cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Symptoms of Autonomic Dysfunction in Systemic Sclerosis Assessed by the COMPASS-31 Questionnaire

Objective. Autonomic dysfunction is a known complication of systemic sclerosis (SSc) that can affect vascular tone, gastrointestinal (GI) motility, heart rate, and blood pressure control. We sought to quantify autonomic symptom burden in SSc, and to define the characteristics of patients with SSc and autonomic dysfunction. Methods. Patients with SSc were consecutively recruited during routine clinical visits at the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center and asked to complete the Composite Autonomic Symptom Score (COMPASS)-31 questionnaire, a validated tool to assess symptoms of autonomic dysfunction. We determined the relationship between various clinical and serological features of SSc and the total COMPASS-31 scores and domain-specific scores using the Student t test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test for dichotomous variables and linear regression analysis for continuous variables. Results. The study included 104 patients with SSc who completed the COMPASS-31 questionnaire. The mean COMPASS-31 score in this cohort was 24.9 ± 15.5, higher than COMPASS-31 scores from previously published healthy controls (8.9 ± 8.7). Compared to patients with mild or absent GI disease, patients with significant GI disease had higher scores across several subdomains of the COMPASS-31, including orthostatic intolerance (median 10.0 vs 0, p = 0.006) and secretomotor dysfunction (median 6.4 vs 4.3, p = 0.03). There was also a dose-response relationship between GI disease severity and autonomic symptom burden. Conclusion. Symptoms of autonomic dysfunction are common in SSc. Patients with more severe GI disease in SSc report more symptoms of dysautonomia across many facets of the autonomic nervous system.
New approaches for studying cortical representations

All rights reserved. We review two new approaches for studying cortical representations of sensory stimuli. These exploit optimization algorithms and auto-encoders from machine learning and high resolution electrophysiology data. We show how these approaches can shed new light into the information processing and maintenance taking place in neuronal populations. These approaches allow us to study: 1. Changes in the precision of error representations as a result of neuromodulation. 2. Differences in the cortical connectivity underlying memory representations for different stimuli.
Illusion Versus Reality

The character of reality changes perceptibly from age to age, from generation to generation even, as man’s conception of it changes. As Erich Auerbach shows in Mimesis, literature reflects this shifting pattern of interpretation from the time of Homer to that of Stendhal and Virginia Woolf. For Schopenhauer the world is my idea; the logical positivists contend that the truth of reality is apprehended by operational techniques. For Emile Zola, the militant naturalist, medical science offered an excellent method for the novelist to follow in his exploration of the complexities of human nature. Joyce in Ulysses, utilizing different points of view and experimenting with the technique of the interior monologue, gave birth to a more “complex” version of reality. In the work of Virginia Woolf, reality is refracted through a spectrum of sensibility, seen through a haze of memory. In the case of Lawrence Durrell, the theory of relativity is incorporated into the body of fiction so that, in the Alexandria Quartet, as the point of view changes so does the meaning of the event being described.
The PrePRINT Network: A new dynamic in information access from the U.S. Department of Energy

Abstract The PrePRINT Network provides convenient access to online preprints and reprints in the sciences and some areas of technological development. Initiated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), the PrePRINT Network is the newest addition to an interrelated family of products supporting better integration and utilization of scientific and technological achievements; achievement documented in these communications. The posting of preprints on the Internet by scientists, which began in earnest with members of the physics community, is now expanding rapidly in the information technologies, and some posting of these e-prints is now occurring in most of the sciences. The PrePRINT Network was designed to be flexible with respect to how scientists post their preprints and to be adaptable as this method of sharing preprints expands throughout the disciplines. The PrePRINT Network is one of three Web-based products created to provide scientists with the professional information that is so essential to the scientific community.
Big data and analytics

Business Analytics is maturing and moving towards mass adoption. The emergence of big data increases the need for innovative tools and methodologies. Of particular interest is the established Business Intelligence market segment, built on structured data and reporting. How does big data affect methodologies like ETL, modeling and report authoring? Business Intelligence is at a crossroads between less formal data analysis at scale and business imperatives like regulatory reporting that runs an enterprise. This paper highlights new technologies and services that move the methodologies of old into the data-centric world of high volume and velocity that defines the modern information landscape.
HISTOPATHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN RHESUS MONKEYS AND ALBINO MICE DURING VACCINATION AGAINST SCHISTOSOMA JAPONICUM

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the histopathological changes in rhesus monkeys and albino mice during vaccination against Schistosoma japonicum. In a study discussed in the chapter, in monkeys immunized once with cercariae of the nonhuman strain, very few schistosomula were destroyed in the skin, only a small number in the lungs, but many in the liver. In monkeys immunized four times, there were still many schistosomula destroyed in the skin, but the number of destroyed schistosomula increased in the lungs and accordingly decreased in the liver, resulting in that the schistosomula destroyed in the lungs and liver were about equal in number. Rhesus monkeys and albino mice inoculated once with cercariae of S. japonicum which were exposed to 1,700 to 6,000 r produced similar lesions in the skin, lungs, and liver as in the case of rhesus monkeys which were irradiated with cercariae of the nonhuman strain. When these were immunized four times with the cercariae which had received the same X-ray dosage, there was also a great shift of the site of schistosomula destruction from the liver to the lungs.
Effects of nano-confinement on Zn(II) adsorption to nanoporous silica

Abstract Nanopores (at least one dimension ≤100 nm and no dimension To address these knowledge gaps, we carried out batch experiments designed to reveal the molecular-level details of adsorption reaction products and attendant isotope fractionation of aqueous Zn(II) for synthetic, variably porous, amorphous silica (SiO2(am)) particles with average pore diameters ranging from 10 nm to 330 nm. Shell-by-shell fitting of Zn K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra reveals that Zn(II) (1) adsorbs as dominantly monodentate, corner-sharing complexes to silicate tetrahedra of all SiO2(am) particles examined, regardless of pore size, (2) is tetrahedrally coordinated by oxygen atoms in nanoporous silica with small pore sizes (≤10 nm), and (3) is present as a mixture of tetrahedrally and octahedrally coordinated surface complexes in silica with larger pore sizes (>10 nm). In addition, at low Zn(II) surface coverages ( 0.9 μmol m−2). Although molecular-level differences in Zn(II) adsorption complexes are apparent with respect to SiO2(am) pore size, we observed no quantifiable differences in attendant isotope fractionation or adsorption edge structure for Zn(II) uptake on nanoporous SiO2(am) surfaces. These results suggest that the differences in binding energy of tetrahedrally versus octahedrally coordinated Zn(II) complexes at the same site on SiO2(am) are small. Comparison of EXAFS spectra to the results of surface complexation modeling (SCM) of experimental Zn(II) uptake data indicates that monodentate Zn(II) adsorption on the SiO2(am) surface releases two protons through binding one site and passivating an adjacent site, which accounts for the modification of surface charge and surface complex structure during adsorption of Zn(II) cations. This study shows that adsorption of Zn(II) in variably porous SiO2(am) results in differences in surface complex geometry as pore size decreases and as surface coverage of Zn(II) increases. Although surface complexation modeling of Zn(II) adsorption edges on macroporous and nanoporous SiO2(am) does not independently identify these molecular-level differences, combination of SCM and molecular-level observations reveals unique insight into the overall adsorption reaction and neighboring surface site reactivity.
Tennis and Golf Wrist

Upper extremity injuries seen in young athletes participating in golf and tennis are typically overuse in nature, whereas lower extremity injuries in these sports are generally due to acute trauma. The biomechanics of the swing in golf and tennis lead to stress on the wrist in both the planes of flexion-extension as well as radial and ulnar deviation. These repetitive motions can potentially result in tendinopathies of the wrist extensors and flexors. Intra-articular pathology, such as injuries to the triangular fibrocartilage complex can also occur. Initial treatment of these injuries in the young athlete is typically non-operative but may include operative intervention in order to alleviate discomfort and/or facilitate return to sport.
Hydrologic, geomorphic, and stratigraphic controls on suspended sediment transport dynamics, Big Harris Creek restoration site, North Carolina, USA

Abstract Water quality monitoring records were combined with geomorphic and stratigraphic data to determine the controls on suspended sediment transport dynamics within the headwaters of Big Harris Creek, the site of one of the largest stream restoration projects in North Carolina, USA. Land-use change associated with European settlement resulted in spatially variable geomorphic responses that produced reaches possessing semi-homogeneous landforms and processes, referred to as process zones. Downstream, process zones were dominated by entrenched channels possessing banks characterized by sandy post-settlement deposits that overlie finer-grained pre-settlement deposits. Spatial variations in the resulting process zones strongly influenced modern suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) and loads in the catchment, which are among the highest reported for the southeastern United States. The source and transport dynamics of suspended sediment differed between low magnitude floods (characterized by minimal changes in water level elevations) and moderate to high magnitude floods. Low magnitude floods were characterized by SSCs that varied over several orders of magnitude, and that were unrelated to flow conditions. Precipitation, during these events, rapidly mobilization fine-grained pre-settlement deposits associated with bank failures and cattle crossings along entrenched alluvial channels. Moderate to high magnitude floods within larger tributary basins exhibited more systematic discharge-SSC relationships. Suspended sediment transport was dominated by sand-sized particles derived from post-settlement legacy sediments eroded from the channel banks and headwater gullies. The observed temporal and spatial differences in SSC between low and moderate to high magnitude floods complicates the quantification of water quality, and shows that comparisons of water quality before and following the implementation of restoration projects need to differentiate between distinct populations of suspended sediment transport.
Comments on Obstfeld and Rogoff's

The paper offers comments on Obstfeld and Rogoff (2000). The comments primarily focus on three issues: (a) How do we reconcile the numerical examples of OR, which show quantitatively plausible resolutions to the major puzzles arising from costs of trade, with previous studies that have found trade costs do not get us very far? (b) Does the solution proposed by OR solve the puzzles at the expense of introducing new puzzles? That is, does their solution have counterfactual implications for other economic relationships? (The prime example of what I have in mind here is what OR call the Backus-Smith puzzle'.) (c) Some of the problems connected with points (a) and (b) can be rectified by moving away from the assumption of complete asset markets. But, then, how do we assess how much of the solution to the puzzle is coming from trade costs versus capital-market imperfections?
The Role of Disability Services in Student Veterans’ Private School Choice

Student veterans on college and university campuses are a unique, under-researched population. The current study (n = 119) investigated the criteria used when student veterans select a private, nonprofit college or university. A one-factor model of support for disability needs constructed from prior research was tested and found to have adequate fit. The factor support was used in structural equation modeling to test the relationship between demographic information, such as length of time in the military, and endorsement of disability services as a criterion for selecting the private, nonprofit college or university. Results indicate veterans who served more time in the military are more likely to select a school based on the presence of disability services.
Comprehensive Model for Randomly Phase-Matched Frequency Conversion in Zinc-Blende Polycrystals and Experimental Results for Zn Se

With their natural randomness, polycrystalline materials as gain elements have opened an avenue for the development of ultrafast laser sources. The authors' model, based on the rigorous orientation of crystalline domains, lays the foundation for ultrafast three-wave interactions in a material, in terms of randomized polarizations and intensities. This work clarifies the potential of random phase matching in ultrafast applications, as well as the standard for nonlinear gain in this process, by comparison to the well-developed technology of quasi-phase matching.
Status Quo Ante Bellum: The Irish Military Establishment, 1914

The year 1914 was crucial for the future of Irish military officers, as two events took place which would eventually lead to the total collapse of the military elite’s moral authority in Ireland. One of these was, of course, the First World War; the other, some months earlier, was the so-called Curragh mutiny, in which dozens of Irish officers staged a protest against War Office plans to mobilise against an anticipated Unionist uprising in Ulster. The tumult of the Irish question had finally, and dramatically, impacted the military elite, precipitating a systemic crisis in the British Army. Officers are found to have evinced a surprising diversity of reactions to the deteriorating political situation in Ireland and to the emerging nationalist and unionist militia organisations which directly contested Irish officers’ authority and legitimacy as military elites. Catholic and nationalist officers’ reactions to this crisis are particularly noteworthy, strongly reflecting the powerful contradictions in identity that this extraordinary situation engendered in the military elite.
Psychological Response to a False Positive Ovarian Cancer Screening Test Result: Distinct Distress Trajectories and Their Associated Characteristics

Routine screening for ovarian cancer (OC) can yield an abnormal result later deemed benign. Such false positive (FP) results have been shown to trigger distress, which generally resolves over time. However, women might differ in the trajectory of the distress experience. Women participating in a routine OC screening program (n = 373) who received an abnormal screening result completed a baseline assessment prior to a follow-up screening test to clarify the nature of their abnormal result. All women were subsequently informed that no malignancy was present, and follow-up assessments were completed one and four months post-baseline. Demographic, clinical, dispositional (optimism, monitoring), and social environmental (social constraint, social support) variables were assessed at baseline. OC-specific distress was assessed at all three assessments. Trajectory analyses identified three distress trajectories differing in the baseline level of distress. A high decreasing trajectory, representing about 25% of women, was characterized by high levels of distress at baseline with distress declining over time, but still elevated at four-month follow-up. In contrast, a no distress trajectory group, representing about 30% of women, was characterized by essentially no distress at any time point. Principal risk factors for membership in the high decreasing trajectory group included a family history of OC, lower dispositional optimism, and greater social constraint. These risk factors could be used to target resources efficiently towards managing women at risk for potentially clinically-significant distress after receipt of an FP OC screening test.
Analysis of Joint Scheduling and Power Control for Predictable URLLC in Industrial Wireless Networks

Wireless networks are being applied in various industrial sectors, and they are posed to support mission-critical industrial IoT applications which require ultra-reliable, low-latency communications (URLLC). Ensuring predictable per-packet communication reliability is a basis of predictable URLLC, and scheduling and power control are two basic enablers. Scheduling and power control, however, are subject to challenges such as harsh environments, dynamic channels, and distributed network settings in industrial IoT. Existing solutions are mostly based on heuristic algorithms or asymptotic analysis of network performance, and there lack field-deployable algorithms for ensuring predictable per-packet reliability. Towards addressing the gap, we examine the cross-layer design of joint scheduling and power control and analyze the associated challenges. We introduce the Perron–Frobenius theorem to demonstrate that scheduling is a must for ensuring predictable communication reliability, and by investigating characteristics of interference matrices, we show that scheduling with close-by links silent effectively constructs a set of links whose required reliability is feasible with proper transmission power control. Given that scheduling alone is unable to ensure predictable communication reliability while ensuring high throughput and addressing fast-varying channel dynamics, we demonstrate how power control can help improve both the reliability at each time instant and throughput in the long-term. Based on the analysis, we propose a candidate framework of joint scheduling and power control, and we demonstrate how this framework behaves in guaranteeing per-packet communication reliability in the presence of wireless channel dynamics of different time scales. Collectively, these findings provide insight into the cross-layer design of joint scheduling and power control for ensuring predictable per-packet reliability in the presence of wireless network dynamics and uncertainties.
Teaching Spatial Analysis in Business: An Examination of the Use of Geographic Information Systems in a Decision Support Systems Course

Geographic information systems (GIS) are increasing in importance as a resource for collecting, managing, and analyzing data pertaining to a variety of business problems. Yet, the number of busines...
Migrant Workers, Artisanal Gold Mining, and “More-Than-Human” Sousveillance in South Africa’s Closed Gold Mines

This chapter focuses on undocumented migrants who travel to South Africa in search of better lives and work in the abandoned gold mines and tailings ponds of Gauteng and Free State Provinces, where informally extracting gold from closed shafts is a crime. The chapter draws on recent scholarship that analyzes racialized surveillance and human–object relations as a way to understand how the physical qualities of gold enable miners to resist surveillance‚ economic exclusion‚ and capture. It is argued that artisanal diggers harvesting gold from the depths of abandoned mine shafts are not motivated exclusively by the financial advantages of breaking the law—such as avoiding regulatory requirements and competition from legal actors or payment of licensing fees and taxes. Rather, in contrast to extant theories of crime that find that lawbreakers commit crimes to gain competitive advantage over their legal competitors, this chapter finds that already criminalized persons illegally mine gold because the difficulty of tracking and tracing gold allows them to hide themselves and their presence within their work products. As such, diggers involved in artisanal gold mining approach their informal livelihood as a means to “un-label” themselves as “criminals” and avoid the economic exclusion‚ harassment, detainment, and deportation that policing and the corproate gold industry’s mineral verification regimes foster. Overall, the chapter illustrates how corporate and state surveillance mediate the relationship between workers and the things they make, showing how criminalized people have an affinity for working with substances whose physicality obfuscates how and where the substances were produced‚ and why migrant gold miners’ need to hide from state and industry authorities and gold’s ability to “liberate” them intertwine.
Predictive Accuracy of Heart Failure-Specific Risk Equations in an Electronic Health Record-Based Cohort

Background: Guidelines recommend identification of individuals at risk for heart failure (HF). However, implementation of risk-based prevention strategies requires validation of HF-specific risk sc...
A Lightweight Simulation Framework for Learning Control Policies for Autonomous Vehicles in Real-World Traffic Condition

We present a new simulation framework for learning control policies for autonomous vehicles (AVs) based on real-world vehicle data and maps. The framework we propose consists of three major components: a) creating a detailed lane-level map (i.e., a high definition (HD) map) for a region of interest, b) generating an environment on the HD-map using the sensor outputs (e.g., GPS, radar) from vehicles driving in the same region, and c) learning a control policy based on the realistic environment constructed. We created the lane-level HD-maps using open street maps (OSM) and aerial imagery, from which we extracted the lane-level marking and edge features. The extracted image features are then utilized to calculate higher level attributes (e.g., curvature, heading, cross-sections etc.) for each point in the HD-map. The data acquired from vehicle sensors is combined with the constructed map to create a realistic environment. Based on the constructed environment, we learned a policy to control the vehicle laterally using a reinforcement learning algorithm and longitudinally using proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. Our experimental results show that the proposed framework works well, offering a flexible and scalable solution for learning control policies for AVs in realistic environments.
AMPK maintains TCA cycle through sequential phosphorylation of PDHA to promote tumor metastasis.

Cancer represents the leading public health problem throughout the world. Globally, about one out of six deaths is related to cancer, which is largely due to the metastatic lesions. However, there are no effective strategies for targeting cancer metastasis. Identification of the key druggable targets maintaining metastasis is crucial for cancer treatment. In our recent study (Cai et al. (2020), Mol Cell, doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.09.018), we found that activity of AMPK was enriched in metastatic tumors compared to primary tumors. Depletion of AMPK rendered cancer cells more sensitive to metabolic and oxidative stress, leading to the impairment of breast cancer lung metastasis. Activation of AMPK rewired cancer metabolism towards TCA cycle, which protects disseminated cancer cells from both metabolic and oxidative stress-induced cell death, and facilitates cancer metastasis. Further, AMPK critically maintained the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH), the rate limiting enzyme involved in TCA cycle, thus favoring the pyruvate metabolism towards TCA cycle rather than converting it to lactate. Mechanistically, AMPK was shown to co-localize with PDHA, the catalytic subunit of PDH, in the mitochondrial matrix and directly triggered the phosphorylation of PDHA on Ser295 and Ser314. Hyper-phosphorylation of Ser295 and Ser314 of PDHA promotes lung metastasis through elevating activity of PDH. Of note, PDHA Ser314 phosphorylation abrogated the interaction between PDHA and PDHKs leading to the dephosphorylation on previously reported S293 site, whose phosphorylation serves as a negative signal for PDH activation, while S295 phosphorylation serves as an intrinsic catalytic site required for pyruvate metabolism. Our study presented the first evidence for the pro-metastatic property of the AMPK-PDH axis and advance our current understanding of how PDH is activated under physiological and pathological conditions.
The Impact of SOX on the Dual-Class Voting Premium

We examine the impact of corporate governance laws on the private benefits of control, using the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) as a natural quasi-experiment. We find a large decline in the average voting premium of U.S. dual-class firms targeted by major SOX provisions that enhance board independence, improve internal controls and increase litigation risks. These targeted firms also improve the efficiency of investment, cash management, and CEO compensation. Overall, the evidence suggests that SOX is effective in curbing the private benefits of control.
Traumatic splenic laceration with delayed rupture secondary to coughing in a patient with Von Willebrand disease.

Abstract We describe the case of a 54-year-old male with Von Willebrand Disease who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with 2 weeks of worsening abdominal pain after falling on his left flank while boating. On his initial presentation, he was found to have a Grade II splenic injury that was managed non operatively by the trauma service. Four days later, he returned to the ED when he developed severe abdominal pain after coughing and was found to have active extravasation from the splenic parenchyma with hemoperitoneum on CT angiography and a grossly positive FAST exam. Intraoperatively, he was found to have a Grade V splenic injury and subsequently underwent splenectomy.
Clinical characteristics of renal cell carcinoma in patients under the age of 40.

Abstract Background Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) most commonly afflicts older patients while those 40 years old or younger represent an uncommon population. We aim to describe the tumor characteristics and treatment patterns for young kidney cancer patients utilizing the National Cancer Database. Methods The National Cancer Database Participant User File for RCC was queried from 2004 to 2016. Demographics and treatment trends were analyzed and compared between a young cohort, those aged 40 and younger vs. a conventional cohort, those older than 40. Pathology analyzed included clear cell, papillary, chromophobe, RCC not otherwise specified, and miscellaneous uncategorized. Subanalysis was performed for patients with localized disease and treatment type. Results Amongst the 514,879 patients diagnosed with RCC, 4.7% were ≤40 years old. RCC for individuals ≤40 has a higher proportion of female gender, non-Caucasian race, and chromophobe pathology, relative to the conventional cohort. Younger patients more often presented with cT1 disease with decreased rates of metastasis. Risk of 30-day readmission after surgery was similar between cohorts. For patients with cT1-2N0M0 disease, there was a decreasing rate of radical nephrectomy and increasing rate of partial nephrectomy; however, the conventional cohort had an increasing rate of percutaneous ablation while this remained stable in the younger cohort. Conclusion Young RCC patients had a higher proportion of female gender, chromophobe histology, and favorable tumor characteristics. Partial nephrectomy has seen a dramatic increase in application regardless of age while percutaneous ablation increased only in the conventional cohort.
Balanced partitions

A famous theorem of Euler asserts that there are as many partitions of n into distinct parts as there are partitions into odd parts. We begin by establishing a less well-known companion result, which states that both of these quantities are equal to the number of partitions of n into even parts along with exactly one triangular part. We then introduce the characteristic of a partition, which is determined in a simple way by the placement of odd parts within the list of all parts. This leads to a refinement of the aforementioned result in the form of a new type of partition identity involving characteristic, distinct parts, even parts, and triangular numbers. Our primary purpose is to present a bijective proof of the central instance of this new type of identity, which concerns balanced partitions—partitions in which odd parts occupy as many even as odd positions within the list of all parts. The bijection is accomplished by means of a construction that converts balanced partitions of 2n into unrestricted partitions of n via a pairing of the squares in the Young tableau.
A Roadmap for Metacognition and Computational Science

We consider some of the aspects of metacognition as potential teaching tools for computational science. We present definitions within metacognition, along with SMART goals and the concept of a growth mindset. A project is produced for consideration. This project involves learning such varied computational tools as R, Fortran, the Message Passing Interface (MPI), and OpenACC. A test over the material is produced, along with a website for the students’ use for reflection. Using the test and the website as a guideline, we look at a simulation study to determine possible recall. We find that the highest grades show significant decline in recall, while the remaining grades stay fairly consistent. Finally, we discuss the implications of the study results and future research.
Conformational Freedom and Topological Confinement of Proteins in Biomolecular Condensates.

Abstract The emergence of biomolecular condensation and liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) introduces a new layer of complexity into our understanding of cell and molecular biology. Evidence steadily grows indicating that condensates are not only implicated in physiology but also human disease. Macro- and mesoscale characterization of condensates as a whole have been instrumental in understanding their biological functions and dysfunctions. By contrast, the molecular level characterization of condensates and how condensates modify the properties of the molecules that constitute them thus far remain comparably scarce. In this minireview we summarize and discuss the findings of several recent studies that have focused on structure, dynamics, and interactions of proteins undergoing condensation. The mechanistic insights they provide help us identify the relevant properties nature and scientists can leverage to modulate the behavior of condensate systems. We also discuss the unique environment of the droplet surface and speculate on effects of topological constraints and physical exclusion on condensate properties.
Preliminary performance characterization of DbPET2.1, a PET scanner dedicated to the imaging of the breast and extremities

The combined effort of several laboratories at our institution resulted in the building of the first high-resolution PET/CT prototype dedicated to imaging the extremities of the body. Ongoing clinical trials for breast-cancer diagnosis and assessment of the response to treatment underlined the need for a second-generation prototype with improved electronics and spatial resolution. A preliminary version has been assembled and fully characterized. In this work, we present further improvements in detector performance, as well as the readout electronics for the PET component. The detector consists of a 16 × 16 array of 1.27 × 1.27 × 20 mm3 lutetium yttrium orthosilicate crystals, the smallest crystal size for completed breast PET prototypes to date, directly coupled to a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube (PSPMT). The scintillator crystals are polished on all six faces and separated by a ~70 μm enhanced specular reflector. The readout electronics were redesigned to reduce their footprint and improve timing resolution. We report a detector energy and timing resolution of 12% and 1.0 ns, respectively, and an average intrinsic spatial resolution of 1.29 mm (central row in one detector array). The new PET/CT has been fully assembled, and initial system characterization is being performed. We report a system energy resolution of 15.7%, a timing resolution of 1.5 ns and a filtered back-projection image spatial resolution in the center of the field of view of 1.6 mm.
David Canter (Ed.). The Faces of Terrorism: Multidisciplinary Perspectives

This anthology examines different facets of terrorism with more than a dozen approaches, and explores what terrorism is and means. The contributions cover areas including Australia, Chechnya, Colom...
A Geometric Approach to Homotopy Theory

From here on all CW complexes mentioned will be assumed finite unless they occur as the covering spaces of given finite complexes.
Post-college earnings of Iowa community college career and technical education students: Analysis of selected career clusters

The economic impact of community colleges has become an important factor at both state and national levels. The purpose of this study was to identify and understand specific factors such as gender, age, degree attainment and annual gain in earnings that influence fifth-year post-college earnings of Iowa community college students in career and technical education in selected national career clusters. This study analyzed the predictive power of community college students’ background characteristics and their highest award attained to their fifth-year annual earnings. Existing data sets were matched to capture information on students’ education and earnings. These data sets were: Iowa Department of Education’s Management Information System (MIS), Iowa Workforce Development’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) records, and the National Student Clearinghouse. The results in the Manufacturing; Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and the Transportation/Distribution and Logistics clusters were similar. In these clusters gender, age, economic status, community college degree and annual gain in earnings were significant predictors of a student’s fifth-year annual earnings. Females and traditional age students should be aware that, if they do not receive an associate degree, their earning potential is significantly less than that of males. The Architecture and Construction cluster varied in the results. In this cluster gender, age and annual gain in earnings were significant predictors of a student’s fifth-year annual earnings. Females and traditional age students are at a disadvantage in this cluster in relationship to their fifth-year annual earnings.
A general account of selection: biology, immunology, and behavior.

Authors frequently refer to gene-based selection in biological evolution, the reaction of the immune system to antigens, and operant learning as exemplifying selection processes in the same sense of this term. However, as obvious as this claim may seem on the surface, setting out an account of "selection" that is general enough to incorporate all three of these processes without becoming so gen- eral as to be vacuous is far from easy. In this target article, we set out such a general account of selection to see how well it accommo- dates these very different sorts of selection. The three fundamental elements of this account are replication, variation, and environmental interaction. For selection to occur, these three processes must be related in a very specific way. In particular, replication must alternate with environmental interaction so that any changes that occur in replication are passed on differentially because of environmental in- teraction. One of the main differences among the three sorts of selection that we investigate concerns the role of organisms. In traditional bio- logical evolution, organisms play a central role with respect to environmental interaction. Although environmental interaction can occur at other levels of the organizational hierarchy, organisms are the primary focus of environmental interaction. In the functioning of the immune system, organisms function as containers. The interactions that result in selection of antibodies during a lifetime are between entities (antibodies and antigens) contained within the organism. Resulting changes in the immune system of one organism are not passed on to later organisms. Nor are changes in operant behavior resulting from behavioral selection passed on to later organisms. But oper- ant behavior is not contained in the organism because most of the interactions that lead to differential replication include parts of the world outside the organism. Changes in the organism's nervous system are the effects of those interactions. The role of genes also varies in these three systems. Biological evolution is gene-based (i.e., genes are the primary replicators). Genes play very different roles in op- erant behavior and the immune system. However, in all three systems, iteration is central. All three selection processes are also incred- ibly wasteful and inefficient. They can generate complexity and novelty primarily because they are so wasteful and inefficient.
High-resolution climate simulations with COSMO-CLM over Italy: performance evaluation and climate projections for the 21st century

This study presents the results of dynamically downscaled climate simulations over Italy produced with the COSMO-CLM model. Three simulations forced by ERA-Interim Reanalysis were conducted respectively at a spatial resolution of 0.22°, 0.125° and 0.0715° over the period 1979–2011. The results were analysed in terms of 2-m temperature and precipitation with the aim of assessing the model's ability to reproduce these important features of the Italian climate. The results were validated by comparing model output with different independent observational datasets. Values of temperature and precipitation show a general good agreement with observations, with a fair reduction of errors in all seasons as the resolution is increased. Two simulations at a spatial resolution of 0.0715°, driven by the global model CMCC-CM, were performed over the period 1971–2100, employing the IPCC RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Climate projections show a significant warming expected in Italy at the end of the 21st century, along with a general reduction in precipitation, particularly evident in spring and summer.
Violence experienced by nurses' aides in nursing homes: an exploratory study

1. The growing aged population in the United States will result in an increase in nursing home patients, and in numbers of employees in these homes providing care to patients. Nurses' aides, an employee group that has not received much attention, will be the primary providers of this patient care. 2. In this preliminary study the abuse experienced by nurses' aides in nursing homes was both a psychosocial and ergonomic stressor, because it had emotional and psychological components, as well as actual physical injury. 3. Nurses' aides, like other workers, deserve a safe and healthful workplace. A large scale study should be done to determine the extent of abuse/violence directed toward nursing home employees. 4. If abuse is validated as a problem, aides should receive training in handling abusive patients. In addition, it is important to identify the factors related to patients' abusive behaviors and to test mechanisms for reducing these behaviors.
A new role for AMP‐activated protein kinase in the circadian regulation of L‐type voltage‐gated calcium channels in late‐stage embryonic retinal photoreceptors

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a cellular energy sensor, which is activated when the intracellular ATP production decreases. The activities of AMPK display circadian rhythms in various organs and tissues, indicating that AMPK is involved in the circadian regulation of cellular metabolism. In vertebrate retina, the circadian clocks regulate many aspects of retinal function and physiology, including light/dark adaption, but whether and how AMPK was involved in the retinal circadian rhythm was not known. We hypothesized that the activation of AMPK (measured as phosphorylated AMPK) in the retina was under circadian control, and AMPK might interact with other intracellular signaling molecules to regulate photoreceptor physiology. We combined ATP assays, western blots, immunostaining, patch-clamp recordings, and pharmacological treatments to decipher the role of AMPK in the circadian regulation of photoreceptor physiology. We found that the overall retinal ATP content displayed a diurnal rhythm that peaked at early night, which was nearly anti-phase to the diurnal and circadian rhythms of AMPK phosphorylation. AMPK was also involved in the circadian phase-dependent regulation of photoreceptor L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (L-VGCCs), the ion channel essential for sustained neurotransmitter release. The activation of AMPK dampened the L-VGCC currents at night with a corresponding decrease in protein expression of the L-VGCCα1 pore-forming subunit, while inhibition of AMPK increased the L-VGCC current during the day. AMPK appeared to be upstream of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase and mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) but downstream of adenylyl cyclase in regulating the circadian rhythm of L-VGCCs. Hence, as a cellular energy sensor, AMPK integrates into the cell signaling network to regulate the circadian rhythm of photoreceptor physiology. We found that in chicken embryonic retina, the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is under circadian control and anti-phase to the retinal ATP rhythm. While ATP content is higher at night, phosphorylated AMPK (pAMPK) is higher during the day. AMPK appears to be upstream of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), protein kinase B (AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) but downstream of adenylyl cyclase in regulating the circadian rhythm of L-VGCCs. Therefore, as a cellular energy sensor, AMPK integrates into the cell signaling network to regulate the circadian rhythm of photoreceptor physiology.
Asymmetric lexical access and fuzzy lexical representations in second language learners

For L2-learners, confusable phonemic categories lead to ambiguous lexical representations. Yet, learners can establish separate lexical representations for confusable categories, as shown by asymmetric patterns of lexical access, but the source of this asymmetry is not clear (Cutler et al., 2006). Two hypotheses compete, situating its source either at the lexical coding level or at the phonetic categorization level. The lexical coding hypothesis suggests that learners’ encoding of an unfamiliar category is not target-like but makes reference to a familiar L1 category (encoded as a poor exemplar of that L1 category). Four experiments examined how learners lexically encode confusable phonemic categories. American English learners of Japanese and of German were tested on phonetic categorization and lexical decision for geminate/singleton contrasts and front/back rounded vowel contrasts. Results showed the same asymmetrical patterns as Cutler et al.’s (2006), indicating that learners encode a lexical distinction between difficult categories. Results also clarify that the source of the asymmetry is located at the lexical coding level and does not emerge during input categorization: the distinction is not target-like, and makes reference to L1 categories. We further provide new evidence that asymmetries can be resolved over time: advanced learners are establishing more native-like lexical representations.
Three-dimensional reconstruction of coronal mass ejections using heliospheric imager data

Innovative techniques have been developed to extract three-dimensional (3-D) information on coronal mass ejections. Some techniques have only been available since the launch of the STEREO spacecraft, where geometry can be applied to white light observations from three different viewpoints. Another technique not necessarily requiring the multiple-viewpoint capabilities of STEREO involves heliospheric imaging. With heliospheric imagers, we may take advantage of the breakdown in geometrical and Thomson scattering linearity and, with careful analysis of the data, extract 3-D parameters from CME images. In this review we discuss the various techniques that are being developed and used to reconstruct the 3-D structure and kinematic evolution of CMEs, with a particular emphasis on the work of the author and colleagues. Following a brief review of multiple-viewpoint coronagraph analysis, we focus on techniques involving heliospheric images, which can be used to achieve the reconstruction with a good degree of accuracy without the need for auxiliary data.
Age matters: a study of clinical and economic outcomes following cholecystectomy in elderly Americans

Abstract Background Gallstone disease increases with age. The aims of this study were to measure short-term outcomes from cholecystectomy in hospitalized elderly patients, assess the effect of age, and identify predictors of outcomes. Methods This was a cross-sectional analysis, using the Health Care Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample (1999–2006), of elderly patients (aged 65–79 and ≥80 years) and a comparison group (aged 50–64 years) hospitalized for cholecystectomy. Linear and logistic regression models were used to evaluate age and outcome relationships. Main outcomes were in-hospital mortality, complications, discharge disposition, mean length of stay, and cost. Results A total of 149,855 patients aged 65 to 79 years, 62,561 patients aged ≥ 80 years, and 145,675 subjects aged 50 to 64 years were included. Elderly patients had multiple biliary diagnoses and longer times to surgery from admission and underwent more open procedures. Patients aged 65 to 79 years and those aged ≥80 years had higher adjusted odds of mortality (odds ratios [ORs], 2.36 and 5.91, respectively), complications (ORs, 1.57 and 2.39), nonroutine discharge (ORs, 3.02 and 10.76), longer length of stay (ORs, 1.11 and 1.31), and higher cost (ORs, 1.09 and 1.22) than younger patients. Conclusions Elderly patients undergoing inpatient cholecystectomy have complex disease, with worse outcomes. Longer time from admission to surgery predicts poor outcome.
METROPOLIS MONTE CARLO X-RAY AND NEUTRON DIFFRACTION IN ICE Ih

Extensions of our simulations to higher x-ray scattering angles are presented and discussed. Here only qualitative comparisons are available. Neutron diffraction simulation results are presented and compared with available experiment.
Nonlocal Corrections to the Band Structure of Si, Ge, and α − S n

The electronic structure of three group-IV elements is examined using a nonlocal pseudopotential determined primarily by physical considerations. An ionic contribution to the potential is separated from the valence and covalent portion of the interaction, and is constructed in an empty-core approximation, in terms of a set of angular-momentum-dependent core radii ${R}_{l}$. A modified version of the Penn dielectric function is used to determine the valence charge potential. Comparison with experiment results in substantial improvement over what has previously been achieved using the local empirical model (EPM).