cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acceptability of curriculum-based assessment by school psychologists

Abstract School psychologists' acceptability ratings of curriculum-based assessment and selected standardized measures for evaluating academic performance was examined. From a random sample of members from the 1989–1990 membership list of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), a total of 249 (49.8%) respondents completed the Assessment Rating Profile (ARP), a measure designed to evaluate the acceptability of assessment procedures, after reading a description of assessment data collected on a hypothetical student. The results showed that although both sets of assessment measures were found to be rated as acceptable, CBA was significantly and consistently rated as more acceptable than standardized tests. Initial psychometric characteristics of the ARP are also reported.
Identification of multi-drug resistance gene (MDR1) in equine ileum

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a membrane transporter encoded in the Multi-drug Resistance (MDR1) gene expressed in several normal tissues and over expressed in tumor cells. Pgp was already identified in different species but not yet in equine. MDR1 gene and P-gp are able to interfere with bioavailability and disposition of several drugs, altering pharmacokinetic and pharmacodinamic of drugs. The presence of the MDR1 and P-gp in the central nervous system blocks the entry of certain drugs in this tissue and reduces drug absorption and enhances drug elimination when P-gp and MDR1 are presented in the gastrointestinal tract. This study showed that the MDR1 gene is present in equine ileum. Future studies on the impact of the P-glycoprotein encoded gene MDR1 on drugs pharmacologic effects in horses are granted.
On the origin of integrability in matrix models

The matrix integrals involved in 2d lattice gravity are studied at finiteN. The integrable systems that arise in the continuum theory are shown to result directly from the formulation of the matrix integrals in terms of orthogonal polynomials. The partition function proves to be a tau function of the Toda lattice hierarchy. The associated linear problem is equivalent to finding the polynomial basis which diagonalizes the partition function. The cases of one Hermitian matrix, one unitary matrix, and Hermitian matrix chains all fall within the Toda framework.
Absence of a Deglutitive Inhibition Equivalent with Secondary Peristalsis

This study aimed to determine the interactions between closely paired swallow-induced primary peristalsis (PP) and air injection-induced secondary peristalsis (SP). Ten subjects (7 men, 18–42 yr) w...
Origin of the Mg-Smectite at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) Boundary at Stevns Klint, Denmark

The clay mineralogy and major element geochemistry of four distinct layers within the Cre- taceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary marl (i.e., II, IIIa, IIIb, and IV) at Stevns Klint, Denmark, including "impact layer" (layer IIIa), were examined, and there was not a marked change in the clay mineralogy throughout this K/T boundary marl. A magnesium smectite (i.e., Mg-smectite) was the predominant clay mineral at the K/T boundary not only at Stevns Klint and at Nye Klov; it was also found to be the predominant clay mineral in the K/T boundary at Karlstrup Quan-y. In addition, Mg-smectite was found in a smectitic marl 32 meters below the K/T boundary at the Limhamn Quarry (near Malm6, Sweden), and it did not have anomalous concentrations of iridium or other siderophile trace elements. Given its occurrence in a Maastrichtian marl, it is therefore argued that the Mg-smectite is not derived from meteorite impact. The rare earth element (REE) signatures of the Mg-smectites ranged from being comparable to the North American Shale Standard (NASC) to being one-half an order of magnitude depleted relative to NASC. One Mg-smectite collected from layer IIIb, immediately above the "impact/red layer," was depleted in REE by one order of magnitude relative to NASC, and these levels of REE are comparable to those of smectite and illite/smectite (I/S) formed authigenically in bentonites and K-bentonites, re- spectively. Thus, the REE data suggest this Mg-smectite in all likelihood was formed authigenically from a glassy precursor. The presence of the low levels of REE of the Mg-smectite in the layer IIIb has no particular significance other than to suggest that this Mg-smectite separate was the least contaminated with illite or apatite having higher REE levels. With better separation, the other Mg-smectites would be expected to have comparably low levels of REE. Given the presence of the Mg-smectite throughout the K/T boundary and in Maastrichtian and Danian marls, the Mg-smectite is thought to be of volcanic origin. However, is not certain whether the Mg-smectite formed from volcanic glass deposited at the K/T boundary or whether it was formed from volcanic glass as young as late Cretaceous.
Robust and efficient detection of convex groups

An algorithm is presented that finds all convex sets of line segments in an image, such that the length of the line segments account for at least some fixed proportion of the length of the convex hull. This enables the algorithm to find convex groups whose contours are partially occluded or missing due to noise. An expected time analysis of the algorithm's performance is performed, together with experiments on real images that show that the algorithm is efficient and that tell when the groups found are unlikely to occur at random, and are likely to capture the underlying structure of a scene. >
Leveraging design structure matrices in software design education

Important software design concepts, such as information hiding and separation of concerns, are often conveyed to students informally. The modularity and hence maintainability of student software is difficult to assess. In this paper, we report our study of using design structure matrix (DSM) to assess the modularity of student software by comparing the differences between the DSM representing the intended design and the DSMs representing the software implemented by the students. We applied this approach to a software design class at Drexel University. We found that even though the lab and homework assignments were of small scale, and in many cases, detailed designs were given to the students in the form of UML class diagrams, 74% of the 85 student submissions, although fulfilled the required functionality, introduced unexpected dependencies so that the modules that designed to be independent are actually coupled. These design problems can only be revealed during software evolution, which is usually not possible for student projects. The results show the necessity and benefits of applying DSM modeling to make such design problems explicit to the students.
Understanding individuals' personal values from social media word use

The theory of values posits that each person has a set of values, or desirable and trans-situational goals, that motivate their actions. The Basic Human Values, a motivational construct that captures people's values, have been shown to influence a wide range of human behaviors. In this work, we analyze people's values and their word use on Reddit, an online social news sharing community. Through conducting surveys and analyzing text contributions of 799 Reddit users, we identify and interpret categories of words that are indicative of user's value orientations. Using the same data, we further report a preliminary exploration on word-based prediction of Basic Human Values.
Outcome of selective ramisectomy for botulinum toxin resistant torticollis

OBJECTIVE—To investigate the long term outcome of selective ramisectomy denervation in patients with botulinum toxin resistant spasmodic torticollis. BACKGROUND—The published surgical series of ramisectomy treatment for torticollis do not provide systematic information on patients who develop resistance to the current standard of treatment—botulium toxin injections. Moreover, there is little information on surgical outcome using rating scale measurements of torticollis, or assessments of functional and occupational capacity. METHODS—Using a structured interview format and videotape assessments of severity of dystonia in a retrospective fashion, detailed follow up information was obtained on 16 patients who underwent open label selective denervation for severe, disabling torticollis, refractory to injections of botulinum toxin. RESULTS—Of 16 patients with disabling torticollis followed up postoperatively for a mean of 5 years, six (37.5%) had a moderate or complete return of normal neck function, as determined using functional capacity scales, whereas 10 had only minimal relief of dystonia or gain in function. Six of the 16 patients (37.5%) underwent a second peripheral denervation operation, and one required a third. Of 11 patients working outside the home before surgery, nine were disabled by dystonia, and only one continued to work after surgery. Dystonia rating scale scores of videotaped examinations using a modification of the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS) improved in 12 of 14 patients (85.7%) who underwent selective ramisectomy. When patients with primary botulinum toxin resistance were excluded, the magnitude of benefit for this subgroup was 31.9% of the baseline dystonia score (p<0.0002), comparable with the degree of improvement in a group of control patients receiving botulinum toxin treatment for torticollis. CONCLUSION—About one third of patients with torticollis resistant to injections of botulinum toxin may derive modest long term functional improvement from selective denervation, with a reduction in dystonia by about 30%, but remain unable to work.
Communicating with use of filtered, synchronized, chaotic signals

The principles of synchronization of chaotic systems are extended to the case where the drive signal is filtered. A feedback loop in the response system with an identical filter is used to reconstruct the original drive signal, allowing synchronization. A simple parameter switching scheme is used to send information from a drive circuit to a receiver. It is also possible to add a chaotic signal with very similar frequency characteristics and still detect information encoded in the original chaotic carrier (but not the added chaotic signal), demonstrating the possibility of adding and separating multiple chaotic carriers with similar frequency characteristics. >
Conspiracy of Silence and New Subjectivity in Monkey Bridge and The Gangster We Are All Looking For

This article analyzes the memories of traumatic experiences held by major characters in two contemporary Vietnamese American novels: Lan Cao’s Monkey Bridge and Le Thi Diem Thuy’s The Gangster We Are All Looking For. Because the parents who experienced trauma during the Vietnam War refuse to share their haunting pasts with the coming-of-age narrators who are maturing in the United States, both narrators feel suffocated by a very palpable conspiracy of silence, and eventually they must find release from their parents’ traumatic and haunting pasts in order to create a new subjectivity for themselves in a new homeland—a subjectivity that characterizes the “1.5 generation” Vietnamese American consciousness. Both narrators possess memories and experiences of childhood, very early in Vietnam and then later in the United States. This combination of influences significantly informs their self-perception and their on-going construction of personal identity. This personal identity must be forged out of a sense of uncertainty, disorientation, confusion, and alienation felt during childhood and adolescence spent with parents who themselves were making the painful transition from a heartbreaking war to its trying aftermath. The narrators’ new identity, achieved at the end of both novels, suggests optimism for the development of both personal, or individual, and collective, or community, identity, which is taking shape at the cultural crossroads between Vietnam and America and the historical crossroads between war and postwar eras.
Variability Is Not the Villain: Finding Patterns in Complex Natural Images

ABSTRACTEveryone needs strong observational skills to solve challenging problems and make informed decisions. However, many students expect to find exact answers to their questions by using the internet and do not understand the role of uncertainty, especially in decision making and scientific research. Humans and other animals choose among many options by using information about their environment. During this activity, students use their observational skills to analyze data from images of grass shrimp and a highly variable salt-marsh habitat as case studies for prioritizing different pieces of information. They gain an increased appreciation of natural variability and learn to build a consensus in a scenario that has no correct answer.
The Rural Urban Collaborative: Developing Understandings of Culture and Teaching

Recognition of the importance of addressing the influence of culture and community upon teaching and learning has led teacher education programs to make significant commitments to change how cultural diversity is addressed. The Rural Urban Collaborative (RUC) is a collaboration between two universities, one in a large city and one in a rural area that provides diversity in teacher candidate field placements. Although the implementation of the RUC varied slightly for both universities, three practices were shared by all teacher candidates: field placements in schools different from those in the university community, reflections based on field experiences, and a symposium event that included speakers, activities, and panels of teachers and principals from both rural and urban schools. Preliminary analysis of student reflections and evaluations has suggested that, although a majority of students seem committed to working with students from ethnically and culturally diverse groups, they do not always recognize the importance of the various cultures that children bring to the classroom. This has led to the understanding that the role of context and culture in the classroom must be made more explicit in the activities and courses linked with the Rural Urban Collaborative.
Evolution of Vibrational Properties in Lanthanum Hexaboride Nanocrystals

Lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) is known for its hardness, mechanical strength, thermionic emission, and strong plasmonic properties. However, given the lack of colloidal synthetic methods to access this material, very little is understood about its physical properties on the nanoscale. Recently, a new moderate-temperature synthetic technique was developed to directly synthesize LaB6 nanoparticles [Mattox et al. Chem. Mater. 2015, 27, 6620]. We report the influence of nanoparticle size on the structural and vibrational properties of LaB6 using a combination of Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. Our studies indicate that the size of the lanthanum salt anion has a larger influence on LaB6 vibrational energies than particle size. Surprisingly, our work finds that the LaB6 lattice readily expands to accommodate larger ions and contracts with their removal, while ligand incorporation significantly amplifies and shifts the Raman stretching modes.
Fabrication of novel high surface area mushroom gilled fibers and their effects on human adipose derived stem cells under pulsatile fluid flow for tissue engineering applications.

Abstract The fabrication and characterization of novel high surface area hollow gilled fiber tissue engineering scaffolds via industrially relevant, scalable, repeatable, high speed, and economical nonwoven carding technology is described. Scaffolds were validated as tissue engineering scaffolds using human adipose derived stem cells (hASC) exposed to pulsatile fluid flow (PFF). The effects of fiber morphology on the proliferation and viability of hASC, as well as effects of varied magnitudes of shear stress applied via PFF on the expression of the early osteogenic gene marker runt related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) were evaluated. Gilled fiber scaffolds led to a significant increase in proliferation of hASC after seven days in static culture, and exhibited fewer dead cells compared to pure PLA round fiber controls. Further, hASC-seeded scaffolds exposed to 3 and 6 dyn/cm 2 resulted in significantly increased mRNA expression of RUNX2 after one hour of PFF in the absence of soluble osteogenic induction factors. This is the first study to describe a method for the fabrication of high surface area gilled fibers and scaffolds. The scalable manufacturing process and potential fabrication across multiple nonwoven and woven platforms makes them promising candidates for a variety of applications that require high surface area fibrous materials. Statement of Significance We report here for the first time the successful fabrication of novel high surface area gilled fiber scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Gilled fibers led to a significant increase in proliferation of human adipose derived stem cells after one week in culture, and a greater number of viable cells compared to round fiber controls. Further, in the absence of osteogenic induction factors, gilled fibers led to significantly increased mRNA expression of an early marker for osteogenesis after exposure to pulsatile fluid flow. This is the first study to describe gilled fiber fabrication and their potential for tissue engineering applications. The repeatable, industrially scalable, and versatile fabrication process makes them promising candidates for a variety of scaffold-based tissue engineering applications.
Social and Maintenance Behavior of the Echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus

The social and maintenance behavior of the monotreme, Tachyglossus aculeatus , was studied in laboratory and outdoor cages and in the semiwild state in Victoria, Australia. Behavioral postures and positions are defined and described and sequences of behavior are suggested. Sonograms are presented of different sniffing noises made by the echidnas. While echidnas may have a territory or home range in the wild, they are loosely hierarchial in laboratory situations. Most social interactions are resolved by the subordinate individual avoiding a direct encounter by passing, turning away, or stopping. Dominance is determined on the basis of the outcome of challenges and mutual axillary sniffing and is maintained by bumping behavior.
Research on institutionalized children: Implications for international child welfare practitioners and policymakers.

This paper reviews the empirical literature on the effects of institutionalization on young children’s development from the perspective of global child welfare practice and policy. It considers the...
Factors Affecting Visual Performance after Customized Wavefront Manipulation

Abstract (35 Word Limit) The success of customized vision correction depends on the relative significance of the higher order aberration of the eye, the feasibility of implementing the correction methods and the neural system’s capability to benefit fully from improved optics.
Sexual Orientation: Categories or Continuum? Commentary on Bailey et al. (2016)

Bailey et al. (2016) have provided an excellent, state-of-the-art overview that is a major contribution to our understanding of sexual orientation. However, whereas Bailey and his coauthors have examined the physiological, behavioral, and self-report data of sexual orientation and see categories, I see a sexual and romantic continuum. After noting several objections concerning the limitations of the review and methodological shortcomings characteristic of sexual-orientation research in general, I present evidence from research investigating in-between sexualities to support an alternative, continuum-based perspective regarding the nature of sexual orientation for both women and men. A continuum conceptualization has potential implications for investigating the prevalence of nonheterosexuals, sexual-orientation differences in gender nonconformity, causes of sexual orientation, and political issues.
Soil polarization data collected for the global undisturbed/disturbed Earth (GUIDE) program

A key product of the global undisturbed/disturbed earth (GUIDE) program is the development of a soils database of broadband, hyperspectral, and polarized data. As a part of the GUIDE program, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) conducted a testing series involving a large variety of instrumentation at several sites at the Yuma Test Center (YTC) in fiscal year 2015 under the auspices of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (now the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency), generating approximately 17 terabytes of data. Most of this data, available through the ERDC, comprises hyperspectral polarimetric scientific data in the visible, near-infrared, shortwave infrared, and longwave infrared bands. As part of this testing series the performance of six handheld devices was characterized. We discuss the process of this data collection at YTC focusing on the polarimetric data, including the two handheld devices that relied on polarization for detection. Although some other polarization states discriminate soils better in some other wavelengths, for certain visible and near-infrared bands the Stokes S2 parameter provided the best discrimination.
Cervical Lesions Screened via HPV and TCT Combined with Biopsy under Colposcope

Objective To explore the clinical value of TCT,high-risk HPV detection and colposcope examination in screening cervical lesions.Methods One thousand,six hundred and eighty married women received TCT and HPV-DNA detection.Of them,386 cases had non-definite significance of atypical squamous cells(ASC-US) in TCT detection and positive result of HPV-DNA;and they received cervical multiple biopsy under colposcope additionally.Results Of 1680 cases,86 cases had positive results in TCT detection,the positive rate was 5.12%;386 cases had positive results in HPV-DNA detection and the positive rate was 22.98%.The positive detective rate in HPV-DNA was higher than that in TCT(P 0.01).Of 86 cases of positive results in TCT,receiving cervical multiple biopsy under colposcope,58 cases were diagnosed as chronic cervicitis,7 cases as mild cervical epithelial neoplasia(CINⅠ),8 cases as moderate cervical epithelial neoplasia(CINⅡ),10 cases as severe cervical epithelial neoplasia(CNⅢ) and 3 cases as squamous cell carcinoma(SCC).Of 386 cases of positive results in HPV-DNA examination,after combined with cervical multiple biopsy under colposcope,322 cases were diagnosed as chronic cervicitis,28 cases as CINⅠ,18 cases as CINⅡ,14 cases as CINⅢ and 4 cases as SCC.Conclusion TCT and high-risk HPV-DNA detection combined with colposcope examination improve obviously CIN positive detective rate.The combined method of 3-in-1 is the best one for the screening of cervical lesions.It detects early CIN and blocks the occurrence of cervical carcinoma.
Mutants Affecting the Quinol Oxidation Site of Ubiquinolcyt c2-Oxidoreductase

Ubiquinol-cyt c 2 -oxidoreductase (cyt bc1.) is part of the cyclic electron transfer system of the purple, non-sulphur bacteria Rhodobacter capsulatus and Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The enzyme, like the cyt b 6 f complex of plant chloroplasts and the cyt bc 1 of mitochondria, oxidizes quinol (QH2) from a membranebound pool (Qpool), reduces a c-type cytochrome, and, through a process of reaox-linked charge separation, generates an electrochemical gradient of protons (ΔμH+;see 1,2 for reviews). A preponderance of evidence supports a Q-cycle-type mechanism (3,4) for the the formation of Δψ and ΔpH. In any Q-cycle variant (5) two quinone catalytic sites are postulated, one of them involved in net quinol oxidation (Qo or Qz) and the other in net quinone reduction (Qi or Qc). The sites are placed at opposite ends of a charge separating cyt b H reduction and oxidation. In other words, one electron from QH2 at Qz passes to a high potential sequence including the FeS center and cyt c 1 while the other reduces first, cyt b L and then cyt b H. Cyt b H is, in turn oxidized by Q at site Qc.
A Distributed Link Assignment (Reconstitution) Algorithm for Space-Based SDI Networks

This paper examines the link assignment problem for a mid-course, space-based SDI architecture. A network link assignment algorithm is responsible for determining the network connectivity by finding schedules for establishing and disconnecting high bandwidth satellite crosslinks that use directional antennas. Our algorithm is designed to recover from predictable link outages as well as massive failures. To minimize computational time complexity we are implementing heuristics to allow "good" topologies to be found with a reasonable amount of computation. The algorithm is designed to emphasize robustness in stressed environments and therefore, to handle multiple failures. In addition, if a massive outage disconnects the network into multiple islands that do not communicate, it always reconnects these islands into a single network when physically possible. Initial simulation results are presented and future directions for this research are discussed.
Automatically Documenting Software Artifacts

Software artifacts constantly change during evolution and maintenance of software systems. One critical artifact that developers need to be able to maintain during evolution and maintenance of software systems is up-to-date and complete documentation. However, recent studies on the co-evolution of comments and code showed that the comments are rarely maintained or updated when the respective source code is changed. In order to understand developer practices regarding documenting two kinds of software artifacts, unit test cases and database-related operations, we designed two empirical studies both composed of (i) an online survey with contributors of open source projects and (ii) a mining-based analysis of method comments in these projects. Later, motivated by the findings of the studies, we proposed two novel approaches. UnitTestScribe is an approach for automatically documenting test cases, while DBScribe is an approach for automatically documenting test cases. We evaluated our tools by means of an online survey with industrial developers and graduate students. In general, participants indicated that descriptions generated by our tools are complete, concise, and easy to read.
Organ Doses to Airline Passengers Screened by X-Ray Backscatter Imaging Systems

Advanced imaging technologies (AIT) are being developed for passenger airline transportation. They are designed to provide enhanced security benefits by identifying objects on passengers that would not be detected by methodologies now used for routine surveillance. X-ray backscatter imaging is one AIT system being considered. Since this technology is based on scanning passengers with ionizing radiation, concern has been raised relating to the health risks associated with these exposures. Recommendations for standards of radiation safety have been proposed by the American National Standards Institute published in ANSI/HPS N43.17-2009. A Monte Carlo based methodology for estimating organ doses received from an X-ray backscatter AIT system is presented. Radiological properties of a reference scanner including beam intensity, geometry and energy spectra were modeled based on previous studies and physical measurements. These parameters were incorporated into a Monte Carlo source subroutine and validated with comparison of simulated versus measured data. One extension of this study was to calculate organ and effective dose on a wide range of potential passengers. Computational phantoms with realistic morphologies were used including adults of 5th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 95th percentile weight, children of 5th, 50th and 95th percentile weight, and the developing fetus of 15, 25, and 38 weeks after conception. Additional sensitivity studies were performed to evaluate effects of passenger positioning within the scanner, energy spectrum and beam geometry, as well as failure mode analyses. Results for routine operations yielded a maximum effective dose to the adult and pediatric passengers of 15 and 25 nSv per screen, respectively. The developing fetus received a maximum organ dose and whole body dose of 16 nGy and 8.5 nGy per screen, respectively. The sensitivity analyses indicated that variations in positioning, energy spectra, and beam geometry yielded a range of effective doses per screen that were an order of magnitude below the ANSI recommendation.
Error baseline rates of five sample preparation methods used to characterize RNA virus populations

Individual RNA viruses typically occur as populations of genomes that differ slightly from each other due to mutations introduced by the error-prone viral polymerase. Understanding the variability of RNA virus genome populations is critical for understanding virus evolution because individual mutant genomes may gain evolutionary selective advantages and give rise to dominant subpopulations, possibly even leading to the emergence of viruses resistant to medical countermeasures. Reverse transcription of virus genome populations followed by next-generation sequencing is the only available method to characterize variation for RNA viruses. However, both steps may lead to the introduction of artificial mutations, thereby skewing the data. To better understand how such errors are introduced during sample preparation, we determined and compared error baseline rates of five different sample preparation methods by analyzing in vitro transcribed Ebola virus RNA from an artificial plasmid-based system. These methods included: shotgun sequencing from plasmid DNA or in vitro transcribed RNA as a basic “no amplification” method, amplicon sequencing from the plasmid DNA or in vitro transcribed RNA as a “targeted” amplification method, sequence-independent single-primer amplification (SISPA) as a “random” amplification method, rolling circle reverse transcription sequencing (CirSeq) as an advanced “no amplification” method, and Illumina TruSeq RNA Access as a “targeted” enrichment method. The measured error frequencies indicate that RNA Access offers the best tradeoff between sensitivity and sample preparation error (1.4−5) of all compared methods.
A Study of the Longer Term Variation of Aerosol Optical Thickness and Direct Shortwave Aerosol Radiative Effect Trends Using MODIS and CERES

By combining Collection 6 Moderate Resolution and Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Version 22 Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) aerosol products with Cloud and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) flux products, the aerosol optical thickness (AOT, at 0.55 µm) and Short-Wave Aerosol Radiative Effect (SWARE) trends are studied over ocean for the near full Terra (2000–2015) and Aqua (2002–2015) data records. Despite differences in sampling methods, regional SWARE and AOT trends are highly correlated with one another. Over global oceans, weak SWARE (cloud free SW flux) and AOT trends of 0.5–0.6 W m −2 (−0.5 to −0.6 W m −2 ) and 0.002 AOT decade −1 were found using Terra data. Near zero AOT and SWARE trends are also found for using Aqua data, regardless of Angular Distribution Models (ADMs) used. Regionally, positive SWARE and AOT trends are found over the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Arabian/Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, while statistically significant negative trends are derived over the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern US coast. In addition, the global mean instantaneous SW aerosol direct forcing efficiencies are found to be ~ −60 W m −2 per AOT, with corresponding SWARE values of ~ −7 W m −2 from both Aqua and Terra data, and again, regardless of CERES ADMs used. Regionally, SW aerosol direct forcing efficiency values of ~ −40 W m −2 per AOT are found over the southwest coast of Africa where smoke aerosol particles dominate in summer. Larger (in magnitude) SW aerosol direct forcing efficiency values of −50 to −80 W m −2 per AOT are found over several other dust and pollutant aerosol dominated regions. Lastly, the AOT and SWARE trends from this study are also inter-compared with aerosol trends (such as active-based) from several previous studies. Findings suggest that a cohesive understanding of the changing aerosol skies can be achieved through the analysis of observations from both passive- and active-based analyses, as well as at both narrow-band and broad-band data sets.
The role of biomarkers in the management of epithelial ovarian cancer.

Introduction: Despite advances in surgery and chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, 70% of women still succumb to the disease. Biomarkers have contributed to the management of ovarian cancer by monitori...
Relationships Matter: Directors and Revenue Performance in the Fortune 500 Network

Conventional wisdom states that relationships matter, thus interlocking directorships among corporations has spawned a vast amount of studies. Built on our previous research that discovered director interlocks are correlated with Fortune 500 ranking, this paper further explores the relationship of director interlocks and corporate revenue performance. Controlling for standard firm financial performance measures of GPM, S&P returns and number of employees, we look at various social network metrics from director interlocks, including degree, betweeness and closeness from the Fortune 500 network from 1996–2007. Here we employ a fixed effects, panel OLS model to analyze both if and how director relationships impact firm revenues. Our results indicate that director relationships are as important as traditional corporate measures and can almost double the explanatory power of Fortune 500 corporations’ revenue performance.
Neocortical Association Cell Types in the Forebrain of Birds and Alligators

Summary The avian dorsal telencephalon has two vast territories, the nidopallium and the mesopallium, both of which have been shown to contribute substantially to higher cognitive functions. From their connections, these territories have been proposed as equivalent to mammalian neocortical layers 2 and 3, various neocortical association areas, or the amygdala, but whether these are analogies or homologies by descent is unknown. We investigated the molecular profiles of the mesopallium and the nidopallium with RNA-seq. Gene expression experiments established that the mesopallium, but not the nidopallium, shares a transcription factor network with the intratelencephalic class of neocortical neurons, which are found in neocortical layers 2, 3, 5, and 6. Experiments in alligators demonstrated that these neurons are also abundant in the crocodilian cortex and form a large mesopallium-like structure in the dorsal ventricular ridge. Together with previous work, these molecular findings indicate a homology by descent for neuronal cell types of the avian dorsal telencephalon with the major excitatory cell types of mammalian neocortical circuits: the layer 4 input neurons, the deep layer output neurons, and the multi-layer intratelencephalic association neurons. These data raise the interesting possibility that avian and primate lineages evolved higher cognitive abilities independently through parallel expansions of homologous cell populations.
Severe non-exertional rhabdomyolysis from weight loss supplement in sickle cell trait: A perfect storm?

Exertional rhabdomyolysis from sickle cell trait has been documented. Also, cases of rhabdomyolysis from the use of weight loss supplements in the setting of sickle cell trait and exertion have been described. However, the role of sickle cell trait in non-exertional rhabdomyolysis is not clear. We present a case of severe non-exertional rhabdomyolysis from weight loss supplement in a patient with sickle cell trait. A 45-year-old African American female with sickle cell trait presented to the emergency department with two days history of fatigue and mild breathlessness. She also reported diarrhea and vomiting for five days before presentation. She admitted to taking Garcinia cambogia (a dietary supplement) for weight loss one week prior to the onset of symptoms. She denied alcohol or drug use, rigorous physical activity or trauma. She was dehydrated on examination. Laboratory values revealed markedly elevated serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and creatinine levels. Garcinia cambogia was discontinued and she was hydrated with intravenous fluids. Her CPK and creatinine levels significantly trended down and she was discharged home with no apparent sequelae. Our patient had multiple episodes of diarrhea and vomiting likely from the use of Garcinia cambogia. We believe she suffered non-exertional rhabdomyolysis from dehydration in the setting of sickle cell trait. Though dietary weight loss supplements are marketed as generally safe, this case suggests otherwise. We emphasize that clinicians routinely inquire about use of these supplements and provide appropriate counseling to patients on the adverse effects, especially among those with sickle cell trait.
Neuroendocrine Neoplasia in Extranodal Marginal Zone Lymphoma of Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue (MALT Lymphoma) of the Lung: A Case Report and Immunohistochemistry Analysis of Eight Pulmonary MALT Lymphomas:

Carcinoid tumorlets are peribronchiolar proliferations of neuroendocrine cells often associated with lung scars. Extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma) is a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that frequently involves the gastrointestinal tract but less commonly is described in the lung. Simultaneous occurrence of neuroendocrine neoplasms and MALT lymphoma is extraordinarily rare and has predominately been reported in the gastrointestinal tract. In this article, we describe the case of a 73-year-old female with coexisting pulmonary MALT lymphoma and carcinoid tumorlets of the right middle lobe. Retrospective series of 8 pulmonary MALT lymphomas are evaluated for neuroendocrine neoplasia by immunohistochemistry. No correlation between MALT lymphoma and neuroendocrine neoplasia was identified in this case series. While the concurrence of these distinctive neoplasms is most likely coincidental, the presence of a common risk factor, or one neoplasm as a risk factor for the other, deserves study of a larger group of pulmonary MALT lymphomas.
Monitoring Human Head and Neck-Based Motions From Around-Neck Creeping Wave Propagations

The ability to monitor various activities related to the human head and neck is of critical importance to medical professionals. Radio-based wireless body-area networks provide a potential method of tracking human motion patterns without compromising the comfort or privacy of users. This letter investigates the feasibility of using the electromagnetic creeping wave propagation around the human neck to monitor neck-based motions. The channel around the human neck contains information regarding the neck and head movements; therefore, it can be considered for activity classification. The changes in the transmission coefficient ( S 21) between two on-body antennas are measured to classify four different head- and mouth-related motions including chewing, drinking, deep breathing, and speaking. To capture the time-varying signatures of the measured S 21, the joint time–frequency analysis has been applied. The spectrograms are classified by a deep convolutional neural network.
Sectors and Skills: Career Trajectories and Training Needs of MPP Students

AbstractPublic policy programs have come to attract students with increasingly diverse backgrounds and career aims, but curricular changes have been modest. Using a data set on MPP alumni from Harvard’s Kennedy School, we analyze career trajectories through different sectors and specializations, examining relationships among trajectories, perceptions of public service, and particular skill needs. Although government remains an important destination, we find a predominance of idiosyncratic paths and a diversification of employment trajectories over time. Perceptions of employment as public service and reports of skill use vary significantly by sector. Although certain general skills (communication, systematic thinking about problems, and workload management) are widely used, there are notable differences in other skill areas (policy design and political analysis are more used by government and nonprofit workers; economics is more used in the private sector). Programs may want to consider these differences ...
Nanoparticle Synthesis via Electrostatic Adsorption Using Incipient Wetness Impregnation

In this work charge enhanced dry impregnation (CEDI), a hybrid method of supported nanoparticle synthesis which combines the advantages of electrostatic adsorption—small particle size and tight siz...
Determinants of Riboflavin Responsiveness in Multiple Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency.

Abstract Background Multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MADD) deficiency, which is a rare metabolic disorder involving electron transport flavoproteins, has a wide array of clinical phenotypes. In this article, we describe 25 patients with MADD deficiency and present the clinical and laboratory characteristics and diagnostic challenges associated with riboflavin-responsive MADD deficiency. Methods Hospital records of patients with biallelic mutations in ETFA, ETFB, or ETFDH genes diagnosed in a single center were analyzed retrospectively. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of patients with riboflavin-responsive and riboflavin-unresponsive MADD deficiency were compared using Mann-Whitney U and Fisher's exact tests. Results Respiratory distress and depressed consciousness were significantly more common in patients with riboflavin-unresponsive MADD deficiency (P = 0.015 and P 0.05). Four novel variants were detected in ETFDH, one of which (c.1790C>T) may confer riboflavin responsiveness. Siblings with the common myopathic ETFDH c.1130T>C mutation presented with a new phenotype dominated by chronic fatigue without apparent myopathy. Conclusions Symptoms and outcomes significantly differed between riboflavin-responsive and unresponsive MADD deficiency, but metabolic profiles did not. Functional studies are needed to better characterize the novel ETFDH variants. As treatment is available for riboflavin-responsive MADD deficiency, physicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for MADD deficiency in all age groups.
Dense Silicon Nitride Ceramics: Fabrication and Interrelations with Properties

Powder routes are used to fabricate dense Si3N4. Efforts to sinter pure Si3N4 powder have not been successful,1 presumably due to insufficient volume diffusivity, decomposition at temperatures >1850°C2 and volatilization caused by active oxidation3 in the low oxygen partial pressures required to prevent the formation of SiO2. Deeley et al.4 discovered that Si3N4, could be fabricated by hotpressing powders containing a densification aid. Today, many metal oxides and some nitrides are known densification aids. Although hotpressing currently results in a superior product, the feasibility of pressureless sintering with a densification aid has been demonstrated.5–8
Strange bedfellows? Consumer culture and the moral order in the post-socialist world – An afterword:

Critiques of consumption frequently assume moral undertones, with the effect of obscuring the moral foundations underlying consumer practices themselves. The articles in this collection offer compe...
Targeted cancer cell delivery of arsenate as a reductively activated prodrug

Nanoformulations, prodrugs, and targeted therapies are among the most intensively investigated approaches to new cancer therapeutics. Human ferritin has been used extensively as a nanocarrier for the delivery of drugs and imaging agents to cancerous tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo. We report exploitation of the native properties of ferritin, which can be co-loaded with simple forms of iron (FeOOH) and arsenic (arsenate) in place of the native phosphate. The As(III) form arsenic trioxide has been successfully used to treat one blood cancer, but has so far proven too systemically toxic for use on solid tumors in the clinic. The As(V) form, arsenate, on the other hand, while much less systemically toxic upon bolus injection has also proven ineffective for cancer therapy. We extended the C-terminal ends of the human ferritin subunits with a tumor cell receptor targeting peptide and loaded this modified ferritin with ~ 800 arsenates and ~ 1100 irons. Our results demonstrate targeting and uptake of the iron, arsenate-loaded modified human ferritin by breast cancer cells. At the same arsenic levels, the cytotoxicity of the iron, arsenate-loaded human ferritin was equivalent to that of free arsenic trioxide and much greater than that of free arsenate. The iron-only loaded human ferritin was not cytotoxic at the highest achievable doses. The results are consistent with the receptor-targeted human ferritin delivering arsenate as a reductively activated ‘prodrug’. This targeted delivery could be readily adapted to treat other types of solid tumor cancers.
Factors associated with emergency department adoption of telemedicine: 2014 to 2018.

Objective Telemedicine is used by emergency departments (EDs) to connect patients with specialty consultation and resources not available locally. Despite its utility, uptake of telemedicine in EDs has varied. We studied characteristics associated with telemedicine adoption during a 4-year period. Methods We analyzed data from the 2014 National Emergency Department Inventory (NEDI)-New England survey and follow-up data from 2016 and 2017 NEDI-USA and 2018 NEDI-New England surveys, with data from the Center for Connected Health Policy. Among EDs not using telemedicine in 2014, we examined characteristics associated with adoption by 2018. Results Of the 159 New England EDs with available data, 80 (50%) and 125 (79%) reported telemedicine receipt in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Among the 79 EDs without telemedicine in 2014, academic EDs were less likely to adopt by 2018 (odds ratio, 0.12; 95% confidence interval, 0.03-0.46). State policy environment was not associated with likelihood of adoption. In 2018, all 7 freestanding EDs received telemedicine, whereas only 1 of 9 academic EDs (11%) did. Conclusions Telemedicine use by EDs continues to grow rapidly and by 2018, >3 quarters of EDs in our sample were receiving telemedicine. From 2014 to 2018, the initiation of telemedicine receipt was less common among higher volume and academic EDs.
Brain Delivery of Nanomedicines: Trojan Horse Liposomes for Plasmid DNA Gene Therapy of the Brain

Non-viral gene therapy of the brain is enabled by the development of plasmid DNA brain delivery technology, which requires the engineering and manufacturing of nanomedicines that cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The development of such nanomedicines is a multi-faceted problem that requires progress at multiple levels. First, the type of nanocontainer, e.g. nanoparticle or liposome, which encapsulates the plasmid DNA, must be developed. Second, the type of molecular Trojan horse, e.g. peptide or receptor-specific monoclonal antibody (MAb), must be selected for incorporation on the surface of the nanomedicine, as this Trojan horse engages specific receptors expressed on the BBB, and the brain cell membrane, to trigger transport of the nanomedicine from blood into brain cells beyond the BBB. Third, the plasmid DNA must be engineered without bacterial elements, such as antibiotic resistance genes, to enable administration to humans; the plasmid DNA must also be engineered with tissue-specific gene promoters upstream of the therapeutic gene, to insure gene expression in the target organ with minimal off-target expression. Fourth, upstream manufacturing of the nanomedicine must be developed and scalable so as to meet market demand for the target disease, e.g. annual long-term treatment of 1,000 patients with an orphan disease, short term treatment of 10,000 patients with malignant glioma, or 100,000 patients with new onset Parkinson’s disease. Fifth, downstream manufacturing problems, such as nanomedicine lyophilization, must be solved to ensure the nanomedicine has a commercially viable shelf-life for treatment of CNS disease in humans.