cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Itch inhibits IL-17-mediated colon inflammation and tumorigenesis by ROR-γt ubiquitination

Dysregulated expression of interleukin 17 (IL-17) in the colonic mucosa is associated with colonic inflammation and cancer. However, the cell-intrinsic molecular mechanisms by which IL-17 expression is regulated remain unclear. We found that deficiency in the ubiquitin ligase Itch led to spontaneous colitis and increased susceptibility to colon cancer. Itch deficiency in the TH17 subset of helper T cells, innate lymphoid cells and γδ T cells resulted in the production of elevated amounts of IL-17 in the colonic mucosa. Mechanistically, Itch bound to the transcription factor ROR-γt and targeted ROR-γt for ubiquitination. Inhibition or genetic inactivation of ROR-γt attenuated IL-17 expression and reduced spontaneous colonic inflammation in Itch(-/-) mice. Thus, we have identified a previously unknown role for Itch in regulating IL-17-mediated colonic inflammation and carcinogenesis.
Activity Theory in Spanish Mixed Classrooms: Exploring Corrective Feedback as an Artifact

This study draws upon activity theory to better understand the implications of corrective feedback (CF) as an artifact on (1) the coconstruction of knowledge and (2) the action-oriented decisions of 10 mixed pairs comprising a foreign language learner (FLL) and a heritage language learner (HLL) of Spanish. To this end, the dyads were divided into two experimental groups (A and B) and collaboratively completed three narrations. On their first drafts, Group A received indirect feedback (codes), while Group B's errors were amended by the instructor; both groups had to conjointly submit a second version of their stories. Participants’ interactions were transcribed and analyzed. The results suggest that indirect CF stimulated a larger number of successful scaffolding instances that promoted knowledge coconstruction and the development of various effective techniques to solve arising linguistic and nonlinguistic issues. Although the HLLs showed themselves to be grammar experts overall, the FLLs in Group A (indirect CF) contributed to resolving virtually as many lexical issues as their counterparts (e.g., HLLs) while also being somewhat involved in the resolution of grammar matters. Thus, collaboration within mixed classes may be beneficial for both linguistic populations, depending on the design of the collaborative task and its focus.
Finding one's best crowd: online learning by exploiting source similarity

We consider an online learning problem (classification or prediction) involving disparate sources of sequentially arriving data, whereby a user over time learns the best set of data sources to use in constructing the classifier by exploiting their similarity. We first show that, when (1) the similarity information among data sources is known, and (2) data from different sources can be acquired without cost, then a judicious selection of data from different sources can effectively enlarge the training sample size compared to using a single data source, thereby improving the rate and performance of learning; this is achieved by bounding the classification error of the resulting classifier. We then relax assumption (1) and characterize the loss in learning performance when the similarity information must also be acquired through repeated sampling. We further relax both (1) and (2) and present a cost-efficient algorithm that identifies a best crowd from a potentially large set of data sources in terms of both classifier performance and data acquisition cost. This problem has various applications, including online prediction systems with time series data of various forms, such as financial markets, advertisement and network measurement.
Proceedings of the 2008 MidSouth Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society (MCBIOS) Conference

MCBIOS 2008 was held February 23–24, 2008 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at the Cox Convention Center in Bricktown. It was the best attended in the series of MCBIOS conferences (140 registrants) with the most participation (68 posters submitted). Informative and engaging keynote talks were delivered by Dr. Bruce Roe and Dr. Edward Dougherty. The full agenda is online at http://www.okbios.org. Student poster award winners were: Vinay Ravindrakumar of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (1st place), Quan Shi of Little Rock Central High School (2nd) and Brian Roux of the University of New Orleans (UNO) (3rd), with honorary mentions going to Murat Eren of UNO and Prashanti Manda of Mississippi State University (MSU). Student talk winners were: Daniel Quest of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (1st place), Nan Wang of MSU (2nd), and William Sanders of MSU (3rd).
STRUCTURE OF HYDRIDES IN HIGHLY HYDROGENATED Ti-6Al-4V ALLOYS

The microstructure and various hydrides precipitated in Ti--6Al--4V alloys con- taining hydrogen 0.16, 0.58, 0.87, 1.49 wt--%, respectively, have been studied by means of TEM and X--ray diffraction. The Ti_3Al phase may precipitate when [H] over 0.58 wt--%. In the same time, the morphology of hydrides gradually changed from rugged sheets to narrow laths as [H] contents increased. The microstructure of highly H--doped alloys is obviously fine. A mas- sive hydride and the hydride with tetragonal lattice were observed in the specimen containing 1.49 wt--% H. The twin hydrides were found in the alloys with different H contents and the electron diffraction patterns of the twin hydrides can be served as a simple criterion for distin- guishing the cubic and tetragonal structures.
The Catholic Mind: Culture, Philosophy, and Responsibility in Higher Education

This article argues that any quest to establish or strengthen Catholic identity in educational institutions is ultimately a question of philosophical foundations. The author discusses the importance and fragility of culture as it applies to Catholic though and analyzes the philosophical components necessary for sustaining a dominant cultural ethos. This article concludes with a tentative formulation of four responsibilities of professors in Catholic institutions of higher learning.
Technology at Home: Implications for Children with Disabilities:

Given the prominence technology holds in today's schools and society, it seems crucial to explore its use and function in home environments for students with disabilities, particularly when considering everyday technology such as “smart” toys, computers, and communication devices. Unfortunately, little research or literature has been devoted to this issue. This paper reviews the literature on smart toys for children in general, and extrapolates what we have learned from smart toys and computer use in the home to children with disabilities. It suggests future directions for research, and proposes that the field of technology in the home for children with disabilities is wide open and clearly in need of study.
Disaster response aided by tweet classification with a domain adaptation approach

Social media platforms such as Twitter provide valuable information for aiding disaster response during emergency events. Machine learning could be used to identify such information. However, supervised learning algorithms rely on labelled data, which is not readily available for an emerging target disaster. While labelled data might be available for a prior source disaster, supervised classifiers learned only from the source disaster may not perform well on the target disaster, as each event has unique characteristics (e.g., type, location, and culture) and may cause different social media responses. To address this limitation, we propose to use a domain adaptation approach, which learns classifiers from unlabelled target data, in addition to source labelled data. Our approach uses the Naive Bayes classifier, together with an iterative Self-Training strategy. Experimental results on the task of identifying tweets relevant to a disaster of interest show that the domain adaptation classifiers are better as compared to the supervised classifiers learned only from labelled source data.
Percutaneous gastric remnant gastrostomy following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery: a single tertiary center's 13-year experience

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the indications, techniques, and outcomes for percutaneous gastrostomy placement in the gastric remnant following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) in bariatric patients. Retrospective chart review and summary statistical analysis was performed on all RYGB patients that underwent attempted percutaneous remnant gastrostomy placement at our institution between April 2003 and November 2016. A total of 38 patients post-RYGB who underwent gastric remnant gastrostomy placement were identified, 32 women and 6 men, in which a total of 41 procedures were attempted. Technical success was achieved in 39 of the 41 cases (95%). Indications for the procedure were delayed gastric remnant emptying/biliopancreatic limb obstruction (n = 8), malnutrition related to RYGB (n = 17), nutritional support for conditions unrelated to RYGB (n = 15), and access for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP, n = 1). Insufflation of the gastric remnant was performed via a clear window (n = 35), transhepatic (n = 5), and transjejunal (n = 1) routes. Five complications were encountered. The four major complications (9.8%) included early tube dislodgement with peritonitis, early tube dislodgement requiring repeat intervention, intractable pain, and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. A single minor complication occurred (2.4%), cellulitis. Patients with a history of RYGB present a technical challenge for excluded gastric remnant gastrostomy placement. As the RYGB population increases and ages, obtaining and maintaining access to the gastric remnant is likely to become an important part of interventional radiology’s role in the management of the bariatric patient.
A Balancing Act: PGRPs Preserve and Protect

How does the immune system maintain a balance between preserving a beneficial microbiome and protecting against pathogens while also inducing effective, yet not damaging, responses? In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Charroux et al. (2018) reveal that, in Drosophila, this task is performed by three isoforms of PGRP-LB, a peptidoglycan-hydrolyzing amidase.
Vicryl intestinal anastomosis. Analysis of 327 cases.

Reported are 305 patients undergoing 327 intestinal anastomoses with polyglactin 910 (Vicryl®, Ethicon) suture. The technique of one-layer interrupted absorbable suture anastomosis is discussed. A leak rate of 0.6 percent is recorded and indicates this method is acceptable.
Effects of selection of data on estimates of breeding values by three methods for litter size, backfat, and average daily gain in swine

Estimated breeding value was calculated based on individual phenotype (SP), an index of individual phenotype and full- and half-sib family averages (SI), or Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP). Traits considered were litter size (LS), backfat (BF), and ADG. Estimated breeding values were calculated using all data and after deletion of the poorest 5, 10, 15, or 20% of the records for BF and ADG, or 4.8, 8, 13, or 21% of the records for LS. When all data were used, expected genetic gain from BLUP was greater than for SP by 22, 7, and 31% and greater than for SI by 10, 4, and 21% for LS, BF, and ADG, respectively. Expected genetic gain was 4, 0, and 3% lower for LS, BF, and ADG, respectively, for selection on breeding values estimated by SI after the poorest 20% of the records were deleted compared with selection on estimates by SI using all the data. Genetic gain using BLUP on data with the poorest 20% of the records deleted was reduced by 5, 2, and 8% for LS, BF, and ADG, respectively, compared with genetic gain using BLUP on all the data. The advantage in genetic gain of BLUP, with 20% of the poorest records deleted, over SP was 15, 5, and 21% for LS, BF, and ADG, respectively. Although BLUP is affected to a greater degree by deletion of records than is SP or SI, selection of swine using BLUP on field data would improve response to selection over the use of SP or SI.
Ischemia-Induced Derangements in the Actin Cytoskeleton: Mechanisms and Functional Significance

Ischemia remains the leading cause of acute renal failure in adults [1, 2]. To fully understand acute renal failure and devise optimal treatment regimens, it is necessary to have knowledge of the mechanisms of cellular injury and their effects on organ function. Therefore, the focus of this chapter will be to present the current understanding of the mechanisms of cellular injury emphasizing the structural, physiological, and biochemical changes that occur in proximal tubule cells as a result of ischemic injury. Special emphasis will be given to the mechanism of actin alterations during ischemia. These changes play a major mechanistic role in the pathophysiology of the decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and ion transport that are the hallmarks of acute renal failure.
A Simple Atomic Force Microscope-Based Method for Quantifying Wear of Sliding Probes

Sliding wear is particularly problematic for micro- and nano-scale devices and applications, and is often studied at the small scale to develop practical and fundamental insights. While many methods exist to measure and quantify the wear of a sliding atomic force microscope (AFM) probe, many of these rely on specialized equipment and/or assumptions from continuum mechanics. Here we present a methodology that enables simple, purely AFM-based measurement of wear, in cases where the AFM probe wears to a flat plateau. The rate of volume removal is recast into a form that depends primarily on the time-varying contact area. This contact area is determined using images of sharp spikes, which are analyzed with a simple thresholding technique, rather than requiring sophisticated computer algorithms or continuum mechanics assumptions. This approach enables the rapid determination of volume lost, rate of material removal, normal stress, and interfacial shear stress at various points throughout the wear experiment. The method is demonstrated using silicon probes sliding on an aluminum oxide substrate. As a validation for the present method, direct imaging in the transmission electron microscope is used to verify the method's parameters and results. Overall, it is envisioned that this purely AFM-based methodology will enable higher-throughput wear experiments and direct hypothesis-based investigation into the science of wear and its dependence on different variables.
Copper potentiates azole antifungal activity in a way that does not involve complex formation

To survive, fungal pathogens must acquire nutrient metals that are restricted by the host while also tolerating mechanisms of metal toxicity that are induced by the host. Given this dual vulnerability, we hypothesized that a pathogen's access to and control of essential yet potentially dangerous metal ions would affect fungal tolerance to antifungal drug stress. Here, we show that Candida albicans becomes sensitized to both Cu limitation and Cu elevation during exposure in liquid culture to the antifungal drug fluconazole, a widely prescribed antifungal agent. Spectroscopic data confirm that while fluconazole forms a complex with Cu(II) in water, interactions of fluconazole with neither Cu(II) nor Cu(I) are observed in the cell culture media used for the cellular assays. This result is further supported by growth assays in deletion strains that lack Cu import machinery. Overall, we establish that increases in Cu levels by as little as 40 nM over basal levels in the growth medium reduce tolerance of C. albicans to fluconazole in a way that does not require formation of a Cu–fluconazole complex. Rather, our data point to a more complex relationship between drug stress and Cu availability that gives rise to metal-mediated outcomes of drug treatment.
Communities of Practice and Incipient Standardization in Middle English Written Culture

The model of the community of practice is a recent theoretical approach in the field of sociolinguistics that is beginning to be applied to historical English language studies. This methodological ...
Feeding frequency for dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus juveniles with automatic feeding system

Salt‐water recirculation systems using automatic feeders are a new frontier for marine aquaculture. The definition of the feed frequency is fundamental for the correct use of automatic feeders. Different feeding frequencies (1, 3, 6, 12 and 18 times a day) using automatic feeders were evaluated in two experiments on the performance of the dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) in salt‐water recirculation system. In the first experiment, three feeding frequencies were evaluated: feeding once a day; three times a day and six times a day. In the second experiment, three feeding frequencies were evaluated: feeding six times a day; 12 times a day and 18 times a day. Waters parameters (temperature, salinity, oxygen level, total ammonia, pH and oxidation‐reduction potential) were maintained at specific ranges for the species. Among all the evaluated frequencies, 12 times a day provided the best productive performance, obtaining superior results for final weight, final biomass, specific growth rate and daily weight gain. For juveniles of the dusky grouper, the ideal feeding frequency is regular feedings every 2 hours, which is impractical to run without the use of automatic feeders.
Severe Thrombocytosis in a Newborn with Subcutaneous Fat Necrosis and Maternal Chorioamnionitis.

Background Subcutaneous fat necrosis (SFN) is a form of transient panniculitis that presents commonly in infants with a history of perinatal insult, particularly hypothermia. It is characterized by subcutaneous nodules and plaques that appear over bony prominences on cheeks, shoulders, buttock, and thighs. SFN is usually associated with various complications including hypercalcemia, thrombocytopenia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hyperglycemia. Case Presentation. We present a unique case of a female infant with a history of maternal chorioamnionitis who presented with SFN at 11 days of life with thrombocytosis. The platelet count decreased during the hospital stay, and thrombocytosis resolved over the course of the next two weeks. She did not have any other hematological or metabolic abnormalities associated with SFN. Conclusion Infants with perinatal stress are at increased risk of developing SFN during the first month of life. Infants with a diagnosis of SFN should be monitored closely for various hematological and metabolic abnormalities that can have serious consequences.
Trends in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among California children.

Objective: To assess trends in consumption of soda, sweetened fruit drinks/sports drinks and any sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) from 2013 to 2016 among all children in California aged 2–5 and 6–11 years and by racial-ethnic group. Design: Serial cross-sectional study using the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). Setting: CHIS is a telephone survey of households in California designed to assess population-level estimates of key health behaviours. Previous research using CHIS documented a decrease in SSB consumption among children in California from 2003 to 2009 coinciding with state-level policy efforts targeting child SSB consumption. Participants: Parents of children in California aged 2–11 years (n 4901 in 2013–2014; n 3606 in 2015–2016) were surveyed about the child’s consumption of soda and sweetened fruit drinks/sports drinks on the day prior. Results: Among 2–5-year-olds, consumption of soda, sweetened fruit drinks/sports drinks and any SSB remained stable. Sweetened fruit drink/sports drink consumption was higher than soda consumption in this age group. Latino 2–5- year-olds were more likely to consume any SSB in both 2013–2014 and 2015–2016 compared with Whites. Among 6–11-year-olds, consumption of soda, sweetened fruit drinks/sports drinks and any SSB also remained stable over time. Latino and African-American 6–11-year-olds were more likely to consume an SSB in 2013–2014 compared with White children. Conclusions: SSB consumption among children in California was unchanged from 2013 to 2016 and racial-ethnic disparities were evident. Increased policy efforts are needed to further reduce SSB consumption, particularly among children of Latino and African-American backgrounds.
The Impact of Discrimination Beyond Sense of Belonging: Predicting College Students’ Confidence in Their Ability to Graduate:

Data from the Healthy Mind Study were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analyses to determine the role of discriminatory experience in students’ confidence in their ability to persist...
Selective Symbolic Type-Guided Checkpointing and Restoration for Autonomous Vehicle Repair

Fault tolerant design can help autonomous vehicle systems address defects, environmental changes and security attacks. Checkpoint and restoration fault tolerance techniques save a copy of an application's state before a problem occurs and restore that state afterwards. However, traditional Checkpoint/Restore techniques still admit high overhead, may carry along tainted data, and rarely operate in tandem with human-written or automated repairs that modify source code or alter data layout. Thus, it can be difficult to apply traditional Checkpoint/Restore techniques to solve the issues of non-environmental defects, security attacks or software bugs. To address such challenges, in this paper, we propose and evaluate a selective checkpoint and restore (SCR) technique that records only critical system state based on types and minimal symbolic annotations to deploy repaired programs. We found that using source-level symbolic information allows an application to be resumed even after its code is modified in our evaluation. We evaluate our approach using a commodity autonomous vehicle system and demonstrate that it admits manual and automated software repairs, does not carry tainted data, and has low overhead.
Identification of Botnet Activity in IoT Network Traffic Using Machine Learning

Today our world benefits from Internet of Things (IoT) technology; however, new security problems arise when these IoT devices are introduced into our homes. Because many of these IoT devices have access to the Internet and they have little to no security, they make our smart homes highly vulnerable to compromise. Some of the threats include IoT botnets and generic confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) attacks. Our research explores botnet detection by experimenting with supervised machine learning and deep-learning classifiers. Further, our approach assesses classifier performance on unbalanced datasets that contain benign data, mixed in with small amounts of malicious data. We demonstrate that the classifiers can separate malicious activity from benign activity within a small IoT network dataset. The classifiers can also separate malicious activity from benign activity in increasingly larger datasets. Our experiments have demonstrated incremental improvement in results for (1) accuracy, (2) probability of detection, and (3) probability of false alarm. The best performance results include 99.9% accuracy, 99.8% probability of detection, and 0% probability of false alarm. This paper also demonstrates how the performance of these classifiers increases, as IoT training datasets become larger and larger.
The impact of electronic health record–integrated patient-generated health data on clinician burnout

Patient-generated health data (PGHD), such as patient-reported outcomes and mobile health data, have been increasingly used to improve health care delivery and outcomes. Integrating PGHD into electronic health records (EHRs) further expands the capacities to monitor patients' health status without requiring office visits or hospitalizations. By reviewing and discussing PGHD with patients remotely, clinicians could address the clinical issues efficiently outside of clinical settings. However, EHR-integrated PGHD may create a burden for clinicians, leading to burnout. This study aims to investigate how interactions with EHR-integrated PGHD may result in clinician burnout. We identify the potential contributing factors to clinician burnout using a modified FITT (Fit between Individuals, Task and Technology) framework. We found that technostress, time pressure, and workflow-related issues need to be addressed to accelerate the integration of PGHD into clinical care. The roles of artificial intelligence, algorithm-based clinical decision support, visualization format, human-computer interaction mechanism, workflow optimization, and financial reimbursement in reducing burnout are highlighted.
A cross sectional study of non-medical use of prescription opioids and suicidal behaviors among adolescents

Non-medical use of prescription opioids (NMUPO), defined as taking an opioid in a manner or dose other than prescribed, taking someone else’s, or for the feelings that it produces, has been reported by 5 to 20% of adolescents, and is associated with a two fold increase in suicidal behaviors among adolescents. Adolescents with long-term health problems (LTHP) have poorer mental health and may seek NMUPO for pain relief that is not obtained through standard care. For this study, we measured the association between NMUPO and suicidal behaviors, and further assessed effect modification by LTHP hypothesizing the association between NMUPO and suicidal behaviors was stronger for adolescents with LTHP. For students with LTHP, 13.5% reported suicide ideation, while 8.0% of students without LTHP reported suicide ideation. For suicide attempt, 4.4% of students with LTHP reported a suicide attempt, while 2.1% of students without LTHP reported a suicide attempt. The proportion of students who reported suicide ideation and attempts increased with higher occasions of NMUPO. Adjusted logistic regression models found increased odds of suicide ideation (OR (95% CI): 1–5 occasions: 2.3 (2.0–2.6); > 6 occasions: 2.7 (2.2–3.8)) and suicide attempts (OR (95% CI): 1–5 occasions: 3.2 (2.7–3.7); > 6 occasions: 4.1 (3.1–5.3)) for students who reported NMUPO. An interaction term for NMUPO and LTHP was then added to the models. Effect modification was not present on the multiplicative scale. On the additive scale, evidence of effect modification was observed: higher risk was indicated for students with LTHP versus no LTHP for both suicide ideation (Predicted risk (95%CI): > 6 occasions NMUPO, LTHP: 0.24 (0.18–0.29); No LTHP: 0.16 (0.13–0.18)) and attempt (Predicted risk (95%CI): 1–5 occasions NMUPO, LTHP: 0.08 (0.07–0.10); No LTHP: 0.05 (0.05–0.06); > 6 occasions NMUPO, LTHP: 0.11 (0.07–0.15); No LTHP: 0.06 (0.05–0.08)). The results affirmed that NMUPO is associated with suicidal behaviors among adolescents. A pattern also emerged of higher risk of suicidal behaviors for those with LTHP who reported NMUPO. Areas of further inquiry should explore chronic medical or pain conditions as possible modifying pathways that could exacerbate the effects of NMUPO on suicidal behaviors specific to an adolescent population.
Accrued Interest and Bond Prices

Some Academics believe that the linear pro-ration of accrued interest transferred from the buyer to the seller when a coupon bond trades between interest payment dates leads to an overstatement of the full value of the bond and imputes a bias into conventional yield to maturity algorithms. This paper provides an analytical resolution to the debate about the correct role of the accrued interest component and demonstrates that current practice reflects the actual cash flows traded between bondholders. In addition, we show that yield to maturity calculations which incorporate linearly pro-rated accrued interest is unbiased.
Globalization of Capital and National Policymaking

Through a combination of economic, political, and technological changes, capital has become increasingly mobile across borders. This globalization of capital markets has created constraints on national policymaking. Fearing the loss capital inflows and the destabilizing effects of capital outflows, governments have incentives to avoid enacting policies that investors dislike. Applied across countries, this creates pressure for governments to compete for capital inflows by progressively reducing regulatory and tax burdens. Ultimately, this could lead to a race to the bottom that ends in complete deregulation. Yet, scholarship shows that while this pressure on governments exists, there has not been complete convergence of policy across countries. Instead, there remains persistent divergence as states do maintain some autonomy across a number of policy choices. This essay explores how recent research explains this interaction between the globalization of capital and national policymaking autonomies. Financial crises in the United States and Europe have challenged our understanding of how systemic risk can and should be managed in a world of mobile capital. Moving forward, scholars must build on the lessons from these crises. Keywords: capital mobility; race to the bottom; macroeconomic policy; regulatory harmonization; globalization
Managing the information flow in visual sensor networks

Sensor networks, or sensor webs, which consist of a large number of interconnected sensing devices, have recently been the subject of extensive research. Typical applications of sensor networks include monitoring of possibly very large, remote and/or inaccessible areas, surveillance, and smart environments, like meeting rooms, buildings, homes, and highways. Our focus is on visual sensor networks, which are networks of cameras equipped with enough processing power to support local image analysis. The paper describes ongoing research at UCSC in visual sensor networks and highlights the research challenges to be addressed. It motivates the need for tight coupling between vision techniques and communication protocols for more effective monitoring/tracking capabilities (by having sensors operate in a coordinated manner), as well as energy- and bandwidth-efficient protocols which prolong the operational life of the sensor network.
Regulation of cell proliferation patterns by homeotic genes during Arabidopsis floral development

The shoot apical meristem of Arabidopsis thaliana consists of three cell layers that proliferate to give rise to the aerial organs of the plant. By labeling cells in each layer using an Ac-based transposable element system, we mapped their contributions to the floral organs, as well as determined the degree of plasticity in this developmental process. We found that each cell layer proliferates to give rise to predictable derivatives: the L1 contributes to the epidermis, the stigma, part of the transmitting tract and the integument of the ovules, while the L2 and L3 contribute, to different degrees, to the mesophyll and other internal tissues. In order to test the roles of the floral homeotic genes in regulating these patterns of cell proliferation, we carried out similar clonal analyses in apetala3-3 and agamous-1 mutant plants. Our results suggest that cell division patterns are regulated differently at different stages of floral development. In early floral stages, the pattern of cell divisions is dependent on position in the floral meristem, and not on future organ identity. Later, during organogenesis, the layer contributions to the organs are controlled by the homeotic genes. We also show that AGAMOUS is required to maintain the layered structure of the meristem prior to organ initiation, as well as having a non-autonomous role in the regulation of the layer contributions to the petals.
Comparisons Between Caucasian Students, Students of Color, and American Indian Students on their Views on Social Work’s Traditional Mission, Career Motivations, and Practice Preferences

Secondary data analysis of a California statewide sample of nearly 7,000 entering MSW students between 1991 and 1999 sought to find out whether MSW students are less motivated by social work’s traditional mission of serving the poor and whether students of color are more motivated than Caucasian students by this mission. Results indicate that (1) MSW students are highly attracted to clinical practice but are simultaneously attracted to traditional, non-clinical domains of social work; and (2) they are least attracted to private practice and psychotherapy relative to other areas of social work. MSW students of color and Caucasian students are also generally more alike than different in professional philosophy; however, students of color, especially American Indians, express views more consistent with social work’s traditional mission.
Social Work Faculty in the Role of Liaison: A Field Study

Abstract An exploratory study of the role of “faculty field liaison” was conducted, utilizing a national survey of 88 MSW degree-granting programs. Respondents were program directors of field practicums. Their perceptions were solicited regarding: (1) criteria for selection, (2) liaison expectations, (3) methods of evaluation, and (4) perceptions of the importance of liaison duties compared to other job responsibilities. Many more liaison responsibilities were identified than were heretofore reported in the literature or other documented research. The study confirmed that the role is more complex and diverse than anticipated. The need for some form of uniform understanding and training of liaisons seems evident.
Improvement of Cottonseed Meal Protein with Supplemental Lysine in Feeds for Channel Catfish

Two studies were conducted to evaluate cottonseed meal (CSM) with and without supplemental lysine as a substitute for soybean meal (SBM) in catfish feeds. One study was conducted in aquaria under controlled environmental conditions with fingerling channel catfish, and the other was conducted with fish raised in 6-m3 net pens suspended in a 1.6-ha earthen pond. In each study, solvent extracted CSM was substituted for SBM on a nitrogen basis. Supplemental lysine was added to the feeds in which CSM replaced 50 and 100% of the SBM because they were estimated to be deficient in available lysine. In the aquarium study, 0, 25, 50, and 100% of the SBM was replaced with CSM. The same feeds used in the aquarium study were used in the net pen study, except that the 25% substitution was not used. Fish raised in aquaria were fed 4% body weight divided into two equal daily feedings, and those raised in net pens were fed to station once daily. Data presented herein demonstrate that channel catfish can effectively utiliz...
Total Synthesis of Epothilones B and D: Stannane Equivalents for β-Keto Ester Dianions

Studies leading to a total synthesis of epothilones B and D are described. The overall synthetic plan was based on late-stage fragment assembly of two segments representing C1−C9 and C10−C21 of the structure. The C1−C9 fragment was prepared by elaboration of commercially available (2R)-3-hydroxy-2-methylpropanoate at both ends of the three-carbon unit. Introduction of carbons 1−4 containing the gem-dimethyl unit was achieved in a convergent manner using a diastereoselective addition of a stannane equivalent of a β-keto ester dianion. An enantioselective addition of such a stannane equivalent for a β-keto ester dianion was also used to fashion one version of the C10−C21 subunit; however, the fragment assembly (using bimolecular esterification followed by ring-closing metathesis) with this subunit failed. Therefore, fragment assembly was achieved using a Wittig reaction; this was followed by macrolactonization to close the macrocycle. The C10−C21 subunit needed for this approach was prepared in an efficient...
A surface crystallography study by dynamical LEED of the (3 × 3)R30° CO structure on the Rh(111) crystal surface

Abstract The atomic positions of the Rh (111) + ( 3 × 3 ) R 30° CO and CO2 surfaces are analyzed by dynamical LEED. The Rh (111) + ( 3 × 3 ) R 30° CO and CO2 systems produce identical I–V curves, confirming the dissociation of CO2 to CO on this surface. The adsorbed CO is found to stand perpendicular to the surface with the carbon end down at an atop site (that is, terminally bonded). The CO overlayer spacings are d RhC = 1.95 ± 0.1 A and d CO = 1.07 ± 0.1 A . This geometry yields a Zanazzi-Jona R-factor of 0.40 and a Pendry R -factor of 0.50.
Three takes on Islamophobia

These books explore new territories in the scholarly debate on Islamophobia. Each offers a slightly different understanding of the term. However, neither offers a definition and typology that can h...
Comparative effectiveness research in urology.

Background Comparative effectiveness research (CER) has come to remain at the forefront of political and scientific debates of health care. The aim of this article is to describe the attributes of CER and implications to the field of urology.
Reactive power planning considering high penetration of wind energy

This paper addresses the optimal placement of reactive power (VAR) sources under the paradigm of a high penetration of wind energy. The reactive power planning (RPP) investment in this particular condition involves a high level of uncertainty due to the characteristics of wind power. The correlation between wind speeds of different wind farms should also be considered when there are multiple wind farms. To properly model wind generation uncertainty, a multi-scenario framework for optimal power flow that considers voltage stability constraints is developed. The objective of RPP is to minimize the total system cost (VAR cost and the expected generation cost). So, the RPP with these conditions optimizes the VAR location and size while minimizing the fuel cost and therefore finding the global optimal RPP results. The approach is based on two sets of variables (TSV) combined with the multi-scenario model. A case study is provided to verify the proposed method.
Metal Organic Framework Micro/Nanopillars of Cu(BTC)·3H₂O and Zn(ADC)·DMSO.

In this work, we report the optical and thermal properties of Cu(BTC)·3H2O (BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid) and Zn(ADC)·DMSO (ADC = 9,10- anthracenedicarboxylic acid, DMSO = dimethyl sulfoxide) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) micro/nanopillars. The morphologies of MOFs on surfaces are most in the form of micro/nanopillars that were vertically oriented on the surface. The size and morphology of the pillars depend on the evaporation time, concentration, solvent, substrate, and starting volume of solutions. The crystal structures of the nanopillars and micropillars are the same, confirmed by powder XRD. Zn(ADC)·DMSO pillars have a strong blue fluorescence. Most of ADC in the pillars are in the form of monomers, which is different from ADC in the solid powder.
Hypersonic Flow Computations on Unstructured Meshes

A method for computing inviscid hypersonic flow over complex configurations using unstructured meshes is presented. The unstructured grid solver uses an edge{based finite{volume formulation. Fluxes are computed using a flux vector splitting scheme that is capable of representing constant enthalpy solutions. Second{order accuracy in smooth flow regions is obtained by linearly reconstructing the solution, and stability near discontinuities is maintained by locally forcing the scheme to reduce to first-order accuracy. The implementation of the algorithm to parallel computers is described. Computations using the proposed method are presented for a sphere-cone configuration at Mach numbers of 5.25 and 10.6, and a complex hypersonic re-entry vehicle at Mach numbers of 4.5 and 9.8. Results are compared to experimental data and computations made with established structured grid methods. The use of the solver as a screening tool for rapid aerodynamic assessment of proposed vehicles is described.
Health Care and Disability NGOs in Croatia: State Relations, Privatization, and Professionalism in an Emerging Field

Although nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in post-socialist countries have been under a microscope since their inception, their relations with the state are only beginning to come into focus and to be the subject of comparative and theoretical assessment. What these relationships mean to different stakeholders, whether they take trajectories similar to those in the West, and how they will be shaped by socialist legacies, are important questions to address before such relations are naturalized as “the way things are.” This paper examines NGO/state relations in the development of health care and disability services in Croatia, a nation newly admitted to membership in the European Union. The paper explores policy and institutional legacies, health care privatization, and relations with health professionals as forces affecting the financing, structure, and experience of relationships between NGOs and the post-socialist state.
Characterization of primary fatty amides produced by lipase-catalyzed amidation of hydroxylated fatty acids

A novel hydroxylated primary fatty amide was produced from lesquerolic acid by direct amidation with ammonia catalyzed by immobilized Pseudozyma (Candida) antarctica lipase B (Novozym 435) in organic solvent. The amides of ricinoleic acid and oleic acid were also produced for comparison. The hydroxy FA were transformed at comparable rates to that of oleic acid. The rate of amide formation was greater for the longerchain lesquerolic acid than for ricinoleic acid. All products exhibited characteristic primary-amide mass spectrum peaks with a base peak at m/z 59 and a strong ion fragment at m/z 72. Other peaks present are consistent with cleavage on either side of the hydroxyl position. The mass spectra, together with 1H and 13C NMR data, suggest that the products of lipase-catalyzed direct amidation of ricinoleic acid and lesquerolic acid are 12-hydroxy-9(Z)-octadecenamide and 14-hydroxy-11(Z)-eicosenamide, respectively.
The Benefits of Reteaching Lessons in Preservice Methods Classes

Teacher educators should examine current practices in teacher education and “understand what makes them wise and what makes them flawed” (Falk, 2006, p. 76). This study investigated possible changes in the pedagogical content knowledge of 26 middle-level preservice teachers after teaching a mathematics lesson twice to two groups of peers. Aspects of this study followed the Japanese lesson study design as peers and veteran educators debriefed after the first teaching of the lesson, and then a final debriefing occurred after the second teaching. A qualitative analysis of the preservice teachers' written lesson reflections and comments in field-based notebooks revealed remarks relating to (a) lesson modification, (b) lesson delivery, (c) multiple feedback, and (d) real-world applications. Implications for common practices in teacher education methods courses are discussed.
Autocrine activation of the IL-3/GM-CSF/IL-5 signaling pathway in leukemic cells

The AML14.3D10 human myeloid leukemic cell line expresses receptors for granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-5 (IL-5), but not IL-3. We have found that this cell line produces GM-CSF in amounts up to 113 pg/ml in culture supernatants. Deprivation of endogenous GM-CSF by addition of neutralizing anti-GM-CSF antibody strongly inhibits proliferation of the cells, suggesting a GM-CSF autocrine growth mechanism. To examine whether endogenously produced GM-CSF activates intracellular GM-CSF/IL-3/IL-5-related signal transduction pathways, we performed antiphosphotyrosine immunoblotting of cell lysates of AML14.3D10 cells before and after deprivation of endogenous GM-CSF. We found constitutive tyrosine-phosphorylation of a number of proteins in AML14.3D10 that could not be detectably increased by the addition of exogenous GM-CSF, IL-3, or IL-5. However, GM-CSF-deprived cells demonstrated a marked increase in phosphorylation of proteins of identical molecular mass following addition of GM-CSF and IL-5, but not IL-3, consistent with the receptor expression of the cells and the known use of the same signaling pathways by the three cytokines. This suggests that AML14.3D10 cells use endogenously produced GM-CSF to activate signal transduction pathways, interfering with activation by exogenous cytokine until the endogenous stimulation is removed. We then assessed the activation of the beta-subunit common to the GM-CSF/IL-3/IL-5 receptors (beta c), JAK2 and p53/56 lyn, known to be involved in the common signaling pathways of the three cytokines. We found that phosphorylation of beta c and JAK2 in response to GM-CSF and IL-5 could be markedly enhanced by depriving cells of endogenous GM-CSF. Constitutive hyperphosphorylation of lyn was found in AML14.3D10 cells, and no further activation of lyn in response to cytokine was demonstrable in GM-CSF-deprived cells, suggesting that lyn is activated in this cell line by a mechanism other than GM-CSF. These studies represent the first demonstration of autocrine activation of intracellular cytokine signaling pathways by malignant hematopoietic cells. Because the addition of anti-GM-CSF to cell cultures improved responsiveness of intracellular signal transducing molecules to exogenous GM-CSF and IL-5, it can be inferred that endogenously produced GM-CSF exerts its effects by secretion and binding to surface GM-CSF receptors, although an intracellular component to signaling cannot be excluded. These observations provide further information regarding an autocrine contribution to leukemic cell growth, and establish a new model for study of these events.
D-Glucose: Preferential Binding to Brush Borders Disrupted with Tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane

The actively transported sugar D-glucose binds to brush borders disrupted with tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane in preference to D-mannose and L-glucose, which are not actively transported. This preferential binding of D-glucose is not dependent on either added Na(+) or adenosine triphosphatase activity stimulated by Na(+) with K(+) and Mg(2+), but it is temperature-dependent and is completely inhibited by 0.1 millimolar phlorizin and 1 millimolar mercuric chloride.
Sensitivity in cellular automata: Some examples

Abstract We study how the final pattern produced by particular one-dimensional cellular automata can depend on the starting configuration of live and dead cells. In particular, we show that slight changes in the initial state can lead to different universality classes (in the sense of Wolfram) for the final state. A peculiar anthropomorphic pattern appears in one of our experiments. Finally, for two example automata we investigate a small part of the initial condition space, a map of which initial conditions lead to which Wolfram classes.
Computable error bounds for variational functionals of solutions of a convolution integral equations of the first kind

Abstract Computable a posteriori bounds are derived for the error in variational functionals of approximate solutions of convolutiontype Fredholm integral equations of the first kind which arise in many areas of applied mathematics. These bounds are illustrated for a simple problem, and extensions to more general situations are also indicated.
Technical and human perspectives on pair programming

Extreme Programming is presented as an answer to problems in software engineering. Extreme Programming is briefly introduced and one of its primary principles, pair programming, is examined more closely. Drawing from readings and Medtronic employee interviews, potential challenges to pair programming are discussed and analyzed. Finally, recommendations for those considering pair programming are suggested.