cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Extension of Parent Company Shareholders' Rights to Participate in the Governance of Subsidiaries

Rarely does a common law decision from outside the American orbit provide an opportunity for developing American corporation law doctrine, and more rarely still does a civil law system case harbor this potential. Yet a recent decision of the German Supreme Court, In re J. F. MUller & Sohn AG,1 itself indirectly but clearly influenced by American principles, affords an unusual comparative opportunity to clarify American doctrine in some important particulars. The case not only extends German doctrine beyond its primarily statutory framework because of clear inadequacies of coverage found by the German Supreme Coureme Court to exist in that statutory system, but also breaks new ground in developing a shareholder's remedy that may be a first step towards a "common law" derivative suit. Most significantly, however, it contributes to the appropriate placement of affiliated enterprise systems within corporation law rules originally tailored to the context of single, unaffiliated entities, and in doing so offers the opportunity constructively to rethink American doctrine in that field.
Do ruminal bacteria exchange genetic material

This paper discusses the reasons and current evidence for gene transfer between ruminal bacteria and other bacteria in the environment, possible routes for genetic exchange, and candidate genes. Gene transfer between ruminal bacteria has been demonstrated in vitro; however, success has been only minimal in obtaining plasmids and other self-transmissible genetic material from ruminal bacteria. The application of molecular biology techniques with ruminal microorganisms should permit the opportunity for an in vivo assessment of gene transfer. Studies that could provide pertinent information for ruminal microbiologists and dairy nutritionists are outlined.
Cold storage sensitizes hepatocytes to oxidative stress injury.

Liver cold storage leads to oxygen free radical production and reperfusion injury. Antioxidants are effective in suppressing reperfusion injury in rat livers when used in the reperfusion medium. However, in clinical liver transplantation their effectiveness is not clear, which may be due to the way they are used (in the recipient). In this study we compare the effectiveness of antioxidants when used in the reperfusion medium versus the cold storage solution in isolated hepatocytes and the isolated perfused liver. Hepatocytes were cold stored in UW solution for 24 h. Oxidative stress, induced by t-butyl hydroperoxide (tBHP), was measured in the presence of one of five different antioxidants – deferoxamine (DFO), dithiothreitol (DTT), trolox, tocopherol, dimethylthiourea (DMTU) – in the reperfusion buffer or UW solution. Efficacy was judged by reduction in membrane damage (LDH release) during rewarming. Also, rat livers were cold stored for 48 h in UW solution ( ± antioxidant) and reperfused ( ± antioxidants). Efficacy was judged by the effect on enzyme release and bile production. Cold storage of hepatocytes for 24 h sensitized them to oxidative stress. The concentration of tBHP required to induce maximal cell death (80 %–90 % LDH release) was reduced from 1.3 mM (fresh cells) to 0.37 mM (LD-50 values). All antioxidants except DMTU suppressed oxyradical-induced LDH release when used in the reperfusion medium, but only DFO was effective when used in the UW solution. In the isolated perfused liver, DFO, DTT, and trolox were effective and suppressed enzyme release when added to the reperfusion buffer, but none were effective when used in the UW solution. We conclude that cold storage sensitizes liver cells to oxidative stress. The most effective antioxidant was the iron chealator, DFO, which was effective in the reperfusion buffer (isolated perfused liver or hepatocytes) but not in the UW solution when tested in the isolated perfused liver. Suppression of reperfusion injury in liver transplantation could be obtained by antioxidant therapy. However, it is unclear how best to deliver the antioxidants to the site of oxyradical generation.
Genetic transfer and expression of plasmid RP4∷TOL in Sinorhizobium meliloti, Bradyrhizobium japonicum and B. elkanii

Abstract Sinorhizobium species generally obviate the need for nitrogen fertilizer since they supply their legume hosts with biological fixed nitrogen. Our working hypothesis is that Sinorhizobium species can perhaps be genetically modified to perform rhizosphere-stimulated bioremediation. Plasmid RP4∷TOL has gene clusters encoding the metabolic pathways for benzene, toluene and xylene degradation. Originally from Pseudomonas, this plasmid, in Escherichia coli C600, was successfully transferred to symbiotically elite strains of alfalfa-nodulating Sinorhizobium meliloti USDA 1936. Reciprocal crosses with E. coli RR28, followed by analysis of DNA by restriction enzymes verified S. meliloti USDA 1936 (RP4∷TOL) exconjugant. Reciprocal crosses involving B. japonicum USDA I-110 (RP4∷TOL) exconjugant and B. elkanii USDA 61 (RP4∷TOL) exconjugant as donors with E. coli RR28 as a recipient produced exconjugant bearing derivative plasmids having a major part of the TOL region deleted. Therefore, soybean-nodulating, B. japonicum USDA I-110 and B. elkanii USDA 61, were not suitable hosts for stable maintenance of this plasmid. Colony size of S. meliloti (RP4∷TOL) exconjugant and B. elkanii (RP4∷TOL) exconjugant were enhanced by the addition of 1.0 mM meta-toluic acid in minimal salts media. Although in untreated sterile soil, S. meliloti USDA 1936 (RP4∷TOL) exconjugant formed more nodules per plant than S. meliloti USDA 1936, it was determined to be symbiotically a competent in nitrogen fixation, based on plant dry weight and acetylene reduction. In liquid culture 77% reduction in toluate was recorded in 10 d by this exconjugant compared with only 15% reduction by the parent culture. Alfalfa plant (in situ) studies revealed almost 100% reduction in the concentration of 1.0 mM m-toluate by S. meliloti USDA 1936 (RP4∷TOL) exconjugant when tested after 8 weeks compared with 92% by the parent culture. Thus, a symbiotic combination of genetically-modified S. meliloti and the alfalfa plants were shown to have potential usefulness in the bioremediation of toxic hydrocarbons in soil.
Implementing Carbon Tariffs: A Fool’s Errand?: IMPLEMENTING CARBON TARIFFS: A FOOL’S ERRAND?

Some governments are considering taxes on imports based on carbon content from countries that have not introduced climate change policies. Such carbon border taxes appeal to domestic industries facing higher charges for their own carbon emissions. This research demonstrates that there are enormous practical difficulties surrounding such plans. Various policies are evaluated according to World Trade Organization compliance, administrative plausibility, help in meeting environmental goals, and ability to deal with domestic pressures. The steel industry is used as a case study in this analysis. All considered policies arguably fail to meet at least one of these constraints, bringing into question the plausibility that a carbon border tax can be practical policy.
The Disposition of Audit-Detected Misstatements: An Examination of Risk and Reward Factors and Aggregation Effects*

While professional standards indicate that auditors have the responsibility to both detect and report material errors, empirical evidence shows that auditors waive approximately 50 percent of material errors (Wright and Wright 1997). Unlike prior research that has examined factors that may affect auditors' decisions to waive single material misstatements, the current study examines auditors' propensity to waive proposed adjusting journal entries (henceforth PAJEs) that exceed materiality, either individually or in aggregate, under several different aggregation contexts. These contexts are represented in the form of different cases that vary in terms of the materiality and income direction of the individual and aggregate PAJEs. The current paper posits that auditors will be more likely to waive PAJEs in excess of materiality (i.e., make a “non-GAAS” decision) when there is potential reward for doing so or when there is little litigation risk from doing so. The case decisions of 155 audit partners and managers indicate that they are not affected by potential reward (Client's Relative Fees), but are affected by potential risk (the Client's Financial Health, the PAJE's Subjectivity, and the PAJEs' Aggregate Directional Effect on Income). However, these factors are not equally influential across all aggregation contexts. Additionally, auditors are more likely to make non-GAAS decisions when they are evaluating immaterial PAJEs that aggregate to a material level than when they are evaluating a single material PAJE.
Photonic switching using spatial light modulators-a feasibility study

The authors investigate the potential and the limitations of spatial light modulators (SLM) as switching components for building optical-fiber-based local area networks (LAN). The feasibility of a photonic crossbar switch using SLM is examined. The main constraints considered are the attenuation of the optical signal and the crosstalk between the channels. Other problems such as fan-out and fan-in are also addressed. It appears possible to build a LAN servicing approximately 1000 users. It is concluded that the switch shows promise for use in broadband integrated service networks. >
Exploring communication-based work processes in virtual work environments

Distributed work teams are increasingly being implemented to enhance organizational flexibility and competitiveness in today's complex and rapidly changing work environment. Electronic media is used to enable or facilitate their communication. Though an increasing number of employees work in such settings, there is little investigation of the performance of communication-based work processes in supporting their work in the multiple teams. The objective of this research is to investigate communication-based work processes necessary in different types of distributed work teams, and the ways in which communication modes can be used most effectively to support these processes. The study explores these relationships using a multiple case study approach, taking into consideration individuals' multiple and often overlapping team memberships. In this paper we report initial findings from the research, which was conducted in two major information technology companies.
Optimal assembly of systems using Schur functions and majorization

Abstract : This paper considers the optimal assembly of n systems from components of k types. Special cases of such a problem have been studied earlier in the literature. El-Neweihi, Proschan and Sethuraman(1986) studied the case of a single type of components. Derman, Leiberman and Ross(1972) considered the case where each system consisted of one component of each of k types. We generalize the ideas of both of these papers to the case where the systems may consist of varying numbers of components from more than one type. An assembly of the n systems corresponds to a partitioning A of the components to the different systems. For more details see Section 2. When the components act independently, we show in sections 2 and 3 that an intuitively motivated partitioning A* provides the optimal assembly under many different criteria. In Section 3, we allow each system to have dependent components, and under some general conditions on the reliability function we show that the same partitioning A * provides an optimal assembly. The results of this paper are based on the well known techniques of Schur- functions and majorization. This makes them clear and simple and at the same time more general than in the papers cited.
Stretching role breadth: Overachieving IT managers in underperforming IT organizations

We addressed both the well documented perception that information technology (IT) organizations fail to maximize returns on the significant investments firms make in them - and the paucity of empirical evidence about how IT professionals contribute to the problem . We focused on people, seeking to shed light on the competencies of professionals overseeing or executing IT projects in three multinational firms operating in North America in distinctly different industries. Our findings revealed differences between two tiers of IT professionals - individual contributors (ICs ) and managers -appraised by their organizations as achieving two levels of performance - average and superior. Results demonstrate that technical ability, the basis on which most IT professionals are promoted, is trumped by role based self efficacy as a predictor of IT role effectiveness. Our findings may help firms to select and promote people best suited to manage and contribute to IT organizations.
Aldosteronism and Hypertension

A growing body of evidence suggests that hyperaldosteronism contributes significantly to the development and the severity of hypertension as well as to resistance to antihypertensive treatment. In cross-sectional analyses, plasma aldosterone levels have been shown to relate to BP levels, particularly in obese individuals. In these same individuals, BP was not related to plasma renin activity, suggesting an effect of aldosterone on BP independent of renin–angiotensin II. In a recent prospective analysis from the Framingham investigators, baseline serum aldosterone was strongly associated with development of hypertension during a 4-yr follow-up.
Measuring the Resilience of the Trans-Oceanic Telecommunication Cable System

Resilience is the ability of the system to both absorb shock as well as to recover rapidly from a disruption so that it can return back to its original service delivery levels or close to it. The trans-oceanic telecommunication fiber-optics cable network that serves as the backbone of the internet is a particularly critical infrastructure system that is vulnerable to both natural and man-made disasters. In this paper, we propose a model to measure the base resiliency of this network, and explore the node to node and the overall resiliency of the network using existing data for demand, capacity and flow information. The submarine cable system is represented by a network model to which hypothetical disruptions can be introduced. The base resiliency of the system can be measured as the ratio of the value delivery of the system after a disruption to the value deliver of the system before a disruption. We further demonstrate how the resiliency of the trans-oceanic telecommunication cable infrastructure is enhanced through vulnerability reduction.
Adaptive computation offloading for energy conservation on battery-powered systems

This paper considers the problem of extending the battery lifetime for a portable computer by off loading its computation to a server. Depending on the inputs, computation time for different instances of a program can vary significantly and they are often difficult to predict. Different from previous studies on computation off loading, our approach does not require estimating the computation time before the execution. We execute the program initially on the portable client with a timeout. If the computation is not completed after the timeout, it is off loaded to the server. We first set the timeout to be the minimum computation time that can benefit from off loading. This method is proved to be 2- competitive. We further consider collecting online statistics of the computation time and find the statistically optimal timeout. Finally, we provide guidelines to construct programs with computation off loading. Experiments show that our methods can save up to 17% more energy than existing approaches.
High power and efficiency space traveling-wave tube amplifiers with reduced size and mass for NASA missions

Recent advances in high power and efficiency space traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) for NASA’s space-to-Earth communications are presented in this paper. The RF power and efficiency of a new K-Band amplifier is 40 Watts and 50% and that of a new Ka-Band amplifier is 200 Watts and 60%. An important figure-of-merit, which is defined as the ratio of the RF power output to the mass (W/kg) of a TWT has improved by a factor of ten over the previous generation Ka-Band devices.
Low order modes of an ion cloud in a Penning trap

The electrostatic modes of a cloud of ions confined in a Penning trap are discussed in the limit that the Debye length is small compared to the cloud dimensions and the cloud dimensions are small compared to the trap dimensions. Experimental measurements of some of these mode frequencies on plasmas of laser-cooled Be+ ions agree well with calculations. Observation of the modes provides a nondestructive method for obtaining information on the ion density and cloud shape. In addition, excitation of the modes by static field asymmetries may provide a practical limit to the density and number of charged particles that can be stored in a Penning trap.
The financial burden of mandibular trauma.

Purpose Patients with mandibular trauma in the greater Seattle region are frequently transferred to Harborview Medical Center (HMC) despite trained providers in the surrounding communities. HMC receives poor reimbursement for these services, creating a disproportionate financial burden on the hospital. In this study we aim to identify the variables associated with increased cost of care, measure the relative financial impact of these variables, and quantify the revenue loss incurred from the treatment of isolated mandibular fractures. Materials and Methods A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients treated at HMC for isolated mandibular fractures from July 1999 through June 2010, using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision and Current Procedural Terminology coding. Data collected included demographics, injury, hospital course, treatment, outcomes, and billing. Results The study included 1,554 patients. Total billing was $22.1 million. Of this, $6.9 million was recovered. We found that there are multiple variables associated with the increased cost of treating mandibular fractures; 4 variables—length of hospital stay, treatment modality, service providing treatment, and method of arrival—accounted for 49.1% of the total variance in the amount billed. In addition, we found that the unsponsored portion of our patient population grew from 6.7% to 51.4% during the study period. Conclusions Our results led to specific cost-efficiency recommendations: 1) perform closed reduction whenever possible; 2) encourage performing procedures with patients under local anesthesia (closed reductions and arch bar removals); 3) provide improved and shared training among the services treating craniofacial trauma; 4) encourage arrival by privately owned vehicle; 5) provide outpatient treatment, when applicable; 6) offer provider incentives to take trauma call; and 7) offer hospital incentives to treat patients and not transfer them.
Note on a Wave-Hierarchy Interpretation of Fluidized Bed Instabilities

The technological importance of fluidized beds is well known. Experi­mental observations indicate that a uniformly fluidized bed is unstable to small planar voidage disturbances that grow exponentially upwards along the bed and, under certain circumstances, attain saturation at finite amplitudes. The linearized theory is recast into a form that shares mathe­matical similarities and interpretations with ‘wave hierarchies’. In wave hierarchies, the higher-order waves, which correspond to higher-frequency waves nearer the distributor, have wave speeds that are lower than those of the lower-order waves, and the stability condition is thus violated. The lower-order waves correspond to these lower-frequency waves further along the fluidized bed. Thus voidage signals grow exponentially along the higher-order waves. Such waves will eventually be left behind and sur­passed by the faster lower-order waves along which voidage perturbations will be ‘focused’ owing to an effective negative diffusion coefficient. The peculiar double peaks in voidage perturbation waves observed by El-Kaissy and Homsy appear to be explicable by the present wave-hierarchy inter­pretation of the linearized theory.
Fishermen, farmers, traders: Language and economic history on St. Barthélemy, French West Indies

St. Barthelemy, a small island in the northeastern Caribbean, is populated primarily by descendants of 17th century French settlers, and hosts seven language varieties. To explain the linguistic complexity of the island, this article reconstructs both its social history (using censuses, church records, and land registries) and its economic history, analyzing the effects of economic change on the island's population. The two offshoot communities on St. Thomas provide evidence of social fragmentation related to occupational differences. Functional explanations for St. Barth's linguistic diversity are inadequate; however, the social network theory of Milroy & Milroy 1992 proves useful in explaining the persistence of language differences in this small isolated community. (Social networks, life-modes, economic change, societal multilingualism, creole languages, French, West Indies, St. Barthelemy)
The Skeptical American: Revisiting the Meanings of Trust in Government and Confidence in Institutions

This paper critically analyzes the survey literature on trust in government and confidence in institutions. It highlights the gap between theoretical understandings of trust which encompass trust, lack of trust, and distrust, next to empirical realizations which fail to consider active distrust of government. Using a specially tailored survey designed for this project, the paper is the first which directly compares competing operationalizations of trust and distrust. The most frequently used measures, both from the National Election Studies and the General Social Survey, tend to exaggerate the level of disaffection compared to a new measure especially designed to run from active trust, which anticipates that the government will do the right thing, to active distrust, the expectation that it will do the wrong thing. Multivariate analyses reveal statistically significant differences in the underlying determinants of these measures. The conventional NES measure in particular is more influenced by short-term ...
Phytoliths in plants and soils of the interior Pacific Northwest, USA

Abstract Phytoliths are a useful paleoproxy in the arid environments. This modern analog study assessed variability of silica phytoliths in 38 species of plants and 58 modern soil samples from 24 locations in the interior Pacific Northwest. Phytoliths were grouped into 20 broadly defined morphotypes based on their 3D shapes under light microscope and presumed anatomical origin within the plant. Grasses (all C3) have most diverse forms. Most examined conifers, sedges and some shrubs produce identifiable phytoliths as well. Eight different community types can be distinguished based on their modern phytolith record in soils, including shrublands, four regional grassland types, and three forest types. Low percentages of grass phytoliths and high incidence of non-grass forms correspond to forest vegetation in the region today, while certain grass phytoliths allow further differentiation among different grasslands. Phytolith assemblages were further compared to 5 environmental variables, including elevation, mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, a moisture index and a growing-degree days index. Some morphotypes tend to occur within relatively narrow environmental windows, which could enable direct paleoenvironmental inferences from phytoliths in geological sediments from the region.
Historical trauma: Politics of a conceptual framework

The concept of historical trauma (HT) is compelling: Colonialism has set forth cumulative cycles of adversity that promote morbidity and mortality at personal and collective levels, with especially strong mental health impacts. Yet as ongoing community-based as well as scholarly discussions attest, lingering questions continue to surround HT as a framework for understanding the relationships between colonialism and indigenous mental health. Through an overview of 30 recent peer-reviewed publications that aim to clarify, define, measure, and interpret how HT impacts American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) mental health, this paper examines how the conceptual framework of HT has circulated in ways shaped by interactions among three prominent research approaches: evidence-based, culturally relevant, and decolonizing. All define current approaches to AIAN mental health research, but each sets forth different conceptualizations of the connections between colonialism and psychological distress. The unfolding trajectory of research about HT reflects persistent tensions in how these frameworks interact, but also possibilities for better integrating them. These considerations aim to advance conversations about the politics of producing knowledge about AIAN mental health, and support ongoing calls for greater political pluralism in mental health research.
WHAT ATTRACTS FOREIGN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS? EVIDENCE FROM BRANCH PLANT LOCATION IN THE UNITED STATES

ABSTRACT. The location decisions of foreign multinational corporations (FMNCs) are analyzed using a conditional logit model with states as the choice set. We consider the establishment of new manufacturing plants and separately analyze the site selection of all MNCs, Japanese MNCs, and European MNCs. The results indicate that access to markets, labor market conditions, state promotional efforts to attract foreign investment, and state and local personal taxes are significant fadors in the location decision. The decision determinants for Japanese and European MNCs are found to be different.
Inhibition of Translational Initiation by Activators of the Glucose-regulated Stress Protein and Heat Shock Protein Stress Response Systems ROLE OF THE INTERFERON-INDUCIBLE DOUBLE-STRANDED RNA-ACTIVATED EUKARYOTIC INITIATION FACTOR 2α KINASE

Depletion of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ perturbs protein folding and processing within the organelle while inhibiting translational initiation through activation of the double-stranded RNA-activated eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)-2alpha kinase (PKR) (Prostko, C. R., Dholakia, J. N., Brostrom, M. A., and Brostrom, C. O. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 6211-6215). The glucose-regulated stress protein (GRP) chaperones are subsequently induced. We now report that sodium arsenite, a prototype for stressors fostering cytoplasmic protein misfolding, also inhibits translational initiation through activation of PKR while subsequently inducing the heat shock protein (HSP) chaperones. Arsenite neither mobilized ER-associated Ca2+ nor slowed peptide chain elongation. Various HSP-inducing chemicals caused rapid phosphorylation of eIF-2alpha. When incubated with double-stranded RNA, extracts derived from arsenite-treated cells displayed greater degrees of phosphorylation of PKR and eIF-2alpha than did control extracts. Cells overexpressing a dominant negative PKR mutation resisted translational inhibition and eIF-2alpha phosphorylation in response to ER or cytoplasmic stressors. Induction of either the HSP or GRP chaperones was accompanied by development of translational tolerance to either Ca2+-mobilizing agents or arsenite. Following induction of the HSPs by arsenite, cells remained susceptible to induction of the GRPs by Ca2+-mobilizing agents. Conversely, cells possessing induced GRP contents in response to Ca2+-mobilizing agents readily induced the HSPs in response to arsenite. It is concluded that the two chaperone systems function independently except for their mutual suppression of PKR.
A Deborah number for diffusion in polymer‐solvent systems

A Deborah number is introduced as a means of characterizing diffusional transport in amorphous polymer-solvent systems. Two types of temperature-penetrant concentration diagrams are constructed, and the various regions on these figures are identified by their Deborah number values. The utility of the diffusion Deborah number is demonstrated by using this dimensionless group to anticipate conditions under which thickness anomalies can be expected in sorption experiments for the atactic polystyrenepentane system.
Task sharing in family planning.

Many developing countries face strains in meeting the demands for provision of health services because of limited medical personnel. This situation has been exacerbated by the continued "brain drain" of highly trained medical professionals and more recently by the increased demand for HIV services especially in countries with a generalized epidemic. This has led to renewed interest in task sharing also known as task shifting. A key feature of task sharing is that those with less medical or paramedical training can provide some of the same services with the same quality as those with more training. While the term “task sharing” is new the concept has been applied for many years in family planning programs as various tasks became shared between doctors and nurses or between nurses and community health workers. The consensus reported in a recent WHO document ‘Task Shifting to Tackle Health Worker Shortages’ was that task sharing “will positively affect health outcome. In family planning perhaps the most important reason for task shifting is to bring services to women with poor access. Since it is not always cost effective to build clinics in sparsely populated rural areas women will either be forced to travel long distances for services or non-clinic-based services must be provided in local communities. (Excerpts)
Families as Systems: Some Thoughts on Methods and Theory

General systems theory concepts, such as reciprocal causality and nested systems, compel a re-conceptualization of how families work. However, the application of systems theory to families (i.e. family systems theory) is short on theoretical specifics in regard to the internal functions of families. While family systems theory identifies important family processes it often overlooks the content of what family members share. Comments are offered on Gauthier and Moody (Chap. 5) and Cummings, Bergman, and Kuznicki (Chap. 6) with an eye toward the value of theoretical development. My own conceptual writings are discussed as examples of the potential value in applying systems theory to the study of families. In particular, I discuss hypotheses about (1) the “deep” meaning of family conflicts (i.e. power struggles or love struggles) and (2) emotions that motivate important relationship behavior in families (e.g., attachment, fight or flight).
Oral cholecystography; critical review of 200 operated cases.

Summary 1.A typical history of biliary colic was found in 56.5 per cent of 200 patients who were operated upon with a clinical diagnosis of gall bladder disease. Another 37.5 per cent complained of atypical pain and indigestion, while only 6 per cent had no pain. Upper abdominal tenderness was present in 59 per cent of the patients. 2.Roentgenograms failed to show stones in 34 per cent of the patients found to have calculi at operation. When stones were diagnosed from the roentgenograms, there was a 99 per cent correlation with operative findings. 3.In 90 per cent of all instances of non-visualization of the dye, stones were found in the biliary tract at operation. In all but one patient, significant disease of the biliary system was found.
Economic Analysis of Forage Mixture Productivity in Pastures Grazed by Dairy Cattle

The botanical composition of complex forage mixtures can be unstable and may require frequent re-establishment to maintain the desired mixture. We used a whole-farm model (Integrated Farming System Model, IFSM) to simulate the costs and returns of establishing five types of pasture with stand lives of 3, 5, or 10 years. We compared four mixtures [two, three, six, or nine species of grasses, legumes, and chicory (Cichorium intybus L.)] and an orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.)+N (150 lb/acre) pasture with a 10-year stand life. The whole-farm economic returns of these five pasture types were estimated for a representative 100-cow dairy farm based on actual costs of establishment and pasture production from two published studies. Planting grass-legume or grass-legumechicory mixtures increased net returns per cow compared with the orchardgrass+N pasture. The increase in net return ranged from $57/cow for the two-species mixture to $191/cow for the six-species mixture with a 3-year stand life. Corresponding values for a 5-year stand life were $107 and $225, respectively, and for a 10-year stand life were $136 and $246, respectively. The greater forage yields of the mixture compared with orchardgrass+N reduced purchased feed inputs and in some instances increased the income from forage sold off the farm. Production risk due to weather influences was up to 24% less for the forage mixtures compared with orchardgrass+N and risk decreased with increased stand life. Even with a shorter stand life, the grass-legume-chicory mixture was more profitable compared with a long-lived and lower-yielding orchardgrass+N pasture.
Searching more genomic sequence with less memory for fast and accurate metagenomic profiling

Software for rapid, accurate, and comprehensive microbial profiling of metagenomic sequence data on a desktop will play an important role in large scale clinical use of metagenomic data. Here we describe LMAT-ML (Livermore Metagenomics Analysis Toolkit-Marker Library) which can be run with 24 GB of DRAM memory, an amount available on many clusters, or with 16 GB DRAM plus a 24 GB low cost commodity flash drive (NVRAM), a cost effective alternative for desktop or laptop users. We compared results from LMAT with five other rapid, low-memory tools for metagenome analysis for 131 Human Microbiome Project samples, and assessed discordant calls with BLAST. All the tools except LMAT-ML reported overly specific or incorrect species and strain resolution of reads that were in fact much more widely conserved across species, genera, and even families. Several of the tools misclassified reads from synthetic or vector sequence as microbial or human reads as viral. We attribute the high numbers of false positive and false negative calls to a limited reference database with inadequate representation of known diversity. Our comparisons with real world samples show that LMAT-ML is the only tool tested that classifies the majority of reads, and does so with high accuracy.
Total Unsteadiness Analysis for an Axial-Flow Compressor Rotor

The total unsteadiness downstream of an axial compressor rotor was studied computationally using a 3-D Navier-Stokes solver. In the mean flow direction, the total unsteadiness was calculated and comparisons were made at the rotor exit with the experimental data. Based on a more general definition of total unsteadiness in any direction the total unsteadiness in the direction normal to the mean flow and in other directions is also discussed. The calculation results show that both the turbulence kinetic energy and the wake velocity deficit make important contributions to the total unsteadiness downstream of the rotor. The good agreement at the rotor exit between the calculated and the measured total unsteadiness suggests that steady flow NavierStokes codes with two-equation turbulence models can be useful tools for studying the flow unsteadiness in axial-flow turbomachinery.
Interaction of lung volume and chemical drive on respiratory muscle EMG and respiratory timing

The effect of increased FRC on the change in respiratory muscle electrical activity (EMG) and the duration of inspiration (Ti) and expiration (Te) produced by increases in chemical drive (i.e., pro...
The Environmental Pynchon: Gravity's Rainbow and the Ecological Context

This essay explores the influence of ecological discourse in the 1960s on Thomas Pynchon's fiction, especially on Gravity's Rainbow. To identify the environmental Pynchon requires only that we focus on what most readers of Gravity's Rainbow will have noticed about the informing values of the novel, including such specifics as the importance of preserving trees and such general recognitions as that bestowed on Lyle Bland: that "Earth is a living critter" (590). Similarly, late in Slothrop's progress, the narrator notes that Tyrone has become "intensely alert to trees, finally." With the moral judgment implicit in that reprimand ("finally"), the text begins to read like leaflets handed out by Earth First! or Greenpeace.
Esthétique du signe et interprétation des oeuvres d’art

Y a-t-il un usage en art pour la theorie esthetique de Peirce? A premiere vue, l’esthetique peirceenne semble assez peu concernee par le probleme de l’art. Or, un examen plus pousse montre que ce n’est pas tout a fait le cas. Aussi, plutot que de plaquer les conceptions de Peirce sur un aspect ou un autre de la pratique ou de la theorie de l’art (par exemple, la creativite, l’histoire de l’art, le style, le genre), ou encore a une oeuvre en particulier, il s’agira ici d’examiner de quelle maniere l’art s’insere dans la conception peirceenne de l’esthetique. L’argument est divise en deux partie. La premiere section presente la conception peirceenne de l’esthetique dans le contexte des sciences normatives. J’y montre comment l’esthetique entretient des liens avec plusieurs themes de la pensee de Peirce, dont sa cosmologie et son agapisme, et le role joue par l’abduction et la notion d’insight. La deuxieme section considere de quelle maniere l’art peut etre “admirable” et contribuer au summum bonum. L’esthetique peirceenne suggere que ce qui nous attire vers l’art est une qualite semiotique entendue comme qualite de l’esprit ou qualite de la Troisiemete.
Fractal Analysis of the Complexity of United States Coastlines

Coastlines have long been used as a principal example of a natural feature that exhibits fractal structure. With the advent of large digitized databases, it has become possible to examine in detail large regions of coast and to examine differences in complexity, as measured by the fractal dimension, among regions. In this study, we have determined the fractal dimension of the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines of the conterminous United States. The traditional divider method was used in obtaining the fractal dimension of each coastline arc from the NOAA Medium-Resolution Shoreline Data Set. On average, the Atlantic coast has much higher fractal dimension than the Pacific coast. The results also indicate that the complexity of the Atlantic coast increases toward low latitudes. These results have implications for the interpretation of species distributions and diversity patterns along the coast and for the understanding of the dynamics of biotic recovery from mass extinctions.
Mechanisms of Absence Seizures

A unifying hypothesis for the pathogenesis of absence seizures, involving the thalamocortical circuitry, is proposed in a neurological progress report from the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
Distributed supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software: issues and state of the art

Internet-enabled supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis have been widely used in modern industrial manufacturing, as they are capable of providing more efficient and reliable decision making support. More recently, with the appearance of inexpensive sensors, microprocessors, and actuators, distributed and embedded systems are under rapid development, where real-time constraints should be carefully considered when designing such networked safety-critical systems. In the paper, various issues in designing an effective SCADA system for industrial condition monitoring and fault diagnostics is discussed in detail, especially on its crucial issues and state of the art in the recent decade.
Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide and Ixazomib Combination Rescues Mice Subjected to Experimental Graft-versus-Host Disease and Is Superior to Either Agent Alone

Abstract Lapses in the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) warrant novel approaches. Such approaches include, among others, the use of post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTC) and proteasome inhibitors. Although PTC alone consistently produces low rates of chronic GVHD, the incidence of acute GVHD remains significant. Inversely, prolonged post-transplantation administration of proteasome inhibitors carries a risk of paradoxical aggravation of GVHD. We examined whether the combination of cyclophosphamide and ixazomib addresses the limitations of each of these agents when used alone to prevent GVHD in mice subjected to allogeneic HSCT across MHC barriers. We chose ixazomib, an orally bioavailable proteasome inhibitor, because of its favorable physiochemical characteristics. The combination of cyclophosphamide and ixazomib improved overall survival of mice in comparison to an untreated control group and to groups receiving either cyclophosphamide alone or ixazomib alone. Furthermore, cyclophosphamide prevented the surge of IL-1β, GVHD aggravation, and sudden death associated with prolonged administration of ixazomib after HSCT. Finally, we demonstrated that although ixazomib was administered before cyclophosphamide, it did not impair the preferential depletion of proliferating as opposed to resting donor T cells. Our data suggest that the combination of cyclophosphamide and ixazomib for the prevention of GVHD after allogeneic HSCT is promising and merits further investigation in clinical trials.
Considering Risk and Resiliency Among Children of Incarcerated Parents

The vast and disproportionate incarceration of African American men has sparked research that makes clear the deleterious consequences of incarceration for children of the incarcerated. However, though African American children are more likely than children of other race/ethnic groups to experience parental incarceration, African American children are not a monolithic group, as children in this group have differential risks of being exposed to parental incarceration. To understand the differential risks of experiencing parental incarceration among African American boys, we use data from the 2011–2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) to describe the demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral characteristics that shape African American boys’ risks of exposure to parental incarceration. We argue that to understand how African American boys remain resilient in light of the challenges they face—including parental incarceration—we must first consider their heterogeneous risks of exposure to these challenges. The differences in exposure to challenges (e.g. poverty, violence, and reduced educational opportunities and resources) that shape their risk can guide relevant programs, services, and policies to aid in resiliency for youth.
A Hippo in the Fox(p3) house.

The Hippo signaling pathway regulates cellular proliferation and survival during tissue growth and cancer. In CD4+ T cells, members of the Hippo family modulate autoimmune inflammation by altering interactions between the transcription factors Foxp3 and RORγt; this reveals an unexpected non-canonical role for Hippo in adaptive immunity.
Detecting Refactorings among Multiple Web Service Releases: A Heuristic-Based Approach

A Web service interface is considered as a contract between Web service providers and their subscribers. The subscribers do not have access to the source code of the services but only to the interface containing a set of operations. However, the interface may change over time to meet new requirements. These changes affect the implementation of the subscribers' software. Thus, these clients need to understand the changes introduced to the previous releases of the Web services to co-evolve their own implementation to support the new release. Current studies are limited to the detection of only atomic changes (e.g. add and delete) and not able to detect complex/composite refactorings (merge operations, extract operation, etc.). In this paper, we propose to consider structural and textual similarities, based on a genetic algorithm, when analyzing the evolution of Web services to detect complex changes applied between multiple releases. The validation of our detection technique, on more than 110 releases of 6 real-world Web services, shows an average precision and recall respectively higher than 86% and 89%.
Gastric outlet obstruction in a 12 year old male

Abstract Pyloric stenosis presenting beyond infancy is uncommon and poorly understood. Here, we present a case of primary acquired gastric outlet obstruction due to pyloric stenosis in a 12-year-old male child. The patient presented after a four-year history of persistent non-bilious, post-prandial emesis and failure to thrive. A Heineke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty was performed. Pyloric biopsy was without diagnostic abnormality. A gastrostomy tube was also placed at the time of pyloroplasty. The patient was asymptomatic after surgery and had gained 25 pounds after three and a half months. The gastrostomy tube was removed 4 months after the pyloroplasty. Literature review yielded 42 cases, including the current report, of patients ages 4 months to 17 years with a diagnosis of primary acquired gastric outlet obstruction. Useful studies for diagnosis of these cases include abdominal ultrasound, upper GI contrast study and esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The most common curative procedure reported in the literature was a pyloroplasty (31 cases). The remaining patients underwent Bilroth I gastrectomy (7 cases), balloon dilatation (3 cases) and pyloromyotomy (1 case).
Determining the number of test fires needed to represent the variability present within firearms of various calibers

Abstract The Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners recommends a minimum of two test fires be performed when an unknown firearm is submitted to a laboratory prior to doing a comparison with a cartridge case collected from a crime scene. Limited research has been performed to determine how many test fires are necessary to be representative of the match distribution of a firearm. Various makes and models of firearms comprising five calibers were tested using a hybrid equivalence test to determine how many cartridge cases were required to represent the match distribution of an unknown firearm based on both breech face and firing pin correlation scores from an IBIS® HeritageTM System. The same general trend was observed for each caliber of firearm where the equivalence percentage increased from 10 to 30 cartridge cases. Overall, 15 cartridge cases are sufficient for above an 80% probability of representing the full match distribution for an unknown firearm. To approach full equivalence, 25 cartridge cases are enough because 30 cartridge cases were not found to be significantly higher in equivalence percentage for any caliber of firearm tested.
Die Gefühlspsychologie Nach Ihren Bisherigen Theorieen und Befunden

Die Lehre von den Gefuhlen stellt gleichsam die Feuerprobe fur die personalistische Orientierung der Psychologie dar. Nirgends ist die Unzulanglichkeit des Versuchs, mit impersonalis-tischen Kategorieen Psychologie zu treiben, so deutlich wie auf dem Gebiet des Gefuhlslebens, nirgends das Bedurfnis nach einem volligen Wechsel des Betrachtungsweise dringender.