cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Age-Modification of Lipoprotein, Lipid, and Lipoprotein Ratio-Associated Risk for Coronary Artery Calcium (From the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis [MESA])

Although abnormal lipoproteins and lipoprotein ratios are powerful risk factors for clinical cardiovascular events, these associations are stronger in younger than in older subjects. Whether age modifies the relation of lipoproteins and lipoprotein ratios to the relative risk of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD), as assessed by coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores, has not been examined in a contemporary, multiethnic cohort. We performed multivariate relative risk regression analyses to determine the relative risks for associations of lipoproteins and lipoprotein ratios with prevalent CAC in participants in Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). The participants were community-dwelling adults aged 45 to 84 years without clinically apparent CVD at baseline. We excluded those taking lipid-lowering therapy (15%) and stratified the results by decades of age. A total of 5,092 participants met the inclusion criteria. In the fully adjusted models, per SD of low-density lipoprotein, the age-stratified, adjusted relative risk for CAC was 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07 to 1.28) for those aged 45 to 84 years but was 1.05 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.10) for those aged 75 to 84 years (p-interaction = 0.12). The relative risk per SD of total/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio was 1.20 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.29) for those aged 45 to 54 years but only 1.04 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.09) for those aged 75 to 84 years (p-interaction <0.001). The lipoproteins levels and lipoprotein ratios were associated with increased relative risks for CAC across all age categories. However, these associations were markedly attenuated by age. In conclusion, abnormal lipoprotein levels in middle age are a powerful risk factor for early atherosclerosis, as manifested by prevalent CAC.
On the Performance of OFDM Systems in Time Varying Channels with Channel Estimation Error

In this paper, we analyze the performance of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems in time varying channels with channel estimation error. The conventional approach to obtain an analytical expression for the average error probability (bit or symbol) relies on finding the joint probability density function (PDF) of the channel and the channel estimate, and then, average the conditional error probability over the joint PDF. Usually, averaging the conditional error probability requires solving a three-fold integral. We will first give a simple proof to the asymptotic Gaussianity of the Intercarrier Interference (ICI), then we show that by expressing the channel in terms of the channel estimate, the problem of obtaining the average error probability is greatly reduced, and simplified to solving a single integral. The derived expressions are general, and may be used to analyze the performance of a variety of channel estimation schemes for OFDM systems in static and time varying channels.
Epigenetic effects of green tea polyphenols in cancer.

Epigenetics describes heritable alterations of gene expression and chromatin organization without changes in DNA sequence. Both hypermethylation and hypomethylation of DNA can affect gene expression and the multistep process of carcinogenesis. Epigenetic changes are reversible and may be targeted by dietary interventions. Bioactive compounds from green tea (GT) such as (–)-epigallocatechin gallate have been shown to alter DNA methyltransferase activity in studies of esophageal, oral, skin, Tregs, lung, breast and prostate cancer cells, which may contribute to the chemopreventive effect of GT. Three out of four mouse model studies have confirmed the inhibitory effect of (–)-epigallocatechin gallate on DNA methylation. A human study demonstrated that decreased methylation of CDX2 and BMP-2 in gastric carcinoma was associated with higher GT consumption. It is the goal of this review to summarize our current knowledge of the potential of GT to alter epigenetic processes, which may be useful in chemoprevention.
Protocol Responsibility Offloading to Improve TCP Throughput in Virtualized Environments

Virtualization is a key technology that powers cloud computing platforms such as Amazon EC2. Virtual machine (VM) consolidation, where multiple VMs share a physical host, has seen rapid adoption in practice, with increasingly large numbers of VMs per machine and per CPU core. Our investigations, however, suggest that the increasing degree of VM consolidation has serious negative effects on the VMs’ TCP performance. As multiple VMs share a given CPU, the scheduling latencies, which can be in the order of tens of milliseconds, substantially increase the typically submillisecond round-trip times (RTTs) for TCP connections in a datacenter, causing significant degradation in throughput. In this article, we propose a lightweight solution, called vPRO, that (a) offloads the VM’s TCP congestion control function to the driver domain to improve TCP transmit performance; and (b) offloads TCP acknowledgment functionality to the driver domain to improve the TCP receive performance. Our evaluation of a vPRO prototype on Xen suggests that vPRO substantially improves TCP receive and transmit throughputs with minimal per-packet CPU overhead. We further show that the higher TCP throughput leads to improvement in application-level performance, via experiments with Apache Olio, a Web 2.0 cloud application, and Intel MPI benchmark.
Remembrance of Books Past …Long Past: Glimpses into Alteacy

Abstract Developmental reading students’ aliterate behaviors were examined to discover what students report, in retrospective journal responses, as some of its possible origins, and to trace the (de‐)evolution of students’ self‐reported reading histories. Participants were 90 college freshmen enrolled in a strategic learning course at a large southeastern university. Participants were asked to respond in journal assignments to questions about (a) their reading histories, and (b) a novel they had read for class. Comparative analysis revealed that most participants had had early enabling literacy experiences, but even those experiences did not provide a hedge against later aliteracy. In response to the assigned novel, more than half the participants, many of whom had not read a book in years, reported a strong negative initial reaction to the assignment but that the experience became much more enjoyable as they “got into” the book, to the point that their ideas about reading for pleasure were changed signif...
Promoter Methylation Analysis Reveals That KCNA5 Ion Channel Silencing Supports Ewing Sarcoma Cell Proliferation.

Polycomb proteins are essential regulators of gene expression in stem cells and development. They function to reversibly repress gene transcription via posttranslational modification of histones and chromatin compaction. In many human cancers, genes that are repressed by polycomb in stem cells are subject to more stable silencing via DNA methylation of promoter CpG islands. Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive bone and soft-tissue tumor that is characterized by overexpression of polycomb proteins. This study investigates the DNA methylation status of polycomb target gene promoters in Ewing sarcoma tumors and cell lines and observes that the promoters of differentiation genes are frequent targets of CpG-island DNA methylation. In addition, the promoters of ion channel genes are highly differentially methylated in Ewing sarcoma compared with nonmalignant adult tissues. Ion channels regulate a variety of biologic processes, including proliferation, and dysfunction of these channels contributes to tumor pathogenesis. In particular, reduced expression of the voltage-gated Kv1.5 channel has been implicated in tumor progression. These data show that DNA methylation of the KCNA5 promoter contributes to stable epigenetic silencing of the Kv1.5 channel. This epigenetic repression is reversed by exposure to the DNA methylation inhibitor decitabine, which inhibits Ewing sarcoma cell proliferation through mechanisms that include restoration of the Kv1.5 channel function. Implications: This study demonstrates that promoters of ion channels are aberrantly methylated in Ewing sarcoma and that epigenetic silencing of KCNA5 contributes to tumor cell proliferation, thus providing further evidence of the importance of ion channel dysregulation to tumorigenesis. Mol Cancer Res; 14(1); 26–34. ©2015 AACR .
Embodied Care and Public Policy: (Re)Creating Caring Subjects

Despite the burgeoning literature on care, care ethicists have not adequately considered how we might meet the challenge of shifting citizens' deeply entrenched embodied habits with respect to caregiving. How might public policy work to better habituate citizens to care? Can our politics engender the sort of critical, and perceptual modes of attention necessary for care? Further, how might we restructure the institutions and discourses that shape caregiving arrangements such that we are enabled to practice care in a way that is consistent with other democratic values? In turning to these questions, I hope to make two distinct contributions to the study of care. The first is an argument for how democratic citizens can structure some aspects of political life, such as education, work/family policy, political discourse, and caregiving communities, to better reflect the view that a life well lived is one that entails a variety of caregiving practices. Such a project requires accepting that part of what we do in a democratic polityâ€”in any polity, for that matterâ€”is govern embodied subjects, disciplining ourselves in the ways we think best reflect and engender shared values. I consider how we might refashion caregiving subjects in more effective, enriching, and democratic ways. Secondly, I suggest that we take up something like what Richard Shusterman has called somaesthetics. Reminiscent of Foucauldian techniques of the self, Shusterman describes this as "a discipline dedicated to improving the understanding, use, and experience of the body as a locus of sensory-aesthetic appreciation (aesthesis) and creative self-fashioning." I argue that a project of self-fashioning can and should be integrated into a larger politics of care, so long as it is pursued in concert with a coherent critique of problematic modes of normalization with respect to caregiving. Engendering an ethic of care will require refashioning citizens - refashioning ourselves - so that we can begin to inhabit our bodies differently, with the intention, capability, and desire to give care. Doing so will require public policy that makes use of two quite different modes of power-disciplinary and self-care.
Complexity and structural heuristics for propositional and quantified satisfiability

Decision procedures for various logics are used as general-purpose solvers in computer science. A particularly popular choice is propositional logic, which is simultaneously powerful enough to model problems in many application domains, including formal verification and planning, while at the same time simple enough to be efficiently solved for many practical cases. Similarly, there are also recent interests in using QBF, an extension of propositional logic, as a modeling language to be used in a similar fashion. The hope is that QBF, being a more powerful language, can compactly encode, and in turn, be used to solve, a larger range of applications. Still, propositional logic and QBF are respectively complete for the complexity classes NP and PSPACE, thus, both can be theoretically considered intractable. A popular hypothesis is that real-world problems contain underlying structure that can be exploited by the decision procedures. In this dissertation, we study the impact of structural constraints (in the form of bounded width) and heuristics on the performance of propositional and QBF decision procedures. The results presented in this dissertation can be seen as a contrast on how bounded-width impacts propositional and quantified problems differently. Starting with a size bound on BDDs under bounded width, we proceed to compare symbolic decision procedures against the standard DPLL search-based approach for propositional logic, as well as compare different width-based heuristics for the symbolic approaches. In general, symbolic approaches for propositional satisfiability are only competitive for a small range of problems, and the theoretical tractability for the bounded-width case rarely applies in practice. However, the picture is very different for quantified satisfiability. To that end, we start with a series of "intractability in tractability" results which shows that although the complexity of QBF with constant width and alternation is tractable, there is an inherent non-elementary blowup in the width and alternation depth such that a width-bound that is slightly above constant leads to intractability. To contrast the theoretical intractability, we apply structural heuristics to a symbolic decision procedure of QBF and show that symbolic approaches complement search-based approaches quite well for QBF.
Effect of Testosterone Propionate on Ovulation and Luteinization in the Rabbit

SummaryTestosterone propionate in daily doses of 10 mg over a period of 22 days did not prevent ovulation in the rabbit in response to human pregnancy urine. Under continued testosterone treatment degeneration of the newly-formed corpora lutea was accelerated.
Research Note: Naloxone Attenuates Food but Not Water Intake in Japanese Quail

Abstract The effect of the opioid antagonist naloxone on food and water intake in male Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) was investigated. Birds were injected intramuscularly with 0, 3, 10, and 30 mg/kg body weight of naloxone hydrochloride. Food and water were offered ad libitum 15 min postinjection. Food intake was attenuated in a dose-dependent fashion through 300 min following the return of food and water. The dose-response relationship was quadratic, with the greatest reduction in food intake occurring at the 10 mg/kg body weight dose. Water intake was not affected by naloxone. The results demonstrate that endogenous opioid peptides are involved in the regulation of food, but not water, intake in Japanese quail.
Interplant Movement of Heliothis virescens(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Larvae in Pure and Mixed Plantings of Cotton With and Without Expression of the Cry1Ac δ-Endotoxin Protein of Bacillus thuringiensisBerliner

Laboratory and field studies were conducted during 1993 and 1994 to quantify interplant movement of Heliothis virescens (F.) larvae in pure and mixed plantings of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., with ('Event 531') and without ('Coker 312') the expression of Cry1Ac delta-endotoxin protein of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner. Field studies were conducted with neonate, 4-, and 7-d-old larvae placed on 3-plant experimental units and observed at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after inoculation of larvae. Combining larval movement across observations of neonates, 4-, and 7-d-old larvae, an estimated 52% of the larvae on pure plantings of Coker 312 had moved at least 1 plant by the cumulative time required to reach the age of 10 d. More larvae placed on Event 531 cotton moved to an adjacent plant (13% of the neonates had moved at least 1 plant within 24 h) than those placed on Coker 312 (0% of the neonates had moved at least 1 plant within 24 h). When larvae were placed on Event 531 plants, an estimated 82% of the larvae had moved to an adjacent plant by cumulative age of 10 d. Collectively, these data indicate that movement of larvae from plant to plant increases with larval age and occurs more rapidly for larvae placed on Event 531 cotton than on Coker 312. Previous studies have suggested that resistance to B. thuringiensis could develop more rapidly in insects exposed to seed mixtures of plants with and without endotoxin if larvae move between plants and if an external refuge exists. These data provide evidence of larval movement between plants in seed mixtures.
Patterns of quadrupedal locomotion in a vertical clinging and leaping primate (Propithecus coquereli) with implications for understanding the functional demands of primate quadrupedal locomotion

Objectives Many primates exhibit a suite of characteristics that distinguish their quadrupedal gaits from non-primate mammals including the use of a diagonal sequence gait, a relatively protracted humerus at touchdown, and relatively high peak vertical forces on the hindlimbs compared to the forelimbs. These characteristics are thought to have evolved together in early, small-bodied primates possibly in response to the mechanical demands of navigating and foraging in a complex arboreal environment. It remains unclear, however, whether primates that employ quadrupedalism only rarely demonstrate the common primate pattern of quadrupedalism or instead use the common non-primate pattern or an entirely different mechanical pattern from either group. Materials and Methods This study compared the kinematics and kinetics of two habitually quadrupedal primates (Lemur catta and Varecia variegata) to those of a dedicated vertical clinger and leaper (Propithecus coquereli) during bouts of quadrupedal walking. Results All three species employed diagonal sequence gaits almost exclusively, displayed similar degrees of humeral protraction, and exhibited lower vertical peak forces in the forelimbs compared to the hindlimb. Discussion From the data in this study, it is possible to reject the idea that P. coquereli uses a non-primate pattern of quadrupedal walking mechanics. Nor do they use an entirely different mechanical pattern from either most primates or most non-primates during quadrupedal locomotion. These findings provide support for the idea that this suite of characteristics is adaptive for the challenges of arboreal locomotion in primates and that these features of primate locomotion may be basal to the order or evolved independently in multiple lineages including indriids. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
AN APPROACH TO MAGNETIC PARTICLE DETECTION TECHNOLOGY USED FOR ANGLE WELD JOINT ON SMALL SIZE TUBE SOCKET BASED ON YOKE MAGNETIZATION METHOD

As an effective non-destructive detection method,the magnetic particle detection is widely used for ferromagnetic parts and components in power plants to detect defects on their surface or near the surface,but in magnetic particle detection of angle weld joints on small size tube sockets,the probability of discovered defects is affected by many factors,such as the methods of magnetization,the choise of magnetizing direction,the selection of magnetizing equipment,and the control of magnetizing criterion etc..For this,two kinds of magnetizing mode;i.e.standing mode and striding across mode,and two kinds of magnetizing method,i.e.DC magnetization and AC magnetization,have been tested and compared.It is shown that the striding across mode may result in loss detection of the defects,and the AC Yoke has more better effects to magnetization of the workpieces.A method for enhancing the probability of dicovered defects in magnetic particle detection of angle weld joints on small size tube sockets based on Yoke magnetization has been put forward.
The preparation of nano-composite Ag/ZnO and UV-light photocatalytic performance for dyes

Nano-composite material Ag/ZnO was prepared by sol-gel-solvothermal temperature-programmed one-step method.The phase structures,and surface physicochemical properties were well-characterized via X-ray diffraction(XRD) patterns,nitrogen adsorption/desorption determination,transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectrometer(SEM-EDS).The results showed that Ag could be successfully supported on the surface of ZnO,and the composite Ag/ZnO was the typical hexagonal wurtzite structure.Photocatalytic properties of the as-synthesized composite were tested by the UV-light photodegradation of acid fuchsin(AF),malachite green(MG),rhodamoine B(RB)and methylene blue(MB).The results showed that the composites exhibited higher photocatalytic activities under the UV-light irradiation.
On Language Network and its Impact on the Ecological Environment of Network

Network language is a totally new language model which is generated by the rapid development of modern information technology and network. Its special unique spread of vector and end-user make it has different characteristics as the traditional language. Network language will have a certain impact on the network ecological environment,which should be caused full attention.
Research of Shenyang Real Estate Market Based on Generalized Regression Neural Network

Based on the relevant data of Shenyang real estate market from 2003 to 2009,the data from 2010 to 2011 were forecasted using the generalized regression neural network with a smoothing factor of 0. 1 which has excellent approximation,and were compared with the true data. The results show that the developing investment,housing average price,and vacant areas of the real estate in Shenyang are in high level. Moreover,the real estate market is still in the boom,but belongs to the later period. Government,developer,and home buyer should pay attention to the real estate bubbles which may emerge in the future.
Choline Uptake in the Hippocampus: Inhibition of Septal-Hippocampal Cholinergic Neurons by Intraventricular Barbiturates

Simon et al. (15) first reported that in vivo administration of pentobarbital caused an inhibition of high-affinity, sodiumdependent choline uptake which was measured in vitro in hippocampal synaptosomes. This effect is believed to be related to a decrease in activity in the septal-hippocampal neurons. We have been interested in determining just where in the brain the drug acts to cause this effect and what behavioral consequences result from this particular effect of barbiturates.
Identifying patterns of situational antecedents to heavy drinking among college students

AbstractBackground: Emerging adults have the highest prevalence of heavy drinking as compared to all other age groups. Given the negative consequences associated with such drinking, additional research efforts focused on at-risk consumption are warranted. The current study sought to identify patterns of situational antecedents to drinking and to examine their associations with drinking motivations, alcohol involvement, and mental health functioning in a sample of heavy drinking college students.Method: Participants were 549 (65.8% women) college student drinkers.Results: Latent profile analysis identified three classes based on likelihood of heavy drinking across eight situational precipitants. The ‘High Situational Endorsement’ group reported the greatest likelihood of heavy drinking in most situations assessed. This class experienced the greatest level of alcohol-related harms as compared to the ‘Low Situational Endorsement’ and ‘Moderate Situational Endorsement’ groups. The Low Situational Endorsement ...
Complexity of the Minimum Input Selection Problem for Structural Controllability

Abstract We consider the minimum input selection problem for structural controllability (MISSC), stated as follows: Given a linear system x = Ax, where A is a n x n state matrix with m nonzero entries, find the minimum number of states that need to be driven by an external input so that the resulting system is structurally controllable. The fastest algorithm to solve this problem was recently proposed by Olshevsky in (Olshevsky, 2015) and runs in ∞ (my/n) operations. In this paper, we propose an alternative algorithm to solve MISSC in min{0 (rriy/n), O (n 2 · 37 ), O (m 10 / 7 )} operations. This running time is obtained by (i) proving that MISSC problem is computationally equivalent to the maximum bipartite matching (MBM) problem and (ii) considering the three fastest algorithms currently available to solve MBM, namely, the Hopcraft-Karp algorithm, the Mucha-Sankowski algorithm, and Madry's algorithm. Furthermore, our algorithm can directly benefit from future improvements in MBM computation. Conversely, we also show that any algorithmic improvement on solving MISSC would result in an improvement in MBM computation, which would be of great interest for theoretical computer scientists.
CHAPTER 37 – The Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease and Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy

The preponderance of evidence from the epidemiologic studies strongly supports the view that postmenopausal hormone therapy can substantially reduce the risk for coronary heart disease in healthy women, although there appears to be an increased risk of venous thromboembolism, and the data on stroke are inconclusive. The only large-scale clinical trial of hormone use indicates that combined therapy in women with established coronary disease leads to a short-term increase in the risk of second events, with a longer term decrease that is consistent with the observational data. Although the results from general population studies may be influenced in part by inherent characteristics of hormone users and nonusers, much of the epidemiologic data are derived from studies in more homogeneous populations in which health status and health-seeking behavior are not largely related to estrogen use. Findings from observational studies, in conjunction with the abundant biologic evidence lend substantial foundation for a causal relation between hormone therapy and reduced risk of heart disease.
Maintenance, Rearing, and Culture of Teuthoid and Sepioid Squids

The challenges of collecting, transporting, and maintaining healthy wild squids have been nearly as formidable as those of determining the structure and function of ion channels in squid giant axons. The differences are a matter of scale, not complexity. Careful perusal of the literature indicates clearly that failures have been the rule, especially with squids of the genus Loligo. It is an unfortunate fact that the vast majority of biomedical research on Loligo has been done on animals that were moribund when they were prepared for experiments. This was due in most cases to skin damage incurred during capture and transport from the field to the laboratory, and to the secondary infections that invariably followed immediately. Furthermore, the availability of live squids for research is limited seasonally because of the migratory behavior of these fast-swimming invertebrates. Thus any improvements in maintenance, rearing or culture will lead not only to greater availability to meet the demand from researchers, but hopefully to the provision of healthy squids for a wide range of experimentation.
Changes in geophysical properties caused by fluid injection into porous rocks: analytical models

Analytical models are provided that describe how the elastic compliance, electrical conductivity, and fluid-flow permeability of rocks depend on stress and fluid pressure. In order to explain published laboratory data on how seismic velocities and electrical conductivity vary in sandstones and granites, the models require a population of cracks to be present in a possibly porous host phase. The central objective is to obtain a consistent mean-field analytical model that shows how each modeled rock property depends on the nature of the crack population. The crack populations are described by a crack density, a probability distribution for the crack apertures and radii, and the averaged orientation of the cracks. The possibly anisotropic nature of the elasticity, conductivity, and permeability tensors is allowed for; however, only the isotropic limit is used when comparing to laboratory data. For the transport properties of conductivity and permeability, the percolation effect of the crack population linking up to form a connected path across a sample is modeled. However, this effect is important only in crystalline rock where the host phase has very small conductivity and permeability. In general, the importance of the crack population to the transport properties increases as the host phase becomes less conductive and less permeable.
Glucose Transporter-4 Facilitates Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Uptake in Osteoblasts

Recent studies have identified the osteoblast as an insulin responsive cell that participates in global energy homeostasis. Here, we show that glucose transporter-4 (Glut4) is required for insulin-dependent uptake and oxidation of glucose in mature osteoblasts. In primary cultures of mouse osteoblasts, insulin increased uptake and oxidation of 14C-glucose in a dose-dependent fashion but did not significantly affect uptake or oxidation of 14C-oleate. In vitro, undifferentiated osteoblasts expressed 3 high-affinity Gluts: Glut1, Glut4, and Glut3. However, although levels of Glut1 and Glut3 remained constant during the course of osteoblast differentiation, Glut4 expression increased by 5-fold in association with enhanced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Glut4 ablation in osteoblasts in vitro eliminated insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, reduced proliferation and diminished measures of osteoblast maturation. In vivo, Glut4 expression was observed in osteoblasts, osteocytes, and chondrocytes at a level approaching that observed in adjacent skeletal muscle. To determine the importance of Glut4 in bone in vivo, we generated mice lacking Glut4 in osteoblasts and osteocytes (ΔGlut4). ΔGlut4 mice exhibited normal bone architecture but exhibited an increase in peripheral fat in association with hyperinsulinemia, β-cell islet hypertrophy, and reduced insulin sensitivity. Surprisingly, the expression of insulin target genes in liver, muscle, and adipose from ΔGlut4 mice were unchanged or increased, indicating that alterations in glucose homeostasis were the result of reduced clearance by bone. These findings suggest that Glut4 mediates insulin-stimulated glucose uptake by mature osteoblasts/osteocytes and that the magnitude of glucose use by bone cells is sufficient to impact global glucose disposal in the mouse.
SEYMOUR, Susan C., WOMEN, FAMILY AND CHILD CARE IN INDIA: A World in Transition

SEYMOUR, Susan C., WOMEN, FAMILY AND CHILD CARE IN INDIA: A World in Transition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, 323pp., Rs. 595 softcover. The book is an outcome of a meticulous anthropological research spanning a period of three decades in a `rapidly urbanizing and modernizing,' yet backward, region of India. The author's concern is to grasp the cultural and structural dynamics of the families in two areas of Bhubaneswar, the capital city of the State Orissa. Within the family, the focus again falls on the lives of women and children. To the author, India's 'culturally idealized family,' which gives prominence to the collective interests, is male oriented, both in terms of its structure and values and therefore it is patrifocal family structure and ideology. Subordination of personal interests to collective interests of the joint household is manifested in a variety of forms. Selecting 24 Hindu families from a caste-stratified area (Old Town) and from a bureaucratic centre in the city (New Capital), representing 'caste' and 'class' systems of stratification, Susan Seymour compares the two systems of family and child rearing practices. The differences in the systems are quite revealing. In India, patrifocal joint family is in a process of transition and it is found in a number of ways and patterns. Sexual segregation is expressed on several occasions in the life cycle of an Indian, particularly during functions and ceremonies. Gender differentiated roles and responsibilities remain to be a strong principle of the Indian family. Women are still expected to confine themselves to their private life, looking after the children and engaging themselves in domestic chores. Childhood experiences for children in the Old Town are characterized by the reinforcement of interdependence from the early stages of childhood which is inculcated through a number of techniques, namely, the need to rely on a number of persons for care and attention, incipient identification with extended family and the elders being in control of them. The child also learns to relate himself/herself to the hierarchy of others and in the 'case of girls, they get to know about the roles and statuses they have to assume in their life. Motherhood is central to the patrifocal structure and ideology, and girls are brought up to become mothers. At the same time, women in the given ambience form support networks among their friends and kin and they have `clear spheres of responsibility and influence. …
Strength and Diversity of Inhibitory Signaling Differentiates Primate Anterior Cingulate from Lateral Prefrontal Cortex

The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of the primate play distinctive roles in the mediation of complex cognitive tasks. Compared with the LPFC, integration of information by the ACC can span longer timescales and requires stronger engagement of inhibitory processes. Here, we reveal the synaptic mechanism likely to underlie these differences using in vitro patch-clamp recordings of synaptic events and multiscale imaging of synaptic markers in rhesus monkeys. Although excitatory synaptic signaling does not differ, the level of synaptic inhibition is much higher in ACC than LPFC layer 3 pyramidal neurons, with a significantly higher frequency (∼6×) and longer duration of inhibitory synaptic currents. The number of inhibitory synapses and the ratio of cholecystokinin to parvalbumin-positive inhibitory inputs are also significantly higher in ACC compared with LPFC neurons. Therefore, inhibition is functionally and structurally more robust and diverse in ACC than in LPFC, resulting in a lower excitatory: inhibitory ratio and a greater dynamic range for signal integration and network oscillation by the ACC. These differences in inhibitory circuitry likely underlie the distinctive network dynamics in ACC and LPC during normal and pathological brain states. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) play temporally distinct roles during the execution of cognitive tasks (rapid working memory during ongoing tasks and long-term memory to guide future action, respectively). Compared with LPFC-mediated tasks, ACC-mediated tasks can span longer timescales and require stronger engagement of inhibition. This study shows that inhibitory signaling is much more robust and diverse in the ACC than in the LPFC. Therefore, there is a lower excitatory: inhibitory synaptic ratio and a greater dynamic range for signal integration and oscillatory behavior in the ACC. These significant differences in inhibitory synaptic transmission form an important basis for the differential timing of cognitive processing by the LPFC and ACC in normal and pathological brain states.
Decisional conflict between treatment options among end-stage renal disease patients evaluated for kidney transplantation.

Although kidney transplantation provides a significant benefit over dialysis, many patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are conflicted about their decision to undergo kidney transplant. We aimed to identify the prevalence and characteristics associated with decisional conflict between treatment options in ESRD patients presenting for transplant evaluation. Among a cross-sectional sample of patients with ESRD (n=464) surveyed in 2014 and 2015, we assessed decisional conflict through a validated 10-item questionnaire. Decisional conflict was dichotomized into no decisional conflict (score=0) and any decisional conflict (score>0). We investigated potential characteristics of patients with decisional conflict using bivariate and multivariable logistic regression. The overall mean age was 50.6 years, with 62% male patients and 48% African American patients. Nearly half (48.5%) of patients had decisional conflict regarding treatment options. Characteristics significantly associated with decisional conflict in multivariable analysis included male sex, lower educational attainment, and less transplant knowledge. Understanding characteristics associated with decisional conflict in patients with ESRD could help identify patients who may benefit from targeted interventions to help patients make informed, value-based, and supported decisions when deciding how to best treat their kidney disease.
Ladies First: Using a Loyalty Phase Model to Gain Insight into Gender Differences in Service Evaluations (An Extended Abstract)

Marketers constantly strive to achieve loyal, committed customers, but few companies are ultimately successful. Thus, a better understanding of loyalty, its effects, and an improved measurement model is needed. The current research creates unique measures of loyalty based on Oliver’s (1997, 1999) conceptualization of loyalty as differing cognitive-affective-conative-action levels. Specifically, the conceptualization identifies consumers as either cognitive, affective, conative, or action loyal to a firm in relation to competitor service providers. Items related to specific service benefits determine the cognitive loyalty phase. Affective loyalty reflects whether a customer “likes” a service provider. Commitment and purchase intention items are used to determine if customers are conative loyal. Finally, action loyalty items reflect deeply held motivations to purchase from a service provider.
Novel model based EMI processing framework

Wideband electromagnetic induction (WEMI) sensors can be used to detect, classify, and locate metallic targets buried underground. By examining the WEMI model from a new perspective, a low-rank equivalence for the WEMI data is obtained. The low-rank physical WEMI model directly leads to a new “filterless” processing framework that differs radically from traditional approaches to WEMI processing. The new framework enables target signature recovery independent of location estimation. Processing of field data with the new filterless WEMI framework is presented to show classification results based on the low-rank target signature.
HEME OXYGENASE-1 GENE THERAPY FOR PREVENTION OF VASOSPASM IN RATS

78 This study tested the hypothesis that adenovirus expressing heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), the enzyme that metabolises hemoglobin, would reduce contractions of cerebral arteries to hemoglobin and decrease vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Rats underwent injection of vehicle or replication defective adenovirus expressing HO-1 (Ad5HO-1) or β-galactosidase (Ad-βGal) into the cisterna magna. Transgene expression was assessed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels, immunoblotting for protein levels, immunohistochemistry, response of the basilar artery to pure, ferrous hemoglobin and carboxyhemoglobin production 1 day after virus injection. Effects of Ad5HO-1 and Ad-βGal on vasospasm were assessed in a rat double hemorrhage model. Injection of Ad5HO-1 significantly increased HO-1 mRNA, protein and activity in basilar artery compared to Ad-βGal and vehicle. Injection of Ad-βGal result in low level expression and activity of HO-1 but this was significantly less than after injection of Ad5HO-1. HO-1 immunoreactivity was present in the basilar artery adventitia after injection of Ad5HO-1 and Ad-βGal. Injection of Ad5HO-1 and Ad-βGal increased basilar artery diameter and brainstem blood flow compared to control (P
Prospective randomized study evaluating ultrasound versus fluoroscopy guided sacral InterStim® lead placement: A pilot study.

Objective To investigate the use of intraoperative ultrasound during stage I InterStim® sacral lead placement. Methods A total of 40 patients were randomly assigned to undergo InterStim® lead placement utilizing fluoroscopy or ultrasound guidance. Patients were blinded for the duration of the study. The surgeon and staff were blinded until after induction of anesthesia. Patients met criteria for refractory overactive bladder, fecal incontinence, or both. The ICIQ-OABqol, OABSS, and FIQL validated questionnaires were used pre- and post-operatively. Primary endpoint was total fluoroscopy time. Secondary endpoints were total radiation exposure and total number of foramen needle skin punctures. Results Forty patients were enrolled, twenty in the ultrasound and twenty in the fluoroscopy only arm. Mean age was 60 (SD = 14.4) and mean BMI 32 (SD = 7.2). Twenty-seven patients (67.5%) had urinary symptoms, four (10%) fecal incontinence, and nine (22.5%) had mixed symptoms. Radiation exposure time was reduced by 70.5 s (P = 0.002), radiation exposure was decreased by 42.3 mGy (P = 0.017), and the number of needle skin punctures decreased by 3.6 (P = 0.035) with use of ultrasound. Mean OR time in minutes was 55.5 in ultrasound and 58.2 in fluoroscopy group (P = 0.53). There were no statistically significant differences in questionnaire scores between groups. Conclusion Ultrasound guided placement of foramen needle during Stage I sacral neuromodulation results in reduction of radiation exposure to the patient, surgeon, and operating room staff. Further studies are necessary to determine the learning curve and efficacy of this technique.
Donor pre-treatment with dopamine: tonic for the transplanted heart?

Improvement in solid organ transplantation outcome depends on continued advances in donor management, cold ischemia preservation techniques, and recipient management. Current donor management recommendations include judicious use of inotropic agents and vasopressors including dopamine, dobutamine,
CHAPTER 4-3 – INTERPROTON COUPLING IN AROMATIC AND HETEROCYCLIC SYSTEMS

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on spin–spin interactions between protons directly attached to the same aromatic or heterocyclic ring. There is a marked decrease in the ortho coupling constants on passing from six-membered to five-membered rings; however, the meta coupling constants, while exhibiting considerable scatter in values, do not show this trend. In general, substitution of a heteroatom for the —CH= group in hetero-aromatic systems appears to lead to a decrease in ortho coupling constants across the adjacent bond, in line with the effects of electronegative substituents. As the introduction of heteroatoms also alters both bond orders and bond angles, it is difficult to separate these effects. The ortho coupling constants in aromatic and heterocyclic molecules are closely related to cis-vicinal coupling constants in olefins. The meta coupling constants have been recognized as abnormally large for an interaction taking place across four bonds and not involving π-electrons.
A chemical equilibrium estimate of the aerosols produced in an overheated light water reactor core

The degree of vaporization of light water reactor core materials was estimated using a highly idealized procedure involving (a) specification of the phases that are present for both structural and fuel material, (b) estimation of the vapor pressures exerted by the individual components of each phase, and (c) assuming a degree of vaporization of each phase constituent, allowing equilibration between gaseous and condensed species within the assumed pressure vessel volume. Using this procedure, the aerosol was estimated to consist mainly of silver, indium oxide, cesium hydroxide, and cadmium for pressurized water reactors and cesium hydroxide, cesium iodide, and tellurium for boiling water reactors. If boron is included in the thermodynamic estimate, then boron will significantly alter or dominate the composition of the aerosol in the form of boron oxide and cesium borate. The structural materials make up < 9% of the aerosol at 36 to 57 kg, but this figure is in good agreement with estimates from severe accident sequence analysis studies (17 kg) and from Parker (10.7 kg). The SASCHA data are used in NUREG-0772 and give much higher estimates at 295 and 250 kg.
Investing in Climate Failure - the Ethics and Economics of Fossil Fuel Divestment

Across the United States the growing Fossil Fuel Divestment movement has confronted universities, local governments, churches and other institutions with the demand to divest their investment portfolios from the fossil fuel industry. Such institutions are faced with a complex economic and ethical decision as to whether they should heed the advice of the divestment movement. Unsurprisingly, in response to such a seemingly radical proposal, a growing number of academics, lobbyists and organizations are resisting the fossil fuel divestment movement claiming that it is ineffective, dogmatic, unbalanced and naive, among other accusations. However, many of those who criticize the divestment movement are yet to truly engage with the substance of the movement, and in response to their criticism it is worth examining the economics and ethics behind the fossil fuel divestment movement in detail and in doing so assess the validity of the critiques levelled against the divestment movement in order to assist critics, institutions and divestment groups in their deliberations around divestment. In this research paper I attempt to do just that by elaborating on the economic and ethical case for divestment. I conclude that the divestment movement, far from being a naive, idealistic and dogmatic movement, is playing an important role in revealing the risks associated with the fact that much of the fossil fuel industry is over-valued if we as a global community are to keep levels of climate change below two degrees Celsius. Not only is the fossil fuel divestment movement helping to bring this ‘carbon bubble’ to light, thus revealing the true value of the fossil fuel industry in a carbon-constrained world, but furthermore through their actions they are helping many institutions to make stronger financial and ethical decisions and in many cases are even helping spur investment in the clean economy.
On the Scalability of Dynamic Scheduling Scientific Applications with Adaptive Weighted Factoring

In heterogeneous environments, dynamic scheduling algorithms are a powerful tool towards performance improvement of scientific applications via load balancing. However, these scheduling techniques employ heuristics that require prior knowledge about workload via profiling resulting in higher overhead as problem sizes and number of processors increase. In addition, load imbalance may appear only at run-time, making profiling work tedious and sometimes even obsolete. Recently, the integration of dynamic loop scheduling algorithms into a number of scientific applications has been proven effective. This paper reports on performance improvements obtained by integrating the Adaptive Weighted Factoring, a recently proposed dynamic loop scheduling technique that addresses these concerns, into two scientific applications: computational field simulation on unstructured grids, and N-Body simulations. Reported experimental results confirm the benefits of using this methodology, and emphasize its high potential for future integration into other scientific applications that exhibit substantial performance degradation due to load imbalance.
Home safety evaluation - getting it right.

Comprehensive and efficient home safety assessments are needed to provide quality interventions for community living. This study explores early career and experienced home evaluator perspectives on...
Resting-state EEG Connectivity in Young Children with ADHD.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent and impairing neurodevelopmental disorder. While early childhood is a crucial time for early intervention, it is characterized ...