cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Popularity of digital products in online social tagging systems

Using data from an online music discovery and listening website, Last.fm, with more than 186,000 tags applied to 12,523 musicians and 12,717 pairs of network ties among 1892 listeners, this study investigates brand popularity in online social tagging systems. We use a multiplicative simultaneous-equations model to test the hypotheses. We find that a brand’s niche width (measured as the width of consumers’ categorizations of a musician through social tags) and audience consensus about a musician positively influence a musician’s popularity online. However, a brand’s niche width negatively influences audience consensus, highlighting the complex situation of brand strategies that extend to broad categories. We quantify and contrast the elasticities of a brand’s niche width in the direct and indirect effects on brand popularity. The results show that a brand’s niche width produces higher response elasticities in the direct positive effect on brand popularity than in the indirect negative effect through audience consensus. Brand age positively moderates the relationship between niche width and brand popularity. Consumers’ online connections also influence brand popularity: a higher density network leads to heightened popularity. These results offer important implications for brand promotions on social media platforms.
Increasing surfboard volume reduces energy expenditure during paddling.

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate how altering surfboard volume (BV) affects energy expenditure during paddling. Twenty surfers paddled in a swim flume on five surfboards in random order twice. All surfboards varied only in thickness and ranged in BV from 28.4 to 37.4 L. Measurements of heart rate (HR), oxygen consumption (VO2), pitch angle, roll angle and paddling cadence were measured. VO2 and HR significantly decreased on thicker boards [VO2: r = −0.984, p = 0.003; HR: r = −0.972, p = 0.006]. There was also a significant decrease in pitch and roll angles on thicker boards [Pitch: r = −0.995, p < 0.001; Roll: r = −0.911, p = 0.031]. Results from this study suggest that increasing BV reduces the metabolic cost of paddling as a result of lower pitch and roll angles, thus providing mechanical evidence for increased paddling efficiency on surfboards with more volume.Practioner Summary: This study investigated the impact of surfboard volume on energy expenditure during paddling. Results fr...
RETHINKING HUITZILOPOCHTLI'S CONQUEST: ELIZABETH M. BRUMFIEL, SOCIAL THEORY, AND THE AZTECS OF MEXICO

Elizabeth M. Brumfiel began work in Aztec studies by tackling nothing less than the economic symbiotic model of Aztec exchange and specialization. Her findings at Huexotla and Xico questioned this model and in its place Brumfiel focused on the politics of exchange and strategies of both state power and commoner households. Her long-term archaeological project at Xaltocan built on and expanded those themes by applying social theories to understand Aztec society, and inequalities more generally, from a bottom-up agency perspective. These intellectual commitments also guided Brumfiel's engagement with community archaeology and her professional leadership.
Probing the space-time evolution of heavy ion collisions with photons and dileptons

Abstract Photons and dileptons are emitted throughout the evolution of the deconfined nuclear medium produced in heavy ion collisions. As such they can provide valuable information about the different phases of the medium, and complement hadronic measurements and other observables. In this work, recent developments related to electromagnetic emissions at early times, in the crossover region, and at late times are reviewed. The space-time description of the nuclear medium from a hydrodynamic model of heavy ion collisions is used to provide context and guide the discussion.
Sources of Error in IRT Trait Estimation.

In item response theory (IRT), item response probabilities are a function of item characteristics and latent trait scores. Within an IRT framework, trait score misestimation results from (a) random error, (b) the trait score estimation method, (c) errors in item parameter estimation, and (d) model misspecification. This study investigated the relative effects of these error sources on the bias and confidence interval coverage rates for trait scores. Our results showed that overall, bias values were close to 0, and coverage rates were fairly accurate for central trait scores and trait estimation methods that did not use a strong Bayesian prior. However, certain types of model misspecifications were found to produce severely biased trait estimates with poor coverage rates, especially at extremes of the latent trait continuum. It is demonstrated that biased trait estimates result from estimated item response functions (IRFs) that exhibit systematic conditional bias, and that these conditionally biased IRFs m...
Governance and Taxes: A Note on Methodology

This note corrects an internal inconsistency in the description of methodology in Bird and Karolyi (2017).
Family and Consumer Sciences: United States

This article provides an introduction to family and consumer sciences as an evolving field of study and a profession. It discusses the focus of the field and presents various definitions and mission statements used over time to delineate its scope. The article covers the early history of family and consumer sciences and summarizes its evolution during the twentieth century. As an interdisciplinary field, family and consumer sciences is connected to social and behavioral sciences, physical sciences, arts and humanities, and business. Areas of specialization within family and consumer sciences continue to draw on these ‘root disciplines’ for much of their knowledge base, while adding the integrative element of the context of families and consumers. The wide spectrum of research methods employed by family and consumer sciences is identified. As an applied field, much of the practice of family and consumer sciences is the application of knowledge to practical persistent problems of daily life with the intended outcome of enhancing the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.
Idiome in einem Digitalen Lexikalischen System

The study of German idioms has relied largely on introspection and constructed examples. Consequently, their representation in grammars and traditional dictionaries is inadequate and neither reflects their wide range of syntactic and semantic variation nor clarifies their lexical status. The project motivated and described here has as its goal the empirical investigation of VP-Idioms. Idioms collected from a one billion word corpus are analysed in great breadth and depth and their properties are represented digitally in an innovative lexical resource.
Three-Dimensional Fem-Bem Computation of Electromagnetic Responses of Flaws

Electromagnetic (EM) nondestructive testing of a lossy dielectric material involves exciting the material with an external EM source, measuring responses on a measuring surface, and inferring the location, shapes and properties of possible flaws. But the interaction of electromagnetic fields with the material is a highly complex process. Three-dimensional computation is therefore required to accurately predict the overall interaction of EM fields with the material and flaws. The problem is unbounded, and strong inhomogeneity exists inside the material, due to the presence of flaws. The coupling of the finite element method (FEM) and the boundary element method (BEM) provides an efficient tool for modeling this type of problems [1]. Two questions must be answered before a successful use of this method. i) The interior EM fields are governed by a weak integral form based on the curlcurl equation of a field variable, leaving the divergence free equation unspecified, and the interface and boundary conditions to be forced separately. Spurious solutions may occur, when the standard nodal based finite element method is applied. Therefore, special care should be taken to prevent the so-called vector parasites [2]. ii) The exterior EM fields are governed by a surface integral representation, which takes care of the infinite extent of the exterior domain. This integral equation invloves tangential surface currents. The standard nodal based boundary element method does not provide a rigorous description of the tangential surface currents especially near corners and edges, because of the ambiguity in normal directions. Semi-discontinuous superparametric elements can be used [3]. Also, discretization of the integral equation is central to couple the source fields into the materials and flaws.
Phytoremediation of Lead-Contaminated Soil in the Urban Residential Environment Using Seed Mustard

Lead contamination in the urban environment is a continuing serious public health concern. Historically lead entered the urban residential area though paint pigment and gasoline additives. This legacy persists as the two most important lead sources that affect children in the urban environment: contaminated paint residue and contaminated soil. One technique for remediation of lead in urban soils is phytoremediation. Previous research has shown Brassica juncea, Indian mustard, to be a promising phytoremediator of lead in soil. Researchers commonly use broad leafed mustard such as Southern Giant Curly Leaf, because it is an accumulator of lead, has extremely high production of mustard green biomass in a short growing season, and is adaptable to poor soil conditions. The authors believe that use of broadleaf mustard in the urban environment may be problematic. The greens are enjoyed as a food, are easily recognized, and may be pilfered and eaten. This research tested the hypothesis that seed mustard, which produces abundant flowers but few greens, would be more suitable. Two 64 m2 plots were prepared in a Greater Rochester Urban Bounty garden, located at a busy intersection in Rochester New York’s low-income northeast neighborhood. One plot was sown thickly with Southern Giant, and the other with seed mustard. As the plants approached maturity the entire crop of Southern Giant mustard was pilfered, but the seed mustard remained untouched. At maturity the seed mustard produced 550g dry biomass per m 2. Subsequent testing included germination of seed mustard in lead-contaminated soil, and trials to determine maximum biomass production using seed mustard by varying planting density. Results indicate no detriment to germination rate, and a maximum biomass production capacity approaching 7 Kg/m2
High nursing demand reduces depression-like behavior despite increasing glucocorticoid concentrations and reducing hippocampal neurogenesis in late postpartum rats.

Abstract Approximately 15% of women who give birth develop postpartum depression (PPD), and the risk is greater in women who do not breastfeed or who cease breastfeeding early. In some women, early cessation or absence of breastfeeding precedes PPD, but the neuroendocrine mechanisms of this relationship are unknown. We tested whether nursing demand would alter behavioral and endocrine endpoints relevant for depression in postpartum rats. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats underwent thelectomy (thel; removal of teats), sham surgery (sham), or no surgery (control). Litters were rotated between thel and sham rats every 12 h, yielding a higher nursing burden for sham rats. We investigated behavior in the forced swim test (FST), open field test, and sucrose preference test, and serum corticosterone (CORT) concentrations. Because the hippocampus changes structurally in depression and with maternal experience, we investigated cell proliferation using Ki-67 and hippocampal neurogenesis and immature neuron development using doublecortin (DCX) immunohistochemistry. Sham rats spent less time immobile in the FST compared with control and thel rats. Sham rats also had higher CORT concentrations and fewer Ki-67 cells. Thel rats had more DCX-expressing cells and a greater proportion of mature DCX-expressing cells compared with control and sham rats. These data suggest that greater nursing demand reduces stress-related behavioral responses despite increasing CORT concentrations and suppressing hippocampal neurogenesis. This work is an important step in identifying how lactation buffers behavioral responses to stress and reorganizes stress-related neural circuitry and is crucial for identifying mechanisms of postpartum psychiatric illnesses.
Rodrigo Lazo and Jesse Alemán, editors. The Latino Nineteenth Century: New York University Press, 2016. 384 pp.

As Rodrigo Lazo states in the introduction to The Latino Nineteenth Century, a collective task of its authors is “to open research into writing and textual production that may move us in unexpected...
Introduction to Procurement Finance

The world is changing. The changes impact also on the organizations, which need to adapt and become more agile. Procurement is becoming more important in the organizations transforming its objectives from cost savings to value adding. Procurement is moving from the role of support to a primary contributor to the value for the customers. Procurement finance has an important role in supporting this transformation. Procurement finance is the holistic view of the relationships between procurement and finance. It includes trade finance, supply chain finance, and vendor payments. This integration and coordination go well beyond the traditional roles of the sourcing organization to be in sync with the entire organization and its strategy.
So Many Girls…So Few Princes

The tour of the elementary school begins with a check-in at the office and a walk down the hall to the second-grade class where the reader will spend the day. One of the first things the reader will notice is that the school is staffed almost entirely by women. Eighty-seven percent of all elementary school teachers are female. The chapter examines some of the reasons for this imbalance such as discriminatory work practices and the notion that teaching is “women’s work.” The chapter then explores some of negative effects of gender imbalance on students. Highly energetic boys (and some girls) are often adversely impacted. First, there is the simple identification with one’s own gender which students make with their teachers. Second, many boys can experience women’s preferred social and psychological processes as alien to their own. Boys are frequently put in groups, given cooperative tasks, and asked to share their thoughts openly with others through writing or speech. Third, some women do not fully understand and struggle to contain high male energy. There is a great tendency for them to misinterpret behaviors as violent or antisocial when they are not.
Adaptive oscillator controller for quadrupled hopping robots

As the robots are used in some of the extreme environments such as battle fields disaster sites or extra planetary exploration it is necessary to provide robust locomotive strategies that are optimal to each terrain The hopping gait has been well studied in robotics and proven to be a potential method for locomotion in some of these areas There have been some difficulties in developing terrain following controllers that maintain robust steady state hopping gait which is disturbance resistant This paper discusses controller strategies that have shown the ability to produce the robust hopping gait An adaptive oscillator controller presented is this paper works remarkably well both in simulation and experiments In this paper novel control methods based on the phase angle are used to control oscillating robotic systems The phase oscillator uses the sine and cosine of the phase angle to change key properties of a mass spring damper system including amplitude frequency and equilibrium A hopping robot is used to show the applications of this phase oscillator This paper presents the theoretical framework simulations and experimental results
The Term Structure of Liquidity Premium

We analyze the term structure of Treasury liquidity premium (LP). Through a model where illiquidity shocks are alleviated by holding Treasuries, we show that LP term structure is shaped by expectations of future market liquidity, liquidity term premium, and Treasury supply. As predicted, the LP term structure is downward-sloping in recessions but upward-sloping in booms, and forward LP predicts future LP and market liquidity. Furthermore, LP is quantitatively important for monetary policy pass-through: LP dampens the pass-through of interest rate policy yet strengthens the pass-through of quantitative easings. We also use LP to infer the term structure of Treasury safety premium.
Chapter 37 – Absorption

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on pesticide absorption with an expanded focus on dermal absorption as workers involved in pesticide manufacturing, formulation, or application and harvesting of treated crops are more likely to be exposed to these chemicals via the skin. Absorption is the translocation of the pesticide from an external source of exposure to the bloodstream. Human exposure to pesticides can result in absorption by passive diffusion across the epithelium layers of the skin and/or the gastrointestinal tract. Once in the blood, the chemical is distributed through the body and delivered to tissues, where it may leave the blood and enter the cells of the tissue or it may remain in the blood and simply pass through the tissue. As occupational exposure via the skin is the most likely source and route for human exposure, this chapter focused on the main physicochemical, biological, and environmental factors that could significantly influence systemic absorption following dermal exposure to examples of pesticides with diverse physicochemical properties. The future of risk assessment of pesticides will depend heavily on the quality of these permeability models and their flexibility to predict dermal and oral absorption in a variety of human exposure scenarios at home and work.
Changes in the Number of US Patients With Newly Identified Cancer Before and During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic.

This cross-sectional study examines changes in the number of patients with newly identified cancer before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States.
Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Optically Transparent Hole-Conducting CuI on n-Si(111)

The expansion of future optoelectronic materials into transparent flexible electronics, perovskite, organic, and tandem photovoltaics depends on the development of high-performance p-type materials...
Effect of metal co-exposures on DNA methylation age in Bangladeshi children

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The ubiquitous presence of toxic metal exposures in the environment is a global public health concern. Lead, chromium, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury are commonly occurring toxic...
Major Federal Environmental Decisions, 2013

This paper summarizes major developments in environmental cases during the 2012-13 term, during which the U.S. Supreme Court has had a fairly active environmental law docket involving recurrent issues of what constitutes a compensable taking under the 5th Amendment and a discharge under the Clean Water Act. It also has before it a few other cases that could have an impact on environmental law and litigation in Pennsylvania and beyond. This overview concludes with a recap of the Sebelius case – decided after last year’s Forum – which while concerning the federal Health Care Act could affect the implementation of federal environmental laws.
Limitations of a proposed correction for slow drifts in decision criterion

Trial history biases in decision-making tasks are thought to reflect systematic updates of decision variables, therefore their precise nature informs conclusions about underlying heuristic strategies and learning processes. However, random drifts in decision variables can corrupt this inference by mimicking the signatures of systematic updates. Hence, identifying the trial-by-trial evolution of decision variables requires methods that can robustly account for such drifts. Recent studies (Lak 20, Mendonca 20) have made important advances in this direction, by proposing a convenient method to correct for the influence of slow drifts in decision criterion, a key decision variable. Here we apply this correction to a variety of updating scenarios, and evaluate its performance. We show that the correction fails for a wide range of commonly assumed systematic updating strategies, distorting one9s inference away from the veridical strategies towards a narrow subset. To address these limitations, we propose a model-based approach for disambiguating systematic updates from random drifts, and demonstrate its success on real and synthetic datasets. We show that this approach accurately recovers the latent trajectory of drifts in decision criterion as well as the generative systematic updates from simulated data. Our results offer recommendations for methods to account for the interactions between history biases and slow drifts, and highlight the advantages of incorporating assumptions about the generative process directly into models of decision-making.
Efficacy and Comparative Effectiveness of Telephone and Smartphone Remote Continuing Care Interventions for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Management of alcohol use disorder (AUD) could be enhanced by effective remote treatments. Study tested whether supplementing intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) with continuing care delivered via: (1) telephone, (2) smartphone, or (3) their combination improves outcomes relative to (4) IOP only. Continuing care conditions were also compared. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial of 4 groups with 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18-month follow-ups. SETTING University research center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. PARTICIPANTS Participants (N=262) met DSM-V criteria for AUD, were largely male (71%) and African-American (82%). INTERVENTIONS AND COMPARATOR Telephone Monitoring and Counseling (TMC; N=59), Addiction Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (ACHESS; N=68), and TMC+ACHESS (N=70) provided for 12 months. The control condition received IOP only (TAU; N=65). MEASUREMENT Primary outcome was percent days heavy drinking (PDHD) in months 1-12. Secondary outcomes were any drinking, any drug use, drinking consequences, and quality of life. FINDINGS Mean PDHD in months 1-12 was 10.29 in TAU, 5.41 in TMC, 6.80 in ACHESS, and 5.99 in TMC+ACHESS. PDHD was lower in TMC (d=.35, p=0.018, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [-1.42, -0.20]), ACHESS (d= .31, p= .031, 95% CI= [-1.27, -0.06]), and TMC+ACHESS (d= .36, p=0.009, 95% CI = [-1.40, -0.20]) than in TAU. Differences between TMC+ACHESS, TMC, and ACHESS were small (d< .06) and non-significant. Findings were inconclusive as to whether or not the treatment conditions differed on PDHD at 18 months. A significant effect was obtained on Any Drinking, which was higher in months 1-12 in TAU than in TMC (odds ratio (OR)= 3.02, standard error (SE)=0.43, 95% CI= [1.30, 6.99], p=0.01) and TMC+ACHESS (OR= 2.43, SE=0.39, 95% CI= [1.12, 5.27], p=0.03). No other significant effects were obtained on other secondary outcomes during or after treatment. CONCLUSIONS A telephone-delivered intervention and a smartphone-delivered intervention, alone and in combination, provided effective remote continuing care for alcohol use disorder. The combination of both interventions was not superior to either alone and effects did not persist post-treatment.
On the intergalactic temperature–density relation

Cosmological simulations of the low-density intergalactic medium exhibit a strikingly tight power-law relation between temperature and density that holds over two decades in density. It is found that this relation should roughly apply Delta z ~ 1-2 after a reionization event, and this limiting behavior has motivated the power-law parameterizations used in most analyses of the Ly-alpha forest. This relation has been explained by using equations linearized in the baryonic overdensity (which does not address why a tight power-law relation holds over two decades in density) or by equating the photoheating rate with the cooling rate from cosmological expansion (which we show is incorrect). Previous explanations also did not address why recombination cooling and Compton cooling off of the cosmic microwave background, which are never negligible, do not alter the character of this relation. We provide an understanding for why a tight power-law relation arises for unshocked gas at all densities for which collisional cooling is unimportant. We also use our results to comment on (1) how quickly fluctuations in temperature redshift away after reionization processes, (2) how much shock heating occurs in the low-density intergalactic medium, and (3) how the temperatures of collapsing gas parcels evolve.
Blue Nevus Versus Pigmented Epithelioid Melanocytoma

Blue nevi (dermal melanocytomas) and their variants are characterized by melanocytes containing abundant cytoplasmic melanin. These lesions must be distinguished from heavily pigmented melanomas. Pigmented epithelioid melanocytoma (PEM) is a recently described melanocytic tumor with histologic features overlapping blue nevus and melanoma and having a less aggressive clinical course. This chapter highlights the features that help to distinguish these histologically similar lesions. The discussion is expanded to include other lesions (neoplastic and inflammatory) containing abundant melanin and other pigmented material resembling melanin.
Response of Van Der Pol's Oscillator to Random Excitation

This paper considers the response of Van der Pol's oscillator to random excitation. It is shown that the output of the oscillator consists of a periodic term, plus a narrow band noise term centered at the natural frequency of the oscillator. The root-mean-square amplitude of this noise term is shown to be proportional to the square root of the spectral density of the excitation, and inversely proportional to the amplittude of self-oscillation.
A Conceptual Design For A Spaceborne 3D Imaging Lidar

First generation spaceborne altimetric approaches are not well-suited to generating the few meter level horizontal resolution and decimeter accuracy vertical (range) resolution on the global scale desired by many in the Earth and planetary science communities. The present paper discusses the major technological impediments to achieving few meter transverse resolutions globally using conventional approaches and offers a feasible conceptual design which utilizes modest power kHz rate lasers, array detectors, photoncounting multi-channel timing receivers, and dual wedge optical scanners with transmitter point-ahead correction.
Wages, Rents and Heterogeneous Moving Costs (Second Version)

The model of compensating differentials in regional labor and land markets was formalized by Roback (1982). The model interprets regional differences in constant quality wages and rents as compensating firms and residents for inter-regional differences in amenities. While the model assumes that the costs of relocating to a new city are zero, the results hold in the presence of moving costs for the marginal migrant. This paper extends the Roback model to allow for moving costs which vary among a city's residents and businesses. This modification of the model generates new interpretations of regional differences in rents and wages. The theoretical results suggests that the interpretation of inter-city rent and wage differentials as compensating is misguided, that such differentials are inappropriate as weights in QOL comparisons and stresses the importance of local housing and labor market parameters in the determination of these differentials. The importance of amenities is retained, but housing supply becomes the main other determinant of regional rents. Housing supply was ignored in the literature following on Roback's initial insight. The new perspective also provides a bridge between the neoclassical perspective implicit in Roback's approach and the newer literature on agglomeration economies.
One true threesome: Reconciling canon and fan desire in Star Trek: Voyager

Fan-written stories that involve three-way relationships among the characters Tom Paris, Harry Kim, and B'Elanna Torres from Star Trek: Voyager capitalize on the homosocial bond between Paris and Kim and the canonical relationship between Paris and Torres to create a queer triangular relationship in which characterization, sexuality, and desire are all reoriented from the canon. Some of these stories relegate the nontraditional relationship to something approximating heteronormativity; in these instances, the story mirrors the canon in its often undesirable depiction of domesticity. In other stories, the triad moves away from dominant cultural expectations like marriage and children; in these stories, the triad seems to endure happily. The key to the stability of the erotic triangle therefore shifts the relationship or relationships away from the burden of hegemonic values, both in canon and in fan fiction.
The long and the short of it: Electoral institutions and the dynamics of party system size, 1950–2005

While institutional theories of party system size are usually examined cross-nationally, there is ample reason to expect that changes in electoral institutions will affect party system size within countries as well. Although some of this effect may occur immediately, most of the effects are likely to be realised over time and across subsequent elections. A series of error-correction models examine the short- and long-term effects of changes in electoral institutions on party system size. The results indicate that changes in electoral institutions do produce the expected effects on party system size, and that these effects occur mostly over the long term.
Transcriptional control of the DNA methyltransferases is altered in aging and neoplastically-transformed human fibroblasts.

Although it has been known for quite some time that genomic methylation is significantly altered in aging and neoplastic tissues and cells, the underlying mechanisms responsible for these alterations are not yet known. Since DNA methylation affects many different cellular processes including, most significantly, gene expression, elucidation of the basis for aberrations in DNA methylation in aging and cancer is of high priority. To address this problem, we sought to analyze changes in gene expression, protein production and enzyme activity of the three major DNA methyltransferases (Dnmt1, 3a, and 3b) in aging and neoplastically-transformed WI-38 human fetal lung fibroblasts. We have found that the gene expression of each of the three Dnmts parallels changes in protein production and enzyme activity of the Dnmts not only in aging cells, but also in WI-38 fibroblasts induced to undergo neoplastic transformation using defined genetic elements. These findings strongly implicate change in gene expression as an underlying mechanism in the altered genomic methylation of these cells. Striking changes in the gene expression of the Dnmts were observed in aging cells with the mRNA of Dnmt1 becoming reduced while the mRNA of Dnmt3b increased steadily in aging cells consistent with our observations in protein production and activity of these enzymes. Surprisingly, Dnmt3a actually decreased in gene expression in aging cells. We therefore propose that the transcriptional control of Dnmt1, the predominant maintenance methyltransferase, is significantly suppressed in aging cells and contributes to the reduced genomic methylation of these cells. The paradoxical sporadic gene hypermethylation in aging cells appears to be related to transcriptional up-regulation of the Dnmt3b gene. In addition, we sought to explore the coordinated changes in gene expression, protein production, and enzyme activity of these Dnmts in early cellular transformation. In these cells, the gene expression of all the three major Dnmts were up-regulated followed by marked increases in Dnmt protein and enzyme activity. These results therefore collectively indicate that changes in transcriptional control of the Dnmts are the likely cause for the known alterations in DNA methylation in aging cells and in cells undergoing tumorigenesis. They also show that changes in transcription of Dnmt1 and Dnmt3b are probably most important in affecting the generalized hypomethylation and specific hypermethylation seen in aging cells while gene expression of all the Dnmts is significantly increased in cancer cells. These findings should have broad implications in elucidating the underlying causes of changes in DNA methylation in aging and tumorigenesis and point to variations in gene expression of the individual Dnmts as a likely mechanism involved in these processes.
Human papillomavirus tumor infection in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

The association between human papillomavirus (HPV) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has been recognized for over three decades. Recently, multiple meta-analyses have drawn upon existing literature to assess the strength of the HPV-ESCC linkage. Here, we review these analyses and attempt to provide a clinically-relevant overview of HPV infection in ESCC. HPV-ESCC detection rates are highly variable across studies. Geographic location likely accounts for a majority of the variation in HPV prevalence, with high-incidence regions including Asia reporting significantly higher HPV-ESCC infection rates compared with low-incidence regions such as Europe, North America, and Oceania. Based on our examination of existing data, the current literature does not support the notion that HPV is a prominent carcinogen in ESCC. We conclude that there is no basis to change the current clinical approach to ESCC patients with respect to tumor HPV status.
The Electronic Spectroscopy of Photoreceptors (Other Than Rhodopsin)

A number of organisms ranging from prokaryotic bacteria to eukaryotic mammals directly respond to light of different wavelengths in terms of various photobiological reactions. A photobiological reaction entails the absorption of a specific wavelength of light by the functioning photoreceptor molecule within the photoreceptor organelle or apparatus. The general scheme of photoreceptor function is outlined diagramatically in Fig. 1. As can be seen from this figure, the photoreceptor molecule absorbs a specific wavelength of light, generating its electronically excited state from which primary molecular processes leading to the measureable photoresponse reaction of an organism proceeds. It is readily recognized that the electronic spectroscopy of photoreceptors plays an essential part in describing the mechanisms of photobiological processes at the molecular level. This review is intended to provide the reader with the current knowledge of the electronic excited states of various photobiological receptors, except rhodopsin and bacteriorhodopsin, which are extensively reviewed elsewhere (Birge, 1981, and references therein).
Development and validation of an open source O2-sensitive gel for physiological profiling of soil microbial communities.

Abstract Community level physiological profiling is a simple, high-throughput technique for assessing microbial community physiology. Initial methods relying on redox-dye based detection of respiration were subject to strong enrichment bias, but subsequent development of a microtiter assay using an oxygen-quenched dye reduced this bias and improved the versatility of the approach. Commercial production of the oxygen microplates recently stopped, which led to the present effort to develop and validate a system using a luminophore dye (platinum tetrakis pentafluorophenyl) immobilized at the bottom of wells within a 96 well microtiter plate. The technique was used to analyze three well-characterized Florida soils: oak saw palmetto scrub, coastal mixed hardwood, and soil from an agricultural field used to grow corn silage. Substrate induced respiration was monitored by measuring respiration rates in soils under basal conditions and comparing to soils supplemented with nitrogen and various carbon sources (mannose, casein, asparagine, coumaric acid). All data was compared to a previously available commercial assay. There were no significant differences in the maximum peak intensity or the time to peak response for all soils tested (p
Potato seed productivity: Factors influencing eye number per seed piece and subsequent performance

Studies were conducted in 1985 and 1986 to determine the relationship between seed tuber size and cut seed size as they influence eye and stem number per seed piece and percent blind (without eyes) in two cultivars, Russet Burbank and Nooksack. The number of eyes may determine stem number per seed piece, which in turn influences tuber set, and eventual yield of a potato cultivar. There was a high correlation coefficient between eye number per seed piece and the number of stems produced in Nooksack. Russet Burbank cultivar averaged twice as many eyes per seed tuber compared to Nooksack tubers of equal size. The eyes on Russet Burbank were also more evenly distributed. The number of eyes and stems produced per seed piece increased as cut seed piece size increased. A correlation coefficient of r = +0.74 was obtained between eye number and stem number on Nooksack. A negative correlation coefficient of r = -0.77 was obtained on Russet Burbank between average stem number of the cut seed and seed tuber size. Percent of cut seed pieces that did not produce a plant (blind) was significantly higher for Nooksack than Russet Burbank, especially with smaller cut seed pieces where the 28 g cut seed had 24% blind seed pieces. Percent blind cut seed pieces also increased as seed tuber size increased. The percent stand was reduced from 94% for seed cut from 84 to 140 g seed tubers to 73% for Nooksack seed pieces cut from seed tubers of 252 to 280 g size. A significant negative linear trend was obtained between total yield that decreased as the seed tuber size from which seed pieces were cut increased.
NMR studies of some monohalosubstituted fluorobenzenes oriented in a lyotropic mesophase

Abstract The NMR spectra for four ortho - and meta -halosubstituted fluorobenzenes oriented in a lyotropic mesophase have been recorded and analyzed. The direct coupling constants obtained were corrected for harmonic vibrations and used to calculate proton and fluorine distance ratios and order tensors. Results are compared to those of other halobenzenes oriented in the same lyotropic mesophase.
Specific heat of CeAl3 below 20 K in fields to 8 T: effect of CeAl2 and/or Ce3Al11 phases

Abstract Four polycrystalline samples of CeAl 3 containing CeAl 2 and/or Ce 3 Al 11 phases (2.6 to 13 wt%) have been studied at 0.35 K ⩽ T ⩽ 20 K and 0 ⩽ H ⩽ 8 T. The specific heat for all samples agreed after correction for the impurities. The results below 1 K. are compared with the RLM using a T dependent Δ.
Harmonic Analysis of an Array Comprised of Two Coupled Directive Antennas

A harmonic analysis is performed and the radiation patterns are deduced for an antenna system comprised of two parallel half-wave dipoles with parasitic directors above a reflecting plane where the mutual interactions of all the elements are considered. This work represents an extension of a previous analysis in which only a single dipole with a director above a reflecting plane was considered [1]. The results illustrate the importance of the radiated interference at the harmonic frequencies that may be introduced when sufficient harmonic power is available at the antenna input. As a criterion to determine the ?worst case? situation, the antenna is assumed to be matched and fed with equal power at each of the harmonics. The resultant field patterns show the following characteristics. 1) The presence of the director introduces side lobes at the fundamental frequency in both the meridional and azimuthal planes. These lobes peak at levels of 9 and 14 dB down, respectively, when compared with the density in the forward direction. 2) The higher the harmonic, the smaller the role played by the presence of the directors. At the seventh harmonic a maximum 1.5-dB difference in value exists when compared with the same antenna configuration when the directors are absent. 3) In the meridional plane at the higher harmonics, side lobe densities exist (e.g., at the fifth and seventh harmonics) that are as intense as the power density in the forward direction for the fundamental frequency.
Modeling the interaction of agrochemicals with environmental surfaces: pesticides on rutile and organo-rutile surfaces

Abstract Non-bonded interactions between model pesticides and organo-mineral surfaces have been studied using molecular mechanical conformational calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. The minimum energy conformations and relative binding energies for the interaction of atrazine, ametryn, prometone, 2,4-D and DDT with rutile, β-cyclodextrin, and a β-cyclodextrin–rutile aggregate, respectively, were obtained. Relative binding energies for the pesticides on the mineral surface were generally in the order 2,4-D>prometone>ametryn>atrazine>DDT. The favored binding conformation for 2,4-D and DDT was usually one in which the aromatic rings lay parallel to the surface. S -triazines adopted conformations in which the triazine ring was oblique to the surface. On a composite β-cyclodextrin–rutile surface, the binding energies did not decrease appreciably although most of the organic contaminants showed a strong preference for the pristine mineral surface.
Spectral shifts of ultrasonic propagation through media with nonlinear dispersive attenuation

The relationship between center frequency downshift and transmitted bandwidth was investigated for a pulse with Gaussian amplitude spectrum propagating through a lossy medium with power law frequency dependence of attenuation. Tissue equivalent material was characterized by multiple narrowband attenuation measurements, via a substitution method. Power law curves were fitted to the data. The parameters of the curves were used to predict the behavior of the center frequency downshift vs. transmitted bandwidth obtained from a second experiment. The results confirm the mathematical model.
Venous duplex and pathologic differences in thrombus characteristics between de novo deep vein thrombi and endovenous heat-induced thrombi

Objective Superficial venous reflux disease has been treated with endovenous ablation techniques for more than 15 years. Thrombi discovered in the postoperative period are referred to as endovenous heat-induced thrombi (EHIT). In spite of the few studies of the ultrasound differentiation between EHIT and deep vein thrombi (DVT), there remains a paucity of literature regarding the evaluation of ultrasound examination and pathologic differentiation. Methods Six Yorkshire cross swine underwent femoral vein thrombosis by suture ligation or endovenous radiofrequency ablation. At 1 week after the procedure, each femoral vein was imaged by color Duplex ultrasound and sent for histologic interpretation for differentiation between EHIT and DVT. Five blinded vascular surgery faculty, two vascular surgery fellows, and three vascular surgery residents reviewed the ultrasound images. Results Thrombi associated with radiofrequency ablation demonstrated a greater degree of hypercellular response, fibroblastic reaction, and edema (3.42 vs 2.92; 3.75 vs 2.42; 2.83 vs 1.33). Specimens harvested from the iatrogenic-induced DVT swine demonstrated a more prolific response to trichrome staining (3.42 vs 2.67). Evidence of revascularization was found in all of the EHIT specimens but in 33% of DVT specimens. On the basis of histologic findings, the pathologist predicted correct modality 92% of the time. Subgroup analysis comparing paired specimens from each swine failed to demonstrate any marked pathologic differences. Recorded ultrasound images from EHIT and DVT samples were reviewed by fellows, residents, and vascular surgery staff to determine whether clot was stationary or free-floating (n = 111; 93%), evidence of retracted or adherent vein (n = 105; 88%), and absence of color flow (n = 102; 85%). The degree of occlusion (partial vs total) and degree of distention of a visualized vein were least likely to be agreed on by reviewers (n = 95; 79% each, respectively). In subgroup (DVT vs EHIT) analyses, the percentage agreement was greatest among vascular surgery fellows (89% and 92%) compared with residents (82% and 79%) and faculty (78% and 77%). Conclusions It is possible to differentiate the thrombus origin on pathologic examination but not clinically on ultrasound. Wide variability exists for ultrasound diagnosis of EHIT and de novo DVT. Care must be taken in evaluating post-treatment duplex scans to not assign diagnosis of EHIT when DVT may well be present and extending into the deep venous system. The modulation of collagen production in the treatment of DVT may be helpful in preventing vascular dysfunction and reducing the post-thrombotic changes. Further studies on injury after radiofrequency ablation and laser ablation are needed.
OBAN: An open architecture prototype for a tactical body sensor network

Dismounted warfighters face a variety of environmental and physical challenges that can degrade performance and lead to serious injury. Real-time monitoring of physiological status can be a key component of reducing these risks. To these ends, a Real-Time Physiological Status Monitoring (RT-PSM) system named OBAN (Open Body Area Network) is being developed. This system utilizes an Open Systems Architecture approach which will allow for the inclusion of new sensor modalities and display form factors at low cost. A prototype has been built using both Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and custom-designed sensors to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach. The current system accepts heart rate data from a commercial sensor to calculate the subject's Physiological Strain Index (PSI), which is an indication of susceptibility to heat injury, and data from custom, boot-mounted load sensors. COTS components were adapted to create the system's networking and computational modules. Limitations of the existing prototype are described and a path forward addressing the operational needs of warfighters is proposed.
World Education Congress by Meeting Professionals International July 28–31, 2012 St. Louis, Missouri

The World Education Congress (WEC), organized by Meeting Professionals International (MPI), took place July 28–31, 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri. Almost 2,500 event professionals including planners, ...
Young gifted children: Identification, programming, and socio‐psychological issues

This paper is the introduction to the special issue. The core themes of the volume are presented — these are identification of the gifted, research on gifted children and programs, programming for young gifted children, and the socio‐psychological implications of giftedness.
Evaluation of virtual fixtures for robot-assisted cochlear implant insertion

Cochlear implantation requires the placement of an electrode array into the cochlea of patients with severe to profound hearing loss. As the array is placed without direct visualization, robotic guidance has significant potential to improve upon the precision of electrode placement within the cochlea. Here, we evaluate the repeatability of robot-assisted placement of an implant array to an optimal deployment point within a phantom cochlea. This system guides the insertion of the implant by enacting virtual fixtures. When compared to the standard manual method of insertion, we observed a 61.7% reduction in the mean error.
Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics with Epitaxial Quantum Dots

We present theoretical and experimental results of quantum photonic devices based on photonics crystals in III-V semiconductors.