cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
WE‐DE‐207B‐01: Optimization for Contrast‐Enhanced Spectral Mammography Based On Photon‐Counting Detectors

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of optimizing the imaging parameters for contrast-enhanced spectral mammography based on Si strip photon-counting detectors. Methods: A computer simulation model using polyenergetic spectra from a tungsten anode x-ray tube and a Si-based photon-counting detector was evaluated for contrast-enhanced spectral mammography. The simulation traces the emission of photons from the x-ray source, attenuation through the breast and subsequent absorption in the detector. The breast was modeled as a mixture of adipose and mammary gland tissues with a breast density of 30%. A 4 mm iodine signal with a concentration of 4 mg/ml was used to simulate the enhancement of a lesion. Quantum efficiency of the detector was calculated based on the effective attenuation length in the Si strips. The figure-of-merit (FOM), which was defined as the decomposed iodine signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with respect to the square root of the mean glandular dose (MGD), was chosen to optimize the imaging parameters, in terms of beam energy, splitting energy, and pre-filtrations for breast of various thicknesses and densities. Results: The optimal imaging parameters, which lead to the highest FOM, were found at a beam energy of 45 kVp with a splitting energy at 34 keV for an averaged breast thickness of 4 cm with a standard 0.75 mm Al pre-filtration. The optimal tube voltage varied slightly from 46 to 44 kVp as the breast thickness increases from 2 to 8 cm. The optimal tube voltage decreased to 42 kVp when the Al pre-filtration was increased to 3 mm. Conclusion: This simulation study predicted the optimal imaging parameters for application of photon-counting spectral mammography to contrast-enhanced imaging. The simulation results laid the ground work for future phantom and clinical studies. Grant funding from Philips Medical Systems.
The role of GTP-binding proteins in signal transduction: from the sublimely simple to the conceptually complex.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an admittedly personalized description of the development of the role of GTP-binding proteins in signal transduction. It provides an overview of the currently accepted views of G-protein structure and function and discusses the role of the cytoskeleton in signal transduction. The chapter presents speculations on the structure and dynamics of the GTP-binding proteins based on the evidence that they may exist in association with surface receptors as multimeric structures. It has been pointed out that microtubules and F-actin behave in a paradoxical fashion with regard to classical thermodynamics. While systems generally evolve toward greater stability, microtubules form from GTP-tubulin, GTP is hydrolyzed following the incorporation of tubulin, Pi is released into the medium, and the resulting GDP-microtubules are unstable and rapidly lose subunits upon dilution; in contrast, in a regime of growth, the dissociation rate constant of terminal subunits is very low.
Communities and Schools: A New View of Urban Education Reform

In this article, Mark R. Warren argues that if urban school reform in the United States is to be successful, it must be linked to the revitalization of the communities around our schools. Warren identifies a growing field of collaboration between public schools and community-based organizations, developing a typology that identifies three different approaches: the service approach (community schools); the development approach (community sponsorship of new charter schools); and the organizing approach (school-community organizing). The author elaborates a conceptual framework using theories of social capital and relational power, presenting case studies to illustrate each type. He also discusses a fourth case to demonstrate the possibilities for linking individual school change to political strategies that address structures of poverty. Warren identifies shared lessons across these approaches, and compares and contrasts the particular strengths and weaknesses of each. Warren concludes with a call for a new...
Shaping the Provision of Outsourced Public Services

Local governments that contract out services are faced with a complex problem of developing an appropriate mix of incentives to elicit performance from a diverse set of service providers, including networks of other local governments, mission-driven nonprofit organizations, and profit-maximizing firms. This paper employs agency and stewardship theory to motivate an analysis of rewards and sanctions used in service delivery relationships. Our findings, consistent with principal-agent theory, indicate that a significant proportion of local governments in our sample employ high-powered incentives with for-profit firms. It is interesting to note, however, that governments with short-term relationships with for-profit firms do not utilize high-powered incentives. These incentives are found in longer duration contracts. In line with the predictions of stewardship theory, governments in our sample do not use high-powered incentives with other governments or nonprofit service providers. Low-powered incentives, pr...
K-means-Jensen-Shannon divergence for a WLAN indoor positioning system

Due to relatively high location accuracy, fingerprint-based localization is one of the best approaches in indoor localization that depends on received signal strength (RSS) from different Wi-Fi based indoor environments. Nowadays, Indoor positioning systems (IPS) are used in a wide range of daily life applications that need direction and navigation services. For example, IPS can play an essential role in the lives of people with vision impairment, who may become lost or disoriented in unfamiliar buildings, or need emergency healthcare services. In this paper, we propose the K-Means-Jensen-Shannon divergence, which is the original k-means algorithm extended into a meta-algorithm. The Bregman divergence is a versatile family of distance measurements that unifies the statistical entropic measures with the quadratic Euclidean distance. Nevertheless, the Bregman divergence is asymmetric; we took the right-sided and the left-sided data to symmetrize the centroid as the minimizer of the average Bregman divergence. To validate our proposed algorithm, the results were compared with the traditional k-mean and the affinity propagation algorithm. Our results indicate that our integrated system outperforms other results with around 1m accuracy in an academic building.
Exploring the Dialectic Between Abstract Rules and Concrete Facts: Operationalizing Principles and Cases in Engineering Ethics

Abstract rules and specific fact situations interact in a highly complex fashion in engineering ethics, a weak analytic domain. In such domains, the construction of arguments or explanations does not rely on formal methods or proofs. Rather, experienced reasoners appear to address problems by applying ethical principles using a variety of techniques. In our study of a national engineering society's set of engineering ethics cases decided by an ethical review board, we have identified a number of operationalization techniques which help to fill the gap between abstract principles and specific case facts and which help to analyze new problems. Our goal is to develop a computational model that is capable of retrieving and applying operationalizations for the purpose of making accurate predictions of the facts, principles, and past cases that would be regarded as important in the analysis of new cases. In this paper, we present a preliminary design of such a model and outline an experiment to test it. We expect to make a contribution to interpretive case-based reasoning (CBR) by shedding light on the role of principles in decision making, by investigating the connection between abstract rules and concrete facts, and by testing the feasibility of using detailed, factual chronologies to represent cases.
Graphic Novels: A Brief History and Overview for Library Managers

Graphic novels have long fought to gain literary recognition; however, as the struggle has unfolded, graphic novels have not only achieved this, but have also been recognized for their uses and applications within other disciplines as well. These books have overcome the medium’s criticisms of violence, sexual situations, and stereotypes of male power, and have earned their place in our society, and in libraries. As more libraries, both public and academic, integrate graphic novels into their collections, the potential for criticism and censorship attempts increases. Graphic novels deserve the same recognition and consideration for inclusion in libraries as other literary formats; therefore, library managers must have a basic understanding of the format in order to defend their inclusion in collections to critics.
Mental Disorder and Criminal Justice

This paper is a chapter that will appear in, "Academy For Justice, A Report On Scholarship And Criminal Justice Reform" (Erik Luna ed., forthcoming 2017). The criminal law treats some people with severe mental disorders doctrinally and practically differently at virtually every stage of the criminal justice process, beginning with potential incompetence to stand trial and ending with the question of competence to be executed, and such people have special needs when they are in the system. This chapter begins by exploring the fundamental mental health information necessary to make informed judgements about how the criminal justice system should respond to this population, including discussion of the causal relation between mental disorder and criminal behavior. The next section addresses the prevalence of mental disorders in jail and prisons and the mental health needs of mentally disabled inmates. The last section addresses criminal mental health law doctrines. Throughout, the chapter considers how changes could promote greater justice and humanity in the law’s treatment of criminal offenders who suffer from mental disorders.
ATV Safety in Agriculture: Injury, Illness, Analysis and Interventions

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) have been implicated in over 14,000 deaths since 1982 and continue to be a major public health transportation related hazard. An estimated 78% of riders use ATVs for recreational purposes and the remaining 22% use the vehicles for various occupational applications. Recent data analysis reveals a 300% increase in work related ATV deaths. The agricultural community bares the greatest burden, experiencing 65% of all occupational related fatalities occurring on the farm or ranch. An examination of 1230 cases reveal that patterns exist between agent, host and environmental factors. Haddon’s energy transfer injury theory provides an opportunity to develop human factors and ergonomic safety interventions. This presentation will include some of the historical background on the expanding popularity of ATVs, epidemiology of injury and illness related to loss of control events, case studies that demonstrate a range of interventions and application of human factors principles.
Estimating Eutrophic Potential of Pollutants

Laboratory microcosms comprising approximately 7 l of lake water and 1 l of bottom mud with a species invasion pressure maintained by periodic addition of small quantities of fresh lake water were shown to retain the natural algal population diversity of the lake. The microcosms were employed to estimate both the algal growth stimulating capacity and the influence on the planktonic population characteristics of the addition of various chemicals and wastewaters. Two microcosms were maintained as controls and 16 others, in duplicate pairs, received various concentrations of a commercial fertilizer, primary effluent, secondary effluent, and algicide over a 20-week period. The best parameter for assessing the ecological significance of the various chemicals and wastewaters was found to be Shannon's diversity index. The control microcosms usually maintained a diversity index greater than 0.9. In all case, enrichment caused a decrease in the diversity of the planktonic algae.
Paecilomyces lilacinus Pneumonia in a Free-Ranging Gopher Tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, in Louisiana

ABSTRACT A debilitated, free-ranging, adult female gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, was presented to the Wildlife Hospital of Louisiana at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine in August 2002. Physical examination revealed a severely dehydrated tortoise (>10%) with generalized muscle atrophy. A blood sample (1.5 ml) was collected and submitted for a complete blood count and mycoplasma serology, and survey radiographs were taken. The complete blood count revealed significant monocytosis (2.4 × 103 cell/ml), and the radiographs demonstrated a focal, ill-defined soft tissue mass in the cranial dorsal aspect of the right lung. The initial treatment plan consisted of correcting fluid deficits (a combination of normosol and 2.5% dextrose, 406 ml, intracoelomically), providing enteral nutrition, and the provision of a broad-spectrum antibiotic (Ceftazidime, 20 mg/kg, IM, q 72 h). Unfortunately, the tortoise's condition worsened, and it was elected to euthanize the animal. Paecilomyces...
Common Training Practices and Preferred Personality Traits of Intramural Sports Officials

This research study examined campus recreation intramural training techniques used to prepare sports officials. The top 10 techniques reported by the sample (n = 52) are presented. Use of National ...
Function and Regulation of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Cell Surface Structures that Promote Attachment

Agrobacterium tumefaciens attaches stably to plant host tissues and abiotic surfaces. During pathogenesis, physical attachment to the site of infection is a prerequisite to infection and horizontal gene transfer to the plant. Virulent and avirulent strains may also attach to plant tissue in more benign plant associations, and as with other soil microbes, to soil surfaces in the terrestrial environment. Although most A. tumefaciens virulence functions are encoded on the tumor-inducing plasmid, genes that direct general surface attachment are chromosomally encoded, and thus this process is not obligatorily tied to virulence, but is a more fundamental capacity. Several different cellular structures are known or suspected to contribute to the attachment process. The flagella influence surface attachment primarily via their propulsive activity, but control of their rotation during the transition to the attached state may be quite complex. A. tumefaciens produces several pili, including the Tad-type Ctp pili, and several plasmid-borne conjugal pili encoded by the Ti and At plasmids, as well as the so-called T-pilus, involved in interkingdom horizontal gene transfer. The Ctp pili promote reversible interactions with surfaces, whereas the conjugal and T-pili drive horizontal gene transfer (HGT) interactions with other cells and tissues. The T-pilus is likely to contribute to physical association with plant tissues during DNA transfer to plants. A. tumefaciens can synthesize a variety of polysaccharides including cellulose, curdlan (β-1,3 glucan), β-1,2 glucan (cyclic and linear), succinoglycan, and a localized polysaccharide(s) that is confined to a single cellular pole and is called the unipolar polysaccharide (UPP). Lipopolysaccharides are also in the outer leaflet of the outer membrane. Cellulose and curdlan production can influence attachment under certain conditions. The UPP is required for stable attachment under a range of conditions and on abiotic and biotic surfaces. Other factors that have been reported to play a role in attachment include the elusive protein called rhicadhesin. The process of surface attachment is under extensive regulatory control and can be modulated by environmental conditions, as well as by direct responses to surface contact. Complex transcriptional and post-transcriptional control circuitry underlies much of the production and deployment of these attachment functions.
Superproportionality and Mind-Body relations

Mental causes are threatened from two directions: from below, since they would appear to be screened off by lower-order, e.g., neural states; and from within, since they would also appear to be screened off by intrinsic, e.g., syntactical states. A principle needed to parry the first threat -causes should be proportional to their effects- appears to leave us open to the second; for why should unneeded extrinsic detail be any less offensive to proportionality than excess microstructure? I say that the second threat relies on a perversion of proportionality that would lay waste to all causal relations.
After the Critiques

Ascending the staircase to the second floor of the Anderson Gallery at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (VCUarts) in June 2006, a visitor would have encountered the title of a collaboratively curated exhibition, From the Seat of Authority, appearing in lime-green vinyl lettering and deliberately placed slightly askew on a charcoal gray wall.
Study and Design of a Fast Start-Up Crystal Oscillator Using Precise Dithered Injection and Active Inductance

This paper presents a theoretical study and design of two techniques used to reduce start-up time ( $T_{S}$ ) and energy ( $E_{S}$ ) of Pierce crystal oscillator (XO). An analytical study of precise injection on a crystal resonator is introduced, and based on this paper, a relaxation oscillator with a dithered frequency is designed. Next, a study of negative resistance of XO’s active circuitry and a method to boost its value beyond the limit set by a crystal static capacitor are presented. A gyrator-C active inductor with high linearity is developed to accelerate the start-up process by boosting the negative resistance. A prototype integrating these techniques is fabricated in a 180-nm CMOS process and shows a significant improvement compared with the prior art. Specifically, $T_{S}$ and $E_{S}$ are reduced by 102.7 $\times $ and 2.9 $\times $ , compared with the XO start-up with no assisting circuitry, to 18 $\mu \text{s}$ and 114.5 nJ for a 48-MHz XO across a temperature range of −40 °C to 90 °C. The measured steady-state power and the phase noise of the XO are 180 $\mu \text{W}$ and −135 dBc/Hz at 1-kHz offset.
The Anti-Formalist

"Well, what if anything can we judges do about this mess?" Judge Richard Posner asked that question midway through his opinion in United States v Marshall.1 The question, and the fact that he asked it, tell you as much about Posner as any answer he might give. If the law is a mess, then that is something judges should notice. They should not pretend that there is no mess, or that the mess is always someone else's (such as the legislature's) problem. And, if possible, they should try to improve the situation. The issue in Marshall was whether blotter paper impregnated with the illegal drug LSD counts as a "mixture or substance contain ing" LSD.2 The question matters because the weight of the "mixture or substance" generally determines the offender's sentence. A dose of LSD weighs almost nothing compared to blotter paper or anything else that might be used in a similar way (such as gelatin or sugar cubes). If the weight of the medium counts, a person who sold an enormous amount of pure LSD might receive a much lighter sentence than a person who sold a single dose contained in a medium. Also, the per-dose sentences for sales of LSD would bear an arbitrary relation ship to the per-dose sentences for sales of other drugs, because the LSD sentences would be, for all practical purposes, a function of the weight of the medium. The en banc Seventh Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Easterbrook, held that the blotter paper was a "mixture or substance containing" LSD, and further ruled that the statute, so interpreted, was constitu tional.3 Judge Posner's dissent argued that the "mixture or substance" language should be interpreted not to include the medium, because the majority's conclusion led to irrational results?indeed results so irrational that they would be unconstitutional if the statute were not
A Multiscale Model for the Self-Assembly of Coat Proteins in Bacteriophage MS2

The self-assembly of viral capsids is an essential step to the formation of infectious viruses. Elucidating the kinetic mechanisms of how a capsid or virus-like particle assembles could advance our knowledge about the viral lifecycle, as well as the general principles in self-assembly of biomaterials. However, current understanding of capsid assembly remains incomplete for many viruses due to the fact that the transient intermediates along the assembling pathways are experimentally difficult to be detected. In this paper, we constructed a new multiscale computational framework to simulate the self-assembly of virus-like particles. We applied our method to the coat proteins of bacteriophage MS2 as a specific model system. This virus-like particle of bacteriophage MS2 has a unique feature that its 90 sequence-identical dimers can be classified into two structurally various groups: one is the symmetric CC dimer, and the other is the asymmetric AB dimer. The homotypic interactions between AB dimers result in a 5-fold symmetric contact, while the heterotypic interactions between AB and CC dimers result in 6-fold symmetric contact. We found that the assembly can be described as a physical process of phase transition that is regulated by various factors such as concentration and specific stoichiometry between AB and CC dimers. Our simulations also demonstrate that heterotypic and homotypic interfaces play distinctive roles in modulating the assembling kinetics. The interaction between AB and CC dimers is much more dynamic than that between two AB dimers. We therefore suggest that the alternate growth of viral capsid through the heterotypic dimer interactions dominates the assembling pathways. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first multiscale model to simulate the assembling process of coat proteins in bacteriophage MS2. The generality of this approach opens the door to its further applications in assembly of other viral capsids, virus-like particles, and novel drug delivery systems.
Visible light optical coherence tomography in biomedical imaging

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a widely used optical imaging modality for three-dimensional structural and functional imaging. The prevalent OCT systems use an invisible light laser source beyond 800 nm and up to 1 500 nm to allow deep image penetration in biological tissues. Recently, visible light OCT (vis-OCT) using a short wavelength range between 400 nm to 700 nm has gained significant progress and attracted interest in its unique capability of high resolution imaging and spatially-resolved spectroscopy. In this article, we will briefly review the recent advance of vis-OCT imaging and its potential biomedical applications.
Gokhale’s Servants of India Society: A Legacy Lost to Social Work Training in India

Most accounts of the Indian history of social work education starts with the founding of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences by Clifford Manshardt in 1936, with only a few authors making a passing reference to the educational contribution of the Servants of India Society (SIS). In the present article, the author attempts to highlight the dream of the great visionary Gopal Krishna Gokhale and his labours to train an army of socio- political workers for India through the SIS. The author goes on to discuss why the SIS did not receive the recognition it deserved in Indian social work history and concludes by presenting the SIS as a legacy lost to social work training in India
Loss of endothelin type B receptor function improves insulin sensitivity in rats.

High salt intake (HS) is associated with obesity and insulin resistance. ET-1, a peptide released in response to HS, inhibits the actions of insulin on cultured adipocytes through ET-1 type B (ETB)...
Medicinal Therapies for Chronic Pain

Supplements, essential oils, homeopathy, and traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic herbs all have been used for medicinal purpose by patients, whether or not these substances are regulated as medicine or not. This presents inherent dangers to the patients as the efficacy of these substances are often times questionable, and patients are not informed of side effects. Many patients are using supplements and other complementary and alternative drugs often without their physician’s knowledge. Physicians should query about these substances. There are online resources that allow for quick point of care reference to supplements and herbs. There are also online interaction checkers since these substances can interfere with prescribed medications.
The Effect of Various Soil Types on Decomposition Rate

The decomposition rates of chicken carcasses in various soil types were observed and analyzed over a period of four weeks to determine if there were any major differences in how soft tissue decomposed in various environments. Three chicken carcasses were placed in plastic bins containing (a) sand (S), (b) topsoil (T), and (c) a compost/manure mixture (M). After the four week period, it was determined that the compost/manure mixture caused the fastest decomposition rate in the carcass followed by the topsoil and then the sand.
Transition of a Judo Program from In-Person to Remote Delivery During COVID-19 for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

To examine the feasibility of a remote judo program for high school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine high school students with ASD had been participating in an in-person judo program that transitioned to a livestream format once the stay-at-home orders were mandated. The students completed surveys regarding their experience with the remote sessions. Their classroom teacher completed a semi-structured interview regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the remote format. Eight out of the nine students attended 92% of the remote classes. All nine students reported feeling satisfied with the remote judo sessions. Reported benefits of the remote format included the structured routine during the pandemic and the opportunity for physical activity. Disadvantages included a lack of space and lack of one-on-one instruction. The remote judo program appeared to be both feasible and acceptable for youth with ASD.
A Biosemiotic and Ecoacoustic History of Bird-Scaring

Timo Maran has defined “biosemiotic criticism” as the study of human culture with an emphasis on the recognition that all forms of life are organized by sign processes. That approach guides this investigation of the sonic devices and practices that have been used in encounters between birds and humans in agricultural spaces. “Bird-scaring” has been a long-standing component of the semiotic relationship between humans and birds in what I am calling the agricultural semiosphere. The struggle between humans and “pest” species over the control of agricultural resources has spurred technological development, and an examination of the sonic tools that have been involved in bird-scaring practices, from wooden rattles to digital sound recordings, intersects with scholarship on sound technology and media studies. The field of ecoacoustics provides a conceptual framework for the sonic dynamics of the interspecies communication under examination. To the extent that the essay also explores the sign relations between humans and birds it has a place in the growing corpus of biosemiotic criticism. The historical account of bird-scaring practices is presented in three sections, demarcated by changes in technology as well as shifts in the mode of semiotic reference. Across the analysis, a historical approach to bird-scaring is interwoven with a discussion of biosemiotic and ecoacoustic themes and concepts.
A scalable parallel algorithm for sparse Cholesky factorization

We describe a scalable parallel algorithm for sparse Cholesky factorization, analyze its performance and scalability, and present experimental results of its implementation on a 1024-processor nCUBE2 parallel computer. Through our analysis and experimental results, we demonstrate that our algorithm improves the state of the art in parallel direct solution of sparse linear systems by an order of magnitude, both in terms of speedups and the number of processors that can be utilized effectively for a given problem size. This algorithm incurs strictly less communication overhead and is more scalable than any known parallel formulation of sparse matrix factorization. We show that our algorithm is optimally scalable on hypercube and mesh architectures and that its asymptotic scalability is the same as that of dense matrix factorization for a wide class of sparse linear systems, including those arising in all two- and three-dimensional finite element problems.
Educating refugee-background students: Critical issues and dynamic concepts: Edited by Shawna Shapiro, Raichle Farrelly, and Mary Jane Curry, Bristol, Multilingual Matters, 2018. xvi + 264 pp., $139.95 (hardback), iSBN: 978-1-78309-997-9; $39.95 (paperback), iSBN 978-1-78309-996-2; $35.00 (ebook), iSBN 978-1-78309-999-3

As the number of refugees and displaced people rises globally, growing from approximately 30 million in 2010 to over 80 million in 2020 (UNHCR 2021), so does the need for research that informs poli...
Development of TP53 mutations over the course of therapy for acute myeloid leukemia.

TP53 mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are associated with resistance to standard treatments and dismal outcomes. The incidence and prognostic impact of the emergence of newly detectable TP53 mutations over the course of AML therapy has not been well described. We retrospectively analyzed 200 patients with newly diagnosed TP53 wild type AML who relapsed after or were refractory to frontline therapy. Twenty-nine patients (15%) developed a newly detectable TP53 mutation in the context of relapsed/refractory disease. The median variant allelic frequency (VAF) was 15% (range, 1.1% - 95.6%). TP53 mutations were more common after intensive therapy versus lower-intensity therapy (23% versus 10%, respectively; P=0.02) and in patients who had undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplant versus those who had not (36% versus 12%, respectively; P=0.005). Lower TP53 VAF was associated with an increased likelihood of complete remission (CR) or CR with incomplete hematologic recovery (CRi) compared to higher TP53 VAF (CR/CRi rate of 41% for VAF <20% versus 13% for VAF ≥ 20%, respectively). The median overall survival (OS) after acquisition of TP53 mutation was 4.6 months, with a 1-year OS rate of 19%. TP53 VAF at relapse was significantly associated with OS; the median OS of patients with TP53 VAF ≥20% was 3.5 months versus 6.1 months for those with TP53 VAF <20% (P<0.05). In summary, new TP53 mutations may be acquired throughout the course of AML therapy. Sequential monitoring for TP53 mutations is likely to be increasingly relevant in the era of emerging TP53-targeting therapies for AML. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Multimodal Attention Creates the Visual Input for Infant Word Learning

Infant language acquisition is fundamentally an embodied process, relying on the body to select information from the learning environment. Infants show their attention to an object not merely by gazing at the object, but also through orienting their body towards the object and generating various types of manual actions on the object, such as holding, touching, and shaking. The goal of the present study was to examine how multimodal attention shapes infant word learning in real-time. Infants and their parents played in a home-like lab with unfamiliar objects with assigned labels. While playing, participants wore wireless head-mounted eye trackers to capture visual attention. Infants were then tested on their knowledge of the new words. We identified all the utterances in which parents labeled the learned or not learned objects and analyzed infant multimodal attention during and around labeling. We found that proportion of time spent in handeye coordination predicted learning outcomes. To understand the learning advantage hand-eye coordination creates, we compared the size of objects in the infant's field of view. Although there were no differences in object size between learned and not learned labeling utterances, hand-eye coordination created the most informative views. Together, these results suggest that in-the-moment word learning may be driven by the greater access to informative object views that hand-eye coordination affords.
Revision TKA for Instability: Poorer Outcomes after a Previous Aseptic Revision.

Instability is a common indication for early revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA). The comparative performance of instability rTKA performed after primary TKA and instability rerevision TKA (rrTKA) performed after a previous rTKA performed for any aseptic indication have not been defined. This study was performed to determine the rate of adverse outcomes for patients undergoing aseptic instability TKA revision following a primary TKA or a previous aseptic any-cause rTKA. After obtaining Institutional Review Board approval, we retrospectively identified 126 rTKA and 28 rrTKA component revision procedures performed for an exclusive instability diagnosis between January 1, 2011 and April 30, 2018. We excluded patients undergoing isolated liner exchange, single component revision for mid-flexion instability, and patients treated with a constrained hinge. Patient demographic characteristics, medical comorbidities, time to initial revision TKA, and adverse postrevision outcomes (reoperation, component revision, infection, amputation) were assessed using paired Student's t-test or Fisher's exact test with a p-value
The Effect of College Selection Factors on Persistence An Examination of Black and Latino Males in The Community College

The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship (if any) between college selection factors and persistence for Black and Latino males in the community college. Using data derived from ...
Personalized identity, mentoring and mathematical conversation: the Math Forum's online mentoring project

Drawing on current thinking about identity, social group boundary and informational technology, the research presented in this poster discusses a unique online interactive project at the Math Forum called The Online Mentoring Project. The importance of this work for digital libraries will be highlighted.
An incremental heap canonicalization algorithm

The most expensive operation in explicit state model checking is the hash computation required to store the explored states in a hash table. One way to reduce this computation is to compute the hash incrementally by only processing those portions of the state that are modified in a transition. This paper presents an incremental heap canonicalization algorithm that aids in such an incremental hash computation. Like existing heap canonicalization algorithms, the incremental algorithm reduces the state space explored by detecting heap symmetries. On the other hand, the algorithm ensures that for small changes in the heap the resulting canonical representations differ only by relatively small amounts. This reduces the amount of hash computation a model checker has to perform after every transition, resulting in significant speedup of state space exploration. This paper describes the algorithm and its implementation in two explicit state model checkers, CMC and Zing.
The U.S. Motion Pictures Industry: An Empirical Approach

We hypothesize that the U.S. motion pictures industry is structured so that star presence increases box office receipts and (less so) admissions, but places Ricardian limits on the output of blockbusters. The few dominant studios (majors) rely on a modified star system to generate supra-normal box office by stimulating admissions at exhibitors. Rising costs (from stars and their promotion) are required for rising revenues; that is, the majors gain revenue only at higher costs. Although the industry has unique features, the empirical results are surprisingly relevant to other industries.
Structure-activity relationships in diphtheria toxin.

Abstract The intact diphtheria toxin molecule, a single polypeptide chain of about 62,000 daltons, has no enzymic activity. However, the transfer in vitro of ADP-ribose from NAD to aminoacyltransferase II can be catalyzed by any of several fragments of toxin. The smallest active fragment (A, 24,000 daltons) is normally connected to the remainder of the molecule (B, 38,000 daltons) by a peptide bond and a disulfide bond. Both of these bonds must be broken to activate Fragment A. Thus, for example, toxin may be activated by mild digestion with trypsin in the presence of a thiol-reducing agent. The subsequent removal of Fragment B has no effect on the enzymic activity of Fragment A in vitro, but both fragments are required for intoxication of whole cells or of animals. Any enzymic activity observed in preparations of diphtheria toxin in the presence of a thiol derives from degradation products formed from the intact oxin after its synthesis by the diphtheria bacilli.
Subcellular Localization of Isoleucine-Valine Biosynthetic Enzymes in Yeast

By using the method of stepwise homogenization of yeast spheroplast lysates employed previously with the leucine biosynthetic enzymes, it is shown that threonine deaminase, acetohydroxy acid synthase, Mg2+-dependent isomero-reductase, and dihydroxy acid dehydratase are particulate. Density gradient centrifugation and the behavior of marker enzymes suggest that all of the above enzymes of the isoleucine-valine biosynthetic pathway are associated with the mitochondria.
Wnt/β-catenin-mediated transcriptional regulation

Many Wnts act by stabilizing β‐catenin and promoting its nuclear localization, where it can influence gene expression by associating with DNA‐binding proteins. The best understood of these transcription factors are members of the TCF/LEF1 (TCF) family, which recognize specific DNA sequences via a high mobility group (HMG) domain. There is strong support for a model where TCFs repress target gene expression in the absence of Wnt signaling, through recruitment of corepressors. Upon Wnt stimulation, high levels of nuclear β‐catenin bind to TCF and promote a switch to transcriptional activation. This is achieved by the recruitment of transcriptional coactivators and the subsequent modification of the chromatin surrounding Wnt regulated enhancers (WREs). While invertebrate TCFs can both repress and activate transcription of Wnt targets, genetic evidence in vertebrate systems suggests that these activities may have become separated among specific TCFs. In addition, recent findings demonstrate that β‐catenin/TCF complex can also directly repress some Wnt target genes and β‐catenin can also regulate transcription independently of TCFs, by associating with other DNA‐ binding proteins. Wnt‐signaling components previously thought to act only in the cytoplasm or as nuclear shuttles for β‐catenin have been found to associate directly with WREs. This added complexity to the already elaborate model of Wnt‐mediated transcriptional regulation may help account for the extraordinary diversity of transcriptional responses to the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway.
The Bayesian flip: Correcting the prosecutor's fallacy

From mammogram results to the O. J. Simpson trial and null hypothesis significance testing – William P. Skorupski and Howard Wainer demonstrate a straightforward method for avoiding errors in statistical reasoning
Screening of Urine Cultures by Three Automated Systems

A study was conducted to compare three automated systems and the Gram stain for their ability to detect significant bacteriuria. A total of 1,000 urine specimens were evaluated by Autobac MTS (General Diagnostics), Auto Microbic system (AMS; Vitek Systems, Inc.), and MS-2 (Abbott Laboratories) and compared with a semiquantitative culture plate method. Two hundred thirty-nine (23.9%) specimens had colony counts of >10 5 colony-forming units (CFU)/ml by the culture plate method (group I). Of these, 204 (85.3%) were positive by Autobac, 198 (82.8%) were positive by AMS, and 179 (74.9%) were positive by MS-2. When pure cultures of diphtheroids, lactobacilli, and viridans streptococci not group D were considered contaminants and therefore excluded, there were 118 specimens containing pure cultures of probable pathogens. The percentage of significant isolates detected was 97.4% (115 of 118) by the Gram stain, 96.6% (114 of 118) by Autobac, and 95.8% (113 of 118) by AMS and MS-2. The average detection time for all organisms was 2.2 h by Autobac, 6.1 h by AMS, and 1.8 h by MS-2; therefore, all three methods were more rapid than the 18- to 24-h standard plate culture method. One hundred sixty-one (16.1%) specimens had colony counts of 10 4 to 10 5 CFU/ml (group II). The probable pathogens not detected in this group were two (1.2%) by Autobac and MS-2 and three by AMS (1.9%). The average detection time for group II was 4.2 h by Autobac, 8.9 h by AMS, and 3.8 h by MS-2. Six hundred specimens had colony counts of 4 CFU/ml. Of these, 188 had colony counts equal to 10 3 and 4 CFU/ml (group III), and 412 cultures were below detectable limits by the standard plate method (group IV). Less than 37 and 15% of groups III and IV, respectively, were detected by instrumentation. Average detection times for groups III and IV were 4.6 and 4.8 h by Autobac, 10 and 11 h by AMS, and 4.2 and 4.4 h by MS-2. The cost of supplies and technical time with Gram stain, Autobac, and MS-2, when used as screening methods, were comparable and considerably less expensive than for the reference method. The AMS was the least expensive system when the cost for identifying probable pathogens was included.
Thromboregulation: multicellular modulation of platelet reactivity in hemostasis and thrombosis

Blood platelets represent the first line of host defense when normal vessels are injured. Platelet adhesion to subendothelium, aggregation, and further platelet recruitment culminate in hemostatic plug formation, which is accompanied by the consolidating effect of fibrin deposition on and between platelets. The process is multicellular in that erythrocytes promote and neutrophils inhibit platelet plug formation. Endothelial cells in proximity possess three protective mechanisms (thrombo-regulators) for limiting the size of the hemostatic plug-ADPase, eicosanoids, endothelium-dependent relaxing factor/NO. We propose that in advanced atherosclerotic blood vessels such as coronary arteries, an ulcer or fissure in the fibrous cap of the atheroma serves as an agonist that transforms the platelet into a major prothrombotic offender. Induction of excessive platelet activation overcomes the normal thromboregulatory mechanisms. Erythrocytes further activate platelets, even in the presence of aspirin, and neutrophil blockage of platelet reactivity is insufficient to prevent impending vascular occlusion. Appreciating that multiple cell types and metabolic pathways are involved in modulation of platelet reactivity in vascular occlusion is a relatively recent concept. Strategies designed to restore processes such as thromboregulation may serve to improve therapeusis in thrombosis, which at present is far from optimal.
Effect of Electronic Health Record Systems Access on Communicable Disease Report Completeness

Gathering information to adjudicate notifiable disease cases can be complex and time-consuming. Greater accessibility to electronic health record systems could improve disease investigation processes. We analyzed case information, comparing cases where the health department had access to an EHR system and those without such access. Completeness was significantly higher where EHR system access was available.
Menopausal increases in pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone release in a nonhuman primate (Macaca mulatta).

Reproductive function in all vertebrates is controlled by the circhoral release of the neuropeptide, GnRH, into the portal capillary system leading to the anterior pituitary. Despite its primary role in sexual maturation and the maintenance of adult reproductive function, changes in the concentrations and pattern of GnRH release have not yet been reported in any primate species during the menopausal transition and postmenopause. Such knowledge is essential for ascertaining both the mechanisms for, and consequences of, the menopausal process. Here we used a push-pull perfusion method to measure and compare the parameters of pulsatile GnRH release in adult rhesus monkeys at 8.4 1.5 yr (young adult females, early follicular phase, n 6) and 28.8 0.3 yr (aged females, n 4, of which two monkeys were in the menopausal transition, and two were postmenopausal). Our results demonstrate that: 1) GnRH release is pulsatile in both young and aged monkeys; 2) mean concentrations of GnRH increase during reproductive aging; and 3) GnRH pulse frequency does not differ between aged monkeys and young monkeys in the early follicular phase. We conclude that not only do GnRH neurons have the continued capacity to release GnRH in a pulsatile manner but also they can do so with enhanced GnRH levels in aged primates. To our knowledge, this is the first direct demonstration of elevated pulsatile GnRH concentrations in a primate species during reproductive senescence, a result that may have implications for menopausal symptoms. (Endocrinology 145: 4653– 4659, 2004)
Virus’ (MS2, ϕX174, and Aichi) Attachment on Sand Measured by Atomic Force Microscopy and Their Transport through Sand Columns

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to study the attachment of ϕX174, MS2, and Aichi viruses on sands of different surface properties: oxide-removed (clean), goethite-coated, and aluminum oxide-coated. Interaction forces between viruses and sand surfaces were measured by contact mode AFM using tips coated with particles of each virus. Column experiments were conducted to quantify the macroscopic transport and retention of the viruses in sand. The average adhesion force measured with AFM was highest between aluminum oxide-coated sand and all three viruses, followed by goethite-coated sand, and was significantly lower on oxide-removed sand. Among the viruses, adhesion on goethite-coated and aluminum oxide-coated sands followed the order of MS2 > Aichi > ϕX174, and on oxide-removed sand it was ϕX174 > Aichi > MS2. Column breakthrough results revealed the same retention trend, which was completely consistent with AFM force measurements. Strong electrostatic attraction and, to a lesser extent, hydrophobic i...
Syngamus trachea: infections produced by prenatal inoculations of chicken embryos.

Abstract Syngamus trachea larvae were injected into embryonic chicken eggs at varying stages of development via the albumin or allantoic sac. These larvae survived the entire time necessary for the embryos to develop and hatch, and some larvae migrated to the trachea and completed their life cycles.
Disjunctive Programming Techniques for the Optimization of Process Systems with Discontinuous Investment Costs−Multiple Size Regions

This paper addresses the optimization of process models that involve discontinuous investment cost functions with fixed charges and are defined over several regions for the sizes. These discontinuous cost functions are naturally expressed by disjunctions. Conventional modeling and solution techniques for the optimization and synthesis of process systems with these cost models include a direct NLP approach, the use of smoothing functions and MINLP models with big-M constraints. In this paper we propose the application of disjunctive programming approaches based on the convex hull formulation of disjunctions, and disjunctive branch and bound with surrogates or linear underestimators. Theoretical comparison between the convex hull formulation, the big-M model, and the model with linear underestimators is presented. It is proved that the convex hull formulation of disjunctions gives the tightest relaxation among the alternative modeling techniques. The proposed solution techniques are tested on heat exchanger...