cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of photoperiod and daily light integral on flowering of five Hibiscus sp.

Abstract The effect of daily light integral (DLI) (400–700 nm) and photoperiod on Hibiscus sp. growth and flowering was studied. Hibiscus coccineus (Medic.) Walt., Hibiscus cisplatinus St-Hil., Hibiscus moscheutos L. ‘Disco Belle Pink’, Hibiscus radiatus Cav., and Hibiscus trionum L. plants were grown under a 9 h (0730–1630 h) or 16 h (0600–2200 h) photoperiod in a greenhouse under ambient daylight plus supplemental high-pressure sodium lighting at 20±1 °C. Within each photoperiod plants were grown under four levels of supplemental irradiance to achieve four DLIs. Under the 9 h photoperiod, plants received an additional 0, 2, 4, or 8 mol m−2 per day. Under the 16 h photoperiod, plants received an additional 2, 4, 8, or 16 mol m−2 per day. Increasing DLI from 8.3 to 25.5 mol m−2 per day (ambient plus supplemental) decreased H. cisplatinus leaf number below the first flower from 26 to 18 leaves, regardless of photoperiod. DLI interacted with photoperiod to affect flowering of H. moscheutos and H. trionum. H. moscheutos leaf number below the first flower was 15±2 leaves under a 16 h photoperiod, regardless of DLI. Increasing DLI from 12.2 to 20.2 mol m−2 per day reduced H. moscheutos ‘Disco Belle Pink’ leaf number below the first flower from 24 to 18 leaves, under a 9 h photoperiod only. Increasing DLI did not affect H. trionum leaf number below the first flower bud initiated, but reduced leaf number below the first flower to open on plants grown under a 9 h photoperiod. H. radiatus flowered only under a 9 h photoperiod and leaf number below the first flower was not affected by DLI. Increasing DLI from 6.7 to 8.9 mol m−2 per day increased H. radiatus total flower bud number at first flower opening from 7±1 to 10±1 buds, but did not affect flower bud number of the other species. H. coccineus did not flower during the experiment.
On Skyline Groups

We formulate and investigate the novel problem of finding the skyline k-tuple groups from an n-tuple data set-i.e., groups of k tuples which are not dominated by any other group of equal size, based on aggregate-based group dominance relationship. The major technical challenge is to identify effective anti-monotonic properties for pruning the search space of skyline groups. To this end, we first show that the anti-monotonic property in the well-known Apriori algorithm does not hold for skyline group pruning. Then, we identify two anti-monotonic properties with varying degrees of applicability: order-specific property which applies to SUM, MIN, and MAX as well as weak candidate-generation property which applies to MIN and MAX only. Experimental results on both real and synthetic data sets verify that the proposed algorithms achieve orders of magnitude performance gain over the baseline method.
Lessons for New Classes of Inorganic/Organic Composites from the Spicules and Skeleton of the Sea Sponge Euplectella aspergillum

Studies have been carried out on the structures and mechanical characteristics of an unusual family of sea sponges under the classification of Hexactinellida, genus Euplectella. The sponge spicules have been of interest to materials scientists because of their potentially important optical, coupled with mechanical, properties. The structures of the class Hexactinellida are characterized by a concentric ring appearance in the cross-section, which is a composite of hydrated silica, coupled with silicatein as a thin layer at the ring interfaces. The mechanical behavior and the toughness of the spicules have been examined with the aid of a special fiber testing method, coupled with scanning electrom microscopy (SEM) observations. It appears that there may be common mechanisms underlying toughness in rigid natural composites with high ratios of mineral/organic phase. In addition, novel pressurization tests of a portion of the sponge skeleton have provided information about the resilience of the skeleton, which resembles a self-supporting glass winding of a cylindrical composite structure.
Associations Between Air Pollution and Peak Expiratory Flow Among Patients with Persistent Asthma

Responses of patients with persistent asthma to ambient air pollution may be different from those of general populations. For example, asthma medications may modify the effects of ambient air pollutants on peak expiratory flow (PEF). Few studies examined the association between air pollution and PEF in patients with persistent asthma on well-defined medication regimens using asthma clinical trial data. Airway obstruction effects of ambient air pollutants, using 14,919 person-days of daily self-measured peak expiratory flow (PEF), were assessed from 154 patients with persistent asthma during the 16 wk of active treatment in the Salmeterol Off Corticosteroids Study trial. The three therapies were an inhaled corticosteroid, an inhaled long-acting beta-agonist, and placebo. The participants were nonsmokers aged 12 through 63 yr, recruited from 6 university-based ambulatory care centers from February 1997 to January 1999. Air pollution data were derived from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Aerometric Information Retrieval System. An increase of 10 ppb of ambient daily mean concentrations of NO2 was associated with a decrease in PEF of 1.53 L/min (95% confidence interval [CI] -2.93 to -0.14) in models adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, asthma clinical center, season, week, daily average temperature, and daily average relative humidity. The strongest association between NO2 and PEF was observed among the patients treated with salmeterol. Negative associations were also found between PEF and SO2 and between PEF and PM(10), respectively. The results show that the two medication regimens protected against the effects of PM(10). However, salmeterol increased the sensitivity to NO2 and triamcinalone enhanced the sensitivity to SO2.
The relative contribution of outcome domains in the total economic benefit of addiction interventions: a review of first findings.

Aims This paper provides a focused summary of the relative contribution of addiction intervention outcomes to total economic benefit, based upon a compilation of published economic studies from the United States. Design The relevant literature was searched extensively, and 11 economic studies were selected for review. Setting The selected addiction interventions address both alcohol use/abuse and illicit drug use/abuse and represent various treatment modalities, including a brief physician intervention and long-term residential programs. Participants Study participants included community-based drug users, pregnant and/or parenting women, problem drinkers, and criminal offenders. Measurements These studies estimated the economic benefits of an addiction intervention(s) in terms of one or more of the following outcome domains: criminal activity, health services utilization, employment earnings, and expenditures on illicit drugs and alcohol. Findings The primary finding of this review was that avoided criminal activity was the greatest economic benefit of addiction interventions and contributed more, as a separate outcome domain, to the total economic benefit of addiction interventions than any other outcome domain. Reduced utilization of health care services was also a noteworthy economic benefit of addiction interventions. Conclusions This study provides a detailed exposition of economic benefits estimation and highlights the potential impact of individual outcomes, thus providing a useful resource for substance abuse researchers and administrators as they design and evaluate future interventions.
Test modulator of AGS injection fast kicker

A test modulator of the Brookhaven AGS injection fast kicker is described. During the fourth batch transfer of the proton beam from the booster to AGS, the fall time of the AGS injection kicker has to be very fast ( >
A Prospective Analysis of Interstitial Pneumonia and Opportunistic Viral Infection among Recipients of Allogeneic Bone Marrow Grafts

A prospective study of 80 bone marrow transplant recipients with acute leukemia and aplastic anemia employed serial viral cultures, determination of complement-fixing antibody to cytomegalovirus (CMV), and study of material obtained from open lung biopsy and autopsy. There were 43 episodes of interstitial pneumonia, 28 of which were fatal. About 40% of the cases were idiopathic. CMV was the most common candidate pathogen, present in 47% of affected lungs. By a median of 53 days following transplantation, 46% of the recipients were shedding CMV from some site. This event was three times more frequent among recipients who had positive titers of antibody to CMV before transplantation than among seronegative recipients. Failure to respond werologically to CMV infection markedly increased the hazard of dying of interstitial pneumonia. Graft-vs-host disease significantly increased the incidence and lethality of interstitial pneumonia. The presence of leukemia (rather than aplastic anemia) and/or certain factors in the technique of preparation for engraftment may have been significant.
Low distortion analogue signal transmission using vertical cavity lasers

Signal distortion in a short wavelength vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is studied. The spurious free dynamic range is found to be 104.3 dB Hz2/3 at 102 MHz and 98 dB Hz2/3 at 1 GHz, which approaches the dynamic range of Fabry-Perot and DFB lasers, and is 20 dB higher than previously reported for VCSELs.
The Political Science 400: A 20-Year Update

T his essay is the first of a planned three-part series dealing with quantitative indicators of continuity and change in the political science discipline, focusing on the period since 1960. The series is inspired by the work of Somit and Tanenhaus ~1967! which presented reputational rankings of both departments and individuals. For this series of essays, we created a unique database in which we recorded cumulative citation counts between 1960–2005 for all regular faculty members of U.S. Ph.D.-granting institutions ca. 2002. In addition to identifying the department at which the individuals in this data set are presently employed, we have also collected information on their date of Ph.D. and the institution from which their Ph.D. was awarded. In this essay, we identify the 400 most-cited scholars who ~ca. 2002! were teaching in political science graduate departments in the U.S., breaking down this data by subfield, by cohort, and by gender. In the next paper of the series, to be published in the April 2007 issue of PS, we explore the history of the discipline in quantitative terms by examining the changes in departmental Ph.D. production and placement rates over the last century and look at patterns of crossdepartmental hiring. Paper three of the series, to be published in the July 2007 issue of PS, compares various ranking approaches in order to examine the visibility and impact of Ph.D.-granting departments. In that essay, we incorporate both the citation count data presented in this current paper and the placement data from the second paper into a multivariate model to predict departmental reputation.
Parallel universes: Canadian and U.S. public administration study

: In this article, the discipline/profession of Canadian public administration is compared to its American counterpart. As parallel universes of inquiry and application, both have evolved from administration to management to governance. In spite of this and other similarities, possibilities for greater collaboration and cross-fertilization have been overlooked and impeded by what the author calls an American attitude of “benign neglect.” The Canadian study of public administration reciprocates with self-sufficiency and an enviable coherence in spite of similar divisions in the two countries between political science/policy and generic management approaches. To confirm the neglect, the author conducted a mini-survey of Canadian content in the journal Public Administration Review and in papers presented at U.S. conferences and – for contrast – of American content in the journal Canadian Public Administration and at Canadian conferences. Modest proposals for rectifying the evident parallel but separate trajectories are suggested through greater interaction that would enrich both study and practice. Exploring some of the overlooked successes in Canadian administration would be useful for students of public administration in the U.S. Sommaire : Le present article etablit une comparaison entre la discipline/la profession de l'administration publique canadienne et son homologue aux Etats-Unis. En tant qu'univers paralleles d'enquetes et d'application, les deux ont evolue, passant de l'administration au management, puis a la gouvernance. Malgre cela et d'autres similarites, les possibilites d'une plus grande collaboration et d'enrichissement mutuel ont ete ignorees et empechees par une attitude americaine qualifiee par l'auteur de «negligence bienveillante ». L'etude canadienne de l'administration publique a reagi par l'autosuffisance et une coherence enviable malgre des divisions similaires dans les deux pays entre les approches de sciences politiques et de gestion generique. Pour confirmer cette negligence, l'auteur a entrepris un mini sondage sur le contenu canadien dans la revue Public Administration Review et lors de conferences americaines et, par contraste, sur le contenu americain dans Administration publique du Canada et lors de conferences canadiennes. De modestes propositions sont faites pour rectifier les trajectoires evidentes, paralleles, et cependant distinctes, suggerant une plus grande interaction qui enrichirait a la fois la theorie et la pratique. Il serait utile pour les etudiants americains en administration publique d'examiner en profondeur certains des succes ignores de l'administration canadienne.
Dynamic Structure: Agent Modeling and Publish/Subscribe

Dynamic structuring of models allows you can specify how models can change their structure during runtime. This chapter opens with a description of dynamic structure and its application to agent modeling. The Publish/Subscribe data distribution paradigm is described using dynamic structuring together with a Data Distribution Service that provides middleware based on this paradigm. We show how the DEVS Simulation Protocol for distributed simulation can be implemented in such middleware. We discuss how Publish/Subscribe topics support the exchange of DEVS protocol commands and DEVS messages. We also discussed how topics that are individualized to components are not as desirable as those that can be subscribed to by all components. Insight into the choice of topics is gained by considering the all and each coupling of multi-aspects.
Achieving Reliable Parallel Performance in a VoD Storage Server Using Randomization and Replication

This paper investigates randomization and replication as strategies to achieve reliable performance in disk arrays targeted for video-on-demand (VoD) workloads. A disk array can provide high aggregate throughput, but only if the server can effectively balance the load on the disks. Such load balance is complicated by two key factors: workload hotspots caused by differences in popularity among media streams, and "fail-stutter" faults that arise when the performance of one or more devices drops below expectations due to manufacturing variations, hardware problems, or geometry-related variations. This paper focuses on the random duplicate assignment (RDA) data allocation policy which places each data block on two disks chosen at random, independent of other blocks in the same media stream or other streams. This strategy is compared to traditional single-disk file allocation, disk striping (RAID-0), disk mirroring (RAID-1), and randomization without duplication. The various allocation schemes are implemented and tested using a prototype VoD server with 2 dual-core Opteron processors, 8 SATA disks, and 4 gigabit Ethernet interfaces running the Linux 2.6 kernel. The results indicate that combining randomization and replication allows RDA to effectively tolerate both workload hotspots and fail-stutter faults better than previous schemes.
HIF: a paradigm of biologic versatility

HIF is a hypoxia-inducible transcription factor with a remarkably broad physiologic repertoire. It is of special interest to hematologists because research on HIF began with an in-depth study of the regulation of the erythropoietin gene. The identification of a critical response element within a 3
Extracellular Copper Substituents and Mammalian Copper Transport

At present, there are at least five major components of the blood plasma with which we know copper to be associated. These are ceruloplasmin, a fairly abundant α 2-glycoprotein, long recognized as containing the largest proportion of copper in most animal and human plasma; albumin, containing (except in the dog, pig, and chicken) a single high-affinity Cu-binding site at the N-terminus; two larger, nonceruloplasmin, nonalbumin proteins, one called ferroxidase II, and the other as yet less defined and named transcuprein; and a fraction of the plasma comprising small molecules (especially amino acids and small peptides), among which histidine may be the most important ligand. Other potential copper ligands include a histidine-rich glycoprotein and α 2-macroglobulin, both of which (like albumin) are also associated with zinc. It is thought that most of these components are present not just in plasma but also in interstitial fluid and in other fluids involved with copper transport, such as the cerebrospinal fluid in the brain (on the other side of the blood—brain barrier) and fluids in specialized areas (testes, amniotic fluid). This chapter reviews what is known about these components, their structure, properties, and potential function in copper transport.
Keystroke Patterns as Prosody in Digital Writings: A Case Study with Deceptive Reviews and Essays

In this paper, we explore the use of keyboard strokes as a means to access the real-time writing process of online authors, analogously to prosody in speech analysis, in the context of deception detection. We show that differences in keystroke patterns like editing maneuvers and duration of pauses can help distinguish between truthful and deceptive writing. Empirical results show that incorporating keystrokebased features lead to improved performance in deception detection in two different domains: online reviews and essays.
Preoptic area injection of corticotropin-releasing hormone stimulates sympathetic activity

To investigate the sites of action of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) on sympathetic nerve activity to interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT), we injected CRH into the third cerebroventricle, medial preoptic area (MPOA), and other hypothalamic areas in anesthetized rats. The multiunit discharges of sympathetic nerves to IBAT were recorded electrophysiologically. The intracerebroventricular injection of CRH increased sympathetic nerve activity in a dose-dependent manner over the range 250-1,000 pmol. The microinjection of CRH (200 pmol) into the unilateral MPOA increased the sympathetic nerve activity to IBAT by +150.6 +/- 25.9% at 30 min after injection. However, the injection of saline (0.15 M NaCl) and glucagon (200 pmol) into the MPOA did not increase sympathetic nerve activity. The microinjection of CRH (200 pmol) into the anterior hypothalamic area, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, and lateral hypothalamic area had no significant effect on nerve activity. We conclude that central administration of CRH increases the sympathetic nerve activity to IBAT and that the MPOA is one of the sites for this action. The result is consistent with the hypothesis that CRH is a neurochemical stimulator of the sympathetic nervous system, which may be involved in control of energy expenditure in rodents.
Preoperative PFTs: The answer is blowing in the wind.

From the Department of Surgery, Columbia University, New York, NY. Disclosures: Author has nothing to disclose with regard to commercial support. Received for publication Dec 10, 2015; accepted for publication Dec 11, 2015. Address for reprints: Paul Kurlansky, MD, Department of Surgery, Columbia University, Black Building 210, 650 W 168th St, New York, NY 10032 (E-mail: pk2245@cumc.columbia.edu). J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2016;-:1-2 0022-5223/$36.00 Copyright 2016 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcvs.2015.12.024
Effect of intraperitoneal administration of lysine and methionine on mohair yield and quality in Angora goats.

Eight mature Angora wethers (average BW 47.2 kg) were used in a 4 x 4 replicated Latin square design to evaluate responses to intraperitoneal (IP) administration of amino acids. The IP treatments consisted of saline (Control), methionine 1 g/d (Met), lysine 2 g/d (Lys), and methionine + lysine (Met + Lys). The amino acids dissolved in Control were infused continuously for the first 14 d of each 28-d period using peristaltic infusion pumps. Average d-28 grease and clean mohair yields (grams/100 square centimeters), and fiber diameter (micrometers) and length (centimeters) measurements during Control administration were 8.8, 7.6, 40, and 2.3, respectively. Mean clean mohair yield and fiber diameter increased by 5.3% (P less than .039) and 2.5% (P less than .067), respectively, with Met administration but were decreased by 9.2% (P less than .033) and 3.8% (P less than .001), respectively, by Lys administration; however, mean fiber length was increased (P less than .014) 21.7% by Lys infusion. The goats did not exhibit increased grease (P greater than .939) and clean (P greater than .477) mohair yields and fiber diameter (P greater than .619) when treated with Met+Lys. A N balance trial was conducted during d 10 through 14 of each period. Total retained N (grams per day) during Control administration was 18.4 and 24% greater than Met (P greater than .281) and Lys (P less than .061), respectively. When expressed as a proportion of N intake, retained N was lowest (P less than .127) in the Lys infusion group. Jugular blood ammonia N and plasma glucose and total protein concentrations were not affected (P greater than .10) by treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Pineal gland in organ culture. I. Inhibition by harmine of serotonin-14C oxidation, accompanied by stimulation of melatonin-14C production.

The effect of harmine on serotonin-14C metabolism by pineal glands in organ culture was studied to examine the possibility that inhibition of monoamine oxidase activity would result in stimulation of melatonin-14C formation. Glands treated with harmine (0.1-10 µM) produced 2-5 times more radiolabeled melatonin than did untreated controls. Thin layer chromatographic analysis of culture media revealed that harmine treatment increased N-acetylserotonin-14C as well as melatonin-14C levels, and decreased the production of hydroxyindoleacetic acid-14C, hydroxytryptophol-14C, and methoxytryptophol-14C. The activity of hydroxyindole O-methyltransferase in harmine-treated glands, or in homogenates of untreated glands to which harmine had been added, was no different from that of untreated controls. These observations suggest that inhibition of oxidation of serotonin resulted in enhanced N-acetylation and that the resulting high levels of N-acetylserotonin caused increased melatonin production by a mechanism not dependent upon increased production of hydroxyindole O-methyltransferase. This effect can be explained on the basis of mass action.
The Ambivalence of Expert Categorizers

We explored people’s reactions to expert categorizers who expressed difficulty in making a categorization decision. Specifically, we compared people’s impressions of expert health professionals who either expressed certainty, uncertainty, or ambivalence about a categorization decision in the form of a diagnosis. We found that ambivalence resulted in the most negative impressions of these experts, including lower ratings of competence and decisiveness (Experiment 1). Impressions of ambivalence did not improve when the complexity of the decision was explicitly manipulated (Experiment 2). Implications for categorization are discussed.
A retrospective economic evaluation of olanzapine versus risperidone in the treatment of schizophrenia.

This retrospective study evaluates drug treatment patterns and economic outcomes of olanzapine in comparison with risperidone in the treatment of schizophrenia in usual practice. Results showed that patients taking olanzapine versus risperidone stayed on therapy longer (P < .0001) and were prescribed anti-Parkinsonian medications less frequently (P < .005). Compared with risperidone, olanzapine treatment resulted in lower direct mental health care costs ($1,827 less, P < .03) and lower direct total health care costs ($1,834 less, P < .05). The results of this study suggest that the initial selection of an antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia is important: Olanzapine offset its acquisition cost by reducing medical service costs and demonstrated better drug treatment patterns than risperidone.
The Twists and Turns of DNA

I'm lucky to be able to say that I have looked at DNA firsthand or as close as we can get to firsthand with current experimental techniques. I did my graduate work with Richard Dickerson at UCLA, and at the time his lab was interested in sorting out the fine structure of the DNA helix. A previous graduate student had solved the structure of a short piece of DNA, 12 nucleotides long, revealing a complex inner structure to the double helix and an interesting interaction with the surrounding water. When I joined, the lab was exploring other pieces of DNA and also the interaction of DNA with drugs and proteins.
Cortical Neuronal Mechanisms Underlying the Perception of Motion Across the Skin

The tactile sense is normally used to perceive contact of the body with external objects, and to measure their size, geometric form, texture, density and weight. This information is used not only for conscious awareness of the external environment, but also to guide motor activity. Most of these sensory funtions involve motion of the object into and across the skin, as motion enhances one’s sensory discriminative abilities, particularly for size, shape and texture recognition (Gibson, 1962; Lederman, 1974; Morley, et al., 1983). Motion of the skin can be active, as when exploring one’s environment, or passive, as when contacting another living animal, or a moving object. Psychophysical studies have shown that active and passive modes are equally effective in providing information for texture perception (Lederman, 1974), but active motion is superior for shape recognition (Gibson, 1962).
Nanoscale stability and active control in hard disk drives

To achieve the areal density goal in hard disk drives of 1 Tbit/in/sup 2/ the minimum physical spacing between the slider and disk must be reduced to less than 5 nm. At such low spacing new nanoscale forces act between the slider and disk, such as intermolecular and electrostatic forces, which must be taken into consideration. These forces can create dynamic instabilities in the flying head slider, which are detrimental to its ability to reliably read and write data. This paper reviews the recent trends in data densities and size reductions in hard disk drives, showing that the transition to nanoscale phenomena is about to occur. Simple evolutionary developments appear to no longer work for increasing the areal data density. Some of the various alternatives for overcoming these new problems for sub-5 nm flying sliders are presented and discussed. We show the source and effects of the new short range forces and examine how various design parameters for air bearing sliders affect the instabilities. Then we present some alternatives to traditional flying head sliders, such as active control of PZT actuated flying sliders or contact interfaces for hard disk drives.
Identification of a Degradation Signal Sequence within Substrates of the Mitochondrial i-AAA Protease

The i-AAA protease is a component of the mitochondrial quality control machinery that regulates respiration, mitochondrial dynamics, and protein import. The protease is required to select specific substrates for degradation from among the diverse complement of proteins present in mitochondria, yet the rules that govern this selection are unclear. Here, we reconstruct the yeast i-AAA protease, Yme1p, to examine the in vitro degradation of two intermembrane space chaperone subunits, Tim9 and Tim10. Yme1p degrades Tim10 more rapidly than Tim9 despite high sequence and structural similarity, and loss of Tim10 is accelerated by the disruption of conserved disulfide bonds within the substrate. An unstructured N-terminal region of Tim10 is necessary and sufficient to target the substrate to the protease through recognition of a short phenylalanine-rich motif, and the presence of similar motifs in other small Tim proteins predicts robust degradation by the protease. Together, these results identify the first specific degron sequence within a native i-AAA protease substrate.
Observed relations between proton spin observables in natural parity transitions in Ca 40 ( p , p ′ ) Ca 40 and Pb 208 ( p , p ′ ) Pb 208 reactions at 500 MeV

A set of proton spin observables has been measured for the inelastic transitions to the ${3}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ (3.73 MeV) and ${5}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ (4.48 MeV) states in the $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}(p, {p}^{\ensuremath{'}})^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$ reaction and for the ${3}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ (2.61 MeV) state in the $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}(p, {p}^{\ensuremath{'}})^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$ reaction at 497 MeV. The interval of laboratory scattering angles was 6 to 20\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} for $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$ and 2.5 to 14\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} for $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$. Comparison of these observables reveals that they satisfy relations analogous to those valid in the elastic scattering of spin \textonehalf{} and spin 0 objects. The origin of these observed relations is explained.NUCLEAR REACTIONS Relations between spin observables in $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}(p, {p}^{\ensuremath{'}})^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$ and $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}(p, {p}^{\ensuremath{'}})^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$ at 500 MeV.
Digital predistortion for hybrid precoding architecture in millimeter-wave massive mimo systems

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) systems require massive antennas at both transmitter and receiver to reach desirable link budget. Analog-digital hybrid beamforming is a promising architecture since it significantly reduces the hardware cost while approaches the performance of digital beamforming. However, the nonlinear power amplifier (PA) introduces intermodulation interference and degrades the spectral efficiency. In this work, we use memory polynomial model for modelling mmWave PA and study the inter-beam and inter-symbol interference in hybrid precoding architecture. We also propose a digital predistortion (DPD) algorithm to mitigate interference. The proposed DPD reduces interference power by an order of magnitude and compared with system without predistortion, the proposed system can achieve up to 60% spectral efficiency.
Mechanical Analyses and Structural Design Requirements for Flexible Energy Storage Devices

Flexible energy storage devices with excellent mechanical deformation performance are highly required to improve the integration degree of flexible electronics. Unlike those of traditional power sources, the mechanical reliability of flexible energy storage devices, including electrical performance retention and deformation endurance, has received much attention. To provide the guideline for the construction design of devices, the strain distribution and failure modes in the entire architecture should be comprehensively investigated during mechanical deformation. This review mainly focuses on the mechanical deformation characterization, analysis, and structural design strategies used in recent flexible lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and supercapacitors (SCs). The primary theoretical calculation of bending strain in the devices is introduced first, and then several parameters to describe the bending status are summarized. Among those parameters, bending radius and its corresponding test methods and equipment are highlighted. Derivative strategies for structural design and an overview of their application progresses, such as selection of substrates, thickness of devices, employment of encapsulation, and novel architectural designs, are reviewed in detail. Finally, the challenges and prospects of flexible energy storage devices with reliable mechanical performance are discussed.
Role strain among South African seminarians in the Anglican Church: toward a typology of congregational support

ABSTRACTThis phenomenological study explored student value perceptions of religious participation among nontraditional South African distance learners who persisted in theological distance education. Four basic types of churches emerged including the Equipping Church, the Empowering Church, the Engaging Church, and the Endangering Church. However, in examining religious coping strategies among South African distance learners, it was discovered that the four women interviewed experienced a deep sense of loneliness in their calling and had to rely almost exclusively on resources outside their local church. These Black South African women’s sense of being called alone is both inconsistent with the theoretical framework of role theory and the theological framework of the Anglican Church as expressed by the official Prayer Book.
Age-related changes in Na, K-ATPase expression, subunit isoform selection and assembly in the stria vascularis lateral wall of mouse cochlea.

Abstract Due to the critical role of cochlear ion channels for hearing, the focus of the present study was to examine age-related changes of Na, K-ATPase (NKA) subunits in the lateral wall of mouse cochlea. We combined qRT-PCR, western blot and immunocytochemistry methodologies in order to determine gene and protein expression levels in the lateral wall of young and aged CBA/CaJ mice. Of the seven NKA subunits, only the mRNA expressions of α1, β1 and β2 subunit isoforms were detected in the lateral wall of CBA/CaJ mice. Aging was accompanied by dys-regulation of gene and protein expression of all three subunits detected. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining revealed atrophy of the cochlear stria vascularis (SV). The SV atrophy rate (20%) was much less than the ∼80% decline in expression of all three NKA isoforms, indicating lateral wall atrophy and NKA dys-regulation are independent factors and that there is a combination of changes involving the morphology of SV and NKA expression in the aging cochlea which may concomitantly affect cochlear function. Immunoprecipitation assays showed that the α1-β1 heterodimer is the selective preferential heterodimer over the α1-β2 heterodimer in cochlea lateral wall. Interestingly, in vitro pathway experiments utilizing cultured mouse cochlear marginal cells from the SV (SV-K1 cells) indicated that decreased mRNA and protein expressions of α1, β1 and β2 subunit isoforms are not associated with reduction of NKA activity following in vitro application of ouabain, but ouabain did disrupt the α1-β1 heterodimer interaction. Lastly, the association between the α1 and β1 subunit isoforms was present in the cochlear lateral wall of young adult mice, but this interaction could not be detected in old mice. Taken together, these data suggest that in the young adult mouse there is a specific, functional selection and assembly of NKA subunit isoforms in the SV lateral wall, which is disrupted and dys-regulated with age. Interventions for this age-linked ion channel disruption may have the potential to help diagnose, prevent, or treat age-related hearing loss.
Characterization of intramuscular calf vein thrombosis on routine knee MRI

Literature regarding intramuscular calf vein thrombosis (IMCVT) or infrapopliteal deep vein thrombosis (DVT) evaluation by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is limited, particularly with regard to routine unenhanced knee examinations. We attempt to correlate routine unenhanced MRI findings with ultrasound evaluations of the lower extremity deep venous system. The radiology information system was searched, yielding a total of 67 patients who had undergone both routine knee MRI and duplex ultrasound examinations within 14 days. The MRI examination findings recorded were the presence and pattern of edema, segmental vein dilation, intraluminal signal on fluid-sensitive sequences, and abnormal hyperintense signal on axial T1-weighted sequences. The presence and extent of thrombus more centrally (i.e., intramuscular calf vein thrombosis with or without extension into the popliteal vein) was reassessed on ultrasound. When comparing patients with positive (n = 13) and negative (n = 54) ultrasound, there were significant differences in each of these parameters: perivascular edema, intramuscular edema, focal vein dilation, and abnormal fluid-sensitive signal. In the subset of patients with popliteal extension of the intramuscular calf vein thrombosis compared with those without any deep vein thrombosis, there was a statistically significant increase in peripopliteal edema, abnormal fluid-sensitive signal, and abnormal hyperintense T1 signal. Imaging findings on routine unenhanced MRI have a high rate of concordance with duplex ultrasound performed through the calf in the detection of intramuscular calf vein thrombosis.
Corporate Image Advertising in the Banking Industry

Corporate image advertising seeks to improve the reputation of a business, rather than promoting products or services. This study presents a descriptive analysis of corporate image advertising in t...
Reliability of Mesopic Measures of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity and Their Correlation with Rod and Cone Function in Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Author(s): Bittner, Ava K; Ferraz, Mariana C | Abstract: BackgroundMesopic conditions elicit both rod and cone responses, and they are more commonly encountered in daily life than are scotopic conditions; yet visual function outcome measures of mesopic visual acuity (VA) or contrast sensitivity (CS) are rarely evaluated.ObjectiveIn retinitis pigmentosa (RP), we explored whether visual reductions in mesopic versus photopic conditions were correlated with cone or rod function, as well as the between-visit test-retest variability in mesopic measures.MethodsAt each of two visits, 22 RP subjects completed mesopic and photopic ETDRS VA and Pelli-Robson chart CS tests obtained with and without a U23 NoIR 4% transmission filter; testing of perifoveal scotopic cone or rod sensitivity with the AdaptDx; and the Rabin Cone Contrast Test (CCT).ResultsA greater CS reduction in mesopic versus photopic conditions was significantly related to absence of scotopic rod function (p = 0.038) or longer self-reported duration of night vision loss (p = 0.044). VA reductions g0.2 logMAR in mesopic versus photopic conditions were significantly related to reduced cone-mediated scotopic sensitivity (p = 0.038). Significant predictors of the CCT ratio of S-cone to M- and L-cone sensitivity were mesopic VA (p = 0.038) and absence of AdaptDx rod function (p = 0.008). Test-retest 95% coefficients of repeatability were not significantly different when comparing between photopic and mesopic tests of VA (0.16 and 0.12 logMAR, respectively) or CS (0.21 and 0.24 logCS, respectively).ConclusionsPerifoveal scotopic rod and cone function measured with the AdaptDx was significantly correlated with mesopic CS and VA, respectively, which had good, acceptable test-retest repeatability; thus, they appear to be suitable outcome measures to monitor mesopic visual function in clinical practice or trials. RP subjects with reduced mesopic VA and no perifoveal rod function had a greater loss of sensitivity for S-cones than for L-/M-cones.
Removal and recovery of nutrients from municipal sewage: Algal vs. conventional approaches

Abstract This paper presents a pilot scale study of an algal-based sewage treatment and resource recovery (STaRR) system capable of treating municipal sewage and recovering its nitrogen- and phosphorous-content as fertilizer. Core components of the STaRR system include i) mixotrophic cultivation of algal biomass in settled sewage; ii) hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of the resulting algal biomass, and iii) processing of the products of HTL to recover energy in the form of biocrude and nutrients in the form of struvite. Performance of a pilot-scale STaRR system in recovering nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from settled sewage as struvite is documented and compared with that of existing and emerging technologies. Nutrient removal per unit energy input in the STaRR system is estimated as 257.1 g N/kWh and 36.6 g P/kWh while that in eight full-scale sewage treatment plants (STPs) averaged 74.3 g N/kWh and 135.1 g P/kWh. Energy required to treat primary effluent in the STaRR system (531.5 kWh/MG) is estimated to be lower than the average in the 8 STPs (1,037.9 ± 503.3 kWh/MG). While existing technologies had been originally designed for removal of nutrients rather than any recovery, a review of the literature revealed 12 emerging technologies for nutrient recovery. Nutrient recovery performance of the STaRR system (5.9% N and 71.6% P) is shown to be superior to that of those 12 emerging technologies. Recoveries recorded in the STaRR system translate to a yield of 2.4 kg struvite per 100 m3 of primary effluent. Results of this study imply that the STaRR system deserves due consideration as a greener and sustainable pathway for nutrient removal and recovery from sewage.
First investigation of perennial ice in Winter Wonderland Cave, Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA

Abstract. Winter Wonderland Cave is a solution cave at an elevation of 3140 m above sea level in Carboniferous-age Madison Limestone on the southern slope of the Uinta Mountains (Utah, USA). Temperature data loggers reveal that the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) in the main part of the cave is − 0.8 ∘ C, whereas the entrance chamber has a MAAT of − 2.3 ∘ C. In contrast, the MAAT outside the cave entrance was + 2.8 ∘ C between August 2016 and August 2018. Temperatures in excess of 0 ∘ C were not recorded inside the cave during that 2-year interval. About half of the accessible cave, which has a mapped length of 245 m, is floored by perennial ice. Field and laboratory investigations were conducted to determine the age and origin of this ice and its possible paleoclimate significance. Ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) surveys with a 400 MHz antenna reveal that the ice has a maximum thickness of ∼ 3 m. Samples of rodent droppings obtained from an intermediate depth within the ice yielded radiocarbon ages from 40±30 to 285±12 years. These results correspond with median calibrated ages from CE 1560 to 1830, suggesting that at least some of the ice accumulated during the Little Ice Age. Samples collected from a ∼ 2 m high exposure of layered ice were analyzed for stable isotopes and glaciochemistry. Most values of δ18 O and δ D plot subparallel to the global meteoric waterline with a slope of 7.5 and an intercept of 0.03 ‰. Values from some individual layers depart from the local waterline, suggesting that they formed during closed-system freezing. In general, values of both δ18 O and δ D are lowest in the deepest ice and highest at the top. This trend is interpreted as a shift in the relative abundance of winter and summer precipitation over time. Calcium has the highest average abundance of cations detectable in the ice (mean of 6050 ppb), followed by Al (2270 ppb), Mg (830 ppb), and K (690 ppb). Most elements are more abundant in the younger ice, possibly reflecting reduced rates of infiltration that prolonged water–rock contact in the epikarst. Abundances of Al and Ni likely reflect eolian dust incorporated in the ice. Liquid water appeared in the cave in August 2018 and August 2019, apparently for the first time in many years. This could be a sign of a recent change in the cave environment.
Identifying patient-specific flow of signal transduction perturbed by multiple single-nucleotide alterations

Identifying patient-specific flow of signal transduction perturbed by multiple single-nucleotide alterations is critical for improving patient outcomes in cancer cases. However, accurate estimation of mutational effects at the pathway level for such patients remains an open problem. While probabilistic pathway topology methods are gaining interest among the scientific community, the overwhelming majority do not account for network perturbation effects from multiple single-nucleotide alterations. Here we present an improvement of the mutational forks formalism to infer the patient-specific flow of signal transduction based on multiple single-nucleotide alterations, including non-synonymous and synonymous mutations. The lung adenocarcinoma and skin cutaneous melanoma datasets from TCGA Pan-Cancer Atlas have been employed to show the utility of the proposed method. We have comprehensively characterized six mutational forks. The number of mutated nodes ranged from one to four depending on the topological characteristics of a fork. Transitional confidences (TCs) have been computed for every possible combination of single-nucleotide alterations in the fork. The performed analysis demonstrated the capacity of the mutational forks formalism to follow a biologically explainable logic in the identification of high-likelihood signaling routes in lung adenocarcinoma and skin cutaneous melanoma patients. The findings have been largely supported by the evidence from the biomedical literature. We conclude that the formalism has a great chance to enable an assessment of patient-specific flow by leveraging information from multiple single-nucleotide alterations to adjust the transitional likelihoods that are solely based on the canonical view of a disease.
Incarcerated Inguinal Hernia in Elderly

Because of the increased morbidity and mortality associated with emergent hernia repair in the elderly; every patient presenting with an inguinal hernia should be diagnosed in a timely manner and the surgical intervention should be offered early in the course. In elderly people, about 40% of inguinal hernias (IH) require surgical intervention, due to incarceration or intestinal obstruction. Unfortunately, there is very limited evidence in the literature on the surgical management of IH presenting as an emergency in the elderly. The consortium of changing epidemiology of the elderly population and inguinal hernia being the third most common cause of bowel obstruction makes this chapter on its management an apt read.
Preferences, Consumption Smoothing, and Risk Premia

Risk premia in the consumption capital asset pricing model depend on preferences and dividends. We develop a decomposition which allows for the separate treatment of both components. We show that preferences alone determine the risk-return trade-off measured by the Sharpe-ratio.
Developing Secure Software

Some organizations take the view that features are the most important delivery and with limited time and resources, this becomes the focus. At the end, security is added in. The problem with this approach is that deployment may occur with little to no security features. This ensures that the software is defenseless or near defenseless against attackers and data breaches are the inevitable result.