cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ER Stress in Dendritic Cells Promotes Cancer

XBP1 is part of the ER stress response, and when activated in cancer cells, it fosters tumor growth. In this issue of Cell, Cubillos-Ruiz et al. demonstrate that XBP1 in tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells blunts anti-tumor immunity. These findings further imply XBP1 as a relevant target for cancer therapy.
Southern blot analysis of strain variation in Campylobacter mucosalis.

A panel of three DNA probes were derived at random from a genomic DNA library of Campylobacter mucosalis strain E8384-4. Each probe hybridized specifically to C. mucosalis DNA from bacteria fixed to nylon membranes. The probes did not hybridized to DNA from other Campylobacter species or to other bacteria even at 100-fold higher amounts. Each probe hybridized to all of 24 isolates of C. mucosalis which had been collected over time from different geographic locations. Southern blot analysis of selected C. mucosalis isolates was carried out to determine if the probes would be useful for differentiating among various isolates. It indicated that restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) exist at the loci identified by our probes. These differences were used to characterize seven C. mucosalis isolated recovered from pigs in Minnesota. The results suggest that RFLP analysis may be useful tool for epidemiological studies of C. mucosalis.
The Effects of Member Gender and Constituency Characteristics on Southern Congressional Voting Behavior, 1972–2000

Research on Southern congressional voting behavior has largely dealt with the effects of constituency changes on roll-call voting. Few studies have taken into account the changing attributes of the legislators themselves, such as gender, in determining what influences voting behavior. The present study has built upon this limited research by determining that while a member's gender does play a statistically significant role in explaining voting behavior—with female legislators being more liberal than their male colleagues—other factors such as race and party complicate the results and indicate that gender alone does not fully explain the differences in male and female member voting behavior.
MR imaging of foot and ankle tumors

Twenty-one patients were referred for MR imaging of mass lesions in the foot and ankle detected initially by either palpation (15 patients) or radiographs (6 patients). In 3 cases, MRI excluded a discrete mass. In the remaining 18 patients with confirmation of mass lesions, the combination of signal features and tumor location suggested a specific diagnosis in 11 patients (61%). In 4 other cases, correlation with radiographs suggested likely diagnoses. In 3 cases, the MRI appearance was nonspecific. We conclude that the combination of signal features and tumor location at MR imaging often permits characterization of tumors of the foot and ankle.
Evaluating End-User Network Benefits of Peering with Path Latencies

Internet eXchange Points (IXPs) have been recently identified as critical components of the Internet's AS level infrastructure. Recent studies have characterized the importance of IXPs in Internet topology evolution studies but the network benefits brought about by the increased peering has not garnered much attention. In this work, we propose and implement a measurement framework to compare paths traversing an IXP hop with a set of valid alternate paths which isolate the IXP effects. Our framework enables identification of these alternate paths and then carries out an in-depth comparison of the IXP path with its available alternates. Using the popular route performance metric of end- to-end latency we observe that most paths through peering ASes at exchanges generally have a better alternate through transit providers of the peering ASes. Traditional overlay routes such as detour paths also outperform the default BGP path through an IXP. While economic benefits are the primary driving forces behind public peering we conclude that obtaining network benefits (in terms of path latencies) require due consideration by peering ASes to ensure better end-user experience.
Attachment relationships as predictors of language skills for at-risk bilingual preschool children

Parental attachment and close teacher--child relationships offer a protective mechanism to promote language development among bilingual preschool children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Research has shown that language skills are an integral part of resilience for young children. This is the first study to examine parental acculturation, parent--child attachment, and teacher--child relationships as predictors of English and Spanish oral language skills. Participants consisted of 468 Hispanic American preschool children, aged 3 to 5 years, from low-income families of an urban public school district in the Northeast. Findings suggest that children's relationships with parents and teachers significantly contribute to their bilingual language skills. Higher quality teacher--child relationships were associated with higher levels of language skills over and above quality parental attachments. The implications of the findings are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Anne Lock's Poetics of Spiritual Abjection

AbstractIn her 1560 sonnet sequence, Anne Lock's poetics offer a new understanding of the emergence of poetic subjectivity in early modern verse. Lock constructs an abject poetic persona based on biblical figures of penitent sinners and unprofitable servants, and simultaneously authorizes herself as a talented biblical exegete, a Calvinist, and a poet. This article uses Julia Kristeva's theory of the abject to examine Lock's construction of spiritual identity. Additionally, Kristeva's theories of the semiotic and the symbolic elucidate tensions within Lock's verse between poetic and sacred discourses, and illustrate how Lock defies conventional disapproval of women speaking publically, while asserting her identity as a member of the Geneva exiles’ reform movement.
Methods and Instruments for the Determination of Photographic Speeds by Measurement of Relative Characteristic Gradients

It has been proposed that the speed of a photographic emulsion be specified upon the basis of the exposure value at which the gradient of the H and D characteristic becomes equal to a definite fraction of the average gradient throughout the tonal range used in making the camera exposure. The adoption of such a criterion necessitates the use of easily applied methods and special instruments for the determination of gradients and gradient ratios. In this paper a number of such methods and instruments are discussed under the following headings: (1) The graphical method. (2) A device for reading speed directly from the plotted characteristic curve. (3) A direct visual photometric method (using a wedged sensitometric strip). (4) An alternative direct visual method (using a triple sensitometric wedge and a special photometric field). (5) A direct photoelectric method of measuring gradient (which reduces the error in gradient determination occurring in visual photometry). (6) A photoelectric method incorporating a constant gradient ratio device (which eliminates the need of mental calculation). (7) Making automatic the determination of speed (pointing out means for automatic recording of results). Errors introduced by non-uniformity of coating and processing and means for minimizing these errors are discussed.
"Guessing" Parameter Estimates for Multidimensional Item Response Theory Models

Two software packages commonly used for multidimensional item response theory (IRT) models require the user to input values for the lower asymptotes of the item response functions. One way of selecting these values is to estimate lower asymptotes with a one-dimensional IRT model and use those estimates as fixed values in the multidimensional model. This procedure was compared to simply setting the asymptotes to a reasonable value. For two-factor tests, the use of unidimensional asymptotes worked well, yielding results nearly comparable to setting the lower asymptotes to the true values. With four-factor tests, in contrast, the item parameter and item response surface estimates were less accurate when the lower asymptotes were estimated through a unidimensional model. The estimates of the lower asymptotes from the unidimensional model tended to be too high for the four-factor tests, which likely caused the decreased accuracy of this procedure.
"Can You Help with That Instead of Putting Me in Jail?": Participant Insights on Baltimore City's Specialized Prostitution Diversion Program

This article reports data from a primarily qualitative study of Baltimore City's Specialized Diversion Program (SPD), an alternative criminal justice response to prostitution grounded in problem-solving models of justice. Data were drawn from observations of interactions between participants and SPD staff and semistructured interviews with twenty-one SPD clients. These were supplemented with data on prostitution arrestees’ demographics (N = 616) over a thirteen-month period and SPD eligibility, program uptake, and completion (N = 431) over a nine-month period. All respondents exhibited a dire need for assistance with concerns such as severe mental health problems, health conditions, addiction, poverty, and limited educational and employment opportunities. They expressed the importance of compassionate and dignified service delivery and a sense of meaningful accomplishment upon completion, all of which support a problem-solving model. Despite the assistance they received and their strong support for the pr...
In Silico Screening of Chemicals for Genetic Toxicity Using MDL-QSAR, Nonparametric Discriminant Analysis, E-State, Connectivity, and Molecular Property Descriptors

ABSTRACT Genetic toxicity testing is a critical parameter in the safety assessment of pharmaceuticals, food constituents, and environmental and industrial chemicals. Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) software offers a rapid, cost-effective means of prioritizing the genotoxic potential of chemicals. Our goal is to develop and validate a complete battery of complementary QSAR models for genetic toxicity. We previously reported the development of MDL-QSAR models for the prediction of mutations in Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli ( Contrera et al. 2005b ); this report describes the development of eight additional models for mutagenicity, clastogenicity, and DNA damage. The models were created using MDL-QSAR atom-type E-state, simple connectivity and molecular property descriptor categories, and nonparametric discriminant analysis. In 10% leave-group-out internal validation studies, the specificity of the models ranged from 63% for the mouse lymphoma (L5178Y-tk) model to 88% for chromosome aberrations in vivo. Sensitivity ranged from a high of 74% for the mouse lymphoma model to a low of 39% for the unscheduled DNA synthesis model. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) was >/=2.00, a value indicative of good predictive performance. The predictive performance of MDL-QSAR models was also shown to compare favorably to the results of MultiCase MC4PC ( Matthews et al. 2006b ) genotoxicity models prepared with the same training data sets. MDL-QSAR software models exhibit good specificity, sensitivity, and coverage and they can provide rapid and cost-effective large-scale screening of compounds for genotoxic potential by the chemical and pharmaceutical industry and for regulatory decision support applications.
Feature detection in digitized mammograms using anisotropic diffusion

This paper develops and presents methods for the detection of features in high-resolution digital mammograms using anisotropic diffusion techniques. The automated or semiautomated analysis of digital mammograms for the purpose of detecting suspicious changes in normal tissue structure is an exceedingly important and elusive goal confronting researchers in digital mammography. The nature of the changes can be quite variable, but often the quality of the periphery of suspect lesions contains strong cues regarding the nature of the lesion. Thus, it is of interest to consider processing paradigms that analyze lesion boundary information, both to isolate suspect lesions from normal tissue and to aid in the differentiation of benign vs. malignant lesions. In this paper a modified version of the Malik-Perona nonlinear diffusion model is adopted that provides superior boundary detection capability while simultaneously strongly rejecting noise or irrelevant image artifacts. The algorithm provide a multiscale family of smoothed images that display the important property of intra-region smoothing without smoothing across boundaries. Thus, the features extracted do not suffer from the unnecessary blurring arising from conventional smoothing-differentiation edge detectors, while retaining the highly desirable property of noise elimination. In other words, the anisotropic diffusion method performs a piecewise smoothing of the mammographic data image. These properties make it possible to achieve high-quality segmentations of mammographic images. The output of the algorithm is a binary representation containing detailed structural information for the potentially interesting features in the mammogram. Thus, lesions containing spiculations or with associated microcalcifications can be represented with a high resolution, and subjected to further processing towards attaining the difficult goals of detection and diagnosis. The results of this technique as applied to digitized mammograms are presented, using mammogram X-rays digitized to 100 Micron spatial resolution and 12 bits of gray scale resolution.
Flight test and numerical simulation of transonic flow around YAV-8B Harrier II wing

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is used to study the aerodynamics of the YAV-8B Harrier II wing in the transonic region. A numerical procedure is developed to compute the flow field around the complicated wing-pylon-fairing geometry. The surface definition of the wing and pylons were obtained from direct measurement using theodolite triangulation. A thin-layer Navier-Stokes code with the Chimera technique is used to compute flow solutions. The computed pressure distributions at several span stations are compared with flight test data and show good agreement. Computed results are correlated with flight test data that show the flow is severely separated in the vicinity of the wing-pylon junction. Analysis shows that shock waves are induced by pylon swaybrace fairings, that the flow separation is much stronger at the outboard pylon and that the separation is caused mainly by the crossflow passing the geometry of wing-pylon junction.
G2, G3, and complete basis set calculations of optimized geometries, vibrational frequencies, and thermodynamic properties of azatriboretidine and triazaboretidine

Abstract As a follow-up to previous work on boron–nitrogen rings, four ab initio calculational methods were used to determine geometric, thermodynamic, and spectroscopic properties of azatriboretidine and triazaboretidine. Of the four possible conformations, the two presented in this paper are the only ones whose complete characterization was possible. The enthalpy of combustion results indicate that azatriboretidine gives off about 54 kJ/g, making it a better high energy material than the other compounds studied in the previous two studies. Triazaboretidine only gave off 33.6 kJ/g of energy.
The effect of tetrahydrofuran on biological systems: does a hepatotoxic potential exist?

Tetrahydrofuran (THF) is a widely used solvent in industry and research. THF is a weak toxin, with approximate acute LD50s in the range of 2 to 3 g/kg, 8 to 20 mg/L, and 800 mg/kg following oral, inhalation, and i.v. routes, respectively. The two primary signs of intoxication are narcosis and hepatocellular dysfunction, both occurring at doses of approximately one-half of the lethal dose. Little is known concerning the pharmacokinetics of THF. No evidence exists for genotoxicity due to THF. Ongoing carcinogenicity bioassay tests sponsored by the National Toxicology Program have not yet been completed. Two significant interactions of THF with cellular components have been studied; first, THF inhibits a number of enzymatic reactions at concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 mM. Most notably, THF is an inhibitor of a number of cytochrome P450 (P450) dependent mixed function oxidase activities, with a particular affinity for the alcohol-induced isozyme (P450IIE1). Second, THF has been noted to enhance the toxic action of a number of compounds (i.e. solvent effect), in particular stimulating the more rapid absorption of reactive metabolites. A third factor to be considered is THF's ability to form peroxides upon standing. Little is known concerning the toxicity of THF peroxides. Therefore, while there is little evidence to suggest that THF would be a direct (Type I) hepatotoxin at relatively low doses, its ability to inhibit drug-metabolizing reactions (perhaps more so in alcohol users), and enhance the absorbance of reactive metabolites, are relatively unexplored avenues for THF to contribute to a hepatotoxic response. As a great deal of the human hepatotoxicity (Type II) is "idiosyncratic" and cannot be readily reproduced in experimental animals, this potential route of hepatotoxicity should be considered in future evaluations of human exposure to THF.
Identifying Peptide Ligands for Barley α-Amylase 1 Using Combinatorial Phage Display Libraries

A synthetic combinatorial library of 15-mer peptides expressed as N-terminal fusion to pIII on the surface of filamentous bacteriophage was screened to identify specific ligands for barley α-amylase 1. Affinity selection of phages that display tight-binding peptides was accomplished by four cycles of panning, using purified α-amylase enzyme as the immobilized binding target. The amino acid sequences of the tight-binding peptides were determined by sequencing the corresponding coding region in the viral DNA genome. A total of 13 clones, randomly selected from the final enriched library, were found to have the following sequences: TRWLVYFSRPYLVAT (8 clones), PRHVFYRWFLSNPRI (4 clones), and IVRHLFLHVYPRVLM (1 clone). Binding activity of affinity-purified phage clones was confirmed by ELISA and quantitated by PFU assay. All three peptides share a common feature of an Arg residue flanked by high numbers of Tyr and Trp/Phe residues. The phage display peptide TRWLVYFSRPYLVAT showed an activity 5-fold greater th...
Moss stomata in highly elaborated Oedipodium (Oedipodiaceae) and highly reduced Ephemerum (Pottiaceae) sporophytes are remarkably similar.

Premise of the study Mosses are central in understanding the origin, diversification, and early function of stomata in land plants. Oedipodium, the first extant moss with true stomata, has an elaborated capsule with numerous long-pored stomata; in contrast, the reduced and short-lived Ephemerum has few round-pored stomata. Here we present a comparative study of sporophyte anatomy and ultrastructure of stomata in two divergent mosses and its implications for stomata diversity and function. Methods Mature sporophytes of two moss species were studied using light, fluorescence, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Immunolocalization of pectin was conducted on Oedipodium using the LM19 antibody. Key results OEDIPODIUM capsules have extensive spongy tissue along the apophysis, whereas those of Ephemerum have minimal substomatal cavities. Stomatal ultrastructure and wall thickenings are highly similar. Sporophytes are covered by a cuticle that is thicker on guard cells and extends along walls surrounding the pore. Epicuticular waxes and pectin clog pores in old capsules. Conclusions Ultrastructure of stomata in these mosses is similar to each other and less variable than that of tracheophytes. Anatomical features such as the presence of a cuticle, water-conducting cells, and spongy tissues with large areas for gas exchange are more pronounced in Oedipodium sporophytes and support the role of stomata in gas exchange and water transport during development and maturation. These features are modified in the reduced sporophytes of Ephemerum. Capsule anatomy coupled with the exclusive existence of stomata on capsules supports the concept that stomata in moss may also facilitate drying and dispersal of spores.
Activation of cell signaling via optical manipulation of gold-coated liposomes encapsulating signaling molecules

Many diseases involve changes in cell signaling cascades, as seen commonly in drug resistant cancers. To better understand these intricate signaling events in diseased cells and tissues, experimental methods of probing cellular communication at a single to multi-cell level are required. We recently introduced a general platform for activation of selected signaling pathways by optically controlled delivery and release of water soluble factors using gold-coated liposomes. In the example presented here, we encapsulated inositol trisphosphate (IP3), a ubiquitous intracellular secondary messenger involved in GPCR and Akt signaling cascades, within 100 nm gold-coated liposomes. The high polarizability of the liposome’s unique gold pseudo-shell allows stable optical trapping for subcellular manipulation in the presence of cells. We take this optical manipulation further by optically injecting IP3-containing liposomes into the cytosol of a single cell to initiate localized cell signaling. Upon optical injection of liposomal IP3 into a single ovarian carcinoma cell, we observed localized activation as reported by changes in Indo-1 fluorescence intensity. With established gap junctions between the injected cell and neighboring cells, we monitored propagation of this signaling to and through nearby cells.
The National Cancer Database report on advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer: Impact of hospital surgical case volume on overall survival and surgical treatment paradigm

Abstract Objective To examine the effect of hospital procedure volume and other prognostic variables on overall survival outcome and likelihood of receiving standard recommended care among patients with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was searched for patients undergoing primary treatment for FIGO Stage IIIC/IV epithelial ovarian cancer from 1996 to 2005. The average annual surgical procedure volume was derived for each reporting hospital. Quartile ranking discriminated four groups of hospitals based on annual surgical volume: low ( 35). Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to determine the impact on overall survival of hospital surgical volume adjusted for treatment, FIGO/AJCC stage, ethnicity, age, payer status, household income, and tumor grade. Binomial multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to assess differences in patient demographic, tumor, and treatment variables between high/very high volume hospitals and low/intermediate volume hospitals. Results A total of 45,929 patients were identified. After adjusting for other factors, overall survival was significantly correlated with hospital case volume: very high (reference); high (HR 0.98, 95% CI=0.92–1.04); intermediate (HR 1.08, 95% CI=1.01–1.15); and low (HR 1.14, 95% CI=1.07–1.22). Compared to low and intermediate volume hospitals, patients treated at very high and high-volume hospitals were less likely to receive neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (OR=0.33, 95% CI=1.18–1.50) or surgery alone (OR=0.77, 95% CI=0.73–0.82) instead of initial surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusions Hospital ovarian cancer surgical volume ≥21 cases/year is associated with a higher likelihood of patients with Stage IIIC/IV epithelial ovarian cancer receiving standard treatment (surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy). Even after adjusting for treatment paradigm and other factors, hospital volume ≥21 cases/year was significantly predictive of improved overall survival outcome.
TENSILE CRACK TIP FIELDS IN ELASTIC-IDEALLY PLASTIC CRYSTALS

Crack tip stress and deformation fields are analyzed for tensile-loaded ideally plastic crystals. The specific cases of (0 1 O) cracks growing in the [1 0 1] direction, and (1 0 1) cracks in the [0, 1, O] direction, are considered for both fcc and bcc crystals which flow according to the critical resolved shear stress criterion. Stationary and quasistatically growing crack fields are considered. The analysis is asymptotic in character; complete elastic-plastic solutions have not been determined. The near-tip stress state is shown to be locally constant within angular sectors that are stressed to yield levels at a stationary crack tip, and to change discontinuously from sector to sector. Near tip deformations are not uniquely determined but fields involving shear displacement discontinuities at sector boundaries are required by the derived stress state. For the growing crack both stress and displacement must be fully continuous near the tip. An asymptotic solution is given that involves angular sectors at the tip that elastically unload from, and then reload to, a plastic state. The associated near-tip velocity field then has discontinuities of slip type at borders of the elastic sectors. The rays, emanating from the crack tip, on which discontinuities occur in the two types of solutions are found to lie either parallel or perpendicular to the family of slip plane traces that are stressed to yield levels by the local stresses. In the latter case the mode of concentrated shear along a ray of discontinuity is of kink type. Some consequences of this are discussed in terms of the dislocation generation and motion necessary to allow the flow predicted macroscopically.
Caring for Patients With Acute Intermittent Porphyria

The porphyrias are a group of metabolic disorders of heme biosynthesis genetically determined defects. Acute intermittent porphyria is the most common form of porphyria found in the United States. It is caused by a genetic defect in chromosome 11, where one of two genes for porphobilinogen deaminase is defective. Acute intermittent porphyria is characterized by intermittent, acute, occasionally fatal attacks of abdominal, neurologic, psychiatric, and renal symptoms. Attacks are often confused with acute abdomen or bowel obstruction. A variety of drug, hormonal, nutritional, and infectious factors can precipitate clinical symptoms. Managing patients with acute intermittent porphyria involves removing the precipitating factors, increasing carbohydrate intake, controlling pain, and administering medications. A case study is provided.
Users' criteria of video digital libraries from a public affairs context

This paper reports on a user-centered analysis of video digital libraries. Video digital libraries enable "in the loop" retrieval and playback from centralized and organized collections. As a time-based and multi-channeled format, video digital library systems warrant different considerations for design and information delivery. The purpose of the present study is to collect and initially analyze users' criteria of video digital libraries as part of their interactive experiences. Fifty-two journalism and political science college majors were surveyed, resulting in a total of 242 individual collected responses. Content analysis was performed on the survey responses, and the emergent coding method produced 28 criteria (subcategories) under 5 major categories. Criteria corresponding to Retrieval functions of video digital libraries emerged as the highest priority of the participants, based on its frequency across the responses for the major categories. Criteria corresponding to the User Interface, Collection Quality, User Support, and Organization of Collection followed respectively, in terms of frequency. Cohen's Kappa was .87, indicative of high-level of inter-coder reliability. Findings of the present study provide an initial baseline for design and evaluation of video digital libraries and motivate further research.
Blood consult: treating del(5q) myelodysplastic syndromes

A 58-year-old man with a past medical history of underlying congenital aortic valve defect and hypertension was incidentally diagnosed with an isolated anemia (hemoglobin of 7.8 g/dL) when he presented to his cardiologist with symptoms of fatigue and exertional dyspnea. Evaluation for common causes
Comparison of in vivo and in vitro glucocorticoid sensitivity in depression: Relationship to the dexamethasone suppression test ☆

The effect of in vivo (1 mg) and in vitro (10(-7)-10(-10) M) dexamethasone administration on mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferation was examined in drug-free depressed patients, nondepressed psychiatric patients, as well as normal controls, and was related to the results of a standard overnight Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST). The effect of oral dexamethasone administration was also examined for its effect on lymphocyte cytosolic glucocorticoid receptor content. Oral dexamethasone administration significantly decreased both phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and concanavalin A (Con-A) induced lymphocyte proliferation, as well as glucocorticoid receptor number in suppressors, whereas dexamethasone failed to decrease these responses in nonsuppressors. Nonsuppressors had significantly lower serum dexamethasone levels compared to suppressors at both 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. However, when differences in serum dexamethasone levels were covaried out, there were still significant differences between suppressors and nonsuppressors on the dexamethasone-induced mitogen changes, but the changes in glucocorticoid receptor content were no longer significant. In vitro incubation of lymphocytes with dexamethasone produced a dose-related decrease in mitogenesis, which was not different between the depressed and nondepressed groups. However, at physiologically relevant concentrations of dexamethasone (10(-9)-10(-10) M), nonsuppressors as compared to suppressors were more resistant to the immunosuppressive effects of in vitro dexamethasone on the Con-A response. The inhibitory effect of in vitro dexamethasone on Con-A-stimulated lymphocytes was positively correlated with basal 4:00 PM cortisol values. In conclusion, in vitro techniques are useful probes to assess glucocorticoid sensitivity in depression. The present results also further support the hypothesis that glucocorticoid insensitivity is associated with DST nonsuppression.
New Prospects for Social Rental Housing in Taiwan: The Role of Housing Affordability Crises and the Housing Movement

Abstract Housing speculation has been a major housing problem and hence a major concern of social movements in Taiwan since the mid-1980s. Although the government has implemented various schemes to slow down housing prices, past policies have not sought to change the fundamental structure of the housing system or its speculative tendencies. Since the late-1980s, a civil movement has been building up behind the issue of affordable rented housing, resisting the tendency towards intensified housing commodification that has served the interests of developers at the expense of the socially vulnerable. In late 2010, the Taiwanese social rented housing movement successfully pressed the passage of a policy supporting five social housing projects, as well as a luxury tax policy on housing. It has not, however, managed to change the more significant land tax system and the strong coalition between the state and private developers. There remain many struggles ahead in terms of reversing the trend toward privatisatio...
COMMENTARY SOFT DATA—HARD DATA: THE PAINFUL ART OF FENCE‐SITTING

Quantitative methodology and qualitative methodology are not mutually exclusive. Yet much of consumer research is undertaken from the point of view that an object or state should either be counted, weighed, and measured or be described in terms of human feelings and intuitions. By development of a long‐run orientation and a pluralistic approach to research designs, soft data and hard data can be combined in complementary ways. This commentary suggests a practical combination of research methods and uses a recent case example to illustrate.
Thermal abundances of heavy particles

Matsumoto and Yoshimura [Phys. Rev. D 61, 123508 (2000)] have argued that there are loop corrections to the number density of heavy particles (in thermal equilibrium with a gas of light particles) that are not Boltzmann suppressed by a factor of ${e}^{\ensuremath{-}M/T}$ at temperatures T well below the mass M of the heavy particle. We argue, however, that their definition of the number density does not correspond to a quantity that could be measured in a realistic experiment. We consider a model where the heavy particles carry a conserved U(1) charge, and the light particles do not. The fluctuations of the net charge in a given volume then provide a measure of the total number of heavy particles in that same volume. We show that these charge fluctuations are Boltzmann suppressed (to all orders in perturbation theory). Therefore, we argue, the number density of heavy particles is also Boltzmann suppressed.
THE DOSE‐RESPONSE RELATIONSHIP OF ACTH AND CORTISOL IN CUSHING'S DISEASE

The dose-response relationship between plasma ACTH and plasma cortisol was examined in normal subjects, patients with Addison's disease and patients with Cushing's disease. Plasma cortisol and ACTH levels were measured every half-hour from 06.00 h to 10.00 h and from 16.00 h to 18.00 h during a control day and during 1 to 3 days of continuous cortisol infusion. A plot of mean morning plasma ACTH versus the log of mean plasma cortisol revealed a similar dose-response relationship in normal and Addisonian subjects. Total plasma cortisol was four times more potent in suppressing mean morning ACTH in normal and Addisonian subjects, than in patients with Cushing's disease. When plasma cortisol was undetectable, there was no significant difference between mean morning ACTH concentrations in Addisonian patients and in adrenalectomized Cushing's patients. The glucocorticoid feedback control of ACTH in Cushing's disease had dose-response characteristics similar to those in Addison's disease and normal subjects, except for decreased sensitivity to cortisol feedback suppression of ACTH.
The Yang-Lee edge singularity in spherical models

The density of Yang-Lee zeros in the thermodynamic limit is discussed for ferromagnetic spherical models of general dimensionalities and arbitrary range of interaction. In all cases the zeros lie on the imaginary axis in the complex magnetic field planeH=H′+iH″ with a densityℊ (H″) that exhibits a square root singularityℊ(H″) ∼(H″-H 0)σ, withσ=1/2, as the edge of the gap atH″=H 0(T) is approached forT>T c. WhenT→T c one hasH 0(T)∼(T∼T c )Δ with critical exponentΔ=β+γ.
Authenticated multicast immune to denial-of-service attack

Authentication of multicast streams has attracted a lot of attention in the last few years. However, two important issues, namely multicast denial-of-service and access control, have been ignored in previous proposals. In this paper, we propose two Internet Protocol multicast authentication schemes by making use of the multicast tree as an essential authentication mechanism. Our schemes are efficient and immune to multicast denial-of-service attack. They allow the receivers to immediately authenticate the packets regardless of the packet loss characteristics of the underlying network.
Bass Series for Small Witt Rings

We compute the Bass series for elementary type Witt rings. For a Witt ring R with I 3 R = 0, we show the decomposability of R can be detected from the Bass series.
Coronary angioplasty in high‐risk patients with left main coronary stenosis: Results from the national registry of elective supported angioplasty

To assess the outcome of PTCA in circulatory supported patients with left main coronary artery (LMCA) stenosis, the National Registry of Elective Supported Angioplasty data bank was searched. Patients entered in the registry were considered high-risk PTCA and the PTCA was performed using percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass (PCPB). Criteria for high risk was left ventricular ejection fraction less than or equal to 25% or a target lesion supplying greater than or equal to 50% of functioning myocardium. Of 455 patients entered in the registry, 61 (13.3%) had LMCA stenosis greater than or equal to 60%. There were 42 patients in whom the PTCA target vessel was the LMCA (PTCA-LMCA) and 19 in whom it was vessel(s) other than the LMCA (PTCA-OTHER). The mean age was similar in the 2 groups (65 +/- 10 vs. 68 +/- 9 yrs, p = ns). The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was higher in PTCA-LMCA than in PTCA-other (38 +/- 16% vs. 27 +/- 16%, p less than 0.05). The number of vessels dilated/patient was higher in PTCA-LMCA than in PTCA-OTHER (2.1 +/- 1.0 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.3, p less than 0.001). There were a total of 10 in-hospital deaths (16%) in patients with LMCA greater than or equal to 60% stenosis. This exceeds the mortality of the patients with less than 60% LMCA stenosis entered in the registry (4.5%, p less than 0.001). There were 6 in-hospital deaths (14%) in PTCA-LMCA and 4 (21%) in PTCA-OTHER (p = ns).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Multiple switches between vegetative and reproductive growth in annual plants

Abstract A model of growth and reproduction in annual plants was developed by Cohen (1971, J. Theor. Biol. 33, 299–307) to determine the allocation strategy which maximizes seed yield. The model divides the plant into vegetative and reproductive parts and predicts that yield is maximized by a strategy consisting of a switch from purely vegetative to strictly reproductive growth. We generalize Cohen's model to include vegetative and reproductive loss terms. Both growth and loss rates are allowed to vary with time. Using optimal control theory we find that seed yield is maximized by a strategy consisting of multiple switches between vegetative and reproductive growth, for certain ranges of the model parameters. In natural systems a predictable vegetative loss burst may be necessary to promote multiple switches.
Language independent analysis and classification of discussion threads in Coursera MOOC forums

In this work, we analyze the discussion threads from the forums of 60 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by Coursera and taught in 4 different languages. The types of interactions in such threads vary: there are discussions on close ended problems (e.g. solutions to assignments), open ended topics, course logistics, or just small talk among fellow students. We first study the evolution of the forum activities with respect to the normalized course duration. Then we investigate several language independent features to classify the discussion threads based on the types of the interactions among the users. We use default Coursera subforum categories (Study Groups, Assignments, Lectures, …) to define the classes of interest and so the labels. We extract features related to structure, popularity, temporal dynamics of threads and diversity of the ids of the users. Text related features, word count aside, are avoided to apply the methods across discussion threads written in different languages and with various technical terminologies. Experiments show a classification performance with ROCAUC between 0.58 and 0.89, depending on the subforum class considered and with possibly noisy labels.
AN EXPERIMENT IN PAROLE SUPERVISION

An evaluation was performed on the Volunteer in Parole Program, in which lawyers volunteered to become counselors for parolees. Ex-offenders were randomly assigned to be either in the program or in a control groupeach group was interviewed before the program began (pretest) and then again after the program had been running for nine months (posttest). Dependent variables of interest were arrest rates, several employment indices, the frequency of use of community agencies, and several attitudinal dimensions. The results showed that the program did not affect parolees’ arrest ratesemployment situations, use of community agencies, general happiness, feelings of stigma, perceptions of the difficulty in keeping parole rulesor their attitudes toward thefairness of the courts. The program did succeed in making more positive parolees’ attitudes about society’s concern for them and in making their job expectations more realistic. A significant proportion of participants named the volunteer as one they could talk to when they had problems, and this was interpreted to mean that the program was successful in providing ex-offenders with a high-status counselor. c~ its introduction in the United States in the last quarter
Local Introduction of Drugs into the Arterial Wall: A Percutaneous Catheter Technique

A method is described by which agents can be introduced directly into the arterial wall via the percutaneous approach. A perforated balloon catheter has been developed to accomplish this. Several major theoretical hurdles have been overcome. Specifically, heparin in high doses can be introduced in arterial segments and shown to be retained for at least 48 hours. The use of high dose heparin to inhibit cell proliferation underlying restenosis after angioplasty is discussed. Other potential drug applications for restenosis, atherosclerosis, and study of metabolic activity of arterial tissue are discussed. The advantages of this method over prolonged intravenous drug delivery are obvious. Further studies of clinical applicability seem worthwhile. (J Interven Cardiol 1989:2:4)
Distraction Osteogenesis for Congenitally Short Lesser Metatarsals

Six lesser metatarsal lengthening procedures were performed in three patients using a miniature external fixator to perform distraction osteogenesis. The metatarsals were lengthened an average of 1...
Indications and outcomes of AneuRx Phase III trial versus use of commercial AneuRx stent graft.

Abstract Objective: Approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration of endoluminal repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with the AneuRx stent graft was based on the outcome of a multicenter trial in which patients met strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. Since widespread use of the commercially available graft, little information is available as to whether indications and outcomes have evolved. We examined this important issue at our institution. Methods: Data concerning indications, repair, and follow-up for all patients undergoing endoluminal repair of AAA was prospectively entered into a patient registry. Group 1 comprised consecutive patients enrolled in the AneuRx Phase III clinical trial between November 1998 and September 2000. Group 2 consisted of consecutive patients who underwent implantation of the commercially available AneuRx graft between May 1999 and June 2001. Results: Group 1 included 42 patients (mean age, 72 years), and group 2 included 54 patients (mean age, 73 years). Patient demographics and risk factors were similar between the two groups. Maximum aortic aneurysm diameter was significantly greater ( P =.021) in group 1 (55 mm ± 10.9 [SD] mm) compared with group 2 (52 ± 15.6 mm). Maximum infrarenal aortic neck length was significantly longer ( P =.022) in group 1 (30 ± 11.7 mm) than in group 2 (23 ± 12.0 mm). Maximum left common iliac artery diameter in group 1 (13.0 ± 3.2 mm) was significantly smaller ( P =.032) than that in group 2 (14 ± 6.5 mm). During follow-up, no differences were observed for number of endoleaks, subsequent interventions, or graft explantation between the two groups. Conclusions: In group 2 patients AAAs were significantly smaller, infrarenal aortic neck length was shorter, and left common iliac arteries were larger. Common iliac artery ectasia and aneurysmal disease has become another indication for use of the AneuRx commercial graft at our institution, with no significant differences in intermediate outcome. Given the possibility for evolving indications compared with trial inclusion and exclusion criteria, institutions that use the AneuRx commercial graft should prospectively monitor outcomes for quality assurance. (J Vasc Surg 2003;37:739-43.)
Food Guide Pyramid Practices of the Elderly

Abstract Elderly Americans are a rapidly growing segment of the US population. Increasing attention is being paid to the foods they eat and the development of chronic diseases. The Food Guide Pyramid specifies servings of food that contribute to a healthy diet and may prevent or delay such diseases. This study uses data from USDA's 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, Pyramid Servings Data Base to identify Food Guide Pyramid practices of Americans 66 y and older (n=2127). Average daily intake of the five Food Guide Pyramid food groups and discretionary fat and sugar was compared to recommendations. Sociodemographic variables were examined as predictors of intake. Statistical analysis used one-way analysis of variance with Scheffe's analysis for multiple comparisons. On average, elders ate 5.7 servings of grain, 3.2 of vegetables, 1.9 of fruit, 1.2 of milk and 3.6 ounces of meat, meeting minimum servings recommendations for only vegetables. Elders with high income ate significantly (p ≤0.05) more servings of each of the five Pyramid food groups and larger amounts of discretionary fat and added sugar than elders with low income. White elders ate significantly more servings of total vegetables and milk than Black elders and more discretionary fat and added sugar than other elders. College-educated elders ate significantly more servings of total vegetables and fruit than those never attending college. Elders living in the Northeast and Midwest ate significantly more servings of grains and fruit than those living in the South. Affluent, white, college-educated elders who live in the Northeast or Midwest are more likely to eat at least the minimum servings of grains, vegetables and fruit when compared to other elders, but generally have higher intakes of discretionary fat and added sugar. On average, only one percent of the elders in this study met all the minimum serving recommendations of the Food Guide Pyramid. These findings have implications for nutrition education efforts and the use of the Food Guide Pyramid by elderly Americans.
GTP-binding proteins and post-receptor components in hypertension.

Alterations in neurohormonal response are a widely-observed feature in various forms of hypertension. Such responses depend not only on levels of hormones/neutrotransmitters, but also on receptors and post-receptor components. With respect to G protein-coupled receptors, such as those for catecholamines, angiotensin II, and bradykinin, it is possible that G-proteins or G protein-coupled effector molecules are altered in hypertension. In this article, several classes of G α proteins and effectors which link to these protein are briefly discussed
Role of Bending Beam Rheometer Parameters in Thermal Stress Calculations

The development of the Strategic Highway Research Program lowtemperature binder specifications was based on the observation that asphalt mixture creep stiffness at 2 h correlated well with instances of transverse cracking. With the correlation extended to asphalt binder stiffness and with time-temperature superposition, a maximum stiffness value was imposed on the binders, and a limiting temperature at which the stiffness at 60 s reached the limiting value was selected as a specification criterion. In addition, the slope at 60 s of the stiffness-versus-time curve on a double logarithmic scale, the so-called m-value, was introduced as an additional criterion. The role played by the stiffness and the m-value in the development of thermal stresses in asphalt pavements was investigated. The analysis showed that thermal stress magnitude was strongly related to the stiffness magnitude. At similar stiffness levels, higher m-values resulted in the faster development of thermal stresses.
Speech Sound Discrimination and Articulation Skill

A 50-item speech sound discrimination test was administered to 529 kindergarten children. Selected from this group were 18 children with high speech sound discrimination scores and 18 children with...