cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
INTRASPECIFIC VARIATION IN SEX ALLOCATION IN A SIMULTANEOUS HERMAPHRODITE: THE EFFECT OF INDIVIDUAL SIZE.

Within a population of simultaneous hermaphrodites, individuals may vary in both their current reproductive investment (biomass invested in gonads) and in how they allocate that investment between male and female function. In the chalk bass, Serranus tortugarum, estimates of both reproductive allocation and reproductive success as a male and a female can be made for individuals of different sizes. As individuals increase in size, their investment in gamete production increases, and there is a shift in allocation to a stronger female bias. Spawning frequency as a female in pair spawnings and as a male in both pair spawning and streaking (an alternative mating tactic) does not vary with individual size. As a result, larger individuals should release more sperm or eggs per spawn. Size-assortative pair spawning in this species leads to larger individuals having higher potential returns in total male reproductive success than smaller individuals, which should lead to increases in absolute levels of sperm production in larger individuals when individuals compete for fertilizations through sperm competition. However, smaller individuals contribute a smaller proportion of the sperm released in spawns with multiple spawners and thus are under more intense sperm competition than larger individuals, which should select for increases in male allocation in smaller individuals, all else equal. A local-mate-competition (LMC) model predicts that these factors select for increasing absolute male and female investment with individual size but a relative shift to more female-biased allocation as individual size increases. These predictions are supported by gonadal data. The predictions of average male allocation from the quantitative LMC model were 21.6% and 25.7%, whereas the collections averaged 21.3%. This close agreement of both the mean male allocation and its relative shift with individual size between model and data support the hypothesis that size-specific shifts in sex allocation in this species represent an adaptive response to patterns of mating success and sperm competition.
Temperature, Humidity, and Host: Effect on Rate of Search of Trichogramma evanescens and T. minutum auctt. (not Riley, 1871)

Rate of travel of both Trichogramma evanescens Westwood and T. minutum auctt. (not Riley, 1871) was greater at 30 °C than at 20 °C, but was not affected by different relative humidities between 50% and 80%. Parasitoids reared from Trichoplusia ni (Hubner) traveled faster than did those reared from eggs of the Angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier). Choice of host eggs for laboratory rearing of parasitoids should be based on the effects on the parasitoid as well as on rearing costs.
Growth Pattern of Foreign Reserve in China: Under the Background of Continuous Trade Surplus

Based on BS model,this study constructed a model to probe the relationship between reserve′s growth and exchange rate;and referring to the RS model,this study constructed another model to consider the asymmetric effect of exchange rate on reserve′s growth.Furthermore,this study amended the original models through the cointegration analysis and the introduction of error correction model.The empirical results show the effect of trade volatility on reserve is much larger than that of opportunity cost of holding reserves,and this is in line with the economic development of China that is driven by export sector.This paper finds the PBC will intervene with the foreign exchange market more positively when facing the equivalent pressure of appreciation,compared to the central bank of India.Different from the situation in India,there is no significant effects of RMB depreciation on the reserve′s growth,which indicates PBC would like to tolerate the RMB depreciation within a mild scope.Since China intends to change the economic growth pattern,PBC need not intervene the foreign exchange market asymmetrically any more.
Laboratory testing of specimens from patients with viral encephalitis from some regions of Gansu

Objective:To understand the viral etiology of viral encephalitis in Gansu by decting IgM antibody in the clinical samples of patients from some regions of Gansu by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Methods:Serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples of 209 patients with viral encephalitis or meningitis were collected from five regions of Gansu and were stored at-70℃.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used for detection of IgM antibody to Japanese encephalitis virus,coxsackievirus,echovirus,herps simplex virus,mumps virus,varicella-zoster virus,respiratory syncytial virus.Results:IgM antibody was detected in 154 of 209(73.7%) cases,the most common pathogen was Japanese encephalitis virus(16.7%),followed by respiratory syncytial virus(15.8%),Mumps(13.4%),coxsackievirus(9.6%),echovirus(9.1%), herps simplex virus(8.1%),varicella——zoster virus(1.0%).Conclusion:According to the study,Japanese encephalitis was the important encephalitis in Gansu,Respiratory syncytial virus was another important pathogen.Mumps and coxsackievirus were also important pathogens.
Ecological Valence and Human Color Preferences.

Aesthetic response to color is an important aspect of human experience, but little is known about why people like some colors more than others. Previous research suggested explanations based on sensory physiology and color-emotions. In this chapter we propose an ecological valence theory based on the hypothesis that color preferences are caused by people’s average affective responses to color-associated objects. That is, people like colors that are strongly associated with objects they like (e.g. blues with clear skies and clean water) and dislike colors strongly associated with objects they dislike (e.g. browns with feces and rotten fruit). We report data that strongly support this claim: the ecological valence theory not only predicts average color preferences better than three alternative theories containing more free parameters, but it provides a plausible explanation of why color preferences exist and how they arise.
Gender symmetry in partner violence: Evidence and implications for prevention and treatment.

Physical aggression against marital partners, although long recognized and deplored, has historically been denied under the guise of protecting the privacy and integrity of the family (Calvert, 1974). The training manual published by the International Society of Chiefs of Police (International Association of chiefs of Police, 1967), for example, advised officers to minimize involvement in what were then called “domestic disturbances.” Some cities in the United States followed an informal “stitch rule” under which arrests were made only if there was a wound that required sutures. As a result of efforts by the women’s movement starting in the mid 1970s there has been a reversal of these traditional approaches. In most jurisdictions in the US and Canada, police are now required or advised to arrest perpetrators of physical attacks on a partner. Concordant with the arrest policy has been the growth of treatment programs for perpetrators. Many courts now offer participation in such programs as an alternative to incarceration. There may be about a thousand such programs in operation in the United States, and over 200 in Canada (National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, 2004). These are tremendous advances, but there is also evidence questioning the effectiveness of the 30 year long effort to reduce “domestic violence.” A central point of this chapter is that the effort has been handicapped by conceptualizing physical assaults on a
PARASITIC OBESITY IN MICE AND HAMSTERS

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the studies analyzing parasitic obesity in mice and hamsters. Mueller in 1963 described accelerated weight gain in mice infected with small numbers of plerocercoids of Spirometra mansonoides. In the original experiments, only female mice were used at a starting weight that varied from 11.68 to 21.37 g. The numbers of spargana per mouse varied around seven or eight. Gains of experimental mice over controls at 20 weeks averaged 17.60%, the largest gains tending to occur in mice of greater starting weight. Mice infected at a starting weight of 11.68 g showed an initial lag, but in the second week overtook and passed the controls, thereafter increasing their advantage. In five experiments on male mice, at starting weights ranging from 9.5 to 38.75 g, and continued for periods of 2 months or more, four experiments showed definite acceleration of the experimental animals over the controls, the maximum occurring in one experiment where starting weight was 22.5 g. In male mice with starting weight of 9.5g, the experimental lagged behind the controls for the first 4 weeks and then surpassed them, achieving an advantage of 11% at the end of 12 weeks.
ARCC: assistant for repetitive code comprehension

As software projects evolve, carefully understanding the behavior of a program is mandatory before making any change. Repetitive code snippets also tend to appear throughout the codebase, and developers have to understand similar semantics multiple times. Building on this observation, we present Arcc: an Assistant for Repetitive Code Comprehension. The tool, implemented as an Eclipse plugin, assists developers in leveraging knowledge of a program to understand other programs containing a subset of the semantics in the former. Arcc differs from existing approaches in that it uses an extensible knowledge base of recurrent semantic code snippets, instead of heuristics or salient features, to summarize the behavior of a program. Given a program, we detect the occurrences of such snippets. Developers can create strategies as combinations of the snippets found and search for strategy occurrences in their workspace. Arcc highlights the source code related to every snippet and their interleaving, assisting in getting an intuition of similar programs. Finally, Arcc underlines potential common errors associated with the snippets, assisting in detecting overlooked problems. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmizZtBESdPHDyKXKHMXj13r2pBCKzIoA
The Taking of Power by the People

This chapter interprets the triumph of the Cuban Revolution as a consequence of (1) the characteristics of Cuban political culture and (2) the exceptional capacities of Fidel Castro. Cuban political culture was characterized by a belief in heroism and in human possibilities, in spite of the disappointments of the neocolonial republic. Fidel was an exceptional political actor who understood Cuban political culture, who combined theoretical and historical reflection with commonsense intelligence, and who was committed to ethical and revolutionary values. Led by Fidel, the revolution was able to unify various tendencies in order to take power and to consolidate its power through decisive action in defense of popular interests and needs. In the process, Fidel contributed to the evolution of Marxist-Leninist theory.
“Meanwhile in Argentina”: Cross-References and Distortions in Latin American Memory Discourses

Buchenhorst analyzes the collisions and misunderstandings caused by global memory entanglements. He discusses the enmeshments and contradictions between Argentine memories of the Dirty War and global Shoah memory as well as those between two regimes of uncovering the truth about past atrocities: evidentiary practices that use forensic methods to establish the facts and the quest for authenticity that privileges narratives and aesthetic representation. Argentine commemoration has not been shaped by references to a single set of foreign memory policies such as Germany’s. Forensic methods developed in Argentina have even been exported elsewhere, yet these methods have also been condemned for exerting classificatory violence on the dead. Narrative memory that draws on global Shoah discourses seeks to remedy this, but is criticized in turn for dissolving the specificity of each atrocity.
A New Graphene Quantum Dot Sensor for Estimating an Antibiotic Concentration

The graphene quantum dots (GQD) are unique for several different applications especially in the area of sensors as they provide a platform for large surface area on which sensing material can be attached. We wish to report here a new analytical method for sensing ciprofloxacin (CPFX) antibiotic using GQD electrode in differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) which is based on the ferric ion interaction with CPFX. Ferric ion undergoes a well defined one electron reduction at GQD electrode in DPV at Ep=0.310 V vs saturated calomel electrode (SCE) with a peak width of 0.100 V. When nanomolar to micromolar concentrations of CPFX is present in the electrolytic bath, the ferric ion reduction peak decreases with the appearance of three new peaks at EpI=0.200 V, EpII=0.050 V and EpIII= -0.085V. The three peaks are attributed to the three stages of binding of CPFX with three positive charges of ferric ion. The decrease of the ferric ion peak at 0.31 V is proportional to the concentration of CPFX. Due to large surface area of GQD, the CPFX bound ferric ion shows enhanced currents in comparison to glassy carbon electrode. The sensor is fabricated by depositing GQD containing known concentration of ferric ion. The sensor response to different concentrations of CPFX is measured for an analytical purpose.
THE DISLOCATION STRUCTURE OF HIGH ANGLE GRAIN BOUNDARIES

ABSTRACT The fundamental problems of describing unambiguously the dislocation structure of high angle grain boundaries are discussed. This is done by extending recent work on symmetrical tilt boundaries which addressed these problems to more general boundaries. Some experimental evidence for the proposed scheme is mentioned together with a new interpretation of the phenomenon of core spreading.
Changes in the Cerebral Vasculature after Hypertension and Trauma: A Combined Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopic Analysis

In recent studies we evaluated the effect of low intensity mechanical brain injury on the neuraxis. Through such studies we ascertained that brain injuries of sufficient intensity to elicit a concussive response, yet of insufficient intensity to cause light microscopic change, caused both transient opening of the brain stem blood-brain barrier to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) (1,2) and local neuronal inundation with this protein tracer (3). As these neuronal and vascular changes were both subtle and transient, they appeared consistent with the mild and transitory nature of the concussive event. Therefore, it was thought that these events were morphologic correlates of the concussive episode (3). Although our hypothesis appears credible, several factors previously not evaluated may have played a role in the genesis of the observed lesions. Most significantly, the concussive injury was commonly accompanied by a hypertensive episode, which in itself may have been responsible for the observed changes. Thus, we questioned if the changes we observed were secondary to post-traumatic hypertension.
Surface Tension, Hydration Energy and Membrane Fusion

Membrane fusion is one of the essential events involved in many biological cellular processes (Poste and Allison, 1973; Rasmussen, 1970). In spite of extensive research on membrane fusion, its molecular mechanism is not well understood. This is probably due to the fact that membrane fusion events undergo various possible molecular pathways and also biological membranes have complex molecular structures (Poste and Nicolson, 1978).
Analysis on Monitoring Results of Water Quality of Swimming Pools in Daxing District of Beijing during 2008-2010

[Objective]To understand the sanitary status of water quality of swimming pools in Daxing district of Beijing,provide scientific basis for further improvement of the water quality of swimming pools.[Methods]The Standard testing methods in public places(GB/T 18204-2000) was applied to test,and the Hygienic standard for swimming place(GB 9677-1996) was applied to evaluate.[Results]From 2008 to 2010,198 water samples were tested,and 171 samples were qualified with the qualified rate of 86.4%.The qualified rate in 2008,2009 and 2010 was 84.2%,79.2%,95.7% respectively.The unqualified items were pH value(3 samples),free residual chlorine(15 samples),total bacteria count(12 samples) and coliform bacteria(12 samples).[Conclusion]The sanitary status of swimming pool water in Daxing district is not optimistic,and the supervision must be strengthened.
Missed opportunities: Oncologists and palliative care specialists may be the last chance to explore hereditary cancer among cancer in-patients before information and DNA is lost.

e13505Background: Hereditary cancer assessment and communication about family history risks can be critical for surviving relatives. Oncology and palliative care (PC) are often the last set of prov...
Mapping vegetation community types in a highly disturbed landscape: integrating hierarchical object-based image analysis with lidar-derived canopy height data

Focusing on the semi-arid and highly disturbed landscape of San Clemente Island (SCI), California, we test the effectiveness of incorporating a hierarchical object-based image analysis (OBIA) appro...
Considering Conservation of Human Skeletal Remains in Archaeological Contexts

The articles in this issue present bioarchaeological case studies from across the globe, including North and Central America, East Asia, Europe, and the Near East. Some bioarchaeology projects are new and others are decades old, but common challenges emerge as researchers apply conservation standards to real situations in the field: a lack of training or resources for long-term curation of human remains, the lag between excavation and analysis of remains, and environmental challenges that include melting permafrost, tropical storms, and a variety of pests such as molds, fungi, bats, snakes, and insects. The studies also address ethical considerations about the use of digital images of human remains, molecular and isotopic methods that require the destruction of human tissue samples, the ability of fast-paced cultural resource management (CRM) projects to address the needs of descendant communities, and the responsibility that we have to the people we study. Techniques for addressing these challenges include new computer programs, more advanced photographic software, and research on the effects of conservation techniques that provide new “standards” for bioarchaeologists. We highlight the importance of each contribution and discuss the future of conservation in bioarchaeology.
Eugenics in the garden: transatlantic architecture and the crafting of modernity

As a departure from the traditional book review form, Fabiola Lopez-Duran's book was reviewed by way of conversational interview.Ginger Nolan: I just want to briefly comment on why we’ve chosen to ...
The Lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: A Trauma-Informed and Human Rights Perspective

Despite social and legal gains, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (LGBTQ) populations in the USA continue to experience discrimination, violence, and new, emerging threats to their human rights. Decades of research have shown that LGBT populations disproportionately experience adverse childhood experiences and adulthood victimization, which have been associated with adverse health outcomes. This chapter discusses human rights violations against LGBTQ people in the USA, primarily, and reviews research on traumatic events, adverse childhood experiences, and chronic stressors affecting LGBTQ adults and youth. The chapter highlights advances in LGBTQ inclusion on the UN human rights agenda. An integration of LGBTQ-affirmative practice with trauma-informed service delivery principles provides guidance for professional practice with LGBTQ populations.
The induction of vitamin C subnutrition; a comparison of intradermal tests with plasma ascorbic acid levels.

S CURVY is rare, but vitamin C subnutrition is sufficiently common to warrant serious attention not only by students of nutrition but also by practicing physicians. In vitamin C subnutrition there are no clinical signs or symptoms of scurvy. The diagnosis can be made ~ only by the history and laboratory findings. In the history one looks for the four frequent factors in the production of vitamin C subnutrition:
New Targeted Agents in Luminal BC

ABSTRACT In recent years the description of well-defined molecular subtypes of breast cancer, together with the identification of driving genetic alterations and signaling pathways, has led to the clinical development of a number of successful molecular targeted agents. Among them, luminal B breast cancer is emerging as an important subset of ER+ tumors that are less responsive to hormonal therapy. Novel targets under exploration in this group of patients include inhibitors of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR. In this regard, a recently reported phase III study the mTOR inhibitor everolimus and exemestane to exemestane and placebo in 724 patients with HR+ breast cancer refractory to nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors showed that the combination of everolimus and exemestane resulted in marked improvement in progression-free survival as determined by local investigator assessment (6.9 vs. 2.8 months; hazard ratio [HR], 0.43; P = 1.4 × 10-15) 1.The clinical benefit observed in the combination arm also far exceeds the clinical benefit of single-agent everolimus in a similar population of patients. In addition novel PI3K inhibitors are being tested in patients with breast cancer including PI3K alpha specific agents that have shown activity in patients with breast cancer harboring PI3K mutations. Other approaches include inhibitors against the MEK pathways, as well as receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as the Insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R) and the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR). The clinical development of these agents will require a change from the current large randomized trials in unselected patient populations to smaller trials in molecular defined tumor types that incorporate tumor biomarker endpoints as well as functional imaging. New challenges include the appearance of resistance either by acquired secondary mutations, or via induction of adaptive activation of compensatory pathways that prevent cell death. It is anticipated that combinatorial approaches, acting on the secondary mutations and/or compensatory pathways, may markedly improve on the effects of targeted agents used alone. 1. Baselga J, Campone M, Piccart M, et al. Everolimus in postmenopausal hormone-receptor-positive advanced breast cancer. N Engl J Med 2012;366:520-9. Disclosure J. Baselga: Consulting activity with Novartis and Genentech
How to read a baby's mind: Re-imagining fMRI for awake, behaving infants

Thousands of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have provided important insight into the human brain. However, only a handful of these studies tested infants while they were awake, because of the significant and unique methodological challenges involved. We report our efforts over the past five years to address these challenges, with the goal of creating methods for infant fMRI that can reveal the inner workings of the developing, preverbal mind. We use these methods to collect and analyze two fMRI datasets obtained from infants during cognitive tasks, released publicly with this paper. In these datasets, we explore data quantity and quality, task-evoked activity, and preprocessing decisions to derive and evaluate recommendations for infant fMRI. We disseminate these methods by sharing two software packages that integrate infant-friendly cognitive tasks and behavioral monitoring with fMRI acquisition and analysis. These resources make fMRI a feasible and accessible technique for cognitive neuroscience in human infants.
Distribution Transformer Health Monitoring using Smart Meter Data

The distribution electric grid has become a highly complex and intelligent network with changing load and customer types. This has generated unprecedented challenges and opportunities for utility companies-opportunities especially in the area of asset health/performance management. Moreover, several utilities are increasingly moving from the traditional reactive and time-based asset monitoring approach to a more proactive condition based method. However, this needs to be done in a low-cost and efficient manner. This paper explores how existing sensor infrastructure such as smart meters can be utilized to provide utility operators with more visibility into the health and operation of their assets. The paper focuses primarily on service transformers.
Selective Electrochemical CO 2 Reductionduring Pulsed Potential Stems from Dynamic Interface

Pulsing the potential during the electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) reaction using copper has been shown to influence product selectivity (i.e., to suppress the undesired hydrogen evolution react...
Object Orientation and State Systems

This chapter uses simple state machines to introduce the basic concepts of object orientation. You have run across state-system concepts in earlier courses, such as discrete math. One immediate advantage of using such concepts is that they enable us to describe the functioning of an object in a form independent of any particular software implementation. Using state diagrams, we can specify what functionality we want to obtain and then investigate different ways to achieve it. One of the simplest, yet nontrivial, examples of a finite state machine is the binary counter. First we implement this machine in C using a nonobject-oriented implementation. Then we will show how this machine can be implemented in C++. This will provide the basis for comparing the two kinds of approaches to programming and thereby demonstrate the advantages of object orientation.
Determinants of visitor climate change risk perceptions in Acadia National Park, Maine, USA

Abstract Nature-based tourism is one of the most economically important industries in the state of Maine, USA. Climate change impacts are projected to affect important tourism assets in Maine, which could result in behavioral shifts related to destination selection, seasonal visitation, and activity participation. Risk perceptions can be important predictors in visitor travel decisions. Recent tourism studies have focused on the effects of climate impacts on risk perceptions, but few have examined the social-psychological drivers of climate change risk perceptions. Drawing on social-psychological theories, we address this gap by understanding visitor climate change risk perceptions in Maine. We surveyed visitors to Acadia National Park in the summer of 2018 to assess the impact of socio-demographics, cognition, experience, and socio-cultural factors on visitor climate change risk perceptions. We used two-stage cluster probability sampling and intercepted 1317 visitors on site; 480 participants completed the online follow-up survey. Using hierarchical regression, we explained 45.5% of the variance in visitors’ climate change risk perceptions at a nature-based tourism destination. Visitors identifying as female, having higher levels of belief in climate change, more first-hand experience with climate impacts, and a higher altruistic values orientation amplified risk perceptions. Understanding determinants of climate change risk perceptions within an outdoor recreation setting has implications for offering high quality visitor experiences while maintaining the integrity of the natural resource base upon which visitation relies. Management implications Risk perceptions can be important predictors of visitor travel behavior. Climate change is expected to impact nature-based tourism visitor experiences and travel decisions, natural and cultural resources that serve as attractions, and visitor safety in protected areas. Understanding the drivers of climate change risk perceptions are important for managing visitors and their recreation behaviors while providing satisfactory tourism experiences. If park managers and other tourism stakeholders want to convey information about climate change with the goal of influencing perceptions and behaviors, we suggest that they focus on visitors’ past experiences with climate change impacts and appeals to altruistic values, rather than solely providing climate change facts. Understanding how to motivate visitor compliance with park policies and visitor resource use guidelines will be critical in maintaining positive visitor experience in nature-based tourism settings and protecting the integrity of natural and cultural resources from changes in visitation, such as increased tourist numbers.
Advanced Health Information Technology Analytic Framework and Application to Hazard Detection

Health Information Technology (HIT) aims to improve healthcare outcomes by organizing and analyzing various health-related data. With data accumulating at a staggering rate, the importance of real-time analytics has been increasing dramatically, shifting the focus of informatics from batch processing to streaming analytics. HIT is also facing unprecedented challenges in adapting to this new requirement and leveraging advanced IT technologies. This paper introduces a HIT data and compute platform that supports multi-granularity real-time analytics from heterogeneous data sources. The paper first identifies functional requirements and proposes a framework that satisfies the requirements using state-of-the-art big data technologies including Apache Kafka, Spark Structured Streaming Engine, and Delta Lake. To demonstrate its capability to support data analytics in multiple time granularities analytics, a statistical process control-based hazard detection algorithm has been implemented on top of the framework to detect unexpected hazards from order cancellation data of the Department of US Veterans Affairs (VA) in near real-time.
Evaluating organic geochemical proxies for application to coastal lake sediments along the Gulf Coast of Florida for paleotempestology

Abstract Organic geochemical proxies (OGPs) preserved in coastal lake sediments have recently been used to reconstruct millennia-long hurricane records. Although OGPs (δ13C, δ15N and C/N) appear to be a more sensitive indicator of past storm events than traditional proxies used in paleotempestology, the method has not been tested in many lakes with modern data. In this study, we measured the δ13C, δ15N and C/N values of particulate organic matter (POM), along with the salinities and stable isotopic compositions of water (δ18O and δD), in two coastal lakes on seasonal or much shorter time scales throughout a 3-year period. This work was intended to develop a better understanding of the dynamics of OGPs in these lakes. The time-series data not only show that geochemical properties of these lakes varied seasonally, reflecting variations in lake biological and environmental conditions, but displayed unique variation patterns in response to storms that caused either seawater flooding or freshwater flooding of the lakes. The data show that seawater flooding led to higher δ13C and δ15N values, with either lower or no change in the C/N ratios of the POM, generally consistent with a previously proposed conceptual model for detecting seawater flooding events. The data also show that freshwater flooding reduces δ15N and increases the C/N values of POM, in addition to lowering the salinity, δ18O and δD of lake water. These time-series modern data demonstrate the feasibility of detecting past storm events that were large enough to cause either seawater or freshwater flooding by examining variation patterns of multiple OGPs in coastal lake sediments. Applying this understanding to a sediment core from one of the study lakes (Mullet Pond, Florida), we reconstructed a centuries-long record of storms based on the variation patterns in OGPs together with 210Pb ages. The OGP-based storm record suggests that 30 flooding events, including 15 seawater flooding and 15 freshwater flooding incidents, occurred over the last 165 years. Almost all of these flooding events can be matched (within the dating uncertainty) to the historic hurricanes that are known to have passed within 150 km of the study site. This further confirms that OGPs preserved in sediments in coastal lakes of Florida or similar regions may be used as reliable recorders of past storm activity.
Heckler's Veto Case Law as a Resource for Democratic Discourse

Almost forty years ago, Jerome Barron proposed a listener-centered First Amendment right. He argued that the central concern of the First Amendment should be with the listeners—that difficult questions of competing First Amendment rights should be resolved with the goal of increasing the viewpoints to which listeners are exposed. While that approach remains an important part of the existing Supreme Court jurisprudence with respect to First Amendment analysis of broadcasting, the Court rejected its application to newspapers, and has not expanded the approach beyond broadcasting. Many legal scholars and policymakers nonetheless remain concerned about the current law as it applies to the mass media, raising concerns that it grants too much power to the owners of media, and pays insufficient attention to the public, to the listeners and viewers that media serves. While a listener-oriented First Amendment interest is one way to promote more democratic discourse in media regulation, unfortunately, advocates have not successfully persuaded the courts to adopt this approach. Another alternative to improve democratic discourse would be to look to theories in existing case law that could be extended to media regulation, rather than creating a new First Amendment interest. An
Beyond fabrication and plagiarism: the little murders of everyday science. Commentary on "Six Domains of Research Ethics".

Much of the focus of programs designed to promote responsible conduct in research has traditionally been on the high crimes of fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. We believe that equally deserving of our attention are the misdemeanors that also can occur. Viewed as individual events, these “little murders” are far less serious. Yet, we believe that in the aggregate they can do great harm, not the least because they can set the stage for far greater crimes.
«MILK: IMMUNE PROTECTION» 21

Human milk is a rich source of microbial specific immunoglobulins, immunoregulatory and proinflammatory cytokines, B and T lymphocytes and other effector cells, non-immunoglobulin proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and a variety of oligosaccharides and enzyme products. Studies carried out to date in a number of laboratories have provided extensive characterization of the temporal kinetics and antibodies specificity of secretory IgA, the principal immunoglobulin found in human milk. Considerable evidence is available to suggest that milk antibodies provide protection against many pathogens. Antibody activity has been demonstrated against bacterial agents such as shigella, salmonella, V. Cholerae, Hemophilus influenzae type B, Helicobacter pylori; viruses such as rubella, respiratory syncytial virus, poliovirus, cytomegalovirus, rotavirus and HIV. Antibodies in the milk also appear to transfer anti-idiotypic immunity in the breast feeding neonates. Non immunoglobulin proteins such as lactoferrin, lysozyme, fibronectin, mucins, and oligosaccharides, lipoproteins and a number of lipids moieties have been detected in milk. These products participate in a variety of defense mechanisms against bacteria, viruses and parasitic agents. The milk T cells display phenotypic markers of activation, including the expression of CD25, CD45RO, and HLA-DR. As a result, these cells in general respond poorly to in vitro stimulation with phytohemagglutinin. However, milk cells are effective producers of interferon γ. The in vivo role of lymphocytes in human milk is uncertain. Mucous membrane sites in the upper alimentary and respiratory tract seem to be potential sites for interaction with human milk cells. It is of interest to note that very small numbers of memory T cells are detected in early infancy. It is possible that maternal memory T cells in milk compensate for the development delay in their production in the infant. There is also evidence from experimental animal studies that milk lymphocytes or their soluble products enter tissues of the neonate. Finally, a number of cytokines have been identified to human milk. These include IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-8 and IL-10. However, their role in mediating regulation of immune function or inflammation in the neonate remains to be determined.
Post-collection, pre-measurement variables affecting VEGF levels in urine biospecimens.

Angiogenesis, the development and recruitment of new blood vessels, plays an important role in tumour growth and metastasis.Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important stimulator of angiogenesis.Circulating and urinary VEGF levels have been suggested as clinically useful predictors of tumour behaviour, and investigations into these associations are ongoing.Despite recent interest in measuring VEGF levels in patients, little is known about the factors that influence VEGF levels in biospecimens. To begin to address this question, urine samples were collected from patients with solid tumours undergoing radiotherapy and healthy volunteers.Four factors were examined for their effects on VEGF concentrations as measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay: time from sample collection to freezing, number of specimen freeze–thaw cycles, specimen storage tube type and the inclusion or exclusion of urinary sediment. The results of this study indicate that time to freeze up to 4 hrs, number of freeze–thaw cycles between one and five, and different types of polypropylene tubes did not have statistically significant effects on measured urinary VEGF levels. Urinary sediment had higher VEGF levels than supernatant in five of six samples from healthy patients.It is not clear whether there is an active agent in the sediment causing this increase or if the sediment particles themselves are affecting the accuracy of the assay.Therefore, we recommend centrifuging urine, isolating the supernatant, and freezing the sample in polypropylene microcentrifuge tubes or cryogenic vials within 4 hrs of collection.In addition, we recommend the use of samples within five freeze–thaw cycles.
Telephone Survey Methodology

Telephone survey methods are widely used for the cost-effective and timely collection of data in sample surveys. Although telephone survey designs can vary on a number of dimensions, including how populations are sampled, technology employed, and protocol followed, nearly all involve issues of sampling design, questionnaire development, case management, interviewer training, quality control monitoring, and data processing. The mode does face a number of challenges, including the increase in the sheer volume of telephone numbers, the growing use of call screening devices and cellular telephones, and the proliferation of telemarketing. Keywords: telephone surveys; survey research; computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI); quality control monitoring
A Universal Abstract Model for Future Movements of Moving Objects

Recently, with the advances in mobile technology and emerging mobile applications, moving objects databases have become the focus of much research. A number of models have been proposed to handle the continuously changing geometries and positions of moving objects. While most of these models focus on managing the historical and current motion of moving objects, only a few of them have been proposed to deal with their future movements. Due to the complexity of handling the uncertainty aspect associated with future movements, these models are often restricted to a specific type of constrained movement and tailored to a certain application domain by integrating specific prediction techniques. These predictions are often based only on the past and current movements and neglect external domain-specific information which may significantly affect the future movements of moving objects. In this paper, we emphasize the separation of moving object models and prediction methods and propose a universal abstract model for future movements of moving objects. This abstract model serves as a conceptual basis for all future movement models as well as poses object requirements for the output of all prediction methods.
Genomic Imprinting in Arabidopsis thaliana and Zea mays

Genomic imprinting is the differential expression of paternal and maternal alleles. In plants, gene imprinting occurs in the endosperm and has not been found in the embryo or adult plants. Imprinting can affect every allele of a locus (locus-dependent imprinting) or be specific to a particular allele (allele-dependent imprinting). Allele-dependent imprinting was the first type of gene imprinting discovered and has only been documented in maize. Locus-specific imprinting is found in both maize and Arabidopsis. Recent studies have revealed the integral role of female and male gametophytes in gene imprinting and mechanisms by which the parental alleles are distinguished from one another. Herein we will focus on the mechanisms of locus-specific gene imprinting in Arabidopsis and maize.
El dominio del Derecho. Recíproca rendición de cuentas e imperio de la Ley

Este ensayo explora el ideal del imperio de la ley como una forma de orden y buen gobierno basado en el mutuo control. Comienza con la idea central de que el imperio de la ley facilita proteccion y recursos contra el ejercicio arbitrario del poder. A fin de alcanzar este objetivo, el autor defiende que el imperio de la ley no solo exige requisitos formales e institucionales (legalidad) sino que tambien presupone un tipo de interdependencia y colaboracion entre autoridades y ciudadanos (fidelidad). Este ethos social se expresa en un conjunto de compromisos reciprocos entre los cuales el primero de ellos es la mutua responsabilidad por mantener a cada uno de los demas bajo una ley comun. El autor expone esta tesis, denominada “tesis de la fidelidad”, en dos partes. En la primera, sostiene que para estar sujeto a la ley es necesario estar sometido al control de los demas. En la segunda, sostiene que el imperio de la ley es un bien publico que solo puede ser conseguido mediante cooperacion. Palabras clave: Imperio de la ley; control (rendicion de cuentas), autoridad, soberania, cultura juridica, fidelidad al Derecho. Abstract: This essay explores the rule of law ideal as a mode of ordering and governance based on mutual accountability. It begins with the core idea that the rule of law provides protection and recourse against the arbitrary exercise of power. To comply with this aim, the author defends that the rule of law no only demands formal and institutional requirements (legality), but also presupposes a kind of interdependence and partnership between government and citizens (fidelity). This social ethos is expressed in a set of reciprocal commitments, among which the first one is the mutual responsibility for holding each other accountable under the common law. The author expounds this thesis, called “the fidelity thesis”, in two parts. First, to be subject to the law is necessarily to be accountable to others; and second, the rule of law is a public good which can only be achieved through cooperation. Keywords: Rule of law, accountability, authority, sovereignty, legal culture, fidelity to law.
Spontaneous generation, the origin of life, and self assembly.

Self assembly relation to origin of life and spontaneous generation applied to precellular polymers, biopolymers and cellular structures
Reactive astrocytosis, microgliosis and inflammation in rats with neonatal hydrocephalus

The deleterious effects of hydrocephalus, a disorder that primarily affects children, include reactive astrocytosis, microgliosis and inflammatory responses; however, the roles that these mechanisms play in the pathophysiology of hydrocephalus are still not clear in terms of cytopathology and gene expression. Therefore we have examined neuroinflammation at both the cellular and the molecular levels in an experimental model of neonatal obstructive hydrocephalus. On post-natal day 1, rats received an intracisternal injection of kaolin to induce hydrocephalus; control animals received saline injections. Prior to sacrifice on post-natal day 22, animals underwent magnetic resonance imaging to quantify ventricular enlargement, and the parietal cortex was harvested for analysis. Immunohistochemistry and light microscopy were performed on 5 hydrocephalic and 5 control animals; another set of 5 hydrocephalic and 5 control animals underwent molecular testing with Western blots and a gene microarray. Scoring of immunoreactivity on a 4-point ranking scale for GFAP and Iba-1 demonstrated an increase in reactive astrocytes and reactive microglia respectively in the hydrocephalic animals compared to controls (2.90±0.11 vs. 0.28±0.26; 2.91±0.11 vs. 0.58±0.23, respectively). Western blots confirmed these results. Microarray analysis identified significant (1.5-fold) changes in 1729 of 33,951 genes, including 26 genes out of 185 genes (26/185) in the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway, antigen processing and presentation pathways (15/66), and the apoptosis pathway (10/69). Collectively, these results demonstrate alterations in normal physiology and an up-regulation of the inflammatory response. These findings lead to a better understanding of neonatal hydrocephalus and begin to form a baseline for future treatments that may reverse these effects.
Combinations of newly confirmed Glioma-Associated loci link regions on chromosomes 1 and 9 to increased disease risk.

Background Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tends to occur between the ages of 45 and 70. This relatively early onset and its poor prognosis make the impact of GBM on public health far greater than would be suggested by its relatively low frequency. Tissue and blood samples have now been collected for a number of populations, and predisposing alleles have been sought by several different genome-wide association (GWA) studies. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) at NIH has also collected a considerable amount of data. Because of the low concordance between the results obtained using different populations, only 14 predisposing single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) candidates in five genomic regions have been replicated in two or more studies. The purpose of this paper is to present an improved approach to biomarker identification.
Structural Transitions and Thermodynamics of a Glycine-Dependent Riboswitch from Vibrio cholerae

Riboswitches are complex folded RNA domains found in noncoding regions of mRNA that regulate gene expression upon small molecule binding. Recently, Breaker and coworkers reported a tandem aptamer riboswitch (VCI-II) that binds glycine cooperatively. Here, we use hydroxyl radical footprinting and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to study the conformations of this tandem aptamer as a function of Mg 2+ and glycine concentration. We fit a simple three-state thermodynamic model that describes the energetic coupling between magnesium-induced folding and glycine binding. Furthermore, we characterize the structural conformations of each of the three states: In low salt with no magnesium present, the VCI-II construct has an extended overall conformation, presumably representing unfolded structures. Addition of millimolar concentrations of Mg 2+ in the absence of glycine leads to a significant compaction and partial folding as judged by hydroxyl radical protections. In the presence of millimolar Mg 2+ concentrations, the tandem aptamer binds glycine cooperatively. The glycine binding transition involves a further compaction, additional tertiary packing interactions and further uptake of magnesium ions relative
ACM Education Council meets

The ACM Education Council met June 18-19 after the ACM Turing Centenary Celebration (see next article) at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.