cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comprehension Strategies of End-User Programmers in an Event-Driven Application

Teachers may engage in end-user programming to support student learning or administrative activities associated with teaching. The objective of this research is to understand strategies used by teachers in program comprehension and to identify specific problems they face. A think-aloud study was conducted of teachers comprehending an event-driven application, consisting of a graphical user interface and the scripts controlling it. We found that end users followed a strongly top-down strategy and breadth-wise exploration of the application. Depth-wise exploration was observed in half the teachers. Teachers varied greatly in their motivations and persistence to dig deeply into the code. Problems of the teachers included difficulties comprehending the event-driven application, given the distributed nature of the code, choosing appropriate inputs for running the program, and reasoning about the results of their test runs
A Real-Time Eye Tracking System for Predicting and Preventing Postcompletion Errors

Procedural errors occur despite the user having the correct knowledge of how to perform a particular task. Previous research has mostly focused on preventing these errors by redesigning tasks to eliminate error prone steps. A different method of preventing errors, specifically postcompletion errors (e.g., forgetting to retrieve the original document from a photocopier), has been proposed by Ratwani, McCurry, and Trafton (2008), which uses theoretically motivated eye movement measures to predict when a user will make an error. The predictive value of the eye-movement-based model was examined and validated on two different tasks using a receiver-operating characteristic analysis. A real-time eye-tracking postcompletion error prediction system was then developed and tested; results demonstrate that the real-time system successfully predicts and prevents postcompletion errors before a user commits the error.
Antigen modulation of the immune response. VI. Rate of large memory cell appearance in lymph nodes and thoracic duct lymph.

Abstract We have studied the rate of appearance of memory B-cell subpopulations in the antigen draining lymph nodes and thoracic duct lymph of rats using 1 g velocity sedimentation and adoptive transfer. Five days after immunization 100% of the memory response was attributable to large cells. By Days 7, 14, 28, and 77 after priming the large cells contribution to the memory population dropped to 86, 35, 15, and 10% respectively. At the same time the small cell contribution rose from 20% on Day 14 to 46% on Days 28 and 77. The same results were obtained with thoracic duct lymphocytes with the large cells contributing 53% of the response on Day 7 and 20% on Day 150. Appropriate controls were included to show that differential suppression was not responsible for these results. Furthermore, when purified large memory cells were passaged through intermediate hosts for 7 to 11 days, between 76 and 81% of the large cells matured into medium or small lymphocytes. These data show that the earliest memory cells formed after antigen encounter are the blast-like large lymphocytes and that these evolve, through a series of antigen-independent events, first into medium and then small lymphocytes. A model of memory cell development incorporating these results and the results of others is presented.
Against Summary Judgment

Summary judgment today is what settlement was twenty-five years ago: an increasingly popular and important form of dispute resolution, widely lauded for its efficiency, that has just begun to capture the full attention of civil procedure scholarship. Despite strong evidence that summary judgment violates the right to jury trial in civil cases guaranteed by the Seventh Amendment, no one is likely to call seriously for the abolition of the practice because all assume we need it. This Article calls that assumption into question, suggesting that summary judgment actually costs us more than it saves and that our civil justice system would be both fairer and more efficient without it. Most cases that now go to summary judgment would settle early rather than go to trial if those were the only two options. By discouraging early settlement, summary judgment imposes large costs because the lion's share of litigation takes place before trial. Moreover, summary judgment creates a systemic pro-defendant bias due to the pressure on judges to move their dockets along by terminating cases rather than letting them proceed to trial.
An efficient scheme for authenticated and secure message delivery in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

In Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs), anonymity of the nodes sending messages should be preserved, while at the same time, the law enforcement agencies should be able to trace the messages to the senders when necessary. It is also necessary that the messages sent are authenticated and delivered to the vehicles in the relevant areas quickly. In this paper, we present an efficient scheme for fast dissemination of authenticated messages in VANETs. It ensures the anonymity of the senders and also provides mechanism for law enforcement agencies to trace the messages to their senders, when necessary.
The Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS): review and current status.

Measures of impairment in psychological and behavioral functioning have a long history in the field of children's mental health, and appear particularly useful in eligibility determination, treatment planning, and outcome evaluation of services for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance (SED). One recently developed multidimensional measure of functional impairment—the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS; K. Hodges, 1989, 1997)—has enjoyed widespread use nationwide. It has been adopted as a tool for making treatment eligibility decisions and documenting outcomes on a statewide level in more than 20 states and on a local level in dozens of research and demonstration projects. In this paper, the technical merits of the CAFAS are closely examined, with the conclusion that empirical evidence is lacking to support its valid use in making the types of treatment decisions for which it is currently being employed across the nation. Furthermore, there appears to be little concern among mental health researchers, practitioners, administrators, and state legislators about these apparent limitations of the CAFAS. The potential benefits of establishing objective and valid level-of-need criteria, using the CAFAS are numerous and the interest in doing so is clear; however, the psychometric limitations of the scale identified in this review need to be addressed before its full potential can be realized.
An efficient regression testing approach for PHP web applications: a controlled experiment

Companies that provide web applications often encounter various security attacks and frequent feature-update demands from users, and when these needs arise, companies need to fix security problems or upgrade the application with new features. These fixes often involve small patches or revisions, but still, testers need to perform regression testing on their products to ensure that the changes have not introduced new faults. Performing regression testing on the entire product, however, can be very expensive, and it is not a viable solution for companies that need a short turnaround time to release patches. One solution is focusing only on the code areas that have been changed and performing regression testing on them. By doing this, companies can provide quick patches more dependably whenever they encounter security breaches. In this paper, the authors proposed a new regression testing approach that identifies the affected areas by code changes using impact analysis and generates new test cases for the impacted areas by changes using program slices. To facilitate the approach, the researchers implemented a Hypertext Preprocessor PHP Analysis and Regression Testing Engine PARTE and performed a controlled experiment using five open source web applications with multiple versions. The results showed that this approach is effective in reducing the cost of regression testing for a frequently patched web application, and exposed ways in which that effectiveness can vary with application characteristics and versioning frequencies. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Cloning vectors, mutagenesis, and gene disruption (ermR) for the erythromycin-producing bacterium Aeromicrobium erythreum

Genetic systems for study of Aeromicrobium erythreum, a gram-positive, G + C-rich (72%) bacterium with the capacity for erythromycin biosynthesis, are described. High-copy-number plasmids suitable as gene cloning vectors include derivatives of the Streptomyces plasmids pIJ101, pVE1, and pJV1. pIJ101 derivatives with missense substitutions at the rep gene BamHI site do not replicate in A. erythreum. Ethyl methanesulfonate treatment generated several amino acid auxotrophs and non-erythromycin-producing (Ery-) strains. Using the Ery- strain AR1807 as a recipient for plasmid-directed integrative recombination, the chromosomal ermR gene (encoding 23S rRNA methyltransferase) was disrupted. Phenotypic characterizations demonstrated that ermR is the sole determinant of macrolide antibiotic resistance in A. erythreum.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid and Other Words Students Avoid Speaking Aloud: Evaluating the Role of Pronunciation on Participation in Secondary School Science Classroom Conversations

i List of Tables iv List of Figures v Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review 7 Vocabulary Knowledge and Student Achievement 7 Vocabulary Knowledge and Student Achievement: Instructional Methods 10 Oral Communication Skills and Scientific Literacy 13 Impediments and Enhancers in Oral Communication 18 Summary 21 Chapter 3: Method 23 Method Overview 23 Participants 25 Treatment 25 Lesson 1: An Introduction to Linguistics and Vocabulary Flashcards. 27 Lesson 2: Read-Alouds. 30 Lesson 3: Science Words and Storytelling. 31 Lesson 4: Terminology with Technology. 31 Lesson 5: Reverse Jeopardy. 32
Adaptation Planning for Active Networks

Active networks and adaptive middleware can improve network service through data adaptation and data rerouting. Automated distribution of adapters is desirable, because choosing proper adapters (from a large set) to handle arbitrary network conditions is complex. The paper presents an automated planning system that helps an active network system choose adapters and their locations. The paper describes the design and implementation of this system and provides performance data on its costs and benefits.
Notes on a New Construction of Hyperkahler Metrics

I briefly review a new construction of hyperkahler metrics on total spaces of complex integrable systems, which we described in joint work with Davide Gaiotto and Greg Moore. The key ingredient in the construction is a collection of integers which govern “quantum corrections” to the metric, and which obey the wall-crossing formula of Kontsevich and Soibelman. The construction is not yet mathematically rigorous; I discuss some of what would be required to make it so.
A task-space formulation of passive force control

The thesis of the paper is that a passive robotic wrist, of fixed mechanical design, can be programmed to execute a wide range of force control laws of potential use in automated assembly. The authors conduct a systematic study to characterize the range of control laws (given by admittance matrices) implementable by passive programmable mechanical devices. The authors electrical network theory results to identify the admittance matrices which are attainable in the joint-space of the wrist. They then project these matrices in the task-space and compare the range of task-space matrices with a known class of matrices in an attempt to quantify the versatility of passive devices. >
Notes on Certain Star-Shift Invariant Subspaces

Our work addresses the question: for which (infinite) Blaschke products B does the star-shift invariant subspace Kb:= H2(D) Θ BH2(D) contain a (non-trivial) function with a non-trivial singular inner factor? In the case that the zeros of B have only finitely many accumulation points w1,w2, …, wn in T, a recent paper shows that, for an affirmative answer, there necessarily exist k, 1 ≤ k ≤ n, and a subsequence of the zeros of B that converges tangentially to wk on “both sides” of wk. One of the results in this article improves upon this theorem. And, currently, the only examples of Blaschke products in the literature that are shown to yield an affirmative answer are those that have a proper factor b that satisfies b(D) ≠ D. We produce many examples here that have no such factor.
Molecular simulations of adsorption of RDX and TATP on IRMOF-1(Be)

The influence of different sorption sites of isoreticular metal-organic frameworks (IRMOFs) on interactions with explosive molecules is investigated. Different connector effects are taken into account by choosing IRMOF-1(Be) (IRMOF-1 with Zn replaced by Be), and two high explosive molecules: 1,3,5-trinitro-s-triazine (RDX) and triacetone triperoxide (TATP). The key interaction features (structural, electronic and energetic) of selected contaminants were analyzed by means of density functional calculations. The interaction of RDX and TATP with different IRMOF-1(Be) fragments is studied. The results show that physisorption is favored and occurs due to hydrogen bonding, which involves the C-H groups of both molecules and the carbonyl oxygen atoms of IRMOF-1(Be). Additional stabilization of RDX and TATP arises from weak electrostatic interactions. Interaction with IRMOF-1(Be) fragments leads to polarization of the target molecules. Of the molecular configurations we have studied, the Be-O-C cluster connected with six benzene linkers (1,4-benzenedicarboxylate, BDC), possesses the highest binding energy for the studied explosives (-16.4 kcal mol-1 for RDX and -12.9 kcal mol-1 for TATP). The main difference was discovered to be in the preferable adsorption site for adsorbates (RDX above the small and TATP placed above the big cage). Based on these results, IRMOF-1 can be suggested as an effective material for storage and also for separation of similar explosives. Hydration destabilizes most of the studied adsorption systems by 1-3 kcal mol-1 but it leads to the same trend in the binding strength as found for the non-hydrated complexes.
Experimental electron density studies of non-steroidal synthetic estrogens: Diethylstilbestrol and dienestrol

Abstract An experimental charge density analysis has been carried out on two synthetic estrogens, diethylstilbestrol (DES) and dienestrol (DNS), to further investigate the alignment and binding of estrogenic compounds to the estrogen receptor, and to also establish a relationship between the biological function and the electronic properties of steroidal and non-steroidal estrogens by analysis of their electron density distribution. X-ray diffraction data for DES and DNS were obtained using a Rigaku R-Axis Rapid high-power rotating anode diffractometer with a curved image plate detector at 20(1) K. The total electron density was modeled using the Hansen–Coppens multipole model. Relatively strong O···H O hydrogen bonds, weak O···H C hydrogen bonds, and a number of intermolecular H···H interactions were characterized from the topological analyses of the total electron density of DES and DNS. Mapping of the electrostatic potential onto the molecular surface revealed negative regions around all the hydroxyl oxygens, above and below the aromatic rings as expected from previous studies. A proposed alignment and binding of DES and DNS to the estrogen receptor is discussed in terms of the atomic charges and electrostatic potential derived from the electron density distribution.
The spliceosome: disorder and dynamics defined.

Among the many macromolecular machines involved in eukaryotic gene expression, the spliceosome remains one of the most challenging for structural biologists. Defining features of this highly complex apparatus are its excessive number of individual parts, many of which have been evolutionarily selected for regions of structural disorder, and the remarkable compositional and conformation dynamics it must undertake to complete each round of splicing. Here we review recent advances in our understanding of spliceosome structural dynamics stemming from bioinformatics, deep sequencing, high throughput methods for determining protein–protein, protein–RNA and RNA–RNA interaction dynamics, single molecule microscopy and more traditional structural analyses. Together, these tools are rapidly changing our structural appreciation of this remarkably dynamic machine.
Left-handedness--a handicap for training in surgery?

Background Left-handedness was historically considered a disability and a social stigma, and teachers would make efforts to suppress it in their students. Little data are available on the impact of left-handedness on surgical training. This report reviews available data on this subject. Methods We did systematic electronic and manual literature searches using a predetermined strategy independently by 2 investigators, 1 left- and 1 right-handed, to identify reports on surgical training and left-handedness. Results The review revealed 19 studies on the subject of left-handedness and surgical training. Data were heterogeneous and based mostly on surveys. Left-handedness produced anxiety in residents and their trainers. There was a lack of mentoring on laterality. Surgical instruments, both conventional and laparoscopic, are not adapted to left-handed use and require ambilaterality training from the resident. There is significant pressure to change hand laterality during training. However, left-handedness might present an advantage in operations involving situs inversus or left lower limb operations. Conclusions Left-handedness is a challenge both for the trainee and the trainer in surgery. Early laterality-related mentoring in medical school and during surgical residency with provision of left-handed instruments might reduce the inconveniences of left-handed surgeons learning.
Endothelial ischemia-reperfusion injury in humans: association with age and habitual exercise

Advancing age is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease. Endothelial dysfunction accompanied by increased oxidative stress and inflammation with aging may predispose older arteries to greater ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Because coronary artery ischemia cannot be induced safely, the effects of age and habitual endurance exercise on endothelial I/R injury have not been determined in humans. Using the brachial artery as a surrogate model of the coronary arteries, endothelial function, assessed by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), was measured before and after 20 min of continuous forearm occlusion in young sedentary (n = 10, 24 ± 2 yr) and middle-aged (n = 9, 48 ± 2 yr) sedentary adults to gain insight into the effects of primary aging on endothelial I/R injury. Young (n = 9, 25 ± 1 yr) and middle-aged endurance-trained (n = 9, 50 ± 2 yr) adults were also studied to determine whether habitual exercise provides protection from I/R injury. Fifteen minutes after ischemic injury, FMD decreased significantly by 37% in young sedentary, 35% in young endurance-trained, 68% in middle-aged sedentary, and 50% in middle-aged endurance-trained subjects. FMD returned to baseline levels within 30 min in young sedentary and endurance-trained subjects but remained depressed in middle-aged sedentary and endurance-trained subjects. Circulating markers of antioxidant capacity and inflammation were not related to FMD. In conclusion, advancing age is associated with a greater magnitude and delayed recovery from endothelial I/R injury in humans. Habitual endurance exercise may provide partial protection to the endothelium against this form of I/R injury with advancing age.
The Design and Synthesis of Hard and Impermeable, Yet Flexible, Conformal Organic Coatings

A new design paradigm for conformal, all-organic coatings that retain their flexibility and chemical functionality while displaying exceptional mechanical hardness and barrier properties is presented. Initiated chemical vapor deposition is used to synthesize a novel alternating copolymer thin film. Upon annealing, films display elastic moduli exceeding 20 GPa, excellent scratch resistance and flexibility, and very low oxygen permeability.
Protein polymer: Gene libraries open up.

By combining gene cloning and amplification techniques, a new one-pot, parallel synthesis method for the generation of long, repetitive genes is realized. The method promises to open up the discovery of protein polymer biomaterials.
The soul and the reading of scripture : a note on Henri De Lubac.

Henri De Lubac's work on multi-sense scriptural reading has become a major resource for Catholic and Protestant theologians seeking a new integration of biblical studies and theology. Rarely, however, is it noticed that De Lubac's account of scriptural interpretation involves a robust notion of the soul and its transformation in the Christian life – and that in linking these themes De Lubac accurately reflects a central theme of pre-modern exegesis. This article thus suggests, first, that defending a notion of soul is important for those seeking to appropriate pre-modern exegesis. The article then argues that such a project is only possible if we move beyond Harnackian notions of early Christianity's ‘hellenisation’ and see the soul as a theological doctrine. The soul is the fundamental locus of a transformation in which Christians act in and through the Spirit as members of the body of Christ. Once the status of the soul is acknowledged, we are then best able to follow De Lubac's call for the reintegration of moral-practical aspects of Christianity and the discipline of theology. The article finally argues that Christian accounts of scriptural interpretation should find their core in an understanding of scripture as a graced resource for the formation of Christians, and that these accounts should be ever attentive to the place of scripture within the drama of salvation.
Reflections on private market economy and social market economy

Although markets prevail throughout the world, there are significant differences in the economic, social, political as well as legal institutions in which these markets function. Many of these variations can be attributed in part to differences in levels of economic development and in part to the differing consensus about the role of corporations and of governments in the various countries. The paper compares the models of private market economy and social market economy. An understanding of the rules underlying private market economy and those governing social market economy is important in the context of of the evoloving new global economic architecture.
Effectiveness of a nationally implemented smoking cessation guideline on provider and patient practices.

Abstract Background The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) smoking cessation guideline outlines a set of recommendations for physicians to follow in daily practice. However, the effectiveness of this guideline has not been reported. The goal of this project was to evaluate the effect of the AHCPR smoking cessation guideline on provider practices with smokers and on patient smoking rates. Methods Patient survey and chart review data from 138 Veterans Administration (VA) acute care medical centers with outpatient facilities were examined. Data were available from both sources in 1996, 1997, and 1998. At the midpoint of this period (1997), the VA recommended the AHCPR smoking cessation clinical practice guideline for implementation throughout the VA healthcare system. Results From 1996 to 1998, both the chart audit and the patient survey showed a significant increase in the percentage of patients in the VA who were counseled about smoking and a significant decrease in the percentage of patients who smoke. Conclusions Because the VA tied the guideline implementation to report cards and other performance-enhancing measures, guideline adherence may have been maximized in this setting. These findings suggest that healthcare systems should take an integrated approach to guideline implementation.
Prenatal Programming of Childhood Overweight and Obesity

Objective: To review the scientific evidence for prenatal programming of childhood overweight and obesity, and discuss its implications for MCH research, practice, and policy.
“I've got some points I'd like to make here”: The achievement of social face through turn management during the 1992 vice presidential debate

Politicians are increasingly participating in interactions, readily available to their constituents on the mass media, that entail managing potentially confrontational conversations with others. In fact, the 1992 vice presidential debate featured a format that forced the candidates to confront each other directly during open discussion periods. This article explores how the candidates resolved the rhetorical and interactional problem inherent to the format—gaining the floor as well as presenting their desired social face. This discourse analysis of the candidates’ interactions during the debate reveals that metacommunication and repetition enabled the candidates to obtain and maintain turns at talk during the free‐flowing discussion period. The pursuit of answers to direct questions and the shifting of discussion direction permitted the candidates to control the nature of the discussion. Further, their ability or inability to employ effective interactional resources to manage the debate contributed to the...
Converging choice and service in future commodity optical networks using traffic grooming

The problem of providing an agile, energy-aware, flexible optical network architecture is one of the challenges in optical networking in the coming decade. A key element in this challenge is the balancing of the benefits to customer and provider, and creating an agile system capable of reflecting both provider and customer interests on an ongoing basis as network conditions change. In this paper, we articulate how the traditional optical networking research area of traffic grooming may be combined with recent advances in Internet architecture, specifically a proposed Future Internet architecture called ChoiceNet, and empowered by the recently emerged concept of software defined networking, to make some key contributions to this problem.
Detailed and simplified kinetic models of n-dodecane oxidation: The role of fuel cracking in aliphatic hydrocarbon combustion

Abstract A detailed kinetic model is proposed for the combustion of normal alkanes up to n-dodecane above 850 K. The model was validated against experimental data, including fuel pyrolysis in plug flow and jet-stirred reactors, laminar flame speeds, and ignition delay times behind reflected shock waves, with n-dodecane being the emphasis. Analysis of the computational results reveal that for a wide range of combustion conditions, the kinetics of fuel cracking to form smaller molecular fragments is fast and may be decoupled from the oxidation kinetics of the fragments. Subsequently, a simplified model containing a minimal set of 4 species and 20 reaction steps was developed to predict the fuel pyrolysis rate and product distribution. Combined with the base C1-C4 model, the simplified model predicts fuel pyrolysis rate and product distribution, laminar flame speeds, and ignition delays as close as the detailed reaction model.
Volunteering predicts health among those who value others: Two national studies.

Objective:The purpose of these studies was to examine the role of positive views of other people in predicting stress-buffering effects of volunteering on mortality and psychological distress.Method:In Study 1, stressful life events, volunteering, and hostile cynicism assessed in a baseline Detroit-
Systolic hypertension in children: benign or beware?

Systolic blood pressure (SBP) has become the major criterion for the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of hypertension in adults, based on the epidemiology and pathophysiology of adult hypertension, linkage between SBP levels and disease, and benefits of treatment of isolated SBP hypertension. Although children do not typically suffer overt hypertensive disease, an accumulation of data suggests that SBP elevation is as important a factor in the morbidity of hypertension in children as in adults. SBP hypertension is more common in children, whether examining an unselected sample of patients by routine screening or a selected sample of referred hypertensive patients. Mild-to-moderate BP elevation in children is associated with increased left ventricular mass (LVM), with SBP more closely linked to LV morphology than diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Furthermore, SBP is associated with increased LVM even in patients with SBP within the ”normal” range. Among hypertensive children, the reported prevalence of LVH ranges from 30% to 70%, and LV hypertrophy is more closely related to SBP than to DBP. These data suggest that treatment of hypertension should be directed at normalization of SBP, even when DBP is within the normal range. In addition, trials of anti-hypertensive medications in children should incorporate SBP hypertension into study inclusion criteria.
Transport through a strongly interacting electron system: Theory of periodic conductance oscillations.

The conductance through a quantum dot is calculated via an Anderson model of a site weakly coupled to ideal leads with an on-site Coulomb interaction. As the chemical potential is varied, peaks occur periodically in the conductance whenever an electron is added to the site. The participation of multiple electronic levels in each conductance peak explains the anomalous temperature dependence of peak heights observed in recent narrow-channel experiments
An analysis of ridge axis gravity roughness and spreading rate

Fast and slow spreading ridges have radically different morphologic and gravimetric characteristics. In this study, altimeter measurements from the Geosat Exact Repeat Mission are used to investigate spreading rate dependence of the ridge axis gravity field. Gravity roughness provides an estimate of the amplitude of the gravity anomaly and is robust to small errors in the location of the ridge axis. Gravity roughness as a weighted root mean square of the vertical deflection at 438 ridge crossings on the mid-ocean ridge system is computed. Ridge axis gravity anomalies show a decrease in amplitude with increasing spreading rate up to an intermediate rate of about 60-80 mm/yr and almost no change at higher rates; overall the roughness decreases by a factor of 10 between the lowest and highest rates. In addition to the amplitude decrease, the range of roughness values observed at a given spreading rate shows a similar order of magnitude decrease with transition between 60 and 80 mm/yr. The transition of ridge axis gravity is most apparent at three relatively unexplored locations on the Southeast Indian Ridge and the Pacific-Antarctic Rise; on these intermediate rate ridges the transition occurs abruptly across transform faults.
AUTOMATED TREATMENT PLANNING ENGINE FOR PROSTATE SEED IMPLANT BRACHYTHERAPY

Abstract Purpose: To develop a computer-intelligent planning engine for automated treatment planning and optimization of ultrasound- and template-guided prostate seed implants. Methods and Materials: The genetic algorithm was modified to reflect the 2D nature of the implantation template. A multi-objective decision scheme was used to rank competing solutions, taking into account dose uniformity and conformity to the planning target volume (PTV), dose-sparing of the urethra and the rectum, and the sensitivity of the resulting dosimetry to seed misplacement. Optimized treatment plans were evaluated using selected dosimetric quantifiers, dose–volume histogram (DVH), and sensitivity analysis based on simulated seed placement errors. These dosimetric planning components were integrated into the Prostate Implant Planning Engine for Radiotherapy (PIPER). Results: PIPER has been used to produce a variety of plans for prostate seed implants. In general, maximization of the minimum peripheral dose (mPD) for given implanted total source strength tended to produce peripherally weighted seed patterns. Minimization of the urethral dose further reduced the loading in the central region of the PTV. Isodose conformity to the PTV was achieved when the set of objectives did not reflect seed positioning uncertainties; the corresponding optimal plan generally required fewer seeds and higher source strength per seed compared to the manual planning experience. When seed placement uncertainties were introduced into the set of treatment planning objectives, the optimal plan tended to reach a compromise between the preplanned outcome and the likelihood of retaining the preferred outcome after implantation. The reduction in the volatility of such seed configurations optimized under uncertainty was verified by sensitivity studies. Conclusion: An automated treatment planning engine incorporating real-time sensitivity analysis was found to be a useful tool in dosimetric planning for prostate brachytherapy.
Family Structure Effects on Maternal and Paternal Parenting in Low-Income Families.

Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Survey, a birth cohort study, this study analyzes the effect of family structure on parenting for 3,402 mothers and 2,615 fathers. To address the problem of omitted variable bias, fixed effects methods are used to control for the presence of time-invariant unobserved characteristics that may counfound estimates. Marriage by itself did not influence the parenting of mothers or fathers, and there was little effect of family structure on maternal parenting. The presence of a romantic partner was important, as fathers who repartner had lower engagement scores and mothers reported cohabiting stepfathers to be more involved in the family’s life as compared to married biological fathers.
Persuasion Processes Across Receiver Goals and Message Genres

In persuasion and message effects research, involvement is simultaneously one of the most theoretically and empirically useful concepts, and among the most problematic. Involvement is typically invoked to characterize audience members' relationship to the content of a message as well as to explain how that relationship influences their processing of that message, thereby determining message effects. The problem of audience members' relationship to message content and its processing consequences is here recast in terms of the active audience. Audience members are assumed to be goal-directed in exposing themselves to and in processing messages. Six typical goals and associated message-processing strategies —patterns of response to various elements of message presentation and content, source attributes, and persuasive intent—are described, and their implications for predicting message effects and persuasion outcomes are illustrated. The utility of this approach for integrating audience-centered perspectives with empirical persuasion and message effects research and for integrating persuasion research with other message and media effects research contexts is discussed.
Magnetostatics and coupled structural finite element analysis

Abstract This presentation overviews our electromagnetic finite element analysis capabilities and considers primarily the use of an electromagnetic analysis system (EMAS) integrated with ADINA in designing micromachines. Numerical methods for magnetic force calculation are summarized and the behavior of available finite elements is examined. The convergent force result is obtainable with special attention to the mesh refinement in order to use the least computational resources. A numerical procedure for magnetic body force calculation is suggested for magnetizable material which may also carry electric current.
Bronchiolitis Obliterans in Recipients of Single, Double, and Heart-Lung Transplantation

Thirty-two recipients of single, double, or heart-lung transplantation followed-up for at least 3 months posttransplant were retrospectively reviewed to assess the frequency, predictors, and risk factors associated with the development of bronchiolitis obliterans (BO). A clinical definition for the diagnosis of BO was made using the following criteria: persistent and progressive decline in FEF25–75, associated with normal results of cytologic and microbiologic studies for significant pathogens in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, with a normal chest radiograph. This was correlated with histologic diagnosis and patient outcome. Sixteen (50%) of the patients developed BO, and this was associated with a 56% mortality. All but 1 patient with histologic BO had a clinical diagnosis of BO made (often months) prior to diagnostic biopsy. No patients with normal histologic findings had a clinical diagnosis of BO. More than 3 episodes of histologically documented acute rejections in any 12-month period were eventually associated with a 100% incidence of BO. Cytomegalovirus occurred with greater frequency in patients with BO, and in most cases, preceded or occurred concomitantly with the diagnosis of acute rejection or BO.
BRCA1 splice variants exhibit overlapping and distinct transcriptional transactivation activities

The global changes in gene expression induced by transient increased expression of full length BRCA1 as well as the spliced variant BRCA1S were evaluated by cDNA expression array in a human non-tumorigenic mammary epithelial cell line, MCF10A. Over 30 genes were identified that displayed an altered expression pattern in response to the expression of BRCA1 splice variants. The expression of NFκB inducing kinase was markedly down-regulated in BRCA1L transfected cells. However, a NFκB-responsive promoter construct yielded increased basal activity in BRCA1L transfected cells, as well as following treatment with tumor necrosis factor-α or lymphotoxin. In addition, nuclear extracts from BRCA1L transfected cells displayed increased DNA binding to the κB consensus site. The transcriptional activity of a panel of promoter constructs was evaluated following expression of wild type or mutant BRCA1. Full length BRCA1 transactivated the estrogen receptor-α (ERα) and BCL2 promoters as well as AP-1, SRE, and CRE containing promoters. Transactivation activity of the exon 11-deleted BRCA1S was more limited and usually of lower magnitude. The ability of a pathogenic mutation, 5382insC, to abrogate the transcriptional transactivation by BRCA1L and BRCA1S was also investigated. Mutant BRCA1 retained wild type levels of transcriptional activity for the ERα promoter as well as for the NFκB, AP-1, and CRE-responsive promoters but had reduced or no activity with the BCL2 and SRE promoters. These results show that BRCA1 isoforms have both overlapping and distinct transcriptional transactivation activity, and that a mutant form of BRCA1 implicated in carcinogenesis is not devoid of all activity. J. Cell. Biochem. 89: 120–132, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Effect of chronic exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin on sister chromatid exchange levels in peripheral lymphocytes of the Rhesus monkey

Frequencies of sister chromatid exchanges and chromosomal aberrations were examined in peripheral lymphocytes of Rhesus monkeys which had been fed a diet containing 25 parts per trillion 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzop-dioxin for a period of 4 years. When compared to non-exposed control animals, no significant differences were noted for either of these cytogenetic endpoints. In addition; there was not a significant difference in sister chromatid exchange response to a challenge dose of mitomycin C in cells from 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzop-dioxin exposed animals compared to controls. Our results confirm the lack of genotoxic effects associated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzop-dioxin exposure.
Deliberative Democracy and Inequality: Two Cheers for Enclave Deliberation among the Disempowered:

Deliberative democracy grounds its legitimacy largely in the ability of speakers to participate on equal terms. Yet theorists and practitioners have struggled with how to establish deliberative equ...
Achievement of rate-distortion bound over additive white noise channel utilizing a noiseless feedback channel

A linear system utilizing a noiseless feedback channel is shown to achieve the rate-distortion bound on performance. The result follows from the previous study of linearized phase-locked loop models.
Truncated wild-type SOD1 and FALS-linked mutant SOD1 cause neural cell death in the chick embryo spinal cord

Approximately 10% of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cases are familial (FALS), and ∼25% of FALS cases are caused by mutations in superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1). Mutant (MT) SOD1 kills motor neurons because of the mutant protein's toxicity; however, the basis for toxicity is unknown. We electroporated wild-type (WT), truncated WT or MTSOD1 expression constructs into the chick embryo spinal cord. MTSOD1 and truncated WTSOD1 (as small as 36 amino acid residues in length) aggregated in the cytoplasm of cells and caused cell death. These results suggest that MTSOD1 and truncated WTSOD1 lead to neural cell death because of misfolding, and that SOD1 peptides, possibly as a result of proteolytic digestion of MTSOD, play a role in FALS pathogenesis. Electroporation of the chick embryo spinal cord is a useful system in which to investigate neurodegenerative diseases because it provides efficient delivery of genes into neural cells in situ within a living organism.
Similarity and differentiation between bacteria associated with skin of salamanders (Plethodon jordani) and free-living assemblages

All animals and plants have intimate associations with microbes. Opinion has shifted from viewing microbes primarily as pathogens to the idea that healthy animals and plants carry specialized communities of coevolving microorganisms. However, the generality of this proposition is unknown because surveys rarely compare host-associated microbes with samples from relevant microhabitats. Symbiotic communities might be assembled from local environments with little evolutionary specialization. We evaluated the specificity of bacteria associated with salamander skin in comparison with surfaces in their immediate environments using 16S rRNA sequences. Host-associated and free-living samples were significantly different. However, relative abundances were strongly correlated; the most abundant taxa on salamander skin were also most abundant on moist debris on the forest floor. Thus, although bacterial assemblages on salamander skin are statistically differentiated from those on inanimate surfaces, they are not entirely ‘distinct’. Candidate salamander specialists were few in number and occurred at low relative abundances. Within some OTUs, differences in allele frequency suggested genetic specialization at finer levels. Although host-associated and free-living assemblages were similar, a range of more or less specialized symbiotes was evident and bacteria on salamander skin were often specific genotypes of OTUs commonly found on other moist surfaces in the environment.
Confucian Capitalism?: Corporate Values in Republican Banking

Modern Chinese banking of the Republican period represents a stage in the evolution of large-scale economic enterprise in China. Although many of these modern banks were small, some-like the Bank of China and the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank-had branches throughout the country. Their scale of operations required a bureaucratic organization unknown to traditional Chinese banks and business enterprises, which had continued to rely primarily on personal ties in branch management (Chan, 1982; McElderry, 1976: 45-53). They likewise differed from traditional Chinese bureaucratic models. Unlike the civil service and political bureaucracies in general, these economic bureaucracies had to make a profit. They could not afford a "yamen" attitude among their employees, a characteristic of government-supervised, merchant-managed (guandu shangban) enterprises as well as of the civil service (Feuerwerker, 1958: 23). Because of the size of the operations, however, a bank leader could not supervise and motivate each branch manager, much less each employee. Positive participation rather than mere compliance with the rules was necessary. Such participation required a close identification of the individual with the enterprise (Silin, 1976: 81). The founders and managers of modern banks not only faced the problem of recruiting qualified people and training them in new methods, but they also had to find ways to ensure their investment in the employee's training. They needed to develop loyalty to a large, impersonal corporation and encourage a level
946-104 The Evolving Utility of Intracoronary Ultrasound

Although the use of intracoronary ultrasound (ICUS) imaging before and/or after the specific intervention has been reported by many investigators, its utility for altering interventional decision making has not been fully assessed. Methods Eighty four successive cases of ICUS were divided into 2 time periods and studied as to how frequently the ICUS affected the coronary interventional strategy. A 3.5 F, 30 MHz (Boston Scientific) catheter with a HP Intravascular Imaging System was used. An ICUS image that led to a decision not provided by angiographic finding was considered as having changed interventional strategy. Results Frequency of interventional decision making based on ICUS significantly increased from 48.5% in early series (2/93–10/93) to 84.3% in recent series (11/93–8/94) (p = 00006). ICUS imagings were considered significantly more useful for decision making in stent cases (85.7%) and in directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) or excimer laser coronary angioplasty (ELCA) cases (81.3%) than in PTCA cases (51.5%) (p = 0.0023). Between the 2 periods, there were changes in the indications for ICUS. Post-stenting imaging significantly increased from 15.2% (5/33) to 41.2% (21/51) (p = 0.0154), and post-PTCA imaging significantly decreased from 60.6% (20/33) to 27.5% (14/51) (p = 0.0033). Peri-ELCA or peri-DCA imaging increased from 12.1% (4/33) to 32.4% (16/511 and the imaging of angiographically ambiguous lesions including ostial segments increased from 24.2% (8/33) to 41.1% (22/51) (p = 0.0011). Conclusion The frequency of decision making based on ICUS findings has increased dramatically in association with a pre-selection of patients having stents, DCA or ELCA, and angiographically ambiguous lesions, indicating that ICUS imaging has changed from being predominantly an investigative tool to a method for supporting clinical decision making.