cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Changes in Protein Dynamics in Escherichia coli SufS Reveal a Possible Conserved Regulatory Mechanism in Type II Cysteine Desulfurase Systems

In the Suf Fe–S cluster assembly pathway, the activity of the cysteine desulfurase, SufS, is regulated by interactions with the accessory sulfotransferase protein, SufE. SufE has been shown to stimulate SufS activity, likely by inducing conformational changes in the SufS active site that promote the desulfurase step and by acting as an efficient persulfide acceptor in the transpersulfuration step. Previous results point toward an additional level of regulation through a “half-sites” mechanism that affects the stoichiometry and affinity for SufE as the dimeric SufS shifts between desulfurase and transpersulfuration activities. Investigation of the covalent persulfide intermediate of SufS by backbone amide hydrogen–deuterium exchange mass spectrometry identified two active site peptides (residues 225–236 and 356–366) and two peptides at the dimer interface of SufS (residues 88–100 and 243–255) that exhibit changes in deuterium uptake upon formation of the intermediate. Residues in these peptides are organiz...
Design of an axial-flux switch reluctance motor for a novel integrated motor-compressor system

This paper presents an axial-flux (AF) switch reluctance motor (SRM) designed for a residential HVAC centrifugal compressor system. The impeller blades of the compressor are designed to work as the rotor of the proposed AF-SRM. The stator is designed with specially shaped poles that are axially positioned on top of the impeller blades. The overall compressor assembly physically integrates a centrifugal compressor with a motor, making the design compact and attractive for refrigeration systems. 3D-Finite element analysis (FEA) is used to validate the electromagnetic (EM) performance of the proposed AF-SRM based on the design and performance specification of the compressor system. Finally, mechanical structural analysis to observe vibration and acoustic noise is also performed.
“It was definitely a sexual kind of sensation”: sex, sexual identity, and gender in the phenomenology of psychosis

Over the past twenty years, few empirical studies have focused on manifestations of sex, sexual identity, and gender within the phenomenology of psychosis. The goal of the present analysis was to e...
Cyclic ADP-Ribose and Vasomotor Response

Vascular smooth muscle (VSM) usually exists in a partially contracted state, from which it can contract further or relax in response to different physiological or pathological stimulations. This contracted state of blood vessels and their contracting and relaxing response to stimuli are often referred to as “vascular tone” and “vasomotor response,” respectively. Numerous studies indicate that cytosolic free calcium concentrations ([Ca2+]) in VSM cells play an essential role in mediating or modulating both vascular tone and vasomotor response in a variety of blood vessels. It is well recognized that the rise in intracellular [Ca2+] initiates and maintains contraction in VSM, which importantly determines the peripheral vascular resistance and blood pressure [1–5].
The impact of climate-change induced temperature increases on the suitability of street tree species in California (USA) cities

Abstract Climate change, resulting in increased temperatures, has the potential to alter the species composition of urban tree populations. We examined the likely changes in composition of common street tree species in California (USA), using a space-for-time substitution approach which paired each of the 16 cities covering the climatic range of the state (“representative city”) with a “warm city” counterpart, where the climate of today approximates the climate of the representative city in 2099. Of the 140 tree species found, as many as 82 species may be unsuitable for the future warmer climate. This change is geographically non-uniform, with greater losses (up to 100% of common species unsuitable for future climate) found in cities away from the ocean coast. In contrast, assessing climate suitability of tree species from published sources (professional judgement, resulting in implied climate envelopes), reduces the number of unsuitable species to as few as 14, although a hybrid approach that accounts for the substantial gaps in the climate envelope information results in an estimated 55 unsuitable tree species. The difference between the observed and estimated results (82 unsuitable species vs. 55) is likely caused by the climate envelope information insufficiently accounting for the irrigation needs of newly-planted street trees in the Mediterranean-type climates like California. Our results demonstrate the viability of the space-for-time substitution approach for evaluating possible climate change effects on urban trees, and suggest both an immediate need to re-evaluate the planting palette of street trees, and a long-term imperative to trial new tree species.
Evidence-Based Family Treatment of Adolescent Substance-Related Disorders

Adolescence is a crucial period of individual development. Some degree of risk-taking and externalizing problem behaviors are common during this stage as youth explore and assert their independence. Learning from the negative consequences of these behaviors is important in their cessation by the time youth reach the latter stages of adolescence and adulthood. Problematic behaviors may however be perpetuated by youth who develop within the contexts of unhealthy family systems, peer systems, and who start using substances at an early age. The extant literature posits that the most effective treatment approaches are those that include the adolescent, the family system, and other systems with which the youth interacts and is involved. In this book chapter, the authors elucidate the contemporary empirically-supported treatments for adolescent substance abuse. Each of the empirically-supported treatment models, including important components and stages of each treatment, is summarized and discussed. Other promising treatment models also are highlighted.
Youth Cognition Surrounding Bullying of Peers With Disabilities: Inclusion, Intervention, and the Role of the Group:

Children with disabilities often experience high rates of bullying, teasing, and social exclusion and these experiences are related to a host of negative outcomes for children who are victimized by...
Active Fault Diagnosis for Stochastic Nonlinear Systems: Online Probabilistic Model Discrimination

Abstract Reliable and timely diagnosis of system faults under uncertainties is imperative for safe, reliable, and profitable operation of technical systems. This paper presents an input design method for active fault diagnosis for nonlinear systems that are subject to probabilistic model uncertainty and stochastic disturbances, and are under operational constraints. A computationally efficient sample-based method is presented for joint propagation of model uncertainty and stochastic disturbances using non-intrusive generalized polynomial chaos and unscented transformation. A tractable sample-based distance measure, inspired by the k-nearest neighbors algorithm, is used for fault diagnosis, which seeks to discriminate between probabilistic predictions of the model hypotheses for normal and faulty operation. Simulation results on a benchmark bioreactor case study demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed input design method for reliable fault diagnosis under uncertainty through online model discrimination.
Evolution and Structural Characteristics of Plant Voltage-Gated K+ Channels

Plant voltage-gated K+ channels have been referred to as "plant Shakers" in reference to animal Shaker channels, the first K+ channels identified. Recent advances in our knowledge of K+ channel evolution and structure have significantly deepened the divide between these plant and animal K+ channels, suggesting that it is time to completely retire the "plant Shaker" designation. Evolutionary genomics reveals that plant voltage-gated K+ channels and metazoan Shakers derive from distinct prokaryotic ancestors. The plant channels belong to a lineage that includes cyclic nucleotide-gated channels and metazoan ether-a-go-go and hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-gated channels. We refer to this lineage as the CNBD channel superfamily, because all these channels share a cytoplasmic gating domain homologous to cyclic nucleotide binding domains. The first structures of CNBD superfamily channels reveal marked differences in coupling between the voltage sensor and ion-conducting pore relative to metazoan Shaker channels. Viewing plant voltage-gated K+ channel function through the lens of CNBD superfamily structures should lead to insights into how these channels are regulated.
Enregistering Reading and Papá voices in peer bilingual play: Mexican heritage children's scaling practices at a bilingual U.S. preschool

Abstract This study uses the framework of space and scale (Blommaert et al., 2005) and construct of “enregisterment” (Agha, 2005) to examine how bilingual Spanish-English Mexican heritage children in California engage with and explore registers in multilingual play with peers. Children's spontaneous pretend play at a bilingual Spanish-English Head Start preschool at which teachers used local diversified bilingual educational practice, but were also preparing children for English-only public school education in California, was followed through video-ethnography over two years. Children challenged state policy imperatives of English-only education through negotiating Spanish and heteroglossic Spanish-English resources as indexical of “reading voice” (Gumperz and Cook-Gumperz, 2005), a discourse typically seen as decontextualized and indexing higher scales. Another way in which children incorporated the Spanish registers into their discourse and challenged state policy imperatives was to use Papa and Compadre voices during play at the preschool, indexing these as powerful peer registers appropriate for school and influencing even students not dominant in Spanish to adopt the registers. Examples illustrate how central to understanding children's practices of scaling different sets of language resources in particular ways is the role that these practices play in moment-to-moment frame dynamics and as grounds for legitimizing entry into, and assuming authoritative footings in, peer play (Goodwin, 1990, 2006; Goodwin and Kyratzis, 2012, 2014).
Progressive limit feeding to maximize profit in the feedlot

Our objective was to examine the potential of limit feeding that keeps a previously growing animal at a constant size (termed progressive limit feeding) to maximize profit using a 3D surface to integrate the effects of animal size, feeding rate, and time in the feedlot. The constant size contours of the surface were determined using a combination of results. We used data from a study of growing beef cattle being fed to maintain specified sizes coupled with modern growth rate data for animals fed ad libitum in a feedlot. These feed rate contours were best-fit declining exponentials. They shared the same exponent and they originated on the ad libitum curve, thus defining the entire possible growth surface. The asymptotes of these exponentials coincided with the interspecies mean for the metabolic body size of mature animals. This surface also demonstrated the phenomenon of compensatory growth. We proved that the most profitable growth path across this surface is of a particular form under realistic assumptions. Specifically, we proved that the profit maximizing growth path in the feedlot began with a period of progressive limit feeding and then allowed ad libitum feeding to the same market time as experienced by the standard continuous ad libitum fed animal. The opportunity cost of holding the progressively limit-fed animal longer in the feedlot than the animal fed ad libitum quickly overpowered any profit gained by limit feeding. Consequently the progressively limit-fed animal on the optimal feeding path at sale time was slightly smaller but potentially more profitable than the animal fed ad libitum, both slaughtered at the same time. It may also have an economically favorable body composition. Thus we have demonstrated a process for maximizing profit in the feedlot. The approach involved developing a growth surface to integrate the effects of progressive limit feeding and subsequent compensatory growth. After refinement this same process could be applied to other livestock.
Do Property–Casualty Insurance Firms Locate to Minimize Insurance Premium Taxes?

States levy insurance premium taxes, which are essentially gross receipt taxes on premiums, with insurance companies paying the higher of the tax rate in the state in which the company is domiciled and the state in which the policy is written. Using firm‐level data for the property–casualty (P‐C) insurance industry, we estimate the extra insurance premium tax that P‐C insurance firms pay by not locating in the state that minimizes their insurance premium taxes. We find that only 4.78 percent of P‐C firms are located in the state that minimizes their insurance premium taxes. We explore the relationship between the extra tax paid and other factors that are thought to be associated with firm location choice. We find that P‐C firms appear to trade off higher taxes to locate in a state that is more urban.
TAU AND AMYLOID PATHOLOGY IN ASSOCIATION WITH SUBJECTIVE COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN NORMAL ELDERLY AND EARLY MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

Introduction Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is increasingly recognized as the initial outward sign of preclinical Alzheimer's disease. The ability to explore associations between individual domains (memory, language, executive function, and visuospatial processing) within SCD and pathological biomarkers of early Alzheimer's disease (AD) would provide an important tool to understand the pathological basis of SCD and the risk of developing AD. This study utilizes multiple data analysis strategies to characterize the severity of tau and amyloid burden in clinically normal elderly adults (CN) and early mild cognitive impairment (EMCI) subjects in association with their subjective cognitive decline. Methods All subject data were downloaded from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. These included [18F]flortaucipir tau and [18F]florbetapir amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) images as well as the subjects’ SCD scores. For SCD, we used the self- and informant-reported individual items of Everyday Cognition questionnaire, including Everyday Memory, Everyday Language, Everyday Visuospatial abilities, Everyday Planning, Everyday Organization, and Everyday Divided Attention. The severity of the amyloid burden was calculated as the global PET standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR). The severity of the tau burden was assessed with both standard uptake-based approaches (tau SUVR in entorhinal, limbic, and isocortical Braak regions) and with a novel texture analysis tool, the weighted two-point correlation (wS2) analysis, which characterizes the spatial clustering of the tau-PET image as a sensitive early biomarker of abnormal tau accumulation and spread. Using a series of backward-elimination regression models, we identified the combination of predictors (from tau PET, global amyloid-PET, sex, APOE, and age) that constructed the best model to predict each Everyday Cognition item. Results Across the different cognitive tests, the wS2-based tau measures explained more variability, as indicated by p-values and elevated R-squared values, than standardized uptake value ratios from different anatomical regions, including the entorhinal cortex which is believed to be among the first regions to show signs of tau pathology. Our backward-elimination regression analyses (figure 1) suggested that the strongest models for predicting some of the subjective cognitive items (Everyday Memory, Everyday Language, Everyday Organization) were more likely amyloid-related whereas other items (Everyday Visuospatial, Everyday Planning) were more tau-related (together with age and sex). Conclusions Different pathological pathways may influence the manifestation of different subjective cognitive items. In vivo texture analysis techniques may be used as sensitive tools to explore these pathological pathways in association with the earliest signs of cognitive changes.
Reimagining Service-Learning: Deepening the Impact of This High-Impact Practice:

Background: Service-learning has historically been seen as a high-impact practice that empowers undergraduates to develop essential learning outcomes. Most service-learning discussed within the lit...
Floral organs act as environmental filters and interact with pollinators to structure the yellow monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus) floral microbiome.

Assembly of microbial communities is the result of neutral and selective processes. However, the relative importance of these processes is still debated. Microbial communities of flowers, in particular, have gained recent attention because of their potential impact to plant fitness and plant-pollinator interactions. However, the role of selection and dispersal in the assembly of these communities remains poorly understood. We evaluated the role of pollinator-mediated dispersal on the contribution of neutral and selective processes in the assembly of floral microbiomes of the yellow monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus). We sampled floral organs from flowers in the presence and absence of pollinators within five different serpentine seeps in CA and obtained 16S amplicon data on the epiphytic bacterial communities. Consistent with strong micro-environment selection within flowers we observed significant differences in community composition across floral organs and only a small effect of geographic distance. Pollinator exposure affected the contribution of environmental selection and depended on the rate and "intimacy" of interactions with flower visitors. This study provides evidence of the importance of dispersal and within-flower heterogeneity in shaping epiphytic bacterial communities of flowers, and highlights the complex interplay between pollinator behavior, environmental selection and additional abiotic factors in shaping the epiphytic bacterial communities of flowers.
Price Discrimination Rather Than Lack of Transparency Explains Retail Pharmacy Price Variations

Policymakers have sought to reduce high prices and price variations by increasing price transparency. We sought to measure retail drug price variations and their relation to transparency. Our survey of six national pharmacies reveals large price variations both among and within pharmacies for consumers purchasing drugs without insurance even while price information was available on line. Pharmacies sold identical medications at up to 6 prices based on various discounts available through phone apps. Within individual pharmacies the difference between the lowest and highest price the pharmacy sold the drug ranged between $14 and $719 for a 30-day prescription. Moreover, medications sold on pet website were sometimes much less expensive than the lowest discounted pharmacy price. We also found that insured consumers sometime pay more out of pocket to purchase drugs due to high copayments than if they purchased medicines without insurance. Marketing practices, price discrimination, and high copayments account for differences in prices and out of pocket consumer spending rather than the lack of price transparency. Policymakers need to consider strategies other than price transparency to reduce pharmacy price variations.
Tech-to-Nontech Briefs

Engineers must routinely write technical documents for other engineers. However, since engineers are the ones who design a company’s products and processes—and since the technical expertise and responsibility associated with those products and processes link back to engineering—engineers are also called upon to explain, review, and disseminate technical information to a variety of non-engineering audiences. As Fig. 18.1 reveals, engineers are positioned at the center of a communication network with message lines (channels) extending to a multifaceted array of personnel types and areas. A number of these lines fall into the category of technical to nontechnical or tech-to-nontech exchanges.
To Stack or Not To Stack

3D memory technology, such as Micron's hybrid memory cube (HMC), has re-energized the architectural pursuit of computation very close to, or inside the memory chip. Such a design falls into the broader category of near-data processing (NDP). The motivation for such design is because the current Von Neumann architecture of chip-multiprocessors is thought to make data movement expensive. Current NDP work focuses on the possibility of architecting computation engines, such as accelerators, cores, or graphic processing units right below the memory layers and inside the logic layer of the HMC sub-system. However, such a stacking design does present a number of technical challenges such as heat dissipation, power supply, etc. While these challenges can certainly be overcome, and needs to be addressed, in this work, we seek to answer a related question of whether it is necessary to stack general-purpose computation engines, directly inside the memory unit, in order to achieve the performance potential of NDP system; thus, to stack or not to stack. We show that, with computing models used in current NDP designs, placing the computation engines very close to, but outside the memory system (not stacking) can provide comparable performance without significant energy costs. This can be achieved without inventing any new technology, but utilizing current state-of-the-art high-speed link design practices.
Improving the On-Vehicle Experience of Passengers Through SC-M*: A Scalable Multi-Passenger Multi-Criteria Mobility Planner

The rapid growth in urban population poses significant challenges to moving city dwellers in a fast and convenient manner. This paper contributes to solving the challenges from the viewpoint of passengers by improving their on-vehicle experience. Specifically, we focus on the problem: Given an urban public transit network and a number of passengers, with some of them controllable and the rest uncontrollable, how can we plan for the controllable passengers to improve their experience in terms of their service preference? We formalize this problem as a multi-agent path planning (MAPP) problem with soft collisions, where multiple controllable passengers are allowed to share on-vehicle service resources with one another under certain constraints. We then propose a customized version of the SC-M* algorithm to efficiently solve the MAPP task for bus transit system in complex urban environments, where we have a large passenger size and multiple types of passengers requesting various types of service resources. We demonstrate the use of SC-M* in a case study of the bus transit system in Porto, Portugal. In the case study, we implement a data-driven on-vehicle experience simulator for the bus transit system, which simulates the passenger behaviors and on-vehicle resource dynamics, and evaluate the SC-M* on it. The experimental results show the advantages of the SC-M* in terms of path cost, collision-free constraint, and the scalability in run time and success rate.
Using Social Indicators to Describe Neighborhood-Level Disparities in Adolescent Health in Baltimore City Circa 2017.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to use social indicators to compare adolescent health disparities across neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland, circa 2017. Neighborhoods heavily influence adolescent health outcomes. Baltimore remains a hypersegregated city along racial boundaries with a recently growing population of Latino immigrant youth. This segregation may promulgate adolescent health disparities, yet the magnitude of needs and how they may differ among Baltimore's minoritized adolescents remain unknown. Methods The most predominantly white, black, and Latino neighborhoods in Baltimore were analyzed across six indicators relevant to adolescent health: teen birth rate, high school achievement, poverty, health insurance, youth mortality rate, and lead paint violation rate. The indicators were used to create a composite adolescent deprivation index. Measures of absolute and relative disparity were then calculated between white, black, and Latino neighborhood clusters. Results Both black and Latino neighborhoods had similar adolescent deprivation relative to white neighborhoods. Latino neighborhoods had the highest teen birth rate and children without health insurance. Black neighborhoods had the lowest educational achievement and the highest poverty, youth mortality, and lead paint violation rate. Conclusions The overall magnitude of social deprivation is similar across communities of color in Baltimore. However, black adolescents tend to live in neighborhoods with greater physical deprivation and youth mortality that limits within-group bonding capacity, whereas Latino adolescents tend to live in neighborhoods with limited health and social resources that prevent between-group bridging capacity. These indicators thus orient policies and programs to promote differential asset-based strategies for positive youth development.
Interest in Design Studios: A Theoretical Framework of Teaching Creativity for Millennials and Generation Z.

Millennials and Generation Z make up the new wave of students in design studios. These generations, while being tech-savvy, are undermined in creativity due to risk-aversion and collaboration-avoidance. Design educators need to consider these characteristics and create pedagogical approaches that can engage the students in learning creativity. The author proposes a theoretical framework to tackle the challenges Millennials and Generation Z bring to design studios by bridging the literature of design education and educational psychology. Scholars from both fields have highlighted the positive link between students’ interest and their performance in academic and creative tasks. Hence, it is plausible to hypothesize that task interest plays an important role in helping Millennials and Generation Z improve in learning creativity. This paper will discuss prominent studies that support the proposed theoretical framework and suggest pedagogical approaches for design studios with new-wave students.
Evaluation of an unmanned aerial vehicle as a new method of pesticide application for almond crop protection.

Background Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), a new method of application to deliver pesticides, is rapidly being adopted for commercial use in crop protection in East Asia with increasing worldwide interest. Pest control in mature almond orchards with dense foliar canopies presents greater coverage challenges than field crops and smaller orchard or vineyard crops. We investigated the use of an electric hexacopter to provide acceptable spray deposition and canopy penetration to be considered credible for use in an almond pest control program. Results The performance of the aerial and ground methods at different spray volumes were compared by analyzing spray deposition on water sensitive papers, insecticide residues on filter papers and residues on whole unhulled almonds at three canopy elevations. Overall residue levels of chlorantraniliprole insecticide on whole unhulled almonds across all pooled canopy strata were similar between UAV applied at 46.8 L/ha and 93.5 L/ha and the comparative air blast sprayer treatments applied at 935 L/ha. However, significant interactions between canopy elevation and spray method showed distinct residue patterns between the two application methods. Penetration and spray deposition at the lower canopy were observed and validated for the UAV application. Pest efficacy was evaluated by measuring nut damage at harvest. Conclusion This study presents promising data that support the potential innovative integration of UAV's into crop protection programs for large canopy crops such as almonds and may guide future research for developing relevant label recommendations.
The Effect of Behavioral Probability Weighting in a Simultaneous Multi-Target Attacker-Defender Game.

We consider a security game in a setting consisting of two players (an attacker and a defender), each with a given budget to allocate towards attack and defense, respectively, of a set of nodes. Each node has a certain value to the attacker and the defender, along with a probability of being successfully compromised, which is a function of the investments in that node by both players. For such games, we characterize the optimal investment strategies by the players at the (unique) Nash Equilibrium. We then investigate the impacts of behavioral probability weighting on the investment strategies; such probability weighting, where humans overweight low probabilities and underweight high probabilities, has been identified by behavioral economists to be a common feature of human decision-making. We show via numerical experiments that behavioral decision-making by the defender causes the Nash Equilibrium investments in each node to change (where the defender overinvests in the high-value nodes and underinvests in the low-value nodes).
A Literature Review: Pet Bereavement and Coping Mechanisms.

The loss of a companion animal results in millions of pet owners grieving annually. To date, little information has been synthesized on the grief response and coping mechanisms of bereaved pet owne...
Predicting Road Flooding Risk with Machine Learning Approaches Using Crowdsourced Reports and Fine-grained Traffic Data

The objective of this study is to predict road flooding risks based on topographic, hydrologic, and temporal precipitation features using machine learning models. Predictive flood monitoring of road network flooding status plays an essential role in community hazard mitigation, preparedness, and response activities. Existing studies related to the estimation of road inundations either lack observed road inundation data for model validations or focus mainly on road inundation exposure assessment based on flood maps. This study addresses this limitation by using crowdsourced and fine-grained traffic data as an indicator of road inundation, and topographic, hydrologic, and temporal precipitation features as predictor variables. Two tree-based machine learning models (random forest and AdaBoost) were then tested and trained for predicting road inundations in the contexts of 2017 Hurricane Harvey and 2019 Tropical Storm Imelda in Harris County, Texas. The findings from Hurricane Harvey indicate that precipitation is the most important feature for predicting road inundation susceptibility, and that topographic features are more essential than hydrologic features for predicting road inundations in both storm cases. The random forest and AdaBoost models had relatively high AUC scores (0.860 and 0.810 for Harvey respectively and 0.790 and 0.720 for Imelda respectively) with the random forest model performing better in both cases. The random forest model showed stable performance for Harvey, while varying significantly for Imelda. This study advances the emerging field of smart flood resilience in terms of predictive flood risk mapping at the road level. For example, such models could help impacted communities and emergency management agencies develop better preparedness and response strategies with improved situational awareness of road inundation likelihood as an extreme weather event unfolds.
Optimization of Customer Subscription Rates to Electric Utility Tariffs

In 2006 a test of residential electricity pricing using multiple tariffs was performed using a mixture of fixed-prices, time of-use prices and 5-minute real-time prices. Each tariff has advantages and disadvantages for both consumers and utilities. This paper examines a numerical optimization method to efficiently identify the optimal combination of customers to enroll under the available tariffs such that a utility can minimize the cost associated with both serving energy and the cost associated with the uncertainty of peak loads.
Assaying β-Catenin/TCF Transcription with β-Catenin/TCF Transcription-Based Reporter Constructs

Transcription-based reporters have been instrumental in characterizing the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway and will be essential in the search for therapeutics aimed at combating diseases linked to aberrant signaling. In this chapter, we introduce a new improved Wnt/beta-catenin reporter system, beta-catenin-activated reporter (BAR), and its accompanying control reporter system, found unresponsive BAR (fuBAR). Its enhanced sensitivity, increased dynamic range, and lentiviral platform provide a reporter system that will keep pace with the needs of scientists in the field.
Planning for Optimal Feedback Control in the Volume of Free Space

The problem of optimal feedback planning among obstacles in d-dimensional configuration spaces is considered. We present a sampling-based, asymptotically optimal feedback planning method. Our method combines an incremental construction of the Delaunay triangulation, volumetric collision-detection module, and a modified Fast Marching Method to compute a converging sequence of feedback functions. The convergence and asymptotic runtime are proven theoretically and investigated during numerical experiments, in which the proposed method is compared with the state-of-the-art asymptotically optimal path planners. The results show that our method is competitive with the previous algorithms. Unlike the shortest trajectory computed by many path planning algorithms, the resulting feedback functions can be used directly for robot navigation in our case. Finally, we present a straightforward extension of our method that handles dynamic environments where obstacles can appear, disappear, or move.
Modifications to the Visual Input That Lead to Nervous System Changes

A number of different problems can lead to disruption of the signals reaching the visual cortex. On the sensory side, there is diffusion of the image on the retina (cataract), poor focus of the image on one retina compared with the image on the other (anisometropia), poor focus along one axis (astigmatism), and excessive growth of the eyeball (myopia). On the motor side, there are a number of causes of misalignment of the two eyes and mismatch of the information from the two retinas (strabismus). As emphasized in the chapter on the development of the visual system, there is an interaction between sensory and motor systems so that deficits in one will lead to deficits in the other. In all cases there is a danger that the connections in the visual cortex will become rewired to compensate for the deficit and that the rewiring will become permanent if the underlying deficit is not treated.
Ecological Analysis of Teen Birth Rates: Association with Community Income and Income Inequality

Objectives: To examine whether per capita income and income inequality are independently associated with teen birth rate in populous U.S. counties. Methods: This study used 1990 U.S. Census data and National Center for Health Statistics birth data. Income inequality was measured with the 90:10 ratio, a ratio of percent of cumulative income held by the richest and poorest population deciles. Linear regression and analysis of variance were used to assess associations between county-level average income, income inequality, and teen birth rates among counties with population greater than 100,000. Results: Among teens aged 15–17, income inequality and per capita income were independently associated with birth rate; the mean birth rate was 54 per 1,000 in counties with low income and high income inequality, and 19 per 1,000 in counties with high income and low inequality. Among older teens (aged 18–19) only per capita income was significantly associated with birth rate. Conclusions: Although teen childbearing is the result of individual behaviors, these findings suggest that community-level factors such as income and income inequality may contribute significantly to differences in teen birth rates.
Personal watercraft injuries on noncoastal waterways.

This article reports on a study of injuries associated with personal watercraft (PWC). The authors conducted a retrospective review of the trauma registry at a Level I trauma center, covering data between 2000 and 2008, and including all patients (n = 24) injured as a result of PWC use in either Kansas or Oklahoma. The data included patient demographics, location of accident (lake or river), mechanism of accident, type and use of safety equipment, mechanism of injury, indication of intoxication, neurologic status, radiological studies, need for surgery, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and length of stay, need for mechanical ventilation, ventilator days, hospital length of stay (LOS), and discharge status (home, rehabilitation, or death). Average patient age was 29.8 years (plus or minus 14.2 years) and patients were predominantly male (66.7%). The majority of patients were not wearing safety equipment (62.5%) and no patients were known to be wearing protective head gear. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) was the most common injury (n = 9; 37.5%). Bony skeletal injury to the extremity or pelvis was the next most common injury (n = 7; 29.2%). All patients survived with 87.5% discharged to home. There were two delayed diagnoses (8.3%) and five unexpected readmissions (20.8%). The authors stress that, with appropriate education and increased emphasis on safety mechanisms and equipment, many PWC accidents can be prevented. They call for legislative efforts to require mandatory safety measures and impose uniform age restrictions. In addition, both drivers and passengers are cautioned to wear protective head gear.
Röntgenstrahlen in der Physik. Wesen der Röntgenstrahlen

Eine der wichtigsten Fragen, die Rontgen in seinen ersten beiden Mitteilungen offen gelassen hatte, war die nach dem eigentlichen Wesen der neuen Naturerscheinung. Rontgen nannte das neue Phanomen „der Kurze halber“ Strahlen, kam aber durch das negative Ergebnis seiner gut durchdachten und ausgedehntenVersuche, diese Strahlen zu brechen oder zu reflektieren, zu dem Schlus, das es sich nicht um transversale Schwingungen handeln konnte. Er glaubte es dann mit longitudinalen Schwingungen, ahnlich denen des Schalles, nur von viel groserer Tonhohe zu haben (s. auch 159, 212, 445, 941). Wenn auch einige wohl-bekannte Forscher — J. J. Thomson (948), Oliver Lodge (504, 505, 507), Jaumann (434) — Rontgens Ansicht anfangs in dieser Beziehung teilten, konnte sich die Mehrzahl der Physiker (58, 434, 445) nicht mit der Theorie befreunden.
Inequalities for decomposable forms of degree +1 in variables

We consider the number of integral solutions to the inequality |F(x)| < m, where F(X) E Z[X] is a decomposable form of degree n + 1 in n variables. We show that the number of such solutions is finite for all m only if the discriminant of F is not zero. We get estimates for the number of such solutions that display appropriate behavior in terms of the discriminant. These estimates sharpen recent results of the author for the general case of arbitrary degree.
The Ravenous Hyenas and the Wounded Sun: Myth and Ritual in Ancient India

Foreword by Gregory Nagy Acknowledgments AbbreviationsIntroductionA. "Vedic"B. The Texts i. The Vedas ii. The Yajur Veda and the Brahmanas iii. The SutrasC. Vedic RitualD. Vedic MythologyE. The Case StudiesPART I. INDRA AND THE YATIS 1. Texts2. Participants A. The Yatis i. Ritualists or Shamans? ii. Death at the Ritual iii. The Yatis' Killing: A Sin of Indra's?B. The Salavrkeyas i. Hyenas and Their Young ii. Indra and the Mother Hyena3. The Ritual in the Myth A. Yatis' Ritual FlawsB. The Yatis' Place on the Ritual Ground: The Uttaravedi i. The Uttaravedi: A Dangerous Place ii. Some Fierce Transformations iii. Why Is the Uttaravedi Dangerous?C. The Yatis' Ritual Successes i. The Sautramani ii. The Pasubandha iii. The Varunapraghasa and the Kariri Isti4. The Episode of the Survivors A. Syumarasmi and the Horse i. A Clever Escape and a Second Birth ii. The Sniff-Kiss iii. What the Horse DidB. Indra as Father Appendix: On Two Recent Treatments of the Yati MythPART II. SVARBHANU AND THE WOUNDED SUN5. The Texts and the Myth A. The TextsB. Overview of the Myth6. The Remedies-Skin Diseases, Hair, and Fertility 146 A. Apala: A Parallel to Svarbhanu i. Apala's Story ii. Apala, Akupara, and Svarbhanu iii. The Tortoise Akupara iv. Apala as Ritualist v. Apala's Objectives vi. Indra, Pusan, and Marriage?B. Ritual and Magic Reflections of the Myth i. Skin Diseases and the Sun: Samala ii. The Rite for Splendor iii. A Charm against Skin Disease7. Rescuing the Sun-Failed Birth and Rebirth A. Atri and Company: The Rescuers of the SunB. The Rebirth and Failed Birth of the Sun i. The Rebirth of the Sun ii. Other Mythic Descriptions of Birth iii. The Fourth SheepC. Some Other Failed Births of the Sun i. Saving the Sun from Miscarriage ii. Martanda/Vivasvant iii. Agni and Surya in the Womb8. Failed Birth and Rebirth of Atri A. Atri and MiscarriageB. The Atreyi i. The Atreyi in Legal Texts ii. Legal Reflections in the Brahmanas iii. The Atreyi in Atri's MythologyC. Atri as Symbol of Abortion in the Srauta SutrasD. Atri's Second Birth i. Atri's Kettle in the RV ii. A Disguised Parallel in the JB iii. Wombs and Their Substitutes9. Atri's Qualifications and Means for Rescuing the Sun 243 A. The Rescue of the Sun: Why Atri?B. Atri's ParentageC. Atri's Means i. The Ritual ii. 'Mere' Reverence and the Fourth Formulation iii. The Fourth (Part of) Speech iv. Creative Imperfection v. Pied Beauty10. The Wounding of the Sun A. Who Is Svarbhanu?B. What Did Svarbhanu Do to the Sun? i. The Piercing of the Sun ii. The Maya of Svarbhanu iii. Smoke in the Skin-Disease Charm?C. The Svarbhanu Myth as Reflecting the Physical World i. Catastrophic Events ii. Cyclical EventsD. What Did the Sun Say? RV V. 40. 7E. What Did the Sun Do Wrong? i. Prajapati's Incest ii. The Participants iii. Verbal Parallels between the Myths iv. Why Heal the Sun?Glossary of Technical Terms in Vedic Ritual and Religion A Note on Sanskrit Pronunciation References Index of Passages Cited Index of Sanskrit Terms General Index
The role of sex steroids in the expression of MMTV in the normal mouse mammary gland.

Abstract Infection with the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is associated with hyperplastic alveolar growth and subsequent tumorigenesis. The role of the sex steroids in the initial phase of this pathological chain of events is investigated in this study. In normal mammary epithelium, progesterone stimulates MMTV RNA expression both in vivo (2.6-fold) and in vitro (2.9-fold); although estradiol is ineffective alone, it does enhance the effect of progesterone (6.8- and 5.7-fold stimulation, respectively). These results suggest that the sex steroids may play an important role in inducing MMTV expression which can then lead to epithelial hyperplasia and, eventually, malignant transformation.
Parametric reduced-order models for probabilistic analysis of unsteady aerodynamic applications

DOI: 10.2514/1.35850 We address the problem of propagating input uncertainties through a computational fluid dynamics model. Methods such as Monte Carlo simulation can require many thousands (or more) of computational fluid dynamics solves, rendering them prohibitively expensive for practical applications. This expense can be overcome with reduced-order models that preserve the essential flow dynamics. The specific contributions of this paper are as follows: first, to derive a linearized computational fluid dynamics model that permits the effects of geometry variations to be represented with an explicit affine function; second, to propose an adaptive sampling method to derive a reduced basis that is effective over the joint probability density of the geometry input parameters. The method is applied to derive efficient reduced models for probabilistic analysis of a two-dimensional problem governedbythelinearized Eulerequations.Reduced-order modelsthatachieve 3-orders-of-magnitude reduction in the number of states are shown to accurately reproduce computational fluid dynamics Monte Carlo simulation results at a fraction of the computational cost.
Clustering Social Event Images Using Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis

Sharing user experiences in form of photographs, tweets, text, audio and/or video has become commonplace in social networking websites. Browsing through large collections of social multimedia remains a cumbersome task. It requires a user to initiate textual search query and manually go through a list of resulting images to find relevant information. We propose an automatic clustering algorithm, which, given a large collection of images, groups them into clusters of different events using the image features and related metadata. We formulate this problem as a kernel canonical correlation clustering problem in which data samples from different modalities or 'views' are projected to a space where correlations between the samples projections are maximized. Our approach enables us to learn a semantic representation of potentially uncorrelated feature sets and this representation is clustered to give unique social events. Furthermore, we leverage the rich information associated with each uploaded image (such as usernames, dates/timestamps, etc.) and empirically determine which combination of feature sets yields the best clustering score for a dataset of 100, 000 images.
Changes in activity levels of AMP deaminase and adenosine deaminase in the Indian apple snail, Pila globosa (Swainson) during starvation and aestivation stress

Activity levels of AMP deaminase and adenosine deaminase have been studied in hepatopancreas, foot and mantle tissues ofPila globosa with reference to starvation and aestivation. The activity levels of both enzymes were decreased in all the tissues of aestivating snails while in starved animals AMP deaminase activity was increased, in contrast to the decreased adenosine deaminase activity.
Introduction to big geospatial data research

The phenomenal growth of digital data is posing increasing challenges for both scientists and engineers. The challenge is multifaceted due to the ever-growing size, constant flow, high dimension and trustworthiness of the content. This special issue captures several state-of-the-art technological research on improving understanding geospatial science changes brought about by the availability of both new types of data such as social media data and advanced computing technologies such as geospatial cyberinfrastructure and cloud computing.
Journal Club: the Alvarado score as a method for reducing the number of CT studies when appendiceal ultrasound fails to visualize the appendix in adults.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the hypothesis that Alvarado scores of 3 or lower identify adult patients who are unlikely to benefit from CT after appendiceal ultrasound fails to show the appendix and is otherwise normal. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We identified 119 consecutive adults for whom the appendix was not seen on otherwise normal appendiceal sonography performed as the first imaging study for suspected appendicitis, who subsequently underwent CT within 48 hours, and whose data permitted retrospective calculation of admission Alvarado scores. Specific benefits of CT were defined as diagnoses of appendicitis or significant alternative findings, and specific benefits were compared between patients with Alvarado scores of 3 or less and 4 or higher. Significant alternative findings on CT were findings other than appendicitis that were treated with medical or surgical therapy during the admission or that were to be addressed during follow-up care. Diagnostic reference standards were ...
Countercurrent Distribution for making Committee Decisions

Libraries short of funds might find the task of selecting important books easier using this modification of a method originally applied to fruit flies.