cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The agricultural impasse: creating "normal" post-war development in Northern Sierra Leone

This article analyzes the notion of "normal" post-war development in Makeni, northern Sierra Leone in light of the fact that local people, the national government, and NGOs appear to be at an impasse concerning agricultural practices. I argue that fundamentally different perspectives on what construes desirable post-war development are causing this deadlock. The government adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to make the country more attractive donors (and more resistant to donor fatigue), thus making primary education compulsory and removing important child labor from farms. NGOs, believing that the government's adoption of the CRC meant that Sierra Leoneans agreed with universal education, design and fund agricultural programs from which child labor is excluded. Local people are torn between wanting their children—whom they dutifully send to school—to have a better future outside of agriculture, and needing their assistance to ensure operating farms in the present. These children, once they either finish or drop out of school, rarely return to the villages. Lacking any other means to recruit labor, farmers argue passionately that they need mechanization in order to ensure future food security, and are usually rebuffed by NGOs who call them lazy. Local people yearn for a life where they can have educated children and productive farms, and resist efforts by their government and aid organizations to "develop" their children without replacing their labor. This labor has been diminishing since diamond mining and education created alternatives to farming beginning in the 1930s. Where the international community assumes that the labor-poor, low-level subsistence farming that existed before the war is the norm that should be recreated in the aftermath, local people resist these initiatives that will only recreate the end-state of years of agricultural deterioration. Their idea of a "normal" world is one where large farms can provide farmers with the cash and surpluses they need to live in dignity.
Teaching the Stages of Group Development

ABSTRACT This article illustrates a psychodramatic exercise for teaching social work students and other group leaders the stages of group development. The classroom is transformed into a sculpture gallery and students arrange themselves in a series of sculptures depictingthe stages. The sculpting brings together theory and practice. It gives students a visualmetaphor of the stages and takes them through a condensed experience of the phases themselves. This approach can be used in social work practice classes or in specific group workcourses.
Unbearable Fadistas: António Variações and Fado as Queer Praxis

Antonio Variacoes’s first single, Povo que lavas no rio/Estou alem (1982), offers a radical version of Amalia Rodrigues’s fado “Povo que lavas no rio” (1962). This article considers Variacoes as fadista in order to think fado as queer praxis. Though Variacoes's debut release was a commercial success, his turn as fadista provoked critical derision for what, I argue, is a trans formation of the genre’s gendered codes and practices. Variacoes's queer masculinity gives body and voice to the transgressive sexuality enmeshed within gendered and fetishized repertoires of fado that are most recognizable in the myths and voices of the genre's divas. This article locates Variacoes within a fado genealogy, from Maria Severa to Amalia Rodrigues, of performers who have similarly been unbearable in body and voice. The purpose of this is to draw attention to fado's affective dispersions of sex and reveal how the genre has coalesced in relation to queer tactics and people throughout its history.
Circular RNAs: Generation of Small RNAs with Unique Properties by Splicing Permuted Intron-Exon Sequences

Methods that utilize RNA splicing reactions to circularize RNA in vitro and in cells are being developed. These methods should facilitate in vitro biochemical and biophysical studies using circularized RNA and could eventually allow the expression of desired RNA sequence as circles in vivo. Circularized RNAs have proven useful for innovative in vitro studies on RNA structure and function (Pan and Uhlenbeck 1992a; Wang and Kool 1994). In addition to their value in biochemical studies, there is potential for the application of circular RNAs in the modulation of gene expression and in the developing area of nucleic acid-based therapeutics (Rossi et al. 1991; Ma et al. 1993; Wang and Kool 1994). However, with a few exceptions, naturally occurring examples of circular RNAs are rare, and little is known about their generation or fate in vivo.
Inappropriate Medication Use and Medication Errors in the Elderly

Medications are commonly used by older adults. While medications can relieve symptoms and prevent further disease complications, they unfortunately can also cause adverse drug events (ADEs). An ADE can be defined as “an injury resulting from the use of a drug” (Aspden et al. 2007; Nebeker et al. 2004). The right side of Fig. 1 shows the three types of ADEs: (1) adverse drug reactions (ADRs) (i.e., a response to a drug that is noxious and unintended and occurs at doses normally used for the prophylaxis, diagnosis, or therapy of disease or for modification of physiological function); (2) therapeutic failures (TFs) (i.e., failure to accomplish the goals of treatment resulting from inadequate drug therapy and not related to the natural progression of disease); and (3) adverse drug withdrawal reactions (ADWEs) (i.e., a clinical set of symptoms or signs that are related to the removal of a drug) (Edwards and Aronson 2000; Hanlon et al. 2010). Besides death, which fortunately is rarely due to medications, one of the worst consequences of medication use in older adults is hospitalization. Studies have shown that up to 16 % of hospital admissions are due to ADRs, up to 11 % due to TFs, and approximately 1 % due to ADWEs (Beijer and de Blaey 2002; Kaiser et al. 2006; Marcum et al. 2011). Taken together, these medication-related problems are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality as well as unnecessary healthcare costs in older adults.
Control of Cardiac Contraction by SR and Sarcolemmal Ca Fluxes

Both Ca influx and SR Ca release are important elements in E-C coupling and Ca from both sources can contribute to the activation of contraction. In this chapter I will try to clarify the dynamic interplay of transsarcolemmal and trans-SR Ca fluxes in different cardiac muscle preparations and under different experimental situations.
The State of Professional Pilot Meteorology Education: How Much Is Enough?

In January, 1989, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) sponsored the Third International Conference on the Aviation Weather System. A prevailing theme, "pilot deficiencies in weather education," became the impetus for the Professional Pilot's Meteorology Training Standards Conference held at the United States Air Force Academy, April, 1989. Many military and civilian organizations, including five University Aviation Association member schools, were represented. The attendees included pilots, meteorologists, trainers, and other educators. Two primary goals of the conference were: (1) to attempt to develop a minimum set of meteorological objectives for all professional pilots, and (2) to initiate dialogue between pilots and meteorologists. The conference confirmed that diversity rules in meteorology education in the professional pilot training curricula. Although a list of objectives was developed, disagreement continues concerning professional pilot needs in terms of meteorology. The true success of the conference was the establishment of a viable network of pilots, meteorologists, and the organizations responsible for pilot training and for providing weather information to pilots. Military and civilian working groups were created, each with a distinct agenda. Participants concur that more communication and cooperation are essential to further define the needs of weather education for professional pilots.
Characterizing climate change risks by linking robust decision frameworks and uncertain probabilistic projections

There is increasing concern that avoiding climate change impacts will require proactive adaptation, particularly for infrastructure systems with long lifespans. However, one challenge in adaptation is the uncertainty surrounding climate change projections generated by general circulation models (GCMs). This uncertainty has been addressed in different ways. For example, some researchers use ensembles of GCMs to generate probabilistic climate change projections, but these projections can be highly sensitive to assumptions about model independence and weighting schemes. Because of these issues, others argue that robustness-based approaches to climate adaptation are more appropriate, since they do not rely on a precise probabilistic representation of uncertainty. In this research, we present a new approach for characterizing climate change risks that leverages robust decision frameworks and probabilistic GCM ensembles. The scenario discovery process is used to search across a multi-dimensional space and identify climate scenarios most associated with system failure, and a Bayesian statistical model informed by GCM projections is then developed to estimate the probability of those scenarios. This provides an important advancement in that it can incorporate decision-relevant climate variables beyond mean temperature and precipitation and account for uncertainty in probabilistic estimates in a straightforward way. We also suggest several advancements building on prior approaches to Bayesian modeling of climate change projections to make them more broadly applicable. We demonstrate the methodology using proposed water resources infrastructure in Lake Tana, Ethiopia, where GCM disagreement on changes in future rainfall presents a major challenge for infrastructure planning.
Increased risk of opioid overdose death following cold weather: A case–crossover study

Background:The United States is in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis. Little is known about the role of environmental factors in increasing risk of fatal opioid overdose.Methods:We conducted a case–crossover analysis of 3,275 opioid overdose deaths recorded in Connecticut and Rhode Island in 20
Fully-CMOS Multi-Level Embedded Non-Volatile Memory Devices With Reliable Long-Term Retention for Efficient Storage of Neural Network Weights

We present a fully CMOS-compatible multi-level non-volatile memory technology, without any special process cost. It is especially suitable for storing the weights of artificial neural networks on chip with low cost, high density, and high power-efficiency. We use hot carrier injection to program the single-transistor cells, and we conduct charge pumping experiments which identify interfacial traps, rather than bulk oxide traps, as the dominant factor in producing stable $I-V$ shifts. We also derive a new physics-based experimentally verified logarithmic model to explain the rate of interfacial trap generation in large $I-V$ shift regimes where the conventional power-law no longer applies. We fabricate two chips, one using TSMC’s 16 nm FinFET and the other in 28 nm planar, and show the FinFET cells are more favorable for non-volatile memory due to their better channel control. We store multiple levels in each FinFET cell using a “program and check” strategy which sets memory cells’ currents with standard deviations less than $2~{\mu }A$ across a shifting range of over $100~{\mu }A$ . We demonstrate 8 level FinFET cells with extrapolated 10-year charge loss within 10% at 125 °C.
Genetic Basis of Lichen Planus and Oral Cancer

Precancerous and cancerous lesions on the mouth, head, and neck are significant findings that can pose immediate threat to someone’s life. The occurrence of these conditions is influenced by multiple genes and modulated by the environment and can be defined as having a complex or multifactorial mode of inheritance. After years of developing strategies to fight cancer, patients are surviving longer and the need to deal with the consequences of head and neck cancer are also growing.
A practical guide for analysis of histone post-translational modifications by mass spectrometry: Best practices and pitfalls

Advances in mass spectrometry (MS) have revolutionized the ability to measure global changes in histone post-translational modifications (PTMs). The method routinely quantifies over 60 modification states in a single sample, far exceeding the capabilities of traditional western blotting. Thus, MS-based histone analysis has become an increasingly popular tool for understanding how genetic and environmental factors influence epigenetic states. However, histone proteomics experiments exhibit unique challenges, such as batch-to-batch reproducibility, accurate peak integration, and noisy data. Here, we discuss the steps of histone PTM analysis, from sample preparation and peak integration to data analysis and validation. We outline a set of best practices for ensuring data quality, accurate normalization, and robust statistics. Using these practices, we quantify histone modifications in 5 human cell lines, revealing that each cell line exhibits a unique epigenetic signature. We also provide a reproducible workflow for histone PTM analysis in the form of an R script, which is freely available at https://github.com/DenuLab/HistoneAnalysisWorkflow.
The Los Angeles Olympic Games: Planning Legacies

The purpose of this book is to identify legacies arising from the bidding and planning process for Los Angeles’ 2028 Summer Olympic Games. Providing a brief historical account of the bidding processes and legacies for the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, the book answers the question of why LA won the 2028 Olympic bid. LA’s Olympic bidding process is the story of a city hosting the Games in which the process of bidding in an adversarial anti-Olympic bid climate was custom made for LA. The focus of the book lies on testing the premise whether and why the bid boosters’ claim “we have done it before, we can do it again” may or may not hold for LA’s 2028 legacies. Four elements challenge similar legacies from previous Games: the proposed dual opening and closing ceremony, the under-construction gigantic NFL stadium, and the vast planned transport expansion of LA challenge similar legacies from previous LA Games. No matter the legacy outcomes, the future two Olympic hosts including LA 2028 will determine the fate of the International Olympic Committee, the Olympics brand, and the Olympic Games.
Buttonhole Cannulation of Arteriovenous Fistulas in the United States

The cannulation technique of a hemodialysis vascular access has remained controversial with differing viewpoints. The quality of dialysis, overall patient safety, and individual dialysis experience often dictate the type of cannulation technique used in clinical practice. The three commonly used techniques to access a hemodialysis vascular access are the rope ladder, area, and buttonhole. Although the buttonhole technique has been around since the mid-1970s, the dialysis community remains divided on its suitability for routine use to provide maintenance hemodialysis therapy. The proponents of this technique value the ease of cannulation with less pain and discomfort whereas the opponents highlight the increased risk of infection. The actual clinical evidence from the United States is limited and remains inconclusive. The current review provides an overview of the available experience from the United States, highlighting the correct technique of creating a buttonhole, summarizing the current evidence, and recommending a need for larger randomized controlled studies in both in-center and home hemodialysis populations.
Code Smell Detection Tool for Java Script Programs

JavaScript is a client-side scripting language that is widely used in web applications. It is dynamic, loosely-typed and prototype-based with first-class functions. The dynamic nature of JavaScript makes it powerful and highly flexible in almost every way. However, this flexibility may result in what is known as code smells. Code smells are characteristics in the source code of a program that usually correspond to a deeper problem. They can lead to a variety of comprehension and maintenance issues and they may impact fault- and change-proneness of the application in the future. We present TAJS lint , an automated code smell detection tool for JavaScript programs that is based on static analysis. TAJS lint includes a set of 14 code smells, 9 of which are collected from various sources and 5 new smells we propose. We conduct an empirical evaluation of TAJS lint on a number of JavaScript projects and show that TAJS lint achieves an overall precision of 98% with a small number of false positives. We also study the prevalence of code smells in these projects.
A longitudinal examination of the overlap between victimization and delinquency trajectories from a South Korean perspective

•The results revealed four distinct trajectories of delinquency and victimization, respectively.•The dual trajectory models demonstrate substantial overlap between victimization and delinquency among Korean adolescents.•Low self-control and peer delinquency show the consistent significance for distinguishing trajectory groups.
Operative Microwave Ablation for the Multimodal Treatment of Neuroendocrine Liver Metastases.

Background and Purpose: Operative microwave ablation (MWA) is a safe modality for treating hepatic tumors. The aim of this study is to present our 10-year, single-center experience of operative MWA for neuroendocrine liver metastases (NLM). Methods: A single-institution retrospective review of patients who underwent operative MWA for NLM was performed (2008-2018). Demographics, primary tumor site, operative approach, combined surgical operations, and carcinoid symptoms were recorded. Clinical outcomes for major complications, readmission, and mortality were analyzed 30 days postoperatively. Postablation imaging was evaluated for incomplete ablation/missed lesions, and surveillance imaging reviewed for local, regional, and metastatic recurrence. Results: Of the 50 patients (166 targeted lesions) who received MWA for NLM, 41 (82%) were treated with a minimally invasive approach, and 22 (44%) underwent MWA concomitant with hepatectomy and/or primary tumor resection. Within the study cohort 70% of patients were treated with curative intent with a 77% (27/35) success rate. Carcinoid symptoms were reported in 40% (20/50) of patients preoperatively, and MWA treatment improved symptoms in 19/20 patients. Incomplete ablation occurred in 1/166 treated lesions. Recurrence-free survival at 1 and 5 years was 86% and 28%, respectively. Overall survival at 1 and 5 years was 94% and 70%, respectively (median follow-up 32 months, range 0-116 months). Conclusion: Operative MWA is a versatile modality, which can be safe and effectively performed alone or combined with hepatectomy for NLM, preferably using a minimally invasive approach, to achieve symptom control and possibly improve survival.
A Presynaptic Protein Is a Net Gain for Pancreatic Tumor Progression

Cancer-associated fibroblasts conduct an aberrant wound-healing response, including mechanisms that restrain and others that support tumor progression. In this issue of Cancer Discovery, Francescone and colleagues demonstrate expression of presynaptic protein NetG1 on fibroblasts in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and characterize tumor-supportive functions of NetG1 in this context, including metabolic and immune-modulatory mechanisms.See related article by Francescone et al., p. 446.
Proactive Longitudinal Control of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles with Lane-Change Assistance for Human-Driven Vehicles

Vehicle automation and connectivity enable the cooperative platooning control of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), which can enhance traffic safety and alleviate traffic oscillations. However, CAVs and human-driven vehicles (HDVs) will coexist on roads prior to the pure CAV environment, creating a mixed-flow traffic environment. Mixed-flow traffic introduces challenges for CAV operations in terms of lane-change maneuvers of HDVs in adjacent lanes, which can generate oscillations, jeopardizing the performance of platooning control. Hence, there is a need to explore the interactions between the CAV and the HDV in the lane-change process, and analyze how CAVs can proactively respond to HDV lane change to dampen the generated disturbances. This study proposes a deep reinforcement learning-based proactive longitudinal control strategy for the CAV to assist the HDV lane change, and minimize the adverse impact on the smooth operation of the mixed platoon. Results from numerical experiments illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. Further, the generalizability of the proposed control strategy for different HDV driver types is demonstrated.
Gene Expression in Space Biology Experiments

As humans continue to explore beyond the confines of our own planet we are faced with a variety of challenges to facilitate these explorations. There are, of course, the mechanical engineering challenges that encompass the problems of getting us off the planet and out to orbital habitats such as the shuttle and the space station or other planetary surfaces such as the moon or Mars. In addition there biological and environmental engineering challenges that encompass supporting humans within these habitats. The first stage of environmental engineering embraced by the space program was to simply make a closed system of refreshed air and waste disposal supported by food and other rations that astronauts brought with them. This is largely still the way of it; however, there is increasing interest in augmenting this basic approach with biological systems that can help in the environmental requirements of refreshing the air, metabolizing wastes and providing a portion of nourishment as we endeavor to mount longer missions in space. Plants are central to any life support system that contains biological components and thus understanding the metabolic challenges that may face plant growth and development in space is central to this effort. Early studies concerning the physiological responses of plants in a spaceflight environment clearly illustrate that plants are metabolically stressed during spaceflight when compared to their ground control counterparts (Ferl et al., 2002 and references therein). Thus, the successful incorporation of plants into orbiting habitats will require a keen understanding of the basis for the spaceflight stress-response in plants. At least one apparent link in this stress response is known. Plants exhibiting spaceflight-associated stress appear to exhibit some of the hallmarks of hypoxia. To explore this phenomenon, we and others have turned initial focus to a key enzyme in the hypoxic stress pathway, alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) (Porterfield et al., 1997; Paul et al., 2001).
One-Way Functions in Complexity Theory

In complexity theory a one-way function is defined to be a one-one, honest, function that is computable in polynomial time whose inverse is not computable in polynomial time. We will examine relationships between the complexity of functional computational problems and ordinary set recognition problems. The complexity of inverting one-way functions will follow from these relationships. Then, we will survey various forms of one-way functions that have arisen in relationship to some cryptographic investigations and in relationship to the Isomorphism Problem.
Proprietorship Formations and U.S. Job Growth

Despite the surging interest in entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy, studies of the independent relationship between proprietorship formations and job growth are virtually non-existent. We find that self-employment or proprietorship rates are associated with faster job growth in the wage-and-salary sector, and the effect is statistically significant. The relative magnitude of this effect varies with the business cycle, being stronger during economic expansions and weaker during contractions. Further, the effect is stronger in metropolitan than in non-metropolitan counties.
Power-efficient issue queue design

Increasing levels of power dissipation threaten to limit the performance gains of future high-end, out-of-order issue microprocessors. Therefore, it is imperative that designers devise techniques that significantly reduce the power dissipation of the key hardware structures on the chip without unduly compromising performance. Such a key structure in out-of-order designs is the issue queue. Although crucial in achieving high performance, the issue queues are often a major contributor to the overall power consumption of the chip, potentially affecting both thermal issues related to hot spots and energy issues related to battery life. In this chapter, we present two techniques that significantly reduce issue queue power while maintaining high performance operation. First, we evaluate the power savings achieved by implementing a CAM/RAM structure for the issue queue as an alternative to the more power-hungry latch-based issue queue used in many designs. We then present the microarchitecture and circuit design of an adaptive issue queue that leverages transmission gate insertion to provide dynamic low-cost configurability of size and speed. We compare two different dynamic adaptation algorithms that use issue queue utilization and parallelism metrics in order to size the issue queue on-the-fly during execution. Together, these two techniques provide over a 70% average reduction in issue queue power dissipation for a collection of the SPEC CPU2000 integer benchmarks, with only a 3% overall performance degradation.
Affective Development over the Lifespan: Involution or Growth?.

According to the speculations of young children, being old means feeling "awful," "nearly dead," "terrible," and "tired" (Seefeldt, Jantz, Galper & Serock, 1977). Do these starkly negative notions of the affective world of older individuals reflect sensitive perceptions of the older person's reality, or are they distortions caused by exposure to cultural stereotypes? If there are indeed emotional changes that accompany aging, is it the case that these modifications occur gradually over the adult years or is there a more or less precipitous change towards the end of life? The present paper reviews the existing literature in an attempt to clarify these and related issues.
CHAPTER 1 – Brain Evolution

Evolutionary neurobiology has progressed considerably and many of the old ideas about brain evolution have been replaced by better theories, and that it is time to reapproach some of the questions that intrigued Owen and Huxley. This chapter reviews the historical pattern of vertebrate brain evolution. Next, it discusses the relationship between brain development and evolution, emphasizing how phylogenetic transformations may be explained in terms of changing developmental mechanisms. It also illustrates how the human brain differs from that of other primates and how knowledge of these neuroanatomical differences might help one to understand exactly what it is that sets humans apart from other animals. The insights gained during the last century, by evolutionary neurobiologists studying nonhuman brains can now be used to remove at least some of the mystery, and often outright confusion, that has traditionally surrounded the problem of human brain evolution. Thus, the goal of explaining human uniqueness in terms of species differences in brain development and adult structure appears increasingly attainable, particularly as new data emerge on human and primate brain organization.
Proxy caching for wireless multimedia streaming

In this paper, we propose a bi-directional proxy streaming (BPS) scheme for caching the streaming video data in wireless base stations to improve the quality of wireless video streaming services. Our novel data caching method not only provides finer granularity of caching units to allow more effective cache replacement, but also offers a unique and natural way of handling the interactive VCR functions for video streaming. We further propose a cache replacement policy that uses sliding history window and tunable distributed victimization strategy to manage the cached video data in accordance with different QoS requirements of wireless video streaming services. The results of our performance study demonstrate that our BPS scheme outperforms the existing proxy caching schemes in terms of two commonly used QoS metrics, byte-hit ratio and delayed starts.
Insertion of Tn916 in Neisseria meningitidis resulting in loss of group B capsular polysaccharide.

Abstract We recently found that the 16.4-kb conjugative transposon Tn916 could be introduced into Neisseria meningitidis by transformation and that it appeared to transpose to many different sites in the chromosome of recipient meningococci. In order to identify transposon-induced alterations of specific meningococcal virulence determinants, a library of meningococcal Tetr transformants containing Tn916 was made and screened for those altered in the production of group B capsular polysaccharide. A capsule-defective mutant, M7, was identified by using monoclonal and polyclonal antisera to group B polysaccharide in immunoblot and agar antiserum procedures. Growth of M7 was similar to that of the parent strain. M7 produced no group B capsular polysaccharide by rocket immunoelectrophoresis, and the mutation was stable during laboratory passage. The capsule-defective phenotype was linked to Tetr, as demonstrated by immunoblot and Southern blot analysis of progeny Tetr transformants (transformants of the parent strain obtained with DNA from M7). A capsule-deficient mutant, O8, was identified by using a similar approach. Analysis of the Tn916 insertions in M7 and O8 indicated that a significant portion of the transposon on either side of the tetM determinant had been lost. The ability of Tn916 to generate defined, stable mutations in meningococcal virulence determinants is demonstrated by our study.
The Cytological Identification of the Chromosome Associated with the R-G Linkage Group in ZEA MAYS.

This article, co-authored by McClintock, expanded on her 1929 paper in the "Journal of Heredity." In it, she noted some of her observations of trisomics (the presence of an extra chromosome) that would evolve into her oft-cited 1931 paper with Harriet Creighton.
Compartmentalization: A window on the defensive self

Most people hold both positive and negative beliefs about themselves. The way individuals organize, or structure, these beliefs in their self-concepts can facilitate realistic acceptance and confrontation of negative self-beliefs (integration), or defensive avoidance and denial of negative self-beliefs (compartmentalization). This article focuses on the distinction between individuals with a realistic, secure self and a defensive, fragile self. We present evidence that compartmentalization is associated with several indicators of a defensive, fragile self, such as contingent self-esteem and unstable self-evaluations. In addition, individuals with this structure are likely to engage in defensive processes that enhance or protect the self. This model of self-organization can provide a window on the defensive self, allowing researchers to observe the process by which individuals think about and defensively avoid negative self-beliefs. People accumulate knowledge about themselves throughout their life experiences; some of whichispositiveandsomeofwhichisnegative.Althoughitistypicallyeasyforpeopletoaccept positive self-beliefs, it is considerably more difficult for them to cope with negative self-beliefs. This article focuses on the idea that people can organize self-knowledge in ways that either facilitate acceptance and confrontation of negative self-beliefs (realistic self-perception; integrativeorganization)or,alternatively,enableavoidance,distortion,ordenialofnegativeself-beliefs (defensive perception of self; compartmentalized organization). Past research on this model of self-organization has focused on the associations between these types of self-organization and self-esteem or mood (e.g., Showers, 1992, 2002). The present article focuses on linking the organization of self-knowledge to indicators of an easily threatened, defensive self versus a stable, secureself. Boththe theoretical model of self-organization and its empirical findingsprovide a window on the defensive self, allowing researchers to observe directly how individuals think about and cope with their negative self-beliefs.
Transfection of a factor-dependent cell line with the murine interleukin-3 (IL-3) cDNA results in autonomous growth and tumorigenesis.

Abstract The factor dependent murine myeloid line 32D c15 was transfected by electroporation with a murine interleukin-3 (IL-3) cDNA expression plasmid bearing the murine metallothionein-I promoter element. Factor-independent cell growth was readily obtained, and was shown to be accompanied by the production of biologically active IL-3. Three cell lines, growing autonomously and secreting IL-3 activity into their supernatants were established. S-1 nuclease analysis was employed to demonstrate that the introduced plasmid and not the endogenous IL-3 gene was the source of the IL-3 in one of these lines. The transfected IL-3 secreting cell lines, but not the parental factor-dependent 32D c15 cells, were uniformly able to induce tumors in syngeneic mice. These results indicate that the conversion to a malignant phenotype of a “partially transformed” cell line may be achieved by one additional dominant genetic event, such as the acquisition of autocrine growth factor secretion.
A 500 k event/sec 12-bit ADC system with high-speed buffered PCI interface

A low-cost replacement for popular LeCroy 2249 series charge-integrating ADCs with more than 100 times faster data throughput is designed and tested. The A/D converter chips used in the design provide 700 nsec conversion time and 25 MHz/32-bit parallel bus made of a twisted pair ribbon cable connected to a high-speed buffered PCI interface is capable of 100 MByte/sec data transfer to an ordinary IBM PC. The front-end of each ADC channel is equipped with an unipolar Baseline Restoration Circuit allowing use of AC coupling at very high signal rates (RF preamplifiers, HV decoupled signal sources like PMTs, wire chambers, etc.). Being developed for Positron Emission Tomography, the system could also be used for a range of High Energy Physics applications, Spectroscopy, Medical Imaging and others where high event rate occurs.
Activists in City Hall: The Progressive Response to the Reagan Era in Boston and Chicago by Pierre Clavel

Pierre Clavel, Activists in City Hall: The Progressive Response to the Reagan Era in Boston and Chicago (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010).The numbers are stark. An August, 2010 U.S. Cens...
Melody Valve Implant Within Failed Bioprosthetic Valves in the Pulmonary Position A Multicenter Experience

Background—Transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation using the Melody valve has emerged as an important therapy for the treatment of postoperative right ventricular outflow tract dysfunction. Melody-in-bioprosthetic valves (BPV) is currently considered an off-label indication. We review the combined experience with transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation within BPVs from 8 centers in the United States and discuss technical aspects of the Melody-in-BPV procedure. Methods and Results—A total of 104 patients underwent Melody-in-BPV in the pulmonary position at 8 US centers from April 2007 to January 2012. Ten different types of BPVs were intervened on, with Melody valve implantation at the intended site in all patients. Following Melody valve implant, the peak right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery gradient decreased from 38.7±16.3 to 10.9±6.7 mm Hg (P<0.001), and the right ventricular systolic pressure fell from 71.6±21.7 to 46.7±15.9 mm Hg (P<0.001). There was no serious procedural morbidity, and no death...
Variation and continuity in intertextual rhetoric: From the “War on Terror” to the “Struggle against Violent Extremism”

This article employs critical intertextual analysis (CIA) to examine how American presidents from opposing political parties respectively inaugurated and extended the war in Afghanistan. After explaining the CIA framework, I investigate two post-9/11 “call-to-arms” speeches delivered by George W. Bush and Barack Obama. I find that Obama responds to changing circumstances (e.g. public dissatisfaction) by varying stylistic elements of Bush’s rhetoric. Nevertheless, he rearticulates the overarching features of Bush’s “war on terror” discourse. Thus, Obama ultimately achieves policy continuity, but only by employing micro-rhetorical strategies that create the appearance of change. I conclude that, if Obama had been more enterprising, he might have enacted real change – and broken completely with Bush’s rhetoric and policy of global war. Keywords: Afghanistan; Bush; critical intertextual analysis; Iraq; Obama; recontextualization; thematic formation; war on terror
Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in early cutaneous melanocytic lesion progression.

BACKGROUND. A considerable body of evidence supports the concept that a significant number of cutaneous malignant melanomas progress through a precursor lesion or dysplastic melanocytic nevi (DN). Tumor angiogenesis likely plays a critical role in early development of melanoma, and intermediate biomarkers of angiogenesis could be useful as chemoprevention and prognostic markers. METHODS. Markers of angiogenesis that included expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and microvessel density counts (MVD) were evaluated in 13 prospectively collected benign nevi (BN) and 19 DN from 16 individuals and in a comparison group of 17 primary melanomas (16 archival samples and 1 prospective melanoma). RESULTS. VEGF expression in melanocytic cells (mean ± standard error [SE]) was low or absent in BN (3.4 ± 1.4), increased significantly in DN (41.0 ± 10.1; P = .0003 for BN vs DN), and increased further in primary melanoma (119.9 ± 28.3; P = .06 for DN vs melanoma). MVD using CD31 (mean ± SE [percentage × intensity]) followed a similar pattern with similarity between BN (2.6 ± 0.7; N = 13) and DN (2.2 ± 0.8; N = 19; P = .4 for BN vs DN), whereas primary melanomas were significantly higher (39.4 ± 6.4; N = 17; P = .0001 for BN or DN vs melanoma). CONCLUSIONS. In a prospective setting, the current data suggested that increased VEGF-A expression in DN may be a good indicator of preneoplastic change in melanocytic lesions with the potential for improving the understanding and prevention of the transformation of DN to melanoma. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
A case of sustained virologic response of HCV with telaprevir-based therapy in a patient with HIV and end stage kidney disease

Sustained virologic response rates for hepatitis C virus are difficult to achieve in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus, especially if they have other poor predictors of response. Rates of sustained virologic response for hepatitis C virus genotype 1 in patients with end stage kidney disease are lower than patients with normal renal function. We present the first case report of a co-infected African American man with end stage kidney disease, who was haemodialysis dependant, and an interferon non-responder with advanced liver fibrosis, who achieved sustained virologic response on a telaprevir-based regimen.
Uncertainty and figure selection for DFT based cluster expansions for oxygen adsorption on Au and Pt (111) surfaces

We utilise two-dimensional cluster expansions in order to extend a small density functional theory (DFT) database of oxygen adsorption energies on Au and Pt (111) surfaces to explore a wide range of configurational space in larger unit cells than can be conveniently examined by DFT. We calculate adsorption energies and heats of formation for all configurations of up to 15 adsorption sites using the cluster expansions. We show how the cluster expansion adsorption energies obey the configurational correlation previously observed for the DFT results. The ramifications of figure selection are considered and the use of cross-validation scores to weigh figure sets and determine predictive power is examined. Finally, we show that there are only a small number of structural motifs needed to describe the most relevant structures in the phase diagram on these metals.
A negative contrast effect in newborns.

Abstract Two experiments tested whether negative reinforcement-contrast would occur in newborn humans. One group received two 5-min periods of water alternated with 5-min periods of 15% sucrose. Rate of sucking during water periods was lower than in a second group given only water through-out the 20-min session. Such reduced responding to water, after sucrose experience, provides evidence for a negative contrast effect. A group receiving alternated sucrose and no-fluid also showed reduced sucking rate during the no-fluid periods in comparison with a no-fluid control group. The observed negative contrast effect must be a reinforcement and not a peripheral sensory phenomenon, since any persistent effect sucrose might have on the taste receptors would tend to enhance rather than depress responding during no-fluid conditions.
Syntactic category disambiguation with neural networks

Abstract A 560-unit neural network with two layers of modifiable connections was trained by means of back-propagation to disambiguate the syntactic categories of words in samples of text taken from the Brown Corpus. After training, the network was able to successfully disambiguate words in previously unanalyzed text with 95% accuracy, a performance level comparable to the best current computational techniques for the disambiguation of syntactic function. The model incorporates plausible psychological constraints on its input and output representations, and exhibited human-like behavior during parts of the learning process. The network's success suggests that syntactic category disambiguation may be mainly a low-level, bottom-up process with little dependence on the recognition of higher-level syntactic structures. Although the network simulates only a restricted component of the human language processing mechanism, its intrinsic ability to use partially formed data should allow it to be easily integrated into a full-scale language comprehension system. The model's overall performance level, along with its psychological plausibility, indicates that neural networks may be a new and useful approach to building human language processing models.
Surprise, surprise: idiopathic, isolated complete atrioventricular block may be heritable.

Baruteau and colleagues1 present findings that further the potential for a genetic basis for nonimmune isolated atrioventricular (AV) block. Their observations warrant further consideration in the evaluation and management of patients with no definitive cause of their cardiac conduction defect. Article see p 1469 Congenital complete AV block (CAVB) affects ≈1 in 20 000 live-born infants2 and is commonly associated with an immune-related cause associated with maternal collagen vascular disease or structural cardiac disease.3 Other causes of CAVB have been described, including infections, myopathies, and genetic disorders such as the Hunter and Hurler syndromes. Still, the specific cause of CAVB remains elusive for a significant number of patients, raising the possibility that a portion of idiopathic CAVB stems from CAVB-susceptibility genes. Currently, mutations in transcription factors and cardiac channels yield electrocardiographic phenotypes that include cardiac conduction abnormalities. For example, patients with NKX2.5 mutations can have cardiac conduction defects, cardiomyopathy, and atrial septal defects.4 Long-QT syndrome has also been associated with both 2:1 AV block ad CAVB, but this is usually in the presence of overt QT prolongation on the ECG.5 Mutations in the SCN5A- encoded Nav1.5 sodium channel have an ever-expansive …
A Two-Year Longitudinal MRI Study of the Corpus Callosum in Autism

A growing body of literature has identified size reductions of the corpus callosum (CC) in autism. However, to our knowledge, no published studies have reported on the growth of CC volumes in youth with autism. Volumes of the total CC and its sub-divisions were obtained from 23 male children with autism and 23 age- and gender-matched controls at baseline and 2-year follow-up. Persistent reductions in total CC volume were observed in participants with autism relative to controls. Only the rostral body subdivision showed a normalization of size over time. Persistent reductions are consistent with the diagnostic stability and life-long impairment observed in many individuals with autism. Multi-modal imaging studies are needed to identify specific fiber tracks contributing to CC reductions.
Dopamine D2 receptor stimulation alters G-protein expression in rat pituitary intermediate lobe melanotropes.

Stimulation of dopamine D2 receptors inhibits melanotrope pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) biosynthesis and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) secretion. These effects are mediated by G-protein αi- and αo- subunits and are reversed by stimulating receptors linked to activation of Gαs protein. Melanotrope activity is increased by haloperidol, a D2 receptor antagonist, and decreased by bromocriptine, a D2 receptor agonist. Both the short and long isoforms of the D2 receptor mRNA and protein increase following chronic haloperidol treatment. After chronic bromocriptine treatment the short isoform is downregulated, whereas the long isoform is upregulated (1). Our hypothesis is that specific G protein α-subunits alter in pattern of expression similarly to the receptor isoforms. Using immunohistochemistry andin situ hybridization, this study examined changes in Gαi' Gα0', and Gαs protein and mRNA expression following chronic treatments with bromocriptine or haloperidol. Gαi3 and Gαo immunoreactivities increased following bromocriptine treatment, whereas Gαs and Gαi1/2 did not change. Gs immunoreactivity increased after haloperidol treatment, whereas Gαi1/2,Gαi3 and Gαo did not change. Gαi and Gαo mRNA increased following bromocriptine and decreased following haloperidol treatments, whereas the inverse results were observed with Gαs mRNA. These results suggest D2 receptor activation can specifically increase Gαi3 and Gαo expression, and D2 receptor blockade increases Gαs expression.
Zoosporic fungi from Australian and New Zealand tree-canopy detritus

The canopy of rainforest trees is an example of a species-rich habitat; however, most of the species known are invertebrates. Zoosporic fungi live in water and soils throughout the world, but have not been reported from the organic detritus of the rainforest canopy. I added water and baits to samples of Australian and New Zealand canopy detritus, and recovered zoosporic fungi representing three major phylogenetic groups, the Chytridiomycota, Oomycota and Hyphochytriomycota. Queensland samples yielded seven chytrid species, a hyphochytrid species and two members of the Saprolegniales. New Zealand samples yielded five chytrids and one member of the Saprolegniales. Most of these fungi were species that have been reported from terrestrial soils or that belong to typically soil-inhabiting groups. Most of the chytrids were isolated into pure cultures and illustrations of their developmental stages are included.