cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Method of Measuring Managerial Ability in Farming

Investigators in farm management and farm organization, particularly those engaged in the analysis of complete farm cost records gathered by the route method, have always encountered difficulty in determining which of the farms of the group under investigation were most successfully managed. No simple or generally satisfactory method of answering the question has as yet been devised. Yet, if it be (as is commonly acknowledged) the chief function of farm management investigators to give advice on efficiency in farm operations and as to choice and proportions of crops and livestock enterprises, it becomes necessary to isolate and measure the managerial function of the farmer as distinct from his landowning, laboring, and financing functions. Such measures of the farmer's ability as have customarily been employed are open to serious objection on the ground that the measures used have applied not to ability to manage a farm but to the prosperity of the farmer or his family. The two things are obviously not the same. Any farmer may be a good manager of labor, of implements, and of land, and yet be driven from his farm because of unwise outside investment, foolish expenditure of money for personal pleasure, excessive indebtedness, or too small or too large acreage; or he may prosper, though he is a poor manager, by inheritance, successful outside investment, increases in land value, or other causes. It has admittedly been impossible to measure farm prosperity; yet it has been the practice of farm management investigators to attempt in fact to do so, even while ostensibly seeking rather for a measure of managerial ability. Labor income and percentage of return on investment have
Characterization of microbial mixtures by mass spectrometry

MS applications in microbiology have increased significantly in the past 10 years, due in part to the proliferation of regulator-approved commercial MALDI MS platforms for rapid identification of clinical infections. In parallel, with the expansion of MS technologies in the "omics" fields, novel MS-based research efforts to characterize organismal as well as environmental microbiomes have emerged. Successful characterization of microorganisms found in complex mixtures of other organisms remains a major challenge for researchers and clinicians alike. Here, we review recent MS advances toward addressing that challenge. These include sample preparation methods and protocols, and established, for example, MALDI, as well as newer, for example, atmospheric pressure ionization (API) techniques. MALDI mass spectra of intact cells contain predominantly information on the highly expressed house-keeping proteins used as biomarkers. The API methods are applicable for small biomolecule analysis, for example, phospholipids and lipopeptides, and facilitate species differentiation. MS hardware and techniques, for example, tandem MS, including diverse ion source/mass analyzer combinations are discussed. Relevant examples for microbial mixture characterization utilizing these combinations are provided. Chemometrics and bioinformatics methods and algorithms, including those applied to large scale MS data acquisition in microbial metaproteomics and MS imaging of biofilms, are highlighted. Select MS applications for polymicrobial culture analysis in environmental and clinical microbiology are reviewed as well.
The Moving Context Kit: Designing for Context Shifts in Multi-Device Experiences

Multi-device product designers need tools to better address ecologically valid constraints in naturalistic settings early in their design process. To address this need, we created a reusable design kit of scenarios, "hint" cards, and a framework that codifies insights from prior work and our own field study. We named the kit the Moving Context Kit, or McKit for short, because it helps designers focus on context shifts that we found to be highly influential in everyday multi-device use. Specifically, we distilled the following findings from our field study in the McKit: (1) devices are typically specialized into one of six roles during parallel use notifier, broadcaster, collector, gamer, remote, and hub, and (2) device roles are influenced by context shifts between private and shared situations. Through a workshop, we validated that the McKit enables designers to engage with complex user needs, situations, and relationships when incorporating novel multi-device techniques into the products they envision.
Assessing the Believability of Standardized Patients Trained to Portray Communication Disorders.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the believability of standardized patients portraying individuals with communication disorders as part of a larger study in which standardized pati...
A model for the combustion of oil/water emulsion droplets

Abstract The vaporization and combustion characteristics of an oil/water emulsion droplet are investigated by analyzing the multicomponent heat and mass transport processes in the gas phase and the gasification of an immiscible liquid mixture at the gas-liquid interface. Results substantiate and quantify the potential reductions in soot and NOx formation through water emulsification and demonstrate that the embedded water micro-droplets can indeed be heated to the limit of superheat such that fragmentation of the emulsion droplet due to the internal pressure build-up can be achieved. It is further shown that the occurrence of this micro-explosive event is enhanced by increasing the ambient pressure and that at 1 atmosphere the fuel's boiling point has to be at least as high as that of n-hexadecane in order to achieve micro-explosion.
Environmental factors regulate Paneth cell phenotype and host susceptibility to intestinal inflammation in Irgm1-deficient mice.

Crohn's disease (CD) represents a chronic inflammatory disorder of the intestinal tract. Several susceptibility genes have been linked to CD, though their precise role in the pathogenesis of this disorder remains unclear. Immunity-related GTPase M (IRGM) is an established risk allele in CD. We have shown previously that conventionally raised (CV) mice lacking the IRGM ortholog, Irgm1 exhibit abnormal Paneth cells (PCs) and increased susceptibility to intestinal injury. In the present study, we sought to utilize this model system to determine if environmental conditions impact these phenotypes, as is thought to be the case in human CD. To accomplish this, wild-type and Irgm1-/- mice were rederived into specific pathogen-free (SPF) and germ-free (GF) conditions. We next assessed how these differential housing environments influenced intestinal injury patterns, and epithelial cell morphology and function in wild-type and Irgm1-/- mice. Remarkably, in contrast to CV mice, SPF Irgm1-/- mice showed only a slight increase in susceptibility to dextran sodium sulfate-induced inflammation. SPF Irgm1-/- mice also displayed minimal abnormalities in PC number and morphology, and in antimicrobial peptide expression. Goblet cell numbers and epithelial proliferation were also unaffected by Irgm1 in SPF conditions. No microbial differences were observed between wild-type and Irgm1-/- mice, but gut bacterial communities differed profoundly between CV and SPF mice. Specifically, Helicobacter sequences were significantly increased in CV mice; however, inoculating SPF Irgm1-/- mice with Helicobacter hepaticus was not sufficient to transmit a pro-inflammatory phenotype. In summary, our findings suggest the impact of Irgm1-deficiency on susceptibility to intestinal inflammation and epithelial function is critically dependent on environmental influences. This work establishes the importance of Irgm1-/- mice as a model to elucidate host-environment interactions that regulate mucosal homeostasis and intestinal inflammatory responses. Defining such interactions will be essential for developing novel preventative and therapeutic strategies for human CD.
The Creation and Validation of a Knee Bone Age Atlas Utilizing MRI.

Background In managing many pediatric knee conditions, an accurate bone age assessment may be critical for diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment purposes. The aim of this study was to create an atlas of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the knee spanning the pediatric and adolescent years that would enable accurate skeletal age to be assessed, potentially forgoing the need for a left-hand radiograph. Methods We performed a retrospective assessment of 11 to 31 MRIs from male and female patients of each age from 2 to 19 years. Radiographic features specific to the patella, tibia, fibula, and femur were documented with respect to their presence or absence. From these data, age and sex "standards" were established, allowing the creation on an atlas. A separate cohort of MRIs with 2 to 13 patients per age and sex was then used to validate the reliability and reproducibility of the atlas. Results In the creation of the atlas, a total of 859 MRIs were reviewed. The patella, tibia, fibula, and femur were noted to undergo a reproducible sequence of skeletal ossification. The patella provided the best age assessment in early childhood. Features specific to the tibia, particularly ossification of the tibial spine and the tibial tubercle, were of particular importance in children between the ages of 6 and 12 years. MRI features of the fibula and femur served a more important role in age assessment later in skeletal maturity. From a separate cohort of 323 MRIs utilized to validate the atlas, a strong correlation between chronologic age and bone age was shown, as was excellent interobserver and intraobserver reliability. Conclusions The predictable ossification pattern of the patella, tibia, fibula, and femur enables accurate bone age calculations to be made from knee MRIs. When treating conditions about the knee that require MRI, obtaining an additional left-hand radiograph for bone age may be unnecessary. This information can be used to potentially avoid additional radiation exposure, impart cost savings, and lead to greater clinic efficiency.
Impact of Obesity on Outcomes of Diabetic Ketoacidosis—Results from the National Inpatient Sample

Introduction: Obesity is associated with better outcomes in patients with myocardial infarction and sepsis among other conditions a phenomena being described as obesity paradox. The impact of obesity and morbid obesity in DKA is not well studied. Objective: To estimate the impact of obesity and morbid obesity on in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Methods: Data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the years 2012 to 2014, Health Care Utilization Project were reviewed. Patients with a diagnosis of DKA were included using the relevant ICD 9 codes. The primary outcome measured was in-hospital mortality. The Odds Ratio (OR) adjusted for age, gender, Charlson index and sepsis was calculated for obesity and morbid obesity respectively. Results: A total of 4,468,339 individuals with a diagnosis of DM were reviewed in this retrospective study. 132,362 patients (2.96%), who had a diagnosis of DKA were included. In patients with DKA, obesity (BMI 30-40) was present in 7,635 (5.77%). Morbid obesity was present in 5,290 (4%). Mortality was 1.8% vs. 1.9%, p=0.65 in patients with obesity and (3.5% vs. 1.9%, p Conclusion: In patients with DKA, morbid obesity was associated with increased mortality. A BMI of (30-40) was not associated with increased mortality. No protective effect of obesity or morbid obesity (obesity paradox) was observed in our study. Disclosure A. Elsheikh: None. A. Abdullah: None. A. Wahab: None. G.E. Eigbire: None. A. Salama: None. K. Rajamani: None.
Effect of dietary copper on intestinal mucosa enzyme activity, morphology, and turnover rates in weanling pigs.

Twenty-four pigs from four litters weaned at 21 d of age (6.6 kg of BW) were used to evaluate the influence of 250 ppm of dietary Cu on intestinal mucosa glucose-6-phosphatase (GP), alkaline phosphatase (AP), and adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity; mucosal morphology; and the turnover rate of the intestinal mucosa throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Pigs were allotted into four pens of six pigs each based on sex, litter, and weight. Pens were then assigned to one of two treatments: 1) corn-soybean meal-whey diet with no antimicrobials (CO), or 2) CO + 250 ppm of Cu. Pigs were fed twice daily an amount approximately equal to ad libitum intake for 14 d. On d 14, pigs were injected i.p. with [3H]thymidine (50 microCi/kg of BW) 10 h after the morning meal. One pig from each pen was euthanatized at 1, 6, 12, 20, 32, and 44 h postinjection, and intestinal tissue was collected from the duodenum, two jejunum sites (upper and lower), ileum, cecum, and colon. The activity of GP and AP in the lower jejunum tended to decrease in pigs fed Cu (P less than .11, P less than .08, respectively). The ATPase activity was not affected by treatment (P greater than .10). Crypt death, villus height, or epithelial cell size (P greater than .10) were not affected by feeding Cu. Migration rate of epithelial cells up the villus was also not affected by treatment (P greater than .10).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Peacefulness as Nonviolent Dispositions

Nonviolence may be viewed from an intrapersonal, interpersonl, societal, and world perspective. Although these levels and their potential relationships have been discussed in the peace literature, a comprehensive theory of nonviolence to encompass all four levels has been lacking until recently. In addition, the relationship between levels of nonviolence has not been empirically studied because of the lack of measures to assess these four levels. This chapter discusses theories of nonviolence with an emphasis on the Diamond Model that explores the connections between levels of nonviolence. Recent research using the new 90-item Diamond Scale of Nonviolence (DSN) is also presented. The DSN assesses intrapersonal nonviolence (20 items), interpersonal nonviolence (20 items), societal nonviolence (25 items), and world nonviolence (25 items). The four DSN subscales show good internal consistency (alphas between 0.85 and 0.87) and test–retest reliabilities were above 0.85 on all four subscales. Validity data for the four DSN subscales are reported here along with personality correlates of nonviolent dispositions. The DSN is now a psychometrically sound instrument ready for research on nonviolence. Results from several data sets are examined to appraise the interrelationships among the four levels of nonviolence. Preliminary results point to strong links between intrapersonal and interpersonal nonviolence and between societal and world nonviolence and a general hierarchical consistency across the four levels of nonviolence.
Interactions Between Autistic Individuals and Law Enforcement: a Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study

A significant number of individuals are being diagnosed with autism in the United States. Autism characteristics have direct implications for how law enforcement officers conduct investigations, make arrests, and respond to the physical and mental needs of autistic individuals. Despite these implications, little is known about what kinds of interactions law enforcement has with autistic individuals and the characteristics of such interactions. The present research is a mixed-methods approach to analyzing media reports involving law enforcement and autistic individuals/autism to uncover what interactions law enforcement has with autistic persons and the characteristics of such interactions. Findings have direct implications for law enforcement media relations and policy.
Logical Effort Framework for CNFET-Based VLSI Circuits for Delay and Area Optimization

Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNFETs) show great potential to build digital systems on advanced technology nodes with big benefits in terms of power, performance, and area (PPA). However, CNFET-specific additional features such as the number of tubes, pitch (spacing between tubes), tube position, and diameter in array of tubes play a significant role in accurate PPA evaluation. Furthermore, count and density variations in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) due to manufacturing limitations, like the presence of metallic tubes in the CNFET channel, degrade the anticipated PPA benefits. Moreover, modeling the CNFET parameters, CNT variations and etching techniques for CNTs create additional complexity during performance optimization. Hence, for realistic optimization of CNFET circuit’s performance, it is imperative to incorporate the impact of these parameters and variations. In this paper, we propose delay models [pitch-aware logical effort (PALE) and position-aware pitch factor (PAPF)] for fast and accurate performance evaluation by including the impact due to CNFET-specific parameters and CNT variations. These models are developed based on industry standard logical effort framework. Furthermore, we present an optimization tool using PALE and PAPF to minimize the delay and area of CNFET circuits. We deploy several circuit-level techniques prior to optimizing the tubes (CNTs) in the logic gates to achieve globally optimum solution. For better optimization of the circuits, we also include the impact of wire parasitic in estimating the delay of the individual gates. Our optimization tool results in the maximum and average delay improvement by 27% and 17%, respectively, and $2.5\times $ reduction in area for standard ISCAS and OpenSPARC benchmark circuits. Fast and fairly accurate delay computation in our optimization framework offers great runtime benefits as compared to state-of-the-art simulation and statistical-based methods.
Minimally invasive interval cytoreductive surgery: it’s time for a randomized trial

The role of minimally invasive surgery in the management of epithelial ovarian cancer has expanded remarkably in the last two decades. From an era when experts cautioned against the use of laparoscopy in all cases of suspected ovarian cancer,[1][1] we have arrived at a period where National
Petrophysical properties of the Green Canyon Block 955 hydrate reservoir inferred from reconstituted sediments: Implications for hydrate formation and production

We explore the petrophysical behavior of the two interbedded lithofacies (sandy silt and clayey silt) that constitute the Green Canyon Block 955 hydrate reservoir in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico by performing experiments on reconstituted samples of the reservoir material. Sandy silts reconstituted to the in situ porosity have a permeability of 11.8 md (1.18 × 10−14 m2), which is similar to the intrinsic permeabilities measured in intact cores from hydrate reservoirs of similar grain size offshore Japan (Nankai Trough) and offshore India. Reconstituted clayey silts have a much lower intrinsic permeability of 3.84 × 10−4 md (3.84 × 10−19 m2) at the in situ stress. The reconstituted sandy silt is less compressible than the clayey silt. Mercury injection capillary pressure measurements demonstrate that the largest pores with the clayey silt are still smaller than the pores remaining after 90% hydrate saturation in sandy silt. We interpret that the methane solubility in pores of clayey silt is always less than that necessary to form hydrate, which explains why no hydrate is present in the clayey silt. We upscale the reservoir properties to estimate the behavior of interbedded sandy silt and clayey silt. We find the upscaled intrinsic horizontal and vertical permeabilities for the entire reservoir interval are 8.6 md (8.6 × 10−15 m2) and 1.4 × 10−3 md (1.4 × 10−18 m2). We estimate that during reservoir production, a maximum vertical strain of approximately 12% will result. Ultimately, this study will inform reservoir simulation models with petrophysical properties at scales of both individual lithofacies and reservoir formation.
An overview of ceramic molds for investment casting of nickel superalloys

Abstract Accelerating advancements in technological systems have demonstrated a need for alloys with drastically improved thermomechanical and chemical properties, called superalloys. Ceramic molds are typically used in near-net shape investment casting processes of superalloy components due to their chemical inertness and high-temperature capabilities. Ceramic molds, however, often suffer from shortcomings in vital properties including flexural strength, thermal shock resistance, permeability, dimensional stability, corrosion resistance, and leachability, which have restricted their ability to adequately process modern alloy castings. This study analyses these limitations and illustrates how to address them, particularly regarding ceramic mold and slurry design, processing of shells and cores, material selection, and testing and characterization. By utilizing advanced processing methods including additive manufacturing and gel-casting, more dimensionally accurate and preferentially built molds can be formed. Additionally, by varying the mold composition to achieve more chemically inert structures, reactions with the mold can be mitigated to reduce chemically induced defects.
DodgeTron: Towards Autonomous Cyber Deception Using Dynamic Hybrid Analysis of Malware

With the advancement of technology, all our valuable and sensitive information has now moved into digital formats. Adversary utilizes malware as a medium to steal our information for their benefits. Active Cyber Deception (ACD) has emerged prominently to defend a computer system by making the attackers think it is not worth attacking or by presenting falsified data to the attackers, making them believe they achieved their purpose. As the malware is the medium between our systems and adversaries, comprehensive malware analysis is required to find out the ways to present falsified data to mislead the attackers. Nevertheless, developing an active cyber deception with the guidance of comprehensive malware analysis requires human intelligence, effort and insight to characterize the attack behaviors. In this paper, we present DodgeTron, an autonomous cyber deception approach, which performs comprehensive malware behavioral analysis and creates deception schemes automatically by extracting deception parameters that are leveraged by attackers to discover target systems and reach their goal. Thus our approach protects users’ by altering these deception parameters to feed false information to the adversaries and corrupt their decisions making automatically without human effort. To make our approach efficient and scalable to deal with a large number of malware samples created per day, we employ machine-learning-based malware classification to reduce the number of malware samples that require an in-depth analysis. We conducted comprehensive evaluations on DodgeTron with recent malware and confirmed its accuracy of 91.18% on average with l.lx to 2. 8x analysis time optimization to achieve deception.
Congress's Power to Constrain Presidential Withdrawal from International Agreements: A Working Paper

This working paper aims to assess the tools available to Congress to restrict or constrain the President’s capacity to withdraw from international agreements. Many assume that Congress has little or no power to restrict withdrawal from treaties and, in practice, that has proven largely true. But this paper tries to explore more fully whether there any ways in which Congress can act — either in advance or in the moment — to restrict, slow, or even stop withdrawal. The paper is organized according to the ways in which the United States makes international commitments: (1) Article II Treaties; (2) Congressional-Executive Agreements; (3) Sole Executive Agreements; and (4) Non-Binding Commitments (which are not, technically speaking international agreements, but nonetheless are worthy of consideration given their growing prominence in the U.S. diplomatic sphere). The paper briefly assesses each in turn.
Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging of Löffler endocarditis: a case report.

Background Loffler endocarditis is a condition characterized by cardiac infiltration of eosinophils. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a modality for the diagnosis of myocardial damage. Case summary This is the case of a 77-year-old man with acute decompensated heart failure who was admitted. Transthoracic echocardiography showed preserved left ventricular (LV) systolic function along with LV thrombi attached to the septo-apical wall and the posterior wall, consistent with Loffler endocarditis. Cardiac MRI revealed obliteration of the LV apex and partial filling of the LV cavity, as well as near circumferential subendocardial late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in the mid- and apical segments. T2-weighted images showed a near circumferential high-intensity area of the LV subendocardial muscle in the mid- and apical segments. High-dose corticosteroids and intravenous heparin were initiated, followed by maintenance warfarin therapy. At 18 months, follow-up cardiac MRI revealed the disappearance of the LV thrombi, and a reduction of LGE, as well as high-intensity areas in the T2-weighted images. Discussion The high-intensity area of T2-weighted images indicate the presence of subendocardial oedema. Eosinophil-mediated heart damage evolves through three stages: (i) acute necrotic, (ii) thrombotic, and (iii) fibrotic stages. Since the deposition of toxic eosinophil granule proteins and eosinophil infiltration injured the endocardium, the first-line treatment for Loffler endocarditis is corticosteroid therapy. In this case, LGE in the subendocardium and the high-intensity area in the T2-weighted images were reduced at 18 months. High-intensity areas of T2-weighted images in the acute phase might indicate the possibility of therapeutic response to corticosteroid therapy.
The Discount Rate for Public Policy Over the Distant Future

The choice of discount rate has a significant impact on net benefit estimates when costs today have benefits over long time horizons. Standard U.S. government practice for cost–benefit analysis is to bound such analysis using two alternative rates. These rates are meant to represent the rate of return paid by capital investment and the rate received by consumers. Previous work has shown this approach legitimately bounds the analysis—but only when future benefits accrue directly to consumers either in a two-period model or as a perpetuity. We generalize to consider arbitrary patterns of future benefits, accruing either directly to consumers or indirectly through future investment. We derive an expression for the appropriate discount rate and show that it converges to the consumption rate for benefits increasingly far into the future. More generally, the bounding rates depend on the temporal pattern of the undiscounted dollars. As an application, we estimate the appropriate discount rate for climate change damages from carbon dioxide, finding it lies in a narrow range (+/- 0.5 percent) around the consumer rate of interest.
100 years of sea lampreys above Niagara Falls: A reflection on what happened and what we learned

Abstract In the one hundred years since sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) were discovered in Lake Erie, the species completed its invasion throughout the Great Lakes basin, contributed to the downfall of the commercial fishing industry, and served as a catalyst for the development of the collaborative fishery management regime that exists today. The sea lamprey invasion simultaneously caused wide-spread devastation while giving rise to a collective realization that the health of the Great Lakes would require ongoing cooperation among governments, scientists, and users of the resource. Since its inception, the effort to control sea lampreys in the Great Lakes has been defined by a “shoot for the moon” mentality. The desperation of communities directly harmed by the sea lamprey invasion, coupled with the determination and unyielding commitment to science by those tasked with addressing the problem, led to the formation of the only reported successful aquatic vertebrate invasive species control program at an ecosystem scale.
Rebooting the ambulatory enterprise in a community medical group in Kentucky following the initial surge of COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has intensified globally since its origin in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Many medical groups across the United States have experienced extraordinary clinical and financial pressures due to COVID-19 as a result of a decline in elective inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and most nonurgent elective physician visits. The current study reports how our medical group in a metropolitan community in Kentucky rebooted our ambulatory and inpatient services following the guidance of our state's phased reopening. Particular attention focused on the transition between the initial COVID-19 surge and post-COVID-19 surge and how our medical group responded to meet community needs. Ten strategies were incorporated in our medical group, including heightened communication; ambulatory telehealth; safe and clean outpatient environment; marketing; physician, other medical provider, and staff compensation; high quality patient experience; schedule optimization; rescheduling tactics; data management; and primary care versus specialty approaches. These methods are applicable to both the current rebooting stage as well as to a potential resurgence of COVID-19 in the future.
Calmodulin and protein phosphorylation: implications in brain ischemia.

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the evidence that calcium is involved in ischemic cell injury. The chapter discusses the role of calmodulin and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase in various aspects of brain metabolism and physiology. The possible effects of ischemia and a disordered calcium homeostasis on calmodulin-sensitive biochemical systems are discussed. The discovery of calmodulin and its subsequent recognition as a ubiquitous and versatile calcium-dependent regulator protein has dramatically altered the understanding of calcium's molecular mechanisms of action in various tissues and organisms. Results show specifically implicated brain calcium-calmodulin protein kinase system in regulating some of calcium's effects on synaptic function and microtubule dynamics. The chapter describes that calcium-calmodulin dependent protein phosphorylation provides an important mechanism for regulating neuronal activity in the brain. The possible effects of ischemia on calmodulin kinase activity and the function and state of phosphorylation of its endogenous substrates are then discussed. It has been described that calmodulin-dependent protein kinase activity may be susceptible to inactivation in vivo during cerebral ischemia. However, further studies are necessary to determine the exact role of calmodulin-dependent kinase in ischemia.
Constitutionalism and Governance in Africa

Colonialism was a mercantile pact, designed to enhance the ability of Europeans to subjugate Africans and exploit the latter’s enormous resources for the benefit of the former. As a consequence, the laws and institutions brought to the African colonies by the Europeans were not structured to enhance the ability of Africans to govern themselves or allocate their resources in an efficient and equitable manner. Colonial institutional arrangements were imposed on the Africans primarily to maximize the objectives of the Europeans in the colonies and the metropole.
Tunable surface acoustic wave device based on acoustoelectric interaction in ZnO/GaN heterostructures

A tunable surface acoustic wave (SAW) device is developed on a multilayer structure which consists of an n-type semiconductor ZnO layer and a Ni-doped piezoelectric ZnO layer deposited on a GaN/c-Al2O3 substrate. The unique acoustic dispersion relationship between ZnO and GaN generates the multi-mode SAW response in this structure, facilitating high frequency operation. A dc bias voltage is applied to a Ti/Au gate layer deposited on the path of SAW delay line to modulate the electrical conductivity for tuning the acoustic velocity. For devices operating at 1.25 GHz, a maximum SAW velocity change of 0.9% is achieved, equivalent to the frequency change of 11.2 MHz. This voltage-controlled frequency tuning device has potential applications in resettable sensors, adaptive signal processing, and secure wireless communication.
PRO AND VERB MOVEMENT IN ARABIC SYNTAX

This paper aims at investigating the properties of pro or the null subject in Arabic syntax. Pro features were investigated practically and theoretically and then, a new mechanism was proposed to derive pro, as well as regular subject, in all Arabic structures. In this mechanism the verb moves to [Spec, T] to check the regular subject features. To indicate the identity of pro in certain structures, the verb moves another time to [Spec, AGR].
It Only Seems as if Zombies are Logically Possible, or How Consciousness Hides the Truth of Materialism: A Critical Review of The Conscious Mind

When Charles Darwin died in April 1882, he left behind a world changed forever. Because of his writings, most notably, of course, The Origin of Species, by 1882, evolution was an almost universally acknowledged fact. What remained in dispute, however, was how evolution occurred. So, because of Darwin’s work, everyone accepted that new species emerge over time, yet few agreed with him that it was natural selection that powered the change, as Darwin hypothesized. Chalmers’s book, The Conscious Mind, reminds me of The Origin of Species. I have talked to many people about The Conscious Mind and watched many philosophy students read it, and, after they are done, they all take consciousness more seriously than they did before, and they are all struck by its deep mystery, yet few accept Chalmers’s specific theory of consciousness and his explanation of its odd nature. Chalmers has written an exciting and fascinating book. And I, for one, hope that, because of it, consciousness in all its paradoxical glory will once more hold center stage in a robust philosophy of mind and metaphysics. The book is good enough that this is a reasonable hope. However, I fear that the analogy with Darwin’s book will not be sustained. The theory of natural selection unveiled in The Origin of Species was eventually vindicated, and, nowadays, we regard Darwin’s theory of natural selection as largely correct. But I doubt that the same fate awaits Chalmers’s positive theory of consciousness. So, while Chalmers’s book will be a source of great philosophy and provoke dozens of papers, I think at the end of the day his contribution will be to have shown us the problem of consciousness in all its profundity, yet consciousness will remain an unsolved problem.
Inhibition and Chemical Modifications of Human Erythrocyte Carbonic Anhydrase B

Abstract Specific chemical modification studies were carried out in an attempt to characterize the "active site" of carbonic anhydrase with regard to its catalytic properties, the binding of inhibitors (anions and sulfonamides), and the binding and role of the zinc atom. Enzymatic activity was determined by catalytic hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate. The CO2-hydrating activity was also determined in some experiments, and it paralleled the activity determined from the esterase assays. Amidination of all the lysyl residues of the enzyme with methyl acetimidate hydrochloride caused no loss of activity. Hence, a lysine residue is not involved in any critical function at the active site. Bromoacetate and iodoacetamide both inactivate the enzyme by reaction at the 3'-imidazole nitrogen of a histidine residue. By measuring enzymatic activity immediately after addition of these reagents, both were found to be reversible inhibitors of enzymatic activity. Furthermore, the rate of inactivation is directly proportional to the fraction of the enzyme which is reversibly inhibited by these reagents. Other inhibitors, chloride and sulfanilamide, compete with the binding of iodoacetamide and competitively protect the enzyme against inactivation. The histidine (or histidines) must be located near the inhibitor-binding site and react with these reagents while they are bound there. The zinc atom may be removed from the native enzyme and replaced by cobalt to regenerate an active enzyme (Co(II)-enzyme). Inactivation of Co(II)-enzyme is similar to that of the native enzyme. The rate of inactivation of the apoenzyme (as measured in terms of activity after adding back zinc or cobalt) by iodoacetamide is about the same as with native or Co(II)-enzyme, but the rate with bromoacetate is only 1 to 2% of its rate with native or Co(II)-enzyme. In addition, chloride does not protect the apoenzyme against inactivation by iodoacetamide. Hence, the metal atom seems to be involved in the binding of anionic inhibitors. Inactivation by these reagents is incomplete, and evidence is presented which suggests that the residual activity is a function of the modified enzyme. The residual activity after reaction of the native enzyme with iodoacetamide is about 16% of that of the native enzyme at pH 7.4. After reaction with bromoacetate, it amounts to about 4% at pH 7.5 and 15% at pH 9.6. Chloroacetamide also acts as a reversible inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase, but it does not inactivate the enzyme. 2,4-Dinitrofluorobenzene does not appear to be a reversible inhibitor, but it can inactivate the native, apo-, and Co(II)-enzymes by reacting only with 1 to 2 residues of histidine. A strong sulfonamide inhibitor, acetazolamide, does not completely protect against inactivation.
Optimization Models for Cancer Treatment Planning

Operations research techniques have been significantly utilized in the practice of cancer treatment planning in order to deliver more efficient and precise treatments to patients. This article is designed to introduce recent advances in the treatment planning optimization for external radiation therapy, internal radiation therapy (brachytherapy), and chemotherapy. The main focus will be on gamma knife radiosurgery, conventional three-dimensional radiotherapy (3DCRT), intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and proton therapy. Problem formulations and optimization models for each treatment type are discussed. Keywords: optimization; cancer treatment planning; radiation therapy
Single-mode behavior of AlSb1-xAsx alloys.

Raman scattering is used to characterize the long-wavelength optical-mode behavior of ${\mathrm{AlSb}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{As}}_{\mathit{x}}$ alloys grown by molecular-beam epitaxy, for a variety of As mole fractions. Single LO and TO modes are observed for 0\ensuremath{\le}x\ensuremath{\le}1, at frequencies depending on the As concentration. This behavior is characteristic of single-mode alloys. The single-mode behavior of ${\mathrm{AlSb}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{As}}_{\mathit{x}}$ disagrees with theoretical predictions, and calls for a review of the theory of optical modes in ${\mathit{AB}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$${\mathit{C}}_{\mathit{x}}$ crystals.
What you don't see can hurt you: adventures using library-provided data structures

Language provided data structures incur overhead when used. This paper reports the results of running black-box tests on two such data structures. The paper also discusses classroom activities centered around the tests and their results.
4. THE GADAMERIAN APPROACH TO THE RELATION BETWEEN EXPERIENCE AND LANGUAGE

Narrativism as a theory of historical depiction intuitively opens the question: what is left of reality when it is poured through the filter of language structures? And, extended a little bit further, questions arise: What is responsible for the final shape of a historical depiction? Is it experience or language? What is affecting what? Narrativism typically accuses language units of transforming experience in a specific way. However, even in asking these questions, the problem of the separation of experience from language and language from experience remains. In this article, I address this issue using Gadamer's hermeneutical frame. Wherever philosophical tradition insists on the separation of certain positions, Gadamer tries to show their ontological connections. For Gadamer, understanding is a basic ontological structure, within which both sides of a dialogue affect and constitute each other. In Gadamerian hermeneutical ontology, there is no “starting point” or first responsible position. In the understanding, dialogue has the permanently moving character of a play, where separate positions are erased. This Gadamerian view can also be applied to the question of language and experience and their mutual connection in depicting any experience via language. In Gadamer's example of the work of art, the original subject matter (Urbild) is articulated through its depiction. The subject matter dictates possible ways of depicting, which in turn dictate the final shape of depiction. In this article, I discuss Gadamer's term “articulation of the world,” by which he means a function of language. Articulation is simply a transformation of shapeless matter into a shape, and in our case it is a transformation of an experience into a language depiction. I show that the Gadamerian approach to language and experience can offer an interesting perspective on the issues discussed in reaction to narrativist philosophy of history.
Design of an ultra high vacuum compatible copper septum magnet

An Ultra High Vacuum compatible thin copper septum magnet has been developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The solid core, single turn magnet is pulsed at 1500 amps and has a field of 0.6 KG. The 0.76 mm thick copper septum is water-cooled and is designed to run at a maximum power of 2 KW. A remote positioning system is used to optimize the septum position during various extracted beams. The cross section of the septum magnet was modeled and 2-dimensional magnetic field calculations were performed to compute the magnetic field uniformity in the main field region and in the field strength in the fringe field region. The calculated field uniformity as well as comparison of the calculated fields in the fringe field region with the measured fields in the same region will be presented. The design and construction techniques used to fabricate this magnet will also be described.
Oxidation of reduced triphosphopyridine nucleotide by submitochondrial particles from beef heart.

Abstract Submitochondrial particles prepared from beef heart are capable of oxidizing TPNH, in the absence of added DPN, at a rate of approximately 50 nmoles/min × mg protein at 30°. TPNH oxidation by these particles occurs through the respiratory chain as evidenced from TPNH-induced reduction of the cytochromes and the inhibitory effects of rotenone, piericidin A, amytal, antimycin A and cyanide. The latter studies have indicated that the site of TPNH interaction with the respiratory chain is on the substrate side of the rotenone-piericidin block and close to that of DPNH.
Performance of various aluminoxane activators in ethylene tetramerization based on PNP/Cr(III) catalyst system

Abstract Ethylene tetramerization with PNP/Cr(III)/aluminoxanes was investigated. By comparing catalytic activity, selectivity to 1-octene and selectivity to methylenecyclopentane in ethylene tetramers, the effects of various aluminoxanes on ethylene tetramerization were discussed. The results showed that MMAO(TMA-depleted), MAO and EAO were all effective cocatalyst for ethylene tetramerization toward 1-octene. PNP/Cr(III)/MMAO catalytic systems afford the highest catalytic activity and the highest selectivity to 1-octene. The selectivities to methylenecyclopentane was decreased by using i-BAO and EAO as cocatalyst, which indicated that different mechanism for ethylene tetramerization has been occurred in such cases.
Uses of Edolan U in Museum Preparation and Conservation of Zoological Material

Taxidermists at the California Academy of Sciences found that the aromatic sulphonamide derivative, Edolan U, protected bird and mammal skins from attack by clothes moths and dermestid beetles, with advantages over arsenic or borax. The article details methods of application to skins during preparation and to those already mounted. It describes preliminary work on methods for applying the treatment to mounted insects. An iliustration suggests its use in protecting ethnological specimens from insect attack. Properties of Edolan U and precautions in its use are noted.
Correction of bleaching artifacts in high content fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (HCS-FCS) data

ABSTRACT We developed an automated approach to Fluorescence Cross -Correlation Spectroscopy (FCCS) to screen for molecular interactions in living cells (HCS -FCS). Similar to manual measurements , we had to address the effects of measurement artifacts. In this paper we use d wavelet shrinking to correct for bleaching artifacts. Wit hout correction, bleaching of both dyes used for cross-correlation measurements result ed in a cross-correlation signal indicating mol ecular interaction even if there was no interaction present in the sample. We used simulations to develop our new method. To evaluate our new approach in vivo we used two control strains in S. cerevisiae . The negative control contained the non -interacting fluorescence proteins eGFP and mCherry. As the positive control we used a tandem of these two proteins. We measured more than 2500 individual cells and demonstrated that we could reduce the erroneous cross-correlation signal of the negative control from 69% to 4% compared to the cross-correlation signal of the positive control in the mCherry channel and from 24% to 5% for the eGFP channel . Keywords: Fluorescence Correlation Spectros copy (FCS), Fluorescence Cross-Correlation Spectroscopy (FCCS), Wavelet, Bleaching , High-Content Screening , Machine Learning .
Spontaneous rupture of a hydronephrotic kidney during pregnancy

Acute abdominal pain during pregnancy can be of urologic origin. Hydronephrosis of pregnancy can be complicated by symptomatic renal colic, pyelonephritis, and secondary renal abscess formation. In this report, rupture of a hydronephrotic kidney with retroperitoneal urinoma formation was treated by retroperitoneal drainage and internal ureteral until a term delivery was achieved. However, if severe renal hemorrhage accompanies renal rupture, surgical exploration of the kidney with partial or complete nephrectomy may be necessary.
Recurrence risks in schizophrenia: are they model dependent?

A trait such as schizophrenia, for which there is evidence of a strong genetic component but no fit to simple Mendelian modes of inheritance, presents several problems to the genetic counselor. Counseling with average empirical figures ignores specific family history and the possibility of genetic heterogeneity, yet precise estimates of risk are not possible since the mode of inheritance is not known. Two other complicating factors are present: (1) adoption studies suggest that a schizophrenia spectrum of phenotypes with a common genetic basis may exist, and (2) analysis of the family data on schizophrenia has shown almost equivalent fit to extremely different genetic models, i.e., the single-major-locus (SML) and the multifactorial-polygenic (MFP) models. Using two solutions to the SML model and a single MFP solution, we have incorporated thresholds for two milder “spectrum” phenotypes, borderline schizophrenia and schizoid personality, and computed the recurrence risks predicted by these models in several hypothetical pedigrees. The results demonstrate that (1) recurrence risks for schizophrenia are frequently model dependent even when those models fit the available data equally well, (2) when a schizophrenia spectrum is assumed it is extremely important to make precise diagnoses in relatives close to the individual at risk, and (3) collection of a more complete family history may appreciably alter the computed recurrence risk. These findings illustrate the inadequacies of current empirical data for genetic counseling for schizophrenia.