cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Forecasting US employment growth using forecast combining methods

We examine different approaches to forecasting monthly US employment growth in the presence of many potentially relevant predictors. We first generate simulated out-of-sample forecasts of US employment growth at multiple horizons using individual autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models based on 30 potential predictors. We then consider different methods from the extant literature for combining the forecasts generated by the individual ARDL models. Using the mean square forecast error (MSFE) metric, we investigate the performance of the forecast combining methods over the last decade, as well as five periods centered on the last five US recessions. Overall, our results show that a number of combining methods outperform a benchmark autoregressive model. Combining methods based on principal components exhibit the best overall performance, while methods based on simple averaging, clusters, and discount MSFE also perform well. On a cautionary note, some combining methods, such as those based on ordinary least squares, often perform quite poorly. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors: a promising novel targeted treatment for B cell lymphomas

Constitutive or aberrant signalling of the B cell receptor signalling cascade has been implicated in the propagation and maintenance of a variety of B cell malignancies. Small molecule inhibitors of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK), a protein early in this cascade and specifically expressed in B cells, have emerged as a new class of targeted agents. There are several BTK inhibitors, including ONO-WG-307, LFM-A13, dasatinib, CC-292, and PCI-32765 (ibrutinib), in preclinical and/or clinical development of which ibrutinib is currently in phase III trials. Recent clinical data suggest significant activity of ibrutinib as a first in class oral inhibitor of BTK. This review provides an overview of ongoing clinical studies of BTK inhibitors.
A Temporary Monopolist: Taking Advantage of Information Transparency on the Web

Information displayed on an e-commerce site can be used not just by the intended customers but also by competitors. While retailers enhance service quality by linking inventory systems to Web servers and making stockout information available in real time, that stockout information could also be used by competitors in determining their prices on current stocks. In this paper, we examine the effect of such proactive use of information in the setting of e-commerce retailing where duopoly retailers set their prices of a commodity that is in short supply. We show that when customer reservation value is relatively high and retailers are differentiated in fill rate, both retailers choose the dynamic pricing strategy in equilibrium. By investing in Web scraping technology, retailers automatically monitor each other's stock status and dynamically adjust prices contingent on riyal's stock availability.
Optimization of klystron power conversion efficiency

Optimum power conversion efficiency in klystrons involves two factors: (1) electron bunching, for highest current conversion efficiency, and (2) minimum velocity spread, for optimum energy removal in the output gap. The merit figure, a new criterion involving both of these factors, is shown to give an excellent quantitative indication of klystron power conversion efficiency without the necessity of making a large signal output gap calculation.
Slow Movement of Earth under Tropical Rain Forest Conditions

Measurements of soil creep in El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico, indicate that the average rates of soil movement are greater than rates in other forested areas and generally are greater than in other locales. Also, the velocity distribution indicates two zones of maximum movement. This phenomenon is not explained by normal creep behavior. For the wet tropics, theory must include the roles of throughflow and the distribution, of plant roots, as well as the interaction between gravity and the individual expansion and contraction of soil particles.
Critical analysis of interactive media with software affordances

There is a long standing, and unsettled debate surrounding the ways that technology influences society. There is strong scholarship supporting the social construction perspective, arguing that the effects of technology are wholly socially and politically determined. This paper argues that the social constructivist position needs to be expanded if it can be useful for more than observing the ways technologies are designed and used. We need to develop better ways to talk about software, computer hardware, and networks, so that we can describe the social interpretations of these systems while accounting for their unique characteristics. We suggest using software affordances as a way to understand the semantics of software as interactive systems. Using Facebook privacy concerns as a case study, we argue that software affordances offer a useful lens for considering the social and political implications of interactive software systems, providing us more analytical tools to interpret, and not just describe, new technologies.
Secondary Degeneration of the Substantia Nigra and Corticospinal Tract after Hemorrhagic Middle Cerebral Artery Infarction: Diffusion-weighted MR Findings

Middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction involving the striatum can cause secondary degeneration of the substantia nigra and corticospinal tract. We present a patient with subacute hemorrhagic MCA infarction in whom diffusion-weighted MR images showed high signal intensity in the ipsilateral substantia nigra and corticospinal tract. A corresponding apparent diffusion coefficient map revealed a uniformly decreased signal in the same area. This represents secondary degeneration and should not be mistaken for other pathological conditions, such as a new infarction.
Technologized Communications as Artifact/Discourse/Relation: The Case of the Technological City

An ontological view of technologized communications supports critical analysis of broadly defined instrumental activities that include not only traditionally recognized media tools and products but also activity systems, operational sequences, and social arrangements. A triadic perspective integrates material (physical-artifactual) and discursive (sociocultural) dimensions, with attention to relational (mutual-personal) practices that underlie technology use and communication. The triadic field is the time-space in which artifacts are administered, meanings circulate, and human relations emerge. Modern and postmodern cities provide an illustration of this broad conception of technologized communications. Concluding discussion considers how technological “enframing” of experience can be offset by participatory openness supported by technologized communications. The emergence of human identity through technologized communications is presented as a focal value.
Does the glory have a simple explanation

The explanation for the meteorological glory provided by the complex angular momentum theory is revisited in response to comments that a simpler physical picture would be desirable. New results that confirm the tunneling origin of the glory and the roles of resonances and surface waves in this phenomenon are presented, and expressions for averaged angular distribution and polarization features are given.
Evolution of a semicircular flux rope with two ends anchored in the photosphere

[1] We investigated a coronal magnetic configuration including a semicircular flux rope with two ends anchored in the photosphere. The background field is produced by two source regions on the photosphere. We study the evolution of this configuration in response to the gradual change in the background field, which is modeled by varying either the strength of the source or the distance between the source regions on the photosphere. Our results indicate that the evolution due to the change in source strength shows the likelihood of catastrophic loss of equilibrium, and that the evolution due to the change in the distance is smooth and does not manifest any tendency to lose equilibrium. In the former case, the current sheet starts developing fairly early; it forms even before the evolution reaches the maximum current state. We notice that the effect of the curvature of flux rope on the evolution of the system is significant, such that the equilibrium curve does not form a cusp-catastrophic structure but a simple fold-catastrophic structure even if the evolution is ideal MHD and a current sheet attached to the boundary surface occurs. The curvature strengthens the magnetic compression between the flux rope and the photosphere and makes the loss of equilibrium easier. However, the question of how the system behaves after the loss of equilibrium is still open since the flux rope is not likely to remain semicircular at the stage of fast evolution.
The fear of unseen predators: ground squirrel tail flagging in the absence of snakes signals vigilance

Rather than fleeing from predators, many animals exhibit conspicuous displays that are thought to deter attacks by advertising quality (physical capabilities), or awareness of the predator. However, prey commonly exhibit the same antipredator display when predators are absent. Signaling in this context could either dishonestly indicate predator detection, or honestly indicate vigilance, but no study has tested these hypotheses experimentally. We tested the vigilance advertisement function of tail flagging, a signal given by California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) to rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus), by simulating snake strikes and quantifying strike avoidance behaviors in signaling and non-signaling squirrels. We removed the effect of snake presence on signaling by simulating strikes 1) in the presence of a rattlesnake, 2) with no snake present, or 3) in an area where squirrels had recently encountered a snake that was no longer present. Squirrels tail flagged most when interacting with a snake. Squirrels also signaled in areas of recent snake encounters, and in this context, they responded faster to simulated strikes and were more likely to leap vertically or horizontally away from the attack. Tail flagging rate was also related to squirrels’ body displacement time and flee modality. Squirrels rarely signaled or exhibited evasive leaping with no snake present. These results indicate that displays in the absence of predators can honestly signal vigilance, or the readiness to avoid an attack, even if predators are undetected. Such antipredator displays may be widespread as many species could benefit from advertising alertness when uncertain of the location of predators.
Research on switching property of an oxide/copper sulfide hybrid memory

Resistive random access memory (ReRAM) has drawn lots of attention for nonvolatile memories. Among various resistive switching materials and phenomena, solid state electrolytes, such as copper sulfide and Ag-Ge-Se devices, show interesting properties for memory or logic application. But too small turn on voltage (Vset is below 0.3 V) could be positive in point of power consumption but should be improved considering disturbance by other signals and Vset variation for stable read operation. So we report a novel double layered hybrid structure composed of a copper sulfide layer and a thin oxide (CuxO and SiO2). Switching mechanism of these devices could be the formation and rupture of conductive copper bridge. CuxS/SiO2 device exhibits large on/off ratio over 107 at -0.2 Vread and multi-level possibility through strong dependence of on-state resistance on programming current. In addition, Vset was improved to be about 1V and off-state resistance was increased up to G?.
A high performance implementation of an OAI-based federation service

As the number of OAI-PMH compliant digital libraries are growing, we are encountering significant performance bottlenecks. Our earlier experience of implementing the searching and indexing for Arc (X. Liu et al., 2001) on a single processor utilizing the standard database technology like Oracle does not scale. In this paper, we describe how the cluster of PCs can be used to improve indexing and searching performance for an OAI based federation service. For supporting parallel indexing and searching, we use the Lucene search engine. We evaluated our architecture on a total number of 10 million harvested records on a Sun cluster. We compare the performance of the new implementation with the existing single processor implementation that uses Oracle 9i as the underlying database for searching and indexing. We demonstrate significant performance gain over the single processor implementation.
Site-Specific MicroRNA-92a Regulation of Krüppel-Like Factors 4 and 2 in Atherosusceptible Endothelium

Objective— Endothelial transcription factors Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) and KLF2 are implicated in protection against atherogenesis. Steady-state microRNA (miR) regulation of KLFs in vivo is accessible by screening region-specific endothelial miRs and their targets. Methods and Results— A subset of differentially expressed endothelial miRs was identified in atherosusceptible versus protected regions of normal swine aorta. In silico analyses predicted highly conserved binding sites in the 3′-untranslated region (3′UTR) of KLF4 for 5 miRs of the subset (miR-26a, -26b, -29a, -92a, and -103) and a single binding site for a miR-92a complex in the 3′UTR of KLF2. Of these, only miR-92a knockdown and knock-in resulted in responses of KLF4 and KLF2 expression in human arterial endothelial cells. Dual luciferase reporter assays demonstrated functional interactions of miR-92a with full-length 3′UTR sequences of both KLFs and with the specific binding elements therein. Two evolutionarily conserved miR-92a sites in KLF4 3′UTR and 1 site in KLF2 3′UTR were functionally validated. Knockdown of miR-92a in vitro resulted in partial rescue from cytokine-induced proinflammatory marker expression (monocyte chemotactic protein 1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, E-selectin, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase) that was attributable to enhanced KLF4 expression. Leukocyte-human arterial endothelial cell adhesion experiments supported this conclusion. In swine aortic arch endothelium, a site of atherosusceptibility where miR-92a expression was elevated, both KLFs were expressed at low levels relative to protected thoracic aorta. Conclusion— miR-92a coregulates KLF4 and KLF2 expression in arterial endothelium and contributes to phenotype heterogeneity associated with regional atherosusceptibility and protection in vivo.
A New Form of International Crime : The Human Organ Trade

This article is basically concerned with human organs — kidneys, hearts, livers, pancreases, corneas, etc. — from their illegal procurement and administration to implant surgery in illegal patients. We must assume that there must have been illegal organ trades. However, only in recent years has it become more apparent in the eyes of government and the medical establishment. Since the late 1960's, starting with Dr. Christian Barnard who successfully transplanted a heart in South Africa, organ transplantation is no longer viewed as mysterious or out‐of‐the‐ordinary. In a capitalistic society, the production, delivery, and receipt of goods and services for profit is critical to maintain the financial well being of the group. It is this ebb and flow of trade with other cities, states and countries that creates tremendous economic growth potential. At the core of this process is the fundamental yet innately complex relationship between the producer of goods and services and the consumer. The producer or mercha...
Comparative effects of verapamil and isradipine on steady-state digoxin kinetics.

The effects on the steady-state digoxin pharmacokinetics of verapamil (240 mg/day) and a new dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, isradipine (15 mg/day), were compared. Nineteen healthy white men, aged 23 to 40 years, ingested 0.25 mg digoxin tablets every 12 hours for two consecutive periods of 2 weeks. Each subject also received one of the calcium channel blockers during one of these periods, with agent and sequence randomized. Analyst-blind RIA serum digoxin determinations demonstrated that the nine subjects who received isradipine, 5 mg t.i.d., had a small increment in peak digoxin level from 2.3 +/- 0.6 to 2.9 +/- 0.7 ng/ml (p less than 0.05) but no significant change in steady-state level or AUC over 12 hours. By contrast, the 10 subjects who received verapamil, 80 mg t.i.d., showed significant increases in steady-state (0.9 +/- 0.1 to 1.3 +/- 0.2 ng/ml; p less than 0.001) and peak serum digoxin concentrations (2.5 +/- 0.7 to 3.6 +/- 0.8 ng/ml; p less than 0.001) and in AUC (15.7 +/- 1.7 to 23.6 +/- 2.9 ng . hr/ml; p less than 0.001). Neither calcium channel blocker reduced renal digoxin clearance. Verapamil increases digoxin levels without affecting renal clearance. Isradipine has no clinically important interaction with digoxin.
Metabolic adaptation to high-fat and high-carbohydrate diets in children and adolescents

Background Difficulty adapting to high-fat (HF) and high carbohydrate (HC) diets may predispose children to obesity and diabetes. Objective We tested the hypothesis that children have metabolic flexibility to adapt to HF and HC diets. Design In protocol 1, 12 children aged 6-9 y and 12 adolescents aged 13-16 y were randomly assigned in a crossover design to consume low-fat (LF), HC (25% and 60% of energy, respectively) or HF, low-carbohydrate (LC) (55% and 30% of energy, respectively) diets. In protocol 2, 12 adolescents aged 13-16 y were randomly assigned in a crossover design to consume an LF-HC diet with 11% or 40% of carbohydrate as fructose. Total energy expenditure, nonprotein respiratory quotients (NPRQs), and substrate utilization were measured by using 24-h calorimetry. Effects of sex, puberty, body fat (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), intraabdominal fat (magnetic resonance imaging), and fitness on substrate utilization were tested. Results Substrate utilization was not affected by puberty, body fat, intraabdominal fat, or fitness. Total energy expenditure was not affected by diet. In protocol 1, NPRQs and carbohydrate and fat utilization were significantly affected by diet (P = 0.001) and sex (P = 0.005). NPRQs and carbohydrate utilization increased with the LF-HC diet. NPRQs decreased and fat utilization increased with the HF-LC diet; changes in substrate utilization were less pronounced in females than in males. In protocol 2, 24-h NPRQs and 24-h substrate utilization were not significantly affected by fructose, although net carbohydrate and fat utilization were significantly lower and higher, respectively, with the high-fructose diet during fasting (P = 0.01) and in the subsequent feeding period (P = 0.05). Conclusion Healthy, nonobese children and adolescents adapt appropriately to HF and HC diets.
The Prospector and Economic Rent

THE CASE FOR APPROPRIATION by government of all or most of the annual rental value of land and natural resources is so strong that refusal to accept it seems hardly to be accounted for otherwise than from failure to understand it. Many of the misconceptions of it which tend to prevent acceptance I have sought to analyze in various books and articles previously published. But perhaps not all of the misconceptions have been analyzed with sufficient clarity and fullness. Occasionally someone objects to the appropriation-or very heavy taxation-of the royalties from such subsoil deposits as gold, silver, copper, coal and oil, on the basis that such a policy would deprive the prospector of an adequate return. This objection may not be sound, but it ought certainly to be given careful consideration.
“Doing” and “Undoing” Gender: The Meaning and Division of Housework in Same-Sex Couples

Research on same-sex couples and housework can add nuance to our understanding of gender and housework. This analytic review highlights what can be gained from research on same-sex couples and housework. Specifically, this review reveals how same-sex couples both “do” and “undo” gender through housework. It illustrates how partners in same-sex couples are influenced by heteronormative meaning systems surrounding housework, yet it also points to ways housework can be redefined in the context of same-sex couples. For example, same-sex couples who enact arrangements with more specialized divisions of labor tend to reject the notion that their labor arrangements are imitative or derivative of those of heterosexual couples. Instead, they interpret their arrangements as pragmatic and chosen, as well as uniquely defined by the fact that they are enacted in a same-sex relational context. This review also underscores the need to attend to the social and temporal contexts that shape how same-sex couples give meaning to and enact housework. Finally, this review challenges us to think beyond simplistic classification systems of housework as feminine or masculine, or as gendered or nongendered, and, likewise, to move beyond characterizations of same-sex couples as either “doing” or “undoing” gender.
Spatial Anisotropies and Temporal Fluctuations in Extracellular Matrix Network Texture during Early Embryogenesis

Early stages of vertebrate embryogenesis are characterized by a remarkable series of shape changes. The resulting morphological complexity is driven by molecular, cellular, and tissue-scale biophysical alterations. Operating at the cellular level, extracellular matrix (ECM) networks facilitate cell motility. At the tissue level, ECM networks provide material properties required to accommodate the large-scale deformations and forces that shape amniote embryos. In other words, the primordial biomaterial from which reptilian, avian, and mammalian embryos are molded is a dynamic composite comprised of cells and ECM. Despite its central importance during early morphogenesis we know little about the intrinsic micrometer-scale surface properties of primordial ECM networks. Here we computed, using avian embryos, five textural properties of fluorescently tagged ECM networks — (a) inertia, (b) correlation, (c) uniformity, (d) homogeneity, and (e) entropy. We analyzed fibronectin and fibrillin-2 as examples of fibrous ECM constituents. Our quantitative data demonstrated differences in the surface texture between the fibronectin and fibrillin-2 network in Day 1 (gastrulating) embryos, with the fibronectin network being relatively coarse compared to the fibrillin-2 network. Stage-specific regional anisotropy in fibronectin texture was also discovered. Relatively smooth fibronectin texture was exhibited in medial regions adjoining the primitive streak (PS) compared with the fibronectin network investing the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM), at embryonic stage 5. However, the texture differences had changed by embryonic stage 6, with the LPM fibronectin network exhibiting a relatively smooth texture compared with the medial PS-oriented network. Our data identify, and partially characterize, stage-specific regional anisotropy of fibronectin texture within tissues of a warm-blooded embryo. The data suggest that changes in ECM textural properties reflect orderly time-dependent rearrangements of a primordial biomaterial. We conclude that the ECM microenvironment changes markedly in time and space during the most important period of amniote morphogenesis—as determined by fluctuating textural properties.
Nonlinearity in atmospheric response: A direct sensitivity analysis approach

[1] The decoupled direct method (DDM) is used for efficient and accurate calculation of the higher-order sensitivity coefficients in a regional photochemical air quality model with detailed chemical mechanism (Statewide Air Pollution Research Center (SAPRC-99)). High-order DDM (HDDM) is an extension to a previous implementation of DDM in three-dimensional air quality models (DDM-3D) that directly calculates the higher-order derivatives (with respect to one parameter, as well as cross derivatives) with similar computational efficiency as the first-order implementation and is also modified for better accuracy. (H)DDM results show very good agreement with brute force (finite difference) sensitivity coefficients for the first- and second-order derivatives, but the agreement deteriorates for higher-order coefficients. The nature of the truncation errors and other inaccuracies in the brute force approximations are explored. The difference between the first-order brute force and DDM derivatives is dominated (and largely explained) by the truncation errors as calculated from HDDM results. Taylor expansion is used for parametric scaling of the response with the use of sensitivity coefficients. Use of higher-order coefficients can significantly improve the accuracy of such projections. Finally, higher-order sensitivity coefficients of ozone with respect to NOx and volatile organic compound emissions (including cross derivatives) are used to create time- and location-dependent ozone isopleths.
Components of Portfolio Value of Information

Decision analysis is often employed in portfolio management. The portfolio management process consists primarily of valuation including uncertainty quantification or risk assessment and prioritization/selection, which are based on the results of valuation. In this paper, we quantify the relative value of these components using a value of information VOI framework. Specifically, we quantify the VOI that stems from the ability to better prioritize projects and the VOI that comes from the ability to exclude projects. We identify conditions under which prioritization is the primary value driver in portfolio settings.
Aberrant RNA homeostasis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: potential for new therapeutic targets?

SUMMARY Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive motor neuron degeneration. The disease pathogenesis is multifaceted in that multiple cellular and molecular pathways have been identified as contributors to the disease progression. Consequently, numerous therapeutic targets have been pursued for clinical development, unfortunately with little success. The recent discovery of mutations in RNA modulating genes such as TARDBP/TDP-43, FUS/TLS or C9ORF72 changed our understanding of neurodegenerative mechanisms in ALS and introduced the role of dysfunctional RNA processing as a significant contributor to disease pathogenesis. This article discusses the latest findings on such RNA toxicity pathways in ALS and potential novel therapeutic approaches.
Sampling for the sugarcane borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) on sugarcane in Louisiana.

A 3-yr study was conducted in 0.6- to 2.0-ha sugarcane fields throughout south Louisiana under varying sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), density levels to determine the spatial dispersion of infestations and to develop a sequential sampling plan. Infestations of D. saccharalis were randomly dispersed. Infestation levels (percentage of stalks infested) ranged from 0.6 to 33.3%. Frequency distributions of the number of infested stalks indicated that the Poisson distribution best fit the data. Tests of other distributions (negative binomial [aggregated], binomial [uniform], geometric, and hypergeometric) resulted in poorer fits. The sequential sampling plan devised, with lower and upper D. saccharalis infestation limits of 2 and 5% and 5 and 10%, required maximum average sample numbers of 7.1 and 5.5 (20-stalk samples), respectively, to make terminating management decisions. It is our assessment that implementation of these plans would decrease sampling effort by 50–60% when compared with sampling programs currently in use for D. saccharalis management decisions in Louisiana.
ClearTK 2.0: Design Patterns for Machine Learning in UIMA

ClearTK adds machine learning functionality to the UIMA framework, providing wrappers to popular machine learning libraries, a rich feature extraction library that works across different classifiers, and utilities for applying and evaluating machine learning models. Since its inception in 2008, ClearTK has evolved in response to feedback from developers and the community. This evolution has followed a number of important design principles including: conceptually simple annotator interfaces, readable pipeline descriptions, minimal collection readers, type system agnostic code, modules organized for ease of import, and assisting user comprehension of the complex UIMA framework.
Trends in American economic growth, 1929-1982

The growth rate of national income has fluctuated widely in the United States since 1929. In this volume, Edward F. Denison uses the growth accounting methodology he pioneered and refined in earlier studies to track changes in the trend of output and its determinants. At every step he systematically distinguishes changes in the economy's ability to produce as measured by his series on potential national income from changes in the ratio of actual output to potential output. Using data for earlier years as a backdrop, Denison focuses on the dramatic decline in the growth of potential national income that started in 1974 and was further accentuated beginning in 1980, and on the pronounced decline from business cycle to business cycle in the average ratio of actual to potential output, a slide under way since 1969. The decline in growth rates has been especially pronounced in national income per person employed and other productivity measures as growth of total output has slowed despite a sharp acceleration in growth of employment and total hours at work. Denison organizes his discussion around eight table that divide 1929-82 into three long periods (the last, 1973-82) and seven shorter periods (the most recent, 1973-79 and 1979-82). These tables provide estimates of the sources of growth for eight output measures in each period. Denison stresses that the 1973-82 period of slow growth in unfinished. He observes no improvement in the productivity trend, only a weak cyclical recovery from a 1982 low. Sources-of-growth tables isolate the contributions made to growth between "input" and "output per unit of input." Even so, it is not possible to quantify separately the contribution of all determinants, and Denison evaluates qualitatively the effects of other developments on the productivity slowdown.
The synthesis of alumina nanowires on the surface of a porous alumina membrane

Porous aluminum oxide membranes with a complete and even covering of alumina nanowires were formed in a one-step anodization process in dilute phosphoric acid electrolyte. The anodizing conditions can be adjusted to start forming alumina wires that originate on the surface of the porous alumina layer at the triple junction points (the edges of the hexagonal inter-pore structure where three pores meet). The wires tangle together as they become longer; eventually creating a tangled mesh layer above the porous oxide layer. SEM micrographs of the oxide cross section show tapered wires that are approximately 2 to 10 m long, depending on anodizing time, and range in width from a few nanometers to 50nm. The aluminum substrate can be chemically removed and the alumina barrier layer dissolved to leave a free standing porous alumina membrane with very high surface area alumina wires on one face. Some possible future applications of this high surface area structure involve filtration of liquids and gasses, combined with chemical functionalization on the large surface area.
Conditionality as Opposed to Inseverability

Fowler School of Law Dean (Chapman University) and former Congressman Tom Campbell was invited by the editors of Emory Law Journal to write a response to Eric S. Fish, Severability as Conditionality, 64 EMORY L.J. 1293, 1343 (2015), regarding what courts should do when part of a statute is held unconstitutional. Fish argues that the rest of the statute should almost always be allowed to continue. Campbell rebuts that the rest should never be allowed to continue. Campbell bases his view on the fact that the Constitution requires two houses of Congress to agree, and the President to sign (or the two houses to pass the law over the President’s veto) for a text to be considered law. Cutting out part and assuming the rest is law violates that rule. It results in a set of words becoming law that was not the subject of agreement between the two houses and the President. Campbell uses statistical evidence to show the burden on Congress to re-pass laws when parts are held unconstitutional is not great. Unintended consequences of allowing parts of laws to continue when other parts are struck down include the federal campaign finance laws. Originally planned as a limit on expenditures as well as contributions, the provisions of federal law capping expenditures were struck down. The result is an outcome no one intended: the wealthy can spend whatever they wish, but candidates of modest means are effectively handicapped by the limit on how much they can raise from others. A rule of inseverability is far preferable to Fish’s modification of the more common position of severability, and to any rule of severability.
Increased Serum Phosphatase Activity Without Hyperbilirubin-emia after Ligation of Hepatic Ducts in Dogs

SummaryLigation of hepatic ducts in 4 dogs resulted in increased phosphatase but not bilirubin in the serum, increased bilirubin but not phosphatase in the urine. The dissociation in the blood is thought to be due largely to differential renal excretion and to be consistent with the “phosphatase retention” theory.
H-ISM: An Implementation of Heterogeneous Implicit Solid Modeling

This paper discusses implementation of an implicit solid modeling approach to the representation of heterogeneous objects, i.e. solids whose material composition is not uniform. We present a brief review of related literature and then focus on implementation of heterogeneous implicit solid modeling (H-ISM) using a computer algebra system. Several heterogeneous implicit solid models of multi-material objects from standard part catalogues are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of H-ISM implementation.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Hygienic Investigation and Improving Countermeasures of Rural Drinking Water in Muping District of Yantai City

[Objective]To know the sanitary condition of rural drinking water in Muping district of Yantai city,provide the basis for rural drinking water improvement in the future.[Methods]According to the Standard examination methods for drinking water(GB 5750-2006),the tap water from all villages which was already equipped with centralized water supply system was tested for 19 items of organoleptic parameters,general chemical indexes,toxicological indexes and microbial indexes.[Results]The qualified rate of 420 drinking water samples was 41.67%.The unqualified rate of total bacteria counts,total coliform group,fluoride,nitrate,total hardness,visible substance,zinc,manganese and iron was 24.05 %,37.38%,3.33%,13.57%,0.71 %,0.95%,0.48%,0.24 % and 0.48%,respectively.[Conclusion]The resource of rural centralized water supply system in Muping district of Yantai city has been seriously polluted,the protection of water resource is poor,and there is a lack of effective disinfection measures.In order to improve the present situation,it is necessary to strengthen the management of rural water supply system,enlarge the publicity of drinking water safety and implement the preventative hygienic supervision.
High frequency oscillators for chaotic radar

This work focuses on implementing a class of exactly solvable chaotic oscillators at speeds that allow real world radar applications. The implementation of a chaotic radar using a solvable system has many advantages due to the generation of aperiodic, random-like waveforms with an analytic representation. These advantages include high range resolution, no range ambiguity, and spread spectrum characteristics. These systems allow for optimal detection of a noise-like signal by the means of a linear matched filter using simple and inexpensive methods. This paper outlines the use of exactly solvable chaos in ranging systems, while addressing electronic design issues related to the frequency dependence of the system's stretching function introduced by the use of negative impedance converters (NICs).
Functional status and its uses in rehabilitation medicine.

BACKGROUND Over the past decade and a half, rehabilitation medicine has developed and implemented standardized measures of functional status. Standardized measures of functional status are important for four reasons: (1) clinicians need them to determine whether interventions produce the expected outcomes; (2) managed care companies use them to decide which rehabilitation services and equipment will be paid for; (3) accreditation bodies such as the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) require empirical functional status and functional outcome measures; and (4) public policy is moving toward a case-based payment system derived from patient need, and type and severity of impairment. METHODS Review of the literature. CONCLUSIONS While researchers, clinicians, managed care, accrediting bodies, and federal regulation have each influenced rehabilitation as conceptualized, measured, and practiced, lack of coordination among these groups has hampered agreement on appropriate tools for functional assessment and outcome. Rehabilitation providers, however, will be increasingly accountable to government regulations and managed care companies.
The interplay between grain boundary structure and defect sink/annealing behavior

We present a series of results from atomistic simulations in three different materials (3 crystal structures) that demonstrate that the multiplicity of grain boundary (GB) structures at fixed macroscopic GB degrees of freedom is both extremely large and ubiquitous. The GB energy vs. misorientation curve that is commonly discussed is in fact a wide band, with many GB states very close in energy. The existence of so many GB states suggests that GB configurational entropy Sc is important for GB properties. We demonstrate that the GB Sc consists of two major contributions, one of which is geometric in nature and one that depends on bonding. We then show how this concept can be employed to predict GB relaxation dynamics by analogy with Adam-Gibbs theory, originally derived to predict the properties of glass forming liquids. Finally, we apply these predictions to understand GB denuded zone size during irradiation.
Thermotropic polyketones: a new class of main-chain liquid crystalline polymers

The first examples of thermotropic liquid crystalline (LC) polyketones have been synthesized by the Friedel-Crafts acylation of biphenyl, fluorene and terphenyl with α,ω-dicarboxylic acid alkanes in a phosphorous pentoxide/methanesulfonic acid (PMMA) condensing agent. Polyketones prepared from biphenyl and fluorene exhibit good solubility as well as low thermal transition temperatures due to the copolymeric nature of these polymers. Both molecular weight and the inherent copolymer composition appear to influence the mesophase behavior in these polymers. Optical polarization microscopy has revealed smectic textures for all the polyketones exhibiting LC behavior.
Targeted Disruption of Chlamydia trachomatis Invasion by in Trans Expression of Dominant Negative Tarp Effectors

Chlamydia trachomatis invasion of eukaryotic host cells is facilitated, in part, by the type III secreted effector protein, Tarp. The role of Tarp in chlamydiae entry of host cells is supported by molecular approaches that examined recombinant Tarp or Tarp effectors expressed within heterologous systems. A major limitation in the ability to study the contribution of Tarp to chlamydial invasion of host cells was the prior absence of genetic tools for chlamydiae. Based on our knowledge of Tarp domain structure and function along with the introduction of genetic approaches in C. trachomatis, we hypothesized that Tarp function could be disrupted in vivo by the introduction of dominant negative mutant alleles. We provide evidence that transformed C. trachomatis produced epitope tagged Tarp, which was secreted into the host cell during invasion. We examined the effects of domain specific Tarp mutations on chlamydial invasion and growth and demonstrate that C. trachomatis clones harboring engineered Tarp mutants lacking either the actin binding domain or the phosphorylation domain had reduced levels of invasion into host cells. These data provide the first in vivo evidence for the critical role of Tarp in C. trachomatis pathogenesis and indicate that chlamydial invasion of host cells can be attenuated via the introduction of engineered dominant negative type three effectors.
Self-Tuning Geometric Control for a Quadrotor UAV Based on Lyapunov Stability Analysis

A Lyapunov-based self gain tuning geometric nonlinear controller for a quadrotor UAV has been developed on SE(3) in this paper. By designing an adaptive law with Lyapunov stability analysis for the controller gains, the proposed control system can asymptotically follow an attitude and position command while tuning the PID gains online, and it is extended to guarantee boundedness of tracking errors in the presence of unstructured disturbances. This introduce an unprecedented algorithm to autonomously tune the controller gains without need of extra effort or introducing boundary conditions. Proposed controller considers all the coupling effects between rotational and translational dynamics, and it is developed in a coordinate-free fashion to avoid complexities and ambiguities associated with other attitude representations such as Euler angles or quaternions. The desirable features of the proposed controller are illustrated by numerical simulations and juxtaposed with a well-known offline gain tuning method. The proposed algorithm is ultimately validated with an experimental example.
A Review: Lantibiotics, a Promising Antimicrobial Agent

Rise in multi drug resistant bacteria has been a public health problem. This has necessitated for the exploration of novel antimicrobials. Bacteriocins, probiotic bacteria, and bacteriophages are considered as alternatives to antibiotics. To this context, lantibiotics could be the future candidate for antimicrobial agent.Lantibiotics are synthesized ribosomally and after posttranslational modification active peptide is produced.Lantibiotics are lanthionine and methyllanthionine containing peptides exhibiting activity against multi drug resistant pathogens. Besides its application as alternatives to old antibiotics, they can be used as food preservatives, additives, probiotics, and prophylactics. Journal of Institute of Science and Technology Volume 21, Issue 1, August 2016, Page: 119-128
Microbial nursery production of high-quality biological soil crust biomass for restoration of degraded dryland soils

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are slow growing, phototroph-based microbial assemblages developing on topsoils of drylands. Biocrusts help maintain soil fertility and reduce erosion. Because their loss through human activities has negative ecological and environmental health consequences, biocrust restoration is of interest. Active soil inoculation with biocrust microorganisms can be an important tool in this endeavor. We present a culture-independent, two-step process to grow multispecies biocrusts in open greenhouse nursery facilities, based on inoculation of local soils with local biocrust remnants, and incubation under semi-natural conditions that maintain the essence of the habitat, but lessen its harshness. In each of four US Southwest sites, we tested and deployed combinations of factors that maximized growth (gauged as chlorophyll a content) while minimizing microbial community shifts (assessed by 16S rRNA sequencing and bioinformatics), particularly for crust-forming cyanobacteria. Generally, doubling the frequency of natural wetting events, a 60% reduction of sunlight, and the inoculation by slurry, were optimal. Nutrient addition effects were site-specific. In 4 months, our approach yielded crusts of high inoculum quality reared on local soil, exposed to locally-matched climates, acclimated to desiccation, and containing communities minimally shifted in composition from local ones. Our inocula contained abundant crust-forming cyanobacteria, and no significant allochthonous phototrophs, and was sufficient to treat ca. 6000 m 2 of degraded dryland soils from a natural crust remnant of several square centimeters. IMPORTANCE Soil surface crusts can protect dryland soils from erosion, but they are often negatively impacted by human activities. Their degradation causes loss of fertility, increased production of fugitive dust and intensity of dust storms, with associated traffic problems, and provokes general public health hazards. Our results constitute an advance in the quest to actively restore biological soil covers by providing a means to obtain high quality inoculum within reasonable times for policymakers (a few months) to recover essential, but damaged, ecosystem services in a sustainable, self-perpetuating way, as provided by biocrust communities.
Advanced Virtual Prototyping of Axial Piston Machines

This paper explains how a combination of advanced multidomain numerical models can be employed to design an axial piston machine of swash plate type within a virtual prototyping environment. Examples for the design and optimization of the cylinder block/valve plate interface are presented.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
Electrochemical impedance analysis of perovskite–electrolyte interfaces

The flat band potentials and carrier densities of spin coated and sprayed MAPbI3, FA0.85Cs0.15PbI3, and MAPbBr3 perovskite films were determined using the Mott-Schottky relation. The films developed a space charge layer and exhibited p-type conduction with a carrier concentration of ∼1016 cm-3 for spin coated films. Electrochemical impedance spectra showed typical space charge impedance at frequencies >1 kHz, and an exceptional high capacitance at frequency <1 kHz owing to an ion diffusion component.
The Krüppel-like factor 9 cistrome in mouse hippocampal neurons reveals predominant transcriptional repression via proximal promoter binding

Kruppel-like factor 9 (Klf9) is a zinc finger transcription factor that functions in neural cell differentiation, but little is known about its genomic targets or mechanism of action in neurons. We used the mouse hippocampus-derived neuronal cell line HT22 to identify genes regulated by Klf9, and we validated our findings in mouse hippocampus. We engineered HT22 cells to express a Klf9 transgene under control of the tetracycline repressor, and used RNA sequencing to identify genes modulated by Klf9. We found 217 genes repressed and 21 induced by Klf9. We also engineered HT22 cells to co-express biotin ligase and a Klf9 fusion protein containing an N-terminal biotin ligase recognition peptide. Using chromatin-streptavidin precipitation (ChSP) sequencing we identified 3,514 genomic regions where Klf9 associated. Seventy-five percent of these were within 1 kb of transcription start sites, and Klf9 associated in chromatin with 60% of the repressed genes. We analyzed the promoters of several repressed genes containing Klf9 ChSP peaks using transient transfection reporter assays and found that Klf9 repressed promoter activity, which was abolished after mutation of Sp/Klf-like motifs. Knockdown or knockout of Klf9 in HT22 cells caused dysregulation of Klf9 target genes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed that Klf9 associated in chromatin from mouse hippocampus with genes identified by ChSP sequencing on HT22 cells, and expression of Klf9 target genes was dysregulated in the hippocampus of neonatal Klf9-null mice. Gene ontology analysis revealed that Klf9 genomic targets include genes involved in cystokeletal remodeling, Wnt signaling and inflammation. We have identified genomic targets of Klf9 in hippocampal neurons and created a foundation for future studies on how it functions in chromatin, and regulates neuronal morphology and survival across the lifespan.