cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
COMPUTER FAMILIARITY AMONG TOEFL EXAMINEES

The growing use of computer-based testing raises concerns about access and equity. Specifically, many in the field of language testing are concerned that the introduction of a computer-based TOEFL test in 1998 may introduce bias by confounding the measurement of English-language proficiency with computer familiarity. As the first study in a series of research efforts to address this question, a 23-item questionnaire focusing on examinees' access to, attitude toward, and experience using computers as well as related technologies was developed and administered to TOEFL test takers in April and May of 1996 as part of a TOEFL test administration. The examinee response rate for the survey was over 90%, and the sample of respondents was determined to be highly similar to the annual TOEFL examinee population in terms of gender, native language, test center region, TOEFL test score ranges, and reason for taking the test. Factor analysis procedures (specifically, a principal factors approach with varimax rotation) were used to determine the dimensionality of the survey questionnaire. The first factor from a two-factor common factor solution consisted of 11 items and had a reliability of .91. This factor was used to classify TOEFL examinees into one of three groups according to their level of familiarity with computers: low, moderate, or high. Overall, some 16% of the TOEFL population was judged to have low computer familiarity, another 34% to have moderate familiarity, and approximately 50% to have high familiarity. In terms of background characteristics, computer familiarity was found to be unrelated to age, but was related to gender, native language, region of the world where the examinee was born, and test-center region. Computer familiarity was also shown to be related to individuals' TOEFL test scores and their reason for taking the test but unrelated to whether or not they had taken the test previously. Analyses of variance were conducted to investigate the relationships among proficiency as measured by the paper-and-pencil TOEFL test, computer familiarity, and selected background characteristics, including gender, age, native language, and reason for taking the test. Effect sizes for each variable as well as for the interactions among the variables are discussed herein. The study results are also considered in light of existing research relating to various aspects of computer familiarity as well as in terms of their implications for professionals in universities and intensive language programs who will need to serve the needs of this diverse set of learners.
Determinants in 3Dpol Modulate the Rate of Growth of Hepatitis A Virus

Hepatitis A virus (HAV), an atypical member of the Picornaviridae, grows poorly in cell culture. To define determinants of HAV growth, we introduced a blasticidin (Bsd) resistance gene into the virus genome and selected variants that grew at high concentrations of Bsd. The mutants grew fast and had increased rates of RNA replication and translation but did not produce significantly higher virus yields. Nucleotide sequence analysis and reverse genetic studies revealed that a T6069G change resulting in a F42L amino acid substitution in the viral polymerase (3D(pol)) was required for growth at high Bsd concentrations whereas a silent C7027T mutation enhanced the growth rate. Here, we identified a novel determinant(s) in 3D(pol) that controls the kinetics of HAV growth.
Divalent cations modulate human colon cancer cell adhesion.

Abstract Background. Iatrogenic tumor implantation within surgical sites can compromise curative cancer surgery. Cancer cell adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins is mediated by diverse matrix receptors, most notably integrins. Divalent cations may modulate integrin-ligand interactions in some cells. Materials and methods. We studied adhesion of SW620 and Caco-2 human colon cancer cells to collagen I, the dominant collagen of the interstitial matrix, and confirmed our results in primary human colon cancer cells from surgical specimens. Single cell suspensions in either HEPES/NaCl buffer or media supplemented with 0–1 mM Mn 2+ or Mg 2+ , and 0–10 mM Zn 2+ or Ca 2+ were plated onto collagen-I-precoated dishes for 30 min. Results. Supplementation of the HEPES/NaCl/BSA buffer with 1 mM Mn 2+ , Mg 2+ , Zn 2+ , or Ca 2+ affected adhesion differently. Mn 2+ (1 mM) markedly promoted SW620 adhesion vs control (21.17 ± 0.08-fold). Mg 2+ (1 mM) had a similar but lesser effect (14.71 ± 0.02-fold). However, 1–10 mM Ca 2+ inhibited basal cell adhesion by 22.0 ± 3.1 to 88.0 ± 7.3 % inhibition. Ca 2+ (2.5–10 mM) also inhibited Mn 2+ -induced adhesion. Zn 2+ stimulated basal adhesion slightly at lower concentrations but inhibited Mn 2+ -stimulated adhesion similarly to Ca 2+ at higher concentrations. Results were duplicated in conventional serum containing culture medium supplemented with these cations. Caco-2 cells and primary cancer cells yielded similar results. All results are significant to P Discussion. Integrin-mediated colon cancer cell adhesion is affected by extracellular divalent cation concentrations. Washing the surgical site with dilute calcium or zinc solutions might diminish perioperative tumor implantation.
Administrative Management: Does Its Strong Executive Thesis Still Merit Our Attention?

Tasked with the responsibility of finding new and innovative ways of improving administrative management, Arthur W. Macmahon, James W. Fesler, and Herbert Emmerich creatively enriched the final report of the President’s Committee on Administrative Management with their analyses. But that is not the only reason for celebrating this work today. These documents still merit attention because they are historical landmarks that draw attention to the continuing tensions between Congress and the president over which branch of government should have control over executive branch agencies. This study makes the case for a strong executive in a manner that has rarely been as clearly and forcefully stated as it was in 1937. It reminds the field that policy decisions remain nothing but aspirations until they are turned into action. Reading this study is like reading any classic treatise on government—it generates thought.
MPIglut: Powerwall Programming Made Easier

A powerwall is an array of separate screens that work together to provide a single unified display. Powerwalls are often driven by a small cluster, which requires parallel software to organize and synchronize the distributed rendering process. This paper describes MPIglut, our powerwall-friendly implementation of the popular sequential GLUT OpenGL 3D programming interface. MPIglut internally communicates using MPI to provide a single coherent display even across a distributedmemoryparallelmachine. Uniquely, MPIglutissourcecode compatible with ordinary sequential GLUT code while providing high performance.
A comparison of methods for sampling splashpool copepoda

Abstract Collection methods for micro- and meiofauna within high shore splashpools are compared using four simple, hand-held devices, with the supralittoral harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus califoricus as a representative organism. For the collection of all T. califarnicus life-history stages, over a range of potential densities and with a minimum of specimen damage, a 30 ml graduated pipette is demonstrably more efficient than bottles, preparation dishes, or small nets. Collection ofnauplii and gravid females, which typically subsist closer to the substratum and in pits or crevices in the bedrock, was particularly better using the pipette, which generates a rapid suction, produces less overall disturbance than larger devices, and can be used over a broad range of pool sizes without modification. For analysis, pipettes provide a smaller, more concentrated sample, reducing processing time and the potential for handling error.
Estimation of Inherent Safety Margins in Loaded Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Casks

We completed a novel assessment to determine the unquantified and uncredited safety margins (i.e., the difference between the licensing basis and as-loaded calculations) available in as-loaded spent nuclear fuel (SNF) casks. This assessment was performed as part of a broader effort to assess issues and uncertainties related to the continued safety of casks during extended storage and transportability following extended storage periods. Detailed analyses crediting the actual as-loaded cask inventory were performed for each of the casks at three decommissioned pressurized water reactor (PWR) sites to determine their characteristics relative to regulatory safety criteria for criticality, thermal, and shielding performance. These detailed analyses were performed in an automated fashion by employing a comprehensive and integrated data and analysis tool—Used Nuclear Fuel-Storage, Transportation & Disposal Analysis Resource and Data System (UNF-STD calculated decay heat margins ranged from 4 to almost 22 kW (as of 2014); and significant uncredited transportation dose rate margins were also observed. The results demonstrate that, at least for the casks analyzed here, significant uncredited safety margins are available that could potentially be used to compensate for SNF assembly and canister structural performance related uncertainties associatedmore » with long-term storage and subsequent transportation. The results also suggest that these inherent margins associated with how casks are loaded could support future changes in cask licensing to directly or indirectly credit the margins. Work continues to quantify the uncredited safety margins in the SNF casks loaded at other nuclear reactor sites.« less
James Harrington and the Senate

James Harrington was second on John Adams’s list of republican authors, ‘sneer[ed]’ at by ‘modern Englishmen’.1 He also rivalled Sidney as America’s most popular English pseudonym,2 and anticipated Sidney’s preference for a strong senate in the legislature. John Adams quoted from Harrington’s Commonwealth of Oceana at length in his Defence as a ‘specimen of that kind of reading and reasoning which produced the American constitutions’,3 and praised him again as the leading theorist of the interregnum4 whose ‘reasons’ and ‘judgment are often eternal, and unanswerable by any man’.5 Harrington wrote, like Cicero, before all hope for his republic had been lost, and he dedicated his Oceana to Oliver Cromwell, to guide England’s dictator towards establishing a purified Commonwealth in Britain. American colonists read Harrington in Toland’s eighteenth-century editions of Oceana which began with the same quotation from Cicero that Sidney had paraphrased in his Discourses and Adams quoted in his Defence.6
Malondialdehyde-acetaldehyde (MAA) adducted surfactant protein induced lung inflammation is mediated through scavenger receptor a (SR-A1)

Co-exposure to cigarette smoke and alcohol leads to the generation of high concentrations of acetaldehyde and malondialdehyde in the lung. These aldehydes being highly electrophilic in nature react with biologically relevant proteins such as surfactant protein D (SPD) through a Schiff base reaction to generate SPD adducted malondialdehyde-acetaldehyde adduct (SPD-MAA) in mouse lung. SPD-MAA results in an increase in lung pro-inflammatory chemokine, keratinocyte chemoattractant (KC), and the recruitment of lung lavage neutrophils. Previous in vitro studies in bronchial epithelial cells and macrophages show that scavenger receptor A (SR-A1/CD204) is a major receptor for SPD-MAA. No studies have yet examined the in vivo role of SR-A1 in MAA-mediated lung inflammation. Therefore, we hypothesize that in the absence of SR-A1, MAA-induced inflammation in the lung is reduced or diminished. To test this hypothesis, C57BL/6 WT and SR-A1 KO mice were nasally instilled with 50 μg/mL of SPD-MAA for 3 weeks (wks). After 3 weeks, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid was collected and assayed for a total cell count, a differential cell count and CXCL1 (KC) chemokine. Lung tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and antibodies to MAA adduct. Results showed that BAL cellularity and influx of neutrophils were decreased in SR-A1 KO mice as compared to WT following repetitive SPD-MAA exposure. MAA adduct staining in the lung epithelium was decreased in SR-A1 KO mice. In comparison to WT, no increase in CXCL1 was observed in BAL fluid from SR-A1 KO mice over time. Overall, the data demonstrate that SR-A1/CD204 plays an important role in SPD-MAA induced inflammation in lung.
Abstract 362: G Protein-Linked Receptor Kinase 4 is Palmitoylated and Acetylated and Regulates Subcellular Localization in Human Renal Proximal Tubule Cells

G protein-linked receptor kinase 4 (GRK4) is a kinase expressed in human renal proximal tubule cells (RPTC). Three single nucleotide polymorphisms in this gene are associated with hyper-phosphorylation and inactivation of the dopamine-1 receptor (D1R), and are associated with both hypertension and salt sensitivity. GRK4 is a prime therapeutic target for hypertension so we sought to discover potential post-translational modifications that could affect both localization and function. We identified two unique posttranslational modifications of GRK4 that we hypothesize are associated with protein localization. GRK4 is found at the plasma membrane (PM), in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus. We determined that GRK4 is both acetylated and palmitoylated. Using cell fractionation and immunoprecipitation, we determined that GRK4 was found in the nucleus, but acetylated GRK4 was only found in the cytoplasmic fraction using six different human RPTC cell lines (>10 fold n=6, p
Beauty and Truth in Regency Britain

Chapter 5 reads “Ode on a Grecian Urn” in the context of Robert Benjamin Haydon’s theories about art and in light of Regency notions of “beauty” and “truth” as hallmarks of artistic accomplishment. This redefined historical context allows for an interpretation of “Grecian Urn” that demotes readings stressing the text’s ironic conclusion: the urn, construed as a dramatic character, is generalizing merely about the “now” of aesthetic experience. Read contextually, “Grecian Urn” discloses both Keats’s appreciation of art’s historically grounded powers of constructing community and, sadly, its obverse cultural marginalization in modern Britain.
Abstract 120: Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Family Dimeric Partners Switch During Pathological Stress in microRNA-7 Transgenic Mice

miRNA-7 is known to target epidermal growth factors receptor 1(EGFR1) in cancer cells. EGFR family members (EGFR 1, 2, 3 and 4) are known to form homo- and/or hetero-dimers to mediate downstream signals . Our previous study in human heart failure (Naga Prasad etal., JBC, 2009) showed that EGFR2 (ERBB2) was targeted by miRNA-7. Based on this study, we developed transgenic (Tg) mice with cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of miRNA-7. miRNA-7 Tg mice have age dependent deterioration in cardiac dysfunction and is associated with cardiac dilation as measured by echocardiography (3 months - 60% FS, 6 month -52% FS &12 months - 24%FS) and yet, they survive well for more than a year. To investigate whether pathological stress would accelerate the deterioration in cardiac function, miRNA-7 Tg mice were subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC) for two weeks. In contrast to the wild type littermates which undergo hypertrophic response following TAC, miRNA-7 Tg mice have accelerated cardiac dysfunction and dilation within two weeks. Biochemical analysis interestingly showed differential switching of dimeric EGFR partners in hearts of the miRNA-7 Tg mice compared to their sham controls. Our presentation will discuss the differential downstream signaling induced by changing of EGFR dimeric partners induced by pathological stress like TAC in the wildtype and miRNA-7 Tg mice.
A full-rate 40 Gb/s clock and data recovery with resonator-based frequency-doubling mechanism in 0.13-μm CMOS

The paper presents a CMOS clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit for a full-rate 40 Gb/s optical receiver, and the proposed CDR adopts a mixer-based phase detector (MBPD). The MBPD approach offers several advantages such as capability to operate high frequencies, and a linear relationship between the phase difference and the output current. However, an MBPD requires a frequency-doubling mechanism (FDM) preceding the mixer, and the FDM becomes the bottleneck for high speed operations. Existing circuits implement the FDM with XOR gates and delay cells, which is limited for a low frequency range. The FDM for the proposed CDR is based on an LC-resonator, which doubles the clock frequency compared with competing CMOS CDRs. The proposed CDR is implemented in 0.13-μm CMOS technology. It achieves a peak-to-peak clock jitter of 0.755 ps for a 40 Gb/s pseudo-random binary sequence of (231-1) bits and dissipates 75 mW.
Pediatric sleep and autonomic complaints.

Objectives:Little is known about the relationship between autonomic dysfunction and sleep disturbances. This study aimed to identify patterns of sleep disturbances and autonomic dysfunction in chil...
Local Government Law's 'Law and ___' Problem

Local government law scholarship has a “law and ___” problem. It should be relatively uncontroversial to note that, over the last forty years, most fields of legal scholarship have been profoundly transformed by the incorporation of the tools and analytical methods used in economics, political science, and other social scientific disciplines. Local government law has not been immune. It is not hard to find in local government law scholarship discussions of concepts drawn from economics and political science, as well as from a host of other disciplines. What is notable, and what I will show in this Essay, is that these references are, for the most part, extremely dated.Specifically, I will argue that local government law has not kept up with the intellectual movements that have defined the last twenty or so years in the study of cities or politics. I will focus on the two areas of social science that have been among the most important influences on legal scholarship generally: economics and positive political science. But as I will discuss in the conclusion, the same point could be made with respect to other social scientific disciplines. Our field has had many successes, but it is being held back by a failure to keep up with contemporary social science.
Vehicle Tracking in Wide Area Motion Imagery using KC- LoFT Multi-Feature Discriminative Modeling

Recently our group proposed LoFT (Likelihood of Features Tracking) tracker system [1] that can successfully track objects of interest under different scenarios of wide-area motion imagery and full motion video. LoFT is a recognition-based single target tracker that relies on fusion of multiple complementary features. In this paper, LoFT is extended with a kernelized correlation filter (KCF) module to incorporate a robust continuous target template update scheme to better localize the target and to recover from sudden appearance changes and occlusions. Decision module using peak-to-sidelobe ratio is added to KCF module to prevent error accumulation from blending non-target regions to target template during update, and to prevent fusion of the KCF likelihood map to the other LoFT feature likelihood maps when the KCF response is not reliable. KC-LoFT is a single object tracker that fuses the most discriminative features from LoFT and KCF to better localize the target object in the search window. KC-LoFT was tested on ABQ aerial wide area motion imagery dataset [2] and produced promising results compared to recent state-of-the-art tracking systems in term of accuracy and robustness.
Between Science and Engineering: Reflections on the APSA Presidential Task Force on Political Science, Electoral Rules, and Democratic Governance: How Context Shapes the Effects of Electoral Rules

Political scientists have contributed to the world of electoral systems as scientists and as engineers. Taking stock of recent scientific research, we show that context modifies the effects of electoral rules on political outcomes in specific and systematic ways. We explore how electoral rules shape the inclusion of women and minorities, the depth and nature of political competition, and patterns of redistribution and regulation, and we consider institutional innovations that could promote political equality. Finally, we describe the diverse ways that political scientists produce an impact on the world by sharing and applying their knowledge of the consequences of electoral rules and global trends in reform.
Sensitizing Medical Residents to Fantasies and Alignments in the Family: Mastering Psychosocial Skills in the Medical Encounter

In this paper, it is proposed that a) psychosocial medicine is best taught in a setting that provides technical and emotional support, while seizing for teaching only those moments when the learner is most receptive; and b) that the setting should avoid the development of a separate psychosocial skills curriculum, but should take the student where he or she is and integrate the psychosocial skills into his or her everyday biomedical practice. The paper gives specific case examples in which family based psychosocial issues were preeminent in the clinical problem-solving medical residents faced.
Alzheimer’s disease brain-derived tau-containing extracellular vesicles: Pathobiology and GABAergic neuronal transmission

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) propagate tau pathology for Alzheimers disease (AD). How EV transmission influences AD are, nonetheless, poorly understood. To these ends, the physicochemical and molecular structure-function relationships of human brain-derived EVs, from AD and prodromal AD (pAD), were compared to non-demented controls (CTRL). AD EVs were shown to be significantly enriched in epitope-specific tau oligomers versus pAD or CTRL EVs assayed by dot-blot and atomic force microscopy tests. AD EVs were efficiently internalized by murine cortical neurons and transferred tau with higher aggregation potency than pAD and CTRL EVs. Strikingly, inoculation of tau-containing AD EVs into the outer molecular layer of the dentate gyrus induced tau propagation throughout the hippocampus. This was seen in 22 months-old C57BL/6 mice at 4.5 months post-injection by semiquantitative brain-wide immunohistochemistry tests with multiple anti-phospho-tau (p-tau) antibodies. Inoculation of the equal amount of tau from CTRL EVs or as oligomer or fibril-enriched fraction from the same AD donor showed little propagation. AD EVs induced tau accumulation in the hippocampus as oligomers or sarkosyl-insoluble proteins. Unexpectedly, p-tau cells were mostly GAD67+ GABAergic neurons and to a lesser extent, GluR2/3+ excitatory mossy cells, showing preferential EV-mediated GABAergic neuronal tau propagation. Whole-cell patch clamp recording of Cornu Ammonis (CA1) pyramidal cells showed significant reduction in the amplitude of spontaneous inhibitory post-synaptic currents. This was accompanied by reductions in c-fos+ GAD67+GABAergic neurons and GAD67+ GABAergic neuronal puncta surrounding pyramidal neurons in the CA1 region confirming reduced interneuronal projections. Our study posits a novel tau-associated pathological mechanism for brain-derived EVs.
Unlocking the reversal potential of solid supported membrane electrophysiology to determine transport stoichiometry

Transport stoichiometry provides insight into the mechanism and function of ion-coupled transporters, but measuring transport stoichiometry is time-consuming and technically difficult. With the increasing evidence that many ion-coupled transporters employ multiple transport stoichiometries under different conditions, improved methods to determine transport stoichiometry are required to accurately characterize transporter activity. Reversal potential was previously shown to be a reliable, general method for determining the transport stoichiometry of ion-coupled transporters (Fitzgerald & Mindell, 2017). Here, we develop a new technique for measuring transport stoichiometry with greatly improved throughput using solid supported membrane electrophysiology (SSME). Using this technique, we are able to verify the recent report of a fixed 2:1 stoichiometry for the proton:guanidinium antiporter Gdx. Our SSME method requires only small amounts of transporter and provides a fast, easy, general method for measuring transport stoichiometry, which will facilitate future mechanistic and functional studies of ion-coupled transporters.
Entre plagas y enigmas: la poética de la simultaneidad en Cien años de soledad y su nexo con la ficción borgeana

Desde su publicacion, hace ya cincuenta anos, Cien anos de soledad, de Gabriel Garcia Marquez, ha sido objeto de un elevado numero de investigaciones, originando una suerte de epidemia academica, q...
FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

What are the economic, political, institutional, socio-cultural, and geographical determinants of financial development in developing countries? This paper uses the two-way fixed effects (with clus...
Collaborative Discoveries: Trust, Empathy, and Meaning

This article considers several questions regarding collaboration within the choreographic process. Through revisiting a choreographic work created several years ago within a university dance depart...
Hybrid Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion and Cervical Disc Arthroplasty: An Analysis of Short-Term Complications, Reoperations, and Readmissions:

Study Design:Retrospective cohort study.Objectives:Although cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) has become a well-established and effective treatment for symptomatic cervical degeneration, many patien...
Hemostasis Basics: Figures and Facts

Providers who do not regularly manage patients with hemostatic problems sometimes find that coagulation can be difficult to understand. Students are not universally taught about coagulation in the medical curriculum. Visualization may be one of the more effective methods to teach coagulation to medical students, residents, fellows, medical technologists, and others. Original figures of primary and secondary hemostasis, fibrinolytic system, coagulation cascade, coagulation cycle, fibrin formation from fibrinogen, action of unfractionated and low-molecular-weight heparin, the protein C system, and the triad and quad of thrombosis are included. In addition, facts regarding coagulation factors and von Willebrand factor such as molecular weight and in vivo half-life are included. In addition, blood components and hemostatic drugs for replacement of deficient factors are also included, providing information for clinical management.
An N-body approach to modelling debris and ejecta off small bodies: implementation and application

We introduce here our new approach to modeling particle cloud evolution off surface of small bodies (asteroids and comets), following the evolution of ejected particles requires dealing with various time and spatial scales, in an efficient, accurate and modular way. In order to improve computational efficiency and accuracy of such calculations, we created an N-body modeling package as an extension to the increasingly popular orbital dynamics N-body integrator Rebound. Our code is currently a stand-alone variant of the Rebound code and is aimed at advancing a comprehensive understanding of individual particle trajectories, external forcing, and interactions, at the scale which is otherwise overlooked by other modeling approaches. The package we developed -- Rebound Ejecta Dynamics (RED) -- is a Python-based implementation with no additional dependencies. It incorporates several major mechanisms that affect the evolution of particles in low-gravity environments and enables a more straightforward simulation of combined effects. We include variable size and velocity distributions, solar radiation pressure, ellipsoidal gravitational potential, binary or triple asteroid systems, and particle-particle interactions. In this paper, we present a sample of the RED package capabilities. These are applied to a small asteroid binary system (characterized following the Didymos/Dimorphos system, which is the target for NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission)
Penny Post Imperialists: Imagining and Experiencing Empire in Letters to the Colonial Office, 1903

This article examines a collection of several hundred letters sent to Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain in 1903. Written by British and colonial subjects from a wide range of different backgrou...
Recurrent Anterior Urethral Stricture: Challenges and Solutions

Recurrent male anterior urethral stricture disease is a complex surgical challenge that should be managed by reconstructive urologists with experience in stricture management. Diagnosis of recurrence requires both anatomic narrowing and patient symptoms identified on validated questionnaires, with limited role for intervention in asymptomatic treatment "failures". Endoscopic management has a very specific role in recurrence, and the choice of technique for urethroplasty depends on pre-operative urethrography and cystoscopy. Surgical success depends on addressing patient concerns, complete stricture excision, tissue quality optimization, and the use of multi-stage repair when indicated. Augmentation with genital skin flaps and/or grafts is often required, with buccal mucosa as the ideal graft source if local tissue is compromised. Salvage options including urinary diversion and perineal urethrostomy must also be considered in debilitated patients with severe disease or repeated treatment failures. Unique patient populations including patients with hypospadias and lichen sclerosis are among the highest risk for repeated recurrence and require special care in surgical technique, graft selection, and post-operative management.
Time‐dependent changes in volcanic inflation rate near Three Sisters, Oregon, revealed by InSAR

[1] An extensive area near the Three Sisters volcanic center, Oregon, has been actively uplifting since 1996. In this study we use Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to assess the Three Sisters uplift in time and space from 1992 through 2010. We present the first InSAR line-of-sight time series of the deformation, refine the onset of volcanic intrusive activity, assess the changes in deformation through time, and determine whether inflation is still occurring. We model InSAR data to determine the source geometry that best describes the uplift and create an inflation time series of the deformation. Our results reveal an intrusion, located at ∼5–7 km depth with a cumulative volume of magma of ∼5–7 × 107 m3 as of fall 2010. The input of magma started gradually around the summer of 1996, increased significantly from 1998 to 2003, and then decreased in rate from 2004 through 2010. We present evidence that a swarm in 2004 was associated with the decrease in the source inflation rate.
SAFETY FACTORS FOR RIPRAP PROTECTION

The merit of a particular riprap design can be represented by numerical value of the riprap safety factor, defined as the ratio of moments resisting particle motion to the moments tending to rotate the particle out of the riprap blanket. A safety factor of unity denotes incipient motion. From theoretical considerations, a relation is established between the riprap safety factor and the magnitude and direction of the flow velocity in the vicinity of the riprap, the angle of the side slope, and the angle of repose for the riprap. The design procedures of the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the California Division of Highways, the Bureau of Public Roads and others are evaluated in terms of the riprap safety factor. Some of the designs have safety factors less than unity indicating that there could be a loss of riprap material when the design flows are obtained.
Quark fragmentation in the θ vacuum.

QCD vacuum is a superposition of degenerate states with different topological numbers that are connected by tunneling (the $\ensuremath{\theta}$ vacuum). The tunneling events are due to configurations of gauge fields (e.g., the instantons) that induce local $\mathcal{P}$-odd domains in Minkowski space-time. We study the quark fragmentation in this topologically nontrivial QCD background. We find that even though QCD globally conserves $\mathcal{P}$ and $\mathcal{C}\mathcal{P}$ symmetries, two new kinds of $\mathcal{P}$-odd fragmentation functions emerge. We study their experimental manifestations in dihadron production in ${e}^{+}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ collisions, and find two interesting dihadron correlations: the $\mathrm{cos}﻿({\ensuremath{\phi}}_{1}+{\ensuremath{\phi}}_{2})$ correlation usually referred to as the Collins effect, and a $\mathcal{P}$-odd $\ensuremath{\sim}\mathrm{sin}﻿({\ensuremath{\phi}}_{1}+{\ensuremath{\phi}}_{2})$ correlation that vanishes in the cross section summed over many events, but survives on the event-by-event basis.
Morality without Intention

An examination of how, in literature, silence and veiling are related to moral significance. The paper emphasizes Walter Benjamin’s essay on Goethe’s Elective Affiniites and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” and poses the question of how the literary can possess moral meaning or effect when, as in these two works, silence and veiling appear as a means of refusing or denying intention. Benjamin’s and Hawthorne’s different critiques of the symbol are presented as the central issue around which the possibility of moral meaning is decided as an intentionless act. Benjamin’s preservation of the moral is interpreted as the cause of the paradoxical and contradictory sources of the expressionless and its critical violence as well as the veiling and secrecy he identifies as forming the true work of art. Against this account, Hawthorne’s story is read as the refusal of any preceding secret as the basis of a moral claim and thus as the defining category of the work of art.
A Relational Turbulence Model of Military Service Members' Relational Communication During Reintegration

This study employed the relational turbulence model to examine features of relational communication and dimensions of relational inferences during the postdeployment transition for military service members. We surveyed 220 military personnel who had recently returned home from deployment about their romantic relationship. Results of a structural equation model indicated that relational uncertainty and interference from partners predicted openness and aggressiveness, which in turn predicted appraisals of affiliation and dominance in the relationship. The results imply that the transition from deployment to reunion corresponds with upheaval in how service members communicate with a romantic partner and make judgments about their relationship.
Crystal Plasticity Finite Element Modeling of Single Crystal Niobium Tensile Tests with Weighted Dynamic Hardening Rule

Fine grain Niobium (Nb) sheets are used to make superconducting cavities, which are the fundamental building blocks of particle accelerators. Slices of large grain Nb cut from as cast ingots are cheaper to produce than fine grain sheets. However, they are more prone to anisotropic deformation. Reproducible manufacturing of a cavity with anisotropic large grain Nb slices may be less expensive, but it needs greater care in anticipating the complex strain paths required to plastically transform the Nb slice into an accelerator cavity.
Yeast Phenylalanine Ammonia-lyase PURIFICATION, PROPERTIES, AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF CATALYTICALLY ESSENTIAL DEHYDROALANINE

Abstract Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from the yeast Rhodotorula glutinis was purified by salt fractionations and Sephadex chromatography. Density gradient centrifugation and Sephadex chromatography indicated its molecular weight to be about 275,000. Enzymatic deamination of several ring-substituted phenylalanine analogues and d-phenylalanine was studied. While cinnamic acid, a product of deamination, acted as a competitive inhibitor, phenylpropiolic acid, its acetylenic analogue, was a noncompetitive inhibitor. This latter finding is consistent with the presence of more than one form of enzyme during the reaction sequence. The enzyme was inactivated by borohydride or cyanide. In addition, 0.7 to 1.2 atoms of tritium (incorporated from NaB3H4) or about 1.4 moles of cyanide completely inactivated 1 mole of enzyme. After acid hydrolysis of the enzyme labeled with Na14CN, the radioactivity was recovered primarily as 14C-aspartic acid. The 4-carboxyl group of this aspartate was radioactive. Hydrolysis of 3H-NaBH4-inactivated enzyme yielded radioactive alanine. This evidence indicates that bound dehydroalanine is at the active site of the enzyme.
Polynuclear Organometallic Cluster Complexes

The title refers to molecular compounds containing three or more transition metal atoms and hydrocarbyl ligands as a part of the metal–carbon cluster core. Because the chemistry of trimetallic clusters is the most well developed, these examples are to be stressed. Selected examples are presented to illustrate the principles of structure and bonding of organometallic clusters, synthetic approaches, and chemical reactions, including ligand substitution, oxidative addition, intramolecular insertion, protonation of metal–metal bonds and coordinated ligands, nucleophilic attack on coordinated ligands, and ligand fluxionality. The chemistry of these clusters is exemplified by trimetallic clusters containing hydrocarbon fragments of one, two, or three carbon atoms. While, many of the features of cluster chemistry are common with those of organometallic complexes containing a single metal atom, there are notable differences in structures and reactivities owing to the tendencies of ligands to bridge between two or more metal atoms and for ligands bound to only a single metal atom to undergo facile intramolecular migrations between metal atoms. These distinctions give rise to the ‘metal-cluster-metal surface analogy’ in which structural and spectroscopic features of organometallic clusters are used as models for hydrocarbons chemisorbed on metal surfaces. Keywords: cluster; hydride; fluxional; polynuclear; carbonyl; oxidative addition; ligand substitution; agostic; insertion
Efficacy of Coxiella burnetii and its chloroform-methanol residue (CMR) fraction against Rift Valley fever virus infection in mice.

Strains of Coxiella burnetii phase I and II whole cells (WC-I and WC-II) or whole cell fractions were assessed for their potential to induce long-lasting protection in endotoxin-non-responder C3HHeJ or CD-1 mice against Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus challenge. Among the whole cell fractions, only the chloroform-methanol residue (CMR), administered as a single dose (100 μg per mouse) 24 h before viral challenge, effectively protected 100% of the mice from RVF virus; the CMR of the Ohio strain of C. burnetii was not protective. Most of the RVF virus-infected mice treated with other C. burnetii cell fractions died, although their times to death varied. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) associated with CMR preparations used in these studies, did not protect against RVF virus challenge. A single dose of 100 μg of CMR given 24 h before viral challenge completely eradicated 4-t logs of RVF virus in the serum, liver, spleen, and central nervous system. Compared to several other immunomodulators, CMR was an equally effective antiviral agent. Efficacy of CMR of both Henzerling and Ohio strains disappeared or was marginal when treatment was initiated 2–3 days before RVF viral challenge, even when a second or a third dose of CMR was administered after challenge. A single dose of liposome-encapsulated CMR to RVF virus-infected mice extended the range of therapeutic efficacy of this biologically active component of C. burnetii to 4 days before infection.
Opposing survivorship and fecundity effects of host phenology on the gall-forming aphid Hormaphis hamamelidis

1. This study examined the synchronisation and roles of host and insect phenology for fundatrices of the gall-forming aphid Hormaphis hamamelidis, which forms galls on the leaves of the understorey tree Hamamelis virginiana. 2. Host and insect phenologies varied widely among years and individual host trees. 3. Most winter eggs (approximately equal to 85%) hatched before budbreak and galls could be initiated but in 2 years there was no inherent risk for earlier hatching fundatrices in terms of greater mortality. Egg hatch was not synchronised tightly with host trees but instead seemed to occur well in advance of budbreak as a conservative, bet-hedging strategy to ensure the opportunity to form galls. 4. Fundatrices that formed galls later had higher fecundity, contrary to typical patterns for insects that feed on the first flush of leaves in temperate forests, where later herbivores have lower fecundity. Also, unlike many other systems, trees that had later budbreak had greater densities of galls.
Treatment of extensor digitorum brevis manus myalgia with botulinum toxin.

Extensor digitorum brevis manus (EDBM) muscles are accessory dorsal hand muscles that are present in 1%-3% of the population. These muscles are not commonly symptomatic, but they can occasionally cause pain and discomfort and may be misdiagnosed as tenosynovitis or a ganglion cyst. In this case, we describe an appropriate workup of dorsal hand masses and myalgia that are suspected to be related to EDBM muscles. The patient's symptoms were controlled with injections of botulinum toxin into the EDMB muscle belly, which allowed the patient to be relatively pain free for a considerable amount of time and avoid surgery.
Thermodynamic Cycle Analysis for Propagating Detonations

Propagating detonations have recently been the focus of extensive work based on their use in pulse detonation engines [1]. The entropy minimum associated with Chapman–Jouguet (CJ) detonations [2] and its potential implications on the thermal efficiency of these systems [3] has been one of the main motivations for these efforts. The notion of applying thermodynamic cycles to detonation was considered first by Zel’dovich [4], who concluded that the efficiency of the detonation cycle is slightly larger than that of a cycle using constant-volume combustion. More recently, Heiser and Pratt [3] conducted a thermodynamic analysis of the detonation cycle for a perfect gas using a one-γ model of detonations. Other studies have used constant-volume combustion as a surrogate for the detonation process [5]. This work presents two main contributions. First, we present an alternative physical model for the detonation cycle handling propagating detonations in a purely thermodynamic fashion. The Fickett–Jacobs (FJ) cycle is a conceptual thermodynamic cycle that can be used to compute an upper bound to the amount of mechanical work that can be obtained from detonating a given mass of explosive. Second, we present computations of the cycle thermal efficiency for a number of fuel-oxygen and fuel-air mixtures using equilibrium chemistry, and we discuss the strong influence of dissociation reactions on the results.
A Vlasov theory for fiber-reinforced beams with thin-walled open cross sections

Abstract This paper presents a Vlasov type theory Tor thin-walled beams with open cross sections made from midplane symmetric, fiber-reinforced laminates. A linear theory suitable for stress and deflection determination is presented first, followed by a nonlinear theory that is suitable for bifurcation and limit point stability analyses of the global buckling modes of beams under different applied loads and boundary conditions at end cross sections. Section properties defined by Vlasov, and the procedures used to determine them, remain valid for geometrically similar composite beams under more general interpretations. Additional section properties are established that characterize the coupling between the laminate bending and twisting moments. The theory reveals material symmetry conditions that a laminate in a cross section must satisfy with respect to other laminates in the cross section (in addition to geometric symmetry) in order that an uncoupling of the prebuckling bending and twisting modes, and hence bifurcation, is possible.
RF technique for determining ambipolar carrier lifetime in PIN RF switching diodes

A new method is presented for determining the carrier lifetime in silicon or gallium arsenide PIN RF switching diodes using microwave and RF measurements. Swept frequency measurements are used to determine the reactance minimum of the PIN diode. This frequency of the PIN diode reactance minimum is shown to be inversely proportional to the I-region carrier lifetime. The procedure can be performed at high or low bias levels on any PIN diode technology.
Familial 22q11.2 deletions in DiGeorge/velocardiofacial syndrome are predominantly smaller than the commonly observed 3Mb

Purpose: DiGeorge/velocardiofacial syndrome (DG/VCFS) is the most common cytogenetically characterized microdeletion of 22q11.2 region. In ≈90% of patients, the deletion size is 3 Mb, whereas the remaining range from 1.5 to 2.5 Mb. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that small deletions may be more easily tolerated in a familial fashion than larger deletions, especially for this syndrome. Method: Sixteen FISH probes designed from bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) and P1 artificial chromosomes (PACs) mapped to 22q11.2 were used to determine the deletion sizes in 22 individuals from ten families with familial 22q11.2 deletion detected by standard FISH tests. Result: Seven families had deletions of < 3 Mb (≈1.5 Mb) in size and 3 families had the common 3-Mb deletion. The 70% frequency of smaller sized deletions among this group of patients with familial del(22)(q11.2) is significantly higher than that reported among unselected group of patients with del(22)(q11.2) (P < 0.0001, Fisher exact test). Conclusion: Familial del(22)(q11.2) are predominantly smaller than the common deletion size of 3 Mb, indicating that there may be some underlying mechanisms that favor parent-to-child transmission of smaller deletions in individuals with del(22)(q11.2), therefore, underscoring the need to exclude a familial basis in cases of del(22)(q11.2) smaller than 3 Mb.
Gravitational stabilization of a two-body satellite.

A gravity-stabil ized satellite consisting of two rigid bodies connected by a joint allowing relative rotation with two degrees of freedom is described. Equations of motion are derived and are linearized about a particular solution of interest. Criteria of Lienard and Chipart are used to obtain conditions for asymptotic stability of the particular solution. The physical meaning of these conditions is then discussed, and some of the conditions, expressed in terms of inertia parameters for the entire satellite, are illustrated in a two-dimensional stability diagram.
In-vivo 6 degrees-of-freedom kinematics of metal-on-polyethylene total hip arthroplasty during gait

Knowledge of accurate in-vivo 6 degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) kinematics of total hip arthroplasty (THA) during daily activities is critical for improvement of longevity of the components. Previous studies assessed in-vivo THA kinematics using skin marker-based motion analysis. However, skin markers are prone to move with respect to the underlying bones. A non-invasive dual fluoroscopic imaging system (DFIS) based tracking technique has been used to avoid skin artifacts and provide accurate 6-DOF kinematic measurement. This study aimed to quantify in-vivo 6-DOF THA kinematics during gait using DFIS. Twenty eight well-functioning THAs were evaluated during treadmill gait under DFIS surveillance. The maximum translations of the femoral head were 0.4670.10 mm and 0.4570.10 mm during the stance and swing phases (p ¼0.57), respectively. The range of hip flexion was from 8.71 to 47.61, adduction from 3.01 to 12.51 and external rotation from 19.21 to 29.71. The THA was flexed, externally rotated and adducted throughout the gait. The magnitudes of the femoral head translations were found to be within the manufacture tolerance of the components, suggesting that in-vivo hip “pistoning” during gait cycle may be minimal in well-functioning THAs. The 6-DOF kinematics could be used as the baseline knowledge for further improvement of wear-testing of hip implant, implants manufacturing and implant positioning during surgery.