cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Potential fire ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) impact on the endangered Schaus Swallowtail (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae).

The Schaus swallowtail, Papilio aristodemus ponceanus, historically occurred in tropical hardwood hammocks from South Miami to the upper Florida Keys and is currently listed as federally endangered. Much of the remaining hardwood hammock habitat is fragmented by roads and human development that may alter the microhabitat within the hammocks and increase the probability of invasion by non-native predators and competitors. One non-indigenous species that has recently invaded the Florida Keys, and that may impact the Schaus swallowtail is the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren). We estimated abundance of red imported fire ants in Schaus swallowtail habitat on Key Largo, and the decrease in red imported fire ants resulting from the application of chemical ant baits. In addition, we conducted laboratory experiments to determine how vulnerable swallowtail life stages are to red imported fire ant predation. We found red imported fire ants at 50% of transects in the hardwood hammock, up to 40 m from hammock edge. Chemical treatments were only partially effective in decreasing red imported fire ant abundance, and the effect was short-lived. All immature swallowtail life stages were vulnerable to predation by red imported fire ants. Habitat restoration that decreases red imported fire ant abundance may be the most cost-effective and long-term method of decreasing impacts from red imported fire ants.
AA/12-Lipoxygenase Signaling Contributes to Inhibitory Learning in Hermissenda Type B Photoreceptors.

Conditioned inhibition (CI) is a major category of associative learning that occurs when an organism learns that one stimulus predicts the absence of another. In addition to being important in its own right, CI is interesting because its occurrence implies that the organism has formed an association between stimuli that are non-coincident. In contrast to other categories of associative learning that are dependent upon temporal contiguity (pairings) of stimuli, the neurobiology of CI is virtually unexplored. We have previously described a simple form of CI learning in Hermissenda, whereby animals’ phototactic behavior is increased by repeated exposures to explicitly unpaired (EU) presentations of light and rotation. EU conditioning also produces characteristic reductions in the excitability and light response, and increases several somatic K+ currents in Type B photoreceptors. Type B photoreceptors are a major site of plasticity for classical conditioning in Hermissenda. Because arachidonic acid (AA) and/or its metabolites open diverse K+ channels in many cell types, we examined the potential contribution of AA to CI. Our results indicate that AA contributes to one of the major effects of EU-conditioning on Type B photoreceptors: decreases in light-evoked spike activity. We find that AA increases the transient (IA) somatic K+ current in Type B photoreceptors, further mimicking CI training. In addition, our results indicate that metabolism of AA by a 12-lipoxygenase enzyme is critical for these effects of AA, and further that 12-lipoxygenase metabolites are apparently generated during CI training.
Large Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Flow in a Marine Convective Boundary Layer with Snow

Abstract A large eddy simulation (LES) model, with ice phase included, has been used to study the marine convective boundary layer filled with snow. Extensions to Moeng's LES model include the diagnosis of cloud ice mixing ratio, snow precipitation, and the parameterization of detailed microphysical processes. Model simulations are compared with cold air outbreak field observations over Lake Michigan, as well as with the liquid phase LES results for the same atmospheric conditions. The buoyancy flux and vertical velocity variance profiles generated by the ice phase LES are found to be more consistent with the observations than those generated by the liquid phase LES results. The incorporation of the ice phase into the LES model has also improved the agreement of vertical velocity skewness (Sw) between observations and LES model results. It has also been found that the presence of precipitation, and the associated microphysical processes, has a significant effect on the structure of the convective boundary...
Surfactants: Fundamentals and Applications in the Petroleum Industry

Laurier L. Schramm (Editor), 2000, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 621 p. (Hardcover $140.00) ISBN: 0-521-64067-9. For the past thirty years surfactants have played an increasingly important role in enhanced recovery of petroleum from reservoirs; but, it is not only secondary recovery efforts that benefit from an understanding of interfacial phenomena. Appreciation of the role interfacial forces play in multiphase fluid flow is also fundamental in the evaluation of primary and secondary migration of petroleum in sedimentary basins, and in the determination of the efficiency of seals. A better grasp of the physics of interfacial tension, therefore, enhances our ability to locate and exploit all economic oil reserves. Surfactants: Fundamentals and Applications to the Petroleum Industry explores and explains many of the effects of interfacial tension. For this reason, it is an indispensable addition to the petroleum geologist's library. This book is not exclusively for …
Prey ingestion revealed by oesophagus and stomach temperature recordings in cormorants.

We examined the accuracy of both stomach and oesophagus temperature sensors-deployed on captive Brandt's cormorants-for determination of the mass of food ingested and the number of prey items swallowed. The oesophageal temperature sensor was a better detector of all feeding events, including that of small prey which were missed by the stomach sensor. Adapted to free-ranging animals (and coupled to data loggers for recording seawater temperature), oesophagus temperature recorders, in conjunction with both recordings of energy expenditure (e.g. doubly labelled water, heart rate) and determination of position (e.g. Argos transmitter, time/depth recorder), should provide further important insights into the foraging success of marine endotherms.
Cross-site study of the implementation of information technology innovations in health sciences centers.

Abstract An interpretive oral history technique was used to identify factors most important in the implementation stage of information technology innovation diffusion. Electronic mail, end user literature searching, and aspects of the computer-based patient record were the innovations selected for study at academic health sciences centers. Transcripts of thirty-four interviews with key individuals were analyzed to determine six categories of factors. Word counts were then used to determine underlying emphases. Analysis of variance tested whether there were significant differences in uses of words by categories of individuals, by those at different institutions, and when different innovations were described. Results indicate that the innovations themselves correlate significantly with different word categories, where category of individual and institution do not. Words related to the computer based patient record characterize further critical factors in implementing that particular innovation.
Development Of A Virtual Force-Reflecting Scara Robot For Teleoperation

Teleoperation control methods have been studied for decades by several researchers. The testing systems used in these studies often consist of duplicates of the same robot. Deploying different robotic systems in teleoperation requires mapping between the motions of the two. This mapping should be optimized so that telemanipulation would get the maximum use of each system’s capabilities. This study presents an alternative slave system for an existing teleoperation system. A version of a SCARA robot is selected for this purpose. The task is to draw on or carve into the surfaces as motion commands are received from the operator. A parallel position/force controller is investigated and the mapping between the master input and the slave output is explained. The test results are presented for a specific task of the slave constructed in virtual environment. As a result, the designed slave showed that it is capable of following the commands sent from the master with the help of the mapping created. The parallel position/force controller also proved to be successful in following the trajectory and providing force reflection while maintaining stability.
Cancer: A Prehistoric Disease Still a Threat to the Modern Man

Copyright: © 2013 Woldemeskel M. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Cancer is a general term used to denote malignant neoplasms in humans and animals that if untreated often end up with fatal metastasis. The term “cancer” originated from the word “crab” (karkinos) applied to malignant tumors by the ancient Greeks. It is adopted by the Romans (Latin cancer means crab) and is still in use in the contemporary scientific literature. The most ancient records dated from the paleopathological evidences indicate the existence of cancer in dinosaurs of the Mesozoic and in prehistoric cave man and his animals in the remote past. Later in human history, it was known that Greek and Roman physicians were well acquainted with the different types of malignant diseases specific to each organ [1].
Grain Boundary Passivation and Analysis for Solar Cell Applications

Grain boundaries in Wacker poly-Si are shown to contribute mid-gap interface states, a greater frequency dependence in a.c. conductance, and lesser frequency dependence in capacitance. H-passivation was shown to be effective in reducing grain boundary effects as evidenced by 4-point probe resistance and IR studies.
Properties of high-efficiency CuInGaSe2 thin film solar cells

Abstract In this paper, we present recent results on the growth and characterization of CuInGaSe2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells by the three-stage process. A conversion efficiency of 19.3% and 18.4% has been achieved for solar cells made from absorbers with band gap values of 1.15 and 1.21 eV, respectively. High open circuit voltages and fill factors are obtained. We attempt to relate these improvements to material and device properties. The results suggest that it might be possible to produce a 20% efficient solar cell by further optimization of the current collection.
An Approach to Facilitate Security Assurance for Information Sharing and Exchange in Big-Data Applications

Security assurance is the guarantee provided with regard to access control, security privileges, and enforcement over time as users interact with an application. For a big-data application that shares and exchanges information from multiple sources in different formats, security assurance must reconcile local security capabilities to meet stakeholder needs. This chapter presents a role-based access control (RBAC) approach to modeling a global security policy and generating an enforcement mechanism for a big-data application by integrating the local policies of the sources, which are assumed to communicate via XML, the de facto standard for information sharing/exchange. Towards this goal, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is extended to define new diagrams to capture XML for RBAC security and for policy modeling. To illustrate, we use a big-data application in law enforcement for motor vehicle crashes, showing how global security can be achieved in a repository that links different crash data repositories from multiple sources.
TCP-friendly medium access control for ad-hoc wireless networks: alleviating self-contention

We focus on self-contention: contention between packets of the same transport layer connection along the path from source to destination. We observe that self-contention plays an important role in degrading TCP performance in multi-hop wireless networks and that the use of the popular IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol exacerbates self-contention. We propose and study two MAC-layer approaches to alleviate self-contention. The first approach, called quick-exchange (QE), is designed with the intent of reducing the effects of inter-flow self-contention (e.g. between packets of the same connection traveling in opposite directions). The design of our second mechanism, called fast-forward (FF), is geared towards decreasing intra-flow self-contention (e.g. between packets of the same connection traveling in the same direction). We simulate and study our proposed schemes and observe that quick-exchange consistently improves net-work aggregate goodput (by as much as 20% in string topologies, 15% in random static scenarios, and 10% in random mobile scenarios). In contrast to our expectations, fast-forward causes sporadic and often negative effects on goodput for TCP connections. Upon investigation we find that while the MAC is, in some respect, operating more efficiently, as demonstrated by improved UDP throughput; interactions with TCPs congestion control mechanism cause the goodput to degrade. We analyze various effects that cause the respective behaviors with QE and FF in detail.
Associations between Cultural Stressors, Cultural Values, and Latina/o College Students’ Mental Health

Latina/o college students experience cultural stressors that negatively impact their mental health, which places them at risk for academic problems. We explored whether cultural values buffer the negative effect of cultural stressors on mental health symptoms in a sample of 198 Latina/o college students (70 % female; 43 % first generation college students). Bivariate results revealed significant positive associations between cultural stressors (i.e., acculturative stress, discrimination) and mental health symptoms (i.e., anxiety, depressive, psychological stress), and negative associations between cultural values of familismo, respeto, and religiosity and mental health symptoms. Several cultural values moderated the influence of cultural stressors on mental health symptoms. The findings highlight the importance of helping Latina/o college students remain connected to their families and cultural values as a way of promoting their mental health.
Coding with a latency constraint: The benefits of sequential decoding

This paper compares the performance of convolutional codes to that of LDPC block codes with identical decoding latencies. The decoding algorithms considered are the Viterbi algorithm and stack sequential decoding for convolutional codes and iterative message passing for LDPC codes. It is shown that, at very low latencies, convolutional codes with Viterbi decoding offer the best performance, whereas for high latencies LDPC codes dominate - and sequential decoding of convolutional codes offers the best performance over a range of intermediate latency values. The “crossover latencies” - i.e., the latency values at which the best code/decoding selection changes - are identified for a variety of code rates (1/2, 2/3, 3/4, and 5/6) and target bit/frame error rates. Thus, sequential decoding can substantially extend the range of latency values over which continuous decoding of convolutional codes proves advantageous compared to LDPC block codes, beyond what is observed when only Viterbi decoding is employed.
Profound T-cell lymphopenia associated with prenatal exposure to purine antagonists detected by TREC newborn screening

Recognition of non-SCID and secondary causes of T cell lymphopenia detected by TREC newborn screening is important in directing subsequent care and identifying those who would not benefit from more invasive interventions. Here, we report two infants with low TRECs and severe, but self-resolving, T cell lymphopenia identified by SCID NBS that were caused by in utero exposure to purine antimetabolites.
Impact of Active Control on Passive Safety Response Characteristics of Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors: II—Model Implementation and Simulations

AbstractAdvanced reactors are often claimed to be passively safe against unprotected upset events. In common practice, these events are not considered in the context of the plant control system, i....
Helium Nanodroplet Isolation of the Cyclobutyl, 1-Methylallyl, and Allylcarbinyl Radicals: Infrared Spectroscopy and Ab Initio Computations.

Gas-phase cyclobutyl radical (•C4H7) is produced via pyrolysis of cyclobutylmethyl nitrite (C4H7(CH2)ONO). Other •C4H7 radicals, such as 1-methylallyl and allylcarbinyl, are similarly produced from nitrite precursors. Nascent radicals are promptly solvated in liquid He droplets, allowing for the acquisition of infrared spectra in the CH stretching region. For the cyclobutyl and 1-methylallyl radicals, anharmonic frequencies are predicted by VPT2+K simulations based upon a hybrid CCSD(T) force field with quadratic (cubic and quartic) force constants computed using the ANO1 (ANO0) basis set. A density functional theoretical method is used to compute the force field for the allylcarbinyl radical. For all •C4H7 radicals, resonance polyads in the 2800–3000 cm–1 region appear as a result of anharmonic coupling between the CH stretching fundamentals and CH2 bend overtones and combinations. Upon pyrolysis of the cyclobutylmethyl nitrite precursor to produce the cyclobutyl radical, an approximately 2-fold increase...
Total shoulder arthroplasty in patients with a B2 glenoid addressed with corrective reaming

Background This study describes the short-term functional and radiographic outcomes after total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) in shoulders with a B2 glenoid deformity addressed with corrective reaming. Methods We conducted a retrospective series of consecutive patients who underwent TSA with a Walch B2 glenoid quantified by computed tomography scan. All glenoid deformities were addressed using partially corrective glenoid reaming. Radiographic and functional outcome measures, including scores on the visual analog scale for pain, American Shoulder and Elbow Standardized Shoulder Assessment, and Simple Shoulder Test were collected. Results Functional outcome scores were available for 59 of 92 eligible subjects (64%) at a mean of 50 months. The mean preoperative retroversion measured 18° (range, –1° to 36°), superior inclination was 8° (range, –11° to 27°), and posterior subluxation was 67% (range, 39%-91%). Mean visual analog scale improved from 7.4 to 1.4, the American Shoulder and Elbow Shoulder Standardized Assessment improved from 35.4 to 84.3, and the SST improved from 4.5 to 9.1. Radiographs were evaluated at a mean of 31 months: 38 had no glenoid radiolucent lines, 13 glenoids had grade 1, 2 had grade 2, and 5 had grade 3 lucencies. There was no difference in the rate of progression of glenoid radiolucencies between shoulders with a preoperative glenoid version of ≤20° (27.8%) compared with glenoids with >20° of retroversion (22.7%, P = .670). No shoulders were revised due to glenoid loosening or instability. Conclusion TSA with partial corrective glenoid reaming in selected shoulders with a B2 glenoid deformity resulted in excellent functional and radiographic outcomes at short-term follow-up, with a low risk of revision surgery.
The Unanticipated Examination in View of Kripke’s Semantics for Modal Logic

Any attempt to characterize formally the set of sentences which a given person X knows to be true probably requires a certain amount of idealization. For the fact that he knows A to be true and knows B to be true can, one hopes, be determined by some kind of empirical investigation. If so, these facts are stubborn and irreducible, and X may know A but not B despite the fact that in some proposed formal system, A implies B. Still, it may be argued that X can be persuaded of B, given that he knows A, without informing him of any new contingent truths. For example, B may simply be a logical consequence of A, or it may follow, given certain other assumptions about knowledge which are held to be true of rational knowers.
Imaging of the Prostate

Diagnostic imaging of the prostate with various modalities and techniques as well as their applications are discussed in this chapter. The appearance of the prostate on ultrasound, CT and MRI in its normal and diseased states are outlined. Pros and cons of each are also delineated.
Seniors: Quality of Life and Travel/Tourism

The senior segment in travel and tourism is increasing in both size and profitability. Travel/tourism scholars have done much research in relation to quality of life and senior tourists. Determining what aspects of travel impacts the well-being of seniors should be valuable to program coordinators of retirement communities and tourism officials. In addition, destination promoters and service providers should benefit by knowing which aspect of travel is most conducive to enriching the physical and emotional well-being of senior travelers. With this regard, this chapter is designed to review the literature relevant to senior tourist behaviors, measures of seniors’ quality of life and its relation to tourism, and how participating in leisure while traveling may enhance their well-being. Another goal of the chapter is to suggest future research directions that can be useful for tourism providers and professional associations (as well as government agencies) that deal with seniors, travel, and tourism.
A Web-based Framework for Collecting and Assessing Highlighted Sentences in a Document.

Automatically highlighting a text aims at identifying key portions that are the most important to a reader. In this paper, we present a web-based framework designed to efficiently and scalably crowdsource two independent but related tasks: collecting highlight annotations, and comparing the performance of automated highlighting systems. The first task is necessary to understand human preferences and train supervised automated highlighting systems. The second task yields a more accurate and fine-grained evaluation than existing automated performance metrics.
Hypertension, Anxiety, and Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Are Increased in Postpartum Severe Preeclampsia/Hemolysis, Elevated Liver Enzymes, and Low Platelet Count Syndrome Rats

Hypertension and inflammation during pregnancy are suggested to contribute to the development of postpartum depression and anxiety. Using a rat model of severe preeclampsia and hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count syndrome, which displays both hypertension and inflammation during pregnancy, we evaluated whether rats were prone to develop depression or anxiety in the postpartum period. On gestational day 12, miniosmotic pumps infusing sFlt-1 (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1) and sEng (soluble endoglin) were placed into rats, a subset of these rats was infused with 2 mg/kg of Orencia (abatacept) the following day to determine whether immune suppression via T-cell depletion prevented any changes in maternal depression or anxiety-like behavior. All rats, including normal pregnant (NP) controls, delivered between gestational days 21 and 22. Postpartum severe preeclamptic rats buried significantly more marbles compared with NP rats ( P=0.002) and Orencia-treated rats ( P=0.05). Severe preeclamptic rats spent significantly more time in closed arms of the elevated plus maze compared with NP rats ( P=0.009) and Orencia-treated rats ( P=0.05). Severe preeclamptic rats were hypertensive compared with NP ( P=0.03) and Orencia-treated rats ( P=0.01). Finally, severe preeclamptic rats had increased blood-brain barrier permeability compared with NP rats ( P=0.03), which was reversed in Orencia-treated rats ( P=0.008). These results suggest that severe preeclampsia/hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count syndrome during pregnancy contributes to an increase in anxiety-like behavior, blood-brain barrier permeability, and hypertension in the postpartum. The current results suggest that T-cell suppression during pregnancy can also help prevent chronic hypertension and increased anxiety in the postpartum period.
Developing A High Power, Pulsed Uv Led System For Photoconductive Switching Applications

A very compact system integrating a high voltage pulser (up to 250 V) and high power UV LED (365 nm wavelength) was developed for triggering SiC photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS). The relationships between LED drive current and forward voltage to optical power were established for currents ranging from 0 A to 100 A at pulse widths ranging from 100 ns to $5 \mu \mathrm {s}$. The maximum optical power observed was 25 W. An optical system composed of a parabolic reflector and short focal length lenses was used to focus the emitted light onto a lateral geometry PCSS. The observed delivery efficiency was 63% onto a target 11 mm in diameter. Using the developed system, a SiC PCSS could be successfully triggered under high impedance load conditions.
Tumor-specific delivery of gemcitabine with activatable liposomes.

Gemcitabine delivery to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is limited by poor pharmacokinetics, dense fibrosis and hypo-vascularization. Activatable liposomes, with drug release resulting from local heating, enhance serum stability and circulation, and the released drug retains the ability to diffuse within the tumor. A limitation of liposomal gemcitabine has been the low loading efficiency. To address this limitation, we used the superior solubilizing potential of copper (II) gluconate to form a complex with gemcitabine at copper:gemcitabine (1:4). Thermosensitive liposomes composed of DPPC:DSPC:DSPE-PEG2k (80:15:5, mole%) then reached 12 wt% loading, 4-fold greater than previously reported values. Cryo transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of a liquid crystalline gemcitabine‑copper mixture. The optimized gemcitabine liposomes released 60% and 80% of the gemcitabine within 1 and 5 min, respectively, at 42 °C. Liposomal encapsulation resulted in a circulation half-life of ~2 h in vivo (compared to reported circulation of 16 min for free gemcitabine in mice), and free drug was not detected within the plasma. The resulting gemcitabine liposomes were efficacious against both murine breast cancer and pancreatic cancer in vitro. Three repeated treatments of activatable gemcitabine liposomes plus ultrasound hyperthermia regressed or eliminated tumors in the neu deletion model of murine breast cancer with limited toxicity, enhancing survival when compared to treatment with gemcitabine alone. With 5% of the free gemcitabine dose (5 rather than 100 mg/kg), tumor growth was suppressed to the same degree as gemcitabine. Additionally, in a more aggressive tumor model of murine pancreatic cancer, liposomal gemcitabine combined with local hyperthermia induced cell death and regions of apoptosis and necrosis.
Quantum sidelights on The Material Theory of Induction.

Abstract John Norton's The Material Theory of Induction bristles with fresh insights and provocative ideas that provide a much needed stimulus to a stodgy if not moribund field. I use quantum mechanics (QM) as a medium for exploring some of these ideas. First, I note that QM offers more predictability than Newtonian mechanics for the Norton dome and other cases where classical determinism falters. But this ability of QM to partially cure the ills of classical determinism depends on facts about the quantum Hamiltonian operator that vary from case to case, providing an illustration of Norton's theme of the importance of contingent facts for inductive reasoning. Second, I agree with Norton that Bayesianism as developed for classical probability theory does not constitute a universal inference machine, and I use QM to explain the sense in which this is so. But at the same time I defend a brand of quantum Bayesianism as providing an illuminating account of how physicists reasoning about quantum events. Third, I argue that if the probabilities induced by quantum states are regarded as objective chances then there are strong reasons to think that fair infinite lotteries are impossible in a quantum world. 1
Results of urethral plate preservation and use of vascular dartos flap in hypospadias repair

Background: Lower complication rates are observed if urethral plate (UP) is preserved and utilized for reparative surgery of hypospadias. Aim: This study aims to analyze our results of hypospadias repair by UP preservation, and using vascular dartos flap as interposition flap. Materials and Methods: prospective, cohort study of operated cases of hypospadias over 4.5 years' period. Data including age, diagnosis, preoperative testosterone administration, operation, postoperative complications, and assessment of outcome using hypospadias objective scoring evaluation (HOSE) system were collected. We preserved UP as far as possible, for urethral tube construction. We applied meatal advancement and glanuloplasty incorporated (MAGPI) for glanular/coronal hypospadias and tubularized incised plate urethroplasty (TIPU) (Snodgrass) for most other cases. Single dorsal vascular dartos-flap was transposed ventrally as interposition flap in TIPU. Single transurethral catheter 6F/8F size was employed as urethral stent as well as for bladder drainage. At the first review at 2 weeks after getting discharged, all patients underwent urethral calibration and first HOSE-score assessment. Maximum HOSE-score was 16 points and minimum 5. Results: A total of 111 patients with mean (range) age of 34.69 m (11 m– 123 m) were studied. TIPU (n = 49), MAGPI (n = 44), and others (n = 18) were the operations. There were 10 permanent complications; 9 following TIPU (7 (14.3%) single urethrocutaneous fistula (UCF), 1 torsion penis, 1 glans-dehiscence), and 1 following MAGPI (glans-dehiscence). Mean follow-up period was 15 m (range = 3–36 m). HOSE score ≥14 was achieved in 106 (95.5%) cases. Conclusion: The excellent result of MAGPI in our series is due to strict case selection and technical precision. UCF rate of 14.3% in TIPU can be due to the unselected nature of our cases which included small glans diameter and unfavorable UP characteristics.
Resuits of the national surveillance on endemic fluorosis in Fengshun County of Guangdong Province in 2005-2006

Objective To investigated to implement condition of preventive measure and control effect for endemic fluorosis in Fengshun County from 2005 to 2006.Methods It was investigated according to the National Surveillance Program of Endemic Fluorosis.Hupo,Daizai and Anquan Villages of Tangxi Town in Fengshun County were selected as monitoring spots.The usage of reforming water facilities,fluoride content in drinking water and urine of children aged 8-12 years and the prevalence rate of dental fluorosis of children were investigated.Resul tsin 2005 and 2006.a total of 18 reforming water facilities were surveyed and six of which were damaged or out of service.In 2005,the fluoride content in drinking water in the 3 villages was 2.10,1.22 and 0.15 mg/L The prevalence rate of dental fluorosis of children aged 8-12 years was 54.23%(64/118),38.91%(79/203) and 9.10%(6/66).The urine fluoride content of children was 0.95,0.90 and 1.05 mg/L,respectively.In 2006,the fluoride content in drinking water in Hupo,Daizai and Anquan Village was 2.01,1.57 and 0.21 mg/L.The prevalence rate of dental fluorosis of children aged 8-12 years was 26.47%(27/102),12.50%(23/184)and 6.15%(4/65),respectively.The urine fluoride content of children was 0.97,0.61 and 0.59 mg/L.Conclusions The outcome of surveillance data in Fengshun County has reached the sanle level as that of non-disease area.However,the management of reforming water facilities should be improved. Key words: Fluoride poisoning; Surveillance; Epidemiology
Doing projects with young children in a field-based early childhood education course

This study examined the learning experiences of pre-service teachers completing a project with young children using the Project Approach methodology. The study used a mixed-methods research design ...
Niche dimensions of a marine bacterium are identified using invasion studies in coastal seawater.

Niche theory is a foundational ecological concept that explains the distribution of species in natural environments. Identifying the dimensions of any organism’s niche is challenging because numerous environmental factors can affect organism viability. We used serial invasion experiments to introduce Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3, a heterotrophic marine bacterium, into a coastal phytoplankton bloom on 14 dates. RNA-sequencing analysis of R. pomeroyi was conducted after 90 min to assess its niche dimensions in this dynamic ecosystem. We identified ~100 external conditions eliciting transcriptional responses, which included substrates, nutrients, metals and biotic interactions such as antagonism, resistance and cofactor synthesis. The peak bloom was characterized by favourable states for most of the substrate dimensions, but low inferred growth rates of R. pomeroyi at this stage indicated that its niche was narrowed by factors other than substrate availability, most probably negative biotic interactions with the bloom dinoflagellate. Our findings indicate chemical and biological features of the ocean environment that can constrain where heterotrophic bacteria survive. Chemical and biological features of the ocean environment that impact on survival of heterotrophic bacteria are identified by invasion experiments with Ruegeria pomeroyi.
ASAP: A ccelerated S hort-Read A lignment on P rogrammable Hardware

The proliferation of high-throughput sequencing machines ensures rapid generation of up to billions of short nucleotide fragments in a short period of time. This massive amount of sequence data can quickly overwhelm today's storage and compute infrastructure. This paper explores the use of hardware acceleration to significantly improve the runtime of short-read alignment, a crucial step in preprocessing sequenced genomes. We focus on the Levenshtein distance (edit-distance) computation kernel and propose the ASAP accelerator, which utilizes the intrinsic delay of circuits for edit-distance computation elements as a proxy for computation. Our design is implemented on an Xilinx Virtex 7 FPGA in an IBM POWER8 system that uses the CAPI interface for cache coherence across the CPU and FPGA. Our design is $200\times$ faster than an equivalent Smith-Waterman-C implementation of the kernel running on the host processor, $40-60\times$ faster than an equivalent Landau-Vishkin-C++ implementation of the kernel running on the IBM Power8 host processor, and $2\times$ faster for an end-to-end alignment tool for 120–150 base-pair short-read sequences. Further the design represents a $3760\times$ improvement over the CPU in performance/Watt terms.
Parental Educational Investment and Children’s Academic Risk Estimates of the Impact of Sibship Size and Birth Order from Exogenous Variation in Fertility

This study uses exogenous variation in sibling sex composition to estimate the causal effect of sibship size on boys’ probabilities of private school attendance and grade retention. Using the 1990 U.S. Census, we find that for second-born boys, increased sibship size reduces the likelihood of private school attendance by six percentage points and increases grade retention by almost one percentage point. Sibship size has no effect for first-born boys. Instrumental variable estimates are largely consistent across racial groups, although the standard errors are larger for nonwhites as they have smaller sample sizes and this renders them insignificant at traditional alpha levels.
US Case Reports of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis With Thrombocytopenia After Ad26.COV2.S Vaccination, March 2 to April 21, 2021

Importance Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) with thrombocytopenia, a rare and serious condition, has been described in Europe following receipt of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (Oxford/AstraZeneca), which uses a chimpanzee adenoviral vector. A mechanism similar to autoimmune heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) has been proposed. In the US, the Ad26.COV2.S COVID-19 vaccine (Janssen/Johnson & Johnson), which uses a human adenoviral vector, received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) on February 27, 2021. By April 12, 2021, approximately 7 million Ad26.COV2.S vaccine doses had been given in the US, and 6 cases of CVST with thrombocytopenia had been identified among the recipients, resulting in a temporary national pause in vaccination with this product on April 13, 2021. Objective To describe reports of CVST with thrombocytopenia following Ad26.COV2.S vaccine receipt. Design, Setting, and Participants Case series of 12 US patients with CVST and thrombocytopenia following use of Ad26.COV2.S vaccine under EUA reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from March 2 to April 21, 2021 (with follow-up reported through April 21, 2021). Exposures Receipt of Ad26.COV2.S vaccine. Main Outcomes and Measures Clinical course, imaging, laboratory tests, and outcomes after CVST diagnosis obtained from VAERS reports, medical record review, and discussion with clinicians. Results Patients’ ages ranged from 18 to younger than 60 years; all were White women, reported from 11 states. Seven patients had at least 1 CVST risk factor, including obesity (n = 6), hypothyroidism (n = 1), and oral contraceptive use (n = 1); none had documented prior heparin exposure. Time from Ad26.COV2.S vaccination to symptom onset ranged from 6 to 15 days. Eleven patients initially presented with headache; 1 patient initially presented with back pain and later developed headache. Of the 12 patients with CVST, 7 also had intracerebral hemorrhage; 8 had non-CVST thromboses. After diagnosis of CVST, 6 patients initially received heparin treatment. Platelet nadir ranged from 9 ×103/µL to 127 ×103/µL. All 11 patients tested for the heparin-platelet factor 4 HIT antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) screening had positive results. All patients were hospitalized (10 in an intensive care unit [ICU]). As of April 21, 2021, outcomes were death (n = 3), continued ICU care (n = 3), continued non-ICU hospitalization (n = 2), and discharged home (n = 4). Conclusions and Relevance The initial 12 US cases of CVST with thrombocytopenia after Ad26.COV2.S vaccination represent serious events. This case series may inform clinical guidance as Ad26.COV2.S vaccination resumes in the US as well as investigations into the potential relationship between Ad26.COV2.S vaccine and CVST with thrombocytopenia.
CROI 2021: Metabolic and Other Complications of HIV Infection or COVID-19

Comorbid conditions have a major impact on the health, quality of life, and survival in people with HIV, particularly as they age. The 2021 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections featured excellent science related to specific comorbidities as well as multimorbidity. A number of presentations related to comorbidities in women with HIV reflected a new wave of research aimed at understanding how the epidemiology and pathogenesis of comorbidities may differ by sex. Weight gain related to antiretroviral therapy was also a major theme of the comorbidity abstracts presented at the meeting. Several presentations demonstrated the importance of comorbid conditions in COVID-19 outcomes in people with HIV and described persistent symptoms after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection has resolved, a nascent topic that will expand over time. This review focuses on research presented at the conference in these areas, highlighting those with the most clinical impact.
MODELING LAND-SURFACE ALBEDOS FROM VEGETATION CANOPY ARCHITECTURE

Over the past decade, the climatic impact of changes in terrestrial albedo has been studied using numerous climate models, ranging from simple, one-dimensional energy balance climate models to the more sophisticated, three-dimensional general circulation models of the atmosphere. In most of these, however, the land-surface albedos have been prescribed both spatially and temporally from albedo observations. To overcome the limitations of using prescribed land-surface albedos, a model of radiation transfer in plant canopies was used to predict vegetation albedos. Because of the model's reliance on the physical properties of the land-surface cover, it is able to account explicitly for albedo variations caused by factors both internal to and external from the vegetation canopy. The model is described and the results of simulations for three representative canopy types are discussed. The dependence of albedo on irradiance distribution predicted by the model agrees well with established theory. [Key words: albe...
Maternal Acculturation and Weight Status Among Young Children of Asian and Hispanic Immigrant Mothers

Using a nationally representative sample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) and defining maternal acculturation as three patterns of language use, this study examined the influence of maternal acculturation on child weight status at kindergarten entry, separately for children of Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers. Overall, this study found beneficial associations between maternal acculturation and children’s weight status in both Asian and Hispanic groups. Children of bilingual and English-dominant Asian mothers had lower body mass index (BMI) z-scores than those of home-language Asian mothers. Maternal acculturation was also associated with a reduced risk of being obese among children of Asian mothers. In addition, children of bilingual Hispanic mothers also had lower BMI z-scores than those of home-language Hispanic mothers. The findings of this study suggest that programs to promote the healthy development of young children in immigrant families may need to be tailored to different ethnic groups and levels of maternal acculturation.
International Economic Law

OVERVIEW In the wake of the global economic turmoil of 1997–98, the Clinton administration aggressively pursued the use of international financial institutions as a means of stabilizing the turmoil and preventing its recurrence. By contrast, the Bush administration initially downplayed the use of international financial institutions as a means of effectively addressing global economic crises. Both administrations, however, maintained a firm commitment to the development of international trade law and its enforcement. With respect to bilateral trade, the United States sought to tear down foreign trade barriers through a combination of negotiating new bilateral trade agreements and the imposition of economic sanctions, and began the first steps of lifting certain longstanding sanctions against Cuba and Iran. At the same time, the United States pressed forward with the development of its bilateral investment treaty (BIT) program, signing—and in many instances ratifying—BITs with several countries during 1999–2001. With respect to regional trade, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) remained a powerful source of rules governing trade and investment among the three NAFTA states. During 1999–2001, NAFTA survived constitutional challenges in U.S. courts and spawned various decisions clarifying NAFTA rules and standards, particularly as they related to investor–state disputes. In light of NAFTA's success, the United States promoted the idea of a “free trade area of the Americas” in the hope that an agreement could be reached by 2005.
The use of benzidine dihydrochloride for sulfate determinations : A direct conductometric titration method

Abstract Sulfate in small quantities may be determined by direct conductometric titration with standard benzidine dihydrochloride solution within a maximum error of less than one percent. Optimum conditions have been determined for the procedure.
Properties of interleukin-1 and interferon-gamma receptors in B lymphoid cell line.

Abstract We have previously shown that interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) induce surface IgM expression, stimulate Na+/H+ exchange, and activate protein kinase C in the murine pre-B lymphocyte cell line, 70Z/3. Because the two structurally different lymphokines induce similar effects, in this study we set out to compare the properties of the IL-1 and IFN-gamma surface receptors. In contrast to their similar cellular effects, we found that IL-1 alpha and IFN-gamma receptors have different properties. 70Z/3 have high (100 sites/cell) and low (900 sites/cell) affinity IL-1 receptors with dissociation constants (KD) 6 x 10(-11) and 10(-9) M, respectively. In contrast, IFN-gamma receptors are of one class with a KD of 3 x 10(-10) M and are at a higher number, 8000 sites/cell. After binding to their receptors both IL-1 alpha and IFN-gamma are internalized and intracellularly degraded, but the rate of internalization of IFN-gamma is greater than IL-1 alpha. The effective median concentrations (EC50) of IL-1 alpha- or IFN-gamma-induced surface IgM expression are similar (4-5 x 10(-12) M). However, at this concentration 10-fold more of IFN-gamma than IL-1 alpha molecules are bound per cell. Our studies indicate that structurally different lymphokines can induce similar biological events even though their signaling is mediated by surface receptors whose properties are different.
Infrared spectra of young stellar objects

We present models of the spectral energy distributions for an evolutionary sequence of young stellar objects, from protostars to pre-main-sequence stars. The protostellar theory, characterized by a central star and disk embedded within an infalling envelope of dust and gas, can explain the observed infrared spectra of embedded IRAS sources associated with molecular cloud cores. Next, we find that T Tauri stars with near- and mid-infrared excesses can be understood as young stars surrounded by nebular disks. The disks in T Tauri systems are found in two varieties: passive disks which have no intrinsic luminosity and merely intercept and re-radiate stellar photons, and active disks which have appreciable intrinsic luminosity. In addition, there is another class of objects in which a residual dust shell still surrounds the star and disk.
Acoustic Propagation in Continental Shelf Break and Slope Environments

Abstract : The long-term goal of the research is to increase the physical understanding of acoustic propagation in continental shelf and slope environments in the 25-5000 Hz band. This includes both the physics of the seabed and the coupling to physical mechanisms in the water column in complex range- and azimuth-dependent littoral waveguides. There were two main objectives of the current research. The first objective was to complete a final numerical implementation of a statistical inference approach based on a maximum entropy formalism. The second objective was to combine the waveguide parameter statistical inferences with geophysical data from the Shallow Water 2006 (SW06) experiment on the New Jersey continental shelf to model range-dependent acoustic data for the purpose of determining the bandwidth and range over which the effects of range-dependent inhomogenities in the sub bottom layering can be discerned.
The electrochemical and peroxidase-catalyzed redox chemistry of 9-β-D-ribofuranosyluric acid

Abstract The electrochemical oxidation of 9-β-D-ribofuranosyluric acid ( I ) at a pyrolytic graphite electrode proceeds via an initial 2 e reaction to give an unstable quinonoid intermediate. Nucleophilic attack by water on this intermediate leads to isomeric tertiary alcohol intermediates. The latter have been characterized by electrochemical reduction to a dihydro product which readily dehydrates to regenerate I . The tertiary alcohol intermediates can undergo a ring-opening reaction at pH≥6 to give a spectrally distinct and reversibly reducible pyrimidine derivatives(s) which slowly decompose to give alloxan or alloxanic acid and urea riboside. Alternatively, the tertiary alcohol can further hydrate to yield, ultimately, 5-hydroxyhydantoin-5-carboxamide-3-riboside or undergo a ring contraction reaction and hydrolysis leading to allantoin riboside. The peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation appears to follow essentially the same chemical pathway.