cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Trigger loop of RNA polymerase is a positional, not acid–base, catalyst for both transcription and proofreading

The active site of multisubunit RNA polymerases (RNAPs) is highly conserved from humans to bacteria. This single site catalyzes both nucleotide addition required for RNA transcript synthesis and excision of incorrect nucleotides after misincorporation as a proofreading mechanism. Phosphoryl transfer and proofreading hydrolysis are controlled in part by a dynamic RNAP component called the trigger loop (TL), which cycles between an unfolded loop and an α-helical hairpin [trigger helices (TH)] required for rapid nucleotide addition. The precise roles of the TL/TH in RNA synthesis and hydrolysis remain unclear. An invariant histidine residue has been proposed to function in the TH form as a general acid in RNA synthesis and as a general base in RNA hydrolysis. The effects of conservative, nonionizable substitutions of the TL histidine (or a neighboring TL arginine conserved in bacteria) have not yet been rigorously tested. Here, we report that glutamine substitutions of these residues, which preserve polar interactions but are incapable of acid–base chemistry, had little effect on either phosphoryl transfer or proofreading hydrolysis by Escherichia coli RNAP. The TL substitutions did, however, affect the backtracking of RNAP necessary for proofreading and potentially the reactivity of the backtracked nucleotide. We describe a unifying model for the function of the RNAP TL, which reconciles available data and our results for representative RNAPs. This model explains diverse effects of the TL basic residues on catalysis through their effects on positioning reactants for phosphoryl transfer and easing barriers to transcript backtracking, rather than as acid–base catalysts.
Bilingualism and bimodal code-blending among deaf ASL-English bilinguals

The audiologically deaf members of the American Deaf community display bilingual competence in American Sign Language (ASL) and English, although their language acquisition trajectories often involve delayed exposure to one or both languages. There is a great deal of variation in terms of production among these signers, ranging from very ASL-typical to productions that seem to display heavy English influence. The latter, mixed productions, coined "Contact Signing" by Lucas & Valli (1992), could be representative of a type of codeswitching, referred to as "code-blending" in sign language-spoken language contexts (e.g. Baker & Van den Bogaerde 2008), in which bilinguals invoke knowledge of their two grammars in concert, or these productions could be more like a mixed language, in which a third grammar, distinct from both ASL and English, constrains them. We argue, based on the analysis of our corpus of naturalistic data collected in an all-deaf sociolinguistic environment, that Contact Signing provides evidence for code-blending, given the distribution of English vs. ASL-based language properties in the production data from the participants in our study.
Fitting Equations to Data

This class introduces regression analysis as a means for building models that describe how variation in one set of measurements affects variation in another. The simplest of these models are linear relationships. In models having a linear structure, the slope of the fitted line is crucial; it quantifies how variation in one variable (the predictor or covariate) translates into variation in the other (the response). The slope helps us interpret how variation in the predictor affects variation in the response.
Predicting recovery in acute poststroke aphasia.

Objective Many stroke patients show remarkable recovery of language after initial severe impairment, but it is difficult to predict which patients will show good recovery. We aimed to identify patient and lesion characteristics that together predict the best naming outcome in 4 studies. Methods We report 2 longitudinal studies that identified 2 variables at onset that were strongly associated with good recovery of naming (the most common residual deficit in aphasia) in the first 6 months after stroke: damage to left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and/or superior longitudinal fasciculus/arcuate fasciculus (SLF/AF), and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use. We then tested these variables in 2 independent cohorts of chronic left hemisphere stroke patients, using chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression for dichotomous outcomes and t tests for continuous outcomes. Results Lesion load in left pSTG and SLF/AF was associated with poorer naming outcome. Preservation of these areas and use of SSRIs were associated with naming recovery, independent of lesion volume, time since stroke, and depression. Patients with damage to these critical areas showed better naming outcome if they took SSRIs for 3 months after stroke. Those with preservation of these critical areas achieved good recovery of naming regardless of SSRI use. Interpretation Lesion load in left pSTG and SLF/AF at onset predicts later naming performance. Although based on a small number of patients, our preliminary results suggest outcome might be modulated by SSRIs, but these associations need to be confirmed in a larger randomized controlled trial. Ann Neurol 2018;83:612-622.
Using Machine Learning to Advance Personality Assessment and Theory

Machine learning has led to important advances in society. One of the most exciting applications of machine learning in psychological science has been the development of assessment tools that can powerfully predict human behavior and personality traits. Thus far, machine learning approaches to personality assessment have focused on the associations between social media and other digital records with established personality measures. The goal of this article is to expand the potential of machine learning approaches to personality assessment by embedding it in a more comprehensive construct validation framework. We review recent applications of machine learning to personality assessment, place machine learning research in the broader context of fundamental principles of construct validation, and provide recommendations for how to use machine learning to advance our understanding of personality.
Laser Ablation of a Nonlesional Cingulate Gyrus Epileptogenic Zone Using Robotic-Assisted Stereotactic EEG Localization: A Case Report.

Background: Nonlesional cingulate gyrus epilepsy is rare, difficult to diagnose, and challenging to treat. Methods: We report the use of ROSA (Medtech Surgical, Inc., New York, NY, USA) robotic assistance for stereotactic EEG (S-EEG) localization and therapeutic thermal laser ablation of a nonlesional cingulate gyrus epileptogenic zone in a 17-year-old female with intractable partial epilepsy. Results: After an inconclusive exhaustive initial workup, robotic-assisted S-EEG localized the patient’s seizure focus to the right cingulate gyrus. Robotic-assisted lesioning of the cingulate gyrus was performed via 5 total ablations with 3 minimally invasive catheters. There were no perioperative complications. The patient was discharged home on postoperative day 2 at her neurologic baseline. She was seizure free for 8 months postoperatively, with a sustained partial response through the 23-month follow-up. Conclusions: This report expands the technical uses, pathologies, and patient populations being treated via robotic-assisted neurosurgery.
Real-time dynamics of soft and continuum robots based on Cosserat rod models:

The dynamic equations of many continuum and soft robot designs can be succinctly formulated as a set of partial differential equations (PDEs) based on classical Cosserat rod theory, which includes ...
Unpinning the skyrmion lattice in MnSi: Effect of substitutional disorder

By employing magnetization and small angle neutron scattering measurements, we have investigated the behavior of the skyrmion lattice (SKL) and the helical order in $\mathrm{MnS}{\mathrm{i}}_{0.992}\mathrm{G}{\mathrm{a}}_{0.008}$ Our results indicate that the order of the SKL is sensitive to the orientation of an applied magnetic field with respect to the crystal lattice and to variations in the sequence of small temperature and applied magnetic field changes. The disorder caused by the substitution of the heavier element Ga for Si is sufficient to reduce the pinning of the SKL to the underlying crystalline lattice, reducing the propensity for the SKL to be aligned with the crystal lattice. This tendency is most evident when the applied field is not well oriented with respect to the high symmetry axes of the crystal resulting in disorder in the long range SKL while maintaining sharp short range (radial) order. We have also investigated the effect of substituting heavier elements into MnSi on the reorientation process of the helical domains with field cycling in $\mathrm{MnS}{\mathrm{i}}_{0.992}\mathrm{G}{\mathrm{a}}_{0.008}$ and $\mathrm{M}{\mathrm{n}}_{0.985}\mathrm{I}{\mathrm{r}}_{0.015}\mathrm{Si}$ A comparison of the reorientation process in these materials with field reduction indicates that the substitution of heavier elements on either Mn or Si sites creates a higher energy barrier for the reorientation of the helical order and for the formation of domains.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and the Built Environment

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) are often connected to the development of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease commonly found in athletes, military veterans, and others that have a history of repetitive brain trauma. This formative exploratory study looked at person-centred design techniques for a person with CTE. The person-centred design method used for this study was based on a two-tiered reductionist approach; the first tier was to identify common symptoms and concerns associated with CTE from the literature. This information provided specific symptoms that were addressed through brainstorming ideations. Each singular ideation accommodated the singular, or small cluster of symptoms, that affected a person with CTE in a residential environment. This method of understanding a health condition through its symptoms, and then designing for those symptoms can extend the practice of interior design by providing probable solutions to specific health symptoms, thereby including designers into the healthcare team. Commonly identified behavioural and physical symptoms of CTE served as the factors of analysis and thus a variable of design. The health condition symptoms became the variables of design, and each symptom was assessed through additional data obtained from the literature for environmental causality, mitigation, or accommodation. Once the outcomes were determined, each design implication was assessed for its relationship to specific design actions.
Degree of rate control and De Donder relations – An interpretation based on transition state theory

Abstract We describe sensitivities of elementary steps as salient parameters in determining the rate determining character of elementary steps within a reaction network and develop a formalism wherein the overall composite reaction is described by an apparent rate-determining step that is a sensitivity-weighted average of the elementary steps that comprise the reaction network. Reaction parameters—apparent reaction orders, apparent enthalpy and entropy of activation—of the composite reaction network are determined within the framework we develop by application of transition state theory to the apparent rate-determining step. From this formalism we develop methods for determination of surface coverages by measuring only reaction orders, methods for discrimination between proposed mechanisms, a proof that the kinetic degrees of rate control sum to unity, and a proof for the relationship between fractional coverages and thermodynamic degrees of rate control. Two complementary formalisms for identifying rate-limiting transition states are broadly employed in chemical kinetics—De Donder relations based on assessing the thermodynamic driving forces of elementary steps during reaction and degrees of rate control based on knowledge of the kinetics of elementary reaction steps. The formalism developed herein unifies these two strategies to elucidate in the most general case a relationship between the thermodynamic driving forces of elementary steps captured by the reversibilities and the kinetic and thermodynamic degrees of rate control.
Self-report of domestic violence and forced sex are related to sexual risk behaviors in a sample of juvenile detainees

Justice-involved youth have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and a higher prevalence of the associated sexual risk behaviors. Sexual risk behaviors are also associated with alcohol and drug use. Research suggests that a history of trauma is an important predictor of alcohol and drug use in youth offenders, and therefore is a likely contributor to sexual risk behavior in this population. The objective of this analysis is to determine the association of trauma, specifically, domestic violence and forced sex, to six sexual risk behaviors and a history of chlamydia among detained youth. The analysis uses data from a convenience sample of detainees assenting to HIV testing conducted December 2016 – August 2017 using the state-certified Voluntary Counseling Testing and Referral (VCTR) process. Of the 379 youth that received VCTR at the facility, 308 (81.3%) were used in this analysis. Report of domestic violence was significantly associated with sex under the influence of alcohol and was also significantly associated with sex under the influence of marijuana. Forced sex was associated with a sexual partner of unknown HIV status. Traumatic experiences were related to sexual risk behaviors in this analysis, and substance use was strongly implicated in the association. Trauma is known to be a catalyst to sexual risk behaviors, substance use, and delinquency in adolescence. Results support the findings of other investigators and re-iterate the need for trauma-informed interventions that can improve the life trajectories of detained youth.
When Do I-deals Make One Central? Contextual Effects of Task Interdependence and Power Distance

In this study, we integrate idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) research with social network perspective and examine the implications of i-deals for employees’ social networks. Specifically, drawing upon...
The Impact of Balance Sheet Lending versus Securitization Booms on the Severity of the Great Recession

I separately estimate the effect of local credit booms driven by balance sheet lending and those driven by securitization during the 2002-2006 period on the severity of the 2007-2009 recession in the United States. I construct a novel dataset, linking publicly available data on residential mortgage originations from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act together with bank financial statements and county level economic outcomes. I exploit geographic variation in bank origination activity across counties to construct county level measures of exposure to securitization and balance sheet lending activity during the 2002-2006 period that are orthogonal to local economic conditions. Results show that 2002-2006 securitization exposure is predictive of sharper declines in home prices, employment, and a rise in mortgage delinquencies during the subsequent crisis period. The same is not true for balance sheet lending, which does not affect crisis period home prices and generates a drop in employment that is con fined to the nontradable sector. Results suggest that this difference is driven by risk taking that is specific to securitized lending. Balance sheet booms generate an expansion in lending to higher quality borrowers, while securitization booms increase credit availability at the lower end of the credit distribution.
Recruitment of Plasma Membrane GABA-A Receptors by Submembranous Gephyrin/Collybistin Clusters.

It has been shown that subunit composition is the main determinant of the synaptic or extrasynaptic localization of GABAA receptors (GABAARs). Synaptic and extrasynaptic GABAARs are involved in phasic and tonic inhibition, respectively. It has been proposed that synaptic GABAARs bind to the postsynaptic gephyrin/collybistin (Geph/CB) lattice, but not the typically extrasynaptic GABAARs. Nevertheless, there are no studies of the direct binding of various types of GABAARs with the submembranous Geph/CB lattice in the absence of other synaptic proteins, some of which are known to interact with GABAARs. We have reconstituted GABAARs of various subunit compositions, together with the Geph/CB scaffold, in HEK293 cells, and have investigated the recruitment of surface GABAARs by submembranous Geph/CB clusters. Results show that the typically synaptic α1β3γ2 GABAARs were trapped by submembranous Geph/CB clusters. The α5β3γ2 GABAARs, which are both synaptic and extrasynaptic, were also trapped by Geph/CB clusters. Extrasynaptic α4β3δ GABAARs consistently showed little or no trapping by the Geph/CB clusters. However, the extrasynaptic α6β3δ, α1β3, α6β3 (and less α4β3) GABAARs were highly trapped by the Geph/CB clusters. AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptors were not trapped. The results suggest: (I) in the absence of other synaptic molecules, the Geph/CB lattice has the capacity to trap not only synaptic but also several typically extrasynaptic GABAARs; (II) the Geph/CB lattice is important but does not play a decisive role in the synaptic localization of GABAARs; and (III) in neurons there must be mechanisms preventing the trapping of several typically extrasynaptic GABAARs by the postsynaptic Geph/CB lattice.
Osimertinib in EGFR-Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma: Clinical Activity and Mechanisms of Resistance

Oncogenic mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are identified in a subset of non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC). These alterations lead to constitutive EGFR activation and upregulation of pathways promoting cell survival and proliferation. The development of small molecule inhibitors of EGFR has transformed the care of patients with advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC. We review here the clinical development and activity of the third-generation EGFR inhibitor osimertinib in the advanced and adjuvant settings. As with other targeted therapies, resistance to osimertinib is common and limits the efficacy of this agent. Here we present an overview of reported acquired resistance mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance. The heterogeneity of resistance mechanisms (including secondary EGFR mutations and diverse EGFR-independent alterations) presents a major therapeutic challenge in EGFR-mutant NSCLC.
Foliations of Unstable Manifolds

Now we consider the situation where W u () is foliated or fibered by submanifolds corresponding to orbits that approach each other (in negative time) at the fastest rate. These will also turn out to be the initial conditions for trajectories in W u () that approach the same trajectory in (in negative time). The geometrical setup for this situation, in the sense of the construction of local coordinates near and W u (), is the same as that for the proof of the unstable manifold theorem for overflowing invariant manifolds.
National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence decision processes supported by UK High Court: the debate about the value of Alzheimer's disease drugs continues.

The assessment of the value of current and future drugs to treat dementia is a huge scientific, clinical, and social challenge, as pointed out by Ballard and colleagues [1]. Since the publication of the article, the controversies have not abated and will likely continue to grow as an international issue. The UK High Court ruled in favor of the National Institutes for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in a case that challenged whether appropriate procedures were fairly carried out when the government agency recommended severely limiting access to cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine [2]. As the cost of drugs and concern about the industry’s influence on medicine continues to grow, more governments are developing pharmacoeconomic programs modeled in part after NICE. Several important lessons emerge from these discussions and debates. More high quality outcome studies would be desirable, but are expensive to undertake. Despite decade old efforts to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to take such studies of quality of life seriously, relatively little has been accomplished. Assessing the value of drugs in the elderly with dementia is clearly difficult. Although efficacy has been established in trials submitted for regulatory purposes, effectiveness in community practice has not been clearly established. The poor quality and evident bias in many post approval studies of the impact of the drugs actually undermines the industry’s credibility. Moreover, nonpharmacological interventions may be better able to improve quality of lives, including those of the caregivers. The biggest, mostly undiscussed issues are the price of drugs and the nature of their target. Why was the first drug (tacrine) priced at about four US dollars? Why have we not had more price competition in this industry which is said to be a model for global capitalism? Discussions about QUALYs (Quality Adjusted Life Years, i.e., length of life of a certain perceived utility) would be much different if the drugs cost four pennies a day. When the cholinesterase inhibitors start becoming generic in the next few years, the situation will change. We know the multinational pharmaceutical industry is in deep trouble in general. All the vaunted genomic medicine, combinatorial chemistry, high throughput screening, and improved trial approaches have not led to the much promised revolution in drugs for Alzheimer’s disease. There are many reasons for this but the major one is that Alzheimer’s disease is likely not a single condition and is intimately related to aging. Finding cost effective drugs is obviously very difficult. It may prove impossible, particularly in a world where other health concerns due to global warm-
Autoclavable dispenser for disposable pipette tips.

Abstract An autoclavable dispenser for plastic disposable pipette tips is described that allows aseptic removal of individual tips while maintaining the sterility of the remaining tips.
Glycosphingolipids Covalently Linked to Agarose Gel or Glass Beads USE OF THE COMPOUNDS FOR PURIFICATION OF ANTIBODIES DIRECTED AGAINST GLOBOSIDE AND HEMATOSIDE

Abstract Oxidative ozonolysis of the olefinic bond of the sphingosine moiety of either globoside (βGalNAc1→3αGal1→4βGal1→ 4βGlc→ceramide), or of the methyl ester of hematoside (αN-glycolylneuraminyl2→3βGal1→4βGlc→ceramide), and coupling of the carboxyl-bearing product to aminoethylagarose or to amino group-bearing glass beads in the presence of a carbodiimide resulted in globoside or hematoside covalently linked to agarose or glass beads. These compounds were used for purification of anti-glycosphingolipid antibodies from serum of immunized rabbits. The antibodies bound to the substrate were released by 1 m sodium iodide and their immunological properties were studied. Anti-globoside is directed toward the terminal β-(N-acetyl)galactosaminosyl-(1→3)α-galactopyranosyl structure, while anti-hematoside is directed predominantly toward the sialosyl residue of hematoside.
Congress Can't Trade America's 'Air': Copyright, the 'Kindred Subject of Patent'

When Congress passed the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (“URAA”) in 1994, it allowed foreign companies, for the first time, to copyright work from the public domain. In doing so, Congress undeniably restrained the air that Justice Brandeis proclaimed free when he declared, “The general rule of law is, that the noblest of human productions — knowledge, truths ascertained, conceptions, and ideas — become, after voluntary communication to others, free as the air to common use.” By passing the URAA, just over 200 years after the United States declared independence from England, Congress has taken an unprecedented step toward bringing U.S. copyright law back into line with the laws of England, mainland Europe, and the rest of the international community. The general problem with trying to force international law onto our constitutional system is particularly apparent in the copyright context, because this is an area in which the disparity between the prevailing view of the world community and the American view is especially large. Whereas the American perspective is that copyright is a means of providing an inducement for authors to create new works in order to achieve a greater purpose, the majority of the world views copyright as an end in its own right, based on granting authors “moral rights” to exert control over their work. In short, to meet our international obligations, Congress ignored the Constitution, specifically the Patent and Copyright Clause. In this Essay, I describe how the Patent and Copyright Clause17 insists that Congress cannot so readily trade America’s “air.”
Afterword: Forgiveness, Prayer and the Meaning of Poetry

The aim of this afterword is – interrogatively – to complement and compliment the preceding papers by raising some general questions concerning the relationship between poetry and forgiveness, and to do so through reflection on the work of two authors who wrote well before the period explored by the essays in the collection, yet whose influence extends significantly into it. The paper will reflect, in particular, on the way in which Dante's Purgatorio and Shakespeare's The Tempest foreground the question of forgiveness by calling for the prayers of their audience in ways that coincide with these texts' self-conscious presentation of themselves as literary artifacts. By focusing specifically on the opening of Purgatorio XI and the Epilogue of The Tempest and by suggesting an inextricable connection in these texts between meaning and the recognition of one's shortcomings, I aim to point to the value that certain perspectives on the relationship between poetry and forgiveness might have for our understanding of the meaning of poetry and of the nature of our relationship with it.
A new technique of coronary artery ligation: Experimental myocardial infarction in rats in vivo with reduced mortality

In vivo models of myocardial infarction following coronary artery ligation in the rat still suffer from high early mortality and a low rate of success of myocardial infarction. This study investigated the possibility of reducing early mortality and increasing the rate of myocardial infarction by modifications of surgical techniques. Eighteen rats were divided into two groups: normal control (3 rats) and ligation (15 rats). The major modifications of surgical techniques used in this study include: (1) no exteriorization of the heart, (2) ligation of the origins of the branches rather than the main trunk of the left coronary artery, (3) removal of air from the chest after closure, (4) supplying oxygen immediately after extubation. Following surgery, the rats recovered uneventfully and 11 rats were alive after 16 weeks. One rat, with a large myocardial infarction, died 2 h after surgery. Early mortality (during surgery and 1 week after surgery) was 6.7% with a success rate of myocardial infarction of 85%. The left ventricle in the ligation group showed significant dilation relative to normal and sham-operated control hearts (317% of control hearts, p < 0.001). However, myocardial mass did not increase. The average infarct size was 33%. These results demonstrate that a reduction in early mortality and an increased success rate of myocardial infarction can be achieved by modifications of surgical techniques. (Mol Cell Biochem 176: 227-233, 1997)
Cyanogen bromide fragments of human serum albumin.

Abstract CNBr cleaves nonreduced human serum albumin into three large fragments, A, B, and C, which account for the total amino acid composition of albumin. Reduction and carboxamidomethylation of the free —SH groups produce four subfragments from A, identified according to their NH2-terminal amino acid residues as A-ProI (32 residues), A-AsxI (38 residues), A-ProII (109 residues), and A-Phe (92 residues). A small residue which contains no homoserine is unaccounted for in this sum of the subfragments in A. A-AsxI contains the COOH-terminal leucine of albumin. Reduction and carboxamidomethylation of fragment B produce two further subfragments, B-Ala (36 residues) and B-AspII (89 residues). These subfractions account for all amino acid residues in B. B-AspII contains the NH2-terminal Asp and free —SH group of albumin. Fragment C has only one peptide chain (164 residues) with an NH2-terminal Cys residue. Heterogeneity in disulfide linkages is evident in some preparations.
Impacts of differing community composition on flowering phenology throughout warm temperate, cool temperate and xeric environments

Aims Flowering phenology is well documented to restrict the distribution of many plant species. However, community-level shifts in flowering time may occur either through exclusion of species with unsuitably early or late flowering for local conditions (composition-derived phenological shifts) or through intraspecific phenological responses to climate variations over space. Although these mechanisms have quite different ecological implications, the relative contribution of composition-derived phenological shifts remains largely unknown. Therefore, determining the magnitude of composition-derived phenological variation is crucial for understanding the relationship between phenology and community assemblage over space, and for predicting the impacts of future climate change. This study will evaluate the contributions of compositional differences to spatial variation in community-level flowering times throughout the early, mid and late portions of the growing season and across a variety of temperate environments. Location Continental United States. Methods This study develops novel herbarium-based methods to separate intraspecific phenological variations over space from changes in flowering time derived from differences in community composition. Results Although typically smaller than intraspecific variations, composition-derived shifts in flowering time explained up to 49.3% of overall phenological variation. Composition-derived changes in flowering time among late-flowering species also explained the greatest proportion of overall variation and were the most responsive to differing climate conditions. Xeric regions also exhibited composition-derived phenological shifts that were stronger and more closely tied to climate conditions (R2 up to 0.553) than other regions. Main conclusions These results indicate that interspecific differences in flowering time play a significant role in determining the composition of the plant community over space. However, the impact of flowering phenology on community assemblage varies considerably among seasons and climate regions, and appears to be strongest among xeric regions and among late-flowering species.
Testing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: National Quality-of-Life Across Time

Maslow's hierarchy-of-needs theory is used to predict development of Quality of Life (QOL) in countries over time. Previous data sets have not had sufficient power to test these development trends among countries. Therefore a new database was developed that includes annual quality of life time-series for 88 countries from 1960 to 1994, covering measures on all five of Maslow's need-levels. Results showed significant agreement with some of Maslow's predictions, including his sequence of need achievement, and parts of an S-shaped trajectory in QOL. However, his mechanism of growth – that countries must slow growth in one area to increase growth in another – was disconfirmed.
NEUDEM: neural network based decision making for generating tests in digital circuits

The paper presents a neural network based automatic test pattern generation methodology for combinational circuits. We consider 2- and 3- valued Hopfield models to describe basic gates such as AND, OR, NAND, NOR and XOR. These gate models, in turn, transform the structural behavior of a logic circuit into an analogous neural network (NN) model. The test generation problem is then formulated as an energy minimization problem of a NN model for which techniques such as gradient descent and simulated annealing can be used. In order to develop a test set we have used the concepts of simulated annealing and the topological search proposed in the path oriented decision making (PODEM) algorithm. An error correction and translation (ECAT) circuit is used to illustrate the method. >
Are network effects really all about size? The role of structure and conduct

Rooted in neoclassical economics, network effects research has revolved around size, arguing that the more users a network has, the more valuable that network will be to each user. I argue that a network's structure (feasibility of transactions, centrality of members, structural holes, network ties, the number of roles each member plays) and its conduct (opportunistic behavior, reputation signaling, perceptions of trust) also have significant impacts on a network's value to users and to network providers. Network research that neglects structure and conduct and focuses only on size can lead to wrong strategies or a misleading research agenda. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modeling of Fatigue in Cross-Ply Ceramic Matrix Composites

This study proposes a methodology for modeling the fatigue response of cross-ply ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). The micromechanics based analysis and failure criteria are formulated to model stress-strain hysteresis, strain ratchetting and S-N behavior specific to room-temperature cyclic loading environments. The damage mechanisms considered are matrix cracking in the 90° and 0° plies, fiber/matrix interfacial debonding, fiber fracture, and fiber pull-out. These damage modes are modeled by a set of failure criteria with a minimum reliance on empirical data which can be easily employed in a variety of numerical and analytical techniques. The predicted results are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data; however, it is observed that the assumed degradation in the frictional resistance along the fiber/matrix interface plays a dominant role in determining the fatigue response.
Bayesian linkage analysis of categorical traits for arbitrary pedigree designs.

Competing Interests: In the past 3 years, Dr. Weissman received investigator-initiated grants from GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly & Co., and the Josiah Macy Foundation. These are no longer active and ended in 2007. She currently receives research funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), the Sackler Foundation, and the Interstitial Cystitis Association, and she receives royalties from the Oxford University Press, Perseus Press, the American Psychiatric Association Press, and MultiHealth Systems. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. Funding: This study was supported in part by National Institutes of Health (NIH), www.nih.gov, grant R01 GM083606 and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), www.nimh.nih.gov, grants MH28274 (to MMW), MH37592 (to AJF), MH30906 (to DFK and AJF), and MH48858 (to SEH). Genotyping services were provided to JAK by the Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR). CIDR is fully funded through a federal contract from the NIH to Johns Hopkins University, contract number N01-HG-65403. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Mars and mine dumps

Abundant sulfates appear to exist on the surface of Mars and have commonly been attributed to a planet-wide volcanogenic ‘acid fog’—where clouds of acid mist react directly with surface rocks or acidify surface waters—from which the sulfates precipitated [e.g., Clark and Baird, 1979]. In particular, Meridiani Planum, a plain located just south of the Martian equator, hosts many sulfate minerals. Squyres et al. [2004, 2006] and Squyres and Knoll [2005] hypothesized that the sulfate minerals there, particularly acid sulfates such as jarosite, precipitated from high concentrations of sulfuric acid in flowing and standing water and groundwater. However, such explanations are problematic, because magnesia and alkali-bearing minerals in the basaltic regolith should have been able to neutralize sulfuric acid rapidly, making precipitation of acid sulfates such as jarosite impossible.
Size and spatial organization of home ranges of kit foxes in Arizona

We examined the size and spatial arrangement of home ranges of kit foxes ( Vulpes velox macrotis ) in western Arizona in 1982–84. Home ranges calculated with the grid-cell method averaged 11.2 ± 0.94 km2 ( X ± SE , n = 7) in size. Home ranges of female kit foxes (9.8 ±1.4 km2, n = 3) averaged 20% smaller than those of males (12.3 ±1.0 km2, n = 4). Overlap of home ranges of paired males and females (75 ± 6.1%, n = 6) was significantly greater than that of nonpaired foxes (12 ± 2.6%, n = 26) ( P < 0.001). Much of the overlap of home ranges of nonpaired animals was because of movements of males during the breeding season to dens used by females of other pairs. Overlap of home ranges of adjacent males averaged 20 ± 4.5% ( n = 10); home ranges of three female foxes did not overlap at all. The large home ranges of foxes from this study relative to kit foxes studied in Utah and California are probably a consequence of food availability.
A Galerkin method for Stefan problems

Stefan problems are described by a parabolic partial-differential equation, along with two boundary conditions on a moving boundary, which is to be determined as part of the solution. The purpose of this paper is to develop a finite-element method for the solution of a one-dimensional Stefan problem. First, a coordinate transformation is used to transform the changing physical domain into a fixed computational domain. Then, the weak or Galerkin formulation of the initial boundary value problem is used to reduce it to a system of initial-value problems in ordinary differential equations. Several finite-difference marching methods are used to solve the resulting initial-value problems. The method is developed and illustrated using the Stefan problem concerning the heat transfer in an ice-water medium. The computational results are in very good agreement with the results produced earlier by several authors.
True hermaphroditism presenting as bilateral gynecomastia in an adolescent phenotypic male.

Objective To report a rare case of true hermaphroditism presenting in adolescence as bilateral gynecomastia in a phenotypic male. Design Case report. Setting Academic medical center. Patient(s) A 19-year-old phenotypic male who presented with pronounced bilateral gynecomastia and was ultimately diagnosed with true hermaphroditism. Intervention(s) Endoscopic removal of the internal female genital tract (hemiuterus and ovary), reduction mammoplasty, repair of penile chordee, and left testicular prosthesis placement. Main outcome measure(s) Diagnosis and treatment of true hermaphroditism. Result(s) Bilateral mammoplasties, repair of a penile chordee, placement of a left testicular prosthesis, and excision of the left hemiuterus and ovary resulted in return to testicular function in this true hermaphrodite. Conclusion(s) Although rare, true hermaphroditism should be suspected in male patients presenting with bilateral breast enlargement in adolescence.
Solid-solid phase transitions for temperature calibration in magic-angle spinning

Variable-temperatature magic-angle spinning (VT MAS) NMR is becoming increasingly important in the study of structure, dynamics, and reactivity in the solid state (I). An important experimental difficulty with VT MAS is accurate temperature measurement, especially when double-bearing spinning systems are used (2). This problem is related to the necessity of having the temperature sensor somewhat removed from the sample region, ambient temperature heat sinks, and the expansion of spinning gas in the vicinity of the sample. Other possible sources of uncertainty in temperature measurement in MAS experiments include radiofrequency heating due to decoupling and cross-polarization pulses and frictional heating associated with marginal spinning. We have found that a useful method to calibrate VT MAS systems at several discrete temperatures is to examine sharply defined solid-solid phase transitions. All spectra were acquired on a Chemagnetics M-100s spectrometer equipped with a variabletemperature l3 C CP/MAS probe. The temperature sensor in this probe measures the drive gas on the inlet side, a method previously shown to be superior to measurements made downstream of the sample with a competitive double-bearing design (2). Dehin and Kel-F rotors were used, and pertinent experimental parameters are described in the figure captions. Many solid-solid phase transitions involve dramatic changes in one or more spectral parameter and are easily observed. For example, l,Cdiazabicycyclo-[2,2,2]-octane (DABCO) undergoes a transition at 35 1 K to a high-temperature plastic phase in which reorientation is possible about all axes (3, 4). Figure 1 shows 13C CP/MAS spectra of DABCO obtained at several temperatures in the vicinity of the transition temperature. Below the transition temperature the 13C lineshape is dominated by dipolar coupling to i4N (I = 1). This effect has been described in detail (5, 6). In the high-temperature phase molecular reorientation about all axes is sufficiently rapid to average the dipolar coupling to zero, and the 13C resonance is a single sharp line. Another example is d-camphor which undergoes a transition from a rigid phase to a plastic crystal phase at 238 K (7). Various changes are observed in the 13C CP/MAS spectra (Fig. 2) upon passing through the phase transition of this compound. Several resonances, most notably the carbonyl signal, shift several ppm upon passing through the transition. This is seen most clearly in the central spectrum of Fig. 2 which was
Power scaling of diffraction limited fiber sources

Single-mode (SM) fiber lasers and amplifiers are constrained to low output powers by fundamental physical limitations of the fiber, specifically, by low energy storage and by the onset of nonlinear processes in the fiber. The simplest way to overcome both limiting factors is to increase the core size, but maintaining SM operation imposes an upper limit. Further power scaling is possible with multimode (MM) fiber, but the poor beam quality generally associated MM fiber is unacceptable for most applications. We have developed a technique (bend-loss-induced mode filtering) that allows the core size to be increased significantly beyond the SM limit while maintaining diffraction-limited beam quality and high efficiency. In this method, coiling of the fiber is used as a form of distributed spatial filtering to suppress all but the fundamental mode of a highly MM fiber amplifier. Unlike conventional spatial filtering, in which high-order modes are discarded, the mode-filtering technique does not result is substantial loss of efficiency because high-order modes are suppressed along the entire length of the amplifier and are thus prevented from building up significant intensity. We will review this method and recent experimental results for both cw and pulsed fiber sources, including nonlinear frequency conversion of mode-filtered fiber lasers. Optical damage issues will also be discussed.
A 2.8 Millimeter Survey of the Hubble Deep Field

We present a continuum survey of the Hubble Deep Field at a wavelength of 2.8 mm made with the BIMA array. A mosaic of seven pointings was constructed to span the entire 47 × 47 area observed by the Hubble Space Telescope with 47 resolution and a nearly uniform 0.71 mJy rms sensitivity. No significant sources of emission were found (>5 σ). We use these observations to place limits on the presence of far-infrared emission from dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshifts. The most stringent limits apply for a critically closed universe (Ω -->0=1), dust temperatures typical of nearby starbursts (40 K), and long-wavelength dust emissivity power-law index β=1. For these parameters, the data rule out systems at z>5 with far-infrared luminosities in excess of 1.3×10 -->13 L☉. The lack of a large population of such luminous systems supports the view that galaxies are assembled in a hierarchical fashion instead of forming the bulk of their stars in single bursts of short duration. For an open universe and/or substantially higher dust temperatures, the limits are higher by an order of magnitude or more and allow for undetected massive starbursts.
Crystallization kinetics of emulsified triglycerides

Nucleation and crystal growth process of triglycerides in water emulsions composed of trimyristin (c l4:0) admixed with 0, 40, and 80 ml litre−1 trilaurin (c 12:0) (expressed v per total v emulsion) were followed with NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) and DSC (differential scanning calorimetry). Mathematical analysis of the time dependence of the phase changes and thermal data distinguished two distinct ‘apparent’ kinetic phases. These phases were tentatively referred to as nucleation and crystal growth. With 40 and 80 ml litre−1 trilaurin (NMR data at 293 K) nucleation and crystal growth phases of trimyristin were simulated with zero order and second order rate expressions, respectively. Relative to these mixtures, pure trimyristin nucleation was delayed in the initial phase, but crystal growth occurred with fast homogeneous nucleation and slower growth in the second phase. Statistical analyses indicated that homogeneous nucleation similarly occurred when 40 or 80 ml litre−1 trilaurin was admixed with trimyristin. NMR resolution made it possible to follow the crystallization phenomena in different locations of the crystallization vessel effectively in situ and undisturbed. Statistical analyses in this case revealed a significant trilaurin-location interaction confirming that the rate of nucleation processes was affected both by the concentration of trilaurin and the heat transfer properties of the sample and vessel. The time-location interactions were not significant, confirming the hypothesis that in the absence of tilaurin, zero order nucleation did not occur in the first phase.
Assessing the uncertainties in flux measurements

Climate and environmental studies require knowledge of the exchange of carbon, water vapor, and energy between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems. These exchanges are measured by tower instruments at numerous sites around the world using a technique known as eddy covariance. However, there are few studies estimating the errors in those flux tower networks by comparing their measurements with measurements from independent instruments. Schmidt et al. assessed the errors in the AmeriFlux network by comparing measurements made by the towers to measurements made using portable instruments during 84 site visits between 2002 and 2012. They found that, after statistical outliers were removed, the network had mean relative instrumental errors of less than 10% for all variables measured. The lowest errors were for meteorological variables, while the highest errors were for latent heat and carbon dioxide flux measurements. They note that many of the errors, such as calibration problems, were corrected at the sites. Overall, the authors say the study confirms the high quality and value of the AmeriFlux network data for studying fluxes between the atmosphere and the terrestrial surface. (Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, doi:10.1029/2012JG002100, 2012)
Controlled study on removal of mandibular third molars: effect of an enzyme mixture on sequelae

In each of 60 patients who had bilateral lower third molar extractions, one tooth was removed while the patient was re­ ceiving enteric-coated trypsin tablets and the second tooth was removed at a later sitting without the use of the enzyme. In the enzyme-treated patients, swelling was considerably less, and dry socket and external ecchymosis were less frequent. There were no side effects from the use of the enzymes. Six tablets on the pre­ operative day, six tablets on the day of operation, and four tablets on the first postoperative day comprised a satisfac­ tory dosage.