cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The seismicity of the 2009 Redoubt eruption

article Redoubt Volcano erupted in March 2009 following 6 months of precursory seismic activity. The 4.5-month- long eruptive sequence was accompanied by phreatic and magmatic explosions, periods of steady dome growth, lahars, seismic swarms, extended episodes of volcanic tremor and changes in the background seismicity rate. This study presents a seismic chronology of the eruption and places it in context with the variety of other geological and geophysical data that were recorded during the eruptive period. We highlight 6 notable seismic swarms, 3 of which preceded large explosions. The swarms varied from an hour to several days in duration, and contained tens to over 7000 earthquakes. Many of the swarms were dominated by low frequency type earthquakes that contained families of repeating events. Seismic tremor varied considerably in frequency, amplitude and duration during the eruption with distinct characteristics accompanying different types of volcanic activity. The explosion signals during March 23-24 were the most energetic, and the explosions on March 26-29 contained proportionally more low frequency energy (0.033-0.3 Hz). Two seismic stations were particularly well-suited to recording lahars that flowed down the Drift River valley. Data from these stations showed that lahars were generated by the majority of the explosion events, as well as during the continuous eruptive activity on March 29 when no large explosions occurred. We also examine the seismicity which occurred outside of the explosion and swarm episodes, and find several families of repeating VT earthquakes which begin shortly before the April 4 explosion and that continue
High efficiency electrical energy storage using a methane–oxygen solid oxide cell

Reversible solid oxide cells (SOCs) are potentially useful for electrical energy storage due to their good storage scalability, but have not been seriously considered due to concerns over round-trip efficiency. Here we propose an SOC storage chemistry where the fuel cycles between H2O–CO2-rich and CH4–H2-rich gases. The unique feature is the formation of CH4 during electrolysis, a less endothermic process than the usual H2- or CO-forming reactions, enabling improved efficiency. Thermodynamic calculations and preliminary experiments show that the CH4-rich storage chemistry is produced during SOC operation at reduced temperature (∼600 °C) and/or increased pressure (∼10 atm). Balance of plant storage system requirements are discussed briefly.
Toxoplasma gondii calcium-dependent protein kinase 1 is a target for selective kinase inhibitors.

New drugs are needed to treat toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasma gondii calcium-dependent protein kinases (TgCDPKs) are attractive targets because they are absent in mammals. We show that TgCDPK1 is inhibited by low nanomolar levels of bumped kinase inhibitors (BKIs), compounds designed to be inactive against mammalian kinases. Cocrystal structures of TgCDPK1 with BKIs confirm that the structural basis for selectivity is due to the unique glycine gatekeeper residue in the ATP-binding site at residue 128. We show that BKIs interfere with an early step in T. gondii infection of human cells in culture. Furthermore, we show that TgCDPK1 is the in vivo target of BKIs because T. gondii cells expressing a glycine to methionine gatekeeper mutant enzyme show significantly decreased sensitivity to this class of selective kinase inhibitors. Thus, design of selective TgCDPK1 inhibitors with low host toxicity may be achievable.
Weakly Atomic-Compact Relational Structures

A relational structure a1 is called weakly atomic-compact if and only if every set I of atomic formulas (taken from the first-order language of the similarity type of 2Z augmented by a possibly uncountable set of additional variables as "unknowns") is satisfiable in 21 whenever every finite subset of Z is so satisfiable. This notion (as well as some related ones which will be mentioned in ?4) was introduced by J. Mycielski as a generalization to model theory of I. Kaplansky's notion of an algebraically compact Abelian group (cf. [5], [7], [1], [8]). In this paper we seek necessary and sufficient conditions that a theory T have at least one weakly atomic-compact model. Our central theorem, (2.3), states that if T is complete and consistent, then T has such a model if and only if T satisfies the following closure condition: let p be a formula with v0 and v, as its only free variables and 3 and A as its only logical connectives; if every sentence
Neuromorphic CMOS circuitry for active bidirectional delay lines

Simple, robust CMOS circuitry for implementation of bidirectional analog pulse delay lines is presented. These nonlinear, active delay lines are able to propagate and regenerate an analog voltage pulse in either direction and exhibit electrical characteristics similar to axonal membrane and dendritic trees in biological neurons. The key characteristic of the bidirectional pulse generation components is the implementation of an inhibition or refractory period.
Comparison of Delayed Versus Immediate Pushing During Second Stage of Labor for Nulliparous Women With Epidural Anesthesia

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine if the use of delayed pushing after the onset of the second stage of labor decreases the time of active pushing and decreases maternal fatigue. Design: Randomized clinical trial. Setting: Labor and delivery unit of a not‐for‐profit community hospital. Patients/Participants: Convenience sample of nulliparous laboring women with epidural anesthesia. Interventions: Immediate or delayed pushing (2 hours) during the second stage of labor at the time of complete cervical dilatation. Main Outcome Measures: The length of pushing, total length of the second stage, and maternal fatigue. Results: A total of 77 women were studied (immediate pushing group=39; delayed pushing=38). The immediate pushing group averaged 94 (± 57) minutes in active pushing, while the delayed pushing group averaged 68 (± 46) minutes, a statistically significant difference (p=.04). No significant differences were found in fatigue scores between the immediate and delayed pushing groups (p>.05). Conclusions: We found that by delaying the onset of active pushing for 2 hours after the beginning of the second stage of labor, the time that nulliparous women with epidural anesthesia spent in active pushing was significantly decreased by 27%. Although the delayed pushing group rested for up to 2 hours, the total time in the second stage of labor averaged only 59 minutes longer than the immediate pushing group.
The technology and applications of selective oxidation of AlGaAs

Wet oxidation of AlGaAs alloys, pioneered at the University of Illinois a decade ago, recently has been used to fabricate high performance vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs). The superior properties of oxide-confined VCSELs has stimulated interest in understanding the fundamentals of wet oxidation. We briefly review the technology of selective oxidation of III-V alloys, including the oxide microstructure and oxidation processing as well as describe its application to selectively oxidized VCSELs.
High sensitivity PCG transducer for extended frequency applications

A transducer for improved detection of heart sounds in the high-frequency ranges (up to 2 kHz) is described. The transducer is a piezoelectric-type accelerometer which presents a low load to the chest wall, providing greater sensitivity at high frequencies as compared to several commercially available microphones. The transducer has good noise characteristics, has flexible design parameters, and is cost effective. The accelerometer has been used for acquisition of low-level diastolic heart sounds in the detection of coronary artery disease. Successful preliminary results indicate the usefulness of this transducer for other high-frequency applications in phonocardiography. >
Leaning on Myself

I have a life-long history of depression and anxiety. My childhood pictures and relatives’ memories of my Massachusetts upbringing all attest to this fact. In adolescence the process ofbecoming ill seemed to quicken. In my last year of high school, when I was suicidal and incapable of doing anything, my school arranged for therapy at a local family service agency. I continued with this therapy through college. When I transferred to a state university, it became, in my mind, necessary to act on some career strategy, so I was constantly but unsuccessfully changing majors. I broke down just before my 22nd birthday. I developed a very distinct mask and was examined by a psychiatrist. He told me it was appropriate that I go to a private hospital. When I mentioned that I had neglected to pay my nominal student insurance fee and my father had dropped my coverage, he decided I could be treated as an outpatient at my local community mental health center.
Modeling and control of the monopedal robot Thumper

A hybrid controller that induces stable running gaits on a monopedal robot is developed. The robot features a rigid leg with a revolute knee and a heavy torso with center of mass located far from the hip. The torso houses a novel powertrain that provides series compliance in the compression direction of the leg. The proposed control law is developed within the hybrid zero dynamics framework and it acts on two levels. On the first level, continuous within-stride control asymptotically imposes (virtual) holonomic constraints reducing the dynamics of the robot to a lower-dimensional hybrid subsystem. On the second level, event-based control stabilizes the resulting hybrid subsystem. The controller achieves the dual objectives of working harmoniously with the system's natural dynamics and inducing provably exponentially stable running motions, while all relevant physical constraints are respected.
The role of developmental psychobiology in the unification of psychology.

The interdisciplinary nature of Developmental Psychobiology (DPB) means that it already unifies many perspectives in psychology. DPB explanations of the development of both individual differences and species-typical behaviors include information from cells, tissue, organ systems, family, societal groups, and sociocultural customs to explain the development of both “normal” and “abnormal” behavioral traits. DPB also contextualizes understanding of the developmental processes governing the manifestation of a behavioral trait with understanding of the adaptive functions and phylogenetic history of that trait. Thus, DPB links clinical, cognitive, social, and developmental psychology with physiology, molecular biology, evolution, ecology, and developmental biology to create explanations that are relevant for education, public health, and medicine.
Quantification of Lead in Telephone Cord: Use of X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Technique

There have been historic concerns that lead has existed as a plasticizer in telephone lines, causing health hazards, especially for children, who frequently mouth, chew, and swallow non-food items. The acid environment of the mouth may leach lead from the surface into the saliva under non-destructive conditions. Thus, distinguishing the amount of lead in the surface versus the inside of the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material covering the phone cord line is very important in assessing health hazards. Using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), we measured lead in the PVC covers of telephone cords that connect the handheld part of the phone to the base. Lead was detected in both the inner and outer surface of an older (approximately 12 years) cord (1.3 atomic percent in inner surface; 0.4 atomic percent in the outer surface). However, when we tested four popular brands of newer cords (currently available in the market), there was no detectable lead. This study demonstrates that XPS is a useful technique th...
The Imperial Coronation of 1819: Awadh, the British and the Mughals

The interaction among the expanding British, the regional rulers of the Gangetic plain, and Mughal Emperors stands central to Indian history during the first half of the nineteenth century. Each of these three groups determined to advance its own political and cultural values in the face of the conflicting expectations and assumptions of the other two. The English East India Company regarded itself as under the authority of the British Parliament and the sovereignty of the British crown. At the same time, the Company continued nominally to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Mughal Emperor, at least in India. The various regional rulers of north India, most prominently the rulers of the province of Awadh, acted and apparently perceived themselves as de facto independent of the Mughals while also symbolically submitted to Mughal sovereignty. The Mughal Emperors, whose power to command armies had faded to nothingness during the last half of the eighteenth century, continued to pretend to absolute sovereignty over virtually all of India until 1858. Each of these three groups wished to see the 1819 imperial coronation by the Awadh ruler as an overt proof of their own cultural values and of their understanding of their relationships to the others.
Unified methodology for resolving power-performance tradeoffs at the microarchitectural and circuit levels

Evaluation of architectural tradeoffs is complicated by implications in the circuit domain which are typically not captured in the analysis but substantially affect the results. We propose a metric of hardware intensity (/spl eta/), which is useful for evaluating issues that affect both circuits and architecture. Analyzing data for actual designs we show how to measure the introduced parameters and discuss variations between observed results and common theoretical assumptions. For a power-efficient design we derive relations for /spl eta/ and supply voltage V under progressively more general situations, and incorporate /spl eta/ into a prior art architectural energy-efficiency criterion. Then, a more general relation is derived for the optimal balance between the architectural complexity, hardware intensity and power supply. Modified forms for these relations are obtained in special cases where the supply voltage is constrained or when clock gating is disallowed.
Teacher capacity for and beliefs about data-driven decision making: A literature review of international research

Data-driven decision making continues to be a growing educational reform initiative across the globe. The effective use of data requires that teachers develop the knowledge and skills to analyze and use data to improve instruction. The purpose of this article is to examine teachers’ capacity for and beliefs about data use. These issues are examined through a review of research in the past decade. We find that teachers’ beliefs about and capacity for data use are often not connected within the literature or in practice, but we argue they are the heart of the connection between data and instructional change. Teachers’ capacity to use data and their beliefs about data use are shaped within their professional communities, in training sessions, and in their interactions with coaches, consultants, and principals. However, efforts to develop teachers’ capacity for data use often fall short of their goals. Correspondingly, teachers have varied beliefs about data use, and some feel they lack the ability to use data to inform instruction. In order to be more successful, capacity building should directly address teachers’ beliefs, and data use must be decoupled from external accountability demands and involve a variety of information on student learning.
Occupational Toxicology and Occupational Hygiene Aspects of Organophosphate and Carbamate Anticholinesterases with Particular Reference to Pesticides

Publisher Summary Organophosphates (OPs) and carbamates (CMs) may have a wide spectrum of potential occupational toxicity, and hence, the necessary protective and precautionary measures dictated by occupational hygiene considerations may be extensive and vary for differing chemical groups. The most geographically extensive and quantitatively greatest application of OPs and CMs is as pesticides used in agriculture, horticulture, public health protection, and domestically. OP and CM anticholinesterases (anti-ChEs) have a wide spectrum of applications that includes pesticides in agriculture and horticulture, insecticides in domestic and public health applications, use in general commerce, use in therapeutic medicine, and as chemical warfare and terrorist agents. During normal civilian use, and when handled correctly with the appropriate recommended protective and precautionary measures, they can be used safely. However, because of their widespread and sometimes uncontrolled usage, there is a potential for misuse. Also, because of the high biological activity of many OPs and CMs, the likelihood of adverse effects occurring from accidental, and sometimes deliberate, exposure is high. Although the principal mechanism of action that underlies the practical use of OPs and CMs, namely inhibition of the cholinesterase group of enzymes, is also responsible for some of their known human toxicity, because of the wide range of chemical structures involved, the potential for numerous and differing toxic effects that are mediated by other mechanisms also exists (e.g., inflammation, immunotoxicity, myopathy, genetic toxicity, oncogenicity, and developmental and reproductive toxicity).
Superconducting circuit simulator of Bose-Hubbard model with a flat band

Recent advance in quantum simulations of interacting photons using superconducting circuits offers opportunities for investigating the Bose-Hubbard model in various geometries with hopping coefficients and self-interactions tuned to both signs. Here we investigate phenomena related to localized states associated with a flat band supported by the sawtooth geometry. A localization-delocalization transition emerges in the noninteracting regime as the sign of hopping coefficient is changed. In the presence of interactions, patterns of localized states approach a uniform density distribution for repulsive interactions while interesting localized density patterns can arise in a strongly attractive regime. The density patterns indicate the underlying inhomogeneity of the simulator. Two-particle correlations can further distinguish the nature of the localized states in attractive and repulsive interaction regimes. We also survey possible experimental implementations of the simulator.
Pion–nucleon correlations in finite nuclei in a relativistic framework: Effects on the shell structure

Abstract The relativistic particle-vibration coupling (RPVC) model is extended by the inclusion of isospin-flip excitation modes into the phonon space, introducing a new mechanism of dynamical interaction between nucleons with different isospin in the nuclear medium. Protons and neutrons exchange by collective modes which are formed by isovector π and ρ-mesons, in turn, softened considerably because of coupling to nucleons of the medium. These modes are investigated within the proton–neutron relativistic random phase approximation (pn-RRPA) and relativistic proton–neutron time blocking approximation (pn-RTBA). The appearance of isospin-flip states with sizable transition probabilities at low energies points out that they are likely to couple to the single-particle degrees of freedom and, in addition to isoscalar low-lying phonons, to modify their spectroscopic characteristics. Such a coupling is quantified for the shell structure of 100,132Sn and found significant for the location of the dominant single-particle states.
Environmental Monitoring Network for Pest Management Systems

A network is described which will provide real-time information for agricultural pest management systems. Its initial function is to provide critical information concerning biological interactions related to economic pest problems. The principal shortterm objectives of the network are to: provide a data base from which system modeling can continue; provide environmental information for the purpose of controlling growth chambers; provide a means of synchronizing various components of existing models (plants, pests, parasites etc); predict field events and alert biologists as to the timing of critical biological measurements. The long-term use of network will be to verify predictive models and to provide a time-temperature base for sensing the state of the pest system.
Thin Film Stress in Metal/Ceramic Microlaminates

Al/SiC multilayer microlaminates grown by sequential deposition of sputtered Al and SiC layers were used as a model system to study stress and mechanical properties of metal-matrix composites. The average stress in as-deposited and annealed microlaminates was determined as a function of laminate geometry. Film stress tends to approach constant values for increasing Al layer thickness, large numbers of bilayers, and high layer densities. Microlaminates with thin Al and SiC layers showed purely elastic deformation in σ -T tests to 400°C. Even though the total measured film stress in a microlaminate geometry exhibited deviations from a simple rule of mixtures, the rate of change of stress with temperature in a microlaminate in the elastic region equals the sum of the slopes obtained separately from each of the individual layers.
Skull Dimensions of the Great Plains Muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus cinnamominus

The importance of cranial measurements is due primarily to their use by taxonomists to distinguish species and in some cases subspecies. The dangers of placing too great an emphasis on the taxonomic importance of cranial measurements were pointed out by Allen (1894). Tryon (1951) says that his studies indicate the need for careful evaluation and perhaps revaluation of the use of skull measurements at the subspecific level. Hollister (1910) in his description of Ondatra zibethicus cinnamominus gives a few of the cranial measurements of the type specimen and the averages of measurements of five skulls of adults from the type locality. These measurements are repeated by Hollister in his “Systematic Synopsis of the Muskrats” (1911). Latimer and Riley (1934) reported on the cranial dimensions of 124 specimens of this subspecies collected in Kansas. Insofar as can be determined, there are no published reports on skull dimensions of known-age animals for any of the muskrat subspecies. All of the skulls reported on here were collected from lakes within the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge which is located in north central Nebraska. These skulls are of known age. The majority of them are from animals that were tagged during the summer months and harvested during the winter trapping period. Females that had borne more than one litter, as evidenced by placental scar counts, were undoubtedly adult females, and hence are included in the knownage adult female group. These skull dimensions are presented primarily to furnish information relative to the variation in skull measurements associated with differences in age and sex of this particular subspecies. The dimensions were taken with a vernier caliper reading to one-tenth of a millimeter. Eight different dimensions of the skull were taken. The points of reference for taking these dimensions are as follows: 1. Total skull length —anterior surface …
Efficient Production of Alkanolamides from Microalgae

Fatty acid alkanolamides (FAAA) are lipid derivatives with industrial applications as biosurfactants and biolubricants. Although conventionally produced from vegetable oils, use of alternative renewable sources that do not compete with the food supply chain, such as microalgae, is desirable. We studied the production of FAAA through direct in situ amidation of algal biomass or by amidation of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) recovered from in situ transesterification of algae. In situ transesterification resulted in spontaneous formation of a distinct FAME phase, which could be easily recovered and converted to FAAA. With this two-step transesterification-followed-by-amidation method, >95% of algal lipids were recovered as FAAA products. In situ amidation did not result in a separate product phase, likely because of the amphiphilic nature of the product. However, extraction with ethyl acetate allowed recovery of nearly 90% of the biomass lipids as FAAA after in situ amidation.
Batch-mode active learning via error bound minimization

Active learning has been proven to be quite effective in reducing the human labeling efforts by actively selecting the most informative examples to label. In this paper, we present a batch-mode active learning method based on logistic regression. Our key motivation is an out-of-sample bound on the estimation error of class distribution in logistic regression conditioned on any fixed training sample. It is different from a typical PAC-style passive learning error bound, that relies on the i.i.d. assumption of example-label pairs. In addition, it does not contain the class labels of the training sample. Therefore, it can be immediately used to design an active learning algorithm by minimizing this bound iteratively. We also discuss the connections between the proposed method and some existing active learning approaches. Experiments on benchmark UCI datasets and text datasets demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art active learning methods significantly.
The Theory and Theoretical Propositions

The discussions of the structure, interaction, and action aspects of social capital described in the previous three chapters have laid the groundwork for specifying propositions to guide research. This chapter will summarize the major principles presented so far and will then present the theory's principal propositions. The Theory of Social Capital The theory of social capital focuses on the resources embedded in one's social network and how access to and use of such resources benefit the individual's actions. Resources are defined as valued goods in a society, however consensually determined, the possession of which maintains and promotes an individual's self-interest for survival and preservation. The values are normative judgments rendered on these goods. For most societies, they correspond to wealth, reputation, and power. The theory focuses on those actions that are taken for the purpose of either maintaining or gaining valued resources. Resources can be either ascribed or acquired. Ascribed resources are those one is born with, such as gender and race. Other resources are prescribed by inheritance, such as caste and sometimes religion, and may include parental resources. Resources can also be acquired, such as education, or prestigious or authoritative jobs. When resources are being invested for expected returns in the marketplace, they become social capital.
Survival of Salmonella in Cheddar Cheese

Salmonella newport, S. new-brunswick, and S. infantis were singly added to Cheddar cheese milk to evaluate the behavior of Salmonella in Cheddar cheese made from the milk and to obtain survival times when cheese was stored at different temperatures. Of a total of 48 lots of cheese inoculated with Salmonella, detectable numbers of these pathogens appeared in 16 samples aged at 4.5 C for 9 months and from six samples stored at 10 C. The information obtained under the conditions of this study indicates that these enteropathogenic microorganisms when initially present in large numbers in milk can survive for extended storage periods in Cheddar cheese of high pH made from the milk.
Increased frequencies of CD8+CD57+ T cells are associated with antibody neutralization breadth against HIV in viraemic controllers.

Introduction : An effective prophylactic vaccine against HIV will need to elicit antibody responses capable of recognizing and neutralizing rapidly evolving antigenic regions. The immunologic milieu associated with development of neutralizing antibody breadth remains to be fully defined. In this study, we sought to identify immunological signatures associated with neutralization breadth in HIV controllers. We applied an immune monitoring approach to analyze markers of T cell and myeloid cell activation by flow cytometry, comparing broad neutralizers with low- and non-neutralizers using multivariate and univariate analyses. Methods : Antibody neutralization breadth was determined, and cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stained for T cell and myeloid cell activation markers. Subjects were grouped according to neutralization breadth, and T cell and myeloid cell activation was analyzed by partial least squares discriminant analysis to determine immune signatures associated with high neutralization breadth. Results : We show that neutralization breadth in HIV viraemic controllers (VC) was strongly associated with increased frequencies of CD8 + CD57 + T cells and that this association was independent of viral load, CD4 count and time since HIV diagnosis. Conclusions : Our data show elevated frequencies of CD8 + CD57 + T cells in VC who develop neutralization breadth against HIV. This immune signature could serve as a potential biomarker of neutralization breadth and should be further investigated in other HIV-positive cohorts and in HIV vaccine trials. Keywords: HIV; broadly neutralizing antibody; T cells; immune monitoring; biomarker; immune signature; viral load. (Published: 9 December 2016) To access the supplementary material to this article please see Supplementary Files in the column to the right (under Article Tools). Citation: Palmer CD et al. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2016, 19 :21136 http://www.jiasociety.org/index.php/jias/article/view/21136 | http://dx.doi.org/10.7448/IAS.19.1.21136
Once-weekly administration of a long-acting fibroblast growth factor 21 analogue modulates lipids, bone turnover markers, blood pressure and body weight differently in obese people with hypertriglyceridaemia and in non-human primates.

Aims To assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of PF-05231023, a long-acting FGF21 analogue, in obese, hypertriglyceridemic subjects on atorvastatin with or without type 2 diabetes. Methods Subjects received PF-05231023 or placebo intravenously once-weekly for 4 weeks. Safety (12-lead electrocardiogram [ECGs], vital signs, adverse events [AEs], laboratory tests) and longitudinal weight assessments were performed. Blood samples were collected for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analyses. Cardiovascular safety studies were also conducted in telemetered rats and monkeys. Blood pressure (mean, systolic, and diastolic) and ECGs were monitored. Results One hundred and seven (107) subjects were randomised. PF-05231023 significantly decreased mean placebo-adjusted fasting triglycerides (day 25, 33–43%) and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (day 25, 15.7–28.6%) and adiponectin (day 25, 1574–3272 ng/ml) across all doses, without significant changes in body weight (day 25, −0.45 to −1.21%). Modest decreases from baseline were observed for N-terminal propeptides of type 1 collagen at day 25, although C-telopeptide cross-linking of type 1 collagen increased minimally. Systolic, diastolic blood pressure, and pulse rate increased in a dose- and time-related manner. There were five serious AEs (one treatment-related) and no deaths. Three subjects discontinued due to AEs. The majority of AEs were gastrointestinal. PF-05231023 increased blood pressure and heart rate in rats, but not in monkeys. Conclusions Once-weekly PF-05231023 lowered triglycerides markedly in the absence of weight loss, with modest changes in markers of bone homeostasis. This is the first report demonstrating increases in blood pressure and pulse rate in humans and rats upon pharmacological administration of a long-acting FGF21 molecule. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01673178
Visual Detection Process for Electrooptical Images: Man—The Final Stage of an Electrooptical Imaging System

The past decade has seen the development of a variety of electrooptical imaging sensors. These imaging devices are capable of sensing radiation in both the visible and infrared portions of the spectrum and of being capable at very low illumination levels. A great deal of inventiveness has gone into their design and fabrication. Unfortunately, all too often the performance potential engineered into these imaging devices is not realized in operation. The capabilities of the man who uses the pictorial information have not been taken into account.
Aortic obstructions in infants and children: Pathophysiology and clinical presentation of interrupted aortic arch

Abstract Interrupted aortic arch is an uncommon form of congenital heart disease in which there is almost always an associated ventricular septal defect or aorticopulmonary window. There may also be other cardiac abnormalities or DiGeorge anomaly. Presentation usually occurs as the ductus closes and is related to decreased perfusion to the lower body, left-to-right shunting, and increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressures. Diagnosis can generally be made by echocardiography, but catheterization may provide additional helpful data. Temporary palliation may be achieved with prostaglandin E1 infusion to maintain ductal patency, but urgent operation is required. Long-term results are good after repair of the arch and associated defects, but subaortic stenosis or restenosis at the site of the arch repair may occur.
Surface corrections for peridynamic models in elasticity and fracture

Peridynamic models are derived by assuming that a material point is located in the bulk. Near a surface or boundary, material points do not have a full non-local neighborhood. This leads to effective material properties near the surface of a peridynamic model to be slightly different from those in the bulk. A number of methods/algorithms have been proposed recently for correcting this peridynamic surface effect. In this study, we investigate the efficacy and computational cost of peridynamic surface correction methods for elasticity and fracture. We provide practical suggestions for reducing the peridynamic surface effect.
Two stage residential energy management under distribution locational marginal pricing

Abstract This paper proposes a new optimization model for Smart Home Management Systems (SHMS) in order to increase the profits of Load Serve Entities (LSEs) and customers from technical and financial points of view. In the recent decades, performing Demand Response (DR) is one of the most efficient ways to improve the performance of power distribution systems in terms of power loss, and investment costs. The LSEs can implements some strategies like offering incentives to customers to change their consumption pattern with the aim of reducing power loss, improving asset management and increasing the profits. On the other hand, the end users can participate in DR programs to decrease electricity bills and earn monetary incentives from LSEs proportionate to their contributions to the energy loss reduction. In this paper, Distribution Locational Marginal Price (DLMP) instead of time-based pricing mechanism is applied to bill the customers. In the proposed strategy, the energy bill of customers and power loss of the system are simultaneously decreased. For dealing with uncertainties, stochastic variables computation module is designed which generates several scenarios by Monte Carlo simulation at each hour. The operation of household resources and appliances are optimized through a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP), which has a two-stage stochastic model. The results explicitly show benefits of the proposed stochastic model since it provides accuracy in scheduling and decreases the operation cost. Besides, the superiority of DLMP and the proposed method over existing pricing mechanism is demonstrated.
Language and reality in Gian Mario Villalta’s neodialect poetry

This article investigates the relationship between the Italian questione della lingua and Gian Mario Villalta’s neodialect poetry. It emphasizes how Villalta’s poetic dialect engages the conflictin...
Discipline and Development: An Introduction to Middle Classes, Discipline, and Development

The Middle Classes and Economic Growth One of the most commonly held assumptions in the field of development is that middle classes are the bounty of economic modernization and growth. As countries gradually transcend their agrarian past and become urbanized and industrialized, so the logic goes, middle classes emerge and gain in number, complexity, cultural influence, social prominence, and political authority. Yet this is only half the story. Middle classes shape industrial and economic development, rather than being merely its product; and the particular ways in which middle classes shape themselves – and the ways historical conditions shape them – influence development trajectories in multiple ways. This is especially true in late industrializers. Whether they choose rapid and successful export-oriented industrialization (EOI) grounded in an integrated and robust sectoral development based on strong forward and backward linkages, or whether they remain overly wedded to industrial policies that protect import-substitution activities (ISI) and reinforce sectoral imbalances and a disarticulated domestic economy careening from one economic crisis to the next, will depend on the alliances, character, composition, and political sway of their middle classes, both rural and urban, and the extent to which these forces and conditions engender strong state disciplining of capitalists and laborers in the service of national development. This claim rests on several interrelated premises, themselves built on a definitional understanding of middle classes as comprised of three basic occupational categories: 1) salaried employees in commerce, services, industry, and the professions, as well as those employed by the state; 2) self-employed artisans, craftsmen, and other independent rural and urban-based producers, who in developing countries are frequently called petty commodity producers (or yeomen farmers in the rural sector); and 3) owners and operators of small enterprises , including family firms, in service, industry, and agriculture.
Issues in Interpersonal Competence Research

The purpose of this chapter is to review some critical issues relevant to the study of interpersonal competence. These issues reflect points of controversy and difficulty among those interested in researching interpersonal competence. Our goal is not to provide definitive positions on the issues. Instead, we will simply highlight what some of these issues are. The issues are conceptual as well as methodological in nature. We believe that researchers must attend to these issues in order to maximize the validity and coherence of interpersonal competence research. The issues we will review include the following: (1) Is interpersonal competence a trait or a state? What are the implications of conceptualizing competence as dispositional or situational? (2) Should interpersonal competence be assessed through self-report, partner report, or third-party behavioral observation? (3) What is the difference between personal and relational competence? How can the dyad be incorporated as the unit of analysis in order to capture relational competence? We will also briefly comment on some neglected measurement issues.
The Role of Physical Modeling in the Mathematical Modeling of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is an estuary located at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Its roughly triangular shape is defined by the principal tributary rivers flowing in at two corners of the triangle and out at the third corner towards San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. A map of the Delta is shown in Figure 1. The delta, which includes over 700,000 acres (283,290 hectares) of land interlaced with approximately 700 miles (1130 kilometers) of meandering waterways, originally consisted of swampland covered primarily with tules, willows, and cottonwoods. During the past century, the lands have been reclaimed for agricultural use by the construction of levees to form approximately 50 islands and tracts. In addition to providing water for agricultural purposes, the Delta channels support municipal and industrial demands, commercial navigation, recreation, and provide spawning, nursery and/or habitat areas for a variety of anadromous and freshwater fish.
Prognostic evaluation of perinephric fat, renal sinus fat, and renal vein invasion for patients with pathological stage T3a clear‐cell renal cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prognostic significance of various patterns of extrarenal extension that comprise pathological stage T3a clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) amongst patients undergoing nephrectomy for non-metastatic disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective review of 563 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy for pathologically confirmed T3aN0/NxM0 ccRCC between 1970 and 2011 was performed. All pathological slides were re-reviewed by one urological pathologist. Associations of patterns of extrarenal extension (perinephric fat [PF], renal sinus fat [SF], and renal vein [RV], in isolation or in any combination) with disease progression, cancer-specific mortality (CSM), and all-cause mortality were evaluated on multivariable analyses. RESULTS Overall, PF invasion, renal SF invasion, and RV tumour thrombus were present in 144 (26%), 51 (9%), and 163 (29%) patients, respectively, with multiple patterns of extrarenal extension identified in 205 (36%) patients. There were no significant differences in survival outcomes for isolated involvement of PF, renal SF, or RV. However, patients with multiple patterns of extrarenal extension were at significantly increased risk of disease progression (hazard ratio [HR] 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-1.65; P = 0.020), CSM (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.27-2.12; P < 0.001), and all-cause mortality (HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.08-1.61; P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS The presence of multiple patterns of extrarenal extension is associated with a higher risk of disease progression and cancer-related death after radical nephrectomy compared to isolated involvement of the PF, renal SF, or RV, which carry similar prognostic weight. If validated, these findings may help refine risk stratification of non-metastatic T3a RCC by distinguishing patients with multiple vs one pattern of extrarenal extension.
Perioperative Management in Infants and Children

Pediatric patients will arrive and require some level of evaluation and treatment regardless of whether they receive definitive care or are transferred. The basic priorities of initial resuscitation remain the same: Airway, breathing, and circulation. Attention to these priorities and early stabilization will lead to better overall outcomes if proper steps are taken when the child is first seen and not delayed until after transfer to a referral hospital. Signs that an infant has respiratory distress can be subtle but demand the administration of supplemental oxygen and transfer to a higher level of care. Emergence from anesthesia may be unpredictable because of the larger proportion of cardiac output that goes to the infant brain, the relative immaturity of the blood–brain barrier, differences in volumes of distribution for inhalational anesthetics, and different uptake in fat stores in the infant body.
Identifying Predictive Factors of Pediatric Septic Arthritis of the Knee in a Lyme Endemic Area.

Background Septic arthritis of the knee in the pediatric patient is a diagnosis that requires prompt identification and treatment. The purpose of this study was to identify clinical and laboratory parameters that allow differential diagnosis of septic arthritis from non-septic arthritis in children. Methods Fifty-four pediatric patients with atraumatic isolated knee pain were retrospectively identified at three institutions and diagnosed with septic arthritis (SA, N = 28), Lyme arthritis (LA, N = 11), or transient synovitis (TS, N = 15). Clinical and laboratory data were analyzed to identify which factors were most predictive of SA of the knee. Results Fever at time of presentation, a negative anti-streptolysin-O (ASO), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) > 40 mm/hr, and C-reactive protein (CRP) > 20 mg/L were the most predictive factors for distinguishing between septic arthritis (SA) and non-septic arthritis (transient synovitis or Lyme arthritis). Elevated ESR and CRP were both significantly higher in patients with SA when compared to TS or LA. Conclusion When evaluating children with atraumatic isolated knee pain, a combination of the above factors should be utilized when ruling out septic arthritis.
Cholesterol-Dependent Bending Energy Is Important in Cholesterol Distribution of the Plasma Membrane.

Abstract We consider the plasma membrane that contains a cholesterol molar fraction of 0.4 and ask how that cholesterol is distributed between the two leaves. Because of the rapid flip-flop of cholesterol between leaves, we assume that its distribution is determined by the equality of its chemical potentials in the two leaves. When we consider only the contributions of entropy and interactions to the cholesterol chemical potential in our model system, we find, not surprisingly, that the cholesterol is mostly in the outer leaf because of the strong attraction between cholesterol and sphingomyelin (SM), which is predominantly in that leaf. We find 72% there. We then include the contribution from the bending energy in each leaf that must be overcome to join the leaves in a flat bilayer. The product of bending modulus and spontaneous curvature is obtained from simulation. We find that the addition of cholesterol to the outer leaf reduces the spontaneous curvature, which is initially positive, until it passes through zero when the molar fraction of cholesterol in the outer leaf is 0.28. Additional cholesterol is driven toward the inner leaf by the sphingomyelin phosphatidylcholine mixture. This is resisted by the bending energy contribution to the inner leaf. We find, again by simulation, that the addition of cholesterol monotonically increases the magnitude of the spontaneous curvature of the inner leaf, which is negative. This increases its bending energy. We conclude that, as a result of these competing effects, the percentage of cholesterol in the outer leaf is reduced to ∼63 ± 6%.
Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd: implications of the supreme court's decision for the people who matter most...the consumer.

Sales of brand and generic pharmaceuticals in the United States reached 800 million. For every 10,000 compounds investigated, only five are ever tested as potential medicines in clinical trials and only one is ever approved for patient use. Of all the drugs approved by the FDA, only three out of ten generate revenues that meet or exceed average research and development costs.
Correlating labeling chemistry and in-vitro test results with the biological behavior of radiolabeled proteins.

A study of the effect of various rediochemical labeling parameters on the in-vivo behavior of proteins, in particular of monoclonal antibodies, was carried out. Both radioiodination, and radiometal...
Rapamycin as a Novel Therapeutic for Alzheimer's Disease: Prevention Assessed Through Neuroimaging

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Although AD research is bustling, a concrete and effective treatment has yet to be discovered. This study aimed to...
A chasmataspidid affinity for the putative xiphosuran Kiaeria Størmer, 1934

The putative xiphosuran Kiaeria Stormer, 1934, from the Late Silurian (Ludlow) of Ringerike, Norway, is redescribed from the holotype and only known specimen as a chasmataspidid chelicerate arthropod. Morphological features such as the presence of a fused buckler of three opisthosomal segments clearly indicate a chasmataspidid affinity, while the size of Kiaeria, along with the occurrence of a raised axial region and expanded anterior articulation, suggest a close phylogenetic relationship to the Ordovician Chasmataspis. As such, Kiaeria represents the first indication that the Chasmataspis-type chasmataspidid morphology persisted alongside the radiation of diploaspidids. This is also only the third chasmataspidid species recorded from the Silurian.