cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dark personality voters find dark politicians more relatable and fit for office

Abstract We tested the scope of the congruency model of political preference by examining how people high in various dark personalities evaluate political candidates with dark characteristics. In Study 1, participants high in dark personalities reported enhanced self-possession of dark characteristics and, in general, more tolerance of those characteristics in politicians. In Study 2, although participants viewed a wholesome (vs. dark) politician as more similar to the self and likeable, this effect diminished as participants indicated greater possession of dark personalities. Exploratory analyses involving other perceiver traits (self-esteem, political conservatism/liberalism) yielded additional insights about tolerance for dark politicians. Findings contribute to understanding how people high in dark personalities evaluate others and offer a novel perspective on similarity-liking effects in candidate evaluation.
Persons, Simplicity, and Substance

AbstractA novel argument has recently been advanced against materialism—the view that human persons are identical to composite, material objects. The argument claims that pairs of people are not conscious and that the only viable explanation for why they are not is because pairs of people are not simple. The argument concludes that only a simple thing can be the subject of conscious states. In this paper, I offer an alternative explanation for why pairs of people are not conscious: pairs of people are not substances. I provide two characterizations of substantiality. The first proposal claims that substances have irreducible causal powers, and the second claims that substances cannot have other substances as proper parts. The alternative explanation based on these characterizations of substantiality shows that being conscious is compatible with materialism.
Paradigms, coherence, and the fog of evidence.

There is no appeal to evidence that does not rely on an accepted paradigm. The relationship between evidence and theory may hinge more on psychology than on logic or the pursuit of objective truth.
Preliminary Descriptive Analyses of the Performance of US Citizens Attending Foreign Medical Schools on USMLE Steps 1 and 2

This study compared the performance of US citizens attending medical schools outside of the US (USFMGs) with non-US citizens attending schools outside the US (FMGs) and with examinees attending schools within the US (USMGs). For all groups, analyses focused on examinees taking Steps 1 or 2 for the first time in the 1994 and 1995 academic years. For each Step, sample sizes included approximately 2500 USFMGs, 30,000 FMGs, and 30,000 USMGs. Mean total scores for USFMGs on both Step 1 and Step 2 were approximately 0.4 standard deviations (SDs) lower than FMGs and 2.0 SDs lower than USMGs. The pass rate for USFMGs was 43% on Step 1 and 36% on Step 2, compared with 92% for USMGs on each exam. Though their total scores were lower than FMGs, USFMGs performed relatively better on behavioural sciences, psychiatry and preventive medicine. USFMGs were spread across approximately 300 schools, with most schools having only a small number of USFMGs. However, at five schools with more than 100 USFMGs each, USFMGs outperformed the FMGs, but still performed well below that of USMGs. One explanation for the poor performance of US citizens studying abroad is that they are not representative of US citizens seeking to practice medicine: many of these students applied internationally only after they failed to be admitted to US schools. A second explanation might be language difficulties in their courses if instruction was not conducted in English.
Teen driver system modeling: a tool for policy analysis

Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of teen deaths in spite of preventive efforts. Prevention strategies could be advanced through new analytic approaches that allow us to better conceptualize the complex processes underlying teen crash risk. This may help policymakers design appropriate interventions and evaluate their impacts. System Dynamics methodology was used as a new way of representing factors involved in the underlying process of teen crash risk. Systems dynamics modeling is relatively new to public health analytics and is a promising tool to examine relative influence of multiple interacting factors in predicting a health outcome. Dynamics models use explicit statements about the process being studied and depict how the elements within the system interact; this usually leads to discussion and improved insight. A Teen Driver System Model was developed by following an iterative process where causal hypotheses were translated into systems of differential equations. These equations were then simulated to test whether they can reproduce historical teen driving data. The Teen Driver System Model that we developed was calibrated on 47 newly-licensed teen drivers. These teens were recruited and followed over a period of 5-months. A video recording system was used to gather data on their driving events (elevated g-force, near-crash, and crash events) and miles traveled. The analysis suggests that natural risky driving improvement curve follows a course of a slow improvement, then a faster improvement, and finally a plateau: that is, an S-shaped decline in driving events. Individual risky driving behavior depends on initial risk and driving exposure. Our analysis also suggests that teen risky driving improvement curve is created endogenously by several feedback mechanisms. A feedback mechanism is a chain of variables interacting with each other in such a way they form a closed path of cause and effect relationships. Teen risky driving improvement process is created endogenously by several feedback mechanisms. The model proposed in the present article to reflect this improvement process can spark discussion, which may pinpoint to additional processes that can benefit from further empirical research and result in improved insight.
Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Exploring the Perceptions of In-Service Teachers in a Virtual Field Experience

This study examines the experiences of teachers enrolled in an online certificate program for K–12 online teaching. Participants blogged weekly regarding their experiences developing and facilitati...
Brahms's Elegies: The Poetics of Loss in Nineteenth-Century German Culture

Nicole Grimes provides a compellingly fresh perspective on a series of Brahms's elegiac works by bringing together the disciplines of historical musicology, German studies, and cultural history. Her exploration of the expressive potential of Schicksalslied, Nanie, Gesang der Parzen, and the Vier ernste Gesange reveals the philosophical weight of this music. She considers the German tradition of the poetics of loss that extends from the late-eighteenth-century texts by Holderlin, Schiller and Goethe set by Brahms, and includes other philosophical and poetic works present in his library, to the mid-twentieth-century aesthetics of Adorno, who was preoccupied as much by Brahms as by their shared literary heritage. Her multifaceted focus on endings - the end of tonality, the end of the nineteenth century, and themes of loss in the music - illuminates our understanding of Brahms and lateness, and the place of Brahms in the fabric of modernist culture.
Cytotoxic Chemotherapy and Targeted Therapy in Nasopharyngeal Cancer

Over the past several decades, there has been a notable decrease in the incidence and mortality of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Lifestyle modification, improvements in screening and diagnosis, and advances in radiation and systemic therapy have all contributed to these favorable trends. In this chapter, we review current treatment methods in localized and recurrent/metastatic disease, with an emphasis on systemic therapy. Additionally, we explore the potential role of Epstein-Barr virus in determining treatment strategy and evaluate newer targeted therapies, including immunotherapy, which may become standard treatment options in the future.
Examining U.S. grain marketing and farm supply cooperatives’ sustainable growth rates

A challenge for many U.S. grain marketing and farm supply cooperatives is ensuring that exceptional growth rates are sustainable in the long run. Growing too rapidly can sacrifice financial soundness, causing a business to effectively grow broke. The objective of this study is to examine whether or not U.S. grain marketing and farm supply cooperatives are able to manage their recent growth. To do so, we apply the sustainable growth rate (SGR) and sustainable growth challenge (SGC) metrics to a unique panel data set of United States cooperatives. Examining the SGRs for these cooperatives suggests that positive net profit margins are key to positive growth. When actual growth exceeds sustainable growth, most cooperatives are able to rapidly alleviate this difference through increasing leverage or operational efficiency. However, some cooperatives face more persistent growth challenges and are thus the most at risk of growing broke. Large cooperatives and cooperatives more dependent on farm supply sales rely heavily on leverage for managing growth.
Effects of supplemental oxygen on cardiovascular magnetic resonance water proton relaxation time constant measurements (T1, T2 and T2*).

Abstract Objective To study, the effects of supplemental oxygen on the measurement of native cardiovascular water proton relaxation time constants using commercially available protocols. Methods T1, T2 and T2* relaxation time constant mapping were performed in twelve volunteers at 1.5 T breathing room air and supplemental oxygen supplied by nasal cannula and a non-rebreather mask. Regions-of-interest were drawn for quantitative measurements in the bloodpool of each ventricle and atria as well as septal myocardium. The effects of supplemental oxygen were investigated statistically using a mixed model analysis of variance. Intra- and inter-observer reproducibility were assessed using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient and Coefficient of Variation. Results Blood T1 relaxation time constants in the left ventricle (T1 change = −241.0 ms) and left atrium (T1 change = −247.0 ms) decreased significantly in every subject after oxygen inhalation with a non-rebreather mask (p Conclusion Supplemental oxygen does not affect myocardial relaxation time constant measurements with current protocols. On the other hand, blood T1 measurements with the inhalation of supplemental oxygen supplied by a non-rebreather mask change significantly and could affect myocardial tissue characterization if used for the calculation of extracellular volume. Additionally, current relaxation time constant mapping protocols do not reproducibly detect myocardial T1 changes with supplemental oxygen inhalation.
Abstract 5189: Activity of polycomb repressive complex 2 determines sensitivity to epigenetic therapy

EZH2 is a histone methyltransferase that tri-methylates histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me) in the context of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2, and is highly correlated with poor prognosis of many cancers. However, recent data suggest a de-coupling of EZH2 expression from its enzymatic activity, and many poor prognosis tumors also have low H3K27me3. Therefore, we hypothesize that deletion of Ezh2 would drive more aggressive tumors which may have distinct epigenetic vulnerabilities. To test this hypothesis, we generated the LSL:KrasG12D/+; p53 flox/flox (LSL: lox-stop-lox) mice (Kras/p53 mice) with either zero, one or two floxed alleles of Ezh2 and induced lung tumors with intranasal adeno-Cre virus administration. Supporting our hypothesis, we observed mice with two floxed alleles of Ezh2 (Ezh2 null) had higher tumor burden, higher tumor grade and lower survival than Ezh2 wild-type or heterozygous Kras/p53 mice. Ezh2 null tumors also had a higher propensity to metastasize than Ezh2 wild-type tumors. Consistent with these results, Ezh2 null Kras/p53 tumors and cell lines had increased expression of genes involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), KRAS-driven tumorigenesis, metastasis, and cell cycle regulation. In order to examine the therapeutic vulnerabilities of Ezh2 depleted lung cancers, we built a panel of 2-dimensional cell lines and 3-dimensional organoid cultures of the Kras/p53 tumors that were Ezh2 null, heterozygous and wild-type. We reasoned that using the H3K27me3 demethylase inhibitor might be able to stabilize the residual H3K27me3 in Ezh2 null cells and decrease their aggressive properties. Intriguingly, while we observed no difference in sensitivity to H3K27me3 demethylase inhibitor in the various Ezh2 genotypes of 2-dimensional cultures, both 3-dimensional cultures and in vivo allografts demonstrated Ezh2 null tumors but not Ezh2 WT or heterozygous are sensitive to the H3K27me3 demethylase inhibitor. These data are interesting because they suggest that assays of 3-dimensional organoids may more faithfully recapitulate responses to epigenetic drugs than standard cell lines, and that aggressive tumors with low H3K27me3 might be selectively killed by demethylase inhibitor. We are now expanding our studies to include other targeting agents, including inhibitors of the kinase WEE1 and inhibitor of the chromatin reader BRD4. Citation Format: Fan Chen, Christine F. Brainson. Activity of polycomb repressive complex 2 determines sensitivity to epigenetic therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5189.
Anxiety in 3- to 7-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder seeking treatment for disruptive behavior.

Anxiety is a common and impairing problem in children with autism spectrum disorder, but little is known about it in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. This article reports on the ch...
HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT OF POLLUTANTS IN DRINKING WATER IN XINJIANG ARMY

Objective To evaluate the health risk induced by chemical pollutants in drinking water in Xinjiang army,in order to provide the basis for guiding drinking water safety for the army.Methods The chemical pollutants in water sample from drinking water in Xinjiang army were detected.Health risk assessment of these pollutants were conducted using health risk assessment model from US EPA.Results The average concentrations of carcinogenic pollutants in drinking water such as Cd,Cr6+,As were 3×10-5,3×10-4,1.6×10-3 mg/L respectively in 2010 year;those of non-carcinogenic pollutants in drinking water such as F,Pb,Hg etc.were 0.435,1×10-3,5.8×10-5mg/L respectively;all were in accordance with the national standard for living and drinking water.The risk of carcinogenic pollutants in 2010 year tended to decrease in comparison with 2007 year,and that of non-carcinogenic pollutants tended to increase,but all were lower than the maximum allowance level(5.0×10-5/a) recommended by ICRP.Conclusion The health risks of pollutants in drinking water in Xinjiang army were lower than the maximum allowance level recommended by ICRP.The main risk factor was carcinogenic arsenic,while non-carcinogenic pollutant effect was very small.
Reorienting the Foster Care System Toward Children’s Best Interests

This chapter provides a template for evaluating and reforming the U.S. foster care system to prioritize the best interests of children. We draw on the subspecialty of program evaluation to construct a logic model for the foster care system that connects the system’s inputs (resources), activities, outputs (intended results of fidelity to program model), and outcomes (intended intermediate and long-term impacts). We emphasize that most evaluations of foster care to date focus on process (activities and outputs) rather than long-term outcomes for children. We suggest a need for systemic and ongoing impact evaluation—a test of how foster care affects children’s later safety and well-being. In addition, the activities and outputs in our model largely reflect the processes and priorities suggested by federal policies and federal performance goals, rather than research evidence on the core components of an effective foster care system. We welcome a rigorous evaluation of our model’s core assumptions, specifically how system activities and outputs, such as referral to child or parent treatment services, permanency, or sibling placement, impact child safety and well-being.
Sexual Harassment and Assault in Transit Environments: A Review of the English-language Literature:

The #MeToo movement has brought much attention to crimes of sexual harassment in the workplace, but less attention has been given to such crimes taking place in transit environments. Reviewing inte...
The Black Press and Black Baseball, 1915-1955: A Devil's Bargain

In the introduction, Brian Carroll describes The Black Press and Black Baseball as a book which compliments his book When to Stop the Cheering? The Black Press, the Black Community, and the Integra...
Effects of dietary restriction on lifespan, growth, and reproduction of the clam shrimp Eulimnadia texana

Diet has been linked to lifespan in a broad range of animals. In particular, pronounced caloric restriction has been associated with increased longevity. Herein, the relationship of feeding environment and longevity is examined experimentally using Spinicaudatan crustaceans (“clam shrimp”) from the geographically widespread genus Eulimnadia. Two projects examine the effects of food differences on longevity, one comparing food environment early vs later in life and one comparing the effects of dietary restriction on longevity, growth, and reproduction. In the former, dietary restriction increased longevity, but only when diets were reduced later in life. A closer examination of the effects of dietary restriction in the second experiment did not find the expected trade-off of increased longevity and reduced reproductive output in the lowest-food treatment, but instead found an overall increase in both longevity and egg production on the low compared to the high food diet. Finally, a detailed analysis of the relationship of size (carapace length) with egg production was presented. This relationship could serve to obtain a rough estimate of reproductive output potential of fossil clam shrimps, of which typically only the carapace size can be assessed.
Electroweak Interactions in a Chiral Effective Lagrangian for Nuclei

We have studied electroweak (EW) interactions in quantum hadrodynamics (QHD) effective field theory (EFT). The Lorentz-covariant EFT contains nucleon, pion, $\Delta$, isoscalar scalar ($\sigma$) and vector ($\omega$) fields, and isovector vector ($\rho$) fields. The lagrangian exhibits a nonlinear realization of (approximate) $SU(2)_L \otimes SU(2)_R$ chiral symmetry and incorporates vector meson dominance. First, we discuss the EW interactions at the quark level. Then we include EW interactions in QHD EFT by using the background-field technique. The completed QHD EFT has a nonlinear realization of $SU(2)_L \otimes SU(2)_R \otimes U(1)_B$ (chiral symmetry and baryon number conservation), as well as realizations of other symmetries including Lorentz-invariance, $C$, $P$, and $T$. Meanwhile, as we know, chiral symmetry is manifestly broken due to the nonzero quark masses; the $P$ and $C$ symmetries are also broken because of weak interactions. These breaking patterns are parameterized in a general way in the EFT. Moreover, we have included the $\Delta$ resonance as manifest degrees of freedom in our QHD EFT, with a discussion of the irrelevance of the well-known pathologies involving high-spin fields from the modern EFT perspective. This enables us to discuss physics at the kinematics where the resonance becomes important. As a result, the effective theory uses hadronic degrees of freedom, satisfies the constraints due to QCD (symmetries and their breaking pattern), and is calibrated to strong-interaction phenomena. Applications to (anti)neutrino scattering are briefly discussed.
Undocumented Mexican mothers of children with autism: navigating the health care and educational service systems

In the field of education and health care, researchers and educators attempt to close the diagnosis/identification and service gaps that persist for low-resourced, underrepresented families with ch...
Monetary Policy is Not Always Systematic and Data-Driven: Evidence from the Yield Curve

Does monetary policy react systematically to macroeconomic innovations? In a sample of 16 countries - operating under various monetary regimes - we find that monetary policy decisions, as expressed in yield curve movements, do react to macroeconomic innovations and these reactions reflect the monetary policy regime. While we find evidence of the primacy of the price stability objective in the inflation targeting countries, links to inflation and the output gap are generally weaker and less systematic in money-targeting and multiple-objective countries.
Reactivating Therapeutic Activities in an Acute Care Group Setting During a Pandemic

Background In March 2020, when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, county public health restricted all group activities, including within the healthcare setting. A university children's hospital's comprehensive eating disorders program was forced to stop its inpatient group and environmental treatments. Inpatient group settings can pose different risks for infection prevention and control (IPC) and guidance is often lacking for this healthcare environment. Methods Six months later, when IPC measures were in place and the prevalence of COVID-19 was decreasing, plans to safely reactivate group treatment were developed in alignment with public health guidance. Nursing, IPC, Nutrition, Occupational Therapy, Child Life, Psychiatry, Psychology and Space Planning collaborated on plans for group activities including meals, relaxation, psychology, nutrition, art therapy, music therapy, cinematherapy, recreation and schooling. Maps indicating social distancing were developed. Results Plans were divided into phases of reactivation based on county guidelines and adherence to IPC measures. They included patient, caregiver, and staff social distancing requirements, along with maps of each room and where tables, chairs and yoga mats would be placed. They also incorporated IPC guidelines: hand hygiene for all before and after the activity/session, daily symptom screening for all, COVID-19 testing of patient admissions, universal masking for all and eye protection for staff. Additionally, requirements for cleaning and disinfection were increased for both the environment and any supplies that were not disposable. Documentation of which patients, caregivers and staff participated in activities was also included in the plans to allow for contact tracing in the event of a possible COVID-19 exposure. Conclusions As hospitals begin to reactivate group therapies and activities, it is important to create a plan that considers the amount of extra time and space needed for proper cleaning and disinfection, setting up the room to maintain social distancing, symptom screening and increased documentation. Plans must follow public health guidelines.
Opinion & Special Article: Preventive Neurology: An Emerging Field Toward Brain Health.

With the rapid aging of populations, neurological disorders have become among the leading causes of disability and mortality worldwide. Most neurological conditions have a prolonged prodromal phase - even if they tend to manifest with an acute syndrome such as stroke - and can lead to a relentless, often deleterious course creating a major burden on patients, caregivers, and society. This unique nature of neurological diseases signifies the strong need for equally effective primary and secondary prevention strategies and focus on brain health before brain diseases ensue. The field of preventive neurology applies both universal and selective primary prevention strategies to promote brain health both at the public and personal levels. The preventive neurology approach aims to identify and target high risk individuals and protect them from reaching a critical point where overt clinical symptoms are present and disease progression is irreversible. Universal and selective prevention training, along with dovetailed clinical and public health research, are three essential pillars of preventive neurology. The burgeoning field of preventive neurology aims to assess neurological care needs in a society, promote the participation of neurologists in restructuring of the health care policies to promote brain health, and to identify medium and high-risk individuals in order to prevent or delay future neurological events.
Embracing Structure in Data for Billion-Scale Semantic Product Search.

We present principled approaches to train and deploy dyadic neural embedding models at the billion scale, focusing our investigation on the application of semantic product search. When training a dyadic model, one seeks to embed two different types of entities (e.g., queries and documents or users and movies) in a common vector space such that pairs with high relevance are positioned nearby. During inference, given an embedding of one type (e.g., a query or a user), one seeks to retrieve the entities of the other type (e.g., documents or movies, respectively) that are highly relevant. In this work, we show that exploiting the natural structure of real-world datasets helps address both challenges efficiently. Specifically, we model dyadic data as a bipartite graph with edges between pairs with positive associations. We then propose to partition this network into semantically coherent clusters and thus reduce our search space by focusing on a small subset of these partitions for a given input. During training, this technique enables us to efficiently mine hard negative examples while, at inference, we can quickly find the nearest neighbors for a given embedding. We provide offline experimental results that demonstrate the efficacy of our techniques for both training and inference on a billion-scale Amazon.com product search dataset.
Excerpt from "IRL (In Real Life): The Bronze Documentary Project"

Excerpt from "IRL (In Real Life): The Bronze Documentary Project." One of the first feature-length documentary films to take on the subject of online relationships, "IRL (In Real Life)" chronicles the life, death, and afterlife of an online community called The Bronze, made up of fans from the official Web site for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Concept Sketches – Using Student- and Instructor-generated, Annotated Sketches for Learning, Teaching, and Assessment in Geology Courses

To promote active learning and increase student involvement in their own knowledge construction, we have implemented the use of concept sketches, which are simplified sketches that are concisely annotated with processes, concepts, and interrelationships, in addition to labels of features. When concept sketches are instructor-generated, they help students see how we organize and explain our knowledge. Students can generate their own concept sketches after seeing animations, video clips, photographs, and detailed textbook-style illustrations. They can also generate concept sketches while reading their textbook or after participating in inquiry exercises and in-class demonstrations. By generating such sketches and explaining them to their peers, students necessarily process the information more fully, consolidate their understanding, and personalize the information to suit their learning styles. Concept sketches are also excellent for identifying student conceptions prior to instruction, for directing studen...
The Tale Behind the Worm

In the Beginning Was the Worm Finding the Secrets of Life in a Tiny Hermaphrodite. by Andrew Brown. Columbia University Press, New York, 2003. 252 pp. $27.95. ISBN 0-231-13146-1. Simon and Schuster, London. £15.99. ISBN 0-743-20716-5. In this short narrative written for the general public, Brown tells the story of the work that led to our current understanding of the genome and development of the nematode C. elegans --and to the Nobel Prize awarded his principal protagonists, Bob Horvitz, Sydney Brenner, and John Sulston.
The Significance of Alternative Techniques in Biomedical Research: an Analysis of Nobel Prize Awards

The current controversy over the use of animals in research has put the biomedical and psychological communities on the defensive. Their main defense has been to emphasize the health benefits to humans from animal research (e.g., Miller 1985; Gay undated).
Abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting in a 10-year-old girl.

A 10-year-old white girl was brought to the emergency department by her parents for extreme abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and decrease in appetite. The patient's mother said she began complaining of the pain the previous morning and the pain was progressive throughout the day and night, eventually leading them to bring the child to the emergency room at about 2:00 am. At that time, the patient was tachycardic and in extreme pain. She had a white blood cell count of 18.9 ×103/μL. A computed tomography (CT) scan was done (Figures ​(Figures11–3). Figure 1 Scout radiograph for the CT scan showing small bowel obstruction and multiple unusual densities throughout the colon (arrows). Figure 3 CT images showing a fatty-density bezoar intraluminal in the mid to distalileum, causing small bowel obstruction. Notice the contents of the large intestine. What is the diagnosis? DIAGNOSIS: Small bowel obstruction with sunflower seed bezoar. Multiple unshelled seeds were seen elsewhere throughout the intestine (Figures ​(Figures44 and ​and55). After the CT scan was performed, further clinical history was elicited, and the child said that she had been eating sunflower seeds for the past 2 days. The exact volume of seeds was unknown. Figure 4 A closer view of Figure ​Figure3b,3b, showing the unshelled sunflower seeds in the colon (arrows). Figure 5 A sunflower seed. The operative report described a complete small bowel obstruction with a transition point just distal to a palpable intraluminal mass. The intraluminal mass was solid and freely mobile. The mass was easily “milked” forward through the distal small intestine and into the cecum. No residual mass, adhesion, intussusception, or anatomical abnormality was found. The mass eventually passed through the colon postoperatively without any difficulty. No enterotomy was needed. Small bowel obstruction with sunflower seed meat bezoar was diagnosed postoperatively.
PROMIS evaluation for head and neck cancer patients: A comprehensive quality-of-life outcomes assessment tool

Objectives/Hypothesis The objective of this study was to evaluate the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measure Information System (PROMIS) in a head and neck cancer patient cohort by assessing the associations of the PROMIS instruments with the responses to the European Oncology Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) general measures, EORTC head and neck (H&N) measures, and Voice Handicap Index (VHI-10). We hypothesized that PROMIS scores are related to the other measures and may be used as assessment tools to help determine quality-of-life outcomes in head and neck cancer patients. Study Design Prospective baseline assessment of quality-of-life outcomes. Methods Thirty-nine head and neck cancer patients were included in the study. PROMIS (domains of fatigue, physical functioning, sleep disturbance, sleep-related impairment, and negative perceived cognitive function, EORTC (general), EORTC H&N, and the VHI-10 were given to all patients at the onset of their cancer diagnosis. Spearman correlation coefficients were computed to assess relationships between the measures. Correlations with corresponding P values <.0083 (Bonferroni adjustment) were considered statistically significant. Descriptive statistics of means, standard deviations, medians, and ranges were computed for all the instruments and measures. Results Significant correlations between the PROMIS instruments and EORTC functional scales were observed. The PROMIS instruments were also associated with some of the EORTC symptom scales, as well as some of the EORTC H&N symptoms measures. PROMIS fatigue instrument was significantly correlated with the VHI-10 measure. Conclusions PROMIS instruments are reasonable measures to determine quality-of-life outcomes in head and neck cancer patients. Computerized adaptive testing devices can be effectively utilized in this patient population. Level of Evidence 2c. Laryngoscope, 124:1368–1376, 2014
Optimizing regional conservation planning for forest birds

Summary 1. Habitat conservation, particularly for large, multiple use areas, must account for the needs of multiple species. However, an unresolved issue is how to manage habitat when the needs of resident species conflict and when the habitat can only be modelled at a coarse scale. Here, we illustrate an approach to optimizing habitat management using an example of a community of forest-breeding birds. 2. We used potential habitat maps for 20 bird species in northern Wisconsin and identified a spatial arrangement that maximizes conservation value for multiple species, maximizes connectivity and minimizes the area needed for conservation. To do this, we ranked each cell of the study area using a nested percentage value, with for example the highest-ranking 1% holding lands of highest conservation value. 3. As we progressively increased the portion of landscape considered, starting with the highestranking habitat first, the number of species for which the minimum habitat requirements were met reached plateaux at 3% and 20% of the landscape. To provide enough area to meet the minimum habitat requirements for all but two species, an estimated 20% of the habitat with the highest conservation value, c. 1 million hectares, would need to be maintained. Of that 20% highest-ranking area, 42% was on public lands, compared with 28% for the study area. 4. Tribal lands held a disproportionally large amount of area estimated to be of high conservation value: within the highest-ranking 1% of land, 14% consisted of tribal lands, while these lands held only 5% of the entire study area’s forests. 5. Synthesis and applications. Hierarchical prioritization provided an efficient mapping approach and the regional perspective necessary to identify management opportunities for a wide range of species. However, it could not explicitly address conflicts among species with overlapping potential habitat but incompatible fine-scale habitat needs. Ignoring this issue may lead to a failure to meet conservation objectives. This issue of habitat mischaracterization needs to be recognized in conservation planning objectives, preferably integrated in an optimization strategy, and can only be partly addressed with a post hoc, stepwise heuristic approach.
Ganging Up on Cancer: Integrative Research Centers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (A)

Dr. Barrett Rollins, Chief Scientific Officer of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, attempts to engender cross-scientist collaboration by applying project management principles to medical research. The resulting innovation, Integrative Research Centers, are novel in this field and present a substantial challenge to the Institute's culture, which had previously allowed faculty scientists complete autonomy over their research. Center leaders are required to develop a business plan, adhere to agreed-upon performance metrics, and undergo regular progress reviews conducted by a peer-led oversight committee. The Center for Nanotechnology in Cancer, a new but crucial center in the program, has failed to meet almost all of its objectives in the first year. Furthermore, a heated dispute between two faculty members in the center has complicated matters significantly. Rollins is flummoxed by these problems because he thought he had provided resources and clear objectives to all of the centers. He must urgently diagnose the main reason(s) for the center's shortcomings and develop a plan of action so that this center's problems do not undermine the whole initiative toward greater scientific collaboration.
Comparison of 5.8S and ITS2 rDNA RFLP Patterns Among Isolates of Acremonium obclavatum, A. kiliense, and A. strictum from Diverse Sources

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products of nuclear 5.8S and internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS2) of rDNA from reference cultures of Acremonium obclavatum (a rarely recognized species first reported from India) were compared with cultures of Acremonium spp. isolated from Georgia, USA. Digestion of amplicons sequentially with Hinfl and Sau3AI divided the isolates into four restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) groups. A representative isolate of primary colonizers of insulation facings from a building in Georgia appeared identical to the type culture of A. obclavatum, whereas other cultures from Indian soils showed variation in the ITS2 region that divided them into further subgroups. Reference cultures of A. kiliense (ATCC 14489) and A. strictum (ATCC 10141) and two additional isolates from metropolitan Atlanta, assigned to this latter species complex on a morphological basis, represented two additional RFLP groups both of which were distinct from the RFLP groups in A. obclavatum. A. kiliense and A. strictum could be placed into similar subgroups on the basis of morphological differences and distinct RFLP patterns.
Development of the Ambulatory Team Observed Structured Clinical Evaluation (ATOSCE)

In response to the call for tools to measure collaboration in interprofessional settings, an Ambulatory Team Observed Structured Clinical Evaluation (ATOSCE) was developed to measure collaboration/teamwork behaviors and skills in a realistic simulation for graduate students in the healthcare professions. Participants rated the ATOSCE a realistic and valuable learning experience.
SCHOTTKY BARRIERS: MODELS AND “TESTS”

Abstract The concepts employed and models referred to in discussing metal-semiconductor interfaces are briefly discussed. The current status of experimental studies of a few such systems is examined. We emphasize the necessity of distinguishing between different possible mechanisms involved in determining the properties of these interfaces, and point out that the current experimental results seem consistent with diverse models of these interfaces.
Evaluation of the scattering lengths in pion-nucleon scattering

All the pion-proton scattering data below 60 MeV which provide values and errors for the phase shifts have been used to obtain thes-wave scattering lengths. The results are α = 0.167 ± .012 and and α3 = -0.105 ± .010. The value (α1 − α3 = 0.26 ± .04 as obtained from recent photoproduction results and Panofsky ratio values was also used. The scattering length for α33 becomes α33 = 0.22 ± .03 if one assumes the linear Chew-Low energy dependence up to 170 MeV.
Frank Parsons on interests

Abstract In addition to Frank Parsons’ posthumous publications a third manuscript remained unpublished. The manuscript can be classified as part of the success literature so prominent in Parsons’ era. Within the manuscript is a chapter dealing with interests. Progress in recent years has further defined and provided a comprehensive theoretical overview of vocational interests. Though much has been written about vocational interests over the past 100 years since Parsons’ death, little has been written about Parsons’ own views related to vocational interests. With the recent discovery of the unpublished chapter on interests, Parsons’ own thinking related to interests can finally be added to the history of interests.
Induced triploidy in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas: Optimal treatments with cytochalasin B depend on temperature

Abstract Triploidy was induced in Crassostrea gigas using cytochalasin B (CB) (1 mg CB/l) at three temperatures: 18, 20 and 25°C. Between 3 and 5 million eggs/l were treated with CB at 15-min intervals following fertilization. Large differences in survival to straight hinge among mass spawns were observed. These were attributed to variable quality of strip-spawned eggs and treatment with CB. The negative effect of CB treatment was most apparent during critical periods of zygotic development (e.g., fertilization, polar body formation). After 48h, larvae from control and treatment groups had equivalent survival and growth rates. Replicates yielded similar percentages of triploids with standard errors of generally 10% or less. Induction curves were calculated for each temperature; triploid maxima at 18, 20 and 25°C were 52, 76 and 90%, respectively. The highest mean percentages obtained empirically at 18, 20 and 25°C were 62, 74 and 88%, respectively. No evidence for bimodal distributions to separate meiotic I and meiotic II triploids was found. Treatments at lower temperatures delayed triploid maxima which occurred approximately 30, 45 and 50 min after fertilization at 25, 20 and 18°C, respectively. Overall, the optimal treatment for inducing triploidy in the Pacific oyster ( C. gigas ) appears to be 30–45 min post-fertilization at 25°C, which yielded 88±9% (SE) triploidy over four replicates.
Some Findings on the Use of the Adaptive Behavior Scale with Autistic Children.

Two studies on the use of the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS) with autistic children are reported. The first study compared ratings by parents and teachers on the same child. For Part I (Adaptive), significant correlations were found on total score and on 7 out of 10 individual scales. For Part II (Behavior), significant correlations were found on only 3 out of 14 scales and not on total score. The second study examined change measured by the ABS across an academic year. For Part I, significant change occurred on 5 of the 10 scales and on total score; for Part II significant differences were found on 2 of the 14 scales and not on total score. Correlations with IQ, Social Quotient (SQ), and degree of autism revealed a similar pattern. The implications of the differences between the two parts of the ABS and their utility for autistic children are discussed.
Flow-through pH-stat method for lipase activity

A new method for lipase activity which combines the simplicity and rapidity of continuous pH-stat methods with the flexibility in choice of conditions (pH, temperature, etc.) of manual methods is described. The lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of olive oil and titration of fatty acid products can be carried out separately in two small continuously stirred reactors in series. The response is linear with enzyme dilution.
Relationships among faculty ratings, academic area, and price for current periodicals in a large land-grant university library

Abstract Librarians from the Sterling C. Evans Library at Texas AM the highest rated periodicals had the highest mean and median prices. Also, in an absolute sense, higher priced journals had larger absolute price increases, but the relationship between cost and relative price increases was more complex.
Anomalous decouplings and the fermion sign problem.

In expressing the partition function for a system of interacting electrons as a path integral, the effective Boltzmann weight is not sign definite. This limits our ability to reach very low temperatures in numerical simulations. While magnetic phase transitions are well studied, superconducting instabilities are much more elusive. In this paper we study the properties of the sign in a novel formulation of the path integral within the finite-temperature grand-canonical ``determinantal'' Monte Carlo method. The approach decouples the interaction into pair creation and annihilation operators rather than the particle number density operators previously used. We find that the average sign depends on the particular path-integral formulation and hence does not correspond to any physical observable. The asymptotic exponential behavior of 〈s〉 with \ensuremath{\beta} previously reported holds here as well but with a different decay constant.
A Bayesian feedback method of aminoglycoside dosing

We assessed the accuracy of a Bayesian method in providing dosing regimens to achieve desired serum aminoglycoside concentrations. This method calculates individual kinetics based on serum drug concentration data. Performance was analyzed by determining accuracy, bias, correlations of observed to desired serum drug concentrations, and the ability to achieve a target serum drug concentration. We also compared results from the Bayesian method with those resulting from the use of the predictive algorithm portion of the computer program and with routine physician dosing. The Bayesian method resulted in a high correlation coefficient (r = 0.913) between observed and predicted serum concentrations. Analysis of peak aminoglycoside concentrations indicated that the Bayesian method was more accurate and less biased than the predictive algorithm portion of the program or routine physician dosing. A similar trend occurred for trough concentrations. Finally, there were no statistically significant differences between the predicted and observed peak (6.4 +/- 1.5 and 5.9 +/- micrograms/ml) and trough (1.2 +/- 0.9 and 1.4 +/- 0.8 micrograms/ml) serum aminoglycoside concentrations with the Bayesian dosing method. There were significant differences for peak concentrations with the predictive algorithm portion of the program and for peak and trough concentrations with physician dosing. These data demonstrate the accuracy of the Bayesian dosing method in attaining desired peak and trough serum aminoglycoside concentrations.
The Restless Sea: Exploring the World Beneath the Waves

I have often been disappointed by popular science books. In the attempt to reach a large audience the author too often loses the subtlety and the excitement that accompanies scientific discovery. Even knowing the author was the 1994 recipient of AGU's Walter Sullivan Award, given for excellence in science journalism, I approached The Restless Sea: Exploring the World Beneath the Waves with little anticipation. But by the third chapter I was hooked. By the last chapter I was prepared to recommend it, and recommend it strongly not only to the nonocean members of AGU, but to all of my fellow members of the Ocean Science section as well.
Development and Validation of an Instrument for the Assessment of Dependency Among Bereaved Persons

Dependency among bereaved individuals has been hypothesized to be an important predictor of severe and enduring grief reactions. However, although there are a number of instruments that assess interpersonal dependency as a personality trait or style, no scales are available to assess bereavement-related dependency. Data from 170 widowed participants in a community-based longitudinal investigation, who had been bereaved for an average of 10.8 months, were used to investigate the reliability and validity of the Bereavement Dependency Scale (BDS), an instrument that was developed to assess dependency on the deceased among bereaved persons. Results indicated that the BDS demonstrated acceptable internal reliability and satisfactory convergent, discriminant, and construct validity. The BDS may be a clinically useful predictor of enduring and complicated grief reactions, major depressive disorder, and suicidality among recently bereaved individuals.