cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Developmental considerations for determining appropriate Internet use guidelines for children and adolescents

A request from the National Academies to prepare a presentation for a Workshop on Non-Technical Strategies to Protect Youth from Inappropriate Material on the Internet occurred before much was known about children, youth, and the Internet. The author’s strategy was to investigate websites that cater to children and adolescents. The developmental issue of consumer socialization was raised by a visit to the Disney website. In contrast, the developmental issues of sexuality, aggression, and intergroup relations were raised by visits to chat rooms hosted by two different Internet Web portals. Examination of existing research literature, in conjunction with visits to the websites, led to the following conclusions: (1) Many parents are aware of the problems of making children the targets of commerce; however, they are quite unaware of the kind of social and cultural worlds young people are creating online. (2) Children and adolescents are not simply the targets of adult Internet creations; they are active participants in creating their own cybercultures, for example, in teen chat rooms. (3) The nature and norms of these cultures can be very much influenced by adult rules, regulations, and participatory monitoring. (4) The important developmental issues raised by this new medium are not unique to the Internet. For example, each psychosocial phenomenon from consumerism to sexuality to aggression has important manifestations in the culture at large.
Network Service Description and Discovery in Ubiquitous and Pervasive Grids

Communication networks form the basis for supporting various ubiquitous and pervasive grid applications, therefore network service discovery, selection, and composition play a significant role in ubiquitous and pervasive grids. Due to the heterogeneity of networking systems in ubiquitous and pervasive computing environments, network service description and discovery in ubiquitous and pervasive grids face new challenges that require enhancement of current existing grid service discovery technologies. This paper proposes a new approach for describing service capabilities of network services in ubiquitous and pervasive grids and develop a technology for discovering network services that meet the performance requirements of grid applications. The application of network calculus techniques makes the developed technologies independent with the underlying networking platform, thus applicable to heterogeneous network services in ubiquitous and pervasive computing environments. The approach is also scalable to support grid network service composition.
Virtual endoscopic visualization of the colon by shape-scale signatures

We developed a new visualization method for virtual endoscopic examination of computed tomographic (CT) colonographic data by use of shape-scale analysis. The method provides each colonic structure of interest with a unique color, thereby facilitating rapid diagnosis of the colon. Two shape features, called the local shape index and curvedness, are used for defining the shape-scale spectrum. When we map the shape index and curvedness values within CT colonographic data to the shape-scale spectrum, specific types of colonic structures are represented by unique characteristic signatures in the spectrum. The characteristic signatures of specific types of lesions can be determined by use of computer-simulated lesions or by use of clinical data sets subjected to a computerized detection scheme. The signatures are used for defining a two-dimensional color map by assignment of a unique color to each signature region. The method was evaluated visually by use of computer-simulated lesions and clinical CT colonographic data sets, as well as by an evaluation of the human observer performance in the detection of polyps without and with the use of the color maps. The results indicate that the coloring of the colon yielded by the shape-scale color maps can be used for differentiating among the chosen colonic structures. Moreover, the results indicate that the use of the shape-scale color maps can improve the performance of radiologists in the detection of polyps in CT colonography.
Synteny mapping between common bean and soybean reveals extensive blocks of shared loci.

Understanding syntentic relationship between two species is critical to assessing the potential for comparative genomic analysis. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.), the two most important members of the Phaseoleae legumes, appear to have a diploid and polyploidy recent past, respectively. Determining the syntentic relationship between these two species will allow researchers to leverage not only genomic resources but also genetic data for important agronomic traits to improve both of these species. Genetically-positioned transcript loci of common bean were mapped relative to the recent soybean 1.01 pseudochromosome assembly. In nearly every case, each common bean locus mapped to two loci in soybean, a result consistent with the duplicate polyploidy history of soybean. Blocks of synteny averaging 32 cM in common bean and 4.9 Mb in soybean were observed for all 11 common bean linkage groups, and these blocks mapped to all 20 soybean pseudochromosomes. The median physical-to-genetic distance ratio in common bean (based on soybean physical distances) was ~120 kb/cM. ~15,000 common bean sequences (primarily EST contigs and EST singletons) were electronically positioned onto the common bean map using the shared syntentic blocks as references points. The collected evidence from this mapping strongly supports the duplicate history of soybean. It further provides evidence that the soybean genome was fractionated and reassembled at some point following the duplication event. These well mapped syntentic relationships between common bean and soybean will enable researchers to target specific genomic regions to discover genes or loci that affect phenotypic expression in both species.
Sustaining Youth Participation in a Long-Term Tobacco Control Initiative: Consideration of a Social Justice Perspective.

This article presents an in-depth case study of the Healthy Options for Prevention and Education Coalition’s Teens Tackle Tobacco initiative, a 3-year community-based participatory research (CBPR) project about the distribution of tobacco vendors and tobacco advertising in Worcester, Massachusetts. Using two theoretical frameworks, positive youth development (PYD) and social justice youth development (SJYD), the case reveals personal and community conditions that drove youth to get engaged in this project, how CBPR guided the group’s research and action strategy, and results of the work to date. Analysis of this case highlights factors that facilitate and pose barriers to active youth involvement in a long-term, tobacco-related community change initiative. Specifically, to affect oppressive community conditions, a blend of PYD’s focus on individual skill building, participation, and empowerment— joined with SJYD emphasis on community organizing and building youth’s self-awareness of how race, class, and o...
Normal Distribution Tolerance Limits for Stratified Random Samples

This article provides methods for computing tolerance limits from a stratified random sample. It is assumed that the characteristic of interest is normally distributed within each stratum and that the within-stratum variances are equal. Approximate β-expectation and β-content tolerance limits are proposed for the population. The adequacy of the proposed limits is evaluated via simulation.
On debugging rule sets when reasoning under uncertainty

Heuristic inference rules with a measure of strength less than certainty have an unusual property: better individual rules do not necessarily lead to a better overall rule set. All less-than-certain rules contribute evidence towards erroneous conclusions for some problem instances, and the distribution of these erroneous conclusions over the instances is not necessarily related to individual rule quality. This has important consequences for automatic machine learning of rules, since rule selection is usually based on measures of quality of individual rules. In this paper, we explain why the most obvious and intuitively reasonable solution to this problem, incremental modification and deletion of rules responsible for wrong conclusions a la Teiresias, is not always appropriate. In our experience, it usually fails to converge to an optimal set of rules. Given a set of heuristic rules, we explain why the the best rule set should be considered to be the element of the power set of rules that yields a global minimum error with respect to generating erroneous positive and negative conclusions. This selection process is modeled as a bipartite graph minimization problem and shown to be NP-complete. A solution method is described, the Antidote Algorithm, that performs a model-directed search of the rule space. On an example from medical diagnosis, the Antidote Algorithm significantly reduced the number of misdiagnoses when applied to a rule set generated from 104 training instances.
A feasibility and cost comparison of perchloroethylene dry cleaning to professional wet cleaning: case study of Silver Hanger Cleaners, Bellingham, Massachusetts

Abstract The Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) has been working with the dry cleaning sector for over 10 years – focusing on the ultimate goal of eliminating the use of perchloroethylene in this sector due to the availability of less toxic, feasible alternatives. Professional wet cleaning has been identified as one of these alternatives and has been a focus of the Institute in recent years. In 2008, the Institute provided a matching grant to Silver Hanger Cleaners in Bellingham, Massachusetts to convert their operations from perchloroethylene-based to water-based processes. Two years of data have been collected from the facility, reflecting one year of solvent use and one year of dedicated professional wet cleaning. The analysis of that data is presented here, including capital costs, performance data and associated costs, operational costs, and resource use and associated costs.
Treatment of a clivus abscess in a child using image-guidance

Summary Osteomyelitis and abscess of the clivus are rare conditions thought to arise from contiguous spread of infection from the paranasal sinuses [D.L. Hoistad, A.J. Duvall III. Sinusitis with contiguous abscess involvement of the clivus and petrous apices. Case report, Ann. Otol. Rhinol. Laryngol. 108 (1999) 463–466] or the temporal bone and petrous apex [S.A. Aziz, P.B. Fayad, F. Fulbright, M.L. Giroux, S.G. Waxman. Clivus and cervical spinal osteomyelitis with epidural abscess presenting with multiple cranial neuropathies, Clin. Neurol. Neurosurg. 97 (1995) 239–244], but have also been found to occur with no known source [R. Rusconi, S. Bergamaschi, A. Cazzabillan, V. Carnelli. Clivus osteomyelitis secondary to Enterococcus faecium infection in a 6-year-old girl, Int. J. Ped. Otorhinolaryng. 69 (2005) 1265–1268]. This report represents the second case of a clivus abscess in a child and demonstrates an innovative approach to surgical localization and treatment of abscesses in this area and also potentially in the nearby retropharyngeal region.
The unusual meiotic behavior of Elymus Wiegandii

At the onset of meiotic prophase, the meiocytes present a bizarre appearance (Figs. l-4). In ordinary meiosis the loosely reticulate fabric of the resting nucleus appears to ravel out into chromosome threads. Here, however, all the deeply staining part of the reticulum appears to gather, to be stripped from the threads, to coalesce into a number of dark round masses, large and small, and finally to be ejec.ted from the nucleus into the cytoplasm. Sometimes at the ends of fine, tenuous, pale threads, sometimes wholly separated from the nucleus, these pycnotic masses-a few large :or several small ones for each nucleus-lie scattered in the cytoplasm,’ -usually peripherally, and often touching the cell wall and deforming it by their pressure. Usually undifferentiated, these chromatic masses sometimes appear
Blown Away: The Unexpected Role of Lymphotoxin in Lymphoid Organ Development

Lymph nodes (LNs), Peyer’s patches (PPs), and the spleen are command centers for the adaptive immune system, bringing together Ags and immune cells for the initiation of antipathogen offensives. The anatomy of these organs has been studied for over 100 years, and their organization into thymus-
Stabilities, Stoichiometries and Site Occupancies in Hydrides of Intermetallic Compounds

In the literature, one can find numerous attempts to explain the observed stabilities, stoichiometries and site occupancies in hydrides of the various families of intermetallic compounds. Some of the approaches to these problems are critically reviewed here. For some, but not all such hydrides, the stabilities have been shown by different researchers to correlate with the enthalpy for formation of the intermetallic compound, itself, or with cell size, or electronic properties, or elastic properties. It appears, therefore, that all of these effects may play a role, but none is dominant in all cases. The development of the procedure for qualitative and quantitative determinations of H-site occupancy from calculations of enthalpies for the formation of imaginary binary hydrides was reviewed. Such inspection raises the question of possible fortuitous agreement between experimental observations and predictions arising from the technique. The concepts of minimum hole size for H occupation and minimum H-H distance in stable hydrides of metals or intermetallic compounds have been discussed in terms of their importance to preferred H sites and to stoichiometry, and considerations necessary to a geometric model have been outlined. The model is used to rationalize observed H sites and stoichiometry of LaNi5Hx. The review points up the need for theoretical treatment leading to fundamental understanding of such systems.
An Immunological Explanation for the Starry Sky Histological Pattern of a Malignant Lymphoma

A murine malignant lymphoma has been carried in our laboratory both as an in vivo cell passage line in Timco (Texas Inbred Mouse Company, Houston) Swiss mice (line 620) and as established suspension cultures of the lymphoblasts (line 818). This lymphoma was first initiated in a Timco Swiss mouse by a tissue culture line of the Rauscher mouse leukemia virus [1]. In mice inoculated subcutaneously with lymphoma cells, extensive local growth but no distant spread of the tumor occurs [2]. The histological picture of the tumor is characterized by sheets of lymphoblasts interspersed by large phagocytic histiocytes [1, 3]: the "starry sky" pattern. Histologically, this murine lymphoma is similar to human Burkitt's tumor [3]. Electron microscopic studies revealed type C murine leukemia virus particles budding from the lymphoblasts [4]. The "starry sky" zone was formed by large histiocytes phagocytizing lymphoid cells which commonly contained mouse leukemia virus particles [4]. The cultured lymphoblasts display chromosomal sets in the tetraploid range, in contrast to the in vivo cell passage line showing chromosomal sets in the diploid range. Lymphoblasts deriving from the culture grow rapidly as lymphosarcoma in Timco Swiss mice. Electron microscopy reveals type C virus particles budding from the cultured lymphoblasts. Filtrates of the culture fluid of lym-
Where are They Now? USU School of Medicine Graduates After Their Military Obligation is Complete

ABSTRACTThe Uniformed Services University's (USU) F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine was chartered in 1972, with the goal of providing high-quality physicians for the Uniformed Services. In exchange for their education, USU graduates incur an active duty service obligation, after which they may choose to stay on active duty or transition to civilian practice. The purpose of this study is to describe the practice characteristics of USU graduates after this obligation has been completed in order to determine the societal benefits during this phase of their careers. To accomplish this purpose, we performed a retrospective cohort study of the first 20 years of USU graduates (1980–1999). We used the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile to determine the graduates' current practice location and characteristics, as well as their board certification status. Of these 2,760 graduates, nearly all (91%) were involved in active clinical practice in over 100 self-declared specialties, the vast majority (89...
Ultrasonic inspection of multiple-rivet-hole lap joint cracks using global analysis with local finite element approach

Ultrasonic inspection of multiple-rivet-hole lap joint cracks has been introduced using combined analytical and finite element approach (CAFA). Finite element analyses have been performed on local damage area in spite of the whole large structure and transfer function based analytical model is used to analyze the full structure. “Scattered cube” of complex valued wave damage interaction coefficient (WDIC) that involves scattering and mode conversion of Lamb waves around the damage is used as coupling between analytical and FEM simulation. WDIC is captured for multiple angles of incident Lamb mode (S0 and A0) over the frequency domain to analyze the cracks of multiple-rivet-hole lap joint. By analyzing the scattered cube of WDICs over the frequency domain and azimuthal angles the optimum parameters can be determined for each angle of incidence and the most sensitive signals are obtained using WaveformRevealer2D (WFR2D). These sensitive signals confirm the detection of the butterfly cracks in rivet holes through the installment of the transmitting and sensing PWASs in the proper locations and selecting the right frequency of excitation.
The interplay between consumer self-view, cognitive style, and creative visual metaphors in print advertising

AbstractThis paper examines the use of an advertising rhetoric technique – visual metaphor, and its persuasion effects in light of consumers’ cultural and individual dispositional characteristics when processing visually relational information. Of particular interest are the culturally driven self-views and individuals’ cognitive thinking styles. An experimental study involving visual metaphor manipulations in the context of print advertising was conducted. Results showed that, visual metaphor techniques significantly enhanced the persuasion outcomes through consumers’ evaluation of the advertising message and the brand. Both consumers’ self-construal orientation and their analytic-holistic processing style, moderate the effects of visual metaphors in print ads for low-involvement products, but not for high-involvement products. Implications for academics and practitioners, as well as future research directions suggested through the current experiment, are discussed.
Evaluation of Photoacoustic Microscopy Fatigue Crack Detection

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the technique of scanning photoacoustic microscopy (SPAM) for the detection of fatigue cracks in metal alloys, and to describe an experimental arrangement for SPAM measurements on the inner surface of a cylindrical bolt hole. The experimental technique is based upon the physical mechanism of thermal wave imaging and has been described in detail at previous1, 2 Reviews of Progress in Quantitative NDE and elsewhere.3 In this paper we will also present some results of theoretical calculations for thermal wave scattering from closed, slanted cracks which intersect the surface of an opaque solid, and compare these results with our experimental data.
The biogeochemical implications of massive gull flocks at landfills.

Abstract Gulls have long been observed concentrating in flocks of tens to hundreds of thousands at the anthropogenic food sources provided by landfills. Yet, the biogeochemical implications of the landfill gull phenomenon have been largely ignored. This study has two goals: 1) to understand the magnitude and geographic extent of landfill gulls in North America, and 2) to quantify the amount of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) transported from landfills to gull roosting sites in order to understand their potential impacts on water quality and methane (CH 4 ) emission. We synthesized and mapped data from the eBird Citizen Science database and found that 1.4 million gulls have been documented at landfills throughout North America, though the actual population is probably greater than 5 million. Using a carnivorous bird transport model we estimate that these gulls transport 39,000 to 139,000 kg of P and 240,000 to 858,000 kg of N y −1 to neighboring water bodies and avoid roughly 1.1 to 3.9 Tg y −1 of landfill CH 4 emissions. The avoided CH 4 emission mitigation is insignificant in the context of gross landfill emissions, but the transported nutrients may be relevant to water quality management at local and continental scales. For example, at the Jordan Lake reservoir in North Carolina, a flock of 49,000 Ring-billed Gulls ( Larus delawarensis ) annually deposits landfill feces containing 1070 kg P, an amount equivalent to approximately half of total maximum daily load reduction targets and worth roughly $2.2 million USD in nutrient credits. We estimate that continent-wide gull impacts are worth at least $100 million in nutrient offset credits. We conclude that mega-flocks of landfill gulls are common and widespread, and that their capacity to transport nutrients may be contributing to the eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems and water supplies.
New frontiers on open standards for geo-spatial science

AbstractThe process of sharing of data has become easier than ever with the advancement of cloud computing and software tools. However, big challenges remain such as efficient handling of big geospatial data, supporting and sharing of crowd sourced/citizen science data, integration with semantic heterogeneity, and inclusion of agile processes for continuous improvement of geospatial technology. This paper discusses the new frontiers regarding these challenges and the related work performed by the Open Geospatial Consortium, the world leading organization focused on developing open geospatial standards that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless, and location-based services and mainstream IT.
Associations of Time-Related Deployment Variables With Risk of Suicide Attempt Among Soldiers: Results From the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS).

Importance There has been limited systematic examination of whether risk of suicide attempt (SA) among US Army soldiers is associated with time-related deployment variables, such as time in service before first deployment, duration of first deployment, and dwell time (DT) (ie, length of time between deployments). Objective To examine the associations of time-related deployment variables with subsequent SA among soldiers who had deployed twice. Design, Setting, and Participants Using administrative data from January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2009, this longitudinal, retrospective cohort study identified person-month records of active-duty Regular Army enlisted soldiers who had served continuously in the US Army for at least 2 years and deployed exactly twice. The dates of analysis were March 1 to December 1, 2017. There were 593 soldiers with a medically documented SA during or after their second deployment. An equal-probability sample of control person-months was selected from other soldiers with exactly 2 deployments (n = 19 034). Logistic regression analyses examined the associations of time in service before first deployment, duration of first deployment, and DT with subsequent SA. Main Outcomes and Measures Suicide attempts during or after second deployment were identified using US Department of Defense Suicide Event Report records andInternational Classification of Diseases,Ninth Revision,Clinical ModificationE950 to E958 diagnostic codes. Independent variables were constructed from US Army personnel records. Results Among 593 SA cases, most were male (513 [86.5%]), white non-Hispanic (392 [66.1%]), at least high school educated (477 [80.4%]), currently married (398 [67.1%]), and younger than 21 years when they entered the US Army (384 [64.8%]). In multivariable models adjusting for sociodemographics, service-related characteristics, and previous mental health diagnosis, odds of SA during or after second deployment were higher among soldiers whose first deployment occurred within the first 12 months of service vs after 12 months (odds ratio, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.6-2.4) and among those with a DT of 6 months or less vs longer than 6 months (odds ratio, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2-2.0). Duration of first deployment was not associated with subsequent SA. Analysis of 2-way interactions indicated that the associations of early deployment and DT with SA risk were not modified by other characteristics. Multivariable population-attributable risk proportions were 14.2% for deployment within the first 12 months of service and 4.0% for DT of 6 months or less. Conclusions and Relevance Time in service before first deployment and DT are modifiable risk factors for SA risk among soldiers.
Where Have All the Women Gone? Participant Gender in Epidemiological and Non-epidemiological Research of Schizophrenia

Though archival literature states that schizophrenia occurs equally in males and in females, recent epidemiological studies report higher incidence of schizophrenia in men than in women. Moreover, there is longstanding evidence that women may be under-represented in non-epidemiological research literature. Our first goal was to quantify gender ratios in non-epidemiological research published in 2006. Secondly, we sought to investigate which factors contribute to high numbers of men in research studies. Our final goal was to compare gender ratios in non-epidemiological schizophrenia research to reported incidence rates. In a recent meta-analysis of incidence, there were 1.4 males for each female with schizophrenia. In non-epidemiological studies of the schizophrenia patients, there was an average of 1.94 men for every woman. Although the degree to which men outnumbered women varied according to study type and region of study, research studies included more men than women across all investigated variables. Either the incidence rates are higher for men than has previously been reported or women are less visible in research settings than in the greater community. Importantly, the discrepancy between gender ratios in epidemiological and non-epidemiological research is consistent. However, specific, identifiable factors are present when male participants are greatest, suggesting that many research environments yield a higher number of men. Thus much of our understanding of the illness and its treatment is based on research conducted disproportionately with men.
Cross-ratios and Schwarzian Derivatives in Rn

This paper was written several years ago, but no part of it has been published previously. A preprint was distributed to selected experts and seems to have been favorably received. For some time I had hoped to improve on the results of the paper, but as years went by my research took a different direction, and it became implausible that I would add anything significant to the paper as it stands.
Cyber-Attack Forecast Modeling and Complexity Reduction Using a Game-Theoretic Framework

The security community has placed a significant emphasis on developing tools and techniques to address known security issues. Some examples of this emphasis include security tools such as anti-virus software and Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS). This reactive approach to security is effective against novice adversaries (i.e. script kiddies) because they typically use off-the-shelf tools and popular techniques to conduct their attacks. In contrast, the innovative adversaries often devise novel attack vectors and methodologies that can render reactive measures inadequate. These pioneering adversaries have continually pushed the security frontier forward and motivate a need for proactive security approaches. A proactive approach that we pursue in this research is actionable cyber-attack forecasting. The objectives of actionable cyber-attack forecasting are to learn an attacker’s behavioral model, to predict future attacks, and to select appropriate countermeasures. The computational complexity of analyzing attacker models has been an impediment to the realization of reliable cyber-attack forecasting. We address this complexity issue by developing adversary models and corresponding complexity reduction techniques. We then introduce a heuristic for learning behavioral models of potentially deceptive adversaries online. Last, we consider a capture-the-flag problem, formulate the problem as a cybersecurity game with asymmetric information, and demonstrate how the models and techniques developed in this paper can be used to forecast a cyber-attack and recommend appropriate countermeasures.
Lipoxins and resolvins: Local mediators in endogenous anti-inflammation and resolution

Since the early concepts on the importance of the phagocyte in the host defense and inflammation as introduced by Metnivos more than 100 years ago (for which he was awarded the Nobel prize) the focus of research in inflammation was maintained with the credo — elucidate the chemical mediators that could cause/mediate the cardinal signs of inflammation — heat, redness, swelling, pain and loss of function. Inflammation initially involves the recognition of self and non-self by leukocytes. It is now clear that a diverse range of endogenous chemical mediators control these events and orchestrate the host response [1]. These small chemical signals regulate leukocyte traffic as well as the cardinal signs of inflammation. It is well established that the classic eicosanoids such as prostaglandins (PG) and leukotrienes (LT) play important roles and exert a wide range of actions in responses of interest in inflammation [2]. In recent years, the scope and range of chemical mediators identified has expanded considerably [1] to include novel lipid mediators, many new cytokines and chemokines, gases (i.e., nitric oxide and carbon monoxide), and reactive oxygen species as well as new roles for nucleotides as mediators such as adenosine [3, 4, 5] and the most recently uncovered of this class, namely inosine monophosphate (IMP), that also regulates neutrophil (PMN) trafficking [6].
Synaptic Efficacy, Regulation of

Multiple biological signals and mechanisms regulate the efficacy of synaptic transmission, thus providing rich combinatorial possibilities for modifying neural communication. The regulation of synaptic efficacy has been studied particularly well in invertebrate preparations (e.g., Aplysia, Hermissenda, Tritonia, crayfish, and lobster), which permit detailed mechanistic and functional analyses. Simple forms of synaptic regulation include synaptic depression and synaptic facilitation, which decrease and increase transmission, respectively. The regulation of synaptic efficacy also varies by mechanisms of induction—that is, the nature of the neural signals that initiate the synaptic change; by mechanisms of expression, the proximal causes of synaptic changes; by mechanisms of maintenance, the steps involved in their persistence; and by time course. Non-associative induction mechanisms include homosynaptic mechanisms, where the critical activity occurs in the same synapses as are modified, and heterosynaptic mechanisms, where the signals are generated by other cells. Associative inductive mechanisms, which require the conjunction of two or more neural events, include activity-dependent enhancement of presynaptic facilitation and Hebbian facilitation. Four broad categories of mechanisms allow the regulation of synaptic efficacy to span a wide range of temporal domains: (a) transient regulation, which is voltage- and Ca2+-dependent, lasting milliseconds to seconds; (b) short-term regulation, involving second-messenger mediated covalent modifications of pre-existing proteins, typically lasting minutes to an hour; (c) intermediate-term regulation, dependent on protein synthesis, persisting several hours; and (d) long-term regulation, dependent on both RNA synthesis and protein synthesis, persisting for hours and days. Even simple forms of synaptic regulation can have profound consequences on neural function, including not only the weakening or strengthening of input-output pathways, as occurs for example in habituation, sensitization, classical conditioning of the Aplysia gill-and siphon-withdrawal reflex, but also the reconfiguration of multifunctional networks, as occurs in Tritonia escape swimming and the pyloric central pattern generator of the lobster stomatogastric ganglion. Regulation of more qualitative aspects of transmission also occurs, such as regulation of transmitter type and regulation of synaptic plasticity itself (metaplasticity). The regulation of synaptic efficacy represents but one form of neural plasticity, but because it can be synapse-specific, it provides a high degree of precision in the modification of neural pathways.
Einstein’s Conflicting Heuristics: The Discovery of General Relativity

Einstein located the foundations of general relativity in simple and vivid physical principles: the principle of equivalence, an extended principle of relativity and Mach’s principle. While these ideas played an important heuristic role in Einstein’s thinking, they provide a dubious logical foundation for his final theory. Einstein was also guided to his final theory, I argue, by a second tier of more prosaic heuristics. I trace one strand among them. The principle of equivalence guided Einstein well until it led him to a theory that contradicted the conservation of momentum. Einstein converted the requirement of conservation of energy and momentum into a procedure that he used repeatedly for finding gravitational field equations. That procedure survives in present day developments of general relativity.
Russell Index Reconstitutions, Institutional Investors, and Corporate Social Responsibility

My paper discusses four empirical approaches of the Russell 1000/2000 index reconstitutions to identify the effects of institutional investors on firm outcomes. Unbiased empirical approaches suggest that between 1998 and 2006, firms ranked at the top of the Russell 2000 had at most a 2 percentage points higher ownership of passive investors than firms ranked at the bottom of the Russell 1000. There is no significant difference in total institutional ownership around the threshold. Thus, the quasi-experiment can only identify the effects of passive investors. I also find that passive investors have no significant effect on corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The gut microbiome is required for full protection against acute arsenic toxicity in mouse models

Arsenic poisons an estimated 200 million people worldwide through contaminated food and drinking water. Confusingly, the gut microbiome has been suggested to both mitigate and exacerbate arsenic toxicity. Here, we show that the microbiome protects mice from arsenic-induced mortality. Both antibiotic-treated and germ-free mice excrete less arsenic in stool and accumulate more arsenic in organs compared to control mice. Mice lacking the primary arsenic detoxification enzyme (As3mt) are hypersensitive to arsenic after antibiotic treatment or when derived germ-free, compared to wild-type and/or conventional counterparts. Human microbiome (stool) transplants protect germ-free As3mt-KO mice from arsenic-induced mortality, but protection depends on microbiome stability and the presence of specific bacteria, including Faecalibacterium. Our results demonstrate that both a functional As3mt and specific microbiome members are required for protection against acute arsenic toxicity in mouse models. We anticipate that the gut microbiome will become an important explanatory factor of disease (arsenicosis) penetrance in humans, and a novel target for prevention and treatment strategies.
Influence of deposition orientation on fatigue response of LENS™ processed Ti6Al4V

Abstract Understanding processing-property relationships for directed-energy-deposition (DED) parts remains a major roadblock to widespread process implementation. Herein we investigate the effect of scanning-strategy and testing-orientation on the fatigue response of as-printed Ti6Al4V components. At ∼106 cycles, samples tested in the build-direction exhibited ∼45% decrease in fatigue strength relative to the horizontally-tested samples, owing to higher overall porosity and the testing orientation relative to residual pores. Samples failing 106 cycles exhibited smoother-surfaces. Our results indicate that DED-produced parts can exhibit directionally-dependent fatigue performance, and print-strategy must be taken into consideration for dynamic-loading applications.
Effects of Dental Glove Thickness on Tactile Perception Through a Tool

Tactile sensation is essential for dentists in detecting and diagnosing teeth and tissues with a dental tool. Gloves can impair this sensation, but they are crucial for protecting both dentists and patients. We must better understand how gloves affect tactile acuity to design gloves that can retain a higher sensitivity. Thickness is one critical parameter of the glove design we are evaluating in this paper. Previous studies have evaluated the role of glove thickness on sensitivity, but not in a tool-mediated interaction. This study characterizes the force, torque, and vibrotactile perception thresholds for 15 participants holding a dental tool while wearing no gloves or gloves of three different thicknesses. We also measure vibration transmission through each glove to determine the level of damping provided by the different thicknesses. Our results show that the force and torque perceptual thresholds increase with increasing the glove thickness, but the vibration perceptual threshold is affected more by how the tool is held then by the gloves. However, the gloves do dampen the vibrations, and the amount of damping increases with thickness.
Building the Black Box: Cyberneticians and Complex Systems:

In the 1950s and 1960s, cyberneticians defined and utilized a concept previously described by electronic engineers: the black box. They were interested in how it might aid them, as both a metaphor ...
Higher Rates of Sleep Disturbance Among Offspring of Parents With Recurrent Depression Compared to Offspring of Nondepressed Parents.

Objective Youth who have a parent with recurrent depression are at high risk for mental health problems. There is a need to identify transdiagnostic and clinically actionable mechanisms that explain higher rates of psychopathology among high-risk youth. The present study sought to examine whether offspring of depressed parents exhibit greater parent- and self-reported sleep disturbance, shorter sleep duration, and later sleep midpoint compared to youth without any parental psychopathology. Method Participants included 82 youth, including 41 youth (ages 9-13; mean age = 11.07 years; 46% female) deemed to be at high-risk based on having a parent with a recurrent depression history, and 41 (mean age = 11.16 years; 49% female) at low-risk based on having parents without any history of psychopathology. Youth and their parents completed measures of youth sleep disturbance, and youth completed measures of sleep duration and midpoint using a daily sleep diary for 9 days. Results Offspring of parents with depression exhibited more sleep disturbance (e.g., problematic nighttime behaviors and daytime sleepiness) than low-risk youth as reported by both parents and youth. For parent-reported sleep disturbance, there were also sex differences. High-risk girls had more sleep disturbance than high-risk boys or low-risk girls. There were no group differences for daily sleep duration and midpoint. Conclusion Sleep disturbance may be an important area for assessment among offspring of parents with depression. Our findings highlight one potential transdiagnostic risk factor that may emerge among high-risk youth, and sex-specific differences in sleep disturbance, which have implications for prevention and intervention.
An Emerging Paradigm for Germline Testing in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and Immediate Implications for Clinical Practice: A Review

Importance Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a malignant neoplasm with a rising incidence and is a leading public health challenge. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has been well characterized genomically, with findings of therapeutic actionability that have substantive implications for clinical practice based on recent high-level evidence. Observations Pathogenic germline alterations (PGAs) are relatively common in individuals with PDAC, as evidenced in multiple recent data sets, with a frequency of approximately 10%. The most common PGAs are inBRCA1, BRCA2,andATMand more rarely inPALB2, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, CDKN2A,andTP53,among others, with an aggregate frequency of 3.8% to 9.7%. These PGAs are of key interest owing to therapeutic actionability and the downstream identification of at-risk family members and possible hereditary cancer syndromes. Approximately 3% to 7% of individuals with PDAC harbor aBRCA1orBRCA2mutation, which are among the most frequently mutated genes in PDAC. Recent updates to the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines recommend risk assessment for all individuals with PDAC irrespective of personal or family history or ethnicity. Treatment implications include the use of checkpoint inhibitor therapy for mismatch repair–deficient PDAC and the validation of poly-ADP (adenosine diphosphate)-ribose polymerase inhibitor (PARPi) therapy as a maintenance strategy in platinum-sensitive PDAC. Conclusions and Relevance With increasing evidence and slow improvement of outcomes, PDAC has entered the era of precision medicine. Germline mutations have been identified in key genes with an aggregate frequency of 3.8% to 9.7%, several of which are therapeutically actionable with platinum, PARPi, and checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Potential therapeutic targets need to be actively sought and identified.
Development of a fatigue index parameter, Sapp, for asphalt mixes using viscoelastic continuum damage theory

Fatigue cracking is one of the major distresses in asphalt pavements. Engineers have used many methods, from sophisticated numerical simulations to experience-based knowledge, to address fatigue cr...
Michael Novak, Economic Justice, and War and Peace

As Michael Novak’s comrade-in-arms the late Richard John Neuhaus put it to me on more than one occasion, “we have a greater need to be reminded than to be instructed” (riffing on Boswell’s Life of Johnson). In many respects, having spent his life instructing us, we need Novak’s reminders now more than ever. Having come of age regarding himself as a man of the Left, Novak had to think himself out of the follies of socialism, command economies, and central planning. While the challenges of political economy that we face today are not quite so severe, the lessons learned—and taught—by Novak could go a long way toward putting us back on the road to full economic freedom and human flourishing in the economy. Similarly, as we struggle in an uncertain geopolitical environment, with the United States engaged in war, several more-limited military strikes, and increased drone usage, Novak’s work seeking moral clarity in the nuclear age provides helpful guidance as we try to make morally upright choices in the waging of war. While Novak’s writings span many topics and have impacted the lives of several generations of American Catholics in many domains, this paper analyzes two aspects of Novak’s thought—the economy and war and peace—with a view to explicating their significance for younger Catholics and other Christians seeking to think coherently about these issues.
Research with Marginalized Communities: Challenges to Continuity During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Author(s): Sevelius, Jae M; Gutierrez-Mock, Luis; Zamudio-Haas, Sophia; McCree, Breonna; Ngo, Azize; Jackson, Akira; Clynes, Carla; Venegas, Luz; Salinas, Arianna; Herrera, Cinthya; Stein, Ellen; Operario, Don; Gamarel, Kristi
Curbing Obesity from One Generation to Another: the Effects of Bariatric Surgery on the In Utero Environment and Beyond

Approximately 250,000 individuals seek bariatric surgery each year in the USA for the long-term resolution of obesity-related comorbidities. Greater than 80% of these individuals are women and approximately half are of child-bearing age. Although there are many positive metabolic benefits that are realized through surgical weight loss for both men and women, the various long-term hormonal, molecular, nutrient, and epigenetic changes following bariatric surgery have not been evaluated for the surgical recipient or in the context of pregnancy and the offspring. Pregnancy may be a vulnerable period of time for the bariatric surgery recipient, and thoughtful consideration of pregnancy management should be taken by health care providers and recipients alike. The purpose of this review is to explore potential etiologies of some of the gestation-specific outcomes for the mother and offspring.
Hereditarily irreducible maps

Abstract A map f : X → Y from a continuum X onto a continuum Y is said to be hereditarily irreducible, if f ( A ) ⊊ f ( B ) for any subcontinua A and B such that A ⊊ B . We investigate properties of hereditarily irreducible maps between continua. Special attention is given to maps between graphs and maps from the interval.
Redo MitraClip intervention – the importance of comprehensive imaging evaluation

Transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair is increasingly used to treat severe MR in patients with prohibitive surgical risk. Redo-intervention remains challenging in this high-risk population...