cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diabetic atherosclerosis in APOE*4 mice: synergy between lipoprotein metabolism and vascular inflammation

Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. To examine how diabetes interacts with a mildly compromised lipid metabolism, we introduced the diabetogenic Ins2(C96Y/+) (Akita) mutation into mice expressing human apoE4 (E4) combined with either an overexpressing human LDL receptor gene (hLDLR) or the wild-type mouse gene. The hLDLR allele caused 2-fold reductions in plasma HDL-cholesterol, plasma apoA1, and hepatic triglyceride secretion. Diabetes increased plasma total cholesterol 1.3-fold and increased apoB48 secretion 3-fold, while reducing triglyceride secretion 2-fold. Consequently, diabetic E4 mice with hLDLR secrete increased numbers of small, cholesterol-enriched, apoB48-containing VLDL, although they have near normal plasma cholesterol (<120 mg/dl). Small foam cell lesions were present in the aortic roots of all diabetic E4 mice with hLDLR that we analyzed at six months of age. None were present in nondiabetic mice or in diabetic mice without hLDLR. Aortic expression of genes affecting leukocyte recruitment and adhesion was enhanced by diabetes. ApoA1 levels, but not diabetes, were strongly correlated with the ability of plasma to efflux cholesterol from macrophages. We conclude that the diabetes-induced proinflammatory changes in the vasculature and the hLDLR-mediated cholesterol accumulation in macrophages synergistically trigger atherosclerosis in mice with human apoE4, although neither alone is sufficient.
Using a software framework to enhance online teaching of shader-based OpenGL

Shader-based OpenGL is a powerful and exciting tool for individuals with data visualization needs, interests in gaming, a need to create and manipulate synthetic environments, and a variety of other high-performance tasks. It is well-known that shader-based OpenGL is difficult to learn for programmers with no prior graphics API experience -- some have even claimed it's impossible to teach to individuals without such prior exposure. In this paper, we report on our experiences developing an educational approach that we believe has contributed to the base of evidence that it is not only possible, but also desirable to do so. Our overriding goal has been to learn and exploit the extent to which mastering a complex graphics API like modern shader-based OpenGL can be enhanced by using a software design framework into which relevant concepts can be placed, thus facilitating more rapid assimilation and mastery of the concepts. We have been using this technique in our Introduction to Computer Graphics course in which we have two primary goals: teach shader-based OpenGL to students who have no prior experience using a graphics API, and present a framework to students that will scale up to medium and large scale applications, both in terms of code size as well as data size. We do not in any way suggest that our architecture is the 'best' for all advanced graphics applications, or even for teaching. Instead we simply claim that use of such a framework helps students master complex OpenGL concepts and develop nontrivial interactive 3D applications. Once students fully understand the basics, they should find it easy to migrate to other perhaps quite different architectures.
Scientists in wonderland: A report on visualization applications in the CAVE virtual reality environment

The authors present the experiences at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) in introducing computational scientists to the use of virtual reality as a research tool. They describe the virtual environment, the CAVE. They then describe several applications currently being developed at EVL using the CAVE and conclude with a discussion on possible research paths to follow in making virtual reality an effective tool for visualization. >
Synthesis and Characterization of Organic−Inorganic Hybrid Mesoporous Anion-Exchange Resins for Perrhenate (ReO4-) Anion Adsorption

Organic−inorganic hybrid mesoporous anion-exchange resins based on either pure silica or organosilica support materials were prepared and tested for the adsorption of perrhenate (ReO4-) anions in aqueous solutions. The prepared samples were characterized using nitrogen adsorption−desorption measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, 29Si cross-polarization/magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance, and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Among the prepared samples, the hybrid mesoporous anion-exchange resins functionalized with N-((trimethoxysilyl)propyl)-N,N,N-tri-n-butylammonium ions showed higher affinities for perrhenate ions than did the resins functionalized with N-((trimethoxysilyl)propyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium ions. The enhancement by the bulky ammonium functional ligand is consistent with Hofmeister selectivity.
Web-based learning and teacher preparation: lessons learned

Data was collected on technology-related issues involved in the conversion of a teacher preparation program into an online, competency, and field-based model. Faculty issues involving instructional design, workload, and merit/tenure were examined, as well as the effects of web-based course delivery on student and faculty interaction, competency acquisition, technology proficiency, and learning outcomes. Results support significant improvement in technology proficiency, comfort level, and perceptions of competence for faculty and students. In addition, competency acquisition remained constant or improved across all courses in the program sequence. Future research is needed using a larger population sample and an experimental/control group paradigm.
Dimensionality and the number of parties in legislative elections

This article explores how the party-defined dimensionality of political competition relates to the number of parties competing in legislative elections. It demonstrates that a mathematical relationship between the number of electoral parties and the literature’s concept of dimensionality follows from the variables’ definitions; conversely, it argues that exploring the relationship between the number of electoral parties and a different concept of dimensionality conveys new information. Hence, it first argues that how we conceptualize dimensionality matters. Redirecting attention to the latter relationship, it then hypothesizes that party system fragmentation will go hand-in-hand with the appearance of new conflicts on the political agenda when the electoral system is permissive. Using a time-series cross-sectional dataset that includes at its core a new measure of dimensionality, it finds reasonable support for the hypotheses; however, at the elite level, new parties are found to play less of a role in po...
A Female Mass Murder

A case study of a 44-year-old woman who committed a mass murder is presented. Following a chronic course of psychotic deterioration, and a likely diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia that remained untreated, she returned to her workplace after 3 years from her termination and killed seven people and herself. Her history is reconstructed through investigation of primary and secondary source materials. Although there are very few female mass murderers in recorded criminal history, this case is quite similar to the known research on mass murderers in general. Such individuals often have a psychotic disorder evident in violent and paranoid delusions, show a deteriorating life course before the mass murder, intentionally plan and prepare for their assault, and methodically kill as many individuals as possible before taking their own lives. They typically do not directly threaten the target beforehand, but do leak their intent to third parties--however, in this case, leakage and other obvious warning behaviors did not occur. Such acts are impossible to predict but depend on threat management and target security for risk mitigation.
Dental metric assessment of the omo fossils: implications for the phylogenetic position of Australopithecus africanus.

The discovery of Australopithecus afarensis has led to new interpretations of hominid phylogeny, some of which reject A. africanus as an ancestor of Homo. Analysis of buccolingual tooth crown dimensions in austral- opithecines and Homo species by Johanson and White (Science 202:321-330, 1979) revealed that the South African gracile australopithecines are interme- diate in size between Laetolmadar hominids and South African robust homi- nids. Homo, on the other hand, displays dimensions similar to those of A. afarensis and smaller than those of other australopithecines. These authors conclude, therefore, that A. africanus is derived in the direction of A. robustus and is not an ancestor of the Homo clade. However, there is a considerable time gap (ca. 800,000 years) between the Laetolmadar specimens and the earliest Homo specimens; "gracile" hominids from Orno fit into this chronolog- ical gap and are from the same geographic area. Because the early specimens at Orno have been designated A. afarensis and the later specimens classified as Homo habilis, Orno offers a unique opportunity to test hypotheses concern- ing hominid evolution, especially regarding the phylogenetic status of A. africanus. Comparisons of mean cheek teeth breadths disclosed the significant (P < 0.05) differences between the Orno sample and the Laetolimadar fossils (P4, Ma, and M3), the Homo fossils (P3, P4, MI, M2, and MI), and A. africanus @I3). Of the several possible interpretations of these data, it appears that the high degree of similarity between the Orno sample and the South African gracile australopithecine material warrants considering the two as geographi- cal variants of A. africanus. The geographic, chronologic, and metric attributes of the Orno sample argue for its lineal affinity with A. afarensis and Homo. In conclusion, a consideration of hominid postcanine dental metrics provides no basis for removing A. africanus from the ancestry of the Homo lineage.
Time-adaptive cooperative wideband spectrum sensing

Cognitive radio networks (CRN) require efficient spectrum sensing (SS) to achieve high-spectrum-utilization by secondary users. For cooperative-CRN, current optimization approaches to SS have focused on maximizing the aggregate throughput while considering only a single-parameter-variable pertinent to sensing, notably the sensing-threshold or the sensing-duration, but not both. Other approaches, done in single CRN, have considered joint minimization of the average detection-time for finding a spectrum hole as a function of both parameters. In this work, we are going to maximize the aggregate throughput subject to constraints on the interference as a function of both parameters in cooperative-CRN.
Latin Hypercube Sampling and Pattern Search in Magnetic Field Optimization Problems

Latin hypercube is a sampling technique for searching n dimensional space. Like Monte Carlo methods, it retains random qualities, and yet Latin hypercube is consistently more effective than Monte Carlo. Despite this fact, not a single paper has been published in IEEE Transactions on Magnetics on its use. Field analysis is a long way from delivering vectorized solutions where a vector of inputs can be processed. Stochastic algorithms are exceptionally inefficient compared to their deterministic counterparts. The best optimization tool would be a deterministic method which quickly and effectively interrogates the search space. Latin hypercube sampling, combined with pattern search solutions, comes close to achieving that objective. An improved solution for the magnetic TEAM Workshop problem 22 is presented using these tools.
Dendritic Cell Modification of Neutrophil Responses to Infection after Burn Injury

Burn patients are highly susceptible to infections due to increased exposure through wounds and impairments in a number of immune functions. Dendritic cells (DCs) are important in activation of numerous immune responses that are essential for the clearance of infections. We have found that prophylactic treatment of burn-injured mice with the DC growth factor FLT3 ligand (FL) significantly increases resistance to burn wound infections in a DC-dependent manner that is correlated closely with enhanced bacterial clearance. However, as DCs are not typically microbicidal, the mechanisms by which DC modulation enhances bacterial clearance are not known. Due to the rapid response of neutrophils to cutaneous wounds, and the reported interactions between DCs and neutrophils, we investigated the role of neutrophils in FL-mediated resistance to burn wound infection. This was examined both in vivo and in vitro through neutrophil depletion, supplementation of neutrophils, and assessment of neutrophil chemotaxis following FL treatment. To test the involvement of DCs, CD11c-diphtheria toxin receptor transgenic mice were used to deplete DCs during FL treatment. Studies revealed that neutrophils do play a critical role in FL-mediated resistance to a burn wound infection. Additionally, treatment with FL after a burn injury enhances neutrophil-mediated control of bacterial spread, neutrophil migratory capacity, and myeloperoxidase production in a DC-dependent manner. The results of this study provide new insight into immunological mechanisms that can offer protection against infection after burn injury.
Leverage, Resistance and the Success of Implementation Approaches

The research reported in this paper explored the success of implementation approaches used by managers with differing amounts of leverage facing resistance from key stakeholders. The explanatory variables were implementation approach and resistance, measured by the extent of stakeholder support, scale and disruptiveness of the decision, as well as the implementing manager’s leverage. ‘Intervention’ was found to be the most successful approach, no matter what situation faced a manager seeking to implement a decision. Intervention proved to be a viable substitute for participation that has a favourable adoption rate and a dramatic increase in timeliness. Persuasion and edicts were often used and generally unsuccessful. More implementation success seems possible if other approaches are used. The findings indicate that the most successful approach, intervention, was not subject to situational influences. This questions the value of contingency frameworks that call for an implementation approach to be selected according to the demands of the situation.
Vitamins A and E: Further Clues for Prostate Cancer Prevention

682–5. (16) Mao L, Lee JS, Kurie JM, Fan YH, Lippman SM, Lee JJ, et al. Clonal genetic alterations in the lungs of current and former smokers. J Natl Cancer Inst 1997;89:857–62. (17) Muller CY, O’Boyle JD, Fong KM, Wistuba II, Biesterveld E, Ahmadian M, et al. Abnormalities of fragile histidine triad genomic and complementary DNAs in cervical cancer: association with human papillomavirus subtype. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998;90:433–9. (18) Otterson GA, Xiao GH, Geradts J, Jin F, Chen WD, Niklinska W, et al. Protein expression and functional analysis of the FHIT gene in human tumor cells. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998;90:426–32. (19) Siprashvili Z, Sozzi G, Barnes LD, McCue P, Robinson AK, Eryomin V, et al. Replacement of Fhit in cancer cells suppresses tumorigenicity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1997;94:13771–6. (20) Lee MP, Feinberg AP. Aberrant splicing but not mutations of TSG101 in human breast cancer. Cancer Res 1997;57:3131–4. (21) Sigalas I, Calvert AH, Anderson JJ, Neal DE, Lunec J. Alternatively spliced mdm2 transcripts with loss of p53 binding domain sequences: transforming ability and frequent detection in human cancer. Nat Med 1996;2: 912–7.
Recasting the Organizational Synthesis: Structure and Process in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Two major forces have been remaking the organizational setting of the United States in the recent past. The third industrial revolution and globalization are having a dramatic impact on the structure and process of American economic institutions and on the nation's political process. This third version of the organizational synthesis probes, with varying degrees of success, the vast literature that has accumulated around these two themes in the years since 1983, when the Business History Review published the second version of the paradigm. While much has changed in the nation's history and its historiography, bureaucratic institutions continue to dominate the society's organizational landscape. Pressed to change, to adapt to the need for greater efficiency and innovative capability, the surviving bureaucracies and the professionals who people them have experienced wrenching changes in recent years. To date, this “American solution” to global competition and technical transformation has been expensive in human terms but an overwhelming economic success for America.
Genetic Evidence that Loss of Virulence Associated with gacS or gacA Mutations in Pseudomonas syringae B728a Does Not Result from Effects on Alginate Production

Mutations in the global regulatory genes gacS and gacA render Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae strain B728a completely nonpathogenic in foliar infiltration assays on bean plants. It had been previously demonstrated that gac genes regulate alginate production in Pseudomonas species, while other published work indicated that alginate is involved in the pathogenic interaction of P. syringae on bean plants. Together, these results suggested that the effects of gacS and gacA mutations on virulence in B728a might stem directly from a role in regulating alginate. In this report, we confirm a role for gac genes in both algD expression and alginate production in B728a. However, B728a mutants completely devoid of detectable alginate were as virulent as the wild-type strain in our assay. Thus, factors other than, or in addition to, a deficiency of alginate must be involved in the lack of pathogenicity observed with gacS and gacA mutants.
A master-slave system to acquire biometric imagery of humans at distance

The Distant Human Identification (DHID) system is a master-slave, real-time surveillance system designed to acquire biometric imagery of humans at distance. A stationary wide field of view master camera is used to monitor an environment at distance. When the master camera detects a moving person, a narrow field of view slave camera is commanded to turn to that direction, acquire the target human, and track them while recording zoomed-in images. These zoomed-in views provide meaningful biometric imagery of the distant humans, who are not recognizable in the master view. Based on the lenses we currently use, the system can detect and track moving people at distances up to 50 meters, within a 60° field of regard.
Low Back Pain Emergencies

Low back pain (LBP) is exceedingly common. Most patients with LBP present acutely or subacutely. The clinician is frequently faced with the task of determining whether or not the individual LBP patient has an emergent or soon-to-be-emergent underlying condition. The approach to the patient with acute or subacute LBP includes a search for red flags in the history and careful physical and neurological examinations that can indicate the likelihood of an underlying urgent or emergent condition. In the absence of red flags, patients can be treated conservatively for 1 month or more without diagnostic testing.
INCIDENCE AND PREDICTORS OF MULTIPLE CORONARY PLAQUE RUPTURES: A 3-VESSEL OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY STUDY

Plaque instability may be a widespread process throughout the coronary vasculature. We sought to investigate in vivo the incidence and predictors of multiple plaque ruptures (PRs) using 3-vessel optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. We analyzed 783 coronary arteries in 261 patients [34 acute
Molecular Structural Basis for Stereocomplex Formation of Polylactide Enantiomers in Dilute Solution

Poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) and poly(d-lactide) (PDLA) alternatively pack with each other and form stereocomplex crystals (SCs). The crystal habits of SCs formed in the dilute solution highly depend on the molecular weight (⟨Mw⟩). In this study, we investigated chain-folding (CF) structure for 13C labeled PLLA (l-PLLA) chains in SCs with PDLAs that have either high or low ⟨Mw⟩s by employing an advanced Double Quantum (DQ) NMR. It was found that the ensemble average of the successive adjacent re-entry number ⟨n⟩ for the l-PLLA chains drastically change depending on ⟨Mw⟩s of the counter PDLA chains in the SCs. It was concluded that the CF structures of l-PLLA depending on ⟨Mw⟩s of PDLA determine the crystal habits of SCs.
Long-Term Outcomes After Mechanical Ventilation in Children

As pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) survival increases, it becomes increasingly important to consider the short- and long-term outcomes of those children who survive critical illness. Critical illness affects many domains of the developing child, including physical, psychological, neurocognitive, and social development. It also has a significant impact on the quality of life of the family unit. Because of the normal and broad variability that occurs during normal child development, it is challenging to assess the long-term outcomes after recovery from critical illness in children. Given that most children survive their episode of acute respiratory failure, methods to measure the long-term effects of critical illness and mechanical ventilation in children are essential.
The Analysis of Over-temperature on Wall of Supercritical W Flame Boiler

The problem of over temperature on water-cooled wall of a supercritical furnace of W flame is considered as an example. A case of over temperature tube bursting is analyzed in terms of some aspects which influence the stability of hydrodynamic power, such as mass flow rate, pressure, degree of dryness and flow compensation. Some improving measures for the W flame boiler were presented. After improving, the over temperature phenomenon of water-cooled wall was controlled.
Access and Mobilization: How Social Capital Relates to Low-Income Youth’s Postsecondary Educational (PSE) Attainment:

Youth from advantaged backgrounds have more social relationships that provide access to resources facilitating their educational success than those from low-income families. Does access to and mobi...
Sequential Use of Clomiphene Citrate and Human Menopausal Gonadotropin in Ovulation Induction

In an effort to diminish the incidence of multiple pregnancy, ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome, and the excessive cost of human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG) administration, a sequence of Clomid-HMG-human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) was used in 80 patients with infertility due to prolonged amenorrhea. Criteria for this therapeutic regimen were: (1) normal seminal fluid analysis and postcoital test; (2) lack of withdrawal bleeding from progesterone following amenorrhea of more than 6 months' duration; (3) normal x-ray of the sella turcica and visual fields; (4) low serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels; (5) normal endoscopic examination; and (6) lack of response to clomiphene in excessive dose (200 mg daily for 5 days) or prolonged dose (100 mg daily for 10 days) with or without HCG, or apparent ovulatory response to the above sequence for five or six consecutive cycles without pregnancy. Clomiphene was administered in a dose of 100 mg daily for 7 days. HMG was then given in the following manner: two ampules daily for 4 days, then one ampule daily for 2 days (75 IU of FSH and 75 IU of LH/ampule). After a 24-hour interval without treatment, 10,000 IU of HCG were given and 2000 IU of HCG 4 days later. Twenty-three pregnancies occurred in 80 patients. However, 15 of the first 25 patients became pregnant--in these patients the only abnormality noted was lack of ovulation. Six additional pregnancies occurred subsequent to one or more unsuccessful cycles. Multiple pregnancies occurred in only two patients (twins delivered at 32 weeks in one and an abortion of five fetuses at 20 weeks in another). However, multiple pregnancy did not occur in any patient whose urinary estrogen level was monitored and in whom the level was 100 mug or less when the HCG was given. The ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome did not occur in any patient.
Purinergic-mediated inhibition of Na+-K+-ATPase in proximal tubule cells: elevated cytosolic Ca2+ is not required

The involvement of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) as messenger for the regulation of Na+-K+-ATPase activity was investigated in a renal cell line recently developed by immortalization of ea...
Detecting Anomalous Objects on Mobile Platforms

We present an approach where a robot patrols a fixed path through an environment, autonomously locating suspicious or anomalous objects. To learn, the robot patrols this environment building a dictionary describing what is present. The dictionary is built by clustering features from a deep neural network. The objects present vary depending on the scene, which means that an object that is anomalous in one scene may be completely normal in another. To reason about this, the robot uses a computational cognitive model to learn the dictionary elements that are typically found in each scene. Once the dictionary and model has been built, the robot can patrol the environment matching objects against the dictionary, and querying the model to find the most likely objects present and to determine which objects (if any) are anomalous. We demonstrate our approach by patrolling two indoor and one outdoor environments.
Reflection and Rationality in Leibniz

Leibniz repeatedly states that there is a very close connection between reflection and rationality. On his view, reflective acts somehow lead to self-consciousness, reason, the knowledge of necessary truths, and even to the moral liability of the respective substances. Whereas it might be relatively easy to see how reflective acts lead to self-consciousness, it is much harder to understand how they are connected to rationality. Why should a substance which is able to produce reflective acts therefore be rational? How can having reflective acts be responsible for the substance’s ability to reason correctly and to acquire knowledge of necessary and eternal truths? My aim in this paper is to understand better the required mechanisms and to thus make conceivable Leibniz’s bold claim that reflective acts lead to rationality. In order to accomplish this, I will proceed in three steps. First, I will specify what kind of self-consciousness, according to Leibniz, is produced by reflective acts. A substance must recognize itself as a unitary substance bearing perceptions. Second, I will argue that this type of self-consciousness can be seen as the basis for the ability to form judgments. This is possible because the subject-predicate structure of judgments is mirrored by the ontology of substances and their modifications. Third, I will point out that, together with the idea of identity (which we also acquire by reflection), the combination of judgments allows us to make inferences. This ability, in turn, is sufficient for rationality. Thus, I can explain how reflective acts and rationality are connected with each other.
Introduction: Framed Animals

Consider animals in our world. Pandas from China are airlifted to zoos in Atlanta and Washington; Chilean sea bass (actually from Antarctica) grace restaurant tables in New York and London. Skins of baby seals, killed in Newfoundland, and newborn karakul lambs from Afghanistan are auctioned in Seattle, Toronto, Helsinki, and St. Petersburg, and the finished products are traded at fur fairs in Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Montreal. South American chinchillas, African civets, and Amazonian parrots command exorbitant prices in the market for exotic pets. An African rhinoceros stars in a commercial for Dodge Durango, and a Bengal tiger in an ad for Dillard’s department store. Amid these and a thousand other postmodern dislocations, the idea of an animal’s habitat is becoming irrelevant, except as a historical curiosity. Instead, today, an animal’s cultural context supplants its natural context. It used to be that a given animal existed in a certain place, its natural habitat, because this place offered attractive conditions for sustenance, comfort, safety, and reproduction. The animal was suited for this place, and we may assume the animal was happy in this place.
Democracy's Double-Edged Sword: How Internet Use Changes Citizens' Views of Their Government

The fundamental question that Catie Snow Bailard explores in her timely book is the extent to which Internet use influences citizens' evaluations of their government. Although Snow Bailard's book i...
Smart assistive technology: Intelligent controller design to mitigate tremors due to Multiple-Sclerosis in controlling electric wheelchairs

Many wheelchair users suffer from Multiple Sclerosis causing tremors in their limbs, which leads to incorrect control signals to the wheelchair joystick. In this paper, we design and simulate a Neuro-Fuzzy based joystick controller for an electric wheelchair to minimize tremors as well as adapt to a patient's peculiar controlling commands. The controls of an electronic wheelchair are designed to execute the directional commands given by the user. The purpose of the fuzzy controller is to modify the wheelchair user's erratic joystick movements to control the wheelchair smoothly and accurately. The learning and adaptation system is designed using Pseudo-Outer Product (POP) neural learning to modify the membership functions of the fuzzy logic control system for optimizing the controller to the tremor characteristics of a specific user.
PEREGRINE: Bringing Monte Carlo based Treatment Planning Calculations to Today’s Clinic

Monte Carlo simulation of radiotherapy is now available for routine clinical use. It brings improved accuracy of dose calculations for treatments where important physics comes into play, and provides a robust, general tool for planning where empirical solutions have not been implemented. Through the use of Monte Carlo, new information, including the effects of the composition of materials in the patient, the effects of electron transport, and the details of the distribution of energy deposition, can be applied to the field.
Towards Tighter Space Bounds for Counting Triangles and Other Substructures in Graph Streams

We revisit the much-studied problem of space-efficiently estimating the number of triangles in a graph stream, and extensions of this problem to counting fixed-sized cliques and cycles. For the important special case of counting triangles, we give a 4-pass, (1 +/- epsilon)-approximate, randomized algorithm using O-tilde(epsilon^(-2) m^(3/2) / T) space, where m is the number of edges and T is a promised lower bound on the number of triangles. This matches the space bound of a recent algorithm (McGregor et al., PODS 2016), with an arguably simpler and more general technique. We give an improved multi-pass lower bound of Omega(min{m^(3/2)/T , m/sqrt(T)}), applicable at essentially all densities Omega(n) <= m <= O(n^2). We prove other multi-pass lower bounds in terms of various structural parameters of the input graph. Together, our results resolve a couple of open questions raised in recent work (Braverman et al., ICALP 2013). Our presentation emphasizes more general frameworks, for both upper and lower bounds. We give a sampling algorithm for counting arbitrary subgraphs and then improve it via combinatorial means in the special cases of counting odd cliques and odd cycles. Our results show that these problems are considerably easier in the cash-register streaming model than in the turnstile model, where previous work had focused. We use Turan graphs and related gadgets to derive lower bounds for counting cliques and cycles, with triangle-counting lower bounds following as a corollary.
Quantifying overlap and fitness consequences of migration strategy with seasonal habitat use and a conservation policy

Our study aimed to delineate seasonal habitats and assess differential fitness related to migration strategy and seasonal habitat use of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter “sage-grouse”). In addition, we evaluated benefits gained for sage-grouse through the implementation of the Wyoming Core Area Strategy relative to protection of habitat and differences in nest, brood, and annual female survival. We compared the proportion of seasonal habitats that were within or outside Core Areas as delineated with 75% and 95% kernel density contours (KDE). The proportion of summer and winter habitats (95% KDE) that overlapped Core Areas was 0.69 of summer and 0.50 of winter habitat within a Core Area. We found no differences in nest or brood survival among migration strategies or within and outside Core Areas. However, females that did not migrate out of their respective winter habitat had lower risk of death, which highlighted year-round benefits of winter habitat. Females had lower risk of death during winter with the lowest risk occurring during winter in Core Areas. Higher temperature and lower snow water equivalent during the breeding season and fall were detrimental to female survival, whereas neither had an effect on winter survival. Although Core Areas encompassed a large proportion of winter habitat, our results indicate that Core Areas (as delineated) were not the most direct way to protect winter habitat for sage-grouse. During winter, sage-grouse gathered within habitat conducive to winter survival, indicating that disturbances within these winter habitats may have broad consequences for sage-grouse populations.
Mercury Contamination in Diamondback Terrapins in New Jersey.

Mercury contamination in consumed foods poses a significant threat to human health globally. The consumption of mercury-contaminated turtle meat is of special concern due to mercury’s capability to bioaccumulate and biomagnify in organisms. Turtles are long-lived predators, allowing for a high degree of bioaccumulation and biomagnification of contaminants. In the U.S., diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) are legally harvested in several states throughout their range. Harvested turtles are usually sold to both local and global markets mainly for human consumption, which results in a human consumption threat. The objective of this study was to analyze mercury concentrations to determine if the consumption of terrapins poses a threat to human health. Diamondback terrapins were collected from two study sites: Cape May and Hackensack Meadowlands, New Jersey, relatively pristine and contaminated estuaries, respectively. Turtle carapace, blood, and muscle samples were analyzed for total mercury concentrations. Results showed significant difference between study sites and females’ and males’ blood mercury concentrations. Similarly, results showed blood mercury correlated with carapace length. Results also showed that 50% of Cape May muscle samples and 72.7% Meadowlands muscles samples surpassed the New Jersey sensitive threshold of 0.18 ppm. Furthermore, 27.3% of Cape May muscle samples and 45.5% of Meadowlands muscles samples surpassed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mercury threshold of 0.3 ppm for seafood consumption for the general public. Overall, the harvest of terrapins could pose a threat to consumers, and terrapins should be monitored closely or possibly banned for human consumption, especially in areas with known contamination history.
Flexible Implant Arthroplasty for Arthritic Finger Joints: Rationale, Technique, And Results Of Treatment

The development, basic concepts, and technique of flexible implant arthroplasty of the metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints are described and the need for treatment of all the interrelated deformities in the fingers is considered. The results after follow-ups ranging from six months to five years are analyzed both in the patients treated by me in Grand Rapids and in patients treated by the surgeons in 211 clinics who participated in a Field Clinic study. The Grand Rapids series included 358 metacarpophalangeal joints, all with rheumatoid arthritis, and 148 proximal interphalangeal joints, eighty-five with rheumatoid arthritis, thirty with osteoarthritis and thirty-three with post-traumatic arthritis. The over-all average range of motion achieved was from 2 to 64 degrees of flexion in the metacarpophalangeal joints and from 6 to 65.5 degrees of flexion in the proximal interphalangeal joints. The Field Clinic Study series included 3,409 metacarpophalangeal joints, all in hands with rheumatoid arthritis. The average range of motion in the 2,544 fingers for which data were available in this series was from 4 to 57 degrees of flexion. In both series, the deformity was corrected in 97 per cent or more of the fingers. The complications in the combined series included fracture of the implant which occurred in less than 2 per cent of cases, and dislocation of the implant and infection both of which occurred in less than 1 per cent of the fingers. Five implants in the two series combined had to be removed because of postoperative infection.
Mexico–U.S. Immigration: Effects of Wages and Border Enforcement

In this article, I study how relative wages and border enforcement affect immigration from Mexico to the U.S. To do this, I develop a discrete choice dynamic programming model where people choose from a set of locations in both the U.S. and Mexico, while accounting for the location of one’s spouse when making decisions. I estimate the model using data on individual immigration decisions from the Mexican Migration Project. Counterfactuals show that a 10% increase in Mexican wages reduces migration rates and durations, overall decreasing the number of years spent in the U.S. by about 5%. A 50% increase in enforcement reduces migration rates and increases durations of stay in the U.S., and the overall effect is a 7% decrease in the number of years spent in the U.S.
Finite Geometry Low Density Parity-Check Codes: Construction, Structure, and Decoding

This paper present an algebraic and systematic method for constructing low density parity-check (LDPC) codes from a geometric point of view. LDPC codes are constructed based on the lines and points of a finite geometry. Two classes of LDPC codes are constructed based on the well known Euclidean and projective geometries over finite fields. Codes of these two classes are cyclic and they have good minimum distances and structural properties. They can be decoded in various ways and perform very well with the iterative decoding based on belief propagation (IDBP). These finite geometry LDPC codes can be extended and shortened in various ways. Extension by splitting columns of the parity-check matrices of these codes results in good extended finite geometry LDPC codes. Long extended finite geometry LDPC codes have been constructed and they achieve an error performance only a few tenths of a dB away from the Shannon limit with IDBP. Finite geometry LDPC codes are strong competitors to turbo codes for error control in communication and digital data storage systems.
Why does armed conflict begin again? A new analytic approach:

An increasing majority of armed conflicts worldwide are episodes of recurrence (i.e. armed conflicts that occur after another armed conflict ends in the same country). This trend motivates a growin...
Immunologic Studies of Schizophrenic Patients

The hypothesis that schizophrenia is associated with immune system dysfunction was first proposed by Russian investigators, who have been pursuing psychoimmunologic research since the beginning of the 20th century (reviewed by Malis, 1961; Vartanian et al., 1978). Experimental evidence, however, paralleled the much later sophistication and development of the field of immunology.
Abstract 5098:In silicoanalysis of the membrane targeting mechanism of the pleckstrin homology domains within the oncogenic Grb2-associated-binding protein family

Members of the metazoan Grb2-associated-binding (GAB) family of proteins are crucial regulatory elements of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling pathways. These scaffold proteins link and amplify plasma membrane receptor signaling to downstream targets by staging protein-protein interactions. Aberrant GAB expression is associated with improper growth and development, and several members of the GAB family have been implicated as oncogenes. GAB1, GAB2, and GAB3 are overexpressed in various cancers including lung, breast, colorectal, nervous system, and ovarian cancers, along with certain leukemias and melanomas. Recent studies suggest a direct relationship between GAB expression levels and tumorigenesis, where induced or silenced expression respectively accelerated or inhibited tumor proliferation. Silencing of GAB1 in colorectal cancers and GAB2 in glioblastoma via miRNA, and GAB3 in gliomas via siRNA inhibits tumor proliferation indicating that GAB proteins can be potentially effective targets in cancer therapy. The most conserved structural moiety in all members of the GAB family is an N-terminally located pleckstrin homology (PH domain) that directs subcellular localization and is crucial for effective protein function. Given the challenges facing RNA-based cancer therapies, more practical therapeutic avenues may be found in disrupting or inhibiting proper PH domain function; however, the mechanism of membrane targeting of all GABs remains to be elucidated. To this end, we have performed a comprehensive computational analysis of the six known GAB family members - chordate GAB1, GAB2, GAB3, and GAB4; Caenorhabditis elegans Suppressor of Clear (SOC1); Drosophila melanogaster Daughter of Sevenless (DOS) and their respective homologs to establish intra-familiar relationships via sequence analysis. Furthermore, in silico homology-based and ab initio modeling techniques were employed to propose suitable structural models of the PH domains and confirm the structural conservation of the fold. The refined theoretical models were docked against phosphoinositide head-groups to establish binding affinities and the mechanism of GAB PH domain localization. Our results suggest that non-specific electrostatics may be a key component for membrane targeting of GAB PH domains acting in concert with interaction through specific conserved residues and reveal an alternative binding pocket in addition to the canonical binding site. Our study is the first step in rational design of potential therapies based on targeting GAB function via the PH domain. Citation Format: Antonio Lopez, Ezza Awan, Areeba Zaheer, Shaneen Singh. In silico analysis of the membrane targeting mechanism of the pleckstrin homology domains within the oncogenic Grb2-associated-binding protein family [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5098.
Facilitating and Inhibiting Factors for Self-Reports of Same-Gender Attraction in Cisgender Heterosexual-Identifying Women and Men.

We sought to identify psychosocial predictors of homoerotic motivations (viz., same-gender attraction) in heterosexual identifying cisgender women and men. We recruited participants from Amazon’s M...
Dynamic Modeling of Microalgae Growth and Lipid Production under Transient Light and Nitrogen Conditions.

We developed a new dynamic model to characterize how light and nitrogen regulate the cellular processes of photosynthetic microalgae leading to transient changes in the production of neutral lipids...
The Making of a ′58er: Habermas's Search for a Method

Habermas's critical reconstruction of the meaning of the eighteenthcentury Enlightenment for twentieth-century (and twenty-first-century) moderns is one of his enduring contributions. Habermas's first major work, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere ( Transformation hereafter), is rightly seen as marking a break with the negative view of the European Enlightenment represented by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's 1947 cri de coeur , The Dialectic of Enlightenment. Transformation is Habermas's celebrated account of the transformation of the active, critical debating publics that existed in the era of the European Enlightenment into the passive, managed citizenry of the postwar welfare state. While the first half of Transformation traces the historical rise of a “bourgeois public sphere” of rational deliberation in the salons, masonic lodges, and coffeehouses of Europe, the second half of the work describes the decline of this sphere to the point of near extinction. West Germany's public sphere was in eclipse, Habermas concluded. His diagnosis was that it had been occluded by the interpenetration of state and society. The task of Critical Theory as articulated in Transformation was to reinvent the public sphere that once had tamed the Leviathan of the absolutist state. Although Habermas's Transformation shared Adorno and Horkheimer's cultural pessimism about the stultifying effects of mass communication, it also demonstrated a countervailing interest in the immanent critique of liberal ideals.
Property tax interaction among overlapping local jurisdictions: quasi-experimental evidence from school bond referenda

This study aims to extend the study of property tax competition to a highly fragmented local context. Applying the tax competition theory to the property tax, I estimate the causal effect of a property tax increase at one level of government on fiscal decisions of another level of overlapping governments. To address endogeneity concerns in jurisdictional overlap, I employ different quasi-experimental approaches based on school bond referenda, using regression discontinuity (RD) and difference-in-differences (DiD) frameworks. The RD and DiD estimates together suggest that an increase in school taxes would eventually lead to higher tax rates in overlapping cities. The findings confirm the existence of tax competition, which is consistent with the yardstick competition model. Furthermore, given the cross-district heterogeneity in taxing capacity and intergovernmental constraints, the results indicate the presence of power dynamics among localities.
Recent advances in ultraprecision abrasive machining processes

Traditional approaches to understanding ultraprecision machining processes such as grinding, polishing, lapping, micromachining, machining, etc., have focused on developing analytical, semi-empirical and empirical models that seek to explain the output of processes based on many input variables. However, those models are not very well suited to providing inputs to develop improved abrasive products such as grinding wheels, lapping wheels, honing laps, coated abrasives, loose abrasives and their associated bonding systems and lubricants. In order to develop new products to improve ultraprecision processing of materials, it is necessary to focus on the mechanisms of microscopic interactions between abrasive products and the workpiece material. This paper reviews the current grinding theories and the methods employed to understand microscopic interactions due to cutting, plowing and sliding motions and how they can be used to develop new products using materials science principles that enhance and uniquely describe the removal of material in ultraprecision machining processes.