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The rules of the game in Chinese education have changed since current generations of Chinese upper-middle-class parents were schoolchildren. How these elite parents were raised should not matter to how they raise their children. But Chinese elite reproduction is stickier and less certain than the habitus concept suggests. My pragmatist-inspired analysis takes into account the role that history and social change plays in Chinese elite reproduction and develops the retrospective moment of Chinese upper-middle-class childrearing. Based on interviews with 46 upper-middle-class parents in Shanghai, I show that parents draw on their past experiences when adapting to social change in their childrearing. In reconstructing the past, they reason that they must adapt to social change; reflect on their own resistance to change; and recalibrate their practices to make them more resilient to change. To raise happy and successful children, parents embrace and resist suzhi (quality) in education. The indigenous concept highlights the limits of class privilege under Chinese authoritarianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the dramaturgical challenges of doing boundary work for a group of college women living with non‐college women at an overcrowded rental. To regulate tenant conduct and maintain their sense of self‐worth, the college women engaged in defensive othering and constructed their identity as “high‐quality” people on the basis of their characterization of their less‐educated roommates as “low‐quality” people. Their strategy of gaining self‐worth at their roommates' expense violated basic rules of social interaction that require participants to give face to gain face. This study shows that, in addition to weakening group solidarity and reproducing social inequalities, defensive othering also undermines subordinates' effort to gain self‐worth in the co‐presence of other subordinates. A video abstract is available at http://tinyurl.com/yath4o65 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the case of Chinese migrant lawyers to examine how the spatial mobility of individual practitioners shapes the social structure of the profession. Drawing on data from 261 interviews conducted in twelve Chinese provinces during 2004-2010, the 2009 Chinese Legal Environment Survey, lawyer yearbooks, and other public sources, the authors examine the patterns, causes, outcomes, and structural consequences of Chinese lawyers' internal migration. The empirical analysis shows that the spatial mobility of Chinese lawyers has not only increased the stratification and inequality of law practice in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, but it has also aggravated the shortage of legal service and intensified interprofessional competition in western and rural China. Based on findings from the Chinese case, the article connects the sociology of law and migration studies and moves toward a new processual theory for understanding the relationship between microlevel mobility and macrolevel stratification in the legal profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In spite of the popularity of Fisher discriminant analysis in the realm of feature extraction and pattern classification, it is beyond the capability of Fisher discriminant analysis to extract nonlinear structures from the data. That is where the kernel Fisher discriminant algorithm sets in the scenario of supervised learning. In this article, a new trail is blazed in developing innovative and effective algorithm for polychotomous kernel Fisher discriminant with the capability in estimating the posterior probabilities, which is exceedingly necessary and significant in solving complex nonlinear pattern recognition problems arising from the real world. Different from the conventional ‘divide-and-combine’ approaches to polychotomous classification problems, such as pairwise and one-versus-others, the method proposed herein synthesizes the multi-category classifier via the induction of top-to-down binary tree by means of kernelized group clustering algorithm. The deficiencies inherited in the conventional multi-category kernel Fisher discriminant are surmounted and the simulation on a benchmark image dataset demonstrates the superiority of the proposed approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Gene pathway can be defined as a group of genes that interact with each other to perform some biological processes. Along with the efforts to identify the individual genes that play vital roles in a particular disease, there is a growing interest in identifying the roles of gene pathways in such diseases. Results: This paper proposes an innovative fuzzy-set-theory-based approach, Multi-dimensional Cluster Misclassification test (MCM-test), to measure the significance of gene pathways in a particular disease. Experiments have been conducted on both synthetic data and real world data. Results on published diabetes gene expression dataset and a list of predefined pathways from KEGG identified OXPHOS pathway involved in oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria and other mitochondrial related pathways to be deregulated in diabetes patients. Our results support the previously supported notion that mitochondrial dysfunction is an important event in insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. Conclusion: Our experiments results suggest that MCM-test can be successfully used in pathway level differential analysis of gene expression datasets. This approach also provides a new solution to the general problem of measuring the difference between two groups of data, which is one of the most essential problems in most areas of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Microarray techniques have revolutionized genomic research by making it possible to monitor the expression of thousands of genes in parallel. As the amount of microarray data being produced is increasing at an exponential rate, there is a great demand for efficient and effective expression data analysis tools. Comparison of gene expression profiles of patients against those of normal counterpart people will enhance our understanding of a disease and identify leads for therapeutic intervention. Results: In this paper, we propose an innovative approach, fuzzy membership test (FM-test), based on fuzzy set theory to identify disease associated genes from microarray gene expression profiles. A new concept of FM d-value is defined to quantify the divergence of two sets of values. We further analyze the asymptotic property of FM-test, and then establish the relationship between FM d-value and p-value. We applied FM-test to a diabetes expression dataset and a lung cancer expression dataset, respectively. Within the 10 significant genes identified in diabetes dataset, six of them have been confirmed to be associated with diabetes in the literature and one has been suggested by other researchers. Within the 10 significantly overexpressed genes identified in lung cancer data, most (eight) of them have been confirmed by the literatures which are related to the lung cancer. Conclusion: Our experiments on synthetic datasets show that FM-test is effective and robust. The results in diabetes and lung cancer datasets validated the effectiveness of FM-test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop an integrated multi-phase approach to middle and high level data fusion with an application to situation and threat assessments. The method first builds a feature vector for each detected ground target that includes time, position and target class in a particular rectangular geographical area of the battlespace. It then clusters the feature vectors by position using a new robust clustering algorithm and makes an inventory of each cluster as to target classes, counts and posture parameters. Situation assessment is done next via a three-tiered cascaded process of case-based reasoning on cluster attribute records to infer the unit types, sizes, and purposes. These are then fed into our fuzzy belief network that performs inferencing via heuristic belief propagation for threat assessment, that is, it infers the actions and intentions of the enemy. A simple synthetic example demonstrates the process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Magnetic nanomaterials belong to a class of highly-functionalizable tools for cancer therapy owing to their intrinsic magnetic properties and multifunctional design that provides a multimodal theranostics platform for cancer diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy. In this review article, we have provided an overview of the various applications of magnetic nanomaterials and recent advances in the development of these nanomaterials as cancer therapeutics. Moreover, the cancer targeting, potential toxicity, and degradability of these nanomaterials has been briefly addressed. Finally, the challenges for clinical translation and the future scope of magnetic nanoparticles in cancer therapy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many new vaccines under development consist of rationally designed recombinant proteins that are relatively poor immunogens unless combined with potent adjuvants. There is only one adjuvant in common use in the U.S., aluminum phosphate or hydroxide (e.g. alum). This adjuvant, however, has significant limitations, particularly regarding the generation of strong cell-mediated (T-cell) immune responses. A novel adjuvant, JVRS-100, composed of cationic liposome–DNA complexes (CLDC) has been evaluated for immune enhancing activity. The JVRS-100 adjuvant has been shown to elicit robust immune responses compared to CpG oligonucleotides, alum, and MPL adjuvants, and efficiently enhances both humoral and cellular immune responses. Safety has been evaluated in preclinical studies, and the adjuvant is now in early-stage clinical development. One application of this novel adjuvant is to augment the immune responses to recombinant subunit antigens, which are often poorly immunogenic. The JVRS-100 adjuvant, when combined with a recombinant influenza hemagglutinin (H1), elicited increased specific antibody and T-cell responses in mice. Single-dose vaccination and prime/boost vaccinations with JVRS-100-H1 were both shown to be protective (i.e., survival, reduced weight loss) following H1N1 (PR/8/34) virus challenge. Enhanced immunological responses could be critically important for improved efficacy and dose-sparing of a recombinant influenza vaccine. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

High rates of heart disease, cancer, and stroke exist in rural South Georgia where the Emory Prevention Research Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network provided mini-grant funding to six churches to implement policy and environmental change to promote healthy eating and physical activity. This study sought to determine whether perceptions of the health promotion environment changed over time and whether perceived environmental change was associated with healthy behavior at church and in general. This study used a single-group pre–post design with 1-year follow-up. Parishioners (N = 258) completed self-administered questionnaires assessing perceptions of the church health promotion environment relative to healthy eating and physical activity, eating behavior and intention to use physical activity facilities at church, and eating and physical activity behaviors generally. Results indicate that perceived improvements in church nutrition environments were most strongly associated with decreases in unhealthy food consumed and stronger intentions to use physical activity resources at church (ps ≤ .05). Perceived changes in the physical activity environment were unrelated to church or general behavior. Findings suggest that church environments may play an important role in supporting healthy eating and physical activity at church; however, whether the influence of the church environment extends to other settings is unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is recommended for adults aged 50-75 years, yet screening rates are low, especially among the uninsured. The CDC initiated the Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) in 2009 with the goal of increasing CRC screening rates to 80% by 2014. A total of 29 grantees (states and tribal organizations) receive CRCCP funding to (1) screen uninsured adults and (2) promote CRC screening at the population level.Purpose: CRCCP encourages grantees to use one or more of five evidence-based interventions (EBIs) recommended by the Guide to Community Preventive Services. The purpose of the study was to evaluate grantees' EBI use.Methods: A web-based survey was conducted in 2011 measuring grantees' use of CRC screening EBIs and identifying their implementation partners. Data were analyzed in 2012.Results: Twenty-eight grantees (97%) completed the survey. Most respondents (96%) used small media. Fewer used client reminders (75%); reduction of structural barriers (50%); provider reminders (32%); or provider assessment and feedback (50%). Provider-oriented EBIs were rated as harder to implement than client-oriented EBIs. Grantees partnered with several types of organizations to implement EBIs, many with county- or state-wide reach.Conclusions: Almost all grantees implement EBIs to promote CRC screening, but the EBIs that may have the greatest impact with CRC screening are implemented by fewer grantees in the first 2 years of the CRCCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is recommended for adults aged 50–75 years, yet screening rates are low, especially among the uninsured. The CDC initiated the Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) in 2009 with the goal of increasing CRC screening rates to 80% by 2014. A total of 29 grantees (states and tribal organizations) receive CRCCP funding to (1) screen uninsured adults and (2) promote CRC screening at the population level. Purpose: CRCCP encourages grantees to use one or more of five evidence-based interventions (EBIs) recommended by the Guide to Community Preventive Services. The purpose of the study was to evaluate grantees’ EBI use. Methods: A web-based survey was conducted in 2011 measuring grantees’ use of CRC screening EBIs and identifying their implementation partners. Data were analyzed in 2012. Results: Twenty-eight grantees (97%) completed the survey. Most respondents (96%) used small media. Fewer used client reminders (75%); reduction of structural barriers (50%); provider reminders (32%); or provider assessment and feedback (50%). Provider-oriented EBIs were rated as harder to implement than client-oriented EBIs. Grantees partnered with several types of organizations to implement EBIs, many with county- or state-wide reach. Conclusions: Almost all grantees implement EBIs to promote CRC screening, but the EBIs that may have the greatest impact with CRC screening are implemented by fewer grantees in the first 2 years of the CRCCP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Insider threats pose significant challenges to any organization. Many solutions have been proposed in the past to detect insider threats. Unfortunately, given the complexity of the problem and the human factors involved, many solutions which have been proposed face strict constraints and limitations when it comes to the working environment. As a result, many past insider threat solutions have in practice failed in their implementations. In this work, we review some of the recent insider threat detection solutions and explore their benefits and limitations. We also discuss insider threat issues for emerging areas such as cloud computing, virtualization, and social networking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Safe and effective adjuvants for influenza vaccines that could increase both the levels of neutralizing antibody, including against drifted viral subtypes, and T-cell immunity would be a major advance in vaccine design. The JVRS-100 adjuvant, consisting of DOTIM/cholesterol cationic liposome–DNA complexes, is particularly promising for vaccines that require induction of high levels of antibody and T-cell immunity, including CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Inclusion of protein antigens with JVRS-100 results in the induction of enhanced humoral and cell-mediated (i.e., CD4+ and CD8+ T cells) immune responses. The JVRS-100 adjuvant combined with a split trivalent influenza vaccine (Fluzone®—sanofi pasteur) elicited increased antibody and T-cell responses in mice and non-human primates compared to vaccination with Fluzone® alone. Mice vaccinated with JVRS-100–Fluzone® and challenged with antigenically drifted strains of H1N1 (PR/8/34) and influenza B (B/Lee/40) viruses had higher grade protection, as measured by attenuation of weight loss and increased survival, compared to recipients of unadjuvanted vaccine. The results indicate that the JVRS-100 adjuvant substantially increases immunogenicity and protection from drifted-strain challenge using an existing influenza vaccine. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]