cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Resilience of Islands: Borders and Boundaries of Risk Reduction

Notions of space and time are keenly understood on small islands. It is the isolation from other communities which encourages awareness of risks as well as strengthens identity and the need for collective, collaborative action. Islands are not only exposed to many man-made and natural hazards and threats, the challenges of effective emergency response, humanitarian relief, and disaster recovery are exacerbated by location and limited transportation resources. In addition, understanding the geographies of risk and vulnerabilities, the capacity to cope with and manage natural and human caused threats and hazards is necessary for survival and sustainability. While islands have long developed mechanisms for managing internal social and political affairs, the challenges with globalization have created new opportunities and challenges. International trade and tourism have long exposed island communities to external forces, with climate change, sea level rise, and other global hazards. Islands need more than ever before to develop robust systems for emergency management, risk reduction, mitigation and adaptation. In addition to national systems for coordinating response and recovery, issues related to civilian-military interactions and exchanges between international organizations play out in the planning, exercises, and management of disasters. In addition to the place-based culture and systems of governance, institutional and organizational requirements are drawn into the mix, requiring effective communications, coordination and harmonization of procedures, policies, and approaches to risk management. There is a need for both generally agreed upon principles and standards as well as a capacity to learn and adapt to localized knowledge and systems. While disasters are seen as rare events, they actually reflect and embody many of the underlying characteristics, problems, and capabilities of the affected communities. Based on experiences in Hawaii, Samoa, Indonesia, and other small island communities, the resilience of islands is investigated. Cultural knowledge, traditional systems of community resource management, and efforts to sustain local knowledge, wisdom and practices amidst growing disparities in wealth, power, and access to information and technology suggest the need for greater awareness, improved training and capacity building, and stronger commitments on the part of island and international communities to disaster risk reduction. The chapter suggests strategies and opportunities for not just building resilience on island communities, but also applying the approaches to risk reduction and resilience to other communities. With the growing scale of disaster impacts, and increased demands for outside resources, disaster managers, planners, emergency response personnel, humanitarian relief workers and those involved in longer term recovery need to understand and manage the crossing of borders and boundaries of risk reduction.
Differential Contributions of Selective Attention and Sensory Integration to Driving Performance in Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Disease.

Objectives Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) demonstrate deficits in cross-cortical feature binding distinct from age-related changes in selective attention. This may have consequences for driving performance given its demands on multisensory integration. We examined the relationship of visuospatial search and binding to driving in patients with early AD and elderly controls (EC). Methods Participants (42 AD; 37 EC) completed search tasks requiring either luminance-motion (L-M) or color-motion (C-M) binding, analogs of within and across visual processing stream binding, respectively. Standardized road test (RIRT) and naturalistic driving data (CDAS) were collected alongside clinical screening measures. Results Patients performed worse than controls on most cognitive and driving indices. Visual search and clinical measures were differentially related to driving behavior across groups. L-M search and Trail Making Test (TMT-B) were associated with RIRT performance in controls, while C-M binding, TMT-B errors, and Clock Drawing correlated with CDAS performance in patients. After controlling for demographic and clinical predictors, L-M reaction time significantly predicted RIRT performance in controls. In patients, C-M binding made significant contributions to CDAS above and beyond demographic and clinical predictors. RIRT and C-M binding measures accounted for 51% of variance in CDAS performance in patients. Conclusions Whereas selective attention is associated with driving behavior in EC, cross-cortical binding appears most sensitive to driving in AD. This latter relationship may emerge only in naturalistic settings, which better reflect patients' driving behavior. Visual integration may offer distinct insights into driving behavior, and thus has important implications for assessing driving competency in early AD. (JINS, 2018, 24, 486-497).
Complex relationships among rearing temperature, growth and sprint speed in clonal lines of rainbow trout

Cold-water dependent rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) inhabit a considerably diverse geographic range extending from Alaska to southern California, where adjustments in growth and swim performan...
Temporomandibular Joint Ankylosis After Ramus Construction With Free Fibula Flaps in Children With Hemifacial Microsomia.

Purpose Patients with hemifacial microsomia (HFM) and Kaban-Pruzansky type III mandibular deformities require ramus construction with autologous tissue. The free fibula flap, an alternative to the costochondral graft, has favorable characteristics for this construction but may be associated with temporomandibular joint ankylosis. The purposes of this study were to present a series of patients with HFM who underwent free fibula flap ramus construction, to determine the incidence of ankylosis, and to identify perioperative factors associated with ankylosis. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with HFM who underwent ramus construction with a free fibula flap at Boston Children's Hospital from 2003 to 2015. Patients who had at least 1 year of follow-up and complete medical records were included. The predictor variables included demographic information, HFM severity, surgical history, and operative details. The primary outcome variable was the occurrence of ankylosis. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and significance was set at P Results We included 8 patients (75% of whom were female patients) in the study sample. Patients underwent construction at a mean age of 11.4 ± 5.9 years (range, 5 to 21 years). In 5 patients (63%), ankylosis developed during the follow-up period of 7.3 ± 4.8 years. The average time from construction to ankylosis was 4.2 ± 3.7 years. The only predictor variable statistically significantly associated with ankylosis was the use of a contralateral releasing osteotomy, which reduced the rate of ankylosis (P = .035). There was a trend toward a younger age in patients in whom ankylosis developed (8.8 ± 2.6 years) compared with those without ankylosis (15.5 ± 8.1 years, P = .392). Conclusions The free fibula flap can be associated with a high rate of ankylosis when used for ramus construction in patients with HFM. Passive flap insertion and/or use of a contralateral releasing osteotomy may reduce this risk.
Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Secondary Pyrrolic Metabolites Construct Multiple Activation Pathways Leading to DNA Adduct Formation and Potential Liver Tumor Initiation.

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and their N-oxide derivatives are hepatotoxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic phytochemicals. PAs induce liver tumors through a general genotoxic mechanism mediated by a set of four (±)-6,7-dihydro-7-hydroxy-1-hydroxymethyl-5H-pyrrolizine (DHP)-derived DNA adducts. To date, the primary pyrrolic metabolites dehydro-PAs, their hydrolyzed metabolite DHP, and two secondary pyrrolic metabolites 7-glutathione-DHP (7-GS-DHP) and 7-cysteine-DHP are the known metabolites that can generate these DHP-DNA adducts in vivo and/or in PA-treated cells. Secondary pyrrolic metabolites are formed from the reaction of dehydro-PAs with glutathione, amino acids, and proteins. In this investigation, we determined whether or not more secondary pyrrolic metabolites can bind to calf thymus DNA and to cellular DNA in HepG2 cells resulting in the formation of DHP-DNA adducts using a series of secondary pyrrolic metabolites (including 7-methoxy-DHP, 9-ethoxy-DHP, 9-valine-DHP, 7-GS-DHP, 7-cysteine-DHP, and ...
Drug use in pregnancy and lactation.

SUMMARY When prescribing drugs for patients who are pregnant or lactating, a clinician needs to ask the following questions: (1) Is pharmacotherapy necessary? (2) What drug can be used that has the lowest potential toxicity according to current knowledge? (3) What pharmacokinetic parameters does the drug follow during pregnancy? (4) What are the major risks inherent to this particular drug treatment? (5) Do the benefits outweigh the risks? and (6) How can the risks be minimized by adjusting the drug dosage and duration? It is also important to inform the patient of the possible risks and have her participate in making treatment decisions. If possible, the fetus or neonate should be monitored for adverse reactions during the course of treatment, and if any serious problems occur, the medication can be discontinued. Although it is true that no drug is totally without risk when used during pregnancy or lactation, if proper precautions are taken, then treatment can be rendered with minimal risks to both mother and child.
The Rose and the Lotus: Bulgarian Electronic Entanglements in India, 1967–89:

This article examines Bulgaria's electronic trade with India between 1967 and 1990. The developing world became a formative learning experience for the computer industry, as it came up against both...
Simulation of IoT to Boost Services Interoperability and Lower Barriers for Things Integration

Nowadays many appliances, machines and services assist human on day-to-day basis. Let's call those fridges, cars, navigators and vacuum cleaners - Entities (or Things). However, in order to enable those Entities to act consumers spend a lot of time and energy. E.g. one has to load food into a fridge, tank fuel into a car, etc. What if Entities would want to do better what they were designed for? What if Entities would have intelligence to be self-maintaining, looking for supply needed, tune their service functions for a particular consumer given current context? The paper outlines directions for further development of global IoT towards these goals. For these purposes requirements for scalable interoperability model between IoT Entities formulated and a particular model satisfying these requirements proposed. Also, alternatives for distribution of intelligence across IoT discussed with focus on consequences to IoT scalability. Finally, software simulation approach to IoT development proposed. It is suggested that key roadblocks on the path to IoT sustainable growth can be removed by running simulation of IoT universe. In particular, software simulation allows validation and debugging of given IoT interoperability model; experiments with adding random capabilities to various IoT entities; exposure of new usage scenarios and deep validation of new IoT entities integration into network.
Laparoscopic adrenalectomy for metastatic disease: Retrospective cohort with long-term, comprehensive follow-up

Background Several malignancies metastasize to the adrenal gland, especially non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Adrenalectomy is associated with prolonged survival, but laparoscopic adrenalectomy for this indication is controversial. Our objective was to characterize and quantify outcomes after laparoscopic adrenalectomy for metastases to the adrenal gland. Methods A prospectively maintained surgical database and institutional cancer registry were queried for patients who underwent adrenalectomy for metastases. From 1995 to 2016, a total of 62 patients underwent adrenalectomy for metastases, with 59 (95.%) having been performed laparoscopically. Primary end points were cumulative probability of 5-year survival and median survival. Patients in the institutional series were compared with Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Results There were no deaths within a 30-day period, 6 complications, and 2 conversions to open adrenalectomy. Non-small cell lung cancer (N = 20), renal cell carcinoma (N = 14), and melanoma (N = 8) were the 3 most common adrenal metastases. Overall, cumulative probability of 5-year survival was 37% and median survival was 34 months (95% CI 26–53 months). Median survival for non-small cell lung cancer was 26 months, for renal cell carcinoma was 67 months, and for melanoma was 30 months (P = NS). There was no demonstrable survival benefit for metachronous versus synchronous presentations, no association with size or disease-free interval, nor the presence/history of other metastases. Conclusion Laparoscopic adrenalectomy for metastases is safe when performed by experienced surgeons. Outcomes are similar or improved compared with series with predominantly open adrenalectomies. Patients selected for laparoscopic adrenalectomy to treat metastatic disease also have prolonged survival compared with Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, or melanoma who do not undergo resection of metastatic disease.
Reduced Modulus Acrylic Bone Cement

Loosening is the dominant long-term problem facing joint replacement surgeons and patients. A probable cause of endoprosthesis loosening is the strain singularity at the material interfaces. The concentration of shear at the bone-cement interface leads to micromotion which precipitates a soft-tissue membrane and resorption of the cancellous bone. A more compliant cement would substantially reduce the interfacial stresses and serve as a “pillow” between the prosthetic stem and the cancellous bone. We have developed a surgically-workable formulation of a reduced modulus acrylic bone cement — polybutylmethylmethacrylate (PBMMA) — to test this hypothesis. Materials property testing and in vivo implantation are discussed.
Health Economics of Palliative Therapy

Cancer care is expensive due to increasing age, more cancer cases, increased demand for treatment, and new expensive technologies. We must use our the limited resources wisely so that we can provide both curative and palliative care. Since palliative therapy does not cure cancer or gain years of life, it often does not have a measurable cost-effectiveness ratio. Cost-utility ratios, which add the improvement in health to the life years gained, may not change much with palliative therapy. The improvements in health state are too small, or are lost because the impact of the disease is so large. Only a few studies have assessed the economics of palliative therapy. The major areas of interest include palliative chemotherapy vs. best supportive care; supportive care for cancer symptoms; the process and structure of care; follow up; and hospice care. Chemotherapy for Stage III and IV non-small cell lung cancer, mitoxantrone for prostate cancer, and chemotherapy for gastrointestinal cancer have acceptable cost-effectiveness ratios. There are many ways to save money and improve supportive care for infections, nausea, and pain. Hospice care gives care equal to regular care, but will save only 3%. Coordination of care will not improve the clinical outcomes of dying patients, but will save 40% of costs. The cost of palliative therapy is so small, and the benefits so large, that it should always be included in a list of approved treatments.
Introducing OpenLPT: new method of removing ghost particles and high-concentration particle shadow tracking

We developed an open-source Lagrangian particle tracking (OpenLPT) based on the Shake-the-Box (Schanz, Gesemann, and Schroder, Exp. Fluids 57.5, 2016) method. The source code of OpenLPT is available on GitHub repository (@JHU-NI-LAB). The code features a new method that removes the majority of ghost particles at a high particle image density. The resulting percentage of ghost particles drops from 110% to 26% for image density at 0.125 ppp—nearly 84% of ghost particles are removed. Extensive tests of OpenLPT using synthetic data sets show that the code produces tracks with accuracy and processing time similar to the previously-reported values. In addition, OpenLPT has been parallelized to run on high-performance computing clusters to drastically increase its processing speed. To examine the code’s capability of tracking shadows of small tracers for backlit experiments, the blurred-particle effect was also included on synthetic images and OpenLPT was tested to process these noisy images. The results show that OpenLPT can also track shadows of a high-concentration of particles reliably in 3D. Based on the test, the optimal depth of field (DoF) and particle concentration for future experiments using Lagrangian shadow tracking are provided. For example, DoF controlled by the aperture should be set at around half of the size of the view area. At this DoF, most particles in the interrogation volume can be tracked, whereas particles outside the interrogation volume become too dim to affect results. 40 experimental data sets for a wide range of particle concentrations were also used for evaluating the code, and the results show a nice agreement with the synthetic tests.
Polyphenol supplementation benefits human health via gut microbiota: A systematic review via meta-analysis

Abstract Polyphenol supplementation attracts much research attentions due to beneficial effects on human health. Gut microbiota significantly shape human health, but polyphenols in changing human gut microbiota remain elusive. This study aimed to use meta-analytic methods to reveal the effects of polyphenol-rich foods on the abundance of human gut microbiota. Significant heterogeneity analysis showed the polyphenol intake dose and sources variedly affected on abundance of gut microbiota. Polyphenol supplementation stimulated the abundance of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium health promoting species, but inhibited the abundance of Clostridium pathogenic species in gut microbiota of human subjects. Notably, peak increase of abundance of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Clostridum health promoting species was at polyphenol intake of 396 mg/d, 540 mg/d, and 593 mg/d respectively. Taken together, polyphenol supplementation shapes gut microbiota species, contributing to benefits in human health.
Entrepreneurial Leadership as Creative Brokering: The Process and Practice of Co‐creating and Advancing Opportunity

How does entrepreneurial leadership drive the process of forming and advancing opportunity? Drawing from an ethnographic field study of Nashville music producers, I develop a model of entrepreneurial leadership as creative brokering – the practices and process by which entrepreneurs lead and mobilize a complex network of actors in co‐creating and advancing opportunity. I find that entrepreneurial leaders encounter three tensions as they advance this process: 1) generating novel ideas and fitting them within the competitive landscape; 2) incubating opportunity and seizing the moment in the market; and 3) fostering experimentation and navigating hyper‐competition. I show when these tensions arise and identify six creative brokering practices through which leaders leverage their brokerage role to navigate these tensions in order to move opportunity forward. The paper offers a model of entrepreneurial leadership as creative brokering, extends extant creative brokering scholarship to consider more distal market actors, and shows how creative brokering and leadership towards creative outcomes involve iteratively stepping forward to infuse market perspective and exert control, and stepping back to let others shine and co‐create ideas.
Genetic and Dietary Influences on Lifespan

Abstract Longevity, defined as a long duration of life, is the result of a decrease in the cumulative mortality in any population across all ages. The trend toward increasing survival into old age for those living in developed countries has come about as a result of decreasing mortality rates among the older segment of the population. From 1950 to 1995, the mortality rates for women over the age of 80 years declined by 50%. Improvements in environmental hygiene, social welfare, health care systems and advances in medicine worldwide have no doubt contributed to the current trends in lifespan. Clearly, lifestyle and socioeconomic status have important influences. Modifying the diet by caloric restriction and, to a lesser degree, by the consumption of antioxidants has profound effects on longevity in laboratory animals, but the impact in humans is more uncertain. In studies of aging in rodents, other model organisms, and humans, genetic variants can influence both longevity and lifespan, defined as actual time lived, but the mechanism underlying these associations is incompletely understood.
Rb family-independent activating E2F increases genome stability, promotes homologous recombination, and decreases non-homologous end joining

The retinoblastoma protein Rb is a prototype tumor suppressor inactivated in a variety of cancers. In addition to deregulated cell proliferation, Rb inactivation also causes genome instability that contributes to tumorigenesis. Although the genome instability effects of Rb inactivation was shown to be mediated mainly by E2F-independent mechanisms, little is known about whether the constitutive free activating E2F proteins released by Rb-inactivation affects genome stability. In this manuscript, we take advantage of the dE2F1su89 mutant, which contains a point mutation in the conserved Rb-binding domain that disrupts its interaction with the Rb family proteins, to characterize the effect of constitutive free activating E2F on genome stability in the presence of WT Rb. We showed that dE2F1su89 promoted genome stability in the mwh genome stability assay. We found that the genome stability effects of dE2F1su89 was sensitive to the levels of activating E2F activity and to the levels of E2F targets involved in DNA replication and repair but not to the level of E2F cell cycle target Cyclin E. Importantly, we showed that dE2F1su89 promoted DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair by homologous recombination and decreased DSB repair by Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). These results show that the constitutive free activating E2F promotes genome stability, which potentially contributes the observed tumor development in E2F1 knockout mice and the reported NHEJ defects in Rb mutant cells. These results also explain why constitutive free activating E2F alone was not sufficient for tumor development.
Computerized features of spatial interplay of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes predict disease recurrence in p16+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: A multisite validation study.

6559Background: While overall, patients with p16+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) have a favorable prognosis, subsets of patients experience disease recurrence (DR) and death despite ...
Assessment of the Robustness of the Mars 2020 Terminal Descent Sensor in the Event of Beam Failure

The Mars 2020 entry, descent, and landing architecture resembles closely that of MSL. Due to the inherent similarity between both missions, Mars 2020 will make use of heritage technology and spare parts of Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), including the Terminal Descent Sensor. The Terminal Descent Sensor collects instantaneous altitude and velocity measurements of the vehicle using a six narrow-beam line of sight Doppler altimeter/velocimeter. For MSL, it was shown that the system is robust enough for one beam to be temporarily obscured by the jettisoned heatshield. In this paper, we further evaluate the system's robustness and EDL performance in the event of beam failure. This assessment was done by means of Monte Carlo dispersion analysis. In each simulation it is assumed that one of the six beams does not collect measurements. Further analysis was conducted to evaluate system performance by employing a measurement collection scheme that leads to a lower loss of measurements. Analysis demonstrated that in the event of beam failure the TDS provides degraded altitude and velocity measurements. The largest degradation in performance is seen when the nadir pointing beam does not collect altitude measurements, resulting in timeline degradation, higher altitude errors, and a higher vertical velocity at touchdown. Results showed, however, that measurements provided by the TDS to the navigation filter are sufficient to still ensure a survivable touchdown if the system employs the original beam sequences or opts to use an alternate sequence in the event that a hardware failure is discovered during the inter-planetary cruise to Mars.
Trace minmax functions and the radical Laguerre–Pólya class

We classify functions $$f:(a,b)\rightarrow \mathbb {R}$$ which satisfy the inequality $$\begin{aligned} {\text {tr}}f(A)+f(C)\ge {\text {tr}}f(B)+f(D) \end{aligned}$$ when $$A\le B\le C$$ are self-adjoint matrices, $$D= A+C-B$$ , the so-called trace minmax functions. (Here $$A\le B$$ if $$B-A$$ is positive semidefinite, and f is evaluated via the functional calculus.) A function is trace minmax if and only if its derivative analytically continues to a self-map of the upper half plane. The negative exponential of a trace minmax function $$g=e^{-f}$$ satisfies the inequality $$\begin{aligned} \det g(A) \det g(C)\le \det g(B) \det g(D) \end{aligned}$$ for A, B, C, D as above. We call such functions determinant isoperimetric. We show that determinant isoperimetric functions are in the “radical” of the Laguerre–Polya class. We derive an integral representation for such functions which is essentially a continuous version of the Hadamard factorization for functions in the Laguerre–Polya class. We apply our results to give some equivalent formulations of the Riemann hypothesis.
State v. Yepez: Admissibility and Relevance of Behavioral Genetic Evidence in a Criminal Trial

The New Mexico Supreme Court recently considered whether a trial court had erred in excluding behavioral genetic evidence of a murder defendant's low-activity monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene, which the defendant argued had predisposed him-along with his history of childhood maltreatment-to "maladaptive or violent behavior." After an extensive analysis of the underlying science and its relevance to the case, the supreme court held unanimously that the trial judge had the discretion to exclude the MAOA evidence. The court's analysis provides insights into how other courts are likely to rule on the relevance of behavioral genetic evidence.
177Lu-PSMA617 and the VISION Trial: One of the Greatest Success Stories in the History of Nuclear Medicine.

The recently published results of the VISION trial ([1][1]) represent the culmination of translational research efforts that started in the 1980s and early 1990s with the discovery of the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) ([2][2]). Because of favorable biodistribution and tissue expression,
Anotações para uma História da Faculdade de Direito da Bahia (Notes to a History of UFBA Law School)

Portuguese Abstract: Esta e a historia da Faculdade de Direito da UFBA, incluindo um capitulo sobre a criacao dos cursos juridicos no Brasil e a fundacao da Faculdade Livre de Direito da Bahia. English Abstract:This is the history of the UFBA Law School, including a chapter on the creation of the law schools in Brazil and the foundation of the Bahia Law School.
Modeling of lattice parameters of cubic perovskite oxides and halides.

Abstract Perovskites having the chemical formulae of ABX3 are promising candidates for various electronic, magnetic, and thermal applications. One of the important structural factors is a (the lattice constant), which represents the unit cell size. The variation in the lattice constant is a combined result of interactions between different ions, determined by valence electrons and ionic radii. The size and stability of unit cells have important influences on structural stabilities, bandgap structures, and therefore performance of materials. To obtain the lattice constant of cubic perovskites without going through experimental efforts such as synthesis and measurements, we construct a model based on Gaussian process regressions for cubic perovskite lattice constant predictions. The model utilizes the number of valence electrons as well as ionic radii of alloying elements as predictors. A total of 149 cubic perovskites containing fluorides, chlorides, and bromides with cation combinations of A1+B2+, as well as oxides with cation combinations of A1+B5+, A2+B4+, and A3+B3+ are explored. The model demonstrates good performance in terms of stabilities and accuracy, and thus could be a rapid approach to estimate lattice constants.
Bullying as a Developmental Precursor to Sexual and Dating Violence Across Adolescence: Decade in Review.

Adolescent bullying continues to be a major focus of scholarship across the globe. This article reviews research from 2010 to 2021 with a particular focus on longitudinal studies of the bully–sexua...
Main Clinical Presentations of Chronic Subdural Hematomas

Chronic subdural hematomas (CSDHs) are a common neurosurgical condition. Overall, this disease state is most common in the elderly population with a male preponderance. Headache, confusion, behavioral changes, gait disturbance, and motor deficits are the commonly encountered signs and symptoms seen in these patients. Symptoms related to elevated intracranial pressure may be more common in younger patients. There is a tendency for patients to present with left-sided hematomas. As SDHs become increasingly prevalent, it behooves the clinician to have a thorough understanding of their presentation in these patients.
Chapter 7 Regulation of Na,K-ATPase by Reactive Oxygen Species

Abstract Pulmonary edema occurs in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and congestive heart failure. Effective edema clearance is critical for these patients to survive. The edema clearance is carried out mostly by the coordination of the apical Na+ channels and the basolateral Na,K-ATPase effecting active Na+ transport. Downregulation of Na+ transport occurs frequently in ARDS patients and results in impaired edema clearance. Hypoxia, hyperoxia, particulate matter and thrombin inhibit edema clearance. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated from the electron transport chain in the mitochondria and/or NADPH oxidase appears to be critical for the impaired edema clearance under these stress conditions. During hypoxia, ROS activate PKCζ, which in turn phosphorylates Na,K-ATPase α 1 subunit at Ser-18, leading to the endocytosis of Na,K-ATPase from the plasma membrane. The endocytosis of Na,K-ATPase results in decreased Na,K-ATPase activity and can be prevented by antioxidants. We propose that ROS act as signaling molecules regulating the activity of Na,K-ATPase, which is important for alveolar fluid reabsorption. Further studies into the mechanisms by which Na,K-ATPase is regulated will be of importance for development of novel strategies for the treatment of edema patients.
A Framework for the Examination of Relational Ethics: An Interactionist Perspective

Despite the widespread agreement that the ontology of the marketing discipline is exchange, marketing ethics researchers have largely adopted a monadic viewpoint of ethical decision making. In this research, an interactionist approach is adopted in order to introduce a dyadic perspective of un/ethical decision making. The dyadic model includes each channel member's individual, situational and decision process factors linked by relationalism, an emerging paradigm in marketing channels. Relationalism is represented as a discriminating variable between perceived ethical dilemma and decision behaviour. Finally, a number of theoretical propositions are presented and future research directions are discussed.
Major Histocompatibility Complex-Directed Susceptibility to Rheumatoid Arthritis

Publisher Summary The human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region includes at least 6 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I genes and 14 HLA class II loci within a 4-megabase region. The complex also includes several other genes functionally related to pathways of antigen presentation and processing. HLA-DRB1 molecules, like all class II MHC molecules, bind antigenic peptides and present these peptides for recognition to antigen-specific T lymphocytes. This chapter discusses several different molecular mechanisms envisioned to account for the association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the specific shared epitope sequence on DRB class II susceptibility molecules. In one of the mechanisms, the HLA-DR molecules associated with RA are presumed to bind a specific pathogenic peptide. Peptides with neutral and small amino acids at residue are capable of binding to the same class II molecules albeit with lower avidity. Thus, the restricted motif for peptide residue 4 may be favored for antigens bound by RA-associated class II molecules. Another model suggests that the basis for the shared epitope association with RA is that the DRB1 molecule itself is an antigen, in which proteolysis leads to presentation of peptides derived from the DRB1-encoded protein.
Modified Hemagglutination-Inhibition Test for Rubella Employing Human Group O Erythrocytes

A hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test for rubella is described which utilizes human group O, rather than 1-day-old chick, erythrocytes. The test was found to be as sensitive and reproducible for detection of rubella antibody as HI tests employing chick erythrocytes. Advantages to the use of human erythrocytes are (i) they are more available, (ii) it is unnecessary to absorb natural agglutinins from human test sera, and (iii) heparin-MnCl(2)-treated sera do not agglutinate human erythrocytes, as is sometimes the case with chick erythrocytes. Factors influencing the reliability of the test are discussed.
Evaluating rehabilitation efforts following the Milford Flat Fire: successes, failures, and controlling factors

Uncontrolled wildfire in arid and semiarid ecosystems has become an increasing concern in recent decades. Active rehabilitation of fire-affected areas is often quickly initiated to minimize long-term ecosystem damage. However, the complex soil-geomorphic-vegetation patterns and low and variable moisture conditions in these regions makes restoration challenging. To further inform these post-fire management decisions, we present results from 5 years of vegetation and sediment flux monitoring following the Milford Flat Fire in west-central Utah, USA. Our sampling design includes monitoring plots in areas not burned, areas burned but where no rehabilitation was attempted, and burned areas where various rehabilitation approaches were implemented. At each of the 25 plots, vegetation cover and composition data were collected annually, and wind-driven sediment flux was measured using passive dust traps. To evaluate effectiveness of post-fire rehabilitation treatments in establishing desired species and limiting dominance of undesired species, we analyzed the temporal response of individual species and functional groups as well as community-level multivariate responses. The warm and dry conditions that persisted for approximately 12 months post-treatment, coupled with the surface disturbing rehabilitation approaches used, resulted in near-surface dust fluxes several orders of magnitude higher in treated areas than in unburned or burned areas where no rehabilitation occurred. These dry conditions and high surface sediment flux limited the establishment of seeded species in rehabilitation areas for nearly 3 years. Post-fire rehabilitation did not limit dominance by invasive annual species of concern. Perennial species composition in the areas burned but not subject to post-fire rehabilitation was relatively similar to unburned throughout the study period. In contrast, the burned plots where rehabilitation was attempted were characterized by no (<3%) perennial cover or, in response to moister conditions, seeded forage species. These results suggest the post-fire rehabilitation efforts conducted in the lower elevation regions affected by the Milford Flat Fire were not generally successful. Though dry conditions are likely to blame for the lack of success, the low and variable precipitation characteristic of these regions suggest future post-fire rehabilitation decisions must assume that precipitation is going to be insufficient and plan rehabilitation efforts that are resilient to dry conditions.
Nonlinear Adaptive Observer for a Lithium-Ion Battery Cell Based on Coupled Electrochemical–Thermal Model

Real-time estimation of battery internal states and physical parameters is of the utmost importance for intelligent battery management systems (BMS). Electrochemical models, derived from the principles of electrochemistry, are arguably more accurate in capturing the physical mechanism of the battery cells than their counterpart data-driven or equivalent circuit models (ECM). Moreover, the electrochemical phenomena inside the battery cells are coupled with the thermal dynamics of the cells. Therefore, consideration of the coupling between electrochemical and thermal dynamics inside the battery cell can be potentially advantageous for improving the accuracy of the estimation. In this paper, a nonlinear adaptive observer scheme is developed based on a coupled electrochemical–thermal model of a Li-ion battery cell. The proposed adaptive observer scheme estimates the distributed Li-ion concentration and temperature states inside the electrode, and some of the electrochemical model parameters, simultaneously. These states and parameters determine the state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH) of the battery cell. The adaptive scheme is split into two separate but coupled observers, which simplifies the design and gain tuning procedures. The design relies on a Lyapunov's stability analysis of the observers, which guarantees the convergence of the combined state-parameter estimates. To validate the effectiveness of the scheme, both simulation and experimental studies are performed. The results show that the adaptive scheme is able to estimate the desired variables with reasonable accuracy. Finally, some scenarios are described where the performance of the scheme degrades.
A Survey of Web-based Collective Decision Making Systems

A collective decision making system uses an aggregation mechanism to combine the input of individuals to generate a decision. The decisions generated serve a variety of purposes from governance rulings to forecasts for planning. The Internet hosts a suite of collective decision making systems, some that were inconceivable before the web. In this paper, we present a taxonomy of collective decision making systems into which we place seven principal web-based tools. This taxonomy serves to elucidate the state of the art in web-based collective decision making as well as to highlight opportunities for innovation.
A radial basis function approach to financial time series analysis

Billions of dollars flow through the world's financial markets every day, and market participants are understandably eager to accurately price financial instruments and understand relationships involving them. Nonlinear multivariate statistical modeling on fast computers offers the potential to capture more of the underlying dynamics of these high dimensional, noisy systems than traditional models while at the same time making fewer restrictive assumptions about them. For this style of exploratory, nonparametric modeling to be useful, however, care must be taken in fundamental estimation and confidence issues, especially concerns deriving from limited sample sizes. This thesis presents a collection of practical techniques to address these issues for a modeling methodology, Radial Basis Function networks. These techniques include efficient methods for parameter estimation and pruning, including a heuristic for setting good initial parameter values, a pointwise prediction error estimator for kernel type RBF networks, and a methodology for controlling the "data mining" problem. Novel applications in the finance area are described, including the derivation of customized, adaptive option pricing formulas that can distill information about the associated time varying systems that may not be readily captured by theoretical models. A second application area is stock price prediction, where models are found with lower out-of-sample error and better "paper trading" profitability than that of simpler linear and/or univariate models, although their true economic significance for real life trading is questionable. Finally, a case is made for fast computer implementations of these ideas to facilitate the necessary model searching and confidence testing, and related implementation issues are discussed. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
Age-related hearing loss, vitamin B-12, and folate in elderly women

Background Hearing impairment is 1 of the 4 most prevalent chronic conditions in the elderly. However, the biological basis of age-related hearing loss is unknown. Objective The objective was to test the hypothesis that age-related hearing loss may be associated with poor vitamin B-12 and folate status. Design A thorough audiometric assessment was conducted in 55 healthy women aged 60-71 y. Hearing function was determined by the average of pure-tone air conduction thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz and was categorized into 2 groups for logistic regression analyses: normal hearing ( or = 20 dB hearing level; n = 11). Results Mean age was the same (65 y) for the normal hearing and impaired hearing groups. Pure-tone averages were inversely correlated with serum vitamin B-12 (r = -0.58, P = 0.0001) and red cell folate (r = -0.37, P = 0.01). Women with impaired hearing had 38% lower serum vitamin B-12 (236 compared with 380 pmol/L, respectively, P = 0.008) and 31% lower red cell folate (425 compared with 619 nmol/L, respectively, P = 0.02) than women with normal hearing. Among participants who did not take supplements containing vitamin B-12 or folate, women with impaired hearing had 48% lower serum vitamin B-12 (156 compared with 302 pmol/L, respectively, P = 0.0007) and 43% lower red cell folate (288 compared with 502 nmol/L, respectively, P = 0.001) than women with normal hearing. Conclusion Poor vitamin B-12 and folate status may be associated with age-related auditory dysfunction.
Spreading the Word

This research explores peoples disclosures of emphatic interaction – the behavioral effects resulting from parasocial relationships – with National Basketball Association (NBA) team owner, Mark Cuban, while he participated on American Broadcasting Corporations (ABC) popular television show, Dancing with the Stars. An inductive coding process was conducted using constant comparative methodology on 1700 postings in response to 10 of Cubans entries posted on his blog (www.blogmaverick.com) during his time on the show. Three emphatic interaction categories emerge from data analysis: (1) emotional intensity, (2) devotion, and (3) consultation. The findings of the study suggest a parasocial interaction role reversal wherein media users are counseling celebrities rather than seeking advice from them; findings also suggest that emphatic interaction aids a fans ability to maintain preferred representations of the celebrity. Both these findings are significantly influenced by the interactive features of compute...
Laser photofragmentation/fragment detection techniques for chemical analysis of the gas phase

Abstract Laser photofragmentation/fragment detection techniques utilize one or multiple lasers for photolysis of the analyte species and spectroscopic detection of the characteristic photofragments. Fragment detection techniques include laser-induced fluorescence, photoionization, prompt emission, stimulated emission, and laser ionization recombination emission spectroscopies. Applications for chemical analysis of the gas phase have been performed by the detection of atomic and molecular fragments. Recent reports of photofragmentation/fragment detection approaches are presented and the outlook for future applications is discussed.
Molecular systematics of tanagers (Thraupinae): evolution and biogeography of a diverse radiation of neotropical birds

The tanagers (Passeriformes: Emberizidae: Thraupinae) are a diverse group of mostly Neotropical birds with a wide range of feeding morphologies, behaviors, plumage patterns and colors, and habitat preferences. Phylogenetic relationships of genera in this lineage were investigated using cytochrome b sequence data. This study indicates that the genera Euphonia and Chlorophonia (traditionally considered part of Thraupinae) do not form a monophyletic group with the other tanagers. Within the rest of Thraupinae, several monophyletic groups are identified that agree with traditional sequential taxonomies. Other monophyletic groups provide novel interpretations of biogeographic patterns and morphological evolution within tanagers. In several lineages, plumage patterns and colors persist despite dramatic changes in bill morphology. Phylogenetic structure and estimated timings of divergence events indicate that tanagers probably originated on Caribbean islands and later diversified throughout Central and South America during the mid-Tertiary.
The double-layer impedance at a rough surface : numerical results

Abstract In this study we consider the relationship between the double-layer impedance at a rough surface and the statistical properties of random walks that are reflected from such a surface. We describe a numerical method that uses this relationship to calculate the impedance. Along with the details of our particular implementation, we present results for classes of rough surfaces for which there are theoretical predictions for the impedance behavior: self-similar surfaces, hierarchical pore structures and a random surface model.
Growing Up Too Soon: Parental Status, Concern for Youth, and Attitudes Toward Sexual Morality

ABSTRACT Many scholars argue that the experience of parenting is likely to generate unique concerns regarding youth deviance and sexual morality. Parents, it is argued, are widely regarded as purveyors of social norms, are expected to be a force for law and order, and thus have a special interest in the maintenance of traditional moral boundaries. Yet, unexpectedly, previous studies in this area have failed to detect a parental status effect, with parents being no more likely than non-parents to endorse traditional moral attitudes. In this study, we explore possible reasons for this outcome. We hypothesize that parental status is likely to affect the attitudes of certain individuals, but not others. The experience of parenting is not likely to affect the moral attitudes of “traditionalists,” as such individuals tend to be oriented toward conservative views regardless of parental status. Parental status is more likely to influence the attitudes of “modernist” individuals, who are otherwise oriented toward ...