cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Toughening Effect of Strain-Induced Crystallites in Natural Rubber

We study fracture propagation in stretched natural rubber sheets. Experimental results in specimens stretched less than 3.8 times show a monotonic increase in the crack speed with stretch and can be explained by a numerical model based on neo-Hookean theory and Kelvin dissipation. In specimens stretched more than 3.8 times, strain-induced crystallites act as reinforcing and toughening fillers and significantly increase fracture resistance, like nanostructures in other polymeric or biological materials. Consequently, as we increase the amount of stretch, fractures travel slower and slower, and eventually halt altogether.
Rethinking Human Rights, Democracy, and Sovereignty in the Age of Globalization

The traditional conception construes human rights as moral rights all people have due to some basic feature or interests deemed intrinsically valuable. This comported well with the revival of the discourse of human rights in the wake of atrocities committed during WWII. It served as a useful referent for local struggles against foreign rule and domestic dictatorship in the 1980s. Since 1989, human rights discourse acquired a new function: the justification of sanctions, military invasions, and transformative occupation administrations by outsiders, framed as enforcement of international law against violators. The traditional conception doesn't fit this new function, hence the efforts to counter-pose a “political” to the “traditional” approach. This essay analyzes two recent versions of the political conception, and argues for a third. The thesis is that sovereign equality and human rights are normative principles of our dualist international system and both are needed to construct a more just version of t...
Morphine-induced μ-opioid receptor desensitization

Morphine has been widely accepted as the opioid agonist that sustains signaling because it does not cause receptor desensitization or internalization. This notion has led to the hypothesis that long-term morphine treatment initiates downstream adaptations that underlie tolerance and dependence. This study uses whole-cell recordings from neurons in the locus ceruleus to measure the potassium current induced by morphine. The results show that morphine does cause short-term desensitization. The desensitization induced by morphine was slower and smaller then that induced by [MET](5)-enkephalin (ME). After a brief application of a saturating concentration of ME, the current induced by morphine was smaller, and desensitization was not observed. In tissue taken from morphine-treated animals, the peak current induced by morphine was the same as in untreated animals, but morphine-induced desensitization was facilitated. The results suggest that morphine, like other agonists, can initiate receptor desensitization to decrease signaling.
Developing an Operational, Surface-Based, GPS, Water Vapor Observing System for NOAA: Network Design and Results

Abstract The need for a reliable, low-cost observing system to measure water vapor in the atmosphere is incontrovertible. Experiments have shown the potential for using Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to measure total precipitable water vapor accurately at different locations and times of year and under all weather conditions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations’s (NOAA) Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL) and Environmental Technology Laboratory (ETL), in collaboration with the University NAVSTAR Consortium, University of Hawaii, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Laboratory, are addressing this need by developing a ground-based water vapor observing system based on the measurement of GPS signal delays caused by water vapor in the atmosphere. The NOAA GPS Integrated Precipitable Water Vapor (NOAA GPS–IPW) network currently has 35 continuously operating stations and is expected to expand into a 200-station demonstration network by 2004. T...
Positive Psychology and Self-Determination Theory: A Natural Interface

This chapter discusses both the positive psychology movement (PPM) and self-determination theory (SDT), arguing that SDT is a prototypical example of a positive psychology theory. SDT provides a nuanced, integrated, and scientifically supported framework for understanding optimal functioning, while also addressing “negative” processes that can get in the way of optimal functioning. Two primary prescriptions for positive psychology researchers are derivable from SD: that the autonomy-supportiveness of providers will be crucial for the success of any positive intervention or context, and that the success of positive interventions or contexts can be gauged by how well they meet participants’ needs. Accusations that positive psychology is overly individualist are considered from the lens of SDT, which has already faced and answered such challenges. We suggest that the PPM might adopt SDT as a general framework within which to conduct many types of positive psychology research.
The Challenges of Integrating Family Planning and HIV Services: an Analysis of Programmer and Policymaker Opinions in Malawi, Nigeria, and Senegal

In sub-Saharan Africa, pregnancy and HIV are transmitted in primarily the same way: through unprotected, heterosexual sex. And in most African countries, there are more pregnancies than desired, and certainly too many new cases of HIV. These similarities, patterns of health care access, and differential availability of funding suggest that integrating family planning and HIV services should lead to better outcomes. But despite years of talk about the benefits to integration, it remains more rhetoric than reality. Why? To answer this question, I conducted interviews with more than 90 programmers working for federal ministries, donor organizations, and local nongovernmental organizations in Malawi, Nigeria, and Senegal. The opinions of these programmers are crucial to successful outcomes as it is they who will have to promote integration efforts to their ministers and funders as well as to those who actually implement health care. I show that the primary perceived obstacles to integration are the bureaucratic structure of donor organizations and government ministries, combined with overburdened primary health care providers. I find, however, that in Malawi and Senegal, programmers are trying to use the distinctions between pregnancy and HIV prevention to benefit those they serve.
Association of Steroid Use with Deep Venous Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism in Neurosurgical Patients: A National Database Analysis.

Objective Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients and is a widely accepted measure for quality of care. Prolonged corticosteroid therapy, which is common in neurosurgical patients, has been associated with VTE. Using a national database, we sought to determine whether corticosteroid use for >10 days was an independent risk factor for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Methods The well-validated American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried to evaluate the rates of VTE during the period 2006–2013 in patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures. A multivariate regression model was constructed to assess the effect of prolonged corticosteroid use on the occurrence of PE and DVT by postoperative day 30. Results Of 94,620 patients identified, 565 (0.60%) developed PE and 1057 (1.12%) developed DVT within 30 days after surgery. In the multivariate model, patients receiving corticosteroids were significantly more likely to have PE (odds ratio = 1.47, 95% confidence interval = 1.13–1.90, P = 0.004) and DVT (odds ratio = 1.55, 95% confidence interval = 1.28–1.87, P Conclusions In the neurosurgical population, prolonged courses of corticosteroids are associated with an increased risk of developing postoperative DVT and PE, even when controlling for potential confounders.
The Kelo Effect in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Assessing the Impact of Kelo in the Tri-State Region

Although the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London did not change the federal law with respect to the ability of governments to exercise the power of eminent domain for economic or redevelopment projects, the public backlash from the opinion resulted in more than 600 proposed pieces of legislation, the establishment of task forces and study commissions across the country, and increased public awareness and scrutiny of proposed condemnations. This paper examines the state constutional and statutory frameworks in the tri-state region both pre- and post-Kelo. It discusses the NYS Bar Association Task Force on Eminent Domain, the reports from the New Jersey Public Advocate, and a new 2006 law from Pennsylavnia. In addition, the paper examines state court decisions post-Kelo in New York and New Jeresey. The use of eminent domain post-Kelo is examined through a series of case studies including: Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, NY; Long Branch, NJ; Ardmore, PA; and Vineland, New Jersey. The paper concludes by advocating for reforms to government procurement/contracting laws, ethics laws and campaign finance laws to address recent allegations of potential improprieties in some redevelopment projects.
Rationale, design, and baseline findings from HIPP: A randomized controlled trial testing a home-based, individually-tailored physical activity print intervention for African American women in the Deep South

African American women report high rates of physical inactivity and related health disparities. In our previous formative research, we conducted a series of qualitative assessments to examine physical activity barriers and intervention preferences among African American women in the Deep South. These data were used to inform a 12-month Home-based, Individually-tailored Physical activity Print (HIPP) intervention, which is currently being evaluated against a wellness contact control condition among 84 post-menopausal African American women residing in the metropolitan area of Birmingham, Alabama. This paper reports the rationale, design and baseline findings of the HIPP trial. The accrued participants had an average age of 57 (SD=4.7), a BMI of 32.1 kg/m(2) (SD=5.16) with more than half (55%) having a college education and an annual household income under $50,000 (53.6%). At baseline, participants reported an average of 41.5 min/week (SD=49.7) of moderate intensity physical activity, and 94.1% were in the contemplation or preparation stages of readiness for physical activity. While social support for exercise from friends and family was low, baseline levels of self-efficacy, cognitive and behavioral processes of change, decisional balance, outcome expectations, and enjoyment appeared promising. Baseline data indicated high rates of obesity and low levels of physical activity, providing strong evidence of need for intervention. Moreover, scores on psychosocial measures suggested that such efforts may be well received. This line of research in technology-based approaches for promoting physical activity in African American women in the Deep South has great potential to address health disparities and impact public health.
Platelet adhesiveness in von Willebrand's disease.

A glass bead test for platelet adhesiveness is described in which heparinized blood can be used. Anticoagulation allows the blood to be handled more conveniently and, furthermore, the flow rate can be exactly controlled. By means of this test, decreased platelet adhesiveness has been demonstrated in von Willebrand’s disease, and the difference between von Willebrand’s disease and normal is much greater than that demonstrated by the Salzman test. Evidence is presented to suggest that the abnormality is due to the absence of a plasmatic factor.
Controlled growth of nanowires using annealing and pulsed laser deposition

A new nanowire growth technique using annealing and pulsed laser deposition is described. The technique demonstrates the control in the precise nanowire growth temperature thereby yielding higher quality nanowires than obtained from simple annealing alone. InSb substrate and gold target were used to demonstrate the new technique. The results from the variation of gold deposits from 2.5 mins to 40 mins at the fixed growth temperature of 510 oC are discussed.
Womanspirit: a journey into healing through art in breast cancer.

In the sphere of chronic illness, where cure is no longer an expected outcome, the need to understand women's healing is paramount to the caring role of nurses.A collective of women survivors of breast cancer provided the data for this feminist esthetic cooperative inquiry. Esthetic representations
Students’ perception of relationship skills during an adventure-based learning unit within physical education

Adventure-based learning (ABL) is a sequenced curriculum using structured physical and teambuilding activities that create the space for participants to work on group communication, cooperation, trust, and problem solving. Reflection (i.e., debriefing) is an essential aspect of the ABL curriculum (Cosgriff, 2000). A debrief in ABL is the reflective component that provides opportunity for students to construct meaning from the activities through student-centred discussion. Physical education (PE) teachers can use ABL to promote intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship skills (IIRS) in an effort to establish community within the classroom (Dyson & Sutherland, 2014; Sutherland & Stuhr, 2014). The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate middle school students’ perceptions of their IIRS while involved in a 15-lesson ABL unit of instruction during PE. Four themes developed from the data, with each theme representing a learning outcome stage: connecting to the ABL activities, valuing IIRS worked on in the ABL activities, developing IIRS within PE, and transferring IIRS outside the classroom. The ABL curriculum used within this PE setting produced student outcomes associated with IIRS necessary to function effectively in society. The findings indicated that the students were able to connect with, value, develop, and even transfer IIRS that were taught during the ABL unit. This study demonstrated that an ABL curriculum could produce student-learning outcomes that promote social and emotional learning.
The Effects of Semantic Relation on Adjectives Syntactic Ability of Combination

The paper mainly investigates the effects of semantic relations(same and different classes)on adjectives syntactic abilities of combination,including these combinations act as attributes and predicates.The adjective combinations of different semantic classes tend to act as cohesive attributes,two adjectives act as inner level attribute and outer level attribute respectively,and adjective combinations of same semantic classes tend to act as combinative attributes;The combinations of same semantic classes tend to act as cohesive and combinative attributes,the syntactic unit of adjectives combination is similar to syllable adjective.The combinations of same semantic class acts as predicates more frequently.The paper concludes that the reason lead to this syntactic distinction is the semantic relation of two adjectives is different,and the with the construction relation of phrase.The combination of same semantic classes adjectives has obvious lexicalization tendency,and is a fixed combination;The combination of different semantic classes adjectives has no lexicalization tendency,and is a temporary combination.
Gender Difference of Clinical Features of Schizophrenia

Objective: To investigate the gender differences of age of onset, clinical symptoms, course pattern and social function between male and female schizophrenic patients Method:513 inpatients with schizophrenia (according to CCMD-2-R criteria, male 288, and female 255) were sampled Clinical data were collected with PANSS (positive and negative symptom scale) Results:The average age of onset in male was 26(7 yrs, that in female was 28±9 yrs, the difference in between had statistical significance The difference of age of onset between male and female patients with positive family history was not significant in statistic Compared with male, female had more positive symptoms and affective symptoms, their course manifested as fluctuating, episodic and deteriorate slightly More male (67%) than female (54%) lived alone (had never marry or divorced) Conclusion:Schizophrenic inpatients had some differences in clinical features, which may due to the nature selection of admission
Models of Success, Teacher Quality and Student Disciplinary Infraction: A Critical Analysis of Chicago’s Urban Preparatory Academies and Harlem Children’s Zone

School discipline disparities in U.S. education is accompanied by a litany of literature that focuses on African Americans in low-performing urban schools (Civil Right Project, 2000; Losen, 2011; Mendez & Knoff, 2003; Skiba, Michael, Nardo & Peterson, 2002; Wilson, 2014). Public K-12 institutions in the U.S. report that African Americans are suspended at three-times the rate of White students (23% for African Americans as compared to 7% for Whites). Furthermore, the most recent Civil Rights Discipline Collection report (Office of Civil Rights, 2014) indicates that students who receive one suspension have a much greater chance of being suspended multiple times, ultimately leading to expulsion and or involvement in the juvenile justice system (Allen & White-Smith, 2014; Gregory, 1995; Office of Civil Rights, 2014; Pane & Rocco, 2014). A significant amount of research focuses on public education institutions’ dismal outcomes in this area (Skiba et al., 2002; Office of Civil Rights, 2014; Wilson, 2014), without examining charter schools to determine if discipline disparities are endemic in them as well. This study examined two urban, high achieving charter schools. Urban Preparatory Academies in Chicago and Harlem Children’s Zone in New York. The school characteristics are assessed through critical race theory to better understand the relationship between teacher quality and student discipline. The findings of the study indicate that while both schools had similar student demographics, lower rates of discipline infractions were reported in the individual campuses that employed a higher number of qualified teachers. These findings have implications for teacher preparation and urban education.
Space Time Serial Concatenated Turbo Coded Modulation

Space-Time trellis-coded modulation (ST-TCM) which combines modulation and coding in a single entity delivers exceptional performance in static enviroment such as AWGN and flat fading channels. On the other hand, bit- interleaved coded modulation (BICM) which gives up the joint decoder/demodulator architecture in favor of two separate entities outperforms ST-TCM in selective fading channels, but suffers performance loss in static channels. This paper proposes a space-time serial concatenated coding schemes which consist of two ";simple"; constituent encoders and an interleaver namely: ST serial concatenated Turbo-coded modulation (ST-SCTCM). Both theory and simulation results demonstrate that ST-SCTCM outperforms either ST-TCM or BICM across different channel conditions.
Ultrasonic-Attenuation-Based Technique for Ice Characterization Pertinent to Aircraft Icing Phenomena

A novel approach, which is capable of characterizing different types of ice accretion, was developed by leveraging the significant discrepancies in attenuation characteristics of ultrasonic waves traveling in different ice types (i.e., rime or glaze). While the theories of acoustic attenuation in pulse-echo configuration for a multilayer structure were formulated, a feasibility study was also performed to demonstrate the ultrasonic-attenuation-based technique to characterize two different types of ice samples representative of typical rime and glaze ice accretion seen over airframe surfaces. Significant differences were found in the ultrasonic attenuation characteristics between the two compared ice samples over the frequency range of 5–15 MHz. The attenuation coefficients of the rime-like ice sample were found to be much greater than those of the glaze-like ice sample at any given ultrasonic frequencies. While the values of ultrasonic attenuation coefficients would increase with ultrasonic frequency for ...
Variations in Social Network Type Membership Among Older African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and Non-Hispanic Whites.

Objectives This study examined race differences in the probability of belonging to a specific social network typology of family, friends, and church members. Method Samples of African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites aged 55+ were drawn from the National Survey of American Life. Typology indicators related to social integration and negative interactions with family, friendship, and church networks were used. Latent class analysis was used to identify typologies, and latent class multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the influence of race, and interactions between race and age, and race and education on typology membership. Results Four network typologies were identified: optimal (high social integration, low negative interaction), family-centered (high social integration within primarily the extended family network, low negative interaction), strained (low social integration, high negative interaction), and ambivalent (high social integration and high negative interaction). Findings for race and age and race and education interactions indicated that the effects of education and age on typology membership varied by race. Discussion Overall, the findings demonstrate how race interacts with age and education to influence the probability of belonging to particular network types. A better understanding of the influence of race, education, and age on social network typologies will inform future research and theoretical developments in this area.
Outcomes and tolerability of selective bladder preservation by combined modality therapy for invasive bladder cancer in elderly patients.

316Background: The median age of patients diagnosed with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) in the US is 72 years old, and only about half of those over 70 years receive potentially curative the...
Chemical vapor deposition of partially oxidized graphene

Herein, we report on chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of partially oxidized graphene (POG) films on electropolished polycrystalline copper foils at relatively low temperature under near-atmospheric pressure. The structural, chemical, and electronic properties of the films are studied in detail using several spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The content of carbon and oxygen in the films is identified by chemical mapping at near-atomic scale. Electron diffraction patterns of the films possess clear diffraction spots with a six-fold pattern that is consistent with the hexagonal lattice. The fine structure of the carbon K-edge signal in STEM-EELS spectra of the films is distinguishable from that of graphene and graphite. The presence of oxygen in the films is further supported by a clear oxygen K-edge. Raman spectroscopy and XPS results provide direct evidence for a lower degree of oxidation. The work function of the films is found to be much higher than that of graphene, using UPS measurements.
Abstract 74: An Update on Meta-analysis of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Post-stroke Motor Recovery

Introduction: Prior meta-analyses have demonstrated positive summary effect of tDCS on Fugl-Meyer upper extremity scores (FM-UE) improvement as well as dose-response relationship. With new publishe...
Timing of antenatal steroids exposure and its effects on neonates.

Antenatal corticosteroid (ACS) has long been regarded as the standard of care for women at risk of preterm labour. There are, however, varying practices and regimes in ACS administration. It is unclear if “a window of efficacy” truly exists and if the benefits of ACS would diminish after 7 days from the first dose. The objective of this study is to determine if the time interval between antenatal corticosteroids and delivery influences the neonatal outcomes in preterm deliveries from 23+5 to 36+6 weeks’ gestation. This is a retrospective analysis of 302 women and 352 infants who delivered from 23+5 to 36+6 weeks’ gestation in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital from 1st November 2014 to 31st January 2015. The timings of the first two doses of corticosteroids and the delivery were retrieved. Neonatal outcomes were compared between those delivering within 7 days and those delivering beyond 7 days of first dose of ACS. 61.2% of preterm infants received at least one dose of antenatal corticosteroids, of which 23.6% received it within the window of efficacy. Overall incidence of respiratory distress asyndrome in our study is 17.6%. Significantly, neonates with ACS exposure beyond 7 days were seven times more likely to have RDS as compared to those exposed to ACS within the window of efficacy (RR 0.535, 95% CI 0.166–1.72), after adjusting for potential confounders. The results of this study support the current practice among obstetricians to aim to administer ACS within 7 days of delivery.
Targeting WT1 in hematologic malignancies

In this issue of Blood, Tawara et al report the first results of a novel treatment approach with T-cell receptor transduced autologous T cells targeting a restricted Wilms’ tumor 1 (WT1)-derived epitope in patients with refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).1
Extension of Tissue Plasminogen Activator Treatment Window by Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor in a Thromboembolic Rat Model of Stroke

When given beyond 4.5 h of stroke onset, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) induces deleterious side effects in the ischemic brain, notably, hemorrhagic transformation (HT). We examined the efficacy of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) in reducing delayed tPA-induced HT, cerebral infarction, and neurological deficits in a thromboembolic (TE) stroke model, and whether the effects of G-CSF were sustained for longer periods of recovery. After stroke induction, rats were given intravenous saline (control), tPA (10 mg/kg), or G-CSF (300 μg/kg) + tPA 6 h after stroke. We found that G-CSF reduced delayed tPA-associated HT by 47%, decreased infarct volumes by 33%, and improved motor and neurological deficits by 15% and 25%, respectively. It also prevented delayed tPA treatment-induced mortality by 46%. Immunohistochemistry showed 1.5- and 1.8-fold enrichment of the endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) markers CD34+ and VEGFR2 in the ischemic cortex and striatum, respectively, and 1.7- and 2.8-fold increases in the expression of the vasculogenesis marker von Willebrand factor (vWF) in the ischemic cortex and striatum, respectively, in G-CSF-treated rats compared with tPA-treated animals. Flow cytometry revealed increased mobilization of CD34+ cells in the peripheral blood of rats given G-CSF. These results corroborate the efficacy of G-CSF in enhancing the therapeutic time window of tPA for stroke treatment via EPC mobilization and enhancement of vasculogenesis.
Empowering Students Through Geography

As geography educators, we know the value of geography. From making sense of international geopolitical events and tensions to understanding sociocultural differences in our community's neighborhoo...
Computerized Tomography of Interstitial Lung Disease

The most frequent manifestations of thoracic disease in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) are interstitial lung disease. Up to two-thirds of patients develop scleroderma interstitial lung disease. High resolution CT (HRCT) scanning has emerged as a key method for evaluating lung involvement. CT in the setting of scleroderma interstitial lung disease (SILD) is used for detection, prediction of treatment response outcome assessment of treatment efficacy, and exclusion of other significant related or comorbid cardiothoracic disease. To detect an assess extent of lung involvement, semiquantitative visual and quantitative computer-based techniques can be used. HRCT is the gold standard for detecting and characterizing SILD.
Social Comparison and Fairness

People care about fairness. They care about the fairness of their outcomes (distributive justice) and the fairness of the procedures used to allocate outcomes (procedural justice). Fairness can have implications for current outcomes (e.g., “Did I get what I deserved?”), expected outcomes (e.g., “If nothing changes, what am I likely to get in the future?”), and plans about how to obtain outcomes (e.g., “What can I do to improve my expected future outcomes?”).
Pathologic Aspects of Hepatocellular Tumors

Hepatocellular tumors are pathologically divided into a limited number of entities such as focal nodular hyperplasia, hepatocellular adenoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and its variants, and hepatoblastoma. Recent advances in immunophenotypic and molecular characterization have led to an increased appreciation of the complexities of these growths. For example, subtypes of hepatocellular adenomas with differing premalignant potentials have been defined, our ability to differentiate hepatocellular carcinoma from high-grade dysplasia continues to improve, and molecular similarities of histologically discordant elements of combined hepatocellular/cholangiocellular carcinoma have been reported. This chapter describes pathologic, immunophenotypic, and molecular features of hepatocellular tumors. Continued progress in our understanding of these growths at the cellular and subcellular levels suggests that categorization of these tumors may continue to evolve as additional significant clinicopathologic correlates are discovered.
Cultivating Constructivist Classrooms Through Evaluation of an Integrated Science Learning Environment

This chapter describes and encourages innovations for improving practice and research in science education through the strategic incorporation of information technology (IT) into teacher education. It shows how the Integrated Science Learning Environment (ISLE) model used IT to holistically combine a variety of approaches to bring about conceptual change through authentic inquiry. Implementing constructivist teaching and learning practices in the university setting fostered similar change in school classrooms. It describes the current context for reform and provides a closer look at how the traditions of learning environments research can provide a common language and promising methods to meet new challenges facing educators and researchers in science and education in a technology-rich world.
Roles and interactions of usher 1 proteins in the outer retina.

Usher syndrome (USH) describes a group of inherited blindness-deafness disorders, resulting from retinal degeneration and cochlear dysfunction (Usher, 1914). There are three subtypes of Usher syndrome, Usher syndrome type 1 is the most severe of the three. Seven Usher 1 genes have been mapped (Usher 1A-G), and all show the same clinical phenotype in humans. The most common form is Usher 1B, which accounts for at least 50% of Usher 1 cases (Astuto et al., 2000). Usher 1B is caused by mutations in the gene, MYO7A, which encodes an unconventional myosin, myosin VIIa (Weil et al., 1995). Usher 1C has been shown to be caused by defects in the gene, USH1C, which encodes harmonin, a scaffold protein with PDZ domains (Verpy et al., 2000; Bitner-Glindzicz et al., 2000). PDZ proteins, such as harmonin, form multiprotein complexes that are localized in specific subcellular domains, such as the microvilli of epithelial cells, synaptic terminals and the tight junctions (Sheng and Sala, 2001). Alternative splicing of the USH1C gene results in multiple harmonin isoforms, named a, b and c (Verpy et al., 2000). The short isoform a is the most abundant of the three and is present in most tissues. Both harmonin and myosin VIIa have been found in the stereocilia of the hair cells in the inner ear and the microvilli of other epithelial cells (Wolfrum et al., 98; Verpy et al., 2000; Booda et al., 2002). Recent studies have shown that these two proteins interact to shape the stereocilia bundle in the inner ear (Booda et al., 2002).
FDA Rule Making and Guidances

Although not essential to a broad understanding of FDA matters from a physician’s point-of -view, how the rules governing the many areas of importance to doctors are made is in fact very important in determining how the FDA controls or is obliged to regulate much of the medical and health environment in which we practice. Developing FDA rules, even about seemingly simple matters such as, for example, the rules related to OTC sunscreens, can be a surprisingly complex activity which may take many years. FDA’s intention to develop a monograph containing the rules for OTC sunscreens was first announced by FDA in 1978. A Tentative Final Monograph was published 15 years later in 1993 and the Final Monograph was published in 1999, a 21-year process. Even then the date for implementation was postponed by way of an “Extension of Effective Date”, a “Partial Stay of Effective Date”, a “Delay of Drug Fact Implementation”, a “Technical Amendment” and a “Notice on Name Change”, all of which resulted in final completion of the monograph in 2004, a 25-year long process! While this case was clearly an anomaly – most rules complete the required process within 3 years – the time needed to make FDA rules, especially when extreme as in the sunscreen monograph case, lead to considerable criticism of FDA. Rulemaking is a formal and often contentious process. And when the science or the societal views are not settled or clear, rulemaking tends to take prolonged periods of time. However, it should also be noted that in many situations during the rule making process industry tends over time to voluntarily comply with the rules they believe will ultimately apply.
The Origins of Civilization in East Asia

“Out of Africa”: The First East Asians According to a now lost Old Record cited in the thirteenth-century Korean history Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms ( Samguk yusa ), the divinity Hwanung descended from heaven to Mount T'aebaek, a sacred peak at the source of the Yalu and Tumen rivers on the border between present-day Korea and China, where he mated with a she-bear he had helped transfigure into human shape. From their union was born the great Lord Tan'gun, supposedly in the year 2333 BCE, who founded the country known as Old Chosŏn and who is widely celebrated today as the father of the Korean nation. Meanwhile, according to a quite different Record of Ancient Matters (the Japanese Kojiki , compiled in 712 CE), the grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu was sent down to earth from heaven, bearing the three sacred Japanese imperial regalia – the curved magatama bead, bronze mirror, and sword – to become the founder of the Japanese imperial line (the same line that still occupies the Chrysanthemum throne in Tōkyō today) and the origin of the Japanese nation. Much earlier, in China, various ancient royal houses also typically claimed divine or miraculous origins, although Western scholars have generally been more impressed by the relative absence of important creation myths from the dawn of Chinese history. The traditional version of China's story begins, instead, with a more apparently human age of (legendary) cultural heroes, starting with Fuxi (supposedly dating from 2852 BCE), who first domesticated animals; Shennong (from 2737 BCE), who invented farming; and the Yellow Emperor (ruling from 2697 BCE), who is popularly viewed as the ancestor of the Chinese people. Though the Japanese emperor officially renounced his divinity after World War II, in 1946, and few people today are likely to believe literally the story of Japanese imperial descent from the sun goddess, some of these myths and legends are still quite charming. It is doubtful, however, that many nonnatives, coming from different religious and cultural traditions, ever gave much literal credence to such stories of divine descent. Early modern Europeans, for example, brought their own quite different sets of expectations about possible East Asian origins.
Development and Modulation of Female Reproductive Function by Circadian Signals

Female reproductive success requires multifaceted, temporally coordinated hormone secretion. The circadian timing system is central to this complex neuroendocrine regulation, with circadian disruption associated with irregular ovulatory cycles, reduced fertility, increased miscarriage rates, and anomalous fetal development. Because living in the modern world is associated with relatively chronic circadian disruption due to limited sunlight exposure during the day and exposure to artificial light at night, this issue is of broad concern. The master mammalian circadian pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus communicates monosynaptically to neuroendocrine cells in the brain to mediate the hormonal events required for ovulation and pregnancy maintenance. Likewise, maternal hormones cross the placenta to drive rhythmic fetal processes critical for typical development. The present overview describes the means by which the circadian timing system integrates with the reproductive axis to regulate female reproductive functioning. Likewise, the negative consequences of circadian disruptions on female reproductive health, and the mechanisms underlying these deleterious outcomes, are considered.
Continuous Speech and Time-Frequency Transform Using the Kalman Filter

In this paper, a Radial Basis Function-based Kalman filter has been utilized to in order to extended to the time-frequency transform, also called a spectrogram or spectrograph, and also been applied to simple continuous speech.
Study of a linear surface wave plasma source for tin removal in an extreme ultraviolet source

Tin deposition mitigation employs hydrogen radicals and ions, formed in a hydrogen plasma, to interact with tin to form tin hydride ( Sn H 4) in the gaseous state, which is then pumped away. Surface wave plasma (SWP) technology developed at Illinois generates hydrogen radicals and ions, resulting in tin etch rates that are high enough to keep extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithographic tools clean. An advantage of an SWP antenna is the ability to generate a high density of hydrogen radicals and hydrogen ions directly at the desired etching location. In situ etching of tin enables high availability EUV tools by maintaining high reflectivity of the multilayer mirror of the collector. Additionally, the SWP is characterized with low ion energies and low electron temperature, such that the multilayer mirror does not suffer any damage from sputtering or implantation of hydrogen ions during operation. Here, experiments elucidating the fundamental processes of tin removal are conducted by varying pressure, power, surface temperature, and gas flow rate in order to observe the etch rate behavior. Our results have shown that the presence of hydrogen ions increases etch rates because ion bombardment weakens Sn–Sn bonds, which, in turn, allows for a higher rate of chemical etching by the radicals. The ion bombardment reduces the number of radicals needed to etch a single tin atom to the range of 10 2 – 10 3. The linear SWP antenna yields plasma densities on the order of 10 17 to 10 18 m − 3 and radical densities on the order of 10 18 to 10 19 m − 3, allowing for greater utilization of ion etch enhancement. Etch rates of up to 200 nm/min have been achieved. The surface temperature of the samples is an important factor in the etching process such that the decrease in the surface temperature increases the etch rates and decreases the hydrogen desorption rates. In addition, a kinetic etch model is developed to explain the behavior of etch rates as a function of surface temperature. Furthermore, results from experiments performed in an Illinois NXE:3100 chamber will be discussed.
IP and Competition: Context, Test, and Balance

This comment highlights the importance of context, the appropriate test, and balance for the IP/competition intersection. First, it emphasizes the importance of context, in particular the regulatory regime in the pharmaceutical industry, highlighting the role the FTC can play through litigation, hearings, and 6(b) studies. Second, it underscores the importance of the "consumer welfare" standard. And third, it explains the balance critical to the intersection, which includes consideration of both IP and competition.
Designing Interactive Storytelling Games to Teach Computational Thinking

In the section of The Design of Everyday Things titled “Moral Obligations of Design,” Don Norman writes, “Designers need to make things that satisfy people’s needs, in terms of function, in terms of being understandable and usable, and in terms of their ability to deliver emotional satisfaction, pride, and delight,” (Norman, 293). This is equally true of doors, lessons, teapots, narratives, and games. And for some complex emerging objects, such as educational narrative games, designers must look at a synthesis of different object types to hypothesize heuristics and principles that will guide their design. Game designers rarely have extensive research on the design of their artifacts to analyze before they are asked to invent new combinations of mechanics, couple them with themes they did not create, and then test their efficacy for whatever the intended design goal of the game, be it education, entertainment, or training. Instead, designers often rely on anecdotal accounts of design of their genre of games, if they're fortunate, or on heuristics uncovered most often in other fields. In conversation with games studies and interactive storytelling scholars, I define these digital artifacts as games that use narratives generated in response to open text input from their players. For the emerging genre of interactive storytelling games the dearth of game design research and a lack of examples of fully functional games in the genre give designers little to start with. Though many in the field of interactive storytelling believe, for good reason, that these games have incredible educational potential, there are even fewer examples of such games to learn from, and practically no specific game design research on their creation. Such artifacts are the complex synthesis of generated narrative, a system open to a continuum of user input, and educational content that personalizes to the player to a high degree. Without proper design, these objects will fail to be understood, to satisfy their users’ needs, to function, and they will certainly fail to deliver pride, satisfaction, and delight. Without game design research, the proper design of such complicated artifacts will happen only by accident and will most likely be delayed, possibly indefinitely. In what seems at first like an odd coincidence, there is one field, computational thinking, where two effective prototypes of interactive storytelling educational games exist, and these, along with other case studies of mechanics and even science fiction, can guide the beginning of game design research into their creation.
Comment: A source of questions

ECTJ, VOL. 33, NO. 1, PAGES 66-69 ISSN 0148-5806 A few years back, at the AECT conference in Philadelphia, Robert Heinich, then ECTJ editor, asked Steve Kerr and me to meet with him to discuss a possible theme issue for the journal that would address the social aspects of educational communication and technology. The more the three of us talked, the more it seemed as if the topic eluded precise definition. We were not altogether certain what "social aspects" meant, nor are we yet for that matter. Our attempts that day at formulating a manageable project were largely unsuccessful. But we came away from the meeting with the same strong feeling we had before it, that, as Heinich put it, "there were other kinds of research we should be doing and reporting in the journal beyond our current bugunder-the-microscope" approach. As we met in Philadelphia, type was being set on the first of two lengthy articles by Egon Guba (1981; Guba & Lincoln, 1982) that would subsequently appear in this journal. Judging from presentations made at AECT conferences since the publication of Guba's articles, his ideas have had a notable influence on the thinking of people in our field.
Characterizing the Eilenberg-Moore Algebras for a Monad of Stochastic Relations

We investigate the category of Eilenberg-Moore algebras for the Giry monad associated with stochastic relations over Polish spaces with continuous maps as morphisms. The algebras are characterized through convex partitions of the space of all probability measures. Examples are investigated, and it is shown that finite spaces usually do not have algebras at all.
The mechanical properties of plant cell walls soft material at the subcellular scale: the implications of water and of the intercellular boundaries

Subcellular mechanical characterization of the cell wall can provide important insights into the cell wall’s functional organization, especially if the characterization is not confounded by extracellular factors and intercellular boundaries. However, due to the technical challenges associated with the microscale mechanical characterization of soft biological materials, subcellular investigations of the plant cell wall under tensile loading have yet to be properly performed. This study reports the mechanical characterization of primary onion epidermal cell wall profiles using a novel cryosection-based sample preparation method and a microelectromechanical system-based tensile testing protocol. At the subcellular scale, the cell wall showed biphasic behavior similar to tissue samples. However, instead of a transition zone between the linear elastic or viscoelastic and linear plastic zones, the subcellular-scale samples showed a plateau-like trend with a sharp drop in the modulus value. The critical ranges of stress (20–40 MPa) and strain (5–12 %) of the plateau zone were identified. A strain energy of 1.3 MJ m−3 was calculated at the midpoint of the critical stress–strain range; this value was in accordance with the previously estimated hydrogen bond energy of the cell wall. Subcellular-scale samples showed very large lateral/axial deformations (0.8 ± 0.13) at fracturing. In addition, investigating the cell wall’s mechanical properties at three different water states showed that water is critical for the flow-like behavior of cell wall matrix polymers. These results at subcellular scale provide new insights into biological materials that possess a structural hierarchy at different length scales; which cannot be obtained from tissue-scale experiments.
Queueing Networks with Static Routing

This chapter contains sections titled: Loss Networks Stable Open Networks of Queues Problems
Long-term uncertainty in time transfer using GPS and TWSTFT techniques

The techniques of GPS time and frequency transfer (code based and carrier phase) and TWSTFT are widely used in remote clock comparison and in the computation of TAI and UTC. Many timing laboratories in the world utilize both techniques (GPS and TWSTFT transfer links) to compare each other's clocks. A time link must be calibrated to assure the time transfer accuracy. In many cases, calibration campaigns have been very infrequent due to the expense and lack of suitable equipment. In lieu of repeated calibrations, some information regarding the long-term stability of these links can be obtained through comparisons between the two links (a so called double difference). Without frequent calibrations it is impossible to tell where the instabilities originate, but information regarding the magnitude of the instabilities can be obtained from double difference data. We have been investigating the combined variations of GPS and TWSTFT links for a number of laboratory pairs, including both long and short baselines. Our results show that the relative change between GPS and TWSTFT transfer links can be as large as 6 to 7 ns over a few years and that all of the laboratory pairs that have been investigated show similar magnitudes in the double difference data. Currently the longest set of good double difference data is about 7 years. The study results point out the need for frequent calibration campaigns if accuracies at the nanosecond level are required.