cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Embracing the Hopelessness of Those Seeking Pastoral Care

The uncritical appropriation of Eurocentric philosophical and theological paradigms is detrimental to disenfranchised communities of color. This article argues for a methodology rooted in the hopel...
Fundamental Thermal Limits on Data Retention in Low-Voltage CMOS Latches and SRAM

Ultra-low-power systems with substantial computing capacity require latches and SRAMs to operate at extremely low supply voltages. However, with aggressive technology scaling, reliability becomes a major challenge due to unavoidable process variations and the presence of multiple noise sources, including intrinsic thermal noise. This paper provides a quantitative measure of reliability by calculating the probability distribution function (PDF) of errors induced by thermal noise in latches and SRAMs operating in subthreshold conditions. Implemented in a novel simulation tool for thermal-noise analysis of CMOS circuits (STTACC), our algorithm uses a stochastic differential equation circuit model that preserves the proper Poissonian statistics for thermal-noise-driven current fluctuations in MOSFETs. Our probabilistic error model can handle error rate analysis for arrays of latches or full SRAMs on time scales from seconds to years without excessive computational overhead. We demonstrate that the time-to-error (TTE) statistics of subthreshold SRAMs obey log-normal distributions that depend on parameters such as node and device capacitance, device threshold variations and operating conditions of supply voltage and temperature. This makes it possible to quantitatively evaluate the asymptotic behavior of extremely rare error events that are inaccessible to standard SPICE-based simulations.
Assembly Status Detection Based on Evaluation of not Mounted Parts

In a human robot collaboration assembly scenario the human might not follow a given assembly plan for various reason. Therefore the robot is required to adapt it's behavior to those unpredictable situations. Normally this would require a lot of manual input by a human to reprogram the robot according to this new situation. The focus of this paper is a fully autonomous detection of the current assembly state of an object by just observing the not yet mounted parts. Based on the information of the not mounted parts present in the scene and all possible assembly sequences for a given object, stored in an AND/OR Graph, a traversal algorithm is proposed to determine all possible assembly states and decide on the most likely one. Furthermore, we propose an extension of the initial algorithm to handle non distinct parts. Last but not least the solutions is evaluated in 4 different assembly scenarios.
Abstract NT-120: KNOCKOUT OF MTF1 RESULTS IN THE INHIBITION OF EMT IN OVARIAN CANCER CELLS

Due to peritoneal metastasis and frequent recurrence, ovarian cancer has the highest mortality among gynecological cancers. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to ovarian tumor metastasis. In this study, we report for the first time that metal regulatory transcription factor 1 (MTF1) was upregulated in ovarian cancer, and its high expression was associated with poor patient survival and disease relapse. Knockout of MTF1 using lentiviral CRISPR/Cas9 nickase vector-mediated gene editing inhibited EMT by upregulating epithelial cell markers E-cadherin and cytokeratin 7, and downregulating mesenchymal markers Snai2 and β-catenin in ovarian cancer SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cells. Loss of MTF1 reduced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in both SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cells. Knockout of MTF1 upregulated the expression of the KLF4 transcription factor, and attenuated two cellular survival pathways, ERK1/2 and AKT. Our studies demonstrated that MTF1 plays an oncogenic role and contributes to ovarian tumor metastasis by promoting EMT. MTF1 may be a novel biomarker for early diagnosis as well as a drug target for clinical therapy. Citation Format: Guannan Zhao, Lawrence M Pfeffer Junming Yue. KNOCKOUT OF MTF1 RESULTS IN THE INHIBITION OF EMT IN OVARIAN CANCER CELLS [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium; Sep 13-15, 2018; Seattle, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2019;25(22 Suppl):Abstract nr NT-120.
Corrosion inhibition of mild steel in acidic medium by simple azole-based aromatic compounds

Abstract Many organic corrosion inhibitors are complex and may include complicated chemical structures, mixture of different species, or require numerous and tedious preparation steps. In this study, we demonstrate inhibition by triazole- and imidazole-based compounds, which are synthesized in a one-step method and possess austere chemical structures. The inhibition effect was studied on the corrosion of mild steel in 1.0 M HCl solution at 40 °C by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic polarization, and weight loss. Results from electrochemical measurements showed that the aromatic compounds were effective in inhibiting corrosion in acidic medium, such that the inhibition efficiency increased with increasing inhibitor concentration. The triazole-based compound had the best inhibitive performance (efficiency >90%), followed by the imidazole-based (~85%), at a concentration of 850 μM. These results were supported by analyses obtained from scanning electron and atomic force microscopy, which showed improved mild steel topology and decrease in surface roughness by up to a factor of five, and x-ray diffraction, which revealed the extent of oxide layer formation. In addition, the adsorption of a protective inhibitor layer on the metal surface was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy, while the underlying mode and mechanism were postulated based on a Langmuir adsorption isotherm and computational studies, which showed good correlation between the inhibitive ability and the electron donating and accepting capability of the compounds.
A Deep Q-Learning Approach for GPU Task Scheduling

Efficient utilization of resources is critical to system performance and effectiveness for high performance computing systems. In a graphics processing unit (GPU) -based system, one method for enabling higher utilization is concurrent kernel execution - allowing multiple independent kernels to simultaneously execute on the GPU. However, resource contention due to the manner in which kernel tasks are scheduled may still lead to suboptimal task performance and utilization. In this work, we present a deep Q-learning approach to identify an ordering for a given set of tasks which achieves near-optimal average task performance and high resource utilization. Our solution outperforms other similar approaches and has additional benefit of being adaptable to dynamic task characteristics or GPU resource configurations.
backbone: An R package for extracting the backbone of bipartite projections

Bipartite projections are used in a wide range of network contexts including politics (bill co-sponsorship), genetics (gene co-expression), economics (executive board co-membership), and innovation (patent co-authorship). However, because bipartite projections are always weighted graphs, which are inherently challenging to analyze and visualize, it is often useful to examine the 'backbone,' an unweighted subgraph containing only the most significant edges. In this paper, we introduce the R package backbone for extracting the backbone of weighted bipartite projections, and use bill sponsorship data from the 114th session of the United States Senate to demonstrate its functionality.
Extended Technology Acceptance Model to Examine the Use of Google Forms – based Lesson Playlist in Online Distance Learning

Shifting to online distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic challenged educators' roles as instructional materials designers. This study aimed to examine the students' acceptance of the teacher-designed e-learning tool called Google Forms-based Lesson Playlist (GF-LP) in a home-based online distance learning environment. This quantitative research analyzed 570 responses from Grades 11 and 12 students at a private school in the Philippines using the partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Results showed that perceived self-efficacy and system quality strongly affect the users' perceived ease of use while perceived ease of use highly influenced the students' perceived usefulness of GF-LP. Facilitating conditions do not affect the users' attitudes towards using the e-learning tool, which confirmed the effective utilization of GF-LP in online distance learning. The relationships between the original constructs of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) were also presented. This study recommends the use of GF-LP or its features for remote learning.
Tracking Spillovers During the Taper Tantrum: Evidence from Institutional Investor Transactions in Emerging Markets

In this report, we study the mid-2013 taper tantrum—a market event comprised of a series of policy communications from the Federal Reserve that contributed to sharp volatility across global asset prices—as a case study to shed light on a widely-referenced monetary policy shock. Our research documents and analyzes the trading activity of institutional investors to provide policymakers and researchers with a picture of the interplay between market price movements and investor behavior. The work is motivated by the growing importance of unconventional monetary policy and the role of the market participants in transmitting such signals across markets. We use proprietary data that includes global financial markets transactions (foreign exchange and government bond trades) executed by all types of institutional investors, made available by the Markets Division of J.P. Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank. We find that flows of institutional investors have substantial explanatory power for EM currency performance. In particular, the extent of EM currency depreciation during the taper tantrum is correlated with the trading activity of a relatively small set of hedge funds and banks associated with momentum, as well as asset managers that do not typically exhibit systematic behavior. During the taper tantrum, asset manager net flows became increasingly correlated with changes in EM currencies and the net flows of certain banks and hedge funds, reflecting potential herding behavior that had a significant impact on prices. We also find evidence of a time-varying relationship between net flows and EM currency price action consistent with a larger impact of net flows amid the rise in market volatility over the period. Our findings illustrate how private investor trading activity can be an important, but difficult-to-predict, component in monetary policy transmission mechanism. Central banks should continue to advance their understanding of how policy measures designed to influence market prices also affect the behavior of market participants.
WipDB: A Write-in-place Key-value Store that Mimics Bucket Sort

Key-value (KV) stores have become a major storage infrastructure on which databases, file systems, and other data management systems are built. To support efficient indexing and range search, the key-value items must be sorted. However, this sorting process can be excessively expensive. In the KV systems adopting the popular Log-Structured Merge Tree (LSM) structure or its variants, the write volume can be amplified by tens of times due to its repeated internal merge-sorting operation.In this paper we propose a KV store design that leverages relatively stable key distributions to bound the write amplification by a number as low as 4.15 in practice. The key idea is, instead of incrementally sorting KV items in the LSM’s hierarchical structure, it writes KV items right in place in an approximately sorted list, much like a bucket sort algorithm does. The design also makes it possible to keep most internal data reorganization operations off the critical path of read service. The so-called Write-in-place (Wip) scheme has been implemented with its source code publicly available. Experiment results show that WipDB improves write throughput by 3 to 8× (to around 1Mops/s on one Intel PCIe SSD) over state-of-the-art KV stores.
Personal pronoun errors in form versus meaning produced by children with and without autism spectrum disorder

The current study investigates whether the types of pronominal errors children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make are different from those of their TD peers at similar stages of language development. A recent review about language acquisition in ASD by Naigles and Tek (2017) argues that these children show relative deficits in assigning/extending lexical meaning alongside relative strengths in morpho-syntax. Pronouns provide an ideal test case for this argument because they are marked both for grammatical features (case) and features that reflect qualities of the referent itself (gender and number) or the referent’s role in conversation (person). The form-meaning hypothesis predicts that children with ASD should struggle more with these latter features. The current study tests this hypothesis with data from a caregiver report, completed by caregivers of 151 children with and without ASD. Reported pronominal errors were categorized as meaning or form and compared across groups. In accordance with the form-meaning hypothesis, a higher proportion of children with ASD make meaning errors than they do form errors, and significantly more of them make meaning errors than TD children do.
A Review of Past Geotechnical Performance of the Hudson Bay Rail Embankment and Its Comparison to the Current Condition

The Hudson Bay Railway (HBR) is a 510 mile railway completed in 1929 in northern Manitoba, Canada. It connects domestic locations in North America with international destinations through the Port of Churchill.Permafrost was encountered during construction at milepost 136 in isolated peat bogs which continued in a gradual northward transition from discontinuous to continuous permafrost. Over the past 80 years, warming climate combined with poor engineering properties of the railway embankment material has resulted in further thawing of the discontinuous permafrost leading to differential settlement along the rail embankment and high annual maintenance costs.In a bid to understand the geothermal regime of the embankment, underlying subsurface condition, and to seek for solutions to stabilize the embankment, extensive work has been done from 1977 to the present time. This paper seeks to review reports of the past projects and compare the results against current conditions at selected test locations.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
The influence of hydrogen on the chemical, mechanical, optical/electronic, and electrical transport properties of amorphous hydrogenated boron carbide

Because of its high electrical resistivity, low dielectric constant (κ), high thermal neutron capture cross section, and robust chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties, amorphous hydrogenated boron carbide (a-BxC:Hy) has garnered interest as a material for low-κ dielectric and solid-state neutron detection applications. Herein, we investigate the relationships between chemical structure (atomic concentration B, C, H, and O), physical/mechanical properties (density, porosity, hardness, and Young's modulus), electronic structure [band gap, Urbach energy (EU), and Tauc parameter (B1/2)], optical/dielectric properties (frequency-dependent dielectric constant), and electrical transport properties (resistivity and leakage current) through the analysis of a large series of a-BxC:Hy thin films grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition from ortho-carborane. The resulting films exhibit a wide range of properties including H concentration from 10% to 45%, density from 0.9 to 2.3 g/cm3, Young's modulus ...
Communication and Teleworking: A Study of Communication Channel Satisfaction, Personality, and Job Satisfaction for Teleworking Employees:

This study examines teleworkers’ job satisfaction related to the use of and satisfaction with a variety of communication channels and workers’ personality type. U.S. teleworkers (N = 384) completed an online survey and self-reported on dimensions of communication channel satisfaction, job satisfaction, and personality. Results indicated that extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are positively correlated with job satisfaction. Additionally, significant moderating effects were found for the relationship between openness and phone and video communication, and agreeableness and phone communication on job satisfaction. Findings from this study yield important practical implications for organizations including suggestions for optimizing communication satisfaction for employees of differing personality types and recommendations to help organizations effectively hire and retain teleworkers.
Balancing Acts: Dynamics of a Union Coalition in a Labor Management Partnership

This paper analyzes the experience of a set of unions that formed a coalition to engage in coordinated bargaining and to build and sustain a labor management partnership with Kaiser Permanente, a large healthcare provider and insurer. We use qualitative and quantitative data, including member and leader surveys, to explore the experience of the coalition in confronting five key challenges identified through theory and prior research on such partnerships. We find that the coalition has been remarkably successful, under difficult circumstances, in achieving institutional growth for its member unions and in balancing traditional and new union roles and communicating with members. The unions have been less successful in increasing member involvement.
Rendezvous methods for opportunistic spectrum access in cognitive wireless networks: Analysis and implementation

Opportunistic spectrum access in cognitive radio networks is regarded as solution to spectrum scarcity caused by the static allocation of the frequency spectrum. Unlicensed secondary users (SUs) access the spectrum opportunities which are licensed not licensed to them opportunistically without creating harmful interference to the licensed primary users (PUs). In typical wireless communications, to negotiate and establish a link between transmitter and receiver, common control channel is used. However, attackers can identify the common channel and jam it or overhear and misuse the information. In this paper, we present rendezvous processes for dynamic spectrum access in cognitive wireless networks where transmitter and receiver pair meets in a common channel in an ad hoc manner and establish a link for their communications. Rendezvous processes for dynamic spectrum access provides robust link that prevents any security attacks such as jamming, denial-of-service attack, etc. This paper provides comparison of different rendezvous processes and their applicability in cognitive wireless ad hoc networks.
Three Cases of West Nile Encephalitis over an Eight-Day Period at a Downtown Los Angeles Community Hospital

Since its introduction in New York City in 1999, the virus has spread throughout the entire North American continent and continues to spread into Central and Latin America. Our report discusses the signs and symptoms, diagnostics, and treatment of West Nile disease. It is important to recognize the disease quickly and initiate appropriate treatment. We present three cases of West Nile encephalitis at White Memorial Medical Center in East Los Angeles that occurred over the span of eight days. All three patients live within four to six miles from the hospital and do not live or work in an environment favorable to mosquitoes including shallow bodies of standing water, abandoned tires, or mud ruts. All the patients were Hispanic. Physicians and other health care providers should consider West Nile infection in the differential diagnosis of causes of aseptic meningitis and encephalitis, obtain appropriate laboratory studies, and promptly report cases to public health authorities. State governments should establish abatement programs that will eliminate sources that allow for mosquito reproduction and harboring. The public needs to be given resources that educate them on what entails the disease caused by the West Nile virus, what the symptoms are, and, most importantly, what they can do to prevent themselves from becoming infected.
Accelerators and the scientific frontier

Many low-energy frontiers exist and will continue to remain very interesting for a long time. The basic demands are for big luminosity increases in e+e− colliders at all landmark energy scales now existent. Hadron-hadron collider physics at any intrinsic mass scale, be it charm, bottom, or W, generally is more powerfully addressed at the highest energy. But there is an important frontier yet to cross, namely learning how to handle luminosities >>1031 cm−2 sec−1 in a largeacceptance detector.
Controlled Trial of Dexamethasone in Respirator-Dependent Infants with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

A randomized trial was conducted of dexamethasone therapy in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia who were dependent on respirators and were not progressing clinically despite conventional treatment. Babies were admitted to the study if they had a roentgenogram and clinical diagnosis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, were 2 to 6 weeks in age, weighed less than 1,500 g, had made no progress in weaning for the preceding five days, and were free of sepsis, patent ductus arteriosus, and congenital heart disease, and had had no intravenous fat for at least 24 hours. After parental consent was obtained, infants were randomly assigned to control or treatment groups. The study hypothesis was that with steroid treatment, babies could be weaned from the respirator within 72 hours and would show a significant improvement in lung compliance within that time. Sequential analysis exceeded criterion (P less than .05) when seven consecutive untied pairs showed weaning with dexamethasone and failure to wean in control infants. Pulmonary compliance improved by 64% in the treated group and 5% in the control group (P less than .01). No significant intergroup differences were noted in mortality, length of hospital stay, sepsis, hypertension, hyperglycemia, or electrolyte abnormalities. Study design permits the conclusion that dexamethasone can produce substantial short-term improvement in lung function, often permitting rapid weaning from the respirator, but long-term efficacy and safety must be demonstrated by further investigations.
Abstract T MP50: Appropriate Stroke Team Activations Through Use of Los Angeles Pre-hospital Stroke Scale (LAPSS)

Background and Purpose: Target StrokeSM aims to reduce the Door to Needle (DTN) times to 60 minutes or less in eligible ischemic stroke patients. They advocate Emergency Medical Service (EMS) pre-notification, a rapid triage protocol,stroke team notification, and a single call activation system1. Prior to February 2013 the Stroke Team averaged 92.8 Stroke Team Activations monthly. This volume placed a burden on the Stroke Team and ancillary departments. DeLuca and colleagues noted a possible criticism of Stroke Code in that patients with symptoms mimicking a stroke may overload the stroke personnel2. We set out to decrease unnecessary stroke team activations without missing an opportunity to treat an eligible patient. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on all Stroke Team Activations between February and July 2012. We identified the volume of cancelled activations, number of patients too late or symptoms too mild, stroke mimics and treatments provided. The Los Angeles Pre-hospital Stroke S...
Potentiation of 1-β-d-Arabinofuranosylcytosine Metabolism and Cytotoxicity by 2,3-Dihydro-1H-imidazolo[1,2-b]pyrazole in the Human Promyelocytic Leukemic Cell, HL-60

The effect of IMPY (2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazolo[1,2-b]pyrazole) on the metabolism and cytotoxicity of subsequently administered 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C) was examined in the human promyelocytic leukemic cell line HL-60. Cells exposed to 3 mM IMPY for 12 hr followed by a 1-hr exposure to 1 microM [3H]ara-C accumulated 27.5 +/- 4.8 (S.D.) pmol ara-C/10(6) cells compared to 14.0 +/- 3.5 pmol/10(6) cells in untreated controls. Cells experienced greater than a 2-fold increment in 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine 5'-triphosphate generation and retention following this same IMPY exposure and nearly a 4-fold increment in incorporation of ara-C into HL-60 nucleic acids. These alterations in ara-C metabolism were associated with a 36% reduction in the intracellular concentration of deoxycytidine 5'-triphosphate and reductions in deoxyadenosine 5'-triphosphate and deoxyguanosine 5'-triphosphate concentrations to undetectable levels. Coincubation of cells with IMPY along with other pyrimidine antagonists such as thymidine, N-(phosphonacetyl-L-aspartate), deoxyadenosine, and deoxyguanosine, produced up to 4-fold increments in ara-C intracellular accumulation. Pretreatment of HL-60 cells with 3 mM IMPY followed by a continuous exposure to 10 nM ara-C produced synergistic inhibitory effects on both suspension culture growth and soft agar clonogenicity. In contrast, exposure of normal human bone marrow progenitor cells (CFU-GM) to the same schedule of IMPY and ara-C produced subadditive or antagonistic effects on the growth of these cells in soft agar. These findings may have implications for the design of in vivo regimens using IMPY and ara-C.
Bounds on the number of disjoint spanning trees

It is shown that an n-edge connected graph has at least ⌈(n − 1)2⌉ pairwise edge-disjoint spanning trees. This bound is best possible in general. A maximal planar graph with four or more vertices contains two edge-disjoint spanning trees. For a maximal toroidal graph, this number is three.
REPLICATION OF NON-HYDROGEN BONDED BASES BY DNA POLYMERASES : A MECHANISM FOR STERIC MATCHING

Recent experiments have presented evidence that Watson–Crick hydrogen bonds in a base pair are not absolute requirements for efficient synthesis of that pair by DNA polymerase enzymes. Here we examine quantitative steady-state kinetic data from several published studies involving poorly hydrogen-bonding DNA base analogues and adducts, and analyze the results in terms of solvation, hydrogen bonding, and steric effects. We propose a mechanism that can explain the surprising lack of hydrogen-bonding requirement accompanied by significant selectivity in pairing. This hypothesis makes use of steric matching, enforced both by the tightly confined polymerase active site and by the DNA backbone, as a chief factor determining nucleotide selection during DNA synthesis. The results also suggest that hydrogen bonds from bases to water (solvation) may be important in increasing the effective size of DNA bases, which may help prevent misinsertion of small bases opposite each other. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biopoly 48: 3–17, 1998
New kind of chiral bag model

We study a new kind of chiral bag model in which the pion cloud surrounding the hadron core is replaced by a chiral field that is confined, as are the quarks, to the interior of the bag. We demonstrate that hedgehog-type solutions exist for this model, and we study their properties, both in the nonlinear limit and in the more general case when the coupling constant governing the self-interactions of the chiral field is not sent to infinity. We speculate on the physical significance of our results.
Pre-resonance Raman intensity studies of TCNQ and TCNQ−

Abstract Pre-resonance Raman spectra have been obtained for TCNQ and LiTCNQ in acetonitrile solution using an Ar + —Kr + laser and a tunable rhodamine 6G dye laser. Using the theory of Albrecht and Hutley, we have calculated frequency factors for the intensity variations for several symmetric vibrational modes of each molecule. The observed spectra for TCNQ and LiTCNQ with violet, blue, and green excitation give evidence for B-type resonance enhancement due to vibronic mixing between at least two violet and ultraviolet transitions. The Raman spectra for LiTCNQ with yellow, orange, and red excitation show A-type enhancement due to a single electronic excitation in the near infrared.
RELIGION AND POLITICAL CULTURE IN AFRICA

As the European colonial period was coming to an end in the 1950s, calculations were made about the balance of religious forces in the African continent. In the year of Ghana's independence (1957) the Paris Academy of Political and Moral Sciences received some pertinent estimates. The Academy was informed that between the years 1940 and 1946 the annual increase of professing Muslims in the French African colonies was nearly a quarter of a million every year. Between 1931 and 1951 Muslims in the whole of Africa had risen from 40 million to 80 million in comparison with a Roman Catholic rise of from 5 million to 15 million. Of the total black population estimated at the time as being 130 million in Africa south of the Sahara, 28 million were Muslim, 30 million were Catholics, 4 million were Protestants and 85 million still followed primarily their own traditional indigenous religions. Islam in Africa as a whole, including Arab Africa, commanded the allegiance of approximately 40 per cent of the continent's population.
Prediction of Chemical Biotransfer of Organic Chemicals from Cattle Diet into Beef and Milk Using the Molecular Connectivity Index

Biotransfer factors (BTFs) represent the ratio of the concentration of a chemical found in animal tissues such as beef or milk to the animal's daily intake of that chemical. Using currently available citations for BTFs in meat and milk, the use of molecular connectivity indices (MCIs) as a quantitative structure−activity relationship (QSAR) for predicting the BTFs for organic chemicals is evaluated. Based on a statistical evaluation of correlation, residual error, and cross validation, this evaluation reveals that the MCI provides both higher reliability and a fast and cost-effective method for predicting the potential biotransfer of a chemical from environmental media into food. When compared to the use of Kow as a predictor of BTFs, the analysis here indicates that MCI can substantially increase the reliability with which BTFs can be estimated.
Transient Decrease of Binding of Insulin to Platelets in Acute Ischemic Heart Disease

The specific binding sites of 125I-insulin in platelets from nondiabetic patients with acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina pectoris was significantly decreased (192 +/- 84/cell) during the acute ischemic condition when compared with normal platelets (496 +/- 76/cell; p < 0.001, n = 9). A relatively low mean plasma insulin level (20 microU/mL) with an elevated mean glucose level (130 mg/dL) was noted. The decreased binding of insulin and the relatively low mean plasma insulin level during the acute ischemic condition improved into the normal range during 8 to 12 weeks of recuperation. The decrease of insulin binding sites in the acute phase and their subsequent increase during recovery were directly related to the hormone-induced increase in sensitivity to prostaglandin E1 through the stimulation of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate formation in platelets by the prostanoid.
Twinning in MgSiO3 Perovskite

Crystals of MgSiO3 perovskite synthesized at high pressures and temperatures have orthorhombic symmetry under ambient conditions. Examination by transmission electron microscopy shows that the microstructure of crystals synthesized at 26 gigapascals and 1600°C is dominated by a large number of twin domains that are related by reflection operations with respect to {112} and {110} planes. These twins may be associated with the transformations of MgSiO3 perovskite from the cubic to tetragonal and tetragonal to orthorhombic phases, respectively, upon decreasing pressure and temperature. These observations suggest that under the experimental synthesis conditions, and perhaps in the earth's lower mantle, the stable phase of MgSiO3 might have the cubic perovskite structure.
Relaxation times and low-temperature specific heat of the quadrupolar glass

Abstract Computer simulations of a simplified model for molecular orientational order in certain solids provide results consistent with glass-like linear specific heat c v at low temperatures. The temperature dependence of the quadrupolar relaxation time is found to be well described by the expression 1/τ∼exp [- A /( T − T 0 )], with T 0 well below the onset of the linear c v regime. The relationship to experiments on solid hydrogen is discussed.
2001 Leonard Medal Citation for Harry Y. McSween, Jr

Award of the Meteoritical Society-2001 M. J. Drake: 2001 Leonard Medal Citation for Harry Y. McSween, Jr.
Civic Multicultural Competence: Searching for Common Ground in Democratic Education

Abstract During the past several decades, multicultural education has become an integral part of the social studies as a means to authentically prepare students for living in an inclusive and democratic society. Topics traditionally omitted, such as race, ethnicity, culture, social class, and gender, are now included. Yet, while multicultural education has helped to bring such topics into the social studies discourse, social studies has generally fallen short of taking a more critical approach to the preparation of citizens. In this work we review the professional literature in multicultural education and social studies education to clarify the distinctions between the fields. Then, we investigate the nexus between the two where we find reason for hope in a time when national political discussion is often polarized. We propose the notion of civic multicultural competence as a concept that challenges scholars and educators to move forward towards better preparing students for life in a multicultural, globa...
Murder, extramarital affairs, and the issue of probative value.

A paper previously published in Law and Human Behavior by D. Davis and W. C. Follette (2002) argued that certain “profiling” characteristics commonly admitted into court have little or no probative value. They argued that this is especially likely to be true when the characteristic used as evidence (e.g., having an extramarital affair) is rather common in the population whereas the act in question (e.g., a man murdering his wife) is rare. Their analysis has prompted a strong response by Friedman and Park and by Kaye and Koehler with a rejoinder by Davis and Follette (all three follow this paper in this issue of Law and Human Behavior). This paper describes some of the nature of this controversy.
Configurable Hardware-Effcient Interface Circuit for Multi-Sensor Microsystems

A new, high resolution, multi-sensor interface circuit is presented to read out up to eight resistive or capacitive sensors while sharing configurable circuits to achieve hardware and power efficiency. A non-balanced (NB) bridge approach was adopted for both resistive and capacitive interfaces, eliminating the need for finely tunable on-chip components to balance the bridge. The shared pre-amp and programmable gain signal-conditioning stages are formed with switched capacitor circuits. Through a carefully designed clock scheme, a sample-and-hold (S/H) function is realized without a dedicated S/H circuit. The effects of op-amp offset and parasitic capacitance at the inputs are suppressed, and undesirable disturbance of the bridge DC point is avoided during resistance measurement. The 0.53 x 0.75mm circuit was implemented in 0.18mum CMOS and requires only 300muA from a 1.8V supply. It has the size and power efficiency to implement a front-end sensor interface system-on-chip with an embedded controller.
The Egg Yolk Very Low Density Lipoproteins of Fresh and Stored Shell Eggs

Abstract Very low density lipoproteins were isolated from fresh eggs and from eggs which had been kept in cold storage for 6 months. No changes in structure of the very low density lipoproteins were observed to have taken place during cold storage of the eggs when structure was studied by the action of unfolding agents, detergents, reducing agents, phospholipases, or proteolytic enzymes on the lipoproteins followed by extraction of liberated lipids with ether. Very low density lipoproteins isolated from fresh eggs and those isolated from stored eggs contained similar percentages of lipid. The molecular weight ranges and the proportions of the total very low density lipoproteins in each size were similar as were the average sizes when determined by electron microscopy. No differences in isoelectric point (pH 7.0) nor in paper electrophoretic mobility between the isolated very low density lipoproteins of fresh and stored shell eggs were observed.
Planting Date Effect on Yield of Tomato, Eggplant, Pepper, Zinnia, and Snapdragon in High Tunnel in Mississippi

‘High tunnels’ are unheated greenhouse structures used to extend the growing season and protect high-value horticultural crops. High tunnels have been used for many years worldwide and their popularity has increased in Mississippi recently. A planting date study of ‘Roma’ tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), ‘Legend’ tomato, ‘Ichiban’ eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), ‘Sweet Banana’ pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), ‘Benary's Giant’ zinnia (Zinnia elegans L.), and ‘Potomac Red’ snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus L.) was conducted in 2010 in three high tunnels in Starkville, Mississippi. Each vegetable and cut flower cultivar was treated as an independent study. There were two planting dates for all the cultivars: 12 March 2010 and 2 April 2010. Only for zinnias, yield (272 stem/plot) of first planting date was higher than planting date two (106 stem/plot). A significant block effect was observed with ‘Legend’ tomato and ‘Ichiban’ eggplant where one high tunnel had significantly higher yield than the other two high tunn...
Transmural variation of myocardial attenuation and its potential effect on contrast-mediated estimates of regional myocardial perfusion.

Abstract Promising technical developments suggest that it may be feasible to use contrast echocardiography to estimate regional myocardial perfusion. Although the optimal approach has not yet been determined, the use of a nonlinear (harmonic) response of the contrast agent is common to several recent advances. The purpose of this article is to delineate the relation between the anisotropic (angle-dependent) ultrasonic attenuation of the myocardium through which the sound wave has propagated and the regional, nonlinear response of the contrast agent. Apparent perfusion will be modulated by this regionally varying, path-dependent attenuation, which is determined by the local angle between the propagating sound wave and the myofiber orientation. We illustrate the potential magnitude of the effect of myocardial anisotropy for the apical 4-chamber view by examining propagation along the septum and the lateral wall. We present experimentally measured values of the attenuation of excised sheep myocardium, showing statistically significant differences in the attenuation in the mid wall compared with that in symmetrical zones to the left and right of the mid wall, reflecting the well-known myofiber orientations in these 3 regions. The nonlinear (harmonic) response of a contrast agent depends on the local pressure amplitude, which for a given mechanical index is determined by the attenuation accumulated along the path to the point where the regional perfusion is estimated. (J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2001;14:782-8.)
Endoscopic identification of the jejunum facilitates minimally invasive jejunostomy tube insertion in selected cases

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), direct percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy, and laparoscopic feeding tube insertion are established techniques for placing a feeding tube. However, these techniques may be difficult or contraindicated after previous gastric or upper abdominal surgery. A total of 10 patients underwent minimally invasive jejunostomy tube insertion via endoscopic identification of the jejunum. The indications for the procedure were dysphagia, poor nutritional status, prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and gastroparesis. Eight of the patients had undergone previous upper abdominal surgeries and were rejected for either PEG or direct percutaneous jejunostomy. With the patients under general anesthesia, esophagogastroduodenoscopy was performed. The jejunum was identified and intubated. A small abdominal incision (1 in.) was made. The proximal jejunum was identified easily by the light and digital palpation of the endoscope. The jejunum was delivered in the wound, and the jejunostomy tube was inserted using Witzel’s technique. The wound was closed. All the patients tolerated the procedure well. The mean time for the procedure was 29 ± 13 min. There was no mortality related to the procedure and no complications. Jejunal feeding started on the first postoperative day. The use of intraoperative endoscopy facilitated identification of the jejunum. Easy, safe, and quick, the procedure saved the patient a formal laparotomy and extensive manipulation.
Skeletal muscle recovery after tenotomy and 7-day delayed muscle length restoration.

Rabbit extensor digitorum longus (EDL) tendons were cut with the muscle active (active tenotomy, AT) or with the EDL at rest (passive tenotomy, PT). One, 7, and 21 days after tenotomy, contractile testing was performed. A second experiment was performed in which EDL tendons underwent PT and, after a 7-day delay, muscle-tendon units were restored to their original length. Maximum isometric tension dropped precipitously 1 day after either AT or PT to approximately 50% of normal and continued to decline by day 7. In contrast to PT, where peak tension (P(0)) decreased further by 21 days, after AT, P(0) partially recovered. Differences in muscle mass, cross-sectional area, fiber type, and sarcomere number did not explain the differential response. One day after length restoration of muscles, P(0) rapidly increased by approximately 40%. These observations have implications for understanding the outcome of muscle-tendon unit injury and surgical repair.
Simultaneous monitoring of volatile selenium and sulfur species from se accumulating plants (wild type and genetically modified) by GC/MS and GC/ICPMS using solid-phase microextraction for sample introduction.

A sensitive method for determining ultratrace volatile Se species produced from Brassica juncea seedlings is described. The use of a new commercially available GC/ICPMS interface in conjunction with solid-phase microextraction is a promising way to perform these studies. The addition of optional gases (O2 and N2) to the argon discharge proved to increase the sensitivity for Se and S as well as for Xe, which as a trace contaminant gas, was used for ICPMS optimization studies. However, the optimization parameters differ when an optional gas is added. In the best conditions, limits of detection ranging from 1 to 10 ppt can be obtained depending on the Se compound and 30 to 300 ppt for the volatile S species. The use of GC/MS with similar sample introduction permits the characterization of several unknown species produced as artifacts from the standards. The method allows the virtually simultaneous monitoring of S and Se species from the headspace of several plants (e.g., onions, garlic, etc.) although the pr...
Validity of the Fresnel approximation in the near field

By direct numerical-integration comparisons, it is established that the Fresnel approximation for collimated propagation is quite good (within about 2% in amplitude and 0.02 rad in phase) in every case, including that with the limit of a high Fresnel number. Moreover, the Fresnel approximation begins to break down in phase for spherical-wave propagation for beams faster than about f/12. It has been discovered, however, that if one also invokes the paraxial approximation, that is, replaces the spherical wave by a quadratic phase front, then the Fresnel approximation becomes valid for expanding (or diverging) beams as well. This result is substantiated through the use of stationary-phase arguments.
PD08-01: JNK2 Regulates Mammary Lineage Differentiation in Tumors and Normal Glands through Notch1 and p53.

The classification of patient tumors by clinical subtype has gained wide acceptance due to the implications for prognosis and treatment. However, recent studies have cast doubt on previously advocated normal mammary origins of these subtypes. Thus, the link between the normal mammary gland and mammary tumors is more complex than expected. C-Jun N-Terminal Kinase-2 (JNK2) is a protein that is involved in numerous developmental processes and our previous work has shown it to be important for DNA damage response in mammary tumors. In attempt to gain insight into the link between mammary development and tumorigenesis, we compared normal mammary glands of JNK2 knockout (jnk2ko) mice to jnk2ko mammary tumors expressing or lacking wildtype p53 (p53ko). These studies showed that jnk2ko glands possess 35% fewer basal cells (p=0.0078) with a corresponding increase in luminal epithelial cell populations (p=0.100). This luminal response is corroborated by in vitro 3D assays of primary mammary epithelial cells (MECs) where luminal cell differentiation is normalized by inhibition of Notch signaling. Expression notch-1, a well-known regulator of MEC differentiation, is increased jnk2ko mammary glands. Increased expression of the Notch-1 target gene, hes-1, was also seen (p=0.005). Histology revealed that increased expression of active Notch-1 is localized to the mammary stem cell niche, the terminal end bud. Similar to the normal gland, jnk2ko mammary tumors possessing wildtype p53 exhibit decreased proportions of basal cells (p=0.0002) and increased proportions of luminal cells (p=0.0411) relative to wildtype. Jnk2ko cell lines derived from these tumors show decreased expression of notch-1 (p=0.0018) and hes-1 (p=0.0602) following introduction of JNK2. Luciferase assays comparing activity of the notch-1 promoter to a notch-1 promoter with mutated p53 response elements revealed a dependence of increased notch-1 promoter activity in jnk2ko cells on the p53 response element. P53ko tumor cells, by contrast, do not exhibit alterations in notch-1 promoter activity in the absence of p53 response elements, regardless of JNK2 status. QPCR showed that loss of JNK2 in normal mammary glands and tumors causes increased p53 expression—thus providing a potential mechanism. In support that Notch upregulation in the absence of JNK2 is dependent upon p53, normal glands lacking p53 show no differences in lineage differentiation. P53ko tumors also show no differences in basal lineage differentiation, however, increases in luminal differentiation are maintained in the absence of JNK2. Consistent with increased luminal differentiation, jnk2ko caused decreased expression of markers involved in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition phenotype. This data suggests that JNK2 is important not only for lineage differentiation in normal mammary glands, but in mammary tumors and that the effect is dependent on both Notch1 and p53. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr PD08-01.
Elementary School Teachers’ Knowledge of Tourette Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, & Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Effects of Teacher Training

This study examined elementary school teachers’ knowledge about Tourette syndrome and the related conditions of Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) before and after a 2-h teacher training workshop. Teachers (n = 134) from five schools participated in the knowledge assessment. Fifty two (52) teachers completed a post-test 6 weeks later. At Time 1, teachers’ knowledge about Tourette syndrome and related conditions was variable. Knowledge did not appear to be affected by teachers’ age, gender, years of teaching or prior experience with these disorders. Teachers who attended the workshop showed an average 5% increase in knowledge (p < .001). Teachers who scored below the median on pretest showed a 12% increase on the post-test. That the 2-h workshop showed greatest benefit for teachers who scored lower on pre-test, suggests that staff training could be guided by pre-test results.