cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Memory and the developing brain: are insights from cognitive neuroscience applicable to education?

In this paper we present a succinct overview of the current knowledge about the neural correlates of memory development. Behavioral evidence strongly supports the view that developmental effects are specific to memory that is complex, and rich in contextual details. Neuroimaging evidence supports an emerging view that stability and change in memory functioning across age reflects the structural and functional maturation of the brain regions that support memory, particularly regions in the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal lobe. Recent research efforts using functional neuroimaging have been directed to test hypotheses about the neural basis of age-related difference in memory capacities, prior knowledge, and effective use of strategies and metacognitive abilities. Additionally, we review recent evidence about how the development of the brain may set specific limits on, and present certain opportunities for, memory functioning. Finally, we discuss the challenges in applying insights from investigations into the neural basis of memory development to educational practices. We conclude that even though we have learned a great deal about the neural correlates of memory development, there are still several critical limitations in applying this knowledge to educational practices.
Should We Aim for Full Enteral Feeding in the First Week of Critical Illness

Recent clinical trials have challenged the concept that aggressive full feeding as close to goal requirements as possible is necessary in the first week following admission to the intensive care unit. While the data suggesting that permissive underfeeding is better than full feeds are methodologically flawed, other data do indicate that in certain well-defined patient populations, outcomes may be similar. The most important issues for clinicians in determining optimal nutrition therapy for critically ill patients are to carefully determine nutrition risk and differentiate nutrition from nonnutrition benefits of early enteral feeding. Management decisions in the first week of hospitalization should be made in the context of both short- and long-term outcomes. Patients at highest nutrition risk may require advancement to goal feeds as soon as tolerated to maximize benefit from nutrition therapy.
Subject Know Thyself? Comparing Self-Reported and Observed Emotions and Their Influence on Political Attitudes

Do subjects’ self-reports of emotion correspond to observable evidence of emotion when subjects are exposed to complex emotional stimuli such as video news reports? We explore the answer to this question with a pilot study that uses software that machine codes facial expressions of subjects to detect discrete emotions. Subjects were randomized to receive a positive, situationally-framed news story about drone warfare or a negative episodically-framed news story about drone warfare followed by a series of standard emotion self-report questions. The data produced by automated facial action coding permits a set of nuanced tests to link the ordering complex stimuli to self-reports of emotion and to subsequent opinions about drone warfare. We find evidence that self-reports and observed emotions are weakly related and observed emotion predicts attitudes about drone warfare independent of self-reports. This suggests that self-reports, while useful, do not capture the full extent of emotional experiences that shape political attitudes.
PARSIMONY AND EFFICIENCY

The principle of parsimony recommends that from among theories fitting the data equally well, scientists choose the simplest theory. It has four common names, also being called the principle of simplicity, the principle of economy, and Ockham's razor (with Ockham sometimes latinized as Occam). This book's account of science's evidence, which is the “E” portion of the PEL model, takes the form primarily of this chapter's detailed analysis of parsimony. Mere data or observations become evidence when they are brought to bear on hypotheses or theories. This impact of data on theory is guided by several criteria, including the fit of the data with the theory and the parsimony of the theory. Most aspects of evidence are rather obvious to scientists and most evidence is gathered by means of specialized techniques used only within a given discipline. Accordingly, most of what needs to be said about scientific evidence is in the domain of specialized disciplines rather than general principles. However, the one great exception is parsimony, which is not obvious to many scientists, and yet considerations of parsimony pervade all of the sciences, so it is among science's general principles.
Vesicular rash in a newborn girl

The appearance and pattern of this child's rash led us to suspect a rare diagnosis. The findings of a cutaneous biopsy confirmed it.
Using Twitter for Student Learning & Connecting with Scientists

Class discussion can be a valuable way to meet educational standards and make student ideas visible. Tools like Twitter can be used to encourage discussion both in and outside of class. In this article, we provide (1) a concise explanation of Twitter and its use (including a comparison to similar digital communication tools); (2) a brief overview of educational gains and experiences in using Twitter; and (3) a step-by-step introduction to conducting Twitter discussions using hashtags. We conclude with an introduction to #scistuchat, a monthly Twitter discussion between scientists and students that addresses many of the core ideas in the biological sciences. We invite instructors to join this ongoing discussion series or use the ideas within this paper to begin their own discussion groups on social media.
Exploring the Chronic Illness Experience of Rural-Dwelling Latinos of Mexican Origin:

Introduction:Chronic illness is a complex and ever-growing phenomenon that is affecting millions of Americans every day, and it is disproportionately experienced by Latinos of Mexican origin.Method...
Comparative incorporation of S35 l-cystine and S35 sodium sulfate by normal and leukemic leukocytes.

1. Certain differences are demonstrated in the metabolic turnover of l-cystine sulfur and inorganic sulfur by normal and leukemic leukocytes. These differences are apparent both in vivo and in vitro and may be associated with factors peculiar to the metabolism of leukemic leukocytes. 2. The incorporation of S 35 l-cystine or S 35 sodium sulfate by leukocytes appears to be associated primarily with the presence of immature granulocytes. 3. Both l-cystine (or l-cysteine) and sulfate may be of importance in the metabolism of leukocytes.
Preventing and Intervening with Bullying in Schools: A Framework for Evidence-Based Practice

Bullying is a pervasive problem that impacts children and youth in schools involved as perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. This paper synthesizes findings from the empirical literature, including meta-analyses, to examine the evidence for bullying prevention and intervention approaches with attention to developmental levels (preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school). Approaches and their evidence are described using a multi-tiered framework of universal prevention and more targeted and indicated prevention for the roles in bullying (perpetrators, victims, bystanders). The role of school mental health providers in comprehensive bullying prevention and intervention efforts is explicated. Challenges in the field and future directions for research, including the need for more methodologically rigorous studies assessing fidelity and using appropriate measurement, attending to the role of technology in bullying, and evaluating targeted and indicated interventions with bullying perpetrators and victims, are provided.
High Prevalence of Undiagnosed Insulin Resistance in Non-Diabetic Subjects with Parkinson's Disease.

BACKGROUND Reduced glucose tolerance has been long recognized as a potential risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD), and increasing scrutiny is currently being placed on insulin resistance (IR) as a pathologic driver of neurodegeneration. However, the prevalence of IR in PD is unknown. OBJECTIVE To determine IR prevalence in non-diabetic patients with PD and to correlate IR with other metabolic indicators, motor and non-motor symptoms (NMS) of PD, and quality of life (QoL). METHODS Non-diabetic patients with a diagnosis of PD were identified and tested for fasting insulin, fasting glucose, and HbA1c. Patients were also offered to take a battery of clinical tests (MoCA, NMSQ, and PDQ-39) and had their PD medications, height, weight, and other demographic features recorded. IR was defined as HOMA-IR≥2.0 and/or HbA1c≥5.7. IR abnormalities were correlated with BMI and demographic features, in addition to motor and NMS. RESULTS 154 subjects (109 M, 45F, mean age 67.7±10.5) were included in this study. Mean HOMA-IR was 2.3±1.8. Ninety out of 154 (58.4%) subjects had abnormal IR. IR was more frequent in overweight and obese subjects (61.1% and 82.8% respectively) than normal weight subjects (41.5%). Multivariate analysis showed that BMI was the only significant predictor of IR (p < 0.0001). There was no significant correlation between HOMA-IR and MoCA, PDQ-39, and NMSQ scores. CONCLUSIONS IR is prevalent in PD and it correlates with BMI. A correlation between IR with cognitive and QoL measures cannot be determined on the basis of this sample.
The Individual Chlorobiphenyls

The 209 individual chlorobiphenyls (CBs) have been listed in Appendix Table 1 by structures and B & Z designations which approximate IUPAC numbers. The average percent compositions of important Aroclors are presented in Appendix Table 2. Congener proportions in individual Aroclors are discussed in more detail in Section 2.3. Sample properties of the 209 congeners are presented in Appendix Table 3. Estimates of relative proportions of congeners produced as well as additional Aroclor compositions are given in Appendix Table 4.
Kalman’s Controllability Rank Condition: From Linear to Nonlinear

The notion of controllability was identified by Kalman as one of the central properties determining system behavior. His simple rank condition is ubiquitous in linear systems analysis. This article presents an elementary and expository overview of the generalizations of this test to a condition for testing accessibility of discrete and continuous time nonlinear systems.
Arginine Metabolism Regulates Nitric Oxide Production in Melanoma Tumor Microenvironment to Provide Survival Advantage to Tumor Cells

Abstract Over the last decade, remarkable progress has been made in the areas of targeted therapy and immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer patients. However, durable clinical benefit has occurred only in a subset of responding patients. In our field of melanoma, we believe that the arginine metabolism leads to nitric oxide (NO) production, resulting in marker and functional changes in both melanoma and the microenvironmental cells, including potential effector T lymphocytes, concurrently suppressing the local immune response. Arginine metabolism is dependent on the activity of the families of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and arginase (ARG) enzymes. NOS oxidizes arginine to citrulline and NO, and ARG hydrolyzes arginine into ornithine and urea. NO can react with oxides to form peroxynitrite (NO3−) that rapidly forms two posttranslational modifications (PTMs) on proteins, nitrosylation of thiols (SNO) and nitration of tyrosines (NT). We and others have shown the expression of the inducible isoform of NOS enzyme (iNOS) in many human tumors, including melanoma. ARG1 activity has also been shown to be associated with the M2-polarized, protumoral tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Collectively, ARG and NOS enzymes metabolize arginine and are crucial components of immune suppression pathways, and the metabolic products of these enzymes are important moderators of T-cell function in cancer.
Targeting Src/Stat-3/HIF-1α by soy isoflavones for radiosensitization of prostate cancer

418 We have shown that soy isoflavones act as potent radiosensitizers of prostate cancer (PCa). Pre-treatment with soy isoflavones enhanced cell killing of PC-3 human PCa cells by radiation in vitro and in vivo in an orthotopic PC-3/nude mouse model leading to more effective prostate tumor growth inhibition than each modality alone. We found that soy isoflavones inhibit the radiation-induced DNA binding activity of the transcription factor NF-κB and apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease 1/redox factor-1 (APE1/Ref-1) expression, two major signaling molecules involved in cell survival signaling pathways. In addition to its role as a DNA repair enzyme, APE1/Ref-1 also functions as a redox activator of multiple cellular transcription factors, including NF-κB and HIF-1α. APE1/Ref-1, NF-κB and HIF-1α are upregulated by radiation and are all implicated in radioresistance of cancer cells. Initial studies in the orthotopic PC-3 tumor model showed that prostate tumors treated with radiation express HIF-1α but this expression is reduced following combined treatment with soy and radiation. Based on these findings, we explored the effect of soy isoflavones on HIF-1α and its upstream signaling molecules Src and Stat-3. We also tested whether alterations of the Src/Stat-3/HIF-1α signaling pathway by soy is involved in radiosensitization of PCa. PC-3 cells were pre-treated with soy isoflavones in vitro, then irradiated and processed for protein extraction to test for signaling molecule expression or NF-κB and HIF-1α DNA binding activity by western blot analysis and EMSA. We found that radiation induced phosphorylation of Src and Stat-3 leading to induction of HIF-1α whereas soy isoflavones did not activate this pathway. Furthermore, we demonstrated that activation of the Src/Stat-3/HIF-1α signaling pathway by radiation was inhibited by pre-treatment with soy isoflavones. These data correlated with decreased expression of APE1/Ref-1 and decreased DNA binding activity of NF-κB and HIF-1α resulting in increased cell killing by combined soy isoflavones and radiation treatment. Our studies suggest that soy isoflavones alter the Src signaling pathway and could enhance radiosensitivity of PCa cells by inhibiting radiation-induced HIF-1α expression and activity. Moreover soy isoflavones inhibition of expression of APE1/Ref-1 could lead to decreased redox activity of NF-κB and HIF-1α affecting their DNA binding activity, as demonstrated in our studies. Because both transcription factors are involved in transcription of genes essential for tumor growth, angiogenesis and invasion and are upregulated in response to radiation, soy isoflavones inhibition of these cell survival pathways could potentially radiosensitize cancer cells and increase cell killing. This novel approach using safe dietary agents to enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy is relevant for the design of new clinical strategies for prostate cancer.
Parallel magnetic resonance image reconstruction from a single-element parametric amplifier.

Abstract In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), acquisition speed is always an important issue. In this paper, we propose a promising technique to achieve parallel MRI (pMRI) on a single-channel spectrometer, using a novel Wireless Amplified Nuclear MR Detector (WAND) for spatial encoding in image reconstruction. For this, a planar structure double frequency WAND is designed and fabricated, where two of its frequencies - ‘signal’, ω1 and ‘idler’, ω2 are effectively utilized as two separate “channels” for accelerated acquisition. We provided a thorough background needed for the method and subsequently parallel imaging algorithms. Sum-of-Squares (SoS) reconstruction and GeneRalized Autocalibrating Partially Parallel Acquisition (GRAPPA) reconstruction are used to reconstruct as well as to analyze the SNR in the resulting images and validate our hypothesis. Experimental results using phantom datasets demonstrate that the proposed method of parallel imaging yield a better sensitivity for the combined images (‘idler’ + ‘signal’) than the sensitivity acquired for each individual image and thus significantly improving the reconstruction quality with optimal signal-to-noise ratio. We also demonstrated the achievable acceleration factor of this approach.
Racial Disparities in Blood Pressure Treatment and Control in US Heart Failure Patients: National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 1999-2016

Background Treatment and control of blood pressure (BP) may improve outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF) with preserved and reduced ejection fraction. Updated AHA/ACC/HFSA guidelines from 2017 added a recommendation to target a systolic BP less than 130mm Hg for those with Stage C HF regardless of ejection fraction (Class of recommendation I, level of evidence C). Nationally representative data regarding rates of BP treatment and control in ambulatory HF patients are needed to identify gaps in achieving this goal and determine if racial disparities exist. Hypothesis Treatment and control rates of BP are low in those with HF and vary by race. Methods We evaluated BP treatment and control rates in adults age ≥20 years who identified as non-Hispanic (NH) black, NH white, or Hispanic with self-reported HF from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) 1999-2016. We determined prevalence rates of BP treatment and control by race. Control BP (for those on BP treatment) or goal BP (for those not on BP treatment) was defined as Results Among 1240 adults with HF, mean age was 66±0.5 years and 48% were female, 14% NH black, 9% Hispanic, and 69% were on BP treatment. Rate of BP treatment was highest in NH blacks (82%) compared with NH whites (65%) or Hispanics (55%) (p Conclusions Despite the fact that patients with HF constitute a high-risk population, we found low rates of BP treatment and control (defined by
Subarachnoid Hemorrhage as Result of Retrocorporeal Artery Aneurysm Rupture: Rare Sequel of Subclavian Steal Syndrome.

Background Subclavian steal phenomenon can cause retrograde flow in the vertebral artery as a result of ipsilateral occlusion of the subclavian artery. This phenomenon has various clinical presentations, such as claudication of the affected extremity or intermittent vertebrobasilar ischemia. Aneurysm formation in the spinal cord circulation is exceptionally rare but may occur secondary to collateral formation in subclavian steal syndrome. Case Description The case presented herein is a 53-year-old male who presented with headache and severe neck pain. Imaging studies revealed that the patient had subarachnoid hemorrhage in the perimedullary and cervicomedullary cisterns and extending to C3-C7 ventrally. Computed tomography angiography reconstruction demonstrated an aneurysmally dilated vessel dorsal to the C6 vertebral body within the spinal canal. Catheter-based angiography of the right subclavian artery demonstrated retrograde flow within the left vertebral artery and confirmed proximal left subclavian artery occlusion, findings diagnostic of subclavian steal. Further, a branch of the right thyrocervical trunk supplied a retrocorporeal artery collateral to the left vertebral artery, which also contributed to the anterior spinal artery. Conclusions After endovascular coiling of the aneurysm, the patient had no neurologic deficits or postoperative complications. Postoperative angiography revealed complete obliteration with no residual aneurysm. Imaging further demonstrated patency of the radiculomedullary (anterior spinal) artery.
TACO and TRALI: visualising transfusion lung injury on plain film.

A 63-year-old woman with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus was admitted to the intensive care unit for increased respiratory support following large-volume fluid administration to treat diabetic ketoacidosis. The patient was intubated and diagnosed with mild acute respiratory distress
Cognitive Behavior Therapy Tailored to Anxiety Symptoms Improves Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain Outcomes: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objectives To evaluate the feasibility of a stepped care model, and establish the effect of a tailored cognitive behavioral therapy, the Aim to Decrease Anxiety and Pain Treatment (ADAPT), compared with standard medical treatment as usual on pain-related outcomes and anxiety. Study design Eligible patients between the ages of 9 and 14 years with functional abdominal pain disorders (n = 139) received enhanced usual care during their medical visit to a gastroenterologist. Those that failed to respond to enhanced usual care were randomized to receive either a tailored cognitive behavioral therapy (ADAPT) plus medical treatment as usual, or medical treatment as usual only. ADAPT dose (4 sessions of pain management or 6 sessions of pain and anxiety management) was based on presence of clinically significant anxiety. Outcomes included feasibility, based on recruitment and retention rates. Response to ADAPT plus medical treatment as usual vs medical treatment as usual on pain-related outcomes and anxiety measures was also investigated using a structural equation modeling equivalent of a MANCOVA. Anxiety levels and ADAPT dose as moderators of treatment effects were also explored. Results Based on recruitment and retention rates, stepped care was feasible. Enhanced usual care was effective for only 8% of youth. Participants randomized to ADAPT plus medical treatment as usual showed significantly greater improvements in pain-related disability, but not pain levels, and greater improvements in anxiety symptoms compared with those randomized to medical treatment as usual only. Anxiety and ADAPT treatment dose did not moderate the effect of treatment on disability nor pain. Conclusions Tailoring care based on patient need may be optimal for maximizing the use of limited psychotherapeutic resources while enhancing care. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT03134950 .
The Utility of Self-Determination Theory in Predicting Transition Readiness in Adolescents With Special Healthcare Needs.

Abstract Purpose Adolescents and young adults with chronic health conditions must learn skills to successfully manage their health as they prepare to transition into adult-based care. Self-determination theory (SDT), an empirically based theory of human motivation, posits that competence (feeling effective), autonomy (volition to perform behaviors), and relatedness (support for autonomy from others) influence behavioral change. This study evaluates the utility of SDT constructs in predicting transition readiness among adolescents and young adults recruited into an intervention to promote successful healthcare transition. Methods Baseline assessments were completed by 137 patients aged 17–23 years recruited from pediatric renal, gastroenterology, or rheumatology clinical services. Surveys measured transition readiness (Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire) as well as SDT constructs, including competence (Patient Activation Measure); provider relatedness and parent autonomy support (Health Care Climate Questionnaire); and health care–related autonomy (Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire). Relationships between SDT constructs and transition readiness were evaluated using linear regression. Results Between 44 and 48 participants were recruited from each service. Bivariate correlation coefficients between transition readiness and SDT constructs were competence (r = .44), autonomous autonomy (r = .34), controlled autonomy (r = .27), provider relatedness (r = .46), and parental autonomy support (r = .35) (p Conclusions Findings from this cross-sectional study support the utility of SDT constructs in promoting transition readiness among adolescents and young adults with chronic conditions, underscoring the importance of building competence and provider support for autonomy during this critical period.
An Intelligent Conversational Agent for Promoting Long-Term Health Behavior Change Using Motivational Interviewing.

We present a conversational agent designed as a virtual counselor for health behavior change. The agent incorporates techniques drawn from Motivational Interviewing to enhance client motivation and confidence to change; these techniques are modeled and implemented based on a domain-specific taxonomy of dialogue acts. We discuss the design and preliminary evaluation of the agent.
A Comparative Study of Histochemical Patterns in Non-Neoplastic and Neoplastic Gastric Epithelium

Gastric disease in the Japanese people of Hawaii has distinct characteristics which distinguish it from that encountered in other racial groups in these islands. Benign gastric ulcer is very common and gastric cancer is their most common malignant neoplasm. They very rarely suffer from pernicious anemia, a known precursor of gastric carcinoma. This disease pattern more closely resembles that of native Japanese than that of Caucasians in the United States and Northern Europe. This histochemical investigation is part of a parallel study of the clinical, epidemiological and pathological characteristics of gastric cancer in native and migrant Japanese3. It was undertaken to determine whether the cells of stomach cancers occurring in these people might show any distinctive characteristics and whether these characteristics might indicate the nonneoplastic gastric cell from which they are derived.
The Women's Health Initiative—Data and Discussion

Publisher Summary The overarching purpose of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of three commonly used preventive health interventions: postmenopausal hormone therapy, low-fat diet, and calcium plus vitamin D supplementation. The trial interventions were potentially beneficial for the majority of postmenopausal women regardless of age. Further, because all major outcomes of the study are more common with aging, it was important to include the older, more susceptible population for greater power in the data analysis. Healthy women aged between 50 to 79 were enrolled. This chapter provides a detailed explanation of the rationale for the study design. Results from the two HT arms are not congruent on all primary end points. The statistically significant beneficial findings in both arms of the hormone trial include the decreased risk of hip fracture, prevention of coronary heart disease, and increased risk of stroke. The WHI Low-Fat Dietary Modification study was designed to test the hypothesis that lowering total fat intake would reduce the risk of breast and colorectal cancer in postmenopausal women. A secondary end point is the effect of low-fat diet on cardiovascular disease. The WHI Observation Trial is comprised of 93,676 women. It is yet another extensive source of biospecimens for the study of disease markers.
Children & Their Culture - The O'Reilly Factor For Kids: A Plunge Into "The No Spin Zone"

This article discusses one example of the recent phenomena of media celebrities "authoring" books for children. It is offered as an opinion by the author, who is researching celebrity writing for children and wanted to do a little self-expression in a non-academic form. In a world that is increasingly polarized, media celebrities can be used to support the propaganda of extreme thinkers of all types.
Integration of wiring transmission and volume transmission.

Publisher Summary Wiring transmission is the main form of chemical communication in the brain under most physiological conditions. However, substantial opportunity would seem to exist for the localized diffusion of transmitter, and transmitted-elicited signals, such as gases, to the releasing pre-synaptic terminal or to adjacent terminals within the immediate locale. These aspects are investigated in the chapter. Evidence for functionally meaningful diffusion of peptides to more remote targets is much more difficult to accept without some new principles by which such trans-synaptic cross-talk can be viewed as other than background noise. Under physiological conditions, lipid mediators, such as arachidonic acid, anadamide, and oleamide may well diffuse long distances, as certainly do the neurosteroids, adrenal steroids, and gonadal steroids. However, such distant actions for these mediators are still circumscribed to selected responsive neurons by the restricted expression of their receptors. Lastly, under pathological conditions, such as brain infections, hypoxia or injury, cytokines can interfere with wiring transmission, and these effects are most easily explained by attribution to volume transmission channels.
Analytical Dynamics: A New Approach

Preface 1. Introduction 2. Matrix algebra 3. The fundamental equation 4. Further applications 5. Elements of Lagrangian mechanics 6. The fundamental equation in generalized coordinates 7. Gauss's principle revisited 8. Connections among different approaches References Afterword Index.
Stakeholder Participation in New Governance: Lessons from Chicago's Public Housing Reform Experiment

The efficacy of the public-private partnership as a tool for social reform is the subject of continued scholarly and public debate. New governance theory, an increasingly popular form of jurisprudence, constructs an optimistic vision of stakeholder collaboration in public - private partnerships that justifies the use of the public-private partnership in regulatory reform. New governance scholars contend that recent governance trends such as devolution, deregulation, decentralization, and privatization create opportunities for previously marginalized stakeholders to more fully participate in public problem-solving. New governance scholars expect that both public and private stakeholders, with differing interests, skills and objectives, will effectively collaborate to solve public problems in the absence of traditional formal legal protections. New governance’s implicit promise is that traditionally marginalized stakeholders, such as poor public housing residents, will be empowered as a result of their participation in social reform. This Article examines stakeholder participation in Chicago’s landmark ten year HOPE VI public housing reform experiment as a test of these claims. Chicago’s reform process is a national example as other cities replicate Chicago’s model. Specifically, this Article examines the effect of social fissures along race, class and gender lines on the participation of public housing residents in Chicago’s urban reform plan. This micro-study of Chicago’s process reveals that empowered stakeholder participation is difficult to achieve under conditions of social conflict in the absence of traditional rights-based protections. This Article proposes a balance between 'hard-law' and 'soft-law' measures to provide a public law framework for future national HOPE VI reform. These recommendations may guide future new governance reform efforts that include traditionally marginalized stakeholders in public - private collaborations.
Clinical update for the diagnosis and treatment of Clostridium difficile infection

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) presents a rapidly evolving challenge in the battle against hospital-acquired infections. Recent advances in CDI diagnosis and management include rapid changes in diagnostic approach with the introduction of newer tests, such as detection of glutamate dehydrogenase in stool and polymerase chain reaction to detect the gene for toxin production, which will soon revolutionize the diagnostic approach to CDI. New medications and multiple medical society guidelines have introduced changing concepts in the definitions of severity of CDI and the choice of therapeutic agents, while rapid expansion of data on the efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation heralds a revolutionary change in the management of patients suffering multiple relapses of CDI. Through a comprehensive review of current medical literature, this article aims to offer an intensive review of the current state of CDI diagnosis, discuss the strengths and limitations of available laboratory tests, compare both current and future treatments options and offer recommendations for best practice strategies.
The City as Dialectic: Andrei Bely’s Creative Consciousness, Its Nietzschean Influence, and the Urban Center in Petersburg

In Petersburg (1916), Andrei Bely uses the space of the city to examine and attempt to reconfigure the persistent question of identity within the Russian consciousness. Bely’s awareness of St. Petersburg’s historical and national significance as a political nucleus compels him to work within the symbolic, drawing from various disciplines including mythology, philosophy, and mathematics. As Robert A. Maguire and John E. Malmstad suggest in the novel’s introduction, the city’s geographic positioning contributes to its greater cultural uncertainty; it pits the Neo-Kantian reason, structure, and order of the “West” against the alleged irrational, impalpable, and intuitive nature of the “East” (Bely viii). Bely’s urbanized creative consciousness can be contextualized by way of its origins in Western philosophy, particularly its Nietzschean influence and the idea of eternal return. Although his use and understanding of this concept fluctuated over the years, Bely interpreted Nietzsche’s notion of “return” as being creative, using it to describe the circularity of every artistic, philosophical, and literary endeavor (Maguire and Malmstad 103). By approaching Bely’s symbolism via its Nietzschean foundations, a better understanding can be gained regarding his use of the city’s geometric space in establishing a connection with the modern. Bely’s creative reading of Nietzsche facilitates his turn to the symbolic, and more critically, the novel’s enduring significance in his “diagnosis of modern culture” (Maguire and Malmstad 102). The amalgamation of Western philosophy, the modern novel, and the modern city ignited his examination and creation of Petersburg, as within this context, the symbolic rests in the act of creation. For Bely, the city and the text are interchangeable; both behave creatively as developmental centers for the modern. Likewise, his calculated and mathematical re-creation of St. Petersburg within the text allows it to operate as a public space for the articulation of Russia’s political and cultural anxiety.
Clutter reduction in rendering of particle (Atom) trajectories with adaptive position merging

Visualization of position-time series data from molecular dynamics simulations of a material has to render atomic trajectories, and relevant structural and dynamical information. Clutter/occlusion associated with overlapping trajectories becomes serious even for moderate data sizes. We present an adaptive hierarchical scheme for merging multiple positions along trajectories to significantly reduce the number of points/line segments used for rendering. Our approach finds positions lying within a space window (cut-off distance) from a reference position and merges them into a single position. The window is then moved in time order with merging performed at each successive location. All original positions are thus processed to a reduced number of new (merged) positions, which are further merged with the same or a different cut-off to obtain even fewer positions. This hierarchical merging may continue several levels deep. Moreover, merging can be performed subject to constraint of information, which is displayed (color-coded) along individual trajectories. Both the trajectory geometry and underlying atomic structure become increasingly visible after merging so the nature and extent of atomic arrangements and movements can be better assessed.
Generating political priority for global surgical care

Abstract Background Despite the high burden of surgical conditions, the provision of surgical services historically has been a low global health priority. Drawing on social science scholarship concerning how issues come to attract attention, we examined factors that have shaped political priority for global surgical care. Methods We drew on a published public policy framework that consists of four categories: (1) actor power, (2) issue framing, (3) the contexts within which actors operate, and (4) characteristics of the issue itself. We triangulated between several sources of data, including 30 semi-structured interviews with members of global surgical networks and Ministries of Health in low-income countries, published scholarly literature, and reports from organisations involved in surgery provision and advocacy. Findings Although surgical care has the potential to gain political priority, several factors hinder the acquisition of attention and resources. First, with respect to actor power, there is no policy community cohesion, unifying political entrepreneur, or mobilisation of civil society to champion the cause. The surgery community is fragmented and primarily composed of a small number of surgeons and anaesthesiologists concerned with the state of surgical care in low-income countries who have yet to collectively define their objectives and propose specific courses of action. Second, concerning framing, difficulties exist surrounding problem definition and positioning of surgical care, both internally among the surgical community and externally with political stakeholders. For example, an absence of consensus exists concerning what constitutes so-called essential surgery, and even whether that term should be used. Third, with respect to context, the community has made insufficient efforts to capitalise on political opportunities such as the Millennium Development Goals. Finally, concerning characteristics of the issue, there are few data to capture the burden of surgical diseases, which are needed to convince political leaders that surgery provision is a crucial, unmet need. Interpretation To advance global priority for surgery, proponents will need to surmount three challenges: (1) a weak governance structure that impedes achievement of collective goals; (2) disagreement on solutions; and (3) the absence of an effective public positioning of the issue. These findings have broad implications for understanding why some global health issues come to attract priority, while others remain neglected. Funding None.
On PAC learning of functions with smoothness properties using feedforward sigmoidal networks

We consider the problem of learning functions based on finite samples by using feedforward sigmoidal networks. The unknown function f is chosen from a family that has either bounded modulus of smoothness and/or bounded capacity. The sample is given by (X/sub 1/, f(X/sub 1/)), (X/sub 2/, f(X/sub 2/)), ...(X/sub n/, f(X/sub n/)). Where X/sub 1/, X/sub 2/, ..., X/sub n/, are independently and identically distributed according to an unknown distribution P/sub X/. General results guarantee the existence of a neural network, f/sub w/*, that best approximates f in terms of expected error. However, since both f and P/sub X/ are unknown, computing f/sub w/* is impossible in general. We propose to compute probability and approximately correct (PAC) approximations to f/sub w/*, based on alternative estimators, namely: 1) the nearest neighbor rule, 2) local averaging, and 3) Nadaraya-Watson estimators, all computed using the Haar system. We show that given a sufficiently large sample, each of these estimators guarantees a performance as close as desired to that of f/sub w/*. The practical importance of this result sterns from the fact that, unlike neural networks, the three estimators above are linear-time computable in terms of the sample size.
Modes of War and Modes of Social Address: The Text of SDI.

A detailed analysis of a television report explores the conjunction of the technologies of warfare and of communication that reveals cultural prototypes and creates a muster narrative for the strategic defense program.
Improving model fidelity and sensitivity for complex systems through empirical information theory

In many situations in contemporary science and engineering, the analysis and prediction of crucial phenomena occur often through complex dynamical equations that have significant model errors compared with the true signal in nature. Here, a systematic information theoretic framework is developed to improve model fidelity and sensitivity for complex systems including perturbation formulas and multimodel ensembles that can be utilized to improve both aspects of model error simultaneously. A suite of unambiguous test models is utilized to demonstrate facets of the proposed framework. These results include simple examples of imperfect models with perfect equilibrium statistical fidelity where there are intrinsic natural barriers to improving imperfect model sensitivity. Linear stochastic models with multiple spatiotemporal scales are utilized to demonstrate this information theoretic approach to equilibrium sensitivity, the role of increasing spatial resolution in the information metric for model error, and the ability of imperfect models to capture the true sensitivity. Finally, an instructive statistically nonlinear model with many degrees of freedom, mimicking the observed non-Gaussian statistical behavior of tracers in the atmosphere, with corresponding imperfect eddy-diffusivity parameterization models are utilized here. They demonstrate the important role of additional stochastic forcing of imperfect models in order to systematically improve the information theoretic measures of fidelity and sensitivity developed here.
Angiotensin II Receptors in Rabbit Vascular Grafts

New Zealand White rabbits were used as a model of autologous venous bypass grafting. A section of jugular vein was sutured into the divided common carotid artery. The animals were euthanized one month after surgery. At that time histopathology showed myointimal thickening of the graft segments. Angiotensin II receptor assays showed that the AT1 receptor was present in the grafts, concentrated in the intima. These localized receptors were shown to be similar to the prototypic vascular AT1 receptor through the use of the specific antagonist DuP 753.
Computer games as motivation for design patterns

We present a computer game case study that can be used to motivate the need for design patterns. Design patterns are often misunderstood, but good examples can motivate students to work at understanding patterns. Computer games are used in many books and online resources to teach programming concepts, but these examples are usually simplified or non-object-oriented. We present a simple game that exhibits functionality found in commercial games (animation, collision detection, etc.) and show how it can be used as a case study for design patterns. Specifically, we illustrate how the state, facade, observer, strategy, and visitor patterns can replace procedural approaches for implenting the logic and animation of game written in Java.
Analyses of under Pressure Polyacetylene Conductivity

Electrical measurements under increasing hydrostatic pressure (1–4000 [bar]) have shown that electrical conductivity is closely related to the iodine doping rate (0–14%) of polyacetylene (PA) films. In pristine PA, conductivity increases with pressure while in 14% iodinedoped PA it decreases. A most important result is noticed for an intermediate doping rate (1.5%). In fact, for sweeping of the range of pressure, conductivity decreases in the beginning and then increases with pressure augmentation. This change is located at a critical pressure Pc. An empirical formula was proposed to describe this behaviour. The aim of this work is to contribute to the greater understanding of the pressure effect on the transport mechanism and/or the nature of charge carriers.
Modulation of Rat Auditory Hair Cell Mechanotransduction Channel Resting Open Probability Implicates a Role for the Lipid Bilayer

The auditory system is the most sensitive mechanosensory system known, able to detect movement down to atomic dimensions (Bialek. 1987. Annu. Rev. Biophys. Biophys. Chem. 16: 455-478). This sensitivity is at least partly attributed to the mechanisms associated with gating of hair cell mechanotransduction (MET) channels, where at rest approximately 50% of the channels are open, positioning the channels at the steepest part of their activation curve (Johnson et al. 2011. Neuron 70, 1143-1154). Previously, a calcium-regulated adaptation process was thought to control the resting open probability of MET channels (Farris, Wells, and Ricci. 2006. J. Neurosci. 26: 12526-12536). However, mammalian cochlear hair cell adaptation is not driven by calcium and low external calcium effects on resting open probability occur via an uncharacterized extracellular mechanism (Peng, Effertz, and Ricci. 2013. Neuron 80: 960-972). Upon further characterization of the extracellular mechanism, we find that large radii divalent ions act similarly to calcium intimating a nonspecific divalent ion mechanism. We show that hair cell depolarization also increases the resting open probability, and acts through a similar mechanism as the external calcium. Finally, we find that GsMTx4, a purported lipid-mediated stretch-activated channel modifier, blocks both the voltage and the low external calcium effects on resting open probability with only a minor decrease in adaptation. These results suggest a new, probably lipid-mediated, mechanism of calcium modulation of the hair cell MET channel independent of adaptation. Additionally, these results suggest that auditory mechanotransduction channel may have similar mechanisms to other mechanically-sensitive ion channels.This work was supported by RO1 DC0003896 to AJR, F32 DC010975 and K99 DC013299 to AWP, and NIDCD Core Grant P30-44992.
On Topology of Sensor Networks Deployed for Multitarget Tracking

In this paper, we study topologies of sensor networks deployed for tracking multiple targets. Tracking multiple moving targets is a challenging problem. Most of the previously proposed tracking algorithms simplify the problem by assuming access to the signal from an individual target for tracking. Recently, tracking algorithms based on blind source separation (BSS), a statistical signal-processing technique widely used to recover individual signals from mixtures of signals, have been proposed. BSS-based tracking algorithms are proven to be effective in tracking multiple indistinguishable targets. The topology of a wireless sensor network deployed for tracking with BSS-based algorithms is critical to tracking performance because the topology affects separation performance, and the topology determines accuracy and precision of estimation on the paths taken by targets. We propose cluster topologies for BSS-based tracking algorithms. Guidelines on parameter selection for proposed topologies are given in this paper. We evaluate the proposed cluster topologies with extensive experiments. Our experiments show that the proposed topologies can significantly improve both the accuracy and the precision of BSS-based tracking algorithms.