PAF also activates the expression of metalloproteinases which participate in the remodeling of the extracellular matrix. These effects have been studied in cells in culture as well as in the brain. A PAF antagonist specific for the intracellular binding site inhibits COX-2 expression elicited by a single electroconvulsive shock or vasogenic edema. COX-1, the constitutive prostaglandin synthase, is not induced and is unaffected by the antagonist. Most of the cerebral induction occurs in the hippocampus and results from transcriptional activation. PAF mediated gene expression may be involved in neural plasticity as well as in pathophysiological conditions in which the neural tissue activates repair-injury pathways.