cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Functional Outcomes Following Nonsurgical Treatment for Advanced-Stage Laryngeal Carcinoma†

Objectives Objectives were 1) to provide comprehensive evaluations of functional outcomes using perceptual and objective measures of patients treated nonsurgically for stages III and IV laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and 2) to propose a standard battery of tests that can be used for appraising functional outcomes in this patient population. Study Design Retrospective study of 14 patients. Methods Perceptual measures of voice were obtained using blinded expert listener impression ratings and a validated quality of life questionnaire (Voice Handicap Index). Objective data included acoustic, speech aerodynamic, and videostroboscopic evaluations. Patients were also assessed relative to stability of the airway, secretion control, and ability to tolerate oral diet without aspiration symptoms. Results Patients demonstrated functional but abnormal voice, speech, and swallowing abilities after treatment. More specifically, patients were judged to have moderately deviant biomechanical findings on videostroboscopy that did not improve with longer time intervals after treatment. These findings helped to explain the moderately abnormal acoustic and aerodynamic measurements revealing high values for jitter, shimmer, noise, airflow, glottal resistance, and subglottal pressures and substantially lower than normal maximum phonation times. Expert listeners were in agreement with the objective findings. However, patients rated themselves as only mildly impaired with regard to the emotional, physical, and functional handicapping effects of treatment, difficulties that were judged to improve with longer time intervals after treatment. Swallowing function showed a trend toward improvement for patients with time intervals of more than 12 months since completion of therapy. Conclusions Patients demonstrated variable degrees of laryngeal dysfunction as evidenced by perceptual and objective measures. Patients rated themselves to be only mildly handicapped with regard to voice quality. A methodology and battery of tests are proposed to help standardize outcome data collection for this patient population.
Description of the SAIC DX system as used for MUC-6

This is a very young project, operational for only a few months. The focus of the effort is data-extraction, the identification of instances of data-classes in "commercial" text -- e.g., newspapers, technical reports, business correspondence, intelligence briefs. Instances of data-classes in text are phrases which identify factual content, such as names of people or organizations, products, financial amounts, quantities, and so forth.
Return Migration in Africa and the Relationship between Educational Attainment and Labor Market Success: Evidence from Uganda:

The return migration of skilled professionals has been suggested as a policy instrument suitable for reversing the large-scale emigration of skilled professionals from African countries. However, there are no empirical studies showing how migrant professionals from Africa are reintegrated into the labor market after they return. This study examines the relationship between educational attainment and the likelihood of employment among native-born African migrants returning home from abroad. The study focuses on the evidence from Uganda since this country has one of the longest histories of skilled migration in Africa. The results show that returning migrants with university degrees and vocational credentials are more likely to be employed than their nonmigrant and immigrant counterparts. However, this employment advantage was not observed among returning migrants with secondary schooling or below. Furthermore, the results show that returning migrants are generally more likely to be employed as district employment rates increase.
Acute ureteral obstruction from buckshot

A patient with acute ureteral obstruction caused by buckshot is reported. Its occurrence is rare, and its management is similar to that of ureteral calculus.
Money growth and interest rate volatility and the demand for money

In this paper the author empirically examines the effects of both money growth and interest rate volatility measures upon the demand for real balances. The findings of this study suggest that both money growth and interest rate volatility measures are statistically insignificant. However, evidence suggests a structural shift in the demand for money in the post-1979 period. Moreover, there is a noticeable change in the speed of adjustment moving from actual to desired real balances with the adjustment coefficient in the post-1979 period increasing roughly in magnitude nine and half, times the adjustment coefficient in the pre-1979 period.
Factors Influencing the Use of Performance Data to Improve Municipal Services: Evidence from the North Carolina Benchmarking Project

Many local governments measure and report their performance, but the record of these governments in actually using performance measures to improve services is more modest. The authors of this study examine patterns of performance measurement use among a set of North Carolina cities and conclude that the types of measures on which officials rely, the willingness of officials to embrace comparison, and the degree to which measures are incorporated into key management systems distinguish cities that are more likely to use performance measures for service improvement from those less likely to do so.
Cusp diffraction catastrophe from spheroids: generalized rainbows and inverse scattering.

The angular location of the recently discovered cusp pattern in the far-field scattering from an oblate spheroid is calculated as a function of the aspect ratio D/H. The calculation assumes the diameter D ≫ λ and is limited to illumination perpendicular to the short axis of the spheroid. It agrees with observations for water drops in the range 1.22 < D/H < 1.37 with D ~ 1 mm.
Application of the finite-element-discrete-model method for calculating resonance properties

A enhanced procedure implementing the finite-element-discrete-model method [R. K. Nesbet, Phys. Rev. A 24,1184 (1981)] for determining atomic or molecular shape resonances and widths is described. The present procedure includes an approximation for the static exchange plus polarization model involving M\"oller-Plesset perturbation theory. Applications to Mg, ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$, CH${}_{2}$O, and uracil are described. Compared with experiment, the results for Mg are within $5$ meV for the resonance position and $75$ meV for the width. The vertical geometry results for ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ and CH${}_{2}$O compare well with experiment insofar as can be determined in the presence of nuclear motion complications. Uracil is calculated as an example where the large dipole moment ($4.8$ D) has an impact on threshold properties and possible dipole bound states.
Memory for modality: Evidence for an automatic process

Three experiments were conducted to explore the “automatic” encoding of information about presentation modality and the use of such information during word retrieval. Children (Grades 2, 3, and 6) and adults (college students) were asked to attend to a mixed-modality (auditory and visual) list of nouns, then to recall the target words, and finally to identify the presentation modality of each word on a recognition list. Instructions (incidental vs. intentional), list length, and list organization (unrelated words vs. words from taxonomic categories) were varied across the experiments. Although these manipulations affected the recall of target words, they did not change the amount of modality information retained, which was clearly above chance in all three experiments. As predicted by the Hasher and Zacks (1979) model for automatic processing, there were no developmental changes on memory for modality, instructions to remember modality information had no effect on modality identification, and a tradeoff between word recall and modality identification rarely occurred.
Biology of the troponin complex in cardiac myocytes

Troponin is the regulatory complex of the myofibrillar thin filament that plays a critical role in regulating excitation-contraction coupling in the heart. Troponin is composed of three distinct gene products: troponin C (cTnC), the 18-kD Ca(2+)-binding subunit; troponin I (cTnI), the approximately 23-kD inhibitory subunit that prevents contraction in the absence of Ca2+ binding to cTnC; and troponin T (cTnT), the approximately 35-kD subunit that attaches troponin to tropomyosin (Tm) and to the myofibrillar thin filament. Over the past 45 years, extensive biochemical, biophysical, and structural studies have helped to elucidate the molecular basis of troponin function and thin filament activation in the heart. At the onset of systole, Ca2+ binds to the N-terminal Ca2+ binding site of cTnC initiating a conformational change in cTnC, which catalyzes protein-protein associations activating the myofibrillar thin filament. Thin filament activation in turn facilitates crossbridge cycling, myofibrillar activation, and contraction of the heart. The intrinsic length-tension properties of cardiac myocytes as well as the Frank-Starling properties of the intact heart are mediated primarily through Ca(2+)-responsive thin filament activation. cTnC, cTnI, and cTnT are encoded by distinct single-copy genes in the human genome, each of which is expressed in a unique cardiac-restricted developmentally regulated fashion. Elucidation of the transcriptional programs that regulate troponin transcription and gene expression has provided insights into the molecular mechanisms that regulate and coordinate cardiac myocyte differentiation and provided unanticipated insights into the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy. Autosomal dominant mutations in cTnI and cTnT have been identified and are associated with familial hypertrophic and restrictive cardiomyopathies.
Geographic Information System Technology And Decision Support Systems

Decision Support Systems (DSS) that operate within a spatial or spatial-temporal context represent special forms of more general decision support systems. Their intent is to permit planners and policy makers to: (1) integrate large quantities of existing space-time data, (2) use these data as inputs to sophisticated forecasting models for predicting the results of alternative policy choices, and (3) display the model results in easily understood ways to public officials and private citizens as well as to the scientific community. Basic to the use of the DSS is the ability to examine various "what if" situations within the operational context of DSS. Some of these systems are purely spatial in nature, but the "what if" basis of their operations clearly calls for the incorporation of an explicit temporal component in nearly all cases. Building a spatial or spatial-temporal DSS generally involves four major activities: (1) data acquisition and evaluation, (2) database design and construction, (3) construction and testing of analytic space-time forecast (or "what-if") models, and (4) primary data and end product visualization. Currently available GIS technology is typically spatial rather than spatial-temporal in nature and has addressed the first two of these activities in some depth. Visualization is also a standard component of the existing GIS technology but in nearly all cases it is limited to creation of static, conventional maps and available commercial systems have not taken proper advantage of modern visualization approaches and technology.It is within this context that the six papers composing the Minitrack on GIS and Decision Support have been selected. None represents a full and complete implementation of a spatial-temporal decision support system, since this goal most likely lies beyond our means at the present time, but all of them contribute to the future creation of such systems. The need for operational decision support systems that operate effectively in a spatial-temporal context is growing rapidly and it is our hope that these contributions will lead to substantially increased research on this topic.
Clinical Evaluation of Suspected DVT Guides the Decision to Prophylactically Anticoagulate but Does Not Impact the Decision to Perform After-Hours Duplex Venous Scanning or Increase Its Yield

OBJECTIVE: The utility of after hours duplex venous scanning (DVS) for suspected DVT in ED patients has been debated. Availability of safe prophylactic low molecular weight heparin, cost containment efforts, and retention of scarce sonographers have to be balanced against 24/7 demand for services. We determined the incidence of DVT in DVS ordered after hours, correlation between Wells’ score and prophylactic anticoagulation as well as urgently performed DVS, and complications of delaying DVS until regular hours.
Control of the Molecular Weight Distribution of Petroleum Pitches via Dense‐Gas Extraction

Dense-gas extraction (DGE) was used to fractionate an isotropic petroleum pitch (number-average molecular weight M n = 516) into oligomeric cuts. A countercurrent-flow packed column was used to effect the separation, with supercritical toluene being used as the dense-gas solvent and commercially available M-50 or A-240 pitch being used as the feed. Isothermal operation at 330, 350, and 380 °C was investigated, as well as operation with a linear positive temperature gradient (+ΔT), with the bottom of the column at 330 and the top at 380 °C. For isothermal operation, the molecular weight distribution of the bottom products consisted primarily of dimer (M n = 508) and trimer (M n = 759) species, with pressure changes of as little as 5 bar producing significant changes in their relative distribution, as observed by MALDI mass spectrometry. On the other hand, by operating with a +ΔT, we could produce a bottom product consisting primarily of trimers and tetramers (M n = 997).
Automatic classification of biological specimens: Diatoms

A new automatic process for the classification of different diatom species is described. Eight living diatoms are cultivated and microscopic slides are made for imaging and classification. Images with a sharp focus and different blur scales are processed and the classification results are compared.
Parametric Study of Ground Source Heat Pump System for Hot and Humid Climate

The U-tube sizes and varied thermal conductivity with different grout materials are studied based on the benchmark residential building in Hot-humid Pensacola, Florida. In this study, the benchmark building is metered and the data is used to validate the simulation model. And a list of comparative simulation cases with varied parameter value are simulated to study the importance of pipe size and grout to the ground source heat pump energy consumption. The simulation software TRNSYS [1] is employed to fulfill this task. The results show the preliminary energy saving based on varied parameters. Future work needs to be conducted for the cost analysis, include the installation cost from contractor and materials cost.
Racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes in obese women.

AbstractObjective: To estimate the effect of race on perinatal outcomes in obese women.Methods: Retrospective cohort study of birth records linked to hospital discharge data for all live born singleton infants ≥37 weeks gestation born to African-American or Caucasian Missouri residents from 2000 to 2006. We excluded major congenital anomalies and women with diabetes or chronic hypertension. Obesity was defined as pre-pregnancy body mass index ≥30 kg/m2.Results: There were 312 412 births meeting study criteria. 27.1% (11 776) of African-American mothers and 19.1% (49 415) of Caucasian mothers were obese. There were no differences in cesarean delivery or preeclampsia between obese African-American and obese Caucasian women. Infants of obese African-American women were significantly less likely to be macrosomic (0.9% vs. 2.2%, adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.4 0.6) and more likely to be low birth weight (3.4% vs. 1.8%, aOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.7, 2.2) compared to infants of obese Cauca...
The University of Louisville Insect Collection

It is not well known among students of insect taxonomy and distribution that a reference collection of insects and other arthropods is maintained by the Biology Department of the University of Louisville, Kentucky. Along with the collection at the University of Kentucky at Lexington, this represents the only real concentration of insect specimens from the Bluegrass State. This paper is designed to inform workers that material is available for study from the University of Louisville collection so that Kentucky insect fauna will be better represented in published works on insects. Heretofore Kentucky has often been blank on the distribution maps published by systematists.
Response of giant sequoia canopy foliage to elevated concentrations of atmospheric ozone

We examined the physiological response of foliage in the upper third of the canopy of 125-year-old giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum Buchholz.) trees to a 61-day exposure to 0.25x, 1x, 2x or 3x ambient ozone concentration. Four branch exposure chambers, one per ozone treatment, were installed on 1-m long secondary branches of each tree at a height of 34 m. No visible symptoms of foliar ozone damage were apparent throughout the 61-day exposure period and none of the ozone treatments affected branch growth. Despite the similarity in ozone concentrations in the branch chambers within a treatment, the trees exhibited different physiological responses to increasing ozone uptake. Differences in diurnal and seasonal patterns of g(s) among the trees led to a 2-fold greater ozone uptake in tree No. 2 compared with trees Nos. 1 and 3. Tree No. 3 had significantly higher CER and g(s) at 0.25x ambient ozone than trees Nos. 1 and 2, and g(s) and CER of tree No. 3 declined with increasing ozone uptake. The y-intercept of the regression for dark respiration versus ozone uptake was significantly lower for tree No. 2 than for trees Nos. 1 and 3. In the 0.25x and 1x ozone treatments, the chlorophyll concentration of current-year foliage of trees Nos. 1 and 2 was significantly higher than that of current-year foliage of tree No. 3. Chlorophyll concentration of current-year foliage on tree No. 1 did not decline with increasing ozone uptake. In all trees, total needle water potential decreased with increasing ozone uptake, but turgor was constant. Although tree No. 2 had the greatest ozone uptake, g(s) was highest and foliar chlorophyll concentration was lowest in tree No. 3 in the 0.25x and 1x ambient atmospheric ozone treatments.
Collaboration and shared plans in the open world: studies of ridesharing

We develop and test computational methods for guiding collaboration that demonstrate how shared plans can be created in real-world settings, where agents can be expected to have diverse and varying goals, preferences, and availabilities. The methods are motivated and evaluated in the realm of ridesharing, using GPS logs of commuting data. We consider challenges with coordination among self-interested people aimed at minimizing the cost of transportation and the impact of travel on the environment. We present planning, optimization, and payment mechanisms that provide fair and efficient solutions to the rideshare collaboration challenge. We evaluate different VCG-based payment schemes in terms of their computational efficiency, budget balance, incentive compatibility, and strategy proofness. We present the behavior and analyses provided by the ABC ridesharing prototype system. The system learns about destinations and preferences from GPS traces and calendars, and considers time, fuel, environmental, and cognitive costs. We review how ABC generates rideshare plans from hundreds of real-life GPS traces collected from a community of commuters and reflect about the promise of employing the ABC methods to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, thus reducing CO2 emissions and fuel expenditures.
Seasonal Load Response Behavior of a Thin Portland Cement Concrete Pavement

The mechanistic-empirical pavement design methods currently under development have demonstrated a need for seasonal material and load response behavior characterization. The seasonal dynamic load strain response of a thin [5-in. (127-mm)], low-cost, portland cement concrete pavement at the Minnesota Road Research Project was examined. Environmental and load-related factors to be considered in this type of study are described. For the truck speeds used, analysis found minimal effects on measured dynamic strain. Nonlinear temperature profiles in the slabs prompted the use of the temperature-moment concept in the analysis. For the approach side of the joint in the slabs, during periods with unfrozen base and subgrade layers, there is only a small increase in the dynamic strain response with decreasing temperature-moment. Average dynamic strain responses range from 50 to 80 microstrain, with little difference in magnitude between the 80,000-lb (355-kN) and 102,000-lb (453-kN) loadings. For the leave side of the joints in the slabs, there is a larger increase in dynamic strain response with decreasing temperature-moment. In addition, the 102,000-lb load response is nearly 60% larger than the 80,000-lb load response for large negative temperature-moments. Recommendations for improving dynamic load testing of pavements are given.
Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus culture in chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) is commonly isolated from patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). However, the role of CoNS in CRS remains controversial. We aimed to determine the association between positive CoNS culture at functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) and CRS severity. Methods Adult CRS patients who underwent FESS between October 1, 2007 to December 31, 2011 were recruited. Patient demographics, disease characteristics, medication use, Lund-Mackay computed tomography (CT) scores, and 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) scores were collected at baseline before FESS. Intraoperative cultures were obtained in a standard manner. Patients were placed into 2 groups based on culture findings: patients with CoNS as the sole positive culture result and patients with all other positive culture results, including CoNS, as part of a polymicrobial culture. Results A total of 376 CRS patients met the criteria; 106 patients (28%) had CoNS as their only isolate, 260 (69%) had other positive cultures, and 10 (3%) had no bacterial growth. Compared to patients with other positive cultures, patients with the sole result of CoNS were significantly less likely to have a history of FESS (52% vs 65%, p = 0.019), nasal polyps (50% vs 65%, p = 0.006), and had a better Lund-Mackay CT score (11.95 vs 14.18, p = 0.020). After adjusting for all factors in the multiple logistic regression model, CoNS as the sole positive culture result was independently associated with having no history of FESS (odds ratio [OR] = 0.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22 to 0.94; p = 0.034). Conclusion Positive intraoperative CoNS cultures alone do not result in increased CRS disease burden by objective or subjective measures as compared to patients with other bacterial or polymicrobial culture isolates.
Detection of Ice and Mixed Ice–Water Pixels for MODIS Ocean Color Data Processing

Current data processing for deriving ocean color products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has no specific ice and mixed ice-water pixel detection procedure. The near-infrared (NIR) reflectance threshold at the MODIS 869-nm band, which has been used to discriminate clear sky from clouds (cloud masking) for standard ocean color data processing, can eliminate most of the ice pixels. However, there are still many cases for which the ice and mixed ice-water pixels have been misidentified as ocean waters in current ocean color data processing, leading to errors in the MODIS-derived ocean color product (e.g., chlorophyll-a concentration). This is particularly true for most of the mixed ice-water cases. For atmospheric correction using the short-wave infrared (SWIR) method, which also uses SWIR reflectance for cloud masking, the problem of ice misidentification is even worse. In this paper, we describe a method for detection of ice and mixed ice-water pixels for MODIS ocean color data processing. Using the MODIS-derived normalized water-leaving radiances at 412, 555, and 859 nm, a scheme for ice and mixed ice-water detection has been developed and tested for producing MODIS global ocean color products. In fact, the proposed algorithm is a by-product calculated from the MODIS-derived normalized water-leaving radiance spectra data. Thus, the MODIS-derived ice surface radiance data can be used to study sea ice physical and optical properties. With the new ice detection scheme, pixels with ice and/or mixed ice-water can be discriminated, flagged, or masked out. The ice detection results are compared with the MODIS ice map product produced from the MODIS land discipline team, as well as the ice product data obtained from the NOAA National Ice Center. We show improved results from the new masking algorithm for the purpose of MODIS ocean color data processing, particularly for detection of mixed ice-water pixels.
An Approximate Test for Homogeneity of Correlated Correlation Coefficients

This paper develops and evaluates an approximate procedure for testing homogeneity of an arbitrary subset of correlation coefficients among variables measured on the same set of individuals. The sample may have some missing data. The simple test statistic is a multiple of the variance of Fisher r-to-z transformed correlation coefficients relevant to the null hypothesis being tested and is referred to a chi-square distribution. The use of this test is illustrated through several examples. Given the approximate nature of the test statistics, the procedure was evaluated using a simulation study. The accuracy in terms of the nominal and the actual significance levels of this test for several null hypotheses of interest were evaluated.
Statistics of local speckle contrast

In describing the first-order properties of laser speckle under polarized illumination conditions, it is almost an article of faith that the contrast is unity. In many processing schemes, however, the contrast defined as the quotient of the standard deviation and the mean is calculated over a localized spatial region. In such cases, this local contrast displays a distribution of values that can depart substantially from unity. Properties of this distribution depend on details of the data acquisition and on the size of the local neighborhood over which the contrast is calculated. We demonstrate that this local contrast can be characterized in terms of a log-normal distribution. Further, we show that the two defining parameters of this model can in turn be expressed in terms of the minimum speckle size and the extent of the local neighborhood. Performance of the model is illustrated with some typical optical coherence tomography data.
Implementation and performance of a complex vision system on a systolic array machine

Abstract Complex vision system are usually quite slow, requiring tens of seconds or minutes of computer time for each image. As the complexity and experimental nature of the system increases, the speed is especially low, since all components of the system must be optimized if the system is to show good performance. The FIDO system, a stereo vision system for controlling a robot vehicle, has existed for a number of years and has been implemented on a number of different computers. These computers have ranged from a DEC KL10 to the current implementation on the Warp machine, a 100 Million Floating-point Operations Per Second (MFLOPS) systolic array machine. FIDO has shown an enormous range in speed; its ancestor took 15 minutes per step, while the Warp implementation takes less than 5 seconds per step. Moreover, while early versions of FIDO moved in slow, start-and-stop steps, FIDO now runs continuously at 100 mm/second. We review the history of the FIDO system, discuss its implementation on different computers, and concentrate on its current Warp implementation.
Children's Cognitive and Emotional Responses to the Portrayal of Negative Emotions in Family-Formatted Situation Comedies

This experiment assesses children’s cognitive and emotional responses to negative emotions infamily-fonnatted situation comedies. Boys and girlsfrom two grade levels (Grades K-2 vs. Grades 3-5) viewed a family sitcom that featured one of two negative emotions (anger,fear) and varied the inclusion of a positive, humorous subplot (no, yes). Results revealed that inclusion of the subplot reduced comprehension of the major story line for younger children as well as for boys. Among all children, the presence of the positive subplot also distorted percqtions of how negative and persistent the main character‘s emotions were. Finally, children who perceived the family sitcom to be highly realistic were more concerned about similar negative emotional events in their own lives than were those whoperceived theprogram to be less realistic. The findings are discussed in terms of children’s social learning from television and emotional development.
Corrigendum: "Energy and water balance of two contrasting loblolly pine plantations on the lower coastal plain of North Carolina, USA" (Foreco 259: 1299-1310)

In Sun et al. (2010) we reported the albedos (A) for two loblolly pine plantations in the range of 0.22?0.38 (Table 5 in Sun et al., 2010).
A GPGPU compiler for memory optimization and parallelism management

This paper presents a novel optimizing compiler for general purpose computation on graphics processing units (GPGPU). It addresses two major challenges of developing high performance GPGPU programs: effective utilization of GPU memory hierarchy and judicious management of parallelism.The input to our compiler is a naive GPU kernel function, which is functionally correct but without any consideration for performance optimization. The compiler analyzes the code, identifies its memory access patterns, and generates both the optimized kernel and the kernel invocation parameters. Our optimization process includes vectorization and memory coalescing for memory bandwidth enhancement, tiling and unrolling for data reuse and parallelism management, and thread block remapping or address-offset insertion for partition-camping elimination. The experiments on a set of scientific and media processing algorithms show that our optimized code achieves very high performance, either superior or very close to the highly fine-tuned library, NVIDIA CUBLAS 2.2, and up to 128 times speedups over the naive versions. Another distinguishing feature of our compiler is the understandability of the optimized code, which is useful for performance analysis and algorithm refinement.
Imaging with ultrashort shaped pulses

Ultrashort shaped pulses are becoming available and their use for biomedical imaging will permit signal enhancements, allow selective excitation, and reduced photobleaching. These pulses are also enabling new imaging modalities which provide greater chemical information.
Early Childhood to Young Adulthood: An Introduction to the Special Issue

The identification and understanding of alterable influences on well-being are at the nexus of developmental science and social policy. These influences span the life course but child, family, and school experiences in the first two decades are particularly instrumental to health and well-being. To investigate some of these influences, we report data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study. The study investigates the life course development of 1,539 children (93% African American and 7% Hispanic) who were born in 1979-1980, grew up in the highest-poverty neighborhoods in Chicago, and attended early childhood intervention programs beginning in preschool. The goals of the study are to determine the effects of participation in the Child-Parent Center Program, document patterns of child and family well-being over time, and identify child, family, school, and community factors that can promote children's well being. We describe major intervention findings and summarize the contributions of a variety of personal, family, and school experiences in promoting multiple domains of well-being.
Sensorimotor-Independent Prefrontal Activity During Response Inhibition

A network of brain regions involving the ventral inferior frontal gyrus/anterior insula (vIFG/AI), presupplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and basal ganglia has been implicated in stopping impulsive, unwanted responses. However, whether this network plays an equal role in response inhibition under different sensorimotor contexts has not been tested systematically. Here, we conducted an fMRI experiment using the stop signal task, a sensorimotor task requiring occasional withholding of the planned response upon the presentation of a stop signal. We manipulated both the sensory modality of the stop signal (visual versus auditory) and the motor response modality (hand versus eye). Results showed that the vIFG/AI and the preSMA along with the right middle frontal gyrus were commonly activated in response inhibition across the various sensorimotor conditions. Our findings provide direct evidence for a common role of these frontal areas, but not striatal areas in response inhibition independent of the sensorimotor contexts. Nevertheless, these three frontal regions exhibited different activation patterns during successful and unsuccessful stopping. Together with the existing evidence, we suggest that the vIFG/AI is involved in the early stages of stopping such as triggering the stop process while the preSMA may play a role in regulating other cortical and subcortical regions involved in stopping.
On the Hierarchical Optimization of Retarded Systems via Costate Prediction

The costate prediction method of hierarchical control of non-linear systems is based on two substitution relations for the first- and second-level problems in a multilevel formulation. The method has shown superior computational behavior for unretarded systems as compared to other schemes such as goal coordination or interaction prediction. In this paper the costate prediction is extended to retarded continuous-time and discrete-time systems. Algorithms are developed and illustrated for numerical examples.
Variable ratio power splitters using computer-generated planar holograms on 2×2 multimode interference couplers

Variable ratio power splitters using computer-generated planar holograms on 2×2 multimode interference (MMI) couplers are presented. The coherent wave at the device input is transformed to the desired output using computer-generated refractive index perturbations on multimode channel waveguides at half the beat length. Devices are fabricated on the silicon-on-insulator platform and characterized at the wavelength of 1.55µm. We demonstrate different splitting ratios by changing the hologram etch depth and the hologram length.
Peptide YY Attenuates STAT1 and STAT3 Activation Induced by TNF-α in Acinar Cell Line AR42J

Background STAT1 and STAT3, members of the cytoplasmic family of signal transducers and activators of transcription factors (STAT), have been associated with numerous inflammatory pathologies, including inflammatory bowel disease, hepatitis, and acute lung injury. But little is known about their role in the pancreas. Peptide YY (PYY), an inhibitory gastrointestinal hormone, ameliorates pancreatitis in vivo and in vitro. In addition, we have shown that PYY attenuates transcription factors, such as nuclear transcription factor (NF)-κB and Smad3/4, which mediate inflammation. We hypothesized that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α would induce STAT1 and STAT3, and PYY would attenuate their transcription factor binding. Study design Rat pancreatic acinar cells were treated with recombinant TNF-α (200 ng/mL); PYY (3–36; 500 pM) was added 30 minutes post-TNF-α treatment. Cells were harvested at 2 hours, and nuclear protein and conditioned media were extracted. Levels of amylase secretion and cytokine production were measured using commercially available kits. STAT transcription factor binding was determined by protein/DNA array analysis and densitometry; results were verified again by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and ELISA-based assay. Results Amylase production was considerably increased (p Conclusions In pancreatic acinar cells, TNF-α activated STAT1 and STAT3, known mediators of inflammatory cytokines. Interestingly, PYY attenuated their protein/DNA binding, which may have an impact on development of the disease. Additional investigation of STAT proteins and PYY could provide new therapeutic strategies for pancreatitis.
Contact, Compliance, and Distance Among Jewish and Non-Jewish Undergraduates

ceeding year into the past." If this official data could be analyzed by school districts and compared with the self-reported data by school districts, we might be able to approach some estimate of the proportion of antisocial behavior which is officially known, sing the social class of an area as a crucial variable in t e explanation of the variation of these proportions. It would appear that the scaling of self-reports of delinquency may open up a number of areas for investigation in which we have, to this point, been limited in the measurement of the incidence, causation, and career development of delinquency. 11 John C. Ball, Alan Ross, and Alice Simpson, "Incidence a d Estimated Pr valence of Recorded Delinquency in a Metropolitan Area," American Sociological Review, 29 (Feb., 1964), pp. 90-93.
Neutral and Non-Neutral Evolution of Drosophila Mitochondrial DNA

To test hypotheses of neutral evolution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), nucleotide sequences were determined for 1515 base pairs of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (ND5) gene in the mitochondrial DNA of 29 lines of Drosophila melanogaster and 9 lines of its sibling species Drosophila simulans. In contrast to the patterns for nuclear genes, where D. melanogaster generally exhibits much less nucleotide polymorphism, the number of segregating sites was slightly higher in a global sample of nine ND5 sequences in D. melanogaster (s = 8) than in the nine lines of D. simulans (s = 6). When compared to variation at nuclear loci, the mtDNA variation in D. melanogaster does not depart from neutral expectations. The ND5 sequences in D. simulans, however, show fewer than half the number of variable sites expected under neutrality when compared to sequences from the period locus. While this reduction in variation is not significant at the 5% level, HKA tests with published restriction data for mtDNA in D. simulans do show a significant reduction of variation suggesting a selective sweep of variation in the mtDNA in this species. Tests of neutral evolution based on the ratios of synonymous and replacement polymorphism and divergence are generally consistent with neutral expectations, although a significant excess of amino acid polymorphism within both species is localized in one region of the protein. The rate of mtDNA evolution has been faster in D. melanogaster than in D. simulans and the population structure of mtDNA is distinct in these species. The data reveal how different rates of mtDNA evolution between species and different histories of neutral and adaptive evolution within species can compromise historical inferences in population and evolutionary biology.
Organizational life and culture: too civil for community?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to expose some underlying implications of the term “civility” as a developmental issue for preferred behavior in organizations.Design/methodology/approach – The terms “civility” and “community” are contrasted with the intent of determining what behaviors we really want at work.Findings – Civility invokes rules and behavioral codes that might preclude community.Practical implications – “Civility” and “community” require distinct sets of interaction behavior and understanding.Social implications – Reflection on what we really want in our interaction with others at work should drive organizational policies regarding preferred organizational behavior.Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
Validation of an Assay to Measure Adrenocorticotropin in Plasma and from Chicken Leukocytes

Abstract A RIA for mammalian adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was modified and validated to measure chicken ACTH. The assay was capable of detecting an increase in chicken plasma ACTH following treatments known to increase plasma ACTH. Both splenic and peripheral blood leukocytes stimulated with corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) showed a significant increase in ACTH production compared with unstimulated leukocytes. This finding supports the conclusion that the substance produced by leukocytes previously shown in our laboratory to stimulate adrenal cells to secrete corticosterone is immunoreactive ACTH.
Liberal Projects and Russian Realities: Two Recent Works on Early Soviet Education, 1917–1927

Rossiiskoe obrazovanie mezhdu reformatorstvom i revoliutsionarizmom: fevral’ 1917–1920 god [Russian Education between Reform and Revolution: February 1917–1920] T. Iu. Krasovitskaia Moscow, Russian...
Advanced Positive Airway Pressure Modalities

Auto-adjusting positive airway pressure (PAP) devices are increasingly becoming the first line treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). More complex sleep- disordered breathing such as Cheyne-Stokes respirations and central sleep apnea related to heart failure as well as complex sleep-disordered breathing related to chronic hypoventilation syndromes may require the use of advanced positive airway pressure modalities such as automated servo ventilation (ASV) and volume targeted pressure limited ventilation. Identifying patients with complex sleep-disordered breathing that will benefit from treatment with advanced modalities re- mains an area of active investigation. A recent and surprising development found ASV to be associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death when used to treat central sleep apnea in patients with symptomatic systolic heart failure and an ejection fraction less than 45 %. The optimal treatment of central sleep apnea in heart failure and the role of ASV are currently in question. The following chapter is intended to provide the clinician with a description of newer PAP modal- ities; a review of evidence supported indications for use as well as provide a framework for managing patients with ad- vanced positive airway pressure therapy.
Resultant Luck and the Thirsty Traveler

Resultant luck (luck about outcomes or consequences) is typically considered to be the most problematic form of moral luck. In this paper I argue that there is a different and as of yet unexplored reason to think this. For there is a manifestation of the phenomenon of resultant luck that seems especially puzzling, much more puzzling than the standardly recognized forms of luck: one that has its source, not in the agents’ lack of control over their own contributions, but exclusively in their lack of control over the contributions of other agents or mechanisms. I illustrate with the famous example of the thirsty traveler from the literature on causation in the law.
Round Table Discussion of Minimally Invasive Surgery Upper Extremity Cases

Dr. Flatow: This first case is a 55-year-old, right hand-dominant ex-police detective who was injured in a motor vehicle accident in 1978. We don’t have the initial films of the shoulder fracture, but he was evidently treated with olecranon-pin traction for 5 weeks. We first saw him in 1988, when he was virtually ankylosed and had moderate pain. The pain became gradually worse over the ensuing 18 years, and is now unbearable (requiring narcotic pain medications). He is also frustrated with the stiffness: he has elevation of 90°, external rotation to negative 10°, and internal rotation with the hand reaching the buttocks posteriorly. Dr. Parsons, are there any joint-sparing options for this patient?
Inhaled drug treatment for tuberculosis: Past progress and future prospects

Since the 1990s the rising incidence of multiple drug resistant TB, particularly in the context of human immunodeficiency virus co-infected patients, has threatened global TB control. At that time funding agencies began to support formal investigation of aerosol therapy which until then had been the subject of case reports of individual investigators. Over the last decade, proponents of aerosol therapy have increased in number within the TB research community as the incidence of multiple and extremely drug resistant TB has increased dramatically around the world. Aerosol therapy offers the potential to deliver drug at target concentrations directly into the lungs, use the alveolar-capillary interface to achieve systemic levels, while reducing the risk of systemic toxicity seen with parentally administered doses. In addition, there are insufficient new drugs in the pipeline to anticipate the appearance of a new regimen in time to assure future control of drug resistance. Consequently, alternative strategies are critical to achieving global TB control, and inhaled therapies should be considered as one such strategy.
Uncertainty and Legislative Coalition Building in Post-Communist Ukraine

Executives vary in their ability to build legislative coalitions to pass their policy agendas. One explanation for the failure of executives to obtain legislative support is their uncertainty over legislator preferences. Using data from the Ukrainian Rada, this article seeks to understand those factors that create this uncertainty. I argue that uncertainty over legislative preferences stems from not only the institutional environment, but also the patterns of partisanship and the extent of legislator cross-pressuring. The empirical results support demonstrate that these factors do matter; however, they do not all matter equally and in ways suggested by the existing literature. By far the most important determinant of legislator predictability is membership in a party allied with the executive.
Culture or Condemnation? The Status of Female Genital Mutilation in International Law

Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision or female genital cutting, is practiced in parts of Africa, the Middle-East, and Asia. The practice has been condemned by international actors such as the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and UNICEF. The United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in December 2012 to take all necessary steps to end the practice, and female genital mutilation has been outlawed in many countries where the practice is most prevalent. Female genital mutilation has left Africa and the Middle-East, and is being practiced by immigrants to the United Kingdom, the United States, and Ireland, leading to the legislative prohibition of female genital mutilation in those countries. Despite the condemnation of the international community, it is estimated that 140 million girls and women are currently living with the effects of female genital mutilation, with some parts of Africa the prevalence is 90 percent. It is the purpose of this paper to assert that the prohibition of female genital mutilation is a norm of customary international law, and that its continued practice violates the Law of Nations. This will be determined by examining the different theories on how State practice evolves into customary international law and applying those theories to the prohibition of female genital mutilation.