cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
“Here's Your Diploma, Mom!” Family Obligation and Multiple Pathways to Success

This article focuses on the different pathways that Haitian students follow to eventual success despite tremendous challenges. The authors give special attention to the notion of pathway and differentiate various avenues to attain success. Constant motivated achievers maintain a strong focus on academic goals and make sacrifices to achieve them. Persistent strivers have not achieved as readily or as highly as the previous category and, despite their effort, tend to do poorly in academic tests. Another group, not identified in previous writings, consists of late bloomers who did not do well in high school, often drifting along with average and low grades but who eventually come to recognize the value of education. The parent-child relationship is shown to play an important role in promoting effort. The desire to fulfill an obligation to one's parents through education, the authors argue, is based on Haitian cultural conceptions and social practices related to family.
NIST Contributions to Biometric Technology

NIST has been at the forefront of IT applications to biometrics and identity management for almost 50 years. Early work revolved around developing hardware and software to automate the analysis of fingerprint images and to develop speech-recognition capabilities. As the biometrics industry grew, NIST developed publicly available datasets and testing procedures for evaluating the performance of academic and commercial algorithms and equipment. These efforts have included giving researchers and vendors self-assessment tools to spur innovation. In addition, NIST developed challenges and evaluations using sequestered data with publicly published results. The standardization of data interchange and the development of best-practice guidelines as well as data-quality evaluation tools have been essential in NIST's work to foster reliability, fidelity, and accuracy in biometric data processing. This article is part of a special issue on NIST contributions to IT.
Stochastic Contention Level Simulation for Single-Chip Heterogeneous Multiprocessors

Single-chip systems, featuring multiple heterogeneous processors and a variety of communication and memory architectures, have emerged to satisfy the demand for networking, handheld computing, and other custom devices. When simulated at cycle-accurate level, these system models are slow to build and execute, severely limiting the number of design iterations that can be considered. A key challenge in raising the simulation level above the clock cycle is an effective method for estimating contention for shared resources such as memories and busses. This paper introduces a new level of design called the Stochastic Contention Level (SCL). Instead of considering shared resource accesses at the clock cycle granularity, SCL simulations operate on blocks that are thousands to millions of clock cycles long, stochastically capturing contention for shared resources via sampled access attributes, while still retaining an event-based simulation framework. The SCL approach results in speedups of 40{\times} over cycle-accurate simulation, with average simulation errors of less than one percent with 95 percent confidence intervals of about \pm 3 {\rm percent}, providing a unique combination of simulation capabilities, performance, and accuracy. This significant increase in simulation performance enables the system designers to explore more of the design space than possible with traditional simulation approaches.
Pyramid picks: Introducing the food guide pyramid in the elementary school

The visually striking Food Guide Pyramid (1) is an exciting new tool for nutrition educators. In October 1992, the Pyramid was the focus of an elementary school intervention in Wayne, P A, developed as part of my masters degree program at Immaculata College. As its centerpiece, this effective new graphic captivated 500 children in grades K-5 in a day of individual classroom lessons that focused on nutrition education. The goal of the lessons was to introduce the Pyramid to young students, highlighting its concepts of variety and proportionality in food selection. Educational outcome objectives were the following: At the end of the intervention, students will: 1) match food items with the proper food groups on the Food Guide Pyramid, and 2) recall the minimum number of daily servings from each food group as recommended by the Food Guide Pyramid. I recruited and trained parent volunteers who presented two different curricula, depending on grade level. Parents wore name tags that were scaled-down replicas of the Food Guide Pyramid to visually associate themselves with the theme of the lessons. Students in kindergarten and first grade began by looking at food as the provider of energy for activity and growth. The concept of variety was then introduced by asking students to consider how "boring" it would be to eat only one food all the time; variety in food selection was presented as the way to beat this boredom. Students then looked at a colorful poster (2) portraying the Food Guide Pyramid. Starting from the bottom, students moved up the Pyramid, and discussed each food group section, its relative size in the Pyramid and the implications of its size for the recommended number of daily servings. The Fats, Oils & Sweets Group was preSented as the "just-a-little-bit group", stressing that servings from this group should be minimized. Students were asked to give examples from each group and were told the basic functions of the foods in that group. Throughout the interactive presentation, variety was
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins in Vascular Calcification

Vascular calcification is a common problem among the elderly and those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetes. The process of tunica media vascular calcification in CKD appears to involve a phenotypic change in the vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) resulting in cell-mediated mineralization of the extracellular matrix. The bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are important regulators in orthotopic bone formation, and their localization at sites of vascular calcification raises the question of their role. In this review, we will discuss the actions of the BMPs in vascular calcification. Although the role of BMP-2 in vascular calcification is not proven, it has been the most studied member of the BMP family in this disease process. The role of BMP-2 may be through inducing osteoblastic differentiation of VSMCs through induction of MSX-2, or by inducing apoptosis of VSMCs, a process thought critical in the initiation of vascular calcification. Additionally, BMP-2 may be related to loss of regulation of the matrix Gla protein. A second BMP, BMP-7, less studied than BMP-2 may have opposing actions in vascular calcification. In postnatal life, BMP-7 is expressed primarily in the kidney, and expression is diminished by renal injury. BMP-7 is an important regulator of skeletal remodeling and the VSMC phenotype. BMP-7 restores skeletal anabolic balance in animal models of CKD with disordered skeletal modeling, also reducing serum phosphate in the process. BMP-7 also reverses vascular calcification in CKD, and reduction in vascular calcification is due, in part, to reduced serum phosphate, an important inducer of VSMC-mediated vascular mineralization and in part to direct actions on the VSMC.
Roosts of Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bats and Southeastern Myotis in East Texas

Abstract Because diurnal roosts can be important in determining bat occupancy and abundance in forested habitats, we identified characteristics of cavity trees that influence roost selection by Corynorhinus rafinesquii (Rafinesque's Big-eared Bats) and Myotis austroriparius (Southeastern Myotis) in east Texas. We identified used and non-used cavity trees with a combination of transect searches, radiotelemetry, and historical records at 7 study areas. Both bat species selected similar cavity trees for summer diurnal roosts, showing an affinity for tupelo trees (Nyssa spp.), with 55% of diurnal roosts in Nyssa aquatica (Water Tupelo) and 33% in N. sylvatica (Blackgum). Of 17 tree and habitat variables we measured at used and unused cavity trees, those related to cavity size and availability (cavity height and diameter, tree diameter, density of large trees in the area) were the most important predictors of use. Characteristics of the surrounding stand at both local and landscape scales were less important. ...
Intramolecular Energy Transfer to trans-Stilbene†

This study examines the photophysics of a series of transition-metal complexes that contain a (diimine)ReI(CO)3(py) chromophore covalently linked to trans-stilbene via a semirigid amide spacer. In this series of complexes moderately exothermic triplet−triplet energy transfer from the 3dπ* charge-transfer excited state of the diimine−Re chromophore to trans-stilbene is competitive with “normal” radiative and nonradiative decay of the 3dπ* state. The rate constant for intramolecular energy transfer (kEnT) was determined as a function of temperature from 190 to 290 K for three complexes in which the driving force (ΔEEnT) varies from ca. −29 to −38 kJ mol-1. The temperature-dependence data indicate that energy transfer is characterized by a low activation energy (Ea ≤2 kJ mol-1) and a low-frequency factor (A ≈106 s-1). The results are interpreted by a mechanism in which energy transfer from the 3dπ* state to trans-stilbene occurs at nearly the optimal driving force (i.e., ΔEEnT ≈λ, where λ is the reorganizati...
Adjuvant Therapy for Melanoma: A Surgical Perspective

Adjuvant therapy is commonly used in melanoma because recurrence after surgery usually results in the patient's eventual death. Surgeons have a profound influence on patients' decisions regarding adjuvant therapy, beginning with providing a clear understanding of the risk of specific types of recurrence. This review summarizes the potential oncologic benefits and relevant toxicities of adjuvant systemic therapies for melanoma that are currently available and under investigation.
Synthesis of 1-phosphinophospholes and their tungstenpentacarbonyl complexes

Abstract A series of 1-phosphinophospholes 4a–d (R = tert -butyl ( a ), iso -propyl ( b ), ethyl ( c ), phenyl ( d )) and their pentacarbonyltungsten complexes 5a–d are synthesized and characterized. The 31 P NMR patterns of both the complexed and free 1-phosphinophospholes follow similar trends. The X-ray structure of 5a reveals an elongated P P bond due to steric encumbrance, while the geometry of the phosphole moiety is not affected.
Evidence that a single stem cell can lead to multi-organ engraftment.

Purification of rare hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) to homogeneity is required to study their self-renewal, differentiation, phenotype, and homing. Long-term repopulation (LTR) of irradiated hosts and serial transplantation to secondary hosts represent the gold standard for demonstrating self-renewal and differentiation, the defining properties of HSC. We show that rare cells that home to bone marrow can LTR primary and secondary recipients. During the homing, CD34 and SCA-1 expression increases uniquely on cells that home to marrow. These adult bone marrow cells have tremendous differentiative capacity as they can also differentiate into epithelial cells of the liver, lung, GI tract, and skin. This finding may contribute to clinical treatment of genetic disease or tissue repair.
A Localized Self-Healing Algorithm for Networks of Moveable Sensor Nodes

The effectiveness of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) deployed in search and rescue, battlefield reconnaissance, surveillance, and other applications depends on inter-node interaction and maintaining network connectivity. While connectivity can be provisioned at startup, then sustained through careful coordination when nodes move, the network can be partitioned if a node suddenly fails. This paper presents recovery through inward motion (RIM), a distributed algorithm to efficiently restore network connectivity after a node failure. Instead of performing a network-wide analysis to assess the impact of the node failure and set a course of action, RIM triggers a local recovery process by relocating the neighbors of the lost node. RIM minimizes messaging overhead and reduces the distance that individual nodes travel during the recovery. Simulations validate RIM's performance.
Continuous Exposure to Dibromoacetic Acid Delays Pubertal Development and Compromises Sperm Quality in the Rat

Previously our work on the haloacid by-products of drinking water disinfection focused on adult exposures. Herein we evaluate the consequence of continuous exposure to dibromoacetic acid (DBA) via drinking water through reproductive development into adulthood. An initial study in which offspring were exposed from gestation day (GD) 15 through adulthood revealed significant delays in preputial separation and vaginal opening, dose-related decreases in the fertility of cauda epididymal sperm, and dose-related diminutions in the sperm membrane protein SP22. Subsequent studies consisted of groups in which exposure ceased on postnatal day 21 (PND 21) versus adulthood. For each exposure, animals were evaluated after puberty (PND 56) as well as at adulthood (PND 120). Exposure to 4, 40, or 400 ppm DBA from GD 15 through PND 21 failed to result in any significant reproductive alterations. By contrast, continuous exposure until adulthood resulted in dose-related alterations consistent with those observed in the dose-finding study. Preputial separation and vaginal opening were delayed 4 and 3 days in males and females exposed to 400 ppm (76.3 mg/kg) DBA. This was associated with increased responsiveness of both the testis and ovary to hCG ex vivo; hCG-stimulated testosterone production by testicular parenchyma on PND 56 was increased at 4 ppm (0.6 mg/kg) DBA and higher. Finally, the quality of proximal cauda epididymal sperm was compromised by continuous exposure to DBA. The sperm membrane proteome was altered in a dose-related manner with SP22, and one of its charged variants, diminished at 40 ppm (3.6 mg/kg) DBA and higher. As more sensitive endpoints are evaluated, lower effect levels can be attributed to haloacid exposure. We are now extending our evaluations to epidemiology studies designed to evaluate sperm quality in men exposed to varying levels of disinfection by-products.
Gender Differences in Reading Impairment and in the Identification of Impaired Readers: Results From a Large-Scale Study of At-Risk Readers

Reading impairment is more common in males, but the magnitude and origin of this gender difference are debated. In a large-scale study of reading impairment among 491,103 beginning second-graders, gender differences increased with greater severity of reading impairment, peaking at a ratio of 2.4:1 for a broad measure of fluency and a ratio of 1.6:1 for a narrow measure of decoding. Results from three tests indicate that gender differences in reading impairment are attributable primarily to male vulnerability rather than ascertainment bias. Correspondence between identification as an impaired reader by our study criteria and school identification as learning disabled was poor overall and worse for girls: Only 1 out of 4 boys and 1 out of 7 girls identified as reading impaired in our study was school identified as learning disabled.
Pregnancy, rheumatoid arthritis, and intrauterine growth retardation.

This report has been reviewed by the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army, and there is no objection to its presentation and/or publication. This review does not imply any endorsement of the opinions advanced or any recommendation of such products as may be mentioned. a vasculitis characterized by intimal proliferation and occasional thrombosis. The obstetrician is in a position to see this disease frequently. since approximately 4 per cent of the general population suffers from the disease and it is thre+ times more frequent in women than men. The disease may follow any one of several clinical (ourscs. The most common is exacerbation and re nission independent of known factors.
Öngörü ve Düzenekler: Ortaklık Olanakları

Seckin ANKOS temsilcilerinden olusan bu gruba ortaklikla gelisme konusunda bir sunus yapmak uzere davet aldigimda cok mutlu oldum. Onemli bir grup kutuphaneyi cok kisa bir surede bir araya getirerek onemli birtakim isbirligi anlasmalari yaptiniz. Buyuk oranda artan sayidaki dergiye uygun fiyatlarla erisebilen Turk universite kutuphaneleri, bu anlasmalarin ilk meyvelerini simdiden almis durumdalar. Artik ANKOS'un uzerinde yogunlasmasi gereken konu, soz konusu erken basarilarin ne sekilde cogaltilacagidir. Bir baska deyisle, isbirligine dayali eylemin kanitlanmis gucu de goz onunde bulundurularak sorulmasi gereken soru sudur: Turk universite kutuphaneleri yuksek ogrenimi desteklemek amaciyla nasil bir dunya kurmak istemektedir ve bu yeni duzeni hayata gecirebilmek icin nasil bir orgutsel yapiya ihtiyac vardir? Bu bir ongoru ve duzenek (vision and mechanism) ongorusu meselesidir. Ongoruyu ozenle tanimlamak yararli olacaktir. Burada, sorunlara ya da ihtiyaclara odaklanmayi tartismayacagiz. Boylesi bir tartisma, soruna negatif ve sinirli bir bakis acisiyla yaklasmak anlamina gelecektir. Bu yaklasim ise yurutulen dusuncelerin merkezine olanaklardan ziyade sorunlari yerlestirecektir. Bir sorunun sorulma biciminin yaniti buyuk oranda belirledigi, hayatin bilinen gercegidir. Ongoru ise yaklasiminda pozitiftir ve firsat ve olanaklara odaklanir. Tabii ki ongoru de dolayli yoldan sorunlarin cozulmesiyle ilgilidir, ancak dusunusun merkezine bu sorunlari asla koymaz. Ongorunun merkezindeki soru, en basit haliyle, nasil bir yeni dunyada yasamak istediginiz sorusudur. Ancak, bos bir umit ya da beklentiden daha fazlasi olacaksa, ongorunun bir ortagi olmalidir. Ongorunun cizdigi yeni dunyanin yasama gecirilmesi ve surdurulebilmesi icin kullanisli bir duzenegin ongoruye eslik etmesi gerekmektedir. Bu duzenegin dogasina dair bazi genel dusunceleri burada siralamak yararli olacaktir. Akilda tutulmasi gereken ilk dusunce odak meselesiyle ilgilidir; yani, duzenek, ongoruyu desteklemek ve ilerletmek icin vardir. Yalnizca bir duzenek sahibi olmak ya da insanlarin kendilerini onemli hissetmelerine yardimci olmak adina ya da "herkes bunu bu sekilde yapiyor" diyerek bir duzenek olusturulamaz.
Structure of Classical MHCII (HLA-DP, DQ, DR, and Orthologs)

Classical MHCII molecules bind short peptides and present them to antigen receptors on T cells. Three-dimensional structural analyses of human MHCII proteins HLA-DP, HLA-DQ, and HLA-DR and their murine orthologs I-E and I-A have shown how these proteins bind peptides and display them for interaction with receptors on CD4 T cells. Allelic variation in MHCII genes creates many different peptide-binding preferences among different MHC proteins, resulting in different repertoires of bound peptides. Structures of MHCII proteins in complex with the MHC-associated invariant chain chaperone and the peptide exchange catalyst DM have illuminated the mechanism by which MHCII proteins load peptides. Structures of MHCII proteins bound to T cell receptors and the CD4 coreceptor show how MHCII proteins secure peptide antigens in an extended conformation so that their sequences can be read by T cell receptors.
Endometriosis-Associated Abdominal Wall Cancer: A Poor Prognosis?

Objective Endometriosis-associated abdominal wall cancer (EAAWC) is rare, and few reports are available. This article provides a review of reports in the literature on the pathology, diagnosis, management, and outcome of patients with EAAWC. Method We performed a review of existing reports in the English language literature on cancer arising from abdominal wall endometriosis. MEDLINE and EMBASE searches were conducted for articles published from September 1986 to August 2014 using combinations of medical subject heading terms. Results We identified 26 articles reporting on EAAWC and added 1 patient who was treated at our institution. In all of these patients, EAAWC was described after uterine surgery (mostly cesarean section). The delay between the first surgery and the diagnosis of malignant disease was more than 20 years. Clear cell carcinoma was the most common histology, followed by endometrioid carcinoma. Death was described in 44% of women within a few months of diagnosis. Conclusions Endometriosis-associated abdominal wall cancer is rare and aggressive. It seems to be associated with cesarean section, and it shows poor prognosis. The mainstay of treatment remains extensive surgery and chemotherapy.
National insecurity in the nuclear age

The purpose of military systems is to maintain and improve national security, but as they grow in size and complexity they become less reliable, vastly increasing the danger of death, destruction a...
Motivations to Volunteer

If research sponsors must avoid undue inducement in order to avoid the problem of invalidating “free consent,” then another question begins to surface: why would anyone choose to volunteer as a subject in these vaccine studies? The risks involved would seem to provide good reasons for some potential volunteers to decline participation. In addition, general feelings of distrust toward government agencies (who would probably be co-sponsoring such studies) is hardly a peculiarity of Western societies. In the US, the history of ethically questionable medical experimentation, such as the Tuskegee study of untreated syphilis in black men, as well as numerous instances of government insensitivity toward persons of color, has made it exceptionally difficult for vaccine researchers to recruit black volunteers.1 Researchers in some AIDS Vaccine Evaluation Units around the US, for example, have had a difficult time convincing members of the black community that this time, in this research, for this sexually transmitted disease, the government is going to treat them fairly and ethically. A study of 1160 gay men in Denver, San Francisco and Chicago found that 86 per cent of them had serious misgivings about how much the government could be trusted, or had “a real fear about the government.”2
How Aristotle Might Have Become a Feminist

Aristotle’s descriptions of women present a strikingly consistent account of the natural inferiority of women. He approaches the issue from a number of different angles, affirming in each case his basic premise that females—because they are female rather than male—are less well actualized human beings. Nonetheless, there are at least four areas of significant trouble with his account of women: first, there is an internal tension between his descriptions of women and his general account of the way in which nature works; second, critical aspects of his embryology are fundamentally wrong; third, his responses to the challenges of hylomorphism are understandable but nonetheless unnecessary as well as highly problematic; and fourth, despite his own deep awareness in other areas of the significance of communal and social influences, he fails to appreciate fully their role in the differing development of women and men. In this chapter, I would like to address each of these four areas, showing how the claims Aristotle actually made were neither the only, nor the best, positions an Aristotelian could take. That is, were Aristotle more fully Aristotelian, he may not have made the mistakes that he, in fact, did and thus may have drawn a different conclusion regarding women.
Support for environmental protection: an integration of ideological-consistency and information-deficit models

The divergent roles of education in predicting environmental support among liberals, conservatives, and moderates in the United States are explained by integrating ideological-consistency and infor...
Comparison of Gain Degradation and Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy in pnp Si Bipolar Junction Transistors Irradiated With Different Ion Species

We studied the effect of light ion and heavy ion irradiations on pnp Si BJTs. A mismatch in DLTS deep peak amplitude for devices with same final gain but irradiated with different ion species was observed. Also, different ions cause different gain degradation when the DLTS spectra are matched. Pre-dosed ion-irradiated samples show that ion induced ionization does not account for the differences in DLTS peak height but isochronal annealing studies suggest that light ions produce more VP defects than heavy ions to compensate for the lack of clusters that heavy ions produce. The creation of defect clusters by heavy ions is evident by the higher content of E4 and ${\mathrm {V}}_{2}^{\ast}$ defects compared to light ions.
A Population-Based Study In Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Suggests Improved Overall Survival (OS) up to Age 80 with Intravenous Therapy: 2000–2007 Data From the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare Registry In the United States (US),

Abstract Abstract 3589 Background: AML is the most common leukemia among US adults with median age of 69. Earlier 1990s studies reported a median OS was 2.4 months among patients older than age 65. Considering the trends in older AML treatment might have changed during the last decade, we investigated clinical practice for older AML patients. Methods: Patients age ≥ 66 in the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) SEER cancer registry with a first, primary cancer of AML diagnosed between January 2000 and December 2007 were matched to their Medicare Part A and Part B claims for long-term follow-up. Diagnostic evaluation and treatment patterns with disease outcomes were assessed. There were 4633 AML patients identified, and 1791(38.6%) received intravenous leukemia therapy within 3 months of diagnosis (treatment group). Treated patients then were sub-grouped as receiving chemotherapy (chemo) (94.9%) and hypomethylating agents (hypo) (5.1%). Results: The median age of the study population was 78. Treatment group had similar demographics compared to the no treatment group except they were younger (median age, 74 vs. 80, p Median OS was 3 months, but superior in the treatment group (7 mo. vs. 2 mo, p Figure 1 ). Older age and CCS ≥2 were also associated with decreased OS (HR=1.04 (for each year), p Download : Download high-res image (49KB) Download : Download full-size image Among treated patients, a subgroup analysis of 91 patients receiving hypo showed that they were older than chemo group (median age 78 vs. 74, p Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) was performed only in 57 patients (1.2%) after AML diagnosis. Median time to HCT after AML diagnosis was 6 months. These patients were younger (median age 66 vs. 73 in other treated patients) and none had CSS scores >2 (0% vs. 6.1%). Their median OS from diagnosis was 25 months. Conclusion: Intravenous therapy improves OS in older AML patients and most patients up to 80 years of age should be considered for treatment based on their comorbidity status. New therapies including hypomethylating agents and allogeneic HCT are promising and must be compared with other chemotherapy in the appropriately selected population. Disclosures: Weisdorf: Genzyme: Consultancy, Research Funding.
Heteroatom–Heteroatom Bond Formation in Natural Product Biosynthesis

Natural products that contain functional groups with heteroatom-heteroatom linkages (X–X, where X = N, O, S, and P) are a small yet intriguing group of metabolites. The reactivity and diversity of these structural motifs has captured the interest of synthetic and biological chemists alike. Functional groups containing X–X bonds are found in all major classes of natural products and often impart significant biological activity. This review presents our current understanding of the biosynthetic logic and enzymatic chemistry involved in the construction of X–X bond containing functional groups within natural products. Elucidating and characterizing biosynthetic pathways that generate X–X bonds could both provide tools for biocatalysis and synthetic biology, as well as guide efforts to uncover new natural products containing these structural features.
Microfluidics Fabrication of Self-Oscillating Microgel Clusters with Tailored Temperature-Responsive Properties Using Polymersomes as “Microreactors”

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based microgel clusters were successfully prepared using polymersomes as “microreactors”, which were fabricated through microfluidics. The clusters were formed from the cross-linking reaction between ruthenium/amino group dual functionalized poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels and linear poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-r-(N-acryloxysuccinimide)-based polymer linkers under neutral pH conditions. By simply adjusting the ratio of N-isopropylacrylamide to N-acryloxysuccinimide in the polymer cross-linkers, the internal structures of the clusters can be controlled; hence, the temperature response of the clusters can be regulated. It was demonstrated that these different microgel clusters showed various degrees of chemomechanical oscillations when the clusters were exposed to a catalyst-free solution containing Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction substrates.
Amplifying Student Voices in Higher Education: Democratizing Teaching and Learning through Changing the Acoustic on a College Campus

This article describes three programs that work to democratize teaching and learning in higher education through amplifying student voices. The first program partners undergraduate students with college faculty to explore, affirm, and revise the pedagogical approaches the faculty members employ in their classrooms. The second program pairs undergraduate students and college staff members from the service/craft sector in reciprocal teaching and learning partnerships through which they explore topics and areas of mutual interest. The third program brings undergraduate students, faculty, and staff together into cohorts to explore social justice issues and to build capacity for communicating across differences. Based at a selective liberal arts college in the northeastern United States, all three programs create new spaces within which undergraduate students lead, teach, and learn from other members of the higher education community. In these structured and supported spaces outside of the formal classroom arena and beyond the typical relationships among members of the academic community, students learn to speak with and learn from one another as well as from differently positioned members of the community. As students test and tune their own voices — a process that moves them from silence or uncertainty into a place of greater confidence, capacity, and resonance — they develop a sensitivity and commitment to ensuring that others, both those with less power and those with more, listen and are listened to in new ways. Thus, through these programs, the voices of faculty and staff are brought into dialogue with, and modulated in relation to, student voices. Drawing on the perspectives of student participants, this article describes the programs and analyzes their potential to support students in developing the confidence, courage, and capacity to amplify their own voices as well as the complementary capacity and commitment to ensure that other voices are heard and honored.
Effect of genetic sources on anatomical, morphological, and mechanical properties of 14-year-old genetically improved loblolly pine families from two sites in the southern United States

Tree improvement programs on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) in the southeastern USA has focused primarily on improving growth, form, and disease tolerance. However, due to the recent reduction of design values for visually graded southern yellow pine lumber (including loblolly pine), attention has been drawn to the material quality of genetically improved loblolly pine. In this study, we used the time-of-flight (TOF) acoustic tool to assess the effect of genetic families on diameter, slenderness, fiber length, microfibril angle (MFA), velocity and dynamic stiffness estimated using green density (DMOEG) and basic density (DMOEB) of 14-year-old loblolly pine stands selected from two sites. All the 184 and 204 trees of the selected eight half-sib genetic families on sites 1 and 2 respectively were tested using TOF acoustic tool, and two 5 mm core samples taken at breast height level (1.3 m) used to for the anatomical and physical properties analysis. The results indicated a significant positive linear relationship between dynamic MOEs (DMOEG and DMOEB) versus tree diameter, slenderness, and fiber length while dynamic MOEs negatively but nonsignificant correlated with MFA. While there was no significant difference in DMOEB between sites; velocity2 for site 1 was significantly higher than site 2 but DMOEG was higher for site 2 than site 1. Again, the mean DMOEG and DMOEB reported in the present study presents a snapshot of the expected static MOE for green and 12% moisture conditions respectively for loblolly pine. Furthermore, there were significant differences between families for most of the traits measured and this suggests that forest managers have the opportunity to select families that exhibit the desired fiber morphology for final product performance. Lastly, since the dynamic MOE based on green density (DMOEG), basic density (DMOEB) and velocity2 present difference conclusions, practitioners of this type of acoustic technique should take care when extrapolating results across the sites.
Anharmonicity, Piezoelectricity, and Solid State Nonlinearity

Last summer I showed that for the pure mode directions the nonlinear terms in the equation describing propagation of ultrasound in a crystalline lattice take the same general form as those describing propagation in a fluid.1 This makes possible the definition of a nonlinearity parameter for solids in analogy with the nonlinearity parameter for liquids and gases. The magnitudes of such nonlinearity parameters were shown to be associated with physical properties of the sample under study. Since one can define nonlinearity parameters in terms of linear combinations of second order elastic (SOE) and third order elastic (TOE) constants, it now is possible to go into much more detail. Recent measurements of the TOE constants in diamond lattice solids (cubic symmetry) have been interpreted in terms of the interatomic potential function2 through the use of the Keating model.3 Additional measurements have been made in copper single crystals,4 as well as perovskites5 and NaCl which exhibits a very large nonlinearity parameter.6 The research has been expanded to include theoretical work7 and experimental measurements8 for crystals of symmetry other than cubic. Recently the research is devoted to an understanding of the effect of piezoelectricity on nonlinearity measurements.9
T-cell E-receptor Modulation by Opiates, Opioids and Other Behaviorally Active Substances

Homeostasis has been defined as a state of metastable equilibrium wherein the constancy of the internal milieu is forever being challenged 1,2 Using this definition, any antihomestatic stimulus may be regarded as a stressor2. As reviewed eleswhere 3,4, the neural and immune systems share many basic physiologic processes in response to environmental stressors. The ultimate purpose of the neuroimmune system is maintenance of homeostasis. Neurons and lymphocytes are pluripotent sensory cells5 capable of eliciting and responding to various hormone and hormonelike peptides that have systemic and local effects characteristic of endocrine, exocrine, and paracrine functions. The primary physiologic basis for the adaptability of the neuroimmue system resides in a complex network of receptor-response systems. This review focuses on the means by which opiates and other behaviorally active substances, as examples of environmental stressors of known behavioral modifying capacity, can modulate receptor activity on T-cell lymphocytes. This capacity for receptor modulation appears to be a primary means by which opiates and like factors evoke both neurobiological and immunobiological changes in host physiology and responsive behavior.
Rencunius zhoui, New Primate from the Late Middle Eocene of Henan, China, and a Comparison with Some Early Anthropoidea

Late Eocene primates of Asia are often mentioned in discussions of anthropoid origins. This is in part because of the distinctive morphologies of Asian Eocene primates that document an otherwise hidden diversity of potential anthropoid ancestors. Asia also draws our attention as a large, centrally placed geographic region that is still inadequately known paleontologically. Asia and its Eocene primates are important for understanding both the phylogenetic and biogeographic history of primate and anthropoid diversification.
Lagrangian discontinuous Galerkin hydrodynamic methods in axisymmetric coordinates

Abstract We present new Lagrangian discontinuous Galerkin (DG) hydrodynamic methods for compressible flows on unstructured meshes in axisymmetric coordinates. The physical evolution equations for the specific volume, velocity, and specific total energy are discretized using a modal DG method with linear Taylor series polynomials. Two different approaches are used to discretize the evolution equations – the first one is the true volume approach and the second one is the area-weighted approach. For the true volume approach, the DG equations are derived using the true 3D volume that is consistent with the geometry conservation law (GCL). The Riemann velocity at the nodes on the surface of the element, and the corresponding surface forces, are calculated by solving a multidirectional approximate Riemann problem using surfaces areas for axisymmetric coordinates. This true volume approach conserves mass, momentum, and total energy and satisfies the GCL. However, it can not preserve spherical symmetry on an equal-angle polar grid with 1D radial flows. For the area-weighted approach, the DG equations are based on the 2D Cartesian geometry that is rotated about the axis of symmetry using a single, element average radius. With this approach, the Riemann velocity at the nodes on the surface of the element, and the corresponding surface forces, are calculated by solving a multidirectional approximate Riemann problem in 2D Cartesian geometry. This area-weighted approach, in the limit of an infinitesimal mesh size, conserves physical momentum, and physical total energy. The area-weighted approach preserves spherical symmetry on an equal-angle polar grid for 1D radial flows, but it does not satisfy the GCL. A suite of test problems are calculated to demonstrate stable mesh motion, the expected second order accuracy of these methods, and that the new area-weighted DG method preserves spherical symmetry on 1D radial flow problems with equal-angle polar meshes.
Application of the LDL-Density-Pressure Theory: The Mitral Valve

Myxomatous mitral valve regurgitation is the most common indication for surgical valve repair in the world [1]. For years this disease was thought to be a passive degenerative phenomenon. Understanding of the cellular mechanisms of this valve lesion will present improved understanding of this disease and targeted therapy either surgical or medical. Diagnosing mitral regurgitation (MR) and timing to surgical correction is one of the most challenging in the clinical cardiology. Chronic MR, due to increasing prevalence of myxomatous disease and the increasing mean age of population, is presenting as often as aortic stenosis: moderate or severe MR is found in 1.7 % of the general population and in up to 9.3 % of those over 75 years [1]. Echocardiography is the main tool for MR evaluation. In the modern times of mitral valve (MV) repair surgery, echocardiography has become even more important because the study has to cover not only the MR diagnosis, but also the evaluation of the valvular lesions and the mechanisms of disease to guide the election between the different therapeutic options. This combination of aspects related to the complexity of mitral regurgitation is the primary driving force to develop an all encompassing assessment of MR to allow the clinician and surgeon to achieve the important clinical outcomes. One of the key aspects for the elusiveness of this disease, from the clinical perspective, is the understanding of how the mitral valve develops myxomatous changes.
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board

The IAASB aims to enhance the quality and consistency of practice throughout the world and to strengthen public confidence in the global auditing and assurance profession. The IAASB follows a rigorous due process in developing its pronouncements. Input is obtained from a wide range of stakeholders including the IAASB’s Consultative Advisory Group national auditing standard setters, IFAC member bodies and their members, regulatory and oversight bodies, firms, governmental agencies, investors, preparers, and the general public.
Fungicide Impact on in vitro Germination of Basidiospores of Puccinia horiana, the Causal Agent of Chrysanthemum White Rust

ABSTRACT Puccinia horiana is an actionable pathogen that, upon diagnosis, triggers an eradication protocol combining destruction of symptomatic chrysanthemums and a strict fungicide regime for asym...
What's in a Name? Effects of Alternative Forms of Addressing Households on Response Rates and Data Quality in an Address-Based Mail Survey.

Best practices in mail survey design advise personalizing correspondence, but most research predates the use of address-based sampling (ABS) in which a householder’s name either cannot be matched t...
Estrogen receptor α promotes protein synthesis by fine-tuning the expression of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 subunit f (eIF3f).

Approximately two thirds of all breast cancer cases are estrogen receptor (ER)–positive. The treatment of this breast cancer subtype with endocrine therapies is effective in the adjuvant and recurrent settings. However, their effectiveness is compromised by the emergence of intrinsic or acquired resistance. Thus, identification of new molecular targets can significantly contribute to the development of novel therapeutic strategies. In recent years, many studies have implicated aberrant levels of translation initiation factors in cancer etiology and provided evidence that identifies these factors as promising therapeutic targets. Accordingly, we observed reduced levels of the eIF3 subunit eIF3f in ER-positive breast cancer cells compared with ER-negative cells, and determined that low eIF3f levels are required for proper proliferation and survival of ER-positive MCF7 cells. The expression of eIF3f is tightly controlled by ERα at the transcriptional (genomic pathway) and translational (nongenomic pathway) level. Specifically, estrogen-bound ERα represses transcription of the EIF3F gene, while promoting eIF3f mRNA translation. To regulate translation, estrogen activates the mTORC1 pathway, which enhances the binding of eIF3 to the eIF4F complex and, consequently, the assembly of the 48S preinitiation complexes and protein synthesis. We observed preferential translation of mRNAs with highly structured 5′-UTRs that usually encode factors involved in cell proliferation and survival (e.g. cyclin D1 and survivin). Our results underscore the importance of estrogen-ERα–mediated control of eIF3f expression for the proliferation and survival of ER-positive breast cancer cells. These findings may provide rationale for the development of new therapies to treat ER-positive breast cancer.
Transparent superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic nanoparticle textured coatings: comparative study of anti-soiling performance

The anti-soiling (AS) performance of highly reflective, superhydrophilic (SPH, 0° water contact angle) coated mirrors was characterized and compared with that of superhydrophobic (SP, >165° water contact angle) coated mirrors. A simple one-step nanotextured silica nanoparticle coating on a mirror exhibited SPH properties associated with hydrophilic rough surfaces. Another mirror surface post-functionalized with low-surface-energy ligand molecules displayed SP behavior. Both coated mirrors, with no solar reflectance loss, demonstrated excellent AS performance because the engineered surface roughness reduced the adhesive force of dust particles. The daily degradation in solar reflectance induced by dust accumulation under outdoor field testing demonstrated that the SPH- and SP-coated mirrors, compared with an uncoated mirror, maintained higher solar reflectance, which was associated with the designed self-cleaning behavior and natural cleaning. However, over the long term, dust-moisture cementation—evidenced by organic hard water stains on the mirror—initiated unrecoverable reflectance loss on the SP-coated mirror after 3 months, whereas the SPH-coated mirror maintained higher reflectance for 7.5 months. Considering fabrication costs and maintenance, SPH-coated nanotextured mirrors offer potential benefits for application in solar energy harvesting.
Responses of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to multiple coinciding global change drivers

Abstract A significant challenge for understanding how fungal communities may change in the Anthropocene are the multiple aspects of simultaneous environmental change. To address this challenge, we used a seven-year multi-factorial field experiment in southern California to examine how root-associated fungi respond to aridity, nitrogen deposition, and plant invasions. We hypothesized that all three global change drivers reduce the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi responsible for nutrient uptake (edaphophilic AMF), while increasing the abundance of AMF that colonize roots at high rates (rhizophilic AMF). We found that invasive grasses hosted lower abundances of edaphophilic AMF, and higher abundances of rhizophilic AMF and opportunistically parasitic fungi. Aridity reduced overall AMF abundance while N addition altered the allocation of AMF biomass, increasing root colonization while reducing the density of extraradical hyphae. Overall, these results imply that ongoing global change will alter both the composition of AMF and how these fungi interact with plants.
Acetylcholine boosts turtle sense of direction

![Graphic][1] In the classic Aesop's fable, the tortoise triumphs over the smug hare by patiently making its way along the race track. While reptiles such as turtles and tortoises are famously ambling voyagers, how they learn their routes is less well known. One chemical that may be required
AdaResU-Net: Multiobjective adaptive convolutional neural network for medical image segmentation

Abstract Adapting an existing convolutional neural network architecture to a specific dataset for medical image segmentation remains a challenging task that requires extensive expertise and time to fine-tune the hyperparameters. Hyperparameter optimization approaches that automate the search have been proposed but have mainly focused on optimizing the segmentation performance. However, optimizing the network size is also important to prevent unnecessary and costly computational operations. In this paper, we present a multiobjective adaptive convolutional neural network (AdaResU-Net) for medical image segmentation that is able to automatically adapt to new datasets while minimizing the size of the network. The proposed AdaResU-Net is comprised of a fixed architecture that combines the structure of the state-of-the-art U-Net with a residual learning framework to improve information propagation and promote an efficient training. Then, a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MEA) that optimizes both segmentation accuracy and model size is proposed to evolve the AdaResU-Net networks with different hyperparameters. The presented model is tested on two publically available medical image datasets and compared with the U-Net. Results show that the AdaResU-Net achieves better segmentation performance with less than 30% the number of trainable parameters. Additionally, the MEA algorithm generated configurations that are smaller and perform better or equally well than configurations generated with a Bayesian hyperparameter optimization approach.
Method for Classification of Snowflakes Based on Images by a Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera Using Convolutional Neural Networks

AbstractTaking advantage of the recent developments in machine learning, we propose an approach to automatic winter hydrometeor classification based on utilization of convolutional neural networks ...