cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Engagement profiles of elementary students in urban schools

Abstract This study identified engagement profiles and examined their relations to student characteristics (gender, grade, socioeconomic status) as well as mathematics and reading achievement among elementary students attending urban schools in the southeastern part of the United States (N = 564). Using latent profile analysis, four engagement profiles were identified including a Moderately Engaged, Globally Disengaged, Affectively Disengaged, and Behaviorally Disengaged profile. Subsequent analyses showed that grade level was a statistically significant predictor of profile membership, and the Moderately Engaged profile was associated with higher mathematics achievement compared to the Affectively Disengaged profile. Results contribute to the growing body of person-centered work that indicates that students’ engagement cluster into unique configurations of global, behavioral, affective, cognitive, and social engagement, which have important implications for their academic achievement.
Sensitive and rapid detection of Vibrio cholerae O139 by loop-mediated isothermal amplification

Objective To develop a loop-mediated isothermal amplification method for rapid diag-nosing Vibrio cholerae O139 in inspection department and small-scale laboratory. Methods Four primers (2 inner primer and 2 outer primer) for the LAMP test were designed by targeting the wbfR gene of Vibrio chol-erae O139, and the reaction condition and reaction system of LAMP were optimized. Thirty Vibrio cholerae O139, 13 Vibrio cholerae reference strains, 10 O1 biotype Vibrio cholera* and 32 other enterobacterias were analyzed and the LAMP results were determined by visual inspection or electrophoretie analysis . Results All of the Vibrio cholerae O139's amplification products were observed as green by visual inspection and had a ladder-like pattern on the gel, but O1 biotype Vibrio cholera* and other enterobacteria's products were dis-played as orange by visual examination and had no ladder-like pattern on the gel. In addition, the reaction time of the LAMP method was only 1.5 h and the detection limit of this assay was 63 CFU/reaction. Con-clnsion LAMP assay targeting the wbfR gene of Vibrio cholera* O139 is rapid, specific, and sensitive for the detection of Vibrio cholerae O139. This method not only reduced the dependence of complicated equip-ment but also had a potential for wider use in inspection department, small-scale laboratory, emergency mo-tor vehicles and field survey. Key words: Vibrio cholerae O139; Loop-mediated isothermal amplification
Proactively Identifying Emerging Hacker Threats from the Dark Web: A Diachronic Graph Embedding Framework (D-GEF)

Cybersecurity experts have appraised the total global cost of malicious hacking activities to be $450 billion annually. Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) has emerged as a viable approach to combat this societal issue. However, existing processes are criticized as inherently reactive to known threats. To combat these concerns, CTI experts have suggested proactively examining emerging threats in the vast, international online hacker community. In this study, we aim to develop proactive CTI capabilities by exploring online hacker forums to identify emerging threats in terms of popularity and tool functionality. To achieve these goals, we create a novel Diachronic Graph Embedding Framework (D-GEF). D-GEF operates on a Graph-of-Words (GoW) representation of hacker forum text to generate word embeddings in an unsupervised manner. Semantic displacement measures adopted from diachronic linguistics literature identify how terminology evolves. A series of benchmark experiments illustrate D-GEF's ability to generate higher quality than state-of-the-art word embedding models (e.g., word2vec) in tasks pertaining to semantic analogy, clustering, and threat classification. D-GEF's practical utility is illustrated with in-depth case studies on web application and denial of service threats targeting PHP and Windows technologies, respectively. We also discuss the implications of the proposed framework for strategic, operational, and tactical CTI scenarios. All datasets and code are publicly released to facilitate scientific reproducibility and extensions of this work.
Living by Inches: The Smells, Sounds, Tastes, and Feeling of Captivity in Civil War Prisons

Review of: Living by Inches: The Smells, Sounds, Tastes, and Feeling of Captivity in Civil War Prisons, by Evan Kutzler.
The Langley Field Conference: An Account of the Principal Experiments Shown at the Annual Reception of the N.A.C.A.

THE National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics received this year so many requests for attendance at its Langley Field Conference that the visitors were divided into two groups and two demonstrations were given with a day intervening. It is a sign of general prosperity in American aviation that so many representatives of the industry, the universities and government departments were able to attend. Besides presenting in outline the results of much solid research work, the Committee was able to show two new and original pieces of research equipment, in the form of a free‐flight tunnel and a gust investigation tunnel. So much material was (as usual) presented to the visitors that considerations of space will only allow the most concise presentation in the present article.
Benchmarking of lightweight-mapping based single-cell RNA-seq pre-processing

We compare and benchmark the two lightweight-mapping tools that have been developed for pre-processing single-cell RNA-seq data, namely the kallisto-bustools and Salmon-Alevin-fry programs. We find that they output similar results, and to the extent that there are differences, they are irrelevant for downstream analysis. However, the Salmon-Alevin-fry program is significantly slower and requires much more memory to run, making it much more expensive to process large datasets limiting its use to larger servers.
Measurement of Fuzzy Membership Functions in Construction Risk Assessment

AbstractFuzzy set theory (FST), especially its concepts of linguistic variables and fuzzy membership functions (FMFs), has been frequently used in construction risk assessment due to a lack of hist...
Model-free Representation Learning and Exploration in Low-rank MDPs.

The low rank MDP has emerged as an important model for studying representation learning and exploration in reinforcement learning. With a known representation, several model-free exploration strategies exist. In contrast, all algorithms for the unknown representation setting are model-based, thereby requiring the ability to model the full dynamics. In this work, we present the first model-free representation learning algorithms for low rank MDPs. The key algorithmic contribution is a new minimax representation learning objective, for which we provide variants with differing tradeoffs in their statistical and computational properties. We interleave this representation learning step with an exploration strategy to cover the state space in a reward-free manner. The resulting algorithms are provably sample efficient and can accommodate general function approximation to scale to complex environments.
Fast Compensated Algorithms for the Reciprocal Square Root, the Reciprocal Hypotenuse, and Givens Rotations.

The reciprocal square root is an important computation for which many very sophisticated algorithms exist (see for example \cite{863046,863031} and the references therein). In this paper we develop a simple differential compensation (much like those developed in \cite{borges}) that can be used to improve the accuracy of a naive calculation. The approach relies on the use of the fused multiply-add (FMA) which is widely available in hardware on a variety of modern computer architectures. We then demonstrate how to combine this approach with a somewhat inaccurate but fast square root free method for estimating the reciprocal square root to get a method that is both fast (in computing environments with a slow square root) and, experimentally, highly accurate. Finally, we show how this same approach can be extended to the reciprocal hypotenuse calculation and, most importantly, to the construction of Givens rotations.
Recent Advances in the Role of Diet in Bone and Mineral Disorders in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Chronic kidney disease mineral and bone disease (CKD-MBD) is a common complication of kidney disease and is strongly influenced by diet. The purpose of this manuscript is to review recent advances in the role of diet in CKD-MBD over the last 5 years. Many of the recent studies examining the role of diet in CKD-MBD have focused on the adverse effects of high phosphorus consumption on bone health and metabolism. In general, the studies have shown that high phosphorus consumption worsens markers of bone and mineral metabolism but that eating a diet with a calcium to phosphorus ratio closer to 1:1 can attenuate some of these effects. Recent studies also showed that dietary counseling is efficacious for improving markers of CKD-MBD. High consumption of phosphorus aggravates CKD-MBD. Dietary counseling may ameliorate these effects, for example, by consuming diets with higher calcium to phosphorus ratios.
Adenylate cyclase toxin from Bordetella pertussis: Identification and purification of the holotoxin molecule

Abstract Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase (AC) toxin is a calmodulin-activated adenylate cyclase enzyme which has the capacity to enter eukaryotic target cells and catalyze the conversion of endogenous ATP into cyclic AMP. In this work, the AC holotoxin molecule is identified and isolated. It is a single polypeptide of apparent 216 kDa as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Monoclonal antibodies which immunoprecipitate AC activity from extracts of wild type B. pertussis (BP338) react with this 216-kDa band on Western blots, and it is absent from a transposon Tn5 mutant (BP348) specifically lacking AC toxin. Isolation of the 216-kDa protein to greater than 85% purity by hydrophobic chromatography, preparative sucrose gradient centrifugation, and affinity chromatography using either calmodulin-Sepharose or monoclonal antibody coupled to Sepharose 4B yields stepwise increases in AC toxin potency, to a maximum of 88.3 mumol of cAMP/mg of target cell protein/mg of toxin. Electroelution of the 216-kDa band following sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis yields a preparation with both AC enzyme and toxin activities. These data indicate that this protein represents the AC holotoxin molecule.
Unobtrusive integration of data management with fMRI analysis.

This note describes a software utility, called X-batch which addresses two pressing issues typically faced by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neuroimaging laboratories (1) analysis automation and (2) data management. The first issue is addressed by providing a simple batch mode processing tool for the popular SPM software package (http://www.fil.ion. ucl.ac.uk/spm/; Welcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, London, UK). The second is addressed by transparently recording metadata describing all aspects of the batch job e.g., subject demographics, analysis parameters, locations and names of created files, date and time of analysis, and so on). These metadata are recorded as instances of an extended version of the Protege-based Experiment Lab Book ontology created by the Dartmouth fMRI Data Center. The resulting instantiated ontology provides a detailed record of all fMRI analyses performed, and as such can be part of larger systems for neuroimaging data management, sharing, and visualization. The X-batch system is in use in our own fMRI research, and is available for download at http://X-batch.sourceforge.net/.
Practical Private DNA String Searching and Matching through Efficient Oblivious Automata Evaluation

In [18] it was shown that the ability to perform oblivious automata evaluation was useful for performing DNA searching and matching. By oblivious automata evaluation we mean that one participant has a finite state machine and the other participant has a sequence, and at the end of the protocol the sequence owner learns whether the machine accepts the sequence. A protocol was given in [18], but it required O (n ) rounds (where n is the number of characters in the sequence) and O (mn ) modular exponentiations (where m is the number of states in the automata). Both of these factors limit the applicability of this approach. In this paper we propose a new protocol that requires only O (1) rounds and reduces the number of modular exponentiations to O (n ) without revealing any additional information. We have implemented both schemes and have shown experimentally that our scheme is two to three orders of magnitude faster than the previous scheme.
Hydrolysis of Platelet Vitronectin by Calpain

Vitronectin (Vn) is not only a major adhesive glycoprotein present in platelets but also regulates proteolytic enzyme cascades, including the blood coagulation, fibrinolytic, and complement systems. In human platelet lysates prepared by freeze-thawing or by the addition of nonionic detergent, the Vn antigen content was drastically reduced in comparison with lysates prepared in the presence of SDS, suggesting that Vn is hydrolyzed by platelet-associated enzymes. Exogenously added purified human Vn and Vn present in plasma were also cleaved by these enzyme systems. Degradation was mediated by a nonsecreted or membrane-associated protease system that was inhibited by E-64, EDTA, and leupeptin but not inhibitors of serine and aspartic proteases, suggesting an involvement of calcium-dependent cysteine proteases. Consistently, calpastatin inhibited the hydrolysis of Vn, suggesting that Vn is a substrate for calpain. This was confirmed in a purified system. Vn was cleaved by calpains I and II in a dose- and time-dependent manner, resulting in defined Vn fragments with similar electrophoretic mobility in comparison with those detected in platelet lysates. Functional characterization of the calpain-hydrolyzed Vn revealed that while the type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor binding activity was unchanged, the heparin and cell binding functions were destroyed. These results suggest that calpains released upon platelet membrane damage or upon tissue injury and necrosis differentially regulate functional domains of the Vn molecule.
Acknowledging a Problem Is the First Step to Solving It: A Response to Joyce Annunziata

I agree with one of Ms. Annunziata’s basic themes: many school districts and school administrators do an excellent job in hiring, supervising, and evaluating teachers and professional employees. I am quite familiar with the policies and procedures of the Miami‐Dade County School District, where Ms. Annunziata is employed, and I can attest that the district’s teacher hiring practices are exemplary. The fact remains, however, that many school districts practice sloppy hiring practices and that many more allow incompetent teachers to remain on their payrolls for many years. In Who Will Teach? Policies That Matter, Richard Murnane and colleagues (1991) make clear that school district hiring practices vary enormously from district to district, with some districts doing a much better job than others. Charol Shakeshaft and Audrey Cohan (1995) have shown convincingly that some school districts are not doing all they should do to address the problem of sexual abuse by school employees. It is also seems clear that a complex legal process, with its elaborate safeguards for employee rights, has discouraged some school districts from acting aggressively to remove callous, incompetent, and immoral educators from the schools (DeMitchell & Fossey, 1997). In a recent Montana case, for example, nine years elapsed between a school board’s initial decision to fire a teacher for uncivil speech and the state supreme court’s final decision upholding the dismissal (Baldridge v. Board of Trustees, 1997). Anyone can understand a school board’s reluctance to discharge a substandard employee if its members know they may be launching their district into almost a decade of litigation. Several commentators have stepped forward to defend public education against its critics (Berliner & Biddle, 1995; Bracey, 1998; Rothstein, 1993). Like Ms. Annunziata, all make valid points. Still, the education community should not be afraid to acknowledge what the public knows full well—that many professional educators lack the skill, the compassion, and the creativity to be in charge of our children’s education. Admitting that fact is a necessary step to renewing our resolve to do better.
ℵ 0 -extended supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory for arbitrary gauge groups

We present a model of supersymmetric non-Abelian Chern-Simons theories in three dimensions with arbitrarily many supersymmetries, called ${\ensuremath{\aleph}}_{0}$-extended supersymmetry. The number of supersymmetries N equals the dimensionality of any non-Abelian gauge group G as $N=\mathrm{dim}G.$ Due to the supersymmetry parameter in the adjoint representation of a local gauge group G, supersymmetry has to be local. The minimal coupling constant is to be quantized, when the homotopy mapping is nontrivial: ${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{3}(G)=Z.$ Our results indicate that there is still a lot of freedom to be explored for Chern-Simons type theories in three dimensions, possibly related to M theory.
The consumer as “transient employee”

This paper responds to the call for increased attention to the consumer's point of view in modeling the service exchange. A novel conceptualization of a service product is presented. Further, extending extant research that conceptualizes consumers as “partial employees”, this paper treats consumers as “transient” employees. Next, drawing on the literatures in human resources, specifically Karasek's job demand‐control model, a theoretical model of consumer satisfaction is developed and presented. Attention is also drawn to a typology of services based on the level of consumer participation. Managerial recommendations are developed and presented on the basis of these arguments.
Some biochemical factors in x-ray-induced mutation in bacteria.

RNA or protein synthesis are effective in lowering markedly the mutation frequency response to uv light. Evidence indicates that DNA synthesis is the terminal event in UVinduced mutation, but that phenotypic expression of the genetic change involves protein synthesis subsequent to DNA synthesis. About half of the x-ray-induced reversions of the tryptophan requiring auxotroph, E. coli strain Wp2, are lost, when the culture is incubated for 50 minutes with chloramphenicol or 6-azauracil, sgents which block RNA or protein synthesis. A short period of incubation following x-ray exposure before addition of chloramphenicol or 6-azauracil is necessary for development of the chloramphenicol or 6-azauracil sensitivity of the mutations. These mutations require RNA synthesis, protein synthesis, and DNA synthesis for induction in a manner comparsble to UV-induced reversion. The other half of the x-ray-induced mutations are not lost when incubated with chloramphenicol or 6-azauracil for 50 minutes prior to plating on tryptophan containing medium. These mutations are completely expressed when plated on minimal medium without tryptophan after a short period of incubation in tryptophsn containing medium and before measurable DNA synthesis in the culture occurs. Expression does not occur in the presence of 6-azauracil or chloramphenicol. In the case of a thymineless, tyrosinelessmore » polyauxotroph, expression of the tyrosine reversion occurs in the absence of thymine for one half of the mutations while the other half requires thymine for expression. With half of the mutations which can take place in the absence of thymine, the functional reversion is produced by the x-ray in the gene, without the necessity of DNA replication, but that RNA and protein synthesis is required for gene action in phenotypic expression of the reverted character. (auth)« less
A matter of millimeters: defining the processes for critical clearances on Curiosity

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission presents an immense packaging problem in that it takes a rover the size of a car with a sky crane landing system and packs it tightly into a spacecraft. This creates many areas of close and critical clearances. Critical Clearances are defined as hardware-to-hardware or hardware-to-envelope clearances which fall below a pre-established location dependent threshold and pose a risk of hardware to hardware contact during events such as launch, entry, landing, and operations. Close Clearances, on the other hand, are defined as any clearance value that is chosen to be tracked but is larger than the critical clearance threshold for its region. Close clearances may be tracked for various reasons including uncertainty in design, large expected dynamic motion, etc.
HABITAT USE OF AN ENDEMIC MOLLUSC ASSEMBLAGE IN A HYDROLOGICALLY ALTERED REACH OF THE SNAKE RIVER, IDAHO, USA

Major waterways have been dramatically altered by dams some of which have operated with consistent and significant flow alterations annually since the early 1900s. Re-operation strategies are increasingly being considered for such dams in regions where biodiversity hotspots of sensitive taxa remain. Understanding the impacts of current dam operations on sensitive species is vital to designing re-operations that effectively promote species conservation. Our objectives were to examine the effects of consistent and dramatic flow alterations from a major dam on the distribution of a highly diverse endemic mollusc assemblage in the middle Snake River, Idaho, USA. Quarter metre plots were surveyed along transects with a Venturi suction dredge and classified as permanently or seasonally wetted habitat by depth. Species were classified by degree of endemism. Chi-square analysis was used to compare species presence between habitat types and analysis of variance was used to assess the significance of habitat type as a predictor of mollusc abundance, species richness and Shannon's H. Multivariate analyses were used to investigate mollusc assemblage composition and correlations with environmental parameters. The majority of mollusc species, including species of conservation concern, were found more frequently and in greater abundance in permanently wetted habitat. In addition, the mollusc assemblage in permanently wetted habitat was more diverse. Species presence and abundance patterns were consistent with source sink population dynamics with permanently wetted habitat serving as a source for seasonally wetted habitat. Results indicate that most mollusc species do not use seasonally wetted habitat even four months after it becomes available despite viable environmental conditions, highly mobile species and colonization sources. Our findings suggest that dam re-operations which reduce the magnitude and duration of seasonal low flows may improve habitat availability for sensitive benthic assemblages. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Drosophila Activin-like ligand Dawdle signals preferentially through one isoform of the Type-I receptor Baboon.

Abstract How TGF-β-type ligands achieve signaling specificity during development is only partially understood. Here, we show that Dawdle, one of four Activin-type ligands in Drosophila, preferentially signals through Baboc, one of three isoforms of the Activin Type-I receptor that are expressed during development. In cell culture, Dawdle signaling is active in the presence of the Type-II receptor Punt but not Wit, demonstrating that the Type-II receptor also contributes to the specificity of the signaling complex. During development, different larval tissues express unique combinations of these receptors, and ectopic expression of Baboc in a tissue where it is not normally expressed at high levels can make that tissue sensitive to Dawdle signaling. These results reveal a mechanism by which distinct cell types can discriminate between different Activin-type signals during development as a result of differential expression of Type-I receptor isoforms.
Between the state and the market : can informal insurance patch the safety net?

Most households in low-income countries deal with economic hardships through informal insurance arrangements between individuals and communities rather than through publicly managed programs or market-provided insurance schemes. Households may, for example, draw on savings, sell physical assets, rely on reciprocal gift exchanges, or diversify into alternative income-generating activities. These mechanisms can be highly effective in the right circumstances, but most recent studies show that informal insurance arrangements are often weak. Poor households, in particular, have substantial difficulties coping with even local, idiosyncratic risks. Public policy can help reduce vulnerability by encouraging private, flexible coping mechanisms while discouraging those that are fragile or that hinder economic and social mobility. Promising policies include creating self-regulating workfare programs and providing a supportive setting for institutions working to improve access to credit, crop and health insurance, and safe and convenient saving opportunities.
Cytotoxicity of Magnetic Nanocomposite Spheres for Possible Drug Delivery Systems

Cytotoxicity test is a rapid and standardized in vitro method to determine the harmful effects of materials used for biomedical purposes, such as drug carriers, implants and their coatings, biosensors and surgical/medical devices. In the present study, sol-gel driven nickel ferrite (NiFe2 O4 ) and cobalt ferrite (CoFe2 O4 ) nanoparticles (10–25 nm) at different concentrations were incorporated into biodegradable polymer, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), using oil-in-oil emulsion/solvent evaporation technique, and then the cytotoxicity of magnetic nanocomposite spheres was characterized using raw cells. The test provides the toxicity of the products prior to their real applications, which may limit animal experimentation, remove potential toxic compounds and reduce the downstream costs. The cytotoxicity results showed that both magnetic nanocomposite spheres were toxic at some degree to the raw cells; however, the cobalt ferrite nanoparticles in nanocomposite spheres are more toxic than the nickel ferrite nanoparticles.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Conformational analysis of enkephalin analogs containing a disulfide bond. Models for delta- and mu-receptor opioid agonists.

Conformational analyses of the cyclic opioids H-Tyr-d-Pen-Gly-Phe-d-Pen-OH (DPDPE) and H-Tyr-d-Cys-Gly-Phe-d-Cys-OH (DCDCE) have been performed using the AMBER program. DPDPE is considerably more selective for delta-receptors than DCDCE. Using the RNGCFM program, a large number of ways were found to close the 14-membered disulfide-containing ring structure. However, intramolecular hydrogen bonds were only possible in gamma-turn and inverse gamma-turn conformations centered on the glycine residue which were associated with opposite chiralities of the disulfide bond. With the cyclic part of the molecules in either a gamma-turn or inverse gamma-turn, a systematic conformational analysis was performed on the tyrosine and phenylalanine sidechains. This showed that conformers with the tyrosine and phenylalanine phenyl rings in the vicIntty of the disulfide bond were preferred due to attractive van der Waals forces. For DPDPE, however, this was only possible with a positive dihedral angle for the disulfide bond due to the presence of the beta-carbon methyls of Pen2. In contrast, these preferred conformers were possible with both chiralities of the disulfide bond in DCDCE. Conformational entropies and free energies were computed from the translational, rotational, and vibrational energy levels available to each conformer. The conformational entropies were found to vary significantly and to result in a re-ordering of the lowest energy mIntma. Based on these conformational differences in DPDPE and DCDCE and their differing pharmacological selectivities, tentative conformational preferences for delta- and mu-receptor opioid peptides are proposed.
Improving Classroom Discussion Using an Innovative Structure

Classroom discussion is an important pedagogical model that every college professor should strive to master. Though I have been in higher education for 15 years, there are still classes in which I ...
Animal imaging using immersion

We are using rodent animal models to study and compare contrast mechanisms for detection of breast cancer. These measurements are performed with the animals immersed in a matching scattering medium. The matching scattering medium or liquid tissue phantom comprises a mixture of Ropaque (hollow acrylic/styrene microspheres) and ink. We have previously applied matched imaging to imaging in humans. Surrounding the imaged region with a matched tissue phantom compensates for variations in tissue thickness and geometry, provides more uniform illumination, and allows better use of the dynamic range of the imaging system. If the match is good, the boundaries of the imaged region should almost vanish, enhancing the contrast from internal structure as compared to contrast from the boundaries and surface topography. For our measurements in animals, the immersion plays two additional roles. First, we can readily study tumors through tissue thickness similar to that of a human breast. Although the heterogeneity of the breast is lost, this is a practical method to study the detection of small tumors and monitor changes as they grow. Second, the immersion enhances our ability to quantify the contrast mechanisms for peripheral tumors on the animal because the boundary effects on photon migration are eliminated. We are currently developing two systems for these measurements. One is a continuous-wave (CW) system based on near-infrared LED illumination and a CCD (charge-coupled device) camera. The second system, a frequency domain system, can help quantify the changes observed with the CW system.
Human brain in tissue culture. VI.Presence of glial fibrillary acidic protein in subcultivated human fetal brain cells as demonstrated by immunofluorescent and immunoperoxidase staining

Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was present in cell cultures derived from human fetal brain tissue as determined by indirect immunofluorescence (IF) and immunoperoxidase (IP) staining using rabbit anti-human GFAP antisera. The IF and IP techniques were comparable in localizing the cytoplasmic distribution and the frequent perinuclear concentration of GFAP in brain cells. The horseradish peroxidase technique was more sensitive and a 1:20–1:40 dilution of anti-GFAP serum could be applied in the initial step of the peroxidase staining as compared to a 1:10 dilution of anti-GFAP serum for IF staining. Sequential studies of subcultivated human fetal brain cell lines by these techniques indicated that some brain cell lines become GFAP-negative rapidly, whereas other cell lines remain GFAP-posifive for no less than ten subcultivations in vitro. GFA protein was never present in any PMLSV40-transformed human brain cells.
Personal perspective. misguided flexibility: Workers again becoming machines

Two distinct notions of flexibility have arisen; one concerns the individual as a holistic being, the other deals with the working environment of the same individual. The possible motives and problems of this situation are explored. The development of possible models for analysis is discussed.
Optimal decision processes and algorithms

Abstract Economic decision theory, information economics, and computer algorithm theory are combined to develop sufficient conditions for using an optimization approach to the construction of algorithms or decision processes. Two algorithms are constructed based on composite experiments, each composite experiment being composed of primary experiments. The composite experiment can be viewed as being executed on a parallel computer. The parallel computer can in turn be viewed as an organization or team. Under this interpretation, we provide a sufficient condition for optimally delegating a task to a group of subordinates.
Does uncle Sam really want you? A response to "Rethinking research Ethics" by Rosamond Rhodes (AJOB 5:1).

Equal participation in national objectives is a key element of democratic societies. For many programs such as taxes there is widespread grumbling but very little dispute about the necessity of pay...
Local and national trends over a decade in the surgical treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ.

Abstract Background Ductal cancer in situ (DCIS) is an increasingly frequent diagnosis in breast cancer, and management continues to challenge surgeons and oncologists. The purpose of our study was to examine local and national rates of breast conservation surgery and breast reconstruction surgery and to explore patient and surgeon factors associated with the procedures. Methods Review of the 1,342 patients in our institutional breast cancer database yielded 211 patients with DCIS. The sample of 211 patients was compared with a national (Nationwide Inpatient Sample [NIS]) database. Patient and surgeon factors associated with the use of breast conservative surgery (BCS) and breast reconstruction (BR) postmastectomy were identified. Results At our institution, the use of BCS steadily increased over ten years. Younger women with nonpalpable tumors, nonprivate insurance, and younger surgeons were more likely to have BCS. In 28 patients, breast reconstruction was performed: younger Caucasian women with private insurance and younger surgeons were more likely to undergo reconstruction. NIS data revealed that BCS was performed in 20% but that BCS did not increase over the 12-year period. Conclusions There was a steady increase in the use of BCS for DCIS at our institution, but a consistent, and much lower, use nationally. To increase breast conservation and reconstruction for DCIS, educational efforts should especially be directed toward elderly women and elderly surgeons.
On fracture of a thin spherical shell under blast loading

The nature of fracture under impulsive loading is examined. It is shown as a consequence to Drucker's stability hypothesis that, under impulsive loading, it is strain rate and not total strain that plays the dominant role in determining fracture criteria. Rinehart and Pearson's criteria for rupture of cylindrical shells, which are consistent with the above, are extended to spherical shells. Experimental program on polystyreneplastic shells of different sizes is reported. Dominant fracture pattern observed was brittle. Also, critical velocity of straining (Vcr) was found to be directly proportional to the cube of the diameter of the shell. On the basis of dimensional considerations, it is shown that the shell-wall thickness has no effect upon the number of fragments. The effect of material properties on fracture is also examined.
Flow and Heat Transfer in an Upper Half Cooled Lower Half Heated Enclosure With Horizontal Temperature Deviations

The nature and patterns of solution flow in hydrothermal autoclaves are critical to the quality, growth uniformity, and growth rates of synthetic single crystals. Small horizontal temperature deviations, which exist in industrial practice, were found to be critical in establishing flow patterns. However, the mechanism that determines how temperature deviations affect flow pattern is not well understood. In this study, an experimental system is set-up to study the flow in a model reactor (an enclosure). Temperature in the enclosure is visualized using liquid crystals. With the experimental results, a numerical model is validated and then used to simulate flows in enclosures that are subjected to similar thermal condition as industrial autoclaves. Flow patterns are obtained with various temperature deviations, for various aspect ratios and various Rayleigh (Ra) number between 4.05E8 to 3.24E9. Flows studied are unsteady in nature. Without temperature deviations, the overall flow pattern is anti-symmetric. With a temperature deviation, the wall layers are un-balanced. The impingement of streams on the wall layers does not affect the wall layer flow at low Ra numbers. At high Ra number, wall layers are broken by the impinging streams. The dominant heat transfer mechanism in the enclosure changes significantly as the aspect ratio of the enclosure changes. In enclosures of high aspect ratios that heat transfer resistance is mainly at the fluid exchange between the two halves, temperature deviations significantly affect heat transfer by stabilizing the direction of the streams.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Quantum measurements and the standard quantum limit.

We discuss quantum measurements and find a repeated-measurement scheme to monitor the free-mass position to an arbitrary accuracy.
Self-Consistency for Low Self-Esteem in Dissonance Processes: The Role of Self-Standards

The self-consistency revision of cognitive dissonance theory predicts that people with low self-esteem are less likely to experience dissonance arousal compared to people with high self-esteem. Two experiments investigated how the accessibility of different self-standards in the context of a dissonant act activates the consistency role of self-esteem in the process of cognitive dissonance arousal. In Experiment I, after participants wrote a counter-attitudinal essay, priming personal self-standards caused more attitude change for those with high compared to low self-esteem, whereas priming no standards or priming normative self-standards caused the same level of attitude change among both self-esteem groups. Experiment 2 showed that the self-consistency effect for low self-esteem participants only occurred among those who were high in self-certainty when personal self-standards were primed. The importance of self-standards for understanding the role of self-esteem in dissonance processes is discussed.
Preparation of Glycinin and β-Conglycinin from High-Sucrose/Low-Stachyose Soybeans

A new soybean line, known as high-sucrose/low-stachyose (HS/LS) soybeans, has been developed having elevated sucrose content and reduced content of flatus-causing oligosaccharides, especially stachyose. There is also increased interest in understanding the health benefits, functional properties and potential applications for the two major storage proteins of soybeans, glycinin and β-conglycinin. We evaluated the protein fractionation behavior of a HS/LS soybean line and compared it to normal soybeans when using the three-step Wu procedure, which employs SO2, NaCl and precipitations at pH 6.4 and 4.8 and a new two-step Deak procedure, which employs SO2, CaCl2 and precipitations at pH 6.4 and 4.8. Both soybean variety and fractionation procedure significantly affected fraction yields, purities and functional properties. The Wu procedure gave glycinin- and β-conglycinin-rich fractions with 100% purities and high yields of solids (15.4%) and protein (31.7%) from HS/LS soy flour, which were significantly higher than the purities and yields achieved with normal soybeans. The Deak procedure was less efficient in fractionating proteins from HS/LS soybeans than from normal soybeans, producing protein fractions from HS/LS soybeans with purities ranging from 71 to 80%. The Deak procedures yielded products with unique solubilities, surface hydrophobicities, and emulsification and foaming properties.
A lower bound on the radius of analyticity of a power series in a real Banach space

Let F be a power series centered at the origin in a real Banach space with radius of uniform convergence ρ. We show that F is analytic in the open ball B of radius ρ/ √ e, and furthermore, the Taylor series of F about any point a ∈ B converges uniformly within every closed ball centered at a contained in B. MSC number: 32A05, 46B99 key words: power series, Banach space, multilinear maps, analyticity
Superfluid Helium Critical Velocities in a Rotating Annulus

The critical velocity of rotation to bring superfluid helium at 1.3\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K into motion was measured in an annulus 2.2 mm wide, 1.8 cm deep, and 8.83 cm mean diameter. Superfluid currents were detected after the annulus was stopped, and after the normal fluid had come to rest, with a modified form of "Rayleigh disk." Well-defined critical velocities were found, and these varied from 0.81 cm/sec (1.75 rpm of the annulus) to 0.55 cm/sec (1.19 rpm) depending on the past history of the liquid. The higher critical velocity applies to liquid in which a superfluid current has not been established previously. The "memory" of the liquid helium for previous superfluid currents lasts between 50 and 75 min. A discussion is given of the evidence that these currents constitute an irrotational velocity field ($v\ensuremath{\propto}\frac{1}{r}$) in the annulus, which is free of vortex lines.
‘I Can See People, but They Look Like Trees Walking’:A Response to Professor Webster

L'A. repond a une critique adressee par John Webster dans la revue Scottish Journal of Theology a son livre Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology (Oxford, 1998) qui porte sur l'histoire de la notion de canon et du discours theologique.
Value and limitations of exercise radionuclide angiography for detecting myocardial ischemia in healed myocardial infarction

Exercise radionuclide angiography was performed in 65 normal subjects (group I), in 31 patients with exercise-induced transient thallium defects after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (group II), and in 16 patients without exercise-induced transient thallium defects, angina or electrocardiographic changes after AMI (group III). Absolute left ventricular (LV) volumes were measured using a correction for attenuation in each patient. Similar peak heart rate-blood pressure products were achieved in groups II and III. Although the mean LV ejection fraction (EF) response to exercise in group III (increase of 0.11 +/- 0.10 units) closely resembled that of normal persons (increase of 0.14 +/- 0.09 units) and was significantly different from that of group II (decrease of 0.04 +/- 0.12), there was considerable individual variation. An abnormal EF response to exercise, defined as failure of EF to increase by at least 0.05 units, was found in 6 subjects (9%) in group I, 26 patients (84%) in group II, and 2 patients (13%) in group III. End-systolic volume failed to decrease in 10 subjects (15%) in group I, 25 patients (81%) in group II and 7 patients (44%) in group III. New regional wall motion abnormalities were found in no subject in group I, in 16 patients (52%) in group II and in only 1 patient (6%) in group III. Thus, although group responses of EF or end-systolic volume appeared to correlate with the presence or absence of ischemia, some patients with exercise-induced transient thallium defects after AMI responded normally to exercise radionuclide angiography stress testing and some patients without other evidence of exercise-induced ischemia after AMI responded to exercise radionuclide angiography testing abnormally.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Present aspects of immunodiagnosis of schistosomiasis

Facilitated and improved by advances in molecular biology, techniques for the immunodiagnosis of schistosomiasis, including assays based on the detection of antigens circulating in the serum and/or excreted in the urine, have now reached the stage of multi-centre trials. There is a need to complement parasitological techniques as some national programmes are becoming increasingly successful in establishing control of the disease and the classical approach frequently fails to reveal low-intensity infection. Epidemiological survey teams in some areas have tentatively started to use serology and their experience indicates that antibody detection suffices in eradicated or controlled areas with low expected prevalence but that detection of circulating antigens is needed for assessment of the incidence of infection or reinfection in areas recently brought under control. Before reagents and procedures can be recommended for routine use of national control programmes, the assays must be standardized with sera from clinically well-characterized patients in geographically defined regions, hence emphasizing the need for a reference serum bank. Implementation of serological testing, carried out by national public health laboratories using standardized testing systems, would permit valid comparisons between different areas providing support for decisions regarding national health policies.
Factors in listening comprehension

(1948). Factors in listening comprehension. Speech Monographs: Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 154-163.
NOD-Like Receptors: Master Regulators of Inflammation and Cancer.

Cytosolic NOD-like receptors (NLRs) have been associated with human diseases including infections, cancer, and autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. These innate immune pattern recognition molecules are essential for controlling inflammatory mechanisms through induction of cytokines, chemokines and antimicrobial genes. Upon activation, some NLRs form multi-protein complexes called inflammasomes, while others orchestrate caspase-independent Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Moreover, NLRs and their downstream signaling components engage in an intricate crosstalk with cell death and autophagy pathways, both critical processes for cancer development. Recently, increasing evidence has extended the concept that chronic inflammation caused by abberant NLR signaling is a powerful driver of carcinogenesis, where it abets genetic mutations, tumor growth and progression. In this review, we explore the rapidly expanding area of research regarding the expression and functions of NLRs in different types of cancers. Furthermore, we particularly focus on how maintaining tissue homeostasis and regulating tissue repair may provide a logical platform for understanding the liaisons between the NLR-driven inflammatory responses and cancer. Finally, we outline novel therapeutic approaches that target NLR signaling and speculate how these could be developed as potential pharmaceutical alternatives for cancer treatment.
Multi-objective optimization of ensemble of regression trees using genetic algorithms

We consider a prediction problem with multiple output responses based on an ensemble of multivariate regression trees. The selection of the optimal ensemble is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem and solved using genetic algorithms. We illustrate the application of our approach on drug sensitivity prediction problem where the proposed methodology outperforms regular multivariate random forests in terms of correlation coefficients between predicted and experimental sensitivities. We also demonstrate that generating the Pareto-optimal front provides us a choice of ensembles for different optimization objectives.
Panic and the Breakdown of Social Order: Popular Myth, Social Theory, Empirical Evidence

(1987). Panic and the Breakdown of Social Order: Popular Myth, Social Theory, Empirical Evidence. Sociological Focus: Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 171-183.