cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using Gesture Analysis to Assess Students’ Developing Representational Competence

Assessments of representational competence traditionally take one of two formats: those that ask students to generate external representations and those that ask students to interpret a given representation. Using either format extant studies have focused primarily on assessing the quality of students’ representational competence before and after instruction or analyzing how representational competence differs between experts and novices. This chapter will discuss a novel approach for assessing students' developing representational competence using a micro-genetic approach. Specifically, we illustrate how student-generated gestures hold unique affordances for assessing representational competence that compliment traditional pen and paper assessments. We demonstrate the application of this approach with a simple experiment that assesses student reasoning with multi-representational learning technologies. We show how the specificity (i.e. the informational properties) of different learning technologies influence students’ developing representational competence as evident in the gestures that students produce before, during, and after interacting with a learning technology. We conclude by contrasting the distinct informational and computational properties of external representations depicted in inscriptions and those depicted in gesture.
Evaluating Joint Modeling of Yeast Biology Literature and Protein-Protein Interaction Networks

Block-LDA is a topic modeling approach to perform data fusion between entity-annotated text documents and graphs with entity-entity links. We evaluate Block-LDA in the yeast biology domain by jointly modeling PubMed® articles and yeast protein-protein interaction networks. The topic coherence of the emergent topics and the ability of the model to retrieve relevant scientific articles and proteins related to the topic are compared to that of a text-only approach that does not make use of the protein-protein interaction matrix. Evaluation of the results by biologists show that the joint modeling results in better topic coherence and improves retrieval performance in the task of identifying top related papers and proteins.
Bovine pepsinogens and pepsins. A series of zymogens and enzymes that differ in organic phosphate content.

Several minor pepsinogens, present in extracts of bovine fundic mucosa obtained from the fourth stomach or abomasum, were separated from the main pepsinogen by chromatography on hydroxyapatite at pH7.3. The major pepsinogen and two of these minor pepsinogens were studied in detail. All three zymogens have N-terminal Ser-Val-, C-terminal -Val-Ala and not more than 1mol of glucose/mol of protein; no significant differences in amino acid composition were found. The pepsinogens differ in their organic phosphate content, which accounts for their chromatographic separation. By activation at 0°C and pH2, a corresponding series of pepsins is formed. These enzymes were separated by hydroxyapatite chromatography at pH5.7. All the pepsins have N-terminal valine, C-terminal alanine and are free from carbohydrate. Again the only difference detected among them is in their organic phosphate content. The pepsins of high phosphate content are converted by an acid phosphatase in vitro into pepsins of low phosphate content.
Detection of wheelchair user activities using wearable sensors

Wearable sensors are increasingly used to monitor and quantify physical activity types and levels in a real-life environment. In this project we studied the activity classification in manual wheelchair users using wearable sensors. Twenty-seven subjects performed a series of representative activities of daily living in a semi-structured setting with a wheelchair propulsion monitoring device (WPMD) attached to their upper limb and their wheelchair. The WPMD included a wheel rotation datalogger that collected wheelchair movements and an eWatch that collected tri-axial acceleration on the wrist. Features were extracted from the sensors and fed into four machine learning algorithms to classify the activities into three and four categories. The results indicated that these algorithms were able to classify these activities into three categories including self propulsion, external pushing, and sedentary activity with an accuracy of 89.4-91.9%.
Chromosomes, Genes, and the Thyroid Gland

As molecular genetics advances at breakneck speed, unraveling genetic mysteries via genom-ics, proteomics, and microarray analysis, we are at the cusp of the era of “personalized” medicine, by which knowledge of our unique genetic blueprint will allow us to anticipate, and hopefully obviate, a host of heritable diseases. The genetic aspects of thyroid diseases are manifest in all age groups, from the neonate with congenital hypothyroidism due to a newly defined mutation in thyroid hor-monogenesis, to the adult who is genetically predisposed to autoimmune thyroid disease because of aberrations of autoregulatory genes. The recognition of thyroid disease is of paramount importance, especially in the neonatal period. A failure to diagnose these diseases will have a profoundly adverse effect on the growth and development of the child. It is essential that practitioners are cognizant of how common thyroid diseases are in patients with certain genetic syndromes. Addressing these issues is essential for proper care. I recall seeing a patient with Down syndrome who was frequently treated for repeated bouts of secondarily infected num-mular eczema. Recognizing that approximately one-third of patients with Down syndrome have thyroid disorders, a thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level was checked. The patient was found to be hypothyroid; once she was placed on thyroid hormone, the xerotic skin that predisposed her to developing eczema resolved, and secondary infection was no longer an issue. This chapter offers current insights into the pathogenesis and derma-tologic features of a host of chromosomal, mosaic, and inborn errors of metabolism that also affect the thyroid gland. When confronted with syndromal patients, thoughtful clinicians will entertain the possibility that there may be coexistent thyroid gland disorders and will research this by utilizing resources such as OMIM (the Online Mendelian Inheritance of Man database). It is a worthwhile endeavor to do so as maintaining a euthyroid state is crucial for optimal health.
The avian embryo responding to microgravity of space flight.

Of all the many potential and real microenvironmental influences, only gravity would appear to have remained relatively constant and ubiquitous for developing organisms. Histo- and organogenesis as well as differential growth of the embryo and fetus may have evolved with a constant environmental factor of gravity. Chick embryos of 2-day and 9-day stages of incubation were flown in an incubator on the Space Shuttle during a 9-day mission. Significant differences in embryo response to this microgravity environment were observed. This paper offers an analysis and suggests mechanisms which may contribute to these results.
Effect of short-chain alcohols on the bulk-phase reaction between glyoxal and ammonium sulfate

Abstract The chemical and physical properties of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) may be influenced by the aqueous environment within which SOA-forming reactions occur. Bulk-phase reactions between glyoxal and ammonium sulfate produce light-absorbing compounds such as imidazole-2-carboxaldehyde (IC) and biimidazole (BI) and model aerosol-phase chemistry. The effect of solvent composition on IC and BI production kinetics were examined for solutions containing a series of short-chain alcohols (methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 2-butanol, tert-butanol, and 3-methyl-2-butanol), as functions of the species and concentration added. The addition of an alcohol likely altered the solvent by inducing the formation of micro-heterogeneities of hydrated alcohol molecules. An increased alcohol concentration in solution resulted in a general increase in the production of IC and BI, with ethanol and the secondary alcohols causing the largest changes. The rate constants for IC and BI production in solutions that do not contain alcohol are found to be (4.03 ± 2.02) x 10−6 s−1 and (3.48 ± 1.75) x 10−6 s−1, respectively. In solutions that do contain an alcohol, rate constant values range from 3.23 × 10−6 s−1 to 6.61 × 10−6 s−1 for IC and 0.985 × 10−6 s−1 to 6.87 × 10−6 s−1 for BI, depending on the alcohol and the concentration. While these prevailing trends of more alcohol in solution leading to amplified production of imidazoles were observed for all seven alcohols, the diversity of responses implies the mode of action depends strongly on the species of alcohol added. Properties that describe a solution in bulk, such as dielectric constant, are not found to be reliable predictors of subsequent system behavior. Solvent composition influences SOA chemistry, and interactions between relevant functional groups within solution drive this influence, which suggests the importance of understanding individual relationships between aerosol-phase chemicals and SOA properties and production.
A concept analysis of adolescent friendship.

Aim The purpose of this study is to provide a definition of adolescent friendship to aid in nursing research and practice. Background Friendships are an essential part of adolescence and can have significant impacts on health outcomes. Adolescent friendships are associated with decreased depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and improved self-management of chronic conditions. However, the concept of friendship has not been well defined in the nursing literature, especially in the context of adolescents. Design Walker and Avant's method of concept analysis was used as a framework for this analysis. Data sources Seventeen articles were reviewed, representing a variety of disciplines including child development, psychology, sociology, behavioral sciences, medicine, education, public health, and nutrition. Additional sources included online definitions of friendship. Review methods After reviewing the sources, the author identified attributes, antecedents, and consequences. Model case, a borderline case, and contrary case were developed and empirical referents identified. Results The analysis resulted in a clear definition of adolescent friendship, containing the attributes of support, intimacy, affection, trust, ability to manage conflict, and time. Conclusions Understanding the attributes, antecedents, and consequences of adolescent friendships will help nurses in assessing and supporting these influential relationships during this important development period.
Design and Analysis of an Optimal Control Algorithm for the Output of a Stochastic Automaton

Given the input-output behavior of a stochastic automaton and a map which compares output words, optimal controls are introduced, and an explicit formula for such a control is derived by means of linear programming techniques. The second part of this paper deals with the situation that an input and an output word are given and the probability with which the optimal control puts out the word is requested. An algorithm for computing this probability is presented and analysed with respect to its behavior in the worst as well as in the average case. The latter analysis develops some new techniques, which are necessary since an uncountable variety of possible inputs has to be considered. These techniques come mainly from real analysis, in particular from measure theory.
Contraceptive utilization and counseling among breast cancer survivors

To explore contraceptive counseling and utilization among breast cancer survivors. We enrolled reproductive-aged women with a history of breast cancer for a cross-sectional study. Participants were recruited via the Athena Breast Health Network and via the Young Survival Coalition’s social media postings. Descriptive statistics were calculated to understand utilization of and feelings about contraceptive methods before, during, and after breast cancer treatment. Data presented here are from an online survey of 150 breast cancer survivors who completed the survey. Seventy-one percent (n = 105) of respondents reported being sexually active and not pregnant during their primary cancer treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation). Of these, 90% (n = 94) reported using any form of contraceptive, and the most common method was condoms (n = 55, 52%). Respondents reported that safety concerns had the biggest influence on their contraception method choice. Sixty-one percent (n = 92) reported receiving contraceptive counseling by their oncologist either before or after treatment; however, 49% (n = 45) of those did not receive a specific recommendation for a contraceptive method. Of respondents who reported receiving contraceptive counseling from their gynecologist, 44% (n = 35) reported that their gynecologist specifically recommended a copper intrauterine device (IUD). The majority of respondents (n = 76, 52%) wanted their oncologist to discuss contraceptive options with them and preferred to receive this counseling at the time of diagnosis (n = 81, 57%). Breast cancer survivors in this study remained sexually active across the cancer care continuum and predominantly used condoms as their contraceptive method during treatment. Breast cancer patients would prefer contraceptive counseling from their oncologist at the time of their cancer diagnosis. Education efforts in the future should focus on initiatives to improve comprehensive contraceptive counseling at the time of diagnosis by an oncologist.
From Hessian to Weitzenböck: manifolds with torsion-carrying connections

We investigate affine connections that have zero curvature but not necessarily zero torsion. Slightly generalizing from what is known as Weitzenbock connections, such non-flat connections (we call “pseudo-Weitzenbock connections”) can be constructed from any frame (a set of linearly independent vector fields), not just the orthonormal frames, with their torsions vanishing if and only if the frame is a coordinate frame. In such situations, the notion of biorthogonal frames generalizes the notion of biorthogonal coordinates of a Hessian manifold, with respect to any given Riemannian metric g (not necessarily Hessian). Our main theorem shows that the pair of pseudo-Weitzenbock connections, each adapted to one of the pair of g-biorthogonal frames, are g-conjugate to each other. As a result, the pseudo-Weitzenbock connection pair generalize dually flat connections characteristic of Hessian manifolds, by being both curvature-free yet admitting (generally unequal) torsions. These results allow us to construct a pseudo-Weitzenbock connection for the manifold of parametric statistical models and treat it as a “statistical manifold admitting torsion”.
Identifying Self-Admitted Technical Debts with Jitterbug: A Two-step Approach

Keeping track of and managing Self-Admitted Technical Debts (SATDs) are important to maintaining a healthy software project. This requires much time and effort from human experts to identify the SATDs manually. The current automated solutions do not have satisfactory precision and recall in identifying SATDs to fully automate the process. To solve the above problems, we propose a two-step framework called Jitterbug for identifying SATDs. Jitterbug first identifies the "easy to find" SATDs automatically with close to 100% precision using a novel pattern recognition technique. Subsequently, machine learning techniques are applied to assist human experts in manually identifying the remaining "hard to find" SATDs with reduced human effort. Our simulation studies on ten software projects show that Jitterbug can identify SATDs more efficiently (with less human effort) than the prior state-of-the-art methods.
Malignant Outcomes of Architectural Distortion on Tomosynthesis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Please see the Editorial Comment by Ellen B. Mendelson discussing this article. BACKGROUND. The literature has reported varying rates of malignancy for architectural distortion (AD) on digital brea...
Empirical evaluation of sub-cohort sampling designs for risk prediction modeling

Sub-cohort sampling designs, such as nested case-control (NCC) and case-cohort (CC) studies, have been widely used to estimate biomarker-disease associations because of their cost effectiveness. Th...
Lights, Camera, Autonomy! Exploring the Opinions of Older Adults Regarding Autonomous Vehicles Through Enactment

Autonomous vehicles (AV), one of the transportation industry’s biggest innovations of the past few decades, bring the promise of safer roads and significantly lower vehicle-related fatalities. Whil...
Children with Autism and Their Typically Developing Siblings Differ in Amplicon Sequence Variants and Predicted Functions of Stool-Associated Microbes.

The existence of a link between the gut microbiome and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is well established in mice, but in human populations, efforts to identify microbial biomarkers have been limited due to a lack of appropriately matched controls, stratification of participants within the autism spectrum, and sample size. To overcome these limitations, we crowdsourced the recruitment of families with age-matched sibling pairs between 2 and 7 years old (within 2 years of each other), where one child had a diagnosis of ASD and the other did not. Parents collected stool samples, provided a home video of their ASD child's natural social behavior, and responded online to diet and behavioral questionnaires. 16S rRNA V4 amplicon sequencing of 117 samples (60 ASD and 57 controls) identified 21 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) that differed significantly between the two cohorts: 11 were found to be enriched in neurotypical children (six ASVs belonging to the Lachnospiraceae family), while 10 were enriched in children with ASD (including Ruminococcaceae and Bacteroidaceae families). Summarizing the expected KEGG orthologs of each predicted genome, the taxonomic biomarkers associated with children with ASD can use amino acids as precursors for butyragenic pathways, potentially altering the availability of neurotransmitters like glutamate and gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA).IMPORTANCE Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which now affects 1 in 54 children in the United States, is known to have comorbidity with gut disorders of a variety of types; however, the link to the microbiome remains poorly characterized. Recent work has provided compelling evidence to link the gut microbiome to the autism phenotype in mouse models, but identification of specific taxa associated with autism has suffered replicability issues in humans. This has been due in part to sample size that sufficiently covers the spectrum of phenotypes known to autism (which range from subtle to severe) and a lack of appropriately matched controls. Our original study proposes to overcome these limitations by collecting stool-associated microbiome on 60 sibling pairs of children, one with autism and one neurotypically developing, both 2 to 7 years old and no more than 2 years apart in age. We use exact sequence variant analysis and both permutation and differential abundance procedures to identify 21 taxa with significant enrichment or depletion in the autism cohort compared to their matched sibling controls. Several of these 21 biomarkers have been identified in previous smaller studies; however, some are new to autism and known to be important in gut-brain interactions and/or are associated with specific fatty acid biosynthesis pathways.
Reclaiming John Steinbeck: Writing for the Future of Humanity

John Steinbeck is a towering figure in twentieth-century American literature; yet he remains one of our least understood writers. This major reevaluation of Steinbeck by Gavin Jones uncovers a timely thinker who confronted the fate of humanity as a species facing climate change, environmental crisis, and a growing divide between the powerful and the marginalized. Driven by insatiable curiosity, Steinbeck's work crossed a variety of borders – between the United States and the Global South, between human and nonhuman lifeforms, between science and the arts, and between literature and film – to explore the transformations in consciousness necessary for our survival on a precarious planet. Always seeking new forms to express his ecological and social vision of human interconnectedness and vulnerability, Steinbeck is a writer of urgent concern for the twenty-first century, even as he was haunted by the legacies of racism and injustice in the American West.
Rejoinder for “Exponential-Family Embedding With Application to Cell Developmental Trajectories for Single-Cell RNA-Seq Data”

We thank the coordinating editor and associate editor for organizing this discussion, and we are grateful to the discussants for their comments. They identify important aspects for improvements, bo...
Patient and Caregiver Preferences on Treatment Attributes for Atopic Dermatitis

Background The expanding number of potential treatment options for atopic dermatitis (AD) highlights the need to better understand the treatment preferences of individuals with AD. Objective This study identified attributes that most greatly influenced treatment preferences of adults/adolescents/caregivers of children with mild/moderate/severe AD. Methods Adults (≥18 years), adolescents (12-17 years), and caregivers of children (2-11 years) with mild, moderate, or severe AD in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) participated in semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify and generate themes across the interview results describing the treatment attributes of greatest importance to participants. Results Qualitative interviews were conducted with 35 adults, 35 caregivers, and 33 adolescent participants across both countries (n = 103; US =51; UK =52) and all severity groups (mild =43; moderate =47; severe =13). The most important treatment attributes included efficacy (96.1%; speed and duration of symptom relief), mode of administration (66.0%; route of administration, frequency, and convenience), and side effects (55.3%, short-term, long-term, and general). Conclusion Efficacy, mode of administration, and side effects were the most important attributes that influenced AD treatment preferences for patients and caregivers across different countries, ages, and disease severity. These results may assist patients/caregivers/clinicians in shared decision-making discussions to improve treatment adherence and outcomes.
Medical Debt in the US, 2009-2020.

Importance: Medical debt is an increasing concern in the US, yet there is limited understanding of the amount and distribution of medical debt, and its association with health care policies. Objective: To measure the amount of medical debt nationally and by geographic region and income group and its association with Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Design, Setting, and Participants: Data on medical debt in collections were obtained from a nationally representative 10% panel of consumer credit reports between January 2009 and June 2020 (reflecting care provided prior to the COVID-19 pandemic). Income data were obtained from the 2014-2018 American Community Survey. The sample consisted of 4.1 billion person-month observations (nearly 40 million unique individuals). These data were used to estimate the amount of medical debt (nationally and by geographic region and zip code income decile) and to examine the association between Medicaid expansion and medical debt (overall and by income group). Exposures: Geographic region (US Census region), income group (zip code income decile), and state Medicaid expansion status. Main Outcomes and Measures: The stock (all unpaid debt listed on credit reports) and flow (new debt listed on credit reports during the preceding 12 months) of medical debt in collections that can be collected on by debt collectors. Results: In June 2020, an estimated 17.8% of individuals had medical debt (13.0% accrued debt during the prior year), and the mean amount was $429 ($311 accrued during the prior year). The mean stock of medical debt was highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast ($616 vs $167; difference, $448 [95% CI, $435-$462]) and higher in poor than in rich zip code income deciles ($677 vs $126; difference, $551 [95% CI, $520-$581]). Between 2013 and 2020, the states that expanded Medicaid in 2014 experienced a decline in the mean flow of medical debt that was 34.0 percentage points (95% CI, 18.5-49.4 percentage points) greater (from $330 to $175) than the states that did not expand Medicaid (from $613 to $550). In the expansion states, the gap in the mean flow of medical debt between the lowest and highest zip code income deciles decreased by $145 (95% CI, $95-$194) while the gap increased by $218 (95% CI, $163-$273) in the nonexpansion states. Conclusions and Relevance: This study provides an estimate of the amount of medical debt in collections in the US based on consumer credit reports from January 2009 to June 2020, reflecting care delivered prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and suggests that the amount of medical debt was highest among individuals living in the South and in lower-income communities. However, further study is needed regarding debt related to COVID-19.
Development of a Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) Symptom Lexicon Using Electronic Health Record Clinical Notes

ABSTRACT Objective To develop a comprehensive post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) symptom lexicon from clinical notes to support PASC symptom identification and research. Methods We identified 26,117 COVID-19 positive patients from the Mass General Brigham’s electronic health records (EHR) and extracted 328,879 clinical notes from their post-acute infection period (day 51-110 from first positive COVID-19 test). The PASC symptom lexicon incorporated Unified Medical Language System® (UMLS) Metathesaurus concepts and synonyms based on selected semantic types. The MTERMS natural language processing (NLP) tool was used to automatically extract symptoms from a development dataset. The lexicon was iteratively revised with manual chart review, keyword search, concept consolidation, and evaluation of NLP output. We assessed the comprehensiveness of the lexicon and the NLP performance using a validation dataset and reported the symptom prevalence across the entire corpus. Results The PASC symptom lexicon included 355 symptoms consolidated from 1,520 UMLS concepts. NLP achieved an averaged precision of 0.94 and an estimated recall of 0.84. Symptoms with the highest frequency included pain (43.1%), anxiety (25.8%), depression (24.0%), fatigue (23.4%), joint pain (21.0%), shortness of breath (20.8%), headache (20.0%), nausea and/or vomiting (19.9%), myalgia (19.0%), and gastroesophageal reflux (18.6%). Discussion and Conclusion PASC symptoms are diverse. A comprehensive PASC symptom lexicon can be derived using a data-driven, ontology-driven and NLP-assisted approach. By using unstructured data, this approach may improve identification and analysis of patient symptoms in the EHR, and inform prospective study design, preventative care strategies, and therapeutic interventions for patient care.
Soil apparent electrical conductivity and must carbon isotope ratio provide indication of plant water status in wine grape vineyards

Proximal sensing is being integrated into vineyard management as it provides rapid assessments of spatial variability of soils’ and plants’ features. The electromagnetic induction (EMI) technology is used to measure soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) with proximal sensing and enables to appraise soil characteristics and their possible effects on plant physiological responses. This study was conducted in a micro irrigated Cabernet Sauvignon (Vitis vinifera L.) vineyard to investigate the technical feasibility of appraising plant water status and its spatial variability using soil ECa and must carbon isotope ratio analysis (δ13C). Soil temperature and soil water content were monitored in-situ using time domain reflectometry (TDR) sensors. Soil ECa was measured with EMI at two depths [0–1.5 m (deep ECa) and 0–0.75 m (shallow ECa)] over the course of the crop season to capture the temporal dynamics and changes. At the study site, the main physical and chemical soil characteristics, i.e. soil texture, gravel, pore water electrical conductivity (ECe), organic carbon, and soil water content at field capacity, were determined from samples collected auguring the soil at equidistant points that were identified using a regular grid. Midday stem water potential (Ψstem) and leaf gas exchange, including stomatal conductance (gs), net carbon assimilation (An), and intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi) were measured periodically in the vineyard. The δ13C of produced musts was measured at harvest. The results indicated that soil water content (relative importance = 24%) and texture (silt: relative importance = 22.4% and clay: relative importance = 18.2%) were contributing the most towards soil ECa. Deep soil ECa was directly related to Ψstem (r2 = 0.7214) and gs (r2 = 0.5007). Likewise, δ13C of must was directly related to Ψstem (r2 = 0.9127), gs (r2 = 0.6985), and An (r2 = 0.5693). Results from this work provided relevant information on the possibility of using spatial soil ECa sensing and δ13C analysis to infer plant water status and leaf gas exchange in micro irrigated vineyards.
Emission spectroscopy with coded apertures for enhanced dimensionality

A coded aperture is used to demonstrate emission spectroscopy from multiple one-dimensional measurement locations simultaneously with a single camera. The coded aperture mask has several columns of periodic apertures, each with a unique spatial frequency. Light transmitted through all mask columns is detected through an imaging spectrometer. Dispersed light from the various mask columns overlaps on the spectrometer camera but is separated using Fourier-domain filtering using the known spatial frequencies of the mask. As the coded aperture is placed at an image plane, each Fourier-filtered spectrogram comes from a unique one-dimensional measurement location. This technique represents a significant increase in the amount of spatially and spectrally resolved emission data available using a single emission spectrometer and camera at the expense of some spatial resolution due to the Fourier filtering. This instrument is particularly useful for studying transient, non-repeating events. Megahertz-rate emission spectroscopy from five one-dimensional measurement locations is demonstrated with explosive fireballs using a single camera. Optical design parameters and instrument performance characteristics are discussed.
Numerical modeling of LAPD experiments of auroral electron acceleration

The detailed chain of physical effects leading to the glowing of the aurora represents one of the longest standing, unanswered questions in space physics. The mechanism in the auroral magnetosphere by which electrons are accelerated downward toward the ionosphere below is a critical step that remains incompletely understood. Over the last two decades, an ongoing experimental project at the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) has sought to measure the acceleration of electrons by inertial Alfven waves under plasma conditions relevant to the auroral magnetosphere. To understand how electrons are energized by Alfven waves in the experiment, we use the recently devised field-particle correlation technique [1] , [2] to determine the electron energization by the parallel component of the electric field as a function of the parallel electron velocity. This new analysis method generates a velocity-space signature that can be used to identify Landau-resonant acceleration. Here we present a field- particle correlation analysis of both self-consistent gyrokinetic numerical simulations [3] and non-self-consistent Vlasov mapping [4] of the electron velocity distribution through the Alfven wave fields, providing a means to interpret the velocity-space signature of electron energization arising from the experimental measurements. A comparison to results from our most recent LAPD experimental campaign will be shared.
Review of “You're Looking At Me Like I Live Here And I Don't”

Artistic depictions of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in mainstream culture have long tended toward the predictable and melodramatic. Tropes of loss, decline, and sadness predominate, with AD often personified as a ravaging disease that steals the self. However, thanks to the ascendancy of the person-centered care and culture change movements over the past decade, there has been a shift away from the hoary disease narrative and an increasing focus on the nuanced human aspects of the illness. You’re Looking At Me Like I Live Here And I Don’t—billed as the first documentary filmed exclusively in an Alzheimer’s care unit and told from the perspective of a person with AD—is part of this trend. Set at a residential facility in Danville, California, the film follows Lee Gorewitz, a 70-something woman with significant memory loss and aphasia, as she goes about her daily life in a locked unit over a 6-month period. Director Scott Kirschenbaum and his team remain conspicuously absent from the film, relying exclusively on the actions of Lee and her fellow residents to push the story forward. There are no “cut-in” interviews with nursing staff or family members, no authoritative “non-demented” narration to provide context or interpretation. Like Lee, the viewer is trapped in the locked unit and subjected to fleeting, episodic, and disorienting moments that are unanchored in time or meaningful context.
Pre-Pleistocene Paleoclimates: The Geological and Paleontological Evidence; Modeling Strategies, Boundary Conditions, and some Preliminary Results

Publisher Summary This chapter presents paleoclimatic modeling as a survey of the types of evidence available, the paleoclimatic record that it shows, and of the modeling opportunities that now exist. The focus in this chapter is on mid-Cretaceous to late Tertiary time, the period that has seen a transition from fully nonglacial to glacial climates and which will be the subject of most pre-Pleistocene paleoclimatic modeling in the foreseeable future. The most important paleoclimatic indicators are described, and the major events of the Earth's climatic history are summarized. This is followed by an examination of the state of the atmosphere–ocean system during the last nonglacial maximum, the middle part of the Cretaceous period. The progressive cooling that took place from late Cretaceous to late Tertiary times is described, along with a consideration of some of the mechanisms that may have brought this about. These reviews are followed by a discussion of some of the forcing factors that are important in long-term climatic change. The establishment of paleogeographic and other boundary conditions for any chosen period are described. The possible strategies for paleoclimatic modeling are discussed, and the results of recent modeling experiments are reviewed.
Action of Phospholipase C on the Thyroid ABOLITION OF THE RESPONSE TO THYROID-STIMULATING HORMONE

Abstract Treatment of dog thyroid slices with an enzyme present in the growth medium of Clostridium perfringens makes them unresponsive to thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) as measured by the oxidation of glucose-1-14C to 14CO2. This enzyme appears to be phospholipase C since (a) both the anti-TSH effect and the phospholipase activity are inseparable over a 240-fold purification, (b) both activities are inhibited by 5 x 10-4 m ethylenediaminetetraacetate and destroyed by boiling, and (c) the addition of excess phospholipid protects the thyroid from the enzyme. Phospholipase C appears to abolish the responsiveness to TSH by producing a specific alteration in the thyroid cell membrane, since thyroids treated with enzyme oxidize glucose at a normal rate in the absence of TSH and respond normally to acetylcholine, a substance previously shown to increase glucose oxidation in the thyroid.
Power Amplifier Approaches for High Efficiency and Linearity

This chapter describes a series of novel concepts to increase microwave power amplifier efficiency. Within modern wireless systems, power amplifiers must meet exacting linearity specifica-tions, which tend to be at odds with the need for high efficiency. To characterize these specifications and associated trade-offs, the authors first review the linearity requirements and dynamic range requirements of representative high performance communication systems. They then demonstrate concepts for power amplifier improvement that can meet the system requirements.
Perkutane dorsale Stabilisierung an der Brust- und Lendenwirbelsäule mit dem Expedium LIS

Mit dem Expedium LIS konnen Stabilisierungen von der mittleren Brustwirbelsaule bis zum Sakrum erfolgen. Eine perkutane Platzierung kanulierter Expedium-Polyaxialschrauben ist moglich. Mit dem System kann der Stab perkutan eingebracht werden. Durch das perkutane Einbringen des Stabes entsteht ein minimales Muskeltrauma. Bei den offenen Stabilisierungsverfahren wird ein maximales Gewebetrauma gesetzt, welches zu einer fettigen Atrophie fuhrt, die im Magnetresonanztomogramm nachgewiesen werden kann. Der Erhalt der Ruckenmuskulatur ist fur die angrenzenden Bewegungssegmente im weiteren Verlauf notwendig, um nicht fruhzeitig eine angrenzende Degeneration der Bewegungssegmente zu schaffen. Osteochondrose der Brust- und Lendenwirbelsaule. Spondylolisthese Grad I–III nach Meyerding. Instabilitat bei Postnukleotomiesyndrom. Frakturen der Typen A und B nach Magerl. Spondylodiszitis. Flexible thorakale und lumbale Skoliosen. Osteoporose (DEXA-t-Score < –1,5). Spondylolisthese Grad IV nach Meyerding. Lagerung des Patienten auf dem Bauch mit zwei C-Bogen im lateralen und anterior-posterioren Strahlengang. Platzierung einer Knochenbiopsienadel am seitlichen Pedikelrand nach einem Langsschnitt von 1,5 cm. Praparation des Pedikels nach Einbringen des Kirschner-Drahts. Einbringen der kanulierten Pedikelschraube mit Schraubenverlangerungen. Implantation des Stabes perkutan von der proximalen Schraube ausgehend. Setzen der Madenschraube. Entfernung der Schraubenverlangerung. Mobilisation des Patienten am selben Tag oder am 1. postoperativen Tag ohne Korsett. Am 7. postoperativen Tag Beginn mit isometrischen Ubungen. Korperliche Schonung bis zu 3 Monate nach der Operation. Zwischen 2005 und 2006 wurden 72 Patienten (45 Frauen, 27 Manner) im Alter von 44 Jahren (35–73 Jahre) operiert. Die Patienten wurden 3, 6, 12 und 24 Monate postoperativ nachuntersucht. Die durchschnittliche Nachkontrollzeit betrug 14 Monate (3–24 Monate). Der knocherne Durchbau wurde mit Hilfe eines Computertomogramms oder einer Rontgenaufnahme festgestellt. Bei allen Patienten zeigte sich eine Fusion. Implantatbedingte Komplikationen waren nicht feststellbar.
Zur Umsetzung von Diäthylphosphonacetophenon mit N,N‐Diäthyl‐p‐phenylendiamin‐sulfat

Ein von IMAJEW beschriebenes phosphorhaltiges Azomethin aus Diathylphosphonacetophenon und N, N-Diathyl-p-phenylendiamin-sulfat wurde als p, p′-Bis- diathylaminoazobenzol erkannt.
Symptoms of depression in elderly Korean immigrants: narration and the healing process

This paper explores ways in which depressive symptoms are expressed by elderly Korean immigrants in the USA. Depressed elderly Korean immigrants in the Washington DC area were interviewed in depth to explore their conceptualizations of depression in terms of explanatory models and semantic networks. The expressions of depressive symptoms were influenced by linguistic and psycho-socio-cultural factors, therapeutic behaviors, and efficacy of treatment. The data were interpreted in terms of traditional Korean medical principles, cosmological, socio-cultural, and religious influences, and an individual's family structural changes and acculturation. Findings indicate the construction of somatization among Korean elders is more complex than is generally reported: in most cases, a dynamic, holistic blend of processes appears to operate simultaneously, instead of as somatization in isolation. Informants placed different degrees of emphasis on psychologization or somatization, or the two combined. The roles of personality, value orientation, intellect, emotion, economic status, degree of acculturation, degree of dependence on children, living situation (with or not with children), and self-will or self-confidence are important influences on the depression symptoms in the psychologization-somatization continuum. The more self-directed the informants are, the more they psychologize; the more other-directed, the more they seem to somatize. Names and symptoms of depression (a Western concept) and popular illnesses (traditional Korean concepts) were used interchangeably by the informants. When informants were asked to explain the signs and symptoms of depression and sadness, some described symptoms similar to the criteria of major depression in DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association), while others gave different symptoms and ways of expressing them. Some informants believed that symptoms and signs of depression can be concealed from others if one chooses to do so. Many felt that manifestations of depression can be controlled by willpower, personality, and self-care.
A vibrational study of cyclohexane and some of its isotopic derivatives—I: Raman and infrared spectra and assignments of cyclohexaae and cyclohexane-d12

Abstract The vapor and liquid phase infrared spectra (376–4000 cm −1 ) and the liquid phase Raman spectra (with polarizations) of cyclo hexane and cyclo hexane- d 12 are presented. Vibrational assignments are made with the aid of recent infrared solid state studies on cyclo hexane. Suggestions are put forward for all active fundamentals in both molecules except v 32 in cyclo hexane- d 12 , for which the product rule predicts a value of approximately 190 cm −1 .
Affect as motivation for cognitive and constive processes

Responding to natural language requires performing two major tasks: information processing (cognition), and decision making (conation). In order to motivate and best guide an entity performing such complex tasks, motivation must originate in the self-interest of the entity. This motivation guides cognitive and conative processes at the lowest possible level by assigning values (measures of importance) to various process components and using them in making process decisions. Through such a motivational mechanism, every decision taken will be to further the entity's self-interests. We describe a model for such a mechanism and the affect process which embodies self-interests.
Dietary Fish Oil Supplementation Attenuates Myocardial Dysfunction and Injury Caused by Global Ischemia and Reperfusion in Isolated Rat Hearts

To determine the effect of dietary fish oil supplementation on myocardial dysfunction following ischemia-reperfusion, independent of plasma and blood cells, Sprague-Dawley rats were fed fish oil-rich nonpurified diet or butter-enriched diet for 5 d. Myocardial content of long-chain and (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids was greater in the fish oil-fed rats (P < 0.01), whereas (n-6) fatty acid content was lower compared with controls (P < 0.01). Platelet aggregation in fish oil-fed rats was also inhibited. Hearts from all rats were subjected to 15 min of global ischemia and 10 min of reperfusion. In hearts of control rats, ischemia-reperfusion resulted in a marked decrease in force of cardiac contraction, increase in coronary perfusion pressure, appearance of ventricular arrhythmias and release of creatine kinase and thromboxane B2 in the coronary effluent. Dietary fish oil supplementation attenuated myocardial dysfunction induced by ischemia-reperfusion, as indicated by smaller change in force of cardiac contraction (-77% vs. -89%, P < 0.05) and coronary perfusion pressure (+37% vs. +71%, P < 0.001). Concomitantly, release of creatine kinase as well as thromboxane B2 in coronary effluent was lower (P < 0.01). Ventricular arrhythmias occurred less frequently in hearts from fish oil-fed rats. Thus, short-term dietary fish oil supplementation attenuates myocardial dysfunction caused by ischemia-reperfusion by a direct effect on the heart independent of blood and plasma components.
Selected strategies for improving sensitivity and reliability of immunoassays.

Selected recent advances in immunoassay are reviewed. Development has continued on new labels (beta-lactamase, pyrophosphatase, luciferases, photoproteins, pyridopyridazines, europium cryptates, metal carbonyl complexes, porphines, phosphors) and label-detection methods (e.g., chemiluminescence assays, thermometric assays, NADP(+)- and FADP-based coupled assays). Various methods have been explored to increase assay sensitivity, including label amplification via catalyzed reporter deposition (peroxidase label) and immuno-polymerase chain reaction (DNA label). The focus of new immunoassay strategies has been on improved reliability (bispecific antibodies), assay simplification (piezoelectric and surface plasmon resonance immunosensors, phase-modulation fluorescence spectroscopy, polymerized bilayer assemblies), and simultaneous multianalyte testing (e.g., quadruple labeling with lanthanides, one-step test devices for drugs of abuse).
Antagonistic analogs of growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) inhibit cyclic AMP production of human cancer cell lines in vitro

Antagonistic analogs of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) inhibit growth of various human cancers both in vivo and in vitro. GHRH, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide stimulate cyclic AMP (cAMP) release from various human cancer cell lines in vitro. Thus, in the present study, we investigated the effects of antagonistic analogs of GHRH on the GHRH- and VIP-induced cAMP release from cultured human cancer cells in a superfusion system. Various human cancer cell lines were exposed to human GHRH(1-29)NH2 (2-20 nM) or VIP (0.1-5 nM) repeatedly for 12 min or continuously for 96 min. GHRH antagonist MZ-5-156 at 100 to 200 nM concentration inhibited the GHRH- or VIP-induced cAMP release from mammary (MDA-MB-468), prostatic (PC-3), and pancreatic (SW-1990 and CAPAN-2) cancer cells. These results show that antagonistic analogs of GHRH suppress the stimulatory effects of GHRH and VIP on the cAMP production of various cancer cells. Because cAMP is a potent second messenger controlling many intracellular functions, including the stimulation of cell growth, an inhibition of autocrine/paracrine action of GHRH by the GHRH antagonists may provide the basis for the development of new methods for cancer treatment.
Beyond Surrogacy—A Multi‐taxon Approach to Conservation Biogeography

Biogeographic analysis of species turnover (b diversity) of plants and animals among regions often yields conflicting results, with regions of high b diversity identified for some taxonomic groups but not others. Such discordance calls into question the use of surrogate taxa to forge conservation plans. This discordance begs for a means of comparing multiple taxa across phyla in a manner that is cost-effective, considers limitations in computer resources in certain global regions, and is understood by policy makers and land managers. As a test case for a method taking into account these considerations, we used species lists for ten organismal groups (spanning plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates) to identify regions of high b diversity using Monmonier’s algorithm, a spatially explicit technique that is readily implemented and interpreted. Data were for montane (>1000 m elevation) species across the Eastern Arc of Tanzania and Kenya and surrounding areas. Our results indicate that surrogacy does not make for the most effective expenditure of conservation efforts. We also show that to use a multi-taxon approach one need not rely on intensive surveys of areas in order to make conservation decisions, including reserve selection. Our approach also eliminates the need for complex modeling and comparisons common to many GIS-based complementarity techniques. Additionally, a wide variety of socioeconomic, political, demographic, geological, climatological, and evolutionary factors can be incorporated into the technique to help shape conservation biogeography from a local and regional perspective. This technique can bridge the gap between conservation biogeography theory and application in tropical regions and beyond.