bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of dual-dielectric hydrogen-diffusion barrier layers on the performance of low-temperature processed transparent InGaZnO thin-film transistors
Authors: Tari Alireza , Wong William S.
Published: February 2018

Dual-dielectric SiOx/SiNx thin-film layers were used as back-channel and gate-dielectric barrier layers for bottom-gate InGaZnO (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). The concentration profiles of hydrogen, indium, gallium, and zinc oxide were analyzed using secondary-ion mass spectroscopy characterization. By implementing an effective H-diffusion barrier, the hydrogen concentration and the creation of H-induced oxygen deficiency (H-Vo complex) defects during the processing of passivated flexible IGZO TFTs were minimized. A bilayer back-channel passivation layer, consisting of electron-beam deposited SiOx on plasma-enhanced chemical vapor-deposition (PECVD) SiNx films, effectively protected the TFT active region from plasma damage and minimized changes in the chemical composition of the semiconductor layer. A dual-dielectric PECVD SiOx/PECVD SiNx gate-dielectric, using SiOx as a barrier layer, also effectively prevented out-diffusion of hydrogen atoms from the PECVD SiNx-gate dielectric to the IGZO channel layer during the device fabrication.
Anion photoelectron spectroscopy of deprotonated indole and indoline
Authors: Nelson Daniel J. , Oliveira Allan M. , Lineberger W. Carl
Published: February 2018

Anion photoelectron spectra of deprotonated indole have been obtained utilizing several photon energies. The slow electron velocity-map imaging spectrum of indolide allows for the determination of the electron affinity (EA) of indolyl, 2.4315 ± 0.0017 eV. The equilibrium geometry of indolide was shown to minimally distort upon photodetachment with only ring distortion vibrational modes of A′ symmetry becoming significantly excited. Photoelectron spectra of indolide accessing the electronic ground state of indolyl displayed a photon energy dependence due to electron autodetachment. Combining the EA of indolyl with the previous work studying the dissociation energy of H-indolyl allows for a new independent measure of ΔacidH0KoN–Hindole ≤ 348.7 kcal/mol, which improves the previous measurement of the gas phase acidity. The anion photoelectron spectrum of deprotonated indoline consisted of a featureless broad band extending from ∼1.3 eV to 1.7 eV electron binding energy. The congested nature of the spectrum is likely due to the presence of multiple isomers of deprotonated indoline, including ring-opened structures.
Ultra-bright, well-collimated, GeV gamma-ray production in the QED regime
Authors: Liu Chen , Shen Baifei , Zhang Xiaomei , Ji Liangliang , Bu Zhigang , Wang Wenpeng , Yi Longqing , Zhang Lingang , Xu Jiancai , Xu Tongjun , Pei Zhikun
Published: February 2018

We report a proposal to generate an ultra-bright, well-collimated, GeV gamma-ray source in the quantum electrodynamics regime. An ultra-intense laser is used to excite a bubble-like structure in a near-critical-density plasma, where the trapped electrons with overdense density can be effectively accelerated to multi-GeV. These electrons are capable of generating high-quality gamma-ray radiation with high energy-conversion-efficiency under the ultra-intense wakefield. Meanwhile, the radiation reaction effect exerted on the electrons further improves the collimation of the gamma-ray radiation. The validity of our proposal has been confirmed using two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) particle-in-cell simulations. 3D simulation shows that a bunch of gamma-ray photons with a density of 3.52 × 1023/cm3, an emittance of 1.04 mm·mrad, a divergence of about 10°, and a maximum energy of about 6 GeV can be realized by a circularly polarized laser with an intensity of 3.8 × 1023 W/cm2. The total number of the photons in the energy range between 1 GeV and 6 GeV is about 2.91 × 1011, which corresponds to a brilliance of 2.34 × 1025 photons/s/mm2/mrad2/GeV.
On-chip optical true time delay lines featuring one-dimensional fishbone photonic crystal waveguide
Authors: Chung Chi-Jui , Xu Xiaochuan , Wang Gencheng , Pan Zeyu , Chen Ray T.
Published: February 2018

In this paper, we present on-chip optical true time delay lines based on slow light one-dimensional (1D) fishbone photonic crystal waveguides (FPCWs). The structural slow light is generated by modulating the index guided optical mode with periodically arranged sidewalls along the propagation direction. Due to the reduced mode overlap with the rough etched surface, the propagation loss of the 1D FPCW is significantly reduced compared to the two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide. A delay time of 65 ps/mm is observed experimentally.
Dual polarization operation of nanostructure arrays in the mid-infrared
Authors: Mbomson Ifeoma G. , Mohamad Ali Nasri Ili F. , De La Rue Richard M. , Johnson Nigel P.
Published: February 2018

In this paper, we report on arrays of asymmetric split H-shape nanostructures tuned to produce two distinct resonances at wavelengths that range from 3 μm to 7 μm. The electric-field of the incident wave has been both polarized parallel to the vertical asymmetric dipole arms and polarized across the 50 nm gap in the asymmetric horizontal bar. We have produced resonance quality factors as large as 26 in the mid-infrared region.
Nonlinear electromagnetic propagation in ionosphere: Inclusion of electron temperature dependence of the collision parameter (δ)
Authors: Sodha Mahendra Singh , Verma R. K.
Published: February 2018

In this paper, the authors have taken into account the electron temperature dependence of δ, the fraction of excess energy of an electron over that of a neutral particle which is exchanged in an elastic collision. The dependence of electron temperature, electron collision frequency, and refractive index/absorption coefficient, corresponding to different frequencies, on the intensity of the wave (specifically square of the amplitude of electric vector) at heights of 90 km, 100 km, and 110 km in the ionosphere, has been evaluated. The results have been discussed and graphically illustrated. The derived dependence of n and k on Eo2 has been used to study the nonlinear horizontal propagation of electromagnetic waves at the heights of 90 km, 100 km, and 110 km in the ionosphere.
Concentrated aqueous sodium chloride solution in clays at thermodynamic conditions of hydraulic fracturing: Insight from molecular dynamics simulations
Authors: Svoboda Martin , Lísal Martin
Published: February 2018

To address a high salinity of flow-back water during hydraulic fracturing, we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and study the thermodynamics, structure, and diffusion of concentrated aqueous salt solution in clay nanopores. The concentrated solution results from the dissolution of a cubic NaCl nanocrystal, immersed in an aqueous NaCl solution of varying salt concentration and confined in clay pores of a width comparable to the crystal size. The size of the nanocrystal equals to about 18 Å which is above a critical nucleus size. We consider a typical shale gas reservoir condition of 365 K and 275 bar, and we represent the clay pores as pyrophyllite and Na-montmorillonite (Na-MMT) slits. We employ the Extended Simple Point Charge (SPC/E) model for water, Joung-Cheatham model for ions, and CLAYFF for the slit walls. We impose the pressure in the normal direction and the resulting slit width varies from about 20 to 25 Å when the salt concentration in the surrounding solution increased from zero to an oversaturated value. By varying the salt concentration, we observe two scenarios. First, the crystal dissolves and its dissolution time increases with increasing salt concentration. We describe the dissolution process in terms of the number of ions in the crystal, and the crystal size and shape. Second, when the salt concentration reaches a system solubility limit, the crystal grows and attains a new equilibrium size; the crystal comes into equilibrium with the surrounding saturated solution. After crystal dissolution, we carry out canonical MD simulations for the concentrated solution. We evaluate the hydration energy, density profiles, orientation distributions, hydrogen-bond network, radial distribution functions, and in-plane diffusion of water and ions to provide insight into the microscopic behaviour of the concentrated aqueous sodium chloride solution in interlayer galleries of the slightly hydrophobic pyrophyllite and hydrophilic Na-MMT pores.
Control of reversible magnetization switching by pulsed circular magnetic field in glass-coated amorphous microwires
Authors: Chizhik Alexander , Zhukov Arkady , Gonzalez Julian , Stupakiewicz Andrzej
Published: February 2018

Magnetization reversal in magnetic microwires was studied in the presence of external mechanical stress and helical magnetic fields using the magneto-optical Kerr effect. It was found that a combination of tuned magnetic anisotropy and a direct current or pulsed circular magnetic field activated different types of magnetization reversal scenarios. The application of the pulsed magnetic field of 10 ns time duration induced a transient controlling action to switch the magnetic states without activating a domain wall motion. This created a promising method for tuning the giant magneto-impedance effect.
Hydrodynamic mobility of confined polymeric particles, vesicles, and cancer cells in a square microchannel
Authors: Ahmmed Shamim M. , Suteria Naureen S. , Garbin Valeria , Vanapalli Siva A.
Published: February 2018

The transport of deformable objects, including polymer particles, vesicles, and cells, has been a subject of interest for several decades where the majority of experimental and theoretical studies have been focused on circular tubes. Due to advances in microfluidics, there is a need to study the transport of individual deformable particles in rectangular microchannels where corner flows can be important. In this study, we report measurements of hydrodynamic mobility of confined polymeric particles, vesicles, and cancer cells in a linear microchannel with a square cross-section. Our operating conditions are such that the mobility is measured as a function of geometric confinement over the range 0.3 < λ < 1.5 and at specified particle Reynolds numbers that are within 0.1 < Rep < 2.5. The experimental mobility data of each of these systems is compared with the circular-tube theory of Hestroni, Haber, and Wacholder [J. Fluid Mech. 41, 689–705 (1970)] with modifications made for a square cross-section. For polymeric particles, we find that the mobility data agrees well over a large confinement range with the theory but under predicts for vesicles. The mobility of vesicles is higher in a square channel than in a circular tube, and does not depend significantly on membrane mechanical properties. The mobility of cancer cells is in good agreement with the theory up to λ ≈ 0.8, after which it deviates. Comparison of the mobility data of the three systems reveals that cancer cells have higher mobility than rigid particles but lower than vesicles, suggesting that the cell membrane frictional properties are in between a solid-like interface and a fluid bilayer. We explain further the differences in the mobility of the three systems by considering their shape deformation and surface flow on the interface. The results of this study may find potential applications in drug delivery and biomedical diagnostics.
Ultralow-emittance measurement of high-quality electron beams from a laser wakefield accelerator
Authors: Qin Zhiyong , Yu Changhai , Wang Wentao , Liu Jiansheng , Li Wentao , Qi Rong , Zhang Zhijun , Liu Jiaqi , Fang Ming , Feng Ke , Wu Ying , Ke Lintong , Chen Yu , Xu Yi , Leng Yuxin , Wang Cheng , Li Ruxin , Xu Zhizhan
Published: February 2018

By designing a cascaded laser wakefield accelerator, high-quality monoenergetic electron beams (e beams) with peak energies of 340–360 MeV and rms divergence of <0.3 mrad were produced. Based on this accelerator, the e-beam betatron radiation spectra were measured exactly via the single-photon counting technique to diagnose the e-beam transverse emittance in a single shot. The e-beam transverse size in the wakefield was estimated to be ∼0.35 μm by comparing the measured X-ray spectra with the analytical model of synchrotron-like radiation. By combining the measured e-beam energy and divergence, the normalized transverse emittance was estimated to be as low as 56 μm mrad and consistent with particle-in-cell simulations. These high-energy ultralow-emittance e beams hold great potential applications in developing free electron lasers and high-energy X-ray and gamma ray sources.
Molecular simulation of steady-state evaporation and condensation in the presence of a non-condensable gas
Authors: Liang Zhi , Keblinski Pawel
Published: February 2018

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we study evaporation and condensation of fluid Ar in the presence of a non-condensable Ne gas in a nanochannel. The evaporation and condensation are driven by the temperature difference, ΔTL, between the evaporating and condensing liquid surfaces. The steady-state evaporation and condensation fluxes (JMD) are also affected by the Ne concentration, ρNe, and the nanochannel length. We find that across a wide range of ΔTL and ρNe, JMD is in good agreement with the prediction from Stefan’s law and from Schrage relationships. Furthermore, for ΔTL less than ∼20% of the absolute average temperature, we find that both steady-state heat and mass fluxes are proportional to ΔTL. This allows us to determine the interfacial resistance to the heat and mass transfer and compare it with the corresponding resistances in the gas phase. In this context, we derive an analytical expression for the effective thermal conductivity of the gas region in the nanochannel and the mass transport interfacial resistance equivalent length, i.e., the length of the nanochannel for which the resistance to the mass flow is the same as the interfacial resistance to the mass flow.
New Products
Authors: Mandelis Andreas
Published: February 2018

In order to supplement manufacturers’ information, this Department will welcome the submission by our readers of brief communications reporting measurements on the physical properties of materials which supersede earlier data or suggest new research applications.
New class of plastic crystal shows its fragility
Authors: Patrick Chris
Published: February 2018

Multipronged examination of anhydrosaccharides, including X-ray diffraction and dielectric characterizations, reveals their unexpected fragility.
True-time delay line based on 1-D fishbone structure reduces loss and footprint for on-chip applications
Authors: Majors J. H.
Published: February 2018

An on-chip optical true-time delay features a slow light 1-D photonic crystal waveguide in a fishbone shape that reduces propagation loss and overall size compared with conventional 2-D counterparts.
Nickel nanoparticle arrays enhance the efficiency of plasmon magnetization devices
Authors: Liebendorfer Adam
Published: February 2018

Arranging nanostructures in an optimally spaced array can allow nickel to be tuned to a narrow wavelength range of femtosecond laser pulses, thanks to collective plasmon resonances.
Using marijuana, drinking alcohol or a combination of both: the association of marijuana, alcohol and sexual risk behaviour among adolescents
Authors: Storholm Erik D. , Ewing Brett A. , Holliday Stephanie Brooks , Stein Bradley D. , Meredith Lisa S. , Shadel William G. , D'Amico Elizabeth J.
Published: February 2018

Background Although the association between alcohol use and sexual risk behaviour has been well-documented, there is little understanding of whether marijuana use alone or combining marijuana with alcohol use contributes to sexual risk behaviour among adolescents. Methods: A diverse sample of sexually active adolescents (n = 616) aged 12–18 years (50.32% Hispanic; 31.17% Black) completed a survey on alcohol use, marijuana use and sexual risk behaviour during a visit to a primary care clinic. Results: Adolescents were more likely to report having had two or more sexual partners in the past 3 months if they reported using both alcohol and marijuana (OR = 3.90, P < 0.0001), alcohol alone (OR = 2.51, P < 0.0001) or marijuana alone (OR = 1.89, P < 0.001) compared with adolescents who reported no use during the past month. Adolescents were more likely to report having both two or more partners and condomless sex if they used both alcohol and marijuana (OR = 3.19, P < 0.001) or alcohol alone (OR = 3.41, P < 0.01) in the past month compared with adolescents who reported using marijuana alone or had no use of either. Conclusions: Providers should screen for both alcohol and marijuana use among adolescents and discuss how use of alcohol or alcohol in conjunction with marijuana may be associated with sexual risk behaviours.
Lexical bundles in Wikipedia articles and related texts
Authors: Hiltunen Turo
Published: February 2018

Wikipedia is widely used by academics and students in higher education, but research on the linguistic characteristics of this genre is scarce (Kuteeva 2016). This paper explores the usefulness of lexical bundles as an analytical tool to describe disciplinary variation within Wikipedia articles, and to contrast Wikipedia writing with two neighbouring genres, student essays and research articles. The results indicate that the occurrence of lexical bundles in Wikipedia varies between disciplines, which is in broad agreement with previous studies on other academic genres. The analysis of bundles also suggests that a credible authorial persona is less crucial to Wikipedia articles. Indicative of this is the low frequency of bundles indicating stance and engagement, which are characteristic of professional academic writing (e.g. Hyland 2008a).
I don’t want to and don’t get me wrong
Authors: Barbieri Federica
Published: February 2018

Blogs are one of the most prominent genres of Web 2.0; yet, research on their linguistic characteristics is limited. This study contributes to addressing this research gap by investigating lexical bundles in American blogs. Lexical bundles are units of discourse structure which can reveal a great deal about the unique linguistic characteristics and communicative functions shaping registers. Extraction of four-word bundles in a corpus of American blogs reveals, firstly, that lexical bundles are relatively uncommon in blog writing. Analyses of discourse function and grammatical patterns show that blogs rely mainly on stance expressions, which often encapsulate first person reference (e.g., I don’t want to), thus reflecting the focus on self-expression and subjectivity which characterizes this register. Like in conversation, bundles in blogs tend to be verb-phrase based. But blogs also rely substantially on referential (e.g., a lot of people) and narrative expressions (e.g., I got to see), and thus share characteristics of literate registers and fiction writing. In sum, lexical bundles in blog writing are characterized by a unique combination of features which reflect two underlying forces: mode and communicative purpose.
Effects of enhanced solution treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Cu–Li–Sc alloy
Authors: Yang Ruibin , Zhi Qian , Wang Feizhou , Zhang Yunjie , Liu Zhongxia , Wang Jiefang , Tan Xinrong , Chen Yadong , Cao Yanjie
Published: February 2018

Two enhanced solution treatments (ESTs) were applied to an Al–Cu–Li–Sc alloy. Results showed that the ESTs reduced the amount and size of the soluble phases, and promoted the recrystallisation of the α–Al matrix and the precipitation of the Al2CuLi precipitate (T1), which improved the yield strength, tensile strength and elongation of the alloy. Although the precipitation strengthening of the T1 phase and the strengthening resulting from grain refinement of the α–Al matrix caused by the recrystallisation contributed equally to the strength increment, the EST process led to a greater proportional increase in the strengthening resulting from grain refinement than it did in the precipitation strengthening of the alloy.
The benefits and risks of expressing the POT and FOT family of oligopeptide transporters in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Kitamura Kenji , Kinsui Eldaa Zefany Banami
Published: February 2018

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, all strains possess a gene for the evolutionarily conserved POT family peptide transporter, Ptr2; however, the genes for a novel FOT family transporter were found only in some wine brewing strains. The substrate specificity of the POT and FOT family of transporters was compared. Among the naturally occurring oligopeptides that were tested, Lys-Leu and Arg-Phe were Ptr2-specific substrates. Artificial dipeptide aspartame was imported specifically through the FOT transporter, but the structurally similar Asp-Phe was a substrate of both FOT and Ptr2 transporters. Furthermore, only the FOT transporter was important for high sensitivity to an antibiotic puromycin. These results demonstrate that the POT and FOT family of transporters have distinct substrate preferences although both transporters import overlapping dipeptide substrates. Having POT and FOT transporters is advantageous for cells to acquire nutrients, but also detrimental when these cells are exposed to the toxic molecules of their substrates.
A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised clinical study of the effect of pork collagen peptide supplementation on atherosclerosis in healthy older individuals
Authors: Igase Michiya , Kohara Katsuhiko , Okada Yoko , Ochi Masayuki , Igase Keiji , Inoue Naoki , Kutsuna Tatsuhiko , Miura Hiromasa , Ohyagi Yasumasa
Published: February 2018

We examined whether baPWV could be affected by pork collagen peptide (CP) ingestion. Seventy subjects were randomized into two groups (2.5 g/day CP and 2.5 g/day placebo). A significant reduction in baPWV was observed in the CP group compared to the placebo group. This study demonstrated that pork CP may contribute to the prevention of atherosclerosis in elderly.
Total variation regularization for seismic waveform inversion using an adaptive primal dual hybrid gradient method
Authors: Yong Peng , Liao Wenyuan , Huang Jianping , Li Zhenchun
Published: February 2018

Full waveform inversion is an effective tool for recovering the properties of the Earth from seismograms. However, it suffers from local minima caused mainly by the limited accuracy of the starting model and the lack of a low-frequency component in the seismic data. Because of the high velocity contrast between salt and sediment, the relation between the waveform and velocity perturbation is strongly nonlinear. Therefore, salt inversion can easily get trapped in the local minima. Since the velocity of salt is nearly constant, we can make the most of this characteristic with total variation regularization to mitigate the local minima. In this paper, we develop an adaptive primal dual hybrid gradient method to implement total variation regularization by projecting the solution onto a total variation norm constrained convex set, through which the total variation norm constraint is satisfied at every model iteration. The smooth background velocities are first inverted and the perturbations are gradually obtained by successively relaxing the total variation norm constraints. Numerical experiment of the projection of the BP model onto the intersection of the total variation norm and box constraints has demonstrated the accuracy and efficiency of our adaptive primal dual hybrid gradient method. A workflow is designed to recover complex salt structures in the BP 2004 model and the 2D SEG/EAGE salt model, starting from a linear gradient model without using low-frequency data below 3 Hz. The salt inversion processes demonstrate that wavefield reconstruction inversion with a total variation norm and box constraints is able to overcome local minima and inverts the complex salt velocity layer by layer.
Mathematical model of snake-type multi-directional wave generation
Authors: Muarif  , Halfiani Vera , Rusdiana Siti , Munzir Said , Ramli Marwan
Published: February 2018

Research on extreme wave generation is one intensive research on water wave study because the fact that the occurrence of this wave in the ocean can cause serious damage to the ships and offshore structures. One method to be used to generate the wave is self-correcting. This method controls the signal on the wavemakers in a wave tank. Some studies also consider the nonlinear wave generation in a wave tank by using numerical approach. Study on wave generation is essential in the effectiveness and efficiency of offshore structure model testing before it can be operated in the ocean. Generally, there are two types of wavemakers implemented in the hydrodynamic laboratory, piston-type and flap-type. The flap-type is preferred to conduct a testing to a ship in deep water. Single flap wavemaker has been explained in many studies yet snake-type wavemaker (has more than one flap) is still a case needed to be examined. Hence, the formulation in controlling the wavemaker need to be precisely analyzed such that the given input can generate the desired wave in the space-limited wave tank. By applying the same analogy and methodhology as the previous study, this article represents multi-directional wave generation by implementing snake-type wavemakers.
Overview of Culture and Cross-Cultural Research
Authors: Tran Thanh V. , Nguyen Tam , Chan Keith
Published: February 2018

Different academic disciplines and schools of thoughts often have different definitions and categorizations of culture. No agreement has ever been reached in defining culture. This chapter discusses the concept of culture and reviews the basic principles of multidisciplinary cross-cultural research. The readers are introduced to cross-cultural research in anthropology, psychology, political science, and sociology. These cross-cultural research fields offer social work both theoretical and methodological resources. The readers will find that all cross-cultural research fields share the same concern—that is, the equivalence of research instruments. One cannot draw meaningful comparisons of behavioral problems, social values, or psychological status between or across different cultural groups in the absence of cross-culturally equivalent research instruments. Although this book emphasizes the importance of measurement equivalence in cross-cultural social work research and evaluation, the issues of cultural sensitivity and cultural appropriateness are the foundation of all types of social work research and interventions.
Human Understanding of Complex Systems
Authors: Anderson James A.
Published: February 2018

An important tool for understanding new and complex systems is analogy. Analogies to brain function are often the most complex systems of the time. In the 17th century, complex hydraulic systems were common. Descartes proposed a detailed model of the brain based on a hydraulic system. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the telephone and telegraph systems were used as brain analogies. This analogy is useful for understanding system connectivity constraints and the practical need for a central exchange (“brain”) for switching and memory. An extreme version of the central exchange analogy was called behaviorism or S-R psychology, popular in the first half of the 20th century. Obvious problems with analogy are its basic untruth and a tendency for a complex system to be thought of as magic if its technological roots are lost.
Association
Authors: Anderson James A.
Published: February 2018

Association is the only concept in cognition that is as general, simple, and useful as classic theories in physics. Aristotle claimed that sensory-based events were the elementary units of memory. Such memories then became linked together through learning. The process of linkage—association—led to a powerful, creative computational structure. The ability to form networks of associations was unique to humans. William James extended Aristotle’s ideas by proposing a cognitive system that moved well beyond rote linkage in power and flexibility. Some of the mechanics of associative memory can be explained by synaptic change mechanisms such as the correlational Hebb synapse. Also discussed are examples of the problems caused by a “too good” memory along with use of associative memory aids like mnemonics.
Brain Theory
Authors: Anderson James A.
Published: February 2018

What form would a brain theory take? Would it be short and punchy, like Maxwell’s Equations? Or with a clear goal but achieved by a community of mechanisms—local theories—to attain that goal, like the US Tax Code. The best developed recent brain-like model is the “neural network.” In the late 1950s Rosenblatt’s Perceptron and many variants proposed a brain-inspired associative network. Problems with the first generation of neural networks—limited capacity, opaque learning, and inaccuracy—have been largely overcome. In 2016, a program from Google, AlphaGo, based on a neural net using deep learning, defeated the world’s best Go player. The climax of this chapter is a fictional example starring Sherlock Holmes demonstrating that complex associative computation in practice has less in common with accurate pattern recognition and more with abstract high-level conceptual inference.
SecretSanta: flexible pipelines for functional secretome prediction
Authors: Gogleva Anna , Drost Hajk-Georg , Schornack Sebastian
Published: February 2018

Motivation

The secretome denotes the collection of secreted proteins exported outside of the cell. The functional roles of secreted proteins include the maintenance and remodelling of the extracellular matrix as well as signalling between host and non-host cells. These features make secretomes rich reservoirs of biomarkers for disease classification and host–pathogen interaction studies. Common biomarkers are extracellular proteins secreted via classical pathways that can be predicted from sequence by annotating the presence or absence of N-terminal signal peptides. Several heterogeneous command line tools and web-interfaces exist to identify individual motifs, signal sequences and domains that are either characteristic or strictly excluded from secreted proteins. However, a single flexible secretome-prediction workflow that combines all analytic steps is still missing.

Results

To bridge this gap the SecretSanta package implements wrapper and parser functions around established command line tools for the integrative prediction of extracellular proteins that are secreted via classical pathways. The modularity of SecretSanta enables users to create tailored pipelines and apply them across the whole tree of life to facilitate comparison of secretomes across multiple species or under various conditions.

Availability and implementation

SecretSanta is implemented in the R programming language and is released under GPL-3 license. All functions have been optimized and parallelized to allow large-scale processing of sequences. The open-source code, installation instructions and vignette with use case scenarios can be downloaded from https://github.com/gogleva/SecretSanta.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Foxg1 Regulates the Postnatal Development of Cortical Interneurons
Authors: Shen Wei , Ba Ru , Su Yan , Ni Yang , Chen Dongsheng , Xie Wei , Pleasure Samuel J , Zhao Chunjie
Published: February 2018

Abnormalities in cortical interneurons are closely associated with neurological diseases. Most patients with Foxg1 syndrome experience seizures, suggesting a possible role of Foxg1 in the cortical interneuron development. Here, by conditional deletion of Foxg1, which was achieved by crossing Foxg1fl/fl with the Gad2-CreER line, we found the postnatal distributions of somatostatin-, calretinin-, and neuropeptide Y-positive interneurons in the cortex were impaired. Further investigations revealed an enhanced dendritic complexity and decreased migration capacity of Foxg1-deficient interneurons, accompanied by remarkable downregulation of Dlx1 and CXCR4. Overexpression of Dlx1 or knock down its downstream Pak3 rescued the differentiation detects, demonstrated that Foxg1 functioned upstream of Dlx1-Pak3 signal pathway to regulate the postnatal development of cortical interneurons. Due to the imbalanced neural circuit, Foxg1 mutants showed increased seizure susceptibility. These findings will improve our understanding of the postnatal development of interneurons and help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying seizure in patients carrying Foxg1 mutations.
Development and Psychometric Validation of a Questionnaire Assessing the Impact of Memory Changes in Older Adults
Authors: Shaikh Komal T , Tatham Erica L , Parikh Preeyam K , McCreath Graham A , Rich Jill B , Troyer Angela K
Published: February 2018

Background and Objectives

Many healthy older adults experience age-related memory changes that can impact their day-to-day functioning. Qualitative interviews have been useful in gaining insight into the experience of older adults who are facing memory difficulties. To enhance this insight, there is a need for a reliable and valid measure that quantifies the impact of normal memory changes on daily living. The primary objective of this study was to develop and validate a new instrument, the Memory Impact Questionnaire (MIQ).

Research Design and Methods

We examined the underlying component structure and psychometric properties of the MIQ in a sample of 205 community-dwelling older adults.

Results

Principal component analysis revealed three clusters: (a) Lifestyle Restrictions, (b) Positive Coping, and (c) Negative Emotion. Comparisons of the corresponding subscale scores with scores on other instruments revealed good convergent and discriminant validity. In addition, the MIQ subscales and the total score showed good test–retest reliability (rs = 0.65–0.91) and internal consistency (αs = 0.87–0.93).

Discussion and Implications

This novel questionnaire can be used in both clinical and research settings to better understand the impact of memory changes on the day-to-day functioning of older adults and to monitor outcomes of support programs for this population.
Giant Extra-Axial Cavernous Angioma of the Falx: Case Report
Authors: Simonin Alexandre , Passaplan Caroline , Sancho Sara , Rusconi Angelo , Otten Philippe
Published: February 2018

BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE

Cavernous angiomas or cavernomas are vascular malformations usually located in the brain parenchyma. However, they rarely present as extra-axial lesions, attached to the dura, and may mimic meningiomas. Most reported cases concern the cavernous sinus region and other locations are very uncommon.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION

A 61-yr-old female known for long-standing mental illness presented with progressive gait instability. Imaging studies revealed an extra-axial lesion in relation to the anterior part of the falx cerebri. An interhemispheric approach was used to remove the lesion. Pathological analysis revealed features compatible with an extra-axial cavernoma: structureless vascular channels lacking smooth muscle and elastic lamellae, without intervening brain parenchyma.

CONCLUSION

Cavernous angiomas or cavernomas can present as extra-axial lesions. Although progressive growth can be observed, they should not be considered as tumoral lesions, because there is no cellular duplication. Unlike other locations, resection of anterior cranial fossa extra-axial cavernomas seems to be facilitated by minimal bleeding.
Introduction
Authors: Gao Qin
Published: February 2018

Chapter 1 introduces the Chinese case of welfare, work, and poverty in the global context. It provides an overview of China’s social assistance system, which centers around the Minimum Livelihood Guarantee, or Dibao, currently the world’s largest such program and the focus of this book. The chapter then discusses the four core values and principles that guide the design, implementation, and development of Dibao, including family and community, work and self-sufficiency, paternalist role of the government, and social harmony. It outlines the scope of the book, which is to provide a systematic evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of China’s primary social assistance program, Dibao, and to draw useful policy lessons for China and other countries. The chapter also previews the main findings.
Thresholds, Financing, and Beneficiaries
Authors: Gao Qin
Published: February 2018

Chapter 3 uses administrative data to describe the patterns in Dibao thresholds, financing, and beneficiaries and discuss its decentralized implementation. The chapter reveals that both urban and rural Dibao have undergone significant expansions in their thresholds, benefit levels, expenditures, population coverage, and number of beneficiaries over the years, with expansions occurring more rapidly and in more dramatic fashion in rural than in urban areas. However, the Dibao thresholds, or Dibao lines, remain low relative to average consumption levels, manifesting Dibao’s fundamental role as a last-resort, bare-minimum safety net program. Despite decentralized implementation and the requirement for local governments to commit a budget, Dibao expenditures have been heavily subsidized by the central government. Dibao’s population coverage in both urban and rural areas increased rapidly during the early stages of implementations but has leveled off in recent years.
Anti-Poverty Effectiveness
Authors: Gao Qin
Published: February 2018

Chapter 5 investigates Dibao’s anti-poverty effectiveness. The chapter shows that, based on various poverty lines and across urban and rural areas, Dibao’s anti-poverty effectiveness is limited and at best modest, largely due to its targeting errors and gaps in benefit delivery. Dibao is more effective in reducing the depth and severity of poverty than it is the rate of poverty, and its anti-poverty effectiveness is greater among recipients than in the general population. Dibao’s influence on reducing poverty is larger when a lower poverty line is used and smaller when a higher poverty line is used. Because relative poverty lines are often set relative to the median income in society and tend to be much higher than the more widely used absolute poverty lines, Dibao’s effects on reducing relative poverty are particularly limited. Dibao has had minimal effect on narrowing the income inequality gap in society.
From Welfare to Work
Authors: Gao Qin
Published: February 2018

Chapter 6 reviews a series of welfare-to-work initiatives and evaluates their impacts. The chapter reveals various barriers for Dibao recipients to move from welfare to work, leading many of them to be unwillingly labeled welfare dependents. These include limited employability due to poor health, low level of education, lack of skills, middle age, long history of unemployment, lack of financial or social capital, family care responsibilities, lack of childcare and senior care services in the community, stigma from neighbors and local officials, and a series of policy design factors that deter work efforts. Local governments have experimented with an array of welfare-to-work programs, ranging from punitive approaches to protective measures, to those offering direct incentive for seeking and maintaining employment and providing job training and referrals. These initiatives have not been systematically evaluated. The limited existing evidence shows that they are ineffective in helping Dibao recipients move from welfare to work.
Women in State Legislatures from the Gilded Age to the Global Age
Authors: Welch Susan
Published: February 2018

State-to-state differences in women’s state legislative representation since the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment are as vast as over-time differences have been. This chapter focuses on women elected to state legislatures from the first, in 1894, to those serving in 2017. The paper highlights the slow growth in women legislators until about 1973, the twenty years of relatively rapid growth until 1993, and the slower increases since then. The chapter explores the impact of institutional factors, party, and geography on this growth and examines the differences between women’s membership in the lower and upper houses. A pooled time series analysis reveals factors explaining differences in women’s membership in legislative bodies across states and through time.
US Women’s Groups in National Policy Debates, 1880–2000
Authors: Goss Kristin A.
Published: February 2018

This chapter considers appearances by women’s organizations at US congressional hearings from 1920 to 2000. By three measures—the number of times women’s groups testified, the number of women’s organizations that appeared, and the breadth of issues to which the groups spoke—these groups’ policy engagement expanded in the four decades after suffrage. Women’s engagement then declined after the second-wave women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The chapter evaluates promising yet ultimately unsatisfying explanations for this inverted-U pattern and then lays out an account centered on public policy’s role. Specifically, federal gender policies provided resources that helped structure and direct the representation of women’s interests. For the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, interests surrounded women’s group rights and civic responsibility; for the last third of the century, the focus was on group rights almost exclusively. This evolution influenced women’s collective voice in American democracy and the range of issues on which women were heard.
Does Neuroscience Undermine Morality?
Authors: Henne Paul , Sinnott-Armstrong Walter
Published: February 2018

In Chapter 4, the authors explore whether neuroscience undermines morality. The authors distinguish, analyze, and assess the main arguments for neuroscientific skepticism about morality and argue that neuroscience does not undermine all of our moral judgments, focusing the majority of their attention on one argument in particular—the idea that neuroscience and psychology might undermine moral knowledge by showing that our moral beliefs result from unreliable processes. They argue that the background arguments needed to bolster the main premise fail to adequately support it. They conclude that the overall issue of neuroscience undermining morality is unsettled, but, they contend, we can reach some tentative and qualified conclusions. Neuroscience is, then, not a general underminer, but can play a constructive role in moral theory, although not by itself. In order to make progress, neuroscience and normative moral theory must work together.
On Determinism and Human Responsibility
Authors: Gazzaniga Michael S
Published: February 2018

In Chapter 12, Michael Gazzaniga tells us: “We are . . . animals with brains that carry out every . . . action automatically and outside our ability to describe how it works . . .. a soup of dispositions controlled by genetic mechanisms, some weakly and some strongly expressed.” He also tells us: “We humans have something called the interpreter, located in our left brain, that weaves a story about why we feel and act the way we do.” Gazzaniga explores the concepts of free will and moral responsibility in light of such facts, arguing that we all remain personally responsible for our actions because responsibility arises out of each person’s interaction with the social layer she is embedded in. “Responsibility is not to be found in the brain,” he concludes, rather it is “a needed consequence of more than one individual interacting with another.”
Your Brain as the Source of Free Will Worth Wanting
Authors: Nahmias Eddy
Published: February 2018

In Chapter 14, Eddy Nahmias begins by considering various reactions one could have to neuronaturalism—the thesis that, in imagining options, evaluating them, and making a decision, “each of those mental processes just is (or is realized in) a complex set of neural processes which causally interact in accord with the laws of nature.” Although dualists and reductionists tend to think that neuronaturalism conflicts with people’s self-conception, Nahmias argues that most people are amenable to whatever metaphysics makes sense of what matters to them. He argues that even though we do not yet have a theory of how neural activity can explain our conscious experiences, such a theory will have to make sense of how those neural processes are crucial causes of our decisions about what to do. He concludes by suggesting that interventionist theories of causation offer the best way to see this.
Humility, Free Will Beliefs, and Existential Angst
Authors: Nadelhoffer Thomas , Wright Jennifer Cole
Published: February 2018

In Chapter 15, Thomas Nadelhoffer and Jennifer Cole Wright investigate the relationship between free will beliefs (or the lack thereof) and existential anxiety. In an attempt to shed light on this relationship, they set out to test whether trait humility can serve as a “buffer” between the two—that is, are people who are high in dispositional humility less likely to experience existential anxiety in the face of skepticism about free will? Given the perspectival and attitudinal nature of humility, Nadelhoffer and Wright predict that humble people will be less anxious in the face of stories about the purported death of free will (or the reduction of the mind to the brain). In a series of four studies, they test their hypothesis, with mixed results.,The findings, however, tell us something important about the current use of primes in studies designed to manipulate people’s belief in free will (usually to measure their pro- or antisocial effects).
Year Up
Authors: Epstein William M.
Published: February 2018

Chapter 5 describes, evaluates, and reinterprets the private sector social service program Year Up as a ceremony of social values rather than as a successful response to a social problem. The program is intended to provide poor minority urban youths access to the job market by offering short-term academic and skills training. Its claims to success are based on contracted evaluations that are not credible. In the end, Year Up embodies a mythic obligation to affirm heroic individualism as the essence of civic virtue and personal value. Year Up mandates that participants embark on the quest for authenticity through mentoring and training en route to employment. Yet the myth of Year Up defines one of its most enduring attractions. It is inexpensive and highly selective, in the end a very efficient way to certify the nation’s chosenness without disrupting customary social arrangements, without redefining the relationship among people, and notably without transferring great amounts of assets and income to those in need.
Generations of Hope Communities
Authors: Epstein William M.
Published: February 2018

Chapter 7 describes, evaluates, and reinterprets the social service program Generations of Hope as a ceremony of social values rather than as a successful response to a social problem. The program is intended to improve child foster care by providing a communal setting for usually poor youths without families. The evaluations of its outcomes is largely based on staff efforts that defy customary social science methods. Generations of Hope is an instance in the long, unfortunate romantic tradition of social service that rejects objective coherence in mistaking obedience to social values—cultural symbolism—as program effectiveness. The program expresses the heroic beliefs of the culture in the power of individual will, the triumph of self-discipline, and brilliant insight, which, against all odds, achieve monumental outcomes with few resources. The program provides no credible evidence of its success.