cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
How Organizations Respond to Government-Driven Practices: Status-Based Practice Adoption

How do organizations of different status respond when a new organizational practice that potentially has an impact on the current status hierarchy is introduced by the institutional environment? In bridging the literature on status and agency in institutional theory, the current study suggests that organizations of different status adopt and implement practices differently depending on the level of practice ambiguity, since such ambiguity either facilitates or constrains organizational discretion over the use of the practice. This paper argues that middle-status organizations extensively implement a practice with low ambiguity that minimizes the discretion gap with their high-/low-status counterparts. In contrast, both high- and low-status organizations extensively implement a practice with high ambiguity that allows for more discretion over the use of the practice itself. By examining adoptions of two new admission practices in Korean universities, this paper contributes to the status literature by exten...
ADMM for nonconvex AC optimal power flow

The objective of the paper is to implement alternative direction method of multipliers (ADMM) to solve a nonconvex alternating current optimal power flow (AC OPF) problem. There is no guarantee of convergence for ADMM when it is applied to a nonconvex optimization problem. In this article, we not only present the procedure of consensus ADMM implementation on an AC OPF problem for IEEE 14-bus system but also present the results related to ADMM parameters and convergence. The solutions from MATPOWER and ADMM implementation are also compared.
Functional Status, Receipt of Help, and Perceived Health

We model the effects of disability, functional limitation, and receipt of help on perceived health. This analysis specifies a model with two dimensions of disability and three dimensions of functional limitation, including upper body disability, lower body disability, basic activities of daily living (ADLs), household ADLs, and advanced ADLs. The latent variables of receiving help are modeled for each of the ADLs as intervening between limitations and perceived health. The results show that instrumental social support in the form of receiving help for ADLs has no substantive independent effect on perceived health. In addition, receiving instrumental social support shows a pattern of task-specific responses to individual measures of need. Implications for both caregiver and care recipient are discussed.
Preventing Social Victimization of Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Social victimization by peers is known to be a common occurrence in schools. Furthermore, youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at heightened risk for social victimization, which often occurs in the form of bullying or cyberbullying. Both victims and perpetrators can suffer short-term and long-term psychological distress and social relationship difficulties as a consequence of their experiences. In spite of the scope and seriousness of this problem, social victimization prevention programs have not yet become an established part of the curriculum for youth with ASD. Therefore, continuing investigation of the complex dynamics of bullying in individuals with ASD and the development of effective prevention programs and curricula for youth with ASD warrant serious attention. Overall, we recommend continuing to explore the potential of the following approaches: (1) comprehensive social skills programs for youth with ASD, (2) friendship-building programs for youth with ASD and their nondisabled peers, (3) adaptations and modifications to generic schoolwide programs with a bullying component, (4) self-protective decision-making programs for youth with ASD with an emphasis on differentiating between positive and negative peer relationships and resisting negative peer pressure, and (5) continuing to develop and evaluate broad-based social victimization prevention programs designed to address the core deficits associated with ASD. In addition, the chapter offers a curriculum framework that can be drawn upon for the design and evaluation of effective strategies tailored to the needs of youth with ASD.
Integrating on-premises data with customer relationship management application on cloud: A hybrid IT infrastructure support service

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a group of data-driven, integrated solution that enhances how an organization interacts and does business with the customers. University support service ce...
Semiconductor Heterojunctions for Enhanced Visible Light Photocatalytic H2 Production

Semiconductor-based heterojunctions have been shown to be effective photocatalytic materials to overcome the drawbacks of low photocatalytic efficiency that results from a high rate of electron–hole recombination and narrow photo-response range. In this paper, we report on the study of heterojunctions made from visible light active, graphitic carbon nitride, g-C3N4), and UV light active, strontium pyroniobate, Sr2Nb2O7. Heterojunctions made from a combination of g-C3N4 and nitrogen-doped Sr2Nb2O7 obtained at different temperatures were also studied to determine the effect of N doping. The photocatalytic performance was evaluated by using photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)from water g under visible light irradiation. It was found that the photocatalytic activities of as prepared heterojunctions are significantly higher than that of individual components under similar conditions. Heterojunction formed from g-C3N4 and N-doped Sr2Nb2O7 at 700°C (CN/SNON-700) showed better performance than heterojunction made from g-C3N4 and Sr2Nb2O7 (CN/SNO). A plausible mechanism for the heterojunction enhanced photocatalytic activity is proposed based on, relative band positions, and photoluminescence data.
Geometric-Based Statistical Channel Modeling for Beam-Pattern-Scanning Antenna Arrays

Applying carefully-selected time-varying phases (delays) to array elements of an adaptive antenna, an antenna beam-pattern-scanning (BPS) is created in a controlled manner. This creates a time varying channel with a controllable coherence time. With an adaptive antenna at the base station (BS) and a single omnidirectional antenna at the mobile, the controllable coherence time is used by the mobile to exploit time diversity and enhance performance.
Risk Assessment for Regulation of Dioxin (TCDD)

People are concerned about health problems, particularly risks of cancer, and reproductive problems. Whether judged by contributions to the American Cancer Society, appropriations to the National Cancer Institute, and stories in the media, these concerns are important. At the same time, few people have even the most rudimentary idea of the nature of the risks, their magnitude, and of what can be done to lower risk. Consequently, people seem to demand simplistic solutions to these complicated, emotion-packed problems.
Executable Ontological Business Process Model

Often business processes modelling is confined to Flow Chart like representation and the models are not amenable to analysis (e.g., simulation) to study their behaviour. As a consequence, validation and verification of such models are merely conducted manually based on the intuition, experience and knowledge of analysts and processes managers. While for small models this may not represent a challenge, for complex processes it is very challenging to avoid inaccuracies – broken flows, missing loops, deadlocks. Execution (or simulation) of models using computer tools would surface most of errors and better enforce model correctness. In this paper we introduce a modelling method and technique aiming at developing executable ontological business process models. The proposed method is theoretically based on the concept of Business Transaction derived from the DEMO Methodology, and diagrammatically on the formal semantics of Petri net. The transaction concept is used for conceiving the organization’s social reality, and the formalism of Petri nets as a modelling technique. For the coherence between these two as a whole, a few aspects were to be investigated.
The D-3HE Dipole Fusion Reactor

The dipole fusion concept was first proposed by Hasegawa(1) who was motivated by observations of high beta, energetic plasma within planetary magnetospheres(2,3). Plasma trapped within nature’s magnetic dipoles often diffuses inward to regions of higher magnetic field and higher plasma pressure due to the presence of low-frequency perturbations of geomagnetic and electric fields. Furthermore, active magnetospheres, such as that surrounding Jupiter, have plasma pressures exceeding the magnetic pressure, β > 1. The dipole reactor takes advantage of these properties by operating with plasma profiles which are fundamentally“stationary”and“marginally stable”at high beta. By“stationary”we mean that low-frequency fluctuations do not lead to anomalous transport, and, by“marginally stable”, we refer to the stability properties of these“stationary”profiles to interchange and ballooning modes when β > /(4) The dipole fusion reactor is different from other fusion concepts since it is the first reactor conceived to eliminate both anomalous plasma transport and fast MHD plasma instabilities.
Abstract reasoning for planning and coordination

The judicious use of abstraction can help planning agents to identify key interactions between actions, and resolve them, without getting bogged down in details. However, ignoring the wrong details can lead agents into building plans that do not work, or into costly backtracking and replanning once overlooked interdependencies come to light. We claim that associating systematically-generated summary information with plans' abstract operators can ensure plan correctness, even for asynchronously-executed plans that must be coordinated across multiple agents, while still achieving valuable efficiency gains. In this paper, we formally characterize hierarchical plans whose actions have temporal extent, and describe a principled method for deriving summarized state and metric resource information for such actions. We provide sound and complete algorithms, along with heuristics, to exploit summary information during hierarchical refinement planning and plan coordination. Our analyses and experiments show that, under clearcut and reasonable conditions, using summary information can speed planning as much as doubly exponentially even for plans involving interacting subproblems.
Computing state average marginal income tax rates: An application to Missouri

Using filing-level data, we compute the average marginal income tax rate for the State of Missouri. We have data from 2000 through 2015. We start with a simple experiment: consider the effect that a $10 change in federal adjusted gross income would have on each filer’s tax payment. We find that with deductions, exemptions, and credits, the average marginal income tax rate has been remarkably steady over the years, ranging from 3.50 percent to 3.66 percent. This rate is much lower than the top marginal income tax rate, which has been 6 percent for taxable income greater than $9,000 for the entire sample period. In addition, we compute the average marginal income tax rate for different types of income in order to compare directly with the NBER’s reported state rate.
A community driving under the influence (DUI) study of declining arrests.

AbstractObjective: Recent news reports in 2016 indicated that across Miami–Dade County, Florida, driving under the influence (DUI) arrests have decreased substantially. The objective of this resear...
“Look Pon Likkle Chiney Gal”: Tessanne Chin, The Voice , and Digital Caribbean Subjects

This article takes up the participation of Caribbean digital subjects on YouTube, specifically the ways in which Tessanne Chin’s ascendancy and eventual win of the fifth season of NBC’s reality TV singing competition show, The Voice, provided the occasion for the Caribbean digital subject to challenge discourses of stereotype, nation, and history. I take the YouTube sensation, The Dutty Berry Show, as a nodal point at which reductive and competing discourses clash and the Caribbean digital subject and Digital Griot emerge.
Antikörper in der Hämatologie am Beispiel der akuten lymphatischen Leukämie

Antikorper spielen in der Therapie von Patienten mit hamatologischen Tumoren eine wichtige Rolle und haben dort mittlerweile einen festen Platz. Am Beispiel der akuten lymphatischen Leukamie (ALL) werden verschiedene Antikorper mit unterschiedlichem Wirkmechanismus beschrieben. Der Fokus dieser Ubersicht richtet sich auf die Darstellung eines bispezifischen Antikorpermolekuls und eines Immunkonjugats im Rezidiv der ALL. Obwohl die Antikorper die Therapie von Patienten mit ALL verbessert haben, gilt unverandert, dass die Behandlung nur erfolgreich mit einer Strategie durchgefuhrt werden kann, in die verschiedene sich gegenseitig erganzende Schemata integriert sind. Die Verbesserung der Therapie kann nur durch klinische Studien mit klar definierten Protokollen gelingen.
Expertise effects on the perceptual and cognitive tasks of indoor rock climbing

Experts’ cognitive abilities adapt in response to the challenges they face in order to produce elite-level performance. Expert athletes, in particular, must integrate their motor capabilities with their cognitive and perceptual processes. Indoor rock climbers are particularly unique athletes in that much of the challenge they face is to accurately perceive and consolidate multiple movements into manageable action plans. In the current study, we investigated how climbers’ level of expertise influenced their perception of action capabilities, visual memory of holds, and memory of planned and performed motor sequences. In Experiment 1, climbers judged their perceived capability to perform single climbing moves and then attempted each movement. Skilled climbers were less confident, but perceived their action capabilities more accurately than less skilled climbers. In Experiment 2, climbers recalled holds on a route, as well as predicted and recalled move sequences before and after climbing, respectively. Expertise was positively associated with visual memory performance as well as planned and recalled motor sequence accuracy. Together, these findings contribute to our knowledge of motor expertise and suggest that motor expert’s ability to accurately estimate their action capabilities may underlie complex cognitive processes in their domain of expertise.
Sidney, Spenser, and the Queen

Returning to the introductory comparison between Spenser and Sidney, the concluding chapter seeks to explain their sharply contrasting representations of Elizabeth. It examines major personal and situational differences, including the decades when they were writing, the audiences they were addressing, their rank and standing at court, their differing levels of direct experience with the queen, their conceptions of romantic epic, and the spans of history encompassed by their fictions. Above all, the two writers differed in their religious views of Elizabeth, Sidney regarding her as an obstacle to desperately needed military action against England’s Catholic enemies abroad and Spenser celebrating her as an imperfect but resplendent mirror reflecting the light of God to her people at a turning point in the providential history of the world.
Applications of transcatheter embolotherapy in preparation for liver transplantation and resection

Although the liver-directed therapies offered by interventional radiology are often treated as alternatives to surgery, the roles they can play in preparation for surgical intervention are less often appreciated and thus underutilized. Locoregional therapies (LRT) can help establish and maintain candidacy for transplantation in patients with early-stage disease, and in those who are candidates for partial hepatectomy can improve post-resection outcomes. Appropriate patient selection is essential to realizing the maximal potential benefit, and herein we provide an overview of the options available and the indications for their use in the pre-operative period.
Making Sense of Sensor Data: How Local Environmental Conditions Add Value to Social Science Research:

Recent advances in computing technologies have enabled the development of low-cost, compact weather and air quality monitors. The U.S. federally funded Array of Things (AoT) project has deployed mo...
Measuring Misinformation in Video Search Platforms: An Audit Study on YouTube

Search engines are the primary gateways of information. Yet, they do not take into account the credibility of search results. There is a growing concern that YouTube, the second largest search engine and the most popular video-sharing platform, has been promoting and recommending misinformative content for certain search topics. In this study, we audit YouTube to verify those claims. Our audit experiments investigate whether personalization (based on age, gender, geolocation, or watch history) contributes to amplifying misinformation. After shortlisting five popular topics known to contain misinformative content and compiling associated search queries representing them, we conduct two sets of audits-Search-and Watch-misinformative audits. Our audits resulted in a dataset of more than 56K videos compiled to link stance (whether promoting misinformation or not) with the personalization attribute audited. Our videos correspond to three major YouTube components: search results, Up-Next, and Top 5 recommendations. We find that demographics, such as, gender, age, and geolocation do not have a significant effect on amplifying misinformation in returned search results for users with brand new accounts. On the other hand, once a user develops a watch history, these attributes do affect the extent of misinformation recommended to them. Further analyses reveal a filter bubble effect, both in the Top 5 and Up-Next recommendations for all topics, except vaccine controversies; for these topics, watching videos that promote misinformation leads to more misinformative video recommendations. In conclusion, YouTube still has a long way to go to mitigate misinformation on its platform.
Evaluating Random and Systematic Error in Student Growth Percentiles

Student growth percentiles (SGPs) are currently used by several states and school districts to provide information about individual students as well as to evaluate teachers, schools, and school dis...
Premature coronary disease, in-stent restenosis and vascular complications in a young man with Behçet syndrome.

A young man with a history of early-onset coronary disease presented with an ST-elevation myocardial infarction at the age of 38. He subsequently had recurrent in-stent restenosis requiring repeating interventions and ultimately bypass surgery. After 4 years, he presents with systemic symptoms, new skin lesions and a femoral artery pseudoaneurysm. He is diagnosed with Behcet syndrome, a rare systemic vasculitis characterised by the triad of oral aphthous ulcers, genital ulcers and ocular involvement. Behcet is not associated with premature coronary disease but can have a variety of cardiac complications. Additionally, pathergy, an exaggerated inflammatory response to local injury, is characteristic. We hypothesise that in retrospect, subclinical inflammation and a vascular pathergy likely predisposed him to his cardiac and vascular complications. Here, we review risk factors and presentation of premature coronary artery disease and review the literature on the cardiovascular complications of Behcet syndrome.
Disparities in Mortality from Larynx Cancer: Implications for Reducing Racial Differences.

OBJECTIVE Race predicts overall mortality (OM) of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) in the United States (US). We assessed whether racial disparities affect cancer-specific mortality (CSM) using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. METHODS Adults with LSCC from 2004 to 2015 were selected. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards and Fine-Gray competing-risks regression analysis adjusted for clinicodemographic factors defined hazard ratios (aHR). RESULTS We identified 14,506 patients. The median age was 63 years. Most were male (11,725, 80.8%) and white (11,653, 80.3%), followed by Black (2294, 15.8%). Most had early-stage disease (7544, 52.0%) and received radiotherapy only (4107, 28.3%), followed by chemoradiation (3748, 25.8%). With median follow-up of 60 months, overall 3- and 5-year OM were 34.0% and 43.2%; CSM were 16.0% and 18.9%, respectively. Black patients had higher OM than white patients on univariable (HR 1.35, 95% CI, 1.26-1.44, P < .001) and multivariable (aHR 1.10, 95% CI, 1.02-1.18, P = .011) analyses. Black patients had higher CSM on univariable analysis (HR 1.22, 95% CI, 1.09-1.35, P < .001) but not on multivariable CSM analysis (aHR 1.01, 95% CI, 0.90-1.13, P = .864). On multivariable analysis, year of diagnosis, age, disease site, stage, treatment, nodal metastasis, marital status, education, and geography significantly predicted CSM. CONCLUSION On multivariable analyses controlling for sociodemographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics, Black and white patients differed in OM but not in CSM. However, Black patients presented with greater proportions of higher stage cancers and sociodemographic factors such as income and marital status that were associated with worse outcomes. Efforts to target sociodemographic disparities may contribute to the mitigation of racial disparities in LSCC. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4 Laryngoscope, 131:E1147-E1155, 2021.
Medication Non-adherence: a Major Cause of Resistant Hypertension

As the global burden of hypertension continues to rise, it remains suboptimally controlled despite increased awareness. Poor medication adherence is a well-recognized although underestimated contributing factor of uncontrolled hypertension. This review focuses on medication non-adherence as an important cause of apparent treatment-resistant hypertension and its impact on patient’s well-being. In addition to biochemical screening, electronic technology—including electronic medication packaging devices such as medication event monitoring system, device integrated care delivery systems like digital medicine, and blood pressure telemonitoring—provides reliable objective data that enables healthcare providers to make decisions that enhance adherence and improve blood pressure control. Consistent medication adherence is a key factor to sustained blood pressure control. Evaluation and correct assessment for adherence should be an integral part of management of patients with apparent treatment-resistant hypertension. Clinicians need to recognize key clues linked to suboptimal adherence or non-adherence that can result in poor outcomes.
Molecular Chirality and Cloud Activation Potentials of Dimeric α-Pinene Oxidation Products

The surface activity of ten atmospherically relevant α-pinene-derived dimers having varying terminal functional groups and backbone stereochemistry is reported. We find ~10 percent differences in surface activity between diastereomers of the same dimer, demonstrating that surface activity depends upon backbone stereochemistry. Octanol¬–water (KOW) and octanol–ammonium sulfate partitioning coefficient (KOAS) measurements of our standards align well with the surface activity measurements, with the more surface-active dimers exhibiting increased hydrophobicity. Our findings establish a link between molecular chirality and cloud activation potential of secondary organic aerosol particles. Given the diurnal variations in enantiomeric excess of biogenic emissions, possible contributions of such a link to biosphere:atmosphere feedbacks as well as aerosol particle viscosity and phase separation are discussed.
On the Impact of Bed-Bathymetry Resolution and Bank Vegetation on the Flood Flow Field of the American River, California: Insights Gained Using Data-Driven Large-Eddy Simulation

AbstractHigh-fidelity models can simulate many detailed hydrodynamic features of flow in natural rivers. However, it is challenging to explicitly capture the effects of highly complex bathymetry an...
Human primitive mesenchymal stem cell-derived retinal progenitor cells promoted neuroprotection and neurogenesis in rd12 mice

Retinal degenerative diseases (RDD) such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) have no treatment. Stem cell-based therapies could provide promising opportunities to repair the damaged retina and restore vision. We investigated a novel approach in which human retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) derived from primitive mesenchymal stem cells (pMSCs) were examined to treat retinal degeneration in an rd12 mouse model of RP. Intravitreally transplanted cells improved retinal function and significantly increased retinal thickness. Transplanted cells homed, survived, and integrated to various retinal layers. They also induced anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective responses and upregulated neurogenesis genes. We found that RPCs were more efficacious than pMSCs in improving the retinal structure and function. RNA analyses suggest that RPCs promote neuroprotection and neuronal differentiation by activating JAK/STAT and MAPK, and inhibiting BMP signaling pathways. These promising results provide the basis for clinical studies to treat RDD using RPCs derived from pMSCs.
Indoleamine 2, 3-Dioxygenase Promotes Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Dependent Differentiation Of Regulatory B Cells in Lung Cancer

Regulatory B cells (Breg) are IL-10 producing subsets of B cells that contribute to immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Breg are elevated in patients with lung cancer; however, the mechanisms underlying Breg development and their function in lung cancer have not been adequately elucidated. Herein, we report a novel role for Indoleamine 2, 3- dioxygenase (IDO), a metabolic enzyme that degrades tryptophan (Trp) and the Trp metabolite L-kynurenine (L-Kyn) in the regulation of Breg differentiation in the lung TME. Using a syngeneic mouse model of lung cancer, we report that Breg frequencies significantly increased during tumor progression in the lung TME and secondary lymphoid organs, while Breg were reduced in tumor-bearing IDO deficient mice (IDO-/-). Trp metabolite L-Kyn promoted Breg differentiation in-vitro in an aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), toll-like receptor-4-myeloid differentiation primary response 88, (TLR4-MyD88) dependent manner. Importantly, using mouse models with conditional deletion of IDO in myeloid-lineage cells, we identified a significant role for immunosuppressive myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC)-associated IDO in modulating in-vivo and ex-vivo differentiation of Breg. Our studies thus identify Trp metabolism as a therapeutic target to modulate regulatory B cell function during lung cancer progression
Microbial Oxidation of Fe(II) and Mn(II) at Circumneutral pH

Over the past decade it has become clear that iron and manganese can be important electron acceptors for anaerobic respiration carried out by a diverse array of prokaryotes. This chapter is biased toward iron, in part because a number of recent findings concerning the role of microbes in iron (Fe) oxidation make this area of particular interest at the organismal level and in part because an excellent review on manganese (Mn) oxidation was recently published. It is also biased toward organisms rather than molecules, since virtually nothing is know about the molecules, involved in Fe oxidation at neutral pH, although there is an emerging story in this regard concerning Mn. In terms of biological reactivity, the two most relevant oxidation states of iron are Fe(II), the reduced ferrous form, and Fe(III), the oxidized ferric form. To illustrate the commonalities and differences that are manifested by the sites, four quite different examples are discussed. The examples are Marselisborg, Loihi, Plant Rhizosphere, and Anaerobic Environments. Representatives of some of the Fe oxidizers that are known to occur in the habitats are discussed in detail in this chapter. The oxidation of the manganous ion, Mn(II), to the manganic form, Mn(IV), is a two-electron transfer, which can proceed via one-electron steps through an unstable intermediate, Mn(III). Examples of three quite different Mn-oxidizing organisms are discussed in detail. The three Mn-oxidizing organisms are L. discophora, Marine Bacillus sp. strain SG-1, and Metallogenium.
PET: The Governmental Reimbursement Perspective

The clinical applications of PET have been determined only recently. Reimbursement for clinical PET studies has a major effect on the utilization of PET. The research applications of PET are well documented, but the clinical applications of PET are not as well accepted. Reimbursement for clinical studies is limited to a few specific indications by a small number of private insurance companies at this time. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has referred the review of PET to the Office of Health Technology Assessment (OHTA). HCFA administers Medicare, and thus reimbursement from the Federal Government will be determined by HCFA. HCFA and OHTA have determined that they will not complete their review until the radiopharmaceuticals are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Rubidium-82 is an FDA-approved radiopharmaceutical, but F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) has not been approved by the FDA as yet. Thus, significant uncertainty still is present in the status of reimbursement by the Federal Government.
Simplified Procedure for Effective Stress Anaysis of Ground Response

A review is made of several analytical approaches to the determination of pore-pressure generation and dissipation in saturated sands at level sites during earthquakes and the effects of the resulting pore-pressure buildup on the seismic response of these sites. A simplified procedure is described that uncouples the nonlinearity of the stress-strain relationship of the sand under cyclic shear loading and the gradual stiffness degradation caused by the pore-pressure buildup under the type of loading. It was found that stress reduction between a total stress analysis, where the effective confining pressure is considered to remain constant throughout the earthquake, and an effective stress analysis that accounts for both types of soil nonlinearity did not exceed about 85% under the most severe conditions. Consequently, it is believed that the simplified procedure may be used in conjunction with any ground-response analysis program for the purpose of evaluating ground response including pore-pressure effects.
The experience of a sense of presence in intercultural and international encounters

The state of consciousness referred to as a sense of presence has received significant attention in research on teleoperator and virtual reality systems. There has apparently been, however, little theoretical development or empirical research associated with the experience of presence. In that regard, it is useful to look at another very different context in which it has received attention. This paper reports on a study recently conducted on the experience of presence in international and intercultural encounters that may have theoretical significance beyond this limited context. Overall, the results indicated that the experiences of “realness, vividness, and feeling very much alive,” “attending to the immediate situation,“ “a perception of thinking and acting in new and innovative ways,” and ”a broad awareness of everything around” clustered together as a single factor and that a sense of presence in this context is a state of consciousness with at least these characteristics. There was also evidence that the experience of the state is related to the perception of quickness in the passage of time, the recall of details of encounters, their enjoyment, and the motivation to repeat them.
Reply: Exploring Panel Effects

This Reply responds to methodological criticisms of an earlier empirical study of panel effects on the United States Court of Appeals, Deliberation and Strategy on the United States Courts of Appeals, which appeared in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. That study found that federal appellate judges appeared to be more or less open to influence by their panel colleagues depending upon how the preferences of the panel members align with the preferences of the circuit as a whole. On the other hand, their willingness to avoid dissents and go along with their panel colleagues seemed unaffected by their relative alignment with the preferences of the Supreme Court. This Reply explains that this study was not intended to be a test of Frank Cross and Emerson Tiller’s whistleblower theory, although its results are to some extent inconsistent with that theory. It further discusses other methodological choices made in the original study – for example, the use of voting outcomes to measure panel effects; the decision to examine ideological alignment between a panel and the reviewing court; and the reliance on appellate cases limited to a particular subject matter area.
Recent Improvements in Size Effects Correlations for DBTT and Upper Shelf Energy of Ferritic Steels

Currently available correlations for the effects of specimen size on the USE were developed for relatively ductile steels and will not serve as well when the steels become embrittled. Size effects correlations were developed recently for the impact properties of less ductile HT9 to be applied to other initially more ductile steels as they lose their ductility during irradiation. These new correlations successfully predict the ductile brittle transition temperature (DBTT) and the upper shelf energy (USE) of full size Charpy specimens based on subsize specimen data. The new DBTT and the USE correlations were tested against published experimental data on other ferritic steels and shown to perform successfully at lower USE particularly when both precracked and notched only specimens were employed.
X-Linked Gene Expression in the Virginia Opossum: Differences Between the Paternally Derived Gpd and Pgk-A Loci

Expression of X-linked glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and phosphoglycerate kinase-A (PGK-A) in the Virginia opossum ( Didelphis virginiana) was studied electrophoretically in animals from natural populations and those produced through controlled laboratory crosses. Blood from most of the wild animals exhibited a common single-banded phenotype for both enzymes. Rare variant animals, regardless of sex, exhibited single-banded phenotypes different in mobility from the common mobility class of the respective enzyme. The laboratory crosses confirmed the allelic basis for the common and rare phenotypes. Transmission of PGK-A phenotypes followed the pattern of determinate (nonrandom) inactivation of the paternally derived Pgk-A allele, and transmission of G6PD also was consistent with this pattern. A survey of tissue-specific expression of G6PD phenotypes of heterozygous females revealed, in almost all tissues, three-banded patterns skewed in favor of the allele that was expressed in blood cells. Three-banded patterns were never observed in males or in putatively homozygous females. These patterns suggest simultaneous, but unequal, expression of the maternally and paternally derived Gpd alleles within individual cells (i.e., partial paternal allele expression). The absence of such partial expression was noted in a parallel survey of females heterozygous at the Pgk-A locus. Thus, it appears that Gpd and Pgk-A are X-linked in D. virginiana and subject to preferential paternal allele inactivation, but that dosage compensation may not be complete for all paternally derived X-linked genes. The data establish the similarity between the American and Australian marsupial patterns of X-linked gene regulation and, thus, support the hypothesis that this form of dosage compensation was present in the early marsupial lineage that gave rise to these modern marsupial divisions. In addition, the data provide the first documentation of the differential expression of two X-linked genes in a single marsupial species. Because of its combination of X-linked variation, high fecundity, and short generation time, D. virginiana is a unique model for pursuing questions about marsupial gene regulation that have been difficult to approach through studies of Australian species.
Ethnicity, Markets, and Migration in the Andes: At the Crossroads of History and Anthropology

Ethnicity, Markets, and Migration in the Andes: At the Crossroads of History and Anthropology. Brooke Larson and Olivia Harris. eds., with Enrique Tandeter. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1995 428 pp.
Evaluation of techniques for in situ determination of explosion hazards in asphalt tanks

Abstract It is clear from recent work in our laboratory and elsewhere that the traditional method of assessing the explosion hazards in asphalt tanks, by comparing storage temperature to material flash point, is not reliable in many circumstances. In response to the need for better evaluation methods, several techniques for monitoring the composition of the vapour space of asphalt tanks have been evaluated. Methods were investigated which determine the combustibility of the vapour space and which analyse for more specific compounds which are indicators of smouldering coke deposits — a major ignition hazard in asphalt tanks. Simple methods, easily applied routinely by manufacturing personnel, are shown to be of adequate accuracy by comparison to more complex methods yielding more complete information but also requiring more extensive equipment and expertise. Applicability of each method to five different classes of asphalt is discussed. Strengths and weaknesses of conventional flash point tests are also discussed; they are shown to be of limited use in assessing explosion hazards with air blown asphalt and solvent deasphalting residuum.
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE AND THERMOELECTRIC PROSPECTS OF PHOSPHIDE SKUTTERUDITES

The prospects for high thermoelectric performance in phosphide skutterudites are investigated based on first-principles calculations. We find that stoichiometric ${\mathrm{CoP}}_{3}$ differs from the corresponding arsenide and antimonide in that it is metallic. As such, the band structure must be modified if high thermopowers are to be achieved. In analogy to the antimonides it is expected that this may be done by filling with La. Calculations for ${\mathrm{LaFe}}_{4}{\mathrm{P}}_{12}$ show that a gap can in fact be opened by La filling, but that the valence band is too light to yield reasonable p-type thermopowers at appropriate carrier densities; n-type La-filled material may be more favorable.
NF-κB RelB Forms an Intertwined Homodimer

Summary The X-ray structure of the RelB dimerization domain (DD) reveals that the RelBDD assumes an unexpected intertwined fold topology atypical of other NF-κB dimers. All typical NF-κB dimers are formed by the association of two independently folded immunoglobulin (Ig) domains. In RelBDD, two polypeptides reconstruct both Ig domains in the dimer with an extra β sheet connecting the two domains. Residues most critical to NF-κB dimer formation are invariant in RelB, and Y300 plays a positive role in RelBDD dimer formation. The presence of RelB-specific nonpolar residues at the surface removes several intradomain surface hydrogen bonds that may render the domain fold unstable. Intertwining may stabilize the RelBDD homodimer by forming the extra β sheet. We show that, as in the crystal, RelB forms an intertwined homodimer in solution. We suggest that the transiently stable RelB homodimer might prevent its rapid degradation, allowing for heterodimer formation with p50 and p52.
Nuclear Methods Applied to Uranium Geochemistry

Stable and radioactive daughter products produced from nuclear disintegrations of uranium have proved useful in fundamental studies of the geochemistry of uranium in igneous rock and sedimentary environments and in ore deposits. Information gained from geochemical studies of uranium migration has been used to develop models for attempts to date archeological, geological, and oceanographic environments represented by samples of bone, wood, charcoal, continental and marine carbonates, marine sediments, and glacially derived soils. Recent improvements of nuclear instrumentation and techniques allowed accurate measurements of natural radioactive isotopes, and it is now believed that radioactive equilibrium between the long-lived isotopes of the two uranium decay series is more the exception than the rule in nature. It was assumed that the 234U and 238U isotopes were in equilibrium until Thurber confirmed that considerable separation between 234U daughter and 238U parent exists in nature. It now has been documented that the 234U content may range from 60% deficient to 500% in excess relative to 238U. An excess of 15% of 234U isotope in sea water is well documented. A summary of previous work has shown that geochemical fractionation of the radioactive nuclides in 238U and 235U decay series takes place in the hydrologic environment, resulting in depletion of 230Th and 231Pa with respect to their parents, 238U, 234U, and 235U, in water and a complementary enrichment of these daughter nuclides in some sediments. Subsequent assimilation of Uranium, essentially free of radioactive daughters, occurs in some specific types of deposits such as carbonates and phosphates.
Neuroendocrine cells of the prostate and neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic carcinoma: a review of morphologic aspects

Neuroendocrine cells of the prostate are intraepithelial regulatory cells that secrete serotonin and a variety of peptide hormones. It is hypothesized that these cells regulate both growth and differentiation, as well as exocrine secretory activity through endocrine, paracrine, neurocrine, and lumenocrine mechanisms. Neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic carcinoma occurs as pure neuroendocrine malignancies, such as small-cell carcinoma and carcinoid/carcinoid-like tumors, as well as focal neuroendocrine differentiation in a more conventional prostatic adenocarcinoma. Neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic carcinoma may have diagnostic and prognostic significance.
Studies toward the synthesis of spirolucidine. Preparation of ABC and EF ring fragments

Abstract ABC and EF ring fragments of spirolucidine have been prepared via asymmetric synthesis using chiral N-acylpyridinium salt chemistry. Model studies have been carried out to support further progress toward the completion of this complex alkaloid.
Ultrahigh-frequency interference beats in transient, incoherent-light four-wave mixing

An angled-beam, transient four-wave mixing experiment is described in which nanosecond-duration, broad-bandwidth excitation pulses are employed to measure picosecond collisional dephasing and subpicosecond interference beats in atomic Rb vapor. The 7.2-THz interference beat, which corresponds to a 237 cm−1 Rb fine-structure splitting, is apparently the fastest material-specific beat yet observed. We discuss practical limitations on the time resolution attainable with this technique and propose means of circumventing them by using broad-bandwidth collinear excitation beams and an angled narrow-bandwidth probe.
Effects of 1000 r whole-body x-irradiation on dna synthesis and mitosis in the duodenal crypts of the bcf1 mouse.

Effects of 1000 R, whole-body X-irradiation on the proliferative cells of the mouse duodenal crypts, in the four phases of the generation cycle; namely, the DNA synthesis phase, S; the pre-mitotic gap, G2; the division phase or mitosis, M; and the pre-synthesis gap, G1. As pointed out by Whitmore and Till (1964) G1 and G2 are characterized only by the fact that no DNA synthesis is taking place in these phases.
Skin Penetration Method Suggested for Environmental Protection Agency Requirements

The Environmental Protection Agency has circulated a protocol for examining the dermal absorption of pesticides in rats. This protocol will be considered as a guideline for determining the dermal a...
Recommendation-Based De-identification: A Practical Systems Approach towards De-identification of Unstructured Text in Healthcare

In healthcare, de-identification is fast becoming a service that is indispensable when medical data needs to be used for research and secondary use purposes. Currently, this process is done either manually, by human agent, or by an automated software algorithm. Both approaches have shortcomings. Here, we introduce a framework for enhancing the outcome of the current modes of executing a de-identification service. This paper presents the steps taken in conceiving and building a privacy framework and tool that improves the service of de-identification. Further, we test the usefulness and applicability of this system through a study with HIPAA-trained experts.
Petrogenetic implications of argon isotopic evolution in the upper mantle

THE construction of models for the isotopic evolution of terrestial argon (unlike those for strontium and lead1–2), has been severely hampered by the fact that there are to our knowledge, no reported studies of the initial argon isotopic ratios in rocks of various ages. It has been estimated3 that the cosmic abundances of the stable argon isotopes are 40Ar, 0.4%; 38Ar, 14.1%; and 36Ar, 85.6%. This gives a cosmic 40Ar/36Ar ratio of 0.005, which may reasonably be assumed to approximate closely the initial 40Ar/36Ar ratio in the solid Earth at the time of formation.
The Older Woman as Sage: The Satisfaction of Mentoring

Mentoring is important to the personal and professional lives of many developing professionals, but it is also beneficial in numerous ways to the mentor. This article focuses on the benefits of mentoring from the mentor's prospective, including satisfaction in seeing protegees succeed and empowerment of both the mentor and protegee. This article showcases the importance of being a mentor, the impact mentoring has on developing psychologists, and how mentoring sustains older women's connections and contributions to their field. The authors discuss what mentoring is, what mentors do, how to become a mentor, and the benefits of being a mentor. How one becomes a mentor in various work settings including academia is also discussed, as are concerns regarding inappropriate mentoring relationships and how to improve the quality of the mentoring relationship. The authors suggest that becoming a mentor can be empowering for women clients as well as therapists.
The digital shrink wrap dilemma

End-user agreements with application providers are a required commitment for digital citizens - students, employees, customers and everyone else. Despite their proliferation and use by nearly every major multinational company, there exists a basic rationality failure. These agreements are routinely agreed to with scant, if any, comprehension. This paper examines the current situation with quantification-based analysis, compares variations among countries and outlines possible solutions to bring more integrity to the “voluntary” agreements between end users and application providers. It introduces a Readability Gap measurement for describing the disparity between a population's comprehension and the readability level of electronic agreements they routinely make.