cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Alternative to the Alcubierre Theory: Warp Fields by the Gravitation via Accelerated Particles Assertion

A summarization of the Alcubierre metric is given in comparison to a new metric that has been formulated based on the theoretical assertion of a recently published paper entitled “gravitational space-time curve generation via accelerated particles”. The new metric mathematically describes a warp field where particle accelerators can theoretically generate gravitational space-time curves that compress or contract a volume of space-time toward a hypothetical vehicle traveling at a sub-light velocity contingent upon the amount of voltage generated. Einstein’s field equations are derived based on the new metric to show its compatibility to general relativity. The “time slowing” effects of relativistic gravitational time dilation inherent to the gravitational field generated by the particle accelerators is mathematically shown to be counteracted by a gravitational equilibrium point between an arrangement of two equal magnitude particle accelerators. The gravitational equilibrium point produces a volume of flat or linear space-time to which the hypothetical vehicle can traverse the region of contracted space-time without experiencing time slippage. The theoretical warp field possessing these attributes is referred to as the two gravity source warp field which is mathematically described by the new metric.
Preliminary Validation of the PROMIS Parent-Proxy Peer Relationships Measure in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A DBPNet Study.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the content and construct validity of the existing PROMIS Pediatric Parent-Proxy Peer Relationships Measure in 5- to 12-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHOD Parents of 121 children aged 5 to 12 years who met DSM-IV criteria for ASD completed the Peer Relationships Measure using computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Parents also completed the Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2) and a demographic form. Intelligence quotient test results were extracted from clinical or research records. Five parents participated in semi-structured interviews about their child's peer relationships and the item content on the Peer Relationships Measure. RESULTS The children in the sample were primarily male (87%). The sample was racially and ethnically diverse, and parents were predominantly highly educated. The mean T-score (SD) on the Peer Relationships Measure was 36 (8), with a range from 15 to 62. For 98% of subjects, the CAT required administration of 5 items to reach a standard error of measurement of less than 4 T-score units. The Peer Relationships Measure demonstrated a large correlation with the SRS-2 (r = -0.60, p < .0001). In semi-structured interviews, parents reported that the items on the Peer Relationships Measure were relevant to the peer relationships of their child with ASD, but they reported a few challenges related to variability in their children's peer relationships over time and to somewhat limited knowledge of relationships in school. CONCLUSION The PROMIS Pediatric Parent-Proxy Peer Relationships Measure may be an efficient, precise, and valid measure of peer relationships for 5- to 12-year-old children with ASD.
The use of fluorescent tissue phantoms (as a light source) to standardize responsivity of different imaging systems (Conference Presentation)

Fluorescent tissue phantoms are useful constructs in tracking the daily performance of a fluorescence imaging system. However, fluorescence imaging systems vary according to intended use, such as with an endoscope, or a camera with wide field optics. They also vary in terms of spectral bandwidth, or the sensor. We present a method on how the fluorescence measurement results of a calibrated tissue phantom from two different fluorescence imaging systems can be compared. This demonstrates how tissue phantoms, when calibrated with units of optical radiance, can be used beyond a single optical system.
Oral Health Care Receipt and Self-Rated Oral Health for Diverse Asian American Subgroups in New York City

Objectives. To identify determinants of receipt of annual oral health examinations and self-rated oral health among diverse Asian American subgroups.Methods. We used data from the Community Health Resources and Needs Assessment, a community-based survey of Asian American immigrant adults conducted in the New York City metropolitan region from 2013 to 2016 (n = 1288). We used multivariable logistic regression models to assess determinants of oral health care receipt and self-rated oral health.Results. Failure to receive an annual oral health examination was common in this sample (41.5%) and was more frequent for participants who were younger and male and those who had poorer English fluency and lower educational attainment. Not having dental insurance versus having private dental insurance resulted in 2 to 3 times the odds of nonreceipt of oral health care and poor self-rated oral health.Conclusions. Nonreceipt of annual oral health examinations and poor self-rated oral health were common across Asian Amer...
Social Momentum: A Framework for Legible Navigation in Dynamic Multi-Agent Environments

Intent-expressive robot motion has been shown to result in increased efficiency and reduced planning efforts for copresent humans. Existing frameworks for generating intent-expressive robot behaviors have typically focused on applications in static or structured environments. Under such settings, emphasis is placed towards communicating the robot’s intended final configuration to other agents. However, in dynamic, unstructured and multi-agent domains, such as pedestrian environments, knowledge of the robot’s final configuration is not sufficiently informative as it completely ignores the complex dynamics of interaction among agents. To address this problem, we design a planning framework that aims at generating motion that clearly communicates an agent’s intended collision avoidance strategy rather than its destination. Our framework estimates the most likely intended avoidance protocols of others based on their past behaviors, superimposes them, and generates an expressive and socially compliant robot action that reinforces the expectations of others regarding these avoidance protocols. This action facilitates inference and decision making for everyone, as illustrated in the simplified topological pattern of agents’ trajectories. Extensive simulations demonstrate that our framework consistently achieves significantly lower topological complexity, compared against common benchmark approaches in multi-agent collision avoidance. The significance of this result for real world applications is demonstrated by a user study that reveals statistical evidence suggesting that multi-agent trajectories of lower topological complexity tend to facilitate inference for observers.
Heater Film Dynamics, Phonon Diffusion and Phonon Decay

A phonon spectrometer [1] has been used to measure the spectral, spatial and temporal distribution of phonons propagating in a SrF2 crystal. The spectrometer uses as the detecting element the vibronic sidebands associated with certain luminescent transitions at Eu2+ probe ions placed in dilute concentration in the crystal. The phonons are generated in a constantan thin film through Joule heating and cross the interface between the film and the crystal.
Hemiplegia and Headache: a Review of Hemiplegia in Headache Disorders

The most common scenario wherein the practicing neurologist is likely to encounter a patient with headache and hemiplegia will vary depending on his/her specific type of practice. A neurologist providing consultative service to an emergency department is far more likely to see patients with "secondary" headache and hemiplegia in the setting of either ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke than hemiplegia as a transient feature of a primary headache disorder. Neurologists subspecializing in headache medicine who practice in a tertiary referral headache clinic are more likely to encounter hemiplegic migraine, but even in that clinical setting hemiplegic migraine is by no means a frequent diagnosis. The acute onset of hemiplegia can be very frightening not only to the patient but also to the medical personnel. Given the abundance of mimicry, practitioners must judiciously ascertain the correct diagnosis as treatment may greatly vary depending on the cause of both headache and hemiplegia. In this review, we will address the most common causes of hemiplegia associated with headache.
CALCULATION OF THE STANDARD GIBBS FREE ENERGY, ENTHALPY, AND ENTROPY CHANGES FOR THE HYDROLYSIS OF ATP AT 0°, 25°, 37°, and 75°

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a calculation of the standard Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy changes for the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) at 0°, 25°, 37°, and 75°. Life exists over a wide range of temperatures, and so it is of interest to calculate the variation in the thermo-dynamic quantities of basic biochemical reactions over this temperature range. Brock (1967) has found that blue–green algae grow at 75° in effluent channels of hot springs in Yellowstone National Park and bacteria grow there at temperatures over 90°. As the equilibrium constants and heat productions of reactions such as the hydrolysis of ATP, ATP + H20 = ADP + Pi, have not been measured at 0° or 75°, it is at present necessary to calculate the thermodynamic parameters by use of values measured near room temperature.
Changing Needs of Millennial Customers: Role of social responsibility perception and Instagram engagement in determining purchase intention

The purpose of this study is to understand how social responsibility perceptions of a brand influence Millennial consumer's brand interaction on Social media. We specifically look at Instagram as it is the most used form of social media by Millennials today. We further investigate the effect of Instagram engagement on perceived brand accessibility and purchase intention towards the brand. This paper analyzes primary data collected from Millennials through online surveys in the United States. Structural equation modelling is used to analyze data and empirical evidence supports the proposed model. Results indicate that Millennials perceive higher value for brands who are socially responsible. They actively pursue such brand online and interact with those. Increased involvement in brand and its efforts through Instagram engagement further enhances intentions to purchase the brand.
Students’ Perception of Formative Assessment as an Instructional Tool in Medical Education

In self-directed learning environments, students must monitor and assess their learning progress themselves. Formative assessments play a central role as instructional tools to train students in these self-assessment skills. Key to the effectiveness of a formative assessment as a training instrument is the degree of student involvement in the design and implementation of the formative assessment used to train them. Five characteristics are essential to secure a sufficient level of student involvement: (1) congruence (i.e., the tasks of a formative assessment must reflect the instructional content), (2) authenticity (i.e., the tasks of a formative assessment should be related to students’ background and study context), (3) consultation (i.e., students should have a say in how their answers are evaluated based on which criteria), (4) transparency (i.e., no “mystery items”—the wording of the items must clearly addresses the targeted content), and (5) accommodation (i.e., all students should have the same chance to complete the items of a formative assessment). These five characteristics of student involvement were used to evaluate the quality of formative assessments that are employed to train undergraduates in a medical school in self-assessment skills. Different from extant approaches that typically rely on instructors’ judgments to infer the degree of student involvement, this study uses a paradigm in higher educational research asking students directly about their perceptions of an instructional tool. Thus, here, students had to rate their level of involvement in the design and implementation of the formative assessments used to train them. A total of 140 medical students participated in the study. Multivariate statistical methods were used to analyze the data. The majority of medical students appreciate the use of formative assessments to teach them self-directed learning skills; but the results also show that there is still room for increasing student involvement—especially, for minority students.
LifeLine: A Device for Detecting Abnormal Patterns

This paper presents a reliable LifeLine, app or device, that uses multiple native hardware sensors in conjunction with motion detection methods and AI/machine learning algorithms to automatically detect life-threatening conditions. The app or device then autonomously responds to said conditions and sends alarm signals through various communication channels within milliseconds, without the need for user intervention. The app version is currently on Google Play. The testing of such an autonomous AI app or device imposes some new challenges due to the nondeterminism in AI agent's reaction to various scenarios and the continuous learning of the AI agent with new knowledge.
Closed Claims Project Overview

In 1984, the Anesthesia Closed Claims Project was formed by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) in response to sky-rocking insurance premiums, which had left many physicians nearly unable to afford professional liability insurance. Through the analysis of insurance company closed claims, several areas of anesthetic-related patient injury were identified and deemed the focus of this project with the goal of delivering “better” anesthetic care. Ultimately, this resulted in the formation of the Anesthesia Closed Claims Project and its attendant Registries, including the Postoperative Visual Loss (POVL) Registry, Anesthesia Awareness Registry, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Death and Near Miss Registry, Neurologic Injury after Non-Supine Shoulder Surgery (NINS) Registry, and Pediatric Perioperative Cardiac Arrest (POCA) Registry. Additionally, this chapter attempts to give some guidance to practicing anesthesiologists on best practices to avoid such devastating consequences. While firm recommendations for rare events are difficult to make, a review of available information is presented here.
Microsatellite Instability in Natural Killer Cell–Like T-Cell Lymphomas in Immunocompromised and Immunocompetent Individuals

To the Editor: Cells that have altered or absent DNA repair mechanisms may be more susceptible to genetic alteration and, thus, neoplastic transformation. Alteration in the integrity of the DNA mismatch repair mechanism can be measured by documenting microsatellite instability (MSI). Microsatellite
Pearson Correlation Analysis to Detect Misbehavior in VANET

Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANET) rely on Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication to improve road safety and traffic efficiency. Therefore, malicious data could jeopardize the benefits of VANET communication. Hence, a data-centric misbehavior detection system should be deployed on each on-board unit to improve confidence in the received data. In this paper, we investigate the potential of using Pearson Correlation to detect location forging attacks. We analyze four location forging attacks and discuss how the correlation matrix detect them. The proposed solution works in real-time, without any training, but, depending on the type of road, requires at least four to seven seconds of history to be fully effective. Experiments are performed on real datasets from Wyoming Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment and from University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
MITRE: inferring features from microbiota time-series data linked to host status.

Longitudinal studies are crucial for discovering causal relationships between the microbiome and human disease. We present MITRE, the Microbiome Interpretable Temporal Rule Engine, a supervised machine learning method for microbiome time-series analysis that infers human-interpretable rules linking changes in abundance of clades of microbes over time windows to binary descriptions of host status, such as the presence/absence of disease. We validate MITRE’s performance on semi-synthetic data and five real datasets. MITRE performs on par or outperforms conventional difficult-to-interpret machine learning approaches, providing a powerful new tool enabling the discovery of biologically interpretable relationships between microbiome and human host ( https://github.com/gerberlab/mitre/ ).
Relationship of pelvis and torso angular jerk to hand velocity in female softball hitting

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of pelvis and torso angular jerk on a performance indicator of hitting, specifically hand velocity. Eighteen softball athletes were analysed...
Lifetime-Limited Interrogation of Two Independent Al + 27 Clocks Using Correlation Spectroscopy

Laser decoherence limits the stability of optical clocks by broadening the observable resonance linewidths and adding noise during the dead time between clock probes. Correlation spectroscopy avoids these limitations by measuring correlated atomic transitions between two ensembles, which provides a frequency difference measurement independent of laser noise. Here, we apply this technique to perform stability measurements between two independent clocks based on the ^{1}S_{0}↔^{3}P_{0} transition in ^{27}Al^{+}. By stabilizing the dominant sources of differential phase noise between the two clocks, we observe coherence between them during synchronous Ramsey interrogations as long as 8 s at a frequency of 1.12×10^{15} Hz. The observed contrast in the correlation spectroscopy signal is consistent with the 20.6 s ^{3}P_{0} state lifetime and represents a measurement instability of (1.8±0.5)×10^{-16}/sqrt[τ/s] for averaging periods longer than the probe duration when dead time is negligible.
Naming Men As Men in Corporate Legal Practice: Gender and the Idea of “Virtually 24/7 Commitment” in Law

The truth is that the top law firms require a virtually 24/7 commitment from their employees and partners . . . . Solicitors with family responsibilities almost inevitably work fewer hours, and therefore do not carry the same heft as those sad people who have no life but their work. And, in our society, it is far more common for women to have the family responsibilities . . . . What is needed is a change of culture which is easy to say, but quite hard to achieve . . . . I fear that, when push comes to shove . . . corporations may decide that they want obsessive, testosteronedriven men rather than balanced, sensible women fighting their corner— even though it is often the balanced sensible women who will very often be more effective advisers and advocates.1
Assessing policies to mitigate abandonment of shade-grown coffee production in forest systems amid low and uncertain prices

Low and highly variable prices plague the coffee market, generating concerns that coffee farmers producing in shade systems under natural forests, as in biodiversity hotspot Oaxaca, Mexico, will abandon production and contribute to deforestation and reduced ecosystem services. Using stakeholder information, we build a setting-informed model to analyze farmers' decisions to abandon shade-grown coffee production and their reactions to policy to reduce abandonment. Exploring price premiums for bird-friendly certified coffee, payments for ecosystem services, and price floors as policies, we find that once a farmer is on the path toward abandonment, it is difficult to reverse. However, implementing policies early that are low cost to farmers – price floors and no-cost certification programs – can stem abandonment. Considering the abandonment that policy avoids per dollar spent, price floors are the most cost-effective policy, yet governments prefer certification programs that push costs onto international coffee consumers who pay the price premium.
Aggression, glucocorticoids, and the chronic costs of status competition for wild male chimpanzees.

Abstract Across vertebrates, high social status affords preferential access to resources, and is expected to correlate positively with health and longevity. Increasing evidence, however, suggests that although dominant females generally enjoy reduced exposure to physiological and psychosocial stressors, dominant males do not. Here we test the hypothesis that costly mating competition by high-ranking males results in chronic, potentially harmful elevations in glucocorticoid production. We examined urinary glucocorticoids (n = 8029 samples) in a 20-year longitudinal study of wild male chimpanzees (n = 20 adults) in the Kanyawara community of Kibale National Park, Uganda. We tested whether glucocorticoid production was associated with dominance rank in the long term, and with mating competition and dominance instability in the short term. Using mixed models, we found that both male aggression and glucocorticoid excretion increased when the dominance hierarchy was unstable, and when parous females were sexually available. Glucocorticoid excretion was positively associated with male rank in stable and unstable hierarchies, and in mating and non-mating contexts. Glucorticoids increased with both giving and receiving aggression, but giving aggression was the primary mechanism linking elevated glucocorticoids with high rank. Glucocorticoids also increased with age. Together these results show that investment in male-male competition increases cumulative exposure to glucocorticoids, suggesting a long-term tradeoff with health that may constrain the ability to maintain high status across the life course. Our data suggest that the relationship between social rank and glucocorticoid production often differs in males and females owing to sex differences in the operation of sexual selection.
Concurrent zinc and vitamin B6 deficiencies in acutely exacerbated inflammatory bowel disease: Case reports.

Background Limited evidence is available to describe the prevalence, causes, and consequences of zinc and vitamin B6 deficiencies in those with acutely exacerbated inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Zinc is important for immune function and wound healing, and B6 is needed for metabolic and neurological function. Patients with IBD are at risk of micronutrient deficiencies, particularly during flares. Presentations The cases of 2 patients with IBD exacerbations were reviewed in which deficiencies of both zinc and vitamin B6 were identified. Conclusions These cases highlight the need for increased screening for zinc and pyridoxine deficiencies in IBD population, especially during disease exacerbation. Therefore, we recommend a comprehensive nutrition workup with physical exam, diet history, and a complete micronutrient panel while ruling out contributing factors. If patients are susceptible to deficiencies during flares, prophylactic oral zinc and pyridoxine supplementation may be considered, with close monitoring for subsequent iron and copper deficiencies.
Environmental and health consequences of shore power for vessels calling at major ports in India

To reduce local air pollution, many ports in developed countries require berthed ships to use shore-based electricity instead of burning diesel to meet their electricity requirement for loads such as lights, cargo-handling equipment, and air conditioning.The benefits of this strategy in developing countries remain understudied. Based on government data for all major ports in India, we find that switching from high-sulfur fuel to shore power reduces hoteling emissions of PM2.5 by 88%; SO2 by 39%; NOx by 85%; but increases CO2 emissions by 12%. Switching from low-sulfur fuel reduces hoteling emissions of PM2.5 by 46% and NOx by 84% but increases SO2 emissions by 240% and CO2 emissions by 17%. The lifetime cost savings from the switch to electricity are $73M for high-sulfur fuel and $370M for low-sulfur fuel. We estimate that switching from high-sulfur fuel to shore power might avoid at most a couple of dozen premature deaths each year, whereas switching from low-sulfur fuel could lead to a slight increase in premature mortality. Therefore, policymakers must first clean up power generation for shore power to be a viable strategy to improve air quality in Indian port cities.
Functional connectivity gradients as a common neural architecture for predictive processing in the human brain

Abstract Predictive processing is emerging as a common neurocomputational hypothesis to account for diverse psychological functions subserved by a brain, enabling characterization of computational capacities of its distinct substructures. However, the literature is currently lacking a systems-level framework for understanding brain structure-function relationships based on the unified computational principles. Here, we contribute to this framework by examining gradients of functional connectivity as a low dimensional spatial representation of functional variation within a given structure. Specifically, we investigated functional connectivity gradients in the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum, and the hippocampus using resting-state functional MRI data collected from large samples of healthy young adults. We then evaluated the degree to which these structures share common principles of functional organization by assessing the correspondence of their gradients. We show that the organizing principles of these structures primarily follow two functional gradients consistent with the existing accounts of predictive processing: A model-error gradient that describes the flow of prediction and prediction error signals, and a model-precision gradient that differentiates regions involved in the representation and attentional modulation of such signals in the cerebral cortex. Using these gradients, we also demonstrate triangulation of functional connectivity involving distinct subregions of the three structures, suggesting the existence of parallel functional circuits that may subserve different aspects of predictive processing in the brain. These findings allow formulation of novel computational hypotheses about the functional relationships between the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum, and the hippocampus that may be instrumental for understanding the brain’s dynamics within its large-scale predictive architecture.
Unraveling Adolescent Language & Reading Comprehension: The Monster’s Data

Purpose: This study explores the roles of morphological skills (Morphological Awareness, Morphological-Syntactic-Knowledge, Morphological-Semantic-Knowledge, and Morphological-Orthographic/Phonolog...
Wastewater Effluent Discharge to Cooling Lakes

A 1-yr field study was conducted in Lake Braunig near San Antonio, Tex., to estimate the water quality response to direct discharge of wastewater effluent. Field data indicate Lake Braunig is highly eutrophic, yet its uses for recreation and electric power plant cooling are maintained. Power plant operating problems associated with eutrophication have been carbonate scaling and dezincification of condensers and treatment of lake water for boiler feed water. Nuisance algae which cause condenser fouling are practically nonexistent, with the predominant genera being diatoms. Study results indicate that direct discharge of wastewater effluent to cooling lakes is feasible if desirable genera such as diatoms dominate the ecosystem.
Research Impacts and Correction of the Upward Biased CRSP Daily Equal-Weighted Index

Loughran and Ritter (1995), and Canina et al. (1998) show that compounding the CRSP daily Equal-Weighted Return with Dividend (EWRETD) to obtain a monthly index will generate a substantial bias. To overcome the influences of bid-ask bounce, Blume and Stambaugh (1983), non-synchronous trading, Roll (1983), we design a better method to generate a monthly EWRETD index from the CRSP daily data. Using our method, the average annual bias between the generated monthly time series and the corresponding values drawn from the CRSP monthly tape is 0.02%, considerably smaller than 6% reported in Canina et al. (1998). In the paper, we explain the reasons why the conventional way to construct a daily equal-weighted portfolio lacks the ability to filter out the undesired impacts of the microstructure and is inconsistent with corresponding monthly data. More importantly, we offer a new method to generate an unbiased CRSP daily EWRETD, which is free of the problems associated with the microstructure and consistent with the CRSP monthly index. Benchmarked on this unbiased daily time series, we study the impacts of the upward biased CRSP daily EWRETD on the estimations of beta, Jensen's alpha and event study.
Model Behaviour? Anecdotal Evidence of Tension between Evolving Commercial Public Procurement Practices and Trade Policy

The international trade community increasingly focuses upon the purchasing practices of nation states. Developing nations and states seeking to improve their procurement systems expect to glean lessons from the evolution of procurement law regimes in developed nations, including the United States. To the extent that the U.S. procurement regime is perceived (at least by some) as a model, the global community has been intrigued by the United States government's efforts to adopt more commercial practices and buy more commercial items. Yet numerous impediments to a purely commercial public procurement model remain, because commercial practices are invariably less transparent, and raise troubling questions regarding competition and integrity. The paper thus sounds a cautionary note to developing states. Efforts to conform private sector models to government procurement regimes - no matter how efficient or practical - may prove inconsistent with the expectations of trade negotiators and could run contrary to the framework of the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement.
A programming model for service oriented applications

Service oriented computing (SOC) and service oriented architectures introduce a model for distributed software components. Full inter-component interoperability, based on Web services standards, is a core assumption of the SOC model. SOC, as a platform independent approach to software development and management, is not limited to a particular distributed computing stack (Web services), since the benefits of a distributed component model extend to legacy protocols and platforms as well. Web services has successfully stressed the notion that implementation characteristics should be decoupled from interoperability concerns, and has focused on defining an XML based interoperability stack. SOC is directly concerned with the implementation and management of service oriented applications and stresses the ability to incorporate multiple runtimes and programming models into an architecture of distributed software components.
FOOD INSECURITY AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS: COMPARISON OF DRUG USING AND NONDRUG‐USING WOMEN AT RISK FOR HIV

Food insecurity has been linked to poor physical and mental health as well as HIV risk behaviors. While prior research has shown that drug users are prone to food insecurity it is unclear if drug use exacerbates the physical and psychosocial consequences. A sample of women who used drugs (DU) (specifically heroin and cocaine) and women who did not use drugs (NDU) were examined to determine if the relationship between food insecurity and depression varied by drug use status. Approximately 29% (n=128) of the total sample experienced food insecurity. DU women were more likely to be food insecure. There were no differences in receiving food stamps. After controlling for demographics and receiving food stamps, a significant association between food insecurity and depression existed for both DU and NDU women. The strength of this association was approximately double for NDU women. The study results suggest that it is critical to integrate mental health, food assistance, and other services.
Microvascular effects of lead in the neonatal rat. I. Histochemical and light microscopic studies.

Abstract Lead encephalopathy was produced in developing rats by adding lead carbonate (2%, 3%, 4%) to the food or lead acetate (1.0%, 1.3%, 1.5%, 2.0%) to the drinking water of mothers immediately after birth. There was a dose-dependent retardation of growth and a linear increase in blood lead levels from 2 to 6 weeks. Posterior paralysis was not observed. There was no histochemical evidence of decreased enzymatic activity for alkaline phosphatase, adenosine triphosphatase, lactic dehydrogenase, or DPNH diaphorase in brain capillary endothelial cells of lead exposed rats. Cytochome oxidase activity was slightly decreased. Increased capillary permeability was evident at 2 weeks by the extravasation of erythrocytes. Focal hemorrhage and edema in the cerebellum increased in severity between 2 and 6 weeks and in later stages was accompanied by neuronal degeneration. The results suggest that the microvascular toxicity of lead occurs earlier than previously reported and that the resulting failure to regulate transcapillary flow is not accompanied by a general depression of endothelial cell function.
Selective repression of RET proto-oncogene in medullary thyroid carcinoma by a natural alkaloid berberine

Background: The gain-of-function mutation of the RET proto-oncogene, which encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase, is strongly associated with the development of several medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTCs). Thus, the RET protein has been explored as an excellent target for progressive and advanced MTC. In this study we have demonstrated a therapeutic strategy for MTC by suppressing the transcription of RET proto-oncogene though the stabilization of G-quadruplex structure formed on the promoter region of this gene using a natural product berberine. Methods: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) TT cell line has been used to evaluate the effects of berberine on RET expression and its downstream signaling pathways. The specificity of berberine was demonstrated by using the papillary thyroid carcinoma TPC1 cell line, which lacks the G-quadruplex forming sequence on the RET promoter region due to chromosomal rearrangement. Results: Berberine suppressed the RET expression by more than 90 % in MTC TT cells at a concentration of 2.5 μg/ml with minimal effect on the TPC1 cells. Canadine, which is a structural analogue of berberine, showed little interaction with RET G-quadruplex and also had no effect on RET expression in MTC TT cells. The down-regulation of RET with berberine further inhibited the cell proliferation through cell cycle arrest and activation of apoptosis in TT cells, which was confirmed by a 2-fold increase in the caspase-3 activity and the down-regulation of cell-cycle regulatory proteins. Conclusion: Our data strongly suggest that the G-quadruplex forming region and the stabilization of this structure play a critical role in mediating the repressive effect of berberine on RET transcription.
McEliece and niederreiter cryptosystems that resist quantum fourier sampling attacks

Quantum computers can break the RSA, El Gamal, and elliptic curve public-key cryptosystems, as they can efficiently factor integers and extract discrete logarithms. This motivates the development of post-quantum cryptosystems: classical cryptosystems that can be implemented with today's computers, that will remain secure even in the presence of quantum attacks. In this article we show that the McEliece cryptosystem over rational Goppa codes and the Niederreiter cryptosystem over classical Goppa codes resist precisely the attacks to which the RSA and El Gamal cryptosystems are vulnerable-namely, those based on generating and measuring coset states. This eliminates the approach of strong Fourier sampling on which almost all known exponential speedups by quantum algorithms are based. Specifically, we show that the natural case of the Hidden Subgroup Problem to which McEliece-type cryptosystems reduce cannot be solved by strong Fourier sampling, or by any measurement of a coset state. To do this, we extend recent negative results on quantum algorithms for Graph Isomorphism to subgroups of the automorphism groups of linear codes. This gives the first rigorous results on the security of the McEliece-type cryptosystems in the face of quantum adversaries, strengthening their candidacy for post-quantum cryptography. We also strengthen some results of Kempe, Pyber, and Shalev on the Hidden Subgroup Problem in Sn.
The Use of Concentrated NaN03 in tcPo2 Electrodes to Diminish O2 Consumption and Dehydration Drift

We investigated: (1) The effects of NaN03 concentration, membrane material and thickness, and electrolyte layer thickness on electrode O2 consumption, stirring effect (O) and response time; (2) The effect of NaNO3 on P(H20) and electrode drift; and (3) The effect of KCl on Ag deposition at the cathode. Electrolytes containing 0–8 m NaN03, 0.01 m KCl, and 0.1 m pH 7 phosphate were tested in a 20 μ cathode tcPo2 electrode at 42dC. Increasing NaNO3 concentration reduced O2 solubility and sensitivity by a factor: e-(C/4.6). Thus, sensitivity was a linear function of solubility. Without cellophane, sensitivity with 12 μm polypropylene was 50% that of 25 μm Teflon; 7 m NaNO3 reduced sensitivity for both membranes by about 60%. 12 μ cellophane, by increasing the thickness of the electrolyte layer, minimized the difference between the membranes and exaggerated the effects of increasing NaNO3 concentration on sensitivity. O was a linear function of sensitivity. Cellophane decreased the ratio of O to sensitivity. Response times of electrodes were almost unaffected by addition of NaNO3, but were increased as expected by use of thicker membranes, and by addition of cellophane spacers. Electrolyte vapour pressure was decreased 67% by addition of 7 m NaNO3. When electrolyte vapour pressure differed significantly from that of skin or calibration solutions, water crossed the polypropylene or Teflon membranes, changing the O2 sensitivity, and causing drift both on skin and in calibration solutions. With KCl containing electrolytes, silver deposition occurs at the cathode, the rate of deposition increasing greatly as KCl concentration approaches saturation. Thus addition of NaNCO3 to O2 electrolytes lowers vapour pressure, delays dehydration, reduces O2 sensitivity by reducing permeability of the electrolyte layer to O2, and thereby reduces the gas/skin correction factor O, without significantly delaying response time, and without increasing silver deposition.
Themes in the Study of Self-Disclosure

Few areas of psychological investigation have attracted people from as many different disciplines as the study of self-disclosure. Social psychologists, clinical and counseling psychologists, specialists in interpersonal communication, and others have all been drawn to some extent to this topic. What types of information and feelings do people disclose about themselves? How do people disclose? When do people disclose? What types of people disclose? What are the effects of disclosure on the individual disclosing and on the relationship he or she has with the person disclosed to? How is disclosure related to psychological problems, and what role does it play in therapy? These are only some of the questions that have concerned those interested in self-disclosure and, as is apparent, the questions cut across a large number of specialty areas.
Positive, accurate animal identification

Positive, accurate identification of animals and their products would be very helpful in livestock commerce, prevention of theft and fraud and in tracing animals and products to origin. Food safety, animal health, and prevention of epidemics, would be enhanced by combining identification with location. Identification may be by electronic chips, iris or retinal scans, antibody or DNA analysis. A cross listing of one or more means in a central repository would facilitate tracing origin of animals and build confidence in transactions of all kinds.
RECENT ADVANCES IN FINDING BEST OPERATING CONDITIONS

Abstract * Revision of a paper presented at the 1952 annual meeting of the American Statistical Association.
Remediation in Higher Education: The Role of Information

Remediation in higher education has received a great deal of attention over the past decade. This article describes one intervention to curb the number of students who need such remediation. California State University’s Early Assessment Program (EAP) provides students with information about their college readiness before their senior year of high school. Using qualitative methods, the authors investigate how students use this information to prepare for and apply to college. The authors conclude that information alone, although potentially useful, is an insufficient remedy for overcoming remediation or increasing access to college.
Who's Buying Organic Vegetables? Demographic Characteristics of U.S. Consumers

The organic food market is currently the fastest growing food sector in the United States, with growth rates in organic food sales averaging 17% per year between 1998 and 2006. The largest segment within the organic market is fresh produce, comprising 34% percent of retail sales in 2006. This analysis focuses on identifying the demographic characteristics of households buying organic vegetables (in total) along with prepackaged organic salads and organic carrots, by examining the factors that influence the probability that a consumer will buy organic vegetables, and which factors influence the household share of organic vegetables purchased. We use Nielsen Homescan data for the year 2004. Households with high levels of education are more likely to purchase organic vegetables, while the probability of purchasing organic vegetables is lower for African Americans and for older households.
Vibroimpact forming of shaped slabs

As a result of the experiments we developed a method and technology for vibroimpact molding of shaped slabs. Their properties proved to be better than those of pressed slabs.
Endotoxin-stimulated innate immunity: A contributing factor for asthma.

Abstract Exposure to airborne endotoxin in infancy may protect against asthma by promoting enhanced TH1 response and tolerance to allergens. On the other hand, later in life, it adversely affects patients with asthma. Endotoxin binding to receptors on macrophages and other cells generates IL-12, which inhibits IgE responses. It also generates cytokines like IL-1, TNF-α, and IL-8, which cause inflammation. These signal transduction pathways resemble those leading to the generation of cytokines, such as IL-4, IL-13, and IL-5, which are responsible for the inflammation of IgE-mediated allergic disease. The main difference seems to be that endotoxin recruits neutrophils, but IgE recruits eosinophils, and the details of the tissue injury from these granulocytes differ. Sources of airborne endotoxin include many agricultural dusts, aerosols from con-taminated water in many industrial plants, contaminated heating and air-conditioning systems, mist-generating humidifiers, and damp or water-damaged homes. Acute inhalation of high concentrations of endotoxin can cause fever, cough, and dyspnea. Chronic inhalation of lesser amounts causes chronic bronchitis and emphysema and is associated with airway hyperresponsiveness. Airborne endotoxin adversely affects patients with asthma in 3 ways: (1) by increasing the severity of the airway inflammation; (2) by increasing the susceptibility to rhinovirus-induced colds; and (3) by causing chronic bronchitis and emphysema with development of irreversible airway obstruction after chronic exposure of adults. The most effective management is mitigating exposure. The potential of drug treatments requires further clinical investigation. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2001;108:157-66.)
Screening of hyaluronic acid-poly(ethylene glycol) composite hydrogels to support intervertebral disc cell biosynthesis using artificial neural network analysis.

Abstract Hyaluronic acid (HA)–poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) composite hydrogels have been widely studied for both cell delivery and soft tissue regeneration applications. A very broad range of physical and biological properties have been engineered into HA–PEG hydrogels that may differentially affect cellular “outcomes” of survival, synthesis and metabolism. The objective of this study was to rapidly screen multiple HA–PEG composite hydrogel formulations for an effect on matrix synthesis and behaviors of nucleus pulposus (NP) and annulus fibrosus (AF) cells of the intervertebral disc (IVD). A secondary objective was to apply artificial neural network analysis to identify relationships between HA–PEG composite hydrogel formulation parameters and biological outcome measures for each cell type of the IVD. Eight different hydrogels were developed from preparations of thiolated HA (HA–SH) and PEG vinylsulfone (PEG–VS) macromers, and used as substrates for NP and AF cell culture in vitro. Hydrogel mechanical properties ranged from 70 to 489 kPa depending on HA molecular weight, and measures of matrix synthesis, metabolite consumption and production and cell morphology were obtained to study relationships to hydrogel parameters. Results showed that NP and AF cell numbers were highest upon the HA–PEG hydrogels formed from the lower-molecular-weight HA, with evidence of higher sulfated glycosaminoglycan production also upon lower-HA-molecular-weight composite gels. All cells formed more multi-cell clusters upon any HA–PEG composite hydrogel as compared to gelatin substrates. Formulations were clustered into neurons based largely on their HA molecular weight, with few effects of PEG molecular weight observed on any measured parameters.
Dynamics of microtubule reassembly and reorganization in the coenocytic green alga Ernodesmis verticillata (Kützing) Børgesen.

The dynamics of microtubule (MT) disassembly and reassembly were studied in the green alga Ernodesmis verticillata, using indirect immunofluorescent localization of tubulin. This alga possesses two distinct MT arrays: highly-ordered, longitudinally-oriented cortical MTs, and shorter perinuclear MTs radiating from nuclear surfaces. Perinuclear MTs are very labile, completely disassembling in the cold (cells on ice) within 5–10 min or in 25 μM amiprophos-methyl (APM) within 15–30 min. Although cortical MTs are generally absent after 3 h in APM, it takes 45–60 min before any cold-induced depolymerization is apparent, and some cortical MTs persist after 6 h of cold treatment. The extent of immunofluorescence of cytoplasmic (depolymerized?) tubulin is inversely proportional to the abundance of cortical MTs. Recovery of MT arrays upon warming or upon removal of APM occurs within 30–60 min for the perinuclear MTs, but the cortical arrays take much longer to regain their normal patterns. The cortical MTs initially reappear in a random distribution with respect to the cell axis, but within 3–4 d of warming (or 24–36 h of removing APM) they are nearly parallel to each other and to the cell's longitudinal axis. Thus, although the timing differs, the actual patterns of depolymerization and recovery are similar, irrespective of whether physical or chemical agents are used. Longer-term treatments in 1 μM APM indicate that despite the rapid disappearance of perinuclear MTs, a loss of the uniform nuclear spacing occurs gradually over 1–6 d. Similar disorganization of nuclei is obtained with long-term treatment with 1 μM taxol, where a gradual loss of perinuclear MTs is accompanied by an increased abundance of mitotic spindles. This implies that perinuclear MTs can disassemble in vivo in the presence of taxol, and that they are not the sole components involved in maintaining nuclear spacing in these coenocytes. The results indicate that both nuclear and cortical sites of MT nucleation may exist in this organism, and that MT reassembly and re-organization are temporally distinct events in cells that have highly-ordered arrays of long MTs.