cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Amphiregulin-EGFR Signaling Mediates the Migration of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Progenitors toward PTH- Stimulated Osteoblasts and Osteocytes

Intermittent administration of parathyroid hormone (PTH) dramatically increases bone mass and currently is one of the most effective treatments for osteoporosis. However, the detailed mechanisms are still largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that conditioned media from PTH-treated osteoblastic and osteocytic cells contain soluble chemotactic factors for bone marrow mesenchymal progenitors, which express a low amount of PTH receptor (PTH1R) and do not respond to PTH stimulation by increasing cAMP production or migrating toward PTH alone. Conditioned media from PTH-treated osteoblasts elevated phosphorylated Akt and p38MAPK amounts in mesenchymal progenitors and inhibition of these pathways blocked the migration of these progenitors toward conditioned media. Our previous and current studies revealed that PTH stimulates the expression of amphiregulin, an epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like ligand that signals through the EGF receptor (EGFR), in both osteoblasts and osteocytes. Interestingly, conditioned media from PTH-treated osteoblasts increased EGFR phosphorylation in mesenchymal progenitors. Using several different approaches, including inhibitor, neutralizing antibody, and siRNA, we demonstrate that PTH increases the release of amphiregulin from osteoblastic cells, which acts on the EGFRs expressed on mesenchymal progenitors to stimulate the Akt and p38MAPK pathways and subsequently promote their migration in vitro. Furthermore, inactivation of EGFR signaling specifically in osteoprogenitors/osteoblasts attenuated the anabolic actions of PTH on bone formation. Taken together, these results suggest a novel mechanism for the therapeutic effect of PTH on osteoporosis and an important role of EGFR signaling in mediating PTH's anabolic actions on bone.
A Microprocessor Based Interactive Radiographic Image Display

A microprocessor controlled digital image display has been designed and constructed in the Bioengineering/Advanced Automation Program at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The unit has under gone clinical evaluation in the Department of Radiology, University of Missouri Medical Center. The application of a microprocessor in this instance replaced special purpose display hardware and afforded a high degree of flexibility. Modular design of the display system has allowed expansion and flexibility over the past two years as requirements are modified. The system has been expanded from an original fixed display device to a flexible general purpose microcomputer for diagnostic radiologic experiments.
An LVQ based reference model for speaker-adaptive speech recognition

A novel type of hierarchical phoneme model for speaker adaptation, based on both hidden Markov models (HMM) and learned vector quantization (LVQ) networks is presented. Low-level tied LVQ phoneme models are trained speaker-dependently and independently, yielding a pool of speaker-biased phoneme models which can be mixed into high-level speaker-adaptive phoneme models. Rapid speaker adaptation is performed by finding an optimal mixture for these models at recognition time, given only a small amount of speech data; subsequently, the models are fine-tuned to the new speaker's voice by further parameter reestimation. In preliminary experiments with a continuous speech task using 40 context-free phoneme models at task perplexity 111, the authors achieved 82% word accuracy for speaker-dependent recognition and 73% in the speaker-adaptive mode. >
Measuring government duration and stability in Central Eastern European democracies

Existing studies of government duration in parliamentary democracies typically measure the length of a government's tenure in office without accounting for delays in the government formation process. By assuming that a cabinet leaves office on the day prior to the new cabinet taking office, these measures ignore periods during which a government has lost its mandate but is still legally in power as a caretaker government. A consequence is that governments that are actually stable and governments that only appear stable because replacement governments take a long time to form are observationally equivalent. This suggests that some existing studies of government stability are potentially flawed. It also means that a number of interesting research questions cannot be answered with existing data. Many of these questions address the various consequences of caretaker governments. The answers to these questions are relevant for scholars interested in representation and accountability. This article presents a new dataset collected on government duration in eleven Central Eastern European democracies from 1990 to 2008 that specifically takes account of caretaker periods and delays in the government formation process. These data will provide scholars with more flexibility to choose the measure that best reflects their underlying conception of government stability.
Thermodynamic Characterization of Mutants of Human Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 with an Increased Physiological Half-Life †

Human acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-1) is a potent mitogen and angiogenic factor, with reportedly poor thermal stability and a relatively short in vivo half-life. However, certain mutants of FGF-1 have been described that exhibit a significant increase in half-life in tissue culture-based assays. FGF-1 contains three cysteine residues, two of which are highly conserved and buried within the protein core. Mutant forms of FGF-1 that substitute a serine residue at these cysteine positions have been reported to increase the protein's half-life and specific activity as well as decrease the dependence upon heparin for full activity. However, the underlying physical basis for this increase in half-life has not been determined. Possible effects include stabilization of protein structure and elimination of sulfhydryl chemistry at these positions. Here we have used differential scanning calorimetry and isothermal equilibrium denaturation to characterize thermodynamic parameters of unfolding for individual, and combination, cysteine to serine mutations in human FGF-1. The results show that substitution by serine is destabilizing at each cysteine position in wild-type FGF-1. Thus, the increased half-life previously reported for these mutations does not correlate with thermal stability and is most likely due to elimination of sulfhydryl chemistry. The results also suggest a method by which protein half-life may be modulated by rational design.
Triple Lipid Screening Test: A Homogeneous Sequential Assay for HDL-Cholesterol, Total Cholesterol, and Triglycerides

Background: The analysis of lipids in serum lipoprotein fractions is useful in assessing the risk for coronary artery disease, but it typically involves performing multiple tests. An automated single-tube assay, referred to as the triple lipid screening (TLS) test, can be used for measuring HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol, and triglycerides (TGs) with no specimen pretreatment. Methods: The first part of the assay is based on a homogeneous assay for HDL-C that uses either an anti-apolipoprotein B antibody (TLS-A test) or a polyanion (TLS-B test) that blocks the enzymatic measurement of cholesterol on the non-HDL fraction. After the addition of deoxycholate, which solubilizes the unreacted cholesterol from the non-HDL fraction, the remaining cholesterol in the sample is subsequently measured enzymatically. Using the same enzyme detection system as the cholesterol assay, TGs are measured in the last step, after the addition of the enzymes for the TG assay. Results: The TLS assay ( y ) had acceptable analytic performance and compared favorably with standard tests ( x ) for each analyte: for HDL-C, TLS-A = 0.99 x + 0.19 ( R = 0.980); TLS-B = 1.00 x − 0.15 ( R = 0.974); for total cholesterol, TLS-A = 1.03 x + 0.12 ( R = 0.997); TLS-B = 1.07 x − 0.30 ( R = 0.965); and for TGs, TLS-A = 1.02 x + 0.02 ( R = 0.988); TLS-B = 1.04 x − 0.28 ( R = 0.980). Conclusions: The TLS test is a single-tube homogeneous assay for the analysis of all of the major serum lipoprotein fractions and can be used as a simple screening test for the detection of hyperlipidemia.
Sex Guilt and Life Satisfaction in Iranian-American Women

Although the experience of sex guilt has been considered among a variety of ethnic groups, the area has not yet been empirically explored among Iranian American women. The present study investigated the relationship between sexual self-schema (i.e., beliefs about the sexual aspects of oneself), acculturation, and sex guilt, and it further examined the association between sex guilt and life satisfaction in Iranian American women. A total of 65 Iranian American women, with a mean age of 31.3 years (SD = 11.7), completed five self-administered questionnaires. Findings indicated a significant inverse correlation between sexual self-schema and sex guilt. More specifically, women who endorsed negative self-views regarding their sexual self reported higher levels sex guilt. Results revealed that acculturation was unrelated to sex guilt, when the effect of being Muslim or non-Muslim was controlled. Women with high sex guilt reported significantly lower levels of life satisfaction. Moreover, analyses for mediation effects supported sex guilt as a partially mediating variable between sexual self-schema and life satisfaction. Levels of sex guilt were higher among Muslim women when compared to women of other religious affiliations. Additionally, Muslim women appeared to be significantly less acculturated to Western ideals than other religious groups. The present findings suggest that mental health professionals who provide services to Iranian American women need to consider the negative effects of sex guilt, particularly among Muslim women.
Ex Ante Severance Agreements and Timely Disclosure of Bad News

This study explores the puzzle of CEO severance agreements by examining the association between the existence of ex ante severance agreements and the timeliness of bad news disclosure. The results suggest that the general severance agreement plays a role (which may not be causal) in inducing timely disclosure of bad news. The association between severance agreements and timely disclosure of bad news is stronger among the CEOs with a high variable pay structure than among the CEOs with a low variable pay structure. In the last year of the CEO’s tenure when the bad news is severe, the association between severance agreements and timely disclosure of bad news remains positive. The results are consistent with the theory of information disclosure by Inderst and Mueller (2005) and Laux (2008).
Medium for enhanced growth of bacteria from a swine manure digester

Most bacterial strains isolated from a swine manure digester grew sufficiently to permit transfer of cultures, but not characterization. Substrates, crude extracts, growth factors, and electron acceptors were evaluated for growth promotion. The growth of all but one group of the isolates was substantially increased with a medium containing glucose, cellobiose, soluble starch, pyruvate, peptone, yeast extract, minerals, volatile acids, vitamins, hemin plus vitamins K1 and K3, sodium bicarbonate, cysteine, and digester fluid. The strains require both known and unknown factors (in crude extracts) for maximal growth.
Explicit algebraic Reynolds stress model (EARSM) for compressible shear flows

We develop an explicit algebraic Reynolds stress model (EARSM) for high-speed compressible shear flows and validate the model with direct numerical simulation (DNS) data of homogeneous shear flow and experimental data of high-speed mixing-layers. Starting from a pressure–strain correlation model that incorporates compressibility effects, the weak-equilibrium assumption is invoked to derive the EARSM closure expression. The resulting closure is fully explicit and physically realizable and is a function of mean flow strain rate, rotation rate, turbulent kinetic energy, dissipation rate, and gradient Mach number. Homogeneous shear flow calculations show that the model captures the asymptotic behavior of DNS quite well. Linear EARSM calculations of a plane supersonic mixing-layer are performed, and comparison with experimental data shows good agreement. Salient results are agreement of streamwise velocity similarity profiles, mixing-layer spreading rates, and capturing the Langley curve trend.
Surface Convergence Induced by Cold Fronts Aloft and Prefrontal Surges

Abstract The magnitude of surface convergence, produced by the movement of cold fronts aloft and prefrontal surges, is derived by applying the linear divergence equation to observed surface pressure traces for Pacific Northwest warm occlusions and from a mesoscale model simulation of a warm occlusion–like structure in the central United States. Convergence values of approximately 10−4 s−1 are found to be generated locally for periods of about 1 h, yielding vertical displacements of 10–50 hPa. It is hypothesized that such convergences should noticeably enhance condensation rates in the widespread lower stratiform clouds associated with warm occlusions and could be a key mechanism for the triggering of squall lines by cold fronts aloft in cyclones in the central United States.
Effect of Graded Amounts of Acid Instilled into the Duodenum on Pancreatic Bicarbonate Secretion and Plasma Secretin in Duodenal Ulcer Patients and Normal Subjects

Pancreatic bicarbonate secretion and plasma secretin were measured in response to graded amounts of hydrochloric acid (0.94, 1.88, 3.75, and 7.5 mEq per 5 min) instilled directly into the duodenum in duodenal ulcer patients and in normal subjects. These graded amounts of acid produced graded increases in pancreatic bicarbonate in both groups. Mean bicarbonate secretion was significantly greater in the duodenal ulcer patients than in the normal subjects basally and after the lowest dose of hydrochloric acid. Mean (±SE) peak 30-min bicarbonate output (in milliequivalents) after duodenal acidification was 3.0 ± 1.0 in the duodenal ulcer patients and 2.1 ± 0.6 in the normal subjects (P > 0.5). A significant (P 0.2). These results indicate that pancreatic bicarbonate secretion and increase in plasma secretin in response to graded amounts of duodenal acid are at least as great in patients with duodenal ulcer as in normal subjects.
Non-host-reactive donor CD8+ T cells of Tc2 phenotype potently inhibit marrow graft rejection.

Donor CD8+ T cells capable of host reactivity inhibit marrow graft rejection, but also generate graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). To evaluate whether the Tc1- and Tc2-type subsets of CD8 cells might inhibit rejection without host reactivity, we established an F1 into-parent murine bone marrow transplant model. Donor Tc1 and Tc2 cells were generated that preferentially secreted type I or type II cytokines; both subsets possessed potent cytolytic function, and clonally deleted host-type allospecific precursor CTL in vitro. B6 hosts receiving 950 cGy irradiation did not reject the donor marrow (F1 chimerism of 78.6%; n = 10), whereas hosts receiving 650 cGy rejected the donor marrow (3.8% chimerism; n = 8). At 650 cGy irradiation, the addition of Tc2 cells to the F1 marrow resulted in extensive F1 chimerism (70.8%) in 8 of 8 recipients; in contrast, alloengraftment was not consistently observed in mice receiving Tc1 cells or unmanipulated CD8 cells. Furthermore, when the preparative regimen was further reduced to 600 cGy, only hosts receiving the Tc2-type cells did not reject the F1 marrow. We conclude that Tc2 cells potently inhibit marrow graft rejection without inducing an alloaggressive response and that non–host-reactive Tc2 cells therefore facilitate engraftment across genetic barriers with reduced GVHD.
Lumacaftor-ivacaftor (Orkambi) for cystic fibrosis: behind the ‘breakthrough’

Lumacaftor-ivacaftor (Orkambi) was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA to treat patients at least 12 years old who have cystic fibrosis due to two copies of the F508del ( Phe508del ) mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator ( CFTR ) gene. Lumacaftor-ivacaftor has been designated a ‘breakthrough’ and is slated to cost $259 000 per year per patient, but close scrutiny of the data behind this new medication reveals modest improvements in outcomes that are not exclusively benefited by lumacaftor-ivacaftor, and the $259 000 cost is questionable and problematic. Providers considering this therapy should have a candid and easily-understandable discussion with their patients about what the data show for lumacaftor-ivacaftor so their patients can make an informed decision about taking it. This article aims to help this process.
Adrenergic presynaptic antagonists and their mechanism of action in smooth muscle

The effects of veratridine and of yohimbine on the efflux of norepinephrine from guinea pig ureters was examined to gain insight into presynaptic receptor function. Ureter segments were stimulated at 1 and 2 Hz with 100 pulses in the absence and presence of yohimbine, veratridine, or the combination. Veratridine (4.5 or 6 x 10(-7) M) increased transmitter release. The enhancements of release by the adrenergic antagonist yohimbine and by veratridine were not additive, suggesting a common site of action. The lack of additivity was not linked to a ceiling effect since tetraethylammonium, which increases release by block of potassium channels, had an additive effect with veratridine. Protection experiments, done with veratridine as the protecting agent against phenoxybenzamine blockade, supported the interpretation that adrenergic antagonists and veratridine act at a common locus to enhance transmitter efflux. Although veratridine enhanced transmitter efflux like yohimbine, it only slightly reduced the inhibitory capacity of norepinephrine, confirming the likelihood of discrete sites of agonist and antagonist action. Veratridine and alpha-receptor antagonists might combine presynaptically with sites on the sodium channels of sympathetic nerve terminals to alter channel gating, namely the shifting of sodium channel activation to more negative potentials, and in this way increase the liberation of norepinephrine.
Prospective Studies of the Gonadotropin Responses to Graded Injections of Gonadotropin-Releasing Factor in Women Using a Low-Estrogen Type Oral Contraceptive for Three Months

A prospective study of pituitary gonadotropin response to gonadotropin-releasing factor (GnRF) was made in women before and after 3 months of use of a low-estrogen type oral contraceptive containing 0.035 mg of ethinylestradiol and 0.4 mg of norethindrone. A series of three intravenous GnRF injections (0.5, 5.0, and 50.0 micrograms) was given in each test and 10 blood samples were obtained and analyzed for their luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) content by radioimmunoassay. The results show that there was no significant effect of the contraceptive steroids on either basal or stimulatable FSH or LH levels. These data are different from those for higher-estrogen types of oral contraceptives, and the possible clinical importance of these findings is discussed.
A Survey of the Land Snails of Kosrae (Caroline Islands, Micronesia) Including the Rediscovery of Endemic Delos oualanensis (Pease, 1866) (Mollusca: Pulmonata: Rhytididae)

ABSTRACT This is the first published documentation of the land snails from Kosrae Island (eastern Caroline Islands, Micronesia; ∼ 5.3°N, 163°E). Timed hand collecting in leaf litter and emergent vegetation over the course of five days yielded 15 species in 13 gastropod families, including important collections of Delos oualanensis (Rhytididae) and Sinployea kusaieana (Charopidae), which had not been collected since the last survey of Kosrae in the 1930s. We did not recover evidence for in situ diversification in Kosrae — rather, the fauna seems to be a subset of the general Micronesian fauna (especially that of Pohnpei), with endemic species most likely having sister species off-island. An exotic veronicellid slug, and several snails that are widespread and possibly introduced were found, but no giant African land snails (Achatina fulica) were found. Due to its position as the eastern-most high island in Micronesia, Kosrae is an important part of our understanding of both the pre-anthropogenic assembly of...
Underwater Playback of Their Own Sounds to Leptonychotes (Weddell Seals)

Underwater sounds of Leptonychotes weddellii were played back to these seals at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, 17-19 November 1964. They responded vocally to playback of good fidelity as if another seal were present, but playback of poor quality elicited only silent interest. There were 14 playback events to eight different seals. They lost interest with time and successive playback events had less and less effect.
Comparison of Reaction Energetics for Oxygen Reduction Reactions on Pt(100), Pt(111), Pt/Ni(100), and Pt/Ni(111) Surfaces: A First-Principles Study

In this study, we calculated the reaction energetics (including surface adsorption energy, heat of reaction, and activation energy) of oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) on Pt(100) and Pt/Ni(100) surfaces using first-principles density functional theory methods. Our calculation results suggest that, on the Pt and Pt/Ni(100) surfaces, the ORR would proceed following direct oxygen dissociation mechanism in which the rate-determining step is OH hydrogenation reaction. Furthermore, we compared the calculated reaction energies of the ORR on the Pt(100), Pt(111), Pt/Ni(100), and Pt/Ni(111) surfaces. Our results indicated that the subsurface Ni atoms would weaken the strength of various ORR chemical intermediates binding to the outermost Pt monolayers and further cause an increase in the heats of reaction for all the O–O bond dissociation reactions but a decrease in the heats of reaction for all the hydrogenation reactions of the ORR on the Pt/Ni surfaces as compared to the pure Pt surfaces. However, we found that...
Faculty Developers as Change Facilitators: The Concerns-Based Adoption Model

Faculty members involved in efforts to improve their teaching, as well as the faculty developers who work with them, progress through natural, predictable stages of concern which, if understood, conform the basis of appropriate interventions. In this article the authors examine a framework that faculty developers and leaders of change efforts can use in their roles as change facilitators. This framework for understanding and planning educational change is part of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) developed by Hall, Hord, and others at the University of Texas at Austin Research and Development Center.
Maternal Emotion Socialization, Depressive Symptoms and Child Emotion Regulation: Child Emotionality as a Moderator

This study tested a model of children's emotionality as a moderator of the links between maternal emotion socialization and depressive symptoms and child emotion regulation. Participants were 128 mother–preschooler dyads. Child emotion expression and emotion regulation strategies were assessed observationally during a disappointment task, and a principal component analysis revealed three factors: passive soothing (including sadness and comfort seeking), negative focus on distress (including anger, focus on distress and low active distraction) and positive engagement (including positive emotion, active play and passive waiting, which was loaded negatively). Hierarchical linear regression models revealed that child positive emotionality (PE) and negative emotionality (NE) moderated the links between maternal support/positive emotion expression and child emotion regulation strategies. In particular, children's low PE exacerbated the association between lack of maternal support and child passive soothing, whereas high PE enhanced the association between maternal positive expression and reduced negative focus on distress. Furthermore, the associations of mothers' support and reduced passive soothing and negative focus on distress, as well as the association between mothers' positive expression and child positive engagement, were stronger for children with low levels of NE, compared with those with average and high levels of NE. Findings partially support a diathesis–stress model in understanding the effects of both child characteristics and the familial influence on child emotion regulation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Progress in assessment for whitening potential of plant extracts used in cosmetics

Recent progress with respect to research work for whitening potential of plant extracts was summarized. Discussion about advantages and disadvantages of four different assessment methods for whitening potential of plant extracts,namely mushroom tyrosinase inhibition test,cell level test,zooperal and computer simulation assay were focused. Some kinds of plant extract with whitening potential that discovered in recent years were induced. Finally,the future trends for research work with respect to development of plant extracts with whitening potential were prospected.
Using Akka Actors for Managing Iterations in Multiscale Applications

In this work we investigate possibilities given by the modern technologies as Akka actor platform and Docker toolkit for managing execution of multiscale applications. We present fine-grained (i.e. iteration) level approach to this problem which is rather difficult to address in standard HPC environments with coarse-grained queuing systems. We propose the solution that uses Docker containers as wrappers for computational modules that are components of multiscale applications. This apprach allows for a fine-grained assignment of resources to such modules. We also investigate possibilities of Akka actor framework for building distributed steering systems for such applications with the REST protocol offered by the Spray toolkit. Results of an experiment validation shows that thanks to Docker features, sheduling application on a fine graned iteration level is possible. They also show that using Akka dispatcher as a scheduler for computational tasks (iterations) is a promising approach; moreover the Akka and Spray toolkits do not introduce a significant overhead.
Governing Principles of Brain Activity

When we awaken, the world is instantaneously in harmony. We are ourselves once again and pick up exactly where we left off the day before. Although many books deal with sleep and sleep disorders or waking functions like attention, learning, and memory, very few books address waking itself and the process of staying awake. Our brains provide the “content” of sensory experience, but a ­second ­element is required for perception, the “context” of sensory experience. This ­often-ignored part of our sensory experience is provided by the reticular ­activating system and, without it, we cannot appreciate or perceive the world around us.
Vulnerability, Resilience, and LGBT Youth

The vulnerability analysis presents a comprehensive vision of the human being, a vision that allows the construction of a universal political or legal subject and also defines state responsibility toward that subject. In this article I discuss the vulnerability analysis in regard to some of the issues facing LGBT youth and the role of institutions like the family and school in building the necessary resilience necessary for individuals to survive and thrive in society. Vulnerability and resilience can be placed in institutional contexts. The places and spaces where resilience is produced — such as family, community, and school, form the geography of childhood and youth. Those institutions are failing LGBT youth, but a vulnerability analysis allows us to see that this failure is the result of structural flaws and inadequacies inherent in an ideology valorizing family privacy, parental rights, individual liberty, and choice.
Powerful association test combining rare variant and gene expression using family data from Genetic Analysis Workshop 19

Genetic association studies aim to test for disease or trait association with genetic variants, either throughout the human genome or in regions of interest. However, for most diseases and traits, the combined effects of associated genetic variants explain only a small proportion of the genetic variation. This “missing heritability” may be a result of the small effects of common variants considered in the genetic association studies. Rare variants may also play an important role in understanding the missing heritability of complex traits. We propose a novel weight-adjustment approach to combine gene expression into rare variant analysis. Results from previous simulation studies suggested that incorporating gene expression information can lead to substantial gain in statistical power. Using the family data set provided through the Genetic Analysis Workshop 19, we identified susceptible genes associated with blood pressure regulation. These findings provide valuable information for further functional studies for blood pressure control and mechanism.
Command authentication via faster than real time simulation

This paper presents the use of a distributed dynamic state estimation, executed each cycle, to enable simultaneous cyber security and operational security. The basis of the method is: (a) data verification that detects bad data or byzantine type attacks and (b) command interception and fast authentication from the cyber security point of view (reliable detection of cyber intrusions) and from the operational reliability point of view. To ensure speed, the command authentication is done at the relay level and relay controls. Since all controls in a modern substation are exercised through a relay, this approach provides 100% coverage. The command authentication is performed by capturing each command, performing a simulation of the effects of the command via a faster than real time simulation using the real time model, and if there are no adverse effects, the command is authenticated and is allowed to proceed. This paper focuses on the approach that enables the faster than real time simulation and provides performance metrics of the method. The simulation results demonstrate the high speed-up of distributed DSE and validate the effectiveness of the command authentication and intrusion detection method based on the proposed equivalencing method.
Colon Cancer and Dietary Fiber

It is appropriate that what is probably the most intricate and complex effect of dietary fiber in the colon is being discussed after more direct relationships have been covered in earlier chapters. Furthermore, since no term in the lexicon of medicine strikes more terror than the word cancer (Robbins and Cotran, 1979), should some of the plant fiber polymers help to prevent colon cancer, this could be their most important beneficial effect in the colon.
"Onward Christian Soldiers": Philadelphia's Revival of 1905

UNTIL recently, even while calling attention to the religious dimension of Progressivism, scholars too often limited their curios ity about it to Social Gospel ministers. In the last two decades, however, it has become necessary to place Progressive-era religion in a new light. First, an increased volume of studies at the state and local levels have directed more attention to what motivated grassroots activists and voters. These studies are uncovering the extent to which religious and even revivalistic rhetoric mobilized reform sentiment among groups as diverse as southern women, big-city workers, town-dwelling Nebras kans and Kentuckians, and rural Oklahoma socialists.1 Second, several historians have reacted to the increasingly apparent diversity of the Progressives by searching out new grounds for synthesis. William McLoughlin, for example, asserted that Progressivism was fu eled by a "great awakening," by which he meant a general cultural and intellectual revitalization. David Danbom, John Burnham, Ferenc Szasz, and others have explored the Progressive "mood" or "ethos" and found it strongly related to religion, while Robert Crunden studied the evangelical backgrounds of secular Progressives such as Jane Addams and John Dewey.2
Facilitating Development of Pragmatic Competence through a Voice-driven Video Learning Interface

Authentic foreign language videos are effective for developing pragmatic competence, or sensitivity to meanings expressed by tone and word choice, and the ability to effectively express these meanings. However, established methods for learning from foreign language videos are primarily text-based (e.g.captioning). Using text, learners do not practice aspects of oral performance (e.g. intonation, pausing, and pitch) that are important to pragmatic competence. In this paper we present a voice-driven system where learners practice and learn a foreign language by repeating phrases out loud from any video. Utterances are transcribed and translated and, if captions are available, the system indicates the correctness of the utterance. In an evaluation with 27 participants, we show that participants more frequently used the voice-driven system than a comparison text-based system. Furthermore, ina field study of 130 independent learners, we show potential for community-driven resource collection.
Must We Die? Transhumanism, Religion, and the Fear of Death

Herzfeld examines three technologies central to transhumanism—genetic modification, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence—considering the promises and limitations of each to either repair or replace the human body, with extreme longevity or immortality as the goal. The chapter critiques transhumanist hopes for immortality, outlining the limitations of current scientific knowledge and technological capabilities. Herzfeld calls for humility and caution in our use of these techniques, basing that call on the Orthodox Christian understanding of sin as rooted in our fear of death and on our propensity for magical thinking and uncritical exaggeration of our own powers, as explicated by Reinhold Niebuhr in his Gifford lectures.
The effect of elastic anharmonicity on the nonlinear behavior of waveguide-based AlN resonator

This paper presents the effect of elastic anharmonicity in AlN film on the nonlinear performance of extensional AlN resonators. Elastic energy distribution is tailored through dispersion engineering of the waveguide to avoid boundary-induced nonlinearities and enable the study of the elastic anharmonicity contribution on the amplitude-frequency (A-f) characteristic. A 97MHz resonator with a Q of ∼2,250 is demonstrated with a linear A-f coefficient of −3.47 ppm/μm2 and a yield power of 5dBm. Excitation of the device beyond this yield power derives the AlN film into plastic regime and induces a hysteresis in resonator frequency response. A consistent Q over the elastoplastic cycling of the device suggests the dominant contribution of non-structural energy dissipation mechanisms.
When Two Worlds Collide

On 9 April,2009 the calm that follows the rainy season in Peru's Amazonian jungle regions was broken by protests aimed at closing down both road and river traffic, and shutting down oil and gas pip...
Gated Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) Imaging: Current Status and Limitations

In 1925 Herrmann Blumgart performed the first test of cardiac function using radioactive indicators on human beings. Blumgart used himself as the first test subject. The concept of producing radioactive materials, rather than using those occurring naturally, came from the 1931 Nobel Prize-winning development of the cyclotron by Ernest Lawrence, at Berkeley, California in 1928. Lawrence’s physician brother, John Lawrence, is called the “father of nuclear medicine” for his contribution in this field (Fig. 23.1) [1].
I/O Braid: Scalable Touch-Sensitive Lighted Cords Using Spiraling, Repeating Sensing Textiles and Fiber Optics

We introduce I/O Braid, an interactive textile cord with embedded sensing and visual feedback. I/O Braid senses proximity, touch, and twist through a spiraling, repeating braiding topology of touch matrices. This sensing topology is uniquely scalable, requiring only a few sensing lines to cover the whole length of a cord. The same topology allows us to embed fiber optic strands to integrate co-located visual feedback. We provide an overview of the enabling braiding techniques, design considerations, and approaches to gesture detection. These allow us to derive a set of interaction techniques, which we demonstrate with different form factors and capabilities. Our applications illustrate how I/O Braid can invisibly augment everyday objects, such as touch-sensitive headphones and interactive drawstrings on garments, while enabling discoverability and feedback through embedded light sources.
Assessing Risk of Future Suicidality in Emergency Department Patients

Background Emergency departments (ED) are the first line of evaluation for patients at risk and in crisis, with or without overt suicidality (ideation, attempts). Currently employed triage and assessments methods miss some of the individuals who subsequently become suicidal. The Convergent Functional Information for Suicidality (CFI-S) 22-item checklist of risk factors, which does not ask directly about suicidal ideation, has demonstrated good predictive ability for suicidality in previous studies in psychiatrict patients but has not been tested in the real-world setting of EDs. Methods We administered CFI-S prospectively to a convenience sample of consecutive ED patients. Patients were also asked at triage about suicidal thoughts or intentions per standard ED suicide clinical screening (SCS), and the treating ED physician was asked to fill a physician gestalt visual analog scale (VAS) for likelihood of future suicidality spectrum events (SSE; ideation, preparatory acts, attempts, completed suicide). We performed structured chart review and telephone follow-up at 6 months post-index visit. Results The median time to complete the CFI-S was 3 minutes (first to third quartile = 3-6 minutes). Of the 338 patients enrolled, 45 (13.3%) were positive on the initial SCS, and 32 (9.5%) experienced a SSE in the 6 months of follow-up. Overall, SCS had modest diagnostic accuracy sensitivity 14/32 = 44%, (95% CI: 26-62%) and specificity 275/306 = 90%, (86-93%). The physician VAS also had moderate overall diagnostic accuracy (AUC 0.75, confidence interval [CI] = 0.66-0.85), and the CFI-S was best (AUC = 0.81, CI = 0.76-0.87). The top CFI-S differentiating items were psychiatric illness, perceived uselessness, and social isolation. Conclusions Using CFI-S, or some of its items, in busy EDs may help improve the detection of patients at high risk for future suicidality.
Tenacious Researchers Identify a Weakness in All Ebolaviruses.

ABSTRACT The Ebolavirus genus has at least five members, four of which are known to cause deadly disease in humans. An ideal therapy or a vaccine would protect against all ebolaviruses, but identifying a common weakness in all of them has remained elusive. West et al. [B. R. West, C. L. Moyer, L. B. King, M. L. Fusco, et al., mBio 9(5):e01674-18, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01674-18] make the exciting discovery of an “Achilles’ heel,” a cryptic and conserved pocket, on the surface antigen glycoprotein (GP) that is nearly identical in all known ebolaviruses. Key to this discovery was their study of antibody ADI-15878, the only isolated human antibody that can block infectivity of all known ebolaviruses. Following tenacious efforts in X-ray crystallography, West et al. report the high-resolution crystal structures of the Ebola virus GP and the Bundibugyo virus GP, each bound to antibody ADI-15878. These structures reveal a highly conserved but partially obscured site on the virus GP, providing a foundation for design of vaccine antigens or antiviral therapies.
Noise-dose estimated with and without pre-cochlear amplification

Amplification from natural ear canal resonance has been documented as highly variable across individuals. However, individual variability in total pre-cochlear amplification (i.e., combined external and middle ear mechanisms) remains understudied in relevance to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). It is well-known that more noise means more risk of hearing loss, yet the current risk-models do not consider individually variable pre-cochlear amplification, also referred to as the transfer function of the open ear (TFOE). The present study principally documented individual TFOE variability and explored the feasibility and accuracy of simple proxy metrics, which could be used to estimate TFOE. Participants' TFOE values were used to estimate their NIHL risk in hypothetical free-field exposures. Forty-eight adult participants (42 female, 6 male, ages 21–60 years) met inclusion criteria of 2 healthy pinnae and ear canals (<10% cerumen occlusion) and type-A tympanometric examination. Participants underwent otoscopy, tympanometry, pinna size measurement, real-ear-to-coupler-difference, and TFOE measurement. TFOE ranged from 5 to 15 dB-A (mean = 10 dB-A); given that NIHL risk is estimated to double in either 3 or 5 dB-A increments, the observed variability could explain a substantial portion of individual vulnerability to NIHL. A simple regression model with eardrum compliance (ml) was correlated with individual TFOE (p < 0.05). TFOE variability has the potential to substantially explain why two individuals with the same noise-exposure can develop significantly different degrees of NIHL. Eardrum compliance (ml) was a correlated proxy measurement of TFOE in this principally adult, female dataset; additional research is needed to confirm this relationship in a unique, heterogeneous dataset.Amplification from natural ear canal resonance has been documented as highly variable across individuals. However, individual variability in total pre-cochlear amplification (i.e., combined external and middle ear mechanisms) remains understudied in relevance to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). It is well-known that more noise means more risk of hearing loss, yet the current risk-models do not consider individually variable pre-cochlear amplification, also referred to as the transfer function of the open ear (TFOE). The present study principally documented individual TFOE variability and explored the feasibility and accuracy of simple proxy metrics, which could be used to estimate TFOE. Participants' TFOE values were used to estimate their NIHL risk in hypothetical free-field exposures. Forty-eight adult participants (42 female, 6 male, ages 21–60 years) met inclusion criteria of 2 healthy pinnae and ear canals (<10% cerumen occlusion) and type-A tympanometric examination. Participants underwent otoscop...
"I didn't know if it would work, but I tried it anyway".

To be an excellent manager, daring, creative, and innovative solutions should be tried for management problems. A manager may feel he or she is treading on ground where no one walked before; however, the manager who takes no risk will never come up with the novel and original solutions. This article supplies guidelines for the evaluation of creative and innovative solutions. These guidelines are especially appropriate for the employee who needs a smooth transition into management.
Boundary Work and Boundary Objects: Synthesizing Two Concepts for Moments of Controversy:

There are two boundary concepts utilized in technical and professional communication (TPC) scholarship: boundary work and, to a lesser degree, boundary objects. Boundary work functions to demarcate...
Evolutionary Approaches to Biosemiotic Literary Criticism

In this chapter, I give examples of evolutionary approaches to biosemiotic criticism, focusing on the evolutionary theories of Jakob von Uexkull (where “meaning” replaces “progress” as the central organizing principle) and on Charles Sanders Peirce’s Ten and Twenty-Eight Classes of Sign as evolutionary and cognitive sets of scaffolding—perspectives that allow “evolutionary approaches to biosemiotic criticism” to escape the orbit of “social Darwinism” and “literary Darwinism.” Literary texts by the British poet John Clare (1793–1864), by the American poet Theodore Roethke (1908–1963), and by the contemporary American novelist Dan Brown are analyzed using the perspectives of von Uexkull and Peirce as well as the modeling strategies developed by Timo Maran (Green Lett Stud Ecocrit 18:297–311, 2014a).
The natural history of ampullary adenomas in familial adenomatous polyposis: a long-term follow-up study

Background and aims Ampullary adenomas (AAs), common in familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), are precursors to ampullary carcinoma. We assessed the natural history of AA and factors associated with clinically significant progression (CSP). Methods Consecutive FAP patients with AAs and ≥2 esophagogastroduodenoscopies (EGD) were identified from a hereditary gastrointestinal cancer registry. We assessed the incidence of CSP (increase in size to >10 mm, and/or development of advanced histology) of AA. Clinical, endoscopic, and pathologic features between patients with CSP and nonprogressors were compared. Results One hundred forty-three patients with AAs were included. Over a median follow-up of 7.8 years (interquartile range: 4.3 to 11.1 years), 41 (28.6%) patients developed CSP for an incidence of 35 per 1000 patient-years. Of 143 patients, 22 (15.6%) progressed to AA >10 mm, 12 (8.5%) progressed to advanced histology, and 7 (4.9%) progressed both in size and histology. Two (1.4%) patients developed ampullary cancer. Male gender, abnormal appearance of papilla at initial AA detection, prior cholecystectomy, and personal history of extracolonic malignancy were associated with CSP. Neither Spigelman stage nor Adenomatous Polyposis Coli gene pathogenic variants were associated with CSP. Intervention specifically for AA and not duodenal polyposis was performed in 24% patients with AAs, including endoscopic papillectomy in 23 patients and duodenectomy in 3 at median observation of 8.2 years. Conclusions Majority of FAP patients with AAs did not experience CSP or require resection over 8 years of surveillance. Ampullary cancer was rare. Male gender, abnormal appearance of the papilla at AA detection, cholecystectomy and history of extracolonic malignancy are associated with CSP. Our findings favor endoscopic surveillance of AAs over expedited resection for most patients with FAP.