cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
EFFECTS OF EXOTIC GRASSES ON SOIL SEED BANKS IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA GRASSLANDS

At the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, an ungrazed grassland preserve in southeastern Arizona, soil seed banks were sampled in June, August, and October 2002 and June 2003. Wildfire had previously burned 90% of the research ranch in May 2002. Seed density and species richness in burned native grassland (2 plots) were compared to those in burned exotic grassland (2 plots). Averaged over 4 sample dates, seed densities were as follows: burned native grassland, 591 ±243.1 seeds ·m−2 and 784 ±334.9 seeds ·m−2; burned exotic grassland, 501 ±198.9 seeds ·m−2 and 196 ±123.8 seeds ·m−2. Species richness in the seed bank, also averaged over 4 sample dates, was as follows: burned native grassland, 16.3 ±1.7 species ·m−2 and 19.5 ±1.0 species ·m−2; burned exotic grassland, 12.0 ±3.4 species ·m−2 and 11.06 ±2.5 species ·m−2. The seed bank of burned exotic grassland contained significantly fewer seeds and species than that of burned native grassland. In addition, the seed bank in burned exotic grassland comprised mainly exotic grasses, whereas annual and perennial herbs, most of them native, dominated the seed bank of burned native grassland. Of the 50 species detected in soil samples, only 20 had a persistent seed bank, and only 1 of these was a native perennial bunchgrass. The preponderance of transient species means that eradication of exotic grasses must be followed by reseeding of native grasses and herbs, perhaps repeatedly, if native grassland is to replace exotic grassland.
Incidence of Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia

This study sought to determine the incidence and pattern of occurrence of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, a plasmacytoid lymphocyte malignancy that involves monoclonal production of the IgM M-component type. Cases with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia have been reported since 1978 to the population-based cancer registry that serves western Washington state, and since 1988 to the eight other cancer registries that participate in the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results program. Persons less than 85 years old newly diagnosed with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia were identified through 1989. The age-standardized annual incidence rate was 6.1 per million in white men and 2.5 per million in white women (1980 US standard). Only five cases were reported in black women, among whom the age-standardized annual incidence rate was 3.6 per million. No cases were reported among black men (5.8 cases expected, based on the rates in white men); this finding may be due to chance, underdiagnosis of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia in this group, or may reflect a truly low rate. Further investigation of a large, racially diverse population is required to better characterize the epidemiology of this rare disease.
Optical transmission of analog SiPM signals for ToF PET/MRI

PET/MRI systems require specialized PET detectors that can function inside of an MRI bore without interfering with MRI functionality. Ideally such a detector would be physically compact, low power, immune to interference from the MRI, and with minimal interference to the MRI, while preserving all PET timing, energy, and position information. Electro-optically coupled PET detectors, where the detector signal is transmitted out of the MRI bore optically, have been proposed to construct compact, low power PET detectors with minimal interference to and from the MRI. This work demonstrates that an analog electro-optically coupled PET detector can achieve excellent, ToF-capable, timing resolution. Timing resolution measurements were made with SiPMs coupled electrically, electro-optically with a pre-amp, and electro-optically without a pre-amp. The best FWHM coincident timing resolution achieved with 3mm × 3mm × 5mm LYSO crystals was 143ps +/− 3ps in electrical mode, 149ps +/− 4ps in electro-optical with preamp mode, and 181 +/− 3ps in electro-optical without preamp mode. With 3mm × 3mm × 20mm LYSO crystals the best timing achieved was 220 +/− 3ps in electrical mode, 231 +/− 2ps in electro-optical with preamp mode, and 253 +/− 2ps in electro-optical without preamp mode. This work shows that SiPM timing information can be preserved after analog optical transmission. This readout strategy could drastically simplify the design of high performance ToF PET/MRI systems.
A New Species of Pistillaria on Rice Straw

An interesting fungus was found fruiting on rice straw from Louisiana, September, 1937. The straw had been placed in a moist chamber at room temperature. Abundant fruit bodies were observed within a week (FIG. 1). An examination of this fungus showed clearly that it belongs in the Clavariaceae. However, a search through the mycological literature on this family reveals no description to which it appears to conform. Suggestions have been received regarding its disposition in the taxonomy of the fungi. Dr. G. W. Martin,1 of the University of Iowa, suggests that it be placed in the genus Ceratella, while Dr. J. N. Couch,2 of the University of North Carolina, thinks that it might be included in Typhula. A resume of the taxonomic position of these two genera follows. Quelet first recognized Ceratella as a distinct group of fungi (6), and made it a subdivision under the genus Clavaria to include those forms which were minute, unbranched and of a woody texture. Patouillard (4) elevated Ceratella to generic rank, using the characters, a pointed sterile apex and minute size, to distinguish it from other genera of the Clavariaceae. Quelet (7) retained Ceratella as a subdivision under Pistillaria, using the characters, an elongate clavula with a sterile pointed apex, to separate these species from the others. Saccardo (9) followed Quelet's example in disposing of these fungi. Patouillard (5) again preferred the generic rank, and used the fact that the hymenium surrounds only the middle portion of these minute plants as a basis for separation from the other genera of the Clavariaceae. He also mentioned that cystidia are present in the hymenial layer of Ceratella.
Spatial memory and stereotypy of flight paths by big brown bats in cluttered surroundings.

SUMMARY The big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus , uses echolocation for foraging and orientation. The limited operating range of biosonar implies that bats must rely upon spatial memory in familiar spaces with dimensions larger than a few meters. Prior experiments with bats flying in obstacle arrays have revealed differences in flight and acoustic emission patterns depending on the density and spatial extent of the obstacles. Using the same method, combined with acoustic microphone array tracking, we flew big brown bats in an obstacle array that varied in density and distribution in different locations in the flight room. In the initial experiment, six bats learned individually stereotyped flight patterns as they became familiar with the space. After the first day, the repetition rate of sonar broadcasts dropped to a stable level, consistent with low-density clutter. In a second experiment, after acquiring their stable paths, each bat was released from each of two unfamiliar locations in the room. Each bat still followed the same flight path it learned originally. In a third experiment, performed 1 month after the first two experiments, three of the bats were re-flown in the same configuration of obstacles; these three resumed flying in their accustomed path. The other three bats were flown in a mirror-image reconfiguration of the obstacles; these bats quickly found stable flight paths that differed from their originally learned paths. Overall, the flight patterns indicate that the bats perceive the cluttered space as a single scene through which they develop globally organized flight paths.
Radioreceptor Assay for α;-Msh Using Mouse B16 Melanoma Cells

AbstractA radioreceptor assay for α;-MSH is described which is based on cultured mouse B16 melanoma cells and bioactive monoiodinated [Nle4]-α;-MSH tracer. The assay was used (1) to study the binding characteristics of α;-MSH to B16 cells, (2) to determine the relative binding activity of MSH peptides, and (3) to measure MSH in tissue extracts. The association of α;-MSH to B16 cells reached a stable plateau after 3 h at 15°C. At 25° or 37°C, the binding was transient and at 0-1°C, the association was very slow. The hormone-receptor complex was relatively stable between 0° and 15°C whereas a 50% dissociation was reached after 90 min at 25°C and after 35 min at 37°C. The mean KD for α;-MSH of four saturation experiments was 1.3 nM and the number of receptors 9570 per cell. 1,10-Phenanthroline had a stabilizing effect in the binding assay when used at a 0.3 mM concentration. From the MSH peptides tested in the binding assay, some showed similar potencies in three bioassays (tyrosinase, melanin and Anolis ski...
The Antigenic Properties of Tissue Fibrinogen

In a series of papers Mills and his co-workers 1 described the physiological action and chemical nature of tissue fibrinogen. This substance seemed to be identical with the protein phospholipin compound described by Wooldridge. It is an active coagulant, widely distributed in the tissues. The lung appears to be most richly supplied with it, then the kidneys, testes, brain, heart and skin in the order named, with skeletal muscle, the pancreas and the liver possessing only small amounts. The active material appears to be a protein phospholipin compound which can be precipitated at the iso-electric point without loss of its coagulating activity. As far as we can determine, no studies have been made of the antigenic properties of this coagulant, and accordingly this study was undertaken.
Problems of determination of country's regions.

The country area is conceived in a different way from the angle of view of legislation of the Czech Republic than it is with the OECD's method, that classification can be held as more acceptable as far as the number of municipalities is concerned in the Czech Republic. In regions the popularization trends recorded fall of population in municipalities with dynamic development in last nine years and on the contrary - stretchered municipalities earlier overdued in a more population way. The meaningful influence has especially the portion of the population employed just in agriculture in the country’s settlement, where the correlation falls among these factors in the present time. Improvement of the life's quality in the country can be achieved through effective application of the regional policy, that election is influenced by development of economic structure, especially in the field of unemployment. Strategic targets of country’s development intervene into many areas that sanitation can be provided especially through taking advantage of the strong sides and opportunities with elimination of raised threats at the same time.
Applications and comparison of model-order reduction methods based on wavelets and POD

We present a wavelet-based model-order reduction method (MOR) that provides an alternative subspace when Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) is not a choice. We thus compare the wavelet- and POD-based approaches for reducing high-dimensional nonlinear transient and steady-state continuation problems. We also propose a line-search regularized Petrov-Galerkin (PG) Gauss-Newton (GN) algorithm that includes a regularization procedure and a globalization strategy. Numerical results included herein indicate that wavelet-based method is competitive with POD for compression ratios below 25% while POD achieves up to 90%. Full-order-model (FOM) results demonstrate that the proposed PGGN algorithm outperforms the standard GN method.
Spontaneous Compartment Syndrome in a Patient with McArdle Disease: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

CASE McArdle disease, a glycogen storage disorder, often manifests as exercise intolerance secondary to muscle ischemia. Few authors have reported on rhabdomyolysis or compartment syndrome following inciting events among patients with McArdle disease. We present the case of a 40-year-old woman who developed spontaneous compartment syndrome of the right forearm and subsequently underwent emergency fasciotomy. CONCLUSION On the basis of the present case and our review of the current literature, we advocate a high level of suspicion for compartment syndrome in patients with a history of McArdle disease.
Notes to the Underground: Credit Claiming and Organizing in the Earth Liberation Front

This paper presents a case study of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), based on interviews of the group’s former affiliates. It examines the role of credit claims in organizing this underground lead...
Motion artifact reduction from PPG signals during intense exercise using filtered X-LMS

Photoplethysomographic (PPG) signal is crucial for non-invasive monitoring of heart rate. It is acquired by using pulse oximeter that are prone to artifacts. A major application of this technique is monitoring the heart rate during physical exertion. Extraction of heart rate (HR) from the PPG in this case is difficult due to the strong motion related artifacts. This paper proposes an efficient method based on a reference generation using singular value decomposition and then multistage application of filtered X-LMS for removing motion artifacts from PPG signal. Simultaneous three-axis acceleration data is acquired and used as reference signal to measure time and extent of motion artifact in PPG signal. This is followed by an application of Slope Sum Method (SSM) to track peaks, and thus determine the heart rate. Testing of proposed method on PPG signals acquired from multiple subjects performing intense exercises (jogging at an average speed of 12 km/hour), results in mean absolute error of 1.37 beats per minute (BPM). Moreover, it is shown that proposed algorithm is robust to excessive occurrence of motion artifacts.
An Examination of the Relationship between Culture and Cyberloafing Using the Hofstede Model

This article explores the relationship between culture and cyberloafing. A survey measuring individuals’ propensity to engage in cyberloafing in the workplace was conducted with people from 17 coun...
Evolutionary conservation of the allosteric activation of factor VIIa by tissue factor in lamprey.

Essentials Tissue factor (TF) enhances factor VIIa (FVIIa) activity through structural and dynamic changes. We analyzed conservation of TF-activated FVIIa allosteric networks in extant vertebrate lamprey. Lamprey Tf/FVIIa molecular dynamics show conserved Tf-induced structural/dynamic FVIIa changes. Lamprey Tf activation of FVIIa allosteric networks follows molecular pathways similar to human. SUMMARY Background Previous studies have provided insight into the molecular basis of human tissue factor (TF) activation of activated factor VII (FVIIa). TF-induced allosteric networks of FVIIa activation have been rationalized through analysis of the dynamic changes and residue connectivities in the human soluble TF (sTF)/FVIIa complex structure during molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Evolutionary conservation of the molecular mechanisms for TF-induced allosteric FVIIa activation between humans and extant vertebrate jawless fish (lampreys), where blood coagulation emerged more than 500 million years ago, is unknown and of considerable interest. Objective To model the sTf/FVIIa complex from cloned Petromyzon marinus lamprey sequences, and with comparisons to human sTF/FVlla investigate conservation of allosteric mechanisms of FVIIa activity enhancement by soluble TF using MD simulations. Methods Full-length cDNAs of lamprey tf and f7 were cloned and characterized. Comparative models of lamprey sTf/FVIIa complex and free FVIIa were determined based on constructed human sTF/FVIIa complex and free FVIIa models, used in full-atomic MD simulations, and characterized using dynamic network analysis approaches. Results Allosteric paths of correlated motion from Tf contact points in lamprey sTf/FVIIa to the FVIIa active site were determined and quantified, and were found to encompass residue-residue interactions along significantly similar paths compared with human. Conclusions Despite low conservation of residues between lamprey and human proteins, 30% TF and 39% FVII, the structural and protein dynamic effects of TF activation of FVIIa appear conserved and, moreover, present in extant vertebrate proteins from 500 million years ago when TF/FVIIa-initiated extrinsic pathway blood coagulation emerged.
Linear Programs and Related Problems, by Evar D. Nering and Albert W. Tucker

(1994). Linear Programs and Related Problems, by Evar D. Nering and Albert W. Tucker. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 101, No. 10, pp. 1022-1026.
Trauma and Wound Management: Gunshot Wounds in Horses

Bullet wounds in horses can cause a wide array of injuries, determined by the type of projectile, the energy of the bullet on entry, and the type of tissue the bullet encounters. Treatment includes identification of all structures involved, debridement of the permanent cavity, and establishing adequate drainage. Bullet wounds should be treated as contaminated, and broad-spectrum antibiotics, including those with an anaerobic spectrum, are indicated. Although musculoskeletal injuries resulting from gunshots are most common in horses, they carry a good prognosis for survival and return to function.
Reactions of Transition Metal Ions with Cycloalkanes and Metal Carbonyls

It has long been known that metal containing ions formed by electron impact on metal compounds undergo a variety of interesting ion molecule reactions. The formation of “triple-decker sandwiches” in the ion molecule reactions of ferrocene and nickelocene was reported in 1966 (Schumacher and Taubenest, 1966). Cationic clustering reactions in metal carbonyls were reported in 1971 (Kraihanzel, Conville and Sturm, 1971 and Foster and Beauchamp, 1971). Clustering reactions of transition metal containing anions were reported in 1973 (Dunbar, Ennever and Fakler, 1973). Reactions of metal containing ions with ligand molecules were described in 1971 (Muller and Fenderl, 1971, and Foster and Beauchamp, 1971). Proton affinities of transition metal complexes were reported in 1975 (Foster and Beauchamp, 1975a and 1975b). Observation of alkane activation by a transition metal containing ion was first reported in 1973 (Muller and Goll, 1973). This early work led to a substantial body of research on organometallic ion molecule reactions. Rather than attempt to review that work, this discussion will emphasize (1) some recent developments in the study of reactions involving the formation of metal to carbon bonds and (2) clustering reactions in transition metal carbonyls. In doing this, the significance of the unique properties of transition metals and the use of a variety of mass spectrometric techniques to solve problems in transition metal ion chemistry will be discussed.
Accreditation and Quality Assurance for Clinical Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Laboratories

For mass spectrometry (MS) testing in the clinical laboratory, postimplementation monitoring for quality is just as important as method development and validation but often receives less attention. Quality-assurance monitoring for liquid chromatography-tandem MS (LC-MS/MS) testing should be proactive rather than reactive and should monitor the entire testing process. An LC-MS/MS quality-assurance plan should cover overall batch review parameters, individual peak review parameters, system and reagent changes, and assessment of long-term accuracy. This article discusses Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments' regulations as they apply to LC-MS/MS-based testing and reviews available guidelines for LC-MS/MS quality assurance and postimplementation monitoring.
A Topos View of the Type-2 Fuzzy Truth Value Algebra

It is known that fuzzy set theory can be viewed as taking place within a topos. There are several equivalent ways to construct this topos, one is as the topos of etale spaces over the topological space \(Y=[0,1)\) with lower topology. In this topos, the fuzzy subsets of a set X are the subobjects of the constant etale \(X\times Y\) where X has the discrete topology. Here we show that the type-2 fuzzy truth value algebra is isomorphic to the complex algebra formed from the subobjects of the constant relational etale given by the type-1 fuzzy truth value algebra \(\mathfrak {I}=([0,1],\wedge ,\vee ,\lnot ,0,1)\). More generally, we show that if L is the lattice of open sets of a topological space Y and \(\mathfrak {X}\) is a relational structure, then the convolution algebra \(L^\mathfrak {X}\) Harding et al. (Algebra Universalis 17:33, 2018 [5]) is isomorphic to the complex algebra formed from the subobjects of the constant relational etale given by \(\mathfrak {X}\) in the topos of etale spaces over Y.
La construcción del itinerario formativo postobligatorio: Efectos de la atención al bajo rendimiento sobre la expectativa académica

Los programas de atencion al bajo rendimiento durante la educacion obligatoria ejercen una labor de orientacion que condiciona el itinerario formativo que seguira el alumno una vez finalice la ESO. La presente investigacion se centra en el estudio de dicha orientacion y su relacion con otras variables fundamentales en la construccion de la expectativa formativa. Para ello se ha llevado a cabo una encuesta en cuatro institutos de la Comunidad de Madrid, observandose a traves de un analisis de regresion logistica y un analisis discriminante que la mera participacion en los programas considerados (repeticion de curso, desdobles por nivel de aprendizaje y PMAR) ejerce una importante orientacion hacia la Formacion Profesional. El distinto origen social de los alumnos participantes y no participantes en tales programas, la separacion fisica y pedagogica de sus aprendizajes y su diferente expectativa formativa han llevado a referir tales programas como una via academica durante la educacion obligatoria analoga a la red primaria profesional descrita por Baudelot y Establet. Se recomienda por tanto evitar herramientas que de forma reactiva a las manifestaciones de bajo rendimiento reagru- pen a los alumnos por su nivel de aprendizaje, pues tienden a consolidar las desigualdades de rendimiento y convertirlas en trayectorias educativas desiguales. Low performance attention programs during compulsory education exercise an orientation effect over students, conditioning their educational trajectory after finalizing ESO. This research is aimed at studying that orientation and its relationship with other key variables in the construction of academic expectation. To accomplish that, a survey was carried out among students from four different high schools at Comunidad de Madrid, observing through a logistic regression analysis and a discriminant analysis that mere participation in the considerate programs (grade repetition, regrouping in concrete subjects and PMAR) exercise an important orientation towards Intermediate Level Vocational Education. The different social origin of participants and non-participants in those programs, the physical and pedagogic separation between both learning processes and their different academic expectations has led us to refer such programs as a specific via during compulsory education analogous to the primary professional net described by Baudelot and Establet. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid mechanisms that, reacting to underachievement, regroup students according to their former performance at school, for such programs tend to consolidate performance inequalities and turn them into unequal educational careers.
A Review on Flavonoid Apigenin: Dietary Intake, ADME, Antimicrobial Effects, and Interactions with Human Gut Microbiota

Apigenin is a flavonoid of low toxicity and multiple beneficial bioactivities. Published reviews all focused on the findings using eukaryotic cells, animal models, or epidemiological studies covering the pharmacokinetics, cancer chemoprevention, and drug interactions of apigenin; however, no review is available on the antimicrobial effects of apigenin. Research proves that dietary apigenin passes through the upper gastrointestinal tract and reaches the colon after consumption. For that reason, it is worthwhile to study the potential interactions between apigenin and human gut microbiota. This review summarizes studies on antimicrobial effects of apigenin as well as what has been reported on apigenin and human gut microbiota. Various levels of effectiveness have been reported on apigenin’s antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic capability. It has been shown that apigenin or its glycosides are degraded into smaller metabolites by certain gut bacteria which can regulate the human body after absorption. How apigenin contributes to the structural and functional changes in human gut microbiota as well as the bioactivities of apigenin bacterial metabolites are worth further investigation.
Tobacco Necrosis Virus-AC Single Coat Protein Amino Acid Substitutions Determine Host-Specific Systemic Infections of Nicotiana benthamiana and Soybean

Plant viruses often infect several distinct host species. Sometimes, viruses can systemically infect a specific host whereas, in other cases, only local infections occur in other species. How viral and host factors interact to determine systemic infections among different hosts is largely unknown, particularly for icosahedral positive-stranded RNA viruses. The Tobacco necrosis virus-A Chinese isolate belongs to the genus Alphanecrovirus in the family Tombusviridae. In this study, we investigated variations in systemic infections of tobacco necrosis virus-AC (TNV-AC) in Nicotiana benthamiana and Glycine max (soybean) by alanine-scanning mutagenesis of the viral coat protein (CP), which is essential for systemic movement of TNV-AC. We found that three amino acids, R169, K177, and Q233, are key residues that mediate varying degrees of systemic infections of N. benthamiana and soybean. Further analysis revealed that variations in systemic trafficking of TNV-AC CP mutants in N. benthamiana and soybean are associated with virion assembly and stability. The CP amino acids K177 and Q233 are highly conserved among all TNV-A isolates and are replaced by Q and K in the TNV-D isolates. We demonstrated that systemic infectivity of either TNV-AC K177A and Q233A or K177Q and Q233K mutants are correlated with the binding affinity of the mutated CPs to the host-specific Hsc70-2 protein. These results expand our understanding of host-dependent long-distance movement of icosahedral viruses in plants.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Impact of Plow on Flow, Tidal Volume, and Inspiratory PEEP in APRV

Background: In airway pressure release ventilation (APRV), there have been questions about whether increases in pressure low (Plow) will impact flow characteristics while maintaining a time low (Tlow) of 75%. We hypothesize that the addition of Plow will not change the flow characteristics. Methods: Utilizing the Hamilton G5 (Bonaduz, Switzerland) and Drager V500 (Lubeck, Germany) mechanical ventilators, we created a baseline with the following settings: High pressure (Phigh) 20 cm H2O, low pressure (Plow) 0 cm H2O, time high (Thigh) 6 s, time low (Tlow) 75% of peak expiratory flow (PEF). Intrinsic PEEP and the change in pressure from Results: The addition of Plow resulted in a expiratory flow decrease of 12 L/min on both ventilators from a Plow of 0 to 20 cm H2O. the tidal volumes increased by almost triple even while maintaining the same ΔP. Additionally, the increases in PEEP did not simply increase by the same number in Plow. Conclusions: With the addition of Plow, flow characteristics did change, the intrinsic PEEP increased by unpredictable values, and the VT increased by almost triple despite maintaining the same ΔP. The addition of Plow does impact the flow, VT, and intrinsic PEEP in patients and caution should be taken when applying it to APRV.
Down regulation of transcripts involved in selective metabolic pathways as an acclimation strategy in nitrogen use efficient genotypes of rice under low nitrogen

To understand the molecular mechanism of nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in rice, two nitrogen (N) use efficient genotypes and two non-efficient genotypes were characterized using transcriptome analyses. The four genotypes were evaluated for 3 years under low and recommended N field conditions for 12 traits/parameters of yield, straw, nitrogen content along with NUE indices and 2 promising donors for rice NUE were identified. Using the transcriptome data generated from GS FLX 454 Roche and Illumina HiSeq 2000 of two efficient and two non-efficient genotypes grown under field conditions of low N and recommended N and their de novo assembly, differentially expressed transcripts and pathways during the panicle development were identified. Down regulation was observed in 30% of metabolic pathways in efficient genotypes and is being proposed as an acclimation strategy to low N. Ten sub metabolic pathways significantly enriched with additional transcripts either in the direction of the common expression or contra-regulated to the common expression were found to be critical for NUE in rice. Among the up-regulated transcripts in efficient genotypes, a hypothetical protein OsI_17904 with 2 alternative forms suggested the role of alternative splicing in NUE of rice and a potassium channel SKOR transcript (LOC_Os06g14030) has shown a positive correlation (0.62) with single plant yield under low N in a set of 16 rice genotypes. From the present study, we propose that the efficient genotypes appear to down regulate several not so critical metabolic pathways and divert the thus conserved energy to produce seed/yield under long-term N starvation.
Exploring cybersecurity issues in 5G enabled electric vehicle charging station with deep learning

The surging usage of electric vehicles (EVs) demand the robust deployment of trustworthy electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) with millisecond range latency and massive machine to machine communications where 5G could act. However, 5G suffers from inherent protocols, hardware, and software vulnerabilities that seriously threaten the communicating entities' cyber-physical security. To overcome these limitations in the EVCS system, this paper analyses the impact of False Data Injection (FDI) and Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) attacks on the operation of EVCS. This work is an extension of our previously published conference paper about the EVCS. As new features, this paper simulates the FDI attack and the syn flood DDoS attacks on 5G enabled remote Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system that controls the solar photovoltaics (PV) controller, Battery Energy Storage (BES) controller, and EV controller of the EVCS. The attacks make the EVCS system oscillate or shift the DC operating point. The frequency of oscillation, its damping, and the system's resiliency are found to be related to the attacks' intensity and target controller. Finally, we propose the novel stacked Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) based intrusion detection systems (IDS) solely based on the electrical fingerprint. This model can detect the stealthy cyberattacks that bypass the cyber layer and go unnoticed in the monitoring system with nearly 100% detection accuracy.
A First Look: Disparities in COVID-19 Mortality Among US-Born and Foreign-Born Minnesota Residents.

This research brief provides one of the first examinations of the impact of COVID-19 mortality on immigrant communities in the United States. In the absence of national data, we examine COVID-19 deaths in Minnesota, historically one of the major U.S. refugee destinations, using individual-level death certificates obtained from the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Vital Records. Minnesota’s foreign-born crude COVID-19 death rates were similar to rates for the US-born, but COVID-19 death rates adjusted for age and gender were twice as high among the foreign-born. Among foreign-born Latinos, in particular, COVID-19 mortality was concentrated in relatively younger, prime working age men. Moreover, the place-based and temporal patterns of COVID-19 mortality were quite distinct, with the majority of US-born mortality concentrated in long-term care facilities and late in 2020, and foreign-born mortality occurring outside of residential institutions and earlier in the pandemic. The disparate impacts of COVID-19 for foreign-born Minnesotans demonstrate the need for targeted public health planning and intervention in immigrant communities.
Promoting Climate Change Abatement Policies in the Face of Motivated Reasoning: Oneness With the Source and Attitude Generalization

Building support for fighting climate change via public policy requires overcoming motivated resistance based on political identities. One solution is for sources, congenial to the audience’s political orientation, to advocate such policies. This study explores explanations suggested by the self-concept model of cognitive dissonance and the extent to which attitude generalization effects can occur in this context, such that attitude change toward one policy produces attitude change toward similar policies. An online pretest/posttest experiment using a Qualtrics sample ( N = 518) that varied the political affiliation of the source found support for the source-matching effect. Oneness with the source emerged as a predictor of attitude change. Attitude generalization was found among those who showed attitude change and those who showed boomerang for both related and unrelated attitudes. Some evidence is consistent with the role of oneness in attitude generalization.
Maximum Likelihood Estimators and Confidence Intervals for Specific Life Distributions

In the present chapter we provide a survey of methods for determining the MLE of the characteristics of the life distributions presented in Sections 2.3 and 2.5. All these estimators relate to complete sample data on time till failure. The required adjustments for censored data were discussed in Section 6.4. We also include (whenever available) formulae for the exact confidence limits for the parameters. Formulae for the asymptotic confidence limits are given for all cases.
ISCD in 2015: State of the Society

This piece offers an opportunity for the International Society for Clinical Densitometry's immediate past president to reflect on the past year and provide an update on the state of our society as we continue to move forward.
Assignments of autoionization states of O2-asterisk

Attention is given to the uncertainties that remain concerning the autoionization states of O2 leading to the a 4Pi(u) and A 2Pi(u) states of O2(+), as well as some of the assignments of the autoionization states and the determinations of effective quantum numbers and quantum defects. The former problems of vibrational assignments are unambiguously established in view of a study of isotopic oxygen molecules. A systematic examination of the known Rydberg series is conducted, and new assignments and interpretations for several autoionization states leading to the various states of O2(+) are suggested.
Oxidation and assimilation of carbohydrates by Micrococcus sodonensis.

Perry, Jerome J. (North Carolina State University, Raleigh), and James B. Evans. Oxidation and assimilation of carbohydrates by Micrococcus sodonensis. J. Bacteriol. 91:33–38. 1966.—Micrococcus sodonensis is a biotin-requiring strict aerobe that cannot utilize carbohydrates as sole sources of carbon and energy. However, addition of mannose, glucose, sucrose, or maltose to a medium on which the organism can grow resulted in an increase in total growth. M. sodonensis oxidized these sugars without induction, thus indicating the presence of constitutive enzymes for their transport, activation, and metabolism. Under appropriate nonproliferating cell conditions, glucose was readily incorporated into essential constituents of the cell. When glucose-1-C14 and glucose-6-C14 were oxidized by nonproliferating cells, the label was found in both the protein and nucleic acid fractions of the cell. The respiratory quotients of cells oxidizing glucose in saline and in phosphate buffer indicated assimilation of sugar carbon in buffer and virtually no assimilation in saline. The ability of M. sodonensis to completely oxidize glucose and to grow on intermediates of glucose oxidation but not on glucose suggests that glucose may suppress or repress some reaction(s) necessary for growth, and that growth substrates either derepress or circumvent this block.
Rheumatic mitral insufficiency in children, course, prognosis and effect of mitral valve replacement.

Abstract When the heart is involved as a result of rheumatic fever in children, mitral insufficiency is the most common lesion. Significant mitral stenosis, though it does occur, is not common in this age group. Twenty-eight children with rheumatic mitral insufficiency were divided into 3 groups of severity according to symptoms and heart size. Cardiac volume index and cardiothoracic ratio were compared as indexes of heart size in these patients. The course and prognosis were studied in each group by using cardiac volume index, cardiothoracic ratio, electrocardiographic, phonocardiographic, hemodynamic and clinical data as parameters of severity. In severe cases the course is one of progressive deterioration with development of atrial fibrillation or left atrial and right ventricular hypertension, or both. This course was illustrated by 8 fatal cases, death occurring between 11.5 and 15.5 years of age. In 2 patients the mitral valve was replaced by a Starr-Edwards valve. The patients are surviving and well, 12 and 17 months later. Guides are suggested for the selection of patients with mitral insufficiency for mitral valve surgery.
Astronomers Tame a Workhorse Laser

Techniques for controlling chaos—a hair-trigger sensitivity to initial conditions—have enabled a group of researchers to stabilize a tunable infrared laser. The feat, reported onp page 1498, may be the first example of chaos control to move to practical application, because the laser is widely used in laboratory studies of cold gases resembling the atmospheres of the outer planets.
The gene encoding a Prevotella loescheii lectin-like adhesin contains an interrupted sequence which causes a frameshift

We cloned and sequenced the Prevotella loescheii gene plaA, which encodes a lectin-like adhesin that mediates the coaggregation of P. loescheii 1295 with Streptococcus oralis 34. A probe derived from the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified adhesin was used to identify the plaA gene from a P. loescheii genomic library constructed in lambda GEM-11. Sequence analysis of plaA indicates that the initial translation product contains a 22-amino-acid leader. The reading frame of the plaA gene is interrupted after amino acid 28 of the mature protein by a TAA termination codon. Amplification of the P. loescheii genomic DNA in the region surrounding this codon by the polymerase chain reaction followed by DNA sequencing of the cloned DNA fragment established that this stop codon was not an experimental artifact. A frameshift beginning 29 bp downstream of the ochre terminator was required to access the only large open reading frame in the gene. Amino acid sequences of six purified peptides derived by limited proteolysis of adhesin with endoproteinase Lys-C matched the downstream amino acid sequence derived by translation of the large open reading frame. The gene coding sequence of 2.4 kb contains sufficient information for the synthesis of an 89-kDa protein. A putative rho-independent terminator (delta G = -25.5 kcal/mol [ca. -107 kJ/mol]) was detected 38 bp downstream from the plaA stop codon.
Meta-Analysis at Middle Age: A Personal History.

The 40-year history of meta-analysis is traced from the vantage point of one of its originators. Research syntheses leading to the first examples of meta-analysis are identified. Early meta-analyses of the literature on psychotherapy outcomes and school class size are recounted. The influence on the development of meta-analysis of several statisticians and psychologists is described. Finally, some directions for future development of research synthesis methods are suggested.
A Shape Recognition Benchmark for Evaluating Usability of a Haptic Environment

This paper describes a benchmark task for evaluating the usability of haptic environments for a shape perception task. The task measures the ease with which observers can recognize members of a standard set of five shapes defined by Koenderink. Median time for 12 participants to recognize these shapes with the PHANToM was 23 seconds. This recognition time is within the range for shape recognition of physical objects using one finger but far slower than recognition using the whole hand. The results suggest haptic environments must provide multiple points of contact with an object for rapid performance of shape recognition.
Two Cheers for Parental Empowerment: A Politically Incorrect Analysis

Among the numerous proposals for school reform that have surfaced during the past two decades, at least two have garnered near universal approval: parental involvement or empowerment and critical thinking. Current interest in parental empowerment is of course consistent with the prevalent assumption that grassroots reform initiatives are likely to surpass the rather disappointing results achieved thus far in response to mandates emanating from on high, as it were. Meanwhile, American school children are generally seen to be deficient in terms of “higher order,” or “critical thinking” skills, and this apparent deficiency is perceived as an impediment not only to students’ self-realization, but also to the nation’s long-term social, economic, and political well-being.
TEMP AGENCY WORKERS IN NEW JERSEY'S LOGISTICS HUB: THE CASE FOR A UNION HIRING HALL

This article reports on preliminary research concerning temp agency workers in the logistics hub that serves the Port of Newark/Elizabeth. Our objective is to explore the potential for organizing temporary workers in this industry, and the viability of the hiring hall model in particular. The first section describes several aspects of the regional labor market in which temp agency workers are recruited for the inland warehouses and distribution centers. The second section explores the history and legality of hiring halls, and why this organizing model has in recent decades faded into disuse. The third section sets forth an exploratory plan for organizing the temporary workforce in New Jersey’s logistics industry. Based on his observations of dock work at the Port of New York in the early 1950s, Larrowe (1955, 49) defined a casual labor market as one in which the need for workers varies frequently and widely at a number of different points. Workers are hired for a few hours or for a short period, some of them picked at random when the employer is hard-pressed to complete the job quickly. He further stressed “the unrestricted movement in and out of the market by the workers themselves”, resulting in the “chronic labor surplus which typifies such markets” (Larrowe 1955, 50). Larrowe’s description fits the same industry just as well today, although its location has conspicuously changed. The work of handling ocean cargo has been moved some 36 miles inland to rural communities in central New Jersey, just off Exit 8A of the New Jersey Turnpike. Here, a conglomeration of warehouses and distribution centers (W/DCs) receive goods from the Port of Newark/Elizabeth (the nation’s second largest), where they are unloaded from containers by hand, put onto pallets, sometimes processed, and then formed into orders and shipped to major retail outlets or directly to consumers. Instead of the workforce Larrowe (1955, 49–50) found, led by “a relatively small core” of mostly white workers of Irish and Italian descent, the reserve army of low-wage laborers critical to central New Jersey’s logistics hub consists today almost exclusively of immigrant Latinos. And, instead of being organized and
Blood concentrations of individual long-chain n-3 fatty acids and risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction.

Background Whereas dietary intake of long-chain n-3 fatty acids has been associated with risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), few studies have examined the relation for blood concentrations. Objective We aimed to investigate the effect of long-chain n-3 fatty acids in blood on the risk of nonfatal MI. Design Baseline blood samples were collected from 32 826 participants of the Nurses' Health Study in 1989-1990, among whom 146 incident cases of nonfatal MI were ascertained during 6 y of follow-up and matched with 288 controls. Results After multivariate adjustment, the relative risks (95% CI) comparing the highest with the lowest quartiles in plasma were 0.23 (0.09, 0.55; P for trend = 0.001) for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), 0.40 (0.20, 0.82; P for trend = 0.004) for docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and 0.46 (0.18, 1.16; P for trend = 0.07) for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The associations for these fatty acids in erythrocytes were generally weaker and nonsignificant. In contrast to EPA and DHA, blood concentrations of DPA were not correlated with dietary consumption of n-3 fatty acids. Higher plasma concentrations of EPA, DPA, and DHA were associated with higher plasma concentrations of HDL cholesterol and lower concentrations of triacylglycerol and inflammatory markers. Conclusions Higher plasma concentrations of EPA and DPA are associated with a lower risk of nonfatal MI among women. These findings may partly reflect dietary consumption but, particularly for DPA, may indicate important risk differences based on metabolism of long-chain n-3 fatty acids.
The Price of False Beliefs: Unrealistic Expectations as a Contributor to the Health Care Crisis

The alarming rise in health care costs haunts our society. The United States now spends $2.6 trillion per year on health care,[1][1] and the spiraling costs are placing unsustainable burdens on employers and workers, Medicare and Medicaid, state and local governments, and American families. A
Enhanced Activity for Oxygen Reduction Reaction on “Pt3Co” Nanoparticles: Direct Evidence of Percolated and Sandwich-Segregation Structures

Atomically resolved structures and compositions of Pt alloy nanoparticles were obtained using aberration-corrected high-angle dark field imaging, which was correlated to specific ORR activity based on a Pt surface area. The enhanced specific ORR activity (∼2 times relative to Pt) of acid-treated “Pt3Co” nanoparticles can be related to composition variations at the atomic scale and the formation of percolated Pt-rich and Pt-poor regions within individual particles. Upon annealing, we show direct evidence of surface Pt sandwich-segregation structures, which correspond to a specific ORR activity ∼4 times relative to Pt.
High-speed fiber-optic polarization analyzer: measurements of the polarization dynamics of an erbium-doped fiber ring laser

Accurate measurements of fluctuating states of polarization (SOP) require determinations of the Stokes parameters on shorter time-scales than those of the fluctuations. For light sources that generate very rapid polarization and intensity fluctuations, such as erbium-doped fiber ring lasers (EDFRLs), conventional polarization analyzers are not sufficient. We describe a technique for measuring rapidly fluctuating states of polarization using a fiber-optic polarization analyzer. SOP fluctuations at rates up to 125 MHz can be accurately measured, a rate limited by the detection equipment (photodiodes and oscilloscope). Using the polarization analyzer, experimental measurements are made which provide new insights into the rapid polarization dynamics of an EDFRL.