cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Voters’ Participation to the Election Activities on October 29, 2007 in the Selected Urban Communities in Ozamiz City, Philippines

The choice of the people for their representatives or leaders play a significant role for the development, progress and general welfare of people in a certain community. The selection of political leaders by people represents the very basis of democratic governance. Voting is a highly valued political activity. Political participation is an avenue for the people to have their representatives. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of interest of the electorate to participate in the election activities like to vote, attend political rallies of candidates to listen their platforms, plan to join groups working for orderly and clean elections, put up posters for politicians, actively campaign for a political candidate, watch the counting of votes as a private citizen, watchers for a political candidate, be the member of the Board of Election Inspectors. The descriptive - co relational method was utilized in this study. Our study indicates that there is no significant relationship between males’ and females’ level of participation to the election activities as determined by them. Keywords - Social sciences, election, participation, descriptivecorrelational, Ozamiz City, Philippines
The Devil's Lane: Sex and Race in the Early South

When Europeans settled in the early South, they quarrelled over many things -- but few imbroglios were so fierce as battles over land. Landowners wrangled bitterly over boundaries with neighbours and contested areas became known as "the devil's lane". Violence and bloodshed were but some of the consequences to befall those who ventured into these disputed territories. The Devil's Lane highlights important new work on sexuality, race, and gender in the South from the seventeeth to the nineteenth centuries. Contributors explore legal history by examining race, crime and punishment, sex across the colour line, and slander. Emerging stars and established scholars such as Peter Wood and Carol Berkin weave together the fascinating story of competing agendas and clashing cultures on the southern frontier. One chapter focuses on a community's resistance to a hermaphrodite, where the town court conducted a series of "examinations" to determine the individual's gender. Other pieces address topics ranging from resistance to sexual exploitation on the part of slave women to spousal murders, from interpreting women's expressions of religious ecstasy to a pastor's sermons about depraved sinners and graphic depictions of carnage, all in the name of "exposing" evil, and from a case of infanticide to the practice of state-mandated castration. Several of the authors pay close attention to the social and personal dynamics of interracial women's networks and relationships across place and time. The Devil's Lane illuminates early forms of sexual oppression, inviting comparative questions about authority and violence, social attitudes and sexual tensions, the impact of slavery as well as the twisted course of race relations among blacks, whites, and Indians. Several scholars look particularly at the Gulf South, myopically neglected in traditional literature, and an outstanding feature of this collection. These eighteen original essays reveal why the intersection of sex and race marks an essential point of departure for understanding Southern social relations, and a turning point for the field of colonial history. The rich, varied, and distinctive experiences showcased in The Devil's Lane provide an extraordinary opportunity for readers interested in women's history, African-American history, southern history, and especially colonial history to explore a wide range of exciting issues.
Molecular Dynamics Explorations of Active Site Structure in Designed and Evolved Enzymes

ConspectusThis Account describes the use of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to reveal how mutations alter the structure and organization of enzyme active sites. As proposed by Pauling about 70 years ago and elaborated by many others since then, biocatalysis is efficient when functional groups in the active site of an enzyme are in optimal positions for transition state stabilization. Changes in mechanism and covalent interactions are often critical parts of enzyme catalysis. We describe our explorations of the dynamical preorganization of active sites using MD, studying the fluctuations between active and inactive conformations normally concealed to static crystallography. MD shows how the various arrangements of active site residues influence the free energy of the transition state and relates the populations of the catalytic conformational ensemble to the enzyme activity. This Account is organized around three case studies from our laboratory. We first describe the importance of dynamics in evaluati...
Revisiting the Association Between Television Viewing in Adolescence and Contact With the Criminal Justice System in Adulthood

A substantial number of previous studies have reported significant associations between television viewing habits and a host of detrimental outcomes including increased contact with the criminal justice system. However, it remains unclear whether the results flowing from this literature are generalizable to other samples and whether previously observed associations are confounded due to uncontrolled genetic influences. The current study addresses these limitations using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). The results of the preliminary models, which do not include controls for genetic influences, produced a pattern of results similar to those previously reported in the extant literature. The results of the genetically informed models revealed that the associations between television viewing and antisocial outcomes are not causal, but rather are driven by uncontrolled genetic influences. Further replication is required, but these findings suggest that results drawn from the extant literature may not be trustworthy.
Introduction: Overview of Pathways and Networks and GPCR Signaling

This Teaching Resource provides the overview to the course "Cell Signaling Systems: A Course for Graduate Students" and lays out the general principles that can be deduced from the current understanding of the organization of cell signaling pathways and networks and how information flows through these pathways and networks. In addition, the lecture provides an overview of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling. A description of the lecture, along with a set of slides (http://stke.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sigtrans;2005/270/tr4/DC1) used to present this information, is provided.
The role of goal attainment expectancies in achievement goal pursuit

The current studies introduce the goal attainment expectancy construct to achievement goal theory. Three studies, 2 in college classrooms and the other using a novel math task in the laboratory, converged on the same finding. For mastery-approach goals and performance-approach goals alike, the harder the goal appeared to attain, the less likely participants were to pursue it, ultimately with negative repercussions to participants' task interest and achievement. Additionally, in each study, mastery-approach goals were generally considered easier to achieve than performance-approach goals. Study 3 also demonstrates that these judgments are highly amenable to cues in the situation: Mastery-approach goal expectancies are colored by the apparent complexity of the material to be learned. Multiple theoretical implications are considered, particularly for work on achievement goal antecedents and goal revision.
Flow distribution and maximum current density studies in redox flow batteries with a single passage of the serpentine flow channel

Abstract Flow batteries show promise for very large-scale stationary energy storage such as needed for the grid and renewable energy implementation. In recent years, researchers and developers of redox flow batteries (RFBs) have found that electrode and flow field designs of PEM fuel cell (PEMFC) technology can increase the power density and consequently push down the cost of flow battery stacks. In this paper we present a macroscopic model of a typical PEMFC-like RFB electrode-flow field design. The model is a layered system comprised of a single passage of a serpentine flow channel and a parallel underlying porous electrode (or porous layer). The effects of the inlet volumetric flow rate, permeability of the porous layer, thickness of the porous layer and thickness of the flow channel on the flow penetration into the porous layer are investigated. The maximum current density corresponding to stoichiometry is estimated to be 377 mA cm−2 and 724 mA cm−2, which compares favorably with experiments of ∼400 mA cm−2 and ∼750 mA cm−2, for a single layer and three layers of the carbon fiber paper, respectively.
Effects of processing factors on in vitro ammonia release from cooked molasses blocks containing urea

Abstract Three studies were conducted to evaluate effects of processing factors on in vitro release of ammonia by ruminal microbes from cooked molasses blocks containing urea. Blocks were manufactured in a scraped-surface, steam-jacketed cooking vessel. Molasses was poured into the vessel, and the pH was adjusted. Other ingredients then were added, and cooking was initiated. Vapors were removed with mild vacuum throughout cooking. When vessel heating was discontinued, vacuum was increased for 3 min to approximately 635 mm Hg to remove additional water. Blocks were manufactured with sugar cane molasses as a base ingredient and contained 12% urea and 6% tallow. Manufacturing factors studied included the time of urea addition (i.e. beginning or end of cooking), molasses pH, addition of reducing sugars (i.e. glucose and fructose), treatment of molasses with invertase, addition of MgO after cooking, and post-processing storage temperature. Adding urea prior to cooking reduced ammonia release from blocks compared to adding urea after cooking. Initial pH of the molasses was positively related to in vitro ammonia release over the range of 4–8. Addition of reducing sugars reduced ammonia release, whereas addition of MgO after cooking had little effect. Post-manufacturing storage temperature impacted ammonia release, but blocks held at 82 °C released more ammonia than blocks held at 66 °C. Several factors, including final block pH and concentrations of sugars and urea may be useful for predicting the availability of N from cooked molasses blocks containing urea.
Hybrid finite‐element analysis of scattering and radiation by a class of waveguide‐fed structures

A hybrid finite-element method is presented for analysis of scattering and radiation of a class of waveguide-fed structures that are characterized by a waveguide region, an exterior region, and a transition region. The proposed method formulates the exterior field in terms of boundary integrals and the field in the transition region using the finite-element method. The effect of the waveguide field is incorporated through an exact absorbing boundary condition, which includes all waveguide modes. Numerical results are given to demonstrate the accuracy and capability of the method. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Eddy-current signal analysis and inversion for semielliptical surface cracks

A scalar potential formulation of the δZ formula for the change in impedance of an eddy-current probe caused by a surface-breaking flaw is developed. The resulting formula is evaluated using a finite-difference method, which permits calculation of δZ for semielliptical flaws. The numerical results are checked by comparing calculations for rectangular-shaped flaws to previous calculations using an analytical solution for this geometry. Theoretical results are then verified by comparison with measurements on semielliptical fatigue cracks and EDM notches in aluminum alloy specimens using air-core eddy-current probes. An inversion method that compares features of the flaw profile, obtained by scanning the eddy-current probe along the length of the flaw, to a theoretical inversion chart (McFetridge chart) is demonstrated using the experimental data.
A note on the theory of immanants

General properties of immanants are derived with special emphasis on practical methods of computing them. A general theorem on the structure of the immanants of a skew-symmetric matrix of odd order is proven.
White collar crimes and casino gambling: looking for empirical links to forgery, embezzlement, and fraud

This study investigates the alleged link between casino gambling and arrests for the commission of the “white collar” crimes of forgery, fraud, and embezzlement. The rapid expansion of casino gaming venues in recent years has been said to have increased the incidence of white collar crimes by casino customers who get themselves in financial trouble by overspending at casinos (given the median age of 47 for casino patrons and that 41% hold white collar jobs). This study investigates this question by using several kinds of data to examine arrest and offender trends, using a follow-up period of up to 10 years to assess long-term impacts. The results indicate that, comparing pre- and post-casino average annual arrests for embezzlement, forgery, and fraud, trends show a general decrease in arrests in casino jurisdictions, although embezzlement arrests rose in Connecticut and in nationwide statistics. An assessment of the reasons offered from interviews with people convicted of embezzlement and fraud are presented to examine the extent to which gambling is a causal factor.
Ethnography and the generation of trust in breastfeeding disparities research

There are persistent racial/ethnic disparities in breastfeeding rates in the United States, and research is needed to examine underlying psychosocial, economic, and cultural factors. Research into health disparities is impeded by problems of distrust. This methods-focused article describes how an ethnographic approach can be used to generate trust while obtaining contextually detailed data. Examples are provided from an ethnography of infant feeding decisions among low-income, Black women. Trust-generating strategies included respectful entry into the field, recognizing and decreasing differences in power, sensitivity to time and timing, and a relational approach.
HOW TO BEAT A SCEPTIC WITHOUT BEGGING THE QUESTION

In this paper I offer a solution to scepticism about the world which neither embraces idealism, nor ends in a stalemate, nor begs the question against the sceptic. In the first part of the paper I explicate the sceptical argument and try to show why it has real force. In the next part of the paper I propose a version of the relevant possibilities approach to scepticism. The central claim of the proposed solution is that a sceptical possibility undermines knowledge only if the possibility is true in some close possible world. But since there is no reason to believe that I am deceived by an evil demon or that I am a brain in a vat in some close possible world, there is no reason to accept an essential premise of the sceptical argument, i.e. that the sceptical scenarios are relevant possibilities. Finally, I argue that the solution proposed does not embrace idealism, end in a stalemate, or beg the question.
The effect of ascorbic acid on growth and synthesis of matrix components by cultured chick embryo chondrocytes.

Fifty μg/ml ascorbic acid was found to accelerate the growth of logarithmically growing chick embryo sternal chondrocytes in cell culture. Differences in the number of cells between control and ascorbate-treated cultures were apparent by the fourth day of treatment when a 58% increase in the number of cells and a 35% increase in protein per culture were observed in ascorbate-treated cultures. Under these conditions, the cell size and protein content per cell was reduced in ascorbate-treated cultures. Collagen synthesis, which was measured by the amount of collagenase-sensitive counts released from 3H-proline labeled protein, was increased by 116% over controls after 24 hours of ascorbate treatment. Observations with scanning and transmission electron microscopy are consistent with the idea that ascorbate has a much greater effect on collagen secretion and demonstrate an ascorbate-mediated change in matrix morphology. 35S incorporation into hyaluronidase-sensitive or cetylpyridinium chloride precipitates was accelerated by 57% by 24 hours of ascorbate treatment whereas two, four and six days of treatment caused decreases in this parameter of 19%, 57% and 35%, respectively. This effect was dependent on cell density. 35S incorporation probably reflects synthesis of new glycosaminoglycan similar results were observed when either 35S or 14C-glucose incorporation was monitored. An effect of ascorbate on both collagen and glycosaminoglycan synthesis is consistent with the possibility that collagen and glycosaminoglycan synthesis can be coregulated under some circumstances.
Update in asthma 2007.

A major event in asthma was the publication of the third edition of the updated National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) ‘‘Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma’’ by the National, Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (1). The resource document for the guidelines has grown remarkably in length from 150 pages (1997) to more than 350 pages (2007), and is one indication of just how far our understanding of the clinical syndrome that is called asthma has progressed in the past decade. The guidelines are impressive, but it is important to remember that they are largely built on a solid background of studies that have led to our current insights into pathophysiologic mechanisms, clinical medicine, evidence-based treatment recommendations, and novel therapies. Notable manuscripts published in the past year have included basic pathobiology in mice (2–22) and humans (23–35) as well as large randomized clinical trials exploring novel therapeutic options (36–39). Articles have advanced our understanding of the influence of genetics (40–45), early-life influences (46–48), and the environment on the development of asthma (49–55). New tools were developed to assess asthma control (56), predict risk (57), and monitor patients for comorbidities (58–60). Potential new biomarkers (61–64) and exhaled nitric oxide were evaluated as tools to diagnose and help manage asthma (65, 66). Monoclonal antibodies (67) and bronchial thermoplasty (68) were among the new therapies explored in asthma (69).
Epidermal growth factor receptor up-regulation is associated with lung growth after lobectomy.

Abstract Background . We hypothesized that compensatory lung growth after lobectomy is characterized by a combination of cellular hyperplasia and hypertrophy and that up-regulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is involved in these processes. Methods . Age-matched mature pigs were divided into four groups. The control group (group C) did not have operation. Two groups underwent left upper lobectomy and were studied 2 weeks (group L2) or 3 months (group L3) later. The last group underwent a sham left thoracotomy, and the left lower lobe was harvested 2 weeks later for EGFR analysis. Left lower lobes were studied using wet weight, cell proliferation index through immunostaining for 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine, morphometry, and Western blot analysis for EGFR. Content of protein and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in the lung tissue was also determined. Results . Left lower lobe weights were elevated in both groups L2 and L3 compared with group C. We noted a significant rise in the proliferation index, with a concomitant increase in EGFR expression, in group L2 compared with group C. In group L3, there was an increase in the protein to DNA ratio compared with group C. Conclusions . We conclude that compensatory lung growth after lobectomy comprises an early increase in the cell proliferation index (ie, cellular hyperplasia) and a late increase in the protein to DNA ratio (ie, cellular hypertrophy). The early proliferative phase is associated with EGFR up-regulation.
Signal processing considerations for an application of bistatic radar

Two classical aspects of signal processing for a monostatic radar are extended to a bistatic radar. These are the determination of target range and relative velocity when using a continuous-wave (CW) transmitter. A simple moving-target indicator using the chirp Z-transform is used to determine the velocity while reducing clutter. A digital phase detector provides the range measurement. The application discussed is the detection of a single target that has jamming capabilities. The bistatic radar has inherent advantages against such a target due to the receiver site being passive and the basic geometry of the radar system. >
Problem-Knowledge Coupling: A Tool for Physical Therapy Clinical Practice

The purposes of this article are 1) to summarize the development, function, and philosophy of the Problem-Knowledge Coupler® (PKC®), a computerized tool that is designed to aid the clinical decision-making process in medical practice, and 2) to speculate on the value this system has in meeting clinical practice, needs and addressing professional practice issues in physical therapy. The evolution of the PKC® system from its origins in the problem-oriented system of medical care is described, and the philosophy of problem-knowledge coupling is contrasted to the basic philosophy of traditional clinical medical practice and newer computerized expert decision-support systems. We suggest that problem-knowledge coupling could be a useful tool in physical therapy because it improves the collection and synthesis of patient information and uses the unique nature of individual patient problems coupled with the clinical literature as the bases for clinical practice decisions.
A Methodology for Power-aware Pipelining via High-Level Performance Model Evaluations

Power is one of the major constraints considered during the design of embedded software. In order to reduce power consumption without sacrificing performance, software needs to be optimized in order to run as efficiently as possible on a given platform. When attempting to optimize the mapping of a piece of software on a multiprocessor system, designers often face the chicken-and-egg problem of whether to schedule tasks first, or do memory allocation first, as either step will affect the different optimization opportunities the other may provide. Because each optimization will affect the system’s power consumption, it is critically important to be able to monitor the effects these transformations have. In this paper we present a methodology that allows designers to quickly evaluate the impact each code optimization will have in the system’s power. Our exploration engine relies on SystemC-based power/performance models to quickly and accurately evaluate the dynamic power due to memory accesses as well as the expected CPU power consumption.
Altered cell motility and attachment with titanium surface modifications.

Background: Titanium implants are widely used in dentistry to replace lost teeth. Various surface modifications have been used to improve implant retention and osseointegration. This study is designed to compare the ability of three titanium surfaces to promote cell attachment and cell motility of cells relevant to periodontal tissues.Methods: Three clinically relevant surfaces were tested: 1) machined titanium; 2) a titanium surface roughened through acid etching (dual thermal-etched titanium [DTET]); and 3) a titanium surface roughened with nanometer-scale calcium phosphate deposition (nanoscale calcium phosphate–impregnated titanium [NCPIT]). Cell attachment and migration were examined for four cell types: rat osteosarcoma cells, human osteoblasts, and gingival and periodontal ligament (PDL) fibroblasts.Results: All four cell types attached to each of the three titanium surfaces equally by 2 hours, and the PDL and gingival fibroblasts generally displayed less attachment than the osteosarcoma cells and ...
The psychosocial impact of Hurricane Katrina: Contextual differences in psychological symptoms, social support, and discrimination

This study tested a contextual model of disaster reaction by examining regional differences in the psychosocial impact of Hurricane Katrina. A total of 386 individuals participated in this study. All were recruited in the primary areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and included residents of metropolitan New Orleans (Orleans Parish, Louisiana), Greater New Orleans (i.e., Metairie, Kenner, Gretna), and the Mississippi Gulf Coast (i.e., cities along the coast from Waveland to Ocean Springs, Mississippi). Participants were assessed for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, other psychological symptoms, perceptions of discrimination, perceptions of social support, evacuation distance, and the extent to which they experienced hurricane-related stressful events. Results were consistent with previous research on the impact of disasters on mental health symptoms. Findings extended research on individual differences in the response to trauma and indicated that regional context predicted unique variance in the experience of discrimination, social support, and emotional symptoms consistent with the theoretical model presented.
Enhancing comprehension in small reading groups using a manipulation strategy

Having young readers manipulate objects to correspond to the characters and actions in a text greatly enhances comprehension as measured by both recall and inference tests. As a step toward classroom implementation, we applied this manipulation strategy in small (three-child) reading groups. For successive critical sentences, one child would read the sentence aloud and then manipulate the objects, then the next child would read and manipulate, and so on. Children in a reread control condition also alternated reading the text. For the reread condition, one child would read the critical sentence and then reread it, followed by the next child, and so on. Children who manipulated were substantially more accurate in answering questions about the texts. Thus, the manipulation strategy meets at least some of the criteria for being applicable in a classroom setting, namely it is effective when applied in small groups.
Rampant Purifying Selection Conserves Positions with Posttranslational Modifications in Human Proteins

Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) are chemical alterations that are critical to protein conformation and activation states. Despite their functional importance and reported involvement in many diseases, evolutionary analyses have produced enigmatic results because only weak or no selective pressures have been attributed to many types of PTMs. In a large-scale analysis of 16,836 PTM positions from 4,484 human proteins, we find that positions harboring PTMs show evidence of higher purifying selection in 70% of the phosphorylated and N-linked glycosylated proteins. The purifying selection is up to 42% more severe at PTM residues as compared with the corresponding unmodified amino acids. These results establish extensive selective pressures in the long-term history of positions that experience PTMs in the human proteins. Our findings will enhance our understanding of the historical function of PTMs over time and help in predicting PTM positions by using evolutionary comparisons.
Homoplasy and Clade Support

Distinguishing phylogenetic signal from homoplasy (shared similarities among taxa that do not arise by common ancestry) is an implicit goal of any phylogenetic study. Large amounts of homoplasy can interfere with accurate tree inference, and it is expected that common measures of clade support, including bootstrap proportions and Bayesian posterior probabilities, should also be impacted to some degree by homoplasy. Through data simulation and analysis of 38 empirical data sets, we show that high amounts of homoplasy will affect all measures of clade support in a manner that is dependent on clade size. More specifically, the smallest taxon bipartitions in an unrooted tree topology will receive higher support relative to clades of intermediate sizes, even when all clades are supported by the same amount of data. We determine that the ultimate causes of this effect are the inclusion of random trees (due to homoplasy) during bootstrap resampling and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) topology searching and the higher relative proportion of small taxon bipartitions (i.e., 2 or 3 taxa) to larger sized bipartitions. However, the use of explicit model-based methods, especially Bayesian MCMC methods, effectively overcomes this clade size effect even when very small amounts of phylogenetic signal are present. We develop a post hoc statistic, the clade disparity index (CDI), to measure both the relative magnitude of the clade size effect and its statistical significance. In analyses of both simulated and empirical data, CDI values indicate that Bayesian MCMC analyses are substantially more likely to estimate clade support values that are uncorrelated with clade size than are maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood bootstrap analyses and thus less affected by homoplasy. These results may be especially relevant to "deep" phylogenetic problems, such as reconstructing the tree of life, as they represent the largest possible extremes of time and evolutionary rates, 2 factors that cause homoplasy.
Errata: Remote-sensing application for facilitating land resource assessment and monitoring for utility-scale solar energy development

A monitoring plan that incorporates regional datasets and integrates cost-effective data collection methods is necessary to sustain the long-term environmental monitoring of utility-scale solar energy developments in expansive, environmentally sensitive desert regions. An image processing routine using very high spatial resolution (VHSR; i.e., 15 cm) multispectral imagery collected in November 2012 and January 2014 was developed to characterize ephemeral streams, vegetation, and land surfaces in the southwestern United States, where increased utility-scale solar development is anticipated. In addition to information about desert landscapes, the methodology integrates existing spectral indices and transformations (e.g., visible atmospherically resistant index and principal components); a new index called the erosion resistance index (ERI); and digital terrain and surface models, all of which were derived from a common VHSR image. The methodology identified fine-scale ephemeral streams at greater detail than does the National Hydrography Dataset, and it accurately estimated the distribution of vegetation and the fractional cover of various surface types. The ERI classified surface types that have a range of erosive potentials. The remote-sensing methodology could ultimately reduce uncertainty and monitoring costs for all stakeholders by providing a cost-effective monitoring approach that accurately characterizes the land resources at potential development sites.
Optimal assignments in an ordered set: An application of matroid theory

Abstract : A certain set of jobs has been arranged in order of importance by some priority system and it is desired to fill the jobs from a pool of workers where each worker is qualified for some subset of the jobs. In general, it will not be possible to fill all of the jobs and the problem is therefore to choose the set of jobs to be filled in some optimal way. Roughly speaking, given all possible assignable sets of jobs one wishes to choose the one with 'highest priority.' It is not clear, however, what this means as, for example, if the choice were between filling jobs 1, 4, 6 or 2, 3, 4, 5. The purpose of this note is to show that, in fact, there always does exist a 'best' assignment.
Tissue Engineering Strategies Designed to Realize the Endogenous Regenerative Potential of Peripheral Nerves

Bridging peripheral nerve gaps without the use of autografts has significant clinical importance. But in order to rationally design novel scaffolds, a good understanding of the nerve regeneration process is vital. Appropriate amount of structural and chemical cues are required to stimulate the endogenous mechanisms of repair and functional recovery. Synthetic and natural materials present various opportunities to induce the growth of supporting cells as well as promote axon regeneration. An overview of tissue engineering strategies currently being explored that stimulate the different steps of the regenerative sequence is presented.
On a minimally restrictive supervisory policy that enforces liveness in partially controlled free choice Petri nets

A Petri net (PN) is said to be live if it is possible to fire any transition from every reachable marking, although not necessarily immediately. Under appropriate conditions, a non-live PN can be made live via supervision. Under this paradigm an external-agent, the supervisor, prevents the firing of certain transitions at each reachable marking so as to enforce liveness. A PN is partially controlled if the supervisor can prevent the firing of only a subset of transitions. A free choice Petri net (FCPN) is a PN where every arc from a place to a transition is either the unique output arc from that place, or, it is the unique input arc to the transition. We show for each partially controlled FCPN that can be made live via supervision, any marking that is reachable under a policy that enforces liveness should cover a member of a specific, finite set of minimal-markings. Assuming this set is readily available, this observation is used to: 1) test the existence, and 2) synthesize a minimally restrictive supervisory policy that enforces liveness in a partially controllable FCPN. We suggest investigations into the computation of this specific, finite set of minimal markings as a future research topic.
Free-sinking temperature and salinity profiler for ocean microstructure studies

A free, slowly sinking profiler minimizes the velocity differences between its sensors and the structures which are sensed, allowing small scale features to be measured. Large quantities of data must be stored or transmitted acoustically with a free instrument. SCIMP, an acronym for Self-Contained Imaging Micro-Profiler, records 6 hours of conductivity, temperature, and pressure digitized to 16 bit accuracy every 400 ms. It sinks at rates of 3 to 10 cm/sec, photographing optical inhomogeneities for comparison with the temperature and salinity structures. Alternate sinking and rising or yo-yo stations have produced time series of microstructure profiles in essentially a single column of the ocean.
You Have Your Father’s Nose

Inheritance of vulnerability for neuropsychiatric disorders is multifactorial and is generally believed to occur via genetic and social mechanisms. However, recent discoveries about epigenetics have raised the possibility that after certain life experiences, epigenetic mechanisms may also transmit acquired vulnerabilities to subsequent generations. In a recent study, Dias and Ressler demonstrate that olfactory fear conditioning before conception in mice of the F0 generation leads to anatomical changes in the brain associated with an increased sensitivity to the conditioned odor in subsequent generations, along with epigenetic changes that could mediate these effects. Dias and Ressler performed olfactory fear conditioning in F0 male mice before conception. Then, to measure the behavioral sensitivity of subsequent generations to the conditioned odors, they introduced these odors to naive F1 or F2 mice during fear conditioning. F1 or F2 mice exhibited augmented startle responses in the presence of the odor to which their father or grandfather had been conditioned. Furthermore, the authors found an anatomical substrate that likely mediates this increased behavioral sensitivity. After odor fear conditioning, F0 mice exhibited an increase in the number of odorant receptors corresponding to the conditioned odor, and a resulting increase in physical size of the representation of this odor in the olfactory bulb. These same anatomical changes were present in F1 or F2 mice that had never been exposed to the conditioning odor. Furthermore, these effects were odor-specific; the increased behavioral sensitivity and anatomical changes only occurred for the conditioned odor, and not for other odors. Similar anatomical and behavioral changes also occurred in F1 mice conceived via in vitro fertilization and in mice that were cross-fostered after being born to mothers who underwent odor fear conditioning. The latter two observations suggest that these changes are transmitted via the germline rather than by social mechanisms. Indeed, the authors found specific reductions in the methylation of the gene encoding the odorant receptor for the conditioned odor in sperm from both F0 and F1 mice, demonstrating an epigenetic mechanism that could mediate the observed changes in odorant receptor number. The next steps will be to demonstrate that these epigenetic changes cause the observed anatomical and behavioral changes in F1 and F2 mice and to identify mechanisms that communicate olfactory experience to F0 sperm. B. G. Dias, K. J. Ressler, Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations. Nat. Neurosci. 17 , 89–96 (2014). [[PubMed]][1] [1]: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24292232
Mechanistic insights into the formation of acetaldehyde and diethyl ether from ethanol over supported VOx, MoOx, and WOx catalysts

Catalytic pathways are described for reactions of ethanol to acetaldehyde by oxidative dehydrogenation and of ethanol to diethyl ether by condensation over VO{sub x}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, MoO{sub x}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, and WO{sub x}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. Isotopic labeling shows that acetaldehyde formation occurs via rate-determining C-H bond cleavage of the CH{sub 2} group in an adsorbed alkoxide followed by removal of surface oxygen in a Mars and van Krevelen redox mechanism (as confirmed by in situ X-ray absorption, diffuse reflectance infra-red Fourier transform spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy); diethyl ether formation occurs in parallel via coupling and condensation of two adjacent ethoxy species. Using a combination of in situ spectroscopic and kinetic analysis, catalyst properties influencing the formation of acetaldehyde and ether from the common adsorbed ethoxy intermediate are elucidated. X-ray absorption analysis during anaerobic ethanol titration is used to preclude the involvement of terminal M{double_bond}O bonds during the reaction. A study of the activity of catalysts with the same MoO{sub x} domain size on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, TiO{sub 2}, and CeO{sub 2} supports and binary oxides of MoO{sub x} and WO{sub x} on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} are used to prove that the active redox oxygen for acetaldehyde formation is the oxygenmore » atom linking the active metal oxide domain to the support oxide. Ether formation ability of the metal oxide is related to the electronegativity of the active metal atom.« less
An investigation of an autonomic innervation of the vertebral artery using monoamine histofluorescence.

Blood flow to the hindbrain, via the paired vertebral arteries, must be uncompromised for adequate neurological functioning of its vital centres. Therefore, it would seem unlikely that the intracranial vertebral artery would need to vasoconstrict, thus reducing its blood flow. In order to investigate the existence and location of a noradrenaline-mediated constrictor mechanism in the wall of the intracranial vertebral artery, transverse sections of ten baboon and ten monkey vessels were stained with sucrose-potassium phosphate-glyoxylic acid (counterstained with malachite-green). This method allows the visualisation of catecholaminergic nerves when the sections are exposed to ultraviolet light. In this study of primate vascular tissue, however, none of the monkey or baboon vertebral artery sections showed the presence of noradrenergic nerves in the tunica media ‐ tunica adventitia junction or penetrating the tunica media of the arteries. These findings indicate that the intracranial vertebral artery does not have a neurogenic vasomotor function in primates.
The potential role of endothelin as a vasoconstrictor substance in congestive heart failure

A rapidly growing body of data supports the concept of in situ regulation of vascular tone: the ability of vasoactive substances to regulate vascular tone at their site of production within the wall of the vasculature. Sufficient data exist to suggest that ineffective production or response to endothelium-dependent vasodilator substances, or excessive production or responsiveness to endothelium-dependent vasoconstrictor substances may play an important role in cardiovascular disorders such as hypertension, coronary artery spasm, restenosis following coronary angioplasty, and congestive heart failure. The present review summarizes data which support the concept that endothelin, a potent vasoconstrictor produced by the endothelium, may play a role in the excessive vasoconstriction of heart failure. Increased circulating plasma endothelin may be particularly relevant to the range of pulmonary vasoconstriction encountered in congestive heart failure, with a correlation revealing that the greatest increase of plasma endothelin occurs in patients with marked pulmonary hypertension within the congestive heart failure patients studied.
Relationship between Body Mass Index and Mortality in HIV-Infected HAART Users in the Women's Interagency HIV Study

Background Early HIV studies suggested protective associations of overweight against mortality, yet data are lacking for the era of potent highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We evaluated associations of pre-HAART initiation body mass index (BMI) with mortality among HAART-using women. Methods Prospective study of time to death after HAART initiation among continuous HAART users in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study. Unadjusted Kaplan–Meier and adjusted proportional hazards survival models assessed time to AIDS and non-AIDS death by last measured pre-HAART BMI. Results Of 1428 continuous HAART users 39 (2.7%) were underweight, 521 (36.5%) normal weight, 441 (30.9%) overweight, and 427 (29.9%) obese at time of HAART initiation. A total of 322 deaths occurred during median follow-up of 10.4 years (IQR 5.9–14.6). Censoring at non-AIDS death, the highest rate of AIDS death was observed among underweight women (p = 0.0003 for all 4 categories). In multivariate models, women underweight prior to HAART died from AIDS more than twice as rapidly vs. normal weight women (aHR 2.04, 95% CI 1.03, 4.04); but being overweight or obese (vs. normal weight) was not independently associated with AIDS death. Cumulative incidence of non-AIDS death was similar across all pre-HAART BMI categories. Conclusions Among continuous HAART-using women, being overweight prior to initiation was not associated with lower risk of AIDS or non-AIDS death. Being underweight prior to HAART was associated with over double the rate of AIDS death in adjusted analyses. Although overweight and obesity may be associated with many adverse health conditions, neither was predictive of mortality among the HAART-using women.
Rethinking Cold War Culture: Gender, Domesticity, and Labor on the Global Home Front

During their famous Kitchen Debate at the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow, US Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev argued over the relative merits of capitalism and communism, but they agreed on what success meant: nice furniture, big houses, and cool appliances. Both believed in the necessity of consumer citizenship in part because the mass production economies behind mass-produced domesticity meant lucrative contracts for both private corporations and state-owned enterprises. Like the defense corporations transforming Cold War fears into lucrative contracts, well-positioned individuals and firms in both countries understood that billions were at stake in the economy of domesticity. Much like the urbanization model that's driven the Chinese economy of the past twenty years, the mass housing projects of the United States and Soviet Union were vital to economic and political stability during the second half of the twentieth century. Both Nixon and Khrushchev understood that the success of their governments depended upon contented middle classes. Economic growth strongly influenced public opinion about political leadership and, by extension, government legitimacy. Nothing was more important to economic growth than housing. Each man fantasized about a future of beautiful mothers working effortlessly with electric mixers to feed their Cold War kids.
Translations| Communication Studies Without Frontiers? Translation and Cosmopolitanism Across Academic Cultures

This article discusses the translatability of communication scholarship in the context of globalized academia and research traditions. The notion of translation is useful to reflect upon the globalization of academic cultures in communication studies. The globalization of academic cultures confronts matters that translation studies have long recognized: the clash between dogmatism and difference, language slips and gaps, and the possibility of (mis)understandings. Although globalization invites scholars to broaden perspectives, it does not necessarily promote the rapprochement of epistemic communities in communication studies or the values of universal, de-Westernized, and cosmopolitan scholarship. We may hope communication research includes a plurality of global voices, but we still lack a clear path to overcome different understandings about quality standards, conceptual languages, and epistemological premises.
Abstract 3773: The Impact Of Reperfusion On Vasogenic Edema Following Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion In Experimental Ischemia

Objective: In order to assess the impact of reperfusion on the degree of subsequent cerebral edema following cerebral ischemia, this work sought to compare 24 hour infarct volume progression between permanent and transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in a canine model. Methods: Using a previously published endovascular transient MCAO method, 5 mongrel canines underwent 1-hour transient MCAO and 5 underwent permanent MCAO. Model parameters were altered to result in varying infarct volumes. Magnetic resonanace imaging (MRI) (3T Achieva, Philips) was performed one hour and 24 hours following reperfusion as well as 60 minutes following permanent occlusion. Infarct volumes were calculated using a previously published threshold technique by two observers using 1 hour mean diffusivity (MD) maps and 24hour FLAIR MRI. Reproducibility was assessed using Bland-Altman statistic. Average infarct volumes between the observers were calculated. Bivariate linear fit analysis were used to assess the correlation between immediate and 24 hours infarct volume determinations. Results: R square (r2) for linear fit was 0.964 (p=0.0005) for permanent occlusion and 0.971 (p= 0.0022) for transient occlusion (figure 1). The infarct volumes measured at 1 hour increased by a factor of 1.42 relative to 24 hour infarct volumes for permanent occlusion and 2.05 for transient occlusion. Bland-Altman statistic indicates that reproducibility using the MD maps (15.9%) and FLAIR images (13.3%) is not substantially different. None of the animals demonstrated hemorrhagic conversion by 24 hours. Conclusion: MD maps generated one hour post reperfusion following transient and permanent MCAO in a canine model can serve as a reliable assessment for infarct volume determination. Increase in infarct volume at 24 hours, presumably due to vasogenic edema, was greater in reperfused infarctions than with permanent occlusion.