cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alterations in cerebral vascular contracting and relaxing factors in the plasma during craniotomy and aneurysmal clipping

Objective To observe the change of angiotensin II (AT-II), endothelin (ET), and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) during craniotomy and aneurysmal clipping.Methods 62 patients scheduled for selective craniotomy and aneurysmal clipping were included in this study. Plasma concentration of AT-TT, ET, and CGRP was measured with radioimmunoassay at the time points of pre-operation, dura opening, aneurysmal clipping, and 30 minutes after aneurysmal clipping, respectively.Results Plasma concentration of AT-II was in normal range throughout the study. ET decreased significantly during craniotomy and aneurysmal clipping compared with the baseline (P=0.002, 0.001, and 0.009). The baseline of CGRP was higher than the normal value. CGRP decreased during the surgery compared with the baseline, but no significant difference was found in the study.Conclusion Cerebral vasoconstrictors did not increase, however, vasodilator decreased during surgery. It is suggested that vasodilatory treatmeant shoud be considered during craniotomy and aneurysmal clipping in order to prevent acute cerebral vasospasm.
Evaluation of mast cells in myeloproliferative disorders and myelodysplastic syndromes.

Abstract Context.—Mast cells may be increased as a reactive mastocytosis in various hematologic disorders and malignant neoplasms, as well as in systemic mast cell disease (SMCD). There are no statistical differences in mast cell numbers in reactive mastocytosis and SMCD; however, SMCD usually reveals dyspoietic mast cells and other dyspoietic bone marrow elements. In addition, SMCD is frequently (45%) associated with myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs) (17%) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) (28%). Thus, it has been suggested that SMCD may represent one aspect of a hematologic disorder that involves multiple bone marrow lineages. Objective.—To perform a systematic evaluation of MPDs and MDSs without SMCD for dyspoietic mast cells. Design.—A total of 55 MPDs or MDSs were reviewed, including 20 cytogenetically proven chronic myeloid leukemias, 6 essential thrombocythemias, 2 polycythemia veras, 21 cytogenetically proven MDSs, and 6 chronic myelomonocytic leukemias. Cases of idiopathic myelofibrosis were...
CYNICAL STREETS: NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIAL PROCESSES AND PERCEPTIONS OF CRIMINAL INJUSTICE*

Studies have found that African Americans are more likely to perceive racial biases in the criminal justice system than are those from other racial groups. There is a limited understanding of how neighborhood social processes affect variation in these perceptions. This study formulates a series of hypotheses focused on whether perceived racial biases in the criminal justice system or perceptions of injustice vary as a function of levels of moral and legal cynicism as well as of adverse police–citizen encounters. These hypotheses are tested with multilevel regression models applied to data from a sample of 689 African Americans located in 39 neighborhoods. Findings from the regression models indicate that the positive association between structural disadvantage and perceptions of injustice is accounted for by moral and legal cynicism. Furthermore, adverse police encounters significantly increase perceptions of injustice; controlling for these encounters reduces the strength of the association between cynicism and injustice perceptions. Finally, the findings reveal that cynicism intensifies the association between adverse police encounters and perceptions of criminal injustice. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for research regarding perceived biases in the criminal justice system and neighborhood social processes.
The Effect of Aerosol Saline on Laboratory-Induced Dyspnea

In the ‘placebo arm’ of a recent study, we found that aerosol saline (sham treatment) produced substantial relief of laboratory-induced dyspnea (Breathing discomfort—BD) in nearly half the subjects. The sham intervention included a physiological change, and instructions to subjects could have produced expectation of dyspnea relief. In the present study, we attempted to discover whether the response to sham aerosol was driven by behavioral or physiological aspects of the intervention. Dyspnea (air hunger) was evoked by constraining tidal volume during graded hypercapnia. We measured $${\text{PET}}_{{{\text{CO}}_{ 2} }}$$ versus BD relationship before and after aerosol saline. To minimize subjects’ expectations of dyspnea relief, participants were clearly instructed that we would only deliver saline aerosol. In Protocol 1, we delivered aerosol saline with a ventilator (mimicking our prior study); in Protocol 2, we delivered aerosol without a ventilator. Administration of aerosol saline had little effect on BD in this group of subjects with one exception: one subject experienced appreciable reduction in BD in Protocol 1. This treatment effect was less in Protocol 2. The two most likely explanations are (a) that procedures surrounding ventilator administration of aerosol produced a psychological placebo treatment effect even though the subject knew a drug was not given; (b) there were behavioral changes in breathing undetected by our measurements of respiratory flow and volume that altered the subjects comfort. When the expectation of treatment effect is minimized, a significant reduction in dyspnea in response to saline placebo is uncommon but not impossible.
Electric Field Tuning Molecular Packing and Electrical Properties of Solution-Shearing Coated Organic Semiconducting Thin Films

Recent improvements in solution-coated organic semiconductors (OSCs) evidence their high potential for cost-efficient organic electronics and sensors. Molecular packing structure determines the charge transport property of molecular solids. However, it remains challenging to control the molecular packing structure for a given OSC. Here, the application of alternating electric fields is reported to fine-tune the crystal packing of OSC solution-shearing coated at ambient conditions. First, a theoretical model based on dielectrophoresis is developed to guide the selection of the optimal conditions (frequency and amplitude) of the electric field applied through the solution-shearing blade during coating of OSC thin films. Next, electric field-induced polymorphism is demonstrated for OSCs with both herringbone and 2D brick-wall packing motifs in 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene and 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene, respectively. Favorable molecular packing can be accessible in some cases, resulting in higher charge carrier mobilities. This work provides a new approach to tune the properties of solution-coated OSCs in functional devices for high-performance printed electronics.
Rapid Development of Morphological Analyzers for Typologically Diverse Languages.

The Low Resource Language research conducted under DARPA’s Broad Operational Language Translation (BOLT) program required the rapid creation of text corpora of typologically diverse languages (Turkish, Hausa, and Uzbek) which were annotated with morphological information, along with other types of annotation. Since the output of morphological analyzers is a significant aid to morphological annotation, we developed a morphological analyzer for each language in order to support the annotation task, and also as a deliverable by itself. Our framework for analyzer creation results in tables similar to those used in the successful SAMA analyzer for Arabic, but with a more abstract linguistic level, from which the tables are derived. A lexicon was developed from available resources for integration with the analyzer, and given the speed of development and uncertain coverage of the lexicon, we assumed that the analyzer would necessarily be lacking in some coverage for the project annotation. Our analyzer framework was therefore focused on rapid implementation of the key structures of the language, together with accepting “wildcard” solutions as possible analyses for a word with an unknown stem, building upon our similar experiences with morphological annotation with Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic.
Caspase-3-dependent cleavage of Akt modulates tau phosphorylation via GSK3β kinase: implications for Alzheimer’s disease

The pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is accumulation of misfolded amyloid-β peptides and hyperphosphorylated tau protein in the brain. Increasing evidence suggests that serine-aspartyl proteases-caspases are activated in the AD brain. Previous studies identified a caspase-3 cleavage site within the amyloid-β precursor protein, and a caspase-3 cleavage of tau as the mechanisms involved in the development of Aβ and tau neuropathology, respectively. However, the potential role that caspase-3 could have on tau metabolism remains unknown. In the current studies, we provide experimental evidence that caspase-3 directly and specifically regulates tau phosphorylation, and demonstrate that this effect is mediated by the GSK3β kinase pathway via a caspase-3-dependent cleavage of the protein kinase B (also known as Akt). In addition, we confirm these results in vivo by using a transgenic mouse model of AD. Collectively, our findings demonstrate a new role for caspase-3 in the neurobiology of tau, and suggest that therapeutic strategies aimed at inhibiting this protease-dependent cleavage of Akt may prove beneficial in preventing tau hyperphosphorylation and subsequent neuropathology in AD and related tauopathies.
Demonstration of SWDM transmission over OM4 multimode fiber with modal dispersion compensation

We propose simple wavelength-band modal dispersion compensation approach for extended reach SWDM up to 600m and demonstrate experimentally 40G transmission over 450m OM4 MMF with modal dispersion compensation fiber and 4-channel MUX/DEMUX devices.
A RANDOMIZED DOUBLE-BLIND PLACEBO-CONTROL PILOT STUDY OF EPLERENONE FOR THE TREATMENT OF CENTRAL SEROUS CHORIORETINOPATHY (ECSELSIOR).

Purpose:To evaluate the safety and effects of oral eplerenone in chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.Methods:Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-control study at a tertiary referral academic private practice. For a diagnosis of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy, patients must
The Onodi Cell: An Anatomic Illustration

This anatomic image demonstrates the sphenoethmoidal (Onodi) cell (a variant of the paranasal sinuses), the identification of which is critical to prevent neurovascular injury during endoscopic approaches to the sella and adjacent regions of the skull base.
Energy efficient multicasting in cognitive radio networks

In this paper, we study the problem of energy minimization for multicasting in cognitive radio networks, using omnidirectional and directional antennas. Our objectives are to build the multicast routing tree and schedule the secondary users' transmissions such that the total energy consumption is minimized. We consider in this paper the energy consumption due to channels switching, and we study the channel switching and scheduling dependency. We model the problem as a MultiLayer Hyper Graph, then we formulate the optimization problem as Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP). Moreover, we propose a heuristic algorithm to solve our problem in polynomial time. We also show how the primary users, directional antennas, the number of available channels and channel switching time per frequency jumping step affect the total energy consumption. The simulation results shows that our proposed algorithm achieves close performance to the optimal solution.
Michael Pollak, De l’identité blessée à une sociologie des possibles, L. Israël, D. Voldman (Eds.). Éditions Complexe, Paris (2008). 265 p.

Il est souvent difficile pour un ouvrage centre sur un auteur recemment decede de ne pas etre qu’un hommage poli a ce dernier. C’est d’autant plus le cas lorsqu’il s’agit de la publication d’actes de colloque, la situation favorisant la confidence et le souvenir, parfois plus que l’analyse. Sans completement echapper a cette tendance (mais le faut-il toujours ?), les contributions regroupees par Liora Israel et Daniele Voldman autour de Michael Pollak la depassent. Sociologue arrive en France...
Immunomodulation in hepatocellular cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fastest growing malignancy in the United States in relation to mortality. HCC relies on a complex immunosuppressive network to modify the host immune system and evade destruction. Intrinsic to the liver's function and anatomy, native hepatic and immune cells produce many inhibitory cytokines that promote tolerogenicity and limit immune response. Since the introduction of sorafenib in 2008, no treatment has been able to demonstrate improved survival in patients with advanced HCC post disease progression treated with sorafenib. More recent studies have shown that sorafenib has an immunomodulatory function in addition to inhibition of multiple tyrosine kinases. Clinical trials have aimed to further enhance this immunomodulatory function with other treatments, most promisingly immune checkpoint inhibitors. Additionally, ongoing studies are using combinatorial approaches with immunomodulatory treatment and liver directed therapies such as transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), microwave ablation (MWA), and cryoablation. This article will review recent data describing the immunosuppressive network in HCC, recent results of immunotherapies, and combinatorial approaches to treat advanced HCC.
The Dai and the German-American Bund

The period from December 1935 until June 1936, was really one of transition for the membership of the Friends of New Germany since, in that period, a new national leader was selected, and the name of the organization — so publicized by the Congressional investigation — was changed to the German-American Bund. The next few years were to be the most controversial and climactic in the short history of National Socialism in America.
Long-Term Care Financing, Service Delivery, and Quality Assurance: The International Experience

Publisher Summary Long-term care is an issue of worldwide concern, now and for the future, in both high-income, developed countries and middle-income, developing countries. This chapter provides an overview of long-term care in other countries, with an emphasis on the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. It discusses financing, service delivery, and quality assurance. These countries will have to face the issues of long-term care, which are currently low on their policy agendas. Long-term care financing differs among high-income countries across several dimensions. These characteristics include how much of the economy is spent on long-term care, the extent to which care is publicly or privately financed, whether public programs are means-tested or provide universal coverage, whether responsibility for long-term care is a national or state and local government responsibility, and how the relationship between medical and long-term care is defined. Total long-term care expenditures are a modest portion of the economy, especially compared with overall health expenditures. Whereas private spending for long-term care plays a role in long-term care financing in all high-income countries, public spending dominates expenditures. Although financing of long-term care is overwhelmingly by the public sector, service providers include a mix of government-run, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations. A key issue in the design of long-term care systems is the level of government responsible for financing and delivery. Countries vary in the proportion of their long-term care expenditures for older people that are directed to home and community-based services.
New Treatment of Strongly Anisotropic Scattering Phase Functions: The Delta-M+ Method

The treatment of strongly anisotropic scattering phase functions is still a challenge for accurate radiance computations. The new Delta-M+ method resolves this problem by introducing a reliable, fast, accurate, and easy-to-use Legendre expansion of the scattering phase function with modified moments. Delta-M+ is an upgrade of the widely-used Delta-M method that truncates the forward scattering peak with a Dirac delta function, where the '+' symbol indicates that it essentially matches moments beyond the first M terms. Compared with the original Delta-M method, Delta-M+ has the same computational efficiency, but for radiance computations the accuracy and stability have been increased dramatically.
Indian Wars of Canada, Mexico and the United States, 1812-1900

Drawing on anthropology and ethnohistory as well as the ‘new military history’ Indian Wars of Mexico, Canada and the United States, 1812-1900 interprets and compares the way Indians and European Americans waged wars in Canada, Mexico, the USA and Yucatan during the nineteenth century. Fully illustrated with sixteen maps, detailing key Indian settlements and crucial battles, Bruce Vandervort rescues the New World Indian Wars from their exclusion from mainstream military history, and reveals how they are an integral part of global history. Indian Wars of Mexico, Canada and the United States: * provides a thorough examination of the strategies and tactics of resistance employed by Indian peoples of the USA which contrasts practices of warfare with the Metis (the French Canadian-Indian peoples), their Canadian-Indian allies, and the Yaqui and Mayan Indians of Mexico and Yucatan* presents a comparison of the experience of Indian tribes with concurrent resistance movements against European expansion in Africa, exposing how aspects of resistance that seem unique to the New World differ from those with broader implications* draws upon concepts used in recent rewritings of the history of imperial warfare in Africa and Asia, Vandervort also analyzes the conduct of the US Army in comparison with military practices and tactics adopted by colonialist conquests worldwide. This unique and fascinating study is a vital contribution to the study of military history but is also a valuable addition to the understanding of colonialism and attempts to resist it.
Expression of Cloned Immunoglobulin Genes

The variable region of immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy and light chain genes is encoded by multiple genetic elements. Over the past several years, intensive study has yielded remarkable new insights into both the mechanism by which these different elements are assembled to form the complete gene and the numerous types of diversification processes that occur during the assembly of these elements. In addition, this period has also witnessed the development of new technologies for isolating, expressing, and potentially even creating functional Ig genes. Among these are cell transformation procedures for expressing cloned genes in cell lines, germ-line introduction procedures for expressing cloned genes in the animal, and the development of cell lines that are active in immunoglobulin gene recombination processes and will assemble introduced immunoglobulin gene segments into complete genes. Together, these advances potentially offer many novel methods to produce natural or modified Ig gene products. In this context, the purpose of this chapter is to review what is known about the assembly and expression of endogenous and introduced Ig genes.
STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS IN FORMAMIDINE ACARICIDES

Abstract Certain formamidines, the most important of which are chlordimeform and amitraz, are toxic to all life stages of acarines, and structure-activity relationships for direct lethality to adult twospotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch, and larval southern cattle ticks, Boophilus microplus (Canestrini), have been elucidated. Formamidines also elicit aberrant behavioral responses from acarines which may be of even greater significance than direct lethality in terms of tick and mite control. These include interference with locomotion, feeding and oviposition. In these instances, structure-activity relationships are not as well defined as are those for lethality; however, it appears that some but not all behavioral effects correlate with lethality.
Neutrophils facilitate ovarian cancer premetastatic niche formation in the omentum

Ovarian cancer preferentially metastasizes to the omentum, a fatty tissue characterized by immune structures called milky spots, but the cellular dynamics that direct this tropism are unknown. Here, we identified that neutrophil influx into the omentum is a prerequisite premetastatic step in orthotopic ovarian cancer models. Ovarian tumor-derived inflammatory factors stimulated neutrophils to mobilize and extrude chromatin webs called neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs were detected in the omentum of ovarian tumor-bearing mice before metastasis and of women with early-stage ovarian cancer. NETs, in turn, bound ovarian cancer cells and promoted metastasis. Omental metastasis was decreased in mice with neutrophil-specific deficiency of peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4), an enzyme that is essential for NET formation. Blockade of NET formation using a PAD4 pharmacologic inhibitor also decreased omental colonization. Our findings implicate NET formation in rendering the premetastatic omental niche conducive for implantation of ovarian cancer cells and raise the possibility that blockade of NET formation prevents omental metastasis.
GWAS and Beyond: Using Omics Approaches to Interpret SNP Associations.

Neurodegenerative diseases, neuropsychiatric disorders, and related traits have highly complex etiologies but are also highly heritable; identifying the causal genes and biological pathways underlying these traits may advance the development of treatments and preventive strategies. While many genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have successfully identified variants contributing to polygenic neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric phenotypes including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), schizophrenia (SCZ), and bipolar disorder (BPD) among others, interpreting the biological roles of significantly associated variants in the genetic architecture of these traits remains a significant challenge. Here, we review several ‘omics’ approaches which attempt to bridge the gap from associated genetic variants to phenotype by helping define the functional roles of GWAS loci in the development of neuropsychiatric disorders and traits. Several common ‘omics’ approaches have been applied to examine neuropsychiatric traits, such as nearest-gene mapping, trans-ethnic fine mapping, annotation enrichment analysis, transcriptomic analysis, and pathway analysis, and each of these approaches has strengths and limitations in providing insight into biological mechanisms. One popular emerging method is the examination of tissue-specific genetically regulated gene expression (GReX), which aggregates the genetic variants’ effects at the gene level. Furthermore, proteomic, metabolomic, and microbiomic studies and phenome-wide association studies will further enhance our understanding of neuropsychiatric traits. GWAS has been applied to neuropsychiatric traits for a decade, but our understanding about the biological function of identified variants remains limited. Today, technological advancements have created analytical approaches for integrating transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, pharmacology, and toxicology as tools for understanding the functional roles of genetic variants. These data, as well as the broader clinical information provided by electronic health records, can provide additional insight and complement genomic analyses.
Incentive Mechanisms and Impacts of Negotiation Power and Information Availability in Multi-Relay Cooperative Wireless Networks

Cooperative relaying is highly affected by the way that the source and relays are incentivized. However, the existing studies have not paid enough attention to the impacts of negotiation power and information availability of the players on the network performance. In this paper, two incentive mechanisms for cooperative relaying are first proposed to explore the influence of negotiation power, wherein the source holds either strong or weak negotiation power. In these two cases, the source posts take-it-or-leave-it offers for the relays and has to negotiate possible deals with the relays, respectively. The relay selection rules and the optimal amounts of relaying service and rewards are derived for each mechanism, respectively. Another two incentive mechanisms are also proposed to explore the influence of information availability, wherein the source has either weakly or strongly incomplete information about the relays. In these two cases, the source acquires the number of relays belonging to each type and the probability of each relay belonging to a certain type, respectively. The relay selection rules and the optimal contract offers are derived for the two mechanisms, respectively. The numerical results are provided to verify the theoretical analyses and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mechanisms.
Coverage profile correction of shallow-depth circulating cell-free DNA sequencing via multi-distance learning

Shallow-depth whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) is a popular approach for non-invasive genomic screening assays, including liquid biopsy for early detection of invasive tumors as well as non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) for common fetal trisomies. In contrast to nuclear DNA WGS, ccfDNA WGS exhibits extensive inter- and intra-sample coverage variability that is not fully explained by typical sources of variation in WGS, such as GC content. This variability may inflate false positive and false negative screening rates of copy-number alterations and aneuploidy, particularly if these features are present at a relatively low proportion of total sequenced content. Herein, we propose an empirically-driven coverage correction strategy that leverages prior annotation information in a multi-distance learning context to improve within-sample coverage profile correction. Specifically, we train a weighted k-nearest neighbors-style method on non-pregnant female donor ccfDNA WGS samples, and apply it to NIPS samples to evaluate coverage profile variability reduction. We additionally characterize improvement in the discrimination of positive fetal trisomy cases relative to normal controls, and compare our results against a more traditional regression-based approach to profile coverage correction based on GC content and mappability. Under cross-validation, performance measures indicated benefit to combining the two feature sets relative to either in isolation. We also observed substantial improvement in coverage profile variability reduction in leave-out clinical NIPS samples, with variability reduced by 26.5-53.5% relative to the standard regression-based method as quantified by median absolute deviation. Finally, we observed improvement discrimination for screening positive trisomy cases reducing ccfDNA WGS coverage variability while additionally improving NIPS trisomy screening assay performance. Overall, our results indicate that machine learning approaches can substantially improve ccfDNA WGS coverage profile correction and downstream analyses.
Players for hire : Games and the future of low-skill work

In this whitepaper I will use trends from automation and video game revenue models to make the following predictions about the future of low-skill work. Within five years, some game companies will be paying players in some way to play their games. This will be in the form of small points-based incentives that can be liquidated in the form of purchasing power. Within ten years, paying for players will become a standard revenue model in the game industry. Payments will either be in the form of liquid virtual money or real cash. Within twenty years, game playing will be a significant source of income of the low-skill workforce. Wage-playing will be the primary means by which the extreme gains of the wealthy will trickle down to the poor. In broad outlines, the argument is that automation and other trends will dramatically increase inequality in technologically advanced countries. Low-skill workers will find themselves largely unemployable in most of their traditional occupations. Meanwhile, ongoing wealth gains at the top of society will increase the ability of privileged people to devote time and money to leisure activities, especially them video games. Big spenders already support the game industry’s current free-to-play revenue model: It only takes a few high-spending players to offset the free access given to anyone who wants to play. The model works because the free players, those who spend no money, make the high-spenders feel better: Their presence in the game creates a real human community. The presence of other people is valuable to the big spenders for several reasons: The thrill of being richer and more powerful than others, yes, but also the simple happiness of companionship. Whatever the reason, big spenders are willing to pay a company enough money that the company can afford to open the doors to anyone. It is a small step from this model to one in which the game company directly pays the underlings for their presence. For the company, the added cost from paying players to come into the game and be relatively poor and underprivileged will be exceeded by the added revenue from big spenders who will enjoy a larger virtual society to befriend (or dominate). The number of players for whom this kind of model makes sense will increase as the 21st century unfolds. The number of real-world low-skill unemployed will increase, and the incomes of the high-skill technocratic elite will rise. In other words, both extremes of the play-for-hire model will grow as automation increases. Within a generation, playing games for money will come to be seen as a legitimate occupational choice for those whose skills are not valued by brick and mortar labor markets. Play-for-hire will become a primary way that the income gains from technological progress will be distributed to the low-skill population.
Integrity of the Uncinate Fasciculus Predicts Emotional Pattern Separation-Related fMRI Signals in the Hippocampal Dentate and CA3

Abstract Alterations in white matter integrity have been demonstrated in a number of psychiatric disorders that involve disruptions in emotional processing. One such pathway – the uncinate fasciculus (UF) – connects the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) to the medial temporal lobes (MTL) and has been associated with early life adversity, maltreatment, anxiety, and depression. While it is purported to play a role in episodic memory and discrimination, its exact function remains poorly understood. We have previously described the role of the amygdala and dentate (DG)/CA3 fields of the hippocampus in the mnemonic discrimination of emotional experiences (i.e. emotional pattern separation). However, how this computation may be modulated by connectivity between the medial temporal lobes and the orbitofrontal cortex remains unknown. Here we ask the question of whether the uncinate fasciculus plays a role in influencing MTL subregional activity during emotional pattern separation. By combining diffusion imaging with high-resolution functional MRI, we found that reduced integrity of the UF is related to higher activation in the DG/CA3 subregions of the hippocampus during an emotional pattern separation task. We additionally report that higher levels of DG/CA3 activity are associated with poorer memory performance, suggesting that hyperexcitability in this network (which may be driven by CA3 recurrent collaterals) is associated with memory errors and that the UF may allow the OFC to exert inhibitory control on this network and improve discrimination of emotional experiences. This work provides novel mechanistic insight into the role of prefrontal interactions with the MTL, particularly in the context of emotional memory.
Caregiver and Pediatric Health Care Provider Views on Social Needs Identification

Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that pediatricians address the social determinants of health (SDOH) through research, community partnership, and policy development. Objective: This study aimed to identify the unmet SDOH of the patients served by the Pasadena-Pediatric and Adolescent Health Center (PA-PAHC) and to understand provider perspectives on screening for SDOH. Methods: The PA-PAHC is a low-income pediatric clinic in southeast Houston. A cross-sectional survey eliciting potential SDOH concerns was administered to caregivers of children presenting for their well-child exam, along with pediatric residents and staff/faculty. Staff/faculty and residents were asked about their perceptions of SDOH screening. Statistical analysis calculated frequencies for categorical data and mean/median for continuous variables. Secondary data analysis consisted of chi-square test and logistic regression. Results: A total of 110 caregivers, 22 residents, and 21 staff/faculty participated in the study. Caregivers listed health care access the most frequently (15.5%), followed by childcare, school, and immigration status as SDOH concerns. Residents (31.8%) and staff/faculty (23.8%) also identified health care access as a concern. When comparing topic selection by survey role, there was no statistically significant difference among the 3 groups (P = .257). Residents were more likely to indicate that screening was more time-consuming than were faculty/staff (P = .004). Conclusion: Staff/faculty and residents agree that SDOH affect child health and screening is valuable in the patient encounter. There were no differences in the needs identified by the 3 groups. Further evaluation to assess caregiver perspectives on standardized SDOH screening versus obtaining routine social history needs to be undertaken.
Codes of conduct in Open Source Software—for warm and fuzzy feelings or equality in community?

This paper focuses on codes of conduct (CoC) of Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) and their role in improving women’s participation in online communities of OSS. We investigated 355 F/OSS software package websites for the presence of codes of conduct and then analyzed these for diversity elements. Qualitative content analysis of the websites shows that less than 10% (28) of the analyzed websites had some type of community rules such as CoC. In-depth analysis of the CoCs demonstrated many discrepancies in the terminology, length, enforcement, and adoption of codes of conduct. To investigate the usage of these CoCs, we investigate five women-focused OSS discussion forums. This analysis shows the value of creating/adopting a CoC and the impact CoC can have on the participation of women. We also present the challenges in the usage and enforcement of CoCs as discussed by women of these forums. We conclude with recommendations for better enforcement of CoC and reflection on the ethical underpinnings of CoC as a tool to improve diversity and inclusion in OSS.
Vestibular schwannoma

The state of the art of vestibular schwannoma management is reviewed with discussion of pertinent literature to bring out the current results and controversies in this field. Microsurgery results from four major series are discussed along with data from those using gamma knife or linear accelerators to treat these tumors.
WWW and multicultural democracy: evaluating U.S. History websites

Claims about the potential of the Internet within social studies and democratic education have been somewhat silent on issues of diversity. To address this problem, this study employed tenets of liberal and multicultural democratic theory, developed an evaluative coding scheme, and examined content of websites that preservice teachers (N = 20) selected as resources for U.S. History unit plans. Results indicate selected websites housed a large amount of redundant non-diverse information. Website content was available in local media resources, consisted of textbook accounts, and focused on traditional historical topics; only one of ten websites was diverse. A four-cluster model provides further support for a discussion about the Internet, as currently used and framed, leading to less diversity of ideas and voices within the classroom, anathema to the stated democratic purposes of the social studies.
D.G. Webster: Adaptive Governance: The Dynamics of Atlantic Fisheries Management

Considering the general state of our natural resources and many inefficient regulations, we often wonder, "How did we get into such a mess?" The easiest response is to blame irresponsible stakeholders or corrupt management. Adaptive Governance: the dynamics of Atlantic Fisheries Manage ment offers a more constructive perspective on the topic, with a focus on the historical development of international regulations for managing highly migratory fish species (tuna, swordfish and marlin). If fishery regulations are viewed as a finished product, their complexity and inconsistency can be confusing. However, if governance of fisheries is considered to be adaptive (i.e., developed and improved over time), these inconsistencies become under standable, and even predictable. Webster applies her skills as a social scientist to an in depth analysis and thought-provoking interpretations. The strength of the book is a view of the current set of inconsistent regulations as predictable results of logical behaviors among competing interests. Adaptive Gover nance recognizes that the historical development of fishery regulations often do not fit the expectations of bioeconomic theory, but conform better with 'satisficing' (a blend of satisfying and sufficing) from decision theory. From this alternative perspective, dissatisfaction, delayed manage ment and compromise are viewed as essential precursors to effective resource management, turning the typical 'blame game' on its ear. Although the title suggests a broad review of North Atlantic fisheries, Webster's analysis is limited to the
Engaging Academia: Strengthening the Link Between Community and Technology

This paper explores ways in which academia could change to be more socially relevant in relation to communities ICT. It is intended to advance ideas and further discussion. Socially relevant means encouraging the creation of information and communication systems that support human development, social learning, collaborative problem-solving, self-governance — and civic intelligence generally. Because the build-out of these systems has such profound implications of surveillance and control that the early warning function is particularly critical. This paper is primarily addressed to the academic community that focuses on the use of ICT in the social lives of "ordinary" citizens.
Before There Was Enron, There Was Orange County: A Study of Local Government Financial-Oversight Committees

Recent financial scandals in some of America’s largest corporations have prompted popular speculation that a similar crisis may occur within the public sector and, therefore, that government and nonprofit organizations should be required to adopt financial oversight practices similar to those that are mandated of publicly-traded corporations in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. One of those mandated practicesFthe use of financial-oversight committeesFis already a common practice in public organizations, though little is known about its effectiveness. This study uses a national sample of local governments to examine whether financial-oversight committees improve financial control and strengthen stakeholder confidence in financial reporting. The findings provide preliminary support for the use of financial-oversight committees as an effective tool to improve financial accountability in local government.
Intraspinal Transplantation of Mouse and Human Neural Precursor Cells

This unit describes the preparation and transplantation of human neural precursor cells (hNPCs) and mouse neural precursor cells (mNPCs) into the thoracic region of the mouse spinal cord. The techniques in this unit also describe how to prepare the mouse for surgery by performing a laminectomy to expose the spinal cord for transplantation. NPCs genetically labeled with eGFP transplanted into the spinal cord of a mouse following viral-mediated demyelination can efficiently be detected via eGFP expression. Transplantation of these cells into the spinal cord is an efficacious way to determine their effects in neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and spinal cord injury.
Counterflow Isotachophoresis−Capillary Zone Electrophoresis on Directly Coupled Columns of Different Diameters

Counterflow isotachophoresis−capillary zone electrophoresis (ITP−CZE) on directly coupled columns of different diameters was explored to increase the injection volume and lower the detection limits in CZE. A solution of neostigmine bromide and propantheline bromide was used to evaluate the system; the relative standard deviations for four injections of 3.3 μL of 0.1 μM neostigmine bromide and propantheline bromide were 1.4 and 4.0%, respectively. The correlation coefficients for volumetric calibration curves over the range of 1.7−8.3 μL of the neostigmine bromide and propantheline bromide solution were 0.9979 and 0.9975, respectively, and a 2.5 nM solution could be detected easily from 8.3 μL of sample. Approximately 40 min was required for focusing.
AGE AS A FACTOR IN THE EFFECTS WHICH FOLLOW THYROIDECTOMY AND THYROPARATHYROIDECTOMY IN THE SHEEP

1. Removal of the thyroid with the contained internal parathyroids in thirteen adult sheep and sixteen lambs from seven to eight months old, led to practically no ill effects. 2. As the result of a similar operation, three lambs about two months old became typical cretins. 3. The complete operation (thyro-parathyroidectomy) in four adult sheep was followed by no symptoms during the time (three to four months) they were under observation. 4. The same operation (thyro-parathyroidectomy) in four young lambs (five to seven weeks) resulted early in acute and fatal tetany. 5. Removal of the two external parathyroids from the three cretins when about one year old was followed by only slight symptoms. With regard to the effects both of thyroidectomy and of parathyroidectomy in the sheep, age is a very important factor.
Extracting the Dominant SST Modes Impacting North America's Observed Climate

AbstractThe seasonal impacts of the dominant sea surface temperature (SST) modes to North American climate are assessed comprehensively in observations using the multivariate generalized equilibrium feedback assessment (GEFA) method. The GEFA method is first validated before applying it to observations. Impacts of each individual SST mode are quantified and the associated mechanisms are discussed. Four critical SST modes for North American climate are found: the ENSO mode, Indian Ocean Basin (IOB) mode, North Pacific first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode, and tropical Atlantic second EOF mode. The impacts of the ENSO mode are consistent with previous studies qualitatively, while the impact strength is further quantified here. The IOB mode has a strong influence on surface air temperature across North America, and it is demonstrated for the first time that its impact strength might even exceed that of ENSO during both winter and summer. The IOB mode also affects the year-round precipitation. A dee...
Pearl millet cultivar and seeding method effects on forage quality and performance of grazing beef heifers

In a 2-yr study, yearling beef heifers grazed pastures of two pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) cultivars (Tifleaf 1 [TL1] or Tifleaf 2 [TL2]) planted with two seeding methods (conventional drill at 25 lb seed/acre; or 3-ft rows at 5 lb seed/acre). Eight 2.0-acre pastures on Tifton sandy loam (fine-loamy, siliceous, thermic Plinthic Kandrudults) soil were used each year in the 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment. Four heifers (706 lb initial body weight) grazed continuously for 84 d on each pasture, beginning 4 and 3 June in respective years. Additional heifers were used to vary stocking rates in all pastures to maintain forage height at 18 to 25 in. Cultivar did not affect (P > 0.10) ADG or gain/acre (TL1 = 1.50; 477 lb vs TL2 = 1.46; 454 lb). Seeding method did not affect ADG or gain/acre (P > 0.10), but grazing dayslacre were higher for row than conventional drill (row = 847 vs drill = 751; P < 0.05). Heifer ADG and grazing days were affected by year, with higher ADG in 1992 than 1993 (1.64 vs 1.29 lb; P < 0.05), and more grazing days/acre in 1993 than 1992 (350 vs 297; P < 0.01). A seeding method by year interaction (P < 0.10) resulted in higher ADG and gain/acre for conventional drill than rows in 1992 when rainfall distribution was more favorable, and similar performance on rows and conventional drill in 1993 when rainfall distribution was less favorable. Esophageal steer pasture masticate in 1992 on d 77 had lower NDF for conventional drill than rows (27.3 vs 35.8%; P < 0.05), and IVDMD was higher for conventional drill than rows (70.8 vs 64.0%; P < 0.05). Seeding method affected forage quality and heifer performance, with rows being favored when rainfall was limited.
Identification and Characterization of Separase Inhibitors (Sepins) for Cancer Therapy

Separase is an endopeptidase that cleaves cohesin subunit Rad21, facilitating the repair of DNA damage during interphase and the resolution of sister chromatid cohesion at anaphase. Separase activity is negatively regulated by securin and Cdk1-cyclin B in vivo. Separase overexpression is reported in a broad range of human tumors, and its overexpression in mouse models results in tumorigenesis. To elucidate further the mechanism of separase function and to test if inhibition of overexpressed separase can be used as a strategy to inhibit tumor-cell proliferation, small-molecule inhibitors of separase enzyme are essential. Here, we report a high-throughput screening for separase inhibitors (Sepins). We developed a fluorogenic separase assay using rhodamine 110-conjugated Rad21 peptide as substrate and screened a small-molecule compound library. We identified a noncompetitive inhibitor of separase called Sepin-1 that inhibits separase enzymatic activity with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 14.8 µM. Sepin-1 can inhibit the growth of human cancer cell lines and breast cancer xenograft tumors in mice by inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. The sensitivity to Sepin-1 in most cases is positively correlated to the level of separase in both cancer cell lines and tumors.
Promoting professional reflection through problem-based learning evaluation activities.

SUMMARYTo become competent occupational therapy practitioners, students must develop the ability to reflect upon their current and future professional development. This paper presents one curriculum's approach (the University of New Mexico) to using evaluation activities in problem-based learning to enhance students' cultivation of professional reflection skills. A description of these evaluation activities and accompanying tools is provided along with a critique of their strengths and limitations.
Determination of average molecular weight of cellulose acetate by dielectric dispersion in solution

The capacity of cells containing solutions of 5% cellulose acetate in dioxane was measured from 50 cycles to as high as 5 megacycles by a bridge method. A dispersion region was found between zero and approximately 40 kc. The frequency where the dielectric dispersion was 0.50 was taken as the critical frequency which was found to be related to the viscosity determined degree of polymerization. An empirical correlation enabled the calculation of degrees of polymerization from dielectric dispersion which could be readily duplicated and which agreed reasonably well with those found by the viscosity method. It is suggested that this procedure may develop into a very convenient and rapid method for molecular weights pending the accumulation of further experimental evidence.