cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Building a Social-Cognitive Framework for Design: Personality and Design Self-efficacy Effects on Pro-design Behaviors

The purpose of this work is to offer a framework that analogously considers factors significant for engineering design and industrial organization, borrowing from literature in domains of cognition and social theories. We conducted two studies: at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and University of Southern California, that allowed us to investigate personal, environmental, cognitive, and behavioral traits and processes, as affected by design self-efficacy, in engineering designers and non-technical designers in training. Through a social-cognitive framework for design, we explore the kind of influence that occurs among person, environment, and behavior reciprocally. We found that the rational mode of thinking was particularly highly associated with design self-efficacy, and intuitive mode particularly insufficiently associated with design self-efficacy. Design self-efficacy was further positively associated with big five personality conscientiousness, and highly negatively associated with neuroticism, where some significance is seen in specific correlations with design self-efficacy in personality domains. The comprehensive findings call for a repetition study and further theoretical considerations for findings in the framework’s domain.
Leadership and Communication in the Bhagavad Gita: Unity, Duty, and Equanimity

Organizations and communication are fundamental facts of human life. As social animals and relational beings we must collaborate across all planes of our existence, from the micro levels of family and neighborhood all the way up through macro levels of state, nation, and our global community. At each level these groups require a sense of direction and focus to maintain themselves and grow. Without focus and shared meaning groups can develop dysfunctional interaction patterns that harm their own members and drag the whole toward disintegration. Meaning is thus a vital resource for all organizations, and humanity is blessed with many ancient wisdom traditions that can shed the light we all need to flourish and grow together. In Western management theory the Hindu tradition is a relatively unknown source of meaning and light, and the ideas it shares can offer valuable perspective on the perennial challenges facing all leaders. This essay looks to a Hindu spiritual masterpiece, the Bhagavad Gita, to draw lessons for contemporary leaders. Themes of Unity, Duty, and Equanimity are explored via direct textual quotations to suggest ways to communicate light and meaning that can strengthen and motivate our organizations. Using Yukl’s (Leadership in organizations, 2000) ten leadership functions, a set of application principles is developed to show how the Gita’s values can help frame practical management challenges.
The Illusions of Experience

On reading the grain argument as advanced by Meehl and Sellars, I find that there is not one but two grain arguments. According to one argument, mental events cannot be the same as neural events because mental events have a continuity that neural events do not have. The other argues for the same conclusion from the simplicity of experienced quality. I answer these arguments by claiming that these properties of experience are illusory. I detail a dual threshold theory of visual experience and show that given this model the mind-brain identity theory predicts the existence of these illusions.
Rightist Education and Godly Technology: Cultural Politics, Gender, and the Work of Home Schooling

The secularity of the state is seen by 'authoritarian populist' religious conservatives as imposing a world-view that is out of touch with the deep religious commitments that guide their lives. In the process, authoritarian populists have taken on subaltern identities and claimed that they are the last truly dispossessed groups. To demonstrate their increasing power in educational and social policy, I situate a specific set of technologies-the Internet-within the social context of its use in this community. I focus on the growing home-schooling movement and suggest that to understand the societal meaning and uses of these technologies, we need to examine the social movement that provides the context for their use. I also argue that we need to analyze critically the kind of labor that is required in home schooling, who is engaged in such labor, and how such labor is interpreted by the actors who perform it.
From Solo Decision Maker to Multi-Stakeholder Process: A Defense and Recommendations

Berger (2020) argues effectively that “representativeness is more aptly understood as a variable that is multidimensional and continuous based on relational moral authority,” and also makes some us...
"A Woman in A Man's World": A Pilot Qualitative Study of Challenges Faced by Women Veterans During and After Deployment

Women Veterans face gender-specific challenges to military life and post-deployment readjustment, including gender-based discrimination and military sexual trauma. Despite recent military initiativ...
Microbes’ Many Roles in Climate Change: Contribution, Consequence, Mitigation, and Model System

Climate change is an imminent problem, one quite possibly catastrophic to the global ecosystem and human civilizations. Most understand that human activities are responsible for climate change, yet it is enhanced microbial processes by human activities that are truly causing it. The three major biogenic greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) all have significant microbial sources, especially in agricultural practices. However, microbes are also at the forefront of climate change impacts due to their prevalence and numerous ecosystem functions that they are performing. Studies using simulation experimental settings like the Free-Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) facility showed clear responses in microbial communities to increased carbon dioxide concentration and temperature, which are associated with disruptions in the soil ecosystem, increasing harmful algal blooms, and range shifting of vector-borne infectious diseases. It would then be useful to use mitigation strategies that target microbes in order to reduce greenhouse gas production, such as modifying agricultural practices to reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration. Microbes can also be a good model system to study the consequences of climate change due to their rapid reproduction rates and large population sizes so that more realistic climate change simulation may be possible within a shorter time frame. All together, microbes are in a unique position for the issue of climate change as contributors, victims, mitigators, and a model system.
Future Pathways of Upcycled Textiles

My research explores economies on a local level focusing on waste reduction in textiles, drawing connections through everyday life and local upcycling practices. The goal is to understand the perceptions of waste and motivations for upcycling within diverse communities with relationships in scalar models from local and niche to meta-levels. The benefits of the knowledge gained are to inform designers’ pathways for slower product turnover through circular models. The research is in the conceptual phase; this chapter, therefore, presents more questions than answers. The continuous research is envisioned to include further literature review, semi-structured interviews, fieldwork, workshops, and auto-ethnographic research into varied motivations for and approaches to fashion upcycling in online communities focusing on generational differences and projected future pathways.
Towards a Metanoia of Global Educational Leadership

This chapter examines different theories of justice which undergird the concept of an educational leader without borders. From the perspective of an individual school site leader, it posits three contexts for leadership action: the local context; the state/national context; and the global context. Using a framework developed by Checkoway (Commun Dev J 30:2–20, 1995) it sketches out a preliminary taxonomy of possible action strategies for bringing about educational change within these three contexts that deny children an education based on their gender, race, age or religion anywhere in the world. The chapter also explains why educational leaders will have to think outside the familiar bureaucratic, hierarchical model in which their leadership has been defined, and learn to function more like grassroots leaders where authority and power are earned by forming coalitions and a common consensual agenda for change. This change represents a metanoia, a new vision for defining educational leadership.
Determining Fatigue Crack Opening Loads from Near-Crack-Tip Displacement Measurements

The aim of this research was to develop a near-crack-tip measurement method that quantifies crack closure levels in the near-threshold fatigue crack growth regime--a regime where crack closure is not well characterized by remote compliance methods. Further understanding of crack closure mechanics was gained by performing novel crack growth experiments in conjunction with numerical simulations of three-dimensional crack-front propagation. Steady-state (i.e., constant growth rate) fatigue crack growth rates were characterized by performing constant cyclic stress intensity range ({Delta}K) experiments over a wide range of stress ratios (R). Near-crack-tip (less than 0.3 mm behind) load-versus-displacement measurements were conducted on the specimen surface using a novel noncontact experimental technique (Digital Imaging Displacement System--DIDS). The experiments and simulations revealed that the three-dimensional aspects of fatigue crack closure must be considered to determine correct opening load levels from near-crack-tip load-versus-displacement data. It was shown that near-crack-front, but increase near the free surface. The interior opening load was found to collapse closure-affected data to intrinsic rates, and thus shown to relate to the true crack-front driving force parameter. Surface opening load DIDS measurements made at an optimal distance behind the crack tip were used to correlate da/dN with {Delta}K{sub eff}. Opening load determinations made lessmore » than the optimal distance behind the crack tip were shown to be too high to correlate fatigue crack growth rates.« less
Axiomatic Foundations of Cost Effectiveness Analysis

Cost-effectiveness analysis, which ranks projects by quality adjusted life years gained per dollar spent, is widely used in the evaluation of health interventions. We show that cost effectiveness analysis can be derived from two axioms: society prefers Pareto improvements and society values discounted life years, lived in perfect health, equally for each person. These axioms generate a unique social preference ordering, allowing us to find the cost effectiveness threshold to which health projects should be funded, and to extend cost effectiveness analysis to give a consistent method of project evaluation across all sectors of the economy.
Antagonism of rat orexin receptors by almorexant attenuates central chemoreception in wakefulness in the active period of the diurnal cycle

Central chemoreception, the highly sensitive ventilatory response to small changes in CO2/pH, involves many sites. Hypothalamic orexin neurons are CO2 sensitive in vitro, prepro-orexin knockout mice have a reduced CO2 response prominently in wakefulness, and focal antagonism of the orexin receptor 1 (OX1R) in two central chemoreceptor sites, the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) or the medullary raphe, results in a reduction of the CO2 response predominately in wakefulness (−30% and −16%, respectively). Here we hypothesize that acute and selective inhibition of both orexin receptors (OX1R and OX2R) at all central locations by an orally administered dual orexin receptor antagonist, almorexant, will substantially attenuate the CO2 response in a vigilance-state- and diurnal-cycle-dependent manner. We found that almorexant attenuated the CO2 response by 26% only in wakefulness during the dark period of the diurnal cycle to a level observed during NREM sleep in the light period in controls suggesting that the sleep–wake difference in the CO2 response can be in large part attributed to orexin. Almorexant also decreased wakefulness and increased NREM and REM sleep during the dark period, as previously reported, and unexpectedly decreased the number of sighs and post-sigh apnoeas during wakefulness in both the light and the dark period and during both wakefulness and NREM sleep in the dark period. The results support our hypothesis that the orexin system participates importantly in central chemoreception in a vigilance-state- and diurnal-cycle-dependent manner and indicate a role for orexin in the important process of sighing.
Metaphor and Davidsonian Theories of Meaning

It was a bad day. First I presented my idea about a Central America protest to the faculty committee, but the committee played ping-pong with the idea until it was crushed. Then I met Robinson, who has somehow been able to present his theory of action in a serious journal. But the theory is a house of cards, and once his critics rattle the table a bit, the theory will come crashing down. And his book on the history of philosophy, just published, is a cheap TV dinner. He does not understand how to study the history of thought. It is necessary to dig into hidden layers of thought, to uncover earlier strata, to map the subterranean patterns, and then to explain why upheavals take place when they do. The above paragraph contains a number of metaphorical sentences. Now all of the following are, I believe, facts about, or relevant to, those sentences. They can be true or false, and our behavior towards them shows that we take them as candidates for truth. I will be expected to offer evidence in support of their truth, and Robinson's supporters on the faculty, if they hear me state the sentences about him, will accuse me of having made false claims. It is generally clear, in regard to the metaphorical sentences under consideration, what would count as evidence for them and against them.
Optimization of Sequences of Relational Queries in Decision-Support Environments

In this paper, we analyze collections of SQL queries which together answer a user’s question for which no single SQL query can compute the solution. These collections usually define a series of views or temporary tables that constitute partial solutions to the question, and finally use an SQL query on those views/tables to get the final answer. We argue that this situation poses problems for traditional approaches to optimization. We show that many of these collections of queries follow some patterns and argue that the class of queries covered by such patterns is relevant for practical purposes. We show a way to implement these collections in an efficient manner. We have carried out experiments with the TPC-D benchmark in order to test our approach.
HUMAN ACTUARIAL AGING INCREASES FASTER WHEN BACKGROUND DEATH RATES ARE LOWER: A CONSEQUENCE OF DIFFERENTIAL HETEROGENEITY?

Many analyses of human populations have found that age-specific mortality rates increase faster across most of adulthood when overall mortality levels decline. This contradicts the relationship often expected from Williams' classic hypothesis about the effects of natural selection on the evolution of senescence. More likely, much of the within-species difference in actuarial aging is not due to variation in senescence, but to the strength of filters on the heterogeneity of frailty in older survivors. A challenge to this differential frailty hypothesis was recently posed by an analysis of life tables from historical European populations and traditional societies that reported variation in actuarial aging consistent with Williams' hypothesis after all. To investigate the challenge, we reconsidered those cases and aging measures. Here we show that the discrepancy depends on Ricklefs' aging rate measure, ω, which decreases as mortality levels drop because it is an index of mortality level itself, not the rate of increase in mortality with age. We also show unappreciated correspondence among the parameters of Gompertz-Makeham and Weibull survival models. Finally, we compare the relationships among mortality parameters of the traditional societies and the historical series, providing further suggestive evidence that differential heterogeneity has strong effects on actuarial aging.
Philosophy and Human Rights: Contemporary Perspectives

Recent philosophical work on human rights has tended to focus on three questions. The first concerns the nature and function of human rights. The second concerns their ground and justification. And the third concerns their determinate content and enumeration. Attending to these three (interrelated) questions, and after addressing some skeptical worries about human rights, I review three prominent positions with respect to human rights, those of John Rawls, William Talbott and James Griffin. These views illustrate a range of approaches to human rights. At one end of the spectrum, Rawls conceives of human rights as a largely post WWII sui generis political phenomenon within the context of international relations. At the other end, Griffin conceives of them as largely the universal interpersonal moral rights possessed by persons in a state of nature and so properly part of any comprehensive or complete moral theory. Whether these orientations are mutually exclusive or perhaps complementary is a key question facing contemporary philosophical work on human rights.
Murine Pro-B Cells Require IL-7 and Its Receptor Complex to Up-Regulate IL-7Rα, Terminal Deoxynucleotidyltransferase, and cμ Expression

Phenotypic analysis of bone marrow cells from IL-7 knockout (KO) mice revealed that B cell development is blocked precisely at the transition between pro-B cells and pre-B cells. In contrast, the generation of pre-pro-B cells and pro-B cells appeared to be normal, as judged by total cell numbers, proliferative indexes, D-JH and V-DJH gene rearrangements, and mRNA for recombinase-activating gene-1 (RAG-1), RAG-2, TdT, Igμ, λ5, and VpreB. However, upon closer inspection, several abnormalities in pro-B cell development were identified that could be corrected by injection of rIL-7 in vivo. These included the absence of the subset of late pro-B cells that initiates cμ expression for pre-B cell Ag receptor (BCR) formation, and the failure of pro-B cells to up-regulate TdT and the IL-7Rα (but not the common γ-chain) chain. Similar defects were present in common γ-chain and Jak3 KO mice, but not in λ5 or (excluding cytoplasmic Ig μ heavy chain (cμ)) RAG-1 KO mice, all of which also arrest at the late pro-B cell stage. Consequently, up-regulation of TdT and IL-7Rα expression requires signaling through the high affinity IL-7R, but does not require cμ expression or a functional pre-BCR. Taken together, these results suggest that IL-7 and its receptor complex are essential for 1) up-regulating the expression of TdT and IL-7Rα, 2) initiating the production of cμ, and 3) promoting the formation of a functional pre-BCR in/on pro-B cells. These key events, in turn, appear to be prerequisite both for differentiation of pro-B cells to pre-B cells and for proliferation of these cell subsets upon continued stimulation with IL-7.
The Strongest Possible Lewisian Triviality Result

The strongest possible Lewisian triviality result for the indicative conditional is proven.
Embryo growth and differentiation factors in embryonic sera of mammals

Abstract Mouse embryos sequentially developed in vitro were classified by stages according to several established in vivo criteria. At least three heat-sensitive macromolecules from embryonic sera were found to be successively required for mouse embryos to continuously develop from stage 6 to stage 15 in vitro. Fetal calf serum (FCS) was found to be required for in vitro development only from stage 6 to stage 11, and human placental cord serum (HCS) was found essential from stage 11 to stage 15. The factors have been tentatively designated as embryo growth and differentiation factors (EGDF). FCS was separated by molecular sieving into at least two fractions: a large fraction (EGDF-1) and a smaller fraction (EGDF-2). EGDF-1 is required for embryos to develop from stage 7 to stage 8, EGDF-2 is required from stage 8 to stage 11. EGDF-3, the factor in human cord serum, was found to be indispensable for mouse embryonic development from stage 11 to stage 15. Since blastocysts (stage 6) were able to develop to stage 15 in the medium containing HCS as the sole source of macromolecules [Hsu, Y-C., et al. (1974). J. Embryol. Exp. Morphol. 31, 235–245], it is apparent that HCS also contains EGDF-1 and EGDF-2. Embryonic development was significantly retarded in decreasing concentrations of the three EGDFs.
The Gay and Lesbian Affirmative Development (GLAD) Model: Facilitating Positive Gay Identity Development.

The Gay and Lesbian Affirmative Development (GLAD) model, a proactive, gay-affirmative counseling approach, is proposed Parallels are drawn between Cass's (I919) Homosexual Identity Formation model and Ivey's (I99O) cognitive-behavioral Developmental Counseling Therapy model to help counselors assess and facilitate gay and lesbian clients' cognitive development related to the formation of a positive sexual orientation identity.
Some 2-fluoroethylamines derived from hydrocinnamic acid, phenylpyruvic acid and DL-phenylalanine

Abstract Fluorine-containing nitrogen mustards attached to hydrocinnamic acid, phenylpyruvic acid and D,L -phenylalanine as carrier groups have been synthesized. The N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-(2′-fluoroethyl)amines are obtained by alkylation of the sodium salts of N-(benzyloxycarbonyl)amines with 2-fluoroethyl p-toluenesulfonate or 2-bromofluorethane, removal of the benzyloxycarbonyl group, followed by hydroxyethylation and chlorination. The bis(2-fluoroethyl)amines are obtained by heating the bis(2-p-toluenesulfonyloxyethyl)amines with potassium fluoride in a suitable solvent. By these reactions, methyl m-aminohydrocinnamate was converted to the chlorofluoro mustard XIX and the bis-fluoro mustard XX. Starting with aniline, the above reactions, in conjunction with the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction, afforded the benzaldehyde mustards VII and VIII. These are converted to the corresponding azlactones. A two-step hydrolysis of the azlactones afforded the chlorofluoro mustard IXA and the bisfluoro mustard IXB of phenylpyruvic acid. Reduction of the azlactone with zinc and acid, followed by hydrolysis, afforded the corresponding D,L -phenylalanine mustards XIIIA and XIIIB.
Apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele is not associated with earlier age at onset in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Apolipoprotein E allele 4 (apo E e4) is known to be in genetic disequilibrium with Alzheimer's disease and is associated with an earlier age at onset of dementia. Whether apo E e4 is a specific risk factor for Alzheimer's disease or is a more general susceptibility factor that shifts the age at onset of neurodegenerative diseases to earlier ages is unknown. To test these possibilities, we determined the apolipoprotein E genotypes of subjects with familial or sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ApoE allele frequencies of the apoE gene of the ALS subjects (n = 170, e2 = 0.071, e3 = 0.771, e4 = 0.159) were found to be comparable to the allele frequencies of the general population. Furthermore, no significant association was observed between the age at onset or the duration of ALS and the inheritance of apoE e4 : subjects with at least one copy of e4 (sporadic ALS : n = 15, onset at 57.7 ± 13.9 years ; familial ALS : n = 23, onset at 53.6 ± 9.5 years, duration [n = 14] of 2.6 ± 1.6 years) had comparable ages at onset and durations to subjects without E4 (sporadic ALS : n = 28, onset at 53.1 ± 17.0 years ; familial ALS : n = 56, onset at 50.8 ± 12.1 years, duration [n = 30] of 1.9 ± 0.8 years). The lack of association of apoE e4 with the age at onset and the duration of ALS suggests that apoE e4 does not have a global effect on the pathogenesis of other neurodegenerative diseases.
Mortality of newly metamorphosed eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in mesohaline Chesapeake Bay

Stocks of eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin), in mesohaline Chesapeake Bay, USA, exhibit a high degree of inter-annual and spatial variability in recruitment. We found that cumulative oyster spatfall on off-bottom collector plates, measured throughout the summer in 14 years over a span of three decades, was highly positively correlated (r2 = 0.8) with juvenile oyster recruitment on adjacent oyster bars. Total abundances of juvenile oysters on these bars were, however, generally 99.7% lower than predicted from cumulative seasonal larval settlement on collector plates. We propose that although the number of larvae metamorphosing was the key factor in determining the gross annual pattern of recruitment to these mesohaline oyster bars, the actual magnitude of recruitment was governed by post-settlement processes, such as competition for limited resources and predation. We tested the hypothesis that predation may be partly responsible for high post-settlement juvenile oyster mortality. We performed a series of 3-d field investigations over two summers (1989, 1990) at a mesohaline site, employing cages of various mesh sizes (400, 800, 1500 μm) to protect hatchery-reared spat of 0.5 to 4.0 mm shell height. Mortality rates for spat held for 3 d in the estuary (17.8%) were significantly higher (P = 0.0001) for the smallest spat (0.5 to 2.0 mm) compared with those of 2.01 to 4.0 mm (4.2%). In 1990, but not in 1989, enclosure within 400 and 800 μm mesh cages significantly (P = 0.004) increased survival during 3-d deployments (9.4 and 10.1%, respectively) compared with spat unprotected by mesh cages (21.9%). In a series of laboratory predation studies that used the entire community of invertebrates that could penetrate the cages, microscopic juvenile polyclad flatworms, Stylochus ellipticus, were the only organisms that we observed crawling into living oysters and feeding on oyster tissue. Large flatworms (50 to 200 mm2) are known to be important predators on oysters, but this ability of flatworms that were so small (<ca. 5 mm2) and translucent as to be almost invisible without magnification to feed on immediate post-metamorphic oysters has not been documented previously. Our results suggest that the rate of mortality due to predation in mesohaline Chesapeake Bay is much reduced once spat survive for 2 to 3 weeks post-metamorphosis. Thus, it is likely that predation in the 1 to 2 week period immediately after settlement may be a crucial factor in the structuring of eastern oyster populations.
Science Signaling Podcast: 29 March 2011

This Podcast features a conversation with the senior author of a Research Article published in the March 29 issue of Science Signaling . Thomas Graeber discusses his group’s phosphoproteomic analysis of a leukemia cell line, which reveals a mechanism by which leukemia cells may become resistant to chemotherapeutic agents that target tyrosine kinases. They found that the sensitivity of leukemias driven by the Bcr-Abl fusion protein to tyrosine kinase inhibitors depends on the cells’ reliance on negative feedback mechanisms that limit the activity of the Src family of tyrosine kinases.
Type I (R1) and type II (R2) ribosomal DNA insertions of Drosophila melanogaster are retrotransposable elements closely related to those of Bombyx mori.

Approximately 50% of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) units of Drosophila melanogaster are inactivated by two different 28 S RNA ribosomal gene insertions (type I and type II). We present here the nucleotide sequence of complete type I and type II elements. Conceptual translation of these sequences revealed open reading frames (ORFs) encoding amino acid residues conserved in all retrotransposable elements. Full-length type I elements are 5.35 × 103 base-pairs in length and contain two overlapping ORFs. The smaller ORF (471 amino acid residues) has similarity to gag genes, while the larger ORF (1021 residues) has similarity to pol genes. Full-length type II elements are 3.6 × 103 base-pairs and contain one large ORF (1056 residues) that appears to represent a gag-pol fusion. Type I and type II elements are similar in structure, in the proteins they encode, and in insertion specificity to the R1Bm and R2Bm retrotransposable elements of Bombyx mori. We suggest that the D. melanogaster elements be called R1Dm and R2Dm, to reflect their structure as retrotransposons. Comparison of the R1 and R2 elements from these two widely different species revealed regions of the ORF that are likely to play an important role in the propagation of the elements. Four distinct regions of sequence conservation separated by regions of little or no sequence similarity were detected for both the R1 and R2 elements: (1) cysteine motifs of the gag gene, with three such motifs for R1 and one motif for R2; (2) a reverse transcriptase domain; (3) an integrase domain located carboxyl terminal to the reverse transcriptase region; and (4) a small region amino terminal to the reverse transcriptase domain, whose function is not known. The level of identity of the amino acid residues for these segments is 28 to 34% between the R1 elements, and 34 to 39% for the R2 elements. Finally, it may be predicted that the mechanism of unequal crossover might eventually eliminate R1 and R2 from the rDNA locus. The long history of selection at the protein level exhibited by these elements indicates that it is their active transposition that maintains them in the locus. The high level of sequence homogeneity between copies of each element within the same species is consistent with the high turnover rate expected to result from these processes.
A comparative study for robot assisted vitreoretinal surgery: Micron vs. the Steady-Hand Robot

In vitreoretinal surgery, application of excessive forces and unintentional motion due to hand-tremor can easily result in serious complications. Robotic assistance when combined with tool-to-tissue force sensing capabilities has significant potential to improve such practice. In this paper, we evaluate the membrane peeling performance of a single user for two distinct robotic systems with integrated force sensing capabilities: Micron and the Steady-Hand Robot. We show that these systems provide promising performance improvement with similar impact on peeling forces and comparable tremor cancellation trends.
SRY-box containing gene 11 (Sox11) transcription factor is required for neuron survival and neurite growth.

The transcription factor Sox11 is expressed at high levels in developing sensory neurons and injured adult neurons but little is known about its transcriptional targets and function. In this study we examined the role of Sox11 using Neuro2a neuroblastoma cells and cultured mouse dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. Results show Sox11 has an essential role in regulation of neuron survival and neurite outgrowth in Neuro2a cells and primary sensory neurons. Neuro2a cells increase expression of Sox11 as they differentiate in culture. Following addition of 20μM retinoic acid (RA), a stimulus for differentiation that enhances neurite growth and differentiation, Sox11 level rises. RNAi-mediated knockdown of Sox11 in RA-differentiated Neuro2a cells caused a decrease in neurite growth and an increase in the percent of apoptotic cells. RNA expression analysis showed that Sox11 knockdown modulated the level of mRNAs encoding several genes related to cell survival and death. Further validation in the Neuro2a model showed Sox11 knockdown increased expression of the pro-apoptotic gene BNIP3 (Bcl2 interacting protein 1 NIP3) decreased expression of the anti-apoptotic gene TANK (TRAF family member- associated NFκB activator). Cultured primary DRG neurons also express Sox11 and treatment with Sox11 siRNA caused a significant decrease in neurite growth and branching and a decrease in mRNA encoding actin-related protein complex 3 (Arpc3), an actin organizing protein that may be involved in axon growth. The percent of apoptotic neurons also increased in cultures of DRG neurons treated with Sox11 siRNA. Similar to Neuro2a cells, a decrease in TANK gene expression occurred, suggesting at least some overlap in Sox11 transcriptional targets in Neuro2a and DRG neurons. These data are consistent with a central role for Sox11 in regulating events that promote neurite growth and neuron survival.
Effects of Prescribed Fire at Two Frequencies on N Mineralization and Nitrification at Two Spatial Scales in Mixed-Oak Forests

This study examined how fire frequency influences soil C and N dynamics in relation to spatial scale in two mixed-oak forest complexes in southern Ohio, U.S.A. We measured net N mineralization, net nitrification, total inorganic N (TIN) in the soil solution, and soil organic C in plots of two sizes (50 m2 macroplots and 1 m2 microplots nested within the macroplots) in sites burned once (periodic fire treatment), in sites burned three times (annual fire treatment) and in unburned control sites. N mineralization rate increased with increasing fire frequency and net nitrification was greater in soils given annual fire sites than in soils given periodic fire or no fire (control); in contrast, neither TIN nor soil organic C content were affected significantly by fire. Geostatistical analysis designed to detect spatial autocorrelation (patch structure) at sizes of 0.2–0.8 m (microplots) and 1.0–7.8 m (macroplots) revealed significant patch structure in only approximately 1/3 of the plots, and all of those had been recently burned. Comparison with studies done in these sites and others indicates that most spatial structure in soil properties occurs at ranges larger and smaller than those that could be resolved with this sampling design. Prior studies of the effects of fire on forests have suggested that fire enhances fine scale heterogeneity, though robust geostatistical analysis of patch structure has not often been part of such studies. The results presented here lend quantitative support that to the view that reintroduction of low intensity fire can restore native ecosystem spatial heterogeneity, and thereby help maintain overall plant species diversity and opportunities for the regeneration of diverse tree species.
Liquid crystal claddings for passive temperature stabilization of silicon photonics

Silicon photonics allows for high density component integration on a single chip and it brings promise for low-loss, high-bandwidth data processing in modern computing systems. Owing to silicon’s high positive thermo-optic coefficient, temperature fluctuations tend to degrade the device performance. This work explores passive thermal stabilization of silicon photonic devices using nematic liquid crystal (NLC) claddings, as they possess large negative thermo-optic coefficients in addition to low absorption at the telecommunication wavelengths.
Model‐filled polymers. II. Stability of polystyrene beads in a polystyrene matrix

Thermomechanical degradation, as a result of mixing at 175°C during the preparation of polystyrene composites containing monodisperse (0.45μm) crosslinked polystyrene beads, often leads to a uniform decrease in rheological properties on increasing the concentration or on reducing the crosslink density of the beads. The extent of such degradation depends on the molecular weight of polystyrene and on the crosslink density of the polystyrene beads. Scission fragments from decomposed beads may induce free radical degradation of the polystyrene matrix. Degradation during mixing of the beads and the matrix is suppressed by mixing crosslinked beads in a polystyrene solution, and removing the solvent, or by melt mixing after adding 0.2% BHT. Polystyrene beads and composites show thermally induced weight loss on heating above 330°C in nitrogen or above 250°C in air. Networks of increased crosslink density are of enhanced thermal stability on heating in the absence of shear.
The abortifacient action of the extraovular "prostaglandin impact" during the first half of human pregnancy.

Abstract In 30 volunteers, 7 to 22 weeks pregnant, legal abortion had been induced successfully with the extraovular “Prostaglandin Impact” (PGI) (1). The patients were 24.8±1.1 years old (Means ± S.E.), para 1.6±0.3. At the 14.8±0.7 weeks of pregnancy and under sedation an initial dose of 10.0±0.0 mg PG F2α had been delivered transcervically into their extraovular (E.O.) space. This dose had been increased if accidental rupture of their fetal membranes resulted in intraamniotic (I.A.) treatment. The initial PGI of 16.0±2.0 mg was supplemented by additional PG doses, up to 27.0±2.9 mg, if clinical progress was slow. The patients responded to the initial PGI with sustained uterine contracture; rapid and continued progesterone (P) withdrawal, from 59.9±3.0 ng/ml to 30.7±2.1 ng/ml (49%); and with the progress of time high level cyclic intrauterine pressure (IUP). The 26% P-withdrawal, measured 3 hours after PGI was already significant (P The fetal membranes were accidentally ruptured in 11 patients and in these women the slow contracture response of the uterus signaled I.A. (rather than E.O.) PGI. The initial PG dose was increased, therefore, from 10.0±0.0 mg to 25.9±3.9 mg (P
Absence of Ca2+-stimulated adenylyl cyclases leads to reduced synaptic plasticity and impaired experience-dependent fear memory.

Ca2+-stimulated adenylyl cyclase (AC) 1 and 8 are two genes that have been shown to play critical roles in fear memory. AC1 and AC8 couple neuronal activity and intracellular Ca2+ increases to the production of cyclic adenosine monophosphate and are localized synaptically, suggesting that Ca2+-stimulated ACs may modulate synaptic plasticity. Here, we first established that Ca2+-stimulated ACs modulate protein markers of synaptic activity at baseline and after learning. Primary hippocampal cell cultures showed that AC1/AC8 double-knockout (DKO) mice have reduced SV2, a synaptic vesicle protein, abundance along their dendritic processes, and this reduction can be rescued through lentivirus delivery of AC8 to the DKO cells. Additionally, phospho-synapsin, a protein implicated in the regulation of neurotransmitter release at the synapse, is decreased in vivo 1 h after conditioned fear (CF) training in DKO mice. Importantly, additional experiments showed that long-term potentiation deficits present in DKO mice are rescued by acutely replacing AC8 in the forebrain, further supporting the idea that Ca2+-stimulated AC activity is a crucial modulator of synaptic plasticity. Previous studies have demonstrated that memory is continually modulated by gene–environment interactions. The last set of experiments evaluated the effects of knocking out AC1 and AC8 genes on experience-dependent changes in CF memory. We showed that the strength of CF memory in wild-type mice is determined by previous environment, minimal or enriched, whereas memory in DKO mice is unaffected. Thus, overall these results show that AC1 and AC8 modulate markers of synaptic activity and help integrate environmental information to modulate fear memory.
The rosette, star, tensile fracture.

Rosette or star fracture modes from metallography, electron microscope and continuum mathematical plasticity fracture theory
Some viewpoints on polymer physics

The following sections attempt a brief survey of the structure and properties of polymers. Many of the views that are discussed here in summary form are those that have been developed in this laboratory during the past five years. This review can therefore be regarded as a brief supplement to reference 1.
Perceptions and Realities for Distal Freehand Interlocking of Intramedullary Nails

There is a perception that distal freehand interlocking (DFHI) of intramedullary nails can be difficult and time consuming. This study consists of a survey of surgeons' practices for DFHI screws and their reasons for not using this technique. A survey was sent to 1400 orthopaedic surgeons who were asked to agree or disagree with statements regarding the difficulty and indications for the usage of distal freehand interlocking screws. The results were analyzed by practice demographics, resident availability, and completion of an orthopaedic trauma fellowship. Overall, 316 surgeons (22.6%) responded to the survey. Fellowship trained surgeons were 60% less likely to find DFHI difficult when compared to nonfellowship surgeons and surgeons with residents were 76% less likely to perceive DFHI as difficult than surgeons without residents. In all groups, 40-43% of surgeons used distal interlocking based on their comfort with the technique and not the fracture pattern. Distal freehand interlocking is perceived as difficult by community orthopaedic surgeons without residents and surgeons who have not done an orthopaedic trauma fellowship. Forty percent of surgeons based their usage of DFHI screws on their comfort with the technique and not the fracture pattern.
Mixing processes for agricultural and food materials: 1. Fundamentals of mixing

In agriculture and food processing, mixing operations are often used to blend ingredients. For food products to be acceptable, it is necessary that the mixing results in a uniform mixture. In addition to ingredient blending, mixing is used to cause changes in the properties of doughs. Additional knowledge is needed on mixing of doughs and reformed meats. Design of mixing systems is seen as an art without a general systematic procedure being available. Mixing operations may be classified based on the properties of the mixture. Broad classes are solids, Newtonian fluids, non-Newtonian fluids and viscoelastic fluids. Mixing is accomplished by imparting forces to the mixture which creates motion. The expected generalized flows can be described by mathematical models; however, these models do not give the rate or degree of actual mixing. Mixing rate and degree of mixing have been described using statistical indices resulting from analysis of samples. Better methods of predicting mixing performance are needed.
Average velocity components in a rotating infinitely flattened self-gravitating system near an equilibrium state

The average radial and angular velocity components are obtained for a rotating two-dimensional self-gravitating system near an equilibrium state. First-order perturbation configurations of flaring straight bars emanating from the center provide examples of such systems. In these systems the average velocity field to first order is incompressible and irrotational. The second-order effects on the product of the average velocity components with the spatial density are essentially independent of the angular coordinate.
Thermomechanical constitutive modelling of shape memory polymer including continuum functional and mechanical damage effects

A multi-mechanism-based phenomenological model is developed within the finite deformation kinematics framework for capturing the thermomechanical behaviour of shape memory polymers (SMPs) both during programming and in service. Particularly, the damage mechanisms in SMPs are studied within the continuum damage mechanics (CDMs) framework in which they are classified into mechanical or physical damage, induced during service condition, e.g. fatigue and functional damage induced during thermomechanical cycles, e.g. shape recovery loss. Statistical mechanics is incorporated to describe the initiation and saturation of these deformation mechanisms. The main advantage of the presented viscoplastic model, comparing to the existing counterparts, is its simplicity by minimizing the need for curve fitting, and capability in simulating the nonlinear stress–strain behaviour of amorphous, crystalline or semicrystalline SMPs. The developed viscoplastic CDM model takes into account several distinctive deformation mechanisms involved in the thermomechanical cycle of SMPs, including glass transition loss events, temperature-dependent material properties, stress relaxation, shape recovery transient events and damage effects. The established model correlates well with the experimental results and its computational capabilities provide material designers with a powerful design tool for future SMP applications.
Identification and characterization of microRNAs and their target genes in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)

microRNAs (miRNAs) are a recently discovered class of small (~21 nt) endogenous gene regulators that have been shown to play an important role in plant growth and development by aiding in organ maturation, hormone signaling, tissue differentiation, and plant tolerance to environmental stress. Since a list of miRNAs has never been generated for tobacco, we employed genome survey sequence analysis to computationally identify 259 potentially conserved tobacco miRNAs, belonging to 65 families, and validated 11 of these miRNAs using qRT-PCR. The 65 miRNA families were dramatically different in size. miRNA precursor (pre-miRNA) sequence analysis showed that tobacco pre-miRNAs greatly varied from 45 to 635 nt in length with an average of 141 ± 108 nt. We were also able to determine the presence of antisense miRNAs as well as miRNA clusters in tobacco. Using previously established protocols, a total of 1,225 potential target genes were predicted for the newly identified tobacco miRNAs. These target genes include transcription factors, DNA replication proteins, metabolic enzymes, as well as other gene targets necessary for proper plant maturation. The results of this study show that conserved miRNAs exist in tobacco and suggest that these miRNAs may play an important role in tobacco growth and development.
Prevalence and incidence of domestic violence in an ambulatory gynecology population and associated risk factors

Abstract Objective: To determine the prevalence and incidence of domestic violence in an ambulatory gynecology population and to describe risk factors associated with abuse. Methods: All patients presenting for initial ambulatory gynecology care at an urban private practice over 1 year were asked by a physician about the occurrence of domestic violence using a modified abuse assessment screen (AAS). The prevalence and incidence of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse were calculated. The patient’s records were abstracted for demographic and medical variables. Associations between these variables and the prevalence of abuse were analyzed. Results: Four hundred forty-three women were interviewed. No woman refused to answer the AAS. Among 424 women with completed AASs, 72 (16.2%) reported some form of domestic violence in the past. Among ever-abused women, 46 out of 72 (63.8%) reported physical abuse, 12 (16.6%) reported emotional abuse, and 4 (5.6%) reported sexual abuse. The incidence of physical abuse was 1.6%. In univariate analysis, risk factors associated with lifetime abuse included age greater than 40 (P = 0.006), non-single status (P = 0.003), black race (P = 0.006), history of depression (P = 0.0001), and sexual inactivity (P = 0.007). A history of depression (P = 0.001) and black race (P = 0.01) were the only factors associated with a past history of domestic abuse in regression analysis. Conclusions: The prevalence of domestic abuse ascertained by the AAS in an ambulatory gynecology setting is high. Demographic and health factors do not accurately predict a history of domestic abuse. Screening of all patients for domestic violence should be a routine part of ambulatory gynecologic care.
Distancing is Closer than Ever

Author(s): Cohen, Steven M.; Kelman, Ari Y. | Abstract: A concluding word on the exchange on the Distancing Hypothesis.