cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
In Situ Expression of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF-β) during Chronic Rejection Is Abolished by Retransplantation

We have shown that Fischer 344 → Lewis renal allografts (ALLO) develop chronic rejection which is not detected in Lewis → Lewis isografts (ISO). The progression of chronic rejection in ALLO can be reversed by retransplantation (RE-TX) of kidneys from ALLO back into syngeneic Fischer 344 recipients. The purpose of this study was to assess the in situ expression of PDGF-β, a cytokine associated with wound injury, in ISO, ALLO, and RE-TX. In situ PDGF-β mRNA expression in kidney sections was assessed early (8 weeks) and late (16 weeks) during the development of chronic rejection. Kidneys from ALLO were transplanted back into syngeneic Fischer recipients at 12 weeks and evaluated for PDGF-β expression 12 weeks later. Differences in glomerular staining were graded quantitatively on a minimum of 25 glomeruli per section with grade 0, no positive cells in the glomerulus; grade 1, 1 or 2 positive cells; grade 2, 3 or more positive cells in a segmental distribution; and grade 3, >4 positive cells of moderate intensity in a diffuse distribution. According to this grading system, glomerular PDGF-β mRNA expression in isografts (N = 6) at 8 and 16 weeks after transplantation was 0.09 ± 0.03 and 0.2 ± 0.04, respectively. In allografts (N = 6), PDGF-β mRNA was significantly higher (P < .001) for the same time periods, 1.28 ± 0.6 and 1.89 ± 0.08, respectively. In situ expression of PDGF in retransplants (N = 6) at 24 weeks, 0.07 ± 0.02, was significantly diminished (P < .001) at 24 weeks compared to allografts at 8 or 16 weeks. In situ expression of PDGF-β in ALLO coincided with progression of functional changes, including urinary albumin excretion and glomerular macrophage infiltration, during chronic rejection. Downregulation of PDGF-β in RE-TX occurred once the progression of chronic rejection was reversed. We believe that PDGF-β may mediate chronic rejection in rats.
Devising and Interdisciplinary Teaching: A Case Study in Collaboration Between Theatre and Humanities Courses

We use an experimental course collaboration that occurred in the winter of 2012 as a case study for an approach to interdisciplinary collaboration between Theatre and Humanities courses, and we argue that the theatre methodology of “devising” can serve as a particularly rich locus for collaboration between Theatre students and other Humanities students because it allows students to cooperate in generating a creative product that draws on two different areas of expertise. In this case, English students operated as critically informed advisors for Theatre students who devised original performances using a canonical text as source material. This experimental collaboration produced many of the positive results that have been discussed in previous studies concerning interdisciplinary pedagogy, including thoughtful consideration of the nature of each discipline, transferring of tools and methodologies between disciplines, increased student enthusiasm, and faculty development. However, it did not require extensi...
The neglected bulimic: The nonpurger

For nearly 10 years bulimia has been recognized officially as a distinct eating disorder, and yet in that time only minimal attention has focused on the nonpurging subtype. The present investigation compared 21 DSM-III-R diagnosed nonpurging bulimics with 22 non-eating-disordered controls on three standardized questionnaires and during a unique assessment task. In this procedure subjects imagined that they were the character in a series of slides and audiotaped flooding scenes. The content of the stimuli ranged from food and weight cues to issues hypothesized to play a role in the development or maintenance of bulimia (e.g., rejection or loss of control fears). A MANOVA conducted on the three questionnaires was highly significant, with the Beck Depression Inventory and the Restraint Scale being responsible for the elevated bulimic scores. A repeated-measures ANOVA performed on the self-report ratings during the exposure task also achieved significance, as the bulimics reported higher anxiety reactions than controls to each experimental stimulus. Significant skin conductance reactions were detected when a group of only the most psychophysiologically responsive bulimics and controls were compared. The importance of continued comprehensive evaluations with DSM-III-R nonpurging bulimics was emphasized.
Development of third-harmonic output beam diagnostics on NOVA

Precision multi-wavelength output beam diagnostics are currently under development for use in the Nova laser system. This diagnostic package will measure the energy, pulseshape, and near-field intensity distribution at wavelengths of 0.351 micrometers, 0.528 micrometers, and 1.05 micrometers.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Analysis of mycotoxins in food and feed: certification of DON in wheat and maize.

Worldwide there are either statutory limits or in some instances advisory guidelines for the maximum levels of mycotoxins in foods and feeds. These limits which have been agreed for the protection of human health and as standards for trade are often set at surprisingly low levels in view of both the problems of sampling and the abundant evidence of the difficulties of mycotoxin analysis, particularly so when approaching the limits of detection. Improved methodology for mycotoxins and improvements in performance even of expert laboratories have, however, been achieved through intercomparison exercises organised by the EC Measurement and Testing programme (formerly BCR). On a wider scale, participation in proficiency testing through schemes such as the UK Food Analysis Performance Assessment Scheme (FAPAS) have indicated that between 10 and 40% of laboratories experience difficulties in obtaining satisfactory results in monitoring mycotoxins. Reference materials provide an important means of checking method performance. BCR has made a unique contribution in the production and certification of maize and wheat reference materials naturally contaminated with the Fusarium mycotoxin 4-deoxynivalenol (DON), which has now been available for purchase for some 2 years. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Cost-effectiveness of Xpert® MTB/RIF for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis in the United States.

SUMMARY TUBERCULOSIS (TB) is the second most common cause of death due to infectious disease in the world, with over 10 000 cases of active TB disease in the United States.1 Among the challenges in controlling TB is the lack of rapid, accurate diagnostic tests. Currently, sputum smear microscopy is used as the initial test in most diagnostic algorithms, but it has poor sensitivity, leading to missed diagnoses.2 Smear microscopy is also a marker of infectiousness, and current US guidelines suggest isolation of TB suspects with smear-positive results pending results from mycobacterial culture or response to treatment.3–5 However, smear microscopy is not specifi c to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and has low positive predictive value in low-prevalence settings such as the United States, leading to unnecessary treatment and prolonged hospitalizations. Sputum culture and conventional drug susceptibility testing (DST) are utilized as the reference standard in the United States, but these take weeks to provide results, leading to diagnostic and therapeutic delays.2 The Amplifi ed MTD® (Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Direct) test (Gen-Probe, San Diego, CA, USA), a molecular assay that detects M. tuberculosis genetic material and can provide a rapid diagnosis of TB dis
Drug promotion and labeling in developing countries: An update

Abstract Recent studies of drug promotion and labeling in Third World countries since 1972 have observed important changes in the policies of multinational corporations. Earlier studies found that multinational and national drug companies often grossly exaggerated the indications for the drugs and minimized or ignored the hazards. In the latest study, initiated in 1987, considerable improvement in promotional practices of the multinational corporations has been found, but little or no improvement on the part of the national companies. As a result, physicians are still provided with grossly exaggerated claims and the hazards of prescription drugs are covered up or glossed over. A very serious problem-the marketing of fraudulent drug products-has been identified in a number of Third World countries. Drug products are shaped and colored to resemble the original multinational company product, but contain only a small percentage of the active ingredient stated on the label, or perhaps none at all. In Indonesia fraudulent drug products may represent 20–30% of all drug products in the market. Similar fraudulent products have been reported in Brazil, Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Cost‐Benefit Analysis of Transesophageal Echocardiography in Cardiac Surgery

This article evaluates the costs and outcomes associated with TEE during and after cardiac surgery. The costs include the direct and indirect costs--the complications of TEE. The outcomes include the positive consequences or the benefits: money and lives saved. The article uses liberal (high) estimates of the direct and indirect costs of TEE and conservative (low) estimates of the benefits. The exact cost or benefit depends on the number of cases performed. The analysis shows that patients having surgery for congenital heart disease derive the greatest overall benefit: around $600 per case studied. Patients having valvular repair surgery derive the next greatest benefit: around $450 per case studied. In contrast patients having valve replacement have an overall cost of around $150 per case studied. Patients having surgery for coronary artery disease also derive an overall benefit: around $100-$300 per case studied, depending upon assumptions regarding TEE's role in prevention of intraoperative strokes. This analysis indicates that the financial benefits of TEE are substantial and frequently outweigh costs in patients requiring cardiac surgery.
Nonfatal occupational injuries from slips, trips, and falls among older workers treated in hospital emergency departments, United States 1998.

Background Falls are a leading cause of injury among older adults. As the workforce demographics shift to an older population, the dearth of information on occupational falls among older adults must be addressed. Methods A national probability sample of hospital emergency departments (EDs) (National Electronic Injury Surveillance System) was utilized to characterize falls at work. Results Older workers were found not to be at increased risk of a fall injury, but were more likely than younger workers to be hospitalized post-injury. Same-level falls were the most common type of incident among older workers. Falls from height were more prevalent among men than women. The narrative case descriptions for same-level falls to the floor primarily implicated floor contamination and tripping hazards. Conclusions Fall prevention programs targeted to older workers must examine extrinsic sources of falls, particularly surface traction, contaminant control, and footwear. Am. J. Ind. Med. 46:32–41, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Formal theory of effective π‐electron hamiltonians

The goal of developing a satisfactory general formalism for the justification of effective ..pi..-electron Hamiltonians, as well as for ab initio calculation of their parameters (..cap alpha.., ..beta.., and ..gamma..), has now been achieved. The need for a fully linked many-body formalism is emphasized; this feature requires a Rayleigh-Schroedinger (RS) type of degenerate perturbation theory. A number of apparently different degenerate RS perturbation formalisms are reviewed. Most of these formalisms are actually identical term-by-term, when their RS expansions are worked out explicity; the formal relations that prove their complete equivalence are presented and discussed. One of these formalisms, a version developed by the author for related open-shell problems in nuclear physics, is shown to be most convenient for many-body applications. This is owing to the relatively simple and transparent nature of its general algerbraic structure, which facilitates partial summation to infinite order. A simple and concise derivation is presented for the algerbraic features of this prefered formalism, and its many-body (linked cluster) aspects are briefly discussed. The recent development of a nonperturbative (coupled-cluster) analog of this formalism is also described. Some practical issues are examined, including the choice of orbital basis. Illustrative numercial results are presented, based on the calculationsmore » of Iwata and Freed. Several remaining problems are described; these are both qualitative and quantitative in nature, and their resolution will require some detailed calculations.« less
THERMAL INACTIVATION OF BLUE TONGUE VIRUS.

The thermostability of blue tongue virus at various storage conditions and temperatures of inactivation was studied at pH 7.0. The virus was markedly thermostable, withstanding 3 years storage at room temperature. Thermal inactivation curves suggested first-order kinetics, with two components at 37, 46 and 56° C but only one at −70° C. The two-component curves were most likely due to a phenotypically determined heterogeneity of the virus population with respect to thermostability. While inactivation at high temperatures (46–56° C) was associated with marked changes in enthalpy and entropy, compatible with protein inactivation, the thermodynamic data obtained at a lower temperature range (37–46° C) suggested ribonucleic acid inactivation. Approximate energy of activation values below and above 37° C were 7.5 and 50 kcal. mole−1 respectively.
Sensing refractive-turbulence profiles (C n 2 ) using wavefront phase measurements from multiple reference sources

A new technique for sensing refractive-turbulence profiles is described. The technique is based on performing a spatial correlation of the measured wave front phase from two reference sources. This technique is unique in that the correlation properties of the wave front phase are used instead of the more common approach of using optical scintillations. The geometry between the reference sources and the two wave front sensor apertures is arranged such that the two optical paths cross at some point in front of the sensor plane. The wave front phase for each reference source is reconstructed from the measured wave front sensor data. A spatial correlation of the two reconstructed phase maps is performed. From this correlation, a measure of the structure constant of the refractive index fluctuations C2n can be extracted. The resolution of the technique depends on the angle between the optical paths, the spatial frequency response the wave front sensors, and the size of the wave front sensor apertures. For sensing the vertical profile of C2n, resolution on the order of 50 meters can be obtained by using sources separated by 0.17 degrees.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The pattern of dyslipidemia among urban African-Americans with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze lipid profiles from a large sample of African-American patients with type 2 diabetes who receive care at an urban outpatient diabetes clinic. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Fasting serum lipid profiles of 4,014 African-Americans and 328 Caucasians with type 2 diabetes were retrieved from a computerized registry. American Diabetes Association criteria were applied to classify LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride (TG) levels into risk categories. The proportion of patients who had none, one, two, and three lipoprotein concentrations outside of recommended clinical targets was examined. Multiple logistical regression analyses were performed to determine the influence of sex and race on the probability of having a lipid level outside of the recommended target. RESULTS: The percentages of African-Americans with high-, borderline-, and low-risk LDL cholesterol concentrations were 58, 26, and 16%, respectively, and the percentages for Caucasians were 54, 29, and 16%, respectively (P = 0.51). For HDL cholesterol, 41, 33, and 26% of African-Americans were in the high-, borderline-, and low-risk categories, respectively, compared with 73, 18, and 9% of Caucasians, respectively (P < 0.0001). Nearly 81% of African-Americans had TG concentrations that were in the low-risk category compared with only 50% of Caucasians. More women than men had high-risk LDL and HDL cholesterol profiles. The most common pattern of dyslipidemia was an LDL cholesterol level above target combined with an HDL cholesterol level below target, which was detected in nearly 50% of African-Americans and 42% of Caucasians. African-Americans had lower odds of having an HDL cholesterol or TG level outside of target. African-American women, compared to men, had greater probabilities of having abnormal levels of LDL and HDL, but a lower likelihood of having a TG level above goal. CONCLUSIONS: In a large sample of urban type 2 diabetic patients receiving care at a diabetes treatment program, race and sex differences in serum lipid profiles were present. Because hypertriglyceridemia was rare among African-American subjects, interventions will need to focus primarily on improving their LDL and HDL cholesterol levels. Further studies are required regarding how to best adapt these observed differences into more effective strategies to optimize lipid levels for this population of diabetic patients and to determine whether similar patterns of dyslipidemia occur in other clinical settings.
Political Ideas and a Political Science for Policy

Early in its development, political science established itself as part of modern secular authority, with something to say about government and politics. This achievement did not, though, lead to much noticeable impact on governance and policy, with the exception of administrative reforms. The past five decades have witnessed impressive growth in influence, as political science self-confidently embraced an idea-driven policy science. Political behaviorism, fashioned as a response to the loss of Enlightenment naivete, was a political as well as a science project, and its successes, on both fronts, drew many to a new type of policy science. A leading example is neoconservatism, whose practioner political scientists linked new political ideas with applied social science as a basis for challenging assumptions of the regulatory welfare state. By the end of the twentieth century, political science had returned to its earliest mission(s)—building a better science and strengthening democratic practice.
Coupled Hidden Semi Markov Models for Activity Recognition

Recognizing human activity from a stream of sensory observations is important for a number of applications such as surveillance and human-computer interaction. Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) have been proposed as suitable tools for modeling the variations in the observations for the same action and for discriminating among different actions. HMMs have come in wide use for this task but the standard form suffers from several limitations. These include unrealistic models for the duration of a sub-event and not encoding interactions among multiple agents directly. Semi- Markov models and coupled HMMs have been proposed in previous work to handle these issues. We combine these two concepts into a coupled Hidden semi-Markov Model (CHSMM). CHSMMs pose huge computational complexity challenges. We present efficient algorithms for learning and decoding in such structures and demonstrate their utility by experiments with synthetic and real data.
Planar particle imaging doppler velocimetry : A three-component velocity measurement technique

Digital particle imaging velocimetry (DPIV) is a high-resolution, high-accuracy, planar velocimetry technique, which provides valuable instantaneous velocity information in aeropropulsion test facilities. DPIV is capable of providing three-component flowfield measurements using a two-camera, stereo-viewing configuration. Doppler global velocimetry (DGV) is another planar velocimetry technique, which is also capable of providing three-component flow field measurements, but requires three detector systems that must be located at oblique angles from the measurement plane. The three-dimensional configurations of either technique require multiple (DGV) or at least large (stereo PIV) optical access ports in the facility in which the measurements are being conducted. In some test facilities, limited optical access is available (either a single viewing window or small optical access port), which prohibits the implementation of either technique for three-component flow measurements. A hybrid measurement technique is described, called planar particle image Doppler velocimetry (PPIDV), which combines elements from both the DPIV and DGV techniques into a single detection system capable of measuring all three components of velocity across a planar region of a flowfield through a single optical access port. The PPIDV system utilizes common components between the DPIV and DGV systems to reduce system complexity and costs. Measurements of a rotating wheel are used to verify the integrity of the technique. Then simultaneous measurements of a nozzle flow are obtained using both a stereo-viewing DPIV system and a PPIDV system.
Single molecule measurements of DNA transport through a nanopore

We examined the voltage-driven movement of single-stranded DNA molecules in a membrane channel or "nanopore". Using single channel recording methods and a statistical analysis of many single molecule events, we determined how voltage influences capture and translocation in the nanopore. We verified that the mean time between capture events follows a simple exponential distribution, whereas the translocation times follow a unique distribution that is partly Gaussian and partly exponential. Measurements of polymer sequence effects demonstrated that translocation duration is heavily influenced by specific or nonspecific purine-channel interactions. The single molecule approach we used revealed molecular interactions that can influence both capture rates and translocation velocities in a manner that enriches naive barrier crossing models.
Two-Photon Scattering by a Driven Three-Level Emitter in a One-Dimensional Waveguide and Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

We study correlated two-photon transport in a (quasi-)one-dimensional photonic waveguide coupled to a three-level Λ-type emitter driven by a classical light field. Two-photon correlation is much stronger in the waveguide for a driven three-level emitter (3LE) than a two-level emitter. The driven 3LE waveguide shows electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), and we investigate the scaling of EIT for one and two photons. We show that the two transmitted photons are bunched together at any distance separation when energy of the incident photons meets "two-photon resonance" criterion for EIT.
Early hearing detection and intervention programs: Opportunities for genetic services

Congenital hearing loss is relatively frequent and has serious negative consequences if it is not diagnosed and treated during the first few months of life. Babies with hearing loss who are identified early and provided with appropriate intervention develop better language, cognitive, and social skills. As a result of improvements in screening equipment and procedures, newborn hearing screening programs have expanded rapidly in recent years, and almost 90% of all newborns are now screened for hearing loss before leaving the hospital. Because 50% or more of congenital hearing loss is due to genetic causes, providers of genetic services should play an increasingly important role in newborn hearing screening, diagnostic, and intervention services. For this to happen, parents, public health officials, and primary health care providers need to become better informed about the benefits of genetic services for children with hearing loss and their families. Providers of genetic services also need to become better informed about the current status of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs and how they can contribute to continued improvement of these programs.
Nearshore Impacts of Dredging for Beach Nourishment

A methodology is presented for predicting the impacts of nearshore dredging on shoreline change, using numerical models for waves, currents, and shoreline change. The dredge pit, outside of the surf zone, was assumed to be steady state, but alters waves reaching the surf zone. The methodology accounts for the transformation of directional wave energy spectra due to spatial gradients in both mean currents and bathymetry, wind inputs, and energy dissipation via several mechanisms. The wave transformation model SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore) was used to simulate waves at Folly Island, S.C., which served as the test case. Wave model results were validated using short-term field measurements at three locations. Longer-term (1 year) simulations were driven using hindcast wave and wind data. Velocity fields and tidal stages were simulated using the hydrodynamic model Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code in two-dimensional mode, after calibrating with field measurements. Wave model results were used to estimate longshore sediment transport and shoreline change due to longshore gradients of the longshore sediment transport rate. Empirical sediment transport coefficients were chosen to match model results to measured beach volume changes derived from beach profile data. The calibrated model was then used to predict impacts of dredging on long-term shoreline change. Results reproduced observed trends of erosion and accretion along approximately 90% of the shoreline.
An effective statistical evaluation of ChIPseq dataset similarity

Motivation: ChIPseq is rapidly becoming a common technique for investigating protein–DNA interactions. However, results from individual experiments provide a limited understanding of chromatin structure, as various chromatin factors cooperate in complex ways to orchestrate transcription. In order to quantify chromtain interactions, it is thus necessary to devise a robust similarity metric applicable to ChIPseq data. Unfortunately, moving past simple overlap calculations to give statistically rigorous comparisons of ChIPseq datasets often involves arbitrary choices of distance metrics, with significance being estimated by computationally intensive permutation tests whose statistical power may be sensitive to non-biological experimental and post-processing variation. Results: We show that it is in fact possible to compare ChIPseq datasets through the efficient computation of exact P-values for proximity. Our method is insensitive to non-biological variation in datasets such as peak width, and can rigorously model peak location biases by evaluating similarity conditioned on a restricted set of genomic regions (such as mappable genome or promoter regions). Applying our method to the well-studied dataset of Chen et al. (2008), we elucidate novel interactions which conform well with our biological understanding. By comparing ChIPseq data in an asymmetric way, we are able to observe clear interaction differences between cofactors such as p300 and factors that bind DNA directly. Availability: Source code is available for download at http://sonorus.princeton.edu/IntervalStats/IntervalStats.tar.gz Contact: ogt@cs.princeton.edu Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
MULTIVARIABLE CONTROL OF CATALYTIC CRACKING PROCESSES

Simple, explicit and physically intuitive Feedforward and Feedback control policies are designed for Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Processes. The Feedforward (FF) control algorithm compensates for changes in the feed rate and feed coking tendency by the use of the air flow and catalyst circulation rates as control variables to maintain the conversion and the reactor temperature at fixed levels. Through steady state and dynamic simulations the FF controller is shown to be very effective. To improve the dynamic response of the process and to account for the process/model mismatch a feedback (FB) controller is also designed to complement the FF action. The FB action is designed by use of the transformation related to the physical modes which correspond to the extensive variables of the process. It is shown that the required control structure consists of two loops. One uses the air flow rate to control the total sensible heat content of the reactor and regenerator solid phases. The other loop controls the rege...
A decentralized treatment of a highly distributed Chinese-Wall policy

Access control (AC) technology has come a long way from its roots as the means for sharing resources between processes running on a single machine, to a mechanism for regulating the interaction among agents (software components, and people) distributed throughout the Internet. But despite the distributed nature of the systems being regulated, the conventional enforcement mechanism for AC policies remains basically centralized, where a single (although possibly replicated) reference monitor (RM) is used to mediate the interaction between members of a given community of agents, according to a given policy. This paper demonstrates one of the main drawbacks of centralized AC mechanisms, when applied to distributed systems, and to shows the absence of this drawback under the inherently decentralized law-governed interaction (LGI) mechanism.
Real-time, closed-loop dual-wavelength optical polarimetry for glucose monitoring

The development of a real-time, dual-wavelength optical polarimetric system to ultimately probe the aqueous humor glucose concentrations as a means of noninvasive diabetic glucose monitoring is the long-term goal of this research. The key impact of the work is the development of an approach for the reduction of the time-variant corneal birefringence due to motion artifact, which is still a limiting factor preventing the realization of such a device. Our dual-wavelength approach utilizes real-time, closed-loop feedback that employs a classical three-term feedback controller and efficiently reduces the effect of motion artifact that appears as a common noise source for both wavelengths. In vitro results are shown for the open-loop system, and although the dual-wavelength system helps to reduce the noise, it is shown that closed-loop control is necessary to bring the noise down to a sufficient level for physiological monitoring. Specifically, in vitro measurement results with the closed-loop dual-wavelength approach demonstrate a sensitivity of 12.8 mg/dl across the physiologic glucose range in the presence of time-variant test cell birefringence. Overall, it is shown that this polarimetric system has the potential to be used as a noninvasive measure of glucose for diabetes.
PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN STAR FORMATION

Star formation occurs close at hand. There are active sites of low mass star formation, and regions of vigorous OB star formation within 500 pc of the sun. Yet star formation processes have not yielded all their secrets. Indeed, not a single genuine protostar has been discovered, despite intensive infrared searches.
Performance of elementary-grade African American students on the Gray Oral Reading Tests.

Purpose: African American students perform disproportionately more poorly on standardized reading assessments than their majority peers. Poor reading performances may be related to test biases inhe...
Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Empathy and Forgiveness

Much research has shown that women are more empathic than men. Yet, women and men are equally forgiving. However, it is not clear whether empathy is more important to forgiveness for men or for women. The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in levels of empathy and forgiveness and the extent to which the association of empathy and forgiveness differed by gender. Participants were 127 community residents who completed self-report measures of empathy and forgiveness. The present results showed that women were more empathic than men, but no gender difference for forgiveness was apparent. However, the association between empathy and forgiveness did differ by gender. Empathy was associated with forgiveness in men—but not in women.
The R.U.B.B.E.R. tool: screening children for latex allergy.

The pediatric nurse practitioner may encounter IgE-mediated allergic reactions to natural latex rubber not only in patients with spina bifida but also in the general pediatric population. The R.U.B.B.E.R. screening tool is a short research-based questionnaire that elicits unrecognized past allergic reactions to latex and identifies children at risk for this condition. Management strategies include patient identification, referral for allergy evaluation, patient and family education about avoiding latex, and design of a latex-safe practice environment.
Optimization aspects of compiler- compilers

A decade of experience with prototype versions of compiler-compilers, some of which have been successful and some of which have not been so successful, leads us to the conclusion that we can now engineer good compiler-compilers which can generate efficient compilers that generate efficient object code. This paper reviews the experience with compiler-compilers, documents reasons for believing that some compiler-compilers are good, and advocates the importation of compiler-compiler techniques by commercial firms and the production of well-engineered compiler-compilers as commercial products. Some unanswered questions about compiler-compiler techniques are explored in relation to the newly emerging discipline of software engineering.
Are women worrying about heart disease

Abstract Women at risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) may not be worried about the disease. In this study, demographic, CAD-risk, and CAD-worry data collected from Durham Veterans' Affairs Medical Center women veterans were examined using bivariate and multivariate analysis with worry as the outcome. Excluding CAD patients ( N = 64) and incomplete data ( N = 17) of 328 women, 42% worried about CAD. Younger age, single marital status, obesity, family history, and hyperlipidemia were associated with worry. Of women with up to three risk factors, fewer than half worried about CAD. Higher-risk women were unconcerned about CAD. This could undermine prevention efforts.
Historical Progress and Intrinsic Value

At numerous points in their expositions of various aspects of a Marxist ethical theory, Soviet authors refer to a ‘science of history’ which supposedly provides the ultimate foundation for many of their claims concerning the nature of value and moral norms. This science of history is thought to provide an objective account of the relations between the laws of historical development, the historically determined succession of interests characterizing each social formation and class, and the values represented by the satisfaction of such interests. More particularly, the majority of Soviet accounts of the objectivity of value resort in the end to the claim that this science of history demonstrates which social interests, values, and moral norms are progressive, and which not. Ethical theory, the method of which is commonly characterized as ‘the unity of the logical and the historical’, in several respects rests on this underlying science of history.
Evaluation of sliding window correlation performance for characterizing dynamic functional connectivity and brain states

A promising recent development in the study of brain function is the dynamic analysis of resting-state functional MRI scans, which can enhance understanding of normal cognition and alterations that result from brain disorders. One widely used method of capturing the dynamics of functional connectivity is sliding window correlation (SWC). However, in the absence of a "gold standard" for comparison, evaluating the performance of the SWC in typical resting-state data is challenging. This study uses simulated networks (SNs) with known transitions to examine the effects of parameters such as window length, window offset, window type, noise, filtering, and sampling rate on the SWC performance. The SWC time course was calculated for all node pairs of each SN and then clustered using the k-means algorithm to determine how resulting brain states match known configurations and transitions in the SNs. The outcomes show that the detection of state transitions and durations in the SWC is most strongly influenced by the window length and offset, followed by noise and filtering parameters. The effect of the image sampling rate was relatively insignificant. Tapered windows provide less sensitivity to state transitions than rectangular windows, which could be the result of the sharp transitions in the SNs. Overall, the SWC gave poor estimates of correlation for each brain state. Clustering based on the SWC time course did not reliably reflect the underlying state transitions unless the window length was comparable to the state duration, highlighting the need for new adaptive window analysis techniques.
Squeezing into superconductivity

The recent report of superconductivity in hydrogen sulfide (H2S) by Drozdov et al. ( 1 ) at a record high superconducting critical temperature T c of 203 K and at high pressure (153 GPa) triggered excitement from both a fundamental and technological perspective. On page 1303 of this issue, Troyan et al. ( 2 ) confirm the finding by using an elegant and unexpected implementation of the Mossbauer technique at the third-generation synchrotron facility in Grenoble, France. They measured the Meissner effect ( 3 )—the expulsion of magnetic field from the sample—thereby unequivocally confirming the existence of superconductivity. The new superconductor is believed to have a simple chemical formula, H3S. The superconductivity in H3S was predicted theoretically by Duan et al. ( 4 ) before the first experimental findings were reported. The technique has great potential for future studies of tiny samples squeezed to extremely high pressure. This experimental advance paves the road to probing superconductivity in metallic hydrogen, which is expected to be a room-temperature superconductor above 500 GPa ( 5 ).
Do parents or siblings engage in more negative weight-based talk with children and what does it sound like? A mixed-methods study.

Abstract The current mixed-methods study examined the prevalence of negative weight-based talk across multiple family members (i.e., mother, father, older/younger brother, older/younger sister) and analyzed qualitative data to identify what negative weight-based talk sounds like in the home environment. Children (n = 60; ages 9–12) and their families from low income and minority households participated in the study. Children reported the highest prevalence of negative weight-based talk from siblings. Among specific family members, children reported a higher prevalence of negative weight-based talk from mothers and older brothers. In households with younger brothers, children reported less negative weight-based talk compared to other household compositions. Both quantitative and qualitative results indicated that mothers’ negative weight-based talk focused on concerns about child health, whereas fathers’ and siblings’ negative weight-based talk focused on child appearance and included teasing. Results suggest that interventions targeting familial negative weight-based talk may need to be tailored to specific family members.
High-dose Chemotherapy with Autologous Bone Marrow Rescue for Malignant Brain Tumors

High-dose BCNU therapy (supralethal chemotherapy) with autologous bone marrow rescue after Hochberg was performed on a 7-year-old boy suffering from a recurrent brain stem glioblastoma multiforme. CT scan in December 1979 showed a pontine glioma (low density area at the upper half of the pons). X-ray therapy and chemotherapy were done twice with remissions (5, 000 rads + 4, 500 rads). At the time of the third neurological exacerbation in March 1981, CT scan disclosed the tumor extending up to the left basal ganglia. Therefore, 500 mg of BCNU (600 mg/sq. m) was given in preparation for autologous bone marrow grafting. Eight weeks after this procedure, CT scan showed the complete disappearance of the tumor shadow and good neurological recovery was obtained. However, the patient expired on the 61st day due to pulmonary fibrosis. The technical simplicity of this method of bone marrow grafting (preservation of aspirated bone marrow at 4°C) was compared with cryopreservation methods. However, many side effects of high-dose. chemotherapeutic drugs, other than myelosupression, remained to be solved.
Gangs in the Workplace

Security leadership is increasingly confronting gang-related crime globally both externally and internally. Today’s gangs are numerous with the Department of Justice reporting in 2011 that some 28,100 gangs exist in the USA alone, with membership approaching a million or more members (estimates are considerably higher if such entities as outlaw motorcycle gangs and hate groups are factored into totals). Some American gangs have existed since the 1920s with many more being entrenched since the late 1950s and the 1960s. Gangs have entered mainstream businesses as employees and even as police officers in the public realm. The demographics indicate that many gang members are older and have not desisted from gang participation perhaps due to a lack of legitimate employment opportunities available to them. Theft from businesses and crimes committed by gang members on their premises present unique challenges to traditional security leaders tasked with protecting private assets and properties. The potential terrorist threat of radicalized gang members coming from prisons and the increasing participation by females in gang subculture will prove problematic for employers and those seeking to safeguard corporations from losses and threats.
Properties and Behaviour of Iron in Clay Minerals

Abstract Structural Fe in clay minerals plays a large role in determining and influencing the chemical and physical properties and behaviour of this ubiquitous inorganic fraction of natural soils and sediments. Almost all clay minerals contain some Fe in their crystal structures, so the impact of Fe is great. Moreover, the effects of Fe are greatly amplified by its facile susceptibility to changes in oxidation state (redox modification), which are in fact larger than the effects of its mere presence in the mineral structure. Iron(III) is the more common oxidation state in the smectite structure under natural conditions, but bacterial activity in soils and sediments readily reduces it temporarily to Fe(II). In the laboratory, both sodium dithionite and bacteria were used extensively to effect reduction, followed by a plethora of subsequent characterizations. A variety of other reducing agents were also tried in the laboratory, with mixed results and with none of them being as effective as either dithionite or bacteria. Multiple redox cycles transform the smectite to a more illitic form, with both fixed K and residual Fe(II) increasing with each cycle. The surface reactivity of the smectites toward pesticides, chlorinated and various other organics, and redox-active metals is greatly increased once the structural Fe had been reduced. The cation exchange and fixation capacities increase, whereas specific surface area and swelling in water decrease. Recent studies also showed that reaction with redox-active anions (e.g. nitrate) is possible with polycations-exchanged, redox-modified smectites. Structural changes were characterized by a variety of chemical, instrumental, and spectroscopic methods, including the use of synchrotron X-ray sources, infrared, UV–visible, and scanning, environmental-sample, and high-resolution electron microscopy. In summary, Fe in smectites provides a robust means by which the properties and behaviour of soils and sediments change dynamically over space and time as environmental conditions fluctuate in response to global climate patterns and anthropogenic activity. Many opportunities await the curious and adventurous ones who decide to probe this phenomenon in order to advance understanding and uncover more avenues for meaningful exploitation.
Subwavelength amorphous-Si transmission-grating polarizers and wave plates

Subwavelength (SW) dielectric transmission gratings can serve as antireflection (AR) devices, wave plates, narrow-band filters, and other optical elements. They are very attractive to future integrated optics, because of the possibility of producing a large array of different optical elements at different locations a substrate by using simple grating structures and a single fabrication step. However, because of the fine period required, most previous investigations were theoretical1; experimental studies are a few and limited. For example, gratings previously studied were made of low-dielectric-constant materials, such as photoresist,2 quartz,3 PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate), and silicon nitride,4 giving small refractive-index modulation. Furthermore, all previous experiments have shown consistency with simple-form birefringence theory or effective-medium theory,5 which predicts that the gratings should have little polarization, and that birefringence should be almost constant as long as the period is less than the wavelength. In this paper, we report fabrication and investigation of subwavelength amorphous silicon (high refractive index) transmission gratings of various periods on silica substrates. For normally incident light (λ= 633 nm), in addition to large birefringence we observed strong polarization effects.
Early Screening for Learning Disabilities

The value of child health surveillance (CHS) practices in early detection of mild to moderate learning difficulties (LD) was investigated at the North and West Belfast Community Paediatric Unit, Belfast, N Ireland.
The Production of Indigenous Land Rights: Judicial Decisions across National, Regional, and Global Scales

This analysis explores the circulation of legal arguments, instruments, and decisions across national, regional, and global scales to reveal the mutual interdependence of these scales and their associated bodies of law in the production of indigenous land rights. Anthropologists studying the production of international human rights law have focused primarily on the drafting and implementation of rights instruments within the UN system, but this article engages a different site for the production of rights: the judicial arena. Highlighting the role played by judicial decisions and the arguments of legal scholars in the production of indigenous land rights, this article traces the trajectory of a petition for recognition of indigenous rights to land by Mopan and Q'eqchi’ Maya of Belize, as it moved from Belize to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The resulting decision circulated through subsequent indigenous rights cases within the Inter-American system to solidify regional jurisprudence on indigenous rights. The IACHR decision also returned to Belize, where the Supreme Court engaged it to reach its own decision on Maya land rights. In turn, the Belize Supreme Court ruling was launched into global circulation, shaping arguments concerning the content and status of international indigenous rights law.