cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reliability-Based Soft-Decision Decoding With Multiple Biases

In this paper, a new reliability-based soft-decision decoding algorithm is presented. This algorithm repeatedly uses biased reliability values to construct the most-reliable-basis (MRB). As a result, this new method makes use of multiple information sets in a stochastic way. Compared to previously proposed competitive approaches, this new method produces a more efficient MRB reprocessing type algorithm to achieve near maximum-likelihood decoding (MLD) performance with a proper choice of the bias value. It can be combined with any MRB reprocessing type algorithm and in each case, a tight performance analysis can be derived
Modification of the magnetic properties of longitudinal thin-film media by ion-beam irradiation

Abstract : The modification of conventional longitudinal recording media by ion-beam irradiation is of both scientific and technological interest. In particular, patterning by irradiation through a stencil mask at the 50 nm length scale may fulfill the promise of a commercially viable patterned media architecture. In this context, the magnetic properties and microstructure evolution of high-coercivity longitudinal thin film media were investigated after ion-beam irradiation. TRIM simulations were used to calculate the depth profiles and damage distributions as a function of energy and dose for carbon, nitrogen, and chromium ions and three different media (C, Cr, no capping layer). Corresponding implantations were carried out and hysteresis curves were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Using chromium ion implantation at 20 keV, both remanence and coercivity were reduced to zero, i.e., rendering the ferromagnetic thin film paramagnetic, at doses as low as 1 x 10(exp 16)/sq cm. For C(+) implantation at 20 keV, remanence and coercivity were also reduced to varying extent up to doses of 5 x 10(exp 16)/sq cm after which further irradiation had no effect. Slight decreases in remanence and coercivity were observed for 20 keV N2(+) irradiation. XRD measurements indicate that the hexagonal cobalt alloy phase remains intact after irradiation. The physical and magnetic domain structures at the surface were assessed by atomic force and magnetic force microscopy. Combined with the development of a suitable stencil mask, such chromium ion implantation can be used to develop a viable patterned media with nanoscale dimensions. consisting of locally defined ferromagnetic and paramagnetic regions. This work is in progress.
How Can the MMPI-2 Help Child Custody Examiners?

SUMMARY The paper explores what hypotheses we can infer from the MMPI-2 regarding parenting behaviors and what are the significant limitations on our inferences. The first half looks at the MMPI-2 from a child custody view: is there a foundation from which the test can generate expectations regarding five basic issues, i.e., the quality of attachment and bonding, potential for antisocial behavior, temper control, alienation of affection, and chemical abuse and dependence. The second half looks at custody from an MMPI-2 point of view: what is the range of possible variables that will generate useful hypotheses regarding parent-child interactions and family systems? The effects of the circumstances of litigation on score elevations are considered, including recommended limits as to how much elevation can be dismissed as only contextual. “Occasion validity” (are these scores trustworthy) is distinguished from “Attribute validity” (what do the scores tell us). The clinical application of an objective interpre...
Imaging a peaked pupil in a traumatic open globe injury.

A 30-month-old boy presented to the emergency department after accidentally hitting his left eye on a kitchen island corner. His conjunctiva appeared slightly injected, but bedside examination was difficult secondary to cooperation. He underwent a sedated examination and was found to have a peaked pupil at 12 o’clock and a traumatic cataract (Figure, A). Computed tomography (CT) imaging of the orbits showed an asymmetrically shallow left anterior chamber, concerning for an open globe injury, but without an intraocular foreign body (Figure, B). He was urgently taken to the operating room for exploration and found to have a scleral laceration at 12 o’clock that was repaired. He underwent cataract surgery 1 month later. Ocular trauma is among the leading causes of unilateral blindness and vision loss in children. Sharp objects, such as knives or scissors, are the most common causes of pediatric open globe injuries. Initial surgical management typically involves primary closure of the laceration but future procedures are frequently necessary. Assessing for traumatic
LIA4 Encodes a Chromoshadow Domain Protein Required for Genomewide DNA Rearrangements in Tetrahymena thermophila

Extensive DNA elimination occurs as part of macronuclear differentiation during Tetrahymena sexual reproduction. The identification of sequences to excise is guided by a specialized RNA interference (RNAi) machinery that targets the methylation of histone H3 lysine 9 (K9) and K27 on chromatin associated with these internal eliminated sequences (IESs). This modified chromatin is reorganized into heterochromatic subnuclear foci, which is a hallmark of their subsequent elimination. Here, we demonstrate that Lia4, a chromoshadow domain-containing protein, is an essential component in this DNA elimination pathway. LIA4 knockout (ΔLIA4) lines fail to excise IESs from their developing somatic genome and arrest at a late stage of conjugation. Lia4 acts after RNAi-guided heterochromatin formation, as both H3K9 and H3K27 methylation are established. Nevertheless, without LIA4, these cells fail to form the heterochromatic foci associated with DNA rearrangement, and Lia4 accumulates in the foci, indicating that Lia4 plays a key role in their structure. These data indicate a critical role for Lia4 in organizing the nucleus during Tetrahymena macronuclear differentiation.
BRINGING EMOTIONS INTO SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY

▪ Abstract We analyze and review how research on emotion and emotional phenomena can elaborate and improve contemporary social exchange theory. After identifying six approaches from the psychology and sociology of emotion, we illustrate how these ideas bear on the context, process, and outcome of exchange in networks and groups. The paper reviews the current state of the field, develops testable hypotheses for empirical study, and provides specific suggestions for developing links between theories of emotion and theories of exchange.
How Intelligent Is Intelligence Reform

Amy Zegart argues that the U.S. intelligence community suffered an "adaptation failure" that left it unprepared to deal with the terrorist threat after the Cold War.1 The core of this apparent failure was its inability to reorganize in response to a radically changed international setting, despite recommendations for reform from a number of prominent commissions and members of Congress. Zegart further argues that this bureaucratic sclerosis resulted from the nature of organizations, the rational self-interests of national security officials, and the decentralized structure of American federalism.2 Zegart is one of a handful of political scientists to look seriously at intelligence issues, and her study raises several important questions. Her model of bureaucratic inertia is theoretically compelling and deserves close scrutiny, even though we disagree with some of her conclusions about intelligence reform. The large organizational changes currently under way in the U.S. intelligence establishment have proceeded with insufficient attention from the security studies community. We hope that Zegart's analysis inspires more academic debate on the relationship between intelligence, foreign policy, and national security. In this commentary we critique three aspects of the article. First, its logic rests on an unjustified assumption about the need to reorganize in the face of new security challenges. Second, the article reveals an overriding preference for centralization, regardless of changes in the international environment. Third, we challenge her interpretation of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as the culmination of the intelligence community's failure to adapt. In reality, the community provided accurate strategic warning of the terrorist threat and good tactical warning of the impending attacks. We conclude with a different argument: September 11 was not an intelligence failure; it was a national failure.
The use of periinfarct contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for the prediction of late postmyocardial infarction ventricular dysfunction.

Methods Seventy-three patients with ST-elevation MI had infarct size and EF quantified using CMR early (b1 week) and late (N3 months) post-MI. Results Late EF was significantly correlated with early EF (R = 0.734, P b .001), and with infarct size (R = −0.661, P b .001), and both early EF and infarct size were significant predictors of late EF. Subgroup analyses showed that low late EF (≤35%) was better predicted by infarct size than early EF. Half of the patients with early EF ≤35% had a late EF N35%. There was no difference in early EF between the subgroup with a late EF N35% compared to the subgroup with late EF ≤35% (29.7% ± 4.6% vs 28.0% ± 4.9%, P = .414). There was, however, a significant difference between these 2 groups in infarct size (22.6% ± 10.8% vs 34.7% ± 7.8%, P = .011). Conclusions Infarct size as determined by CMR immediately post-MI is a significant predictor of late EF and is superior to early EF in patients with initially depressed EF. Further studies are warranted to assess whether infarct size estimation by CMR after acute MI can better identify patients who are at risk for sudden cardiac death than early EF. (Am Heart J 2008;156:498-505.)
Religious beliefs, social support, self-efficacy and adjustment to cancer.

Purpose: Religious beliefs have received relatively little attention in research on coping with cancer. In this study, the relationship of religious beliefs and perceived social support with adjustment to cancer was studied in a coping model that included self-efficacy for coping as a mediator. Of particular interest was the relationship between religious beliefs and social support. Method: Data were collected from 164 in-treatment cancer patients. They completed measures of religious beliefs, social support, physical functioning, self-efficacy for coping, and adjustment. A model comparison approach was used to assess the fit of models that included or excluded the contribution of religious beliefs while testing the relationship between religious beliefs and social support. Results: Religious beliefs were more strongly connected to perceived social support than with other constructs. Importantly, a coping model that included religious beliefs fit the data significantly better than a model without paths related to religious beliefs. Self-efficacy partially mediated the relation of age, physical functioning, and perceived support to adjustment, but not religious beliefs. Discussion: Religious beliefs may not directly affect self-efficacy and adjustment; however, cancer patients who have religious beliefs may experience an enhanced sense of social support from a community with whom they share those beliefs. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate (InsP3) and Calcium Interact to Increase the Dynamic Range of InsP3 Receptor-dependent Calcium Signaling

The inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3)-gated Ca channel in cerebellum is tightly regulated by Ca (Bezprozvanny, I., J. Watras, and B.E. Ehrlich. 1991. Nature (Lond.). 351:751–754; Finch, E.A., T.J. Turner, and S.M. Goldin. 1991. Science (Wash. DC). 252:443–446; Hannaert-Merah, Z., J.F. Coquil, L. Combettes, M. Claret, J.P. Mauger, and P. Champeil. 1994. J. Biol. Chem. 269:29642–29649; Iino, M. 1990. J. Gen. Physiol. 95:1103–1122; Marshall, I., and C. Taylor. 1994. Biochem. J. 301:591–598). In previous single channel studies, the Ca dependence of channel activity, monitored at 2 μM InsP3, was described by a bell-shaped curve (Bezprozvanny, I., J. Watras, and B.E. Ehrlich. 1991. Nature (Lond.). 351:751–754). We report here that, when we used lower InsP3 concentrations, the peak of the Ca-dependence curve shifted to lower Ca concentrations. Unexpectedly, when we used high InsP3 concentrations, channel activity persisted at Ca concentrations as high as 30 μM. To explore this unexpected response of the channel, we measured InsP3 binding over a broad range of InsP3 concentrations. We found the well-characterized high affinity InsP3 binding sites (with Kd < 1 and 50 nM) (Maeda, N., M. Niinobe, and K. Mikoshiba. 1990. EMBO (Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.) J. 9:61–67; Mignery, G., T.C. Sudhof, K. Takei, and P. De Camilli. 1989. Nature (Lond.). 342:192–195; Ross, C.A., J. Meldolesi, T.A. Milner, T. Satoh, S. Supattapone, and S.H. Snyder. 1989. Nature (Lond.). 339:468–470) and a low affinity InsP3 binding site (Kd = 10 μM). Using these InsP3 binding sites, we developed a new model that accounts for the shift in the Ca-dependence curve at low InsP3 levels and the maintained channel activity at high Ca and InsP3 levels. The observed Ca dependence of the InsP3-gated Ca channel allows the cell to abbreviate the rise of intracellular Ca in the presence of low levels of InsP3, but also provides a means of maintaining high intracellular Ca during periods of prolonged stimulation.
ON-LINE RUN-ON CHARACTER RECOGNIZER: DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE

A recognize-then-segment recognizer of unconstrained handprinting uses a unified tablet-display to provide a paper-like computer interface. Whereas most handwriting recognition systems segment and then recognize, this one recognizes and then finds the best segmentation. It classifies strokes, generates character hypotheses, and verifies hypotheses to estimate the optimal character sequence for each word of run-on handwritten characters. Linguistic constraints can limit the choices. The system is implemented on an IBM workstation, accepts run-on characters written on a tablet, and performs recognition in real time.
Protocadherin Pcdh2 shows properties similar to, but distinct from, those of classical cadherins

Cell adhesion and several other properties of a recently identified cadherin-related protein, protocadherin Pcdh2, were characterized. A chimeric Pcdh2 in which the original cytoplasmic domain was replaced with the cytoplasmic domain of E-cadherin was expressed in mouse L cells. The expressed protein had a molecular mass of about 150 kDa and was localized predominantly at the cell periphery, as was the wild-type Pcdh2. In a conventional cell aggregation assay, the transfectants showed cell aggregation activity comparable to that of classical cadherins. This activity was Ca(2+)-dependent and was inhibited by the addition of anti-Pcdh2 antibody, indicating that the chimeric Pcdh2, and probably the wild-type Pcdh2, has Ca(2+)-dependent cell aggregation activity. Mixed cell aggregation assay using L cells and different types of transfectants showed that the activity of Pcdh2 was homophilic and molecular type specific and that Pcdh2 was transfectants did not aggregate with other types of transfectants or with L cells. In immunoprecipitation, the chimeric Pcdh2 co-precipitated with a 105 kDa and a 95 kDa protein, whereas wild-type Pcdh2 co-precipitated with no major protein. Pcdh2 was easily solubilized with non-ionic detergent, in contrast to the case of classical cadherins. On immunofluorescence microscopy, the somas of Purkinje cells were diffusely stained with anti-human Pcdh2 antibody. Mouse Pcdh1 and Pcdh2 were mapped to a small segment of chromosome 18, suggesting that various protocadherins form a gene cluster at this region. The present results suggest that Pcdh2, and possibly other protocadherins as well as protocadherin-related proteins such as Drosophila fat, mediate Ca(2+)-dependent and specific homophilic cell-cell interaction in vivo and play an important role in cell adhesion, cell recognition, and/or some other basic cell processes.
Reappearance and treatment of penicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus in a tertiary medical centre

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to describe trends in the prevalence and treatment patterns of penicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (SA) infections. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study of MSSA isolates from blood cultures at a tertiary-care centre between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2012. All blood cultures positive for MSSA drawn during the study period were used to calculate the prevalence of penicillin-susceptible SA. Repeat cultures were excluded if they were isolated within 6 weeks of the index culture. The analysis was then restricted to inpatient blood cultures to assess treatment patterns. Antibiotics administered 48-96 h after the culture were analysed. RESULTS A total of 446 blood cultures positive for MSSA were included in the analysis. There was a distinct trend showing an increase in the percentage of penicillin-susceptible SA over 10 years from 13.2% (95% CI 4.1%-22.3%) in 2003 to 32.4% (95% CI 17.3%-47.5%) in 2012 (P trend <0.001). During the study period, penicillin use for penicillin-susceptible SA bacteraemia increased from 0.0% in 2003-04 to 50.0% in 2011-12 (P trend = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS Over a decade, there was an ∼3-fold increase in penicillin susceptibility among MSSA blood cultures at a large tertiary-care facility. Although treatment with penicillin increased over the study period, only 50% of penicillin-susceptible SA was treated with penicillin in the final study period. This study suggests that while susceptibility to penicillin appears to be returning in SA, the use of penicillin for penicillin-susceptible SA bacteraemia is low.
Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places

This book is hard to characterize. The author is a biologist by training who lives in Alaska. He chairs the North Slope Initiative's Science Technical Advisory Panel among other activities. The boo...
Potential gains in life expectancies by partial elimination of leading causes of death in Texas

Potential gains in life expectancies among Texas population by partial elimination of 3 major causes of death are examined on the basis of the available statistics from the population census and mortality statistics for 1970. Contrary to the popular anticipation of longer potential gains, the results are not particularly encouraging. The number of years of life that would be gained during the working ages by 50% elimination of major cardiovascular diseases is less than 1/2 of 1 year, about 1/4 of 1 year by 50% elimination of malignant neoplasms, and less than 1/4 of 1 year by 50% elimination of motor vehicle accidents. Even with a scientific breakthrough in combating those causes of death it appears that future gains in life expectancies for working ages will not be spectacular. The implications of the results in relation to the current debate on the national health policy are discussed.
Loose-Lipped Leviathan?Transparency in Private- and State-Owned Multinationals

We bring together research and policy concern regarding MNE transparency with renewed interest in state capitalism. Using the global petroleum industry as a laboratory, we develop theory and examine empirically investment transparency – FDI disclosure in state-owned and private companies. We find that state ownership reduces MNE transparency, and that SOEs are less sensitive to host-country political risk than private firms. We also show that SOEs from more-democratic countries tend to behave more transparently, and that MNEs are more opaque when operating in countries with state-owned competitors.
Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals Cause Apoptosis in HL-1 Cardiomyocytes

Samples of environmental particulate matter contain environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) capable of sustained generation of oxygen radicals. While exposure to EPFRs produces cardiac toxicity and oxidative stress in experimental animals, the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. To determine whether EPFRs could directly damage cardiomyocytes, cultured mouse cardiomyocytes (HL-1) and primary rat adult left ventricular myocytes (ALVM) were incubated with an EPFR consisting of 1,2-dichlorobenzene chemisorbed to CuO-coated silica beads (DCB230). Treatment with DCB230 killed both HL-1 and ALVM in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The cytotoxic effects of DCB230 were significantly attenuated by treatment with α-tocopherol. One to 2 h after exposure to DCB230, there were significant reductions in mitochondrial membrane potential and significant increases in cleaved caspase-9, but no significant increases in DNA damage or cell death. After 8 h of treatment, there were significant increases in caspase-3, caspase-9, DNA damage and PARP cleavage associated with significant cell death. Together, these data indicate that DCB230 kills HL-1 myocytes by inducing oxidative stress that initiates apoptosis, with the intrinsic or mitochondrial pathway acting early in the apoptotic signaling process.
Analysis of the development policy of Taiwan rich and beautiful villages and its enlightment to the construction of Fujian new countrysides

Remarkable results were achieved in Taiwan rich and beautiful village construction.Based on the analysis of the policy content and effects of Taiwan rich and beautiful villages,the policy has some characteristics,such as balance between efficiency and fairness,people-oriented idea,enhancement of cultural values,effectiveness of grass-roots organizations and large-scale agricultural land management.And some enlightenment from the policy were obtained to Fujian new rural construction,including paying attention to the content continuity of the policy with antecedence and foretaste;choosing the mode"interaction from top to bottom" with people-oriented principle;promoting the construction of characteristic industry with sustainable operation;advancing agricultural efficiency with support for agriculture,rural areas and peasants;encouraging the transfer of agricultural land management rights with distinct property right.
Effect of Mg~(2+) concentration in cold blood cardioplegia on myocardium during cardiac valve replacement

Aim: To investigate whether the addition of magnesium in hyperkalemic cardiopegia improves myocardial protection.Methods: Thirty patients of rheumatic heart disease undergoing cardiac vaive replacement were randomized divided into three groups. 10 patients in each group.Concentration of potassium ion was 20～22 mmol/L in cardioplegia, infusing cardioplegia temperature was 4 ℃. Concentration of Magnesium ion in group A ,B,C were 4～5 mmol/L ,8～10 mmol/L,and 15～17 mmol/L,respectively. cTnI in plasma was detected before induction ,and 6 h,24 h 72 h and 6day after operation.Results: The percentage of myocardial auto resusciation in group B was significantly higher than those in group A and C, two cases in group C need the interim pacemaker,but no cases in group B.The period of post operative mechanical ventilate and ICU staying in group B was shorter than those of the other two groups obviously.The level of cTnI increased from postoperative 6 h( p 0.05),reached peak in 24 h～72 h and recovered postoperative 6th day.Compared with group A and C,the plasama concentration of cTnI in group B were significantly lower at 6 h,24 h and 72 h( P 0.05).Conclusion: 8～10 mmol/L magnesium cool blood cardioplegia provide more myocardium protection than the other two groups in CABG patients.
Christological Foundations for Political Participation: Women in the Global South Building Agency as Risen Beings

This paper draws upon the theologies of Jon Sobrino and Engelbert Mveng to construct a social ethics of participation for those who have been marginalized by corrupt political and economic institutions, focusing on the agency of women in Sub-Sahara Africa. In light of the philosophy of political participation in developing countries, I examine Sobrino's insights that the victims of the evil of this world have to live as risen beings, I consider the African Theologian Engelbert Mveng's concept of anthropological pauperization, and argue that it makes a difference to consider historical events that influence the contexts in which we view the victims. I also argue that both Sobrino and Mveng provide foundations for political participation of the victims, but there is a need to reinforce the agency of the victims, and their own ability to come down from the cross and live as risen beings. Such agency suggests the need for reinforcing the political participation of the victims. Finally, I supplement Mveng's th...
Adversity and children experiencing family homelessness: implications for health

ABSTRACTThis study tests links between adversity and health problems among children in family emergency housing. Children who experience family homelessness are at risk to also experience high levels of stress, health problems, and need for pediatric care. Understanding the connection between stress and health holds the potential to reduce persistent health disparities. Analyses tested whether experiencing a greater number of stressful life events during the early years of life was related to worse health conditions, emergency health-care utilization, and hospitalizations. Parents noted children’s experience of negative stressful life events, health problems, emergency room (ER) use, and hospitalization. Two cohorts of kindergarten-aged children staying in emergency family housing participated in the study in 2006–2007 (n = 104) and in 2008–2009 (n = 138), with the results examined separately. In both cohorts, more health problems were acknowledged for children exposed to more negative stressful life even...
Forest fragmentation alters winter microclimates and microrefugia in human‐modified landscapes

With over half of earth's terrestrial biota living beneath forest canopies, our ability to accurately capture organism–climate relationships in forested ecosystems is imperative for predicting species' vulnerability to future climate change. Assessing the vulnerability of forest dependent species, however, hinges on quantifying microclimates that exist below the forest canopy and might be influenced by varying levels of disturbance in human-modified landscapes. The goal of our study was to examine the multi-scaled predictors of subcanopy microclimate variability across a heterogeneous landscape in Midwestern USA during winter, and to further evaluate whether a widely available interpolated climate model accurately captures this variability. By deploying a network of temperature sensors along a fragmentation gradient, we found that forests in more fragmented landscapes with greater amounts of forest edge and increasing distances between forest patches, experienced colder minimum and average daily temperatures throughout the winter than forests in less fragmented landscapes. We found that greater tree densities and higher elevations led to warmer microclimates while increasing distances from urban centers led to colder microclimates. The negative effect of forest edge on minimum temperatures was lessened by the effect of increasing basal area, highlighting the importance of local- and landscape-scale features on microclimate heterogeneity. Temperature discrepancies between subcanopy microclimates and climate interpolations were influenced by many of the same features, and could be of a similar magnitude as those predicted by future climate change scenarios. Using a biological threshold based on metabolic and demographic constraints for winter birds, we found that the variability in microclimates along our forest fragmentation gradient (50 km) was comparable to the magnitude captured by weather stations across a latitudinal gradient spanning more than 650 km. Our results suggest that biophysical properties of landscapes can alter spatial gradients of microclimates and should be considered when assessing species' vulnerabilities to future climate change.
High Speed AFM Through Non-Raster Scanning and High Speed Actuation

There have been many recent advances in improving the imaging rate of atomic force microscopes with new commercial instruments reaching on the order of one to ten frames per second. Despite this, there remain many systems of interest, such as the natural motion of a dynein motor walking along its microtubule, whose speeds are beyond those of even the fastest systems. Further, there is an existing base of instruments whose imaging rates remain in the single frames per minute or longer range. We have previously shown that the use of non-raster methods can improve imaging rates by an order of magnitude above the natural rate of the instrument for biopolymers and samples with similar structure. The method increases imaging rate not by increasing speed but by focusing measurements on the interesting areas based on the incoming data. Here we describe work on combining this approach with novel, high speed-actuators to yield ultra-high speed imaging. A dual-stage actuator is used to drive the tip around a small-radius circle and the measurements used in real time to both center that circle on the biopolymer and to scan the circle along the sample. A proof-of-concept instrument is expected to hit 30 frames per second with the final design aiming for 100 frames per second.
Decoupling processes and scales of shoreline morphodynamics

Abstract Behavior of coastal systems on time scales ranging from single storm events to years and decades is controlled by both small-scale sediment transport processes and large-scale geologic, oceanographic, and morphologic processes. Improved understanding of coastal behavior at multiple time scales is required for refining models that predict potential erosion hazards and for coastal management planning and decision-making. Here we investigate the primary controls on shoreline response along a geologically-variable barrier island on time scales resolving extreme storms and decadal variations over a period of nearly one century. An empirical orthogonal function analysis is applied to a time series of shoreline positions at Fire Island, NY to identify patterns of shoreline variance along the length of the island. We establish that there are separable patterns of shoreline behavior that represent response to oceanographic forcing as well as patterns that are not explained by this forcing. The dominant shoreline behavior occurs over large length scales in the form of alternating episodes of shoreline retreat and advance, presumably in response to storms cycles. Two secondary responses include long-term response that is correlated to known geologic variations of the island and the other reflects geomorphic patterns with medium length scale. Our study also includes the response to Hurricane Sandy and a period of post-storm recovery. It was expected that the impacts from Hurricane Sandy would disrupt long-term trends and spatial patterns. We found that the response to Sandy at Fire Island is not notable or distinguishable from several other large storms of the prior decade.
Neuronal Migration Disorders

Thirty patients with intractable partial epilepsy and a pathological or radiological diagnosis of neuronal migration disorders (NMD) were studied at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Is SPECT or CT based attenuation correction more quantitatively accurate for dedicated breast SPECT acquired with non-traditional trajectories?

Attenuation correction is necessary for SPECT quantification. There are a variety of methods to create attenuation maps. For dedicated breast SPECT-CT imaging, it is unclear if either a SPECT- or CT-based attenuation map would provide the most accurate quantification and whether or not segmenting the different tissue types will have an effect on the quantification. For these experiments, 99mTc diluted in methanol and water filled geometric and anthropomorphic breast phantoms was imaged with a dedicated dual-modality SPECT-CT breast scanner. SPECT images were collected using a compact CZT camera with various 3D acquisition trajectories including vertical and 30° tilted parallel beam, and complex sinusoidal trajectories. CT images were acquired using a quasi-monochromatic x-ray source and CsI(T1) digital flat panel detector in a half-cone beam geometry. Measured scatter correction for SPECT and CT were implemented. To compare photon attenuation correction in the reconstructed SPECT images, various volumetric attenuation maps were derived from 1) uniform SPECT, 2) uniform CT, and 3) segmented CT, populated with different attenuation coefficient values. Comparisons between attenuation masks using phantoms consisting of materials with different attenuation values show that at 140 keV the differences in the attenuation between materials do not affect the quantification as much as the size and alignment of the attenuation map. The CT-based attenuation maps give quantitative values 30% below the actual value, but are consistent. The SPECT-based attenuation maps can provide within 10% accurate quantitative values, but are less consistent.
Geroscience and the trans-NIH Geroscience Interest Group, GSIG.

Age is by far the major risk factor for most chronic diseases. This has been common knowledge since time immemorial. Aging encompasses the biological changes most often seen as declines of function and increasing burden of disease. The close linkage of these two has led people to believe that aging, like age, is immutable. It is only recently that research into the basic molecular and cellular mechanisms of aging has led to potential interventions that increase lifespan and appear to increase healthspan, as well. Geroscience is an interdisciplinary field that aims to understand the relationship between the biology of aging and the biology of age-related diseases. The “geroscience hypothesis” posits that manipulation of aging will delay (in parallel) the appearance or severity of many chronic diseases because these diseases share the same underlying major risk factor (age). The hope is that this will lead to health improvements in the older population with perhaps greater efficiency than can be achieved through the successful cure and management of diseases of aging as they arise individually or as comorbidities. With those concepts in mind, the Geroscience Interest Group (GSIG) was launched as a trans-institute interest group within the NIH in November 2012. Here, we discuss the genesis of the trans-NIH group and the most salient activities that have occurred in the last 5 years.
An Extinct Domesticated Subspecies of Erect Knotweed in Eastern North America: Polygonum erectum subsp. watsoniae (Polygonaceae)

This paper provides a description of an extinct domesticated subspecies of erect knotweed (Polygonum erectum L.). Masses of erect knotweed achenes are often recovered from archaeological sites in eastern North America dating to ca. 3000–600 BP. Several paleoethnobotanical assemblages from the later part of this era (ca. 1000–600 BP) contain achenes that are outside the range of natural variation for erect knotweed. The most well preserved of these archaeological assemblages, a desiccated cache of achenes from the Whitney Bluff site, Arkansas (ca. 900 BP), is compared to four closely related species and subspecies of Polygonum L. The Whitney Bluff achenes are most similar to those of P. erectum, but differ from modern fruits of this species in three respects: (1) fruits are larger, (2) average pericarp thickness is reduced, and (3) fruit dimorphism is greatly reduced. These differences are typical of domestication syndrome in annual seed crops. The Whitney Bluff assemblage is described as the type specimen of a domesticated subspecies, P. erectum subsp. watsoniae N. G. Muell.
Public Health Intelligence and the Internet: Current State of the Art

The increasing role of Internet and the World Wide Web as a widely accessible health information source creates opportunities, along with challenges, for researchers, healthcare workers and organizations across the globe, enabling them to collect and analyze data to improving patient care, disease surveillance, and delivering online preventive or therapeutic interventions. In this chapter, after reviewing some of the applications of Internet in public health, we analyze the use of online space in clinical trials, experiments, or observations performed in clinical research, in the United States. We provide visual analytics for health data and preliminary findings from a database that systematically comprises clinical trial records. Our study focuses on clinical trial data with an “online” component in its study design. We first parse out historical trajectories of online clinical trials since its first introduction to show the use of the Internet space in health studies.
Feminist Mobilization: How Bait-and-Switch Male Dominance Undermines Feminism and How Feminists Fight Back

Johnson uses the book’s blueprint of the interplay between formal and informal politics to show how professionalized NGOs and deradicalized “gender talk” represent the bait and switch of feminist mobilization in the neoliberal era. Comparing feminist mobilization in Russia and Iceland, this chapter shows how activists at first took the bait, leading to similar limitations as on women in politics. However, feminists have become increasingly aware of how they too have been boxed in, with Russia’s Pussy Riot and similar activism in Iceland constituting a new stage of guerilla feminism which directly takes on the twenty-first-century form of male dominance.
Beryllium activates innate pattern recognition receptors, promotes migration and activation of dendritic cells from the lung to draining lymph nodes and drives development of memory CD4 T cells (P3129)

Beryllium exposure results in chronic beryllium disease, a granulomatous lung disorder characterized by the presence of a beryllium-specific adaptive immune response. The impact of beryllium on the innate immune system is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to determine whether beryllium promotes activation of innate pattern recognition receptors that drive the development of pathological CD4 T cell responses. Similar to aluminum hydroxide, a common vaccine adjuvant, beryllium particles induce IL-1β secretion in an Nlrp3-dependent manner and the release of host DNA during inflammation. Unlike aluminum, beryllium-induced IL-1β secretion requires TLR4. A single beryllium exposure in the lungs of mice promotes migration of DCs to the draining lymph nodes and upregulation of DC costimulatory molecules in a MyD88-dependent manner. Beryllium enhances priming and maintenance of memory CD4 T cells to conventional protein antigen and can generate beryllium-specific CD4 T cell responses in HLA-DP2 transgenic mice in the absence of an additional adjuvant. Together, these data suggest that beryllium activates multiple innate immune receptors and promotes pathological immune responses in susceptible individuals by promoting activation of DCs that drive long-lived CD4 T cell responses. Future work is aimed at understanding which innate receptors are required for beryllium to activate DC in vivo and drive CD4 T cell effector and memory function.
On Scalable and Robust Truth Discovery in Big Data Social Media Sensing Applications

Identifying trustworthy information in the presence of noisy data contributed by numerous unvetted sources from online social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) has been a crucial task in the era of big data. This task, referred to as truth discovery, targets at identifying the reliability of the sources and the truthfulness of claims they make without knowing either a priori. In this work, we identified three important challenges that have not been well addressed in the current truth discovery literature. The first one is “misinformation spread” where a significant number of sources are contributing to false claims, making the identification of truthful claims difficult. For example, on Twitter, rumors, scams, and influence bots are common examples of sources colluding, either intentionally or unintentionally, to spread misinformation and obscure the truth. The second challenge is “data sparsity” or the “long-tail phenomenon” where a majority of sources only contribute a small number of claims, providing insufficient evidence to determine those sources’ trustworthiness. For example, in the Twitter datasets that we collected during real-world events, more than 90 percent of sources only contributed to a single claim. Third, many current solutions are not scalable to large-scale social sensing events because of the centralized nature of their truth discovery algorithms. In this paper, we develop a Scalable and Robust Truth Discovery (SRTD) scheme to address the above three challenges. In particular, the SRTD scheme jointly quantifies both the reliability of sources and the credibility of claims using a principled approach. We further develop a distributed framework to implement the proposed truth discovery scheme using Work Queue in an HTCondor system. The evaluation results on three real-world datasets show that the SRTD scheme significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art truth discovery methods in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency.
Soil Gas Efflux in Perennial Bioenergy and Conventional Agricultural Crops in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley

ABSTRACTThe Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV) has favorable attributes for producing biofuels. Two study sites were established on retired agricultural fields in the LMAV to explore switchgrass (SWITCH) and eastern cottonwood (CTWD) as biofuel feedstocks. A soybean-sorghum rotation (CROP) was also established as a conventional cropping system. Soil efflux gas (carbon dioxide [CO2], methane [CH4], and nitrous oxide [N2O]), microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) and dehydrogenase activity were measured for two years. Cumulative growing-season soil CO2 efflux of SWITCH exceeded that of CROP; SWITCH had higher daily CO2 efflux than CTWD and CROP in some months. SWITCH and CTWD had greater Cmic than CROP at both sites. Soil CH4 and N2O efflux rates were low for much of the study, with only short-term differences in soil CH4 observed. Converting these retired agricultural sites to SWITCH increased soil CO2 efflux relative to CROP, with increases attributable to greater plant and microbial respiration.
Radar reflections reveal a wet bed beneath stagnant Ice Stream C and a frozen bed beneath ridge BC, West Antarctica

Digital airborne radar data were collected during the 1987-88 Antarctic field season in nine gridded blocks covering the downstream portions of Ice Stream B (6 km spacing) and Ice Stream C (11 km spacing), together with a portion of ridge BC between them. An automated processing procedure was used for picking onset times of the reflected radar pulses, converting travel times to distances, interpolating missing data, converting pressure transducer readings, correcting navigational drift, performing crossover analysis, and zeroing remanent crossover errors. Interpolation between flight-lines was carried out using the minimum curvature method. Maps of ice thickness (estimated accuracy 20 m) and basal-reflection strength (estimated accuracy 1 dB) were produced. The ice-thickness map confirms the characteristics of previous reconnaissance maps and reveals no new features. The reflection-strength map shows pronounced contrasts between the ice streams and ridge BC and between the two ice streams themselves. We interpret the reflection strengths to mean that the bed of Ice Stream C, as well as that of Ice Stream B, is unfrozen, that the bed of ridge BC is frozen and that the boundary between the frozen bed of ridge BC and the unfrozen bed of Ice Stream C lies precisely below the former shear margin of the ice stream.
DEVELOPING AN ECONOMIC METHODOLOGY FOR LEGAL PROVISIONS REGULATING GROUNDWATER POLLUTION

ABSTRACT Liability for groundwater pesticide contamination from the application of pesticides is the focus of debate in recent environmental legislation. Two critical questions accompany the issue of compensation for pollution damage: who should bear losses and how to apportion the losses. This paper addresses the issues of assignment and apportionment of legal liability for groundwater pollution from pesticide usage. The major focus involves the analysis of liability options and the development of an analytic foundation to apportion injuries and damages from pollution. Alternative solutions based on property rules and entitlements are suggested to supplement liability rules to provide a better response to groundwater contamination problems.
Titanium as a modifier of the peri-implant microbiome structure.

Background Recent data support the implication of accelerated titanium dissolution products in peri-implantitis. It is unknown whether these dissolution products have an effect on the peri-implant microbiome, the target of existing peri-implantitis therapies. Purpose This study assessed the relationship between the peri-implant microbiome, dissolved titanium levels, and peri-implantitis. Materials and methods Clinical, microbiome, and titanium data were collected from a periodontal population having implants in function for 10 years. Clinical examinations were performed, and submucosal plaque samples were collected from the deepest site per implant. An aliquot of the sample was used for 16S rRNA gene sequencing, with the remainder analyzed for titanium quantity using mass spectrometry. Sequences were clustered into taxonomic units at 97% minimum sequence similarity using the QIIME pipeline approach. Results Fifteen implants were assessed. According to established case definitions, six had a diagnosis of peri-implantitis; nine were healthy. The genera Streptococcus, Prevotella and Haemophilus characterized peri-implant health. Peri-implantitis was associated with a marked increase in Veillonella. Quantities of dissolved titanium were identified in 40% of sites. Titanium presence was associated with peri-implant disease status (P = .02) and correlated to the first principal component of the microbiome (rho = 0.552) and its alpha-diversity (rho = -0.496). Canonical correlation analyses found that titanium levels, but not health or disease status of the implant, were significantly associated with the microbiota composition (P = .045). Conclusions These findings suggest an association between titanium dissolution products and peri-implantitis and support a role for these products in modifying the peri-implant microbiome structure and diversity.
Integers as Directed Quantities

Mathematics education researchers have long pursued—and many still pursue—an ideal instructional model for operations on integers. In this chapter, I argue that such a pursuit may be futile. Additionally, I highlight that ideas of relativity have been overlooked; and, I contend that current uses of translation within current integer instructional models do not align with learners’ inventions. Yet, conceptions of relativity and translation are essential for making sense of integers as directed quantities. I advocate for drawing on learners’ unique conceptions and actions about directed number in developing instructional models. Providing evidence of student work from my research, I illustrate the powerful constructions of relativity and translation as students engage with directed quantities.