cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Targeting Federal Grants: The Community Development Experience, 1950–1986

This article examines the degree to which federal community and economic development programs target federal assistance to the nation's neediest communities. Grant allocations to cities with populations of 50, 000 or more were examined for six major federal urban programs during 1950-1986. Federal programs that include both needs-based eligibility and allocational features were found to achieve the highest levels of targeting. The analysis further shows that while urban conditions in the nation's most distressed cities continued to deteriorate during the 1980s in both relative and absolute terms, grant allocations under the major federal urban program, Community Development Block Grants, have not responded to the changing incidence of urban hardship.
Prevalence and characteristics of Klebsiella species: relation to association with a hospital environment.

The prevalence of Klebsiella species was determined in 25 adults from each of four sections in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, 100 doctors, nurses, and laboratory technologists from the University of Minnesota Hospitals, 100 patients newly admitted to the hospital, and 100 patients who had been in the hospital longer than 15 days. Klebsiella was isolated from 37%, 30%, 33%, and 43% of these populations, respectively. All but one of the isolates from individuals not associated with hospitals were resistant to only ampicillin and carbenicillin, whereas 18% of strains isolated from patients who had been in the hospital more than 15 days were resistant to several drugs. R-factors were present in resistant bacteria. Fiftyone of 72 possible serotypes of Klebsiella were found, but no types were predominant in any group. Results of biochemical tests were comparable to the results reported by other workers, except that one-third of the Klebsiella organisms isolated were indole-positive.
Subclinical hypothyroidism and risk for incident ischemic stroke among postmenopausal women

Background: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is postulated to increase stroke risk via atherogenic changes associated with abnormal thyroid function. However, the direct relationship of SCH with subsequent stroke is poorly studied. Methods: In this nested case–cohort study, we prospectively evaluated the association between any SCH and severity of SCH in relation to incident ischemic stroke risk among postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. Trained Women's Health Initiative staff, masked to thyroid status, adjudicated stroke cases. We assessed thyroid function using baseline blood specimens. Women with normal free thyroxine levels and thyrotropin (TSH) levels ≥4.69 mU/L were considered to have SCH. Primary analysis included 639 ischemic stroke cases and 2927 randomly selected subcohort members with an average of seven years of follow-up. Results: The multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HR) from weighted Cox models were 1.06 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77, 1.46) an...
Cognitive Consequences of Brand Loyalty

This study examined part of the belief structure of brand-loyal consumers asked to evaluate their own and a competing brand. Consistency theory predictions were derived relative to attitude structure associated with commitment (brand loyalty). Product reevaluation was seen, in part, as the result of a consumer's desire to restructure his beliefs so as to avoid cognitive dilemmas caused by competing products perceived as meeting the same product function equally well. Dissonance theory has proven to be a valuable source of hypotheses and insights regarding variables important in the process of decision making [3]. It is especially useful in interrelating pre- and postdecision processes and specifying differences in goals, states of mind, and behavior between these two stages [1]. The many implications of the theory for consumer decision making should be developed and tested, ideally against competing models [3, 4].
Effect of Barbiturates on Oxidative Phosphorylation.

SummaryIt has been shown that thiopental, pentobarbital and amobarbital lower the phosphate : oxygen uptake ratio obtained in particulate tissue preparations from liver and brain respiring on a pyruvate substrate. This depression is obtained at concentrations of the drugs which have only a slight effect on the oxygen uptake of the preparations and which approximate those which are necessary in vivo to produce surgical anesthesia. It is postulated that such an uncoupling of phosphorylation from oxidation may be one of the ways in which barbiturates act to produce anesthesia.
Psychological health and academic success in rural Appalachian adolescents exposed to physical and sexual interpersonal violence

Interpersonal violence (IPV) in adolescence is a serious public health concern and may have lasting behavioral effects and implications for adult relationships. Adolescents from 2 rural Appalachian high schools in 2011/2012 were surveyed using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance (YRBS) survey, which assessed (a) physical IPV within a dating relationship, (b) sexual IPV (defined as forced sex/rape), and (c) those who experienced both. We present baseline rates of each form of IPV for these rural male and female adolescents and assessed the strength and statistical significance of these associations between physical and sexual IPV and other risk factors using χ2 tests and relative risk ratios. RESULTS suggested that each form of IPV was associated with greater risk for depression and suicidal behaviors, substance use, risky sexual behaviors for both sexes, and lower academic grades for females. Relative risk ratios tended to be more robust and statistically significant for females compared with males on most risk behaviors. Furthermore, victimization for both forms of IPV was more pernicious for these students than either form of IPV alone. We discuss the implications of these results for students, parents, school personnel, and mental health providers in these communities. (PsycINFO Database Record(c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en
Groupwise Tracking of Crowded Similar-Appearance Targets from Low-Continuity Image Sequences

Automatic tracking of large-scale crowded targets are of particular importance in many applications, such as crowded people/vehicle tracking in video surveillance, fiber tracking in materials science, and cell tracking in biomedical imaging. This problem becomes very challenging when the targets show similar appearance and the interslice/ inter-frame continuity is low due to sparse sampling, camera motion and target occlusion. The main challenge comes from the step of association which aims at matching the predictions and the observations of the multiple targets. In this paper we propose a new groupwise method to explore the target group information and employ the within-group correlations for association and tracking. In particular, the within-group association is modeled by a nonrigid 2D Thin-Plate transform and a sequence of group shrinking, group growing and group merging operations are then developed to refine the composition of each group. We apply the proposed method to track large-scale fibers from microscopy material images and compare its performance against several other multi-target tracking methods. We also apply the proposed method to track crowded people from videos with poor inter-frame continuity.
Ultrasensitive, real-time trace gas detection using a high-power, multimode diode laser and cavity ringdown spectroscopy.

We present a simplified cavity ringdown (CRD) trace gas detection technique that is insensitive to vibration, and capable of extremely sensitive, real-time absorption measurements. A high-power, multimode Fabry-Perot (FP) diode laser with a broad wavelength range (Δλlaser∼0.6 nm) is used to excite a large number of cavity modes, thereby reducing the detector's susceptibility to vibration and making it well suited for field deployment. When detecting molecular species with broad absorption features (Δλabsorption≫Δλlaser), the laser's broad linewidth removes the need for precision wavelength stabilization. The laser's power and broad linewidth allow the use of on-axis cavity alignment, improving the signal-to-noise ratio while maintaining its vibration insensitivity. The use of an FP diode laser has the added advantages of being inexpensive, compact, and insensitive to vibration. The technique was demonstrated using a 1.1 W (λ=400 nm) diode laser to measure low concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in zero air. A sensitivity of 38 parts in 1012 (ppt) was achieved using an integration time of 128 ms; for single-shot detection, 530 ppt sensitivity was demonstrated with a measurement time of 60 μs, which opens the door to sensitive measurements with extremely high temporal resolution; to the best of our knowledge, these are the highest speed measurements of NO2 concentration using CRD spectroscopy. The reduced susceptibility to vibration was demonstrated by introducing small vibrations into the apparatus and observing that there was no measurable effect on the sensitivity of detection.
RETINOPATHY What to Expect in the Diabetic Patient

Of the several million diabetics in the United States at present, about one half have diabetic retinopathy. Prevalence of the disorder increases with the duration of the diabetes. Differentiation of the nonproliferative and proliferative forms of the disorder is important in terms of clinical course, prognosis, and treatment
Shell dissolution observed in Limacina helicina antarctica from theRoss Sea, Antarctica: paired shell characteristics and in situ seawaterchemistry

Abstract. The euthecosome (shelled) Antarctic pteropod, Limacina helicina antarctica, is a dominant member of the Southern Ocean macrozooplankton community, and due to its aragonitic shell, is thought to be particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification and under-saturation conditions that are predicted in the future. Notably, pteropods in surface waters and near the continental shelf in the Ross Sea are highly vulnerable as these regions are predicted to be seasonally under-saturated within 2–3 decades. Carbonate chemistry data are rare for this region and here we present the results of a 6-week field study and report patterns of dissolution of juvenile pteropods along with carbonate chemistry of seawater at the time of collection. Conducted in McMurdo Sound in the south Ross Sea in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, L. h. antarctica was successfully collected in plankton tows through the fast sea ice at a single station at 50 m. During the 6-week field study, ocean pH was relatively stable, ranging from 7.988 in October to 8.029 by early December. Calculated saturation states for aragonite (Ωarag) over the 6-week study period ranged from 1.16 to 1.24. Pteropods collected at each sampling time point were prepared for SEM and analysis revealed that roughly 63 % of the shells displayed some degree of shell irregularities suggesting that active dissolution of the aragonitic shell was ongoing under in situ conditions. These results add to the accumulating evidence that shelled pteropods of the Southern Ocean are experiencing aragonite under-saturation events in the present-day that lead to a majority of individuals displaying shell dissolution. Predicted changes to the carbonate system in the Southern Ocean from ocean acidification will likely expand the intensity and duration of these under-saturation events, increasing the need to better understand how pteropods will fare in response to ocean acidification.
The aboutness of words

Word aboutness is defined as the relationship between words and subjects associated with them. An aboutness coefficient is developed to estimate the strength of the aboutness relationship. Words that are randomly distributed across subjects are assumed to lack aboutness and the degree to which their usage deviates from a random pattern indicates the strength of the aboutness. To estimate aboutness, title words and their associated subjects are extracted from the titles of non-fiction English language books in the OCLC WorldCat database. The usage patterns of the title words are analyzed and used to compute aboutness coefficients for each of the common title words. Words with low aboutness coefficients (An and In) are commonly found in stop word lists, whereas words with high aboutness coefficients (Carbonate, Autism) are unambiguous and have a strong subject association. The aboutness coefficient potentially can enhance indexing, advance authority control, and improve retrieval.
Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization in Genotoxicity Testing

Abstract Exposure to physical and chemical genotoxic agents can damage DNA and produce DNA mutations. Quantifying these DNA mutations can reveal potential relationships between exposures and disease. The comet assay, micronucleus assay, and chromosomal aberration test used in genetic toxicology can quantify genetic damage predictive of heritable mutation and cancer. Integrating fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) into these conventional genetic toxicology assays improves their predictive value by identifying DNA alterations not detectable using standard methods. For example, gene-specific FISH probes incorporated into the comet assay enables discrimination of damage to DNA surrounding cancer-relevant genes compared with overall DNA damage. Integrating centromere-specific FISH probes into the micronucleus assay can differentiate clastogenic exposures from aneugenic exposures. Whole chromosome FISH readily identifies exposures that induce stable chromosome aberrations, particularly chromosome translocations, which are key to human disease but difficult to detect using other methods. Here, we discuss applications for integrating FISH into conventional assessments of DNA damage to augment genotoxicity studies and exposure assessments in humans.
Price Font Disfluency: Anchoring Effects on Future Price Expectations

Abstract Novel, unique, or otherwise disfluent fonts are often used to draw consumer attention. However, disfluent fonts may also create metacognitive processing challenges. Therefore, consumers may devote more cognitive resources to process disfluent price fonts and will consequently be more likely to accurately recall and anchor on disfluent price displays when forming their future price expectations. Three experiments demonstrate that disfluent sale prices can reduce future price expectations, while disfluent manufacturer-suggested retail prices (MSRPs) can increase future price expectations. Additionally, price recall accuracy mediates the effect. Moderation analysis demonstrates that disfluent MSRP displays are more likely to affect price-conscious and less-involved consumers.
The Priority of Social Morality

In a number of works, I have argued that social morality—a system of internalized “social-moral rules”—is fundamental to human social cooperation. Russell Hardin disputed this, arguing instead for the primacy of conventions, based largely on self-interest, in developing cooperative social order. This chapter considers three challenges for my view raised by Hardin. The chapter commences by considering small-scale cooperation; I believe that the evidence indicates that even in very small groups of face-to-face cooperators, the internalization of moral rules is fundamental to their cooperation and cheater suppression. I then consider Hardin’s charge that accounts of social cooperation based on moral rules, in which individuals act on the rules despite their interests, are stuck with invoking a variety of somewhat dubious and weak “claims of moral commitment or shared values through [to] Rawls’s magical ‘addition of the sense of justice and moral sentiment’ to make justice work at a large scale.” I argue that the evidence in support of internalized rule compliance, even in the face of high costs to personal interests, is impressive, and the underlying mechanisms are not mysterious. Lastly, I briefly turn to the fundamental issue of how social morality functions in large-scale settings and, importantly, whether it is largely displaced by formal legal and political institutions.
The Impact of Bank Branching Deregulations on the U.S. Agricultural Sector

We demonstrate how states that lifted restrictions on interstate bank expansions, thereby improving access to cheaper credit, experienced increased farm sales and net farm income. In our empirical analysis, we use nationwide county-level data from 1970 through 2001 and a difference-in-differences econometric framework, exploiting only within-state variation in banking deregulation, to distinguish the effect of an increase in bank competition from potential confounding factors. By including region-by-year fixed effects in our econometric equation, we compare changes in farm sales and expenditures in states that lift restrictions on interstate banking to changes in states that do not lift such restrictions within the same census region. Our estimates indicate that county-level farm sales increase by about 3.4% and county-level net farm income rises by $1.57 million (in 1982 dollars) after a state deregulates its banking sector by allowing interstate bank expansion. We also find evidence that farm expenditures, in particular expenditures on feed, fuel, machine and equipment rental, as well as interest payments, grew as a result of the banking deregulation. The positive impacts on farm sales, net income, and interest payments are larger in metropolitan counties than in rural counties, consistent with the notion that interstate bank entry following deregulation was concentrated in larger metropolitan markets, leading to a greater reduction in the cost of credit in those areas.
A Provisional Model of Demography in Desmognathus ocoee (Amphibia, Plethodontidae)

A provisional model of survival and demography in two populations of the salamander Desmognathus ocoee in the Cowee and Nantahala mountains of North Carolina was derived from existing data on growth, metamorphic timing, age at first reproduction, and fecundity. The model assumed stationary populations with stable age distributions (R0 = 1.0, r = 0), wherein observed ages at first reproduction in females were equal to optimal ages. Survivorship was partitioned into pre- and post-metamorphic phases, i.e., egg/larval survival and juvenile/adult survival. Premetamorphic survival estimates were fitted to the model to meet the requirement that R0 = 1.0. Equivalence of optimal and observed age at first reproduction in females, as proposed, could reflect synergistic tradeoffs between (1) growth and reproduction, and (2) mortality and reproduction. The two populations show extreme similarity in life history and demography, in contrast to differences between the Cowee and Nantahala desmognathine assemblages.
Following logical realism where it leads

Logical realism is the view that there is logical structure in the world. I argue that, if logical realism is true, then we are deeply ignorant of that logical structure: either we can’t know which of our logical concepts accurately capture it, or none of our logical concepts accurately capture it at all. I don’t suggest abandoning logical realism, but instead discuss how realists should adjust their methodology in the face of this ignorance.
Medical education and human trafficking: using simulation.

ABSTRACTHealthcare providers have the potential to play a crucial role in human trafficking prevention, identification, and intervention. However, trafficked patients are often unidentified due to lack of education and preparation available to healthcare professionals at all levels of training and practice. To increase victim identification in healthcare settings, providers need to be educated about the issue of trafficking and its clinical presentations in an interactive format that maximizes learning and ultimately patient-centered outcomes. In 2014, University of Louisville School of Medicine created a simulation-based medical education (SBME) curriculum to prepare students to recognize victims and intervene on their behalf. The authors share the factors that influenced the session’s development and incorporation into an already full third year medical curriculum and outline the development process. The process included a needs assessment for the education intervention, development of objectives and co...
A History of Law and Its Influence on Modern Criminal Law of Common and Civil Legal Systems

Since the beginning of time law has evolved and developed, impacting all aspects of every legal system in the world today. Mosaic law, Ur-Nammu, Hammurabi, and Pharaonic laws have been instrumental in the formation of today’s legal systems. After a discussion of relevant history, a comparison will be made between the common law systems of the USA, and civil law system of Egypt to illustrate how early law has influenced the bedrock of justice and its application in modern criminal law of two of the world’s major legal systems.
Stay or Go? Turnover in CMO, EMO and Regular Charter Schools

Abstract Background We examine whether working conditions in different types of charter schools lead to different levels of teacher turnover. We consider two types of teacher turnover behaviors. One is teacher migration, which refers to the transfer of teachers from one school to another. The other one is teacher attrition, which describes the phenomenon of teachers leaving the profession entirely. We distinguish among charter schools managed by for-profit education management organizations (EMOs), those managed by non-profit charter management organizations (CMOs), and regular charter schools. Method/analysis Our data come from the 2011–12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). We estimate multi-level models with hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) software. Findings and implications We find that teachers in charter schools managed by EMOs and CMOs have higher levels of migration and attrition intention than do teachers in regular charter schools. Teachers, particularly in EMO-managed charter schools, are more likely to consider moving to another school or to leave the teaching profession. Our analyses suggest that the increased migration and attrition among teachers in MO-managed charter schools can be partially explained by the differences in working conditions, such as the degree of administrative support in the school, the degrees of classroom control and school-wide influence of teachers, salary, opportunities of professional development, the quality of the student body, and the degree of student misbehavior.
The effects of transliterations, thematic organization, and working memory on adult L2 vocabulary learning

We examine how L2 vocabulary learning is affected by the information provided to the learner during training, organization of the to-be-learned vocabulary, and working memory capacity of the learner. Native English speakers were taught Arabic vocabulary in seven sessions, during which they heard L1 (English)-L2 (Arabic) translation pairs. Training was manipulated between participants by crossing the presence vs. absence of a transliteration and thematic vs. random organization of vocabulary. Session, working memory capacity, transliteration condition, and organization condition interacted in English-Arabic translation accuracy. Participants with lower working memory capacity performed best in the transliteration-thematic organization condition, whereas participants with higher working memory performed best in the transliteration-random organization and no transliteration-thematic organization conditions. Translation RT and free recall were not related to working memory, and were best in the transliteration conditions. Results suggest that adult L2 vocabulary learning is aided by exploiting well-established spelling-sound connections to improve L2 lexical representations.
GRFusion: Graphs as First-Class Citizens in Main-Memory Relational Database Systems

The maturity of RDBMSs has motivated academia and industry to invest efforts in leveraging RDBMSs for graph processing, where efficiency is proven for vital graph queries. However, none of these efforts process graphs natively inside the RDBMS, which is particularly challenging due to the impedance mismatch between the relational and the graph models. In this demonstration, we present GRFusion, an in-memory relational database system, where graphs are managed as first-class citizens. GRFusion is realized inside VoltDB. The SQL and query engines of VoltDB are empowered to declaratively define graphs and execute cross-data-model query plans that consist of relational operators and newly-introduced graph operators. Using a social network and a real continental-sized road network covering the entire U.S., we demonstrate the functionality and the performance of GRFusion in evaluating queries that reference both relational tables and graphs seamlessly in the same query execution pipeline. GRFusion shows up to four orders-of-magnitude speed-up in query-time w.r.t. state-of-the-art approaches.
MHFlexDT: A Multivariate Branch Fuzzy Decision Tree Data Stream Mining Strategy Based on Hybrid Partitioning Standard

Because of the inability to take a multi-pass scanning algorithm for random access to fast data streams and traditional data mining algorithms can’t sample all samples of the data stream, research of data stream mining algorithm based on fuzzy decision tree theory that fuzzy decision tree combines the understandability of decision tree and the ability of representation of fuzzy set to deal with the fuzziness and uncertainty information is very valuable to improve the accuracy of data mining. This paper presents a fuzzy decision tree data mining strategy based on hybrid partitioning standard for the problem that the method has a low accuracy when we deal with low-membership samples with missing values by dividing the samples into leaf nodes according to their membership. The multivariate branch fuzzy decision tree data stream mining strategy based on hybrid partitioning standard(MHFlexDT) is used to construct the multivariate branch fuzzy tree structure. The data fitting problem is solved by adding temporary branches to the uncertain data. At the same time, the decision tree depth is effectively limited by using the McDiarmid bound threshold. The experimental results show that MHFlexDT strategy compared with fuzzy decision tree data mining strategy is more effective in large-scale data stream mining to reduce system computation, control decision tree depth, and ensure a high accuracy when we deal with missing values, data over-fitting and noisy data problems.
Expression of Major Cold Shock Proteins and Genes by Yersinia enterocolitica in Synthetic Medium and Foods

Yersinia enterocolitica is a psychrotrophic foodborne pathogen that has been implicated in outbreaks of foodborne illness involving cold-stored foods, especially milk and pork. A major mechanism bacteria use to adapt to cold is expression of cold shock proteins. The objective of this research was to study the expression of major cold shock proteins of Y. enterocolitica in Luria-Bertani (LB) broth, milk, and pork following a temperature downshift from 30 to 4 degrees C. Y. enterocolitica was inoculated into 10 ml of LB broth, sterile skim milk, or pork, and the samples were stored at 4 degrees C (cold shock) or 30 degrees C (control) for 0, 4, 8, 12, and 24 h. At each sampling time, total protein and total RNA were extracted from Y. enterocolitica harvested from LB broth, milk, and pork and subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and dot blot analysis. Two major cold shock proteins (CspA1 and CspA2) of approximately 7 kDa and their genes were expressed by Y. enterocolitica following cold shock. However, the CspA1 and CspA2 proteins were not expressed by Y. enterocolitica at 30 degrees C. Y. enterocolitica CspA1 and CspA2 were observed as early as 2 h of cold shock in cultures from LB broth and milk and at 8 h of cold shock in cultures from pork.
Introduction to Hotelling (1936) Relations Between Two Sets of Variates

Let the random vector* x with mean 0 be partitioned into subvectors of s and t components, respectively, \(x = \left( {{x^{{{\left( 1 \right)}^\prime }}}} \right.,{\left. {{x^{{{\left( 2 \right)}^\prime }}}} \right)^\prime }\), and let the covariance matrix matrix ℰ \(xx' = \sum \) be partitioned conformally $$ Exx\prime = \left[ {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {E{x^{(1)}}{x^{(1)\prime }}\,E{x^{(2)}}{x^{(1)\prime }}} \\ {E{x^{(2)}}{x^{(1)\prime }}\,E{x^{(1)}}{x^{(1)\prime }}} \end{array}\,} \right] = \left[ {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {{\sum _{11}}\,{\sum _{12}}} \\ {{\sum _{21}}\,{\sum _{22}}} \end{array}} \right] = \sum . $$ (1)
The Potential and Pitfalls of Habitat Conservation Planning Under the Endangered Species Act

Almost completely lost amid the thick controversy surrounding the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency with the bulk of the responsibility for administering the Act, has rediscovered a mechanism for resolving some of the most bitter land use disputes involving listed species -- Habitat Conservation Planning ("HCPs"). HCPs allow landowners affected by the Act to engage in limited violations of the Act in exchange for the agreement to undertake mitigation measures that might not otherwise be required by the Act. While laudable from a governance point of view, critics have noted that the Fish and Wildlife Service has often been quite generous in negotiating HCPs with landowners. This article discusses some of the benefits and problems with HCPs, and the factors that have influenced the evolution and development of HCPs. Threats of judicial intervention or legislative reform have been played a large role in forcing the Fish and Wildlife Service to strike compromises with landowners and negotiate HCPs. Congressional stinginess has also crippled the Service's ability to enforce the Act's prohibitions, further pressuring the Service to yield regulatory ground. For its part, the Service has failed to involve the public in HCP procedures, thereby missing an opportunity to deflect some of the criticism and pressure to compromise. Finally, the Service must contend with potential problems posed by the Nollan and Dolan cases, which may adversely affect the Service's ability to negotiate HCPs.
Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Breast Cancer: Evaluating Interobserver Variability, Heterogeneity, and Fidelity of Scoring Core Biopsies.

Objectives The aims were to evaluate breast cancer (BC) tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) interobserver variability, heterogeneity, and the fidelity of scoring TILs in core needle biopsy (CNB). Methods Matching CNB and two full-face sections (FFSs) of BC cases (n = 100) were independently reviewed by two pathologists. Percentage of stromal lymphocytes (TIL-str) and intratumoral lymphocytes (iTu-Ly) were recorded. Results The weighted κ values for the degree of agreement between both raters were 0.53 to 0.71. However, there was a slight improvement in the interobserver variability for TIL-str and slight decline in iTu-Ly when ER+/HER2- cases were excluded. The intraclass correlation coefficient for FFS1 vs FFS2 was 0.91 for TIL-str and 0.96 for iTu-Ly. Spearman correlation coefficient for CNB vs FFS1/FFS2 was 0.81 for TIL-str and 0.79 for iTu-Ly. Conclusions We conclude that the agreement in TILs scoring between the raters is acceptable. Caution should be practiced when scoring iTu-Ly in CNBs.
A Coarse-Mesh Diffusion Synthetic Acceleration Method with Local hp Adaptation for Neutron Transport Calculations

We present a local adaptive diffusion synthetic acceleration (DSA) method for neutron transport calculations. This new DSA method, called DG-DSA, solves the diffusion equation on a coarse mesh usin...
Metformin: An Old Drug with New Applications

Metformin is a biguanide drug that has been used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus for more than 60 years. The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetic Study (UKPDS) has shown metformin to improve mortality rates in diabetes patients, and recent studies suggest metformin has additional effects in treating cancer, obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and metabolic syndrome. Metformin has also been shown to alleviate weight gain associated with antipsychotic medication. Metformin has recently been extensively studied and emerging evidence suggests metformin decreases hepatocyte triglyceride accumulation in NAFLD and prevents liver tumorigenesis. Interestingly, studies have also shown metformin reduces visceral fat, suppresses white-adipose-tissue (WAT) extracellular matrix remodeling, and inhibits obesity-induced inflammation. However, clinical evidence for using metformin to treat NAFLD, cancer, metabolic syndrome, or to prevent hepatocellular carcinoma in NAFLD patients is lacking. This review therefore addresses the potential beneficial effects of metformin on NAFLD, its role in protecting against cardiac ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury, atherosclerosis, glucotoxicity, and lipotoxicity induced oxidative and ER stress in pancreatic β-cell dysfunction, as well as its underlying molecular mechanisms of action.
Paths to Stabilizing Electronically Aberrant Compounds: A Defect-Stabilized Polymorph and Constrained Atomic Motion in PtGa2

The structures and properties of intermetallic phases are intimately connected to electron count; unfavorable electron counts can result in structural rearrangements or new electrical or magnetic b...
Part V: Commentary – On Measures of Measurement and Mismeasurement: A Commentary on Planning and Assessment

There is an old Indian fable which goes along the following lines: A student who has memorized all night long for an examination the next day is seen walking very carefully along a cobble stoned path. On encountering a friend along the way, the student is asked why he is stepping so carefully. The student replies, “I am afraid if I fall down, I will not remember all the information I have memorized all night long, it could get easily jumbled up.” This story has many morals and interpretations—and it is up to the reader, in this case the mathematics educator holding this book to decide what it really is. Before doing so, the six chapters in this section could very well serve as a compass or a guide to our interpretation because they delve deeply into issues surrounding planning and assessment in a mathematics classroom keeping the triage of the student, the lesson and the teacher in mind.
A comparison of schools: teacher knowledge of explicit code-based reading instruction

One-hundred-fourteen kindergarten through third-grade teachers from seven different schools were surveyed using The Survey of Preparedness and Knowledge of Language Structure Related to Teaching Reading to Struggling Students. The purpose was to compare their definitions and application knowledge of language structure, phonics, and other code-based concepts, as well as their perceptions of their own knowledge as operationalized in a scale designed to measure participants’ confidence in their responses. Participants were divided into groups based on their districts’ use or non-use of a scripted, code-based reading program. The code-based reading program group comprised 60 teacher participants, and the no code-based reading program group comprised 54 participants. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed no significant differences between groups in definitions or application knowledge, once demographic differences were accounted for. Analyses of covariance revealed no significant differences in perceptions of knowledge after accounting for relevant covariates. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated the variance contribution of condition and demographic variables to obtained knowledge to be non-significant, and partial correlation analyses showed only weak, often non-significant correlations between perceived knowledge and obtained knowledge. Overall poor survey performance indicated that the majority of teachers in both conditions did not possess the necessary code-based reading knowledge or application skills to effectively teach struggling readers. The results of this study suggest that the use of a scripted, code-based reading program does not guarantee mastery of language structure, phonics, and other code-based concepts.
SUPERHEAVY TOROIDAL NUCLEI

ABSTRACT Motivated by the success of accelerating very heavy ions to higher and higher energies and the experimental observation of toroidal shapes in water drop collisions on the one hand and the experiments in search of superheavy elements in nature by Gentry et al. and others on the other hand, we re-examine Wheeler's toroidal nuclei from a liquid-drop model viewpoint and estimate the α decay half-lives and the β-stability line for toroidal nuclei. We find that the β-stability line for toroidal nuclei is much shifted from that for the spherical ones and that along this line the α-decay half-lives range from 108 to 102 years in the mass region 280 ≤ A ≤ 360. As the charge number exceeds 134, the toroidal nuclei are energetically more favorable than the spherical nuclei and may play a more prominent role than the spherical ones as charge increases further. We discuss the fission modes of toroidal nuclei and suggest the use of the signature of its fissioning simultaneously into three or more fragments in a ring-like manner as a way of identifying the existence of superheavy toroidal nuclei. We further propose the detection of toroidal fission in heavy-ion collision as a crucial test of hydrodynamical or time-dependent Hartree-Fock-like behavior of the nuclear fluid.
Curvature processing in human visual cortical areas.

Abstract Curvature is one of many visual features shown to be important for visual perception. We recently showed that curvilinear features provide sufficient information for categorizing animate vs. inanimate objects, while rectilinear features do not (Zachariou et al., 2018). Results from our fMRI study in rhesus monkeys (Yue et al., 2014) have shed light on some of the neural substrates underlying curvature processing by revealing a network of visual cortical patches with a curvature response preference. However, it is unknown whether a similar network exists in human visual cortex. Thus, the current study was designed to investigate cortical areas with a preference for curvature in the human brain using fMRI at 7T. Consistent with our monkey fMRI results, we found a network of curvature preferring cortical patches—some of which overlapped well-known face-selective areas. Moreover, principal component analysis (PCA) using all visually-responsive voxels indicated that curvilinear features of visual stimuli were associated with specific retinotopic regions in visual cortex. Regions associated with positive curvilinear PC values encompassed the central visual field representation of early visual areas and the lateral surface of temporal cortex, while those associated with negative curvilinear PC values encompassed the peripheral visual field representation of early visual areas and the medial surface of temporal cortex. Thus, we found that broad areas of curvature preference, which encompassed face-selective areas, were bound by central visual field representations. Our results support the hypothesis that curvilinearity preference interacts with central-peripheral processing biases as primary features underlying the organization of temporal cortex topography in the adult human brain.
A Quantum Plasmonic Launcher for Integrated Ultrafast Single-Photon Sources

We demonstrate a quantum plasmonic launcher — a metal-based chip-compatible nanostructure featuring near-THz emission rates. Nanodiamonds with single NV centers are sandwiched between two silver films coupling about half of the emission into in-plane surface plasmons.
The use of 18F-Fluciclovine PET/CT Scan in the detection of recurrent prostate cancer in non-prostatectomy patients

1247 Background: While the diagnostic performance of 18F-FACBC PET/CT imaging in the restaging of patients with biochemical recurrence (BCR) after initial prostatectomy is well documented, its clinical utility in patients with BCR following primary non-prostatectomy treatments is unknown. We aimed to determine detection rate of 18F-FACBC PET/CT scan and the patterns of prostate cancer recurrence in patients with suspected BCR after initial non-prostatectomy treatments, particularly in patients with PSA levels below the accepted Phoenix definition of PSA failure (PSA nadir + 2). Methods: In this single tertiary institution study, we retrospectively enrolled consecutive patients who underwent an 18F-FACBC PET/CT scan between 2017 and 2020 for elevated PSA level following definite initial external beam radiation therapy, brachytherapy and/or cryoablation of prostate cancer. Relevant clinical information including initial treatment, demographic data, PSA level, PSA nadir, PSA kinetic parameter was collected. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to determine the predictive value of PSA and PSA kinetic parameters for a positive 18F-FACBC PET/CT scan. Results: Sixty patients were enrolled in this study. The median PSA was 3.90 ng/mL. The overall detection rate for suspected recurrent prostate cancer was 85%. A total of 75% (18/24) of men below the Phoenix criteria, with median PSA of 1.7 ng/mL, had scans suggestive of recurrent disease. Local recurrence was the most common site, occurring in 63% (38/60) of patients, with isolated local recurrence in 50% (30/60). The accuracy of 18F-FACBC in patients with isolated local recurrence who had biopsy or follow-up imaging was 88 % (16/18). The 18F-FACBC PET/CT scan detected potential sites of recurrence in 67 % of patients when PSA is < 2 ng/ml. Among PSA and PSA kinetic parameters, the PSA velocity has the highest predictive value of a positive 18F-FACBC PET/CT scan with area under curve of 80 %. Conclusions: 18F-FACBC PET/CT frequently identifies suspected recurrent disease prior to the accepted Phoenix definition of PSA nadir+2. Isolated local recurrence is a common finding which accentuates the importance of early identification of recurrent disease after primary non-prostatectomy treatments with possibility of salvage therapy to improve prognosis.
Construction of an Escherichia coli K-12 ada deletion by gene replacement in a recD strain reveals a second methyltransferase that repairs alkylated DNA.

The authors constructed an ada deletion by gene replacement in a recD1014 strain of Escherichia coli. Characterization of a ..delta..ada-25 recD/sup +/ strain revealed the presence of a second DNA methyltransferase activity in E. coli K-12 which transfers a methyl group from methylated DNA to a protein with a molecular weight of 18,000 to 20,000.
Student perceptions of earnings management: the effects of national origin and gender

Earnings management is the practice of makingdiscretionary accounting choices or timingoperating decisions to move reported earningstoward a desired goal. Prior research revealswide disagreement among both students andbusiness executives regarding the ethicalacceptability of earnings management. Thisstudy investigates whether gender and nationalorigin influence accounting students'perceptions of earnings management. Male andfemale accounting students from the U.S. andfive Asian countries evaluated thirteenvignettes describing earnings managementpractices. Very few differences were detectedbetween the responses of the male and femalestudents or between the students from the U.S.and the Asian countries, indicating that thepractice of earnings management was perceivedsimilarly across all the groups of studentsstudied.
New results in multidimensional robust stability

Consideration is given to multidimensional generalization of various 1-D results on the robustness of Hurwitz, Schur, and positivity properties of polynomials and rational functions. The convexity property of the stable region in the coefficient space of multivariable polynomials is studied. Multidimensional generalizations and discrete counterparts of Kharitonov-type results are examined, and further extensions, including that of the 1-D edge theorem, are discussed. Interval positivity property of multivariable rational functions is also characterized in terms of ratios of a finite number of Kharitonov-type polynomials. >
A Review of: “HEATHER'S RAGE: A MOTHER'S FAITH REFLECTED IN HER DAUGHTER'S MENTAL ILLNESS”

Edited by Debrynda B. Davey, RN, CDVC, Dip., EdD, University of Mississippi, School of Nursing, Jackson, Mississippi, USAParents of children with psychiatric disorders are suffering and the mental ...
Mutant vascular actin is a TAAD misbehaving

Actin plays a number of important roles in mammalian cells. Mammals express six different isoforms of actin in a tissue- and temporal-specific manner (1). Mutations in each isoform have been linked to specific diseases in humans, and in most instances a mutation in one of the two copies of the gene is sufficient to cause the disease (2). Mutations in α-smooth muscle isoactin (αSMA) cause vascular defects leading primarily to thoracic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD). In PNAS, Lu et al. (3) addresses two of these mutations, primarily R258C and secondarily R258H, to try to gain insight into how changes induced by these mutations lead to TAAD by affecting actin function. Vascular material from an affected individual carrying the R258C mutation shows that the muscle layer of the vessel wall is abnormal, with disorganized structure and a dearth of contractile filaments compared with normal smooth muscle, suggesting abnormal filament assembly, protein instability, or failure of the assembled cytoskeleton to withstand the forces imposed on it by myosin during contraction of the muscle (4, 5). However, the advanced disease stage at the time of tissue resection prevents early stages of the disease from being addressed. This same site has been mutated in other actin isoforms, in each case leading to a disease. An R256 mutation to either H or L in α-skeletal muscle isoactin causes nemaline myopathy and an R256W mutation in β-nonmuscle isoactin causes Baraitser–Winter Syndrome (2).
Quantitative oral dosing of water soluble and lipophilic contaminants in the Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes)

Abstract Quantitative oral dosing in fish can be challenging, particularly with water soluble contaminants, which can leach into the aquarium water prior to ingestion. We applied a method of bioencapsulation using newly hatched brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) nauplii to study the toxicokinetics of five chlorinated and brominated halogenated acetic acids (HAAs), which are drinking water disinfection by-products. These results are compared to those obtained in a previous study using a polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE-47), a highly lipophilic chemical. The HAAs and PBDE-47 were bioencapsulated using freshly hatched A. franciscana nauplii after incubation in concentrated solutions of the study chemicals for 18 h. Aliquots of the brine shrimp were quantitatively removed for chemical analysis and fed to individual fish that were able to consume 400–500 nauplii in less than 5 min. At select times after feeding, fish were euthanized and the HAA or PBDE-47 content determined. The absorption of HAAs was quantitatively similar to previous studies in rodents: rapid absorption with peak body levels occurring within 1–2 h, then rapidly declining with elimination half-life of 0.3–3 h depending on HAA. PBDE-47 was more slowly absorbed with peak levels occurring by 18 h and very slowly eliminated with an elimination half-life of 281 h.