cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Constitutional Politics in International Relations

It is widely agreed that domestic and international politics are rooted in very different types of order, but this insight is deeply flawed. The potential similarity of domestic and international order can best be seen at historical turning points when the organization of the order is up for grabs — internationally, these moments tend to come after major wars. This article argues that at these moments, order formation has taken the form of constitution building, where basic limits are sought on the exercise of power and the scope of politics. Constitutions are compromises or gambits whereby a hegemonic or leading state agrees to limit its power — that is, it agrees to operate within an institutionalized political process according to a set of rules and principles — in exchange for the agreement of secondary states to do so as well. Moreover, the domestic structures of the contracting states will matter — states that are similar will be better able to convey assurances and democratic states will be most li...
High-power parallel-array IMPATT diodes

Fabrication of parallel arrays of silicon IMPATT diodes in which the arrays are formed in a single diode chip is described. The technique includes formation of an integral heatsink for the diode arrays during wafer processing. For a given total active device area, the use of a parallel array of smaller diodes, rather than one large diode, allows a significant reduction in thermal impedance and consequently larger power-dissipation capability. The contribution shown in the letter is the ease and economy with which parallel arrays on an integral heatsink can be fabricated and handled as a single entity. In a diode operated at 6.4 GHz, 3.5 W of c.w. output power has been achieved with a room-temperature copper heatsink and a junction temperature of about 280°C.
Ethnic identities in a transnational context: the Dutch American reaction to the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902

AbstractDutch Americans viewed the Afrikaner struggle for independence against the British as parallel to their own struggles to maintain a Dutch Calvinist identity in the face of Americanisation pressures. The war's international impact went beyond politics and economics, and included a significant cultural component, as it contributed to a transnational rejuvenation of ethnic consciousness. Dutch Americans drew on the pro-Boer movement in the Netherlands, and adapted it for their own purposes.
Implementation of Targeted Pedestrian Traffic Enforcement Programs in an Urban Environment

The purpose of this study was to develop, test, and evaluate two pilot enforcement programs aimed at the improvement of pedestrian safety in the city of Detroit, Michigan, through reductions in the incidence of pedestrian traffic violations. Separate targeted enforcement programs were conducted in coordination with the Detroit Police Department and the Wayne State University Police Department. Both programs demonstrated that targeted enforcement could be used to reduce the rate of pedestrian traffic violations effectively and that these changes could be sustained for some time after enforcement had been completed. The citywide program was found to reduce violations by up to 17.1% during the enforcement period, with sustained reductions of 7.8% being detected several weeks after enforcement was completed. Similarly, the program on the Wayne State University campus reduced violations by 27% during enforcement and showed sustained reductions of 9.8%. The results generally varied on a case-by-case basis, and infrastructure deficiencies contributed to increased violations. As a part of this study, a strategy for collection of data in the field was developed. The strategy allowed the covert, unobtrusive monitoring of pedestrian behavior during the periods before, during, and after enforcement.
Clinical decision making in a patient with secondary hip-spine syndrome

The prevalence of lumbar and hip pathology is on the rise; however, treatment outcomes have not improved, highlighting the difficulty in identifying and treating the correct impairments. The purpose of this case report is to describe the clinical decision making in the examination and treatment of an individual with secondary hipspine syndrome. Our case study was a 62-year-old male with low back pain with concomitant right hip pain. His Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) was 18%, back numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) was 4/10, fear avoidance beliefs questionnaire (FABQ) work subscale was 0, FABQ physical activity subscale was 18, and patient specific functional scale (PSFS) was 7.33. Physical examination revealed findings consistent with secondary hip-spine syndrome. He was treated for four visits with joint mobilization/manipulation and strengthening exercises directed at the hip. At discharge, all standardized outcome measures achieved full resolution. Clinical decision making in the presence of lumbopelvic-hip pain is often difficult. Previous literature has shown that some patients with lumbopelvic-hip pain respond favorably to manual therapy and exercise targeting regions adjacent to the lumbar spine. The findings of this case report suggest that individuals with a primary complaint of LBP with hip impairments may benefit from interventions to reduce hip impairments.
Narrowband Interference Suppression in Multi-Band OFDM Ultra Wideband Communication Systems: A Mixed-Mode Approach

To avoid significant losses that might be induced by a narrow-band interference (NBI) on the performance of a multi-band (MB) OFDM ultra wideband (UWB) receiver, efficient NBI mitigation schemes are required. This paper proposes a novel mixed-mode NBI suppression scheme that relies on the cooperation between a digital NBI detector and an adaptive analog notch filter. Simulation results show that the proposed mixed-mode suppression scheme improves the performance of the digital frequency excision scheme in a MB-OFDM UWB receiver by as much as an equivalent signal-to-interference ratio gain of 9 dB.
Parsing strategies with 'lexicalized' grammars: application to tree adjoining grammars

In this paper we present a general parsing strategy that arose from the development of an Earley-type parsing algorithm for TAGs (Schabes and Joshi 1988) and from recent linguistic work in TAGs (Abeille 1988).In our approach elementary structures are associated with their lexical heads. These structures specify extended domains of locality (as compared to a context-free grammar) over which constraints can be stated. These constraints either hold within the elementary structure itself or specify what other structures can be composed with a given elementary structure.We state the conditions under which context-free based grammars can be 'lexicalized' without changing the linguistic structures originally produced. We argue that even if one extends the domain of locality of CFGs to trees, using only substitution does not give the freedom to choose the head of each structure. We show how adjunction allows us to 'lexicalize' a CFG freely.We then show how a 'lexicalized' grammar naturally follows from the extended domain of locality of TAGs and present some of the linguistic advantages of our approach.A novel general parsing strategy for 'lexicalized' grammars is discussed. In a first stage, the parser builds a set structures corresponding to the input sentence and in a second stage, the sentence is parsed with respect to this set. The strategy is independent of the linguistic theory adopted and of the underlying grammar formalism. However, we focus our attention on TAGs. Since the set of trees needed to parse an input sentence is supposed to be finite, the parser can use in principle any search strategy. Thus, in particular, a top-down strategy can be used since problems due to recursive structures are eliminated. The parser is also able to use non-local information to guide the search.We then explain how the Earley-type parser for TAGs can be modified to take advantage of this approach.
The Development of Securities Law in the United States

Given the existence of contract, property, fraud, and company law, what is the purpose of securities laws? Broadly speaking, they can serve either of two functions, or some mix of both. The first is to facilitate contracting among entrepreneurs, managers, shareholders, and financial intermediaries by providing a standardized set of rights and obligations (La Porta et al. 2005). Such laws are motivated by the desire to reduce transaction costs where contracting parties are widely dispersed and both writing complete contracts ex ante and renegotiating ex post are difficult. A second possible function is to restrict contracting by limiting the set of legally available terms. Such laws reflect the view that securities markets are beset by market failures stemming from externalities or investor irrationality (Coffee 1984; Fox 1999; Langevoort 2002). For the sake of simplicity, we can call the first a “contracting” paradigm and the second a “regulatory” paradigm.
Degree distribution in plant–animal mutualistic networks: forbidden links or random interactions?

Recent studies show that ecological interaction networks depart from the ‘‘scale-free’’ topologies observed in many other real world networks. Such a departure has been hypothesized to result from non-matching biological attributes of species, such as phenology or morphology, that prevent the occurrence of certain interactions (‘‘forbidden links’’). Here I compare the topology of 17 plant � /animal mutualistic networks with that predicted by a simple null model that assumes that a species’ degree (number of interspecific interactions) is a function of its frequency of interaction. The topology predicted by this null model is strikingly close to that observed in the real networks. Thus, this null model provides a simple alternative interpretation of patterns observed in ecological interaction networks that does not require the existence of non-matching species traits.
Seasonality of Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Reproduction at Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles (1980–2011) in the Regional Context of the Western Indian Ocean

Abstract Seasonal and temporal-spatial distributions of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting activity were assessed at Aldabra Atoll Seychelles, the second largest green turtle rookery in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), based on morning counts of fresh turtle tracks conducted during 1980–2011. The datasets used in the analyses are derived from an average of 3–4 surveys per month at two index sites representing ∼30%–42% of total annual nesting during 1980–1989 and ∼58% during 1995–2011; and monthly surveys conducted at another two remote sites, which accounted for an additional 20% of annual nesting (total ∼78%) during 2002–2011. Turtles engaged in year-round nesting during the season defined as December to November and characterized by patterns of high intra- and interannual variation. In some seasons, nesting peaked primarily during February to May, and in others during May to September, but on average during 1995–2011, a clear unimodal pattern emerged with nesting activity greatest during February to S...
Some nuclear matter calculations: (II). Insertions in hole and particle lines

Abstract Brueckner-Goldstone diagrams that represent insertions in the particle and hole lines of the basic two-body ladder diagram are calculated with the Reid soft-core potential. The bubble insertions in particle lines are calculated exactly, off the energy shell, for small excitations (≦ 2kF), and contribute 1.5 MeV to the binding energy of nuclear matter. Comparisons are made with the approximations used by Brueckner and Gammel (BG) and by Bethe, Brandow and Petschek (BBP). The BG method is found to be fairly accurate for the treatment of small excitations. The BBP method, used in Dahlblom's three-body work, underestimates the binding by 0.7 MeV. The third-order insertion in hole lines contributes 1.8 MeV to the binding energy, when the reaction matrix is calculated with the bubble insertions in particle lines. Without these bubble insertions the contribution is 1.0 MeV. The difference is due to the slower healing when bubble insertions in particle lines are included as the gap between hole and particle energies then decreases. Inclusion of other higher-order diagrams reduces the contribution from the third-order insertion from 1.8 to 1.2 MeV. Day estimated this contribution to be 0.6 MeV. Bethe, using Dahlblom's and Day's results concludes that the Reid soft core gives 15.4 MeV binding. Our calculations suggest that this could be increased to 16.7–17.3 MeV.
The influence of a chemical boundary layer on the fixity, spacing and lifetime of mantle plumes

Seismological observations provide evidence that the lowermost mantle contains superposed thermal and compositional boundary layers that are laterally heterogeneous. Whereas the thermal boundary layer forms as a consequence of the heat flux from the Earth's outer core, the origin of an (intrinsically dense) chemical boundary layer remains uncertain. Observed zones of 'ultra-low' seismic velocity suggest that this dense layer may contain metals or partial melt, and thus it is reasonable to expect the dense layer to have a relatively low viscosity. Also, it is thought that instabilities in the thermal boundary layer could lead to the intermittent formation and rise of mantle plumes. Flow into ascending plumes can deform the dense layer, leading, in turn, to its gradual entrainment. Here we use analogue experiments to show that the presence of a dense layer at the bottom of the mantle induces lateral variations in temperature and viscosity that, in turn, determine the location and dynamics of mantle plumes. A dense layer causes mantle plumes to become spatially fixed, and the entrainment of low-viscosity fluid enables plumes to persist within the Earth for hundreds of millions of years.
Interprovider variation of celiac disease testing in childhood chronic abdominal pain

Background To determine within one tertiary care center: 1) the variation between providers in testing for celiac disease in children with chronic abdominal pain; 2) the characteristics of those children who were more likely to be tested, and 3) the prevalence of celiac disease in those evaluated.
Becoming Successful Readers: A Volunteer Tutoring Program for Culturally Diverse Students.

In 1996 President Clinton established the America Reads Challenge Act (1997), which included a commitment that every child will read independently and well by the end of third grade. This initiative was predicated on links between achievement and poverty (Riley, 1996, 2002) and that children reading below grade level in the early grades perform more poorly in subsequent grades (Clay, 1985; Juel, 1996; Stanovich, 1986). Responding to this challenge, we report evidence that a structured volunteer tutoring program successfully increased culturally diverse students' reading/writing performance in six elementary schools in Southeast Michigan. Specifically, the objectives of the volunteer tutoring program were to increase the reading performance of culturally diverse students, improve students' attitudes toward reading, and evaluate the program's overall efficacy.
Magnetic deposition of aerosols composed of aggregated superparamagnetic nanoparticles

Purpose The deposition of magnetic particles was examined for the possibility of further enhancing the selectivity of inhalation drug administration for the treatment of lung cancer.
The limiting effect of discard interval on time-compressed speech.

Twenty subjects listened to CNC word lists compressed at a 2: 1 compression ratio using four different discard intervals, 40, 50, 60, and 70 milliseconds. The stimuli were presented to the subjects...
Signal Modulation in Cold Dark Matter Detection

If weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP's) are the dark matter in the galactic halo, they may be detected in low-background ionization detectors now operating or with low-temperature devices under development. In detecting WIMP's of low mass or WIMP's with spin-dependent nuclear interactions (e.g., photinos), a principal technical difficulty appears to be achieving very low thresholds (\ensuremath{\lesssim} keV) in large (\ensuremath{\sim} kg) detectors with low background noise. We present an analytic treatment of WIMP detection and show that the seasonal modulation of the signal can be used to detect WIMP's even at low-signal-to-background levels and thus without the necessity of going to very-low-energy thresholds. As a result, the prospects for detecting a variety of cold-dark-matter candidates may be closer at hand than previously thought. We discuss in detail the detector characteristics required for a number of WIMP candidates, and carefully work out expected event rates for several present and proposed detectors.
Loop-tree implementation of the adaptive integral method (AIM) for numerically-stable, broadband, fast electromagnetic modeling

The adaptive integral method (AIM) is implemented in conjunction with the loop-tree (LT) decomposition of the electric current density in the method of moments approximation of the electric field integral equation. The representation of the unknown currents in terms of its solenoidal and irrotational components allows for accurate, broadband electromagnetic (EM) simulation without low-frequency numerical instability problems, while scaling of computational complexity and memory storage with the size of the problem are of the same order as in the conventional AIM algorithm. The proposed algorithm is built as an extension to the conventional AIM formulation that utilizes roof-top expansion functions, thus providing direct and easy way for the development of the new stable formulation when the roof-top based AIM is available. A new preconditioning strategy utilizing near interactions in the system which are typically available in the implementation of fast solvers is proposed and tested. The discussed preconditioner can be used with both roof-top and LT formulations of AIM and other fast algorithms. The resulting AIM implementation is validated through its application to the broadband, EM analysis of large microstrip antennas and planar interconnect structures.
Measurement of aortic input impedance in mice: effects of age on aortic stiffness

Mice are used with increasing frequency as models of human cardiovascular diseases, but significant gaps exist in our knowledge of vascular function in the aging mouse. We determined aortic input i...
Calling Songs, Duets, and Auditory Tuning in Two Cryptic Katydids (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae: Amblycorypha)

In most katydids, females listen to and locate a stationary, singing male for mating. Pair formation differs in phaneropterine katydids where pairs form duets and the male typically Þnds the female after hearing her acoustic reply to his song. We recorded the duetting behavior of two cryptic species of phaneropterines, Amblycorypha rotundifolia (Scudder) and Amblycorypha alexanderi Walker (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae), from populations in their zone of sympatry. The songs of the two species differed in their temporal properties, and the duets differed in the timing of the femaleOs replies with respect to the maleOs song. We also measured the hearing sensitivity and auditory tuning in these species by recording extracellular neural responses to sound stimuli varying in frequency and intensity. Individuals of both species were most sensitive to frequencies near 13 kHz, which corresponds to the frequencies of the malesO calling songs and to the peak frequency in the femalesO tick responses. Both species also responded to pulses with ultrasonic carrier frequencies. For higher amplitude stimuli, neural responses had shorter latencies and more action potentials. Latency functions differed for low-frequency and high-frequency stimuli. These data form the basis for understanding how auditory processing and sexual selection might be involved in the recent diver- gence of these two cryptic species.
Precise SU(5) Predictions for sin**2-Theta(W), m(W) and m(Z)

Radiative corrections to $\ensuremath{\nu}$-induced neutral-current scattering are computed for an arbitrary $G\ensuremath{\supset}{[\mathrm{SU}(3)]}_{c}\ensuremath{\bigotimes}{[\mathrm{SU}(2)]}_{L}\ensuremath{\bigotimes}\mathrm{U}(1)$. Application to the Georgi-Glashow SU(5) model with a single superheavy mass leads, for ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{\stackrel{-}{\mathrm{MS}}}$ (the mass scale of quantum chromodynamics) = 0.4 GeV, to the precise predictions ${{{sin}^{2}\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\mathrm{W}}}^{({\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}};l)}(0)=0.2104$ for ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$-lepton scattering at ${q}^{2}=0$ and ${{{sin}^{2}\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\mathrm{W}}}^{(\ensuremath{\nu};h)}(\ensuremath{-}20 \mathrm{Ge}{\mathrm{V}}^{2})=0.2098$ for deep-inelastic $\ensuremath{\nu}$-hadron scattering. This result, together with our previous radiative corrections to ${m}_{W}{sin\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\mathrm{W}}$, gives the SU(5) predictions ${m}_{W}=84.36$ GeV and ${m}_{Z}=94.91$ GeV.
Multiple protein differences exist between Neisseria gonorrhoeae type 1 and type 4.

Abstract Neisseria gonorrhoeae undergoes a spontaneous conversion from a form which is virulent, competent for DNA-mediated transformation, and piliated (type 1) to a form which is avirulent and neither piliated nor competent (type 4). This phase variation has become thought of as simply a conversion from piliated to nonpiliated. Using the techniques of cell fractionation, two-dimensional electrophoresis, and nonequilibrium pH gradient gel electrophoresis, we identified differences in the expression levels of multiple proteins between type 1 and type 4 cells. A total of 26 type 1-specific (T1S) and 23 type 4-specific (T4S) cytoplasmic or cytoplasmic membrane proteins were identified in O'Farrell two-dimensional gels. Using nonequilibrium pH gradient gel electrophoresis, we detected a minimum of eight T1S outer membrane proteins and four T4S outer membrane proteins which were not detected in the O'Farrell gels. Thus, the conversion from type 1 to type 4 is a complex event involving many different proteins of all cellular locations.
Nonholonomic regulators

In the context of a nonlinear regulator problem associated with a plant described by x = ƒ(x, u) and a performance measure η = ∫ 0 ∞ L(x, u)dt, with both ƒ(0, 0) and L(0, 0) vanishing, the form of the optimal control near x 0 = 0 is only well understood if the linearized system at x = 0 is controllable and L(x, u) is suitably approximated by a nondegenerate quadratic. In this case the optimal nonlinear control is approximated near 0 by a linear control law which can be obtained by solving a Riccati equation. However, when the system is controllable, but the linearized system is not, the problem is more difficult and seems not to have been previously explored in any generality. In this paper we investigate a class of such systems which are first bracket controllable and derive the generic form of the optimal regulator in feedback form, mindful of the fact that a certain set of initial conditions will necessarily be excluded because of topological constraints. The explicit formulas for the optimal feedback control found here are remarkable in that they are not analytic at the equilibrium point. The form of the optimal control brings out clearly the nature of the singularity which is necessarily present because of topological obstruction which prevents the existence of a smooth stabilizing control law. The solution can be thought of as providing one answer to the question “what is the closest one can come to a smooth stabilizing feedback when no smooth feedback control exists?”
Controlling Electric and Magnetic Resonances for Ultra-Compact Nanoantennas with Switchable Directionality

We design and demonstrate an ultra-compact nanoantenna composed of an asymmetric trimer. The structure can support a highly tunable magnetic resonance in addition to the electric resonance, resulting in switchable directionality and enhanced radiative emission.
Modulation of anterior pituitary luteinizing hormone response to gonadotropin-releasing hormone by insulin-like growth factor I in vitro

Objective To investigate how much insulin-like growth factor I may modulate the LH response to GnRH. Design In primary cultures of male rat anterior pituitary cells,the LH response to GnRH (10 –9 M) was evaluated after a 24-hour preincubation with medium alone, IGF-I (1, 5, 10, 15nM), polyclonal antibody anti-IGF-I (Ab-anti-IGF-I), (1:3,000; 1:10,000), or rabbit serum (1:3,000; 1:10,000) as control. Main Outcome Measure Gonadotropin-releasing hormone-induced LH release from primary cultures of male rat anterior pituitary cells. Results Insulin-like growth factor I induces a dose-dependent stimulus on the LH response to GnRH. Insulin-like growth factor I at doses of 10 and 15nM exerted a maximal stimulus, increasing the LH response to GnRH by 30%. The Ab-anti-IGF-I at both dilutions reduced the LH response to GnRH by 30%. No effect was exerted by rabbit serum. Conclusions Present data indicate that IGF-I may enhance the normal LH response to GnRH from rat anterior pituitary glands, suggesting important influences of this growth factor in the modulation of anterior pituitary LH release.
428 T-HELPER-1 CYTOKINES AND NEUTROPHIL FUNCTION IN NEONATAL HOST DEFENSE

Neonates are uniquely susceptible to group B streptococcal (GBS) infections. Defective neonatal polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) movement and respiratory burst contribute to this susceptibility to infection. We have shown that neonatal mixed mononuclear cells (MMCs) are deficient in their production of the T-helper-1 (Th-1)cytokine interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and incubation of neonatal PMNs with recombinant IFN-γ corrects these defects. Interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) are Th-1 cytokines that induce IFN-γ production. We have demonstrated that cord blood MMCs produce significantly less IFN-γ, IL-12, and IL-18 in response to GBS, and that the cord blood MMC production of IFN-γ is enhanced by recombinant IL-12 and IL-18 (Ped. Res.54:276-281, 2003). Recently, we have shown that IL-18 can enhance the motility of neonatal PMN9s. Here we examine the role of IL-12 and IL-18 on PMN respiratory burst. Cord blood PMNs have significantly less respiratory burst activation measured by phorbol-myristate-acetate stimulated dihydrorhodamine fluorescence than PMNs obtained from adults [mean/sem: cord (87/7) adult (115/7) p≤.01]. The incubation of cord blood PMNs with IL-18 (100 ng/ml 0.1 ng/ml) enhanced the respiratory burst activation equal to the activity produced by the similarly treated PMNs from adults [mean/sem: 100ng/ml cord (118/10), adult (123/11); 10 ng/ml cord (125/14), adult (126/4); 1 ng/ml cord (117/9), adult (114/5); 0.10 ng/ml cord (111/7), adult (122/20)] and equal to the untreated adult control. The IL-18 treated cord blood PMNs demonstrated significantly greater respiratory burst activity than the untreated control cord PMNs (p≤.05). The incubation of cord blood PMNs with IL-12 (100 ng/ml-0.1 ng/ml) did not influence respiratory burst. The respiratory burst activity of cord blood PMNs treated with IL-12 remained lower than similarly treated PMNs from adults [(mean/sem): 100 ng/ml cord (93/11), adult (122/24); 10 ng/ml cord (87/8), adult (127/25); 1 ng/ml cord (86/4), adult (117/16); 0.1ng/ml cord (87/9), adult (119/4) (p≤.01 all concentrations)] and equal to the untreated cord blood PMNs. These data and our cumulative experience suggest that the deficiency of the Th-1 cytokines IL-12 and IL-18 by neonates can contribute to defective IFN-γ production. While IL-12 alone appears to have no effect on neonatal PMN respiratory burst, IL-18 can significantly enhance both respiratory burst activation and movement. The combined deficiencies in the production of the Th-1 cytokines IFN-γ, IL-12, and IL-18 likely contributes to the neonates enhanced susceptibility to GBS and other infections.
A Survey on Vocational College Students' Learning Beliefs and its Implications in Oral English Teaching

Language learning beliefs plays an important role in language learning process.Combined with Wen Qiufang and Horwitz's study on language learning beliefs,the author designs a questionnaire to assess 79 students' oral English learning beliefs who are non-English majors in the Guilin teachers' college.On the basis of the analysis and research,this paper evaluates the students' oral learning situations and teaching situations.Finally,some feasible suggestions are put forward to deal with the problems in oral English teaching.
Molecular characterization of the first G24P[14] rotavirus strain detected in humans

Here we report the genome of a novel rotavirus A (RVA) strain detected in a stool sample collected during routine surveillance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's New Vaccine Surveillance Network. The strain, RVA/human-wt/USA/2012741499/2012/G24P[14], has a genomic constellation of G24-P[14]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A3-N2-T9-E2-H3. The VP2, VP3, VP7 and NSP3 genes cluster phylogenetically with bovine strains. The other genes occupy mixed clades containing animal and human strains. Strain RVA/human-wt/USA/2012741499/2012/G24P[14] most likely is the product of interspecies transmission and reassortment events. This is the second report of the G24 genotype and the first report of the G24P[14] genotype combination in humans.
Visualization and sequencing of membrane remodeling leading to influenza virus fusion

ABSTRACT Protein-mediated membrane fusion is an essential step in many fundamental biological events, including enveloped virus infection. The nature of protein and membrane intermediates and the sequence of membrane remodeling during these essential processes remain poorly understood. Here we used cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to image the interplay between influenza virus and vesicles with a range of lipid compositions. By following the population kinetics of membrane fusion intermediates imaged by cryo-ET, we found that membrane remodeling commenced with the hemagglutinin fusion protein spikes grappling onto the target membrane, followed by localized target membrane dimpling as local clusters of hemagglutinin started to undergo conformational refolding. The local dimples then transitioned to extended, tightly apposed contact zones where the two proximal membrane leaflets were in most cases indistinguishable from each other, suggesting significant dehydration and possible intermingling of the lipid head groups. Increasing the content of fusion-enhancing cholesterol or bis-monoacylglycerophosphate in the target membrane led to an increase in extended contact zone formation. Interestingly, hemifused intermediates were found to be extremely rare in the influenza virus fusion system studied here, most likely reflecting the instability of this state and its rapid conversion to postfusion complexes, which increased in population over time. By tracking the populations of fusion complexes over time, the architecture and sequence of membrane reorganization leading to efficient enveloped virus fusion were thus resolved. IMPORTANCE Enveloped viruses employ specialized surface proteins to mediate fusion of cellular and viral membranes that results in the formation of pores through which the viral genetic material is delivered to the cell. For influenza virus, the trimeric hemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein spike mediates host cell attachment and membrane fusion. While structures of a subset of conformations and parts of the fusion machinery have been characterized, the nature and sequence of membrane deformations during fusion have largely eluded characterization. Building upon studies that focused on early stages of HA-mediated membrane remodeling, here cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) was used to image the three-dimensional organization of intact influenza virions at different stages of fusion with liposomes, leading all the way to completion of the fusion reaction. By monitoring the evolution of fusion intermediate populations over the course of acid-induced fusion, we identified the progression of membrane reorganization that leads to efficient fusion by an enveloped virus.
Sources and Cycling of Organic Matter within Modern and Prehistoric Food Webs

Over the past two decades, analysis of the stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur has become a widely used and important technique for tracing the flow of organic matter in modern and prehistoric food webs (Miyake and Wada, 1967; DeNiro and Epstein, 1978; Fry, 1981a; van der Merwe, 1982). This approach is based on the observation that the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur isotopic compositions (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S,* respectively) of an organism are similar to or vary predictably from those of its food source. As a measure of assimilable material, this type of data offers a unique opportunity to delineate pathways of energy transfer.
Maintenance of blood flow rate on dialysis with self-centering CentrosFLO catheter: A multicenter prospective study

Introduction Chronic central venous catheters (CVC) for dialysis lose patency and deliver lower blood flow over time, often due to fibrous sheathing that covers the lumen tips. The CentrosFLO central venous catheter has a shape that directs the arterial and venous tips away from the walls of the vena cava and right atrium, making sheathing of the tips less likely. Methods A prospective, multicenter, single arm, non-controlled, observational study was conducted at eight sites in the United States. All consenting dialysis patients receiving CentrosFLO catheters through the right or left internal jugular veins were accepted in the study, as long as the catheter was expected to be used for 45 days and was not an over-the-wire replacement for a previous CVC. Data were automatically collected on initial and average dialysis blood flow rate and initial arterial and venous pressures, for up to 26 weeks of dialysis therapy. Findings 75 patients were enrolled. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that 87% of patients maintained blood flow rate over 300 mL/min throughout 26 weeks of follow-up. There was no decline in average dialysis blood flow rate and no significant change in hydraulic resistance of the arterial or venous lumens of the catheters during the study. Discussion The CentrosFLO catheter demonstrates long term patency with good flow rates on dialysis, which, by comparison with previous studies, shows a clinically significant improvement in blood flow rate vs. other catheters. Stable hydraulic resistance of the catheter lumens showed no evidence of tip encroachment by fibrous sheaths.
When is Rotations Averaging Hard

Rotations averaging has become a key subproblem in global Structure from Motion methods. Several solvers exist, but they do not have guarantees of correctness. They can produce high-quality results, but also sometimes fail. Our understanding of what makes rotations averaging problems easy or hard is still very limited. To investigate the difficulty of rotations averaging, we perform a local convexity analysis under an \(L_2\) cost function. Although a previous result has shown that in general, this problem is locally convex almost nowhere, we show how this negative conclusion can be reversed by considering the gauge ambiguity. Our theoretical analysis reveals the factors that determine local convexity—noise and graph structure—as well as how they interact, which we describe by a particular Laplacian matrix. Our results are useful for predicting the difficulty of problems, and we demonstrate this on practical datasets. Our work forms the basis of a deeper understanding of the key properties of rotations averaging problems, and we discuss how it can inform the design of future solvers for this important problem.
The influence of self-congruity, perceived value, and satisfaction on destination loyalty: a case study of the Korean DMZ

ABSTRACTDestination management organizations have increasingly recognized that destination loyalty provides a strategic competitive edge in tourism. In order to better understand the importance of heritage destinations, this study examined the roles of self-congruity, value perception, and travel satisfaction in the development of loyalty in the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) destination context. Data were collected among domestic tourists that had visited the DMZ with tour guides. Results identified that destination loyalty was positively affected by self-congruity and travel satisfaction; travel satisfaction was positively influenced by self-congruity and perceived value; and perceived value was positively influenced by self-congruity. Overall, these findings indicate that the interaction of self-congruity, perceived value, and travel satisfaction to the DMZ is essential in influencing visitors’ destination loyalty.
Organization of Genetic Services

Genetics services in each of the six states of Australia are provided by the State Government Departments of Health, through Clinical Genetics Units, usually located in major teaching hospitals. Tasmania (the smallest state) receives services from Victoria, the North Territory receives services from South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory from New South Wales (NSW).
Introduction to Food Justice and the Built Environment

The need for the comingling of theory and practice in food justice is particularly striking in the context of the built environment, where reactive policies without a theoretical framework and theories which do not take into account the surprises found in application have both failed many times in the past. Shane Epting calls for transdisciplinary collaboration to find paths toward food justice.
Greater Cognitive Deficits with Sleep-disordered Breathing among Individuals with Genetic Susceptibility to Alzheimer Disease. The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Rationale: There are conflicting findings regarding the link between sleep apnea and cognitive dysfunction.Objectives: Investigate associations between indicators of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and cognitive function in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and assess effect modification by the apolipoprotein e-4 (APOE-e4) allele.Methods: A diverse population (N = 1,752) underwent type 2 in-home polysomnography, which included measurement of percentage sleep time less than 90% oxyhemoglobin saturation (%Sat 10) were also analyzed. Cognitive outcomes included the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument; Digit Symbol Coding (DSC) test; and Digit Span Tests (DST) Forward and Backward.Results: Participants were 45.4% men, aged 68.1 years (SD, 9.1 yr) with a median AHI of 9.0 and mean ESS of 6.0. Approximately 9.7% had SAS, and 26.8% had at least one copy of the APOE-e4 allele....
Does the Oral "Mock Board" Examination Still Have a Role as a Training Tool?

Rationale and Objectives The American Board of Radiology has adopted a new standardized board examination and the traditional oral examination has been abandoned. Although many programs have changed their educational efforts to reflect the new test format, some faculty members and residents have expressed a desire to keep an oral examination as a component of education and evaluation in radiology residency programs. Materials and Methods An oral comprehensive examination including all the appropriate subspecialties was administered to each second year and third year resident in our training program by faculty members. Both the resident examinees and faculty examiners were surveyed after the examination to gauge the perceived value of the experience. Results Residents were divided in their perceptions of the fairness and utility of an oral examination as a tool to aid in board preparation and as an assessment of their knowledge and communication skill. Faculty members were universal in their endorsement of the oral examination and suggested continued use of the technique. Conclusions Residents and faculty members have differing perceptions of an oral examination delivered during training to assess knowledge and communication skill. The value of an oral examination in providing actionable feedback to trainees and the possibility of detecting struggling residents made it useful in our training program, and it thus it has been implemented for future years. Whether resident performance measured by this technique is predictive of success on American Board of Radiology examinations remains unclear.
Reprocessable Acid-Degradable Polycarbonate Vitrimers

Vitrimers are cross-linked polymer networks containing linkages that undergo thermally activated, associative exchange reactions, such that the cross-link density and overall network connectivity are preserved. Polycarbonates are industrially relevant polymers that, to our knowledge, have not yet been explored as vitrimers. We developed hydroxyl-functionalized polycarbonate networks that undergo transcarbonation exchange reactions at elevated temperatures in the presence of catalytic Ti(IV) alkoxides. The rate of transcarbonation within the networks, estimated through stress relaxation experiments, was tuned by adjusting the catalyst loading or hydroxyl group concentration in the networks. The polymer networks exhibit recovery of their tensile strength and plateau storage modulus (71–133%) after reprocessing. In addition to being reprocessable, the networks were hydrolyzed and decarboxylated in aqueous acid to recover 80 wt % of the precursor to the bifunctional cyclic carbonate monomer. These observation...
New cationic lipid formulations for gene transfer.

Purpose. To develop appropriate dosage forms of DNA for gene delivery. Methods. 3β[N-(N′, N′ dimethylaminoethane) carbamoyl] cholesterol (DC-Chol) was mixed either with Tween 80 alone, or with additional lipid components including castor oil and phosphatidylcholine (PC) or dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) to make different lipid formulations. The particle size and the physical stability of the formulations upon mixing with plasmid DNA containing the luciferase cDNA were examined using laser light scattering measurement. The transfection activity of the DNA/lipid complexes was tested in presence or absence of serum using a cell culture system. Results. We demonstrated that many favorable properties as a gene carrier could be achieved by formulating DNA into new dosage forms using Tween 80 as the major emulsifier. Compared to the cationic liposomes, these new formulations transfected different cell lines with an equivalent or higher efficiency. Not only are they resistant to serum, but also form stable DNA complexes which could be stored for longer periods of time without losing transfection activity. Conclusions. Cationic lipids formulated into different lipid formulations using Tween 80 as a surfactant appeared to have more favorable physical and biological activities than traditional cationic liposomes as a carrier for gene delivery.
Joint reconstruction and material classification in spectral CT

Detecting the presence of hazardous materials in luggage is an important problem in aviation security. The current generation of inspection systems is based on X-ray computed tomography, followed by recognition systems to identify potential prohibited materials. As such, the image formation algorithms are designed independently of the recognition algorithms. In this paper, we present a new class of algorithms for processing the X-ray data by simultaneously forming images from the collected X-ray observations and identifying the underlying materials in the images. These algorithms exploit information about the possible materials in the image to modify the image reconstruction techniques, as well as material identification. We evaluate our joint algorithm on simulated phantoms using multi-spectral computed tomography, and compare our reconstruction and classification results with alternative state of the art approaches. Our experiments indicate that there are significant improvements in recognition performance possible through our joint approach.
Groundwater Monitoring Strategies for Variable Versus Constant Contaminant Loading Functions

Contaminant plumes were derived for constant and variable loading functions at locations within a landfill. Annually, the alternative loading functions injected the same volume of contaminated water. Mass transport modeling was used to evaluate the detection efficiencies of 25 monitoring transects, spaced evenly between the landfill and a downgradient compliance boundary. Respectively, the most efficient transects (requiring the fewest monitoring wells) for constant and variable loading were located at 60-64 and 40 percent of the distance to the compliance boundary. The mean detection efficiency was 29 percent higher for variable loading, but the variation in detection efficiency was similar for constant and variable loading. At the most efficient transects, the minimum number of detection wells was 20 percent lower for variable loading. Given the influence of source loading on monitoring efficiency, alternative loading functions should be considered when designing detection monitoring networks in aquifers.
Effect of Temperature and Oxygen Partial Pressure on Coordination and Valence States of Fe Cations in Calcium Silicate Glasses: A Mössbauer Study

Current models of silicate liquids are generally discussed from a structural standpoint in terms of an irregular assemblage of O2− anions in which the cations are distributed over the available cavities. In these models, it is generally considered that “network-formers”, such as the Si4+ cations, occupy tetrahedral sites while “network-modifiers” such as the Ca2+, Fe2+ or Na+ cations occupy octahedral sites. Amphoteric cations such as Fe3+ of Al3+ can occupy both positions. In a study of a wide range of sodium and calcium silicate glasses Pargamin et al.1 and Levy et al.2 reported on the usefulness of the Mossbauer effect in determining simultaneously the valence states and coordination of Fe cations present as a major constituent in these amorphous systems. In a continuing effort to provide a more complete basis for understanding the structure of oxide glasses, we consider in this Mossbauer study the effect of equilibration temperature and oxygen partial pressure on the distribution of Fe cations between valences and coordination sites in two calcium silicate glasses. The nominal compositions of the samples (expressed in weight per cent) are as follows: $$ {\text{Group}}\;{\text{I}}\;\;\;\;\;\;\;{\left[ {{{({\text{Si}}{{\text{O}}_2})}_{65}}{{({\text{CaO)}}}_{35}}} \right]_{65}}{\left[ {{\text{F}}{{\text{e}}_2}{{\text{O}}_3}} \right]_{35}} $$ These samples were equilibrated in an atmosphere of air at 1350°C, 1391°C, 1436°, 1503°, 1550° and 1569°.
Conditions Concerning Prime and Maximal Ideals of Commutative Monoid Rings

Prime and maximal ideals play a central role in the general theory of commutative rings. This paper contains an exposition of some known results concerning prime and maximal ideals of a commutative monoid ring T. Topics covered include the (Krull) dimension of T, conditions on chains of prime ideals of T, the existence of only finitely many maximal or prime ideals of T, and conditions under which T is a Dedekind domain, a general ZPI-ring, or a Hilbert ring.
Prevention of Strong Adhesion of Dust Particles

Strong adhesion of dust particles results when water soluble components in dust particles are first solubilized, and then recrystallized, after a successive rise and fall of the relative humidity. The recrystallized salt greatly increases the contact area with the substrate, thereby increasing the adhesion. We have investigated the use of thin film lubricants and surfactants to avoid strong adhesion after the humidity cycle. We found that, while some surfactants can prevent the strong attachment of particles by causing secondary nucleation in some precipitating salts, the most effective means of preventing strong adhesion is to use a thin film lubricant that cannot be displaced from the substrate by a forming water droplet. We analyze the requirements for a successful system in terms of the polar and dispersion components of surface energy.
Abstract 28: Inhibition of Interleukin-6 Signaling With Tocilizumab Ameliorates Ischemic Stroke Damage in Aged Male and Female Mice

Introduction: In stroke patients higher plasma IL-6 levels are correlated with increased stroke severity and poor long-term prognosis. Preliminary work in our lab has shown that tocilizumab, an FDA...