cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Symptomatic Trifascicular Block in Steinert’s Disease: Is It Too Soon for a Pacemaker?

We report a case of a 62-year-old male with Steinert's disease who presented with progressive intermittent episodes of lightheadedness five years after he was diagnosed with the disease. On evaluation, he developed a new onset trifascicular block (first degree atrioventricular block, new onset right bundle branch block, and left anterior fascicular block). A dual chamber pacemaker was inserted and lightheadedness improved significantly.
SHOULD COURTS ORDER PAS CHILDREN TO VISIT/RESIDE WITH THE ALIENATED PARENT? A Follow-up Study

The question whether courts should order children with parental alienation syndrome (PAS) to visit/reside with the alienated parent has been a significant source of controversy among legal and mental health professionals. This article describes 99 PAS cases in which the author has been directly involved, cases in which he has concluded that the court should order visitation with or transfer primary residential custody to the alienated parent. The outcome when such orders were implemented (N=22) will be compared with the outcome when this recommendation was not followed (N=77). This is the definition of the parental alienation syndrome that I have used since my first publication on the disorder in 1985: The parental alienation syndrome (PAS) is a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child's campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parent's indoctrinations and the child's own contributions to the vilification of the target parent. When true parental abuse and/or neglect is present, the child's animosity may be justified, and so the parental alienation syndrome explanation for the child's hostility is not applicable. There are 8 primary symptoms and 3 types of PAS and these are delineated in Table 1. It is important to note that the level of PAS diagnosis is based on the children's behavior and not on the degree of indoctrination to which the child may have been subjected. Indoctrinators can also be divided into mild, moderate, and severe categories, but the delineation is not as well defined as that of the child. Furthermore, severe level alienators may only be 'successful' in producing mild or moderate levels of PAS in their children because the strong, healthy bonding of the alienated parent has served as an antidote to the development of the severe level of PAS in the child. The PAS arises in the context of child-custody litigation and the approaches to its alleviation, with rare exception, involve the utilization of courts of law. The mental health professionals'
The web observatory extension: facilitating web science collaboration through semantic markup

The multi-disciplinary nature of Web Science and the large size and diversity of data collected and studied by its practitioners has inspired a new type of Web resource known as the Web Observatory. Web observatories are platforms that enable researchers to collect, analyze and share data about the Web and to share tools for Web research. At the Boston Web Observatory Workshop 2013, a semantic model for describing Web Observatories was drafted and an extension to the schema.org microdata vocabulary collection was proposed. This paper details our implementation of the proposed extension, and how we have applied it to the Web Observatory Portal created by the Tetherless World Constellation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (TWC RPI). We recognize this effort to be the "first-step" in the construction, evaluation and validation of the Web observatory model and not the final recommendation. Our hope is that this extension recommendation and our initial implementation sparks additional discussion among the Web Science community of on whether such direction enables Web Observatory curators to better expose and explain their individual Web Observatories to others, thereby enabling better collaboration between researchers across the Web Science community.
The amount of maternal care in Peromyscus leucopus and its thermal significance for the young.

Female Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis raised litters from birth to 16 days of age in nest boxes within large enclosures in the laboratory and forest. Movement of the female into and out of the nest box was recorded and supplied indirect evidence on the amount of care provided to the young. Outside activity of all females was primarily nocturnal. Four mothers in laboratory en- closures spent an estimated average of 3.0 to 6.2 hours per day away from their young. Five mothers in forest enclosures tended to spend more time away from their young than the laboratory mothers, averaging 5.0 to 8.4 hours per day. The difference between laboratory and forest mothers was statistically significant. Es- timated time spent away from the young per day varied significantly from mother to mother in both laboratory and forest situations, but did not vary with the age of the young in either situation. Young reared in the forest enclosures were signifi- cantly smaller at 16 days of age than young reared in the laboratory enclosures, whereas the latter young were similar in weight to young raised in a laboratory breeding colony associated with these experiments. It is suggested that the small size of the forest young resulted partly or wholly from the diminished care pro- vided by their mothers. The thermal status of young with their mothers in nest boxes with cotton nests was examined in a separate set of experiments. Four- to 14-day-old, laboratory-reared young were exposed singly and in groups of four, with their mothers, to ambient temperatures of 0 to 300C for 2.5 to 3.0 hours. Body temperatures of the young at the end of such exposure were nearly always at 34?C or above, and it was concluded that young P. leucopus are maintained at homeothermic temperatures when in the company of their mother, regardless of their capacities to thermoregulate when alone. Thus, litters raised in the laboratory enclosures were at homeothermic temperatures for at least 17.8 to 21 hours per day, and litters in the forest enclosures, for at least 15.6 to 19 hours per day. Potential implications of these results for the growth of the young in nature and for the reproductive biology of the species are discussed.
Fundus autofluorescence and photoreceptor cell rosettes in mouse models.

Purpose. This study was conducted to study correlations among fundus autofluorescence (AF), RPE lipofuscin accumulation, and photoreceptor cell degeneration and to investigate the structural basis of fundus AF spots.
New Algorithms for Heavy Hitters in Data Streams (Invited Talk)

An old and fundamental problem in databases and data streams is that of finding the heavy hitters, also known as the top-k, most popular items, frequent items, elephants, or iceberg queries. There are several variants of this problem, which quantify what it means for an item to be frequent, including what are known as the l_1-heavy hitters and l_2-heavy hitters. There are a number of algorithmic solutions for these problems, starting with the work of Misra and Gries, as well as the CountMin and CountSketch data structures, among others. In this paper (accompanying an invited talk) we cover several recent results developed in this area, which improve upon the classical solutions to these problems. In particular, we develop new algorithms for finding l_1-heavy hitters and l_2-heavy hitters, with significantly less memory required than what was known, and which are optimal in a number of parameter regimes.
Coupled-channels calculations of O 16 + O 16 fusion

Fusion data for $^{16}\mathrm{O}+^{16}\mathrm{O}$ are analyzed by coupled-channels calculations. It is shown that the calculated cross sections are sensitive to the couplings to the ${2}^{+}$ and ${3}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ excitation channels even at low energies, where these channels are closed. The sensitivity to the ion-ion potential is investigated by applying a conventional Woods-Saxon potential and the M3Y+repulsion potential, consisting of the M3Y double-folding potential and a repulsive term that simulates the effect of the nuclear incompressibility. The best overall fit to the data is obtained with a M3Y+repulsion potential that produces a shallow potential in the entrance channel. The stepwise increase in measured fusion cross sections at high energies is also consistent with such a shallow potential. The steps are correlated with overcoming the barriers for the angular momenta $L=12,14,16$, and 18. To improve the fit to the low-energy data requires a shallower potential and this causes a even stronger hindrance of fusion at low energies. It is therefore difficult, based on the existing fusion data, to make an accurate extrapolation to energies that are of interest to astrophysics.
High-Performance and Scalable Design of MPI-3 RMA on Xeon Phi Clusters

Intel Many Integrated Core (MIC) architectures have been playing a key role in modern supercomputing systems due to the features of high performance and low power consumption. This makes them become an attractive choice to accelerate HPC applications. MPI-3 RMA is an important part of the MPI-3 standard. It provides one-sided semantics that reduce the synchronization overhead and allow overlapping of communication with computation. This makes the RMA model the first target for developing scalable applications with irregular communication patterns. However, an efficient runtime support for MPI-3 RMA with simultaneous use of both processors and co-processors is still not well exploited. In this paper, we propose high-performance and scalable runtime-level designs for MPI-3 RMA involving both the host and Xeon Phi processors. We incorporate our designs into the popular MVAPICH2 MPI library. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research work that proposes high-performance runtime designs for MPI-3 RMA on Intel Xeon Phi clusters. Experimental evaluations indicate a reduction of 5X in the uni-directional MPI_Put and MPI_Get latency for 4 MB messages between two Xeon Phis, compared to an out-of-the-box version of MVAPICH2. Application evaluations in the symmetric mode show performance improvements of 25 % at the scale of 1,024 processes.
Polarized experimental and theoretical K-edge x-ray absorption studies of SO42-, ClO3-, S2O

The first studies of the polarized sulfur and chlorine x-ray K-edge absorption spectra of the oxyanions SO/sub 4//sup 2-/ (sulfate), ClO/sub 3//sup -/ (chlorate), S/sub 2/O/sub 3//sup 2-/ (thiosulfate), and S/sub 2/O/sub 6//sup 2-/ (dithionate) are presented. To provide a basis for the interpretation of the experimental measurements, extended continuum multiple-scattering X..cap alpha.. computations were carried out. This approach enabled us to identify features in the absorption spectra both by symmetry and final-state type (final bound states or final continuum states). For the thiosulfate anion (which has two nonequivalent sulfur atoms) it proved possible to determine which sulfur atom is responsible for each of a series of well-resolved features in the polarized spectra. In addition, generalizing from the case of the chlorate anion, molecules in which the absorbing atom is not completely surrounded by ligands (''open clusters'') may have important contributions from the second shell of neighbors manifested as features in the continuum region of the spectrum.
Epidemic and Opportunity: American Perceptions of the Spanish Influenza Epidemic

OF DISSERTATON EPIDEMIC AND OPPORTUNITY: AMERICAN PERCEPTIONS OF THE SPANISH INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC During the final months of the Great War, the loss of human life was not confined to the battlefields of Western Europe. The Spanish Influenza virus was rapidly spreading around the globe and would ultimately leave millions dead in its wake. Some American groups, both public and private, saw the pandemic as a blessing in disguise. They interpreted the pandemic as a sign that their work, whether religious, political, commercial, or health, was more vital to the world than ever before. Influenza reinforced their existing beliefs in the rightness and necessity of their causes, and used the pandemic as a call to increase their activities. American missionaries interpreted the pandemic and its spread as a sign of the backwardness of native peoples, and they argued that the United States and Americans had an increased duty after the War and pandemic to help foreign populations with education, sanitation, and religion. For American diplomats, the pandemic was a nuisance to their work of promoting and expanding American trade. Although it devastated societies, it was not destructive to international commerce. It did, though, provide an opportunity for Americans to teach foreign peoples about better health to protect them from future diseases, and to strengthen commercial ties with the rest of the world. The U.S. Government was greatly distracted with the war effort when the epidemic hit, and refused to take it seriously. They appropriated a small amount of money to the United States Public Health Service (PHS) to deal with the epidemic. This appropriation, although small, continued a trend of the federal government becoming more involved in health efforts at the expense of states, and was used as a justification for later federal health initiatives. The PHS actively used the influenza epidemic to push for their own expansion, arguing that their success in combatting influenza showed their merit, and used it to ensure that they would maintain their power and authority after the epidemic ceased. For all of these groups, the Spanish influenza epidemic provided an opportunity for their work, and reinforced their beliefs that their efforts were needed and vital to the nation and world.
Envelope Stress Responses: An Interconnected Safety Net

The Escherichia coli cell envelope is a protective barrier at the frontline of interaction with the environment. Fidelity of envelope biogenesis must be monitored to establish and maintain a contiguous barrier. Indeed, the envelope must also be repaired and modified in response to environmental assaults. Envelope stress responses (ESRs) sense envelope damage or defects and alter the transcriptome to mitigate stress. Here, we review recent insights into the stress-sensing mechanisms of the σE and Cpx systems and the interaction of these ESRs. Small RNAs (sRNAs) are increasingly prominent regulators of the transcriptional response to stress. These fast-acting regulators also provide avenues for inter-ESR regulation that could be important when cells face multiple contemporaneous stresses, as is the case during infection.
Lichen Biodeterioration at Inscription Rock, El Morro National Monument, Ramah, New Mexico, USA

El Mono National Monument is located in Cibola County, New Mexico, about 200 km west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The main attraction at the Monument is Inscription Rock, a large sandstone formation which has become a natural repository for more than 700 years of comments and notations recorded by travelers through the region. Recently, encroachment of lichens onto several inscription panels has been documented. Because lichens are known to decompose rock surfaces physically and chemically, lichen communities on several panels have been studied. Species and relative abundance data have been compiled. Distribution of lichen species on each panel has been photographically documented in order to monitor future growth/encroachment trends, exfoliation patterns, and changes in species composition. Samples of common lichen species on the Inscription Rock panels were collected from a large, separate boulder field north of the Rock. These samples have been analyzed using thin-layer chromatography and SEM and light microscopy. PIXE analysis was also performed on Usnea hirta samples from five locations in the Monument to determine if air pollution is influencing substrate degradation patterns. Since establishment of the Monument, protection from grazing and wood cutting/gathering has resulted in changes in the microenvironment in and around several of the panels. SEM and light microscopy analysis have shown that mycobiont hyphae regularly penetrate up to 20mm into rock surfaces. TLC analysis has shown that virtually all the major lichen species on the panels produce at least 4–5 secondary chemicals including several organic acids. Elemental analysis data from Usnea hirta samples confirm that all potential pollutant elements are well within background levels. Preemptive recommendations include: 1) continue to monitor growth plots; 2) set up biocide studies; and 3) selectively remove the woody vegetation adjacent to some panels.
Delay independent truncated predictor feedback for stabilization of linear systems with multiple time-varying input delays

In this paper, we consider the problem of stabilizing a general linear system, possibly exponentially unstable, with multiple time-varying input delays by delay independent truncated predictor feedback. Parametric Lyapunov equation based feedback design is used to construct the feedback gain matrix. By using the Lyapunov-Razumikhin Stability Theorem, a bound on the delays is derived under which the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed. The result in this paper extends a result in the literature for linear systems whose open loop poles are in the open left-half plane or at the origin to general linear systems.
Correlation of dissolution and disintegration results for an immediate-release tablet

The drug release rate of a rapidly dissolving immediate-release tablet formulation with a highly soluble drug is proposed to be controlled by the disintegration rate of the tablet. Disintegration and dissolution test methods used to evaluate the tablets were shown to discriminate manufacturing process differences and compositionally variant tablets. In addition, a correlation was established between disintegration and dissolution. In accordance with ICH Q6A, this work demonstrates that disintegration in lieu of dissolution is suitable as the drug product quality control method for evaluating this drug product.
An Exploration of Subjective Situation Dimensions Associated With Situation-Specific Behavior:

The current research presents a general framework for assessing the subjective perception of situations. The framework was used to assess freely listed situations relevant to participants’ daily li...
Of Acceptance and Celebration.

The late winter of 2018 brought heavy rains and flooding to sections of the Northeast and Midwest. In late February, the Ohio River topped 60 feet at Cincinnati, roughly 10 feet above flood stage a...
Thermoluminescence glow curves in preheated feldspar: A Monte Carlo study

Abstract Thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves from feldspars have been the subject of numerous experimental and modeling studies, because of their importance in dosimetry and luminescence dating. Recently there also has been increased interest in using these signals for temperature sensing and for thermochronometry studies. It is now generally accepted that these materials exhibit anomalous fading phenomena due to quantum mechanical tunneling, and that several of their luminescence signals can be described by localized energy transitions taking place in a randomly distributed system of trapped electrons and recombination centers. Our recent modeling work showed that the TL signals of freshly irradiated feldspar samples can also be described from a completely microscopic point of view, by using Monte Carlo methods. This paper extends this recent work, and shows how the Monte Carlo method can also describe TL signals from thermally pretreated feldspars. Specifically, the simulations show that the Monte Carlo method can describe several types of TL experiments for irradiated samples that underwent partial thermal cleaning, and for samples that underwent more complex multistage isothermal procedures. The results from the Monte Carlo simulations are compared quantitatively with experimental data from several types of feldspars, which were preheated at temperatures above 200–300 °C. Common experimental characteristics are pointed out for these preheated feldspars, and the experimental data suggest the possibility of a universal description of the thermal behavior of TL glow curves in feldspars. Specifically, it is found that the shape and width of the experimental TL glow curves do not change significantly for different preheat temperatures, and also do not change when different preheat times are used at a fixed preheat temperature. The relevance of these results for dosimetric and thermochronometry studies is discussed.
Women in Cartography in the Progressive Era, by Christina E. Dando

Christina E. Dando’s latest work uncovers the role of American women as map consumers and producers during the Progressive Era (c.1890–1920). Based on abundant primary-source research and with the ...
Robust normative standards for the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) ages 60–89: A tool for early detection of memory impairment

AbstractObjective: To detect cognitive “impairment,” neuropsychologists rely on normative data to compare patient performance to “normal” peers. However, the true normality of normative samples may...
A Framework for Automated Construction of Heterogeneous Large-Scale Biomedical Knowledge Graphs

Although knowledge graphs (KGs) are used extensively in biomedical research to model complex phenomena, many KG construction methods remain largely unable to account for the use of different standardized terminologies or vocabularies, are often difficult to use, and perform poorly as the size of the KG increases in scale. We introduce PheKnowLator (Phenotype Knowledge Translator), a novel KG framework and fully automated Python 3 library explicitly designed for optimized construction of semantically-rich, large-scale biomedical KGs. To demonstrate the functionality of the framework, we built and evaluated eight different parameterizations of a large semantic KG of human disease mechanisms. PheKnowLator is available at: https://github.com/callahantiff/PheKnowLator.
TransNet: Minimally Supervised Deep Transfer Learning for Dynamic Adaptation of Wearable Systems

Wearables are poised to transform health and wellness through automation of cost-effective, objective, and real-time health monitoring. However, machine learning models for these systems are designed based on labeled data collected, and feature representations engineered, in controlled environments. This approach has limited scalability of wearables because (i) collecting and labeling sufficiently large amounts of sensor data is a labor-intensive and expensive process; and (ii) wearables are deployed in highly dynamic environments of the end-users whose context undergoes consistent changes. We introduce TransNet, a deep learning framework that minimizes the costly process of data labeling, feature engineering, and algorithm retraining by constructing a scalable computational approach. TransNet learns general and reusable features in lower layers of the framework and quickly reconfigures the underlying models from a small number of labeled instances in a new domain, such as when the system is adopted by a new user or when a previously unseen event is to be added to event vocabulary of the system. Utilizing TransNet on four activity datasets, TransNet achieves an average accuracy of 88.1% in cross-subject learning scenarios using only one labeled instance for each activity class. This performance improves to an accuracy of 92.7% with five labeled instances.
The Americanization of British Gender Roles Through Pop Culture

I will be discussing the impact of American pop culture on framing a renovated British social identity in terms of gender roles in the 1980s. Mainly focusing on how American Hollywood movies and rock music ignited a cultural trend in Britain. The American lifestyle contrasted heavily with the traditional British lifestyle, especially when it came to gender roles, American gender roles were more modern than the rigid British ones. Feminists of the women liberation movement in Britain took inspiration from the sexually liberated, independent, American women portrayed in movies and music to seek political, intellectual, and cultural change in the current British social atmosphere. This paper aims to first detect how American pop culture in forms of music and movies was feminist and challenged the gender role norms. Then, I identify how the American pop culture flourished in Britain due to the increased trade during that time period, and how it was favored by the majority of the British population. Then I analyze how elements from them were integrated into the British mainstream society, especially in redefining the traditional rigid gender roles in which the moral, social, and legal climate perceived women as subordinates to men. This leads to numerous women organizations in Britain being formed in the 1980s that promote a wide agenda of increasing women’s opportunities in the workplace, sexual liberation, redefining family roles, civil rights, and putting an end to the objectification of women. Finally, I explain how the United States’ influence on British pop culture leads to women not seeking to revolutionize with protests or sit-ins, instead, by asserting their “soft power” through literature, fashion, and finally voicing their opinions to change societal perceptions.
Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) fusion-positive high-grade spindle cell sarcoma: A distinct group of soft tissue tumors with metastatic potential.

Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is an epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like ligand that activates receptor tyrosine kinases of the ErbB family of receptors. NRG1 gene fusions, which are rare ( 20/10 high power fields) and tumor necrosis was present. None of the tumors expressed lineage-specific immunophenotypical markers. Targeted RNA-sequencing uncovered gene fusions involving NRG1 and the 5' untranslated regions of PPHLN1, HMBOX1, or MTUS1. In all cases, the C-terminal EGF-like domain of NRG1 was preserved in the predicted chimeric protein product. All three patients developed metastatic disease within two years from initial presentation and were alive with disease at last follow-up (mean follow-up period = 19 months). In conclusion, we present the first case series of NRG1-rearranged sarcomas characterized by high-grade fascicular spindle cell morphology, non-specific immunoprofile and aggressive clinical behavior. Further studies are needed to determine whether this distinct subgroup of spindle cell sarcomas are amenable to targeted therapies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
THE SPHERICAL TOKAMAK PATH TO FUSION POWER

AbstractThe low-aspect-ratio tokamak or spherical torus (ST) approach offers the two key elements needed to enable magnetic confinement fusion to make the transition from a government-funded research program to the commercial marketplace: a low-cost, low-power, small-size market entry vehicle and a strong economy of scale in larger devices. Within the ST concept, a very small device (A = 1.4, major radius ~1 m, similar size to the DIII-D tokamak) could be built that would produce ~800 MW(thermal), 200 MW(net electric) and would have a gain, defined as QPLANT = (gross electric power/recirculating power), of ~2. Such a device would have all the operating systems and features of a power plant and would therefore be acceptable as a pilot plant, even though the cost of electricity would not be competitive. The ratio of fusion power to copper toroidal field (TF) coil dissipation rises quickly with device size (like R3 to R4, depending on what is held constant) and can lead to 4-GW(thermal) power plants with QPL...
Disturbing Nature's Beauty: Environmental Aesthetics in a New Ecological Paradigm

An ecological paradigm shift from the "balance of nature" to the "flux of nature" will change the way we aesthetically appreciate nature if we adopt scientific cognitivism-the view that aesthetic appreciation of nature must be informed by scientific knowledge. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, though we talk about aesthetic qualities as if they were objectively inherent in objects, events, or environments. Aesthetic judgments regarding nature are correct insofar as they are part of a community consensus regarding the currently dominant scientific paradigm. Ecological science is grounded in metaphors: nature is a divine order, a machine, an organism, a community, or a cybernetic system. These metaphors stimulate and guide scientific practice, but do not exist independent of a conceptual framework. They are at most useful fictions in terms of how they reflect the values underlying a paradigm. Contemporary ecology is a science driven more by aesthetic than metaphysical considerations. I review concepts in the history of nature aesthetics such as the picturesque, the sublime, disinterestedness, and formalism. I propose an analogy: just as knowledge of art history and theory should inform aesthetic appreciation of art, knowledge of natural history and ecological theory should inform aesthetic appreciation of nature. The "framing problem," is the problem that natural environments are not discrete objects, so knowing what to focus on in an environment is difficult. The "fusion problem" is the problem of how to fuse the sensory aspect of aesthetic appreciation with highly theoretical scientific knowledge. I resolve these two problems by defending a normative version of the theory-laden observation thesis. Positive aesthetics is the view that insofar as nature is untouched by humans, it is always beautiful and never ugly. I defend an amended and updated version of positive aesthetics that is consistent with the central elements of contemporary ecology, and emphasize the heuristic, exegetical, and pedagogical roles aesthetic qualities play in ecological science.
Fingerprinting long forgiving messages

In his 1983 paper, Neal Wagner1 defines a perfect fingerprint to be an identifying fingerprint added to an object in such a way that any alteration to it that makes the fingerprint unrecognizable will also make the object unusable. A perfect fingerprinting scheme for binary data would seem difficult to devise, since it would be possible to discover the fingerprints by comparing different fingerprinted copies of the same piece of data. In this paper we discuss a fingerprinting scheme which, although it does not surmount this problem entirely, at least specifies the number of copies an opponent must obtain in order to erase the fingerprints.
B Cells Are Required for Optimal CD4+ and CD8+ T Cell Tumor Immunity: Therapeutic B Cell Depletion Enhances B16 Melanoma Growth in Mice

B lymphocytes can both positively and negatively regulate cellular immune responses. Previous studies have demonstrated augmented T cell-mediated tumor immunity in genetically B cell-deficient mice, suggesting that therapeutic B cell depletion would enhance tumor immunity. To test this hypothesis and quantify B cell contributions to T cell-mediated anti-tumor immune responses, mature B cells were depleted from wild-type adult mice using CD20 mAb prior to syngeneic B16 melanoma tumor transfers. Remarkably, s.c. tumor volume and lung metastasis were increased 2-fold in B cell-depleted mice. Effector-memory and IFN-γ–or TNF-α–secreting CD4+ and CD8+ T cell induction was significantly impaired in B cell-depleted mice with tumors. Tumor Ag-specific CD8+ T cell proliferation was also impaired in tumor-bearing mice that lacked B cells. Thus, B cells were required for optimal T cell activation and cellular immunity in this in vivo nonlymphoid tumor model. Although B cells may not have direct effector roles in tumor immunity, impaired T cell activation, and enhanced tumor growth in the absence of B cells argue against previous proposals to augment tumor immunity through B cell depletion. Rather, targeting tumor Ags to B cells in addition to dendritic cells is likely to optimize tumor-directed vaccines and immunotherapies.
Self-organizing guide star selection algorithm for star trackers: Thinning method

In this study, a new self-organizing guide star selection algorithm is presented, which is a crucial part of an advanced star tracker design since the performance and reliability of star pattern recognition and attitude determination depend on the guide star selection. The problem is to minimize the total number of guide stars while ensuring at least n guide stars be measured inside a specified field of view (FOV), in every possible boresight direction. The process depends implicitly upon redundant measured stars, especially in regions of high star density. Obviously this selection process is constrained such that the stars brighter than some sensor-dictated magnitude threshold are selected for the guide star catalog. This extremely high dimensional optimization problem is impossible to solve rigorously in finite time. In this study, a heuristic approach is used to obtain the near minimum number of guide stars satisfying above constraints. The algorithm is demonstrated by generating mission catalogs for a star tracker with an 8/spl deg//spl times/8/spl deg/ squared FOV.
The Psychosocial Functioning of High School Students in Academically Rigorous Programs.

This cross-sectional study determined whether students who take part in academically challenging high school curricula experience elevated levels of stress and whether this stress co-occurs with psychological and/or academic problems. Data from self-report questionnaires and school records were collected from 480 students from four high schools. Results of analyses of covariance suggested that stress is not always associated with deleterious outcomes, as students in academically rigorous programs (specifically, Advanced Placement [AP] classes and International Baccalaureate [IB] programs) reported more perceived stress than did students in general education, while maintaining exceptionally high academic functioning. Furthermore, despite their stress level, the psychological functioning of students in AP and IB is similar or superior to the levels of psychopathology, life satisfaction, and social functioning reported from their peers in general education.
Improved steady-state model of the dual-active-bridge converter

An improved steady-state model is developed in this paper for the dual-active-bridge (DAB) dc-dc converter. It is first shown how the well-known ideal model fails to predict DAB dc characteristics, and that differences in model predictions compared to experimental results can be very large, especially in cases where the DAB series tank inductance is relatively small. A new analysis method is then developed and applied to derive an improved steady-state model that correctly predicts DAB dc characteristics. The improved model is validated by simulations and by experimental results.
EFFECTS OF NITRATE CONCENTRATION AND IONIC STRENGTH ON NITRATE ANION EXCLUSION UNDER UNSATURATED FLOW CONDITIONS

Transient unsaturated horizontal column experiments were conducted with a computer-controlled syringe pump to assess the impacts of nitrate (NO 3 - ) concentration and solution ionic strength on anion exclusion processes that affect NO 3 - transport through soil. A loam soil was used in all the column experiments. Duplicate tests were conducted with seven different injection solutions applied at the inlets of relatively dry soil columns (initial volumetric water content averaged 0.018). The injection solutions contained either dissolved potassium nitrate (KNO 3 ) alone or a combination of dissolved KNO 3 and calcium chloride (KNO 3 + CaCl 2 ). These seven solutions allowed for the evaluation of the anion exclusion effects of four different NO 3 - -N concentrations (50, 200, 1000, and 2690 mg L -1 ) and four different solution ionic strengths (0.0036, 0.0142, 0.0714, and 0.1929 M) applied at the column inlet to be evaluated. Soil water content and soil solution NO 3 - -N concentration profiles were compared between tests with different injection solutions to quantify the effects of NO 3 - concentration and ionic strength on NO 3 - anion exclusion. Anion exclusion was exhibited in the NO 3 - -N concentration profiles for all experiments carried out in this investigation. Specifically, NO 3 - -N concentrations at the column inlet were 5% to 26% less than the injected NO 3 - -N concentrations, and NO 3 - -N concentrations at the wetting front were greater than injected NO 3 - -N concentrations by factors of 1.1 to 2.6. Considering results from tests conducted with both the KNO 3 and KNO 3 + CaCl 2 injection solutions, it is apparent that ionic strength governs the magnitude of the NO 3 anion exclusion effect to a far greater extent than the NO 3 - -N concentration. A strong logarithmic relationship (R 2 ranged from 0.9474 to 0.9850) was found to exist between the injection solution ionic strength and various column inlet or wetting front parameters used to quantify the anion exclusion effect. Consequently, under unsaturated conditions, the anion exclusion process influencing NO 3 - mobility in the soil profile will be more affected by the valences and amounts of all anions and cations present in the soil solution and not so much by just the NO 3 - concentration.
Phase II study of 96-hr continuous-infusion etoposide and doxorubicin with bolus cyclophosphamide in refractory epithelial ovarian cancer

Effective salvage chemotherapy for patients with ovarian cancer who have failed platinum- and taxane-based regimens has not been identified. It has been reported that prolonged infusions of chemotherapy may be active in some malignancies which have become refractory to bolus treatments. We evaluated a regimen of 96-hr continuous-infusion doxorubicin (10 mg/m2/24 hr), etoposide (50 mg/m2/24 hr), and bolus cyclophosphamide (750 mg/m2) administered every 21 days to patients with ovarian cancer who had previously been treated with paclitaxel and a platinum compound. Nineteen women were treated, 15 of whom had platinum-refractory cancer. Six of the first 9 experienced a neutropenic fever after the first treatment cycle, and therefore all subsequent patients received prophylactic granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor. Other significant toxicities included hand and foot syndrome (1 patient) and mucositis (4 patients). There was one partial response in a patient with platinum-sensitive disease. We conclude that this regimen causes significant myelosuppression and does not have major activity in heavily pretreated patients with ovarian cancer.
Chronic haloperidol alters dopamine receptors: effects of cocaine exposure during the preweaning period

Abstract The effect of cocaine exposure during the preweaning period on the function of the central dopaminergic systems was determined in adult rats. The present study investigated the alterations in dopamine receptors in 93-day-old male and female rats treated with cocaine (50 mg kg−1 day−1), 1-[2-[bis(4-fluorophenyl)methoxyl]-4-[3-phenylpropyl]piperazine (GBR 12909) (50 mg kg−1 every other day) or water during postnatal days 11–20. Haloperidol (2 mg kg−1 day) or saline was injected during postnatal days 76–90 and the rats were killed on postnatal day 93. Quantitative receptor autoradiography with [ 3 H ]R-(+)-7-chloro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine ([ 3 H ]SCH 23390) for the dopamine D1 receptor and [ 3 H ]raclopride for the dopamine D2 receptor was carried out. The results show that haloperidol increased [ 3 H ]raclopride binding in many forebrain regions. Preweaning cocaine treatment in males increased the area showing this effect. Males generally were more responsive to haloperidol than females. However, in GBR 12909-treated females, raclopride binding showed widespread increases following haloperidol injection. For SCH 23390 binding, most regions showed a significant interaction between haloperidol, sex and preweaning treatment group. This was due primarily to the GBR 12909-treated males, which showed elevated basal dopamine D1 receptor binding levels and a haloperidol-induced reduction in dopamine D1 receptor binding in most regions evaluated. These data suggest that inhibition of the dopamine transporter during ontogeny produces long-term alterations in dopamine receptor regulation but that selective inhibitors of the dopamine transporter produced greater effects than cocaine on both raclopride and SCH 23390 binding following chronic haloperidol injection.
God in the Game: Cosmopolitanism and Religious Conflict in Videogames

Global interconnectedness is deeply related to electronic ubiquity, the technological dependence that in recent decades has resulted in a smart phone in nearly every American pocket, fidgeted with and fondled on an alarmingly predictable basis. As Todd Gitlin argues, “never have so many communicated so much, on so many screens, through so many channels, absorbing so many hours of irreplaceable human attention, about communications” (2002: 4). The sheer proliferation of channels of information flying around our wired lives may lead us to believe that important things are happening, that relationships are being built, problems being solved. The kind of optimism that this view inspires sometimes takes on religious overtones, with promises of utopic unification via online connection. The reality, however, may be less promising, as we look for algorithms to make sense of our world and find the simplest ones the most appealing, even if they invite us to dehumanize others. The human desire to impose order on a chaotic earthly environment is one of the most recognizable modes of meaning making, and possibly the most powerful. As Peter Berger explains in The Sacred Canopy, “[t]he cultural imperative of stability and the inherent character of culture as unstable together posit the fundamental problem of man’s world-building
Faculty work in a regional public university: An empirical assessment of goal consensus and congruency of actions and intentions

This analysis is concerned with the horizontal and vertical consensus of definitions of work appropriate to accomplish the goals of university administrators and faculty, as well as the congruency of ideal (intent) and actual (action/behavior) work of faculty. Data-gathering techniques include the following: historical analysis of the university; interviews with the provost, 5 college deans, and 32 chairpersons; and a survey of 503 faculty (69% return rate). Faculty work perceived to achieve departmental goals lacked horizontal consensus, especially among chairpersons in the same college and among faculty in the same department. Vertical consensus was weak, especially between chairpersons and their faculty, and in most colleges between deans and chairpersons. Greatest incongruencies were between faculty intentions and reported actions. There was declining support for administrative goals as one moved down the hierarchical structure within the university. Perspectives were explored that account for the lack of goal consensus and the incongruency between intentions and reported actions.
A relay approach to (+)-pleuromutilin. III. direct degradation of the natural product to the key diketone intermediate and its chemospecific functionalization

Abstract Pleuromutilin or tiamulin can be degraded to the important bicyclic relay compound (−)-1 in only four steps. Various methods for achieving chemoselective functionalization of 1 are set in focus.
Upregulation of mitochondrial respiratory complex IV by estrogen receptor-β is critical for inhibiting mitochondrial apoptotic signaling and restoring cardiac functions following trauma-hemorrhage

Our recent study showed that estrogen receptor (ER) beta plays a major role in mediating the salutary effects of 17beta-estradiol (E2) on cardiac function following trauma-hemorrhage (T-H). E2 is known to regulate mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-encoded genes including the mitochondrial respiratory complex (MRC) proteins. Depressed MRC activity has been reported to promote the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and induce apoptosis. We hypothesized that E2 and ERbeta-mediated cardioprotection following T-H is dependent on mtDNA transcription encoding for MRC activity. To test this, male rats underwent T-H (mean BP 40 mm Hg approximately 90 min, then resuscitation). During resuscitation, rats received either ERalpha agonist propylpyrazole triol (PPT; 5 microg/kg), ERbeta agonist diarylpropionitrile (DPN; 5 microg/kg), E2 (50 microg/kg), or vehicle (10% DMSO). Another group of rats received mitochondrial respiratory complex-IV (MRC-IV) inhibitor sodium cyanide (SCN; 6 mg/kg) with or without DPN. The results indicated that 24 h after T-H, cardiac functions were depressed in the vehicle-treated but were normal in the DPN-treated rats. Moreover, E2 or DPN treatment after T-H normalized cardiac mitochondrial ERbeta expression and increased mitochondrial ERbeta DNA-binding activity. This was accompanied by an increase in MRC-IV gene expressions and activity, while MRC-I gene expression remained unchanged. Inhibition of MRC-IV in DPN-treated T-H rats by SCN abolished the DPN-mediated cardioprotection, ATP production, mitochondrial cytochrome c release, caspase-3 cleavage, and apoptosis. Thus, E2 and ERbeta-mediated cardioprotection following T-H appears to be mediated via mitochondrial ERbeta-dependent MRC-IV activity and inhibition of mitochondrial apoptotic signaling pathways.
Wavelet-transform-based image processing techniques in nonimage data sets

Certain image processing methods such as filter banks, wavelet packets, and multiresolution analysis have been extensively used for efficiently decomposing, de-noising, compressing and reconstructing images in recent years1. While these methods have been applied primarily in images, their usefulness for decomposing and de-noising sets of measured data has not been thoroughly established yet. This paper will explore the potential of the application of image processing methods in non-image data sets. It is shown that filter banks can be potentially used to process and de-noise seismic data sets successfully. The idea is to treat a seismogram like a "conventional" image and extract certain features in a similar fashion to traditional image processing techniques. In this particular paper, the usage and application of wavelet bases will be explored.
Influence of Spinal Section on Tissue Permeability.

Summary of ResultsTransection of the spinal cord results in a reduction of connective tissue permeability. The reduction occurs above as well as below the site of spinal section. The reduction is not dependent upon an altered activity of the spreading factor or upon the trauma of operation.
Uptake of monosodium methanearsonate by Johnsongrass.

On the average, it would appear that at least six h are needed, without rain, to insure 50% absorption of MSMA by Johnsongrass —but as much as 155 h would be needed before absorption reaches the 90% level. The latter is practically impossible owing to loss of physiological function by the plant. Rapid initial absorption is highly desirable in terms of herbicidal effectiveness since it allows use of the compound under threat of rain. Unfortunately, the same rapidity suggests that quick action would be needed to reduce internalized and thus persistent levels in treated areas in the case of access by grazing animals.
The social contagion of generosity.

Why do people help strangers when there is a low probability that help will be directly reciprocated or socially rewarded? A possible explanation is that these acts are contagious: those who receive or observe help from a stranger become more likely to help others. We test two mechanisms for the social contagion of generosity among strangers: generalized reciprocity (a recipient of generosity is more likely to pay it forward) and third-party influence (an observer of generous behavior is more likely to emulate it). We use an online experiment with randomized trials to test the two hypothesized mechanisms and their interaction by manipulating the extent to which participants receive and observe help. Results show that receiving help can increase the willingness to be generous towards others, but observing help can have the opposite effect, especially among those who have not received help. These results suggest that observing widespread generosity may attenuate the belief that one’s own efforts are needed.