cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Trace fields of representations and virtually Haken 3-manifolds

We introduce and study trace fields and invariant trace fields of SL2(C) and PSL2(C) representations of 3-manifold groups. We give conditions on such fields which imply that the underlying 3-manifold is virtually Haken or has virtually positive or 1 first Betti number. In particular, we define the notion of an algebraically trace-proper surface subgroup in a 3-manifold group, and show that any closed orientable irreducible 3-manifold with such a surface subgroup is virtually Haken. We give infinitely many families of closed orientable hyperbolic non-Haken 3-manifolds with algebraically trace-proper surface subgroups. In this paper a 3-manifold is always assumed to be connected and orientable, without loss of generality for the problems to be considered. A 3-manifold is said to be Haken if it is compact, irreducible, and contains a properly embedded incompressible surface. A 3-manifold is said to be virtually Haken if it has a finite cover which is Haken. The well-known virtually Haken conjecture states that every closed and irreducible 3-manifold with infinite fundamental group is virtually Haken. It is also conjectured that every closed Haken 3-manifold has virtually positive first Betti number, that is, the manifold has a finite cover which has positive first Betti number. If M is a closed hyperbolic Haken 3-manifold, then it is further conjectured that M has virtually 1 first Betti number, which means that for any positive integer n, there is a finite cover Mn of M such that the first Betti number of Mn is larger than n. These conjectures are fundamental and difficult issues in 3-manifold topology. In this paper we provide some information about these conjectures by studying traces of representations of 3-manifold groups into SL2ðCÞ or PSL2ðCÞ: For a group G and a representation r : G ! SL2ðCÞ; we define the trace field Kr of r to be the field generated by the traces of all the matrices r (g), g [ G; over the base field Q of rational numbers, that is, Kr ¼ Qðtrðr ðgÞÞ; g [ G Þ:
An ultra-high-throughput, high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy system

A high-throughput gamma-ray spectroscopy system is described. It consists of the following: a high-purity Ge (HPGe) detector; a transistor-reset preamplifier (TRP); a gated integrator, shaping amplifier; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC); and digital control and storage circuits. The gated integrator uses a quasi-rectangular prefilter. With the detector used, this prefilter provided approximately 16% less noise than a gated integrator using a conventional Gaussian prefilter. The ADC has 14-b accuracy, differential nonlinearity >
German Conservatism at the Crossroads: Count Kuno von Westarp and the Struggle for Control of the DNVP, 1928–30

The years from 1928 to 1930 witnessed a bitter struggle for the control of the German National People's Party (DNVP), the bastion of German conservatism in the Weimar Republic. One of the principal protagonists in this conflict was Count Kuno von Westarp, chairman of the DNVP from 1926 to 1928 and of the DNVP delegation to the Reichstag from 1924 to 1929. Westarp struggle with great determination to preserve the unity of the party in the face of a concerted effort from the radical Pan-German nationalists around the newly elected party chairman, film and press magnate Alfred Hugenberg. But Westarp's efforts on behalf of party unity ultimately failed as the moderates who stood on the DNVP's left wing abandoned the party in two secessions, the first in December 1929 and the second in July 1930. In the second of these Westarp himself left the party. In the meantime the DNVP had been transformed from a conservative Sammelpartei into an instrument of the radical right.
Role of interleukin 6 in a murine model of Crohn’s ileitis: are cytokine/anticytokine strategies the future for IBD therapies?

Although the precise causes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have yet to be discovered, important therapeutic advances have resulted from the manipulation of cytokine function(s) using anticytokine/cytokine therapies, such as targeting of tumor necrosis factor. We discuss the future of this area of investigation in the context of preclinical experimentation using animal models of IBD. In particular, we pinpoint the roles played by interleukin 6 and its intracellular signalling pathways in the SAMP1/Yit murine model of Crohn's-like ileitis.
Advancements in pervious concrete technology

Pervious concrete has been used for many years in the southern United States but only recently have stormwater mandates implemented by the United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created interest for more wide-spread installations, especially in freeze-thaw climates. Validation of the freeze-thaw durability of pervious concrete under the most extreme conditions created an opportunity to explore many additional aspects of pervious concrete and to improve durability through additional mixture characterization and new construction practices. While the material components are similar to conventional concrete, the idiosyncratic behavior of pervious concrete requires revaluating material effects and relationships. Many different factors influence the performance of conventional concrete and many different factors also affect pervious concrete, although limited data exist to support observed and expected responses. The most crucial factors include the specific effect on freeze-thaw durability caused by the coarse aggregate type. Since the volume of paste in a pervious concrete system is much less than traditional concrete and exposure conditions much more severe, aggregate durability criteria must be determined for this specific application. The more extreme exposure conditions also require investigating the effect of air entrainment on the concrete mortar. Air entrainment improves freeze-thaw durability in conventional concrete, but to date has yet to be evaluated in pervious concrete. In addition to mixture properties, construction practices must be modified to suit pervious concrete. While the workability of conventional concrete can be simply checked using a standard slump cone, no method currently exists to determine the workability of pervious concrete. However, workability of pervious concrete influences the ease of placement and density, which also controls the yield and ultimate durability. Determining pervious concrete workability will allow more consistency between placements and help quantify the effect various mixture components have on the fresh mixture behavior. Due to it’s very low water-to-cement ratio (~0.30) curing of pervious concrete is particularly important. Pervious concrete is currently cured under plastic instead of using a conventional curing compound. No research has previously been performed to evaluate the effect various common curing methods have on strength and durability. By
Anisotropic damage of rock joints during cyclic loading: constitutive framework and numerical integration

SUMMARY This work describes a constitutive framework for modeling the behavior of rough joints under cyclic loading. Particular attention is paid to the intrinsic links between dilatancy, surface degradation, and mobilized shear strength. The framework also accounts for the important effect of shear-induced anisotropy. The resulting approach is fully three-dimensional and is not restricted to plane-displacement kinematics. Both the governing formulation and an algorithm for implicit numerical integration are presented. While the proposed methods are general, we also postulate a specific model that is compared with experimental data. It employs relatively few free parameters but shows good agreement with laboratory tests. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A regional analysis of suicide and homicide rates in the USA: search for broad cultural patterns

A number of recent studies have explored correlates of suicide rates (and less often homicide rates) over the continental states of the USA. Each study typically selects one variable as the focus. The present study sought to explore the relationship between rates of personal violence and all of the socioeconomic variables utilized in previous research. Suicide rates and homicide rates were found to have very different correlates. Suicide rates varied most strongly with social instability, while homicide rates varied most strongly with a southern subculture.
On Extending Mavrodes' Analysis of the Logic of Religious Belief

No fruitful discussion of the logic of religious belief can afford to ignore George Mavrodes' classification of propositional concepts, i.e. concepts predicable of propositions singly (p) or in sets (S), as an analytical tool for pinning down the ‘person-oriented’ and ‘content-oriented’ factors in such ‘epistemic activities’ as religious proving, experiencing, and verifying. Mavrodes shows in particular that the formal model of logical soundness, i.e. valid form and true premises, has but limited application to proving, experiencing, and verifying as ways of giving good reasons for religious belief. In this essay, I will show how Mavrodes' analysis of the logic of religious belief can be extended by substituting a procedural model of logical soundness for the truth-functionally formal model that he adopts. I will show further why it is desirable and, in certain instances, vital to extend his analysis in this manner. Along the way, I will explain why the extension that I am advocating augments Mavrodes' original analysis without substantially altering it or sacrificing any of its original analytical virtues.
Parallel spatial query processing on GPUs using R-trees

R-Trees are popular spatial indexing techniques that have been widely adopted in many geospatial applications. As commodity GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) are increasingly becoming available on personal workstations and cluster computers, there are considerable research interests in applying the massive data parallel GPGPU (General Purpose computing on GPUs) technologies to index and query large-scale geospatial data on GPUs using R-Trees. In this study, we aim at evaluating the potentials of accelerating both R-Tree bulk loading and spatial window query processing on GPUs using R-Trees. In addition to designing an efficient data layout schema for R-Trees on GPUs, we have implemented several parallel spatial window query processing techniques on GPUs using both dynamically generated R-Trees constructed on CPUs and bulk loaded R-Trees constructed on GPUs. Extensive experiments using both synthetic and real-world datasets have shown that our GPU based parallel query processing techniques using R-Trees can achieve about 10X speedups on average over 8-core CPU parallel implementations by effectively utilizing large numbers of processors and high memory bandwidth on GPUs.
Channel One Revisited: Prospective Teachers and the Role of American Higher Education

This study examined perceptions of college of education students and their experiences with Channel One, a privately-owned news service used in public education. Given that about one-third of middle and high schoolers in the US view the broadcast every school day, the authors surveyed 172 freshmen to discern their views and attitudes toward Channel One programming and commercials and the role colleges and universities might play in relation to this media service. While most studies on Channel One have been conducted from a K-12 point of view, the goal of this study was to reconsider the topic from the perspective of prospective teachers and post-secondary education.
Policy Interaction in the Provision of Unemployment Insurance and Low‐Income Assistance by State Governments

In this paper we investigate empirical relationships between Unemployment Insurance (UI) and welfare policies using a unique database covering 48 states annually from 1973 through 1989. We first document substantial variation across states in UI program outcomes. Having established that UI is so variable, we explore the simultaneous interaction between UI and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Medicaid, and total state and local welfare spending. Our econometric results indicate substitution between the two cash assistance programs, AFDC and UI, by state governments. On the other hand, states that operate relatively generous UI programs also tend to allocate more resources to Medicaid and other in-kind, low-income assistance programs.
Establishing a Phenomenon: The Rhetoric of Early Medical Reports on AIDS.

In the first three medical reports on AIDS which were published in 1981 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the writers' primary rhetorical agenda was to argue that a new medical discovery had been made. A secondary agenda was to offer etiological explanations for the new problem. To establish the new disease entity as deserving serious attention, the writers built a sense of mystery by confronting established medical knowledge about immunodeficiency and emphasizing the inability of modern medicine to diagnose and treat the problem. When they explained the phenomenon in etiological terms, rather than confronting the disciplinary matrix, the writers relied on established medical knowledge of infection rates in homosexual males as well as prevailing social views about the dangerous nature of male homosexual activity; consequently, they were able to imply that nothing was mysterious or surprising about immunodeficiency in homosexual males.
Buying centers: Who chooses convention sites?

Abstract A study of how associations choose meeting sites finds several decision patterns. Destination marketers should attempt to discern how the decision is made.
Developmental incompetency of denuded mouse oocytes undergoing maturation in vitro is ooplasmic in nature and is associated with aberrant Oct-4 expression

Background Germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes constitute a potential resource but their developmental competence is questionable especially when surrounding cumulus cells are removed. The intercellular factors/mechanisms underlying such poor embryonic competence may originate at a nuclear and/or ooplasmic level. Methods Immature or mature oocytes were obtained from three mouse strains following pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) or PMSG+ human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) treatment. Immature oocytes were denuded of cumulus cells prior to in vitro maturation. Pronuclear (PN) transfer was used to examine nuclear-ooplasmic interplay on resultant embryonic development and Oct-4 immuno-staining patterns. Results Embryos arising from ooplasts of in vivo matured oocytes displayed significant increases in blastocyst formation rates and total blastomere numbers when compared to those created from ooplasts of denuded oocytes. Oct-4 staining was more pronounced and restricted to the inner cell mass (ICM) in blastocysts arising from the ooplasm of in vivo matured zygotes than in those created from denuded oocytes. Conclusions Developmental defect(s) appear to develop primarily in the ooplasm of oocytes that are denuded of their cumulus cells prior to in vitro maturation. Such oocytes result in embryos with poor developmental competence. These defects result in anomalies in cell number and Oct-4 expression during the morula-blastocyst developmental transition.
Ascertainment of gastroschisis using the ICD-9-CM surgical procedure code

Objective To determine the effectiveness of using the ICD-9-CM procedure code 54.71 for case ascertainment of gastroschisis. Methods Using procedure code 54.71, we queried a statewide hospital discharge database to identify all cases coded as undergoing surgical repair of gastroschisis. Each retrieved case was verified as having gastroschisis by review of the hospital record. All gastroschisis cases were then matched to the Florida Birth Defect Registry (FBDR) dataset. This registry uses a passive system of multiple data sources and employs the ICD-9-CM diagnostic code 756.79 to identify gastroschisis and other abdominal wall defects. Results Of 93 cases identified by using code 54.71, 92 were confirmed by record review to have gastroschisis. The FBDR identified 87 of the 92 cases (95%). The FBDR missed three of the remaining five cases because of linkage difficulties between inconsistent data elements in the respective data files. The other two cases were not identified by the FBDR because the source database (AHCA discharge) truncates the entry of ICD-9-CM diagnostic codes when more than 10 of them are listed in the medical record. Conclusions Use of the surgical procedure code was demonstrated to be superior to the diagnostic code as a method for identification of gastroschisis cases. The same approach may be useful in the detection of malformations other than gastroschisis.
Recognition of type 1 chain oligosaccharides and lacto-series glycolipids by an antibody to human secretory component.

Abstract Binding of the mouse IgM antibody 6C4 is lost after treatment of human free secretory component with peptide N -glycosidase F (Bakos et al . (1991) J. Immunol . 146, 162-168) or periodate, suggesting that asparagine-linked oligosaccharides contain the epitope recognized by this antibody. Inhibition of antibody binding to free secretory component by milk oligosaccharides established that lacto- N -tetraose is the minimum structure recognized by the antibody, but larger oligosaccharides with terminal Galβ1-3GlcNAc sequences bind with much higher affinity. Antibody binding is enhanced by substitution with the Lewis Fucα1-4 and is inhibited by Fucα1-2Gal substitution. Free secretory component, however, does not bind other antibodies that recognize Le a or Le b oligosaccharides, and binding is lost after digestion with a β-galactosidase that cleaves Galβ1-3 linkages but not after digestion with α-L-fucosidase. Therefore, the major epitope recognized by 6C4 on free secretory component is probably not an asparagine-linked Le a oligosaccharide. The antibody also binds to human milk lactoferrin, some human mucins, and lacto-series glycolipids including III 4 αFuc-lactotetraosyl ceramide and lactotetraosyl ceramide. Based on affinity chromatography of oligosaccharides released from free secretory component, the epitope recognized by antibody 6C4 is present on approximately 3.5% of the asparagine-linked oligosaccharides.
Cigarette Smoking in Relation to the Risk of Myocardial infarction in Young Women. Modifying Influence of Age and Predisposing Factors

We evaluated the relation between myocardial infarction (MI) and cigarette smoking in women 30 to 49 years of age. Among 318 women who had survived recent first infarctions and 1272 age-matched controls, the proportions of cigarette smokers were 83% and 54%, respectively (p < 0.001). The estimated relative risk rose progressively with amount smoked: compared with women who had never smoked, the estimate was 1.8 for smokers of less than 15 cigarettes per day and 6.9 for smokers of 35 or more cigarettes per day. At each level of smoking, the relative increase in risk was greater at younger ages and among those not apparently predisposed from other factors. Although MI is a rare disease in young women, our data indicate that the risks faced by those who smoke heavily are appreciable.
ASPECT-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN BADLANDS SLOPE MORPHOLOGY∗

ABSTRACT Comparative analyses of slope profiles developed on erosional residuals in the Big Badlands of South Dakota revealed marked differences in slope morphology between north-facing and south-facing slopes. The profiles of south-facing slopes were found to be consistently shorter and steeper and are generally rectilinear in appearance. Profiles of the flatter, north-facing slopes are more complex in composition and exhibit a tread-and-riser appearance in overview. The absence of stream channels paralleling the bases of the pedimented residuals and the nearly flat-lying mudstones on which they are developed preclude an explanation of morphological differences based either on preferential stream corrasion or structural controls. The observed differences in slope form most likely reflect differences in type and rate of weathering and erosion that result from aspect-induced topoclimatic differential. More intense fluvial erosion on north-facing slopes is evidenced by significantly greater rilling densitie...
Improved Thermal Tracking for Processors Using Hard and Soft Sensor Allocation Techniques

Hot spots are a major concern in high-end processors as they constrain performance and limit the lifetime of semiconductor chips. Using embedded thermal sensors, dynamic thermal management systems track the hot spots during runtime and adjust the performance and the cooling system of the processor when necessary. In many-core processors, the locations of hot spots vary spatially and temporally depending on the configuration of active cores and the workloads running on the cores. Our work includes both theoretical advances in sensor allocation techniques and experimental advances for thermal imaging of real processors. We propose a hard sensor allocation algorithm to determine the sensor locations where hot spots can be tracked accurately given a budget number of sensors. We also propose soft sensor computation techniques to alleviate design constraints on sensor locations and to further improve the resolution of hot spot tracking. The proposed soft sensing technique combines the measurements of the hard sensors in an optimal way to estimate the temperature at any desired location. We use infrared imaging methods to characterize the thermal behavior of a real dual-core processor during operation. We execute large number of workload configurations on the processor and track the locations and temperatures of hot spots during runtime. The thermal characterization data are then used as the input to our sensor allocation techniques. We demonstrate that our sensor allocation techniques improve significantly upon the previous results in the literature and provide accurate tracking of hot spots.
From invisible to incorrigible: The demonization of marginalized women and girls

Two disturbing recent trends in the media and popular constructions of girls, women, and aggression are analyzed in this article: the media attention to ‘aggression’ and ‘violence’ of girls with th...
A Dual-Use Enterprise Context for Vehicle Design and Technology Valuation

Developing a new technology requires decision-makers to understand the technology's implications on an organization's objectives, which depend on user needs targeted by the technology. If these nee ...
Wafer Bonding and Layer Transfer For Thin Film Ferroelectrics

We report on the layer transfer of thin ferroelectric materials onto silicon substrates. H+ and He+ ion implantation created a buried sacrificial layer in the c-cut BaTiO3 and LiNbO3 single crystals. Bubble formation and thermodynamics of cavity at the bonding interface have been investigated, and single crystal thin film layers were transferred onto crystalline silicon substrates. We have found that defects generated by ion implantation in ferroelectric materials can be significantly recovered with the subsequent annealing for layer splitting.
THERAPEUTIC HOTLINE: Treatment of androgenic alopecia with finasteride may result in a high grade prostate cancer in patients: fact or fiction?

Finasteride at a dose of 1 mg (Propecia®) has been used for the treatment of androgenic alopecia in men. Though finasteride has been successfully used, there is ongoing controversy surrounding its use since the publication of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) which includes claims of increased risk for higher grade prostate cancers. This has produced confusion on consulting and treatment of patients interested in starting finasteride for androgenic alopecia. We felt there was a need to clarify further the results of PCPT for our readers and help understanding the real risk of prostate cancer development of patients on finasteride. In conclusion, we suggest the guidelines for treatment monitoring for patients on finasteride which based on comprehensive review of the trial presents safe treatment for androgenetic alopecia without the concern for the induction of high-grade prostate cancer.
Management Principles Associated With IT Project Success

Success in information technology (IT) projects remains elusive, even after decades of efforts to improve it. Most of these efforts have focused on variations of the traditional project management paradigm as promulgated by PMBOK. We suspected that a potential cause of high IT project failure is with the paradigm, which focuses on the project itself and on meeting time and cost targets. A new paradigm called Value-Driven Change Leadership (VDCL) originated from discussions of a panel of project management experts. This paper describes the principles of that paradigm. It also reports the results from a survey of four project managers on the association between project success and management principles from VDCL and PMBOK.
Small-Scale Document Editing Can Reap Big Results

The article focuses on small-scale editing techniques to be employed by legal writers once the writing and revising stages are complete.
Effects of Component Commonality Under Bivariate Normal Distribution of Demands

A firm may develop its flexibility by emphasizing three major strategic decision areas: its organization, its processes and its product line. This paper is devoted to the study of product flexibility through the analysis of component commonality effects. Unlike previous research, we consider that products' demand follow a bivariate normal distribution. In addition, we provide a comprehensive analysis on the impact of various parameters (demands' mean and variance, demands' correlation, components' cost and service level) on the effectiveness of component commonality.
Receptivity to Research in Policing

Evidence-based policing—using research and scientific processes to inform police decisions—is a complex approach to policing that involves various challenges. One primary difficulty is how research...
Nucleic Acid Content of Rat Mammary Gland Nuclei during Pregnancy, Lactation, and Involution

SummaryThe quantity of DNA per rat mammary gland nucleus was significantly lower during involution in comparison to pregnancy and lactation. Significant differences in both RNA and DNA contents per nucleus among glands occurred during pregnancy, lactation, and involution. Nuclear RNA contents and RNA, DNA ratios increased from pregnancy to lactation and then decreased during involution. A correlation of 0.47 was found between the litter weight at day 10 of lactation and the DNA content per nucleus. The presence of metabolic DNA and its relationship to protein synthesis in rat mammary gland is indicated. The efficiency of utilization of the available DNA template is suggested as the most meaningful interpretation of the RNA, DNA ratio. Sufficient evidence has been accumulated to reject the use of DNA per mammary gland as an index of the number of cells in the gland.The authors are grateful to Dr. Y. N. Sinha and Mr. D. M. Lawson for their interest and technical advice.
Some Properties of p-Type Gallium Antimonide between 15°K and 925°K

Gallium antimonide has been produced by direct combination of gallium and antimony under hydrogen. The product was zone refined and pulled in single crystal form using the Czochralski technique. The product was $p$ type, with resistivities in the range 0.08-0.1 ohm cm. Hall coefficient and resistivity were measured in the temperature range 15-925\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The slope of the Hall curve at low temperatures yielded the value 0.024 ev for the ionization energy of the carriers. It has been shown necessary to assume an additional acceptor level at 0.037 ev. The room temperature mobility of several samples was about 800 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$/volt sec. The Hall mobility varied as ${T}^{\ensuremath{-}0.87}$ in the temperature range below room temperature, but the slope changed at about room temperature, and shifted nearly to a ${T}^{\ensuremath{-}\frac{3}{2}}$ law in the higher temperature range. The Hall coefficient changed sign at 357\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C, as the sample became intrinsic. The mobility ratio was determined from the ratio of the extrapolated extrinsic resistivity and the actual resistivity at the Hall inversion temperature. The value was about 5. The effective mass and intrinsic band gap were estimated from the resistivity data and infrared measurements. The best values were estimated to be $0.20m$ for the effective mass of electrons, $0.39m$ for holes, and 0.80 ev for the intrinsic band gap at 0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The best value for room-temperature band gap was taken to be 0.71 ev; the coefficient of band gap with temperature 3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$/\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C.
Tobacco cigarette smoking and patellar reflex depression.

One hundred fifteen young men served as subjects to determine the effects of smoking cigarettes of differing nicotine content on the patellar reflex. Each volunteer smoked 2 of the same kind of cigarettes in a 4 minute period with an interval of 25 minutes between. The patellar reflex was elicited automatically every 2 seconds by a reflex hammer attached to a solenoid. The reflex was recorded with the use of a strain gauge transducer and the electromyogram of the ipsilateral quadriceps femoris muscle. A negligible depression was produced by smoking a nicotine-free lettuce cigarette. A low-nicotine tobacco cigarette showed approximately 45 per cent depression within 5 minutes compared with a 67 per cent depression after smoking a high-nicotine cigarette. The depression caused by the second cigarette was comparable in degree and duration to the effect of the first cigarette. No accumulative or tachyphylactic effect was observed. It is concluded that tobacco smoking produces a remarkable, short-term depression of the human skeletal-motor system. The depression of the patellar reflex seems to be related to the nicotine content of the cigarette smoked.
Psychoactive pharmaceuticals at environmental concentrations induce in vitro gene expression associated with neurological disorders

A number of researchers have speculated that neurological disorders are mostly due to the interaction of common susceptibility genes with environmental, epigenetic and stochastic factors. Genetic factors such as mutations, insertions, deletions and copy number variations (CNVs) are responsible for only a small subset of cases, suggesting unknown environmental contaminants play a role in triggering neurological disorders like idiopathic autism. Psychoactive pharmaceuticals have been considered as potential environmental contaminants as they are detected in the drinking water at very low concentrations. Preliminary studies in our laboratory identified gene sets associated with neuronal systems and human neurological disorders that were significantly enriched after treating fish brains with psychoactive pharmaceuticals at environmental concentrations. These gene expression inductions were associated with changes in fish behavior. Here, we tested the hypothesis that similar treatments would alter in vitro gene expression associated with neurological disorders (including autism) in human neuronal cells. We differentiated and treated human SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells with a mixture (fluoxetine, carbamazepine and venlafaxine) and valproate (used as a positive control to induce autism-associated profiles), followed by transcriptome analysis with RNA-Seq approach. We found that psychoactive pharmaceuticals and valproate significantly altered neuronal gene sets associated with human neurological disorders (including autism-associated sets). Moreover, we observed that altered expression profiles in human cells were similar to gene expression profiles previously identified in fish brains. Psychoactive pharmaceuticals at environmental concentrations altered in vitro gene expression profiles of neuronal growth, development and regulation. These expression patterns were associated with potential neurological disorders including autism, suggested psychoactive pharmaceuticals at environmental concentrations might mimic, aggravate, or induce neurological disorders.
Evaluation of the Early Paleo-Indian zooarchaeological record as evidence of diet breadth

Early Paleo-Indians in North America are historically hypothesized to have been large-game specialists. Despite decades of research, Early Paleo-Indian diets are alternately portrayed as of either specialist or generalist. Though some suggest that these terms are not useful, debate over the nature of these diets continues. Authors who have studied Early Paleo-Indian archaeofaunas from North America have analyzed either a conservative dataset, consisting only of taxa whose remains meet criteria indicating they were part of Early Paleo-Indian diet, or a liberal dataset which includes all taxa regardless of the presence or absence of evidence that represented taxa were part of the diet. Camp sites are assumed to be more indicative of long-term, average Early Paleo-Indian diet, but single-event kill sites and multiple-event kill sites are included in analyses. Richness, evenness, and heterogeneity of mammalian taxa and of body size classes for conservative and liberal datasets show that many assemblages cannot be categorized as representing either specialist or generalist diets regardless of dataset used or diversity measure employed. Early Paleo-Indian diet breadth was diverse and in some cases more diverse than during the subsequent Archaic.
Accurate quantification of vessel cross-sectional area using CT angiography: a simulation study

Coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography is a noninvasive method for visualizing coronary atherosclerosis. However, CT angiography is limited in assessment of stenosis severity by the partial volume effect and calcification. Therefore, a quantitative method for assessment of stenosis severity is needed. Polyenergetic fan beam CT simulations were performed to match the geometry of a 320-slice CT scanner. Contrast-enhanced vessel lumens were modeled as 8 mg/ml Iodine solution against a lipid background. Normal vessels were simulated by circles with diameters in the range of 0.1–3 mm. To simulate lesions, 2, 3, and 4 mm diameter vessels were simulated with area stenoses in a range of 10–90 %. The occlusion was created by a circular region of lipid placed within the lumen resulting in a crescent shaped lumen. Each vessel was simulated three times to obtain multiple noise realizations for a total of 126 vessels. Two trained readers performed manual cross-sectional area measurements in simulated normal and stenotic vessels. A new, semi-automated technique based on integrated Hounsfield units was also used to calculate vessel cross-sectional area. There was an excellent correlation between the measured and the known cross-sectional area for both normal and stenotic vessels using the manual and the semi-automated techniques. However, the overall measurement error for the manual method was more than twice as compared with the integrated HU technique. Determination of vessel cross-sectional area using the semi-automated integrated Hounsfield unit technique yields more than a factor of two improvement in accuracy as compared to the existing manual technique for vessels with and without stenosis. This technique can also be used to correct for the effect of coronary calcification.
Medical Words with Confusing and Controversial Origins

There are many medical words whose origins are confusing or even controversial. Some represent misunderstandings, such as the word artery coming from a Greek word meaning “windpipe.” Some are mislabeling: Morton neuroma is not a tumor of the nerve, and hay fever is not caused by hay. And some are simply curious connections, such as how the word menstruum came to mean “solvent” in medieval times. This chapter tells the stories of words that have taken tortuous paths from their beginnings to today’s usage.
International perspectives on voluntary action: reshaping the third sector

List of Figures, Tables and Boxes List of Acronyms and Abbreviations Foreword Contributors Introduction: The Parallel Universes of Third Sector Research and the Changing Context of Voluntary Action David Lewis Part 1: Linkages and Learning 1. Crossing the Great Divide: Building Links and Learning Between NGOs and Community-Based Organizations in North and South John Gauenta 2. Social Learning in South-North Coalitions: Constructing Knowledge Systems Across Social Chasms L David Brown 3. The Third World's Third Sector in Comparative Perspective Lester M Salamon and Helmut Anheier Part 2: Contrasts and Complementarities Voluntary Sector Governance - Problems in Practice and Theory in the United Kingdom and North America Margaret Harris NGO Governing Bodies and Beyond: A Southern Perspective on Third Sector Governance Issues Qadeer Baig Building NGO Legitimacy in Bangladesh: The Contested Domain Syed Hashemi and Mirza Hassan The Trouble with Values Rob Paton Citizen Organizations as Policy Entrepreneurs Adil Najam Influencing Policy: A UK Voluntary Sector Perspective Marilyn Taylor Evaluation and the Voluntary (Nonprofit) Sector: Emerging Issues Jeremy Kendall and Martin Knapp Evaluating NGO Development Interventions Roger C Riddell Advocacy and Third Sector Organizations: A Composite Perspective Alan Fowler Legitimacy and Values in NGOs and Voluntary Organizations: Some Sceptical Thoughts Michael Edwards Postscript: Reshaping the Third Sector Dauid Lewis
Physical Confirmation and Comparative Genomics of the Rat Mammary carcinoma susceptibility 3 Quantitative Trait Locus.

Human breast and rat mammary cancer susceptibility are complex phenotypes where complete sets of risk associated loci remain to be identified for both species. We tested multiple congenic rat strains to physically confirm and positionally map rat Mammary carcinoma susceptibility 3 (Mcs3)-a mammary cancer resistance allele previously predicted at Rattus norvegicus chromosome 1 (RNO1). The mammary cancer susceptible Wistar Furth (WF) strain was the recipient, and the mammary cancer resistant Copenhagen (Cop) strain was the RNO1-segment donor for congenics. Inbred WF females averaged 6.3 carcinogen-induced mammary carcinomas per rat. Two WF.Cop congenic strains averaged 2.8 and 3.4 mammary carcinomas per rat, which confirmed Mcs3 as an independently acting allele. Two other WF.Cop congenic strains averaged 6.6 and 8.1 mammary carcinomas per rat, and, thus, did not contain Mcs3 Rat Mcs3 was delimited to 27.8 Mb of RNO1 from rs8149408 to rs105131702 (RNO1:143700228-171517317 of RGSC 6.0/rn6). Human genetic variants with p values for association to breast cancer risk below 10-7 had not been reported for Mcs3 orthologous loci; however, human variants located in Mcs3-orthologous regions with potential association to risk (10-7 < p < 10-3) were listed in some population-based studies. Further, rat Mcs3 contains sequence orthologous to human 11q13/14-a region frequently amplified in female breast cancer. We conclude that Mcs3 is an independently acting mammary carcinoma resistance allele. Human population-based, genome-targeted association studies interrogating Mcs3 orthologous loci may yield novel breast cancer risk associated variants and genes.
“I feel like I've hit the bottom and have no idea what to do”: Supportive social networking on Reddit for individuals with a desire to quit cannabis use

Background: Online communities can provide social support to those in need and can foster personal empowerment for individuals experiencing distress. This study examines the content of a Reddit com...
Analysis of the effects of communication delays for consensus of networked multi-agent systems

Achieving cooperation and coordination in a network of multi-agent systems is key to solving the consensus problem. Synchronization of such systems requires consistent communication between agents to reach a consensus, which is not feasible in the presence of delays, data loss, disturbances, and other unpredictable factors. Communication delays combined with environmental uncertainties can cause adverse effects and negatively change the behavior of the networked system preventing synchronization. In this paper, the stability of the delayed networked systems is analyzed using delay differential equations. Solving these equations has not been feasible, because of the infinite number of characteristic roots. The approach based on the LambertWfunction has the capability of analytically solving delay differential equations. The approach is used to quantify and analyze the stability of the delayed networked systems. The communication between the agents is modeled using the graph theory and the Laplacian matrix. The stability is analyzed by incorporating the Laplacian matrix into the Lambert W function based approach which provides the locus of the eigenvalues of the system as delay changes. Sensitivities and convergence speed with respect to delay for various topologies of the network are presented for comparison. The numerical results and implementation using MATLAB/Simulink are presented for illustration.
Endovascular Removal of Fractured Inferior Vena Cava Filter Fragments: 5-Year Registry Data with Prospective Outcomes on Retained Fragments.

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the safety and efficacy of attempted percutaneous filter fragment removal during retrieval of fractured inferior vena cava (IVC) filters and to report outcomes associated with retained filter fragments. Materials and Methods Over a 5-year period, 82 consecutive patients presenting with a fractured IVC filter were prospectively enrolled into an institutional review board–approved registry. There were 27 men and 55 women (mean, 47 y; range, 19–85 y). After main filter removal, percutaneous removal of fragments was attempted if they were deemed intravascular and accessible on preprocedural computed tomography (CT), cone-beam CT, and/or intravascular ultrasound; distal pulmonary artery (PA) fragments were left alone. A total of 185 fragments were identified (81 IVC, 33 PA, 16 cardiac, 2 hepatic vein, 1 renal vein, 1 aorta, 51 retroperitoneal). Mean filter dwell time was 2,183 days (range, 59–9,936 d). Eighty-seven of 185 fragments (47%) were deemed amenable to attempted removal: 65 IVC, 11 PA, 8 cardiac, 2 hepatic, and 1 aortic. Primary safety outcomes were major procedure-related complications. Results Fragment removal was successful in 78 of 87 cases (89.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 81.3–95.2). There were 6 minor complications with no consequence (6.9%; 95% CI, 2.6–14.4) involving intraprocedural fragment embolization and 1 major complication (1.1%; 95% CI, 0.0–6.2), a cardiac tamponade that was successfully treated. The complication rate from attempted cardiac fragment removal was 12.5% (1 of 8; 95% CI, 0.3–52.7). Among patients with retained cardiopulmonary fragments (n = 19), 81% remained asymptomatic during long-term clinical follow-up of 845 days (range, 386–2,071 d). Conclusions Percutaneous removal of filter fragments from the IVC and proximal PAs is safe and effective overall, but attempted intracardiac fragment removal carries a higher risk of complication. Most residual filter fragments not amenable to percutaneous removal remain asymptomatic and may be monitored clinically.
Patrimonio religioso una lectura legal

La Iglesia Catolica es el mayor poseedor y propietario de bienes culturales integrantes del patrimonio cultural de la nacion. Ello implica un gran reto y responsabilidad puesto que la ley peruana impone diversas obligaciones a la posesion y al uso de dichos bienes, asi como severas sanciones. lQue entiende la ley peruana por patrimonio cultural de la nacion? Como se formula su proteccion y cuales son sus consecuencias practicas? A continuacion nos acercaremos al patrimonio cultural de la nacion, y en especial al patrimonio religioso, desde la optica de la ciencia del Derecho; aprovechando la reciente aprobacion de la nueva Ley General del Patrimonio Cultural de la Nacion, Ley No 28296.
The New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension: New Opportunities and Challenges for Students with Learning Difficulties

Improving the ability to read and comprehend, especially for students who struggle with reading, is one of today’s most pressing educational priorities (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1994; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). Despite extensive efforts, many students continue to struggle with reading, increasing the possibility that they will drop out of school (Hammond, Linton, Smink, & Drew, 2007). Unless we develop more effective instructional approaches to address this problem, we will fail to develop the potential these students possess to improve their individual lives, as well as our collective lives. It is essential that all students become fully prepared for a wide range of reading experiences so that each and every individual can reach their potential, fulfil their goals, and make our world a better place through their accomplishments.
Elucidation and Comparison of the Chemical Structures of the Specific Capsular Polysaccharides of Streptococcus Pneumoniae Groups 11 (11F, 11B, 11C, And 11A)

Elucidation and Comparison of the Chemical Structures of the Specific Capsular Polysaccharides of Streptococcus Pneumoniae Groups 11 (11F, 11B, 11C, And 11A)
BD-04 Classification of SLE patients based on longitudinal assessment of complement component 3 in relation to complement component 4

Background Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity is characterized by tissue deposition of immune complexes and consumption of complement, which contribute to tissue injury. In clinical practice, it is common to encounter patients where either C3 or C4 is low in isolation, though the clinical implications of variation in C3 relative to C4 are unclear. Here we performed relationship-based clustering of SLE patients based on serum C3 and C4 levels to investigate if this could define distinct clinical subgroups of SLE patients. Methods C3, C4 and other clinical and laboratory parameters were obtained from our proprietary database. A total of 151 SLE patients having an average of 38 (range 7–117) measurements of C3 or C4 were studied. To classify SLE patients based on the character of the relationship of C3 vs C4, we performed relationship-based clustering approach by defining linear fit parameters (including alpha, beta, standard error, and p values) followed by hierarchical clustering. The clusters obtained were screened in terms of their dependency to clinical data using Chi square test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate, with significance defined as p Results Clustering based on multiple characteristics of the relationship between C3 and C4 identified 6 clusters of patients. Clusters 1 and 6 were small and did not have clear phenotypes. Cluster 2 and cluster 5 were both defined by strong correlations between C3 and C4 (Cluster 2 – r=0.81, p Individuals in cluster 2 were more likely to have Jaccoud arthropathy (OR 6.11, CI 1.59 to 24.47), or a history of avascular necrosis (AVN) (OR 4.38, CI 1.55 to 12.34), but less likely to have thrombocytopenia (OR 0.15, CI 0 to 0.98). Cluster 5 patients were more likely to have thrombocytopenia (OR 2.78, CI 1.04 to 7.43) and less likely to have AVN (OR 0.27, CI 0.05 to 0.99). Conclusions C3 and C4 levels vary widely in SLE patients but generally fall into a few general patterns, which are associated with different clinical manifestations, and may provide novel insight into underlying biological differences between SLE patients. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Emerald Foundation, the Barbara Volcker Center, and the Lupus and APS Center of Excellence of the Hospital for Special Surgery.