cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ETD and sequential ETD localize the residues involved in D2-A2A heteromerization

Certain amino acid residues and posttranslational modifications play an important role in the formation of noncovalent complexes (NCXs) by electrostatic interactions. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is the most widely used MS technique for the study of NCXs, due to its softer ionization process and compatibility with the solution phase of NCX mixtures. In order to locate the site where interactions are forming in NCXs involving phosphopeptides and adjacent arginines, tandem mass spectrometry studies using collision-induced dissociation (CID) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) were performed on NCXs at different charge states. CID fragmentation revealed two dissociation pathways: one in which the electrostatic interaction is disrupted and another in which the covalent bond attaching the phosphate group to the amino acid residue is cleaved, while the electrostatic interaction is maintained. ETD and sequential ETD/ETD, and CID/ETD allow the determination of the NCX interaction site. These results confirmed the involvement of the phosphorylated amino acid and at least two adjacent arginines as the binding site.
High-frequency trading: networks of wealth and the concentration of power

The development of high-frequency trading (HFT) – automated trading of stocks, as well as bonds, options, and other investment instruments – provides a signal example of the political effects of computerization on a discrete social sphere. Despite the widespread rhetoric that computerization inherently democratizes, the consequences of the introduction of HFT are widely acknowledged to be new concentrations of wealth and power, opacity rather than transparency of information flows, and structural resistance to democratic oversight and control. Even as computerized tools undoubtedly provide individual investors with more power relative to what they had before, they also provide powerful actors with relatively more power as well, in some cases effectively excluding the majority of individuals from insight or meaningful participation whatsoever, especially with regard to the political impacts of market activities. Reports on recent financial crises, and the 2011 film Margin Call provide narrow windows into t...
Reaction kinetics and TTT cure diagrams for off‐stoichiometric ratios of a high‐Tg epoxy/amine system

The cure behavior of two off-stoichiometric ratios, one amine-rich and the other epoxy-rich, of a high-Tg aromatic difunctional epoxy/aromatic tetrafunctional diamine system are studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The curing reactions are presumed to consist of competing epoxy/amine reactions and a subsequent reaction of epoxy with hydroxyl, termed etherification, that is significant in the epoxy-rich system after depletion of amino hydrogens. A one-to-one relationship between conversion and Tg independent of cure temperature is found for each of the off-stoichiometric systems in spite of the competing reactions. Since it is uniquely related to fractional conversion, sensitive, and easily measured, Tg is used to monitor the curing reactions. Kinetically controlled master curves for isothermal cure are obtained for each system by shifting Tg vs. In time data to an arbitrary reference temperature; apparent activation energies for the epoxy/amine and the etherification reaction regimes appear to be identical at 15.5 kcal/mol. Experimental DSC data are satisfactorily described for both systems by a kinetic model of the competitive epoxy/amine and etherification reactions. The ratio of the rate constants for the reactions of epoxy with the secondary amine group and epoxy with the primary amine group, α = k2/k1, is found to be approximately 0.5 (i.e., equal reactivity of amino hydrogens), whereas the ratio of the rate constants for the reactions of epoxy with hydroxyl and epoxy with the primary amine group, β = k3/k1, is found to be 0.001. Diffusion control is incorporated in the model by the use of a free-volume theory. Vitrification and iso-Tg contours in the time–temperature–transformation (TTT) isothermal-cure diagram are calculated for both systems from the kinetic model. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Learning to rank figures within a biomedical article.

Hundreds of millions of figures are available in biomedical literature, representing important biomedical experimental evidence. This ever-increasing sheer volume has made it difficult for scientists to effectively and accurately access figures of their interest, the process of which is crucial for validating research facts and for formulating or testing novel research hypotheses. Current figure search applications can't fully meet this challenge as the “bag of figures” assumption doesn't take into account the relationship among figures. In our previous study, hundreds of biomedical researchers have annotated articles in which they serve as corresponding authors. They ranked each figure in their paper based on a figure's importance at their discretion, referred to as “figure ranking”. Using this collection of annotated data, we investigated computational approaches to automatically rank figures. We exploited and extended the state-of-the-art listwise learning-to-rank algorithms and developed a new supervised-learning model BioFigRank. The cross-validation results show that BioFigRank yielded the best performance compared with other state-of-the-art computational models, and the greedy feature selection can further boost the ranking performance significantly. Furthermore, we carry out the evaluation by comparing BioFigRank with three-level competitive domain-specific human experts: (1) First Author, (2) Non-Author-In-Domain-Expert who is not the author nor co-author of an article but who works in the same field of the corresponding author of the article, and (3) Non-Author-Out-Domain-Expert who is not the author nor co-author of an article and who may or may not work in the same field of the corresponding author of an article. Our results show that BioFigRank outperforms Non-Author-Out-Domain-Expert and performs as well as Non-Author-In-Domain-Expert. Although BioFigRank underperforms First Author, since most biomedical researchers are either in- or out-domain-experts for an article, we conclude that BioFigRank represents an artificial intelligence system that offers expert-level intelligence to help biomedical researchers to navigate increasingly proliferated big data efficiently.
Extrapolation of Time-Dependent Waveforms along their Path of Propagation

Summary Time-dependent waveforms are commonly extrapolated in space by means of rays and occasionally by means of diffraction integrals. It is possible to extrapolate time-dependent waves in space with a partial differential equation derived from the wave equation. There are stable numerical approximations. An example illustrates a mechanism for ' signal-generated noise ' which is consistent with observations. When a wave propagates in an inhomogeneous medium the waveform changes. Given that the wave has been observed at a suitable number of points in space we may attempt to solve two types of problems. First we may attempt to ascertain the nature of material inhomogeneity along the wave paths, and second, we may attempt to extrapolate the disturbance back to the source in an attempt to discover the nature of the source. With few exceptions, the methods used during the past decade for doing this kind of geophysical work may be summarized as follows: when wave equations are to be used, separability is achieved by considering cases in which the material inhomogeneity is a function of only one spatial co-ordinate. When higherdimensional inhomogeneity is so severe that it cannot be ignored, then the wave equations are almost always specialized to ray theory. Ray theory is especially useful when only the travel time is required. Although the amplitude may also be obtained by ray theory it is often of marginal utility because amplitude measurement is made ambiguous by changing waveforms. What we develop in this paper is a finite difference approach to the wave equation which tracks the time dependent waveform of a travelling wave in two-dimensionally inhomogeneous material. This is an extension of earlier work done by one of the authors in the frequency domain. Although the Fourier transform relates time-domain solutions to frequency-domain solutions, there are several compelling practical factors which give impetus to this study. When a waveform is small at certain times of interest and large at times which are not of interest, then a satisfactory approximation to the Fourier integral may be difficult to obtain even if values are obtained with good accuracy at many frequencies: an example is the head wave. Another example occurs in reflection seismology where the most interesting part of the waveform is the late-arriving weak echoes. Another example is when the time function is of long duration but only a small portion of it is of interest; this is usually the case with short-period earthquake seismograms where there is never any hope of interpreting more than the wave packets which come from identifiable phases.
Logical topology augmentation for survivable mapping in IP-over-WDM networks

Survivability is an important issue in IP-over-WDM networks. IP layer failure recovery is only possible if the IP topology is mapped onto the WDM topology in a survivable way, i.e., the failure of any single fiber will not disconnect the IP topology. In A. Sen et al. (2002), it has been proven that to find a survivable mapping from a logical to a physical topology is NP-hard. In this paper, a new approach to tackle the inherent hardness of this problem is introduced. The basic idea is to augment the given logical topology using edges that appear in the physical topology such that the intersection of the logical and the physical topologies becomes 2-edge-connected. As a consequence, any shortest path mapping from the result logical topology to the physical topology is survivable. We first prove the correctness of this strategy and give a straightforward integer linear programming (ILP) formulation that minimizes the number of added logical links. Noticing that this graph augmentation problem is NP-hard, we then propose a heuristic algorithm. Simulation results show that this scheme provides a fast and effective alternative solution to the original survivable mapping problem by paying a price of a certain number of extra mapping costs. Meanwhile, another potential benefit is that non-survivable logical topologies can be fixed in this way. On the other hand, the performance of the heuristic augmentation algorithm is promising compared to that of the ILP formulation.
Effect of Crystal Field on the Inelastic Neutron Scattering Cross-Section

The magnetic inelastic scattering of neutrons by paramagnetic rare-earth compounds where the rare-earth ion has a substantial crystal-field splitting is studied theoretically. Using the time-dependent spin correlation functions, the effects of the crystal-field and exchange to the first and second moments of inelastic neutron scattering cross section are investigated. The results are applied to the singlet ground-state Pr- and Tm-compounds. We also discussed the relationship between the temperature dependence of the intensity of quasi-elastic scattering and those of longitudinal relaxation rates of NMR and EPR. Die inelastische Neutronenstreuung von paramagnetischen Verbindungen der Seltenen Erdmetalle, deren Ion der Seltenen Erden Kristallfeldaufspaltung zeigt, wird theoretisch untersucht. Mittels zeitabhangiger Spinkorrelationsfunktionen wird der Einflus der Kristallfeld- und Austauschwechselwirkung auf die ersten und zweiten Momente des inelastischen Neutronenstreuungs- querschnittes untersucht. Die Resultate werden auf Pr- und Tm-Verbindungen angewendet. Weiterhin wird der Zusammenhang zwischen dem Temperaturverlauf der quasi-elastischen Streu- intensityat und den NMR- und EPR-Relaxationszeiten (longitudinale Relaxationszeiten) diskutiert.
Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans contribute to brain tissue swelling behavior

To identify the constituents of brain responsible for driving edema, swelling behavior of thin slices of adult rat cortex was examined following digestion of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs). The triphasic swelling behavior of brain slices was greatly reduced in slices exposed to chondroitinase ABC for 24 h, relative to controls. Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content was reduced in enzyme-treated slices. Taken together, these results indicate that CSPGs contribute to the triphasic swelling behavior of brain tissue.
Revisiting the X:A Signal That Specifies Caenorhabditis elegans Sexual Fate

In Caenorhabditis elegans, sex is determined by the opposing actions of X-signal elements (XSEs) and autosomal signal elements (ASEs), which communicate the ratio of X chromosomes to sets of autosomes (X:A signal). This study delves more deeply into the mechanism by which XSEs transmit X chromosome dose. We determined the relative contributions of individual XSEs to the X:A signal and showed the order of XSE strength to be sex-1 > sex-2 > fox-1 > ceh-39 ≥ region 1 XSE. sex-1 exerts a more potent influence on sex determination and dosage compensation than any other XSE by functioning in two separate capacities in the pathway: sex-1 acts upstream as an XSE to repress xol-1 and downstream as an activator of hermaphrodite development and dosage compensation. Furthermore, the process of dosage compensation affects expression of the very XSEs that control it; XSEs become fully dosage compensated once sex is determined. The X:A signal is then equivalent between XO and XX animals, causing sexual differentiation to be controlled by genes downstream of xol-1 in the sex-determination pathway. Prior to the onset of dosage compensation, the difference in XSE expression between XX and XO embryos appears to be greater than twofold, making X chromosome counting a robust process.
Optical Flow Based Expression Suppression in Video

In this paper we propose a novel method for suppressing facial expressions in video sequences based on analysis of apparent strain in the face. The proposed method performs continuous optical strain analysis on a target face for all frames in a video. This analysis is used in conjunction with strain maps for every frame to counteract the elastic deformation of the facial tissue and keep the expression neutral. The method is capable of suppressing out all expression types without the need of training for specific expressions and is demonstrated on a publicly available data set. In addition, we test our method using publicly available expression (smile) recognition program that is included with OpenCV to quantify the suppression results. Our method shows an average reduction of expression detection confidence, the confidence of an expression present in a single frame, of nearly 90%.
Laptops and Literacy: A Multi-Site Case Study

This multi-site case study examined literacy practices in 10 U.S. schools with one-to-one computing programs where all students had access to laptop computers throughout the school day. Important changes noted in the processes, sources, and products of literacy were along the lines often touted by educational reformers but seldom realized in schools. For example, reading instruction featured more scaffolding and epistemic engagement, whereas student writing became more iterative; more public, visible, and collaborative; more purposeful and authentic; and more diverse in genre. Students also gained important technology-related literacies such as those that involve analysing information or producing multimedia. However, laptop programs were not found to improve test scores or erase academic achievement gaps between students with low and high socioeconomic status. Both the benefits and limitations of laptop programs are discussed in this article.
The effect of topical fluoride treatment on enamel fluoride uptake and the tensile bond strength of an orthodontic bonding resin

Enamel demineralization occurring adjacent to directly bonded orthodontic attachments is of great concern to orthodontists. The topical application of fluorides to enamel surfaces before acid etching and the bonding of the attachments is not recommended by many investigators. The objective of this study was to determine the enamel fluoride acquired from various topical fluoride agents and to determine the effect of the acquired fluoride on the tensile bond strength of an orthodontic bonding system. Fifty extracted maxillary central incisors were mounted in cups and the facial surfaces of the crowns were polished on 600-grit silicon carbide paper. Enamel microbiopsies were performed just off the midpoint of each tooth. Ten teeth served as controls and received no topical fluoride treatment, while a similar number were treated with either APF, SnF2, Duraphat, or Fluor Protector. The teeth were suspended in synthetic saliva 4 minutes after fluoride application. The topical fluoride agents were removed after 24 hours and the teeth were again suspended in synthetic saliva at 37 degrees C for 7 days. Enamel biopsies were again performed just off the midpoint of each tooth on the side not previously biopsied. The enamel surfaces were etched for 1 minute and the tensile bond strength of Concise orthodontic bonding system to the etched enamel surfaces was determined. The enamel surfaces acquired significantly different amounts of fluoride from the topical fluoride agents, but the bond strengths to these surfaces were not significantly different. The results of this in vitro study suggest that the application of topical fluoride agents to enamel surfaces 7 days before the bonding of orthodontic attachments will not have an adverse effect on bond strength.
A phase I study of sunitinib in combination with sirolimus in adults with advanced refractory malignancies

3554 Background: Sirolimus, a commercially available oral mTOR inhibitor, may complement the anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor activity of sunitinib, an oral small molecule inhibitor of multiple receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), by vertical disruption of VEGFr signaling, by reducing the compensatory production of VEGF in sunitinib-treated patients, and also by directly inhibiting tumor cell proliferation. Methods: Sunitinib was given at 50 mg daily (d) x 28 q6w. The dose of sirolimus was escalated in cohorts of 3–6 beginning at 4 mg weekly until the MTD was determined. The first cohort received sunitinib alone 50mg d x 14 followed by 14 days off in cycle #1. After the 4mg sirolimus dose cohorts, sunitinib dose was reduced in subsequent cohorts to 37.5mg, and dose escalation of sirolimus was re-initiated at 4mg. Results: 18 patients (pts) with ECOG PS <2 were enrolled, median age 57yo (r:24–76), M:F: 11:7. Median # of prior treatments (Rx): 2(r:0–5), 6 had no prior systemic Rx. Disease primary sites: GI-5 (28...
Analogues of angiotensin II with restricted conformational freedom, including a new antagonist.

Two analogues of angiotensin II (AII) and one analogue of the AII antagonist [1-sarcosine, 8-valine]-angiotensin II ([Sar1, Va18]-AII) have been synthesized which contain a methyl group in the place of a proton on α-carbon 4 or 8. Theoretical studies indicate that these analogues should have restricted conformational freedom. The relatively high activity of the position 4 analogue in the rat uterus and blood pressure assays, when interpreted in the light of previous structure-activity studies, allows the tentative assignment of the torsional angles φ and ψ at position 4 in the receptor-bound conformation of AII. These values differ from those determined for AII in solution. The position 8 analogue, [Sar1, Val(αMe)8]-AII is itself an antagonist and is 7 times more potent in vivo than [Sar1, Val8]-AII.
Abstract A49: S6K1 promotes invasiveness of breast cancer cells in a novel model of triple-negative breast cancer metastasis

Introduction: Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of oncology-related death in US women. Despite extensive research, over 30% of breast cancer patients develop metastatic disease, and metastases account for majority of breast cancer-associated morbidity and mortality. Of all invasive breast cancers, patients with tumors lacking expression of the Estrogen and Progesterone hormone Receptors and Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 have the poorest clinical prognosis. These triple-negative tumors (TNBC) represent an aggressive form of the disease that is marked by an early-onset metastasis, a high tumor recurrence rate, and a low overall survival during the first three years post-diagnosis. However, few TNBC mouse models of metastasis currently exist. Results: We noticed that a well-established MDA-MB-231 TNBC cell line produces rapid and extremely lytic bone lesions in lumbar, sacral and caudal vertebrae, and hind limbs in about 10% of animals injected intravenously. We biopsied one of these bone metastases and established a new metastatic MDA-MB-231-1566 cell line. Following an intravenous injection, MDA-MB-231-1566 cells produce early-onset metastasis to bone in up to 70% of animals with concurrent metastases to lungs, liver, and soft tissues. We demonstrate that 100% of animals injected with MDA-MB-231-1566 cells developed metastasis and had median survival of 60 days vs. 80 days in mice injected with the parental cell line. We also demonstrate that ribosomal protein S6 is highly phosphorylated on Ser235/236 in metastatic TNBC tumors, and that this phosphorylation is indicative of upstream S6 kinase (S6K) activity. Lastly, we provide evidence that targeting S6K with a highly specific inhibitor, PF-4708671, at sub-lethal doses inhibits cell migration without inducing cell death, and thus may provide a potent anti-metastatic adjuvant therapy approach. Conclusion: We established a new model of rapid TNBC metastases to multiple organs following a simple intravenous injection. We believe this model provides a valuable tool for screening new therapeutics aimed to stop growth of metastases. Citation Format: Yekaterina B. Khotskaya, Aarthi Goverdhan, Jia Shen, Mariano Ponz Sarvice, Shih-Shin Chang, Ming-Chuan Hsu, Yongkun Wei, Weiya Xia, Patricia Steeg, Dihua Yu, Mien-Chie Hung. S6K1 promotes invasiveness of breast cancer cells in a novel model of triple-negative breast cancer metastasis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: The Translational Impact of Model Organisms in Cancer; Nov 5-8, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2014;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A49.
The Role of the Cerebellum in Developmental Dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is a neurobiological developmental disorder characterized by difficulty learning to read in the context of normal intelligence and sufficient educational opportunity. In addition to difficulties with literacy acquisition, dyslexia is also associated with impaired attention, working memory, eye movements, and motor skills as well as deficits in implicit and procedural learning. The impairments in eye movements, motor skills, and implicit/procedural learning, together with the notoriously difficult-to-remediate slow and laborious reading in dyslexia, led to the proposal that cerebellar dysfunction contributes to the etiology of dyslexia. Supporting this idea, functional neuroimaging in typically developing readers suggests that the cerebellum is part of the reading network; a variety of literacy deficits have been described in cerebellar patients. Here, the evidence for cerebellar dysfunction in dyslexia is reviewed, including clinical, behavioral, and structural and functional neuroimaging data; these findings are considered in the context of the increasing appreciation of the role of the cerebellum in language, cognition and complex skill acquisition.
Pew comparative analysis of clean energy jobs and investments in the United States, 1998–2007

A report by the Pew Charitable Trusts compares the job growth and investments in the clean energy sector of the US economy to the rest of the economy for the ten years leading up to the current recession, 1998 to 2007. The Pew study defines the US clean economy as the sector that “generates jobs, businesses and investments while expanding clean energy production, increasing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste and pollution, and conserving water and other natural resources.” The five economic activities comprising the clean economy are as follows. Clean energy production : jobs, businesses and investments that produce, transmit and store renewable energy from solar, wind, low-impact hydropower, hydrogen fuel cells, marine and tidal, geothermal and small-scale biopower energy sources. Energy efficiency : jobs, businesses and investments that reduce the amount of energy used in the economy. Environmentally friendly production : jobs, businesses and investments that mitigate the harmful environmental impacts of existing products and develop and supply alternatives that require less energy and emit fewer greenhouse gases. Conservation and pollution mitigation : jobs, businesses and investments that manage water and other finite natural resources more effectively, mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants that result from the continued use of fossil fuels. Training and support : jobs, businesses and investments that provide specialized services to the other four areas of the clean energy economy. The Pew report finds that, between 1998 and 2007, jobs in these five clean energy areas grew more rapidly than overall job growth in the United States.
Approaching perfection in the manufacturing of silicon immersion gratings

Silicon immersion gratings make near-IR spectrographs compact and allow them to have continuous wavelength coverage over a large bandwidth. We have produced an exceptional silicon immersion grating that approaches optical perfection in terms of surface error. This grating has a peak-to-valley error of 79 nm over a 25 mm beam, which exceeds the 85 nm requirement to have λ/4 peak-to-valley error at the shortest wavelength where silicon immersion gratings can be used. In order to reduce the level of large-scale errors we have honed our contact printing method by optimizing our UV exposure system, introducing additional process checks and inspections and carefully evaluating large-scale errors in the gratings produced.
Jamaicensamide A, a Peptide Containing β-Amino-α-keto and Thiazole-Homologated η-Amino Acid Residues from the Sponge Plakina jamaicensis

A new cyclic peptide, jamaicensamide A, composed of six amino acids, including a thiazole-homologated amino acid, was isolated from the Bahamian sponge Plakina jamaicensis, along with known compounds bitungolide A and franklinolide A. The structure of the title peptide was solved by integrated analysis of MS, 1D and 2D NMR data, oxidation-hydrolyses to α-amino acids, and their stereodetermination by Marfey’s method. The close structural resemblance of Western Atlantic-derived jamaicensamide A to known Western Pacific-derived peptides of lithistid sponges in the genus Theonella and Discodermia suggests a common origin: the symbiotic bacterium Entotheonella sp., a so-called “talented producer” responsible for biosynthesis of most Theonella-associated peptides. Similar natural products from sponges of disparate genera evince the likelihood that these invertebrates harbor the same or a very similar symbiont.
Improved Measurement of Brain Phenylalanine and Tyrosine Related to Neuropsychological Functioning in Phenylketonuria.

Introduction: Researchers hypothesized that in phenylketonuria (PKU) high brain phenylalanine (Phe) levels and low brain tyrosine (Tyr) levels affect neuropsychological functioning. However, traditional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) yielded uncertain results of brain Phe and could not adequately measure brain Tyr. This pilot study examined the potential of correlated spectroscopy (COSY) to quantify these biomarkers and explain variability in neuropsychological functioning.
Reactions of hexadehydro-Diels–Alder benzynes with structurally complex multifunctional natural products

An important question in organic chemistry concerns the extent to which benzynes-one of the classical reactive intermediates in organic chemistry-can react in discriminating fashion with trapping reagents. In particular, whether these species can react selectively with substrates containing multiple functional groups and possible sites of reactivity has remained unanswered. Natural products comprise a palette of multifunctional compounds with which to address this question. Here, we show that benzynes produced by the hexadehydro-Diels-Alder (HDDA) reaction react with many secondary metabolites with a preference for one among several pathways. Examples demonstrating such selectivity include reactions with: phenolics, through dearomatizing ortho-substitution; alkaloids, through Hofmann-type elimination; tropolone and furan, through cycloaddition; and alkaloids, through three-component fragmentation-coupling reactions. We also demonstrate that the cinchona alkaloids quinidine and quinine give rise to products (some in as few as three steps) that enable subsequent and rapid access to structurally diverse polyheterocyclic compounds. The results show that benzynes are quite discriminating in their reactivity-a trait perhaps not broadly enough appreciated.
Who Are the Homeless? Student Mobility and Achievement in Michigan 2010–2013:

This article provides provide a new, systematic profile of more than 18,000 homeless students in Michigan, utilizing rich administrative data from all test-taking students in Grades 3–9 during three academic years. These data are part of a larger study of school choice and student mobility in that state. Homelessness is a condition found disproportionately away from suburban school districts. African American and Hispanic students are more frequently homeless, and homeless students are almost universally impoverished. They are far more mobile between districts and zip codes than their non-homeless peers and are more likely to participate in interdistrict school choice and charter schools. Finally, homeless students score far lower on state math and reading tests relative to their state, district and school peers.
Asking the Right Questions: Teaching about Islam and Globalization

This article describes an exercise designed to introduce the topic of Islam and Muslims in a Sociology of Globalization course. The activity asks students to complete a sentence regarding Muslim wo...
What is Working, What is Not, and What We Need to Know: a Meta-Analytic Review of Business Ethics Instruction

Requirements for business ethics education and organizational ethics trainings mark an important step in encouraging ethical behavior among business students and professionals. However, the lack of specificity in these guidelines as to how, what, and where business ethics should be taught has led to stark differences in approaches and content. The present effort uses meta-analytic procedures to examine the effectiveness of current approaches across organizational ethics trainings and business school courses. to provide practical suggestions for business ethics interventions and research. Thus, the primary questions driving this research are as follows: (1) what course characteristics moderate the effectiveness of ethics instruction?, and (2) have ethics education and training efforts improved? Findings suggest that professional, focused, and workshop-based training programs are especially effective for improving business ethics. However, results also reveal considerable problems with many of the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of business ethics interventions. Practical suggestions for course design and evaluation in business ethics efforts are discussed along with future research needs.
Stroke: Cytoprotection, Repair and Regeneration—The Continuum of Patient Care

The ischemic penumbra is now defined as tissue at risk of becoming fully involved in the evolving neurodegenerative process following an embolic stroke. After an ischemic core is quickly developed following vascular occlusion, there is slow spreading of the ischemic injury from the core to areas immediately surrounding the core until full recruitment is achieved. Forty years ago, seminal electrophysiological studies forming the basis of the penumbral hypothesis were conducted in a large animal model, baboons, an animal that is now rarely used in translational stroke research because it can no longer be justified! Thereafter, the rabbit embolic stroke model led the way for approval of Alteplase® (tissue plasminogen activator, tPA, rt-PA) to treat acute ischemic stroke.
Synthesis, characterization, and mechanical and dynamic mechanical studies of β-alanine trimer-grafted SBR

Abstract Two β-alanine trimer-grafted SBRs with varied grafting densities, 3a and 3b, have been synthesized. The grafting density of 3b is about twice of that of 3a. FT-IR and DSC evidences suggest that the β-alanine trimer segments in both 3a and 3b exist exclusively in the β-sheet secondary structure, and the β-sheets stack to form crystals in the continuous SBR phase. The Tm of the β-sheet crystals in 3b is higher than the Tm of those in 3a. This likely suggests that the size of the crystals is somewhat larger in 3b than in 3a. TEM revealed that the β-sheet crystals are rod-like, with lengths on the order of a few tens of nanometers and widths of a few nanometers. The aspect ratio is much lower than that of the β-sheet crystals in segmented TPEs. The most prominent difference in the tensile behavior between 3a and 3b is strain hardening. The former is devoid of strain hardening, while the latter displays strong strain hardening. Overall, the high β-alanine content in 3b leads to improvement of stiffness, ultimate strength and overall toughness at the sacrifice of extensibility and elastic recovery compared to 3a. Dynamic mechanical studies showed that both 3a and 3b display very low loss factors, typical for TPEs with monodisperse hard segments that form β-sheet crystals, at temperatures up to 105 °C.
FRAX tool underestimates the risk of osteoporotic fractures in mental disorders

COMMENTARY ON: Bolton JM, Morin SN, Majumdar SR, et al . Association of mental disorders and related medication use with risk for major osteoporotic fractures. JAMA Psychiatry 2017;74:641–8. Selected mental disorders and specific psychotropic medications are associated with increased risk of fracture and osteoporosis and adversely impact bone mineral density (BMD).1 2 Fractures are associated with high mortality and morbidity rates and increased disability burden and socioeconomic costs.3 FRAX, a fracture risk assessment tool, assesses the 10-year probability of major osteoporotic fractures (MOF) based on eight clinical risk factors and BMD.4 5 It was developed and calibrated based on population-based cohorts in several regions throughout the world. Although FRAX is included in numerous osteoporosis guidelines, there is a need to strengthen the tool by incorporating additional clinical risk factors and evaluating its utility in specific subpopulations. Therefore, it is important …
Supporting consensus formation in Group Support Systems using the Qualitative Discriminant Process

Group Support Systems (GSS) are software systems that support group work, providing facilities for idea generation, idea organization, rating and ranking, communication, and recording of ideas. Because preference tasks occur frequently in organizational work, the rating and ranking facility is one of the most popular features of GSS. Nevertheless, this area has not received the attention it deserves in GSS research. Ratings in group decision-making contexts require techniques for synthesizing individual scores into group scores. Because the application of these techniques is only meaningful when there exists a relatively high level of consensus that is obtained through human interaction, there is the need for techniques to assess the level of group consensus, and also for supporting consensus build-ing. In this paper, an integrated method for rating and ranking, consensus assessment and consensus building is presented. This approach permits ambiguity in the ratings and yet provides appropriate interval and point numeric estimates; it offers interpretable similarity measures and consensus indicators.
Suspension properties of hexagonal BN powders: effect of pH and oxygen content

Suspension characteristics for two types (HCV and HCP) of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) powder have been examined and correlated to the amount of boric oxide present (B2O3) on the BN surface. The effects of B2O3 on the suspension behavior of HCV-BN and HCP-BN were determined by measuring the zeta (ζ) potential and viscosity as a function of pH. Results indicate the poor suspension quality of HCV-BN powders is linked to the increased presence of B2O3 on the particle surface. Because of its weak ionization characteristics, B2O3 acts to prevent stable suspension formation by decreasing the double layer length, thereby lowering the barrier to agglomeration. Hence, as the amount of B2O3 increases on the HCV-BN powder surfaces, the stability decreases and the particles agglomerate, rapidly settling out of higher viscosity suspensions. In contrast, HCP-BN having less B2O3 on the powder surface, exhibits higher ζ-potentials and increased stability against agglomeration. Therefore, HCP-BN forms suspensions of single, unagglomerated particles which are less viscous, settle at a slower rate and are more suitable for slip casting operations.
Social Developmental Approaches to Deterrence of Risk Factors in Cardiovascular Disease

The first thing behavioral science researchers entering the health field may discover is what many health professionals and biomedical scientists have long known: prevention of disease involves some form of life-style intervention. If psychologists have problems developing successful strategies for modifying lifestyles of the mentally ill, delinquent youth, criminals, or those who are in the throes of poverty, certainly no fewer difficulties are encountered in developing strategies to effect the kinds of life-style modifications that are involved in preventing cardiovascular disease.
Did Narcissism Evolve

This chapter, like each chapter in the edited book, focuses on narcissism (arrogance, exploitativeness, self-admiration, etc.). My goal is to entertain and evaluate the possibility that narcissism evolved. It is important to point out that, by way of background, just because something is morally suspect does not mean that it didn’t evolve; indeed, bad things can evolve. But despite narcissism being heritable, there is no direct evidence that narcissism is caused by specific genes, indicating that the evolutionary mechanisms are unknown. Through which pathways—such as mating pathways—does narcissism get passed onto the next generation? Narcissism appears to be positively correlated with short-term mating (e.g., promiscuity), suggesting that narcissism gets pushed into subsequent generations via promiscuous activity. The idea that narcissism evolved via short-term mating, however, is currently questionable, mainly because narcissists are not physically attractive at the unadorned level; in theory, narcissists should be attractive at the unadorned level because short-term mating situations select for raw attractiveness. All told, the prospect of narcissism having evolved is in a precarious position as of this writing. Several gaps in the literature lead to a call for more molecular genetic research and collaborative, large-scale behavioral research.
Innovation in Food Challenge Tests for Food Allergy

This review incorporates findings from studies of oral food challenges (OFC) over the last decade and highlights the latest innovations and understanding of the procedure. PRACTALL guidelines are widely used in OFC research, but there is still no international consensus on the OFC protocol in clinical practice. Guidelines for performing OFC in clinical practice have been updated to include oral food challenges for infants. There have been advances in predictive models for outcomes and severity of reaction during OFC that take into account multiple clinical data as well as newer laboratory modalities. Low-dose OFC and eliciting threshold dose determination are being examined for additional diagnostic and therapeutic use in the management of food allergy. Quality-of-life considerations have also been reviewed, as well as post-OFC assessment and care. The OFC remains an important diagnostic tool in the management of food allergy and in clinical research. Advances in the field should improve safety and broaden the clinical applications of this essential procedure.
A Systematic Review of Therapeutic Recreation Camp Impact on Families of Children With Chronic Health Conditions

Objective Parents and siblings of children with chronic illnesses are at increased risk for experiencing psychosocial difficulties. Therapeutic recreation camps have become increasingly popular among these families. The current systematic literature review provides a synthesis of research on how these camps impact the parents and siblings of children facing a variety of chronic health conditions. Methods Databases searched: PubMed, PsycInfo, SportDISCUS, and Health Source Nursing/Academic Edition. Inclusion criteria included publication in a peer-reviewed journal between January 2000 and May 2018, written in the English language, and assessment of parent, sibling, or family outcomes. Results Twenty-one studies were included. Results indicated that camp attendance relates to positive changes in parent and sibling psychosocial outcomes. Additionally, parents report camp to be a place of social support and respite from daily life, and siblings find camp to be enjoyable and a place of belonging. Given the limited number of methodologically sound studies examining family functioning, it is not yet clear the extent to which camp influences family-level outcomes. Conclusion Overall, camp appears to have a positive impact on parents and siblings across chronic illness populations. Future research should specifically assess family outcomes, including communication and family functioning, and the impact of incorporating well-defined interventions and education programming into the traditional therapeutic recreation camp experience.
Experimental and applied element modeling of masonry walls retrofitted with near surface mounted (NSM) reinforcing steel bars

In this paper, unreinforced masonry (URM) and retrofitted masonry walls are modeled experimentally and computationally. The walls were subjected to in-plane loading to assess on the effectiveness of a retrofit solution that makes use of near surface mounted (NSM) reinforcing steel bars. A laboratory testing campaign was performed that included pull-out tests, diagonal compression tests, and in-plane cyclic tests of URM and NSM retrofitted physical models. The experimental results indicate that the NSM reinforcing steel bars are effective in improving the deformation capacity of the URM walls. A computational modeling approach that makes use of the applied element method is proposed and the computational results are validated using the experimental tests presented. Results from computational models indicate that a good correlation with the test results is achieved in terms of load-displacement response as well as failure mechanisms observed.
How to teach

Even the most junior departmental secretaries scared me when I first arrived in Chicago—they represented officialdom. If I asked one to do a five-minute duplicating job, and she said she’d have it for me the day after tomorrow, I said yes, sure, all right. I didn’t really know how long the job should take, and I was brought up never to argue with the government. By the time I left Chicago I had learned that secretaries were human and that they were not always right ex officio.
Engaging young African American women breast cancer survivors: A novel storytelling approach to identify patient‐centred research priorities

Background Patient-centredness is considered an essential aspiration of a high-quality health-care system, and patient engagement is a critical precursor to patient-centred care. Objectives To engage patients, health-care providers and stakeholders in identifying recommendations to address research and practice gaps that impact young African American breast cancer survivors. Methods This paper reported an approach for research priority setting. This approach applies an engagement process (January-September 2018) of using patient and stakeholder groups, patient storytelling workshops and a culminating storytelling conference in Wisconsin to generate relevant research topics and recommendations. Topics were prioritized using an iterative engagement process. Research priorities and recommendation were ranked over the conference by counting participants' anonymous votes. Results One hundred attendees (43 patients/family members, 20 providers/researchers and 37 community members) participated in the conference. Five topics were identified as priorities. The results showed that three priority areas received the most votes, specifically community outreach and education, providing affordable health care and engaging in complementary care practice. Stakeholders also agreed it is critical to 'include youth in the conversation' when planning for cancer support and educational programmes for caregivers, friends and family members. Conclusion Storytelling as a patient engagement approach can build trust in the patient-research partnership, ensure that patients are meaningfully engaged throughout the process and capture the diversity of patient experiences and perspectives.
Health Data Sharing in US Nursing Homes: A Mixed Methods Study.

Abstract Objectives (1) To understand the extent to which nursing homes have the capability for data sharing and (2) to explore nursing home leaders' perceptions of data sharing with other health care facilities and with residents and family members. Design Exploratory, mixed-methods. Setting and Participants We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a national survey of nursing home administrative leaders (n = 815) representing every state in the United States. Next, semistructured interviews were used to elicit rich contextual information from (n = 12) administrators from nursing homes with varying data-sharing capabilities. Methods We used descriptive statistics along with Rao-Scott chi-square and logistic regression models to examine the relationship between health data–sharing capabilities and nursing home characteristics such as location, bed size, and type of ownership. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Results Of the 815 nursing homes completing the survey, 95% had computerized (electronic) medical records, and 46% had some capability for health information exchange. Nursing homes located in metropolitan areas had 2.53 (95% confidence interval = 1.53, 4.18) times greater odds for having health information exchange capability compared with nursing homes in small towns. Perceived challenges to health data sharing with residents and family members and external clinical partners include variance in systems and software, privacy and security concerns, and organizational factors slowing uptake of technology. Perceived benefits of health data sharing included improved communication, improved care planning, and anticipating future demand. Conclusions and Implications As health data sharing becomes more ubiquitous in acute care settings, policy makers, nursing home leaders, and other stakeholders should prepare by working to mitigate barriers and capitalize on potential benefits of implementing this technology in nursing homes.
Differences in Relational Distress Following RE Intervention for Low-Income Couples With or Without Chronic Illness

With a sample of 2,118 largely low-income, ethnic minority individuals with and without chronic illness (CI), this study examines couple-oriented relationship education (RE) on emotional distress l...