cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prosocial Development in Early Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study

Consistency of measures of a prosocial personality and prosocial moral judgment over time, and the interrelations among them, were examined. Participants and friends' reports of prosocial characteristics were obtained at ages 21-22, 23-24, and 25-26 years. In addition, participants' prosocial judgment was assessed with interviews and with an objective measure of prosocial moral reasoning at several ages. Reports of prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding in childhood and observations of prosocial behavior in preschool also were obtained. There was interindividual consistency in prosocial dispositions, and prosocial dispositions in adulthood related to empathy/sympathy and prosocial behavior at much younger ages. Interview and objective measures of moral reasoning were substantially interrelated in late adolescence/early adulthood and correlated with participants' and friends' reports of a prosocial disposition.
Evaluation of drying methods with respect to drying kinetics, mineral content and colour characteristics of rosemary leaves

Abstract Rosemary leaves ( Rosmarinus officinalis L., Lamiaceae) were dried by using sun, oven (50 °C) and microwave oven (700 W, 2450 MHz) drying methods. Microwave oven drying shortened the drying time more than 99% when compared to the sun and oven drying methods. K, Ca, Na, Mg and P were the most abundant elements in the rosemary samples. The mineral content of oven dried rosemary leaves was higher than that of the sun and microwave dried samples. The logarithmic and Midilli and Kucuk models were shown to give a good fit to the sun and oven drying. The Page, Modified Page and Midilli and Kucuk models have shown a better fit to the experimental microwave oven drying data of rosemary leaves. Microwave oven drying revealed optimum colour values. Oven drying resulted in a considerable decrease in the colour quality of the rosemary leaves.
The toxic mind: the biology of mental illness and violence.

The continual suppression of emotions during fight or flight reactions results in atrophy and endogenous toxicosis in noradrenergic neurons. Toxic metabolites interfere with neurotransmission, causing depression. During periodic detoxification crises, excess norepinephrine floods synapses overexcite postsynaptic neurons, and cause symptoms ranging from mild anxiety to violent behavior. When toxic metabolites, which may include excess dopamine, epinephrine, serotonin, γ-aminobutyric acid, peptides, amino acids, and various metabolic waste products, are bound to noradrenergic receptor sites, these sites become unavailable to norepinephrine. Excitation of postsynaptic neurons is diminished and depression returns. The diverse proteins in receptor sites presumed to be specific for false neurotransmitters may instead encode specific memories. The shift in depressive and excitatory behavior is characteristic of most psychiatric disorders, addictions, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and psychosomatic disorders. Recovery is a detoxification process and can be facilitated by therapy that involves re-experiencing childhood traumas, releasing, and redirecting repressed emotions.
She's Come Undone: Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) and Countercinema

In a 1972 article, “Womens’ Cinema as Counter-Cinema,” Claire Johnston argues that realistic cinematic depictions of women only serve mainstream, bourgeois, patriarchal ideology. For a cinematic im...
The statistical analysis of general processing tree models with the EM algorithm

Multinomial processing tree models assume that an observed behavior category can arise from one or more processing sequences represented as branches in a tree. These models form a subclass of parametric, multinomial models, and they provide a substantively motivated alternative to loglinear models. We consider the usual case where branch probabilities are products of nonnegative integer powers in the parameters, 0≤θs≤1, and their complements, 1 - θs. A version of the EM algorithm is constructed that has very strong properties. First, the E-step and the M-step are both analytic and computationally easy; therefore, a fast PC program can be constructed for obtaining MLEs for large numbers of parameters. Second, a closed form expression for the observed Fisher information matrix is obtained for the entire class. Third, it is proved that the algorithm necessarily converges to a local maximum, and this is a stronger result than for the exponential family as a whole. Fourth, we show how the algorithm can handle quite general hypothesis tests concerning restrictions on the model parameters. Fifth, we extend the algorithm to handle the Read and Cressie power divergence family of goodness-of-fit statistics. The paper includes an example to illustrate some of these results.
Caveolin-1 Induces Formation of Membrane Tubules That Sense Actomyosin Tension and Are Inhibited by Polymerase I and Transcript Release Factor/Cavin-1

Caveolin-1 and caveolae are often lost in cancer. We found that levels of caveolin-1 and polymerase I and transcript release factor (PTRF)/cavin-1 correlated closely in a panel of cancer and normal cells. Caveolin-1 reexpression in cancer cells lacking both proteins induced formation of long membrane tubules rarely seen in normal cells. PTRF/cavin-1 inhibited tubule formation when coexpressed with caveolin-1 in these cells, whereas suppression of PTRF/cavin-1 expression in cells that normally expressed both genes stimulated tubule formation by endogenous caveolin-1. Caveolin-1 tubules shared several features with previously described Rab8 tubules. Coexpressed Rab8 and caveolin-1 labeled the same tubules (as did EHD proteins), and synergized to promote tubule formation, whereas a dominant-interfering Rab8 mutant inhibited caveolin-1 tubule formation. Both overexpression and inhibition of dynamin-2 reduced the abundance of caveolin-1 tubules. Caveolin-1 reexpression in SK-BR-3 breast cancer cells also induced formation of short membrane tubules close to cortical actin filaments, which required actin filaments but not microtubules. Actomyosin-induced tension destabilized both long and short tubules; they often snapped and resolved to small vesicles. Actin filament depolymerization or myosin II inhibition reduced tension and stabilized tubules. These data demonstrate a new function for PTRF/cavin-1, a new functional interaction between caveolin-1 and Rab8 and that actomyosin interactions can induce tension on caveolin-1-containing membranes.
A psychosomatic unit for children and adolescents: Report on first year and ten months

A unique open ward in a pediatric hospital is the setting for a successfully operating psychosomatic diagnostic and treatment program. Children from ages 2 to 18 years with a wide range of psychosomatic and psychiatric conditions are cared for. The basic structuring of the program of the milieu is in the form of a token economy. In addition, all patients are involved in an intensive program of individual, group, family, and ancillary therapies.
Methods to Determine Dormancy and Preharvest Sprouting Resistance in Barley

Preharvest sprouting (PHS), defined as germination of seeds on plants before harvest, is an ever-present problem and concern for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) growers, processors, and researchers worldwide. A major factor leading to PHS is a lack of seed dormancy, the failure of viable seeds to germinate under favorable conditions. The objectives of this research were to identify a simple, quick, and consistent method to determine the dormancy level and PHS resistance using 14 barley genotypes. The genotypes were grown in two greenhouse trials and six field experiments in North Dakota in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Two methods to determine dormancy and one method to determine PHS resistance were evaluated. Spikes harvested at harvest maturity were used for the germination test and artificial rain treatment to determine the dormancy level, whereas stirring number was measured on seeds from spikes that underwent field weathering to determine PHS resistance. All three methods evaluated had repeatability values ≥0.89. In addition, the "moderately strong" correlations (r = 0.73-0.88) between the three methods suggested that any of the methods could be used to determine the dormancy level and/or PHS resistance of barley genotypes. However, the germination test was preferred because it is simple and fast and does not require expensive equipment. Testing using greenhouse-grown materials can be used to screen for nondormant genotypes that may undergo PHS in the field and therefore must not be released as cultivars.
Trajectories of maternal verbal aggression across the middle school years: Associations with negative view of self and social problems☆

Abstract Objective The primary research objective was to explore the relationship between trajectories of maternal verbal aggression (VA) experienced by low-income, community middle school students across a three-year period and outcomes that have been found to be related to VA in previous work, including a negative view of self and social problems. Method Longitudinal data were collected from 421 youth (51.8% male) attending two middle schools over 3 years using a multiple-informant survey design. K-means cluster analysis was used to identify trajectories of VA using youth ratings of the Conflict Tactics Scale: Parent-Child ( Straus, Hamby, Finkelhor, Moore, & Runyan, 1998 ). Dependent variables were self-reported depression, self-esteem, delinquency, and peer victimization as well as peer-rated aggression and sensitive-isolated reputation. Results Four trajectory groups of VA were identified: Low Stable, Increasing, Decreasing, and High Stable. The 3-year average occurrence of VA was: 1.31, 9.18, 10.24, and 31.14 instances, respectively. Gender-specific MANOVAs revealed dramatic differences between the High Stable and Low Stable groups. High Stable boys reported significantly more depressive symptoms, delinquency, peer overt and relational victimization, and were less likely to have a sensitive/isolated reputation than Low Stable boys. High Stable girls reported significantly more depressive symptoms, low self-esteem, delinquency, peer overt and relational victimization and were rated by peers as having more aggressive/disruptive and relationally aggressive reputations than Low Stable girls. Girls in the High Stable group were more likely than other youth to report levels of depressive symptoms and delinquency >1 SD above the mean, while boys in the High Stable group were more likely to report levels of delinquency >1 SD above the mean. The Increasing and Decreasing groups also demonstrated significantly poorer functioning than the Low Stable group on most outcomes. Growth curve analysis revealed that VA showed a contemporaneous association with self-reported delinquency suggesting these factors are closely related. Conclusions Any level of VA greater than the 1–2 instances per year reported by youth in the Low Stable group was associated with less favorable outcomes.
The photodetachment spectra of diatomic hydride anions

Abstract An explanation of the photodetachment spectra of OH − , SH − and SeH − is given in terms of the rotational line strengths of a 3 Π, 1 Π← 1 Σ + system. Rotational coupling in the complex AH + c − is found to be important.
Joint rapidity and multiplicity dependences of correlation functions in high-energy collisions

Using language of statistical mechanics, we discuss the agreement between two-particle correlations at fixed multiplicity (canonical ensemble) and correlations defined inclusively (grand ensemble), with particular emphasis on the corrections to asymptotic equality expected for these observables. It is furthermore shown that multiperipheral models with predominantly positive correlations imply asymptotically the increase of two-particle semi-inclusive correlation functions with increasing $n$ near $〈 n 〉$. Recent data at $205 \frac{\mathrm{GeV}}{c}$ do not confirm these expectations, and alternative interpretations are discussed.
Genetics, Evolution, and Conservation of Island Plants

Islands are ideal model systems for testing ecological and evolutionary theory. This article reviews and synthesizes the findings of 24 studies of population genetics of island plants to gain insight into ecological and evolutionary processes on these unique, insular habitats. The studies reviewed found evidence for limited gene flow among islands and high genetic structure, but few tested for isolation by distance or among models of gene flow. Few studies compared diversity on islands with mainland populations or tested for bottlenecks, and the small number that did produced split results. Studies of rare species generally found that multiple islands would need to be protected to preserve genetic diversity. This review shows that surprisingly little work has been done to test theory using studies of population genetics on islands, and further work on testing among models of gene flow and examining population bottlenecks would be especially useful.
Rapid detection of sugar alcohol precursors and corresponding nitrate ester explosives using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry

This work highlights the rapid detection of nitrate ester explosives and their sugar alcohol precursors by direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) using an off-axis geometry. Demonstration of the effect of various parameters, such as ion polarity and in-source collision induced dissociation (CID) on the detection of these compounds is presented. Sensitivity of sugar alcohols and nitrate ester explosives was found to be greatest in negative ion mode with sensitivities ranging from hundreds of picograms to hundreds of nanograms, depending on the characteristics of the particular molecule. Altering the in-source CID potential allowed for acquisition of characteristic molecular ion spectra as well as fragmentation spectra. Additional studies were completed to identify the role of different experimental parameters on the sensitivity for these compounds. Variables that were examined included the DART gas stream temperature, the presence of a related compound (i.e., the effect of a precursor on the detection of a nitrate ester explosive), incorporation of dopant species and the role of the analysis surface. It was determined that each variable affected the response and detection of both sugar alcohols and the corresponding nitrate ester explosives. From this work, a rapid and sensitive method for the detection of individual sugar alcohols and corresponding nitrate ester explosives, or mixtures of the two, has been developed, providing a useful tool in the real-world identification of homemade explosives.
Seroprevalence of Mycoplasma agassizii and tortoise herpesvirus in captive desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) from the Greater Barstow Area, Mojave Desert, California

Upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) has been implicated as a cause of decline of wild populations of desert tortoises, Gopherus agassizii, in the western Mojave Desert. One explanation for outbreaks of disease may be the release or escape of diseased captive tortoises into naive wild populations. Because Mycoplasma agassizii and tortoise herpesvirus have surfaced as important pathogens, 179 captive tortoises were evaluated in the greater community of Barstow, San Bernardino County, California during 2000 and 2001 to determine pathogen exposure. An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to detect antibodies against Mycoplasma agassizii (n ! 179) and tortoise herpesvirus (n ! 109). Anti-mycoplasma antibodies were present in 82.7% of the tortoises while anti-herpesvirus antibodies were detected in 26.6%. A positive association was found between tortoises with anti-mycoplasma antibodies and severity of clinical signs of URTD (p ! 0.001) and with age categories, with adults being more likely to be positive (po0.001). Neither association was found with herpesvirus exposure. No association was found between gender and pathogen exposure or between being positive for exposure to both
Reducing Information Avoidance Through Affirmation

Although screening for medical problems can have health benefits, the potentially threatening nature of the results can lead people to avoid screening. In three studies, we examined whether affirming people's self-worth reduces their avoidance of medical-screening feedback. Participants completed an online risk calculator for a fictitious medical condition and then were offered a choice to receive or not receive their risk feedback. Our results showed that affirmation decreased participants' avoidance of risk feedback (Study 1) and eliminated the increased avoidance typically observed when risk feedback might obligate people to engage in undesired behavior (Study 2) and when feedback is about risk for an untreatable disease (Study 3). These findings suggest that affirmation may be an effective strategy for increasing rates of medical screening.
Providing access to the high-level content of line graphs from online popular media

This paper presents extensions to Interactive_SIGHT (Summarizing Information Graphics Textually), a system developed to provide sight-impaired individuals with access to information graphics present in multimodal documents from popular media. SIGHT is a Web-based tool that automatically recognizes the high-level knowledge of a graphic and generates natural language text, so screen readers are able to access it. Prior to this work, the SIGHT system was able to process and generate text only for simple bar charts. However, for graphics that are represented with lines and groups of bars, only the message recognition module has been developed. This work presents the steps that have been taken in order to construct a brief natural language summary that conveys the most important high-level content of single line graphs. It describes how the features of a line graph are identified and contextualized; how the content selection strategy was chosen and implemented; and how the propositions selected to convey the knowledge in the graphic are organized, allowing the discourse to be as clear and coherent as possible.
ON THE LOCATION AND CONTINUATION OF HOPF BIFURCATIONS IN LARGE-SCALE PROBLEMS

CL_MATCONT is a MATLAB package for the study of dynamical systems and their bifurcations. It uses a minimally augmented system for continuation of the Hopf curve. The Continuation of Invariant Subspaces (CIS) algorithm produces a smooth orthonormal basis for an invariant subspace $\mathcal{R} (s)$ of a parameter-dependent matrix A(s). We extend a minimally augmented system technique for location and continuation of Hopf bifurcations to large-scale problems using the CIS algorithm, which has been incorporated into CL_MATCONT. We compare this approach with using a standard augmented system and show that a minimally augmented system technique is more suitable for large-scale problems. We also suggest an improvement of a minimally augmented system technique for the case of the torus continuation.
Lack of Spatial Correlation in MOSFET Threshold Voltage Variation and Implications for Voltage Scaling

Due to increased variation in modern process technology nodes, the spatial correlation of variation is a key issue for both modeling and design. We have created a large array test-structure to analyze the magnitude of spatial correlation of threshold voltage (VT) in a 180 nm CMOS process. The data from over 50 k measured devices per die indicates that there is no significant within-die spatial correlation in VT. Furthermore, the across-chip variation patterns between different die also do not correlate. This indicates that Random Dopant Fluctuation (RDF) is the primary mechanism responsible for VT variation and that relatively simple Monte Carlo-type analysis can capture the effects of such variation. While high performance digital logic circuits, at high VDD , can be strongly affected by spatially correlated channel length variation, we note that subthreshold logic will be primarily affected by random uncorrelated VT variation.
Risk Factors for Low Bone Mass-Related Fractures in Men: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Context: Testing men at increased risk for osteoporotic fractures has been recommended. Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the magnitude of association and quality of supporting evidence linking multiple risk factors with low bone mass-related fractures in men. Data Sources: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, SCOPUS and Cochrane CENTRAL through February 2010. We identified further studies by reviewing reference lists from selected studies and reviews. Study Selection: Eligible studies had to enroll men and quantitatively evaluate the association of risk factors with low bone density-related fractures. Data Extraction: Reviewers working independently and in duplicate determined study eligibility and extracted study description, quality, and outcome data. Data Synthesis: Fifty-five studies provided data sufficient for meta-analysis. The quality of these observational studies was moderate with fair levels of multivariable adjustment and adequate exposure and outcome ascertainment. Sta...
Blind adaptive multiuser detection

The decorrelating detector and the linear minimum mean-square error (MMSE) detector are known to be effective strategies to counter the presence of multiuser interference in code-division multiple-access channels; in particular, those multiuser detectors provide optimum near-far resistance. When training data sequences are available, the MMSE multiuser detector can be implemented adaptively without knowledge of signature waveforms or received amplitudes. This paper introduces an adaptive multiuser detector which converges (for any initialization) to the MMSE detector without requiring training sequences. This blind multiuser detector requires no more knowledge than does the conventional single-user receiver: the desired user's signature waveform and its timing. The proposed blind multiuser detector is made robust with respect to imprecise knowledge of the received signature waveform of the user of interest. >
Gastrojejunostomy versus enteral self-expanding metal stent placement in patients with a malignant gastric outlet obstruction

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to determine whether enteral self-expanding metal stent (SEMS) placement or gastrojejunostomy (GJY) for palliation of malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) symptoms results in better survival and quality-of-life outcomes. Methods This retrospective cohort study included 334 patients who underwent enteral SEMS (n = 241; 56.8% men) or GJY (n = 93; 61.3% men) for palliation of GOO due to unresectable cancer at our tertiary cancer center between 2001 and 2011. Patient demographic and post-procedure outcome data were collected. Results The mean times to tolerate a liquid diet and a soft diet were significantly shorter in the SEMS group (2.2 ± 3.9 days and 4.8 ± 6.2 days, respectively) than in the GJY group (8.9 ± 5.6 days and 13.6 ± 20.3 days, respectively; P = 0.0001). The mean duration of hospital stay was significantly longer for patients who underwent GJY (17.5 ± 9.5 days) than for patients who underwent SEMS placement (12.3 ± 7.9 days; P Conclusion Patients who undergo SEMS placement start tolerating an oral diet sooner, have fewer complications, and shorter hospital stays, but have higher reintervention rates, compared to patients who undergo GJY for palliation of malignant GOO symptoms.
Intraoperative Imaging of Positron Emission Tomographic Radiotracers Using Cerenkov Luminescence Emissions

Imaging the location and extent of cancer provides invaluable information before, during, and after surgery. The majority of ‘‘image-guided’’ methods that use, for example, positron emission tomography (PET) involve preoperative imaging and do not provide real-time information during surgery. It is now well established that the inherent optical emissions (Cerenkov radiation) from various b-emitting radionuclides can be visualized by Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI). Here we report the full characterization of CLI using the positron-emitting radiotracer 89 Zr-DFO-trastuzumab for target-specific, quantitative imaging of HER2/neu-positive tumors in vivo. We also provide the first demonstration of the feasibility of using CLI for true image-guided, intraoperative surgical resection of tumors. Analysis of optical CLIs provided accurate, quantitative information on radiotracer biodistribution and tissue uptake that correlated well with the concordant PET images. CLI, PET, and biodistribution studies revealed target-specific uptake of 89 Zr-DFO-trastuzumab in BT-474 (HER2/neu positive) versus MDA-MB-468 (HER2/neu negative) xenografts in the same mice. Competitive inhibition (blocking) studies followed by CLI also confirmed the in vivo immunoreactivity and specificity of 89 Zr-DFO-trastuzumab for HER2/neu. Overall, these results strongly support the continued development of CLI as a preclinical and possible clinical tool for use in molecular imaging and surgical procedures for accurately defining tumor margins.
Telomere measurement by quantitative PCR

It has long been presumed impossible to measure telomeres in vertebrate DNA by PCR amplification with oligonucleotide primers designed to hybridize to the TTAGGG and CCCTAA repeats, because only primer dimer-derived products are expected. Here we present a primer pair that eliminates this problem, allowing simple and rapid measurement of telomeres in a closed tube, fluorescence-based assay. This assay will facilitate investigations of the biology of telomeres and the roles they play in the molecular pathophysiology of diseases and aging.
Basal level insulin delivery: In vitro release, stability, biocompatibility, and in vivo absorption from thermosensitive triblock copolymers

The major goal of this study was to develop the biodegradable and biocompatible thermosensitive polylactic acid-polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid triblock copolymer-based delivery systems for controlled release of basal level insulin for a longer duration after single subcutaneous injection. Insulin was dispersed into aqueous copolymer solutions to prepare the delivery system. The in vitro release profile of insulin from delivery systems was studied at 37°C in phosphate-buffered saline. Stability of released insulin was investigated using circular dichroism, differential scanning calorimetry, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and skin histology were used to determine the in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility of the delivery systems, respectively. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model was used to study the in vivo absorption and bioactivity of insulin. In vitro release studies indicated that the delivery systems released insulin over 3 months in structurally stable form. The delivery systems were biocompatible in vitro and in vivo. In vivo absorption and bioactivity studies demonstrated elevated insulin level and corresponding decreased blood glucose level in diabetic rats. Thus, the delivery systems released insulin at a controlled rate in vitro in conformationally and chemically stable form and in vivo in biologically active form up to 3 months.
Functional Architecture of the Inferior Colliculus Revealed with Voltage-Sensitive Dyes

We used optical imaging with voltage-sensitive dyes (VSDs) to investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics of synaptically-evoked activity in brain slices of the inferior colliculus (IC). Responses in transverse slices which preserve cross-frequency connections and in modified sagittal slices that preserve connections within frequency laminae were evoked by activating the lateral lemniscal tract. Comparing activity between small and large populations of cells revealed response areas in the central nucleus of the IC that were similar in magnitude but graded temporally. In transverse sections, these response areas summed to generate a topographic response profile. Activity through the commissure to the contralateral IC required an excitation threshold that was reached when GABAergic inhibition was blocked. Within laminae, module interaction created temporal homeostasis. Diffuse activity evoked by a single lemniscal shock re-organized into distinct spatial and temporal compartments when stimulus trains were used, and generated a directional activity profile within the lamina. Using different stimulus patterns to activate subsets of microcircuits in the central nucleus of the IC, we found that localized responses evoked by low-frequency stimulus trains spread extensively when train frequency was increased, suggesting recruitment of silent microcircuits. Long stimulus trains activated a circuit specific to post-inhibitory rebound neurons. Rebound microcircuits were defined by a focal point of initiation that spread to an annular ring that oscillated between inhibition and excitation. We propose that much of the computing power of the IC is derived from local circuits, some of which are cell-type specific. These circuits organize activity within and across frequency laminae, and are critical in determining the stimulus-selectivity of auditory coding.
An Eight Marker Phylogeny of Solanum sect. Micracantha (Solanaceae)

Abstract The 12 species of Solanum sect. Micracantha are part of the large subgenus Leptostemonum or “spiny solanums,” which includes some 350–400 species. Members of the section are found in the Neotropics and are characterized by a combination of characters including a viny, climbing habit using recurved prickles, unbranched inflorescences, deeply divided corollas, and glabrous fruits. Broad-scale phylogenetic relationships within the spiny solanums have been the subject of several recent studies, but many of the individual groups, including sect. Micracantha, have received little attention. In this study we infer relationships within sect. Micracantha and its placement within the spiny solanums using DNA sequence data from three chloroplast markers, trnT-F, rpl32-trnL, and ndhF-rpl32 and five nuclear markers, ITS, waxy, and three COSII markers: At1g44760 (COS4b), At1g50020 (COS5c), and At2g15890 (COS5). Results support the monophyly of sect. Micracantha (the Micracantha clade) and its sister relationsh...
JAKs and STATs as Biomarkers of Disease

The assessment of protein expression as a mechanism to define the stage of a disease or to predict disease outcome is a common goal of many studies. Investigators often hope that assessment of the level of expression of a given protein will show activation of a given pathway and thus suggest that activation of that pathway is intimately associated with disease progression. Although only a handful of tumor biomarkers are routinely used in clinical practice today, that number is growing. New information and new biomarkers raise the possibility of more precise disease classification resulting in more accurate prediction of outcome. Furthermore, new bio-specific therapies are now being developed that specifically interrupt known pathways of tumorigenesis. Thus, for many drugs now in clinical trials, it is important to assess biomarker expression as a mechanism to determine the activation of a given pathway and thus the eligibility of a given patient for the new bio-specific therapy. The JAK and STAT pathways are well described pathways with significant roles in tumorigenesis, as discussed throughout this book. In this chapter, we review the data on the use of expression of JAK and STAT proteins as a mechanism to classify tumors and prognosticate outcome. At the time this chapter is being written, there are no published works with large cohorts of greater than 100 patients examining the predictive value of these proteins in association with a bio-specific therapy. However, several smaller studies have investigated the changes in STAT levels of cultured tumor specimens or in patient samples before and after treatment with Interferon-α (IFN-α), a therapeutic agent used for several types of human malignancies.
Ibudilast attenuates subjective effects of methamphetamine in a placebo-controlled inpatient study.

Despite numerous clinical trials no efficacious medications for methamphetamine (MA) have been identified. Neuroinflammation, which has a role in MA-related reward and neurodegeneration, is a novel MA pharmacotherapy target. Ibudilast inhibits activation of microglia and pro-inflammatory cytokines and has reduced MA self-administration in preclinical research. This study examined whether ibudilast would reduce subjective effects of MA in humans.Adult, non-treatment seeking, MA-dependent volunteers (N=11) received oral placebo, moderate ibudilast (40 mg), and high-dose ibudilast (100mg) via twice-daily dosing for 7 days each in an inpatient setting. Following infusions of saline, MA 15 mg, and MA 30 mg participants rated 12 subjective drug effects on a visual analog scale (VAS).As demonstrated by statistically-significant ibudilast × MA condition interactions (p<.05), ibudilast reduced several MA-related subjective effects including High, Effect (i.e., any drug effect), Good, Stimulated and Like. The ibudilast-related reductions were most pronounced in the MA 30 mg infusions, with ibudilast 100mg significantly reducing Effect (97.5% CI [-12.54, -2.27]), High (97.5% CI [-12.01, -1.65]), and Good (97.5% CI [-11.20, -0.21]), compared to placebo.Ibudilast appeared to reduce reward-related subjective effects of MA in this early-stage study, possibly due to altering the processes of neuroinflammation involved in MA reward. Given this novel mechanism of action and the absence of an efficacious medication for MA dependence, ibudilast warrants further study to evaluate its clinical efficacy.
Bringing Psychological Safety to the Field of Human Development: An Introduction

Human development is characterized by individual agency to create change, to a greater or lesser extent depending on contextual circumstances. This special issue focuses on psychological safety as a construct that may help developmentalists understand the way that individual and contextual factors come together to limit or support agency to shape one’s development. This introduction to the issue on psychological safety frames this construct and the included articles through the lens of relational developmental systems theory. Specifically, authors explore psychological safety as a construct at the intersection of individual context. They use multiple methods and draw across disciplines to explore psychological safety in adolescence, during the transition to parenthood, in the workplace, and at the organizational level. Overall, findings suggest that additional research and practical focus on psychological safety may increase the likelihood that individuals may enact their agency to engage in opportunities...
Effects of Digoxin Immune Fab (ovine) on Digoxin Immunoassays

Digoxin immune Fab (ovine) (Digibind®) is a preparation of Fab fragments of antidigoxin antibodies that is used as an antidote for severe digitalis toxicity. To assess the effects of its presence on digoxin immunoassays, specimens were prepared that simulated typical samples from treated patients and were distributed to a number of laboratories for analysis as unknowns. The antidote interfered to a varying extent with all assays reported. The results suggest that most competitive immunoassays will yield results that bear little relation to concentrations of total digoxin or free digoxin ( i.e ., digoxin not bound to the antidote). The aca®, Dimension®, and CEDIA® sequential immunoassays moderately overestimated the free digoxin concentration. Free digoxin levels appeared to be only slightly overestimated by the Aria®, Stratus®, and Syva® assays. The TDx Digoxin II® assay yielded slight to moderate underestimates of the total di-goxin concentration.
Foliar Nematodes: A Summary of Biology and Control with a Compilation of Host Range

Abstract Foliar nematodes (Aphelenchoides fragariae, A. ritzemabosi, and A. besseyi) are pathogens of ornamental crops in greenhouse and nursery production, and may infect some field crops as well....
Computerized Information Systems in Personnel—A Comparative Analysis of the State of the Art in Government and Business

The article presents a comparative analysis of the use of computer to process personnel work in the private sector and the government sector in the U.S., as of 1974. Using data from 87 organization...
Migration of heavy metals from recycled polyethylene terephthalate during storage and microwave heating

Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry are pushing for increased use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate. Packaging materials made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate are used for direct food contact in recycled rigid containers and films. Most recycled polyethylene terephthalate packaging materials contain heavy metal catalysts, the most common being antimony. The recycling process has the potential to increase degradation products, chemical additives and polymerization side-products. Recent studies using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry confirmed the presence of cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel and antimony in food packaging. These heavy metals have the potential to migrate onto and into food products, and limited governmental regulation of these contaminants in recycled polyethylene terephthalate packaging materials increases public health risks. In this study, 22 samples of known heavy metal content were t...
The effect of chirality and steric hindrance on intrinsic backbone conformational propensities: tools for protein design

The conformational propensities of amino acids are an amalgamation of sequence effects, environmental effects and underlying intrinsic behavior. Many have attempted to investigate neighboring residue effects to aid in our understanding of protein folding and improve structure prediction efforts, especially with respect to difficult to characterize states, such as disordered or unfolded states. Host-guest peptide series are a useful tool in examining the propensities of the amino acids free from the surrounding protein structure. Here, we compare the distributions of the backbone dihedral angles (φ/ψ) of the 20 proteogenic amino acids in two different sequence contexts using the AAXAA and GGXGG host-guest pentapeptide series. We further examine their intrinsic behaviors across three environmental contexts: water at 298 K, water at 498 K, and 8 M urea at 298 K. The GGXGG systems provide the intrinsic amino acid propensities devoid of any conformational context. The alanine residues in the AAXAA series enforce backbone chirality, thereby providing a model of the intrinsic behavior of amino acids in a protein chain. Our results show modest differences in φ/ψ distributions due to the steric constraints of the Ala side chains, the magnitudes of which are dependent on the denaturing conditions. One of the strongest factors modulating φ/ψ distributions was the protonation of titratable side chains, and the largest differences observed were in the amino acid propensities for the rarely sampled αL region.
Positional Identity as a Framework to Studying Science Teacher Identity

During the academic year 2008–2009 in the United States, a total of 724,173 students were enrolled in teacher preparation programs, with 89% enrolled in traditional teacher preparation programs; 6% in alternative teacher preparation programs based at Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs); and 5% in alternative teacher preparation programs not based at IHEs (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). Among all full-time graduate students of education, the enrollments were 53% White, 9% Black, and 5% Hispanic; and for part-time graduate students of education, the enrollments were 63% White, 11% Black, and 5% Hispanic (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education [AACTE], 2010).
UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF WATER BY INVESTIGATING THE HISTORY OF WORLD'S FAIRS: AN ALERT FOR NEEDED RESEARCH

Human society is more complex than ever before. The demands for fresh water resources are greater than any time in history. As humans engage in a period of history focused on the availability and quality of fresh water (the age of water) the need has never been greater to reexamine human history with water to educate and improve future management of the resource. Water has always been a central and integrative theme of human culture and indicator of technological advancement. Contemporary management all too often reflects a culture of belief that water is available in nearly unlimited supplies. However, that culture is changing with population growth, agricultural expansion, urbanization and changes in historic weather patterns. History provides the greatest illustrations of human culture and much can be learned through untapped reference collections such as world's fairs. Such collections can supply a glimpse in to the realities (a snapshot) of the time and thus provide an unrivalled historic reference. History shows that while cultural philosophies may not have markedly changed, extraction and use of fresh water certainly has. Water has always been a central and integrative theme of world's fairs and Expositions, which now provide reconstructions of water use and philosophy of the past and thus guidance for the future. World's fairs collections (and other such resources) can provide the needed platform to transform human water culture towards a future of security and sustainability.
A family of fourth-order entropy stable nonoscillatory spectral collocation schemes for the 1-D Navier-Stokes equations

High-order numerical methods that satisfy a discrete analog of the entropy inequality are uncommon. Indeed, no proofs of nonlinear entropy stability currently exist for high-order weighted essentially nonoscillatory (WENO) finite volume or weak-form finite element methods. Herein, a new family of fourth-order WENO spectral collocation schemes is developed, that are nonlinearly entropy stable for the one-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Individual spectral elements are coupled using penalty type interface conditions. The resulting entropy stable WENO spectral collocation scheme achieves design order accuracy, maintains the WENO stencil biasing properties across element interfaces, and satisfies the summation-by-parts (SBP) operator convention, thereby ensuring nonlinear entropy stability in a diagonal norm. Numerical results demonstrating accuracy and nonoscillatory properties of the new scheme are presented for the one-dimensional Euler and Navier-Stokes equations for both continuous and discontinuous compressible flows.
Sociomateriality as Radical Ontology: Insights for ICTs from the Phenomenology of Sport

The concept of “sociomateriality” challenges assumed distinctions between the human and social, on the one hand, and the material and technological, on the other. Arguments have been made for adopting a radical relational ontology that sees the social and material as dynamically emergent within the context of practice. However, it remains unclear what is truly superior about the sociomaterial approach, in contrast to rich analyses of complex interactions between human actors and artifacts, conventionally conceived. This essay suggests a modest step forward that brings cognition more clearly into the picture. Although those championing the sociomaterial position have good reason to tread carefully around cognition, a conceptualization that embraces the materiality of cognition, itself, can actually provide a more complete grounding for the desired ontological shift, and help point the way toward an improved understanding of such central concerns as competence and resistance.
Update on cell therapy for stroke

Ischaemic stroke remains a leading cause of death and disability. Current stroke treatment options aim to minimise the damage from a pending stroke during the acute stroke period using intravenous thrombolytics and endovascular thrombectomy; however, there are no currently approved treatment options for reversing neurological damage once a stroke is completed. Preclinical studies suggest that cell therapy may be safe and effective in improving functional outcomes. Several recent clinical trials have reported safety and some improvement in outcomes following cell therapy administration in ischaemic stroke, which are reviewed. Cell therapy may provide a promising new treatment for stroke reducing stroke-related disability. Further investigation is needed to determine specific effects of cell therapy and to optimise cell delivery methods, cell dosing, type of cells used, timing of delivery, infarct size and location of infarct that are likely to benefit from cell therapy.
Paralinguistic Analysis of Children’s Speech in Natural Environments

Paralinguistic cues are the non-phonemic aspects of human speech that convey information about the affective state of the speaker. In children’s speech, these events are also important markers for the detection of early developmental disorders. Detecting these events in hours of audio data would be beneficial for clinicians to analyze the social behaviors of children. The chapter focuses on the use of spectral and prosodic baseline acoustic features to classify instances of children’s laughter and fussing/crying while interacting with their caregivers in naturalistic settings. In conjunction with baseline features, long-term intensity-based features, that capture the periodic structure of laughter, enable in detecting instances of laughter to a reasonably high degree of accuracy in a variety of classification tasks.
Effect of Chloride Transients on Crack Growth Rates in Low Alloy Steels in BWR Environments

The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of chloride transients on stress corrosion cracking of pressure vessel low alloy steels. Two heats of reactor pressure vessel steel were evaluated at various chloride concentrations in both NWC and HWC environments. The tests showed that low alloy steels can exhibit a delayed cracking response during a chloride transient. The delayed response is attributed to the concentrating and dilution processes of anionic impurities inside the crack. The crack can maintain its original growth rate for a certain period after the chemistry change. The effects of chloride concentration, stress intensity factor (K) and periodic load cycling on the crack incubation and growth in low alloy steel will be discussed. The results from this work will provide a direct input to development of a crack growth model for low alloy steels, water chemistry guidelines and effects of chloride transients on crack growth.
Patient perceived changes in sexual dysfunction after initiation of natalizumab for multiple sclerosis.

PurposeSexual dysfunction is a common but often overlooked secondary symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS) and can be associated with a decreased health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Natalizumab is...