cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Calculations of droplet dynamics in high temperature environments

Abstract A primary objective of this article is to present some of the progress that has been made in the use of the digital computer to simulate the physical and chemical processes which occur during the vaporization and burning of hydrocarbon fuel droplets. The article gives equal treatment to both the numerical methods that have been employed and to the results of physical problems that have been simulated. For chemically reacting flows that are time-dependent and include large density variations there have been very few methods developed for the low Mach number limit, which is of primary interest to the droplet dynamics problem. The present research describes and develops a method that appears to be able to treat a wide variety of problems in reacting flows. The physical results in the paper are restricted to rather simple descriptions of the chemical kinetics, but they do contain most of the major features of the reaction mechanisms. The problems in droplet dynamics which have been treated include multi-component fuels and the complete lifetime of fuel droplets in an environment typical of practical droplet burning. The numerical results have been compared against many of the previously developed approximate theories, and the dominant physical and chemical processes are described and analyzed. The article also attempts to point out areas where further development is needed, and it tries very hard to convince the reader that the use of the digital computer offers tremendous opportunities in the near future for understanding and designing droplet and spray systems of practical interest.
The influence of sentinel lymph node biopsy on survival for intermediate-thickness melanoma

The Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy Trial-1 (MSLT-1) failed to demonstrate a survival advantage for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) in melanoma. This may have been secondary to inadequate statistical power. This study was designed to determine the impact of SNB on melanoma-specific survival (MSS) in a larger patient cohort. From 2003–2008, patients with tumors 1–4 mm in thickness and clinically negative nodes were identified within the SEER registry. Propensity score was used to create two matched cohorts: those who underwent a wide excision with SNB or wide excision alone. A total of 15,274 met inclusion criteria and 7,910 comprised the match cohort. Average age was 67.4 years. The majority were male (62.3 %) and white (97.2 %). Primary tumors were most frequently nonulcerated (77.1 %), located on the extremity (42.3 %), and T2 (64.1 %). There were 3,955 patients in both the SNB and observation groups. There was no significant difference in gender, ethnicity, ulceration status, primary site, or T-classification between the groups. Improved 5-year MSS was associated with SNB (85.7 vs. 84.0 %), female gender (88.3 vs. 82.7 %), absence of ulceration (87.5 vs. 75.7 %), extremity location (87.4 %), T2 disease (88.6 vs. 77.9 %), and a negative SNB (88.9 vs. 64.8 %). The relationships between observation [hazard ratio (HR) 1.18], male gender (HR 1.33), ulceration (HR 1.77), head-and-neck location (HR 1.34), and T3 disease (HR 1.82) persisted on multivariate analysis. Status of the sentinel node is the strongest predictor of survival in patients with intermediate thickness melanoma. SNB compared with observation was associated with a modest survival advantage.
A study of some variables associated with copperplating of dental impressions

Abstract The influence of five popular metallizing techniques in reproducing surface smoothness and marginal accuracy of compound impressions has been studied. Although careful use of all procedures did produce consistent and acceptable copper dies, the powder-liquid methods resulted in some loss of smoothness and detail. The precipitation of a silver film proved to be the superior method. Studies were made to determine the influence of the various constituents of the copperplating bath upon the throwing power, rate of coverage, and the character of the deposit. The theory behind the results obtained has been presented and a formula suggested. It must be remembered that even in industry many steps in the electroplating procedure are based upon empirical observations. Consequently, the apparatus, techniques, and conditions in the dental office are seldom identical. The operator must, therefore, have a working knowledge of the basic factors involved so that he may intelligently alter his procedures and equipment as required.
A weighted three-point-based methodology for variance estimation

It is widely accepted that variations in manufacturing processes are inevitable and should be taken into account during analysis and design processes. However, estimating uncertainty propagation in an end-product caused by these variations is a very challenging task, especially when a computationally expensive effort is already needed in deterministic models, such as simulations of sheet metal forming. The focus of this article is on the variance estimation of a system response using sensitivity-based methods. A weighted three-point-based strategy for efficiently and effectively estimating the variance of a system response is proposed. Three first-order derivatives of each variable are used to describe the non-linear behaviour and estimate the variance of a system. A methodology for determining the optimal locations and weights of the three points along each axis is proposed and illustrated for the cases where each variable follows either a normal distribution or a uniform distribution. An extension of th...
Properties of magnetron sputtered hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Hydrogen concentrations and bonding configurations were studied in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films deposited at 50‡C using the magnetron mode of sputtering with partial hydrogen concentrations between 0 and 90 percent in flowing argon. Hydrogen content within the films was determined from nuclear reaction analysis, and the chemical bonding of hydrogen was determined from infrared absorption of as-deposited, thermally annealed, and ion-bombarded films. Hydrogen/silicon ratios in the films increase to a maximum of 0.31 with increasing hydrogen in the deposition system. Ion backscattering shows ∼ 6 at.% argon trapped in the films, but no oxygen was detected by either ion backscattering or by sputter-Auger analysis. The wag and bend modes for Si-H in the films are typical of sputter-deposited a-Si:H; however, the stretch mode region is atypical with absorption near 2000 cm−l dominating even for H/Si ratio of 0.27. From results of thermal annealing and post-deposition ion bombardment, it is concluded that argon ion bombardment during deposition produces enhanced absorption near 2000 cm-1 in these a-Si:H films deposited by magnetron sputtering.
The "Self-Disclosure" and "Self-Presentation" Views of Item Response Dynamics and Personality Scale Validity

This study investigates whether objective self-report measures of personality are better regarded as sources of factual information about the self (i.e., as selfdisclosures) or as ways to instruct others about how one is to be regarded (i.e., as self-presentations). The two perspectives were compared by testing the unique, divergent predictions each perspective made about the kinds of personality variables associated with consistency in self-description. For three groups of subjects (155 normal adults, 69 murderers, and 47 college students) almost all of the "self-presentation variables" were correlated significantly with consistency, whereas none of the "self-disclosure variables" was correlated with the criterion. Limitations of the study are discussed.
Incorporation of Pacific SSTs in a Time Series Model toward a Longer-Term Forecast for the Great Salt Lake Elevation

AbstractA recent study identified a pronounced lagged relationship between the Great Salt Lake’s (GSL) elevation and the central tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures (SST) at the 10–15-year time scale. Using this relationship, a principal component analysis of historical time series of SST and local precipitation (P) was used in the construction of a lagged regression model to predict first the GSL elevation tendency and, from there, the GSL elevation. The combined principal component–lagged regression model was able to replicate and forecast turnarounds in the GSL elevation—that is, where prolonged increasing trends were followed by persistent decreases and vice versa. The coupling of the two time series is somewhat different from previous nonparametric, nonlinear time series methods developed for shorter-term (1–2 year) forecasts of the GSL volume. Moreover, by not accounting for interannual variability in the model, a forecast out to 6 years was feasible and was shown to intersect the 2009 and 201...
On the statistics of dense, disordered assemblies: Equilibrium and dynamics

We consider implications of a lattice model which operates with a vacancy fraction h as a measure of structural disorder. Consequences for the configurational thermodynamics of one- and multicomponent systems and their phase equilibria are briefly indicated. The principal topic is the glassy state under steady state conditions, as well as the kinetics of relaxational processes toward equilibrium. The central role of the h-function in its dependence on variables of state is made evident among others by the connection between equation of state and thermo-elastic properties. Moreover, a dynamics of volume relaxation can be treated by means of a corresponding theory for the h-function. Applications of this theory to isothermal annealing below the glass temperature Tg, the response to a constant cooling rate of the melt through the transition zone, and the computation of a complex compression modulus are reviewed. The implications of vacancy cluster distributions for the analysis of positron spectroscopy are pointed out. Finally we indicate the basis for the development of correlations between Tg and structural parameters.
The FoxF/FoxC factor LET-381 directly regulates both cell fate specification and cell differentiation in C. elegans mesoderm development

Forkhead transcription factors play crucial and diverse roles in mesoderm development. In particular, FoxF and FoxC genes are, respectively, involved in the development of visceral/splanchnic mesoderm and non-visceral mesoderm in coelomate animals. Here, we show at single-cell resolution that, in the pseudocoelomate nematode C. elegans, the single FoxF/FoxC transcription factor LET-381 functions in a feed-forward mechanism in the specification and differentiation of the non-muscle mesodermal cells, the coelomocytes (CCs). LET-381/FoxF directly activates the CC specification factor, the Six2 homeodomain protein CEH-34, and functions cooperatively with CEH-34/Six2 to directly activate genes required for CC differentiation. Our results unify a diverse set of studies on the functions of FoxF/FoxC factors and provide a model for how FoxF/FoxC factors function during mesoderm development.
Reactive Nitrogen and Oxygen Species Ameliorate Experimental Cryptosporidiosis in the Neonatal BALB/c Mouse Model

Four-day-old BALB/c mice were infected by the oral administration of 50,000 Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts, and the resulting infection was scored histologically and by counting colonic oocysts. Infection occurred in the ileum and proximal colon (but not duodenum and jejunum), peaked on days 14 to 18, and was cleared between days 24 and 30. Nitric oxide (NO) appeared to play a protective role in this model as evidenced by the facts that plasma nitrite and nitrate levels increased during the period of peak parasitosis; immunohistochemically detected inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was increased in the ileum and colon enterocytes of infected animals; the NOS inhibitor L-N-iminoethyl lysine or N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) decreased the elevated plasma nitrite and nitrate levels while exacerbating the infection and increasing oocyst shedding; administration of a NO donor, S-nitroso-N-penicillamine, reduced oocyst and infection scores; and neonatal iNOS knockout mice exhibited a slightly longer infection than control animals. The oral administration of oocysts to L-NAME-treated BALB/c mice, but not control animals, between 24 and 40 days old resulted in the fecal excretion of oocysts 1 week later. Administration of the antioxidant ascorbic acid also exacerbated the C. parvum infection, suggesting a protective role for reactive nitrogen and/or reactive oxygen compounds, while administration of the superoxide scavenger superoxide dismutase exacerbated the infection. Taken together these data suggest that both reactive nitrogen and reactive oxygen species play protective roles in experimental cryptosporidiosis.
Localization of caveolin 1 in aortic valve endothelial cells using antigen retrieval.

Ultrastructural analysis of aortic valve endothelial cells subjected to growth arrest revealed many vesicles defined as caveolae by the localization of caveolin. Translocation of caveolin after exposure to oxidized LDL suggests that the localization of caveolin may be a valuable tool to study models of early atherogenesis. In this study, several antigen retrieval protocols were tested in osmium-fixed and Spurr-embedded cells to determine the optimal method of antigen retrieval in our model system. SDS produced the most consistent labeling pattern. A quantitative evaluation revealed that SDS significantly increased the labeling density in Spurr-embedded cells. The labeling pattern appeared as clusters of gold particles, 15–40 nm in diameter, that were associated with membranes of a similar size which may represent the neck region of the caveolae.
Peak two-photon molecular brightness of fluorophores is a robust measure of quantum efficiency and photostability

To date, the suitability of a fluorophore for applications involving two-photon absorption has generally been characterized by its two-photon cross-section. Here we consider the robustness and significance of an alternative measure termed the molecular brightness—the fluorescence emission per molecule—which can be obtained readily by use of photon-counting techniques such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. The peak molecular brightness attained with increasing excitation intensity is shown to be a reliable benchmark for various fluorescent dye solutions. This figure of merit is considered both theoretically and experimentally and found to be related to the two-photon quantum efficiency and the photostability properties of a dye solution, while it is independent of the solution's two-photon cross section. This benchmark carries considerable practical as well as scientific interest.
Religious influences on the risk of marital dissolution

This study examined multiple dimensions of religious involvement and the risk of divorce among a nationwide sample of 2,979 first-time married couples. Multivariate proportional hazards modeling was used to analyze two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households. Results indicated that although each partner's religious attendance bore a modest relationship to marital dissolution, the risk of divorce was lower if husbands had conservative theological beliefs and when both partners belonged to mainline Protestant denominations. Conversely, the risk of divorce was elevated if husbands attended services more frequently than their wives and if wives were more theologically conservative than their husbands. These patterns withstood controls for sociodemographic covariates, marital duration, and marital quality. Directions for future research are discussed.
Oppositely imprinted genes p57(Kip2) and igf2 interact in a mouse model for Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

Beckwith‐Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a clinically variable disorder characterized by somatic overgrowth, macroglossia, abdominal wall defects, visceromegaly, and an increased susceptibility to childhood tumors. The disease has been linked to a large cluster of imprinted genes at human chromosome 11p15.5. A subset of BWS patients has been identified with loss-of-function mutations in p57 KIP2 , a maternally expressed gene encoding aG 1 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor. Some patients display loss of imprinting of IGF2, a fetal-specific growth factor that is paternally expressed. To understand how the same disease can result from misregulation of two linked, but unrelated, genes, we generated a mouse model for BWS that both harbors a null mutation in p57 Kip2 and displays loss of Igf2 imprinting. These mice display many of the characteristics of BWS, including placentomegaly and dysplasia, kidney dysplasia, macroglossia, cleft palate, omphalocele, and polydactyly. Some, but not all, of the phenotypes are shown to be Igf2 dependent. In two affected tissues, the two imprinted genes appear to act in an antagonistic manner, a finding that may help explain how BWS can arise from mutations in either gene.
A visual programming environment for Turing machines

Visualization and interaction are powerful tools for explaining abstract concepts. We have developed TuBB, a visual and interactive tool for modular design and animation of Turing machines. Unlike previous visual tools for automata that are based on state diagrams, the Turing machines in TuBB are composed of previously defined Turing machines called building blocks. A Turing machine can be pictorially designed, stored in a library, and used as a subprogram to construct more complex Turing machines. In addition, TuBB brings the user constructed machine to life, providing simulations at varying speeds. >
Enforcing Context-Sensitive Policies in Collaborative Business Environments

As enterprises seek to engage in increasingly rich and agile forms of collaboration, they are turning towards service-oriented architectures that enable them to selectively expose different levels of functionality to both existing and prospective business partners. This includes enforcing access control policies whose elements are tied to changing contractual relationships or to information obtained from external sources (e.g. ratings, credit worthiness, export restrictions, etc.). To ensure maximum openness, we argue that such sources of contextual information should themselves be represented as web services that can be identified and accessed on the fly. as required to enforce relevant policies. We propose an architecture for enforcing context-sensitive access control policies in which sources of information can be annotated with rich semantic profiles. This includes a meta-control architecture for dynamically orchestrating policy reasoning together with the identification and access of external sources of information required to enforce policies. We show that this architecture can be implemented as an extension to XACML's PIP and context handler functionality. We proceed to show that our architecture extends to a broader class of corporate and regulatory policies. The paper also presents computational experiments aimed at evaluating the scalability of our architecture.
Mass Spectrometry in Biomarker Applications: From Untargeted Discovery to Targeted Verification, and Implications for Platform Convergence and Clinical Application

It has really been only in the last 10 years that mass spectrometry (MS)2 has had a truly important (but still small) impact on biomedical research. Much of this impact can be attributed to proteomics and its more basic applications. Early biomedical applications have included a number of efforts aimed at developing new biomarkers; however, the success of these endeavors to date have been quite modest—essentially having been confined to preclinical applications—and have often suffered from combinations of immature technology and hubris. Now that MS-based proteomics is reaching adolescence, it is appropriate to ask if and when biomarker-related applications will extend to the clinical realm and what developments will be essential for this transition. Biomarker development can be described as a multistage process consisting of discovery, qualification, verification, research assay optimization, validation, and commercialization (1). From a MS perspective, it is possible to “bin” measurements into 1 of 2 categories—those aimed at discovering potential protein biomarkers and those seeking to verify and validate biomarkers. Approaches in both categories generally involve digesting proteins (e.g., with trypsin) as a first step to yield peptides that can be effectively detected and identified with MS. Discovery-based approaches use broad “unbiased” or “undirected” measurements that attempt to cover as many proteins as possible in the hope of revealing promising biomarker candidates. A key challenge with this approach stems from the extremely large dynamic range (i.e., relative stoichiometry) of proteins of potential interest in biofluids such as plasma and the expectation that biomarker proteins of the greatest clinical value for many diseases may very well be present at low relative abundances (2). Protein concentrations in plasma extend from approximately 1010 pg/mL for albumin to approximately 10 pg/mL and below for interleukins and other cytokines. Proteins secreted or leaking into the blood from specific early-stage …
Progress with the COGENT Edge Kinetic Code: Collision Operator Options

In this study, COGENT is a continuum gyrokinetic code for edge plasmas being developed by the Edge Simulation Laboratory collaboration. The code is distinguished by application of the fourth order conservative discretization, and mapped multiblock grid technology to handle the geometric complexity of the tokamak edge. It is written in v∥-μ (parallel velocity – magnetic moment) velocity coordinates, and making use of the gyrokinetic Poisson equation for the calculation of a self-consistent electric potential. In the present manuscript we report on the implementation and initial testing of a succession of increasingly detailed collision operator options, including a simple drag-diffusion operator in the parallel velocity space, Lorentz collisions, and a linearized model Fokker-Planck collision operator conserving momentum and energy (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Recruiting a Diverse Workforce for Academic/Research Librarianship : Career Decisions of Subject Specialists and Librarians of Color

In libraries and other related organizations, information professionals with subject and cultural/ language expertise are invaluable as they can contribute to the provision of better service for users who are becoming increasingly diverse. Recent statistics indicate that there is a great need to recruit more librarians with subject specialties and with diverse ethnic/cultural backgrounds, especially in academic libraries. Two separate studies were conducted to examine career decisions of such individuals who are already working, or likely to work, in academic libraries. Suggestions are made to develop effective recruitment strategies and to ensure that the supply of the two special groups of the library profession will effectively meet the demand.
Early Latin loan-words in Old English

It is a well-known fact that Old English is rich in Latin loan-words. Although the precise number is not yet known, it is a fairly safe assumption that there are at least 600 to 700 loan-words in Old English. This compares with 800 Latin loan-words borrowed in different periods in the Brittonic languages (Welsh, Cornish, Breton), and at least 500 early Latin loan-words common to the West Germanic languages. These rather vague overall numbers do not lend themselves, however, to a serious analysis of Latin influence on the Germanic and Celtic languages, because they include different periods of borrowing which are not really comparable to each other. The basis of these estimates, moreover, is often not stated very clearly. Although the establishment of a complete list of Latin loan-words in the various Germanic languages is a desideratum, it can only be achieved in a later stage of our studies.
The music of streams

Data streams make preeminent instruments for playing certain classical themes from analysis. Complex networks of processes, effortlessly orchestrated by lazy evaluation, can enumerate terms of formal power series ad infinitum. Expressed in a language like Haskell, working programs for power-series operations are tiny gems, because the natural programming style for data streams fits the mathematics so well—often better than time-honored summation notation.
The Experimental Manipulation of Death Attitudes: A Preliminary Investigation

This study utilized an experimental format to examine the influence of a course on death and dying on the death attitudes of college students in a mid-southern university. The experimental group (N = 24) consisted of those who had pre-enrolled for the course in question. The control group (N = 50) was chosen at random from the student population. The experimental group was exposed to an 18-week course on the social aspects of death and dying. Pre- and post-test measures of death attitudes were obtained. The data indicate significant changes in the cognitive attitudinal component of those in the experimental group. These individuals entertained more frequent thoughts of death and manifested a greater amount of interest in death-related discussions than was true of the control group. Items constituting the affective dimension, however, were not appreciably changed by experimental procedures. Both groups indicated approximately the same degree of fear in relation to death, and expressed similar feelings towa...
Functional Broadside Tests with Different Levels of Reachability

Functional broadside tests for transition faults are broadside tests that detect transition faults using only states that the circuit can visit during functional operation, or reachable states. Reachability was used before as a binary property, i.e., a state is either reachable or not. This concept was extended to associate a level of reachability with every state. A non-zero level is associated with a reachable state. A reachable state that is more likely to occur during functional operation is associated with a higher reachability level than a state that is less likely to occur. Tests based on states with high levels of reachability and tests based on states with low levels of reachability can serve different purposes, and both may be needed for a high-quality test set. A process of constructing a test set for transition faults was described such that each detectable fault would be detected by two functional broadside tests with the most extreme possible levels of reachability
Tools for the knowledge analyst: an information superiority visionary demonstration

The paper describes the application of a suite of innovative information processing and analytic support tools developed at The MITRE Corporation, in some cases as extensions of commercial tools, to the problem of discovery of illegal chemical proliferation activities from open (i.e. unclassified) sources. These include tools for multimedia information extraction and visualization (BNN), machine translation (WebMT), multidocument summarization (WebSumm), group knowledge management (KEAN), expertise discovery (PeopleFinder), and multiparty collaboration (J-CVW). We consider additional, identified and unfulfilled requirements that suggest future research directions such as data and knowledge mining, intelligent human computer interaction, and semantic collaboration.
Using Facebook to Teach Rhetorical Analysis

This article describes an assignment that involves students in an exploration of the rhetorical practices common in Facebook, making use of rhetorical savvy that they have — but generally are not aware of — to teach the often-challenging skill of rhetorical analysis. The class discusses articles about Facebook use and redefines traditional Aristotelian rhetorical concepts in the context of the visually rich and collage-like texts that are Facebook profiles. Students take their cues from an anthropologist's analysis of identity representation on dorm doors to explore rhetorical practices of exaggeration also discernable in Facebook profiles. Students and teacher note features from Facebook pages that suggest tendencies to be popular versus being an individual or signs of addiction to the networking tool. This assignment that brings academic analysis to bear on non-academic literacy practices like the construction of Facebook profiles encourages students to reflect critically on daily activities that involve more complex rhetorical skills than they might otherwise notice. In addition to making students' often-tacit rhetorical knowledge explicit, breaking down the usual division between school and non-school rhetorics in this exploration of Facebook helps to educate teachers about their students' digital literacy practices.
Death and Adolescent Bereavement Current Research and Future Directions

The author reviews research conducted in the 1980s regarding death and adolescent bereavement. Prior to 1981 little research attention was given to this subject. A plethora of material has appeared since then, with attention paid to adolescents bereaved over (a) a parent's death, (b) a sibling's death, and (c) their own impending death. Adolescent bereavement over a friend's death has mostly been overlooked Research needs in this field of inquiry include (a) longitudinal investigations to study the trajectory of adolescent bereavement, (b) development of theoretical models to explain adolescent bereavement, and (c) integration with the traditional areas of adolescence inquiry, such as cognitive developmen4 moral reasoning, gender socialization, and identify formation.
Assessing ecosystem variance at different scales to generalize about pasture management in southern Wisconsin

Pasture-based agroecosystems are an expanding enterprise in the northcentral U.S., but their structure and function have received little attention. We implemented a manipulative experiment to test pasture management effects on several agroecosystem variables at a university research farm in southcentral Wisconsin. In concert, we established a mensurative experiment across eight grass-based farms in the same region where we measured the same variables under existing land uses. Here we describe how total and relative variation in greenhouse gas fluxes, ground cover, soil arthropods, and soil inorganic N were distributed across nested spatial scales, management treatments, and unexplained realms of these systems. This approach seeks to improve our understanding of pasture management effects on agroecosystem stocks andfluxes, while expandingour inferential space to awidergeographical area. Greenhousegasfluxes(CH4and N2O) were an order-ofmagnitude more variable than soil N pools, ground cover, or arthropod abundances. Most of the variance in these fluxes was at the subsample level, indicating the need for either more sampling chambers per management treatment or an efficient stratification scheme or both. Methane was more variable farm-to-farm than among management treatments within farms, while N2O showed the opposite pattern indicating that farmers arelikelytohavemoreinfluenceonN2Ofluxesviamanagement thantheycanhave onCH4fluxes.Variabilityinarthropod groupsand ground cover was rather uniformly distributed across nested spatial scales, with the exception of beetles and harvestmen, which displayed little subsample variability. Soil inorganic N pools were more variable from farm-to-farm than among management treatments, but most variation was at the subsample level. The least variable response was from the greenhouse gas CO2, which is driven by both auto- and heterotrophic organisms. Calculation of total and relativized coefficients of variation allowed for a standardized comparison of agroecosystem variables possessing disparate units of measure and facilitated conclusions about the generality of results across a broader geographical area than just a single farm. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Understanding violence: a school initiative for violence prevention

The present study evaluates Understanding Violence, a violence prevention initiative implemented in a Boston-area elementary school whose students experience high rates of community violence. Understanding Violence draws on the educational and personal skills of youths and allows them to practice positive alternatives to violence. Participating 5th graders (n = 123) completed a survey that included rating scale items and open-ended questions to assess the program. Results indicate high levels of satisfaction with and learning from the program. Participants responded positively to the program's use of diverse components and community engagement. Developed as part of a larger community mental health outreach program, Understanding Violence offers an example of a school-based initiative to mitigate the effects of community violence.
Optimal classifiers with minimum expected error within a Bayesian framework - Part II: Properties and performance analysis

In part I of this two-part study, we introduced a new optimal Bayesian classification methodology that utilizes the same modeling framework proposed in Bayesian minimum-mean-square error (MMSE) error estimation. Optimal Bayesian classification thus completes a Bayesian theory of classification, where both the classifier error and our estimate of the error may be simultaneously optimized and studied probabilistically within the assumed model. Having developed optimal Bayesian classifiers in discrete and Gaussian models in part I, here we explore properties of optimal Bayesian classifiers, in particular, invariance to invertible transformations, convergence to the Bayes classifier, and a connection to Bayesian robust classifiers. We also explicitly derive optimal Bayesian classifiers with non-informative priors, and explore relationships to linear and quadratic discriminant analysis (LDA and QDA), which may be viewed as plug-in rules under Gaussian modeling assumptions. Finally, we present several simulations addressing the robustness of optimal Bayesian classifiers to false modeling assumptions. Companion website: http://gsp.tamu.edu/Publications/supplementary/dalton12a.
The Farnesyltransferase Inhibitor Lonafarnib Induces CCAAT/Enhancer-binding Protein Homologous Protein-dependent Expression of Death Receptor 5, Leading to Induction of Apoptosis in Human Cancer Cells

Pre-clinical studies have demonstrated that farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) induce growth arrest or apoptosis in various human cancer cells independently of Ras mutations. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Death receptor 5 (DR5) is a pro-apoptotic protein involved in mediating the extrinsic apoptotic pathway. Its role in FTI-induced apoptosis has not been reported. In this study, we investigated the modulation of DR5 by the FTI lonafarnib and the involvement of DR5 up-regulation in FTI-induced apoptosis. Lonafarnib activated caspase-8 and its downstream caspases, whereas the caspase-8-specific inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Ile-Glu(methoxy)-Thr-Asp(methoxy)-fluoromethyl ketone or small interfering RNA abrogated lonafarnib-induced apoptosis, indicating that lonafarnib induces caspase-8-dependent apoptosis. Lonafarnib up-regulated DR5 expression, increased cell-surface DR5 distribution, and enhanced tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand-induced apoptosis. Overexpression of a dominant-negative Fas-associated death domain mutant or silencing of DR5 expression using small interfering RNA attenuated lonafarnib-induced apoptosis. These results indicate a critical role of the DR5-mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathway in lonafarnib-induced apoptosis. By analyzing the DR5 promoter, we found that lonafarnib induced a CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP)-dependent transactivation of the DR5 promoter. Lonafarnib increased CHOP expression, whereas silencing of CHOP expression abrogated lonafarnib-induced DR5 expression. These results thus indicate that lonafarnib induces CHOP-dependent DR5 up-regulation. We conclude that CHOP-dependent DR5 up-regulation contributes to lonafarnib-induced apoptosis.
Induction of galanin gene expression in gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons with puberty in the rat

The onset of puberty reflects the developmental activation of GnRH neurons whose secretory activity awakens the reproductive axis; however, the cellular mechanisms involved in this activational process remain poorly understood. GnRH neurons coexpress the neuropeptide galanin, and we have previously shown that galanin's level of coexpression is linked to the activity state of GnRH neurons. We theorized that altered expression of galanin by GnRH neurons may be an important mechanism related to activation of GnRH neurons at puberty. We examined two hypotheses related to this idea. First, we tested the hypothesis that expression of galanin messenger RNA (mRNA) in GnRH neurons is induced across the transition from prepubertal to adult life in the rat. To accomplish this, we used double label in situ hybridization and image analysis to compare cellular levels of galanin mRNA in GnRH neurons between groups of prepubertal and adult male and female rats. Levels of galanin mRNA within GnRH neurons increased significantly across puberty in both sexes. In females, galanin mRNA signal in GnRH neurons increased approximately 8-fold, whereas in males, cellular galanin mRNA signal levels increased about 2-fold. The number of identifiable GnRH neurons was not significantly different among the experimental groups. Next, we examined the hypothesis that pubertal induction of galanin mRNA in GnRH neurons reflects the activational effects of gonadal hormones associated with the onset of puberty. To test this, we killed groups of prepubertal male and female rats together with adult male and female animals that had been either castrated or sham castrated at a prepubertal age. In animals that had been prepubertally castrated, no developmental increase in galanin mRNA in GnRH neurons was observed, whereas in sham-castrated animals, levels of galanin mRNA in GnRH neurons were again shown to be higher in adult compared to prepubertal animals of both sexes, as had been demonstrated in the first experiment. We conclude that galanin message expression in GnRH neurons is induced during the transition from the juvenile to the adult state through a gonad-dependent process. This developmental increase in galanin gene expression is one mechanism by which the capacity for the synthesis and secretion of galanin by GnRH neurons may be enhanced, which, in turn, could facilitate the functional activity of GnRH neurons and amplify their trophic effect on the pituitary.
GABA A Receptors and Disease

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) inhibits most central neurons, and disorders of the GABA system are manifested in symptoms such as seizures, anxiety, sleeplessness, hallucinations, and phantom pain, which are easily related to abnormal neuronal excitability. Epilepsy is the prototypical disorder of impaired neuronal inhibition, and the responsible deficits and treatments can be categorized into presynaptic, postsynaptic, and ion-flux disorders. Current therapies for many of these disorders cause overactivation of GABA-mediated inhibition, with consequent sedation and cognitive impairment. An important goal of current research is the refinement of modulators of GABA-mediated inhibition in order to selectively target only those neural networks whose inhibition has been compromised.
Worldcom: Keeping Planes in the Air

This case focuses on the dilemma faced by Betty Vinson, a senior manager in the corporate accounting division of telecommunications giant WorldCom, when asked repeatedly to falsify financial information. The telecommunications industry was in a severe slump after the booming 1990s, and WorldCom’s stock price was suffering. WorldCom’s senior management was eager to continue the company’s string of ever-increasing operating results in hopes that those reported results would help the stock buck the industry’s downward trend. At the same time, however, the company faced slowing sales growth and rising costs - and $685 million in unpaid bills from small, high-tech customers that had gone bankrupt. Vinson did not want to make the false entries, but pressure from above (primarily from WorldCom’s COO Scott Sullivan), led her to act against her instincts. Vinson’s story is contrasted with that of Cynthia Cooper, the head of WorldCom’s internal audit department, who refused to accept the fraud that she and her team uncovered.
Civil Society and Social Movements for Immigrant Rights in Japan and South Korea: Convergence and Divergence in Unskilled Immigration Policy

During the early 1990s, the two recent countries of immigration in East Asia, Japan and South Korea, adopted convergent immigration policies that resulted in gaps between official policies and their actual outcomes. These policies included admitting a variety of de facto unskilled immigrant workers, including industrial trainees and co-ethnics from abroad. By the early 2000s, immigration policies of the two countries began to diverge. In 2004 South Korea inaugurated the Employment Permit System by which unskilled workers arrived on contract and were guaranteed labor law protection. Two years later, it abolished the industrial trainee system entirely. In contrast, Japan has not initiated the major immigration reform to this day. In this article, I examine the roles of civil society and social movements in shaping governmental policy in Japan and South Korea. Results indicate that differing histories of industrialization, democracy and civil society have created contrasting state-civic relationships in the two countries, leading to varying culture, organization and strategy for civil society, thus contributing to a divergence in immigration policies in the mid-2000s.
Performance Analysis of Fogging Cooled Gas Turbine With Regeneration and Reheat Under Different Climatic Conditions

One of the most efficient power plants in past decades is the gas turbine. Significant studies have been conducted on the effects of various design and operation parameters on gas turbine performance. However, it is still a challenge to find the optimal operating parameters for the best performance. One of the important parameters is the climate at which the gas turbine operates. The current study is on the performance of gas turbine with fog cooling, focusing on the effect of inlet air humidity and ambient temperature. The overall efficiency will be altered through inlet fog cooling and regenerative heating. Other components such as reheating are accompanied. The fog cooling is also compared to the chiller inlet cooling, in which the performance of coefficient (COP) varies with temperature difference. The analysis is conducted by using Aspen Plus software. The results indicate that a combination of fog cooling and regeneration as well as reheating can substantially improve the system thermal efficiency. Compared to the system with only fog cooling, the efficiency increases by 24.5 % when both regeneration and reheat systems are combined to the fogging cooled system.© 2014 ASME
Comparison of the tropisms of six strains of Newcastle disease virus in chickens following aerosol infection.

virus from the air of a poultry house,1 the spread of the infection to chickens separated from diseased birds except for air they breathed, and the signs of coughing and rales quite common to the disease suggest that the respiratory tract is an important route of infection in chickens. Entrance of infection occurs by other channels since the chicken has been found to be susceptible by various routes of inoculation.2'3 Chickens inoculated intramuscularly, intravenously or intranasally develop Newcastle disease, yet the course of the infection and sometimes the outcome is not the same as in chickens acquiring the disease by natural exposure to the virus.3-5 The simulation of natural infection
Suppression of the Response of Lymphocytes to Phytohemagglutinin in Rubella

The response of lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin after rubella vaccination was studied by measurement of mitotic rates and uptake of tritiated thymidine in lymphocyte cultures. Immunization with 25th-passage rubella virus (M-33 strain) caused statistically significant suppression of mitosis 11 days after inoculation, with a return to normal by day 20. Antibodies to rubella virus appeared between day 14 and day 17. Rubella vaccines RA27/3 or HPV77-DE5 did not induce uniform changes in mitotic response to phytohemagglutinin, although reduced mitotic indices were detected in individual cases on day 8 or day 14. However, transient suppression of the phytohemagglutinin response was demonstrated by thymidine uptake in one of the vaccinated groups (RA27/3). In vaccinees who seroconverted there was no clear correlation between the return of the phytohemagglutinin response and the appearance of rubella antibodies. These results confirm that rubella infection causes temporary suppression of lymphocyte responsiveness to phytohemagglutinin and suggest that attenuated strains of rubella vaccine virus are less immunosuppressive (by this measure) than unattenuated rubella virus.
Fluorous-Assisted Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Heparan Sulfate Oligosaccharides

The chemoenzymatic synthesis of heparan sulfate tetrasaccharide (1) and hexasaccharide (2) with a fluorous tag attached at the reducing end is reported. The fluorous tert-butyl dicarbonate (FBoc) tag did not interfere with enzymatic recognition for both elongation and specific sulfation, and flash purification was performed by standard fluorous solid-phase extraction (FSPE). Based on an FBoc attached disaccharide as acceptor, a series of partial N-sulfated, 6-O-sulfated heparan sulfate oligosaccharides were successfully synthesized employing fluorous techniques.
Selective dolomitization of Cambrian microbial carbonate deposits; a key to mechanisms and environments of origin

The Upper Cambrian Maynardville Limestone (Conasauga Group) and the lower Copper Ridge Dolomite (Knox Group) of the southern Appalachians contain a variety of microbial carbonate deposits, such as stratiform (cryptalgal laminates), laterally linked hemispheroidal (LLH), vertically stacked hemispheroidal (SH), columnar, and digitate stromatolites, as well as thrombolites. Digitate stromatolites and thrombolites, in most cases, do not exhibit evidence of significant dolomitization, even though they are commonly embedded within completely dolomitized deposits. These microbial deposits formed primarily by calcification of cyanobacteria in lower intertidal and upper subtidal environments, which were not primary sites for dolomitization. Early diagenetic calcification of cyanobacteria additionally reduced the susceptibility of these deposits to dolomitization. Extensively dolomitized microbial deposits (LLH, SH, and columnar stromatolites, and most of stratiform stromatolite laminae) formed primarily by the trapping of sediment in supratidal and intertidal environments on arid to semi-arid tidal flats. Pervasive syndepositional calcification of cyanobacteria may have been precluded by conditions of periodic emergence, hypersalinity, and the presence of finegrained sediment serving as competing sites for carbonate mineral nucleation. Extensive dolomitization altered these peritidal carbonate sediments early in their diagenetic history (penecontemporaneous or syngenetic dolomitization). The presence of both calcitic and dolomitic laminae is indicative of a combination of trapping and calcification for the formation of stratiform stromatolites. The formation of Upper Cambrian microbial deposits was primarily controlled by the conditions within the environments of deposition, but was also biotically influenced to some degree.