cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Improved Radiation Budget Data Set Using Merged CERES and GEO Data

Long term radiation budget datasets are needed to monitor the Earth’s climate. The Clouds in the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) experiment provides the most accurate observations of the Earth’s global energy budget to date. Instantaneous accurate fluxes need to be globally temporally and spatially averaged to become useful in climate monitoring. Unfortunately satellite based measurements can have temporal sampling biases due to orbital constraints. CERES incorporates radiances from imagers aboard geostationary (GEO) satellites to determine changes in meteorology between CERES sampling times. The geostationary radiances need to be accurately calibrated, converted to broadband radiances to take into account the radiation not observed by the narrowband spectra, temporally interpolated and carefully normalized to the CERES measurements. This paper describes this process and demonstrates the reduction in temporal sampling errors from the inclusion of the GEO data.
A New Species of Enoplometopus (Thalassinidea: Axiidae) From the Northern Philippines

ABSTRACT Enoplometopuschacei is described from a single male taken from shallow water at Batan Island in the Philippines. The species, a member of the subgenus Enoplometopus, is characterized primarily by the possession of an overall orange-red integumental pigment with few color spots on the ventrolateral carapace, as well as by several more subtle features of the appendages.
Trisomy 14 in myelodysplastic syndromes : Report of two cases and review of the literature

. Objective.-To describe the pathologic features of two cases of myelodysplastic syndrome associated with trisomy 14 and to summarize the relevant literature. Results.-In both cases, trisomy 14 was identified using conventional cytogenetic and fluorescence in situ hybridization methods. The patients were elderly men, 70 and 77 years old, who presented with anemia and thrombocytopenia. According to the French-American-British classification, case 1 was classified as refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts, and case 2 was classified as chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. In both cases, the aspirate smears revealed obvious abnormalities in erythroid and megakaryocytic maturation, with more subtle abnormalities in myeloid maturation. The biopsy sections were hypercellular, and there was marked myeloid hyperplasia in case 2. Both patients received only supportive therapy after the diagnosis was established. Clinical follow-up was available for both patients. The patient in case 1 died 67 months after disease onset of an unrelated illness, and the patient in case 2 was alive at last follow-up, 12 months after diagnosis. Literature Review.-Thirty-five cases of trisomy 14 have been previously reported in the literature, predominantly in cytogenetics journals, and the description of the pathologic findings for the majority of these cases is limited or not provided. According to published data, the majority of these cases are myelodysplastic syndromes or acute myeloid leukemias associated with myelodysplasia. Conclusions.-The detection of trisomy 14 in the bone marrow strongly correlates with the presence of a myelodysplastic syndrome. The two cases of myelodysplastic syndrome associated with trisomy 14 we describe here did not exhibit characteristic morphologic findings that might suggest the presence of the cytogenetic abnormality.
Fleeing to refuge: Escape decisions in the race for life

Economic escape theory that predicts that flight initiation distance (FID=predator-prey distance when a prey begins to flee from an approaching predator) increases as predation risk increases has been overwhelmingly supported. However, the vast majority of empirical tests have focused on effects of single predation risk factors. Even studies that have included multiple risk factors have not predicted how they jointly affect FID. I present a model that predicts joint effects of several predation risk factors that affect the outcome of a race between predator and prey to the prey's refuge. As a prey's distance to refuge and predator attack speed increase, and as the prey's location forces it to flee more toward a predator to reach refuge, FID increases. A published model proposed and experiment showed that FID is longer when prey flee directly toward than directly away from a predator to a refuge. We present a new geometric model that predicts FID for all angles between the prey's and predator's paths to refuge, distance of the prey from refuge when escape begins, predator and prey speeds, and a margin of safety allowing the prey to reach refuge before the predator. The model provides many new, testable predictions about relationships among its variables and FID. Most notably, it predicts that FID increases sigmoidally as the angle between predator and prey paths to refuge increases. Although the model is not economic (cost-benefit), we discuss its relationship to economic escape theory.
How Does Trauma Cause Epilepsy

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses various aspects of posttraumatic epilepsy. The risk for development of posttraumatic epilepsy is generally related to the severity of injury. Within the first year after head trauma, the incidence of seizures exceeds 12 times the population risk. Blunt impact to the head with momentary skull deformation causes transient cavitation with transmission of mechanical forces and propagation of pressure through neural tissue. Mechanical effects of trauma can cause bulk displacement of tissue with secondary responses that include alterations in cerebral vasomotor regulation, vasospasm, altered cerebral blood flow, changes in intracranial pressure, and altered vascular permeability. Iron liberated from hemoglobin and transferrin, sequestered as hemosiderin, is a prominent histopathologic feature of human posttraumatic epilepsy. Free radicals react with methylene groups adjacent to double bonds of polyunsaturated fatty acids and lipids within cellular membranes, causing hydrogen abstraction and subsequent propagation of peroxidation reactions. It is found that initiation of focal edema by cold-induced injury to the cerebral cortex of rodents caused increased levels of superoxide radicals.
An insert in the motor domain determines the functional properties of expressed smooth muscle myosin isoforms.

Smooth muscle myosin isoforms of the heavy chain and the essential light chain have been hypothesized to contribute to the different shortening velocities of phasic and tonic smooth muscles, and to their different affinities for MgADP. We used the baculovirus/insect cell system to express homogeneous heavy meromyosin molecules differing onlyin a seven amino acid insert (QGPSFSY) in the motor domain near the active site, or in the type of essential light chain isoform. Myosin from tonic rabbit uterine smooth muscle lacks the heavy chain insert, while myosin from phasic chicken gizzard contains it. The properties of a mutant uterine heavy meromyosin with added insert, and a mutant gizzard heavy meromyosin with the insert deleted, were compared with their wild type progenitors. Phosphorylated heavy meromyosins with the insert have a twofold higher enzymatic activity and in vitro motility than heavy meromyosins without the insert. These functional properties were not altered by the essential light chain isoforms. The altered motility caused by the insert implies that it modulates the rate of ADP release, the molecular step believed to limit shortening velocity. The insert may thus account in part for both the lower sensitivity to MgADP and the higher shortening velocity of phasic compared to tonic smooth muscles
Telecommunication compatible terahertz emitters based on plasmonic nano-antenna arrays

We present a high-performance pulsed terahertz emitter based on a two-dimensional array of plasmonic nano-antennas, offering significantly higher radiation power levels compared to the state-of-the art. This significant performance enhancement is due to unique capabilities of nano-antenna arrays, inducing significantly stronger radiating dipole moments at terahertz frequencies. The presented terahertz emitter is fabricated on an ErAs:InGaAs substrate to operate at telecommunication optical wavelengths at which compact and high-performance optical sources are commercially available. We experimentally demonstrate record-high terahertz radiation power levels as high as 300 μW over 0.1–5 THz frequency range.
Simple resolution to parameter-extraction ambiguities of inhomogeneous materials

The novel use of a phase-unwrapping algorithm is used to resolve the branch cut ambiguities that are encountered when the conventional Nicholson Ross Weir Method is used to extract the constitutive parameters in inhomogeneous materials. The algorithm is tested using a Lorentz-dispersion model.
Assessing trends in laparoscopic colostomy reversal and evaluating outcomes when compared to open procedures

Laparoscopic colostomy reversal has emerged as a viable option for Hartmann’s reversal but the trends in national adoption and postoperative complications are unknown. This study evaluates the practice trends for laparoscopic colostomy and compares complications, length of stay, and operative times between laparoscopic and open colostomy reversal. All patients who had open or laparoscopic colostomy reversal surgery (current procedure codes: 44227 and 44626) between 2005 and 2014 were identified from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. Data collected included patient demographics, comorbid conditions, postsurgical diagnosis, and estimated probabilities of morbidity and mortality. Univariate and multivariate unconditional logistic regression models and linear regression models were employed to evaluate the associations between various outcomes and surgical specialties. The reported volume of both open and laparoscopic colostomy reversal surgeries increased over time, but the percentage of open reversal surgery decreased from 100% in 2005 to 74.2% in 2014. The average annual increase in percentage of laparoscopic colostomy reversal surgery was 2.87%. The complication rates of open colostomy reversal surgery were significantly higher than the rates of laparoscopic colostomy reversal surgery (P < 0.0001). Although there were fluctuations, the complication rates remained constant over the 9-year study period for both open and laparoscopic colostomy reversal surgeries. The total hospital length of stay among patients who had laparoscopic colostomy reversal surgery was shorter compared to patients who had open colostomy reversal surgery [mean change (MC) = −1.77 days, P < 0.0001]. Similarly, a shorter operation time was also observed for patients who had laparoscopic colostomy reversal surgery (MC = −26.48 min, P < 0.0001). Based on the NSQIP database, laparoscopic colostomy reversal is increasing steadily year over year from 2005 to 2014 in NSQIP participating hospitals. Overall complication rates and length of stay are significantly lower and sustained throughout the study period for laparoscopic reversal.
Transient stability augmentation with Excessive Regeneration Detection in a delayed WADC

To ensure a stable electrical power grid in the future, advanced sensing and control schemes will be implemented. Control systems such as those designed for wide-area damping or distributed generation will be subject to a wide range of sensor latency from several sources, including network congestion, sampling, and transportation delay. An Excessive Regeneration Detector (ERD) for a wide-area damping control system (WADC) has been developed to ensure stability of a wide-area damping control system in the presence of latency in ambient (i.e. quasilinear) disturbance environments. Determination of the efficacy of ERD must include analysis of its effect on system performance in transient damping, which is the focus of this work.
Trends in Utilization, Mortality, Major Complications, and Cost After Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation in the United States (2009 to 2014).

The utilization of contemporary continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVADs) has increased, accounting for >90% of implants from 2009 to 2014. The present study aimed to identify the annual national estimates in utilization, in-hospital mortality, and major complications with CF-LVAD using data from the National Inpatient Sample, the largest all-payer inpatient data set in the United States, and the US Census Bureau, for the years 2009 to 2014. Participants included all adult patients who received CF-LVADs from 2009 to 2014. End points included in-hospital mortality, in-hospital complications, length of stay, cost, and disposition at the time of discharge. A total of 3,572 (weighted = 17,552) patients with left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implants were analyzed. LVAD implants increased significantly, with average annual change (%) of +12.6% (p
Preoperative breast MRI and mortality in older women with breast cancer

The survival benefit from detecting additional breast cancers by preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) continues to be controversial. We followed a cohort of 4454 women diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer (stage I–III) from 2/2005–6/2010 in five registries of the breast cancer surveillance consortium (BCSC). BCSC clinical and registry data were linked to Medicare claims and enrollment data. We estimated the cumulative probability of breast cancer-specific and all-cause mortality. We tested the association of preoperative MRI with all-cause mortality using a Cox proportional hazards model. 917 (20.6%) women underwent preoperative MRI. No significant difference in the cumulative probability of breast cancer-specific mortality was found. We observed no significant difference in the hazard of all-cause mortality during the follow-up period after adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical factors among women with MRI (HR 0.90; 95% CI 0.72–1.12) compared to those without MRI. Our findings of no breast cancer-specific or all-cause mortality benefit supplement prior results that indicate a lack of improvement in surgical outcomes associated with use of preoperative MRI. In combination with other reports, the results of this analysis highlight the importance of exploring the benefit of preoperative MRI in patient-reported outcomes such as women’s decision quality and confidence levels with decisions involving treatment choices.
Undermining the Person, Undermining the Establishment in the Zhuangzi

This article draws a parallel between the Zhuangzi’s discussions of having no sense of “oneself” or “I,” on the one hand, and its critique of institutionalized order and visions of the unification ...
Richard's Skate, Bathyraja richardsoni, a Rare Skate off North Carolina

Abstract Few specimens of the deepwater Richard's skate, Bathyraja richardsoni, have been collected worldwide since it was described off New Zealand in 1961. Recent searches uncovered two specimens collected off North Carolina in 1974.
In-Vivo And In-Vitro Measurements Of Turbulent Blood Flow Characteristics Using a Multi-Dimensional Ultrasonic Probe

Many studies have been reported on the Doppler Ultrasound Blood Flowmeters, which is now in daily use in clinical settings. However, less attention has been paid to quantitative analysis of Doppler waveforms. The quantitative capability of conventional Doppler ultrasound systems are limited by the effects of acoustics, time, and system parameters, as well as its inability to obtain precise measurement of the Doppler angle, which in most cases must be estimated [1–3].
Structure of Microbial Mats and Biofilms

The application of new technologies, such as confocal scanning laser microscopy and molecular probes, to the study of biofilms and microbial mats has dramatically changed our view of these systems. In particular, the old idea that biofilms are simply microbes suspended in a homogeneous and diffusion limited matrix has been shattered by the realization that this matrix is actually very hydrated and honeycombed with channels. The microbial species which form the microcolonies have been shown to express genes which are not expressed when the organisms are free-swimming. Thus, many models of microbial dynamics based on planktonic studies (e.g., growth, gene exchange, biocide resistance) do not necessarily apply to biofilms. Recent studies of microbial mats have also uncovered some startling phenomenon. For instance, active sulfate reduction has been measured in the oxic zone. The impact of diurnal fluctuations in the environment cannot be underestimated, as species have been shown to migrate within the mat and use totally different metabolic pathways in response to light and oxygen. This review will highlight some of the insights into the biological structure of biofilms and microbial mats, and how the structure is affected by the physical and chemical environment, species composition, and species interactions. The chapter begins with a comparison of microbial mats and biofilms and ends with some suggestions for future studies.
Atypical Ductal and Lobular Hyperplasia and Breast Cancer Risk

The diagnosis of atypical epithelial hyperplasia is serendipitous and subjective. Nevertheless, atypia is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer development. This article presents the pathology, diagnosis, and management of atypia.
The Art of the Accompanist

Today, pianist-accompanists regularly collaborate with other musicians—sometimes with several at a time—in performances of Lieder and other songs; sonatas for solo instruments and piano—violin, clarinet, and so on; and chamber works. Samuel Sanders and Martin Katz concentrate in their interviews on their own experiences as keyboard collaborators, while Graham Johnson concentrates on his keyboard experiences with British composer Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) and members of Britten’s musical circle.
Synthesis of 6-tert-Butyl-2-Arylpyridines

Abstract The title compounds were prepared from aryl β-ketoesters in a simple two step procedure.
FISCAL MULTIPLIERS AT THE ZERO LOWER BOUND: THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING PERSISTENCE

In this paper, I examine the role of government spending persistence on fiscal multipliers at the zero lower bound (ZLB) in a more realistic environment while keeping the model simple enough to identify mechanisms driving the result. In particular, I build on a standard dynamic New Keynesian (DNK) model with an occasionally binding ZLB and Rotemberg pricing with rebates, where the probability of hitting the ZLB and the government purchase shock are in line with US data. Moreover, I compute the multiplier in a state that mimics the Great Recession. The main findings of the paper are as follows: (1) the multiplier is non-monotonic in the persistence of government spending while the economy is at the ZLB; (2) given the persistence estimated from US data, the multiplier is 1.25; and (3) in the framework with perfect foresight or with aggregate resource cost for adjusting prices, the multiplier is around 1 or less.
“Joy Turned to Sorrow”: Stillborns in Howard County, Indiana, 1890–1940:

This examination of north central Indiana between 1890 and 1940 offers a unique insight into the historic response to stillborn and newborn infant deaths. With a remarkable record of those interred...
Losers distribution, with applications to financial inclusion

This paper develops the “Losers Distribution,” a new discrete probability distribution that describes the number of losers in a k-player game with n-fold identical trials. The problem of financial exclusion demonstrates one application. Luck is used to unleash, pool and circulate the financial resources of the poor in much the same way that interest rates pool and reallocate financial resources among the non-poor. I propose compensated, subsidized lotteries as a complement to microfinance for providing financing to the poor.
Firm and Industry Evolution and Entrepreneurship (FIVE Project): Audio of Presentation

Researchers in economics, management, and sociology have collected individual industry historical data that include all of the firms in the industry beginning from industry birth. The FIVE Project has obtained preliminary commitments from more than ten individuals to make approximately forty-five industry data sets freely available.
Superbugs vs. Outsourced Cleaners: Employment Arrangements and the Spread of Healthcare-Associated Infections

On any given day, about one in 25 hospital patients in the U.S. has a healthcare-associated infection (HAI) that the patient contracts as a direct result of his or her treatment. Fortunately, the spread of most HAIs can be halted through proper disinfection of surfaces and equipment. Consequently, cleaners — “environmental services” (EVS) in hospital parlance — must take on the important task of defending hospital patients (as well as employees and the broader community) from the spread of HAIs. Nevertheless, despite the importance of this task, hospitals frequently outsource this function, increasing the likelihood that these workers are under-rewarded, undertrained, and detached from the organization and the rest of the care team. As a result, the outsourcing of EVS workers could have the unintended consequence of increasing the incidence of HAIs. We demonstrate this relationship empirically, finding support for our theory by using a self-constructed dataset that marries infection data to structural, organizational, and workforce features of California’s general acute care hospitals. The study thus advances the literature on nonstandard work arrangements — outsourcing, in particular — while sounding a cautionary note to hospital administrators and healthcare policymakers.
Machine learning model and strategy for fast and accurate detection of leaks in water supply network

The water supply network (WSN) is subjected to leaks that compromise its service to the communities, which, however, is challenging to identify with conventional approaches before the consequences surface. This study developed Machine Learning (ML) models to detect leaks in the WDN. Water pressure data under leaking versus non-leaking conditions were generated with holistic WSN simulation code EPANET considering factors such as the fluctuating user demands, data noise, and the extent of leaks, etc. The results indicate that Artificial Neural Network (ANN), a supervised ML model, can accurately classify leaking versus non-leaking conditions; it, however, requires balanced dataset under both leaking and non-leaking conditions, which is difficult for a real WSN that mostly operate under normal service condition. Autoencoder neural network (AE), an unsupervised ML model, is further developed to detect leak with unbalanced data. The results show AE ML model achieved high accuracy when leaks occur in pipes inside the sensor monitoring area, while the accuracy is compromised otherwise. This observation will provide guidelines to deploy monitoring sensors to cover the desired monitoring area. A novel strategy is proposed based on multiple independent detection attempts to further increase the reliability of leak detection by the AE and is found to significantly reduce the probability of false alarm. The trained AE model and leak detection strategy is further tested on a testbed WSN and achieved promising results. The ML model and leak detection strategy can be readily deployed for in-service WSNs using data obtained with internet-of-things (IoTs) technologies such as smart meters.
Learning Visible Connectivity Dynamics for Cloth Smoothing

Robotic manipulation of cloth remains challenging for robotics due to the complex dynamics of the cloth, lack of a low-dimensional state representation, and self-occlusions. In contrast to previous model-based approaches that learn a pixel-based dynamics model or a compressed latent vector dynamics, we propose to learn a particle-based dynamics model from a partial point cloud observation. To overcome the challenges of partial observability, we infer which visible points are connected on the underlying cloth mesh. We then learn a dynamics model over this visible connectivity graph. Compared to previous learning-based approaches, our model poses strong inductive bias with its particle based representation for learning the underlying cloth physics; it is invariant to visual features; and the predictions can be more easily visualized. We show that our method greatly outperforms previous state-of-the-art model-based and model-free reinforcement learning methods in simulation. Furthermore, we demonstrate zero-shot sim-to-real transfer where we deploy the model trained in simulation on a Franka arm and show that the model can successfully smooth different types of cloth from crumpled configurations. Videos can be found on our project website.
A People’s Biography: Ada El’evna Raichonak and Her Hermanavichy

Niniejszy artykul poddaje analizie doświadczenie Żydow w dawnej Strefie Osiedlenczej przez pryzmat indywidualnej biografii osadzonej w XX wieku i rozpatrywanej w szerszym kontekście kulturowym i historycznym. Analiza ta, oparta na roznorodnych źrodlach, w tym na wywiadach, pokazuje, jak bardzo opis jednostkowych losow wymyka sie latwej kategoryzacji, a badania biograficzne wymagają zniuansowanego podejścia do ich przedmiotu.
The Association Between NRMN STAR Grantsmanship Self-Efficacy and Grant Submission.

Background Eliminating the NIH funding gap among underrepresented minorities (URMs) remains a high priority for the National Institutes of Health. In 2014, the National Research Mentoring Network1 Steps Toward Academic Research (NRMN STAR) program recruited postdoctoral, early-stage and junior faculty to participate in a 12-month grant writing and professional development program. The expectation of the program was to increase the number of grant submissions and awards to URM researchers. Although receiving a grant award is the gold standard of NRMN STAR, instilling confidence for postdocs and early-stage faculty to submit an application is a critical first step. Based on our previous study, a sustained increase in trainee self-efficacy score over a 24-month period was observed after completing NRMN STAR. Methods The current study sought to determine the association between self-efficacy score and grant submissions among two cohorts of trainees. Grantsmanship Self-Efficacy was measured using a 19-item questionnaire previously described by and used in our own work, which was originally adapted from an 88-item Clinical Research Appraisal Inventory.2 A binary variable was created to identify trainees who submitted an initial or revised proposal vs those who abandoned their proposal or were still writing. Trainees were assessed prior to and following program completion with subsequent assessments at 6 and 12 months beyond participation. Results As of June 20, 2019, 12 of the 21 (57%) trainees had submitted a grant proposal (eg, NIH, other federal or non-federal grant). For every point increase in 12-month post assessments, Grantsmanship Self-Efficacy scores across all domains had a 44% higher prevalence of submitting a grant after controlling for race, sex, education level, academic rank, research experience, duration of postdoctoral training, institution type, and NRMN STAR cohort. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that NRMN STAR had a positive impact on trainees' confidence in grant writing and professional development activities, which resulted in higher grant submission rates.
Measurement and Modeling of the effects of exhaust composition and hydrothermal aging on the ammonia storage capacity of a commercial Cu-SSZ-13 catalyst

Abstract Copper exchanged chabazites are among the state-of-the-art catalyst materials being studied for selective catalytic reduction of NOx, however, there is still a need to understand how these materials store ammonia after aging. In this work, studies are performed to assess the ammonia storage capacity of Cu-SSZ-13 as a function of concentration, temperature, and extent of hydrothermal aging. Ammonia binds at three difference sites: (i) a Cu site bound at 1 framework Al (Z1Cu site), (ii) a Cu site bound at 2 framework Al (Z2Cu site), and (iii) a Bronsted acid site (ZH site). Results show that a 3-site model can accurately capture ammonia storage across all conditions. Impacts for hydrothermal aging are considered via 3 aging reactions that change the site densities of each identified adsorption site. Model assessment shows that during aging there is a significant loss in Bronsted acid sites.
Development of Adaptive Behavior in Adolescents and Young Adults with Autism and Down Syndrome.

Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales were used to assess adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome or autism. Matched for verbal mental age (MA), the groups did not differ in adaptive behavior; however, older individuals with Down syndrome had more skills than did younger ones in all areas measured. Skills did not change for the autistic group. For persons with Down syndrome, adaptive skills kept pace with verbal and nonverbal MA, whereas those with autism were delayed in communication and socialization relative to their nonverbal MA.
Prolapse of the umbilical cord

Abstract Prolapse of the umbilical cord is a complication of parturition which frequently leads to fetal death. For purposes of this study, presentation of the cord is considered to be that condition in which the umbilical cord lies below the presenting fetal part with intact membranes, and prolapse as that condition in which the cord is discovered alongside of or below the presenting part with ruptured membranes. Sixty-three cases of prolapse of the cord occurred among 15,578 deliveries at the State University of Iowa Hospitals between Jan. 1, 1940, and Dec. 31, 1953. This represents an incidence of 0.4 per cent or a ratio of 1 to 250 deliveries. A collection of statistics from 24 different authors showed 4,296 prolapsed umbilical cords in 669,547 deliveries, which is a ratio of 1 to 156. In this review of the literature, the maximum incidence was 1 to 74 in 20,000 deliveries by Cragin 1 and the minimum, 1 to 1,018 by Doerr 2 in 25,461 deliveries.
Book Review: No Place To Hide

O'Harrow, R., Jr. (2006). No Place To Hide. New York: Free Press. 352 pages, ISBN: 0-7432-8705-3 (paper), US$26 Reviewed by Gary C. Kessler (gary.kessler@champlain.edu) Personal privacy and the protection of personal identifying information are of concern to all of us. Innumerable articles and conferences address our loss of privacy, either through the sale of consumer databases or our own inattention. Opinions vary from "You have no privacy; get over it" to "This is the end of civil liberties as we know them." We teach people to safely maneuver on the Internet and minimize their exposure to bogus sites set up to steal their identity, warn users about the dangers of phishing and posting personal information on social network sites, use firewalls to protect our databases, and enact laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to protect information. (see PDF for full review)
Master Class in Evolutionary Modeling

Evolutionary Dynamics . Exploring the Equations of Life. By Martin A. Nowak . Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2006. 377 pp. $35, £22.95, €32.30. ISBN 0-674-02338-2. To further his case for studying living systems in the context of mathematical principles of evolutionary dynamics, the author presents a set of analytical tools and applies them to a range of illustrative problems.
The Unprincipled Randomization Principle in Economics and Medicine

Over the past decade randomized field experiments have gained prominence in the toolbox of economics and policy making. Yet randomization enthusiasts have paid little attention to the ethical issues, economic costs, and theoretical difficulties caused by the so called randomization principle. Randomized trials give placebos or no treatment at all to vulnerable individuals, withholding best treatments from the control group. Randomization has been proven to be less precise and less efficient than “Student’s” balanced alternatives - particularly when effect sizes and confounding from unobserved systematic effects are large. From medicine to economics, randomized trials are rarely if ever repeated. A good thing, perhaps, given that randomizers are willing to sacrifice the well-being of study participants in order to “learn”. We consider here the ethics and logic of that sacrifice. We present new evidence from a 25 question survey of randomization, statistical significance, and validity we applied to all the full length articles using randomization techniques and published in the American Economic Review, 2000-2009 and New England Journal of Medicine, 2000-2002. A study of history shows that today’s “principle” of randomization was fabricated out of nothing by R.A. Fisher, in a little known battle he waged in the 1920s against W.S. Gosset aka “Student”. We conclude that the most reliable ethical character of economics, Adam Smith’s “impartial spectator,” would not approve of randomized trials as practiced in economics and medicine.
Make New Friends and Keep the Old? Parasite Coinfection and Comorbidity in Homo sapiens

Hosts are commonly infected with multiple species of parasites and pathogens. These species may interact both directly, through competition for resources and establishment, and indirectly, by eliciting immune responses that may be agonistic or synergistic. During human evolution, hominin ancestors harbored multiple species of symbiotic microorganisms, including helminths. As proposed by the “hygiene hypothesis,” continuous exposure to these organisms may have favored the evolution of “tolerant” immune phenotypes. Conversely, in the absence of these organisms, immunodysregulation may become increasingly common, leading to inflammation, allergies, and autoimmune disorders. At the same time, coinfection resulting in increased infection susceptibility and morbidity is costly to host fitness. Understanding the consequences of multiple-species infection is therefore important for understanding human health in modern environments, as well as past selective pressures on human immune function.
How Sartre, Philosopher, Misreads Sartre, Novelist: Nausea and the Adventures of the Narrative Self

Sartre’s novel Nausea is frequently used as a venue for disputing the relevance of narrative to understanding life. Both MacIntyre (a proponent of narrative understanding) and Strawson (a critic of it) cite Roquentin’s claim that one must “live or tell” and suggest that the novel presents lived experience and storytelling as mutually exclusive. I contextualize Roquentin’s claim within the larger dramatic arc of the story and argue that the novel does not ultimately oppose narrative understanding, but instead invites a reframing of the questions of narrativity. The narrative structure of our lives is not simply given, but posited by us as part of the structure of purposeful activity. Along the way I compare Roquentin’s notion of “adventures” to Simmel’s of the same name and defend the philosophical usefulness of novels more generally.
Cloning and sequencing of the cell division gene pbpB, which encodes penicillin-binding protein 2B in Bacillus subtilis.

Abstract The pbpB gene, which encodes penicillin-binding protein (PBP) 2B of Bacillus subtilis, has been cloned, sequenced, mapped, and mutagenized. The sequence of PBP 2B places it among the class B high-molecular-weight PBPs. It appears to contain three functional domains: an N-terminal domain homologous to the corresponding domain of other class B PBPs, a penicillin-binding domain, and a lengthy carboxy extension. The PBP has a noncleaved signal sequence at its N terminus that presumably serves as its anchor in the cell membrane. Previous studies led to the hypothesis that PBP 2B is required for both vegetative cell division and sporulation septation. Its sequence, map site, and mutant phenotype support this hypothesis. PBP 2B is homologous to PBP 3, the cell division protein encoded by pbpB of Escherichia coli. Moreover, both pbpB genes are located in the same relative position within a cluster of cell division and cell wall genes on their respective chromosomes. However, immediately adjacent to the B. subtilis pbpB gene is spoVD, which appears to be a sporulation-specific homolog of pbpB. Inactivation of SpoVD blocked synthesis of the cortical peptidoglycan in the spore, whereas carboxy truncation of PBP 2B caused cells to grow as filaments. Thus, it appears that a gene duplication has occurred in B. subtilis and that one PBP has evolved to serve a common role in septation during both vegetative growth and sporulation, whereas the other PBP serves a specialized role in sporulation.
Content-Based Access Control: Use data content to assist access control for large-scale content-centric databases

In conventional database access control models, access control policies are explicitly specified for each role against each data object. In large-scale content-centric data sharing, it might be difficult to explicitly identify accessible records for each role/user, especially when the semantic content of data is expected to play a role in access decisions. As a result, users are often over-privileged, and ex post facto auditing is enforced to detect misuse of the privileges. Unfortunately, it is usually difficult to reverse the damage, as (large amount of) data has been disclosed already. In this paper, we introduce Content-Based Access Control (CBAC), an innovative access control model for content-centric information sharing. CBAC is expected to be deployed on top of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) or Multi-level Security (MLS), in the application scenarios where RBAC and MLS will give excessive access rights. As a complement to conventional access control models, the CBAC model makes access control decisions based on the content similarity. In CBAC, each user is allowed by an MLS or RBAC rule to access a large set of data objects, while the CBAC rule imposes an additional layer of restrictions that the user could only access “a subset” of the designated records. The boundary of the subset is dynamically determined by the textual content of data objects. We then present an enforcement mechanism for CBAC that exploits Oracle's Virtual Private Database (VPD). To further improve the performance of the proposed approach, we introduce a content-based blocking mechanism to improve the efficiency of CBAC enforcement. We also develop a content annotation mechanism for more accurate textual content matching for short text snippets. Experimental results show that CBAC makes reasonable access control decisions with a small overhead.
Determination of molybdenum and enriched Mo stable isotope concentrations in human blood plasma by isotope dilution ICP-MS

An isotope dilution method was developed to measure total molybdenum and molybdenum stable isotope concentrations in 0.5 mL of human blood plasma by ICP-MS. To minimize contamination, a microwave digestion method was developed without molybdenum separation. Plasma aliquots were weighed into PTFE beakers placed on supporting PTFE beakers inside PFA liners, adding 1.4 mL HNO3 to the plasma and 8 mL HNO3 to the liner base. The samples were digested in five 10-min steps under pressure control from 20 to 100 psi. Repeated microwave digestions of the liners and beakers reduced processing blanks from 6.6 to 0.03 ng Mo. The samples were analyzed by ICP-MS. Analysis of a reference human serum produced an average molybdenum concentration of 1.02 ± 0.12 µg L−1versus the informational value of 1.07 ± 0.04 µg L−1. Total Mo and 97Mo were measured in plasma collected from a human subject following intravenous adminstration of 33 µg 97Mo, with concentration RSDs <2% for ten replicates. This ICP-MS isotope dilution method with microwave digestion can be used to determine the total molybdenum and molybdenum stable isotope concentrations in as little as 0.5 mL of human blood plasma, allowing the measurement of the appearance of molybdenum stable isotope tracers in the blood.
Patients' Perspective about Risks and Benefits of Treatment for Peripheral Arterial Disease

Abstract Purpose To report the results of a standard gamble-type survey conducted to explore patients' heuristics in regard to therapy for peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Materials and Methods Patients presenting to a vascular and interventional radiology practice because of suspected PAD were asked to indicate their threshold for risk of amputation during a curative procedure for intermittent claudication (IC) and for risk of death from a curative medication for critical limb ischemia (CLI). Possible relationships of risk threshold with age, gender, ankle-brachial index (ABI), and functional claudication distance were assessed with univariate statistics followed by multivariable generalized linear mixed models of risk acceptance at various risk levels. Results Study participants were 20 patients (40% women), with median age of 64 years, functional claudication distance of 1 block, and ABI of 0.72. In the IC scenario, up to 1% risk of above-knee amputation was found to be the median risk acceptable to patients for undergoing a curative procedure. In the CLI scenario, the median risk acceptance for mortality from a curative medication was up to 1%. The multivariable model for the IC scenario revealed significantly greater acceptance of risk at a given level among older patients and women. No significant predictor was delineated by the multivariable model for the CLI scenario. Conclusions Overall, patients have a low threshold for complications of PAD therapy, consistent with endovascular but not with open surgical strategies. However, considerable variation in preferences underlines the value of individualized treatment strategies.
Cutaneous manifestations of aids in adults and infants

Abstract The causative agent of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), an agent which belongs to the family of retroviruses. This virus has an affinity for thymus-derived lymphocytes of the helper/inducer phenotype; although other cells including Langerhans cells in the skin have been shown to harbor the virus. AIDS results from a quantitative and qualitative reduction in circulating T-helper lymphocytes. Even though there have been over 100,000 reported cases of AIDS worldwide, this probably represents gross under-reporting. It is estimated that 5 to 10 million persons have been infected with the HIV virus. In the United States, there have been more than 55,000 cases reported, which probably represents 1.5 million individuals infected by HIV. The modes of transmission of AIDS have changed little since its recognition in the early 1980s. Different patterns of distribution have been noted. One is seen in developed countries where HIV is transmitted predominantly by homosexual and bisexual contact. Transmission also follows the use of parenteral drugs while transmission by contaminated blood products occurs rarely. The second pattern of transmission is seen in less developed areas and occurs primarily through heterosexual contact. The use of skin-piercing instruments may also contribute to the transmission of this disease. In these areas, perinatal transmission is very important. The third pattern occurs in some areas of North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, where the incidence of HIV infection is low and the disease has only been recently identified. The dermatological manifestations of AIDS are multiple and their recognition is increasing. Some of these findings (such as seborrheic dermatitis) have been considered as specific and consistent indicators of AIDS. The frequency of skin manifestations with AIDS is high and can affect up to 98% of those infected by HIV. This article emphasizes the various forms of skin involvement which are associated with HIV infection. It is most important to realize that HIV-infected individuals manifest extensive cutaneous disease, that common skin conditions can present in unusual forms, and that serious systemic infections can present initially in the skin.
Activity-dependent Changes in GAD and Preprotachykinin mRNAs in Visual Cortex of Adult Monkeys

Tachykinin-immunoreactive neurons are a subgroup of the GABA neuronal population in layer IVC of monkey primary visual cortex. Following brief periods of monocular deprivation in adult monkeys, immunoreactivity for both GABA and tachykinins is dramatically reduced in layer IV cells that lie within the deprived ocular dominance columns of this cortical area. The present study shows that these activity-dependent changes are associated with changes in mRNA levels but over different time courses. Radioactive antisense riboprobes derived from monkey-specific cDNAs were used to localize glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and beta-preprotachykinin (beta PPT) mRNAs by in situ hybridization histochemistry. GAD and beta PPT mRNAs decreased in deprived ocular dominance columns of adult monkeys when neural activity was abolished in one eye by intraocular injections of tetrodotoxin (TTX). beta PPT mRNA levels fell within 5 d of deprivation and thus appeared to parallel the fall in immunodetectable tachykinin levels. By contrast, reduced GAD mRNA levels were detectable only after 15 d of deprivation and long after the fall in immunoreactive GAD and GABA levels has maximized. These results suggest that tachykinin gene expression is regulated by transcriptional mechanisms as part of the first response to reduced neural activity whereas the initial downregulation of immunoreactive GAD and GABA depends on posttranscriptional mechanisms. Following a more prolonged period of deprivation, a secondary mechanism for GAD regulation appears to be engaged at the level of gene transcription or possibly by changes in mRNA stability.
A comparative analysis of nations with low and high levels of violent crime

The great majority of cross-national crime research has used quantitative analysis of large-n samples or qualitative case studies of one or two nations. Data quality problems make the results of the large-n studies problematic, while lack of generality limits the usefulness of case studies. This study included enough nations to allow results that have some generality of findings and yet few enough nations to allow for better data verification and greater in-depth analysis. Six low violent crime (LVC) nations were compared and contrasted with six high violent crime (HVC) nations. Analysis resulted in five categories of factors that effectively distinguish LVC from HVC nations: social integration versus disorganization, economic stress versus support, care versus abuse of children, official/approved violence, and the degrees of corruption and efficiency of the criminal justice system. Using structural and cultural contexts relevant to violent crime, these factors were integrated into a model of cross-national violent crime variation.