cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sloppiness mitigation in crowdsourcing: detecting and correcting bias for crowd scoring tasks

Due to different expertise levels, personal preference, or fatigue from long working of the crowd workers, the data obtained through crowdsourcing are usually unreliable. One big challenge is to obtain true information from such noisy data. Sloppiness, which represents the phenomena of observed labels which fluctuate around the true labels, is one type of the errors that has rarely been discussed in research. Moreover, most existing approaches try to derive truths in binary labeling tasks. In this paper, we deal with the sloppiness in a crowd scoring task, to obtain high-quality estimated labels. Crowd scoring task consists of ordinal and multiple labels, instead of just two labels. The worker in crowdsourcing can exhibit sloppiness, which can lead to unreliable scoring. We show that sloppy workers with biases, who constantly give higher (or lower) answers compared with true labels, can be effectively utilized to improve the quality of the estimated labels. To make use of the labels from crowd workers with biased sloppy behavior, we propose an iterative two-step model to infer the true labels. The first step identifies the biased workers and corrects the biases. The second step uses an optimization-based truth discovery framework to derive true labels from high-quality observed labels and the corrected labels from first step. We also present a hierarchical categorization for different types of crowd workers. Experiments on synthetic data as well as real-world datasets are conducted on the proposed model. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is demonstrated by comparing results with baseline models such as majority voting and expectation maximization-based aggregating algorithm; up to 16% improvement could be obtained for the accuracy.
Popular diets : Correlation to health, nutrition, and obesity

Abstract Objective To examine the association between a range of health and nutrition indicators and popular diets. Design The Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII) 1994–1996 data were used to examine the relationship between prototype popular diets and diet quality as measured by the healthy eating index (HEI), consumption patterns, and body mass index (BMI). The prototype diets included vegetarian (no meat, poultry, or fish on day of survey) and non-vegetarian. The nonvegetarian group was further subdivided into low carbohydrate (less than 30% of energy from carbohydrate), medium (30% to 55%), and high (greater than 55% of energy). Within the high carbohydrate group, participants were classified as having Pyramid or non-Pyramid eating patterns. The Pyramid group was defined as 30% or less of energy from fat and at least one serving from the five major food groups in the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. Finally, the non-Pyramid group was further subdivided into low fat (less than 15% of energy from fat) and moderate fat (15% to 30% of energy from fat). In addition, a review of the published scientific literature was conducted; all studies identified were included in the review. Subjects 10,014 adults, aged 19 years and older, from the 1994–1996 CSFII were included in the analyses of extant data. More than 200 individual studies were included in the review of the literature. Results Analyses of the CSFII indicate that diet quality as measured by HEI was highest for the high carbohydrate Pyramid group (82.9) and lowest for the low carbohydrate group (44.6). Energy intakes were low for the vegetarians (1,606 kcals) and high carbohydrate/low fat group (1360 kcals). BMIs were lowest for women in the vegetarian group (24.6) and the high carbohydrate/low fat group (24.4); for men, the lowest BMIs were observed for vegetarians (25.2) and the high carbohydrate Pyramid group (25.2). Review of the literature suggests that weight loss is independent of diet composition. Energy restriction is the key variable associated with weight reduction in the short term. Conclusions Diets that are high in carbohydrate and low to moderate in fat tend to be lower in energy. The lowest energy intakes were observed for those on a vegetarian diet. The diet quality as measured by HEI was highest for the high carbohydrate groups and lowest for the low carbohydrate groups. The BMIs were significantly lower for men and women on the high carbohydrate diet; the highest BMIs were noted for those on a low carbohydrate diet. J Am Diet Assoc. 2001; 101:411–420.
The role of class II molecules in development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in mice, rats and humans.

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) represents a genetic risk factor for most known autoimmune diseases. More and more evidence implicates the class II region of the MHC in susceptibility in diseases such as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), rheumatoid arthritis, and pemphigus vulgaris (for review see TODD et al. 1988). The gene products of this region are highly polymorphic and each individual expresses one or two alleles at each locus. Their function is the regulation of the immune response by binding fragments of proteins (peptides) with many different sequences and presenting them to the T cell receptor (TCR) which is expressed by T lymphocytes. Due to the polymorphism of class II molecules, each molecule binds a specific set of peptides (BUUS et al. 1987). These molecules are selective, but relatively nonspecific peptide receptors expressed on B lymphocytes, macrophages, and other cells collectively termed antigen presenting cells (APC’c) (UNANUE and ALLEN 1987). T cells expressing the surface marker CD4 represent the predominant type of T cells which interact with class II expressing cells. After formation of the trimolecular complex between TCR, MHC class II antigen, and peptide, T cell proliferation and differentiation is initiated.
Association of mucosal Fusobacterium with clinical stage and immune gene signatures of rectal adenocarcinoma.

12112Background: Alterations in gut microbial composition are associated with development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC), and may contribute to interpatient biologic and clinical hetero...
Helping to Break the Glass Ceiling? Fathers, First Daughters, and Presidential Vote Choice in 2016

Throughout her 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton crafted messages intended to appeal to fathers of daughters and to highlight the implications of her historic nomination for American girls and women. Clinton reminded voters that her election could mean that “fathers will be able to say to their daughters, you, too, can grow up to be president” (Frizell, Time, http://time.com/3920332/transcript-full-text-hillary-clinton-campaign-launch/ , 2015). But did these appeals succeed in mobilizing fathers of daughters to support Clinton? Using original cross sectional and experimental survey data from the 2016 CCES, we ask two questions. First, were men who fathered daughters (a life event which we operationalize, for important methodological and theoretical reasons detailed herein, as men who fathered a daughter as their first child) more likely to support, and vote for, Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election than were those who fathered sons as their first child? Second, were Clinton’s direct appeals to fathers of daughters effective in increasing her electoral support? We find that fathers who have daughters as their first child are more likely to prefer and vote for Clinton, and are more likely to support a fictional female congressional candidate using a “Clintonesque” appeal that emphasizes expanding opportunities for “our daughters.” These results suggest that entry into fatherhood with a daughter (as opposed to with a son) is a formative experience for men that has consequences for their political choices in later life. Our conclusions inform the growing literature on the implications of fathering daughters on men’s political behavior.
Image Preprocessing for Stereoscopic Visual Odometry at Night

Cameras are a primary sensor for many robotics perception tasks. However, cameras' performance degrades in low-light conditions. In this paper, we propose a simple preprocessing pipeline to enhance captured images in low-light conditions. This pipeline is developed with visual odometry application in outdoor environments in mind. The pipeline is evaluated on a manually collected dataset and compared to the base case with no preprocessing applied.
Measurement of Carrier Dynamics in Photovoltaic CZTSe by Time-Resolved Terahertz Spectroscopy

We demonstrate the use of time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy coupled with numerical modeling of the transport equations to elucidate photoexcited carrier dynamics in a photovoltaic absorber. By measuring a high-quality CU 2 ZnSnSe 4 single crystal that exhibited device efficiency of 8.6%, we show that critical parameters including mobility, surface recombination velocity, and Shockley-Read-Hall lifetime can be obtained. Mobility values of 80 cm2/Vs were validated with Hall effect measurements. Surface recombination velocity could be reduced by at least two orders of magnitude, to $\pmb{10^{4}}\mathbf{cm}/\mathbf{s}$ , with appropriate chemical and mechanical polishing. Carrier lifetimes exceeding 10ns indicate promise for devices with high photovoltage. Terahertz spectroscopy provides complementary insight to conventional time-resolved photoluminescence and is particularly valuable for materials that are not strongly emissive.
How to be a maker 2: Sparrows in, squirrels out

If squirrels are stealing the bird food, Hannah Joshua's discerning feeder will stop them in their tracks
Dynalogo: an interactive sequence logo with dynamic thresholding of matched quantitative proteomic data.

Summary Current web-based sequence logo analyses for studying domain-peptide interactions are often conducted only on high affinity binders due to conservative data thresholding. We have developed Dynalogo, a combination of threshold varying tool and sequence logo generator written in the R statistical programming language, which allows on-the-fly visualization of binding specificity over a wide range of affinity interactions. Hence researchers can easily explore their dataset without the constraint of an arbitrary threshold. After importing quantitative data files, there are various data filtering and visualizing features available. Using a threshold control, users can easily track the dynamic change of enrichment and depletion of amino acid characters in the sequence logo panel. The built-in export function allows downloading filtered data and graphical outputs for further analyses. Dynalogo is optimized for analysis of modular domain-peptide binding experiments but the platform offers a broader application including quantitative proteomics. Availability and implementation Dynalogo application, user manual and sample data files are available at https://dynalogo.cam.uchc.edu. The source code is available at https://github.com/lafontaine-uchc/dynalogo. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Light-Directed Organization of Polymer Materials from Photoreactive Formulations†

This perspective presents a recently developed approach to organize polymer and polymer composite materials through a new form of light-directed organization of photoreactive polymeric media. Under...
Applying Telehealth Technologies and Strategies to Provide Acute Care Consultation and Treatment of Patients With Confirmed or Possible COVID-19

Background and purpose The COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow, with 19% of total confirmed patients classified as severe or critical experiencing complications such as dyspnea, hypoxia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or multiorgan failure. These complications require rehabilitative care. Considering the contagious nature of COVID-19 and the necessity to decrease the volume of health care professionals entering confirmed COVID-19 patient rooms and becoming a potential disease vector, can audiovisual technologies employed by telehealth and telerehabilitation help? Case description This case discusses the Baylor Scott and White Institute for Rehab (BSWIR) Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) department COVID-19 acute care therapy team's creation of a telehealth strategy to provide early rehabilitative intervention without increasing the odds of disease transmission. Outcomes The COVID-19 therapy team created a simple process for identifying and triaging care for patients with possible or confirmed COVID-19. These patients were evaluated and treated by the dedicated team using telehealth strategies. A structured risk-benefit analysis was used to determine when in-room care was indicated. Discussion Acute care physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology telehealth strategies can add value by mitigating COVID-19-related harm and influencing recovery, while not unnecessarily becoming additional disease vectors consuming personal protective equipment. COVID-19 is not only an aggressive respiratory illness similar to acute respiratory distress syndrome but also highly contagious and a risk for health care providers. Telehealth strategies allow therapists to intervene early, opening the possibility to maximize recovery and prevent harm or decompensation. Telehealth strategies can be more prevention-focused while the patient is experiencing relatively good health with goals to maximize strength and endurance before the disease process evolves to critical illness. As COVID-19 progresses, therapy can help mitigate potential complications associated with prolonged intensive care unit stay and ventilator management.
Structure and Rheology of Se-I Glasses and Supercooled Liquids

Abstract The structural evolution and shear relaxation behavior of binary Se100-xIx (0 ≤ x ≤ 3) glasses and supercooled liquids are investigated using Raman spectroscopy and parallel plate rheometry, respectively. The spectroscopic results indicate cleavage and termination of Se polymeric chains by I atoms via the formation of Se-I bonds, leading to shortening of the average chain length with progressive addition of I atoms. Moreover, at I contents of ≥ 2%, a fraction of the I atoms forms I2 dimers. The results from rheometry demonstrate that the structural relaxation rates associated with the fast segmental chain motion and the slow bond scission/renewal dynamics in Se100-xIx liquids increase upon addition of I, with the shortening of the chain length. The increased configurational degrees of freedom of shorter selenium chains leads to a decrease in the isothermal viscosity, Tg and the packing efficiency and an increase in fragility in liquids with higher I content.
Regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase: relevance to Parkinson's disease

Abstract Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the rate-limiting enzyme and one of the most important factors in catecholamine biosynthesis including dopamine (DA). Any change in TH expression or activity has a significant impact on DA production and therefore is of great importance in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. Depending on the duration and intensity of the stimuli triggering TH modulation, this complex and multilevel process is categorized into short and long-term changes in which TH synthesis and activity, respectively, are affected. In this chapter, each of these modulating pathways is explained in detail.
Using machine learning and liquid crystal droplets to identify and quantify endotoxins from different bacterial species.

Detection and quantification of bacterial endotoxins is important in a range of health-related contexts, including during pharmaceutical manufacturing of therapeutic proteins and vaccines. Here we combine experimental measurements based on nematic liquid crystalline droplets and machine learning methods to show that it is possible to classify bacterial sources (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella minnesota) and quantify concentration of endotoxin derived from all three bacterial species present in aqueous solution. The approach uses flow cytometry to quantify, in a high-throughput manner, changes in the internal ordering of micrometer-sized droplets of nematic 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl triggered by the endotoxins. The changes in internal ordering alter the intensities of light side-scattered (SSC, large-angle) and forward-scattered (FSC, small-angle) by the liquid crystal droplets. A convolutional neural network (Endonet) is trained using the large data sets generated by flow cytometry and shown to predict endotoxin source and concentration directly from the FSC/SSC scatter plots. By using saliency maps, we reveal how EndoNet captures subtle differences in scatter fields to enable classification of bacterial source and quantification of endotoxin concentration over a range that spans eight orders of magnitude (0.01 pg mL−1 to 1 μg mL−1). We attribute changes in scatter fields with bacterial origin of endotoxin, as detected by EndoNet, to the distinct molecular structures of the lipid A domains of the endotoxins derived from the three bacteria. Overall, we conclude that the combination of liquid crystal droplets and EndoNet provides the basis of a promising analytical approach for endotoxins that does not require use of complex biologically-derived reagents (e.g., Limulus amoebocyte lysate).
Onset hyperalgesia and offset analgesia: Transient increases or decreases of noxious thermal stimulus intensity robustly modulate subsequent perceived pain intensity

Reported pain intensity depends not only on stimulus intensity but also on previously experienced pain. A painfully hot temperature applied to the skin evokes a lower subjective pain intensity if immediately preceded by a higher temperature, a phenomenon called offset analgesia. Previous work indicated that prior pain experience can also increase subsequent perceived pain intensity. Therefore, we examined whether a given noxious stimulus is experienced as more intense when it is preceded by an increase from a lower temperature. Using healthy volunteer subjects, we observed a disproportionate increase in pain intensity at a given stimulus intensity when this intensity is preceded by a rise from a lower intensity. This disproportionate increase is similar in magnitude to that of offset analgesia. We call this effect onset hyperalgesia. Control stimuli, in which a noxious temperature is held constant, demonstrate that onset hyperalgesia is distinct from receptor or central sensitization. The absolute magnitudes of offset analgesia and onset hyperalgesia correlate with each other but not with the noxious stimulus temperature. Finally, the magnitude of both offset analgesia and onset hyperalgesia depends on preceding temperature changes. Overall, this study demonstrates that the perceptual effect of a noxious thermal stimulus is influenced in a bidirectional manner depending upon both the intensity and direction of change of the immediately preceding thermal stimulus.
Evaluation of Environmental Conditions on Self-Selected Work and Heat Stress in Wildland Firefighting

Introduction The purpose of this study was to evaluate heat stress occurring in wildfire management activities with variable environmental conditions. Methods Direct observation and real-time wireless physiological monitoring allowed for weather and physiological metrics, including heart rate, core temperature (Tc), skin temperature, and physiological strain index (PSI), of male (n=193) and female (n=28) wildland firefighters (WLFFs) to be recorded during wildfire management activities. Accelerometry data were used to categorize intensity level of activity. Results Ambient temperature and relative humidity values were used to compute the heat index (HI; n=3891 h) and divided into quartiles (Q1: 13.3–25.1°C; Q2: 25.2–26.4°C; Q3: 26.5–28.9°C; Q4: 29.0–49.1°C). Activity levels remained relatively constant across all HI quartiles. The percentage of time spent performing moderate/vigorous activities was lowest during the hotter Q4 (Q1: 3%; Q2: 2%; Q3: 2%; Q4: 1%). Heart rate, Tc, PSI, and skin temperature associations with HI varied by resource type. Sixty-one percent of WLFFs (n=134) experienced a Tc ≥38.0°C, and 50% of WLFFs (n=111) experienced a PSI ≥6.0. Conclusions Heat stress was prevalent as WLFFs performed job tasks of varying intensities in all ambient conditions. Spontaneous bouts of arduous labor, duration of work shifts, and other occupation characteristics present the possibility for substantial durations of hyperthermia, although no heat-related injuries occurred in this study. Despite chronic exposure to rugged sloped terrain, load carriage, and environmental conditions, self-regulation and individual attention to managing work:rest appears to be the primary management strategy in mitigating excessive accumulation of body heat in this occupation.
Crypto-punditry and the media neutrality crisis

This article describes the corrosive practice of “crypto-punditry,” whereby subjective analysis is smuggled into media coverage under the guise of objective reporting. In search of a neutral basis ...
When fat talks, the gut listens: IRONing out metabolism.

In a new study, Zhang et al. (2021) show that reducing iron levels in adipose tissue improves metabolic function. This occurs through an interorgan communication system where signals from the adipocyte reduce intestinal lipid absorption.
The Ten Thousand Leaves: A Translation of the Man'yōshū, Japan's Premier Anthology of Classical Poetry. Vol. 1. Translated by Ian Hideo Levy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1981. 409 pp. Photographs, Index of Poets. $25.

The Description for this book, The Ten Thousand Leaves: A Translation of Man'yoshu, Japan's Premier Anthology of Classical Poetry: Volume I, will be forthcoming.
Cellular Reactions to Blood Flow

Recent investigations on mechanisms, through which a hemodynamic role in atherogenesis might be mediated, have focused on the influence of wall shear stress on vascular endothelium. Through cell culture studies, much is now known about endothelial responses to shear stress; however, a number of basic questions remain unanswered. One such question is “how does an endothelial cell recognize and then transduce a fluid mechanic signal?” Also, other cell types are also involved in the development of atherosclerosis, and it is equally important that an understanding of the influence of mechanical stresses on these cell types be achieved.
Why Sex? Putting Theory to the Test

What makes sex so alluring from an evolutionary standpoint? Most theories suggest that sex and recombination remove harmful mutations or allow new combinations of genes to come together, providing more opportunities for improved fitness and offering the flexibility to adapt to new environments. Biologists are finding new ways to test these theories, observing populations in the wild and in the lab and counting mutation rates in organisms from flies to humans, but proving that they are actually operating in the natural world remains a challenge.
Sex Offender Civil Commitment: The Treatment Paradox

Twenty-one states and the federal government have civil commitment schemes that provide for the further confinement of sex offenders after they have completed their prison sentences. These schemes survive constitutional scrutiny on the grounds that they are not a second prison sentence, but rather serve the non-criminal ends of protecting society and helping treat violent sex offenders. The underlying legislation confirms the treatment objective by elaborating statutory guidelines for treatment programs.
Simplifying multiple motion and structure analysis using planar parallax and image warping

Presents a formulation for 3D motion and structure analysis using motion parallax defined with respect to an arbitrary plane in the environment. It is shown that if an image coordinate system is warped using plane projective transformation with respect to a reference view, the residual image motion is dependent only on the epipoles and has a simple relation to the 3D structure. Our computational scheme avoids point/line correspondence and is based on hierarchical estimation and image warping working directly with spatiotemporal image intensities. Results on real images demonstrate how this analysis can be used to simplify ego and object motion segmentation. >
Investing in Democracy: Engaging Citizens in Collaborative Governance - By Carmen Sirianni.

A review of the book "Investing in Democracy: Engaging Citizens in Collaborative Governance," by Carmen Sirianni is presented.
Agar Plaque Formation by Mouse Spleen Cells in Response to Vaccination with Vi Antigen and Typhoid Vaccines

Vi-containing Salmonella typhosa organisms were resistant to killing by immune spleen cells in the presence of complement even when the cells were producing Vi antibody.
Multivariate genetic analysis of an oligogenic disease.

Joint multivariate segregation and linkage analysis provides a method for simultaneously analyzing data on affection status, correlated phenotypic traits, environmental risk factors, and other covariates. The power of this approach for mapping disease susceptibility loci of small effect (oligogenes) was evaluated by analyzing the GAW9 Problem 2 data set. The program REGRESS, which assumes a pleiotropy model in which one locus influences both affection status (AF) and a quantitative trait, was used to conduct joint segregation and linkage analysis of bivariate phenotypes, each comprising AF and one quantitative trait (Q2,Q3,Q4). A genome-wide search using markers spaced approximately 10 cM apart was conducted and regions on chromosomes 1, 2, and 5 were identified as demonstrating linkage with three respective bivariate phenotypes at the following markers: AF/Q2 - D1G2; AF/Q3 - D2G10; and AF/Q4 - D5G18. The effects of other loci were included in a general model by specifying the quantitative traits they influenced as covariates along with age, sex, and an environmental effect. Use of covariate and quantitative trait data in each analysis resulted in respective χ2 values with 1 df of 38.4, 65.4, and 22.0 to reject the no linkage hypothesis at = 0, with respective equivalent lod scores of 8.3, 14.2, and 4.8. Rejection at p < 0.0002 occurred using markers as far away as 20 cM. These loci were not detected when AF alone was analyzed. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Underreporting in Psychology Experiments Evidence From a Study Registry

Many scholars have raised concerns about the credibility of empirical findings in psychology, arguing that the proportion of false positives reported in the published literature dramatically exceeds the rate implied by standard significance levels. A major contributor of false positives is the practice of reporting a subset of the potentially relevant statistical analyses pertaining to a research project. This study is the first to provide direct evidence of selective underreporting in psychology experiments. To overcome the problem that the complete experimental design and full set of measured variables are not accessible for most published research, we identify a population of published psychology experiments from a competitive grant program for which questionnaires and data are made publicly available because of an institutional rule. We find that about 40% of studies fail to fully report all experimental conditions and about 70% of studies do not report all outcome variables included in the questionna...
Dispersion of an atomic, giant-dipole resonance.

The dispersion of the collective excitation in the n = 4 shells of xenon has been calculated, including all significant partial-wave contributions, by a time-dependent, self-consistent-field method. The calculation reveals details of the physical mechanism that produces the dispersion. The calculated dispersion coefficient is compared with experimental results.
Psychiatric issues in toxic exposures

Military, occupational, and environmental events can cause toxic injuries that require psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. This article reviews the psychiatric effects of neurotoxins, including nerve gases, ionizing radiation, insecticides, heavy metals, solvents, and other toxic agents. Diagnostic considerations and clinical tests for further evaluation of the numerous psychiatric conditions and symptoms caused by toxic exposures are discussed.
Single intermetallic compound formation in Pd-Pb and Pd-Sn thin-film couples studied by X-ray diffraction

Interfacial reaction has been found to occur at room temperature in both Pd-Pb and Pd-Sn thin-film couples, and the compounds formed are PdPb2 and PdSn4, respectively. Structural information and compound formation rate were obtained by X-ray diffraction. These reactions indicate single-compound formation in thin-film diffusion couples and the prediction of the first compound phase to grow in a diffusion couple is discussed.
Exploring genome-wide DNA methylation profiles altered in hepatocellular carcinoma using Infinium HumanMethylation 450 BeadChips

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence has increased in the US and also has one of the fastest growing death rates of any cancer. The purpose of the current study was to discover novel genome-wide aberrant DNA methylation patterns in HCC tumors that are predominantly HCV-related. Infinium HumanMethylation 450K BeadChip arrays were used to examine genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in 66 pairs of HCC tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues. After Bonferroni adjustment, a total of 130,512 CpG sites significantly differed in methylation level in tumor compared with non-tumor tissues, with 28,017 CpG sites hypermethylated and 102,495 hypomethylated in tumor tissues. Absolute tumor/non-tumor methylation differences ≥ 20% were found in 24.9% of the hypermethylated and 43.1% of the hypomethylated CpG sites; almost 10,000 CpG sites have ≥ 30% DNA methylation differences. Most (60.1%) significantly hypermethylated CpG sites are located in CpG islands, with 21.6% in CpG shores and 3.6% in shelves. In contrast, only a small proportion (8.2%) of significantly hypomethylated CpG sites are situated in islands, while most are found in open sea (60.2%), shore (17.3%) or shelf (14.3%) regions. A total of 2,568 significant CpG sites (2,441 hypermethylated and 127 hypomethylated) covering 589 genes are located within 684 differentially methylated regions defined as regions with at least two significant CpG sites displaying > 20% methylation differences in the same direction within 250-bp. The top 500 significant CpG sites can significantly distinguish HCC tumor from adjacent tissues with one misclassification. Within adjacent non-tumor tissues, we also identified 75 CpG sites significantly associated with gender, 228 with HCV infection, 17,207 with cirrhosis, and 56 with both HCV infection and cirrhosis after multiple comparisons adjustment. Aberrant DNA methylation profiles across the genome were identified in tumor tissues from US HCC cases that are predominantly related to HCV infection. These results demonstrate the significance of aberrant DNA methylation in HCC tumorigenesis.
Detection and typing of human papilloma virus in the oral mucosa of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus

Summary Recent studies have shown an increased risk of oral warts in HIV+ individuals despite treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection has attracted a great deal of attention, not just because of the difficulty of managing oral warts but also because of the oncogenic potential of certain strains, in particular HPV-16 and -18, which have been detected in 20–30% of oral squamous cell carcinomas. Between 1999 and 2004, DNA extraction was performed using a multiplex PCR reaction to detect and type HPV in 12 HIV-positive adult with a clinicopathologic diagnosis of Oral Warts. HPV was detected in 11 of the 12 orals warts. HPV-32 was present in all subjects, whereas only one subject had a co-infection of HPV-32 and -7. Future studies should examine the specific roles of these specific HPV types and whether a potential link exists for oral premalignant lesions.
The effects of lithium on the permeability of an epithelial membrane, the toad urinary bladder.

Abstract 1. 1. Li+ reduces the short-circuit current (Na+ transport) across the toad urinary bladder in vitro when present at the serosal (blood) or mucosal (urine) side. The latter may reflect an action in the mammalian renal tubule consistent with the diuresis which initially accompanies administration of Li2CO3. 2. 2. The increase of short-circuit current seen in the presence of vasopressin is reduced by Li+. However, the natriferic response to cyclic AMP is also prevented while that to theophylline is unaffected. Thus Li+ does not appear to be acting by inhibiting adenyl cyclase. 3. 3. The effect of amphotericin B on short-circuit current was undiminished by Li+. 4. 4. The vasopressin stimulated increase in osmotic water transfer across the bladder was unchanged by the presence of Li+.
On Bayesian Analysis of Generalized Linear Models Using the Jacobian Technique

In this article, we obtain an estimator of the regression parameters for generalized linear models, using the Jacobian technique. We restrict ourselves to the natural exponential family for the response variable and choose the conjugate prior for the natural parameter. Using the Jacobian of transformation, we obtain the posterior distribution for the canonical link function and thereby obtain the posterior mode for the link. Under the full rank assumption for the covariate matrix, we then find an estimator for the regression parameters for the natural exponential family. Then the proposed estimator is specially derived for the Poisson model with log link function, and the binomial response model with the logit link function. We also discuss extensions to the binomial response model when covariates are all positive. Finally, an illustrative real-life example is given for the Poisson model with log link. In order to estimate the standard error of our estimators, we use the Bernstein-von Mises theorem. Final...
Local phase transitions from off-to on-center defects under hydrostatic pressure, studied with optical and dielectric techniques

The shallow multi-well potential of several low symmetry off-center point-defects in alkali-halides can be tuned by hydrostatic pressure into a centro-symmetric single-well potential. This has been monitored in KCl: Li+, RbCl: Ag, RbBr: Ag+ and NaBr: Cu+ by the real and imaginary dielectric response of the off-center dipoles and partly by the forbidden d → s uv transitions (which get partially allowed in the odd parity off-center potential). Both properties display a rather abrupt disappearance of the off-center dipole moment at a critical pressure, characteristic for each defect system. The dielectric data show the corresponding decrease of the orientational barrier, leading eventually to tuning from classical into tunneling behavior, and for KCl: Li+ to a pronounced increase of the tunneling splitting.
Further reflections on evaluation misutilization

Studies in Educational Evaluation Studies in Educational Evaluation l-10 FURTHER REFLECTIONS ON EVALUATION MISUTILIZATION Christina A. Christie and Marvin C. Alkin Graduate School of Education and fnformation Studies University of California, Los Angeles While the conversation on misutilization is grounded in ethical issues, it differs from typical discussions of program evaluation ethics. Most of the evaluation ethics literature focuses on the practices and principles of the evaluator. Misutilization examines evaluation ethics through a different lens. Here, we consider the ethics of those using the evaluation, be it the commissioning of an evaluation, the evaluation process itself, or the evaluation findings. Perhaps the focus on ethical considerations of the user rather than the evaluator provides a plausible explanation for the sporadic attention which misutilization has received in the literature. Utilization Roots Researchers’ interests in understanding evaluation utilization have evolved over the years. Consideration of evaluation use was stimulated by Weiss’ (1972b) influential article, Utilization of Evaluation: Toward Comparative Study. Alkin, Koescoff, Fitz-Gibbon, and Seligman (1974) further examined the issue and a subsequent study by Patton, et al. (1977) sparked a number of additional research investigations by Alkin, Daillak, and White, (e.g., 1979), Braskamp, Brown, and Newman (e.g., 1978), King and Pechman (e.g., 1982) and others. These earlier theoretical discussions of utilization focused on describing and categorizing the dimensions, variables, and complexity of use. Much of the inquiry surrounding utilization has focused on predictors of use, the factors that affect use, and the context and conditions in which use can be optimized. 0191-491X/99/$ - see front matter PII: SO191-491X(99)00006-1 0 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Colloidal CdSe quantum dot electroluminescence: ligands and light-emitting diodes

We examine the effects of surface ligand exchange on the performance of hybrid organic/inorganic light emitting diodes (LEDs) that use colloidal nanocrystal quantum dots as emissive centers. Using a series of primary alkylamines with different alkane chain lengths, we exchange the native surface ligands on a series of CdSe/CdZnS/ZnS core/shell/shell nanocrystal quantum dots and compare the differences in photoluminescence and electroluminescence efficiency of the emissive quantum dot layer. We fabricate LEDs made with octadecylamine-, octylamine-, and butylamine-exchanged quantum dots. We find that the differences in electroluminescence efficiency of the devices are not always proportional to the photoluminescence quantum efficiency of the quantum dots. We discuss this trend both in terms of the competing needs of high photoluminescence efficiency and good charge injection and energy transfer, and also in terms of the different processability and film morphology arising from the use of nanoparticles passivated with shorter ligands.
Estimating Complexity of 2D Shapes

This paper deals with the problem of estimating 2D shape complexity. This has important applications in computer vision as well as in developing efficient shape classification algorithms. We define shape complexity using correlates of Kolmogorov complexity-entropy measures of global distance and local angle, and a measure of shape randomness. We tested our algorithm on synthetic and real world datasets with excellent results. We also conducted user studies that indicate that our measure is highly correlated with human perception. They also reveal an intuitive shape sensitivity curve-simple shapes are easily distinguished by small complexity variations, while complex shapes require significant complexity differences to be differentiated
Tax Shelters in Agriculture: An Example for Beef Breeding Herds

ANY high-income investors deduct substantial farming losses from their nonfarm incomes. Farmers have expressed concern over competing with operations which do not need to show an operating profit. Their concern has been registered by Senator Metcalf (D-Montana), who has introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate to limit the use of farming losses to reduce taxes on nonfarm income [6, p. 37]. What are the tax advantages of incurring operating losses from a farm investment? This paper will analyze the after-tax returns for a tax-sheltered investment in beef breeding cattle. It will show how investors in high-income tax brackets profit while incurring apparent large cash losses from their investment. It will also demonstrate that taxpayers in the highest marginal tax brackets have the greatest incentive to locate investments, such as breeding cattle, which offer some tax shelter. An essential feature of a tax-sheltered investment is the opportunity to realize capital appreciation. This appreciation may be the result of generally rising values or it may be due to property improvements which can be deducted from taxable income as an ordinary expense.' Beef breeding cattle fall in the latter category. Livestock held for breeding purposes for more than 12 months are considered capital assets and any gain is taxed at a maximum rate of 25 percent. Costs of raising breeding cattle are a deductible expense and purchased breeding stock are depreciable property. Table 1 presents a model budget for an investment in 100 beef breeding cows for a six-year period. A management company purchases bred cows for an investor, places them on a ranch under a maintenance contract, and manages the investment for a fee of 8.5 percent of gross cash expenditures.2 The investor makes a down payment of 10 percent on the cows. He must prepay interest on the cattle mortgage and also prepay the
MUSICAL PREFERENCES AS A FUNCTION OF STIMULUS COMPLEXITY AND LISTENERS' SOPHISTICATION

Two groups of college students, 20 with fewer than two years of musical training and 20 with extensive musical backgrounds, rated their preferences for piano recordings of J. S. Bach's “Prelude and Fugue in C Major,” Claude Debussy's “The Maid With the Flaxen Hair,” Edvard Grieg's “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen,” and Pierre Boulez's “Piano Sonata No. 1, 2nd Movement.” Each piece had been ranked according to perceived complexity by seven music professors. When personal preference was plotted against complexity, an inverted-U curve was obtained. These data corroborate the 1874 position of Wilhelm Wundt and others. Average liking was significantly higher among musically sophisticated subjects, due primarily to differences between their ratings and those of the nonsophisticated subjects for the pieces by Debussy and Boulez. This suggests that musical sophistication might increase preference, particularly for modern pieces in which complexity is greatest.
A THREE MONTHS OLD STRAIN OF EPITHELIUM

1. A strain of pure epithelial cells was obtained from the part of the iris which adheres to the extirpated lens. 2. The optimum condition under which epithelial cells grow in vitro is on the free surface of the plasma clot under a film of embryonic tissue juice. 3. The epithelial cells did not dedifferentiate. Although the strain is 3 months old, they grow as a pavement membrane and have kept their epithelial characteristics.
A Comprehensive Strategy For Removing Multiples And Depth Imaging Primaries Without Subsurface Information: Direct Horizontal Common Image Gathers Without the Velocity Or "ironing"

In AVO (Amplitude Variation with Offset) analysis, the amplitudes of reflected waves with different incident angles are studied to deduce lithology information beyond the structure map obtained by seismic imaging algorithms. The quantitative analysis of the amplitude, relies on common-image gathers being flat (or equivalently, at the same depth). But the waves with different incident angles will have different apparent velocities, resulting in different depths for the same image point at different angles, or non-flat common image gathers. In many scenarios, non-flat common-image gather was flattened by trim means at the cost of compromising zero-crossing and polarity-reversal information. This work presents a solution based on the seismic imaging subseries of the inverse scattering series (ISS) that flattens the common image gather without knowing or determining the subsurface velocity, and without any harmful amplitude consequencies.
Television and Perceived Peer Expectations of Body Size Among African American Adolescent Girls

ABSTRACT Survey data collected from 61 African American adolescent girls explored body mass index as a moderator of the relationship between girls' ideal-body television exposure and their perceptions of how same-sex peers expect them to look. For larger-bodied girls, ideal-body television viewing predicted the belief that female peers expect them to be smaller. For smaller-bodied girls, ideal-body television viewing predicted the belief that female peers expect them to be larger. These findings point to a moderate body size ideal for African American girls and are consistent with assumptions underlying the influence of presumed influence model and the mainstreaming process outlined in cultivation theory.
Skill Acquisition: Compilation of Weak-Method Problem Solutions.

Abstract : Cognitive skills are encoded by a set of productions, which are organized according to a hierarchical goal structure. People solve problems in new domains by applying weak problem-solving procedures to declarative knowledge they have about this domain. From these initial problem solutions, production rules are compiled which are specific to that domain and that use of the knowledge. Numerous experimental results follow from this conception of skill organization and skill acquisition. These experiments include predictions about transfer among skills, differential improvement on problem types, effects of working memory limitations, and applications to instruction. The theory implies that all variety of skill acquisition, including that typically regarded as inductive, conforms to this characterization. Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Cognitive science; Skill acquisition; Production system; LISP.
Electron Transfer Dynamics in Rhodobacter sphaeroides Reaction Center Mutants with a Modified Ligand for the Monomer Bacteriochlorophyll on the Active Side

The histidine ligand of the monomer bacteriochlorophyll molecule on the active side (BA) of the photosynthetic reaction center from Rhodobacter sphaeroides was mutated to a number of other amino acids. Histidine (H) at the position L153 was replaced with aspartic acid (D), glutamic acid (E), glutamine (Q), glycine (G), leucine (L), phenylalanine (F), serine (S), valine (V) and tyrosine (Y). These mutations were created to investigate how the alteration of the ligand residue affects the properties of the BA molecule and changes the dynamics of the primary charge separation in reaction centers. In all of the mutants, the changes in the ligand result in a blue-shift of the BA absorption spectrum, in both visible and near-infrared spectral regions, with the size of the shift varying between mutants. The primary electron transfer time constants in these mutant reaction centers range from 4.5 to 18 ps, being substantially slower than the wild-type value of 3 ps. The decrease in the electron transfer rate is interpreted as being due to an increase in the free energy of the initial charge-separated state P+BA−.
FECAL ADENOVIRUSES (FAd) FROM A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF FAMILIES IN METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON DC: LABORATORY, CLINICAL & EPIDEMIOLOGICALOBSERVATIONS

FECAL ADENOVIRUSES (FAd) FROM A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF FAMILIES IN METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON DC: LABORATORY, CLINICAL & EPIDEMIOLOGICALOBSERVATIONS
Primary and Secondary Processes in the Photodissociation of CHBr3

The photodissociation of CHBr3 at 193 nm has been investigated using photofragment translational spectroscopy with VUV ionization detection. The only primary process observed was the loss of bromine atom. The translational energy distribution for this channel suggests a direct dissociation from an excited electronic state, and the anisotropy parameter, β = 0.0, is consistent with a transition dipole moment aligned perpendicular to the C3v axis. The majority of nascent CHBr2 fragments undergo secondary dissociation via two competing channels. The elimination of HBr and C−Br bond cleavage in CHBr2 occur with comparable yields. We also provide ab initio calculations on the relevant photochemical species and RRKM estimates of the product branching ratios that are consistent with the experimental observations.