cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Growth inhibition and deposition prevention of sulfide scales using dispersants

Abstract Although sulfide scales of FeS, PbS, and ZnS do not occur as frequently as carbonate and sulfate scales, it is difficult to remove them once they are formed and deposited. Effective prevention and remediation of sulfide scales have not been fully developed. For sulfide scales, the conventional threshold inhibition approach is not as effective as for carbonate and sulfate scales, presumably, due to strong ion pairs formation of FeS0 and fast precipitation kinetics of FeSs. Polyacrylamide (PAM), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were examined as dispersants for sulfide scales to prevent and mitigate sulfide scale deposition through controlling the particle sizes of FeS, PbS and ZnS. PAM, PVP, and CMC dispersed FeS particles more effectively at pH 6.7 than 5.0 and temperature 70 °C than 90 °C. PAM and CMC successfully dispersed FeS particles even in extremely high ionic strength (I) of 4.6 M, while, PVP, slightly less effective, up to I = 2.6 M. At pH 5.0 and 90 °C, CMC was able to disperse FeS particles up to I = 1.3 M and PVP up to I = 0.6 M. In contrast, PAM could not disperse FeS particles at all. When FeS particles were dispersed in the presence of polymeric dispersants, FeS particle sizes remained in nanometer ranges, from 100 to 600 nm. Our results demonstrated that CMC was the best dispersant for FeS particles among the three polymers we tested. For CMC, the larger molecular weight and the lower degree of substitution of carboxylic groups on cellulose, the more effective dispersant CMC became. PbS and ZnS were also well dispersed in the presence of CMC. Almost all fraction of PbS particles was smaller than 200 nm, while about 60% of ZnS particles were smaller than 200 nm. Results demonstrated that the promising treatment selection of CMC as a universal dispersant for sulfide scales.
A Survey of Primary Care Practices on Their Use of the Intensive Behavioral Therapy for Obese Medicare Patients.

To fill the gap in knowledge on systematic differences between primary care practices (PCP) that do or do not provide intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) for obese Medicare patients. A mixed modality survey (paper and online) of primary care practices obtained from a random sample of Medicare databases and a convenience sample of practice-based research network practices. A total of 287 practices responded to the survey, including 140 (7.4% response rate) from the random sample and 147 (response rate not estimable) from the convenience sample. We found differences between the IBT-using and non-using practices in practice ownership, patient populations, and participation in Accountable Care Organizations. The non-IBT-using practices, though not billing for IBT, did offer some other assistance with obesity for their patients. Among those who had billed for IBT, but stopped billing, the most commonly cited reason was billing difficulties. Many providers experienced denied claims due to billing complexities. Although the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services established payment codes for PCPs to deliver IBT for obesity in 2011, very few providers submitted fee-for-service claims for these services after almost 10 years. A survey completed by both a random and convenience sample of practices using and not using IBT for obesity payment codes revealed that billing for these services was problematic, and many providers that began using the codes discontinued using them over the past 7 years.
COVID-19 induced immune thrombocytopenic purpura: case report

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune state of decreased platelets caused by antibody or T-cell mediated destruction of platelets through the reticuloendothelial system and impairment of their production. Symptoms of ITP include bleeding usually from nose or gums, easy bruising, petechiae commonly of lower extremities, menorrhagia, hematuria, hematemesis, hematochezia and most dreadful, intra cranial hemorrhage. Molecular mimicry between viral antigens and host platelet antigens forming cross-reactive anti-platelet autoantibodies may lead to increased platelet clearance in ITP associated with viral infections. One of the many viruses associated with this is the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It has caused a devastating pandemic. It can activate innate and adaptive immune responses. It has numerous signs and symptoms including but not limited to dyspnea, fever, cough, fatigue, myalgias, loss of taste and smell. It leads to diseases such as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, thrombosis and cardiomyopathy. Hematologic manifestations include thrombocytopenia and more commonly lymphopenia. Treatment includes steroids, immune globulin, romiplostim, eltrombopag, rituximab or splenectomy. Contact sports should be avoided due to risk of intra cranial bleeding with head impact. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and aspirin should be used with caution since they impair platelet function. We discuss a patient with COVID-19 who developed thrombocytopenia thought to be due to ITP. Not much is known about the association between the two. It is important to keep this differential in mind when taking care of patients with COVID-19 who develop thrombocytopenia.
Breaking the feedback loop of /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators

Although the topic of analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion should fundamentally be part of the signal processing area, paradoxically, very little signal theory has been devoted to it. One reason is that the main technique currently used in data acquisition, called /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulation, consists of coarse quantization with feedback. This prevents the normal resolution of the output of the system in terms of its input, contrary to the case of linear feedback systems. The paper introduces new tools to solve this problem and enable rigorous signal error analysis of /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators.
Trafficking of intra-graft T cells to recipients’ lymphoid organs after skin transplantation (TRAN3P.916)

The skin contains T lymphocytes including significant numbers of FoxP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). However, their role in skin transplantation is still unknown. In this study, we investigated the trafficking of intra-graft donor T cells to the recipient’s lymphoid organs after skin transplantation in mice. To test this C57BL/6 (B6) mice received a skin transplant from a double transgenic B6 donor whose T cells expressed DSred while FoxP3 expression was associated with GFP (Tregs being double positive). At different time points after transplantation, cell suspensions of recipients’ lymph nodes, spleen and thymus were prepared. The presence and characterization of fluorescent donor cells was investigated using imaging flow cytometry analysis. First, the presence of T cells (DSred+ FoxP3-) was detected only at d4-d7 post-transplantation i.e. after skin graft revascularization and essentially in the host’s thymus. On the other hand, double positive (DSred+ FoxP3+) Tregs were found in all recipient’s lymphoid organs. Surprisingly, high frequencies of single positive GFP+ cells were found in both ipsilateral lymph nodes and thymus. The nature of these cells is being investigated. In summary, our results show that most T cells leaving the graft are Tregs spreading through all recipient’s lymphoid organs while other intra-graft T cells migrate preferentially to the host’s thymus.
Proper symmetric and asymmetric endoplasmic reticulum partitioning requires astral microtubules

Mechanisms that regulate partitioning of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) during cell division are largely unknown. Previous studies have mostly addressed ER partitioning in cultured cells, which may not recapitulate physiological processes that are critical in developing, intact tissues. We have addressed this by analysing ER partitioning in asymmetrically dividing stem cells, in which precise segregation of cellular components is essential for proper development and tissue architecture. We show that in Drosophila neural stem cells, called neuroblasts, the ER asymmetrically partitioned to centrosomes early in mitosis. This correlated closely with the asymmetric nucleation of astral microtubules (MTs) by centrosomes, suggesting that astral MT association may be required for ER partitioning by centrosomes. Consistent with this, the ER also associated with astral MTs in meiotic Drosophila spermatocytes and during syncytial embryonic divisions. Disruption of centrosomes in each of these cell types led to improper ER partitioning, demonstrating the critical role for centrosomes and associated astral MTs in this process. Importantly, we show that the ER also associated with astral MTs in cultured human cells, suggesting that this centrosome/astral MT-based partitioning mechanism is conserved across animal species.
Correlation, Causation, And Smoking Initiation Among Youths

Expanded consideration of a variety of concepts and methods, from associative learning to econometrics, lends further support to the accumulated consensus that tobacco advertising plays a role, with other factors, in inducing young people to smoke. A point by point rebuttal of issues raised by both Reitter (JAR 43, 1 [2003]: 12—13) and Taylor and Bonner (this issue) makes the case that tobacco advertising is not an exception to the rule: advertising works and it works in part by building primary demand. On a broader, more paradigmatic note, the role of correlation and causation are discussed within a convergence or triangulation framework.
Zein−Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Conjugates

Stable cross-linked gels were synthesized by polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA) blended with a seed protein (zein) and 4,4‘-diazido-2,2‘-stilbenedisulfonic acid (DAS) in dimethyl sulfoxide following irradiation. Grafting of DAS−zein chains on polyNIPA backbone was proposed. The gels were shown to undergo discontinuous volume transition at around 32 °C corresponding to lower critical solution temperature of NIPA. The gel swelling was pH-sensitive. Sharp maximum on viscosity vs temperature plots was observed in suspensions of the gel particles at 32 °C due to interparticle network formation caused by hydrophobic interactions between polyNIPA domains.
Methanol conditioning for improved performance of formic acid fuel cells

Abstract This paper considers the effect of methanol pretreatment on the performance of a direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC). We find that conditioning of the cell in methanol results in a substantial increase in current. The current at 60 °C increases from 95 to 320 mA/cm 2 at 0.3 V. The maximum power density increases from 33 to 119 mW/cm 2 . The cell resistance decreases from 0.37 to 0.32 Ω cm 2 . CO stripping experiments show that the catalyst is not being greatly affected by these changes. Our interpretation of the data is that the anode layer of membrane electrolyte assembly (MEA) undergoes some change during the methanol conditioning. The change improves the performance.
The “Past Hypothesis”: Not even false

Abstract It has become something of a dogma in the philosophy of science that modern cosmology has completed Boltzmann's program for explaining the statistical validity of the Second Law of thermodynamics by providing the low entropy initial state needed to ground the asymmetry in entropic behavior that underwrites our inference about the past. This dogma is challenged on several grounds. In particular, it is argued that it is likely that the Boltzmann entropy of the initial state of the universe is an ill-defined or severely hobbled concept. It is also argued that even if the entropy of the initial state of the universe had a well-defined, low value, this would not suffice to explain why thermodynamics works as well as it does for the kinds of systems we care about. Because the role of Boltzmann entropy in our inferences to the past has been vastly overrated, the failure of the Boltzmann program does not pose a serious problem for our knowledge of the past. But it does call a different explanation of why thermodynamics works as well as it does. A suggestion is offered for a different approach.
Glutamate accumulation by human gliomas and meningiomas in tissue culture

Abstract The rapid accumulation of radioactive glutamate was studied in human brain tumor cells grown in tissue culture. The MGH-LM line of human astrocytoma demonstrated both a high (apparent Km = 20 μM) and a low (apparent Km = 0.2mM) affinity component for the uptake of glutamate. The high affinity component was sodium-, temperature-, and energy-dependent and was present during the confluent (stationary) but not the log phase of cell growth. A study of confluent monolayer cultures of several other human brain tumors revealed that a similar high affinity uptake of glutamate occurred in 7 out of 8 malignant astrocytomas and appeared to be independent of the grade of malignancy. In 3 optic gliomas and 5 meningiomas studied, low but not high affinity uptake of glutamate was found. These studies suggest that glial cells in the human brain may in some instances possess uptake characteristics for glutamate similar to those previously ascribed to nerve endings.
Fine-grained capabilities for flooding DDoS defense using client reputations

Recently proposed capability mechanisms offer one part of the answer to the DDoS problem. They empower the victim to control the traffic it receives by selectively granting access to well-behaved clients via short-lived tickets. One major question still remains unanswered: how can victims distinguish between well-behaved and ill-behaved clients during the ticket-granting process. This paper offers one possible answer to this question, while also refining the basic capability mechanism.We propose the following novel features: (1) Reputation-based ticket-granting - long-term behavior of a client influences whether future tickets will be granted, (2) Fine-grained capabilities, which authorize access to the victim at a specified priority level based on a client's prior behavior, (3) Destination-based capabilities, granted by the defense located at the victim; this reduces operational cost, and breaks dependence of tickets on routes.
Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette: Symphonic Metamorphoses on a Theme by Shakespeare

Abstract Berlioz's Symphonie dramatique (as he called Romeo et Juliette, 1839) represents an attempt to intensify the symphonic nature of the symphony: Berlioz tried to write a work that was to Beethoven's Ninth (1824) what Beethoven's Ninth was to the earlier symphonic tradition, the next level of achievement. Just as Beethoven's ninth ranges freely across the whole universe of music, from percussion jokes to long‐breathed melodies to Turkish marches to full operatic glory, so Berlioz's symphony ranges across all musical genres, from solo song to choral procession to grand opera, to explore the possibilities for symphonic integration of material so scattered and diverse that it threatens to fly into pieces. But Berlioz's work is not only a symphony but also a critique of opera. Berlioz not only adapted to strictly instrumental purposes some of the most advanced operatic devices of his time, such as the overlay principle used by Cherubini and Spontini, but also illustrated the moving but faintly meretrici...
Hirayama Disease in Children From North America

Hirayama disease has been mainly reported from Asia; only a few cases are from the Western hemisphere, particularly North America. This is a retrospective chart review of patients < 18 years, diagnosed with Hirayama disease from a single center over 10 years. We diagnosed 6 children (4 boys), 15.1 ± 1.2 years of age. Symptom onset was 3 months to 3 years before presentation. All had unilateral or bilateral asymmetric distal upper extremity weakness without objective sensory loss. Oblique amyotrophy and cold paresis were noted in 5. On electromyography, acute-on-chronic denervation was most frequently noted in cervical-8 (C8) and thoracic-1 (T1) myotomes followed by cervical-7 (C7) myotome in both upper limbs, sparing C5-C6 myotomes. Cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was abnormal in 3. Symptoms progressed over a mean of 16.5 months. Treatment consisted of placement of cervical collar. Heightened awareness of this entity among pediatric neurologists in North America will lead to early diagnosis and intervention, avoiding unnecessary investigations.
Raman scattering study on pressure-induced phase transformation of marokite (CaMn2O4)

Abstract An in-situ Raman Spectroscopic study was conducted to explore the pressure-induced phase transformation of CaMn2O4 to pressures of 73.7 GPa . Group theory yields 24 Raman active modes for CaMn2O4, of which 20 are observed at ambient conditions. With the slight compression below 5 GPa , the pressure-induced contraction compensates the structural distortion induced by a Jahn–Teller (JT) effect, resulting in the occurrence of the zero pressure shifts of the JT-related Raman modes. Upon elevation of pressure to nearby 35 GPa , these Raman modes start to display a significant variation in pressure shift, implying the appearance of a pressure-induced phase transformation. Group factor analyses on all possible structure polymorphs indicate that the high-pressure phase is preferentially assigned to an orthorhombic structure, having the CaTi2O4 structure. The cooperative JT distortion is continuously reduced in the CaMn2O4 polymorph up to 35 GPa . Beyond 35 GPa , it is found that the JT effect was completely suppressed by pressure in the newly formed high-pressure phase. Upon release of pressure, this high-pressure phase transforms to the original CaMn2O4 phase, and continuously remains stable to ambient conditions.
The relation of preterm and full-term infants' temperament to test-taking behaviors and developmental status

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of preterm and full-term infants' temperaments to both their test-taking behaviors and mental test scores. Sixty preterm infants and 40 full-term infants were administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, including the Infant Behavior Record, at 12 months of age. Their mothers completed the Toddler Temperament Scale. Test-taking behavior and temperament were unrelated for full-term infants; however, preterm children who were active and low in persistence on the Toddler Temperament Scale were social and extroverted during developmental testing, although they were relatively low on auditory/visual awareness or responsiveness in the testing environment. Temperament was related to mental scores, but only for preterm infants. Preterm and full-term infants did not differ in temperament.
Immunity to stemness genes in human cancer

A growing body of data points to not only intraclonal heterogeneity and hierarchy of growth potential, but also plasticity of cellular differentiation within human tumors. Recent studies have also identified surprising overlap between pathways that regulate pluripotency in embryonal stem (ES) cells and oncogenesis. While there is a long history of targeting embryonal tissues toward cancer vaccines, recent identification of crucial stemness pathways in ES cells as well as putative cancer stem cells (CSCs) provides novel opportunities for antigen-specific targeted therapy. Here we discuss recent insights into the capacity of the immune system to target these pathways. Immunologic targeting of pathways associated with stemness has implications for both immune regulation of tumor growth as well as regenerative therapies with embryonal stem cells.
Flow structure on a rotating wing: effect of radius of gyration

The flow structure on a rotating wing (flat plate) is characterized over a range of Rossby number , in which and are the radius of gyration and chord of the wing, as well as travel distance , where is the angle of rotation. Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) is employed to determine the flow patterns on defined planes, and by means of reconstruction, throughout entire volumes. Images of the -criterion and spanwise vorticity, velocity and vorticity flux are employed to represent the flow structure. At low Rossby number, the leading-edge, tip and root vortices are highly coherent with large dimensionless values of in the interior regions of all vortices and large downwash between these components of the vortex system. For increasing Rossby number, however, the vortex system rapidly degrades, accompanied by loss of large within its interior and downstream displacement of the region of large downwash. These trends are accompanied by increased deflection of the leading-edge vorticity layer away from the surface of the wing, and decreased spanwise velocity and vorticity flux in the trailing region of the wing, which are associated with the degree of deflection of the tip vortex across the wake region. Combinations of large Rossby number and travel distance lead to separated flow patterns similar to those observed on rectilinear translating wings at high angle of attack . In the extreme case where the wing travels a distance corresponding to a number of revolutions, the highly coherent flow structure is generally preserved if the Rossby number is small; it degrades substantially, however, at larger Rossby number.
Tuning of Thermo-Triggered Gel-to-Sol Transition of Aqueous Solution of Multi-Responsive Diblock Copolymer Poly(methoxytri(ethylene glycol) acrylate-co-acrylic acid)-b-poly(ethoxydi(ethylene glycol) acrylate)

This article reports on the synthesis of a hydrophilic diblock copolymer composed of two distinct thermosensitive polymers with one block containing a small amount of carboxylic acid groups, poly(methoxytri(ethylene glycol) acrylate-co-acrylic acid)-b-poly(ethoxydi(ethylene glycol) acrylate) (P(TEGMA-co-AA)-b-PDEGEA), and the study of thermo-induced sol−gel−sol transitions of its moderately concentrated aqueous solutions at various pH values. The diblock copolymer was obtained by the removal of tert-butyl groups of P(TEGMA-co-tert-butyl acrylate)-b-PDEGEA, which was synthesized by reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. PTEGMA and PDEGEA are thermosensitive polymers with lower critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) of 58 and 9 °C, respectively, in water. The incorporation of a small amount of carboxylic acid groups into PTEGMA allowed the LCST of the P(TEGMA-co-AA) block to be tuned by changing the solution pH. We found that a 20 wt % aqueous solution of P(TEGMA-co-AA)-b-PDEGEA wi...
857 CORD BLOOD HIGH AND LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEINS: MALE-FEMALE DIFFERENCES

Since high density lipoprotein cholesterol (C-HDL) levels in adults are inversely related to risk of coronary heart disease, male(M): female(F) C-HDL differences may be important. Cord blood total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride(TG), and low density lipoprotein cholesterol(C-LDL) were studied in 464 live births (248 M, 216 F) to determine whether M:F differences in adults an in later childhood were also expressed in cord blood. In 873 schoolchildren (ages 6-17) from the Lipid Research Clinic prevalence study, F had higher TC and TG than M, slightly higher C-LDL, and ,at the end of adolescence, higher C-HDL. Mean ± SD TC, TG, C-HDL, C-LDL, and the ratio of C-HDL to C-LDL for the neonates were: At birth, F had higher TC(p .1, and C-HDL/C-LDL ratios in F and M did not differ, p>.1. Lipid and lipoprotein levels are under combined genetic and environmental control. M:F differences in C-HDL in adults and adolescents are manifested in cord blood, as are the higher schoolchild F levels of TC and C-LDL. C-HDL levels are higher in adult blacks (vs. whites), and in Russian vs. American males, but do not differ in cord blood. M:F C-HDL differences may be “genetic” while racial and cross-cultural differences may in part, reflect environmental effects.
Heat-shock protein 72 protects against oxidant-induced injury of barrier function of human colonic epithelial Caco2/bbe cells.

Abstract Background & Aims: Barrier function of the inflamed intestinal mucosa can be compromised by reactive oxygen metabolites that increase mucosal permeability and disrupt the actin cytoskeleton, the integrity of which is important for maintaining tight epithelial junctions. Because heat-shock protein 72 (hsp72) protects intestinal epithelial cells against injury, we determined whether resistance of Caco2/bbe (C2) intestinal monolayer barrier function was related to their high endogenous hsp72 expression. Methods: hsp72 anti-sense (C2/AS) and vector-only transfected C2 (C2/CEP4) clones, lines that exhibit low and high hsp72 expression, respectively, were studied. Permeability was assessed by measuring electrical resistance and mannitol fluxes and actin organization by confocal fluorescein isothiocyanate–phalloidin analysis. Results: Basal transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and mannitol fluxes were not significantly different between groups. However, the oxidant monochloramine rapidly decreased TER and increased mannitol permeability of C2/AS monolayers compared with C2/CEP4 (50% effective doses at 30 minutes were 0.53 ± 0.11 and 2.06 ± 0.34 mmol/L, respectively). Associated with these changes, decreased cell viability, dissociation and aggregation of perijunctional and stress actin filaments, loss of cell height, and increased intercellular separation were observed only in C2/AS cells treated with monochloramine. Conclusions: hsp72 protects intestinal epithelial barrier function against oxidant-induced stress, in part, by protecting the integrity of the actin cytoskeleton. GASTROENTEROLOGY 1999;117:115-122
Modeling of chemisorption on copper oxide supported on alumina

Abstract Transition metals supported on alumina are widely used as catalysts, and over the last few decades a large amount of experimental work has been done to characterize such systems. While it is generally believed that the catalytic reactions occur on and near the surface, knowledge of the reactions and the adsorption sites on the surface and related energetics is seriously lacking, especially at the atomic structure level. We have used a combination of the film linearized muffin-tin orbital (FLMTO) method and an ab initio molecular quantum cluster method to model the use of the system of CuO/-γ-Al 2 O 3 as a regenerable adsorbent of SO 2 (of interest for flue-gas cleanup). The modeling and calculations with the FLMTO method show that the copper atoms are adsorbed at the surface octahedral vacant sites of the alumina. The modeling and calculations with the ab initio cluster method rule out the adsorption of the SO 2 molecule with sulfur-copper bonding and indicate that the SO 2 molecule is adsorbed via oxygen-copper bonding; and accordingly we investigate some pertinent geometrical configurations including “bridge” arrangements providing bonding between the oxygen atoms of the SO 2 molecule and the surface copper or aluminum atoms.
Itenerant f electron behavior in Ce and U compounds

The experimentally observed Fermi surface properties in URh/sub 3/, UIr/sub 3/, UGe/sub 3/, CeSn/sub 3/, CeB/sub 6/, U/sub 3/As/sub 4/, U/sub 3/P/sub 4/, and CeSb are reviewed. For the compounds with no magnetic order, band structure models of the Fermi surface geometry are confirmed and f-ligand hybridization is found to be dominant. For CeB/sub 6/, U/sub 3/As/sub 4/, and U/sub 3/P/sub 4/ the experiments show that both local moments and f hybridization are important. In CeSb new data can be explained by a purely local model with no f-hybridization.
Compressional faulting of the oceanic crust prior to subduction in the Peru-Chile Trench

An oceanic crustal section has been derived for the Nazca plate and across the Peru-Chile Trench at lat 12°S. Although based on unreversed seismic refraction data obtained by the Airgun-Sonobuoy-Precision-Echo-Recorder (ASPER) technique, 12 crustal determinations along the profile provide sufficient data density to permit good correlation of velocity structure between the stations. A thin, high-velocity oceanic crust characterizes the region. A major apparent offset in the crustal layers is interpreted as a low-angle thrust fault dipping east at an average of 6° from the ocean floor 300 km west of the trench axis. This feature, together with other indications of thrust faulting and crustal foreshortening, is taken as evidence that the upper lithosphere, at least to the depth of the Moho, is undergoing compression prior to subduction in the trench.
Fishery selection and its relevance to stock assessment and fishery management

Abstract Fishery selection (selectivity for short) is the term often used to describe the phenomenon whereby a fish stock experiences mortality due to fishing that is age- or size-specific. Selectivity operates both at a local scale, as in the direct interactions of individual fish with the fishing gear (contact selection), and at a stock-wide scale (population selection), as evidenced by the differential rates of fishing mortality-at-age that are generally observed in stock assessment results. All age-structured stock assessment models have some form of fishery selection to modulate the impact of fishing mortality on differing age-classes, but selection coefficients, from a stock assessment viewpoint, generally are nuisance parameters rather than a focus of attention. This paper provides an overview of the three main processes that contribute to and influence population selection: (1) physical sorting by the fishing gear or differential behavioral responses of the fish to the gear produce the phenomenon of contact selection; (2) differing selection properties of different types of fishing gear (e.g., trawl versus longline) in turn generate a composite selection curve that is a weighted average of the different kinds of contact selection; and (3) when the fish are not well mixed spatially, then the spatial distribution of fishing relative to the spatial distribution of the fish also affects population selectivity. Fishing mortality-at-age estimates derived from a published Virtual Population Analysis of Scotian Shelf haddock are used to illustrate the diversity of shapes that can be seen in population selection curves and their considerable temporal variability. A spatial model for fishery age-selectivity is then used to demonstrate that the maximum relative yield harvested from a stock can be a function of both contact selection and the spatial distribution of fishing.
Quantitative variation in leaf pocket resin composition in Hymenaea courbaril

Abstract Leaf pocket resin sesquiterpenes have been quantitatively analyzed in 22 geographic populations of the widespread Hymenaea courbaril . Highly stable quantitative resin composition in Meso-American populations of H. courbaril contrasts with greater variability in several South American populations. In some of the latter, bimodality in quantitative content of several correlated sesquiterpenes results in overall resin compositional relationships of two or three distinct types. Variance-weighted similarity coefficients between all populational pairs are single-linkage clustered to visualize chemical relationships.
On the preparation and luminescence of trans- and cis-[Cr(en)2(CN)2]+ ions

Abstract New and efficient routes for the preparation of the trans and cis isomers of [Cr(en)2(CN)2]+ are reported. The luminescence spectra of these compounds are also reported and compared to those of related tetraaza macrocycles. Facile vibronic distortions of the corresponding D4h and C2v microsymmetries are proposed to lead to unresolved emission spectra in the family of the ethylenediamine complexes.
The Domain and Function of Epistemological Humility in Historical Jesus Studies

The epistemological humility proper to methodological naturalism is the suspension of belief in divine causation, and by entailment, of the belief that events that violate the laws of nature sometimes occur. Epistemological humility does not, however, require the suspension of knowledge of how the world works, i.e., of the laws of nature. Methodological naturalism, therefore, requires us to reject the literal truth of reports in ancient texts of events that we know to be physically impossible, regardless of whether a text attributes such events to divine causality. Reports about the deeds of Jesus are not exempt from this methodological restriction. Methodological naturalism, and the epistemological humility it subsumes, therefore, requires that historians deny, for example, that the historical Jesus (the human Jesus as reconstructed by critical historiography) literally walked on water. Since epistemological humility does not require the suspension of knowledge about how the world works, but only of belief in divine causation, it therefore does not require that one hold open the possibility that the historical Jesus walked on water, since that possibility is incompatible with naturalism (both ontological and methodological).
Aerosol radiative forcing for Asian continental outflow

Aerosols in elevated layers were sampled with FSSP-probes and wire impactors over the Pacific ocean aboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft. Analyses of particle size and morphology identifies two distinctly different aerosol types for cases when the mid-visible extinctions exceed 0.2/km. Smaller sizes (effective radii of 0.2 um) and moderate absorption (mid-visible single scattering albedo of.935) are typical for urban-industrial pollution. Larger sizes (effective radii of 0.7 um) and weak absorption (mid-visible single scattering albedo of 0.985) identify dust. This aerosol classification is in agreement with its origin as determined by airmass back trajectory analysis. Based on lidar vertical profiling, aerosol dominated by dust and urban-industrial pollution above 3km were assigned mid-visible optical depths of 0.50 and 0.27, respectively. Radiative transfer simulations, considering a 50% cloud-cover below the aerosol layers, suggest (on a daily tP C)C> basis) small reductions (-4W/m2) to the energy budget at the top of the atmosphere for both aerosol types. For c' 0 dust, more backscattering of sunlight (weaker solar absorption) is compensated by a stronger greenhouse effect due to larger sizes. Forced reductions to the energy budget at the surface are 12W/m2 for both aerosol types. In contrast, impacts on heating rates within the aerosol layers are quite different: While urban-industrial aerosol warms the layer (at +0.6K/day as solar heating dominates), dust cools (at -0.5K/day as infrared cooling dominates). Sensitivity tests show the dependence of the aerosol climatic impact on the optical depth, particle size, absorptivity, and altitude of the layers, as well as clouds and surface properties. Climatic cooling can be eliminated (1) for the urban-industrial aerosol if absorption is increased to yield a mid-visible single scattering albedo of 0.89, or if the ocean is replaced by a land surface; (2) for the dust aerosol if the effective radius is increased from 0.7 to 1.2 um. The removal of low-level clouds doubles the cooling at the top of the atmosphere to about -8W/m2.
Carbohydrate craving: a double-blind, placebo-controlled test of the self-medication hypothesis

Carbohydrate craving, the overwhelming desire to consume carbohydrate-rich foods in an attempt to improve mood, remains a scientifically controversial construct. We tested whether carbohydrate preference and mood enhancement could be demonstrated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled self-administration trial. Overweight females who met strict operational criteria for carbohydrate craving participated in two 3-day discrete choice trials over a 2-week period. Participants reported their mood before and at several time points after undergoing a dysphoric mood induction and ingesting, either a carbohydrate beverage or a taste and calorie-matched protein-rich balanced nutrient beverage. Every third testing day, participants were asked to self-administer the beverage they preferred based on its previous mood effect. Results showed that, when rendered mildly dysphoric, carbohydrate cravers chose the carbohydrate beverage significantly more often than the protein-rich beverage and reported that carbohydrate produced greater mood improvement. The carbohydrate beverage was perceived as being more palatable by the carbohydrate cravers, although not by independent taste testers who performed the pre-trial taste matching. This study, performed under rigorous study conditions, supports the existence of a carbohydrate craving syndrome in which carbohydrate self-administration improves mildly dysphoric mood.
Effect of Sitosterol on the Concentration of Serum Lipids in Patients with Coronary Atherosclerosis

The oral administration of large amounts of sitosterol to patients with coronary atherosclerosis has resulted in statistically significant decrease in serum cholesterol in one half of the trial periods. However, because of the fluctuation of the serum cholesterol that occurs in patients with coronary atherosclerosis, further study will be necessary to demonstrate that the decrease in serum cholesterol coincident with sitosterol administration is not due to the lability of the serum lipids in this group of individuals.
The Case for Public Work

Whether it is port scans, spam, or distributed denial-of-service attacks from botnets, unwanted traffic is a fundamental problem in all networked systems. Although proof-of-work has been proposed as a mechanism for thwarting such attacks, few proof-of-work systems have been successfully deployed. One of the problems in the proof-of-work approach is that the systems that issue and verify puzzles are typically located at or near the server edge. Rather than eliminate the denial-of-service problem, such approaches merely shift the problem from the service itself to the proof-of-work systems protecting the service. As a result, adversaries can disable services by flooding the issuer, by flooding the verifier, or by flooding all of the network links that lead to the issuer and verifier. To address this problem, this paper proposes a new approach for building proof-of-work systems based on publicly verifiable client puzzles. The system works by issuing a single "public work function" that clients must solve for each of its subsequent requests. Because the work function is publicly verifiable, any network device at the client's edge can verify that subsequent traffic will be accepted by the service. The system mitigates floods to the issuer since only a single work function needs to be given per client, thus allowing duplicate requests and replies to be supressed. The system mitigates floods to the verifier and across links leading to the server edge by allowing the verifier to be placed arbitrarily close to the client adversary.
Multilayer optical neural networks

We describe an optical holographic interconnection method for neural network implementations in which each weight is distributed among many angularly and spatially multiplexed photorefractive gratings. This approach greatly reduces crosstalk and results in efficient use of the input spatial light modulator. Experimental results for neural networks implemented using this approach are also discussed.
Letter: gender-associated cell-free microRNA profiles in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Sirs; The study by Schwimmer et al. suggested the existence of a gender phenomenon in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).1 First, the majority of children diagnosed with NAFLD were male. Second, NAFLD boys had significantly higher levels of serum alanine aminotransferases (ALT) than NAFLD girls. This ALT trend, however, was also seen in non-NAFLD children who were obese and overweight. Therefore, ALT alone was likely inadequate, if at all involved, in explaining the biology underlying the gender-skewed prevalence of NAFLD in their study and others.2 We have identified miRNA profiles in fasting serum from NAFLD patients (n = 5) recruited to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Research Center between January 2009 and December 2012, compared with age and race matched controls with no NAFLD (n=5) using nCounter® (Nanostring). Male NAFLD patients also had significantly (P < 0.05) upregulated expressions of the hsa-miR-432-5p, hsa-miR-578, and hsa-miR-155-5p compared to female NAFLD patients (See Figure 1). The hsa-miR-432-5p and hsa-miR-301b levels were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in NAFLD male patients compared to male controls. In contrast, female NAFLD patients did not have significantly different miRNA levels compared to female controls. Thus, our pilot study showed empirical evidence for a male NAFLD-associated miRNA profile. Figure 1 MicroRNA Expressions in Male NAFLD versus Female NAFLD Patients. The male NAFLD-associated miRNA species found above are linked to inflammatory cytokines.3 Our findings also add to the literature suggesting the intriguing involvement of oestrogen and endocrine/metabolic signaling in NAFLD pathogenesis. In mice, oestrogen withdrawal leads to alterations in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) genes, which are the predicted targets of hsa-miR-142, which in turn is a target of hsa-miR-155. 4,5,6 We suggest that these male NAFLD miRNA profiles provide a starting point not only for the development of biomarkers for male NAFLD screening, but also for understanding the molecular basis of a gender-unique NAFLD pathogenesis.
Manure Matters on the Great Plains Frontier

American farmers followed a long-term sequence of clearing land, farming it for several decades, and then abandoning it in favor of new land elsewhere. For 300 years, farmers moved across the continent until they reached the Great Plains, and the end of the frontier, in the 1870s. Fertility and crop yields declined for fifty years by the 1930s, an agricultural crisis was looming. Only the adoption of synthetic fertilizer after World War II allowed farmers to continue annual cropping.
Zorro: zero-cost reactive failure recovery in distributed graph processing

Distributed graph processing systems largely rely on proactive techniques for failure recovery. Unfortunately, these approaches (such as checkpointing) entail a significant overhead. In this paper, we argue that distributed graph processing systems should instead use a reactive approach to failure recovery. The reactive approach trades off completeness of the result (generating a slightly inaccurate result) while reducing the overhead during failure-free execution to zero. We build a system called Zorro that imbues this reactive approach, and integrate Zorro into two graph processing systems -- PowerGraph and LFGraph. When a failure occurs, Zorro opportunistically exploits vertex replication inherent in today's graph processing systems to quickly rebuild the state of failed servers. Experiments using real-world graphs demonstrate that Zorro is able to recover over 99% of the graph state when 6--12% of the servers fail, and between 87--95% when half the cluster fails. Furthermore, using various graph processing algorithms, Zorro incurs little to no accuracy loss in all experimental failure scenarios, and achieves a worst-case accuracy of 97%.
Twilight of a Dilemma: A Réplique

In light of the nine open peer commentaries, we further explicate the social projection model and highlight its boundaries. We acknowledge that our model—like any extant model—cannot account for all the available empirical data. Yet the model is strong because it explains cooperation in a variety of social dilemmas and experimental games while deploying only one psychological construct as a parameter. Compared with its competitors, the social projection model more openly recognizes the struggle with uncertainty a person caught in a social dilemma must confront. In a series of simulations (and brute math), we show that cooperation can survive when players (humans) stay the Bayesian course.
2005 Special issue: A new classifier based on information theoretic learning with unlabeled data

Supervised learning is conventionally performed with pairwise input-output labeled data. After the training procedure, the adaptive system's weights are fixed while the testing procedure with unlabeled data is performed. Recently, in an attempt to improve classification performance unlabeled data has been exploited in the machine learning community. In this paper, we present an information theoretic learning (ITL) approach based on density divergence minimization to obtain an extended training algorithm using unlabeled data during the testing. The method uses a boosting-like algorithm with an ITL based cost function. Preliminary simulations suggest that the method has the potential to improve the performance of classifiers in the application phase.
Rational approximation schemes for rotation-minimizing frames on Pythagorean-hodograph curves

An adapted frame (t, u, v) on a space curve r(ξ) is a right-handed set of three orthonormal vectors, where t is the unit tangent and u, v span the curve normal plane. For such frames to have a rational dependence on the curve parameter, r(ξ) must be a Pythagorean-hodograph (PH) curve, since only PH curves have rational unit tangent vectors. Among all possible adapted frames, the rotation-minimizing frame (RMF) is the most attractive for applications such as animation, swept surface constructions, and motion planning. The PH curves admit exact RMF descriptions, but they involve transcendental (logarithmic) functions. Since rational forms are generally preferred, the problem of rational approximation of RMFs for PH curves is considered herein. This is accomplished by employing the Euler-Rodrigues frame (ERF) as a reference (the ERF is rational and, unlike the Frenet frame, does not suffer indeterminacies at inflections). The function that describes the angular deviation between the RMF and ERF is derived in closed form, and is approximated by Pade (rational Hermite) interpolation. In typical cases, these interpolants furnish compact approximations of excellent accuracy, amenable to use in a variety of applications.
How Fundamentals of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion Contribute to the RERTR program

One of the oldest programs of the U.S. Department of Energy is the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program. This program develops technology necessary to convert both research and test reactors, including some medical purpose reactors, from using high enriched uranium (HEU) to using low enriched uranium (LEU) fuels and targets. This conversion is related to non-proliferation by making weapons grade nuclear material less available. In order to pursue their goal, the RERTR Program, managed by the Office of Nuclear Material Threat Reduction in the National Nuclear Security Administration, has held annual international conferences since its inception in 1978.
Theoretical and numerical analysis of temperature gradient focusing via Joule heating

We present a detailed theoretical and numerical analysis of temperature gradient focusing (TGF) via Joule heating—an analytical species concentration and separation technique relying upon the dependence of an analyte's velocity on temperature due to the temperature dependence of a buffer's ionic strength and viscosity. The governing transport equations are presented, analyzed, and implemented into a quasi-1D numerical model to predict the resulting temperature, velocity, and concentration profiles along a microchannel of varying width under an applied electric field. Numerical results show good agreement with experimental trials presented in previous work. The model is used to analyze the effects of varying certain geometrical and experimental parameters on the focusing performance of the device. Simulations also help depict the separation capability of the device, as well as the effectiveness of different buffer systems used in the technique. The analysis provides rule-of-thumb methodology for implementation of TGF into analytical systems, as well as a fundamental model applicable to any lab-on-a-chip system in which Joule heating and temperature-dependent electrokinetic transport are to be analyzed.